Is That a Cookie Sniffing Dog, Officer?

And this is how it all started almost 20 years ago. Here we have Dad using a "line" to catch Mom. Mom looks pretty smart so I don't think she'll fall for it - twice.

Dad had his family sit behind Mom's family in church for a couple of weeks before he introduced himself. Well over 200 holes of putt putt golf, at least a thousand movies, countless letters between Ohio and New York zip codes, a New Year's Eve proposal, a honeymoon to Aruba, four cross country moves, and here I am!

After all of this time, you might expect to see Dad take Mom out for a quiet dinner (no Elmo playing in the background) where under the candle light he would place a small, light blue box from Tiffany's on her side of the table. Nope. Dad has chosen to go with the ever popular, very romantic plastic fishing pole option. Now ladies, you might think that he would never be able to attract someone of Mom's caliber. But, check out the picture...it looks like he has a little nibble already! She's a keeper Dad.

This picture was actually from the test run of the fishing game that Mom came up with for my birthday party. Mom insisted that Dad participate in a trial run - hence the "Are you kidding me?" look on his face that you can't see.

This is what the kids looked like when they went fishing. Needless to say, we figured out that the prizes were on the other side ofthe kiddie gate pretty fast.

This is what it looked like from Mom's perspective.

I got a wagon for my birthday! Megan, Liam, and I had a lot of fun getting pulled around the living room. Everyone buckle up for safety!

Honestly officer, I have no idea how fast we were going. Cookie? What cookie? I wasn't eating a cookie.

There were lots of toys for everyone to play with, but the one toy that all the kids liked the most was something that did not have a single light, whistle, squeaker, or buzzer. In fact, it really didn't do anything other than sit there.

Yep, that's right it was a mailbox. We all had sooo much fun playing with the mailbox. Grandma made some special letters addressed to Megan, Liam, and me. That is what I have in my hand.

I played with the mailbox until all of the letters were wrinkled and covered with drool - just like the way Mom and Dad get their mail. I would pull open the mailbox door and take out all of the letters and then put them right back in. I couldn't quite figure out how to work the flag so I had to rely on Grandpa or Dad for that.

Who would have guessed that playing mail man would be more fun than anything else. Grandpa did caution me about getting chased by dogs as a professional hazard. Grandpa knows a thing or two about getting chased by dogs. Bicycle riders are right up there with the mail man and the UPS guy when it comes to getting chased by dogs. Isn't that right Daisy?

Uhhh....errrrrr......no comment. I mean dogs can't talk so wufff!

Aunt Robin gave Mom this beautiful gift.

Isn't it neat! Sorry Megan, Uncle Ryan's creativity extends to a spray painted macaroni covered candle with your picture on top. No offense taken if it hits the trash before Mom and Dad's tires hit the end of your driveway. We'll just keep it our secret, between us girls.

This is a picture of me and Dad! It was a super nice day and he gave me a wagon ride all over the neighborhood.


Handsome devil isn't he? Check out that cool ride! Blacked-out Ford Expedition courtesy of the government. Sorry Rick. But, I would like to point out that Mom and Dad both drive Honda's for their personal cars.

Did I mention that I am walking more and more now. Check this out.

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And, not only can I walk - but I can read too!



Here are three pictures that Mom took of me when I was clowning around in the kitchen.

I'll see you all next week!

Anybody Seen My Keys?

Oops there they are. I had them in my mouth the whole time. So what do I do with them? I can't figure out how to start this thing up. I bet it gets pretty good gas mileage though. It is one of those fancy new hybrid cars that uses an alternative fuel source. Right now it's Flintstone powered - i.e. my tootsies. Maybe someday I will move up to something with a little more zip!

Sorry this blog is soooo late and soooo short. Dad has been working some crazy hours lately so it has been Mom vs. Baby. If you saw how I left my toys everywhere at the end of the day you would think that I was winning. But, every morning they would be all picked up again, the laundry was done, and the house was cleaned up from my mischevious little hands. I guess Mom won this time around. But, I don't give up easily.

Now that Dad is back from saving the world - or so he says - the odds are definitely in the parents' favor. Darn it. Divide and conquer, divide and conquer. I really enjoy pushing my walker, or as I refer to it my "baby Segway", around the house. Check out this video of me doing just that. See you next week.

Blog Brought to You by the Birthday Girl!

Who's birthday is it? It's mine! I promise that I have been good all year long. Right Mom? Mom? Did I mention that you are totally cool. Love you Mom. Annnnnnyway. It really is my birthday. I am one year old today. Can you believe it? I can't. I am getting closer and closer to no longer counting my age in months.

I went home for my birthday to see everyone. I had a really big party too. The theme was ducks because I really like my rubber duck that I take a bath with at night. We had duck balloons, fish shaped placemats, and even a duck shaped cake.

Everyone had lots of fun opening presents and eating cake and ice cream - and Great Grandma's pie! I had some of the frosting from my cake. It tasted really good. Unfortunately, I don't think my sweet tooth has come quite yet so I didn't have more than a finger full of frosting. Not to worry, I smashed my piece of cake flat - so I enjoyed my cake just the same.

Everyone worked really hard to decorate for the party. Dad watched me while Mom and Grandma went to town. Dad is funny to watch eat. I had him going in so many directions that when he ate lunch he looked like that Kobayashi kid who always wins the Nathan's hot dog eating contest. Ahh but I digress.

Here are some pictures of my decorations.

The whole family took lots of pictures together.

I played the whole time with my cousins Liam and Megan.

I opened lots of presents too.

But the funny thing is, after all of those super nice presents, I am completely enthralled with throwing this plastic plate down on the floor.

Again, and again, and again.

And again.

And again.

One thing that I did notice is that after I turned 1, this big note card started to appear everywhere I would go. It is almost like it was stalking me cause every time I turned around there it was.

Freeze Mom! There is a note card following me. I'm not looking. I'm not looking. Huh huh huh.

There it is again! Will you stop following me you baby stalker!

I know you're there. You can't fool me by leaning against the duck.

Mom, the note card is on my side of the couch. Dooooooo something.

Beat it note card. Why don't you make like a tree and get outta here - errrr, split, or leave or whatever.

Give me a break already. It's my birthday.

Here I am wearing my shirt that says "Guess Who's 1 Year Old"


Any thoughts? By the way guess who else had a birthday? Mom's friend Stacey Rae.

Finally, Mom took me to the park for my birthday. So here I am enjoying a beautiful day with Mom.

Can We Make it One More Exit?

Here I am! It has been a very exciting weekend for me. I celebrated my first birthday party! It was a long drive, but I had lots of fun. I opened presents, pushed some cake around my plate, and played with my cousins.

I have lots of pictures to share and stories to tell about my big day. But it is 11:40 PM and Dad says he can't blog past 11:30PM after a six hour drive with one bathroom stop and no cruise control. He said it is written in the union rules for dads. Mom said she's never heard of them. Me either.

Dad said that he will post my pictures and help me tell you all about my big day tomorrow night after work - that way it will be ready for everyone to look at first thing on Wednesday morning.

There are soooo many pictures I might have to stretch them across two weeks worth of blogging. I was living the baby crazy life that is for sure. Wait until you see some of my neat presents.

Until then, for those of you who need a little Macy fix...... Here I am at Exit 140.

Nothing like having your butt hanging out at a Citgo around 9:30 at night. Classy. One thing is for sure, I don't care how big a football fan you are, nobody wants what I'm serving at this tailgate. See you in a day or two!

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Check it out Mom, I have five fingers on this hand. See, one....two....three.....you know how it ends. Now let's get those legs a-swinging there Mom. Mom, Dad and me had a fun day at the park. We swang on the swings, Mom blew bubbles at me, and Dad followed us around like parent-arazzi with the video camera. I am practicing my wave in this picture. Mostly, I wave at myself - I'm still working on flipping it around.

It is now official. I passed my sleep study! Yeah for me! I am ready to have one final appointment with the cranial-facial plastic surgeon and then it will be time to schedule my surgery. But........

My plastic surgeon was lecturing at a hospital in Ohio and he fell and broke his hip. He will not even be taking appointments until maybe September - much less performing surgery. In fact, he still is in the hospital in Ohio. So, as you can imagine that he will be back logged for months. For now, I am just going to have to wait. Even though there are other surgeons and other medical centers that perform this type of surgery, my surgeon is considered to be the very best. His kids usually have only one surgery and there is no speech delay. Mom, Dad, and I talked about it and we decided that it would be better to wait for the very best than go through multiple surgeries and extra speech therapy if I don't have to do it.

Mom and Dad figured that they could just go see my developmental pediatrician in the interim. But.....he is having a hip replacement surgery and won't be able to see him until October. It has been a tough streak for the doctors at Riley Children's Hospital. If you happen to think about it, wish them well and maybe add them to your prayers.

Despite these temporary setbacks, I am doing really well. I am smiling and giggling more than ever. I seem to have found a third gear and am really taking off. This afternoon I played in the front yard with Dad. Mom and Dad tried to take a picture of me sitting in front of our flowers.

This is the best that they could do.

Like I said, I am really taking off.

They did manage to get a few pictures of me after I climbed into the landscaping. Man! Those rocks are really hard on the knees.

But they taste so darn good!


Who wants to see what an astronaut looks like when they blast off?

"Ahhhhh, I feel like I have perma-grin. Can we slow down now?"

Well, it is almost the start of college football season. The ESPN rankings are already out. No surprise to my family in Ohio, Ohio State is ranked #1. However, I have to say that despite all of the Buckeye fans out there, I am gonna have to go with Dad and Grandpa and say "Go Irish!" Notre Dame is ranked #3. I am sure that this was just a typographic mistake by the folks at ESPN. No hard feelings. After last year's season, I smell a National Championship! So to get everyone ready, I have included the Notre Dame fight song. The lyrics are below the picture in case anyone wants to sing along.

Rally sons of Notre Dame,
Sing her glory, and sound her fame
Raise her Gold and Blue,
And cheer with voices true,
Rah! Rah! For Notre Dame.

We will fight in every game
Strong of heart and true to her name.
We will ne'er forget her
And we'll cheer her ever,
Loyal to Notre Dame.

Chorus:
Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send the volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky,
What though the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching
Onward to Victory.

Hopefully, I will still be welcome among all of the Buckeye fans in my family. If not, just kick Dad out. Mom says he snores and I am much too cute to pass up on holding. Until next week keep rocking. Get it, rock in my mouth a couple of pictures ago? Nope? Dad, not funny, you stink. Take it away Elmo.