Opening Day, Pancakes Galore & Poop!

This weekend has been quite busy and crazy. It started out very early on Saturday morning. We had opening day ceremonies to attend to for Little League. They had a 'free' pancake breakfast for the players and their families. They were taking donations since Little League is funded by donations, fundraising and volunteers. After the breakfast we awaited the announcement of the teams. The two little league tee-ball teams were the first up, then AA was up next. There are only four AA teams, so we will see the same old faces for the next two months! lol. Taylor's team came out with their giant felt banner. A coach from each team announced the players by name and number. I'm sure that was an exciting moment for Taylor! The entire event was cute and the kids had lots of fun until the flyover of a local based F-18 Super Hornet. :o) Of course, we heard absolutely nothing until the president of the league announced that the flyover was about to happen, and bam, the jet was literally right there and it hit the after-burners and roared over the field and crowd. Ryleigh was so scared that she fell down and was screaming while Austyn was just in awe of the whole situation because he of course loves jets. It was freezing cold the whole morning, so the boys spent some time snuggling under a blanket and pretending to like each other.This morning was our usual Pancake Sunday filled with pancakes cooked by yours truly. I'm working on mastering the pancake. Its my least favorite food to cook and I'm quite possibly THE worst pancake maker in the universe! The kids are proof of that. They are not shy about telling me that Dad's pancakes are better. I agree, they are awesome and we can't wait to have his pancakes back! Either the kids are getting used to my mediocre pancakes or my skills are improving. They started out with eating only one pancake every Sunday versus the three or four of Mark's they would eat. They are now eating about three or four of my pancakes. They still say Mark's are better, but its okay because I happen to agree! I can admit my weakness. lol
And then there was poop! Yeah, I know, it really isn't a lovely topic to talk about, but when it is a 17 month old little girl by the name of Ryleigh who pooped in the potty for the first time ever, it suddenly becomes glamorous. lol. So, yes, this morning, Ryleigh poo-pooed in the potty for the first time ever! It was so exciting and when she was done, she looked in the potty and we did the whole celebration thing we do every time she potties. She looked a little confused because it wasn't just pee. She kept looking in the potty and looking at me, like what the heck is that?! We told her she poo-pooed and Austyn rewarded her with the biggest star sticker he could find. So...HOORAY for Ryleigh! Her potty training is going fantastic and I couldn't be more pleased with her. She of course still has accidents, but I'm not asking for perfection here, just progress. And she has made phenomenal progress. My kids are the greatest! ;o)

Oh and Taylor played his second game of the season on Friday. They smoked the Cardinals! Taylor had a rough game and struck out twice. EEK! He let the game get to his head a little. But he did get a killer hit to left field!! Despite his batting struggles, he, along with the rest of the team played awesome! We are headed to the batting cages today so he can work out his personal issues with his hitting.

Its good that I like Baseball

Austyn has his first practice!

His first practice was yesterday (Monday). He is on the (drum roll and an eye roll please, lol) THE RED SOX! He was so excited for baseball and it was so much fun for me to watch him. The kids on his team seem so teeny tiny. I swear I don't remember Taylor's team being that little, but then again, that was four years ago. (gasp..am I that much older?) Hailey (pink pants) used to be our neighbor, and we are so excited that she and Austyn get to play on the same team! His coach is a woman. No problem. We've had a woman coach before, but no offense ladies....the men do it way better. I'm totally not one of those women who thinks that women should only do certain things. I'm sure some women (like *ahem* myself, hehe) would make a fantastic coach. I'm all for women coaching..if they know what they are doing and are organized. This lady, well she did say that this is her first time coaching, so I guess I could cut her some slack, but I'm not going to. Here's why: She said that she used to play sports her whole life and she played in college and yada, yada, yada...let's not relive the glory days! So, I'm thinking...okay, good, this girl will know what she is doing.
EXHIBIT A: When coaching a team of any nature, one should wear the proper gear...ie...shoes. FLIP-FLOPS are not appropriate footwear for coaching a baseball team...at any age! Set a good example for your team. PLEASE. EXHIBIT B: Please teach the children the proper rules of the game, and especially ones that are meant to enhance safety, not hinder it. So, please teach the kids to run ONE base at a time as stated in the tee-ball rules, AND DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT show them to run the bases with a baseball bat in your hand!!Also, teaching the kids to run to the pitcher's mound (instead of going to the dugout where they would normally go) after running to home-plate, probably isn't a good idea either. WOW. For someone who knows sports, she sure doesn't know a whole lot.To top it all off, when I asked if she needed any help or a team mom (because that's ME!) she replied with a solid, "No, I think I have it pretty well under control. I am really organized and I know what to do. I played sports all my life (again with the sports thing), so I know what I am doing." My mouth dropped open. I just said...Yeah, okay, well you let me know if you need anything. I am kicking myself in the butt for having not coached this year. I just know I could have done everything a million times better than the way things went at the first practice. Granted, first practices are usually a little rough and you have to work out the kinks, but seriously, come on! I'm coaching from now on if Mark isn't here! I can't handle another bad coach.
Even though I went on a rant, I can find something nice to say about her. She is very nice, and she seems to like kids. Anyway, so check out this awesome hit Austyn got!

Taylor's First Game

Today, Taylor had his very first game in Little League. He did awesome! The whole team did awesome! Oh and by the way, they are the BEST, and I mean THE BEST team ever! Let me tell you why. Yesterday at practice, there was a tee-ball team practicing on the field we normally practice on. The coaches were upset and just let the situation get the best of them and said there would be no practice. This was not going to stop the Indians from practicing. They formed a circle in between two fields and started playing catch and warming up. Are these kids awesome or what?! They ended up getting a field a few minutes later. Okay, okay, so back to the game. Taylor was the first up to bat in the line up.
(First at bat)He got two strikes and a sweet hit to 2nd base. He made it home two hits later to score the first point of the game. WOOHOO! Go Taylor!
(On 3rd about to run Home to score the first point!) The first couple of innings he didn't play the field. His second at bat, he struck out. :o( He didn't get angry or upset, he just walked it off and went back to the dugout.
(Can you say SSSSTTTTRRRRRRRRIIIIIIKKKKEEE!) He played outfield once and then he played 1st base twice. He did a great job along with everyone else. I think he felt so cool and grown up to be playing a game much like his Dad. Sadly they did lose to the Red Sox. Yeah, yeah. I don't want to hear it. lol. Everyone had a great time and they can't wait for their next game on Friday.
(Good Game Guys!) We will be doing baseball FIVE times a week very soon. Austyn luckily doesn't start his games until the 19th. When he does, we will have practice on Mondays/Wednesdays, 5-6 or 6:30 for Taylor, and 6-6:45 for Austyn. Some weeks, Taylor has Tuesday/Friday games, and some weeks he has Thursday/Friday games. All of Austyn's games are on Saturdays, so we will be pretty busy! I am very thankful that they both practice within the same vicinity of each other, just a field or two away, so it will be pretty easy to handle. I'm also very happy that I actually like baseball, otherwise I would be going nuts right now!! haha All of this baseball is also going to make time fly by, so we will get closer to Mark coming home much faster! YAY for baseball!

Put Your Big Girl Panties on &Deal With It!

Ryleigh, as you all know is my only daughter. She is the youngest of three and she is our last child that we will have. Ryleigh is my princess and my sweet angelic baby. (most of the time) She will be 17 months on Sunday. Where has the time gone? There's no way she can almost be 1 1/2 years old. It's impossible, right? Tell me I'm right, please!
Let's rewind to a week and a half ago. We were going through our normal nightly bath time routine. Ryleigh is always the first out of the tub. I dry her off and lather her up with some yummy smelling bedtime lotion and send her off to her room to wait until I get Austyn out of the tub. She never makes it to her room because she dawdles. Last week, after an attempt to actually make it to her room she came right back. She pulls out the potty chair, lifts the lid and tries to sit down. She didn't quite make it and ended up with one foot in the potty and one still on the floor. She looked like she could use some assistance, so I helped her out. I asked her if she needed to pee-pee, and low and behold, what does the child do? She pees! In the potty! Can you believe it?! I was shocked, excited, thrilled, overjoyed, happy and a little sad. We all (including the boys) shouted hooray and clapped our hands and told her what a great job she did. I was a little teary-eyed.
A few days later as I was trying to cook dinner she comes running down the hallway with her diaper half on, half off. She was desperately trying to get her diaper off and was having some trouble. She finally got it off and she ran right back down the hallway to the potty and sat down. And would you believe that she peed in the potty...again!
Then there was last night. As we were getting ready for a bath, I asked her if she needed to potty and she shook her head no, so I plunked her in the tub. Once she was done with her tub and was all lotioned up and ready for jammies, she pointed at the potty. In disbelief, I asked if she needed to pee-pee and she sat right down and had a very determined look on her face. For the third time, she peed in the potty! Am I blessed with a potty training genius baby or what?!
I do have to admit that I am not ready for this at all. I'm not ready for her to be such a big independent girl. She is growing so fast and she is so smart. She is such an amazing little girl. I really wish that I could be Adam Sandler in the movie Click. I need that remote to pause time and to watch my kids grow up in slow motion. Everything is happening so fast. One minute they are tiny little babies who need my help with everything, and the next thing I know they are running around like wild animals playing the 'run away from mommy' game and they don't need my help for as much anymore.
This is all very bittersweet for me. Once she is potty trained, it will be official that she is a big girl. That is scary. At the same time, I won't ever have to potty train another baby again! Hallelujah! lol.
Mark thinks she is ready for potty training since she obviously shows such a great interest in it. He's probably right and I should probably take advantage of this opportunity Ryleigh is presenting to me. But really, do they make panties that small? I know, I'm looking for excuses to keep her a baby and I shouldn't. I guess I should just put my big girl panties on and deal with it!

Happy Easter from Santa on My Birthday!

Our Easter morning started off in a different yet amusing way. Austyn didn't realize that anything was left in his room by the Easter Bunny. He climbed into bed with me and cuddled up. I asked him if his room was clean, and he said, it was. I insisted that we take a look just to make sure. He was a little annoyed, but humored me anyway. He opened up the door, pointed in and said, see, my room is clean. And just as he said that, he looked in and saw a basket with a shovel, rake, garden hoe, a kite, a stuffed bunny, a bunny parachuter thing and a chocolate bunny. He got this bewildered look on his face and then he shouted...MOM! SANTA BROUGHT ME GARDEN STUFF! I had to explain to him that it was Easter and that Santa actually wasn't the one who brought the gifts. He didn't care who brought him the stuff, he was just excited. He said it a few more times that day that Santa had been to visit, and then he changed it up and said he got it for his birthday!
Ryleigh, who gets out of her bed, opens the door and walks out any old time she pleases decided that this wasn't one of those days. She found her Easter Basket and she dumped everything out onto the floor and found her shiny, foil wrapped chocolate Easter Bunny. Well, apparently, our Easter Bunny didn't really think things through when he left that in a 16 month olds bedroom! She unwrapped her bunny and had a few nibbles of it before we caught her! She was so hurt that she couldn't eat chocolate for breakfast. Live and learn, right?
Taylor, the big kid of them all, just casually came out of his room, and said, Mom, the Easter Bunny brought me a bunch of stuff. Austyn, you can have my old gardening stuff because I have new ones now. He was excited, but nowhere near as excited as Austyn was.
This year, we opted to stay home for Easter rather than travel down to Mission Viejo and visit with family. We are trying to save money, not spend it, so this was our best option. We had two families over for lunch and a 200 some odd egg hunt! We had the Villasenor Family over. They used to be our neighbors but moved to a bigger house right before Mark came home from his last deployment. Jessica and I get together twice a week for play-dates and much needed adult conversation. The Moore Family also joined us. I met Cassidy last year at the Fresno Zoo while we were on a field trip. She was one of the few other parents who opted to go along with the kids and tour the zoo at her own pace. We ended up hanging out because we kept running into each other and the boys were already good friends. We had a wonderful lunch followed by the egg hunt.
It took the kids about 10-15 minutes to find all of the eggs, and even after that they were still finding them in the less conspicuous places. Each kid walked away with a basket that was overflowing with eggs. Some eggs had money, some had candy and others had little party favors. Ryleigh was the only one who didn't have an abundance of eggs.
She was a little apprehensive about it all. She walked around and looked at all of the eggs and she eventually decided to pick them up. Taylor, being the wonderful big brother he is helped her gather some eggs in her basket. His basket was full in just a couple of minutes. I had to tell him to stop and let everyone else gather the eggs. Austyn was the most enthusiastic about it all. His exciting was exhausting for some of us! lol. He was just running around yelling that he found eggs, and wow there were SO many eggs and they were all over the place!!! He is such a funny guy.
The entire day went awesome and the kids all had a blast! Here is a picture of all of the kids that participated. I say that because baby Callie, for obvious reasons (she's a baby) was the only one who didn't join in!From Left--->Right Jason (2), Chance (7), Ryleigh (16 months), Taylor (7), Hailey (4) Austyn (3) and James (19 months)

Patriotic Program

Taylor dressed and ready for the Patriotic Program

Tonight, Taylor, and the rest of the 1st grade and 2nd grade (I think) put on a Patriotic Program for their parents. They did an awesome job! Every single person had a part in the program which was awesome! Some people were dressed up in costumes and some just 'introduced' songs. It was well put together, and we really enjoyed it. The kids who didn't wear costumes wore dark jeans and white polo shirts. They sang The Star Spangled Banner started to get a little bit grumpy towards the very end, but we quieted her down with some and I almost started to cry. It was so moving to hear all of these 6-8 year old kids singing this song with such conviction. Austyn fully enjoyed hearing all of the songs and then asked me why Taylor was talking. Ryleigh sat on my lap and swayed back and forth to the music the entire time. She goldfish and milk. Taylor spoke his part into the microphone and he totally reminded me of Alfalfa from The Little Rascals because of his delivery. He got a few giggles from the crowd. There was one little boy, he is so tiny. He had to stand on his tip toes and reach his little head up as high as he could just to reach the microphone. lol. I have memorized Taylor's part. Here it is, "She was inspired to write this hymn while atop Pike's Peak in Colorado while she was visiting the World's Fair in Alabaster City in Chicago." He even picked up an extra part because one classmate didn't show up! I don't remember what that part was though. Here are some pictures, we hope you enjoy them....
Enter Stage Left...

Taylor sitting in between Dennis the Menace and Tyler the Cutie Pie. lol

And we salute our Military Service Men and Women...
Taylor's best friend, Chance was Francis Scott Key. He looks so cute in his costume!
Singing The Star Spangled Banner.
These two little kids were awesome at singing! They had solo parts.
Waiting for his turn to speak.
Reciting his lines. He did so awesome!