Super Bowl XLV

Rob, Alaina, and I were invited to a friend's Super Bowl this year and had a wonderful time even though my Steelers lost the Big Game. What can I say? It was just Green Bay's year. There was something almost magical about their team this year and how they overcame having 16 players on IR only to clinch the 6th seed in the NFC playoffs.

Quite honestly, I wasn't even expecting the Steelers to make it to the Super Bowl this year. I had the Super Bowl match up being between the Patriots and the Packers but when the Jets beat the Patriots in a shocking upset in the second round of the playoffs, I realized the Steelers had a very good chance of going all the way.

That brings us to Super Bowl Sunday and after watching Christina Aguilera butcher the National Anthem and then watching the Packers go up on the Steelers 21-10 at the half, I wasn't having that good of a feeling about the outcome of the game. Well, at least the company was enjoyable and the food was good!

A picture of Alaina & me dressed in our Steelers jerseys on Super Bowl Sunday 2011.

Now on to the most important thing about the Super Bowl: the commercials! My favorite commercial this year was Volkswagen's commercial called "The Force." As a parent I could totally relate to this commercial and the lengths we go to just to make our children's day. :)

Alaina's new Big Girl bedroom

In January we began converting our guest bedroom into Alaina's big girl bedroom. We figured with the baby coming in a matter of weeks, we'd better go ahead and get her moved in so she would have a couple of months to adjust to her new digs without feeling like her baby brother pushed her out of HER room.

What had once been a bright yellow bedroom decorated in sunflowers (admittedly not my best decorating idea), has been turned into a rose-themed little girl's room complete with white furniture and rose-themed bed linens, curtains, and picture frames. Here's hoping she doesn't come to us in two years and want a Disney Princess-themed bedroom because she's going to be out of luck. :) Here are some pictures of her new room:

Stella & Dot jewelry

A friend of mine from church is a stylist for Stella & Dot and she hosted a jewelry party last Friday night. Another friend and I went to the party and what beautiful jewelry we saw (and tried on!). It was so tempting to buy piece, after piece, after piece but I decided to buy only the following two pieces this time: Petra Beaded Bracelet & Set of 3 Stackable Decco Rings. Here are some pictures of the jewelry:

Petra Beaded Bracelet

3 Stackable Decco Rings

Baby Sprinkle

My best friends Angie and Megan held a very intimate Baby Sprinkle for me on January 22nd. It was such a surprise and everyone (including Rob) did a fantastic job at keeping me in the dark. In case you have never heard of a Baby Sprinkle, it is a smaller scale Baby Shower in which guests "sprinkle" the mom with the little necessities she needs for the new baby. It is not a full blown Baby Shower and is often used for any children born after the first child.

My friends and family sprinkled me with necessities for our Baby Boy: adorable baby boy clothes, diapers, blue blankets, boy-themed bibs, blue sleepsacks, and blue sippy cups. Our little boy is now set to make his debut in another 2 months. Even Alaina got a present from her Aunt Cindy and cousin Lauren: a Big Sister t-shirt that she can wear to the hospital when she meets her little brother for the first time. :)

Baby Sprinkles are a relatively new thing but I will tell you, as a mom who had everything pink and girly but nothing for boys, I was glad my friends took it upon themselves to organize the sprinkle and help me out. How lucky I am to have these ladies in my life! Here are a few pictures from my Sprinkle:

The best group of girlfriends

With Angie & Megan

With my mom, sister, and niece

No surprise what I'm having! :)

Heyyyyyy!

Fun in the Snow!

Frederick County seems to have missed out on every major snow event of this winter. There have been two major Nor'Easters to hit the East Coast since December 26th and both of them missed DC while dumping over two feet of snow on New Jersey, New York, and New England. But last week, Frederick got 8.2" of snow and we did not miss the opportunity to take Alaina tubing. We took her to a hill in our neighborhood and we sent her on the ride of her life. There was a coating of ice atop the snow so her snowtube took off down the hill and Rob had to literally sprint after it just to catch her. I think this freaked Alaina out because after this one (and only) run, she was done! She didn't want anything else to do with tubing. Instead, she wanted to go home and build a snowman. Here are some pictures from our snow adventure:

1st Dentist Appointment

Alaina had her 1st dentist appointment in January and it went just as well as I thought it would -- HORRIBLY! I took her to the Pediatric Dental Center in Frederick and it was jam-packed full of children and was quite overwhelming. Even the exam room in the back was a large, open room with no privacy. Crying children were everywhere. Needless to say, we won't be taking her to that place again. We have found a family dentist based on the recommendation of a good friend of ours and we're hoping for a better experience this summer. The good news is that Alaina's teeth looked great and she had no cavities!

Baby Boy's name

I'm happy to report that Rob & I have finally decided on a name for our son! It only took us 9 weeks of discussion to figure out what we should name him. The good news is that Alaina has already learned how to say his name and has been pointing to my belly and saying his name. So cute! Can't wait to share his name with you all when he is born in March.