Videos

Cute moments captured on video:

Here are some of Leo's first steps at 13 Months.

This is Isla's 3 year old class singing for the Christmas program at Palms. She was all the way on the other end but they are so cute.

And here they are singing We wish you a Merry Christmas. You can catch a glimpse of her at the end in the middle.

And since we didn't get a good video of her at church she sang for us some more when we got home. I just love hearing her sweet little 3 year old voice.

The Newest Addition

It's a BOY!!! And we couldn't be happier! When I was younger I always said I wanted 2 boys and a girl. I really can't believe yet another dream of mine has come true. Obviously we would have been equally thrilled if #3 were a girl, but we really are so happy our baby boy is a healthy little thing. Isla wasn't the least bit disappointed like I thought she'd be. She's very excited that she gets to stay Mommy's little princess...and I am too. On the way home from the ultrasound she even said, "Mommy, now there are 3 boys and 2 girls and we are the princesses." I like the way she thinks. :) Little baby boy was absolutely so adorable at our 18 week ultrasound. He was rubbing his little eyes and reaching above his head. I constantly feel him moving around in my belly now too, which is my favorite part of pregnancy. I LOVE being pregnant and am soaking in every second of this miracle. I don't know if a lot of you know this but the pregnancy started off very shaky. I was told I was going to miscarry 3 times over the course of 5 days. But this precious angel showed everyone he was meant to be. I can't wait to hold this little fighter in my arms...especially since I never thought I would.

This is baby at 12 weeks pregnant

Here's the shot that told us he was all BOY! (18 weeks pregnant)

First belly shot at 17 weeks pregnant

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

I absolutely Love this time of year. All of the preparations for Christmas make me so happy. And when you have 2 little ones to share this season with, it's that much better. We've been busy shopping, crafting, decorating, and taking it all in. Isla and Leo start each morning out by running to the musical advent calendar we have and opening the days' door to unveil a treat they get to eat. They then go on a hunt for "Cauliflower", the elf on the shelf. Isla named him the first day he visited the Halman house and loves discovering his new hiding place each day.


We even had a beach day in December last week. Isla thought it was great to be able to dig in the sand with her clothes on. I liked not bringing back buckets of sand to the car like we usually do when the sand sticks to their wet summer beach bodies.
The Beaches Museum had a little Christmas festival that we made it up to. Isla was sick, so it wasn't the best time, but there were lollipops, facepainting, and it got us in the Christmas spirit.

Does anyone know when children start to like Santa? Isla will only stand next to him and Leo clearly isn't in to the big jolly old man.


We also stopped by John's office for a surprise visit and to say Hi to Daddy and play around the cubicles.

And the swing sessions continue...

On to one of my favorite Christmas traditions...picking out the tree and decorating it. The family and Coach and Gigi all met at Coaches Tree lot where we made the men open up about 10 trees before finding the perfect one. It really is the best tree we've had.

Isla even found her perfect sized tree but we opted to just get the huge one.

Back at home it was time to bathe, pajama up, and then place all the shiny and sentimental ornaments up on the tree.

Leo runs to the bathroom smiling when Daddy says, "It's bathtime, Leo." He loves it.

Decorating the tree with my Babe, two babies (and one on the way), and Michael Buble singing Christmas carols might be the best date night of all.

The finished product:

Hoping you are having yourself a Merry Little Christmas as well!!!!!

Thanksgiving

I'm a little late on this, and of course you all know what I'm thankful for, but I had to write about our Thanksgiving day. It was so special and I enjoyed every minute of it. The morning gave way to a crackling fire, hot chocolate, and a breakfast of cream cheese and strawberry stuffed french toast. We snuggled on the couch, gave out kisses, and watched the Macy's Day Parade, our Thanksgiving morning tradition.

Then we moved the party outside to enjoy some fresh air and the new rope swing Daddy built for Isla. This swing is awesome! It goes super high and I even lose my stomach on it. Isla is absolutely thrilled to have it and we if we haven't had at least one swing session during the day, well the day isn't over.

Leo has fun on the swing too when he's sitting in my lap but he prefers to walk around and throw rubber duckies.

Did I mention that I'm thankful for his kissable cheeks?

And did you know I'm incredibly thankful for my little girl? She's mommy's little princess.

Then it was off to Coach and Gigi's for the Thanksgiving feast of turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoe casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn pudding, and the fixins. For dessert we had pumpkin and pecan pie. YUMMY!

Of course Family is what I'm most thankful for and mine is pretty much the best!!!

After all that food, it was understood that we needed to go on a walk to help it digest. So off we went to the bridge.

It was a beautiful end to a beautiful day!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Lord, for all you have blessed me with.