Milestones

Carter Scott Hall's one year stats:

Weight: 24 Ib 15 ounces (92%tile)
Height: 32 inches (99%tile!)
Head circumference: 19 inches (95%tile)

Big, healthy growing boy! Dr. Arrow actually measured Carter's length twice because he had grown so much he thought maybe the nurse had made a mistake. It's just amazing to me how much they grow. He grew 10.5 inches his first year; that's almost an inch a month! He has made some small steps, but prefers to still crawl or hold onto someone's hands. He is really into table food, I can hardly get him to eat any baby food anymore. We've introduced whole milk, but so far he hasn't really been too big a fan of it. Daycare started to give him half whole milk and half formula in his bottle, and he did well with that so I think we'll continue that, and give him more and more milk until we completely phase out formula. Woohoo!

It's my birthday!

Big boy!

Yum! 

Carter's party was the Sunday after his birthday, which I thought would work out really well because I would have all day Saturday to get myself organized and ready… which was true, but what I wasn't counting on was the weather. It POURED the morning of his party! We couldn't believe it, it was so disappointing! I know it's not the biggest deal, but when you put so much time, effort and money into something, it was frustrating for it not to turn out exactly like you want. Especially when it had been beautiful for several weeks leading up to the party, then the morning of the rain and thunder rolled in. But everyone still came and celebrated Carter man with us, which we really really appreciate! It was still a great party!

We put the tent up because the weather report originally said it was going to be 97 degrees. We're really glad we did, but because of the rain!

We posted pictures of Carter throughout his first year on the fence

Kyle's friend has a silkscreen shop and made up a birthday shirt for Carter

Future West Albany bulldog!

Me and my little man :)

Everyone taking shelter!

We had hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos, chips, lemonade, beer… all the good ballpark food! Kyle was hoping to have our fire pit done, which is one of his outdoor projects this summer. He didn't have enough time, so he improvised and turned the strip of dirt on the side of our lawn into a horseshoe pit. It was a hit!

Papa Scott and Tanner playing horseshoes

Dad playing while holding the baby; that's talent!

High five!

Looking good boys!

Playing ball with my buddy Bradyn

The Hall brothers

Princesses Payton and Macyn… don't ask about the outfit

My mommy wants to know when I got so big??

Same facial expression; who are all these people and why are they staring at me? :)

Big sister helping open gifts

Very blessed family

Time for cake!

Seems excited...

… although we had to force him to touch it

You can tell by the look on his face this is going downhill fast...

… and the birthday boy is done!

After we threw him in the bath and let him have a binkie he calmed down quite a bit. I think he was just overwhelmed by all the love and attention! Thank you so much to everyone who came and celebrated with us, and to those who sent their birthday wishes even though they couldn't make it. Our kids are very lucky to have such wonderful family and friends! Also extra big thank you to Chelsea, Richard and McKenna for traveling such a long ways to come. It was an honor for you to come celebrate with us!

The night before the party I had scheduled us to have some professional family pictures taken. I enjoy taking pictures and I feel like I do a sufficient job for most things, but I really wanted some professional ones of us as a family. It's not very often I get to be in the picture too! We found a great photographer in Lebanon, who also happens to be the sister of one of the sonographers I used to work with at Providence. It's a small world! It was technically a one year session for Carter, but I asked her to include some pictures of us as a family, and Payton too of course. I've only seen two pictures, she said it can take a couple weeks to edit all of them, but I thought I would share with you the pictures I have seen. I'll share all of them with you when I get them!

Mr. Carter man!

Our family picture turned out great! Yay!

This was after Carter's cake smash. He wasn't actually that into it, that's mostly our handiwork! I'm excited to see the pictures though!

The other exciting thing to happen recently is Kyle's cousin Sarah got married last Friday. Payton was one of their flower girls, so she's been talking about it for weeks. She was so excited that the big day had finally arrived!

Payton with Sarah and the other flower girls

She did soooooo well! Although here she looks a little unsure…

Both Payton and Carter did awesome, the ceremony was beautiful and the reception was so much fun. My mom had offered beforehand to take Carter home since it was past his bedtime and he was starting to get cranky, which we really appreciated. Payton danced until she was so tired she could barely stand, and then we went home. That girl can boogie!

Having fun in the photo booth with daddy

This is Easton. Payton informed us that this is the boy she would like to marry. Kyle promptly went and had a conversation with his dad! :)

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Ayers!

Other than that, nothing too exciting going on around here… although, I haven't told you of the trip we're planning! Kyle and I have decided to take Payton to Disneyland! It was something we've talked about doing because she is at such a great age to go. She is obsessed with Disney princesses, and would just LOVE getting to dress like one and meet them. But we haven't really wanted to take Carter since he's so little, he wouldn't really enjoy it. By the time he would be old enough that we would want to take him, Payton will probably be seven or eight years old. I have a friend who has two boys around Payton and Carter's ages, and she is taking her older son on a special trip to Disneyland with just her and her husband. That really got me thinking, so I brought it up to Kyle and he was all for it! We think it will be really special for Payton to have Kyle and my total attention the whole trip, and we won't have to worry about naps or diaper changes or anything. Plus I know between his grandmas Carter will be VERY well taken care of! We're going September 25-28, which is a Thursday through Sunday. That means Kyle and I will get to spend our anniversary in Disneyland also, which we're really looking forward to! We love Disney :) We can't wait!

Hope you all have a great week, it's already almost the last weekend in July! Summer is flying by...

So much fun in the sun

Can it be?? It's already July! My baby boy is going to be ONE in just a few days! I keep doing a double take when I look at the calendar; to say that "time flies" is an understatement. And, of course, we've had a very busy couple weeks. Would you expect anything different from the Halls?? :)

A couple weekends ago I rode a greyhound bus up to Portland to meet my good friend Elena. Can't beat a $20 bus ride! After a nice walk I arrived at our hotel, The Benson. Elena drove up right as I walked up, it was perfect timing! I used to try to visit Elena when I went home to Gig Harbor, but since my parents have moved I haven't really made it up there. With kids and work it's so hard to carve out the time, but Elena is expecting her own little one in November, so we decided to make the time before life gets REALLY busy!

We arrived Sunday afternoon, and after getting settled in at our hotel and exploring the neighborhood we got dressed up and went to happy hour at El Gaucho, which is a really nice steakhouse. The happy hour prices were great, and our dinner was delicious! We then walked to frozen yogurt, which was also yummy, but then we decided to turn in for the night. There are definitely some really weird people that come out of the woodwork in downtown Portland at night!

We had massages scheduled for Monday morning, so we got up, got dressed, hit up Starbucks for breakfast and then hurried to a spa for some relaxation time. It was AWESOME! It's been a looooong time since I was able to enjoy something like that. The rest of the day was spent shopping and getting makeovers at Sephora, which was fun. We took our polished selves out on the town that night for dinner at Portland City Grill, which is in a building on the 30th floor overlooking all of downtown Portland. It was beautiful! Tuesday we got up and of course shopped some more. It was just like the good old days when we haunted the Tacoma Mall! My mom met us at Washington Square, she very graciously offered to pick me up to drive me home. Plus I think she wanted to see Elena! All in all, I enjoyed myself so much getting away for some girl time with my best friend. I love that girl!

Our view for dinner Monday night!

Friends for 12 years and counting :)

It was back to business as usual Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday was our big trip to Boise! Kyle's cousin Jessica got married on Saturday the 28th, so we flew into Boise Friday afternoon and spent two nights there. We were originally planning to drive, but airfare was so cheap to Boise that we gave in and flew. An hour in an airplane sounded better than 8 hours in the car! Of course by the time you drive to the airport, park, get checked in, go through security, get to your terminal, stop for potty breaks, bottle breaks, lunch breaks, etc. it added up to about 5 hours total travel time. But when you have little ones, every second counts! Plus Kyle's mom Sue and Uncle Mark were on the same flight as us, so we had extra help getting through PDX, which we really appreciated. 

Payton was really excited to see all the airplanes, but she spent so much time looking around that she was really slowing us down. That is a common problem with her, her nickname in our family is Molasses! We brought Carter's carseat with us for the van ride to and from the hotel, so we set that in a cart, put her in it, put Carter in the front pack, and we hustled through the airport!

Our plane was one of those little ones where you have to actually walk onto the tarmac and climb the stairs, and of course it was pouring down big fat raindrops when we were boarding! There was only 2 rows of seats on each side, and poor Kyle had to lug our giant carseat through the plane and try not to hit anyone. We just had Payton ride in it on the way to Boise, since Carter is under 2 he is allowed to sit on my lap for free. He did really great on the flight, both kids did! Payton cried a little bit during descent because her ears hurt. We tried to give her gum on the plane as a little treat, but she choked on it twice so we gave up on that. On the way home we bought her a sucker at the airport, and that worked out much better! Carter was pretty wiggly, but he was happy sitting on my or Kyle's lap. Payton got to watch Frozen on the iPad, so she was in heaven!

Ready for takeoff!

Happy girl

After we arrived in Boise, we called the hotel shuttle to pick us up and were over there in no time. We had a minor snafu with our room reservations, but it all worked out! We really wanted to have an adjoining room, so that way when the kids went to sleep we didn't have to sit there in the dark, we could at least go to another room. Sue had called multiple times to make sure that was included in our reservation, but when we finally got there of course there were no adjoining rooms to be found. They eventually found us one though, and we settled in to our "home-tel" as Payton likes to call it! 

After having dinner at the restaurant by the pool, we decided to turn in for the night. It had been an EXHAUSTING day! Carter went down without a peep in his pack 'n play, and we brought Payton's inflatable bed for her to sleep in so we didn't risk her rolling onto the floor. Payton was up at 4am though (which was 3am Albany time) asking if it was time to wake up yet. She was starting to get loud and I could hear Carter stirring, but somehow we got them both back down until the usual 7am. Phew!

Payton really wanted to go to the pool, so her and Kyle went and I brought Carter after his morning nap. That girl could have swam all day, she loved it!

What is this mom?

Still not so sure...

I like the pool though

Payton hanging with the girls

Eating lunch

LOVE this face!

After relaxing by the pool for a bit I put Carter down for a nap and the rest of us got ready for the wedding. We clean up pretty nicely if I do say so myself!

The wedding venue

The Halls, looking snazzy!

Carter man at the reception

Payton made a little friend at the reception; they were so cute dancing together

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Olsen!

Carter was pretty tired and overwhelmed at the noise of the reception, but the nice thing about going to a wedding where you're staying is it was just a short walk away to put him to bed. Kyle and I agreed beforehand that we would take half hour "shifts" hanging at the room while Carter was sleeping, and that way we could both enjoy the reception. Payton was enjoying dancing so much that we let her hang out waaaaaaay past her bedtime. Grandma Joy offered to stay with Carter for an hour so that Kyle and I could enjoy the reception together, which was nice. At about 9:30 Payton came up to me and told me she was tired and ready to go to bed, so I headed back to the hotel room with her. She was so exhausted, she slept great! 

Sunday we hung out by the pool again, but we had to catch an afternoon flight back to Portland so we had to pack up and catch a shuttle to the airport. My arms were SO sore from carrying Carter around all weekend, we were out and about so much that I couldn't really let him down to crawl around. When we were at the airport I realized that we'd brought along his big carseat… he could hang out in there for a while! 

Happy guy!

Such good little travelers

The Boise airport even had a play area, which was awesome!

Carter hadn't taken a morning nap, so I was a little nervous how the plane ride would go. He cuddled up to me and fell asleep right before take off, and slept the whole way! It was perfect! He woke up right after we touched down in Portland. 

Sweet angel baby

Everyone on their electronic devices

Mommy even got to read! Heaven!

Our trip had gone so well, but by the time we had gotten through PDX and taken a shuttle all the way out to our car, we could tell the kids were losing patience. By the time we got to Salem we were pretty much in full melt down mode! Kyle and I understood though. We were tired too! The kids were so glad to finally be home, you could tell Carter was so happy to be on the ground and able to just PLAY. We had a blast though, it was a fun trip!

It has been HOT down here lately, so we've just been trying to keep cool. 

Girl after her mommy's heart

My dynamic duo!

Big boy with the big grin

Pool time relaxation

Love these two

Pretty blue eyed girl

MY MOM WON'T LET ME EAT GRASS!!! Very upsetting

Our fourth of July was pretty laid back and non-eventful. I was on call, so we just stayed close to home. Bryan and Lindsey came over to have hot dogs and smores and a few fireworks though! And by fireworks I mean sparkler and pop its. But Payton actually held a sparkler this year! She called it her wand. Making progress!

Happy birthday 'Merica!

Carter man watching from the sidelines with Aunt Lindsey

Payton watched a video on Lindsey's phone of one of her OB appointments where they listened to the baby's heartbeat. She said "I have doctor tools!" She wanted to check on her cousin :) It was adorable!

We also ended up going to the pool on both Saturday and Sunday, which both the kids love. We went Saturday with our family friends the Boases, and Sunday with my friend Jamie and her son Bradyn. 

Such cute boys!

Water baby

Hey buddy!

So much fun in the sun is exhausting!

This week the focus is on Mr. Carter's first birthday; I just can't believe he's already a year old. On the fourth he took a couple of steps from Kyle to me, but he hasn't really tried since. You really have to coax him! I know he will be running before I'm ready for it though. He started saying dada a couple weeks ago, much to Kyle's delight. He is eating lots of table food; if you're eating it, he wants to eat it too! No baby food please! He laughs, smiles and claps so much, he really is such a happy boy. His favorite game is peek a boo, he thinks that is hilarious! He cracks up at Payton all the time too, and loves to watch her and play with her. He is such a blessing in my life, both of my kids are. My life may feel busy, but it's so full of family and love; I wouldn't have it any other way!

So next up is the big birthday blog! Stay tuned!