Here We Go Steelers!

So, it is no surprise to anyone that we are HUGE Steelers fans in this house. Well, I am a huge Steelers fan. By some sick twist of fate I chose to fall in love with and marry a Browns fan (those of you NOT familiar with NFL football - Steelers and Browns are major rivals).

For years, our families have been taking jabs at each other, goading against the other's favorite team.

I have been determined to keep Josie on the side of good and "force" her to be a Steelers fan. Well, I suppose brainwash, from a young age. My family helps me out, and Josie is now a tried and true Steelers fan, singing Steelers songs, telling everyone that they are her favorite team, and even recognizing the Steelers symbol everywhere she sees it! I don't think daddy is too happy with her new love, but, well, I am ecstatic!

Check out her (okay, my) obsession over the past 3 years of her life:

Field Trip

Josie and I took a field trip last week. We went to Aunt Bobbi's house in PA. As you can see, the drive was very exciting:


On the first day, we went to the Hershey's Chocolate World - the Sweetest Place on Earth!
Here we are at the entrance:
Here, the cows sing to us about how to make chocolate. Josie is now telling everyone how you need milk and cocoa beans to make chocolate!


And, finally, Josie finds a 5 pound chocolate bar!

We finished up our visit with a trip to Zac's JV football game, Kelsey's varsity volleyball game, and Ryan's varsity football game. Sadly, I didn't remember to take the camera to these events, but Josie had a lot of fun watching her big cousins compete!

This Much.....

Josie has learned to use her hands to show "how much" or "how little" she likes something. Like, "Want to know how fast I am? I'm THIS [insert arms spread out far] fast"! Make sense? She uses this gesture constantly as her adjective of choice.

This morning, Josie woke up and cuddled up in our bed with us. As always she was jabbering away, nonstop, and Tim and I were just trying to get a little more sleep. Then, she started into a diatribe of how much she loved me. She said, "Mommy, want to know how much I love you?" "How much, Josie?" "I love you THIS much [insert arms spread out as far as she can]". Her next line is what makes this blog-worthy: "That's a lot of muches"!!!!!

This is it.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I will not be participating. What a weird, strange feeling. All day today I have had this feeling that I am forgetting something. I think I know what it is. To get ready for work. Except, I don't have a job to go to. I am glad - I think - that I won't be heading back tomorrow. Please don't get me wrong - I am so glad to have the opportunity to just be a mommy for awhile. I am blessed that Tim is comfortable supporting this venture, and in fact, encourages it. And, I am sure that if Josie understood what was going on, she would be thankful, too. Still, I am no longer earning my own paycheck and I am dependent on Tim for that. Such a big change - kinda scary.

I have high hopes for the next year and expect all will be met! Wish me luck.

Farewell

Josie and I took an unexpected trip last week. We headed back to western PA. The good news: We drove both the 7 hours up and the 7 hours back without stopping! My girl was able to survive a carseat for 7 hours at a time without getting out and without fussing and complaining. Big kudos to the big girl!

Now, for the sad news. We went home for a funeral. My grandma's. Josie's great-grandma's. It was a very sad week. My grandma, Effie Naomi Grossman, was one of the greatest, most incredibly generous and selfless people to ever walk this earth. She was such a wonderful lady. We will miss her greatly.

One of the best moments of Josie's infancy was when she went to PA to meet her great-grandma for the first time. The following two pictures show the immediate joy and elation that grandma was able to bring to this two-month old's face:

Firsts

It was a week of firsts.

Josie received her first bee sting and milked it for all it was worth!
(See, it's there in her left armpit):


Then, we went to our first Chuck E Cheese birthday party. It was fun, but it sure was crowded and semi-chaotic!



Finally, we had our first trip to Pump It Up - an inflatable party spot where you can bounce, slide, and play all day! It was a lot of fun, and we both have the "rug burns" to prove it!

Our little bookworm

Josie loves to read. Well, she can't really read yet, but she loves to look at books, have books read to her, and memorize books. She sees us reading often, and thinks the library is wonderful! So, I am never surprised to see her "reading" books and magazines she finds lying around the house. The other day I walked into my bedroom to find Josie curled up on my bed with a book she found on the nightstand. Clearly not her reading level or age-appropriate, but adorable nonetheless!