Basketball Season has begun!

This past Saturday was Madison's first AAU basketball game of the year.  There was actually 3 games in one day.  BIG day for us!  I was so busy yelling and cheering on the girls, that I forgot to take pictures.  I got a few...mostly of Layla (in between games and during time outs).  She of course was intently watching the girls and was her usual expressive self.

By the end of the day the girls were 1 - 2.  The first game was a very ugly loss of 6-31.  After the game we found out the entire team was 5th graders (we are 4th and 3rd graders).  The girls were really nervous going into this game and were still trying to figure out the plays they had been practicing as well.  A very bad combo!

The second game we only lost by 6 points.  Madison looked better this game, but you could tell she was still really nervous.  Every time she got the ball, she would look for someone open to pass it to.  No dribbling.  No shooting.  But her hustling during this game was awesome!

By the last game you could really tell that she was much more relaxed.  She took a couple shots...never made any, but at least she tried this game.  She was really aggressive this game too!  In the end the girls won this one.  27 - 18.

Weekend Update

things that made the weekend great

• Madison's first basketball game
• Olive Garden's Soup, Salad and Breadsticks.....I've been craving them for a long time!
• making our homemade Halloween Costumes
• Chili on Sunday
• Having a lazy day with Madison

things that made the weekend not so great

•  waiting till the last minute to make our Halloween costumes

The introduction of cereal

For (what seems like) the past week Layla has been sleeping like a newborn....waking up every 2-3 hours.  And that sleep cycle is wearing on this momma!  I thought maybe she was just not getting full at night and thought the introduction of cereal was a good idea.  Here's what Layla thought.

Okay, so the introduction didn't go so well.  Honestly, she was really tired, that was the main reason she was crying.  So we tried again the next day.  She wasn't thrilled with it, but it went much better than the first time.

And that's the end of softball season...

This softball season Madison started off really strong, slowly deteriorated and then busted it out of the water at the end.  Her coaches were amazing!  I was really impressed with their coaching and making sure the girls actually learned something. While the girls didn't have a winning season, the last few games they looked like a well oiled machine with few errors and lots of great hits.

Here's a few pictures of Madison's last two games.

Madison got to play 1st base this game.  She did pretty well, but with this base being new to her, there was a bit of a learning curve that she had to overcome.

Layla was really excited to watch the girls play this game!  She was cooing and was intently watching the girls' every move.  All that and drooling all over dad at the same time.

Then the sleepiness took over.  We had a mad baby for a few minutes and then once she was too tired to fight it...out she went!  I was scared to set her down, knowing for sure, once I did she would wake up.  So no more pictures were taken of this game.

This next game is when Madison started to come out of her slump - in a big way!  They moved her to a new base again.  This time she was playing third.  I believe that she fielded about 80% of the balls this games which meant she was responsible for a large majority of the outs as well.  I think the confidence that she gained in this game helped her out in her hitting - which had been less than stellar at this point.

Time out on the field!  A team mate had two untied shoes.  Of course, Madison ran over to help!

In between plays one of Madison's coaches came over to give her a bit of advice on stance.

And then of course we had the ever-famous chant.  "Two down, one to go.  Two down, one to go."  Then a clap......

...then a stomp!

We ended the game with a win.  And of course and hand shake and a good game to each opponent.

A quick post game pep talk and then.....

...group photo!  Bunch of crazy girls!  :)