Free Dessert for my friends.

So my husband and his friends started a cool new website for finding restaurants in Salt Lake. The name is http://www.saltlakerestaurant.com/. They get awesome coupon deals on eating out and also do weekly giveaways to these restaurants. So far they have given away over $300 worth of free food and they have restaurants lining up to giveaway more gift cards with them.
On http://www.saltlakerestaurant.com/ you will find the contest giveaway information each week, the hot dining deals coupons under the coupon page and you can also access their blog which contains funny stories and videos.

My husband is trying to get the word out about his website and is willing to personally hook my friends up with a FREE Dessert to Madeline's Steakhouse (worth $9). All you have to do to get the free treat is:
1)go to the website and check it out, do a blog post about http://www.saltlakerestaurant.com/ telling what you think of the website.
2)then email a link of your blog to saltlakerestaurant@gmail.com. He will verify that you did the post and he will mail you the FREE dessert card.
Thanks everybody for helping get the name out. I appreciate it. I hope everyone is doing well.

Finally, some pics!

Here are some great pictures of Gavin at 8 months. He is such a ham!! He finally started crawling and he's so timid and cute about the way he moves. Its so sweet. I could NOT imagine a sweeter boy than him. He sleeps so good now. It took almost EIGHT months for him to sleep through the night, but he's sure making up for it now! He sleeps for 10-12 hours at night and then one solid 3-4 hour nap in the day. SO BLESSED. But like I said, don't get mad at me...I more than paid my dues with his first eight months of life!

Gavin looks like such a BIG boy in this pic...its happening so fast!

Yes, those are DIMPLES people! He's my lil blond AC Slater! Swoon!

And for anyone wanting to know the results of the NextFit 12 week challange with Kathy Smith, I'm happy to report that I lost 15 pounds and I ran a personal 5K this morning. So awesome! I loved the program and I am going to keep this up and go for my next goal of losing another 15 pounds. Slow and steady!

Not the best pic of me, but I won a cute packet of SPRI home workout gear for attending ALL 12 weeks of the NextFit Challenge (one of 5 people, thank you very much!).

This is a sweet pic of me and two of my dear friend Angie's triplets (one had to stay at the hospital an extra week to stay cozy warm). So precious! I'm so proud of Angie and Keith, they are the cutest mom and dad! 2 boys and girl, all healthy and growing! Way to go!!!

Whats for dinner, y'all?

Hi everybody! Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I have been busy being mommy, wife, gym rat and a mormon with a calling. Things are going really well for us and Steve is trying to get a side business up and running. He is working with Robyn Lunds husband, Brian on a website to save people in Salt Lake money on eating out. Check it out. http://www.saltlakerestaurant.com/

Gavin finally put on some weight and has grown 6 inches. He is going to be a tall skinny kid I think. I love him so much. He is so close to crawling. Today he crawled a few steps forward, but then got frustrated and rolled over. He likes to roll everywhere.

12 Weeks From Now...

In 12 weeks I hope I have an awesome "after" picture to post on this blog!!! Cuz I had some pretty sorry before pics taken last week and I am going to make a great change!

Jenny, me, Robyn, Keri, Christine, and my Momma Julie
Here I am running for my life!

Next Fit is my dad's company that is going big with a revolutionary idea to get America moving. Its called the Next Fit Keychain Trainer. It is a portable MP3 player that you can plug into your USB drive, fill out your profile and based on that, it will very accurately choose trainers that would be best for you. I have worked out with Kathy Smith, Kent Burden, Michael George and Dori Madsen. I am taking part in the 12 week challenge with Kathy Smith (fitness queen!)and we had our first group (160 people!!) workout on Saturday and they worked us over! I was sore for 3 days! It is so inspiring to workout next to Kathy Smith and look over and see a 75 year old man chuggin along right with us. Not to mention I get to workout with some of my best girlfriends! What a great experience this has been so far! I get to then use my "keychain trainer" during the week and choose which ever trainer I want!

If anyone is interested in joining this challenge, just let me know! The 12 week challenge has already started, but they are letting people join until the end of next week! It is such a great oppertunity to make the changes you want...and meet incredible people! The Keychain Trainer is usually $100 plus 24.95 a month, but if you complete the challenge, they reimberse the cost of the trainer PLUS the next 2 months of service. All you have to do it show up to the workouts each Saturday and work out 3 times a week with the device. If you are interested...there is still time!

Now that you have seen my before picture, I look forward to getting to my after picture! Wish me luck!

Long Time, No Blog!

This kid LOVES the camera!
He looks a little surprised in this one with Steve...but still priceless!

Just enjoying Grandma and Grandpa's deck with momma!

Life moves FAST after the wee one comes! I can't believe how much time has gone by! Life is pretty good, and very busy! Gavin will be seven months old this month and he is such a good baby! He is growing fast and doing the cutest things! Being his mom is the most fulfilling thing I could ever imagine!

Gavin is a little bit small for his age, but he's perfect (to me!). He rolling all over the place and he's laughing (mostly at his dad!) and smiling all the time. He's such a happy boy and he's a great sleeper. He's sitting up like a champ and he's eating baby food now. So fun! He'll try anything once...but favors the sweet stuff...no surprises there! I have a lot more pics to come...I just have to retrieve them from Robyn...and then I will make up for lost time on this blog!

Here's a little video of Gavin laughing at his Dad...so cute. I came with the camera about 5 minutes too late and he was almost done with the giggles, but its so sweet. And yes...if you can hear it, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody is on in the background. I'm a Disney Channel junkie. I can't help it! I TiVo That's So Raven and Gavin and I watch it quite frequently! I'm a nerd, okay?

Gavin's Blessing Day

Well, to start off, we finally have a computer that functions IN OUR HOUSE! Can you believe it? What a miracle! I am able to connect to the outside world now, so be looking for updates more often!

Gavin's blessing was 2 weeks ago and it was so amazing. We had family come in from out of town, and family from here join us and it was so wonderful to see everyone come together to celebrate Gavin's life. He is already so blessed and was fortunate enough to recieve a beautiful blessing in front of friends, family and neighbors who love him. Steve was so poised in his blessing to Gavin and it was so amazing to hear how the spirit works within him. Gavin loves his daddy, and Steve is an incredible father. Robyn took a few adorable pictures of Gavin and Teagan (who was blessed the same day!) and she is so talented! How lucky am I to have a best friend that is so good with the camera? Here are a few shots!

I am so in love with these guys!
Best Buddies: Gavin and Teagan

How lucky they are to have each other (and just 4 doors down)!

Family photo op...

Here are the handsome men in my life!

Momma and her precious Gavin

I love this picture...nuff said.

Have you ever seen a cuter pouty face in your life?!

What a looker!

Milestones!

So I have been reading a few parenting books to try to be a better parent (der). Take note people, never read more than one parenting book at a time unless you would like your head to explode! They all contradict eachother and while they each offer sound advice, it is just that...ADVICE. I find it pretty funny how much of the book is just trying to convince your that their method is the BEST way, and how little of it is actual advice you could put into practice. Some books say not to hold and coddle your newborn or they be dependant on you for life and another will say you can't hold a newborn too much and if you don't hold them enough they will grow up to think you don't love them. Ehhh...what is a new parent to think? Luckily I'm surrounded but experienced moms of all ages and they have better advice than the books do! Don't get me wrong, I will still read a parenting book to help me along the way, but the best advice has come my own line of experts: Robyn, Melanie, Anna, Keri, Aubree, Andrea and of course Gavin's Grandmas Julie and Nana G! Plus, you can just Google any questions you have! I love the 21st century!

Anyhoo, while reading and trying to decide what kind of parent I will be (I didn't know we had to decide these things...I thought it was supposed to just come to you! Who knew our parents had no idea what they were doing either!) and Steve and I decided it was time for Gavin to try out his nursery and not sleep in our room in his bassinet. I won't lie, it was lack of sleep that made the decision for us...I was stressed about waking Steve up and trying to be quiet and I would just get so frustrated and Gavin would wake up every 15 minutes sometimes and I would be tearing my hair out and sobbing and it was all just a big mess! So last night, we got him ready for bed and I sent Steve to bed and prepared myself for a long night. I fed him and put him in his crib and turned on the moniter and turned off the light and left his room. I crawled into bed with Steve and woke him up so he could hold me while I cried a little. I listened while Gavin happily drifted off to sleep and when he did, I did too. Then next thing I knew it was 3:40 a.m. Make no mistake, my child had slept a full 4 hours! I went to his room where he was crying his hungry cry and I fed him, changed him and put him back in his crib and he fell asleep again until almost 7:00! I know it may sound like that's not too big of a deal, but with the week I've had, getting 7 hours of sleep was magical! I'm hoping it wasn't just a fluke and my son will enjoy his own room on a regular basis! Here's for hoping!

Well I'm off to tend to my hungry child! Oh goodness, he is so handsome!

I'm Still A Mommy!

Well faithful blog-followers...we are still alive and kicking!  I have found that blogging has become quite difficult!  I can't wait until we have a properly functioning computer in our home!  Needless to say, I'm way past due for an update on here!  

I have to say, being a mother is the most incredible and life altering thing!  My heart has been filled in places that I didn't even know existed until December 31st.  It is so satisfying to nurture this little baby boy and know that he is mine...he is a part of me forever.  I will never be the same and I cannot even imagine a world where Gavin doesn't exist.  And the best part is that my love for Steve has grown into something new and bigger than both of us.  It is truly amazing!

I think one of the greatest parts of this all is watching the way everyone around me reacts to my son.  He has invoked such love and sweetness in the people I love most and I love the new spirit that surrounds our family!  It's been fun to watch Steve's parents become Grandparents and to watch my mom and dad love the one that I would lay down my life for.  He is a little ball of love and he has made Aunts and Uncles and Papas and Nanas out of ordinary people!  

Here are some incredible pictures that one of my greatest and most talented friends Robyn took.  She takes the most breathtaking pictures of babies, children and families so if you ever find yourself needing a talented and affordable photographer, just click here!

These are just some of the new babies on our street!  The first picture is of the babes in order of age.  There's Jameson (4 and a half months old), Amelia (4 months old), Jack (3 and a half months old), Lincoln (3 months old), Teagan (8 weeks old), and our little Gavin (3 weeks old).

Gavin is Here!

Gavin Edward Gardner

Born December 31st, 2008

7 lbs. 9 oz. 20 Inches Long

I have been computer-less since my little baby boy was born!  I have been going crazy not  having access to a computer or the internet. This little guy pretty much takes up my day, but I love him.  I will post a ton of pictures soon, but I will tell you the tale of Gavin's birth...it's a good one!!

On New Year's Eve, Steve begrudgingly packed himself up and headed for work at about 7:20 in the morning.  I was all cozied up and asleep until I was rudely awakened at 7:45 a.m. by a mysterious gush.  Great...I had resorted to wetting the bed!  I ran to the bathroom and my water broke just ONE foot from the toilet!  I was stranded there with no phone and no way to protect my newly Swiffered floors from contamination.  I cleaned up enough to get to my phone and called Steve and told him to turn around and come home because my water had just broken.  He was so cute and got all giddy and came home.  In between contractions I straightened my hair while I waited for Steve to come get me (pathetic, I know, but every girl wants to look halfway decent on this big day).  We drove to the hospital and my contractions were getting more intense and closer together...this was for real!

We finally get to labor and delivery and the nurses ho-hummed around and had me fill out paper work and put me in a room and hooked me up to monitors.  Finally a nurse came in and did a test to see if my water did in fact break and she couldn't get a good reading.  She then launched into her schpeal about how the baby can sit right on your bladder and you think your water broke, but really, it's just pee.  She then said, "Well, lets do a pelvic exam as long as I have you here and see if you are dilated."  She does her thing and then gets this horrified and confused look on her face.  Of course I ask her what that face means and she says, "Okay, your water definitely broke.  There is a FOOT in there."  Huh?  What the crap does that mean?  She rushed out and got the on-call doctor and she confirmed that his foot was in fact in the birth canal. The doctor told me that he was a footling breech baby and they had to do a c-section immediately because footling breech babies can get in distress and don't do well.  Within 30 seconds there were 5 more nurses and the anesthesiologist bustling about the room.  They wheeled me into the O.R. for an emergency c-section.  Everything went so smooth and so fast.  They gave me a spinal block and put oxygen on me and prepped me for surgery.  He was born at 9:37 a.m. and Steve watched the whole thing (he said it was really cool to watch and he wanted to make sure they treated me well...he's so cute).  It was a very cool experience to lay there and not feel anything but my heart and just know that I was about to meet my son for the first time.  They weighed and measured him and cleared out his lungs and did all the tests while I was being stitched up.  Steve finally got to hold him and brought him over to see me and then Little Gavin opened his eyes for the very first time to see me.  It was very sweet and I instantly fell in love with that little guy.  He is so perfect and beautiful! 

 Here are a few pics of our son.

Here we are for our first picture together.  I'm still a little swollen from the whole ordeal.

Here's Gavin in his crib with his stuffed puppy that his sweet daddy gave him for Christmas.

This is moments before we got to take our lil bug home for the first time.  Aren't my boys just so cute?!

This is Steve and Gavin's first picture together...I love these two boys so much that it consumes all my thoughts and my heart might burst!