Today was a proud day for the citizens of Smashville. Our team advanced to the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history. I could not be prouder of our team or to be from Nashville. You did good boys. You did real good.

Matthew, Marin, and I were there in person as the sell out crowd of 17, 113 roared the entire game. No one sat at all for the 3rd period. It was so loud that we had to yell to speak to each other, even though we were side by side. My ears were ringing for hours afterward. Luckily, Marin has his ear muffs! I have never been so excited in my life as the final seconds ticked down and the reality hit that we had made it. Yes, I cried.

A special shout out to Matthew. He won daddy of the year by going to change Marin's diaper during the 3rd period. He ended up missing the game winning goal. Thanks for taking one for the team dude.

As we were driving home Marin speaks up from the back seat, "More! Hockey". Don't worry little guy, you're getting your wish. Second round, here we come!

Marin's pacifier, formerly known as Ni-Ni, formerly known as Chew-Chew is no longer with us. We pulled the plug (literally) and he's not thrilled with the idea. Marin will be 2 years old on the 28th, so it was way past due. I know a lot of kids keep their pacifiers past this point, but due to dental health we decided now was best.

Instead of his pacifier simply disappearing (otherwise known as the cold turkey method) we adopted an even meaner plan that we read about online. We cut the nipples off of all his pacifiers and gave him the plastic ring. No, we didn't perform this sadistic surgery in front of him, but Matthew and I did laugh like maniacs as we took turns destroying the things.

Marin was oblivious to our plan until after his bath one night. He asked for his Chew-Chew (like he always does) and I unceremoniously handed him the nipple-less pacifier. He gets this confused look on his face, turns it over and over in his hands, shakes his head no and promptly hands it back to me. "Chew-Chew please, " he says. I tell him that the Chew-Chew is all gone, that he's a big boy now, but that he can have this Chew-Chew if he wants it. He didn't cry, but did whine a bit and protested to his Dad who was trying not to laugh. Lights out was another matter. I could hear him crying and saying, "Mommy Chew-Chew Please" very loudly for about 5 minutes. Then he fell asleep holding the new and non-improved pacifier in his hand. He slept all night for the first time in nearly 2 years without a piece of plastic shoved in his mouth. It was a beautiful thing.

It has been over a week now and so far so good. He still gets a little ticked off at bed time, but he doesn't cry after it. He randomly through out the day will tell me, "Chew-Chew way" meaning, "The Chew-Chew has went away". And, I'll say yes, it went away because you are a Mommy's big boy. And he'll say "Yeah, Chew-Chew yucky" even though he would like nothing better than to have his old pal back.

In retaliation, he refused to nap. Not just the first day without it, but for the first full week without it. It was really rough. I say "was" because he's currently napping now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be able to adjust to napping without his pacifier as well as he does sleeping at night without it. He played and played at the park today and fell asleep in the car on the way home so I was able to ease him into his pack-n-play and back out of the room. When the UPS guy rang the doorbell, I nearly fainted. Luckily, I still hear snoring from 2 rooms away.

Rest in peace, Lexi the greyhound.
You brought so much joy to those who loved you.

September 14th, 1999-March 30, 2011

Matthew had to go to Florida to take a class for work. Marin and I were fortunate enough to get to tag along. The weather was perfect for all things beachy, in the high 80's and low 90's. It was in the 40's when we left Nashville, so we were super psyched to ditch our sweatshirts for flip flops as soon as we crossed into The Sunshine State.

I am thrilled beyond words to report that Marin is now officially a beach bum. He will be allowed to remain a member of our family after all. :) I was getting pretty nervous there for a while that he might not like the beach. He's super picky about getting dirty. When we were at the beach back in October, he did a lot of whining about having sand on himself. He could not even be bribed with all the cool sand toys I had brought. This time, however, he was hooked!

He learned a lot of new words while we were there: sand, ocean, splash, dig, shovel, and bucket to name a few. He LOVED his sand toys and spent hours digging. He didn't know what they were for until I sat down with him and showed him. His little face lit up with a big smile and then he was so proud of himself when he figured out how to use the shovel to fill up the bucket with sand.

Marin was a maniac in the water. He wants you to take him out into the ocean all the time and let him "ride" the waves. If you dangle him by his arms and let him sit on the crest of a wave, he laughs till he gets the hick ups and yells for more! He likes to ride on your hip out in the deeper water and just sit there and bob. That's my boy!

Don't get him started on the pool either! He jumps in off the side and then you have to fish him out. I am thinking he might be swimming on his own by the end of the summer. He screamed and cried every single time I had to take him out of the pool or ocean. The whole hotel could have heard him as he yelled, "MORE WATER!" every time it was time to leave.

I even figured out what it takes to get Marin to behave at a restaurant. He prefers to dine al fresco, pool side & ocean front. There's just something about eating grilled cheese, cantelope, and milk for lunch while wearing your swim trunks, I guess.

In the evenings we ate pizza & ice cream. Then we felt a bit less guilty by taking long walks on the board walk. It was a good trip for sure.