God's greatest gift...

July 9th was a very special day! 

We got to welcome our 3rd beautiful son into our family! 

My c-section was scheduled for 8:00 am which means we had to be at the hospital 

(which is downtown) by 6am. 

I never sleep much the night before I have a new baby. It's a combination of nerves (because I strongly dislike having c-sections) and excitement to finally meet this new babe.

Last shot of this baby belly. 

Getting all checked in, changed and sterilized for surgery. 

Oliver Jay Hall was born at 10:02 am. 

He was 9 lbs 12 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long! 

Our healthiest baby yet.

I love my Doctor, Patrice Firpo. I love this picture because she is the tiniest lady and she is holding Oliver out toward the camera so his head looks almost as big as hers! ;) 

Getting cleaned & wrapped up. Being born is rough! 

Meeting each other. 

There is nothing more precious than gazing into a new precious little face for the first time. It was so great at the women's hospital because I got to hold him for a good while after he was born, while they finished the surgery. In my previous deliveries, I only get to see them for a minute and they take them away until I am out of recovery. It's always been disappointing. 

I was so happy to have that time to bond with him. 

Already looking for food!

They also brought him to me when I was in the recovery room and he got to stay with me for over an hour there! It was so so wonderful to have him with me there and be able to nurse him. This boy knew exactly what to do, too. Love Women's hospital! 

Just after his first bath. All cleaned up and settled in. 

Once I got settled into my room Larry & Misty brought Warren and Benjamin down to finally meet their baby brother. I've never seen such happy little faces. They were SO excited to meet baby Oliver.

They have both been so great with him and are always trying to help. 

This little boy is very loved. 

The next day after I was feeling a little better, Larry and Misty brought their kids down to meet Oliver too. Uncle Steve & Aunt Julie also came Sunday night to visit and meet him. 

Everyone got their turn snuggling his cheeks. 

Proud brother...

Proud daddy...

Handsome boy. 

Modeling his beautiful head of hair...

Flowers from my all my boys. 

Words can't express the love that a new baby brings. I am always amazed how each new little person opens your heart more and brings so much joy. We love you little Oliver and we so grateful you are part of our family! 

The Benjamin

We are happy to announce the arrival of our new son, Benjamin Weston Hall! Benjamin was born Friday, August 15th at 8:10 am. He weighed 8 lbs and was 20.5 inches long. He has been a wonderful baby so far. Very content and easygoing. Lets hope it stays that way! He was delivered via c-section and everything went well with the surgery and birth.

We had a bit of a scare with me after the surgery but all eventually settled down and I am doing fine. I had a rare reaction to the medication that the doc used for my spinal block and subsequently my heart rate dropped to 43 along with my blood pressure. A few shots of adrenaline got things back up to speed (literally) and then my heart rate and blood pressure were through the roof. After almost 5 hours in recovery they got me stablized and everything went smoothly after that. I was monitored by a cardiologist while at the hospital and EKG tests all came back great before I was discharged , so I am good to go.

Being born is rough.
Momma finally gets to meet him.....
All cleaned up...
Warren was SO excited to finally meet his baby brother and has been so sweet with him.

Family of four. Warren and Benjamin exchanged gifts. Warren picked out the green frog as a present from him to Benjamin (all his idea) and the blue train is for Warren from Benjamin.

This is a picture of the Hall Men. Dustin (Weston's brother), Natalie & baby Henry came into town on Saturday. It has been so great to have them here and we were especially grateful to be able to have family here to share this special time with us.

Benjamin flashing his charm at a mear 30 hours old....yea, pretty much the cutest newborn EVER! While Weston pulled up the car this funny old man brought me down in the wheel chair. He was just chatting away asking me all kinds of questions. He was pushing me so fast I was a little worried about having a minor collision on the way down. He informed me that there was a hill in the floor and so he had to gain speed to keep up his pace. Weston flashed a picture right at the end of the journey. We made it accident free and are finally home.

Mi casa es su casa...

Well, I haven't been very good at keeping the updates about our house drama's BUT..... it all started last October when we decided and announced that we were building a house and we have been/were. Well, to make a LONG story short, the builders were lame and took FOREVER to even start construction on our house. They originally told us it would be done March or April '08. Well, they didn't even break ground until April. Our lease on our house we are renting was up in June and our landlord was expecting another year lease to be signed, etc. There is a whole saga in between but we have been really prayerful about it and we decided earlier last month that we would start looking at existing homes and we did. Shortly thereafter, we found this house and we put our first offer in a few weeks ago. It is owned by an oil company and is currently empty, due to an employee relocate.We put in the initial offer a few weeks ago and after much patience with corporate we finally came to an agreement and received a signed contract last Thursday! The process has been painstakingly slow and stressful. The initial offer and counter offers had to be reviewed by at least five (picky) people, etc. (deep sigh...) We are very excited to FINALLY be able to have a place of our own. We are supposed close and move the end of this month. Just a few weeks before the baby will be born! That will be a little tricky to pull off with this belly and Weston's work/travel schedule but I'm sure it will all come together in the next 3 weeks right!? Here are some pictures.
We will have a mighty comfy guest bedroom. All friends and (most) family welcome!! ;) I was trying to get a shot of some of the trees in our yard. We have a ton of huge pine & oak in the front and 6-7 huge oak in the back. Our entire backyard is shaded at all times.
Its barely in the picture but the garage is to the right, detached with a covered breezeway from the back door.
The Front entryway.

Utah Adventures

We visited Utah from Feb 21- March 4. Here are a few of the highlights from our trip. Fasten your seatbelt!!! (In chronological order...)

Warren having a ball playing with Uncle Brian's chickens. I would have never guessed it growing up but my brother has become quite the organic famer/gardner. He has a huge garden with just about everything you can imagine planted in it, he currently has about 29 hens, 1 rooster, raises a pig and sheep every year, fulfills his yearly maximum of deer and elk tags and fishes year round. He is proud of his self-sufficency but I like give him a hard time that he feeds and slaughters his "pets". He just chuckles and dishes it right back. It was fun to see them. Aunt Maridee giving Warren his first real haircut. Usually he has pretty intense haircut anxiety when I cut it but he did fabulous with Maridee.
A little bonding time with my little sister Rachael. (Yes, you will always be my LITTLE sister...even if you are 18 now!) Love you sis.

We FINALLY got to meet my Nephew Jonah (blue eyes)! He was born on St Patty's day 2007...approximately 1 week after our last trip to Utah. I was not happy about that. I have been so excited to finally to meet him. As you can see...he is a cute little stinker. He was excited to meet his favorite Auntie Em too!In January '08, Dustin (Weston's brother) & Natalie had their first baby boy! They named him Henry Dustin. He is the sweetest little guy...and absolutely adorable! We couldn't get enough of him....especially Uncle Weston.

On March 1st, Dustin, Natalie & Henry were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple! It was such a beautiful ceremony. The spirit was so strong and I don't think I have ever seen anything more precious as when they brought in baby Henry to be sealed to them. Weston got to hold Henry while they performed the sealing. We were so honored to be in the temple with them. We love you!Our little family (all 3.5 of us) back on the steps were it all started 10.5 years ago. Henry was blessed the very next day. Warren was so excited to meet Henry and loved holding him.

Dad's New Tower

Soo, one of our favorite things to do (when time and organization permits) is go downtown and meet Weston for lunch. Whenever we approach downtown Warren always points out the skyline and talks and talks about all the "big, heooge towers." His eyes just light up. He just thinks it is the coolest thing ever that his daddy works in one of them. This was our first visit to "Dad's new tower. "
Warren, of course, loves to take his turn in dad's office. He is totally professional for a 2 1/2 year old. He already knows the mantra....talking on the phone, checking his email. We already have a multi-tasker on our hands! With his pointer finger clicking the mouse repeatedly and the phone up to his ear you can here him saying "yes, uh huh, I understand." If Weston and I get too loud he fervently shooshes us and reminds us "um, excuse me guys, I am doing my important work."

"If you build it, they will come."

I still need to be pinched myself... but yes, it is official! We are building a house! We are so excited! It should be finished somewhere around the end of April or May. We kept thinking about how few visitors we have had since we moved to Texas. Not that we can blame anyone...our accommodations have been a pretty meager, at best. So, we followed the inspiration which came from the movie Field of Dreams... "If you build it, they will come."