The Zoo and Halloween Cookies

McKay had his first day at the zoo yesterday. And yes, he couldn't have cared less! He liked the stroller though and was wrapped up all snug. I can't wait until he is old enough to understand where he is and love seeing the animals.

I loved this picture because the baby elephant was sitting on the ball!

Wiped out from....? Well, from all the animals I guess!

It's a tradition of my family's to make pumpkin sugar cookies for Halloween. We grew up doing this but haven't done it for a few years. It's different when you are all grown up and out of the house. But we all have kids now and it's time to start the tradition up again. I was in charge this year and made my first batch of my mom's famous sugar cookie and frosting recipe. I like to cook but these sugar cookies gave me a hard time. You really have to work with the dough and I don't like "fussy" recipes. I finally got an idea what my mom went through year after year for us kids.

My mom would always frost the cookies (because no one puts enough frosting on the cookies for her! Have some cookie with your frosting is her motto!) and then us kids would decorate them. For this first year though, we thought it would be fun to have Jeneveve and Chase frost and decorate their own cookie. Chase had no idea what was going on and wanted to get down after 30 seconds. Jeneveve realized she had frosting and candy in front of her and ate more then she decorated. What else do you expect from a 2 year old? She lasted 3 minutes and after eating her heart out, she was done. Annie, Shani and I frosted and decorated the rest while my mom played with the kids. We had a great time and it was fun to bring this tradition back. This is one of Taylor's favorite things to do so these pictures are for you Tay. We love and miss you!!

"Chase, this is the knife we want you to use to spread the frosting around with. Why can't you do it????"

"Cookie? What cookie? All I see is candy!"

"Oh, you want me to put the candy there? That's a waste!"

Some of the finished product. Somehow, I missed the picture of Annie's blue "Y" cookie. She did it just for her crazy BYU sister-in-law!

Our yard is in

So we did it! We FINALLY got our yard put in and just in time too. It was a headache but thanks to Gary, my dad and some awesome friends, it got put in in a week. We did the sprinkler system our self so we saved a lot of money but Gary and the others were outside every day of the week after work until it was too dark to work. Even then, all the lights in the house would be on to allow them to work just a few minutes longer. I helped when I could. McKay would sit in his swing outside and just chill while we worked. What a stud. Needless to say, even despite the sore bodies and knees, the yard looks great and Gary it to credit for his hard work and dedication. Thanks to all those that helped and made this possible. We only put a few trees in because it's so expensive, but we can't wait until the spring!

Future garden

A lot of area to plant

2 1/2 month stats:

McKay had his 2 (closer to two and a half months) month doctor's appointment.

Weight: 14.9 lbs (95%)
Height: 25 inches (>95%)
Head: 16 cm (60%)

So as you can see, we have a little chunker on our hands except the doctor doesn't think he is chubby at all. She used the word, SOLID! He does not look like a 2 1/2 month old at all. McKay also got his shots. Momma had a hard time watching her baby get poked but knows it's for a good cause. He was so brave too. Only screamed for a few minutes until momma picked him up to give him loves. Love you little one...

The Littlest Cougar

Such a handsome boy! We love you little guy! Thanks Tasha for the pictures.

This is the life

First of all, we want to welcome our beautiful DARK HAIRED new niece, Felicity Jane. She looks just like her mom! We are so excited she is here and McKay is excited to have a new best friend!


Our summer has been flying by! At least mine has. I have been able to get out a little more lately with the baby which has been nice. I am dying because in less than 6 weeks, I have to go back to work. :( I will be doing straight graves for the rest of this year. I figured McKay would miss me the least at night but I can't even start to think about leaving him. Maybe January we will be able to work something else out, right hun???? Gary has been in Germany the last week and a half and still has a few more days to go. He will be traveling every three weeks through the rest of the year too so that will be even harder to leave McKay. The baby and I miss our Daddy and husband when he is gone.

Here is my AMAZING dad! He wanted me to title this picture, "Walkie Talkie." Why you may ask? Well, lately he has been taking McKay for walks outside and while walking with him, he talks and sings Primary songs to him. McKay loves it and snuggles right up in papa's arms. My dad has named their "time" together, Walkie Talkies. All the grand kids just love this man, as do I. He is such a strength and rock in my life! He has been over to our house painting our bedroom (took him 12 hours this last Saturday but it looks awesome!!!) and did our half bathroom earlier in the week. He made us a shoe rack in our garage so we could get our shoes out of the way. He has already offered to do more painting and uh, help us put our yard in this fall. My dad would and does do ANYTHING for all of us kids. I love you dad!!!

McKay is such a joy in our life! I can't remember life without him. His personality is really coming out and I love talking and holding this little guy. He smiles at his momma and is so good at saying "guh" and "ooohhh." He puckers up his lips, lifts his chin up and coos and talks. It makes my heart melt every time!

His cheeks are fattening up but he is still long and lean. His hair is blonde but not as light as when he was born. His eyes are bright, bright blue! He is so handsome! He love his bouncy chair and his swing but nothing more than his momma or daddy's arms. I admit, I hold him a lot but I figure I can because he is my only child and I can spoil him! I have Broadway tunes playing on the TV almost constantly and he seems to like listening to them. He also loves having Primary songs sung or hummed to him, especially while he is falling asleep. He isn't a big binky lover but I try to use it when I can so he doesn't always think he needs to be eating. He is so good at tummy time and will last about 5 minutes before getting fussy. He is getting so excited to watch his first BYU football game. He has his BYU onesie all ready to wear! Go COUGS! And yes, I sing him the BYU fight song every day. I'm pretty sure he knows it by heart!

We are so amazed at his constant development but I also wish it would slow done. I can't imagine loving him more than I already do. I would do anything for this little one to make sure he was happy, safe and felt loved. He is a true blessing in our life.

McKay's cheeky grin. He loves to smile

Never once has McKay cried in his bath. In fact, he will be screaming but once I put him in the water, he settles right down. Here is one of his inquisitive looks. Sorry about the private part showing!

Another happy smile

McKay and I ventured to the Farmington pool with Shani and Annie and their kids. McKay stayed out of the sun thanks to Jeneveve sharing her pink hat. This is McKay's favorite position. Up on your shoulder, hand by his face. He has started sucking on his arm or fist with a loud smacking sound. It's so cute

Sleeping in his car seat.

Swing time

Tummy time

Look at those blue eyes!

Daddy burping McKay. No his hair isn't really this color. It must be the reflection of the camera or something. We love you sweet boy!

Our sweet, sweet boy

Our little guy is growing up too fast! It's making me really sad. We are loving being parents to this amazingly sweet boy. At his 2 week check-up, he was already 9 pounds, 6 ounces so he is getting big. He is such a strong guy. He likes to hold his head up and when he is laying on your shoulder (his favorite position), he will pick his head up and turn it to the other side. He sleeps so well at night, at least 4 hours and the other night he made it six hours before I woke him up to eat.

When McKay was born, his bilirubin level was high and I had to take him back to McKay-Dee to have his heel pricked 5 additional times after he came home. His levels were always a bit high but not enough to need Bili lights. This is normal for breast-fed babies but it was hard seeing our little guy poked so many times. As a nurse, I always got bugged at mom's when they would freak out because their baby needed an IV or a lab drawn but now I can sympathize. Big time!

Gary and I love being parents to McKay though. Honestly the greatest blessing ever! McKay is getting bigger every day and as sad as it makes me, it's fun to see him developing. McKay smiled his first non-gas smile on 7/21. Yes, it's true. He looks you in the eye and when you get close and talk to him, he will smile. My sister witnessed this. He is only just over 2 weeks old! He loves to eat and is such a noisy eater because he chugs his milk...like he thinks I'm going to take it away from him. Let's just say, I am VERY SORE!

McKay looks so much like his dad. We don't know where the blonde hair came from but he is his dad through and through. I see no resemblance to me but since I have such a handsome husband, I'm okay with that. He is a loved little guy, that's for sure!!

Having a morning chat with mom

Getting dressed for the day. I love this outfit but it is a newborn outfit and he probably doesn't have many more days to wear it

Letting momma take his picture

Um, of COURSE my baby would have BYU clothes. This is just a start...

His daily nap with momma. I love when he takes naps like this with me. I try to get one in a day

First bath. He LOVES his baths but hates getting out.

Cousin Jeneveve giving McKay his bottle

Sleeping on dad's pillow.

Getting ready for his bath

McKay loves being wrapped up but with his arms by his face. They were like that in every ultrasound I got.

Grandma doing the famous tummy hold. Precious!

Screaming because he had just gotten out of the bath

Jeneveve and her famous "CHEESE!" smile

I don't know why this picture is turned but I love this little guy!

Our little one has arrived!!

Monday night I got a phone call from McKay-Dee Hospital setting up my induction time for the next day at 7:30am. I was pretty sad at that point because I had wanted to go into labor by myself. But it didn't look like it was meant to be. Gary's mom got into town Monday night so that was nice. My dad had made the comment that the little guy sure had been accommodating to people's schedules. He waited for us to get into our house and for Gary's mom to come.

That night, Gary and my dad gave me a priesthood blessing. I was pretty anxious and nervous. I knew our whole life was going to change in a few hours. Gary and I went to bed knowing that would be the last time, kid free. I soon woke up around 2:30 am to go to the bathroom and noticed bright red blood in the toilet. It scared me so I actually texted my friend who is a resident at McKay-Dee Hospital and happened to be there that night. She reassured me that that was a normal stage of labor but if I got worried, I could come in early since I would be going in in a few hours anyway. I went back to bed and tried to sleep. I did a little bit but not very much.

We got to the hospital at 7:30am and everything started at once. I got my IV, Pitocin was started and my doctor came in to break my water. Once hooked up to the baby monitor, my nurse, Jeri, who was FABULOUS, told me I was contracting every 2-3 minutes and they were lasting 1 minute. I couldn't believe it because I wasn't hurting at all. I was also dilated to a 3. Well, as me, Gary, his mom and my dad sat there, the Pitocin started kicking in really fast and my contractions started up. I guess it was exactly what I thought a contraction would feel like...a really bad menstrual cramp. I had told my nurse when I first got there that I was going to try to go natural. Never did she tell me I shouldn't try or talked me out of it. She just said if I ever changed my mind to let her know. By 11:30am, the contractions were coming so fast and lasting long enough that I wasn't getting much of a break in between. She checked me and I was still only dilated to a 3. I wanted to cry. Pretty much I was. Gary asked me if I wanted an epidural and I finally gave in and said yes. If I was hurting that badly and was still only a 3, I knew I would be there for awhile. I had tried walking around, leaning over, using a bouncy ball...ya, nothing took the pain away. Once I told my nurse, the anesthesiologist was in there in about 5 minutes hooking things up. And yes, the epidural hurt so badly, I actually did cry.

Once the medicine kicked in, I was able to relax and take a short nap. The nurse came in around 1:30pm to check me and I was at a 9! And I wasn't feeling any of it. Fabulous! But, it seemed like as birth time got closer, the baby was really kicking my ribs and he was taking my breath away. Plus I was starting to feel the pressure again. At 2:45pm, my doctor had been called and my nurse was having me start to push. I had no feeling below my waist though so I didn't feel like I was doing ANYTHING. Just holding my breathe, pretending to bare down and feeling like I'm going to pass out from lack of oxygen. My nurse brought in a mirror so I could see what I was doing and that I was making progress because the nurse and Gary saw the top of the head appear. My doctor rushed in the door at 3:00pm and I pushed till 3:23pm when McKay Joseph Hallman was born. He was 8 lbs, 13 ounces, 21 inches long and I was told the doctor had to give me an episiotomy or else I would have torn inside and out from the baby's size.

They handed me my baby and let me do skin to skin with him while they were drying him off. I couldn't believe our baby was finally here. It was a true miracle and I was instantly in love with my little guy. Gary cut the cord (by the way, he did great with the birth. I thought the blood and guts would bother him but he was down by the doctor the whole time watching!) and the baby started screaming. The best sound in the world!! He came out with quite the bump on his head but who wouldn't coming through a birth canal?

They took McKay from me because he wasn't breathing that well. They had to give him oxygen and suck him out many times. His color went from blue to purple to very pale. He was breathing in the 70's. I'm an infant nurse so I know about a lot of this stuff but it is so different when it's your baby. After a few minutes, he settled down enough to let me try breast feeding him. Such a weird and different sensation but I felt so bonded with my son. Family came in to visit then we were moved to a different room. Everything happened so fast but it was all just simply amazing. I can't believe I have a baby! Besides being married in the temple to someone I love so much, I have not wanted anything in life as much as I did to have a baby and be a mom. I don't know how I got so lucky but I did. I love my husband for being by my side every step of the way, for being so excited with me and for loving me, even as a big, swollen laboring woman! What a true man!

Here are a few pictures. Of course there will be many more to come!!

Gary cutting the cord

My first contact with my baby! I was so amazed at this point

Given McKay some extra oxygen and suctioning his lungs out

Our happy family of 3

Looking at my baby, still wondering how I got so lucky

Big yawn and frog legs.

Labor was the hardest thing I have EVER done in life. But I would do it all over again to have you in our life. I love you little man, always and forever!!! Thank you to my Mom, Dad and Gary's mom for being there to support us. We love you guys!!!