Let's Play Ball!

Daniel as the "pitcher". His favorite position

Daniel at Bat

Evan Parking his cars

Daniel is playing T-Ball for the Fall season. This is his second season playing for the Sluggers and he loves it! You can just see his confidence growing right in front of your eyes at every game. He is running faster, hitting and throwing the ball farther. Brian is the third base coach for the team and is having a great time with all of the kids. Since this season is short they have two games per week so the coach has cancelled most of the practices. Brian and I have taken it upon ourselves to practice with Daniel. I am hoping that Evan can join the team for the spring season so we work with him too.

Last season, Daniel spent a lot of time playing in the dirt or picking flowers for me. This season he still does that but, not as much. Just last week he hit the ball all the way to the fence and had to jump over another player to reach third base (so relieved he didn't stomp on him). We are having a great time with the other kids and their families too. It is a positive environment where everyone is encouraging to each other. A great way to spend a beautiful fall evening!

Happy Birthday Evan!

Evan celebrated his 3rd birthday on Saturday, September 24th, 2011.  Since he is obsessed with cars and the movie Cars, we decided to have a Cars 2 themed party for him.  We held the party at our office and set up a race track in the garage to let the kids race on all of the cars and bikes we own.  After the race they beat up a Lightning McQueen pinata..so sad!  Evan loved every minute and he is so proud that he is now three-years-old.  I think he really enjoyed being the center of attention and was especially excited about his gifts which every single one was a different kind of car!  He had many special guests attend his party but among the most special was his Aunt Allie (my sister visiting from Houston) and Godmother.  

The following day Evan was baptized at our church.  Many family members attended and was followed by another party!  It was a wonderful weekend.  

Evan's Gotcha Day Anniversary!

Today is our first anniversary of Evan's Gotcha Day or Forever Family Day. It
is amazing to think that a year has gone by already . So much has happened and
so many things have changed. Adding Evan to our family has been such a joy and
I often remember to give thanks to God for all of these great blessings.

This year has been filled with lots of adjustment and changes that have been
difficult for all of us. There were times I questioned my sanity especially
when Evan would throw one of his famous tantrums or the boys would fight. 12
months after receiving Evan into our arms he is a different kid. No longer a
baby but a real little boy who loves cars and looks up to his big brother. He
has a great sense of humor and showers us with lots of kisses and hugs too. I
absolutely love watching my boys play together. You can see the admiration that
Evan has for Daniel. Whatever big brother is doing you can bet that a smaller
version will be following closely behind.

Daniel has been an amazing big brother. There are times when he declares that
he no longer wants a little brother and then immediately asks Evan to play with
him. He is protective of Evan and shares his most precious toys with him too.
Watching their relationship grow and blossom over this year has been a joy.
When watching the video of receiving Evan into our arms you can hear Daniel in
the background yelling "my brother, my brother, that's my brother". I will
never forget that first night in our hotel room when Daniel leaned over the bed
and kissed his little brothers head and said "I love you, little brother".

This is what I dreamed about all of the years that we were trying to build our
family. All of the pain as door after door closed and the wait grew longer and
longer. This journey was worth the wait, worth the pain and worth the sadness
because now I have the two most precious children I could have ever hoped for
and I thank God that he chose me to be their mother. I am a very lucky Mama!