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!

Softball

Weston joined a Christian softball league last season and is playing again this summer. The boys love to go see daddy play! 

 Swing batta...

Despite a few injuries here and there, he is a pretty good hitter. Of course the one time I actually record him up to bat, he gets out for the camera. :) 

 This season our friend Mike joined the team. Amy is a much better wife than me, she came equipt with this super cute sign to cheer her man on. ;D Ok, it was so hot and humid I should get brownie points for going 9 months preggo & chasing my monkeys around, right?

 So we just borrowed it! :) 

This is their little boy Blaine and he is the cutest little stinker. He always gives me this scrunchy face when I play with him but its ok because I just bribe him with candy and then he loves me.

Happy Day!

June 2nd was a really exciting day! Our friend Mike got baptized! He had been seriously investigating the church for about 8 months when he committed to baptism. Mike and Amy have been married for about 4 years and Amy has been a member for most of her life. She is the sweetest. When we first moved to KW, I was Amy's visiting teacher and shortly after that she met Mike. From the first time I met him, I could just feel that he was a really great guy and he is! It has been such an awesome experience watching them grow together as a family unit and see him embrace the gospel the way he has. We are grateful they are in our lives and that we got to be part of their special day! 

(Yes, I am 8.5 months pregnant in this picture, black is a wonderful thing!)

Weston baptized him and a week later gave him the priesthood. They went to the temple this past Saturday to do baptisms for the dead and plan to get sealed as a family in a year. :D

The Keifer's with Elder Byers & Elder Judkins

Warren's 1st Piano Recital

Suzuki:

About 5 months ago Warren began taking piano for the first time. He has loved music since he was very little. His teacher, Sister Thomas, teaches via the Suzuki method, which teaches first to learn to play by ear, then to read the notes a few years later. They also teach proper technique from the very beginning. Warren has been learning by very quickly and has a sharp ear. He is already playing songs hands together. For his first recital, he played pieces of equal difficulty to those of his peers who have been been taking lessons for a year to a year and a half. In the video, Sister Thomas says that he has completed 1 year of piano lessons but he actually didn't start until mid January of this year and his recital was May 26.

As a parent of a young child learning via Suzuki method I have to be very involved with his lessons & practicing, sitting down and working with him each day. In the beginning, it was very difficult for both of us because Warren is a perfectionist and was very hard on himself if he didn't get it just right the first time through. He would get emotional & discouraged quickly which was so frustrating for me because he learns so quickly! It was just about more than my patience could deal with. However, slowly we have learned to just keep going and he is much more forgiving of his own mistakes! That has been one of the most rewarding things to see him grow to be able to do! He was very nervous to play for everyone that night. There was about 50 or more people there but did really well! It has been really exciting to see him learn and grow.
(If you want to view these videos bigger click on them and watch them on YouTube.

1st piece - Honey Bee (hands together) 

2nd piece - Lightly Row (hands together)

Here is a video of Warren and I doing the duet version of Lightly Row. It's his favorite song. I thought Ben added an interesting back up vibe. :) I tried to cut out most of my 9 month pregnant belly but unfortunately it's hard to hide it at this point. ;P

Random music fun:

About a month ago Warren and I went on date to see the Riverwood Middleschool orchestra concert. Warren has been in love with string instruments, primarily the violin & cello, since he was 2 years old. Our friends son plays bass in the Orchestra and told us that THE Bridged Bibbins flew in the day before, played all night with the kids and mentored several on how to play her Viper (an electric violin she helped design) for the concert. Bridged is a famous violinist and has played professionally with many famous orchestra's & rock stars including: the Transiberean Orchestra, Van Halen, Christina Aquilera, Motley Crew, Josh Groban, etc. 

Despite her success in the professional world she has decided that mentoring kids is where her passion is and that's how they got her to come to our middle school! I wish I could post all the videos of every piece they played. It was a grade A rock concert with lots of energy and people waiving their cell phone lights in the dark! They played everything from the Beatles, Ozzy Ozbourne, Led Zepplin to Guns N' Roses. You could see how much the kids playing and the audience enjoyed it. Warren sat captivated for over 2 hours! 

(The Sunshine of your Love - Eric Clapton)

(Live and Let Die - Guns N' Roses)

For more about Bridged Bibbins click here:

http://bridgidbibbens.com/main/?page_id=440

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

Spring Soccer

(Warning: This is the first of several various "end of season"posts....Kindergarten & Piano recital to come!)

Warren had another fun soccer season this Spring. He really enjoys playing and worked very hard this season. He was often found in the backyard "practicing" with Ben. He's more of a recreational player but it has been fun to see him grow over the last two seasons. 

Throwing the ball in...

 He was more confident and even tried to steal the ball a few times...

 Aunt Misty was here from Cleveland on a house hunting trip and she got to come to his last game! 

He was so happy to have her there. :) She also came with us to our stake picnic later that day. I was grateful for her willingness to do the gunnysack races with Warren. ;) 

End of season party equipt with the EVER exciting soccer cupcakes! 

 Benjamin our "ball boy" was also very impressed. 

 Proudly displaying his "official" soccer medal with his teammates and Coach, AK Suggs. 

Good Job Warren! You did great! 

All the Easter Pictures ;)

I know Easter has come and gone. I have been nesting as of late and have neglected my blogging. Hopefully I can get caught up soon. :) 

Saturday before Easter, we set out to our traditional Easter carnival & hunt over at Town Square here in KW but discovered upon arrival it had been canceled for some strange reason. So thanks to the power of the iphone, we barely caught the only other Easter egg hunt in the area at the Porter VA center. The boys made out pretty good with stuffed animals and lots of eggs. 

After the egg hunts we came home and dyed Easter eggs.

If you look closely you can see a special Easter egg for the baby...can you find his name?

Some Yummy Easter treats I made for the boys and friends here in TX. 

 Easter morning our bunny was really tricky. He left baskets to enjoy before 9am church but didn't come back to hide the eggs until we were at church. The boys were excited to come home with a yard filled with fun. :)

Thanks to Grandma, their baskets were extra packed this year with all kinds of treats and fun stuff. :)