{Laugh as much as you breathe and Love as long as you live}

That is the quote I have been holding onto all week long! It's been a little rough but we will get thru and we have. Our week started BUSY, that sounds so cliche and at times I feel like I sound like a broken record but this week that broken record continued to play.
Tuesday our sitter called me early afternoon with little peanut running a fever. Got her home, snuggled, gave a little Tylenol and she was doing good. Slept great and the next morning well we had a happy little girl! Perfect! Off we went with yet another crazy day and by 10am another phone call with a higher fever than the day before. This mama was puzzled. Not only does Danielle rarely run fevers but she had just been fine a few hours before! So I called the doc and got an apt. Picked her up, headed to the doc and then decided to run home for a bit. The docs verdict was, just a 'virus', after blood counts proved her to be otherwise 'ok'. I had a 3pm deadline to meet at work which my project hadn't been started, but I thought a warm bath at home and a bottle may rejuvenate my girl to head into work with Mom, plus no stroller or infant seat in my car, so we had to head home. Got home and sure enough I misplaced my house key, my door opener is dead, my husband was 2 hours from home and I was officially LOCKED out of the house! Just perfect! Thankfully I had a bottle that I fed peanut in the car and well trucked back into work. Little girl was a champ, not feeling good at all she clung on to my lap at work for the next 3 hours while I met my deadline. Headed to get Dylan and snuggled in at home because in the mean time thankfully my brother-in-law lives down the street and has our extra house key. Fever continued all day and broke that night, but sister was up all...night...long. Developed a cough and wouldn't sleep. So we stayed home. But not before we headed in to drop Dylan off and stopped by my work yet again for a few hours of 'must-do's.'
So Mommy life this week was a little challenging but we managed, thankfully! Thursday brought a lot of snuggles before we picked up Dylan from school. And one happy girl by that afternoon. TLC did her much good!
Friday morning Dylan and I headed to the Cedar Rapids Marriott for the March of Dimes, March for Babies kickoff breakfast! This was the first year we had attended and we were excited to be there! Ashley Hinson from KCRG was the emcee and there were a variety of speakers including Dr. Nau from St. Lukes and this years Ambassador Family, the Norris'.

It was a fantastic morning with my sweet sweet boy. We are very much gearing up for this years walk and starting to get things in order! It was also emotional watching videos and having Dylan ask questions, as those seem more frequent these days. But it felt oh so good to hold him close, kiss his head and give thanks that we have these precious babies to squeeze every day.
             Saturday morning brought the first round of swim lessons for the kiddo's for this session! We were all SO excited. Dylan had his new Spiderman swim shirt and trunks on, Daddy & Danielle were ready to glide thru the water and I had my camera all ready to catch these precious moments on film! We arrived and each went to get the kids ready. I for a brief moment placed Danielle on the bench, with one hand on her I took my other hand, opened the locker to hang up our bag and I heard the most horrible, 'thud.' My girl had fallen head first and slammed her head into the hard ground, while her feet were still being held by my hand on the bench. I screamed, picked her up and finally about 2 seconds later she began to cry. I quickly grabbed our things, ran to the front desk and pleaded for someone to grab my husband and son from the other locker room. We needed to head to the ER and FAST. Head injury's for anyone are serious but especially with Danielle and her history of hemorrhages at birth. I couldn't even talk amongst the tears but mustered up, 'she feel we need to go to the hospital NOW.' I feel like the worst...mom...ever, and still do. I nearly wanted to vomit I was so upset and couldn't believe that happened in less than a split second. We know that the two hospitals in CR don't handle head injury's so we didn't mess around and headed straight to the University. I called the on-call doc in the Neurosurgery dept and told them what happened, they were going to notify the ER that we were on our way. Driving 85-90 trying to slow down for speed cameras it took what felt like an eternity to get there. I finally calmed down and so did my husband and very concerned Dylan, and thankfully Danielle had quit crying when I put her in the car and she smiled and talked all the way to IC. Her Daddy's eyes were on her non-stop. I'm so glad we were all together this day.
     We arrived and were rushed in immediately. The immediate tests by the ER docs showed Danielle to be just fine, thank god. The suggested a CT but didn't really want to expose her to the radiation and we didn't either. So we suggested an MRI and they obliged, but stated that sedation is hard to get on the weekends. Totally fine by us because we prefer no sedation anyway and I can console her for the scans like I usually do. After the scans the Neurosurgeon came in and told us the scans were fine, he reprogrammed her shunt and we go the all clear to head home. Our little concerned brother waited so very patiently in the room and rubbed her leg and asked if she was ok, as you can see he didn't want to leave her side. He was such a good boy for us. Danielle was happy the entire time, we had x-rays which she didn't like too much but for the MRI she was calm and we held her and gave her all he snuggles she wanted and very much deserved. My heart was breaking and every time she smiled a little piece of my heart mended that is for sure. We had the most compassionate ER staff, they listened and trusted us and did exactly what we wanted, we could not have asked for anything more. And the best news of all was our little girl was a-ok, happy tears flowed and flowed.

We headed home and home never felt so good. We are so lucky and fortunate she is ok, not any minute can be taken for granted. A couple other things during the week were very difficult as well. Making us realize even more that each moment is never to be taken for granted nor is each day to be expected, each day is a gift and it is to be cherished.
      We continued with our plans of a nice family dinner last night. We headed to Coralville to Iowa River Power Restaurant for a fantastic family outing. It felt so good to sit at a table with our loved ones which we are blessed to have around us. Our dinner, as usual, was delicious!

It was a nice quiet evening, much deserved after somewhat of a chaotic week. It was nice to chat on the way home with my hubby as we had two tuckered out kids sound asleep in the back seat.         

And in other news..... we have something NEW that has been added to our family. No, its not a baby, and no, its not a pet either, its a new vehicle to add to our 'fleet'! We had been discussing since last fall on the thought of getting a car for Brad to drive to work. It is only a short time during the summer months that he drives a work vehicle and the rest of the time he drives his truck and carpools with a co-worker who lives in Alburnett. So we've had our eyes open and with the rising cost of gas, yet again, spending $200- a week in gas we were finally fed up! Brad's truck was surprisingly getting 18 mpg which is awesome but driving 188 miles per day you still need gas more than one-2 times per week. So this car came in and I snagged it up, called Brad and said, 'honey, I bought you a car!' So this weekend we brought it home and I have to say it is kinda cute. I would have NO problem at all toodling around in this to run errands if I am kidless for a few hours. It is a 4 door so if we need to put a child or two in the back seat it is very do-able.

 It is a '99 Saturn and is in superb shape. A 60 yr old woman owned it and has kept up with all of the maintenance, which can be hard to find these days for a 13 yr old vehicle with 103,000 miles. And it looks nice, no damage, the interior is nice and it's not too much of a, you know, 'ghetto mobile'! HA! So the Saturn is Brad's new ride as much as he would like. If he wants to take it he will, if he wants to 'truck it' for the day he will leave it home. But kinda fun to have something different around that will put about $150- a week back into our savings account. And that.....feels SO good!
      So today has been spent mostly relaxing and getting ready for the week. The morning started with some quiet reading time for all of us.

And also reminiscing of all of these good family times we've had, we are praying for many, many more to come!

Because life is precious, oh so precious. So remember....

 Laugh as much as you breathe and Love as long as you live.~

Cooking up some fun...among other things!

These past few weeks we have added a new Sunday ritual! Along with our family fun craft Sunday we have also had a bit of fun in the kitchen! Dylan has shown some interest in preparing his meals, especially on the weekends when things aren't so rushed like they occasionally are during the week. He likes to pull his stool along side Mom, or Dad and get his hands in the fun!
With Valentines day in the horizon last weekend, how appropriate to cook up some chocolate deliciousness!

He had a lot of fun learning to measure with the measuring cup, pouring in of course and using those arm muscles with lots of mixing! The best part of course was tasting the yummy chocolate brownie at the end after it was all cooked, yum!!!
This weekend well we made something kinda fun. Looks can be deceiving let me tell you, but how cool is this.....VERY cool if you're 5!

 He had a lot of fun poking the hard spaghetti noodles thru the hot dogs, pouring them in the boiling water and about 10 minutes later seeing the finished product! How did those noodles stay in those hot dogs anyway, he asked! And then what are noodles without a little butter and Parmesan cheese?! Well obviously hot dogs don't taste too bad with those toppings either because this meal was a HIT!

Something I always remember my Dad telling me at a very young age, 'honey I'm going to teach you how to cook in case you marry a man who doesn't know how.' Well thankfully my husband does know how, very well actually, but 90% of the time I find myself in the kitchen cooking up something new! Something I learned from my daddy, and now even if its something new and really good....well, a text picture message sent to my Dad with my new concoction is something that does occasionally happen ;) So with Dylan learning a few fun things in the kitchen at a young age, well just a little different kind of bonding time now on our Sunday afternoons, I love every bit of it!
Our craft day last weekend consisted of making Valentines! Dylan had 17 Valentines to make plus a few we put in the mail to the kids little friends as well. So it was a fun afternoon with scissors, glue, glitter and stickers!

And well now the snow has melted but before it did, a couple weeks ago we made time for some outdoor fun in the field of white! Sledding super fast down the hill in our yard and even making it ALL the way down to the fence! Lots of giggles and 'oh yeas' with some big high fives on this day!

And we cannot forget about quality play time as siblings! Both Brad and I are extremely proud of Dylan and the amount of interest he has shown in his sister over the past couple of months. There was always a bond before, as siblings naturally have. But these past couple of months, on a daily basis he tells her he loves her, when she gets in the car after daycare he asks her how her day was, and wants to play with her and interact with her non-stop at home and let me tell you.....he makes her smile! Just yesterday Dylan had a morning out with his Daddy and Danielle and I were at home. Brad called me on the phone and Dylan wanted to talk to me, so I was talking with Dylan, and holding Danielle and she heard Dylan in the background so she started to babble a bit. I asked Dylan if he wanted to talk to his sister and he said, 'yes', so I put the phone to her ear and he talked to her for the next couple of minutes and our little girls face had the biggest smile from ear to ear, she was giggling and looking all around for his voice. It....melted....my....heart! SO precious! I wish I would have recorded Danielle's reaction. The camera is always around at home and capturing play-times like these on film are priceless to us too!

And another bit of fun.....well Grandma Holub works with a nice man at Rockwell who makes fun trinkety things. This just so happens to be right up Dylan's alley, an M&M dispenser. Well Grandma knows what Dylan loves so she gave this to him for Valentines day and it is perfect. It dispenses just the right amount of M&M's for our little guy (2) and when he is good, this is used for rewards. You know things that happen as a parent that make you really proud, well like big poops on the potty and dry nights and even taking a dish to the sink after supper without having to be asked. So that is what our M&M dispenser is used for....when we can keep Daddy's choc-a-holic paws out of it ;-)

Most of our weekend days have been filled with fun things and activities that I listed above. And some quiet reading time too for all of us. Dylan loves to sit on the floor and line his books up in order of what he wants to read next. He is SO anal and likes everything just perfect! See for yourself!

Danielle has been trying some new fun things out at therapy and playing with a few of her favorites at home.

This is a new rainbow swing that she seems to really love.

 Pom Poms, they put an instant smile on this little girls face!

 And a new scooter Barb has had her on at therapy, a new sort of independence....

 sister gets it goin'!!!!!

And I just LOVE how sisters mind says, 'well if your going to tickle my feet brother'........

 'then I'm gonna put em' right on top of you'! And he doesn't care one bit! Love them to pieces!!!

February, where in the world have you gone?! We're not complaining other than the times spent with our little ones goes by way too fast! But Spring, yes, spring is just around the corner. Without a doubt we have had one beautiful winter, but with March just around the corner, Spring Fever is definitely filling our house really quick!~

{Something New}

Today we woke up, took in a deep breath, peeked out to see the beautiful sun which made it even better and were excited for the start of something new! We have now become parish members of Dylan's Parish School church. We have been members of St. Pius since before we were married and now decided that we would also join All Saints. The parish community from what we have experienced is nothing short of fantastic. Everyone is so nice, the priest is hilarious, very genuine, great with the kids, easy to understand and not overbearing at all and everyone treats you as you are family, which in a sense we are.
Today was the start of Catholic Schools week. It is a celebratory awareness week made of catholic schools and parishes around. How they were found, how they maintain their values and expand their horizons for our youth today.. hence our little children. This week at All Saints there will be lots of fun activities for Dylan throughout his day. For instance each day is a theme, for clothing, food, activities etc. Tomorrow being 'mis-match day', something each day fun for the kids to look forward to. The kids all got to choose the menu for the week and their favorites will be ate every day.

We began our day at the morning church service. It was quite the surprise when we walked in and the regular priest was away at a retreat, so the priest filling in was Fr. Schatz, the very priest that married Brad and I at St. Pius nearly 10 years ago. I couldn't help but smile, it was like we were meant to be there today. The kids were very good. Danielle loved looking around as this was a new place for her. She really enjoyed the music and got lots of attention from other parish members as well. We tried to encourage Dylan to attend the children's liturgy but he was content with Mom and Dad which was totally fine. He participated in prayer with us, and as we say prayers each night before bed, this was the first time, in church that he said prayer with us.

After mass the school held a Pancake Breakfast ahead of their Open House/Registration. We headed into the Social Hall and had a fantastic breakfast... pancakes, eggs, sausage...mm mm good! Dylan was probably one of the only kids at breakfast that put Salsa on his eggs AND pancakes! Yes, the kid is a salsa fanatic, it was hilarious and we went along with it. By golly he polished off the whole plate! It was nice to see some of Dylan's classmates and their families as those are the kiddo's that will be heading into Kindergarten with him!

After breakfast we headed over to the school. We got a second tour of the Kindergarten rooms and also a tour of the entire school. We are very familiar with the first floor but it was fun to visit the 2nd and 3rd floors and meet the Art teacher, Music teacher, Librarian, Reading teachers etc. We had student guides and the girls did great. Dylan followed closely behind him and you could tell he was right at home. Each new teacher we met would shake his hand and ask his name, 'Dylan Holub' he would say! Too cute, not just his first name but his first and last name and he said it with confidence! Moments like that do bring tears to my eyes. Brad and I were smiling ear to ear, he can be a little pistol at home sometimes, but today at school and church he was such a gentleman. Little bit of reassurance that maybe we are, after all, doing something right?!

We had a very nice visit and as a last stop we visited the book fair before rounding out our day. It was a very nice event as a family. Lots of time for reflection at mass and even after we left, Brad and I chatted that we feel that this is all so right. So Dylan is all registered for Kindergarten next year. We could not be more excited to watch him on this journey of something new!~

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to Twenty Twelve! While Twenty Eleven was a decent year for our family, we always pray & ask that the next year be even better! We rang in the New Year at home with our munchkins, watched football, ate a yummy Outback dinner & even drank a few glasses of wine. The kiddo's fell asleep early, Dylan on the couch was out at 5:45! Wowza! I think he is still trying to play catch up from a busy Christmas week! Our little twinkling eyed little girl stayed up with us for a bit & later after the kiddo's were in bed the hubby and I had a little time to reflect. Reflect on the previous year, lessons learned, choices we made some which were good and some which have room for improvement....but all in all we have a fantastic year to look forward to!

 Sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and nearly 50 degree's on New Years Eve 2011! Had to mark this day with pictures, we may not be as lucky the next several years! It was a beautiful day!!!

     Definitely the biggest news of our year to come came the last week of 2011 when we found out that Danielle was accepted into the Linn Mar School District under open enrollment. This is HUGE for Danielle & it was by far the very best news we could have received!!! We are no longer in a huge hurry to sell our home, we can do a few more improvements and think long and hard about where in the district we would like our future home to be. In 2012 our little girl will start pre-school, 5 days a week!!! *tears* It is hard to believe that she is growing so fast, but we are so excited for what her future holds as a little Lion!
      Dylan will start Kindergarten in the Fall, and until that time I will try and keep him little as long as I possibly can. Yet each new day with Dylan brings something new, and the reminder that he is growing up oh so fast, right before our eyes. We have no choice but to hold on for the ride! He is such a kind and gentle sole. The past few weeks he has wanted his sister to sit and play with him many times thru each day. 'Danielle wants to play with me' he will say. We will put her in her chair, they will make pretend donuts or cook brownies or even color a picture together. These are moments we have longed for and seeing Dylan take it upon himself in the big brother role is something that I cannot even explain, it is awesome!
    This coming August Brad and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage! No way! We hope to celebrate together on a fantastic warm weather destination vacation. Being together 16 years and now we will be married for 10, wow, time has gone by fast, and the journey has been so grand! I am so lucky to have such a fantastic husband and loving father for our children. Brad and I each have a lot going on in our day to day jobs, as parents, as husband and wife and in our careers too. We have been blessed and we hope things continue to go as well in this coming year. As we sat and chatted about how we can make each other better, there are things we will try and make better for our family too. One thing that just happens is what we feel in our hearts, the love of our family, together, each and every day in our home. Those feelings are in our hearts and will never fade away. Family is everything, and those words we live by each and every day. And our friendships are just as important too. Where there is the love of family, there is the love of close friends, we have friends that are our family to us and we cannot wait for a fantastic year spent with them as well!

     We wish you and yours the very best in Twenty Twelve. May your Life be filled with lots of Love and Laughter in your heart as well!~

*Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.*