Adam has been taking a tumbling class for the past 9 months and absolutely loves it! He had his very first performance last week and was so excited for us to watch. My mom also came and he was just brimming with pride the whole evening!
SO excited to get a medal!
His poor teacher tried so hard to teach them a routine and well, you can’t really expect much from 3-5 year olds!
I tend to think my kids have a really awesome grandpa. Their Papa loves them to death and they think he is just the coolest guy around (except for Daddy of course)!
After Caleb’s blessing on Sunday, we were out back watching some of the planes fly over head for the air show at Hill Air Force Base that is just a few miles from our house.
My Dad started swinging them in their little plastic chairs and they were squealing with delight!
We hung out at their house on Memorial Day and here’s a picture of Adam, Abby, and Harrison playing with Papa. Harrison is almost 1 and he thinks my kids are so funny. Adam, especially loves to get him to laugh and blow raspberries with his finger on his lips.
I hope they always know how lucky they are to have a grandpa as fun and loving as their Papa! Now if he were just in town more often….
Caleb was blessed in our ward by his Daddy on Sunday, May 27th. It was a beautiful spring day and he was surrounded by many loving family members.
He wore a tiny white knit jumper and looked so cute and fresh from heaven.
My Handsome Boy!
He has lost virtually all his hair on top. He totally looks like an old man!
Our family of FIVE!
After the blessing, we crammed everyone into our little townhouse for some goodies.
There was the obligatory, “Pass the Baby”. Here Caleb is snuggling with his Aunt Annie.
Cousin Samantha is the only girl with 3 brothers and she is just a sweet little mommy in the making.
Nana, Uncle Tom, and Papa
I couldn’t resist posting a picture of this little dude, Cousin Harrison. I can’t get enough of those chubby cheeks! (and chunky thighs, and rubber band-looking wrists!)
Gardner Family
Nutty Gardner Family
Shurtleff Family
I feel so blessed to have brought little Caleb into such wonderful families. He sure is loved by all of them!
Caleb is nearly 4 weeks old and the past few weeks have flown by! Here are some random pictures since Caleb has joined our family.
I love how tiny he is!
“Why are you making me wear this stupid hat Mom?”
Making the most of all his 19 inches at 2 weeks old!
The Shurtleff Grandkids
Harrison, Abigail, Adam, and Caleb
Rare picture with Abby and the baby together
This is about the extent of her interest in her brother.
She likes to use his diapers on her “friends”.
Adam LOVES his baby brother! He loves to hold him, kiss him, talk to him, and he calls him Buddy Boy most of the time.
Second-cousin Charlie was due 1 week after Caleb and came 11 days after Caleb was born, 4 weeks early. The difference, Charlie was 8 lbs. 10 oz.! Nearly 3 full lbs. more than Caleb!
Enjoying some light therapy. I’m starting to get worried that his skin tone is still quite yellow, so he’s spending a few minutes in the sunlight every day.
Born April 19, 2012
5 lb. 15 oz. and 18 in.
At the end of the post is an explanation of the crazy name changes that have been going on with this little guy.
A little about his name drama….
We have officially, (as in applied for the legal name change), chosen Caleb as this baby boy’s name. I don’t know why it was so hard for us to decide. Ok, it was hard for ME to decide! We went through several names and every time I would decide on a name, it would feel wrong. Blame it on the stress of pregnancy complications, hospital bed rest, a c-section, and constant severe tension headaches since his birth, and you get a mom who just can’t decide on what name is right for her baby. One name was too trendy, one was too similar to Adam and Abby, one was Nat’s favorite that kind of grew on me, but then just seemed wrong. Caleb is a name that I have liked from the beginning but that Nat didn’t. After lots of discussion and tears, he assured me that he was ok with the name Caleb. I am finally at peace! We went to the local Health Department building and changed his birth certificate. It will take up to a month for the change and then we’ll just have to get a new social security card, notify the health insurance and doctor and we’ll be good to go.
So….Caleb Mark Gardner is finally here to stay!
The Easter Bunny comes to our house on Saturday. We call it “Easter Saturday”. He, (she?), hides the kids’ baskets along with dyed and plastic eggs filled with candy. Abby found her basket under the table, but rather than pull the whole thing out, she started pulling out the goodies!
Big Brother helping her get her basket out.
Adam found his basket in the pantry.
Finding eggs.
It’s so much fun watching little kids be so excited!
Making sure we got all of them!
The Easter Bunny always bring a new book and a special toy. This year, Abby got a tea set and Adam got a ‘Cars 2’ game for his Leapster.
Easter Sunday
With having church at 1:00 pm, we had a relaxing Easter morning including a yummy Breakfast Burrito and fruit smoothie breakfast.
I put Abby’s hair in sponge rollers for the first time early in the morning and prayed they would work by church time!
And work they did! I think next time I’ll use the larger rollers….
Dressed for church in a new dress for Abby and new tie for Adam. Doesn’t Adam look like a proud missionary in this picture? And Abby is just cheesy.
After church, we had a big family dinner at my Grandparents’ house and took a few more pictures. Adam apparently doesn’t know how to smile for the camera. Abby, on the other hand, poses like she knows what she’s doing!
Abby LOVED being in her pretty dress, curly hair, and flower headband. She knows she’s pretty and absolutely loves getting even more “prettified”.
My Grandma had a egg hunt in the backyard for the little kids. Cousins Becca and Michael decided they wanted to ride the electric jeep and car around to find the eggs while my kids ran around like crazy and found almost all of them before the other kids even had a chance. It helped that they had their Aunts pointing them in the right direction of the eggs!
I had to snap a picture of cute, chunky Harrison, (my one and only direct nephew, whom I adore), with his own found egg.
It was a great Easter this year. I’m excited to have an almost 1 year old in the mix for next year!
