To Breech or Not to Breech?

I haven't posted for a while and although I have no pictures to share, I needed an outlet for my thoughts. First, Kaden and I attended Kindergarten orientation last Friday. Going into it, I was so excited for him and thought, "Wow, we're really progressing now," but we got there early so we went to the playground and school was just getting out and when I saw all of the older "big" kids and how crazy they all were, I got really scared and thought, "I can't send my sweet Kaden here and expose him to all of these kids who are so much bigger than him!" and I got pretty emotional realizing that maybe I didn't want him to grow up as fast as he is. But, once we got into the gym with the other parents and kids, I felt better and seeing the classrooms that were set up, I realized that he's going to love it and have a great time. Plus, the kindergarten room have their own entrance from the outside that go right into the rooms and the school even has a small playground right outside the entrances to the kindergarten rooms. Plus, he'll only be there for 2 hours and 45 minutes, I think 1st grade will be the big adjustment. It's making me realize how important our home will be once he starts being exposed to different kids with different ideas and values and how critically important it is for us to keep a good relationship and communication with our kids and BE INVOLVED in their lives every minute. He's excited and I know he's going to have a blast.

Now, onto the big event coming up in our family. As you can see from the pregnancy ticker, we're down to a little more than 4 weeks before the new baby (we're not disclosing his potential name yet as this might be bad luck and we don't want anyone to think we stole it from them - which has happened in the past) is due to come. If it goes the same way Jackson did (3 1/2 weeks early, I have about 1 week before he'll be born. However, the baby is breech at this point and my doctor tried to turn him today (not without some pain I might add) and he had no luck and since I'm dilated to 1 cm (which probably doesn't mean too much at this point) and my doctor was surprised since there's no head causing pressure on the cervix to dilate, I have to say that I came away from my appointment very scared that this baby might have to be born via C-section. My doctor's plan is to hope the baby turns as he still has time (and apparently room) but if I go into labor, he'll try to turn him more aggressively during the early stages of labor and if it doesn't work, he'll do a C-section. I have to admit that a C-section really scares me and most of all, since this is likely our last child, I am mostly sad to not be able to really be a part of his birth and watch it and hold him right after he's born...and I am scared of the pain afterwards and trying to recover and take care of 2 other VERY active kids and adjust to a new baby all at the same time. The baby really seems to like his position up under my ribs so I can't imagine him turning on his own but we're praying for him to do it, trying natural positions to "help" him turn, and Ray will be giving me a blessing on Sunday and then it's out of our hands. It's amazing how each child is different, even before they're born!

Happy Birthday (continued)

Just wanted to share some recent pictures of the boys at the park and at the bounce house Kaden and a friend went to for his birthday. Jackson wanted nothing to do with the bounce toys, I think the noise of the air pumps and their size looked enormous to him. As usual, about 30 minutes before we were going to leave, he all of the sudden decided he liked them so we had to stay later than planned so he could catch up on having as good of a time as Kaden & Sam did. I know they had a good time but we sure took some good baths when we got home to get off all those germs! Enjoy the pics!

Kaden and his friend, Sam

Jackson sitting on the quarter train

At the park

I was going for a smile but caught this cute face instead

Kaden at the park, sitting on the stump...no pinches for him that day

Our sweet Kaden

I really need to take a photography class...apparently the sun was a little too bright so this is the best we could do.

Happy Birthday / St. Patrick's Day!

Kaden celebrated his 5th birthday this last Tuesday (yes, St. Patrick's Day). He's our St. Paddy's Day baby. It's great that he can finally say that he is 5 years old. It was "4 and a half" and then "almost 5" forever! I can't believe he's already 5 and will be in kindergarten this fall but he's at a really fun age...where we can have conversations with him and he's so helpful. I hope he had a great birthday.

We decided not to do a big party this year, we're going to try and do big parties every other year. So, the night before Kaden's birthday, we decorated the kitchen with streamers and balloons and wrapped his presents and set them out on the table. You can always tell when something exciting is happening the next day because he seems to wake up earlier than usual and instead of coming into our room, he goes downstairs immediately. Needless to say, he was pretty excited to finally have his birthday here and see the decorations and presents. We had a donut breakfast before Ray left for work and let him open one present but made him wait until dad got home from work to open the rest.

The weather has been really nice lately and since it was my usual day home with the boys, I found the energy to take them to the park and enjoy the day. However, I did schedule his 5 year checkup with the doctor on his birthday so the sad part of the day was having to go to the doctor and watch him get 2 shots...on his birthday! I know I won't ever do that again. Kaden wanted Little Ceasars pizza for dinner so we picked that up on our way home, had pizza & breadsticks, opened presents, enjoyed some birthday cake and ice cream with our good friends Cal & Suzy, and called it a night. Two days after his birthday, we invited our good friends Allen and Jessica and their boys and went to Jumpin Jacks (a bounce house) where the kids ran around, climbed, and slid down the slides until they were exhausted (well, mom and dad were exhausted too). All in all, it was a pretty fun week and I hope he had a great birthday and knows how much we love him and are glad he is part of our family.

I've posted some of his favorite presents below. We had a "Star Wars" birthday since he (and Ray) have really been into Star Wars lately. Ray bought the prequel trilogy for him and I'm not sure who was more excited for him to get it, Kaden or Ray! Kaden is so into Star Wars that his name choices for the baby are either Luke or Anakin.

Kaden's Star Wars cake

Still a Seahawks fan, even though they did TERRIBLE last season

Finally, a two-wheeled scooter for him since he's been "too big" for a 3-wheeled scooter for the last year and refuses to ride it. Next up, a skateboard! Happy birthday, sweet boy! We love you and are so grateful you're in our family.

January Recap

Well, January has come and is almost gone so I just wanted to give our friends and family a recap. Our first day back from Christmas vacation, Jackson had an accident at daycare which required 3 trips to the doctor that week, the 1st to get the cut super glued, the 2nd to get it looked at where we found out it was infected, and the third as a check up to make sure it wasn't infected again. As bad as the experience was, Jackson was a real trooper considering we had to change the bandages 4-5 times a day...he never even tried to rip them off and his cut is looking much better now.

As those of you that visit our blog know, we found out our final addition to our family is going to be another boy. Admittedly, I was pretty taken back as I realized I'd never experience having my own daughter but I am getting used to the idea of a house full of boys and I know that someday, I will realize the Lord's wisdom and I love the relationship I have with my boys, there's just something special about a mother/son relationship.

On January 17th, Kaden and I met my sister and her family and went to "Walking With Dinosaurs" at the Energy Solutions Arena. The boys loved it and I even enjoyed it, it was very realistic...the boys kept asking us if the dinosaurs were real.

On January 23rd, we celebrated Jackson's 2nd birthday. My mom came down for the weekend so we went to a nice dinner, had his birthday cake and opened his presents the next morning...pretty low key but I'll take it since I'm sure there will be plenty of birthday parties to come.

Other than those events, we've just been trying to enjoy each day together (just the 4 of us for now) and prepare ourselves for our new arrival and the adjustments that are sure to come. Although it seems very far away, I know from past experience that it's going to go very quickly.

The day after the "incident" and before the infection set in

A lacrosse helmet that Kaden fell in love with and wanted me to buy ($150!) so he could just wear it around the house

Kaden and Jackson watching their favorite show together - Max & Ruby

Kaden and Jackson pretending to sleep on the two stairs from the kitchen to the family room

One of Jackson's birthday presents

A Max & Ruby CD, that will be great in the car!

Walking With Dinosaurs

The Color of the Day Is...

BLUE! So, yesterday was the big day...the ultrasound and we are having our third baby boy and there is no mistaking it is a boy...we have a very clear picture but to avoid embarassing him someday, I decided not to post it. So, Ray's brother, Brian, has 3 girls now (#3 on the way) and we have 3 boys (#3 on the way). Overall, there seems to be a predominance of boys in the Balls family genes. It would have been a very new and crazy experience to have a baby girl in the house (I wasn't sure how to even change the diaper for my baby niece over the holidays) but we can do the boy thing and if the third time's the charm...we should have it pretty smooth sailing this time around. The ultrasound technician was great (we were in and out of there in about 30 minutes) and we were able to see so much...both arms, legs, fingers, toes, brain, kidney, liver, stomach, spine, four chambers of the heart, umbilical cord, lips, nose, eye sockets...and she said he looks great and she has no concerns. He even has a little personality already since he was kicking and moving like crazy and even stuck his tongue out at us! I hope what everyone is telling me is true...that when my boys get into the pre-teen/teen years, I'll be very grateful to have all boys...I guess we'll see. All of my friends with girls, you'll have to let me know and I guess I'll just have to be praying for exceptional daughters-in-law to go shopping and to chick flicks with down the road. Although Kaden was hoping for a girl, I know he'll be a great big brother and was pretty excited when I told him he gets to be a big brother twice but Jackson only gets to be a big brother once...he thought that was pretty cool, I know they will all have a blast playing with each other and there is definitely a special bond between boys and their moms.

Random Pics & Thoughts

Now that the Christmas and New Year's postings are out of the way, I just have some random thoughts and pictures to post.

Ray - As much as I don't understand his company's culture, I've not seen Ray as dedicated and fulfilled as he is in his job right now. He finally got recognized for all his hard work and dedication to his company by being named Human Resources Employee of the Year at the company Christmas party in December. I'm so proud of him and glad that he has finally been recognized as a contributing member of the team. He works very hard and I know he does his best to balance work and family and being in Utah, has a lot more balancing to do than most of his co-workers whose wives stay at home...I appreciate his hard work and doing all that he can to help on a daily basis with the kids and be home when I need him to be.

Me - After two relatively uneventful, textbook pregnancies, this pregnancy has been more emotionally and physically difficult than I was prepared for. I was much sicker during the first trimester than I've ever been and normally, I can drink milk by the gallons but have had an aversion to it this time. Also, my emotions are a complete mess...happy one minute and literally crying over spilled milk the next. I'm hoping that all this differences add up to a different gendered baby and at least they are solidifying the concept that this is definitely our last child...NO MATTER WHAT! I can't wait to find out next week whether we'll be pulling out the boys clothes again or whether I can go shopping for pinks and yellows and purples.

Kaden - Shortly before Christmas, we had parent/teacher conference with Kaden's pre-school teacher, Miss Bev. It was so surreal for me to be at a parent/teacher conference hearing about how my sweet Kaden is doing so well and above average in almost every category. The thing that made me the most happy is that he is nice to everyone and gets along with all his class members as well as loves to read and learn...that is one thing I've always wanted to instill in my kids is a love for reading and education so let's hope it continues. I love him so much and am so proud of him and hope I can continue to strive to be the kind of mom he deserves.

Jackson - What can I say about this little guy. He is so much fun and is talking like crazy and says at least one thing on a daily basis that just cracks us up. However, we can already tell that he is going to be very different from his big brother. He's going to be a jokester and much more daring than his brother. In the last month, we've made emergency visits to the dentist and the doctor for a chipped tooth (which hasn't turned black yet...we're keeping our fingers crossed) and a cut chin (which luckily only required glue rather than stitches). I'm not sure if it's his age or his personality but I feel like I need to keep him in a glass bubble to keep him from hurting himself right now...any opinions or stories to share?

Overall, I'm so grateful for my family. It's amazing to watch how closely bonded Kaden and Jackson are and how Jackson does EVERYTHING his big brother does and how much he looks up to him. It's also amazing to see the love and respect that the boys have for Ray and how much he means to them. I know more fully understand why it's so devastating for children of divorce or who lose a parent in death. The bond between a child and a parent is so automatic but so amazingly strong. During the many snow storms and extremely cold weather that we've had, I find myself so grateful for a home to live in and heat to keep us warm and with the economy right now, that both Ray and I have good jobs that look to keep us employed until this recession is over. But, it does make me realize we need to focus on our food storage and building up our savings account just in case. Most of all, I realize who the most important people in my life are and that is Ray, Kaden, Jackson and this new baby to come and no matter where we live compared to our other family members, we will be fine as long as we stick together and stay close to one another. I pray that I will never experience the death of a child or the death of a spouse as either of these experiences must be unimaginably painful to go through. See, I told you this pregnancy was making me an emotional mess, didn't I? Love to all!

New Year's 2009

For New Year's this year we went up to Smithfield and stayed a couple of nights with my sister and her family. It's always a challenge traveling with Jackson since he doesn't sleep as well anywhere else as he does in his own bed and he's just at that age where it's hard to take him places since he's constantly on the go and knows no boundaries but we attempted it anyway...making sure to take the DVD player and lots of Baby Einstein's in the car and Kaden taking his Leapster. Our next car is definitely going to have a built-in DVD player so I don't have to turn around 20 times to push buttons, adjust the screen, etc. We went up on New Year's Eve morning and the boys played and napped until evening when we went to see the Aggies play basketball at the Spectrum. That night, I think we all fell asleep before the ball dropped so it was a pretty exciting New Year's as you can imagine. The next day, we took the boys (minus Jackson) bowling where I was the lowest score...I think I barely made it over 50. I used to be a pretty good bowler but being pregnant definitely makes everything a bit more difficult...I just couldnt' get my body to do what it was supposed to.

After bowling, we had pizza at famous Frederico's (my all time favorite) and then went home for an evening of Wii. My sister's family got a Wii for Christmas and they had just bought guitar hero to go with it so we Wii bowled and pretended we were rockstars for the rest of the night...it was pretty fun and Guitar Hero is actually extremely challenging and Ray pretty much beat everyone he played...I think he was meant to be a guitar rock star in another life, had he not met me. Enjoy the pictures.

It was hard to get Kaden to smile because he was always concentrating so hard.

Best friends

Cousin Kyler

I finally got kind of a smile

Kasen and Kaden racing motorcyles at the fun park after bowling

Jackson just content to play with the toys

Christmas 2008

I'm finally getting around to posting some Christmas pictures. Despite both Ray and I having 2 weeks off, it was actually pretty busy getting ready for Christmas, post-Christmas sickness, celebrating for New Year's, and cleaning up from Christmas before going back to work. We got most of our Christmas on video so no pictures of Christmas morning but I do have a couple of Kaden & Jackson's encounter with Santa at the ward Christmas dinner and our trip to temple square with the boys that wasn't quite as fun and successful as we had hoped. Kaden is always asking me when we're going to ride on a train so we throught it might be fun to ride the TRAX from South Towne to downtown Salt Lake. As should have been expected, the excitement wore off about half way to Salt Lake and it was all we could do to keep the boys entertained until we got to downtown. It was freezing cold the night we went to temple square so we quickly walked through and then headed back to the TRAX and went home and had hot chocolate.

Our Christmas Eve was pretty quiet since we just spent it at home with the four of us. Despite us telling Kaden over and over again that it was Christmas Eve, he still thought the next day was Christmas Eve and didn't really understand that Santa would be coming that night and Jackson was absolutely oblivious to all that was going to happen so we got them to bed as usual and they had no trouble falling asleep. Kaden's bedroom door has a full view of the Christmas tree so we knew that he would notice if Santa had come as soon as he walked out his door and sure enough, he did. About 7 a.m., he came into our room and was so excited about the new presents under the tree, especially his "bigger" bike that he had asked for and Santa had brought so we got up with him and went downstairs, letting Jackson sleep a little longer before getting him up but soon we could hear Jackson stirring and talking and so began our Christmas morning. I was so worried that Kaden would just tear through his presents, not really seeming to care about any of them but we actually had to keep telling him to keep opening, he was so excited about each one. Overall, Christmas was a success and I think Ray was as excited or more than Kaden about Christmas this year!

Viva La Vida!

For Ray's birthday (way back in August!) I had gotten him tickets to see Coldplay in concert. Well, the date finally came and we went to see Coldplay in concern on November 22nd at the Energy Solutions Arena. It was by far the best live concert I've ever been to...we had such a great time...even the warm up band (Sleepercar) was really good. Coldplay is definitely not just another English band, Chris Martin is extremely talented and humble. It was a great evening with dinner at P.F. Chang's beforehand and no rushing out the door or rush to get home since grandma was staying with the kids. I hope that we can go see them again...it was definitely worth the pricey tickets!

Halloween 2008

Well, I'm not sorry to say that Halloween has come and gone. I really don't know why but I just really don't like Halloween and I don't think I ever really have. Luckily, I don't work where Ray works because it's pretty much mandatory that every department pick a theme each year and every employee participates and dresses up in support of their department's theme and then all of the families and kids can come to the office and "trick or treat" around the building. For those of you that can't tell, Ray's department chose Batman and he dressed up as Two Face. Kaden chose to go to Ray's work on Halloween instead of going to pre-school and having his school party. I don't think he really cared where he got to go as long as he got to dress up and get candy. All in all, I think it was a good Halloween but I hope I can get some more Halloween spirit so I can make it even more fun for the kids.

Our pirate-themed pumpkin

Iron Man

Little Ninja

Iron Man, Two Face, Little Ninja (Jackson wasn't ever quite sure about dad as Two Face)