all i wanted for christmas... is still not here

athough i'm really not due until later this week, i was hoping for a little action in the baby department for christmas. while i didn't want a december baby, i would've settled for an early january one. i guess santa either placed me on the naughty list or didn't pay attention to the specific date i gave him. oh well. christmas was still great. headed to mama and papa b's place for some festive eating, gingerbread making, present giving and getting, kite flying, bike riding, late night game playing, more eating, and plenty more.

a visit down to naples to visit kevin's brother jonathan, his wife leanne, and the first ballard grandbaby, claire

a visit with best friends from highschool, kimmy and lyndrea

making gingerbread houses. more eating than decorating i'm afraid.

rockin' with pops

i guess you're never too old

polar bear swim. get out your sunglasses folks.

hopefully the last maternity shot

i believe...

1. i believe in God and Jesus
2. i believe breakfast can be eaten morning, noon, and especially at night
3. i believe that soon (hopefully) my double chin will become single, my body will stop expanding, my ribs will find some solace, and my missing belly button will find its way home
4. i believe unmade beds are just as comfortable as made beds
5. i believe that waking up on a fall day next to my 3-day bearded, shaved-headed man, a pair of baseball mitts and ball in a park, tv tuned into a college football game, a 4 mile run, night out for sushi, falling asleep to a movie next to my 3 1/2-day bearded man makes for the perfect day.
6. i believe that dessert can be eaten every day (maybe my expanding body is here to stay)
7. i believe this little girl inside me will undoubtedly surpass orange rolls, the smell of fabric softener, fall colors, a cold spot in the sheets, french toast, college sports, a pair of perfectly fitted jeans, mountain biking and running, brown paper packages tied up with strings, and all of the rest of my favorite things.
8. i believe a little humorous self-deprecation is good for the soul
9. i believe i am one happy and blessed girl
10. i believe in safety first...

give it to me straight

2 days a week i work with kids who have speech-language (communication) disorders at a middle school. while there are several students who are severely cognitively delayed and can be counted on to say/do socially inappropriate things, the majority of the students (those that i see and those who are just your typical middle school students passing by in the hallways), are fully capable of (or at least i thought) of knowing when, where, and to whom things should be said. having said that, i have had some interesting conversations and comments made to me during my pregnancy by some of these delightful students and thought they were worth sharing. (all grammatical and semantic errors were left as is to get the true flava (flavor) of the conversation).

1. student #1: "you got youself a baby in there?"

2. student #2: "ain't you getting excited?"

me: "for what?"

student: "pretty soon you be gettin' a check every month."

me: "a check for what?

student: "you know, a check from the baby daddy. my mom gets 5 different checks each month." (child support checks)

3. student to another student: "there goes that baby mama."

4. student #3: "do you know who is the baby's daddy?"

5. student #4: "dang mrs. ballard! you just keep gettin' bigger every week!"

me, giving my belly an affectionate, maternal rub: "i know, my belly is really stickin' out, huh?"

student: "not cho' belly, your legs!"

me: "(student's name), do you tell a woman that her legs look big?"

student: "i tell my mama."

me: "well i'm not your mama so next time, don't tell me."

6. at the elementary school i work at, i had a random little kindergartner come up to me, rub my belly then give it a little kiss. it sounds strange but it was actually the cutest thing ever.

as to the comment "do you know who is the baby's daddy?" yes, i do know who he is despite his unintentional absence from recent posts...

the baby's daddy

shower time

well it looks like brooke's creative and energetic juices weren't depleted after throwing jenny leigh a shower a couple of months ago because she once again stepped up and threw me a fabulous shower. thanks brookie-babe and mama b!

the shower crew!

we had a contest to see who could chug apple juice the quickest from a baby bottle.

even with cheating (cutting a bigger hole) i still didn't win.

the shower guests made these cute little applique onsies. (don't look too closely, i still need

to finish them--sewing around the edges and puting on embellishments)

30 Weeks!

only 10 to go...

gator time!

gator pics from this fabulous season ...


season opener vs. charleston southern. kevin finally lives down the road from and has access to tickets to the greatest football team in the nation (really, i'm not biased...check out the rankings) and what does he do on opening night? he stays home to watch a game on tv. granted it was the byu/oklahoma game and it was an impressive "w". he told me weeks prior to this game what he was doing so i in turn told him what i was doing...still going to the game. so, i rallied my sisters up from tampa and us girls took a trip to the swamp.

roughin' it with mama b in the rain vs. troy

superman himself (disguised as a football player wearing #15)

gator walk before the tennessee game. waiting with bated breath to see the players exit the bus and walk to the stadium.


terrible shot of tim tebow... fabulous shot of don juan trying to look important

little kid trying to beat the snot out of smokey (tennessee's lame mascot)

kev and me now....

kev and me in 40 years

call me martha

guess the baby food

candy bar poopy-diapers (that's just sick and wrong)
each person at the shower had a baby trivia question along with a bag of jelly beans.
they asked jilb a question, and if she got it right, she won the bag of jelly beans
and poured it into the "ready-to-be-a-mom meter". if she answered incorrectly,
the person got to keep the bag for themselves. the levels on the "meter" were:
1. do you even know where babies come from?
2. maybe we should delay the stork for a little while.
3. your baby has a good chance of surviving the first night.
4. you're ready to bring the baby home
5. bring on baby #2!
Thankfully, she reached level 4.

the shower crew.

camie, one of my best friends from childhood and most importantly, partner in crime

there must be something in the water

a few weeks ago brooke and I put on a fabulous baby shower (if we say so ourselves) for jenny leigh. as my childhood friend, camie, can attest, my domestic skills (and aspirations to have such) fall short (way short) of any marks to be dubbed or likened to martha stewart or even that sweet little lady on pbs who makes puppets out of lunch sacks. in the world of tiramisu and creme brulee, i am proudly the boxed cake mix and pillsbury cream cheese frosting (there have been WAY too many merry miss/young women's craft projects that have gone awry...burnt/unedible bakings, cake decorations that couldn't even pass as a nursery kids creation, abandoned sewing projects, and yes, even the simple, can't-go-wrong puffy paint and applique projects). SO...having said all that, i am quite proud of the way things turned out..... (of course there was adult supervision at all times).

do you see those cute "d" (for david) sugar cookies? of course if you grab it the wrong way

it is a "p", but never mind that.

while the picture may resemble a little surprise left by a dog, it was actually an
incredibly delish cream cheese, caramel, and chocolate dip.

snips and snails or sugar n' spice?

sorry...no "puppy dog tails" here. it looks like it's gonna be "everything nice"!

meet ballard baby. i think she has my nose.

sorry charley...

5 years ago hurricane charley decided to bust through florida and attempt to wreak havoc on our wedding. while he succeeded in creating a sweating bride rather than a blushing bride (no air-conditioning during the ceremony); making us wait 6 hours in traffic back to tampa; not necessarily making, but definitely influencing my brother-in-law (not to mention any names...mike) to take a "short cut" only to be turned around half-way back, running out of gas and having kevin and i turn around for the rescue (what's another hour added on to the 6?); making us late for our own reception; and completely ameliorating the island we were supposed to go to for our honeymoon...he couldn't stop love in the end, baby! they say rain on your wedding day brings good luck...well we had a hurricane, so here's to the lucky years ahead. let the good times roll!

we went over to st. augustine and stayed at a cute little bed & breakfast

overlooking the bay. we enjoyed some great eating, shopping, and sight seeing.

casablanca inn. highly recommended.

the spanish fort.

as if we needed a reminder of our wedding day.