Having two small kids of my own, I've realized that it's the little things in life that really matter. We have a beautiful home, Jared has a great job, we have two cars, we have food, blankets, etc. We have all of our necessities in life, but it's not the big things that really count in the long run. Making the little things count is what makes such a big difference in our lives. The other day the kids and I were kinda bored, it was just another stay-at-home day. So what did we do? We sat at the kitchen table and colored. Doing something simple like that was so much fun! Not only did it make me feel like a kid again, but it helped my children's creativity grow. Anna can write her "A's", so we were able to practice that some more as well. Just sitting there coloring with two of the most important people in my life was priceless. We'll definitely do more coloring in the future ;)
As I write this, my kids have taken all the pillows and cushions off the couch. Typically in the past, I'd get really irritated and tell them to put them all back. But now I've realized, what's the big deal? Sure it'll be nice one day to have couches with cushions that are attached, but right now my kids are bouncing around the living room, trying to stay on the pillows and cushions. What does it remind you of? For me, it reminds me of when I was a kid and the floor was volcano lava and you had to do everything possible not to touch the floor or you would die! Remember doing that? My kids, in some form, are doing the same stuff I did as a kid, and so I just let them play :) Something little like that is what makes a big deal in the long run, because if I remember doing that as a kid, maybe they will too :)
Earlier this week, we had a small snow storm, plenty of snow had accumulated. What did Anna want to do?? Play in the snow! Now, if you know me, you know that I DETEST the snow. There isn't ONE thing I like about it. Yes, I know I live in Utah where it's always inevitable ;). Last weekend, I had bought Anna some snow boots, mittens and a hat, because she didn't have any yet, and I told her she could finally play in the snow when it snows again. Of course it just HAD to snow a few days later. She woke up Jared and I in the morning and was bursting with joy that it had snowed! I had her wait until after lunchtime to go since it was still snowing a lot outside. It stopped after lunchtime so I got her all bundled up and sent her out into the backyard to play in the snow. Boy, was she EXCITED! She kept saying she couldn't wait to play in the snow. What did she do in the snow? She just picked it up and threw it in the air. My poor kids are so deprived of playing in the snow ;). She played out there for about a half hour before coming inside (and taking two potty breaks, oy), but as I watched her play, I really was once again reminded of the little things, and how I remember playing in the snow when I was a kid. I just sat at the kitchen table, looking out the sliding glass door at my daughter happily playing in the snow. I had dreaded it because I didn't like the snow and didn't want to have to deal with my kids in the snow, but it turned out so great, I remembered it's not about me, it's about them. Watching Anna joyfully play in the snow like that was priceless, it made me so happy to see her so happy. My kids are creating memories and I'm helping them do that. I feel so honored to have such a pleasure as that in life :)
As you can tell, my life kinda revolves around my kids, since I'm with them ALL the time, but that's ok with me. I love them with all my heart and enjoy doing the little things in life with them. They teach me so much and definitely one thing I've learned is to slow down and enjoy the little things in life :)
About the Gardner's!
- Stef
- This is us! Jared, Stefanie, Anna and Aiden! Anna is 4 and Aiden is 2, time flies so fast! We're doing our best to enjoy life and take every obstacle head on! :) I'm hoping to have this blog be about all the happy things in our life and keep it mostly positive! Obviously, we have things in our lives that aren't so great, but I'll do my best to keep this as uplifting as possible ;)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Here we go!
If you haven't figured it out by now, I do a horrible job keeping up on this blog. Our lives aren't very exciting, so I don't really have much to update on which is why I never do. I think that's something I need to work on. I know for every post I do, I don't have to include pictures for (thank goodness since putting pictures on here is just a hassle!! If someone knows an easy way to do it, tell me!!), so I think I want to try and just write, just update on anything. No I won't tell you what we ate that day or anything like that, but it'd be nice to update on my kids at least, since they are freaking adorable ;). We'll see how it goes, but I'll at least try! Also, if anyone can give me tips on doing my blog (like Lindsey for example!!! ;)), PLEASE do!
ANNA~
Oh my Anna, what a stubborn joy she is. Almost a year ago, she was potty trained for almost a month at least. She did excellent with it. Then we moved to our house and she lapsed. I tried so hard for days to keep her on track, but she had just given up and after doing so many loads of laundry, I gave up too. I figured I'd just wait til she was completely ready, til she wanted to do it. Then the New Year rolled around and I thought I'd give it a try again, it became my New Year's resolution. What a pleasant surprise when the first Monday of the month rolled around and Anna decided to literally potty train herself! I wasn't going to start til the week after, when I didn't have plans and I would stay home all week. That Monday she just started going by herself all day. Tuesday was the same. I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I kept her in a diaper still, even though she was dry all day both days! Wednesday she was still in a diaper because we made a trip to Provo to visit family, so that day wasn't so great because we were out and about. But on Thursday, it was back to what she did before. She stayed dry all day. I couldn't believe she was doing it! So I gave in and put panties on her, which she looks so cute in HAHA, and she did great! She's had a few accidents since then, but has otherwise been totally potty trained and I couldn't be happier about it!! She still doesn't stay dry through the night, we're working on that, but she still does so excellent. I'm thrilled to say the least!!! That's my stubborn girl, do things when she wants to ;) Since that was my original resolution, I'm going to make another one to do better with this blog. More posted below. Other than the potty stuff, she is doing so great. We enrolled her in a dance/tumble combo class at a nearby arts academy and she loves it. She doesn't always listen to the teacher, kinda runs around and does what she wants, but she's been getting MUCH better with that and has been learning some great stuff! The classes at that place are small so there's more one on one attention between the teacher and the students. On average there are about 5-6 girls in Anna's class, so it's nice. She loves her dance class :) We just celebrated her 4th birthday last week, I can't believe she's 4 already!! Some days when I look at her, I want to cry thinking of how big she's gotten and how fast it all goes. She's such a sweetie and is learning and growing so much, I love her sooo much :). She uses her imagination A LOT and oh my word I love it!! Some of the things she comes up with....WOW. She can really crack me up sometimes with the things she does and says, I just love that girl :). Tomorrow we're getting her a "big girl" bed, an actual twin size bed, and she's so excited for it. My gosh she's getting big....it's so bittersweet. I love my princess!!
AIDEN~
Oh what to say about that adorable boy?? He's been learning, exploring and watching a lot! Anna is his role model, he does what she does and goes where she goes. They play a lot together and he looks up to her so much, it's so cute :). He has officially been weaned off his binky and I'm so glad that's done! It took a few months, but he no longer has it and probably hardly remembers it. He still has his blanket he sleeps with, but that's totally fine with me. I love how much he loves his blanket, it's cute :). He climbs on everything and gets into everything and oh how it tries my patience sometimes!! Lately his getting into the fridge stuff has been driving me absolutely crazy. We've had two fridge locks on the door and they've both broken, but I finally went and got another one yesterday because I just couldn't take it anymore. Yesterday morning he spilled a pitcher of juice all over the couch and floor, it was so awful. The morning before that, Anna spilled a pitcher of juice on the kitchen floor. Granted, she can still open the lock and get in the fridge, but she doesn't do it as much as Aiden. Thank goodness for child locks :). With Anna getting her new twin bed tomorrow, that means transitioning Aiden to the toddler bed that Anna's using....oh boy that'll be interesting! Anna did it just fine and she didn't have her binky either. So I'm hoping it'll go the same way for Aiden...I have a feeling it might be a little more difficult though, wish us luck!! Aiden is just getting so so big, I still can't believe he's over 2 years old already! He's still my little baby and I love him to pieces :).
We have to do the bed switching around because............you sure you ready for it??..............yes, we're expecting, believe it or not! All our talk about not having another baby was false. We didn't expect this, but it's happened anyway!
Ok guys, seriously, did you really think that was true?? HAHA. I only said it because so many, SO MANY, people tease us about having another baby and if I ever say I'm tired or have a headache, people tease me and say I'm pregnant. I'll set the record straight....I'm not pregnant, I don't plan on becoming pregnant, we don't plan in the future of becoming pregnant, so I'll just let you all know that now if you don't already! ;) We're so happy with our two kids and feel so blessed to have them, don't get me wrong on that, we just don't plan on adding to the clan, we're happy with our family as it is now :).
Jared and I are the same, nothing going on with us! We're still nursery leaders in our ward and although I've loved doing it overall, it can get a little tedious some weeks. Anna started Sunbeams this year, HOLY COW!!!, and thankfully is doing so well with it. Aiden is still in nursery with us and after his first two weeks in nursery is when Jared and I got called into the nursery. So basically he's been in nursery with us from the beginning when he first went. The first two weeks he went, I stayed in there with him to help transition him. So it'll be hard when we get released because we're not sure how Aiden will handle it! Hopefully he'll get used to it pretty quick ;). Jared still works for the Post Office in Bountiful and I still stay home with the kids and although I can get really bored some days, I still love it and feel so blessed that I get to stay home with them :). I'm going to try and make this a happy, uplifting blog. I need something like that to keep me happy in my everyday doings, so that's what this will be, or what I'll try to make it be :). I also do have a resolution to lose some weight this year, but c'mon, how many people have made that a resolution? So I'll have two resolutions, with this blog being my main one ;). That's our happy life in a "nutshell", hopefully more to come soon :).
ANNA~
Oh my Anna, what a stubborn joy she is. Almost a year ago, she was potty trained for almost a month at least. She did excellent with it. Then we moved to our house and she lapsed. I tried so hard for days to keep her on track, but she had just given up and after doing so many loads of laundry, I gave up too. I figured I'd just wait til she was completely ready, til she wanted to do it. Then the New Year rolled around and I thought I'd give it a try again, it became my New Year's resolution. What a pleasant surprise when the first Monday of the month rolled around and Anna decided to literally potty train herself! I wasn't going to start til the week after, when I didn't have plans and I would stay home all week. That Monday she just started going by herself all day. Tuesday was the same. I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I kept her in a diaper still, even though she was dry all day both days! Wednesday she was still in a diaper because we made a trip to Provo to visit family, so that day wasn't so great because we were out and about. But on Thursday, it was back to what she did before. She stayed dry all day. I couldn't believe she was doing it! So I gave in and put panties on her, which she looks so cute in HAHA, and she did great! She's had a few accidents since then, but has otherwise been totally potty trained and I couldn't be happier about it!! She still doesn't stay dry through the night, we're working on that, but she still does so excellent. I'm thrilled to say the least!!! That's my stubborn girl, do things when she wants to ;) Since that was my original resolution, I'm going to make another one to do better with this blog. More posted below. Other than the potty stuff, she is doing so great. We enrolled her in a dance/tumble combo class at a nearby arts academy and she loves it. She doesn't always listen to the teacher, kinda runs around and does what she wants, but she's been getting MUCH better with that and has been learning some great stuff! The classes at that place are small so there's more one on one attention between the teacher and the students. On average there are about 5-6 girls in Anna's class, so it's nice. She loves her dance class :) We just celebrated her 4th birthday last week, I can't believe she's 4 already!! Some days when I look at her, I want to cry thinking of how big she's gotten and how fast it all goes. She's such a sweetie and is learning and growing so much, I love her sooo much :). She uses her imagination A LOT and oh my word I love it!! Some of the things she comes up with....WOW. She can really crack me up sometimes with the things she does and says, I just love that girl :). Tomorrow we're getting her a "big girl" bed, an actual twin size bed, and she's so excited for it. My gosh she's getting big....it's so bittersweet. I love my princess!!
AIDEN~
Oh what to say about that adorable boy?? He's been learning, exploring and watching a lot! Anna is his role model, he does what she does and goes where she goes. They play a lot together and he looks up to her so much, it's so cute :). He has officially been weaned off his binky and I'm so glad that's done! It took a few months, but he no longer has it and probably hardly remembers it. He still has his blanket he sleeps with, but that's totally fine with me. I love how much he loves his blanket, it's cute :). He climbs on everything and gets into everything and oh how it tries my patience sometimes!! Lately his getting into the fridge stuff has been driving me absolutely crazy. We've had two fridge locks on the door and they've both broken, but I finally went and got another one yesterday because I just couldn't take it anymore. Yesterday morning he spilled a pitcher of juice all over the couch and floor, it was so awful. The morning before that, Anna spilled a pitcher of juice on the kitchen floor. Granted, she can still open the lock and get in the fridge, but she doesn't do it as much as Aiden. Thank goodness for child locks :). With Anna getting her new twin bed tomorrow, that means transitioning Aiden to the toddler bed that Anna's using....oh boy that'll be interesting! Anna did it just fine and she didn't have her binky either. So I'm hoping it'll go the same way for Aiden...I have a feeling it might be a little more difficult though, wish us luck!! Aiden is just getting so so big, I still can't believe he's over 2 years old already! He's still my little baby and I love him to pieces :).
We have to do the bed switching around because............you sure you ready for it??..............yes, we're expecting, believe it or not! All our talk about not having another baby was false. We didn't expect this, but it's happened anyway!
Ok guys, seriously, did you really think that was true?? HAHA. I only said it because so many, SO MANY, people tease us about having another baby and if I ever say I'm tired or have a headache, people tease me and say I'm pregnant. I'll set the record straight....I'm not pregnant, I don't plan on becoming pregnant, we don't plan in the future of becoming pregnant, so I'll just let you all know that now if you don't already! ;) We're so happy with our two kids and feel so blessed to have them, don't get me wrong on that, we just don't plan on adding to the clan, we're happy with our family as it is now :).
Jared and I are the same, nothing going on with us! We're still nursery leaders in our ward and although I've loved doing it overall, it can get a little tedious some weeks. Anna started Sunbeams this year, HOLY COW!!!, and thankfully is doing so well with it. Aiden is still in nursery with us and after his first two weeks in nursery is when Jared and I got called into the nursery. So basically he's been in nursery with us from the beginning when he first went. The first two weeks he went, I stayed in there with him to help transition him. So it'll be hard when we get released because we're not sure how Aiden will handle it! Hopefully he'll get used to it pretty quick ;). Jared still works for the Post Office in Bountiful and I still stay home with the kids and although I can get really bored some days, I still love it and feel so blessed that I get to stay home with them :). I'm going to try and make this a happy, uplifting blog. I need something like that to keep me happy in my everyday doings, so that's what this will be, or what I'll try to make it be :). I also do have a resolution to lose some weight this year, but c'mon, how many people have made that a resolution? So I'll have two resolutions, with this blog being my main one ;). That's our happy life in a "nutshell", hopefully more to come soon :).
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Just wanted to quickly share with you all one of my favorite websites!! It's called City Deals and I'm not sure where all their deals are, but I know they have some in Arizona, Nevada and of course Utah! Right now they're having a huge fall savings sale so you can save even less on your favorite places! I got coupons for less than half the price they're worth, it's just awesome! Go check it out! :)
http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUMTA5OTI5
http://www.citydeals.com/?ref=CDUMTA5OTI5
Monday, July 19, 2010
Been a while since I last wrote! Not that a whole lot has been going on anyway ;) I never did post any pictures of the house either, so I'll post a few of those too. (Oh and the picture of the dining room was one while we were moving in, the table and chairs were just temporary ;)) We're still doing the same stuff as we were before, only in our lovely home! :) We just love it here. We love having the extra space, the private backyard for the kids to run around in, a garage to store our extra stuff and our car, it's all just been wonderful. I think my favorite part of the house is the kitchen :) It's a beautiful kitchen and the appliances were all bought within the past couple of years! There's so much more space in the kitchen and sadly, I don't have an organizational system for papers and things yet so those are kinda spread on a counter or two, but other than that, I just LOVE my kitchen :) I haven't thought too much about it lately, but I've thought about maybe painting the kitchen cabinets. The previous owner told me she wanted to paint them an off-white color and it got me thinking that maybe I should do it! :) So we'll see if that'll happen. Unfortunately, our garden has pretty much died. I'm SO not used to doing yard duties, so we neglected the yard and the garden! Jared's been more dedicated the past week or two to watering the lawn at night, but I don't know how much good it's doing in this awful heat! But it's good that he's still doing it, he's done so much already with this house :)
Anna and Aiden....there's one word to describe each of them right now! Anna~ opinionated! Aiden~ energetic! Anna is really starting to become even more independent. She wants to do everything by herself, she wants to really speak her mind, even if it's calling someone stupid! A lot of things "aren't fair" to her and she'll storm off if she doesn't get her way sometimes. With all of those things, I still love her so dearly :) She can be so sweet with Aiden and helps me a lot with certain things. It still amazes me sometimes how big she's gotten, I can't believe she'll be four in January!! Aiden, oh my Aiden. A big ball of energy is what he is!! He's always exploring, getting into things he shouldn't, running away if we try to get something from him he shouldn't have, climbing on everything and everywhere! And yet he's the cutest little boy I've ever seen :) He can be a real sweetheart sometimes and still makes sure he says his "thank you's" when needed. He can be a good helper when he wants to be and he LOVES to dance! I still remember when I was pregnant with him, how Jared and I really hoped for another girl. Now I wouldn't want it any other way, I LOVE having my little boy!!!! And having one of each, it's just perfect :) We are all so happy and even though we've hit rough patches this summer, we all have each other and can keep each other happy and that's what matters the most :) That might sound corny but I don't care, we've realized the un-importance of material things the past few months and the importance of focusing on each other and our family. We're all so happy and doing so well, I love my family and our dear home!! :)
Anna and Aiden....there's one word to describe each of them right now! Anna~ opinionated! Aiden~ energetic! Anna is really starting to become even more independent. She wants to do everything by herself, she wants to really speak her mind, even if it's calling someone stupid! A lot of things "aren't fair" to her and she'll storm off if she doesn't get her way sometimes. With all of those things, I still love her so dearly :) She can be so sweet with Aiden and helps me a lot with certain things. It still amazes me sometimes how big she's gotten, I can't believe she'll be four in January!! Aiden, oh my Aiden. A big ball of energy is what he is!! He's always exploring, getting into things he shouldn't, running away if we try to get something from him he shouldn't have, climbing on everything and everywhere! And yet he's the cutest little boy I've ever seen :) He can be a real sweetheart sometimes and still makes sure he says his "thank you's" when needed. He can be a good helper when he wants to be and he LOVES to dance! I still remember when I was pregnant with him, how Jared and I really hoped for another girl. Now I wouldn't want it any other way, I LOVE having my little boy!!!! And having one of each, it's just perfect :) We are all so happy and even though we've hit rough patches this summer, we all have each other and can keep each other happy and that's what matters the most :) That might sound corny but I don't care, we've realized the un-importance of material things the past few months and the importance of focusing on each other and our family. We're all so happy and doing so well, I love my family and our dear home!! :)
Friday, April 23, 2010
I guess I should write a post about our new, exciting adventure in life!! :) We bought a house!!!!!! I couldn't be more excited and thrilled!!! Right now it's totally hectic with the packing, unpacking, all that stuff, but it's going to be totally worth it, I can't wait to be all moved in!! Tomorrow is when we finish all the moving, but then of course we have to clean the apartment after that, shouldn't be too bad though ;) We just LOVE our new home, it's just perfect! And has soo many things in it that I've always wanted! I just couldn't be happier!! :) The house is in Clearfield, so the commute for Jared to get to work should be interesting....but we just love this place. It's about 1,500 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, two living rooms, a fireplace, a BEAUTIFUL kitchen with all matching stainless steel appliances, dining room of course, really deep two car garage, FULLY FENCED BACKYARD!!!, a big deck, and a hot tub!! :D Love it all! Once things get settled down then I'll want to do some sort of get together, which makes me WAY happy to finally be able to do!! :) I'll have to post pictures later, gotta get back to packing for now! :)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Just us
I just wanted to write a post of how much I LOVE my little family!!! :) My kids are just dolls and I love them both to pieces. I love that I have one boy and one girl, one of each, it's just perfect! I remember wanting another girl when I was pregnant with Aiden...I wouldn't trade him for all the girls in the world :) Anna was pure joy for us because she was our first and I wasn't happier to have a girl! Now she's 3 years old, man how the time flies! And Aiden is 16 months...I swear he was just born last year, it certainly feels like it!
And then there's Jared. I couldn't have asked for a better husband for me and dad for my kids. He is just SO amazing!! We've been married for over four years now and they have been by far THE BEST four years of my life. We've gone through a lot together and continue to love each other more each day, I love my sweet husband!!! :) Here are some pictures of my loved ones....in the beginning...and now. Enjoy :)
My little Anna, about two weeks old!
Anna on her 3rd birthday, she's so big!
Aww, my little man ready to go home from the hospital!
When did he get so big?? (Sorry the picture's a little blurry!)
Can't believe this was over four years ago, look at us!!
My main man today, I'm sure he would love that I posted this silly pic of him ;)
And then there's Jared. I couldn't have asked for a better husband for me and dad for my kids. He is just SO amazing!! We've been married for over four years now and they have been by far THE BEST four years of my life. We've gone through a lot together and continue to love each other more each day, I love my sweet husband!!! :) Here are some pictures of my loved ones....in the beginning...and now. Enjoy :)
My little Anna, about two weeks old!
Anna on her 3rd birthday, she's so big!
Aww, my little man ready to go home from the hospital!
When did he get so big?? (Sorry the picture's a little blurry!)
Can't believe this was over four years ago, look at us!!
My main man today, I'm sure he would love that I posted this silly pic of him ;)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Finally!
Well, I was FINALLY able to put up a picture at the top of this page, not sure why it didn't work before! But now, how do I do the "fancy font" for the rest of my page? On here they only allow certain types of fonts, but I know you're able to do different fonts, so how do I do that? If I'm going to keep this blog then I need some help with it! ;) As for us.....
We're all doing great. Anna and Aiden have had a cough this week and Aiden a mild ear infection, but otherwise still doing good! They still have plenty of energy to use! We're getting excited for warm weather, we want to get outside and run around! Especially the kids ;) We all had a great Valentine's Day, I made us a big, very yummy breakfast and we spent the evening with Jared's parents, as we do every Sunday and we love it every week. Earlier that week, Jared and I did a double date dinner with some friends of ours for our Valentine's dinner, it was soo much fun and so yummy! We went to Tucano's, LOVE that place! That's pretty much the only update I have right now! This week, Jared is working at the North Salt Lake Post Office again and it's awesome, he only has to walk a few blocks to get to work! Plus he has an hour lunch so he can come home for lunch. It's too bad it's not his permanent schedule to work there ;) I'll post some recent pictures of us and the kids, we're doing great but just can't wait for warmer weather!!
The kids really didn't want me to take this picture and Jared had to help keep them somewhat still, but I just love their shirts :)
Anna insisted on riding in the shopping cart this way a few weeks ago, she's so funny :) And yes she's in her jammies!
Anna enjoying her ice cream at Pirate Island Pizza, we went there on her birthday!
She loved going there for her birthday, we all had a great time :)
The kids in their matching sweaters, these are my favorite outfits for them! :)
We're all doing great. Anna and Aiden have had a cough this week and Aiden a mild ear infection, but otherwise still doing good! They still have plenty of energy to use! We're getting excited for warm weather, we want to get outside and run around! Especially the kids ;) We all had a great Valentine's Day, I made us a big, very yummy breakfast and we spent the evening with Jared's parents, as we do every Sunday and we love it every week. Earlier that week, Jared and I did a double date dinner with some friends of ours for our Valentine's dinner, it was soo much fun and so yummy! We went to Tucano's, LOVE that place! That's pretty much the only update I have right now! This week, Jared is working at the North Salt Lake Post Office again and it's awesome, he only has to walk a few blocks to get to work! Plus he has an hour lunch so he can come home for lunch. It's too bad it's not his permanent schedule to work there ;) I'll post some recent pictures of us and the kids, we're doing great but just can't wait for warmer weather!!
The kids really didn't want me to take this picture and Jared had to help keep them somewhat still, but I just love their shirts :)
Anna insisted on riding in the shopping cart this way a few weeks ago, she's so funny :) And yes she's in her jammies!
Anna enjoying her ice cream at Pirate Island Pizza, we went there on her birthday!
She loved going there for her birthday, we all had a great time :)
The kids in their matching sweaters, these are my favorite outfits for them! :)
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