These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Isn't this time of year fantastic. I love the leaves falling, the beautiful bright colors of orange, yellow and red, the 70 degree weather, and the feel of the cool breeze on your skin. I love baking fun treats, watching the sun set on long walks, and listening to the kids giggle as they run in the rain.

Alright, I realize the above sounds as though I'm submitting an add to the "singles" section of a newspaper, but seriously, it's the time of year when your reminded daily how truly beautiful this earth is and how very lucky we are to be here.

It's so fun to sit outside while the kids play for hours on end. I love watching them play kick the can with neighborhood friends or fly down the hill in front of our house on their big wheels. I'm taken back to my own childhood when my only worry was completing the sharp turn into our drive way on my smurf big wheel or making sure I headed in when the lamp post began to flicker on. I think back to those wonderful memories and pray each day that we can be tools in offering our own children similar experiences of discovery and nostalgic moments to look back on.

While parenting is not quiet as footloose and fancy free, I think the joy of these moments are as equal, as you now have the pleasure of becoming the "spectator" and watching your own children experience all the wonders of childhood. How awesome is that - I'm not sure it could get any better!

SNL and Financial Advice?

One of my friends posted the following on her blog and I thought it was hilarious! I haven't actually seen a SNL since about middle school, and maybe they have come along ways since then, however, I'm pretty sure it's not known for offering such amazing insight!

I can't find a way to mute the side music bar so you'll have to mute it prior to watching. Enjoy.

Family Farewells

The last of my help left this morning. I walked in the door after dropping my Mom at the airport and burst into tears. Steven sat me in his lap and reminded me that with each new child we just need a little more family organization. It's not that I'm not ready to juggle things on my own, I mean, we've done it for the last seven years and everything falls back into place and works well. It's that feeling you get though after returning from a relaxing vacation or starting back into your "normal" routine after Christmas break. You're excited to jump back into the swing of things but there's a sadness somehow about the previous experience being over.

The fact that my mother was an absolute angel, with her help being above and beyond anything we could have imagined (thanks Mom for coming) increased that sadness a bit beyond what my emotions were able to handle at the moment. After taking a few deep breaths however, I hopped up, fed Haley, got the kids situated next to me playing in the toy room and jumped on my Elliptical for a two mile run. Nothing like sweat and some good old fashion endorphins to put the world back in perspective again!

After playing with the kids, feeding them and tidying up a bit, I am now able to enjoy their quiet time with a short nap and a quick blog on our past few weeks. Hey, maybe I can do this!

We have had a wonderful time enjoying Haley J here in our home. We already can't imagine our family without her and continue to enjoy her little spirit each day. Ryley, Kadyn, and Thatch continue to love on her and watch over her. With Mom here we took the opportunity daily to enjoy the beautiful weather at our favorite parks and spent some quality time going to places that I'm not entirely sure I will be able to attempt in the next few months with all four kiddos. We were also lucky enough to have Mom and Dad Ballard come through to visit. We had a great time with them and were able to bless little Haley during that time. We feel grateful, even with our many distant moves, that Dad Ballard has been able to be in the blessing circle with Steven for three of our children (thanks Mom and Dad for coming). It was a special weekend and a wonderful way to complete these past few memorable weeks for our family.

It's A......?

We'd like to announce the new arrival of our little baby girl!

Haley Juliana Ballard was born Wednesday, Sept. 24th at 5:00am. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 10oz. and is 18 and a 1/2 inches long.

On Tuesday evening we had just returned home from soccer. I bathed the kids and put them down to bed. Steven was heading home from the hospital and had swung by to pick up Mom Darden from the airport.

She comes to help with each baby, and every time Steven and I are reminded of how we could never make it without her. She is truly the greatest helper and literally takes over everything needed. In the past my mom and I have spent quite a few days playing the "waiting" game in anticipation for the baby to arrive. This was not the case with baby Haley.

After putting the kids to bed, I began having contractions and by the time they walked in the door I was thinking, 'I'd better pack a bag.' We left for the hospital an hour later, and shortly after I was put in a room my water broke. Within an hour or so, Haley Juliana made a very quick appearance into this world.

It's been a great recovery and an amazing experience all around. The girls immediatly fell in love with her and will negotiate frequently on who gets to hold or feed her. Thatcher appears a bit timid to touch her but keeps watch over her as he plays with his cars from across the room. If she cries he comes to her aid quickly and asks, "why baby is crying"? He will then leave a gentle kiss on her leg and return back to his play. He loves to watch her and is most intrigued with the, "ouchie" on her belly button.

I am so grateful to be a wife and mother. Holding Haley, and looking each day into the sweet faces of all four of our little ones, offers me a gentle reminder of how truly incredible this time on earth is and how awesome it is to understand the gift our family is both here and in the eternities. I am so very grateful for a kind and gentle Father in Heaven who loves and watches over us.

Go Cougars!

In celebration of The BYU's massacre of the Bruins on Saturday, Thatcher and I spent some much needed boy time together this afternoon re-enacting the game outside.  I say much needed because I find him all too frequently with lipgloss in hand or adorned with necklaces upon returning home from work.  I attribute this to the fact that he is imprisoned at home with 3 girls (likely soon to be four knowing our family penchant for daughters) who like nothing better than to comb hair and play princess; and residency has made for long hours away.  He has an extensive collection of toy cars which he loves.  I thought some good old replicas of American Hot Rods made in China would spur his boyish side, but once again the girls in the home have taken this away from me.  Now instead of races and crashes he will frequently hold up his cars and make them talk to me- "Hi! What's your name?  I'm race car.  Let's go shopping at the store." 

My first attempt at reversing the trend was shadow boxing and play boxing with dad.  This was a lot of fun for a few days until we noticed cries of  "Mom, Thatcher hit me" start to escalate throughout the week.  Alas, that game has ended due to 'tender feelings' . . . at least while Mom is watching :)

So I recently bought him a NERF football.  He loves carrying it around and so far I have not seen it dressed in doll's clothes.  Today I tried to teach him the finer points of football.  I have seldom had as much fun as watching him put his own spin on the game.

Snapping the ball:

I bent down to show him how to snap the ball, yelled hike and handed it to him between my legs.  Then I told him to try.  He proceeded to put the ball between his legs, give it to me, then turn around said "Hi Ball!" and wave hello.  He got it right the second time.

Tackling:

I spent a lot of time chasing him with the ball, because he didn't want to give it up, interspersed with gentle tackles.  The first time I took the ball from him and began to run I told him it was his turn to tackle me.  He ran up behind me, started wiggling his fingers on my leg and said "Tickle, Tickle, Tickle".  I gently reminded him that it was Tackle not Tickle at which point he grabbed my leg and tried to bite me.  In my mind I thought, what have I done?  He is going to grow up to be a dirty Ute."  He got it right the third time and I knew that he learned fast.  I felt reassured that the Y would take him after all.

Touchdowns and "Thank you"s

We practiced running to the end zone a lot.  Every time I told him to get a touchdown he would run to the end of the yard and then put his hands on the ground.  I couldn't figure out what he was doing at first, and then I realized he was "touching down" on the ground.  I tried a different tact and taught him to signal for a touchdown when he finished running.  He tried again, made the 'endzone', and threw his hands up in the air like the Cougar he is.  Then I asked him, "Now what do you say?"  He thought for a moment and shouted "Thank You!".  It was then that I knew he could play for Coach Mendenhall- he was definitely a character player- all gratitude and no attitude.

Outdoor Enjoyment!

The weather here has been a wonderful thing to experience so spending time at the park and soccer field have been an enjoyable way to spend our time over the past few weeks. We have been lucky to live in an area filled with an amazing amount of great parks and outdoor recreational areas. This particular park has a great walking path around it so lately we have return there often in hopes of coaxing the baby into an on time arrival.
Soccer matches have also begun and have been very exciting to watch. Ryley is more timid than most but has found a new love and strength in being goalie. She does a great job at it and once she stops a ball she'll run like a bullet with it high above her head and launch it back onto the field. Kadyn is not more timid than most and has found a new love in shooting the ball at the goal. On Saturday she made eleven attempts and although the goalie was able to stop each one she never gave up and continued to try until the final whistle blew. With all her energy and spunk she continues most to look out for her fellow teammates, yet luckily, even with recent injuries, we have not seen a repeat of any "surprise" affection!
More than anything it's been so enjoyable for Steven and I to watch them try and experience something new and unknown.

Marvelous Mom's

Believe it or not the picture below is not of baby items received at a shower, but rather, items that have recently arrived in the mail from my Mom. She is always thrilled to hear news of a new grandchild arriving but in the final few months she gets increasingly more excited and apprehensive. She, along with my wonderful mother in law, both call after each and every check up to see how things went. Over the past few weeks however I would receive an additional call from my mom later that day from "Babies R Us" to tell me about all of the wonderful things she was finding. I guess that should have been my first clue but I didn't think you could prepare that well without knowing the gender. I explained that she really didn't have to worry about anything until we see if it's a boy or girl and her reply then was, "Don't worry, once we know the gender we'll really go shopping."


Believe it or not the picture below that is what filled the second box that arrived. I have prepared surprise "gift bags" from the baby for Ryley, Kadyn, and Thatcher to receive when they come to visit me at the hospital. Each tote bag has their name on it and is filled with games and toys to occupy them while Mommy is away. My mom asked if she could help with filling the bags and boy did she ever! I'm not sure the kids will even notice I'm gone with all of this to keep them busy. The cute thing is knowing that Grandma will be just as excited as the kids to run home from the hospital in order to play with their new things.