Gardner's Dirt

A Scene from a Gardner Kitchen!

2010-05-04T01:12:00.000-04:00

It was spaghetti night at the Gardner household....
need I say more or should I leave it up to your imagination.
Sarah had just finished eating and I was still ravenous, so I allowed her to sit on my lap while I finished.
Yes, everyone mistake #1!
Mistake #2 - allowing Bella to sit by the table and eat our crumbs. Who has time to vacuum?
So Since Sarah only wants real food now, naturally she reached out for my food.
And there we have it - I wasnt quick enough. Her little fingers grazed the edge of my plate and yes marinara sauce did go flying into the air. Landing partially on the floor but mostly on my Bella boo.
Can you make this stuff up? My life in that 5 seconds was as surreal as it gets!
The worst part was that Bella couldn't even enjoy it. It landed on her head and her tongue wouldn't reach.
Oh well, you just have to sit back and laugh.

Happy Birthday Donnie!

2010-02-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Donnie!
I really mean it when I say I have fallen in love with you all over again.
He has shown that marriage truly is a 50/50 partnership. Sarah is so lucky to have him as a father.
There is no place he would rather be every night after work then playing with his baby girl. Not to mention, He has changed her more times in the middle of the night than me. For that alone, I am beyond grateful. Happy Birthday, love, hope you have a wonderful Birthday week!

The Love Dare

2010-02-22T22:48:00.001-05:00

It's the Lenten Season...a time for repentance, renewal, strengthening your relationship with God/Jesus.

Many people decide to give up something. That's not all Lent is cracked up to be.

Along with giving up our choice addictions (warm drinks for me and meat for Don), we have decided to "do" something also not just for each other but for our family. Im sure many of you have heard of The Love Dare book. For those who have not, it is a 40 day challenge (there is a 365 day one also) to strengthen your relationship with your spouse, whether you have a solid marriage or not. The "dares" can be as simple as "dont say anything negative to your spouse at all today" and then they can be pretty hard to swallow as well. Such as let your spouse tell you 3 things that annoy him about you without saying a word. Ouch! I am embracing this challenge. This is day 6 and I am already seeing a difference in both of us individually and as a couple. I am confident we will survive the 40 days...hopefully...ha ha!
There is also a movie made to compliment the book, Fireproof. For us children of the 80's, Kirk Cameron is the main actor in it! Go out and watch it, I dare you!

Bell-Ah!!!

2010-02-22T22:33:00.001-05:00

Sarah babbles, babbles and babbles some more. She is a pretty vocal baby.
Occasionally, we believe she is saying mom, heavy on the om. However; the other day, while she was playing on the floor Bella walked by. Sarah is pretty obsessed with Bella these days.
Sometimes Bella is interested and other times she is not. She was not this day. She just stared at Sarah about an arm's length away. Sarah reached for her and reached. Bella didn't budge. Sarah began to grunt and then to our surprise came out, Bell - AH! Then exasperation and nothing since! Bella still didn't budge. It might have been a fluke but still exciting all the same. Deep down inside though I truly hope mom is her repeat word of choice and not her sister dog, Bella.

My Sweet Strawberry Hat

2010-01-19T01:12:00.000-05:00

Thank you to my loving and creative, Auntie Corie, for my homemade strawberry hat!

She is so thoughtful.

NYE in Philly

2010-01-01T01:43:00.001-05:00

We traveled up to Philly for NYE. It was brrr cold.
We spent the evening with close friends, really more like family.
Unfortunately, the city is obnoxious and started setting off fireworks and other loud sounds well before midnight. Thats right? You got it! Sarah woke up. Around 10:30p she blessed us with her presence.
To her credit, the house was loud too. Trivial pursuit can be competitive apparently.

Good times we're had by all and we also got to spend time with my family that we didn't see over Christmas. I am excited for 2010 and feeling very appreciative for my family and friends.

Little Artie

Sarah was thinking, "I'm actually getting away with this. They're letting me stay up way past my bedtime."

Mary getting her mom with the silly string!

Cheers to 2010!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2009-12-28T14:43:00.155-05:00

Ah, Christmas time...so hectic, yet so much to enjoy.

We started off the season right - baking cookies. We baked and baked some more throughout the month of December. Everything from butter cookies to cupcakes to dipping bread. Carbs unfortunately are my friend. Donnie and I like to have a real tree, so the pursuit was on for the perfect one. We searched and finally found it. All the while, Sarah was passed out. That's ok - she enjoyed it later. She was very intrigued with the branches, which will make for a very protected, gated tree next year. We also tried to take in some of the local Christmas sights. We really enjoyed ourselves and watching Sarah take everything in. We went to Hunt Club's winter wonderland with our favorite friends, the Dunnagan's, and Busch Gardens with my family.

We got to spend Christmas with both our families this year, which was so nice and a first. My immediate family came down on Christmas eve morning from Philly.

Christmas Eve was spent in Poquoson with Don's family. By the end of the night, Sarah was covered in sparkles from the tissue paper. She was a trooper though, so happy and excited. On Christmas day, family came over in the morning to watch Sarah open her gifts. We then had Christmas breakfast at our place. Bella behaved quite well and didn't try to take any of Sarah's gifts. Later in the day, we headed over to my aunt's for dinner. By this time, Sarah was DONE. She really could have cared less about another present or being hugged/kissed by another family member. We were busy all throughout the weekend, but it was so worth it to be with all of our loved ones at "the most wonderful time of the year!"

Oh Christmas Tree...

Hunt Club Winter Wonderland

Daddy showing Sarah the bear! The Dunnagan's enjoying smores

Tuckered out before we even left!

Someone was a good girl :)

Busch Gardens

Color Me Mine

2009-12-15T23:47:00.015-05:00

We decided for one of our Christmas presents to grandparents, aunts and uncles, we wanted to make something special to capture Sarah's 1st Christmas. We decided to attempt pottery at Color Me Mine.
We knew it would be time consuming and we were nervous about how Sarah would do in there for a long period of time. However; to our pleasant surprise, she was great. She enjoyed checking everything out around her and just taking it all in. The staff were a huge help and so patient with us. They even held the mugs while we took her footprints. Their website is http://www.norfolk.colormemine.com.
Below is the mug we gave my mom in her favorite color - blue.

Sarah's 1st trip to the outlets!

2009-12-10T00:54:00.000-05:00

I love to shop. Now it has gotten worse since there are so many adorable options and accessories for Sarah. We often go to the outlets in Williamsburg, but we had not been since Sarah was born.

Of course, with Christmas approaching we needed to make a trip. So my mom & I headed up for the day. We went during the week, so there were no crowds. I was also on the hunt for a Christmas dress for Sarah. Luckily for me, she also enjoys shopping especially in her bjorn.

Born to Shop!

Gingerbread man @ Yankee candle

(that just might be one of my favorite places)

Thanksgiving, Gobble Gobble!

2009-12-05T22:30:00.175-05:00

First, yes, I am a blog slacker. I really have good intentions.
Second, it is one of my goals in 2010 to be better about blogging. Have we all said that?
I enjoy it and it truly is a nice way to capture your child's precious moments. I just enjoy sleeping a little more....
Now back to my Thanksgiving post!

This year, we celebrated in Philly. Sarah is becoming quite the traveler.

Thanksgiving morning, we got up early and headed downtown to the parade. It was a little chilly, but completely bearable. It was the first time Sarah wore her heavy winter coat. She did not like it at first; however, once we were outside you could tell she was glad she was all snuggled up.

She was mesmerized at the parade. Completely different experience then at homecoming. Sarah loved watching the floats (I think she enjoyed watching the people even more. There are some interesting characters in the city of brotherly love.)

Some pics from the parade!

Following the parade, we returned back to my moms for some good eats. Sarah tried some mashers and gravy, but wasn't digging the texture just yet. This year, Thanksgiving also fell on my brother's birthday. It was nice being able to celebrate with him. My mom, aunt and I have an annual tradition of going shopping on black friday. Why do we torture ourselves? I think now it is much more then getting great deals. We actually enjoy getting up at the butt crack of dawn and spending the morning/early afternoon together. Seriously though, Kohl's is the place to be. We scored major deals on Fisher Price toys. It is also my family's tradition to make the first round of butter cookies for the season on this weekend. Butter cookies are an easy recipe but a lot of love goes into the creating/decorating process. We have perfected this over the years and now the men participate. Willingly might I add!!! My brother, Donnie and even Tommy all have a job on the assembly lane and they do it pretty well. We also got to spend time with family & friends all weekend long - hanging out at my Aunt Roe's, breakfast with Aunt Melissa & Gary, celebrating Aunt Mare Mare's birthday and getting Sarah's picture taken with Santa! It was pretty exhausting but well worth it.

My adorable turkey bow (made by LeAnne)

Feed Me

Happy Birthday, Uncle Matt!

Yes, Sarah enjoyed Santa this year...I have a feeling it might be the last for a little while..

Aunt Mare & Arthur came along too!

Lastly but most importantly, I am really overwhelmed and thankful in every definition for many reasons. Sarah is pure joy and love. We thank God everyday for the gift of a healthy child. I am consumed with gratitude that God chose us to be her parents.

I can not leave out my sincere thanks and appreciation to my mother, who is Sarah's caregiver during the day. She has left a lot to take care of her and smothers Sarah with unconditional love each and everyday. I am also appreciative to my work - for all of their flexibility upon my return and for giving me Fridays off! How can I leave off my wonderful husband? - he has amazed me this year. His willingness to take care of Sarah without being asked. He spoils us but most importantly he has nurtured us. There are many of you out there - who I am thankful for - our loving & supportive families, our friendships, support, encouragement...for answering my baby texts when I have had questions... you know who you are?!

Just know that your kindness never goes unnoticed or unappreciated!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bella turns 2!

2009-12-02T22:41:00.002-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Bella Boo!
Who decided to chase a cat at 9:30p and was completely covered in mud.
Emergency bath was needed.

Wink Salon

2009-11-16T00:47:00.010-05:00

I have to give a shout out to Wink Salon and my fabulous hair stylist, Tori.
If you live in the Hampton Roads area, it is a great place to get your hair done.
Truly, I don't even have to speak. Tori actually knows what I want all of the time. I am not exaggerating.
I feel so lucky to have found her. Well this is where I have to thank Amanda because she found her first and recommended her. This is their website, check them out - winksalon.com

Rain Day, Hair Day

2009-11-15T00:15:00.033-05:00

With the Nor'Easter and the lovely several days of rain it brought with it, we needed to be creative in entertaining our Junebug. Sarah loves being outside...on the deck, walks in her coach, at the mall, anything outdoors or anything in a new environment rather...

We knew it would only be time before she grew antsy. I decided to bring her accessory bin down to go through. The girl has A LOT of hats, bows, headbands, everything. Before she was born, we knew she had a head full of hair from the 4D ultrasound. We received a lot of hair accessories following.
We went to town trying different ones on. I truly don't know who had more fun? Well we all know that answer...
She let me put everything in her hair. She was completely content and enjoyed getting to touch all of the new textures.
It makes my heart happy because I buy outfits to go with my accessories not the other way around.

Does anyone consider this torture yet?

ODU Homecoming

2009-11-08T22:31:00.041-05:00

We decided to bring Sarah to the ODU homecoming festivities. She was decked out in her blue and white, even had a fabulous pom pom. All was well and we were enjoying hanging out with friends we haven't seen in awhile when Sarah decided she hated the parade. In retrospect, I should have known a little better....Wow! That was probably the loudest I have heard her scream. It took a little while but she eventually calmed down, thankfully. We stayed and enjoyed the tail gating festivities until the game began. Sarah actually enjoyed the tailgate & hammed the attention up as usual. I am hoping we have a future tail-gater amongst us.
After her reaction to the parade we opted to not attend the game. We gave our tickets to one of Donnie's fraternity brothers. That evening, Sarah, took her usual evening nap, but was sleeping really long.
I woke her up for her last feeding, which she practically slept through and she laid right back down.
I was nervous because she wakes up like clockwork for her feedings and loves her evening playtime.
She didn't have a fever or any other symptoms, so we just kept an eye on her.

She fell asleep at 6:45p and slept until 7:00a! Poor thing - we completely wore her out! I of course did not sleep as well as you can imagine.....

Sarah hanging out in Starbucks before the parade

Zetas - Krista, Me, Jenn & Suda

Us ;) We tried to get Sarah to look she wasn't cooperating!

First Frost this morning...Brrrr

2009-11-07T07:40:00.001-05:00

Sarah slept 9 hours last night. She has slept that long before but all this week she was waking up in the night. Daylight savings threw her off. I think its the sleep sack, every time she sleeps in that thing she sleeps well.

We are taking her to the ODU homecoming parade today. Hopefully it will warm up by then.

Cheers,
-Donnie

Sarah's 1st Halloween, It's a bird, It's a plane - No it's super girl!

2009-11-01T23:57:00.000-05:00

Since Sarah was only a couple weeks old, she would stretch her little arm up in the air. It really looked like she was trying to reach as far as it could go.
We would joke and say, super girl.... One evening, Donnie and I were laughing about her super girl stretch and then thought - aha - we have found what Sarah will be for her 1st Halloween.
We found an adorable pink super girl costume and hot pink cape. I'm more a fan of purple, but it was too hard to resist.
We decided to go all out and just be a family of superheros along with Bella Boo of course.
The night before Halloween, we baked cookies to take with us, as we stopped and visited with family and friends. We stopped by and visited the Nanny's and Poppy, Uncle Rich, Aunt TT and Aunt Mimi along with Mom Mom, then finally watched Mason and Aunt Amanda trick or treat. It was pretty exhausting!
The only bummer was that we couldn't see my sweet niece off to homecoming because earlier in the week, she came down with swine flu. We have to be extra cautious since Sarah cannot be vaccinated.

We had a good time in our superhero tshirts. Donnie downloaded the theme song to Superman onto my iphone so whenever we walked into a house, we played it! Sarah did SUPER in her costume. Bella not so much.....

Happy 1st Boo, Sarah Grace!

The Gardner's

Sarah couldn't take her eyes off of Bella. What did we do to her doggy?

yummy cookies we made

Aunt Amanda and the 4th Jonas Brother aka Mason!

Insert Supeman theme - Come on you all know it!!!

Veggies, here we come!

2009-10-30T22:21:00.002-04:00

After several unsuccessful attempts at rice cereal (different kinds might I add) we have decided to move on to veggies. We have started with carrots and sweet potatoes. Sarah cannot get enough...wahoo.
BTW, thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I really appreciate it.
She likes them so much that she actually gets frustrated if we feed her too slow. I have tried to explain to her that the spoon is not as quick as mommy's booby, but she doesn't want to hear it?!
Now when any of us are eating with a spoon she watches very intently, like is that coming my way.

We are trying to work on decreasing the sloppiness, orange has been everywhere. Enjoy my very messy child!

Jumperoo!

2009-10-25T22:03:00.031-04:00

Sarah is now ready for her jumperoo. We were waiting patiently for more neck strength.

She loved it and like most things right now is completely fascinated by it. We love watching her learn everyday.

Sarah and her Jumperoo!

Sarah fascinated by the music & lights...she cracks me up

Fall Fun

2009-10-24T17:43:00.065-04:00

Every year Donnie carves our pumpkin and we bake pumpkin seeds. Im not a fan but he likes them!
This year, we decided to add to the mix and make caramel apples and other goodies. We also invited some family and friends over to join in on the fun. Sarah wore her cutie patootie pumpkin slippers and was mesmerized by them. Right now she is in major feet mode. She likes to touch them, play with them, eat them, stare out them....so having something so bright and smiling at her feetsies was fascinating.

My mom made yummy turkey roll ups and candy yams. Great fall fun had by all....Thanks to mom mom, aunt thea, auntie bridgie, nanny, poppy, auntie amanda and mason for joining in on the festivities and embracing your inner Martha Stewart.

let me get those feet!

With Aunt TT

With mom mom

passed out already on Auntie Amanda

Mason watching Don carve his pumpkin

Mason approves of his pumpkin

yummy candy apples

not so yummy rice krispy treat house

Sarah's 1st pumpkin (made with the outmost love by Daddy)

Rice cereal and we think she may know her name....

2009-10-21T23:24:00.000-04:00

Sarah was approved by her pediatrician to start rice cereal. The jury is still out on whether she likes it or not? Right now, she is only getting it once a day at her dinner time feeding. I think we are going to try something else? I feel like we should hold out but she seems like she wants to try other foods so badly. You should see her watch us eat. She stares so intently. Any suggestions from those of you who have been there done that?

On a more exciting note, since the weekend we noticed that Sarah has been responding to her name. I hope its not a fluke. I love that everyday she learns something new and we do too through her!

I will post some pics soon of her with her gross rice cereal all over her face and snuggled up with Mr. Hippo!

Sarah's new best friend (and our miracle toy)!

2009-10-21T23:00:00.000-04:00

Since Sarah was around 6 weeks old she has been a great sleeper. At around 5 weeks, we transitioned her from the bassinet to her crib. It was harder for me then it was for her. She sleeps a good 8-9 hours then will wake up to eat and then usually sleeps for another 2-3 hrs.
In the past week, that has changed....at her 4 month appt. the pediatrician said that she was definitely teething so that may have something to do with it or it could be that she is seeing what she can get away with?! She makes me laugh, she has my temperament, she is definitely my child. My mom is laughing quietly at me, thinking paybacks are a b*tch!
She started to cry out of the blue last Thursday in the middle of the night. It was like a shock to the system because we have been spoiled. Donnie and I were trying to calm her, but nothing would work. This is why I think it might be her testing us...we were standing there talking trying to figure out what we should try next. She stopped crying and stared at us. When she realized we weren't going to pick her up, she started to cry again. She did this twice!
Now back to the title, "Sarah's new best friend." She has a stuffed hippo. It is one of those stuffed heads with a blanket body. I'm such a novice. I don't even know exactly what they are called.
Anyway, she has snuggled with it before and/or played with it. We decided to let her hug it in the crib.
It was our miracle toy. She grabbed for it, rubbed it against her face and literally passed out.
While, she is sleeping we remove it from the crib just to be on the safe side. It works every time and I cannot tell you how grateful we are. Lets hope she doesn't get over it too quickly.

4 month check up

2009-10-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Sarah had her 4 month check up today. She was a little ham at the appt., giggling and smiling for the nurses and dr. She even took her oral vaccine like it was chocolate milk.
She now weighs 13 lbs 6 oz. and is 25 inches long! I'm still not the best when she gets all those shots, 4 today. She did pretty good considering. We also got the green light to start giving her rice cereal. We're ready for our next food journey! We'll see how miss sassy pants does....

Pumpkin Picking Time

2009-10-14T23:38:00.000-04:00

I love the holidays....always have, I'm big on tradition. They are even more exciting now that we have Sarah. We're kicking off fall with pumpkin picking together. Sarah was adorable as she watched all the "big" kids around her. We picked a pumpkin for all of us. Donnie's pumpkin was bigger then Sarah actually. Below are some pics from our outing.

My little pumpkin!

The Gardner Family

Sarah with Mom Mom

Philly here we come (and I was attacked by a chinese sticky something or other...)

2009-10-14T21:19:00.000-04:00

We made our first trip up to Philly. I was feeling pretty anxious about it since this was going to be Sarah's first long car drive. The car ride was pretty hysterical. Poor Donnie was smushed and locked in for over 5 hours with all females....It was quite the family effort. We rode up with the baby, my mom, aunt thea and of course we couldn't leave Bella behind. Not to mention, my aunt had to bring along her crazy cat as well. Bella made out. She had the whole back seat to herself, but of course she was mad because she wasn't up with the humans. She cracks me up. I got to sit in the back with Sarah on the way there and back. She did amazing. I was so proud of her. She slept the majority of the time and got up like clockwork to eat. We made a long pit stop to get gas, eat and let Sarah relax for a bit out of the car seat on both ways.

Sarah really seemed to enjoy the sites and sounds of Philly. I'm not surprised of course! We took her on a couple of walks and showed her some of mommy's old stumping grounds. We also got to spend time with lots of family and a few friends. She was spoiled once again with many, many gifts. Everyone is so good to her and us. We took her to Linvilla orchard one day. We were going for some good ol' fall fun. My pop pop came along for the apple cake...lol. We were enjoying the beautiful fall day when along came a chinese sticky something or other. As the fate of mother nature would have it, I happened to be standing under the tree when it popped me in the hand. Ouch and over 25 thorns later we had to call it quits a little early. I tried to be a trooper, but my whole hand swelling kind of took over. I'm just grateful that it was me and not the baby or any baby for that matter.
Seriously though, I can't wait to return home and for Sarah to see more of the city I love with all of my heart.

Sarah's Christening

2009-10-14T20:59:00.001-04:00

Sarah was baptized on Sept. 20th at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church. The same church Donnie and I were married at. We had many family come in from out of town. My brother, Matt and Donnie's sister, Bridget stood for her as her godparents. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. They are exceptional godparents. They love her unconditionally. For the most part, she did good. She let out a nice little howl when Fr. Rob blessed her with the cold holy water, then quickly fell back to sleep.
Afterwards we enjoyed a wonderful luncheon with family and friends. She is so loved. We are blessed to have her baptized in Christ.