North Carolina - Beach

The second half of our stay in North Carolina Daddy had to head back home to work. But Mommy, Brookston, Kaisley and Nana headed to the beach. Papa joined us for the weekend.

Last fall Brookston had a blast in the sand. But he was very fearful of the water after his first attempted ended in a wipeout! This year, on day one he stayed away from the water and both kids just played in the sand and a big old tub full of water. But, by day 2, both kids started getting brave and having fun in the ocean!

The big bucket of water...hours of entertainment!

Happy Hour on the beach...Kaisley's way of "chillin"

Brookston being Mr. Cool

The first day of the kids and their new love for the ocean!

Brookston jumping waves with Papa

Brookston heading to the beach

Kaisley headed to the beach (just like her brother, of course!)

Brave little girl, testing the water

More fun in the water

Mommy and Brookston waiting for the water to get us!

North Carolina - Marbles Museum

I could tell you about the hundreds of things to do at this awesome kids muesum! Seriously, we could have gone back for 3 days in a row and still not done it all. We probably should have gone again during our visit! We also went last summer during our visit, but this year Kaisley was old enough to enjoy, along with Brookston of course! There is just so much fun stuff to do, it's really just a blast!

I tried to limit myself from the 60 pictures I could post...

Dressed and ready to hop on the fire truck

Kaisley feeding the little piggy a bottle

Kaisley was playing in the garden...all over the place!

Brookston enjoyed dressing up and coming out onto stage...I think he enjoyed the attention when he came out from behind the curtain!

Water time!

Kaisley ended up soaked!! No big shocker there!

Surfing was a blast!

Brookston and daddy at the work bench

Kaisley loved the room full of balls!!!! They were EVERYWHERE and there was a million things to do with them, places to put them, things to climb on...you name it!

Kaisley playing doctor

North Carolina - Tweetsie Railroad

We just got home from a 2 week vacation to North Carolina, to visit Nana and Papa. Daddy was able to join us for week one, while the kids and I stayed for an additional week.

Our first stop was Tweetsie Railroad, a kiddo theme park, designed around an old coal train. We did a countdown until our trip to NC for almost 3 weeks! And each day I asked Brookston what we were counting down until, he said to visit Nana and Papa and to go on the train. He was SO excited about the train. When we first arrived he was so eager to get on, he sat down so excited, all smiles...until the whistle blew...then it was all over. He is very sensitive to loud noises and that ruined it for him, he hid in Nana's lap, covering his ears then entire ride.

Mommy and Kaisley on the big train

Nana and Brookston on the big train (before the whistle blew) see the HAPPY face!

Luckily there was plenty more to do and he had a blast with everything else!

Flying the airplane

After his airplane ride

Brookston driving the car with Nana

Flying the fighter jet with determination

Riding the boat...and ringing the bell

Panning for gold

Kaisley just playing in water

Now this train Brookston was excited about!

Our family on the train

Kaisley helping to push Brookston at the playground

Feeding the animals (in ice cream cones)

Papa, Brookston, and Nana on the chairlift

Even Kaisley did the chair lift!

Daddy & Kaisley and Brookston on the horses

It's a BOY!!!

HERE HE IS...Hall Baby #3...a BOY!

In this picture it's like he's floating on his tummy, with his legs underneath him. Spine at the top, head to the right, bum on the left.

Proof that he's a boy!

We are thrilled to find out we have a healthy little boy in there! He cooperated for the most part, showing us his healthy heart, brain, stomach, liver, kidneys, arms, legs, and boy parts...but he decided to keep his face covered when it was time to check his lips and nose. So, we will go back in 4 weeks to see his sweet little face. Mommy is TOTALLY okay with getting another peak at this sweet little boy.

This picture is similar to the first, but you can see his arms "under" his face. This is the reason we're going back...he was hiding behind his arms!

His arms!

We are told he's weighing in at 11 ounces (he's 19w1d, Kaisley was 11 ounces at 19w6d and Brookston was 12 ounces at 20w2d...so, seems right for our kiddos).

I always love to see baby feet! :)

I believe she said the placenta is anterior, so in the front, which would explain why I didn't think I was feeling NEARLY as much movement as I felt with the other two! However, I do feel him, so yeah for that!

This picture is always a little freaky looking, it's a face on shot (so it must have been earlier, before he covered his face). His head is on the right, you can see one of his eyes. Sorry about the smudge, I must have had something on my scanner because it's on all of the pictures!

Poll Results

Just to recap, more for myself than anything else...

Poll on Blog:
Girl: 27 votes
Boy: 19 votes

Comments on Blog post:
Girl: 7 votes
Boy: 0 votes

Comments on Belly pictures post:
Girl: 6 votes
Boy: 1 vote

Grad board:
Girl: 14 votes
Boy: 2 votes

Facebook:
Girl: 6 votes
Boy: 5 votes

And although I'm sure some voted in multiple places since I posted in so many places (thanks!!!!!) :) :) I think it's safe to say that the girl votes far outweigh the boy votes!

Will you guess?

I know a bunch of you have voted on the left hand side as to what gender you think Hall baby #3 will be! Thank you!! It's fun to see what everyone thinks! It's a pretty close race every time I check...currently at 13 for girl and 15 for boy!

Now, anyone care to leave a comment so I know who thinks girl and who thinks boy? :) PLEASE! :) :)

Let's see if I can help you with some old wives tales, if you'd like (thanks to my pregnancy journal, I looked up the details where I've started to forget!):

Brookston:
Never felt sick, gagged a few times brushing teeth, but maybe because I thought I was supposed to! :)
Tired starting 8 weeks, but really tired starting 10 weeks, felt better around 12 weeks.
Had about a week long headache, twice in 1st trimester.
My hair, nails, and skin looked pretty good! :)
Heartrate was 122bpm at 6 weeks.
Heartrate was high 160's, low 170's at 10 weeks.
Heartrate was 150's at 15 weeks.
Heartrate averaged 140's from 20 weeks and on.
Felt first movement at 15 weeks, 3 days.
Richard felt movement at 18 weeks.

Kaisley:
Had a few food aversions, but never the least bit sick.
Tired from about 5 1/2 weeks, but felt better around 8 weeks.
No headaches!
Bad skin!!
Heartrate was 115bmp at 6 weeks.
Heartrate was 164 at 12 weeks.
Heartrate was in the 140's-150's from about 15 weeks and on.
Felt movement between 15 weeks, 4 days.
Richard felt movement at 20 weeks, 4 days.

Baby #3:
A few food aversions, but never sick at all.
Tired from about 5 weeks and thought it was better about 12, but summer heat disagrees!
Bad headaches for 2 weeks, from about 15-17 weeks.
Bad skin!!!!
Heartrate was 135bpm at 6 weeks.
Heartrate was 160's at 9 weeks.
Heartrate was 172bpm at 11 weeks.
Heartrate was 160's at 15 weeks.
Heartrate is 150's at 18 weeks.
Felt movement at 14 weeks, 6 days. But not a very active one so far.
Richard has not felt movement yet.

Hmmmm, I think if you go by symptoms this one is a girl. Will my symptoms stay consistant? Mommy's instict first said girl, then went to boy, and now I think is back to girl. Mommy's instinct was right with both Brookston and Kaisley, so this time, I'm just confused! :)

On Tuesday, July 6th we will find out which gender rules this house...at least for a few years! :) Stay tuned! :)

Posting of belly pictures

I've finally added belly pictures to my blog:

http://geauxhalls.blogspot.com/2007/05/belly-pictures.html

I've included pictures from Brookston's pregnancy, Kaisley's pregnancy and now this one.

I like to compare...as some of you already know! :) :)

I will continue to update this page...you can find the link on the left hand side. It's below the pictures and tickers...under the part that says, "Links to the details"! So go visit every few weeks! :)

The word explosion

At Kaisley's 15 month appointment when I was asked if she had 6 words (or something like that) my answer was a quick, No! I was still questioning if she said "Mommy", I was pretty sure she said "Daddy", but otherwise I think "uh oh", and well, that's probably it! But, it was not a big deal since she did seem to communicate with us by pointing, following directions (like, "go get me the ball"), and she did have a few sign language words (eat, more, all done, up, please). So, we weren't really worried, just waiting. Oh, and some of our favorites were:

We'd say, "What's a tiger say"...she roars!
What's a monkey say...ah ah.
What's a doggy say...woof woof.
What's an elephant say...brrrrmmmmmeh (with the motion of the arm raising!) :)
What's a snake do....she sticks out her tongue over and over. Love that one!

Well, now at 16 months, it seems like she may have had her word explosion. I think some words will still take some clarification, like ball is a little more like ba. Doggy is daugeeee. Water is wa-wa. All done is awe du. You get the point. But, I wanted to write her list, just to be able to count..or have an idea! :)

• Mommy
• Daddy
• Bubby (Brookston)
• Baby
• Car
• Ball
• More
• All Done
• Thank you
• Doggy
• Ducky
• Bar (as in a breakfast bar)
• Water
• Bubble
• Balloon
• hi
• bye bye
• Bottle
• Paci
• Bed

I'm sure I'm missing a couple, but not bad for a month right? :)

A First: Bowling

Today we went bowling for the very first time! I'd say it was quite successful for two 3 year olds bowling and a 16 month old and 7 month old watching!

Ready...PUSH!

After most balls, Brookston immediately turned around and ran off. He didn't remember to watch until we reminded him!

Kaisley enjoyed being a cheerleader!

The later frames, the boys started needing a little help, to make sure the ball made it all the way to the end...

See why...1.13mph! I think they peaked in the low 2mph in the first frame or two!

Little bowling shoes!

Kaisley took one turn too..she also immediately darted away!

Checking out the controls

Not bad for 3 year olds!

The happy boys after bowling

Corn on the cob

We've enjoyed corn on the cob in our house a few times in the last couple of weeks. When we realized how much Brookston liked it, we certainly wanted to take advantage!

Kaisley enjoys it as well, although she doesn't get too terribly far with getting anything off the cob!

The Pool

We went to a birthday party at our neighborhood pool over the weekend. Finally, Kaisley was able to have some one on one time, while in water. In the past it's been either me with both kids in a big pool or just in the backyard pools. So, Kaisley really has NOT enjoyed the water. She likes to splash and play in sprinklers, but not a foot of water.

Well, both kids were having a blast at the party...so, we joined our neighborhood pool this summer. We've committed, bought stock in it, and paid our summer dues! Better late than never I guess. We just joined on Tuesday and went that night. Now we know we'll go back tomorrow. Hopefully we'll make it a regular thing and feel like it was worth it!

I guess I should bring my camera and take some pictures of the newest fishies. ALL Brookston wants to do is practice his swimming. Although he even jumped off the diving board! WHOA! I was impressed. And Kaisley so far REALLY enjoys jumping in off the side. Although she insists on only holding on with one hand...oy!

It didn't bump up my journal?

Bummer! I added to my pregnancy journal and even changed the date to put it at the top...but, it looks like it didn't show up anywhere in the blogger world as being updated! That stinks!

Well, I added a link on the left side of my page to take you to the journal (under the "links to the details"), so if you're ever interested in reading, that's where it will be....

I guess!