The Jury Is Still Out

For all of you who were on the edge of your seats wondering if I was guilty or innocent about the open container violation, you will just have to wait. Last Friday I woke at 6:15 am to make my 8 o'clock court appearance. I arrived in Iowa City only to find out this was an initial appearance, which meant I was SCHEDULING my court date. Seriously any lawyers out there, is this normal??? Can't this be done online or something? I showed up looking professional and with my 'statement' and photographic evidence for nothing. So my court date is scheduled for October 22 so stay tuned. Boo... And not that this needs to be repeated but I had to suffer through the Iowa v Arizona game the following night so needless to say it wasn't a stellar weekend. Oh well, if drinking tickets and Hawkeye losses are the two most stressful things I have going on right now I'd say life is pretty good!

And speaking of life is good we had an awesome time tonight celebrating Madeline's birthday. I'm not sure if there is anything more fun than watching a 1 year old discover cake. She took about 10 minutes to warm up to the idea but then it was game on. We have a chocolate fan!!!

And don't forget about Dylan. He loves birthday parties. Two forks are better than one!

Happy Hawkeye Fans

Football season has returned and Dylan has a new black and gold fall wardrobe. Minus the open container ticket I received last week (court date is scheduled for Friday so stay tuned) we have enjoyed our Saturday trips to Iowa City and look forward to the rest of the year.

I've been too lazy to post these days so here is an update on our almost 14 month old terror (yes, terror). Dylan's favorite toy is his silly Fisher Price corn popper. We have to take it for a walk every day. Most of you are friends with my mom on facebook so you probably saw the video she posted. Other than walking his pet corn popper Dylan keeps busy by climbing on anything and everything. The good news is that he waits to get into mischief until he is sure someone is watching... ok, its not really good news because he loves the word 'No' and any kind of negative attention. Oh well. Slowly but surely I'm working on this discipline stuff.

Dylan's favorite foods are carrots, broccoli, and sloppy joes. He refuses to eat any kind of pasta, even mac n cheese. Hope that changes soon....His favorite outing is the Childrens Museum. Below are a few pics from our most recent trip.

Playing with blocks

Cruisin the ramp in the toddler play area

Driving the John Deere Tractor with Madeline

His favorite toy at the Childrens Museum is the mop in the play kitchen. So today Mimi splurged and bought Dylan his own cleaning tools. The kit included a broom, mop and hardwood floor cleaner so he is set. After about 30 minutes of running around the house this afternoon I couldn't believe how much dirt he was able to pick up on the microfiber cloth. Next time I'll throw a little Bona cleaner on the floor and we'll both be happy. Sounds like this will become our new after dinner ritual?

Done with the kitchen and onto the dining room

And last but not least he is making the transition from two naps to one afternoon nap. So if you see me before noon and I'm not showered that's my excuse. Ta ta for now!

MIA

I have a pretty good excuse for the lack of blog posts the past few weeks. I will try to keep this as short as possible but here goes. Three weeks ago Dylan got sick. High fever and completely unable to sleep. I felt like I had a newborn again. But anyway, we survived. A few days later I came down with a headache and fever. I hardly ever get sick so I was pretty bummed. I shipped Dylan off to grandma and stayed home and slept. After 3 days Chad convinced me to go to the doctor. I was hoping for an antibiotic or pain medicine but the convenient care doctor sent me straight to the emergency room. WTF it was just a headache?!? After 6 hours in the ER I had a spinal tap to confirm viral meningitis. I had to stay overnight in the neuroscience wing of the hospital. Of course my headache went away by this point and I felt fine but they wouldn't let me go home until 5 the next day. Boo. All was well for two days until I came down with another bout of headaches. Turns out it was a complication from the spinal tap and I needed two days of complete bedrest (only get up to go to the bathroom). That didn't work so Friday I went back to the ER and had an epidural blood patch. And yes, it was as bad as it sounds, dont ask. But hooray, 11 days later I am finally back to normal! Woo hoo! I don't know what I would have done without two awesome sets of grandparents in town and an amazing husband. We also got a visit from Dylan's great grandparents DD and GG last week. Dylan loved having a new audience to show off all of his new tricks for. Hopefully he didn't wear them out too bad...

I can't believe its Labor Day next weekend! We are planning on going up to Iowa City for the Hawkeye season opener. Sorry Dylan, no games for you this year :( Go Hawks!

Madtown

This weekend we took our first family getaway up to Madison. I lived there for 4 1/2 years during college but spent most of my time drinking (and occassionally studying) so I decided it was time to check out all of the awesome family fun Madtown has to offer... We stayed at the Holiday Inn in West Towne and it was pretty sweet. They had an indoor waterpark perfect for toddlers. Dylan is now obsessed with waterslides. We also checked out the local zoo. Dylan was not a fan of his porta crib so he wasn't the best sleeper but other than that we had a great time. Action shots below!

A view of the pirate ship. Dylan is holding a plastic egg playing 'keep a way' with the little girl.

Going down the baby slideAnd back upGoing down the big slide with mom - bracing for impact!

Petting the goats at the zooHamming it up for a photo. He thought it was hilarious to stick his head through the holes.Dylan's first trip to mom's favorite college bar the KK! Sorry Dyl, 20 more years and I'll buy you a famous lunch box shot.

Partied Out...

We had an awesome week but it's time for this birthday to be over. Too much cake and too many toys! But we had so much fun celebrating with family and no surprise - Dylan has a sweet tooth just like his mommy. Too much to blog about so I'll just post a slide show.

Dylan is 1!

Happy Birthday Dylan! We cannot believe our baby is 1. The family birthday parties are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday so more photos to come next week. But we celebrated like any Quad City born and raised 1 year old should - with a Magic Mountain from Ross'! I know it's a little non traditional but he will get his share of cake later in the week :) Thanks to all of our family and friends for the birthday wishes. What a year its been!

Baby's First 4th

This weekend we celebrated Dylan's first Independence Day. Fortunately the weather was great so we spent ample time at the pool. Dylan likes to imitate everything we do these days. Too bad that means chugging Bud Lights at the pool just like daddy and grandpa Beej...

Last night we took Dyl to his first fireworks. He loved them, but the noise was a bit much so we watched most of the show inside the DCC clubhouse. I'm not sure if he was mesmerized by the light display or just completely exhausted because we didn't get home until after 10. Either way, it was fun. Afterwards, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of him in his red, white and blue other than the one of him and Reagen below.... Anyway, the only other big news to report is that our baby is no longer toothless!!! Finally, Dyl has a bottom tooth :) Just in time too, because we only have two more weeks until his first birthday cake!