We Love Andlie

We can't believe how much we love our Andlie! She makes us smile every single day and we feel so blessed to have her in our family!

38 Weeks Plus 4 Days!

Okay, we obviously didn't last a full 40 weeks, but me and Andlie sure did last 38 weeks and four days! As Bryan posted, Andlie Grace was born on January 5 - - a whole ten days early! I couldn't just end the week by week pictures without one final one, so. . .

36 Weeks. . .

. . .and 38 weeks plus four days!!

Bad Blogger

I am the worlds worst blogger. I am sorry that I have not kept this thing up to date like I implied I would and wanted to. I guess that is what happends when life changes drastically. Any-who, here are a couple more pictures. I swear I will get the rest of them posted eventually.

Sleeping-only during the day unless being held by either Chandi or I while sitting in the recliner.

Back by Popular Demand

Okay, so based on the amount of comments asking for more pictures, here you go. The first one is from last night. For some strange reason she likes to hold on to her binki really tight. She doesn't want it to run away I guess. The last one is right after birth. There will be more pictures later. These are just the ones that I got off my phone. There are a ton of pictures from our camera that should be up this evening. ENJOY!

Andlie Grace Allen

Well, Chandi is home recovering and taking care of our new beautiful little girl and we don't have internet at home so I will be doing most of the post for the next few days. Our little girl was born on Jan. 5th, 2009 at 12:52 pm. She wieghed in at an impressive 7 lbs even, and she stretches 20 inches long. She has a bunch of dark brown hair, and has a very cute little button nose.

Chandi is doing great. We went in at 4:30 in the morning and the baby was born a little over 8 hours later. Chandi had an epideral and she loved it.

Sorry the post is a little scattered but I haven't slept in 2 1/2 days so...

Traditions

Old Tradition (3 Years): Put up our darling Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving! We still love it even after three whole Christmases!
Old Tradition (51 Years): Attend the Benson Family Christmas Eve Program. . .

. . .where Granny always begins with, "It's Christmastime at our house!" and. . .

. . .where the Nativity Story is gracefully acted out. [Please notice that the wise man, played by Colton, brought the baby some crayons and chocolate while wearing a sideways tie as his headdress and that the angel, played by Bryce, is wearing a shiney wreath on his head and was, at one point, using his lit up cell phone as the star.]

New Tradition: Participate in the Benson Family Gift Exchange! This year, all twenty something of us drew a name. How fun to see what everyone got everyone else!

Old Tradition: Wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning and open presents at the Goodwin house! (I may have been a tiny bit tired. OR, maybe I was just getting ready to use the present I just got.)

New Tradition: Bryan finally got a stocking at the Goodwin house this year! Thanks, Mom!

New/Old Tradition: We've always opened presents as a family on Christmas Day with the Allens. This year, however, we did it at our house!

Old Tradition: Bryan and his brothers recieve a matchbox car each year for Christmas from Santa and are still excited about it!

Old Tradition: Take a "One Time A Year Where Everyone Is All Together Allen Family Photo" as Bryan's Dad calls it.

New Tradition: Eat Christmas dinner made by me with the Allens at our house! We had so much fun hosting Christmas and we hope it becomes a fun tradition! Yes, I actually made a full turkey dinner. I'm impressed.

We had a very, very merry Christmas! Most of all, we are so thankful that we were able to spend time with family whom we love so much and are grateful for every single day!

36 Weeks!

• One Batch of Baby Laundry: Done.
• Bassinet Set Up in Mommy & Daddy's Room: Done.
• Baby Room: Almost Finished.
• Entire House Cleaned: Uh. . . Thanks to Bryan, we've made some definite progress.
• Hospital Bag Packed: No.
• First "Check My Business" Doctor's Appointment: Happened.
• Growing Belly: YES!!

34 Weeks:

36 Weeks:

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

The Real Santa

Each year, at the Goodwin Family Christmas Party, Santa comes - - the real Santa. Each year, when his bells jingle and he bursts through the door, I get just as excited as I did when I was five years old!

After Santa leaves, everyone finds themselves doing the "relax your jaw and move your mouth around" exercise and the "rub your tummy and stand up" exercise to relieve our sore smiling and laughing muscles! Santa comes with a bag full of presents and a night full of laughter! See for yourself why he's so much fun!

Santa Quotes 2008

"You know, I was flying down I-15 headed toward Cedar City, and I saw this shiney billboard from the distance. At first, I thought it was the Superdome. Then, as I got closer, I thought they were making another billboard on top of the billboard. Then, I thought it was just a hat on top of the head. Man, that thing is huge! I could have skiied down that head! Ol' Ed must be gettin' 'a head' in the workplace! He must be usin' his head! Then, I thought they should change the billboard to say, 'Get ahead with Ed!'"
"Where's Cafeteria? Cafeteria? Oh!! I mean, Trey!"

[Still speaking to Trey.] "Come on up here, Uno, Dos."

"Let's see. . .who is this one for? Dion! Where's Dion! Oh!! Celine! That's who it is!"

[Speaking to Danny.] "Oh Danny Boy, the night, the night is ca-alling! Sing with me. SING! You know you want to."

[Speaking to McKay.] "Has anyone ever called you David O.? What do you want for Christmas, DAVID?"

"Where's Dennis? Is he around? Oh, I mean Quade!"

"How about The Sunshine Band? Are they here? I mean Casey!"

"Does anyone need a lamp?"

"I told the reindeer to stay out of this bag!"

[Speaking with Bryce about where he wants to go on his mission next year.] "I'll put in a good word with the prophet to see if we can't get you somewhere good."

[Speaking to Tanner when he told Santa he wanted the Bears to go to the playoffs for Christmas.] "I'll have to use a lot of magic to make that happen."

[Speaking to Bret when he told Santa he didn't know how tall he was.] "Stand up. Put your right arm up. Now your left one. Now shoot your right arm straight up in the air. DO IT! Okay, now I'm gonna flip you over the top of me and you're gonna land in the chair. It's gonna to hurt a lot, but it's gonna be worth it."

[Speaking to Tanner & Bryce after the moms requested a picture with the two future missionaries.] "You two hold this bag. Okay, now act like you're throwing up in the bag! Ho ho ho!!"

"Now every time you look at that picture, people are gonna think we're looking in the bag, but you'll know that we were acting like we were throwing up and that's all that matters."

[Speaking to McCoy as he stood up and 'flew' him all over the room!] "Grab onto my thumbs. This is called the Santa Pack!"

"There's some good snow up at Brian Head now. Do you 'snow' what I mean?"

[Speaking to Megan when she said she wanted a dolly for Christmas.] "Do you want one that laughs and cries? One that will open and shut it's eyes? Okay, now who wants a ball and a whip that cracks?"

[Speaking to Quade when the present that he was about to open was clearly a football.] "Do you want a football? I bet I can make that happen right now. If that's a football, you have to kiss me right on the lips."

[Speaking to my Dad.] "You must be usin' your noggin, Ed! Hey, that's what you get for sitting within arms length of me."

"Where's Ronald? Is Ronald here? I mean, Megan! Has anyone ever called you Ronald Megan?"

[Speaking to Bryce when Bryce told him he'd be in Iraq next year.[ "I'll rack you with my boot right now if you don't tell me truth!"

. . .and that's why we love Santa! Of course, when he leaves, all of the kids are instructed to watch out the back window for his sleigh and Rudolph's nose!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We hope your holiday parties prove to be just as much fun as ours! (Even though that's not really possible.)

Who Did It?

Alright, who's the crazy who voted that our sweet little girl won't be here until AFTER January 20? Quit being ridiculous.

SNOW!!!

It's been snowing in Cedar City since last Friday night, and let's be honest, hasn't really stopped since! We bet we have gotten about 20 inches so far and it's still snowing! We love it! These pictures were taken this morning just before I left for work. It feels so much more like Christmas and it looks beautiful!

Most roads have been plowed just enough to let the cars through. Snow drifts appear on each side of the roads. Plus, you better bet that everyone is out on their 4-Wheelers with plows attached!

Once again, Bryan wins the award for best husband ever! Every single morning this week while I'm getting ready, he has woke up an hour before he really has to just to go outside and start my car, scrape the windows, shovel a path from our house to my car door, and shovel the entire driveway so I can get out safely. Thank you so much, Sweets! I LOVE YOU!