Well the News is in. We officially have a new little addition to our little family. We were givent his little gift around noon on Monday 28th of August. It was a very emotional time for us and Brittney the birthmom. This was a very spiritual experience and one we loved taking part in. Our testemonies of the Gospel and Prayer have been strengthened throuout this whole process. We'll fill you in once we get to hold her a little longer.

Here is our first feeding with Brooklyn. Michelle is going to be a great Mommy. Brooklyn really loves her mommy, but Tom sure does think she will be a daddy's girl for sure. She is realy getting the hang of this bottle thing. She never refuses to take food in and blow it out the other end. We feel so lucky and blessed to have her in our lives. She is truely a blessing from our loving father in heaven sent to us by way of Brittney.

Mamma Faye with her new grandchild. They have really bonded as is evident of her smiles when Faye holds her. Or maybee its just gas. I dunno. :)

Michelle's first moment alone with Brooklyn. This was our first experience as new parents.

Tom, Brittney, Brooklyn & Michelle at the official placement. It was a very emotional time for all of us. We are truely blessed to be able to take part in such a wonderful thing.

1st day of Week 9

First thing is first....AUDREY...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 24th. We have been horrible with birthdays this month. We sincerely apologize. We remembered the day before then we got distracted. We hope your day was the best!

May I just say that I am so glad I made it through week 8 because that was the week that my sister miscarried. I feel like I can do this! This week has been rough. Some things I've learned is that at 10 weeks that is the peak for my hormones. That is why "they" say that after your 1st trimester the nauseau goes away. So, on week 10 it is at its peak (worst nauseau) then it starts to taper off. Phew! I just keep trying to get to week 10. Again, according to WEBMD.com here is what is happening this week for me and our baby.

Week 9
The embryo measures about 0.9 inches to 1.2 inches from crown to rump, or the size of a strawberry. The arms and legs are longer, and the fingers might be a little swollen where the touch pads are forming. The head is more erect and neck is more developed. Your baby now moves its body and limbs, and this movement can be visible during an ultrasound, but you won't be able to feel it yet.
Your uterus is continuing to grow, and you may begin to see your waistline thickening. But unless you tell people the good news, your pregnancy still won't be noticeable to others. Weight gain is still small, if at all, since you could be experiencing food aversions, cravings, heartburn, indigestion, nausea and bloating. Mood swings and weepiness similar to PMS symptoms are common, too.
Tip for the Week:
Eat plenty of foods that contain calcium -- such as cheeses, sardines and broccoli -- to provide sufficient calcium for the development of your baby's teeth and bones.

Our update on Brooklyn is this: We are scheduled to get her tomorrow at 10:00am. We meet at the agency at 10 to do paperwork then we go over to Brittney's house and do the placement. She has never given us any indications that she is not going to go through with it so please stay optimistic. We could really use your prayers. Please also pray for Brittney and her family. This has got to be such a hard time for her and her family. We find ourselves so mixed with emotion because we know they are hurting, but yet we are excited. It just doesn't seem right that there could be these kinds of feelings for 1 situation. Pray for peace for all parties involved and what His will is. We just love this family. Well, we will call you with any updates or when she places the baby with us.

Our beauiful baby.

Hey, Check out all the pics and a video that we have of Brooklyn Brittney Hall.

http://www.stufflebeam.org/brooklyn/

Here are just a few more pictures of our little angel Brooklyn Brittney Hall. The top one is 1 day old, the middle one is only 2 hours old and the last one is 1 day old.

Our new "LITTLE" Girl

Well Folks, here is our "little addition to our family. She weighed in at 4 lbs 13 oz and was 16 inches long. Born at 2:21 am on August 23rd 2006, she is on to a good start of being a night owl. She is fully developed and healthy as can be. Not to mention she is cute as a button and sooo sooo very sweet.

Crazy news

Well, it's been kind of an eventful day. First off, Happy Birthday Rod! We wish we could be there to help you celebrate your birthday! Hopefully, Brittney will have her baby today so that she has a grandpa to celebrate her birthday with. That would be great! Here is some more crazy news. Today I went into my ob for a regular annual exam. At the end of the appointment he asked me if I was pregnant and I told him no. He said that there was a possibility that I could be because when I urinated on the stick at the beginning of the appt there was no line, but now there was a faint line. He had me go to the hospital to give blood and it is true...I am pregnant. WAHOOO!!! That explains why I've been so nauseaus and have had cramping. I tried prego tests, but they were never positive. They also did an ultrasound. The dr. measured the baby and it is in between 14.5mm and 18.5mm. The doctor took 2 pictures and those are the measurements he came up with. He also came up with me being 7 weeks and 5 days along and 8 weeks and 6 days along...again, I am somewhere in between there. He is making my due date of March 31 or April 10, but he said that may change as we learn more about the progression of the baby. We got to see the heartbeat. That was neat. Yes, only one heartbeat. This is such a shock right now! The only bad thing is the dr. said I am high risk and I may not carry the baby full term. As far as Brittney goes...she is in the hospital right now. At around 6pm she was having contractions 6 min. apart. She was going in at 7 so that she could be monitered. She is going to stay at the hospital until she has the baby. They are giving her patosin around midnight if she hasn't had the baby yet. We have been so confused as to what we should do concerning being prego and possibly adopting. we contacted the agency and told them our situation. They advised us to continue the adoption process because too many emotions are in it and this is what is supposed to happen. We prayed a lot and feel like Brittney's little girl should be in our home. So, we are going to go with it and hoping the Lord will lead us through this. We hope Brittney understands once we tell her. The agency advised us to not them until we are pretty sure the prego is a go. That is around 20 weeks. The Lord knows His will so we'll keep you posted. So many emotions right now.

Our birthmom is being induced!

Hey all,
We just wanted you to know that our birthmom had her weekly appointment this morning and the Dr. noticed that the baby didn't have as high of a heartrate as usual so he is going to induce Brittney so that she will have the baby. The Dr. also said that Brittney's uterus wasn't as large as it needs to be at this stage in pregnancy so they were concerned there as well. The baby is very tiny. She is only around 6 pounds (That is what it the Dr. is guessing). Brittney is heading to the hospital right now and will be induced shortly. She is staying at the hospital until she has the baby. We'll keep you posted.

Our anniversary!

Yesterday, we had our 4th wedding anniversary! Marriage just keeps getting better. Well, we ended up having quite the adventure. One of Tom's coworkers hit a deer so I had to drive and pick him up and take him to work. The deer demolished the front end and the front windshield was shattered. There was deer hair along the roof. I wish I had a picture for you. This was this guys 2nd time hitting the deer and I think it will be totalled out again. Poor guy. So, after work Tom dropped him off at home then we went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. It is a salad buffet. Yummy. Then we checked to seeing what was playing at the theatre and noticed that we wouldn't be done with the movie till after 11. We are such lightweights. So, we went to RC Willey and looked at the Clearance Center. We love furniture shopping. We went to Walmart quickly then came home and crashed. We were both asleep within minutes of hitting our pillows. A very full day! Tonight we are going swimming at the community pool with Lou and Ben and Sat. night Tom's coworker got us tickets to Beauty and the Beast. So fun! Congrats Dan and Cassie on all of your good news. That WOULD be a great day! No word yet on the adoption. Brittney and her family came over on Tuesday to see the house and baby's room. They brought us some clothes that friends gave them. They are really cute handme downs! Yeah, more clothes! She is due Aug. 29. No worries, we will call all of you as soon as we know. Ok, long blog...I better jet.

Tom has been busy!

The baby's room~

The finished product. We just need to paint the chair rail and touch up.
Tom used bead board and chair rail to decorate the babies room.
Brittney at her dr. app't. We got to hear the heartbeat for the 1st time. That was so special.

Pics of our birthfamily

It's a girl!


Ultra sound of our baby!
R-L: Jalisa (her best friend), Laura (sis. that just got back from a mission), Nathan (Dad), Brittney, Debbie (Mom), Tom and Michelle (future parents!!!)
Michelle, Brittney (birthmom), and Tom


Birthfather: His name is Dallen and he is 6'3". Good for our little volleyball player!

We met the birth family!

Hey everyone! We met the birthfamily yesterday. It was our birthmom, Brittney, her mom, Debbie, her dad, Nathan, her sister, Laura, and her best friend. We talked with them for about 2 hours. We were both VERY nervous! As soon as we started talking the nerves went away and conversation just flowed. We learned that our families are very similar. that was cool. We learned about their heritage and that they didn't have any major diseases in the family. They still have grandparents alive. On the birthfathers side he still has both sets of greatgrandparents. So, very healthy families. The birthfather is 6'3", has brown, thick, curly hair. Brittney has curly hair as well...she just straightens it. Brittney's family is hilarious! We were laughing the whole time. It was such a good visit. They are amazing people and so strong. I can tell that they are very genuine and good hearted people. They told us a lot about the family and we were glad because we learned a ton. Brittney's mom, Debbie, told us all about Brittney and what kind of kid she was like. They said she was a dream child and toddler then when she became a teenager she rebelled. They said that she has a heart of gold and has such a love for children. Everyone there bore their testimonies of what was occuring. The spirit was really strong in the room. Brittney or her family have not waivered at all with their decision to place for adoption. Oh ya, she invited us to go to her next dr. appointment next week. She is 50% effaced and the babies heartbeat is 140. She said that the first time they saw the baby she was waving. Then the 2nd time she was really squirrly. Brittney says she can tell she is a very active kid. It was so fun! We didn't want it to end!