The Ballard Bunch

We woke up to a snowy outside this morning, so Aunt Jessi took the girls out for a little play. She managed to get some really cute pictures, too! (Please note: Hayden's scraped nose and forehead - she took a dive in the backyard the night of Tate's birthday. Poor thing!)








Oh, and a cute one of her and Lil' Layne in the warm house. :)

A few days late, but here's a post in honor of Tate's Birthday. I can't believe that she's already 3! We had a fun day of a trip to the movies (Horton Hears a Who) and cake and ice cream w/ family and friends. All-in-all I'd say she had a great day!

Okay, I've decided that a picture of all three of my kids, looking in the same direction, is impossible at this point. Please see the photo representation below. The first series is this morning after the kids found their baskets. The second is at Beau's grandparent's house for the Fullmer Easter Egg Hunt. Notice how "helpful" Tatum is to hold Layne up by his head. :) Life is wild w/ these kids!








Here are some other picutres from the day. We had such a good time w/ Aunt Jessi here for Easter. But we were sad to see Uncle Jeff go. :(

Just some for the regular visitors! :) Sorry I've been so bad about blogging - 3 kids is TOTALLY different than 2 - still adjusting.


Hayden - McDonald's w/ Grandma Leigh


Tatum - McDonald's w/ Grandma Leigh


Family Picture (minus one) - at the hospital when the girls came to visit. Layne was in the NICU by this point.


Little Layne, Chillin' @ Home


First Bath at Home


Hayden's Hair - w/ Piggies


Hayden's Hair - After Piggies



Starbucks w/ Grandma & Uncle Jeff


Crazy Hayden

It really happened - Layne is finally home!

We couldn't be more excited and the girls already love him to pieces. Tatum, especially, can't get enough of him. She keeps commenting on everything: "Mom! His hands are so small!" and "His hair is sooooooooo soft!" It's very cute. Hayden was excited at first and now really couldn't care much - I guess that's how life is when you're 18-months, huh? :)

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the well-wishes...they helped more than you know. We can't wait for you all to meet "Barney". (She's not giving up!)

lots of love,
The Ballards

So I went to the hospital and raised a little hell with the doctor. Basically, I'm getting information from one nurse and the next time I visit I'm getting info from another - but nothing solid or with a plan for me to wrap my brain around. If he needs to stay a week to be healthy, so be it - I want what's best for him. But, I'm being told he's doing great and it'll be "any day now" by everyone. The doctor on duty was really nice and gave me the go-ahead to take him home tomorrow, as long as his feedings keep up like they have been.

Tonight Beau and I will go and visit, Layne will do the car seat challenge and Beau and I will watch an infant CPR video. Then, if all goes as planned, we'll be on our way home with Layne after noon tomorrow.

In honor of our little cowboy, "Yipee!" Mamma couldn't be happier.

Here are some more pictures of the little guy. He's now off of everything (yay!), so it should just be a matter of time before we get to bring him home. Fingers crossed!

He's here!



Layne Ray Ballard
March 7, 2008
9 lbs 12 oz, 21 inches

He looks just like his sisters did - large, in charge and cute as can be.

Unfortunately, the little guy has had some problems breathing (a little fluid in his lungs) so he's beein in the NICU since Friday night. We should be able to bring him home within the next couple of days - he's been off of oxygen since midnight last night and is doing really well. After they wean him off of his IV and back onto a bottle, he'll just need to maintain for 24-48 hours and we'll get him all to ourselves.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of our little butterball; monitors, tubes and all. As soon as we can, I'll get some more pictures of him.

After a week of ongoing contractions and sleepless nights, the time has finally come! Tomorrow I'll be headed to the hospital bright and early to be induced. Here's to hoping the little guy doesn't take too much time making his grand appearance. :)

Oh - and, no, we still haven't decided on a name. Not like me you say? Totally. I just hope it comes to us w/out much argument. Wish us luck!

We did it! We actually have a space ready for the baby. Nothing like pushing time limits in our house.

I ended up not making the bedding like I'd originally thought I would. We found this darling bedding on eBay for $40 (for the entire set, mind you) that was brand new, in it's packaging. At first I wasn't sure, but the sued-ey (is that a word?) feel of the material and the coloring were a perfect fit for a cowboy room. On the shelf are some stars I had ordered awhile back from Shannon, a "Cowboy Up" block that Karen made for the babe and a "Howdy" sign I found - at Reams of all places - for under $4. Authentic rope and hat hung on either side (from Beau's mission).



This is the rocker that we had for each of the girls, only this time I've covered it w/ brown cordoroy. The blanket is from the bedding set - just have it draped there for now.



Quick shot of the changing pad cover (also brown cord) and message board that I made (both of them). We'll be getting a rope letter name made as soon as we decide who this kid is. :) That'll go right above the board.



The oh-so-cute room decorations given to us by Jami and Lisa. These are hanging right above the closet doors.



And a few other souvineers from Beau's Texas mission. He's so happy.





Now that I'm feeling more prepared and loving how this room turned out, I'm feeling less incapable of doing the boy thing. We've got some cute clothes, a darling room and two big sisters waiting in the wings. Just can't wait to meet this little guy now!