The Ballard Bunch

I swear to you that if a day arrives that Tate doesn't have a bruise on her forehead, I'm going to send you all the cutest picture to prove it! Just as her bruises from falling down the steps at Shanna's were on the verge of healing, she took another dive at Beau's softball game! No fault of anyone but her own - the kid just goes without looking! We can only restrain her so much, you know? :) I told Beau that we have to give her credit for being consistent - she keeps bruising the same spot! Poor thing. It's amazing how quickly they bounce back, though - if I'd have fallen down the cement bleachers at the game, I would have been crying about it for a lot longer than she did! At least after the fall she really was more careful - I guess sometimes they have to touch the hot stove to have it really sink in.

Yesterday we had a fun day watching Jaxon, Beau's cousin Shalae's 4 month old baby boy. He was so good that I think it gave me a false sense of relief thinking the new baby will be a "piece of cake". Here's to hoping! Tatum really was great with him, though. She wanted to smother him a little too much - lots of loves and kisses and sharing of toys. She wasn't, however, very fond of the attention mom was giving to the baby. There was a lot of "mama!" all day long. I think she'll be okay, though - by the end of the day she was totally cool with it and helping me a lot. I just kept having to tell her what a big girl she was so she wouldn't steal the binky!!!!

Last night Beau helped me make the invitations to Tiffany's shower. I feel like such a slacker - I was going to to those last week and pretty much checked out instead. It was nice to have his help - it made the project go by a lot faster. I was laughing at him and asking if he'd ever - before meeting me and getting married - pictured himself up at 9:30 at night making baby shower invitations. He's a great sport - I know he would have rather been in bed after a long day of work, but I appreciated it so much. And now that those are out, Shanna and I can really focus on the fun part - planning the shower!

I think I mentioned a while back that I bought a new bubble bucket for the kids to play with outside in the warm weather. It's awesome - spill proof! You can literally turn the thing upside down and nothing comes out. Perfect for Little Miss "carry-everything-I-can-around-the-house"! Here's a picture of Tatum trying to figure it all out. She's great at putting the dipper in the bucket and pulling it out with bubble juice, but she's not figured out how to actually produce bubbles yet. That's mom's job, I guess. It's a cheap way to entertain her for 20 minutes or so outside, though, so I'm not complaining.

Today I'm on the hunt for inexpensive and cute fabric to make nursing blankets (I'm adding to my repertoire of baby goods to sell) and ribbon for binky clips (also an item to add). The more stuff I come up with, the more tempted I am to rent a booth at the Quilted Bear or somewhere. I just need to buck up and do it - I've got the ideas and quite a bit of inventory. After working on all the start-up for Perfectly Packaged Parties and seeing how much really goes into it, I think I'm more hesitant to get going with this. Not that I have a doubt that I can make cute things, I just don't have the energy these days! Maybe after the baby is born I can really focus on getting the items sold - right now I can just enjoy making them (since I have motivation now - she's due in less than 3 months!!!!)

We're debating a camping trip this weekend with Beau's friend's and their kids. It would be fun to get away for the holiday weekend, but I just don't feel all that into it as of today. It's a lot of work to get us all ready to go for that long - especially Tatum. If we do go, we'll be leaving on Friday and coming back on Sunday afternoon/evening sometime. If you were to ask me today, I'd probably decline going, but I change my mind like underwear these days. I'll keep you updated on what we end up doing.

In the meantime, here are some pictures to keep you occupied! See ya!

Elton John, Look Out!

She Knows When She's Being Photographed...No Smile!

Tater's Favorite Ride...The Doll Baby's Stroller