New Year, New Location, Same Great Blogger!

So in keeping with my goal of being a better blogger, I have moved my blog to WordPress.  For a few reasons, but the main one being the ease of use and ability to have a direct link to my blog – ballardfamilylife.com!  I am in the process of converting over to the new site and format and I hope that you will follow me over to my new blogging home.

12 Goals in 2012

It's a new year and with that comes "New Year Resolutions"... But I don't like that... I have issues with "resolutions" so I prefer to set new "goals".

res·o·lu·tion n. 1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination. 2. A resolving to do something. 3. A course of action determined or decided on.

goal n. 1. The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed; an objective.

Okay, so there's not a big difference in these two words but to me, a resolution (especially in reference to a New Year) is something that you want to change - lose weight, eat better, save money, etc. While a goal is something that you work toward.  Maybe it's both... Maybe you set a goal and then make resolutions to achieve it... Well, whatever... I am going with my 12 goals in 2012... not resolutions... :)  And here they are...

My 12 Goals in 2012

1. Complete "Project 12" - Take one family photo each month for 12 months.

2. Complete Claire's 1st year scrapbook (I know she's six years old now... don't judge... I do that enough for myself already)
3. Develop better time management skills.

4. Learn Spanish - To be able to participate in conversation.

5. Learn to tie the essential boating knots (Must be able to tie them without assistance)

6. Complete "Project 52" - one post to the blog a week for one year - 52+ posts
7. Take more photos of my children - with the actual camera, not my iPhone. ;)
8. Make time to take a trip to the Keys in our new boat.
9. Have a date night with Brock at least once a month.
10. Teach Emma baby sign language.
11. Go to the gym at least once a week. (I know that sounds a lot like a resolution, but it's a goal.)
12. Learn how to operate my camera more effectively so that I can actually accomplish Goals 1 and 7.

I am actually looking forward to all of these goals and the journey that I will travel in achieving them.  What are your goals for 2012?

Audrey and Claire - The Last 7 Months

Audrey and Claire had a great summer full of camps and activities.  Claire attended several camps at her preschool where they explored different countries and customs, traveled back in time to the Old West and got down and dirty with bugs and plants. Audrey attended a variety of camps - art, science, track and field and guitar camp.

In August, we had a very special event for our family. My youngest brother, Kyle, got married to a fabulous young woman, Briana, who is definitely the perfect match for him. Audrey and Claire were asked to be the flower girls and they were so excited to be a part of the wedding party.  The wedding was wonderful and the bride was beautiful. I am very thankful that our family was blessed with such an amazing sister-in-law. I will be officially getting another one in less than a year... Tyler proposed to Christina last winter and they have a January 2013 wedding planned. 

Audrey and Claire with the bride at the salon  

Audrey and Claire waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle

Did I mention that Audrey got her braces off just in time for the wedding? She was so excited... She wanted (and got) a smorgasboard of all the things that she couldn't eat with her braces. Our first stop was Steak 'n Shake.  

Claire had a very special August as well... She officially became a student! Her first day of Kindergarten was great! She is a very independent child so there wasn't any issues with saying goodbye. In fact, she didn't really want to be walked to class... Luckily for me the school requires all Kindergarten students to be walked to and from class. But I am sure that next year we will be using the car loop drop-off.  

 Audrey & Claire with Daddy at school

Claire began playing soccer this fall. Not only did she enjoy it, she was really good at it. She is very excited about the spring season which starts in March. Santa brought her a soccer goal to practice in the backyard and a Mia Hamm soccer video that she has watched almost every day.

Audrey is still concentrating on her music and developing her talent in amazing ways. She composes music and is currently working on a song with lyrics - all of which she is writing herself. I find myself in awe of her natural talent every time she plays. She is in the process of recording a CD with her compositions.  I will post a new video of her playing soon. 

Emma's Photo Sessions

So way back in June I promised photos from our sessions with Angel Gray Photography... Well, actually I just promised photos from the newborn session, however due to my slacking you will get to see not only Emma's newborn session, but also her 4 month and 8 month sessions... See it's like Christmas all over again... ;) Okay, maybe not like Christmas but now you don't have to wait 8 months to see them, you can watch her grow in minutes rather than months from the most adorable, scrunched-up little ball of perfection to the most adorable little baby who is sitting up and showing off her spunky little attitude...  So enjoy the photographic trip through Emma's first 8 months via the lens of Angel Gray's camera...  Click on the three links below to view the photos from each session.

Newborn Session (6 weeks old)

4 Month Session

8 Month Session (This session also included some family shots)

We have Emma's one year session scheduled at the end of March... It's hard to believe that our sweet little baby is almost a year old!  I will post a link to that session in April so be on the lookout for that... I have to give a small shout out to Angel Gray and her incredible talent that captured wonderful moments in each of  Emma's sessions as well as amazing shots of the rest of our family during the October photo session.  I have struggled with professional photographers for many years and either their lack of patience or their superegos that get in the way of their listening abilities when I try explaining our family's needs and limitations.  But Angel not only listened, she understood and in the process was able to give us fabulous photographs that I love... I love them not only because they are really good photos, but because they capture the personalities of each person in our family in a very natural (not posed) way...  So thanks Angel! 

Next up I am going to do a brief catch-up kind of post on Audrey and Claire, so stay tuned... :)

I am still here...

I know to the blogging world it may seem like I fell off the face of the earth but I didn't.  I am still alive and kicking... I just haven't been blogging... I cannot believe that it has been seven months since I posted anything to this blog! :( My last entry showcased Emma's "One Week" photos... She is now 10 months old!  I have three amazing sessions with Angel Gray Photography to share but as far as the blogging world is aware, Emma is still a wee newborn.  I know that I can make about a million excuses on why I haven't posted, but the simple fact of the matter is that I have just been a complete slacker. It's not that I haven't thought about blogging because I have.  But it would be one of those fleeting thoughts that come to you while you are driving down the road and you can't blog while driving (I think that would be considered 100x worse than texting while driving) or while I was rocking the baby to sleep in the nursery, again not a good time to jump up and run to the computer to type out a post. I just didn't realize how many "I will do that tomorrow" thoughts had added up to be seven months worth of procrastination...  I was at dinner with a friend earlier this week and she mentioned the possibility of adding some insulation to their attic themselves. Having been through that myself earlier, I shared my story with her and then said, "I think I have a photo on my blog. Let me show you".  Well, that is when the cold hard truth of my slacking and procrastination hit me. I realized at that point that my last post was June 1st!  It was quite embarrassing... Add to all of this that my friend didn't even know that I had a blog because I have treated it like a red-headed stepchild for most of last year and I realized that I had to do better.  And what's really sad is that I enjoy blogging the little stories of my family life.  It is quite therapeutic sometimes... So one of my goals for 2012 is to be a better blogger...