d3 First Birthday

The cake I made for my lil' monkey --



d3 with Aunt Donna (aka Godmother) --




Like I was going to let him destroy my edible masterpiece - he got his own cupcake and was perfectly content --




Present time --

Easter 2010

Play Ball!

I am so unbelievably behind in my blogging. I used to have some time here and there to throw something together (while at work.....oops) but these days those moments are just not there. And we currently have no internet at home but very soon, I will be blogging like a maniac in my new home with my wireless service. Yaw-hoo!

We are nearing the end of the Little League season already and, by some miracle, I've been able to grab some shots of d1 and d2 from some games and wanted to share.

d2 up to the plate



d2 on the sponsor trailer - little guy on the far right bottom row



d1 crushing the ball - recognize the pitcher?



d1 behind the plate



d1 celebrating a win - he's the one facing the camera, with the catching gear on - yes, that is his CONSTANT enthusiasm




d1's team did okay this year, and I know d1 had a great time and made some new friends. d2 seemed to enjoy playing, although there were many games that we had to shout out 'Get up out of the dirt. This is no time to make dirt angels. Get your finger out of your nose. Put your glove on. Stop picking flowers.' Fortunately, this seems to be the norm with this age group. He did get better at his attention span as the season went on but we just wanted him to have fun.

Back to that miracle mentioned above. If I said that I was sad the season is coming to an end, I would totally be lying. In fact, this season has been a love/hate kind of relationship. I know and realize and understand that my boys playing ball is not all about ME but.....it kinda is....in a way. You see, I love watching sports, always have. When D1 and I were dating in college, I was at every one of his games when he coached high school sports. I was even the scorekeeper for many of those seasons. So you can imagine how much I looked forward to watching my own children in their athletic adventures. And I was especially excited this year for coach-pitch baseball. A good bit more fast paced and competitive which typically equates to fun and exciting. And it was. But I wouldn't really know. And here's (the biggest part) of my reason.....




I had envisioned myself at these games with my lawn chair stationed behind home plate and my sweet toddler right next to me, watching the game. I have been through this before when d2 was a lil' tike and it went fine. I knew to come prepared with 14 different types of snacks and there would be no problem. Turns out d3 is NOTHING like d2. In fact, more and more like d1 everyday (deep breath). He wants nothing to do with sitting on my lap, and the only way he will sit in the stroller is if I'm pushing it at a slow jog (which isn't easy to do with gobs of parents actually watching their kid play). Of course I know it's not his fault.....it's the parks & recreation departments fault. I mean, did they not know I have a toddler that is in meltdown mode at 6pm? How dare they schedule baseball games at that time? It is often the longest 90 minutes of my life. So, how about a little timeline portraying actual events at a recent game? Here we go:

5:45 - arrive for warm-ups, d3 screaming for his first snack
5:50 - d2 has to use the (gross) bathroom for the first time
5:52 - take d3 out of the stroller, he arches his back and screams because he doesn't want to be held (but has no intentions of learning to walk) so back in the stroller he goes
5:55 - place cooler on edge of bleachers where I can hopefully park the stroller at some point and sit for a few minutes when d3 is almost asleep
6:00 - take first lap around the park while other team bats
6:05 - come back to the spot where I left my cooler, only to find it has been moved and someone's Gramps with his stadium seat and sunflower seeds has taken up residence in my spot
6:07 - d1 up to bat - camera is out for a picture
6:08 - d3 throws his sippy cup at me while I'm trying to snap the picture so I turn around to give it back to him.....just as d1 hits a double and I missed all of it
6:10 - second lap at a high speed to keep d3 from screaming and drawing stares
6:15 - back to try and catch a few minutes of the game while d3 is gazing intently at the stray dog passing through
6:17 - try to locate d2 - he was just right HERE
6:22 - thinking what I'm going to do to him when I find him
6:25 - d3 screaming for his next snack so I lob some grapes his way on the tray while I'm frantically searching
6:28 - after a near panic attack, a parent points me to my child who has that blank, lost-kid stare on his face; communicate threats of what will happen if he goes that way again
6:30 - d3 is in a full scream so I get him out of the stroller....again....and search for that stray dog....hoping grapes will entice him our way
6:35 - d2 needs to poop in that gross bathroom where there is no toilet paper and he shouts it loud enough for the players on the field to hear. I ask him if he can wait to which he replies, 'I'm 'bout to poop in my pants and, Mommy, you don't want that. It stinks really, really, really, really, really bad.' (he's taken on this new method of exaggeration these days, hence the # of really's)
6:40 - next snack....and it's the last so I REALLY hope d3 falls asleep...resume pushing the stroller

And the game is only half over. Do you see how lucky I was to get those pictures? Although I had hoped for some really good action shots (and for all d1 knows, I saw EVERY play he made), I'm just thrilled I got what I did and can hopefully repress the other memories of this season. d3 is just at the age where he doesn't want to walk yet I can't let him crawl on the concrete so next year is going to be better. It WILL be better. Has to be, right?

A Moment of Excitement

Look below. That's our new house.








Or at least the one we now have a contract on. Only one more hurdle to clear.....our current home's appraisal. We were just informed that it will take place early next week and when that day comes, you better believe I'll be calling on you all to pray. Pray that the appraiser they send doesn't decide that our home's value is in the toilet solely based on our subdivision's recent turmoil.

Side note: our new 'neighbors' that laid claims to the foreclosure previously mentioned have not left a great first impression on me. Tuesday night, while unloading their U-Haul, our homes were vibrating from their unruly noise they call music. Kids were running around outside at 10:30pm. I considered welcoming them to the neighborhood with muffins but after that encounter, the muffins might be spiked with Ex-Lax.

Oh new house, how I (will) love thee, let me count the ways:

*My current 45 minute commute to work will be reduced to 25 minutes. And that's doing the speed limit, which isn't really my thing. And the drive to everything else is WAY better! Church, FRIENDS, shopping, pool......

*On that commute, I will pass Starbucks. Everyday. Fortunately, for the sake of my allowance, I have a really hard time paying $3.40 for a latte I can come very close to concocting at work for $2.50 per week. But still, I pass Starbucks. You learn to not take it for granted - all I pass now is a Dunkin Donuts, no longer in business.

*Hot tub conveys with home. After a long day, the thought of relaxing in my new (to me) hot tub is pretty cool. Or hot.

*Walk-ins - food pantry and master closet. Both amazing.

*Subdivision is beautifully landscaped and maintained. That was a problem in our current subdivision so we're thrilled to be going into covenants and restrictions that people actually HAVE to follow.

*Schools are AWESOME! Some of the best in the area. Nuff said.

Believe in Miracles - They DO Happen!

A recent post of mine was a discouraging one. We had just found out that the house across the street went up for sale (in foreclosure) for a ridiculously low price and was likely going to squash our hopes of selling our home for awhile. We pretty much accepted it but decided to keep our house on the market until the end of our contract with our realtor, just in case a miracle occurred. Well, turns out they really do happen! And not that I'm surprised at all. I mean, come on. If you've ever heard all the events that happened when we were thinking of moving to SC, you would totally understand that there is no such thing as a coincidence!

Anyway, back to the current miracle in our lives. Two weeks after this disappointment, we had a showing and three days later, we had a pretty nice first offer. We countered and they accepted. According to their realtor, the buyers LOVE our home. They asked for a later close date in June for different reasons, which is great for us as it gives us more time to find 'the' house for us in the 'burbs and more time to pack up our home. We are ECSTATIC! I can't wait to live 5 minutes from Target, Taco Bell and TCBY. And to be 20 minutes from my office would be SUH-WEET!

With all this being said, we are not completely fooled to believe that things can't go wrong. Though our house is definitely worth the sales price, that doesn't mean the appraiser will think so. We are praying he/she doesn't use many of the homes in our subdivision as comps but we can't know what approach they will take. We're just praying it works out. I definitely plan to keep the appraiser company while they complete the assessment - maybe bake some cookies or cook a 5-course meal. Is bribing an appraiser some sort of felony? Kinda sounds like it.

Happy 1st Birthday!

Today is d3's (aka Dayne Josiah) first birthday. Just crazy how fast the time has gone. He was such a surprise but I cannot imagine my life without him now. His beautiful blue eyes melt my heart and when he says (or yells) 'MA!' I just want to eat him up! Love you little guy!

Gas Station Granny

I knew I forgot something about the crazies of Tennessee. One more tidbit I don't want to forget (or maybe I do want to forget?) -

We were stopped at a gas station (which was the most AMAZING gas station, complete with a playroom and 10 different flavored creamers at the coffee machines) for a fill-up and potty break. While D1 was taking the older two to the bathroom, I was admiring all the nice little features of this place when a random lady walked by. d3 has recently learned how to wave and decided to target this lady with his cute baby wave. She came up and started the baby talk to him. She had a cup in her hand (not exactly sure WHAT was in the cup - best guess was Pepsi with a 'twist') and thought he was thirsty. So she took it upon herself to offer up her drink to my baby. I kindly and politely declined on his behalf but she protested that she was a grandmother and knew he just needed a drink. At one point, I was physicially pushing her styrofoam cup away from his mouth and walking away. I'm pretty sure I don't want my kid doped up on caffeine for a long car ride but THANKS GRANNY!

Funny now - a little bizarre then.