Our Aweful Beautiful Life

I used to hate storms. I can remember (go ahead, family, make fun of me for my amazing memory!), but I can remember a time when there were several of us Hall Grandkids at Grandma & Grandpa's house. A spring/summer storm rolled in, and instead of letting us run off and hide in the basement, my Grandpa made us all gather together out on the front porch to watch the storm. He loved to sit there, and watch the storm roll in, and then roll on. He said you have to sit and find the beauty in the storms. Somehow, that stuck with me, and to this day, I enjoy watching a storm roll in, and eventually roll on. I also remember, that particular evening, someone (and I honestly can't remember if it was a cousin or Grandma or Grandpa who encouraged it), suggested we go puddle jumping. Soon, there was a slew of Hall grandkids with our barefeet and shorts out splashing around in all the standing water. I'm sure Grandma was smiling in joy of us all having fun together, while Grandpa was...

I'm a country girl at heart. I still enjoy the time spent with Dad (and my brother now too) in the tractor or combine, depending on the season. It elates me to know that Colton loves that time spent with Grandpa and Uncle Trent as much as I do. Last night, we took an evening to go ride, and enjoy time with them while they planted. God Bless Dad & Trent for making it a late work night, just so Colton (and I) could ride with them. He LOVED it. At one point, he even said, "I love planting"... Nothing can beat an evening spent riding and visiting with Dad in the tractor in the midst of the go, go, go of life. I know that some day I'll miss those precious rides, but for now, while my butt still fits in the buddy seat, and I've got a kid to use as an excuse to go ride, I'm going to go with it! :) Rarely does a self-portrait work out this nicely...PERFECT smile! Typically, it's like this! Riding with Uncle Trent! Colton switched to ridin...

Well, Em is finally becoming more and more brave. She's been taking a few prompted steps here and there, but over the weekend...she finally got brave! I'd catch her going from the ottoman to the chair unassisted, or from the rocker to the couch. She still gets lazy from time to time, but overall, she's getting more brave than she is lazy. Does it not feel like she was just born yesterday? Our little girl will be one in just a couple of weeks...and I'm kind of struggling with it. I feel like I've neglected her because I didn't photograph her every waking move like I did Colton -- although, I blame that on Colton. I'm so busy playing with and enjoying both kids, that I forget to take the time to just photograph one of them. Until last night....we did a mini-Em photo shoot. And it was fun! Enjoy!   Em taking some great first steps! She drinks from a Sippy Cup! She's a little bit redneck...she gets that from Dad! ;) She's a little...

Do you ever have one of those moments where you look around the room and feel as if your life has been fast forwarded about 5+ years? That happened this morning. I was standing at the vanity doing my hair/putting on makeup, while Emmalyn kept herself content playing in the living room, and Colton was taking a shower. By himself. He is only THREE. I swear, that kid is so far beyond his years sometimes. It's a great thing really, because I actually got ready in peace this morning and was out the door ON TIME, which is a rare feat in our daily routine....but honestly, to sit here and realize that my three year old (my baby!) is giving himself a shower and getting dressed/ready to go on his own, is just sometimes surreal. It's great to know he can do those things on his own, and trust me, it's a huge help when we're running behind, but at the same time, it's growing him up much faster than anticipated. It often makes me feel like he's 5 or 6, rather than just thr...