Opening An Envelope

So our ultrasound was yesterday when I was exactly 19 weeks preggo and we were able to get some really good shots of our new little one.

We had the Radiology Technician determine the gender of our baby and put the picture and a note saying what it was in an envelope and then seal it and we would open it later with our older children at home. We wanted to be surprised together since we couldn't bring them with us to the appointment.

Baby looked great! Measurements had me a week ahead of where my due date is, but my doctor wants to keep it the same due date and that is fine with me. Baby is healthy in all aspects that they are able to check for via the ultrasound and we were excited to hear that. After my ultrasound we had a regular check up with my doctor and she said it all looked great as well. I go back in four weeks for another appointment. I will be 23 weeks then.

When we got home we picked up the kids from the friends house that they were being watched at and opened the envelope right away. My mom had made cute notes to put in the envelope. One said, "She's a Sister!" and the other said, "He's a brother!". Our note said the second phrase. :) Kaela, Stewart and Sarah started to jump around after they read the note and I showed them all the picture and how they could tell it was a boy.

Here is what you've been waiting for, the pics of our new baby.

This first one is a profile and you can see baby's head and face.


This on is of the baby's hand like he/she is waving hello.


This is one of the baby's arm. They were measuring it to make sure baby is growing well.


Here is the note we found in our envelope:


Here is the picture that tells us that our new baby is a boy!!! :)



The technician circled the area with a pen so we could see it more clearly on our own,
as she was not able to show us while we were there.

Today was one of Michael's Black Friday's (he has every other Friday off of work called a Black Friday) and we had already decided to use that day to paint the baby's room. We had picked colors previously to be gender neutral so that we didn't have to wait to find out just in case the ultrasound was not able to determine the baby's gender.

We did a two tone look with a tan on top and a chocolate brown on the bottom half of the room. We used 2" painter's tape to make a faux chair rail of the original paint color of cream to separate the two. Eventually I will design some vinyl decals to put up on the walls and give it some color accents.

We are very grateful that our baby is healthy and that this pregnancy is progressing well. We hope to be able to have everything ready for him when he gets here in April.

So, last night Mikaela woke me at 2:30 to help her use the restroom and get more medicine so she could go back to sleep. I planned all along to go back to sleep myself, but as I lay back down to doze off, I felt something I've felt occasionally for the last few weeks. The baby was moving and I could feel it quite well. Usually if I change positions, I either a. can't feel the baby moving anymore, or b. the baby stops moving because I did. This did not happen at all last night. I moved and the baby kept on moving. It was fun to feel, I just wish the timing was better. Before I knew it I had spent two hours feeling the baby move! LOL!

The sleep deprivation was well worth it, but I hope it isn't repeated very often. :)

I changed the ticker for my pregnancy because I found one I like better. The animation is smaller, but there is more info included with this one.

Our big ultrasound is in two weeks, so hopefully we will be able to see our little one and possibly find out the gender. Wahoo!

Lessons in Patriotism

So, needless to say, this was not our best morning getting out the door for school. Unbeknown to me, the clock on the stove was changed to be the actual time and not 10 minutes fast like I was used to. I believed we were on time and doing great until we got to the bus stop and found that the bus had come and gone already. LOL!

I ended up having to drive the kids to school and deal with the traffic that I usually try and avoid. I had also skipped having breakfast before taking them to the bus since I thought that would help us be on time, so I was hungry and not happy about having to drive them to school.

I decided to park on a side street close by and walk them in so I didn't have to sit in the traffic. We made it to their classes on time and as Kaela and I were walking back to the car, I heard the bell to signal the start of class.

At this point I had other things on my mind of what I was going to do when I got home, what I was going to eat, etc. I wasn't listening to anything around me really. Suddenly, Kaela stops walking, turns around to face the school, and puts her hand over her heart. She had heard the Star Spangled Banner playing over the intercom for the school and knew what to do when you hear that song. She stood there with me beside her for the rest of the song. Maybe it is just my pregnancy hormones, but it made me emotional to realize that it took my four-year-old to remind me what to do when the National Anthem is played. I realized I had heard it start, but I was so caught up in my own thoughts, that I didn't pay attention.

I'm grateful for this nation that we live in and for the freedoms that we have. I'm grateful for those that have fought to keep those freedoms a blessing to us.

Announcing the Fourth Edition...

We are excited to announce that the Fourth Edition to the Gardiner Children will arrive in April 2010.

This is a blessing we have been hoping for and praying for for three years and are excited to share our home with another of Heavenly Father's children. We want to take this time to thank all those whose prayers were added to ours at times and for when we needed your extra strength and faith. We could not have made it this far in life without friends and family like you.

Thanks for letting us share our exciting news!

Love, The Gardiner's

Sarah's Baptism Announcements

I am in the process of finding someone to get these printed for me as my printer isn't doing very well with them. (It is as old as Sarah is, so I guess that is to be expected.)

In the mean time, please allow me to extend the invitation to all who wish to come.

Hope to see you there!

Time flies when you're having fun!

It has been a busy couple of months. I realized that after going to download our pictures from the camera and having more than 1000 on there. Oooops!!

I will get caught up shortly now that I am a full-time stay-at-home mom! Wahoo! That's right, I officially resigned from my position with Wal-Mart and I get to stay home with my kids all the time now. I'm excited! We've started some things this Summer that the kids really enjoy. I've started reading Harry Potter to them at the beginning of quiet time. Sarah & Stewart beg me to read more than one chapter most days.

We've been camping several times already this year, but I will add those pictures later.

Thanks for all of your support and love. Without you, this would be a very dismal world to live in!

Love, the Gardiner's

Once there was a Snow Man!

The weather here was very cold and gray outside for several days. So cold even that the kids didn't want to go play in the snow. Then with about 4 inches still left on the ground the sun came out for a few days and made it feel like Spring. Sarah started making snow men. I think she made about four in total. Stewart was helping at first but got bored after the first one and started destroying them instead. Here are some pics...

It was so cold this day, when they came in that had welts on their faces. They didn't want to come in that soon though since this was the second time to wear their new boots.

This is the sun peaking through the clouds.

Stewart playing with his dump truck he named "Wall-e"

Three munchkins making a snow man.

Sarah & Kaela working together.

the finished snow man!

Sarah and her masterpeice!

smashing the first snow man.

I'll Huff &I'll Puff, & I'll Blow Your House Down!

Christmas Eve there was a very blustery and windy storm here. At about 4am we heard this awful pounding. Michael went outside to see what it was and found siding soffit hitting Stewart's bedroom window. We had to go in his room and pull it in through the window to prevent it from possibly breaking the glass.

Here is what our house looks like until we can get it fixed:

Happy New Year!

This is our annual family letter:

January 2009

Another year has come and gone. We’ve enjoyed many things together as a family this last year and hope you have as well. Here is a brief synopsis of the highlights of 2008:

We’ve taken several family trips this year. We drove to San Diego, California for Danica’s sister Jessica’s wedding in June. They were having a heat wave there and the temperatures were in the 90’s with about the same level of humidity. The heat made the beach nice and pleasant, but formal attire not so much. The little girls looked so beautiful in their white dresses and Stewart so handsome in his black three piece suit. We went to Torre Pines Beach twice while we were there and the kids asked why we can’t live closer to the ocean. We also went to Sea World for a day and the kids favorite part was the killer whale show. Even now you could ask Kaela what the hand sign is to get Shamu to splash and she will show you. She cried when it was over, so we ended up seeing that show more than once.

July brought the Hammon Reunion in Rigby, Idaho. The kids always look forward to this reunion every year and can’t wait to go play with their relatives. There are young children that come every year now, so they get to play with others their age more and more. Their favorite part was the slip-n-slide that we brought and then Uncle Duane flooded the lawn with irrigation water for a water fight.

We also spent several weekends at both cabins with and without friends. We enjoyed the family time and getting to know our friends and their families more as well. Sarah got her first case of poison ivy on one of these weekends. We went for a little walk near one of the Brighton ski lifts and there must have been some somewhere along the path. By the time we got back to the cabin, it was a full blown case and she hadn’t even said anything until about then. Over Labor Day we spent the weekend at the Uinta cabin and actually got a few inches of snow the last day.

Sarah is in second grade this year and loves her teacher. She turned seven in July and has lost most of her front teeth now. At one point we said we weren’t going to carve pumpkins for Halloween, that we would just stick a glow stick in her mouth and let her be a Jack-o-lantern for her costume. She didn’t like that idea very much. She has found a love of reading and of math. (Hmmm, wonder where she gets that from?) She is a joy to have in our family and is good at helping mom do things around the house.

Stewart has had a big year. After last year’s letter, he had to have eye surgery after being bit by a dog. His eyelid had a laceration and they didn’t think he would sit still for the procedure otherwise. That was my first experience as a parent watching my child go through a surgery (rather, I should say, come out of anesthesia). While he was waking up, he was trying to rip out his IV’s, he was mad that he didn’t have his clothes on, and he just wanted to go home. He turned five this year, but He is the size of an eight-year-old and very strong, so needless to say the nurses were very accommodating when I asked them to remove the IV’s. We also found out in the Spring of this year that he has a form of high functioning autism. We are still working with doctors and therapists to come up with how best to help him. He has good days and bad days, but mostly good days as we find his triggers and how best to avoid them. It has also helped to know this makes him special because he sees the world in ways no one else can. Like when his teacher asked him to draw themselves in class, he told her he couldn’t because he was invisible. Or when Grandpa Gardiner said they were going to bless the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, Stewart said, “It’s too late, the turkey is already dead.” Often times he will point things out in ways that I would have never thought to look at them. As we learn more about him and ways to help him, we realize how much he is a blessing to be in our family.

Kaela turned three this year. She loves to wear dress up clothes or her swimsuit and is constantly changing out of her clothes to put a “princess dress” on or her swimsuit. The latter had also helped her become better at using the toilet. YEAH! For now we don’t have to buy diapers. She loves to play house with Stewart and Sarah. Almost every time they play house, I hear someone calling “Mom!” and I will answer and get yelled at because they are playing house. Kaela is very affectionate. She will come up to me just in the middle of playing to give me a hug. Her other favorite things to do are play the computer, color, swim, and go to the park.

Michael is enjoying his first year at ATK Space Systems and they even promoted him to a Level III Engineer in October. He keeps himself busy when he isn’t at work playing Lego Star Wars with Stewart and taking all three out on “Daddy Dates.” They each get a turn by themselves with Daddy and they get to pick the activity they do. They’ve gone to the zoo, bowling, and the movies.

Danica had the opportunity to go to Wood Badge Training for adult scout leaders. She had an “Amazing” experience. She made new friends, learned how to be a better leader, and re-ignited her fire for the Scouting program. She serves as the Cub Master of the local Cub Scout Pack and is also on the basic training staff for our district. She still enjoys making cards with stamps, and her friend Esther even got her to start scrap booking. She also has started a family blog for all our family members and friends who live far away to still feel like they live around the corner. She has cut back on her hours with the Wal-Mart DC. With two kids in school and all their activities and a third a little busy-body-Kaela at home, she enjoys staying home and wants to make it more permanent soon.

We are truly blessed to have family and friends like you. We hope this Christmas Season finds you and yours well.

Christmas 2008

Christmas morning! They all have new pj pants that I sewed all by myself!

I finally got a chance to get on the computer now that the kids are back in school. Sorry it has taken me so long to get these on here, but with all five of us home for two weeks, there was a lot of competition for the computer and mom's time.

Stewart opening his new snow boots, they all got new boots which was nice when we went sledding at Grandma Gardiner's that weekend.
(Unfortunately, the camera didn't get taken out in the snow, so I don't have pics of that.)

Sarah got a piggie bank from Aunt Jessica that had her first and middle names engraved on it. Also a roll of quarters. She keeps taking it all out and putting it all back in.

Kaela got a hand made tu-tu from Aunt Jessica. She loves to dress up and loves to twirl!

Here she is testing it out. She will bring it to me most mornings and ask to have it put on.
She wanted to wear it under her dress to church!

On Christmas Eve, Poole's came to make gingerbread houses. We also had dinner with them and then did our traditional nativity story where we acted that out. I think all the pictures were taken with my dad's camera though, because I couldn't find any on ours. Oh well.

We had an amazing Christmas. Christmas Eve a storm was coming in and the winds were very strong. We heard something happen to our house and couldn't figure out what it was at first. The soffit/facia had been ripped away from the house on the south end and was still attached at the corner and swinging around the house and hitting Stewart's window. I thought it was going to break the glass, so I had Michael go in Stewart's room and pull it through the open window. The storm made it so Michael's parents couldn't come to our house, but we were able to meet with them at the Poole's for a bit.

We had put out duplex and oreo cookies with milk for Santa the night before, and that was the most exciting thing for Kaela. She said this every morning for the whole two weeks upon waking up, "Santa's cookies are gone!" After we opened presents at our house and had breakfast of the traditional butterscotch bubbles (my first year of making them here actually) oj and sausage links, we made our way to Grandma and Grandpa Poole's. The storm was weird that day. It was treacherous and windy in our town and then just rainy until we got near Grandma's and then it was snowy again. The snow stopped shortly after we got there though and we were able to spend the day. We tried to leave in enough time to beat the storm home, but upon going around the mountain, we hit straight into a wall of snow moving sideways across the road. What normally takes 20 minutes from that point, took three times that long. I wasn't the one driving, but by the time we got home, my neck and shoulders were tight and sore from stress! LOL!

We made it home safely and just in time for bedtime too!

Saturday after Christmas was the Gardiner family party. We all went up to Midway where the temperature never got out of the teens. The snow was waste deep or deeper on the kids and Uncle Mark and Uncle John got out their snow mobiles. There was lots of hot chocolate and good food. The cousin's exchanged gifts and I think everyone got something they liked. There was talk of going swimming that day, but we were having too much fun with everything else so it will have to wait for another day.

Thanks to all those that made this a wonderful Crhistmas! We really enjoyed spending time with family and friends these past two weeks.

Building a house!

Grandma Poole brought over gingerbread house kits on Christmas Eve. She, Aunt Maggie, Aunt Marcie, and Michael and I helped put them together with the kids.
Here is Stewart with all of them finished.

Here is Kaela's finished and ready to be displayed.
I think they ate as much candy as got put on them. :)

Stewart and Maggie made one together. Stewart asked if he could have another gum ball. We asked him how many he had in his mouth and he said, "one." Then he pulled it out to show us and it was the size of a golf ball! LOL!
To him it was one piece now because he had chewed them all into one piece. :)

Sarah and Grandma trying to put the roof on.

The whole group!