Cousins at the Zoo

Cousins at the Zoo
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

We took a family trip to the Oakland Zoo over the weekend with the Taylor boys. Here they are with Britten in front of the Flamingos. They also road the carousel and the motorcycles. They had a great lunch in front of the giraffes and also saw some neat bats and frogs. The boys had a great time together. Hopefully they'll be able to move closer so we can spend more time together.

Wild Child

Wild Child
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

You may not believe it but Hailey has a wild side. She is down right crazy sometimes. Her whole personality just cries "WILD". Here she is with an after-dinner hairdo and remnants of something all over her face and tray. She's nearly 11 months and just so fun. She continues to defy the whole napping concept but at least she has given us our nights back. She has her two bottom teeth, and on top has cut one front tooth and one eye tooth. The other front tooth and eye tooth are cutting right now. Poor kid!! Santa Barbara or bust in April.

Cool in California

Cool in California
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Britten is one cool cat. He loves music and hangs out with his gui-tar and harmonica all the time. Here he's singing some David Lee Roth lyrics.... Britten is a great kid. He's still not interested in potty training but loves Bob the Builder, UnderDog and his latest rage is Mother Goose. Britten's looking forward to his Dad's birthday later this month so that he can sing the birthday song with his guitar.

Warm in California

Warm in California
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Here's Hailey at 9 1/2 months. As of today, she has 3 teeth cut through and can stand up without holding on to anything. She hasn't taken her first unassisted step yet but will "walk" around with us holding her hands. She's finally sleeping through the night. She won't nap very good though. She can say mama, dada and bye-bye. She tries to say Jackson. She's got a great smile and is definitely going to be a "go-getter" when she's bigger. She's looking forward to her April b-day party in SB.

Little Princess

Little Princess
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Hailey will be 9 months old on Sunday. The time has passed so quickly. She got her first tooth today. That explains some of the fussiness lately. She's slept 8 consecutive hours the last two nights so that's something to celebrate. Hopefully it'll be a trend. Britten is great. He's still not potty-trained but he promises to do it before he's a man. Very encouraging. In the meantime he plays with an imaginary Barney, he pretends he's baby bear (of the 3 bears) and occasionally he's Santa at the North Pole. The two kids get along very well. Happy New Year to all.

Christmas Footsies

Christmas Footsies
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Britten had a very nice Christmas. It was almost too much for a two year old but he seems to have survived all of the excitement. He was lucky enough to get a lot of books, some new jammies, lots of nice school clothes, a nice jacket and some big black boots. Hailey also has some thank you cards to get out. All is now returning to normal in our household. It's wet here but not too cold. No plans for New Years, maybe I'll try to sleep through the night for once. Happy Winter to all.

Bathtime

Bathtime
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

It's practically winter here in the Bay Area. It officially starts in two days. Britten is pretty excited about Christmas and is quite motivated to be a good boy. Hailey on the other hand has no clue. We are working on some sleep-training issues with her trying to get her to sleep better during the night and for naps. Heidi is off work for a little while so a lot of energy is going into getting Hailey on track. So far, so good. Jackson is healed but has some unrelated digestion problems. He's still the same ole Jackson. He loves to eat, play and take walks. The chickens have about quit laying eggs for the cool days. There a lot of cleaning to do in their coop - any volunteers? The cats are their usual pathetic selves. Chris is done with school for a few weeks. He got straight A's last quarter!! All is well. We hope to have the remodel plans finalized by the New Year. The engineering should be complete just after Christmas. Happy Winter to all.

Hailey's Picnic

Hailey's Picnic
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Hailey playing with an assortment of toys during a backyard picnic over the weekend. Yes, she's wearing one of those bows so you tell that she's a little girl. Very cute.

Britten and His Bike

Britten and His Bike
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Just passing on a pic of Britten. He loves to ride his bike around the yard. This bike is a hand me down from Amber. Thank goodness for older cousins.

Little Hailey

Little Hailey
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Grandma H took this picture of Hailey last week. She's been pulling herself up for about a month now. She just loves to stand. It's been super warm here so she's wearing a little summer dress in late November.
Jackson is doing well. He doesn't realize he's supposed to be on light duty. Britten's a perfect little two-year old.

Sick Puppy

Sick Puppy
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

We had a major Jackson emergency on Thursday. Jackson's stomach twisted around on him inside and he needed emergency surgery. He has about a 20" incision on the bottom of his belly and stayed the night in the emergency vet hospital. Chris caught the problem before any permanent damage could be done. Many dogs have died from this condition. Jackson will be coming home later tonight and we will be giving him a lot of love and care. He's our first baby and we were so sad at the prospect of almost losing him. He has recovered well from the surgery and will probably be ready to jump on people again just in time for Thanksgiving. No need to send flowers but we'll take chocolate. :)

A duck and a zebra.....

A duck and a zebra.....
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Do zebras and ducks get along in the wild? Who cares. These two just love each other. We'll be up at the cabin this weekend and at the Duyche's baby shower. So no updates for a while. We'll see Uncle Joey, The Hick's, and Aunts Angel and Par. Sounds like a hoot!!

Broken Husband

Broken Husband
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

In case you haven't heard, Chris broke his upper arm in two places. He fell off his bike but he'll have to tell you the rest of the story. So, since he would have a difficult time playing Mr. Mom with two children, a big dog, six chickens, 1 1/2 cats and a broken arm, we brought in the reinforcement. Heidi's mom , Dolly, is out helping with the domestic duties. She made her famous brownies, bread and egg rolls all ready. We can't wait to see what happens next week. She's also getting a chance to bond with the kids which is awesome. Chris' arm should be better around Turkey Day.

Two little pumpkins

Two little pumpkins
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Hailey and Britten at the pumpkin patch last weekend. It was a warm, Indian Summer day. The kids got to pet animals from Brione's 4-H Club, take a tractor ride and play in a corn field maze. What a great set-up. Britten had a blast. Hailey is crawling and pulling herself up on tables and chairs. She puts everything in her mouth. We're enjoying watching the kids grow and learn to adapt to each other. Oh yeah, Jackson too....

Pumpkin Boy

Pumpkin Boy
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Britten took his annual visit to the neighborhood pumpkin patch today. He finally picked out a small greenish orange pumpkin to take home to decorate. He went with his friend Tyler. He'll have to make another trip with his sister.

Sitting pretty

Sitting pretty
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Hailey can sit so well now. She can also get into the sitting position from a crawl or a lying down position. She is so strong for such a little girl. Here she is holding the tiger and sitting on the bean bag. She was getting ready to go see Grandma H.

Cheerio's Anyone?

Cheerio's Anyone?
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

Hailey had her first cheerio the other night. Sort of.... She tried and tried to manuever it to her mouth. Then she couldn't figure out where it had gone, and of course it was stuck to her lip. You really had to be there because it was super funny at the time. Anyway, she seems to love peas. Green beans went okay but peas are better. We'll move on to sweet potatoes next week.

Feeding The Birds

Feeding The Birds
Originally uploaded by The Hallfords.

We took the kids down to the Martinez Marina tonight. It was very windy but quite sunny. Britten helped feed the waterfowl our stale bread. He loved it but that wind was freezing. The birds are pretty aggressive but there were no incidents to speak of.

The Day A Squirrel Got in the Coop

This evening, I went to put the chickens back in the coop as I or Chris usually do in the evening. The girls were ready to go in through their door when I heard thumping on the wire from inside the coop. A young reddish brown squirrel was running around the inside of the coop trying to get out. The poor thing was so scared. I decided to get Chris and have him share the experience with me. He went into the coop with a shovel to help direct the young fellow to the door. I thought it was going to jump on his head but it didn't. He went out and the girls paraded into their home. Let us know if you'd like some eggs. One of them laid an extra large one today.

The kids are great. Work is okay. Chris is doing great at home with the kids. Go CAL.

A word about ... COMMENTS

Can you believe it? We were getting comment spam so it had to end. Now, if you want to comment on one of our pictures you'll be asked to type in a word shown for verification. Sorry for the hassle but I'm not a big fan of spam. I know it violates the freedom of someone's speech but guess what? I don't care.
The other option is no comments at all and we love hearing from Aunt Par so that became a non-option.

See you all for Turkey Day!