Loud times in our neck of the woods...

Well, we played Berry, our cross-town rival, last night. The crowd was GREAT...really loud, excited, and into the game. We won 81-78! It took a good hour after the game ended for my stomach to get back to normal! This first clip is of part of the student section as they were dancing to "Superman". (Chad and I tried to learn the dance off of YouTube one night, but have since given up!)

Caroline has just been having a terrible time. She cries-SCREAMS- for long stretches several times a day and just arches her back all the way over my arm while I hold her. It is so worrisome and (selfishly) tiresome. This is a video of when Chad came home this even--the first real BELLY laugh she's given us...what a treat to hear! Ironically, about 2 minutes after this, she went into one of her screaming fits. (I actually got that on video too to show the doctor, but decided that no one else would REALLY like to see that!) If anyone has any clue what this could be--the doctor thinks reflux-- I'd LOVE to hear! We would ALL love to hear!

This wonderful, crazy job

I absolutely love that Chad coaches. More than that, I love that HE absolutely loves coaching. I have to say, though, that it is tough to think beyond each game during the season, as it is such a thought-consuming thing! We went to FCA camp as a family this summer and there was a coaches' wives Bible study I went to everyday. I looked around at some of those women whose husbands have been doing this for decades in awe at the fact that they were still sane! How do they make it through years and years of games and seasons? We played a top-10 ranked team on Saturday and lost, breaking a 6-game winning streak. I was so proud of the guys, but it's hard not to feel disappointed, even if we weren't 'supposed' to win. We play our cross-town rivals tomorrow night, which is going to be a big game. My nervousness now is different than before I had kids; it comes at different levels: first, I'm nervous that I won't get a babysitter. Then, I'm nervous about getting the girls fed, bathed, and in bed before the sitter comes. Then, I'm nervous that the kids won't go down before I leave. Then I'm nervous that because the sitter was a little late, I won't get a parking place, or a place to sit. Finally, with just minutes before the game starts, all those anxieties compound as we take the court! And then it's on to the next game! Probably much more detail than anyone really wants to know!

The first picture is of a time-out with the team on Saturday. After the game ended, I let Aly go out on the floor while I got Caroline ready to leave. When I turned around to look for her, I found her sitting on Chad's lap during his radio interview! The last picure is how we find Caroline everytime we go to get her up from her crib: all smiles!

Daddy Time

As basketball season goes, this time of year takes Chad away from us more than any of us would like. I am so fortunate to have a husband who makes an ENORMOUS effort to see us, no matter how exhausted it makes him! He makes a point to get up and eat breakfast with 'his girls' every morning, even when he comes in from a game or recruiting in the wee hours of the morning! (this also explains why we're all in pajamas in the majority of the pictures we take!) The girls are absolutely taken with him, as he is with them. He spends "special time" (this is what Aly calls it) with each of them, and their favorite thing is to dance with him in the kitchen. In the video below, Chad is teaching Aly to play defense (though he really hopes she opts for ballet over basketball!) The next picture is-obviously- Chad and Caroline. She is captivated by him and just gazes at him while he talks. The last two pictures are a little random--Aly was playing in some puddles after a rain--and while Caroline was napping-- last week. I just loved watching how much fun she was having.

New Year's Resolutions

Well, with little kids, New Year's doesn't so much much bring resolutions, but more like
opportunities to do completely new things! As you can see below (because I still have no clue as to how to add captions to my pictures!), Aly has taken one big step...to a 'big-girl' potty. As excited as she is about the idea of getting treats for doing what pretty much comes naturally anyway, she only actually uses it about once a day. Thank goodness for Pull-Ups! I'm glad that we went for the potty with the squishy seat because I never realized how much time she would spend each day just sitting on this thing! Poor Caroline has had a tough couple of weeks; we discovered over Christmas that she had an ear infection, then went back to the doctor (after lots of screaming for the past few days) to find out that BOTH ears are now infected (these poor kids just have Chad and my BAD EAR genes, I guess!) On top of that, she's also getting two teeth in. But, after a shot and another round of antibiotics, we're hoping that she will be back to her smiley self soon. She is kind of sitting (it's more like she's folded in half), as you can see by the picture. The videos are of Aly having a VERY serious conversation while eating, and of Caroline practicing the motions of crawling. Although you would never guess it from this post, I promise that we don't run a nudist colony around here! It just seems like we always have lots of bare skin in our pictures!

Chad's team has had a good start back from the Christmas break; they are now 11-4 heading into a big stretch of home games (yea!!) I think that we can all get used to winning! We'll make that OUR New Year's Resolution!

What a Week!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! With so many pictures and memories to choose from, it's so hard to decide exactly which ones to post! Nana and Papa came down from New York on the 23rd, and we had just a wonderful time with them here for nearly a week! As you can see, Aly enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies... "sprinkling" them with sugar was her favorite part (and by "sprinkling", I mean DUMPING!) We decided that topless was the best attire for the occasion! The girls loved their new toys, or at least were good-and-overwhelmed by them! The last picture was our attempt at a family "new year's eve" photo. Between setting the self-timer, getting all the hats in place, and trying to smile (all just minutes before bedtime!), the picture was more of a memory than a photographic success! I guess that's expected with 2 under 2! We hope that y'all had a very merry Christmas, and are looking forward to a GREAT 2008!