Cheese! Take my picture.

Yesterday I got to get my 12 week ultasound to make sure Baby #3 is growing and healthy.

Our little one is about 6cm from crown to rump and was showing off for the camera, jumping and stretching and twisting, sucking on fingers.    So. Cute.

It is fascinating to see how much this baby has grown in a matter of weeks. 2 weeks ago we had a gummy bear and now we have a mini baby!

Hi Mom!

 Baby's legs.

Just after Christmas we get to go back in to find out the gender.

I have a feeling this one might be a girl.

I'll let you know in 6 weeks.

Baby Train

I haven't quite figured out how to tell 4 year old Simon about the new baby sibling that is coming. We have asked him a few times if he would like a new baby brother or sister and he always replies enthusiastically "good!!" 

About a week ago he came inside to tell me that I just had to go see his sidewalk pictures he was working on outside.

Trains!

He loves to draw trains.

 But these trains were extra special.

He drew his family driving the trains. The biggest one is daddy, the next biggest with the coal car is mommy, he is working on the Simon train in the picture above, and on the left side of the picture you can see 2 little trains.

Ryan, and baby.

I guess our little hints have worked. He knows a new sibling will be joining the family. And he or she is already a part of our train lovin' family.

I can't hold it in any longer!

Wanna hear a secret?




Baby Hall #3 is coming!!


I'm 11 weeks pregnant with our little "gummy bear".

Doesn't the baby look like a gummy bear at this age? (This is our 9 week ultrasound)

Pregnancy is extremely rough on me. I've been on 2 prescriptions so that I can actually eat, and that affords me some good days and some bad days.  It was rough with the other 2 boys and it has been even worse with this one. A girl maybe?

Little gummy bear's arrival date is expected to be May 30th, my mom's birthday!!  If we get to have our baby early, like we did with Ryan, I may even get an early birthday present.

In the mean time I have closed down my Etsy Shop until I start feeling better. I am still working on some special orders and even some projects for my kids.


It's hard keeping pregnancy a secret. Especially when I am sick and chubby,  and I can't find anything in my closet that fits me so I end up having breakdowns aimed at my poor, supportive husband.


Poor Jeremiah just takes in all the mood swings, morning sickness, sleepiness, and over all grouchyness,  and gently tells me he will be glad when non-pregnant Jeni comes back. lol. 

Sorry Jabes.
Only 6 1/2 more months to go!

Next time won't you sing with me?

Ryan has become a budding singer. And of course I enjoy every second of it!

He sings all day long but my camera has always been to far away to catch it on video.

Yesterday, he and Simon had spent the morning rummaging through my jewelry box. Simon found Ryan a silver "I Love You" necklace (which he so appropriately named because it has a heart on it.) For himself, a long strand of faux pearls. He stuck them around his neck and proudly asked "Mom, do I look my best?"

ha ha. I love that kid.

Anyways, back to the singing.

I finally caught the two boys singing a duet of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. (Notice they are still wearing mom's necklaces.) It was the fifth time in a row they sang the song so they are past their sweet little voices and belting it out as loud as they can!

(I apologize that the picture quality isn't that great.)

Here's a proud mommy moment. 2 year old Ryan singing his ABC's. 

Smarty pants. I love this kid!! 

Ryan's other favorite songs include:  How much is that doggy in the window? (or kitty, buffalo, elephant, etc.), the Thomas the Train theme song,  and  I am a Child of God.

Simon sings right along and loves making up new words and adding his own twist to the songs. Yesterday he was singing "How much is that Cheerio in the door?"

And who can forget the classic "How much is that door in the window" creak creak?

Life would be so dull without these boys.

Lions and tigers and crayons, oh my!

Trick or Treat!

The treat is that I'm actually blogging while the pictures are still fresh off the camera. The trick is. . .  trying not to smile when you look at the pictures.

Simon really wanted to be a train engineer, or a train. Yes, more trains. I mean, I love trains but c'mon, I have to draw the line somewhere, right?

So, a few days before Halloween I sat Simon down in front of the computer with me and we searched and searched through hundreds and possibley thousands of costumes. Luckily, in those pages and pages of costumes, he found one that was as cool as a train costume and simple enough that I could make it for him. (yay!!!)

A little bit of felt, flannel, cardstock, and velcro later we had this:

 Ta Da! The cutest green crayon on the block!

 I am happy to say that he loved his costume so much I could barely get him to take it off.

And if you are wondering, yes, his favorite color is green.

Ryan wore the lion costume I made 3 years ago.  The one I slaved over to sew on all the yarn for hair, just to learn that Simon hated the hat and wouldn't wear it.

It was even worse with Ryan. I couldn't even hold it on his head long enough to take a picture. And when I finally bribed him with candy and trains and he finally put it on for about 2 seconds, my camera battery died!!!

He was SO mad at me for making him wear the "Ryan Lion hat".  I gave up when he started ripping out the yarn hair. lol.

He made the cutest little Ryan the Lion, even without the mane.

He did like his tail. 

Saturday, we threw the annual Hall family Hall-oween party at our place. Everything was kind of last minute since I haven't been feeling all that great.
 These are the graveyard cupcakes I put together for the party. They were scrumptious chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter & cream cheese frosting rolled in crushed Reese's puffs (for dirt) and topped with white chocolate-dipped pretzel and marshmallow "bones"!

 Spooky!

Almost as scary as Simon's scary crayon face.

On Saturday after the party we took all of the kids to our ward Trunk-or-Treat. I left my camera behind so I have no pictures of all the fun stuff that went on there. There was tons more food, a witches' kissing booth (where they gave out chocolate kisses), a fish pond, a big spinning wheel, a pumpkin walk, and a donut on a string booth. Simon tried the donut-on-a-string game. So. Funny.

Everett, Keaton, Ezra, Alison, and Bailey all came along too. We all enjoyed dressing up, I wore my pirate costume from last year and Jeremiah dressed up as an old fat man! He had the best costume of the night and he threw it together in approximately 2 minutes.  Everyone thought he was the Ricola man. lol.

Good times.

Happy Halloween Everyone!