Stay Tuned....

I just had to get the Thanksgiving theme off my blog! I'm so far behind...I have committed to update for December so please come back and visit the site this week...I promise it will be updated!

Our Halloween

Well, my least favorite holiday of the year has once again come and gone and now we can look forward to my favorite holiday...Christmas. I really wish I could be more excited about Halloween and be the kind of mom that dresses up with my kids and guys a lot of decorations to make our house look REALLY spooky like some of our neighbors do but I'm just not that into it. But, I allow my kids to get really excited about it and we made plenty of Halloween cupcakes to take to friends and eat on family night, we decorated the house and put up the pumpkin Halloween lights and of course, we decorated the pumpkins.

I am so impressed with myself that I did one of the pumpkins entirely by myself! We got an electric pumpkin carving knife and it was much easier. Also, I'm glad Kaden FINALLY got to be Darth Vadar for Halloween...he's been waiting for 2 years now so he could finally fit into the costume. Enjoy the pictures of our Halloween adventure for 2009!

We started with this...compliments of Debbie at daycare:

Kaden's Halloween graham cracker house

Jackson's Halloween graham cracker house

The Sunday before Halloween we did this for family night:

Love the look on his face (but he still wouldn't touch the goo!)

He did a great job scraping all by himself

A few days before Halloween we did this:

Kaden's pumpkin (didn't turn out like it was supposed to so we improvised)

Jackson's pumpkin

And after much waiting and anticipation, the kids finally got to do this:

Welcome to Adobe!

Well, it's been a pretty stressful fall for us. Let me give you a run-down of the last couple of months and we'll see if you agree.

I went back to work after a 3 1/2 month maternity leave. This same week, Kaden started Kindergarten and Evan started daycare. Even though I've taken 2 other kids to daycare, it still stresses me out. My timing of going back to work couldn't have been any worse...2 weeks before our largest deadline...the 9/15 tax return filing deadline for corporations. By the way, if Evan had stayed in my stomach until he was supposed to, I would have returned to work on 9/16...but he obviously had other plans!

The day of the 9/15 filing deadline, I was at home and feeling good because I completed the few projects I had for the deadline (I begged my bosses to take it easy on me when I returned) and I got a text message from Ray saying that he was sitting in a company meeting where they announced that Adobe Systems Inc. (yes, as in Adobe Acrobat) was buying his company, Omniture. Needless to say, we were both shocked and he didn't know what that meant for his job. He'd had suspicions that something was going on because he was getting information requests that are usually related to an acquisition but he thought Omniture was buying some other company...boy, was he ever wrong! If you want more details, you can read the article below.

http://www.omniture.com/press/777

For the next 3 weeks, we had no idea whether he was going to keep his job or not and we talked about alternatives...the last one being him staying at home and me going to work full-time. It's not the best economy for trying to find a job right now so we knew that him trying to find a new job would be difficult. But, I have to say that we weren't ever really "freaked out" about the situation, which is surprising considering my tendency to worry about things and not deal well with uncertainty. Our prayers were answered when he found out the last week of October that his job was being retained. Whew! What a load off our shoulders and we're so grateful that he was able to stay, as a lot of his co-workers were let go. I think his department went from 23 people to 8 people so we feel extremely blessed. The decision as to whether he would stay or not was based on feedback from those he works with and I'm proud that he's done such a great job that people were able to provide positive feedback...enough to convince Adobe to keep him.

So, now Ray officially works for Adobe rather than Omniture and Omniture is no more. He's really excited about this opportunity and they do have an office in Seattle so we hope he can transfer to that office in the future. They have great benefits like tuition reimbursement, an employee stock purchase plan, health savings account benefits, daycare contributions, and others that I think will provide a lot of benefit for our family. The tuition reimbursement will be great so that Ray can get his Master's degree and we won't have to pay for it. They also got rid of their accrued vacation policy and employees just take vacation (with the approval of their manager) when they need it and it's not tracked. The company also has a mandatory shut down of business the week of the 4th of July and the week between Christmas and New Year's! I think he gets pretty good discounts on Adobe software products so if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll see what he can do for you.

So, now you can see why the last couple of months have been a bit hectic but now that it's over, we feel very blessed and are able to breathe a bit easier these days and are excited to get ready for the holidays and upcoming vacation time to spend together.

Sweet Baby Evan

It's been a while since I updated our blog so keep checking back this week because I have a few posts ready to go. Evan is already 5 months (technically 5 1/2 months) old and while I'd love to say that he's growing up to fast...he's not but I do enjoy each day with him and his smile just melts my heart and is the best thing to see first thing in the morning, even at 5 or 6 a.m. He's so calm and sweet...we're noticing that he looks and acts a lot like Kaden. He just LOVES his brothers and smiles whenever he sees them. Kaden and Jackson just love him so much and it's so cute to hear Jackson say "How ya doin boy?" and pat him on the head...like he's a dog or something.

Evan is 20 lbs. right now (yes, I know...huge) and LOVES his bottles. We've started on some baby oatmeal but he's not really into it. My pediatrician told me that I can feed him whatever I want and that the old way of introducing rice/oatmeal, followed by vegetables, then fruits, and to feed the same flavor for 2-3 days in a row is no longer the case and studies have shown that kids actually have less food allergies when they get a variety and they don't tend to hate vegetables if they're not fed those first. So, we'll see how it goes but so far...Evan's not so excited about the baby food. He's a pretty good sleeper...a 1-1.5 hour nap in the morning, 2-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon, and goes to bed around 6:30 p.m. and wakes up anywhere between 5:30 and 7 a.m.

He recently had a VERY BAD case of eczema so he's lubed up with hydrocortisone all day, every day and it's finally getting under control. Before we got it under control, he was constantly scrathing at himself, especially his face, and would have new scratches on his face every morning. Hopefully, he'll outgrow it and very soon! He finally rolled from his back to his stomach last night but doesn't do it often. He has the cutest giggle and Kaden was so excited that he was able to make Evan giggle and laugh the other day...it was so cute!

Well, enjoy the pictures!

So happy but he doesn't know what's coming...

Yeah, not sure if I like that.

Happy, as usual


Sitting up in his Bumboo...Kaden & Jackson love sitting in it more than Evan!

Fall Firsts!

My baby started Kindergarten today! Ray took him this morning and when the teacher told the kids to turn around and wave good-bye to their parents, he was lost in the sea of overexcited parents so Ray didn't get to see him before he went inside. I picked him up afterwards and he was so excited because he got a Hostess cupcake with a small cutout taped on top that said "My first day of Kindergarten was a piece of cake." He was so excited and had a great day...he even remembered what they did that day which is more than I get after church on Sundays. To top off the big day, we picked up McDonald's for lunch as a special "First Day of School" lunch. Ray gave Kaden his first back-to-school blessing which his dad gave him each year before school started. He gave him a great blessing and I know that Kaden is going to have a great first year! His teacher's name is Mrs. McGarry and she's a Utah State University alumni (Go Aggies!) and this is her second year teaching at Altara. Kaden has a green folder that he brings home every night and his homework every night is to go through it with us and tell us what he did that day, and complete whatever she sends home. He is also encouraged to read for 15 minutes every night which we've been doing since he was 1 year old so that should be pretty easy to accomplish. He has 40 words that he has to memorize and recall at sight during the year and pass off to the teacher...basic reading words like and, for, I, said, his, her, etc. And each week they learn new letters and he has to bring words from magazines, newspapers, etc. that start with that letter. So, we'll be busy this year. I thought Kindergarten was just playing every day but he's really going to learn and his teacher said he'll be bringing home books to read during the year.

Kaden is going to Altara Elementary over on the east side of I-15 in Sandy...the school is one of the best and just happens to be about 4 blocks from our daycare providers house so she is kind enough to pick up him and one of the other daycare boys from school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. School starts at 8:15 a.m. and ends at 11:00 a.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and ends at 10:15 a.m. on Fridays. Kyli forgive me for saying this, but I still don't understand why teachers need an early day every Friday and so many planning or "recess" days throughout the year, there's at least one each month! Don't teachers have all summer to plan? Sorry, Ky...you know how I feel, and no offense to any other teachers out there that read this.

Kaden in his new school clothes and shoes on his first day of Kindergarten

Of course, little brother Jackson had to share in the excitement of the day

What would the first day of Kindergarten be without something to do with Star Wars?

Ray took this at the school in front of the Kindergarten classrooms. I think 2022 will be here before we know it.

Kaden in front of his new school

Also, the Fall soccer season has started. Kaden is now in the U6 group and plays on a much bigger field with 4 against 4 rather than 3 against 3. He had his first game last Saturday and scored 3 goals! Way to go, Kaden! He is a lot better this fall than he was in the Spring, must be all that practicing we've been doing in the family room.

The summer is almost over but we're going to end the summer with a trip to the new splash park that opened this summer in Draper, Cowabunga Bay. Since the summer was a little bit on the boring side for the boys due to Evan's arrival, it's time to start doing some fun things again. Now that Evan is going to daycare, his daytime sleep is getting better and better and he's getting on a good schedule. His nighttime sleep has been really good for a long time and just gets better...he's now going to bed around 6:30 and wakes up for a feeding anytime between 4 and 6 a.m. and then goes back down until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m....I love that he's such a good night sleeper like Jackson was because no matter how stressful the day might be, I know that I can have a few moments of "me" time before bed when all the kids are asleep...life is once again getting back to the way I'm used to and function best with. Life is great and each day is a blessing!

Smile Baby!

I was finally able to capture Evan smiling...it was a chore but I did it. I was also able to make him giggle and laugh yesterday. It was totally out of the blue and unexpected but I can't even describe in words how cute it was. Now, if I can just get him to do it for Ray! Evan is doing great and has his first day of daycare on Monday so we'll see how it goes. He's still not sleeping very long during the day but it putting himself to sleep better and better. Once he's asleep, he only sleeps for anywhere from 30-60 minutes at a time. But, he's sleeping 9 hours for his first stretch at night and then has a bottle and sleeps for a couple more hours so I'm not going to complain about the days...he'll get it together soon.

Kaden has his Kindergarten assessment appointment on Monday morning and his first day of Kindergarten on Thursday. He's so excited...I hope he loves it. I'm sure once he realizes that it's really EVERY day, he might lose some of the excitement but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I'm now realizing that things won't be happening according to Ray and I's schedules, we now have a school schedule that we have to factor in to our mornings and weeks. He has so many days off here and there and for holidays, I hope I can keep track and not send him when he doesn't have school or keep him home when he does...it's so confusing! Anyway, stay tuned and I'll post some picture of his first day later this week.

Update

Just wanted to give everyone an update since it's been over a month since my last post. Kaden is getting excited to start Kindergarten in about 4 weeks. We don't yet know who his teacher is (we'll find out on the 19th) but he's pretty excited and we're going to be going school shopping in the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure how the first few weeks on the new schedule is going to go since he's in AM kindergarten so we'll have to get him up, feed him breakfast, and have him to school by 8:15 (and the school is about 20 minutes from our house) so we'll be getting up earlier than usual from now on. I'm probably not going to realize how easy I had it before he started school and now we're in the school system from now on!

Jackson is...well, what can I say...he's just Jackson. He's our little spitfire but he makes us laugh one minute and really pushes us to our limits the next. He hasn't had any "accidents" or injuries requiring medical attention for quite a while so we consider that an accomplishment. He is growing to love Evan more and more and is really showing interest in him and actually acknowledges him as his brother now so we're making progress. Oh, he did graduate from his race car toddler bed into a big boy bed so he's officially a big boy but we haven't dared try and tackle the potty training thing yet...maybe this fall/winter when he's closer to 3 years old. The one great thing is that he LOVES candy so we might have better luck potty training (bribing) him with candy than we did with Kaden.

Evan is over 2 1/2 months old but not quite 3 months yet (he'll be 3 months on August 15th). At his 2 year checkup he was 13+ pounds, in the 90th percentile so he's a big boy! He's got roles and roles of chub and his cheeks are really starting to fill out, just like my other two boys. He seems to be calming down a bit these days and is a great night sleeper but a terrible day sleeper. He's been sleeping about 6-8 hours at night but has a really hard time taking good naps by himself during the day so we usually take turns sleeping with him in the afternoons. He's really discovering his hands and loves to be talked to and smiled at and his smile back is so cute! It just melts my heart.

I will be going back to work at the end of the month and have mixed feelings. I'm finally now into an at-home routine so it will be an adjustment to get back into the work routine 3 days a week. I think it's especially going to be challenging to get 3 boys ready in the morning and also keep up with Kaden's kindergarten needs and activities but I'm sure we'll get into a good routine and just need to get to bed earlier. I'll be glad for the fall when the days get shorter so the kids can get to bed earlier.

Enjoy the latest pictures of our boys!

Finally!

Ever since Evan was born, Kaden has been totally in love with him and just can't get enough of him but Jackson didn't seem to care that Evan was here. However, Jackson finally started to take some interest in Evan (especially when Kaden does) and wanted to hold him so I had to snap some pictures to capture the moment since those moments don't come around that often. Although life has definitely changed, both Kaden and Jackson seem to have adjusted to Evan really well and I haven't seen any issues arise, which I am extremely grateful for. Both Kaden & Jackson have been very patient with Evan's needs and the time I spend with him and Kaden is a super big helper, getting me things that I need and helping keep Jackson entertained when I can't. I love my boys and hope that they will be the best of friends...always. I've also included a couple of pictures of Evan since he seems to be changing on a daily basis these days!

Evan's Special Day

Dear Evan,

Your daddy gave you your first priesthood blessing on Sunday, June 29th in the Mindi Meadows Ward, giving you the name of Evan Albert Balls. You had a lot of family there to participate and witness the blessing. Grandma and Grandpa Balls, along with Shauna, Kirsten, & Kailyn came down from Washington and Grandma & Grandpa from Wyoming came also. Those that stood in the circle were daddy, Grandpa Balls, Grandpa Haderlie, Bishop Densley, Uncle Steve (Aunt Tiffany's husband), Uncle Dan (Aunt LaNae's husband & Grandpa Balls' brother-in-law), and Uncle Reed (Aunt Pam's husband & Grandpa Balls' brother). There were other friends and family that wanted to be there and stand in the circle to bless you but they were unable to make it. You looked so sweet and precious in your blessing outfit. The same blessing outfit that your brothers Kaden and Jackson wore on their blessing days.

When daddy took you and started up toward the front of the chapel, your brother Kaden climbed on to my lap to make sure he could see you and listen to what daddy was going to say. As mommy watched you and daddy walk up toward the front and saw the men gently place their hands underneath you I got teary realizing what a special day it was and how grateful I was to my Heavenly Father for having sent such a sweet spirit with a healthy body to our home. Your daddy gave you an amazing and very heartfelt blessing. He blessed you with the best that life has to offer and I hope that you live a life that will allow you to be blessed with all of the wonderful things he asked for on your behalf. Daddy also told you how much we love you and are grateful for you...I hope both he and I can always treat you in a way that reinforces this and that we can always tell you and show you how much you are loved, even during the trials I'm sure we'll face. Even from the very first moment you entered this world, I realized that you were going to be a calming influence in our family and you have continued to prove me right and have been a great baby which has really helped me enjoy this time at home with you and your brothers. I can't wait to see you grow and change and see what personality you will bring to our home and to watch you play with your two older brothers.

Your middle name is the same name as my grandpa, Albert Johns. I can't wait to tell you all about him and the very special memories I have of him when I was growing up. He died before he should have due to Alzheimers but he was a very honest, loving, and hard working man and I hope that you can grow up to be like him.

We love you sweet Evan and we will try to be the best parents possible but I know that when we make mistakes, you will forgive us and we will do the same for you. We are so grateful for you in our family and can't wait to experience life with you.

My Boys

We're trying to take lots of pictures now days since we know that Evan will be changing fast. I just wanted to share some pictures of my boys...all of them, including my sweet husband. I am so grateful that he's had the last couple of weeks off, we've been able to spend some quality time together and I'm feeling much better now so I hope I can tackle things without him next week when he goes back to work. Most of all, I have loved watching him with our boys and seeing how much they love him and look up to him. He is the person that keeps me grounded and is always there with a hug and a kiss when I need it and has the patience that I sometimes lack...thank you for all you do for me and our boys and someday, we will be able to get back to our movie nights! As for my sweet Jackson, he is our little fireball but behind all that energy and mischieviousness, there is a sweet little spirit with big blue eyes that just melts your heart, I love you and know that although you are going to bring a lot of mischief, you will also bring much fun and laughter. As for my Kaden...you are a tremendous blessing and so sweet and sensitive and the best example we could have received for Jackson and Evan to look up to. As for our newest blessing, Evan, thank you for being such a calm baby (so far) and I hope I can enjoy each day and I can't wait to see what your personality is going to be. I am so grateful and blessed to be surrounded by 4 boys that love me and I want each one of them to know how much I love them back!

Ray, Kaden & Evan

Ray & Jackson

All of my boys

Evan is definitely going to have to get used to his older brothers

Kaden & Evan - Kaden can't get enough of him!

Just Kaden

The boys with grandpa - we don't get many pictures with grandpa so we have to get them when we can

My boys...again

Graduation Day!

Kaden has officially graduated from pre-school. Although Evan wasn't even supposed to be born yet, plans changed and since Ray had 2 paid weeks of paternity leave from Omniture, he, Evan, and I were able to attend Kaden's graduation ceremony at Hilltop. As excited as I was for him to be done with pre-school for the year, I found myself very emotional watching him during the program. I know he loved being at pre-school and his teachers have nothing but wonderful things to say about him. I found myself thinking of how much he's learned and grown up. I wonder if I'll be this emotional for all these milestones with all my boys or if it's just the first child? I'm sure I will be extremely emotional for his first day of Kindergarten also. I'm so proud of Kaden and although some days are challenging, he's a blessing in our lives and the perfect oldest child and example for Jackson and Evan. We love you Kaden and are so proud of who you are becoming! Thank you for all the love and joy you bring to our family!

Kaden with his graduation cap on...Miss Marcia in the background. Miss Bev was having some health problems so she was unable to finish the last month of the school year but she is doing well now.

Kaden and his official graduation certificate.

Kaden and dad

Kaden's pre-school class

Going to the Zoo!

Okay - I'm finally catching up on my blogging so I hope you're settled in for a few minutes. With the whirlwind whose name is Evan, I didn't get some of the events that took place before his arrival posted so I'm playing catch up now. We decided to take a family trip to the zoo as we knew our family trips would be somewhat limited once Evan arrived so we took went to the Hogle Zoo on a Saturday afternoon (5/9/09) and here are some of the pictures. It was fun to watch Jackson see animals in real life that he's only seen in books but it was trying (to say the least) to keep an eye on him, he just wanted to run all over the place! Now, I know why someone invented those harnesses that you can put on children...before I was a parent, I thought they looked ridiculous but now that I'm a parent, I see their value! All in all, we had a great time and I think the boys had a great time also.