Ugly Sweaters

This year at the annual Hall Family Christmas Party we wore ugly sweaters. I love parties you get to dress for! I found my sweater at Saver, and Jake's and Tori's at D.I.

Shiner

Tada Tori's first shiner. The poor girl was runner around in the gym during the ward Christmas party and face planted it right into a chair. It was awful. Really awful. Before I could get to her she was screaming in pain. And her little nose was bleeding so much that it was getting into her mouth. For a minute there I thought her nose was broken. Luckily Tori's nose didn't bleed for very long and we were able to stay for the activity. Plus, she pulled off a black eye nicely don't you think?

What Does Areil Say?

Tori loves to watch the Little Mermaid and has started to sing almost like her when asked, when she is watching the show, or if she is playing with her Ariel Toys. What a hoot.

Bathtime

Macy's First Bath

Tori's and Macy's first bath together

Thanksgiving, Blessing, Wedding, and New Orleans

This year for the day after Thanksgiving my family, Jakes parents, and his Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dennis took off for Louisiana for my family's Thanksgiving/ Christmas, Macy's baby blessing, My best friends wedding, and to visit New Orleans. The trip started off very slow with a 3 hour delay in the Salt Lake City International Airport. Thankfully the girls did very well and we didn't have any problems.

Anyway on Saturday my family had tons of fun together, eating, talking about Loyd;), haivng our white elephant party, and exchanging gifts. Here are the pictures.

Then on Sunday Macy and cousin Estella were blessed in our home ward.

After sacrament meeting we hurried off to St. Fansisville, LA for Amber's wedding. I was a bridesmaid so I was freaking out that I wasn't going to make it in time for the wedding but I did. I made just in time to take pictures with Amber and the other bridesmaids.

Amber was absolutely beautiful, and wedding was so perfect.
We spent of the trip in New Orleans. Oh the food was so yummy. I wanted to eat and eat and get as much of the best food on earth as I could. The weather could of been better in the big easy, but that did not stop us from having a great time. Here is what we did in New Orleans.

The 3 of Us

I tried to get a cute picture of Tori, Macy, and me, but this is all I got. Tori and Macy got tired pretty quick of being squeezed together while I tried to take the pictures.

Oh Poop

I checked Macy's diaper, it was mostly wet with a little poop. With her mostly wet diaper still on
I started to carry over to the coach to change her. Through the diaper she did this to me and the floor. Maybe it is a good sign she will have a sense of humor.

Oh Tori

To keep the post short I'll just go strait to the point. Tori poured out a bag of cereal and had a fun time stomping on it. At least she had fun right.

I love

I love that the girls are both on Jake asleep. What a great dad.

I love getting flowers, and I have really enjoyed having these in my home. Karen, my sister in law gave them to us when she came to meet Macy. These roses look like little sunsets, and have really have made my home feel brighter. Oh the magic of fresh flowers.

One Week

I love how it looks like Tori and Macy are going to kiss

It has been a week since little Macy has been here and there is not much more I can say other than that she is a sweet, calm, and healthy baby. She poops and pees enough, is always sleeping, and is a good eater when she isn't sleeping. Actually I was a little scared for a bit because I thought she wasn't awake long enough to eat all that she needed. But like I said before she is pooping and peeing like a champ and is typically very calm. So with those two things going good I am sure Macy is getting all the milk she needs.

The first week for me has been good. I feel like I my recovery is going as good as it can get. Plus my ward, friends, and family have been so wonderful in making sure we have dinner. It has been so great not having to cook! Plus we had leftovers most nights so I haven't has to worry about lunch either.

So yeah this week has been great.

Macy's Eyes

Macy is three days old in these pictures and can't believe how much she has changed in just a few days. Anyway these are the a few of the pictures I have with her eyes open. It is a bit of a challenge to get a picture awake. This girl loves her sleep.

Big Sister

Macy has been home for about 5 days now, and Tori has been a great big sister. Actually Tori doesn't pay much attention to Macy most of the time. Tori is way to busy playing in her own little world. From time to time tori will coo over baby Macy and will try to help me burp her. When Tori wants to help burp Macy I get a little freaked because Tori will start patting Macy a little to hard all over her tiny body. Tori will eventually get it right.

Macy Leona

Pictures of Macy from the hospital...

Macy's Birth Story

My labor with Macy started in the early moring on Thursday, November 12, the day after my due date. On Wednesday I was feeling normal, a little cranky I was still pregnant but over all I felt like it was any other day. I didn't have any feeling like I was going to go to bed that night only to wake up a couple hours later in labor.

It was around 1:00am on Thursday when I woke up to a pulling pressure in my lower abdomen. I got out of bed used the bathroom, and got a glass of water and went back to bed to try to fall back to sleep. But I felt another surge of pressure before I could fall asleep. After another few minutes or so I woke up Jake and decided it was time to go to the hospital. I wanted to get there early to try to get both doses of antibiotics I needed to kill off all the group B strep that could be passed to Macy's bloodstream during birth.

Jake and I got to the hospital at around 1:30ish. The Nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to a three. I was a little bummed about being at a three. That is where I had been dilated to at my last two appointments. Soon my contractions and Macy's Heart Rate were being monitored and I felt like my contractions were becoming less frequent. I was scared I was going to be sent home. However before they even checked my cervix again the nurse let me know that I was going to be admitted because Macy's heart rate dropped with each of my contractions. To try to get a better result from Macy the nurse had me lay on down on my side. Ugh, it was so uncomfortable. I was a little worried that I was going to have to stay in that position all night, making my birthing experience a little harder.

I was taken to my room and hooked up to an IV to get the first dose of my antibiotics. Thankfully during that hour Macy's heart rate had improved enough that I didn't have to labor in bed. First I labored on the toilet and my midwife just let me do my thing. I don't know what it is about being on a toilet but it is just so comfortable to be sitting on one during labor. Then I gave the birthing ball a go but it wasn't all that great for me.

After watching me, my midwife told me that she thought I was in transition which is typically the most challenging part of labor. Also it means it is only a short time till you are ready to push. I wanted to believe her, but just didn't I feel like my body was doing that much work. She let me know that when I was ready she would check me. After a few more contractions I felt like being checked and sure enough I was dilated to a seven. I was in transition! It was great news to hear.

From that point on all I wanted for the rest of my labor was to wrap arms my around Jake's neck, rock back and forth between contractions having him support all my weight. During this my wonderful labor and delivery nurse applied pressure to my back and rubbed my arms. It felt so great. Sometime during this, my sister, Angela got to the hospital to journal, take pictures, and record the birth.

She stared to journal at 4:38am. At 4:41 my midwife told me she thought I was at dilated to a nine. Again I wanted to believe her but just didn't feel that the that my body had done that much work. A few minutes later I was checked and I was dilated to a little more than a nine. My Midwife then broke my water and I soon stated to push whenever I had the urge to.

I started to push at 4:48. At first I only pushed with little grunts while kneeling on the bed and my arms draped around Jake. I didn't want to bear down and hold my breath for 10 seconds like I did with Tori. I wanted to take my time and let Macy ease down to prevent myself from tearing. Plus when I was pushing with Tori I lost control of my breathing when I held it for so long. For another 20 minutes I let my body work Macy down. I went from my kneeling to laying down and started to feel the urge to bear down. I pushed a few times and I could feel Macy being born.

Gosh it is such an amazing feeling. Of course it isn't like having a massage but experiencing what my body was divinely designed to do is the most amazing feeling for me.

Even at this point I felt like I was in 100% in control of myself and I pushed when my body wanted to. Seconds latter Macy Leona Green was born a healthy 7 pounds and 2 ounces. The midwife wiped her off a bit and let Jake and I meet our little girl for a minute before the respiratory therapist did their thing on her.

The first thing I thought when I saw Macy was she looked nothing like Tori, she had hair, and had the cutest little chubby cheeks. She was perfect.

Last Pictures

These oh so hot pictures are the last I took of myself pregnant. If you can't tell I wasn't really trying to be cute. I was just over being pregnant since it was my due date.

Cat, Meow

On a a typical morning Tori will wake up between 6:00 and 7:00 and will knock on her door to be let out of her room. She then climbs in bed with Jake and, cuddles up with us, and sleeps for another hour or two. This morning a few minutes after Tori climbed in our bed and she said,"Cat, Meow," just out of the blue. I looked at her and she didn't seem to be awake, but she was facing Jake so I couldn't quite tell for sure. I asked Jake if she was sleeping, and in fact she was. Tori had just spoken in her sleep. What a funny little pumpkin my girl is.

One More Week

Holy Cow I have only a week till my due date! Crazy! I just can't believe how time has flown by, but at the same has gone by so slow, especially these last couple of weeks. Pregnancy is still treating me well, I suppose. I feel big but so big I going pop and my aches and pains are all short lived. A nap, Tylenol, or kicking my feet up typically does the trick. However I am loosing my mind. In almost every conversation I have my mind floats off from what ever the topic might be, even when I am talking. Heart burn has been my worst enemy, and tums my best friend. I do not remember having heartburn nearly as bad when I was pregnant with Tori. At times it is like having a fire in my chest. Ugh.
Anyway I was checked last week and this week. Last week I was dilated to a 1 1/2. I am pretty sure they added the half just to be nice. Today I am at a three! I love that my body is progressing with out much effort on my part.
Here are a couple pictures of me, my belly and Tori taking today. The last two were taking with out web cam so they are fuzzy.

Ballerina, Princess, or Whatever

What we did for Halloween this year...

For most of the day Tori and I stayed at home, but had fun dressing her up in her snow boots, tutu and her favorite cat shirt.

When Jake got home we dressed Tori up as a ballerina, princess, or whatever. She was all pink and fluffy so I guess that could be a number of girly things.

Tori was very excited to go outside to Trick or Treat, We only went to 15 houses or so but still ended up with plenty of candy.

After Trick or Treating we went to hang out with my sister's brother and sister in-law.

Tori has tons of fun with her Aunt Angela and Uncle Loyd, Loyd's three nephews.