Logan Paul Ballard

Born to us this day (December 19, 2010) was a little angel from heaven. December 18 was rather a crazy day of Christmas shopping, cleaning and parties. After the last person left our home (11:30) Carl came down stairs to find his wife in some pain. Logan had suddenly decided he was going to come and soon. The contractions were sudden, no 20 min, then 10 minutes between each. It was 5 minutes between each and they were getting worse. We waited until 1:00 am to officially call it labor.
We hurried to the hospital to find out I was already 6cm and quickly progressing. They woke their sleeping anesthesiologist who came and gave me those miraculous drugs. The nurses gave me time to rest while I talked with my family who got out of bed in the wee hours of the night and traveled to support us in this endeavor. At 4:30 they said 'time to push'! So I did.
Carl was an amazing birth partner. He held my leg through the whole things and watched over me and baby very carefully. Mommy helped support him and cheer me on. I am VERY greatfull they were both there for me. At 4:48 out came little Logan. Beautiful as can be with a perfectly round head our baby's first girggly cry filled the room. Carl cried, I cried (partly out of relief and partly for hearing my beautiful baby), Mommy cried, Candice and Tammy were outside the door crying, and of course baby was crying. It was so magical when they let me hold my baby. I was still pretty drugged from the epidural but I knew the special thing that I held in my arms.
I love my Logan and am thrilled to have such a perfect baby in my life.

Two Years

The last two years of my life have been nothing but bliss. I can not think of a happier time in my life then every moment I am with my Carl. I am so excited to spend eternity with my best friend! I love you Carl!

The Ballard Christmas

T'is the season to be jolly. Our many blessing are breeding and creating more and more blessings. Carl and I have not had a proper Christmas tree for our two Christmas's together but this year our grandparent Ballards had an extra Christmas tree which they most kindly gave to us. It is the most perfect little tree I have ever seen. They also gave us some beautiful ornaments! So Carl and I put up our tree and trimmed it. It was so pretty I couldn't put all our little ornaments from our past on it. Logan's first Christmas ornament is the only one that is not a bulb or bow. Can you spot the little white rocking horse?

Our lovely home teacher and his family have been a true blessing to our little home. I became exceedingly overwhelmed by how limited I am in moving and what I am able to do. Cleaning has become a real challenge when it use to be a pleasure. So our dear Sister Bills came into our home and deep cleaned our bathroom. I was finally able to clean our very neglected bed room while she cleaned. We chatted and enjoyed each others company as we progressively made my home more livable. My visiting teachers are such lovely ladies! They always come over with little treats and words of encouragement. It is a wonderful blessing to have these people to watch over us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

My thought on these blessings make me want to go out and do something amazing for someone else. I want be like these amazing people and give before I ever take. I have been too selfish in this time of my life and really feel like I have not given enough. T'is the season of giving. So let's give before we take.

Jazz game

 The Monday after Thanksgiving Carl gives me a text telling me he has something very special for me when he got home. So in anticipation beyond all comprehension I awaited my husbands return home. We curled up in bed for our daily snuggle and he pulled out four of the most beautiful pieces of paper I have seen all semester. Four Jazz tickets on the 24th row for that Friday. My amazing husband had gotten them as an extra bonus along with his Christmas bonus. (He had to fight for them a little since they were really an extra $400 bonus added to his already generous bonus) He told me to invite my parents, which just made me love this man even more. He wanted it to be our present to my parents which I thought was a wonderful idea.

My family has a tradition when we go to Jazz games. We always park on the west side of West High School and go to Crown Burger. This year we mixed it up a little and went to temple square to see some lights and hear the Christmas cheer. In the visitor center there was a concert with high schools from all over Utah. We were able to listen to one of them perform beautifully as Daddy and I relaxed from our walk. It was a great way to get into the spirit of the season.


As we were leaving Crown Burger we ran into some familiar faces! My uncle Richard and aunt Diane were pulling in for some quick munchies and crunchies! We all just had to laugh at the chance we would run into them in such a big city. Mommy and I wanted to see the new Deseret Book that is were the old ZCMI center was and check out the new and beautiful condos. Of course, the odds of running into my aunt and uncle again were slim to none, but lo-and-behold there they were in the Deseret Book. So we had Richard show us around the new building and talk about some of the books he is working on! I thoroughly enjoy their company and love being around them. I hope he spontaneously run into them again!

Daddy claimed that if Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points the Jazz would loose. Not a very positive view for our wonderful Jazz, but sure enough the moment Nowitzki hit 20 the Jazz began loosing it. After an epic battle between the teams the Jazz lost 81-93.

Even though our team lost, it was still a great game. I know Logan enjoyed it. He was jumping all over the place! A true Jazz fan even in utero.
Thank you Carl for the most wonderful experience!