Myrtle Beach 2012

We had a great time at the beach.  The four of us plus Mom and Harry loaded up in the minivan and headed to North Myrtle Beach.  It was perfect weather, our condo was gorgeous and we had a fabulous time!  We hung out at the beach and pool all day and went out to eat at night.  We shopped, played mini golf, magiquest, ate ice cream, went on a dolphin cruise and more.  What's not to like about vacation?

Here are some photos.  Lyla was pretending to be a swimsuit model apparently.

Can't wait to see the ocean again next year!



Ten

Today my sweet boy turns TEN.  I mean where did the time go??  Just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with him.  How could I have already been a mom for 10 years? 

I prayed for this child.  I have something called PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and getting pregnant does not come easily.  I took fertility treatments (not too invasive, thank goodness) and became pregnant after trying for 15 months.  Fifteen long months of disappoint and one miscarriage in between.  I still remember the day I found out I was pregnant with Kyle sooo vividly.  I can still see myself jumping up and down in the bathroom saying over and over "there are 2 lines, there are 2 lines".  My pregnancy with him was fairly uneventful until right up at the end I was induced due to high blood pressure.  On July 7, 2002 our lives were forever changed.  We had son. A SON.  I said it over and over to make myself believe it.  After all the heartbreak and fear that I would never become a mom, I had a son. 

Oh how I love this boy.  I think it is definitely true about about a mother's bond with her son.  Kyle and I have a special relationship and we are so close.  He is an amazing child.  He is smart, funny, cute, and a lot like his dad and I mixed together.  To me he is perfect, the child who made my dreams of a mother come true. 

He has given us so much joy over these last ten years.  He was the most well behaved toddler in the history of the world, no kidding.  So good it was almost odd.  He has been a good student in school, and when he was almost six he became the most amazing big brother.  He loves Lyla so much and protects her so fiercely that it warms my heart to watch them.  He loves all of his family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, everyone.  They are clearly so importan to him. When he was 8 he got into a freezing cold pond with his Poppy and publicly professed his love for Jesus and got baptized. He has such a caring, loving heart.  I look forward to watching him grow into a young man.  I can't believe how quickly these 10 year have flown by.  I wish time would slow down so he can be my little boy forever.

Happy 10th birthday Kyle!  I love you more than you will ever know!

Reds

So, our almost 10 year old son has FINALLY decided he likes baseball.  I mean it's about time, right??  It is literally in his blood, how could he not like it?  But for 9 long years, he had NO interest in the game.  This spring, for some reason, it is like a switch flipped.  Literally overnight, the boy took an interest in both of his parents favorite sport.  He wanted a glove and wanted to start throwing in the back yard with Chris.  He started watching games with us on t.v and literally asking a bazillion questions wanting to know every rule of the game.  It is a good thing I know a lot about baseball because he asks random rule questions several times throughout the day. We don't really know why it happened, but we sure are glad it did!

So his Poppy, my dad, loves his Cincinatti Reds.  Always has, always will.  I grew up going to Reds games on my dad's days off, and was fortunate enough when I was in high school to attend the World Series the last time the Reds won it in 1990.  When I met Chris he was living up in New York and we attended a Yankees game together on one our first dates.  He played the sport all the way through college and coaches today.  I mean we LOVE baseball people.  And this summer, so does Kyle. 

We are going to visit my father-in-law in Michigan in August and he so kindly got us tickets to the Detroit Tigers games vs. the Yankees.  I am super excited about that!!  But upon this revelation I realized now that Kyle loves baseball, his first major league game MUST be the Reds, not the Tigers.  So I hurried up and bought us some tickets to the Reds, for like the next day.  I mean no need to wait, right??  We had sooo much fun!  Lyla loved it too, though she never has had any trouble enjoying sports.  She is our little athlete of the family.  She was super excited to learn "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" though. 

Kyle really loved it and I was so excited that he did! This photo of Lyla was pre-Joey Votto T-shirt purchase.  She insisted on having one because Kyle and both did.  She shares my love of T-shirts so she will get her money's worth out it. 

After the game was Fireworks Friday and I must say they were amazing!!  My dad says they are known as the best in the major leagues and I believe him cause they were awesome!  Kyle got his Nana to take him to the gift shop after the game where she bought him his first Reds hat.  It ended up coming in handy because 2 days later he talked his Aunt Kylee into giving him her ticket and he was off the Reds game again with his Poppy.  So he went from zero major league games to going to 2 in three days!  And come August he gets to go to his 2nd stadium.  Lucky boy! 

In keeping with our Reds themed post thought I would tack on some pictures of the awesome Reds basket my sisters and I made Dad for Father's Day.