two's company, twenty's a crowd

....a freckled-faced, sticky-fingered, loud-mouthed, napless, huggable, lovable, kissable crowd, that is. for about a week and a half, mama and papa b's place became the melting pot for some texans and floridians, mixed with some georgians and south carolinians,

and a couple of pennsylvanians sprinkled on top.

some enlightenments from this week long party:

• pureed beets make me gag
• a three year old can independently program, record, watch and re-watch all the dora the explorers he wants on satellite tv
• i hate dora the explorer
• wetting yourself doesn't stop you from having a good time
• fire drills at 3:00 in the morning, 2 days in a row make for a tired group of hotel-dwellers
• locking lips with lucy builds your immune system but gives you killer breath
• apparently the phrase "there's a sleeping baby upstairs so please be quiet" is an uninterpretable, foreign language
• you can willingly eat toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 2 weeks with a couple of juice boxes thrown in and survive.
• i adore these people and would have them any day of the week. poopy diapers, tantrums, wet beds, and all.

the gang.

don't worry lance, i still see a softball, i mean baseball pitcher in david's future

party at the aquarium

cousin love

nothin' says pioneer day like....

big hair bows and a little bling

and a saddle of course

the do si do makes me cry as well, little miss

it's easy being green

or wearing it... when you're a cute gal like this

or sucking on it...

or laying on it...

or riding in it...

fashionista

this fine ensemble of fashion is what you get when you wet yourself and your bed at 6 in the morning, all of your backup clothes (besides these random selections) are in your snoozing aunt brooke's room, your dad is the one taking care of you, and the a/c is set at a frigid 68*. unfortunately her belly-button and little toes had to fend for themselves.

let me get that for ya

um....you've got a little something on your face.

beach babe

our little beach babe has surpassed all hopes and expectations to not only tolerate the water, but to thoroughly enjoy it. thanks to our spf 50+ lil' gal (an inheritance undoubtedly from her dad) we are always toting an umbrella, towel, or having to swim in the late afternoon or early evening.

which way to the pool, boys?

although i think she enjoyed swimming in the buff,

we finally got this poor girl a swimsuit.

double dose

kevin's parent's were kind enough to fly into florida to attend both kevin's white coat ceremony and his brother jonathan's law school graduation. we all got a double dose of formalities, speeches, cookies and punch, and most importantly, grandma and grandpa ballard. congrats ballard boys!

you wouldn't guess it, but claire is only 2 months older than annie. lightweight annie will be on a strict protein diet to pack on the pounds before their next encounter at christmas.

first time at the beach!

annie LOVED it so we stripped her down to her skivvies and let her enjoy the water. i think she's a florida (or at least a beach) girl after all.

lot's of love little miss

thanks annie mae for letting an all-day-pajama-wearing, seldom-showering, snot-sucker-outter, too-slow-putting-your-clothes-on, ridiculous-bow-wearer-enforcer, not-quite-quick-enough-to-get-you-at-night

mother love you to pieces. lot's of love to you little girl!

wild wild west

we took a trip back to az to visit kevin's family and see elder dave off for his 2-year church mission. grandma and grandpa ballard couldn't get enough of little miss and the uncles adjusted quite well to my strictly enforced "quiet zones" and my incessant commands of "shhs" and "use your inside voice". the boys quickly jumped on board and could be heard saying "shh, annie is sleeping" or they could be seen going upstairs on their own initiative to check on her or do binky monitoring. she loved it all.

bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 11:00 at night in the airport

watching some ping-pong with uncle benji

uncle pan (daniel) putting little miss to sleep

we'll miss you elder dave!

happy 4 month b-day! i put on a "oh-this-is-so-cute-that-we're-pumping-you-full-of-sugar" face. inwardly i was cringing.

trip to the phoenix zoo

thoroughly enjoying the zoo

we took a day-trip up to sedona to get our zen on and to do a little shopping. tragically our zen was nowhere to be found...we searched for the vortex spots where supposedly the circular flow of air coming up from mother earth will heighten your spiritual and metaphysical energy, but unfortunately we walked away un-heightened. either the hikers in front of us took it all or we should have paid the 10.99 for a "vortex-enhancing crystal". it did, however, manage to bring out super-cheesy smiles.

ahhh, the lap of luxury.