no rain here..yet

I dressed Ella this morning in a shirt her Uncle Rob and Aunt Rachel gave her. It is of kid walking in Seattle getting rained on- It is supposed to rain for Memorial Weekend and we were hoping to go out camping and enjoy the great outdoors after Darren will finally be finished with his audit this Friday- lets hope we see him more often now.

We also set up the little kid pool in the backyard- when tyler wakes up from his nap, he gets to swim- thank goodness for no rain-

also on a rainy note- We have been trying to redeem our United frequently flyer miles for MONTHS!!!- Needless to say, I am finished with united- BUT - we will not be going to Costa Rica like we really wanted too. We will be going to Kauai - Hawaii for 10 days in October- it is a rainy time there in Oct but we will still love it- Especially considering we only had to pay 10 bucks for each ticket- Finally our miles have been redeemed!!!

Spring time

We have been keeping busy, even if it consists of feeding two kids and myself. Candace came down and went to the zoo for a day. We enjoyed the time together- Sad thinking they will be leaving soon for Michigan.(?) Tyler loves playing with his cousins - and thanks to Grandma Balls- they had superman capes to run around with- just at our house - not at the zoo:)

Ben and Renee have been helping us with a fun project of building a larger garden box, we hope to have lots of delicious veggies to eat soon- even some zucchini
But our best news is that Ella has started to do more sleeping at night then screaming. We have been keeping her up the last three hours of the day, instead of letting her sleep - I know it might sound cruel- but then she goes to sleep with out screaming for hours- We are all happier! She is just starting to smile- So attached I put an adorable picture of her- SLEEPING!!!

A month ago...

One month ago (and a couple days) we had an addition to our family. Tyler really likes her still, Toby is still very needy, Darren is trying to balance out his life with the stress of the audit and us- I am sure we are not stressful though... And I am getting the ropes of how to accomplish things, stay calm and love my husband and kids- and Toby, even though he clings to me like rice on ... I dont really know what that saying finishes~

I went to the temple and lunch with friends on Sat and Darren stayed home for 4.5 hours with the kids. He said- "This stay at home thing is a piece of cake" then continued to tell me all he had accomplished. Feed both kids lunch, put both kids down for naps, mowed the lawn with Tyler, vacuumed the house... I am sure there was more, but I will stop there. I only mention this because well, 1. I guess I have an amazing husband and 2. I WILL leave him home more often because he does it so well!!!

The other exciting news is I got a zoo pass and I can take an extra person every time I go, so if anyone wants to go, give me a call!

Darren's Race

Well, Darren has finished his marathon. And we are all happier for it. His official finish time was 4:00:26. His goal was to do it under four hours, so if you round down ... he DID IT!!!



He was pretty tired after and sore for days, but overall he is alive and said he would probably do another one one day, just to try to beat his time. He did less than 8 and half minutes miles until about mile 20 then he was done and slowed alot. but we are still proud of him.


We went to the Mayan on Monday to celebrate my cousins birthday. My cousin couldn't finish his birthday ice cream dish, SO, tyler gladly helped him.

Family updates

So Ella has been a lot of fun this last two weeks. I guess it will be two full weeks on Thursday. A few nights of less sleep but overall we have just loved having her here. Tyler has done so well with her. He loves to be with her and kiss her- leaving some kind of leftover food in her hair...

We have been on some walks, had some late night talks (mostly about hurry and eat so I can go back to bed) Darren has been a great help to get up in the nights with me when I am tired and she is still fussy...

We are open for any ideas of why she seems to really fuss and cry, arch her back and be upset for about an hour and a half every night- I thought it might be chocolate- but what do you do with a really fussy baby when you want to be a sleep- advice

It's past my bedtime...

I am going to try to get to bed between 9 and 9:30 for the next couple of weeks, I really am a happier person on more sleep... but I thought I should at least give a few details of what went down last Thursday.

My water broke at 3am and my mom came over to stay with Tyler. I got an epideral and some pitosin and had Ella by 1:00 pm. She latched right on- which is so much different than Tyler and has been eating pretty well for the last four days. I quickly ate some food right after and threw it up right away. Best to wait a little while next time- but I was so hungry. Anyway, The rush of events flooded and before we knew it- it is Monday night and things are getting to be some kind of calm. Thanks to my mom for taking Tyler all day, Ella and I worked on feeding all day today... I had to take her in for a bili test to see what her levels where... she is ok, but if she is still yellow on Wed, i will have to get lights and more blood work. She only spent a half day under the lights at the hospital - Unlike Tyler who spent a week and a half in the suitcase in our kitchen.

THanks for all the support and comments. I am sorry I am not calling everyone and sometimes it takes me a while just to return a phone call but I will get there. We are a happy family and I will pray for lots of patience as I think Toby is the most needy kid around here right now!!!

Ella's little foot with a couple bruises from drawing blood.

Welcome Home Ella

It's official. Baby Girl's new name is Ella Lynn Balls. She came home from the hospital with Amy Friday night, and since they won't let you leave without filling out the birth certificate papers we talked Tyler into changing her name from Ovaltine to Ella.

New Baby

Baby girl or as Tyler calls her (Ovaltene) was born today 3/27/08 at about 1 PM.
7 lbs. 8 ozs. and 19 in. long.
Mom and baby are doing well.