Kayley Is 8!!!

Kayley just turned 8.  Time needs to SLOW DOWN!  I can't take how fast my kids are growing up.  I always get emotional at every birthday for each of my children, but on Kayley's birthday there is a little extra emotion when I think back to her scary entrance into this world at 13 weeks premature. We felt helpless and so scared for her future. If I would have known how great things would turn out for her, I could have relaxed just a little during those 3 months in the NICU. Kayley is happy, smart, caring, kind, easy-going, carefree (sometimes perhaps a little too easy-going and carefree 😀), and funny. She is the best big sister to Ryan. She loves animals (especially our dog, Sox) and wants to be a vet when she grows up. 

Kayley had a pretty bad bicycle accident the weekend before her birthday so if you notice her looking a little rough in these pictures, that is why.  Poor girl went face first into the pavement.  Two and a half weeks later, she still has a bruise on her cheek.  

Happy 4th Birthday, Ryan!

I cannot believe it has been FOUR years since Ryan was born.  Time flies when you are having fun (or so busy you can't keep your days straight).  :-)

Ryan is a very happy, laid-back, ornery, funny, smart, stubborn and sweet little boy.  I never felt like our family was complete when it was just the 4 of us.  He completed our family and I cannot imagine life without him!

Ryan loves sand, dirt, trucks, trains, cars, airplanes, his bike, playing with his siblings (especially Kayley who plays with him all the time and entertains him at all of Drew's games), reading books, and staying up late.  Ryan loves to eat strawberries, grapes, ham & cheese sandwiches, pancakes, eggs, pizza, braunschweiger on crackers, skittles and my maid rites.  Ryan doesn't always like to brush his teeth, listen, eat his vegetables, come inside, go to sleep, or pick up his toys.  He's a work in progress!  ;-)

We celebrated Ryan's birthday between games of the Brad Wallin baseball tournament on the Saturday before his birthday with my family and again on his actual birthday.  He was SO excited to be 4!

Brad Wallin Memorial Tournament

The Brad Wallin Memorial Tournament is a big tournament Dunlap plays in each year.  And when I say big, I mean huge.  I believe there were more than 256 teams this year.  There are 8 age groups from 8U through 15U.  Brad died of cancer at age 10 and his family created this tournament in his memory as a fundraiser for St. Jude.  It is the biggest tournament our boys play in this summer with 20 teams in the 9U bracket.  We played two pool play games, one on Thursday and one on Saturday to get seeded.  We were seeded 11th after the pool play ended on Saturday.

Our first game on Sunday was at 8am so it was an early morning for the boys.  Drew pitched a complete six inning game.  We won the first game 5-2.  We won our second game 14-10.  Drew pitched the final two innings of that game.  We lost the semi-final game 10-1.  Drew started the last game and pitched 3 strong innings against a very good Chicago team.  We won that game so we ended up with 3rd place!  The boys had a GREAT tournament!  They made plays in the field and their bats were hot!!

I have to admit, Drew pitching 11 innings had me worried for his arm.  A lot of tournaments put restrictions on how much the boys can pitch, but this one didn't.  This is the only time he has pitched that much so I am not too concerned, but he certainly couldn't do that every weekend.  

I rarely take pictures or videos during games this year (I need to get better before the season ends in two weeks!), but here is a video of Drew hitting: