Spring Training 2009 Coming To An End!

It's pretty much over folks! I can't believe it is time to pack up another place that is finally feeling like "home" to move into another one. It is a good thing they say "home is where your family is" because if it was an actual place you needed to live in for an extended period of time I'd never be home! We think we have finally figured out how everyone and everything is getting to where it needs to be by the weekends end. I am headed to Fort Myers tomorrow to get my hair cut and pick up our animals that have been at Ryan's house for the month. Tomorrow night we will bring as much stuff as we can to put in a teammates car that is going on a car transport to Carolina. After that whatever is left over will go in the back of another teammates truck assuming there is no rain Saturday night and Sunday morning. Derrik, Ryder, the animals, and I will be traveling in our car. We are departing once camp breaks mid-day Saturday. The next few days after that will be filled with lots of trips to stores to find the cheapest way possible to make our apartment livable, an exhibition game against some college teams, media day, some practices and meetings, and the boys departing Wednesday morning for the start of their ten day road trip (more like 11 when you add in this travel day). I'm hoping I'll have a second to breath once they leave, but know I'll be so sad to have Derrik gone at the start of the season for one of the longest and farthest trips that he will take! Just wanted to give everyone a quick update... dinner is ready and it's been a long day for everyone!

Ryder and Papa at the Reds vs. Rays game the other day

Derrik getting ready to pitch in a minor league game Derrik, Ryder, NiNi and Papa
Finally got a video of Ryder to upload onto this thing!! Enjoy :)

Pictures....Rain...and Another Big League Game

So baseball might be one of the most fustrating things ever!!!

First off yesterdays game against the Rays... Derrik was there and was told he would pitch the ninth inning if the pitcher in the eight inning pitched anywhere around 20 pitches. Well he only pitched 11 which meant he was going back out for the ninth... no Derrik. It's fun going to the games anyhow so I don't mind.

Today is Sunday... I have the day off, it's pouring outside, and the minor league games are cancelled. That means amazing day in bed cuddling with my hubby while the baby takes great long naps! OF COURSE NOT... Not in baseball... Derrik is going to the big league game again. I'm excited of course, but I mean if he's not going to play then we really don't want to be sitting in the rain :( Ahhh baseball season... love it and hate it!

Enjoy some more pictures from recent games...

Daddy and Ryder at the Rays game... Amazing how the baby comes and I have no pictures of myself with my husband anymore!

Being in the sport gives the opportunity to see so many BIG LEAGUE names around... Only have pictures of two though:

Derrik's old teammate from Chatham... Evan Longoria

Ken Griffey Sr. checking out the boys minor league games

Baseball season also means time to meet new friends....

Ryder meeting Truett... One of the AAA pitchers little boys. He just turned 1.

Reds vs Rays

I just wanted to let everyone know that Derrik has been invited up to the big league game again today. It is the Reds vs. Rays game at 1 pm. Check it out online and keep an eye on the box score for his name in case he gets in!!!

Carolina... Here We Come!!!

It's official (we'll 99%...you just NEVER know in the baseball world) that we will be headed for Zebulon, North Carolina a week from this Sunday for the start of the baseball season. The Carolina Mud Cats are the new AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. It will be the Reds first season there, and we are very excited to get to know a new town! Quite a few of our very good friends also found out they will be going there today too which is nice to know. All of us wives are busy arranging our final plans on how to make the big trip from Sarasota up to Zebulon. We have found an amazing apartment complex that is working with us! They have offered us short term leasing (you never realize how important this is until you can't find it!), washer and dryers for free, waived pet fees (nice since we have 3), and they are putting everything in their name so if we get moved we only have to track down the people at the front office instead of a million different people...woohoo! I will keep everyone posted on how we plan on making our trip... still up in the air since we can't fit our whole family and belongings into the car.

This is a HUGE year for Derrik... I won't get into all the technicalities of it because it gets hard to understand, but Ryder and I can't wait to be his biggest fans sitting in the stand every night cheering him on!!!

Big Day! 7 Months & A Big League Game!!!

Today was a fun day for us in the Lutz household. Derrik got called up for the big league game today, and Ryder turned 7 months!!! I was especially excited because it was the Reds vs. Red Sox today. Thank God one of the other players we lived with, Chris Heisey, was also called up so I had Lisa with me at the game. It was a brutally hot Florida day and it took all we had in us to survive the game. Ryder is still sunburn-less thanks to Mommy coating him in sunscreen all the time! Derrik didn't get into the game unfortunately. There was one run the whole game up until the ninth inning which meant their pitchers weren't throwing too much. For him to get into a game like that we need high scoring games. It was fun anyhow. Hopefully we get at least one more in before camp breaks. I've been getting asked over and over again if we know where we are going this season, and I fully re-assure everyone that the second we know something we will gladly pass the news on. Unfortunately we deal with this every year and won't know anything for at least a few more days if not longer. They are releasing guys, and a good friend also got traded today to the Rays. Stuff is being done, but the roster just aren't made yet... soon enough I guess!

Daddy and Ryder before the game

Derrik warming up an out-fielder during one of that later innings
Ryder passed out about the 8th inning... he was exhausted!

Derrik hanging out in the bull-pen

*if you double-click these pictures it will blow them up bigger so you can actually see him :)

Besides baseball news... Our little man turned 7 months today! I know I say it EVERY month, but he has changed so much. We hit two huge milestones this month. Ryder has learned to hold his own bottle (Hallelujah!), and he is sitting on his own now! It is still a little wobbly, but he definitely has the hang of it. He can start to fall and catch himself now so we are saying officially that he is sitting. He's still just as content of a baby as he ever was. He's is loving having so many people around all the time, and is adjusting to the baseball life style just as well as I expected he would. I love that he's not scheduled and can go to a game one day with no nap, but will take an amazingly long nap on days we are home. Those are our only two huge changes. His hair is growing at a rapid pace these days. I keep having to take Derrik's buzzer to trim the hair around his ears. We still haven't seen any signs of teeth and are completely fine with that! We can put teething off as long as possible! Oh yeah... one last thing... Ryder now loves peaches! I made the dumb mistake of asking Derrik and the two guys we live with to stop at the store on the way home from golf one day to pick up a few things. They separated the shopping list into three to get it done as quick as possible (typical guys!) and Heisey had the baby food. He swears still that Derrik told him not to get squash and get two of everything else. We had a full cabinet full of baby food (wayyyy more then we needed!) and about four things of peaches. A few days later Travis begged me to feed Ryder the peaches so they could all see his "gagging" face, and after being peer-pressured I gave him. I promise it was all in good humor! Well... shame on us because he LOVED them! Gobbled them right down. Ryder officially just eats EVERYTHING!

Ryder sitting :)

Pool Time with NiNi and Papa

Ryder's great grandparents NiNi and Papa are in town for Spring Training. Yesterday we went over to their hotel to go swimming in the pool. Only Ryder and I went swimming because Daddy is a wimp and can't handle the cold water. Ryder, like usual, loved the water! The coldness of the water doesn't even phase him. He played in his pool float for a while and then splashed around in my arms. He's like a fish in the water kicking his feet.

Baseball is still going great! Derrik has pitched every other day since games have started. He has pitched in three games for one inning each. He has got all nine batters out that he has faced :) If only we could keep that up ALL season!!!

Enjoy some pictures from our pool day....

Ryder lounging in his pool float

Ryder and Mommy warming up from the cold water
Ryder with his NiNi

Ryder with Papa

Three generations of Lutz men.. we need the fourth to visit soon please!! :)

This is the Heisey's dog Homer who has been staying at the house through Spring Training. I'm not sure who is loving the games more... him or Ryder!

Homer digging a hole at the baseball game

Game #1... A Success

Yesterday Lisa, Ryder, and I headed out to Derrik's first spring training game of the season. Once again Ryder loved it (he's already a fan at heart I swear!) It was gorgeous out since it was kind of overcast and not hot at all. Ryder enjoyed hanging out in the grass while Lisa and I watched the game. He was a mess by the time we left. He even got his first grass stains on his shoes... he is ALL boy!

Derrik had a great game... eight pitches for three out! We'll take it :)

Ryder playing in the grass... makin' mommy crazy!

We're SO proud of you Daddy!! Way to go!!!

My CrAzY Boys!

Ryder lovin' on his Daddy

Handsome Boys :)

Fishy Face... Ryder love to do this with his lips!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

We just wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patty's Day! We are about to head out to Derrik's first game of the year. Hopefully Ryder is Daddy's little good luck charm :)

F.Y.I. One year ago today we found out we were going to be having a little boy :)

Also.... Eleven years ago today my amazing little sister was born!!! Ally we hope you have one of the best days you've had in a long time today. Have a blast at your birthday party! Eat a brownie and have some ice cream for us. We wish we could be there!!! Love you SO SO much!

Happy Birthday Auntie Ally!!!

Enjoying a Beautiful Florida Weekend

This weekend has been absolutley amazing out! We are enjoying the sunshine, blue skies, and warm temperatures so much!!! Yesterday afternoon the girls and I headed down to the beach with Ryder, and the boys meet up with us not to long after when they were done with baseball for the day. It was such a great day... especially because Derrik came down. He is not a fan of the beach at all, but he also huge a huge soft spot for Ryder. He even got in the water with him! I wish I could have taken pictures out there, but I didn't want to risk messing the camera up.

Ryder Lovin' The Sand!

The Roommates.. Lisa, Brittany, and I

Today my grandparents, Ryder's MiMi and PaPa, came up for a visit. They wanted to get to see Derrik at the field and see Ryder one last time before we left Florida. It was nice to have some family around for an afternoon :)

Updates On My Boys!

Ryder: Went for his six month check up down here in Sarasota. He's a happy, healthy, growing six month old little boy. The doctor said he looked great... then gave him all those nasty shots. He did great with them this time! He was 28" long (grew an inch and a half since his 4 month appt.), 19.3 lbs (gaining just under two pounds since his 4 month appt.), and his head circumfrence was 17 3/4 (17 1/4 at 4 months). The doctor said his height was in the 90th percentile, while his head and weight were in the 75th percentile. He said it's good to know that his height is higher then his head circumference and weight which means he's just going to be a tall guy. People are always telling us that Ryder's head looks large, but he said it is completely proportionate for his body size. He's just a big baby :)

Derrik: Spring Training is going great. Two days ago the position players finally reported, and they had all their physicals yesterday. Today will be their first full day with all the players here. The games start on the 16th which will be a nice change of pace. As of right now they have Derrik on the AAA roster for the Spring Training team. He started out here for Spring Training last year also. The guys usually play a level up at Spring Training because there are so many players up in Big Leage Camp that will come down for the season.

That's all for now... i'll keep you posted :)

Ryder's 1st Major League Game

Today we took Ryder to his first major league game. We always try to go to a few during spring training since it's so convenient, and we found out the Smith's were coming up for the game. Ryder did very well. We sat up at the top in the shade for most of the game and were actually cold at one point and headed down into the sun. I was very proud of myself for having Ryder out in the blazing Florida sun for the second day in a row without one sign of sun on his body! It was a nice day for baseball... and the Reds won!

This is the best picture of Dakota and Ryder I got at the game

Ryder loved sticking his toungue out to taste the breeze
Happy Baby :)
Daddy and Ryder in heaven watching baseball...

Attempt at a family photo

The boys trying to decide what drink they want at the bar

Best Buds

We Survived Beach Day #1...

Beach day #1 for Ryder can go down in the books as a success. Last night Brittany and I went out to Target to get an umbrella to keep the little man from getting sun burnt and found this cute little tent for even cheaper! Thanks to Lisa we actually got it up... not sure Brittany and I would have figured it out. It was absolutely perfect for Ryder. With no sun it was actually cool under the tent with the breeze. Ryder didn't want to take his nap that he was due to have when we arrived to the beach, but that was okay. He played under his tent most the time, and even was the only one to enjoy the water. It was a little too chilly for us girls... what a man he is! He got upset about three hours into our beach day so we packed it up and headed to the Daiquiri Deck. Ryder slept while we all enjoyed a nice daiquiri and some chicken fingers for ourselves. Our husbands are all out enjoying another round of golf...i've lost track of how much they've played, but i'm pretty sure they have played more golf then baseball.

Baseball officially started yesterday. Derrik past all of his testing, blood work, and physical. The position players report the 10th and games start the 17th. No more news for now :)

We were proud of our set up... we set the tent up facing the sun the first time.. then we got it right

Ryder playing with his toys
Ryder and Mommy

Ryder loved the waves

My little man and I