Sunday morning we decided, on a whim, to drive down to the one and only Yankee Stadium. After all, baseball season would officially kick off that night and the Yankees opened their season the following day. And it would be the last season to be played in Yankee Stadium as we all know and love it.

We wanted to see the new “stadium” - the building that was going to take over and house the greatest team that baseball has ever known. This new building has a lot to live up to and has HUGE shoes to fill. It’s sad to the think that the bleachers in the original stadium will sit empty and that the presence of all those baseball greats that walked onto that field will never be present in the new stadium.

But, giving credit where credit is due, the new building looks remarkably like the old one and I, as well as most Yankee fans I’d think, am thankful for that.

****Disclaimer: All photos taken through the windows of the car (most of them while moving!)

Welcome to Yankee Stadium!!

In true New York fashion, parking is now $35 for a game!!
All those Championships won within these walls!

The Upper Deck from the streets of the Bronx
The new Stadium . . .

We had a hard time getting a shot of the front of the new stadium. This is the front and if you look between the trees and above the 3 columns you can just out where it says “Yankee Stadium” in large gold letters.

We all hope you had a great 25th birthday!

We really did do more than lounge around, I swear!

Shane spent the weekend helping Mommy recover from having all 4 widsom teeth extracted on Friday. It’s amazing what some toddler lovin’ and a little Elmo can do . . .

Going into the whole Easter egg hunt thing with a toddler, I knew we were in for one of two scenarios:

1) It was going to be WICKED cute
OR
2) It was going to be a COMPLETE disaster

Thankfully, it turned out to be wicked cute! It took Shane but a minute to figure out that there were eggs tossed all over the backyard and he ran right over to one and picked it up - we applauded (which he LOVES) and he ran over to the next egg. We all applauded again and he ran one more time. This time he picked the egg up and threw it. Then he turned around and looked for his applause! That’s my boy! He’s his father to a tee!

Better yet was when Shane discovered that there were actually things inside of the eggs! And once he figured out that the bigger eggs held matchbox cars, he had absolutely no need for the smaller eggs that contained puffs (after all, he had already had them for breakfast!)

Here’s a few shots we manged to get while the getting was good. Really loving this age, he’s so much fun right now! Terrible 2’s oughtta kick in any time now!

A photography board that I frequent has started a challenge of sorts for all us “moms” - the goal is to get ourselves in front of the camera, with our kids! Since we spend so much of our time taking the pictures, it’s rare that we actually end up in them! I think this is a wonderful idea and I love it already!

My hope is to post a picture of Shane and I each Monday. Each Monday’s picture would’ve been taken the following week.

Here is our picture from Week 1. An awful picture really, but none the less it’s a picture of us and it captures a moment which I love - and that, after all, is what the challenge is all about.

We had a wonderful Easter and hope the same was true for everyone! GramZ and Grandpa came by on Saturday and spent the night and Grandma, Aunt Kate, Uncle Jay and Aunts Sue and Kathy came over on Easter Sunday. Shane even had his first egg hunt out in the backyard in the afternoon!

Here are a few quick snapshots of our day:

Shane’s Easter basket - 2008

Close-up of all his goodies!

This kid is such a creature of habit! Wiggles first, then the Easter basket!

Getting a little closer!
Basket full of goodies and he goes right for the Puffs!

Struggling to get them out of the basket!

Awwww, finally discovering there are other things inside his Easter basket!

Puffs & yogurt . . . the breakfast of champions!
Holding on to his Puffs for dear life! With Grandma on Easter
Pictures of our Easter egg hunt to follow . . .

As a reward for being such a good helper Saturday morning while we finished up with the chores around the house, we spent the early part of the afternoon at Stepping Stones, a children’s museum in Norwalk.

Once we figured out that Shane was feeling a little intimidated by all the big kids around and then went into the “Toddler Terrain” area (where you have to be 3 or under to play) he had a fantastic time!

In the water play area . . LOVE the little capes they have for the kids to help keep them dry! (Notice him holding onto his Daddy’s finger??!!!)

Still not wanting to leave Daddy’s side . .

Racing cars with Daddy!
At this point we go into “Toddler Terrain” - he had no problem leaving our side and we practically had to drag him out kicking and screaming when it was time to leave!!

Playing “hide ‘n seek” . . .

Crawling in . . .

Checking things out . . .

And crawling out . . .He could NOT get enough of the slide!! He yelled “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee” every time he went down!

As if this little guy needed to attempt to capture my heart any more than he already has . . .

Here he is helping us clean the house on Saturday morning before all of our holiday company startred to arrive for the weekend!
This is what I got when I asked him to turn around and smile for me! I think the mop got stuck!

When my boss was kind enough to let us out of work early on Good Friday it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get all of our Easter eggs dyed since Chris and Shane were both off and home already.

We had such a blast doing this last year, Shane just hung out in his highchair and smiled the whole time, and I wasn’t at all sure how dying eggs was going to go over with an almost 2 year old helping out! However, I’m happy to report that aside from a few cracks in some of the eggs, things went really well. We all had a super time and I think the eggs turned out super cute!

Perhaps having a “theme” that Shane could relate to helped our cause a bit?!

Daddy & Shane working really hard
Cocentration . . .
They work quite well together, don’t you think???
Our finished eggs! Recognize anyone?!

After the haircut on Saturday, we headed down to Long Island to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with GramZ, Grandpa and extended family. We had a great time seeing everyone and catching up . . . Sullivan’s, Finn’s, Lazarro’s - we miss you guys!

Here a few pictures from the afternoon.

Shane having a great time running around in GramZ and Grandpa’s backyard
With his hat on, he still looks like a baby!
Always on the move
Exploring with Daddy
Peek-a-boo (really I think he’s trying to hide the fact that Grandpa snuck him a chip!)
Danny & Brooke and Chris & Shane
All the girls (+ Shane!)

Let’s do it again soon, guys!

Shane had his very first haircut on Saturday morning. When I say that playing in the snow a few weeks ago went better, all of you regular blog readers will know exactly the kind of morning we had on Saturday!

We took him to Snip Snaps in Shelton and he was smiling from ear to ear when he walked in and saw all the toys they had lying around for him to play with . . . then we tried to put him in the airplane chair so that the stylist could cut his hair - that’s when we lost him.

Chris and I looked each other - we both knew immediately that this airplane chair wasn’t going to work out, no matter how convincing of an argument we presented him with. The poor stylist grabbed hold of the airplane chair and dragged it all the way to the other side of the salon. She then grabbed a regular chair (the kind you and I sit in when we have our hair cut) and dragged that chair all the way back over to her station. Chris sat in the chair, put Shane on his lap, and pretty much held him against his will for the next 6 or 7 minutes. Poor Daddy. And poor Shane, I swear our son has years of therapy ahead of him and he’s only 22 months old!!!

Below are some pictures that outline the momentous occassion. You’ll notice there are no pictures of Mom in the batch. As tough of a time as Shane had, I had an even more difficult time with it! My baby went from looking like a baby to looking like a 5 year old, all within less than 10 minutes! Maybe I should just line up that therapist for him now???!!??

The “Before” . . .

Cape’s on and we’re ready to go!
He’s being ANYTHING but cooperative - that poor stylist . . .
He seriously looks like she’s torturing him! Save me, Mommy!!! Please!!
And, the “After” . . . Notice that he’s happy as can be now that he’s walking around playing with his “gees” (trucks) again.



Meet my 5 year old . . .

I NEVER get pictures like this! Mainly because he will NEVER stay still long enough for me to be able to get one (we have a VERY active toddler!)

Friday morning while I was getting ready for work Shane wanted to hang out with me. So I plopped him on our bed while I got ready, fully expecting that he’d be off the bed in about 3 seconds. Instead, he laid down, pulled his blanket up to snuggle, and settled in.

Something about this picture tugs at my heart - it makes me love him even more!

It’s not often that 7 girlfriends from college can find a way to stay close after 9 years, but I’m proud to say that our group has done just that! Not only do we remain close and continue to be there for one another after all these years, but our kids can also get together and get along - what an awesome thing!

I love you girls and I look forward to many more years, many more babies and many more happy memories!