Zoo Trip

Callie likes to hold the map. She watches a lot of Dora. We always have quite the stroller caravan.

They could have watched the monkeys for hours. Cade thought they were so funny.

And thanks Callie for your super cheesey cooperation.

I would be a little concerned too Em.

Cousin Time

We have to play with Em and Ally as much as possible. They will be moving to Colorado soon :(. Callie told me she is going with them. She just makes it up and they listen.

We love the Jost girls!

Baseball, Baseball, and More Baseball

Cade is so lucky to have so many adoring fans...

Cade's team isn't a typical team so they don't have typical games. They really just take turns batting and then field the rest of the time. Cade only pays attention when he bats. The rest of the time he is doing somersaults in the outfield or going out to visit all of his adoring fans. Callie likes to drag him back out to where he is supposed to be.

And then she likes to hang out a bit. She keeps telling us that it is her turn to bat. She can't wait to have a pink helmet and play baseball.

We try to get him to focus...

What a ham. He loves attention!

He is the sweetest little ball player ever.

We are so proud of our baby!

Can you tell?

Other teams take turns helping out with Cade's team. The lucky boy/girl that gets to help Cade always has their work cut out for them...

Come on Cade... Get back out there. (she is dressed for a wedding shower)

Callie decided if Cade wasn't going to play with Coleman, she would!

Team pic with The Dodgers

And he's thirsty!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Callie was in trouble for something... that is why the big bottom lip is out. Cade is letting her know that it's OK.

He loves her to the moon and back.

Our Little Slugger

Cade needs quite a bit of help with just about every aspect of baseball. Shane is perfect for the job because he played baseball through high school and he really enjoys doing this with Cade. There is a wide variety of disabilities with the other kids on the team and they love Shane and Shane sure does get a kick out of them. Shane helps pitch sometimes too which means the unathletic mama has to get out there and help out Cade.

My Baby Boy

I remember staring at a sonogram screen at our first glimpse of our baby and looking at the unbelievable little body growing inside me. And then we heard "It's a Boy!" and of course we were thrilled. We couldn't wait to see him grow up. Shane and I instantly pictured a tough and rowdy little boy that would no doubt give us trouble just like Brad Paisley so sweetly sings in his "Anything Like Me" song. We thought of all of our days ahead... Saturday morning soccer games, little league baseball and high school football games because we just knew he was going to be a little athlete. This is the day we found out we would be having a little boy... Well when our Cadester was born, he wasn't quite what we expected. In fact, it soon became apparent that the boy we hoped would be a little star may not even be able to walk. When you are told you have a special needs child you can't help but feel robbed of a lot of little things in addition to a mountain of concerns. We worked and worked with therapists and finally when Cade was 2 years and 3 months old, he took his first steps. I am so proud of everything Cade accomplishes because I know how much harder he has to work at everything. I was so excited to hear that the New Braunfels Little League has a little baseball team for special needs children ages 5-12. They are the Angels. We couldn't wait to see what Cade would think of baseball. When we put that little uniform on Cade, I couldn't help but cry.

He loves baseball! He can't throw, he can't bat and he can barely run but it is the cutest thing in the world to watch. He loves to wear his hat and run around the bases. He loves giving high fives to his teammates. He is usually wandering around the outfield, doing somersaults, or visiting us in the stands to give us kisses. I don't think that Coach Jon, the man behind it all, realizes what an Angel he is to me. Such a little thing that we thought we would never see now entertains us every Thursday and Saturday. Thank God for such amazingly thoughtful people.

Happy Birthday Grandpa (And Liz!!)

We had a nice little seafood feast for my dad's 53rd birthday.

We just had to switch the candles around and we sang happy birthday to Liz as well.

We were taking good care of our babies.

One Talented Grandpa

I have been shopping for picnic tables for awhile and I found them all to be too expensive. My parents don't have enough seating out on the deck when we are all together. I remembered my brother Travis built a picnic table in middle school shop class. How hard could it be? I googled some simple little plans and presented them to Rog. He used to build houses, surely he could build a picnic table. He dislikes doing these little "trinkety" things but I talked him into it, on his birthday no less. He eventually got pretty excited about the idea. He got the wood from these palates he already had and spent next to nothing building a table in about 2 hours. Cade has to be the little helper...

And don't all these cute little faces make it look adorable? They LOVE their table and Amy, Robyn and I have informed him we will need 3 more.

And all on his own, in his crappy handwriting, he designated a spot for each kid. He even included the little girl that will never get to sit at her Grandpa's table.

My kids are very blessed in the Grandparent department!