2 OLYMPICS GOLD MEDALIST

Tonight at track practice there was a little surprise.. really a big one.. Jeremy Wariner. Jeremy Wariner was in the Olympics and won 4 Olympic medals... 3 gold and 1 silver. He is the third fastest competitor in the history of the 400 m. He is a Texan and from Arlington, I believe. He trains here in our town. I do not go to track practices because it is usually so hot. However, if I would have known he was going to be there.. I would have totally made an exception. But we had no idea, so here are the 4 pictures Ryan took with his phone. It's all I have. Ok, so I really didn't know of him before now.. but now that I do know of him and his accomplishments, I am amazed. And Bryson is in awe that he was able to meet him, therefore mommy is in awe and wants an overload of pictures. And he totally had a $120,000 in the parking lot. I would have also liked to get a picture of that. I know I know, I'm crazy. But it's not every day that you see a $120,000 car where we live. From what Ryan told me, he is very nice and talked to all the boys that will be running in the State track meet. He even let the boys ask questions... one of the boys asked when he started running.. and his answer was "16"! That was a shock considering he won his first Olympic medal at age 20. WOW!!!

above: Jeremy Wariner talking to the boys

above: Bryson on the far left in the bleachers, Reggie Witherspoon in the red shirt, and Jeremy Wariner in the white shirt. Now just a little info on Reggie Witherspoon (in the red shirt), he also ran and won a gold medal in the Olympics. He is actually one of Bryson's coaches. He has told Bryson time and time again that he is awesome and has lots of potential to run in college. Of course Bryson is giddy over that.

above: Bryson in the stands on the left, the 8-14 year olds that will be running in the state track meet, Reggie Witherspoon, and a few other coaches that run track in a big college in our town.

And here is everyone again. So they are not the best of pictures.. I would liked to have gotten one of Jeremy Wariner facing the camera (ha!) but this will have to do. Maybe he will be at the state track meet? Not sure, but I will sure have my camera ready and hopefully I can get a shot of Bryson with him. Needless to say, Bryson was thrilled. Since he is so into sports he is so into these men that are so big and so known in each and every sport.

As far as us girls.. we have been mellow lately. The heat is horrible so we stay cooped up inside all day. Bentley has been pretty fussy the past couple of days, I am hoping it gets better. It's so hard to see her not happy.

STATE... HERE WE COME (video)!!!

That's right! We will be headed to the state track meet soon! Bryson did absolutely amazing. He broke all his records and ran faster than he has ever before. We had such a beautiful time!

Bryson with his 1st place medal!!! And 4th and 6th place ribbon!!! He is so happy!!!

Above, he is getting ready to run the 50M run. Just look at him so perfectly ready.. he makes me smile so big, he is so filled with determination.

(oh and if you are not familiar with track and wondering why he is leaning over.. this is what runners do when they are near the finish line to get a quicker time. They do this in college and Olympics.. so funny how the young kids are catching on.)

Finishing the 50M run.. he got 1st place in his heat, but there were two other heats that ran and bumped him to 4th place beacause of time. And let me just tell you.. 3rd place had a time of 8.75 and Bryson had a time of 8.81. Bless his heart, it couldn't have been much closer than that. Remember top 3 go to state. He was heart broken when he found this out he broke out in tears. My heart hurt for him. But I could help to be so thrilled because he did so amazing. Our whole family was there cheering him on. My sister and I both cried when we saw the above. As he crossed over the finish line we were so happy and proud he did so well the tears started coming. I told Bryson about my tearful moment and he just looked at me like I was crazy! ha! I said "Bryson, they are happy tears! Have you ever cried because you were so happy?" and he just looked and me and told me "No, I don't think I will either." That's a boy for ya!

Next up was the 400M relay. They got 1st place and will be going to state to run.. YEAH!! How exciting. He is thrilled!! Here is a video clip I have of him running it. He is the third person to run.. so he runs the second curve. What you see in the video is the second boy passing him the baton.. then Bryson runs the curve. Bryson is wearing the red/white/black.

Please ignore the cheering! Bryson is going to kill me, he told me to mute the sounds because it was embarrasing. ha.. again.. typical boy!!

And finally Bryson ran the 200M run. He got 2nd place in his heat, and 6th place over all. We could not be more proud. He did so great!! Again, the times were super close. The difference in time between 3rd and 6th place was again LESS than .10 of a second. WOW!

He had a great time and we had a great time. I am so proud of my baby boy!! He amazes me more and more every day. It is defintely hard to keep up with him and all his goals, he defintely keeps us on our toes. But if it puts a smile on his face, we are right there supporting his every move. He loves sports and to see him put so much heart into this, it just shows me how much he is going to strive to reach other goals of his in life.. and THAT is what makes me smile more than anything. It is not about winning and moving on to state. It's about trying and giving all you have. That is the reason I cried when he got first place in his heat but fourth place overall in the 50M run. No he did not make the top 3 and no he will not be running that in state.. but he gave it all he had.. he pushed.. he tried.. and he broke his own record. He is driven... I know he can and will accomplish anything he wants in life. I love this boy!!!

And here is Brenna watching her big brother from the shade. She does like sports, but she is not into track (I think because it's in the hot summer). We asked her if she wants to run next year.. and she told us "I don't think so, I will melt!" ha!! Gotta love her!!

REGIONAL MEET TONIGHT & STUFF

Bentley originally had her cardiology appointment this morning but it has been changed to July 31. I'm a little bummed because I am anxious to see how she is doing. She appears to be doing wonderful, I just want to know more on a medical stand how she is. But her cardiologist did not want to see her originally until after July 20 anyway, so I guess it works out.

This evening we have Bryson's regional track meet. This will possibly be our last track meet. Tonight 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place of each event will advance to the state track meet. Last year (his first year in track) Bryson missed state by TWO seconds!! That's right he won 4th place by two tiny seconds. We couldn't have been more proud of him! He did so amazing. You may or may not have a clue what I am talking about but I just want to post it so we can look back and know exactly what he did and when. In the regional meet.. you can only do 3 events. Bryson will be doing the 50M run, the 200M run, and the 400M relay. He and his team normally place in the top 4 but many more teams attend regional. So he will be challenged, and boy does he love a challenge. I envy his strength. He is definitely a go getter.. wish I was more like that! I will post later solely on Bryson and sports. He is one gifted child. If he does place in the top 3, state will be in 2 weeks about 4-5 hours away.

What's Brenna up to? She will be cheering her big brother on tonight. She really does not care for the heat (unless she is playing).. so she normally stays with Bentley at one of the grandparents house. But since it will be a decent temperature and a little cooler than normal she will be with us.

Loved all your comments about the video in the last post. I'm glad that some of you (other Texans) think we sound totally normal. ha! I have heard from a lot of new followers lately and people that have have been following but just starting to comment. I have really enjoyed hearing from you and reading your blogs to get to know you more. I enjoy it, so don't be shy!

Speaking of.. has anyone had any problems viewing some blogs lately? A lot of blogs I go to, there is some type of error and I cannot see anything. In fact, I couldn't even see my own blog for about a week but it's working for me now. Must be a glitch in Blogger, I'm not sure. So if you haven't heard back from me, chances are.. I couldn't see your blog.

Oh, and I have had some request for a new blog button. I have added this to the right side of my blog if you would like. Bentley's prayer button is still up, I know some of you have recently stressed you wanted to keep it. Have I told you how grateful we are for all those times you have prayed for Bentley? If you haven't read it in an older post, just know that tears begin to flow just thinking about it! In Brenna's words, we are "infinity" grateful!!!

Well, we have to get ready for tonight, I will update later!!

ANOTHER HOT TRACK MEET

WOW, the heat here has been pretty tough lately. The past few days we have been seeing 105 and 106.. today I think it got up to about 105 and we were in it for HOURS (6 to be exact) during Bryson's track meet. It is so bittersweet.. these track meets are tons of fun, so exciting for him, he just loves it... just a little too hot. But we tough it out, just one of those crazy things we (as in all of us) parents do for our kids. Today Bryson ran:

50M - 3rd place

400M relay - 2nd place

100M - 3rd place

200M - 4th place

Trying to keep my baby as cool as we can....

Again, trying to stay cool. ha! Watching other races, he is so darn serious!!

Bryson with the other boys on the relay team warming up... this is one of his favorite things to do. You have to try out to be on the relay team and last year there were just a couple boys who beat him to it, but this year he did it! He made the relay team.. it is a total confidence booster, which I think makes him like it even more. No track meet next weekend, then the next week is regionals... if you make top 4 in your event then you will go to state. So we'll see!!! Bentley stayed with Nanna (my mom) today and Brenna decided to stay with her too. They were exhausted when we got home.. we all were.

This heat does not only affect our track meets, it is a daily thing... since it has been so hot, we have been left with nothing to do but stay inside. It's hard to even go swimming.. pool water even turns hot here. ha!!! What makes it even worse is that June is not our hottest month.. July and August are even hotter. I am about to start googling lots of inside activities. ha!!!

So how is the weather where you live? I know it is not only this hot where we live...

FIRST SUMMER TRACK MEET - SUPER HOT

We had our first track meet today. Although it was LOTS of fun.. it was REALLY hot.. and long! 100 degrees to be exact. WOW!!! Bryson did just wonderful... so PROUD of this little boy!!!

He is running his little heart out in the 400' here...

Here Bryson is getting ready to take off running the 50' ...

Here Bryson is finishing the 50'... in SECOND place!

Showing us his ribbon for the 5o'...

Next up is the 100'...

and here is another from the 400'...

after one race... checking his ribbon out!

So Bryson ran 3 races today...
50' - 2nd place
100' - 2nd place
400' - 4th place

We are so proud of him. He did awesome!! Bryson actually made the 100' relay team this year, but one of the other boys were injured so we have to wait until next week for that. He will also be switching out the 400' for the 200' from now on... He would do them all if he could, but we have decided to let him choose his favorite 4. I have never heard of track for kids until last year.. it was our first year for Bryson and he loved it and decided to give it a go again! We love it we really do, but I wish so bad that it was a little ealier or a little later. It just gets so hot here and track just started and goes into the peak of the summer here (super hot!!!). Since we have been somehwhat cooped up in the house from Bentley's recovery, we just haven't sat out in the sun all day like we did today.. result of this.. we are BURNT! We'll, Ryan and I are burnt. Bryson and Brenna were covered in sun block and it really helped. They are not burnt at all. But (shame on me) Ryan and I did not wear any, and we are now paying for it. ugh!! No one likes sun burn, I know.. but I really just want to lay here and cry. ha. So I have a question for you..

Does anyone have any remedies, cream, spray, anything.. that would help the pain? ha. I am sort of dreading going to bed, because I just know I will lay there and look at the ceiling all night without moving. I have the usual after sun pain reliever with aloe, blah.. still hurts. No matter how late it is, if you have any ideas.. please let me know.. I will make a during the night trip to walmart if it will make some of this pain go away!!! haha!!! Not really but I will definitely go first thing in the morning!!

And I bet you are wondering where Bentley was while we were sitting in 100 degree weather all day.. she was enjoying herself in some cool air conditioning at Nana's house (my mom). It's safe to say that Bentley will not be attending any of Bryson's track meets this year.

So , please!! If you know any sun burn remedies... help a sista' out!!!

QUICK ONE AND WINNER

Sorry I did not post yesterday, a sick baby sure keeps you busy... day and night. So this will be a quick one. Bentley is still sick, but the good news is that there is still no fever. I was given the okay, and I have started giving her a little medicine to hopeful speed this yucky stuff up. Aside from that.. still recovering beautifully from her heart surgery. What can I say.. I much rather deal with a cold over the million things that could have gone wrong during surgery or recovery. What a blessing!

Lastnight we had fun at Bryson's game.. they won, but it was bittersweet. We played against one of his friends he has played soccer with since they were 4. We play again tonight. Brenna is already asking when the next tball season is, ha. We have a while but her next thing up is soccer in fall and she absolutely loves it! So that is something exciting to look forward to. Oh and that she will be starting kindergarten.. well that is something for her to look forward to.. she is super excited and I am super depressed.. ha!! No, I know she is so ready.. I will probably have a crying fit like I did with Bryson, but she is ready..

Now.. to the winner of one of Bentley's engraved tile.. Shannon with Sunshine and Open Hearts please email me at welshcrbb@hotmail.com with your email and I will send your contact information to Kaye with Engraved Euniques so you can receive your new tile!!! These are so awesome.. I always loved them, since I first came across them.. but to see one in person.. my goodness!! They are very nice, very!!!!

I hope to post again tonight.. with pictures. Maybe more catch up photos from Houston. Bentley's scar is looking better by the day. I still need to take pictures to post but hopefully will have this up early next week. Oh and her dancing.. she does it all the time now, just a matter of catching it on video. It is darling!!

Oh, and please add baby Lindsay to your prayers. She received a new heart a couple of days ago. What a miracle baby she is!!!

CRAZY DAY

Sorry for another picture-less post.. but our days have been crazy! We have been so busy trying to get everything together and ready to live hours away for 2-3 weeks... and trying to keep ourselves together while doing so. Today Bentley and I went shopping for a couple more things we need.. it was a hard shopping trip.. one that had many tears.. while Bryson and Brenna stayed home with daddy. Still no word on his blood type.

Today has been a rough day, but I know it will only get worse before it gets better.. we leave for good tomorrow.. we are going to watch Bryson's baseball game before we leave so we will not get there until late tomorrow night (Monday).

I am going to start twittering updates a lot more now.. so if you have twitter and want to keep updated you can find me @crystal525 or view them on the left side of this page. Someone will be posting here as well... either me, or a friend. I have a special post coming soon.. (I hope).

Thank you again for your continuous love, support, and prayers! It does help and we are SO grateful!

YAY Shelly! Email me your address when you get a chance.. I am going to have someone send you a few of Bentley's bracelets from the "WHERE YOU LIVE" post.

To answer a common question.. her surgery should last about 6 hours. This is going to be extremely hard!

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to email me. welshcrbb@hotmail.com

SOCCER SATURDAY

WARNING: This post contains lots of pictures!!

So we had 3 soccer games yesterday. It's really hard to take good photos with my camera because the kids are moving so fast but here are some of my favorites!

Love this one! Bryson looks so old here, I can't believe his birthday is less than a month away..

He gives 150% always in everything he does, EVERYTHING!

Playing some football with daddy. I just love his facial expressions.

My baby boy growing so fast!

My Brenna baby. What can I say... she is beautiful inside and out.

I just love this little girl in this big soccer uniform.

Brenna and her cousin Skyler racing for the ball.

Brenna and Bentley.. I just love Brenna's expressions here so I had to post two.

She loves her little sister SOOOO much. It's so darn cute. Brenna is always saying..

"Bentley, it's me.. your sister.. your BIGGEST fan!"

I have no idea where she got that from.. but it's the cutest thing ever.

Silly girl. She just loves being outside. I am not kidding. I often take her outside when she gets fussy and she instantly smiles.

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L

And here is my dad in between the soccer games. He is not a picture person so thankfully I was far enough away, he never even knew I snapped this picture!

We left the house at 8am and returned at 5pm.. 3 soccer games later. The weather was perfect yesterday.. warm with a nice breeze.. can't get any better than that! Then we enjoyed the rest of the beautiful evenning outside. Ryan and I just sat and watched the kids. Bryson and Brenna spent most of their time riding bikes while Bentley spent some outside time in her saucer beside us, also watching Bryson and Brenna on their bikes. She loved it. Oh how the Welsh family loves some nature. It was so nice, peaceful, relaxing, and so much more.. just one of those moments when you think WOW, we are so blessed! We then had family movie night. What an amazing day!

And YES! Giveaway details TOMORROW!

PRACTICE SQUARED

Here are a few pictures from practices this past week. I hardly got any of them actually practicing because Bentley is with me and it's too hard to run all over the field with her. My husband and dad built their own baseball field on my parents land. So it makes it really nice and easy for all of us. My mom did watch Bentley at one of the practices since it was a cold evening, but all the others have been sunny and warm..


Here is Brenna during her water break! She loves to run around, get dirty, and beat up on the boys but at the same time she is VERY girly!


Here is my Bryson man! He has moved up to the next age group this year.. kid pitch. Last year was coach pitch. So it's a big difference. He has discovered pitching and LOVES it. He is very good too. I know he is my boy, but he really is great! ;)

He is so tiny, he is the smallest and youngest on the team but he does not have a problem keeping up. He fits in perfectly. Bryson has a heart for sports that for sure..

My mom and Bentley at one practice. Bentley absolutely LOVES being outside. It is pretty nice right now, it has been in the low 80's with a nice breeze. I just love it! But before long, we will be hitting the 100's I'm sure. Summer comes a little too fast in Texas. And it can be miserable-ly hot at times. But for now, I am enjoying this wonderful "flip flop" weather!

We have had a CRAZY weekend. On Sat. we had 2 practices and 2 games so we were gone all day.. good thing Bentley loves it outside so much otherwise we would be in trouble. But she is so amazing and loves every minute of it. I will post more pics from this weekend later.

PRACTICES BEGIN

So we have our first soccer practice of the season tonight (Bryson). Things are about to get CRAZY in this household! A couple days later Brenna's soccer practices will begin. And then a few days later Bryson's baseball practices will begin, and Brenna's T-Ball practices will begin. We officially have practice every evening of the week starting NOW! I have a hard time with time management now, much less in the peak of sports seasons. And did I mention Bentley's surgery will be towards the end of all this craziness? I just can't keep Bryson and Brenna from doing what they love, I just can't make them sit at home because of Bentley's heart. She is well and she loves going to these practices and watching all the kids. They are not allowed to touch or get close to her, but she does go and loves every minute of it. And when I asked her cardiologist about these type of things, his exact words "Don't let this stop your lives, get her out there and show that beautiful baby off. She will be fine!" We just don't let anyone touch her and take hand sanitizer everywhere we go, we have OCD when it comes to germs now. It does help that my husband and my dad are the coaches. we have our own baseball field at my parents so we plan everything out so the timing with all sports work together. Miss Bentley gets tired we will just jump in the car and take a very short ride up to my parent's house and she can nap, snack, or whatever she wants. She's rotten, she has no schedule, it's whatever she wants when she wants it. We have always been told to not let her cry or get upset because it could bring on a "blue spell", we'll Miss Bentley has learned this, and knows just what to do to get her way. All I can do is look at her and smile during these moments. She is one smart girl! Many many more pictures will be coming during these wonderful sports seasons.

Also, I registered Brenna for school last week. OH NO! What am I going to do with myself, my baby girl is starting school. I remember I was so upset when Bryson started, I think I was more upset than him (he's a mama's boy, well he was then) and I just cried the whole way home. Brenna would walk around the house not knowing what to do.. and ask for Bryson every five minutes. She would lay on the couch and not do anything for a couple of days. She was really depressed that her big brother was not here playing with her. But she would be happier than ever when we picked him up every day. Kids are so sweet! Brenna is going to love it and she is so ready. Not sure if I am, I have stayed home with her since day one. I am sure I will have me a crying fit on the way home again, ha.

PS.. I promise details on yesterday's Doctor visit will be posted soon. I WILL have it up today.

PSS.. I am looking for a cute shopping cart cover (and high chair cover). If you know anyone that makes these please let me know.

PEACE, LOVE, AND BASKETBALL

I only have a minute but I wanted to post.. Today was our last basketball game of the season. It has been a great undefeated season! YEAH! Time to move on to baseball & soccer for Bryson and t-ball & soccer for Brenna. WOAH!!!

Here a couple of pics from today's game. Please excuse my photography skills. ha! I slack in that department, you will learn that quick. And the dull gym lighting does not help.

Yeah I know you cannot see it very well (we can pretend I added this blur), but that is my little man taking it down.. he shoots.. he SCORES!

After the game, ready to go home.

She's not always this good during games. She likes to go to the restroom about 100 times (ugh, do not like public restrooms) and she likes to make many many trips to the concession stand (although in basketball they do not have one, she sure does ask the WHOLE game). But she is my pretty princess!

My other pretty princess. This is what she likes to do during games.. Her shirt says it all!

I will be making another post tonight and it is a really important one, so please come back tonight or tomorrow and check it out.

Much love,
Crystal