Well spring sports season is upon us, and once again, Hayden has chosen to play on a Blastball team. For those of you not familiar with the term, it's basically like t-ball for preschoolers. Our good friends had all played on the same team for a different league last year, and they thankfully talked us into joining them for this season, so Hayden could play with all his best buddies, and Nate and my dad are still helping coach, along with some of the other parents. This league takes the whole business a little bit more seriously, consequently we have really been able to have some fun with it and get involved. And obviously, because all my friends love their kiddos and are so excited to finally be getting into sports, we've gone ALL OUT with both the boys, and their cheering section siblings. It's over the top, but just about the most fun thing I've been involved in to date as a parent.
For the entire month of March, we were busy practicing each Thursday night with the boys, teaching them batting and fielding the ball. Each practice would start with stretching and running the bases, and it was SO cute. The boys at first were really getting emotional over the game, and crying when they didn't get the ball, for example, however by the end of the practice season, the coaches had seemed to be able to instill a good "team" attitude, and there were lots of high 5's going around. I was extremely proud of Hayden for his attentiveness, and good listening, and for the most part, his good sportsmanship. Darling! Here is a little collage of our most recent practice. Blastball ready!
On Friday night we had the opening ceremonies for the baseball season in our town, complete with a parade through the ballpark, where each team was announced, and then they all gathered on the field for the National Anthem. All the boys were dressed in their 'Longhorns' uniforms for the first time, and they looked so adorable. Our team mom, Tanya, had each of the boys tell her what number they wanted so she could get it printed on their shirts. So we had Hayden with his requested number 1 (are you surprised), and then several of the boys had their parent's old sports numbers, and some just picked totally funny random numbers - hilarious. The t-shirt given to Hayden hung down past his knees, and he looked like such a peanut in his equally far too big for him baseball cap, marching out onto that field. How did he turn into this sports-playing little man?!
The siblings got involved in the fun of course, although I suspect Pierce would have rather been on the field! But alas, our little almost 2 year old was stuck on the sidelines with a group of VERY pretty little cheerleaders. He was all geared up in his Longhorns outfit to support his big bro, and I sewed a little dress for Ruthie out of Longhorn fabric, so she could be part of the team too. Tanya made all the girls adorable little bows to match their outfits, and we were stylin.
Game day arrived on Saturday, and the boys were excited and ready to play! I spent most of the game either nursing Ruthie, or trying to keep Pierce off the field as he yelled "Bradoo I'm coming!" and would take off haha. But in between those tasks, I managed to snap a few shots of my little blastball player in action. All of the kids did such a great job, and I was so proud of our little Longhorns.
Ruthie of course has to have several outfit choices for all the games we have coming up. I made her a little dress first off, since I couldn't find any cheerleading outfits in her size. It turned out super cute, however a girl can't wear a fancy dress to EVERY game. So I used some scrap fabric to sew some ruffles onto a plain white onesie, and then I used iron-on adhesive to add the Longhorns logo to the front of the onesie. Such an easy little project that turned out pretty adorable - for those hot day games that will be coming up soon! Gotta support the team :)
In addition to being a fantastic little blastball player, Hayden has also taken up the game of golf, which THRILLS his father and grandfather. I'm pretty sure Nate has been dreaming of taking Hayden to the driving range since the day we found out we were having a boy, and his dream finally came true last weekend. Hayden has been playing a lot of Wii golf, and Nate figured they should hit up the actual course. I didn't have the priviledge of tagging along (this was a special poppy/daddy/son thing), but I sent Nate off with strict instructions to take lots of photos. Apparently Hayden took to it easily and was super enthusiastic - so much so that Nate ended up buying him his own little set of clubs that he has been showing off to everyone who will look (including his mammaw via skype!). I hope he sticks with it, and this can be something special he shares with his father and grandfather!
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