Emry Turns 2!!!

 Happy 2 Years Emry!! 

We love Emry so much and can't believe how big she has gotten! For her birthday, we had so much fun with friends and family at the Herriman Reservoir. It was the perfect day to go: not too hot and there was practically no one there so it was really nice. I will let the pictures tell about the rest of her day!

Happy Birthday sweet girl. We love you so much!

We asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she kept saying, "I'm gonna make a cake!" So we made her cake and she got to lick the beater! 

 Cute girl at the beach

 Grandma came into town on Emry's birthday. We love Grandma Debbie!

 Emry and Rylee hanging out at the beach

 Daddy even came by on his lunch break to visit us

 Emry and Lila playing in the sand

 Birthday presents!

 Emry and Lila, Emry and Gavin flying her new kite with Grandpa Gardner, Emry and Gabby, Emry and Grandma Gardner

Eating our cupcake we baked

  Eating yummy cupcakes

 I had to teach her how to pick it up and eat it!

 Cute girl

 Our family! (including baby boy!)

 She loved her dress up clothes she got for her birthday. She loves all things princess!!!

 Cinderella!!

Potty Training

For the last month or so, I've been thinking Emry has been getting ready to potty train, but I just wasn't sure I was ready to take on that task, so I kept putting it off and putting it off. Well, 2 weeks ago, I decided to just go for it. With new baby boy arriving in 2 months, I decided it was either now or not until the baby was at least 3 months old (so 5 months away). I thought it was putting it off too long if I was going to wait that long, so I just went for it!

Emry enjoying lemonade and crackers while hanging out in her new underwear!

Day 1 was totally awful. We did have 3 total successes but we had like 20 accidents and I actually had to do laundry during Emry's nap to get her more clean underwear. By the end of the day, I was really exhausted and my large, pregnant body was aching and sore. (Just ask Ryan, I was beat!) And honestly, I was pretty discouraged. 

Day 2 was much better. We had way more successes and less accidents. And even the accidents we did have were not huge like Day 1. They were much smaller. Also, Emry pooped on the potty with NO problem. She has had no issues with poop pretty much the whole time we've been potty training. (Huge blessing!) 

Day 3 and on: She pretty much has it down. Every day she gets better and better. When she has to go she will say, "pee pee" and then I have to run her to the bathroom. Normally, I don't have very much time to get her on the toilet, but even that is getting better and better. 

We did it!!! (Ok, this is only day 2, but it felt like a victory after a rough day 1!!! haha)

Emry is definitely growing up and isn't my baby anymore. It makes me very sad, but it's also fun to have not changed a diaper for 2 weeks now! 

Updation

Some updates in picture form:

She loves to play in the sink and make a giant mess in the water. Entertainment for hours (ok, not really hours, but for a long time)

Spring has arrived (and hopefully is gonna stick around!). Also, we started potty training Emry (more on this later) hence the hanging out in her underwear.

The family came to visit for Liv's blessing. Here is Cam catching Emry as she goes down the slide. They really love each other!!

At Liv's blessing.  The cute girls in their matching dresses.

Eating yummy chocolate treats at the blessing.

Our little family at the blessing. Notice the large 31 week belly (aka baby boy)

FHE at the temple. Love how much this girl loves the temple. We are so blessed to have a temple so close and so Emry sees the temple basically any time we leave the house. I think this helps in her understanding and love of the temple.

22 Months

Did she just grow up all of the sudden or what? Wow! Can't believe we are only 2 months away from 2 and then sometimes I totally can because she is such a big girl!! I really can't classify her as my baby anymore :( 

Some fun stuff that's going on:

*Potty training!! Shortly before 22 months (like a week before) we decided to just go for it and get this girl out of diapers. She was totally ready and she is doing GREAT!! She now refers to herself as a BIG GIRL!! 

*Pretty much obsessed with anything Princess related. She knows all the princesses by name and can sing all their songs. She knows which prince belongs with which princess and even has her own pair of glass slippers. I'll tell ya, this girl loves her princesses

*Her favorite book is the "princess book" which means we basically read the same book over and over and over again night after night. She never gets tired of it, so we oblige nightly.

*Loves her cousins (especially baby Livvy and baby Oliver). She is definitely a baby person. Any time there is a baby around, she has to kiss them on the head.

*Very caring and sensitive. Any time she hears a baby cry she always looks at me very concerned and says, "baby crying, mom." Then she'll say, "don't cry baby, be happy!" It's darling. She is going to be the very best big sister!!

*Speaking of which, she loves "baby brother" and still loves to give him kisses. She will tell you his name if you ask her, although we're still not sure that is the final name... haha. 

*Loves dancing

*Loves her Daddy. Can't wait for dad to come home every night. Also, if anything is ever broken, she will say, "Daddy fix it?" or if I tell her that I can't do something (like spin her around for the millionth time or throw her in the air again and again) she will say, "Daddy Can?!" like she is very hopeful that when Dad gets home, the fun will begin!!

*Started wearing 2T clothes

*Loves swimming

*Knows her own full name. And it's adorable any time she says it--Emry Kate Gardner. So funny!

*Loves the park. She started going down all the slides by herself, that brave little girl! And I think she's a little too brave because she even tries to do the ladder by herself. That crazy little girl! 

We love this girl so much. Sometimes, I'll just stare at her and wonder how we got so blessed to have the sweetest, cutest, loveliest little girl! I hope she always knows how much I love her and want her to be happy! Love you Emry Kate! 

Eating treats at Baby Livvy's blessing

Being darling at Baby Livvy's blessing

Reading books in mom and dad's bed in her big girl undies

 Grandma Donna spoiled her and bought her her very own glass slippers! She loves them so much!! 

So big that we decided to start driving lessons early. 

Lucky Me

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

I don't really believe in being "lucky" so much. I like to use the word blessed more because I believe I am incredible blessed from my Heavenly Father. But since it's St Patrick's Day, we'll call it "luck" for a day.

 It was warm enough last weekend to go to the park without bundling up too much and this girl got to go on the swings with her daddy. Lucky her!! (Oh ya, and he liked it too so lucky him too!)

 This girl wanted to snuggle and watch a movie. Lucky ME for sure!! I will take all the snuggles I can get. This girl is too busy to sit and snuggle most of the time so this is just precious!!

28 Weeks with this little man. Lucky Gardner Family. Emry is so excited for her "baby brother." Also, lucky us that everything is still looking great!! 

On Friday, I stole this cute little girl for a girl's cousins day at the indoor swimming pool. Lucky Lila and Emry. They had so much fun swimming in their floaties (like really, they swim). I was a little worried watching these two busy bodies by myself in the pool but I just told them over and over if they weren't obedient and listen to me, then we had to leave. That actually worked very well and they stayed together for the most part.

 

These two getting dressed after swimming. Lucky Me that they wanted to sit in the lockers so they weren't running everywhere while we were getting dressed. 

We stopped for ice cream after our day of swimming. Lucky Everyone. Happy babies are fun!

 Yesterday, Emry wouldn't take a nap before church which means no nap for her. (I don't like 1 o'clock church.) But that means by about 6 PM this girl was so tired she was passing out snuggles and fell asleep on Daddy. Lucky Dad and Lucky Em for having such a great Dad.

We are so blessed and it's fun to have a reason to reflect on all we are "lucky" for!

Hawaii Days 7 & 8

Day 7 Wednesday, February 26

This morning we woke up early, determined to get a spot at Mauna Kea beach so we could do some snorkeling. We got there with plenty of time to get a spot (there weren't very many people on the beach) and started snorkeling. One thing about me is that I am actually pretty terrified of snorkeling. I always need to have Ryan right by my side and holding my hand. Basically, I'm scared of the fish. I'm not even scared of sharks coming and getting me. I'm just scared of the fish coming and touching me. I don't like it when the fish touch me! It's totally ridiculous and unfounded, but there, I said it. Anyway, Ryan is a good sport about it and stays by my side so I don't freak out, even though I know he hates it because it makes it hard for him to see what he really wants to see. What a good husband he is to his crazy wife! 

Anyway, we snorkeled and saw some good fish and coral. Then we went to the other side of the bay and snorkeled there. There wasn't as many fish there, but there were still some that we saw. I decided it is so worth it to get up early and get to the beach before everyone else does. The water is so calm and the atmosphere is so peaceful. I totally love it. 

Ryan snorkeling at Mauna Kea Beach

After snorkeling we laid out on the beach again, under the awesome umbrellas and relaxed. We saw some whales really close off shore (like Ryan almost hopped in the water to go swim with them...). We think it was a mom and baby. This really did become our favorite beach.

After the beach, we headed back to the hotel for a lei making class. They taught us how to make leis and we each got to make our own real flower lei. Basically, it's really easy to make leis--thread some yarn through the middle of each flower using a lei needle (or any long needle).

 Me wearing both my and Ryan's finished leis.

After making our lei's we headed to the King's Market where they were having a farmer's market. We had a delicious plate lunch--really good kalua pork-- and some delicious, fresh papaya. Seriously, I could eat papaya all day long and not get sick of it. It's so good! After lunch we headed to our hotel's beach and tried to see if we could snorkel but it was too rough and there was really nothing to see. Ryan didn't like sitting on our beach because there were no umbrellas so we headed back up to the pool. We hung out there and read some more until it was time to go get cleaned up and ready for the luau that night.

This is me on the balcony trying to get a shot of my pregnant belly. 

We headed down to the luau where we had excellent food and a really good program. Actually, the guy who did the fire knife dancing was the best I've ever seen and Ryan said it was the best he had seen too. There was also an open bar at the luau and so Ryan and I had some really delicious virgin drinks. I think I had like 4 or 5 drinks. Man, they were good!!
After the luau we went back to the hotel, intending on watching some Olympics or something but we both totally crashed early. I guess all that relaxing takes a lot out of you.

 Pulling the pig out of the ground

Gorgeous view of the ocean

Day 8 Thursday February 27

This was our last day in Hawaii so we made it really count!! We started by sleeping in a little more than normal and then heading up to Waimea to have breakfast at the Hawaiian Style Cafe. This place is famous for their HUGE servings and let me tell you, it's true. Their pancakes alone are HUGE! I made Ryan share with me since it was our last day and we couldn't really save any leftovers. We were both stuffed by the end and it was super cheap! I would love to go back to that place again!

Ryan and the ginormous pancake (Also, it was funny because when Ryan gets around people who speak pigeon, he tends to talk like them and use their language. So the lady who sat us was like, you've been here before, huh? and treated us like locals. It was funny.)

 Me and the ginormous pancakes (also, they were really good pancakes, not just huge!)

After breakfast, we headed down to Kona to catch our boat to Captian Cook's Cove. This is supposedly the "best snorkeling in all of Hawaii." We originally weren't going to go there because the only way you can get there is by boat (on a tour) or hike 3 miles in. I was in no condition to hike in, so we had to decide if it was worth it to spend the money to do it. I am so glad we did! This really was the best snorkeling I've ever done. The clarity of the water is amazing, you can see forever! And there are tons of fish and tons of variety. Apparently, dolphins occasionally come into the cove too, but not for us, unfortunately. We snorkeled the bay for quite a while and then on the ride back to shore, we did some whale watching. We didn't really see much, but we did see a mom and baby. The baby breached a couple of times right in front of us. It's so funny because the babies look so small compared to their mammas, but really, they are still pretty big! Anyway, I'm glad we added this snorkel trip last minute because it was the perfect end to our trip!

After the trip, we headed back to the hotel, got cleaned up and packed up all our stuff. Then it was off to the airport for an overnight flight back to LA. That experience was really not fun at all! I will never do a red eye flight while pregnant again. I couldn't sleep and so the tired, hungry, pregnant woman came out and it was not a fun flight home. I managed to hold it together while on the plane but then after getting to LAX, we were walking to get our luggage and all the movement and exertion (yes walking was exertion!) made me really sick and I totally puked right in the airport (thankfully, I had brought the barf bag from the airplane with me!). Anyway, we got home (Friday morning) right as Emry was waking up so I wanted to be with her but I also wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next 12 hours!! I slept here and there that day but I still didn't feel good the rest of the day (puked a few more times). After a night of good sleep, I finally recovered. 

Me on a total post-Hawaii low!! 

 SO happy to have my baby back, but also SO sick!!

All in all, I'm so glad we took this opportunity to go on this trip as a couple. I don't know when we will be able to do something like this again. With little boy on his way, it might be a while! I'm so grateful to my parents who watched Emry while we were gone (and totally spoiled her rotten!) so we could go have an awesome trip! Thanks mom and dad!