Hello to our cousins!!!

The kids wanted to say hello to their cousins and tell them about their day. Here ya go!!! :-)


Sorry about the finger up the nose in rehanyn's video--what can I say--she's 3

Rehanyn's haircut!!!

Okay, I finally did it! I got Rehanyn's hair cut. We cut about 8 inches or so off. She loves it and it is very cute. I'm also happy that it is still a bit curly around her face and on the edges in the back. I'm wondering what it will do after I wash it.

(notice Tristan goofing off in the background)

Silly face (she won't stay still!!!)

Kids and flashcards

Here's some more video of the kids--Tristan and Rehanyn this time. We are working on their ABC flashcards. I know the video is dark--I forgot to turn on a light but at least you can see how excited they are to be learning. You'll see how Tristan can read some of the words and how much Rehanyn likes "Queen". There are 6 videos I think--I'll try to list them in order. Enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed them--have a GREAT day!

Video of the kids

Here's a video of our kids during our outing at the mall. You'll notice Rehanyn being silly and if you listen closely you will hear Tristan saying "I'm hungry" a couple of times. This video was taken on my new phone so I apologize up front for the grainyness. We had stopped at a store before going to the food court and the whole time before we got to the food court Tristan started a chant that consisted of saying "I'm hungry" over and over and over and over and over (get my drift :))




Here's another video of the kids acting silly and reminding me that if I ask a basic question I shouldn't be suprised when I get a basic answer.

Hope you enjoy seeing the kids. If you want you can have 'em :-) Just Kidding!!!!!

Henna Art

Isn't it pretty? Okay, Dad don't freak out! By now you know it's only temporary :-)

Yes, it's temporary. It stays this dark for a couple of days and then starts fading. I like the temporary part of it. I can always change it up and get something different if I want it :-)
See how it looks like a butterfly--it was meant to be a flower but I love that it looks like a butterfly. Mom should love it too :-)
see, there's one on my finger that looks like a butterfly too.
Can you believe that it took my friend Tas only about 10 minutes to get this design on my hand?
I think this is my favorite of all the designs she's done for me :-) Thanks, Tas!!!

thoughts

Just some random thoughts:

--Figured out why Tristan looked like he was sitting up while sleeping in the previous post--he had filled his pillowcase with all of his stuffed "aminals" that routinely sleep in his bed.

--I am trying to decide if I'm going to cut Rehanyn's hair--it definitely needs a trim but I am so scared to cut it and lose her curls. I have never cut it so it definitely needs it.

--I can't believe that school is out a week from Thursday.

--Adreyn will be a 3rd grader--she's growing up too fast

--I've been reading some "random" blogs and find myself continually being thankful that my kids are healthy and were born without any issues. With my job taking care of premature and critically ill kids I am drawn to some of these blogs (one where a husband blogs about almost losing his wife and premature daughter) and then to some of the sadder (is that a word?) blogs where people have actually lost their children (some immediately after birth some after several days) The way these families deal with this is in a word--inspirational. I mean, in our immediate family mom had 11 grandkids born in 6 years--all essentially healthy (only one NICU stay and that one belonged to the NICU nurse mom {me}) and all are still healthy. What kind of odds are those. We were blessed to have healthy kids.

--We are getting ready to go on vacation in about 2.5 weeks. (all 5 of us plus my mom and dad) and Jason is already teasing me about my need to start making lists for everything we need for vacation. I guess it's a good thing he can still laugh at my obsessive need to make lists. We haven't gone on vacation before--we've planned to but the plans have always fallen through. We are just praying that everything works out this time and no one gets sick. We are going to San Antonio for 3 nights. Adreyn is getting very excited and is looking forward to seeing dolphins. Mom and Dad said they are looking forward to seeing the Alamo. I'm looking forward to time off work but figure I'll actually be more tired when we get back from vacation than I would if I had worked all those days :-)

--Jason is really busy right now. Work is going well--so well as to be almost overwhelming sometimes. He's actually had to get my dad involved to make sure stuff is done on time. It means Jason is working long days but at least we can't complain about not having work.

--Tristan will be 5 in 2 weeks. I really can't believe it!! He should start kindergarten in the Fall. It just doesn't seem like he should be 5! He is growing up so much and his speech is improving every day--he is still hard to understand sometimes but getting so much better. I think school will really help with that too.

--I need to figure out what to do about Rehanyn's attitude. She so firmly believes that she is the little princess and everyone else is her loyal subject and should do exactly what she wants and she is entitled to have whatever she wants even if someone else is using it. We've used spanking, time outs, and she is still just a pain in the butt!!! Gotta work on that! She is also a big fan of saying "NO" and throwing impressive fits--and STUBBORN--what a will that child has! Wonder where she got that lovely trait :-) Of course it couldn't have been from me!

--Adreyn got to IM her Aunt Tamra for the first time last night. She LOVED it and is now so addicted! She asked this morning before school if we could try again tonight and then added that she would like to right now but that it is nighttime in AU so Aunt Tamra would be asleep.l Adreyn did great with typing all of her own comments (and loved the emoticons) I think it is a great way for her to work on her writing, spelling, and communication skills. Now we just have to talk Tamra into agreeing to keep on talking to her JK--Tamra said she would get her girls involved next time :)

--Later I'll post pics of my new henna art. My friend Tas does this for me and I just love it! This one is so pretty--it looks like flowers and butterflies.

Okay--enough of me just typing whatever is popping into my head. Hope you enjoyed the updates--if not, oh well :-)

3pm in the Halbmaier House

Our house at 3pm

Adreyn is nice and cozy in the big chair doing her homework

Tristan is sound asleep in his bed

(I know it looks like he's sitting up but he is actually asleep in that position)

Rehanyn is sound asleep in her bed

(a second before you couldn't even see her because she was completely covered by her blanket)

Adreyn just figured out that I'm taking pictures :)

The house is quiet--it's the best part of the day!!!!

Noah's cake

Here's pics of the cake I just finished. The cake is for Noah, he's one of my NICU babies and he turned 3 on th 15th!!! Happy Birthday, Noah!

I don't really like the soccer ball but those things are pretty hard to create in icing!

Hope you have a great birthday party tomorrow Noah!

ABC's of Me

I guess since Tamra went ahead and did this on her blog I'll steal her idea and do it on mine :-)

ACCENT: I don't really think I have one unless I say certain words but my sweet husband swears I have a horrible southern accent!!!! (and I probably do--just don't tell me I do!)

BOOK THAT I LIKE: I love to read and can read a 300 pg book in about 3 hours. I recently finished the Alex Cross series by James Patterson, and the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. However, I read pretty much anything and no book is safe when I'm around!

CHORE I DON'T CARE FOR:Absolutely HATE doing dishes (yes, even with my new dishwasher)

DOG OR CAT: Well, we have a dog now--a huge chocolate lab named Molly but our first pet after being married was an adorable black kitten named Marque. So I guess, both!

ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS: I love my laptop, but am talking to Jason about getting a BlackJack phone so that I can access the internet, email,and instant message the family and friends from anywhere!

FAVORITE COLOGNE: Anything vanilla, but don't wear fragrances much because I can't wear them at work because of the preemies.

GOLD OR SILVER: Depends--if considering worth--gold, if considering jewelry--it depends on my mood

HANDBAG I CARRY MOST OFTEN: Luckily, no longer a diaper bag. I carry a small brown handbag that I will soon need to upgrade for something bigger--I'm running out of room.

INSOMNIA: Have it--of course it could be from switching back and forth between sleeping nights and days.

JOB TITLE: Wife, Mommy, Maid, Chef, Laundress, Sister, Daughter, Friend, Registered Nurse, Clinical Supervisor

KIDS: Adreyn 8, Tristan almost 5, Rehanyn 3

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Live in our (bank-owned) home with my darling husband, adorable kids and chubby dog.

MOST ADMIRABLE TRAIT: Don't really know--maybe being able to laugh at myself?

NAUGHTIEST CHILDHOOD BEHAVIOR: I think mom would say that it's when I cut Tamra's hair and cut off the last curl in the back of her hair. (I left the curl intact on the ground in the back yard for mom to find--what more did she want--I was playing barber and Tamra thought it was a GREAT idea at the time)

OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAYS: 1 night after Adreyn was born, 1 night before Tristan was born--2 after, and 2 nights after Rehanyn was born

PHOBIAS: lots--snakes, being home alone after dark, bugs, and lots, lots, more!

QUOTE: I don't know--how about "to be or not to be, that is the question" Now, what was the question?

RELIGION: raised fundamental Baptist

SIBLINGS: I am the oldest of 4. I have 2 sisters and one brother. and I'M THE BOSS, hahaha

TIME I WAKE UP: Well, if I didn't work the night before I wake up between 9am and 10 am (sometimes a little later even, if Jason lets me--what can I say he's great!!!) If I worked during the night I'm usually up around 4 or 5 pm (I usually get to bed around 10am) Just FYI--so you don't think I'm just plain lazy (which I am) when I don't work the night shift I'm usually still up at 1-2am because I have a hard time sleeping at night now.

UNUSUAL TALENT OR SKILL: I can manage to get absolutely nothing accomplished on my days when I actually have the time to accomplish lots of stuff.

VEGETABLE I REFUSE TO EAT: Most of them but probably BEETS the worst.

WORST HABIT: teasing my husband

XRAYS: Had a few personally, help with them routinely at work.

YUMMY STUFF: Potato Soup, Stromboli, Mom's Fudge Frosting, Buttercream frosting, Ice cream, chocolate, need I say more????

ZOO ANIMAL I LIKE MOST: Absolutely love Elephants--could watch them for several hours--especially love the babies.

Catch up

Haven't blogged in a while--so let's catch up

Adreyn was Student of the Week last week!!! Yeah, Adreyn!!!!

Tristan is still crazy about Pokemon--I did get his birthday supplies in this week!

Rehanyn is almost potty trained!!!! Hopefully just a couple more weeks!

Jason picked up some new territory for work and has been quite busy. Plus he's been being a great daddy/husband taking the kids during the day for me when I need to sleep after work and taking care of them when I'm at work. He's such a great guy!!!!!

Me, well, I've been chatting quite a bit with Tamra (so nice to be able to keep in touch this way) and we've managed to crack each other--and mom--up trying to spell the "raspberry" sound (I say it is "ppffffffflllllllluuuuuuuubbbbbbbbttttttttttttt" or something like that) and explaining "rotflmbo", and "lol", and "rotfl" to mom. Amazing how just typing back and forth on an instant messenging service can make you fall out of your chair laughing.

I've also been working my usual shifts and just loving on those sweet babies. We had a good NICU Support Group meeting on Wednesday--got to see one of the graduates who is almost a year old!!! I've been able to come off a couple of committees at work so I'm enjoying the extra time I get at home with the family.

So--no big changes--just alot of the same stuff and life keeping us busy.