"Mother I want you for a little while"

Rylynn is so stinkin cute right now. I am loving this phase she is in at the moment because she really likes having one on one time with her mother. Yes, lately she has been calling me Mother because "Little Bear" calls his mother that. She is obsessed with Little Bear right now. Anyway, Daddy is usually her favorite so it has been really fun lately that she has been wanting me. Her new thing is that when I am in the other room she will call for me and say, "Mother, I want you for a little while" It always just makes me smile and gives my heart a little tug. I love spending time with her. She is so entertaining! Now that Carter is a little more independent I feel like I am getting back to where Rylynn and my relationship was before he was born. She had a hard time sharing me at first and it was a difficult adjustment for her, but lately it has all clicked and everyone seems happy and secure. I am so thankful for these times in my life. It never ceases to amaze me when I look back over a hard stretch of my life that I can see the Lord's hand guiding me and strengthening me. This probably sounds like there was some terrible thing that happened to me and there wasn't, but there are just years that are more challenging than others and the transition for Rylynn and I to two kids was a little rough. But I am grateful that when I endure and cast my burdens on the Lord in prayer, he always delivers me. Whether it be a huge trial or a small one, he is carrying me through. I am especially grateful for his perspective. He knows all of us and He knows what we can be and I need to rely on his wisdom more. Anyway, I wasn't planning on this turning into a sermon, but I am just so thankful for my kids and for my relationships with them. I love my husband and I love how Christmastime helps to put into perspective what is most important in life. I am so blessed. Merry Christmas everyone!

"I Want My Carter"

We had an interesting night on Monday night.  Rylynn kept waking up in the middle of the night, which is out of the ordinary for her.  So, we took turns checking on her, but something wasn't quite right.  We finally hauled her into bed with us, thinking that maybe she was scared.  Well, she threw up in our bed.  I know that's disgusting and you probably don't want to hear about it or think about it, but it was actually kind of cute/funny.  As she was heaving she kept saying, in a strained tone, "Sorry about that."  Honestly, I was totally grossed out and sad for her, but I thought it was hilarious.  We gave her a bath at 3:00 am and as we were putting her PJs on she starting yelling "I want my Carter!  I want my Carterman!"  Carter, however, was sleeping soundly so she didn't get her wish.  She lay on the floor for a while, just resting quietly as I told her stories about when I got sick as a boy.  She was a real sweety!

Rylynn is a tough girl and she likes to do things on her own.  She is very sweet, but it is often masked by her intensity and on-the-go personality.  Seeing her in such a vulnerable, needy state was actually a special experience.  I just wish it didn't take vomit to bring that out. :)  Incidentally, how bad is the word "vomit"?  

Top 5 people I would love to punch in the face

Okay so this is a long time coming, but I saw this on one of my friend's blogs and I just had to do it on mine!

5. Dr. Phil
4. Brittany Spears
3. Oprah Winfrey and a bonus punch for Gail
2. Angelina Jolie

and the number one person is, drum roll please.....

1.Hillary Clinton

Please share your lists:)

Christmas Lights!

Last night we went to the Lake FarmPark Christmas lights for FHE. The kids had a blast! We got to go on a horse and wagon ride to see all the lights and then we stopped so we could go in the barn and pet some animals. Rylynn got to ride a pony which she loved, and then it was off to see Santa! Rylynn was sooo excited. Rylynn and Carter sat on Santa's lap and Rylynn told Santa that she wanted a baby for Christmas and a baby bed, and a bottle and some food for her baby. Can you tell she is a little obsessed with dolls right now? Then we got to go to Santa's workshop where you pick a toy to make and you help an elf put it all together and then paint it and wrap it up. It was so cute. It was definitely worth the 19 bucks to get in! The kids can't wait to go again next year.






Rylynn was clearly effected by meeting Santa since this morning she woke up and exclaimed, "It's Christmas! Let's go open presents!" I had to explain to her that it wasn't going to be Christmas for a couple more weeks and until Nana and Papa get here. She got over that quickly so we could run out to the family room, as we do every morning, and turn on the Christmas tree lights and put up another ornament on our advent calendar. We are all getting really excited!

Christmas Cards

** I apologize in advance for offending anyone who uses his/her Christmas card as an excuse to brag about how incredibly brilliant, talented, and/or amazing his/her kids are **

You know the Christmas cards I'm talking about, right?  They devote a full paragraph to each of their kids, usually starting out the paragraph with something like, "[kid's name] is our little future President."  Then they proceed to paint the most lovely picture of how each child is extremely talented and has a gifted intellect.  In case you aren't familiar with these kinds of cards, and you would like to write one of your own, I have come up with 10 steps to writing a really conceited Christmas card.  Here they are:

1. Definitely compare your 1 year-old to a genius - past or present.

2. By all means, please list every activity in which your child is involved.

3. In addition to all of the in-your-face "we're-awesome" comments, throw in subtle comments that show how great members of your family are.  Example: "John is still playing a lot of golf - being in the Bishopric hasn't affected his game too much."

4. Project what your child will become in 20-30 years...it's fun and easy.

5. Write your own ambitions for your children as if they were your children's ambitions.  Example: "Britney( 2 years old) really wants to be a surgeon."

6. Mention a couple of negative things (to show you're humble) in a way that, in the end, show how great you are.  Example: (From Michael Scott; listing his "weaknesses") "I work too hard.  I care too much.  And sometimes I can be too invested in my job."

7. 1 page is not enough.  You should really be pushing 3 or 4.

8. Go very light on information that will help people get to know your kids.  Instead, it is extremely important to list their accomplishments.

9. Tell us about what "people" say about your child without mentioning who these "people" are.  Example: "People say Elizabeth looks like a model."

10. Remember, the world revolves around you.  Assume that everyone on your Christmas card list is just as interested in every detail of your life as you are.  Always write from that perspective.

Good luck!  I look forward to hearing from you!

- Garrett

Oh Christmas Tree

Yesterday we went to Whispering Pines tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree. It was so much fun. We drove out on a horse-drawn wagon and they drop you off with a saw and you just cut down whatever tree you like. Rylynn loved the snow and laid down in it like she was taking a bath. She also made huge snowballs to eat as we walked through the rows and rows of trees. After much debating(Garrett and I are pretty picky about trees we learned) we finally found our perfect tree and Garrett sawed away as Rylynn and I yelled, "Timber!" By the time we finally decided on our tree Rylynn's pants, shoes, and socks were soaking wet and she kept reminding us that she was freezing and she was ready for the hot chocolate and hot dogs. So we headed into the lodge and roasted hot dogs and had hot chocolate. It was a really fun adventure. Of course I brought the camera to capture this fun family memory, but unfortunately we discovered as we posed next to our tree that our batteries were dead so we have no pictures! We did come home and decorate the tree and that was a lot of fun, so I will post a picture of our decorated tree as soon as we get some new batteries. Only 16 days until Christmas! Hooray!

Red Paint Nightmare!

Okay so I know I already posted today, but I just had to blog about this awful thing that happened today. I figured it might be therapeutic to share it with the world, we'll see. So after church today I was supposed to take some paint and craft supplies home from the Relief Society closet since we are having a make up freaky friday night at my house on Tuesday. So of course, I forgot until we were 2 minutes away from our house so we had to turn around and go back to the church which is about 15 minutes away. So of course by the time we got there the closet was locked and there was no one who had a key around. Luckily the main paint I needed was left outside the closet. So I decided to take the three gallon sized cans to the car and then come back in and see if I could find anyone with a key. So as I went to open the door, I shifted one of the cans so that I could open the door while balancing the three gallons of paint, little did I know that the lids were not closed. So as you can imagine, Red, not the beige of course, but the bright Red paint shot out all over the door of the church, all over the carpet, all over my brand new sweater that I bought last night, all over my skirt, and my leather boots from London! It was one of those moments when I was so shocked and so overwhelmed that my first impression was just to run and never look back. Just as I was processing what had happened this poor guy from the next ward walked by minding his own business and saw me covered in paint with a look of terror on my face. I just looked at him and said, "um I have no idea what to do!" He then said, "Neither do I!" He was so nice though and as I ran to the bathroom to try and salvage my sweater, he ran and got the custodial supplies and began cleaning. Once I rinsed out my sweater, I just stuck my whole foot in the sink to try and save my boots. Then I ran out to the car and made Garrett give me his sweater so that I wasn't shirtless in the church. Then he being the wonderful husband that he is got out of the car, rolled up his dress shirt sleeves and started cleaning. Our kids were champions as they had to sit in the car for hours after three hours of church. They of course were starving, but luckily our van has a dvd player so they were entertained for awhile. Another nice guy missed all of his sacrament meeting to help us and Brandon Kofford also got down in his suit to help suck up the paint while he waited for tithing settlement. We got it cleaned as best we could and finally we had to go home and the guy from the other ward asked someone he knew to bring their carpet cleaner over to finish the job. I am so thankful for kind members of our church! I had never met the two guys that helped me, and they probably thought I was crazy, but it was so nice of them to help me. On the plus side, I tracked down the RS president from the next ward and she opened the closet for me so I was able to get all my supplies. When we got home it was 2:45pm and our church gets out at 12:00pm! What a nightmare. I did manage to save my sweater, and kind of my boots, but the skirt went straight into the trash, oh well.

Christmas is coming!

The presents from Grandma arrived the other day and Rylynn was thrilled as you can see! She had so much fun playing with the box that she forgot about the presents, well for a few minutes at least. I love how easy it is to please children. Give them a box of pink packing popcorn and they are good for hours. Notice that yet again Rylynn is not wearing any clothing. This activity was definitely not Carter approved as he just tried to eat the packing material. Luckily when the box arrived he was sleeping so Rylynn got to have her fun before we had to throw it away. We are getting so excited about the Christmas season and the kids can't wait to for Nana and Papa to come to town!

Winter Picnic

I was running around doing some cleaning the other day when I found Rylynn and Carter in the hallway having a "picnic". So they invited me to join them. I couldn't resist taking a couple pictures of it. Also, you will notice that Rylynn is not wearing any clothes, because even though it is freezing outside, she refuses to wear clothes while in the house. I think she is in denial about it being winter.


Doesn't that sandwich look tasty!? Rylynn is a very good fake food cook.


Carter is our smiley little boy! I am constantly stopped in the grocery store because Carter is such a smiler. If anyone looks in his direction, he grins ear to ear and people always just laugh. He has such an expressive face; it must be his Monson genes shining through!


Carter is cruising around the house now and the only time of day we can keep him in one place is bathtime. He loves taking baths with his sister, and I love doing funny things with his hair after the bath:)

Out with November and in with December

So I don't have any exciting pictures to post today, but I wanted to give a quick Thanksgiving overview. We had a lot of fun. Our friends, the Andersons, invited us to their house with a few other families in the ward. There were 11 kids and they all ran around and had a blast! The Andersons have a great kids basement so Rylynn was entertained for hours, so much so that she had her first potty accident in public which was sad, but she recovered well. I must say I am thankful for good friends here in Cleveland to spend the holidays with.

No matter how old I am, I miss my family madly around the holidays. I especially missed my sister who is on a mission in Estonia right now. I am just so thankful for good friends, for a family that I love so much, for the blessings, as well as the trials of motherhood, a wonderful husband, the gift of the spirit, a healthy body, and a warm home to live in, and good food to eat! The Lord has blessed me so much and I love the month of November so that I can focus on how much I am grateful for in my life. So I will try to carry the spirit of gratitude into the upcoming Christmas season!

I love Christmas so much! We have been playing Christmas music non-stop ever since Thanksgiving because it brings me back to my childhood so much and I just love it, especially my new Josh Groban Christmas cd! I am especially excited for this Christmas because my parents are coming and it is the first Christmas that I am hosting at my house. I am a little stressed about living up to the expectations (mostly my own expectations) but I am getting so excited to see Rylynn this Christmas. She is at such a fun age when all the magic of Christmas comes alive. I can't wait to make cookies to leave out for Santa with her and to see her face on Christmas morning when she sees the tree and the presents. Holidays are just so much more fun with kids.

Carter's new moves

Carter is getting better and better at walking and getting into trouble with his sister. He will usually take about 8-10 steps now and he even turned all the way around without falling down the other day. A funny Carter story from today was when I was trying to get both kids asleep while Garrett was gone at school. I was vacuum up a mess Carter made in Rylynn's room, but I didn't realize he and Rylynn were in the dining room making a much bigger mess. Rylynn had been eating yogurt at her little princess table earlier, but she told me she was done and had put her bowl in the sink. Then all of a sudden she came running into her room saying, "mommy, mommy, Carter made a big mess!" So I went into the dining room and Carter had taken the bowl and flung it all over the room and all over himself. He had it all over his head and in his newly cleaned hair! He had just gotten out of the bath and into his clean jammies, of course! So it was back to the bath for round two. I can laugh now, but it was definitely not funny at the time!

Hooray for Underpants!

This is a quote from Rylynn's Elmo potty movie, and this week we have actually been able to say it with Rylynn and mean it! That is right Rylynn is finally potty trained! She has even slept through the night for five nights with no accidents(fingers crossed). She is very excited to wear underwear and I am very excited to only have to change one child's diapers instead of two! So my thankful thought for the day is: I am thankful for toilets and for a child who knows how to use one. Attached you can see the video of Rylynn talking about this exciting event in her life. Also the Rylynn quote of the day: Rylynn randomly comes up to me and says, "I just love the holidays!" I was like where on earth did she learn that. Then she informed me that Piglet says that in her movie. Another favorite of the day was when I was putting on my makeup in the bathroom and Rylynn was asking if she could put some on. I told her no, but that she could go and put her makeup on (which was a new present she got for going potty in the toilet). So she looks at me and says, "oh no mommy my makeup is too special to me." Oh that kid always keeps me laughing!

Coming soon, we are going to post a video of Carter actually walking. He takes about 5-10 steps for us now. He also does a really funny thing with his head that you have to see to understand, so that will be coming tomorrow! I am just too tired tonight and I have to teach preschool in the morning. So I am going to try to be wise and go to bed before midnight, which is one of my new goals!

I've been tagged!

Okay so I am new at this whole blogging thing as you all know, but I am assuming I just do what the last person did who tagged me so here it goes. BTW, I love getting to know you all better this way!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago..

1. Wow, this makes me sound really young, but I was a freshman in high school
2. Playing starting center on the freshman basketball team
3. Dating a boy named Nick, I know, I know I wasn't 16 yet.
4. Taking some classes that I don't really remember
5. Going to seminary in my basement because my mom was my teacher and she was awesome!

5 things on my to-do list today..

1. Well it is 11:15pm so pretty much the only thing on my to-do list is to go to bed.
2. Tomorrow I have to run a million errands as I always do on Saturday
3. Play with my kids
4. Make something yummy for dinner
5. Clean my house because it is a mess

5 Foods I enjoy..

1. chicken parmesan, pretty much anything italian
2. chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!
3. I love salads! Especially my mom's
4. Kendra's cupcakes with the creamcheese filling, oh wait those are chocolate too
5. Salmon, actually most fish, pretty much I just love food!

5 bad habits..

1. I still bite my nails occasionally, but I am trying to quit
2. eating late at night
3. being too decisive! As my father says, "often wrong, seldom in doubt"
4. I can be very impatient, but my kids are curing me of that day by day
5. staying up way too late, no matter how tired I am

5 of my favorite toys..

1. This seems to be common answer, but my Tivo
2. My husband's cool mac laptop that I always steal
3. my awesome minivan with it's awesome dvd player
4. my bosch
5. my flat iron to tame my crazy hair!

5 people I tag..

1. Jana
2. Katie kates
3. Danielly belly
4. Molly
5. Amanda Howard

Our nightly routine

Our new favorite thing to do is sit around the fire at night as a family. Daddy will wear out the kids by playing with them right after dinner and then the kiddies take a bath together which they just love! While the kids are in the bath, Daddy comes out and builds our fire. When the kids get out of the bath they play together in Rylynn's room while we wrestle them to get jammies and diapers on. Then we all cuddle up by the fire to get warm. Every night Rylynn asks for hot cocoa by the fire which usually ends up all down the front of her jammies. We usually have to put Carter to bed soon after the fire is started since he is determined to climb in the fireplace. He is getting better though. We just love our family fires!

Fooray!

So it is officially cold here! I have somewhat been in denial because everytime we leave the house I forget to bring coats. Yesterday at the grocery store I realized that people were looking at me like I was crazy. Probably because neither myself or my son was wearing a coat as it began to snow on us. No wonder he has a runny nose.

Anyway, I love this stage with Rylynn because it seems like everyday she says a new phrase that cracks me up. So the phrase of the week is Fooray for Carter! She is trying to say hooray, but it comes out fooray! So whenever she gets excited about anything she says fooray for whatever it is. Lately since Carter has been trying to walk and we have been so focused on that, it seems like she most commonly says Fooray for Carter and then we all clap and then Carter gets excited and starts clapping too.

Kids are so entertaining we don't even need TV when they're around!

the moments that make it all worth it

So today Rylynn was playing with her "favorite friend" as she likes to call Olivia our neighbor and they were pretending to have a picnic with her pretend food as they often do. They were playing behind our big chair so she couldn't see me, but I was at the table and sort of listening to them play. They were doing a great job sharing their food and then Rylynn said in a worried voice, "We forgot to say a prayer", and then she started to say a prayer to bless her pretend food. It made me smile and it was one of those moments where your heart just hurts at how much you love your child. Those are the moments when you realize all your thankless work as a mother is paying off, and that it is all worth it!

On another note, Carter took five steps by himself today and he is so anxious to walk all around. He is a funny kid and he is very determined just like his sister:) He'll be running in no time.

Thanksgiving

So our lesson in RS today was about being thankful so I thought I would take a minute and reflect on what I am thankful for today. I am so thankful for our home. I'm thankful I have a place to feel safe and know that my children are safe too. I am so thankful for my family and for the privilege of being a mother to two amazing children. I am thankful for my wonderful and very nerdy (see the previous post) husband. I am thankful for a healthy body and for all the abilities I usually take for granted. I am so thankful for music that stirs my soul and makes me feel God's power in a way that nothing else can. I am thankful for the gospel and the testimony I have of it. I am so thankful to know the simple and eternal truth that I am a child of God and that he loves me and knows me better than I know myself. There are so many people that don't know this and I don't know what I would do without that knowledge. I am so thankful for my Savior. I am going to try to be more thankful and think of something new each day this month that I take for granted, so stay tuned!

College Gameday!

Disclaimer: This is a shameless attempt to: (1) add some masculinity to this blog; (2) attract some masculine visitors; and (3) spend an unusually long amount of time on espn.com while pawning it off as time devoted to the blog. Here it goes!

It's Saturday and we're all geared up for College Gameday! Carter was looking over the schedule and he has some interesting observations and predictions for the day. Since the Pac-10 is the best conference in football, we will begin there.

Oregon v. ASU
Prediction: Oregon by 13. Oregon has too many weapons for ASU. Dennis Dixon will be ridiculous. I like what ASU has done this year, but I don't think they can hang with Oregon.

Ohio St. v. Wisconsin
Prediction: The Big Ten will still be overrated after this game. It's great that OSU put some Division 1 teams on its schedule this year, but they are Big Ten teams so who knows if they are any good. Well, Carter is going with OSU by 10, because Wisconsin is pretty banged up. He still thinks OSU is overrated, but this will not be the week they will be exposed. I hope he's wrong!

FSU v. BC
Prediction: BC by 3. BC escaped last week, and it will be another close one today, but Carter is concerned about FSU's ability to come up with the big play when it needs to. BC, another overrated team, will hang on to the #2 spot for another week. They will soon fall.

LSU v. Bama
Prediction: Bama by 7. LSU just hasn't looked good and Saban has had two weeks to prepare for this home game. This is a bad combination for LSU. So, LSU will lose, but somehow will probably hold the #3 spot...I think they programmed the BCS computer to ignore LSU's bad games or something.

Notre Dame v. [enter opponent here]
Prediction: [opponent] by 24. It just doesn't matter who they play...it's gonna be ugly!

And now, the most important game of the week. The BYU game!

BYU v. CSU
Prediction: BYU by 20. This is gonna be a slaughter. Carter is pleased with the way the Cougars have played recently and with an extra week off, he thinks they will be prepared. The offense may come out a bit rusty, but the defense will set the tone and the offense will follow. Look for Tonga and Unga to have big games and for Max Hall to throw for 260 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT. CSU is not the team they were 3 years ago and will not put up much of a fight.

Utah bye week
Prediction: Utah will look really, really bad in the bye week. Really, really bad!

Well, that's it for now. Check back to see how Carterman does on his predictions. It's gonna be a great day!

Garrett & Carter

PS. Indy by 6 and the Seahawks by 13 tomorrow!

A day at the farmpark

Rylynn is in a co-op preschool with some friends from church. A week ago we took a fieldtrip to a farmpark in Kirtland. It was so much fun. We took a wagon ride to an apple cider demonstration which Rylynn loved because two horses pulled the wagon.

We also got to milk a cow, pet sheep, pigs, and chickens, and see a sheep herding demonstration. Rylynn's one complaint was that she didn't get to ride on any animals!

These are the pigs we got to pet. This tiny one was a day old when we were there. Rylynn is obsessed with Charlotte's Web right now which she calls Piggy spider movie so she was totally loving the pigs.

While we were looking at this newborn pig we were talking about how cute and little it was. Then I pointed out the mother and said look how big and giant the mommy pig is. Then Rylynn responded, "that one's not so cute!" I laughed so hard, but I was thinking the same thing!

Guess who's coming to dinner

So I have to post this even though it happened a few days ago. So this week we were having the missionaries to dinner as we often do and while I was preparing dinner I said to Rylynn "guess who is coming to dinner tonight?" She got very excited and exclaimed "Jesus!" I then had to give her the huge let down and tell her that it was only the missionaries. I love the honesty and faith of children! How cool would it be if Jesus really could come to dinner? Well I have to admit the first thing I said was well if Jesus were coming to dinner my house would be a lot cleaner right now!

Halloween Fun!

We had a wonderful Halloween this year! This was Carter's first Halloween and the first Halloween that Rylynn really understood what was going on. It was so much fun and the kids lasted a whole hour! Here are some pictures:


Rylynn loved having makeup time with Mama. She sat perfectly still! She was a fairy princess, complete with pink princess slippers. She would walk up to the doors and say "trick or treat" and after the people gave her candy and she would say thank you and then just wait around on the porch. We aren't sure if she just wanted to hang out with the people or if she just thought that if she stayed around long enough they would give her more candy. She made sure to tell every person that she was a fairy princess.


Carter and Rylynn all dressed up for trick or treating. How cute are these kids!


Carter is the world's cutest bumble bee. This was the perfect costume for Carter because it was really warm and soft. Especially since his only job was to ride in the stroller and look cute as he cheered on his big sister.


Rylynn got to go trick or treating with her friends Olivia, Jaxson, and Emma. She loves these guys!

Carter got to hang out with his buddy, Jack.

Our Princess

This is our first child, Rylynn. She is two and a half and we can best describe her as a female Curious George. She loves learning new things and exploring. Right now she is really into imaginative play. She loves her princess dress up shoes! She also loves animals and hearing her daddy tell her stories about fishing and animals. Her very vivid imagination has been waking her up at night lately because she has nightmares of lions and monsters. She is a great older sister and she loves her little brother whom she calls "Manny Man" or "My Sweet Boy".




Rylynn singing her ABCs.

Best Buddies

This is Rylynn and Carter. They are best buddies. Rylynn is 2 1/2 and Carter just turned 10 months yesterday! Rylynn wasn't too sure about this little guy for the first few months but now they are inseparable. They are so much fun and plenty of work for me!

Our little man

This is our newest addition to the Hall family. Carter Garrett was born on December 31, 2006. He is all smiles and into everything. This last week he took his first unassissted steps. Two to be exact! He scales the walls and stands up by himself. He is just itching to be able to walk and run around after his big sister! His nicknames include: Littleman, Sweet Boy, Manny Man, Manny, and Carterman.

Carter is a sensitive little man. He is obsessed with food and his mommy. He, like his daddy, has many unique and particular little habits and characteristics. When he does the little things that only Carterman does, we are left to say, "It's just 'Manny being Manny'"!

Carter Walks! (Kind of...)

We have arrived!!

So it has taken multiple nagging friends and family members, but we have finally arrived in the blogging world! It will probably take me awhile to get this to the point where it is interesting to anyone, but I will do my best.