Family Fun!

Sarah's Family. On Martin Luther King Day we celebrated my brother Nate's birthday and part of the fam went to breakfast at Ruth's Diner. It was delicious and a ton of fun (thanks to Des for coordinating it). I think it should become a new family tradition.


The kid's table at Ruth's diner


The adult/little kid table (Drew is on the floor in his carrier)

Ted's Family- Sunday dinner is always a thing we look forward to! The food and company is always amazing.

I thought that this picture with Drew and the Gardiner grandparents was so cute with him looking up at both of them.


Matchy Match. Not even realizing it until we got to dinner.

Turning over already!

I have been meaning to post this for over a week now, but it was hard to find the time. Drew is starting to be even more interactive and talkative, I love it! The other day he was getting fussy and I came over to him and a big smile broke out on his face, he was just wanting to see me and be social. Here are a couple pictures of him cooing and talking to me.



The biggest news is that about 2 weeks ago (right around his 2 month birthday) he turned over. I hadn't been very good at doing tummy time because he has such a strong neck (he is constantly arching his head back to look around), but I decided to have tummy time. The first day of tummy time he turned over (from tummy to back) and I thought it was probably just a fluke thing but then 4 more times on the second day. What a strong boy. He doesn't like to show off to people (we have tried to show his trick many times, as all proud parents do). We did catch it on camera and the pictures are below.

2008 highlights (Before the blog began)

Since we are recent bloggers, I thought it might be fun to recap some of the highlights of last year:

New Years at Billy's Cabin: For our first 3 years together New Years was spent up at our friend Bill's cabin, we have many memories there. We were so sad when we found out it was being sold. So 2008 was our last New Years there and Ted was so excited there was enough snow to sled down the road.

Finding out the big news: In March I had a horrible cold and Ted convinced me I should take a pregnancy test before taking some medicine. To my surprise it was postitive. So finding out that I was pregnant was exciting but frustrating because I really wanted some medicine to feel better, so to make sure it was truly positive I sent Ted to the store to buy another pregnancy test.

At 6 weeks I thought I had miscarried so I got an ultra sound and I saw Drew's tiny heart beat (it was amazing!). The next couple months of nausea were quite an adventure.

Gardiner Girls trip to St. George: All the Gardiner girls went to St. George in April for a little vacation. It was very relaxing and fun to be with all the girls. (In the summer the boys had their annual Gardiner Open golf trip)

The Netherlands and D.C. : I was lucky enough to go back with my dad and brothers to visit the Netherlands where my dad served his mission. While I was on my trip Ted had a blast driving his brother Jon back to Washington D.C. On the way they stopped in South Dakota where Ted picked up his favorite wolf t-shirt. Below is the man I came home to.

Wasatch Back: This summer Ted decided continue his love to run by being in the Wasatch back. He had a great time.

Bear Lake and camping: We had a blast this summer going camping (including girls camp) and to family reunions. One of my favorite summer experiences was the Stevenson family reunion at Bear Lake. The whole fam was there and it was a blast! Ted was pretty proud of the sand castle we all made.

NYC with Bill and Karen: In August we took our last trip before having a baby and visited our good friends Bill and Karen in the "Big Apple". We had a blast and loved seeing their new life as New Yorkers. Our camera was broken so we don't have to pictures to document the trip.

October fun!- October was great because Ted finished fall busy season just in time to plan an amazing 30th birthday for me. He planned the day surprising me with 30 different envelopes to guide me through the day. This included going to breakfast, a massage, a nap, shopping, and dinner! We also had a lot of fun making our costumes for Halloween (we stole the idea from my brother and sister-in-law). I was an oven (with a bun in the oven) and Ted was the baker.

How the Blog got started: And now we are to where the blog got started.... baby Drew. 2008 has been quite a ride (and I got quite large) but overall it has been even better than expected.

2009: So Far, So Good

On Christmas Day, in the morning, Drew gave us a gift: his first smile! It was so fun to actually interact with him. He greeted us with coos and cahs. What a great present! Santa brought Drew his favorite treat for Christmas: a bottle of milk (see the picture at the right). Drew cried -- milk was all he had been asking for for days and days. The picture below shows us enjoying Christmas (Sarah gave me a Mr. Happy t-shirt).

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Since Sarah is much better at feeding Drew in public (as shown in the picture to the right), we were able to take Drew a lot more places. RSV is always a concern, so we try to be careful. One of the places we took him was to my brother's house to watch the Sugar Bowl last Friday night. Drew seemed to be in awe of the University of Utah's sheer dominance, power, speed, poise, passion, and beauty. I am pretty sure he will one day play football for the U (mother permitting). Look at the group of happy Utes (below). Except for my Dad (at left), the five brothers, including me, all got degrees from BYU. We are all die-hard Utah fans.

. He keeps growing, slowly but surely (we think he is up to 8 lbs, 11 oz or so). He is a good sleeper. Sarah has to wake him up to eat during the night. In fact, the other night he slept for 7 hours straight! Like I mentioned earlier, he has started cooing which is very fun. Next week he goes in for his two month checkup (already?) and accompanying shots. He has been poked and prodded so many times, these shots will be a cake walk. He is a pro.

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I am glad to have this little guy around. All he has to do is show me one of those big crocodile tears, and my heart is rips open.

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Mother and child, asleep.