Guess who's baaaaaaaaaack...

The long lost blogger! I won't bore you with my excuses of being busy, tired, solo parenting, did I mention tired?? Not to mention I also discovered Pinterest recently and have been obsessed with "remodeling" a couple rooms in my house, so a lot of my evenings have been devoted to painting, decorating, shopping, etc. But I'll get to all that on another blog! I think it will be easier if I start with the present and just work backwards… I've got two months to cover!

Let's start with Father's Day! We spent the day at Pam and Mike's house, but it was a dual celebration. Kyle's cousin Courtney graduated from dental school on Friday! She graduated from OHSU, and already has a job lined up as a dentist in Lebanon. It is such a huge accomplishment, and we are all really proud of her. Congratulations Dr. Hays!

Sunday morning snuggles, reading with daddy

Four generations of Hall men! I've been bugging Kyle to get a four generations picture, I have one with Payton, my mother and grandmother, and it's a picture that I will always treasure. It's so neat to see family growing across generations!

Carter hanging with Dr. Hays

Of course, the big news in the Hall house this weekend was Payton's FIRST ballet recital. I can't tell you what a surreal feeling it was; when I dropped her off backstage before the show and asked her if she was going to be ok, she was like "yeah, bye mom!" I kept looking back on my way out, but she was already in the midst of preparing for her big debut. By the time I got downstairs where Kyle was waiting, my eyes were full of tears. She's just such a big girl; when did that happen?? 

I'm ready!

Soooooo beautiful

There she is! Second from the far right!

Work it girl!

Ballerina walk

All done!

Payton did AMAZING, we were so proud of her. Especially considering she's only been taking ballet for two months! She has always been so shy, so for her to get up there in front of all those people and just give it her all was a huge growing up moment for her. She did three shows in two days, and although it was tiring, it was exhilarating for her. So fun to watch her do something that she loves doing!

Posing with Uncle Tanner

Thanks for coming Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lindsey!

With Grandma Sue and Papa Rick...

… and Grandma Jo and Papa Scott!

Love this girl :)

Ballerina with gifts from her adoring public

Last weekend my grandparents and Uncle Fred took the train down to stay with my parents for a couple days and visit. It was wonderful, we hadn't seen them in a really long time! They hadn't even gotten to meet Carter yet, so I was really glad they could come down. 

Great grandma C. hanging with great grandson Carter

We blew up the bouncy house we bought (which I probably haven't told you about yet because I've been such a loser blogger), and let the kids play while we had a picnic lunch in the backyard. Very fun!

Laughing with Papa Scott

Grandma and Grandpa Casebolt, Uncle Fred, and the Halls

Had a lot of fun! Hope you guys can visit again soon!

Let's see, I really have to think about it when I'm working backwards… what else have you missed? Carter man is growing, I can't believe he's going to be one in just a couple weeks. 24 days to be exact! He changes so quickly, seems like everyday he's doing something new. He's walking everywhere with the help of a walker, pretty soon he's going to be unstoppable! He is into EVERYTHING. You name it. The garbage, the washing machine, outlets, toilets, heater vents, nothing is safe. Payton never paid much attention to those things, but it seems like Carter has a "trouble" magnet that just pulls him towards them. 

He will watch the washing machine for several minutes!

He also HATES diaper changes, and usually tries to escape

Got his first fat lip at school :( Being a little too adventurous...

 Who me? Was I not supposed to be in here?

When mom was getting ready and not paying attention I snuck into the shower

Look! I found the pots and pans!

Also really likes to get into whatever big sister is doing… she doesn't like it as much however

Cutie patootie!

He is such a sweetie, I always get so many compliments on what a good baby he is. I just gave him his second haircut, his hair seems to grow a lot faster than Payton's did! He does a lot of "talking", but doesn't really say any words yet. Although if he's whiny he will start saying mama! He loves Payton, although sometimes she's a little too rough with him when they're playing. One time I asked her repeatedly to be more gentle with Carter, and when she didn't I had to put her in timeout in her room. Well Carter started crawling down the hall, got to Payton's door, and put both hands on it and pushed it until it opened! He wanted his playmate back!

Thank you guys for understanding my lack of blogging… in my next blog I'll post pictures of different projects I've completed around the house so you can see what I've been up to. Kyle's last day of school is on Wednesday, it can't come fast enough! He has a lot of projects planned for the backyard this summer, so he's excited to get going on those too. Never a dull moment around here!

Before I go, a couple quick "announcements"… I want to give a huge CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Carissa and her hubby Chris for welcoming their daughter Reagan Jodie into the world on June 4th. I am so excited for them to become parents, Reagan is one super lucky little girl! She's beautiful and I can't wait to meet her!

Also, I'm excited to announce that I'm going to be an auntie! Bryan and Lindsey are expecting a daughter at the end of October. Kyle and I have always been "the ones with kids", so I can't wait to enjoy watching someone else go through the process. I will get to snuggle and spoil the baby, and not have to worry about feedings, getting up at night, all that fun stuff. I'm so looking forward to it! :)

And last but not least… happy birthday to my mom tomorrow! She has been an amazing help to me over the last year, I can't believe it's already been a year since she retired. Love you mom, you are amazing!