Our Charlie Cole is here

Charles Cole Ballou, "Charlie," was born on Saturday, September 18th at 2:30 in the afternoon weighing 7 lbs 5 oz! We are in love with this little guy. He fits in our family well and is so sweet.

He came when we weren't really expecting it. I was still feeling great with no labor pains at all so I assumed it was going to be another week or so. Then early that morning mild contractions started and they became more and more regular. So we went to the hospital expecting them to send us home. Well... I had him 3 hours later. Everything went very quickly and smooth and we had a great experience overall.

Right now we think he is a pretty good mix of Eric and I with light brown hair, dark eyes that are still puffy and lots of peach fuzz. One of my first thoughts when seeing him for the first time was, wow, he's big! He came out with little rolls and chub on his cheeks. It's kinda nice having a chubby baby! Eva was so tiny and skinny (4 lbs 12 oz) we worried she was going to break. This is a rough and tough little guy, like my Mom put it.

Eva is still adjusting to having a new baby brother at home and is learning to be gentle. She likes to give him kisses and put toys in his crib. "Here you go, Charwie."

I am so grateful for family and that they have taken the time to travel and stay with us. They have been a huge help with Eva, the house, filling our fridge with food and making sure I get some sleep. Thanks everybody!

Good times of Summer '10

The sun is shining and the days are long and warm. What could be better? Summer is my favorite season, I think. Eric had his 30th birthday, Father's Day and we had our 8th anniversary all in June. It was a month for celebration except Eric wouldn't let me throw him a big birthday bash. Instead we went to our favorite restaurant for lunch that day, ate outside and then he got to go to San Diego with his dental school buddies. They say they had a conference to go to- I can just imagine one, on the BEACH! He said that they tried out wind surfing- I wish we had some pics. Meanwhile, Eva and I went to Salt Lake for a few action-packed days with the families. We got to go boating with Sam, Liss, Alaina and Mike. Sam taught Eva some new dance moves and it felt so great to be out on the lake. We also went on a little hike with a picnic up Big Cottonwood canyon. Eva discovered a new hobby: throwing rocks, sticks, and anything into water.
As for July, it was nice to be home for the 4th. My parents came and we had such a fun and relaxing time. My Dad and Eric played a lot of golf so Eva and I had some girl time with my Mom and we went shopping for baby boy (and us ofcourse) and visited Zoo Boise where we saw these two huge tigers! Then on the 4th Eva rode her bike in the neighborhood parade. She looked so stinkin' cute on her trike and she rode it pretty far! Because the boys hadn't had quite enough golf one day we went to the range where Eva got to practice her swing too. I can't decide what was my favorite moment, watching Eric show Eva how to swing a club, or watching him walk along side her at the parade. Yay for Summer!

Outside!

I haven't given much attention to you lately Blog because it seems that every moment that Eva is awake, we are outside. It's great! I love Spring and Summer. We get up, get dressed, then the neighbor girls ring the doorbell and out they go, up and down the street with their baby doll strollers. There is a park behind our neighbors house that we frequent and Eva has gotten really good at riding her bike so we like to ride down to the Merc to get a treat. She has even gotten a bit less stubborn on it too and she allows us to push her and pull her with out freaking out. It's nice. She tried out the neighborhood pool in her new swimsuit and life jacket that Eric picked out. She probably didn't need the life jacket in 1 ft deep water, but we had to give it a try! It will be great for going on Sam and Liss's boat (hint you guys!) and Warm River. Probably should have bought blue or green so baby boy could eventually use it, but it would have totally wrecked the pink cuteness of the swimsuit. The pool is great though. I have a feeling I will be living there this summer especially as I grow and as the temperature rises. We have also been spending a lot of time trying not to let our yard win the white trash prize, but it is our first yard we have had to take care of so we're learning. Our lawn is really patchy with yucky stuff growing all over in it and there are weeds galore. I have become friends with Round-Up and every day I spray a section of weeds. Soon it will be lovely, I hope. Yesterday, Eric took a break from yardwork and built this cardboard house for Eva in the back. It has been a hit with the girls on the street. I think their babies are sleeping in it now...

Eva with her buddies Mikayla, Afton and Maryn

Last weekend was super fun too. We went to McCall for a golf tournament Eric was playing in. We walked around in the rain on Friday and then Saturday was beautiful so we went out for a canoe ride on the lake.

The previous weekend we went to Eastern Idaho. First we stayed with Emily and Travis in Idaho Falls and discovered they have a terrific zoo. We then stayed in Island Park and went into Yellowstone for a rainy afternoon. It was a lovely time and fun to be with our fam.

Long Way Round

About 2 years ago Eric saw the documentary The Long Way Round and got obsessed with the idea of going on a long motorcycle trip like Ewen McGregor. I just liked watching cutie pie Ewen. Last weekend he went on his first one with his friend Heath (Eva calls him Heaf). They left Boise heading west on Highway 26, the scenic Oregon Trail route passing Mount Hood. They got to Portland that friday night after a long day of riding and met up with another high school buddy, Dusty Wickham. After crashing at Dusty's place, he was gracious enough to be their guide on saturday to show them Multnomah Falls, a fish hatchery with sturgeon, Astoria, Cannon Beach, Ecola, and then finally back to Portland that evening. The last day of the journey they saw the spruce goose at an airplane museum, traveled through Oregon wine country, through Sisters, Bend and then finally back to Boise sunday night. Check out the pics above.

Meanwhile, Eva and I had a nice girls weekend. We went to the zoo with our friends the Jarvis' and shoe shopping. We were happy to have the boys home safe.

Baby Brudder

If you ask Eva what kind of baby is in mommy's tummy she will tell you "baby brudder." She has said it all along. And we found out that she's right! We are thrilled with the news and excited to meet this little guy. It always helps me to visualize and feel closer to the baby when I find out what I'm having. So I'm one of those annoying patients that is begging for an ultra-sound at 16 weeks. My doctor let me come in at 18 and it was pretty clear. I think this baby wanted to make sure we got rid of all the pink in his room.

Eva likes to kiss my belly and say, "Wub you baby." It's really cute, until we are in church and she is trying to lift up my shirt! I am so glad that she is excited. I know she will be a fabulous sister...a little overbearing, maybe, but a loving one.

Easter

Easter weekend was spent in St. George, UT this year. Well, actually in Hurricane (Hurricun is how they should spell it if they are going to say it like that). The Ballou's bought a beautiful home there so we all decided to meet and check it out and enjoy Easter/ General Conference together. We had fun in the 70 degree weather and playing on the fake grass. That stuff is awesome! I wish we could put it in our yard but I think we would stand out too much in our neighborhood. Anyway, the Easter egg hunt was great and pretty funny to watch. Eva would get interested in the first egg she found, try her best to open it to get the candy out while Brenner ran like lightning to get the eggs. He was so cute because he still let Eva pick up her share of the eggs. What a relaxing weekend! The drive wasn't even all that bad.

Who is the man in this picture? Eric and I went on a hike right outside the back door. It was awesome having all that red rock to climb on! Eva bossing Clark around

I'm not fond of me and the belly in this photo but I couldn't pass up the cute loves for Uncle Travis