What a Good Boy!

Wow! How does Sarah do it all? Here she is playing a game (and probably winning) as she feeds our boy -- she is Supermom! Talk about multi-taksing! What would I do without her?

Drew has added the back to tummy turn to his repertoire; he smiles and laughs; he takes long naps; he got blessed at church; Valentines came and went; I played dodgeball; tax season has officially begun; a lot has happened! My favorite new development for Drew has to be the smiling and laughing! Sarah rolls his arms as she sings "The Wheels on the Bus" and he opens his mouth as wide and smiles. If you are lucky, sometimes he will greet you with a smile. Although he has smiled at Sarah for years, he gave me my first interactive smiles on Valentines Day -- what a gift!

Speaking of Valentines Day, guess what I got Sarah: that's right, a Snuggie! Intending to surprise Sarah with a gift I knew she wanted (even though she wouldn't admit it), I naively ventured over to http://www.getsnuggie.com/. $87 and four free reading lights later, I realized that I had just been taken. How trying to buy one snuggie for my wife turned into a confirmed order for four is beyond me (all four were upgraded, with more fleece and pockets, for a small fee). Luckily, it wasn't hard to find three takers eager to buy my extra snuggies.

The day after Valentines was the day of Drew's blessing at church. After two tries, we finally made it there (we forgot the diaper bag the first try). Drew looked great in his white sweater and white pants (made lovingly and skillfuly by Grandma S.) With the exception of one family that lives out of state, Drew was able to have all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, and most of his 26 cousins there to support him. During the blessing, Drew was very quiet and well-behaved. Sarah and I are lucky to have such a great boy on our hands.

Here are some pictures:

Look at those great pants!

Here is our little family right before we were late for Drew's blessing.

Here he is smiling again with Grandma.

I don't remember if this was right after Drew's blessing or right after dodgeball -- but I can tell you the sloppy joe sure was tasty.

This one was right after the blessing.

Does it get any cuter than this?

3 months old!

I have had this post as a draft for the last week and finally I am getting back to it. In that waiting period Drew had his 3 month birthday (a picture of him on this day is below).

We went to the neurologist last week and most everything is looking good. He is doing great developmentally, and there has been no seizure activity that we are aware of. The one concern the Dr. had was how much Drew loves to arch his neck (he has done this from the very beginning, he has a very strong neck and loves to arch it back whenever you hold him). Dr. Van Orman said that some kids who shows signs of this can start to show some spasticity at about 8 months of age (basically my understanding is it would be cerebral palsy). He (and I) didn't seem too concerned since he is otherwise developing quite well but it is something to keep an eye on. Below is an example of one of Drew's favorite arching positions while Grandpa Coop is holding him.

Another unique thing about Drew is that he is so small, (but is looking big to us). He weighed in at about 10 lbs. 6 oz.(with his clothes on) at the Dr. appt. which puts him in the 5% for his age. Last night we hung out with some friends who have babies about the same age. As you can see Drew is the tiniest of them all. Aren't they all so cute.

Kaden (16 weeks), Sam (10 weeks), and Drew (13 weeks)

Drew, Kaden and Sam

One last thing, for the last month or so Drew has been quite a wiggly guy in his sleep. He will start out facing one direction of the crib when we lie him down at night and then in the morning he will be turned facing the opposite direction. I thought this was pretty crazy for how young he was. The pictures below were taken a few weeks ago, they are both from the same angle of the crib.

Night time

The next morning! (Crazy boy)

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.

Merry Christmas Ted!

As a Christmas gift to Ted I decided that I would make a small post on the blog. I warn that I am not going to be as entertaining, and will be sticking to a more serious note. I have to admit that I have stayed away from posting because I really enjoy what Ted writes, so I don't want him to stop.

Drew is officially 6 weeks old and remains healthy and strong!! As a mom I am trying to enjoy the journey (which for those of you who know is not an easy thing for me to do). What a journey it has been. Gratefully the fussy, irritable, inconsolable baby that we had in the hospital has turned out to be an angel ( when he is being held). Drew seems to really enjoy being around people (whenever we have visitors he is especially content).

I have loved watching the transformation of Ted as a dad. The instant bond and love that he had for Drew was so amazing to watch. It has made me love him more and more.

This holiday season has taken on a new meaning this year. I could go on and on about the many blessings that we have but it would take pages and pages. What I do know is that Drew has been a gift from God and we are so grateful for him (even with the bags that are under my eyes!). The other thing is that I am so happy to not be 8 months pregnant and I now have a whole new repect for mothers (to all you moms: you are amazing!)

Thanks to all of you for your support, concern, and prayers when we were in the hospital! Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Five Weeks!

Snuggling with Mom.

Drew just loves his bear suit.

I think he looks like an astronaut.

Sarah's two favorite boys.

Long time no blog! I keep trying to pass the blogging baton off to Sarah, but so far I have been unsuccessful. Whereas in the hospital blogging had a purpose, now when I post I feel like I am just another proud parent publishing to the world how adorable my child is (isn't he, though?). Although I am not exactly comfortable with the blog's new direction, I would rather boast about my son than recount gloomy details about his health any day.

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Enough about me! Drew is doing great! We have now had quite a few opportunities to show him off. Everyone's first reaction is still, "Wow, he is tiny!" And they are right. Since the last post, it is hard to tell whether he has really gained a lot of weight. He eats a ton and seems to get his fill, so we are not too worried.

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Also, now that he is officially off the phenobarbital, he generally seems to be in a better mood. When we compare the hospital Drew to the Drew we have now, we can really see a difference in how far he has come. He is not the inconsolable terror that he was for the nurses, thank heavens! In fact, he loves to be held and is almost always at ease in somebody's arms. We are trying not to let him get too accustomed to being held 24/7, but when you have such a snuggly kid, that is easier said than done!

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Anyway, Sarah, Drew (Santa's little elf), and I want to wish everybody a merry Christmas!

Adventures with Doctors

What an eventful couple of days!  First came the visit to the pediatrician yesterday for the circumcision.  Everything went great!  Sarah made me watch.  Besides the procedure, they also measured and weighed him -- his size right now puts him in the 8th percentile.  I can't imagine that a son of mine would stay petite for too long, but who knows?  If he truly does have Sarah's

build...we just hope that means that a future daughter of ours won't be stuck with my body!

 

Today we had the EEG and the neurologist consult at Primary's.  Our efforts to bring Drew in sleep-deprived for the EEG backfired; he ended up sleeping while we as parents deprived ourselves of sleep.  He has shown an uncanny (inherited?) ability to sleep through anything.  We were lucky because in spite of his rest he still ended up sleeping through the entire hourlong EEG -- which consisted of 23 electrodes placed all over his head taking readings of his brainwaves.  Sarah got to hold him in her arms for the whole thing, and even fell asleep right alongside him. 

A couple hours later we met with the neurologist in the dark because the 

power had gone out.  The word he used to describe Drew's case was "puzzling."  The EEG came back showing no signs of seizure activity, but it did show that his brain was a few weeks behind in its development.  The neurologist told us to take a week to wean Drew off of his medication and then come back for a follow-up visit in a couple months.  I guess even if no one exactly knows why Drew's first week went the way it did, at least we'll get to stop giving him phenolbarbitol.

Since Sarah is an employee at Primary's, we got to show Drew off to all of her coworkers.  They all gathered around to see him and were quick to tell Drew how adorable he was.  They made us want to show him off more!