Hale Family Tales

The girls earn quarters for doing chores and extra jobs around the house. They even earn extra quarters for showing initiative in doing jobs without being asked or for being cheerful when doing a job. Ellie just likes to get quarters and has enjoyed being able to buy a toy or coloring book [...]

In just a month, Julia has gained two pounds and grown over an inch, and is on track with all the developmental markers. The doctor was impressed and said what a difference good nutrition can make. And let me tell you, the girl loves to eat!

Another important milestone happened this morning while Daddy [...]

They say that home is where you hang your hat.

This spring my parents made an exciting, but necessary, decision to buy a second home outside of Phoenix so they can spend the winter in a warmer climate. Since Julia is doing well and I am feeling good, we decided last week that we would [...]

We have named the boy (and told all the grandparents this time before posting it here). We are starting to call him by name a little bit – mostly Ellie and me. Ellie continues to try to feel him move and kick and is very interested to know when it will finally be [...]

Ryan and I knew, even when we were in Ethiopia, that Julia was going to be a talker. She is such a babbler.

She can say 5 words already: Dada (to whose delight?), Hi, dog-dog, Yeah (as she cheers with her little arms up in the air), and sometimes, “ee-a” (short for Julia). [...]

This is such a busy time of the school year with activities wrapping up, spring programs, field days, and recitals. With the added transition of a new baby and an increasingly large belly to lug around, it is no surprise that I have been in bed right after the kids have been tucked in [...]

My friend – who is an adoptive Mom twice-over – posted this on Facebook today. These thoughts have been swirling around in my head over the last few weeks and she perfectly put them into words.

“So many people say that my girls are blessed to have me… and while yes I think it’s true, [...]

Ellie has been coming up with some pretty fun ones lately and I don’t want to forget them:

-While we were gone, she was sitting on the couch next to Grandpa and kept having gas. He commented on it briefly and awhile later, she looked back up at him and said, “I just had smoke.”

-Hannah [...]

Things are going very well in the Hale household as we are adjusting to life with our newest member. Julia continues to be a wonderful, peaceful baby. She has an emerging sense of humor either always smiling or trying to catch someone’s attention to blow raspberries at them (she especially likes to do [...]

Cross-posted from Ryan’s blog.

We made it home last night and were able to spend a few hours with my parents and the girls before we crashed. We had a little picture-sharing and story-telling time this morning and are trying to rest up. Just before coming home, I started putting together a quick slide [...]