MELMO!!! MELMO!!! COOK-COOK!!! OUCH!!!!!!!!!! (Translation: Elmo Elmo Cookie Monster Grouch)

So if you haven't guessed from the title of this post we went to Sesame Street Live today! Miriam had an absolute ball. Her eyes lit up when she saw the characters come onto stage, she clapped, she danced and even sang "Melmo Song" (Elmo's World song) All and all we had a wonderful experience. Our good friends the Gentrys went with us. Their little girl is a few months older than M. M & L have become great friends and constantly talk about each other - very very cute!.












(Here they are enthralled in the show)










I was a little concerned about going. M has not really ever warmed up to any "live" mascots or characters we have seen in public. But today no freak outs at all - in fact she even got to shake Tellie Monster's hand when he came up into the stands.

I had a slight moment though! At the beginning of the show I started looking around and got *very* teary eyed. I couldn't believe that I was actually taking *my* kid to see a show like that. I think I will call this an IF moment. Even after two years of Mommyhood I still have moments of awe - I have a baby (toddler!) and I am actually a MOMMY and how a very short time ago I wondered if that would ever happen. I am sure Ryan thought I was being an emotional nut job. But I am equally sure that my friend S (L's mom) totally gets it!

So all and all a wonderful experience - now if only the Backyardigans would grace us with a show in this area and I think M's world would be complete!!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures of M from the show I love her expression - totally joy!

A Skirt

Saturday morning Miri wanted to wear a skirt. I thought I had talked her out of it using reasoning statements like:

"It is too cold outside today" and "We are just hanging out at the house - no need to get dressed up"

She didn't say another word. Until......

Ryan went in to get her up from her nap and this is what he found.......

Please note that sometime before falling asleep she removed her fresh (and completely DRY) diaper before fashioning a "skirt"

While Daddy cleaned up the mess in the crib I cleaned up the mess on the baby - the whole time she kept telling me about her skirt.

We did end up going out to dinner that time and yes she wore a skirt! ;)

Aww Spring......

This says it all.......

Or maybe this says it better......



For a more complete look at our start of spring please visit our flickr page........

One Hour

One Hour - Doesn't seem like a lot of time does it? So what can one do in an hour.......

1. Watch a prime-time TV drama
2. Cook and eat a quick meal (and probably clean up as well)
3. Two loads of laundry

OR

One could:

Destroy a plant that was innocently soaking up sun on the front porch
Color all over the brick patio
Strew chalk all over the back yard
Pull all of her toys out of her sand box (twice)
Pure sand all over a picnic table and brick patio
Attempt to Jump on brick patio thus slipping on the loose sand and falling into sand box
Scream bloody murder - disturbing the whole neighbor hood
Watch Mommy pick up toys (for the second time)
As soon as Mommy's back is turned start to disassemble sand box (again)
Make a poopy diaper
Get a bath
Dump water all over the bathroom floor
Eat lotion off of legs, toes and hands ("Umm Good!")
Turn a somersault in the crib
Talk to all of her toys.........

What a fun hour!

So what did *I* do in this hour
Saved the other plants from certain death
uncover sand box
Drink a glass of milk and change into play clothes
pick up sand box toys (X3)
Pick up chalk
Cover sand box twice
Change a poopy diaper (under protest)
Administer a bath and lotion and redressing
Hunt down a blankie
Witness a somersault turned in the crib
Listen to the babblings of a toddler that is over tired.......

What can I say we are BUSY!

Spring has spring!

Finally! Springtime is here!!!! (Not officially, but close enough.)

Warmer weather. Longer days. Baseball season's just around the corner. Arena Football's coming too.

Oh and the ubiquitous allergies too.

Now if we can get Mother Nature's weekend weather sync'ed up with the weekends so we can finally finish cleaning up from the Ice Storm.

RW

Party Time!!!

Success - is the word I would use to describe Miri's second birthday party. I had a great time and I think (hope) everyone else did as well. I am not sure why it was so much more fun than last year but it was. Here are a few pictures of our day!

I did a "wall of color" as our activity. I got some Color Wonder paper, paints and markers and let everyone color on my wall! I think almost everyone participated - big and small.



Miri was really into opening her gifts - I guess Christmas was still fresh in her mind oh yeah we also let her open one on her actual birthday........








Of course I think Daddy enjoyed opening gifts as much as she did! (and playing with them)



The cake came out beautifully - and it was really really yummy!



Miri managed a taste or two before we got to the "Happy Birthday" song!!



All and all we had a great day! Today we have laid low - Miri took a 3 Hour NAP!!!!!! Guess being a party animal wore her out.

2

I can hardly believe Miri is two today! I couldn't help thinking back the morning two years ago when we got to finally meet our miracle - she was so tiny and so very mad about being taken out of her nice warm home into a bright, loud, not so warm room! Like the morning two years ago - this morning we had a pretty mad baby on our hands as well. As we were trying to get out of the door she threw a hissy fit of monumental proportion! Complete with kicking, screaming and my personal favorite running away and hiding behind the rocking chair in her room - HELLO TERRIBLE TWOS!!!


Seriously though, these past two years have flown by. There was a time not too long ago that we often wondered if we would ever have the chance to be parents. All I know is that good things come to those who wait and really wonderful things come to those who wait a really really long time! We are both amazed daily at this sweet little girl who has blessed us in more ways than we ever thought possible.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIRIAM GRACE!

Basketball is dead to me.

I officially give up on the sport of basketball.

Yes. Give up on it. Completely. I will only watch "March Madness" if there's a "Cinderella" team making some noise (and loud noise at that.)

Why the sudden disassociation from a sport from a sports fan? It's simple really. It's painful to watch it in several ways...

• Basketball has become a true "me" sport. One player/ego can make or break a team. See Syracuse in 2003. Carmelo Anthony had all the talent in the world, and probably could have gone straight to the NBA without an NBA-mandated 1-year exile to upstate New York. Instead, he goes to college for one year... and they win a title. After that, 'Melo's off to the big bucks in "the league." Before 2003 - Syracuse was a good team, not great, but a solidly coached team that nobody wanted to play in March. After 2003? Middle-of-the bloated Big East pack. Since the NBA instituted their 1 and 3 rule (must play at least 1 year in college, or stay a minimum of 3 years), there have been a series of players who have gone "one and done" to the NBA. Kevin Durant. Greg Oden. Most schools fall off for a year or two after a sudden departure. A few exceptions (i.e. Texas) manage to recruit to cover the loss of a Kevin Durant. But most leave for the money, eschewing their teams and education for a potentially short career. This detracts from the quality of the game play.
  
• College basketball players think they are in the NBA. It's about showtime. Dunks. Crossover dribbles. Pushing the envelope of the rules. They don't practice the fundamentals anymore. Twenty years ago, a guard that shot less than 80% from the foul stripe was a liability. Now, if he shoots 80%, he's the guy you want there in the last minute of the game. Shooting percentages are waaaay down. Players rely on the long shot too much, and can't even shoot it well. They don't set their feet, square up and hit the shot. They drift. They "kick out" their legs. If any shot of theirs is even contested, they cry "foul!" When I reffed intramural hoops in college, not a night went by when a shooter would exclaim "AND ONE!" if a guy challenged their shot. Learn how to play fundamental ball, and the rest of the game comes to you. Want to learn how to play the game right? Watch Hoosiers.
• Bad gameplay - worse officiating. Even though I only officiated intramural sports through college (I haven't made the jump to the "pros" of local & high school sports yet), I have an educated background on how the game should be called. Officiating today is terrible. They don't call the rules as they are written. They call them as the kids see them during NBA games, which are a farce in themselves (see: Suns/Spurs 2007.) The guys in stripes are woefully inconsistent because there's not a strict and consistent interpretation of the rules between conferences. Southland conference games are called dramatically different than Big XII or Big Ten games. It shows in the tournament in March. Just this last week there were two high profile games (UConn-Villanova and Rutgers-Tennessee (women)) that were decided by poor calls in the last second of the game. Villanova lost when an official judged that one of their players "bumped" a player - a very marginal "bump", more of a "brush" - after a rebound. The game was tied and there was one tenth of a second left in the game. This came seconds after a Villanova player was mugged under the basket chasing that same rebound. One would get 5-10 years in prison for the contact that warranted a "no call." (Villanova lost by 2.) In the Tennessee-Rutgers game, the clock "froze" for about 1.5 seconds in real time with .2 seconds remaining. In that 1.5 seconds, a Tennessee player grabbed a rebound while in the air, came down jumped up attempting a shot and was fouled. If the clock had continued to run, no foul would have been called - the clock would have run out giving Rutgers the win. However, the clock started running after the foul was called, the buzzer sounded, so time did expire - with Tennessee going to the line for two shots and a chance to win the game. Swish. Swish. Ballgame. In last Saturday's Oklahoma/Colorado game, I witnessed a guy travel, then bump into a opposing player - who was charged with a foul. Colorado guy blocked out a Sooner trying to block a shot with essentially a "low bridge hip check" similar to what you would see in a hockey game. No call.

That's when I turned the game off. That's when I turned off hoops essentially for good. I miss the days of Jordan vs. Bird vs. Johnson. All three were fundamentally sound players (notably Bird) and all three played the game with a passion like no other. They all enjoyed playing the game.

Good thing there's hockey and English soccer until the start of Arena Football. Otherwise I'd be pretty bored until then. Oh wait. The Oilers stink this year. Guess I'd better learn how to play kitchen with Miriam or find some time to clean up the yard... if mother nature will quit leaving the freezer door open on the weekends!!!!

RW

New Kitchen!!!!!

Miri's early birthday gift!!

It was a long process to get to this point:

It took over a month of watching store websites to find it available to buy...

Then, it took an hour to pick up at Wally World - even with their "easy site to store" pick-up option thanks to dealing with on-the-job training. As I made my way to the exit where R was waiting, the WM employee pushing the cart that thought it was real kitchen...

"I didn't know Wal-Mart was selling kitchens. How do you get everything hooked up?"

The "greeter" who also doubles as a shoplifting "watchdog" hadn't the slightest understanding of the "Site to Store" system and thought I was stealing the thing... even with a receipt, the assistance of the "slow" employee and the manager vouching for the fact she actually checked the item out. We didn't get home until after 10:00 PM but I wanted to start putting it together right then. R nixed it and said "good night."

After 3 hours of Daddy putting it together, Miriam will be excited to see it in the morning!!!

I am so excited for her to play with this. (stay tuned for kitchen updates!)

Baby Love

Two years ago we were one week shy of a Valentines baby - but she is still pretty sweet…...

Miri and her V-Day loot!!!

Snacking!

"Kissing her new "Doggie"

Although after a day of Hippo this and Hippo that from Mommy and Daddy I think she is convinced it actually might be a hippo (newly named Boynton after some of her favorite books) Hippo Boynton has only left her arms for a bath! Good call Grammy and Pop-Pop!