Happy Birthday Matthew!

Today (well yesterday at posting time) was Matthew's 8th BIRTHDAY! He wanted to go to a Braves game for his birthday present/party. So we paid a bunch of $$$ to get some GOOD seats (they were awesome - just above the dugout!) and went! Nana and Poppy came too which was really cool! Matthew's day started with a special delivery of Dunkin' Donuts (by Poppy of course) and then we went to the pool for a couple of hours. After that we headed out for the stadium. We went early in the hopes of getting some autographs. It stormed though so there was no batting practice. We still got FOUR autographs (thanks to Poppy). The boys had their hats signed as well as these mini Louisville Sluggers I bought them when we first got there. The rain/storm stopped an hour or so before the game thankfully and it turned out to be a really nice night! The Braves got KILLED (11-1) but the kids didn't care - they LOVED every minute of it! Friday night games are always followed by a huge fireworks show so of course we stayed. The show was great! As they were going on Mikey turned to me (all excited and grinning from ear to ear) and said "This has been AWESOME - THANK YOU Mommy" and then threw his arms around me and then turned around to Scott and yelled "THANK YOU DADDY"! He wears his heart on his sleeve and I love him for that. Matthew is usually much more stoic but even he said (as we were leaving) "This was the best birthday Mom and Dad - thanks"! Here are some photos from the day!
Waiting to Leave!

Very first Autographs!!!! Look at those smiles!

Poppy making SURE the boys get that autograph! Go Poppy! And the player here is Ohman ... he is a really nice guy - and he rates high in my book. He stayed out there and signed autographs for EVERY person that was waiting. He was super nice about it too. All the kids were just star struck and it just meant the world to them.

Rally Caps!

I love this picture of Mikey!

I have a couple of good pictures of Matthew but I'm going to send them to my friend Erin to see if she can photo shop him. The red eye is SO bad it looks like he's possessed. I was so bummed... If Erin can fix 'em up I'll post them later!

Mikey's Last Game

Mikey had his last game of the season today. He played catcher ... Mikey is the ONLY kid in his league that actually throws his mask off to make a play. He sees his big brother doing it - monkey see, monkey do! He made the play today ... note the coach from the other team comforting the player that was out at home plate!

Always catch with your glove - not your face!

Matthew was playing catch today and "caught" a baseball with his eye socket. Ouch! Can you believe he just kept right on playing? I heard he had been hit so I walked over to check him out (I was watching Mikey's game ... Matthew was playing catch with another team that was warming up for their game) and he said "I'm fine". Holy cow! Doesn't it look painful? What a little trooper! He never did complain about it except to say he could "see" his lump. It's really not as obvious in the pictures but it really sticks out quite far and squeezes his eye shut.

Um, why do little boys always have long, gorgeous eyelashes? Geez ...

I also noticed how the purple really brings out the color of his hazel eyes! I'd never tell HIM that though. He is quite proud of his "war wound". Boys!

Matthew's Trophy

Matthew's end of season party was last night. It was FUN! We had a "Adults vs. Kids" baseball game, ordered Pizza and had cake! Coach John handed out tropies after we all had cake. He is SO good ...I don't know how he does it be he remembers the biggest plays each kid made thru the season and talks about it before he hands them their trophy. The trophies are ADORABLE! It's a glove trophy and each one holds a team ball (signed by all the coaches and players)! Here's Matthew getting his trophy from Coach John ...

Matthew's First Holy Communion

Matthew made his First Holy Communion today! We are very proud of him. He did so well and it meant a lot to him. We were touched and thrilled that my brother (and Matthew's Godfather) came in for the weekend to be here for Matthew's big day! Look how grown up he looks (sad). I'm proud of him but sad that he's growing up so fast! Here are some more pictures from today ...

I love this picture of Matthew - just outside the Church after Mass.

Poppy, Uncle David, Scott, Matthew & Mikey

Mikey Baseball

My little Firstbaseman! This is Mikey "baseball ready"!! I'll have some of Matthew this week! Isn't he cute ... I mean, cool? He even pulls his pants up to his knees just like his big brother!

Yard of the Month!

'Member all the hard work my yard crew (aka, my husband and children) did last month? Well, it paid off! We were awarded "Yard of the Month" from our HOA! I was so happy for Scott ... he's worked so hard over the years to bring our yard from an overgrown jungle when we first moved in (couldn't even SEE the house from the street) to the pretty house and yard it is today! Thanks hon! (I'll add a picture later when I take one - promise!)

Stones & Stints

Well, waaaaaay back on April 25th I had the surgery to have Stoney removed. The surgery was a success but then the doc put in a "stent". Stents are horrible... I denounce them forever. For TWO days I was in horrible pain... no sleep at all. That Friday I had the stent removed and then spent the afternoon in the ER. The weekend was spent on 24 hour pain management. Scott was a SAINT during this time. Waking me up every few hours to feed me crackers and whatever pill was required at the time. How lucky am I? Very. So there is still one stone left in the kidney. I drink LOTS of water ... LOTS! NO caffeine... only one Caff Free Diet Coke a day now (sorry Coca Cola - you just lost your number one customer)! I'm going to take better care of myself so I can avoid crap like this! Over the next few weeks I will be doing a "metabolic workup" to determine the true cause of the stones so I can avoid them. Doc says the best treatment for kidney stones is to avoid them! So that's the goal!