Happy Birthday Dylan Jacob!

Dear Dylan,

Hi Baby Boy, it's mommy and today we are celebrating your 2nd birthday! Hopefully one day we can read this together and share all of our special memories. It has been a wonderful two years and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you! I just can't believe two years ago I was holding you in my arms, right now you were almost 1 hour old. You were so tiny, only 8 pounds, 15 ounces (actually, you were quite big for a baby!) and I held you in our hospital room and just stared at you. You had the brightest blue eyes and the softest skin. Daddy and I were so proud of our baby boy. In the first few days we had some adjusting and learning to do. We were all so new at this baby thing. Daddy and I did pretty good though, we learned how to soothe you when you cried, how to handle around the night feedings, changing diapers, going places with a newborn and many many more. That first year was a lot of fun. You rolled from your back to tummy, sat up, crawled, walked, ate solids, said your first words and so much more! Right around your 1st birthday, you met your first best friend, your blankie!! The 2nd year was just as fun. You just grew and grew and grew! Everyday you learned something new. You started to not only walk more, but run, throw balls, jump, skip, talk... You are such a curious little guy, you want to know what everything is, you figure things out on your own and you are so sweet! Did I mention you are non-stop and a tad bit mischievous at times?? I guess you are a boy!

Today, on your second birthday I look at you and see the little boy you are growing up to be and it makes me think about how incredibly blessed daddy and I are to have such a sweet son. You bring so much joy to everybody you meet with your friendly personality! I want to save these moments in a bottle, but I am also excited to see the young man you will become. I know you will be very handsome, caring, athletic, smart and most of all you will be you!! You are a very special boy and I love you very much!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Love,

Mommy!

Birthday Party #2

Today we had another party for Dylan! We had a nice lunch with my family and some friends. We didn't really do too much of a theme. Aunt Ashley made Dylan's ball cupcakes--they were very cute, some had green frosting (looked like grass) with homemade baseball and football candies and others had brown frosting (like a basketball court) with homemade basketball candies. Grandpa also made a #2 cake for Dylan. This is something my dad did growing up for my sister and I. He always made us birthday cakes in the shape of a number. He made Dylan a 1 last year and I am sure will continue for all future birthdays! Dylan got a lot of fun presents, but the bowling ball set was his favorite. Unfortunately he opened it first and no other presents mattered, all he wanted were the balls!

Tomorrow is Dylan's actual 2nd birthday! We will spend the morning at the doctor for his 2 year check up, then maybe the pool or park for the afternoon!

Birthday Party #1

We had Dylan's first of 2 birthday parties this afternoon! Last year we had one big party, and it was too crazy with 40-50 people at our house! This year we decided to do one with Seth's family and one with mine. We did the Packard side today! It was Seth's brother and sisters, nieces and nephews and parents. We just ordered pizza and the kids played in the back yard. It was a nice relaxing party. Now on to making food for tomorrow's party with my family! I did a frog theme-I found some cute frog invitations so I just went from there. I made frog cupcakes and had frogs on the table as well. I was pretty proud of my cupcakes, but they were hard to put on the stand, I guess the eyes were too big!

Almost 2!!

It is hard to believe that my baby boy will be 2 Monday! Let's see, 2 years ago today I was overdue and very anxious to meet Dylan! I remember every day--probably several times a day I would think I felt something weird, maybe a contraction...but nothing ever happened!! That little guy was comfy and didn't want to come out!! I remember telling my mom I think I had contractions, and she said I would know if I was having them, so I guess I never did. Lucky me I think!! We are having 2 parties this weekend, one Saturday and another Sunday. But as I am thinking about the last 2 years, I will give you a top 10 list of special memories (in no special order though)!



1. hospital room! I will never forget being in the recovery room and Seth bringing Dylan in. He was perfect and we just stared at each other!! It was the most amazing moment. He was all snug in his blanket and I just saw this perfect face beaming at me. I couldn't believe he was mine and I was finally meeting him!

2. watching him sleep! To this day I love watching Dylan sleep. There is something about the calmness of it. He always looks to peaceful and happy. Even though he is 2 I love holding him in my arms when he falls asleep. I don't get the chance often now since he falls asleep in his bed, but when I do, I cherish it!

3. mama-the first time he said mama! What an amazing thing to hear your son say.

4. CLOTHES! Even though Dylan is a boy he has had his share of cute outfits! I love dressing him up in all of his cute outfits. I know someday he will kill me for 1/2 of the things I have made him wear. I guess I do it now because in a few years I won't get to. He will probably only want KU shirts and shorts!!

5. Dylan and Daddy! Seth is amazing with Dylan. I knew he would be so I am never shocked when I see the 2 of them together. Seth never hesitates with Dylan and is always so happy to see him after a long day at work. I am a little nervous though, if Dylan is anything like his daddy was, we are going to have more of a handful than we do now in 5 years!!

6. First kiss! I know, weird sounding! Dylan is such a loving boy. He is so sweet and affectionate and likes to give kisses! Just about everytime we go somewhere and I am holding him I always ask him for a kiss, and I get it. Then we exchange I Love Yous! It is amazing the love he has for everyone (especially mommy!).

7. SUMMERTIME! I am so lucky to have my dream job has a teacher, but be home in the summer with Dylan! We have so much fun and I love hanging out with him. He becomes such a momma's boy in the summer. I will be the first to admit I am always excited to see Seth walk through the door at 5:00--not so much because I need a break, but because I like it when we are all together! I am also excited when August rolls around and I get to go back to work. It is tough at first, but worth it... I love teaching and I know Dylan is in good hands!

8. All of his firsts! His first word, step, food, birthday, holidays, crawling, rolling over...it is always amazing to me when Dylan does something for the first time.

9. His Laugh! Dylan has a great laugh! It brings so much joy to our home to just hear him laugh.

10. PROUD! Not really a memory, but a feeling! I am so proud to be Dylan's mommy! For the most part he is a great little boy. He is 2 though, so we have our ups and downs, but we are working through them together! I will always think of him as my "baby boy" even though he isn't really a baby anymore. I am so excited to go on this adventure with him, going to school, playing sports, making friends, I guess all of the adventures of growing up. I can't wait for all of the adventures life will bring us and all of the proud moments I will have with my "baby boy"!

Seth's first blue plate special!! This is for several things--I just forgot to have him eat off the plate! First of all--bowling! Some of you know Seth bowls and has bowled for the past 15 years. He is quite good, and I am not just saying that because I am his wife!! This year he was in the Top 10 for Gage Bowl. I believe this is the 3rd year he has been in it! Basically this means he is in the Top 10 for that bowling alley. I think he was 4th season for the ! Wow!! For the Top 10 tournament he has to bowl 10 games in a row and he got 5th place this year! One year he was also in the Top 10 for all of Topeka! I am lucky to get a 230 in 10 games combined and that is what he averages for one game! The other reasons, Father's Day, his 28th birthday and our 3 year anniversary! By the way--in case you are wondering what in the world he is eating--it is BBQ brisket and oven potatoes! Yummy!



Dylan's new big bed! Going OK now, I will let you know in a couple weeks if the crib is officially put up! For now the crib is taken apart but still in the living and dining room! We aren't sure how this new bed thing is going to work out!!


Dylan's new trick--he can climb up the cabinets and sit on them! Oh goodness, this 2 thing is fun!


Washing the car! About 2 seconds after I took this Dylan moved and soaked daddy!

Great Memories!

Dylan's first blue plate special! Something we started is the Packard's Blue Plate Special-Dylan was able to eat off it for the first time Saturday morning for finishing his swimming lessons! He did a great job and is quite the little swimmer!



Here is a memory that our family will share for many many years to come! Friday morning Dylan and I decided to make a TRIPLE layer chocolate cake from SCRATCH for Father's Day! It is my grandma's award winning recipe and the first time I had made it. In the morning we worked together on the 3 cakes. Dylan stood on his step stool and poured in most of the ingredients--and it has a lot of ingredients!! We baked the cakes and they cooled all afternoon. While they were cooling my mom called several times to see how it was going--she doubted my abilities and thought the cake would be lopsided. It was all in good fun though, she knows when it comes to cooking I have my dad's skills, not hers (thankfully!) She is the best mom in the world, but not a cook!! That evening Dylan and I made the HOMEMADE frosting and began to frost all 3 layers! Again, he was on his step stool helping out. We had just put the top layer on and we were frosting the sides. The cake was looking great. It was standing and it was pretty straight! I have to admit, I was very proud of Dylan a myself! Well, as I was frosting Dylan grabbed a measuring cup from the sink that was full of water and poured it on top of the cake! Yes, he poured it on the cake...it was ruined!! All I could do was scream, Seth ran in the kitchen and I just started to cry. At this point Seth didn't know what had happened, and Dylan had non idea what was wrong with me. I wasn't mad at Dylan, there was no way I could be-he had been so helpful and had been using the measuring cups, he had no clue that it wasn't supposed to be poured on the cake!! He kept saying sorry, sorry, and cry then he kissed my tears! I decided that the memory Dylan and I made that day is much sweeter than any triple layer homemade chocolate cake!! I will cook with Dylan again, and I know there will be more mishaps, but it is all worth it! I love cooking and having Dylan help me is a blast. Any quality time I can spend with my little guy is so precious!! Here are a few pictures we captured and that I will always look at and think of the special day!
















And there is the finished product, all wet but still pretty!



WARNING:never give an almost 2 year old M&Ms in the car!! They were on his back, tummy and of course in the car seat!

Our lovely Gage Park has a Carousel and Dylan and I went for a ride on it ! We went last summer and he didn't enjoy it at all, this summer went much better! He rode on the horse the whole time, with mommy holding on of course! After the ride we posed for some pictures with the Wizard of Oz characters!

Here Dylan is enjoying some play time at the pool after swimming lessons! He is doing well in his swimming lessons, but he gets to distracted and doesn't listen at times! He sees big kids going down a slide and jumping off the diving board, I think he wants to try them, but he doesn't understand that he is too little!!