THE TRAVELING GARDNERS

We woke up this morning to a surprise on our door step! I had Ben open the front door for some fresh air while I was cooking breakfast. He came back with a box from Grandma Reva! He said, "Grandma Reva sent me a box!" "I got presents!" The past few days when he goes potty like a big boy, I tell him he just might get a present from Grandma Reva for going potty. So he assumed the box was for him. Good thing all the boxes that come here are for him. ;) Benjamin is now ready for the snow! This warm Osh Kosh jacket is fuzzy inside, and water proof on the outside! And I don't think it's a coincidence that it's the colors of the Chargers! ;) When I told Ben that this was a special jacket for the snow, he pointed outside and asked, "Where is the snow at?" Go Chargers! Ben now has a LT Chargers jersey! Still waking up........... Showing off the back of his jersey and his hammer. He had left his hammer back at Grandma's the last time we visited. H...

I happened upon this when blog hopping. And I am SO happy I did!

Tomlinson is back! Phillip Rivers is on fire! Sing with me.......San Diego Super Chargers...............San Diego.......Chargers......CHARGE! After a torturous past 2 weeks of defeat, I can now proudly say that my team is back! Final score - Chargers - 48 vs Jets - 29. I will also happily say that Dan's team, the Buffalo Bills just might be headed towards the Super Bowl this year. They are 3-0 for the first time since 1992. And they are looking mighty good. And, to top off this great night - our son(the future all star) demonstrated tonight that he can throw a beautiful spiral pass with his left arm! Daddy would be so proud Benji!

I got tagged by Heather! I feel so special. :) The rules are that I have to tag 7 other people and tell them how much I love to read their blogs. I have so many that I love, but I can only choose 7. Sorry! So if you are one of those 7 , feel free to post this on your blog and give some other bloggers some love. 1. Adele seizes the day ~ http://considerthedayseized.blogspot.com/ 2. Brenda's Alaskan adventures ~ http://bmjohnson.blogspot.com/ 3. Bling Blang Zangs ~ http://blingblangzangs.blogspot.com/ 4. Story Time ~ http://storyohana.blogspot.com/ 5. Heidi and her creative world ~ http://jasonandheidi.blogspot.com/ 6. It's a wonderful life ~ http://carlmelwhiting.blogspot.com/ 7. Jody, Tate, and baby girl to be ~ http://tateandjody.blogspot.com/ If you are not on here, you have probably been tagged by someone else and I didn't want to over Tag you. :)

10 years ago I: 1. was graduating high school 2. was driving a turquoise 82' Toyota Corolla(I miss it) 3. was working at Wicks N Sticks 4. had just cut my hair short for the first time 5. was moving out to be roommates with Tammy 5 things on today's "to do" list: 1. scan in photos to make them digital and organize all digital photos of baby Ben 2. call Pablo who mows our grass 3. call movers who broke our furniture 4. turn on heater for first time this year(it's raining!) 5. drink lots of water 5 snacks I enjoy: 1. string cheese 2. homemade smoothies with peach frozen yogurt, frozen berries, frozen bananas, and OJ 3. granola bars 4. cold cereal 5. pita chips 5 things I would do if I were a millionaire: 1. Be completely debt free, with a nice nest egg of savings for retirement, kids college 2. Dan and I could both finish our degrees without working 3. Buy new furniture for Master Bedroom, Ben, Zach, Kitchen, and Living Room 4. Purchase a house with land, a lake, an...

Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones. But, I am really missing my Dan. Our anniversary month is almost over. Let's hope these next few months fly by quick and we can see you soon! Love you sweetie ~ ENGAGEMENT PICTURES TAKEN AT GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO - 2004

Just call me blog crazy. I am mainly blogging this for my memory. Maybe you too will get a kick out of this........... Ben and I are walking out of the grocery store heading towards the car. Ben heard a baby crying. He looked at me and asked, "What's that?" I explained, "The baby is crying because he is sad." "The baby is hungry." A few minutes later when we were in the car, Ben was munching on his special treat for being a good boy in the store; a sugar cookie. Ben blurts out the window quite loudly, "Here baby, eat my cookie!" I was blown away as I realized a few things. Ben had earned that cookie and was so excited to be eating it. But when he knew the baby was hungry, and he had food to share, he was willing to give it up. Our little man surprises me sometimes. He is one compassionate little dude for a 2 year old. I wonder if it would be so easy for us to give up something that important to us. It will be interesting the first time Zach c...

I am 32 weeks and 3 days into the pregnancy. We have 53 days until Zach joins our family! I appreciate your love and support with your comments. Even though you might see a beautiful glowing pregnant lady in the pictures. This is how I currently feel............ Hehehheheheheee at least I can laugh at myself right? Awwww the joys of the third trimester.........let the countdown begin!

Ben found yet another use for his pull ups today. A cellphone holder! Ben was hanging out in his pull ups today as he was working on his potty training. Right after these pictures were taken, he went potty like a big boy and got a new car! Benjamin loves calling Daddy on his phone. "Hello Daddy? It's Ben! I love you! See you soon! K Bye!"

I know it's silly. But, I am proud of me. Now that I am doing the whole Mom/Dad thing by myself while Dan is deployed, I find myself always feeling guilty. Guilty for not cooking a real meal and always getting take out. Guilty for having a dirty house. Guilty for not completing any projects that I said I was going to do while Dan was gone. Guilty for not getting ready for the day until the day is almost done. And guilty for not giving Ben my 100% self as a Mommy. So when the moments arise that I actually have the energy to play with Ben, clean/organize the house, or cook a homemade meal........ I give myself a huge high five. For the past two days, not only have we eaten every meal at home. But they have been super healthy. No processed or take out food. And it feels darn good. And tonight I even grilled extra chicken to prepare for tomorrow's casserole meal I am making. I brought Ben to the library today and let him enjoy the books, stuffed animals, and the globe where we alwa...

This past weekend we stayed with the Holdaway family. We had some girl time. Peter and Ben were able to play together. And most importantly, we celebrated Megan's birthday! It was so nice to be able to just relax and hang out with friends after our crazy days last week. Thank you Mike, Megan, and Peter for taking care of us while Dan is gone! You are always welcome at the Gardner Inn! Here are some fun shots of Peter and Ben(aka:double trouble) sharing some popcorn ~

Saturday night Megan, Heather, and I headed out for a relaxing girls night. Megan's cousins watched Ben and Peter for us so we could escape for a little bit and rejuvante ourselves. We first stopped by a shop called Tai Pan Trading . The greatest store ever! They are a wholesale home decor shop. Any holiday decoration for your house, is available in a warehouse building the size of Costco. I resisted the urge to buy the entire store. But, I think I will be heading back there in a few weeks for a few Halloween decorations. I just discovered a location down the street from me!!!!! We then headed over to a historic little place called Gardner Village . (No, I don't think "our" Gardner family have any relations.) They have yummy restaurants and little speciality shops. (For those of you familiar with California - it reminded me of Julian.) We ate at the delicious Archibald's restaurant. We had fried green tomatoes and avocados. And I had a very filling plate of beef...

Behold the belly! 31 weeks pregnant photo shoot ~

Birthday Gal Meg and Leah with the 31 week prego belly ~ Happy Birthday to you........... Happy Birthday Megan! It was banana split mania! Mike, Sharon, and Alli preparing the banana splits! YUMMMYY! All of Megan's little cousins stood around my belly just waiting for Zach to move. It was quite comical when little Heather brought the banana to place on my stomach. ~ Ben was not in the picture taking a mood. He would much rather be chasing a cat, or playing with sticks in the dirt......... Ben was in heaven with 8 little girls surrounding him. And the fact that he got to play with sticks and dirt, and chase a kitten - well that was just icing on the cake. :) Mike rounding up Peter and Ben as they ran away next door to play with the neighbors animals! Thank you Mike! Those boys are double trouble!

All is well. But of course only after a little adventure. A few days ago, I was thinking how wonderfully nice and boring our life was. I had washed a load of laundry, and was slowly organizing the soon to be craft room. I had just got off the phone with two friends who invited us over for play dates. I was still glowing over my anniversary flowers and conversation with Dan on web cam. I was simply thinking our life is boring, and it's a wonderful type of boring right now. I said to myself, "Life is good!" That's where I went wrong....... In our family that is Murphy's law asking for trouble. That night Benjamin poked himself in the eye with the vacuum cord. He popped a blood vessel and caused lots of irritation in the eye. Next morning I brought him to the DR and they gave him drops. He is okay. I'm sure he won't be swinging vacuum cords around near his face any time soon though. Thursday night I had 2 hours straight of contractions and little movement fro...

Today is 9-11-08. It is has been 7 years since the attack on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and crash of the plane in Pennsylvania. I don't know about you, but still to this date I can tell you exactly what I was doing that day 7 years ago. I was single living with roommates in Point Loma/Ocean Beach. I was working at Jenny Craig Corporate Office. The drive to work on the freeway was something straight out of a movie. Everyone was driving about 20 miles under the speed limit, creeping on a normally busy freeway. I know that I myself was listening in shock to the radio. I got to work and no one was in their offices or at their desks. Everyone in corporate was gathered in the cafeteria staring at a television. The first plane had already crashed. And as I sat down to watch in horror, the second plane crashed. Everyone gasped and then went back to complete silence. Then fear started to rise among whispers of what could be next. Slowly people started to leave and call their families...

About 5:30pm tonight, more flowers showed up at the door!!! I had no idea who sent them! I finally figured out it was my Mom that sent them from the card. She and Tom nick named Ben, "Ben-Jamin" and that is how the card was signed. :) She said she was worried that Dan's flowers were going to be late, and she wanted to make sure I had a "Happy Anniversary'. I absolutely had a great Anniversary. Thanks to my sneaky flower senders......Dan and my Mom are co-conspirators! Love you Momma. Thank you so much. This was the happiest bouquet. It had a flag and smelled delicious! And I am going to use the vase in the kitchen afterwards! It's a water pitcher and has pieces of fruit on it! SO cute!

I had a wonderful anniversary today. Dan, Ben, and I were able to talk on the web cam for over an hour this afternoon!!! And then a beautiful bouquet of roses were delivered. I still have tears from Dan's message on the card. Thank you so much Dan. You are one sneaky monkey! (For those that don't know) I was being super sad as a present came in the mail for Ben. And Dan had ordered himself a present from online. And at the same time, Dan told me that flowers were too expensive to order online and he didn't have the money. Little did I know, he had ordered the flowers already to be sent today!!!! SO sneaky!!!!! I will definitely be drying these and putting them in a floating frame!!!! I LOVE THEM! And I love the vase! Stopping and smelling the roses...... It was the most wonderful thing to be able to talk to Dan on the web cam. It was like he was here with us. Benjamin was in heaven. We ate lunch together as a family. And Ben was "feeding" his food to Dan throu...

2004 ~ Happily ever after ~ We were married on September 10, 2004. That is the day I married you, my best friend. I am so grateful for you. You are an amazing husband to me and I am amazed at your patience and love as a father. Thank you for making me laugh every day. Let's never stop being mushy............ (I swore I wasn't going to cry!) 2005 ~ Newlyweds playing tourist on the island ~ 2006 ~ We welcome a little miracle into our family. Our love story continues ~ 2007 ~ From ocean to mountains ~ We begin a new adventure ~ 2008 ~ Separated by distance, but not in heart. Even though we are apart this year, you are always in our hearts and minds. We love you so much. We can't wait to talk to you on web cam tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! Just think.......soon you will be home, and we will be celebrating a new miracle in our family. We love you!