21 Weeks

"You are halfway there!"  That's what my weekly e-mail told me this week.  It's seems like we just found out that we were having another baby and now I am 5 months along.  The end of March seems like a long time away, but it also feels like it is right around the corner.  So with only four months to go, I have been feeling really good (with the exception of my allergies that are always bad this time of year).  I remember how great the second trimester is - you know, when you can still move around relatively well, you can still see your toes (well, barely see your toes) and your energy level picks up a bit.  I have been feeling the baby move like crazy, but everytime I try to get someone else to feel her (like my husband or my children), either she stops moving or they can't feel the movement.  It is a bittersweet time for me because, while I want them to share in the excitement of the baby's movements, I still like being the only one that can feel it.  It is like a special bond that only the two of us share.  In the next few weeks, she should grow enough that Brock and the girls will be able to feel her kicks and flips; and I will be so happy to be able to share it with them.  For now, I will treasure each movement that I get to experience solo.

"Ghostly Girl" and the "Viking Princess"

From the risen dead to the plundering vikings, our Halloween was full of fun!  Audrey searched and searched the costume catalog for the perfect costume.  When she found "Ghostly Girl" she knew that was the one.  She loved the idea of being one of the "risen dead" on Halloween.  It was a spooky, but not scary costume.  She appeared to be floating down the street with her long, tattered gown.  Her favorite part of the costume was the wig and hat.  Claire, on the other hand, went back and forth between several costumes until she finally decided on the Viking Princess.  Her costume did double duty since she had to dress up for her school's International Fall Festival, where each child had to choose a country to represent.  Claire chose Sweden and went back into their early history to represent the vikings that pillaged and plundered through parts of eastern Russia.  She wanted to be a princess, but not your everyday Disney princess.  The Viking Princess costume was the ticket!

We had a great time trick-or-treating through a few of the houses in our neighborhood before joining Audrey's friends and their family for candy-seeking adventures on their street.

Below are some photos of the girls in their costumes... Enjoy!

"You are next!"

 "Stop!  Give me all of your gold and jewels!"

And of course, it wouldn't be Halloween without some silly photos... :)

 Hope everyone had just as much fun on Halloween as we did!

It's a GIRL!!!

We went to the hospital on Friday for my second trimester ultrasound.  The tech told us that everything looked great - the baby was just the right size for the due date and all of the parts were there and in the correct places, oh, and she also told us that more PINK was in our future! :)  Baby Ballard #3 is Baby Girl #3!  While most people have thought that we might be disappointed that we are having another girl, we are actually very happy.  We would have been happy either way, but having another girl just goes along with what we already know what to do.  Other plus is now we do not have to rename the boat! ;) 

(note the name at the back)

Audrey and Claire are very happy about having a new sister.  Claire wanted a sister all along and declared, "I was RIGHT!" when the tech told us it was a girl.  I think 'being right' is something that means a lot to a little sister!  Audrey, who really wanted a brother, was still excited about a new sister.  The fact that this means that she will get her own "big girl" teen room when the baby moves into the room with Claire probably had a bit to do with that.

Okay, for those of you who are wondering, we do not have any names at this point but we are putting our thinking caps on and getting started with the process.  Audrey's name was relatively easy.  We knew that we wanted "Grace" as the middle name and when we found the name "Audrey" in the family tree we just knew that was the perfect combination.  Claire's name didn't come quite as quickly, mainly because I put so much pressure on myself to come up with a name that was equally as perfect as Audrey's.  We knew we wanted "Claire" (another name from the family tree) but we struggled with another name to go with it for quite some time.  The doctor scheduled my induction for the 30th of December and that put the name selection into high gear.  We found "Natalie" which means born on/near Christmas, which worked great since Claire was born on Dec. 30th.  With that we had an equally perfect name for our second baby girl.  So we have "Audrey Grace" and "Natalie Claire"... and now we have to come up with another girl name that is equally as perfect as those two.  I have no doubt that we will, but I know that it will take some thought. :)