Baylee

Well Baylee will be two weeks tomorrow so I figured I better get this post done before a month has already gone by.

Baylee Cameron Hall

was born on October 13th 2009 at 7:47 am

I know what a lame day October 13th. I was hoping for the 12th.

Oh well we will not complain as it was the glorious day that she came out.

Well the birthing story goes....

I had been having contractions that whole weekend and had been bound and determined that I would have a baby that weekend. Rye was home for the whole weekend basically and it was Thanksgiving so it meant we had Monday as well for walking and all the things we could do to get this baby out. Friday night I had been up with tones of contractions and thought we were starting but by 4 they stopped and then we had nothing in Saturday. Sunday I started to have quite a few at church so Rye and I walked a tonne and every time we walked they would start and then when we came home they would quit. Anyway by Monday I figured we might as well just wait until next Monday as I was set to be induced. Then we went to bed Monday night. I had been having some contractions but still no real pattern to them. So we went to bed around 11. At 12:30 I woke up and was feeling like something was happening. I got up and got onto the computer. I was waiting until about 2 before I was going to wake Rye up. He came up from downstairs around 1:45. The contractions had been consistently 2-3 minutes apart for over an hour and were increasing in intensity. So we figured we'd better go. We go to Lethbridge and to the hospital around 3. I told Rye I bet I'm 3cm. Sure enough I was. So basically I labored for 4 hours at the hospital. If we lived closer I probably would of waited to go to the hospital but we didn't want to take any chances. Finally the doctor came around 7:15 and she checked me. I was now a 5 but very "stretchy" was the word she used. She broke my water and said go ahead and do what you need to do. She figured it wouldn't take to long. After she broke my water I could literally feel her slide down and well the contractions and the pressure intensified 10 fold. Well we basically had a baby by 7:47. It went fast and hurt like a bugger but it was done. I think both Rye and I did a quick check to make sure it was a girl....and it was a girl. We had no complications and everything went well. She has been doing well and has been a good baby. Other then she has her days and nights mixed up a little and loves to sleep during the day but likes to show me her bright eyes in the middle of the night.

Bryna has had a hard time. She is missing her mommy time and has a hard time understanding what "being gentle" means. So we are living day by day at the moment. We feel very blessed and are enjoying this last baby.

I am humbled by the miracle of birth. I think that as you get older and with the more children you have you appreciate the miracle even more. Because you know how fast they grow and how limited your time is with them and how that feel of holding a newborn lasts only a second and then is gone and replaced with tantrums and tweeny girls and an 11 year old boy. Let me say 11 year old boys are a breed of there own!!!

At times when I ponder what happened to the other little boy I was convinced we were going to have I am reminded of all the people I know (including my two sisters) who haven't been able to have there own children and I feel very blessed and am excited to be the mother of 4 teenage girls!!!!! Ryan on the other hand feels scared and nervous about raising 4 teenagers but I am truly just excited and love each one of them so much.

The world has gotten to be such a hard place and family no longer is a priority but I am grateful for all of the awesome people we know and have been surrounded by in our life. And for family who we love very much. So as I venture through this journey of motherhood faced with 5...yes 5 children I can only lead on my Savior for support and my friends who are such good examples to me. To my Colorado friends we love and miss you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I hope everyone is well and are having a good Sunday afternoon.

Terra

How many times have you been to the fire station????

Well that is the question I pose today. How many fire station field trips have you been on. I am sure I can beat you all.

After thinking about it the magic number is 7. Plus my dad was fireman growing up and so we went a few times when Tevin and Abbie were little. So I am boosting my number up to 9.

Does it get more exciting every time you go. Well no...but...the adorable 6 year old who get to ride the truck all the way to the station from the school was all smiles and had fun. And the 23 month old wasn't quite sure about the whole thing, especially when the fireman came in with his gear on. That got her up and running over to mom's lap ( whats left of moms) lap. I figure with two more children to go through pre-school and kindergarten we could have that grand total number up to possible 13 by the time I am done. And of course I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Pregnancy update - for all of you who are anxiously waiting for me to be out of my misery. Actually I have been feeling a little better. The bruised tail bone or chipped or whatever happened to it is getting a bit better. Although I am a little worried about pushing the baby out when most of the pressure comes from the back and you have to push. But I am sure the excruciating pain coming from my tail bone will be over ridden by my body being ripped in two.

I am done to a count we have 12 days left. The doctor is going to induce me on the 19th of October. So unless I have the baby earlier than that the 19th is the date. It is a little weird knowing the actual date that you will have your baby. Never had that before. I am excited and ready. Well I just noticed that Bryna fell asleep on the chair so I better move her to her bed before she wakes up and doesn't take a good nap.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving weekend my fellow Canadians!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rye and I were talking last night how we will miss American Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving comes so fast and there isn't the hype or the tradition around it. Oh well what can you do. None the less Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and I hope you are surrounded by family and friends.

The cold has arrived

Well for all my whining and complaining about the heat the cold has finally arrived. Although I do welcome it with open arms the kids aren't as thrilled about it as I am. But I have more energy than I have had in months and feel like I can handle life a little better. That I feel like the count down can officially start now that tomorrow brings us October. I thought it was time to change the blog a little. I love Halloween. I know there are lots of people who despise this holiday. But I love the colors and the excitement it brings for the kids and helping them with there costumes. I am interested to see how they celebrate it here at school. If the kids get a party or not. I know there has been lots of places that have gone away from that. Hopefully we get to wear our costumes to school and have some fun. But if not we will not complain and be happy. Well that is all for now. Boo boo insists on trying to type with me so it is time to get off as that is not going over real well. I look forward to sooner than later sharing an announcement with everyone. Either that we have found a house or that we have had a baby. Either one would make me happy!!!!!

I'm still Alive--Honest

Well the time has finally come to get back into things. I have been living in my one little world these past few months. It has been a bit of a difficult transition but I am hanging in there. I have about 4 weeks left at the very most and I am hoping for 2 - 3 to have this baby out of me. I have been miserable and uncomfortable and pretty much lazy. The weather has been very hot and that has not helped. I am hoping that it is going to cool down a little and that seems to give me some energy. We are living at Grandma's and Grandpa's and that is going well. I will be ready for our own space when the time comes but we are grateful for them and for letting us stay here until we get things figured out. Tevin drives everyday to Lethbridge with Ryan to go to school. It is a 45 minute commute so it is an early morning. He is playing football as well in Lethbridge so sometimes it is 8 before they get home at night. He is doing really well and has taken on his new school with a positive attitude and is making friends. He is happy and I have been so proud of him. The girls are going to school in Claresholm and are happy as can be. They take the bus and they seem to like that enough. Which is nice for me. I don't have to drive them, especially when the baby comes it will be nice not to have to worry about it. They are doing dance in Claresholm and are enjoying it. Every Wednesday we drive to Lethbridge for them to go to choir. Which they are enjoying. Emily has had some firsts happen in the last few months. She learned how to ride her bike and she lost her two front teeth just last week. And last but not least we have Boo Boo who keeps me on my toes and is my little buddy. The two of us spend our days haning out and have the house to our selves. She is talking like crazy and we have started potty training. She is fun to have around and she doesn't miss a beat. She loves going out every morning and watching the girls get on the bus and waving to them. Last week she tried to get on the bus and decided she wanted to go with them. So we went for a walk instead and that was an ok second option.

We miss our friends very much in Colorado and look forward to visiting. But we are happy and settling into our new environment. I look forward to getting to Lethbridge and getting settled. Ryan is working very hard and right now we see little of him on the weekends as he is very involved with the sporting events that are taking place. We are going to Mexico in April for a week as one of his best high school friends is getting married there. We are looking forward to that. Well I am grateful for the world of blogging so atleast I can see what everyone is up to and I am back on track and my goal is to do a couple posts a month. Here are a few pictures of our happenings over the last few months. Bye for now and hopefully news of a baby will soon be following.

So Proud, Awesome weekend and ahhhh I hate Moving....

Well I couldn't decide on which title to use so I went with all three. I figured I better get my post done early today or it wouldn't happen and I have to pack my computer up today.
We went to Steamboat on the weekend for Tevin for a baseball tourney and had an awesome time. Grandma and Grandpa H came and met us down their and we were so grateful that they did. Tevin's team played great and won the tournament. I am so proud of him. He is such a great ball player. He plays first base and is really good and he pitches. He has been struggling hitting the ball the last few weekends and so that has really made him and his dad frustrated. We made it to the semi final game and Tevin was on the mound. He "pitched his guts out" as the baseball expression goes. They went into extra innings and he was so nervous but he kept compossed and did it. It was one of those movie ending. We were home team - which means we get last bat- which was a huge advantage. It was tied 6-6, we had 2 out and the kid up to bat had two strikes on him. If he struck out or got out we would have to play an extra inning and Tevin wouldn't of been able to pitch because he had pitched all that he was allowed to. Kaylor hit the ball and it dropped just infront of the center fielder and our guy on third base scored to win the game. It was very exciting. They went on to win the championship game 12-6. We have been lucky to be a part of a great baseball family and we will miss them so much. They got a cake for us and some goodbye gifts that we are so grateful for and where truly touched by there love and kindness.
Today is also M day. Moving day. Although we have been in the moving stages for a month now but today we should be done and have most everything packed on on the pods ready to go. Ryan leaves tomorrow for a month. The kids and I will stay for July and then off we go. We are so excited and so sad at the same time. We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and have been so blessed living here in Greeley. I managed to get my post in for June but it will probably be August before I get another one in. So in the meantime I enjoy reading all of your blogs and wish everyone a Happy Canada Day and a Happy fourth of July!!!!!
It appears I can't get my pictures to post so I will come back later and try again!!!!!!

Amazing Children

Well it has been a month of craziness. I think I have almost spent more time at the school then home. We have been so blessed to have such an awesome school for our kids to go to and incredible teachers who care so much. Yesturday was the last day of school and 5th grade graduation. We had an award ceremony in the morning and Tevin recieved the Presidental Award for Educational Excellence. He bascially had to be advanced in math and reading, be involved in extra curricular activities and a few other things. He was near the top of his class in academics. Shawsheen has a tradition that at the end of the awards ceremony all the teachers in the school line up at the front of the gyn and each 5th grader walks by and says good bye. The picture that I posted of that is Tevin's 3rd and4th grade teacher Ms. Hyland. When Tevin got to her she started bawling which of course sent me into bawling and he even started to cry. Especially with us getting ready to move on it was so hard to say good bye to everyone at the school. There were many tears shed and many hugs given. We have been so blessed.

Last week Abbie won an art competition for drawing a post card for The Greeley Commerce. They had to draw a post card that represents Greeley. There were 2000 2nd graders from Greeley who entered and Abbie and another girl in her class were one of 7 who were chosen. There picture will be made into a post card that the Greeley Commerce will use. Once they are printed we will be getting a few copies. She also got a $10 gift card for Wal-mart. She was so excited. Abbie and Emily started softball this week and are doing really well. I don't have any photos of them yet. I will next week. Emily is pretty little to be playing on Abbie's team but I did not want to do t-ball again and only wanted one team plus Tevin's to worry about. Em has had some hits and is doing well though. Well it has been an amazing few weeks and we are going to spend the weekend watching Tevin play baseball and have our foster kiddos in respite. It will be a nice break as well. We are also saying good bye to our good friends the Binns as they are heading back to Colorado Springs this weekend. I know we will be life long friends and it has been so fun having them around the last 3 years. Enjoy the pictures of the kids and I will be back in a few weeks with lots of big news from the Halls.

Which Way Will The Wind Blow

Well what can I say. Recovering from streep. Home from Texas and still no decisions on where life will take us. Although we are getting closer.... I think. North or South it will either be one direction or the either. We think. Or maybe not!!!!!! I was just looking at my blog real quick. After looking at a few others I realize how boring my blog must be. But what can I say. Every post will be about my kids at whats going on with them...because pretty much that is my life. I wouldn't trade it for anything. So back to Texas. Well it was an interesting trip. I think we definately felt like we were entering another country. There were not alot of trees, no mountains and alot of dirt. So could we live their and be happy? I don't know. Thats the question that haunts me at night. The city was pretty old and the schools were very old. But the people were awesome and so very friendly and nice. Their was a church on every corner...litterally every corner and they got bigger and bigger. No we were not in Utah and they were not Mormon churches. Being asked what church you go to is just standard. The realtor even likes to make sure the missionaries get water all of the time. But the job would be great and we would adapt!!!!

What will the North hold for us. That is yet to be determined. We wont know that until the end of May. Yesturday I was pro South and today I am pro North. I wish the Lord would just give me a vision in my sleep and maybe then my streep would go away and I could focus on getting things done. Well that is about all I can musture up for now. I have some cute pictures of the kids at easter so I think I will add those. Have a happy week to y'all. oops that must the Texas in me starting to rub off!!!!!! Oh yah...opinions on double strollers!!!! Side by side or front to back. Whe the double stroller??????? Lets see a gainage of 5 pounds already, feeling like crap, lovenox shots twice a day in the belly and Ryan convinced that it will be another girl. A promise that this will be it......

T

A few photos

WOW

This post is long over due. The insanity has been through the roof. I have been super busy being one of the main people behind the scenes of making sure Tevin's play of Beauty and the Beast was a success.
It was such an awesome experience. I worked so hard and made new friends along the way. And saw moms and dads and teachers sacrifice so much for these kids.
They were fantastic. I will post some photos but I was so far back that they are not great shots.
In the middle of all of this I had company who came with crappy weather. And I got a blood clot in my let about a foot or so long. Rye and I were to take of for a few days alone since my parents were already here. But that did not happen. It felt like things were out of control. But fortunatly we were able to get everything done. Had a wonderful time with family who I love very much. And Rye and I are still able to take our little trip in a couple of weeks.
Where are were going?????
No where real exciting but potentially life changing. Stay tuned.... (which probably means atleast a month from now) lol oh well I can only do what I can do.
I had something happen this week to some dear friends of mine that has caused me severe pain and anger and tears and all of that. It really helped me to put life into perspective and put my priorities in place.
All I will say is mothers hug your children a little more each day. Speak in a kinder voice, do a sweet something for your hubby and stay strong to your faith and beliefs because you never know how quickly that all can change.
For those of you who have not heard of Mark Mabry(spelling). I am going to attempt to post a link for a youtube. If it doesn't work go to you tube and type in Reflections of Christ. It is a short video of work that he is done. I think it is awesome and wanted to share that with you all.
I hope that you all have a good day and that even though life is hard it is so worth fighting for!!!!!!

Life

Well I was frequenting my blog to look at the other blogs I like to frequent and realized that again it had been about three weeks. Oh well. Life as always is so busy that I barely have time to blog surf let alone write. It amazes me when I do waste some of my time blog surfing at what people do on their blogs.

Well life here has been crazy busy as always. We had two of our foster boys go home yesturday. It was a sad day. Ryan has been busy at the school non stop trying to get work done and I have been busy with appointments and meeting and trying to keep up with the house. I am failing miserably. Money is tight yet the need for this that or the next thing is never ending....sigh. My 10 year old ventured into his first real big mistake in life and got himself into some whopping trouble. Can't wait for those teenage years!!!
But life is still good and we continue to be blessed as always.

I am going to Time ouf for Women in Denver next weekend and look forward to that.

Basketball is almost done so that will be nice and Tevin's play will be done in about 6 weeks. Although soccer is starting as well as baseball. BUt that means warmer weather and playing at the park and going for walks, which brings a smile to my face.

Well that is about all the babbling I need to do for one day.

Life is going to be bringing many changes to the HAll home over the next several months. What those are I still don't know yet but stay tuned and I will keep you posted.

Here are some pics of the kids on V-day. I love my kids so much, even when they make dumb mistakes.

TTforN.

See if you can figure out what that means and wear it comes from.

T

Special weekend

Well we had a busy and great weekend at our house. Stacy was baptised and it was a very special night. She really glowed and had a special spirit. We were very blessed to be able to be a part of this day. Well that is about all I have time for. But the pictures say it all. Happy monday!!

What is a great Birthday!!!

Well I think it was last year around mothers day they has a poll on the internet. It was basically going over the things that women want most for mothers day. On the top of the list was the house to herself for a weekend. It is so true. Sure we love to get flowers and jewlery or for some of us scrapbooking supplies or clothes. But if you really wanted to know deep down I would have to agree with millions of other women . Quite, alone time, peace, that would have to top my list.

Well this weekend being my birthday I sort of got a little of that.

Tevin and I headed down to Colorado Springs. The Thunderbird Singers were asked to perform portions of their Fiddler Jr. performance that they did last year at this big music teachers clinic. So after fundraising and all that we were finally ready for our big weekend.

I took Tevin out of school early on friday and we headed off. I wanted to stop on Castle Rock at the outlet mall and do a little shopping. We got their and Tevin was hungry so we went through the drive thru. I left him in the car with his food while I started in on hoping to find great deals. After awhile I called him on the cell and told him to come and meet me. Sure enough he came. To make a story short 2 hours or so later we were heading to the car with our packages and the weather was turning ugly and I asked him for the keys. I could tell immediatly by the expression on his face that we were in trouble. I had not once told him to get the keys and bring them I guess I assumed he just would. Well we know what happens when we "assume" things. Anyway we were able to get the door unlocked with a display stick from Childrens Place and a Security Guard. We felt very blessed and new we were being watched over.

So we made it to CO Springs much later then we wanted but we atleast made it on time. We had a wonderful time and it was a great way to spend my birthday. The sad part was that how often do I get to sleep in a hotel in a bed all to myself and have to wake up at 5!!!

But we were done with our performance by 9 and so we went back to the hotel and I slept and watched Duke kick the snot out of Wake Forest. It was great to spend some one on one time with Tevin and he really is a great kid.

When I got home I was welcomed to a talent show put on by all the girls which included singing and dancing. Then on sunday Rye made me quiche and ceaser salad with chocolate cake and chocolate icing. It was a great weekend.

Well I figured I should post a few pictures of Tevin in his costume. He was Lazar Wolf for Fiddler and was such a cute old man.

He has been cast as Gaston in this years performance of "Beauty and the Beast". We are very excited.

Well I hope everyone is doing well.