The nephew

Jesse.

The first nephew.

The first grandchild.

He helped to usher Bowdie and I gently into parenting.

Let's see ... we changed diapers, we bathed,

we cleaned up vomit (from our car, no less),

we spoiled.

He's a great kid.

Really.

And he's growing up.

Next week he'll be 17.

That's a bit painful for this aunt.

We've had a great spring, trying to catch some of his

varsity baseball games.

He's a great player ... and his cousins look up to him immensely.

Especially a certain baseball-loving 9 year old.

Of course, I had to catch some moments on film.

Enjoy!

Back when I used to scrapbook, Jess got his very own page ...

this was his first season ... spring of 1999 ...

*gulp*

Seriously aaaaaa-dorable ...

Game. face. on. 

Practice swing

Batting

Coming off the field

This picture was actually in the Gainesville Times 

after their huge game against Gainesville High -

the word rival doesn't even begin to describe how the Trojans feel about the Red Elephants!

Had to include this shot of T ... she uses an app on her iPad to score the games.

Love technology!

During each home game, the boys had a little 'dance' they did from the dugout

to some dance song ... cute ... :)

**maybe dance is too strong a word - how about 'hand motions' ...

Yesterday we went to watch him play a double header ...

round 2 of the playoffs ...

this was after a 1 run loss in the first game ... heartbreaker ...

Jess talking with O after the first game ...

I love this shot so much!

Jess and his buddies were playing Flip between the games ...

notice the 8 and 9 year old watching ... longing to be out there ...

Sadly enough, the Trojans lost the second game as well, 

which brought their amazing, unpredicted winning season to a close.

Here they are getting talked to by the coaches afterward ... 

Jess is #2 ...

And this ... this about killed me.

The boys were praying ... just the boys. 

No coaches.

One last arms-around-the-shoulders for the seniors.

And Jess walking off the field as the 2011 season closes out.

He was pretty upset. 

And I love that.

No one likes to lose.  Not when you've done so well and come so far.

But he was not too upset to hug all of us and thank us for coming.

Did I say I was proud of him??

**Thought I'd include these stats for the season, before yesterday's double header.

They really had an amazing season and broke a ton of records ....

2011 North Hall Baseball

New Records Broken (So Far)

Note: School is 53 Years Old

Team

1. Region Wins - 20 (old record 16) 
2. Season Wins - 23 (old record 21) 
3. Team Batting Average - .366 
4. Hits - 291 
5. Runs - 302 - (old Record 226) 
6. Runs in one game - 27 
7. Doubles - 61 
8. RBI - 275 - (Old Record 181) 
9. Walks - 181 

Individual: Single Season

10. Runs - 42 - Hamilton Harper 
11. RBI - 40 - Chris Stevens 
12. Walks - 29 - Whit Bowen 
13. Pitching Wins - 10 - Chris Stevens