I Need a Maid

I love to watch shows like Clean House and Clean Sweep. I always hope that they will inspire me to get my own mess in order and do some re-decorating, but usually I am so tired from watching them deal with other people's clutter I can't muster the energy to do my own. If I do start, I usually get too frustrated with all of our crap that I put it all back in hiding to deal with it another day.

That being said, I told Austin today that after school we were going to clean up this house because it is M-E-S-S-Y. Austin said we needed to have Clean House come to our house and clean it. I asked him if we should call. He said "but mommy, they said that you have to live in the Los Angeles area". So I asked him where we live.

"Hokahoma".

Sorry Clean House, we live in Hokahoma and can't be on your show.

Feed Me, I'm Hungry

Aubrey is patiently waiting for mommy to feed her. How cute is this picture?!

Oh The Places I Can Go!

These days I can be found...

under Austin's art table,

on top of the end tables,

hiding in Mommy's closet,

Or under the coffee table.

I can even pull up and see what is on top of the coffee table, what fun I am having!

Put Me In Coach...

I'm ready to play.

We went to a college baseball game today, Austin enjoyed being able to look in the dugout and watch the "real players!". One even gave Austin a baseball. When he wasn't watching the players or the game, he was playing catch with his friend and the friends he made at the ball park. He is addicted to baseball...

Shadows

Brian often calls Austin his little shadow, mostly because where daddy goes, Austin goes. Austin has taken that to mean that they share the same shadow.

Same thing...

Imaginary Friends

Austin has two imaginary friends, Peetee and Pookoo. I have always heard that imaginary friends are a sign of intelligence (in childhood anyway, it is a whole other issue if we have them as adults!). I don't know if the sign of intelligence thing is true or not, but I choose to believe it as I had an imaginary friend when I was little too. She lived in corners. I wonder whatever happened to her...

Austin's friends are around his age we think, although this changes every time we ask about them. Sometimes they are little and can fit in his hand, and sometimes they are as tall as Austin so he can play baseball with them. We are not sure where he got the names for his friends, or when they became a part of his life for that matter. We know they have been around for several months, I am pretty sure before Aubrey was born. Peetee and Pookoo can be pretty ornery little friends, they have often messed up his room and lost his toys. They have been known to spill Austin's drink and have been blamed for Austin's bodily functions. Since Aubrey has been here he has not talked about them near as much. I wonder if it is a coincidence that now Aubrey is the one who loses his toys and messes up his room. Hmmmm...how convenient.

Red Sox Baseball

Austin at about 6 months old decked out in Red Sox attire

Well, it is officially baseball season again. Red Sox opening day is like a holiday in this house. Brian plans for it for days and takes off of work if at all possible, to see the first game. Unfortunately this year's opening day for the Red Sox was at 5am as they were playing in Japan. I did not partake in the festivities. Poor Brian had to go it alone. That is just asking too much from me, I am not that addicted yet.

Baseball is a huge part of our family. Brian has been a Red Sox fan for as long as he can remember, and becomes more obsessed and 'crazy' about them as each season ends. If you want to understand it at all, watch Fever Pitch. The guy in that movie is Brian to-a-T. He has passed his love for baseball on to Austin, who if given the choice, would play baseball over anything else. He spends his days and nights playing catch with himself if he can't get Brian or I to play with him. We dropped the ball last year about getting him signed up for little league with Aubrey on the way, but have vowed to sign him up this year. I can not wait. I think I am more excited than he is. So I am sure stories about his little league adventures will follow. Aubrey of course has no choice as well, it is mandatory to be a Sox fan to live in this house, and Brian is already checking into when she can start T-Ball.

My relationship with the Red Sox has been one of love/hate. In the first years of Brian and I's relationship, I truly did not understand the importance of Red Sox baseball to him. I thought, like most people, it was a past time, a hobby. Not so, it is his life (or at least a major part of it). Over the years, I have learned to love the game, and to love the players. During the 2003 season, I was pregnant with Austin. I was always so exhausted after work, I would veg in the recliner and watch the games through sleepy eyes. Brian would make cookies almost nightly, and we would eat one for every run the Sox scored. Boy, the high scoring games were awesome! No wonder I gained 60 pounds with that pregnancy! I look forward every year to our trips to Texas to watch the Red Sox play the Rangers. And in the mean time, we go to as many AAA games here as we can. I can recall becoming teary eyed on more than one occasion when one of my favorite players was traded. I celebrated with Brian when they won the world series. But I just don't think I felt it like he did. Brian says I have become addicted too. I think that is just his wish. I have to admit, I do enjoy watching a good game, or arguing with a Yankee fan. I have never been so mad as when a Yankee fan looked at Austin with his Red Sox gear on and told me we were committing child abuse. I have become used to the waves, nods and camaraderie that comes with being a Sox fan. It is rare that someone doesn't shout "Go Sox!" at us when we are wearing our "B" hats (they are called B hats because that is the first letter Austin learned, and he has always called his hat his B).

The 'hate' part comes into play when the Red Sox take precedence over every thing we do. We have to plan daily activities around the baseball schedule during the season. "We can't do that Deb, the Sox are playing at 1pm", or "We have to be home by at least the 4th inning", and even that kills him. Brian even joked that he planned our children's births so that they were born on off days. Thank goodness it worked out that way, I am not sure Brian would have been present at their births! By the end of the season, I am ready for it to be over. But the off season is long, and with each new opening day we are all excited with anticipation to the fun times we will be having throughout the season. I think overall, the Red Sox brings our family closer together.

Go Sox...

Aubrey with Mommy's "B" hat on