Our New Cousin

John and Amanda had their first baby on July 30, 2008. Brinley Marie Pierson. She is Caleb and Cate's first cousin on the Pierson side. We are so blessed to have this sweet baby girl in our family...and John, who has always loved babies, now has a baby girl of his very own.

First Day of Preschool

Caleb had a terrific first day at his new preschool. When I picked him up his teacher said,"he is a very sweet boy." Caleb was so excited to tell me everything, but his first question was, "did you miss me?" Of course. Maybe a little. He met some new friends and learned some new things...this is a start to a great year for our little boy.

ABC 123

Yeah! We are so excited! Caleb is officially registered for three year old preschool. It will only be for two days a week, but it is exactly what this little guy needs! He needs to be around other kids and mommy could use some time to regroup and play one on one with baby Cate. Caleb is super smart and very bored at home so this will help to keep him busy, stimulate his mind, and help him flourish. His little face lit up when we toured the school and met his teacher...I am sad/happy to say that our little boy is growing up. He is going to do great!

Update

Cate is now seven months old and I am feeling a little bit depressed about that. Now matter how much I held her or snuggle her or loved on her or played with her, it still doesn't seem like enough because she is growing by leaps and bounds overnight. She is doing this inchworm crawling deal, but she gets where she wants to go. She babbles loudly when she is hungry and has a permanent smile on her face.

Caleb is officially using the big boy potty and will hopefully be starting preschool next week. He has done such a great job that we bought him a new ninja turtle and it is his favorite thing right now. Caleb also learned how to dust the furniture yesterday and is always such a big helper when it comes to chores.

Tired Boy

This cannot be a comfortable position, but he refused to move and so we let him sleep.

Sunday Best

They are both clean and dressed nice...have to take advantage of that...only lasts a few minutes.

Football Star

Watch ESPN? In about 20 years you might just see this little rascal making headlines in some type of sport...maybe it will be football...whatever Caleb chooses.

Papa Gordy loves babies

Papa Gordy loves babies and especially his grandbabies...and good thing because this baby loves her grandpa.

Watermelon Festival

Nana and Baby Cate waiting for the parade to start at the Watermelon Festival in late June.

Redneck Boys

Our trip to the lake...which was ended abruptly by a ferrocious thunderstorm that put the little kids in tears and the big kids in a bit of a fright. It was muddy and yucky and hot, but it was fun because we were together as a family.

Cousin Kasiah

Cute Cousin Kasiah...all the pictures of Maleha are a rear view and she is in her bathing suit...so Margaret can you hook us up with some pictures of the cousins?

Bathing Beauties

Catelynn and Grandma Lynnette or as Caleb calls her "Grannette", not to be confused with the expensive materials used for nice countertops. (Dustin and Margaret in the background)

Lots of Love. Lots of Grandmas.

Caleb and Grandma Colleen having a serious conversation.
How many popcicles have you had Caleb?
PS. Caleb just told me that her breath smelled like carrots...okay?!

Gramma and Granpa

Cute Grandparents at our family pioneer day celebration!

Four Generations

Here are four generations of Ballards...this was an historical event.
Calvin, Gordy, Casey, Caleb....

Dustina

The singing, egg cooking, loud laughing, fun loving, hardworking, greatest, bestest, uncle around

Puppy Love

Puppy Catelynn has found her tongue. She likes to stick it in and out.
And yes we are almost crawling.

Whats happenin' dude?

Yes that is a colander and yes that is a "dude" look on his face...what can we say he is a character

They're magically delicious...

Caleb just likes to eat all the marshmallows out and leave behind the rest. He is eating cereal with chopsticks. I tried to tell him that was really less effective, but who can argue with a three year old about eating.

Beanie Baby

Somedays it is fun to just play dress-ups and to get some cute pics of this little doll.

More Pictures Later...

I think I have explained enough about our dial up computer woos, but let me tell you again that it really absolutely stinks! I want to post pics of our trip to UTAH, but it takes an act of congress and several months of lobbying to get things to work out.

Anyways, we had an awesome time with Casey's family...most importantly the cousins got to play their little hearts out. They went swimming and slip and sliding and destroying Grandma's house and eating treats and playing everything their little minds could think up. Family photos were a bit interesting with 4 kids under the age of 3. Luckily, there is this cool computer program in which heads can be cropped to fit the body of the picture with the most happy looking people.We made it home and seem to have recovered from the jet lag...then again we weren't flying home to Germany.

Caleb has decided to use the big boy potty. We never thought this day would come, but we were patient and let him decide and the accidents have been minimal. He thinks it is cool to pee in the grass and on creepy crawlies. He was shooting at an ant that then crawled onto his foot and he maintained target shooting foot and all. He is such a boy!

Catelynn has decided to get her first tooth...remember the really high fever we experienced in Utah...that was just prelude to the little toofer that is peeking through. She is the fever, irritable, slobbery, runny nose baby that will be much happier when this pearly white breaks the surface.

Hopefully, I am crossing my fingers, that we will be able to post more pictures later!