The Hall Family Christmas

This was our first year celebrating Christmas just by ourselves and I do believed it turned out quite satisfying.
Christmas eve Brad got off work by 8pm so we had some time to watch the Traditional Christmas movie: The Griswold's Family Christmas Vacation while putting together Bethany's tricycle.
Christmas day began by opening and playing with all of our gifts. It was so fun to see Bethy get excited about her gifts. Brad and I had tons of fun making our Christmas dinner of juicy turkey, homemade cranberry sauce(I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to canned stuff), stuffing, Mama Hall's spoon rolls, mash potatoes, brussel sprouts, and pumpkin cheese cake. Yummmmy! Bethany was our official taste tester and she loved the job.
We took a long afternoon nap and lazed around the rest of the evening. It was a glorious Christmas!

Let the Hall-odays Began!!

We are 3 days, 7 hours, 52 minutes, 40 seconds, and counting away from Thanksgiving!!!! I am so excited to see the Hall family and celebrate our Thanksgiving/Christmas together.The Halls have a lot of great traditions that we enjoy every year. We usually arrive at Mimi and Pappy's on the day of Thanksgiving so the minute we walk in the door our mouths start salivating from all the wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. Carol(Mimi) always makes a pre-dinner appetizer plate with sweet pickles, cinnamon cucumbers, olives and other yummy things that we snack on while we visit and finish the cooking.The table is always filled with the traditional Thanksgiving foods and everyone eats more than their fill while having a lively conversation about past Thanksgivings and what stores they want to shop at on Black Friday.The Hall Thanksgiving would not be complete if we didn't watch the Cowboys play. Everyone gathers in the living room and sits around talking and playing while the game is on.Sometime that night we exchange our Christmas gifts and then it is time to make a plan on what stores to go to and what to get. We all get a chance to look through the adds and dream about our purchases.Shopping commences early the next morning and by 8:00 am we are all back in the kitchen for a hardy Hall breakfast.There are so many other fun things that go on during our short 3 and a half day stay but this seems to be the standing tradition on Thanksgiving and the day after. I am so thankful to have married into such a fun loving family who is truly thankful for each other and what they have.

We Have Internet Again!

We finally have Internet again so I can get Blogging once again! So much has happened since I stopped so I want to share a few things that will get me updated:

• My job at Kindercare is working out well, hence the Internet.


• Bethany's 1st Birthday was a huge success


• Bethany is now walking wait... running everywhere! she never stops


• Happy Holidays! The Holiday season officially started at the Hall House the day after Halloween per Brad's declaration.
  
  Here are a few Birthday pics to kick off my restart of blogging

Bethany loved the giraffe we got her and gave it a big hug and kiss

Not so happy about the hat

The cake was ok though

Things We've Been Doing

We went on a picnic for Memorial Day/ 3 Year Anniversary. Bethany enjoyed telling us how much fun she was having.

We all like to take naps. Daddy and Daughter had so much fun they wore each other out.
Bethany had her first spaghetti dinner. She loved it!

I also got a job at Kindercare. Will be working about 30 hours a week. Just finished training so am excited to see how the real job goes. Will let you know!

Bethany and Daddy 

Wedding Memories

Three years ago today Brad and I got married. So many things have happened since then. Brad got his job at Whole Foods the summer we got married. Last year we bought our house and expanded our family by adding Waffles. And then almost exactly one year later Bethany came into our lives.
I am so happy that Brad took the time to become my best friend before we got married. We have had so much fun together these last 6 years. He always considers my thoughts and feelings before his own and has made many sacrifices to be the amazing husband and father that he is today. I love you Brad and can't wait to see what other adventures are ahead of us!

Bethany loves teething cookies!

Catch Up Time!

So many things have been happening and as usual I have done a horrible job keeping up with them. Bethany is growing so fast and right now she has started to do several new things. I have been trying to take more pictures so I can share them with you.

It is finally warming up so our daily walks are a little more enjoyable. Bethany has graduated to her stroller. She loves it.
My little 8 month old is starting to scoot around. She is very good at rolling but the wood floors have been giving her trouble when she tries to move on her tummy. She has improvised and now propels herself backwards across the floor with her arms. It's pretty funny to watch because she can get herself into some unusual situations. One time she backed herself under the end table and couldn't get out. It didn't seem to bother her too much.

Dad and Mom came for a visit this weekend and so we took her outside to check out all the green grass.

Bethany can sit up good. Every once in a while she will still topple backwards. She loved pulling the grass and trying to eat it.

Granddad got the idea to see if she would try to walk. Bethany loved standing but couldn't quite figure out how to put one foot in front of the other.

Here are a few more of Bethany's accomplishments since the last time I wrote:

We had to move Bethany's mattress down because she can push up so well I don't want her to figure out how to pull up one night and fall out.

I have been working on signing to her. I think she is starting to recognise "finished" (when we change her diaper) and "more" (when we are eating). I have picked 9 total that I will eventually try to teach her.

Bethany can say a few sounds that she associates with different things. "DA?" is dog, KKK for cat, Dada for Dad, and if she is very sad mamamama for mom.

Easter Fun!

Bethany's first Easter Celebration was a success! We started it off by going to the Saturday night Easter service. She loved the music! The pastor had a very good lesson. I came out feeling so excited to celebrate! I'm so happy Jesus gave us hope by rising from the dead!

Today we dressed Bethany up in her Easter outfit again and took lots of pictures. She did a great job of posing for the camera. We also had an egg hunt in the back yard. I think she had more fun playing with the grass, tree, fence, or whatever the eggs were on more than the eggs. I got a video so will have to post that when I get it downloaded. I will leave you with a few pictures we took. Bethany is a little over 7 months in these.

Holly's Surprise

Here is the video of Holly and Tammy when Aaron decided to surprise them by bringing all of us up to help celebrate Maddy's 2nd Birthday. I know a lot of you wanted to see Holly's reaction. We had a blast. Good job Aaron on putting all of this together!

Sad and Happy Times

These last six months have been filled with pure joy from Bethany. They have also been filled with lots of goodbyes.

It has been a difficult 6 months for us when we think about losing family. We were so blessed to gain a family member on September 10th and then so sad to lose one the very next day. My Papa passed almost at the same time my baby was taking her first breath. What a bittersweet moment. Then on Thanksgiving day, a time usually spent laughing and eating with family, we where shocked to find out that Brad's Maw Maw Moore had suddenly died. We said goodbye but were in no way ready to. Finally, we took another trip to Abilene this last week to be with family as we laid Brad's Grandma Hall to rest. Needless to say we have been saying more goodbyes than hellos. The part that I have found to be the most difficult is realizing that 3 of Bethany's great grandparents were not able to meet her. They new about her but did not get the chance to hold her. I wish so badly that they could have enjoyed her smiles the way I do. I plan on telling her all about them when she gets old enough. I want her to know that her great grandparents played a big part in molding her Mom and Dad and gave them great examples of how to treat others and follow Jesus. I want to leave you with a few pictures. They are of family and I think summarize what these last few month have been like.

Newborn Bethany. Sept. 10th,2010.

MeMa and Papa Embry

MawMaw and PaPaw Moore

Grandma Hall

Bethany at 5 months

Here is Brad. We were hanging out in Bethany's room. He bought me a new camera so I was figuring out how to use it and got a good one of him.

Bethany and Granna. She is playing with the barn yard toys we had when we were kids.

Bethany loves her Uncle Caleb. I think he has the same feelings towards her. They had a lot of fun together.

This is the Hall family. Unfortunately we were at Grandma Hall's funeral. Why is it that everyone wants pictures at funerals? I guess it's one of the few times when everyone is together so people feel like they have to take advantage of it. I did get to meet family that I only knew from face book.

On our way home we stopped to spend the night at Mema and Papa's. It was weird not seeing Papa in his chair when I came through the door. Mema and Bethany sure did enjoy each other.

We will miss our grandparents. We will love every moment with the ones we still have and we will treasure those moments when our baby girl gets to be with them and enjoy their love.

So I can remember

This post is more for me than you but feel free to read it anyway. I want to remember some of the things Bethany is doing at six months so here is my list.
Bethany loves to snuggle. She hides her head in my shoulder and then pops up to smile at me.
She is rolling from her tummy to her back.
My little girl loves to stand. She is happiest when I hold her hands and she stands like a big girl.
Bethany has just started to barely giggle. We can get one tiny giggle when she's in the right mood.
She has started to jabber. I can hear her sound out dadadadada, yayayaya, and many other sounds while she entertains herself. She can be very loud sometimes.
Our baby has decided that she loves animals. She loves to pet the kitty and doggy any time she gets the chance.

Lastly, my little girl has found her feet and knows what to do with her tiny hands. She can pick up her own spoon and feed herself. I have a feeling she will want to do everything on her own.

First Day Back To Work

Well, my first day as a sub went off without a hitch. I thought i was going to be subbing for a highschool but when I arrived they showed me to a 2-3 year old daycare room. I almost panicked until they told me I would be helping another woman who worked there. I was pretty relieved that I wasn't on my own. I got an hour for lunch and then sat and read for an hour after that while the kids took naps. None of the kids where horrible. They followed directions as well as a 2-3 yr old can. I can say that by working there It has confirmed how very glad I am that we don't have to put Bethany in day care. All the kids were sick in some way. Some of them stayed longer than I did and kept asking when their parent was coming. If all goes as planned I will be subbing once a week. Hopefully my next experience will be a good one as well.

New Year, New You, Not Happening

You know how everyone sets out to change themselves at the beginning of every year? Well, I've decided that is not what I will be doing this year. Why is it that we can't be satisfied with who we are? Why do we feel pressured to change things we were born with like our body, or personality type? I've decided to be happy with who I am this year. I don't need to try and be someone different. What I need to do is embrace who I am and enjoy being me. I will not be forced into a mold that our society has decided is the "ideal" person. Another thing I won't do is try to change others. I will enjoy individuals for who they really are and encourage them to expose their true selves and not be ashamed about it. This year I will be the real me and the world will just have to deal with it!