3 year checkup!

Last week Dylan had his 3 year checkup with Dr. Collins and his ear re-check in IC with our Odo doctor. He was actually very excited to go to the doctor, which was a little crazy, but it made the afternoon much more pleasant for mommy!

Monday I headed to IC with both kiddo's to meet with our Odo doctor to get Dylan's tubes in his ears checked out. Everything went great. The tubes are still in and looking good. Doing the trick which is what we like to hear. He is going to leave them in for now, especially going into winter. We will re-check in 1 year to see how they look, if they are still in at that time.

Tuesday Dylan met with Dr. Collins for his 3 year checkup and Flu Shot. It was very crazy for mom and dad, just hard to believe he is already 3!! First he got weighed, 25.8 pounds, while the IC scale just the day before said 27.2 pounds. HUGE difference in scales, but anyway that is what they got! We are thinking the 27.2 weight is more accurate. He is 36 1/2 inches tall, growing like a little weed! Dylan is doing great, his height is in the middle of the curve and his weight is just at the bottom but still making upward progress. His BMI is exactly above where they want it to be which is excellent. He is growing more than they expect and that is great. He got his finger poked and didn't shed a tear, rather he told the nurse, 'ouch, that hurt'. It was pretty cute!

We talked about the things Dylan is doing Developmentally and he is doing everything he should be and more. Saying his name, being able to point out boys and girls, walking up stairs without stopping between steps, saying a few colors, although intermittently. AND Dylan knows a few shapes. This had Dr. Collins very excited, he knows, circle, star and square! Just as we knew in our hearts Dylan is doing great. Although he has become a little bit of a picky eater over the past few months he loves fruit and veggies. Although he will ask for fruit and the veggies he will eat corn by the fist ful and everything else we usually desguise in a casserole, ha ha ha! But we did up his daily multiple vitamin going into winter, and we are also going to add another to boost his vitamin D. He does drink vitamin D milk but we all want his body to be full of the extra good stuff this time of year.

We made sure and got Dylan his Flu Shot. There are lots of cases already in our area and this flu season is speculated to be a bad one so we got this done early, helping to prevent any case around our house this year. He also got his 3rd Hep B shot. He shed a few tears with these, poor guy, but as soon as he saw his stickers and got some snuggles from mom he was a happy camper once again. Dr. Collins got quite the kick out of Dylan, when she left the room he waved back at her and said, 'Bye Dr. Collins'! She was tickled he said her name for the first time. She takes such good care of the kids, we are very fortunate to have her for our doctor!

This weekend found our family getting some much needed rest and relaxation. Saturday brought many exciting football games and some play time. Jackie brought over Dylan's little friends, her nephews, Zachary and Alex. They brought Dylan's birthday gifts that he absolutely LOVED! A motorcycle that 'pops a wheelie', some cars and a monster truck. Dylan of course has not put them down all weekend and even had to sleep with the Motorcycle. It was really fun for Dylan to see Zachary, his mom first babysat Dylan went I went back to work after Maternity leave. Jen watched Dylan for a couple of months before her little guy, Alex, was born. Then Dylan started going to our current sitter, Michelle. It was fun for the boys to see each other and it was a great day for some play time.

Also on Saturday, our whole family was decked out in our Iowa gear, ready to cheer on the Hawks vs. Penn State. We were a little envious as Grammie, Uncle Chase and Auntie Ciara were actually at the game in Happy Valley, but we caught every minute of it on TV. Dylan only woke up once with all of the cheering going on in the house. Opps....but he snuggled right back in and went back to sleep.

Sunday the kids and daddy were decked out in Bears gear to cheer on our NFL team, the Chicago Bears. It was a great weekend for our family teams as they both pulled out victory's! Daddy also took Dylan out to ride his 4-wheeler, he sure loved it. Brings many smiles and giggles to Dylan's face getting outside and going for a ride.

Thank you lord for blessing our family with a wonderful weekend full of much needed rest and relaxation. We ALL needed it!~

Birthday Fun!

See below this post for our note to Dylan:

Today Dylan turns 3.....WOW have the past 3 years gone by SO fast. We started the day he was born with much uncertainty via the medical field. Mommy and Daddy were certain, everything was going to be okay. We fought, we prayed, Dylan fought and believed in himself. And look at him today, he is amazing, he is our Miracle.

Last weekend we celebrated with a birthday party for our little man. Family and Friends celebrated with us as we celebrated our little miracle turning 3. We had so much yummy food and a wonderful cake. We celebrated for the Iowa vs. Iowa state game, our home was filled with Hawkeye decor. Dylan is a big football and Hawkeye fan...at such a young age....he sure makes his daddy proud! It was very fitting we had a party for this BIG in state rivalry football game.
Dylan got some awesome gifts. He is really into trucks and cars right now and books. He got all of the above. He got a fun ride on Tonka dump truck, at least he thinks he can ride on it! He also got a CAT dump truck and 2 other really fun trucks. He got some fun books, Handy Manny book with a wrench that teaches him to turn left and right. There were also a couple fun Halloween books and from mommy and daddy a Mickey Mouse book and even from Grandpa a BIG dinosaur and Dinosaur book to match that makes noise in surround sound. He got a couple 'shake up' cars, you shake them up and they go across the floor. Probably the biggest gift from his birthday party was one that daddy really really loved. The Hahns and Eddins' got Dylan a little 4wheeler!!!! Let me tell you he LOVES it. He calls it his BIG bike. He has already been riding several times, he has it all figured out. What a great idea! Brad cant wait to have Dylan ride next to him on his little 4wheeler when daddy is on our BIG one. Thank you to all who shared in Dylan's birthday party with us and for the very generous gifts!!!

Today for Dylan's actual birthday we took cupcakes to daycare to share with all of his little friends. Our wonderful sitter Michelle had a little birthday party for Dylan. They ate yummy food and cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to Dylan. She really made the day special for him which is great since mommy and daddy were at work. Tonight we ordered pizza and got an Ice Cream Blizzard cake and let Dylan finish opening his gifts from mommy, daddy and Danielle.

Dylan was pretty tired from a long birthday at daycare but he hung in there. He loved the pizza of course and he was very much into the ice cream cake. When Brad and I sang 'Happy Birthday' to him he put his finger up to his mouth and said 'shhhh', like he had been sang to enough already! We laughed and kept singing. Dylan loved opening his gifts. His BIG gift from mommy and daddy is a train table. We can't wait for daddy to get it put together and situated with Dylan's Brio train on it. He will have lots of fun with that. He also got a tricycle, more books and some Handy Manny Cars. The LeConte's from Wisconsin got Dylan his first toy John Deere Skid Loader, he really LOVES it. He even has to sleep with it every night and stack up all of the blocks in the bucket before he is content. I think he really made out this year!

Last Sunday we had a special day. We went and celebrated Lila's Christening with her and her family and other great friends. Mike and Kirsten hosted the Christening at Kirsten's dads, Smith Pond. The weather was beautiful and it was an excellent surrounding for a blessed event. Lila looked stunning in her long gown, she was such a good girl and never made a peep! We were very happy to be a part of Lila's special day. After the Christening Mike and Kirsten catered a wonderful brunch, we relaxed with their family and friends. That afternoon we visited Great Grandma Holub in Prairieburg. She was very excited to see these beautiful great grand babies of hers and they were excited to see her also. She gave Dylan his birthday gift a wonderful truck, he really loves it! We enjoyed laughing with her and great conversations. On the way home we stopped at the cemetery to visit great grandpa Holub. Brad misses him terribly and wanted to take the kids to his resting spot. We could feel his warm presence around us as Brad knelt down and told the kids of what a wonderful man he was and even though he is not with us in person his spirit is with us and he loves these babies so much. Brad really misses the family farm, we got a great picture of it today so he can fill the kids in on how much that farm meant to him.

Happy Birthday Dylan. We can't believe 3 years have gone by already. You are such a miracle, we are SO happy you are a fighter and we always want you to remember how much we continually believe in you. Keep believing in yourself. Keep chasing those dreams. We are very proud of you and thank you for being such a good big brother to Danielle. She loves you very much! We hope you had an excellent birthday little man, we all love you SO much!~

Happy 3rd Birthday Dylan.....

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY DYLAN :)

Today is the day, little man, that we first met you. You weren't supposed to come today 3 years ago. When mommy first went into labor we hoped you would stay in until January, mommy's due date. But you came little man, and you came in true fashion. In the hallway on the way to the OR, you couldn't wait to make your appearance. It was a day of joy, a day of anxiety, tears, happiness, a day filled with emotion. We knew you were a Miracle from the start. We knew you were a fighter and we knew everything would be just fine. We believed in you Dylan the same way we believe in you now. You are the sunshine in our lives, you are the strong big brother to your little sister, you are the strong little brother to your older brother, our angel Dalton. You are our miracle middle child. You are our life.
The past 3 years have been filled with surprises with you in our life. With you around sweetie you are so adventurous that we never know what each day will bring, but we know there will be many smiles and giggles and there will be much joy.

You are a Virgo, your sign says this about you:
The Perfectionist. Dominant in relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word. Argumentative. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy. Often shy. Pessimistic.

Even though you are only 3 today, we notice many of these qualities in you. You are very intelligent. You do not forget anything. You remember people, you remember events that we have done in weeks and months past and often talk about them. You make friends very easily and at daycare Michelle tells us that you are very protective of your baby sister. You love Danielle, you give her kisses you lay on the floor with her. You stay in her room while we are in there and if she is in her crib you try and crawl up just so you can peek at her. You are the perfect big brother, Danielle's protector! Right now you are really into trucks and cars and animals. You love your puppy Skylar. You want to see her every night when we get home right away, you are always concerned where she is if she is outside and you can't see her. You love to do puzzles, you can count to the number #13, you can say 1/2 of the alphabet and you can identify every letter in your name. You try and hold up 3 fingers when we ask how old you are. Jumping is one of your favorite things to do. You like to try and jump off things and jump over things. You love to play outside. Daddy built you and Danielle a very nice swing set in the back yard. You love to be out there and play. For your birthday party the Hahn's and Eddins' got you a 4wheeler! You love to ride that around outside and every morning you ask to ride, mommy tells you that you can ride when we get home. Sure enough we get home and you remind us that we told you that you could ride! You LOVE the water. You love to swim, you love to blow bubbles in the water and you even put your head under. Mommy and daddy will try and have a nice pool someday for you and Danielle because we know how much you love to swim.

This year you have gone on some really fun vacations with mommy and daddy. You went to your first NFL game to see the Chicago Bears play. Daddy was SO proud to have you there with him for his first NFL game too. You have been to Arizona 1 time already and will be going again in a few months. You have been to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. You are our little traveler. We are very fortunate to have been able to take you these places. We have fun when we travel, you love it too!

Sweetie the past 3 years of our lives have been SO wonderful with you in it. Your daddy and I have fought so hard for you. Some people do not understand why we protected you so, but honey we do. We know what you need and when you were a teeny tiny baby we were told what we needed to do to protect you when you were in the NICU and when you came home. We have done that and more. Now you are growing SO big and SO strong. You are all caught up for a 3 year old. Nobody would ever know looking at you or talking with you that you were born 16 1/2 weeks early. You have defied the odds, you are god's glory, you are a miracle.

Mommy and daddy wanted to write you this letter for today, your 3rd birthday. Little man, we love you SO much. We will protect you forever, we are your mommy and daddy, and we are so proud to call you our son. Thank you for being you, thank you for being a fighter, thank you for fighting so much that the doctors are stunned, speechless.....thank you! Anyone that doesn't see you is missing out.

We love you so, we love every minute of every day because you are in it. We are very proud of you, we believe in you and we always will. Never give up, never quit, always keep dreaming, we love watching you grow. You are becoming such a little man and you will continue to grow and you will one day be a grown man and successful and then....we will still be SO proud of you, what you are now and what you will become :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!~

Labor Day Getaway....

This nice long Holiday weekend found our family relaxing together in Des Moines.


Friday night we started the weekend at Masen's Birthday pool party. This was right up Dylan's alley as he LOVES to swim! Daddy and Dylan splashed in the pool at the Longbranch while mommy and Danielle sat back and relaxed. We wanted to be able to celebrate with Masen, our god son, but we also wanted Dylan to be able to get a good nights sleep for the busy weekend ahead.

Saturday morning we finished up packing a few things and headed over to my cousins to meet the rest of the family that was venturing with us to Des Moines. We met Kim and Kris, and cousins Collin and Morgan and we were off. Dylan was SO excited to see Collin and Morgan and especially their new puppy Nix. Dylan hardly wanted to leave their house, he would have rather stayed and played with Buddy and Nix. He had NO idea what fun was ahead of him.

Our first stop was the Blank Park Zoo. This is a wonderful zoo just outside Des Moines. We ate lunch at the Safari Grill and checked all of the wonderful exhibits. First was the reptiles and birds. We ventured thru the cave and peeked in the holes to view the huge snakes on the other side. The Peacocks were trailing along at our feet, and we stopped to view the Coral and unique Jelly Fish. We went along and checked out the monkeys doing all of their tricks. Dylan got a kick out of them swinging around and playing with each other. The Lions were taking a nap and the others were giving each other a bath. They were HUGE! We went thru the petting zoo and Dylan saw the goats, the Bull, horses and lots of fish. We made a pit stop at the play area. Collin and Morgan were following Dylan climbing all over and sending him down the slides. He had such a great time at the zoo!

We got all checked into our hotel and relaxed Saturday night. We ate pizza and swam in the pool. Dylan once again loved the water and swimming with daddy, Kris and the kids. Dylan loved watching daddy jump into the pool and make a big splash with his canon ball jump. Then Brad would throw Dylan and his swim seat up in the air and catch them in the water. Dylan laughed and laughed, and love making big splashed with daddy. Mommy and Danielle had many laughs with Kim and Aunt Ellie watching the kids be kids and the boys be boys! We got all tucked in after swimming and rested up for our super fun Sunday ahead.

After breakfast we told Dylan that he was going to spend the day with us at Adventureland. He really had no clue.... He was just happy to be with the kids. We kept telling him he was going to go on rides and was going to go fast! He was excited but really still didn't understand. We arrived at Adventureland just before 11 and Kim had a great suggestion to start with the train ride, this way we could see what was in store for us. Dylan of course had a blast on the train, sitting with daddy and checking out the scenery around him. It was fun for the whole family and from there we knew where we wanted to venture to. Collin and Morgan had many great ideas in store for Dylan and the rides they knew he would LOVE!

We stopped at the Falling Star and Collin and Morgan broke Brad in right away with a thrilling ride. Dylan laughed and smiled as daddy was very 'high in the sky.' A tradition for Collin and Morgan continued with Dylan as they took Dylan for his first ride on the little semis. Dylan loved steering the wheel as he sat with Collin in the front of the cab leading the pack. Brad and Dylan went on another ride with Aunt Ellie, Kris and the Kids, the ventured over to The Underground. The ride is pitch black and 'underground'. Dylan didn't bat an eye and loved every minute of it! Then it was on to the Frog Hopper. This one Collin was able to go on with Dylan, thank goodness, because otherwise I think Dylan would have been a little scared. The Frog Hopper took them way up in the air and slowly bounced them up and down. Dylan grabbed onto Collin and had the most horrific look on his face, before cracking a smile, and eventually a few giggles. Thank you Collin for being such a trooper, Dylan loved it! Next, Brad really wanted to venture over to the Log Ride. So Daddy, Mommy, Dylan and Collin headed to get wet! It was a beautiful day and the sun was really warm. Getting a little bit wet was a perfect idea. Brad sat in front, followed by Collin, Dylan and I. Brad sure took the brunt of the BIG splash of water but we all got a little wet. It was really fun and Dylan once again loved being in the water, in the boat and especially he loves going up the big hill up and down the hill going 'fast'! Then we ventured to the Tornado, Dragon and eventually for some lunch before heading to Kokomo Kove.

We were at Adventureland on the perfect day. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Just about 80 degrees, hot in the sun and in the shade you could feel a nice breeze. Dylan was VERY excited to get in the water. He started taking off his shirt as soon as he knew he was going to be able to play. It was hilarious! He loved the little Kokomo Splash Pad. There were numerous water features and it was perfect for the adults to sit and watch and laugh while Dylan was having a great timem and the big kids went on for more rides. Eventually, that led to Brad and Kris getting more adventurous and they ventured on for more rides while the girls sat and relaxed. Dylan ended up falling asleep in mommy's arms and we made a little bed for him in the shade and he took a nap. It really could not have worked out any better because it would have been a really LONG day for everyone if this would not have happened ;) Danielle also took a snooze and the ladies soaked up the sun!

The daddy's and big kids returned, I managed to change Dylan's diaper, dress him and put him in the stroller without him even batting an eye. He was tuckered out! So he ended up sleeping in the stroller for another hour while the rest of us played some games, rode more rides and ate supper. He managed to wake up in an extremly good mood and very happy to see we were still at Adventureland.....this meant he could have hours more fun! He had pizza and french fries for supper and he was good to go. We went past the Side Winder and the Little Wagons before stopping for the big kids and daddy's to have another attempt at the Falling Star. Collin and Morgan wento back for a few more 2nd and 3rd times on rides and we headed for a funnel cake and trip to the Farris Wheel. Dylan enjoyed his first funnel cake. Yummy! We wound down our busy day at Adventureland with a ride on the BIG Farris Wheel. Dylan, Brad and Ellie went on the ride and the big kids found a few more rides and the rest of us relaxed. After the Farris Wheel Brad and Kris decided they needed to win a HUGE Herky the Hawk for the kids. Well they went and tried their best at the toss the ball into the metal jug game. Well Brad retured with a little Herky for Dylan and Kris retured with a HUGE Herky for Collin and Morgan. I don't think we would have had much room for the huge Herky on the car ride home. Kim and I then tried our attempts at a big Herky, no such luck for the mommy's. We got 2 more small Herky's for the kids as well. It was a really hard game and laughing the whole time probably didn't help our luck much ;) We headed back to the hotel shortly after 9 for some more swimming fun!

The pool area at the Marriott was perfect, the water was warm and the hot tub was very nice! Dylan once again loved swimming with his whole entire family. He was splashing and laughing and was very excited when he got to swim with Danielle. His eyes sure lit up when we took her in the water with him. It was very cute how protective of her he is already at such a young age, he always kept an eye on where she was in the water and who she was with. Such a good big brother. He wasn't allowed in the hot tub, just got to stick his feet in a few times when they were cold. He was perfectly content sitting on the side, just enjoying his family and taking in all of the laughs and laughs and laughs that were going on around him.

Monday we woke and after breakfast headed off for our day of shopping! We ventured to Jordan Creek Mall and shopped at a couple choice stores that we don't have here. Dylan was getting a littl restless, totally understandable since boys usually don't like shopping much, but he was already hungry for lunch! After Jordan Creek we made a pit stop at the new Bass Pro Shop in Altoona. This store was HUGE! Not only was the store incredible but it also featured Uncle Buck's Fish Bowl and Restaurant. This place is amazing. They had Bowling lanes in the restaurant! The store had an archery range and the fishing area, all of it was incredible. We for sure could have spent the entire afternoon there! After lunch we made our trek closer to home. We stopped in Williamsburg and we did some major shopping for winter clothes for our family. The kids really made out like little champs. Not often you find HUGE Labor Day Sales like we found today and we took full advantage of it at our most favorite stores!

Dylan fell asleep just before we got home, of course, he doesn't sleep the whole was to Des Moines or home but falls asleep just before we get home. Well it was just before 6. We really hated to wake him but thought if he woke it would be okay. Well I put him in bed, changed his diaper, put his pj's on and he slept thru every minute. He is a tuckered out little man.

We had the BEST weekend with our family. We made many memories and we all cleared out the cobb webbs from laughing so hard. The kids really enjoyed spending the weekend with their cousins. Collin and Morgan are so good with them and tolerable also, when little ones are around sometimes they are on their own schedule, the big kids never complained at all for waiting or anything. It sure was a weekend of fun, we started another family tradition and we are very happy that we were able to be a part of the Aarhus family tradition with aunt Ellie as well. Thank you SO much to Kim, Kris, Collin, Morgan and Aunt Ellie for a fun filled family getaway. We are very excited to do it again next year and we can't wait to see what fun the kids will have once again.

Thank you lord for blessing our family on our Labor Day getaway. Thank you for keeping us safe and protecting us on our journey. We made some great memories and are very fortunate to have the opportunity to do so!~