This Sunday Chris, Reese, Leila, Lee, Luke and I headed out into the woods to get our Christmas tree. This is a tradition we have now done three years in a row. It is so much fun to pack the car full and head up into the winter wonderland to pick out a tree. It is always an adventure! This year we weren't sure if we were still going to do it considering we would have 2 babies with us. We decided that we wouldn't let that hold us back and loaded up the pathfinder with the 2 car seats and 4 adults. It was a tight fit to say the least! Our first stop was the rangers station where we got our passes that were good for up to a 12 foot tree. We decided this year to try and get as close to 12 feet as possible considering the trees we had cut down the previous years were probably close to 30 (we then topped them)!! So off into the woods we went. The snow was very heavy this year and the forest service recommended a road that was probably the most clear. I can't imagine what the other roads must have looked like because this one had about 2+ feet of snow on it! Luckily there were some nice tracks we could ride in. The first hour started off great, and we began to climb up a logging road in search of the perfect noble. Generally you have to go up pretty high to get to the nobles. Just as we were starting to get up at the right height a women who was hiking down the road informed us that about 40 cars were stuck in the snow up ahead and it would be better for us to turnaround. We definitely did not want to get stuck with babies in the car so we turned around and decided to go down a side road. Just as we were about to park and do a little hiking, it happened. Stuck, stuck, stuck! The pathfinder was high centered in a pile of snow. Of course the one thing we forgot was a shovel! The guys started digging with their hands, and Leila and I entertained the babies who were on their best behavior! After about an hour we were still stuck and the car didn't seem to be budging! Were we going to be here all night!??!? Finally some guys came along, and swooped on us like super heros. Some guy just grabbed a shovel and spent all of 5 minutes clearing out the snow. I have never seen someone dig so fast. As he helped, he talked about how he was recently stuck in 8 feet of snow. OK, this guy was a serious pro. Then with our car hooked to another, and about 3 burly men pushing on the front we were free. Obviously these guys do this often. It took them all of 10 minutes to get us out! We were a little bummed that our little "snafu" had taken up so much of the day and we were not quite high enough. We decided to just do some hiking and see what we could find. To our amazement we found 2 beautiful trees! Ours is another "Griswold Family Tree" and is about 12+ feet tall. After everything we went through, we were happy to get our tree and head down the mountain! I can't believe that Christmas is just 2 weeks away! Where does the time go? I know I say that all the time, but seriously, being a parent puts you in some kind of time warp.
Other than our crazy tree adventure, life has been pretty low-key, yet busy. I can't believe how crazy things have been since I have decided to stay home! I literally don't have time to even turn on the TV all day. Everyday my goal is to work at least 2 hours, and then between working out and taking care of Reese I am lucky to get any laundry done beyond that. I definitely thought I would have more time, but it is amazing how things have changed since Reese has gotten more and more mobile. She continues to grow and change everyday. It seems that after she hit 6 months, she just started to change like crazy. She now has 4 teeth and I believe 2 more are imminent. She now crawls, well it is a combination between army crawling, and then regular crawling. She has not switched to belly off the floor full time yet. She pulls herself to stand and seems to be trying to do that more often. She is now feeding small pieces of food to herself and is saying words. She is not just mimicking now, I believe she actually now knows what " Mama" and "Dada" are. She will actually say them looking right at you. So who knows, but it seems to me that it is likely that she knows what she is saying in terms of those words. It has been so much fun to watch her change and I fall more and more in love with her everyday!
This month has been a world wind! It feels like it just got started, and now it is just winding up! The craziness started mid month with all the Christmas parties and shopping. Jon (aka. Beans), came up on the 12th. Our big plan was to run a bunch and do a lot of hot yoga as well. I have never tried it before and have always wanted to. Beans is always game for anything athletic too, so we decided his Christmas break was the perfect time to do it. We survived the first class, and went a day later for the second. It was great! Lots of sweat! We did some running too. Then Beans decided to get tackled in football and sprain his ankle and that ruined the rest of our fun. At least we got a good week out of our holiday fitness extravaganza! Reese enjoyed spending time with her uncle and didn't mind that he had a bum ankle! Auntie Joy came in the following weekend and we ventured out to Ozzie's for her 22nd birthday. Gramma was kind enough to babysit and we went out for a night on the town. Needless to say I took advantage of a baby free night and had a little to much fun! At least I was still smart enough to remedy myself with toast and Advil and woke up feeling great! The rest of the week flew by in a flash between wrapping presents, dinners and running last minute errands. Christmas eve we trekked up to Normandy Park to have brunch with family, and then Christmas Eve night we went to church with my family and cooked a big, yummy, Italian dinner. Reese was a champ all day, and didn't even make a peep during church! She had fun opening up her Christmas Eve jammies following the tradition we have done since I can remember. Christmas morning we did a brunch at my parents house, followed by dinner with my extended family. It was such a busy day that we weren't able to get Reese to nap all day. It didn't seem to bother her one bit, and she stayed in a fabulous mood all day despite the lack of sleep! Sunday morning we made the journey over to Spokane for our second Christmas with his parents. Reese had a ball opening presents with her Nana and Poppa. She really struggled sleeping last night due to cutting a new tooth, being out of her crib and sharing a room with me. She normally does not nurse at all during the night, but she couldn't resist the temptation with me in the room. I tried to let her cry it out, but finally caved in so we could get some sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better! I put her in her own room, and am hoping that will solve the problem. We will be here until Thursday! I was also thrilled to hang out with my dear friend Angela and her beautiful new babies! She had Connor and Jocelyn on the 15th and I finally got to get my hands on them! I told Reese all about her new friends and she is so excited to get to play with them soon! Here are some pictures of our Christmas week!
