Welcome home Grandpa!

stock image, Wikipedia, Wrangell AK

Grandpa came home today! Hooray! He's been in Alaska with Great Grandpa for over a week. Leilani was so excited to see him, she always misses G-pa when he leaves. We met G-ma and G-pa at "Chuy's House" for dinner. Leilani is convinced that it's called "Chuy's House, not Chuy's" she fight ya over it. This is the second time we've had Chuy's this week, ugh I feel like a giant tortilla chip drenched in creamy jalapeno. Please no more Chuy's for a while! My dad had a great time in Alaska for his family reunion in Wrangell. We'd love to take the kids to Alaska someday! He even brought back t-shirts for the big people (and kid) and a book for Orion. I still feel like a kid when my dad brings stuff back from his trips for us, I love it. So, thanks for the t-shirts Dad, and thanks for dinner at Chuy's House, we loved it!! Welcome home!

My evenings look like this....

Typical evening in the Ballard house... Leilani spins around like the Tazmanian Devil, Orion tries to follow. I can't figure out my camera inside, its driving me nuts! Enjoy my babies!
Orion prefers playing with the toys standing on the outside rather than stuck in the middle


O climbed up my arm, then Leilani followed, the pic is over my shoulder


They love each other so much!


Hey, milk is milk, even if its FAKE!


"Leilani is SOOOO funny" - Orion


Constant motion


Taking 5 seconds to rest with Daddy

Is this not the sexiest thing a husband can do??? It is in my house!

oh poop!

We had such a lovely time at mama Allison's house this morning with the o'mamas. Leilani even got hot enough to take a dip in the baby pool fully clothed, shoes and all. :) She fell asleep before we even left the neighborhood. Orion however was enjoying the fact that he took a 15 minute power nap at Allison's and was wide awake before we ever left. After we got home, I took Leilani up to her room (dressed her) and put her to bed while Orion was still in the car. I came down to the car and heard Porkchop sobbing away and when I opened the door.... Poop! Everywhere! Major explosion! Poop in his hair, poop on his arms and legs, face, AND LIPS yuck! Yes, he was still strapped into his car seat, yikes! I was too grossed out to take a photo. I don't know HOW on earth he got poop all over, but he managed it. I took him straight from the car to the bathtub, do not pass go, into the tub!! With all the commotion Bugaboo decided to forgo her nap to see what was goin' on. SO here we are... clean baby... fast asleep (thank goodness), and a cranky, tired toddler, but at least she's clean. :)

Yum... Brownies!

Grandma helped Leialni make gluten free brownies today, yummy! I think the best part is licking the batter off the spatula, apperently Leilani thinks so too. When she took a big ol' lick I said under my breath "can you say samonella?" and of course Leilani goes "Sa-mo-nel-ya", cutie pie! The last pic is Leilani hands doing the more sign over her crumby plate. Tomorrow darling, you can have more tomorrow. :)

Sprinkler Park!!

This post is over a week late, but they were so cute I had to post it. Orion had never been to the Brushy Creek Sprinkler Park and Leilani was too scared of it last summer. She LOVED IT! Orion had a blast too! He wanted down to crawl through the sprinklers, no fear. We are going back today, HOORAY!

Welcome home Daddy!

Daddy came home from his business trip in Columbus, OH. HOORAY! B and P hate when Daddy leaves, it throws their world into a spin. Columbus is a must for Daddy at least once a month. Hope he doesn't have to leave again soon. He met us downtown at the farmer's market, straight from the airport. We greeted him with a Living Arts Bakery brownie, he didn't seem all that excited about a gluten free brownie, too bad, more for Mom. Leilani was thrilled to see him, all is right with the world again, at least for a while. :)

Our very own BLOG!

FINALLY Leilani and Orion have their own tiny piece of the internet. This has been two years in the making, partially because I am too busy and too lazy to keep up with a blog for them. However I have been inspired by my newest O'mama friends and their wonderous blogs to start an internet diary of their lives. Hopefully I can keep up with this blog, and take more photos to capture their fleeting childhood. Man, its gone by too fast already!

In case you were wondering, Bugaboo was given to Leilani sometime in the begining by her Daddy and Porkchop, well... Auntie Stephanie gave Orion that name on the day of his birth. He weighed in a bit over 9 pounds, so porkchop it was! Welcome to our lives!