Happy Father's Day

This post is dedicated to Ada's daddy. Poor Kyle. If this pregnancy has been uncomfortable for me, its been downright unbearable for him. Cranky, crazy, you name it; I've been it. And he has been a rock through it all. He also has complied with my every demand regarding projects around the house. His all time best though, has been the bookshelf I asked him to build Ada. It is perfect, functional and quite beautiful to boot. I mean seriously, what started out as a pile of lumber turned into this in just 3 short days.

Impressive, right? Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to Kyle for all of his hard work and for putting up with me for the last few months. I wish I could say its all going to get better in a few short weeks, but I know it probably will get worse for a short time once this baby arrives. Nevertheless, it'll all get better someday, right?

We all love you very much and are so grateful to have you in our lives. Happy Father's Day!

Evolution of a Nap

I went to check on Ada during her nap time today, but was unable to open the door. I could hear her snoring and deduced that she was indeed asleep in front of the door. So I went through the bathroom door and this is what I found.

All of her toys and books were pulled off the bookshelf and she was…

Sound asleep in front of her door. Just as I suspected.

Guess she had a big ol’ time before she fell asleep.

Who's a big girl?!

In preparation for Cashew's arrival, we've been playing musical bedrooms at our house. We've moved the nursery down the hall to one of the guest bedrooms, turned the main guest bedroom into Ada's room and have turned what used to be the nursery into the main guest bedroom. Whew. Anyway, last Friday, Ada began sleeping in her big girl bed. I was very nervous about how this might go. For those of you who know Ada well, she is somewhat rigid when it comes to her sleeping routine. Sleeping with us has never been an issue because she really only sleeps well in her own bed. I didn't know what she would do with the freedom of no bed rails or anything to keep her in, but alas, this child just keeps suprising us!



The first night, she got out of bed once just after Kyle put her down. He went back in, put her back in her bed and said goodnight. Not a peep out of the child until 8AM the next morning. In fact, we were making breakfast Saturday AM and Ada reached up to where the coffee mugs rae and said "Cahckee," which is her word for coffee. One night in her big girl bed and she thinks she's ready for a morning cup of coffee!

Every other night she has slept just fine, but has started getting up at 6AM. This does not bode well for her 8 month pregnant Mommy, or "Maudi" as Ada has named her, who is up 1/2 the night anyway with pregnancy insomnia and Braxton Hicks contractions. Today, she made it until almost 8, so maybe we're on our back to a 12 hour sleep cycle. For her, not Mommy.

There's still some decorating left to be done in her room so I'll post photos of the finished product later. And for those of you wondering, Cashew is only 7 weeks away from making his/her debut. July 10th is the scheduled delivery unless he/she arrives earlier. So Matt and Danny, if this baby holds out...looks like you'll have a new one to share your birthday with from now on!

Mother's Day Weekend with the Fam

We haven't had a Tolles' family fun weekend in s good long while, so it was just time. In fact, we haven't even seen Grandma and Grandpa Tolles since Aunt Courtney's wedding almost a year ago. And since Mother's Day and Grams' birthday fell at the same time, we could think of no better weekend to all get together at our house.

Wow. Ada just hams it up. The moment Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Friday morning, she lept into their arms and played with them all day long. However, once Dee-Dee and Papa arrived a few hours later, she said hello to them and then went and told Grandma and Grandpa "Bye," sealed with a kiss. It was a little unclear as to whether she thought since new visitors arrived, the others had to go; or if since her Papa was now here, she probably wasn't going to see much of anyone else, so she thought it only polite to say her goodbyes then. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Anyhow, we had a great time of fellowship. Ada danced her heart out to her "Elmo" CD, her new favorite character, for those that don't know. And it was certainly good to catch up with grandparents who we haven't seen for such a long time. The Shaha's all came over for a Fish Fry on Saturday night and Aunt Lindsay brought fun 3-D sidewalk chalk and actually let the other kids color with it! Or "cully," as Ada says.

Thanks to everyone for making the drive here! We enjoyed the visit and look forward to more!

An update in general.

So I didn't get another post in before April 18th, but at least this is less than a month from my last post. Barely, but it counts.

Things have been busy at the Ballard household, although last week offered a welcome break from the madness. Easter was a fun time with a couple of Easter egg hunts and a trip to take photos in the bluebonnets. I'm so thankful Ada has a friend that she just loves. She wakes up most mornings and asks about "Mati." When we get to school, the first things she and Matilyn do is greet one another. It really is cute to see her develop her first friend!

I finally completed my fundraiser and our whole family is glad that I am able to get back to my regulary scheduled wifely and motherly duties, as they were indeed neglected for some time. Ada too, went through some withdrawls while I was withdrawn. Her behaviour with me reached a pretty poor level the week before last and I can only explain that is must have been the lack of attention she was getting from me. Thankfully, we have rebonded and I think we're back on track and spending a lot less time in the corner. Although it does concern me that her acting out is probably going to resurface once Cashew arrives and my attention will be split in 1/2, at best. At least she'll still have Daddy to find lots of things to do with.

And Trudy of course.

I cannot believe Cashew is due to arrive in just over 2 months. It is crazy how quickly this pregnancy has gone, although I realize those last months do seem to feel the longest. Ada really is not prepared (nor are her Mommy & Daddy for that matter) but she does seem to understand that "Cashew" refers to my belly. Everyday she likes to check on "ChaChoo" as she calls it, kiss my belly and then put my shirt back down as if to cover the horror that is my swollen, pregnant tummy. I keep trying to impress upon her, that "ChaChoo" is a baby, but I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm crazy.

And I'm the crazy one...

No time...no time!

I know its been a long while and I've received several urges to update. However, I am in the midst of planning a major fundraiser that will take place in 3 weeks and every spare moment I have seems to be devoted to that. So as soon as April 18th has come and gone, I will update with a few humorous anecdotes with which Ada provides me almost daily.

But in the interim, here are some photos from our family trip to the ranch. Let's just say we're pretty sure Ada is going to be "outdoorsy."

We're about to take our first 4-wheeler ride. No worries, she only rode with me and we never even went very fast. She did love it though. Everytime she walked by the 4-wheeler, she would say "Ride? Ride?"

Here she is helping Daddy set the hog traps. Sweet as she is, we still haven't caught any.

We are leasing the land to a cattle owner so we have lots out there. Ada loves cows. We have one that hangs out near the road by our house and we always stop to say "Hi" to "Buddy" and blow him kisses when we leave.

Even Trudy made a new friend. This poor calf's mother died so it's been wandering around out there by himself. He didn't really want anything to do with Trudy. I think she finally got the idea after the calf head-butted her.

And now she's enjoying a snack by the fire pit. It unfortunate that her finger is in her mouth because this child stayed nothing but FILTHY the entire time we were out there. There is just so much dirt and as soon as you would wipe it off she would be rolling in it (sometimes literally) again.

Her very first roasted marshmallow. I always insist that we make smores when we go out there because a campfire doesn't feel complete without them, but I probably should have forgone them this time as she had that stuff everywhere.

This one is for Aunt Courtney. When it was getting close to bedtime, we were all watching a movie in the living room and Ada went and found a blanket and made herself "a little pallet." We brough her bed, but that's where she wanted to lie in the meantime.

Experiencing her very first "Rafter B" breakfast. Daddy always cooks breakfast at the ranch. And this kid, loves gravy.

I have lots more pictures to post. Hopefully we can get in one more installment between now and April 18th.

Love to all!

Taking out the trash...

This child of mine has become downright helpful. Now that she understands everything I tell her or ask her, she really is a little helper. Just this morning, we were headed out to the gym and I realized I only had one diaper in my bag. I asked Ada to go into her room and get one diaper. Would you believe she actually did it?! I said, "Ada, can you go get me one diaper?" She said, "Diaper?" and marched right into her room, took a diaper out of the dresser and brought it to me. She can also take certain things such as baking sheets and pots and pans out of the dishwasher and put them in their proper drawers without being asked. And the child cannot stand for a door or drawer to be left open even a little. This comes in extremely handy since I have inherited my father's inability to close either. I can also keep her busy for hours by asking her to take things to the trash can one item at a time.

The realization of this had made the idea of having 2 children barely under the age of 2 a little more bearable for me. For those who don't know, I've been, while certainly excited, mostly terrified at the idea of having an infant and managing a toddler all at once. I can't even really talk about it because I know there's not a lot I can do to prepare; I'll just have to adjust once Cashew arrives.

Speaking of Cashew, he/she is growing and developing just great so far. We had a second sonagram last week and everything seems to be in order. As promised, Kyle & I declined to learn the sex of Cashew even though our doctor was trying to tempt us. He even went so far as to tell us that the DVD he sent us home with contained enough evidence for us to find out of we were so inclined. Just for the record, curiosity got the best of me so I studied it a little further and I still have no idea. Anyhow, all is in order for a July 11th (ish) arrival and we are excited. While visiting some close friends in the hospital last week with their new baby, I realized how fun it will be to have a teeny tiny one around the house again.


Thanks for all your help, baby girl. Things are about to get a lot busier for us both in a few short months!