Church, Church, and Softball

Gabriel had Tender Spirits playgroup today, which is hosted at our church. On our way in, we noticed that there was yellow and white bunting over the entryway in honor of our new pope. Playgroup was fun; one of Gabriel's friends, Patrick, was there. His mommy called us yesterday to let us know they'd be there, so it was nice to see them.

We found out that the moderator of the group, Julie Duncan, who is one of the two lactation consultants at Piedmont Hospital and who visited us when Gabriel was born, is from Sylvania, Ohio. Since Matt used to live there and lots of people we know still do, we are bound to have common acquaintances, although we couldn't find any today. We'll try again next time.

After playgroup, we stopped in to the Cathedral for a quick prayer for our new Holy Father, and there wasn't anyone in there except three people decorating the altar with flowers. Patty asked what they were doing, and a very kind British woman named Charlotte said that they were offering flowers to Mary in thanks and that there would be a mass at 5:30 pm. She cut Gabriel three little flowers from the arrangement, red, white, and yellow, and he immediately chose the red one and gently held it until we got back to the car.

Since Matt found out that his game wasn't until 8:00 pm, we decided that Patty and Gabriel could attend mass and still have time for a family trip to Willy's for tacos before the game. On the way into mass, Patty was interviewed by 11 Alive news. The reporter asked all sorts of questions, like, "How do you feel about the new pope?" and "Why was it important for you to come to church today?" Patty answered the best she could, and honestly, she'd thought of her answer to the latter in advance, guessing that since the news seemed to always be reporting from our church, they'd catch us sooner or later; they always ask that question. Anyway, she was so nervous that she was still shaking an hour and a half later. They also videotaped P & G entering the church, and there was another camera (for the webcast) on them as they walked up to get communion.

Since mass was from 5:30 to 6:30, we didn't see the broadcast, and that interview didn't air on the 11:00 broadcast, so we've contacted the station to see whether it aired and whether we can get a copy of the early evening broadcast.

Matt played really well at his game. His season batting average is 1.000, and we hope that he keeps it that way. He had two doubles and a walk, scored one run, and made a couple of fantastic plays at first base. He also sacrificed his ankle to stop the ball on a rocket of a throw from second. We are compiling a spreadsheet this season of his stats. That will be a fun project. We had a great time tonight, and Gabriel loved every second of the game. It got a little cooler as the sun went down, so we put Matt's work shirt on Gabriel, and it was a little loose, as you can see in the photo. All of the players thought the Chipster was really cool, and Jason and "Papa Ray" had a blast playing with him.

The Intimidators lost 18-10 in 6 innings (game called due to time), but they looked really good. We hear that they lost last week too while we were out of town, but considering they were playing with 8 guys, it was pretty good that it was a close game.

Tonight, Gabriel fell asleep without even a peep. We think that his sleep problems are getting better. At least, we hope so. For his 6 month birthday, he started sleeping through the night. Maybe for his 9 month birthday, he's started falling asleep voluntarily. That would be wonderful.