A Taste of Summer

During the first week of April, there was a day that we saw snow flurries. I know you immediately think I might be exaggerating but really, I'm not. It was just flurries. There was no snow on the actual ground but huge, fat snowflakes were falling from the sky at a brisk rate. Now we are in the last week of April. Last weekend and so far this week, the temperatures have been in the high 80's and low 90's. Not to mention, the weeks of rainy, chilly weather that April normally brings, fell in the middle. We just experienced basically every season all in the month of April. Anybody want to still argue that global warming doesn't exist, lol?

Dylan loves to pour stuff. Typically, it is not the type of stuff that you want him to be pouring like apple juice or milk, lol. I gave Dylan a container with some water and a few little containers to pour, dump, spill and splash to his heart's desire, haha.

It all started with him pouring water from one small container to the next but quickly advanced on to throwing/splashing water all over. I'm sure the chilly water felt great considering it was 90 degrees out!!!

Dylan running around the yard! He would fill up the container with water, run as fast as he could all over the yard, and laugh at the water flying out and splashing everywhere. Maybe we need to invest in a sprinkler or something this summer, ha ha.

Dylan and I playing tag!

He was IT!

 Although it is very hot, something tells me Dylan is looking forward to the Summer! Lots of fun in the sun!

Ice Cream & Smiles

On a beautiful Thursday, Dylan and I went to visit our friends Lauren & Autumn in Greencastle. We had a ton of fun that day and definitely need to set up another play day again soon.

Before we went to Lauren's house, we met Grandpa Faith for a quick lunch in Greencastle too. Dylan chatted with Grandpa and helped him polish off a large portion of his soup, ha ha.

When we got to Lauren's house, she had immediately washed away any chance of him being shy by bringing out a collection of Autumn's toys for him to play with. Actually, no...it didn't even take that long, lol. She scooped him up at the door, ha ha.

Dylan playing with Autumn's vacuum. It was very popular with her and still is to this day. Therefore, it was no surprise that Dylan, someone already fascinated by vacuums, would also love it. Of course, vacuuming is hard word as you can see in the picture!

Lauren showing Dylan pictures that she took of him.  The boy loves to look at pictures of himself on cameras.

Autumn "reading" to Dylan. She is not quite old enough to read all the words but somehow she knew every single one, lol.  I wonder how many times Lauren had to read this book too!

Dylan & Autumn saying cheese for the cameras.
All four of us went out for ice cream at Micky's after Autumn got out of pre-school.  Mmmm....ice cream!!!

One of our earlier attempts of taking a picture of all four of us, lol. Dylan kept looking at the three of us instead of the camera. He was probably trying to figure out with these three goofy girls were doing, lol.

A Rainy Day in Mercersburg

On a very wet & dreary Wednesday, Dylan & I packed up the car and headed to Mercersburg to hang out with some family. We traveled to Mercersburg to visit with Cortney and meet Mr. Brayden for the first time.
Brayden Christopher. This adorable little munchkin is a little over 2 weeks old. He is so adorable & sweet that you can help but love him. It's so hard (already) to imagine Dylan this little but in reality he was even a little smaller, haha.

While Mommy prepped a bottle, I cuddled with Brayden on my shoulder. I had to laugh when he stretched his legs out and tried to push himself up with his feet. He's going to be one strong boy!

Dylan enjoyed playing with some toys Mom brought and exploring Cort's house, haha. When I held the baby, Dylan did not get jealous at all but instead was very curious. He was very gentle when he would touch he leg or foot and say "Baby."

Dylan was still being quite the little monkey. Cortney even got to see one of his "pout" sessions, haha. He's just a very curious boy and wants to know what everything is and what it does! 

We also stopped by Great Grandma & Grandpa Guyer's house. Dylan's reading buddy, Laney, was there. He was quick to curl up on the couch and listen to her read a book, haha. Dylan took his coat off and disappeared into the other room as if he were saying "Ok Mom...I'm going to go play now...See ya!"

Dylan & Great-Grandpa Guyer. I was trying to get them both looking & smiling at the camera, haha. Well...I got both of them smiling in this one and both looking in the other picture I took. I think the smiling one is better, haha.

Dylan sitting on Great-Grandma Guyer's lap checking out the duck book again. This time they were counting the ducks, haha.

Overall, it was a really fun day despite the rain...that is until we had to drive home! Due to an accident involving a semi in the A.M., interstate 81 north (the road I had to take to get home) was still shut down 5 hours later. Consequently, I tried to navigate my way around some other roads to try to get on 81 above the accident. Unfortunately for Dylan & I, route 30 & 11 were pretty much grid-lock. Super long story short, it took us 3 hours to get home last night. Oh...and on top of that, poor Dylan ended up getting car sick when we were about 10 minutes from home. Needless to say, I could have done without that mess of a drive home, haha. I think we'll stay off the roads for a couple days. We both had enough traffic to last for a while, ha ha!

A Ride on the Emotional Rollercoaster

All of these pictures are random pictures I took throughout one day of Dylan playing and doing random activities. As you can see in the picture above, Dylan is in the middle of acquiring quite a few teeth, ha ha. He was very late to get his first teeth and I guess that they are now trying to make up for lost ground because there are currently 7 teeth that are currently pushing their way out of his gums. Dylan is still his usual goofy and cheerful self but with glimpses of a more emotional cranky Dylan. It usually passes as quick as it comes and he's back to playing and being silly again.

Dylan coloring in his new coloring book with his new crayons. He loves to color but when he gets bored himself, he'll try to make you draw a bunch of stuff. He literally stuffs crayons in your hands and makes you keep going, ha ha.

Dylan has fantastic aim when rolling balls now. I am not quite sure how he does it though, haha. He puts his hand on top, pulls it back like a spring toy and pushes it forward as hard as he can. I tried to do it that way and it's not easy, lol.

Dylan pushing his cars across the patio.

Yesterday ended up being a little chilly outside but overall, a very nice day. Therefore, we spent hours playing outside in the sunshine!

The reason this is titled "A Ride on the Emotional Rollercoaster:"

This is Dylan after we came inside. We honestly played outside for over 2 hours straight and had to come in to start cooking dinner. He is usually not happy about coming inside but lately he puts on quite a show. He usually leans against walls with his arms above his head crying or in this picture he was hanging from the table. Also, it was not a surprise to him that we were going inside because I kept giving him a small "countdown" warning him that we would be going inside soon, ha ha. Every time I would say "blah-blah minutes until we have to go inside," he would take off running up the hill and hide behind the trees, ha ha.

As I mentioned earlier, it passes as quick as it comes...

This picture was taken 5 minutes after the one directly above. In no time, Dylan either forgives or forgets what he was mad about. He's off to play, laugh, and be a goof.

Easter '09

The basket that the Easter Bunny left for Dylan on Easter morning. Dylan also got all kinds of things for Easter from the grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Dylan has already been enjoying the new toys and even stayed up an hour past his bedtime to play for a little bit last night. I will post more pictures later as well. I was a lazy "photographer" yesterday, lol.

It was "Nunny" Day! Dylan's bunny was celebrating his 1 year birthday, haha.  The Easter Bunny also brought Dylan a new bunny too.  Aunt Alisha & Uncle Dust also got Dylan a new, cute bunny to cuddle with.

A new book to read! He also got books from Grandma & Grandpa Gray and Grandma & Grandpa Faith too!

BUBBLES!! Bubbles are a big hit!!

Dylan had a little Easter egg hunt at home in the morning before we left to adventure out for the day.

Dylan patiently waiting for Daddy to get his new box of crayons open!

Dylan squeezing in some coloring time before breakfast, hehe. The boy loves to color. Dylan also got a big Tigger & Pooh coloring book from Grandma & Grandpa Faith too!

Dirt in There

Recently, Dylan has figured out an easy way to turn his fourwheeler around and quickly, lol. Now Dylan can take laps around the kitchen and living room. Luckily, it's not at very fast speeds, haha. So this afternoon, Dylan decided he was going to do some laps on his Kawasaki while I was washing some dishes. When I was done, I finally picked up the camera to capture his new found skill.



Shortly after I turned on the camera, Dylan started pointing at the vacuum and telling me "Babuum." Dylan and this vacuum have quite a history. Dylan used to be terrified on it but only when it was not on and simply sitting nearby. He is and always has been very aware of its presence if it is not stashed away in the kitchen closet where it lives. Oh and he knows that it is in there too. He points and labels every time the closet doors open, lol. Anyway, Dylan is not scared of the vacuum anymore but still fascinated by it.



So I realized after watching the video, that he was trying to tell me "there's dirt in there" for a bit before I even picked up on it. I thought he was just repeating me like he normally does at first, but soon realized that he was sure he knew what that vacuum had in it and what it does, ha ha. I find it amazing that I am absolutely amazed by Dylan every single day in one way or another! He picks up new stuff all the time and I can't believe how fast he is growing! Has it really been a year and a half, ha ha.

Wheels On The Truck...

This video is just a little video of Dylan playing with his new truck. Daddy teaches him about the wheels and then Goofy Dylan comes out to say hello, ha ha ha.

Dylan's Clubhouse

This past weekend, Daddy & Mommy took a much needed break from "everyday" life.  We decided to let Grandma & Grandpa Gray take over for a couple of days, lol. That way, both Mommy & Daddy, get a "mini-vacation." Not that I needed time away from my adorable little angel, but I must admit, it was quite nice to not have to think or do anything for an entire day, haha. Anyways, long story short, Jeff & I decided it was about time for us to have a nice place to hang out and relax on our back patio. We have been talking about this for years, literally! We finally went out shopping to make our patio much nicer and comfortable too, lol. So while Dylan was away, we went shopping, lol. Anything like this HAS to come in a big box. We found that there is more than just one use for a box this size!

Dylan came home and instantly started checking out all the new stuff, as he always does. He always makes sure things are the same and if they are not, he'll let you know, lol. Anyways, Dylan liked the huge boxes that were still left over from our new purchases. I didn't realize it at the time but Daddy apparently already had an idea for the biggest of boxes, haha. While Dylan ate lunch, Daddy made a little fort/clubhouse for Dylan with a swinging door, window, and even some skylights, hahaha.

As you can see, the fort/clubhouse was a huge hit with Dylan. We gave him some of his crayons to decorate his new little clubhouse. Dylan spent all day playing in and out of his new clubhouse. For the first hour or so, he kept waving, saying goodbye, walking in his house, and pulling the door shut. Then he would pop back and say "Hi."

As you can see, large boxes can be a blast, especially with a creative Daddy who had this in his mind from the moment the big box was empty, haha.  These are just a couple of pictures that I took this morning.  Dylan wasted no time and playing in the clubhouse was the first thing on his agenda.

Welcome Baby Brayden!

Brayden Christopher Beltz

Born March 30, 2009 at 6:31 p.m.

7 lbs 15 oz and 22 inches long

Congrats Cortney!  He's absolutely adorable!  We can't wait to come meet him!