Someone Isn't Growing

Something big happened to little Henry.  He's started taking daily growth hormone shots.  This has been in the works for almost a year.  All my boys are short but Henry is much smaller than all of them have ever been.  I did research, talked to people in similar situations, and was ready to not take no for an answer.  The doctors always just tell me since Randy and I are short, we are going to have short kids.  And they are correct.  But neither of us are crazy short.  And don't get me started on why it's so impossible for even one of our kids to be a little taller than Randy.  Seems like most families have kids taller than the parents but not us.  We are cursed.  

Anyway, I took Henry to a pediatric endocrinologist and she said all the same things about not being concerned about Henry but she'd do some tests to check things out.  After another x-ray of his hand, an all-day growth hormone test, and an MRI, we found out Henry actually doesn't produce hardly any growth hormone.  His pituitary gland is working just fine so we don't know the cause but we do know he isn't growing.  Even his baby teeth aren't falling out so everything about him has just stopped.

The good news is insurance is covering the shots which are $30,000/year.  The bad news is that Henry has to have these daily shots in the butt until he hits puberty which will be about 10 years from now.  The other bad news is the shots will only help him to be two inches above or below the average growth rate of Randy and me which is 5'8".  That means Henry could only reach 5'6" or as tall as 5'10". That's hardly worth it but when I said that to the doctor, she said if I don't do the shots, Henry won't even hit 5'6".  So shots it is!  

Eventually Henry will be able to do them on his own but for now, he acts like it's a big deal and it's a two-man job where one of us gives the shot while Parker softly pats Henry on the back.  It's so cute! Grow Henry, grow!

The first box of growth hormone supplies.  I can't wait to see the picture of him with the last box!

January Little Things

January was pretty uneventful.  We didn't have a lot of rain which I appreciated because I'm training for a half-marathon and the weather determines how pleasant/unpleasant the training experience is.  Every once in awhile on a pretty day, I take a picture to send to my college boys to remind them how beautiful WA is and how ugly Utah is so maybe one day they will want to move back home.  Temporarily, of course.

The daily grind of piano practicing is back in full swing.  Henry is actually really good!  Parker is too but he loathes the piano.  Marcus and Henry will probably be my only piano players.  So sad.

Landon is so good about putting in the daily grind of practicing lacrosse and one time Henry decided to go with him.  These brothers are so cute!

We still can't get over all the fallen tress when we go on mandatory Sunday walks.

Randy spent a couple weekends buying tools/supplies to build a temple in the garage.  

The seminary kids will fill in the walls with popsicle sticks that they earn by reading their scriptures.

I've been influenced!  I bought a weighted vest and Parker was having fun with it.  I think it's supposed to help with perimenopause stuff but I just liked the idea of wearing it around when as I do laundry and clean the house or for going on walks with friends.  I haven't noticed any benefits but do I like it?  Yes!!

Parker is playing rec basketball and he's actually pretty good!  We go to the church a couple times a week to work on his shots so he can be an actual weapon on the court.

I signed Henry up for lacrosse.  None of my boys have started this young but Henry needs stuff to do since he doesn't have a neighborhood full of kids to play with.  He's actually pretty good!

I went skiing and that's Parker in the red coat

That's Henry in the green trying to block Parker from being in the picture.  Oh Henry! 

I love my pink goggles!  And skiing with these two was pretty fun!

Marcus played on an intramural inner tube water polo team with his girlfriend.  I got all kinds of excited remembering when I played at BYU.

WE won!  And I still have the championship t-shirt to prove it.  Also, back then if you wanted to swim in the BYU pools you had to wear one of their standard issue swimsuits.  They were always baggy so we'd often wear our own swimsuits underneath them.  Kids have it so easy these days!

Henry is such a good reader!  He's actually way above his grade level and it's so cute seeing him read at Parker's basketball games.  We both bring books to read when Parker isn't on the court.

Oh, Henry!

 

Henry is one of a kind.  He came home with the cutest art work and New Year's Resolution.  He came up with it all by himself.  

His goal is to "Eat more sugar cookies." I laughed so hard when he told me in total seriousness, that he really wants to eat more cookies this year.  I told him we usually set goal or make resolutions to help us improve at something or to do something that's hard for us.  He looked at me like I was crazy and asked when we could go get cookies.  I told him it's kind of ironic because my resolution is to eat less cookies.  He got a good laugh.  As long as we don't make cookies--the delicious homemade kind that I can't resist--we are both happy.

We now have a pretty regular tradition of buying 1-2 packages of gross, store-bought sugar cookies that Henry hides in various places around the house (usually on the top bunk bed) to prevent his brothers from eating them.  I'm hoping years down the road, this boy will continue to make resolutions and hopefully he will remember how I helped him, for better or worse.

New Year's Eve

The Annual Ball Family New Year's Eve Party was another success.  This year was a much smaller crowd because many families were out of town and our friend group keeps shrinking as people move away.  But don't worry, the giant newspaper ball was bigger than ever.  Randy still doesn't know how to level down on anything.  There are two rules in this game and the first is no crying allowed.  I can't remember the other rule.  Rule #1 got broken several times over so I decided we are done with the future newspaper balls.  

Seriously I was so annoyed at kids crying because they didn't get as many prizes as they wanted or didn't get a chance to rip apart the ball because they didn't roll doubles with the dice.  I thought long and hard about it.  Do the kids (mine included) really have no emotional resilience?  Sure seems like it.  Are the kids really that spoiled that they don't know how to respond when they don't get what they want?  Possibly.  But the newspaper ball is a crowd favorite.  Randy says we can just cancel it.  I think we will give it another go but with much fewer prizes and see if that helps.  Some kids walked away with their arms full of gifts (mostly junk but a few gift cards) and others hardly got anything.  I think we will do it next year and see if doing less prizes actually helps.  We used to do less and no one lost their minds or shed tears.  I'm writing all this down so I remember.  It's my own little social experiment to see if our kids really are as bad off as they seem! 

I escaped upstairs for a minutes to see what was going on.  I never know what I'm going to find and was pleasantly surprised to see things weren't being destroyed.

Ethan and his girlfriend Halle

Randy and Barb came back to visit and it was so fun to see them!  My favorite part of the whole night was watching each of my boys walk into the kitchen and when they saw Barb, their faces just lit up.  They all went over and gave her a hug (except Henry of course).  It made me so happy.  They really are like adopted grandparents.  Cedar City is lucky to have them. 

I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks and ball drop.  I was too busy helping people light their lanterns.  But there were fireworks and a ball drop and it was amazing like it is every year.  

We got the Christmas cards hung on December 30th this year so I didn't feel bad about keeping them up until Valentine's Day.  I'm actually surprised by how much my boys love looking at them.  Henry doesn't know most of the people so he'd take one card down at a time, bring it to me, and ask me how we knew that family.  So tender, right?  And surprising.  We love our friends and family!

This is a terrible picture of the annual polar bear plunge that our friends host each year.  The video of people jumping in, practically on top of each other was pretty epic.  There were soooo many people there.  I think Landon won $20 for jumping in and staying in the longest.  

You couldn't pay me to sit in that crowded hot tub!

Henry begged to go to an indoor trampoline place during the break.  Man, I hate those places.  It was pure chaos and they were struggling to have enough employees there so Marcus finally organized a dodgeball game and everyone thought he worked there.  I also removed the sign that said the drop slide was closed so my kids could use it.  They had a great time and we didn't get in trouble for breaking unnecessary rules. Win!

Landon had his last Stars lacrosse tournament in San Diego.  Randy has had fun taking him to his tournaments and it's a win.  When I go on these things it's never a great experience returning home to the chaos my absence caused.  Landon is taking a break from the Stars team for a bit and focusing on his high school team.  He's also training to be a ref so he can make some good money on the weekends.  Gotta love that!

Merry Christmas from Whistler

Christmas morning! 

The aftermath wasn't too bad.  Henry got a comfy gaming chair and Parker got a desk but I think they put them away before I took this picture.  We left for Whistler a couple hours later so this was what the room looked like when we returned from our ski trip. Since the college boys were home for about 3 weeks, we decided we needed a trip to break things up.  I have a feeling Christmas vacations are going to be a new tradition for our family because it's the only time of the year when we will all be together.  This trip was forced family fun and it was perfect!

Christmas dinner at McDonald's in Canada.  It was kind of depressing seeing how many other people were there.  The menu was a little different than what we have in the States and their milk shakes are sooooo good!

We even had poutine! I look so tired, and I was!

We watched The Grinch.  It was the only Christmas movie I watched.  Worth it.  

Henry is my ski buddy.  He's getting really good and will be keeping up with the big boys in no time!

The snow was incredible!

The Ball Brothers 

Marcus got new skis.  Again.  Apparently the ones Randy bought him before he left on his mission weren't the best size.  I try not to think about the thousands of dollars we have spent on ski gear.

Henry is the Green Machine

The castle was finally open!  Henry and I had fun playing here for a while.  The slides are so fast!

Henry chugging from his little jug, just like the one my brother Greg had when he was little.

This has Randy written all over it.  

Henry got this tiny game of Candy Land in his Christmas stocking.  It's perfect for playing at restaurants while we wait for food.

Like this!

My lazy ski bums

December Part 2

Christmas Sunday is truly my favorite part of all the Christmas celebrations.  This year was no different.  We also experienced a Christmas miracle when the matching neck ties I had ordered a few weeks before arrive on Saturday night.  Cutting it close delivery guy!  Practical Mel bought matching ties that weren't Christmasy so the boys can wear them all year long.

I squeezed in a wedding that was almost 2 hours away.  Love these ladies who know how to make stuff happen and drop everything during a busy Christmas season to support a friend.

Randy bought another ladder.  The boys didn't die trying to screw in light bulbs that Randy removed for a seminary production.  I was eating my friend's homemade salsa she gifted to us while supervising my boys.  No one died.

That's Marcus and Landon playing lacrosse together in the annual Skyling lacrosse alumni game.  Both boys were in their element.

I spent Sunday afternoon whipping up many batches of delicious veggie dip and chopping vegetables for our neighbor/friend gifts.  I thought veggie trays would be well received because who needs more sugar at the end of December?  Not me!  My boys were horrified that I made them deliver vegetables to people.  I wish you could have heard them say, "Merry Christmas.  Enjoy your vegetables."  They are convinced we will be blacklisted from receiving future plates of cookies.  I think they're wrong.  I got so many texts from my friends thanking me for the veggies.  

You can find the ranch dip recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe site.  It truly is delicious!

Christmas lights in the car are always a hit and there was only minimal arguing over who had to go to each door.

My little elves

The last of the deliveries on Christmas Eve.  The Christmas Spirit was in the air!

Brothers Gifts

Steak Dinner was so yummy!  Let us not forget the kind butcher who threw in a bag of smoked candied bacon.  I don't love bacon but I sure loved this stuff!  If I had the money, I'd give it out next year instead of vegetables.

Christams Eve caroling to Sheryl.  Nothing better.

Some of the talents from the non-talent show

So fun having Marcus home for all the Christmas things!  It's been two years since we were all together for Christmas Eve.

After all the festivities I began wrapping all the presents and making sure everything was ready for Santa's big appearance.  This exhausted mom collapsed into bed at 2:30am.  Or was it 3:30?  It was too late, that's for sure. I didn't even bother taking a picture of the tree and gifts.