Baseball – Zania

April 5, 2016April 12, 2016

7 Tips for Traveling With an Infant

Hello everyone!

We are halfway through baseball amateur scouting season and boy has it been a fun but tiring ride! Traveling with a baby is complicated enough (all the planning and prepping) but when the baby starts getting older and wants to crawl and move around and explore, it starts getting a little bit trickier, especially if you are flying solo. Having him on my lap for the duration of a flight or having him strapped to his car seat for long periods of time takes a lot more thought and planning. Been there? I feel ya!

It’s even worse when your plane was supposed to leave at 12:50 PM and you end up delayed with an actual departure time of 4:15 PM. I’m one of those moms that’s always ready and organized, of course, until this time. This was the one damn time when I figured there would be no need to take more than what we needed. I also had {still have} bad back pain so I wanted to avoid any additional weight in my shoulder bag/diaper bag/Mary Poppins bag O’tricks. Luckily, we were OK and I was able to manage Alfie’s hunger with what I had plus a banana and blueberry yogurt that I got at the airport. The little dude behaved like a champ. Whew! Continue reading “7 Tips for Traveling With an Infant”

February 23, 2016March 24, 2016

Family First and Then Everything Else

Here we go again! It’s baseball season and the hubs is-a-travelin’ and the wife is-a-followin’! Now with a baby in tow, it’s a bit harder to travel but that’s not stopping us from keeping our new family together!

My husband is a baseball scout traveling all over the Midwest and Southeast of the country as well as Puerto Rico. While we’re fortunate that we get to travel with him, it’s not like I can just drop everything and go. His schedule is highly unpredictable and unpredictability is not desirable when traveling with an 8-month old. Therefore, we plan to see FF when he knows he’ll be in one place for more than two days (tournaments or a series of games).

Continue reading “Family First and Then Everything Else”

September 9, 2015March 24, 2016

The Day My Life Changed Forever

It’s been about three months since I gave birth to our son. It has been such an emotionally overwhelming, difficult but beautiful experience! So much has happened in the last three months that I could write a whole book about it! It’s crazy how life changes in an instant. I love being a mom and every day brings new challenges. I would like to take this opportunity and share how it all went down the day our baby boy decided to join us. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this story too! Ready for this long post? Here we go…

On Monday June 8th 2015 I headed out to work just like every other day. My thoughts were on my husband, Frankie Frankie “FF”, and the importance of that day for his career. It was the first day of the 2015 MLB Draft. (For more info on the story behind my hubby’s career and how it affects the family you can click on this link here). He had already been in Arizona for two weeks at the Draft Meetings preparing for this big day and this was it. For all the marbles. All he needed were these three more days in Phoenix, AZ to start and finish the official MLB draft. I took a look at my maternity bag on the floor next to my bed but opted not to take it with me this time. (Of course). You think you know where this story is going…?? Read on…

Continue reading “The Day My Life Changed Forever”

July 9, 2014July 7, 2014

The Stars Aligned: 2014 MLB Draft

WARNING: What you are about to read is a full-on proud baseball wife post. Enjoy!…

I was at my brother’s office farewell party talking to a friend of mine at the time when the Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they were taking my husband’s prospect in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. Everyone else at the bar was paying attention to the Miami Heat play against the San Antonio Spurs and I could care less. I was focused on hitting “refresh” on my phone just about every six minutes until I saw the news; “The Arizona Diamondbacks pick Touki Toussaint RHS (right handed starter) from Coral Springs Christian Academy” as the 16th overall pick! (Actual image of that precise moment is below).

I couldn’t believe it. I jumped out of my seat, excused myself and quickly ran out of the bar. Just as I get outside, my husband, who was at the draft room in Arizona at the time, sends me a text message that simply says, “I got him.” I could feel his shock and disbelief. I replied with ALL CAPS and numerous exclamation marks trying to somehow express my overwhelming joy and immeasurable excitement through the means of a simple text message. I then got a call from my mother-in-law and then from my mother since they had both heard and/or seen it happen too. It was amazing. I had yet to speak with my husband and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to immediately. Continue reading “The Stars Aligned: 2014 MLB Draft”

April 1, 2014March 24, 2016

Baseball Wife Birthday

Hi everyone!

The response to my blog post about Becoming a Baseball Wife was astounding! It really is incredible how showing vulnerability and imperfection openly manages to reach deep into the soul of others. This is especially true in an age where every #selfie and Facebook profile picture has been carefully tweaked to show your “best self” (I’m no exception). It’s impossible not to think that everyone else has got it together and you are the only one that’s dragging behind (again, I’m no exception). This is why I want to share the following story with you.

My birthday was this past Sunday March 30th. The Monday before my birthday, my husband comes home with a gift bag and a Happy Birthday song. He then says, “I don’t know if I’ll be here for your birthday, so just in case, I want to celebrate with you today!” While some would feel devastated to hear this, I, on the other hand, melted in his arms. That’s incredibly thoughtful of him and I was not expecting it at all. He went on to explain that he suspected his upcoming work trip would be extended and he didn’t know when he would return home. I gladly agreed to our Monday pre-birthday celebration without hesitation and with the same giddiness as if it were the actual day. We ordered pizza, watched Disney’s Frozen, drank wine, talked and of course I sang “Let it go” and “First time in Forever” a million times while pirouetting through our living room. Typical.

Continue reading “Baseball Wife Birthday”

February 18, 2014March 24, 2016

Becoming a Baseball Wife

If you had told me more than 10 years ago that I would marry into baseball, I wouldn’t have given it much thought. My husband, FF, and I have been together for 9 years… 2 of those as a married couple. We are now entering our 6th baseball season together and I have to say, it is definitely not an easy thing to get used to. FF is an amateur baseball scout, which means he goes to high schools and colleges searching for potential professional talent. This wasn’t what he thought he’d end up doing in life, but when the recession hit back in 2008, his Masters in Religious Studies and Asian Philosophy wasn’t working for him… so he decided to go back to the sport that was ingrained in him and that lived in his blood since he was born: Baseball. Continue reading “Becoming a Baseball Wife”

July 16, 2013March 24, 2016

Visiting Cape Cod, MA

One of the perks of being a baseball wife is that I get the opportunity to accompany my husband on some work trips. This past 4th of July, I had the pleasure of spending the week in Cape Cod, MA while my husband covered the Summer League. Remember the movie Summer Catch with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jessica Biel? That’s the league I’m talking about! Anyhow, I fell in love with the Cape’s charm. It’s filled with marine antique stores, great seafood and very friendly people. While the locals complained about the gloomy and wet weather, I was imagining being a character in a Nicholas Sparks novel waiting for the fog over the ocean to lift to see if my husband would arrive alive on the only fishing boat that was out at sea during the perfect storm. Total sidetrack, but in my head it was real.

I highly recommend you go to Cape Cod if you haven’t been there yet. Have you visited the Cape? Tell me all about it! What are your favorite spots? Here are some of my pictures from the trip. Enjoy!