The Kellys: December 2006

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Christmas Party '06

December 16, 2006 marked the 6th annual Christmas party hosted by Molly and Colleen. This year it was held at the Edmiston's house, and unseasonably warm weather allowed for some partying outside on the deck, next to the fire.

Matt, Dave, Jim, and G pretend to laugh at one of Paul's jokes.

Three pregnant Reids. Apparently black is the new black in maternity fashion.

Sunday, December 3, 2006

World Series Win Witnessed

It was 10:00 am on October 27th when I got a call from Jim asking if I wanted to go to Game 5 of the World Series. Just the fact that I had my phone with me and on that day was unusual, but I made sure to take Jim's call. I immediately jumped at the chance, and of course I got to see the Cards clinch the World Series for the first time since I was 6. It was amazing. We reveled in the win and post-game ceremonies for a while, and then set out for Paddy O's and Al Hrabosky's to celebrate, along with half of St. Louis. Molly earned major points by fighting crowds and street closings to pick us up at about 3:00 am. As my contented head hit the pillow that night, I mumbled something about finally being able to "put 1985 and 1987 behind me." Molly asked, "What about 2004?" I said, "Oh yeah, that too."

About a week later I was at Kinko's--copying, shrinking, laminating the SI Cardinal's collector's edition, my World Series ticket, the front page of the paper, etc. I was standing in line when, in another line, a little girl looked over her dad's shoulder and waved. I waved back, and then I noticed who was holding her--Aaron Miles. I told him congratulations, and mentioned that I had the chance to see him and his teammates clinch the series. I gestured to all the stuff I was carrying, and told him I was going to frame it and hang it up at home. He had not yet seen the SI and was curious. I showed it to him, and then asked him to sign it. It took forever (about five minutes) for one of the clerks to find us a pen, so I ended up having an (only sightly) awkward five-minute conversation with Aaron Miles. He was incredibly down to earth, and he explained how overwhelming the whole experience was, including the parade on Sunday, when 500,000 people came downtown to congratulate the team. Who would have thought I'd see him at Kinko's? He was packing up stuff to send to his home in CA. Seriously, someone really wanted me to enjoy this Championship.

Colleen, Mike, Molly and Jim at the Cardinals Parade

Little Kelly on the Way

Our last free night:

Molly's due date is March 28, four days before our second anniversary. We have recieved countless hints that specific dates around that time would be "a wonderful date to have a baby." We will do our best to accommodate all of them (but secretly we are hoping for March 17th).

When we first broke the news to a group of our friends, one of them asked if we were going to learn the gender. Molly responded in typical fashion with "Yes . . . [extended pause] . . . around March 28, when the baby is born." Unfortunately, the person who asked was the only person who did not hear the second part of Molly's response. This is because at the same time, she declared, "Oh good, I can't stand it when people don't find out--all those greens and yellows, yellows and greens, it drives me nuts!" Everyone present appreciated the humor in this little exchange. Molly gives a more direct answer to that question now, usually.

Though we don't know the gender, we have decided on a theme for the baby room: St. Louis Cardinals (see the pictures below). The walls are yellow and Cardinal Red, there is a Cardinal border, and the carpet is blue. We half-jokingly considered the idea after seeing an example display one day while shopping, but it was cinched once the Cards won the World Series.