ballard bash

kevin's parents came to town to see little miss annie and experience some good southern fun. while grandma ballard would've been quite content holding and looking at annie the entire time, we did get out and show them the highlights of gainesville...gator watching, tour of "the swamp", and some good bbq. thanks for coming...we miss you guys already!

trip out to lachua trails.

like blind lemmings we followed the crowds through grassy pathways lined with gator-filled lakes to one side and the gators' nesting spots to the other. why anyone would choose to walk there (let alone pay 6 bucks to do so) with the prospect of death looming on both sides, beats me. but we did and it was actually really neat.

we were never really in any danger, though...we never strayed too far from a man cruzin' in a jazzy, of whom we could outrun at any given moment.

a much safer swamp to visit

the tunnel where the gators run out on gameday

touching the grass

(sensing a theme? as you can tell, everything in gainesville is gator-centered...

even the crazy fans)

cousin time with claire (kevin's niece)

gator baby

in an effort to get orange and blue running through Annie's blood, we dressed her in her finest and took her out to the gator baseball game (unfortunately she just missed football season, so this was just a warm up until september). she loved it...she spent the entire time zonked out in the baby carrier or eating in the dirty bathroom stall (i'm learning quickly what shirts are feeding-friendly and which ones are not. the one i wore was not).

kevin made me take off the tutu before we left. according to him "tutus don't belong at sporting events". (admittedly, I agree, but she was just so cute). Besides, it would have been a pain trying to stuff the tutu down the baby bjorn.

eat your heart out!

oh happy day!

this little sweet pea slept for 4 1/2 hours straight last night! look, i felt so good i even put on earrings to go to the doctors (that's about the only part of me that was put together, but it's a start)!

cousin time!

brooke and andee stopped by on their move up to atlanta.

i already foresee name mix ups between these two

lance, jenny leigh and david stopped by on their move down to tampa
david and his bodyguard, annie

aunt jenny leigh with little miss

me and lil' sis with our sweet babes

just another cute picture to throw in

i warned you...

hang on folks...there's lots of pictures of me!

i hear ya girl. the reason we live in florida is so we don't have to wear

silly jackets like this. i'll be having a talk with mother nature.

family walk

grandma b to the rescue! our pantry and fridge have never been so full, our

laundry basket never so empty, and the lovin' from grandma and papa never so appreciated!

ps...when are you coming back?

thanks for visiting, papa!

sweet dreams sweet cheeks!

and then there were 3...

little miss annie ballard was born january 5, 2010 at 3:35 pm,

weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz.

she has taken hold of our heart strings with that tight little pincer grasp of hers and i have a feeling we won't be getting them back. that's ok...they are hers for the taking.

i think most of my pregnancy weight when straight to those lovable, kissable cheeks

trying to get some much needed z's

going home (finally)...i couldn't choke down anymore "mystery meat" specials. i personally feel all consumed meat should have a name.

aww...look at me. i've already gone proud mama-ish on you and am throwing pictures of my newborn baby at you as if you want to see them all. next thing you know i'll be sending email updates (if i tweeted, i suppose i'd tweet...whatever that means) of weight gain by the ounces, baby's first smile (not attributed to gas), poop consistency changes and other milestones that could rock only a parent's world. this is only the beginning, folks.

and many more to come...

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