Hale-o-ween Treats

Halloween. A favorite of holidays! I have a tendency to think about costume ideas too early and they kind of flop. For instance, I really wanted Matt and I to be Juno and Pauly Bleeker, but I had to go and lose my baby belly six days before the big party, so that idea fell through the cracks. My early thinking did help in some ways this year as I was able to make Emma an adorable butterfly costume.

Ask her what she was and she will tell you that she was Butterfly Mariposa (from one of her favorite movies Barbie Maribposa). I wanted to make little Lucy a caterpiller costume, but I was nine and half months pregnant and lost my ambition. So, here is her "My 1st Halloween" outfit.
That was about the extent of it. Now that I look at the picture, she kind of looks like a boy. She's a girl people!

I wanted to post some pictures from the annual "Hale-o-ween" party, but I just now realized that I took them all with Erik's camera and not mine. Whoops! The event itself was a success thanks to serious help from Jami, Jenny and my parents. I owe them all big time. The costumes were fantabulous, though the whole costume contest is kind of thrown by the fact that my amazing talented costume designer aunt and her amazingly talented daughter-in-law are in attendance - though I would never want them not to come!!! They are just too stinking good!! Love you Syd and Oakley. Anyway, we missed those of you who couldn't make it, so remember to put it on your calendar for next year - the Saturday before Halloween at 6:30pm! No matter what or where!

On Halloween night we took Emma to go trick-or-treating with her little friends Aspen and Tyler.

Matt and the other dads took the kids around. Matt said Emma was really enjoying herself, as it was her first time where she picked up on the free candy thing. At one door the answerer asked, "do you guys want some candy?" and Emma emphatically replied "YES WE DO!" I think she is really going to like Halloween as she gets older (what kid wouldn't??!).

That's about it, now it is Happy Thanksgiving Time! (Not Christmas yet!)

Sar

Lucy Kate's First Outing

Isn't she adorable! She had to go to the doctor on the Thursday after she was born to get her bilirubin levels checked (see if she had jaundice). So I dressed her all up and put on her big fuzzy boots (which I purchased for her even before I knew she was a girl because, gosh darn it, they are so stinking cute!) and took her on her first outing. The nurses about died over her, but - it WAS the first thing I said after they placed her slimy little body on my belly....."She IS CUTE!"

Most-important-man-in-my-life/Hot-guy Tag

What's your husband’s name? Matthew Saul
How long have you guys been married? 5 years, 1 month
How long did you date? Including our engagement...5 months (sheepish grin!)
How old is he? 28
Who eats more sweets? Matt would say that I do, but I think it is about even.
Who is the better singer? We can both sing, I am just a little more experienced than Matt
Who is smarter? Book Smart: me Street Smart: Matt
Who does the laundry? Both of us - though Matt hates to fold so I try to keep him from having to do that!
Who pays the bills? Neither of us! I do - but I keep trying to get Matt to.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Who is to say which side is right and which is wrong?
Who mows the lawn? Matt all of the way. He's the yard guy, though he is starting to get me interested in gardening.
Who cooks dinner? Mostly me - but Matt is a really good cook even though he told me he wasn't when we were dating. I will say that he is really good at picking up on times when I would rather die than cook dinner and he will take over AND...one of our favorite things to do together is to cook together!
Who drives? I'll give you one guess!
Who is the first to say they are wrong? Me, hands down. But, Matt will eventually come around.
Who kissed who first? Matt kissed me.
Who asked who out first? Matt asked me out first, but he wouldn't have asked me out again had I not encouraged a second date.
Who wears the pants? We both wear pants except on Sundays when I wear dresses.....Oh - you mean THE pants....depends on the day.

The arrival of Lucy Kate - by: her adoring Mother

I kept getting bamboozeld in my attempts to blog. But, I have made it...and now the post you've all been waiting for:

On October 19th our little Lucy was born. It was an interesting event. My doctor had told me that I really had no hope of having the baby before my due date, so emotionally I was thinking that I still had an entire week to prepare. On the 18th, first thing in the morning, he called us up on the phone and the first thing he said to me (no "Hi, how's it going") was "Do you want to have your baby tomorrow or Tuesday?" - Wha? With my quick thinking I remembered that Matt had a really important class Tuesday night so, the next day it would be.

We checked into the hospital at about 7:50am and I was underway with the IV at probably about 9:00am. I will tell you this...the IV was literally the worst part of the entire day. I wouldn't have been able to make it without the checklist Matt created.

They poked me three times plus a little digging. Item #1: Breathe.

The IV experience was not pleasant. I was put on pitocin shortly after a successful IV was in place and got my epidural about an hour later. So, I was able to go the entire labor without feeling a contraction. Nice.

So, I was slowly progressing from there, about a centimeter an hour. I finally got to about a five and the nurses said that the baby was in distress, so they took me off of the pitocin for an hour and half and put me on oxygen.

The funny thing is my doctor showed up and informed us that the nurses were loony and the baby was fine (This would happen about three more times over the course of our stay). So, I could have had the baby at about 5:00 that night, but instead I was at a 10 at about 6:00pm and started pushing about 6:30pm. Lucy arrived at 7:00pm. The ironic thing about her birth:

Lucy Kate Born on October 19th at 1900 hours and was 19 inches
or born at 7:00pm and weighed 7 lbs.

Weirdness.

Anyway, she came. I am sure some of you read Erik's post and thought I was weird for having so many people in the room when she was born - but I mean, if you really know me you will remember that a.) I am not really a private person - if you know me you pretty much know everything about me and my life! and b.) I am a PARTY PERSON!! So, that's what we did. We had a party! But, it was definitely memorable, I think for everyone that was there and it was fun for me to share the experience with so many people that I love. And it was fun to see everyone crying! (I think I was the only one who didn't ball their eyes out!) And, most importantly, it gave me motivation to not be a wuss and to PUSH!!!

Since the birth life has been good. Lucy is a magnificent little baby. She really does not cry too much and she has just started smiling at us this morning! She has a good little disposition and has been a good eater from day one - too bad mom's breastmilk was giving her jaundice. We have just adored our new little baby. AS for Emma, well, she handles things in her little Emma way - mostly by ignoring her and being in her own little world. Mom has tried to dote on Emma as much as possible since I feel so stinking guilty for totally messing with her whole world! I think overall she likes her baby sister. She does tell us how cute she is quite often.

Well, I do have pictures I am dying to share and I will try to get them posted as soon as I can. For now, you just have a lengthy rambling - but I hope you enjoyed it none the less!

Important note: THANK YOU! To everyone who shared in this process with us, to everyone who brought us food and gifts, to everyone who called and expressed interest in our baby girl, to everyone who put up with me in my hormonal days! - just to everyone! We know we are SO blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family and friends who provide so much love and support for us and we are VERY grateful.

Holla!

Sarah

But first...

Okay, I am sure that you want my first post in forever to be about our little addition, but I have to post in chronological order so I am starting with some things that happened before the birth:

Matt made this adorable bed for Emma that I had to show everyone!! The amazing part is that it is expandable up to a twin size bed. He is so talented. I just show him a picture and voila!!!

I am mostly posting this picture for Marilyn and Joel to see the beautiful creation that was made for little Lucy (by the way, we named the baby Lucy Kate) from the fabric that they sent us from Africa. Special thanks to Debbie and Elaida from the ward who put in hours of work!

More coming soon! I will write about Lucy, I promise!

She is Here!!

This is Erik posting in behalf of Sarah. Sarah is doing well and so is (un-named baby.) She is so cute!!! Baby (insert name here) was born on October 19th at 7 pm, and weighed 7 pounds and was 19 inches! Kind of weird i know but it will be easy to remember. She was born in the presence of her father Matt, Grandparents Keri and Craig, Great Grandma carolee and Sarahs sisters in law. Grandma and Grandpa Elder and Sister Hale were here in spirit as they are serving the lord in Africa. (Sarah and Matt say they Love you so Much and Baby looks forward to seeing you!) She is cute! but dont take my word for it!

My first official Tag. Wow.

The Rules:
-Link the person who tagged you (check)
-Mention the rules on your blog (checking)
-Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks about you (about to check)
-Tag 6 fellow bloggers
-Leave a comment on the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they have been tagged.

Here we go:

1. I have to have a drink of water with me when I go to bed. Wait, correction: I have to have a glass of ICE water with me when I go to bed. It has to sit on the nightstand all night in case I wake up parched and I tend to leave the glass of room temperature water there for days creating a collection of half full glasses of water surrounding our bed akin to Signs - maybe aliens will attack. "Swing hard."

2. I am just as addicted to Disneyworld now as I was when I was a kid. I literally get giddy upon entering (and have to enter the moment the gates open) and it does not end all day. I think it is a family trait. I will have to get a copy of the picture of my family with their giddy faces on our last trip to Disneyworld. It is guaranteed to muster a chuckle.

3. I am addicted to celebrity gossip - not that I am proud of it. My favorite recent tidbit: word is that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams have reunited - as reported by People magazine August 20th. "I wrote you every day for a year!"

4. I have to have access to food no matter where I am going or what I am doing. Meaning, I am carrying it in my purse or I have a knowledge of being able to eat within moments if the desire so strikes. This makes for a messy purse and car and extra preparation on road trips. Oh, and I wouldn't open my glove box if I were you.

5. I have the first fifteen minutes of "While you were sleeping" memorized nearly word for word. This is due to the fact that I used to watch movies when falling asleep and would literally only make it that far before giving into my Zzzz's.

Which leads into quirk #6: I rarely stay awake in a movie if it was started after 9:00pm. This is even the case when I am watching a movie at a friends house, in a movie theater, at a drive-in theater - you name it. The only prevention that has been proven up to this point is popcorn and Redvines, but I would have to snack the whole way through, otherwise it's the back of the eyelids for me.

Tag - You're IT!:
Miss Anna
Miss Oakley
Miss Jami
Miss Jenny
Mr. Adam
Mr. Ben