Walk (Again) for Hope

On October 16th Dain, D and I will be participating, for the 2nd year, in the Walk for Hope to benefit Mutual Ground - a shelter that provides free services to victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

Both Dain's family and my family have been affected by domestic abuse. We are walking once again with "Team Andrea" a group formed in memory and honor of Dain's cousin who lost her life as a victim of domestic abuse.

Please see the site below where I'm managing my fundraising efforts, which also includes further information on Mutual Ground. Any donations are tax deductible and can be made on the website - or I can accept cash/check donations as well.

http://www.firstgiving.com/mariemeyer

Please do not feel obligated to donate - I also just wanted to spread the word about this great place that could possibly be a safe haven to someone you may know that may also be affected.

Photo Update

I don't have time/energy for a full-blown post. But I will throw some much overdo photos from the past month or so on here...

Enjoying the last sprinkler/backyard pool day of summer...

Having fun with Spiderman (he calls him "pie" which I think is adorable/hilarious)

At the breastfeeding group's BBQ to celebrate the babies turning 2 (they're all within about 6 weeks or so of eachother - so some turned 2 already)Smiling at Rainforest Cafe - probably realizing how much that place was going to cost us!Modeling Dain's hat - he wears it around the house about every night...and showing off the black eye that his best friend Thomas the Train gave him...and all his teeth

Playing with the fold-up Hotwheels ramp I got for $2 at the Western Ave School sale...and laying down on the job

And my new favorite photo of all
Coming soon...a post about our trip to Morton Arboretum...and maybe even a video if I can get the stupid YouTube account to work...

The Latest Fave

Here's D's latest favorite commercial.

We've seriously noticed that he L-O-V-E-S piano music. He will stop dead in his tracks for anything with a piano music bed in the background. Hello Rhapsody, I will be updating my iPod tonight...

Oh Man...another option!

I can't help myself...this is tooooo cute - and he loves gorillas!


I'd say it's down to this, Mickey Mouse, or the Hulk. However I realllllly like this. Thoughts?

(PS - looks like R2D2, the Hulk and the dinosaur were a three way tie for first in the other poll).

Nope - Not Done

Here's round #2...a few more costumes to consider.

People have asked me what D would like to be - which would 100% be Spiderman. However, as my mom pointed out - we have YEARS of Spiderman in our future. That being said - Dain mentioned that it's important that D look in the mirror and get excited about who he appears to be!

That being said - - here are the costume decisions (and a new poll to the side) with D in mind. Vote at your leisure.

(Results of previous poll - Ewok won, followed by the Boxer and Woodstock - D would recognize exactly zero of these, although he likes bears, and he'd probably think the Ewok was a bear!)

That's Just Good Advice...

If you haven't ever caught on...I'm a bit nostalgic. I'm big into things that remind me of something in the past, whether it's photos, toys, books, journals, movies, you name it!

Most of the time this is reflected in my BLOG through books I reference. I started a collection of my favorite childhood books before I even had thought about getting pregnant with D. True, I added some new ones that have caught my eye, but most of the list was classics from my youth. I thought I had them ALL on my Amazon.com list - however - I WAS WRONG.

Yesterday - at the Batavia Public Library (which I L.O.V.E. by the way) I randomly came across a book that I remember from my childhood which I had totally forgotten about.

Yes - "Never Tease a Weasel" - I believe the copyright is 1964.

Dain saw the cover and said "that's just good advice". Great. So, we checked it out. And this book has been a wonderful trip down memory lane for me. With words like "jaunty" and "gay" and "cravat", it's been fun to read to D too.

And guess what? Like most books he sees...D loves it.

Vote for Halloween #1

Yep - it's time to start seriously considering our Halloween costume options. Since, yet again, I don't think I'll have the time to make a costume, we're going the order route. And while I'm POSITIVE that D would choose to be Spiderman if given options - I want to take full advantage of what I'm guessing will be the last Halloween where he will not have full decision-making say on the costume.

I'm now opening the polls for the first costume vote of the season. I say FIRST, because you and I both know there will be more...

These are in reverse alphabetical order for now. I won't tell you those I'm leaning towards, but I'll allow guesses! Vote on the RIGHT...more to come!

Singing To D

I vowed to sing more...this is one I sing to him regularly - - even Dain joins in sometimes.