Football for Females

I got an early Christmas present last night. :)

My bestest bud Angie bought us tickets to the first ever Football for Females, an event hosted by former Ohio State linebacker Chris Spielman. We had a blast! We planned to meet at resterant where the event was being held at 6:30 PM, but I got there a bit earlier and decided to go ahead and check in; I'm glad I did because I was able to score us front row, center seats! Not long after, Angie arrived, and we bought ourselves some wine & started chowing down on the delicious appetizers.

The presentation itself began about an hour later. For those of you who aren't familiar with him, Chris Spielman is a former standout linebacker for the Buckeyes and is currently a college football commentator for ESPN. Sadly, he is also known for the public battle his wife Stephanie fought with breast cancer--a battle she lost a year ago this Friday. Chris spoke about her passing candidly, and I admit I had to fight back some tears. He then launched into the main program, which was basically a question & answer session with the audience; someone would ask a question, and he would explain the answer, usually using the dry erase boards as a visual aid. He also picked on Angie a bit, which was hilarious. :)

Once the presentation was done, they drew numbers for the door prizes. I'm sad to report that neither Angie or I won anything--we were really hoping to get the free booking on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer in February--but it was fun to watch other ladies win. When the drawing was complete, Chris was available for autographs & photos, which Angie & I definitely took advantage of. We were somehow in the right place at the right time again; we were second in line (out of about 135 attendees!), so we got out of there pretty quickly.

In all, it was a great evening. It was nice to know that any money we spent was going to go a good cause (the Stephanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research); we got awesome goody bags (a T-shirt, Brio gift card, free massage at a new spa, etc.), and we met another famous Buckeye. I think the best part, though, was hanging out with Miss Angie, and I thank her for the Christmas gift! :)

It was only a matter of time...

...before I got Nolan into his first Buckeye jersey, and with yesterday's showdown with Penn State, it seemed about as good a time as any. I must say he looks rather dashing. He doesn't seem to care much for the game itself yet, as he slept through the first three quarters (much like the Buckeyes themselves were sleepwalking through the first half), but his OSU fanaticism will come to him. I'll make sure of it. :)

But It's a GOOD Exhausted...

No shower until 4 PM.
No makeup.
Nothing done to my hair.
Nothing done (YET) about the excess baby weight.
No more than 12 hours sleep (total) the past three days.
The two cutest boys in the world in my lap.

I wouldn't change a thing. :)

An Afternoon with Aiden

Mimi offered to take Nolan for the afternoon yesterday so that Mike & I could spend some time with Aiden. I had a hard time coming up with something to do, but Mike spit out the great idea of going bowling. We had an awesome time! He didn't quite understand what was going on when we first arrived at the alley, but once I took my first turn & rolled the ball down the (bumpered) lane, his eyes lit up. Mike helped him out a lot, and we only had one instance of him trying to run down the lane after the ball (luckily Mike caught him before he got too far). He even carried the 6-pound ball by himself a few times! We only ended up bowling one game because Aiden started requesting McDonald's for lunch. But before we left, we crowded into the photo booth to get the pictures at the left. Possibly my favorite part of the whole day. :)

This and That

We've had an interesting week. It all started with our kitchen sink backing up on Sunday evening. Despite a herculean effort by Mike (and his extra-special helper Aiden), by Tuesday we were desperate not to wash dishes in the bathroom sink and finally called a plumber. The guy that came told me it usually only takes him 15 minutes--but ours took 3 hours, and he told me that he might not be able to fix it unless his last effort worked. I started having visions of a backhoe digging up my basement floor to find the faulty pipe, and all the dollar signs that went along with it. Luckily, he was successful, and it wasn't as expensive as I thought. I never thought I'd be so happy to load the dishwasher.

Other than that, we're just trying to settle into our new routine with Nolan. He's nearing the three-week threshold, and honestly, the kid is a joy. He's not much of a crier, he only gets up twice at night to eat, and then goes immediately back to sleep. I don't know if it's because we have more experience this time, or Nolan is just more laid back that Aiden was, or a mixture of both, but so far this has been A LOT easier than I expected it to be. I probably just jinxed myself saying so, but oh well.

Tonight, Mike & I are going out on our first post-partum date, and then tomorrow we have another date of sorts; we're going to take Aiden bowling for the first time, just the three of us. I am beyond impressed with how he's been handling his new normal, and he is honestly just smitten with Nolan; he's always asking to kiss his cheek or hold him. Now if I could just get the two of them to sit still for a photo...