TBall Returns

Christian had his first t-ball practice of the season yesterday evening.  Last year, he was in the Rapids Park and Recreation Program which was held at a park near our home.  It was fun for Christian's first year in the sport but this year we decided to try another program called Wisconsin Rapids Area Youth Softball (WRYSA) League.It is held at the baseball diamonds in Kellner. We thought Christian would enjoy this better and feel more a part of the sport as he will play his games in an actual baseball diamond and not an open field.  So far, so good. It is very organized and his coach, Travis, is very patient with the kids.  Christian had so much fun at his first practice!

  He is so excited that his on the Brewers, complete with his own Brewers hat and jersey!  Bryleigh so badly wanted to join in the fun.  It was quite the challenge chasing her around so that she did not head onto the field.

Christian has another practice next Wednesday and his first game is on Thursday. Then he has games on every Tuesday and Thursday thru the end of the month.  We will have quite the busy month but I look forward to this time of year and how exciting it is to see my little boy getting involved in these summer sports!  Hopefully the weather will cooperate this year as last year, he had more rained out games then games actually played! 

Nieman Photography Photoshoot

We had the kids yearly photo shoot at the end of April with our favorite photographers, Nieman Photography.  They always do such an amazing job, much so that I am broke by the time I pick all of the pictures that I want.  We now have one full picture wall of our family pictures all taken by Bill and Connie! We have our pictures ordered and it took me a good few weeks to decide on the final photos. Here are a few sneak peeks that they posted to their facebook page yesterday!

I'm so in love!  Thanks so much for the great work!

Trip to the Dentist

Today it was back to reality and I was not quite ready for our fun weekend to be over!  But I have to work to make the money so we can do it all over again (maybe this weekend???) 

After work, Christian had a dentist appointment, his 3rd teeth cleaning. And like usual, he did great!  Only this time, mom and dad had to fork over lots of moola since along with his teeth cleaning, he was due for x-rays, fluoride treatment, and an exam with the dentist (Can you believe that it costs $50 for the dentist to spend 2 minutes looking at your teeth?!?) I'm pretty sure I picked the wrong profession :)  But Christian's teeth look perfect and for that we are very thankful!

 
We brought Bryleigh along to see how she did since its almost that time for her first dentist visit.

Unfortunately, Bryleigh was more about playing with all the fun items than actually sitting and watching. I think it will be a little while before we schedule her first appointment since I'm afraid it would be a waste of money since they would not be able to get her to sit still to even look in her mouth :)

Now for the not so fun part of our dentist visit.  Since Christian was about 3 years old, we have noticed that Christian has had bad breath. We decided to ask the dentist what he feels would be causing this all the time since we could brush Christian's teeth 3 times a day and use mouth wash and it doesn't seem to go away. The good news is that it has nothing to do with his teeth, gums, or tonsils.  But now the big question is, what is causing it?  We have brought it up with his doctor and he contributes it to his eating pattern, or lack there of. Christian has always been a picky eater and will eat when he wants to. Well, now that we are heading into the Kindergarten years, I'm afraid of Christian getting teased or picked on. So now I have made a doctor appointment scheduled to try again to find an answer. The dentist had me a little worried when he said if it was not a gastrointestinal problem then it could be a number of things such as a lung issue, diabetes, among other things. So call me a worried parent about something so minor, but I just feel like I want to know what would cause this. Anyone else have this issue with their children?

Another exciting thing about this week, tomorrow is already Wednesday!!!! And Christian has his first T-Ball practice of the year tomorrow!  Go Brewers!

Our First Big Camping Adventure

We are back from our first big camping adventure of the year and it was all that I had hoped it would be...relaxing and fun!  Although the weather did not cooperate as much as we would have hoped (which my hubby is saying "I told you so" right now as he informed me that it rains every Memorial Day Weekend), we still had a blast and found fun things to do indoors on Saturday. We made it home a little while ago and we are all unpacked and starting laundry before we hit another rain storm!  Perfect timing :)

Sorry for the picture overload to follow but I want to share a some of our fun!

On Friday, we arrived a little after 6 so the majority of the night was spend setting up, exploring the campground, and making dinner! 

 The kids were so excited for their first night in their bunk beds! And they did great! 

Saturday turned out to be a gloomy day but we were able to get in a little bit of outdoor fun before the rain started!

And then at 3pm, the downpour started and continued all night!  We were hoping for a break in the rain but it never happened.  Luckily we had board games, music, and Grandma and Grandpa to entertain the little ones!

Here's a little peak at Bryleigh's amazing dancing skills :)

There came a point that we just couldn't keep the kids in the campers any longer so we took a walk in the wagon with an umbrella to the gift shop.  Grandpa even took Christian to play in the mud puddles while Bryleigh was napping. Later on in the evening, we put a canopy tent over the campfire so that we could stay covered from the rain and we were able to enjoy a fire for a bit.  That is, until the kids were completely soaked. I especially could not keep Bryleigh out of the rain no matter how hard I tried. She even wanted to take her sweatshirt off. Crazy kiddos, I'd take my warm sweatshirt to the cold rain any day!

Daddy found a frog!

Sunday, it was beautiful and we spend the whole day at the pool and the playground. Our friends, Jenna and Andy, and their two boys, Landon and Carson came to visit for a few hours also. 

Christian stayed at the pool while Bryleigh napped and after her nap, the fun never stopped!  We met a new friend, Mr. Caterpillar, built "construction sites,"  ate freeze pops, played some more with Grandma and Grandpa, and ate a yummy dinner!

After dinner, Uncle Kevin and his girlfriend, Andrea, came to visit.  We walked down to the pool to watch Grandpa, our foster sisters, and Christian swim. I didn't put Bryleigh in her suit because it was a bit chilly. But what I continue to learn is that you can get anything you want when you are a toddler with big brown pouty puppy dog eyes! 

It started with Bryleigh's feet in the water...

We tried to entertain her with a Popsicle...

Doing tricks jumping over Grandpa

Then it was a shoulder ride on Grandpa...

And finally, Grandpa let her go in. Her diaper was a good 10 pounds when she came out. But she loved every minute of it. Actually, she loved it a bit too much. She has no fear at all. She already has learned to jump in on the side of the pool without any floaty and then when she goes under, Grandpa catches her.  This she learned from Christian and you can't take your eyes off of her near water for one second.  It scares the life out of me.  We really need to find a way to instill some fear into this girl. Any ideas????

We ended the night with a campfire and S'mores until Christian was asking to go to bed. It was an amazing weekend and we are even thinking about going again this coming weekend.  Camping is so much easier with a camper!  We are so grateful that we saved up for the past couple of years to get one :)

I also want to say Thank you to all the service men who made the ultimate sacrifices so that I can live in freedom.  Also a big thanks to all the military wives!  I was once in that position of a military wife and scared to death of what that life may look like until my Marine was medically discharged due to his diagnosis of a Brain Tumor. It was a bittersweet time. I may now live every day with my Marine and do not have to fear deployments but I will never take for granted all those who are living that reality!  We are so thankful for all that you do!  God Bless you All!