The Ballard Bunch

A boy cousin has arrived! Kehlden Glen Doyle (Kehl for short - pronounced KELL) was born at approximately 2:45 this afternoon and weighed in at a surprisingly smallish 7lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches long. Shanna had gestational diabetes and they had predicted a larger baby. He's adorable and has reddish hair like his brother Braeden already! Shanna was a super trooper and is doing great. We're so excited that he's finally here!


This picture is right after he was born, thus the goopy eyes and white hands.


Here are the two newest grandbabies, side-by-side, in all their glory. They are exactly 1 month and 1 day apart and there is little more than a pound difference between them right now. You'd hardly know it, though, seeing how much bigger Hayden looks when comparing! We all really thought that they were closer in size than this, but it just goes to show how much difference a pound or two makes when they are this little!


Here are the cute baby faces. These two are going to be fast friends - Hayden quickly leaned her head in for a baby snuggle. It's going to be fun watching all of these cute babies grow up together!


I couldn't post without at least one brag picture of my own! Here is Hayden sleeping like a champ at the hospital. She was so good - especially considering we were there hours more than planned - they kept pushing Shanna's surgery back for other people. Tatum stayed at her great-aunt Melissa's house with Braeden and Shantell for the day. It was such a relief to not have to chase her around the hospital!

My dad came out to visit for a few days this past week and had so much fun with the girls. He especially enjoyed Tatum because they could play together more. She was her usually stand-off'ish self, but she really did warm up to him well! That is, until she got sick, and then it was crank city. Either way, it was great to see dad/grandpa and we hope he can come to visit again soon!

While he was here we decided to take the girls to the Hoggle Zoo. Tatum had never been and I knew she'd enjoy it - she's very into animals right now. Even though lots of attractions were closed, we got to spend a good hour and a half (just long enough, if you ask me) at the zoo. Plus, it was half price day so we all got in for $8 - can't beat that!

Tatum was so cute - everything that in any way resembled a horse was "Horsie!!!!", every bird was "Duckie!!!!!", monkeys were "Boots!!!!" and she loved the black bears - she just stood at the fence and growled at them. Despite being a little under the weather, she did not want to be in the stroller at all and guided us through the zoo like a champ. Hayden, of course, slept the whole time.

Here are a few pictures of our trip (sorry there aren't more - I suck at remembering to take pictures lately!!!)

Tatum and Grandpa looking at the Rhinos


She loved the elephants and this one was standing so funny. He was leaned up against the fence with his legs crossed like he was waiting for something to happen.


Tatum had the most fun with the bronze statue of the rhino for some reason. She kept knocking on it and laughing. I love this picture!


Here she is when she caught a glimpse of the bears in the distance. She ran right over when she saw them!


Here's a sample of the "Horsies" that she loved so much. We're going to have to work on the more exotic animals now! She's a pro at Kitties, Puppies, Cows, Ducks, Bears and Horsies.

I haven't posted in a few days, so I apologize once again. My dad is in town visiting, that combined with a few other goings on have made for a busy week! I'll have to take some pictures of the girls with Grandpa Olson tomorrow at the zoo and post them for you after we get back!

Not much else is going on here. I have had a few phone interviews for a work-at-home job opportunity with a PR firm in Utah County. My friend Tesla does freelance work for them and mentioned that they were looking for someone to help with the administrative side of things from home 20 hours a week or so. Right up my alley! I'll keep you all posted with how things go, but I do have a lunch meeting with the owner this week, so hopefully that's a good sign! Good wishes, please - the money would help a ton!

Now, for a few pictures of the sistas...


This picture is a couple of weeks old, but I had to put it up for Aunt Breena. It's such a cute picture of all three girls, even if Tatum is a nudist! Lately, she hates having clothes on. Do all kids go through this stage?


Tatum had just woken up from a nap and Hayden and I went in to check on her. Hayden was asleep in my arms and Tatum kept asking for her, "Baby? Sis?" So, I laid them down together and had to take a few pictures. This is one of Tatum starting to pucker up.


And this one is the kiss. She sure loves Hayden - I'm so happy that she's not jealous or weird! Notice the jean skirt! I found that the 12 month jeans she'd outgrown were worn in the knees from when she was still crawling and so I made some skirts like I make for the grown up girlies. She looks so dang cute in it!

Ahhhhh! A quiet moment in the Ballard home is a very nice thing! Beau and Hayden are asleep on the couch and Tatum is down for a nap in her room. I was able to shower, blow dry (and style!) my hair, take longer than 3 minutes to put on my make up and I still have time to post a quick blog! It's funny the small things you learn to appreciate when you have two small kids.

Everything here is great! Today Beau went and registered both of our cars (a little overdue), I picked up my new glasses (two pair for $69, baby!) and we'll be headed to Shanna's house for game night in a little while. It will be nice to hang out with grown up people while the kids play in the basement and go as crazy as they want to (within reason, of course). If I can get some laundry tackled before we head out, I'll feel like I got some good things done today. It helps that Beau has Monday off for Labor Day, too - I always get more done when he's here. One of us to work on a chore, the other to entertain the girls. We go back and forth like that most weekends!

Have I told anyone how addicted I am to Big Brother this summer? I almost always watch it, but I'm battling an oncoming depression when it ends for the season! I know it's trashy, but it's such a fun show to watch. And I never thought, me of all people, would be rooting for the skanky blonde with big boobies to win! Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays are spoken for in our house. Hey, at least it's a show Beau and I actually agree on, right? I just realized that football season starts soon - back to the two TVs. I wonder how that'll work out with Dora on one and football on the other? I'm going to have to find some other hobbies around the house, I fear!

I've got to remember to have Beau talk to Bishop Goffin tomorrow to see what day we can bless Hayden. Once I get that date solidified, I can finish up her announcements and get those out to you all! Her dress turned out so cute - my mom is amazing! She even had enough to make a dress for Tatum out of the same material - it's beautiful!

I guess I should wake Hayden up to eat. I swear, that child would sleep the entire day away if I let her. I wish I could sleep like that! She's such a good baby, though, when she is awake she just looks around and coo's at us all - not much of a crier. Tatum is still being great with her, but now we're working on getting her to stop screaming to get our attention. Happy, sad, bored, mad - everything is accompanied with a scream for some reason. Super Nanny?

Hayden is not a baby to be swaddled. She loves sleeping free. My mom says I slept the same way - maybe this kid will take after me afterall!

This post is strictly for the enjoyment of my brothers, Steve and Jeff. I apologize to those of you that don't remember the reference I am about to make!

This morning, as I was changing Tatum's diaper I had a major flashback of watching the movie "Labyrinth" as kids and had to laugh out loud. Something about Tate's pajamas and messy bed head hair reminded me of the baby from the movie. Here are pictures to show you what I mean. It's not an exact match, but I still found it pretty amusing. (Ignore the fact that Tate is a girl and the missing baby, Toby, is a boy). Am I officially a nerd now?

I'm so sorry that I haven't kept up with posting this week! I'm settling into my new-and-improved busier life of a mom with two kids. It's been going really well, with a few minor glitches here and there.

Tatum came down with a stomach flu on Tuesday morning, so for the last two days we've been battling the barfs and clinginess. She's so funny when she's sick - she'll go to bed without hassle, sit on the couch without chaos and snuggle with me all day long if I asked her to. I think she's feeling better this morning, though because she's in the living room watching Backyardigans and trying to "share" her toast and Pedialyte with her baby doll. I'm just hoping she keeps it down - I've had enough throw up to last me two lifetimes. Damn, it's gross.

Hayden is doing great! She has her two week check-up tomorrow (she'll be three weeks old on Friday) which means shots (I hate that part something fierce!). She's growing so much and already looks so much different than when she was first born. Maggi took pictures of her on Sunday (thanks Mag!!!) for baby announcements so I'll post some of those as soon as I get the disk from her. I told my mom yesterday that keeping a second child documented is a lot more work than the first. I was constantly taking pictures of Tatum at this age, but somehow the day gets past me before I realize that I've forgotten to do the same for Hayden. I need to make a more concentrated effort - this kid is gorgeous and it needs to be documented! :)

I'm recovering well from the Mastitis - that was a lovely occurrence, let me tell you. The antibiotics prescribed by my doctor helped leaps and bounds, though. I wouldn't wish that on anyone - the fever alone was enough to drive a girl crazy. And then having to pump/breastfeed on top of the pain? Get out. But, we're on the up and up so no complaints! Now I have a day filled with a possible trip to the DMV ahead of me to get both cars registered (why do they always fall at the same time, it seems?) and a visit to Grandma Tammy who is recovering from major leg surgery (plates, screws - you name it). If I forego the DMV, we could stay in our jammies all day long! Hmmmmm....

Hayden Ruth Ballard
8 lbs 10 oz - 19 inches


Hopsital Photo - Beau says she looks Asian in this picture. Tatum looked just like this - I think the fat little cheeks make it hard for their little eyes to open for awhile! :)


Hospital Photo - I love this one because she looks so much like Tatum did.


Hospital Photo - She's cute in pink!


Daddy and Hayden - August 11, 2006


Finally Home! Mommy, Tatum and Hayden. Tate is already getting pretty good at saying the baby's name.

For those of you interested, the pictures taken at the hospital of the baby will be available to view soon after she's born (at least within a couple of days, I'm told).

Here is the URL in case you want to take a look before I am able to send out pictures on my own:

http://www.stmarkshospital.com/

When you access the above web page, there is a link to "Web Babies" near the top of the page that will direct you to the day she is born (probably the 11th, unless I'm in for real torture here). I'll also be sending pictures when I'm able, but this should tide you over.

Wish me luck!!!!!

I went to the doctor today and I am dilated to a 3! If all goes as planned, I will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow night and induced first thing Friday morning. That is, unless I go on my own before that. Either way, the next post will be with big news! So ready...

Sorry for the post overloads today - this is it, I promise! Some of you have already seen this picture, but it's so funny that I had to post it on our family blog.

Tatum, as of late, has been finding herself in jams. She'll turn her shopping cart upside down and try and sit on it, only to get stuck. You've seen her in her toy box on numerous occasions. This picture is the latest and greatest.

For some reason or another, she loves playing with the pitcher I keep under the sink with the other mixing bowls, etc. The other day I could hear her crying in the kitchen and went in to see what was the matter. This is how I found her, propped up against the wall with both feet stuck inside the pitcher. She wasn't too happy about it, but I made her wait in that position so that I could take a picture - after all, what are moms for, right? Her face says it all, "Mom, take your stupid picture already and get me out of here!" When I picked her up, the pitcher came with her - we had to pull them apart on the bed!

Tatum enjoying her new favorite snack, yogurt. As you can see, she's a girl who likes to do it herself!


I found this pair of tights with an attached tutu in a box that was in storage and thought it would be fun to play dress up. She refused to take it off until almost bed time and that was only because I bribed her with a bath. She is such a girl.

Here is a picture of my photographer for the day, Shantell. As you can tell, she's really shy and reserved! :) She wanted to borrow my camera after this picture and got some really great shots of the entire family. And, of course, wanted plenty taken of her as well.


This is Tate's newest strange face. I love it! She also does fishy lips now, but I couldn't get her to hold it long enough for a picture. Why are babies so cute in their swimming suits? If only life were that easy for us grown up girls...


Here is Tatum watching fireworks in the backyard. You can tell how much sun she got that day by her pink little cheeks. I had put her in her pajamas before they started since she fell asleep on the 4th. This year, no such luck - she was wide awake...with lots of ooooo'ing and ahhhhh'ing.


The diva herself the morning after. She LOVES sunglasses - any she can get her hands on. I loved this pose because it is so Tatum.

It seems that summertime negates a lot of family get togethers and this year is no exception!

We just got home from Beau's Aunt Lynnette and Uncle Gordy's house for a Ballard Family BBQ and had a great time! Cousins Dustin (and wife Margaret and daughter Maleha) and Casey (and wife Candice and son Caleb) were all in from out of state for the week so it was a great opportunity to get everyone together. Maleha will be 2 in October and Caleb is a week older than Tate so they all had a great time playing! Aunt Lynnette had her wading pool and slide out for the kiddies and they spent a good amount of time staying cool in the pool.

Here is a picture of our brave little babe that loved the slide into the pool (I'm thinking a wading pool would be a good addition to our yard for the rest of the summer)! I didn't get a good picture, but we all got a good laugh at how full of water Tatum's diaper was after swimming for so long. We didn't plan on swimming so I hadn't packed a suit or swim diaper for her. We were able to borrow a suit from Maleha, but the diaper was a lost cause. She looked so funny waddling around with a "J Lo Booty".

Besides swimming, the kids played on the baby bikes and playground. Tate especially enjoyed the "Barney Rubble" car. She couldn't get enough of Aunt Brie driving her around the yard.

Everyone else there had newborns (3 in June and another born in January) and another three of us are pregnant expecting within the next few weeks. Needless to say, next time we all get together there will be lots of babies running around! We had a lot of fun catching up with everyone and can't wait to all get together again soon (probably Christmas, realistically).

Tomorrow is Pioneer Day so Beau has a long weekend (yay!) to spend with the girls! :) We'll be going to his parent's house for the annual 24th BBQ and swim party (see, we have a lot of those lately!) so tomorrow should be fun. And we're all looking forward to Grandma Tammy's firework display to close the evening (let's keep our fingers crossed that no one gets injured in the process - haha). I'll be sure and post pictures when I get the chance.

I can not sleep anymore. I don't know if it's the anticipation of the new baby or the extreme levels of discomfort I'm experiencing while trying to sleep these days (probably a combination of both, really), but here I am! Beau left for work at 5:30 this morning and I never really got back to sleep after that.

Smart mom that I am, I went in to check on Tatum when I woke up and found her in the following position:

She must have either fallen asleep that way after us leaving her in there alone to go to sleep last night or moved in the middle of the night without a sound. Either way, I thought I'd be nice and move her to her bed - then I'd have some time to shower and get ready before she woke up. As I'm typing this she's next to me trying to climb into her high chair and waiting for Elmo to start on the early morning Sesame Street. Moving her wasn't my best idea, but she looked so uncomfortable!

I'm not sure what we're doing today, but I need to get out of the house for a bit if at all possible. I do need to buy some fireworks for the 24th of July - maybe I can talk Shanna into a drive to Evanston to buy the good ones! (haha) Just thinking of that drive with all three kids makes me tired. I think everyone will just have to be happy with the fireworks we can find locally - I saw a good pack at Harmon's yesterday that we could split the cost of. The outlet stores would be fun - maybe we'll do that today. It's good walking at the least.

Hope you all have a great day!

Here is the picture as promised. Night three and going strong...yay! She's just like her dad - makes a huge mess of the bed in her sleep. :)

Due to several requests, here are the two names we've narrowed it down to: Hayden Ruth or Laney Helen.

I go back and forth with them both and have slight issue that Hayden sounds similar to Tatum when said out loud. That, and the fact that the boy name we like will also sound similar, might make me go the other way so that it doesn't seem deliberate once we have a boy. But who knows, I love Hayden and might just get over it!

FYI - The middle name (for either choice) is after my Grandma Olson (Helen Ruth).

Well, I had my first of the fun weekly appointments this morning (all you moms out there know what I'm talking about - exams suck!) and we're getting closer to baby time!

The baby is in position, but I'm not dilated at all yet. On Thursday I'll be exactly one month from my due date. Dr. Roth did assure me that if I don't have the baby by August 11th on my own, that'll be the day I am induced. So, three weeks from this Friday is the latest she'll be here! Now at least my mom can make her flight arrangements and plan to be here right before the baby arrives instead of having to leave so soon after she arrives like she did with Tatum. Who knew I'd go a week over and have a huge baby - now at least we can plan more! I just make sure to remind my doctor at EVERY appointment just how large and in charge Miss Tate was. :)

I'm so excited to be this close to the end - we can't wait to meet the newest Baby Ballard. Tatum knows something is coming, I think. She's really cute about babies (any she can get her hands on - she loves to kiss them) and is extra needy these last couple of weeks. Nothing we can't handle, but she wants one of us around to observe all her tricks and sometimes just to snuggle.

She's going to be a great big sister and I know she'll love having her Grandma Leigh stay with us for a couple of weeks. Hopefully she'll be able to play outside with my mom a lot - it's so hot that I can't really take her out much these days and I feel so bad! This heat is killing me (104 today) so we don't do much besides play inside where it's cool or go to Grandma Tammy's pool (every few days or so).

Just a note from a proud mamma at 8 in the morning...

Tatum spent her first night last night in her "big girl bed" and slept through! She took a little longer falling asleep, but once she was out, she was out for the count. She's still asleep now and looks so dang cute laying on her pillow all curled up with her bear. Beau took the camera to work today, but I'll be sure and get a picture tomorrow morning (hoping we're onto a trend after tonight)!

I've got a dr's appointment today - we're one month out now! I'm going to see if we can nail down a delivery date today so that my mom can plan her trip out and so I can plan the rest of my month. It should be early August (I'm thinking around the 10th, but that's just my guess). I'll keep you all posted.

Well, I'm finally able to upload pictures, so get ready for a bunch!


This first one is of Tatum playing in her new favorite toy...her laundry basket! She'll keep occupied for quite a while climbing in and out of this collapsible hamper. I usually know she's getting in it from the giggles of rolling around in her bedroom.


Here she is at the lake a few weeks ago for the Ball family reunion. She loved being in the water with dad and couldn't get enough of the water noodles - although she didn't get much use of them in the water (she preferred the beach).


Tatum's other favorite household "toy" - her toy basket in the living room. Luckily she's big enough to get herself in and out of it now. When she was smaller I'd find her stuck in it head first with no idea of what to do next.


All three kids at Shantell's kindergarten graduation eating cookies in the classroom. Tatum loved running around with the kids in "big kid territory".


Here are Tanya, Mateo, Tatum and I while they were out for a short visit. Tatum and Teo had fun "kissing" at our request and had some funny conversations that only they could understand.


Jordan and Tatum at dinner that night. All the girls love Jordan - last time it was Shantell with the crush!


Amanda getting practice with the nursing blankets I've been making and selling. We made her pose with Tatum's baby doll because it looked so funny. Come December, this could be her reality!


The only picture I was able to get on the 4th before my camera died (battery). I'm surprised that Tatum is happy in this picture - she HATES when the kids pick her up now. We're in the "I'm not a baby" stage, I think.

I have some more to post, but I'll save them for later. I'm tired of sitting at the computer waiting on our oh-so-slow connection to upload each picture!

love to all!
Evonne

This was started on the 3rd, thus the way-past date. I'm having problems uploading pictures again, so this is going to be text heavy with pictures to follow as soon as I get this working again. So sorry!!!

The first item on our "agenda" this weekend was the Ball Family Reunion (Beau's mother's mother's side of the family) up in Heber. We got a late start because Beau wasn't able to get off as early as he'd have liked to and ended up getting up to the reunion at around 7:45 or so. We had yummy dinner, caught up with lots of family, played some fun games and had a great time. We had planned to sleep in our bags under the stars out on the front lawn, but a storm changed our plans. Shanna, Travis and their kids and Beau, Tatum and I all decided to drive up to their Uncle Gary and Aunt Melissa's cabin to spend the night in beds. After an hour drive (I thought it was only supposed to be about 30 minutes) we arrived and found that not only were we on empty in our car (no gas stations in site) but that Travis and Beau couldn't find the key to the cabin! Luckily, they were able to find a few gallons of gas in the cabin shed (they had to do a little maneuvering to get in) and as we were preparing to drive back to camp and brave the rain, Beau stumbled upon the key buried in the dirt somewhat near the area it was supposed to be hanging. It was a late, frustrating night, but we did get to sleep in comfy beds!

Once the kids were all up and ready, we headed back down to the reunion for breakfast and then boating at Jordanelle. The water was surprisingly tolerable - once you were in for a few minutes that is. Tatum loved playing out in the water with her dad and spent any other time running around the beach trying to be a big kid. She discovered the water noodles and occupied a good part of the afternoon playing with those on shore. Despite gobs and gobs of sunscreen all day long, we all got a little sunburnt. Beau's back and shoulders got the worst of it for him - he's in the sun all day at work, but the areas under his clothing don't see the rays too often so his "farmer tan" got a good working on. Tatum got a little burnt on her lower back (no idea why) and now has a cute little bikini line from her suit in the front. I don't feel too burnt myself, but I did get a lot of sun and now need to start working on getting RID of the tan line - the maternity suit I found is a halter and leaves an awfully visible tan line on my chest and shoulders.

Saturday night we were able to meet up with Tanya, Mat, Teo, Amanda and Jordan for dinner. It was so fun to see everyone - I can't believe it's been as long as it has! Teo is the cutest thing ever with his big brown eyes and amazing demeanor! He and Tatum had a good time "talking" to each other and giving lots of kisses. Mat and Tanya are going to forward me the pictures - as soon as I get those I'll post them for you all to see. Amanda and Jordan are doing great, too and I can't wait to find out what they are having! Tatum did take a fall while we all ate dessert at our house after dinner - she was running out of the kitchen with a strawberry in hand and tripped and hit her face on the tile somehow. With all the blood you'd have thought she lost a tooth or something, but after it was all over I think she had just bit her tongue. The fall combined with a very long day made for a hard to console baby girl. Once she calmed down she was just fine and slept well that night. Now she's got her big girl bed (straight from Ikea in Canada - thanks Nan!) and will make the transition to that pretty soon!

We spent the day Sunday sleeping (through church - oops) and having dinner at Glen and Tammy's house. Nothing beats a Sunday roast dinner...I love it!

The 4th was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Fullmer's house for a BBQ and a dazzling fireworks display by Chet. :) Tatum lasted all of five minutes and crashed for the fireworks - she'd had a very long day playing with the big kids. We all had a great time!

Now I'm in major nesting mode - cleaning everything, setting up the girls' room, making final purchases, packing my bag - you name it. I think I'm driving Beau nuts, but we've only got (potentially) 4 weeks left until it's baby #2 time! Hey, at least the house is getting cleaned very regularly, right?

Hope all is well with each of you!

loves,
Evonne

It's so hot here today! I've seriously been tempted to set up shop right in front of the cooler in our room all day long. I probably would have really done that if Tatum would have let me sit there all day, but no such luck. The sprinklers are looking really great right now!

Nothing much to "report" from our little household this week. Tatum and I just got back from taking dinner to Shay and Tiffany (they came home from the hospital today) and later tonight we'll go and see Parker (he just got home from his mission this morning) - we're just waiting for Beau to get home so we can all go together. Other than that, I've just been sewing like a mad woman working in projects for the baby and finishing up items that I'll be selling at Shanna's purse party tomorrow. We have so many pregnant friends and relatives that I just might sell some more than usual tomorrow, but we'll see. Lots of cute stuff, mammas!

Tanya, Mat and Teo are going to be in town this weekend and we're so excited to see them! I can't believe that I haven't met the little guy yet and he's already almost a year old! It will be nice to see everyone and catch up over dinner on Saturday. Amanda and Jordan should be going with us and I can't wait to hear about their trip and her pregnancy!

Have I mentioned that I'm addicted to chocolate covered strawberries lately? It's the only thing I want to eat these days. I never craved food with Tatum really, so this is all new to me.

Speaking of food and Tatum - here's a great picture I got of her after she was busted munching a cookie in my room (she snuck it herself). She's so dang cute I had a hard time being upset with her. Don't pay any mind to the craziness of her hair - the kid is a hurricane lately!

Just a quick note to let you all know that Tiffany had her baby at about 8:30 this morning. The baby was 6lbs. 11oz. and 19 inches long. She has tons of dark hair and the smallest little head you've ever seen. Here is a picture for your viewing enjoyment (I figure it's always fun to see a new baby, even if you don't know who she is)!



Starting to freak out a little - I'm officially next!!!!

Tatum and Beau - Father's Day 2006


Tatum Annoyed with Mom Taking Her Picture...again.

Hello all - it's been a long time since my last post! I hope this finds you well and enjoying a fun weekend of some kind. We're just winding down from Father's Day festivities and looking forward to an early night's sleep! This probably won't be the longest of posts, simply due to the fact that I'm very tired, so I apologize in advance.

We had a fun time today celebrating with Beau! I was going to post pictures, but for some reason I'm having problems getting them to work with this blog today! They were great and hopefully I can post them ASAP. They show Beau in a new shirt he received as a gift and Tatum in a shirt that I had to get her for the day (it says "My Daddy Loves Me"). The first picture is sweet of the two of them and the second is a not-so-enthusiastic picture of Tate posing with "arms up" to show us what's printed on her shirt. It's so funny - she looks entirely fed up with me and my camera. Attitude runs strong in this one. I'll keep working on the uploading issue. Check back soon for pictures!

Speaking of Tatum, she gave her mamma a slight heart attack this weekend when she fell out of the shopping cart at Old Navy - head first. I seriously almost lost it in the store. Not only did the noise that her little head made hitting the floor scare me to death, but she also had the hysterical crying where she wouldn't breathe going for her, too. Miraculously, she survived without even a bump on her head - it's amazing how resilient kids are. She managed to give me one more minor scare falling down a few stairs later in the day, but again without injury. I will ALWAYS have this child heavily insured, I'll tell you that much!

Now we're just looking forward to another busy week. Tomorrow Beau's softball team has a game at 6pm, Wednesday night I have Bunco, Thursday night I have a party to go to with the girls and hopefully this week sometime we'll be at the hospital for the birth of Shay and Tiffany's little girl!

It's exciting that the group of babies being born is starting so soon - first Tiff's baby, then me (6-7 weeks later, already) and Shanna just a couple of weeks after that! It will be so fun to have little cousins so close in age! If only we knew what Shanna was having - the suspense is killing us all. Okay, maybe me the most - I don't know how she could not know this entire time - I would go bananas. I do give her credit for being so patient, though, she's better than me. It would be fun to have another boy in this family - with all these girls being born, Braeden is going to be surrounded by estrogen his entire life. Step it up, Shanna!

Time for a quick update!

This week has been pretty run-of-the-mill for our little family. It has been hot, so Tatum and I spent a day at the pool on Tuesday with Grandma Tammy and Aunt Breena. It was a nice, long, relaxing day - although I think that Tatum enjoys pool time more when the kids are also there - they keep her entertained the entire time! We had talked about meeting up with Shanna and the kids to swim this afternoon, but I'm not sure how the weather is going to cooperate. It was rainy last night and looks pretty dreary right now. We'll see if it clears up, but so far it looks like we'll need to alter our plans a bit.

Last night we had Tiffany's baby shower at Shanna's house. There was a great turnout of guests and we all had a great time. My totally fun game idea didn't quite pan out the way I'd planned, but we managed around it. Tiffany received a lot of really cute gifts - they should now be well stocked for the impending arrival of Baby Girl Ballard. She's due in about two weeks, but she's already dilated and may just go early. We can't wait to meet the babe!

Today I am going down to American Fork to meet with Tesla and our web guy, David, to go over the final changes made to our site, receive some training on site maintenance, etc. Shanna is going to watch Tatum so that I can get down there and focus on work stuff so that I'm not spending twice the time because I have to wrangle her all meeting. After that we'll probably do something with Shanna and the kids (see above).

Oh! And congratulations to Karen and Scott - we just found out yesterday that they are expecting a new baby early next year! Although Brianna and Tatum will be in the same grade, we just missed timing these new two and they'll be a year apart in school. We're so excited for them and can't wait to find out what they are having. My gut says boy, but who knows. My record isn't the best at guessing what other people are having lately. I can, however, pretty accurately predict what I'm going to have - haha - maybe it's mother's intuition? Either way - I know they'll enjoy the new addition to their family!

That should be about it for now. I took this picture yesterday in our front yard. We have a large row of rose bushes right in the middle (planted a long time ago by family living here) and they typically are all a deep burgandy color. Yesterday I was driving in from running errands and realized that there was a huge, light pink rose blooming out of the bushes. It looked so pretty that I had to take a picture. I don't know how unique this growth is (I'm not the gardening expert), but it sure did look cool! Today I may go out and pick some of the roses for inside the house. Last year I didn't clip any and wish I would have - there are so many that I may as well enjoy them both inside and out, right?

Ugh...time to get ready for the day. More later, I'm sure!

Loves.

Okay - I really do have to go but I forgot to tell you all what Tatum did today!

We went to Brock's baptism and afterwards had his birthday party at the pavillion in the park by the church. Tatum was off in the grass playing with the other kids. I look over and see Braeden climbing the chain link fence, no big deal - the kid climbs everything.

Tatum, following the lead of her ever-careful cousin, decides to give it a try and as we're laughing at watching her try and imitate him (thinking there is no possible way she'll figure it out), seriously gets herself up the fence! She climbed up a few links and just hung there like it was no big deal. The kid is 14 months old - I about died! I almost went into labor running over to get her down before she fell and cracked her head on the cement. Luckily, she escaped that event without harm - too bad she thought it was the most fun ever.

She is going to be my constnant injury, I'm sure of it because after getting her off the of fence and teaching her that it's a "no-no", she ran away laughing and hit her forehead smack on the corner of the bleacher bench! I swear to you, she is a total bruiser!!! Just when the forehead bruise went away, too!

Please tell me this stage passes quickly...

Well another slow week has past and dropped our family right into a busy weekend!

Last night Beau and his friends are had a “boys night out” to celebrate a friend getting married next week. They were able (through great connections) to secure an amazing suite up at the mountain resort for the night so they all went up there for dinner, cards and hanging out. He was pretty excited about it, so I’m glad he was able to leave work early enough to catch the carpool up. They all slept over the night, so Tatum and I were set to be on our own. Well, we were, until we asked Shantell to sleep over for our own “girls night in”. It proved to be a rather amusing evening.

Since we spent the afternoon at the pool with Brienna, Tammy, Shanna and the kids, we just brought Shantell home with us from there. We ordered pizza (Tatum ate almost an entire piece – she loves it!!!) and watched Disney’s “Hercules” in our jammies.

After the moive, we had a mini-day spa at the house, and the girls were both very into it. They (well, not really Tatum, but we pretended) wanted to do facemasks so we made headbands out of bandanas for each of them and prepared to apply her “mask”.



Unbeknownst to Shantell, I was out of the real stuff, so she spent a good part of the evening relaxing with toothpaste on her face! Hey, what they don’t know can’t hurt, right? Plus, she felt the tingling so for all she knew that meant it was working! After the mask, we put lotion on our faces to keep them soft. She keeps touching her face because it feels "so healthy”!



The last treatment was for me - a surprise! I was informed that it was time for my “Muh Sausage”. It was all I could do not to laugh, she was so serious! So I got myself a little pampering and we painted toes and nails before relaxing for the evening.

Lots more going on this weekend - I'm out the door in a few minutes to go to Tiffany's baby shower. I'll try and update you all tomorrow.

See ya!