OH NO!!

I just sat down to blog a bit about our trip and realized I left my camera cord at my parent's house!! UGH!! So you will have to wait 3-5 business days before you get to see any pics! Sorry. If Aimee's will fit my camera I may try to use her's, but we'll see.

I'll try to make this post somewhat interesting with a story or two.

As you may know Elijah does not like veggies. When he was a baby he loved them. He would sometimes eat only veggies for a meal. I would read about how toddlers will go thru a stage where they will be very picky eaters and may refuse veggies. I would think, "not my Ligy, he loves his peas and carrots!" Then about 6 months ago he stopped eating any veggies. He wouldn't eat anything green (not even a kiwi). There is one small exception. He will tolerate tomatoes and he still loves avacado (or "cado" as he calls it). One night he ate 3/4 of a large avacado as a side dish! Anyway, all the things I read said to still always offer veggies on their plates, even if they don't eat them, just so they'll see them on the plate. So I'll usually make some carrots or something and serve them with his meal. After he's done eating I'll pick them off the plate (they'll be the only thing left) and put them back into the frig. We will continue this day after day until the carrots grow mold or end up on the floor. Well, last week I served my sweet son corn dogs cut up and cooked carrots. I walked out of the kitchen for a minute and heard him say "done". I walked back in the kitchen and saw that his plate was empty. I looked on the table, no carrots. I looked on the floor, no carrots. I thought, "we've moved on!! Yeah mom for being persistant!" I praised Elijah and asked if he wanted more. He said "more" and raised his plate. I noticed his placemat (he has a Diego or "daygo" mat that he loves) was humped up. I lifted the placemat and found all the carrots!! I just had to laugh. The boy is clever. I picked them all up and put them back in a tupperware and tried again the next day. One of us will eventually wear the other one down. (all my books say he'll win, but I'm young and foolish so I keep trying).

We learned, while we were in Stephenville, that my Aunt Sherrie (my mom's brother's wife - did you get that) is pregnant!! It will be her first child. She is due in March and is certain it is a boy. Its way too early to tell, but I felt the same way about Elijah so I don't doubt her.

I will be working tomorrow and Saturday. Beau comes back Saturday night! Please pray for a safe return. Lindsay Stafford is coming over tonight to spend the night so she will be here when Elijah wakes up on Friday and Saturday (so I don't have to wake him up and take him somewhere at 6 in the morning). Aimee and Bibby will be with him during the day tomorrow and he will go to Bibby and John's Saturday.

Sorry about no pics! But if you scroll down you can see pics of my newest neice, Brooklyn!!

Brooklyn Paige is here!

Sorry, I didn't blog yesterday about Brooklyn. Elijah and I got home from the airport and both crashed. We took a long nap before heading to the gym. But, without further ado... Brooklyn Paige Ballard born around 2pm Wednesday, July 30. She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long!! Here are a couple of pics I lifted from Janice's blog...

The new family...


She nearly takes up the whole bassinet!

Mimi with her newest edition...

Congrats to the new family (and me!! I love being an aunt). Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

Today's the Day for Brooklyn

I just got the call from Mimi. Today will definately be the day for Brooklyn Ballard to enter the world. Brad and Amy are at the hospital and in the throws of labor. Please keep them in your prayers as they welcome their new baby girl. I'll give an update as soon as I have one. Poor Beau, by the time I can tell him he has a new niece she'll already be a few days old!!

Elijah and I are about to leave for the airport. Its raining here so please pray for a safe return for us to Houston. More later...

How I met your mother...

I was recently asked how Beau and I met by some one who reads the blog. I thought if one person cared more people might. Its a cute story so I just said I would post it. I have a little free time while Elijah is napping so here goes...

I was 20, in school at ACU and just took a new job working at Texas Roadhouse. I had broken up with a pretty serious boyfriend a few months before and was determined that I wasn't going to date anyone seriously for a while. I had the next few years planned out. I would graduate from nursing school, move to Ft Worth, work at Cook's Children's, find a doctor to marry, then have babies and be a housewife. (Not exactly what God had planned)

I had been working at Roadhouse for about a week and it was Saturday night. It was going to be my first night to waitress off orientation - I would be flying solo on the busiest night of the week. About halfway into my shift I got a four-top (for those of you who have never waited it means a table with 4 people - even waitstaff have fancy lingo). It was 2 guys and 2 girls (an obvious double date). I passed out my coasters, introduced myself and asked what I could get them to drink. When I looked up one of the guys was staring at me with mouth open. I had never been starred at like that so I new it had to be something like a giant booger or my pants unzipped. But they weren't laughing. I took every one's drink orders (even Starry Steve's) and left. When I came back to take dinner orders he was starring again. Now I figured it wasn't me, it was just him - maybe he had a vision problem. When I got to him he asked, "I don't know what I should get. What would you order? The fish or a steak?" I said, "Well, this is a steakhouse so I would go with the steak". So that's what he ordered. After their food came out I asked if everything looked good. Starry Steve asked for ketsup. I went and got it. A few mins later he called me over and asked for more rolls - they had a full basket. I was annoyed because I was so busy and got his rolls thinking he was either giving me a hard time or he rides the short bus. Not 5 minutes later he called me over and asked for more tea. I kept coming back and fulfilling all his little tasks, then brought them the ticket. After they paid and were on their way out they had to pass by where I was standing putting in another order on the computer. I thanked them and according to Starry Steve, I winked. Now if you know me I wink a lot, to anyone, its a habit. So I didn't think anything of it. They left. Weeks later I found out from Starry Steve's roommate he said on the way out to the car, "I'm gonna date that girl".

The following Monday night I was at Club (the Christian School term for Sorority) and we were practicing for Sing Song (a huge, annual, ACU musical). Our "brother club" was coming over and we were going to preform our parts for each other. They showed up, they were going first. I sat down and was chatting with friends. They all got in their spots to start. I looked up and there was Starry Steve!! We both pointed at each other and mentioned Texas Roadhouse. Throughout the performance I was thinking "this guy is pretty cute, maybe I'll talk to him afterwards". After everyone was done I walked around looking for him. We finally found each other. We stood and talked until they turned off the lights and made us go outside, then we stood outside and talked until everyone was gone and we were just standing in the dark, empty parking lot. I gave him my number and went back to the dorm.

The next day in my Sign Language class I told some of my friends about Starry Steve (whose name turned out to be Beau Ballard). They laughed and mocked me saying they thought I wasn't dating anyone serious and mentioned my 5 yr plan. I told them I would make this deal...if he took me out to eat and asked to pray before eating I would just ask him to marry me and it would all be over.

By the end of the week Sing Song was here and our clubs were together the whole time backstage (down the hall in the gym). On the night of dress rehearsal (Thursday) he came up to me at the beginning of the night and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner after the show. I said sure. The show wasn't over until after 11. He asked if I still wanted to go out and I wanted to so he said the only place open that late was Whataburger. So we went there and I ordered a Toquito and he got a BOB. When they printed our receipt it said "1201 am 2/14/02 Happy Valentines Day!" We sat down and talked, they brought us our food. I started unwrapping mine to eat and he said, "I don't want to sound corny, I know we're just at Whataburger, but would you mind if we prayed before we ate?" I said, "sure, will you marry me?" His mouth dropped open, he stuttered and said "okay, when?" I asked if next Tuesday was open for him. He said he'd check his calendar and then he prayed.

Three weeks later he told me he loved me.

Four months after that he asked me to marry him.

One year later we were married.

3.5 years later we had our first child.

and here we are today. I am truly blessed.

I hope you enjoyed our story, I always do.

More Cale...He's just so cute!

I lifted these off Mom's camera.

The Thomas' (Cale's had a hard day!)
Now, I want you to notice something. A point I tried to make last week...Scroll back up and look at the size of Cale compared to Katy. He is less than a week old in this pic, and has lost weight so he is smaller than his birth weight. No wonder Katy said she was uncomfortable. The kid was massive compared to her.

Father and Son...

Brooklyn, Jonathan, and Cale...

He must be storing up for the winter in those cheeks!...

Cale (a little uncomfortable) and Brookie...

Beautiful Brooklynn...

Up, up and away!!

Friday morning I sent Beau off with a hug and lots of love at 5:30 am. I tried to go back to sleep, but wasn't very successful. Elijah and I got up, got dressed, had breakfast, then Gary took us to the airport. We were really lucky on the flight because there just happened to be an extra seat on the plane. There is NEVER and extra seat on a Friday when you fly to Dallas on Southwest!! I sat by the window, Elijah sat in the middle and there was a kid (about 11 years old) who sat on the isle. The other kid played with Elijah the whole time, which was nice for me. We went thru a lot of clouds which causes turbulence and makes me nauseous. It worked out well that I didn't have to hold Elijah on my lap and try to fight throwing up. Elijah has absolutely no problems flying. Here are a couple pics...

The take off..

Speeding down the runway, Elijah has his hands up and is yelling "wee!!"

I'll post more later. I got a text from Beau last night. He said they were really busy, but they were having fun. They started the assent up the mountain this morning. Keep him and the rest of the group in your prayers.

Just chillin'

We had a great lunch today. The Greek restaurant was sooo good. Anyway, I snapped a few pics on the way. I don't think I've ever shown this to you before. This is how Elijah likes to ride in his carseat. He gets this from me, I'm sure of it. Anyway, I thought it was cute...



In this one I couldn't get him to smile so I said "where's your teeth?"...

Elijah's Rainbow

Elijah made this for me at the YMCA yesterday while I was working out. Isn't it cute...

Well, we are about to leave to go into Houston. We have to pick up the rented extra van for Beau's trip with the kids to Colorado for Trek. We are going to stop on the way home and eat at a Greek restaurant we've always wanted to stop at - Janice got us a gift card (thanks Janice!). Then we have to come home and start packing for our trips. Beau was supposed to mow since we will be gone for over a week, but it rained all night and all day. Don't know what we'll do about that!

Please keep all of us in your prayers. Beau is leaving early in the morning for Colorado and will be back next Saturday. Please pray for their safety traveling and their safety as they climb the mountain - no one going has ever done this before. Elijah and I will be flying to Dallas after Beau leaves in the morning. We're staying with Mandy tomorrow night, then going to Stephenville with mom (she comes in from Hawaii Saturday morning), we'll spend the weekend in Stephenville, then back to Mandy's Tuesday and fly back home on Wednesday! Please pray for our safety and please say a prayer that Elijah won't do that thing he does when we travel (waking up and staying up all night)! Thank you in advance for all the prayers.

More Pics of Cale

I cannot believe I don't get to hold this precious baby in my arms any time soon! I lifted these off Katy's blog. If you want to see more visit her site.

Brooklyn and Cale...

Katy said this next picture was not even 5 mins later. I guess our girl was tired...

Jon and Cale at the hospital. Such handsome boys!!

That's all I have for now. Elijah and I are off to the Library for story time, then lunch with Beau, then scrapbooking with Aimee. Big day!

Cale Woodson Thomas

This is Cale. As I said earlier - he was 8 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches. He looks ALOT like Brooklyn. As she would say, he is definately "supie cute". I can't believe I don't get to hold him for another 3-4 months!

Cale and Popsicles

Well, Cale is finally here. I bet you thought I forgot about giving you an update. Nope, it just took ALL DAY to get him into the world. Katy went into the hospital at 2:30 am Hawaii time (7:30 am our time) and finally had Cale at 5:30pm Hawaii (10:30pm us). She ended up having to have an epidural and pitocin. He was 8lbs 13 oz (almost 9 lbs!!) and 21 inches. Just to compare...Elijah was 7lbs 13 oz and 21 inches. The same size +1 pound. If you know how small Katy is, that's huge! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. As soon as I have a picture I'll post it.

In other events...

I thought Elijah would love popsicles since he loves ice and loves juice (the few times we've given it to him). I tried to find molds so I could make my own all-natural popsicles, but couldn't find any molds at walmart. I remembered a girl from work told me she buys her daughter mini popsicles at Walmart so I just got some of those for now. You can see if he liked them...



"This is different..."


"I like different!"

"Good thing we went outside for our popsicles"

I think the Popsicles were a hit! When he swallowed the last piece he immediately looked at me and said "more?" I told him "not today" he looked at the empty stick, frowned, and threw it in the yard.

VBS '08

Elijah had a great time this year at VBS. Last year he just sat there mostly. This he was the most interactive in the class. Granted, he was the oldest, but whatever. I had never sat in class with him. I was amazed at his vocabulary and memory. I kept getting so excited outloud. Here are some pics from the yesterday...

His teacher, Ms Dena, is amazing. She sings the whole class. Elijah knows all the songs and loves it. The first song she always sings is "Ding Dong goes the bell, we're glad that you are here, ding dong goes the bell, we know that God is near" and then she repeats it with each child's name and they each get to ring the bell. Here is Elijah ringing his bell...

They each have their own Bible. She pulled them out and said "Elijah what is this?" and he yells "Bible!"...

She sang that you start in the beginning and started singing about all of God's creations. She said, "First there was (pause)" and Elijah yells "dark!!". Dena says, "then God said, let there be (pause)" Elijah yells, "light!". I was so proud, I yelled "Good job, Elijah" and started clapping. I realized the other moms didn't exactly appreciate that so I tried to tone down...

He loves the butterfly...or "fly" as he calls it...
She is singing that the butterfly is fluttering over each child's head. This is Elijah's fluttering face, I guess...

"God made you" inside the box is a mirror...

After class they got to play in the nursery. This is Elijah playing "hide and seek" with Maddie. She was behind the kitchen, he would run to one side, poke his head in and yell "boo", then run to the other side and repeat. I think he plays this a lot with Bibby...

We came back Thursday night for a cookie social. The parents all come and see what their kids did all week. Elijah got to drink some of Joyce's red punch...

I think he liked it...

So VBS is done. One more big event of the summer to go...Trek. Beau leaves for Colorado on Friday and Elijah and I go to Dallas/Stephenville. Then when Beau gets back, the next Saturday, our summer is pretty much over. Yeah!!! I get my honey back!!

Today's the Day!!

I just got a call from my dad. My mom called him from Hawaii at 7:30 our time this morning and 2:30 Hawaii time. Katy was having such strong, close contractions that it woke her up and they headed to the hospital. We haven't heard anything for an hour and a half - there's no service in the hospital.

I'll let you know when I know more. Please, please keep Jon, Katy and Brooklyn in your prayers today as they welcome their new little boy, Cale. God is so good, Katy was so worried that no one would be there for the birth and she would have to do it alone, but it all worked out. Jon got home early - from a practice mission that was supposed to be a month long, Katy's mom got there last week, her dad, 3 sisters, 2 brothers in law, one niece all got there Tuesday and my mom got there yesterday. Now it seems she has gone gone into labor at just the right time. Everyone will be there for at least a week to help her and Jon.

Check back in soon for more from Elijah at VBS and hopefully more on Cale.

Cereal's for big boys!

Beau taught Elijah how to eat cereal like a big boy, all by himself!!



Mmmmm, we love fruity cheerios!!

Couple's Game Night

Saturday night we had the "Couple's Game Night" crew (minus Jennifer and Carl) over for dinner and of course..games. We started off hanging out outside while Beau grilled and the kids in the pool...


Grant thought it was a little too chilly and opted out of swim time...

"May I help you?"

Gary and Jahno chillin'...

After dinner Elijah wanted to watch a "show" so he got to watch "dago" (Diego). Maddie shared his chair. Elijah didn't mind as long as she didn't block his view. Notice Maddie playing and not paying any attention to the tv and my child in a trance...

We had a good time. We put all the kids down to bed after dinner and played Catch Phrase for hours. It was a good time, but we will soon be needing to get babysitters. It seems we are beginning to be outnumbered by babies!!! I'm off to bed..have to work tomorrow and Tuesday. Tomorrow starts a week of VBS for Beau - please keep him in your thoughts! More later...

Elijah at the park

Thursday morning Elijah and I went to the park. Here are a few pics..

On the swings (Elijah's favorite)...

Pointing to birds flying overhead...

"Mama, you're so funny!"

"I'm so relaxed right now!"

Climbing the mountain...

Elijah thinks he's brave enough to try the big slide...

"One, two, three, go!"


He made it!

"Look how big I am"

"Did you see me, Mama?!"

We had a good time, Elijah loves to go to the park. Friday I had to work. Beau had a car wash this morning (fundraiser) and I cleaned the house. Everyone should be showing up for couple's game night in a few minutes. I just found out I have to work tomorrow. I am supposed to take a CPR Instructor class tomorrow so I'm trying to find some one to work half a day for me!! It doesn't look hopeful. Better go...