Derek: Caiden & Santa

Here's the photographer's pics of Caiden with Santa:
Such a handsome guy!

Caiden Coos

Caiden has really started 'talking':

Derek: San Fran

We just got back from a really great getaway to San Francisco. Keven joined us as our Au Pair, at least until Caiden broke her. 8-)

Caiden did amazing on the flights, and really enjoyed seeing the sights. We think he's going to be a great traveler.

What a difference just 2 short years makes:

Where we started:

Where we are now.

First Pictures with Santa

We had our first pictures with Santa , courtesy our realtor- Dawn Shaver-Faulconer. She's the absolute best. If you need a house anywhere near LA, check her out!

Caiden was excellent. He didn't cry or fuss at all. We had a good time, got pictures as a family and with Jan & Keven. Kasia & Michael got pictures with Zofia.

(Family with Santa)

(With Nana & Papa)

We're mailing out our Christmas cards, if you don't get one in a week, let us know, we might not have the right address! (Update 12/14: Haven't made it to the post office yet! Hopefully this weekend!)

Hope everyone is having a blessed time preparing for the holidays.
Love you all.

Derek: Good Doggie

Dillon, the elf-dog

Dillon is such an amazing dog. He puts up with all the crap we do to him. Take Christmas, he has to wear his silly elf-hat. I don't know many dogs that would handle it. I don't know of many dogs that could handle the handful that a new baby is, the way Dillon has.

He's been amazing with Caiden. From day 1 you knew he cared about Caiden, but not to the point that he's always on top of him. Dillon also knows to respect Caiden's space and to be careful around him.

If Caiden cries Dillon checks on him, then checks on the area around him, to make sure there's nothing making Caiden cry, then comes and gets us, even if we're standing a few feet away. When we get up at night, Dillon goes with us either downstairs or to Caiden's room. At first Dillon didn't like the constant waking, but he's gotten used to it, and sticks with us.

Dill loves his 'little brother' and gives him a kiss on the top of his head, pretty much once a day to show it. We are truly blessed to have such an amazing companion for our family. Good Dog.

Derek: Our Christmas Present

Look at what Santa left under the tree for us!

It's hard to believe how much our lives have changed (for the better) since last year. We are so thankful for this Christmas and the wonderful gift that Caiden is to our lives. He truly is our little bundle of joy. We are so thankful to God for him, each and every day.

People ask what we want for Christmas, and all we truly want is for a happy, healthy boy. Having a baby definitely changes all of your priorities. If you have to absolutely buy something, Caiden can always use clothing, or fun educational toys. Momma and Daddy are happy with sharing in his joy for these things.

We hope this Holiday Season can bring to each and every one of you the blessings of a happy life and family.

Happy Holiday Season.

Happy Holiday Season to everyone from the Dutilly Family!

(Santa's-Elf-Dillon)

Caiden had his 2 month doctor appt. He's 24-1/8" long and 13 lbs! He's in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. He's turning into quite the big boy.

Caiden is getting excited for Christmas too! He loves looking at the lights on the tree, or outside our house.
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a Blessed Holiday Season.

Jenn: Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving with our lil' boy! We woke up at 3:00am because Caiden was just so happy that it was his first turkey day:) We watched the Macy's parade, took a nice brisk walk and ate some delicious food at my parents house...the day couldn't have been any better, we got to hang out as a family and enjoy each others company, that is what the holidays are really about.

Derek: Visit with Grandma & Grandpa

Grandma & Grandpa came down from Oregon and got to visit with Caiden this weekend. Caiden got to hear all sorts of crazy stories about his daddy. He loved sleeping on Grandma. Dillon has a new best friend in Grandpa Terry. Everyone had a lot of fun, and it was great visiting.

Grandpa Terry telling one of his stories to Caiden.

Caiden in his new favorite sleeping spot.

Terry trying the ol' pull my finger trick.


Best Buds

Jenn: Halloween

Caiden and I went to Derek's work today to trick-or-treat around his office. He was dressed in his bear costume, compliments of Grandma Lindsley. Everyone there absolutely loved him. Caiden had a lot of fun seeing where his Daddy works and what his office looks like. He hopes when he gets a little bigger he can go back there and play with all the video games and toys that Daddy has:)
We are going to Nana and Papa's tonight for pizza, pictures, and fun. Happy Halloween!!!!

Derek: Good Luck Charm

Sorry to scare all the Red Sox fans out there. Caiden didn't have his good luck outfit on until after the 2nd inning. Then the Sox took things over. So far his outfit is 4 for 4, so we're going to keep wearing it the rest of the series, and get it on for the start of the game. Go Sox!


A couple shots of Mr. Smiles. Loving the Red Sox pulling ahead in the World Series.


His best Elvis Impersonation, and another smile.

Today was another day with the boys. We got a lot done around the house, and managed to get rained on on our walk- Caiden's first rain shower. 8-)


Our little bandit.
(His bib folded up over while he was sleeping)


Caiden and momma sleeping before I went to work on Thursday.
So peaceful.

Jenn: Thankful for the Boppy

So even though Derek and I have two very cute and comfortable bassinets for Caiden to sleep in, he chooses the boppy. If we want Caiden to wake up we lay him down in the bassinet, if we want him to sleep we put him in the boppy, swing, or bouncy:) It has taken Derek and I a few weeks to figure out this pattern, in fact we have even tried our hardest to encourage sleep in the bassinets. But as we adjust as parents and as we stay on the road of sleep deprivation we now encourage him to just sleep anywhere he wants:) Every book I have read about parenting has told me that he must sleep in a crib or bassinet, but when its 4 in the morning and we are all crying because we are all tired, I could care less what those Authors have to say. In fact, I would love the authors of those books to come to my house and spend an entire night here, I would bet that by morning, Caiden would be asleep in his boppy. So to the creators of the Boppy Pillow, the Dutilly family thanks you, we finally got 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night!

Derek: Cluster Feeding at one Month old.

With the fires mostly out of the picture, we can talk about the family again...


Caiden's started the habit of "Cluster Feeding". What this is- is that he eats (which takes about 45 minutes) then wants to eat 45 minutes later. He does this for about 4-5 hours. This isn't so bad during the day. But he doesn't have a set time of the day to cluster feed. So sometimes the clusters happen, like last night, from 11PM to 4 AM. This leaves only 45 minutes to sleep between feedings. Not fun...


Dillon's decided he doesn't want to be a part of it anymore. For him, sleeping in the hallway on the floor is better than sleeping on his soft pillow in the room with us... Sometimes i think he's smarter than any of us. But then Caiden looks at us and does his big goofy smile. Then it's all worth it, even less than 3 hours sleep last night. Nothing compares to those feelings that Caiden can bring out, just with one look, one cuddle, one cry.

Derek: Fire Update 9 PM

Update: The fires have laid down quite a bit behind our house.
The evacuations have all been lifted and most of the roads by us have been reopened.

(The fires do make for great sunset shots)

There's still a chance of some flare ups and possibly new fires, the weather and wind might not let up until thursday now...(Here's that new fire that started about 2 PM to our West. That's Six Flags Magic Mountain in front of it. Yes, it looks like the roller-coasters are on fire! But they're not, it's behind the park)

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We seem to be safe, so keep those thoughts and prayers going, but let's give them to all the people still in danger, or the people that have already lost their homes. We lost our house to a fire when I was young, and it's completely devastating. Teaches you a lot about 'stuff' and what it really means... And give those thoughts and prayers out to all the firefighters working the fires, saving homes and saving lives.

Derek: Fire Update: 3 PM

A new fire has just broken out to the west of us. It's on the other side of I-5. They're saying it's a new fire. About 3 miles to our South West.

We're surrounded- fires to the east, north and west...


If you look to the right edge of the photo- that's the Six Flags Theme Park- Magic Mountain... You can see the coaster X and the big tower.

Derek: Fire Update: Noon

Smoke still isn't bad as it was yesterday around our house, but it is surrounding our valley.
Winds are really picking up.

Our old house in Tesoro Dell Valle has been evacuated.
The fire is about 1/4 mile from our old house and just over 1 mile from our new house.



Winds are peaking at 53 MPH.
Lots of fire trucks, police cars, helicopters and tanker planes whizzing around.









27,500 Acres. 15,000 people evacuated.
And here's what it looks like from outer space:

Ring of Fire!

The helicopter shots on the news show the entire SCV surrounded by a ring of fire.

Jenn's brother was evacuated, Staci went to Tina's, they're all safe and their homes as far as we know.

It's about 3 miles from our house right now, and only 1 mile from our old house.
It's been jumping straight west most of the night, which is towards our old Tesoro house.
I'm really worried about our old house, the backyard is very dry and there's no fire insurance as the-ex didn't pay the insurance bill...

If it keeps going west about 1/4 mile it'll be in the dry riverbed that runs by our new place and straight into the heart of Valencia. It'd have to turn SouthWest, but that's not out of the realm with these crazy winds...

25,000 Acres this morning and as of last night 25 structures.
About 600 firefighters on it this morning.

Unfortunately weather is supposed to be in the triple digits and the wind is only supposed to get worse today, through Tuesday afternoon. Right now 30 MPH sustained with 50 MPH gusts and the winds today could be one of the worst wind events ever seen in So. Cal...

We heard helicopters all night, but those were just news choppers. Now it's getting much busier with the firehawks and the planes getting in on the action.

Please pray for all the families affected and the firefighters out there battling this firestorm.

Derek: Stuck between a Fire and a Hot Place!

There are 2 huge fires very close to us, right now.
With the super dry conditions- it's rained once since about April- and the crazy winds- 20-35 MPH, 40 MPH gusts right now, up to 108 MPH gusts this morning. Humidy 9%. Disaster conditions...

One fire 15 miles to the west of us ("Ranch Fire"), burned about 1200+ acres as of this morning.

One fire (started) 15 miles to the east of us (it's being called 'The Agua Dulce Fire"). About 3,000 acres burned right now, but now it's already at the edge of our city. Jenn's brother Michael is in the process of being evacuated. Crazy. It's now about 1/4 mile from his condo. It's right at the edge of other neighborhoods. There's only 2 firetrucks... Disaster.


We should be pretty safe. We're in the middle of the city. There's a small brush patch with a few trees (about 1/4 acre) right in front of our building, and a dried up riverbed about 1/4 mile away, but it'd have to burn through a lot of homes and a lot of streets to make it to us.

I can't believe the news. 99% of the coverage is on the Malibu fire. A couple hundred homes there. Homes are burning right now on Whites Canyon, in Canyon Country about 5 miles from here... If you looked at just the news you'd think that the only fire was in Malibu.

It looks like orange night outside, raining ash. Staci can see homes burning from her roof. She's packing up her stuff and heading to Tina's.

We'll keep updated if anything happens over at this end of town..

Derek: Flex Weekend:

This weekend has been better than expected, different than expected. I guess that's the biggest thing I've learned (so far) being a Dad. You HAVE to be flexible in any and everything that you do. While the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, the best laid plans of mommies and daddies go awry even more often! Nothing you really plan ever comes to fruition the way you want it, but most often for the better.

Saturday was supposed to be our first "Boy Day", with me, Caiden and Dillon. But Jenn couldn't even get out of the Santa Clarita Valley to go to pilates school. There was a huge truck accident Friday night on I-5, which has completely shut it down. Those not familiar with where we live- this is the main way from the SCV to Los Angeles. Jenn tried to drive through our city to the other side- to the 14 freeway, but everyone else was doing the same thing. After 2 fruitless hours she came home. We had Saturday together, which was very nice!

So I-5 is closed until Tuesday or Wednesday. And after that the truck-lanes will be closed, so it'll only be at 50% capacity. Commuting to work is going to be very very bad for a while! Yikes!

Here's Caiden's reaction to Boston losing the game last night. He echos my own!

Boston, why oh why do you have ANY faith in Gagne? Didn't you see LA learn their lesson? Didn't you see what happened in Texas? Hopefully this is the last time we have to see that ugly beard on the mound in Bean-Town!

Sunday has been great, so far. First 'boy day' at home all together alone!
A walk in the park. Watch some Football. Do some chores.
And maybe just MAYBE, i'll be able to get in some Halo 3. I've only been able to play about 30 minutes in the last week. I thought that when he's 'down' i could grab in a couple hours of XBOX here and there, no such luck. Really. There's always just something else to do first. I thought with 2 weeks off i could get in some good 'skate' time. I was totally mistaken. In two weeks i got about 2 hours of game in, and most of that was middle of the night after he'd gone to bed, i was exhausted, but still wanted to get some time in.

People say that babies can't smile, that when they do it's just gas. I don't believe them. Sometimes Caiden just reacts with a big smile. I'll try to grab a pic. Just hanging out is so much fun.

Derek: Off to work:

Caiden, Jenn & Dillon off for a walk.

Off to work, have to leave the family behind. Sigh.
This week has been hard. Having to go back to work, when all i want to do is be home and change diapers. I love my job, but i love my family even more. I feel like i'm missing out on how Caiden is growing and changing each and every day... I know i'm not, i get to see him in the evening, and get we get quality alone time together for his middle of the night feeding. I just miss him. And jenn. And dillon.

Tuesday was a melt-down day for Caiden too. Totally fussy, didn't want to sleep. All i wanted to do is be home, take care of him, help Jenn out. He's been better since. A few fussy fits here and there, but he's adjusting to life out of the womb amazingly.

Jenn has school starting on Saturday- All day this Saturday and Sunday, I don't know how she's going to do it... I'm not worried about me being home with Caiden alone, Keven is coming over to help some of the time, and me and our little monkey get along well. We'll do some good walks to tire out dillon, tummy time and lots of eatin and poopin. Good weekend, but we'll miss mommy. And mommy will definitely miss us! Luckily I'm going to be home Friday and Monday, so we have some true family time to spend together. Then 2 weeks until Jenn has class again.. I know it will be rough for her. But we'll make it through. We always do. That's why we have each other. Without her I couldn't do this, couldn't do anything. She makes me much stronger, and now Caiden will do the same.

Teddy Caiden

Only the cutest little Teddy Bear you've ever seen.

Photos on Picasa:

After searching and striving to find a decent way to share pics and news of our little pride and joy, we've decided to give Picasa and this Blogger thing a try.

We'll be posting photos for anyone to look at here, and posting single pics and all our family news on this blog.
http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.dutilly/
(There's also a link on the right)

Love you all. Please message us or contact us.
Caiden can't wait to meet each and every one of you.

First Posting!

Welcome to the Dutilly Family Blog!!
This is where Derek, Jenn, Caiden and even Dillon will update everyone on what's going on in our lives and in our family.

We hope to see everyone back here often!