Tag: Daniel Ballesteros

My Boys

Published on by Kari JaneLeave a comment

I always dreamed of having a mini Daniel. These two are the joy of my heart and I’m so in love. I spotted this cute little denim shirt for Ollie at H&M kids and couldn’t resist getting it since I knew his Daddy had the exact same one in his closet at home. And so naturally what had to follow was a photo shoot in complete matching outfits. My sweetheart’s birthday was on the 5th and I loved getting to celebrate him all weekend. We started out with a mini celebration at my parents house the night before with a couple gifts and some cake. Everly got to sing Happy Birthday to her Dada and watch him blow out his candle. She’s been really into that the last several months. She likes making pretend cakes and puts pretend candles on and loves singing the Happy Birthday song. So when it’s a real birthday with real cake it’s the best thing ever! That night the kids stayed with my parents and I got to take Dan out for a night stay at a hotel that our sweet friend blessed us with. The next day I took him out shopping and we ended up at a Guitar Center. I got to bless him with a brand new acoustic guitar! He has been playing his other guitar for the last 14 years so it was pretty special to walk away with a treasure that I know he’ll have forever and probably end up passing along to one of our kids. The next day, we went out to brunch with my whole family. My sisters and their kids came into town and it was so special being able to celebrate all together. Getting everyone together in one spot is more rare these days so it was such a treat. Today, our sweet Oliver decided to walk! He took his first official step by himself last week but decided he wanted to be a little more brave today and walk a lot more. I’d say 4 steps in a row so far. I just realized, thinking back on when Everly took her first steps that she did it on my birthday. And Ollie walked a couple days after his Daddy’s birthday. How cool! I’m a proud Momma for sure! I don’t really know how he’s growing so fast but I’m doing my best to enjoy every second of it. He’s been more vocal lately too and it’s the cutest thing to hear. He of course is still saying Dada all the time and still charming me with his dimples. Now, if I could only get him to sleep through the night, haha. This life with my sweet little family is such a dream come true. Every day I have so much to be thankful for! In just a few days Dan and I will be celebrating 16 years of marriage together. I just had this crazy thought…We started dating when I was 19, so on my birthday next month I’ll be able to say that I’ve been with him for half of my life! Wow. I love this life we’ve built together and can’t wait to see what the days ahead will hold.

Everly & Daniel

Published on by Kari JaneLeave a comment

I’ve been wanting to take photos of Everly and Daniel inspired by the Hooray Heroes book that he gave to Everly on her 1st birthday. If you’ve been following me for awhile I’m sure you’ve seen my love of photo recreations. We went out and found the perfect yellow polka dot shirt and red shoes like the ones on the cover of the book, then did a fun photoshoot! One of my greatest joys has been watching Daniel as a Daddy. He couldn’t be a more perfect Dad and I’m so thankful that Everly has him. He was definitely born to be a father. It just comes so naturally to him and Everly absolutely adores him. She lights up whenever she sees him and they have the most fun playing together! Dan is always constantly coming up with fun and exciting ideas for her and he always gets the best belly laughs out of her. I could sit and just watch them play together forever and be totally content. One of my favorite things to watch them do is dance together. We recently turned our garage into a music and recreation room and Daniel and Everly have frequent dance parties out there complete with colorful lighting around them. Watching Everly learn and grow is amazing to me and each day brings something new and fun to celebrate with her. She’s talking so much lately! The latest words she’s been saying a lot are “hat, hot, red, blue, bear (bee), bird, daddy, and bye.” She loves pretending to go bye bye and waves her hand up high and says “bye dee.” We haven’t quite figured out who or what “dee” is but we’re thinking it’s either “Mickey” from watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse or our pup “Rusty.” Either way it’s adorable listening to her and it makes us giggle each time she says it. Despite the current circumstances of the world these days, we’ve been experiencing so much joy together as a family. I don’t take any of it for granted and thank God everyday for the privilege to be Everly’s mom.