Only 8 more days!

As many of you know, Mike left on September 16th to go down to Florida for Instructional League, in the meantime the kids and I have been trying to stay busy. I was able to sign Maggie up for a Children's Day Out program at a local church on Thursdays and Fridays from 9am to 1pm. She started last week on Friday and she loves it. She was allowed to go in with the older 3 year olds which made me happy because she seems to enjoy being with older kids more. The teachers say that she is doing wonderfully and that they haven't had any problems with her. She leaves me without issue and doesn't seem to want to leave when the morning is over. I am happy that she is able to be a little more independent because I think it is what she has been wanting for a while. Caleb stays with me while Maggie goes to her class. They do have a class for him but he could only go one day a week and he seems to still need a nap before 1pm so for now he and I are getting alone time which rarely happens for him. He is really starting to blossom now. He loves balls and bats- go figure. Everything that looks like a ball gets chucked across the room as he laughs and runs after it. He has also discovered one of his daddy's hats that he loves to wear. He has started to sit more for story time and really engages with the books by pointing and repeating words. The kid "talks" like crazy- I guess he is trying to keep up with Maggie. In addition to the kid news- our family news is that Mike has his team assignment now. He will be coaching the rookie team in State College, PA from June until Sept and will stay in extended Spring Training in FL from Mar until June. Although it was not at all what I was hoping for and it will be quite a difficult and unsettled year for us, I have begun to find some positives in this news. It looks like our move the end of Feb will be down to sunny FL for a few months and then up to PA and back again. We have decided that this is the only way to do it and since the kids are young, now is the time to see the country! In the meantime we are still here in IL so anyone who has been wondering knows where to find us.

5 days without internet

So on Wednesday night I noticed that our computer screen wasn't working when I turned on the computer. I played around with it and finally got it working again and then the next morning it happened again. I have not been able to get the monitor working since then. The good thing though is that we have a laptop. Once Mike reminded me of that I was a little more relieved because I couldn't imagine not having use of the computer for Skype, bills, e mail, etc. until he came home. So I hooked up the laptop and then had to call the Comcast people to come out (on Friday) because the internet connection wasn't working. I was informed that it was because of the ethernet connection on the computer. Luckily, I was able to buy a USB adaptor cord to correct the issue but Best Buy didn't have it and I was beginning to feel hopeless until my friend Marie informed me that she had one for her computer that she purchased at Radio Shack. Thanks to Marie I went to Radio Shack today and now am back online and connected to the world again! We had Maggie's birthday party on Saturday (one week early but it worked best for everyone). I have a million cute pictured but now that I have the laptop with the mouse, keyboard, webcam and ethernet cord plugged in the USB ports there is nowhere to plug the camera in. I will figure it out an post pictures soon. It was a lot of fun!

Maggie's Daddy date

Since Mike's plans got changed and he had to leave earlier than anticipated for Florida he decided to take Maggie out for her birthday last weekend. They went to the Bass Pro Shop (not sure whose idea that was), bowling and to lunch at Red Robin. It looks like they had a blast! I am not sure what Maggie's favorite part was: bowling or ice cream. She keeps talking about both. I am just glad they got to celebrate together- now my struggle is explaining to her that her birthday doesn't last for 3 weeks.

Adventures with Daddy

The first weekend that Mike was home was beautiful so we decided to venture into the city by way of the train and public transportation. The kids, especially Maggie, had a blast on the train, trolley, and water taxi. We spent the day at the Navy Pier listening to a live 80's band and watching the boats on Lake Michigan. We got home pretty late and had a rough time home on the train but it was so worth it for the memories made!

He's finally home!

Mike is finally home! The kids and I are so excited to have him here. He surprised us early Tuesday morning, after driving all night long to get here. I had asked him not to drive all night but he was so excited to see us so he did it anyways. I can't say that bothered me =). I have started working more days at Starbucks now (just 3) and he has already started doing some pitching lessons. It is great to have him around and for life to get back to normal. I will post some pictures later but I just wanted to give this quick update for now.

He's finally home!

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