My sister, the graduate

Wow. Seriously? My little sister just graduated from college? Um, what???????????
Yep, my little sister Shelly just finished up at Chandler Gilbert community college and will be transferring to BYU in the fall well ahead of most kids her age. Shelly, you have worked so hard and you have sacrificed so much. You have grown and matured into a beautiful woman. You brighten up any room you are in (except when youre grouchy, then stay back!). All joking aside though Shell, you are so much fun to be around. You are always the life of the party and you are probably the most caring person I know. Jon and I are so proud of what youve accomplished and who you've become. I love you to death and I am so thankful that I can honestly call you my best friend. I will miss your smile-its so contagious. I will miss you randomly falling down and laughing at your own jokes. BYU wont know what to do with you :) and I mean that in a good way. Love ya sis!

5 Months!

Pax is 5 months now. Well, May 5th he was. But Im busy dang it so Im blogging about it now!
Here is what Pax is up to these days:
*He can sit all by himself now, although he's a little top heavy and doesnt hold it for too long yet.
*He's just started laughing but he's just so serious all the time that its definitely a chore to get him to do so.
*He had baby food for the first time! He actually tasted food for the first time too. Jon and I have tried really hard to not give him tastes of anything and we finally cracked! He sampled some sweet potatoes that I cooked up and LOVED it. Then the next day we gave him rice cereal. He ate it, but I dont think he was too impressed.

*He has a favorite song. Every time I sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" he gets all smiley and excited.
*He's obsessed with mirrors now. He could look at himself in one for hours!
*He discovered that his feet are objects that can go in his mouth! I got a picture of him discovering it for the first time. The picture is him SCREAMING with excitement.
This kid is just so stinkin cute! He loves to cuddle and be held all tight. He still is just happy as can be and only is fussy when its time to eat and that can be quickly fixed :) I had a wonderful Mothers Day. Jon made me crepes in bed and did all the housework and cooking. He got me a few fun little things but honestly, the only thing I needed in the whole world to make me feel special are my two boys. I love them more than anything!

Winslow and Denver

On our way to Ohio, we stopped in Winslow and Denver to visit family. We figured it would be such a long drive that we might as well take a few extra days, drive less hours during the day, and hang out with peeps. So the first day we went thru Winslow and stayed with Jons sister and her family. We always have such a blast with them and its so much fun putting Pax with Lucy. One day they'll notice each other and actually play, for now, each is just another toy to the other. Lucy kept grabbing Paxton's arm and Pax kept trying to get Lucy in his mouth. He does that. His goal in life right now is to get everything in his mouth.


After Winslow, we drove into Denver, which was slightly out of our way, but we are SO glad we did. My brother and his wife and their adorable little girl live there. We mostly just hung out because Jon got ATTACKED by a horrible cold the day we got there. It was so nice just to be there. I miss Jayson and Kim so much. You guys have to come back to AZ when youre done with school!
Lotta was so cute with Paxton. She's been learning parts of the face lately and she kept poking Pax in the eye and saying "Eye". Pax wasnt the biggest fan, Im sure, but it was so cute.

We wanted to get some pictures of them together so we said "Lotta, wanna hold Paxton?" Lotta got SO excited and was smiling all big. He was her little baby. Again, Pax wasnt the biggest fan but it was so adorable. She kept wanting to hold him after that.


She also kept giving Pax hugs and kisses. I love little babies and kids. Theyre so sweet and fun.
We went to a park near J&K's apartment and it was freezing! I forget, living in sunny Arizona, that it gets cold places.

We had so much fun. Miss you guys, cant wait to see you on the way back!

Happy Birthday Jon!

So Tuesday was Jon's birthday. The big 26! We had just gotten to Ohio and everything was in crazy mode with getting settled and what not but we managed to have some fun. We went to this CRAZY super-market type place called Jungle Jims. This store was like the amusement park of the grocery world. I will be going back and taking pictures and dedicating an entire post to it, dont you worry. For now, trust me. Huge and Crazy.

I made Jon his favorite: home-made carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was SO good! Jon thought it was so fun to watch me actually grating carrots for it. Oh, and for dinner he requested shrimp cocktail and chicken ceasar salad. We're on a new kick lately to eat healthier and it is amazing how refreshing, yet incredibly satisfying it is to eat fresh salads and such for dinner.

We had our friends, EJ and Shelby, over for dinner and dessert. Jon and EJ served together on their missions and have been close ever since. It was fun to share Jon's day with them.


While we were in Winslow a couple of weeks back, Jon's sister Nat(and fam) did a surprise birthday party for him. They cooked dee-licious fried shrimp and other good stuff and Nat made an amazing lemon-pineapple cake. Oh wow, seriously, so good. It was so much fun to celebrate with family and to hang out.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

***Oh and a side note, it was my mom's birthday last week as well. We had just left for Ohio and weren't there to celebrate with her so we took this picture of Pax and sent it to her. Love you Momma, Happy Birthday to you also!

This is a picture post

I have a bunch of baby pics that I need to post. More so for my own journaling purposes, but also for your enjoyment :)

I never posted any pictures from Paxtons blessing. We had a wonderful Sabbath Day with family and friends from all over. The blessing was beautiful and we had everyone over afterwards for dinner. We got Paxton a super cute suit but the poor guy has such a fat neck that the tie wouldnt fit. So instead, he kinda looked like a disco-man stud baby. Haha, it was still SO cute.




Pax LOVES bath time. He's learning that he is fully capable of splashing and kicks his legs all crazy. Im trying to teach him that the bath is not the place to pee, though :)

Everytime Paxton is sitting in a chair or on someones lap, he props his arm up to the side. Its so funny. This boy knows how to relax in style!
Next up: Pictures from our visits in Winslow and Denver.

Now we're stuck in Ohio

...for the next 4-ish months

Summertime is here and for the Halls, that means cross-country pick up and move. This year Jon's team (he works for Pinnacle Security) is working in Ohio. We will be living in Fairborn, which is a suburb of Dayton which is right smack in the middle of Cincinnati and Columbus.
We left on Saturday and its been a great journey so far. The trip started off with Jon finding caffeine-free Dr Pepper. SWEET! I havent had a Dr P since Pax was born and I am enjoying a change from my ever-present caffeine-free Pepsi. Anyway, Saturday night we stayed in Winslow, AZ with Jon's sister Nat and her family and had so much fun(pictures coming soon). Then last night we drove to Albuquerque. We are currently about 60 miles outside of Denver where we will stay and visit my brother Jayson and his family for a couple of days. Our whole lives are packed in this faithful car of ours and Im looking forward to arriving in Ohio and discovering what life is like for us there. Love to all!

4 Months!!!!!

I cant believe how much this kid has grown and changed. And in only 4 months! When did this tiny little newborn turn into an actual baby who rolls over, laughs and holds himself up?
We had his 4 month check up this week and he weighed in at 16lbs flat and 24.5 inches long. Apparently he's way short for his age and chunky too and Im loving the combination. My short fat little guy will be taller than me before I know it!
Paxton had his baby blessing last month (still need to post a pic of him in his ADORABLE suit). He rolled over from tummy to back a couple of weeks ago then rolled from back to tummy a couple of days later and Jon missed both! He was pretty bummed out considering he was just int he other room but Pax showed him his new trick eventually. He's discovered the power of his hands and realized that he can actually grab hold of things. I think he kinda just flung his hands around before and grabbed what he could and now he actually reaches for objects with both hands. He LOVES a Baby Einstein movie that we have for him (thanks again Lori and Matt). Every other day or so, we turn it on for about 20 minutes and he goes nuts! He must get really relaxed watching it though, because he literally poops every time he watches it. Love this kid. He babbles and talks non-stop and he's going through a major "only want mommy" phase. Poor Jon tries so hard but Pax literally will cry for 20 minutes with Jon and then be asleep 2 seconds after he's in my arms. I love breastfeeding and the special bond it creates. It is seriously so amazing. Love to all!