Bubba's Birthday

Yesterday was The Boy's 6th birthday. It was an interesting day that left me so exhausted by night time that I was not interested in getting on the computer to blog or share pictures. I really don't know where to begin my reflection on the last 6 years as it has gone by so quickly and he has developed into this amazing person.

Let me start by telling you about his day . . . . It started around our usual time of 6:00 when I heard him in his room reading (not out loud but I could hear the pages turning). Once everyone was up we opened presents in our room and then got ready to go out to breakfast. He has been requesting breakfast at Denny's for a few weeks now so we figured this was a good day to do it. Well, we picked the wrong Denny's. The service was awful but the food was good and we left with full bellies. Pickle had swim school at 9:30 so we went home to gather our stuff and head out again. Bubba spent the 1/2 hour playing in the play area and sitting in the "castle" listening to princess stories with a bunch of girls. Luckily I am confident he was way more interested in the book than the girls . . . .

We ran over to Target and then JP had to go to the Dentist . . . pretty mundane stuff for a kid's birthday. The Boy and I spent most of Pickle's nap playing Monopoly. It was fun and I have given him fair warning that when he is 7 I will no longer tell him when I land on one of his properties. Maybe I'll extend that to when he is 8 since the game is recommended for 8 year olds and above, but we'll see if he learns to pay attention.

When Pickle got up I took them to the library as most of the day JP spent painting in Flora's room so I needed to get them out of there for a bit to leave Daddy alone. Now all of this brings us to dinner . . . which was chaotic to say the least. You see, The Boy requested crab for his birthday and not lump crab meat or imitation crab but crab. I know it was all about having the actual crab in front of him to study since he started talking about this 3 months ago when they bought whole lobster for my birthday. Unfortunately we live in a land locked state and getting crab (for a reasonable price) is not easy. So we settled for Raclette which is a thing JP's family did when he was growing up and we have adapted it to our growing family. It is a Scandinavian tradition of cooking your own food on the table. Bubba loves it so it was a good consolation for not having crab.

After phone calls from all his grandparents and his cousins and some brownie and ice cream, we finally got them both in bed. Now looking back on it the day doesn't seem so busy but being 35 weeks pregnant, I am much more relaxed sitting at work today!

I will get some pictures up tonight or tomorrow from his birthday party and the few we took yesterday and I will also tell you a bit more about him and his shining abilities.

The game

So two days a week now we load up the super Van and head over to the local ball fields for some little league. It is a riot to say the least. Bubba loves every minute of it. His exuberance gets the better of him quite often though as he routinely runs to cover first base, even if he is catching or playing right field. The only down side to the league is there are only three teams so we see the same people over and over again.


The other interesting part of a night at the game is chasing Pickle around. Not one to sit and enjoy the show she spends most of the night trying to escape parental clutches and get on the field with Bubba. She certainly enjoys going though.

Exhausted

One of the bonuses of getting a big girl bed in our house is being allowed to go to bed with some type of light by which to read. Pickle is usually given a headlamp because it uses the least amount of energy and the batteries are easily rechargeable. She was a little too tired after one of Bubba's baseball practices and neither turned off her headlamp nor did she scoot down from her reading perch. She basically passed out. Also note the two just in case pacifiers in her clutches.

Lego Play

Here's what Bubba did all afternoon last weekend while his sister slept. He had built this Lego Rescue Boat that actually floats and he pestered us for days to be able to pay with it in the water. He started out leaning over the side of the tub and then he got in the tub with his pants rolled up but slipped at one point and ended up with a wet bum so he changed into his swimsuit and went "all in."

Dental Surgery Gone Wrong!

This one is for my Dad! Pickle did this to herself and I couldn't resist sharing. They are plastic pliers so no harm and no pain!

32 Weeks

Today marks 32 weeks that Flora and I have co-existed. Remarkably it has been a very fast 32 weeks and those early days of nausea and can't-pick-my-head-up exhaustion are a distant memory. Now I'm in the easily tired and it-hurts-to-get-off-the-couch stage. I have a check-up tomorrow but I think I am doing pretty good in terms of weight gain (at least for me and my historical average of pregnancy weight gain). I'm still getting up to go to the gym a few days a week and I haven't had any pre-term labor symptoms like I did with Pickle. Overall I'd say things are looking pretty good.

With about 8 weeks to go we have 2 major issues facing us . . . what to name her and getting her room ready.

Opening Day

First things first . . . he had to get a haircut so he could wear his hat without hair going in his eyes . . . .Today was "Opening Day" for Shadow Mountain Little League. All teams met at a local school to line up and march in with their teams. We didn't get the uniform shirt and hat until we showed up so this was our first chance to see him all decked out. Admittedly I did get a bit teary-eyed . . . .This is part of the team that was there before they sent the parents over to the field to wait on the "parade." The man on the left is our Team Manager - "Coach David," and the woman on the right is one of the Team Moms (she made the flag).
The Mariners were the first team to march in and Bubba was one of the flag bearers.He has done really well in practice the last couple of weeks and is definitely one of the better hitters on the team. When he focuses on his target he throws really well too. Right now they are working on mostly fielding ground balls as that is what most of the kids hit anyway.

First game is Wednesday night and we will be playing two games a week through mid-May. He is excited to have a "real game" with "real umpires!"

She Keeps Us Entertained

Warm weather cap? Check! Tiger Purse? Check! Princess Phone? Check! Finished breakfast? Check! Ready to go!