A Trip to the Museum

This week I'm away in Sunny Orlando at a conference... without my baby :( Not only is this the first time that I'm away overnight since Marshall was born but I'm away the entire week! Talk about jumping in all the way!

Since there are only 8 days left in February, I thought I would use the rest of the month to post some pictures of The Marsh from the October - January timeframe.

We start back in November with Marshall's first trip to a museum. My mom, brother, and sister were in town for his 1st birthday party and we took a trip into the city to visit the Natural History Museum. During this trip, Marshall said "What's that?" for the first time while pointing at one of the glass cases.





The only way to travel...





Photo-op with the Triceratops.





Look at all the people down there!





What's that?





What's that? Yes... once he started saying it he didn't stop :)





Planets are cool!





Enough learning for The Marsh! It's time for a nap!





~AKO

What I Did on My Vacation...

~AKO

A Look Back on the Holidays

When I logged into Blogger today I noticed that this is my 100th post! When I started this blog last year I really didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I still really don't. I just play it by ear each time I sit down to write a post. I never imagined I would still be blogging after 100 posts. Yay me!

I have a few pictures to share from our trip to Michigan over the Christmas holidays to visit my family that I've finally gotten a chance to upload. We were planning on returning to New Jersey on Sunday, but due to the storm that buried the East Coast, we didn't leave until Tuesday. Marshall's schedule was all out of whack from being on vacation so we were up most of the night Tuesday night and didn't get too much done on Wednesday as planned.

We decided to drive so we had our little Focus jam packed full of stuff to make sure we had enough supplies for Marshall. In the end I think I overpacked but I figured it was better to have too much than not enough.





We weren't home for 24 hours before the spoiling of the baby began. Marshall didn't spend too much time out of Grandma Marshall's arms.





I had just missed the smile in this photo. Marshall has been smiling a lot lately in response to people talking to him. He especially smiles a lot after he's been changed. I guess he enjoys being in a clean diaper :)





Marshall also met his Grandpa Marshall for the first time. In addition, I also met my new Step-Brother and Step-Sister for the first time since my dad's marriage to his girlfriend, Sue, in October. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the wedding since I was getting close to my due date.





My brother and sister-in-law's first Christmas in their new home.





And what would Christmas be without...





Super Mario Brothers!! And yes, that is my sister playing Mario while holding the baby.





Still on the quest for the smile shot. I was very close with this one!





And this was one of my favorite shots of the week...





All in all a pretty good Christmas this year. I'm pretty excited for next year when Marshall will be a little more aware of what's going on. We all got lots of cool things this year. Plus Marshall got to meet my extended family for the first time since he was born. Most importantly is that I don't think I'll have to buy any clothes for Marshall for a really looooong time.

Then all of a sudden 2010 is almost over. This year went by pretty quickly. I think, for me, it went by quick because I was pregnant for most of it. Marshall is 2 months old today and growing like crazy. I'm definitely looking forward to 2011 and watching him grow and learn new things. Something I'm going to do this year that I haven't done in the past is write down some realistic goals that I would like to acomplish in 2011. Then, at the end of the year, I'll be able to look back and see how much I was able to get done that I wanted to. So you can expect a New Year's Goals post in the next couple of days. I don't want to call them resolutions because I feel that calling them resolutions doesn't make them real. I mean, really, who honestly completes their New Year's resolutions???

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays this year and are looking forward to 2011!

~AKO

The Pennant Race is On!

We've officially entered the most exciting time of the year for us Baseball fans. There are only 4 weeks left in the regular season which means the race for the pennant has begun! Now, living in New York, I unofficially root for the Yankees. I know... I know... the team everyone loves to hate! BUT, being a true Michigander, my official team has always been, and will always be, the Detroit Tigers. I even told people I was a Tiger fan that year they lost 119 games in 2003... one game away from have the worst record in MLB history. That record belongs to the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games that season. But, if you really want to get technical, the worst record in baseball history belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (now the Cleveland Indians) who lost 134 games. But I digress...

As of today, the Tigers are in first place in the American League Central Division. Their current record is 75-61 and they are only 7 games ahead of the 2nd place Minnesota Twins. The magic number to clinch the AL Central division has not been release yet but you can bet I'll be watching for it! Of course, there is still plenty of baseball left in the season.

The Yankees are in a similar position over in the AL East Division. They are currently in first place with a record of 87-50. The Boston Red Sox are only 7.5 games behind so anything is possible!

With that, I will leave you with some baseball memories I have collected over the past few years.


Comerica Park - Home of the Detroit Tigers







St. Louis Cardinals vs. Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series



My little Tiger!



The Hubby at a Mets Game... it was a little chilly :)



The New York Mets at Shea Stadium



A hot dog and a beer... what more do you need at the ballgame?



The new Yankee Stadium






~AKO

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Favorite Vacation Spots

This week's Show Us Your Life is favorite vacation spots. Now I have not had much of a chance to travel abroad. As a matter of fact, I've never been out of the country :( So, all of my vacations are domestic. The funnest vacation I've been on recently was the family trip we took out to Las Vegas this past May. Because of the wedding in October, most of us were broke come Christmas time. So, my mom, sister, brother, brother's fiancee, Freddy, and I decided to take a trip somewhere rather than buy each other gifts. The decision was made to spend a week in Las Vegas. Of the six of us, only my mom and I had been there before so there were lots of new things to explore for everyone!




Freddy and I on the bus on our way to the strip.



New York, New York and MGM Grand on the Strip.



Excalibur on the Strip.



My sister, Andrea, and I enjoying our drinks at Kahunaville in Treasure Island.



Our appetizer at Khunaville, which amused me greatly :)



Freddy's winnings!



The gang in front of the Mirage: Andrea, Heidi, Tony, Freddy, and me.



My mommy in front of Caesar's Palace.




On the last day, we had the opportunity to take a bus tour over to the Hoover Dam. Our bus driver was a riot and we had a lot of fun!







Since I don't get to see my family much it was great to be able to spend the time with them. We may even do the trip in lieu of Christmas gifts again next year!

~AKO