Christmas Letter 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

Since we did not get our pictures back before I could get Christmas cards back to everyone in Illinois, I thought I would send a few out with our Christmas letter and Reid’s birth announcement. (It takes a week to receive mail from Illinois)

Well, 2012 has been a pretty busy year for us, as I am sure it was for everyone back home. We started out with Allen getting a job offer from Halliburton, in North Dakota. He left us for 8 weeks to go work, and then come home to relocate us. In the middle of all of the chaos, on April Fool’s Day, we found out we were expecting baby #2. This was a complete surprise; after all of the trips to Evansville, and years it took to get Hayleigh. I said goodbye to UPS, after 5 years in April, and to this day, I still miss working there.

 In May, we made the move to Colorado, in the Grand Junction area. We fell in love with the area here, and plan trips around our area, enjoying the mountain views, and all of the wildlife. Soon after moving to Colorado, we found out we were expecting a boy, and started planning a trip back to Illinois for the fall to visit. We did have a scare while planning our trip- I was grounded and considered “high risk” at 22 weeks, until we could see the specialist at St. Mary’s hospital to do a follow up ultrasound check of Reid’s heart. He had been throwing in an extra heart beat in the doctor’s office, so after a month of waiting for me to reach 26 weeks along. We had the ultrasound performed, the doctor confirmed Reid’s heart beat was normal, and I was taken off of high risk, and was given the okay to travel.

In June, Hayleigh had her first swim lessons, and really loved going to our local community center for swimming during the week. They had both an indoor pool and outdoor pool for her to enjoy, so we found ourselves spending most of our summer days up at the pool. We also got to go to Hayleigh’s first circus, and she enjoyed her first pony ride. At the end of June, we celebrated Hayleigh’s 2^nd Birthday. I still don’t know how she is already 2 years old already!

We finished the summer up with a trip to the local Dinosaur museum here in Fruita, with Papa Jack and Mimi making a short visit. The area around us and the museum has many dig sites and fossils collected from it, and the museum has one of the largest Triceratops skulls ever found. 

In September, we had the opportunity to go see the hot air balloon festival in Snowmass Colorado- right next to Aspen. We got to stay with Aunt Teresa, Uncle Clay, and cousin Ruth, and have a nice visit with the girls getting to play quite a bit. During the end of September, Hayleigh and I got to travel back home to visit everyone. I don’t know who was more excited – Hayleigh to see everyone, or everyone excited to see Hayleigh. We had a great time visiting, going to the Fall Festival, and short trips around. The one thing I can say is that nothing had changed back home- it was kind of like a visit to the twilight zone. After a week and a half, Hayleigh and I returned back to Colorado, and started getting everything ready for Reid’s arrival.

October flew by with Allen elk hunting, and Hayleigh and I getting ready for Halloween, and visiting the doctor once a week. Trick or Treating went well in our neighborhood. Mom got her arrangements made to come out a few weeks later to be there for when Reid was to make his arrival. We got a little worried about Reid wanting to arrive before Mom could get here, and while Allen was up in North Dakota for his last week of work before his time off. So, before we could blink, Nana Rose made it out to help me out, and to be here for us for when Reid decided to make his debut. We welcomed Mom and Rose out here, with Allen returning earlier than expected due to me having contractions. Reid decided to hold off at my 37 ½ week doctor visit Friday afternoon, so we decided to make the best of it. We all went shopping- Mom and Rose making me walk like crazy and taking trips around seeing the sites. Over the weekend, we went to Moab, Utah- a new state to see for both Rose and Mom, the Monument- 2 miles to the South of our house, and had our first Colorado snow.

 On Monday morning, my midwife finally sent me over to St. Mary’s to get Reid on his way. After 15 hours of labor, and six pushes, we finally welcomed Reid into the world at 3:24 am. I was lucky enough to have both Mom and Rose there with me, along with Allen, and Hayleigh slept in the room the whole time on the couch. Allen and I didn’t realize that Reid had such a hard delivery. He ended up fracturing his collar bone after my midwife quickly delivered him. His cord had wrapped around his neck when I was pushing, and snapped when she went to loosen it from around his neck. He was given oxygen for a few minutes, and the NICU checked him out in my room. He was finally in the clear, and we got to enjoy him to ourselves. He ended up weighing 9lbs 8.2 oz. and was 21” long. While I spent my day in the hospital with Reid, Mom stayed home with Hayleigh, putting up our Christmas tree, and decorations, so we could welcome Reid home and not have to worry about getting our stuff put up.

 Allen and I spent that last week with Mom and Rose, celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary by going out on our first dinner date alone since moving here, and then later celebrated Thanksgiving that fell on our anniversary with Rose, since Mom had already returned back to Illinois. We have been really busy since then, especially me here flying solo with both Hayleigh and Reid. We have good days, and some stressful days when Reid’s colic is horrible, but we are making it just fine. We just found out we will be moving soon- in January, since our house we are renting will be put on the market. We have already found a new house in Rifle- 40 minutes away we will be moving in on January 25^th.

 On the day Reid turned a month old, we got to have a private visit with Santa Claus, and had many pictures taken. Santa even got tuckered out holding Reid, while Hayleigh read them “The Night Before Christmas”. Hayleigh even got a letter from Santa in the mail, letting her know that Santa knew where we lived, and what she wanted for Christmas.  Reid started smiling 2 days before Christmas, and Santa visited us Christmas Eve, leaving lots of goodies for us all. The day after Christmas, we had a nice visit with Papa Jack, and Mimi for a few days, and had two Christmas dinners. We are now recovering from Christmas, and packing, while enjoying Allen’s 2 weeks off with us.

While this year has not been the easiest, it has been filled with the most changes and surprises for our family. What began as a move across the country has now turned into great opportunities for our family, and we were lucky enough to move to an area we really do love and enjoy. Allen enjoys his job with Halliburton, and has had the opportunity to move up with the company through a few promotions. He is now expected to make crew supervisor by summer now.

            We hope that 2012 has been a great year for you and your families, and that 2013 will bring many new beginnings, health, and prosperity. We love and miss everyone back home, and hope to see you in the spring. (Hayleigh is excited to show off her new little brother)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Love,

Allen, Ashley, Hayleigh, & Reid

Reid Smiling for 1st time

Sleepless in Colorado..

It is now 2 am, and I just cannot sleep... Why you ask?? Reid fussing and crying? Nope, Hayleigh sick with the flu? Nope- we are both over that one.. Up talking to Allen?? Nope. I've spent literally the past 4 hours looking at and editing pictures of my family. Today, I got to pick up our pictures from our session with Santa from a week ago. Our storyboard isn't in yet, so I still have 3 more pictures I have yet to see again, and I am soo excited! Here are the 2 so far...

How are these my kids??? I keep smiling, tearing up, and thinking the same thing over and over again...HOW did we get here? In a little less than 2 short months, I will be 30, we are done having kids- so I keep telling myself, and I have all of these pictures of our family that we had wanted so bad staring back at me. I am beyond grateful for them, each and every day, even more so after what happened a week ago. I guess when you want something soo bad, and it takes soo long to get it, when it is finally there, you are still in denial that it has happened.

What everyone older than me says about time going by faster and faster, the older you get, is very true from what I have learned from my 20's... It seems just like I was just 21 last year, took a nap, and I'm now 29, with 2 kids, living in Colorado... To be honest, that scares me to think how my 30's are going to go.

Even though life is hard, it is nice to take a break some days to really see what is most important to you in life, and what makes life worth living...all of those late nights when the baby wouldn't go to sleep, or they were up sick and just wanted for you to hold them tight, to the good nights with a hug, and a kiss, and Mommy, I Love you....

Every time that Carter's commercial comes I bawl.. It is the one about the little girl being born on a cold September day, and the first night home was a doozy,, but you got the hang of it, and together we grew and grew. Some days were fussy, but other days were all smiles. And even now, when you hold my hand, I hold it right back. Because the day I became yours, you became mine. All I see when I watch that commercial is Hayleigh, and now Reid... but, mainly Hayleigh. I think that is every new mom and dad in that commercial.

Anyway, I'm a total sap, and I know it, and I don't care... I cry about the little things in life that Allen just looks at me like I'm a hormonal hot mess... Even at midnight mass in church back home, I tear up. I can't explain why, I just do. So many times years before that I sat there praying for our family we now have.

I realize there are days when I'm ready to pull my hair out...especially this past night. Two fussy kids- with one screaming his head off from gas pains to be exact. But, it is all worth every sleepless night, or gray hair I end up getting over all of this. Seeing them both when they are total angels, makes every moment soo much sweeter~

Better Late than Never....Reid is 1 Month Old!!!

Reid,
You have been such a blessing to us, and you are the sweetest little boy- when you want to be, or not gassed up.  Your daddy and I think that you are very strong- you can hold your head up for periods of a time now, and can somewhat push and scoot around when you get good and mad... sorry you inherited my short temper, and your daddy's temper. You have mommy's eye color, and your daddy's eye shape, with a blend of both my hair and your daddy's- a dark red/brown. Colic has not been a good thing to you- you are constantly gassed up- and can break wind and run a grown man out of the room- just ask your daddy. You are also a blankie boy- you LOVE your fuzzy blankets. As far as eating goes- you have mastered nursing, and are quite the boob man.. you smile and get excited when it's time to eat. We have now switched your pacifiers, after I said over and over again, that I would not give you one, starting with the soothe kind, and upgrading to the nuk- your sister's old ones. You would be happy to know that I did find a yellow and green one, along with the pink and white one for you to use, so you don't have to look girly all of the time. You have been sleeping pretty good after 12:30 at night, but will not beat your sister on sleeping through the night- she did it at 5 wks. Baths are your favorite thing right now- you love relaxing in one with mommy, until I wash your head, then you get really mad. You are such a ham, but when you want something, and you don't get it as quick as you would like, you turn beat red, and throw a big fit- you're welcome... that's all mommy. Hayleigh adores you until you cry and scream, then she tells us to turn you off, but loves to be little mother to you, and keeps your swing playing music and the mobile moving for you. She will also give you your pacifier when you cry and help throw away diapers when she wants to. You are HER Broder, so she says. Christmas is coming soon, and we got to take you to see Santa for the first time. You did just fine with the big guy. My hopes for this next month: your colic slows down, and disappears, I catch your first smile and hopefully it's when your daddy is home, and I hope to continue nursing you without problems- I'm surprised we've made it this far. We love you so much Reid!
Love, Mommy & Daddy...ohh and Sister Hayleigh

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Last Thursday, Reid turned 4 wks old, and we got to go see Santa Claus. Both Allen and I were anticipating a crying fit from Hayleigh, not wanting to meet Santa, or having anything to do with him, and coming home with some okay pictures of her half bawling on his lap.  

We were wrong!

Hayleigh LOVED Santa- or "Ho Ho", as she calls him. We started with Reid's pictures with Santa, sleeping. He did alright- fought sleep of course. We took a break, for me to top Reid off, and Santa came in to meet Hayleigh. She played with legos with Santa, and Santa gave both Allen and I big hugs, and went on about how much we had grown. When it was time to start back up on pictures, Hayleigh held Santa's hand, and walked right back into the room to get pictures taken. She smiled, laughed, and yacked Santa's ear off. How was she my child? She was soo sweet, and precious- leaving her hair alone for once. She did what we asked her to do on posing, and was happy about it all. We went in planning on only getting a few pictures, but left with one of each kid that were just perfect, and 2 of both of them with Santa. We even got one of Hayleigh giving Santa a big hug. Picking out the pictures, and narrowing them down, was a lot more harder than I had anticipated.  The picture above is a preview of one of the pictures of both of the kids with Santa that we ordered. I get to pick them up this week, and I am beyond excited!!