Day 3

Holy Crap!! Only day 3 of baseball season and I am already one very tired mama! I totally should have trained all winter for this, I am in no way mentally prepared for the weeks to come. Added bonus to our already ridiculous schedule....Carter decided last minute to go out for the freshman baseball team. Hello 6 more practices/games a week and goodbye $500 (bat, shoes, pants, glove,etc...he hasn't played in two years and Scott claims he's outgrown it all). So, let's recap my spring schedule....Carter freshman baseball, Scott head JV baseball coach, Brady select soccer, Brady select baseball, Bennett select baseball, Bennett basketball (3 weeks left), Carter select soccer, Cate professional cheerleader, and me-events coordinator and chauffeur. I'm dreaming of the days in the not-so-distant-future when I can lay comatose on a chaise lounge.. poolside!

Random

My lack of interesting blog updates is due to the boring late winter we've had thus far. Post Disney-Pre Spring sports can best be described as "the calm before the storm". Our weeks are filled with soccer practices, soccer games, indoor baseball practices, basketball practices, basketball games....rinse....repeat. Lame, I know. Today officially marked the start of highschool baseball season so things are bound to pick up here soon (Lord help me).

Brady has a fantastic sense of smell. It's more of a curse I think. He and Cate both are always asking "what smells like....?". I took a picture of this worksheet to document his handwriting and spelling, I think it's getting pretty good! Penmanship and spelling have always been very important to me and I'm thankful that all three boys have always excelled at both!

When I grow up, I wanna be Cate Smallie. She's got the life......

Most nights, this is the scene in our dining room. In the beginning of the year, Scott and I agreed that he helps with Algebra and Spanish, and I help with English, Health, Biology, and History. I totally got the better end of the deal.

Jinx

Last week I mentioned, out loud, that I was so grateful that our family has avoided illness this far into the season. Last year, Ben was sick at Disney and Brady was sick after and I believe Cate had a bout of pneumonia thrown in there somewhere. However, this year, we haven't even had a runny nose to complain about and it's been wonderful. Note to self: knocking on wood after saying something stupid does not change fate (and while we're at it, neither does making a wish at 11:11). Needless to say, we've been sick this week.

Bennett threw up Monday night and had a few stomach issues (if you know what I mean) throughout the night so he stayed home from school on Tuesday. He was never super sick so I didn't think anything of it. Until yesterday at 3:00. As soon as the kids got home from school I started to feel queasy (not unlike most days, if you know what I mean). By the time Ryan picked Hadley and Tyler up, both Cate and I were fighting for the bathroom. And I am not exaggerating when I say that for the next 9 hours I threw up every 5-10 minutes. We timed it like contractions, except with the opposite effect...I knew the longer I could go in between, the closer I was to being done with it. Cate threw up all evening but thankfully not with the same intensity. By 1am, I decided to take a sleeping pill and I was able to sleep until 3am when it started all over. I then took another sleeping pill and got another 3 hours of sleep. Cate was able to sleep all night with zero issues which her poor little body needed so badly. This morning, I was already feeling so much better but unfortunately Scott and Brady were now sick. Not shocking considering Brady stood guard for Cate and rubbed her back each time she threw up. He would not leave her side even though he knew it would eventually cause him to get sick. In fact this morning when he got sick for the first time he said " Good, I hope this means that I took it from Cate and she'll be all better now". Awwwww, he's the best. Scott and I laid in bed ALL day while Brady and Cate watched movies in the living room. We are all feeling much better and I'm working hard to sanitize every surface of the house. Brady is already back outside playing hockey and Cate has changed clothes four times tonight, a sure sign she's feeling better :)

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have agreed with this next statement at 10:38pm last night when I was begging for my death, but I do think a 24 hour stint with the stomach flu is better than weeks and weeks of snotty noses, congestion and sleepless nights...especially since there were no puking incidents away from toilets. Wait, did I just jinx myself again?? knock on wood

It's no wonder Scott woke up sick after sleeping like this all night, but sometimes you gotta take one for the team <3

Party Time

Hey everyone, it's party time!!!!!

I had to pick the cake up the day before the party and it didn't last in my house 20 minutes before someone got their little fingers in the icing :)

A Fairy Godmother from a Fairy Godmother :)
Cate received lots of great gifts...her favorites being six new pairs of shoes, a Cinderella castle from Disneyworld and this "market". It did sell fruits and vegetables until she replaced them with candy because "it sells better". Good thing we don't keep beer and cigarettes around here. After Uncle Josh gifted her with new hairstyling stuff, the store quickly turned into "Cate's Hair Cutter Shop"! Great big thanks to Brady for being such an awesome big brother and playing along so often :)

Valentine's Day

Cate meticulously filled out cards/pencils for each of her classmates, Brady was less attentive but got the job done, and Bennett just threw a bunch of fruit snacks in a bag and called it a day.

We made these bunny cards to send out, I think they're super cute :)

No fancy dinners or hot dates around here...just a lame card exchange between me and Scott (his wasn't even signed or out of the Hallmark bag). The kids did enjoy their class parties and because poor baby Hadley was home sick, I was able to go to Cate's party. She was very happy to have me there and I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's gift (and huge thanks to Candi for manning the craft station with the glue...I owe you one!) We gave each of the boys new shoes (Brady got two pairs because I found an awesome deal) and Cate got some new eating utensils, plate, bowl, and running shorts. Overall, it was a very relaxing "holiday".

Hope everyone had a great day too!

A Night With The Redbirds

Last Friday, Scott was invited to attend a charity event at Busch Stadium. Aunt Fran is on the Board of Directors for Nur.ses for Newborns and they were hosting a party to raise money for the organization and honor former Cardinals pitcher Jason Isring.hausen. The event was "Black Tie Creative Cardinals Attire" so I found him a Cards tie and he wore his red coaching shoes.

Epic Fail.
Thank you Uncle Josh for fixing his tie :)

Josh, Scott, Jenny, and Fran in the Cardinals dugout

How awesome is this picture?

Right at home in the managers spot!

Talking baseball with Jason Isring.hausen...or probably more like making fun of a mutual friend ;)

Josh, Scott, Isring.hausen, Elaine (aka Grammy)

The crew with Jason Isrin.ghausen and John Ma.bry

Elaine, Mike Math.eny (new Cardinals manager), and Scott

Fran and Jenny with the World Series trophy!

Scott came home talking a mile a minute about all of the cool stuff he got to see and do. It's not everyday that you get to hang out in the announcers booth, team dugout, and have dinner with coaches and players. Huge thanks to Fran for the invite and Elaine for taking pictures...it's a night he'll remember forever :)

0,1,2,3,4

Four. Sniff Sniff. Seems so much older than three. Let's look back, shall we?

2.5 days old and already thoroughly annoyed at the noise level in our house. Get used to it sista...

Ready for her first birthday party!

2nd birthday party...hair is finally coming in!

3 years old! (hair is falling out!)

4 years. She looks so grown up...when did this happen?! :(

Miss Cate...you are so full of personality and you are constantly entertaining all of us. We love to sit around the dining room table and listen to your stories. You are very much into pretend play and often sit in your room with your "pretend Rhett" and play house. Bennett thinks this is ridiculous, but I find it hilarious! (your dad is not thrilled that you already have crushes on your brothers friends!) I love to listen to you "read" stories to your babies or "talk" on the phone to your grandmas. Your desire to pick out your own clothes has been rough for me, but I'm working hard to step back and give you the freedom to let your personality shine. Your hair is finally growing thick and long and you've had over four haircuts this year!! I love the way you sweep your bangs away from your eyes with your sweet little hand...it always makes me smile :) You currently weigh 32 pounds, up three pounds from last year. You still sleep with us and your dad and I both agree that 10+ hours guaranteed sleep has been well worth it. And you're still a rockstar sleeper...you fall asleep a few minutes after you lay down and we always have to wake you in the morning. Your favorite tv shows are Dora the Explorer and Gator Boys. I have no idea why you love watching those guys wrestle alligators but you know just where to find the recordings on our DVR and listen intently to every word they say. You still call your brothers "my boys" and they still cater to your every need. You are closest with Brady who is very patient with you even when you don't deserve it! Much to my dismay, you love school and have great stories to tell each day when you get home. Your teachers are so sweet to you and they all look forward to seeing what you're wearing each morning...cause you just never know :) Catie Bug, you've brought lots and lots of pink to our once very blue house and we couldn't be any happier. I hope your year is filled with all things great...just like you :) Happy Birthday Baby Cate!!!!!

four.

Today is Miss Cate's 4th birthday. I would post lots of great pictures except I can't...I have yet to figure out how to transfer pictures from my new printer to the computer, so that'll have to wait. Anyhoo, when Cate woke up this morning she said "Am I really four now? I can say I'm four? Right now I'm four??" Weeks of birthday talk and it's finally here...she could hardly believe it :) After I dropped her off at school this morning, Hadley and I ran to Gus' Pretzels to pick up treats for her class and teachers. When I walked back into her classroom, she was wearing a bright red formal dress and white dress shoes...Mrs. B said she puts a different dress-up outfit on as soon as she gets to school each morning! We had a pretty low key afternoon and tonight she chose Si Senor for dinner. Brady shook things up with an almost-ER visit after hitting his head really hard while playing hockey. His doctor decided it did not warrant a trip to the hospital but she does want to see him tomorrow. Good times, good times.

Promise a proper birthday post tomorrow......

Skating Videos!

As promised to my dad, this is a video I took from the skating party we went to tonight. Brady is in orange (he and friend Gannon tried to torture Bennett and Kadin all night), Bennett is in all black, and Cate is in pink on pink on pink on pink on pink..you know, the crazy one in the middle of the rink by herself like she owns the place :)
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I find this next video very funny. Cate was doing some sort of pretend play in the middle of the rink the entire two hours. She would talk to herself (including hand motions of course), practice the limbo, and she had some sort of dance routine going on. And obviously she was not worried about getting run over by the other skaters!
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Ya Just Neva Know....

8am it's a tiara and shades...
12pm it's sliding shorts and a cup

Hadley Turns 1!

Yesterday was Hadley's first birthday. We celebrated by going on a "field trip" to Target, the cupcake shop, McDonald's, and Cate's favorite park. She doesn't realize how lucky she was to have 65 degree weather on her birthday...we definitely took advantage of it!

Happy Birthday Haddie girl!

And speaking of birthdays, someone else will be celebrating soon.....
Catie Bug turns 4 next week! After one million hours working on the invitations, and two million hot glue burns later, they're all finished and have been delivered. We're gearing up for a pink party on the 12th!