grayson birth announcement

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Boy time goes by so fast!! It is hard to believe but Grayson is already 5 weeks old. It has been so fun to watch him grow and change every day. He is starting to get chubby little cheeks and has also started making some noises other than crying. I love it when they start to coo. He also is starting to get very feisty and likes to be awake looking at various things. Luckily for him Remy is a wild boy who loves to run around and keeps him entertained. It is so sweet because he loves to look at toys and I put them close enough he can try to hit them with his arm which is very exciting for him.

Here is Ol' Remy doing one of his favorite activities, making dough. We got him this little mudpie kitchen for Christmas and he has been pretty much been playing with it since. It is amazing how observant he is. He will make his dough, scrape off the beater with a spoon and "taste" the dough. He will also bring the bowl over for us to taste and say yummy. His favorite days are when I will make real dough with him in my mixer. All of this dough making is not helping with my post pregnancy weight loss though.

Another of Remy's favorite activities has been helping Daddy with his dirt bike. He will go out in the garage with Shaun to work on it when the weather is warm. Lately he has been watching motocross with Shaun because it is to cold to stay in the garage. Remy thought it was so funny when Shaun let him wear his helmet.

A funny thing that Remy has started doing the past couple of months is whenever he goes to bed we have to put his puppies and gator on him just like this. He will laugh and laugh while we are doing it and he will go right to sleep. He even sleeps most of the night in this position. What can I say my boy loves puppies.

Mommy and Remy just getting a closeup. I was nervous that when I had Grayson that Remy wouldn't be a Mommy's boy anymore. The first day we got home from the hospital Shaun had to run out for about 20 minutes and I said I would be ok. He no longer left and Remy started freaking out. He was crying and throwing himself on the ground and I would try to pick him up but he would just hit me and scream more. I didn't know what to do and of course having just had a baby 2 days previously I was basically a crying mess. Luckily Grayson was sleeping. I just grabbed Remy in a sumo wrestler type of hold and held him and just kept saying "I love you Remy, I love you Remy" until he settled down. i got his blanky and binky and held him until Shaun got home. Poor Shaun walked in and saw that Remy had obviously been crying, I was crying, Chappy was freaking out. He wondered what on earth had happened in the 20 minutes he had been gone. Since that incident Remy has been really great. He loves his little baby brother and calls him "baby bun" because we call Grayson little bun.

Speaking of baby bun here he is just hanging out in his usual position on the couch just observing the craziness that goes on.

Here is Remy modeling the cute owl hat that my sister gave him for his birthday. I love how he is holding his little gun as well he looks like an outdoors man.

Grayson just admiring how cool his big brother is. He is so sweet he is even starting to smile a little bit. Not tons but he is smiling more each day. He is such a cute and sweet little boy

Remy hasn't ever been one to watch tv because we are always at work and he just doesn't get a chance. While I've been on maternity leave we have started watching a little tv. I tried all sorts of cartoon shows and he would kind of watch them but just keep walking in and out of the living room not really paying attention. That is until one day I turned on the tv and Paula Deen was on. She was making all sorts of cakes and cookies and scones. Remy was entranced and watched her show for an hour!!! He even drug a stool in to watch as close as he could. He would say "dough, dough, yummy!!!" the whole time. It was sweet. If only I had known this earlier I would have saved myself those cheesy cartoons. Who knows, maybe Remy is an aspiring chef.

Remy turns 2

Every boy needs a cool tricycle for his 2nd birthday. I found this beauty at Sam's club and knew he had to have it. It is still a little big for him but I figure by the time the frozen tundra melts around here he will be big enough. He just scoots it around the house for now. He even has a little step on the back that he likes to stand and jump off or put various toys on to push around.

Well it is hard to believe that my little baby is turning into a big boy. With the holidays and Grayson being born it has been really busy but I tried to make Remy's birthday a special day. One of his favorite things is to make dough. He has always watched me make cookie dough and is such a good little helper. He loves it so much that for Christmas we got him a little "mudpie kitchen" that has a little mixer and sink that he plays with constantly. He loves to "make dough" and it is funny to watch him pretend to scrape the mixer with a spoon and taste the dough and say yummy. I knew that he would want to help make his birthday cake so we got right into that business on his birthday morning.

While it was baking in the oven Remy got his big gator to rest on next to the oven. Shaun was also working on making birthday dinner: smoked pulled pork. Once the cake was done baking and the pork was in the smoker we went out to lunch for Remy's birthday lunch. Of course we let him decide where we went and he only ever chooses one thing: rice and beans. He ate those rice and beans till his tummy's delight and than took his nap while I finished up with the cake and pork.

My family came over and we ate our dinner of pulled pork and than decided it was time for cake. for Remy's first birthday we had a white cake with chocolate frosting but he didn't really like it so this year we made party cake. I also put those oreos with chocolate chips to make puppy paw prints on the cake.

Remy was confused once the cake came out that we had to sing to him. He was very excited and kept sticking his finger in the frosting. I had to blow out the candle because he thought it was strange that I lit his cake on fire.

Here is part of the fam waiting patiently for their cake. Ivy was taking pictures and we didn't end up with a picture of her. But she was there taking pictures.

Remy patiently waiting for me to dip up his cake.

Andy and Grayson just hanging out waiting for his cake. Well, Grayson didn't get any cake since he was only 3 weeks old.

After all of the delicious food it was present opening time. Chappy was very excited to help Remy. Shaun and I got him the bike seen above and a little tool box and drill. Ivy, Andy, and Mary got him some delicious crackers and toothbrushes. My Mom and Dad gave him Lincoln logs. To be totally honest Shaun asked for the Lincoln logs but Remy likes them as well. He loves to have Shaun build the logs up and he can knock them down and throw them about. Shaun's Mom and Dad got him one of those ride on cars and Remy loves it.

Remy's 2 year stats:

Height: 36 inches, 88%

Weight: 28 pounds 3 ounces, 54%

Head: 19.25, 57%

Grayson's first two weeks

Being a brand new baby would be such a crazy thing. I just can't imagine all of the things that they are hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling all for the first time. There is no question in my mind that this sensory over-load is why newborns sleep so much. Here are a few of Grayson's first moments during his first two weeks. Above you see he has just gone for his first car ride and first time to our home.

Once we got him out of his car seat Shaun wanted to introduce him to the couch and the position that he would be spending a lot of time in with his daddy watching football and motocross races.

This is his designated seat on the couch in his boppy with his 20 blankets surrounding him in case he looks like he might be getting cold. He is just so tiny!! His little outfit is one of my favorites in this picture and I wanted him to come home from the hospital in it. Shaun isn't the biggest fan of this outfit. He says that it makes Grayson look like the "gingerbread man" whatever it is cute.

Than we took Grayson into his room and Remy made sure to check that he was liking things ok.

Grayson slept almost all day and night for the first couple of days just waking up for feeding times. After a few days home I decided it was high time for a bath. He isn't much of a spitter so he really has stayed pretty clean. Of course this isn't his first bath since he had that in the hospital. I also rinse his bum in the sink a couple of times a day so he doesn't get diaper rash. He is laying in his bed waiting for me to get the water all ready and warm.

Here Grayson is on his little bath sling getting a bath. As you can see it wasn't his favorite thing that we have done. He pretty much cried the whole time until I was rinsing him with the squirter. He also liked getting his head washed because I had him all bundled up in a giant towel.

This is the post bath grumpy face. He was not overly thrilled to have gotten his bath but I put him right into his sleepy sack and he liked that. It is heaven!! It is warm like a blanket but his little legs aren't being confined in leg holes he can just kick around as much as he likes.

I tried to take some cute pictures of Grayson but my skills are not very good. I will put some of my pictures up in a later post. A friend in my ward also offered to take some pictures of Grayson and I will post those later. She did an amazing job and the pictures are beautiful. This is one of the ones I took that actually had Remy in it. There were others that Remy was a blur just running past but this one he actually stopped to give Grayson a kiss. Remy loves to give Grayson kisses and put his binky in his mouth.

Chappy even stopped to check things out. He is very protective of Grayson and is always lurking around nervously trying to keep intruders away from Grayson. When I say intruder I should also mention that to Chappy the main intruder is Remy. The reason that Grayson is crying in the picture is because Chappy decided to give him a kiss as well and he was getting sick of all of the attention.

Remy is funny and likes to stop to check on Grayson. He will sit next to him and start talking like he is telling him something important. I thought this picture was cute even though it is orange because it looks like Remy is talking and Grayson is listening closely.

Remy showing his gymnastic skills to Grayson. I mean really what is a boy who doesn't know how to stand on his big wheel and jump off daredevil style?

To wind up Grayson's first two weeks he went on his first "man" outing. Unfortunately as he soon found out that meant going to see Grandpa at the office and getting a circumcision. Luckily that is a one time "initiation" type of outing. Remy got to come along as well and was glad that he had already been "initiated".

Grayson's 2 week stats:

Weight: 7 pounds 2 ounces, 12%

Height: 20.5 inches, 46%

head: 14 inches, 22%

Grayson's arrival!!

December 29, 2010
Well I made it through the holidays to my induction day of December 29. My pregnancy was pretty uneventful thankfully, but I have such bad hip pain that I was ready to be done. Shaun and I got up bright and early that morning and my older sister Ashley came over to the house to wait for Remy to wake up. We headed to the hospital at 6:30 and got all checked in and I was at 3 cm. With Remy I was already at 5 cm when I went to the hospital but this being my second one I had hopes that this wouldn't take all day.


Once we got checked and my IV and Pit going I started dilating. I got to about a 5 and decided that I wanted to get my epidural. My epidural was put in around 9:30. My dad/doctor then got to the hospital to break my water. Shaun and I had talked about how it would be fun to have had my water break on it's own and just go through the whole "we have to get to the hospital!!" type of situation but that didn't happen. At 10:30-ish my dad broke my water it seriously was like a dam broke. I have never seen so much water or seen it come out so fast, and I have seen my fair share of water breaking. I am so glad now that it didn't break before hand because I think it would have been a total "movie" type scene.

Shaun made sure that I had plenty of cherry flavored ice chips, my favorite. It is like eating a delicious slushy and I was so thirsty. We had several visitors. My mom stayed with us most all of the morning and Shaun's parents came around 11:30. I dilated to 7 cm by 11:00 and I was convinced that it would be happening anytime. We took turns guessing how big Grayson would be.

Me: 7 pounds 5 ounces, 20.5 inches

Shaun: 7 pounds 1 ounce, 20 inches

My Mom: 7 pounds 5 ounces, 21 inches

Shaun's Mom: 6 pounds 8 ounces, 21 inches

Our nurse: 7 pounds 5 ounces, 21 inches

Once I was that dilated with Remy I went within the hour. Well, little Grayson wasn't very excited to get out of his warm little swimming pool and it took until 1:45 in the afternoon for me to be fully dilated. He was posterior and wouldn't move into my pelvis for those 2 1/2 hours but than he finally rolled over and he was ready to come out. Luckily I only had to push for 2 1/2 contractions and the little boy came right out. His official birth time was 2:07 pm. It is amazing how small they are, you really do forget how tiny they are.

The picture of Grayson on the scale is not very good, Shaun was so excited that he took the picture with his phone and forgot to take one with the camera. Grayson was 6 pounds 10 ounces. Remy was a little bigger at 7 pounds 3 ounces. They both looked almost exactly the same. It was so crazy!! I was expecting them to look different but they really looked very similar. They even had the same hair, not much but not totally bald.

Here we are with our sweet little babe!! It just blows me away how much they look alike.

Grandma and Grandpa Isbell

Grandma and Grandpa Westergard

First bath

Just enjoying the warm heater.

It was nice to be able to just be me and Shaun with the new little baby for a few days. With Remy I felt guilty leaving him in the nursery during the night but I decided that I would have the nursery keep him at night and just bring him in for feedings. I actually slept better and felt more rested when I left the hospital. My parents and sisters watched Remy while we were in the hospital. Ashley has two boys as well who are 3 and 5. Ashley said that Remy just joined right in the routine. He would line up for his meals, bath, hair and teeth brushing. He loves the regimented life and quite frankly I think he was sad to come home and not have the two boys to hang out with.

My Mom and Sister brought Remy to see us in the hospital. I was really nervous for Remy to come and see me with another baby because Remy is very much a Momma's boy. Shaun went to see him earlier in the day and Remy wasn't even really interested. He was so excited to be running with the big kids that he just did his own thing. Once he got to the hospital he again wasn't really concerned in fact he was really having fun with my mom and sister. People had warned me that when I saw Remy for the first time after having the baby he would look so big to me. I was skeptical but it was true. He looked huge!!! I couldn't believe how big he had gotten over just a few hours. I still can't believe how big and grown up he is. We had Remy sit on my lap and Shaun brought little Grayson over to meet Remy. It was cute because Remy reached out and gave him a hug and kiss. It was like he already knew him. Remy already loves his little brother.

Our first family picture!!

The first night in the hospital Shaun slept on the little pull out bed in the hospital room. It was terribly uncomfortable and I kept telling him how nice the hospital bed actually was so he joined me half way through the night. They recently got new beds in the hospital and it was quite nice for a hospital bed. I think I talked the bed up to much though because Shaun wanted to sleep in it with me the next night. It was not so comfortable the second night.

Here is one of Grayson's favorite positions. Even when we would look at him with the ultrasound he would like his head all of the way back. Shaun calls him his little turtle because he looks like a turtle the way he holds his head. He is a very sweet boy and we love him so much already. He has been so mellow. He eats every 3-4 hours and is happy to just sit, well lay around the rest of the time. Remy also loves him and always wants to give him kisses or put his binky in. He is a blessing in our lives and we just love our boys. When we left the hospital Grayson had gotten down to 6 pounds 4 ounces which is normal but quickly got back up to 6 pounds 8 ounces at his 5 day, and 7 pounds 2 ounces at his 2 week appointment. He is a good little eater and a total joy.

Christmas!!

Christmas 2010
Here I am in all my glory, 9 months pregnant and ready to burst at any time. My whole family was totally convinced that I was going to go into labor during the night and call them Christmas morning to say "sorry stop opening presents I'm having a baby". Luckily for Grayson that didn't happen.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year!! This year has been unusually busy with being due in the end of December but it is still fun none-the-less. I got my Christmas present a little early, my lovely rocking chair as seen below. I have used it so much and love it!!. I also gave Shaun his present early as well, some handle bars for his dirt bike. I love the decorations, food, family and fun!! This year I decided to keep the Christmas tree in the basement since Grayson was due right after Christmas. Remy and I did decorate it and hang our stockings though. Remy's idea of helping to decorate the tree of course is to take off the Christmas balls, throw them and put whatever else he can find in the tree. I kept finding all sorts of balloons, a golf club, some soup cans, garbage, etc.

My sister and her family comes up for Christmas every year. We ate a delicious prime rib dinner with my family and than went to Shaun's family Christmas eve party at Curtis and Colette's house. After all of the delicious food we were ready to head home and get ready for Santa to come. Every Christmas eve we have started a tradition to open a couple of presents. Mainly some pajamas and a Christmas ornament so down in the basement we went. We had been excited for Christmas because Remy is finally old enough to know how to open presents. We had him open his pajamas first. He really didn't get very excited... instead he ran over and started playing with the food storage. He loves to organize and reorganize the food storage. Unfortunately it was bedtime and I wanted him to finish opening his presents before bed so we would be ready to go to my parents first thing in the morning.

I wound up helping him open his presents by holding him hostage on my lap so he couldn't run back to the food storage. He did end up loving his little tractor that I got him. They seriously make the coolest kids toys now.

You can see Chappy here trying to see what Remy is opening. Chappy loves opening presents and Christmas. I got him some special little bones and a stuffed duck to play with. He will nose open the paper and help you open things. It is really cute.

Christmas morning we got up and headed over to my parents house. I was hoping that with watching everyone opening presents Remy would be more excited about his presents. He did in fact open one present and than played with it the whole morning while we all opened presents. He would run to Shaun every now and then to help hand out presents but he didn't want to open any more of his own. I took all of the unopened presents home and he had a great old time opening one every few days. It was like Christmas for a couple of weeks.

After Christmas at my parents house we went home and took a nap. Christmas just isn't the same without a good nap. We than went to Shaun's parents house for their family Christmas get together. We had dinner and than opened presents. I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures of it but it was very nice to have all of the families together.