Monday, June 27, 2011

Has it been a month?

Mason just hit the 1 month mark! I can't believe how fast time is flying by!

He isn't the same tiny boy I brought home a month ago. He is getting chubby cheeks and roly-poly legs.
He has been a really good baby! After Ryan's colic I wasn't sure if I could make it though the first few months with a newborn again. I guess God knows my limits and he sent me a good baby :)


Mason is still showing some signs of jaundice (you may notice a little yellow in his face and eyes.) I am taking him to the doctor today to make sure all is OK. Usually jaundice clears up the first week after birth. Mason's going on 5 weeks but fortunately his symptoms haven't gotten any worse.  If you aren't familiar with baby jaundice, it is common in newborn babies. It is a build up of biliruben in the blood. Jaundice is very treatable and it is only serious if the biliruben levels get very high. Jaundice also takes longer to clear in breastfed babies versus formula fed babies.


 We are also getting glimpses of Mason's first smiles (it melts my heart every time.) I was lucky to catch one on camera!

 I've been having so much fun making little things for our sweet baby when I find some time. This is one of the outfits I made for him. His big brothers have matching cargo shorts too!

This little guy has been a ray of sunshine in our home. He is snuggly and soft and smells so good. But, I am still not brave enough to take him out in public for more than an hour or two. Calming down a newborn while trying to keep track of 2 other little boys (especially Ryan, a.k.a. Mr. Independent) tests my patience. I don't want to be one of those dragon moms that yell and scream at thier kids in public. For now we will deal with cabin fever at our own home.
This last month has flown by, next thing you know our baby will be crawling, or walking! I want to cherish all of these sweet little newborn moments. Every smile and coo brings so much joy to my heart.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

I Heart Faces - Let's Hear it for the Boys

This weeks challenge on I Heart Faces is Let's Hear it for the Boys!
Since I have 3 boys of my own I looked back through my favorite boy pics and I am entering one of my all time favorites! 


 These are my Super Heroes!

They save my life everyday by fighting off monsters, robbers, bad robots, and other "bad guys"!


See all of the other amazing boy pictures at I Heart Faces.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

CELEBRATION TIME!

So much has happened lately. We have all been busy keeping up with life. I've been enjoying my first few weeks of being a mother of 3 incredible boys!

Mason is our newest little angel, and an angel he is! He has been nothing but pure joy.

 I admit that having 3 kids is not easy. Our house gets more cluttered and dirty everyday, as everyday chores seem to slip through the cracks while I'm making sure that diapers are changed, mouths are fed, and hugs are given freely.

Both boys are going through an adjustment period right now. I have noticed changes in their behavior that sometimes screams out "I'm here! Pay attention to me!!!"
Simon and Ryan are fighting more than normal and they are much more mischevious that they were a few weeks ago. I just hope that they adjust quickly. They know how much we love them and they are both very excited to have their new brother.
Until we all get used to this new life with 5 in the family instead of 4 our house remain cluttered and noisy, and for now I'm OK with that.




May and June are HUGE celebrations months around here.  I didn't take many pictures of the festivities but here is a run down of what went on.

Mother's Day:
Both boys were sick so I ended up going to sacrament meeting alone, but I got to listen to the sweet primary children sing. I just wish Simon had felt well enough to go and join them. We practiced the songs that morning so he would know the words really well but he got sick and fell asleep just before sacrament.   When I got home Jeremiah made us dinner and he "surprised" me with my "gifts". He gave me paper printouts of the gifts he bought for me, since they hadn't arrived yet : Lego Harry Potter for the XBox, and a book by Glenn Beck that I had been wanting to read.  I was excited to spend the day with my little boys, even though they were sick. I was only a few of weeks from my due date so a quiet mother's day is just what I needed.

My 28th Birthday:
Jeremiah gave me just what I requested for my birthday. He took me and the boys to lunch and walked (and walked and walked) around the mall with me. It was only 4 days from Mason's Birthday so I was very very pregnant!  The night before my birthday my amazing Mother-in-law and sisters-in-law took me to Swan Thai for some yummy curry and they surprised me with cake and ice cream at our house after dinner. I'm immensly grateful for family that makes me feel so special.

Mason's Birthday:
May 25th we welcomed little Mason Henry Hall into our family. I call him my birthday present because he was born only 4 days after my birthday. He is the sweetest little baby and I am so thankful that I get to be his mother.

Memorial Day:(See this post.) We spent the afternoon at Jeremiah's grandpa's grave, then lunch with Karissa and Cabrena.

Visitors:
Along with Aunst and Uncles and cousins stopping by to see little Mason, my mom was able to come stay with me for a few days and help me watch the older kids so I could get used to life with 3 kids before I was left completely alone with them.

 We took her out to Olive Garden celebrate her birthday (a couple days late). We also spent some time at the Mall and Wal-Mart. It was so good to get out of the house! Thanks mom for coming down and keeping me sane!  We sent her back up to the mountains just days before the entire towns of Eagar and Springerville were evacuated because of the enourmous Wallow fire.

Our 8th Anniversary:
June 5th marked 8 years since me and my handsome, charming husband got married. This was a really hard anniversary because Jeremiah left the night before to go to the White Mountains. He went up there to help his parents, and his aunt prepare for evacuation due to the looming fire. He sent me pictures of the black, choking smoke in and around Round Valley. Luckily he was able to make it back at about 7:30 that night, so we had just enough time to take the family to Chili's for dinner. He showed up at our door with roses, orange daisies, and Lego Pirates of the Carribean (we are on a Lego Xbox kick right now) and smelling like chimney smoke. It was amazing! 

Simon's 5th Birthday:
June 11th. I do have a few pictures of this day! We had to make last minute plans since I didn't know what life would be like adding a third child into the picture. The day started by opening presents.


Simon was sweet enough to let Ryan help him open his presents.

 Then we packed up the boys and went to Toys R Us where Simon picked out his new bike!!
That's not it. It's the one behind him. He loved this bling-bling gold bike but mom and dad said  eh. . . . no.
 The one he got is BRIGHT neon yellow so we will never EVER lose him at the park.
(Also, you can almost see his birthday shirt in the picture above. It had a monster truck with a #5 in the bed and his name on the back. I'll post better pics later.)

 He also picked out a new lego car set (with money from Great Grandma Udall). After Toys R Us we headed to Tempe Beach Park so the boys could play at the splash pad.


 Veronica met us there with Everett and Keaton and since the temperature was only about 93ish degrees (only???) they were all freezing in the water, so we didn't stay as long as we planned.
They we went to Denny's for lunch. It's a good thing we left the water park early because the service at Denny's was terrible!!!!!  Our 45 minute lunch took over an hour and a half! sheesh!

We made it back home just in time to frost Simon's monster truck and get ready for his birthday dinner/party.

Thank goodness the cake he chose this year was easy to make. And I mean it was a "peice of cake". A little chocolate frosting, some cookie crumbs and donuts , and some monster trucks and cars, and voila! Although, the donuts were supposed to have tire treads on them and I didn't have time to add them.

Simon had requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I added chocolate pudding in the middle and  chocolate cookie "dirt" on top. And he picked out rocky road and neopolitan ice cream to go with it. I think the kid likes chocolate. yes?

Jeremiah got to light the candles this year since I was holding Mason.


Happy 5th Birthday to the sweetest boy! We love you so much!




We still have Father's Day coming up, and some family birthdays, then the 4th of July, and a baby blessing. After that we can hang up our dancing shoes for a little while and take a break and recoop from all of the celebrating. It's making me dizzy.

I heart faces - bright and vivid

I love this blog: I heart faces
They have weekly photo challenges and I am always drooling over all of the amazing photos that people enter. (I've even seen some of Melesa's awesome photos over there.)  This week I am breaking out of my comfort zone and I am entering one of my own!

This weeks challenge is "bright and vivid".
I have lots of colorful pictures of my boys and I picked out one of my very favorites of Ryan to enter. He is chillin' on an old park ducky ride that may or may not have been attacked by a Sharpie.
I love that Ryan smile!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

3 Brothers (and fire update)

It has been a rough week. Mine and Jeremiah's hometowns are being threatened by the second biggest wildfire in Arizona history.  So many memories are tied to those beautiful mountains,
from our first date (Homecoming 2000), to our mini honeymoon in Greer.

 I have spent many many hours this week stalking facebook and glued to the news, waiting for updates on the fire.

Springerville and Eager are evacuated but my dad, Jeremiah's dad, and my Grandparents stayed behind to protect their homes and property from spot fires and looters.
So far everyone is ok, and I just found out that Greer made it out of the fire almost unscathed. They only lost a handful of houses. This is fantastic news because last night we were all convinced that Greer would be a total loss.
Did I mention that Greer is probably my favorite place in the world?



Anyways,  to try and keep my mind off of the fire I got my boys together to get some pictures of all 3 of them. Melesa has been teaching me some photo editing tricks with Photoshop and I have really been enjoying playing around with new pictures.



And I couldn't help but snap some shots of little tiny Mason by himself.




My favorite shot of the day.

 Simon really loves his new brother. He has already started "teaching" him things like how to wave and alphabet sounds. He is such a loving brother. Ryan still can't understand why Mason won"t talk to him or play with him. But I have found him giving Mason kisses and rubbing his soft hair. I think they will be best friends someday.

Someone told me this week that having 3 boys is "nirvana". 
I completely agree.  

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Wallow Fire - day 9

I hate reporting bad news on my blog. I would much rather fill it with happy smiling pictures of my family and friends.

The Wallow Fire is uncontrollably burning up the White Mountains. As of this morning the estimated damage is over 300,000 acres and growing rapidly due to dry, windy conditions. 


Details: (updated on 6/7/11)
Date Started: 5/29/2011
Location: south and west of Alpine, Arizona
Number of Personnel: Approximately 2,515 personnel, Including 31 hotshot crews and 25 handcrews
Cause: Human - under investigation
Equipment: 12 dozers, 138 engines, 31 watertenders
Aircraft: 22 helicopters
Percent Contained: 0%
Injuries to Date: none

 Website for new information: http://www.wesmcb.com/



Here is a map from this morning to show the extent of the damage. 

The fire is currently about 5 miles from Eagar and 3 miles from Greer.

Greer was evacuated yesterday and Springerville and Eagar are on pre-evacuation notice. Evacuations for RV are likely expected within the next day or two.


Here are some pictures my dad took in the last couple days of the heavy smoke plaguing RV.




We are all praying for rain, as well as the safety of the fire fighters, evacuees, and area residents. This fire is in God's hands right now. I pray he will spare our small town home.

Monday, June 6, 2011

10 days old

I'm a lucky girl. I have some very talented friends, including a few good photographers. My friend Erica Horihan is just getting her photography business started and she offered to come take some newborn pictures of Mason. She came over on Saturday when Mason was only 10 days old. It was so amazing to watch her work. Everything from props to poses to photo composition was just fascinating to me.

Mason was a little angel for her and slept through pretty much the entire 2 hour photo shoot.

So if you are in need of newborn photography or family photography I highly recommend Erica. She has a good eye for what makes a great picture.
Thank you again Erica. I can't believe how cute these pictures turned out!










This is just a handful of the pictures she sent to me. Now the hard part is going to be choosing which ones to get printed.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

My first photoshoot with Mason!

I have my very own newborn baby to hold, snuggle, love, and to practice my photography skills on!

I had to take advantage of all his newborn baby cuteness. I set up a mini photo studio in my bedroom and snapped some shots of my sweet little guy.
After taking these shots I have a whole new respect for newborn photographers! It takes time and tons of patience.
After taking these shots I got a crash course in Photoshop. I called up Melesa and got some advice from her on how to use the program as well as some tips for editing newborn pics. I'm really happy with how they turned out for my very first newborn shoot. Now I am hoping I'll be able to snap some photos of Heidi's new baby when she is born in August.

Today my friend Erica came by to take some pictures of Mason. She is a very talented photographer (way better than me)! Mason slept "like a baby" during the entire shoot. Now I am anxiously waiting to see how cute they turned out. I just can't get enough of my little boy, the more pictures the better!

Here are my favorite shots I took of my sweet little Mason:

BTW, The cute little Teddy Bear Hat was made by Melesa. (It's so cute I can hardly stand it! Thanks Melesa!)


6 Days Old










Si and Ry

Si and Ry