Wednesday Weekly Recap - Penguin Preview

Budget season = CRAZINESS

So, I'll leave you with this...a preview of the cutest penguin you've ever seen, taken with my "old-school" phone at D's daycare party tonight. Much much more, later :)

Wednesday Weekly Recap - Iowa City Preview!!

We went to Iowa City this past weekend and cheered Iowa on to victory (sorry Wildcats, but it's about time we beat you!!) We had a great time and I have lots of great pics!! But, I'm going to be a slacker blogger again this week, and just post the ones that others have already posted out there...much more later! We don't have anything big going on this weekend, so am hoping I can spend some time catching up! But for now, here are a couple of cute pics!

We drove with the Morris girls to Ankeny on the way to Iowa City...Andrea and I didn't think it was possible, but all 3 kiddos did sleep at the same time for about an hour!

I-O-W-A!!!!!!!!!!!

McDonald's big breakfast on the way home on Sunday morning...D probably ate over half of it!! And as you can see, was quite excited :)

Wednesdays Weekly Review - What day is it?!?

So, I'm late...which for those of you who know me very well can't find extremely surprising. In fact, it's pretty impressive that this is the first Wednesday I've missed thus far. We are officially in the crazy budget time of year at work, and on Monday I relearned the lesson that water and cell phones do not mix...I had just gotten to D's daycare and turned around to ask him something. Apparently, all the stars were aligned (or not, actually) and my phone fell out of my pocket and into my glass of water. I didn't even realize it until D asked, "why is your phone in the cup, mama?" I tried the whole dry it out in a bag of rice, but it still won't turn on. It's amazing how dependent I've become on my phone, especially for a camera (probably over half the pics I post here, I take with my phone and then e-mail myself)! I'm using a back up phone (circa 2008) for now, so at least I can have contact with people again :) So anyway, long story short, no long blog update this week! But here's a pic from Worlds of Fun, and I promise to do better next week!

Friday Fun Day: Going to the Chapel and...

Nicki and Chris are getting married!!!!

That's right, in case you haven't heard Nicki and Chris are engaged. We couldn't be happier for them both, and we are so excited to have Uncle Chris as an official member of the family :) As Andrea put it, "as you know, with the Harsch family comes the Morris/Lichtenberger families...welcome to our fun and crazy world!!" Chris has been a big part of our lives for the past years, and we can't wait to continue on this adventure with him onboard!

Wednesdays Weekly Review - Happy 2 1/2 Birthday!!!

Happy 2 1/2 year birthday, Dylan!!! I can't believe how old Dylan is getting!! He seems so much more like a little man than a toddler these days. And any lingering baby qualities are long gone. He continues to be such a joy to be around. His doctor's appointment went great! He weighed in at a hefty 29 pounds (40th percentile up from 35th at 2 years) and is 36 1/2 inches tall (60th percentile, up from 30th at 2 years). Dr. Kate was very impressed with how verbal he is and how great he's doing. So, here's a little Top 10 things about D at 2 1/2 years:

10. D is still such a sweet kiddo! He loves giving hugs (especially koala hugs where he wraps his arms/legs around you and you let go).

9. His favorite question right now is, 'why, mama?' One of these days, I'm going to track all of the questions I get in one day and will put them in a post.

8. D continues to climb anything and everything he can. I'm pretty sure that the entire world is a jungle gym through his eyes. He also will jump off of anything and everything! It leads to some nerve racking moments for mama, but at least a lot of the time, he'll look at me and ask before jumping.

7. Dylan loves being outside doing pretty much anything. He has gotten to be pretty fast at running; I can no longer just walk to keep up with him.

6. D loves singing songs and music! We go to a music class once a week and have a great time together! D's current favorite song is a combo b/t raindrops keep fallin' on my head and raindrops on roses. He knows the words to a ton of songs, and if he doesn't think you are listening, you can catch him singing anything from Baa Baa Black Sheep, to Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

5. Dylan continues to be very verbal and has gotten so good at speaking in full sentences. It's crazy to me that we have real conversations and just how much he knows/understands! The other day, he was telling me a story about daycare...he was telling me about getting mulch in his shoes but I couldn't understand him. Finally, he looked at me and said, 'you know, mama, wood chips'. I was SO impressed that he was able to figure out a way to communicate something to me when I couldn't understand him.

4. D still loves ALL things sports. He wants to watch them on TV (always requesting golf) and constantly wants to be doing something sports related. We still play a ton of golf, soccer, baseball and basketball. It's fun to watch him grow and develop and I'm excited to see what sports he stays passionate about!

3. D is potty trained!!! I've mentioned before that he was doing a great job sitting on the potty. Well a month or so ago, he started fighting everything about sitting on the toilet. From what I've heard, it's a really bad idea to push them if they are fighting the potty, so I pretty much backed off. Well, two weeks ago, a mom was dropping her daughter off at Dylan's daycare. She was in the process of potty training and her mom brought in M&Ms and told her that she could have one every time she used the potty. D, being the shy kiddo that he is, asked her if he could have M&Ms if he used the potty and she told him yes. Apparently, that's all the motivation he needed...he has been using the potty and wearing underwear ever since. He's had 2 accidents, but other than that has been perfect. His teachers at daycare said it's the easiest potty training they have ever seen! And, he's already showing his leadership skills...apparently, D has been convincing the other kids that they should potty train for M&Ms as well :)

2. Dylan continues to be loved by so many! We have so many friends and families that help make our lives amazing and we are so grateful! D asks to go to Ella's house on a daily basis and I love that Ella, D and Maggie are like siblings. He loves traveling to Chicago and seeing everybody there and loves hanging out with all of our friends in KC. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family all over the country that continue to watch D grow up and love and support us.

1. D continues to be such an overwhelming source of joy in my life. He makes me smile all of the time! He is the best thing that has ever happened in my life, and I somehow manage to love him more every day!!


Okay, here are a few pics from Tuesday. I took the morning off and D and I enjoyed the amazing weather and headed to the park!

I will climb anything!

D insisted on bringing a football to the doctor's office. He had a great time, throwing it against the wall and trying to catch it. He even made Dr. Kate play catch with him :)

When Dr. Kate walked in the room, he looked at her, smiled and told her that he was doing an awesome job and asked if he could have a sucker, please. It was super cute :)

Lunch at Panera...eating some delicious mac n cheese!

Okay, and I'm not one of those crazy peeps who think that her kiddo is going to be a superstar sports athlete...although feel free to reserve your Harsch jersey now! But, I think it is pretty impressive for a 2 and 1/2 year old to be able to hit a pitch with a bat...and even more impressive that we got it on video :)

Coming soon...Worlds of Fun and an amazing weekend in Chicago :)