Baseball

Alex ended his baseball season with a win! This was his first year in fast pitch and he was nervous going up a level from coach-pitch, but he loved it and had a successful season. He learned to watch the ball closely and follow-through on ever swing, he learned to how to pitch, and most importantly, he learned to move out of the way when a curve-ball is heading towards your head.

Good job Alex! Momma is proud!

New Chapter

Today is my last day with Gehl Company and I have a few weeks off before I start my new job.... and I'm petrified. Since I was sixteen, I've always had a job and earned a paycheck. After I gave birth to Alex, we stopped by the office to transfer my calls and email to my home so I could continue working and believe me, it was out of necessity rather than being a career-driven woman who didn’t want uninterrupted time with her infant. Once a week we’d make our way to the office in Chaska and if he was hungry, I'd lock my office door so I could nurse and I just did what I needed to do to continue providing for my family. A week didn't go by where I didn't work outside of the home earning a paycheck.

So here I am – looking at a nice long break from the workforce and I’m terrified. It has to be some sort of a mental illness to be worried about taking some time off from work. The idea of not earning a paycheck makes my stomach turn upside down - depending on someone else for shelter/food/etc makes me incredibly anxious. Despite my apprehension, I’m sure I will have a blast with Alex and we’ll spend our days at the pool and enjoying the last days of summer. Without the endless noise of everyday life, maybe God and I can have some much needed reconnection time and I’ll finally be able to give Alex a full day of my undivided attention

Deep breath….

Step forward….

Enjoy turning the pages to the next chapter in our lives……

Shower Time

Mom: Alex, get into the shower

Alex: But mom...it's summer time

Making Me Proud

Alex and I had lunch at Pizza Ranch today and when he finished his pizza, he asked for $1.00 to play a game in the arcade.

Despite the fact that I hate these games, I had a few minutes to kill before heading back to work so I unloaded the change in my wallet for him amusement. He came out with a stuffed puppy dog which he’d won from playing THE CLAW – like in Toy Story – IT’S THE CLAW

He told me about this little boy who was watching him play and was supper excited when he won. After leaving the Pizza Ranch, Alex asked me to wait for a few seconds because he wanted to do something quick. A few seconds passed when the father of the little boy walked out with him – rut row I thought.
The dad told me I should be proud because Alex gave his little puppy prize to the boy who had been trying to win a prize, but couldn’t quite get the claw around the toy. I am so incredibly proud of Alex when he does things like this! It makes me feel like something is sinking in and we're on the right track

Summer

Wow - it has been a month since my last post! Since most of these posts go directly to Alex's baby book (by "baby" I mean ages 0-90 when it comes to Alex), I'll catch up on what's been going on in our lives.

Alex participated in tennis this year and loved it! I know zip-o about tennis, but Ashley and Jordan (Bruce's kids) both played in high school so guess whose expertise will be summoned - look out kids.

We've also been busy with swimming, fishing, baseball, and enjoying our last days in Madison. We move next week - and although we've had three months to prepare, it feels like crunch time is here and we're scrambling to get everything moved. Alex and I had lunch at the Mexican restaurant in town and I asked him what his favorite memory of Madison is and his answer was "just having fun with all of my friends". We ran into a classmate of his at the baseball diamond on Tuesday and she told him she was going to miss Alex because he always made her laugh. :)

Alex's baseball team placed 2nd in the mid season baseball tournament. The two teams who played in the championship were both undefeated and both teams played great - congratulations boys!




One more thing that I love about my son - we were watching a classic last night (Dukes of Hazard - Season 2) when I dozed off on the sofa. I woke up to Alex tucking a blanket under my chin :) He makes me smile

Visit to Target Field

We made our first visit to the new Twins stadium this weekend. I grew up a Twins fan as my father was a diehard true blue Twinkie lover and Alex is following suite by also following the fabulous homer hanky hitting boys in red/white/blue.





Alex went around collecting a few autographs prior to the game on Saturday. They included Twins right-fielder, #5 Michael Cuddyer, starting pitcher Francisco Liriano, DH Jason Kubel, pitcher Matt Guerrier, 1991 World Series MVP pitcher Jack Morris, Harmon “Killer” Killebrew, pitcher of the 1988 WS and Twins commentator Bert Blyleven, short stop Roy Smalley and some players who I had to Google to make sure they were Minnesota Twins.

Alex wanted to get Lirianno to sign a baseball and his baseball card and he made sure to have his card on top so we didn't have to search the deck to locate the card. Lirianno signed the baseball and talked to Alex for a few minutes while I frantically searched my bottomless handbag for the baseball cards. I carry a mini suitcase for a purse when we attend these events because we had nine or ten baseballs, three jerseys and two decks of baseball cards. Finally, I just grew tired of it and dumped my entire purse on the table. Belongings inside the purse (as well as the baseball memorabilia) included a pair of Alex's socks, an old spelling test, wind chimes, tampons, lipstick, juice and cookies, hair brush, two necklaces, a ring, hand wipes, cell phone, a book, a DS, Alex's batting gloves and his baseball glove, powder foundation, a ponytail, and my camera.Lirianno looked at me like I was the craziest woman he would lay eyes on - but God bless him, he just smiled and waited patiently. I'm sure he was thinking "good luck kid....you're gonna need it"

Then we get to Bert Blyleven, who is a pretty big deal in the Twins community, and Alex forgot his name. Alex handed his baseball to Mr. Blyleven and asked "please sign my baseball and write To Alex, From.....(long pause) whatever your name is". I sort of gasped as I didn't know if he'd be offended, but he started laughing as did everyone else in the clubhouse. Jabs by fellow Twin players were directed at Blyleven by telling Alex they didn't know who he was either so he shouldn't feel bad.



Then on to the game. The new stadium is beautiful and I would like to take this opportunity to thank many of my family members who reside in Hennepin County for paying for this stadium - it's awesome ;)





Twins lost Saturday on a suicide squeeze in the 9th and Sunday....well Sunday's game looked like a Braves home-run derby. Despite the loss, Alex and I had a great time full of many memories. I feel so blessed to be able to attend these events with my son and wouldn't trade it for the world. Every player that Alex approached for an autograph was a class act and very accommodating to him which made this weekend even more special.

Baseball

I've been a camera manic lately - thus, I have had plenty of Kodak memories to share.

Alex had his first fast-pitch baseball game last week and it’s presented itself to be a wonderful challenge compared to coach pitch which was what he participated in last year. It’s a faster pace and he has had to adjust to hitting a pitch that’s not thrown right across the plate. So far his team is 2-0! Go Rangers