"WIND"ter?

I'm starting to think mother nature is seriously confused!  It is the 6th of December and we still don't have much snow!  Crazy, we usually have snow on Halloween.  However, we did have some serious WIND!  I woke up around 3 in the morning on Wednesday/Thursday to some crazy wind, I thought our bedroom window was going to come in on us.  So after trying to lie in bed and sleep, unsuccessfully, I got up and watched the storm for a while, went back to bed still couldn't sleep.  Then BANG, I heard huge clashing!  Jumped out of bed and of course, we had forgot to bring in our Garbage cans.  They had fallen over and were in the process of rolling down the street!  So I ran and got my poor husband up (he was sleeping just fine) and we chased down our garbage cans.  One up side is we had our recycling out.  Even though they didn't pick it up that week, the wind did!  Sorry to whatever neighbor's yard got all our recycling.  It WAS quite full...  Aside from our garbage cans the storm took out 3 big sections of our fence, the fence between the two cars, and our cute tree in the front yard. I thought it was going to come down on our other window, so we tried to stake it down, but we didn't have a rope or a stake so we used a shovel and some electrical wire (Mcgruber!)  And we still lost it.  Boo.  So now we will have to get a new tree, which is OK.

 Its tricky to see because our neighbor also lost their back fence, but there is a big piece missing on the right and in the corner by the electrical pole.

Poor tree!

On a happier note, I am so in the Christmas spirit this year ;)  Its so fun to go through the different seasons in a house that is newly your own, I have room to put up a real (fake) tree, last year our tree was charlie brown for sure.  Its so fun, we have a fireplace to hang our stockings!  The one year I might have been OK with snow if decides not to.  Go figure, oh well  I am loving our basement right now, we even got one of those smelly bags of pine cones haha

Yay for Christmas!

Update on the Baby bump!  We have finally started getting somewhere on names!  Thank heavens, I was afraid we would be racking our brains at the hospital, but I think we have a few good options lined up.  I'm liking options.  He is still Chet to me because we didn't have a better idea for so long, and I've grown to really like it.  Ben says it can remain an option (yay) as for our other options:  Conner, Derek, and Tyson.  Ben likes Tyson... I do not, but he hasn't nixed Chet so Tyson can stay too.  Derek comes from my dad, both of us have reasons for not wanting to name our son Derek, but for some reason try as we might, we still like it.  Last but not least Conner was Ben's other suggestion and I think its cute ;)  I'm getting super anxious, we're only 2 months away!  Heaven help me if my stomach gets much bigger I wont be able to function at work!  My poor patients get bumped in the head often now. Its really embarrassing... "sorry, not used to that being there"...

30 Weeks! 

That was a long freakin post!

The Sabbath

I had to share about my day yesterday.  It was so incredible.  So average, but for some reason it was the best day!  Ben and I went to church, as usual.  I didn't have to teach this Sunday, which was a really nice break considering I teach every Sunday...  It was nice to listen to a lesson instead of giving one.  The lesson for our YW was on Temples and temple marriage.  It was a good lesson, I really enjoyed it.  Being fast Sunday, we always give our girls the opportunity to bear their testimonies in YW cause we all know how scary it is in Sacrament meeting.  None of the girls were getting up so finally I stood up and told the girls how important that lesson was, that in my opinion it is the most important lesson they will receive in young women.  If they live worthy to go to the temple and marry an eternal companion there it will make all the difference in their lives.  I really hope they know that, and know how FAST it happens.  I was only a Laurel when my Laurels were Behives!  And now I'm married with a kid on the way teaching Young women.  Life hits you fast, and I wanted them to know how having the temple in my life has been such a blessing and will be to theirs too.  

We always have amazing lessons in Sunday School, the teachers are so amazing!  Ben and I really enjoy their lessons, so that was as usual, delightful.  We did get a big surprise though.  We found out we were getting a new bishop!  So by the time Sacrament mtg. came 'round we were checking out who had family there to see who might be in the running.  Not knowing the ward too well yet, we weren't really sure if we cared too much who it would be.  Lucky for us, they called two of our favorite men in the ward to be the bishop and a counselor.  We don't know the other counselor too well but I'm sure he's great!  So that was definitely a wonderful end to our meeting.  Our stake president spoke as well, I've only heard him speak twice but he is so amazing and I already just love him.  It was the first time Ben had heard him speak, but he enjoyed him too.  So when we came home I insisted we try and catch up on conference ( don't judge us, we still haven't seen all the talks yet, we missed them).  One of the talks was by Neil L. Anderson on children.  I loved sitting there with Ben listening to this talk.  Every once in a while when Elder Anderson would say something particularly special Ben would squeeze my hand. We made cookies, read some hilarious things out of Ben's old journal, and made dinner together.  I was just in a state of bliss.  We have our struggles, money isn't growing from the tree in the back yard, Ben doesn't like his job ( which is really hard, if you've ever really hated a job), and you know how life just isn't always fair.  But there is only one kind of fair.  A fair is a place where you take your pig, and even through the struggles I feel so happy.  Life is so good.  Ashley Feller, you are right!  Life is a wonderful thing and we are so blessed to live it!  It felt so good doing things that centered around the savior yesterday in our home and we are making it a goal to keep it that way.  Not just on Sunday.  We want to fill our home with love and make it a place where the spirit can dwell.  This gospel really is such a wonderful thing and I am absolutely Certain that we are so happy and blessed because we keep God in our relationship and try to live the way he wants us to live.  He only wants us to be happy after all, we need to trust in him and always remember that!  

Life is good, God is good, and so are those pumpkin cookies we made yesterday ;)  

Halloween... a little late

I'm a little slow getting up our Halloween story, but better late than never eh? 

 Tazia attended multiple halloween parties, so I got pretty good at doing hair and makeup for Cleopatra...

She looked really good, its better in person, but she came home from 3 different parties where she said everyone asked her who did her hair and make up... and as usual was spotted by a modeling agency.  Man do I know how to make that girl look good :)

And Pebbles...

This was fun ;)  Deidre was pebbles and she looked so cute, also better in person!

On the Saturday before Halloween, we held a Halloween party at our place for my mom, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins who were old enough to date.  It was such a scream!  I was nervous about throwing a party, cause I'm really not much of a host but I'm so glad I did it was so much fun!  Ben was also skeptic throughout the whole planning process, but after all was said and done he loved it.  He even suggested we throw one every year ;)  Maybe we will try a different Holiday next year...?

I made sloppy Joe's and just had every one bring a side dish to share.  I wish I would have got a picture of it all on the table, we had brains, hearts, Monster cheese balls, and all sorts of good stuff!  We played a few games, the winners were given prizes... one game was kind of on going throughout the night.  Its called "Don't say that"  Everyone couldn't say the word "I" or they had to give up one of their little candies to whom ever caught them, that was fun.  We also played the game where you hang donuts from a string and each couple had to eat it off the string, My parents won haha although James and D were probably only a bite behind them

The Winners!

Cody and Tazia

AKA: Captain underpants and Cleopatra

Brittney and Brock (I think)

AKA: Geek and Football player

Grandma and Grandpa

Justin and Sjana

AKA: Pirates

Deidre "D", and James

AKA Banana and uh...

 Shane and Julie

AKA Shane and his twin

 Ben and I (oh and baby)

AKA the hosts...

Here is a little Taste:

I wish I could have some how seen a little more of everyone, but it was quite hillarious

Even better than the Donut game was the balloon game.  Each couple had to take turns being blindfolded and led to a balloon that they then blew up.  The couple had to pop it by hugging ;)  So stinking funny!  Ben and I were rolling on the ground laughing so hard.  If it wasn't so dark this would have been on video for sure it was so much fun, probably the best part of the whole night.  Here are some pics:

Everyone all lined up ready to go

Taz and Cody are the first to their balloon

 Justin and Sjana, ready to pop their balloon

 Mom trying to tie hers 

 POP!

 Or not... they were harder to pop than they thought ;)

 Sjana in hysteria while Justin is working hard for the prize

 Tazia and Cody on their last stretch!  And they were the winners!

It was the most hilarious thing to watch, I highly recommend this game!  We had so much fun, and it turned out just perfect.  Everyone was so awesome and helped clean up, I didn't have too much to do after they left. Loved it!

So on Halloween, Ben and I both had to work, but we made it over to the Ferg's for dinner with friends.  There were some delicious soups and yummy treats and of course wonderful company!  It was a good Halloween all in all.  My favorite time of year ;)

Dear Baby Boy,

Oh son, whom we have not yet named... please stop kicking my bladder when its full, you have plenty of other places to play, it doesn't take up much of your space.

Went to the Doctor yesterday for our follow up ultrasound.  Our 19 week Ultrasound she couldn't see the outflow valves to his heart, so poor us, we got to go back yesterday and see our little guy again!  Yay!  We love watching him, I wish we could have an ultrasound every day.  He is so fun to watch!  And my has he got some big feet... maybe its just the way they develop, but he really has big feet.  Makes me wonder if he will grow into them before he is born or if he is just going to be huge.  Big feet makes me hopeful that he will be a big boy, I would feel rather bad for him if he got the Short gene his dad's family carries.  Those skip genes are scary to think about. We can save those for our girls, better a short daughter than a short son.

Anyway, back to the ultrasound.  So the doctor doing the ultrasound found his little heart right away and all four chambers still looking good, pumping away.  Baby was again very cooperative and he was able to find the Aorta, which is in proper position as well as the pulmonary arteries, which are also in proper position!  Everything looks normal and healthy for baby boy.  He is measuring right on track Feb 15 is still "the day".  This doctor was really informative and was also able to shed some light on my "different" placenta.  Although I just about had an anxiety attack due to the way he presented his material.  As he was checking the placenta, he showed me again the dark places that looked "different", he said they are placental lakes and basically its just my blood swirling around in little pockets from when the placenta attached to the uterine wall. Ok so that sounds ok... "you know, twenty years ago we used to think ultrasound was the cat's meow, but really thats go fish compared to ultrasound today, so really thanks to technology and a slim woman, we can see all kinds of things we never used too.... blah blah blah... birth defects.."  What!!!!  Ya, he dared bring up birth defects!  So after his scary little story I made sure to ask... so basically this is normal and he is fine?  "yes".  Ok good.  SHEESH!  

So next he asks me "is this your first pregnancy?"  Yes.  "I can tell, your baby is moving down into your pelvis as he grows.  which doesn't mean he'll come early, hopefully,  or have any complications or anything like that".   So... Its normal and he is fine?  "yes, he is just taking the path of least resistance and is pushing down into your pelvis because its easier than pushing out your abdominal wall."   Ok so baby is fine, and I'm going to take that as a compliment! ;)  Abs are harder to move than pelvis.  BAM!  And that would explain why my hips and lower back hurt.

Happy!

23 Weeks pregnant, officially 6 mo.

not the best outfit for a prego picture, I will try to be better about posting them.

So needless to say, our son is healthy and growing and he likes his "different" placenta just fine.  And for some odd reason thinks that only when my bladder is full (mind you) does he need to kick it.  Oh boy.  I should not complain.  I have seriously had the easiest pregnancy ever. He is a good baby.  I just wish he was here already!   Come quickly February!

Baby Boy

I am so excited!!!  We went to the Dr. on Tuesday and had our Ultrasound and... Its a boy!  I was so nervous once we were in the car and started driving, a nervous excited anxious... I don't know, it was just crazy that we were about to find out what our first child is going to be!  Its still so surreal to both of us.  I can picture my little family, but I can't get a feeling you know, when you look back on an old memory and you remember a smell or a certain feeling and that kind of makes it real?  I think because that is missing (since we haven't lived this yet)  It almost doesn't seem real.  I can't believe we're going to be parents!  I'm going to be a mother to this little Boy.  What an amazing opportunity, and not to mention huge responsibility.  I am again anxious, nervous, and excited.  After the Ultrasound Ben mentioned how the ultrasound was such a tease.  We got to watch our baby move (and boy did he move) and see him in human looking form (last time we saw him he was 8 weeks and looked like a dinosaur).  We both just fell in love, and now we have to wait another 4 months to have him!  Ugh!  We want him now ;)  Both of us keep wishing time would move quicker, I want to kiss his little cheeks already!  

This is the first picture from the ultrasound, he started out breech.

You can see his head and his little spine, and his femur, all curled up

And then he started to flip around...

quite the little acrobat we have here.  That is his leg clear up over his head.

He was hilarious, I was having a hard time not laughing.  He would point and flex his

 foot, Leggy baby.

This is after he was completely turned over, in the correct position

that is his little hand by his face, he was opening and closing his hand

A little wave for us ;)

 I know its just an ultrasound, but he think he has his cousin Gunner's nose

Good thing, its a cute little nose!

This is a top view of his head and you can see his arms and hands out in front of him

The Dr. asked us if we had any guesses on what we were having:  "we both kind of think its a girl..."

"Actually, I think its a boy"   Soon as she said that, he gave us 3 different views of his little man piece.

This is the cutest one, he puled his legs up over his head again and there was his little penis.

The cursor is pointing to it there between his legs.

 Dr. said he was very cooperative and gave her all the views she needed, and was able

to give us tons of pictures of him!  However, she couldn't see the outflow valves of his heart

so we get to go back in a month to see those, and him again!  Yay!  Thank you baby!

It was crazy, I know how an ultra sound works, but I guess something that never clicked is that

during your ultrasound you get to watch your baby move.  He was moving so much, he turned all the way

around in there, twice during the ultrasound.  I asked the Dr. if it was normal that they move so much

and she said yes, that some babies are more active than others but they all move.  Our little guy

is quite active.  She said it was great though because she was able to see so much, and we were able to 

take home so many pictures!  These are but a few.  We got to see his brain, all four chambers of his heart, and many different parts of his skeleton.  It was so fun ;)  Hurry baby and come meet us!

Half Way There

Hello all, I have yet to post a prego picture, that is because there really hasn't been much to see, but finally my pouch has popped and you can start to tell that I'm pregnant.  About time too, I just realized that I am halfway there to meeting my little bean!  I'm so excited and am more anxious than ever ;)  Its so amazing and crazy at the same time to picture myself as a mother.  I'm not just Aunt Karin anymore, I will be...MOM!  weird.  Ben and I talk about this often lately.  Its so hard to imagine.  The way I feel right now, if I wasn't starting to show I wouldn't even believe I'm pregnant!  Oh, except I finally felt "it" kick me!  Ben hates it when I call it "it", but honestly I don't think he would like me saying she either.  Oh well.  So onto the kicking, "it" always kicks me when I'm in the shower.  I'm thinking this baby likes to swim.. or hates it.  Other than in the shower, I get a random kick every now and again.  Its crazy!  I just can't stop thinking about what this baby is going to look like or be like.  I already know my baby will be the cutest baby on earth... thats a given, I'm sure every mom thinks that of their own child, but mine really will be the cutest haha! There is so much to wonder about it makes me so excited, I wish this pregnancy would hurry and be over already so I can meet this little babe!

So this is me at 17 Weeks, half way!

In other news, its funny how pregnancy can make you do crazy things.  This is true.  I have become victim to the pregnancy craziness and I decided Monday that I wanted to cut my hair.  Usually this means I set up an appointment with my aunt and decide what exactly I want.  Not this time.  I pulled my hair up in a ponytail and had Ben cut off the pony tail!  Seriously!?  Then I just went in the bathroom hacked away at it to gain some layers and voila!  

Oh my.

It was fun, and definitely crazy.  If you knew how anal I was about my hair you'd be very surprised.  I'm glad it didn't turn out too bad, though.   Anyways, I will try and take new prego pics every couple of weeks, and I will be updating you with baby pictures and gender in about two weeks!  We will know the 20th!  Cant wait ;)

Where in the world

Wow, it has been a really long time since I've been able to read up on my blogs!  It was nice to catch up on everyone's lives ;)  I shall catch you up on ours!  We have had an exciting couple of months and I am very excited to take you on a tour of what we call home.

We were finally able to move in June 7th, and did so in a day.  We didn't have much to move, although we had much more than we realized!  It seems when you put boxes in storage, they have babies and you end up with a butt load of stuff you forgot you even had.  Needless to say we were fortunate that a van and small trailer were sufficient in moving our stuff.  

Now on to the pictures!    Without further ado, Welcome to the Gardiner Home:

This is our cute new house!

The Living Room Before...

Bathroom/Hallway

Kitchen Before...

Basement Before...

This is my Laundry room, it looks the same :)  HUGE

This is our "weight room" that is at the moment weightless

Downstairs bathroom

Living Room after

Its kinda hard to tell with the lighting, but I textured the walls and painted a faux

it kinda looks like stone, there are veins and all that 

Kitchen after

We just painted and are planning on staining the cabinets to match our kitchen table

Basement after

Ben made this fireplace!  So proud, he is amazing

Our backyard, in my opinion very decent sized

I will continue to post pictures as we continue to update!  There is still tons to do, as you can see all bathrooms are outdated (3), and besides Tazia's room (yes she moved in) and the weight room we have 3 other bedrooms that need to be updated, one of which is a... nursery!!!  Yay!  I am now 4 months prego!  We are so excited and can't wait to find out what we get to have.  I of course would love a girl, and Ben has literally been praying for a boy.  Can you believe that!?  I guess we will see how hard he has been praying next month.  As far as being pregnant I am extremely lucky other than being sensitive to smells and losing my appetite I haven't had a sick day in 4 months!  I'm a few weeks into my second trimester now and I'm feeling great ;)  We are expecting this baby Feb 15!  Happy anniversary to us.

In other news, we are loving our neighborhood and ward.   We just received our callings I am now the Laurel adviser and Ben is the second counselor in the sunday school presidency ( what ever that is)

Well now that I have covered the basics in a crazy long post...

ta ta for now, we will update you on the baby soon, hopefully with little pictures