Blair's World

La la la-la, la la la-la, Elmo's World...Elmo loves is goldfish, his crayon too, thaaaat's Elmo's World!!! Well Moms, I did it. I threw a character party. A mighty fine one too, I must say. If I have learned anything at all about being a Mom, it is to NEVER SAY NEVER. Not in a million years would I have pictured myself doing anything character related. It's just not my style. But, thanks to etsy and a mighty fine cake lady, I did it. And it wasn't tacky after all! I don't know if I'll do it EVERY year, but I tested the waters and I'm now okay with it.

I decided to have the party at our home this year. I did not plan to have 6 feet of snow and ice on the ground, but it sure did add to the ambiance.

I placed all the sweets on our dining room table along with some balloons. Blair tried to have some fun with the Elmo cupcakes before the guests arrived, so I let her eat a carton of goldfish instead ;)

A bunch of Blair's little friends came to help celebrate. I rented a table and chairs so they could all sit together and socialize. I couldn't believe how tidy they were. Everyone ate their food at the table and had the best manners.

Elmo, himself, decided to join us after lunch was served. Leave it to Mother of the Year for underestimating her daughter's fear of characters. In my defense, she was totally fine when we went to see Sesame Street Live at Phillips Arena. She was totally NOT fine at the party. It provided great entertainment for the other critters though.

After Elmo left, it was time for cake and cupcakes. I sure did hate to destroy the beautifulness, but they are for eating; not for looking.

Blair had another small attack during the birthday song. I don't know what it was, but she got a little overwhelmed by all of those people looking at her and singing loudly. Good thing it wasn't a Verdigets' family party, because that would have really frightened her. But, there isn't anything a little cupcake won't fix, and she was good as new in no time.

Blair had a wonderful party, and is so grateful for all of our family and friends that came. We still have traces of Elmo balloons all over the house, but that is a two year-old's dream. Happy Birthday Baby Blair! We love you!

Two

It is so hard to believe that I have a two year old. It seems like just yesterday I was crying the whole way home from the hospital. Scared to death that I was going to break her or let her starve. I have to say we've all come a long way, and we have somehow managed to not mess up too bad ;) We did celebrate with a great party this weekend, but I wanted to blog about JUST Blair first. I love how I have blogged about all her birthdays, whether it was 6 weeks, 6 months, or 1 year old.

We went to the pediatrician on Monday for her check up. Blair weighs 26lbs and 12oz (55th percentile). She is 33.5 inches tall (40th percentile). And her head is 49 3/4 cm (95th percentile). Dr. Pip confirmed that A) She is short B) She is thinning out some, and C) She has a big head. LOL! It just has a big brain in it, that's all!

For my sake, I want to blog a little bit about what Blair likes at this stage and what all she is capable of doing. Blair has really found a love for characters these days. She loves ALL Sesame Street characters, she loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and she REALLY loves Barney right now. Blair is also really into baby dolls. Ever since we visited her cousin Harper, we have had to buy 3 babies since then. She is learning how to take care of them, feed them, and change them, and it is SO sweet! Some of Blair's favorite toys at this stage are her red kitchen, her grocery cart, her "foods", and her crayons. She has this little song that she sings when she colors that goes like this "Color, color, color, I see a color, what color do you see?". She sings it over and over a million times a day.

Blair is an eater. She likes most food. Sometimes she will say "I don't like that, it's yucky" but we don't hear that very often. Her favorite food is macaroni and avocado. That is what she asked Santa for at Christmas time. Good selection as far as I'm concerned. Not only is Blair an eater, but she is also a sleeper. She is in bed by 7:00 most nights. I find myself having to wake her up most weekdays at 7:00 so we can get a move on. However, she is perfectly content in her bed until 8 on the weekends. That's the Verdigets in her. I'm a morning person. Blair and Felix are not. She still takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons. She doesn't nap that well at school because she prefers to be in her heaven-like crib with her sound machine on. It would make you sleepy if you just walked in there ;)

Daddy and I are so proud of Blair and what a big girl she is. She has learned so much the past few months at school and she continues to surprise us with her ability to speak and remember things. She is such a musical little thing, and she walks around singing most of the day. Of course, we have bad days and throw fits, but she wouldn't be normal if she didn't.

So, here are a few pics I snapped of my girl on her birthday. It was a great day and we were so happy to see the sun. Blair got to go outside for the 1st time since Christmas. That was the greatest birthday gift of all. So, Happy Birthday my Sweet Baby Blair! I love you so much!

My Champions

Yes, it is true. My Auburn Tigers are National Champions. I may not can finish this post without crying. I have cried so many times over the weekend. I cried in the airport when the terminal was like a sea of orange. I cried on the airplane when the flight attendant led the crowd in "War Eagle". I cried when Felix and I left the hotel room on Monday morning, because I knew when we came back into that room, we would know the result. I cried when the team took the field. I cried when Michael Dyer scored the "not so good" winning touchdown. I cried when Wes Byrum kicked the "good" winning field goal. I cried when Gene kissed the crystal ball, and said "This one's for you. War Eagle!". And lastly, I cry ever single time I see a recap on ESPN. It's too good to be true. I don't have to even explain to you all by now how special Auburn is to me. If you've just started reading and need to be caught, then contact me. I'll send you a dissertation.

We arrived in Scottsdale, AZ on Sunday and met some friends for lunch. How nice it was to sit out in 70 degree weather while eating lunch and soaking up some vitamin D.

We stayed at a really nice resort in Scottsdale called FireSky. We had some friends over to our place that night to roast smores and have drinks by the fire.

We had to be in Glendale on Monday by noon to pick up our tickets. We got there just in time to meet a bunch of friends at Yard House. It was such an amazing atmosphere. It felt like being in Auburn. We saw a ton of people we knew. We socialized, sang the fight song, and did cheers while we waited for our table to be ready. The Deckers scoped out the perfect table for us, and it was a home run!

After a fantastic lunch at Yard House, we headed out to tour the sights. The crowd was amazing. There was WAY more orange than green. As usual, our fans were dressed so nice and classy. I can't say the same thing about the Oregon fans. They were all about wearing "team gear." They made Florida fans look like debutantes. I had one lady ask me "Where do you all find such nice clothes?" I wanted to say "the mall", but I just kind of shrugged it off! However, put the clothing aside, they were very nice fans in my opinion. They shook our hands, hugged our necks, and told us we played a fabulous game. Back to the atmosphere, it was ALL AUBURN. Under Armour did such a fantastic job representing us at the game. I hardly saw any signs for Oregon. Everywhere you turned it was ORANGE and BLUE!

We decided to make our way over to the Tiger Walk before heading into the stadium. There wasn't much to it because the bowl officials would not let team get off the bus for security reasons. We couldn't see them, but they could see us. We cheered our Tigers through and headed to the dome.

As we entered the dome, I could not contain my excitement. It was true. It was MY team's name on that field. We got settled into our seats, took some pics, and I got nestled in with my game day toddy. It was GAME TIME BABY!!!

It was a LONG HARD fight, but we did it! I did not snap any pics during the game for fear of breaking my camera or missing a play. But, I immediately pulled it out for the post-game celebrations. It was such an emotional win for the Auburn family. We have waited a long time for this, and our dream came true. I am so proud of our coaches, our team, and our fans for all the hard work and support over the past year. I hope this is just the beginning for our school. This was truly a trip of a lifetime and it is better than ever to say "It's GREAT to be an Auburn Tiger!!!!" WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!