Merry Christmas!

It was a very Merry Christmas at the Hall home this year! We had so much fun opening gifts with Parker, he was hilarious! He would open one gift, and then want to play with it, and not open anything else. We actually had to take toys away so he would finish opening them all. His first gift was a little spider man scooter (I'll include a picture below) and he rode it around for about 10 minutes before he even lookd at any other gifts! Later on, and with Josh's help, we managed to have a turkey dinner, and then we visited our friends, the Kubals. We couldn't have asked for a better day! Here are some more pictures...











I've had some "complaints" about this blog that there are no pictures of me in my large and pregnant state, so here is one for all of you! This is me and Parker, he is showing the camera his new spider man action figure. And yes, if you can see that close, my feet are purple, they look that way all the time these days. Lack of circulation....





Here is Parker and Josh playing "tackle" with Parker's new football. The game is pretty basic and goes a little something like this: Josh throws the ball to Parker, Parker catches it, and then runs at Josh as fast as he can and tries to knock him over. Josh has yet to teach Paker the difference between "offense" and "defense" so Paker plays both sides. As long as he gets the ball AND gets to tackle someone, he is happy.





Here is one of Parker's favorite Christmas gifts, a dinosaur from Grandma and Papa that roars and walks. He walked it back and forth on the coffee table for the better part of an hour before I couldn't take it anymore and "helped" him choose a new toy to play with. Thank you, Mom.... :)







This is the new Spider Man Scooter. We haven't ventured outside with it yet, because it has been cold and rainy, but he's getting better at pushing with his foot. He likes it better when Josh or I push him "really fast."
As you have probably figured out, I have not had the babies yet. Now that Christmas is over my main priority is going to be trying to ge them out! I can't take it anymore!! WHen I saw the doctor the day after Christmas he said I had not really progressed much, and I was free to get up and around. I have realized at this point that is much easier said than done, jsut getting up off the couch is no small task! (Sad, I know!) It is hard work just to move myself around! :) I go in on Monday (New Year's Eve!) for another ultrasound and non-stress test, it will be my last chance to have these babies in 2007!! WIsh me luck, we will keep you posted!!

T'was The Night Before Christmas....

...And all through the house, there were no signs of labor, things were quiet as a mouse!
Hey all! I would have posted something sooner, but my days are so very uneventful, I am afraid I might bore you all with my life on bedrest. Here is a picture of Parker with Santa. He was thrilled to see him! His favorite movie right now is "The Polar Express" (known at our house as "the train movie") and he gets so excited when they finally get to the North Pole and see Santa. He jumps up and down on the couch yelling, "Santa, Santa! Ho, ho, ho!" He still doesn't quite get the concept that Santa is coming tonight to bring him presents, but I am sure there will be plenty of years in the future for him to look forward to that.
As for the rest of us, we are happy to report that there are no babies here yet. I will only be happy to report that for about 2 more days, because after Christmas comes and goes, I am not sure how much more I can take! Of course, we are so happy that I have gone this far without any major problems or early labor. I guess I should count my blessings insetad of thinking of how much it hurts just to stand up! I have a doctor's appointment at 10 am on the day after Christmas, so we'll see if anything has changed. For now, lets just cross our fingers that nothing happens until then. More than anything, I think I will just feel guilty if my doctor has to come in and deliver me on Christmas Day. I already promised him I wouldn't....

Bedrest....

SO, this past week was a little more eventful than we would have liked, but all is well. I went in for my scheduled doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon and was surprised with the news that I was starting to dialate and was having contractions every 2-3 minutes (who knew?!). My doctor sent me up to labor and delivery and put me on an IV drip of magnesium to try and slow/stop the contractions. If anyone is familiar with this drug, it pretty much relaxes ALL muscles in your body (including eyes, I couldn't even focus very well!) I stayed in the hospital until Friday, when they took me off the mag to see if I was okay on my own. In the 2 days I was there, I didn't progress any further, the contractions were slowed, and the babies actually were not pressing down as hard as they had been when I came in. So, here I am back at home...on bedrest.
I have not been looking forward to this part of the pregnancy, although I have known it would probably happen sooner or later. In fact, I am pretty lucky that it has happened much later than we originally thought. I will be 34 weeks on Friday, and when I was at the hospital, both babies were measuring at 4 1/2 pounds, which is great. From here we just wait and see how long my body will last! It could be 2 days, it could be 2 weeks. Who knows? It was kind of weird to be in the hospital and leave without delivering any babies, but I know the longer they stay in, the better. I am pretty bored, and realizing how hard it is to actually stay off my feet, but of course, I am really blessed with a fabulous husband who is doing SO much extra work, and not getting mad when when I tell him exactly how I want things done around here! :) Parker is having fun staying with friends a little more than usual, and we have had so many firends offer to help which we are so grateful for!
So, that is the latest! We will keep you updated on what happens over the next few weeks. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season, and I apologize for no Christmas cards this year, but you'll be getting a birth announcement in the near future to make up for it! Merry Christmas!

Saturday Afternoon In Arkansas

Saturday was an uneventful day for me (that is nothing new these days). I was feeling pretty tired (that's nothing new, either) but Josh and Parker got to go spend some quality time with friends at the local bowling alley (c'mon, it was Saturday, and we live in Arkansas!). It was Parker's first time bowling where he actually got to bowl by himself. Josh took some video for me to watch, and it was pretty cute, so I thought I'd post it for you all to see. We aren't crossing our fingers for him to hit the professional ciurcut anytime soon, but that's okay, there's always golf...

Coolest Kid at the Bowling Alley!

Okay, so I have been putting off this blog for about 3 months now, but I think I have it all figured out so I really will try and keep up with some more regular posts. Here is our family picture from last year. It is the best one we have, and we decided not to get one this year until after the twins are born. (When you are 8 months pregnant with twins, you don't really feel like getting your picture taken for friends and family to see.) I will try and give you a quick update on the past few months:

I am, as of today, 32 weeks along in this pregnancy. It has been quite a different experience than when I was pregnant with Parker, that is for sure! I don't do much, try and take it easy as much as possible, but it seems to be paying off. I am doing much better than my doctor had hoped, I am not on official bedrest yet, and the babies are both right about 4 pounds right now (feels more like 10 pounds each!). If I can make it a few more weeks so they can get to 5 pounds, that would be great. Right now the goal is to make it to 34 weeks, and we will see from there. Making it to 32 is a great milestone, especially with no major complications. My 35th week is the week of Christmas, and my other goal is NOT to be in the hospital on Christmas day. I guess we'll see. I wish I had more exciting things to post about me, but this has really consumed my life for the past few months. I stopped doing any interior design consulting back in November, and took leave from my "fun" jobs at The Gap and teaching Step classes at World Gym. Hopefully I will be able to start back with some of that next year.

Josh is still doing great, he has become very good at doing all the things I can't do right now, plus work full time and serve as the elders quorum president of our ward at church. I don't see how he has time to do it all, and still have time to watch every college football game, and keep up with BYU and Jazz basketball. (See, men really CAN multi-task when they want to, especially if it means watching up to 4 games at the same time!) I am so thankful for all he is doing for our family right now!

Parker is turning into such a "big boy", I can't believe it! I guess he has to grow up somehwat to make room in our family for two more babies, but he is still and always will be my baby boy! He turned two on September 29th, and had a fun "friend" party to celebrate. He is very into trains, so he got a new Thomas the Train and train table. In October we enrolled him in a Mother's Day Out Program at the Church Of Christ in Bentonville. He goes on Mondays and Thursdays from 9am-1 pm. He gets so excited when he wakes up and we tell him he gets to go to "school!" (I wonder how long that will last?!). He loves his friends and teachers there, and although it is a nice break for me, I really miss him when he is gone! Here he is on his first day of "school." What a cutie!

Halloween was great for him this year, too. He had fun trick -or-treating around the neighborhood to a few houses, but I think he had even more fun at home when the trick-or-treaters came to our house. He would yell, "DOOR, DOOR, GET THE DOOR!!" to make sure we knew someone had rung the bell. Here he is with Josh in his chicken costume (Yes, chicken costume, I fugured this was the last year that he wouldn't have an opinion about what he wanted to be, so I chose the chicken!):

We can't believe that Thanksgiving has also come and gone, and that Christmas (and babies) are only a few weeks away. Parker still says "No" when we ask him if he wants to have babies here at our house, but hopefully he will have a change of heart when he finally gets to meet them. Right now, since I am quite limited in my "playing" abilities, if I can't do something with him, he says, "Mommy, babies are in the way!" or better yet, "Mommy, too fat!" :)

I will try and post again in the coming weeks and stay up to date. We will definitely post pictures of the babies and of Christmas, too! Happy Holidays to all!!

Creating a Hall Family Blog

Josh thought it would be a great idea to create a Hall Family Blog, which translates to Jenni will create and maintain a family blog for us. :) Of course, I am the obvious choice for being the administrator for this blog, seeing as how I am confined to spending the greater portion of my day sitting around "relaxing" and taking it easy so that I can grow two babies! Right now I am almost 21 weeks along, and things are looking good. We found out at our last doctor's appointment that we have a boy and an 80-90% girl....what the other 10-20% is we are not sure yet, hopefull y it turns out to be girl as well! I am having a hard time adjusting to a slower pace, if you know me, you know that I am not a sit-around-on-the-couch type of gal, but I am trying hard to follow my doctor's orders. I have to keep reminding myself that it is just temporary. My doctor, who knows I'd rather be running 5 miles a day, assured me that when I hit the 36 week mark of this pregnancy, I am free to run as much as I want. Unfortunately, I am afraid that by that point I will be rolling everywhere I go!
Josh is doing well, he keeps himself sane from his hormonal pregnant wife by golfing and creating winning strategies for BYU's 2007 football team. We hosted a viewing party at our house for the opening season game, and then he was able to attend the UCLA and Tulsa games. His newest strategy is to not attend any more games, because they have lost evey time he has gone!
Parker is getting so big, we can hardly believe he turns 2 in two weeks! He likes to send Josh and I to timeout when he is caught doing something naughty, he points his finger at us and yells, "No! Go timeout!" and then runs away. I think the hardest part of parenting can be not laughing when you are trying to discipline, Parker sometimes just waits to see if we are going to laugh or actually follow through with a punishment. He is really so much fun!
This is my first attempt at a blog post, and hopefully not the last. Next time I will figure out how to post pictures as well!