Andy, Lauren, Boy, and Lilly

Christmas 2011 part 1

2012-02-05T10:57:00.001-05:00

is it bad to post about Christmas in February??? oh well

We were so excited to have a nice long trip to NC for Christmas. We celebrated B's birthday when we got there too.

Will and Adeline helping B with his birthday presents (I can't remember why he didn't have pants on!)

Adeline not very happy that she can't play with the phone

and Little People school bus from G&B and fam!

Having fun in the bath at Gigi and Grandys

Christmas morning!

Ben LOVED all of Gigi's cooking and it's when he finally figured out how to eat big people food!

Christmas with our Gainor family - stinkerhead!

already loves the fire like his daddy

loved having Uncle Gray and Aunt B there via skype!

Grandy waiting for his surprise from Gigi with some help not cheating from Will

I'm so excited to try out all my new cookie making supplies!! post of that coming soon

love my boots for the snow and rain in Colorado

attempts at a picture with the stateside grandkids...not very suscessful

and our little family

Ben LOVED riding up and down the street

and we hired him as our spy during Settlers to see what Gigi and Grandy had in their hand!

and here's a quick video of Ben's present from Gigi and Grandy - he rides his little bike all over

Christmas spirit

2012-01-21T22:43:00.001-05:00

Here's a glimpse into our family getting into the Christmas spirit in December.

Andy and his lights... don't ask about the super bright blue ones on the fence. See the star, Gigi and Grandy??

our tree started out a bit Charlie Brownish...

Dad and B playing around

Ben helping with the tree lights

they kept following him!

but we think our little tree turned out pretty perfect!

Ben LOVED to pull the ornaments off the tree - so we put the non-breakable ones toward the bottom and we were really grateful for the big heavy bucket that the tree sat in

checking out the snow

Snow Day!

2012-01-17T21:00:00.010-05:00

Lauren had MLK day off so after some serious time of deliberation (3.14 sec) we decided to ditch that loud thing we call Ben in daycare and hit up Breck for a ski day. It's been a miserable year here for snow in the mountains and they were expecting some fresh precip (bonus points!).

It was all fun and games till I ended up here.

Yup, that's the ER back in Denver.

It’s not a sexy or impressive story, but here goes:
We were cruising down a green run at Breck on our way to Peak 9 and there was a young boy (10ish??) in front of me. He was cutting towards the edge of the run as I was coming up on him and I gambled that he would cut back before I passed. He didn’t. (I lost that bet) So I got on my toe edge, successfully crammed the brake, and though I might have thrown some snow at him, we didn’t collide. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me there was a fella about my size close behind me who had just popped an ollie off a lip and planned to land right aboutst where I stopped. We did collide. (I lost that bet too. Didn’t know I was playing those odds) Best I can figure, the heel edge of his deck landed on and sliced across my quad, just above my left knee, and his knee/waist (who knows) smacked me in the corner of my goggles and into my cheek bone (Mom, thanks for the heavy duty, high Cherokee cheekbones). From there it was your standard heel-edge snowboard launch where you land on your butt and whiplash your head into the snowpack.
After 30 seconds of clearing my head we did a quick injury assessment. He was clear (or at least didn’t admit to anything) and other than a 2” cut in my pants, which I reckoned was a small flesh wound, and a neck that I knew was going to be sore, all I needed was a goggle and helmet adjustment. The dude was real apologetic and it truly was a case of bad timing so I shook it off and we kept on riding for another 90 minutes. (The joy of waterproof pants hid the growing wet spot and the fact that my pants were sticking to me was noted but shrugged off) It wasn’t till I stripped the pants off and found a chunk missing from my leg (anybody ever actually seen a raw muscle move? Kinda cool. Kinda nauseating.) Even the MD wife said, “Hummmm. (this noise, by the way, is never a good one) Maybe you should go the ER”. So we did what any sane person would do and tied my sock around the wound and drove home.
So, several hours of ER goodness and I went home with 12 stitches, an updated tetanus shot, some cool gauze and this stretchy/sticky wrapping stuff, a renewed respect for nurses, a month off of most physical activity that requires the articulation of my knee, and my bloody sock.
PS, I’m sore today and it has swollen good fashion.

Lessons Learned
#1. Helmets are good. Wear one. (to quote a friend and mentor of mine, “Helmets ROCK!”)
#2. Green runs are the most dangerous runs on the mtn. Ya just can’t guess what a noob is gonna do. (envision a rabid possum but with less teeth and better disposition)
#3. Be nice to nurses. Life just goes better in general.
#4. Pimento cheese is nasty. Avoid it. (not related but still a good lesson)

Here's a few pics of the cut in my pants. It'd be kinda like cutting through a pair of heavy duty khakis and a pair of sweatpants underneath (they have these liner short that snap out).

Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-14T22:27:00.007-05:00

Holiday catch up!

Ever since my intern year, I have had to work on Thanksgiving so we haven't been able to be home with family for the past 3 years. We are so thankful to get to spend it each with our Colorado family though and this year was no different. We had a huge amount of food again at Sophia and Yonas' house and really enjoyed the day and weekend.

Ben helping with the baking

and helping Dad with the Christmas lights

trying to get a good picture of Ben and Amina which wasn't very successful..

Ben borrowed some of Amina's things but I don't think pink is his color (and he doesnt seem as excited as his dad about turkey legs!)

but he LOVED all of Amina's toys!

PJ snuggling

And we got our Christmas tree over the weekend too. This was a subject of great debate because Andy didn't want to get a real tree b/c we were going to be out of town for so much of Christmas and he didn't want our house up in smoke if something happened. But I really really really prefer a real tree. So this was our compromise and it worked out GREAT!

Andy found these trees in buckets and the big ole bucket actually made it really sturdy so as Ben explored the ornaments, he couldn't tip the whole thing over!

here's the winner

and here's how it got home

with a little help from me

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

2011-12-20T11:32:00.007-05:00

Our sweet boy turns 1 today! What a wonderful year it has been. By God's grace, we are learning so much about being parents! Crazy to think it all started like this...

and then a few hours later!

so grateful that this is what our family looks like now!

We had a little party for him over the weekend with some neighbors and friends. The whole cupcake eating was a little anticlimactic! He couldn't really figure it out but still managed to make a huge mess. I am so bummed though because I screwed up all the video! I was "off" a button and every time I thought i was recording, it was really off and instead we have lots of video of the floor and ceiling =(

icing was everywhere!

Half of the birthday table with Aunt Christina's banner!

sweet boy playing after the party

we gave him a wagon for this birthday and here we are on the inaugural stroll

and no need to worry, he has definitely figured out the art of cupcake eating since! (he might have had two for breakfast this weekend...) oh and he LOVES ham rolls! Making these made me think about Aunt B so much!

Happy Birthday sweet Benjamin. We love you so much!

cutest yoda ever

2011-12-19T18:21:00.000-05:00

Gainor family Halloween 2011

Han Solo, Princess Leia and the cutest Yoda ever

pumpkin pictures!

2011-12-19T10:32:00.000-05:00

When Nana was visiting in October, we tried to make some fall pictures with Ben and he sort of cooperated!

waterbowl

2011-12-19T10:28:00.000-05:00

Ben has a sneaky habit of playing in Lilly's water bowl! He's so funny because I think he now knows that it's not allowed so he kinda sneaks over there!

dinner time

2011-12-18T22:22:00.000-05:00

Ben always looks so cute at dinner time and I take so many pictures of him sitting in his seat!

10/14/11

2011-12-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

a day in the life of the Gainors on 10/14/11

signing Pop's birthday card

but the marker cap is more interesting

10/2/11 Lil's last swim

2011-12-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

We had a fun family day for Lilly's last swim of the season

pretty mountain view in the neighborhood

not a fan of his hat

vegetable harvest

2011-12-17T21:58:00.000-05:00

We had a great crop of vegetables, particularly tomatoes this year.

And Andy had a very eager helper in our neighbor Henry. He LOVED to help pick the vegetables and would eat the tomatoes immediately!

randomness: august to october

2011-12-11T18:42:00.008-05:00

stuck underneath!

pondering his meal

we think Ben looks so much like cousin Jack in this picture!

out around Denver one day

family reading time

Raleigh in September!

2011-12-11T18:11:00.006-05:00

I'm determined to finish all my "catch up" blogging before Ben's birthday and all our Christmas travels.

Finishing our trip to NC way back in September, after the wedding in the Outer Banks and a trip to Wilmington, we finished our trip with a few days in Raleigh again.

B taking a bath and looking too stinking cute

We had a fun surprise when we got there - Gigi and Grandy had some of our favorites waiting for us! and Ben has some puffs too!

We also got to visit Grandaddy Gainor too

Gigi and her two youngest (Til January anyway!)

walking!

2011-12-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

Here's Ben showing off his skills!

life at 11

2011-12-04T16:28:00.008-05:00

Here's what Ben's up to at 11 months:

He has started taking a few steps over the last week but he kinda lost some momentum for it i think and prefers to keep crawling. But he has finally mastered coming down the stairs though

He's getting pretty good at walking behind things

He is sleeping well still. He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 and then usually wakes up some time during the 6:00 hour. We were so excited that he slept till 7:00 every day of the Thanksgiving holiday - what a treat! He is still napping twice a day and we are starting to limit his morning nap to about 1.5 hours and he still sleeps 2 hours in the afternoon.

Meal times continue to be an adventure. He still loves baby food but is finally starting to make some progress. Even being a pediatrician, I still worry so much about the little things and lately it's been his eating! I have these fears that he is going to be in kindergarden eating baby food and drinking from a bottle. God is using this season to teach me all over again that He is faithful and sovereign - including over meal times! God has been gracious to hear my prayers but make me wait just long enough that I have to trust Him!

Meals often look a little like this...

but just in the last week, B has really made some good progress! and he's got 7 teeth in there to help him out.

He likes to help out with the spoon

We are working on using the bottle less (though I fret that he's not getting enough fluids...)

and he's getting better and better with the sippy cup

Lil has figured out that lots of food collects underneath the cover of his seat and she can usually be found doing this after Ben eats

Ben loves toilet paper. He will crawl into bathroom so fast and unroll the whole roll and then shove as much into his mouth as he can before we can get to him.

(i couldn't get this picture to rotate)

He's learning so much though he doesn't really have any words yet. He says mama and dada but he usually points at the dog when you ask where we are so.. I don't think he's using them specifically yet! But he has figured out the remote for the ceiling fan and light.

He is in to everything!

and has figured out how to multi-task while playing!

We love him and can't wait to celebrate one year!

(he didn't really do this on purpose - he was just pointing!)

first school picture?

2011-12-01T12:30:00.006-05:00

Ben's daycare made school pictures... and they are ridiculous. It's kinda sad because his face is super cute in that first one but seriously, who thought this outfit was a good idea?! (They put Ben in these clothes, not me!)

standing

2011-11-27T22:18:00.001-05:00

Today our little boy took his first steps! We were at church and a friend asked if he was walking yet. I said no and that he was just standing. So we put Ben down to show them and he just started walking! Like 4 steps! He did it once again during the day but nothing we could capture on video. This is more what happened when we tried.... lots of standing!

11 months!

2011-11-24T23:12:00.004-05:00

Four days ago our little boy hit 11 months!

Where did our little baby go??

Wilmington in September

2011-11-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

When we were home in NC in September, we went down to Wilmington after returning from the Outer Banks.

and he learned to rock in the rocking chair that was around when Michael and I were little

playing with Uncle Michael

Dancing!

and Ben went to Salt Works, our favorite breakfast place in Wilmington

and got a little stuck

playing with Pop

cruising

2011-11-12T14:47:00.003-05:00

Ben was moving last night!

and here's a little bit of his newest trick, waving

and this one just cause he's cute

family self-portrait on the way to the mailbox

Gigi and Grandy August 2010

2011-11-06T22:36:00.003-05:00

This past summer in August, Gigi and Grandy came to visit and we had a great time.

Ben was so excited to see them!

And we all took Ben on his first ever camping trip! We really had a wonderful trip and Ben did GREAT!! We camped right near Keystone at a great site and enjoyed a great, long weekend. Ben was 7 months at the time.

B loved all the sticks and dirt

but not the cold creek water so much

Grandy gathering fire wood

beautiful creek that ran right along our site

Ben loved watching the fire - a true Gainor boy

We got a new tent this past winter when J&C and fam were out visiting and it worked out great! A spot for all our family members.

We had great weather. Up into the 70s during the day with lots of sunshine. The evenings were a typical mountain cold and got down into the 40s overnight in August! So we bundled Ben up at night and he actually did awesome.

Ed and Andy up ready to go hiking

I have been very reluctant to get rid of these two pairs of shoes. I LIVED in these in high school - my Berks in the summer and Docs in the winter. I wouldn't get rid of them so Andy convinced me finally to give them a proper burial in the fire

While Andy and Grandy hiked, Gigi and Ben and I strolled around downtown Breckenridge

Grandy and Andy (and Lilly) conquered another 14er! Mt Elbert this time

love these boys

Poor Ben really gets eaten alive by mosquitos!

Back at home, we enjoyed a few more days with Gigi and Grandy

I couldn't pick my favorite of these...

Lil wanted in on the action

love it

9 and 10 months!

2011-11-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

Oops... Ben is now 10 1/2 months and I'm just now posting his 9 and 10 month pics!

9 months first!

From his 9 month check up, here are his stats:

weight 17lb 1 oz , 10%ile

height 28.25 in, 55%ile

head circumference 17.25 in, 10%ile (I actually don't think this one is right, we all know Ben has a big ole head though he is growing into it more. and I remeasured it and it's a bigger than this ;) )

And then 10 months! He would not hold still for these pictures so they aren't the best.

and he's done

All Ben wants to do these days is stand. He is really making a lot of progress and I don't think it will be too long before he's walking. He's starting to stand on his own without holding onto anything for about 5 seconds or so at a time. And he's cruising on everything and his balance is definitely improving.

And he's got 6 teeth now! 3 on top and 3 on the bottom. Of course, they aren't the same three - he's got the middle two and then on the top, the third one is to the left and on the bottom, it's to the right!

He's sleeping great again after struggling when we traveled in September and he had a bad GI bug at the same time. He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 and usually wakes up sometime between 6 and 7 (except today, of course, on Daylight savings when he woke up at 4:45 - good times!). He take 2 two hour naps a day when he's at home ... not so much at daycare.

He's still working on eating finger foods. The boy just LOVES pureed baby food! About a month ago, he hit his max and at 30 OUNCES of baby food one day! 30 ounces, for real! crazy. But we are making progress slowly. Still no luck with the sippy cup though.

We LOVE our little boy. Hard to believe 1 year old is just around the corner!

NC in September

2011-11-06T11:47:00.005-05:00

In September, when Ben was right at 9 months old, we headed back home for the second time with Ben.

We were so excited to be able to time our vacation trip with Andy's cousin Jimi's wedding to his beautiful bride Christy on the Outer Banks.

We took a quick trip to the beach with little P (Preston), who is Andy's cousin Chris' little boy.

It was pretty windy on the beach and Ben was not a fan!

B was so funny holding this strap on the way back like reins

To say our time at the Outer Banks was eventful would be a major understatement! Ben has a pretty bad GI bug before we left and thankfully we made it through the airplane ride without any crazy events but we definitely had a grumpy boy. It was hard b/c he didn't feel good for the first half of the trip and wasn't himself. He might have also passed on the bug to family as well =(

And then on top of that, the weather was CRAZY!! Jimi and Christy were supposed to get married on the beach but it rained and rained and rained. There were record amounts of rainfall the whole time we were there. So they ended up having to get married on the porch of the inn .. but they are officially married no matter what the circumstances!

And the reception was in a big tent (and the water had to be shop-vacced of the floor!!)

Ben got some kind of bite or something on his cheek and it was so big and so red!

Ben and his cousin Anna!

We traveled back to Raleigh for a couple days and then on to Wilmington!

Stairs

2011-11-06T11:44:00.002-05:00

Now that Ben can fly up the stairs, it creates a bit of a problem with going back down.

Being the excellent father that he is, Andy documented Ben working through this issue

We are working on turning around and backing down the stairs but I don't see anything wrong with this method

Cathen!

2011-10-31T10:22:00.001-04:00

Our friends JR and Lindsay had a sweet baby girl on August 18th. She is named Cathen after her great-grandmother.

We had a baby shower for Lindsay before Cathen's arrival

And here she is! A perfect little 6 lbs!

And at about 2 weeks old..

and then she wanted to smile for me =)

Cathen has been enjoying Ben's swing too

Go Broncos!

2011-10-30T15:38:00.000-04:00

Nana and Pop - June 2011

2011-10-30T09:59:00.001-04:00

When Nana and Pop came out for my graduation, they got to experience Professors Challenge at work. At the end of each year, a group of the 3rd year residents take on a group of faculty in a semi-serious game of Jeopardy. Each year, there is a theme and this past year we had to dress up as occupations we would be if we couldn't be doctors. So naturally, we all pick the most absurd things we can think of

Here's a shot of the competing teams!

And we got to spend a lot of time with Nana and Pop just doing things around home - like taking Lilly to swim (Ben is 5 months during this time)

Andy and I went out to a movie one night

My friend Liz's family has a condo right in downtown Breckenridge and they were so gracious to let us go spend a few days up there and it was so much fun.

Ben still working on rice cereal

off the porch, looking at Breck in June (still with so much snow!)

We tried very unsuccessfully to go hiking. We wanted to take mom and dad to one of favorite trails - the Mohawk trail that we hiked with G&B and kids also. however there was still just too much snow in June to even get up to the trail head. After the 4Runner getting stuck twice, we abandoned the effort.

We tried one other location but it was too snowy too

so we just headed back to Breck and spent time walking around downtown

B wearing cousin Will's Robeezs!

and hung out on the porch

while Nana enjoyed the hot tub!

Nana and Pop also did some traveling around during the week while we were working similar to GiGi and Grandy when they were here also. Beautiful Colorado in the summer!

Residency Graduation! June 2011

2011-10-30T09:48:00.001-04:00

And I'm finally getting around to documenting my graduation from residency! You would think I'd be a little more on the ball about finally celebrating this milestone!

My parents came out for our graduation dinner and then spent some time with us afterward.

We each have one of our mentors from the past 3 years speak on our behalf and this is Carol Okada who I really love and has been such a great support to me over the past 3 years (not to mention that she's an amazing doctor as well)

My friend Liz - she has a little boy named Jack who is 3 months younger than Ben

and my wonderful residency class - these people really made the past 3 years SO much fun and bearable!

this is my friend Ana who was such a huge support to me after Ben was born and I was struggling

and Katie and Aline who are the other co-chiefs with me this year!

and of course, JR and Lindsay - our sweet friends who are from NC as well and have been our closest companions out here. They had a little girl this past August and will be leaving in January to work in a hospital in Cameroon with Samaritans Purse.

So thankful for my friends and family and wonderful husband who supported me throughout the last three years - and SO thankful that it's over!

Wilmington in May

2011-10-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

Still in MAY of this year...

After spending time in Raleigh, we headed to Wilmington to see Nana, Pop and Uncle Michael

B went to the beach for the first time and lasted about ... 5 minutes. In all fairness, it was still wasn't super warm and pretty windy

At this point, his little shark swimsuit would not even remotely stay up so we had to abandon that idea

and we loved getting to go pick strawberries all together

Ben rested during parts of it =)

Raleigh in May!

2011-10-29T13:25:00.000-04:00

I am determined to finish posting about Ben's first trip back to NC in May. I already posted a few months ago about Ben's first flight and our whirlwind tour of NC to see Maw-Maw and Great Grandaddy Harmon.

So the next great-grandparent to meet was Grandaddy Gainor!

Ben (5 months old at the time) hanging out at Grandaddy's

And hanging out at GiGi and Grandy's

Will and Adeline entertaining B

Adeline practicing for baby Anna who was gestating at the time

she was persistent and undeterred by a little fussing!

Sunday photo session with GiGi and Grandy

and hanging out with Uncle Jake (Aunt Christina too but sadly no pictures!)

today

2011-10-29T11:40:00.003-04:00

I am really going to work on lots and lots of blog posts in the next week and try to get caught up, even back to the summer! but for now, here's breakfast at our house today

Lilly is always very close by - she's learned that Ben makes a pretty big mess

B was really funny this morning and was copying all the sounds we were making.

winter arrives

2011-10-29T11:27:00.003-04:00

On Monday of this past week, it was 80 degrees in Denver. Tuesday night, this happened....

10 inches of snow at our house!

Ben just loved being bundled up, can't you tell?!

Lilly loved running and playing in it and Ben at least was very interested in our neighbors playing

Henry and Will (our next door neighbors) in their snow fort

B showing off his top 3 teeth

Watching Dad out in the yard during dinner. Andy was knocking all the heavy, wet snow off our trees so the branches wouldn't break

And it's been up to the 50s since and we have just a few little piles of snow left in the shade. Crazy Denver weather!

catch up!

2011-10-15T17:32:00.003-04:00

We have SO much to blog and catch up with! Like since May...

Meanwhile, I looked outside the other day to see my boys playing around ...

up and up

2011-10-01T16:08:00.003-04:00

Two nights ago, Andy started yelling for me to come see...

I'm not sure we are ready for this!!

clapping

2011-09-06T00:32:00.003-04:00

Exciting times in the Gainor household! There is lots of yay-ing going on

and in other news, Ben also pooped in the bathtub for the first time too

more firsts!

2011-09-03T14:44:00.004-04:00

Ben has had a number of other "firsts" in the last week or so...

his first goose egg - never got a great picture of it but he had a pretty good bump on his right forehead

his first picture which is proudly displayed on the fridge

B has gotten to be a pro at riding in the shopping cart! This picture makes me think so much of Killa and Jo. Lauren made the awesome NC State shopping cart cover and his onesie is from JoNeel .. i miss my friends!

first time in the nursery at church (our church doesn't start nursery until 6 months anyway)

first time sharing a bone with Lilly (you really can't leave him out of your sight anymore!)

first time actually eating something other than puffs and cheerios - like 5 whole pieces of mozzarella cheese - not much but we'll take it!

and getting ready to experience his first Wolfpack football game! (he hadn't quite woken up yet this morning!) Go Wolfpack!

8 months!

2011-08-23T23:42:00.001-04:00

This big boy is 8 months old as of August 20th!

our snowboard sessions are quite a bit more difficult now...

and he's wearing a 0-3 month shirt and 3-6 month shorts - he's a skinny boy. Our scale at home says he weighs 16 lbs.

and he's still got negligible amounts of hair and a big ole head

Ben's 7th month of life was full of so many changes and new things!

Sadly part of that includes a wake up time usually about 5:30 am but we can't complain - he's a great sleeper otherwise. He naps twice a day at least and usually for about 2 hrs at a time. He goes to bed between 7:00 and 7:30 and we don't hear a peep until somewhere between 5 and 6.

He has started to babble some and says lots of ga's and ma's with an occasional da thrown in there

He is a great eater - he eats about 12 ounces of baby food a day and has a bottle or nurses four times a day. He is a puff eating machine and loves those and cheerios. So far he hasn't been too keen on any other finger foodsfd we've given him. He hasn't figured out the sippy cup yet either but really likes to sip water from a real cup.

He went through a funny phase where he growled a lot while he was eating and made us laugh.

And it became very obvious when he was pooping too

He perfected his pincer grasp pretty early, right about 7 months

He can find his pacifier and get it back in his mouth - and he can even get it turned around when it's upside down

He has been sitting like a pro and can go from laying to sitting and was scooting around in a circle

So it's been a busy month but the last week has been even busier! Just in the last few days, he's done so many new things!

Ben was scooting all around like this on Saturday, the day he turned 8 months. He can pull himself along to get where he wants

and then we found him like this when he was supposed to be napping!

for the last couple days, it's been taking Ben up to an hour to fall asleep! He keeps scooting all over the crib and sitting up and pulling up over and over instead of sleeping!

And he is finally getting some teeth! He's got one on the top and one on the bottom coming in.

Here's an attempt at a picture of Ben's first tooth on the top - I am posting this picture against my better judgement. Ben's got food all over his face and even a dog hair smeared in the mix (he got a bath right after this)

Ben's new mobility makes bathtime a lot more difficult!

and then tonight.. another milestone! the video is shaky at the beginning because I was running back up the stairs really quick with the camera!

We can't believe how fast he's growing up!

sleeping

2011-08-09T10:57:00.003-04:00

Ben has started sleeping on his tummy or his side and looks like such a big boy!

And he's practicing standing up

and Andy found him one day actually sitting up in his crib! we couldn't quite get him to do it again ...

aug 3rd

2011-08-08T22:43:00.004-04:00

I had a great birthday last week! Andy pulled two surprises over on me which is two more than he usually is able to pull off!

To start, he arranged for our friend Aline to come over Tuesday night (the day before my birthday) to watch Ben so that we could go out to dinner! It was a fun night out together and we went to Lola which was amazing. We have a list of restaurants we want to go to and so it was fun to cross one off the list.

And he brought home a cookie cake which is my favorite!

Then the next night on Wednesday, Aline had a surprise cook out at her house with a bunch of our friends from work. So we enjoyed hanging out with friends that evening - Aline took pictures so i'll have to get them. Overall a really fun birthday and I felt very loved. And Andy gave me some real cowboy boots which I have been wanting for a while! I'll take a picture of those too

Happy Birthday Lauren!

2011-08-03T10:44:00.003-04:00

Love from Mr. & Mrs Wuf.

And Hubs, Boy, and Dog too!

Gainor boys

2011-07-30T14:21:00.002-04:00

I sure do love the Gainor boys

kinda blurry cause these are from my phone - I think he looks like such a big little boy in the first one

this is more like it...

Frontier Days!

2011-07-23T23:37:00.007-04:00

We had a great family day today and took a day trip to Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We had such a fun day and hope to get to do it again next year.

We started the morning in downtown Cheyenne at the parade. There is a large Air Force base in Cheyenne and they started out the parade

But Ben was more entertained by his sunscreen (which he had like 7 coats of on)

more of the parade

we laughed thinking about how this was probably the first of many years (hopefully) of parades with a kid on Andy's shoulders!

And we spend the next few hours walking around Frontier Days which is like a mini state fair with a big rodeo. We watched the rodeo for a few hours and had a great time.

we watched calf roping, steer wrestling, bareback and saddle bronco riding and bull riding with some horse racing mixed in

B had a good morning nap while we drove and then finally fell asleep mid afternoon at the rodeo. I couldn't believe he slept through how loud it was!

and we visited some of the horses at the end - for some perspective on how big this horse is, Andy is on his tip toes!

And for the Gainors, stripes and stripes!!

We got a call in the morning from one of our great neighbors who knew we were up in WY to tell us that our garage was open which was not good! So they tried to close it but realized that something had gone really awry with the tracks. So thankfully they put some of our valuable things inside the house for us and nothing was missing when we got home tonight.

I guess I can see why this would be a problem. So another one of our great neighbors came over and helped Andy at least get the door shut for the night

and while we were out there messing with the door, we noticed the cool sunset (never as pretty in the pictures as in person)

and in other Gainor news, we are finally going to have a couple ripe tomatoes soon! We picked our first zucchini and squash last night and have eaten a couple (literally 2) strawberries too

7 months!

2011-07-22T23:08:00.004-04:00

Our photo sessions at 7 months are getting more interesting! It took me forever to get B to be still long enough for a picture!

and now he can sit beside it too!

Here are a few more shots from the last couple days of our big 7 month old who loves the bath tub!

and is eating like a champ!

7-20-11

2011-07-20T23:00:00.004-04:00

Benjamin is 7 months old today! He was pretty sleepy tonight so we skipped his snowboard picture for today and will work on it tomorrow. So here he is instead sleeping away (from my phone), looking like such a big boy.

around the house

2011-07-15T11:19:00.000-04:00

one day Ben was just laying on his exersaucer like this the whole time

pool time

2011-07-13T11:08:00.000-04:00

Ben made his first appearance at the neighborhood pool a couple weeks ago. His little swim trunks are so big even though they are 3-6 months and he's almost 7 months, oh well!

He wasn't so sure what to think at first

and it didn't go so well at the beginning

but he figured it out

B and Andy floating around

cousin Sam

2011-07-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

Here's Ben wearing his puppy dog shirt that matches his cousin Sam

dessert

2011-07-12T11:04:00.000-04:00

Ben likes to finish up his meals with a delicacy...

6 month stats

2011-07-11T22:41:00.004-04:00

Ben finally went to the pediatrician last week for his 6 month check up and here's how he weighs in.

Weight 15lbs (5-10%)

Height 26 inches (45%)

Head circumference 17 inches (40%)

And he got his shots but did great

So our little man is still a squirt but has normal growth velocity with his weight so we are just going with it. I'm amazed that he hasn't gained more weight because he is a great eater! We started solids about a month ago and he eats like a champ. Right now he's eating solids in the morning and evening.

He really eats a ton - like he'll eat two whole containers of baby food at one time. How he's not more of a chunk I don't know! But nonetheless here's a bunch of pictures of our skinny little man

He's also practicing with his sippy cup and I think he might have actually swallowed some water once or twice too

seriously could this little boy be any cuter. we love him so much

change of plans

2011-07-02T18:55:00.004-04:00

We had grand plans for this weekend, we both had Friday and Monday off and it was going to be Ben's first camping trip. It was all planned out, tent down, food bought. Then we found out that there was a ban on fires because of the dry weather ... and then I came down with something and had a fever and felt terrible the night before we were supposed to leave. So here we are in Denver instead.

But it's been a great day nonetheless. Here's a little of what we've been up to.

breakfast time - AJ made yummy french toast (B had some peaches and cereal)

and a little pool time in the afternoon

and then a little more playtime

and this is prof that Ben does have a few wisps of hair on his big ole head

7 years!

2011-06-26T19:10:00.003-04:00

Andy and I are celebrating our 7th anniversary today! In typical fashion for us, it's been a low key normal day with church this morning, cleaning up this afternoon with some reading on the porch and playing with Ben and then something on the grill for dinner - just the way we like it.

Remembering 7 years ago today..

Here was my breakfast surprise this am (the waffles are 7s)

cooked by these cute guys

and here's the best thing to have come out of our marriage (besides a best friend and a perfect partner for life)

6 months!

2011-06-20T22:42:00.004-04:00

Ben is 6 months old today! It's hard to believe that it has already been half a year - he is changing and growing so much and we love watching and loving on him.

His photo session is definitely more interactive these days. We made these photos yesterday on Fathers Day actually because not only was today Ben's 6 mo day but also his first day of daycare and figured that it might be a bit of a rushed/rough day around here. (He did great by the way, not much sleep but I think I am worse off for it today than he is!)

His overalls are a bit deceptive - he's still long but skinny as a rail under there

you can't tell very well but he's got his head and his legs up in the air

andy was stretching him out

Andy said he was practicing for Uncle Michael here

And B has really been making some progress with sitting up! Still not perfect but definitely getting there

We love Ben so much - love his grins and goofiness and are so thankful for him!

rice cereal!

2011-06-07T23:29:00.014-04:00

We interrupt the vacation blogging to document Ben's first effort at rice cereal. Overall it was a huge mess but went pretty well I think!

here's the first attempt

it was everywhere!

Ben giving his own effort

and then the result when he gagged himself

And Ben got a bath promptly afterward... here's the clean cutie

He kept doing this hilarious face when Andy turned the fan toward him - we laughed pretty hard

First in flight

2011-05-30T02:30:00.000-04:00

Ben made his first appearance in North Carolina a few weeks ago. I had vacation so we loaded up and got to go home for the first time since he was born.

Flying with a baby is a whole new level of stressful. Ben really did ok - coming back to Colorado went better than flying out there for sure but overall we survived.

Before our first flight, B hung out in the terminal and had some playtime

and showed off his rolling skills

and it really seemed like he liked looking out the plane window

this was taken during the only 30 minutes that Ben slept all day long ... made for a fussy baby by the last hour of travel =)

spaz

2011-05-25T05:08:00.002-04:00

great-grands part 1

2011-05-23T18:47:00.005-04:00

While we were home, Ben got to meet almost all of his great-grandparents. Hopefully he'll get to meet Grandaddy Everett (Andy's mom's dad) some day too.

First up were Mom's grandparents.

We took a day trip to Shelby and Burlington to meet Maw-Maw (Lauren's mom's mom) and Grandaddy (Lauren's dad's dad)

Ben and Maw-Maw

And in Burlington Ben got to meet Grandaddy and Janie and Aunt LuAnne, Uncle Dan, and cousins Tom and Ellie made the trip from Greensboro to be there too and we are so thankful!

April 2011

2011-05-23T18:34:00.007-04:00

I'm way behind on posting pictures from April but here's a random collection from the month documented for posterity sake. and because Ben's so stinking cute.

he always has his hands crossed or folded in a very pensive manner

working on his tummy time

a little note from my family

Ben participated this year in the annual garden planning session

he was really pumped

such a big boy

just crane your neck sideways

rolling rolling rolling

2011-04-27T20:59:00.005-04:00

Ben rolled over for the first time today! I had my back to him and then heard a lot of grunting and looked over to find him face down!

the only trouble is that he did it a little backwards and rolled from back to front first and can't get from his tummy back to his back so he just lays there with his face in the floor ... hopefully this will help his flat head though!

and i caught the next time on video

He is risen!

2011-04-24T23:11:00.002-04:00

Ben celebrated Christ's resurrection for the first time today and our prayer is that it is only the first of many many years of treasuring Christ for Ben.

Of course, he would NOT look at the camera

WCC

2011-04-20T23:15:00.004-04:00

I never actually posted the pictures and Ben's stats from his 2 month appointment so here they are first... (i forgot the camera both times for his appointments so these are taken with my phone)

2 months:

Weight 10lb 6oz (20th%ile)

Height 22 in (10th%ile)

Head circumference 15.5 in (45th%ile)

His daddy got him dressed for this visit

And 2 months later, Ben is still a little squirt. He is quite the string bean but following his own little growth curve.

Weight 12lb 7oz (10th%ile)

Length 25.25 in (50th%ile)

OFC 16.25 in (30th%ile)

(don't know how to rotate the picture from my phone)

4 months!

2011-04-20T22:52:00.007-04:00

Ben is 4 months old today!! Time sure flies...

We love our little man and are learning so much day by day about how to take good care of him.

computer time

2011-04-15T16:29:00.000-04:00

Dad teaching Ben the ropes

hoodies

2011-04-14T22:40:00.002-04:00

my boys in their hoodies

My turn... Here are Dad's personal favs!

He looks so much like his Momma.

March 2011

2011-04-14T14:58:00.006-04:00

Here's a handful of pictures of baby Ben from the month of March - he's changed even from these pictures but still worth posting!

B and Lil having some tummy time together. He pretty much hates tummy time and certainly is not ahead of the curve when it comes to gross motor skills =) But he and Nana made lots of progress recently ... pics of that to come

some Daddy time

and some mommy time

Dad just home from snowboarding ... kinda scary!

so just cover it up

Ben is such a string bean - his little jeans are so wide on him still

Wacky Colorado Springtime

2011-04-09T12:06:00.009-04:00

You gotta love the weather here in Denver but spring is always the most random and fickle here. This was last weekend's maddness.

Sat morn L-Boogie had off and Karen (aka Nana) is in town so we hit up Keystone for Lauren's one and only day on the sloped this year.

We forgot the camera so this is our only pic, us in the gondola, from L's phone.

So we skied it up till about noonish then returned to Denver to find sunny and 80 degrees waiting for us. So we did what any sane folks would do...

We tossed on some shorts and hung the porch swing! (a highly anticipated family tradition)

B is a fan.

He was in a good mood so I tossed him into the yard for his first grass experience.

Big smiles.

This quickly passed though. This is an action shot. He's in full swing throwing that piece of mulch to the ground. He might have been a little vocal about it too.

And we're done.

So on with the meteorological madness, Sun morn we had a 55 degree temp swing in about 2 hours and snow began to fall.

And of course we had to go out in it, so when Nana wasn't looking we threw on jackets and toboggans and made a break for it.

He was a little confused with all the flakes hitting him in the face.

Safely back inside.

ps, Monday was 65 and sunny.

3 months!

2011-03-20T23:13:00.004-04:00

Ben is 3 months old today!

it's tough work being 3 months old ...

loaded up to go to church

and here's how he's measuring up

we celebrated with a little trip to Home Depot

We love you Ben!

broken Lilly girl

2011-03-19T23:44:00.003-04:00

Our sweet Lilly girl is having some issues. Last fall she stopped jumping up on the bed and in the car - we took her to the vet and didn't find anything but we knew something had to be up. Then last month she really started limping so we went back to the vet. She initially thought that Lil might have a partial tear of her ACL. So she got some xrays and got referred to the doggie orthopedic surgeon (yes, there is apparently such a thing).

So here we are... Andy checking out the dog joints

Lil waiting patiently

So our sweet girl has got a messed up lower back and her ACL is fine. He said she's got some impressive arthritis on xray and maybe a bulging disc too. So she's been on steroids for a while to try and reduce the inflammation and we think that it has actually helped. The worst part of all of it though has been that she can only go on WALKS! If you know our dog at all, you can just imagine how painful this has been for all of us. She HATES not being able to chase her frisbee or ball and is driving us crazy and walks really just don't do it for her.

Thankfully we go back this Thursday and are hoping that she'll be able to go back to full activity. And we are hoping to avoid surgery but if this doesn't work or last for long, then that's where we'll head. She's only 6 and we want 6 more fun and active years with our four legged first born =)

Bear Gainor

2011-03-19T23:38:00.003-04:00

Meet Bear Gainor... here he is just a day shy of 3 months old.

Bear was a very close second to Benjamin for the name of our first born son, many thanks to Grandy for the suggestion =)

(i couldn't pick just one or two so you get 9)

Gainor fun

2011-03-07T22:52:00.010-05:00

Back at the beginning of February, we were SO excited that Andy's brother Jacob and his family came to Colorado to visit us! We had a great time over a long extended weekend. It snowed pretty much the whole time they were here so that altered our plans a little bit but it proved to be a real Colorado winter visit! Christina got much better (and more) pictures than I did but here are a few...

Will and Adeline were excited to meet Ben and ran straight to him!

Aunt Christina loving on Ben

Andy and Jacob got to go skiing one day

and I have about 50 pictures like this on our camera that Will took!

We waited to exchange Christmas gifts when they got here.

Andy REALLY needed a haircut... he has since gotten one. He wanted to wait till all the family got to see it in person

It was cold and snowy on Saturday so we went to the Natural Science museum and had a great time. Ben wore his big boy jeans for the first time ... definitely still were "big" boy jeans

We loved having yall here and are so glad you got to see our life out west!

(i'll steal some of Christina's pictures maybe...)

baby B

2011-03-02T23:12:00.014-05:00

Way back when Ben was about 3 weeks old, our friend Kerinsa took some amazing pictures of him! We met her and her husband David at our church and have enjoyed getting to know them over the last 6 months or so. She also just happens to be an incredibly talented professional photographer. Ben didn't really cooperate with all the plans so much but the pictures are still awesome and so fun.

So if you need some pictures made, Kerinsa comes highly recommended!

kerinsamarie.com

Here's that cooperative spirit...

2 months!

2011-02-20T22:39:00.004-05:00

Today marks 2 months of life for Ben! We've got his 2 month check up on Friday so we'll post his stats then.

loaded up for church

hanging out looking cute

here's how he's measuring up at 2 months

we sure love this little boy!