Easter comes early!

Today we prepared for Easter-- even though its 3 weeks away. Next weekend is momma's big auction and the following weekend we are heading the AZ for some sun and baseball. So today we visited the Easter bunny and colored eggs! Both were big hits!

Happy happy baby

Annablle is so happy and mellow it is almost (not really!) concerning. Some babies scream in the bath or when they wake up from a nap. Not this little one. Here's a couple videos to prove it!

Rocks!

We love the Scrath Patch by Greenlake!

Zoomazium

Years from now when we tell stories about 'when Benjamin and Annabelle were little', undoubtedly many of those stories will include something about the Woodland Park Zoo-- specifically Zoomazium. Oh how we love that place. Indoor, year-round zoo fun!

Guest author: Big Brother!

Hi Annie-Belly, Momma is letting me tell our friends the big news today. Yesterday, you tried your first rice cereal! And....best of all, I got to feed you! You didn't really love it but you didn't dis-like it either. I can't wait to feed you again tonight. I love this big-brother thing.

Love, Your Bro Benji

Exersaucer!

ANNABELLE! My little sunshine, stop growing up so fast! You are not quite 5 months and you already love to play! Next thing we know you'll be chasing your brother around the house. Slow it down a bit, pumpkin. Momma is not over the tiny baby stage yet!

A very busy month!

What happened to February?? It was a very busy month..obvious by the fact that I have not updated in over 2 weeks!

February 2010 can be summed up with 4 words: sickness, Olympics & toilet trained!

Every one of us had viruses, infections and crud this month. Daddy hurt his back and is now in intense chiropractic care. Daddy, mommy and Annabelle went to the Olympics in Vancouver! An UNFORGETTABLE experience we will talk about for years. And...... last but far from least...... Benjamin is now a full-fledged member of the underpants wearing club!! We are so proud of him. He trained so fast and easy-- in fact he already refuses to use the toddler toliet b/c he is a 'big boy' now!
A few photos capture the highlights!

Four month visit & my budding artist

Today Annabelle had her 4 month doctor visit. She's doing super! Still very tiny-- a whopping 10 lbs 10 oz at 4 months puts her in the (drum roll please!) 5 percentile! She put on quite a charming show for Dr Allen-- smiles, coos, arm flaps and even a spit up. Two nasty shots and the little pumpkin hardly cried. She's amazing.

Big brother has totally taken to art projects lately....particularly painting. He takes it very seriously and cannot be interrupted in the middle of creating a masterpiece.

What happened to my newborn??

I have such mixed feelings about my sweet girl moving out of the 'eat, sleep, wet' stage of newborn-ness and becoming a lovely, innocent infant who loves to play, coo and track her big brother's every move. On one hand it is so exciting to see her little charming personality develop, but knowing that our final days with a newborn have arrived, I find myself wiping away bitter sweet tears.

Some photos of her 'playing herself to sleep'!

Dear Annie-Belly,

In four short months, you have changed our lives forever. You have stolen daddy's and my hearts and you have made one very proud big brother. Promise me you won't grow up too quickly. There are not enough hours in each day to soak up your tiny baby beauty.

Love, Momma

Auntie Chris!

Today, Auntie Chris turns.....shhhh....41. Jon took the kiddos to her office to surprise her with a cake decorated by our favorite 2 year old and a balloon that the same two year old did not want to part with when they arrived. Happy Birthday Auntie!

Two minutes of Fame

A couple weeks ago, our friend Bill Wixey, reporter from KCPQ 13 News in Seattle, came to our home with his cameraman to interview our little family about our upcoming trip to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Kind of exciting! The first segment aired last night on the 9 and 10 pm news.

http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-020310-olympictranspo,0,4700254.story

At the end notice Benjamin's "Go Team USA" actually coming out as "Go Team USC" (:

A Big Boy!

Dear Benjamin,
Yesterday you turned 2 1/2 years old. Happy 1/2 birthday baby! This was a very big day for you. First we visited the dentist for the second time. You did great. I was so proud of you! The nice dentist counted your teeth and let you hold her water squirter even. You got to take TWO toys from the treasure box b/c you were so good!



AND....yesterday was our first official day of toilet learning. You wore underpants and went naked most of the afternoon and you went potty in the toilet FOUR TIMES! WOW!! We'll take this slow but daddy and I could not be more proud of you already. Our friend Beau gave this toy to Annabelle but you seem to have taken it over as your very own 'toilet entertainment' which is just fine with us.

And, last but not least.... on your very own you invited Grandma and Papa to a 'birthday party' for you last night!? And you asked them to bring presents even. Hmm.... well since you are doing so good with your underpants we decided to comply and we all had pizza and Cars cupcakes for dessert. We even had balloons and candles! Happy 2 1/2 birthday sweetheart.

Love, Momma

Photo shoot!

My boy's first fat lip....and underpants!

Benjamin has his share of 'firsts' lately---- some good and others not-so-good. The highlights include his first fat lip (see photo!). This happened on the playground last week at his evening co-op preschool with Jon. In his own words 'He Fall Down'. All is well, but it was a good blow-- tomorrow is his 2nd dentist visit ever, so I may mention it to her in case he knocked a tooth loose (: Oh, and tomorrow he also turns 2 1/2!! We're having a little pizza party with Grandma & Papa to celebrate. Not sure why, but I think 2 1/2 is a pretty big deal in the life of a toddler.

Also, this last weekend we started getting serious about toilet learning. He now has every imaginable type of underpants known to human kind--- nemo, thomas, stripes, stars, Cars, Mickey Mouse.......I could go on. So far, after one day the score is: Benjamin 2, Toliet Chair 0, and dadddy's pants -1!

We'll see if I can keep this up!

For quite some time I've been wanting to start a family-blog to ease the guilt I feel when the kids' empty baby books glare me in the face. Now that our little Hall-Family is complete, I am inspired to try this. I'll be counting on you to help me keep this going by reminding me write often (Not you, Dad. I love you dearly, but I will NOT be posting daily!) For regular, quick, daily updates, we're also on Facebook. Friend me if you have not already done so. I'll leave you with a short video of our now-talkative baby!