April 2011

All is usual out here in California this month. Holden grows more and more into a little boy every day before our eyes!! He talks so much and his favorite saying is "I need more". He calls his pacifier pappy and his lovey Ya ya. He loves to sing, color, dance, paint and play baseball. He loves to brush his teeth (putting the toothpaste on the toothbrush by himself) he says "I see, I see" and he loves to help me cook. He loves books too. Last week we went to toddler time at the library with his buddies AJ and Brady and he thought that was great. He would live in our backyard and sleep with his baseball glove on his hand if I would let him. Yesterday we caught him "drawing" pictures on our wall...of the rented house we are in...GReAT!!
He loves when his Daddy is home and has to go check the bed every morning to find out where he is. As far as potty training goes, we are working on that and we have an understanding of it, and like to pretend we do it, but when it comes to actually doing it, well that's where the disconnect is. Overall, we feel like the most blessed parents ever to have such a sweet, easy going, good natured little buddy. We can't wait to see how he changes even more every month!
We are onto the final set of house plans and we are looking to break ground June 1st. We are so excited about the possibility of still being with family, but being so close to great friends. Holden is going to grow up thinking life is one big slumber party! God is Good!

More Seattle

More pictures from Seattle

Back in the desert

Spring Training this year was the same as the years past ( and I'm not just talking about the moving and our place). Once again Landon was fighting for a spot on the roster and praise the Lord, we made it. It came down to the wire, but we had some wonderful people praying for us ( and my sanity). WE are loving being back in Walnut Creek, it is kind of starting to feel like a home away from home! We are in the same house as last year and it is perfect for our little family. Holden loves the backyard, he is out there every day first thing in the morning with his buddy Sasha. He has another buddy next door named AJ that he loves to visit as well. He loves being back around baseball and he hits and throws ALL day every day... it is about time for Mommy to have a girl ;). We are truly loving our time with him though. We even had an Easter Egg hunt in our backyard for all our friends!!
Our first trip of the season was to Seattle, and it's one of my favorite cities!! We went to the aquarium where Holden had a blast. Every time we left a fish tank he kept saying " I need more, I need more". The only thing he didn't like was the octopus, but Mommy thought it was pretty gross too!
For the second year in a row, the Easter bunny came to visit us in a hotel, but little man didn't care. His favorite treat in the whole basket? A blow pop..go figure, give the child a sucker and a 99 cent ball and he is as happy as a lark...not quite as high maintenance as yours truly...hehe.
We truly feel blessed and are very excited to see what the 2011 season has in store for the Powell family!! God is good..all the time!

A lot of time has passed

So I have been absent from my blog for quite some time now, but I have good reason. We had a wonderful and very busy off season! We sucessfully pulled of our inaugural, and one of many to come 2010 Donors on the Diamond at Fluor Field in Greenville in which we raised over $40,000 for organ and tissue donation awareness. We also visited Hawaii, courtesy of Dallas Braden as a gift for catching the "perfect game" and took a trip to Mexico with some wonderful friends. On top of that, we enjoyed the holidays and spending time with our friends and family. To end a perfect off season, Landon and I were both baptized just days before leaving for the 2011 season. It was a really special time for us and we are so blessed to have such supportive people in our life that we could spend the day with. God is truly at work!!

The latest

Yes, it's been a while since I last posted and we have been super busy. Holden and I have been traveling a lot more lately. He is growing so fast, I figure I need to go and do things while I can! Holden is just a mess these days. He is really close to walking and way to smart for his own good. He colors and LOVES books. He crawls over to his book basket and pulls every one of them out, " reads" them to himself one by one and then brings them over to us and holds them up and says "uh" which means read this please.( I add the please because I like to think my child is polite with his baby talk) He also loves to eat diaper cream, not real sure why, but for some reason if he is really quiet we know he either found a tube of diaper cream and is eating it, or he is playing in the toilet. He definitely grows more and more opinionated each day which can test the patience, but it's fun to watch him learn and grow. Recently Evyn and Henry came to visit and we had a blast. Forgot how good old times were for us, and who would have thought we would both live in the Bay area and have sons 6 months apart..pretty funny how life works out. Tolly got called up so we have enjoyed seeing the some familiar faces from home out here in California.
We were recently asked to do a spread for Bay Area parenting magazine and I think it's kind of funny because I don't exactly think we should be in a parenting magazine if our child eats diaper cream and plays in the toilet.
We also recently went to the beach the whole family for All Star Break and that was wonderful! Holden loves his cousins and had a blast playing with them. We can't wait to get back and start seeing them on a regular basis!
Landon and I's biggest chunk of time lately has been going to planning a charity event for this off season. Due to Landon's liver disease and the fact that he will probably one day need a liver transplant, we have become very passionate about organ donation. And, because of the way we have been blessed in life and the doors that have been opened we feel that we should give back. This year on November 7th we are going to host the Inagaural Donors on the Diamond at Fluor Field in Greenville, Sc. I have been running around like a mad woman trying to get everything planned for it from 3,000 miles away. Needless to say, we will be super busy when the season is over. We are looking forward to getting home and seeing our friends and family, but the A's arent too far out of second place in the AL West, so with a little luck, maybe they can do it! Missing you all...God Bless, talk to you soon!diap

Loving Being Home

It's been a while since we last blogged and lots has happened. We moved out of our place in Sacramento and into a house in Walnut Creek that I just love. It is in the same area as we lived last year and I love being able to walk everywhere in that cute little downtown.
Holden and I just flew home for a few weeks to visit family and spend a week at the beach and we are so excited we can hardly stand it. All week me and my sisters have been stocking up on things to take on our vacation. Holden celebrated his birthday here with friends and family and it was so special to have them around for his very first ( but second) birthday. He especially loved seeing his buddy Tripp again, who has changed so very much!
We have been spending a lot of time with our cousins while we have been home and we got to meet baby Brooks for the very first time. Holden didn't quite know what to make of him. Just yesterday we went downtown to the fountain ( a cool water thing for the kids that shoots up all over the place) and played...then had lunch. And a few days ago Nana drove down to see him and spend a night with him. He is definitely loving all the attention. We were terrified of Sasha when we got home, but we are getting a little better now. He is getting really close to walking. He pulls up and cruises all around the furniture, but I am not pushing the walking thing..it's hard enough now and all he does is crawl. Hope all is well around the country with everyone else. Hope to blog again soon with pictures from the beach!

Our Little Man is ONE!!!!

So, our little Holden turns one this Thursday and I can't believe a whole year has gone by! Despite our minor disaster of being sent down, we still had a celebration. After some deliberation, we kept the plans we had made and we just stayed in San Ramon an extra few days...and boy was it worth it! We did a barbeque at San Ramon Central Park and although it was a little windy...It was still great to get everyone together! The Gross', Wuertz's, Pennington's, Davis' and Barton and Jamie all came to support Hoho on his big day. The kiddos played while the adults ate..then the fun for the little man began. Holden LOVED his cake ( first sugar he has ever had). We had a special little cake made for him and he devoured it! We ended up having to take what was left of it from him so that he could open presents. Once that started..it looked like a toy store exploded in his lap! Everyone was SO gracious and he got some wonderful things..or more like A LOT of wonderful stuff. He played ALL day with all of it and had a blast! Not to mention, it was a nice break for Mommy for him to entertain himself all day as I was unpacking and doing laundry YET again for about the eighty thousandth time.
Holden will still get to celebrate with our family when we go home on at the end of this month, but I was so glad he got to do something for his actual birthday with his buddies out in Cali. As for his first steps..I think they could be coming soon! He is pulling up on EVERYTHING and cruises around! Of course,his buddies Braxton and Allie have already both beat him in that!