What Do Pirates, Lady Bugs and Bulls Have in Common?

Believe it or not, I'd never seen a hot air balloon in real life until a couple of weeks ago.

After learning about Plano's Annual Balloon Festival a few days too late last year, I'd been counting down the months until the next one ever since. One day, I'd LOVE to take a ride in one, but for now, checking out the scene would have to suffice. 

I wanted to witness the famous balloon glow and fireworks on Saturday night, but my work schedule interfered, so instead we woke up bright in early (actually it was dark and early, since it was before sunrise), to watch the rainbow colored majestic flying devices inflate and take off with the luminosity of the cotton candy clouds in the back ground, surrounded by the magically cool morning air. 

A light fog covered the field in a sheet of mystery, and we patiently waited on our picnic blanket laughing at all the unnecessary personal information the announcer was commentating to the crowd to pass the time as the fiery glows in the foreground resulted in growing chromatic air filled masses.   

Tiny little people worked diligently on both ends of each gentle giant, pulling on ropes and fanning hot air. 

Dillon was perfectly content napping, and I would have been as happy as a clam had I known I could bring in my own breakfast and coffee. 

And as the clouds cleared the area and the sun lifted into the sky, so did the balloons, one at a time, decorating the sky with pirates, and lady bugs, bulls, flowers, and quilts. 

We lifted Dillon in offering, to see if one of them would take him, in exchange for a free ride, but they just kept floating further and further into the distance. 

Once the show was over, all three of us were ready for a cozy bed.

We skipped all the live music and fair style food, and opted for a slumber, with sweet dreams of beautiful balloons.

Next year we'll be pro's and all the other spectators will be jealous of our picnic breakfast spread, or maybe I'll plan my schedule better and we can hit the night scene for the glow viewing, either way, I hope to be back!   

Dillon 3 Months: Farting Prodigy

Well well well.......

Look who's 3 months old! I'm sure I'm just completely senile, but it doesn't feel as though much has happened this month.....probably because it went by so fast (hence me posting this almost 2 whole weeks late)!
The most eventful thing we had happen to us this month was a couple of major monitor mishaps. I was convinced there was some sort of monitor destroying force field in our house. We'd only been using our previously loved (bought second hand) video device for about two weeks when it suddenly stopped working, so we bought a brand-spankin'-new-top-of-the-line-Cadillac of all monitors, opened it with all the excitement of a couple of  kids on Christmas morning,,,,,,,,and the darn thing would never turn on; It was broken before we could even get the gratifying feel of peeling the sticky plastic off the screen's face!!!! A third time's a charm, though, and we finally ended up with a cool new WORKING adult toy that video pan's, 2 way talks, measures the temperature of the room, switches back and forth between two different camera's, has night vision, and even plays lullabies.

Here are a few of Dillon's milestones/personality traits blossoming this month:

1. I'm pretty sure this boy is trying to grow up too fast......already working on cutting teeth! With a constant river of drool streaming between his bottom lip and shirt, trying to fit both fists in his mouth, and wanting to gnaw on anything he can get near his gums, it's a dead give away.

2. He finally let loose his first giggle. He thought it was hilarious when I sat him down in his yellow rocking chair, and laughed about it for about 10 minutes straight.

3. He's still sleeping in his rock-n-play, but we've graduated to him sleeping in his own room all night and moved on from swaddles, into sleep sacks instead. The next and final step is to put this big boy in his crib......Patrick and I keep procrastinating, out of pure fear that we're going to botch up the good sleep we've been getting. He does enjoy laying in his crib during the day, though, mesmerized by the mobiles I made him.

4. Once a Milk Monster, always a Milk Monster. I don't think we're ever going to get away from hourly feeds in the evening until he starts eating real food.

5. He is totally into playing with his hands/feet, grabbing rings, and sitting in his bumbo chair so he can scope out his surroundings.

6. I hope he somehow manages to miraculously crawl one day, because he still throws a fit when we make him do any kind of tummy time. I started just letting him fall forward when he crunches his abs while sitting up, and leaving him that way until he starts fussing, so he can get some sort of neck/back workout in..........and every single time, he farts. One day he did it like 10 times in a 5 minute period. Fall forward, fart. Sit him up. Fall forward, fart. Sit him up........you get the graphically hilarious idea (especially since it's so innocent). He had to have set some sort of record or something. Ladies and Gents.....we have a farting prodigy on our hands!

7. He's a bone-a-fied hair puller. 

8. I know it's not recommended, but this boy really enjoys sitting in his bumbo and watching t.v. from time to time........I mean, geez, there's really only so many hours a day you and sit and stare at each other. Get real, American Academy of Pediatrics. 

9. I'm still in love with the sweet little noises he makes while he's eating and the way he buries his head into the crease between my arm and torso when he's sleepy.

Is it to ambitious to hope he'll be a cuddle bug forever????

#dillonaday Weekly Roundup 15

#1 Hangin' with Granddaddy. - September 21

#2 This thing Mom put around my neck is quite the delightful snack. - September 22

#3 Sometimes you feel like a turd....sometimes you don't!!! - September 23

#4 It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A! And in my swing.......  - September 24

#5 It's all fun and games while she's standing there.......and I know how to turn on the water works to keep it that way. - September 25

#6 Me and Dad charmed all the girls at the mall today......it's too bad Mom was asleep and didn't get to witness it. - September 26

#7 Daaaaaaa Milk Monsterrrrrrrrrrrr. - September 27

#dillonaday Weekly Roundup 14

#1 Is this really necessary? I'm trying to watch the game with Dad. - September 14

#2 Jellyfish and mustaches and dimples, oh my. - September 15

#3 Lessons with Dad! He's pretty cool. - September 16

#4 Ooopsies. (Mommy fail) - September 17

#5 I turned 3 months old yesterday. Mom can't believe it!!! - September 18

#6 Apparently the camera adds a little geezer to my shorts, but I promise they looked way more hip and athletic in real life. I had to look sharp for my first lunch date with Dad. - September 19

#7 I made a celebrity appearance at the Balloon Festival this morning......pro bono. - September 20 

Crack Kills, Drink Expresso Instead

I knew the time had to come eventually, but it really snuck up on me. 12 weeks is just too short. It's not fair. I mean....he's not even actually 3 months old yet! Going back to work is one of those inevitably unavoidable things most moms of the middle class face, and I'm no exception.

(source)

After a slightly dramatic start (due to my procrastination of waiting until the very afternoon I was suppose to return to get cleared by HR and not looking for my badge until 2 minutes AFTER I was suppose to leave for work), we officially survived our first week. It was hard, but doable, as long as no one asked me how I was doing. Being without your baby is like leaving behind a part of your body. Anytime someone brought up the subject, I had to fight back the tears and fake a smile. Only one person caught on to my scam, though, who pointed out my eyes weren't smiling; I'd say that meant I did pretty good.  

Even though sweet Tanya is coming over to watch Dillon Man (along with her adorable Emmersyn) two days a week to help give me time to sleep, I'm already suffering from a major case of jet lag. When the weekend hit, after rising from the couch in the late afternoon to push through my severe lethargy, I finally made it to the busiest mall in the world, North Park, and hit up the Nexpresso tasting bar for a couple of straight shots, no milk, of the strongest, most potent, options they offer.
Big, fat, oh so delicious, mistake. Did I mention I was at the busiest mall in the world, where it feels like Christmas and Tax-Free-Weekend combined, all year round?  Once my caffeine high kicked in, I was bobbin' and weavin' through the sea of people with a mission to move. Everyone else was in sow motion. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin once forced to stand in a line wrapped around the store.  People could probably hear my heart racing, and with a brow of nervous sweat as further evidence, they probably assumed I had recently been snorting crack in the bathroom (Get it? Because bathrooms are filled with crack.....butt cracks......{weirdest timing ever: a commercial on TV just said, "Shut your crack," as I finished typing that sentence.}) I tried to text through my jitters to pass the time. It was almost harder than texting drunk......like I even remember what that's like, it's been so long!!!
Obviously, and I decided to save the rest of my breast milk for the next day, too scared to play with second hand caffeine fire for any of the remaining hours preceding Dillon's bedtime.
Notice to anyone with little boys: H&M has the most adorable wardrobe for the baby male species!

(source)

I've seemed to forget where I was going with this, other than to express that from now on, I'm going to need a lot of expresso to get through life until we win the lottery.
Anyone know the winning numbers? If you help me win, I promise to share.

#dillonaday Weekly Roundup 13

#1 Mom's last day off before she starts back to work. Dad is a little worried. - September 7

#2 Smell ya later, Mom!! Us boys got this. - September 8

#3 Thanks, Auntie Jess for saving me from my insanely tired Momma today!!! It's okay that we missed swim lessons; my date with you was way better, anyway. - September 9

#4 It's been 2 days since I got to take a nap with my Mom!! Now that she's back, all is right with the world. - September 10

#5 Mom came to see what I was giggling about. I worked my way off my pillow and managed to grab hold of my favorite hanging toy, cause I'm a player like that. - September 11

#6 Son of a bottle-warmer!!! Mom took me for a walk in my first cold front and it feels amazing!!! - September 12

#7 Peace out. - September 13