festival of trees

every december local volunteers decorate trees (and wreaths and gingerbread houses) for the festival of trees. it benefits primary children's hospital here in salt lake so i was more than happy to buy some tickets for our family to go. it was a little crowded to say the least, but penny loved it! she kept saying on the way out "i like those fun trees, mom."

thanksgiving weekend

this weekend my folks and little brother brian drove up from california for thanksgiving and the blessing of my older brother's new baby girl. first up was thanksgiving on thursday at my aunt margo's home in highland...

my dad and his mom getting ready to carve the turkey.

mmm...homemade rolls. i think they're my favorite part of thanksgiving dinner.

miss penny watching all the food get ready for the table.

let's eat!


on sunday we drove a couple hours south to oak city where baby scarlett was blessed.
love this pic of my brother jordan and his daughter katelyn riding home from church on an ATV haha.
the whole balmforth fam at kjersti's parents house after the blessing (minus little bro derek on his mission).

(from left to right: brian, me with penny, paul, jordan with katelyn, kjersti with scarlett, kris with max, lana with elsa, and my dad and mom. whew! that's alot of us!)

such a fun weekend! hope you all had a great thanksgiving!

20 weeks!

i had my 20 week ultrasound today and they confirmed that our baby is indeed a girl. (i never doubted you for a second, fetal foto!) but more importantly, all the anatomy shots looked great and she's developing just fine. yay!

man, i love the second trimester. i feel so awesome. still a little tired and having migraines now and then, but otherwise it's good to feel good. baby girl is kicking up a storm and her kicks are definitely getting stronger, which i love. is there anything better than feeling your baby kick?? every time she does i breathe a tiny inward sigh of relief, like "okay, she's doing good." i know i know, those kicks might not be so cute come 35 weeks but it still makes me happy just the same.

hooray for being halfway done!

headband model (again)

it's pretty convenient to have a daughter when you have a hair accessory shop. just pop in a dvd and little girl sits still as can be. i'm in love with these new headbands. fabric bows and felt roses are pretty much my favorites. i love my little penny model!

you may remember this model's past work here and here. please stop growing up, miss penny.

p.s. (insert gratuitous self promotion here) i have FOUR local holiday shows coming up! check out the sidebar on the right for more details.

happy halloween!

as you can see, miss penny was tinkerbell! she luuuves that little green fairy so much so the costume choice was easy.

i just adore her hair in that little bun!

i love these white pom-poms! i made them with yarn and they were perfect to stick on her silver toms...pom-pom toms!

this picture kills me! lana was all "max, kiss penny's hand!" and he did it. and it was cute.

cupcake elsa! (baby elsa kept munching on penny's tutu...penny was not amused.)

can we go yet? can we go yet??

"trick or treat!"


a jazz fan, tinkerbell and a cat...our costumes go together purrrfectly!
(penny was really into that sucker...)

hope you all had a happy halloween!

some fun news...

baby #2 is on the way and we are so, so excited!
we're due at the end of march and i'm so impatient for that day to come!
here's some ultrasound pics we had taken at 16 weeks...

profile:

front view of face:

some cute little feet:

and saving the best for last...

WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER GIRL!

needless to say, i am SO excited for penny to have a little sister! i just think having two girls will be so much fun. and we don't have to buy anything! awesome.

we were so impatient to find out the gender that instead of waiting for the official 20 week gender ultrasound at the hospital, we "cheated" and went to fetal foto where they can determine the gender as early as 15 weeks for only $50. i highly recommend it! we got to find out the gender a whole month early and saw our baby kicking up a storm, waving her little fists, and opening and closing her little mouth. so fun!

i'm currently 17 weeks and feeling great. all the nausea has passed and i'm feeling more energized these days. i can definitely recognize her little kicks and movements earlier this time, which is so fun. i can't wait til march!

graitude

i read this story and my heart broke. i hope i or anyone i love has to go through this as a