The Ballard Bunch

Warning!!!! I promise I clean my child and that I fix her hair daily, but being a 2 year old, she manages to undo all of my hard work within minutes these days.

This is the best picture I could get of her missing tooth. It's kind of goofy because she's coming at the camera, but you can really see it well. She's got the tooth on the right hand side of the picture coming in and the empty spot on the left is the tooth that came out.



I've tried taking a picture of the tooth, but it's not turning out. It is so much bigger than I'd imagined a baby tooth on an almost 2 year old to be. I'd say it's about 1/2 an inch long and 3/4 of it is root - it's crazy!

What a night!

We went over to Shanna's house to play games last night and had a calm evening until about 9:30 pm. The kids had been playing in Braeden's bedroom and I hear a cry. Now, all of you mom's out there know what I'm talking about - you know your own children's cries, but you especially know the difference between a hurt cry, a fake cry or a tantrum cry. It was definitely a hurt cry and it was definitely Tatum. Out she comes in hysterics with a mouth full of blood. At first glance, I think she's just cut her mouth, but once I get her upstairs and get a good look, I see that she's not only knocked one of her front teeth totally to the front, but it's poking out so far that her lip is protruding out pretty far and her gums are ripped to shreds. Beau tries to see how loose the tooth is and finds that it won't budge easily. So off we go to the emergency room again!

After some examination from a couple of different doctors, they decided that the best course of action would be to pull the tooth completely out and cut our losses. Luckily, because she's only almost 2 years old, it was a baby tooth and won't cause any permanent damage to her mouth. They had to anesthetize her, which meant a baby hospital gown (too cute!) and being hooked up to all kinds of monitors. She never went completely out, but she was sedated enough that the nurse and Beau were able to hold her down (mom wimped out) and the doctor got the tooth out. My little trooper!

She finally went to sleep at about 1 in the morning, but would only do so in our bed. So she and Beau ended up in our room and I slept in her bed until Beau went plowing at 3am. She's taken a liking to Beau lately so I was quickly kicked out due to the lack of room (she's a thrasher in her sleep). Today she seems to be doing much better and is on a prescription pain medication for the next few days. Plus, she's gotten one of the earliest visits from the Tooth Fairy that I've heard of, so she had that to be happy about. Now she won't stop touching her gum where the tooth was and asking for her tooth to look at. I think she's a little excited by the whole thing now that the painful part is over!

I'll post pictures when I can get some of her - she's not too cooperative about showing me her mouth. I was kind of bummed that I didn't have my camera with us last night - her tooth was unbelievable!

Just a shout out to my mom celebrating her birthday in far-away California.
We miss you and love you - have a wonderful day!!!!

After another long day of crafting with the girls, we've got some new projects to show off!

(For Valentine's Day)

(January) (February)
(March)
(Above Our Bed)

After reading Tanya's post about her Christmas present from Mat, I was inspired to archive my posts from the last year and print out my version of a "journal". In doing so, I came across an old post of pictures of our house as it was on the market. Now, it feels like we've been here forever and we've made it our own. I still haven't painted or done a lot of the other things I'd wanted to do as soon as moving in, but we love our sweet little house!

I had to post this because I laugh every time I see her do this!

Tatum got some Barbie horses from Shantell's hand-me-downs (she LOVES horses for some reason) and she figured this was the best way to make use of them.

Ride on, cowgirl!

After showing Shantell recent posts with video of Tatum, she wanted to shoot a movie of her own. Here she is, in all her glory. :)

After much anticipation, Christmas has already come and gone. Despite Tatum having a few very sick days (starting Christmas afternoon and ending today), we had a great holiday!

Here are a few pictures of our morning:

This is what the girls got for mom & dad (with a little help from Beau). I laughed so hard when I saw this under the tree (let me guess what it is...) - Beau's been wanting a new plunger for some time now (haha).

Here is Hayden (with her crazy bed head hair) enjoying her new Boppy floor mat. Finally, she likes tummy time!

This is Tatum's new Dora kitchen. She came out into the living room on Christmas morning and didn't want to open anything else once she saw this fun new toy. She's got an apron and everything!

Here's a rare picture of me on Christmas morning helping Tatum open a present. I figured Beau was a good sport, so I would be too. Thank goodness for make-up and a hair straightener!

Here is Beau with the girls. Notice that Tatum is still wearing her apron, even though this is near the end of present opening. It sure does take a lot longer with two kids to open gifts!

After we opened gifts at our house, we drove over to Beau's parent's house for gifts to/from grandma & grandpa, aunts & uncles and all of the cousins. I dressed the girls in new sweaters they got for Christmas and had a fun surprise when Jakelle arrived in the same one!

I was able to get some video on my digital camera throughout the day, but the color isn't so good and it wouldn't be that visable posted for you all - sorry!

We were so happy to celebrate with family and friends and certainly miss all of you that we couldn't spend time with this holiday season. We hope that we can catch up in person sometime soon!

Bring on the new year!!!!

lots of love,

The Ballards

p.s. Here is a cute picture of Hayden and Pappa Glenn on Christmas Eve.

Here's a great clip of Tatum singing a song she's made up. She's already such a little performer - she's constantly singing and dancing for me all day long.

Just an explanation of why she's on the counter and has such a beautiful hairstyle: I was finishing up making bows for the girls' Christmas presents (to go with the outfits they are getting) and she wanted to help. Before she could help, she had to put on her bow (her favorite way to wear it as of late) and climbed up on the counter via the barstool.

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Tatum Gayle Ballard...

Last night we had a get-together with some friends to celebrate Christmas. Beau's kept in touch with quite a few of his friends from high school and I've subsequently become friends with their wives. We had a great time playing a white elephant gift exchange and then a couple heated rounds of "The Newlywed Game".

Oh, and the kids had fun, too!

Here's a picture of (left to right): Kaden, Brianna, Hayden (being held up in the background by Beau), Jadi, Tatum, Sadie & Samson (holding Tatum's baby doll). Not pictured are Addison and McCord - they were with their mammas. (Apologies to the moms ahead of time if I've misspelled any of the kids' names!)

This is how the girls looked after I went grocery shopping last night and left them home with dad for an hour.



Props for Beau for getting them to sleep - just curious how he got them to sleep in those positions! :)

Yesterday was the annual Grow Family Christmas party. We had a great time seeing family (Beau's Dad's side) that we hadn't seen in awhile. And enjoyed a visit from a special visitor - just in from the North Pole. Well, correction, some of us enjoyed the visit. Check out the pictures to see how it all went down...


Here is Hayden, sweet as can be, calm and peaceful in Santa's lap. She got some soft blocks to play with and is already enjoying them a lot at home.



Here is Shantell, the vetran of the group, posing obedientely for the camera. She got a Polly Pocket toy. Shanna and I had been at the store buying their gifts for this party and asked her which one "Tatum" would like. She picked this particular one and when she opened it said, "Hey! This is the same one Tatum is going to get!" I think I may have to buy one to keep the illusion of Santa alive one more year. :)



Here is Braeden, so excited to go open his gift that I barely got the chance to snap a picture. He got one of those fly wheel toys, which he and Uncle Beau enjoyed for quite awhile that afternoon. Beau loves Braeden's gifts the best - I should just start buying him toys and call it good.



Here's little Kehl, sweet as can be with his little man shirt and adorbale little nose (it's my favorite thing!). He got some baby cars to play with his big brother. I'm sure his dad will play along, too!



Here is Jakelle, a little confused by it all, but still in good spirits sitting on the lap of a man she doesn't know. :) She got the movie "Cars" - a good start to her own movie collection (her mom and dad have quite the selection already)!



And then it was time for the most questionable of reactions. Would she or wouldn't she? All started well when Santa walked in the room - we sang Jingle Bells and she said "Santa!" when he walked in. But she wouldn't get close enough for me to even take a picture of them together.



Oh well, maybe next year. She did, however, totally enjoy her new "puppy" - we got her a little stuffed lap dog that comes in a carrying purse and has a leash, feeding bowl and magnetic bone. She's been wanting a dog, but this might be the closest she gets for awhile.

I think I'll forego the trip to see Santa at the mall this year...