Always better when we're together

Wanna know how much I really hate the storm season? Enough that since my last post I pulled my kid out of preschool, loaded up my stuff, my kids, my dog and moved to Arizona! See ya later storms, I'm soaking up the sun now. Ok, ill explain. Nick underwent a shoulder surgery and instead of spending the several weeks of rehab apart from each other we decided to take advantage of the situation and come spend the time with him as a family.
I left Arkansas right in time for the flood.  My dad called the second day of our drive to tell me that my neighborhood was under 18 inches of water! I am smiling thinking about how perfect my timing was in leaving. We decided on a Sunday that I would bring the boys out and 8 days later we had housing taken care of, everything packed and loaded, and we were on the road. 
Thus far in Nick's career we feel like no matter what we do or where we go, whether it be major or minor, something somewhere is bound to go wrong.  We have dealt with it pretty well and have kind of learned to take it all in stride and expect the unexpected.  We were planning on having a little difficulty finding housing on such short notice, fully furnished, allows a dog, and a month by month lease.  Guess what? The first place we called said we could move in the next day.
So 8 days and a 19 hr drive later, we made it. No professional athlete ever wants to have surgery, but in every trial comes a blessing.  We expected months apart from each other and here we are spending the next two months together.  Its just always better when we're together. 

Stormy Season

I was chatting with a friend today and caught myself saying repeatedly how much I HATE the storm season.  I have always had a dislike for storms but it really got me thinking, do I really hate the storms or do I hate the storm season? Because of course the storm season is actually the front end of the baseball season which is a particularly "stormy" time for anyone married to a ball player.  You're either moving, saying goodbye to your husband, taking on single parenting, working an extra job to make ends meet or whatever on top of the emotions that come along with a new season.  I know for me even every day tasks become just a tad harder because I walk around with a chip on my shoulder always thinking how much easier it would be to do this if Nick were here. So is it the storms that I hate so much? or is it the stormy season? Because as I just mentioned, the storms wouldnt be all that bad if just Nick was here to sit through them with me.  Reminds me of the quote that says something like "its not waiting for the storms to pass but learning to dance in the rain."

Last year was a particularly long season for us.  Nick left in February and did not get to come home until almost November.  Drake was only 4 months old when he left and Mason was 3.  I was exhausted.  I could not wait until the day Nick got home so I could of all things, go grocery shopping BY MYSELF.  It was like therapy getting to spend a solid 30 minutes walking up and down the aisles of wal mart without handing out snacks, digging for binkies, singing songs, ect. Yet strangely, that last week before Nick got home I got really sad.  I was so excited to see him but finally realized after almost 8 months of single parenting I had not taken the time to enjoy this special time with my boys. Of course they might not remember it, but for that short time I was all they had.  They became my best friends, my playmates, my reason for getting up everyday and I had complained my way through eight months and not even realized how special that time would be looking back at it. 

So now, in another trying time of life, or I will now call it, the "storm season" I have realized that I really do need to take time to "dance in the rain."  Thank you Lord for this precious time with my boys. 

baby kittens

I took the boys to the local animal shelter to see a litter of baby kittens. Mason and Drake both got to hold them and Drake even made friends with a big cat.  Thought I'd share some pictures. It was a fun outing. 

I started this blog thinking that it would be a great way for people to follow us through the baseball season and keep up with where we were and how Nick was doing.  I designed it before we left for Spring Training and thought I would write regularly while we were there.  Of course in true baseball fashion, something unexpected had to come along and it happened to be that we were without internet from our apartment.  Not a huge deal, but did leave me unable to update my blog as I had wanted. 

We had a great time in Phoenix this year.  We were blessed with some really great neighbors and enjoyed spending time with our Padres friends.  Spring Training is the only time of the year that we get to reunite with all of the teammates and wives and families from years past and all get to hang out together and catch up.  It is so nice for our kids to get to play and for us wives to get to talk to the only people who can REALLY understand what we are talking about and going through.  I am so blessed by some of the women who are walking along side me in this journey.

We are officially in our 5th year with the Padres and looking forward to an exciting year. We only know one thing for sure and that is that God has BIG plans for us this year. We are welcoming the challenge.