Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

Yesterday my dad treated his kids and grandkids to a day at the ballpark.  For as long as I can remember, my dad and his brothers have been huge Houston Astro fans--passing their love for the team down to my cousins and me as well.  As a young girl, my dad took me to quite a few games.  While other girls dreamed of someday becoming princesses or ballerinas, my dream was to become the first female Astro player!  (Cheesy, but true.)  There was even a period in my life where my room was completely decorated in the (then) Astro rainbow colors of navy blue, red, orange, and yellow.  And when I say "decor", what I really mean is handmade drawings and pictures made from colored construction paper and scotch tape--very gaudy!  I was so excited to go to the game today, because I hadn't been in quite a few years.  It was definitely different than the last time I saw the Astros play--a different ballpark, different team colors, and some players' names that I hardly recognized.  (Gone are the days I remember of Jose Cruz, Alan Ashby, Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan, and Glen Davis at the Astrodome.)  But just being there brought back a ton of memories, and for a brief second I thought maybe, just maybe, I can still reach my goal of being the first female Astro.  But then I quickly snapped back into reality, realizing that, unless they are looking for their first girl player to be 32 and probably older than many of the players on the team; in her 3rd pregnancy, and most assuredly not in the best shape of her life; I probably won't be a likely candidate.  Even still, I had a great time watching my son attend his very first major league baseball game.  It was a long game, lasting 3 1/2 hours, but he hung in there and attentively watched the entire thing.  Although he was pretty disapponted that he didn't catch any foul balls, as close as we were sitting to the field.  Here he is with Matthew with his glove on before the game, ready to catch some balls!

 

Poppa, Matthew, and Mason

Mason and my niece, Emma, both showing off their missing teeth.  Ironically, she lost her first tooth 6 days before Mason did last week!

The Big One...

My big ultrasound is scheduled for next Friday afternoon.  I always notice that, like me, lots of people refer to it as the 'big' ultrasound.  For me personally, and I would assume for most other people as well, it's 'the big one' because that's when most people can find out the gender of their baby.  Sure, it's also the ultrasound where they take lots of measurements to make sure the baby is healthy and developing normally, as well as checking for proper function of the vital organs.  But somehow I think most of us would agree that the information we eagerly await most is the news of whether the baby is a boy or girl.  This is definitely the case for me.  Of course I'll be relieved to find out that Baby is healthy, but I'm also looking forward to finally calling him/her by name, and not he/she, his/her, or the worst yet, "It".  And for the record, I have not picked up on any boy/girl vibes, and I have no feeling one way or the other as to what gender Baby is.  But just for kicks, I thought it would be fun to add a poll (to the right of the screen) to see what anyone else might think.  I know these things might be silly, but they sure are fun to do while I endure the waiting for one more week!

Let The 'Tooth' Be Told...

In May of 2005, when Mason was 5 1/2 months old, he got his first tooth.  And today, exactly 5 years later, he lost his first tooth--that very same tooth.  It had been loose for about a month, but yesterday it was barely hanging on by a thread.  (Apparently that apple he ate for breakfast this morning finished the job.) At first he was excited, but then his excitement turned to sadness over the loss of one of his "body parts", as he semi-tearfully explained to me this morning.  :)  But now he is excited again, and can't wait to show everyone his new smile!

My Ellie...

Lately I've been having a hard time taking any pictures of Ellie.  She's developed some sort of camera flash phobia, where if she sees me coming with the camera, she runs off covering her eyes and saying 'no no no'.  So my most recent pictures of her involve me sneaking up on her and snapping a shot before she realizes what I'm doing.  This usually means that, instead of a smile, she's wearing a 'deer in the headlights' look on her face.  Well my friend Kelly took this picture of Ellie at Mason's t-ball game last night.  Somehow she tends to get better shots of my kids than I do.  Ellie still has an 'I'm-not-quite-sure-I-want-to-smile' look on her face, but I thought it was a great picture of her regardless.  Thanks again Kelly! My Ellie is 19 months old now.  She's always on the move, loves to be held, and is full of love, mischief and personality!

Graduation Weekend...

This past weekend, we had a great time in Austin watching Matthew's sister, Natalie, graduate from UT.  When Matthew asked Mason what his favorite part of the weekend was, without hesitation he said, "Staying at the hotel!" My kids love hotels! For them, it's like a vacation in itself!  Here are the kids enjoying the hotel pool:

With Aunt Natalie, the graduate:

Congratulations Aunt Natalie!

Checking out the UT campus, much to Daddy's displeasure :)

Pooped out after a busy weekend:

Game Ball...

After each of Mason's t-ball games, one player on the team is awarded the coveted 'game ball'.  This goes to the player who stands out during that particular game.  Well Mason is beyond excited because last Thursday, he was chosen to take home the game ball--mostly because of two great hits he got.  In t-ball, the coach pitches each player two balls, and if they are both misses, then they bring out the tee.  But both times up at bat, Mason got hits off the balls the coach pitched to him and never had to use the tee!  The first hit even went beyond 2nd base and resulted in a double!  He is so excited about this ball, he carries it around the house, and he has even made a special place for it on his bookshelf while he's sleeping at night!  He has really enjoyed playing ball this season, and we are so proud not only of his athletic accomplishments, but even more so, the character skills that he is acquiring through it--teamwork, patience, and even sometimes accepting disappointments.   All these things go into shaping the person he is becoming, and we couldn't be more proud of him!

Why I Love Having A 5 Year Old...

Reason #162:  Because at 5 years old, it is still very cool for a little boy to wave and yell, "Hey Momma!" from third base!