Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Date Night with Jaxon

Amaya introduces Jaxon to her Gymini. Sooo fun!


Amaya and Jaxon practicing the art of parallel play.

Jaxon says, "I'm going to come over here more often since Amaya lets me play with her toys."

Amaya crawls over to check out what Jaxon is up to. He sure seems to be having fun!


We Still Love Our Packers


Well, fellow Packer fans, friends and family, we lost. And it was a heartbreaking loss at that! Scott, Amaya and I are still feeling the pain, but we are slowly feeling better. Sunday was a hard day, thought it didn't start that way. The excitement in the morning was palpable. It was a beautiful day. We were all decked out in green and gold. We were ready for the big game. We were sure we were going to the Super Bowl. Then it began. Frozen Tundra...that was an understatement! The high for the day was 4 degrees, Fahrenheit, not Celcius, and it was an evening game. The sun had gone to sleep. Brrrr. Yet our beloved Packers played to a sold-out crowd. A stadium full of ever faithful fans. Fans known to stick it out through wind, rain, snow, sleet, and hail. Sound familiar? That's because postmen and postwomen look to Packer fans as their inspiration when dealing with the elelments on the job. Thus their motto: "Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds". That motto was inspired by Packer fans. Packer fans don't shy away when the going gets tough, either. During the "building years," Packers still played to close to sold out, if not fully sold out crowds consistently. When the Packers are playing a game that finds them being "blown out", Packer fans still stay to the end. And not just a few die hard fans stay. 60,000 plus die hard fans stay. The Packers are blessed with arguably the most loyal fans in the league, but that's because we are blessed to be able to call ourselves Packer fans. It is a special honor to be a Packer fan. It unites strangers. Among Packer fans, there are no strangers, because when you come upon another fan in their green and gold attire, you are instantly friends. Bonded by our green blood and our strange looking head gear. It is a very special bond only Packer fans can know. So, anyway, sorry for the digression. For more on Packer fans, check out the following article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22685077/. Meanwhile, back to the purpose for this blog entry, the NFC championship. The game proceeded, despite the harsh cold. It was not a pretty game. It kept us on the edge of our seats. It caused the stock of Pepto-Bismol to go up in value. It caused our daughter to act entirely out of her character. I kid you not. For the first Sunday of the football season, heck, the first Sunday of her life, she was very emotional. Crying at the drop of a pin...er...uh...make that the drop of a football... and lastly, at the interception of a football. Amaya is not a crier. She is a happy baby by nature and nothing, usually, seems to phase her. But Sunday afternoon, she was a different girl. Some may think it was because mommy and daddy were also acting "out of character." Who could blame us? We felt like we were watching the game from a roller coaster. But I think it was because of the game itself, not our reactions. She's a Packer fan, after all. She was at b-dubbs on Sundays with us, rooting on the Pack. She wears her green and gold with pride like the rest of us. And she saw her beloved Packers imploding. Who could blame her for crying when the ball was turned over. I don't think she cried because mom and dad let the "sh" word slip out, she was crying for the same reason that caused the "sh" word to slip out. (We are practicing saying shoot and darn now that we have a daughter, but Sunday we fell off the wagon. Oops.) So, anyway, at the end of the game we were given hope that despite not playing our best, we may sneak out with a win. A second missed field goal by the Giants kicker. You gotta be kidding me?!?! Could it be?!?! Over-time?!?! We started getting excited. It was an off game. We can re-group by Super Bowl time if we could just win. Packers win the coin toss. Hope builds further. Interception. Hope crashes down like a helicopter out of fuel. Giants are in field goal position. Please let him miss a third time. Please, please, not likely, but please. No. He made it. No. No. No. Disbelief. Shock. Then slowly reality creeps in. We lost. Sadness. Scott and Amaya cope by going to bed. Mommy copes by getting busy and not letting herself think about it. Then Monday we wake up. Was it a nightmare. No. The season is truly over. Slowly we begin the process of putting the end of the season behind us. We remember the good times, come to terms with the loss, then begin looking forward to the next football season. Yeah, there's always next year. A glimmer of sunshine peaks out through the clouds of Sunday's loss. We start feeling better. Our focus slowly shifts from the loss to what's to come next season. We begin looking forward to opening Sunday. More cheers, more beers, more good times. We can't wait. See you next season Packers!!!!! Thanks for the wild ride this year!!!!! We love you!




Sunday, January 13, 2008

Go Packers!!!





Amaya cheered her team, the Green Bay Packers, to a wonderful victory over the Seattle Seahawks. NFC Championship here we come! Go Pack Go! Let's take it to the Superbowl!

Amaya's Adventures in the Park

Strolling...



Swinging...





and Sliding.













Friday, January 11, 2008

Amaya's Latest

I thought I would add a few little tidbits about what Amaya's up to lately. She's decided she loves practicing her stair climbing abilities. She makes a dash for them every chance she gets, and she's getting very brave so we have to be very careful. She can go the whole way up on her own now, but since she likes to go down head first, we haven't let her practice that skill as much. Just a few stairs for the downward direction.

It has also become apparent that Amaya loves to dance. Whenever music comes on, whether it's on a commercial, t.v. show, c.d. player, radio, or one of her toys, she immediately starts swaying to the beat. She even dances like a rapper or hip hop artist sometimes, with one hand in the air moving to the beat. It's quite funny. Maybe we have a little Cheryl Burke in the making. Smile, smile.

Those are two things that stand out to share. Other than that, she is your typical little pre-toddler. She loves to explore, play, chat, and she's even starting to mimic what we do. She loves to talk on the phone like big people, and she even has called people. Guess I can't let her play with our phone anymore. Not with caller id call back and an in phone phonebook. For instance, yesterday my cell started ringing and I went to grab it and it said it was home calling. Sure enough, Amaya was playing with the house phone. Too funny! Amaya also is very adventurous in her eating. She'll eat anything we are eating. Hopefully that trend continues as we transition her away from baby food. I will have to post some very funny meal-time pics in my next posting. I would post them now, but I need to take them first. Smile, smile. Later. LA, SBand A

Babies Who Lunch

Amaya and I had another lunch date today. Amaya finally got to meet Will's other girlfriend, Emma. She's a cutie-pie just like Amaya, so Amaya's got some competition for Will's affections. Although Will is so laid back, I am sure he has enough love to go around to all his little girlfriends, including one newly born and one soon to be born. I am sure there are many others, too. Will is such a sweet little guy, a true "ladies man." Smile, smile. Amaya and Emma had a rocky start to their relationship, but by the end of lunch they were "old friends." In other words, Emma no longer scared Amaya. At the start of lunch, Amaya was checking out Emma and Emma just decided she would jump start the relationship. She is very "assertive" and that took Amaya by surprise. Basically, Emma is a touchy, feely baby and Amaya isn't. That part didn't surprise me. Amaya was that way with Will at first, also. But what really scared Amaya was how loud and vocal Emma was. That part surprised me because that's usually Amaya, too. Amaya is always very loud and vocal. Maybe that's why Amaya got upset. She's use to Will just sitting back and letting Amaya do all the "talking." She's not use to another baby as loud as herself. Who knows. Anyway, by the end of lunch Amaya had gotten over it and was interested in her new playmate, and her ol' pal Will of course. So funny.



Sleeping Beauty and Her Furry Friend



Here are a couple of sweet pictures of Amaya napping yesterday. I went in to check on her during her morning nap, and I found her like this. She, as you can see, was cuddling her little pink teddy bear.


Thursday, January 3, 2008

Winter Wonderland

Amaya (the animal lover) loved watching the deer.
Hmmm. Looks like one of the deer is radioactive.
Fresh snow makes for a pretty picture.
Looks like Christmas around here!
Happy New Year everyone!

Amaya experiencing the snow






Amaya is an Arizona baby, but she knows her roots. She loved the snow from the beginning. Good girl. She'll be skiing down the slopes before we know it.

Christmas Highlights

Amaya's 1st Cubs "Tee." Daddy loves it, of course.
Amaya is more interested in the tissue paper.
Cousin Brycen gets his very own golf cart.
How fun!
The girls hanging out after gift opening.

Santa's Little Helper






More bonding with the "dogs" before heading to bed on Christmas Eve.