Yellowstone 2010

Since last year's Yellowstone trip (in May) was so cold, we decided to go this year in June, hoping it would be warm enough to camp. The days were great, but the nights were cold! Bob figured out how to turn the camper heater on...on the last night! Aw well, it was still fun. We borrowed Bob's brother's camper (Thanks Nate and Meghan!), and my mom and dad rented a motor home, and Jenni, Bailie, and Boston rode/slept with them. Hopefully next year everyone will be able to come!

It was a lot of fun...I always love going to Yellowstone! We even bought binoculars this year, but still didn't see any bear. We did see tons of bicen, elk, and a couple bald eagles. When we went to the Discover Park, we saw the bears and wolves in the cages. It's not the same as seeing 'wild' bears, though. And as we were walking to a store, we saw a mommy elk who had just given birth 45 minutes ago. Her baby had just gotten up and started walking 5 minutes before we saw them. That was cute!!

Since there's so many pictures, I'm going to put them in a slide show...so enjoy!

Where oh where did my little baby go??

Gavin Mark Ballif has now entered 'toddlerhood', and I can't say that I'm too happy about it. Actually, yes, I am happy, but sad at the same time. He's definitely not a little baby anymore! Since he finally figured out how to walk 6 months ago, it's been like BAM! He started talking, getting attitude, growing teeth, you know, the whole 'welcome to toddlerhood' thing.

Yep, 2 years old. Wow. Gus Gus (as we call him, because he stuffs his whole meal in his mouth at once, and over the next few hours, gradually swallows little by little...I'm not kidding. He looks just like the mouse Gus Gus on Cinderella) has been my slow growing/developing child. But seriously, it's probably my fault because I haven't wanted him to grow up! He's in the 5% of height and weight and he only has 6 teeth. But he's completely and perfectly content with life and himself. He's talking more and more, telling us his likes and dislikes, and even where his body parts are (his favorite is butt, thank you big brother Logen for teaching him that!)

He loves Popsicles, ice cream, cheese, gum, chocolate (that's my doing), bath time, brushing his teeth, and his sucking his two fingers while playing with his belly button. He loves being outside, loves playing with his older siblings, loves hugging his dog, and loves chillin' on mom and dad's bed watching TV before bed.

Gavin dislikes nutritious food, in fact he has become such a picky eater that it's starting to stress me out. He doesn't like holding still, or anyone MAKING him do something. He doesn't like going through the car wash, he puts a blanket over his head until we're done. He has taken to coloring with markers, usually on himself or the walls. But for the most part, Gus Gus is a pleasure to

have around and stays content with most anything.

For his birthday, we went to Village Pizza, since pizza is one of the few foods he'll eat, and then went home for cake and ice cream. He got a Littletikes play set, and a fire station truck set. His favorite is the swing on the play set. He'll sit there and eat Popsicles while his big brothers fight over who gets to push him.

I love this little guy so much and couldn't ever imagine our family without him! It's been such a pleasure watching him grow and develop into such a loving, humorous little guy. We love you so much Gavin!!! Happy 2ND birthday!

So, she dances...

Jessica's been taking cheer/tumbling this year from Xpressions Dance. Stephanie Morgan was her teacher, and she was AWESOME!!! Jessi has really responded to cheer, more than she has to any type of dance, in all her 7 years of dancing. Maybe this is her true "calling"...she's found it! She loved cheer, and her teacher. And we're heartbroken Steph is moving. :( There's another one we're looking into, though. So cross your fingers!

Anyway, Jessi had her recital last week, and we were so proud of her. She was designated the "cheer captain", that she neglected to tell us about until that night. I swear this girl was born with rhythm, or it's her pacemaker that gives her such good rhythm. Either way, she's always been dancing since she started walking. When she was 2, there was this Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears, that went, Bah bah bah-bah baah, bah bah bah-bah baaah... it's hard singing in a blog! Anyway, Jessi totally had Britney's moves down from that commercial and did it all the time. Since then, she's ALWAYS been dancing, especially when she sees mirrors. :) If you walk past our home, chances are, Jessi is outside dancing to her own choreographed moves. I LOVE this girl! You rock Jess!! :) (She's the one in the front)

And then he turned 5...what?? Can this be right?!

It's hard to believe this BIG spirit trapped in a LITTLE body came into my life 5 years ago! For the first 2 years of his life, we honestly believed he would be our easy-go-lucky child...since his thumb sucking kept him content and quiet most of the time. Boy were we wrong!!! He has very much turned into his own little self and he's anything but easy. Fearless, persistent, hilarious, vocally loud, hot-tempered, sweet, sensitive, and adorable are just a few characteristics this little man shows us on a regular basis. But we wouldn't have him any other way. At least that's what I keep telling myself everyday. He isn't afraid to tell me how much he loves me, which coincidentally is usually right after he gets in trouble. "I still love you mommy..." is what he tells me when the tears are dried and the tantrum is over. I don't know what I would do with out him! He keeps us rolling on the floor with his quick-witted remarks and contagious laugh. And there's no doubt how much he loves his sister and brothers. Sleep-overs (in each other's rooms) is one of his favorite things! So are movies, candy, cheese, Slurpee's, his bike, Iron Man, and his blanky...I'm working on that last one, but I'm picking my battle with that one. This year Sawyer had his first friend birthday party, and he chose the Transformer theme. I do not like throwing parties, but I'll do anything for my kids. It actually turned out pretty fun. He got a bunch of Iron Man toys, transformer toys, a new bike, you know, all the boy toys. As spoiled as we think he was, according to him, he got cheated because we didn't get him that blasted Ford battery operated truck...the one in WalMart for $200. Poor thing.

Anyway, this part is for Sawyer...since this is the reason I'm actually blogging, for my kids to look back on and remember how cool of a mom I am. hahaahaaa...

Ok Saw man, I hope you know how much we truly adore, cherish and love you! Even when it seems we are hard on you, we "still love you anyways"!!! You bring so much fun and laughter into our lives. And you amaze me all the time by how much you already know about this life. I love how you embrace life with open arms and learn quickly to deal with what comes along...good or bad. I love your sweet hugs when you know I'm upset or down about something. And your cute, dimpled smile, that lights up your bright blue eyes, can nearly get you your way all the time.

We are so happy to have you in our family and love you very much!!! HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY SAWYER!!!

His eggs have hatched!

So, the other morning as I was getting ready for the day, and the kids were getting dressed, Sawyer comes running into my bathroom naked. "Mom! My eggs hatched!". I was confused on two things and didn't know which one to confront first. I started with the most disturbing issue, him being naked, and what seemed to be him playing with himself. So I asked this little white haired boy, "Sawyer, why are you naked? And why are you playing with yourself?". This clever four year old managed to answer all my questions with this reply, which didn't, at the time, make any sense and continued to confuse me. "Because mom, my eggs hatched, they are gone! I don't feel them anymore!". Being a mom of three boys, I had an ah-ha moment and impressed myself on picking up the meaning of his excitement. To which I replied, "you mean your testicles, (or in his language, his coconuts)?", "yeah, they're gone, they hatched!". "What did they hatch into? Should we be looking for something flying in the house?", I said. "No mom, they just hatched, they're just gone". Needless to say, I had my fun and explained to him that these eggs of his are not actually eggs, even if they feel like little eggs to him, they are called testicles. And they did not hatch, they just hide up inside when you're cold. He stopped for a few seconds, staring into space while this ran through his head, and then said, "oh", and ran back to his room to get dressed. Later that day I asked him if he found his eggs. "Noooo, they're still hiding, remember?" he said. That's life with boys. :)

Happy 10th Birthday Jessica!

I feel like such a loser is so many aspects of my life, especially motherhood. But I'll tell you what, I feel like I did something right when I look at Jessica, even though a lot of it has nothing to do with me. Jessi turned 10 years old on December 29Th...that's a DECADE!!!

We had a rough go at it from day one when they found a heart murmur, - what am I talking

about?! We are still having a rough go at and I'm pretty sure we will until we die. Anyway, despite everything this precious little girl has gone through, she has and is the bright ray of light that gives me hope in the dark. She teaches ME things that I should be teacher HER. She's everything that I wish I was at each stage in her life, and I am so blessed to have her as my daughter, and my constant reminder to do a little better.

Although Bob cannot wait for her to turn 12 (babysitting age), I most definitely can! I don't want her to grow up, at least not this quickly. I need her, probably more than she needs me! She is such a sweet, caring, sensitive, smart, funny, talented girl.

Jessica loves playing the piano, loves cheer/dance class, enjoys reading, loves her brothers (most of the time), will actually sit through a whole movie without getting up or asking questions (like her brothers) , is extremely stubborn (wonder who she got that from), rocks at school, loves to be outdoors, and is a wonderful friend to everyone, once you can get her past the "quiet/shy" phase.

Happy Birthday, my sweet, precious princess! I LOVE you!!!