~ The Call Family ~

Temple Square

2011-12-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, we recently moved to Salt Lake. We are loving being so close to so many temples! The other night we took the kids to temple square to see the lights. Halle's two major obsessions right now are temples and Christmas trees so she just thought this was the coolest thing. Like I said, we are just loving being able to live so close to so many temples. When we went to temple square we saw the Salt Lake Temple, then on the drive we passed the South Jordan Temple, and then we live right next to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple - all within 30 minutes of each other. Talk about amazing! Halle loves the fact that we get to see our Oquirrh Mountain Temple every single day. It brings such a peaceful spirit to me to be able to have this temple right next to us. Kim had a few hours to spare between work appointments today so he ran home and got his temple bag and was able to do a session during his work day. So amazing!

Here are some pictures from our Temple Square adventure.

Autumn Leaves

2011-11-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

On our way out the door for church the other day Halle decided to take a detour and jump in the leaves a few times, so Kim snapped a few i-phone pictures.

Six Months Old

2011-11-03T20:16:00.001-07:00

I cannot believe that my sweet little baby is already half a year old! It has been so fun getting to know this little guy the past six months. His personality has really been coming out lately. He is seriously the sweetest little thing. Ok, I guess he isn't really a little thing, he weighs about 20 pounds and has been wearing 12 month clothes for a while now! haha! But really, he is just so sweet. He has such a calming effect on me and is just so mellow and pleasant to be around. I am so incredibly grateful for him and how healthy and happy he is. I don't think I can count how many times a day I thank my Father in Heaven for my children. I love them so much!

Nathan recently started eating baby food! He loves everything I give him. Not kidding, the kid will eat anything!

Halloween

2011-11-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween this year full of painting and carving pumpkins, baking pumpkin seeds, decorating haunted cookie houses, and of course, trick or treating!

Best Friends

2011-09-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

One thing that I did not expect when I brought Nathan home was how much I would enjoy watching my two children bond. It has been the sweetest experience to watch these two together every day! They have so much love for each other. I was worried that Halle might get jealous sometimes or tired of having a baby around, but that has never happened. Halle is so protective of her little brother and is so sweet and caring to him. She tells him every day, "I love you, honey." And if he is crying she will come running to him and say, "don't worry, Halle is here, Halle is here." When he wakes up from a nap she will climb up on his crib and say, "Good morning, son! Sweet dreams?" She is always patting his head and giving him hugs and kisses. She is so incredibly gentle with him and so patient if he is having a fussy day. And Nathan totally adores Halle. It is the sweetest thing ever to watch his face light up when he sees her. He smiles and coos at her all day long and giggles at whatever she is doing. These two just melt my heart! I love my kids!

Hair Cut!

2011-09-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Nathan inherited my grow-like-a-weed hair and has had two hair cuts already!

Time for a hair cut...
I'm scared!

Save me, mom!

I guess it's not so bad.

Ok, seriously are we done yet?

Such a handsome little guy!

Canyon View Park

2011-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

We love going to this park and have spent so much time here. It's the perfect place to let Halle run around and explore, but it is only about two or three miles from the house so we can hurry home if the baby gets fussy. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place!

Daddy Daughter Dates

2011-09-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

Kim and Halle went on several dates this summer :) Usually to the golf course, Kim even bought Halle her very own golf club and purple golf ball. She practices all the time and is actually getting pretty good! She loves going on these little dates with her Dad and is always asking him, "date, honey?" (lately Halle has been calling Kim and I 'honey' instead of mom and dad, haha!)

Where has the time gone!

2011-09-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, time really flies when there is a new baby in the house! Between the two kids I have had zero free time so I have not been able to blog much, but I will try to catch up little by little! It's so sad to see summer leaving us, but we have had a fun one and have loved being our little family of four! Here are some random pictures, no particular order.

The Fair.

Snow cones!

Grandpa's birthday.

Just hanging out.

2011-08-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

We got hit with a huge hail storm yesterday. At first Halle was so scared because of all the noise, but then she thought it was cool that golf balls were falling from the sky, haha! My camera battery was dead during the actual storm, so these pictures were after the hail had already started to melt, I have never seen hail so big!

Rainy Day

2011-08-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

It was raining like crazy today so Halle made the most of it and spent the morning outside in the downpour, thank goodness for her rain coat!

Fourth of July Weekend

2011-07-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

We had a very busy and very fun Fourth of July weekend! On Saturday we went with my family up to Granite Hot Springs then had a picnic. Sunday was Halle's Birthday (she is three!) and also Nathan's blessing day. On Monday we went to Murphy Lake with my family. We had a wonderful time and it was so great to be able to spend so much time with the family. I am so grateful Halle has so many cousins her age, she has so much fun with them and is always talking about them. It was a great weekend!

This is Nathan in his blessing outfit. Kim gave such a beautiful blessing, how lucky the kids and I are that Kim is such a wonderful Daddy!

Lighting fireworks...

Sharing a bowl of popcorn with Nicole and Danielle.

Opening her birthday presents. She got totally spoiled.

We celebrated Amy Rose's birthday on the fourth at Murphy.

Swimming at Granite.

Nathan resting in the shade.

Vacation time is such hard work ;)

Halle's cousin and little buddy Danielle.

Grace, Danielle, and Halle.

Lately...

2011-06-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

One Month Old

2011-06-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hello Summer :)

2011-06-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally decided to show up in Star Valley and we are loving every minute of it :)

Nathan Kim Call

2011-05-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

Nathan was born on May 2nd at 10:09 A.M. He weighed 8 lbs and 1 oz. One of the nurses said Nathan was one of the healthiest and pinkest babies she has seen.

Just a few minutes after the c-section.

Proud Daddy.

I was one tired Mamma after going through labor all night and then having a c-section.

It was a special treat to have Grandma and Grandpa there shortly after delivery.

Grandma Amy, what a wonderful grandma to both Halle and Nathan.

My sweet little family.

Grandpa Jim was able to come by the hospital a few times to see his new Grandson.

Halle is already so protective of baby Nathan. She loves him so much.

Ready to go home.

Our sweet little guy.

Easter

2011-04-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter weekend filled with lots of fun activities on Saturday and then spending Sunday with Kim's family for Easter dinner. Enjoying the beautiful sunshine after church.

I set up an easter egg hunt for Halle in our back yard.

Decorating Easter eggs. Halle thought it was the coolest thing ever.

We went to the Easter egg hunt in town. Halle got a whole two eggs ;) She was so proud.

Poor girl was scared of the Easter bunny.

Showing off her new coat from Grandma Amy.

The Park

2011-04-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

The snow has finally melted enough to play at the park! Halle has been asking all winter to play at the park so it has been so fun to finally be able to bring her there.

Halle's Happy Song

2011-04-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Halle loves to sing. She goes around all day singing her cute little made up songs. She loves watching American Idol with me so I think that's where she gets it. She pretends the guitar stand is a microphone and then she sings her little heart out :)

Mess-maker Halle

2011-04-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

So Halle has been going through this phase lately where she thinks making messes is the most awesome thing. And she tends to wait until I'm in the shower to do her dirty work. I used to just laugh, shake my head and say, "kids will be kids," then go about cleaning it up. Now that I am almost nine months pregnant, cleaning up messes isn't so funny anymore. Mostly because it is seriously painful to bend over, so lately I have been crying over the messes so I just had to take a picture of her recent huge mess of pancake mix all over the house so that I can laugh about it later when I am not nine months pregnant anymore. ;)

"Get 'em Mamma!"

2011-04-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

One day there was a spider on the ceiling. We usually don't have very many spiders in the house so it's a big deal to Halle when there is one. Halle noticed the spider and said to me, "get 'em mamma!" Well, I wasn't about to stand my pregnant self up on a chair in the middle of the kitchen to kill a spider so i just said, "no Halle, moms are scared of spiders." She got this cute little expression on her face and ran to the bathroom to get a tissue. She came running back into the kitchen and with a proud little look she said, "I get 'em mamma!" So she pushed a chair under the spider and tried for several minutes to get the spider, even though it was several feet out of her reach, the whole time saying, "reach! reach!" thinking that she would eventually reach far enough to get that spider. Every once in a while she would look over at me and with a proud expression say, "I get 'em mamma!" Oh what would I do without my brave little spider killer to get those spiders that moms are scared of :) What a cutie.

"Bake?"

2011-04-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

Halle asks me to "bake?" several times a day. She loves being in the kitchen helping me cook. It doesn't matter if it is cookies or soup or anything else, she just loves being a little chef!

Private

2011-03-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

I am thinking about making our blog private in the near future so if you would like an invite please leave your e-mail address in the comments, thanks!

Singing with Rylee

2011-03-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday Stroll

2011-03-13T14:25:00.001-07:00

Today after church we went for a little walk around Afton in the beautiful sunshine :)

Halle had to stop to give the bears on Main Street some hugs and kisses.

Kim insisted on a prego picture so here it is. Me at 7 1/2 months pregnant. And yes, I do feel as big as I look, our little guy is getting to be a very big boy!

It was another beautiful Spring day :)

Spring

2011-03-11T16:36:00.001-08:00

Ah yes, spring at last...ok so maybe there is a ton a snow still and it was only 30-something degrees, but the sun was shining and it felt like Spring :) So we took full advantage and spent the afternoon outside. Halle has been learning how to ride her bike inside for the last few weeks so she was so excited to give it a go outside on the road and sidewalks.

2011-03-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Halle is always getting into my shoes and she loves strutting around in my red high heels. She will beg me to take her picture and loves to pose for the camera, she is such a girl! And then of course I have to blog about it because she thinks it is the coolest thing to see her picture on the computer. :)

Rylee

2011-02-28T15:42:00.001-08:00

This is Rylee, sweet Rylee. She comes over all the time just to play with Halle. Halle is so in love with her and is always talking about "ryee". Rylee is always offering to help me with housework and stuff since I'm pregnant, she is so sweet. She is home schooled so she is always available to babysit any time I need her. We sure love our Rylee! :)

Names

2011-02-27T19:58:00.001-08:00

With the baby's due date just nine weeks away, we really need to decide for sure on a name. We thought we had it decided but we just don't know any more, so we are asking for your help! We need opinions! The names we have been throwing around are :

Nathan
Ryan
Marcus

Or if you have any other name suggestions we would be glad to hear it, boy names are hard! Thanks for your help!

Silly Halle

2011-02-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

Halle loves playing games on Kim's phone, she gets pretty into it sometimes :)

Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T17:55:00.001-08:00

We had a great Valentine's Day this year. We made cupcakes, went to lunch with Grandma Amy, made Kim a nice dinner, and enjoyed lots of chocolate :) Halle woke up to this:

Trying on the clothes Grandma Amy brought her. (Her mouth is green in these pictures because she just got done eating the treats from Grandma Amy :) )

Halle's favorite part of the day, eating the cupcakes!

We hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

My Little Snow Angel :)

2011-01-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning

2010-12-29T19:55:00.001-08:00

Beanie babies in her stocking. Her farm train set.

Showing off some of the chocolate she got.

Dora shoes!

Giving her toys a ride on her sit n spin.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Train

2010-12-13T18:13:00.001-08:00

Halle's big time obsession is trains. She loves them. She will pretend that any household object is a train and will go around singing "choo choo" at the top of her lungs. This morning she was pushing my hair clip all around the house insisting it was a train. She is constantly asking to watch Polar Express. The girl loves trains! So you can imagine her delight when we decorated not a gingerbread house for Family Home Evening, but a gingerbread train! :)

It's a...

2010-12-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

BOY!!! Yep, we are having a little boy. I had my fourth ultra sound today and everything is looking great. Now we just need to come up with some names, any suggestions? :)

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

2010-11-23T18:45:00.001-08:00

We got hit with a huge snow storm today. It was one of the biggest blizzards I can remember! After dinner we decided to go out and play in the fresh snow and shovel the driveway. Too much snow I guess, our shovel couldn't handle it and snapped! (or maybe Kim is just too tough :) )

Halle stayed busy eating all the fresh snow.

Winter!

2010-11-08T15:13:00.001-08:00

Yup, it's Winter. Halle and I have been enjoying the beautiful snow today. We have stayed busy playing outside, making slow cooker recipes, and drinking hot chocolate while watching our favorite movies :)

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween night spent with our good friends the Hansen's! We took Halle Ann and Hallie Mae to the Care Center to go trick-or-treating, went around to a few houses, then hung out at the Hansen's while the girls played. Thanks for a great time, Clay, Jodie, and Hallie Mae!

Happy Birthday Love!

2010-10-23T21:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my wife! I am so grateful for her pretty, smiling face! She has helped me so much, and continues to be an amazing strength to our family! You can see how much she is loved in Halle's face, and how grateful Halle is for a loving, dedicated mommy! Thank you my Melissa Ann Love for everything! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Autumn Leaves

2010-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Halle Ann loves to play in the leaves from our tree! We have a huge tree in our back yard so there are plenty of leaves to play in!

Our Baby

2010-10-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

Change of Dates

2010-10-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

I had my second ultra sound today and everything looks great! The baby was bouncing around everywhere and moving its little hands and feet :) According to the ultra sound the baby is measuring smaller than what it should have been so my Dr. moved my due date to May 3 to make sure the baby is as big and developed as it should be if they have to deliver early again. Just a week can make a big difference when it comes to the development of the baby, especially if it's early. So to keep things safe we are going with the later due date instead of the April one. But like I said, things are looking wonderful so far and hopefully it will stay that way :)

Pumpkin Painting

2010-10-12T09:00:00.001-07:00

Halle's favorite fall activity is painting pumpkins :) Happy as can be.

So creative.

Say cheese!

So excited!

Seriously, Mommy, another picture?

All done! What a masterpiece :)

Great News! I Am Pregnant! Due April 24!

2010-09-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Halle Ann

2010-08-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures from some hikes we have done this summer.

Lincoln County Fair

2010-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Fair was in town a few weeks ago. Halle just loved it! Then again, what kid doesn't?

She was a little nervous about riding the train by herself...but she did great :)Her favorite part of all was the kid place with the sandbox, and the best part about that was it was free!

Bear Lake

2010-07-22T12:44:00.001-07:00

We went to Bear Lake a few weeks ago, I just haven't had the chance to post about it yet. We had a great time! Bear Lake is always so much fun.

Rigby Lake

2010-07-06T21:39:00.001-07:00

We spent today at Rigby Lake with some of Halle's cousins. We had a great time and loved soaking up the sun!

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

Halle is Two!

2010-07-04T15:31:00.001-07:00

Halle Ann turned two yesterday! It is so much fun having her birthday be on the 3rd of July because there is so much going on for independence day that we have fun things to do all day long! We went to the parade and had a birthday BBQ and ended the night with lighting fireworks. I think she had a wonderful day and I hope she knows how many people love her! I am so grateful for this little girl and absolutely love being her mom!

Halle's Pool

2010-06-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

What's summer time without a little kiddie pool? Halle and Chloe both loved this little pool - that is until Chloe decided to try her teeth out on it. It popped within the first ten minutes it was up but oh well, they seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Happy Birthday To My Love!!!

2010-06-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Kim's Birthday! Wow, so he is pretty much one amazing guy. I love him so much. He is my true love and my best friend. I love how positive he is all of the time and how happy he always is and how happy he makes me and Halle. He makes me laugh every day. He is so sweet and sensitive to me. The first thing he does when he walks through the door after a long day of work is ask me what he can do for me, and even when I tell him to just relax I turn around and there he is doing dishes or folding laundry. He is the hardest working person I have ever met. I know he would do anything for me and Halle. He takes care of me and my daughter so well. I love him with all that I am and feel so blessed that he is mine for eternity. I love you darling, have a wonderful birthday!

Daddy's Little Girl

2010-06-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Halle Ann is so in love with her Daddy. She is constantly giving him kisses and hugs. And what a wonderful Daddy Kim is. He is so involved in Halle's life and plays with her every spare minute he has. A lot of times he leaves for work before Halle wakes up and comes home after she is in bed so if she wakes up during the night, he will kiss my forehead and tell me to go back to sleep and then he will go take care of Halle and sing her back to sleep, just so he gets a chance to cuddle her and be with her, no matter how early he has to get up the next morning or how tired he is. He just loves spending time with her and so he will take any chance he can get. I am so grateful he is this way because I know that Halle will always have her father so involved in her life and that they will have such a wonderful close relationship because they already do. What a lucky little girl Halle is to have such a wonderful father!

Silly Stuff

2010-06-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

So there was a little bit of a problem with the plumbing in the bathroom when we first moved into our house so I had to give Halle her baths in the kitchen sink until Kim could fix it (good thing my hubby is a plumber, eh?) And Halle just thought it was the funniest thing ever! At first she kept looking at me so confused, like, "Mom what am I doing in the sink?!" But then she realized she really liked it and just laughed and laughed!

Our Home

2010-06-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

We have been blessed and were able to buy a home. We have enjoyed it so much - especially Halle, I have never seen her so happy :) It is an older home that has been completely remodled both inside and out. New sod and sprinkler system too. We plan on doing some kind of landscaping eventually.

This is the back and also a shop in back of the garage.

The back yard. Halle and Chloe's favorite part of the house :)

Halle's New Play Mate

2010-06-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

This is Cloey, Hal's early birthday present! She is just the sweetest little thing. Halle and her have become fast friends :) They are constantly following each other around everywhere - little partners in crime seeing what they can get in to. I couldn't get the best pictures of them, trying to get a toddler and a puppy to sit still for a picture was just not going to happen. We sure love our sweet little Cloey :)

Some Sun at Last!

2010-05-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Star Valley still thinks it is winter so we haven't been able to get much biking in lately, but we were lucky enough to get a little bit of nice weather this week so we jumped at the chance to get our bikes out again and go for a little ride. We can't wait for summer to get here so we can do lots more biking:)

What do I even say???

2010-04-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well. Halle loves to run through mud puddles. Today she decided to stick her head in one! Is my baby crazy? I think yes.

I am Grateful...

2010-04-12T15:33:00.001-07:00

Today was Halle's very last Synagis shot ever!!! :) Because she's a preemie she has had to have a Synagis shot every single month since she was born during the flu/rsv season (october to april) to help with her weak immune system. And because she is almost 2 she doesn't have to have them anymore, yay! Even though I am grateful that we are done with all that, I am even more grateful for living in a day and age where my preemie has been able to get all of the medical attention she has needed. She has had some wonderful Dr.s and we feel so blessed for how well she is doing and for how far she has come. It hardly feels like she is a preemie sometimes because of how fast she is catching up and how strong she has been. We sure do love her and are so blessed to have her in our lives. She brings so much joy to us and we are so grateful that God has blessed us with our little miracle.

Biking Time!

2010-04-04T18:16:00.001-07:00

About a week or two ago we were getting some beautiful weather so we were able to go on lots of bike rides! This winter we have been working on getting biking gear so we would be ready for biking season. This is Kim with his bike he got for Christmas. Here is Halle in her bike trailer. It's nice because it converts into a running stroller as well. She loves it so much, when we are not out using it she will just stand at the back door and point to it.

Kim got me a bike as well and I have enjoyed it so much.

This is what happens when Halle helps me make brownies...

2010-03-20T18:31:00.001-07:00

Gettin' a little Crazy!

2010-03-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

So, Halle and I have been going out of our minds crazy waiting for Spring to get here so we can go outside to play so needless to say, we get a little silly at times trying to find things to keep this little girl entertained.....today she decided to play dress up, the outfit was totally all her idea. She is so obsessed with taking off her pants then strutting around in her nike shoes. She decided to add the headband too. Very stylish. Not sure what kind of pose this is...

Throwing a dance move in...

She cracks me up!

Then of course she had to pose in front of her princess mirror.

The funny thing is she totally thinks she looks awesome! Silly Hal.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day by going to Idaho Falls on Saturday and then today after church we decorated cookies, Halle loved it! She is so funny, after she was done decorating a cookie on one side she would turn that same cookie over and frost the other side! Haha! That's what I have her do with paper when she is coloring so I guess she figured the same rules apply when you frost cookies too! :)

Playing Outside :)

2010-02-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

New Car!

2009-12-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

We traded our Nissan Altima in for a 2008 Ford Escape and we love love love it! It handles so well on these Star Valley winter roads. Halle loves it too and loves being able to be up higher so she can see everything better. I am loving all the space in the back and it is so comfortable to drive. It is such a fun little family car!

Christmas

2009-12-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was so fun to be able to spend time with lots of family we don't get to see very often. Halle got way too spoiled but has been loving all her new toys! I forgot to charge my camera so I didn't get very many pictures but here is Halle with her Santa present:

We got her this little stuffed puppy that barks and wiggles its tail and as soon as Halle saw it she started cuddling with it and giving it hugs, it was so cute! She loves it!

Sleigh Ride!

2009-12-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

Halle Ann LOVES the snow!

Piggy Tails!

2009-12-11T15:14:00.001-08:00

Yay!! Halle's hair is finally long enough for little tiny pigtails! :)

Santa Claus?

2009-12-11T12:32:00.001-08:00

Kim's Photos

2009-11-30T22:02:00.001-08:00

Here are just a few of the photos Kim has taken recently.

Thanksgiving Break

2009-11-28T15:54:00.001-08:00

We have been enjoying our Thanksgiving break to the fullest! Kim got lots of time off work and it has been so much fun being able to spend so much time together as a family! We had thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dad's house and dinner was awesome, as always, thanks Mom! Yesterday we went up south end and got our Christmas tree and decorated it last night! Halle loves all the lights and ornaments. She keeps pointing at the tree with a big cheesy grin and just giggles.:) Tonight we are going to the parade of lights, I'm pretty excited to see Halle's reaction to that! We hope everyone had a great Holiday!

Way To Go Kim!

2009-11-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

Kim has been way into photography lately and has been having so much fun with his Dad's camera. He recently entered some of his work in a few contests. One of the contests was through Thriftway in Afton and he was one of the winners! Thriftway recently remodeled their interior and picked several photos that people have taken from around the Valley and one of Kim's photos was picked to be hung. Nice job, sweetheart! Keep up the good work! I'm proud of you and I am sure your Dad is too! :)

Little Helper

2009-11-20T08:43:00.001-08:00

Halle Ann loves "helping" me do the laundry. She likes to climb in the dryer so she can get all the clothes out so she can put them in the laundry basket. What a good little helper I have!

This is when she realizes she isn't quite sure how to climb back out! :)

Precious

2009-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

One of Halle's obsessions is books. She loves books! This morning I put her in the living room to play with her books so I could get a few things done. When I went to check on her she was sound asleep on her books. So sweet:)

Silly Hal

2009-11-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

Today while playing in the kitchen Halle suddenly became unusually quiet so I went to go see what she was up to. I found her like this, just hanging out in one of my casserole pans....it doesn't take much to entertain this little one!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone had a fun Halloween! We sure did! We carved our pumpkin, baked pumpkin seeds, ordered pizza, watched movies, and passsed out candy to all the trick or treaters! Halle was scared of the pumpkin at first but she warmed up to it eventually:)

Beautiful Fall

2009-10-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying a beautiful Fall and soaking up every bit of sunshine and outdoors while we still can!

Crazy Hair!

2009-10-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Halle Ann loves bath time and will play for hours on end so I have to find something to entertain myself...

Waiting for Daddy to get home...

2009-10-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Halle's favorite part of the day! She gets so excited when Kim gets home from work, it is so cute! She sure is a Daddy's girl!

Precious Power of Prayer

2009-09-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

This week my primary lesson is on prayer so it has given me lots of time to ponder on what a beautiful blessing it is to be able to speak with my Father in Heaven anytime I need. I decided that I would try teaching Halle about personal prayers for the first time, she always has family prayer with us, but I have never had personal prayer with her. So this week before I put her to bed, I showed her how to kneel by her crib and I held her close as I said a simple little prayer talking as if it were Halle instead of me to show her what to say if she were to say the prayer. Instantly she stopped her wiggling and just looked at my face with the most precious peaceful look on her face. When the prayer was done I layed her in her crib and she continued to look so peaceful. I told her that I loved her and I left the room. Usually, she cries for a few minutes before she falls asleep, but not that night. She didn't make a single noise and when I went to check on her a few minutes later, she was peacefully sleeping. It brings tears to my eyes to think about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful little example in my home of being sensitive to the spirit. Even if she didn't understand all the words I was saying, she still was able to recognize the spirit and the peace that it brings. It is no wonder that little children are heirs to the celestial kingdom.

Having way too much fun...

2009-09-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

So, this is what happens when Daddy is supposed to be getting the baby ready for bed :)

Yeah!!!

2009-09-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Halle Ann took her first steps today! :)

Teeth!

2009-09-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, my 14 month old FINALLY has teeth! I was trying to get a picture of them but just got some cute smiles instead!

My Little Cupcake

2009-09-13T12:17:00.001-07:00

Oh, Halle!

2009-09-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

So, Halle is loving being a typical little one year old who loves crawling around everywhere getting into EVERYTHING! I found her like this when I forgot to shut her closet door...she had pulled almost all her diapers off the shelf and she seemed pretty proud of herself:)

The Love's of My Life!

2009-09-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Camping!

2009-09-05T14:56:00.001-07:00

We went camping last night with our best friends, Case and Lexi. We had so much fun! Thanks for a great time guys and thanks mom for watching Halle!

Bear Lake!

2009-08-01T20:35:00.001-07:00

We went to Bear Lake today and had a wonderful time! We were laughing so hard at Halle the whole time because she was having the time of her life and was squealing with delight at all the waves. She loved it!She looked so cute crawling around in the shallow water.

Hanging out with Daddy.

Catching some waves.The love of my life.

What a stud!My baby.

So sweet!

Loving the water.

She was so tired by the end of the day!

Growing Up

2009-07-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Halle Ann has hit a whole bunch of milestones all at once! She is crawling everywhere (finally) and pulling herself up on all the furniture and taking steps all along it. She is going to be walking before we know it! She sure is catching up fast!

Daddy's Girl

2009-07-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Kim is the best Daddy in the whole world. Halle and I are two very lucky girls!

Cottonwood Lake

2009-07-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

Don't we live in the most beautiful place?! We are so lucky.

Happy Birthday Halle!

2009-07-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

For Halle's birthday we drove up to Cottonwood Lake and then went to Mom's house afterward for a delicious steak dinner and birthday cake. Thanks for having us over mom! We love you Halle Ann!

July 3rd 2008 10:38 pm

2009-07-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

One year ago...

2009-07-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, so I can't believe it's been a year since we welcomed our little angel into our family. Thinking back on the experiences we had this past year brings up so many emotions. I realize that I haven't really shared mine and Halle's story of when she was born, so here it goes: I knew something just wasn't right when I began to have TERRIBLE swelling problems. And I mean terrible. For those of you who remember go ahead and laugh because I find it quite comical myself thinking back on it. My legs literally looked like sausages, my feet were HUGE and I couldn't even find a pair of shoes that would fit, my face was so swollen that there was no way to even put make up on, and my hands looked like latex gloves that had been blown up. I knew that swelling during pregnancy was normal, but this was so not normal. By the end of the day my feet would be black and blue from the swelling so Kim would try to push all the fluid up out of them each night. Because of all the swelling I had gained 20 pounds in 2 weeks. I was sick to my stomach all the time and could hardly eat anything at all. I had been having terrible headaches and had been seeing white spots in my vision. So quite obviously, something was wrong, and I just knew it. The problem was we had just moved to Oklahoma and didn't have a Dr. yet, so I didn't know what to do. I studied my pregnancy books trying desperately to find an answer. I kept coming upon preeclampsia and decided the only way to know for sure was to check my blood pressure. So I waddled myself into walmart to check my blood pressure at the pharmacy there. Yep, sure enough it was high. It read 164 over something. So then we decided we had better head over to the hospital, so I walked into the ER and told them that something was terribly wrong with me and that I thought I had preeclampsia. So they hooked me up to a blood pressure monitor that was scheduled to take my blood pressure every few minutes (it was up to 174 over something by then) and they took some blood and said they would be back with my lab results. About an hour later a whole swarm of nurses and Dr.s came running into my room with a stretcher and began poking me everywhere with IVs and steroid shots (to help the baby develop quickly) and a catheter because I would be on complete bed rest. In the midst of all this they were trying to explain to me that I had severe preeclampsia and that they were sending me to Oklahoma City (we were in Lawton at the time) by ambulance so that I could have the baby in OU Medical Center, one of the best in the country for their NICU care. The next few days were a rollercoaster. They were trying to keep me pregnant as long as possible so I was not allowed out of bed at all. This caused a lot of the swelling fluid in me to go to my lower back and thighs which caused terrible pain. I thought my skin might burst! I couldn't roll over because of all the monitors and IVs that I was hooked to, so I just had to endure. I had these funny machines on my legs that would squeeze really hard and then let go so that I wouldn't get blood clots from bed rest. Every few hours the nurses would poke me to take blood for more lab test because my liver and kidneys were failing. They would have to poke me several times to get enough blood because of my constricted veins and all the scar tissue from being poked so much. They started in my arms and wrists and hands but eventually had to start taking blood from the tops of my feet because they just couldn't get enough from my arms. They mentioned they might have to start taking blood from my neck soon, luckily it never had to get to that point. I was on magnesium through my IV (a muscle relaxer) to help me not have seziers. This was the weirdest stuff. It made it so I couldn't breathe very well so I had to receive respiratory treatments. It also made me terribly nauseated and delusional. On the fourth day that I had been in the hospital, I began having the worst headaches I have ever had. When none of the hospital's pain medication helped, they decided that they would need to perform an emergency c-section. As Halle was being delivered, I heard her tiny whimper, and then I don't remember anything else after that. That was Thursday night, and I don't remember anything until waking up Saturday morning. I don't remember anything about Friday. I woke up Saturday with a oxygen mask on thinking how good it felt to finally be able to breath. There were pillows strapped to my bed all around me and somehow I knew I had had a sezier, though I don't remember anything about it. Because of my condition I was not allowed to leave my bed yet to go see Halle. It was hard to wait, but after a few days, I was finally able to go up to the NICU to see her. It was a good thing I was in a wheel chair when I first saw her because I'm afraid I might have fallen down. It was such a shock to see how tiny she was. It scared me. It broke my heart to see all of the tubes and monitors hooked up to her tiny body. As I regained my strength over the next few days I would make the trip up to floor 7 to see my baby and then back down to floor 4 to my room very regularly. I was in the hospital for about 2 weeks and when it was time for me to go back home, leaving Halle in the NICU was so hard to do. We stayed at my sister's house for a few weeks in Norman which is about 30 minutes from Oklahoma City, and then we went back to our apartment in Lawton that is an hour and a half away from Oklahoma City. It was so hard to go back home without her and to see her empty crib and to not feel her moving inside me anymore. We would go to visit her every other day. It was such a bitter-sweet experience when we would go to see her. It was so wonderful to walk into her room to see how well she was doing and to know how many ounces she had gained, but it was so hard to just leave without her again and again. After 2 months we were finally allowed to take her home! And she has blessed every day since then with her sweet spirit. I consider myself the luckiest mom in the world and love Halle more than I ever thought was possible. She is so precious to me!

Periodic Springs

2009-06-28T11:23:00.001-07:00

2009-06-28T11:14:00.001-07:00

Saturday evening we went on a hike up to the Periodic Springs. It was a beautiful evening and perfect weather for a hike. We were a little nervous about bringing Halle but she seemed to enjoy every minute, she is such a trooper!

Hal's Favorite Thing!

2009-06-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

We go to the park to play on the swings all of the time! As you can see from the pictures, Halle Ann loves it!

Picnic at the Park

2009-06-28T11:02:00.001-07:00

On Saturday afternoon we went to the park to have a picnic!

Playing Outside

2009-06-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

We have been loving all the beautiful sunshine we have been getting and go outside to play every day!

Sunshine and Summer Time!

2009-06-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

We took Halle swimming for the first time today! She was a little unsure at first, but once she got used to the water she absolutely loved it! She was so cute kicking her little feet as fast as she could. It was a very fun relaxing day at the pool! :)