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! 

Move over Calvin Klein...

 Benjamin has entered the world of underwear and it doesn't get much cuter than this! 

Yes, we are officially potty trained! He has been so enthusiastic and doing so well! Give this boy a pack of Mickey Mouse undies, a potty treat, a sticker on his chart and he happily skips to the bathroom and back.

He has earned several gas station trips for filling up his #1 chart and a trip to CiCi's pizza for filling up his #2 chart! He made it an hour and a half car trip with no accidents, stays dry through naps and even wore real underpants to church the last two Sundays! :) Just in time to meet his new baby brother this Saturday! Yippee!

First year down...

May 2 marked the beginning of the end of school year festivities. It was the Kindergarten field trip/zoo Day for Warren's school and we had lots of fun. We have been a hundred times but somehow the boys never get tired of it. The weather was PERFECT and we had lots of fun seeing the animals, riding the train, picnicking and exploring the newly opened African Forest. 

We hung out all day with our friends the Prince's. My friend Melissa has four boys so its extra fun for them when we get together. I love seeing all their cute faces together. 

Henry (green), Ben P (blue), George (blue stripes) , Warren & our Ben. 

Warren and George are best buds. Warren has made lots of friends at school this year but I am so thankful he has a good LDS friend in his class at school. 

 Watching the sea lion show. Always a big hit! 

The end of the year Kindergarten concert. The four kindergarten classes combined sang a bunch of fun songs. They did great and Warren totally got into it with his own interpretive dance moves & actions. He's not usually the performer so it was fun to see him get so into it. :)

Below are a couple of videos from his concert. If you are getting this via email you will need to go to our blog and watch them there. If you want to see the video bigger, click on the you tube symbol and you can watch it there. It is much easier to see Warren that way. He is in the top left corner. Second row from the top, fourth kiddo from the left. He's wearing a grey polo. 

"Good Morning To My Friends"

This is a funky version of "No More Monkey's Jumpin on The Bed." About 1.5 minutes into the video Warren starts really getting into it.

 Warren and his class just after the peformance. They were all very pleased with themselves. 

Kindergarten Photo's

(L to R)

Top: Warren, John, Caleb, Emmanuel, Slava, Aubrey, Madelyn

Middle: Kyle, Chance, Nicholas G, Nicholas L, George, Evan

Bottom: Chloe, Danny, Kathryn, Charlotte, Alissa, Mara, Mrs. McDaniel

Big man on campus...

Monday was a BIG day for the Hall Family! I can hardly believe it finally came but Warren has officially entered the world of Kindergarten! He has told me for months he was excited but nervous too. Mostly, worried about the lunchroom and "so many kids together and where I am supposed to eat."

He has adjusted really well and had a great first week. I'm not gonna lie. I know I have worried too much about this day and overall it was wasn't so bad. I kept having these "have I taught him enough" mommy moments in the past months. I know, I know...its not like we are sending him off to college or something but it was hard to enter this phase of life. I mean, I'm officially a member of the PTA for goodness sakes!

My anticipation grew as the summer came to a close & was looking forward to back to school night when we would get to find out who his teacher was and meet her. BTSN came and I did feel a little better afterward. His teacher seems awesome, his LDS friend George got the same teacher as him, the classroom was good and most of the other kids that will be in his class (and their parents) seemed pretty normal. ;) Warren apparently made a great first impression on one little girl. (At BTSN) We had just walked into the door of the classroom and paused as Warren started looking at a shelf of books just inside. As I scanned the room, I immediately noticed a little girl staring at him with a huge smile & hypnotic stare from across the room.  Unbeknownst to Warren, it was like a love at first sight scene from a movie. She slowly approaches him and says "Hi, my names Mara, what's your name?" Warren blushes, "Warren." Then she says (smiling even sweeter) "Wanna come over and see the crab?" Warren now looking DOWN & blushing, "ok". Then, she reaches down, takes his hand and walks him over to the crab and begins to tell him all about it. :) Weston and I just looked at each other and laughed. See!! Just one of the many on my list of things I SO didn't want to have to start to worry about! AND.... guess who he has eaten lunch with nearly every day this week? lol 

 Anyways, the tears came and went a few times for me the first day. I miss having home with me like crazy but we are getting used to the new schedule. Ben is in heaven with free reign to the house & toys. :) 

Here he is bouncing down the sidewalk with his spiffy new school clothes, shark lunch bag & backpack. What a handsome lad I'd say. :) 

Just outside his classroom. Still happy. :) 

Now this series is where it all unfolds. We walked him over to his desk smiles still intact, found his assigned seat (mom starting to well up but staying strong), sat him down, gave him a quick kiss and goodbye, then I paused at the door at took these pics...

1. Smile has digressed to the tuff guy "I can do this" shagrin...        

                                         

                                                    

                                      2. Smile fades. Starting to look a little worried....

3. Smile fully disappears and the tears start to come... (mom chokes up, blows kisses, turns the corner and the tears...oh...they came...) 

I went home and cleaned my woes away. My friend stopped in with some flowers and stayed and chatted with me for a while. It meant a lot to me and sure brightened my day. Thanks Melanie. :D 

Time to go home! My heart jumped when I saw him sitting there. He made it through the day and didn't get kidnapped!! lol  Here he is lined up for pickup outside the school. He was so cute sitting there waiting next to his new friend George and see that little girl sitting in front of him, staring at him with the pink shirt? That's Mara. Notice his blank-less stare in the opposite direction? lol :) 

He jabbered the entire way home. Loved every minute. They walked around the school, found the bathroom, did a fire drill, ate lunch with Mara and played with George at recess. I laughed when he got home the first thing he did was drop on the floor and rip his shoes off, then proceeded to tell me more. 

Giddy-up! Here we go! 

Take a Bow.

Yesterday Ben finally mustered the courage to start standing up all by himself! He crawls really fast and so anytime we try to get him to walk with us he always drops down after a few steps and takes off crawling. No time for such slowness, I guess. Anyways, we are excited to see some bold attempts by him in this area. We thought he was going to crawl forever! :)

The Real Thing...

Blessing Day Photos have finally arrived (I know, I know...you have been SO patient).Aren't I the luckiest mom EVER? We have this great deal worked out....I supply the food and he stores it up in his cheeks so I can nibble to my hearts content. So far it is working out perfectly.No outfit is complete without the perfect pair of shoes.
Weston gave a wonderful blessing and it was such a special day. We were grateful Oma & Opa could be with us too. They didn't send us the photos with them pictured with us, so you will just have to use your imagination.

Oh yea...did I mention I am the luckiest mom EVER?

BIG Boy Success......

Finally! Warren is totally potty trained! I am sure many other moms understand what an accomplishment this is! It has been a long journey for us. Originally, I had read and heard from so many people not to even worry about seriously potty training until your kid is like 3 because mentally that is the best time for them. However, just after Warren's 2nd birthday he showed lots of interest in going potty and so I wasn't going to deny us that opportunity!

Initially, he did really great. He was waking up dry in the morning & having very few accidents during the day so I thought....great! this will be a piece of cake! Well, shortly thereafter the novelty wore off and suddenly my perfect potty training experience turned into much frustration. It seemed the biggest issue was that he didn't like the inconvenience of having to stop playing to go to the potty. I persisted for a while but it wasn't long and any time I would remind him he would run away from me and yell "I don't want to go to the potty!" I was at my wits end with the boy. Everything I read talked about how it needs to be a really positive and rewarding experience and I could see that it was quickly becoming anything close to that. So, I just decided to layoff and drop the subject for a while. He was back in diapers and while I wasn't thrilled, it was better than fighting it 8 times a day.

In December we found out that we were expecting a new baby and so for obvious reason's I decided to introduce the topic again. Potty treats, charts, rewards, cool underpants, lots of praise etc. but nothing seemed to really motivate him to do it on his own. It wasn't the fight it had become before but it still took a fair amount of coaxing on my part.

So, one day we are at Target and I see this toy that I had been looking diligently for, for months. He always loved playing with it at his friends house. I was just as excited as he was to find it. I put it in the cart and Warren is giggling and cooing his little heart out, admiring it for the rest of the shopping trip. So, we get in the car and we are driving home and I get this mean mommy thought. I decided that when we got home I would let Warren open his toy ONLY after he started to use his potty for at least a couple of days. I was looking for his motivation to be sparked and I though this may do the trick. So we get home and he gets ready to rip into it and I put it up high and explained the deal. Well, needless to say he was seriously ticked off about that. I did feel bad because it was a bit of the switcheroo for him but he got over it and best of all, it worked!! He started to use his potty and three days later I let him open his toy.

Eventually, I bought him his own little potty (we were originally using the potty ring that sits on the big toilet). He loved it and wanted to use it all the time. It was the kind that played a song everytime he used it. Eventually, he grew tired of the song and turned that off. Childs play. He is very independant and so I think the best part was that it was "his" and he could use it without any help at all. He has been doing really well and it has been a couple of weeks with zero accidents and so I finally feel like I am safe to announce that he is totally potty trained! Woo Hooooo! That is the best mothers day gift, EVER!

bath junkie

Two weeks ago today I celebrated my 30th birthday. When it comes to my birthday I never really realize it is coming until a day or two before and for the most part they have always been free from what I now call "birthday anxiety". First of all, I don't think 30 is old. Lots of my friends are in their 30's (and older) and I have never given it a second thought. For me however, I have to admit that for some reason now I just feel different. I guess I just never really pictured myself 30 something. I keep thinking... I am 30 now and before you know it I will be 40...then 50...etc and for some reason there isn't a huge distinction in my mind. Well, I am determined to be optimistic. I mean look at all that I have experienced and accomplished in 30 years! Ok, maybe I shouldn't think about that. ;)

Well...we had a wonderful day. It started out with a suprise breakfast in bed... eggs and cinnamon rolls! I have always said that Weston is interesting and Warren is creative so there you have it! Then we headed up to the Woodlands, a city just north of here that has great shopping. I was sporting my 5 month pregnant belly, newly purchased white linen maternity capri's & tissue tees, 2 handsome devils by my side and just a teeny weeny bit of "birthday anxiety". The boys took me out for Mexican (my personal fav) and we did some shopping.

There is a great outdoor mall that I love in the Woodlands but often times I miss all my favorite shops because I have Warren with me. I would call myself an ambitious shopper but attempting to take a toddler into Sur La Table or Z Gallery just isn't the kind of challenge I wish to waste my energy on. Weston entertained Warren outside while I wandered around as long as I wanted. It was fabulous! I even discovered my new favorite store. I saw it from a distance and from the first glance it beaconed me. bath junkie. I think they must have named the store after me! (Hey now, it WAS my 30th and so I am allowed to be egocentric for one day!)

Well, I just fell in love with it. I describe it as a celestial bath laboratory. They have the greatest product line made from all natural ingredients and a fragrance bar to choose from. You pick out what you want, mineral scrub, bath salts, lotions ,whatever and you design your fragrance and pick a color and wah lah! Bath Heaven. I promise this is a real franchise, you cannot sell it out of your house and you won't start getting sales calls from me in a day or two.

After shopping I went and had a pedicure done at the Aveda Institute. I don't normally do sparkles but I was feeling like I needed a little shimmer somewhere below that belly so I picked out a hot pink base with orange sparkles slathered on top. I did leave with a little bounce in my step. Afterwards we headed for home because as great as the guys had been they were both worn out. After a gourmet homemade dinner ( a take and bake pizza) ....I disappeared. I shut the door and sunk into some bath salts and bubbles. It is the best and cheapest therapy that you can invest in...it did the trick for me. Thirty shmirty.

Happy Birthday Warren!

Last Sunday (March 9th) Warren turned 3 years old! It is so hard to believe how time flies and how fast he is growing. It seems just like yesterday we brought him home from the hospital in his Michigan winter attire.

What can I say about this little miracle that we have in our lives...except we are the luckiest parents in the world to have him in our family. I don't think a day has ever gone by that I haven't thanked my Heavenly Father for him.

Warren has always been a little man. Even as a newborn people always commented on how mature he looked. Friends and Family almost immediately started calling him Master Warren Maxwell Hall just after he was born. He has always had a very strong spirit about him. It is interesting as a parent to hear the things that people pick up on and tell you about your children. Most parents think their kids are perfect (rightly so) and so I realize that I may be biased, just a little. One thing about Warren that people have always said is that there is just something really special about him, that you can feel his sweet spirit. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this. As a mother I have always felt this about him (even when I was pregnant) and so it is endearing to hear that others pick up on that too.

As a toddler he didn't walk until he was 15 months old (and we were getting pretty worried) but by the time he was 19 months old he could recite his ABC's and was very articulate for his age. He continues to amaze us with his memory and imagination. He LOVES to read. It was about 9 months ago that we discovered that he could recite to us nearly all of his "reader" books, word for word, paragraph by paragraph. I have read those books at least as many times as he has and I could never do that! He has always been a sharp little cookie but we were stunned. Just after Christmas, over a matter of about 3 days (and very little practice) he shocked us again demonstrating to us that he knew all of his letters and letter sounds. He has an incredible imagination and comes up with the most entertaining stories.

He is a tender heart by nature and is very sensitive to people he around (and their moods) as well as his surroundings. He loves music and is obsessed with the violin and cello. At Christmas he saw a boy in our ward play his violin and ever since its all he talks about....and his trains (Thomas and Friends) and Lightning McQueen. He loves to cuddle on the couch and go to the gas station with dad to get cheetos and a "bug juice".

He is the light of our world and we are ever grateful for the joy he brings to us in our lives.

Happy Birthday Tiger!

A lightning McQueen Fishing Pole!

A remote control dump truck!

Birthday celebrations at Aunt Julie's house. They were so thoughtful to remember him on his birthday. They gave him a set of contruction trucks and made some yummy cupcakes!

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."