The Tin Caps

A few weeks ago, Joel's parents took Reese and Ryan for a weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a wonderful time just enjoying the peace and quiet around the house. Yes, we still had Reid, but he doesn't make much noise other than a little bit of crying when he is hungry. We also tackled a few projects while they were gone such as painting the front porch railings, garage door, and shutters. It was nice to get some things accomplished around the house!

We drove to Ft. Wayne on Sunday to stay with Doug and Marsha that night. The next morning we went to check out Parkview Field, which is home to the Tin Caps baseball team.

Ryan wouldn't go in until he knew what the sign said. He's always asking us to read things to him, which is good I suppose...just not so much when you're in a hurry. ;)
The view from just behind home plate. It's very similar to Victory Field as it was designed by the same architects. However, there are many neat elements to this field that VF does not have. One being the elevated tables with barstools in a certain section. Another being beautiful Indiana limestone used throughout the facility. Finally, I love the outfield seating--either sloped or tiered grassy areas to sit. (Oh, and there's also a splash pad for the kids--or adults--to make a hot day more enjoyable!)

The kids with Grandma Marsh and Grandpa Doug

Reid can't wait to see his first baseball game!

The kids were afraid of the big bobble-head statue, Johnny. Joel tried to show them that it wasn't scary after all. I stood behind the statue and made it nod/shake its head when we asked it questions. Then Ryan decided he would try it out himself.

"How does this work, anyway?"

Doug and Marsha: Thanks for taking the kids and giving us the chance to recoup. I'm sure you needed a little r & r yourself after R & R went home!

2, 4, 6, 8!

Reese has been taking cheerleading classes at the Y this summer. She was really looking forward to the last class as they were going to cheer a real basketball game. I, on the other hand, was a little stressed about the last class as it was the night before we were leaving for our big family vacation--and I had not done any packing! Also, Joel had been out of town all week and it was up to me to get all 3 kids to the Y around dinner time for an hour. Lucky me! But I am so glad that we made it because this little girl lit up once the pom-poms were put in her hands.

She got kind of upset before the game started because I was taking Reid and Ryan to the child watch area. She told me that she really wanted Ryan to come and watch her because her dad wasn't there and she knew he would be there to cheer for her if he wasn't on his trip. :( I still took the boys to child watch because I wanted to focus just on Reese.

They were told to wear red shirts and black shorts.
Reese is second from the left and is between her coach and her "best friend." What is her best friend's name you ask? She doesn't know. Love it!
Striking a pose during the game. This was right after she got two big surprises. Not only did her dad make it for the last 5-10 minutes of the game, but also Grandma Marsh and Grandpa Doug stopped by as well! They were in town for a conference and saw Joel on the interstate en route (yes, really!) to the Y.
Reese was so excited to have her special moment and was asking for pictures with all of us.
I love her face in this picture--she is beaming!

She keeps telling us that she would love to take cheerleading again. I'm not sure if we're going to do anything for awhile with school starting up again, but we would definitely consider it down the road. Ready? Okay!

WRNR News

The kids started acting like reporters in front of the camcorder the other day, so I thought it would be fun to do a little newscast. I recorded the first part on our camcorder and realized later that I should have been using my point-and-shoot so I could upload it here. These are the last two segments of the newscast.

They are not paid actors.

Nor have they rehearsed.

It shows, but it's too funny!

The Bumbo Seat Interview

My friend, Brooke, graciously offered us her Bumbo seat since we didn't have one. It's so nice to have another option for Reid to sit in so he can get a better view of the world around him. Also, I've noticed he's getting a big bald spot on the back of his head from sleeping on his back and from sitting in the bouncy seat and swing, so I'm trying to help him out a bit. Ryan was with me when we tried the Bumbo for the first time. For some reason, he grabbed a toy microphone and started interviewing his brother. I can't remember exactly what he said, but here are my thoughts on how the conversation went:

Ryan: How do you like your new seat, Little Buddy?

Reid: It's actually quite comfortable, thanks. I love being able to sit up so I can see the TV a little better.

Reid: Hey! What kind of Mickey Mouse operation are you running here? How can I answer your questions when you have the microphone on your head? They should've sent Larry King instead.

Reid: That's better. While I have your attention, I'd like to make a statement about tummy time. I really despise it. Is it really necessary? Sitting up is much more fun.
Ryan: Any final thoughts?
Reid: Yes. Thanks, Brooke, for sharing your Bumbo seat! Now, if I could just do something about that bald spot on the back of my head...

Cooking with Grandma

My mom came over a few weeks ago and made a "Ryan-friendly" meal. She made one of my favorite dishes from when I was younger--pizza casserole. It's basically just pasta, sauce, and mozzarella cheese. She used corn pasta, which we used to think was okay until his recent allergy test. Joel and I decided not to take away corn or rice until we meet with our friend, Leslie, who is a dietician. My mom also made some safe rolls and had two of his favorite sides: green beans and strawberries. It was the first time we have all had the same meal as Ryan. I just really appreciated her coming over and cooking for all of us. It was a treat for the whole family! Thanks, Mom!

Our Floridian Hoosiers

We had a visit from some good friends recently. Nathan and Amy were in Indiana on business and made some time to meet up with us downtown for dinner. Amy and I met our junior year at IU in one of our elementary education classes. We immediately hit it off and became instant friends. We taught together our first year out of college, and she was even a bridesmaid in our wedding. But her family had moved to Orlando and she wanted to move there to be closer to them. We were lucky to see them a few years ago when Joel and I were on vacation, so we were thrilled when they told us they were coming here.

Nathan and Amy

It's just great to have friends you can see every few years and just pick up right where you left off. There's no awkwardness--just lots of laughter. Makes me wish they lived closer!

Basket Case

Ryan is at in a basketball league this summer and had his first actual game Wednesday night. I apologize ahead of time for my pictures. For one thing, I was holding Reid at the time. And another...I haven't quite figured out how to take pictures in the gym. I tried shooting on manual and changed the white balance to fluorescent, but all of my pictures were blurry considering my subject wasn't standing still. Any ideas?

Warming up with Dad before the game.

Each kid from the yellow team had a wrist band that coordinated with a certain member of the green team. This was who they were supposed to guard. It took all of the boys a little while to figure that out. We kept telling him to keep his arms up, and he actually listened. The only problem is, he walked around with his arms up whether he was on defense or offense!!
This was the kid he was supposed to guard. He was much bigger and more aggressive than Ryan as he was about a year older. They were so funny as the other kid always sought him out--even when Ryan was supposed to be guarding him. Here they kept shuffling around each other and looked like they were doing the Argentine Tango! ;)The two little boys in the center made me laugh. They stopped playing with about a minute to go in each quater and just covered their ears so they wouldn't be frightened by the buzzer. You don't see that too often in the NBA. :)

Ryan actually did a great job with dribbling the ball. He has great control and can manuever quite well on the court. I was really proud of him because he realizes he needs to pass it to his teammates and not hog the ball. It's a good thing, too, because he needs a little work on shooting the ball into the basket. It's a little too high for him.

All in all, it was a very fun game to watch. I entitled the post, "Basket Case," because there were some moments in the game where kids were running to the wrong end of the court, passing the ball to the wrong team, or just looking very confused. I just had to laugh--they were absolutely adorable!

Later that night, Joel was tucking Ryan into bed and was talking to him about his game. Joel asked him if he liked the kid he was paired up with to guard and Ryan said, "No." When Joel asked why not Ryan answered with, "Well, because I heard him cough on other kids and I thought he was going to cough on me. So I didn't like that kid." Spoken like a true germophobic's son! Hopefully next week he'll get paired up with a less aggressive--and healthier--kid.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Top two photos by Aunt Kelly. Blanket in last three photos by Great Grandma Sheets. :)

No Girls Allowed!

My kids are really into posting signs on their doors, declaring a "Mom and Dad Free Zone" or a "Brother/Sister Free Zone." Last week when Kelly, Grace, and Clare were over, Ryan wrote this sign for his door:

It reads, "No going in my room Reese, Clare, Grace."

Grace then decided she needed to make her own sign.

It reads: "Boys and Girls Allowed." Was this for her room or was she hoping to cancel out Ryan's message for his room? :) Either way, I think it's cute that the kids take to writing messages--even though two minutes later they ignore what they have just written and invite everyone in. Too funny!

And the Allergy Saga Continues...

Yesterday we went back to the allergist for even more testing. Poor Ryan did not want to go...and I can't say that I blame him. I didn't realize he would have to be poked so many times...26, to be exact. It was such a long process with one nurse having to first put paste on his back, then get a separate toothpick-like object to press into his skin. It took everything I had to hold onto him, as he was using all of his strength to try to get away. He was crying and screaming every time they pricked his skin...and there was nothing I could do about it.

The test revealed that he is indeed allergic to peanuts (which I was never really sure that he was, but I guess he is), eggs, rice, corn, barley, walnuts, and carrots. They didn't even test for wheat since they saw such a huge reaction to this a few weeks ago. The doctor said he doubts he will ever outgrow the wheat allergy, which is not great news...but I guess there could be worse things. He also mentioned wanting to start allergy shots for his seasonal allergies when he turns 5--which is not far away. He just wants to help alleviate some of his respiratory (asthma) issues, and this is one thing that could be controlled.

I think I was just surprised with the rice, corn, and eggs diagnosis. So many of his foods substitute rice and corn for wheat. Even his favorite fish sticks and chicken nuggets are coated in cornmeal. That afternoon he asked for a snack, so I went into the pantry and just stared at his shelf of foods. My eyes welled up with tears as I realized I had no idea what to feed my son. The foods I would have grabbed the day before (Crispix, Frosted Flakes, Tostitos corn chips, rice cakes), were all now off-limits. It was very overwhelming to think about not having easy go-to snacks and meals for him.

I was in such a crummy mood all afternoon, and there was nothing that could snap me out of it. That is, of course, until I shared Ryan's results on Facebook and started reading all of my friends' responses. So many people offered to help with shopping, recipes, etc., and it made me so relieved to know that I'm not alone. I know it's not the end of the world and am so grateful that we're not dealing with a life-threatening disease. At the end of the day, Ryan is a healthy, fun-loving kid and that's all that matters.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support. Many of you are the ones who have offered to help out in some way, shape, or form. I love you all!