First time away from my baby boy

Well, I made it through a weekend away from my sweet little H for the first time. It was very difficult and hard for me to be away but it is such a relief to have the security in knowing that Greg would take good care of him. 

I flew to Colorado with my sister to attend my little sisters senior recital. Two whole nights away from H and G but I am glad I got to support my sister on her special senior recital.

H started having a fit when we arrived at the airport. I had to kiss him crying and he fell asleep crying in the car after leaving the airport. I got on my flight and the first thing I receive when I get off is a video of H walking with a walker. Yes this is exciting but G was supposed to wait to give it to him for his birthday and I missed out on being there. I watched the video a million times but I can't believe I wasn't there to see it. When we faces timed he got upset seeing me so we didn't do much of that. 

He sure loves his walker!!

We were picked up by kar and Johnny. We ended up getting bluebell ice cream and giggling the drive to the apartment. Needless to say we all love food.. Especially sugar :) kar also spent like $20 on clearance halloween candy at Walmart. Hahaha I love her.. Never change sis!

Spending the night on the floor proved impossible with my big belly. Luckily my sister has an awesome boy friend who let me use his bed. I bawled my eyes out the first night and especially when I woke up to this picture 

It's nothing special just my little monkey with bed hair and his morning face in his pj's. It's just I love being with him in the morning. (Yes I'm obsessed) I can't get enough of him

The day did fly by and before I knew it we were at my sisters recital.

Doesn't she look beautiful?? I snuck a picture before she started to play.

She is so so talented! Kar kar blew it out of the park. She played concertos that even her teachers haven't attempted based on how stinking difficult they are. It made me think back to the days of playing Suzuki together. After the recital we ate cookies and took pictures. I might have had 4-5 cookies(I'll never tell) 

All the siblings able to be there!! Sisters and one bro!! 

It's hard to get a good shot when you feel prego huge but this one was okay. (Black is a great color to wear eh?)

After that we went to three margaritas and ate some Mexican food. It was about 12:30 am when we got to the grocery store where we bought more bluebell ice cream! Yum!! Wish they had it in Utah. Prob a good thing they don't though...

Well early morning came. We hopped in the car flew home and I was reunited with my stud hubby and little man munchkin. H was upset at me and clingy to dad. It took a while but we are back in the groove of dad going to work and mom bring there full time. He still won't let me leave the room in fear that I'm abandoning him. Hopefully he will get over that soon! Only 3 more months and his little bro will be here!

Hayden 9 months old

I know this post is a little late but I just thought I'd update on how my little H is not so little anymore. He's 9 months old! Time has truly flown, but it has been so fun spending that time with this spunky, full of life, stinker pot boy!

He loves to go shopping and see people. He waves and giggles when people say Hi. Sometimes he actually gives a raised hand that looks more like the hail hitler but what he means is "hi, yeah I know I'm cute, keep the 'he's adorable comments' coming". 

He loves to be outside! And he is always pulling faces. This is his smolder 

This is his new thing where he scrunches his nose and crinkles his brow. It's so funny, but better in person since you get the sound effects.

Now that he's crawling all over the place he's become a little more independent. He will push his balls around all day and while he does this you hear him repeatedly say "ba ba ball"

 Under the bouncer holding one of his favorite basketballs. Oh and you see those clear things? Those are the vent covers that never stay on the vent. It's his job to make sure of that.

With teething feeling like a constant thing we like to go for walks and pick zucchini out of our garden. He thinks its super yummy to eat!

He's very excited about this one! Moms not too excited about the smell of the diaper after he eats this vegetable though! (Yeah I know prob TMI)

Whenever he's fussy or bored we read books! He loves monkey George and he's also very fond of the touch books with all different types of animal fur. 

Yeah this boy loves him some sugar! Especially suckers. He's a sticky mess afterwards but it's well worth it.

Especially when I get one of his silly faces!!

Teething is a nightmare right now for us. Especially trying to get him to nap. It's been a fight. I attempt at letting him CIO when he's had all his needs met for pain, diaper,eating etc. one day we got all of a 5 min nap in until the dryer rang its little melody for being done. 

Before he woke up, this is how I found him. I have no idea how he could even sleep like this, other than the fact that he really was tired and finally gave in.

A separate struggle from teething has been how much our little man loves food, but his tummy doesn't. What I mean is he will eat and eat and eat! After he eats he will literally throw up everything. He's always had major projectile as a baby but we thought with solids we would be good. Not the case. We have learned that he can't eat as much as he wants. We have to ration and he hates it. He's very verbal about wanting more. I just can't bare to see him suffer when he throws up. As for now it seems the food that stays down the best is French fries and nuggets. Not healthy but whatever! We are attempting to try weaning him from breast feeding but milk is another issue. He will gag and throw up formula. Hates it, and I don't blame him. The pediatrician gave us the okay to start cows milk slowly but he ends up throwing that up too. It's hard as a mother to not know how much and what to feed your child. I also need to figure it out soon because being pregnant and nursing at the same time wears on my body. 

He is a trooper and I love him. He's always smiling or goofing around. He loves "a dad". When G gets home he is almost crying because he's so excited! He is still a mommas boy but he looks forward to his time with dad. 

Pulling himself up on furniture and the stair railing. He's super proud!!

Changing his diaper right now proves very difficult. He allows me to wipe him clean but as soon as thats done he flips over faster than I can blink! So most days he gets a few minutes shooting the breeze as he pulls himself up on the furniture in his room.

H keeps life fun and there is never a dull moment. He has richly blessed our lives with his big spirit and encompassing smile. We love our goofy boy! 

First family vacation/road trip

For our first family vacation with our little munchkin we decided to turn my cousins wedding into a full vacation. We decided to go to Palm Springs for a week then drive to Huntington Beach for the wedding at the end of the week. 

To start our trip we drove to Vegas to spend 2 nights with my brother and his wife. H took only a short nap and from cedar city to Vegas practically screamed and cried the whole way. The only way to get him to stop was to put food in his mouth. I think I ended up giving him 6 sour punch straws (talk about desperate) It was such a good idea to break up the drive because I was already pulling my hair out before we got to Vegas. I'm so glad my brother lives in Vegas and was willing to lodge us for a bit. H just truly hates the car! Well in Vegas H got to play with his cousins and some other little kiddos and was loving life! He just loves being around other children. He especially enjoyed all the toys his cousins had to play with. (I'm definitely needing more toy options now days) bummer part about Vegas is they are an hour behind. So for us this means 5:30 AM is our rise and shine with H! And when cousins get up for the day he is ready for his nap, thank goodness he took his naps pretty well, but by night time putting him to bed past bedtime made for one grouchy child. He even cried while in his bath. (That's saying something) 

My favorite part was that my birthday was spent in Vegas with family I love and family I miss. I got great food at Cheesecake Factory! The day we left we got take out from this amazing Chinese noodle place and let's just say I'm planning to go find an Asian restraunt ASAP! I'm still craving it! Too bad G isn't much of a fan. 

The drive to Palm Springs was only 4 hours but H cried for more than half of it! Talk about road trip being NOT fun! We finally arrived and settled into an awesome condo! Full kitchen, washer and dryer, major big bath tub, etc. We practically napped and swam most the days away. 

Our little guy is a water baby for sure!!!

  We then finished out the trip by driving down to Huntington Beach. First stop was the Beach! 

We kept him naked but he Loved it! (As I've mentioned in an earlier blog post) 

We went to our gender ultra sound, chilled at our hotel, did some shopping and then went to the family BBQ dinner. The pre wedding dinner. It was great burgers but most of all great company. So fun to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't in a few years. 

After that it was the bachelorette party for my cousin! Talk about partay!! We went to DAve and Busters an then went to my uncles house for the "fake" strippers. All in all it was hilarious to watch my cousin get super embarrassed! My sister and cousin sure know how to throw a party. 

I got home late to the hotel where G and H were sleeping. So so tired, but H woke up 4 times.. Ah!! Teething is the worst! 

Wedding day came and yes I was tired. The sealing was so beautiful though.

Newport Temple was beautiful!!

We didn't have anything to do in between the reception and sealing so we decided to kill time at Olive Garden! Yum yum! We spent quite some time here. Of course H threw up all over his nice suit so I had to change him in the car out if it. He loves food but a lot of foods don't settle well in his tummy yet. 

It finally came time for the reception. It was worth the wait! It was so nicely decorated and the food and entertainment was fabulous! It really was a feast! 

G looks so handsome in his bib! 

I love my little family!

After a little bit of dancing it was due time to head out and start the drive back home. The drive was supposed to be about 9.5 hours and turned into 12 hours! Worst accident ever just an hour into our trip kept us bumper to bumper way too long. I was so tired as the first driver that I had to switch Greg in Vegas and it was already 3am. I was planning to be in cedar by then. Thankfully he got a few hours of sleep and I a few and we finished the last 2 awake together. It was so difficult driving tired but H slept the whole time and the little bit he was awake at the end was super cute and happy.

Needless to say once we got home it was a day full of family naps and taking turns napping.

Such a fun trip but I feel so thankful to be home! 

Gender Reveal for baby #2

I wasn't planning on paying for an early ultra sound this time,but after finding out that there is a place in California that does it for only $25 I jumped at the chance to find out early again. (I am not the type of person who likes surprises) 

Today was the day! We first went and played at the Beach.

H loved putting his fingers in the sand. We didn't stay very long so there was no use in putting clothing on him. He prefers nakedness anyway. And he may have gotten a handful of sand in his mouth the minute I like away.. Oops!!

After that we stopped at a little Mexican joint and ate some delish authentic Mexican. (To help get the fiesta aka party mood started

When we arrived and were waiting for the technician we asked H what he thought it might be and he actually started waiving his hands excitedly when G said "are you excited to see your baby brother today" he did not have the same response when we asked him about a sister. 

So he knew it all along. 

H will get a brother very soon! His partner in crime,best friend, worst enemy, and sibling! He's super happy for a brother. G and I are also super excited! We won't have to do much shopping and boys truly are so much fun. We are feeling super blessed!

Birthday in Vegas!

Well I'm officially 23. I know it still sounds so young, but for some reason it finally sounds like my age is old enough for people to consider me an adult when I tell them my age. I was super blessed to get to spend the day with the two men in my life. G & H. I also got to spend it with my brother who lives in Vegas and his family and one of my other awesome sisters and her family. Most of all I got some yummy yummy food to eat at Cheesecake Factory!! Oh baby it was delish. If you can't tell I'm obsessed with food and lately I'm always starving!! 

One year older but I feel blessed every day and I'm so lucky to have special people in my life. 

It's kind if hard to tell since the picture is so dark but H dove for the cream and was in heaven.

Special delish cheesecake that my bro got me! Yep! I'm loved! 

Another milestone!

H has finally started to crawl!! He's still slow go at it but I can tell he's getting progressively better. It's been so nice. Even though he just started yesterday. He is already acting more independent and entertains himself a bit more. I'm also just super proud of him. He's been pretty stubborn and I think that's why it's taken him so long, but it was worth the wait. Now it's time to look for a baby gate... :)

He also loves to pull himself up on the stairs! He has so much fun around cousins 

A tiny tooth

Well H has had his first tooth break through the skin. I barely noticed it until yesterday as he was on the ground crying I could see some white. It makes total sense why he has been extra whiny lately. He is teething!! Not fun, but somehow so awesome that I'm excited he's reaching a milestone. My baby is growing up. It's also good to know that he's not just fussy for no reason. 

Funny how things happen

Well as we announced on Father's Day, we are expecting baby #2 in February. The pregnancy is very new, but I'm feeling pregnant already. Why you ask? Because first trimester means you are exhausted... And I'm exhausted!! I'm also super excited. G and I feel extremely blessed and fortunate. 

Most of you are familiar with our history and that is why it is such a gift that we got pregnant on the first try. We expected it to take a while, but The Lord has other plans for us. H is only going to be 15 months apart from his little bro or sis. I will have my hands full but I know how fun it's going to be for H to have a best friend and sibling to grow up with. He is going to be the best big brother! 

With our past fertility struggles we appreciate this gift even more. It's hard to see our fertility struggles behind us when friends still face it on a daily basis. For those friends out there... I love you. You are strong. Heavenly Father will take care of you. I still pray for you all. I know everything happens for a reason! Hope you all can find comfort in Him. 

4 years of marital bliss

I can't believe it! We have been married 4 years!! It is incredible how fast time goes and how much has happened during that time. 

We have been so blessed to have purchased a home in our first year of marriage and now we are in our second home. We have a darling child together. We already finish each others sentences and know one another better than we know ourselves. G and I are best friends. 

He is the best daddy to our boy. H adores G. He gives him the biggest smiles and loudest giggles. 

We went to IHOP for our anniversary breakfast. H felt so big sitting on the seat next to his dad. He loved the pancakes and orange juice too! We went to breakfast instead of dinner because G had to go to the airport on our anniversary to fly out to St. Louis for work. (Talk about lame) it was hard saying goodbye especially since it was our anniversary and I'm a clingy girl but he gets home today. (Only one night away) I'm so thankful to how hard G works for our family. He's doing so well at work and I'm so proud of him. 

We love EBay!!!!!

I love my family! I am so thankful for the choice I made to be married to the BEST guy 4 years ago. Now I have the best little family. Happy anniversary sweet hubby! I love you!

First Mothers Day!

I got to celebrate being a mom on Mother's Day for the first time this year. I can't tell you how special it is to know that I am a mommy! I love my boy and he is the best gift. Being his mom is all I've ever wanted in this life. Lets just say G and H also took great care of me on this day too! 

I got cute notes everywhere around the house and an adorable necklace and shirt. G cooked me dinner, massaged my neck and feet, gave me coupons for a nap and even cleaned up the massive poop blowout that H had :) I'm spoiled and I love my boys!! 

Happy Mothers Day!! 

I love to see the temple... I will go inside someday

As a little girl I loved to sing "I love to see the temple." I can't believe I'm not that little girl singing that song anymore. I'm that woman that went through the temple for my own endowment exactly 4 years ago. I am reaping the benefits and blessings of the temple on a daily basis. Reflecting back I am so thankful for the choices I made that led me to enter into that holy place. Let me also say that I am so grateful for primary. Learning at a young age, the importance of eternal families and temple blessing has helped me tremendously. The temple is such a beautiful and holy place. I have felt so much comfort and peace inside the walls of our Lords house. Not to mention how beautiful a temple sealing I had as well, but that's for another post (in one week!!) 

I'm so blessed. I Love my Heavenly Father. I am thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The only true church upon the earth. The temple is a testament for Gods love for all His children. I'm so thankful I went inside and was able to receive the gift of my own endowment. I recommend all who haven't reached this point yet, to strive to enter the temple. 

Motherhood: It IS the greatest gift

It doesn't matter how you become a mother. Whether its by an unexpected pregnancy or a planned one. Through the fiery trial of fertility or adoption. I know one thing with surety now. Being a mother is by far the greatest gift and joy that you can possibly experience in this life as a woman.
Sure, there are days of complete and utter exhaustion. Days where you can barely put your clothes on because your time is spent 100% doing what your child needs or catering to their needs. Times where you seriously cry because your child is awake and 2 hours of sleep is just not enough. Times where you seriously changed eleven poopy diapers on top of getting peed on and poop all over... But then comes the reward.
Getting to hold the sweet baby in your arms and nurse him/her back to sleep. Watching your child achieve new milestones and grow each and every day into the person they are meant to be. What a gift! Watching their excitement as Daddy gets home. Receiving the best smile from them that only a mommy gets. Hearing them giggle. More so, making them giggle. Hearing their first words over and over, and even though it's "dada"you couldn't be more proud! Crying randomly because looking into their eyes brings you to an elated state of joy and happiness when you can see how beautiful, innocent, and Christlike they are. We get to be mothers to them! We get to be the ones who nurture them. Who wipe their tears, boogers, and bumb. It is our calling as woman to experience all the struggle but most of all, the reward that our children bring into our lives.
I've been reflecting a lot on motherhood and what I want to be for my Son and future children. I know for a fact that I don't know much, but I do know that the greatest gift is motherhood and also the greatest responsibility comes with that. My children need to know how much I love them and how much I love The Lord. The best way I can do that is by enjoying every minute. Serving others and serving my family with all that I have. Giving them time instead of excuses. Sharing my testimony through words and deeds. It's so much easier said than done, but looking at my darling boy today I am determined more than ever to make the gift of being his mom count. I will fail on some days but I hope to succeed on as many days as I can. We need to be the mothers that our children deserve and that Heavenly Father asks us to be. I need to be a good mom. After all, children are a gift and they need their moms. My son needs me.

Little miss homemaker

I'm so proud of myself lately! I know many woman are successful at cooking dinner every night but I always had no motivation while working and taking care of my little guy. Since I resigned from my job I have cooked every single night (minus the wedding dinner and wedding night for my sister in law) and I feel good! It's so nice to make dinner instead of buy it and never have anything in the fridge. Our fridge has been full of left overs that help solve the "what am I going to eat for lunch or snack" dilemma, I so commonly used to have. I feel like a happier person and a better wife as well. I know much is contributed to not being overly exhausted with work on top of taking care of H and all the other things that have to get done.I know that I am truly blessed to get to stay home because some woman can't but this girl loves just being with my little boy all day. House chores are also less of a chore somehow.. I will contribute it to the extra energy not spent working. Well I rant is over... Just so glad to be home with my boy and get to feel like a homemaker to the fullest :)

Stay at Home Mom

Well it is now official! I am no longer employed. I have officially resigned with JetBlue and I am going to keep the title of "stay at home mom" full time. It's a big change to go from two incomes to one (even though I don't contribute much anyway) but we have felt that I needed to be able to watch our boy 100% when needs be, since Greg has to travel for work and work from home. H is also not the easiest baby and so by me not working any longer G will be able to get his work done. It will also be less stress on us because taking care of a fussy child and working takes a toll on you. It also makes working out and spending quality time as a family very difficult also. We have prayed about it and we felt that this was the best thing for our family. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us as we follow in His ways. We are so blessed to be where we are and to have our darling little boy. I am so excited to just be a Mom and have no other job title for a while. There is truly nothing more rewarding to me than motherhood. Now to start budgeting... I need to learn how to use coupons, spend less at Costco, and to be creative in cooking every night and not crave fast food... Any tips, pointers, suggestions, advice, etc is welcome! Here's to a bright future!!
"The future is as bright as your faith" -Gordon B. Hinckley

Moving!!

After a much shorter stay at my moms then intended, in the beginning,we will be moving into our brand new home!! (Finally) this weekend! Feel free to help us with those muscles you have because moving is a doozy! Hopefully this will be the last move ever...or for at least 20years or more.
As for why we are moving now instead of the original plan, is because building our home didn't pan out as easy and affordable as we planned. I honestly know that Heavenly Father set us on our path to move into this other home instead. We could not be more happy and excited about location and the fact that it's brand new and never been occupied! It has all our needs and many of our wants. Especially granite countertops and an island!! Also, no more sharing a driveway!! We feel so very blessed and we can't wait for the opportunity we have to raise our children in a good home with a great neighborhood and ward! Yay for new adventures!

The BIG but not so very big move!!

Well it's official! We will be closing on our house next week and moving out of our home this weekend! It has been a great 3+ years in this cute home but we are excited for the next adventure. We plan to build our next home with my brother-in-law and so for the next period of time we will be down graded from a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home to a basement with two bedrooms and one bathroom and nothing else at my moms. This will definitely be a journey and hard change, but totally worth it!
We had no intentions of selling our home at first. We love it and there is plenty of room to grow, but a few other things triggered us to try selling. The main thing is that now is the time to buy! The market is so low right now and rates have never been this great. We could stay in our home and wait for it to gain even more equity or we could sell and start earning equity in a home with a yard and it's own driveway! Also, by the time we earned more equity, the next home we get would be even more $$. So yes! We made up our mind. The crazy thing is that we sold it on KSL and had 2 offers within 4 days!! Talk about timing! We feel The Lord has helped us and has been guiding our paths. Here's to a new adventure! Hope I survive moving back home for the time being.
The BIG move will be when we move into our second home! So until then.. This is the big move but not so very big move :)

Valentines day!

This year was a special day of love in the Ballard home on Valentines day. I am one lucky lady!
To start it off Greg ran to the store at nearly midnight for a few things and I laid in bed wishing I'd already been sleeping (since Hayden would be up to eat in an hour or two) but instead Greg called me on his way to the store and asked me to please turn the dishwasher on. I tried getting out of it, but he was asking me so nicely saying "it will only take a second". So I reluctantly got out of bed and went downstairs to turn it on. As I trudged around the kitchen getting ready to go back to bed I had a sweet surprise awaiting me. He picked out my favorite candies and had a huge ballon,teddy bear,roses, and a very sweet and thoughtful card from him and Hayden. It made my night. :) I got to start valentines day off right!
For Greg I made homemade pizza in the shape of a heart and sugar cookies shaped as hearts with sprinkles (can't forget the sprinkles) and had many different food items labeled with reason why I love him. For example: big hunk because he's a hunk, donut holes saying "donut you know I love you a hole bunch, Funyuns because he's fun to be with, starburst because just one look and stars burst .. Etc. corny but he liked it.
Most importantly we were able to express to each other, how much we love each other and also were able to have our son present who is a great outcome of our love. Valentines day was special this year. This year we shared our love to each other and had a special boy who has only made our love grow stronger.

First Night Away

Greg and I have been married for almost 4 years and until just recently, have never had a day where we haven't seen each other nor spent a night apart from each other. Well... we can finally cross that off our list.
Greg went to Phoenix for a leadership conference with eBay for 4 days and left Hayden and I home by ourselves. I know I'm an absolute baby but I don't do "alone" well at all. To top that off we stayed up until 2am the night before and woke up at 6 to get him to the airport in time. I thought I'd be able to come home and take a nap, but Hayden had no intentions of going back to sleep. So.. We stayed up. Then went to a baby blessing. He was good long enough to get through the blessing then cried the rest of the letting so we spent the rest of church bouncing his full 15lbs up and down while getting weird looks as he cried (imagine that..a baby that cries lol) after those events we went to my moms to kill sometime watching the Super Bowl but he just wouldn't have it. Super fussy! So we went home, he got his routine bath and was fed.. Still no sleeping. This first night away was hard. I broke down, probably due to lack of sleep, and decided to just lay in bed with him and cuddle him until he was finally out. Finally he gave in and fell asleep! Yay!
The next day was light years better. He was an angel! So happy! Not gassy! He woke up laughing and smiling and talking to himself. (Heavenly Father knows how much I can take) then the rest of the days flew by as I filled them with things that kill time!
We finally picked Greg up at the airport and had a very sweet family reunion together. Hayden missed his daddy. He gave him big smiles and played with daddy for a while and then went to sleep like an angel.
My heart goes out to those women who are military wives. I personally don't have it in me for that. I can tell you that distance has made me appreciate the smells things that my hubby does on a daily basis. I also realize that having a child is a two person job and even of I'm only relieved for a few min each day by Greg holding the baby; it keeps me sane.i love my little boy and I love my hubby. This was our newest adventure. We are stronger from this small experience. There will be many more nights spent apart, but we made it through the first. :)

Family Christmas

This Christmas was the best that we have ever had. It didn't have boxes it didn't have bags it didn't come in packages or have anything with tags. No this Christmas was different and nothing like the last. This Christmas the only gift we had was a bundle of joy that made us a family and that's way way better than toys!
We love our little man and we couldn't feel more blessed. It was so difficult last Christmas to celebrate with family and struggling to know if we would ever have a child of our own. We couldn't ask for a better gift in this life. Christmas is about our Savior and the life he lived that made it possible for us to be families forever. Growing our forever family is such a gift. We feel so blessed to be parents. I love being a mom and I'm grateful for a Christmas where the only present isn't anything wordly at all. It was my Son! Our gift this year is family!

Being a mommy to a sick baby boy :(

The holidays came and went, but unfortunately we received something we didn't want from the Christmas celebrations. My poor boy caught the nasty cold/flu virus going around. I can honestly say that having your child sick is such an emotional thing (well at least for me). He struggled so much to breathe and with that, not only was he not sleeping but I was terrified to sleep even when he was, for fear he would stop breathing. It took 3.5 weeks to get over his sickness. Thank goodness he is finally better.
As soon as he was doing well it was his 2month doctor check and those shots were something that broke my heart even more. To see his sad little face as he was in pain I wanted to cry. I've never heard such a sad cry in my entire life. It's as if he was speaking to me saying "mom I trusted you to take care if me and now your letting this nurse hurt me :(..) my poor boy. The mild fever and discomfort for the next few days stunk too. I sure love taking care of him though. Even when he feels awful he still smiles at his mommy and I know right then and there that I have the greatest job in the world. Being his mom even when he's crying, not sleeping, or fussy. He's the greatest gift!