A Weekend of Softball

Carli played in her second tournament this weekend in Longview and Ava had two games in Whitehouse.  I was pretty stoked when Ava's games got moved back and Ava, Drew and I were able to see her play in one game.  She got a double and a single in her first game!  She is playing right field and takes her job backing up first base very seriously!  We only got to watch the one game.  They played three on Saturday.  During her last game she actually caught a fly ball!  Keith's text was awesome..."Holy crap they just hit a fly ball to Carli and she caught that sucker!"  He was so proud!  :)  Her coach congratulated as she came in the dugout telling her it was a good catch and she shrugged as if it were not big deal and said, "I know!"  :)

My ball playing girls!

Ava played two games on Saturday and Grammy and Pa got to come watch one!  Our little team is really young.  Ava is the oldest and most experienced.  She did an awesome job.  They are one of two teams in the fall league, so we play the same team over and over.  This team also happens to be full of 1st graders and won state last year...so yeah, it's a good thing it's tball.  :)

This weekend Drew started mimicking hitting the ball off make-shift tees.  It entertained him through the whole game and he was so proud of himself!  :)

Carli played one game on Sunday at 8 am.  She and I left our house at 6!  She did really well getting up and we sang and talked all the way to Longview.  We played the team that eventually placed 2nd in the tournament and held with them til the last inning.  I was pretty proud of them all!

Carli's teacher, Mrs. Shofner was at the same tournament watching her daughter play.  Carli was excited to see her and Mrs. Shofner is a sweet lady.  She talked to Carli for a good 5 minutes.

Carli let me stay and watch another game before we headed back home.  I mean, I got up at 5 I had to at least watch two ball games!  It was a good game too!

In exchange for staying a bit to watch a game, we played on the playground for half an hour before heading home.  It was the epitome of why I want Carli to play ball.  A good excuse for one on one time with my girl.  :)

Sitting Handsome...

Our Kayla was in the hospital for a bit so Drew and I went to see her.  He was a pretty charming little fellow and brought some smiles to Kayla and Ms. Patty.  But I think his favorite part of the morning was finding a ledge that was just the right height to sit on!

Siblings

 Someone asked if Drew still favored Ava...so we dug up some pictures of the girls at 14 months and did a few side by side comparisons...

Drew & Ava

Drew and Carli

 

And Drew...pics are only 5 days apart.  Five full days of a nasty virus and he obviously lost weight.

My Boy

He might have bed head...or maybe some curls...just maybe?!

 

Drew loves him some puppy dogs.  Sadie loves her some boy...but Sadie loves him a little more than Drew can take so they must keep a fence between them!  :)

Third Wk of School Curse

Our third week of school is cursed:

2014: 3rd wk of school Carli threw up on the school steps and missed 2 days of school before we finally figured out she had anxiety about tattling on the little girl she sat by, teacher moved seats and all was well.

2015: 3rd wk of school Ava passes out and vomits for no apparent reason. Best we could figure she just got to hot at recess. She'd never passed out before, she missed 1.5 days of school.

2016: 3rd wk of school both girls get the most evil virus we have ever experienced and Ava topped that off with a well of an ear infection. Both girls between fever, vomiting and refusing to eat have missed a whole wk of school.

This trend was suppose to have stopped at kindergarten and we were suppose to have had 5 yrs to prepare for how Drew would top his sisters antics. Apparently not.

And what a well of a week to have sick kiddos.  I have a pretty flexible job when it comes to when I do my work but it just so happened that this 3rd week of school was the week of all our annual meetings with work.  Meetings I really could not miss.  We are so blessed that Naggy and Pappy were planning to come help us that week anyway, and they did not shy away from the task of taking care of our sick kiddos.  Seriously, blessed.  They helped make a very long week, one that was very manageable and as stress free as it could have been given the circumstances. 

Drew did great with Naggy and Pappy!  But man, I sure did get some great cuddles when I came home at night!

To add insult to injury, Ava woke up Wednesday morning with a horrible ear ache.  She had a nasty ear infection.  Keith handled that doctors visit.  We soon discovered how hard it is to take the antibiotic for the ear infection when the stomach virus has your stomach all in knots.  :/

Thursday evening things were looking up and we were all breathing a sigh of relief but then Drew threw up all over me early Friday morning.  He was not spared.  :(  Naggy and Pappy were awesome nurses but it was not fair to expect them to take care of a sick baby.  So I stayed home and missed my last meeting and they hit the road with fingers crossed they would be spared!  Meanwhile, I washed an awful lot of clothes and my children turned my pantry into their personal play space when I told them the TV needed a rest!

We were hoping that Drew was much better Saturday b/c he had gone over 24 hrs without vomiting but on our way to Ava's first fall ball game he threw up all over himself and the carseat, multiple times.  :/  Keith and Carli were in Carthage at a ball tournament so we persevered and got him cleaned up.  He and I sat far away from anyone and cheered on Ava.  He was fine during the two games but one the way home he threw up again.  So we spent the rest of the day cuddling...

Unfortunately the younger the person, the more vicious the virus.  Drew would go 36 hrs with no vomiting and then when it hit him, it hit hard.  He literally did not eat more than a cracker or two for 8 days.  He nursed but that was it.  I never nursed my girls past 12 mths, but am thankful that Drew was still nursing b/c it gave him comfort and hydration...otherwise I'm not sure we wouldn't have ended up in the ER with a dehydrated boy.

Finally by day 8, Drew was feeling better.  He actually wanted to eat a cracker and kept it down!  Whoop!  Grammy came and cuddled with him so I could get some work done.  And we finally could see the end in sight...

But then Carli started running fever on Sunday night...

We took her in first thing Monday morning and she definitely had strep.  :/  Thankfully, with antibiotics she has bounced back quickly and only missed a day of school.  Carli is not my one that is prone to strep, Ava is.  So it was no surprise that Wednesday Ava was not feeling well.  The doctor simply called in some meds for her and maybe now...knock on wood...we can be done with all this sickness!

A Little Softball Update

We are in full softball mode this fall.  Ava is playing fall ball on the Whitehouse Dolphins.  Its kind of a role reversal for her.  Instead of being the smallest on the team, she's the oldest and is working on her leadership skills.  She wasn't so sure she wanted to play but is having lots of fun now showing the smaller girls what to do.  I couldn't be more proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone!

Ava has played two Saturday's so far.  While her team hasn't won, she doesn't seem to care and is having a lot of fun with the girls on her team.  Her team is made up of a lot of kindergarteners who have never played and they play a team full of experienced 1st graders.

She's the cutest Dolphin of them all!  :)

Ava was pretty excited that her teacher Mrs. Ivy came to watch her play.  Ava had a great game that day and was so glad Mrs. Ivy took time out of her wkd to come see her!

Drew has been a champion little brother.  He's endured practices, tons of time on the road and game after game after game.  We may look like was are moving when we show up to every game, but hey our baby is happy that he has all that stuff.  Happy baby = Happy parents!  :)

Carli played in her first tournament as a Sassy Slugger in Carthage.  Keith took her to her Saturday games and I got to go to her game on Sunday.  Her jersey isn't in yet so she's #9 that wkd.  She had had a pretty rough week dealing with the nasty stomach virus and had not eaten much so we were pretty proud she had the energy to get out on the field!  She played right field every other inning and did a good job hitting.  It was a good first experience for the team.  They knew what to do and when to do it...just got to work on executing it! 

Overall our goal for the girls playing ball is to teach them the importance of teamwork and long term goals.  We want them to have fun and most of all we enjoy getting to spend extra time with them.  :)

Bella's Birthday

Ava was so glad to be feeling better and get to go to her bff's birthday party!  She got to paint pottery, eat some yummy cake and get to spend some time with her friends!

 

They even let me do a little pottery painting...this was for Carli!  :)

Ava with her BFF, Bella

 

The three amigos, Ava, Gracie and Bella