January

Wow. Here I am writing about another January, the 3^rd one on this blog. It’s crazy how much has changed between then and now. Tannin is now a rambunctious toddler who loves to line his cars up on the stairs and who is slowly being potty trained. He’s testing his limits every day, both physically and when it comes to the rules of the house. J He loves to help and will spend all day following me around helping with dishes, clothes, and taking care of his baby sister. Speaking of whom, now we have Alana! Our little girl is growing so fast! She’s 5 months old, sitting up one her own, and eating baby food. She loves to play on the floor with her brother and “talking” as loud as she can. Lol
This month Tannin started taking gymnastics at a local gym. He’s loving it! There’s no formal classes yet but he enjoys the “mommy and me” time when he can go jump on the trampolines, swing on the bars, and practice his forward rolls.

Tannin has completely given up his Paci. Up until this point he still used it at night but he was starting to get sores around his mouth from sucking on it all night so we decided it was time for it to go. One night before bed I cut the tip of it off before I handed it to him. By cutting the nipple it allowed air into the paci so that he couldn’t create the suction that you need in order to get the good feeling. He thought it was funny and kept asking us if he had the wrong paci. We assured him that it was his and after a couple of nights he stopped asking for it.  

Over the weekend of the 15^th we had a friend from Jackson Hole Bible College, Caleb, come down from where he is stationed in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. We had fun just hanging out and catching up with each other. He worked with the family horse and had a good time getting away from work and relaxing.

My (Olivia’s) birthday was on the 25^th. It was weird not having Richard home during the day. Since we’ve been married we were in college so he was with me all day on my birthday in classes and such. Now that we’ve graduated and he’s working his cabinetry job I’ve had to get to him being gone most of the day. The kids and I celebrated by taking a walk in the woods to climb trees and then we came together as a family that night for cake and ice cream. Richard made me a custom t-shirt with the kids’ handprints on it and all of our initials and he let me know that he was working on something for me in the shop but it wasn’t ready yet. He’s lathing me a wooden jar and it’s coming along very nicely. He said it was an M&M jar so I asked him if that meant he would continually keep it filled with candy. Lol No such luck. J These gifts also came with a beautiful letter that I think was probably my favorite gift…if not, it was definitely a close second, we’ll have to see what happens with this jar. ;)   

The month ended on a bitter sweet note with the passing of Richard’s Grandpa Reimer. While he will be missed we were all glad to see him finally leave his body of suffering and go to be with his Savior and the love of his life, his Annie. She had gone on before him some years ago and he missed her dearly. Richard will be heading up for the funeral soon but that is a story for another month… J

December

Christmas time is here! I love this time of year. We began with my mom’s birthday and pulling out the Christmas decorations. It was so much fun to get everything out and to put up the tree. Tannin got to help hang the ornaments and Alana laid under the tree staring up at the lights. The hard part was keeping the ornaments on the tree! We followed Tannin around for the next couple of weeks retrieving ornaments and placing them back on the tree.

We started the Walk Through Bethlehem and had a blast. After the five nights were done we were really tired and glad it was over but we did enjoy it. We were assigned a time to arrive and would relieve the Mary and Joseph that were there before us. Alana wasn’t too sure what to think about it all. She really just wanted to sleep and found it hard with all the people around her talking and singing but she would eventually pass out every night. They had so many groups coming through that we were reciting our lines every four minutes or so for an hour and a half! One time, the groups were 2 minutes apart! So many people came through and heard the gospel. They would easy get a thousand through in a night. The groups would start off talking to the Romans at the gates of the city and then slowly work their way through the streets talking to vendors as they went. Every night there was over 280 actors in the streets. We had extras that just walked and talked to people here and there. There were centurions who would harass any “Jews” that crossed their paths. There were vendors who would hawk their wares and children who ran and played. Everything was lit by fires and torches….it was really cool.

We traveled up for a family Christmas party in Northern Alabama and had a blast. Richard’s new job had a party as well. Tannin and Alana got to tag along for some steak and a really good Reese cup cake. Oh yeah, Richard got a new job. His boss at the construction company was moving the business to South Carolina and was shutting down the office here. Thankfully Richard was able to pick up a job on just the first day of searching. He visited Woodham’s Cabinetry shop, dropped off his resume, had an interview, and got a call back the next day. He started working with them that next Monday. Sometimes God moves quickly J

Christmas day finally came. Richard and I have been so excited to give Tannin his presents and to see his excitement. He got a Spiderman t-shirt and undies (we’re potty training) from mommy and daddy and DinoTrux figurines from Gramma and Papaw. He asks to wear the undies every day and won’t let his DinoTrux out of his sight. Success! Alana got some stacking cups and duckies from mommy and daddy and a walker from Gramma and Papaw. Our little man ate so much candy! The floor was littered with wrappers. Since then we’ve really cut back on the amount he’s allowed. Mommy and Daddy are sacrificing themselves and removing the temptation from him…by…eating…it.

Richard made me a beautiful wooden necklace and earrings. He turned the beads himself and painted them the colors of our birth stones. He also made a little jewelry box for them to go in. It was all beautifully done and the time and skill he spent on them was evident. I thought it was funny though because I also made him a necklace. Funny how our minds think alike. J His was on a leather thong with three brass pendants with mine, Tannin, and Alana’s initials on them and a small wood pendant that had an oak leaf on it. (We’ve been reading the Ranger’s Apprentice together. If you’ve read the books, then you’ll understand.) Richard also made a Dalek (from Dr. Who) out of a salt shaker for Garrett. He was very proud of it, as he should be; it turned out great!

We also got the chance to meet Shelby’s fiancé’s parents. If you didn’t get that update, my sister is getting married! We’re really excited for her and Lewis. J

The last thing we did this month was a date for me and Richard. We left BOTH of the kids with Gramma and Papaw and went out to dinner. It was so great to get away for two hours and just be together. It’s funny how the simple act of talking is so sweet when there is no baby in your arms to distract you. The kids had a great time and were very happy to see us when we got home. J

I think that wraps up our year.   

November

We started this month with our big boy’s 2^nd birthday! He’s growing so fast! We got back from Atlanta on the 3^rd and had his party on the 5^th. It was Dinosaur/Construction themed and we invited some friends over to come play in his new sand box. He had a blast.
We thought we would go ahead and share the really big thing that is going on. We are working on moving to India! We have some friends who have a job for Richard there and we’re really excited to join them. It will be a little while yet because we have to save up some money and get everything in order here first but that is where we are headed. We are so excited and can’t wait to experience a new culture and learn a new language. Richard has been attending a lot of meetings and going to a lot of classes in order to get ready. We can’t wait for the opportunity to actually visit our friends in the coming year and see what all we have to look forward to.
Alana got a cool role to play this last little bit. We signed up to be Mary and Joseph in our church’s Walk Through Bethlehem and she got to be baby Jesus. So far we have only been to one practice, we were out of town for the first one and the kids and I were sick for the second, but it should be a lot of fun. Basically it’s a huge Bethlehem town when groups tour through and talk to actors dressed as people from Jesus day. As you go from stall to stall the story of the Gospel is slowly unfolded until it climaxes with seeing the baby Jesus in the stable. It looks like it’s going to be great! I can’t wait to see it running.
For Thanksgiving we traveled up to see family. We had a great time but we all came home sick. *bleh*
Well, that’s all for November, see you next month.

October

This month focused around my parents coming down for the Canadian Thanksgiving. For all you Americans who don’t know when that is, it’s the same day as Columbus Day. They ended up arriving 2 days later and stayed a whole week!

While they were here, we spent a lot of quality time together. Unfortunately, I still had to work, but they spent the daytime with Olivia and the kids. So, that Friday they went with Olivia to the Dothan Art Museum. After I got off work, we headed to Corn Dodgers to spend the evening. For all ya’ll who don’t know what in the world Corn Dodgers is, it’s basically a farm that’s been converted into a theme park for farm kids. There’s a corn maze, which we unfortunately didn’t go through, along with several other smaller attractions spread over a few acres.

They had a corn cannon and were able to let Tannin shoot some corn at the target for a chance at $50. Needless to say, no one hit the target. The corn was too misshapen and the cannon barrel all out of spec…nah, they just wanted to make it a challenge, lol.

Anyway, we got supper after that and then followed him onto a “train” ride where a lawn tractor had barrels painted like cows pulled behind it, with cutouts to ride in. It was pretty fun and Tannin had a blast! Then we jumped on a gigantic blowup trampoline where he held my hands and jumped with me until he fell down and decided he was done. It was time to move on to the petting zoo. He loved feeding the animals, but wasn’t sure how he liked the goats and piglets attacking him for more. He ended up pushing through them and trying to get out of the pen. He also got to ride a pony. Then there was a water racing station, the “Tower of Tires”, a grain bin full of corn kernels, and a pumpkin patch.

After racing the duckies a few more times we headed home after a long, fun day.

The next day I woke up sick and ended up sleeping most of the day. So, instead of going to the reenactment, everyone took it easy and hung out at home.

Sunday, I was feeling better and after church we headed out to the Battle at Newton Reenactment. Olivia got me hooked up with the crew and before I knew it, I was put on the cannon. I was put in position 4, which is the position to fire the cannon. I was given the pull cord with which to fire the cannon, which had a fuse on the end which was placed in a hole at the back of the barrel. It only took me a try or two to get the technique right (essentially an uppercut punch) before I was blasting the Confederates to kingdom come! Afterwards I found out that every time a cannon went off, Tannin would go, “Boom, boom!” along with hand gestures to emphasize the explosion. He’s pretty cute.

Tuesday, they headed to the beach while I went to work. They had a great time at Panama beach and even got to see a dolphin! I came home to two hermit crabs and even got to name one. So now, we have added Colonel and Jr. to the family. That night, I had to say goodbye to my parents since I was heading to work early that next morning. Olivia and the kids said goodbye noon the next day.

Thank you so much for coming Mom and Dad! We loved having you guys down South here! I know Tannin loved spending time with you too.

At the end of the month, since we were leaving for Atlanta before Halloween, we got Tannin a Captain America outfit and Alana a Ninja Turtle outfit and went “Trunk-or-treating” at a local church. Tannin had a blast playing the games, rode on a little train that they had and ran around in the pumpkin patch. I think that was his favorite part! At the end of the night, we picked out some pumpkins and headed home. Then, right before leaving for Atlanta, we carved our pumpkins, one for each of us. Olivia carved an oak leaf. It was kinda cool because she didn’t go all the way through, making it thin enough to allow light from the candle to get through. Mine was a creepy dragon-tiger face. Tannin’s was a super-T symbol, and Alana’s was a cute little face.

We left for Atlanta that last Friday and made the 4-5 hr trip. We left Tannin with the grandparents and experienced being away from our son for the first time ever! I remember going to the McDonald’s for some food and saw an indoor playground. I saw it and thought, That’s perfect for Tannin! I can’t wait to bring him here….when I realized I wouldn’t be able to since he was back home in Alabama…needless to say we missed our little boy the whole time we were there.

 

September

Well, we finally wrote this month…and this time it wasn’t because we forgot, lol! We have been very busy with some big family changes involving a career change and change of residency. If you want to learn more, feel free to email us and we’d be more than happy to explain.

This month began with me getting my biometrics done for my permanent residency…again. Now, we’re just waiting on the government to approve it. I got to go to my first Wood Turner’s Meeting with my father-in-law and brother-in-law. We had a great time and I learned some new things to try out. We were challenged to make a kitchen appliance or tool of some sort. I ended up making a potato masher – that is, a showcase potato masher because it wasn’t strong enough…and I stained it and sealed it with the wrong stuff to use it with food. Whoops, lol :)

Mom and Dad Evett had their 20^th Anniversary which my father-in-law used to plan a surprise vow renewal after an anniversary getaway. Family and friends gathered to celebrate their marriage and be a part of their official reaffirmation of their vows. Congrats guys! We love you dad and mom!

After that, we took a trip to Atlanta for 5 days. This is where our comment at the beginning comes in. We had some meetings to attend and mom watched Tannin during the day while we sat in meetings.

The month closed out with me going to a Forge Meeting where I learned how to make a dragon head out of metal! Not sure I’ll get the chance to try it, but it was cool to watch. That’s all folks. See you next time!

August

Finally, the month we’ve all been waiting for. We found out that I would be working the week Alana was due and would be out of town, about 2 hours away. After talking to Olivia’s doctor, he said that she was progressing wonderfully and recommended inducing just to make sure that I was there. So we planned the induction for Wednesday the 5^th and I headed out of town to work the 2 days prior.

The special morning arrived and we headed into the hospital at 5 a.m. After getting Olivia admitted, I headed out to get breakfast while they got her all hooked up and ready to go. At 6, the doctor came in and broke her water. We had asked that he do this before starting the Pitocin to see if her body would start labor on its own.

After an hour she was having contractions 5 minutes apart but they wanted to see if they could get labor to speed up. So, they gave her a small amount of Pitocin which quickly got the contractions to 2 minutes apart. The nurse upped it one more time and they started coming in hard and fast at about minute apart. Olivia was doing great! She was breathing through the contractions and I was rubbing her back trying to provide some counter pressure. About 3 hours in, Olivia asked for an epidural. The contractions were coming really fast and if this was anything like her labor with Tannin, she still had 5 hours to go. No one knew just how far along she was!

She got the epidural and 30 minutes later the nurse came in to check on her and found that little Alana was crowning. We were all pretty shocked that it had happened so soon. Thankfully, Olivia’s sister Shelby had just arrived to take the pictures.

They quickly got the doctor in there – he wasn’t even able to change out of his suit, lol – and he threw a gown and some gloves on. Ten minutes later, we welcomed our little Alana Rose Reimer into the world! She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz., measured 20 ½” long, and had a head full of curly, black hair. She’s holding up the family tradition of having thick, black hair at birth, at least on their mother’s side, lol. Olivia was born with black hair that was 3” long! It used to stand up straight…she was pretty cute, no bias.

Tannin was able to see us that night and say hello to his new sister! He was staying with grandma and pawpaw while we were at the hospital. He had no clue what was going on and wasn’t entirely excited about this new person taking his mommy’s lap. Since then he’s come to like her, hugging and kissing her before going to bed.

Over the next day and a half, we had some friends from church and family stop by to say hi and see how the baby and momma were doing. After that, we were discharged and got home the afternoon of August 7^th. Olivia was feeling great, not having the spinal headache she had had with Tannin.

After that, Alana had her 1 week appointment that next Monday. I was back at work and life was finding its new rhythm. Since then, life has been interesting, trying to juggle two kids needing our attention and investment in their lives. It’s been good though: stretching, but good J

Oh, and I got my extended Permanent Residency unofficially approved! The reason for this is because my initial Permanent Residency was a conditional one, one that needed renewing after 2 years. Olivia got all the paperwork together and sent in. We received a confirmation letter and an appointment for me to get fingerprinted in September. This new card will be good for 10 years while we work on getting my citizenship. Yay!

 

 

July

Before I do this month’s entry, I thought I’d give a shout out to our Quorumites (small group in Waukesha). I realized after I had posted last month’s newsletter that I had forgotten to mention them. In June, we said goodbye to our friends from the Quorumite group.

 

These amazing people have been a part of our lives for nearly 3 years. We met them when we began going to NTBI in the fall of 2012, right after getting married. It was a newly married’s class at Elmbrook Church and once the class had ended, we decided to keep going as a small group. Ever since then, our group has changed, grown, and developed into what it is today. Olivia and I were blessed to have them as a part of our lives in many ways!

 

One that I remember was in the middle of January. After getting back from Christmas in Alabama our car wouldn’t start because the fuel line had frozen (apparently they water down their gas the further south you go, lol). One of the men in the group came over and helped me get it fixed, and luckily the weather warmed up around the same time and we were able to drive again.

 

Thank you Quorumites for all your love, support, friendship, and living life together. We won’t forget you all and hope we can see you all again!

 

Now, on to July. This month was mostly just working for me and pregnancy for Olivia. For the 4^th of July, we bought some fireworks and lit them in the yard. It was pretty fun. Tannin loved all the lights and noises, staring up at the sky as they went off. Every time there was a pause so we could light the next one he would turn to Olivia and sign for more.

 

Speaking of Tannin, he’s grown in his vocabulary, occasionally trying to repeat words we say, usually only once, much to our chagrin. He loves to be outside and see the dogs. Our neighbor has a pool and has let us use it, so we brought Tannin there after work on several occasions. He’s finally becoming okay with the water, not freaking out every time we bring him close to it. He’s even starting kicking! So now we’ve just got to show him how to use his arms at the same time, lol. Oh, and he’s getting less messy at meal time. Cleanup isn’t nearly as bad now. Meals where we used to have to bathe him afterwards, he only needs a mild cleaning. Definitely nice. Oh, and we found out that he’s not really scared of much. During a thunderstorm, instead of getting scared like most kids, he raises his arms and goes “boom, boom”, trying to mimic the thunderclaps. It’s pretty funny to watch, lol.

I’ve been enjoying working in the shop; they have a carpenter’s shop with various woodworking tools, so it’s been nice to use my hands again. I’m working on a clock right now. I got all the gear ratios figured out and the gears cut out. We’ll see how far I get on this project in August.