¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Happy 10 month birthday, Dylan, Argentina style!!! For those of you not up on Argentinean soccer, Dylan is wearing the official jersey of Boca Junior, the Buenos Aires team. We're having a great trip...have taken over 300 pictures so I need to sift through them before posting more...but couldn't resist this one for now!!!

Adios!!!

Buenos Dias de Buenos Aires!!!!

Buenos Dias!!! We made it to Argentina!! It's thrilling to be back in shorts and flip flops! Especially as winter is hitting KC again! Here are a few pics from the journey so far!!

(yes, I know I am WAY behind on updating the blog! I actually have a post started with all sorts of Christmas/snow etc. pictures but work has been crazy along with getting ready for this trip. If I have some down time, I'll try to get it up while I'm here).

The adventure started with a very full ride to the airport on Sunday morning around 9 a.m. Toni flew into to KC on Saturday night so I didn't have to do any of the legs by myself.

Not room for much else here...

We had a 7 hour layover in Dulles which is kind of overwhelming with a 10 month old...luckily my Aunt Kathy and Uncle John live close to the airport and came and picked us up. We had a GREAT time at their house, hanging out with the 10 adults, 7 kiddos and 4 dogs. It was like a mini-vacation within the vacation. We don't get to see that clan very often, so it was super nice!! Julianna made me promise that we'll do it again this summer :)

All the great-grandkids!!

Toni used miles to get us business class seats which were awesome on such a long flight! They said they had a bassinet for Dylan which was key. Turns out the bassinet was more along the lines of a bag...that Dylan was way too big for. But we put a couple of blankets down and a sheet and Dylan slept at our feet. He did GREAT!!! He stayed up until about 10 p.m. KC time, but was in a great mood. He finally fell asleep and then only woke up once, but went right back to sleep after I fed him. They started serving breakfast around 6 a.m. KC time, so he woke up for good but was in a great mood! All of the flight attendants and people around us commented on how cute he was and how great he was. One of the flight attendants told me he looked just like the Gerber baby and should be in commercials! Toni and I managed to get a decent amount of sleep as well which was nice!

Would you call this a bassinet? The weirdest thing was it didn't unfold all the way, so it really just wasn't practical. However, Dylan did sleep like a champ so it worked perfectly!!


Sleeping like a baby!!!

Once we got off the plane, Toni headed into the terminal to find a cart for our luggage while I waited for the car seat and stroller with Dylan napping in my arms. After the car seat and stroller came, I headed towards the terminal, only to be encountered with an escalator. I could see Toni at the bottom, but there was no way down. I asked where the elevator was, and of course it was on the other side of the airport in a different terminal. Dylan and I headed that way, thinking we would be able to meet up with Toni. This super nice porter befriended me and showed me the way. He took me to this area at customs with no wait (all the other places had huge lines). Luckily, Toni had given me my purse (she had the rest of our stuff) so I had our passports and a credit card for the visas. However, I was trying to explain in my broken Spanish that Toni had my customs declarations. My helpful porter friend went and found Toni, she paid for her visa and he whisked us to the front of the next line. We were getting some dirty looks from the people waiting in line, but hey, I'm not complaining. We went and got our luggage (when we had to wait for the umbrella stroller (yes, I brought two) even though the rest of our luggage was out, my friend the porter went behind the area and got it for us). Then he escorted us through all the lines at customs and out to where we were getting our car. We actually didn't ever give the people our customs forms, so not sure how legit it was, but it was awesome because a process that normally can take hours took us about 20 minutes!!

The car ride in was uneventful. Dylan started to get a bit hungry/cranky at the end, but was in a great mood as soon as he got to see Aunt Nicki! The apartment we are staying in is great :) Dylan is upstairs napping as we speak (I think I might follow when I'm done here). We're super excited to be here and mostly excited to get to hang out with Aunt Nicki. I'll try to update more later!!!

All smiles once he saw Aunt Nicki!!

Let's Go Hawks!!!

I-O-W-A!!!

(sorry for the less than stellar quality of the pics, they are both camera phone images. I will take some better ones tonight as we cheer Iowa on to victory!!)

Happy New Year!!!

And happy 9 month birthday, Dylan! I have lots of Christmas pictures to post, but wanted to get this up. Happy New Year!!

Love, Bobbie and Dylan

I'll be Home for Christmas!

As anticipated, Dylan's surgery got postponed again this morning. He was a champ once again with the whole not getting to eat anything. He was in a great mood and is upstairs napping right now. Good news is, we'll for sure be home for Christmas. We are reschduled for February 8th...hopefully third time will be the charm. Thanks to everybody for all the moral support, prayers etc. I'll need them again in a few months :)



Merry Christmas!!

To Operate or Not to Operate...

Dylan's surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:30 (we have to arrive at 8). Dylan came down with a cold this week (I think the munchkin is trying to avoid surgery!). He has gotten a ton better over the last few days, but still definitely has a cough so I think there is a decent chance that the surgery will get postponed again. I'm trying to brace myself for it, but of course will be disappointed if we don't have it, especially since we have kept him out of daycare for the past 5 weeks. I will post in the morning and let everybody know which way it goes.

In other exciting news, I felt Dylan's first tooth today!! I had thought that I could feel it getting close to the surface and yesterday I thought I could see a tooth about to pop through. So, that's very exciting! Also, he has really started continuous babbling. Obviously, he's been making sounds for a long time, but today on numerous occasions he just babbled away, like he was having a conversation with us. I'll try to get it and the dancing on video to post soon.

And, I can't have a post w/o a picture...might be my new favorite!!

November...a Revue!! (and picture marathon!!)

Okay, so before I get too far into this, yes I know it's mid-December and I'm ridiculously behind on stories and pictures...that's why there are 56, that's right count them 56 great pictures with this post :)

Dylan continues to be a delight! He's so happy all of the time! He still hasn't mastered crawling (he doesn't like hanging out on his stomach b/c of the bulge, but he is very quickly mastering standing. I have a feeling he might not crawl for very long before he just moves on to walking. He loves pulling himself up onto just about anything he can (he still needs a bit of help), and loves dancing at his music table. I promise to get the dancing on video soon, its super cute!

Dylan is having surgery a week from tomorrow (12/21). We don't know what time yet, but I'll make sure to post updates as things happen. Dylan has been home from daycare since the week of Thanksgiving, and we're doing everything we can to make sure that he stays healthy so we can get this surgery out of the way! There's some chance we'll do Christmas in the hospital, but we'll be surrounded by friends and family so it will still be great.

And now for November...

We started the month off going to Dylan's first birthday party. We went to Kylie's birthday party and had a great time. It was a Halloween themed party, so Dylan went as a pumpkin :) It was at the Lenexa Community center and Jody and Matt did a great job decorating. All of the food was great, and we had a fabulous time! Kylie is definitely one of the cutest little girls I have ever seen!!

Princess Kylie with Daddy (Matt, who I work with)

Dylan having fun with Felicia!!

They had this super cute place to take pictures...Dylan was mostly interested in eating the hay!!

So cute!!!

I promised Aunt Nicki and the fellow Cats that I would post the picture of Dylan sporting his Northwestern sweatshirt...and yes for those of you wondering, this was BEFORE they beat Iowa in football. We'll see if he ever gets to wear it again ;)

The second week in November, Dylan and I headed back to Chicago for Carrie Mac and Larry's wedding. It was our first time flying by ourselves, and of course Dylan was a total rock star. On the way out, we were able to bring on his car seat. He got fussy for a few minutes right before take off because he was a bit tired, but soon after fell asleep and slept the entire flight. I even got a bit of a nap in, which was awesome.

When we got there, Aunt Nicki picked us up and we went and had lunch at Grandma Toni's. Toni had a great time showing Dylan off, and Dylan charmed the entire office!! After lunch, Nicki and I went and got pedicures and manicures while Dylan took a nap in his car seat. After that, Nicki dropped me off at Erin's office and took Dylan on a field trip to Evanston. I changed at Erin's office and we headed to the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was fun and we ate some really great food! After that, we headed to the rehearsal. The wedding was at the Naperville Settlement which is a "19th century historic museum village". It was a really neat place to have the wedding. After the rehearsal, Erin and I went over to her parents' house for a while. It was great getting to see Jim and Jane, especially since I missed the trip to the lake this year!!

Saturday morning, we got up fairly early and I went to get my hair done. Toni had arranged to have my hair done by the person that did Zach and Nicki's hair growing up. It looked great :) Afterwards, Nicki dropped me off at Carrie's parents' house and headed to the hotel we were staying at to check in and get Dylan dressed. All of the girls were at Carrie's house getting ready, and of course Carrie looked absolutely beautiful! It ended up being the perfect day for a wedding! I had harassed Carrie about getting married in mid-November in Chicago...who knew she had ordered a mid-60's, sunny perfect day :) We went to the train station to take pictures before heading to the church. The ceremony was nice, although it was pretty hard. Afterward, while Carrie and Larry were dismissing people, Dylan definitely did his part in cheering me up. Erin and Nicki were also a huge support and I couldn't have done it without them.

After the ceremony, we headed out in the limo to take more pictures around Naperville. After the pictures were done, Erin and I met Nicki, Dylan, Toni, Aunt Beth and cousin Alyssa who were having lunch nearby. We said a quick hello, I fed Dylan and we headed out to the hotel. After a quick stop at the hotel, it was reception time. The reception was a blast! They had a photo booth with lots of props which was super fun! Dylan, Nicki, Erin and I had a great time dancing. There were also some other Kappas there, so it was great catching up. Dylan was a super charmer and did a really good job even though we kept him up a bit past bedtime. Nicki took him back to the hotel to put him to bed while Erin and I stayed at the reception. It was a great time and we wish nothing but happiness to Carrie and Larry!!

Dylan visiting Grandma Toni's office :)

Playing with Carsten in Evanston!!

At the rehearsal

Carrie's official introduction to the Marines :)

Erin and Dylan getting ready in the hotel!!

Making mommy smile after the ceremony :)

Having fun on the limo afterwards with Erin!

Husband and Wife!!

Looking adorable with Aunt Nicki!!!

Hanging out with Carrie's nephew, Grant!

Carrie always makes Dylan smile :)

Southpaw made an appearance at the wedding! Dylan knows that we aren't White Sox fans, but we're huge fans of Southpaw!!

Having a good time with mommy and Aunt Nicki!

Erin and I reliving some of our college days!

Have you ever seen a cuter little man in a suit?!!?

Hanging on the dance floor!


Mommy, just because there are hats, doesn't mean you have to put me in them!!!

Seriously...

Okay, now I'm done :)

Drink a beer, drink a beer!!

Dancing with Larry!

On Sunday, we had a brunch with some of Zach's family. It was very nice getting to see all of them. Dylan had a great time getting to hang out with everybody :)

Hanging with Aunt Mary and cousins Joey and Ben!

With Great Grandpa Lee and Grandpa Richard

With Great Grandpa Lee and Grandma Rose!

Having fun at his last day of daycare for a while...

We headed to Des Moines for Thanksgiving! Nicki had come to KC the weekend before to help watch Dylan while he was out of daycare. So, she was in KC to help me pack, get everything ready and drive up to Des Moines. We left on Wednesday afternoon and had a pretty uneventful drive :)

Thursday, Grandma Toni and Grandpa Karl drove over from Chicago. It was super nice of them to come to Des Moines so we could all be together for the holiday! My dad made a great turkey (as always!) and all of the food was fantastic!!! Actually, we had a slight mishap with the sweet potatoes, but I don't like those anyway ;) And in big news, the women took back the Trivial Pursuit crown!! It was a close race for a while, and then we got on a roll and won the game! It was great!!!!

Friday, we did something I usually completely refuse to do...we went shopping. Toni and some of her coworkers are sponsoring Christmas for over 100 people at a homeless shelter near Chicago. So, we went to buy 55 toys for all the kiddos. Dylan stayed home with Papa, while Nicki, Toni, my mom and I hit up the stores. We were actually fairly efficient and ended up with great toys!!

After we got back from shopping, Remy came by for a while. She'd been over for Trivial Pursuit, but Dylan had already been in bed. Dylan loved getting to meet her and is excited to go to her wedding in August! JoAnne and Sarah also came over to hang out and play with Dylan. It was great getting to see them both and catch up!

On Saturday, Nicki and I went running in the morning while my mom walked with Dylan. Billy's friends Nick and Erica came over to meet Dylan and hang out. It was nice getting to see them and Dylan had a great time playing! Saturday afternoon, Dylan got baptized at St. Ambrose (the church where Zach and I got married). It was hard being back in the church, but I'm glad we got it done there. Dylan was a champ throughout the mass and the baptism ceremony. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the water getting poured on his head, but didn't cry at all. Protective big cousin Ella, wasn't too happy about somebody (other than her) messing with Dylan. It was very cute! JoAnne, Jeremy, Sarah and Jeremy all came to the mass. Sarah and JoAnne took pictures and videotaped. Afterwards, we headed to Noah's (my favorite Italian, or really favorite period restaurant in DSM). Remy and her fiance Dave met us there and we had a great time.

Nicki rode back to Chicago with Toni and Karl and left fairly early on Sunday morning. Andrea, very sweetly, offered to ride back with us, so we didn't have to go alone. I fed Dylan around 2:30 and we hit the road a bit after 3. We stopped to buy gas and then noticed that the low tire pressure light had come on. We didn't have a tire pressure gauge, and the QT was out as well. We went to another gas station and checked the tires and they were all a bit low. I tried to put air in the tires, but I couldn't get the nozzles lined up right (for the record, the gas attendant came out to try to help and he couldn't get it either!). So, we headed to yet another QT and successfully filled the tires with air. We got back on the road and Andrea and I had a really nice time hanging out. We stopped once for dinner and to feed Dylan...my dad had left before us and ran into a bunch of traffic from construction, so we were able to take a highway around and avoid all the back up. Dylan did great, although got fairly cranky towards the end of the drive. I think he was just tired of being locked in his seat. So, the trip home ended up being well over 4 hours, but we made it :)

Thankful for Mommy :)

Papa is teaching Ella and Dylan about pool early on!

Pretty impressive that Andrea can handle both of them at the same time!!

Nicki and Billy showing Ella and Dylan how to play airplane :)

Proving that mommy still has strong legs and can hold up Uncle Billy :)

Awfully cute with Aunt Andrea!

Hanging with Grandma Toni and Grandpa Karl :)

Papa and the grandkids :)

Toni went a little overboard with Christmas presents for Dylan...just kidding, all of the wrapped toys for the homeless shelter!

Having fun with Grandpa Karl!

Hanging out with JoAnne and Sarah!

Why is this guy pouring water on my head?!?

Getting baptized

Getting ready to go on a walk with Papa

We decided to go visit Santa at Bass Pro shop a few weeks ago. Dylan was pretty chill about the whole thing (most things, actually) and sat on Santa's lap without protesting. He was really excited after he realized that he could pull on Santa's beard (Santa was less excited!). Ella wanted nothing to do with sitting on Santa's lap, but enjoyed hanging out in the winter wonderland. She especially liked sitting on the chairs inside the tent with Dylan.

All I want for Christmas...

Inside the tent :)

Okay, so this might officially be the longest post ever to date!! Like I said at the beginning, Dylan is scheduled for surgery a week from tomorrow. Any extra thoughts/prayers that could be sent our way would be much appreciated. I promise to update fairly regularly with any news about the surgery and our timeline to get home. Merry Christmas :)