David, Melinda, and life with three boys!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-26T17:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day the boys woke up and opened their stockings and Santa presents. We then had my side of the family over to our house. I didn't get very many good pictures. With 6 kids opening gifts all of the pictures looked pretty much the same.

Santa presents and stockings:

The little kiddos opening presents:

Brendin and Dillon waiting for presents:

The boys checking out their new cozy pumper:

Kaden likes it:

Pretty Lilly:

Christmas Day is also Brendin's birthday...He turned 10 this year:

And our group picture:

Here are a few pictures of the day after Christmas and the boys playing with some of their new toys:

The squirrel needed to mail something according to Nolan:

Nolan decided that stacking the wooden fridge food was better then playing in their kitchen:

Constructing the boys fire/police station:

And it is complete!

The boys got some new markers that are animal shaped and notebooks:

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we had David's side of the family over to our house. We had yummy fondue which has been tradition for as long as I can remember :) Then it was time to open presents!

We let the boys open the presents that were left on our doorstep by our secret Santa neighbors:

The presents from our secret Santa neighbors...they were perfect for our boys:

We also let them open one present from us before everyone got to our house:

Our present from Evan that he made at school...The BEST kind of present to receive in my opinion:

Evan all decked out and ready for Christmas (courtesy of Starbucks)

The boys got a train set from Uncle Dan and Auntie Andrea:

Lego Star Wars was a big hit this year:

Teamwork!

December 2011 (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day posts to follow)

2011-12-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

Look at me go...and on to December! December started off by us going to the tree farm and cutting down our tree. We then had fun decorating it. Here are some tree pictures and random other December pictures:

Kaden and Nolan are ready to go find that perfect tree:

In the van and headed to the Christmas tree farm:

Our crew who helped us find and cut down our tree:

Family picture:

Evan wanted to help cut down the tree:

Nolan was excited about his Blues Clues ornament:

So was Kaden:

And Evan too:

The boys really liked decorating the tree:

The finished product:

Some brotherly love:

ARRGH!

Watching the street sweeper:

Making salt dough ornaments:

November update

2011-12-26T15:56:00.000-08:00

I'm on a roll, so here I go with November's update.

I really don't remember much of what happened during November. There was Thanksgiving. David's parents flew down to Arizona to be with his Grandpa and we missed everyone that was unable to be with us. We had my parents over and Dan and Andrea and had a nice Thanksgiving. Of course, the day after Thanksgiving I went Black Friday shopping with my mom while David was nice enough to stay home with the boys :)

Here are some November pictures:

Kaden and Mommy having some fun with goofy glasses:

Nolan and Mommy having fun as well:

There has been lots of Star wars everything going on in our house lately:

We made a Lego Garbage Truck!

Two of my little artists:

My little animals:

Some of Evan's artwork from school:

Evan helped set the table for Thanksgiving:

Grandma and Papa Max at Thanksgiving:

We missed Grandma and Papa Moby and Great Papa:

First time we put up a tree in our family room:

October update

2011-12-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

Once again....I am VERY behind on posts. So here are my monthly updates. Maybe one day I will get better about updating. Something about 3 boys seems to keep me quite busy :)

Here are some cute pictures from October of the boys:

Evan's Kindergarten picture (which I absolutely loved!)

Kaden working on becoming a chef:

The boys being goofy:

Nolan at the pumpkin patch:

The last time we were at the pumpkin patch, Kaden and Nolan were just wee little babies (We went to the apple orchard with Evan's preschool class, but not the pumpkin patch):

Hard at work carving pumpkins:

Nolan was so happy to be a fireman for Halloween:

Goofy Evan:

All 3 boys dressed up for Halloween:

September update

2011-09-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! I'm on to the September update and it isn't the end of September yet :) September has been a busy month for us. We had Evan's first day of Kindergarten, Kaden and Nolan's first day of Speech School, Kaden and Nolan's 3rd birthday and birthday party, and Evan's first tooth that he lost (on K&N's birthday!) and the month isn't even over yet!
Cute pictures of the boys

Evan ready to go meet his Kindergarten teacher

Evan's first day of Kindergarten

Evan and his first kindergarten art project

Kaden and Nolan's first day of speech school

Kaden and Nolan working on their first homework assignment

The 3 year old birthday boys

Warning I'm Three!

Blues Clues Party Time

August update

2011-09-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

August was not as busy of a month for us. We took the kids to Big Truck Day, which they love. The airshow was in August and we watched what we could from our house. We also had some family photos taken at McMenamins Grand Lodge which were a lot of fun to do and we got some great pictures.

Some cute pictures of the boys:

Big Truck Day

Watching the airshow

Some pictures that I just like

July update

2011-09-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Once again I realize that our blog is neglected. Sorry about that. Really I will try to get better one of these days! Figured I would just do monthly updates. So it looks like we left off in June so here is a July update :)

July we went to the zoo, the Bonneville Dam, the beach, and the county fair. It was also our 10th wedding anniversary. Sometimes, it is hard to believe that we have been married 10 years already. It has been a great 10 years though!

Here are some pictures from some of the things we did in July.

The zoo

Just a picture I really like of the boys:

The Bonneville Dam:

The beach, we were lucky to have beautiful weather at the beach!
The aquarium:

View from our hotel room:

Playing on the beach

Rose Festival Fleet

2011-06-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

While I'm blogging I figured I should go ahead and post about our trip to see the Rose Festival Fleet. We went to Portland yesterday and since it is Rose Festival time some of the ships were coming in. We were lucky enough to see two Canadian ships come into dock and the Portland Fire boat.

May

2011-06-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

So it looks like maybe our blog is a little neglected. I guess maybe monthly reviews might be happening rather then more frequent updates :) The month of May was fun for our family. There was Mother's Day, playing outside, a trip to the beach, Dozer Day, and Evan's preschool graduation.

Mother's Day was really nice. I got some great preschool gifts that Evan made for me, chocolate chip cookies that David's mom and Evan made, some beautiful flowers that David and the boys bought for me from the farmers market, and a vase that Evan made at Lowes with David. Definitely put a nice big smile on my face. Then I went to a Mothers and Others luncheon with my mom.

The boys were able to get outside and play a little bit in May. It was still pretty rainy.

It's nice when the boys are able to play outside and get rid of some of their extra energy. If I'm lucky it turns into this:

We took a day trip out to Cannon Beach. Went to Mo's of course and then let the boys play in the sand.

We went to Dozer Day with Papa Moby(David's dad) and Uncle Dan. It took Kaden a little while to warm up, but all three boys had quite a bit of fun. They love trucks and especially construction vehicles. They even got to sit in some of the construction vehicles while they were moving. This was like a little boys dream come true!

The last big event in May was Evan's preschool graduation. It's hard to believe that Evan is done with Preschool and after this summer will be in Kindergarten. He's still my little boy though! He did great at the end of the year celebration and got the good friend award. His teachers said that he was a great friend to everyone and made sure that everyone was included. This made me so happy to hear as a mom :)

Here's a comparison picture I put together. Evan's first day of preschool and his very last day of preschool. It's amazing how much he has changed in 2 years.

And for fun here is a picture of all three boys on Evan's last day of preschool.

This is Kaden and Nolan at dropoff on Evan's first day of 3's preschool.

This was when the kids walked into the room. Kaden was so excited to see Evan he ran up to Evan.

Our preschool graduate!

A video of the kids singing "We're off to Kindergarten". They are so cute!

Well I think that sums up our month of May!

Spring time!

2011-05-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

Geez, we are really bad about updating lately, aren't we? Anyways, not much new has been going on around here. Evan has one month left of preschool. He had his Kindergarten orientation a week ago. He wasn't all that impressed, because it wasn't fun. I'm sure once he gets to go to school next year, he'll have a lot more fun. Kaden and Nolan have been having their speech therapy twice a month. Hopefully, during the summer they will be enrolled in a parent/toddler class once a week for 5 weeks. Then next fall they will be going to a speech therapy class, I think once a week. Because their birthday is September 15th it falls 2 weeks after the school district cutoff, so they won't be going to preschool next year. Which is fine with me since we're still working on getting them to talk and I haven't even started potty training yet. Here's some pictures from the month of April and Easter.

Easter

Happy St Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

I tried to get a cute picture of the boys in their green clothes. However, they were not in the mood to cooperate!

Evan's 5th Birthday Party

2011-02-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

We had Evan's birthday party on February 19th. It was Phineas and Ferb style. Grandma Moby (and Evan) made a Perry the Platypus cake. We were lucky that weather was nice, so most of the kids played outside. I think everyone had a good time.

Evan's 5th Birthday

2011-02-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Evan's 5th Birthday was on February 15th. We didn't do much on his actual birthday. We had breakfast donuts that Grandma Max bought for the family, let Evan open one birthday present, and had a birthday dinner at Gogo's burgers with some family and friends.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from The Hall Family! Here are the two best pictures I was able to get of the boys this morning.

And for fun, because I am a sucker for looking at old pictures. Here are pictures from the past several years of the boys on Valentine's Day.

2006
No picture, because it was the day before Evan decided to make his appearance into the world, two weeks early!
2007

2008 (No valentine's day picture, but this is a picture of Evan on his actual birthday)

2009

2010

A trip to the library and a visit to the ducks

2011-02-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

We took the boys to the library yesterday and let them feed the ducks. The boys absolutely love the ducks!

Daddy's first haircut...

2011-02-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Daddy's first time giving Kaden and Nolan a haircut! We decided to save some money and have David cut Kaden and Nolan's hair. The boys did an excellent job of sitting still and David didn't do too bad of a job cutting their hair.

2010 Review in pictures

2010-12-31T17:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from 2010. I think it is fun to see how the kids change throughout the year.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Christmas eve and Christmas

2010-12-31T17:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we go over to David's parents house and have dinner and open presents. Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is fondue (so yummy). This year Nolan joined in on the fondue and dipped his hot dogs in it. Evan and Kaden weren't as interested in the fondue.

Of course as soon as dinner is over, it's time to open presents! The boys had lots of fun tearing into the presents and playing with their new toys.

Christmas Day, Evan went downstairs and started opening presents even before Kaden and Nolan made it downstairs! He stopped and waited for his brothers before the opening of presents commenced.

Before the rest of my family (Melinda's) came over the boys had to get some play time in.

Then everyone came over for some Christmas lunch (ham and all kinds of yummy food) and opening of more presents. Here is the tree after all the presents were put under it.

Grandma Max with the annoying squirrel who sings I'm getting nuttin for Christmas. But the kids like it, so that's what counts, right?

All of the pictures of everyone opening presents look the same. That's what happens when there are five adults and six kids opening presents at the same time. It gets a bit hectic.

My attempt at recreating a photo

2010-12-18T17:00:00.000-08:00

Kaden and Nolan were laying on the kitchen floor and luckily I had the camera close by because how they were laying reminded me of these pictures.

3 1/2 months old

6 months old

2 years old

Happenings in December

2010-12-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

To continue with the updates here is what has happened so far in December.

Nolan has the right idea of which team to root for. Too bad the Beavers lost during the big rivalry game The Civil war.

The day after the Beavers loss, we went to the tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was a perfect day for picking out a tree...not too cold and not raining! It didn't take us too long to pick out the tree. Then David, Papa, and Evan all got to work cutting down the tree. We left Kaden and Nolan home with Grandma Moby since the boys were just getting over being sick. We'll probably try and take everyone next year to experience picking out the perfect tree.

Here's a cute picture of Kaden and Nolan. Don't they look so innocent? I'm sure they were plotting a way to get inside the gate.

Then it was time to decorate the tree. The boys all helped decorate it. Here's the finished product!

Next came the Santa visit and picture with Santa. The boys did pretty good. Just a brief tantrum from Nolan, but we got a decent picture with Santa.

Here is a picture I took at our house before heading to visit Santa.

And here is this years Santa picture!

And most recently we went to Evan's preschool Christmas program. He did wonderful singing the songs and saying his one line that he had in the program. It is so much fun watching all of the kids in the program. They are so cute!

Sorry about the lack of posts

2010-12-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

Bad us! I can't believe we haven't update the blog since Halloween....Oops! I'll try to do a recap of things that have happened since Halloween!

November

In November we had a "small very small" snow day here in Oregon. David, Evan, and Kaden loved playing in the snow. Nolan took awhile to warm up to the idea of playing in the snow, and I would much rather enjoy warmer weather.

Then came Thanksgiving. We don't actually have any pictures from Thanksgiving, but here are some pictures that we got on Thanksgiving that we ended up using for our Christmas card.

This is the one we used with some editing (we did this picture with the timer on the camera!)

Just for fun here's a couple cute pictures of the boys from November:

Halloween

2010-11-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween Evan decided he wanted to be a fireman. We bought Kaden and Nolan Buzz and Woody pajamas to dress up in. I figured that pajamas could be worn again so we would get our moneys worth out of them. The kids enjoyed trick or treating and getting the treats. I'm amazed that we still have some candy left. Here's some pictures from Halloween this year and just for fun I included some past Halloween pictures to look back and remember how little the boys were.

Past Halloweens

2006 - Evan is 8 1/2 months old

2007

2008 - Kaden and Nolan are 6 weeks old

2009

Evan's field trip to the apple orchard

2010-10-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Evan's preschool class had a field trip to Oregon Heritage Farm. Grandma and Papa Max were nice enough to accompany me to the field trip. I figured it was a really nice day and that Kaden and Nolan would enjoy the farm as well. It definitely was a help to have one on one coverage with the kiddos. The kids went on a hayride, jumped in the apple bounce house, saw some goats and pigs, and picked pumpkins. I think everyone had a great time!

Just for fun, here is the post from last year's field trip to the same apple orchard.

Last years field trip - 3 year old class

Some pictures from this years field trip:

Nolan not wanting his picture taken

I snuck a picture of Nolan and Papa

Kaden and Nolan thought the goats were hilarious!

Evan checking out the wagon

We saw a deer on the hayride

Kaden had fun

Nolan checking the wagon out

Evan driving the tractor

All 3 boys on pumpkins with their caramel apple suckers

Nolan's hospital stay

2010-10-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend with Nolan in the hospital. Nolan had the beginnings of a cold last week and Friday morning we noticed he was having difficulty breathing. We called our pediatrician and got an appointment first thing in the morning. David took Nolan in while I stayed home and watched Kaden (Evan was with Grandma Moby). David called me and said I should take Kaden over to his parents because Nolan was going to be going to the hospital (his oxygen level was at 88%). Nolan received a breathing treatment and steroid shot while in the office. When I called back to see what the plan was with David, we were told the doctor at the hospital didn't want to chance anything with traffic so Nolan was going to be transported by ambulance. I said bye to Kaden and Evan and headed up to the doctors office. As I was walking into the office I heard the ambulance sirens (worst feeling ever). I rode on the gurney with Nolan in the ambulance and we were able to see David behind us the whole time. On the way to the hospital they did not use the lights or sirens, but they did use the oxygen for Nolan.

When we got to the hospital they did 3 back to back breathing treatments and were still not happy with how fast he was breathing or how he sounded. We were told the next line of treatment was continuous breathing treatments but that they did not do them on the regular pediatric floor. He would need to be transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). We were transferred over there pretty quickly and they got an IV and the breathing treatments started for Nolan. He stayed overnight in the PICU and was transferred back to the normal peds floor Saturday morning. The doctors wanted to continue monitoring him Saturday night and Sunday morning, so he got another overnight hospital stay. Nolan definitely was feeling better Saturday evening and Sunday morning. He did not want to stay in his room and we did lots of walks circling the floor.

Nolan seems to be doing a lot better now and has finished his round of oral steroids (thank goodness) and will be on a preventative inhaler all through the fall and winter. I don't want to ever have to go through that again, but am so thankful for the support system we have. It was also so heartwarming seeing Nolan "talk" to his brothers on the phone while he was in the hospital and to see his brothers so excited to see him come home!

Nolan Saturday morning in the PICU

Nolan in his room on the regular peds floor (he had quite the view - ambulances, construction, and the life flight helipad)

Evan's first day of preschool - 4's class

2010-09-14T15:13:00.001-07:00

Monday was Evan's first day of preschool in the 4 year olds class. He has been very excited about preschool starting back up. He kept asking all summer when he got to go to preschool again, that we even made a countdown chain for him.

He was so happy when he was able to pull that last chain off! I think he was more then ready to go play with his friends and learn some new stuff.

This was Evan on his first day of preschool last year.

And this is him this year.

And just for fun, this is Kaden and Nolan last year.

The little guys this year.

I can't believe how much my boys have changed in just one year. I also can't believe that next year Evan will be in Kindergarten. Time just goes by too quickly!

Kaden and Nolan's 2nd Birthday party.

2010-09-14T14:54:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday we had Kaden and Nolan's 2nd birthday party. We decided to do a sock monkey theme this year. No real reason other then this was probably the last year we can decide what theme to go with. I'm sure as they get older they will have their own opinions of what kind of party they want. We had our friend Melissa do the decorations for us and they turned out adorable. Check out her blog for some additional pictures of the decorations. The weather was wonderful so the kids were in the backyard playing for quite a bit. It was fun to see so many kids running around and having fun. Thank you to everyone who made it to the party and helped Kaden and Nolan celebrate. It was a fantastic day!

The boys getting their nap in so they can have lots of energy for the party.

Nolan woke up from his nap and loved the balloons that Daddy and Evan picked out for them. Kaden was still napping, he felt he needed more energy.

Nolan testing out the microphone on their new cat piano.

Kaden and Nolan opening presents.

Bonneville Fish hatchery

2010-08-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

After Multnomah Falls we went and got some lunch and went back to the Bonneville Fish hatchery. The boys had fun running around, looking at the fish, and feeding the fish. Thankfully I caught Kaden before he ate some fish food!

Having a picnic lunch and the Heron we saw.

Kaden and Nolan checking out the cooler for drink options.

Nolan found his drink of choice....a 5 hour energy drink!

The after effects (Just kidding...We didn't let him drink a 5 hour energy drink.)

Another attempt at a picture of all three boys

A happy Kaden

Multnomah Falls

2010-08-20T10:17:00.001-07:00

David had a couple days off so we decided to do a little road trip to the Columbia River Gorge. We stopped by Multnomah Falls first and I think the boys enjoyed looking at the big waterfall.

I tried to get a good picture of all three boys. This was the best I got at Multnomah Falls.

A cute picture of David and Nolan.

A nice couple offered to take a family picture of the five of us. Here's our best family shot.

And just because I like nature shots. Here are some pictures of Multnomah Falls and a garbage truck which made Evan's day.

Big Truck Day

2010-08-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

We have been going to Big Truck day for the past several years. It's always so hot, but it's a little boys (and maybe big boys as well) dream come true. There are all kinds of trucks to climb in and have fun. We learned after the first year of taking Evan to bring ear protectors because it gets loud with all the honking that goes on.

Nolan's dinner

2010-08-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

Last night Nolan decided that my dinner was better then his dinner. Here are some pictures of the dinner progression.

First it was just my burrito

Of course, he had to make sure his face and plate were clean

Then he got a hold of my milk. I don't normally drink my milk with a straw, but I figured that would be less of a mess if I put one in for Nolan.

And lastly, he got a hold of the newspaper

He sure is a goofy boy! Evan and Kaden on the other hand wanted nothing to do with my dinner.

Beach trip 2010 (Part One)

2010-07-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

We went down to Lincoln City and stayed a couple nights. It's become our annual July vacation to spend some time down in Lincoln City. Last year when we went Kaden and Nolan were 10 months old and Evan was 3 1/2. Here is a picture of Kaden and Nolan from last year.

And a picture of them this year (it's amazing what a difference one year makes!)

Sunday morning we hopped in the car and headed down to the beach. Luckily for us, Kaden and Nolan were asleep before too long and slept until right before Lincoln City. We got some lunch and went to the outlets. Trying to shop at the outlets was quick due to having three boys who didn't find shopping nearly as much fun as we did. We then checked into our hotel, grabbed some sand toys and went down to play on the beach. Kaden and Nolan didn't know what to think of the sand at first and then quickly decided they weren't that fond of the sand. Evan and David played in the sand and flew "Nemo" the kite.

Here are some pictures of Kaden and Nolan checking out the hotel room, before we taped everything we needed to (drawers,cupboards,television,etc.)

Kaden and Nolan helping get the sand toys out of the back of the van:

Playing on the beach:

Beach trip 2010 (Part Two)

2010-07-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

I decided to do the beach trip in two posts so it didn't get too long. We bought a new kite last year that we never used. But we used it this year and we had just the right amount of wind. So here is some pictures of David and Evan flying "Nemo" the kite.

For dinner on Sunday we went to Mo's. Overall, it was a good experience, except for Nolan blowing milk bubbles and getting milk everywhere and Kaden tipping his cup and getting milk all over himself and me. The food was yummy as always!

Monday morning we ventured down to Newport and went the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Nolan fell asleep on the way there and I was able to get him out of the van still asleep. He woke up not too shortly after we got inside the aquarium, so he was able to see all of the fish and animals.

And just for fun here is a sequence shot of Kaden and Nolan:

Nice Kaden and Nolan:

Not happy Nolan and Kaden wondering what's wrong with Nolan:

Overall, it was a really nice trip and we couldn't have asked for better weather. It will be interesting to see how next years trip differs from this years trip.

Here is some pictures of the beautiful Oregon Coast:

Who needs toys?

2010-07-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Not Evan, Kaden, or Nolan. Boxes and packing materials will keep them entertained for quite awhile. Evan's other favorite thing to play with is his "trash". His trash consists of papers torn up to put into his many garbage cans (see the first picture of Kaden.) When will we learn and quit buying the kids toys. It would certainly be cheaper!

Happy 4th of July! (Now updated with some more pictures)

2010-07-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July! Kaden and Nolan also wish everyone a happy 4th. (Evan is over at Grandma and Papa's that's why there is no pictures of him, yet.) Hopefully we will be able to update with some more fun 4th of July pictures later. **Pictures added**

Pictures of the boys in their 4th of July shirts:

Kaden and Nolan enjoying some time with Uncle Mike and Aunt Traci's dog Buddy

Nolan getting some facebook time in before we left to go to a family friend's BBQ

Evan, Kaden and Nolan getting a wagon ride and getting Pop its from Courtney

Happy Fathers Day!

2010-06-20T06:31:00.001-07:00

Love,
Evan, Kaden, and Nolan (and Mommy!)

Beach, Zoo, Big Ships, and Safety Vehicles!

2010-06-07T10:13:00.001-07:00

It's been a little while since we posted, so here's another catch up post. David had a couple days off right before Memorial Day weekend, so we did some fun stuff to take advantage of his time off. The Thursday before Memorial Day, Evan had his preschool end of the year celebration. It was nice that David was able to come to that with Kaden, Nolan, and myself. Evan got the Mr. Helpful award.

David thought it would be fun to take a spur of the moment trip to the beach. All 3 kids fell asleep in the van so we stopped by the house, picked some stuff up and headed to Cannon Beach to play on the beach and get some dinner at Mo's. Of course we thought we did so good, but when we got the beach, we realized that we forgot Kaden's jacket at home. So now Kaden has a Cannon Beach jacket. The kids had lots of fun playing in the sand and did great at Mo's for dinner.

We also made a trip to the zoo. It was Kaden and Nolan's first time to visit the animals. All 3 kids did really good for the most part. They started to get a little fussy at the end, but it was nap time.

This past Saturday we went into Portland so the boys could see the Rose Festival fleet. I think they really enjoyed the ships and it was a beautiful day for walking around Portland.

On our way home we checked out the Hillsboro Safety Fair. Evan and Nolan loved seeing all the trucks, but Kaden had fallen asleep, so he missed out this time on seeing the safety vehicles.

What it looks like trying to get pictures of 3 boys at the same time

2010-05-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

You get a bunch of pictures that look like these:

And then if you are lucky you might get one good picture!

Kaden was quite proud of the picture.

Mother's Day, Nolan's artwork, and legos

2010-05-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

I had a nice Mothers Day. David and Evan made me french toast and sausage that was very yummy! Then my mom and nephew Brendin came over. We went for a nice Sunday drive and got some coffee. We drove out to Forest Grove, which Evan exclaimed was the best (because of all the trucks he saw.) Then we stopped by a park to let the boys play. Back home we went for lunch and then we went out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes (thanks Grandma Max for buying us dinner!)

Here's the card Evan picked out for me. I'm glad he loves me for giving him clean underpants. I also got a lovely flower planter from David's parents.

Playing at the park:

Nolan has become quite the artist lately. His canvas? Himself!!

Today Nolan found David's hat and put it on. So of course I had to go find a hat for Kaden to wear.

I brought the Legos out for the boys to play with and all three kids actually played together for a few seconds!

Evan with the finished skyscraper!

Cozy coupe #2....The police car

2010-05-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

We decided that we couldn't have just one cozy coupe for three boys, so we ordered a second one. The first one was a craigslist find and the police car that we ordered was on sale. So in the end we got two cozy coupes for the price of one new one.

Here are some pictures of David and Evan putting together the police car, Evan playing with it, and Kaden enjoying it as well. There are no pictures of Nolan because David and Evan were putting it together after the little guys went to bed. Kaden is playing with it bright and early in the morning and Nolan was sleeping. I promise I will try and get pictures of Nolan playing with the police car as well.

Big boys!

2010-04-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to put the high chairs away. So for right now Kaden and Nolan are sitting at the table on their travel booster seats. We'll probably get some booster seats this weekend and put the travel ones back in the van. Our little boys are getting so big!

I let Kaden and Nolan draw on the easel yesterday. They really liked it, even though it doesn't really show in the few pictures I was able to get. The camera battery died as I was taking pictures.

Catch up post

2010-04-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

I have been slacking on posting lately so I'll just do a catch up post.

Here's some pictures of Evan and Kaden working on the train tracks. Evan loves his trains and Kaden loves to be Godzilla and destroy Evan's handiwork.

A cute picture of Evan and Nolan:

We had to take Nolan to the ER since the last post. He seems to get colds that go straight to his chest. I noticed that he was starting to have a hard time breathing and it was past office hours at the pediatricians, so off to the ER we went. He got a breathing treament while we there and we were told he had bronchiolitis. We got some meds and went our way home. He still has the remnants of the cold but is doing better.

David and I purchased a cozy coupe off of craigslist for the boys. I noticed that Kaden and Nolan (and Evan) love the cozy coupes that are at preschool so we thought those would be fun. It was a great investment!

*I had to get in on the cozy coupe fun too! I think I need a bigger car though!

We are in the process of buying a second one (the police car!) We ordered it online and are waiting for it to arrive. Because you know you can't have just one cozy coupe for three kids!

Kaden and Nolan have never liked their cribs, so we decided to make the jump and put them in toddler beds. So far they sleep in them for a little, but not all night. It's a work in progress with them! (Nolan wouldn't let me take any pictures of him on his bed.)

The boys enjoying the sunshine and popsicles.

Whew! I think that gets me all caught up for a little while!

A future artist?

2010-04-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend we got a great deal on this art easel. I think Evan really enjoys it (and Kaden and Nolan) if they can get to it before Evan does.

Springtime at the parks

2010-04-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to Portland and played in a couple parks down there. It's always so much fun to watch the kids run around and play and just have fun!

Little boys sure are quick!

2010-04-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to have some fun with our camera and took some pictures of the boys and myself with the timer. Here is my favorite picture that I was able to get.

Then just a few minutes later I found this lovely surprise!

But hey at least they threw away the entire box of Kleenex's for me in the trashcan and didn't leave it all over the house.

Random pictures

2010-04-07T08:14:00.001-07:00

Here are some random pictures. Some are from before Easter and some are of Easter.

Superman Kaden

2010-04-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

On Easter Kaden decided he wanted to be superman. He was taking flying leaps off the bottom step of our staircase.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Easter this year. I'll get more pictures up a little bit later.

Easter 1 year ago

2010-04-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Easter last year. It's crazy how much difference one year makes.

The three youngest kiddos last year (Kaden, Nolan, and their cousin Lillian)

All of us for the traditional Easter picture. I think we are going to outgrow the staircase pretty soon!

New toys and legos

2010-03-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today after dropping Evan off at preschool, the little guys and I ventured to Fred Meyers for some Easter Bunny shopping. Luckily for us, Freddy's was having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on their Fisher Price toys. A sale like that works nicely when you have twins! So Kaden and Nolan are now the proud owner of these three new toys.

I gave them the mailbox already because I am a nice mommy! I figure the camera and the radio are smaller and will fit nicely in their Easter baskets. Here's some pictures of them playing with the mailbox.

The other day I brought out the legos for the boys to play with. I only bring out the legos once in awhile because they usually like to just dump them and not actually build anything. This is what Kaden decided to do with the legos.

Lilly's first birthday party!

2010-03-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to our niece Lillian's first birthday party. It's always amazing how kids grow up so fast!

More outside fun...

2010-03-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling most of the posts on our blog are going to be of the boys playing outside. Oh well that is what are day to day life is right now when the weather is nice.

First some pictures of the boys at lunchtime today.

**Notice the lovely stove knob covers. Yes, Kaden and Nolan were good at turning on the oven and stove.

Here is one picture of the cherry blossoms on the cherry tree. So pretty!

And now onto pictures of the kiddos playing outside today.

More sunshine and baseball

2010-03-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

Today was another beautiful day here in Oregon. So the little guys got to go out and play outside (Evan was over at Grandma Moby's house.)

I got Evan's t-ball set out for Kaden and Nolan to play with. I think we may have some future OSU Beaver baseball players on our hands!

Enjoying the sunshine

2010-03-17T16:50:00.001-07:00

It was a lovely day today, so after running to the store I let the kiddos go outside and run off some energy.

**Don't think I am a bad mommy...The starbucks cup is empty!

Happy St Patricks Day!

2010-03-17T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here are my attempts at taking pictures of all three boys for St Patricks Day. I must say it is getting harder and harder to get pictures of all the boys.

Spaghetti and light sabers!

2010-03-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

I fed Kaden and Nolan spaghetti the other night and let them feed themselves. They did pretty good...a little messy, but overall not too bad.

Here's a shot of Nolan doing his best disco impression.

We have a light saber that I usually keep up to keep the fighting down to a minimum. I decided to let them (or actually Nolan got to it first) play with it this morning.

A nice Saturday

2010-03-07T07:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took the kids to the Childrens museum. After we were done with the museum we drove into Portland to get some coffee. Kaden and Nolan fell asleep so Grandma Max stayed in the van with them. After getting coffee we let Evan play in the park outside the coffee shop. On our way home we drove around to look at the drawbridges around Portland and a barge happened to be coming by, so the drawbridges were lifting. All in all a fun day for everyone!

Enjoying the sunshine, bubbles, and pizza

2010-03-07T07:12:00.000-08:00

On Fridays Evan spends the day at Grandma Moby's house. Grandma Moby called this last Friday and said Evan and her had hatched a great plan. So Kaden, Nolan, and I went over there to hang out and play in the sunshine for awhile, playing in Evan's "work site", blowing bubbles, and having dinner.

Naptime in the high chairs

2010-03-05T12:22:00.001-08:00

The little boys decided it was nap time in their high chairs.

Don't worry, I snapped the pictures and then moved them to a more comfortable resting spot!

Fireman Evan, legos, and all 3 boys

2010-03-05T09:45:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of the boys playing with Legos and getting into trouble. A normal day at home with three boys.

Evan's 4th birthday party

2010-02-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we had Evan's birthday party. It turned out to just be a small gathering of family which was nice. The day was beautiful and Aunt Traci brought their dog Buddy over to play. Since it was so nice out the kids went outside to burn off some energy.

Evan's 4 year stats

2010-02-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

Today was Evan's 4 year doctors appointment. David took him while I stayed home with Kaden and Nolan. We felt it was probably not worth having to keep running after the little guys and they just got over a pretty nasty cold. From what I hear Evan was a trooper (he got 2 shots). He is 36 pounds and 40.5 inches tall. Both right around the 50th percentile. Not too shabby for a super picky eater. Back when he was about a year old we were having to take him to the feeding clinic because he wouldn't gain weight. The only other things from his appointment to follow up on is speech therapy. We already knew this because Evan's preschool teacher mentioned it to us. And his eyes, I guess the doctor recommended for us to just have a checkup on them.

I still can't believe Evan is 4 years old. One more year of preschool and then he is in kindergarten. Ack...I don't even want to think about him being in school (preschool doesn't totally count for me yet.)

Fun in the February sun

2010-02-18T14:25:00.000-08:00

Today was a lovely sunny day in February. So I let the boys go out in the backyard and play for awhile. They really enjoyed the fresh air (so did I!)

Happy 4th Birthday, Mr. Evan!

2010-02-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

Four years ago today at 5:53pm, we became a family of three. Evan is celebrating his fourth birthday today. It's so amazing to see how far he has come in 4 years. Evan is such a joy to be around (well at least most of the time!) We'll be having his birthday party on Saturday. Today we are going to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa "Moby" and Grandma and Grandpa "Max" at Evan's favorite restaurant Gogos Burgers.

It's hard to believe that Evan was once this small!

and 4 years later he is a goofy boy!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T09:12:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day from our three little guys!!

Blast off!

2010-02-12T09:48:00.000-08:00

Evan likes to watch The little Einsteins on Disney. The little guys are starting to get into "blasting off". It's so cute!

Not much going on around here

2010-02-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. There really hasn't been to much going on at the Hall household. Kaden, Nolan, and I are all trying to fight off a nasty cold. Evan had it for a little bit, but didn't seem to get it as bad as us. David has been the lucky one out of the five of us. He so far seems like he hasn't caught the nasty cold bug that we have *knock on wood*. I can't believe that this Sunday is Valentine's day and then Monday is Evan's fourth birthday. My how time flies. We are having Evan's birthday party next weekend, because of Valentine's day falling on Sunday.

A first for Kaden and Nolan!

2010-01-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Their first ice cream cone! I decided last night to make them a little ice cream cone for dessert. Kaden didn't really like it (silly kid). However Nolan LOVED it! He probably would have had a second one if I would have let him.

Sleepy and not so sleepy heads Part II

2010-01-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

And this is what I had in the other high chair:

Kaden is now asleep up in his crib and Nolan is running around having fun not sleeping!

Dr. Evan and Dr. Nolan

2010-01-13T16:24:00.001-08:00

Belated Evan snow pictures

2010-01-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

So when we had our unexpected snow storm a few weeks ago, Evan was over at his grandparents. So I didn't have pictures of him in the snow. But grandma and grandpa have so kindly sent some pictures over to us. So here is Evan having fun in the snow! What is funny is that David and I were being proactive and bought Evan some snowpants a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, since I had no idea it was supposed to snow Evan was without his snowpants. Good thing we bought them big, because we probably won't get anymore snow this year. Hopefully he will be able to wear them next year, if not I guess either Kaden or Nolan will get to wear them at some point!

Our new table center piece!

2010-01-08T01:02:00.001-08:00

Nolan managed to pull the chair out from the table and climb the table...all on his own.

We're in trouble now....

Sleepy and not so sleepy heads

2010-01-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

After getting back from dropping off Evan from preschool and feeding Kaden and Nolan breakfast, this is what Kaden and Nolan were up to.

Nolan climbed up on the couch himself and promptly fell asleep. Kaden on the other hand:

was still awake and having fun!

Teaching them young!

2010-01-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

I found Kaden cleaning up Evan's "trash" today. Here's a little snippet of the boys cleaning up. It's never too young to teach them to pick up after themselves. Although I'm sure the fun will wear off when they start to get older.

Brotherly love

2010-01-06T09:34:00.001-08:00

This is how I found Evan and Nolan earlier today. Kaden was off playing with his numerous toys.

Uh Oh! I think we are in trouble!

2010-01-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

Nolan is going to keep us on our toes even more now. This is what he has figured out to do now! UGH!

A visit to the Children's Museum

2010-01-03T14:42:00.002-08:00

Back in September, Kaden and Nolan received a membership to the Children's museum for their birthday. What a great gift it is! Admission to the Children's museum is $40.00 for the five of us each time we go, so the membership is more than paid for as long as we make it there at least three times in a year. Today we decided to take Evan, Kaden, and Nolan to the Children's museum so they could run around and burn off some energy. It is definitely a two person job to keep track of all three boys. They really had a lot of fun playing and running around.

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Evan and Nolan playing trains together

2009-12-31T11:56:00.000-08:00

Evan and Nolan were playing trains together earlier. Well actually Evan was playing trains and Nolan was destroying Evan's train tracks. Oh well, it was still cute! Kaden was being the good boy and taking a nap!

Our websites new home

2009-12-31T08:38:00.000-08:00

We decided to switch our blog back to being hosted on blogspot. It gives me the chance to have fun and customize it more. So the new web address is www.davmel.blogspot.com.

Surprise snow!

2009-12-30T10:28:00.001-08:00

We had a surprise snowstorm here on December 29, 2009. I didn't hear anywhere in the forecast that there was even an inkling of snow. So when I saw the few flakes here and there I didn't think anything of it. Grandma Hall came and picked up Evan since it was a Tuesday. I put Kaden and Nolan down for a nap and walked up to the kitchen to see big fat snowflakes coming down and it was sticking! Not too long after I got a call from Evan and he very excitedly told me that it was snowing! He ended up making 2 snowmen, snow angels, and threw snowballs at Grandma. David and I actually just bought Evan some snow pants a couple weeks earlier, but since I didn't know it was supposed to snow, the snow pants didn't make their way over to Grandma's.

Since the snow hit right at the start of rush hour it made the commute home a bit tricky. David ended up leaving his car at work and hiking to a max stop and used mass transit to get home. It was probably a smart move on his part. He got over to his parents house about 7pm and arrived back to our house around 10pm. David had to wait for his dad to get home from work. His dad also had to deal with the nightmare that was traffic. When I went to bed the news was still showing the freeways and they were still backed up at 10pm.

The snow is still out there right now, but turning slushy pretty quickly. Here are a few pictures and a video of Kaden and Nolan enjoying their first time out in the snow. Last year with the big storm of 2008 where we got about a foot of snow, they weren't able to enjoy it, since they were only 3 months old. This year, however they loved it and probably would have stayed out longer if I wanted to stay out longer. I actually had to chase them down to get them to come inside!

2009 in review

2009-12-29T09:55:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from the past year. I tried to put pictures of all three boys up if they were available.

I can't believe that 2009 is almost over. It will be fun to see what 2010 has in store for us.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Christmas Day

2009-12-26T21:16:00.001-08:00

Christmas day started with everyone waking up. Evan and Nolan were up bright and early, but Kaden decided that he wanted to sleep in late (7:30 am is late to him) I brought Kaden down and Evan was ready to open Santa presents. Evan checked out all the goodies in his stocking (and his brothers stockings) and then was on to his presents. He was super happy that Santa brought him a crane, digger, and dump truck.

Then we packed up the kiddos and presents to take on over to Uncle Mike and Aunt Traci's house. We got there and visited for awhile and then it was time to open presents over there. We had our traditional yummy ham dinner and played some Wii. All seven kids really enjoyed playing with each other.

It was a really good Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but boy am I exhausted from it!

The kids checking out their Santa presents.

At Uncle Mike and Aunt Traci's house.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-26T21:13:00.001-08:00

David and I are lucky enough to have both sets of parents in close proximity to us. So we spend Christmas Eve with David's side of the family and Christmas Day with my side of the family.

Our Christmas Eve tradition is cheese fondue (YUM!) and opening presents. This year we did it a little different for the kiddos. We opened a few presents first, ate some yummy fondue, and then opened more presents.

Here are a few pics at our house before heading over to David's parents. We let the kids open one gift from us beforehand.

This is the picture we gave the grandparents of all three boys. Let me tell you it is definitely a two person job! David was taking the picture and I was jumping up and down behind him.

Here is the pictures of Christmas Eve over at Grandma and Grandpa Hall's house.

Nolan has a new way to throw a temper tantrum. This is the new pose that he likes to do!

One last picture of Daddy and Nolan using Evan's new bike.

Evan's first Christmas program

2009-12-26T14:30:00.001-08:00

Now that Evan is in preschool, he had his very first Christmas program. It was short and sweet, but all of the kids did really good. In attendance was my mom, David's mom and dad, and Uncle Dan, and of course Kaden and Nolan. Unfortunately David had to work, but I got the majority of the program on video for David to enjoy later. After the program Evan just wanted to eat cookies and play under the table. Ahhh...the joys of a 3 year old!

And of course after the program, Nolan and Evan had to play with the bikes and cars on the way out to the car (Kaden was fast asleep in Grandpa's arms.)

Trying to get a good Christmas picture of the boys

2009-12-14T15:34:00.001-08:00

I thought I would try and get a good Christmas picture of the boys with the tree and Christmas lights. Evan was fine with it, but Kaden and Nolan had other plans!

And it is really hard to try and get both Kaden and Nolan to look in the same direction and look happy!

Visit with Santa

2009-12-13T22:03:00.001-08:00

We took all 3 boys to the local mall to visit/get pictures with Santa. Overall it was a pretty good experience. Both Kaden and Nolan fell asleep on our way to the mall. Kaden woke up shortly after we got into line and Nolan slept a little longer. All 3 boys were able to walk around the mall while waiting, so that was nice. I was sure by the time we got to Santa that it would be Kaden that would be fussy since he was getting fussy in the line. Nope it was Nolan who really did not like being on Santa's lap. Evan was a bit shy when it was his turn, but he told Santa what he wanted for Christmas. I think the picture we ended up with is pretty classic! It's funny because in last years santa pic Nolan is also the one crying in the picture. We'll see what happens next year!

Here is last years picture for comparison:

Christmas tree hunting

2009-12-13T21:58:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday we ventured out to go find the perfect Christmas tree. We originally planned to have Papa Hall help us with the tree. There was a wrench thrown into that plan when he had to go into work unexpectedly. But Great Papa came to the rescue! David, Evan, Great Papa and I went to the tree farm and found the perfect tree and cut it down and brought it home. Kaden and Nolan stayed home with Grandma Hall and stayed nice and toasty warm inside the house.

A catch up post!

2009-11-24T15:22:00.001-08:00

Since I have been a blog slacker here is a catch up post. It's so hard to find the time to write on the blog like I should. Right now Kaden and Nolan are napping and Evan is over at Grandma's house after having special persons day at preschool. Hence a little bit of time to write a blog post!

It has been so much fun watching all 3 boys interact with each other lately. They are all at such a great stage right now.

Evan is loving preschool. I'm so happy that we enrolled him and love seeing him so excited about going to school. Hopefully that will remain the same in the future. Evan likes to play with his brothers, but doesn't always want to share his toys with them.

Kaden just started walking about a week ago. He was just about 14 months when he started to walk. It took him awhile to start walking, but he's pretty much a pro at it now. Kaden is the quieter one of the bunch, he likes to sit back and watch what is going on around him. I have a feeling he may be a musician when he gets older. He loves to play on the little keyboard that we have.

Nolan is the goofball of the bunch. He has been walking since he was about a year old. He now walks backwards and runs everywhere. Nolan is following in his big brothers footsteps. He really seems to like trucks and REALLY likes Evan's Bob the builder toolbelt. We may end up having to get Nolan his own toolbelt. Oh yeah and Nolan really really likes to talk on the phone!

Well hopefully this caught us up for a little bit. We'll try to be better about posting through the holidays. We'll see!

Better late than never, right?

2009-11-24T15:09:00.001-08:00

So I've been a blog slacker lately. Oops! Anyways, thought I would get some pics posted of Halloween. Halloween Day, David and I were down in Corvallis for an OSU football game. The Beavers of course...won! The three little guys got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Papa. Since it was an early game, David and I were able to get back in time for some trick or treating. Evan decided he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. Kaden and Nolan were a Leopard and a Zebra. I must say I thought all 3 boys were darn cute! Evan really enjoyed trick or treating...Kaden and Nolan were pretty much indifferent to it. In a few years I am sure all 3 boys will have a blast!

**Nolan wasn't to keen on his costume, hence the reason for so few pictures of Nolan!

Evan's first field trip!

2009-10-22T14:15:00.001-07:00

Today was Evan's first field trip with his preschool class. We went to Oregon Heritage Farms which is an apple orchard. Evan had fun on the hay ride, bouncy apple, and hay maze. David took a 1/2 day off so the whole family could go. Kaden and Nolan did good considering their morning nap was only 20 minutes in the car. Fun was had by all!

One year pictures!

2009-10-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

Today we took all 3 boys in for Kaden and Nolan's one year pictures. Overall it went pretty good. Kaden wasn't too sure about the whole picture taking process, hence the same expression in almost every picture. Now that Nolan is mobile he just wanted to get up and walk everywhere, and Evan for the most part did really good.

12 month stats....

2009-10-03T22:34:00.001-07:00

We took Kaden and Nolan in for their 12 month doctors appointment on September 29th. Their stats are as follows:

Kaden - 18 lbs 13 oz
28 inches

Nolan - 20 lbs 6 oz
28.5 inches

Both still have big heads but the doctor isn't worried. Nolan has a followup neurosurgeon appointment on Monday. Hopefully it will be his last appointment, but we'll see! They both got 5 shots, but they handled it like troopers. They go back in a month for their second dose of the flu shot.

Haircut day!!

2009-09-29T13:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we took all three boys to get their haircuts. It was Kaden and Nolan's first haircuts. Kaden definitely needed a haircut. He was getting a bit scraggly. Nolan technically could have waited, but I didn't want him to feel left out. Evan wanted to go first and wanted to ride in the taxicab. We had Kaden go next because he was starting to get a little fussy. Both Kaden and Nolan got to ride in the firetruck. Kaden wasn't too sure about getting his hair cut, but did ok. He looks so different with his big boy haircut! Nolan had a blast getting his hair cut, he really enjoyed driving the firetruck. He looks pretty much the same, just a little more cleaned up!

Milestones!

2009-09-15T22:45:00.001-07:00

Nolan took his first steps about a month ago, but wasn't "officially" walking. As of yesterday (the day before his birthday) he is starting to walk a lot more. So I am going to say he is walking! Hopefully we will get video of this soon! Nolan is also waving a lot more, shaking his head no, and climbing on everything!

Kaden is a crawling maniac now! He is just starting to stand on his own, clapping, and dancing (more like bouncing, but I'm gonna call it dancing!)

I have a feeling these two and Evan are going to keep us very busy!