My Valentine

Here we are, in all of our "royal" glory. I love this man. I've loved him for more than 10 years now. Every good thing in my life is as a result of him. He has given me everything I've ever wanted...beautiful children, the chance to stay home and raise them, a wonderful house and secure lifestyle, and a partner who is always, always on my side. I could not ask for more.

Only 6 Months Late!

For Cooper's 1st birthday party, I made a slideshow of some of our favorite pictures from his first year. I meant to share it with friends and family who were not at the party, but my computer crashed, and techno-unsavvy me wasn't sure how to post it from the DVD copy. I'm still not sure, but I had also made one at a website, so I'm finally getting around to importing it here.

I can't believe how big my baby has gotten. He is such a joy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Little Paleontologist

Warning: completely biased mommy report about to commence!

It's no secret to anyone who knows us that Griffin is into dinosaurs. It's been almost a year now, and the obsession isn't close to waning. Like every interest he's had so far, Chad and I have run full out with this one. We get new dino books every week at the library, have 1,236 dinosaur toys (not really sure this is an exaggeration!), and dig for dinosaurs on a regular basis, either at home with kits or at the Children's Museum. Christmas day, surrounded by dozens of new toys, he spent 5 happy hours digging in a mound of rock for T-Rex bones!

But what I was unprepared for is the depth of Griffin's dinosaur passion. He doesn't just like the toys, or think dinosaurs are cool because they roar. Oh no, my boy loves his particular favorites (right now Compsagnathus and Velociraptor) for intelligent, well thought-out reasons. He refuses to work on identifying letters, but can name upwards of 75 dinosaurs.

And now my new favorite development: he has a favorite paleontologist! He watched a documentary on Jack Horner, who discovered Maiasaura bones, and then we read a book. Now he talks all about him, tells us random people in restaurants looks like him... It's a riot! A few days ago we wrote a letter telling Jack Horner that he's our favorite and asking him some questions. We're very hopeful we get a response. What 4 year old has a favorite paleontologist? He thinks he's cooler than Superman right now!!

I know that every kid develops interests and then they pass. We've seen that a few times already. But I don't think it's a bad bet at all to predict a future as a paleontologist for my baby. Lucky for me, he said I can come on his digs with him...as long as I stay by the flagged areas!