Raising Hales

From my camera last week.....

2009-01-26T12:46:00.012-06:00

Last Tuesday night, Matt and I had the opportunity (along with 3000 of our closest friends) to attend the Welcome Home event for President and Mrs. Bush. ( I borrowed this picture from a friend...mine did not turn out).

Thursday was the 3rd 6-weeks Cougar Jamboree and Matthew got the Character Counts award.

Izzie came up this weekend to visit Mimi and Pop (yes, of course she brought her Mommy). They took a side trip Saturday morning to watch Matthew's game.

After the game we all headed back to Mimi and Pop's to check on the booming goat business. Eight babies were born on Friday.

Life is good!

Matthew's 2nd Annual Birthday Sleepover

2009-01-20T14:58:00.003-06:00

I'm still spinning from the big birthday bash Saturday night. Matthew had 9 (yes, 9) of his buddies over for the party. After meeting at the house and devouring every last crumb of pizza Matt bought, we braved a trip to the bowling alley (unfortunately I forgot my camera), where they bowled for two hours and had tons of popcorn and soda (yea, bad idea!). Then we went back home for more snacks, presents, and a movie, which I was certain would put them all to sleep...WRONG! I'm not sure what time they went to bed, but they were up at 6:00. The boys seemed to have a blast and Matt and I....well, all I can say is that we survived!

Prayers for my friend....

2009-01-12T20:55:00.002-06:00

My dear friend and co-worker, Jill, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. After receiving several different opinions from some of the best brain doctors around, she decided to have surgery to have the tumor removed. Her surgery is scheduled for Thursday.

Please remember Jill and her family in your prayers this week as she prepares for and undergoes the surgery and for her recovery in the weeks to come.

Happy Birthday, Matthew Duncan Hale

2009-01-09T21:46:00.008-06:00

Matthew celebrated his 7th birthday yesterday.

Of course, we began the day with the Hale Birthday Breakfast.
Matt and I took lunch to him at school and a cookie cake to share with his friends.

Then, Mimi and Pop came over for his birthday dinner (hamburgers and tator tots were his pick this year) with birthday cake ice cream for dessert. (If you're counting, that's donuts, cookie cake, and ice cream all in one day...wow!)

It's hard to believe that he's already 7. We are so very proud of him. He's a great student, and his teacher tells me he's a friend to everyone and a leader in class. He's playing basketball again this year and doing well...especially on defense.

He's looking forward to next weekend when 9 of his friends join us for bowling and a sleepover. If I survive, I'll post pictures of those festivities.

Happy Birthday, Bubba! I love you bunches!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T21:00:00.013-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday surrounded by family, friends and everything that makes you happy. That pretty much sums up the last two weeks for us.

Santa was very good to the boys this year. Their big present was a Wii....I think Matt and I have played as much or more than Matthew has.

Pop & Matthew "boxing" Christmas morning...

Mimi and Pop gave the grandkids a new swing set (as if they need another reason to want to go to Mimi and Pop's.)

"How many Aggies does it take.....?"

Gotta have picture of Izzie with her big cousins...
Matt and I actually rang in the new year for the first time in years with a houseful of friends. We played Wii, Farkel and Spoons and had a great time....that is until Ryan woke me up at 5:15. I quickly remembered why I don't stay up late anymore. :)

New Year's Day we drove to Granbury to celebrate Christmas with Matt's family.

The best kind of CHAOS!!!

Cowboys jerseys from Grandma and Grandpa were a big hit! Colby has worn his every day since.

"They call me COLBY Romo!"

Matthew is going to work on some Marion Barber dreadlocks for next season.
And, of course, Ry spent the whole day clinging to Mommy. (remind me how much I'm going to miss this one day).

I enjoy everything about Christmas...the shopping, the baking, the hustle and bustle, but I must admit that I LOVE packing the decorations up and getting back to our normal life!

We wish you and yours a FABULOUS 2009!

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

2008-12-22T16:17:00.002-06:00

Whew! The last several weeks have been a blur of too much food going in, too much money going out, and too much "stuff" on the calendar! But now....the decorations are all up, all the presents have been bought and (almost) all wrapped, the cookies are made, and here I sit.....

WITH A SICK BABY! ahhhh! Ryan can't keep anything down. We're in regular contact with the nurse at our pedi's office updating them on his pooping and puking. If he can't keep anything down this evening, we go in tomorrow at 9:00 to decide if he should be admitted to the hospital. Poor little guy is so hungry, but everything we try to feed him comes back up immediately. We're pushing Pedialyte, which goes instantly out the other way. He's sleeping now, and Mommy's praying that we'll see big improvement when he gets up.

The big boys have gone to Mimi's for a few days mainly because Matthew's out of school and I'm supposed to be working, but it's also most helpful to have a few days to make sure we have all the details worked out with Santa for the big night. I forget how easy life is with only one baby...even when that one is sick!

Anyway...

I just wanted to hop online and wish anyone who may have found a spare minute to check our little blog, a very Merry Christmas and a "fabulous" 2009.

I promise I'll update soon with lots of Christmas pictures!

Isabella Grace

2008-11-24T09:06:00.014-06:00

Yes, I'm more than a week late with the official announcement, but here it is:

Isabella Grace
November 13, 2008
6:17 p.m.
8 lbs 5 oz
20 inches

...and absolutely PERFECT!!

Pictures from my 1st meeting with Isabella....

Can you say....SPOILED ROTTEN!

Izzie and Mommy getting ready to go home

...after a few pictures, of course.

The Duncan girls....Look out mall...here we come!

Amy, Trey and Isabella are on their own now after a week of being cared for by the world's best Mom (aka Mimi). I was beginning to worry that she wasn't coming back and I think Trey and Amy tried to bribe her to stay longer, but apparently she still has to work (especially now that she has a granddaughter to spoil!).

They seem to be doing well. Amy was excited yesterday when I talked to her because she got three straight hours of sleep...I do not miss those days! Several have asked me if this makes me want a girl and just to clear up any questions, the answer is officially, definitely, without a doubt...NO! I am perfectly content being the only princess in my house!

Isabella's first big car ride will be this weekend, when they come to Mom and Dad's. There are three little boys I know that are very excited to meet their cousin, and I'm doing everything I can to make sure our snotty noises are clear by then. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Did anyone see where October went?

2008-11-03T20:37:00.022-06:00

Once again, it's been over a month since my last post. From time to time my sister-in-law does a "From my camera this week" post on her blog, so here's what's on my camera this month:

Ryan "slid" into October as a big boy instead of a baby.

4 Hale men in a tee pee:

Here's an attempt at a picture of my three little "angels". Ryan does NOT like to share his wagon!Fall Festival at Mimi's school. "Colby...I said GET OUT!"

Matthew and Colby-Colb on the train ride.

Pop doing what he does best.

It was bound to happen sooner or later.....Colby fell in the pond.

Trunk or Treat 2008 at church:

Captain Jack Sparrow with his buddy, Colton.

You will never believe who made a surprise stop on the campaign trail......

Pumpkin Patch Parade at the boys' preschool.

My brave little soldier had a major meltdown!

Pumpkin carving at the Hale's.

All I can say about this picture is..notice the TWO lovely new crowns!

Typical Matthew and Colby....seconds before this picture was snapped Colby was having a meltdown and refused to look at the camera. Matthew was hollering, "COLBY LOOK AT MOM!!!" Miraculously, the instant I took the picture, Colby flashed his angelic little smile.

Halloween 2008: Mommy's little goblins

November....here we come! Stay tuned for news of Isabella's arrival...it could be any day now.

Tomorrow is election day........VOTE!!!

Is Anybody Out There?

2008-09-21T13:03:00.008-05:00

Several of my most loyal followers have asked where I've been and I'm sure several have given up on me, but I'm back in blogworld. It's been a month since my last post, so here's a few pics of what we've been up to.

Matthew is now a month into 1st grade. It's been an adjustment getting into the swing of homework every night, spelling tests every Friday and REAL grades, but his three week progress report was AWESOME, so I guess he's got it figured out. I'm praying that the rest of the year goes as well as this first few weeks have. He's not playing any sports right now, but he signed up to be a "Bleacher Creature", which means he has a "big brother" on the varsity football team and he gets to run out in front of the team at home games....very exciting.
Here are some pictures of a fishing trip we took a couple of weekends ago. Matthew caught three catfish (two were big ones!)...more than anyone else caught. He was very proud, and we're all looking forward to a big fish fry at Mimi and Pop's.

Colby wasn't so interested in fishing. He spent much of the evening throwing the bait into the tank. This picture cracks me up...typical Colby! His face is healing up well. The pathology results came back fine as was expected.

Ryan turned 1 on the 14th. We had a big football party planned for the 13th, but Hurricane Ike changed our plans. We were unsure of how bad the weather was going to be, so we ended up cancelling his big party. Since Uncle Trey and Aunt Amy were down anyway (for Amy's shower....wow! baby girl stuff is fun...but that's a whole other post!) and I had already bought cake, we didn't let Ry's big day go un-celebrated. HE LOVED CAKE!! I think he would have eaten the entire thing if I would have let him. He screamed and through a huge fit when we took it away.

So...what's our little 1 year old up to? He's very close to walking, but isn't quite brave enough to take a step. He is into everything...dog food, the toilet, any little crumb or dirt on the floor, every drawer or cabinet he can reach, etc. He says Bubba, Momma, Dadda (but Matt is usually Momma), and Pop (although I think Pop means "I want to go outside"...imagine that!). He says ball and loves to play catch with his brothers. He is very curious about everything they do...which is VERY DANGEROUS! :) He started out a terrible eater... but now...he loves to eat....he would eat until he got sick if I let him. He ends every meal crying because he wants more. All my kids have been good eaters, but he has both of his brothers beat. I think spaghetti is his favorite. He also really likes mashed potatoes. And.... he has a bad temper! He gets so mad when things don't go his way (definitely a "baby of the family" trait, right Matt, Pop and Amy?)

As I always say, I'll try to update more often, but who knows with this crazy, wonderful life!

Stay tuned!

Holy Mole-y Part 2

2008-08-22T13:57:00.010-05:00

Well...Helllloooooo!

I've been soooo busy relaxing on my two week vacation from the bank, that I haven't even been able to find the time to blog ;)

Actually, my little vacation has been quite productive. We've visited various doctors and dentists and all had haircuts (including Ryan...I finally gave in!) I've done some much needed work around the house including major cleaning...blinds, baseboards, ceiling fans and some serious closet organizing. Having three kids of the same gender is a huge blessing for the clothing budget, but it's a lot of work keeping up with all those sizes and seasons. As I was surrounded by mountains of winter clothes, I realized that it would be easier and MUCH more fun to go out and buy new clothes for everyone. Needless to say, Matt does not agree. I worked on getting the clothes Ryan has outgrown ready for the Just Between Friends consignment sale coming up next month. (If you haven't ever heard of this, check it out http://www.jbfsale.com/ They do consignment sales all over the state twice a year). From Ryan alone (because I keep all the clothes the other boys outgrow for "hand-me-downs") I have over 100 items...and that's winter clothes only...sizes newborn to 18 months.

I did squeeze in some fun.....a trip to Six Flags for Matthew and I, the new Star Wars animated movie, a little shopping, lots of playing, and many nights staying up WAY too late watching the Olympics...GO USA!

So....Monday it's back to work for me and back to school for Matthew....1st GRADE...HERE HE COMES!

Today, however, was Colby's big surgery day. We woke up bright and early and got to the Surgery Center at 6:45. (A big thank you to Mimi for coming this morning to get Ryan up, dressed and to daycare before she and Matthew came to wait with us...as always, I had to twist her arm :) )

Everything this morning went really fast. He sat on the bed with the Hulk and some legos while he waited to go back for his procedure.

When it was his turn, he hopped on the anesthesiologists back and off he went...such a big boy!

So, Matt and I headed to the waiting room and were soon joined by Pop and then Mimi and Matthew arrived. It was only about 30 minutes before Matt and I were called back to the consultation room to see the doctor. After a short report about the surgery...which went very well, they had us return to the waiting room while they moved Colby to recovery.

That was a short wait and as they walked us back to the recovery room, I heard the screaming. Colby was awake (sort of) and he was not happy. In fact, he was hysterical for about half an hour crying, trying to pull out his i.v., and making no sense. They tried some medication through the i.v., but I don't think it worked at all. We finally got him calmed down enough to drink some juice and eat a Popsicle, so they took the i.v. out.

We thought this would keep him calm, but the hysteria started again shortly. They discharged us with our screaming 3 year old and off we went.

He wouldn't stay buckled in his car seat, so I held him most of the way home, while he screamed and cried and struggled to get away from me. (It was about this time that I began to think we had made a terrible mistake!) We got inside and he continued to scream and hit Matt and I. He wanted us to leave him alone, which we gladly did.

After probably another half hour or so of crying, he laid on the floor and zoned out for a long time. Then, as if none of this had happened, he hopped up with a huge smile and said he was hungry. And he's been eating ever since.

He's also been talking nonstop and playing normally despite my subtle encouragement to lay down and take a nap. He's gotten really still on the couch a few times, but can't manage to close those eyes.

So, we can resume "normal" activity tomorrow and go back to the doctor on Wednesday for follow-up.

More later...

HOLY MOLE-Y! Part 1

2008-08-08T08:39:00.004-05:00

This mole popped up on Colb when he was about a year old. It was a normal looking, flat brown mole. Over time, it began to grow and change color. I was always concerned about it, but our pediatrician kept saying it was something to watch, but not something to worry about. Until recently, it hasn't seemed to bother Colby too much, but the past couple of months it has become irritating and has bled numerous times.

At Colby's three year check-up last week, the doctor referred us to a plastic surgeon to have it removed. He has no reason to believe that its cancerous or anything, but the fact that it bleeds frequently and is growing is reason enough to have it removed AND for it to be covered by our insurance (answered prayer!)

We met with the plastic surgeon Wednesday afternoon. Now, to most people, having a mole removed is a simple in-office thing. BUT if you're 3 and can't sit still on your own, it becomes surgery.

So....Colby will have his mole removed on the 22nd in the same surgi-center where he had his last "little" procedure.

This will be the 4th Hale surgery in 2 1/2 years....hypospadios correction (Colby), appendectomy (Matt), ear tubes in / adenoids out (Matthew) and now a little plastic surgery. Add a pregnancy in there and it gets a little expensive! We thought that 2008 would be the year with no major medical expenses, but apparently not.

We are very thankful that we have good insurance and that all of our issues have been relatively minor (with the exception of Matt's ruptured appendix). We know that Colby will get through this just fine.

Stay tuned...

I'll be in trouble for this one!

2008-08-04T09:37:00.003-05:00

As part of the growing basket of "girl stuff" I'm collecting for Isabella, I ordered this bow with her initial on it (yes, my sister reads my blog, so SURPRISE!). I bribed Ryan with a graham cracker and he proudly modeled it for me.

I ordered it from sweetdaisybowtique.com. They are so great! (and, I think, inexpensive although I'm not an expert on hairbows.) If you go to the website, Ryan is wearing the "baby large" size.

Happy Monday....This is my last week at work before two weeks of vacation....ahhhhhhhh!

Cousins, Cousins and more Cousins (and some other random stuff)

2008-07-28T12:22:00.017-05:00

****NOTE**************************************************************************

I typed this post on Monday, but didn't have time to add the video. I saved it intending to finish it Tuesday morning. WELL, here it is, Friday afternoon and I'm just getting it done...SHEESH!
************************************************************************************

The past two weekends have been busy. We've loved spending time with family on both sides that we don't see often enough.

Two weekends ago, Matt's aunt, uncle and cousins from Fargo came down. They stayed until Wednesday, and we had so much fun hanging out with them at Nana's. I'm surprised all of our kids didn't grow fins, as much time as they spent in Nana's pool. I had my camera with me the entire time, but didn't manage to take any pictures. (If someone has some, e-mail them to me and I'll post them.)

This past weekend we headed to Denton with Mimi and Pop for the 2nd Annual Duncan Cousins Camp. Of course, my kids spent most of the day in the pool. I've posted video of Matthew & Colb jumping off the diving board. Later in the day, they started jumping off the lifeguard stand (obviously, there was no life guard on duty). Colby, my little 3 year-old dare devil, launched himself off of a 6 ft. wooden platform, but was terrified to watch "Hook" (you know the one with Robin Williams as Peter Pan) on t.v. last night. Matthew is really a great swimmer, but for some reason was afraid to jump off the diving board without his life jacket.

(Dang it...I can't get my video to post...here's some pictures instead)

One more thing....

After the boys were all dressed this morning, I noticed a funny coincidence......read their shirts.

I promise I didn't have time to plan this out today, but they all three say "HOOPS".

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Many of you know that I am anti-scrapbooking. I love to take pictures of my kids and I enjoy looking through my photo albums, but I refuse to spend the time and money on scrapbooking. Well, my friend Amy (this is where I should link you to her blog, but I can't remember the address and I can't look it up from work....I'll try later), who is Supermom to three adorable girls was childless and husbandless this week and asked if I'd like to come scrapbook with her. She was just a little behind (actually she was about four years and two kids behind) and planned to get caught up during her alone time (she also had some dental surgery on Wednesday and didn't think she'd feel much like leaving the house.) I explained my whole anti-scrapbooking thing and she said..."Well, come anyway!" So I did and guess what....it was great!

These are two of the six I worked on for her. Although, I still have NO desire to do my own pictures, I now totally understand the addiction that some of you have. So...if anyone needs a scrapbooking assistant.... I can always use an excuse to get out of the house.

My goal for the next week is to blog more often, so my posts aren't so long and random.

Happy Weekend!

10 months old on 7/14!

2008-07-17T14:49:00.003-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday, Colby-Colb!

2008-07-14T12:17:00.014-05:00

Colby turned the big "3" on Saturday.

The festivities started at school on Friday. I realized Thursday night that Friday was clown day, so I had to do some creative thinking to come up with a last minute clown suit. Luckily, we had blue hair spray that Matthew used a couple of weeks ago for Crazy Hair Day at camp, I dug the lovely red socks with presents out of my drawer, and we had the multi-colored cotton pom-poms left from one of Matthew's art projects last year. When combined with the lovely camo shorts, we created COLBY-COLB THE BIRTHDAY CLOWN!

Of course, Saturday began with the Traditional Hale Birthday Breakfast (minus Matthew, who was at a friend's sleepover)

After running a ton of errands Saturday morning, making final preparations throughout the day, and squeezing in a nap for everyone......IT WAS FINALLY PARTY TIME!

This is Colby's friend from daycare, Jacob. They are truly best buddies. They are so much alike that it is SCARY!

Being 3 ROCKS!

And he finally pooped out (in his brand new Hulk p.j's)!

Happy Birthday, Colby-Colb! You are a joy and most definitely ONE OF A KIND! Love you bunches.

Vacation Pictures Day #3

2008-07-11T09:32:00.015-05:00

Tuesday, the whole gang.....Hales plus Mimi & Pop, Amy & Trey......headed back to San Antonio. We visited the Witte Museum, had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, went to the Alamo and then saw "Under the Sea" in 3D at the IMAX.

Needless to say we were all pooped by Tuesday evening. We packed up and left after dinner, so we could drive while the boys slept.

A huge THANK YOU to Trey and Amy for letting us stay with them. I hope by now they are rested and their house is back to normal. Trey, it's time to start turning the downstairs guest bedroom into Isabella's room.

Check back next week for pictures of COLBY'S 3RD BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

Vacation Pictures Day #2 SEAWORLD

2008-07-11T09:25:00.010-05:00

On Monday, we left Ryan with Amy and Mimi, and took the big boys to Sea World. The weather wasn't great, but we had a BLAST!

Vacation Pictures Day #1

2008-07-11T09:01:00.020-05:00

The Hales packed up last Saturday and headed to Hotel Hartman (that would be my sister and brother-in-laws house :) for a little family vacation. Sunday, we headed to New Braunfels and visited Landa Park (very fun) and the Snake Farm (glad we went, but I don't recommend it). We met up with Mimi and Pop for dinner at Clear Springs (YUMMY!)

ahhhhhhhhhhh

2008-06-20T20:35:00.007-05:00

That would be me breathing a sigh of relief!

It's 8:30 on a Friday night. My mother-in-law came this afternoon and took Matthew and Colby.

Ryan is peacefully sleeping. Matt is at an appreciation dinner at his boss's house.

And me?

I'm sitting in my floor with a bowl of popcorn watching "What Not To Wear". Does the carpet need to be vacuumed? Yes. Does the furniture need to be dusted? Yep. Does the dining room need to be swept and mopped? Always. Do the toilets need to be scrubbed? Absolutely.

Am I going to do any of that this evening? NOPE.

I did manage to fold and put away three loads of laundry, so I'm not totally worthless.

So enough about me....What about my super dooper 9 month old?

Ryan is wonderful. Still a little (a lot) clingy, but he's had a big month.

He's eating all kinds of food, got four (maybe more) new teeth coming in, crawling everywhere, pulling up, getting into everything, jabbering (mama, dada, bubba, nananana) AND the doc gave me the o.k. to start replacing formula with whole milk (so now that $40 a week can go straight in my gas tank!)

On Monday at his check-up he weighed 22 lbs. 14 oz.

LIFE IS GOOD!!

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice.....

2008-06-17T09:42:00.004-05:00

....that's what little GIRLS are made of.

That's right, WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!

O.K...not "we" as in Matt and I, but "we" as in my sister and brother-in-law.

Amy found out yesterday that in mid-November we will be welcoming Isabella Grace (or Ilabezza, as Matthew calls her) into our family.

Those that know us well will not be surprised to hear that Mom and I both went shopping as soon as we heard the news. I'm really not sure how you Mommies/Grandmommies with little girls do it. I'm more certain than ever that God gave me boys for a reason. I would be completely broke and naked if I had a daughter to clothe. So many cute clothes to wear....and only 24 hours in a day.

My boys were a little disappointed at first. Matthew says Ilabezza is already giving him a headache, because girls are loud and they talk a lot (He is his Daddy's son for sure). Either way, they are very excited about having a new baby cousin and are quickly warming up to the fact that he is going to be a she.

Amy told my Dad he needed to go out and buy a pink baseball hat for her to wear when she goes out to "check the cows" with the boys. This is going to get very interesting.

Needless to say, I'm tickled PINK (finally)!

P.S. It seems as if poor Ry's monthly birthdays always get upstaged, so I'll do a separate post later about my roly-poly, crawling, pulling up, jibber-jabbering, finger food eating 9 MONTH OLD!

Prayers, please

2008-05-30T10:25:00.002-05:00

This is a link to my cousin Chloe's journal. She has just undergone her second brain surgery for a rare disorder called myoclonus.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chloewilliams

Please pray that the surgery was successful and that she recovers quickly.

Look at me....two posts in less than 24 hours. It seems now that I can update my blog from work, I just can't look at it.

Complete MAYhem!

2008-05-29T21:01:00.010-05:00

I am so ready for JUNE!! I know that May is a crazy month for everyone. This week has been especially busy. I feel like I'm on fast-forward.

Here's some of what we've been up to:

I turned 30 last week on the 24th. Friday, my dear, sweet friends decorated my office with "30" signs and black balloons, and brought breakfast for me. It was YUMMY!!

Of course on Saturday, we had our traditional Hale Birthday Breakfast.

Matt and the boys "surprised" me with this FABULOUS jewelry cabinet:

LOVE IT!!! (sorry...still can't rotate)

After my birthday breakfast, we went to Matthew's last t-ball game where he hit another home run! Then it was off to Chuck E. Cheese for their "end of the season" party. We ran home and repacked the diaper bag and headed to Mom and Dad's. The boys played in the water all afternoon and we had a delicious steak dinner. It was a great birthday, and I'm even feeling o.k. about being 30!

Monday was a holiday for all of us and it was nice to just hang out at home. The boys played outside in the water and Matt cooked burgers.

Matthew graduated from kindergarten Tuesday night. It was a lllooonnnggg program, but very cute. This year has flown by, and he had a good year. We are so fortunate to be in a wonderful school district and were blessed with a GREAT teacher this year!

Here is Ryan's latest trick (excuse my voice...do I really sound like this?)

I didn't have any action shots of Colb this week, but, believe me, there is plenty of action when Colby is around! He is doing AWESOME in his undies! After the nightmare it was to potty train Matthew, this is a piece of cake!

One quick Colby story:

We were about five minutes from home this afternoon. As I'm making a left turn, Colby says, "Hey Mom, Ryan's seat isn't buckled." That very instant I hear a crash and turn to see Ryan's seat rolling over in the back seat. I'm trying not to panic as I pull over. He ended up upside down, but safely strapped in his car seat. He didn't even cry. Colby admitted to unbuckling the seat belt. He said he did it when when we got to school this morning, so apparently I drove almost all the way home like that.

He's such an angel......

WHEN HE'S ASLEEP!!

I'm still here....how about you?

2008-05-15T22:20:00.010-05:00

This time of year is so crazy! The last few weeks have been quite busy in the Hale house. Some of the most notable happenings.....Matthew lost his first two teeth, Colby is POTTY TRAINED, and Ryan turned 8 months old and decided he can only be held by me.

I'm so ready for a break, but we have a few more weeks of this hecticness (is that a word?). T-ball is almost over and school will be out soon. Then, we'll be able to relax a little (maybe). Here are some pics of the boys doing their things over the past week or so.

Ryan enjoying a baseball game on t.v. He was perfectly happy until he saw me.

"My family is CRAZY"

Colby's spring musical at school. The little boy in the red is his "best buddy" Jacob.

He loves his "undies like Daddy's" (I know...too much information!). I'm having technical difficulties tonight and can't rotate this picture.

Toothless in Texas

(It's hard to tell in this picture, but he is missing two bottom teeth)

...and the best for last. Isn't this a great picture? Check out the tongue. Thanks, Niki, for capturing this shot of our little slugger.

Speaking of t-ball, Matthew hit his first home run in his game Tuesday. It was very exciting!

Instead of proof reading this, I'm just going to hit publish and hit the sack.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

2008-04-28T21:26:00.008-05:00

Jeremiah 29:11...One of my favorite bible verses.

This is Matt and I at prom, April 1995, our junior year. Never in a million catrillion years could I have imagined the plans God had for us.

This weekend, Matt and I had about 40 of our friends and family over to our house to celebrate our 30th birthdays (he's April 1...I'm May 24).

After a week of watching the weather forcast (things did not look good for our outdoor festivities), a rescheduled t-ball game at 2:00 Saturday, and me waking up with a case of Laryngitis, we had a wonderful (and dry!) party Saturday evening.

While there were many that were missing (someone in Tennessee comes to mind :) ), I couldn't quit smiling as I looked around at the group that came to celebrate with us. We are so blessed!

Click on the picture below for a slideshow.

April 26, 2008

I can't imagine what the next 30 years will bring!

Long Time, No Blog

2008-04-15T20:54:00.012-05:00

I'm super tired, but I'm going to try to cram two busy, busy weeks into one short post.

First of all, do you LOVE my new blog design? Please check out http://www.jennisajoy.blogspot.com/ She's been working on this for about two weeks. We got Max mid-design, so Jennisa had to do some fancy photo editing to include him in the header. I told her that I do not intend to add any more pets or kids (heaven forbid :) ) to our family, so this header should be good for a long, long time.

Two weekends ago, we went to Granbury to celebrate Matt and his sister Carrie's birthdays. We had a great time.

6 out of 8 cousins ready for a water gun fight!
Birthday dinner at Babe's....what a great sport!

That Sunday, I was feeling brave, so I took the boys to the zoo. This was Ryan's first trip to the zoo. He actually enjoyed it much more than these pictures make it look!

This past weekend, we went to Mom and Dad's. My sister and brother-in-law were up, too. Matt took the backstrap from the deer he shot this year, and Mom chicken fried it. He and Dad were in heaven!

Amy, Trey, and my new little niece or nephew due in November (THINK PINK!)

And last, but certainly not least.....

Ryan was 7 months on the 14th. He's such a sweetie!

We've been so busy lately. Matthew is in the middle of an awesome t-ball season. I take my camera to every game, but haven't managed to take any pictures yet. He has two games this week, so hopefully I'll get some good pictures to share.

Please excuse any misspelled words.

GOOD NIGHT!!

Why Matt & Matthew cannot be left unsupervised...

2008-04-04T22:33:00.003-05:00

MAX

Of course....it's a boy!

Stay tuned...

It's no April Fool's joke.....Matt is 30!!

2008-04-02T20:47:00.005-05:00

That's right....Matt turned the big 3-0 on April 1.

We started the day with the traditional Hale Family Birthday Breakfast....donuts!

"Colby, can I just have a little bite?"

A digital camera for the deer lease from Mom and Dad....

New boots from the boys & I....

Happy Birthday, Matt!!!
I love you (but you sure are getting old)! :)

Happy Easter!

2008-03-27T11:21:00.006-05:00

We spent Easter at Mom and Dad's. The Easter Bunny brought lots of goodies, including Ryan's two bottom front teeth.

Here we are on our way to church.

This is the traditional bunny cake that Mimi and the boys make every year. Matthew was ready to go outside and hunt eggs, and Colby was ready to eat some cake!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Ryan (& more stuff from the last few weeks)

2008-03-18T09:19:00.013-05:00

It's been a while since my last post...I'm clearly not great at this.

First of all.....Ryan was 6 months old on the 14th. It's gone by so fast!

"The Great Stomach Bug of '08" really messed him up. He has developed lactose intolerance, which is hopefully temporary and REFUSES to eat any solids. At daycare, he screams when he sees the bowl and spoon headed his way. At home he clamps his lips shut and gags if I touch a spoon to his lips. I'm trying not to be worried about it...but I'm a Mommy, worrying is what I do best. He was doing great with the solids before, so hopefully we'll catch back up soon. He still takes his bottle (with soy formula) just fine and he is obviously not starving.

Here are some pictures from Friday, his 1/2 birthday.

"Hey, Mom...love my new kicks!"
"Dad, why do ya'll take so many pictures of me in the bathroom?"

"Um...Colb...does Mommy know you're doing that?"

"Bubba...you're soooo funny!"

We went to Mom and Dad's on Saturday (after the egg hunt...see below) and spent the day with my Mammaw and Aunt June.

Here's some video from Saturday. (yea...I've figured out how to post video...hopefully).

Saturday morning, Mimi came with us to the Annual Easter Egg Hunt at my Dad's office. Matthew was only 2 months old the first time we attended and it was COLD!!! We've been almost every year since. This year the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!

Matthew found a "prize" egg this year and won this huge basketball themed Easter basket. He was very, very excited.

I thought it was cooler out that it was and these were the only long-sleeved matching shirts we had. These guys are cute in anything...but not so Eastery in camo.

I have to share one last picture. This is a couple of Fridays ago (the 8th, I believe). We woke up to SNOW. We were up, dressed and outside by about 6:45. Fortunately (or unfortunately...depends on who you ask) the roads were clear so we still had school. The snow was gone before lunchtime.

15 Minutes of Fame

2008-03-06T21:38:00.012-06:00

This picture was taken at the A&M / Baylor game last night. It's a little hard to see (click on pic to see it larger), but the guy in the A&M shirt and hat shown jumping over the railing just happens to be MY HUSBAND!!

Long story short...

A BU fan threw a mini basketball down on the court. When the fans below turned to see who threw it, everyone turned and blamed the two Aggie students . The bald guy (who was sitting 20 rows below and couldn't have possibly seen who did it) ran up the stairs and began cussing out the two guys. All the Baylor fans around that hadn't actually seen what happened began screaming at these two guys. At this point Matt jumps the railing to tell Mr. Baldy (who happens to be a well-known attorney) to chill out because the guys didn't do it. Mr. Baldy becomes even more irate and gets in Matt's face, cussing and being a complete idiot. The police came over and escorted the Aggie fans out (the cops said they knew they didn't do it, but felt that it was safer to remove them from the situation.

So, Matt gets to work today to find this picture (and ones like it) posted all over the Internet on various BU and A&M fan sites and wacotrib.com

Here are a couple of pictures that were edited on texags.com

The first post in the link below tells the story. Be sure to click on page 1 in the top right corner to see the original post. There are a few references to "Big Aggie" throughout the thread.

http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1105972&page=3&forum_id=7

Tonight, Matt is pictured on the front page of http://www.wacotrib.com/, but I'm sure that will be changed soon (surely there's something more news worthy going on). If it's gone when you check it, here's the picture that was the main news story for most of the day today.

Here is the link to the Bear Blog that has some discussion of the incident. Matt would want me to point out the first comment that refers to "a well-built A&M fan":)

http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/collegefootball/entries/2008/03/05/emotional_game.html

It's been fun watching this explode today, but I think Matt is ready for the incident to blow over so he can return to his normal life. Fame is really taking its toll on him ;)

Programs, Princess Parties, Poop & More Poop

2008-03-06T21:16:00.005-06:00

Tuesday morning we attended the 4th six weeks awards program at Matthew's school. He won the "Hustle Award" for always showing up enthusiastic and ready to work. We were very, very proud of him.

Today is Mimi's birthday, but we had an early celebration Tuesday night (she babysat while Matt and I went to a bank function). Colby suggested a princess party. Since I probably won't get the opportunity to plan many princess themed parties, I ran with it. Here is a picture of her highness (notice the lovely tiara) doing what she does best.

Ryan FINALLY seems to be over his stomach bug, but he's had quite a "poopy" week! I'll spare you the details.

In other poop news, Colby has decided that he will not go on the potty, because "someone might smell it". Oh my!

Seriously!?!

2008-03-03T20:54:00.004-06:00

Parenting 101: No dessert if you don't eat your dinner.

This is a rule that every parent knows, right?

I repeat this at least once a day. However, it seems that tonight Colby ate two cherry tomatoes and a handful of M&M's for dinner.

Ry was fussy, so I was dealing with him while Matt and the big boys ate. Once I got him to bed, I started clearing the table. Matthew's plate was completely clean (as usual...I have no idea how the boy is so darn skinny). Colby's plate was exactly as I'd made it except for the missing tomatoes from his salad.

Matt was completely clueless that Colby hadn't eaten. The child was sitting right next to him! I guess he was on auto-pilot and when Matthew chose a treat from his Valentine basket, Colby did, too.

Some days I think Matt needs to re-read the instruction manual these kids came with!

Welcome to my BLOG!!

2008-02-26T21:10:00.007-06:00

O.K...here we go!

After following an increasing number of blogs the last year or so, I'm going to give this blogging thing a try. I hope that you will check back often as we "raise a little HALE" (actually 3 little Hales). :)

I'll start with an update on "the boys":

My sweet Matthew turned 6 in January, but due to his basketball schedule, we just had his party this past weekend....a sleepover with six of his friends. I must admit that I was DREADING this party, but it was so great. The boys were hilarious and very well behaved. A big, big thank you to my dear, sweet, wonderful sister who came up from Seguin to help me and to my Mom who took the little boys for the night (I really had to twist her arm). Matt was hog hunting in South Texas....next time I'll check with him BEFORE I send out invitations!

Colby is Colby, as I always say. He is just so funny...my little clown. He is the comic relief we need in our busy life. One day last week, he insisted on eating spinach for breakfast, so I put some baby spinach and ranch in his bowl...and he ate every bit of it. Then he ate his pop tart and yogart.

Baby Ryan turned 5 months on the 14th. No teeth yet...but I'm convinced he's going to wake up soon with a whole mouth full! He's finally decided that he likes to eat baby food fruits and veggies. He has discovered his tongue and his toes this past month, and usually tries to put his toes in his mouth. He especially likes to be held and cuddled and since he's the last baby I'm having (knock on wood), we hold him as much as possible. Here's a picture of our normal morning routine. He sits in his bouncy on the bathroom counter while I get ready (I promise...only while I'm standing right next to him). We have lots of great conversations in that mirror!

One more thing for today...

Is there anything better than babies in footy p.j.'s?