Hi Everyone, Happy Sunday!

It is warming up here and so we are spending more and more time in the pool. I thought you might enjoy a couple of pictures and videos of the fun we have while cooling off!!

We also had a get together when Sara was in town and had all of the kiddos together finally (minus the Charlesworth boys)! It was great to see everyone and so amazing and surreal to see us old high school and grade school friends with children of our own.

(From left to right: Gideon Schwamb, Braelyn, Chloe Scott, Luke Flowers, Allison Scott & Mikayla Bryan)

Here’s to a great week ahead!

Love,

MLB Mama

Hi Everyone!

I hope your Friday is going well :)  I wanted to get some pictures up from our Mother’s Day brunch this year where we had a wonderful weekend visit with Sheri.  We went to a place called The Farm, which is a really cool outdoor event center that hosts all kinds of things, including weddings.  We looked into having our wedding there which is how we know about it.  The weather was perfect and the food was really good too.  After we got done there, we took Sheri to the Phoenix Children’s Museum to pass the time until her flight left.  After we got back from the airport, Braelyn took a nap with Gramma Bonnie and I too took a well-deserved nap (instead of working out!) :)  We ordered Italian take out for dinner and relaxed with Braelyn.   I hope all of you mothers out there enjoyed your special day and here’s to hoping that they create a year-round celebration of the HARDEST (but most rewarding) JOB ON EARTH!!!

Love,

MLB Mama

HI!

Just a warning: Get ready for PICTURE OVERLOAD

We have been so very busy the last few weeks and have captured it all on film! 

My cousin Sara and her daughter Emma came to visit last week and we had so much fun with them catching up and showing them our usual hang outs (The Zoo, park and Museum).  Braelyn was really happy to get to know her newest cousin and was constantly touching her head and cheek and giving her kisses.  She was a little leery about sharing her toys but for a 3 year old who is used to ALL the attention, I think she did rather well. 

Matt had off for a day or so and was able to join us on the visit to the Zoo/Aquarium where we spent 1/2 the day and had lunch near the shark aquarium.  It was a little bit warm but we managed to escape into the indoor exhibits as the temperatures got too hot. 

The Children’s Museum in downtown Phoenix is one of my favorite places to take Braelyn.  We have an annual pass so it’s great to just pop in for a couple of hours to get out of the heat.  It has some of the most creative, hands-on exhibits I have ever seen and it is entertaining even for kiddos that are Emma’s age because there is so much going on.  There is a kids grocery store, pizza kitchen, flower garden a “noodle” forest and lots of other cool exhibits.  It has been 5 years in the making and they are always adding new features and activities for the kids to do.

Matt has had a bit more down time lately so he and Braelyn have been bonding a bit more and spending some more time together.  When I sat down to write this blog and go through the pictures, I realized there were quite a few of them together so I thought I would put together a little collage since he is on the road right now (for 12 days) and would probably like to see some pictures to remind him of home.

I have been keeping extremely busy between entertaining guests :), taking Braelyn to all of her activities and working with Casie at her training classes to become a therapy dog plus trying to maintain my workout schedule and some sanity as well.  My mom had back surgery 2 weeks ago and I have been trying to help out a lot at my parent’s house too. 

Braelyn is still enjoying her art class where just this week she made a clay family (from L to R - Me, Braelyn, Matt and Casie is the one with the red face!). 

She also passed the test to move up from her Goldfish swim class to a Jellyfish class.  Uncle Chris says she is the youngest Jellyfish as most are 4YO and that she will probably be in this class for awhile since it requires them to swim across the entire pool and do a lot of floating and turning over by themselves.

She is still doing dance classes and I am going to be switching her to a different class for the summer so she can be with her friend Esteka.  They are doing a Princess themed summer dance recital in mid July where they dress up like Princesses and dance to Disney songs.  I will keep you updated on dates for that as it should be VERY fun and funny!

Matt is still plugging away at the amateur scouting side of things.  The high school season is ending soon and right now he’s away on a pro-scouting coverage back east in Washington DC and Delaware.  When he returns, they will be prepping for the draft which is the first week of June and then after that we are taking a much needed vacation to Whistler, Canada over July 4th.  We aren’t sure what exactly his assignment will be after the draft and school years are over, but he does have some additional pro coverages in August and the Dbacks are running a scout team that he helped put together as well as a summer league team so I’m sure he will be working on those things as well. 

Casie continues to be such a good puppy for us.  Now that she has finally recovered from all of her ailments and is obedience trained, she is a joy to take with us wherever we can.  I will be starting agility (obstacle course work) with her in mid-May and we are taking the classes with my cousin, Lauren and her dog, Levi.  We are looking forward to it.  I also take her to weekly group training classes through my dog trainer which help her get better socialized and used to all different people, noises, situations, etc.  She is only 7 months old but does everything on command and will stay and listen until we let her go.  Everyone remarks how well behaved she is and because she is VERY smart, it has been pretty easy to train her.

I think that is all from our neck of the woods.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Love,

MLB Mama

P.S. Here are some miscellaneous pictures - didn’t think you’d seen enough!!

Hello All!

We hope you had a great Easter Here are some recent pictures of Braelyn and Casie. Not much new to report here. We will have some pictures and video of our upcoming visit with Cousin Sara and Baby Emma next week. Hope all is well!!

Just wanted to send out a quick note with some pictures and video (thanks to grampa Tom for the pictures!)

Braelyn is really loving her “goldfish” swim class.  She can now float on her back ALL BY HERSELF and then roll over onto her tummy.  She can also jump in from the side, swim around Chris and then back to the wall, as well as swim underwater to Chris in the middle of the pool.  When she is able to roll from her tummy to her back unassisted, she will move up levels to the “jellyfish” class which Chris also teaches.

Braelyn and Casie also LOVE their newest outdoor toy - the Bubble BBQ, sent over from San Diego from Gramma Sheri.  They enjoy jumping up to pop the bubbles together and chasing them all over the backyard when they blow in the wind.

I was able to catch some of the antics of the bubble play on video - hope you all enjoy this as much as we did!  Have a good week

Good Morning!

I would like to start your day off with a wonderful serenade by a fantastically CUTE 3 year old

I finally managed to get Braelyn to stop being camera shy long enough to sing one of her favorite songs - “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from Cinderella. The lyrics are as follows:

A Dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartache, whatever you wish for you keep
Believe in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true

Also on the list of really cool things that Braelyn does, I have a story about the following picture of what Braelyn fondly calls “her ghost.”

Here is the story:

One evening, my parents, Braelyn and I were down in her playroom and she was playing with the ribbon in the picture - tug of war with all of us, using it as a leash to take her animals for a walk, etc. There were various other toys on the floor as well - shocking! I know and after the ribbon had worn out its usefulness as a toy, she dropped it on the floor. After a little while, she was walking around and stopped for a few seconds to look at the ribbon where she had dropped it. She said, “Mom, this ribbon is in the shape of a triangle - pointy on top.” “That is very true” I said. She kept looking at it and then bent over it again and said, “It looks like a ghost to me.” She went and grabbed an “eye” and “nose” and then said, “Look mom, a ghost with a face.” I hadn’t paid much attention to where the ribbon was laying but, she had dropped it over a whiffle golf ball and a red scarf for one of her animals. That became one of the “eyes” and it’s “mouth”. After she added the other eye and nose, it really did look like a ghost with a face. I was really blown away by her imagination and creativity. She really looked at that like an abstract piece of art. It could have been anything - just a ribbon, a triangle shape or nothing at all, and yet she saw 3 things grouped together and put together a “ghost.” She never ceases to amaze me with the things she comes up with.

One more exciting tidbit - I GOT A NEW CAR :)  Well, actually, it’s used but it’s NEW to me.  It is a Dodge Durango SUV and has rear A/C (which is SO important here in AZ in the summer), 3 rows of seats so we can tote more people, dogs, stuff, etc. around and it has a 6 disc-CD changer which comes in handy in switching between all the various Backyardigans, Dora and Veggie Tales CDs which accompany us wherever we drive.  We weren’t really looking to buy anything new as my truck is still really functional, is paid off, and is still in good working condition BUT with the deals they are having right now, there really is no better time to buy.  We figured we would need something new in a few years anyway since my truck is getting up there in miles & we got such a good deal, we couldn’t pass it up.

Matt is still driving his 130,000 mile 4 Runner but he loves it and wants to drive it until it runs into the ground which will probably be quite a while since Toyotas last forever!

I think that’s all for now - have a great rest of the week!!

Love,

MLB Mama

We have been busy these last 3 weeks and hope you are all doing well!

First off, Braelyn started an art class and dance class right after her Birthday. She loves the art class and painted a dog and cat figurine (which Casie promptly took out in the backyard and ate!!!!) and made a horse and rose out of clay which are still surviving The class goes in 3 week cycles so she is off from that right now and during the next session will be sand art, more painting and other messy stuff!!

The dance class is a combo tap, ballet and tumbling which has not gone over well. She likes the tap but she says that the ballet music makes her “too sad” and she cries during that whole portion. Since it is close to her nap time, I thought maybe she was overtired too which added to the sadness. This week we are switching her to a combo jazz and tap class in the evening with the hopes that she will be well rested after her nap and that the music will be more upbeat!

We also had Casie spayed 2 weeks ago and have been on the constant “puppy patrol” trying to keep her calm so she doesn’t rip her incision. This is hard with any puppy but add in the fact that she is a Golden Retriever, extremely excited and feels perfectly fine despite her incision and that makes for a very tough job!! The vet did a great job with her and said she was a model patient and got lots of attention from the vet staff When we brought her home, she was wearing a pressure bandage and full body gauze suit to keep her from getting to her stitches. It only lasted about 2 days and then she had bitten a hole in the sleeve so we had to put her into a tank top to keep her covered!

She and Braelyn are proving to be best buddies and Braelyn is always laying down next to her in the hall, hugging and kissing her and asking me to take pictures. I obliged her……

Finally, I had to include this last photo because the circumstances around it were so funny The other night my grandparents were here and we were all downstairs at my parent’s house playing in her playroom. She looked at my grandpa and said “Grampy, would you like to wear this hat because you have a bald head!” All of us started laughing and she made both Grammy and Grampy wear hats and take a picture with her.

I hope to have some video of her dancing soon to post, as well as several other songs that she can sing. She is establishing quite a repetoire and will probably soon be singing in shows at Disneyland because of her liking for princess ballads!!! I also hope to have a post from Matt soon telling you all about his new job and how it is going after the first 2 months or so.

Because Matt isn’t going to be traveling as much this season, we probably won’t be getting out to see everyone as much as we’d like, but we are thinking of you all and hoping that things are going well for you during these difficult times. Take care!!!!

MLB Mama

Ahoy to everyone!

Braelyn’s 3rd Birthday party was a success this weekend :)  The pirate theme was fun to work with from the decorations, food and even a costume (exclusively from Disneyland!) for Braelyn.  We kept it simple for the menu; buccaneer burgers and gold (chicken) nuggets, cannon balls (grapes), peg leg veggies (carrot & celery sticks) and a variety of crackers and dips.  We had a cupcake cake made to look like water and sand and then I added her Backyardigans pirate ship bath toy and some gold coins, palm trees, and other characters to dress it up.  Braelyn even ate some frosting off of one of the cupcakes (although not the cupcake itself) which we were surprised about as she is NOT one for eating sweets.  Our backyard is PERFECT for these types of occasions and we put out her easel, sand/water table and Matt’s ping pong table.  We rented a Pirates of the Caribbean bounce house for the whole day and Braelyn was in it precisely at 8AM when it was delivered and didn’t get out until 5PM when they took it away.  She invited various members of the family to jump with her so I think the adults enjoyed it too!!  We had pirate balloons and streamers, various pirate cartoon character decorations and even made some “food islands” out of fruits (cantaloupe) and veggies (carrots and bell peppers).  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and Braelyn complimented my decorations several times telling me they were “beautiful” and asking me if I “did this all by yourself?”  I did wear myself out with all of the planning and executing though and Sunday did NOTHING but take a long nap and rest :)  Thanks to all of you that made it out and helped us to celebrate.  For those of you that we missed, here are some FABULOUS pictures that can help you see how much fun we had.  I will be taking a party planning break until next year when she turns 4 - - YIKES!!!

Love to you all,

MLB Mama

So, my blog post doesn’t really have a theme this time around, other than to show off how AWESOME our family is!!! LOL

Braelyn started swim class again and this time, Uncle Chris is her private instructor.  She LOVES going to class and is really happy to see Chris every week and kick her feet, wear goggles and splash around for 1/2 an hour.  Mom likes it too because it seems to tire her out and make her naps last longer!

Braelyn has really been into writing and drawing lately and she has perfected the drawing of faces; happy, mad or scared with big eyes and “crazy hair”.  She will draw faces over and over on her easel, pads of paper and her chalkboard.  I thought everyone might like to see one of the samples that she drew especially for me with NO help!

I also wanted to show everyone how she can write her name (with some help from mom!).  She is definitely right handed which is strange to Matt and I, both being lefties!

This week we took some family pictures and any of you that have ever tried to photograph Braelyn know what an experience it can be getting her to stay still, look at the camera & smile nicely all at the same time.  So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when the pictures turned out WONDERFULLY!  Here are 2 of my favorites:

We here in AZ hope that you have a wonderful rest of your weekend and enjoy the upcoming week.  We will have another post soon detailing all of the 3rd Birthday festivities for those of you that won’t be able to be here with us.  It should be a lot of fun!

Love Always,

MLB Mama

Yesterday we did our first local event for The Canine Liver Disease Foundation as we participated in the 1st Annual PetsMart Walk for Charity. We wore our CLDF logo shirts and walked 3 miles around Tempe Town Lake. Braelyn was in heaven as she got to pet the dogs of all shapes and sizes. We hope to be active in more events like these to raise awareness for our group and Canine Liver Disease.

Me, B & Dad before the walk

Chris with Sydney

Justin with Roxy

Our tired walker

Please help us spread the word about Canine Liver Disease! If there are events in your area that you would like to participate in the name of our foundation, please contact Lisa at: lisahillerysmith@cox.net