Jack is here!

Okay, so it's been a week, but let's be honest, for me that's not too bad.

We are so excited to finally have our little guy. We named him Jack Gary Dittman, after Quinn's dad Gary who passed away two days before Christmas. I love his birthday: 02/01/2010. Yeah, I'm probably the only weirdo out there who notices that kind of thing, but now that you know, you have to admit it's kinda cool. He was born at 9:01 a.m. weighing 7lbs. 4oz. and was 21 inches long. He has the most hair out of any of my kids, and I think he is just adorable! He is really mellow and has even been sleeping pretty well. I am just going to post a bunch of pictures because I know he's going to wake up soon so I can't figure out how I ever did slideshows before....oh, and before you shudder cruelly at any pictures of me, give me a break. I am not cute after I have a baby like some of you out there (Angie).

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

After a mild fall, we finally had some snow!  It really feels like Christmas now.

Speaking of Christmas, this is from a few weeks ago, but had to put it in...Alli and Mary worked up the courage to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Hazel would have nothing to do with him and gripped Quinn with her hands and feet.  From a safe distance, though, she will point to Santas and say "ho ho ho"! Some more snow pictures....

Mary decided she likes to shovel snow       Alli had fun sledding, and throwing snowballs.  I noticed I was a favorite target.

We are pretty sure Hazel liked sledding.  It was her first real time going, and she liked to lay back in the sled and close her eyes.  Apparently she found it relaxing...?  Quinn was just pulling her around, maybe once she hits some hills she will find it more exciting!

Hazel is 2!

Hazel had her second birthday on Thanksgiving this year. It was a busy, crazy day so of course I did not get all the pictures I wanted to! What Hazel wanted more than anything was a doll with a binky (she is obsessed with her own). Grandma Cindy gave her a stroller to go with it, and that is what she did the rest of the day! She has taken that baby everywhere, she even sleeps with it. It's fun to see her love something so much, and it makes me hopeful that maybe a real baby in the house won't be such a traumatic adjustment for her!






Hazel's personality has really come out over the last year. She is a little busybody, following her big sisters around. They have taught all kinds of valuable things like how to make noises that sound like bodily functions, and also they helped her come up with this strange phenomena:

She keeps constant track of each family member by holding her hands out to me during the day and asking "where Daddy?" and going down the line as I explain that everyone's either at work or at school. She is my little shopping and cooking buddy, so I also hear "ina hep" (I want to help) all day long! She is a sweet little girl, and we can't get enough of her!

Halloween

The weatherman kept telling us to prepare for a cold, wet Halloween. We lucked out and had pretty mild weather. We had a fun time walking the loop in our little part of the neighborhood, seeing friends dressed up, and eating too much candy!


Alli was Emily Elizabeth, and Arthur was Clifford.


Mary as a cat.





Hazel's costume was a last-minute decision. She's a little tiger.

I swear I'm almost done...

I have to have a somewhat coherent timeline when I look back at my blog, so yes, I am posting first day of school pictures even though we are already into our second quarter of school. If you didn't know I was slightly OCD, well, now you know.

Alli is in 2nd grade and is having a great time. Mary is in Kindergarten and is still getting over the fact that she has to go EVERY SINGLE DAY. I keep reminding her that if we were still in Arizona, she'd also be going full day!







Every summer the Dittman family has a reunion in McCall. And, every summer I question the necessity of a Dittman reunion when every single member of the Dittman crew lives within a five mile radius of each other, and gets together at least every other Sunday for dinner! Either way, the kids look forward to going because it is pretty up there and they get to ride in boats, swim, fish, and sleep all together with their cousins. Alli and Mary both begged to go fishing. Mary ended up having a little more perseverance and was rewarded with a fish! She helped Quinn gut it and even tasted some.



I took a couple of pictures while we were there, but my sister in-law took a bunch and so I am making what she gave me a slideshow. I feel that I do need to explain a few of the pictures. You see, it wouldn't be a Dittman function without some competition. Thankfully the ladies' swim relay was not documented, but we did get a "friendly" race on film between Quinn and his oldest brother Eric. There wasn't a definite winner because the whole thing started looking like the chariot scene from Ben Hur. In the end, they each claim to be the fastest, so I guess everybody wins.