A Family Affair

The past week has been quite an exciting one for the Gardner family.

Scott's cousin, Ryan, plays hockey in Switzerland and his team recently won the Swiss championships. If you are familiar with hockey, you'll know that one tradition is growing a playoff beard. Here is Ryan's (I had a hard time recognizing him in the team pics):



Another Gardner accomplishment: Scott's mom is an avid runner and recently completed the Boston Marathon. She set her completion time goal at 4 hours and came in at 3:56:56... Not too shabby for a grandmother of two! Below are her stats:

Bib	Name	Age	M/F	City	State	Country	Ctz	*
15661	Gardner, Christine	49	F	Aurora	ON	CAN
Checkpoints 5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k 0:26:42 0:53:15 1:19:28 1:45:57 1:51:40 2:12:39 2:40:52 3:11:33 3:43:45 Finish Start Time Offset Pace Projected Time Official Time Overall Gender Division 00:01:54 0:09:03 3:56:56 13787 4574 1394

Our family life is pretty boring these days. Scott lives at the library and I am trying not to go crazy with two boys under age two. I'm still in denial that Calvin turns two on Thursday... I feel like it was just yesterday that he was born. Guess time flies when you're having fun (or getting older). We have been working with him on how old he will be on his birthday. He can get the speaking part, but is having a hard time showing us with his fingers. This past weekend, he learned our names, along with his brother's name. It's really cute to ask him everyone's name... He's so passionate about calling people by their name.

Calvin got a raincoat last month for becoming a big brother and has been obsessed with wearing it. Last weekend, he wanted to wear a winter hat and his raincoat to go to Momo & Grandpa's house and he had to wear it to school this morning (along with his IU hat). Too cute! He always asks for a hat and says "Mike"... apparently, he saw Uncle Mike wear a hat once and now is striving to be like him. Speaking of Uncle Mike... Calvin is obsessed with soldiers. When Michael was in Iraq, we worked really hard & taught him to salute when he heard the word soldier. Now, he goes around saying "Mike... soldier". Too funny!! It amazes me how smart children are and how much & quickly they learn new things. I cannot wait for this next year to see how much Calvin learns & grows.

It's Been A While

Isn't he just an angel?

Aiden's 1st bath... and, he loved it!

Our freshly cleaned little man

Calvin... such a little cutie!

It's been a while since I last posted anything and things have been crazy. Scott is getting into finals crunch mode, so he has not been home very much. When he gets home, it is very late and I am not usually in the mood to do too much on the computer. And, after usually getting less than 5 hours of sleep, I'm still not really in the mood.

Aiden is still doing a pretty good job of sleeping, which is really nice. He eats like a cow (about 4 oz. every 3 or so hours), so that's good. We've got him on steroids and are hoping that will make him sleep longer at night (joking, people). He has quite the vocal cords and pretty much wakes up yelling "I'M HUNGRY!!!! WILL SOMEONE FEED ME?!?!" That's fun to wake up to at 3 a.m. I guess I can't complain, as we are getting way more sleep than we did with Calvin.

Calvin has moved up to the two-year old room and is having some difficulty adjusting. The daycare employees have seen a whole new side of Calvin that only we usually see. This side of Calvin is not fun and we are quickly learning that the terrible twos really are TERRIBLE! He has had so many changes over the past 6 months and I can't wait for him to have some normalcy. This summer will be nice, as Scott will be home and each of us will be able to spend some quality alone time with him.

I have been busy planning Calvin's 2nd birthday party and Aiden's baptism and are fortunate that Christine, Hank & Lena (Hank's mom) will be able to join us for both. I am also trying to adjust to the fact that I will be going back to work soon. I'm still going back & forth between 6 & 8 weeks. Lord knows we need the money, but I'm just sad to put Aiden in daycare at six-weeks old. First Steps is wonderful and everyone is great, but it still breaks my heart to leave him at such a young age. Maybe we'll hit the Jackpot soon and I won't have to worry about going back to work (at least not full-time).

That's about it (that I can think of at this moment). Hope all is well with everyone!

12 days and still sane (sort of)

So, Aiden has been in this world for 12 days and I am still somewhat sane. I have had a lot of help and support from friends & family, so that really helps. I feel great and still can't believe that I had a baby less than 2 weeks ago.

We went to the doctor last Tuesday and Aiden had lost about 1 lb and he was still somewhat jaundice. The doctor wanted us to come back on Friday to check his weight and make sure his color was becoming normal. When we went back on Friday, he had put on 8 oz, so she was quite pleased with that. His color was normal and she said that she'd see us at 2 months.

This was Calvin's 1st Easter where he actually understood what was going on. On Saturday, we went to the Eggstravaganzoo at the zoo and participated in an egg hunt. Calvin had a really good time and managed to get 6 eggs! On Easter morning, we gave him his basket first thing and he was very impressed by his new watch & backpack. He was pumped when he saw his new cars & could barely wait for Scott to open them. Grandpa Paul, Grandma Sherri, Aunt Skylar & Uncle Connar came over after church to see Calvin & Aiden and brought Calvin a basket with goodies. Later that evening, Momo & Grandpa brought food & we had a nice dinner with them.

Although Aiden looks exactly like Calvin, he is the complete opposite. Calvin would never let me put him down, including at night, which made it very difficult to sleep. With Aiden, I am actually able to do things around the house. He is sleeping for good stretches at night... sometimes they can be as long as 4 hours. I can't complain at all!! Aiden has a ton of hair compared to Calvin and it already has a red tint to it. Calvin loves his baby brother and is constantly giving him hugs & kisses. I can't wait for Aiden to get bigger and see the two of them interact. So far, Calvin has been very good at sharing with Aiden... always trying to give him snacks, juice and his toys. Let's hope this continues in the future.

Aiden Michael Gardner

We are proud to announce the birth of Aiden Michael Gardner on Friday, March 14 at 1:18 p.m. CST. He measured in at 8 lbs 10 oz and 20 1/2 inches. He has a lot more hair than Calvin did and it has a reddish tint to it. Otherwise, we think he looks just like Calvin.

Everything went perfect and we left the hospital yesterday afternoon. I am feeling awesome and don't even feel like I had a baby on Friday. Here are some pictures of our newest addition.

My Boys, the Zoo & Tennessee Snow

A few weeks ago, the weather decided that it wanted to be 75 degrees, so we decided to take advantage of our zoo membership. We loaded up the boy and took the 5 minute drive to the zoo. Calvin's favorite part of the zoo is the monkey that swings back and forth on the trees & ropes. I get more enjoyment from watching Calvin than seeing the animals. We've gone twice already this year, and are usually there for over 2 hours. It's nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

So, less than two weeks after we have 75 degree weather, we get several inches of snow. Needless to say, Calvin appreciates the warm weather MUCH better than he appreciates the snow. Now, I'm not sure how that happened considering I'm from Michigan and Scott's from Canada. So, the whole morning, he kept going to the window, pointing and saying "snow, snow". We finally got outside (after putting on his snow suit... thanks Gma C & Papa H), and he absolutely FREAKED OUT! I think we forced him to stay outside for 5 minutes, and it was probably one of the most traumatic events in his life so far.

Calvin got sent home yesterday with nasty diapers and had to stay home again today. It's looking like he'll be staying home again tomorrow, so Scott & I have been taking turns staying home with the little monster. It's so hard to watch them suffer and not be able to do anything. I went to the doctor today, and have made a little progress, but nothing significant. So, it looks like Aiden Michael will be joining us on Friday... YEAH!!!!

We will make a post once Aiden joins us.

C'mon Down, Baby Aiden!

One of the nice things about having an OB nurse down the hall & having a maternity lab around the corner at work is that when you think you're having contractions, they can tell you whether or not you're crazy. So, what I thought are contractions, really are. This makes me feel a lot better because a) I don't think I'm going crazy & actually know what a contraction is and b) that means nature is taking it's course.

There was a class in the maternal lab, so they were able to see real readings, as opposed to ones from a dummy. Now, some may classify me as a dummy, but I'm talking about the doll dummy. Anyhoo... Aiden decided to move around while I was hooked up to the monitor, so the students were able to move it and find his heartbeat again. I had a few contractions, but nothing consistent. The OB nurse said that I wasn't in labor, but that I was on my way. She said that she wouldn't be surprised if I had Aiden this weekend. Now, obviously I'm holding my breath, as it could be any second or not until next Friday. But, I'm staying optimistic that I'll go on my own this time. C'MON BABY AIDEN... Mommy is more than ready for you!!!!

The countdown has begun...

Not that it hadn't already, but the official countdown to Aiden joining the family has begun. I went to the doctor today and found out that I am a "loose" 1 cm dilated and 70% efface. This is a decent jump from last Thursday's visit when I was 1 cm and 15%. We went ahead and scheduled for me to be induced next Friday, March 14, but she said that she thinks he'll be here before then. YIKES! I mean, I've know this day was coming, but it's still surreal.

So, full panic has kicked in, as I haven't packed my bag, Calvin's bag or gotten the car seat re-installed. Seriously, what the heck was I thinking by not having all this stuff done before today?

If Aiden joins us tomorrow, he'll share a birthday with Grandpa Paul (Scott's dad) and if he joins us on Thursday, he'll share a birthday with Momo (my mom).

Well, that's it for now. We'll definitely be posting more info. as things progress.