You don't plug the IR in. It's only on when you're running the Wii.
That's the problem. You need an IR that's on all the time. You can buy a "Wireless Wii Sensor Bar" from NYKO at any GameStop. It's 2 IRs powered by batteries and works up to 20 - 25 feet.

The other unanswered quetion you had:
Q: "How do I get the Balance Board to connect?"
A: You have to mount it the same way you did the Wiimote. Open the lid on the battery panel on the bottom of the Balance Board and push the red button to get it to show up as a bluetooth device. You don't neccesarily have to have the Wiimote connected first to do so.

You don't need GlovePIE at all if you already have a succesful connection going and have figured out how to get the Wiimote to work. That's is simply adding yet another level of abstraction between you and what you are trying to accomplish. Plus you are expected to drop everything and learn yet another scripting language to use it.
But there seems to be plenty of websites out there insinuating that it's the only way to connect your Wii to the PC.
Actually there is another way. It's called Gamestudio using ackwii

As long as your Bluetooth is connecting you should be in the clear. For those who can't get the Bluetooth to connect, GlovePIE is not going to fix that. Check the list of compatible Bluetooth devices on Wii Homebrew