Rammer Jammer History

For those of you who don't know The University of Alabama football team will be playing this Saturday against the Florida Gators for the SEC Championship and a spot in the National Championship game. We were in this spot last year and lost to Florida in that SEC game. Alabama fans were of course heartbroken and we have been waiting for this day since this time last year.

So, in preparation for the big game this whole week I will be posting Alabama facts and some videos everyday. I know, I know, most of you don't give a flip about Alabama football and will probably just skip these posts. But, that's ok! I'm sure there's at least one or two of you out there that might enjoy it.

So first up is a little history on the Rammer Jammer cheer. And blog friend of mine, Kate, told me the other day that she laughs every time she sees a one of my video's that I post or she see me post "Rammer Jammer" on my Twitter or Facebook. You see, Kate is from Canada and has no idea what Rammer Jammer means (or probably what Alabama football is for the matter). So I looked it up online and found this great explanation on Wikipedia:

The "Rammer Jammer Cheer" is a traditional and controversial cheer. The university briefly forbade the Million Dollar Band from playing it, on account of its taunting nature and its use of the word "hell" The move was met with a significant amount of criticism. In a vote at Homecoming 2005, the question was posed to students of whether the cheer should be banned. 98% of students voted in favor of keeping the cheer. Before the university's attempt to remove the cheer it was played before kickoff and at the end of the game. The cheer is now only played in the closing minutes when victory is certain, and is traditionally chanted twice. On at least one occasion (during Alabama's victory over Auburn in the 2008 Iron Bowl--Alabama's first in the series since 2001) it was repeated an additional three times. Fans cheer:

Hey Vols!
Hey Vols!
Hey Vols!
We just beat the hell out of you!
Rammer Jammer, Yellowhammer, give 'em hell, Alabama!

The nickname of the current opponent is substituted for "Vols", (short for Volunteers, the nickname for the University of Tennessee) except when the opponent is Auburn, in which case the name "Auburn" is used rather than its nickname of Tigers. Also, when the cheer was played before kickoff, fans would replace the lyrics "We just" with "We're gonna."

The lyrics originate from "The Rammer-Jammer," a student newspaper in the 1920s, and the yellowhammer, Alabama's state bird. The cadence of the cheer was adapted from the Ole Miss cheer "Hotty Toddy" after then Ole Miss marching band director Dr. James Ferguson was appointed director of the Million Dollar Band. The cheer was long referred to as "Ole Miss", and today the drum major's signal is still the motioning of one arm in a full circle (an 'O').

Author Warren St. John entitled his 2004 bestseller about obsessive sports fans Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer after the cheer.

So now you know what all those YouTube videos I post with thousands of people yelling "Rammer Jammer" are all about. And in honor of the Rammer Jammer cheer and to get in the "We're gonna kick Florida's a**" mood here is a video of Rammer Jammer from our stomping of Florida in 2005.

Five Question Friday

Even though it is a holiday weekend Mama M was still able to get Five Question Friday up and running! The questions this week are holiday themed. This will be Isabelle's third Christmas and probably the most fun one so far. She had a pretty good time last year but she was only 17 months and didn't totally get the whole opening the presents having fun thing. So, we are very excited this year! Here are Belli's answers for this week's Five Question Friday.

1. Do you do a real or fake Christmas tree?
I am not very particular but my mommy made sure that I had a real one for my first Christmas. Now I have a real one at my mommy's house and my daddy has a fake one. He hasn't put it up yet so I don't know if he will use that one or get a real one.

2. What is your favorite Christmas tradition with your family?
I haven't really had a lot of time to have a favorite tradition. My first two Christmases (and this year as well) have all been in different houses under different circumstances. But, my mommy's favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas Eve at her aunt's house.

3. Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? If so, how many calories do you think you consumed yesterday?
I had an 80 calorie cup of yogurt for dinner. I refused everything else. See this post if you want to know why.

4. Have you started decorating for Christmas yet?
Not yet but we plan on doing it by Sunday. My aunt is in town until Monday morning so we have to do it before she leaves. We don't want to leave her out!

5. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?
So far chocolate chip seems to be the best. I don't think that's really a Christmas cookie though.

Thankfulness

This will be a relatively short post as I am extremely full from all of the yummy food that I have had today and therefore very sleepy! However, before I turn in for the night I wanted to write a little bit about thankfulness.

I believe that this is the first Thanksgiving in my 23 years of life that I have actually understood what it means to be thankful. Now don't get me wrong...I know the definition of "thankful." And in the past whenever people would ask me what I was thankful for this year I would give the typical answer of family, a roof over my head, food to eat, etc. Now those are all things to be thankful for because at this time when our economy is so bad there are so many people in the world that do not have those things to be thankful for. But, after the past few months and the trials that I have been through with Belli I have come to understand a deeper meaning of the word "thankful."

I am so thankful that Isabelle is here with me now that I don't even know how to put it into words. There was a time shortly after I found out she had to have the fusion that the fear of her not being here was so overwhelming it was hard to get out of bed. But there she was. Every morning waking up yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy." And after both of her surgeries she was still here yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," every morning without fail. There are times when I think, "If you say yell my name one more time there is going to be a mommy shaped whole in our front door." But then I snap back in to reality and know how blessed I am that she is even here yelling my name.

Since I have started this blog I have come across so many others who cannot say that they hear their child calling their name in the morning. There are so many evils out there like cancer, heart disease, genetic disorders, and accidents that take children's lives everyday. I have been blessed enough to have not fallen in to that category.

So this year I will simply be thankful for my child. Because I know how easily she could not be here. And I am so blessed, and so thankful that she is.

Five Question Friday

Mama M's Five Question Friday is here! Belli says...

1. Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Absolutely not. I talk to way too many strangers so my mommy doesn't like to bring me places where there are going to be a TON of people to talk to.

2. What was your favorite childhood toy?
My mommy's Fisher Price house and barn with the little people and the farm animals. It is sooooo old, but way cool.

3. Favorite Christmas move?
I have never seen a Christmas movie but mommy is going to let me watch them this year!

4. What is the must have on your Christmas list this year?
A Kettler Happy Navigator Tricycle. "Santa" delivered it to the house today but I can't have it until Christmas.

5. Do you go all out with decorations or do you keep it simple?
I like to keep it simple. The less things I have a chance to break the better!

Happenings

Belli and I have had a pretty busy past couple of days.

Yesterday we had a Thanksgiving lunch at my work and I brought Belli with me. One of my coworkers had her 22 month old daughter Raylin there and they had a great time playing. Raylin kept calling Isabelle "Tinkerbell." It was too funny! And she is such a kindhearted little girl. I was building a block tower and Raylin knocked it over before I was done. I said, "Hey, you knocked over my tower" and smiled at her. She looked at me and said, "Oh...I'll fix it for you." It was so sweet. Isabelle would have been like, "Yep, that's right I knocked it over. And?" Then we had one of the lights in the office turned off and Isabelle said, "It's too dark!" and Raylin told her she would go turn it on for her. It was so cute to hear two year olds have a conversation.

I also finally saw Belli walk with her walker. It was AWESOME!!! Heather, her PT at The Bell Center goes on and on about how great she does while she's in class and how far she is walking with the walker but I never see it and she never does it at home. Well she finally did it for me yesterday after a ton of begging and pleading. She probably walked about 10 feet and boy was she proud of herself. I was too!

Today we met Ellen and Cody at the park after we left The Bell Center. We had a great time walking around the park and then we went and grabbed some lunch after that. Belli loved being outside and playing with Cody. And I of course also loved getting out and enjoying some adult conversation!

Lastly, check out the widget I added to my blog on the left sidebar at the top. You can now click there to donate money to The Bell Center in honor of Isabelle.

Wordless Wednesday

Sorry the pictures are a little grainy. My camera was set to some weird mode and they didn't come out great. Oh well!

The Bell Center and The Mercedes Marathon

*Update*
Thank you so much to the wonderful person who donated $300 last night! It's and anonymous donation so I don't know who you are but thank you!!!

*Original Post*
Let me start by first giving you a little information about The Bell Center. You can click on the link to get more information but this is a nonprofit organization that provides early intervention services to children three and under who qualify for services in any of the major developmental areas. Isabelle obviously qualifies for physical therapy but one of the really great things about The Bell Center is that regardless of what area you qualify in you get therapy for all of them. Depending on the child's age and need they go either 2 or 4 days a week for one to two hours a day. They have many different programs for many different needs.

I can not stress to you how wonderful this place is and what a blessing it has been to Isabelle and me (not to mention the thousands of families they have helped since they were founded). Let me tell you a little bit about how The Bell Center has affected our lives. As many of you know (and for those of you who don't) Isabelle has been receiving therapy at The Bell Center since she was six months old. At the time she was not rolling over, not sitting, and could barely pick her head up off the ground while laying on her tummy. Within a month she was able to roll over and within another month she was sitting with very little assistance. Not only did the therapists at The Bell Center help her during our class time but they gave me exercises to do at home with her to speed along her progress. They have always been there for my daughter and are always full of ideas of how to help her do the best that she can. Currently Isabelle is able to stand, cruise, and walk short distances with her walker. Although Isabelle also receives therapy privately and through the state I feel certain that she would not be where she is now with out The Bell Center.

With all that being said I now want to share some very exciting news about a very important event coming up. Every year Birmingham plays host to The Mercedes Marathon. Thousands of runners train for either the half or full marathon and many of them run to raise money. The majority of the money received goes to none other than The Bell Center itself. Because The Bell Center is a nonprofit organization it relies solely on donations to fund itself. As you can imagine with the economy being as it is for the past couple of years donations are hard to come by and everyone, nonprofits especially, are struggling. The Bell Center has had to cut down on the children that they are able to serve and make many other cut backs.

This is where ALL OF YOU come in. I received a call on Friday from a wonderful woman named Ellen letting me know that her husband Nick and she are both running the half marathon and have chosen Isabelle to run in honor of. You can check out her blog here and watch their progress while they train. Many of the runners pick children from The Bell Center to run for so we were very excited to hear this news. We went out to their house Sunday night to meet them. We had a great time and Isabelle especially loved their adorable puppy Cody.

So you may be asking, why I said this is where ALL OF YOU come in. The runners who are sponsoring children from The Bell Center all set up a fund raising page and set a fund raising goal. Ellen and Nick have set a goal of $5000 dollars and we are all planning on working very hard to meet or exceed this goal. But, we need all of the help we can get. So, instead of getting that $6 McDonald's meal or that $4 Starbucks (guilty!) hop on over to their FirstGiving fund raiser page and donate that money to The Bell Center instead. Every little bit helps whether it is $1 or $100.

The race is February 14th, 2010 so there is still plenty of time to save up. Any of you that I do not know if real life who donate please leave me a comment and let me know in case I don't recognize your name on the FirstGiving site! Thanks in advance for everyone's help and don't forget to check back every once in a while to see our progress.

Back Seat Drivers and Play Callers

Belli and I had a great day today. She was full of laughs and I had a bunch of way cool stuff happen to me today. So here is the run down:

-We head off to Old Navy to find the ever elusive blue jean skirt for Belli. As we pull out of the driveway I stop to wait on a car and Belli yells, "There's a car coming!!" Great, now I have a back seat driver.

-We get to Old Navy and I find four way cute shirts. I grab them up and take them to the dressing room to try on.

-Belli's new favorite thing is to announce to everyone what you are doing when you are doing it. For instance if I am walking down the stairs Belli will say, "Mommy's walking down the stairs." So, as I am getting undressed to try my clothes on Belli yells, "Mommy's taking her shirt off." Thank you so much Isabelle for yelling that out in the dressing room where there are both females and males.

-Finish trying on my shirts and low and behold I fit into the smalls for all of them. Woot woot! That hasn't happened in forever. And then they were on sale and I got them all for under $50. Woot woot again!

-We go home and Belli eats a great big lunch (and if you saw my previous post you would know that is a huge deal). And I put her down for a nap.

-I then find out that a coworker of mine is willing to come in on the day of the SEC Championship game and work the afternoon for me so I can go home and watch it. THE BEST news I have heard all day. ROLL TIDE!

-Then I won the bidding on ebay for this tricycle that Belli really needs to help her therapy. I got it for $90 less that retail price.

-Belli woke up from her nap and went poopy on the potty. She was so proud!

-We then stopped by my work to pick up this way cute picture frame that Julia at Sweet As Punkin Pie made for Belli since I won her contest.

So all in all we had a pretty sweet day!

Five Question Friday

Belli style! Thanks to Mama M for hosting.

1. What is your favorite "eat" on Thanksgiving.
Sister Schubert yeast rolls. I love me some bread. (So does my momma!)

2. What is the name of your best girl friend and how did you meet?
That would probably be Katy. We met at The Bell Center. We were in the same class last year with my best boy friend Luke. Our mommies still try to get us together sometimes but they are always so busy!

3. What would you say is one of your weirdest quirks?
I talk to myself a lot. I've been known to have whole conversations with myself about the most random things like the mailbox or green grass.

4. What is your favorite genre of music?
I guess country. That's pretty much the only thing my mommy listens to in the car because she doesn't have to worry as much about random cussing and singing about naughty things. And since I repeat everything I hear she seems to think that is something we need to avoid.

5. Are you a night owl or an early bird?
Night owl. I seem to just get going right before it's time to go to bed. It takes a while after I wake up in the morning to start acting normal.

Five Question Friday

It's time again for Mama M's Five Question Friday.

1. What is your dream job?
The Elmo puppeteer.

2. What song could you play over and over?
The song to Sesame Street's "Being Green" episode. You know, "It can't be easy being green. I think you know what I mean. It's the little things you do, and the way you do them too, that make the earth stay clean. Come and check out the scene." Or something like that.

3. Do you prefer to talk on the phone, text, or email?
I love to talk to talk to people on my fake phone but when it comes to talking to real people I would rather just hang up on them.

4. What is your must have beauty product?
I love me some lipstick.

5. What is your favorite Michael Jackson song?
My mommy tries to sing me some Michael Jackson songs but I always say, "No, no mommy!" But I always say that when mommy tries to sing.

A Picture Post

*I added this one at the request of Keely