Weekend Update

First let me talk about a little thing called STEELERS FOOTBALL!!! Batch came out on Sunday and got the job done! His numbers: 12/17 for 186 yards, 3 TD's, 2 INT's and 5 rushes for 26 yards...too old...can't move in the pocket...can't rush...can't throw the ball...I think not!

As for the rest of the team everyone stepped up their play and once again the defence was on fire. I think this is some of the best defensive play I have seen in years from the Steelers and I love it. Give me the down and dirty, hard hitting football any day!

I can't wait to see what Batch does against the Ravens on Sunday. I think we are heading to Hooters for that one.

Ok...on to the fun weekend...

I think we may have started an annual camping tradition. We meaning Mark & I, Bob & Michelle, Candy & Paul, and Mike and Kris have had a Leavenworth camping trip planned since last spring. We have been talking and planning and looking forward to it all summer. We were excited that Bob and Michelle had babysitting for the kiddos so it could be an adult weekend and that our friend Kaleena was able to go with us as well. She is a great addition to the group! Little did we know that it was also the Fall Leaf Festival in Leavenworth this last weekend. We decided to head into town to catch some of the parade and do what one does to celebrate in Leavenworth...drink a lot of alcohol!!!

First stop was the beer garden and brats.

Mr. popular in camp with the makings for mimosas!

All of us around the campfire after rolling in Friday night.

Kaleena and I cuddling.

The gang watching the parade go by.

So there is this thing called the Sauerkraut Band made up of mostly older people and they were a ton of fun. They showed up at the bar we were watching football at and the ladies literally took over the tables and were dancing on them. They had a whole conversation about which tables were the most sturdy. Let me just say the best bar to hang out in is the Post Office, just off the main street. Tons of local flavor and fun!! Oh and they had really good mini tacos!

Highlights: Old Fashioned Hot Dogs for dinner the first night, the apps on Kaleena's phone, breakfast burritos and mimosas in the morning, beer and brats, the cheese shop, Chocolate Cherry wine (don't even get me started on how good that was), The Post Office Bar, the sun, and most important the Peeps!!!

And I just have to give a shout out to my Sister and her family. They all ran the Susan G Komen Race for A Cure on Sunday. I am still in awe that Beth and Brian run marathons and train like they do...especially since I hate running with a passion! But I'm even more in awe that my nieces and nephew love it as well.

I couldn't resist snagging a couple of her photos to share...

Beth with the kids...love the pink knee highs!

I love, love, love this photo! They are so into it!!!

Good job guys!!! I was thinking of you!

Steelers Football

This weekend I will find out if I am right in being so vocal about starting Batch over Dixon. With Dixon's knee surgery Batch is the ONLY health QB we have and is getting the start.

How often do fan's get to see if their opinion is right or not? I know this is not totally scientific as Batch would have to play the same teams under the exact same conditions to accurately determine if he would have done better than Dixon. But, I will settle for Dixon playing two games and Batch playing this one and I hope the next.

I'm sure it will be a primarily running game, which is why I dropped Heath Miller in one of my leagues. (Who knows how much of a throwing game they will have the next two games and then the bye week is here so I picked up a different TE.)

I have said it before and will say it again...Batch knows the system inside out, he is smart and safe with the ball, and the guys on the team respect him. While I didn't want Dixon to get hurt I am glad Batch is in.

Safe ball handling on the offensive side and the defense being on fire...I hope that equals a win!

Speaking of the defense being on fire...Steelers are #2 in the power rankings, and I honestly think that is too high at this point. Yes we have managed to get two wins without our starting QB, largely due to our defense. The Steelers D is playing some of the best ball I have seen them play! But, I do not think that warrants a #2 ranking. A team should to be balanced on offense and defense in order to be ranked so high and lets face it the offense is not up to par without Ben. (Still not a Ben fan, but he is the starting QB and the best QB of the 4 on the roster.)

I'm a Steelers fan and I would not have them ranked that high, but what do I know...I'm not an expert.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!!!

It's Time For Some Dodgeball!!!

It is time for some Dodgeball! Dodgie Style is back with some veterans from last season and few new rookies thrown in this season. We have our first practice tomorrow night and I can’t wait! We have a plan for practice tomorrow night: rules review, skill drills, and playing a few games against another team that is joining us.

I’m excited to see if we get off to a better start this season since we have some experience. The games we did lose last year were all pretty close and I feel like we can win those close games this year with a little hard work and solid strategy.

Thankfully I have been cleared to play post concussion. I went to my Dr. last week, and while she would prefer I sit out a whole year from sports with potential for getting hit in the head, she said I could go ahead and play! I was thankful the softball team let me keep stats so I could still feel like part of the team, but I really hated sitting on the bench watching week after week. I’m a player not a spectator!

Our first game is 10/6 and I can’t wait!


On a fantasy football note: 2nd week in a row of losing in all three leagues. My record is 0-6 L. I was not fit to be around last night with all the yelling I did at the TV…Mark actually had to verify that I said some of the things he thought I was saying…it was not pretty.

I have to remind myself that when it comes to football ultimately the only thing I really care about is the Steelers winning. The only reason I started playing ff was to distract myself when the Steelers had a down year. My new ff plan…try and spend less time obsessing about it (and constantly checking my stats) and just enjoy watching football. Whatever happens in the leagues will happen even if I’m not yelling like a crazy woman at the TV!

Strong Man!!!

I got the coolest call from my Dad today! He is the number one power lifter in the nation for his age and weight! Number 1 in the NATION!!! And, he did it with a torn pectoral muscle.

He has been a weight lifter for as long as I can remember and the last 7'ish years he has been a competitive body builder, but this was his first time in a power lifting competition.

I think it is pretty amazing he took 1st place and did it with a major injury. I can't imagine that bench pressing 350lbs with a torn peck can feel good, but he did it!

Good job Dad...I'm so proud of you!!

Football Through the Eyes of a 4 Year Old

Grace watched the 2nd half of the Cincinnati/NC State game with me last night...

Grace - Who is on D.
Me - The red team.
Grace - What is the white team doing?
Me - Scoring a TD.
Grace - I love football Sundays.
Me - It is not Sunday.
Grace - But there was a TD!

Later after the game was over on the way to bed...

Grace - Did the red team win?
Me - Yes they did.
Grace - Woo Hoo...I love it with the D wins.

Nothing like watching football with a 4 year old! I sort of figured trying to explain the whole defense/offense thing was a bit much for her at this point.

Babysitting Morning 1

There is nothing like the tears of a one year old to break a person’s heart. My first morning with the girls started out great. I got up early, got myself totally ready for work…had a few minutes to chill before either of the girls woke up. I was able to get them dressed and ready to go so ahead of schedule that we played for a bit and had a glass of milk before heading off to daycare. (Don’t worry that I didn’t mention breakfast…they eat at daycare).

I will admit I was feeling pretty proud of myself for being so organized and handling a 4 year old and 1 year old all by myself! Then I get to daycare. Grace was fine she runs in takes her jacket and shoes off and didn’t even say good-bye before running to play with friends. Kiera is another story. She was fine until she saw me take a step to the door, then she looks up at me, puts her arms out to be held and start crying big huge tears and trembling bottom lip. I kissed her and had to force myself to walk out that door. Leaving that beautiful crying little girl was one of the hardest things I have ever done, and I don’t say that lightly.

Now I don’t feel so proud of myself…I feel more like I just let the most precious little person down and she doesn’t even understand why.

By the time I got to my car I was in tears because all I could think about is how much harder it is going to be once the adoption happens and it is my own child I’m dropping off. I really don’t know how I’m going to do it!

Being Home Alone

I don't get to be home alone very often. Usually I'm the busy one with workout's, girls night out, or different events going on. And while I'm home more now than I was when I was on the Relay Leadership Team, I'm still the one that seems to be the most busy. While I'm off being busy Mark is doing his thing and is usually the one at home working in the garage or the yard and chilling with Bishop. So, when Mark goes hunting, or travels for work even though I miss him I actually really enjoy the "down" time and usually don't make a ton of plans so I can enjoy a quiet house. (The only thing I don't like...I don't sleep well, or sometimes at all when I'm alone).

It is nice to spend a whole day not doing anything other than what I want to do. I can lay on the couch and read all day, or watch chick flicks, or better yet watch college football all day Saturday and the NFL all day Sunday...that is a dream weekend for me!!! Actually a dream weekend would be watching college football Saturday and seeing ND win (yes Dad I'm still a big ND fan!) and then watching the NFL on Sunday and seeing the Steelers win! Now that would be a perfect weekend!

I have made the most of my time alone the last few days, not cooking dinners (I actually miss cooking fun new meals...just not as fun to do for one), not having much cleaning up to do in the kitchen or laundry to do and watching football, tennis, and golf. It has been a good few days. My alone time comes to and end tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that as well.

I'm going to spend tomorrow night with Michelle and the girls and then it is just me and the girls Thursday through Sunday. I love Grace and Kiera and know I will have fun, but I am a little scared about getting the three of us out the door in the mornings and me to work on time. But, I'm sure I will figure it out and it will be good practice for when the adoption finally happens.

I'm spending my last night home alone getting caught up on my DVR'd shows, drinking beer, answering emails and getting caught up on some of the blogs I follow.

Before I know it Sunday will be here and Mark will be home! Hopefully with an elk!

Football Sunday's are back!!!

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I love Sunday's during football season. I love my routine of cooking breakfast, flipping back and forth between ESPN and Fox pregame shows, and staying in pj's all day and not taking a shower, from 8 am until 8:30 pm it is all football all day. I know, I know Mark asks if I'm really a guy every Sunday...pretty sure that I'm not! I look too cute in my pj's even without a shower to be a dude. :)

I switched things up this Sunday though so that I could watch the Steelers play with the fan club at Hooters. (Yes I took a shower and put on real cloths.) I had to see for myself how Dixon would handle the QB responsibility. I have been pretty vocal about who I think should start, and while I'm not ready to totally admit I could be wrong, I will say that I was pretty happy with how Dixon handled it. There were some mistakes, but overall he did well. There are some things he needs to work on, like throwing the ball too low repeatedly, but I think he has a lot of potential for sure.

So much potential that I don't see him being a back-up for long. Once Dixon settles down and has some experience under his belt he will be a starter somewhere in the NFL.

As for the fan club they made what could have been a boring game (considering the first TD came in OT for a Steelers win) an exciting game to watch.

Best part of the day was I came home in a good mood and am now in pj's watching football for the rest of day.

I truly love Sunday football!

Adoption News

Just a quick update - While the birth mother did email us back this morning, we just heard from the agency and she has apparently picked another family.

Maybe the next one will work out.

Adoption Update

Carol, at the agency, suggest we email the birth mother again...so we did. We let her know we care about her and know she is making a really hard decision and want her to do what is best for her and her baby. We hope to hear from her soon.


Will update if we hear anything before we are state side.

Quick Whistler Update

Day 2 in Whistler and we are having so much fun! Plenty of room in the condo for the adults to have fun and for the kiddo's to run around and play.

So far we have spent time in the village, took Grace to the fun zone, celebrated Bob's b-day, visited the Olympic Nordic Zone, and Michelle and I did some more shopping in the village.

We have been able to time our activities with the weather pretty well, and are going to head to the peak tomorrow since it is supposed to be sunny.

Nice thing about the cold weather...makes the hot tub even better!

A few pics...

Bob, Michelle and the girls at the bar in the condo.
Grace on the trampoline at the fun zone...she is scared of heights, but did great with this!

Mark and I outside my favorite shop in Whistler...Roots.

At the Irish Pub drinking beer waiting for our food.

All of us at the bottom of the mountain bike downhill area.

The Beckham's at the Nordic Olympic zone.

The Olympic Rings at the Cross Country Ski area.

Grace ready for our mini hike with Mark's backpack.

P.S. - No adoption news. A waiting game at this point.

Whistler Bound

Mark and I leave for Whistler tomorrow morning. We meet Bob and Michelle and their place at 9am and head out for the week.

We do not get cell phone service up there so will not be answering our phones or returning phone calls. We will have our laptops and have internet access. I'm sure we will post to FB and I will update the blog with any adoption news we may receive. I will also check my email so if you need to reach us email is probably best.

I will also update the blog with our adventures and some photos.

And, some of you will be happy to know we will not be bungee jumping this year and plan to play it pretty safe considering we have a 4 and 1 year old traveling with us.

We will be back next Saturday the 11th.

More Adoption Information

We just got some further information regarding the birth mom that emailed us. She has also been in touch with our agency and they are sending her information on several couples, us included.

Our agency assured us she is for real and is taking this very serious. She is looking at couples from multiple agencies, trying to make the best decision for herself and her child.

As much as I want a baby, I also want her to make the best choice for herself and her child. I hope she finds what she is looking for even if it is not us.

Adoption Update

I hesitate to even post an Adoption Update because I hate making our friends and family go on the roller coaster ride of up’s and down’s with us. But, I have not posted an update in a long time, and well some people already know, so I would rather everyone hear it from me rather than the grape vine.

We got an email last night from a birth mom who is due Jan. 22, 2011. She saw our adoption website that Mark created and emailed us from there to find out if we were serious about providing her baby with a home. She is looking for the best option for her child and we feel honored that she would even consider contacting us as an option.

We of course responded to let her know we are absolutely serious and would love to hear back from her so that we can exchange further information.

I really hope this is the one! It has been a year, and while I will wait as long as I need to, I’m tired of waiting! We are so ready to be parents! There are about a million thoughts going in circles in my head, but I keep reminding myself that cautious hope is the best policy at this point.

As always the blog is the best way for updates…I will keep everyone posted as to what transpires, if anything, over the coming days.