Catching her off guard

M is into everything these days.
She is definitely keeping me busy and on my toes.
I can hardly leave her in another room on her own, for fear of what I might find
when I come back.

Here she is cuddling up with her BaaBaas one night watching Elmo...her most favorite
show to watch. She has her feet propped up on the entertainment center because
she watches her sisters do this all the time.

In this one, I had left the room for about 30 seconds only to hear the chair moving across the kitchen floor. I came in to find her standing in the chair at the island drinking my iced coffee...she is truly her mother's child. She thought she was so cute and turned to say "cheese"
when she noticed that I had the camera in my hand.

And about 10 times a day she gets hats, mittens, scarves out of the basket and puts them on.
Isn't she adorable?

I wouldn't have it any other way....I love that she keeps me busy.

A's New Look

A got glasses last week. Doesn't she look so cute?
She only has to wear them when she is reading or working on something at her desk.
So far she likes them and looks fantastic in them.

NYC Weekend...

was a BLAST!

We had a great time and are very thankful to our husbands for sending us.
I am waiting to get all the pics on a CD so that I can share them with you.
We were greeted Saturday morning at 4:45am with a limo waiting to take all of us to the airport. The trip up was uneventful (my kind of airplane ride) and were welcomed to NYC with 5* weather. It was COLD, but we did not care.

We walked, rode a tour bus throughout the city, shopped, went to the Empire State Building, dinner and to see Chicago Saturday.
Sunday we awoke to SNOW...beautiful snow. It was a bit warmer this day though. We walked some more, shopped a lot (got some great purses), cried a bit at Ground Zero, saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, the bull from the movie Hitch, Rockafeller Center, Central Park, and much more.
Monday we rode the Subway at an ungodly hour of the morning to try to see Regis and Kelly but they were not taping (despite what the internet and our hotel said), shopped some more, and headed back home. After 6 hours in the airport, 3 delay times and finally a cancellation and flight change we arrived in ATL around 1am.

I promise to post lots of pics as soon as I get them.

Christmas Day 2008

Santa came....

M on her Barbie 4wheeler...this is the only time she has gotten on the thing...she is scared of it.

All the girls got bean bags...they love them.

Wow, what a mess...too bad Santa doesn't stay around to help clean up.

Yes, we had a GREAT Christmas, and hope that you did too!

Christmas Eve 2008 Part 2

After we leave Granddaddy's house, we head to my parent's house to continue the festivities.
Here are my parent's grandchildren sitting in front of the tree with all their presents.
.

Aren't they a cute bunch?
Yes, we have all the girls.

And my parents with the little ones, including Magic, their dog and 4th child.

What fun times!

Christmas Eve 2008 Part 1

I know that Christmas is long past, but I wanted to make sure to post some pictures.

Here are the girls getting ready to head to our service at church on Christmas Eve.

Daddy and his girls...

Mommy and her girls...

After church we head to my Granddaddy's (my dad's dad and my only living grandparent) house. There are 37 of us now, so on Christmas Eve we have to use the garage to put tables for the Grands and GreatGrands to eat and then we all come out here to open presents. My Granddaddy has 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. It can get quite crazy at times. Here are some pics of the girls and some cousins enjoying opening their gifts.

M with her Elmo...she loves this new Elmo.

A with 2 new books...it won't be long before she is finished with these...she loves to read.

M's Big Girl Bed

As promised, here are pictures of M in her Big Girl Bed.

I know they are dark, but you gotta get the picture while you can.

Guess M's new trick...

If you said climbing out of her crib, then you are CORRECT!

Yes, when I put her in her crib for nap today she was out within a minute.
She came out with the biggest grin on her face like she was so proud of herself.

We really have been wondering why she hasn't done this yet, since she climbs on everything.
Well, she kept doing it. So much so, that we took the crib down and put up the Big Girl Bed.
She loved it and loved playing on it...that is until I tried to make her lay down to go to bed tonight.
I am sure we are in for a long night...we will see.

She is the same age A and R were when we moved them out of the crib. A had to come out because R was on the way. R came out for the same reason as M. She was climbing out of the bed. However, she started doing it at 17 months and we were not ready to move her.
We really were not ready to move M today, but we were afraid she would hurt herself. She can already crawl under the gate at the top of the stairs to go down and many other things A and R could not do at this age.

Oh well, the sadness is setting in that the crib is no more. I am trying not to think about it too much so that I don't cry. Will post pictures soon of M in her new bed.

Happy New Year...

...from our family to yours.

We pray that 2009 will be all you ever dreamed and then some.
May God continue to bless you all.

Much Love, From The Ballews