M-I-C (see you real soon!) K-E-Y

The stars simlpy aligned and for the first time in three years the Cavs are playing on Christmas Day somewhere else! while we were able to sneak out for a quick trip to Colorado last year, this year the team's on the road the entire week before Christmas, all the big concerts and events are either the weekend before or after Christmas, and the boss gave the okay to take most of the week off... SO since it's our year to stay in Ohio for the holidays, the family all decided to head to Orlando so Justin's brother and sister-in-law could join us with their new baby girl. and one of the most exciting parts: we're taking Bella to Disney World! no, she likely won't remember a minute of it. no, it won't be easy with an 18 month-old. YES, we'll remember her smiles and excitement and will gladly pay admission for the 1,000 pictures I plan to take!

rocky mountain girl at heart

I got an email this week from the Rockies with information how to buy post-season tickets... I feel another trip to Colorado in the fall! We're ready for ROCKTOBER!!

I was pregnant with Bella when the Rockies went to the playoffs in 2007,
if all goes according to plan, she'll always be a Rox fan... in her from the start!

Birthday Weekend!

Normally I'm not a huge fans of my birthday, but Justin is well aware of this and consistently goes above and beyond to make sure I have a special day... and since he's extra wonderful he even gives me an entire Birthday Weekend! Saturday started with a morning full of Bella, an afternoon of shopping and then a birthday dinner with friends from work at Cheesecake Factory (delish!) Sunday was my actual birthday so we started at First Watch (my favorite place for breakfast) and after a quick afternoon nap for me and Bella we headed to the East Side for this huge (free!) Christian festival that encouraged families to arrive with a cooler and a blanket for an afternoon listening to Matthew West, Brandon Heath and Jars of Clay - it. was. awesome.

okay, it was awesome, and ridiculously hot. poor girl, she had a good time though!

keeping herself busy between sets...

After the long day Sunday we decided to extend my birthday weekend (like I was going to say no when J suggested it!) and putzed around in the morning before taking Bella to the zoo in the afternoon. it was especially awesome because it was another free activity as our county gets free admission on Mondays, alright! It was less awesome when a terrential downpour randomly came and soaked us to the core (you should have seen us trying to run from one exhibit to another searching for any kind of cover... me jumping over puddles so my flipflops wouldn't get wet - like it mattered since it was raining so hard anyway - and Justin trying to manuever a crying baby in her stroller, it was ridiculous!) and the day concluded with a dinner at Dave & Busters, which turned out much better than we expected because Bella was mostly content just chillin' in her stroller while we played games! Happy Birthday to me!

BIG fan of the giraffes!pointing out the fish once we finally found cover from the rain!
not nearly as exciting as giraffes as it turns out...
she did enjoy squirting the water... all that power in those little hands!
WINNER!
picking out her prize with all our winnings...

can't. quite. decide.

her new fuzzy friend! ...that she's already forgotten about :)

sleepytime - or not

for some crazy (awful) reason Bella stopped sleeping through the night. the last four nights she's either up crying at 1:30ish, but goes to sleep after five minutes of backscratching, or 5:30 and she's likely up for the day. I usually take care of the wakeup calls in the middle of the night because J's still pretty incoherant, but he is an absolute rock star about getting up with her in the early morning... seriously, my hero! this morning I was a little jealous to come down and learn I'd missed a cuddle session!