New Love

As Doug pointed out, I have not blogged forever and yes I have a new love. It is not the Dillon Panthers but the three men in my life or one man and two adorable little boys. Most of you know the story of us adopting these two miracles so I wont go into to much detail and I can't even begin to post all of the photos that I have taken so please still click on the these links for updated photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126222&id=647682644&l=88373df83d
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126226&id=647682644&l=af8717179e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126223&id=647682644&l=7625090770

Here was the announcement that we sent out that I just LOVE:

I will just give some highlights of our amazing journey. Ben came into our lives on October 2nd and was born in Utah. I was there for about a month (in the hospital with him for about a week.) We had a lot of visitors and enjoyed spending time with family. Doug was only there for the weekend and boy did we miss him. Once the paper work was taken care of we drove home. Will was born November 15th in California about three hours from where we live. We got the call at 11pm that the birth mom was in labor so we packed up our stuff and was at the hospital by 3am to see our wonderful William. Again I had to stay at the hospital for about a week and we had to say goodbye to dad and Ben (yes, I cried for a bit). Every night we would say our good nights by ichat (this was our first family photo.)

This is a bath tub that relaxes babies when they are young because it makes them feel like they are still in the womb. As you can tell, it worked very well.

Ben had this thing for awhile where we would only sleep if he was smothered in your arm pit.

Doug's mom, Katie comes every Wednesday to help and both the boys and I look forward to her coming to visit.

Ben loves taking naps with dad which really works out because Doug loves to take naps and he has learned that I wont give him a hard time if he naps with a kid.

Will also LOVES to cuddle, especially with his brother. I promise that I did not pose them for this picture.

The boys love to me outside so they look forward to days when we can take them to the beach.

Doug blessed both boys in December. It was such a special occasion and so nice to have most of our family there.

Here was our families Christmas photo.

The boys got to sit on Santa's lap.

I don't dress them a like most of the time but some times I just can't help it.

They love their Bumbo chairs and the chairs have been such a lifesaver for me. Often they will sit and talk to each other or help grandpa make cookies.

Ben has started to bounce in the bouncer and here he wore himself out.

Last week my parents took them to Chuck E Cheese. They were so worn out after four hours of looking at lights that they actually slept through most of the night.

Those are some highlights, I will try to be better but I make no promises. Because I am writing this post my laundry did not get done......

Long time, no see

I was hanging out with my dad for a few hours today and he asked when I was going to update the blog. If my dad is asking when the update is coming, it's long overdue. Let me give you a few highlights from the last couple months. Tamara has developed a new love-Dillon Panthers Football. Someone told her to watch Friday Night Lights, it's available for streaming on Netflix, and in a short span three seasons have been viewed. Pretty impressive? Will has recently gotten pretty big and his skin has cleared up so he's looking grown up. He still doesn't like to hold his head up but he likes to coo, which is fun. Ben began making baby noises and tries to sing along when you sing to him, while Will watches and smiles. He's a big fan of Bear Necessities. I'm pretty sure they both like the 7am sportscenter as well. This last week Ben decided he was moving on from just baby noises and began making spitting sounds. He can entertain himself for a while (in baby time-in real time that's over five minutes) so that's always nice. While their sleep is improving, we're hoping they can find some way to entertain themselves during the night and throw us a freaking bone. Over the Christmas break we blessed both of the boys since both of our families were available. Tamara has all the pics on facebook and I'll get her to post some pics on here as a well as a funny Ben video from last night. Christa also did a sweet recap here. In other news, I'm still looking for a job. Word on the street from the career center is job posting should start picking up a bunch in March. Let's hope so.

Mailbag

It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd answer some e-mails that we've gotten over the last little while as an update.

Tamara's Husband,
Nice article in Mormon Times. I learned so much about your heritage. Care to elaborate?
C Hardie
PS, Nice pic.

We thought it was cool that they wanted to do an interview, but it didn't turn out how we imagined. The only time stress came up in the interview was when she asked Tamara, "Has it been stressful?" and Tamara answered, "Sure." So we were surprised when it was the focus of the article. I'd like to clear up a few things. First, Ben wasn't on meth. Second, I'm not of Mexican or Irish descent. Third, that look on my face is more "Really? More pictures? When he's crying?" not "I'm so stressed from having a kid." Again, we were surprised that those were the pics chosen. See the previous post for Tamara's pics (which are updated regularly).

Smokey! I haven't seen you online in months. You'll get pwned like a noob when you get back. Why are you avoiding me?
-The Baron

It's true, I haven't played video games with my friends for months. I only work out like once a week now. You can see how committed I am to the process.

Doug,
What's going on? Ben and Will don't look anything alike. Are they similar in personality? You know, like you and Matt.
-Cuz

Not at all. Ben has moved around a lot, flailing his arms but holding on to anything, since he was born. He also didn't like his pacifier until recently. He takes forever to eat. His favorite things to do early on were stick his hand in your mouth while you're feeding him, want to play at 2am, and take an hour to eat four ounces. He also only poops once a day and it's a disaster. Will, on the other hand, likes to sleep, eat quickly, and squeeze onto your hand and fingers. We also feel bad because we sometimes forget that they're so different in age. Sometimes we expect Will to act like Ben when he's only two weeks old. Then we remember how good of a baby he is.

Yo! Clownster here. I hear you're only sleeping from 1-5:30 and complaining about it. Seriously? We have triplets and I hardly ever sleep. I also have a real job, not a "student". Quit your complaining and man up.
-Rambo

John, good to hear from you, too. People who know me know how much I love to get enough sleep and nap. These last weeks have been ridiculous. There's only one more to go until I'm done with finals. But it's worth it for the dudes. Hopefully Ben's sleeping through the night by the end of the winter break. The last week he's been sleeping 10-4 so we're hopeful.

Dad, What's up with all the pics and flashes? How do we get mom to stop? Anytime I'm awake there's a lens in my eye and a red light on my forehead before the sky explodes. You put us in the bouncy and force these awkward interactions on us. Why do you guys do this to us?
-Ben and Will

I know, I know. The pics are ridiculous. You think they'll go down, but they don't. I suggest two tactics. First, look at your grandpa's smile. If you start smiling like that people will stop asking to take your pic. Second, look at the look on my face in the article. You give mom enough of these looks and she'll get mad at you and give up. There are serious consequences later so don't do that often, but from time to time it's worth it. Otherwise, you grin (but not like you enjoy it) and bear it. One last thought. You guys throw up and poop on everything else in our house, consider doing that on the camera.

Timing Issue

I have been slacking at this whole blogging thing but I do have a good excuse!! I have uploaded a bunch of pictures on FB so here are some links of pictures....I will update info soon:)


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126222&id=647682644&l=88373df83d

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126226&id=647682644&l=af8717179e

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=126223&id=647682644&l=7625090770

Couple More Photos of William

William and I are still hanging out at the hospital hoping that this infection gets better. I cried this morning when Doug and Ben had to go home and can't wait for our little family to all be together.

Welcome William

Sunday night I spoke with the birthmother of our second child for about an hour about issues she was having and other things going on in her life. You know I must be committed if I was on the phone for 53 minutes. I didn't do very much talking. The last time I was on a conversation that one-sided was when I asked Tamara's dad for permission to marry her. She said at the end of the conversation she was getting uncomfortable and wanted to lie down. An hour later she texted (Tamara, I don't text) saying she was having contractions. Twenty minutes later we got a text from her friend they were at the hospital. Twenty minutes later we got a text the baby was here. Between the two babies there was less than forty minutes of labor. She was at a tiny community hospital so she was transferred to another tiny community hospital that had a nursery section. William Hudson Hall was born at 11 weighing in at a solid 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. He's almost as big as and has more hair than Ben, who's six weeks old. We're still at the hospital because he has a respiratory infection but we're meeting with the pediatrician shortly and hopefully he gets released today. For some reason Tamara forgot the cord from her camera and the battery charger so we only have one pic to share right now. I assure you there will be more.
Tamara wanted me to add something about where the names comes from. Wilford is her grandfather's name and William is also the name of some great guys we know including Bill and Nate. Hudson was the name Tamara wanted since we lived in New York when half of our ward named their kid Hudson. Nobody cared they were all the same because, like us, they wouldn't be around for more than a few years. Benjamin is close to Bennion, my mom's maiden name and Ellis is her mother's maiden name. Just a little FYI.

I'll take two

Big Ben (I'll try a few nicknames and judge what we use by the reader response but some of them are intentionally lame and I'll ignore any further recommendations you make) got out of the hospital yesterday. He and Tamara are at her aunt and uncle's in Pleasant Grove. Tamara's also update the link with the pictures at least every other day so feel free to check out the new pics. She said li'l bizzle now gets annoyed when he sees the camera, not just when the flash comes on, so I asked her to tone it down a little bit for his long term health. Apparently aversion to taking inordinate amounts of pictures are genetic.
Many of you will be familiar with the We Ain't Scared Tour 2003 featuring D'nasty, Pound Fi'ty, and Wolverine. There were several themes and phrases that really made the tour epic. One of those was, I'll take two. Perhaps you need an example. While drooling over the McLaren F1 and finding out the price tag was only $1MM, you would here "I'll take two!" When being offered a small dessert by a foodserer disgusted by the amount of food you've eaten at their all you can eat buffet you might here "I'll take two," over and over and over again. Another one of the phrases was I ain't scared. When jumping off perilous cliffs where a few feet in either direction would mean broken bones the proper response is "I ain't scared." If you arrive in a town at midnight looking for a place and someone offers you one and leads you down an alley to her house you reply "I ain't scared." I think you get the idea. When the opportunity came up to adopt Benno, these were the two lines that popped into my head. Probably because, just like the tour, we had no idea what we were getting in to. So far, Bennoi has been a trooper and really responded to us. After the papers were signed and we were visiting with B-jammin alone for the first time after two days, the nurses told us Benno hadn't been eating and if he didn't start they'd have to insert a feeding tube. After hanging out for half an hour we gave him a blessing and five minutes later he took down half a bottle and continues to eat like champion. Beno responded way more to Tamara than any of the nurses and they made comments on how quickly he knew who his mom was. Benny and mom should be home in about a week which means I have a lot of work to get the room ready for Jam. Anyway, take care and if you have any recommendations for nicknames for Benjo let me know.

Benjamin Ellis Hall

Friday morning we headed to the hospital as the mother was being induced. Tamara was in the room with her and I went in for a little bit while all the meds were kicking in. The mother says, I think he's crowning but I'm only four centimeters dilated. Then she had a big contraction and started making some labor pains/noises so I was out. She didn't want me in there for the birth and I didn't particularly want to be there. As I was told by Tamara, the nurse came in and said you're not having the baby yet. She decides she wants to take a nap but the doctor came in and said, "You're having this baby." So, one push later, the baby was out. It was about half an hour after I left the room. This is her third child and she told us with the second child she did one push, the doctor told her to hold on for a sec, she sneezed and the baby came out. Apparently labors aren't terribly difficult for her.
Benjamin Ellis Hall was five pounds five ounces and 18 inches long. He's healthy and happy. He grabbed my finger at one point and wouldn't let go. I didn't think he was awake so it was pretty cool. Here are a link to the pics. We'll have more posted on Sunday night.
We're really happy and feel very blessed.

Quick Update

This will be quick and sans picture for now. A few days ago we received a call from one of the agencies we were working with about a mother who was due next week on Saturday. Wednesday afternoon we found out she would be induced on Friday, as in today. So I'm sitting in the waiting room while Tamara is in the delivery room. The mother, Heather, was induced around 7:30 so we should have updates later today. We met the parents last night for the first time after quickly arranging a trip to Utah. In case you're wondering, I-15 is still under construction in the exact same spots as when I left over five years ago. Anyway, more updates to follow.

End of Summer

This summer is wrapping up. I finished up my internship last week and school starts this next week. It's sad to see the summer come to an end but there's lots of good stuff in store. Stay tuned in a couple months from now.

Last Friday we went to the LA County fair to celebrate America. If deep fried avocadoes dipped in chocolate are wrong, I don't want to be right. I'm not sure if I should write about what we did or ate - it's all pretty exciting. I'll hit the highlights of each. We had a sausage that was over a foot long and an inch and a half wide drowning in grilled onions in peppers.

Mom and Steven's still working on the looking at the camera thing.

Tamara got some sort of electronic cleanse through their feet. I challenged what exactly was being cleansed and I got vague and non committal answers. Tamara bought a bunch of massage stuff and she swears she'll give one. Adam bought some landscaping tools so he can start his own business. We got our teeth whitened. Then we capped the day off with the best strawberry shakes we've ever had. I'm not sure how they do it, but the strawberry flavor is flowing and it doesn't taste sugary at all. Absolutely amazing. Needless to say, it was a sweet day.

The end of the day. Who doesn't love the fair?

While we were there my dad called and asked if we wanted to see flogging molly the next day. I had heard a few of their songs and enjoyed them. We were excited but not exactly sure what to expect. Cutting to the chase, they rocked. They brought a ton of energy, played really hard, and were obviously having a good time themselves. It was pretty infections and we ended up having a great time. We totally recommend them.

Speaking of rocking, here's my dad killing it on Guitar Hero:

For various reasons Tamara was heading to Utah/Idaho and my dad and I ended up going as well to see my grandfather ordained a patriarch. It was a special event and all of my dad's sibling made the trip. We also spent time with Angie and Eric while in Idaho Falls. If you called us over that weekend and didn't get a response, it's probably because cell reception was pretty spotty. I've been informed this lack of technology is particular to the eastern side of Idaho while the western side is up to date.
The end of the summer is always sad but there's good news coming to compensate.