Baseball Fun

Lillian has really, I mean REALLY enjoyed playing baseball this year with her team! It is a big difference from last year when she was begging to go home. She still gets distracted, but has made a major improvement in her playing. She has fielded the ball several times and is doing better on her hitting as well. After one game last week, she told me, "Mom, that was the best game! I love it!" It was so cute and made me feel good that she is liking it. And that was after a loss! I do yell out to her during games to watch for the ball to help and when she makes it home after hitting and running the bases, she slides in every time! I'm happy that we picked a sport she enjoys and look forward to many more years of baseball ahead! Now to see next year of Andrew is ready!

Sliding in home!

Here is her biggest fan sitting at the game! :)

Phillies Baseball begins

Baseball season has begun again! Lillian is a Phillie this year and had her first game this past Saturday morning. Although she is still learning, she seems to be doing much better than last year already. Grandpa JD and Jamie came in for the weekend to visit and see her play. After a rough start because she had to spend the first inning on the bench and didn't understand why, she finally got to hit the ball and she was happy and excited after that. She had her second game last night and she even fielded a ball and threw it to the base she was supposed to. I'm looking forward to seeing how she improves over the season.

The kids were happy to have Grandpa and Jamie visiting. They especially loved playing with Grandpa for a while, while Jamie, Marjorie, and I went to the fabric store looking for fabric for her to make me new curtains for my front window. I'm excited! We found some with colors that will look perfect in there. Thanks, Jamie for doing this for me!

After Grandpa and Jamie left on Sunday, we had a short amount of time before we had to be at Lillian's baseball opening ceremony. It was held at the Dell Diamond. Lillian got to walk out on the field with her team and then we watched a player throw out the opening pitch to the Round Rock Express mascot, Spike. It was a busy weekend.

Tball is coming to an End

I went to my last Cubbies t-ball game this past Saturday. Next weekend is our big neighborhood-wide garage sale and I've been piling things for months ready to get rid of them, so I'm definitely not missing the garage sale! So Brandon will be taking Lillian to her last game. I think Lillian learned a lot this season and look forward to seeing how she does next year! Plus, she made some new buddies and I met some great new people as well. I wanted to share her tball picture and team picture with you.

Lillian's First T-ball Fan (besides us!)

Lillian played early this morning at 8 a.m. and it was a cool morning! We had a little front come through last night and it was chilly. So most of the kids were in jackets today, but still played well. Lillian cracked me up today because she was very into playing! She was ready to run out and catch the ball and hit very well! She didn't hit the tee at all and hit it once out to the outfield. She even kept wanting to go out and catch the ball when the other team was out there.

I think she was extra excited because her Uncle Clay was there to watch her. When she hit or caught the ball, she would immediately look over at us to make sure we saw her do it. She ran over and gave me and Clay high-fives. Both kids were very happy to have him there and have been keeping him busy playing this morning after we got home. I wish someone could watch her play every game because she just loves showing off what she has learned to do. Only 2 more games left for her this season!

More T-Ball Fun

Lillian had her 3rd t-ball game today and I've definitely seen an improvement! I think she is finally into the pattern of what to expect to do. Last week, she was doing her little tantrums about not wanting to go out and bat....just to make me mad and then would be upset if she didn't get to bat. But this week, she went out without any forcing from me and just did great. She also hit the ball well off of the tee instead of hitting the tee and stood out in the field ready when her team was out there. I was very proud of her. When it was over, she ran to me and said, "I DID GOOD!" ha ha...she knew she had!

We also took team pictures before the game and this was NOT a fun experience. As the team mom, I was trying to coordinate and have kids there for the pictures on time and of course it was very un-organized and they ran 30 minutes behind...so on top of the 15 minutes early we were there, we waited 30, which made for some frustrated parents and fussy kids...especially Andrew since he wasn't even taking a picture and was just along for the ride. Lillian just stood and frowned when they took her individual picture. Afterwards, though, she was upset that she did that and wanted to re-take her picture and luckily the lady, who was a not very nice person to me, did let her take her picture again, so hopefully we have some sort of smile. I was also in the team picture, so I guess I'll be in these kids' scrapbooks for the rest of their lives...ha ha...at least I was behind them all, so my big Marjorie belly was hidden.

Here are some snapshots from today's game. BTW...we played at a smaller field this time which was difficult because there were no dug-outs to keep the kids contained, but nice because we were closer to the kids to take pictures and talk to them and encourage them during the game.

Our Little Slugger

We began a new chapter in our lives today as little league parents. Lillian had her first tball game today at Connally High School baseball field....it is one of the Pflugerville high schools.

Lillian was being her not wanting to cooperate self at first, but by the end of the game, she did great and had fun too. She hit the ball well and ran the bases and even got the ball 3 times when the other team was hitting. She was so excited after she got it and threw it to first. She ran to me saying, "I did it, Mommy! I did it!" It was really cute. I'm excited about her learning the concepts of the game and how to play. In this league for this age, they do not count runs or have outs. We just have every kid bat and run all bases. She has 5 more games this season, so I also look forward to seeing how much the kids improve by the end.

And here is a video of Lillian at bat.

We Are T-Ball Ready

Growing up, my sisters and I were raised as softball players. No soccer for us and I want to keep it that way for my kids! I, in no way, want to be a soccer mom. I love little league softball/baseball and that is what we are going to pursue. Lillian is finally old enough to play t-ball with a league this year, so we got her signed up and had a team meeting this weekend. I'm excited that a lot of the team members live in Forest Creek or close by, so we are practicing at the elementary school...very easy for us since we live a minute away! I was also designated "Team Mom", so I'll be responsible for coordinating some things. I'm just glad I'm not coach! That is a tough job even though as parents we will all be kind of coaching together. I helped my mom coach my youngest sister's t-ball team back in the day and boy is that stressful...especially since back then there were so many competitive parents in town that just had to go after that t-ball championship! ha ha! I'm glad we are in a league that at this age doesn't count runs and lets every kid bat and run bases just to get the rules and foundations of the sport down.

This should be very interesting to see! Lillian will be on the Cubs. We made the trip to Academy today and bought Andrew and her gloves, a bat, a tee, and some practice balls. I worked with her in the car while Brandon ran in another store just on how you keep the glove on one hand and throw with the other...there are so many concepts you just don't think about that don't come naturally to them and have to teach them! Anyway, we are off to a good start. We played with the tee outside when we got home and both kids loved hitting the ball. Poor Andrew is going to be so upset when he realizes he can't play at the games. Their first game is March 26th at a high school baseball field! I'll share pictures of that for sure! For now, here are some of them practicing outside today.