3 Months Old

Baby is 3 months old today.

 I can't even stand it. How did that HAPPEN?!

 She has the sweetest smile and cutest toes.

 She has sweet rolls on her little thighs that are scrumptious!

 She LOVES to suck on her entire fist - one little thumb just isn't enough for this girl!!

 When she gets excited she purses her little mouth together and kicks and kicks and kicks.

 She has the biggest bluest eyes, the cutest little nose, the roundest head, and the sweetest lips.

 Her smile is KILLER CUTE and she is THIS CLOSE to her first laugh - I can't wait for that one!

 Abby Joy truly IS our JOY and we couldn't imagine life without her. These have been the BEST 3 MONTHS EVER!!

WE LOVE YOU BABY GIRL!!

Glow Worm

One of my mission buddies sent me this photo after seeing Abby's Halloween costume...

Do you remember Glow Worms?

The resemblance is a little scary but

OH SO CUTE!!!

(thanks Connor!)

Halloween 2011

We were so excited to have our Lil' Sweet Pea with us this Halloween! 

 Our Dinosaur and Princess were very anxious to get outside and start collecting their LOOT!

We started the night at our ward "trunk-or-treat". The weather was perfectly warm, all the kids looked cute in their costumes, and we passed out 2 HUGE bags of candy in less than 15 minutes! That's my kind of Halloween!!

Our ward trunk-or-treat

Then the whole ward went to the nursing home in our neighborhood for the kids to parade around. A lot of these folks are in our ward and Paul loved having the chance to take the kids around to see them. We were shocked at how well the residents dressed up!!

Lovely witches at the Beehive Home in our ward.

Abby was pretty tired after all the trick - or - treating!

Paul loves visiting the people here!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Yellow Hill

For Family Home Evening this week Paul took us on a hike walk up Yellow Hill.

 We started off with some stretches. First backward...

 ...then forward...

 ...then we paused to watch Ben break dance.

Abby was snug as a bug in a rug. Her cheeks are simply scrumptious - I know! 

By the time we reached the top Abby was fast asleep so I flipped her around and tucked her right in. She snoozed the rest of time and missed the view at the top.

 The kids took turns throwing rocks off the top. Then Dad stepped in to show them how it was REALLY done. There were a lot of "WOW's!!" and "WHOA DAD YOU THROW FAAAAR's!!" from Rachel and Ben. We love Vernal and it was so great to see the beauty of our little town from up that high. The farms and streams and trees look beautiful this time of year.

(It kills me how much Ben is a cookie cutter image of Paul, even down to that little cow-lick of hair that grows straight down their forehead!)

 On the way back down we saw two snow-tailed rabbits, and some hawks and other birds. We took turns talking about our favorite things about Vernal and our favorite parts of the day. This moment together as a family was at the top of every one's list.

  It was wonderful to talk to each other with no interruption from LIFE. We were out of the house, away from noise and chaos, and just focused 100% on our family. Thanks for taking us Daddy!

Cutie Patootie

Does it get any cuter than this?

I mean REALLY?!

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!