Some Catching Up

We're closing in on about a month before baby Fisher makes his debut, and I realized that we didn't blog about two big events that happened at the end of last year. So now I've decided to take a moment and catch up.

A Disney Thanksgiving
This year for Thanksgiving, my parents brought us to DisneyWorld for Trace's first trip to see Mickey Mouse. My mom had been telling him that she was going to bring him ever since he was born.

The trip was great. Trace flew on an airplane for the second time and even though I was nervous about it, he was awesome on the plane. Taking off, being in the air and landing ... none of it phased him. He did enjoy being in the big blue airplane.

Trace really liked Disney World. The first character that he met was Pinocchio and he wasn't sure what to think, but soon got the hang of the pictures and autographs. Throughout the week, he got to meet characters like Mickey, Pluto (his new favorite and the stuffed animal that he picked out), Donald, Goofey, Lilo, Stitch, Alice, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger, Little Einsteins, Buzz Lightyear, and many others. He favorites to meet were probably Alice, who he was smitten with and ended up wearing lipstick on his cheek after she kissed him, and Handy Manny, who he told that he watched him on TV that morning. He was a little scared of Mad Hatter, as the guy really played up his character and meanly joked with us the entire time.

We saw lots of shows while we were there like Muppets in 3-D, Finding Nemo, Little Mermaid and A Bug's Life. Trace's favorite rides were the "Tigger Bounce" (Winnie the Pooh ride), Tea Cups and Cinderella's Carousel. I think most of all though, he loved dessert. My mom had us on the meal plan, where you can get a dessert with every meal. Seemed like Trace ended up with my dessert a few times.

It was a really fun trip and a great last family vacation before our family expands. We thank my parents again for bringing us. More pictures from the trip can be seen here: Part 1 & Part 2.

A Grand Isle Christmas
The other big event that we didn't really blog about was Christmas on Grand Isle. While we had a good time visiting family and hauling all of Trace's stuff to and from Grand Isle, Ashley and I came to the realization that next year, we'll likely be staying home for Christmas. It'll just be too hard with a 3-year old and a baby next December.

Santa was great to Trace again this year (as were his grandparents). He got everything he could have wanted and then some. Here's a shot of Trace checking out his art easel from Santa on Christmas morning:


Trace also got a camera, DVD player, tricycle, trampoline, toys, movies, etc. But of course, he also liked to check out other people's gifts too. One of his favorites, and perhaps his favorite present anyone got, was dad's tin of popcorn. He just loved that you could eat all the popcorn that you could possibly want and then go back for more later.

Trace was the center of attention once again for Christmas, but we'll see how it goes next year when he's sharing the spotlight with his brother. I think he'll do great, as he's already talking about sharing things with Fisher. He's mentioned sharing things like Phoebe and toys (though he says he'll play with Fisher's toys, not much talk about Fisher playing with his toys). He was hesitant about sharing mom and dad with Fisher but then said he would.

We had a checkup appointment yesterday and brought Trace along. He got to hear baby Fisher's heart rate and said it was loud. This weekend, we're bringing him to a class at the hospital to get him more acclimated to the idea of having a baby brother. He's also started reading the book, "I'm a Big Brother," and talks about Fisher while reading it.

He's starting to get with the idea that his brother's coming soon, and the other day he said that Fisher needs to put on his PJs so he can come out of mommy's belly. I know its hard enough for Ashley and I to be patient, but for a 2-year old who's been hearing about his brother for months now, he's ready to finally meet him.

New Underoos!

Look at what we're wearing today!

Merry Christmas

We hope everyone has a great holiday break, and we wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy new Year.

It's been an good year and in a couple short months, the Ballard family will be growing. Baby Fisher is doing great and on Monday he checked in at 2 pounds, 10 ounces. Here's a look at Fisher on the ultrasound:

We also got to do the 4-D ultrasound and the pictures came out great. Both Ashley and I were amazed at how much Fisher looks like Trace ... not so much when Trace was born, but Trace now. Check 'em out:

We even got to schedule Ashley's section. It was an exciting moment, and felt like a big milestone to get to pick your child's birthday. This is the day that he'll celebrate for the rest of his life. After Ashley and I threw around some dates early in March just to get a feel for how they sounded, we met with the nurse to put it down on the schedule. Turned out, it wasn't as tough a choice as we thought. We were given March 12 (Friday), March 15, 16 or 17 (Monday through Wednesday). Of course we went with the earliest date. So mark your calendar's, Baby Fisher is schedule to arrive March 12, 2010.

Since we're looking forward to what 2010 will bring, let's take a look back as this will be Trace's third Christmas. Here's Trace's Santa pictures through the years and a look at Trace and daddy topping the tree (artificial of course, my first "fake" tree):

2009

2008

2007

Daddy and Trace topping the tree:

25 Weeks

We're more than halfway through our pregnancy and it's really gone by fast this time (not sure if Ashley would say the same since she's the one with the aches and pains). Being due at the beginning of the year (March) somehow doesn't seem as far away as being due in November or even July.

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything is looking good. Baby Fisher's heart rate was 166 and we go back to the doctor in three weeks. We've also started seeing maternal fetal medicine and that visit before Thanksgiving went well too. They said that we'll use the last pregnancy with Trace as a blueprint and pretty much follow everything we did for him. We go back to them in three weeks.

After our next appointments, we start going to the doctor every two weeks, then its down the home stretch.

Last time I got my oil changed, I noted that by the time I'd need another oil change, we'd be close to having the baby. So now my boss gets a kick out of saying that we're just an oil change away from another baby.

Halloween '09

We had an eventful week full of Halloween fun! It all started Wednesday with Trace's party at daycare. He dressed up as Superman and then decided he wanted to wear a hat like his friend Addy, thankfully Ms. Heather let him borrow hers.

The party was lots of fun, complete with a pumpkin pizza and moonpie owls on a stick. Trace was the first to finish his!

Then it was off to Trick or Treat on Sorority Row! Trace was a little scared at first, but after he realized they put candy in his bag for saying "Trick or Treat" there was little hesitation. We actually had to keep him from taking candy from the bowls at some point. He decided later that he had enough of the Trick or Treating and wanted to dive right into the candy.

Sorority row was really fun. We saw so many cute costumes, so I have some ideas for next year! You can also check out some pictures on the LSU Web site, like this one:

Then on Saturday, we drove to Hammond to visit Ms. Heather's Pumpkin Patch. Trace loved it! They had a petting zoo with lots of animals, pony rides, face painting, pumpkin picking, decorating, tractor riding, oh and this big blob of a thing to jump on. I'm glad we went. It made for a great family day.

Then, it was on to the main event...our pastor's annual Halloweenie Roast! The kids met up for Trick or Treating around 6:00 and walked the neighborhood for treats. Ernie was a good sport and decided to dress up as Superman with Trace. Trace kept saying "Super Trace...da dada da!"

I dressed up as what was supposed to be a bubble gum "It's a Boy!" cigar, but I don't think most people got past the "It's a Boy" on my shirt. So for those of you who haven't heard...It's a boy. ;) And his name is Fisher Job Ballard. ;) ;)

After Trick or Treating, we roasted hot dogs & marshmellows and just sat by the fire. Trace loved playing with Josh's dog, Gilly, and hanging out with some of his favorite friends.

It's a ...

No we don't know what we're having yet, but this is the week that we have a chance to find out. On Wednesday, we'll have our first ultrasound after the "18th week" mark when you can find out the sex of the baby. So far, we've only had one ultrasound at the beginning of the pregnancy. So this second one is really exciting.

We debated back and forth for a bit about finding out the gender this time, but ultimately, we've given in and are eager to find out on Wednesday. Maybe not as eager as our moms are :) but we are still filling up with anticipation to learn what we're having. Plus we think it'll be easier to have 4 months or so to get Trace ready for the idea of having a baby brother/sister instead of him trying to understand that simply that we're having a baby. We'll get a DVD this time too, so we can show him the ultrasound and try to explain that the black and white blob on the screen will be his baby brother or sister. Definitely a full-proof plan; we'll see how it goes.

Everything's gone well with the pregnancy, except for us keeping up with the blog. We keep joking that this baby already has the middle child syndrome.

Last visit we brought Trace and he got to meet the lady who was the first person ever to see him, Dr. Harris. Trace was pretty good at the visit, but Ashley and I didn't really get a chance to pay attention to everything with the check up since we were occupied with him. The baby's heart rate was 150, which is about where it's been all pregnancy (upper 150s throughout). Some people say heart rate is an indicator of the baby's sex, but it's just a wive's tale. I guess we'll find out for sure this week.

I'm not really sure which way I'm leaning. Ashley said that if she had to put money on it, she'd say it was another boy. We'll be happy either way and can't wait to find out so we'll know if we need to unpack Trace's old clothes or start picking up some girl's stuff.

Congratulations goes out to our friends Brad and Michelle and John and Blair. Both of them welcomed their babies last week. Brad and Michelle welcomed a baby girl, Lily on Monday, Oct. 19, and John and Blair welcomed a baby boy, Elijah on Friday, Oct. 23. Everyone's doing great.

Potties, Pull-ups & M&M's

So, we have officially entered into the wonderful world of Potty Training. Trace came home from school one day about two weeks ago with a paper that said, "I used the potty today!" I was in shock. For some reason, I never thought it would begin this soon; but I was thrilled at the idea that this could happen. I think it would be one less stress on my brain to get him out of diapers before new baby comes. So, we praised him over and over for it, of course. I'm pretty sure I gave into every snack request he had for that evening, including his all-time favorite snack, M&M's! Soon after he caught on that this was something that really makes Mommy & Daddy happy. So to encourage him, I promised more M&M's if he used the potty again. Sure enough, he had another note the next day that he used the potty again. As promised, he got more M&M's. The next day not only did he use the potty, but he stayed dry all day! Everyday, he came home ready and waiting for his M&M's. *Sidenote, please don't think that we're relying on daycare to potty train our kid. Believe me, we've tried (without pushing) at home to encourage him to use the potty. We set up his own potty in his bathroom several months ago. We practice sitting on it every night before bath time while we read a book about potty training. We taught him how to "tuck everything in", to keep things pointed in the downward direction, and to wipe; but at home, he never seemed to want to "go", no matter how long we sat there. So I guess that's where my shock came in that he was willing to go at school. However, we soon discovered why... at school they have a REAL potty. The only difference is it's made for little ones, so it's a bit shorter. At home we began to try the big potty and we just held him as he went. Sure enough, it worked! We then decided to get one of those seat cushion covers so he wouldn't fall in. That seems to be going well. It's been about 2 weeks now and most days he comes home dry. He stays dry at home as long as we remember to ask him if he needs to go, but that's gonna take some discipline on our part for sure. His teacher seems to think he'll be wearing undies in no time, but I still have my doubts. For one, we've yet to have him poop in the potty, and I'm not willing to put him in underwear until we cross that bridge. Until then, we'll stick with the pull-ups, cause they seem to be working out just fine. We'll keep you posted on potty progress. In the meantime, if you see Trace, ask him about using the potty and be sure to tell him what a BIG BOY he is for doing so! :)