Baseball with Lincoln

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Last week, I got a text from my friend Barry.  He told me he was going to be signing his son, Lincoln, up for baseball.  Lincoln is Noah's age.  Barry was curious if I had any tips.  I offered to meet them to play some baseball and show Barry and Lincoln some things they'll need to know for coach pitch.  This morning we met them half way - at a field off 2222 and Shoal Creek.  On the way, Evan and I stopped at Donut Taco Palace and got donuts.

We had a really good time playing baseball.  Lincoln really hadn't done much at all in the way of baseball, but he was really good.  He showed excellent instincts.  Before they got there, I pitched to Evan and he hit.   And then the last thing we did after working on Lincoln's hitting and fielding was have Evan hit.  Lincoln fielded in the outfield.  He didn't catch anything in the air but he was able to keep the ball in front of him which was good.

We came home and then I hung the tv in the game room and moved the shelves I built over to the walls.  Rachel was busy organizing for a garage sale we had next week.

We had leftovers for lunch.

Evan and I drove over to property that Darius' dad owns that he's turning into a baseball infield so that we can practice there.  Daniel had someone with a bobcat leveling the dirt and putting infield dirt down.  Darius and Evan ran around the property and got dirty in the big mounds of dirt.

Darius came home with us but first we stopped at Smoothie King.

Rachel was working in the backyard on some left over vines we were pulling down.  We came in and I hung the tv in our bedroom on the wall.

For dinner, we got Salt Lick.  Darius ate with us.

The boys are still playing together.  Daniel is on his way over to get Darius.

Until next time...

Ikea

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

For most of the day, we didn't do anything.  We stayed in.  Rachel did go for a run.  The boys acted tired because we got in so late last night.  They didn't want to do anything. They simply wanted to take it easy.

Rachel and I have been wanting to go to Ikea and get stuff to clean up Evan and Noah's room, the game room, the laundry room and the garage.  We decided it might not be as crowded at Ikea if we got on a Saturday night before closing.

We drove up to Round Rock and first had dinner with Aunt Susan and Rudy's.  It was nice seeing her and the boys enjoyed her and the food.

Then we went over to Ikea.  We got there around 7 and it closed at 9.  Apparently two hours was not enough for what we wanted to do.  We didn't get anything for the garage or laundry room and we didn't get out of there until 9:30 as we were trying to get all of the stuff off the shelves in the self-service area even after closing time.   We did do pretty well.  We did see the stuff we wanted for the garage and laundry room so we can order it.

The boys got cinnamon rolls for dessert from the snack section at the end on the way home.

They are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Baseball in the Park

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I got up early as I'm trying to finish up some things for Monday.  Evan got up first followed by Noah 30 minutes to an hour later.

The boys were good together.  They played upstairs (made a gigantic mess in the game room) as well as playing Wii.

Later in the morning, I decided the boys needed to get out of the house.  I decided to take them to the park to play baseball.  For Hanukkah the boys got bases, a bucket of baseballs and a tee.  They also got  a screen and soft-toss pitching machine, although I left those at home since we were going to be running the bases.   We first tried to go to the Wildflower Park but someone was already playing baseball.  We then went to the Circle C park where they have an actual backstop and cut outs for the bases.  I think the boys really liked playing on a field.

We stopped at Smoothie King on the way home and got smoothies.

Rachel made the boy lunch and I put on Monsters Inc for them.

Later in the afternoon, I played Wii with them and then we had a light dinner.

We just gave the boys showers and put them to bed.

Until next time...

From Noah's view

Here's today's blog from Noah's view.  He's sitting on my lap.

I woke up around 8am and I went in the game room. I lied on the couch and then I put a blanket on me and went back to sleep.  I got up from the couch around 9am.

I got dressed and I ate a waffle.

Then, we went to school.

At school we went outside and I ate lunch.  I made a cookie man, like a gingerbread man.

Then, I got home.

Then, I walked to my brother's school with my dad.

Mommy went to tutoring.

At home we played Lego Star Wars with Daddy and we got to be characters.

Gabby came over.  We saw Evan play Lego Star Wars.  We played outside.

Then, Gabby left.

We ate dinner. For dessert I had Skilttles.

Then, I took a shower.

And now, we are writing the blog.

And next I will play on my computer before bed and then I'm going to go to sleep.

Bouncing around

This morning we were able to relax a little while the boys watched TV in the game room. Later in the morning we went to Locomotion, the indoor play place. We chose to go there since it was cold and rainy outside. Evan and Noah had a good time and mostly stuck together.

When we got home we had lunch. Noah didn't want to nap so I let him lie down in the game room on the couch with Evan. Evan told us he liked having Noah with him in the game room.

For dinner we went to Santa Rita. Evan and Noah ate well there.

We just got home and now we are going to give the boys baths and put them to bed.

Back to Work

Well, it’s back to work (taking care of the kids). I was so exhausted this morning. Evan got up early as Morry was leaving. Luckily he was good and let me sleep more.

We played outside in the backyard a lot today. We ate our lunch out there too. Evan and Noah didn’t eat that much. They wanted to play.

I put Noah down for a nap and let Evan watch tv in the gameroom. Evan ended up falling asleep on the couch.

When Morry came home Evan was in a bad mood. He was very cranky.

Morry took Evan to his sports class and I took Noah with me to HEB. Noah was pretty well behaved at grocery store.

Noah and I came home and got dinner ready (leftover chicken). When Morry got home with Evan we all ate dinner. Noah didn’t eat very much. Evan ate his leftover pizza and breadsticks from the other night.

We gave the boys showers tonight in the bathroom downstairs. Evan threw a fit when it was time to get out. He loves taking showers.

Evan and Noah are in bed now. It took Noah a while to calm down and stop crying. It seems to be quiet in both rooms.

A- Choo

Well, I got a bad cold from Noah and Morry. I was up a lot last night sneezing and coughing. I took medicine, but still didn’t sleep very well. I woke up around 4am and went in the game room so I wouldn’t disturb Morry. Evan must have heard me go in the game room. He came in and cheerfully said, “Good Morning, Mommy.” I told him it was still the middle of the night and that he needed to go back to bed. Luckily, he did.

I was sneezing most of the day. This is not a fun cold.

A little after 2pm I met Lauren for coffee at Starbucks. It was nice getting out of the house and hanging out with Lauren. After that I got a few things at HEB and came home.

For dinner, Grandma and Morry made pasta. I just ate bread since I wasn’t feeling so well.

After dinner Evan watched Toy Story 3 previews on Morry’s computer. Noah and Grandma are reading a book now.

We are about to put the boys to bed.

Tomorrow, Grandma, Evan, Noah and I will drive to Dallas.

Chemo #3

So, I had chemo today. We got there at 8:15 am and were done at 12:30. The pre drugs (Atavan and some anti-nausea thing) made me pretty drowsy and I slept most of the time while I was there. Morry was there for most of the time except when he and the kids went to get h1n1 vaccine shots. While they were doing that my mom sat with me.

After chemo Morry and I at at Chedds, a grilled cheese restaurant. Morry got a grilled cheese and I got a a grilled “Yoga Teacher” sandwich with turkey, cheese, spinach, avocado, and Italian dressing. It was really good. We had a nice relaxing lunch.

When we got home Evan had just gotten home from school and we put the boys down for naps.

I wasn’t that tired since I had slept through most of chemo. I tried to take advantage of the quiet afternoon and got a few things done. I wanted to get some more things done before I start feeling bad. My mom and I wrapped all of the presents. It feels good to have that done.

For dinner, Sonya, from the Mom’s club brought dinner over. Evan and Avery (her daughter) played together for a little bit while they were here. Dinner was good. Those dinners have been great!

The Steelers game is on now so Morry and the boys are upstairs in the game room watching TV. Morry had been watching the games downstairs, but he thought that TV was bad luck and decided to move back upstairs to the TV that won last year’s Super Bowl for the Steelers.

Well, the next few days probably won’t be so pleasant from me. I will continue to check email, but probably won’t write back for a few days.

We are still having a hard time figuring out how to keep Evan in bed. Today for naps we let him sleep in the top bunk of his bunk bed for the first time. He took a good nap. We’ll try it again tonight and see what happens.

Here’s a little video describing my day today and the weekend to come. At one point Evan and Noah join me in the video as well. Go here to see it or look below.

Evan in his bunk bed.

Hydrated

Last night I didn’t sleep well. I was up a lot. First, I was cold, then I was hot. I think at some point my fever broke. In the morning I felt a lot better, but still had a little fever.

Morry tried to be really quiet this morning so that Evan wouldn’t wake up. As soon as Evan heard the garage door he woke up crying. Evan ran to the window to see Morry pulling away. I asked Evan if he wanted to call Morry. So we called. Morry came back to the driveway so that Evan could wave goodbye to him from the game room window.

This morning Gabby came to take care of the boys at 7:30am.

I had an appointment to get IV hydration at 11. They were running late there I didn’t start until about 12pm. They took my temperature and I did not have a fever there. The IV fluids took about two hours and then I drove home.

When I got home Blanca was there and had just put the boys down for naps. I sent her home and was able to nap too. The boys took nice long naps.

On Morry’s way home from work he got me a smoothie. I have had a hard time eating and drinking because my throat hurts and I have a sore on my tongue.

For dinner we had chicken soup that Mom/Grandma made when she was here last weekend.

We just gave the boys baths and now they are in bed.

Go Longhorns

This morning Evan came into our room around 7am and woke Morry up. Morry got him breakfast and a movie and got back in bed. A little while later Noah started crying so I got up and took care of the boys so that Morry could sleep.

I tutored a student from 10:30-11:30 this morning.

When I got home we made lunch for Evan and Noah. Then, Will and Anna Belle (3 years old) came over to pick up tickets to the football game today. We sold Will 2 of our tickets. Evan and Anna Belle played upstairs in the game room. I went up to check on them at one point and I heard Evan telling her that he sleeps in together with Noah in Noah’s room.

After they left we put Evan and Noah down for naps.

Morry and Michael left to go to the UT Longhorns game around 4pm. The game wasn’t starting until 7pm, but they wanted to have enough time to park and do some tailgating. Ticket City was having a big tailgate party and so was F5 (where Michael works).

For dinner I asked Evan where he wanted to go and he said Subway. I said I’d just pick up some food and we’d bring it home. He wanted to eat at the restaurant. Both boys were very good there. Noah did not spill any drink on him this time. They both picked out a bag of chips. Noah chose Cheetos again, and Evan picked Sun Chips. Evan also got a bag of apples. I brought some other food for them in the diaper bag as well.

When we got home we called Bubbe on Skype. Noah was very excited. He kept screaming “Bubbe!” Noah even sang some the ABCs for Bubbe.

I gave the boys a shower downstairs. We went upstairs in the game room and watched a little of the football game.

I put Evan and Noah to bed in Noah’s room around 8:30. Noah is still making noises, but Evan actually seems quiet. Oh, nevermind, I just heard Evan.

A Better Day

Last night Evan slept in his own room. He slept until 7:45am when Dingo’s barking woke him up. I called and left another message for them today about their barking dog. They never called back after the last 2 messages we left.

Evan was good this morning. I think it was because he was well rested. He got dressed without a fight and was happy to go to school.

At school this morning they were celebrating Miss Mai’s birthday. They had donuts for the kids and parents. Evan picked a sprinkled donut, of course. He ate about half of it and then gave the rest to Noah. Noah was in heaven. He made a big mess and I had to clean him off at the sink.

After dropping of Noah we had to go to my doctor for a quick blood test (thyroid).

At home, I did some cleaning. Noah and I ate lunch and then picked up Evan.

The kids were out on the playground when it was time for pick-up. Evan was very excited to see Noah out there and wanted to show him the playground.

When we got home I put Evan and Noah down naps. Noah went to sleep right away. Evan was at his door for maybe 30 minutes and then he said he wanted to watch a movie. I got a movie set up for him and went back downstairs to get some stuff done. Michael called. He had just gotten to the Austin airport and was on his way over. I went upstairs a few minutes later to check on Evan and let him know that Uncle Mike was on his way. Evan was asleep on the couch in the game room. He slept there for about 1.5 – 2 hours.

When Michael got here Noah was just getting up from his nap. Noah was a little shy at first, but then he just ran over and gave Michael a big hug.

Evan got up from his nap and we played downstairs and then I made dinner. Morry had a dinner meeting.

Evan and Noah ate good dinners and then Michael took them to play in the backyard so that I could finish my dinner and clean up.

Michael’s dinner plans ended up falling through so he picked up some Taco Bueno and ate it here.

Evan and Noah are both in Noah’s room now. There’s still some talking/playing going on in there. If it goes on much longer we’ll have to separate them.