Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Well, not so much a ballgame yet, but at least the ball field!  

In Spring 2010, Tim and I (heavily pregnant) were sitting in our birthing class, full of anticipation as we prepared to make our family of two into a family of three. I fully remember our instructor, by way of an icebreaker, asking all of us in the class to share which activities we were most looking forward to doing with our children in the future. I remember the excitement on Tim's face as he answered, "Baseball. I can't wait to watch my son play baseball."

So it was heartbreaking when we got Will's diagnosis of Sanfilippo Syndrome and realized that t-ball and Little League might not be in Will's future. 

Fortunately, just a few weeks ago, I came across Miracle League Houston an adaptive sports program which allows special needs children to experience the joy and benefits that come from being part of a team. We were overjoyed; Will was going to get to play baseball!

Today Will got to get his first baseball uniform and got to practice on the amazing J.E. and L.E. Mabee Adaptive Sports Complex, Houston’s first Adaptive Sports Complex. We are so excited that he gets to participate in this and show his WILLPower out on the field!

Here's the newest member of the Houston Miracle League's Cubs!

     

Number 3 is ready to play!  Let's go!

On the pitcher's mound and playing catch with Daddy!

     

Little Sister even got in on the action!

A celebration pizza lunch after a great morning!

We can't wait to share the rest of baseball season,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

And We Have A Kindergartner!

It's hard to believe, but our sweet baby is already a kindergartner!  He started school this week and I am happy to say that he is doing well and blessed to be surrounded by a supportive and caring faculty and staff.  

At Meet the Teacher!  We are going to miss his preschool faculty and friends, but are so glad that Ms. H, Ms. P, and Ms. S are already so in love in with him!  It means so much to have faculty and staff who are willing to learn about and work with a child with a rare disease.  

"Momma, why are you waking me up so early?"

"Wait, I get to go back to school today?  I go to kindergarten?  I up!"

Here we go!  He also said he wants to be an engineer at Anadarko when he grows up, just like Daddy!

Getting on the bus!

So excited to start his day!

And there he goes!

Was so nice to get to go to a Boo Hoo breakfast with our friends.  Little Sister and all the other little siblings were missing their big brothers and sisters!

Home after an exciting first day!

     

A tired, but happy, kindergartener.  Hoping for many more wonderful first days of school!

 And here he is celebrating the first full week of school!  Wooo!

It was a fun and wonderful week, but it's still a bit difficult.  It's hard, all milestones are, because everything is different than we dreamed it would be. But it's still a precious memory and we are so proud of our sweet boy.

Good night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Doughnut Day!

After being a pizza chef last month, Little Buddy got the opportunity to do some more cooking this month...this time as a pastry chef making doughnuts!  Our friends at Glazed, the Doughnut Cafe heard Little Buddy's story and invited him down to design his own doughnut.  He was very excited!

Ready to go!

The doughnut designer hard at work!

Little Sister getting in on the action too!

First step, purple icing...

Then drizzle some chocolate "W" all over...

Chocolate chips are a must...

(for decorating and for eating)

Finish up with some sprinkles for color...

(eat some of those too)

    

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make a doughnut with WILLPower!

So happy!

Thank you again to the team at Glazed for this opportunity!

  #TheWILL will be on sale for the next three months at Glazed, with proceeds going to the Cure Sanfilippo Foundation.  If you are in the Houston area, check it out!

Have a great night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Engineer for a Day

There are certain things you know that kids dream of doing:  meeting their favorite sports figure, going to Disney World, eating more ice cream than should be humanly possible.  These are all similar to Little Buddy's dreams, but he also had one more.  One other dream that he has been telling us for years that he desperately wanted to do:  Go be an engineer with his Daddy.

Thankfully, we got to make that one come true today.  Daddy got special permission to take Little Buddy in for a half day of work and our boy couldn't have been more excited!

     

Wearing his new Anadarko polo and carrying his Anadarko work bag as I drop him off to Daddy this morning!

     

Checking out his office and getting ready to work!

     

     

A long morning of engineering with Daddy!  I think he would go every day if he could!

Waiting for Momma and Little Sister to pick him and Daddy up for lunch!  Being an engineer works up quite the appetite!

Little Buddy had a great day making one of his dreams come true.  Everyone was so kind to him and his joy at being with his Daddy was infectious.  We continue to pray that one day Little Buddy will actually be able to realize his dream and be an engineer!  Or whatever he wants to be!

Good night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Sometimes Wishes Do Come True: Animal Kingdom and Last Day

For our last park day, we headed into the Animal Kingdom!  I think The Lion King show and the character lunch were the highlights of our visit here!

Walking into Animal Kingdom!  Little Buddy immediately loved seeing the tree!

Here comes our Safari truck!

Ready to go on our Safari!

Not all of our pictures came out well, but we loved seeing all of the animals!

We were starting to get hungry and headed over to our last character lunch of the week, hoping to find the elusive Daisy Duck!

     

Loved this character lunch, especially because we...

     

...we finally found DAISY!  These two couldn't keep their eyes off of her!

     

Here's Donald!

     

Kisses for Mickey's nose!

     

Little Sister was also a big fan of the desserts!

     

     

     

They were fascinated by this cannon in Animal Kingdom!

Climbing elephant statues!

Hugs and high fives from Chip and Dale!

It was starting to get hot, so we looked for ways to stay cool!  Water toys, fountains, and rides were in our future!

     

Little Sweetie is hot, but at least looks cool in her new hat!

Working hard to stay cool!

     

Now she's really cool!  Thank goodness for fountains!

Momma and Little Buddy rafting the rapids!

Drumming on some drums!

After all the drumming, we decided that some more music and a show were in order.  Time for The Lion King!

     

They loved The Lion King show!

The Tree of Life.

Checking out the Tree of Life...right before Daddy got stung by a bee!  :(  I guess we are just lucky that it was our only injury of the trip!

We got rained out!  Time to go back to the Villa!

Checking out Little Buddy's crazy tan lines!

It was almost time for bed when we heard a knock...let's see if we have time for one more surprise!

It's Mayor Clayton, Mayor of Give Kids the World Village!

Celebrated our last night at Give Kids the World by having Mayor Clayton himself come tuck the kids in!  Little Sister was a bit frightened at first, but quickly warmed up!

     

     

     

     

     

Horse back riding for both kiddos on our last day at Give Kids the World!

Playing on the Candyland playground before we catch our flight!  What a magical week!

I can't believe it's over.  In fact, I can't believe it even happened.  I am so glad we got to share this week together as a family.  No matter what happens in the future, we will always have these memories and nothing can ever take that away from us.  We loved our trip, hated why we got to have it, but we loved the trip.  And we will keep making memories together, because sharing our love and joy is what matters!

This face.  I will do anything to keep it smiling just like this.

With wishes for the future, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma