Balch Family Blog

…a Flu bug that is. We had been keeping Carsten out of the church nursery because every time he went in there this winter, Monday night/afternoon he would get sick. It seemed like he was sick from Nov to Jan. At that time we decided to fore go the nursery and we kept him with us. Well, last week we thought we had passed the critical “sick season” so back to the nursery he went. Wouldn’t you know that at dinner Monday night he puked! Yuck! So he had the stomach flu and ran a low temp through Wed, when who wakes up that night  crying…CAMDEN! Yep, he started puking at 10:30pm and continued off and on through the morning. I joined in the fun starting at midnight. Mark got an upset tummy too, but thankfully, never threw up. He was able to get the afternoon off from work, and some how we made it through Thursday. What a yucky day! We are all feeling much better today, and even ate food with color!

We have a mellow weekend planned. Nothing too exciting. Mark is going to play golf on Sunday and we will just hang out tomorrow. Needless to say, Carsten won’t be back in the nursery anytime soon!

I hope you are all feeling well!

PS: Donna you inspired me to change our theme!

What a weekend! I am still recovering. Carsten turned 1 on Saturday, sharing his birthday with his Great Uncle Daryl. We had his party after his baby dedication at church. Carsten dove face first into his cake! Later he picked it up like a sandwich and shoveled it in. He didn’t care about opening the presents, but his favorite was the lawn mower from his Great Aunt Nonna. We were wiped out that evening and enjoyed having dinner with the Reeds like we used to.

Today I took him in for his Well Child Visit. He is doing great! Weighing in at 23 lbs 6 oz and 31 1/2 inches tall, he is growing just fine!

He will be starting a music class at Rolly Pollies next week. That was a gift from Gamma Tucson and Papa Ken. I think he will like it a lot. He loves to dance when he hears music!

He is such a joy and quite a blessing to our family! Now here are some pictures of all the chaos!

At the dedication:

Playing with balloons:

Head first into the cake:

After:

With Mom and Dad (brother was very busy playing in the backyard!):

We returned to the Valley yesterday.  We had a wonderful time on the cruise!  I am still rocking from the boat ride!  We did some fun things and ate WAY too much!  If you would like to see some pictures from our cruise they are in our gallery under Holidays and Vacation.  It was great to see Dad, Betty, Ann, Jenny and Shelly!  They were our drivers and hosts while in California!  We ate too much with them too!  Many thanks!

That is so shocking to me!  I was on bed rest a year ago.  Is that even possible?  In just 2 short weeks Carsten will be ONE!  That means Camden is only a few months from turning 4!  Have I really been a mom that long.  I am amazed I have survived some days.  Most days I just think how blessed I am to have the family I have.  Just wanted to share a few pictures we took today.

   

Carsten had his first haircut! He looks quite handsome. It was getting out of control around his ear and he was looking ragged so we decided it was time.

 

Mark and I are going on a cruise to the Baja in March to celebrate our anniversary…5 years!

My first day at work was great. I really enjoyed utilizing my degree again! I worked for about 7 hours and then 2 more from home writing reports.

Just a quick update to let you know our exciting news! Here is a picture of our family on New Year’s Day:

Yes, I am returning to work, but wait, it’s not what you think! I am going back to work for the district 1 day/week to help with preschool evaluations. We are overloaded right now and I can reduce stress by helping. I am really excited about dressing up and having a little adult interaction, after all, it is preschoolers I will be evaluating, but they have parents and I will be involved with other adults! It really is a win-win situation! Mark’s mom has missed her 1:1 time with the boys (I know, technically 1:2 time now!). They will spend the day with her. The extra money will be a bonus to help support my stamping habit (I know you all loved the stamped cards I sent for Christmas!).

Enough about me…The boys are good. It seems like Carsten has been sick since last November. He has had a few healthy days scattered in there, but mostly sick days. I hope he gets better and stays that way soon! As a precaution, we are keeping him out of the church nursery for a while. Camden has been doing well, even with a sick brother. He loves…LOVES! playing GeoTrax daily and is really enjoying Rolly Pollies.

Mark is also doing well. He did take two sick days last week but was soon back to normal and back at work. He goes crazy being cooped up in the house! He is still playing softball, even in the freezing cold…he just wears LOTS of layers!

As you can see, we are doing well. Hope you are as well! Take care and stay HEALTHY! 🙂

Tonight is the last of 2006. It has been a great year! Carsten is getting “So Big” and will now play that with us. He also claps and is starting to learn some sign language. Camden is off to hit his new golf clubs with his daddy. What a big boy he has become! Yikes! We have had a very nice holiday. We have completed the playroom, which is a screened porch off our kitchen and Camden is already in heaven! We are taking it easy tonight, no big plans. We will most likely be in bed by 11 pm and fast asleep before 2007.

We hope that you have a safe and happy new year!

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus! Thank you God for your precious gift to us! We started this morning by retelling the Christmas Story and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. It put us in the right frame of mind for the morning.

Then we got up and opened our stockings, ate some breakfast and opened presents. I had a few moments of down time before I shower and starting cooking so I thought I would get some pictures up here for you all to enjoy!

Merry Christmas All!

     

through Kleenex, medicine, and a messy house and on the road to getting back to normal.  Carsten had a sinus infection, Camden and I both have horrible coughs, and Mark is just getting over a head cold.  It never fails, come December, we get sick.

Carsten went in for his 9 month check up.  All is well.  He is big…21lbs. 11 oz, and 30 inches long (compared to Camden 20lbs 8oz and 29 inches).  He did loose over a pound in about a week with this illness, so we are going to watch his weight gain over the next month.  He is clapping and scooting on his tummy everywhere.  He loves to play peek-a-boo with a blanket.  His smile will just light up a room!
Camden is really getting into the season of Christmas, but we are focusing on Jesus’ birthday more then Santa and gifts.  It is hard for him to get the big concept, but he already knows he can ask the man in red for gifts…boy they learn fast. He loves to play with his friends and is attending Awana at our church.  They focus on scripture memorization.  It is a great program.
We will be headed to my mom’s on Monday to do our holiday baking.  Then we are going to give the firemen a plate of goodies.  I am sure Camden will enjoy that!

Things are going well for Mark at work.  They are busy and he needs a break so 2, 4-day work weeks will help.  He tries to play golf at least 1x month and is playing softball with our church league again.
Last night I went back through the archives of my blog and really enjoyed reading about my pregnancy and how Camden used to sleep in his crib.  So much happens in just one year…it blows me away.

I am so blessed by the Lord to have an AWESOME husband and 2 healthy and happy little boys!  What a joy they are!

It seems that my rambling has turned into a bit of Christmas type letter with updates about everyone.  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!