visiting daddy

Ryan went to Rochester, Minnesota for an away rotation 3 weeks ago and will be coming home in a week. It sure has been weird not having him around. We sure miss him. One time when Dennis hit his head and was crying pretty hard for a while, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "I need to call daddy." After the first week, Dennis was having a really rough morning and crying about everything that he possibly could. Finally when he calmed down he said, "What makes me really sad is that daddy left me and you and Bruno and Buster." The next morning he said, "Hey, Where is that suitcase? The one that was right here?" Me: "Daddy took it with him to Minnesota." Dennis:"I want to call daddy." On the phone with Ryan Dennis said: "Bring that suitcase back."

We decided that a trip would be good for all of us. So we met in Waterloo, Iowa and had a blast! Dennis was so excited to see his daddy that he didn't even fall asleep in the 6 hour car ride. When we got to the hotel room, Dennis turned the heat on, changed the time on the clock, turned on the lights and called someone on the phone before I even sat down. Then he jumped on his bed until we heard a knock on the door! ...and it was daddy!

We played games, swam in the pool, went to a science observatory and really enjoyed being together.




Dennis didn't like his hair standing on end.

Dennis LOVED the circuit board. He had it all figured out.
It was sure good to see Ryan again, and it was sure hard to leave him again. Luckily, we only have one week left.

This past week Dennis has continued to talk about daddy. We went to the zoo and had a brief encounter with another family and as we were walking away Dennis said, "MY daddy is out of town." And, when Grandma and Grandpa rang the doorbell Dennis ran to the door yelling, "daddy, daddy!" Luckily he was excited to see his grandparents too and it wasn't just the mailman.

bad day

One day I went to pick Dennis up at school and they said he was having a bad day. I asked him why as he hobbled over to me. Dennis said that his toe hurt. I took off his sock and shoe and found a black toenail! He dropped a block while picking up toys and it landed in just the wrong way. After a week, it fell off.

some things he says...

On the way home from school we saw a boat. (before we knew the baby was a girl)

D: Nonnie has a boat.

M: Yes, Nonnie has a boat.

D: We don't have a boat.

M. Someday we will have a boat.

D: When I get bigger we will have a boat... and when my sister gets bigger we will have a boat.

__________

D: mommy has a baby in her tummy. I am going to be a brother and mommy is going to be a mommy and daddy is going to be a daddy!

___________

Bruno enters the same room as Dennis. Dennis doesn't like to get licked.

D: (yelling at the top of his longs) No Thank you. No Thank You. No Thank You. over and over.

baby girl funk

We found out on Tuesday that we are having a little girl. The night before Ryan told me that he was 90% sure that it was a girl. He confirmed what I had been feeling. And, we were right. Funny how that happens.

I feel extremely blessed and very excited. There are so many things I want to make... that I just don't know where to start... and it is a little early for bows. :)

Here I am at almost 20 weeks. My belly finally popped out and I couldn't fit into the skirt that I wanted to wear to church today.

while doing laundry...

...this boy wanted some more chocolate milk. So, he helped himself. Opened the fridge got it out and oops it spilled ALL OVER! So, he started to clean it up himself. He got the paper towels from the counter and dunked the whole roll in the dog's water bowl and started to clean it up.
What a nut!

- I believe that it is now official that Dennis is potty trained! whew, that was a long year. I never have to remind him or ask him... he just does it. And, today in Primary, he told his teacher that he had to go potty! Super excited! Most nights, he is dry in the morning. And he never wears a diaper during nap. GO DENNIS!

-This week I started to feel this little baby moving around. and we find out next week if its a girl or boy. yipee.

candles

party time

On Dennis's actual birthday we celebrated with cupcakes and video chat with the grandparents. Dennis got to open our presents and LOVED every minute.


Then, two days later... he got to celebrate with his friends. He was so robust in singing happy birthday.
We love our big boy.



At his party we painted popsicle sticks and clothes pins and made airplanes out of them. Then we played red light green light. It was a success for everyone. Dennis was sooo excited for his birthday that when the day was over he was asking for another birthday.