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. 

March 18 - Going Home and Saying Goodbye

2 days old

On Wednesday, March 16th we left the hospital with our two-day-old little girl and went home - home to two anxious big sisters, one excited dog (who had no clue how much his world was about to change) and a loving grandmother who came to visit and help with the big kids while we were at the hospital.  The first night at home went smoothly - I should tell you that Emma is and has been an amazingly good baby from the beginning.  As exciting and wonderful as it was to have Emma home and finally be together as our new family of five, we also were facing a very difficult journey.  A little background here would probably be helpful - Brock's dad had been diagnosed with gastric cancer in late November/early December and the prognosis was not as favorable as we had hoped.  But the doctors thought that if he underwent chemotherapy that it might give him more time.  Unfortunately the chemo was not successful.  We received a call telling us that we needed to come to Atlanta as soon as possible.  So we got my mom a flight home on Thursday and loaded up the car that night to leave as early as possible on Friday morning (March 18). 

With a four-day-old infant and a mom who was three days post-op, the trip took almost twice as long as usual due to the increased number and lengthier stops that we had to make.  Every time that we stopped I worried that we were taking too long and would get to Atlanta too late.  But as we talked to Brock's mom and brother throughout the day we knew that his dad seemed to be holding on to see us and meet Emma. When we arrived around 6:30 that night, we went straight to his room to see him.  It was such a bittersweet moment and one that we will share with Emma when she is older.  The way Grandaddy's eyes lit up and the happiness that you could see on his face when he saw Emma was one that both warmed and broke my heart at the same time.  He wanted to hold her so Brock placed her in the crook of his dad's arm and the two of them laid there both soaking in the goodness of the moment.  When Brock started to pick up Emma , his dad said, "Just a little bit longer" and I felt my heart break just a little bit more.  Knowing that they were both going to miss out on getting to know each other seemed terribly unfair - a huge injustice to both of them and to all of the family for that matter.  I hated the fact that my children, who loved Grandaddy so very, very much, were in a sense being robbed.  I have tried over the past two months to look at our loss in as positive of a way as possible.  Grandaddy instilled a love of music in Audrey and she is blossoming into a very talented musician, both with the piano and guitar.  She composes her own music and I know that the love she has for it is in great part to the music that she shared with Grandaddy throughout her childhood.  He instilled a love of nature in Claire, who is always wanting to know more about animals and plants, and I wish terribly that I had half the knowledge that Grandaddy had about birds and such.  While he only had a few days with Emma, I know that the stories and memories that we share with her about her Grandaddy will be positive influences in her life.  

Grandaddy was the best grandfather.  He wasn't afraid to play with the children or share stories from his life with them.  He  played music for them and they in turn danced and danced in the den (or wherever we were), he took them fishing, never making a difference in what the boys (or boy, in this case) could do over the girls.  They were just as capable in his eye as what any boys could do and as a mom of three girls I loved that about him.  He took the whole family on beach vacations where he always took all of the grandchildren crab hunting - and inevitably was always bitten by one.  The grandchildren loved spending time with him and he enjoyed spending time with them just as much.  He was a very "hands-on" grandparent and I am thankful for every moment that my children had to spend with him. 

When I think about how much has changed since we found out in August that we were expecting a very unexpected baby, it seems like God knew that we would need an angel to help us through the hard times ahead so He sent Emma to us.  Just holding her makes the hole in heart not hurt so much.  In the first days after Grandaddy passed, Emma helped everyone.  It is hard to be quite so sad when you see this perfect little person in your arms... this perfect little person who life has just begun and has the whole world ahead of her.  We still miss Grandaddy every day and I know that we will always miss him.  But I look forward to sharing his stories and memories with all of our children.  Below is a short slideshow with some of our favorite photos of Grandaddy...

March 14 - Here Comes Baby!

So it's Monday, March 14th, approximately 6:30 in the a.m., we have made it through registration and are settled into the birthing suite.  The nurses came in and started all of the wonderful paperwork that has to be completed and they readied me for my IV and such.  Inductions, in my opinion, are great!  Everything runs smoothly...  For me, it just made the whole experience much more relaxed and enjoyable.  The nurses were concerned that this delivery might progress too quickly this time around since my labor with Claire was only two hours start to finish, so they started my epidural earlier than usual  that  way I wouldn't miss the window of opportunity to get it.  So while I was only 3 cm and with pain ranking a mere 2 on the 10 point scale, the wonderful anesthesiologist came in to start my epidural.  Now this did slow my labor progression but I was in absolutely zero pain so I did not see that as a problem. Here is a photo to show you how Brock and I spent the couple of hours waiting for everything to progress...

Notice the iPad is sitting on the table next to Brock's leg... We watched a movie and then some stand-up comedians... Nothing like some good laughs before delivering a baby. ;) Speaking of having a baby, here's a photo of me in labor...

See why epidurals are such great things... "Active labor" and not one ounce of pain! :)  The pitocin drip was started around 9:00 a.m. and around 2:00 p.m. the nurse called the doctor in... It was showtime!  The doctor came in and checked my progression and said that Emma was ready to greet the world.  One, two, three pushes and here she was! (Thank you Pilates!!!)  Our perfect little baby girl, Emma Catherine Ballard said "Hello World!" at 2:25 p.m. on the 14th of March 2011.  Brock cut her umbilical cord (just like he did with all of our children) and then the nurses weighed, measured and scored our little bundle - 7 lbs 2 oz, 19.5 inches and 9s on both Apgar tests.  See... I told you she was perfect!  Here are some photos of Emma shortly after delivery...

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon loving, holding and just soaking in all of the goodness that comes with a new baby.  My mom brought the "Big Sisters" to visit later that day and they were so excited to meet their new little sister.  I had the most adorable shirts made for them that said "Big Sis Audrey" and "Big Sis Claire".  Emma had a gown that said "Lil Sis Emma".  (You will see the shirts/gown in one of the photos below.) Claire was the most excited I think because she was finally a big sister like Audrey.  We explained that they are both special roles because Audrey is now a double big sister and Claire is now a big and little sister.  Emma has a special role too being a double little sister.  Our hope is that these "special" roles will help alleviate any issues with being labeled the "oldest", "middle" and "baby" later.  Here are some photos of the big sisters meeting the little sister...

Claire couldn't wait to hold Emma...

Daddy and his three girls :)

Audrey holding Emma

Claire holding Emma

The Girls!

 Three Sisters

I'm Dreaming of a...

 You guessed it - A White Christmas! It hasn't happened in 128 years... The last white Christmas in Atlanta was in 1882! It was extra special for lots of reasons...

1. We were there to experience it.
2. It was Claire's first snow!
3. It was also Duke's first snow.  And...
4. As obvious as it is - It was a White Christmas!!!

That is something that people dream of (at least that's what the song says). The kids saw the first flakes begin to fall earlier in the day and the excitement began. Although those first flakes melted as soon as they reached the ground, the excitement did anything but melt. By the time we finished our Christmas dinner and opened presents there was a nice blanket of snow on the ground. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so I will save you from reading a few extra thousand of those and I will just share some of the photos from our snowy Christmas fun!

Claire checking out the first snowflakes (even though it was more slush, than flake)

Audrey enjoyed the snow... although her nose turned quite pink! :)

Claire's 1st Snow!

Rolling a snowball for her tabletop snowman!

Just one more on top will make it PERFECT!

See!  It's perfect! :)

Duke really enjoyed trying to catch the snowballs that the girls tossed up!

Audrey's Snow Angel

 

Dad and the girls working on the tabletop snowman

"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. :)

16 weeks

16 weeks -- Photo by Claire

Claire wanted to take a picture of my ever-growing belly, so I thought I would share. :)

So far this pregnancy has gone well. I had a bout of morning sickness for a couple of weeks, but that is over now! Yes, I know that my belly looks quite big to be a four month belly, but I haven't gained a lot of weight... yet... I know that I will pack on the pounds from here on out, but this is the good kind of weight gain -- the weight gain with a "pot of gold" at the end! I gained 33 and 31 pounds with my previous pregnancies and that seemed to be a good amount of gain for me. The doctor told me I should gain between 30 - 35 pounds this time around as well. So that's the goal! Healthy weight gain = Healthy baby, so it's really a win-win... I am also trying to stay active and keep up with a regular exercise plan. I started a prenatal Pilates class a month ago and I LOVE it! I did regular Pilates for about a year before I got pregnant and it was very beneficial. Now, with the ever-growing belly, Amy (my Pilates instructor) has modified the exercises to accommodate my needs. I feel fantastic after each class and look forward to seeing if there is a difference in delivery -- my doctor said that Pilates is a great exercise, along with walking and swimming, for moms-to-be. So time will tell...

We find out if we are getting a boy or girl added to the family at the end of the month! Audrey and Claire are so excited, although they each want something different. Audrey wants a brother because she "already has a sister" and Claire wants a sister because she "wants there to be three sisters in our family". I can relate to Audrey because I wanted my baby brother to be a girl because I already had a little brother. Unfortunately, I didn't get what I wanted. And while I wasn't very excited at the beginning, I learned that having two little brothers was actually a lot of fun! Claire is very adamant about the baby being a girl. She isn't open to having a brother, but if it turns out to be a boy, I am sure that she will come around to the idea and love him just as much as she would have loved a sister. Brock and I are actually neutral on the whole gender issue - healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes is what we want. So my next baby post will be a big announcement - Boy or Girl! Stay tuned...

Our Little Surprise

We officially found out yesterday that we are expecting Baby #3 at the end of March.  We are very excited about the news.  Audrey and Claire are beyond excited.  The ultrasound tech told us that the baby is about the size of a blueberry right now, so the girls were calling it "Baby Blueberry" all night.  Claire keeps saying, "I can't believe there's a baby in your tummy!"  Audrey can't wait for the baby to be big enough to kick so she can feel it.  She loved that part when I was pregnant with Claire.  They are both reminding me how big they are and how much they can help out with the baby.  Since Audrey will be 10 and Claire will be 5, I know that they will be good helpers.  I flipped through my calendar yesterday to show Claire how long it will be until the baby is born and she said "That's a long time... Your belly is going to be huge!"  LOL!  Aww, kids say the cutest things! Cute, yet brutally honest... :)

First Day of Fourth Grade

Wow!  4th Grade!!!  It seems like I was just getting Audrey ready for Kindergarten and now she is a big girl in 4th grade.  Fourth grade just seems so big... I know all of the older moms (those of you whose children are in high school or college or even grown with children of their own) are thinking that I am crazy for feeling like my little girl is growing up so fast.  I know one day she will be going to her first prom, graduating high school, moving away to college and all of those things that come with your children growing up, but I am living in the now and right now, my little girl is going to the big 4th grade.  I am very excited and, if I'm being honest, a bit terrified at the same time.  This is just one of the reasons why I listen to the advice of older moms when they tell me to "enjoy every moment".

Anyway, this is about Audrey's first day of fourth grade.  She is very excited about this year.  This will be her first full year at her new school.  She has quite a few friends from last year's class in her class this year, so she was happy to see some familiar faces in her new room.  She is also excited because as a fourth grader she can join chorus.  She is very musically talented and is looking forward to the numerous concerts and events that they host throughout the year.  Below is a photo of Audrey at school.

 Audrey - the Big 4th Grader!!!

A Childhood Right of Passage

For many children, getting braces is just another childhood right of passage.  Audrey is experiencing that right of passage now.  She started Phase 1 of her orthodontic treatment today. The time frame for this phase is approximately 12 months. She was a bit anxious beforehand but did really well.

Audrey brought along a "friend" for support

She chose a different color band for each bracket - "Rainbow colored", as she calls it!

At home... showing off her new additions:)

The one thing that I remember from having braces was the difficulty eating certain foods.  So I am trying my best to incorporate easy-to-eat foods into our good-for-you diet.  I use the word "diet" in the sense of our eating lifestyle, not a weight loss plan.  Although it would be nice to lose a pound or two in the process. :)  But I digress.  So tonight we had "soft" foods for dinner to help alleviate the discomfort that usually comes those first few days of treatment.  Audrey gave her seal of approval for dinner and we made it through the first meal quite well.  We worked on cleaning around the braces after mealtime and discussed the best practices for dealing with meals away from home - like lunches at school, etc.  Audrey is doing great and I hope that this "right of passage" is one that is a positive one for her.