zoo and a party!

Today was my nephew's 2nd birthday party. Too much fun! In the morning we met up with a group and went to the zoo. This was Dexter's first trip to the zoo! He did pretty well. This was also his first time in his stroller without his infant seat. He seems to get hot in the infant seat, so we decided to give it a whirl in just the stroller. Okay, so I know my kid is huge. His dad is over 6ft. tall, and my kid is pretty tall, but I wasn't sure. It ended up being great because he had more room and could see better!

We walked through the zoo and caught up with the others. Despite a few little maintenence cries, as we call them, he was great the whole trip! We ended up skipping the kids petting zoo part and the reptile house because it looked like rain. Actually, we were going to skip it anyway because Dex was getting ready for eating time and it was easier to go to the car. Well, as we are all walking towards the elevator (strollers!) it started to POUR. I'm talking huge raindrops. We went down and rushed to a little enclosed area where the escalators are located and waited. Dex stayed dry. Mommy and Daddy? Yeah, we were soaked. When it finally stopped raining we loaded up and went back to my brother and sister in laws house for the rest of the party.

The party was so much fun! There were many kids and they had a great time! We ended up leaving right after cake only because Dexter was getting tired and needed to nap. My son is a very nebby child and there was just too much fun going on for him to sleep so we headed out. He slept most of the way home in the car and was passed out when we got home. We got the cutest video of him when it was time to wake up and eat again and a super great picture (as you see above) of him when he woke up. Unfortunately, my cell phone was closer than my camera so it isn't the best quality, but that's okay. He is now on the floor with his baby gym going NUTS. He's playing like he hasn't played in a year. Well it's been most of the day he was away from his toys, which in Dexter land probably feels like a yer.

All in all, it was a great day, wet hair and all!

my kid is cute

sleepy boy.......





....and he's out!

short little snippit for now because I'm exhausted after laundry day but seriously, Dexter is adorable! I could melt into a Mommy puddle from his cuteness. :)

Marion Hossa chose poorly

Last year, the Pittsburgh Penguins lost the Stanley Cup to detroit. It was rough. I don't think the team was ready for that battle. Marion Hossa screwed around forever, pretending he was going to stay in the burgh, but in fact, was double dealing with detroit. I don't care that he left. It was how he went about it that was really shitty.

Let me back up to say that Rob and I looooooove the Penguins. We are full plan season ticket holders. We go to almost every home game during the season. We have been looking forward to this match up all season.

Anyway, last night, we put the baby to bed, and settled down to watch the game of all games. I think we knew early on that the Pens were going to win. We just felt it. I won't go into all the details of the game. People who really want to know saw it. One of the best parts was the look on Hossa's face when the realization of what happened settled in. It was like, holy crap, I made a big stink about choosing detroit because I could get the cup there and not only did I not win the cup, but I lost it to the team I hinted sucked to badly to win it. That was gold.

I am now looking forward to the Hossa interview. I know he won't say anything stupid. He won't even interview until he has the perfect "statement" for the inevitable question. But nothing can stop the look in his eyes when the question is asked 109348394 times. Last night, the first thing I said to my husband was "he chose poorly" from Indiana Jones of course.

It was truly a great night. :)

DON'T BUY GRACO

Dex was in his swing today. I don't put him in there too often, but 10 minutes here and there. He likes it okay. Well now I'm sure he'll never want to go in one again, nor will I put him in one.

He's swinging right beside where I'm sitting and sort of dozing off a little. It's playing music, swinging on a low setting. I'm working on some correspondence. All of a sudden I hear this noise and look over. The left side of the part that HOLDS THE CHILD has broken! Dexter, still sleeping (?!?!) is hanging from the safety restraints. I freaked of course and am on the floor trying to get him out. Ever try and get a hanging infant out of a safety restraint without hurting him??? It took me forever. I finally get him out without hurting him (he's still sleeping?!?!?!). Then the tears start. Mine not his. I'm checking every inch of his body. He's fine, thank God!

After I get him out and make sure he's okay, I look for Graco's 800 number online. I find it and call. I am keeping surprisingly calm. I start to explain to the woman I'm talking to what had just happened. Would you like to know what her response is? "Okay we need some information so we can get replacement parts out to you." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No, is your child okay? No, let's see if there's been a recall. No, let me get someone who handles these types of claims. Nothing. I called her on that. Ignoring me, she asks for my address so she can send me replacement parts. I finally gave her that info so she'd shut up about the replacement parts. Again, I call her on the fact that she is completely unconcerned with my child's safety and well-begin. Nothing. I was FLOORED. I get off the phone with the useless woman and go back to the website to send an email. They don't have an email address listed. They have a "contact us" spot. I've been trying all day to send what I wrote on that page. OOPS. Our contact us doesn't work.

What did I discover today? Graco has crap products and they REFUSE to accept complaints. Their website doesn't let you complain via email. The representatives you call refuse to acknowledge problems. Don't buy Graco. Save your child.