Milo and His Dinosaurs Invade Target Field!

Last night my sisters and I took Milo (and his favorite dinosaurs) on his first trip to Target Field. He had such a great time taking it all in and exploring that I'm pretty sure he didn't even notice there was a baseball game going on until about the 8th inning. It was a really fun night, and the Twins won!

In the car on the way to Target Field (with T-Rex #1 and #2)

Walking through the skywalk...T-Rex #1 and #2 in tow!

Waiting out the rain (with T-Rex #1 and #2), we got a surprise viewing of

T.C., the Twins' mascot!

A rare moment of sitting still and watching the game (with Mommy and T-Rex #1 and #2)

Showing off his new red bat...where are T-Rex #1 and #2?

Recent Pics

Wanted to quickly share a few recent pictures. Over the weekend Milo had his first Dairy Queen experience, and I think the pictures speak for themselves about how much he enjoyed that! Today I took him grocery shopping and let him push the cart. He took it very seriously and did an excellent job! And tonight Daddy brought him something he has been wanting for a long time!

All by myself!

The little flag says "Customer in Training"

His very own car!

A Great Easter Weekend

The very first Twins game ever at Target Field, a fun Easter party at my cousin Pat's house on Saturday, Easter brunch with my family, Easter dinner with Tod's family, 3 Easter egg hunts, 2 Easter baskets, and countless jelly beans...overall, a great Easter weekend!

Outdoor baseball in Minnesota!

Milo finds his Easter basket. Note how he asks "Where's Woody" when he finds Buzz Lightyear...unfortunately the Easter Bunny forgot about Woody!

Jelly beans!

Lightening McQueen underpants and swim trunks!

Where's our Easter basket?

Family photo

Have tractor? Milo will find it! Tod says he has "trac-dar"

This one was my cousin Pat's

Pat has 2 girls (Ally and Kate) and all of their toys

are pink and girly. Milo didn't seem to care...

Getting ready for the Easter egg hunt with Ally and Kate

At the park with cousins John, Sam, and Carter

2010 Prince Haakon 12k

We did it! Or, as Milo's friend Dora the Explorer would say, Lo Hicimos! I finished in 1:53.07, nearly 7 minutes under my goal time of 2 hours. And Tod kicked butt with a 1:13.42, coming in 41st place for men and 74th overall. Very respectable considering we skied "classic" style as opposed to the much faster "skate" style. Overall, it was a great experience--a tough but fun race on a beautiful sunny day!

Before the race

Tod, me, my sister Meghan & her husband Alex

After the race

Me, Tod, and our friends Holly & Rich Levine

Me, Meg, Alex & Tod

The finish line

Cutest spectator there!

A New Friend!

Milo has a new friend. Anna is about a month older than Milo and her mom Kristin was one of our neighbors growing up. Anna, Kristin and Kristin's husband (and Anna's dad) Mark came over last night to take part in our inaugural "game night" festivities. While game night was not as successful as we had hoped (people were too wrapped up in the Olympics to show much interest in playing Apples to Apples or any of the other game selections--oh well, maybe next time!), Milo and Anna had a blast! They were both little shy at first but by the end of the night they were having a grand old time together!

They decided the stairs were the best place to go nigh-nigh

Think there's any Scandinavian blood in this pair?

Milo's "game night" game of choice was air hockey

In other news, Milo is now sleeping in a "big boy bed." His crib is actually one of those convertible cribs, and when my parents were visiting a couple weeks ago my dad was looking for projects so we had him put the crib in its toddler bed configuration. I got some new bedding and gave the room a face lift with a new rug and some new art to hang on the walls. It looks great...that is, when there aren't toys everywhere! No pictures because every time I go to take one the room is a mess! Milo is doing very well with the transition. It took him about a week to even realize that he could get out of the bed himself. For the first time yesterday, instead of waking up and either crying or yelling "mommy" or "daddy" he actually walked right into our room, all by himself. What a fantastic way to wake up!

Milo is also progressing very well in the potty training department. I feel like we've still got a ways to go, but it is amazing how fast he is picking it up. His teachers are potty training pros, so we're letting them take the lead and just doing what they tell us to do!

The countdown to Tod's and my big nordic ski race is on! The race is next Saturday, less than a week away! I am pretty nervous, but I feel confident that I will at least be able to finish. Now we're just crossing our fingers for good weather!

February Already?

I just realized that tomorrow is February 1st. Where did December and January go?!?

One of the first things Tod and I both thought when we learned that our first child would be born in late December was that the poor kid's birthday would have to compete with Christmas. And sure enough, on the same day that we celebrated Milo's birthday this year, we celebrated Christmas with my Grandma Joni and aunts Lisa and Laura. Some day that may not fly with Milo (we are seriously considering celebrating his birthday on his HALF birthday when he gets older), but this year he didn't know any better, and it worked out just fine.

Milo turned 2 on December 19, and had a great birthday! We started the festivities at a really cool train store in St. Paul called Choo Choo Bob's. They have all sorts of mechanical trains on display, and a bunch of wooden train sets set up on tables for kids to play with. The kids (Milo and his cousins) had a blast! Afterwards, we met for pizza and cake at Broadway, and we were so lucky to have so many family members there to celebrate with us!

Our Christmas plans went up in smoke with one of the biggest snow storms to ever hit Minnesota. I heard one weatherman refer to it as the "Snowpocalypse," which I though was a little dramatic but pretty funny. Despite the bad weather, and for the most part having to reschedule Christmas, everything turned out great. We were basically snowed-in at my parents' house for nearly a week, but enjoyed every second of it, spending lots of time outside sledding, skiing, making snowmen, and skating on the lake.

In mid-January, a bunch of my girlfriends from high school invaded Tampa, Florida and the home of my best friend Carrie for a little girls' weekend. There were six of us total, and although the weather wasn't perfect, it was just great to be together! The last time we were all together was just before Milo was born, so we were long overdue for a get-together like this.

Last weekend we were up in Duluth for Hockey Day Minnesota. Hockey Day is an event put on by Fox Sports Net in which they televise a number of hockey games--from high school to college and pro--throughout the day. And to make it even more enticing, the high school games are played outside! Ironically, the team that Tod coaches (Hopkins) was chosen to play Tod's high school team (Marshall) in one of the televised games. It was such a cool event! Hopkins ended up beating Marshall 6-0, which was bittersweet for Tod, but the whole experience was one to remember!

The other big news of the past couple months was that Milo went to his very first movie and graduated from tumbling class! And he is also pretty much talking in full sentences now. He is absolutely hilarious and so much fun!

Birthday Boy!

What a goof!

Playing with Sydney and Sam at Choo Choo Bob's

Choo Choo Bob's

Presents!

Christmas!

Murphy all pooped out from Christmas

First time skating!

Skating is tough work!

My girls!

Hockey Day Minnesota

Hockey Day: Hopkins (Blue) v. Marshall (Black)

Hopkins' goalie wore a stocking cap over his helmet!

Graduation from tumbling class!