The Ballard Bunch

I know it's still before Halloween, but the celebration has already begun in the Ballard house. Tatum, Hayden and I went with some friends to "Trick or Treat Street" at the South Towne Expo Center this morning and had so much fun! As you can probably tell in the pictures, Tate wasn't too into it all at the beginning. Once inside (they have it set up with lots of little doors you knock on and different characters give out candy), it took her awhile to venture away from holding my hand and making me ask for candy. But once she felt comfortable, she was a wild woman! They had great Halloween-type songs playing and she and Jadi (the ladybug) and Kayden (the dinosaur) danced and ran around. She ended up leaving with quite the loot, too - so the $5 price tag on the day wasn't a loss.

Afterwards, we met up with the dads and went to the Training Table for lunch. Tatum quickly earned the nickname "Stair Fairy" because she only wanted to play on the stairs by our table in her fairy costume. I have to say, she looked pretty dang cute all dressed up and glittered out - she's SUCH a girl when it comes to stuff like that.

Tuesday will be the big celebration (as will be for most of you, I'd guess) so I'm sure we'll have more to share then. Stay tuned for our little Indian Baby in a future post...she hasn't made her costume debut just yet. But it's worth the wait, I promise.

Loves,
Evonne

p.s. I have to share a close-up pic of Tate's saucy fairy shoes I found on eBay. Love me some eBay lately!

Lately I've found it difficult to get Tatum to go down for a nap. Heaven knows she's tired when the whining and the tantrums rear their ugly heads, but she fights laying down like no other lately. I've been forced to tuck her in and shut the door to let her scream it out most days in the past week or two. Typically, she's asleep before 2 minutes are up, but some days she's more reluctant.

Sunday was a particularly hairy day for nap time. After about 15 mintues of solid screaming...silence. I cracked open the door so that when she woke up she could come out on her own, but didn't really get a good look in the room. After about an hour, we were getting ready to go to Beau's grandma's house so I went in to wake Tate up. For a split second I began to panic - she wasn't in her bed! There was, however, a big clump of soft blankie peaking out from under Hayden's crib. I carefully pulled the blanket away to find my little munchkin sound asleep underneath.

Waking her up was even more difficult because in her sleepy daze, she had a hard time figuring out where she was and how to get out. I guess "bed" really is where you lay your head!

Enjoy the pics!

The other day I was going through a drawer in our bedroom and came across some glasses from years ago that I never wear anymore. Tatum saw them and wanted to try them on, so for fun I let her. She LOVES them! Obviously, I can't let her wear them too much since they are Rx, but it's too cute to see her run around in them like a mad woman. Here are a few pictures I was able to snap.



p.s. As you can see in the background, we're well into packing up this old house! The Dora training toilet seat is her new favorite accessory - it's never been used for it's original intent, but she sure does love to walk around the house with it on like it's a hat. Guess we're not quite ready to potty train, after all. :)

Miss Tate is at the age of tripping, falling, bruising and tears and Miss Mama is have major anxiety over it! Yesterday was a prime example...

Earlier in the day Shanna and I took the kids to lunch - their usual haunt, Mickey Donald's. They were having a great time playing and were getting along famously with each other (Shantell and Braeden are great about watching out for little Tatum). Remember me previously mentioning how I can't stand the moms that don't watch their own kids? Again. This one little boy was a terror! First, he's in the basketball area pinching and pushing my daughter. I watched from a distance to see what she'd do - she just stood there looking at him like, "No you didn't." He kept at it and his mom didn't say anything. Tatum finally started to scream at him (she's not a hitter, though, so screams are pretty nasty). He still kept going so I went in and said, "Tatum - next time he pinches or pushes, you do it back." That got his mom up, well at least looking in our direction. She still ignored the issue. He went and did it while I was standing right there so I looked at him and I said, "If you don't stop being mean, McDonald's will make you leave." Putting the fear of the manager into a kid did the trick. At least for awhile.

A few minutes later there is this cute little girl - maybe 3 or 4 carrying her croc shoes around. He comes up, yanks them out of her hand and starts putting them in the cubbies. She's crying - again no mom around - and looks at me with sad little puppy dog eyes. So I walk her over and show her where they are in the cubbies. He sees this and gets pissed. He runs up to us, grabs a shoe and runs into the playground and hides it - coming out laughing. Damien, I swear, people. The kicker is, when he left, the little girl was with his group and she got in trouble for not having her shoes. Yelling-how-stupid-could-you-be, trouble. I wanted to cry for her.

Maybe I'm out of line for intervening and telling this kid to stop pushing and pinching and for helping her find her shoes, but I feel like sometimes kids need people to advocate for them and I felt so sad for this little girl. I'm sure this happens to her at home all the time - he terrorizes and she somehow gets in trouble for it because she's little and timid and doesn't speak up. I know, I'm the mom that other moms hate at the playground, but I'm not the type to sit by and let things happen. Kids do need to learn to solve their own issues and I'm all for that, but sometimes it's too much and they need a little mom step-in. And I'm happy to do it - especially if my kid is the one being terrorized. On the flip side - in an instant I would discipline Tatum if she was bullying - I don't deal well with that either. Kids need parenting, plain and simple.

And now I'm off my soapbox.

After that we met up with Amanda and took the kids to Gardner Village to see the Halloween Witches. It was cold and windy, so we didn't stay long, but the kids got a kick out of them. Just as we're at the end of the displays, Tatum swats something and starts screaming bloody-murder. She got stung by a bee! Her poor little hand was swollen in seconds and she was so sad! She survived and the swelling went down pretty quickly in the car, but I felt so bad for her. She had absolutely no idea what was going on - she was fine and then all of a sudden *bam* pain and swelling. Poor little thing.

Our last stop was Children's Place to look for a costume for Baby Kehl. Shanna had seen an ad for a lion costume that she wanted to get for him. We had the babies out feeding them bottles while we looked (they'd had a long day, too) and Shantell, Braeden and Tatum were walking around. Minding themselves pretty well playing near the display a few feet away from us. I guess I was pretty distracted because a few minutes later I can hear Tatum crying, but it's muffled. I look out and she's standing outside the doors with her little hand smashed in them. The saddest part was her face pressed against the window and the weight of her own pushing on the door making her hand hurt worse. She didn't understand that if she stopped pushing, she could pull the door open and free her hand. Mother of the Year. She must have walked out with other people leaving or something because I have no idea how she got out otherwise. I'm usually overly strict with her being right by me and this is why. Everyone was fine in the end, but I was pretty freaked out that she'd gotten outside. Lucky, as mean as it sounds, that her hand got caught or she may have totally wandered off.

Anyway, she fell asleep pretty early yesterday - no blaming her after the day she had. Being pinched, pushed, stung and stuck, my little Tate is beginning to be quite the handful. But at least she has a mom that is aware. :)

Our little Hayden is truly the sweetest little thing! She's got such a pleasant, calm demeanor and hardly ever fusses (her dad would disagree, but he only sees her in the evenings during the week - meltdown time for all kids).

Here she is in her cute little hand me down outfit from Tatum that I absolutely love. She looks great in red - please keep your dark hair, Hades!


And here she is asleep with her daddy in our bed. I was up late working and came in to bed to find them this way.

To follow suit with all the cute moms I know that share the funny things their babes say, here's a list of the current funny words that Tatum says. I love reading about all the other kiddies and thought all you Tatum-lovers out there might enjoy some from her.

I'm sure there are more, but this is what pops in my head right now.

Any Drink - Meal-k (Milk - with a really long e sound)
Backyardigans - Pablo (everyone is Pablo)
Banana - Bana
Blanket/Burp Rag/Anything Cloth, really - Bankie? (said just like a question)
Cat - Ki-Yee (she's obsessed) followed by "Meowwwwwww" and a really sad looking face.
Cookie - Tuh-Teee
Duck - Kuck (I swear a lady in the store the other day thought I was teaching my child swear words - she gave me the nastiest look!)
Elmo - Melmo
Fruit Snacks - Snaaaaz
Grandma - Ma Maw
Grandpa - Paw Paw
Hayden - Hay-yen
Swing - Weeeee! (Just like Colin, Sharn!)
When Looking for Something - "Wherisshe?" (all one word)

It's crazy how quickly they pick up on new words once they get the hang of a couple. Every day she's got something new to say. My favorite is when she sings the hymns in church - but it's a quietish-yell with her head back and eyes closed. I figure everyone else is being loud then, she can , too right? It's pretty cute.

We found a house! On Saturday, Beau and I spent the day looking and stumbled upon this one with our realtor, Megan. We had scheduled time to go and look at it, but found out there were offers already being made (it was on the market since Friday afternoon). Even though we knew it was a long shot, we decided to go and take a look (everything else was coming up short of our expectations).

Tatum had a great time playing with the owner’s daughter that was just a few months older than her. We talked a little and got the grand tour of the house and said our thanks and goodbyes. Because final offers were being made that afternoon, we had to make a quick decision. We gave it a shot and put in our offer, not knowing what the other bids would be. Apparently we weren’t the highest offer, but the owner chose ours because of the good report our family had with theirs. It was nice to hear – we loved the house!

Anyway, it’s older but so perfect for our little family! We were so happy to find something this spacious and clean in our price range. Now we’re in the process of the funding and all the fun stuff (ugh!), but if all goes as planned we’ll be in November 1st! Wish us luck – it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks. I’ll be sure to update. Here are a few pictures from the online listing (keep in mind, we’ll be doing some painting, etc.)…

This is the front view of the house. Not much to describe – it pretty much says it all.


This is the living room (both pictures). It’s a great big room that also connects to the dining room, giving us lots of open space. Something we REALLY lack right now.


This is the dining room and kitchen. The biggest downfall for me with this house is the size and color of the kitchen. It’s actually bigger than it looks in this picture because off to the right is the fridge and pantry (cut off). Before we move in, we’ll be painting these rooms. Who thought this color was pretty? Scary.


Here is the master bedroom. Again, it’s nice and big, but needs a tiny bit of work (mainly, new window treatments!). Our new big bed and dresser will fit in this room so much better than they do in ours now.


This will be Tatum’s room.


And this will be Hayden’s room. We’ll need to paint her room as well (it’s blue right now), but no huge rush on that – we’ll do that after we move in.


There is a huge finished basement with a full bathroom, two more bedrooms, a large living room and an office area. Lots of room for the Ballards to grow into!

It's always hard to get a real feel for a house when other people's stuff is still in there. I'll post more pictures when we have ours moved in!

What a nice day! Beau blessed Hayden this morning in church and did a wonderful job. She looked so cute in the dress my mom made her (thank you so much!) and was so good during the blessing – no crying at all! Beau did a wonderful job and gave me lots of things to put in her scrapbook (if I’d ever start on it!!!). I was one proud wife/mama.

Afterwards we had a get-together at Beau’s grandparent’s house with friends and family. Because it was so early in the morning (10am) we decided to do breakfast foods and everything was so yummy! We had a few people bring breakfast casserole (hashbrowns, eggs, sausage & cheese), I bought a bunch of muffins and bagels, we had juice, chocolate milk, goodies – all the works! And, surprisingly enough, didn’t come home with too many leftovers.

It was great to see family and friends – we wish we could arrange get-togethers like that more often!

Here is a picture of our little family right before church today. I figured I had better get a good picture BEFORE so that I still had make up in place and Tatum was relatively put together.


This is the dress that my mom made for Hayden. The bottom is made out of the same material as my wedding dress and we found some embelished material to match for the top. It looked so cute on her and was still a little big, even though she is almost two months old! I should have taken a picture of her in her tights – they are so big on her and looked so funny, but she had to wear some because it was cold out. I need to find a place that makes good newborn tights – this 0-6 months business is a joke. Newborns and 6 month-olds are totally different sizes, sorry!


With the leftover material from Hayden’s dress, “mamaw” also made a dress for Tatum to wear to the blessing. It’s a perfect church dress and luckily I found a pink sweater to go with – it’s getting cold out now!


Karen, Connie and I haven’t had a chance to get all three of our girls together until today! Breanna, Lydia and Tatum were all born within four months of each other respectively (Tatum being the youngest). They all had fun playing on the trampoline outside at Beau’s grandparent’s house today. It’s fun to think that these three girls will grow up together like the three of us did – I hope they are as close and stay good friends! We tried, but had little luck getting pictures of all three looking at the camera at the same time. Picture these in action - they were crazy girls!







Lydia (Connie's)

Breanna (Karen's)

I know, I know. I suck at keeping this blog updated. But you try being the mom of two babies (really, who are we kidding - Tatum is 18 months old!) and now working basically full time from home! It's not you, baby, it's me. :)

Nothing much is new on our end. Beau and I are looking into finding a house and hopefully getting into one by Thanksgiving (that’s our personal goal, at least). We haven’t found what we’re looking for just yet, but I have a feeling it’ll be soon. I’m excited – we’ve totally outgrown this cute little house. I’m not a cluttery person, but you can’t help it in these close quarters. I’ll be happy to find a house that is bigger than 750 square feet (no joke!). We’ll be sure to keep all updated on the progress of our new family project.

Besides the house hunt, we’re all busy with work (Beau and myself) and playing lots (Tatum). The weather is starting to cool down again and we’re excited for fall. I’m thinking of taking the girls to Thanksgiving Point to visit the petting zoo before it gets too cold and we need to plan our annual visits to the pumpkin patch and Gardner Village to see the witches.

Last week Shanna and I decided to take Braeden, Tatum, Hayden and Baby Kehl to “Mickey Donalds” for some much needed play time. The kids were overflowing with energy and the weather had been so wishy-washy that the play place was the safest bet weather-wise. Plus, we could sit and talk without having to watch an entire park. Because the weather had been so cold for so long, McDonalds still had their heat running even though this particular day was about 80 degrees outside. As most of you moms know – the play place can get extra hot being all windows and whatnot. We were all miserable and one mom complained to the manager. He told her that he couldn’t touch the thermostat, but that he would try and see what he could do to alleviate the situation. A few minutes passed and then we see him come out and prop the emergency exit door open with a “caution: wet floors” cone tipped on it’s side. Luckily, I happened to be standing closest to the door while watching Tatum play on the toddler slide and could make sure no one went out the door. I figured, being a sane person, that he was coming right back – this surely couldn’t be his solution to the heat problem! After a few minutes and him not coming back, I took it upon myself to remove the cone and shut the door. All of the moms around us were thankful – we were all so freaked out that he’d just leave an open door at the play place area. Forget being hot, I’d rather bake than have any kid (especially my own, no offense) get hit by a car on 106th South and Redwood Road (two very busy streets). The mom that had complained wasn’t too happy with my decision asking if the manager had told me to remove that cone. I proceeded to inform her that he did not and that I didn’t care how hot she was, I wasn’t about to leave an open door for one or more of the 20 kids playing to discover. She wasn’t so keen on my thinking, but she’d have to get over it. Honestly, people surprise me! I hate the play place for two huge reasons – kids that are brats to other kids (especially bigger kids that shouldn’t be playing anyways) and parents that don’t give a damn. Sorry that you just drop your kid at McDonalds for fee day care, but I don’t see it as that. Especially now that I know doors are propped open – yikes!

That same trip to McDonalds was a milestone for Tatum. She had watched as Braeden went into the boys bathroom and come back to play. A few minutes later I hear “Mom, Mom” and feel a tug on my shirt. She’s dragging me towards the bathrooms! I left Hayden with Shanna and followed her into a stall where she pulled her pants down and indicated that she wanted her diaper off, too. She sat on the toilet for a few minutes and then said, “done”. She didn’t actually go in the toilet, but it was great that she tried on her own. 18 months is early, but I’m willing to follow her lead! Now, at home, she’s taken to removing her diaper when it’s wet (and poopy for Beau the other day – haha) which tells me she knows when she needs to be changed. I’m considering starting the potty training bit, but not sure where to start. Moms of the blog – help! Where does one start?

On Saturday, for Beau’s birthday, we had a family BBQ at my in-law’s house. Beau’s dad had forgotten a part of his gift and asked if Shanna and I would run to Wal-Mart and pick it up for him. Seeing this as a quick break from the kids we agreed and left the kiddies with the dads. After shopping, we were in my car ready to back out of our parking space when a red truck pulls through to the spot next to us, narrowly missing the front end of my car. Shanna rolls down the window and shouts “Hey! How old are you?” because the driver could not have been – and I am not exaggerating – more than 12 years old! He hears Shan and bolts it into the store. It was crazy! So, being the narcs that we are, we called the police and reported the bugger. He could have hurt himself or someone else driving that truck – he could barely see over the steering wheel! 12 years old! I mean, come on, Karen and I were at least 15 when we “stole” my mom’s car to drive down and buy candy bars! :)

This Sunday we’ll be blessing Hayden at church. I’ve got some Cost-Co shopping to do this week to get food ready for afterwards. It should be a fun day – but the weekend will be a busy one! The Saturday before cousin Makayla is getting baptized, the 11th is Bunco (I’m in charge of dinner this month) and on the 12th are 2 month and 18 month appointments for Hayden and Tatum respectively.

Anyway, I hope all is well with you and yours! Please keep us updated on your goings on and we’ll try to be better at the same. Here are a couple of funny pictures of the girls to brighten your day. Loves!


Gassy Girl

I was so happy I caught this picture! Tatum was wanting to hold the baby so badly that I decided to prop her up on the couch with the Boppy pillow for support. I was in the kitchen for a second and heard Tatum giggling uncontrollably. I guess Hayden had a fit of gas and kept tooting on Tatum’s lap. It was so cute how funny she thought it was and equally as cute how unaware Hayden was.

Goofy Grin

Here is Hayden and her HUGE grin. We don't get to see it that much, being that she's only 7 weeks old and doesn't respond with smiles as much as she will in a couple of month's time. But there are days that she just grins - and her face looks so chubby and dimply when she does - you seriously can't help but laugh when you see it. She looks so much bigger in this picture than she really is! The kid is all cheeks (surprise, suprise) and hair and has tiny bird legs and arms.

When Tatum was first born, I got the bug to start making my own headbands and clips for her - the ones I was finding for sale were not all that cute and totally overpriced. This was one of my particular favorites, but it never looked quite right on her bald little infant head. I'm so glad that I didn't get rid of it! Come to find out, those "baby" headbands look really cute on a messy mop of blonde curly hair.


As you can see in these pictures, I either have to use distractions (the remote and the cord to my digital camera)


or the element of surprise (such pretty big blue eyes!) to get her to cooperate for photos these days!

Now I have a baby with a head full of brown curly hair - here's to hoping she keeps it so I can play and have a kid that kind of looks like she could be mine!

Maggi was kind enough to take pictures of Hayden when she was brand-brand new. Here are a few of my favorites (there are so many good ones!) I have to warn you, some of these may appear in the birth announcements I'll be sending out, so sorry to spoil the surprise you would have found in your mailbox sometime soon. How cute is my baby, I mean really? Madly in love, I tell you!

I got a job working at home! Tesla referred me to someone she knew that was looking for an Administrative Assistant/PR type person to work 20 hours from home. After a few phone interviews and lunch yesterday, I got it! I'll have to do some prioritizing to manage it with the girls at home, but I'm so excited! The money will certainly help - we need to get into a house bad! We're outgrowing this place and need one of our own. I start Monday and will hopefully get right into the swing of it all. :)

So my oldest and most stubborn child has been so funny lately! Three days in a row we've had three really funny instances. Here's the run down:

1) On Monday, after a particularly hairy afternoon with Tatum, I'd finally gotten her to sit on the couch with me to watch Blue's Clues while I fed the baby. My one saving grace was that she had her baby doll and was feeding her a bottle, too. After a few minutes I notice that she's mumbling and I look over to see her folding her arms and talking gibberish with her eyes closed. After about 20 seconds or so, she says "Amen" and looks up at me, very embarrassed that I'd caught her. The cute little bugger was saying a prayer! Who knows why or what it was about, but I laughed so hard. The sad thing is, I can't entirely say she learned that from us - we're not the best family at it lately with Beau's work schedule. However she learned, though, I was a very proud mamma.

2) Making me ALMOST as proud was funny thing #2. I splurged and bought the new Justin Timberlake CD (AMAZING!). For those of you that know me, you know he's my weakness, much to the dismay of my husband. Immediately following my purchase, I opened the CD and began listening to it. Song #2 is called "Sexy Back" and you may have heard it on the radio/TV, etc. recently. Anyway, good dance song - fun stuff. As I'm listening to it I look in my rear view mirror and see Tatum, eyes closed again, full on dancing to the beat in her car seat. Not just bobbing her head, mind you, but full on - arms out flailing - swaying to the music dancing. She was good! And to top it off, when the song was over she says, "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom." (until I say, "What, Tate?") and then "Back." She wouldn't stop until I replayed the song. We listened and danced to that for 20 minutes in the car before we got to Shanna's house! I love this kid.

3) Last, but certainly not least, was my doing, really but it involved Tatum. We went to the hospital on Wednesday night to see Shanna, Travis and the new baby because Beau ended up having to work late the night before and hadn't seen Kehl yet. As we're getting ready to leave, I notice that I can't find my keys. Locked in the car. So Beau hitches a ride with Travis, who happened to be leaving to go home for the night anyway, and goes home to get his truck and truck keys (with the spare on them). After he leaves, I realize that not only is Tatum stinky, but I've neglected to also put diapers and wipes in my diaper bag. Hayden needed a change earlier in the day when Tate was napping, so I took the diaper bag diapers so as to not wake up Tatum getting the supplies from the girl's room. Bag of diapers on my bed, not my diaper bag. Cottonwood hospital is a good 20 minutes from our house, so we were in for a wait. If the poopy diaper had been Hayden, I could steal a newborn diaper from the baby cart in Shanna's room, but no one had any size 4 or 5's laying around. But they did have the mother pads and mesh underwear in the bathroom! Yep, we fixed Tatum right up by putting a big pad on her and tying the mesh panties on either side of her to keep things in place. Shanna's awesome nurse was my partner in crime. I'm sure the nurse's station had a good laugh watching Tatum walk out of the hospital in her t-shirt, crocs and grown up pad and panties. I was so flustered by the night's events that I forgot to take a picture. Trust me, though, it was amazingly funny.

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?