Showing posts with label Layne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Layne. Show all posts
Friday, November 02, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
This is me...everyday.
Crazy and tired, but happy.
I am now the mother of four kids.
Most days it surprises me, still.
Three I had gotten used to,
and four is only more fun.
We're almost at the end of our first school year
where both girls have been gone at least part of every week day.
Where from 12-3 it's just me and 'the boys'.
{that's still so weird to me!}
It's been awesome, but I won't lie, I'm ready for summer.
Lazy days sleeping in and laying out by the pool.
Exhausting our Pass of All Passes
and grilling almost every night.
No more kindergarten drop-off
{we'll get a break for 1 year}
or homework packets for a few months.
And no more dance class. Goodness, that got old fast.
Mom's excited.
So for memory's sake,
here's an update {end of the school year}
of all four kids.
Ahhhhh, Tatum.
I'll start with my first.
I told Beau the other day that the traits in her
that drive me most crazy right now
are the things I will absolutely love about her
as she grows up to be a young woman.
She's stubborn and feisty.
She definitely marches to the beat of her own drummer.
She's sassy {too much if you ask mom} and spunky and bossy.
She's emotional and loyal.
She is confident and beautiful and smart.
1st grade was cake for her - 100% on every spelling test this year,
reading @ a 3rd grade level and better at math than I am as a 34 year old.
She is boy crazy.
She says things like, 'duh' and 'what the...?'
She is 7 going on 17.
And I wouldn't want her any other way.
Because after every fight, I get a good 'I love you, mom'
And I love her right back, only more.
Sweet Hayden.
Our little peace maker.
She has a smile that lights up the room.
She has the most lovable raspy voice and growlish laugh imaginable.
She holds her own when she needs to
{and with a big sister like Tatum, she needs to more often these days},
but she's the first to give in to solve a conflict.
She begs to be tickled.
{crazy, I know}
She rocked out kindergarten,
even though she is the tiniest little thing in line every day.
She is quick and eager to learn new things.
She is extremely bright and is praised by her teacher every time we speak.
She is kind and empathetic and sweet.
But a little rotten sometimes, too.
{just the right amount}
She will try anything once.
She is our performer.
You can ALWAYS find her somewhere singing
and is always embarrassed if we catch her in the act,
but should do it more because she has a great little voice.
Love, love, love that kid.
Layne the Lover
I seriously get an 'I love you mom' at least 3 times an hour,
every day - never fails.
He loves me a 'gazillion'.
And I love him that much, too.
He is a loner.
He traded his obsession for Thomas the Train for Power Rangers.
And I'm totally okay with that. We were all trained out.
He fiercely loves his baby brother.
Like, obsessively.
Like, can't stand to be more than 5 feet from him.
Like, cutest thing ever.
He is fearless and shy.
He is amazingly smart.
Could count to 100 last year {he's now 4}
and can do Tatum's math homework.
He reads his letters and numbers and can spell
the names of everyone in our family.
He will be in preschool next year
and already is telling me that he'll miss me because...
He's a mama's boy.
He is freakishly strong.
And he has the cutest way of talking,
kind of like a Boston accent
and I'm secretly so sad that they'll try and 'fix' that once he's in school.
{a bad dream is a 'nite-may-uh'}
Little Sawyer
He has changed so much in the last month.
He is now bald and rolling
{off of my bed today - that sucked}
and can't keep his hands out of his mouth.
He is SO happy
and smiles all the time.
He's started to belly-laugh
{my favorite}.
He has no interest in anything else to eat
besides his bottle.
He is patient,
which may or may not have been by choice
considering that he's pretty much being mauled
by any one of the three little people in this house
that are completely obsessed with him
at any moment on any given day.
He talks
and if you 'talk' back he'll keep going.
But you have to talk like him - he loves it.
He's started to lose interest in his pacifier.
And has gained interest in his thumb.
And he's the easiest baby to put to sleep.
Put any kind of cloth {blanket, burp rag, etc.}
over his face and give him something to suck on
and he's out in seriously seconds.
Oh, and he's really loved.
A lot.
****************************
So there you have it.
Or I guess, I have it since that was really for me.
It's been too long.
I need to be a better blogger.
For memory's sake.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Three years ago I was given a gift;
a beautiful, chubby, sweet baby boy.
He didn't have a name for the first three days
of his life because Beau and I couldn't agree.
Dad had names & mom had names, but neither would budge.
So after a friendly 'intervention' {thanks Auntie Karnen},
we sat down together and found some common ground.
Layne Ray.
9 lbs 12 ounces and hooked up to machines.
To that date, leaving him at the hospital
while we drove home with an empty car seat
was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do.
But he was a rock star - the biggest baby
{by several pounds and inches}
to grace the NICU in some time.
He had visitors and love and prayers and blessings
and pages and pages colored from his sisters at home.
And we made it through.
He came home, he was healthy and he was ours.
And boy was he smothered by those girls {still is}.
And then, the real hardest thing I ever had to go through.
He was covered in the most severe rashes most of us had ever seen.
We tried every cream, ointment and medication we were asked to.
We went to specialists, dermatologists, hospitals.
We were told that he might die.
Biopsies taken and we waited a long week for results.
Family prayers, fasting, support and
love that I'd never experienced in my entire life
occurred that week.
And a miracle.
Negative results.
It went away.
Completely.
Without medical explanation.
And now, three years later the most beautiful
{really, he is} and special boy is with our family,
enjoying life with his sisters,
Thomas the Train, Toy Story 3 and corn dogs.
A mama's boy who loves to play and pretend
and snuggle and sleep with best friend Emmitt {our dog}.
Right where he belongs.
We love you Layne!
Happy Birthday
Friday, November 05, 2010
Cowgirl Jessie
Bo Peep
& Woody
Some were into it
and some totally weren't.
Happy Halloween!
Friday, May 14, 2010
no school
no work
no cleaning
no errands
picnics in the backyard
some serious pouting
hanging out at home
having fun
We're {so} ready for summer
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Who are we kidding?
There will be a gazillion
more pictures to follow.
Tomorrow.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Thanks to the fabulous Dorothy,
my kids now look a little less wild.
Tatum took off about 2 inches and
is still complaining
that I wouldn't let her go shorter.
Layne got his signature shorty faux hawk
{thanks mostly in part to
the two swirlies in the back of his head
that make it near impossible to attempt
any other style besides}
And Hayden has returned
to the one cut that so perfectly
fits her sweet little face.
She's a-lined.
All so very cute.
They even let me blow dry it now!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
The Ballard Family has been stricken
by Strep Throat, officially.
I now have {besides me}
a miserable Little Miss Tate
diagnosed on Saturday
and
a sweet, tiny man
who I will be {somehow} taking in today
with all the same symptoms.
Hayden, so far, seems to be spared.
So {fingers crossed}
Health-only hopes for Hayden and Beau.
That guy never gets sick.
{How does he do it?}
So our days are now filled
with me having a little more energy,
and {surprisingly}, the kids losing little.
{How do they do it?}
Lots of hand sanitizer.
Fluids, fluids, fluids.
A desperate need for baby wipes
{running really low}
Winging it for dinner
{some serious creativity may have to come into play soon}
One more night I can call into work
without being penalized with another attendance point.
Keeping the house picked up just enough,
but not nearly enough.
And hours selfishly spent
wishing I had a husband
with the kind of job
that he could work from home.
Because if he could, he would.
And I would totally take him up on it.
And for the record,
having no health insurance bites.
$100+ each time I have to take one of the kids in.
Praying they are prescribed the medication that costs
$6.99 vs $149 {amoxicillian vs augmenten/true story}
Or $500+ dollars a month {that we don't have}
to pay for a crappy individual family plan
that probably wouldn't pay for much anyways.
Good thing we're totally rich.
Not.
p.s. Why doesn't blogger have
a spell checker in 'compose' mode anymore.
I hate it!
p.p.s. Something funny I noticed today.
All of my kids {individually} have decided
to call the following picture
in one of their favorite picture books
a baby cow and not a bull.
Why?
'Duh! The binky, mom!'
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Someday, he'll be one.
But for now, I'll just enjoy the little, crazy boy that sneaks food {and makes subsequent messes, see below}, loves to snuggle, tells me I'm cute, begs for tickles and gives me kisses on demand.
Love me some Layners.
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