Balch Family Blog

Here is a picture of my ever expanding belly! This little guy loves to push up under my right rib cage and kick and punch all over!

means new everything! We are trying to get organized this month. Boy are we pack rats! I am stressing over cupboard space for Cartsen’s things and Mark kindly points out that we don’t need 15 travel coffee mugs (since I don’t work anymore) and the miss-matched glasses he had before we got married could go too! Thank heavens that someone can say, “It is ok to get rid of it!”

We made a trip to IKEA (just love that store) and we got some wall shelves for our room to help with the clutter of books everywhere. I have also organized the medicine cabinet and the utensil drawer.

Only 12 weeks until our family expands! We are getting very excited!

We had a wonderful Christmas that stretched over several days. The most precious event of this season, was watching our son marvel at baby Jesus. We read the Christmas story and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus before endulging in the gifts.

We were in Tucson for a few days to visit my mom and her husband Ken. On Thursday we rode on a horse-drawn wagon through Winterhaven (a neighborhood that is famous for its Christmas lights and decorations). Then on Friday morning we opened gifts and enjoyed a traditional Christmas dinner.

We drove back home on Saturday afternoon, just in time to get ready to go to church for a Candlelite Lord’s Supper. Mark’s parents met us there and we stopped by Applebee’s for appetizers after the service. That was yummy!

After putting Camden to bed, we helped prepare things for Santa’s arrival. He brought Camden a bike, that has not been touched still today. Oh well, Santa can’t win them all! 😉

His favorite gift was the train table his daddy built for him. Mark poured several hours of love into making a custom train table and saved us a couple hundred dollars!

Once gifts were opened here, we headed over to Mark’s parents house. We enjoyed snacks and an English based Christmas dinner complete with chestnut stuffing, fried potatoes (one of my new favorites), Christmas pudding, and our all time favorite – trifle! Our family was spoiled with gifts again! After we finished playing a game of CSI, we headed home to go to bed.

Then yesterday, we had one more day of Christmas. We joined the “Lafferty” side of the family for prime rib, and yes more presents! We had a lovely time.

So now we get to find a place for all these new toys and gadgets some where in our house. Yikes! We have been blessed this season as we are all year long.

Please be sure to check the gallery for some pictures of our holiday. We had a lot of fun this year!

For Christmas, Camden’s Gma and Gpa Balch and Gma and Gpa Revells joined forces and purchased him a wooden swingset. Mark and his dad spent 2 Sunday afternoons building it. Camden was able to play on it this morning, yes 6 days early, but how can you explain that to a 2 y/o?

Please check out the pictures I have posted in our gallery. We are going to try and get some rubber bark to put down as a squishy floor.

So things have been calm around here. Camden is recovering from his ear infection. Our biggest feat was getting the medicine into him. All I can say is, “Thank you chocolate milk!” I will do my holiday baking tomorrow and deliver to the neighbors. Mark’s Christmas party for work is tomorrow night as well. Camden is going to stay with Gramma Tucson for a few days. He will really enjoy that I am sure. All he does is play, play, play! I love it, because he is always very tired when he gets home! 🙂

I guess that is it for now. Nothing too exciting going on! I hope you are finished with your shopping and able to enjoy the wonder of this season.

That is what we are dealing with right now. Camden woke up from his nap on Sat. with a fever. I took him into our after care office and he has an ear infection. We got him started on antibiotics quick. We thought they were working well too. Sun. afternoon he was pretty good and Mon. he was great. Well 4:00 am, he started feeling really yucky. Poor kiddo! He is coughing so hard that he makes himself throw-up. We spent the day watching movies and snuggling on the couch. I sure hope he is feeling better soon.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday and we hope your family did as well. Camden and I (Heather) arrived in Buffalo on Monday evening. We met my mom and Ken in Chicago and flew in together. We were surprised at the airport by both Traci and Lee. We were only expecting one of them. My aunt Karen, Desi and Dan drove from Phoenix and arrived Tuesday. Mark flew in Wednesday at noon, and we were happy that everyone made it safely.

Our whole trip was very mellow. Lee’s dad went to the ICU Tuesday morning and my grandfather went to the hospital on Wednesday. Traci and Lee had their hands full with their father’s and families at the hospital. Lee’s dad had several seizures and was placed on a ventilator. His recovery status is unknown at this time. My grandfather has an infection but the source is unknown. The hospital is running some tests to see what is causing his problems.

When the family was together we had fun playing in the snow, drinking hot chocolate and eating. Hank and Krista came over almost every night. We also went to their house for dinner. They have done a lot of remodeling and it is beautiful. We got to spend dome time with Traci’s mom as well. Camden calls her Grandma Pat!

Mark and I were in charge of the turkey this year. We had watched Good Eats over the weekend and we came up with a plan! So we brined the turkey and baked it perfectly! It was so yummy and the 18 lb bird only took 3 hours to cook!

On Friday we went to the Fisher Price Toy Museum and Toy Store. It was interesting to see all the toys we used to play with. On the way home we stopped at a sledding park. Mark had fun on the sleds, but I stayed in the truck with Camden, who was not willing to wake up! Then on Saturday we went to Niagara Falls. It was cold, brrr! The falls are beautiful in the winter, but you can see and do more in the summer! We had lunch overlooking the falls and then headed back to town. Mark was on the phone as we were going through US Customs, and the customs guy was not happy about it at all!!! We were worried they were going to send Mark back to Canada.

Mark flew out on Sunday afternoon and had no complications with either of his flights. Camden, Mom, Ken and I left on Monday and only had a slight delay. I did discover that traveling alone with a child is not fun, and I will try to avoid it at all costs in the future! Our troubles had nothing to do with Camden, as he was an expert flier! We encountered some VERY rude personnel from American Airlines.

All in all, it was a very nice trip. We appreciate Traci and Lee’s hospitality amidst all the turmoil.

I will post a few pictures from our digital, but will have to scan the 35 mm ones in once they are developed! 🙂

Camden and I are heading out this morning. It should be an exciting trip to Buffalo. We hook up with my mom in Chicago and then all fly to Buffalo together. Mark is working a few days and then flying out as well.

We have a great house sitter so are animals will be well cared for.

We wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.

Mark celebrated his 34th birthday last Thursday. He had a fun day at F1 Racing, a Go-Kart facility in Phoenix. We met Mark’s parents there and Mark and his dad had a fun first race. Apparently it is more challenging that it appears to be. Mark’s dad was finished after one race, while Mark raced two and was sore the next morning. We had a delicious dinner at Abuelos, a mexican resturant in Chandler. Be sure to check out the photos of Mark and his dad racing in our gallery.

It’s a BOY!!! He is healthy and right on target! It was so fun to watch him today. Mark, Camden, my Mom and Mark’s Mom all enjoyed seeing this little guy on the big screen! I have new pics posted of this sweet little man. I am so in love with him already!