Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Yesterday was a day full of baseball!  Our games were running a little behind, so as the all boys waited for the game to start, my babies were hanging all over their daddy!  Quick, I had to grab my camera, the perfect photo opp!  I snapped this sweet picture of Tim and the kids! Go Heat! 

Withdrawal Symptoms...

It's been almost two weeks since I have blogged and I'm going crazy about it.  I am having severe withdrawals!! The last two weeks have been so busy.  Here's where we have been...

More blog updates soon!

Friday Question Friday...

TGIF is all I can say, it's been a crazy week here in my household and a week of recovering after seven games of baseball in 95 degree Texas heat over three days.  A week full of kids fighting, baby refusing to nap and sleep at night, endless dirty diapers, a messy house, mounds and mounds of laundry, messy counters, and now, this momma needs a nice, long holiday weekend to chill out before our Baseball World Series begins next week for seven endless days!!!

1. What is one thing you miss the most about childhood?
Having absolutely NO cares in the world is what I miss most about childhood.  I can't just pick ONE thing, I have too many and have to list them!!  Having everyone do stuff for you was the best!!  Mom and Dad catered to our every whim - bought my clothes, groceries, cooked my dinner, washed my clothes.  I loved playing until dark (with no fear of child predators or kidnappers), had no worries about money, played all day with friends during the summer, swimming all day, spending the night out, skating at the skating rink and not actually thinking the music is too loud, Silver Spoons, Diff'rent Strokes, Punky Brewster, Three's Company, CHiPs, Gimme a Break, Little House on the Prairie, Wonder Woman, Saturday morning cartoons - they were the best, going to AstroWorld, watching The Goodyear Blimp fly over our house at nighttime all lit up in the fall and going to dinner as a family at J. Christopher's - they had the best pizza and they have since closed.  I loved my childhood and hope I can create wonderful memories for my own kids so they can look back and think I had a lot of fun growing up!

2. Are you still friends with your friends from high school?
Yes and No.  My really good friends from high school are far away and not close to where I live.  Thanks to Facebook, I have stayed in touch with them but I wouldn't say we are close anymore.  Since I haven't moved away from where my high school is, I run into people all the time.  I love it!!  It's so fun to see them with kids now and how they turned out. 

3. Is there a catch phrase, cliche, or word that just drives you bonkers every time you hear it?
"It is what it is", facetious, Festiva (as in Ford), pupil, nosh, spasm, tresses, sushi to name some.  I'm sure I can come up with some more, pressure, pressure to get my blog post finished!

4. What is one thing that you think symbolizes America...besides "Old Glory"
The Statue of Liberty, the city of Boston, baseball, apple pie and freedom.

5. What are your 4th of July weekend plans?
Well, since we have been gone the last two weekends watching my brother's baseball and having our own baseball games, I am looking forward to a low-key kind of weekend.  My sister's new pool is all finished up and we will probably hang out at the pool with family, watch fireworks and try out some new recipes.  I made a July 4th tutu for Sydney and need to get some cute pictures of her wearing it.  That's all, nothing fancy. 

Brody is 18 months!

I can't believe my baby boy is 18-months old.  It's so nice that our little guy is gaining some independence.  I love it how you are starting to play on your own and you are your own little person except you can't completely talk yet.  Since you are 18-months old now, you can now go to Mother's Day Out.  I know it will be good for the both of us!  Since I worked with Blake and Sydney, I missed out on so many little things with them throughout the day.  I am so happy to have been with you all day and been able to see everything!!!  This is usually when I stop counting your age by months and now, you're a year and a half.  I feel like the little baby phase is over and we are moving on to the next stage!  You are so much fun right now!

Some things you do:

• At your 15-18 month checkup: you had 5 shots ouch!!  You weighed 24.6 pounds, height was 33 1/2 inches and your head was 18 1/2 inches
• You love to climb up on the kitchen table and stand up, your other favorite thing is getting into the dishwasher
• You hit and throw everything, you're our next baseball superstar and maybe even our ticket!
• Cutting more teeth, the sharp "fang" ones, you now have total of 16 teeth
• Still in 18 mos clothing and size 4 diapers, shoes size is 5
• Love to eat String Bean Chicken from Panda Express, peas, spaghetti and you love to take food and dip (ketchup or chips/queso)
• You love to drink from a straw
• At 17 months you started hitting off a baseball tee and you won't take off Blake's big helmut, you wear it everywhere, even in the car. 
• You love baseball hats and try to put 5 at a time on your head and you point up in the closet until you have them all in your hand.
• You hit the ball, drop the bat and run the pretend bases all the way around until you get a homerun and then you clap
• Words you say: hat, ball, mom, dad, Bake (for Blake) and Siss (for Sydney) sky, more
• You are a poop machine - boy like 5x a day, can I have a break mister?!
• Took you to ENT for snoring, she ordered a sleep study but can't get you in until November, hopefully someone will cancel. My poor little baby, you snore soooo bad!
• You sit on the couch (not for long) and watch Yo Gabba Gabba and you even try to say it on your own
• So cute, you squint your eyes and smile when I bring out the camera, I'm training you well cause you have thousands more pictures in your future buddy!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

This past weekend, we ended up having a free weekend since Blake's baseball schedule changed.  We decided to take a trip up to Dallas to see David, Andrea, Maddie and Faith and go watch some Texas Rangers games.  We are so excited that baseball is back on tv so we can watch David since we hardly get the chance to see him with his busy traveling schedule. 

On our way there, we decided to stop at Buc-ee's.  Blake has been begging us for a shirt from Buc-ee's.  I didn't see what all the fuss was until we walked in, we were first-timers.  It was like the Vegas of truck-stops (even though they don't allow trucks).  We walked in and the first thing I noticed was the  aroma of fresh fudge baking, what a great tactic - smell marketing!  It made us want to buy it all!  Buc-ee's has everything a hungry family could ever imagine, not to mention the shopping! There was even a blinged out Buc-ee's shirt, I was cracking up!

I was so excited for this trip!!  I have been Facebooking and tweeting with my new blog friend, Crystal.  Her handsome son Bryson was bringing friends to the baseball game for his birthday, what a fun way to spend your birthday!!  David signed a ball for him and we were able to meet up with them  before the game to give him the ball.  It was so fun to finally meet Crystal, her husband and Bryson.  She is such a sweetie and we have a lot in common - our kids are the same ages and we love baseball.  Blake and Bryson are both on select teams and we are actually in a tournament together this weekend in Waco.  I'm hoping we get to play their team!  I can't wait to meet her girls!!  Sydney will be excited to meet a new friend she can play with!

We were able to go on the field before the game and take a few pics with David.  Blake was loving it, and tried to get autographs. 

David didn't play in Saturday's game, which was completely fine.  We love getting away from home for a little roadtrip and couldn't wait to spend some time with everyone.

It's been four months since we have seen the girls and they have grown so much.  Sydney adores Maddie and always wants to be the big cousin and pick her up. 

 It was cute to see Brody and Faith together although Brody was not really into playing with his cousin.  He wanted to keep us on our toes running all around the ballpark to check everything out. 

By the time we got back to David and Andrea's (after being lost for almost an hour), it was close to 1am and we were all so tired and didn't really get to spend much time together.  We spent a little time with David on Sunday, but then he had to head back to the ballpark early in the morning.  Dad and Blake went with him.  Blake is such a lucky little boy of 9.  He got to hang out in the locker room with his uncle Davie and was able to get practically the entire team to sign his ball (except one of his favorites, Ian Kinsler). 

 He even got to practice hitting some balls in the cages.  What little boys wouldn't love to do that??  I enjoyed catching up with Andrea while all the kids played outside in the sandbox. 

David played in Sunday's game and his first at bat was a homerun!!  Wahoo!!  It was so exciting and I loved that Crystal sent me a text letting me know the announcers mentioned Blake's name on tv.  He had the biggest grin on his face when I told him.  Blake showed the clip to his teacher and classmates today and they all said "No fair, you're famous"!!  I thought that was so cute.

David up to bat

Look at that Texas-sized cotton candy.  We didn't think it was going to be this big.  Can you say

C-A-V-I-T-I-E-S!!!

Even though we got to walk out of the player tunnel, Blake wanted to stop and wave bye!  This is where fans hang out to watch the players leave and they try to get autographs. 

Cool picture of David in the paper on Monday.

Brody is 17 months!

Our big boy.  You are a barrel of fun and it so neat how you fit into our family more and more.  We love how you try to be like the big kids and you even try to talk to let us know what you are thinking or what you want.  We all have you watch you like a hawk because you are into everything. 

Here are some things you are doing this month:

• You wear a size 4 diaper, you are 23 pounds, you have 12 teeth and are about to get 4 more
• You wear size 12-18 month clothes and you can even fit into your size 9 month jeans, this is nuts considering we have big babies and Blake and Sydney would have been in 2T by this age, you are our smallest baby by far, guess it's all that running around you are doing
• Hats, bats and baseballs are you favorite toys.  You swing a bat so well for your age and daddy says you bat left-handed even though it looks like you are right-handed.  You throw anything you can find, even the landscape rocks.  You threw one at the back of mommy's head, ouch!!
• You love to open up the dishwasher and stand on it trying to get utensils out
• You started to climb and you can get up on a chair, the couch, even the kitchen table and desk in Blake's room
• You absolutely LOVE being outside.  One mention of outside and you look for your crocs and stand by the door.
• When we tell you to sit down, you listen (mainly to put shoes on), now sitting in a high chair when we go out to eat is a completely different story!!
• You love suckers and if you see one in sight, you let us know how bad you want one
• You light up when we have family jam out sessions to Justin Beiber's "Baby" song.  You dance and smile and bop you head, it's sooo cute!
• When we sing "Stop Talking Bout", you say, "Blah, Blah, Blah"!
• Favorite words of yours are: stop, ball, hat, momma, dadda, Bub (for Bubba/Blake), school, outside, moon, sky, up,
• You let us know you want something when you say "uh, uh, uh"!
• If you think something is cool, you say, "Ooohhh"
• Bathtime is not your most favorite.  You don't sit down anymore and you cry the whole time, until you get out
• You are terrified if water is on the floor since you don't want to fall
• You are starting to run
• If Mr. Moon is out, you get soooo excited
• You have become so interested in reading books right before naptime, we call it Rock and Read.
• When I ask you what a dog says, you bark like a dog and you point up in the air when you see an airplane

We can't see what new and exciting things will be happening in the months ahead our little monkey!

Big League Dreams 2030

Once again, I have been a slacker in the blogging department.  I can't believe how fast time goes by without a posting.  I wish I was as good as other bloggers are at posting every day!  I have so much to catch up on and post.  Baseball season has once again started.  Brody absolutely looooooves being at the ballpark.  He loves to throw balls, play in the dirt and he even tries to get aluminum bats out of the dugout.  My little slugger gets mad when he gets the bat taken away and cries.  Here are a few pics after our game the other day.  He went straight for the helmuts. 

New Year's Eve - Sea World

We went to Sea World last July and our tickets were two-for-one.  The fall flew by so fast and baseball kept up so busy so we had to find time to use our extra set of tickets before the end of the year.  We decided to spend New Year's Eve in San Antonio.  We completely surprised the kids.  We packed all the bags and got everything ready without them even knowing.  There is nothing worse than being a kid and told you are going somewhere a week or two from now.  To kids, that's an eternity.  So, we wanted it to be a surprise.  We woke the kids up bright and early and told them we were going to get kolaches.  The gig was up when Blake tried to get in the backseat but couldn't since it was loaded with all the luggage and pillows and blankets.  He wanted to know where we were going.  Blake and Sydney were so excited to find out we were headed to Sea World for New Year's Eve!

Some conked out kiddos!

I was so excited that some nice person took our picture, but I guess Brody doesn't count!  Ha!

Our brood!

The 3-D short version of the Polar Express was so fun..."real" snow, wind, hot cocoa smells, it was like we were in the movie!

Some creepy guys!

I love flowers and stock is one of my favorites, they were so pretty!

Luckily, they all avoided a large soaking, it started to get chilly at night time.

The Shamu show was awesome especially at dark and set to Christmas music!  A nice couple behind us saved us, they gave Brody some suckers and he was good to go the entire show!

Celebrating 13 Years of Marriage!

It's the crazy month of birthdays and anniversaries in our family.  Let the games begin - November 9th - our 13th anniversary!  I cannot believe it.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at Taste of Texas - yummy!  We haven't been there in forever.  Every year, we always go somewhere in The Woodlands (for 12 years), this year, it was nice to venture out and do something different.  We left Brody with Mom and Dad and brought Blake and Sydney with us knowing how we would be talking about them the whole time and saying how much they would have loved it.  We had a great dinner and the kids loved digging into our dessert topped with a sparkler!

After, we headed to the new little shopping area called City Centre.  All the trees were lit up and it felt so Christmasey already.  They had a nice big lawn that the kids ran on and they took turns chunking rocks into the cool infinity pond.  We can't wait to go back and try out the restaurants.  I love having an anniversary so close to the holidays!

Thirteen Things I Love About You Tim:

1.  Blake, Sydney and Brody

2.  Your unselfishness, you are always so giving of yourself and help everyone no matter what

3.  Your dedication to your baseball teams - I love how people look up to you and trust your opinions, you are an awesome coach!

4.  You have connections and know at least two people everywhere we go!

5. You will do anything for your kids

6.  Your laughter, you are always joking and telling jokes many of which I'm not so quick to get

7.  You love to watch old 80's movies with me and put up with me as I say all the movie lines!

8.  Your super soft feet that I love to play footsie with

9.  Your sparkling blue eyes that make me melt

10.  You work so hard and let me stay home with the kids

11.  You always smell good, well, except after baseball!

12.  You make me feel like a princess

13.  You call me several times a day just cause

November 9, 1996 - Our pictures already look sooo dated!

November 9, 2009

Happy 13th Anniversary and to many more to come!  I love you! 

319 XOXO, Shannon

3+11+12+20+26=72 (the year we were both born)

7+2=9 (our anniverary)

We were meant to be!!!

Take me out to the ballgame

After Faith's first birthday party, we headed to the ballpark. The Rangers were playing Tampa Bay. We got there a little early for batting practice. The boys were excited - David was able to get them passes to go to the dugout and locker room. Blake and Jacob scored a few more autographs on their hats. The kids had fun playing the Slingshot game. Sydney and Jacob lucked out, they landed a hole in one and they each got a little prize. Blake was baffled that he tried so hard and then his kid sister strikes gold, the luck!! It's still so unreal to watch my baby brother live out his dream of being a baseball player!

Blake & Tim

Matt & Jacob

David's old number. No new #14's yet.

Blake trying his hardest for the prize!

Go, Jacob, go!

Alexa getting some coaching!

And the winners are Jacob and Sydney!

Cousins

It's been awhile...

Since I last posted. I have been so swamped with orders. We had a busy week full of baseball games (we finally won against our rivals the Houston Legends 18-10 and came in first place for the season), gymnastics, field day, teacher appreciation week, Brody's doctor appointment for 4-month shots even though he's five months - I am behind!! Brody weighed 19 pounds 14 oz., his head was 17 inches around and his length was 26 inches. He's 85% in the height category and 95% for weight! Here is a You Tube clip of him. Blake made him have his first big belly giggles. Ah, it was the cutest!