Landon is playing t-ball this year with Daddy as coach! To add to the fun- his best bud, Caden is also on his team, and Uncle Darren (Caden's dad) is also helping coach the Eagles! We could not have asked for a better arrangement! Last Saturday was Opening Day starting with a parade in the morning, folllowed by his first game just a few hours later. As you will see in the pictures to follow, this boy loves baseball! Just so you know...I've gotten my vocabulary adjusted by a certain 4 year old one too many times this week. "Mom, it's BASEBALL, not TBALL. And, "Mom, Landon is not my name. I have a new name." After a few minutes of me trying to guess his new name, and trying to get it out of him, he finally spilled the beans. His new name is Ryan Howard, folks. And, Caden is now Chase Utley. Little boys and their dreams. Gotta love it. :)
Here they are: Chase Utley and Ryan Howard
Ethan was such a happy trooper during the parade! No tears at all. Just happy to be outside (even though it was below 40), watching everyone around him! He is literally saying, "Cheese!" for the picture. :)
And, here is the Eagles team at the beginning of the parade route!
This is the best I could capture this moment...one of my favorite mommy memories to date. I was walking on a bike path which ran parallel to the parade route. The last Landon saw me, I was waiting for him at a corner a few minutes prior, waving and snapping pictures. As he continued walking, he must have thought I stayed where he had seen me last. He glanced over and saw me walking. I hear, "LOOK! It's my MOM! Look guys! MOOOOOMMMMMM!!!"
It was so cute and put the biggest smile on my face.
After heading home for a quick nap, we returned to the field for Landon's first ever t ball game. These are the moments...the firsts...that I seem to really REALLY enjoy. What made the moment even better was seeing Greg coach Landon. Seriously, these moments take me back. Back to 2009 when Greg and I spent our 9 year wedding anniversary in Disney. I remember holding back tears during one of the Mickey shows in front of Cinderella's castle as they closed with "When you wish upon a star." It makes me smile to think that God knew that just a year later, we would be starting a new chapter in our lives together. A chapter we both had dreamed of, and prayed so hard for. Yep...these moments bring me back, and make the present THAT.MUCH.SWEETER.
First field experience - pitcher
First at bat!
First on base!
Landon began to look over during the game and see different family members there. At one point, he was up to bat, and yelling, "Mommom! Mommom!" Another time, he was on 1st base, and called over to get Aunt Laura's attention to show her that he was wearing gloves...his favorite! My sister Laura is a dental hygeinist. Everytime we go to her to get our teeth cleaned, Landon leaves with a new pair of squishy gloves which he refuses to part with for a least 24 hours after. I don't know why, but he has had a glove "thing" which goes back to our first meetings in Russia.
First run scored!
Ethan and Aunt Laura
Thank God for the many family we did have there. Ethan was on the go, wanting to run out on the field to join in the fun. He would catch site of Greg a number of times, and yell, DA! DAAADDD! What a fun game. There were a few moments when I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. There were a few kids who forgot they were running the bases and began fielding their teammates hits, rather than advancing to the next base. Then there were a few who ran to third instead of first. It is SO CUTE seeing the kids try to make sense of the game.
Jackson boys!
Between church softball, t-ball, Awana, keeping up with my running, and our daily school routine, I am one extra tired mommy. There are under 10 weeks of school left (who's counting??), and I am really looking forward to a slower daily pace and more time to do things around the house and with my favorite 3 boys. :) PS- can you tell I discovered PicMonkey? Hope you didn't mind my experimenting with different photo editing options! :)
