SMC - A Classic Re-Envisioned

So, some of you regulars may have heard me taking about this game I'm helping out with called Secret Maryo Chronicles. Kind of a take off from the standard platform game, I really have enjoyed working on this project, both for the chance to play the game as to increase my skill level in design. It has been a blast getting to know these people, especially as many of them are international connections.



Take some time to check it out - available for free.

The Year of Ice

Many of you will have heard of the ice storm that blanketed the midwest and central plains with sheets of ice, causing downed trees and power lines and resulting in more than 500,000 people without power in Oklahoma alone. Now, if you've never really been in an ice storm, it's a little hard to imagine - Stacie never really seemed to think it was all that much when I would tell her about it. But I think now, she knows. And in much the same way as I went out to wander in the snowy winter wonderland that would occasionally occur in Provo, UT, she grabbed her camera and documented the storm for our little family.

We were awakened Monday (Dec. 10 - my birthday of all days) at around 4AM by Sammie's complaints. Turns out, she was getting cold cause the power had been knocked out and we have electric heat here. Stacie got her out of her "bed" and pulled her in with us. When I got up two hours later, this is what they looked like:



Outside things had gotten pretty bad. We ended up spending the next few days at Great-Grandma Gardner's house because at least she had a wood burning fireplace to keep us warm. And amazingly, during the whole time we were there, it never got very cold. That fireplace did a wonderful job of heating the front room where we pretty much lived for three days. We were fortunate as we had somewhere to go for warmth and our power in our apartment was on after three days. There are still some people in my group at work that are without power.

To get a feel for the ice storm through Stacie's camera, here's a little slide show for you to enjoy.



Or view the album here:

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More Journeys

The longer time goes, the more firsts we seem to hit as a brand new family. Like Sammie's first five states. I mean, I know I had the opportunity to go to the Four Corners area when I was young, and I know Stacie did as well, but at only 6 weeks old, Sammie surpassed both of us with her first five states visited. Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. Talk about a trip and an a half. And the most lovely thing about the whole trip was just how good a traveler our baby girl really is. Three days in a car seat and barely a teary eye the whole way. It was amazing to see just how she adapted to that sudden new stress and made it a pleasant experience for us and herself.

Now, I have to say that Stacie did a great job on the trip too. She was the one in back seat most of the time checking, feeding, changing, and entertaining baby girl. Troopers the both of them and I must say that if it ever comes time to do it again...I'll quit first. :)

Some highlights of the trip were our time in Blanding; Dove Creek, CO; and Albuquerque, NM. Visiting family and friends was a real treat and I know that for Stacie, it helped to make the move more bearable. But as many things as we saw, we really didn't take a lot of pics. So enjoy what's here for what it's worth.

Sammie - The Great Trek

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Journeys Two...House Hunting!

And here I thought I wouldn't have more to report except what we've already getting here, but it turns out that we actually have had an important step take place since last time. We're bidding on a house! I can't believe that on the first day of seeing houses we actually have a bid getting ready to go in. Okay, first things first.

On Wednesday, I started interviewing real estate agents to find one whose personality fit well with ours. Our first experience in Utah was not great and we were anxious to avoid a repeat of that affair, so we thought it would be a good idea to interview a little bit first. Well the first one out of the bag was the one we ended up taking - so impressive in fact that we decided to not interview any more. I know, it seems so weird to get all set up with names and cards and such to get all these options and we just liked her too much to really do any more interviewing. But it turned out to be such a great decision because we didn't waste any time in getting things going.

So today, we started looking. We got a small list together for our first day since we weren't sure how Sammie was going to like going in and out and in and out all day long.

The first set of homes where ones we had seen and decided that we would either bid on or eliminate from our list with one go. They were either going to work or they weren't. Well, of the first four, three weren't. So, we decided to try round two, another set of five. These ones were the brand new homes, all build within the last three years. And it was the last one of that set that we KNEW we would love to have. And so, here it is. The pics aren't great and we'll go by and see it again when Sammie isn't dying of hunger. The house is still being finished, so the carpet isn't in yet and there's a little bit more electrical work to be done, but other than that, WOW.

So here is the link to our online album. Enjoy!

New House

Some Peace and Quiet

Journeys take many forms over the course of life - spiritual, cultural, and sometimes physical. Journeys for us over the course of the last few weeks have included a couple of doosies. We've become parents, I've started a new career, Stacie has ended (or at least paused) her career, we've spent time in a place no parent ever wishes to go, and we made a 1,200 mile trek half way across the USA. It definitely seems to be a time of new journeys for us.

And now that I've got a little peace and quiet, I'd like to share some to share some of them.

Starting just days after Sammie entrance in this world (and what an entrance) our family got a little startled by her admission to the newborn ICU at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Problems with her O2 saturation clued the neonatal nurses on a difficulty with Sammie's breathing. From there she was whisked up one floor to the NICU and started on oxygen, an IV, and sensors galore.


A feeding tube was put down and that first night she fought the nurse for 10 minutes while he tried to get enough blood from a prick on her foot to do blood sugar test. Our nurse that night, Jeremy, was so helpful in helping us to understand and spent a lot of time explaining and reassuring us that everything was okay.

Over a few days of tests and trials, they finally determined that her low oxygen saturation was being caused by her holding her breath while experiencing reflux. So, after 10 days, we finally got to take her home, on oxygen and on a monitor.

In the end, our experience at the NICU was both painful and calming - painful having to leave your daughter at the hospital every night that you went home, not being able to take her with us; and calming because of all we learned while we were there. The nurses all did such a wonderful job of teaching us and helping us to be prepared for Sammie to come home. We had to take extra time to learn infant CPR and to review page by page the book they give to all new parents.

Plenty of opportunites to learn came after we got her home. While we had a chance to bathe her in the NICU, our first experience at home was a real treat, mostly because Sammie hated it. In the end, she didn't drown and she came out clean. She likes them a lot more now, probably cause we're doing a better job.

And the story will remain there for now. More to come with our next installment, which will definitely be faster than a month...I hope.

Well that explains the heartburn...

A reference by a friend on one of my 3D animation forums to an old wives' tale about heartburn and hair got me looking for more info. And wouldn't you know it? There IS a correlation between the severity of the heartburn and the amount of hair. Specifically they state in their conclusion:

Contrary to expectations, it appears that an association between heartburn severity during pregnancy and newborn hair does exist. We propose a shared biologic mechanism involving a dual role of pregnancy hormones in both the relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter and the modulation of fetal hair growth. (See Website)

That would explain the constant, intense heartburn Stacie had to deal with every night all through the night. Oh well...

Really though, I think we know where the hair really came from.

A Change of View

When I originally started playing with the idea of starting a blog, I originally thought it would become an outlet for ideas I have on technology and such. My personal interests as it were. But here, the first post is a post detailing the newest change in my life, and I must say, I'm glad of the change in focus.

A lot of new feelings have been floating around in me all day - the biggest being overwhelmed. Yet even for all the difficulties surround the initial labor and for the difficulties that have presented themselves at the end of the first day, I find that I am re-balancing. Life has become a constantly changing thing for me these last few weeks and now that the final (so far as we know) piece has fallen into place, I find everyday a new and scary effort in trying to find the right balance.

For everyone who has already experienced something similar, I await your treasured advice. This has been such an roller-coaster ride of emotions, but I'm happy to say that I will be sleeping very well tonight knowing that all that extra energy will go towards creating a life for the three of us. Next stop... who knows? I doubt children ever stop so there may be no more stops to come. ;)

THE Gardner Update

Here are some photos of our newest addition. This is our little Samantha, born at 5:24am on 10/19/2007. Lots of hair , which was no surprise to us considering the genes involved.


This first was taken only minutes after she came into the world while she was on the table being worked on by the NICU team while they were getting the tainted amniotic fluid out of her lungs and stomach. They were incredibly fast and efficient and were so kind as to let Dad stand in while they worked on her. That's my hand with my "space suit" overall sleeve showing. Thank goodness that's the most of that outfit that ever saw the camera lens.




Here is the first bath done during the check-in to the nursery. This is probably the maddest she has gotten yet, which is saying a lot since she's already had to deal with me changing her diapers and making a muck of everything.



It's all hairbows and pink from here on out. This is what happens when the neo-natal nurses in the nursery get the chance to actually play with hair on a newborn. At this point, the two most common comments upon seeing Samantha for the first time are: She is SO cute! Look at all that hair!

Apparently, hair quantity is directly proportional to cuteness.


This is one that I just had to put in for all who really know Stacie. At the time of the pic, she has been in her recovery room for 20 minutes, about an hour after surgery. She's had Samantha sitting next to her for 3min, and yet texting the news to the world was the thing that she felt needed doing at the time. Samantha honey, welcome to our world.