It's a Girl!!

Well we weren't going to find out the gender of our baby. Then we decided it would be really fun to find out and actually be able to share the news with our family in Texas in person as we are soon making a trip. Then we actually found out and realized that we were too excited to hold in our news for that long! We had Ryan make some phone calls to all of his grandparents and to his Aunt Jenn and Uncle B. Everyone was super-excited! No one even knew that we were going to find out so when Ryan called them to say he was going to have a baby sister, most of them thought that he was just wanting a baby sister. :)

I was 100% convinced that we would be having a boy. Ever since I was pregnant with Ryan I had visions of us having 3 boys. I even had dreams about having another boy. The only thing that has been different with this pregnancy is that I have had cravings. I never craved anything with the boys. This time I have been craving junk food to the extreme. I will probably gain 100 pounds if I am not careful...yikes! Jeff has been saying it's a girl from day one and Ryan even got it right! :)

We are so excited to welcome a sweet baby girl into our lives. I look forward to all that is ahead for our growing family. I love having my little boys, don't get me wrong. But I have dreamed of having a little girl forever. I am so excited about all that is in store for us and for her! :)

Cherry Blossoms

In Texas they have the lovely bluebonnets. Here in the DC area, we have the Cherry Blossoms. They are one of the first signs of spring every single year. We didn't make it down to DC this year, but there are plenty of beautiful blossoms all around our town. They are scattered all throughout our neighborhood so today on our walk (as many of the petals were starting to blow away) I snapped a few quick photos.

There were 4 cherry blossom trees together on a hill..

Play Ball!!

One of Ryan's birthday gifts this year was a baseball tee from my Dad. I have to say that these memories will remain etched my mind for a very, very long time. Growing up I played softball. I played from the age of 4 until the age of 18. When I say I played softball what I really should be saying is that softball was pretty much my life. I played on a traveling, tournament team starting around the age of 9. We played year round and it was a family affair.

My mom kept score and was the loudest cheerleader in the stands. She was not the annoying parent that gripes when their kid doesn't do well, but the biggest supporter there. She cheered for everyone and I could hear her loud whistles echo through the park anytime anyone did an extraordinary job!

My Dad was, for a very long time, my head coach. He never went easy on me though. He made me earn my spot just like every other girl on the team. He was a great coach. I remember watching other coaches scream and yell at their teams, but my dad never would do that. We knew when he was disappointed in how we played but he would never say that we did a bad job. My dad lead our team to the state championship when I was all of 12 years old! That is one of the most fantastic weekends I had as a kid.

My Uncle and my cousin even helped coach our team for a while. Those were the fun days! My cousin was 10 years older than the rest of us girls and we really looked up to her (I still do). She was also a great softball player too.

I always thought that my kids would one day continue the tradition and play baseball or softball. They don't have to be super competitive but I do want them to at least try it out. :)

So back to the reason for this post --- Dad got Ryan a baseball tee for his 3rd birthday. As soon as Ryan opened it up, he was ready to go outside and try it out. I grabbed the camera and darted out after them to capture the memories. These photos hold a very special place in my heart. I know that my Dad taught me how to swing a bat and he got to help Ryan learn how to swing a bat too!! This was Ryan's first time using a bat and/or tee. :)

Getting ready for the first swing! (Trying out the right side first, even though we are 99.5% certain that Ryan is a lefty).

And a hit!!!

Ryan was so proud of himself!

You could tell that Ryan was uncomfortable on the right side though. He kept trying to hold the bat with only his left hand. We switched him around and let him try out the left side.

Determined little boy, trying it out on his own!

Love everything about this.

Random Funnies

I just wanted to post a couple of recent things that Ryan has said that really made me laugh. I love how he says the funniest things without even realizing that they are funny. :)

On a windy afternoon...

Ryan: "Mommy, where is the wind coming from?"

Me: (very uncertain as I don't think I have ever really thought about it) umm...the sky.

Ryan: "No, Mommy, it is coming from that way." (pointing in the direction the wind is coming from.)

Getting dressed in shorts for the first time of the warm season...

I see Ryan walking around trying to pull his pant legs down.

Me: "Ryan, what are you trying to do?"

Ryan: "Mommy, these pants are way too short for me."

Me: "Ryan they are shorts, that is how they are supposed to be. You wear them when it is warm outside so you don't get too hot."

Ryan: "Mommy, I think we need to find my jeans."

Ryan has also started trying to tell time on a regular clock. He will look at the numbers and say it is 4:10 -- but in reality it is 4:50. I never really thought about how strange the clock was until I thought about how I would explain that to a 3 year old. (Well, 2 is really 10, but only when you are counting in minutes). It is funny how things that we don't even think twice about are kind of complex to explain. Lucky for us, simple explanations work for now. :)