What a busy week it's been! A lot of exciting changes around here... last weekend Bryan and Lindsey came up to go to a Blazer game, which worked out really well because the Portland Bridal show was in town and we also got paint for the nursery. Sue came up as well, and while the boys went to see Avatar in 3D the girls went to the Oregon Convention Center where the bridal show was... it was huge! We got there about half an hour after they opened the doors and we still waited in a line of like 300 people for almost an hour! It was totally worth it though, if not just for the cake samples alone. :) We started to feel a little sick towards the end of the afternoon, too much sugar! Lindsey entered a lot of great drawings and got some good ideas, and it was fun to watch the fashion show and reminisce about my wedding... I texted Kyle and was like "I want to get married again!" He said tough luck :)

The girls at the bridal show!

Afterwards we went to Home Depot to pick out paint and supplies while the boys taped the room. We decided to do the room in two colors, and we're going to do a ladybug wallpaper border in between. It's going to be so cute, I can't wait until it's finished! We haven't put up the border yet because we want to put up the crib first to decide what height we want it at, so that will be very soon. Here's some pics of the room in progress!

Measuring where to paint the two colors... I really wanted to help, but I was assigned picture taker so I wouldn't be inhaling the paint fumes :)

Getting started!

I don't know why Kyle put paint on his face lol

This picture explains a lot... just kidding Bryan! :)

Boys :)



Finished painting! The top half is a light pink and the bottom half is green... it will all start coming together once the crib and wallpaper are up. Thank you so much to Bryan and Sue, they stayed late to help us finish and we couldn't have done it without them! It looks great!

This week was also a really sad week as well... unfortunately the Halls had to put down their family dog Barkley on Tuesday, who was almost 15 years old. It was time, but that still didn't make it any easier. The boys grew up with him, he was a member of the family and he will be greatly missed.

Kyle and Barkley...

Rest in peace Barkley! 1995-2010

Last night was the annual Burns supper for Kyle's civil war group, which is a dinner they do once a year to honor a Scottish poet named Robert Burns. They also name a Cameron Highlander of the Year at this dinner, which honors someone who gave a lot to the unit and really went above and beyond... and this year Kyle won! I was so glad he did, because he really deserved it.

Highlander of the year!

And of course there was piping :)

Kyle and I also got new phones on Friday, he got the Droid and I got the Droid Eris... we have been obsessed! I'm wondering if it was a good idea that we got phones with internet, because now I don't if we could live without it... they are practically attached to our hands lol!

On to the baby Hall update... the countdown is on! My due date is only 45 days away... CRAZY! She will be here so soon, I'm starting to get anxious and excited all at the same time! We started our childbirth preparation class this week (I'm the only one in the class who forgot to bring a pillow, hopefully this doesn't indicate that I'm going to be the worst mother ever... so I stole one from the ultrasound department for the evening!) There are about 10 other couples in the class, and after going around the room and having everyone introduce themselves, the instructor talked about the different stages of labor and showed a couple different videos... no, not that video! We get to watch that next week. Not exactly looking forward to it! Sometimes it's better when you don't know these things... especially since there's no turning back now! :) My favorite part of the class was the end when the partners mission was to relax the mom by massaging her neck, arms, back, etc... I could definitely get used to practicing that! The class will run for 4 weeks, and after that... we're on our own!

At 33 and 34 weeks, Baby Hall weighs about 5 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. Her skeleton is hardening and she's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look. Her fat layers (which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born) are filling her out and making her rounder, and her skin is smoother than ever. The bones in her skull aren't fused together so that she can more easily fit through the birth canal; in fact, these bones don't fuse until early adulthood! Her central nervous system is maturing, and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If for some reason she had to be born now, she would be fine; she might have to have a short stay in the NICU, but would have no long-term health problems. Obviously we don't want her coming out anytime soon, but that's good to know!

Next weekend is my first baby shower, which I'm really excited about! I'm heading up to Gig Harbor on Friday and will be there for the weekend... I can't wait! I'll definitely have lots of pictures!

Hope you all have a great week! Can you believe it's already the end of January?!?!