Saturday, January 24, 2009

2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade

Scott marched with the Dubuque Colts Drum and Bugle Corps for five years in his teens and early 20's. In case you don't know. Drum and Bugle Corps are like marching bands on steroids. It's been 15 years since he aged out so when the Colts announced that they had been chosen to march in President Barack Obama's inaugural parade and that they were taking alumni too, he jumped at the chance to march again. Especially for such a historical occassion.

After a 30 hour bus ride, they got to D.C. Sunday evening before the inauguration. Monday was a full day of rehearsal and Tuesday was the big day. Despite nearly freezing to death, he says it was a phenomenal experience.

Scott in uniform. This is serious business people.

Practicing (they also slept in this gym on the floor)

The day of the parade. You can't tell in the picture that this parade was one of the coldest in presidential history.


Sledding

So it's been really cold in Iowa. Like Alaska cold. Really. All the cold temps mom has been complaining about. They made their way down here last week. We're talking -30 degrees with some mighty cold winds to boot. So Norah hasn't been able to test out her new sled outside. We've been making do:


One of Norah's favorite pastimes lately has been sled rides around the living room and dining room. Fun for her. Workout for me.

Big girl bathtime

Norah took her first official bath in the big tub last month. Yes. We have been bathing her for the last 12 months. Don't call child services on us. Of course first it was in the plastic infant tub. Then we graduated to the sink. We just had to stay there longer than we might have normally because our bath tub was experiencing some plumbing difficulties. As in, it wasn't draining. But, that's all better now. So Norah can get clean in style.



Hawkeyes win the Outback Bowl

Much much much too early on New Year's Day we all headed over to Pam's (of Pam and Eric) parents' house. Their basement is Scott's idea of heaven. They not only have a large flatscreen mounted on the center wall but two smaller flatscreens flanking it on either side. Perfect for watching multiple football games. Scott's heaven. My opposite place of heaven.

So we watched the Hawks trounce South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. And by we watched. I mean everyone else watched and I chased Norah around the room trying to keep her from eating too many antique Christmas ornaments.

This is how Norah and I feel about football season. Just one more game to go an it's over ... until spring training. Sigh.

Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009


We rang in the new year at Pam and Eric Schulz's annual party. We missed last year because I was pregnant and pissed off that Norah had decided not to arrive on her due date. We were sad to miss it though. Eric always orchestrates quite the beer tasting extravanganza. This year Scott helped select all the beers.



Before.


After.
The blurry guy behind the beer is Eric. He and Scott have been friends since middle school.



Happy 2009


The big ONE -- Norah's first birthday!

Our big birthday girl!

Norah turned one January 9. I cannot even begin to describe how fast this first year has gone. It really truly feels like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and now here we are a year later and she's walking (or running) and talking. A year ago she was entirely dependent on Scott and I for everything and now she's little miss independent. As I type this she's sitting next to me in her high chair munching on a cracker and banana pieces. And now she's yelling at me to get out. Typical.

But I digress. Back to the party:

The scene is set. We went with a Curious George/Princess theme. I couldn't resist having pink at our little girl's first b-day party. But our little monkey loves Curious George so much that we couldn't leave him out either.


Look at that cake! I've said it before and I'll say it again, Grandma Kathy rocks! This is actually tons of cupcakes all iced together to form a Curious George. And of course there is one special cupcake for the Birthday Girl!

Opening presents. I was worried that Norah would freak out with so many people all focused on her. But I should have known that the little ham would love it.


It's almost cake time!


Dainty does it. No smashing the cake for this little lady.

Finally. Some mess. And on to cupcake number two. C'mon a girl only turns one once!

Christmas Morning 2008


Norah's an early riser any day of the week so it was no surprise that we were up bright and early Christmas morning. Santa was very generous to both the kids. Mom and Dad were no slackers either.

More Power Rangers. SHOCKING!




Norah got a pony.


And a walker pusher thingy (I'm sure the creatives at Fisher Price have a much more marketable name for it but I can't remember what it's really called)


The $50 helmet that Scott almost got in a fight with the checker at Toy's R Us over and that Kaden has worn/played with exactly once. This was it. Good thing we got a picture.

And the $15 dollar Imaginext pirate ship that he absolutely LOVES
and plays with ALL THE TIME!

Lucky.

Christmas Eve 2008


This was our year to have Kaden for Christmas Eve but not Christmas morning. We were bummed since it was Norah's first Christmas and it would have been nice to have the kids together to open presents first thing in the morning. Luckily Mother Nature intervened. As it often does in Iowa in the winter and the weather was so nasty that he got to stay an extra night.

We decided to start a tradition of opening presents from Grandma Cheryl on Christmas Eve.


Kaden got blocks. The real wood kind that I used to have when I was a kid. He likes building things. Norah LOVES knocking them down.



Norah got a couple of puzzles. She really enjoyed eating them. We're still working on the playing with them part.


We also started a tradition of making cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Kaden was an excellent cutter outer and sprinkle sprinkler. Santa very much enjoyed his treat. He plans on spending a lot of quality time on the treadmill this month because he loved them so much.

Freezin' with the Fins


Our intrepid football fans

So back in the summer when it was 100 degrees outside we thought it'd be fun to get tickets to a Miami Dolphins game in Kansas City on December 22 with Carla and Dave. He's a Chiefs fan and anyone who's ever met Scott is well aware of his passion for the Dolphins.

I however didn't really think through the December factor when I agreed to this trip. Do you know absolutely frigid it is in an outdoor stadium in the midwest four days before Christmas? I don't either. We girls went shopping instead.

The boys know though. Their beer froze before they could drink it. Scott got punched in the stomach by a Chiefs fan after cheering for the Dolphins (who won. I don't remember the score though. Ask Scott) But they made it through the entire game. They were even nuts enough to tailgate before hand.


Proof they tailgated

Our Jeep smelled like grilled beef for days afterward. Any guesses how excited the vegetarian was about that?