Like Father, Like Son

So, while we have not begun to potty train Calvin, he has been asking to sit on his potty a lot lately. And, since we'd like to get him out of diapers, we figure we might as well let him sit on it if he wants. As with most males, Calvin has developed a liking for reading while taking care of business. I'm not a big fan of posting pictures of my child with no clothes on online, but figured this is too cute to pass up.

Calvin's 1st Haircut & Random Pics

So, we finally went and had Calvin's haircut. We have been putting this off for two reasons... 1) we were totally dreading the process and 2) we just couldn't part with his baby curls. So, we loaded up the car and headed to the local salon. The whole way there Calvin kept saying "haircut, haircut". We arrive and are glad to see that there is no one in line. The lady asks who is getting their haircut and we respond that it's Calvin's 1st haircut. Scott climbs into the chair with Calvin and the process begins. She tries to put the cape around Calvin's neck and he is not having that. She sprays him with the water bottle and begins to cut. Surprisingly, the whole ordeal went VERY WELL! Below are some of the pictures I took (along with some other pictures we've taken recently).

Calvin's 2 year & Aiden's 3 month pictures

We decided it was finally time to venture to Portrait Innovations for the boys' pictures. My was that an adventure. The "picky" mom before us took so long on Saturday that they both got fussy, so we had to come back on Sunday. Apparently, Sunday morning is the time to get pictures taken!

Below are some of the pictures:

Relay For Life & More

I found some more pictures from Calvin's birthday and wanted to get them online. We busted out one of Calvin's birthday presents a few weekends ago and took one (yes, only one) picture from the big event. He seemed to like it, but was a little hesitant at times. Silly boy!

Aiden, wearing his firetruck shirt (it matched Calvin's shirt)

Calvin & Uncle Mike

Calvin & daddy playing with his water slide

It was make a cheesy face day at the Gardner house

Mommy & Aiden (yes, that is a sorority shirt)

This is how Calvin used to sleep... how cute!

We finally found a bib that says "I Love My Aunt"

RELAY FOR LIFE: Friday, June 6-Saturday, June 7
It has become an annual tradition to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life. One of my pledge sisters in the sorority was diagnosed with breast cancer, so we decided that we would do the Relay in our college town of Bowling Green, KY. I seriously do not remember the last time I had this much fun! Most were there from the beginning of the survivor lap on Friday evening until the closing ceremony on Saturday morning. We played (I will use that term lightly) kickball, participated in a cakewalk, dance contest & various other activities. We stayed up all night, and though were not always walking on the track, someone was always doing something active. We did this for those who cannot do the above activities. It reminded all of us about the good times we had in school, and that we’re all super old now! Can you believe there has been a resurgence of the Thriller dance?! Who would’ve thought?!?! I think the highlight of the night was when I was finishing the survivor lap with one of my sorority sisters, and at the end were all the other sisters who had come there to celebrate us. We shed some tears, but laughed throughout the night. Another memorable moment was getting called out in front of the thousands of people in attendance for wearing an IU hat. Little did I know that the Western football coach was going to be the emcee and that he would be paying that much attention to the crowd. I reassured him that I would be attending the WKU-IU game in August, and that I would be wearing red, not crimson, and he seemed pleased with that. Our teamed raised a lot of money (not sure at this point how much) and had such a good time!! Below is the team picture from the event (Jamie & Kelly hadn't made it yet).

Oh my, does the time fly by!!

I can't believe it has been over 3 weeks since I've made a post. My, how things have changed in those 3 weeks!

We FINALLY celebrated Calvin's 2nd birthday with friends & family. Gma, Papa H, Great Oma, Momo, Grandpa Wellock, Aunt Lindsey & Uncle Mike helped us celebrate with some of Calvin's friends. Parker, Sydney & Cameron, and Dalton & Daniel came to the house and helped Calvin celebrate in style! Of course, in the chaos of a two year-old birthday party, I completely forgot to take a picture of the friends that came to play. Fortunately, we really only had one meltdown, which is pretty good these days. He had a firetruck-themed party & had the yummiest cake I've had in a long time (okay, since Parker's birthday). Calvin got two bikes (one for our house & one for Momo's house), some money for his piggy bank, a bear backpack, a singing Spiderman toy (which he now thinks is a punching bag), some construction trucks, a pool w/ a slide and much, much more!! HE'S SO SPOILED!!!! Aiden pretty much just sat there and wondered what the heck was going on and why the heck it was so noisy!

Lindsey surprised us by flying in for the weekend. Scott's mom & Hank treated us to a date night at The Melting Pot (YUMMY! YUMMY!) and when we returned, there she was. Needless to say, we were both very shocked! I kept wondering why Christine was trying to get us out of the house... now I know why! Christine said that she almost blew the surprise several times, but neither Scott nor I caught on.

Aiden got baptized on Sunday, May 11, which happened to also be Mother's Day. We were very nervous about how both boys would be during the service and they were both WONDERFUL! Aiden got a little fussy when I passed him on to the pastor to walk him around the congregation, but oh well! Calvin just sat in the pew and colored on the Doodle Pro & played with his cars. One of the greeters even made him a paper airplane. Thank goodness for children's bags & greeters!

Aiden is sleeping great at night! He's sleeping anywhere from 5-7 hours at a time!! And, when he wakes up in the middle of the night, his bottle better be made or there will be trouble! He is so active and loves to look at what's going on around him. He had trouble his first week of daycare, but seems to really enjoy it now. Yesterday, they said he fell asleep around 2:50 and they had to wake him up at 5 (something about state regulations) to feed him. He seems so content and happy most of the time (except when he's hungry or extra tired), so I'm very grateful for that. As each day passes by, he looks more and more like Calvin (except with red hair). It just amazes me how much two kids can look so similar. It will be very interesting to see them in a couple of years!

Calvin is quite the little firecracker! His vocabulary is increasing every day, sometimes not for the best. We have really had to learn to watch what we say in front of him. His new favorite food is brown sugar & cinnamon pop tarts, which he asks for at EVERY meal! His fiery personality is really starting to show, and he has even shown other people his "bad" side! Christine, Hank & Lena discovered a park about 15 minutes away (walking), so we went there a couple of times over the long Memorial Day weekend. On the last trip down the slide, Calvin & the slide got into a little argument and Calvin got the worst of it. I have never seen him bleed that bad or scream that loud when he got hurt. And, on top of that, it was still a 15 minute walk home with two screaming kids... we will re-evaluate not taking a car next time!

Scott is in his 4th week at the firm Buerger, Moseley & Carson in Franklin, TN. He is really enjoying it and has been able to go to court several times. He has also been to several depositions & various other meetings. He has his own office, which isn't too shabby if I must say so. He still has not received any grades, but should by next Friday. I would go freakin' nuts if it took a month to get my grades. Guess that's why he's in school and not me!

I will be going to Bowling Green on June 6-7 for their Relay For Life event. My sorority has decided to put together a team to honor members/alumnae who have beaten/are currently battling cancer. I am very excited about going to the event and re-connecting with my sisters. I have my own Web site for the event (http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeMid-SouthDivision?pg=personal&fr_id=9413&fr_id=9413&px=6077816), so feel free to check in on the progress of my fundraising, and feel free to make a donation in memory or in honor of someone!

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of stuff... guess that's what happens when you don't blog more frequently. Hope all is well with everyone!

Birthdays, Finals & Work

Calvin, Aiden & daddy in Calvin's bed

Calvin opening his birthday presents

Calvin's friends at school

Aiden, chilling in his swing

Aiden, sleeping

Calvin is officially two years old and has definitely hit the terrible twos stage. We're pretty excited about it and it began at a great time... new baby, finals time, etc. Since he started his new class, his vocabulary has increased greatly. He is picking up things very quickly (which isn't always a good thing) and has learned that I am Shannon, daddy is Scott and brother is Aiden. It is absolutely adorable how he says Aiden! We celebrated his birthday at home and opened a few of his presents. He got a new bubble machine, a football, soccer ball & basketball and some sandals. His birthday party is on May 10, so he'll get to open more presents then. I also made some rice krispie treats, cut them like a bus, plane, firetruck and train and took them to school so Calvin could celebrate with his friends.

I went back to work yesterday and it was very hard to get motivated to do actual work. I was pretty upset that I had to go back so soon, but the bills were coming in quickly and the paychecks weren't. Fortunately, my mom watched Aiden yesterday & today and Christine, Hank & Lena are coming to watch both kids next week. My goodness are they brave!!!! But, I guess that's what grandparents do... they watch the kids, spoil them, then give them back.

Scott is finally done with his second year of law school and is now considered a 3L, which means that he now has less than one year until he is done with school. UM, YEAH!!!! He starts his 1st clerkship on Monday with a firm in downtown Franklin. He's pretty excited about it as the firm does most of the litigation for Williamson County.

Aiden is getting bigger and bigger by the day. He is starting to be very alert and watch what is going on. He's quite the pig; eating 4 oz. every 3 hours during the day. He is still sleeping good at night. He usually eats around 7:30-8 p.m., sleeps until 1 or 2 a.m., eats, then sleeps until around 5 a.m. My mom stayed over last night and volunteered to get up in the middle of the night with him. Of course, he only wakes up at 3 a.m. and when I got downstairs at around 7 a.m., he was still asleep... Little bugger!!

Both of the boys went to the doctor today. I had been telling Calvin that we were going to the doctor, so when we arrived at school, he was not thrilled and kept saying "doctor, doctor...". We went inside and he kept telling his teacher "doctor, doctor". Apparently, this continued for most of the day. Calvin weighed 29 lbs 10 oz (71%) and was 35" tall (68%). Aiden weighed 11 lbs 4 oz (58%), was 22 1/2" tall (52%) and has a normal head (39 1/2 cm-52%). When I got home from work, Calvin kept saying "doctor, hurt" and pointed to where he got his shot. I felt bad for him, but it was so cute. Scott said that when the doctor & nurse left the room he said "by doctor."

So, I missed the memo on this... I just discovered that some hospitals will give you a discount if you pay your bill in full. This would've been good information to have in the past, but I guess it's good to know now. I called to get a detailed bill faxed to me and the lady said "if you pay your bill in full, you can get a discount." I'm thinking well, okay and assumed that it would be like 5%. Um, NO... IT SAVED US 35% by paying in full. I thought I was going to scream I was so excited.