Love #3: The Beatboxing Cellist

Now that Biff can detect sounds and hear what is going on around him, we're trying to surround him with  music when we can. So far he's responding most to Eminem (sigh) - kicking away whenever he hears it. If Martha Stewart can listen to Eminem, why not Biff!

In an effort to "class it up" a bit, we've been trying to find cool alternatives. And look no further than Kevin Olusola. Olusola is currently competing on NBC's The Sing Off, but is already most known among his peers at Yale - and now around the world - for his unbelievable musical talents as a beatboxing cellist. You can't help but get into his great music - and we successfully completed our mission when we went on YouTube to find more of his work. Once we played the below link, cue the kicks from Biff!

Week #9: Hug Your Mom!

I sat down tonight to write about Week #9 and instead we're overcome with the loss of our friend.

Today we lost our dear friend Barb Timmer, sister to our "second mother" Lori Allen. Barb lost her fight with Leukemia this morning, having only been diagnosed 4 weeks ago. Barb's prognosis was good to begin - a very beatable cancer - and then things slowly started to spin out of control. To make this harder to piece our hearts back together: Barb and John's 3 daughters, one of whom delivered baby twins just 2 days ago, and another daughter who is due in just weeks. I can't imagine where you even begin.

So instead this week I say, "Screw you Cancer!" In the last year we've watched our sister battle it every day. We found out a long time family friend and a colleague (two separate individuals) both now battle brain tumors. And today, we lost Barb. It's a disease that makes me terrified to bring Biff into this world for fear that he'd have to face loss like this or worse yet have to face it himself, but it's for that same reason that we have to keep giving way to new generations as perhaps that new baby will be the one that finds the cure to cancer some day.

Life's lesson: Who cares that the Colts are the absolute worst team in the NFL... go hug your mother. Or anyone else that you love for that matter and don't ever let go.

Baby Update: Registering at it's finest...

Taylor and I took a deep breath, counted to 1-2-3, and attempted to start our baby registry today. Although I work in retail, my patience in store can some times run short. We needed to get our heads wrapped around all of the gadgets more so than presuming we'd accumulate a lot of swag throughout this process. The people at Petit Green here in our own city were so knowledgeable and helpful. Our new friend Griffin lead us through like a pro. Taylor become her fast friend and I got to sit back and let him make the decisions (I'm saving up my energy for March).

After we finished, we had some odds and ends and didn't want to end up having 6 different lists - nor have to go to 6 different places. Enter MyRegistry.com. This website is amazing! You set up your registry, adding a button to your internet browser. You can go on any website, add any item using the magic button, and it's added to your list. All tidy in one place.

Ladies (& Gents) - if you are engaged, expecting, or just throwing a party for yourself, you'll love it! You'll love it even more because the main registrant in your party won't have to drag you to 12 different store fronts. At one point in our day Taylor had to start making inappropriate jokes about (bottle) nipple sizes just to make the day interesting, so this site will save us all.

http://www.myregistry.com/

Week #7 & Week #8: Happy Halloween!

It is this time of year when men walk around dressed up in costume... and in the NFL, this year's costume of choice is a quarterback. Some have costumes more believable than others. Some are high quality, custom made (i.e. Aaron Rodgers) and others are the thrown together scraps from last year mixed with something you picked up from Halloween Town (i.e. Rex Grossman).

Quarterbacks get too much blame and too much credit. I've endured many years of turbulent quarterback play - at one point throwing a full laundry basket of clothes at the television after I couldn't take it any more, breaking down in tears over the play of a QB who shall remain nameless. Needless to say my Dad wasn't happy about the flat screen and my mom wasn't happy about the folded laundry.

Here are my notables for the last few weeks:

• Tim Tebow - although there was a come from behind victory in Week 7, there were 55 minutes of terrible play before that, which showed itself again this Sunday. We're getting exactly what we thought we would get with Tebow - to no fault of his own. He's not an NFL quarterback - at least not now. 
• Kyle Boller / Carson Palmer / Terrelle Prior / Oakland Raiders - who even knows... Here's to hoping Carson Palmer can make up for time lost. 
• "Matt the King of our Cassle" (as my mother in law says) - have to give it to the Kansas City Chiefs who have somehow figured out a way to come back to be a 4-3 team tied for the Division. 
• Joe Flacco - as wildly inconsistent as the flight pattern of a Raven. 
• Peyton Manning - is it possible that Peyton Manning could win MVP and not even take a snap this year? When Tom Brady went down, the Patriots still figured out a way to go 11-5. The Colts have yet to win a game.

It's also this time of year that teams go off to find themselves like kids in high school, and it's usually at this time that I have a tough time staying committed. Now that I am a casual fan (kind of), I get to turn it off when I want to and pick it back up in December when it gets interesting.

In the meantime, Halloween has come to a close. The costumes come off, November play starts, and the real teams and players emerge.