First tooth!!!

It has been a crazy few weeks since I updated. Kya got sick AGAIN! Last Tuesday night she started sneezing like crazy and was stopped up in like an hour. It was crazy! So, I slept with her in her chair and me on the couch for the night, and I could tell she was just so uncomfortable from being so stopped up! The next day we kept her home from children's day out, and she did not sleep all day because she did not feel good. I called the doctor just to check to see if I should bring her in because she got so bad last time. Of course, she wasn't running a fever, so they said no. Well, after a day of screaming baby, I was like she's going in even if they tell me she has a runny nose, and I was stupid for bringing her in. Plus, Eric left for Winter Retreat on Thursday, and I was supposed to leave Thursday afternoon. Well, Thursday morning, we found out Kya had Flu A - which is supposed to be swine flu, and RSV. I looked at the doctor when he told me, and said ARE YOU KIDDING!?! I'm telling you this little girl does not run a fever even when she is really sick. So, I went and got her prescription Dimetapp (spelling??) after Eric's parents got in town. I debated whether I should go to Winter Retreat at all because Kya was supposedly so sick - she is the happiest sick baby I know. She had one bad day and when we were at the doctor, she was laughing and smiling at everybody. It's crazy! So, Eric and I talked, and we decided I should stay until Friday just to make sure she didn't get worse. I love Dimetapp, by the way, and I will get all of the refills filled to have on hand in case she gets a cold again. I am just so thankful we had the retreat because otherwise, I would have waited until Monday to take her in probably - because that is what they told me to do when I called Wednesday. Never again - if she gets stopped up really bad again and super fussy, I will gladly pay the co-pay to know how sick she is - even if it is just the sniffles! To add to the poor girl's pain, she also cut her first tooth the same weekend! I'm amazed at how tough and resilient she is. I will say I was so thankful for Eric's parents, and I felt so comfortable leaving her with them, which is so nice! It's hard to leave your baby when they're sick. I just wanted to hold her and love on her, but when I left Friday, she was acting like her normal self, so I went on to Winter Retreat. They took excellent care of her, and she was barely stopped up when we got back.

Winter Retreat was awesome! Well, at least I got a lot out of the speaker's talks. Mark Cahill was a basketball player at Auburn with Charles Barkley. Now, he's pretty much a street evangelist, but he's not one of those that screams and hits people with Bibles. He was very inspiring the way he talked about how the days are few, and our number one priority as followers of Christ is to tell others about Him, and he is exactly right! I bought one of his books that talks about ways to prove the Bible true, and gives logical arguments for Christianity - it's pretty cool. At least, as an engineer, it's how my brain works - I like to have the facts! However, I know ultimately, there are just some things I believe blindly and I can't grasp some things no matter how hard I try - because I am not God - Hebrews 11:1 always sticks with me - faith is believing what we can't see - however, if we are really looking, we can see God in everything and every situation. Enough about me - this speaker was so different from any speaker we have ever had, and our kids have gone nuts telling others about Jesus - it's been so cool to watch and hear about. Through Mark, God gave them the tools for them to start feeling more confident about sharing with others. They have always had the Holy Spirit to guide them, but Mark gave them some really great tips for starting the conversation and telling others what they believe. It was convicting and encouraging for me as well!

Okay - back to Kya - she has started babbling syllables - this is very recent, and so cute! She can sit up by herself - well, we still have to watch her. She gets so excited and starts bouncing, then she topples over. It's so cute! Then, we discovered her love of playing horsy when Grams and Big Daddy were here. We would bounce her, but now, if you stop bouncing her, she keeps bouncing herself. She is also laughing so much more now. She loves when you make faces at her - especially surprised faces. Fletch also makes her laugh - especially when he chases after his rope. One other thing she has been doing is scooting backwards - I guess it's only a matter of time until she is crawling! We are just so blessed and humbled that God gave her to us. I love her so much, and I enjoy being her mom so much. She is the sweetest funniest little girl! Love her!

Visit from Nana and 6 month check up

Thankfully, things have settled down since our collision with a deer and the sickness that invaded our family! My mom came to stay with Kya so that I could work, but the day she came, I was still running a fever, so I basically laid in bed most of the week. I had been running on E for a long time, and the sickness got the best of me. Thankfully, my mom had timed her stay perfectly because I have no idea how I would have taken care of Kya that week. I was just so exhausted. The sickness and everything really put things in perspective and made me realize that I did not want to go into academia anymore. I still am not quite sure why I am getting my Ph.D. now, but I know that God's ways and plans are way better than mine, so we'll see what He has in store for us next! Enough about me! Back to my mom staying with Kya - Kya is now eating half a carton of Stage 1 foods three times a day, and I am about to start her on Stage 2 since we have been putting rice cereal in the Stage 1 - plus, Dr. Greer says that she's ready! We are still working on getting her to hold her bottle, which my mom's goal was to have her doing this before she left. However, Kya seems to be one that puts forth the minimal effort to do what she wants - the other day she was laying sideways chewing on a block. She figured out she didn't have to hold it, so she did it this way! Well, she is starting to hold her bottle - we put her in her bouncer chair with the boppy to support the bottle, and she is slowly starting to grab and hold onto it. Most of the time she bats it down and then whines until we put it back in her mouth. The only problem is that she associates the bouncer with feeding, so it's hard to put her in there if I'm not going to feed her. Well, Nana did show us a way to bottle feed her without have to hold her, so I am grateful for that, and she is starting to hold it, so well done, Mom! Another step is that Kya is now eating a little bit of formula in her bottles due to a decrease in my milk production. We have to make sure it is warmed up and mixed well (swirling of course!) or she won't eat it. And you can forget about her eating just formula - NOT happening! My mom was finally able to leave three days after her scheduled departure due to the big Ice Storm, which was just ice on the cars and in random places around Auburn. However, ATL did have it pretty bad, so we definitely would not have wanted Mom traveling in that! The extra days were helpful, though because I was actually able to work last week! The day she left, Kya had her 6 month appointment. She is now 16 lbs 11oz and 26 inches (I think???). All I know is homegirl gained a pound in three weeks! She was 15 lbs 11oz when I took her in for her cough and ear infection. She got two shots, which she did not cry at all. She just whined for like 5 seconds. I am so impressed with her tolerance for pain! She is one tough baby! Also, this nurse did a better job than the last one - last time she got her shots, she had bruises for about a week. Hopefully, we'll have her for Kya's 9-month shots. Lastly, Kya is becoming more and more aware of Fletch. They are so cute together! This past Saturday she laughed for like 30 minutes at him. I was throwing one of his toys and he would run to get it, and she would just squeal and laugh. It was the cutest thing! Fletch has also started to lick Kya, which she just sits there and let's him do it. She likes to grab his face, which I don't think he likes, but I did catch him rubbing his face in her hand the other day. They are becoming best friends! Well, that is about all for now. I am starting to apply for jobs, so hopefully, I'll have some news from that in the near future - so if you could just pray for guidance, direction, and patience, that would be great!

Happy New Year!

So, we had a very eventful Christmas break! We left for MS to go to Eric's parents' house with all three of us with colds. It was nice having Eric's parents help us take care of Kya, and she was in a good mood despite being stopped up. She got to visit Big Daddy's parents for the second time, which were the first great-grandparents that she has met. Then, we went to see my grandparents on Thursday, December 23rd, so Kya could meet another set of great-grandparents. Cousin Kim and Uncle Mike came in a few hours before we left, so Kya got to see them, too! On our way home, right inside the city limits of Aberdeen, I hit a deer going 70 miles an hour. It hit the windshield and rolled over the top. I don't remember anything, but seeing the deer right before we hit it. I think I closed my eyes and honked the horn and took my foot off the gas. Kya slept through the whole thing! Thank goodness! The funniest part of my car almost getting totaled was that someone was there to pick up the deer within about 10-15 minutes of us hitting the deer. Someone picked up the deer before the police got there! Typical! Let me just say that God was truly protecting us and looking after us during this whole ordeal. The police and highway patrolman who stopped to help us were so helpful and nice! Also, keep in mind it was Dec. 23rd, and we didn't get it towed into Columbus until 8 pm. We towed it to a shop called Burchfield's, and the owner happened to be there to take it in! We were worried about leaving it there the whole weekend since it was supposed to snow and rain, and my windshield was all busted and had holes in it, but God took care of us. Not to mention the tow truck guy was amazed that none of us even had a scratch. He just kept saying that he had picked up cars like this with bodies in them. Thankfully, Randy and Sandy have an extra car, so they let us take a car back to Auburn! So thankful! Christmas Day was awesome - we had snow on Christmas! Eric, Kya, and I racked up! We also had a nice feast compliments of Grams who is a great cook. (I have to put that because Eric always tells her I hate her cooking!) The snow definitely put me in a better mood, but unfortunately, Kya was getting worse. When we got back, we took Kya to the doctor because she wasn't getting any better. She still wasn't running a fever, but her cough sounded bad to me. She had an ear infection in her right ear and a RSV bronchial infection or something like that (fancy for common cold with bad cough). The ear infection was a surprise, and it's so hard to tell how bad she feels because she was still smiling and eating pretty well. Unfortunately, it was Eric's birthday, so we had to do lots of take-out and cancel our plans for the night, but we'll make it up when Nana comes next week. THEN, Kya had two bad nights of coughing fits, so I took her back to the doctor to get a nebulizer. I felt like the worst parent that she was so sick before I took her. In my defense, I called the doctor Wed before Christmas, and they told me not to take her in after describing her symptoms. I guess she just never runs a fever when she's really sick, which is so misleading! THEN, I started running a fever on Thursday, so I went in yesterday to get some drugs before my cough got as bad as Kya's. Needless to say, I am sick of being sick and sick of Kya being sick. Hopefully, the New Year will bring much better things!!!!

Ballard Family Christmas (a week early!)

Today we had our first family Christmas with Kya. Eric and I started the tradition of having our own Christmas before we go to our parents, and this will be the last year we have it early. Kya got up at 5 am because she has a cold, but thankfully, we all went back to sleep after she ate. Poor thing - she is teething (we had a nasty smelling poop today that verified our suspicions!) and has a cold. So, I went and got donuts from Daylight after I checked the nutrition facts to make sure I wouldn't have to take Eric to the emergency room with high blood sugar if he ate one. Surprisingly, a glazed donut only has 8 grams of sugar and 20 grams of carbs, which is not bad at all and better than most candy bars. Anyways, by the time, I got home Eric and Kya were up, and we decided to open presents. We opened all of Kya's presents first from us and my parents. She got LOTS of toys, gift cards for a car seat, and a cd/clock radio. She actually helped us with the wrapping paper. It was so cute! Then, Eric and I took turns opening our presents. I was so excited that Eric with the help of Sandy and Randy got me a GPS! We tried it out this afternoon, and I LOVE it. My parents got us gift cards galore, and they got me suits earlier and got Eric clothes like always. The big things I got Eric were some shoes (casual), and a neck massager. We are so blessed and thankful for all that we have. Fletch even enjoyed his toys for about 10 minutes (that's how long it took him to destroy them). We leave tomorrow to go to Eric's parents, and we are excited to see them, but I hope that we don't give them the cold that we now all have! I just hope sweet girl feels better tomorrow and sleeps later than 5!

Thanksgiving!

Kya has been busy these past few weeks. She is always flipping onto her stomach now. I think she likes being on her stomach because she can see everything better. It's funny, though because she will flip on her stomach then get tired of holding her head up and she'll start fussing, so we'll flip her onto her back, and then, she immediately just flips right back to her stomach. She now sleeps on her stomach as well. We put her down on her back, but she will immediately turn over. I'm scared to put a blanket in there with her anymore because she moves so much in her sleep, so Uncle Abel and Nana got Kya some sleep sacks, which are awesome! I guess techincally it says they're wearable blankets, but they are great. I'm just always worried she's going to get cold.

She is also eating stage 1 baby foods. I tried to get her to eat rice cereal after eating the baby food, and she just spits it out. I guess when you have had steak you don't want ground beef. She has loved everything so far. One thing is for sure - she is my daughter because she loves to eat! When we put her in her high chair, she immediately opens her mouth, and if I don't feed her fast enough, she let's me know.

Kya has also discovered her feet, and she loves to suck on her toes or pull her socks off and chew on them. She acts like she's teething with non-stop drool and sticking EVERYTHING in her mouth, but no teeth, yet. She's also been laughing more. She loves it when I act like I'm going to eat her hands and the other day I said Ho Ho Ho during a Christmas song, and she thought that was hilarious. One more Kya update - she barely takes morning naps, but if I'm lucky she'll take like a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, which has been great! I've been able to get a lot of dissertation work done in the afternoons, so I hope she keeps this schedule up!

Fletch has continued to adjust well to Kya. He just kind of sniffs Kya and walks off. She is very interested in him, though. She'll look at him especially when he barks. I think when she's bigger they'll be best friends. Fletch also met Mikey (my parent's dog) for the first time at Thanksgiving, and they actually got along very well.

We really enjoyed my parents, Abel, and Mikey coming to visit us for Thanksgiving. Publix made an exceptional dinner for us to enjoy, and Abel made us pizza from scratch (sauce and everything!) the next night. There are definitely perks to having a brother who worked at a pizza place during college. He has the pizza making down to an art. We were able to go to campus on a warm Thanksgiving day and play with the dogs. My cousin Kim was able to come over and meet Kya for the first time, and Kya loved her! On Friday, we enjoyed watching Auburn come from behind and beat Bama. We even went to Toomer's after the game to help roll the trees.

I also included some pictures of Kya in her beautiful dress that my friend Shannon embroidered for her! We tried to get her picture with Santa yesterday, and the people I talked to at the mall neglected to tell me that Santa takes a break at 5, which is exactly when we got there. Boo! We'll try again this week, though.

Big Girl Food!

Kya has had a big week! She is now eating four times a day and going to bed by 8:30, which has been awesome! She sleeps until about 7:30-8:30. I'm not sure how we got a baby that is such a great sleeper! She is definitely staying up more during the day, though. Today was a big day for her. First, we went on a walk on Auburn's campus, which was her first visit to campus. Fletch enjoyed running around Cater lawn, and Kya fell asleep while we were walking around. Then, she flipped from her back to stomach and then, flipped back to her back. She's been really close the past few weeks and finally did it today. THEN, she ate rice cereal for the first time. When she took her first bite, she made this face like "what the heck is this?!?" I guess I gave her a double whammy because she had formula for the first time and the rice cereal. She ate about half of it, but she did so good. She kept trying to suck on the spoon. It was so funny. I can't believe how much she is growing, and it is so fun to watch her discover new things. We got her a bouncer this week, which is a little too big for her, but she really likes it. We have to stuff towels around her to help her stay upright, and put books under her feet, so she can touch. She has bounced a few times and she has twisted around in it. She likes grabbing the teething toy (purple thing) because she can easily grasp it. One other funny thing she did today was pull her mobile all the way down and try to chew on it. We kept thinking that it was falling, but we saw her pull it down today, and figured out that she was actually grabbing and pulling it down. She is getting so strong!!! Well, we are all looking forward to Nana, Pop Noah, and Uncle Abel coming in town on Wednesday for Thanksgiving in Auburn. This is the first year of my life that I am not traveling somewhere on Thanksgiving! That is definitely a perk of having a baby - people will come to you! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

4 months

All I have to say is that I need to do a better job of updating the blog, but we have been so busy! Not to mention - I am on overdrive trying to finish up my dissertation. Kya has been growing and changing so much this past month. We went in for her 4 month appointment, and she did so good! She weighs 14.8 or 14 lbs 8 ounces, and she's still in the 50th percentile for weight. She is 25 inches long, and in the 75th percentile for height. She got two shots, and she only cried after the second one, and thankfully, I didn't cry this time. The nurse commented on how well she did. She is a tough little girl! Our only problem is she has some excema, so if anyone has any advice about that I would love it! Her scalp is still really dry despite greasing her up every night with baby oil, but the doctor said we're doing a good job of keeping it under control. Poor girl just has really dry skin. Other than that, she is doing extremely well!

She has grown so much this past month. She is holding her head up so well, and she loves kicking. She will turn herself in her crib, so she can kick against the side. We're getting her a bouncer soon to be able to stand in - she won't be able to bounce just yet. Also, she loves "talking"! It is non-stop now that she knows she can make noise. I wake up to her cooing in her crib, which is so sweet. She really is a happy baby. She has also been laughing a lot more, which I love to hear her laugh. It is so cute!

Kya has been a world traveler this past month. We visited the Alabama coast one weekend, then, we went to our first tailgate at State. And we just got back from Texas AGAIN! I had a conference in Austin, and my parents came with us to watch Kya. We visited some towns in the hill country and enjoyed some good German food! Kya does so well traveling, but I know she was glad to get home and get out of her carseat. She needs to move! She also enjoys being spoiled by her grandparents. She didn't even go a day without them - we got back Wednesday, and Eric's parents came in town Thursday to watch Kya while I work this weekend and Eric is speaking at his friend, Matt's retreat in Georgia. She will be awful on Monday when she is not getting attention 24/7. I think Kya looks exactly like her daddy, but she acts like me in some ways. She is laid back like Eric, but she gets mad when she is hungry and you don't feed her fast enough. Plus, she really likes hearing the sound of her own voice and being the center of attention. So, I guess she hasn't gotten anything good from me! But, I think she is going to be quite the talker. She really likes the high-pitched noises and gurgling. We are so thankful for Kya, and God as truly blessed us with her. Eric was in Haiti this past week, and he had the chance to visit one of the tent cities, and he was just broken over how these people live. We are so thankful that we have a roof over our heads, and we are able to provide for Kya's basic needs. Thanks to everyone that prayed for Eric while he was in Haiti - he had an unbelievable experience and God taught him so much! Now, I want to adopt a kid from Haiti after hearing his stories, but I won't get ahead of myself.