Reflecting on 30 years

My brother meeting me for the first time :)

At my Grandmom and Grandad's pool!

This was me and Amy in 8th grade (it was Halloween and we just wore my cheerleader outfits as costumes!)

Ashley, Nicole, Meredith, Me, and Allie at our High school Graduation

One of the first times I went to John's house, I think we had only been on a few dates at this point :)

One of the happiest days of my life!!

My college graduation day!

Jackson was born only a few moments earlier and this was our first official picture as a family :)

This was taken yesterday at White Water for my birthday celebration!

It was hard to go through and only pick a few pictures to reflect back on my entire 30 years. Those are just some of my favorite moments. I think my Grandad Ostien explained getting older to me best. He told me that from the inside looking out, you always feel the same age...the outside looking in however, is a whole other story ;) He was so right!! I can still see myself at 16 riding around in the car with Allie, Ashley, Nicole, and Meredith like it was just yesterday!!! I still can not believe that 15 years has gone by since those days. I can say one thing for sure though, if I had a glimpse into my future life back then...I would have been ecstatic! I really am so blessed to have the life I do today. I am happily married to the man of my dreams who has given me a life I could not have even dreamed for and help me to reach goals I never felt possible, I have a wonderful family who have always supported me in all that I do, the best in-laws a girl could ask for (feels weird even calling them that, because they feel like my own parents...sisters and brothers), I have my college degree, I never thought I could love the way I do until I had Jackson~he is my heart, my baby girl Bailey on the way~who I can't wait to meet!!!!, and a beautiful home :) Life is just as I would always hoped it would be :)

No more monkey's jumping on the bed!

You can tell he recovered pretty fast...this is the next day dancing with my Mom and Aunt Mary!

Showing Aunt Tess how much he loves to rock!

Hamming it up for everyone at Grandma's house :)

This is what he looked like today. The swelling went all the way up to his eye and gave him a little shiner :( It is looking much better though!

He has definitely enjoyed eating pudding!

On Friday Jackson and I were playing on the bed and having so much fun when he fell off :( He fell directly on his face and busted the inside of his lip so bad. It was so scary and I was so frantically worried about him, I went to the Urgent Care (who was not much help, sad to say) in just my bathing suit! He was bleeding so much and they saw us right away. John met us there and then we headed down to Scottish Rite together. I am so thankful he was able to leave work like that, I have no idea how I would have handled a screaming baby, my emotions, filling out paperwork, and trying to pay attention to the Dr.'s instructions without him! He tore his upper lip away from his gum near his nasal cavity. He has been on an antibotic to prevent infection and an all liquid diet and will return to normal tomorrow. He has taken all of this rather well, in fact, I think I took it harder than he did! Meal times are our only real struggle, our poor guy loves his "normal" food! I have learned a HUGE lesson, even when you are RIGHT there, bad stuff can happen...best to play it on the safe side and no more getting on Mommy and Daddy's bed or standing on the couch~even when we are right there.

And our little girls name is...

Bailey Kimberly Ballard

I am sure I will have a million questions on how we came up with it, so here it goes ;)

Her first name is just because I liked it and John went along ;)

Her middle name has a very special meaning. Kimberly is from my cousin Kimberly Ostien who is now watching over us from heaven. I always felt as if Kim and I shared a special bond. I have so many childhood memories of us playing together at my grandparents pool, making up scavenger hunts, playing dolls, and spending the night at my Aunt and Uncle's house. We used to sit with each other during our annual Christmas Pollyanna and just laugh. That is what Kim did most...laugh and made you laugh. She was just as goofy as I was and we could just look at each other and crack up! Her smile was contagious, warm, and loving. I know people ask me all the time where I got my middle name and I know Bailey will be very proud to tell the story of Kimberly and keep her spirit alive in all that knew her.

Although Kim's death was sudden,trageic, and a deeply sad time for our family, I am sure her story has saved many lives. You can read more about Kimberly at http://www.kimsawareness.net/ .