Aaron gets to swing!

This coming weekend Brett's former roommate, Mike Pritchard, is marrying his finance, Andrea. Mike and Andrea decided that the most suitable way to celebrate their big day was to do a private ceremony and then have a big Super Bowl party for their friends. For this party Brett and another one of their college roommates, Iain Lawn, were asked to be the "half time entertainment" so the past few Saturdays Iain has been coming over so that they can prepare.

Their "practicing" usually consists of practicing for a little while, and then spending the rest of the day hanging out with the kids and I, playing cards, eating, or just relaxing in front of the TV.

On one of these Saturdays the weather was actually pretty mild, so we decided to take the kids for a walk to the swings near our house for Aaron's first swing experience!

Peter has loved the swings ever since he first tried them out last year, but Aaron seemed to have a different reaction. As he swung away from you he pretty much just observed the world around him, but as he swung back he made a low grunting noise.



We didn't stay long because it was getting dark, but it was fun to get outside and play for a while. Next time we have a milder day again I am going to bundle the kids up and see if Aaron does the same thing again. It is pretty weird, but also very entertaining... which makes me think he is more of a BeVard than we thought!

Is technology just against my blog this week?

As you may have read in my last blog, our computer (being over loaded with photos and videos) pooped out on us, but now my camera is also on the fritz!

Last night I attended my friend Andrea's bachelorette party (so fun, but you will have to stay posted for more on that later) and when I pulled out our video/still camera at the beginning of the night I could not get a clear picture. I had some of the other girls take a look, but no one could figure it out.

There were at least three other girls with cameras (and more importantly a happy trigger finger) so I am confident that the evening was captured, however when I got home and Brett looked at the camera he informed me that the auto focus was broken and may not be fix-able.

So my two key pieces of technology are officially on the injured reserve list, and if my iPhone goes next I might have to take it as a sign.

Hoping to be back soon!

Dear blog fans...

Just a heads up that we will not be posting for the next few days or so as yours truely has crashed our computer with all the millions of pictures and videos I upload.

Brett has ordered me the largest exturnal hard drive on the market so that we can transfer everything off our desk top, but until that happens and Brett is able to clean up my "mess" I have been forbidden from even trying to turn it on (I think he may have unplugged the computer just to be safe).

Anyway, I can post from my phone (thank goodness for iPhones) but will not be able to post pictures, and let's face it I am a bit of a picture freak (duh, that is how we got into this mess) so I don't know how much I will actually post.

So goodbye for now and I promise to take many photos for future postings while we are gone!

Love,
Jillian Gardner
Mom, photographer and blog poster for the Gardner family :)

Lunch at the Grandparents!

Friday January 2, 2009, Brett and I packed up the boys and headed to Maryland to have lunch with his Grandparents, father, Brother and sister-in-law.

Since we missed Christmas with the Gardners, the boys got to open their presents - a Little People police car and a Baby Einstein colors octopus toy - both of which have gotten a lot of use already!



After gifts my sister-in-law, Jen, and I helped Lil (Brett's Grandmother) set the table and prepare for lunch while Don, Brett and their dad played with Peter and Aaron.




Lunch was absolutely wonderful! Lil's homemade lasagana with her amazing sauce and a light salad.

After lunch we stayed for a little while to take some 4 generation photos of the Gardner man before heading home so the boys could take their naps.


It was really fun to get to see everyone and we look forward for more time in the future.

New Years Day

The evening of January 1, 2009, we had some friends over for our final Christmas gift exchange and a game night.

We got gotten the Merrill's a few gifts, including a finger painting that Peter had made (Sarah had requested it for her office!).


The Merrill's bought the kids a couple gifts, including a portable art table, bath time paints, and a baseball game that Peter loves:


We also gave Emma (the Merrill's dog) a new candy cane bone for her Christmas gift. It was a good thing Emma had a new bone because Peter wanted her old bone for himself.



After the kids went to bed we played cards, ate pizza and relaxed with the Merrills, Iain, and Mike Pritchard.

Taking pictures of babies...

You don't have to look to far into this blog to know that I am a little obsessed with taking pictures of my kids. Every few weeks it seems like I am setting them up on the couch to take their picture, in attempts to get a really good one!

The other day I sat them down and caught the following progression of how easy it is for the kids to go from paying attention and smiling, to uninterested and doing their own thing.

I always start by putting Aaron in between Peter's legs so he leans up against his brother and then try to get them to smile:


Finally get them both to smile!


Then I tell Peter to give Aaron a kiss...


... and a hug...


... and as Peter is giving Aaron a hug he looks down and notices that Aaron's passy is hanging on his shirt (this is where he stops listening to how I tell him to pose):


So he grabs the passy...


... and pops it into his mouth...


Photo shoot over!

Wicked Good

One of Peter's latest favorite things is to try on Brett's and my shoes.






Since I am always wearing my new "wicked good" slippers (thanks Aunt Marilyn), he has started taking them off me to play "dress up":



Pretty cute!

New Years Eve!

Last year Brett and I started a tradition of hosting our close friend's for a New Years Eve party. This year we decided to have a wine themed party, which included a "Best in Grape" competition.

The day's celebrating started off with the boys and I picking my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Don and Jen, up from the airport. They got in early enough to have a chance to play with the boys before we all started getting ready for the party.

Around 7:30pm my mom came over to help with the boys and our guests started arriving, wine in hand!

Before we kicked off the wine competition everyone enjoyed snacks and the chocolate fountain and enjoyed posing with Aaron (who we promise was not really dunked in the chocolate).





After everyone had been mingling for a while we kicked off the "Best in Grape" tasting portion of the evening. We had asked each of our guests to bring a wine selection, which was hidden in bags as they arrived. There were 5 red selections, and 5 white selections, all of which were tasted and rated by each guest.



Once we tallied up the scores, we found that there was a tie for the best red wine, and we needed a WINE OFF! After everyone re-tasted and voted, our friend Iain's wine won.


In the white competition, Alan and Jacqui's selection was the winner by a land slide!


After the wine competition we had a couple hours to spare before the big count down. Most of the guys ended up in the basement playing rock band, while the rest of us stayed up stairs talking and continuing to enjoy the chocolate fountain!




When it was finally close to midnight, we all gathered together in the living room and I had a mini-freak out while Brett was filming (I was sure I was going to miss my midnight kiss!):



The party died down shortly after midnight as some people headed home, and other's crashed on couches and int he guest room.





It was a lot of fun continuing the tradition and we are already working on a theme of next year!