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.

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

He's Here!

Mason Henry Hall

 Our sweet little Mason joined our family on May 25th at 11:32am. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz. and he was 20.5 inches long.
We arrived at the hospital at 10 pm on Tuesday the 24th to be induced. Once they got me settled in my room and the monitors attached my belly we discovered that I was already having labor contractions! I had been having contractions all that day but they weren't painful at all so I didn't think I was in labor. They started me on petocin at about midnight and I had contractions all through the night but they weren't painful so I waited, with almost no sleep, until morning. About 8:00 Dr. Huff showed up and broke my water. It was like the Hoover Dam had burst!  And we discovered that  this was the reason why my contractions hadn't been painful, there was too much fluid. Mason had his own personal swimming pool. lol.

3.5 hours and one epidural later our baby boy was born!

Simon and Ryan came by to see him with their Aunt Karissa and Simon fell in love with his little brother right away. He gave him kisses and stroked his dark hair, he told me and the baby how much he loved us.  It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen.
Ryan, on the other hand, tried his best to avoid his new brother. When we would ask him to come and say hello, or hold his brother, he would say "no" and walk away or hide.
It will take some time for Ryan to warm up to our newest member of our family.

 This was the closest Ryan got to the new baby.

Sue and Boone, a.k.a. Grandma Sue and Pappa, dropped by the hospital on Wednesday and Thursday to see Mason.

Simon and Ryan stayed with Karissa on Wednesday and Jeremiah went home Wednesday evening to take care of them. It was so nice to have his parents here to help too. I have the best in laws in the whole world!

We arrived back home on Thursday afternoon and Heidi, Jesse, and Randi all stopped by to see our new baby.

On Friday we packed up Simon and Ryan and sent them up to the mountains for Memorial Day weekend to spend some time with their cousins and grandparents. It has been so quiet and a little lonely here at home without them but it has made the transition of bringing home the new baby so much easier. I just can't wait to get my little boys back.

Welcome to our family Mason!

We are so incredibly happy that you are here with us. We love you so much already, and we will love you every day of the rest of your life and forever.

38 weeks

I've made it to 38 weeks!  Pregnancy gets more uncomfortable every day but I am really looking forward to  next week when I get to meet our new little guy.

I finally got some pictures to remember this pregnancy by (thanks Jeremiah).

 The boys happily hopped into the pictures too. I love being a mom more than anything in the whole wide world! I can't believe I have been blessed with 2 wonderful boys and I get another one next week! I really am a lucky girl!

No, that's not a basketball under my shirt.

Comparing tummies.

Hopefully our next post will be pictures of Mason, and me with a flatter belly   :)

Coming soon. . .

He'll be here soon!

We are counting down the days until Mason arrives. This Thursday I met with Dr. Huff and he scheduled me to be induced on the night of the 24th. We will be going in to the hospital at 10:00pm so Mason will most likely be born on May 25th!

Only 12 more days and we will get to meet our little guy!

Because our other 2 boys were so big when they were born, I had the amazing oppurtunity to have one more ultrasound to determine this baby's approximate weight. Last week when we had the ultrasound he weighed about 6.5 lbs (at 36 weeks). He isn't as big as Ryan was but he is still a hefty sized baby. (Ryan was about 7 lbs at this age, he was born 2 weeks early and still weighed 8 lbs 2 oz! Simon was born the day after his due date and he weighed 9 lbs 5 oz!)

Our sweet ultrasound tech thought it would be fun to snap some 3D ultrasound shots too so we can see what Mason looks like.  Ultasounds are fascinating to me, and the 3D ultrasounds blow my mind! Just the thought of taking real pictures of a baby before he or she is born. . . amazing! I couldn't help but ooo and ahh every time she took a new picture.

Here's our little Mason.
I think he looks a lot like Ryan.
I can't wait to hold him!!!

This picture is of his teeny foot. He is twisted up like a pretzel and his foot is right by his face. I love his chubby little toes. :)

We are so anxious for our baby to arrive. His brothers can't stop talking about him too! Ryan is finally understanding that he gets to be a big brother.
Simon will give my tummy hugs and kisses for Mason. Ryan is excited to read stories and play trains with his brother. They both think Mason is going to come home walking and talking and ready to play "flying trains", or whatever silly games they come up with. I try to tell them that he is going to be tiny and won't be able to do much for a while, but they aren't convinced yet.

12 more days and they will see for themselves.

For now, I look like I swallowed a giant basketball and I frequently get told that wonderful phrase that I hear at the end of every pregnancy :  "You look like you are about to pop!!"
Thank you to all of those people that make me feel like a giant balloon.

Hopefully I can get a picture of me and my big ol' belly so you don't have to try and picture that in your head.

I'm just really happy that the pregnancy is almost over and soon I will get to hold our little boy and remember why we decided to do this in the first place.

:)

The results are in:

We are having a . . . .            

Yes! Baby Boy #3 will be joining our family in May!

I went to our ultrasound appointment today completely expecting to find out our baby was a girl. We brought our 2 boys with us and the ultrasound technitian first asked Simon if he thought the baby was a boy or a girl. Simon has been convinced for a while now that we are having a boy, so that is what he told her.

Simon was right!

She said that 4-year-olds are as accurate as the ultrasound machine! They can always call it!

 After all of the wishing for a little girl, I am actually sooooo happy that we have another little boy on the way. I was in complete shock for most of the day but now that it is sinking in I am so excited!!

Oh boy! We are going to have a house full of boys!

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!