Take me out to the ballgame!

I am officially a baseball mom. 

I never wanted to be a baseball mom. Honestly, I don't even like baseball that much. I was hoping my kids would enjoy a sport where people actually move around, like basketball or soccer. But they like baseball, so I am a baseball mom.

Saturday was opening day. Last night I sat down with their schedules and wrote everything in on our calendar. Just wanted to let you know that if anyone needs to find me this Spring, I'll be at the ballpark. Evidently I'll be spending about 5 days a week there. Another mom told me that eventually your butt gets used to sitting on the bleachers. Kinda like riding a bike, I guess. 

Watching this guy, though. That makes it worth it. 

Because the boys are on two separate teams, Andy & I often have to divide and conquer. Andy was with Sammy on Saturday for his first-ever baseball game and he said it was amazing. Like Sammy came alive out there! At one point Sammy was positioned on the pitchers mound and every time one of his fellow 5-year-olds hit a ball off of the tee, Sammy would dive for it. And get it! He was in his element and had such a blast.

Caedmon was in his element eating a hot dog and drinking root beer! Ha. I think he'd like to wear those bright green crocs in the game if cleats were not required. He is such a funny kid!

Sammy was awarded the game ball and named "Player of the Game" for his hustle. He was so happy and proud of himself! It was a priceless moment.

Below is my "No-More-Yelling-At-Sammy-Card" that I created. Before you go thinking I'm a horrible person for ever getting frustrated with that sweet face, I'd like to invite YOU over to get the child ready for baseball one afternoon! Then you, too, will appreciate my little check list. 

Sammy is slow-moving, frequently loses things, and often can't even remember what he's looking for. This was a formula for unending frustration for Mom as I try to get them out the door for baseball multiple times a week. So I came up with a check list for Sammy to work his way through. He starts getting ready for baseball at 4:00. Computer time starts at 4:15 and we leave the house at 4:45. So if he takes longer than 15 minutes to get ready, he just eats away at his computer time. No sweat off my brow. (This was Andy's genius idea.) We created a tub for each boy to store all of his baseball stuff in for easy access. I sure hope this alleviates our headache. 

So, here's to sunshine, fresh air, snack shacks, and bleachers. May we make many wonderful memories and friendship this Spring through the great American game of baseball!

Play Ball!

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Birthday Party

Caedmon (who is never shy to ask for EXACTLY what he wants, no matter how big or small) always comes up with these elaborate ideas for his birthday. We've done StarWars, a camping trip, and this year it was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Those turtles were quite popular when I was in middle school, then seemed to hide out in the sewer for many years, and are now making a major comeback. Welcome back, boys. Welcome back.

I now know each turtles' name, color mask, and weapons of choice. Important stuff, I tell ya.

Dirt cake...because life in the sewer is pretty dirty.

The amount of food coloring and artificial ingredients in these cupcakes makes me cringe. I felt guilty for serving them, but they turned out pretty cute. And most importantly, Caedmon loved them!

As the kiddos arrived, they were given the opportunity to make their own numchucks (or as Caedmon likes to call them, non-jocks). Some foam tubing, orange duct tape, and some orange ribbon was all that was needed. It got a little crazy in our living room as more and more kids had weapons to hit each other with! A 7 year old boy's dream!!

Once all the party guests had arrived, they (just like the Ninja Turtles) were exposed to some toxic green goo (green jello) which mutated them into Ninjas. Mutation is underway in the picture below.

Our mutated ninjas with their weapons. Also, Spiderman decided to randomly make an appearance?

Now the ninjas were ready to undergo their first training exercise with Master Splinter Andy. They practiced throwing punches, kicks, and some very funny spinning moves.

After their training session, they were ready for their first mission: an invasion of the Foot Clan. Their ninja skills were required to destroy the evil Foot Clan before they could continue to spread.

Sammy discovered that numchucks were not nearly as effective as biting. I couldn't stop laughing as he'd go from one balloon to another, piercing it with his teeth until in blew up in his face!

Everyone knows that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles love pizza. So the next order of business was delivering 15 pizzas at a time in the form of a relay race. Pizza boxes were flying everywhere!

Our last activity was in honor of Michelangelo, the silly turtle who just always wants to have a good time. We had a silly string war, which was a ton of fun. My back patio may never be the same again!

Our "goodie bags" went home in the form of pizza boxes. I just found those pictures online, printed them on full page label paper, and stuck it right on the pizza box. It was pretty simple and turned out really cute!

The good news is that Sammy decided he ALSO wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party (at the end of October). At first I thought, "You can't do that. You have to choose something special for you." But then I thought, "Hey, that's a fantastic idea!!! Thank you, Sammy!" 

So all of my left over supplies will be put to good use. No more searching on Pinterest for party ideas or stressing over gathering materials. No more dreaming about Ninja Turtles or planning games. This exact same party will get an encore presentation later this month for a group of 4 & 5 year olds!

Booyakasha! Have a Turtle-Power kind of day, Dude!

A birthday letter to Caedmon

Dear Caedmon,

I am almost a month late writing you a birthday letter! It's no surprise really. I feel like our lives are picking up speed like a freight train on a downhill run. Gone are the long days of toddlerhood where I had to get creative with ways to fill up all our time. Those days were busy in their own regard (mainly cleaning up all the messes you made!). But now our days are full with homeschool, sports, and church activities. And I have a feeling this is just the beginning.

As your sister's arrival draws near, I find myself thinking a lot about your birth and infancy. I remember the look in your daddy's eyes as he supported me through labor. I remember laying in bed as a family of three just minutes after you were born with tears streaming down our faces. I remember being completely blindsided by how much I love you. I never knew love like that was possible. I remember what a sleepy baby you were...we'd try to wake you up to eat by taking all your clothes off, laying you on a hard table, and putting cold wash cloths on you! And we would laugh. At you in all your adorable cuteness.

It unbelievable to me that that was 7 years ago.

You still make us laugh with all of your hilarious comments and funny antics. You are a one-of-a-kind kid, and we adore that about you. You are the only child on your baseball team doing somersaults during practice. You're the only child I know who thinks of questions like, "What's the plan for BayKids when we move to two campuses?" and "Why didn't we put windows in the auditorium at the church?" Never met a 6 year old who is concerned about things like that.

Caedmon,
*  You are INTELLIGENT- your memory is amazing, your vocabulary is surprising, and your ability to learn a new concept in math/language after one explanation makes my job as your teacher pretty simple.
*  You are CONTRARIAN- you disagree with most things just for the sake of disagreeing. (This is quite exhausting, by the way.) The other day I read you a book that had won the Caldecott Award. I told you to pay special attention to how beautiful the illustrations were while I read, so you closed your eyes and said you'd rather imagine them.
*  You are INDEPENDENT- you take your own showers, order your own food, and are almost always the first one out the door. Your dad and I think it's hilarious how you go sit in the van and read a book while waiting on the rest of us.

While you were 6:

• you decided soccer was not your sport because it required way too much running
• you grew to love homeschooling, not so much because of all the quality time you get to spend with your awesome mom, but more because you realize that we get done with school each day much earlier than all of your friends
• your logic became so tight that I can't get around it. You regularly convince me to do things I was not planning on doing because I can't out-logic you!
• you learned to tie your shoes
• you made a million LEGO creations
• you learned to swim in the deep end without a life jacket

I think it's funny how you would NEVER claim Sammy as your best friend, but you climb in his bed almost every morning to giggle and play. It warms my heart to watch your friendship and love grow for one another.

I could go on and on...about how you try to delegate and shamelessly ask for help with all your unwanted responsibilities or how you couldn't care less about other people's opinion of you. I could mention how you're quite motivated by money (earning it, spending it, losing it). I could write about how you are extremely competitive, how you belly-laugh at your dad, or how you write me unprompted love notes. Oh, Caedmon, I love you so fiercely, with all of your strengths and potential and quirks. I love being your mom. I love being loved by you.

You grow and change so much every year...I wonder what this one will hold. I'm so thankful that I get a front row seat as your life unfolds. You are my priceless gift from God.

Happy 7th birthday!
Mommy

3 Things I Wish I Would Have Known 3 Years Ago

We recently celebrated Sammy's 3rd Gotcha Day. 3 amazing years of Sammy. The growth we've seen, in our own lives as well as in him, is a beautiful, beautiful picture of God's mercy and grace.

The Santos family (in the midst of an adoption from Brazil) joined us for some Ethiopian food and frozen yogurt as we celebrated the gift of Sammy.

Silly Sammy showing off his gifts from Ethiopia. 

At least one child was blurry in every picture from the yogurt shop. 

Guess the sugar-high was kicking in!

This time of year always causes me to get reflective on our adoption process, so I thought this week I'd share three things I wish I had known 3 years ago. Today I'll share #1.

1- Whenever in doubt, error on the side of grace.

Up unto the point Sammy joined our family, our only parenting experience had been with Caedmon who has been with us since he was born. Andy & I had taken a more structured approach to raising Caedmon when it came to sleep patterns, schedule, etc. We let Caedmon "cry-it-out" at night and he was sleeping like a champ in his own room by the time he was 3 months old. Although I had to arm-wrestle him more than once regarding nap time, Caedmon took a long afternoon nap every day until he was nearly 5 years old.

Then enters Sammy. Sammy's sleep issues hit us like an 18-wheeler. He did not sleep through the night for the first year and a half after we got him home...often up 3-4 times per night. At first he would wake up with night terrors, shaking & screaming. Those passed fairly quickly but then he just became a party animal, wanting to hang out and chat at 2 AM. We had no idea what to do and were getting mixed advice from people. Some said to let him sleep in bed with us, some said to keep him in the same room but in his own bed, and others encouraged us to move him to Caedmon's room. 

Andy & I were pretty committed to not letting Sammy sleep in bed with us because 1) Andy & I couldn't sleep if Sammy got in our bed, and 2) we feel that's an unhealthy pattern long term and did not want to start a habit we'd have to break. We let Sammy sleep in a pack-n-play in our room, which we felt like was a compromise. But one of us inevitably spent half the night in a rocking chair holding him or with our body hanging over the side of the pack-n-play rubbing his back.

Looking back, however, Andy & I both feel like it would have been helpful and beneficial to have allowed Sammy to sleep with us for a time. Our presence soothed him and he needed the reassurance that we were always near.

I think, regardless of whether or not we had let him sleep in our bed, we were going to have to deal with some major sleep issues with Sammy. BUT, what I wish I would have known (and been okay with) is that it wasn't going to ruin Sammy, and might actually help him a lot, to error on the side of grace. The structure and order that I craved would eventually come in time. But it may take a lot MORE time than what I wanted.

When we brought Sammy home, I expected some sleepless nights. But, I just assumed that by the 3 month mark this 2 year old would be "sleeping like a champ in his own room" just like Caedmon had. I had stored up grace for the first 3 months, but the well seemed to run dry long before the need was quenched. 

I'm happy to say that Sammy has great sleep patterns now. He stays in his bed all night and gives me much less of a fit about nap time than Caedmon ever did. We made it through that rough, sleepless season. But the journey may have been more pleasant if we had given more grace along the way.

Whatever struggle you're facing right now, adoption-related or not, give it time and give it grace. It WILL pass and you will have a lot fewer regrets if you get your own tank of grace filled up from the Giver and then splash it all over those around you!

Come back tomorrow for #2. 

Lake Tahoe

Today is the day. After a glorious week at Lake Tahoe, we will be heading home to San Jose. My amazing husband took the boys on an ultimate Boys' Club adventure this morning and left me at Starbucks to read, relax, and blog. Great way to end a great week!

This was a work trip for Andy, and we just got to tag along. Plus we got the added benefit of seeing Andy at lunch and in the evenings for family fun! The boys and I used our mornings for school. I use two different age-appropriate curriculums for the boys, but some fun activities they do together. Tracing letters on a paint bag was a big hit.

It has been all ABC practice for Sammy this week. Who knew there were SO many different games and ways to reinforce letter sounds and letter recognition?! Thank you www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com for all of the ideas!

 
The boys raced to find the letter I called out.

After we wrapped up our schoolwork, Andy took a lunch break with us each day. We picniced by the pool and swam for a bit. I love how Sammy wears these googles.

Check out how his ears are smashed forward. Funny kid.

 Caedmon's awesome version of a dive. Makes me laugh every time.

And his specialty, the backwards cannon ball.

On afternoons that it wasn't raining, we would head over to the playground. I think a summer uniform for boys should be swim trunks, flip flops/crocs, and optional t-shirts.

Caedmon has never met a stranger and jumped right in this family's baseball game!

I just can't get enough of these smiles...

All this activity required some refueling and nothing's better for that than a little ice cream...

...and a quick nap wherever you can catch one.

For a special treat our last night, we let the boys do this bungee jumping trampoline. They had been eyeing it all week so Andy & I shamelessly used it as bribery, I mean, an incentive for good behavior throughout the week!

His expression is bursting with excitement!

He figured out how to do a flip!

After we did homeschool all morning and activities all afternoon, we would meet up with Andy for dinner and some family fun. He even gave me some alone time to refuel on three different occasions this week. It has been lovely!

Andy had the idea to take the boys on a hike this morning before heading home. He's been sending me pictures all morning and my heart is just overflowing with gratitude. I feel so, so blessed that we've gotten to spend this week here, that our family is making such wonderful memories together, that my boys have a father who is fun & creative & invests so much in them. Those two little guys have NO IDEA how blessed they are to have a dad like Andy Wood, but I know full-well and I am so smitten with him. He is always surprising me with just how awesome he is.

I am headed home to San Jose with my heart refreshed and my mind filled with snapshots of great memories.