21 months tomorrow

Hi friends and family!  A quick update from Philadelphia to fill you in on all of the new and exciting things in our lives.  We'll start with Casey this time...he is very excited to begin his new job as a senior accountant with Wolters Kluwer tomorrow.  Since he doesn't like being in the spotlight, I'll leave the details to a minimum, but it seems like a great fit for him, and hopefully this will be an exciting new professional journey.  I am also happy to announce that I got a contract in Bensalem this year, teaching..............................................................kindergarten.  So I'm actually writing this four days into the year, and I truly, truly, TRULY respect all lifer K teachers.  I've never worked so hard for my money, not anywhere, ever.  25 kids who do not know how to go to the public restroom, eat lunch, sit on the carpet, raise their hands, hold a pencil, use a tissue, etc etc etc is just an out of body experience.  A wicked cold and no voice didn't help, but as the shock subsides...I'm digging in.  Let's do this!  Dylan is great.  We are so lucky to have such an exuberant, joyful child in our lives.  He has a lot to say, and it's been very hard leaving him the past two weeks.  He's climbing ladders, hitting the ball off the tee, and just being plain old hilarious and wonderful.  That's it for now...lots of planning to do.  We hope everyone has a wonderful fall filled with football, hayrides, and whatever else makes you happy.  XOXO 

18 months and counting...

Hello and happy summer vacation!  The words every teacher can't wait to shout from the rooftops:-)  Today is officially my second day off, and I am very much looking forward to spending quality time with Dylan Grant and Vera-cat Phillips.  As usual, life has been hectic, but we have enjoyed lots of exciting memories and adventures over the past few months, including trips to Baltimore and Pittsburgh.  I spend much of my time laughing at my hilarious son, who, as it turns out, is as stubborn as his mother.  He burst onto the language scene like a hurricane last month, and chatters his life away.  Favorite words and phrases include: "too bid (too big)," "vee-yo (video)," "Roy-ee (roar)," and "weara (his lovely sister Vera)," among other things.  He loves the hose and yard work, playing basketball, throwing balls up "high," trying to fit big things in small spaces, reading and scrolling through my iphone, and incessantly kissing all babies who appear smaller than him (especially his cousin Ellie, who will get even one day for sure).  What a fun age!  Not much else to report in our lives.  I cut my hair a foot and donated it to locks for love, my tri-annual tradition.  Second grade turned out not to be so bad once a few kids in my class were moved to more appropriate placements for their needs.  Life is good!  

We are extremely excited to spend time with Mimi, Papaw, Mamaw, Papa Joe, and the rest of our Tennessee relatives in a few weeks!  We also look forward to seeing Uncle Chase, Aunt Jenna, and Ryleigh, and meeting Braxton, and can't wait for Aunt Beth and Uncle Jon to visit!  Hopefully we will be able to arrange a visit to hang out with Noah in Wisconsin as well, fingers crossed Aunt Rachey!  As always, we love and miss all of you and have plenty of room for you to stay should you choose to come visit us.  Enjoy the warm weather!

Spring 2012-15 months old!

Hello friends and family. We hope this blog update finds you well. We are gearing up for the impending warm weather, and thought we'd fill you in on all things new in the world of Dylan Grant Phillips and his parents! The most exciting news to share this quarter (accounting speak) actually has to do with my accountant husband: he is officially a CPA! And now that the second busy season is winding down, Dylan and I look forward to Phillips family fun weekends with Dad instead of just Sunday afternoons...very exciting:-) Dylan is at an incredibly fun age, and we are enjoying every moment. He's a steady walker and has begun to run and "shuffle" backwards (perhaps imitating his dad's dancing maneuvers??) He loves loading and unloading anything and everything, digging outside with sticks, collecting rocks and other microscopically small things outside, and reading. Favorite book: Sesame Street cookie cookbook. Which is painfully long and has only recipes and no pictures. I don't understand. He has added the following words to his language bank: bird, dog, juice, more, and mall, thanks to food court and playground excursions with Gram. He is a happy and much healthier little chatterbox, and I wish I could call out sick and spend (almost) all day every day with him:-/ My job is fine...you wouldn't believe the stories I have to tell about this year, so I'll just skip them altogether at this time. Three months till summer vacation!!! We look forward to visits from Aunt Jenn, Papaw and Mamaw, Mimi and Papa Joe, and others in the next month, and are hoping to plan a trip to Park City in the near future. We love and miss all of you and would love to hear your updates.

Happy Birthday, Dylan!

Our baby boy is one year old today! Words can't describe the joy this child has brought to our lives these past twelve months, despite his recently discovered ability to hit everything (hard) with a wooden spoon/lego/whatever and kiss-bite. It's amazing what a little person Dylan Grant has become-vocal like his mama, determined and persistent like his daddy. He's into everything, imitating us, catching and throwing (and saying!) the ball, and...walking! Dylan managed his first uncertain steps last week, and he has been growing more and more confident with each passing day. Love, love, love this little guy! What a wonderfully challenging and enriching journey!

Ok, enough syrupy accolades for the kid. Life is good...another day, another crazy second grade story for me, another dollar counted and put on a spreadsheet for Casey. Vera the geriatric patient is hanging in there...and getting lazier by the minute. We enjoyed a great (hurried) trip to Pittsburgh over Thanksgiving to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Gene, and look forward to a visit to Tennessee over Christmas vacation to visit with Casey's family. We were sad to say goodbye to Aunt Jenn, who just moved to Denver (why she moved out west right after we moved east is a bit suspect if you ask me), but now we have another beautiful place to put on our list of future vacation spots. The house is finally settled, and there may even be a picture or two on this month's update. We are thankful for so many wonderful friends and family this time of year, and are excited to spend time with so many of you in these upcoming weeks.

Please tune in periodically for blog updates-you'll no longer hear from us on a monthly basis, since all of the major milestones have been accomplished;-0 We love and miss all of you, and wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, and relaxing holiday season.

With love,

Katie, Casey, Dylan, and Vera Phillips

11 months...closing in on a year!

Greetings to everyone, and happy fall. It is extremely hard to believe that the Phillips family's youngest member is almost one year old. Next month's blog will hopefully detail the exciting snake-themed birthday party that I am planning for Dylan (there is still room for discussion on the theme, another contender with a lot more familial support is cookie monster), complete with theme cake pictures! For now, the biggest news we have to share is that Casey passed all four parts of the CPA on his first try! What a proud moment for him and all of his hard work! Good thing he has a wife that likes to brag, otherwise, you might never hear this news:-) We are trying to enjoy the fall before the beginning of another accounting busy season, and Dylan's early birthday present zoo pass from Nana and Grandpa has allowed us to spend these beautiful fall weekends hanging out in the reptile house and big cat corral. If you come visit, you can even come along as our free guest!

It was a tough October for Dylan, as he battled a cold, his first fever, ring worm, yeast rash, strep throat, and another cold, in that order. I think he's finally better. A bright spot was Halloween, when he took the neighborhood by force as cookie monster. We had to cancel our trip to Penn State because of his illness, and now that's just a whole other story that has had way too much media interference already, and so I will not share any comments on that. What's coming up? A trip to Pittsburgh over Thanksgiving, my first round of conferences, and some serious party planning are on the agenda. We miss all of you!

10/10-10 months!

Hi to all of our family and friends near and far. The big news...we're in our new house! After a few last minute postponements for various reasons, we are officially homeowners and loving it! Casey enjoys breaking and then fixing things, Dylan can't get enough of the wall sockets (safety plugged, of course), and I am basking in my red kitchen. What can I say...life has drastically improved since moving into natural sunlight! Dylan is great-I don't know, it's all a blur right now, I can't really think of anything monumental to report. Not walking yet, but I hardly notice considering the efficiency with which he finds and gets into everything. He just spent a wonderful long weekend with Papaw and Mamaw, and is looking forward to seeing Mimi in just a few days. Dylan also completed his sixth/seventh plane rides to Detroit for Hilary's wedding, and did wonderfully on the plane. Casey sits for his last CPA exam this Friday (he's 3/3 so far!), and then we'll have a few short months before the onslaught of another auditing busy season. As for second grade...well, I'm trying to write down the priceless moments that happen each day and managing to laugh more than cry, so that's good:-) Looking ahead, we are heading up to Penn State for the Illinois game Halloween weekend, and then, we're going to relax in our home for a few weekends without weddings and other commitments. Here's to a wonderful fall...Casey's favorite season, and something we are enjoying about the east coast. Miss all of you...hope you are well.

9 months, Holla!

Greetings to all! This month's post will be short and sweet, due to the fact that whatever free time I previously enjoyed has vanished. Dylan, Dylan, Dylan...love this kid! These days, Dylan enjoys crawling all over the place, particularly if it involves chasing after long, skinny objects like the camelbak water tube and the plastic snakes Nana keeps on the deck to "scare the birds away." He also likes pointing, giving five, and throwing balls back and forth with his dad. Daycare has been successful so far, and Dylan loves his time with Ms. Patti, Rocco, and the gang. Well, in my mind he loves it, otherwise, it would be unbearable dropping him off. My first week with my second graders was generally a success, and though it's quite an adjustment, I do enjoy my class. Casey has one CPA exam left, and most importantly, we are officially closing on our house September 22nd! Fun fact to all: did you know that 1 in 5 short sales is sold at auction prior to settlement, unbeknownst to the buyers? Yeah-we narrowly adverted slipping into that category thanks to my detail-orientated, local-paper-scouring accountant husband. Anyway, as football season gets underway and the cool weather moves in, we hope all of our friends and family are enjoying the last few weeks of summer, and we miss all of you dearly.