Slacker Mommy...

Only because I refuse to go the whole weekend w/o a post, but have no time to get new pics/stories posted before we leave tomorrow...here's a couple of phone pics from the last few weeks! Lots more pics/stories to come. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Morris aptly titled this "cutest picture ever?!?" when he sent it to me. Ella and Dylan sure do love each other! Here they are sharing a shopping cart at Sam's Club purchasing the new super duper swing set the Morris family purchased. We look forward to LOTS of fun time swinging and sliding!

Dylan loves hanging out in my room while I get ready for work. And he looks extra adorable in his frisbee dog outfit compliments of Sarah, JoAnne and the Jeremys (I'm pretty sure it's an ode to Scooter!)

JoAnne thought this was such a cute pic that it should be in Sports Illustrated...Dylan had a great time running the bases after watching mommy play softball. The weather was perfect and Applebee's took home another gold medal!!!

A Lasting Legacy...

Tomorrow night is the awards ceremony for Westridge Middle School (the school where Zach taught). They have started an award in Zach's name. Each year a student and a teacher will be selected as a recipient in his honor. I'm obviously very touched and my family and I are planning to attend the ceremony tomorrow night. Here's the award info:


From 2005 to 2009, the students and staff of Westridge Middle School were able to experience a perfect example of what a teacher should be in Mr. Zachary Harsch. Students were drawn to his strength because of his gentleness, compassion for teaching, and the effort he put into building relationships. Mr. Harsch made time each day to listen and share a kind word with both current and former students, and he made each child feel special and important. He held students accountable for their choices, never gave up on even the most troublesome ones, and instilled in them a love of learning and a respect for self and others.
Many people’s lives were made better just by knowing Mr. Harsch, not just Westridge students and staff. He was a devoted husband, a great friend to those who knew him, and he was looking forward to becoming a doting dad. Volunteering his time and talents in the community was also a priority to him. On January 30, 2009, Mr. Harsch unexpectedly passed away, but his legacy at Westridge and in the community will live on forever.

As part of that legacy, Westridge would like to recognize a student who exhibits these same qualities of Mr. Harsch:
Compassionate, kind, and friendly to everyone
Shows strong, positive leadership skills
Puts others first and goes above and beyond for peers
Volunteers in the school and community


Dylan continues to develop and learn so much everyday. It's amazing to me how much more I can tell he understands what I'm saying to him. He loves to dance, "sing", and run around everywhere! He is saying: mama, dog, more (both in words and sign language), nana (banana), again and will sign all done. One of his favorite pastimes is throwing kleenexes into the garbage can (he's had a lingering runny nose, so at least that part has been fun!). He still smiles and laughs all the time and is super happy! He's holding his own in the big kid room at daycare, and I'm sure it's partially responsible for all of the development. I have a TON of pics from the last few weeks including a visit from Annie O and Dorian and a bunch of other random things that I promise to post soon.

But for now, here's a pic I took on my phone this morning (so not the greatest quality). We got Dylan some new real big kid shoes...when we first put him on in the store; he acted like he had anchors on his feet. But he seems to like them now. He's also sporting my gold medal that I won last night in corporate challenge volleyball. Corporate challenge is this huge competition with pretty much all KC companies competing against each other in pretty much every sporting event you can imagine. I've always been fairly involved and this year I'm playing v-ball, b-ball, softball and probably a few more things. It's a lot of fun and definitely brings out my competitive nature, which is nicely illustrated by the bruises I have all over from diving on the volleyball court! Dylan came to watch last night with papa and is proud that mommy is a champion :)

Happy Birthday, Dylan...Chicago Style!!!

First off, happy 13 month birthday, Dylan! I took a vote and everyone unanimously agreed that I needed to keep doing the "month" pics! It might not last forever, b/c it's awfully hard to get the little man to sit/stand still at this point. He's way more interested in walking around, exploring and pretty much getting into all sorts of trouble! So, here's 13 months. SUPER BABY!! Dylan has gotten the nickname, Super Baby because he's been such a rock star through all of his surgeries and is such a great, happy baby! A big thanks to Erin for the adorable shirt for his birthday :)

We tried to do a few pics in the morning before daycare...Dylan has just gotten 2 more teeth in and has been a bit edgy and very drooly. He's also had a bit of a cold (which he very sweetly gave me as well) so wasn't much in the mood to hold still for a picture. Luckily, we got the outside one up above after daycare and before dinner.

We actually had scheduled Dylan's surgery for his undescended testicle for May 5th, but because of the cold we rescheduled for June 14th. Hopefully, D will be healthy and we can get that surgery behind us! Aunt Nicki still came in town for a visit (even though surgery got cancelled) and Annie O. and Dorian are in town this weekend. We went to Deanna Rose (the petting zoo) this morning and Dorian and Nicki are building Dylan's car that Aunt Beth and Uncle Dennis got him for his birthday while he naps. I'm having fun supervising from the couch, while I type :)

And now, the long awaited Chicago birthday pics! (For the record, I actually posted these over a week ago...I'm just now getting around to writing the story. Work has remained crazy and it's been hard to find the time to update the blog.)

We flew into Chicago on Thursday night. Dylan did great on the plane. It was bedtime, but Dylan decided it was way more fun to people watch on the plane than it was to sleep. He was enamored with the lady behind us across the aisle and played peek-a-boo with her for almost the whole trip. He also sang (and by sang, I mean screeched) a few songs for the whole plane to hear :) Aunt Nicki picked us up from the airport and we headed to her dorm (yes, that's right people, we stayed in a dorm) in Evanston. D went to sleep fairly easily and Nicki and I had fun catching up. I had a call on Friday morning so I went to Borders while Nicki played with D and he took his nap. After the call was over, we met Erin and Carrie Mac for lunch downtown. We had a great time and both got Dylan some adorable presents. It was so much fun seeing them both and Dylan loved all the attention!

Having fun with Erin :)

All smiles with Carrie Mac :)

After lunch, we went condo shopping with Aunt Nicki and Grandma Toni. We successfully found a place, she put in a bid and as of mid-June she'll officially be a homeowner! It's a great place in Old Town and we can't wait to visit her often!

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast with Richard and Rhonda in Oak Park. We had a good time at breakfast (Dylan ate an entire pancake) and then we had fun in the park for a few minutes afterward.

After breakfast and a nap for Dylan; Nicki, Toni and I went on a great walk to the park and Dylan had a blast on the swing! After the park, we went back for another nap before the big birthday party.

We had the birthday party at an Italian restaurant close to Grandma Toni and Grandpa Karl's house. Toni had reserved us the party room and we had a great time! I was very touched at the number of family and friends that came to help celebrate Dylan turning a year old. D was a bit overwhelmed at first (he's had a bit of stranger anxiety lately), but once we got him in his high chair and had people feeding him, he warmed right up! It was wonderful getting to catch up with everybody! We also got to meet the newest member of our Iowa posse...Beck, Steve and Heather's adorable new baby boy.

Dylan loved all of the attention from everybody!

Let's Go Hawks!!

I get to eat more cake?!? Hooray!!

Fun with Aunt Beth :)

Heather and Beck

Hanging with the fam :)

Fun with Aunt Nicki's friends!

After the party, all of the Iowa gang came back to Toni and Karl's place so we could hang out a bit longer. It was great getting to spend a bit more time with everybody and catch up some more!

I can't even remember Dylan being that little! Fun with Beck :)

Fun with Grandma Toni and Grandpa Karl :)

As always, I want to give a huge thank you to Grandma Toni, Grandpa Karl and Aunt Nicki for being great hosts! Travelling with a 1 year old can be a bit overwhelming but Toni, Karl and Nicki make it so it's just like being at home for us. They buy all of our favorite foods (not just Dylan's) and take amazing care of us! A special thanks to Grandma Toni for throwing Dylan such a great birthday party. We had a great time and everything was perfect!!

Here are a couple of cute pics...

Playing with sidewalk chalk :)

Dylan says, "check out my new big kid car seat!!"

I'm so cute!