Brady Gives it His All

In all fairness, it was pretty warm that day. Brady may have jogged, then ambled his way to first base, but he got tons of encouragement (what every man seems to need) going from third to home, and suddenly became super speedy! It makes me happy that he seems to be having a lot of fun this year.

Carson Turns Three!!!

Wow, it has been a big week! On Monday, Carson had his Thanksgiving feast at school. He wore a homemade Pilgrim hat and sang Thanksgiving songs with his class before enjoying a whole bunch of treats (video of singing to come). On Monday afternoon, we hosted playgroup at our house, and Karen made another AWESOME cake to celebrate his birthday...Yoda looked so real! Then, on Tuesday, he turned 3!!! I basically spent the day spoiling him with chocolate milk and treats. I can't believe my baby is three!

The Egg Hunt

Let's just say that I don't exactly have ultra-competitive children. Carson was happy to open eggs as he found them, and Brady stood around for a while before he got started. Luck was on our side, however, because the lazy kids in Brady's age range gave up as soon as all of the eggs APPEARED to be found. Brady and I found many eggs that were hidden in pine needles. Brains almost always beats out speed. What fun!

We were also so happy to see Daphne and the Torr family this morning. Daphne looked so adorable in her dress!

Let the Easter Party Begin!

We had such an awesome time at Redstone today. They had a totally kid-friendly Easter brunch that included a kid-level, kid-centered buffet (plus awesome grown-up food), the Easter Bunny, face painting, balloon animals, a jumpy house, and an Easter egg hunt. The boys had so much fun, and I got to enjoy 2 cups of coffee. It was a truly lovely morning.

Obligatory Easter "Front Step" Pictures

"Mooooooooooooooooom, Can we PUHLEASE be done?"

It takes a lot of effort to make a 2-year-old and an Almost-5-year-old look sparkly, so, darn it, I need to document this day. Stand still and smile!

Easter Morning: The Good, The Bad, and the Handsome

Good = Candy.

Bad = Having to put on a real tie and new shoes.

Handsome = If I have to explain this to you, then you are hereby exiled from this blog.

My boys were serious troopers about having to wear "fancy clothes" and uncomfortable dock shoes. They wore their ties willingly because they were "like Daddy usually wears". They even managed to only spill their breakfast on the satin chair covers at Redstone...none on themselves!

Happy Easter!

The Tee Ball Season Continues...

Jeremy has been helping Brady's coach out by organizing batters, etc., over the past few ball games. When he's not encouraging bitty ball players to get a giant helmet on, however, he is in the outfield cheering Brady on. Brady gets a little "frustrated" if the ball doesn't come to him, but he still seems to be having a great time. Either tee ball is more for him than soccer was, or he is just getting older and more patient. It's much more fun when Brady's having fun, though. Carson, of course, is itching to join the team. He brings his own glove to every game just in case they need him!

Our Third-Baseman

I seem to remember a similar soccer video. I must admit, while I want to raise independent, confidant children, it will be a sad day when Brady is too old to run to me for comfort!

Brady's First T-Ball Game!

Yesterday I learned that nothing...NOTHING...is funnier than a 3 and 4-year-old t-ball game. After standing back to learn the social mores and taboos if this new Saturday morning ritual, I have gathered that the rules seem to go as follows:

1. When a batter hits the ball, every player from the field shall descend upon it, elbowing and wrestling to be the winner of this coveted prize.

2. The batter is not always left out of the afore-mentioned ritual. A batter may, in fact, go after his or her own ball for any reason, especially if they desire to hit again, or even if they just want a firm hold on the ball while they are getting to first base.

3. The bases may be run in whichever direction a batter chooses.

4. Batters can and will have a chat with their coach during an at bat.

5. Mommies or Daddies are expected to run the bases with their companion batter.

6. Batters and outfielders never, I repeat NEVER, listed to what is being yelled at them, so don't even bother. It better to just grab an arm and guide them in the correct direction.

7. Lots of hugs and snuggles are expected in between, and sometimes during, each play in order to reassure a player's ego. (While this would be annoying in an adult, I find myself dreading its ending for my little boys.)

Hmm, that about wraps it up. I can't remember a sporting event where I laughed more. I truly wish I taped the whole thing. By the way, if you, dear reader, didn't notice, Brady's team happens to be the PHILLIES! I think it's a sign...I'm raising the next Chase Utley.

Picture Day - 2010!

There is a long list of things that I LOVE. This list includes dresses with pockets, shoes with bows, babies with cellulite (preferably named Chip), smutty books, emotional books, funny books, riding on vehicles made for toddlers, and...dressing my kids in matching outfits! So, you can imagine why I woke up in a wonderful mood on this, Picture Day 2010!

However, 2 hours later, after playing peek-a-boo and pretending I was a monkey (both things that have appeared on the list of things that I love) until sweat was gathering on my upper lip while STILL not managing to get Carson, my smiley kid, to smile, picture day seems to have slipped a few places on the list. Or maybe just "picture day when one of the photographed is only 18 months old". Anyway, Brady smiled and giggled brilliantly and we ended up still spending a small fortune. Everyone send me an email to request sizes and check your mailbox for photos of my adorable, matchy-matchy boys!

PS - I sort of ended up being a little "yelly" today because of all of the things that I had to run around and do (of course, I expected the boys to be perfect angels while they were being dragged around, primped and photographed). At dinner Brady told me that I yell too much and he doesn't like it. I felt horrible...being told that I yell too much is now on the list of things that I HATE. And I'm working on the yelling thing.

Captain Underpants!

Over the past few days, Carson has had a diaper rash that is really red and painful. He's a really tough kid, so when he cries about something, you know it must hurt...poor little guy. Anyway, I decided last night that he needed to run around without a diaper for a little while, to help air our his coolie. But Jeremy had a better idea: he stuck Carson in a pair of Brady's underpants so that he wouldn't be peeing freely around the house. Well, not only did the size 4T underwear fit, his big belly hung out over the top! He looked so freakin' cute, I had to keep stopping myself from pinching his little hynie!

By the way, Brady has taken to carrying around a pointer...he even wants to sleep with it. So maybe he doesn't want to go to med school. Maybe he wants to be a prof like his Nonni!

Brady Plays Soccer: Take 2

So, many of you may remember our "soccer experience" from last season. For those of you who don't, it's a pretty short story...Brady fell to the ground, face down, and cried hysterically at every game. But we insisted on bringing him to every game...Jeremy and I aren't quitters and we won't raise a quitter, so we just kept trying. Finally, for the last minute of the final game of the season, he ran after the ball.

So, needless to say, Jeremy and I warily signed him up for the season when Brady said he wanted to try soccer again this year. A few things worked in our favor, though, like getting to be on a team with his friends, and having his friend's dad as the team coach. Still, we held our breath when Brady was chosen to start in the beginning of the first game. It was a tremendous relief when the whistle blew and Brady actually started running. He may not have been running in the direction of the ball, but he WASN'T CRYING!!! We'll take it. He had a great time, and we are holding out hope that this season is going to be a hell of a lot more enjoyable than last season!

It's Yearly Professional Photo Time!

Unlike some "On the Ball" mom's, I only get the boys pictures taken professionally once a year, so it's only natural that I go all out. This year, it really worked for me. Apparently, when you spend over a million dollars on prints, they realize that you are probably not going to come back for reprints, so they just give you a CD with all of the pictures on it...even the ones that we didn't choose! I am incredibly excited about my CD because having to only pick 20 poses of the boys was REALLY hard...how can you just leave those unchosen adorable pictures behind?!

Above, you will see the boys in their matching Easter seer-sucker, then we changed it up this year, and instead of the traditional navy shirt and khaki's that I usually make Brady wear, I put the boys in some fun spring colors...no one can accuse me of being boring!! I hope you all enjoy these as much as I have...many of you will be getting wallets in the mail...write to me if you want some!

Excuse Me, I'm a Little Horse

At St. Clare's Monastery in Brenham, Texas the pony that Brady was petting (yes, it's really shorter than him, it's not an illusion) was NOT the smallest one that we saw. They were so neat and tiny...and I can't even express just how happy it makes me to be able to use my "little horse" joke. Ahhh, it's the little things.

By the way, I know that I said I would stop bragging when I found out that people who aren't in our family read this blog, but I can't help myself this time. My kids are so cute I could cry.

Bouncing in the Blue Bonnets

See how I used alliteration there?...um...Anyway, I think that I mentioned before that Brady is in a phase where he makes a constipated face whenever we try to take pictures. In this particular case, I don't really think that it mattered. He looked so cute sitting in a field full of blue bonnets by the side of the road in Chappell Hill, Texas...it didn't really matter what face he was making. We took a lovely day trip that ended in the discovery of an amazing new outlet mall! Sometimes, life is just so good.