I wanted to post a few pics from today. We are SO VERY GLAD to have Lance in town!!! LJ loves going to play ball with him wherever we can find some grass to hit on! The last pic is of he and I making cookies tonight. He got a bump on his head, and I figured cookies always make me feel better. Check him out with his spoon in the nutella jar! Ha!! Caught him :) Have a great weekend!

Here's a picture of our latest pool day. We've been waiting on the warm weather, and even though the water is cold, he's brave enough to tolerate it. If I can find a way to sit on the side, I'm taking it! The man throwing him is "Mr. Bob" He loves LJ! We have made some special friends here in California. We also have a friend, Ms. Julie who we enjoy being with at the pool.

Some images from the South Pasadena Farmer's Market. LJ & I scootered, (well, I walked/ran/shouted scooter etiquette suggestions, he scootered), to the train station and took it a few stops to the market. I love the different leaves and the sun was out....what a beautiful afternoon.

There was a balloon maker who made LJ a Magic Wand. He told me he was going to make me disappear! No such luck, my boy! :) The scooter rules are seemingly neurotic to him, but I'm seriously just trying to keep him around. No disappearing for me, or him. Before we headed home, we got a yogurt - that's the big pink cup. It's one of those places you make your own, add your toppings then weigh. I got 3 different kinds of yogurt and 4 toppings. LJ got a small amount of plain vanilla. Who is this kid??

Here he is on his scooter, playing maracas with the band and eating some berries from a local farmer. We will be back! (Even though, we paid a pretty penny for the berries...in one dollar coins - our only change from the train station.) I feel we were "had" in both places (market and train). Paying too much for transportation and fruit is a part of it, I guess. You live, you learn...and you go back! More pics to come! Lance is home for almost a whole week, so I"ll make sure to snap some of his time here :)

Happy Mother's Day! I feel like my life began the day LJ was born. Real life. Life with the fullest meaning and fully outside of myself. I went into the hospital wondering if I'd love this little being as fully and unselfishly as people had promised I would. I was scared I might not, that I might be too selfish or insistent upon my sleep, schedule, and needs to fully feel what others experienced. Up until the moment he was out and in my arms, I wondered.

After that, immediately, is a different story all together. My heart opened in ways I can't explain, and even though I'd just met him, I'd die for him on the spot. I would have done anything, and I hadn't even seen his face. I had a few problems after I had him, so they wouldn't let him stay in my room. Every 2 and a half hours, a bright light would shine as the door opened, and I'd think, "I've been waiting for you". My tired eyes had been on the clock, waiting for them to bring him back. Low blood counts, no rest, it already didn't matter. After the 3rd time, the face I'd just met became more familiar than mine or even Lance's. I remember thinking to myself, "I could pick you out of a hundred babies, over and over. They could change the line-up and I'd find you every time".

So, thus began motherhood for me. Before I knew it, it was rice cereal, then peaches, then grabbing little finger foods with thumb and pointer, ( then throwing them across the room). It was crawling and pulling up, knocking over and yelling "NO". Running away in anger, and running back for a hug. Big boy undies and big boy beds. It was bats and balls and letters and numbers. Mornings at school, nights at baseball games, skype sessions with Daddy and lots of moves. Hugs and tears, fatigue and pain, and joy beyond my ability to explain.

I am so thankful for him, for the chance to be his mom, for the joy he's brought and is bringing to my life. I'm thankful and filled with more understanding of my own mother than ever before. The moves she made where we found friends at school, and she was left home to make it a haven. The meals she placed before us, the plates she picked up and cleaned, the clothes that were perfectly pressed, the house that was magically spotless when we returned home. I understand the love she felt for us and why she did it. I also understand the loneliness she must have felt when she was in a new place, alone, with a traveling husband and kids who had many friends before she met one. The anxiety she must have felt, dropping us off at a new place and then meeting a new group of mothers, trying to infiltrate and find a friend. It was a tireless, thankless job - one which we never really understood. I know now, that her love for us fueled her, and she'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I get it, and I appreciate it more than I can say.

So, on this Mother's Day, I wanted to sit and remember. Proverbs says, "May she who gave you birth be happy". DONE! My sweet husband is on the road (Friday can't come fast enough!), but my little charge(s) (Rookie boy, too!) are beside me here in our little apartment in California. Motherhood is the sweetest love one can imagine. I have a lot to be thankful for. Happy Mother's Day!

Need a smile? A hearty laugh? Click HERE - You're welcome! :)

Well, I forgot to mention in my last post that I got my new camera!!! I have been saving every penny I make to buy it, and I finally had enough...HOWEVER, my sweet husband bought it for me for Mother's Day! When you're a baseball player, I guess you don't have to save like a photographer, huh? I'll take it! Many more pictures to come...now just to decide what lens I should get with the $$$ I still have.... :)

P.S. Aren't these sweet pics of my boy? Playtime outside, and found be a flower in between jumps off the ledge. :)

Lance headed out to the east coast toady, leaving this sweet balloon behind. Between LJ & his nerf gun, it doesn't stand a chance. Hilarious! Look at that face as he's shooting! Happy Mother's Day weekend! Happy Mother's Day to our mothers, Me-Maw & Nana. We are so blessed to be yours! Love you!

We are still amazed by the destruction we see via photos of Tuscaloosa. It feels weird to be so far away, and we are doing all we can to help from afar. Lance has helped initiate some fundraising opportunities at Dodger Stadium via Salvation Army where 100% of all money donated will go to the areas affected by the tornadoes. After Lance brought up the idea of raising money, the Dodger PR staff put the events together. I am a true Dodger fan after seeing all they have done on behalf of those at home. Without the PR team, we'd be limited to something as small as Lance signing at our apartment pool!

On Sunday, Players and coaches donated their time to sign, sitting in the sun for an hour longer than already asked of them that day. Each person receiving an autograph was asked to give a donation of $5, but no one was turned away. A game costs enough already, but most were happy to help. In that hour alone, we raised $2600. Throughout this series, we are collecting money and school supplies at the gate and during the game, also via the Salvation Army and their volunteers. During each game, there is an option to text a $10 donation as a crowd to the Salvation Army. They are keeping track of those donations and ensure that they will also go directly to tornado relief.

Today, Lance has organized another signing that even more players have volunteered to do. We are HUMBLED by the support, by the ability of the PR team to put these things together, and the press showing up to help alert the public to giving opportunities. Via newspaper articles, TV interviews and plugs by Dodger tv/radio staff, there will be a sizeable contribution headed to the victims.

I just had to share - we couldn't have done anything NEARLY this great without the Dodger staff, and we will always be grateful. I'll wear a Dodger hat with pride! Click HERE to read a small article from the Dodgers site. I want to reiterate that we DO NOT deserve any credit here - the Dodger staff is the catalyst behind this, and they helped us follow our hearts by putting these things together!

Above, lines forming for the Salvation Army Autograph Event!