Daddy and Barrett's first Ranger game!

When Barrett was just 9 months old, we took him to see the Yankees play the Red Sox in one of the last games at the old Yankee Stadium.  I told Barrett then that his baseball viewing experience would probably only go down hill from there.  While that may indeed be true, our experience together at the Ranger game a couple of weeks ago couldn't have been any better.

That week, Barrett and I were watching the Rangers on TV and he walked over to me and simply said, "Daddy, will you take me to the Ranger game?"  Of course, my heart melted and I couldn't say no.  So, I made arrangements for us to go see the Rangers vs. Mets that Friday night.  Barrett was so excited and kept telling everyone he met that week that daddy was taking him to see the Rangers on Friday night.  His excitement seemingly grew each minute leading up to the game.  

We got to the stadium just in time to see Dirk throw out the first pitch with Barrett yelling out "GO DIRK!" in his deepest voice like he does when watching the Mavs play.  We then made our way to the concession stand, which I think is what he was most excited about.  We loaded up on hot dogs, and peanuts and settled into our seats to watch the game.  The Rangers started out hot as they shut down the Mets in the top of the 1st and Adrian Beltre blasted a 3-run home run in the bottom of the inning.  The fireworks startled Barrett at first, but his smile came back quickly after I explained that the Rangers hit a home-run.  The home runs kept coming that night as the Rangers hit 3 out of the park with the last one from Josh Hamilton in the 8th inning.  As the 2-run homer sailed into the seats Barrett and I stood cheering along with the other 46,000 in attendance that night.  I looked over at Barrett while clapping  and he looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face.  And there is was.  The moment that will be etched in my memory and in my heart as long as I live.  No words were said, just a look, a smile, and a little boy falling in love with the great game of baseball.

While the home-runs kept coming, so did the food.  On the night, we went through, 2 hot dogs, 2 bags of peanuts, one bag of pretzels, one helmet ice cream, and one frozen lemonade.  Afterwards, Barrett said that his favorite part was the home runs and his second favorite part was the peanuts.  I couldn't help but think of my Grandpa Doots, whose love of baseball and of peanuts are unmatched.  Every time I shell peanuts, I think of sitting on his porch and going through bags of freshly roasted peanuts.

In all, it was one of the best nights of my life, and I think the same can be said for Barrett.  The Rangers won 8-1, but the outcome of the game didn't matter.  What mattered was the memories and bond created between and father and a son.  I love you Barrett and look forward to creating many more baseball memories with you in the future.

Barrett and I during the 7th inning stretch

Hot dogs, peanuts, pretzels, and ICE CREAM!

 Cutest fan at the game, no doubt!

Rangers about to homer!

Imaginext

A few weeks ago we were shopping for a birthday gift at Target and Barrett saw the Imaginext Space Shuttle.  His cousin Hudson has something similar and Barrett had played with it over there on Father's Day and has been obsessed since.  When he saw it at Target he immediately informed me that Hudson had one and so he needed one too, etc., etc.  I told him to ask for it for his birthday or for Christmas.  He's asked me several times since then when Christmas Day is and tells me that he knows exactly what he's asking for.  He even knew right where it was in Target and could walk straight to it from the front door.  Several days ago my mom wanted to buy something for him so she called and asked what he might like.  I told her but also told her that he could wait until Christmas.  She was having none of that and met me at Target.  Barrett took her straight to it and told her he was asking for that for Christmas. :)  Needless to say, she bought it for him.  And man he is OBSESSED with it.  I think he's at that age where his imagination is really creative and he has so much fun playing rocket ship and making up planets and different scenarios.  And of course there are always "bad guys".  The first day he had it, he played with it nonstop for 3 hours.  I almost cleaned my entire house...I'm not joking. It was wonderful!  Thank you Granny!

STRIKE!

Well not really, except for Kinsley who did get a strike!  Last week I took Barrett bowling for the first time.  We went with our beautiful friends Tara, Kendall and Kinsley.  When I first asked Barrett if he wanted to go bowling, he said "on the Wii?".  I cracked up but then thought about it and he hasn't ever seen bowling besides Wii bowling.  (Note to self: expose child to real world activities especially when they are also Wii games).  He loved it.  We went again today with Nana and Hudson but of course I forgot my camera this time.  If you haven't gone to KidsBowlFree.com you should check it out!  Participating bowling alleys allow little ones to bowl 2 free games every day of the summer.  You just have to pay for shoe rental.  A great deal for hot summer days!

Let me just add this too.  I feel so incredibly blessed to get to take B to do these things every day.  We love doing new things.  I know not every mom gets the opportunity and I am so grateful and appreciative.  I am beyond blessed to have a husband who sacrifices so much (read Traveling Man) and works so hard so that I can stay home with B.  Thank you honey.  You are the best.  Sap over....continue on for pictures! :)

 B carrying his own ball. He was so proud of that 6 lb ball.

 Kinsley and Kendall

 They have this super cool ramp for little kids.

 A little sisterly help....seriously the cuteness

 Little man gearing up for the ramp

 I did it mom!

 Precious Kinsley

 Woohoo!

Kinsley always ready with an adorable face

Traveling man

Mark first started traveling again when Barrett was about 10 weeks old.  Back then he didn't travel all that often.  It was definitely hard, nerve-wracking is probably the better word, having a newborn, but I wasn't working (well at least not at the office - but don't get me started on that), and newborns sleep a lot and are pretty manageable. Now, he travels A LOT and it is TOUGH.  You'd think it would be easier as Barrett has gotten older and there are certain aspects that are easier.  For example, Barrett is more independent now and can do more things for himself which helps.  But overall, it is much harder now.  Mostly because he recognizes that Daddy is gone.  We do everything by "sleeps" so it's always "Mom how many more sleeps until Dad comes home?  Is Daddy at North Carolina again?  Is he on the airplane right now?  Can we skype with him?".  Daddy is his best playmate.  They play baseball, football, tractors, rocket ship, etc. for hours so B just really misses him when he is gone.

I have discovered a few good things about Mark being gone.  First, I get to sleep diagonally in the bed, which is my favorite way to sleep.  Second, I park in the middle of the garage.  And third, I get butterflies when I know he is coming home because I miss him so much.  While all 3 things are awesome, they definitely don't outweigh the bad.

I try to look at every situation that is "less than ideal" and figure out what I can learn from it.  Having a traveling man for a husband has given me a great appreciation and tremendous respect for single parents.  I know how hard it is to have a traveling hubby but I know (Lord willing) that it is temporary and he always comes home.  It is difficult to imagine a situation in which he was gone for months at a time (military) or if he just wasn't in the picture at all.  Being a parent changes the way you look at so many things anyways.  For example, I no longer look with frustration at the mom in the grocery store/restaurant/etc. with her unruly, screaming child, I look at her with compassion.  I've been that mom and will be again I know.  Now I look at that mom and think "poor thing, her husband probably travels and she is just at her wits end trying to juggle everything."  When you become a parent and realize how hard it is, you start to appreciate how nice it is to have people around you to help out and give you a break and it makes you more cognizant of the fact that they might need a break too (if they have kids that is).  It really does take a village.  I can count on one hand the number of times I've had someone call and offer to take B off my hands for a bit.  Now, he's stayed with people plenty of times and had babysitters but I'm talking out of the blue, me not having to ask, which means me not having something planned.  I can tell you what I did every single one of those instances because I was so overjoyed to get an unexpected break and have a little "me" time, not running to a dr appointment, teaching, meetings, church functions, etc.  Just time to do whatever it is I wanted to do.  My point?  If you know someone with kids (and most likely you do), even if they aren't a single parent or their spouse doesn't travel, call them up and invite their kids over to play or to do something to give the parent(s) a break.  You will be refreshing their soul....I guarantee it.  And they will probably return the favor.  We've gotta help each other out and keep each other sane. :)  XOXO

Cancun 2011

We just got back from a wonderful 6 day trip to Cancun with our awesome friends, the Whitleys.  First of all, a shout out to our parents (Granny & Papaw and Nana & Poppy) for taking wonderful care of Barrett while we were gone.  We would not have been able to a) even go or b) relax without worrying about him if it weren't for all 4 of you.  Thank you SO much. We love you!

We stayed at The Royal in Cancun. It was an amazing, all inclusive, adults only hotel.  We absolutely love children but all 4 of us were in dire need of a break from kiddos for a while.  This was our first real trip since the summer of 2007 when I was pregnant with B.  If you ever get the chance to go to Cancun, I highly recommend The Royal.  The service was top notch, food was wonderful and the amenities were awesome.  We spent most of our time eating, playing in the water and just goofing around.  We did venture out for a bit of deep sea fishing on Sunday.  We caught four fish!  A 50 lb barracuda, a 125 lb sailfish, a 35 lb yellow fin tuna and a bonito fish.  It took Mark about 40 minutes to pull in the sailfish!  Al had to take a shift because it was exhausting.  Al pulled in the barracuda, I pulled in the tuna, and Priscilla handled the feisty bonito.  The sailfish either had to be mounted or thrown back.  It was $1200 to have him mounted so we opted to save his life by throwing him back.  I mean really, where in the world would we hang a 125lb fish???  No thanks.  The coolest part was that when we got back to shore, there was a little restaurant that grilled our tuna for us!  Talk about a FEAST.  We were all shocked at how much tuna there was.  We barely made a dent in it and gave the rest to our waiter.  He seemed more than pleased to take it off our hands.

We ate off property once at a place called Lorenzillo's which came recommended to us and is known for their lobster.  Again, another FEAST.  It was so good.  It was on the lagoon side of Cancun and sat right on the water.  Priscilla and I were sitting by the window and there were tons of fish swimming around and there was also an outdoor part of the restaurant where you could walk around.  The waiter had told us to look for the crocodile.  Lo and behold, just after our lobster bisque soup and caesar salad, I looked out there and he was swimming right next to us!  Mark ran out to snap some pictures as did most of the patrons at the restaurant.  Apparently they feed him chicken which is why he wasn't snacking on the fish.

Every other night we ate on the property and enjoyed excellent food.  Our last night we ate at a restaurant called Chef's Plate.  There were 6 couples total that had a reservation and they seated us in a private room with the chefs at the head of the room.  The chefs cooked everything right in front of us!  It was an 8 course meal.  Granted it lasted 2 hours, but it was worth it for the experience.  We didn't love everything they made, but we tried it and definitely enjoyed most of it.  They were so accommodating which was wonderful for me since I have all my self-imposed eating restrictions. :)

The whole trip was so relaxing and just a nice break from reality.  We are so blessed to have wonderful friends to share it with.  We are thinking of trying to make it an annual (or every other year) trip so let us know if you are interested!!  The more the merrier!

For now, it's back to the treadmill to work off the pounds gained on the trip.  We did work out twice on the trip which was nice.  I can't imagine the damage had we not done that.

Enjoy the pics.  It was easier to do a slideshow then post them all.  It's my first attempt using smilebox so I hope it works!

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