Maggie's Blessing

On Sunday, February 21st, we were finally able to bless Maggie. She is completely RSV-free and doing great.
Maggie has been such a blessing to us. We were not planning on her, but we can't imagine our family without her. She really does belong in this crazy family.
She has such a calm, sweet personality. We love watching her react to the hugs, kisses, holding, ooohing, and aahhing, etc. She loves to be held and talked to. She is certainly happiest when she is not left alone. And, thankfully, she is much happier when there is some noise around her than when it is quiet. We all love her so much and melt when she smiles at us or tries to talk to us. It is amazing to discover that the space in your heart that you didn't even realize was empty fills up to overflowing! I love being a mom and can't wait for what life has in store for our family!
We were lucky enough to have had lots of friends and family come to share this day with us. It was special and Nick did a fantastic job giving her the blessing. He always does. We had one of those moments after he came and sat down. He turned to me - a little teary - and said, "That's the last one." There is something so sweet about these little ones and it is a little sad to think that we won't have another one to do this with again. Having said that, there is something really great about knowing that we are really living the next stage of life as we now move from giving them life to helping them live life. It is fun to be parents and we look forward to watching them all grow and become the people they will become!! Life is good!!

Here are a few of the pictures from Maggie's blessing:

One is Such a Lonely Number!

We decided that we are very thankful for Maggie's temperment. She so much prefers to be around other people than left to her own peaceful moments! It was so fun and funny to watch this little scene unfold the other day at our house. Her brothers and sisters really love her - wholeheartedly!!
Maggie started out all fed, changed, dressed, rested, and comfortable on the couch...

Then, Emma came over to give Maggie her proper morning greeting- with hugs and kisses, ooos and aaahhs, and lots of love that only Emma can give...

Of course, seeing and hearing the fun Emma was having with Maggie caused Grayce to experience an immediate drop of her toys and a quick sprint over to the couch (luckily she bounced off of the cushion and not off of Maggie when we arrived at full speed) so that she could join in the fun. That quickly started the outpouring of hugs and kisses that only older sisters can manage to give..

After a minute of that and watching the twins be a little more rough with Maggie than Tyler is comfortable with, he came over to supervise and join the fun...

Oh Maggie - we wish you luck in your perfect little role as the youngest member of our family! We hope you endure it well and know that we love you!!

Simple Machine

3rd grade at Sego Lily Elementary means "Simple Machines."
This year Nick and Bryant made a scale. That has been the source of A LOT of fun at our house. Bryant and his siblings have weighed everything that would fit on that scale. Bryant helped build it and he painted it red too.
Of course, he was most excited and proud when he got to display it for all to come and see. Great job, Bry!!

Modern Technology

No one can ever claim that the people in our house, no matter how small, don't know how to work the technologies of today!!

Grayce and Emma love to get mom and dad's phones and sit and play "pop the bubbles" or "coloring book."
Someday I am sure they will be doing circles around us with their understanding of modern technologies!!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had so much fun this year making the Valentine's Day boxes for the kids' school. Tyler didn't need a box, but we had fun making the Valentine's for his school class.
Bryant really wanted a BYU themed box - the girly stuff didn't really appeal to him much.
Abby wanted a little more frilly look to hers.
Anyway, the boxes were the kids' ideas. I helped with the implementation, but most of it was them! We had so much fun and they turned out great!!
Happy Valentine's Day to my favorite little valentines..
Abby, Bryant, Tyler, Grayce, Emma, and Maggie!
And, of course, to the love of my life and best friend... Nick (I love you honey!)

All Smiles

Maggie has been getting into that fun interactive stage. She loves to smile - especially right after she eats. Everyone loves it when she smiles. it is a lot of fun. The whole day for Grayce and Emma focuses on getting Maggie to smile - I LOVE IT!!

The Crazy Life

Wow - who knew that life was going to be like this! What a crazy place my house is - I hope my kids survive!
Maggie is perfect and we are loving her. She is, however, a newborn and brings with her all of the fun challenges of a newborn - no sleep, many diapers, no sleep, feedings every 3-4 hours, no sleep, needing to be held, and of course - no sleep!
My kids have been so patient and love having Maggie here. It is fun to watch them talk to her, hold her, and occassionally try to lay on top of her (Grayce and Emma). All in all, we don't go anywhere anymore, and there are true moments of insanity. But, we are all surviving!! It is good to report to Nick when he gets home from work that everyone has been fed and is still alive!
Bryant and Tyler have been busy in basketball. It is so fun to watch. Bryant is a good little player. He loves to fast break and there are not many people that can even come close to keeping up with him. Tyler has been doing Itty Bitty basketball. He loves having his own thing to do that is just his. Abby is auditioning for a main part in their choir musical. She is so talented and I can't wait to see her perform again. Grayce and Emma are fulfilling their callings to keep me very busy - removing diapers frequently, pouring drinks on the floor so as to be able to fingerpaint, coloring every door in the house (wetwipes work wonders on crayon), pulling out all of their clothes and putting them on in layers over the clothes they have on, throwing diapers at the garage door until they burst open (wetwipes don't work on that), getting into the pantry and playing build with the canned food - which is all fine and good until the tower falls on someone's toe, and all of the other things that only the imagination of a 2-year-old could come up with! Nick is back full-swing into work again. It was so nice to have him working from home for a few weeks - oh how I miss him!! He had to speak in church a couple of weeks ago - he did great and enjoyed his time off while he sat on the stand. I am sure that we were quite a sight. We actually got some great help from the wife of one of the counselors in the bishopric - she took Maggie the whole time so I could focus on the other 5 (really just Grayce and Emma). We survived and so did the rest of our ward!
Okay - just got back from a break... Grayce came in to me and told me she needed a wetwipe (never good). So, after investigating, I found the wall upstairs had new art all over it. So, we all got busy cleaning it! Unfortunately now, the part that we cleaned looks different than the rest of the wall - maybe I need to do a better job keeping my house clean!
If any of you need a little entertainment, come on over!!! Now if there isn't a recent post for a while, or if all of my pictures look blurry - you'll know why!

Maggie

We were so blessed to welcome our sweet new little girl to the world.
Maggie Lisa Ball was born on Tuesday, December 8th at 5:55p.m.
She was 8 pounds and 20 inches long and perfectly healthy.
We feel so blessed to have her and so happy that she made it here safely.

Nick is doing well and is an absolutely amazing husband and father. He is so wonderful!
I (Lisa) feel really good and can't wait to get home and start getting myself back to "normal" - whatever that is!!
The kids are not able to go to the hospital due to the new policies around the H1N1 virus. But, Nick was able to work his way around the hospital's firewall/safety protocols and set-up a video chat for them from hospital to home. Thank heaven for someone who knows his was around the computer!
When Grayce and Emma were shown a picture of Maggie they were so cute and excited. They kept saying, "Oohh Baby!" I can't wait for them to meet her in person. It is going to be an interesting adjustment, but I think they will do great.
I really miss seeing the kids. It is nice not having to do the day to day stuff, but I really miss the conversations and the hugs and kisses I so took for granted every day!
It is Abby's birthday today. Hopefully I will be able to meet her down in the lobby for a few minutes tonight. i think she has been having a good day.

Well, now that Maggie has been properly introduced, here are her sweet pictures:

Halloween 2009

Halloween was a little crazy for us this year. Usually we go to the Lehi Legacy Center Halloween party and then trick-or-treating with friends. This year we were up in Idaho and had a fun birthday party for my mom, then went to a trunk-or-treat at my parent's church and then trick-or-treating with cousins. After the trick-or-treating we piled up in the car and drove back home so that we could make it back for Nick to attend meetings the next morning. Talk about a whirl-wind trip!!



We did get our pumpkins carved the night before we left, so that was a plus!!


Abby's...

Bryant's...

Tyler's...

Grayce's...

Emma's...



Nick, Tyler, Grayce, Emma, and I were all able to go to the school and watch Abby and Bryant in the annual Halloween parade.




There was a man dressed up in a giant scary costume that really freaked out the girls - as you can see.



These were all I got of the kids' costumes this year - Abby was a disco girl, Bryant was Mario, Tyler was Luigi, Grayce was an elephant (or as she says it, "elphanant), and Emma was a giraffe!

Ty's Birthday

My baby turned 5!! I guess I can't call him my baby anymore. He is so grown up and tall, tall, tall. He and Bryant share clothes even. Anyway, here are some pictures of his birthday! What a great boy. I am so blessed to be the mom to these great kids. I love you Tyler!!

The cake - a special request for ice cream cake this year! Good call Ty, it was great!!


Our traditional trip to Build a Bear. Ty chose an owl - so cute!!


Emma posing with one of Ty's balloons (they are still floating high)!!


Grayce being her usually photogenic personality!


Of course everyone getting a glimpse of the new DS game Ty got!


Abby posing with all of the ribbons and bows - what a girl!!


Ty opening presents - he has been so excited for his birthday and he was so cute when it finally came! We love Tyler!!