The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

 Despite having a rocky start, the Christmas Calendar has been pretty successful thus far this year!  Please feel free to attend any activities you can!!

We started things off with our Eagar 2nd Ward Christmas Party. My mom hung out at home with Remi so the rest of us could go. Thanks mom!  Chase and Grant thought the most fun part was rolling around on the gym floor...awesome.

Apparently the flash was really bright because my dad couldn't seem to keep his eyes open. We got to listen to him recite a story he memorized for the occasion!  He did a great job!

 

 The next night was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Mike got sick so with some help from Sal, the kids and I were still able to go.  I LOVE the Christmas Devotional!  There's nothing better than starting off the Christmas Season with some inspiring words from our prophets and feeling the Christmas Spirit with Mo Tab's music!  If you didn't get to see it, check out the link above.  You won't be sorry!

The next night, my little brother Tanner hosted a bon fire. Mike was still a little sick so we each took a turn going out and visiting with Tan and his only guest, Chad Crosby.  I've known Chad through seeing him at Safeway and going to school and working with some of his siblings but I actually got a chance to visit with him the other night and I'm super impressed with what a great guy he is!  Tanner is lucky to have a loyal friend like him!  I doubt Chad will read this but it was good to get to know him and hang out with him! (Also, the fire got a little out of control, despite Tanner's confidence in it and I'm pretty sure Chad saved our house so we owe him that too! :))


The next several days were a blur with Mike trying to recover while trying to prevent the rest of us from getting sick so I don't have pictures of a few of these days in between.

Thursday, Mike went and played Raquetball with Whitney Wiltbank and Grant, Rems and I watched Arthur Christmas with the uncles.  As you can see, thanks to Uncle Ry and Uncle Tan, we occasionally get a break!


Saturday was a busy, fun-filled day!  In the morning, we woke up and attended Eagar 3rd Ward (Mike's parents' ward)'s Christmas party.  Grant met Santa for the first time and in spite of what we thought was decent preparation, this is what happened:

 Mrs. Claus was nice enough to let me borrow her chair so we could at least get A picture with Santa.

Remi handled her visit with Santa like a champ! Actually, she does look a little scared hu?

After the party, we went and got the Wiltbank Family Christmas Tree! Remi slept like a baby the whole time!

Grant stayed awake long enough to polish off a bag of Cheetos and then he was out too.

It's not the best tree, but we were kind of rushed and had to take what we could get. 

Grant's always wanting to be a helper!

 We got back into town just in time to see the light parade. Mike's family met us there just as it was about to start. Grant loved all the lights! Remi continued to sleep.

 

After the light parade, I got to go out to eat with my sister and our friends Tonna and Jean for Jean's birthday.  We had SO much fun!!  The only pic I got of that was of Tonna and Remi. SO sweet!

 

Meanwhile Mike took Grant on the Light Trail by Becker Lake with his parents and Tristan, which he said was a lot more impressive than he expected. 

I met up with Mike at his parent's house after dinner to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where Remi found a comfortable spot with Grandma Velda.

As with everything during the holidays, we usually come home from the Calendar activities exhausted and ready to turn in.  Grant was super tired after a long day on Saturday and just wanted to cuddle, which was just fine with me!

Christmas Calendar 2012

We are sadly posting our calendar late this year. But here it is. After moving away from the city it's harder to find a lot of big events but If anyone wants to participate, watch a movie with us, or even change some things around so that they can participate let us know. Hope to see some of you. 

Merry Christmas!

Remi is One Month Old!

Well here's our sweet little one month old!  We can't believe how fast it's already going by!

This is how Remi spends a lot of her time right now!  She's been SUCH a good baby!  Everyone told us after Grant was such a good baby, our next one was sure to be a stinker but so far, she's been nothing short of angelic!  She loves to be swaddled and loves her pacifier!

 Grant LOVES his "sitter".  He always wants to hold her. Today I walked in and found him snuggling her.  So far, he's a great big brother (he just needs to be reminded how to be soft sometimes)!  We have high hopes that they're going to be great friends!

 Introducing her to "How to Train Your Dragon" (Grant's favorite movie currently).

 

I attempted to do a 1 month photoshoot with my little point and shoot camera and it was pretty lame!  It was a very poor representation of Remi's cuteness.  Luckily, I have a super talented husband who came in and saved the day!

Remi already had her one month doctor appointment.  At four weeks, she weighed 8 lbs. 10 oz and was 21 1/2 in. Grant was pretty concerned as to why we were at the doctor's office and kept asking "What's wrong with sitter??".  It was cute to see his worry for his sister.

Already lifting her head up like a champ! She's kind of lost her hair on the sides of her head where she lays on it to sleep but has kept everything on top giving her a sweet little faux hawk!

So beautiful!

I have to admit that I was pretty worried about how I could love another kid as much as I love Grant but I can't believe how naturally it's come!  I already think she's perfect in every way and love her more than I could ever imagine!  I'm so privileged to get to be she and Grant's mom and love that I get to spend my days watching them grow up!

Thanksgiving 2012

 Thanksgiving was a blast! As always, it was really busy and went by really fast but we were so glad to get to see and spend the time we were able to with everyone!

 Here's Remi getting ready for her first experience of chaotic family festivities. (Sporting her new boots from Aunt Emily.)

It all started with a day early Thanksgiving with the Goodman's. Ashley's Uncle Joe, Aunt Sheryl and Grandma all came up from Pima. We didn't get to spend near enough time with them but we're so glad we got to see them all.  Here's Grandma Reed meeting Remi for the first time.

This is a pretty common sight in the Goodman house. These three can be a handful but Sal always seems to know how to wrangle them and keep everyone happy!

Remi slept through the whole thing and found a comfortable spot with Uncle Tan.

Later that evening the Walters (Nate, Emily, Trace and Rylee) arrived followed by Cord and Whit's family (Avery and Gage). It was fun getting to see all the kids get to know each other and bond in the usual kid ways of running around and jumping on the bed together, etc. The Walters stayed at our house and Grant instantly took to Rylee. He followed her around and just kept trying hang with her.

 Grant also got to have some male bonding time with these two guys (Trace and Gage). One of the best parts of Thanksgiving this year was getting to see them get to know each other and have their little footsteps running around, climbing all over everything, going from new activity to new activity. 

 In between all the time spent with the kids we still had other things we got to do. Sadly we didn't get many pictures, but I want to mention everything so that we don't forget it. After everyone ate Emily, Cord, Whitney, Ryan and I went to Show Low so that we could take advantage of Black Friday (Thursday) Which was a great success thanks to Whitney. Thanks again Whitney! The next day we visited my Grandpa's old ranch, which is always fun when you involve four wheelers.

 It was a bitter sweet trip, wishing the ranch was still in the family and getting to hear about all the things that happened there.

 It was also interesting to watch Grant and Gage as I thought about Cord and I being there when we were around their age. It's crazy watching Grant grow up. Ashley always mentions that every time she finds rocks in the washing machine because Grant has for some reason stuffed them into his pockets, she can't help but think, "he's such a little boy." Here's Grant stuffing his pockets full of rocks.

 After the ranch we decided to play a little game of dominoes...until 3 o'clock the next morning! The next day started with Rylee's birthday party. Emily prepared a video with pictures of her first year, which was very appropriate seeing how so many of us here in AZ have missed out on the first year of her life. Then Cord, Nate, Whitney and I went shooting, which was followed by a fun game of dodge ball.We got to meet my cousin Natalie's husband Cheston for the first time and everyone really had a lot of fun seeing them and getting to know him. We didn't get a picture of Cheston but here's Remi meeting her cousin Natalie.

 As always, it was sad when the constant family, kids, games,visiting and activities was over, but much needed rest quickly followed. Grant especially played so hard he exhausted himself every day!

Greatest Halloween Ever!!!!

Ashley called me from work on Halloween Eve saying we might need to go into the hospital. I came home as soon as I could and she said her contractions had settled down. We talked about whether or not we should still drive to Show Low, but because she had been having similar contractions throughout the week we decided on going to bed and hoping to make it through one more day so that our daughter could avoid being born on Halloween.

Around 3:40am Ashley woke up from the pain of a contraction. She checked to see how far apart the next one was before she woke me up. After seeing they were only 3 minutes apart she was concerned, and the two of us scrambled to the car and left Grant with Ashley's sister Celina. We started racing to Show Low (a 53 mile drive to the hospital) around 4:00am with Ashley having contractions every two to three minutes apart.

We were admitted into the hospital at 4:53am. There were nurses scrambling, some rough screaming from Ashley, and 14 minutes later, suddenly our first baby girl was born at 5:07 on Halloween morning. Weighing 6lbs 14 oz. and measuring 18 inches long. It was a rush, and a pretty close call, almost didn't make it to Show Low in time. Ashley's doctor didn't even make it and the nurses had to deliver her.

It was also Ashley's first natural child birth (despite her desperate pleas for an epidural).

 Soon after she was born Ashley's brother Brian showed up to visit and was followed by my mom and dad, Ryan, Tristan, Tanner, Ashley's mom, and Celina.

We appreciated everyone that could make to come by and meet our newest addition. But the person we were most excited to come was Grant. We couldn't wait to see his reaction to his new baby sister!
Grant did great with his sister!

We started by testing him... Ashley has been asking him "where's the baby?" or "where's your sister?" and then teaching Grant to point at her stomach. So when he came into the hospital room we asked Grant "where's your sister?" and he immediately pointed at his new baby sister and not Ashley's belly.

Then he kept asking to "hold it".

And later copied others who had been giving her kisses on the head.

We are soooo excited about these two growing up together!

We still had Halloween to worry about, and Donna showed up with a cute new outfit for her first grand daughter's first Halloween. And later that evening Ashley sent me home to take Grant trick or treating and had Celina stay with her (Thanks Sal! We really appreciate all the help you've been giving us!!!)

We had decided Grant was going to be Indiana Jones! And when we had Grant watch Raiders of the Lost Arc we were really happy to see how much he liked it. His eyes were glued to the screen the whole movie. Watch the video above to see how Grant felt when the movie ended.

We thought he looked awesome! 

And I have to say that we were pretty proud of our outfit we made him.

Grant did a great job of nervously saying "Twick or tweet" when he knocked on strangers doors, and then putting his candy in his satchel while saying "Taint too". It was a blast taking him out.

It's all over now and our new baby girl is finally safely home.

We've been struggling through different names for a while now and when I left the hospital on Halloween night we were still undecided.

So when Ashley brought her home this morning I asked her, "So what's her name?"

She answered, "Remington Elizabeth Wiltbank."

Projects

 As I've mentioned in previous posts, we have several projects we're trying to get done before this little girl gets here.  This isn't the most interesting post because it's pretty much a bunch of "before" pictures and it's pretty random but I've been really sick of not having anything new on our blog so hopefully it'll help make the "after" post smaller! :)

For the past few months, my baby shower was the big project. Thanks to my mom, my sister, Heidi, Sister Hall and Heather, it all came together just perfectly!  I only took one picture but it gives a decent idea of what it looked like.

Now that the shower is over, what were once the baby shower projects have become the nursery projects. Below is an example of the wall hangings I'm working on. Hopefully it gets done before she gets here!!

Technically the baby projects are actually the little projects and the BIG projects have left little time for the littler projects!  Here is half our bathroom wall ripped out.  This tiling/making the tub a shower project is almost done!  I CAN'T WAIT to be able to shower and bathe Grant in our own house again!  (We've been having to shower at my parents' house for the past month or so.)

The other BIG project is the wall in our living room.  The wall below used to be a full wall of glass. Literally, it was two HUGE (single paned) sliding glass doors. So even with the new wood stove we put in last year, the house still got pretty drafty.  Then after one of the doors broke and left a sharp, gaping hole in our living room, it was obvious that it was time for a big project!

One of the nice things about living in Eagar is that we've had lots of help around!  My dad and Mike's dad have been here a lot helping on the house and without my mom, I don't think I'd really have anything even started for the baby!  My parents are also funding all the big projects with the help of our rent money (they own the house we're living in) and we're REALLY happy this little house is starting to show its potential!  Mike, of course, is the motivation that keeps things running.  I don't know where he gets his energy and drive!  The past few weeks, he's come straight home from work and started the manual labor, sometimes staying up until 3 AM to get things done.  Pregnancy has prevented me from being able to be of any help and although I can't really say that's a bothersome thing, I do feel guilty and even more grateful for all the help we've gotten and all the people who care enough about us to come put so much of their time into helping us get this place ready for a baby!  Even though he's small, Grant's also been an eager helper! (I love how you can see him in every picture, trying to get involved!)

Another project Mike was really worried about getting done before the baby arrives was building up our wood pile.  This was another project that we're so grateful family and friends devoted their time to! Thanks to my dad, Ryan, Tanner and Kaleb (and Mike), we now have enough wood to make it through the winter! And we've even been able to have a little marshmallow roast at the fire pit Mike set up next to the woodpile. Our good friend Jordan and his friend Lina were in town one weekend and we're so happy we got to see them and spend some time at the fire pit with them.  

Grant became instant buddies with them!  We've never seen him get so easily attached to people who before were strangers.  He was SO sad to see them go, it was pretty cute!  The other day, he saw a picture of one of his uncles and thought it was "Dordin".

Another fun project we've been able to work on together is getting this little dude ready for Halloween! We're so excited about his costume this year!  I LOVE that Mike gets into this kind of stuff!  It's been really fun working on it with him, it's made Halloween so much more fun for me and it makes me excited for future Halloweens and being able to get into it with our kids.  This is an awful cell phone pic but here's a little teaser for ya.  Can you guess what Grant's going to be?

 

And the biggest project of the year below.  I kept meaning to have Mike take a pic but quite honestly, I was proud of myself for "getting dressed" the other day (meaning I put on a clean pair of pajamas).  Since I get somewhat dressed for work, I've been taking pictures there for myself so I can sort of document my growth. This is 37/38 weeks...not quite sure exactly when but it's getting close!  I've been having A LOT of contractions but when I saw the doc today, I hadn't made much progress from my last appointment so we'll see what she has in store for us!  Hopefully she'll give us a few more days to get everything finished up, but Heaven knows I wouldn't mind one bit if she decided to just come tonight!!