Family Time

We will be getting to spend more time as a family over the next couple of weeks.  Scott re-injured his elbow while he was pitching on Tuesday.  So far we think the injury is not serious.  In 2006 he had the same injury and recovered well from it.  He has bone chips in his elbow and they have become irritated and somehow moved to a position that makes it painful to pitch.  Scott had a CT Scan on Wednesday and the doctor confirmed his thoughts.  He will be taking about 6 days off from throwing and then slowly work back into pitching in games again.  The doctor seemed to think it would take a couple of weeks before he is back in game shape.  

The one good thing about this is that Scott now goes and works out at the rehab facility in the mornings and then we have the rest of the day to spend together.  So, it will be nice to have him home more, I know that Callie will really enjoy it.  She is definitely a Daddy's girl :)

It's been awhile since the last post, but we have been busy with Scott being home and trying to get settled here. We had a great week with Scott home from his road trip. We braved the trip to Costco and boy was it crazy. This last week has been a holiday week (Golden Week) in Japan and I think most people must have the week off from work because everything is packed!!

I wanted to check out the Costco, which is in Osaka, and get some diapers, I was sick of the Japanese kind, they just don't fit right, and Scott got some Dr. Pepper. It's kind of a long trip to get there. We took the train to Costco but then had to take a taxi back because of all the stuff we bought. Next time we will just buy our stuff and then do home delivery.

We also went to Ikea on Thursday. It just opened two weeks ago and it must have been packed on the opening weekend, because there were still ropes outside for the long lines of people that wanted to get in. Ikea was even more packed than Costco (still Golden Week)! We got a couple of things, including a chair that sort of rocks so that is nice. They also have home delivery so it should be here in the next couple of days.

On Tuesday we went to Scott's game, a day game, and it was packed! I thought the last game he pitched in had a lot of people there, but I was wrong. It was crazy. There is constant noise and everyone has these little bats they bang together. I thought Callie wasn't going to like it, but she did great. Scott pitched okay, but got the loss after throwing five innings. He did get a hit, which I have on video, so that was fun to see. He is on the road again and pitches tomorrow in Tokyo. He will be home late Wednesday night.

just chillin :)

She did it!!!!

Callie rolled over!!!!!!! Yesterday morning she rolled over from back to front and Scott and I scared her with our cheers of excitement. The past couple of days she has been doing a great job of rolling from her back to her side, but was having trouble going all the way over. Yesterday she finally figured it out and did it again later in the evening. Now all we have to work on is rolling from front to back. I think this might be a little harder for her to do, but I'm sure she will figure it out soon.

Adjusting to Japan

Well, we have been here a little over one week and it is going great. Callie and I are both adjusting well and I think we are both over our jet lag, which is amazing. Callie has been sleeping through the night again for the past five nights. Let me tell you, it was definately an adjustment to getting up in the middle of the night again since she has been sleeping at least 10 hours a night since she was 2 months old (sorry, I had to brag). I think that she knew that Scott was going on a road trip because the first night he was gone she slept great, which meant a full night's sleep for me too :)

We have been keeping busy going to the grocery stores, there are three within walking distance, and visiting with the other baseball wives and kiddos that live here in the apartments. There is a little boy (well, he's bigger than Callie) that is one week younger than Callie and they have had a great time meeting eachother. We haven't had an official playdate yet, but I'm sure they will have a blast once we do.

Callie also inherited some great toys from another baseball family. She now has an Exersaucer and a Jumper and she has so much fun in both of them. She doesn't quite jump in the Jupmer yet, but just kind of bounces. We are also getting lots of exercise and stroller time in since you walk every where. The other day we did a 5K walk with two of the other wives. And let me tell you, it was not leisurly. For those of you that are familiar with my exercise habits, it was definately a challenge, but it was fun. We will probably do it quite a bit.

what is this thing?

loving the jumper!

before our 5K walk in her "pimp" sweater :)

Oh, and Callie has also finally started eating rice cereal. I'm pretty sure she likes it. More than anything I think that she likes being able to eat with the spoon. I have some video of her first bites, I just have to download it to the computer. And she is getting even closer to rolling over. She can go from her back to her side all on her own now. She just needs to get that final push to roll all the way over. I tried to video her last night, but it's like she knows the camera is on and refuses to do anything :)

first bites!

Scott also pitched again last night. He threw 6 innings and gave up 6 runs and got the loss. He gave up the runs in just two innings and the other four were great. He also struck out the first batter of the game again, for the fourth time in a row! It was neat to be able to watch him on TV and hear the Japanese announcers. I'm not quite sure if Callie realized it was her Daddy, but I'm pretty sure she was cheering him on!

pictures

with Great Grandma Schuenske

trying to get my Coke at the Detroit airport

Callie is ready to release her baloon in the 7th inning

We made the papers!

Callie is famous :)

I have some great pictures from the last couple of days, but just have to figure out how to download them to Scott's computer. Hopefully I will figure it out soon :)

Also, check out the new Japanese baseball link to the right. It has team standings and box scores from the games. There is also a blog under the blog tab called Tiger Tales which is about Scott's team, the Hanshin Tigers.

First baseball game

Scott pitched last night so Callie and I attended our first Japanese baseball game. It was so much fun, but of course, quite the adventure . . .

We don't have a car here so the easiest was to get to the field is to use mass transportation. Japan has a great train system and not only did we attend our first game yesterday, but Callie also had her first train ride.

I went to the game with one of the other American players' wife and their two boys. Callie fell asleep in her stroller right before we left so missed most of the excitement of the train ride. I'm actually surprsied that she slept through the whole trip, it was pretty bumpy, and at one point we had to carry the stroller down two flights of stairs because there was no elevator. But we made it to the game and that was the important part. We may just take a taxi next time :)

The game was great. We arrived a little late so I missed Scott's first inning, but that was okay, there was still lots to see. Our seats are about 3 rows from home plate so we have a great view. Once we settled into the seats Callie woke up and I'm sure was surprised to see where she was. She had a blast looking at everything. The games are really loud and there is constant cheering, but Callie didn't seem to mind. I think her favorite part was the 7th inning stretch. Instead of singing "Take Me Out to The Ballgame" all the fans blow up these huge baloons with wistles on the end. They sing a song and then let the baloons go. It is the craziest thing. The stadium seats about 50,000 people, so imagine almost that many baloons flying through the air at the same time. I thought it would scare Callie, but she was having a blast watching all the different baloons fly throught the air.

Scott pitched great again. He even struck out the first batter of the game, again! He threw six innings; 3 hits, no runs and 7 strikeouts and he got the win. He was also named Hero of the Game. This is something they do in Japan after every home game. Callie and I had already gone down to the family room so we got to see it on TV. It's a pretty big honor and they interviewed Scott on the field after the game in front of all the fans.

All in all it was a great game experience and I can wait to go to our next one.