Balch Family Blog

I feel like I need to write a post, but I don’t have anything really big to report so I will just do a quick family update.

Camden is a very busy 3 year old. He is attending a Christian preschool 2 days/week and this Sunday will start AWANA at our church. With the weather cooling down a bit he is playing in the backyard more. His favorite thing to do is help daddy with any project.

Carsten just turned 6 months, and he weighs as much as most 1 year olds (20lbs)! He sure is a cutie though! He is so alert and really takes everything in. He loves his big brother. Camden can make him laugh like no one else can! He is trying new foods and he is getting stronger in several differfent areas.

Mark is also very busy. He continues to work…A LOT. His schedule does allow him to be home on Tue/Thur mornings so that is a very important family time. His softball league is starting up again. Mark really enjoys playing ball with the big boys. His games are on Sat nights so the boys and I will go to the early (6:30/7:30) ones. He plays a double header each week.

I am working here and there with the school district, about 8 hours/month. I also just picked up 2 private clients that I will begin treating this week. One is a little boy with Down Syndrome and the other is his older brother (who I worked with before being put on bedrest).

Our family is on pins and needles waiting for our sunporch to be stuccoed (sp?). With it being such a small job we are very low on the priority list. We will use the room as a play area and toy room. It is not closed off completely (silly town codes) so the windows and doors will just have screens, but for what we are planning it should work perfectly. We are also looking forward to our FL trip in November.

I guess that sums up our happenings here. We hope everyone is doing well too!

The temps have been cooling down and I can’t help but to get my hopes up for fall. Fall is perhaps my favorite season. I am sure I would love it even more if our leaves changed colors.

Camden is really enjoying preschool. I get to volunteer on Friday during Chapel. Tomorrow is a water day and then we have a pool party on Friday. Ok, so it must still be summer if we are having water days and swim parties! 😉

Carsten will be 6 months soon. I can’t believe it. He is eating baby food now and really has a great personality!

Mark has a training in November in Flordia so our family will be Magic Kingdom visitors soon. I have never been there, so it is sure to be quite a treat for our family. I do think that Carsten will have the most fun 😉 !

I have actually started Carsten’s baby book. I am far behind, but at least it is started. We have hundreds of pics so that won’t be a problem.

Two boys with two ear infections and two trips to the doctors!  Yikes!  We are very sleepy people around here.

Both my guys have had colds this week.  Then Wed night Carsten did not sleep and he would just cry and cry, so I took him to the doctor on Thurs.  Ear Infection!

Then last night Camden woke up SCREAMING!!!! and complaining about his ear.  So we paid a visit to the new Emergency Hospital.  There he was diagnosed with an outer ear infection and a middle ear infection.  Poor kid!  They gave him tylenol with codine before we left and the got us a few hours of sleep, but when that wore off the screaming returned.  After some regular tylenol he went back to sleep.

That is the latest around here.  Please keep my boys in your prayers!

Camden started Preschool this morning! 🙂 I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. 🙁

He got a new Thomas backpack and new Thomas shoes for his first day. He seemed pretty excited about the whole thing. I have many concerns, but that is what us moms go through when our babes grow up. I leave to get him in about 25 min, so I will post a comment to let you all know how it went.

Here are some pictures from this morning:

We have been meeting so many milestones in our family. It has been so exciting to see what new skill our children will develop!

Camden: Is finally potty-trained, and just in time for preschool. Yep, Camden starts preschool in just 2 weeks. We are so excited for him! He is singing his ABC’s and counting to 14 (there are some inconsistencies, but we are proud).

Carsten: He has had his first cereal, found his toes and rolled completely over.

There really is never a dull moment in our house with these two wonderful and amazing boys of ours!

I will be working about 8 hours a month this school year, with the exception of next week when I will be working about 12 hours. Mark continues to work like crazy! He is so dedicated to his job and his patients.

Our family will be taking a mini vacation in just a couple of weeks to the Legacy Golf Resort. I have a Women’s Leadership Retreat scheduled for Fri and Sat until 1:00pm, and with a nursing baby we thought we would get our own room and have fun. Mark is really looking forward to it!

That just about sums up what has been going on around our Casa! We hope everyone is doing well!

Not that I am yelling or anything! 🙂

We had been taking swim lessons 4 days/week, enclosing our back porch, and visiting with family from out of town. It has been so hot that we are just trying to stay cool.

We had a great time in Las Vegas! I did not gamble at all, but Mark won $10 on nickel slots while the boys and I slept one night. We did many things, all family oriented. Camden’s favorite was the train display at Bellagio. The fountains were a hit there as well. We also went to Circus Circus, Gameworks, M&M World, Lied Discovery Children’s Museum, Ethel M Chocolate Factory, MGM Grand, New York New York, Silverton’s Aquarium and Fremont Street. The drive wasn’t too bad, it takes a little longer with the boys so young. I will post pics in the gallery soon.

Yes, our family will be heading to Las Vegas in about a week. Mark’s sister, Andrea, has taken a job there and she will be house hunting with Mike, her fiance. Mark’s parents have booked two timeshares there and we will be spliting the week with them. It will be nice to get out of town for a short time. One thing on our list of To Do’s include the light show on Freemont Street (sp?).

The next weekend Mark and I are headed down to Tucson to attend the Family Life Marriage Conference. Camden will be with Mark’s parents her and Carsten will come down to Tucson and stay with my mom. She will drive to the hotel and let us see Carsten, but he will stay the night with her.

The boys are doing GREAT! We are all getting into a good rhythm. Camden is very excited about his 3rd birthday and we are potty training to get ready for preschool in the fall. Carsten is almost 3 months and is quite a chunker! He smiles and giggles and really enjoys watching his big brother play.

Cartsen is looking more like mommy!

Please look at our gallery and see the new pictures and organnization!