End of the Season

Dylan's very first season of T-Ball has flown by! Tonight was their final game. The Tigers played their hearts out, and celebrated the end of the season with a pizza party and trophies in the park pavilion.

Technically it's only their last regular season game. One of their games that was rained out has been rescheduled for the 17th, and they may have another make-up game.

If the coach-pitch summer league is formed, we will definitely be joining in. Dylan loves playing T-Ball, and we love watching!

Uncle Eric came to the game tonight, and Dylan was really excited!





Lexie sported her new balloon flip-flops. Even though she wore other shoes, she brought them along in her backpack, and eventually changed into them.



During practice, Lexie and I played at the park.





My girl had a serious case of static by the time we headed up to the game!




It is so much fun to watch the kids play T-Ball! How can you not laugh?!?



Dylan may have lost his tooth, but guess what? He has another one.



Dylan played really well. He's a good hitter and runner!



Lexie cheered her brother on. They really are the best of friends!




Dylan had a terrific season of T-Ball. I think he's hooked!

He was so proud of his trophy, signed game ball, and treat box. This was such a great experience for him!



Congratulations on a wonderful first season of T-Ball, Dylan! We are so proud of you and look forward to cheering you on in all you do. We love you, buddy!!!

So Easy Even I Can Do It!

I'm not the craftiest mom in the bunch. I like my projects to be as easy as they can possibly be. So when I ran across these, thanks to a link on a friend's blog (Thanks, Nicole, for sharing the link!), I was hooked. I knew Lexie would love them!

This is all you need:



Total cost of this project? $2! I got the flip flops for $1, and the water balloons for $1!

You will need about 200 water balloons to make these. All you have to do is double-knot the balloons, in a pattern, from one side of the flip flop to the other. It took me all of about 30 minutes, and that's with my broken finger!

Click here to read the post where I got this idea!

So easy, so quick, and oh so cute!

Finally!

One year after the dentist noticed that Dylan had a loose tooth, it fell out! It has been hanging by a thread for a week, and it fell out tonight when Grant gave it a little tug!

Here he is this afternoon, with all of his baby teeth.



Here he is tonight, looking like a big boy!



He happily tucked his tooth into the tooth pillow, and said, "Goodbye, old friend!" Right before he placed it under his pillow, he said, "I'm going to miss you," and gave the tooth pillow a smooch.

He is so excited! Every time I walked past the door to his room, he would say, "I can't believe I lost my tooth! I just can't believe it!"

I can't believe it, either! I was beginning to think that it wouldn't fall out. It's only taken a year for that stubborn tooth to come out!

He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the tooth fairy!

We have had a relaxing weekend. Dylan had a baseball game last night, and did this every chance he got:



Thank goodness he doesn't have a tooth to wiggle anymore!

Lexie cheers him on while snacking...



..and looking cute!



After brunch this morning, we spent some time outside, so the kids could swim. We didn't have anywhere to go today, so Lexie and I spent the day reading. What can I say? She's exactly like me!



And now, I'm off to play tooth fairy!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

The winner of the Bea's Bows giveaway is Amanda Wilmering! Congratulations, Amanda! Please email me with your address.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Have a great weekend!

In the Wee Hours of the Night, We Both Lost Our Minds

Last night was a long and memorable night. Although I'd like to put this one in the "Please Don't Remember This" file.

I'm used to getting bouts of insomnia, and logging in late nights, but last night went beyond the norm.

I headed to bed around 2 AM. That gave me plenty of time to log in 7 1/2 hours before the kids woke up. I was just about to drift off when Lexie woke me up with her screaming.

Despite being stubborn and full of attitude, Lexie is a great sleeper. She goes to sleep on her own, and we typically don't hear from her until she wakes up in the morning, yelling, "I'm awake! I'm awake! I'm awake!" She began sleeping in 6 hour stretches when she was 5 days old, so with the exception of a few (not so difficult now that I look back) nights when she had a fever or was teething, I've been incredibly lucky.

I went in and calmed her down, and returned to bed. Several minutes later, the screaming resumed. Back in her room, I assessed the situation. No fever, no nightmare, she was acting normal when I was in there, and I had just taken her to the bathroom and given her a drink. Everything was fine.

Back in my bed, I decided to ignore her. The problem is, I can't sleep through that, even with the fan on full blast. An hour later, I returned to her room and begged and pleaded with her to tell me what was wrong. I attempted to cuddle with her, and she just jerked back and forth, whining. Ignoring her didn't work. Removing her from the crib didn't work. Cuddling her didn't work. There was nothing physically wrong with her, and I was at a loss. Dylan had night terrors when he was younger, and this was not a night terror.

As the hours (yes, hours...of screaming) ticked by, I grew increasingly frustrated. My calm demeanor was gone, and I resorted to threatening and raising my voice. That didn't work either. By this point, she was in hysterics, and crying so hard that she was gasping for air, and couldn't talk.

Then, it got weirder. Three hours after the screaming began, I walked into her room and she was sitting up in the crib, staring at the wall, and screaming about spider webs. I turned on the light, showed her that there weren't any webs or spiders, and she calmed down. Briefly. The next time I went in, she was screaming, "Get off! Get off of my blankie, bugs!" and swatting at her blanket. Once again, I showed her that there weren't any bugs. It was as if she screamed so much that she was hallucinating from lack of oxygen!

As I watched the night turn into morning, I began to lose my mind. The tears came as I watched the clock creep closer to 6 AM. I finally walked into her room, in tears, and told her that she needed to go to sleep. Now.

Maybe it was my tears or maybe it was the fact that she was worn out, but she finally fell asleep....and woke up perfectly normal 4 hours later.

Tidbits

*It's the last day to enter the Bea's Bows Giveaway!!!*

It's much too late and I'm much too tired to type out an emotional blog post. The past three days have been incredibly difficult, but tonight, I have hope.

I have been in a funk recently, and instead of letting it all out right here, right now, I'm going to focus on what makes me happy. My kids keep me laughing, smiling, living, and loving.

They may be a day (or two) late, but I can't resist posting these funny (tid)bits.

Lexie calls the Slip 'n Slide a swimming slide. That works too!

She also calls arm pits "arm puddles." That's my personal favorite! (And in some cases, quite accurate!)

Dylan's favorite saying is, "I'm the man with the master plan!" He tells us that all the time! I'm not quite sure where he heard that, but I am quite sure that I should be afraid.

Lexie saw a commercial on TV, and asked me, "Who's going to buy me that Pillow Pet?" When I didn't respond, she suggested, "Maybe you?"

Lexie loves the cupcake scented lotion that my mom has in her bathroom. She is constantly wiping it on her arms. Today, she walked out of my mom's bathroom and said, "I'm rubbing myself like a cupcake!" Ummm...okay.

And, finally, an offer I couldn't resist. Lexie said to me, "Mom, want to go snuggle? Let's snuggle in your room!" I was more than happy to oblige. I'll take all the snuggles I can get!

*Don't forget to enter my Bea's Bows Giveaway! Two days left to enter!*

We have been going nonstop...literally...nonstop.

The annual Memorial Day picnic at Grant's Nannie's house, yesterday, started out hot and sunny. Right after we finished eating, the sky got dark, and moments after we got everything into the garage, the sky opened up.



I only have 3 pictures from Memorial Day, because I was too busy trying to keep the kids out of the rain. It didn't work too well.




Then, the horrible thunder storms rolled in and lasted for several hours. We were all stuck in Nannie's garage, but managed to have fun (and eat a lot). As soon as the storms stopped, we made a mad dash through the rain to get to the car. Off we went to our friend, Rex's birthday party.

We stayed at the party until midnight, and on the way home, we got to witness the aftermath of the storm. Trees down, driveways washed out, streams flooded...it was a memorable Memorial Day!

Today, we headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium as soon as we were all awake and dressed. It was one of those perfect zoo days. Very few people were there, the weather was beautiful, and the animals were close. Our friends met us there!





Every time we go to this zoo, we have a neat experience. Today's was getting to see the bear get fed.



This adorable guy is 28 (3 years past the average life expectancy in captivity) and arthritic, but he puts on quite a show when he catches fruit in his mouth!




I love the monkey house, even though it's 100 degrees and super smelly inside. Love it!






Lexie got up close and personal with one of the residents, and asked to take it home with her. It was difficult explaining why that could never happen.

After the monkey house, Dylan got tired, and jumped in the wagon with Jack.



As usual, the aquarium was a big hit, and it wasn't crowded today!





Lexie didn't want to join us for a picture, so Jack happily took her spot!



When I first got to the zoo, something got in my eye. By this point, my eye was super irritated and my mascara ran from my eyes watering, so excuse the dark circles! (Now, I have a raging eye infection.)



The kids love crawling through the tunnel that goes underneath an aquarium. Today, Lexie noticed exactly what was in there.




I doubt she'll go back in! She quickly jumped in the wagon!






We had to rush through the rest of the zoo!







It was a great day at the zoo!



Minutes after arriving home for a quick sandwich, we had to leave for Dylan's T-Ball game. I entertained Lexie at the park, while Dylan's team practiced.






We returned to the field to watch Dylan's game. Once again, Dylan's team (Tigers) played the Yankees, so they had identical uniforms!




Dylan hit really well tonight, so he got the game ball! We were so proud of him!




Phew!!! I think I need a vacation!