Footprints in the Sand

The Lake Powell Sand!!

  

We broke down on the way....had to be towed and left our car in Beaver for the week to fix the fuel pump.  I hate cars, they are a necessary evil.

But our wonderful in laws brought their other car and let us drive it down the rest of the way.  Thanks Doug and Camille!  We owe you!

We played hard, ate tons, got sunburned, and crashed at the end of each day.  Brooklyn loves the water, but HATES the sand.  Go figure.

Pictures document our fun, no need for much explanation beyond the fun you see!! :)



Yes, our adorable toddler fell asleep on this.  She started rocking herself back and forth and simply couldn't keep her eyes open.  So camera worthy!!



And because its never too late, Happy Late Fathers Day to this man!!  We love you!! 

Thank you to Darren and Kristi for all of the fun!!  37 people on one houseboat could have been total chaos, but it ended up a total blast!!

Letters...

Dear Belly Button,

You have disappeared, for the most part.  See you in the Fall....



18 weeks



21.5 weeks


Dear Scale,

I'm sorry I've been avoiding you.  My hormones can't handle stepping on you more than once a month.  I'll revisit our relationship in...ummmm, let's say December??

Dear Summer Sun,

Thank you for being there lately.  Brooklyn and I HATE being cooped up inside.  Though go easy on my fingers and toes okay?  I'd like to be able to wear shoes all the way until October!

Dear Prenatal Vitamins,

Thanks for making my hair grow so fast.  I may consider keeping you around indefinitely.  Though, I think I need a hightlight sooner than scheduled now.  Andrea??  Should we play sooner than June??


Dear Lake Powell,

I've missed you.  We're supposed to visit you next month.  Dr. England was NOT happy about this when we talked about you.  He may make me stay home.  Send good karma my way for my appt this Friday and again in three weeks so we can play for a week with the Gardner fam!!

Dear Progesterone Shots,

Good heavens you sting like crazy!  It took me three weeks to gear up to giving you myself.  Your needle is so long, and the juice so thick!  Please do your job and make this worth it okay?  My thighs sting for 4 days after I give you, just in time to do it again!!  (I know it would sting less if I gave you in my bum, but the image of me trying to reach behind myself with my gut sticking out front is hilarious.)

Dear Mom,

I love you.  You're a saint.  Thanks for loving your first granddaughter enough to watch her while this tired and cranky pregnant girl sleeps after graveyard shifts.  She's a handful.  Sorry if she's destroying your house.  She loves 'grama', though......especially your 'jump' (tramp).  She still wakes up asking to jump.  Christmas gift Roger??

Dear Meg,

I think Brooklyn is confused by you.  She occasionally calls you mom.  Thanks for trading babysitting days with me.  I'm sorry Brooklyn loves on your son so much......he'll have to give some good paybacks someday!

Dear Beau,

I'm sorry Brooklyn gets in your face.  And shoves your binki and bottle in your mouth.  And rocks you in your carseat and swing enough to give you motion sicknesses.  She's a fast one, I can't keep her away from you all day!  Though she just may end up calling her baby sister "Beau" for awhile - every baby she sees now she calls your name.

Dear Stomach,

Thanks for growing a little slower this go around.  As much as I like the 'gus-gus' effect, I better break down and buy a few more undershirts before you get too big huh?  And I'll try to lay off the treats -- will you forgive the doughnut and fun size candybars I ate by 9:30 this morning?  Couldn't help myself, they were leftovers from the baby shower last night and they were calling my name.

Dear Brooklyn,

My not so little baby girl anymore - do you have any idea what a gem you are?  Forgive my orneryness lately.  You make our lives complete.  Thank you for being so dang cute.  And for being a mama's girl still.  My belly is getting in the way, but I sure do love your snuggles lately.

Making sugar cookies for the cousins' baby shower last night!

 Dear Roger,

Do you have any idea how much I love you?  I have been so up and down with this pregnancy.  Thank you for being so patient with me.  Thank you for being excited about having another baby - another girl, too!  I owe you some golfing days for sure.  Date night soon?  Yes please.

Dear Baby Girl #2,

Wow are we excited to meet you!  But cook for a few more months please.  Please oh please.  I don't want to be meeting you in the next 6 weeks like last time.  My heart can't handle it.  Have a little chit chat with the angles up there in heaven and tell them to hang onto you for a bit longer okay?  Thank you for finally kicking mom - you had me kinda worried for a few weeks.  You're not as crazy in there as your sister was.  And your heartrate is consistently lower than Brooklyn's ever was.  Does this mean you'll be a little less hyper than her?  We are thrilled to have you join our family!

Love, Ashlee

Happy Mother's Day!

(Our picture this morning before church, camera propped on a bucket, and Roger trying to bend down so his head won't be cut off.  Brookln looks thrilled, Baby #2 looks lopsided.  The joys of timed pictures!)

To the women in our lives - Happy Mother's Day!  We hope the day is as great as you hoped it would be!

I love to celebrate any holiday, especially the ones when Roger takes full responsibility for Brooklyn during church so I could sit and enjoy the meeting.  He also cooked us breakfast.....maybe that's why I look slightly lumpy in the gut area!   I'm a little bummed I have to work tonight, but this is what I signed up for when I became a nurse.  So I'm just going to pretend this day doesn't include the working part!

I love the little girls (crazy that I can say that now!) that have made me a mom.  This was a title I wanted forever!  Being a mom is the hardest but most rewarding job.  It is a blast.  Good thing kids are forgiving, I'm still working on getting it down right!

To my own mom - you set the bar too high!  I'll spend my lifetime trying to match what you've done for us girls.....what you still do!  How lucky I am to have a friend, a lunch partner, someone to run errands with, someone to call everyday, an example, a shoulder to cry on.  Good luck with your talk today - its already over, but I'm still a little annoyed they made you speak in church on your holiday!

To my sweet mother in law, Susan -my heart is full today when I think of you.  You cannot know the impact you have had on your son, and consequently me and Brooklyn.  I don't think I can get through this post without some tears...the news of your cancer has me reeling from the heartbreak we've felt these last two months.  A mom (and dad) is supposed to be invincible, almost superhuman, not vulnerable to what life can hand you.  I can't describe the heaviness I feel each time I've watched my big, tough husband cry because he's losing his mom sooner than he ever thought he would.  Yet, you have faced this latest challenge with amazing faith and grace, being the backbone for this family.  The time you have left is not up to Roger and I, but we want you to know how much we love you and admire you.  You have impacted us in ways you can't imagine.  Your influence will be felt for many years to come.  So on this Mother's Day, we hope you know how much your family loves you, especially our little family!

Days to celebrate our parents are so special, an opportunity to thank each mother (however you define a mom) for their dedication and committment to their families.  To my 'moms', thank you for all you do!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We're Having A.....

GIRL!!!!!

Another girl, we're so thrilled! Yes we thought all along this one was a girl, so today's ultrasound was no surprise. There was no doubt on the gender...even BOTH of our untrained eyes could see 'it' was a she.

Gardner girl will make grandchild #3 for my parents, and #22 for Rogers parents.

Seeing a living human being on that screen is the coolest thing to watch. It never gets old. This little one is either as feisty or as shy as Brooklyn was - she wouldn't let us get a good look at her face. Good thing we get to go back for another ultrasound in two weeks.

Gardner girl #2 looks great. No issues that we can see at this point, both in her anatomy and with things holding her in there...aka me. The only change? My due date was moved back a week. Bummer. Not that I mind being pregnant, it's just one more week we have to worry and wonder how far I'll carry her.

HER. I can't get over saying it. Brooklyn will have a sister. I'll have another little girl to hang out with. I get girls, it's all I've ever known. I get one more lunch date, one more shopping partner, one more wedding to plan, one more friend. Aaaah, I can't wait! Now Roger is also thrilled...let's not leave him out of this. He wants his son someday (so do I for that matter), but he had a smile plastered on his face the whole way out to the car. Maybe that's a good coverup for his concern over the amount of hormonal women in his life now! Roger LOVES his girls, and they love him. He is an incredible dad....there are good dads and great dads. The men in my life fall under the great category. But for those times he may find himself outnumbered by his girls, my dad offered to help him out...he produced all girls too!

I was so nervous going into today's appt. What would they find? What would they tell us? Would we feel peaceful about the game plan? My nerves got the best of me - my stomach battled me all morning and my blood pressure was through the roof. I can honestly say we feel pretty good about things. Progesterone shots start today (ummm, can someone please come do that for me? There is no way I can give myself that nasty, thick as peanut butter shot. And Roger will pass out. Really. Csu friends...anyone willing?). They'll measure my cervix frequently, every two weeks for now...which is why we get to go back in two weeks. And they will put me flat in bed or the hospital if my cervix becomes to thin.

So I feel pretty good about things. Because we're having another girl!!!

Gotta start brainstorming names........

A Birthday......2!!

Can we please go back and recount the days in the calendar? There is no way this girl is already 2!!

Birthdays are a great excuse to celebrate, but also a time do some fun reflecting over the last year. It amazes me how much Brooklyn has changed in just a year. I was always told that time moves too fast when you get older. Ya know what? They were right.

I thought I'd go back and look at where she was at around each of her birthdays for a comparison. Holy cow she has grown!

Her Birth (and up to 3 months)......

Age 1........

Age 2..........

There is still no doubt who she belongs to - I swear you'd think I had nothing to do with her creation with how much she looks like Roger. We sure do love this little girl. She brought a joy and happiness into our lives we didn't even know we were missing! Now we can't imagine life without her! She is such an easy baby - always so happy and spunky.

Happy Birthday (on the 14th) Brooklyn!! We love you!!!

Brooklyn

Though everyone says it, I'll join the lame mom ranks and say I cannot believe my baby is turning 2! Two short weeks away and she'll be a little girl!

Brooklyn and I are buddies. Sometimes its a love/hate relationship and I'm counting down the minutes until Roger gets home to help out, but most days I love hanging out with her. She has so much sass! And that big smile of hers (with all of her funky teeth coming in)....ya can't help but smile back at her huh?

I'm thrilled to have another baby joining the chaos at our house, but part of me knows I'll look back on this time and miss it. Its so easy just me and her. So much fun. And so easy to focus completely on her. Brooklyn needs a playmate to help with her creativity and imagination - we all know mom can only do so much, but then another kid needs to be around to 'play'. Brooklyn loves me, but she adores other kids! I'm excited to watch her learn to love another sibling.

For the record, again, I still think its a girl. Despite how hopeful Roger is that its a boy because of how sick I was, my gut tells me girl. I was right with Brooklyn, lets see if my gut is right this time....hopefully we'll know in the next month!

Here we are at (almost) 14 weeks....

Its fun to watch your body naturally do this again. I was surprised at how quickly I showed this go around, but maybe I just used it as an excuse not to suck my gut in! Haha!

I have more pictures to post of our latest fun, plus we have another trip coming up, but the blog hasn't been priority lately. The nice weather, on the other hand, has! Roger's mom got some rough news the last couple weeks as well, so we've been focusing on that for awhile. I'll post another day on that subject as soon as we know more.

That'll do it for another few weeks! :)

The Blob

Meet the blob...aka Baby Gardner!

We got our second peek at our little one last Tuesday. We are officially due Sept 25th.

What a FUN thing to experience - I could see an ultrasound of this baby everyday if they would let me!

We don't know anything for sure as far as a gameplan, except that we will most defenitely start progesterone shots around week 18. We'll see the high risk doctors that week as well to pick their brain for anything else they may want to do with us.

How am I feeling at this point? So sick. Oh my heavens. The pregnancy glow they talk about.....that would be the sweat on my face after puking. They also don't mention the mascara that is halfway down my face as well, along with the tears I cry everytime I throw up. I'm a total cryer when I puke.

But I'm grateful to be sick, it's reassuring. And yes, we are still pregnant....11 weeks on Tuesday!

I am for sure showing, though a stranger would just think I'm thicker around the gut area. I'm craving the same things (pizza and pickles) when I actually feel good enough to want to eat. The one difference is how much sicker I am this round. It has rocked my world. I am absolutely zero fun right now. My poor husband and daughter. I'm useless.

So there is the update on us. We are so thrilled to be welcoming another little person into our family! I'll take pictures once I get around to looking presentable...I barely manage to shower and look decent enough to go outside everyday. And ignore my hair and Brooklyn's...mine has been lain on all day, and Brookyn is lucky to be clean and dressed in matching clothes with the zero motivation I've had lately! :)