Aviation Lesson

Harold the Helicopter from Thomas the Train books is always a bright smiling happy helicopter. Well, as Anna was learning about her different aviation vehicles, she would always call Harold an airplane. Poor Harold, I'm sure that would have taken away his smile! I certainly couldn't let that go on for very long, so today we dropped by the Gilbert Hospital on our way home. I spoke with the front office person and asked about showing my daughter their helicopter close up. I was kind of expecting either a "no", or being able to maybe look out of a window near the helipad. Little did I know how cool Native Air was! I received a personal tour with the girls right on the helipad with the paramedic that actually goes on each flight. He taught us all about how helicopters work, what they take for each flight, how much it costs to operate one, and all these really neat details about helicopters! Anna had so much fun looking at it, and touching everything. She would have gotten a chance to sit inside had it not been for the mechanic currently working on it. Anyway, the paramedic even took our picture - nicest guy ever!
Harold definitely won't be mistaken for an airplane ever again!

Pics Pics Pics

Tummy time is a huge favorite...well, maybe not.



It's okay, she survived.





Sorry about the hair - it was right after nap time. Anna's eyes are SO pretty, they are such an amazing color!



Not much to say, just thought some pictures would be fun.

A Day On The Farm Continued

Okay, this first picture wasn't actually at the farm (see previous post), but out here in Queen Creek, there are some animals that get a little confused; either that, or Target was having a strange sale on REALLY fresh chicken that day...


Here are some of the peach trees we saw during our hay ride. There were more that had bigger blossoms, but apparently I was busy getting Anna a snack during that part...



I loved all the different play areas that kids could enjoy. Anna definitely did as well. That's her bum poking up between the two tunnels.



They even had an area where all the rescued deer gathered to be fed by the hay riders.



Emily missed most of the morning snoozing away. She just doesn't appreciate the things we do for her...

A Day On The Farm

Today was the start of the Peach Festival at Schnepf Farms, so we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and spent the day at the farm! We had never been before and I would definitely say that besides a little unpreparedness by the farm workers, we were not disappointed! Anna had so much fun! There was a little train for her to ride:


She wasn't too excited about sitting on the train as it was running, but as we were choo-chooing along, she kept clapping her hands and laughing out loud.



It was so cool, they even had a tunnel to go through.



Here is Emily and I waiting to leave the station.



There was also a hay ride where we received a guided tour by Mark Schnepf (the farm owner). It truly was a beautiful day and Anna was SO well behaved, having tons of fun looking around and even getting to pet the animals at the "petting zoo". The cost to enter the park and ride all the rides was only $7.00, so it was really great for us. Plus, the farm is less than 5 miles away from our home; what a great deal! :)

Post Continued

So here are more pictures for my previous post.
Y'know, I have a hard time catching Jared with a sincere smile in pictures, but put his beautiful baby girl in his arms and suddenly, that sincerity is undeniable. These girls have the best daddy ever!



The dress was amazing; I loved the simple elegance that it held. Emily looked so sweet in it. Thank you Mom for having such amazing talents and sharing them with my family!



Here are the four generations that were in my house at once! I just wish Grandpa Eddie could have made it, too! He is one spunky guy (see the post where he is feeding Anna about a year ago.) So, this is Jared's Dad and Grandma. Grandpa Eddie is Grandma Gardner's Father.



I just love that Anna is slowly becoming more photogenic! She is beginning to understand that poses are appropriate! :)



Check out that massive pony tail! It's like it needs 80 rubber bands just to keep it in place!

Blessing, Family and More

We were able to bless Emily while Jared's family was in town last week. It was such a great experience. The dress was handmade by my mother and was extremely beautiful. I will do two posts in order to fit all the pictures I wanted. Anyway, Here is the first family picture the Gardners have been able to do for probably a year. I am so pitiful when it comes to setting up family pictures; they just never seem to work out, but here is at least one that shows that we all do exist...


Anna has been having so much fun lately with the house, but sometimes still finds ways to get herself into trouble. I had a candy dish on this small ledge that Anna has never had anything out of before, but lo and behold, she seemed to find a way to get a hold of a treat.



Emily continues to be an amazing baby and seems to fit in with our family perfectly. She still sleeps at least eight hours in a row at night, with another four after a feeding. She has spoiled this mother completely! I still feel like a nap in the afternoon is needed while the girls sleep! One of her little quirks is that she never is silent during her sleep. She always makes a noise with each breath; most often it sounds like a purr, or moan, but the other day she was making almost the exact noise of a squeaky swing set. It was funny. Anyway, this must have been a pleasant dream...



Jared's dad, or Grandpa as he's more commonly known, completely spoiled Emily while they were here. I don't think she ever was put down if he was in the room! Those two were just two peas in a pod. I can't wait until she can ride a snowmobile - oh, the places they'll go!



Then, as the family left, so did the sunshine. Here is Anna's poor little car stuck in the middle of our yard lake. I guess she just didn't see all the road signs saying the area was flooded. Luckily, she was able to get a helicopter in the area to pick her up because that night, the wind blew so hard that the car ran into the wall. We had some dirty dogs that week. I should have taken a picture of the caked mud in our washroom. Yum.



Well, that's about it for now. I'll post more as I can! Thanks again Gardner family for visiting!

Everyday Joys

Upon recommendation from my in-laws, I got Anna a bunch of little cheap toys to play with during her "Mommy's-currently-attached-to-baby-and-can't-play-right-now" time. They worked for about the first two days, and then she found something significantly more entertaining to do during that time. She reorganizes the pantry! As you can see, she stands on one of the cans so she can reach the second shelf. That is why almost everything is shoved onto the third shelf... I'm just waiting to see when she'll learn to stack two cans on top of each other to get even higher. At least she puts it all back when she's done throwing it out into the kitchen. I love that little kid. She has been so great.


I also love little baby butts. They truly must be the cutest thing on earth (when they are neatly packaged, of course...) Here is the one I get to enjoy each day!




Here is what the front looks like...since some of you may want to see that too...
Different day, similar position. She loves to stare out our bright bedroom window and dream of who knows what. Doesn't she just look like she's contemplating something pretty spectacular? :)



P.S. The bloodshot part of her eye is supposed to go away within another week. She was born with quite a few broken vessels on her face too, but they are pretty much gone now. Apparently delivery can be stressful. (Ya think?)

She's He-e-e-ere!

Well, first off, this post is a week late. I've felt naked all week without internet and we finally got it set up today. Enough about that, here are all the wonderful and exciting things regarding our newest addition to the Gardner family!



Emily Irish Gardner was born 01/01/10 (cool b-day, huh) at 10:21 am. We were even on the morning news because she was a New Year baby! I won't go into detail about the labor, just because not everyone wants to know that info...but everything went very fast and smoothly! She was 8lbs 3oz, 21 and 1/2 inches long, and was feeding within the first two minutes of birth.



Since then, she has proven to be the easiest baby on earth! She is already on a four-hour schedule, sleeps through the night, and gives us little smiles all the time (probably because she tooted, but still...)

Anna is doing so well with the transition, and loves to give Emily kisses. She's very gentle and likes to also point out all her body parts. :)



Our house finalized just before Christmas, so we were able to have a home for a week before Emily arrived. Thank goodness - everything has worked out beautifully!!

Anyway, now that we have internet, I'm sure you'll hear from us more often! We're no longer off the grid!

The Talented Miss Gardner

I've been posting a lot lately, and I think it is because I have the sneaky suspicion that I'm about to disappear off the face of the earth for a few months...
Anyway, Anna was cracking me up today. First, while I was reading her a few books this morning, she randomly pointed at my belly and said, "Ball!". Yes, if it weren't for all the moving around taking place inside, I would think that's what it was, too. However, this is the first sign she has shown that she notices something, so I guess that's cool!
Later today, she was quiet for a while playing in her room and I stopped doing dishes to investigate. She was sitting quietly working with some of her "small toys". I have a separate tupperware in her toy box that is just for pretty small pieces of random things. She had pulled it out, and came out to show me after a while what she had been working on:

She put all five fake witch fingernails on by herself! I was impressed; those things aren't easy to get on! She seemed very proud of herself as well:

Anyway, just lovin' this little girl! Can't wait to have her meet her sister and vice verse!

And The Race Is On...

Which will it be???? Baby or house? Baby or house? Which one will win the race?

I can't believe how long it has been that I've been saying, "Yeah, we are supposed to close next week!" There are just too many individuals involved in purchasing a home - especially when it is a HUD home - this whole process is just taking forever! Of course, I'm sure I'm not being one bit impatient, considering that I'm not sure if I will or will not have a place for our baby to sleep when she comes! It is just frustrating; anything requested on our end has taken less than an hour to deliver to the right hands. We do everything right away, and then it takes "a week or so" to complete whatever stage our title company, or lender, or underwriter, or HUD agent is in. I also hate being in the dark so much. Why is it that the purchasers can't just call up the sellers and ask what stage they are in, or how much longer they expect things to take? Okay, I know the answer to that, but it is still frustrating that we can't talk to certain people without going through the proper channels. Blah Blah Blah - I just want to be home!!

P.S. Yes, that is our actual house, but not our actual baby. In case you were wondering...