blessing day

rhet was given a baby's blessing a couple of weeks ago at church, and we were fortunate to have pops and mama b, heidi, brooke, jenny leigh and their families in attendance. unfortunately we did not get any family pictures with the whole gang, and in fact didn't get many pictures at all. here are the few that we managed to snap that day.

poor kev gets the end of the day, loosened tie, tuckered out photo.

still cute though.

per your request

more pictures of little man and little miss

i could just pour buttermilk syrup on this little man and eat him for breakfast. 

isn't he just delicious? i can't get enough of him.

 just part of the gang. 

annie's gang of dolls and stuffed animals, that is. 

 rhet joined us for annie's pre-bedtime routine. little did he know

that he was just one of the stuffed animals lined up next to her. 

annie was quite taken back when we took rhet away when she was ready to go to bed. 

i mean, we never take away her baby doll or animals so why should we take him?

if rhet is laying down with his "ne-ne" (annie's word for blanket) 

then annie is laying down with hers. right next to him. after we pick her

up off of him. we are still learning personal space.

this kid doesn't stand a chance. not only does his cheap mom

put him in a pink and purple bouncer, but his big sis insists on him always

having a doll next to him. 

lots of love

to grandma and grandpa ballard and papa and jules for coming to visit!

hand over your heart let's go home

Rhet Miller Ballard joined our little family today. we have handed over our hearts to our newest lil' love and are ready to start life as a family of four.

rhet came to us a week early weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and measuring 20.75 inches long.

enjoy our sweet babe.

all my bags are packed, i'm ready to go...

actually, no. my bags aren't packed. in fact i don't even have the laundry done so i have nothing to pack. do you think perhaps that if i did go in to labor right now and went to the hospital that they could just send me home in the hospital gown along with a few supplies (of course on the condition that i keep the back tightly closed when leaving, wash the gown and bring it back...maybe with a thank you card?)

i have definitely prepped and cooked this little baby and can hear the kitchen timer dinging...he's done and ready to come out. to some, however, the prep work might be a tad questionable. i finally got this poor baby some clothes (well, other people did) but didn't do so until his crib bedding was completed and his room decorated. priorities, folks.

so now with the important prep work out of the way (see pictures below) i will try and get around to packing a bag and getting this place in order for our new little boy.

some pictures of the room:

and yes, there are clothes, diapers and even wipes in those bins.

i finally got somewhat of a maternity photo as well. now when ballard baby boy is looking back at pictures i can say "look! there you are in my belly!" instead of "ok, so you see annie sitting on my lap in this picture? you are right behind her. i promise."

music 101. i hear that playing classical music to your baby while he is in the womb can increase his intelligence. you think this little musical concoction of pearl jam (softer stuff), guster, kings of leon and billy joel is close enough? next week's lesson: jack johnson, airborne, rogue wave, beck and the beach boys... and perhaps mozart just to be safe.

i even made annie and baby boy semi-matching blankets

easter fun

annie two-shoes

this is how i found her after a nap one day:

pant-less and with 2 different shoes (i put her underwear on for the picture...your welcome). she actually fell asleep and slept for 2 hours this way. looks quite uncomfortable and drafty to me.

child labor laws

spring arrived...and so did yard work.

little miss was literally in the sprinklers within seconds of them coming on.

we couldn't keep her away.

when the fun was all over we stripped annie down in the garage so she wouldn't get the house wet but somehow she managed to get away. she ran, bare cheeks and all, down our hill, fell face first into some mud and continued sliding down the hill. she cried. we laughed. then cleaned her up.

picking weeds. it sure is nice watching your 2-year old doing yard work while relaxing on the front porch drinking some lemonade. we figured if we taught her from a young age that this is the way things are (kids work, parents lounge) she wouldn't see the injustice of it all.

see! she thinks it's fun.

now if we can only teach her how to bring us our lemonade so we don't have to get out of our chairs....