Highlight of the Rangers Game

While I love going to the ballpark and watching the Rangers lose, I mean play -- haha, the highlight of the night for Alex was the games. Set up at the back of the park behind the outfield are some games for the kids to play. You buy a token and then you can choose from a few different games. Alex was in baseball heaven! The pictures below show one game where the kids could go in a miniature baseball diamond. One of the kids who ran the game would actually pitch the ball to you. The big kids that were playing were trying to hit the ball out of the miniature baseball diamond. Alex, well he was just trying to actually get the bat to make contact with the ball. But he didn't do too bad for his time!


For this game, the kids waited their turn inside the baseball diamond. They would work their way around the baseball diamond until they got to the practice deck.


Alex on deck waiting his turn to bat. I think the bat was longer than he is!

Waiting for the pitch. Doesn't he look so cute? Did I mention it was almost chilly in the ballpark? Crazy weather for September! But at least it wasn't 100 degrees!

Look at that swing! Now I really wish that I had enrolled him in t-ball. I think he would really have loved it! He's so naturally athletic. We had so much fun with him!

A Night at the Ballpark

When I was a kid, I lived in Houston. During the summer, my parents would take one of the four kids with them on a date night to see the Astros play. I loved when it was my turn to go with my parents to the game! It was a special time because I had my parents all to myself and I was spoiled with all their attention.

Roger has worked this summer on his off days at the Ranger games to earn a little extra money. In addition, he received a voucher for 4 free tickets to a game. As the season is winding down, I told Roger that I would really like to take Alex to a game. Plus, he's been really into playing t-ball lately. So I thought he would love going to a ballgame. The stars finally aligned and I went Monday to pick up the tickets for Wednesday's game. I also picked up the obligatory Rangers t-shirt for Alex.

Well he drove Roger and I crazy for the next two days until it was time for the game...can I wear my baseball t-shirt, are we going to the game today, after school are we going to the baseball game?...etc, etc, etc! You get the idea! I stressed for days about what to do with Addison. I didn't really want to take her to the game. I really wanted it to be a special night for Alex with just Roger and I. Lo and behold, my sweet angel friend, Lindsey, came through and offered to babysit Addison for me. She had no idea that I really wanted to leave Addison home so Roger and I could start this same tradition with Alex that was so memorable for me as a child. And miraculously, the rain stopped long enough for us to actually go to the game. I also didn't know that Wednesdays are dollar hot dog nights...another bonus!


Alex with his first hot dog...he still doesn't eat the buns. He ended up eating two hot dogs! I won't say how many Roger ate.


And of course, Alex had his favorite dessert of "yellow" ice cream with sprinkles. That's vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. Nice hat, huh?

The best part for Alex was the games he could play! He played this one a few times. All in all, it was a really fun night for the three of us. Roger and I don't often get to spend time like this with Alex. And we really enjoyed it! I just hope these date nights with Roger and I will be as memorable for him as they were for me as a child with my own parents. Thanks and love to you Lindsey for helping make it happen!

Toy Story Inspirations

Just going to Target. Alex, Addison and Buzz Lightyear. Good thing we own a bigger car now!

Wishing for a King (sized bed that is!)

Sometime after 3 a.m. and before 7 a.m., Alex finds his way into bed with me and Roger. Usually I'm so asleep that I just scoot over and he curls up in between Roger and I. But please note his sleeping position in this picture. Now imagine me trying to catch some zzzz's with that outstretched arm slung across my face. Because inevitably, and I mean INEVITABLY, that outstretched arm will end up smacking me across the cheek. I told Roger this morning that I wished we had a king sized bed. And I told Alex this evening that I wanted him to wait until morning before he comes into my room. We'll see how that goes.

Addison Update

I haven't blogged about Addison lately. So I thought I would write a little update. We had our follow-up appointment with her GI this past Monday. Since her procedures, she has been on Prevacid to help with reflux. At first, it seemed like it was making a difference and Addison was eating better. But lately, she's been back to her old, bad habits of not eating very well. And she's been sick for what seems like the entire month of August. And September hasn't been any better so far. But I degrees. Back to her GI. At this last appointment, she had actually lost a little weight. Not good. So her GI wants to try an appetite stimulant. The medication is actually an allergy medication, with the side effect of stimulating the appetite. However, we have to break up the doses, or her body will get used to the medication and it will stop increasing her appetite. So we've started that (we're on our second dose). We are also trying desperately to increase her calorie intake. We are beefing up her food wherever we can with a liquid supplement called Benecalorie. It comes in little 1 oz packages and is packed with 330 calories. The dietician said if we could get one package a day down her (or the extra 330 calories) that we would be doing good. We've been supplementing her food now for three days. Day one we did good, got the whole thing down her. Day two and three, not so great. We're trying, that's all I can say. If we don't succeed, we are looking at having to tube feed her. How horrible would that be!?!

And what about her MRI? Her MRI came back abnormal. Her white matter in her brain is under developed. At our appointment with the neurologist, he seemed really optimistic that in time, Addison's white matter would mature and develop. He thinks between 18 months - 2 years. He did schedule a follow up MRI in about 6 months. If her white matter doesn't mature, we are most likely looking at multiple sclerosis. Gulp.

As I've thought, cried and wondered about this, I've come to the following conclusion. I will do everything in my power to provide her with the best nutrition that I can for the next six months in order to feed her body and her brain. If for some reason her brain doesn't mature and grow, then it is what it is. And I will love her just the same. What else can you do? Right now, she is a joy in my life. No matter what happens in the future, she will remain a joy in my life. As someone special once said, "Come what may, and love it."

Pre K

This is the face of my pre-kindergartner! Alex started his third year at St. John this past Monday. In the past, he was attending St. John on Monday and Wednesdays. This year, Roger and I thought it would be a good idea to have him go three days a week to start getting him ready for kindergarten. His teacher is Ms. Sarah, and she seems really nice. I like that she is teaching them some responsibilities from the get-go...every morning they hang their bag, put their lunch box in their cubby, find their name on the attendance poster. On Alex's first day, he walked right into the classroom like an old pro. Ms. Sarah had playdoh out, which Alex loves. So he walked right in, anxious to sit down and get to work on that playdoh! Once he was settled in, signed in, and ready to go, I left to go back home. I was really sad walking back to my car. This is his last year at St. John. We've had excellent teachers and experiences there. This is his last year home with me, even if it's just part time. I'm pretty sad about that! We had a really fun summer and I was sad to see it end already. As I said in an earlier post, here we gooooo!

Love this handsome kid!