Game Ball

Fresh from Casey's blackberry, here is Andrew with the game ball.

Just Another Saturday

Yardwork, Wii, baseball... just another Saturday at the Hammond house. This week Andrew went 3-3 with 2 RBI and 1 run, and had an unassisted put out at 3rd base. He was awarded the game ball. Way to go Andrew!



Christian loves his blankie.




He walks around all day like a little Linus, dragging his blankie with him.




We usually don't let him take it out of the house with him in order to preserve it, but the other day it had been a particularly tough day and we still had to go to Andrew's baseball game in the evening. I relented and let him hang on to it, and of course that evening it got caught on the stroller and ripped. I felt sick to my stomach.




But at least for now, it's true love.



Today also marks Mary's 6 week birthday. I can't believe she is already such a big baby.



It feels like just minutes ago that she was born.





She's huge, over 12 lbs, and at 6 weeks is already completely out of newborn clothes and is into 3-6 month clothes.



The kids love her, especially Willa. She's a very proud big sister.



And of course no Saturday would be complete without a little Wii.

Mary Claire

Mary Claire was born on March 28. She was a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches long. To put that in perspective, that's more than 3 pounds and 3 1/2 inches bigger than Willa was at birth! Thank goodness I convinced my doctor to induce me at 39 weeks, otherwise she would have surely been over 10 pounds. She is healthy and continues to grow like a weed, even faster than Andrew who has always been very big for his age. I can't believe she's almost a month old already!

Park Day

One day before my mom left the sun came out and we took the kids to the park. They were so excited to be outside! Especially Christian, who has never played at the park before. This was our first time to go this year, and last summer he couldn't even crawl yet so he spent all his time at the park in the stroller. He got the hang of it pretty fast.

Baseball

It's baseball season again! Andrew has graduated from the tee this year and is playing single A ball, which means they use a pitching machine. We got him his own bat and batting gloves this year, which he's more than a little proud of. So far he's only played 1 game, though, because all the others have been rained out. Hopefully we'll dry out soon so he can get more time on the field!

Birthday Week

Birthday Week is always exciting at our house, with Casey, Andrew, and me all celebrating our big days within 5 days of each other. This year was extra exciting, as we were sure that we'd be adding another birthday during the same week. Sadly, we did not, but that's a story for another post.

Casey is first. He's 34 this year. We just had a little party at home for him, since for the 2nd year in a row I'm not really in the party planning mode. And for all of you who know Casey, you know how much it disappoints him to not have a big party with all our friends. Maybe next year.

The kids are always helpful with opening the presents.



The boys. They won't outnumber us for long!



Notice Willa's very concerned face -- I think she thought the cake was going to catch fire!



Andrew was next. He turned 7 this year. It's hard to believe he's getting so old! He's such a big kid now. He's in 1st grade and just has no time for little kid stuff. He loves playing Wii with Casey, reads like a 4th grader, hates doing homework, and regularly gets in trouble for staying up in bed reading or folding origami. Most of the time he gets along with his little brother and sister really well, and they light up when he gets home from school. Life is a lot more fun when Andrew is around!




Andrew is pretty mellow about things like parties, which is good because there is no way I was going to plan one this year! As long as he got to go to dinner and Friendly's and open all his presents he was good to go.




And have a blue cake, of course.




Incidentally, anytime we're in the kitchen this is what our little monster is up to: opening every cupboard and drawer, throwing things in the trash (and sometimes taking them out, which is always a fun surprise), dumping things down the air vents, and generally making a nuisance of himself. Gotta love the toddler stage.




Andrew got his first bike for his birthday this year. He's so big the training wheels we got didn't fit the bike, which is just as well because he didn't need them anyway. He learned to ride by himself in about 15 minutes flat and now wants to spend all his time outside on his bike.





Being the little sister Willa is of course jealous and wants a bike more than anything for her 5 year old birthday in June. She has to be out on her trike whenever he's on his bike.



I always close out birthday week. This year was pretty anti-climatic because I was sure that I'd have a baby this week. See my excitement when it didn't happen? And yes, I'm huge and I'm miserable. I did get a massage and pedicure that day, so it takes the sting out of it a little.



Happy birthday to us!