Nauvoo 2011

My family (Cass') made a trek to Nauvoo this summer. It was quite an undertaking with 4 babies less than 1 and 21 people in total. We stayed at my aunt's house just outside of Kansas City and hit all the church sites there. We then headed to Illinois. It was pretty hectic but there were a few high points: going to the Nauvoo temple (it was quiet with no kids inside), the Nauvoo pagent, the fair prior to the pagent- Preston LOVED it, unregulated fireworks, and the tractor parade in Mound City, MO whats more to like? Travel to and fro was not bad, we had a surprise bag that kept Preston happy, and Chloe got watered down juice. All in all it was a pretty good trip.

Family Pictures

We got family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. Chloe is a baby model. She smiled the entire time. Preston knew exactly what we were up to and would not smile on principle. He was pretty funny. We went to an old train yard which means he wanted to play with the trains and dirt rather than smile for pictures.

Pedicure anyone???

Today was one of those moments when you don't know if you should put your child in "time out" for the rest of his life or laugh. Preston painted his own toes while Cass was doing the dishes.......at least he screwed the bottle shut when he was done....

Easter 2011

Another Easter is over...This year, like last year was a little insane. We only dragged Preston and Chloe to 6 Easter egg hunts this year. We ended up with probably 20 lbs of candy (most of which Jacob took to school). Preston had a GREAT time. He started begging two weeks before Easter to find eggs. We joked that we showed him the videos from last year as training videos so he would be prepared for this year. Unfortunately for him his parents just enjoy Easter too much.

The Easter Bunny had a hole in his pocket. Preston wouldn't go down the hall until we "cleaned-up" every piece. I've decided I am going to glue candy to each of his toys to see if he will clean them up too.

We dyed Easter eggs in preparation. Preston loved it. He had dye from his fingers to his elbows the rest of the day. Chloe liked watching.

Chloe's Blessing

We blessed our little Chloe today. What a way to celebrate Super Bowl Sunday! We had things figured out this time. We dressed her in a different dress until "game time." Thank goodness considering she had a blow out to her arm pits in Relief Society (we have sacrament meeting last). Cass had to take her home and clean her up while Jacob stepped in to teach her Sunday school class. Luckily she is a sleeper so we were able to get her asleep before the blessing so there was no screaming like when her big brother was blessed. The blessing was beautiful even though aparently she wasn't supposed to be blessed with wealth so that she could take care of her parents in their old age. (I was sure that that part was left out by accident).

Preston in true fashion was ridiculous during sacrament meeting. He spent most of the meeting in the nursery room with grandpa and Weston. Unfortunately even that lead to screaming when there was only one train in the room and two little boys who wanted to play with it. With that boy I wonder sometimes why be bother to go to church. Last week he got away and ran through the chapel during a talk. Cass didn't catch him until he made one round and luckily turned into the lobby. That kid is a handful!!

Overall the day was fantastic. We are blessed to be surrounded by great friends and family who support us. Oh, yeah..... and Jacob won the family Superbowl score grid. He is $50 richer!!!!

Baby Chloe

It's fitting that our last post was announcing our pregnancy and this one is announcing the birth of our daughter. If only time moved so quickly between posts...

Chloe Elise Ballentine was born on December 18th. She weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 19 inches long. She is a mellow baby compared to her big brother. At this point in Preston's short life I think I had tried to send him back multiple times. He was a screamer. Chloe is a sleeper- THANK GOODNESS!! Preston loves her like crazy. Every time that she whimpers he rushes to her side, holds her hand, rubs her head, and asks if she is "okay". It is pretty cute. He loves to hold her and to play with her hands and feet. He isn't too jealous yet, granted, he has had both Mommy and Daddy home with him for the last couple of weeks. We will see how things change next week when Daddy goes back to work and Preston realizes he can't have all of Mommy's time.

Big Brother

The time has come to give Preston a permanent friend to play with. Cass is alive and well, but not enjoying the constant hunger, fatigue, and overall parisite-ness of the little one.
As you can see Preston is still as cute as ever, he really is such a fun kid. He is talking and playing just like a big boy. He is a big fan of mac and cheese, root beer, and mama. (actually mama is both mom and dad, he is having some minor gender recognition issues that we are working out.)
We are doing well in Utah. It is getting hot, they tell me it is a dry heat which supposedly makes it better?? Not only that, I have a lawn, which means I have to mow it every week. Yep owning a home is awesome. Life is good here in Utah, we have made the adjustment and are starting to fit in. It is nice to be around Cass's family, they are very supportive and fun.