Happy St. Patty's Day!

I figured since I finally put up the Christmas post that was sitting around unpublished I should post something new too. And, it just so happens to be St. Patrick's Day (my second-favorite holiday) so hope your celebrations go well whether or not you are Irish like me.

February-March has been a fun time for the Bairds. February is full of birthdays in our family (8 I think!) with Micah's grandma Nina celebrating her 80th with a great family gathering and this year was also a big one for my brother Shawn. We celebrated his 30th in style, hockey style, that is. It was the first Penguins game for me if you can believe that, and the first hockey game for my sis Kelly and her boyfriend Noel. Lil Kelly technically attended a hockey game last March in Chicago (in utero), but this was quite a treat for her, cheering the Penguins next to her Uncle Shawn while sporting her new Sidney Crosby jersey. The Philadelphia Flyers fans were something else--I had never experienced anything like that before, but they were great to lil Kelly, saying that she was still too little to boo at and that she still had time to switch sides so they liked her. After the game we went to the home of the original Philly Cheesesteak and shopping in a kilt store in downtown Phoenixville where Uncle Shawn bought Kelly her leprechaun, Mr. Finnegan, King of the Leprechauns. We even got to see Uncle Shawn in action, playing his bass guitar at church before catching our flight home.

At the beginning of this month I kicked off a celebration of Irish food. I made several Irish dishes, including Guiness stew, champ, Irish soda bread, and a lighter dish, turkey hash. For my birthday celebration we had Zach, Katie, and our friend Kyle try out some of the dishes and Micah learned how to pour the perfect black & tan and my favorite, a snake bite (hard cider & Harp). We also had homemade shamrock shakes for dessert along with the delicious strawberry birthday cake that Kelly and Micah baked for me. Needless to say, it wasn't a light dinner, but a lot of fun! Micah had arranged for a great night on the town (Yellow Springs) the day before as part of my present, we walked from our babysitters' house (thanks again Lainie and Bev!) to the Winds Cafe, a great restaurant that brought out my inner "foodie", and then to the Little Art Theater for a movie! Yay! Btw, we saw "The Wrestler" and while we rather would have seen the Watchmen or Slumdog Millionaire, that's what was playing and we did enjoy the film. Is he a great husband or what?!

She still doesn't have any teeth, but Kelly is cruising--walking while holding on to furniture, our hands or while pushing her toys around the room. She is also creeping (crawling on all fours) everywhere and keeps trying to get out of the house. So I bought a new stroller for a steal on ebay and we have been out and about in the neighborhood, enjoying the nice, if erractic weather.

Micah and I wrote a children's book just for her, starring her--Kelly's First Halloween Adventure. We took advantage of all the costumed Kelly photos (could you tell that Halloween is my #1 favorite holiday?) to put them together in a cute story form for a special keepsake. Micah came up with the story and photo spread and I edited it and we published it as a photobook on Shutterfly.com. It just arrived yesterday and it is just perfect! I think she'll love it for years to come. Some of you might be in there, Demkos, Curets, Esways, Shevitz's, Bairds, Aichele's, Colleen, ...um I think that's it, without looking to be sure...if you want to check it out you can see it at kellyrhiannonbaird.shutterfly.com

Our biggest news is that it is finally official! Micah has taken the job at Children's Hospital in Akron. We are planning to move up there sometime this summer! It will be a busy spring/summer for us as we get ready for the move, celebrate Micah's birthday on Easter, Kelly's first birthday on Cinco de Mayo, and both of Micah's graduations (Pediatrics and Rehab).

Well, that's what's new with us. What's new with you?

P.S. If you are not on our email list for photo and blog updates and want to be, or you know of someone else, drop me a line! I email out cute pics of Kelly every week or so. She is getting sooo big!