Hayden's John Deere Song

Hayden James has been in rare form lately. He's so funny! Friday night (11/6) Dave and stopped over to visit (and to see Aubrey). Hayden had just gotten home from hunting with Chad. Needless to say putting a 3 year old in a tree stand probably wasn't the best way to get a 30 point buck or see a deer for that matter. Chad gave Hayden a grunt call which he proceeded to use like a whistle. Chad said he blew on it so hard it sounded like a moose. My guess is all the deer ran when they heard the moose coming.

Hayden was running, singing and dancing when Dave and I arrived so I decided to get out my camera and caught the "John Deere Plow" song by Hayden James Hall. Check out the video --note the pile of hats on his head.

Another Visit to Dr. Bob

Dave, Baby Gilly, and I went to visit Dr. Bob on Tuesday. Baby Gilly and I went for our normal check up. Dave went as a patient this time. His shoulders have been bothering him. I guess --like Father, like son. Baby Gilly and mine visit was pretty uneventful. The baby's heartbeat which has been in the 140's my entire pregnancy was 156. Completely normal. My blood pressure was also normal as usual. However, Dave's BP was 146/109 a little high for my taste and for Dr. Bob's. Dr. Bob took it again before we left the office and it has come down to 140/90, better but still to high. Dave just said he was really nervous. His shoulders seem to have some inflammation that will not go away and moving them just make them more inflamed. Dr. Bob gave Dave and anti-inflammatory. The medicine is supposed to bring the inflammation to an end and his shoulders are supposed to feel better after a couple weeks. I just glad this will not be and ongoing issue! After all he will have a toddler to hold and carry around in a year.

Halloween 2009

October 29th was Trick or Treat in Defiance. It's always early because the Halloween Parade is Saturday night. Dave, Hayden and I carved pumpkins the night before. Hayden will not touch the pumpkin, but he loved the knife.

In the pictures Dave carved the pumpkins in the back and the one in the right front. I carved the "G" and the one in front of which I don't have any pictures.

Samsen and Kendall were good sports getting their pictures taken. Aren't they beautiful puppies? Dave's not so bad himself, only handsome!

The pumpkins came from a pumpkin patch up north. We went with Pat, Marg and Ian when we were there a couple of weeks ago. The pumpkins were all huge and there were 30 + acres of them. The patch closed when we were still walking around looking for the "perfect" pumpkin. Lucky for us the farmers were nice enough to stick around for us. Pat was looking for a tall, skinny pumpkin for Alex which he found on the way out of the patch. We must have looked for that pumpkin for an hour. I'm glad he finally found it. Alex, how did it turn out?

Dave threw the pumpkins over this hill this weekend because they were rotten. Darn the hot weather!

Next year will be fun! We will be able to take pictures of the pumpkins, dogs and Baby Gilly!

We Welcome Aubrey Elizabeth Hall!

Chad and Betsi welcomed 6 pound 13 ounce, 18.5 inch long, Aubrey Elizabeth at 7:45 this morning. Bet is doing great! Aubrey is beautiful! I've attached pictures so you can judge for yourself. She resembles Hayden but they do not really look alike.

Hayden is allowed at the hospital for 1 hour this evening to meet his new baby sister. We printed pictures earlier today and gave them to him. He's been carrying them around the house and will not put them down unless someone is "holding" them. He is so proud to be a big brother.

October Doctor Visit

The baby and I went to visit Dr. Bob on Tuesday, October 13th. Dave decided to go hunting since he only has a limited amount of time this year. The baby is growing perfectly. Its heartbeat was 140. My blood pressure was excelleted also 122/74! He said he wanted to see me in two weeks becuase we only have 5 weeks left before d-day, however; he is going to Hawaii so he has to postpone the appointment 3 weeks out. We will go visit him on November 3rd. Dave has hunting schedule for that day. I wonder if he will go with me? :) I'm going with... probably not.

Betsi has her c-section scheudled to have Aubrey Louise Hall. We have been calling November 2nd, Aubrey Day! I, of course took the day off! Not that I will need the entire day, but I definately want to get good pictures of her like I did with Hayden. Cannot wait to share them with everyone.

Baby Gilly Update

August 31st, 2009

We visited with Dr. Bob. Everything is going very well. We are right on schedule. I forgot to ask for the heartbeat. Sorry everyone!

We had our sugar test. I got to drink this "yummy" orange drink. It reminded me of a flat sunkist. The test came back perfect!

Our check-ups are moving to every three weeks instead of every four so I will have another update soon. We should have some pictures pretty quick too -- we are going for an ultrasound later in the week.

Defiance County Fair

August 22, 2009

Dave decided to humor me again this year when I wanted to go to the county fair. I truly believe he hates going but always puts on a happy face for me. I love fair food and only get it once a year. I also think they should have "pony rides" for adults because that was my favorite part of the fair when I was little.

We met up with Betsi, Chad and Hayden. Hayden asked Uncle Dave to ride the big slide with him. After a little push Dave followed Hayden up the large number of steps. I think Dave had a pretty good time. Check out the smile on his face. Hayden's smile came at the end of the slide. It was as big as could be! Thanks to Chad for the picture!

Baby Gilly Update

August 3rd, 2009 - Dr. Bob Visit

The baby, Dave and I visited the doctor on Monday. As usual, we were back in the patient room as soon as we arrived. I love to watch the nurse take my blood pressure, which was 120/78. Perfect! I love to watch because she never tells me what it is and by watching the numbers on the dial I can figure it. I'm also now 4 pounds over the weight I started at in February. The doctor was pleased that I had gained some weight. Go me! Actually Dave is a really good cook!
The babies heart beat was at 140 bpm. Last visit is was 144 and the visit before the it was 146. Baby Gilly is growing as expected. Dr. Bob indicted our ultrasound will be scheduled after our next appointment. I'm super excited to share our pictures with you. I hope we get some good ones. :)

Although we are not finding out girl/boy at the ultrasound, I have taken a few online "old wives tales" quizzes. When the quiz ended it in dicated, at 80 %, a girl. This is based on 51 "old wives tales". I cannot believe there are that many! Did you know one of them says if your like to eat the heal of the loaf of bread you are having a boy? I have eatten the heal of the loaf of bread my entire life and I still think I'm having a girl. I read on 2 different web sites that mother's intuition is right 71 % of the time. I guess we shall see.

Tennessee Vacation 2009

I LOVE VACATION!
June 29th - July 3rd, 2009
Dave and I traveled to Smithville, Tn for 4 days and 5 nights. We stayed in a "hotel suite". The room had a kitchenette and a king size bed. That's about all it had. The room was tiny, but it suited the two of us well for a few days! The view from the room was of beautiful Center Hill Lake. The lake was created when the Army Core of Engineers decided to build a damn. The water levels rise and fall throughout the year. So there really are no beaches around the entire lake. If you don't have a boat you don't get in the lake. We don't have a boat, but the hotel had a pool and we were the only people to use it while we were vacationing. It was like our own private spot! Sorry I don't have any pictures of the pool. I should have taken pictures of Dave trying to float though. I was quite humorous!

Dave and I spent most of our time at the pool. We had great tans! We took the cooler with us, packed food and "drinks" and didn't leave all day. Tuesday morning we thought we better go check out some of the local scenery. So we went hiking to check out a few of the areas waterfalls. Up an down, round and round, 3/4 of a mile there and back. Check out our pictures from the scenic drive and hike!

A view from a scenic outlook along the way. Dave set up the camera on the edge where we had parked the Trailblazer. We actually got the camera timer to work and we smiled at the exact right time. Say Cheese!
I promise I'm down at the bottom of these steps. We were finally on our way back to where we parked the car! Remember, up and down and round and round 1.5 miles. Just to see waterfalls. What were we thinking!
This was the little water fall.

The middle of the hike!

Dave looks so cute! FYI, The hike had just begun!


This was the prize at the end of the 3/4 mile. It was about a 50 foot water fall. The sun was shining! Can you see the rainbow in the waterfall? Believe it or not there was another set of steps to the bottom of the waterfall. Although I'm pretty sure I could have made it down and back up. The trip back would have been very, very difficult. Pregnant, out of shape, women should not hike in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains!

Dave and I spent our evenings in the nearest form of civilization. About 15 miles from our hotel was the town of Cookeville. And that is excatly what happened there. COOKING! We ate at a different resturant each night. For our 2nd anniversary we ate at the Olive Garden and then went to see the Transformers movie.

Fun with the Gerken's

July 25th and 26th, 2009

Brian and Anabelle came home for the weekend. It was Gracyn's 3rd Birthday. Happy Birthday Gracyn! Barry and his new wife Courntey were home too. Welcome to the family Courtney! I forgot to take my camera to the birthday party so I don't have any pictures of Gracyn. Let me tell you, she is beautiful!

The rest of the weekend revolved around Hayden and Anabelle. Hayden loves Anabelle so much. He would do anything for her. He loves to give her hugs and I do not think I have ever seen him share "his toys" so well. On Sunday afternoon the sun came out for a few minutes and allowed the kids to get in the pool. Their giggles were proof enough -- they loved the pool! At some point Hayden decided he had horns.

Anabelle is in love with animals. It doesn't matter what animal, although I think she has a soft spot for dogs. She loves to throw the ball for Samsen and Kendall Jade. Tucker just runs after them. She gets such a kick out of it. She also loves to climb all over them. Check out the video. Several times over the weekend she ended up at Aunt Bear's and Uncle Dave's house looking for "the kitty". She found him a few times but he's good at hiding.

Nana belives she can be a kid again. Sunday morning after church she and Anabelle were running around the yard. Anabelle decided Uncle Dave would be a good protector. Watch out Anniebee, Nana might kiss you to death.

After running around the yard it was time for a little break and some BUBBLES. Which ended up all over the garage floor. AKA Anabelle just dumped them all over. Something Nana called accidently on purpose.