Kung Fu Mama

 Have you ever noticed that babies make it really hard to get stuff done? I mean never mind the fact that I spend 8 hours of my 24 hour day feeding the lil' angel, but sometimes she JUST WANTS TO BE HELD. And those "sometimes" usually fall at the exact time I am hurrying to try to make dinner or get Rachel on the bus or something else that requires 2 hands. So I decided I would look into the VAST ARRAY of baby carriers and slings on the market to try and make this "supermomness" possible. I scored this little number on eBay and when I tried it on I thought "this thing makes me look like a NINJA! PERFECT!!" Because that's what I was going for you know... 

Kung Fu Mama

Not only does this thing make me LOOK like a ninja - turns out it has some pretty mad "ninja skills". I love that it distributes the weight over my whole back and not just one shoulder. It is SO COMFY! Abby loves it too - observe... 

Hug Hold

 

Kangaroo Hold



See how HAPPY she is!! Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that she found herself in the mirror ;) I love these sweet smiles!! (and yes she totally has my ears...sorry sweet girl!)

She was so snuggled and warm that she fell right to sleep. So I turned her around and tucked her right in.

Our home is once again a safe and happy (and snuggly) place.

"There is no charge for AWESOMENESS..." - Kung Fu Panda

A Few Favs

I can't believe our Baby Girl is 2 months old already!! WHERE DID THE TIME GO!?! At least I can say I haven't missed one single moment of this little girl's life...and I have the dirty dishes and piles of laundry to prove it!...sorry Dear.

The past two months have been some of the best of my life. I know it sounds cheesy and cliche but it's true. Every moment with Baby Girl is a happy one. My good friend gave me a wall decoration that says, 

"A baby fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty."

So true. So very very true. And we love this little Joy with all our hearts.

These are a few of my favorite photos of her first week. 

 One of Abby's MANY nick names is "Tiny" - I think you can see why...

 I love how she is peek-a-booing over the blanket. There is something about a new baby that makes your other kids suddenly seem HUMUNGOUS!!

 "OOOooooo"

 I imagine this conversation went something like, "Now Ben, if you want to hold Abby you have to be VERY CAREFUL like ME!" Such big helpers...

 All this "big brother-ing" really wears Benja out. I love how he just snuggled up in his little sister's blanket and crashed on the couch. Sweet Boy.

Next up...first day of kindergarten, baby blessing, Benny birthday, and baby smiles...

Stay Tuned...

"Joy cometh in the morning..." Psalms 30:5

Abigail Joy Gardner graced our home with her beautiful presence Friday August 5, 2011.

Thursday night Grandma and Grandpa came to Vernal to stay with us and help out for a few days. That night we all knelt for family prayer. It must have been a long prayer because sweet Benja fell asleep...

The next morning Paul gave me a blessing and we left for the hospital at 8:00. We sat with the doctor and he laid out the course for the day. Dr. B really anticipated we would be there all day and into the evening before anything would happen. After he broke my water he said, "Alright well, I'll only be 5 minutes away from the hospital all day so if anything happens give me a call." I got my epidural shortly thereafter and we settled in and were ready to play the waiting game. The nurse checked me - not much progress - so we decided to finish up all the paperwork. By now it was about 11:30 so Paul and I decided to pick a movie to pass the time. As we looked through the movie selection the nurse walked in the room. I said, "Do you think there is anything I can do to speed this process up? I mean could I sit in a different position instead of laying down - I'm sure that would help me dilate faster."

"Oh no no no...heh heh...no no we don't want to do that," replied the nurse. "In fact I'm going to get to work setting up the table before we do anything else."

"Table?" I said, "what table?"

"The delivery table Dear. Dr. B will wants everything ready when he gets here."

Then Paul asked, "How close are we to delivering?"

"CLOSE" replied the nurse.

Paul and I looked at each other in amazement. Things had NEVER gone this smoothly for us before. Then I had a couple of really strong contractions that felt very different than they did before. "I feel a LOT of pressure, kinda like I need to push" I said. A second nurse hurried in to check me and said, "Oh! Head!! Hair!! You're complete! Nurse call Dr. B and tell him we are ready to deliver NOW." The Doctor arrived quickly, checked me, gave me a high five for progressing so quickly and got all suited up to deliver. I pushed through 3 contractions and there she was! Our sweet Abby Joy. It was the most wonderful miracle.

Born at 12:20 weight: 7 lbs 8 oz length: 19.5 inches

Paul even held it together long enough to cut the cord. He was AWESOME. Then he mysteriously disappeared while the doctor and nurses finished up with me. When I realized he wasn't there I looked around the room and saw him at the far end on the couch - his face the same color as his shirt...WHITE. The sweet nurse that was getting Abby cleaned up whispered, "put your head between your knees and take deep breaths." Paul did that and color began to return to his face - in the form of big red blotches. "Lay down Honey," I said. That's when Dr. B looked up to see what was going on and said, "Oh! Hey there Paul! Lay down and throw your feet up over the end of the couch to get them above the level of your heart and head. Take deep breaths and don't fall off the couch." Poor Paul. He really did do fantastic, and while he has come VERY CLOSE to passing out with each of the kids, to his credit he has never actually gone out cold. Once he regained his composure the nurse took a picture of the three of us.

Once we got moved out of the delivery room and into the recovery room G&GG and the kids came. They got a chance to watch through the window as the nurse gave Abby her first bath.

The other nurse even let the kids pick which bow to put in Abby's hair.

Since they couldn't agree the nurse used both. Rachel's bow was pink and purple. Ben's was blue. What do you think? Pretty cute huh?

It took a while after Abby's bath before she could come back to the room. It must have been a really long time because Benja fell asleep...again.

Finally Abby Joy came and the kids just MELTED. They had waited SO LONG for this baby girl to come to our home and she was finally here! In fact we received a few texts from neighbors saying that Rachel and Ben had been running door to door informing the neighborhood that "Our baby came out!"

There is no way to describe the PURE JOY that has filled our lives and our hearts since our sweet Abby entered into it. While it's been the 4 of us for almost 4 years, we can't imagine our family without her. Abigail is the most beautiful precious gift from Heavenly Father and we are so happy He has blessed our family with her.

We love you Abby Joy! Welcome Home!

Prince Will and Princess Kate

Yes.

We watched the Royal Wedding yesterday.

Why do you ask?

THE VERDICT IS IN...

AND IT'S...

A...

GIRL!!!!

We couldn't be more thrilled! The kids have been counting down to this big day for the last 2 weeks! They would come in every morning announcing how many more days left till we got to find out what the baby would be. When the doctor asked the kids what they thought the baby was Rachel guessed GIRL and Ben guessed BOY. The doctor laughed and said, "Congratulations you are raising very healthy STEREOTYPICAL kids!" But today when the ultrasound tech announced the baby would be a girl Ben said, "I changed my mind! I want a girl! Rachel you have to SHARE the baby and we BOTH have to take care of it TOGETHER!" Funny thing is over the last few weeks Ben changed his tune and hopped on the GIRL bandwagon - I think he was being prepared for the fact that he was about to be outnumbered.

So now it's hurry up and wait until AUGUST...man this is going to be a LONG SUMMER!!

p.s. We don't have a name yet, but even if we did it's the ONE THING we keep secret until the baby is born!! We can't give it ALL away!!

p.p.s. If that 3D image at the top kinda freaks you out you're not alone :)

Ye Elders (and Sisters) of Israel

Rachel saw the missionaries in Walmart yesterday and got SO EXCITED. She yelled, "LOOK MOM!! IT'S THE ELDERS!! Can I go shake their hand?!"

It was the reaction I would have expected her to have if she met Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. So stinkin' cute.

I replied "Sure Honey go ahead!" So she carefully walked up behind them, put her bravest face on (she's pretty shy) and said, "Hi Elders!" They obviously hadn't heard her, and she turned around with this petrified look on her face - I half expected her to bolt for the door. But I whispered, "Try again Honey" and waved her on. So she summoned her courage, stood up straight and yelled "HI ELDERS!!" I think it caught them off guard because the four of them quickly turned around and seemed a little shocked to see a five-year-old there to greet them. With HUGE smiles on their faces they bent down and said, "Why Hello there!" She shoved her hand out like a tin soldier and hurried to shake their hands, then ran back to me and hid behind my legs. They looked at me with smiles on their faces and I mouthed the words, "Thank You" to them and waved goodbye.

When people serve as missionaries for my church they represent the Lord in everything they do. I am so grateful for missionaries who take that calling seriously and fulfill that role with quiet dignity. They have no idea who is watching them at any given time. Today it was my kids at the grocery store, and I'm thankful for the kindness they showed my daughter. I can only imagine the Savior acting the very same way - with love and kindness and quiet dignity.

Thanks Elders.

I asked Ben if he wanted to go shake their hands. He said, "YES!" then, reevaluating his reply, he hid behind my legs and said, "Well...actually...maybe next time."

Mommy radar

You know those scenes in action movies of the hero having to get from point A to point B across a room booby trapped with lasers or trip wires or stones that sink into the ground and cause the walls to collapse?

Well I kinda feel like that every morning I try to wake up before the kids.

Let me explain.

My husband gave a talk in church a couple months ago about having "daily private worship." It has since become a bit of a theme and goal for our family and our ward.

Now being a mother of toddlers it is difficult to find a quiet moment with no interruptions during the day to have this personal devotional. I try to sneak off while the kids are playing but the phone rings or the kids fight or someone is hungry or thirsty or bored and the time is always cut short. Like...really short.

So I finally decided that in order to prevent this from happening I was going to have to get up earlier - BEFORE the kids wake up. I thought, "I should be okay if I set my alarm for a WHOLE HOUR before the kids usually wake up."

But just like the heroes in those action movies, I tripped the wires and set off the alarm. I don't know how he does it - but my son has this internal sensor - a mommy radar if you will - and if I even SIT UP IN BED to read he is up and awake and bounding in to greet me. I will even sneak DOWNSTAIRS to use the bathroom in the morning to prevent waking him up just to have a little extra time to myself - but it doesn't matter. The kids can be completely enthralled in a movie or a game or a book and not even know I'm in the room, but as soon as I sneak out they are at my heels. I'm sure I'm exaggerating a little, and I know that I'll miss this stage when it's over, but at the moment I'm at a loss.

When do you make personal time each day to read your scriptures and write in your journal and pray without being interrupted?

Catch Up

If a book were to be written about my life the title of it would be "Catching up." I feel like I am always in "trying to catch up" mode. My last post on this blog is in DECEMBER...about SCRAP BOOKING?!...SERIOUSLY?!?!

But every time something funny happens (a daily occurrence at our house) and I think, "Oh I need to blog about that one" the little "catch up monster" shows his ugly little face and says, but you can't blog about THIS until you've blogged about THAT and THAT and THAT and THAT...and you can't blog about THOSE THINGS until the dishes and laundry are done...and let's face it - you're never going to finish those so you might as well give up on blogging all together.

Well today I slapped a lid on the catch up monster. NO the dishes and the laundry are NOT done...but they are in the works. I turned the TV off to make the kids put away their toys and now they are playing happily together WITH their toys so that too has been put on the back burner. I am not going to try to play catch up anymore by attempting posts I consider daunting like birthdays, holidays, and summer vacations, at the expense of forgetting the little day to day occurrences that are really what life is all about. My life is defined by little daily bits of love - not by our summer trip to D.C. (although that was awesome).

So be prepared to use the scroll bar. Because I AM going to document all those birthdays and holidays and summer vacations - but I'm not going to let the lack of that documentation prevent me from documenting the here and now gems.

Stay Tuned...

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking used to frustrate me on so many levels. I hated the mess, hated the cost, hated the unfinished projects. Spending hours working on a project and only completing 1-2 pages drove me absolutely nuts. Then my SIL introduced me to Shutterfly 4 years ago and I was converted to virtual scrapbooking forever. Shutterfly is so awesome because I can sit down and pound out an ENTIRE 20 + page scrapbook in a day as opposed to MONTHS working on a hand made one. We make books every year of our summer adventures. They are solid sturdy hardback books that the kids LOVE to read. I used to guard hand made scrapbooks because they fall apart so easily. Another thing I love is the mess stays on the computer desktop and not all over my kitchen table top - 0 cleanup is my kind of project! The best thing about shutterfly scrapbooking is the price. $20-$40 for a nicely printed quality hardcover book! Compare that to a homemade scrapbook - you spend $20-30 JUST FOR PAPER for a 20 page scrapbook not to mention printing your pictures, and buying all the cutsie sticker stuff to decorate with. One homemade 20 page scrapbook can end up costing hundreds of dollars and your family can't really enjoy it because you worry about them ruining it! Shutterfly saves all your projects online so if we lose or ruin one of our books we can just go online and order another one! That's fire insurance for you!
Besides books some of our other favorite things to make on Shutterfly are calendars, cards and prints. The prints are SO inexpensive and SO nice - we have an 11X14 hanging in our living room that is beautiful! We make calendars every year for Christmas and love it! Our family asks us for calendars each year because they are so fun to have. They are great gifts. And their Christmas card selection is better than any other site I've seen. They are cute, easy to make, great quality, and inexpensive.
So go check it out - I promise after one project you'll be hooked!

I JUST LOVE HALLOWEEN...

DON'T YOU?