Nanee & Pop-pop Visit, Superbowl Thoughts

Cami playing with Nanee.

Cami sporting a hoodie with Dada. Cami in a cute new outfit Chris's aunt & uncle gave us.

Now for a little bit on what we've been doing - We just finished a wonderful visit with Chris's parents, Warren & Shelly, who live in Pennsylvania. They are wonderful cooks and wanted to sample the local cuisine, so we enjoyed Oklahoma Joe's and Gates BBQ last week, in addition to getting some great home-cooked meals (our home, their cooking :)). Cami also went on her first visit to the Bass Pro Shop, and didn't seemed at all alarmed by the 10-ft stuffed bear and other wildland creatures. We also got a chance to go to Penzey's Spices, so Chris has been sprinkling away, creating delicious new dishes for us to try, and accenting our food with spices such as the "Sandwich Sprinkle".

Cami really enjoyed all the attention from Nanee & Pop-pop, and especially enjoyed laughing back and forth with Warren. He would laugh, and then she would laugh, and then the whole room would laugh at her laughing, and so the cycle continued - it was very cute. To keep in touch better & see one another across the country, we also installed a web cam, so if anyone else wants to see the little one in action, let us know and we'll set you up on Skype. We've only done it a few times so far, but it's really neat to see people as you talk to them.

Now Chris wants to share his thoughts:

I think it has finally been long enough that I can write somewhat coherantly about the Super Bowl. For those of you who don't already know I have always been a fan of the New York Giants. More importantly I'm a fan of sports. Nearly everyday of my life I wake up, grab something to quick to eat for breakfast, and start my day watching highlights on sportscenter. I've been doing this for so long that I've forgotten why I do it. I've spent literally years of my life watching highlights and listening to middle aged sportswriters and ex-athletes argue about sports. All of this time hoping to see something like I saw on that Sunday.

It's pretty amazing when you have a true underdog come back to win a championship in dramatic fashion. When that underdog happens to be the team whose jacket you wore in elementary school, it makes it even more special. Watching the Patriots crash and burn under any circumstances would have been a welcome end to the season, but watching the Giants defense play like it did when LT was there, and watching Eli Manning pull together the greatest 4th quarter in the history of the franchise, it made it something more than satisfying.

It know it's sports and that it means nothing. I know the players and coaches don't care about me and only tolerate the fans because they have to. However, I also know that the 4th quarter of the Superbowl will never be deleted from my DVR, and I can't think about the Giants, the Patriots, or the numbers 18 and 1 without cracking a smile. I know that everytime I watch the play, David Tyree will always make the Helmet Catch, but I still get a little nervous when I watch it and I'm excited all over again when it happens. I know this is why I watch sports, and that this one championship is worth more to Giants Nation then ten 19-0 seasons would be worth to New England.

That's all for now, time to enjoy another 6 months without football. Good thing I've got a game recorded to watch whenever I need it.

Cami Update & Cupcake Pics

These are some of my favorite pics of Cami so far, and really give you a good idea of how she looks these days (I realize it's been a while since we posted). She's now about 3 mos and a week old, and loving every minute of it (okay, so sometimes she cries). She loves to smile and laugh, especially when we're all laughing with her - she seems very social. On Monday of this week, she rolled over for the first time, and even seemed to surprise herself. She's rolled over about 5 times so far, but not at all in the last couple of days, so I'm not sure if she remembers how all the time. She also moves her arms and legs in a crawling motion and leans towards the toys in front of her, but can't move much further than a couple of inches, which seems to frustrate her sometimes. It is kind of cute though, because I can tell her entire goal is to get the toys into her mouth, which I'm sure is what she'll do as soon as she can grab them. She also has some grumpy times, and I'm beginning to think she has a bit of a temper, but will hopefully learn how to calm down more when she can better communicate her needs. She's sleeping through the night great most of the time, and still takes quite a few naps, drifting off to the sounds of her French frog, "Baby Coa" (For those of you who know what "Baby Tad" is, they've been discontinued & now cost at least $60 online - we opted for the French version, which they were clearing out on the LeapFrog web site - only $20 or so with shipping, and hey, the nightime music doesn't have words anyway.) She's a very alert little baby, and we're having a blast being parents, and feel very blessed.