big game tonight!

Jack may be asleep before the first pitch but he will be dreaming of the Yankees creaming the Red Sox tonight. We'll let him watch the highlights tomorrow.

take me out to the ball game

We all went to an Orioles spring training game on Sunday!
Jack really enjoyed his first baseball game and then he was so overwhelmed with excitement, he had to take a nap. Luckily we took pictures in the first 5 minutes we were there because that is pretty much the only time he was awake.

The weather was perfect and it made me wish we could go to more games but once the regular season starts, it is way too hot to sit at a stadium here in Miami. So, we have to enjoy Spring Training while we can.

now batting for the yankees.....jps!

Onesie courtesy of Jack's cousin Jennifer. It's never too early to get ready for your first picture in Yankees uniform. Too bad the hat he got from his Grandma Spuches is still way too big (Jack has a pea-head like his mama) but I still will try to take a picture of him wearing it.

streeeeeeetch

For weeks now, I have goten used to many kicks and punches and squirm-arounds by Kumar but this morning I felt something completely different.
I was woken from a dead sleep by the feeling that he was pushing his way out, through my belly. I have heard about this happening but had not experienced it before and it was really kind of....creepy.
But now I want him to do it again.

Seems he has heard my call for him to be a Hall of Fame pitcher and he is warming up for this move:




Or perhaps he will be a first baseman and is practicing this one:


Yeah. That's probably it.

garden state

I leave in the morning for NJ to spend the weekend with the family. Tomorrow will be my niece, Jennifer's graduation party and Sunday is a birthday party for niece and nephew Morgan and Connor.

It will be a full weekend but it will be so good to see everyone after such a long time. My parents are actually picking me up from the airport and I haven't seen them since they were here (in February? March? how time flies...) and I think my brother is going to be there tomorrow and I haven't seen him since Christmas so it will be a really good time.

This afternoon I got my suitcase out and started packing and Chewy walked over to it, sniffed it, and layed down next to it with his nose up against it. Either he loves the smell of airplanes ( and who doesn't, really?) or he is sad I am leaving. I will be back Monday afternoon so he will be with Chris all weekend and then I'll be home in time for his afternoon walk so I don't feel too horrible about leaving but it still makes me sad.
Oh yeah, and I'm gonna miss Chris too. (I kid, I kid)

I'm off to watch The Dog Whisperer. I was talking to my friend today and she asked me how I thought Chewy was going to react to the baby and I really don't know. Everyone has their own ideas about what to do and I'm sure I'll hear even more opinions in the next few months but I think he will be OK once we let him meet the little guy ( yup, there I go again with the boy talk) and he will be a great big brother. We just have to teach Kumar how to be the calm, dominant one.

One last thing, the Yankees are playing the Blue Jays tonight and the Jay's are wearing their throwback jerseys! I love it!

kumar's quest

I have mentioned before my love for baseball, and one of my dreams has been to go on a summer road trip and visit every Major League Ballpark in the country.

I found this website that is all about doing this and is interactive so people can add their photos of themselves at the parks, blog about their trip and add tips for the best food, seats, etc about each park.

This is really making me think. Once Kumar is 3 or 4, he will totally be able to get into this too, and we can begin our quest. While we won't be able to do it all at once, (unless we hit the lottery, in which case I should probably start playing) I would say 2 trips a year to a different park, as well as combining any regular trip with a ballpark visit, and we should be able to get Kumar into every Major League Park by the time he's in high school.
We have to teach him the important things in life after all, and if he's going to be a Major League Switch Pitcher, total immersion is the way to go. Or something.

Later, I'll talk about the plan to rubber band a baseball to his left hand while he's still in the crib so he can begin to get the feel of it. And yes I am still convinced Kumar is a boy. If he's a girl that only likes frilly dresses and all things pink, we may need to rethink things.
Cross that bridge when we get to it... blah blah blah....
Humor me.

baseball vs. football

About a year and a half ago, I got tickets for Chris and I to see George Carlin at the Carnival Center here in Miami. It was one of his first shows after a stint in rehab and he probably wasn't as on top of things as he could have been, but he was nevertheless hysterically funny. He just had a way of looking at things in a way nobody else could.

Yesterday, George Carlin died of a heart attack. He was 71, which, considering the way he lived, was a very long life. This is a clip from one of his standup routines, and believe it or not, is incredibly PG or even G-rated.
Please to enjoy.

jenny's day!

Chewy and his Guuurls! , originally uploaded by buki-rama.

Back in March, my niece Jennifer and her best friend Britney came to visit over their final Spring Break before going into the real world. The first few days they were here, it was unseasonable cold and windy for March, but they nonetheless woke up early every day and went to the beach like it was their job.
(Which, when you are in your early 20's and on Senior Year Spring Break, I guess it kind of is.)

Besides the beach, we all went to a Marlins / Yankees Spring Training game and it was nice just having the girls here to make blueberry martinis with and make dinner for and hang out with. Chewy loved them so much that every morning when I got up, he would rush out of my room and to their bedroom door and wait there until they opened the door so he could jump all over them. They morning they left, they very quietly snuck out before we woke up and once we opened the door, he want racing into the room and jumped on the bed and sniffed around, frantically trying to find his girls. I think he still hasn't gotten over it.

Today, Jenny is graduating from Elon University and I hate that I cannot be there because I know how much it meant to me to have family here on my graduation, but with the holiday weekend and all, it just wasn't possible.
So, I decided to say it here-

HAPPY GRADUATION JENNY!!

Love and Kisses and all the best-
Chris, Christina and Chewy

PS- Chewy misses his girls and requests a visit soon. You're welcome anytime.

throwback

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love baseball. We have the MLB package from our satellite service and I watch a game (or 3)almost every day during the (blessedly long) baseball season. I especially love to watch a playoff or World Series game because there is really nothing better than that feeling you get watching great players fight hard for a game and the feeling of actually being at a game like that is like taking 300 hits of ecstasy (not that I know what that feels like- Hi Mom!)

I've only gone to one playoff game my whole life, but it was one of the greatest:

Yankees/Red Sox Game 7. October 16th, 2003.

There is no way I can describe the feeling of being surrounded by thousands of fans, all standing to watch each and every pitch and swing and strikeout because - Oh My God - every. single. thing. that happens at one of these games is so incredibly important. It is simply exhausting but if I have to die, I want it to be Death by Yankee/Red Sox Playoff Game 7.

One thing I truly love about baseball is the throwback jersey:




The baby blue is so 70's-awesome and the color really must keep the guys cool right?








Another great one is the Astros old uniforms:


Apparently, they wore these sometime last season, but - of course - I missed it.


And finally, we have the Oakland A's:


The colors are, once again, the greatest the 70's had to offer. Green and Gold were also my Junior High School Colors so I hold a very special place in my heart for them.

Now, I know I am in the minority here. There are numerous articles written every year spewing hatred for these things, but I can't help myself. I have such great love for these, I wish just one team would decide to wear these uniforms all year (Please be the Astros...Please be the Astros....Please be the Astros...)

One day soon, I will discuss my great hatred for the new trend of baggy-too-long-pants on these guys. Atleast some of them know how to wear their pants.




(Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez)







(Alfonso Soriano)





And for that I am eternally grateful.