Baseball, Playground, and Puppy!!

Caleb had his first Miracle League baseball game of the fall season yesterday.  His buddy Jacob is playing too, although on a different team.  Caleb was so excited to be playing baseball again.  I'm still not convinced that he has any clue what baseball is about but he loves to hit the ball and run the bases.  And I guess that is all you really need to know.

Caleb and Jacob

Caleb had to warm up that arm before the game, so he and daddy threw the ball back and forth for a few minutes.

Love this picture

Caleb was one of the first kids to bat.

Of course, he knocked this ball right out of the park and then made a quick run to 1st base!

Waiting patiently at 2nd base.

And running to home plate!

While bubba was busy playing ball, Benjamin had to find some fun of his own.

I'm pretty sure he shouldn't be touching this huge piece of construction machinery...but oh well.  He kept asking me for the keys so he could turn it on!

After the game we took the boys to the all-accessible playground by the baseball fields.  

All-in-all, a good fun-filled Saturday morning.

And, as if baseball and the park wasn't enough fun for one day, we got this little lady yesterday too....

So precious right?  We aren't entirely sure what kind of dog she is, hopefully a vet will be able to give us a better idea.  All we know is she is cute, sweet, pees all the time, and the boys LOVE her.  They. Love. Her.  Her name is Izzy.

Puppies are kinda like newborn babies in some ways.  Izzy doesn't sleep through the night.  She is really alert and playful for about 15 minutes at a time and then she needs a nap.  Did I mention she pees a lot?  I admit to having a moment of panic after Glenn brought her home.  A moment where I asked myself:  "What have we done?  Why in the world did we just get a PUPPY!?"  But she's so cute that it is hard not to love her and the boys are totally smitten with Izzy.  They will not/can not leave her alone.  Poor Izzy can't even get a decent nap in because the boys can't keep their hands off of her.  Truly, having a puppy hasn't been that stressful, it's the Kids + Puppy = STRESS.  We are constantly saying things like:

"Caleb get your finger off of her eye."

"Benjamin don't pick her up by her neck."

"Caleb leave her alone so she can eat please."

"Benjamin, she doesn't need your monster truck to play with."

I know that once we have had Izzy awhile the novelty will wear off and the boys will relax a bit...I hope.

He Loves Her.

Sweet baby girl fell asleep in my arms. Ahhh.

Last game of the season

Caleb had his last Miracle League baseball game yesterday.  He has really enjoyed playing baseball this season.  We are so thankful for the Miracle League and the fact that this even exists for Caleb and other kids.  It's impossible to watch these kids play baseball with the biggest smiles you have ever seen and not feel a bit emotional.  They are truly enjoying such a simple pleasure and it means the world to them and to their families.

Hangin' in the outfield.  It was a bit toasty yesterday so Caleb managed to find a small bit of shade to park his chair in.

(I love the fun things I can do with photo editing)

Benjamin helped by putting all the balls back into the bucket.

Having some fun in the play area.  Benjamin isn't much for sitting and just watching Bubba play baseball so we have to find other ways to keep him busy.

I seriously can not believe how big this child is.  He seems taller every single day.  I can't believe my precious baby is going to be SIX years old in August.

For every game the team has one "Grand Slam Home Run Hitter" and that child gets to bat last and score a home run for the team.  Caleb got to be the home run hitter yesterday.

Here is a video of him strolling past 3rd and heading to Home plate.

 

I love how he is taking his sweet time and then suddenly decides to start sprinting as he gets closer to home.

 

Most of you on Facebook know that we had a bit of a  shunt scare yesterday afternoon.  Caleb had been complaining of headaches for a couple of days and he would just want to lie on the couch when his head was hurting.  So we called the neuro and he said to bring him in.  Turns out everything is fine, thankfully.  Whew!  I really thought Caleb was facing another shunt revision.  With shunts you just never know if a headache is just a headache or if it something to be concerned about.  I just don't take chances when it comes to Caleb's brain and I figure it's better to take him in just to be sure and to have the peace of mind.  Caleb did amazing at the ER too, didn't get upset over the CT scan or shunt series.  He even stayed calm when they took his blood pressure which really surprised me considering how much he HATES to have his blood pressure taken.  Caleb has been poked and prodded, has had so many IV's, tests, scans, hospitalizations, etc...and somehow his biggest fear is the blood pressure cuff!  But he was a trooper the entire time.  So proud of how well he handled everything.

So thank you for all the prayers and encouraging words on FB yesterday.

Ketchup Blogging

So I'm doing some Ketchup ("Catch-up") Blogging.  Hehe, get it?  Clever right?  I wish I could say that I'm so witty that I thought of this on my own but I actually saw another mom do it on her blog.  I thought it was a cute way to say "Hey, I'm a little behind on my blogging so I'm playing ketchup!"  And this happens to be the ketchup I buy in case you are interested.  Anywho, let's get to the good stuff.

A couple of weeks ago Caleb saw a commercial for an airplane show in our area.  He immediately said that he wanted to go.  This surprised me because he knew that the airplanes would be very loud but he wanted to go anyway (although he made sure we took his headphones with us).

So, last weekend we took the boys to the Air Power Expo which was on a local military reserve base so it was all military planes and helicopters.  The boys were so excited and I kinda was too.

There were dozens and dozens of planes out for the public to see.  This was the first plane we saw when we came in the gate.  It was HUGE.

Caleb had so much fun.  He was all over the place looking at the planes.  There were so many to look at that he didn't know which way to go.

Hey, who is that with Caleb?  Oh wait, that's me!  I actually made it into a picture!  It's a miracle!

Caleb almost had a fit (the good kind) over this car.  He loves NASCAR and was so excited to see one up close. (his excitement is not represented well in this photo-but I promise the boy was excited)

Caleb got to see the cockpit of a plane.  And he got to talk to a couple of pilots.  It was after this picture that Glenn started thinking about joining the Air Force.  I told him that he was too old.

This is "Fat Albert".  It wasn't easy to get pictures of the planes as they were flying...they are kinda fast. 

The Blue Angels.  

Oh my, these planes are so fast that you had no idea they were anywhere near you until they were flying over your head!  They totally sneak up on you.  These were Caleb's favorite.

Watching the Blue Angels.  Notice all the dirt on his hands and arms, from his wheelchair.  It's amazing how dirty those wheels can get and therefore how dirty his hands and arms get as well.

(No, we did not get any compensation from Dasani Bottled water for advertising their product in this picture)

So you are probably wondering "Where is Benjamin"??  He was there, chillin' in the stroller for most of the day.

He seemed to enjoy the air show as well.  He is still talking about the planes and the "smoke" that came out of them.  Both boys (mom and dad too) had a great time at the air show.

Finally, here are a few pictures from Caleb's baseball game this morning.

Father and son.

Love this picture.  

Love that the rock Caleb is sitting on has "Miracle Makers" etched into it.

MeMe came to watch Caleb play today. 

No idea what he is doing here.

And the best picture of the morning...

yep.

This is the reaction you get when you try to get Benjamin to sit on a rock for a nice "brotherly" photo.  I guess he wasn't feeling very "brotherly".  And look at Caleb's face, he's thinking "What is wrong with this kid?  Why do mom and dad insist on trying to get him in pictures?"

Hope you enjoyed ketching up with us!  :)

Spring Baseball

 Caleb started the Spring Season of baseball through the Miracle League yesterday.  He was so excited about starting up with baseball again.

Caleb's team, The Pirates, started in the outfield.  The games are very relaxed, non-competitive.  The purpose  is to allow kids that wouldn't otherwise be able to, the opportunity to play baseball.  Something so simple brings all of these kids so much joy for an hour each Saturday.

Caleb up at bat.

Caleb did great!  He used his walker the entire game.  Last fall he was only able to use his walker about half of the game before his legs were tired and he wanted his chair.  I really saw how his endurance has increased in recent months.  I was amazed.

Caleb's friend Ethan is on his team this year.

Benjamin was kept busy by Gammy and Grandpa Al, or rather Gammy and Grandpa Al were kept busy by Benjamin.  It was nice having them at the game to entertain Benjamin so that I could watch Caleb play.

I know many of you saw this video on Facebook but just in case some of you missed it, I thought I would post it here.  This is a quick video of Caleb RUNNING to first base yesterday.  Not only has his endurance increased but so has his speed!

So proud of that little booger.

Year in Review

A quick recap of 2010 in the McLelland Family...

January

Caleb begins to make some serious progress walking with his AFO's

February

Texas got some serious SNOW!!

Caleb raised money for the local SB chapter with the Bowl-a-Thon

March

Benjamin had a bunny encounter at the SB Easter Picnic

We had a vocabulary lesson and I wrote a letter.

April

 Caleb is a hero

 Caleb hits the pool

Benjamin makes a basket

May

 Benjamin's personality shines through

Gorgeous photos

June

18 months and still droolin'

 and we learned that sometimes 

Spina Bifida Sucks

July

 Brothers have fun together

Caleb raises $575 for Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida

August

Caleb started KINDERGARTEN!

September

Caleb plays ball

and I'm not perfect

 October

We met the Faces of Spina Bifida all month long

 and

Mario and Luigi take over Halloween

November

 Family Camp baby!

December

Our first Advent Adventure

Benjamin turns 2!

Well, maybe that wasn't such a quick review after all!  It's hard to sum up an entire year!

Here's to 2011! 

Can't wait to see what the New Year brings.

For me, a new year, means a new blog.  Yep, I started a new blog a couple of days ago.  Not sure what I am thinking!  It is very different from this blog, it's not centered around my kids, or Spina Bifida, or my life as a mom and wife.  It is more about my faith.  For those of you that are interested...feel free to hop on over and check it out.  It's still a work in progress but it is up and running...sorta :)