I get flyers in the mail from time to time from Victoria Secret. I had one in the mail the other day and it was sitting on top of my coffee table with the mail. Garrison was playing with his toys in the floor and saw the flyer. He brought it to me and said: "Mama that looks like you." Such a smart boy already...and apparently with very good eye sight. Yes baby boy, that is exactly what mama looks like.....
"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Today started off with me running the Turkey Trot with my girlfriends. We did this last year and decided to sign up again. I've been really slacking with my running lately, so this was a great way to motivate me to get going again. My 5k time was 39.2, not really that great, but not terrible either. It was really cold, about 41 degrees out, and the wind was really blowing hard. Running against the wind is not fun! I'm signing up to run a 10k in January with my dear friend, Laci. Sunday starts our training. 6 weeks. I can do it!!
The rest of the day was spent at my parent's house with me, Adam, Garrison, my papa Bob, mom, dad, amy, cody, and Julie. Julie was my Papa's dear friend. My family stays in touch with her and she didn't have Thanksgiving plans so we invited her over. It was good to see her again. We don't get to see her much anymore since my papa passed. We ate and watched football and had a fire. It was a nice time.
Give Thanks...I am so thankful for an amazing husband, a beautiful and healthy son, loving family and friends, employment, my Church family, Hank, Kazi, and Ross, and most importantly a loving and forgiving God that has promised me the greatest Gift of all.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16
Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving! I know we certainly did!!
Coffee....
Specifically nonfat, sugar free vanilla latte's from McD's but on the days I don't want to pay for coffee...coffee from work will suffice with sugar free hazelnut creamer....ahhh the perfect way to start my mornings!! :)
Since I happen to own the world's craziest puppy, I try and walk him at least twice a day. Sometimes this ends up being Hank walking me or me laying on the ground with him trying to get the leash untangled from his legs as he continues to roll and think we are playing. It's comical. Which reminds me that maybe I should look and see if any of my neighbors have posted video of me on youtube. It would for sure be a popular hit. Anyway, I am getting off topic....
Last Saturday, Garrison and I were walking Hank and he surprised me with a gift. He pulled on my shirt and said "Mama, I picked this leaf for you." So I turn around and he holds up a big leaf as my gift. I thank him and we keep walking. Some mother's may get flowers, but this mama gets leaves. Be jealous....I would be too! Here is my sweet boy holding my gift!
I am in the process of teaching Garrison his last name. This is our usual conversation:
Me: What's your name?
G: Garrison Gill.... after which he dies laughing....
He just can't seem to catch on that it's Garrison Bal
This year Garrison was a Pirate. This was the first year that he loved his costume and really seemed to enjoy Halloween. He filled his pumpkin up probably twice but after Adam and I took out all the chocolate, he was left with maybe 3/4 of one filled pumpkin. Still....that is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too much sugar! Right now, it's hidden away in our pantry. He had such a blast.
His first party was Saturday at my friend Dometric's house. She has a little boy, Kian, that is a couple months older than Garrison and the two of them get along so well. It is so cute to watch them play and be completely all boy. Dometric had a great party. Complete with games, food, pinata, and a clown :) Sunday for Halloween we went to my friend Jen's and let all the kids trick or treat in her neighborhood. They always have a great time. His third party was at his "school." They went trick or treating to the neighborhood shops. Since Garrison only goes 2 days a week and their party was on a day he doesn't attend, they still let Adam bring him up there and trick or treat and have fun with his class. It is so cute to see his friends growing together and enjoying the holidays this year. Enjoy the pics!
In an effort to get my brain in blog mode more often, I am going to start a new blogging series titled "Thankful Thursday." Every Thursday, I will be blogging about different things in my life that I am thankful for. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is so easy to get lost in the moment and in all life's little stresses, and forget to just stop, think, and be thankful. I am truly so blessed in my life and want to share with you all the things that make my life so wonderful. God has blessed me in a million ways. So here is my first Thankful Thursday....
I'm refusing to eat at Subway and I suggest you do the same!
Saturday Adam and I took Garrison to ride the train at Collin Creek mall. He loves it and he looks so adorable sitting in the cart while it goes around and around. After that we let him play at the indoor gym and then we had lunch. We got Garrison chickfila and then Adam and I were going to eat at Subway. Since Garrison already had his food, I sat at the table with him, while Adam ordered. Adam's subway ended up being $8, which I told him wasn't correct, and once he looked at his receipt he was overcharge by about $1.50. Keep in mind that money isn't the issue here. Obviously, I'm not peeved over less than two bucks.
Adam goes back up to the counter to tell the lady she over charged him and the cashier refuses to help him. She didn't even speak a word to Adam. Terrible customer service. Adam finally said to her "are you not going to help me?" at which the lady blankly stares at him and shrugs her shoulders. Ummm seriously?! This is not acceptable. The next day, Adam calls the Subway manager and complains both about being over charged and that the employee wouldn't help correct the situation. The manager actually has the nerve to tell Adam that most of their employees speak English as a second language and that this was a language barrier issue. To which Adam replies, so are you saying that I need to speak Spanish to eat at a Subway. About the price issue, the manager tells Adam that they have subs of the day which are much cheaper, and that maybe Adam should try this next time he visits a Subway. Does anyone see a huge issue with this?! First rather than apologizing for the lack of customer service you stand by your employee by claiming they don't speak English. Secondly, you don't acknowledge that my husband was over charged, but you tell him to order something cheaper next time!!!!!! Unbelievable!! How does ordering something cheaper help you if the employee is going to ring it up incorrectly and then speak Spanish back to you when you try and tell them they are overcharging you. No Thank you Subway...You have for sure lost two customers! Ridiculous....Also, I should post the email that Adam received from the Manager, with about 15 grammatical errors and words missing like the and of...etc. Obviously, no one at Subway speaks English as their first language! It's really sad actually....So, my advice, don't eat at subway! :)
I wanted to surprise Adam with a fun 30th birthday and really thought long and hard about what we should do. I finally came up with the idea of chartering a bus that would drive us and our friends to Shreveport for the day.
1) Garrison and I were eating dinner last night and right before he eats, he clasped his hands together and prayed "Tank um for my food." Without me having to remind him that we needed to pray! He is really starting to learn good things!
2) About midway through dinner, Garrison said he wanted to go outside and play. I knew it would be too dark by the time dinner was finished and we were cleaned up, so I told Garrison this. Here is our conversation:
L: It will be too dark by then baby, we will have to go outside tomorrow.
G: It's too dark now?
L: No, it's not right now, but the moon is about to come out and we won't be able to play outside.
G: The moon come out? Mama have mote control?
L: (laughing) I don't have a remote control to the moon Garrison, we will have to wait until tomorrow when the sun comes out.
aaahhh if only I did have a remote control to the world and could control night and day!!!
Garrison is learning his numbers. He can count 1...2...3...and then if I say what comes after 6 he says 7. If I say 8, he will say 9! I think that's pretty good!
Kisses....last night I wanted to kiss Garrison and he apparently thinks 2 kisses is plenty. When I asked for another kiss he said "that's enough mama!" :(
Lately, Garrison has been wanting us to rock him at his bed time and then he wants me to sing to him. His favorite song is the Itsy bitsy spider which he will do most of the motions to and whisper the song along with me. One night last week, after I sang the itsy bitsy spider Garrison said "Now Jesus Loves Me." This made me really happy to see him starting to love this song and he even sang along with me at certain parts! YAY :)
Being a mother is the most amazing part of my life but has also been one of the toughest. It's one of those things that, until you experience it, you can never fully understand that unconditional love for another life. Adam and I are so blessed with Garrison. He is the easiest baby (yes, I know he is 2, but he is still my baby!). He has been the light of our life for right at 2 years. Beginning in May, we started noticing symptoms with Garrison, that alarmed us. He had tummy problems, a deep chest cough, a constant runny clear nose, and occasionally would complain of back pain or stomach pain. As parents, you have to be the voice for your child when they can't as well as be attentive enough to notice they aren't 100% well. We took Garrison to our pediatrician many times with these symptoms only to be told that Garrison was extremely healthy and growing on track. After the symptoms continued to get worse, we finally pressed our pediatrician to be told that we needed to see a specialist. We took Garrison to a Gastrointestinal doctor, Dr. Annette Whitney. She went over all of his symptoms and agreed that further testing needed to be done. The first was just a series of blood work.
This was our first sad day as parents. Dr. Whitney is at Children's Medical Center and it's overwhelming all the "sick" kiddos down there. You don't realize how blessed you are with a "healthy" child until you are looking at other sick children, and it's overwhelming. I don't know how any parent deals with chemo or other life threatening procedures on your baby. They are suppose to be healthy and running around without a care in the world, and yet they deal with this stuff. I don't know how. We simply took Garrison for blood work, where I had to bear hug him so he couldn't move, and Adam had to hold his arm above and below the elbow straight. Of course, Garrison screamed and said we were hurting him. Horrible. Adam even commented that this was the worst day of his life. Seems minor when there are children doing other serious procedures but for us, in our small perfect bubble, life was not great at this moment. The results came back a week later and even the Dr. commented that the results were surprising to her. His platelets, white blood cell count, and ESR (sedimentation rate) were elevated. His ESR at a very high number. His number came in at 88, where normal for his age is 0-10. On the phone with the Dr., I lost it. I apologized and of course, she said there was no need to apologize, that she understood, and for me not to worry, that she would get to the bottom of this, and get him fixed. I guess it was reassurance for me that I knew my baby, I knew his little system wasn't 100%, even when everyone else around me seemed to think it was all normal and that he would outgrow it. Reassurace to a Pediatrician that kept calling my child "the healthy kid" and making me feel like a hypochondriac mom that WANTS something to be wrong with her child. Dr. Whitney said his ESR rate indicates a couple of things and she was leaning toward an auto-immune disease or some major inflamation somewhere in his body. We had to schedule an endoscopy and colonoscopy for the following week so she could figure out what was going on inside his little body. Yep, we seriously had to wait a week to figure out what was causing this. The entire time obssessing about all the horrible possiblities that could be determined.
Procedure Day. I can't even describe how horrible this day was for Adam and I. Earlier that morning, I had explained to Garrison what the Dr's were going to be doing, and that he would be asleep for a little while, and that he may feel some pain afterward, but it was all to get him better. I explained that we needed to hear what the Dr. has to say so that we can get him better. Of course, a two year old doesn't undesrtand, any of what i'm telling him but somehow I felt better explaining it to him rather than letting the Dr's sneak up on him. We took him to Cook's Children's Suregery Center and couldn't have had a better experience, all negative things considered. The staff was wonderful, the center was very clean, and it all turned out to be great. The anesthesiologist was wonderful with garrison. Adam and I were able to carry Garrison back to the OR and I set him on the table. I don't think he ever even realized they had put a mask on his sweet little face because he was too busy "blowing up balloons" on the anesthesiologist iphone. Cool app. Again, roller coaster of emotions, as we had to walk out of the OR room with our little guy asleep and being hooked up to machines, to go sit in a lonely room and await results. 20 minutes later the Dr. came out and talked to us and said everything went really well and that was she saw was very minor and fixable. She sent of some stuff for biopsies and said she would have the results in a week or so but that all things considered his GI tract looked really well and didn't indicated any of the bigger diseases we were scared to death of.
All of that to lead us to....EE...Eosinophillic Esophagitis. Garrison has a very mild case of it, thankfully, and it's still possible at this age for him to outgrow it. There is a lot I could explain, but in as few words as possible, he basically has multiple allergies that are causing his GI issues and then causing white blood cells to build up in his esophagus. Multiple severe allergies is what I have read, but I believe his are mild. He has been on a steroid ever since and on prevacid and within a couple weeks, we were already able to see a change in our little guy. We have had to make a couple diet modifications and with the medications, he seems to be "healing." The Dr. wants to continue the steroids for another month and then remove him from medications. She believes that we can monitor his symptoms clinically bc obviously I'll see teh symptoms return if he needs to stay on medication. Obviously, I don't want him on steroids forever, but if it makes him better then I guess I can't complain.
Getting a two year old to cooperate...sit still....smile....say cheese....can you put your arm here....well needless to say all that didn't happen. Garrison wasn't in a smiling mood, probably bc he was so hot, but I still think we got a couple of really cute pictures. My family is so gorgeous and I am one blessed woman!!
Some days Garrison loves our puppy; other days he screams and runs from him. Hank is already a pretty big dog, and he is only 3 months old. I think pretty soon he may be bigger than me. Oh boy! I try and walk Hank a couple times a day. Garrison has fun going with me and calls Hank's leash "a draggin" It took me a while to figure this one out. I kept thinking Garrison was talking about Dragons. I finally figured out he says this when he wants to walk Hank outside, and more importantly when I saw him pointing to the leash saying "hanks draggin" I guess because some days it seems like I'm dragging Hank around the street although I'm pretty sure pretty soon it will be Hank "a draggin" me around!
The days Garrison doesn't like Hank really give me a headache. Garrison has this high pitched scream and anytime Hank gets close, Garrison screams and goes running. Which of course Hank interprets as Garrison wanting to play. Then I hear crying "puppy bit me" or "puppy push me" Of course, Hank doesn't bite, but he does have some seriously long claws. He needs a vet trip I guess.
I've downloaded blogpress to my iPhone...let's see if my updates on our blog become more regular. Testing 1....2....testing!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Matador Dr,Garland,United States
Meet the newest addition to the Bal household....HANK!!! Isn't he precious?! Because my husband is such a rockstar he bought me this beautiful puppy as my graduation gift!! I just loooooove him (and Adam) to pieces :) 
Well it's official...I have my MBA! Master of Business Administration with a Health Care emphasis. This last semester really took every once of energy and will power that I had to finish. We had to do our "thesis" in teams and there was one girl in my group who I really think was a mole and put there to test us. Anyway...so that I don't get caught up talking badly I'll change the subject. We presented our 3 year strategic plan to the board of directors and ROCKED it! They loved our presentation, suggestions, ideas, creativeness, etc. Our professor even thought certain parts of our project were professionally created. We worked with a non profit organization called Bea's Kids and loved every minute of it. This really is a great organization that helps meet the educational and personal needs of high risk Hispanic children. I hope this organization is able to use some of what we suggested and grow in order to meet their increased needs. It feels great to be done with school and I never plan to go back! I want to focus on my family and being a great mom and wife and not EVER read another textbook! Well maybe I shouldn't say never bc I'm an avid learner, but either way...it will be a loooooong time before I think of taking any other classes!
Ok, well maybe they said I Do back in April and I've just been really really busy. Either way, the Bal household was so sad to say good-bye to my dear friend Jodi as she embarked on her new journey in life. Jodi had been staying with us since September bc her lease was up and she was saving money to help pay for her wedding. She moved in and we had a blast. Garrison got used to having Ju-Ju there and I really believe he thougth he had a second mom! Now she is married and living down in Brazoria with her new hubby and starting their life together. Jodi made a gorgeous bride and I had the best time ever being a bridesmaid! I just love getting dressed up and pampered!! Thank you Jodi for allowing me to share this amazing day with you! I hope your marriage is as amazing and blessed as mine and Adam's!! We love you! 
Monday afternoon Garrison and I were headed to visit with my parents. This was our conversation while in the car.
Garrison: Rabbit sleeping
Me: What Rabbit is sleeping, Garrison?
G: Coco's rabbit (Coco is what Garrison calls my brother, cody. We have no clue why but he has done it as long as he could talk. I just LOVE it!!)
Me: Coco has a rabbit?
G: uh-huh (he refuses to say yes)
G: Wake up rabbit!!
I couldn't stop laughing and I had no clue what he was talking about. Until later that night....
Cody has a new puppy, she is adorable, and her name is Bonnie. When I told Garrison to give everyone hugs and kisses, becuase it was time to leave, he said "Rabbit, check, K?" Points his finger out front, and starts walking out front. I'm intrigued to figure out what he is talking about, so I follow. He walks right up to Bonnie, says "Rabbit hug" and gives her a hug. I guess he thinks she is a rabbit bc her name is Bonnie...Bonnie Rabbit.... Isn't that the cutest thing?!? I just love how his mind works!!!!
How is it possible that my little man is already 22 months old?!? Everyday it is like he has learned something new. His big thing right now is "baby do it" and "I no like it" Adam and I have always called Garrison baby and so now we think Garrison thinks his name is actually baby. For example, he will point to Adam's shoes and say "dada shoes" then if he sees his own shoes say "baby shoes." When i am getting him out of his car seat, he doesn't want to be carried anymore, and immediately says "baby walk." He has always been a really healthy eater but lately he doesn't seem to want to eat anything, healthy or unhealthy! That's where "I no like it" has come in. Sometimes he will actually eat half of something, then all the sudden spit out the bite in his mouth and say "I no like it." Oh really?! Bc two seconds ago you just ate almost all of it! Maybe he means this instead of I'm full or I'm done. Either way it's actually pretty annoying. He even told me the other day "I no like it" when I was trying to put a red shirt on him. I let him pick out his own shirt and he chose a blue one.
His vocabulary consists of a gazillion words. It is amazing where he even learns some of the stuff he knows. He loves to randomly say "hi mama" and so I just say "hi Garrison" back. He says "go mama go" often, which I LOVE. He calls music "dancin". He calls our cats "cat-cat" instead of kitty cat. He loves to pull their tails, and amazingly they just sit there or sometimes run. He loves to go play at the park and feed the ducks. He is obsessed with cars and races. He will grab the remote and say "race race race" until we change the channel. Usually the only thing we can find is something that deals with nascar and then he is happy. Adam and I are not fans of nascar, maybe I need to get him some race movies or monster jams or something similar. When he drops something he says "whoopsy".....PJ's are "jammies"....He does not like people to sleep around him. My mom was napping the other day and he said "wake up grandma wake up!" continually until she woke up. He has also said this to my sister who he calls "Hamy" ...my brother is still "coco"....He makes like perfect!! Now if only he would STOP growing!
Here is a picture of Garrison with one of his friends, Camdyn. 
A couple Friday nights ago was opening weekend at the horse races. Randy Rogers was also playing after the races but we weren't able to stay for that. Garrison was exhausted by about 10:30 and so we left. We had a great time with great friends. We went with Jennifer, Camdyn, Jamie, Krystal, and Lindsey. We went out for Jamie's bday and had a great time.
One pic from Jodi's bacholorette party...we had the BEST time!! We all went to Dick's Last Resort in Dallas and then after that headed back to our friend jennifer's house. Our big surprise to Jodi was a lady named Spicy Denise, who brought a stripper pole over, set it up, and provided two hours of TONS of fun! I couldn't do about 80% of the moves, but I sure tried!! Jodi on the other hand, may have been a stripper...ummm exotic dancer...in her previous life!! :) Then we all stayed the night and just had girl time. The next day, actually for the next week, none of us could walk. That is the BEST workout! I highly suggest this for any girls night/bach party/etc. It was grand!! 
My biggest pet peeve of other parent's has always been parents whose children have NO manners. It drives me crazy. Going to target and someones child runs past you and almost knocks you over or squeezes by you through the door or drops something and just keeps on walking....you know what I'm talking about. It's not the actual act of it that drives me crazy (bc I know children will be children)but the parent's reaction to it. Most of the time there is no reaction bc the parent either doesn't care or doesn't have manners themselves. Well how is that child suppose to learn if the parent is oblivious?! Seriously, makes me want to tell the parent to wake up and realize their children need manners! Ugh..Ok, off my soap box...
That being said, ever since Garrison could start talking we use words like please, thank you, you're welcome, etc. He already knows to say "tank-ew" and "peeeeez." It's just polite and who else is going to teach him if we aren't?! My child is polite and well-mannered...Yes I know I don't have a terrible two's on my hands yet or a teenager, but if I lay the foundation now MAYBE it won't be as bad during those stages. He knows he can't run through a store or parking lot, he knows he cannot shout at restaurants, etc. All my efforts in raising a well behaved, polite boy were shown to me last night. I was driving and Garrison was in the back in his seat and I sneezed. His response...."Bwess ew Mama!" Isn't that adorable?!?! He melts my heart...and we all say together: What a polite little boy!! :)
It's crazy how you become interested in poop and pee when you become a parent. At first, you find yourself counting wet diapers to make sure they are nursing enough. As they grow, you pay attention to their bathroom habits for food sensitivities. You pay more attention when they are sick to make sure they aren't dehydrated. Well now that I have a toddler, it's no different. We have had Garrison's big boy potty out for about two months now. We got it out one night when he said he needed to "potty" but of course he didn't. So we have been introducing him to the idea. Saturday afternoon Garrison came to me and said "stinky" so of course I went to change him and he was clean. So I decided just to let him run around the house diaper free and watch him for a bit. He came to me a couple more times and said "stinky" so I took him to his potty where he would sit for about 10 seconds. Nothing. Around the 3 or 4th time we did this he finally pooped in his potty. WHAT A BIG BOY!!!! After, he stood up and got upset, pointed, and said "mess." Poor guy thought he had made a mess and done something bad. Of course, I said no and clapped and cheered and high five him and the whole time he just looked at me like I was crazy.....Potty training sure is going to be fun!!! And just for scrape booking sake I attached a picture.....have a look.....haha..IM JUST PLAYING! I'm not THAT Crazy... :)
Anyone who lives in Texas knows how exciting winter has been in Texas this year. Normally we have four or five really cold days, maybe some ice thrown in there, and nothing much to call "winter." This year has been different. We have had record breaking amounts of snow and a really long, cold winter. I had fun with the snow for a day, but now I'm ready for some sun and really ready to get in my pool! Come on Summer!!!
Here are some pictures of Garrison enjoying our snow....
