Good Things....

Warren started his first day of Joy School yesterday. He has always been a momma's boy and has a hard time being away from me but he did great yesterday. He greeted me first thing in the morning "Mom, I am all ready to go to school today!" He also informed me that pre-school is only for BIG boys, not for mommy's and daddy's.
Cuddling with brother.
Waking up to these cheeks.
Anytime you can sleep with one eye open, is always a good thing. Especially when you have a big brother who is always "cuddling" with you.

The meatloafs have officially left the building! I am so bummed that I did not get a before picture so I could really gather some oooh's and ahhh's BUT right now these ankles and feet couldn't be prettier to me. (Please disregard the need for a fresh pedicure) The last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, my feet and ankles got ridiculously swollen and became what I called during my 1st pregancy my "meatloafs". My ankles looked like I had golf balls under the skin and even my flip flops were too small. It was pretty sad. Anyways, aren't they beautimus? Notice the bones in the top of my feet and the nice angles and contouring. Aahhhhh.....

No rest for the weary....

While Dustin & Natalie were here visiting the boys got to spend some good quality time together installing our new hardwood floors. They worked there little tails off and they turned out awesome (before and after pictures to come). And yes, Weston accumulated some "needed" power tools to properly complete the project.
I always love to see Weston hard at work. ;) Check out those forearms baby......Aye!
Warren was a good helper and built right along with them. Isn't this a great house?
Hanky was our little cheerleader. He is the biggest flirt EVER. I could just eat him up.
Nat helped out a ton too. She manned the kitchen, dishwasher, stairs, Warren, Hank,.....enough said. Thanks so much for all you did for us! We love you guys and miss you already.



Warren and Hank hangin out on the Boardwalk.

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.

Crazy

We made it! We moved last weekend into our new place and we have been consumed cleaning and getting unpacked last several days. The heat has been grueling. I know, I know we are crazy and every day we go to bed totally exhausted. I am trying to get as much done possible before the baby comes on the 15th (I am scheduled for a c-section). That gives me 8 days before we meet Benjamin to have this place put together, which is a little difficult with this belly and swollen feet! We have already had new carpet laid and some guys are coming today to demo the rest of the floors downstairs (We are having new wood put in). Hopefully I can post some pictures soon, as soon as I find the camera!

Hall Family Vacation

While pretty much all of my friends are off on fabulous vacations, I on the other hand kicked off our vacation with a fabulous back packing adventure to the baby's room. I was lookin good sporting the 8 1/2 month pregnant belly, swollen feet and ankles (well, at least by 4 o'clock every day they are) and crickety hips.

So.... the weekend before last I started out doing great with packing. I packed the entire baby's room and some of Warren's toys (although, this week he started un-packing a box or two searching for his missing treasures). I guess all the bending and lifting got to me and I had a couple of intense contractions, so I called it a day....or should I say week....
The next week, we made it to the pool a few times with our friends (Janelle & Caryn) and REALLY.....I thought about packing everyday......
Warren drying off right before we were going to go home and pack.............
....(drumroll please).......packing progress last week.......(yes we have officially become alchoholics).....
My goal this week is to have these boxes filled.....or perhaps we'll just go to the pool. It is Texas in July and I am 8.5 months pregnant. Our closing date is the 29th and we are supposed to be ready to move on the 2nd.....do ya think we are gonna make it? Stay tuned.

4D Baby Benjamin

I had another ultrasound yesterday and this time I got these really cool 4D pictures of our little man! The discolorations and distortions you see are normal (amniotic fluid, etc) and they are not any kind of problem with him. It is so cool to be able to see what he (sort of) looks like. He was tucked into my side pretty good so she had a bit of a hard time getting a full face shot but the sum of all photos give you a decent idea. I love the one where you can see his little hands rested up on his cheeks. And yes, the little stinker is still breech. Humph.I am getting so anxious to finally meet him! (If the pictures are too small for you to see, just click on the photo and it should enlarge it in another window).

Oh baby!

This Saturday my friend Shelly (and her mom) threw me a baby shower! I wasn't expecting to be having one since I already have a boy. It was such a beautiful party and it was so fun for me to have all my friends together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our new little son. They had a luncheon & this yummy shaved chocolate, raspberry mousse cake... and the gorgeous flowers (that they sent home with me). Oh, and the gifts were nice too. Warren was born in the middle of the Michigan winter and this baby obviously is NOT. So, I was in need for some summer clothes for the little man. They also presented me with $250 (group gift) in American Express gift cards to help me get a good nursing chair. They totally spoiled me! I am so grateful for their thoughtfulness and feel really blessed to have such wonderful friends here in TX! Here are some of them:

Me with Katie A, one of the YW I get to hang out with. She always has a hug for me.
The hostess': Shelly and Karen Jensen. (I serve with Shelly in YW)
Me (behind the baby outfit) & friends: Kari, Pam & Marilyn....
Sister Ivory and Janelle....
Melanie F, Karen R & baby Jennifer....
Jennifer, Michelle & Lara....

Aunt Julie, Mary and Annette. I didn't get pictures of everyone but am so grateful for all who came!

Enough Already!!

Ok, so I have had several of you hounding me for a belly shot so here it is!! I am 31 weeks. I went to the doc yesterday and she did another ultrasound. Unfortunatly, I left with not so great news. Doc said that he is currently breech. She said that he could possibly turn before my due date but they will be obviously doing another ultrasound to check. Second, she said that his head is measuring in the 95th percentile for his gestational age. Just like Warren ( and thanks to dad!). I think this is a big reason I ended up having a c-section with Warren and I was hoping for a VBAC but both of these discoveries have made the outlook less promising. Oh, well...Warren is a smart little stinker so I guess that is the good part. We will have to see how things progress.

The "Man Club" Award Goes To...

This morning we had our ultrasound and we found out that we are having another little boy! It is so exciting to finally know! We are both thrilled. Weston has been rooting for a boy and so he is extra happy. He left the Dr office with an extra big grin...strutting his man stuff...like the next stop was the official "man club" where he would be officially awarded. He makes me laugh. We brought Warren to the ultrasound so he could see the baby. He has been convinced all along that we were going to be having a baby sister. I kept picturing another boy but I think Warren convinced me it was a girl too. Weston was really hoping for a boy and so he would often tell Warren that he thought it would be a baby brother. Warren would get upset and correct him..."No! It is going to be a baby sister!" During the ultrasound, Warrren kept repeating emphatically..."It is going to be a baby sister", "It is going to be a baby sister"! Finally at the end of the ultrasound the tech remained silent, she smiled, pointed to the genitals and then typed the word "brother" on the screen. When we told him it was going to be a baby brother first he seemed a little confused, then a little disappointed. After we explained that he could do all the same things with his brother (and more I'm sure) that he had been talking about with his baby sister, he seemed content.

Easter Fun

Easter Sunday-The bunny visited our house while we were at church. It was a fun filled day. After we hunted Warren's loot we made Easter Cookies, ate dinner and visited some of our good friends.
Saturday we took Warren to the Easter Egg Hunt at Towne Center Park in Kingwood. It was such a gorgeous day. It was about 68 degrees and sunny.

After the hunt they had a carnival all set up for the kids and Warren had a blast. He got to ride the train, hold some real bunnies, baby chicks & ducklings, and feed some reptiles. A man from the Houston Chronicle took our picture to pulish in Sunday's paper.

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!

Baby Mugshots

I went to the Dr last week for my re-ultrasound. As you can see these pictures are much clearer than the last. There is good news and bad news. Good news is that all looks well with the little one. Bad News (for me) is that the baby is measuring a little over a week smaller than expected. They haven't officially changed my due date. The end of March I go in for the 2nd trimester ultrasound and hopefully for me...baby will have done some catching up! I don't know if I can bear to be pregnant for a whole week longer in the sweltering mid-August (Texas) heat! Ahhh!

Save the Date...8/8/08 !!!

It is official...we are expecting another baby! I am due August 8th (8/8/08)..Tell me that isn't nifty! Hopefully, for the old timers it will make the date easier to remember! Anyways, our hearts are so full and we can't wait to meet this little spirit! Today was my first Dr appt and they did an ultrasound. Baby is still pretty small (I am 13 weeks) and for whatever reason the Doc said this ultrasound wasn't as clear as she'd have liked. The baby was curled up pretty tightly so she had a hard time getting the measurements she needed. I am going in for another ultrasound in 2 weeks to try again. Baby was pretty active though. You could see the heart beating, arms and legs moving around and he/she even flipped over once. Well, it is no secret that I am a big baby and as soon as I saw the little bambino, the floodgates opened and well you know happens then. The nurse brought the box of tissues and I just watched in awe. It is just the most sacred feeling to know that you have a little life inside of you growing. I am always amazed that Heavenly Father trusts us with the power to create life.
As you can see Weston and I are not the only ones that are excited to meet the new baby. We finally told Warren a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't sure if he would grasp the concept since he is still pretty little. The very next morning he raced out of his room with his favorite monkey stuffed up his shirt beaming "Look mom, my belly is he-ooge!" So, I guess he gets it, huh? Well, he keeps telling us that it is going to be a baby sister (we do not know the sex yet). A few day's after we told him, I caught him dazing off a little. This is how the conversation went:

E: What are you thinking about Warren?
W: My baby sister.
E: Is it going to be a baby sister?
W: (Grinning from ear to ear) Yea (pause)...mom, I am going to take care of her, and hold her, and read her stories, and play trains with her, and play soccer with her...
E: Wow, it sounds like you are going to be an awesome big brother...
W: (smiles) yea.... I am.

If that doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will!!