NEW WEBSITE

http://greatgardieffadventure.weebly.com/ Its still under construction but I want everyone to have the link in preparation and to be able to change your bookmarks accordingly.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day are you ready? I think we are. As a reminder photos/videos will be presented on the new website that I will post once the photos are up and the website is ready for its debut. Stay tuned, if you want pictures right away make sure I have your email at agardieff@gmail.com

Hiatus (UPDATED)

Just a heads up that the blog site will be down for a short bit as we are nearing Michael's birth. I'll be back next week with a whole new website. I'm moving the site from this one which is blog based to a full website, since it has grown into more than a blog. The benefits will be a better format to present multimedia and allow easier location of the information you would like to see. I'll post the link to the new site as soon as it is ready, make sure to check back to get the new site information, as that will be one of the first places to see pictures of Michael.

Mardi Gras

     Last night I went with my dad out to Universal Orlando for the 2011 Mardi Gras event and watched the parade. Unfortunately our viewing area was extremely close to where the parade floats would pass by in front of us resulting in any video shot being of extreme close-ups of the floats and performers, not giving me many shots of full floats or full body performers. However I did try to piece together what little I had into a short collage to share the experience with everyone. The plan is to go back at a later date and re-shoot from a farther vantage point and use both the parade shoots to create one video down the road. The day was good I had arrived at the park early to do some still photography of the 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter' only to find out that the parks were carrying a heavy capacity which did not work in my favor resulting in few to no photos. I met my dad in the afternoon and we just walked and talked trying to pass the time till the Mardi Gras festivities started. The only food we sampled was the Gumbo and it was decent, the parade is very similar to last years. They spruced up and altered a couple floats, but, still a good length and with lots a stilt walkers.
     While I was over at the studios, Julie stayed home to catch up on tv and started washing all our baby things. Hard to think 9 months has already come and gone and that this will be the last week before things get crazy around the house.  Are you ready? That seems to be the question I get from everyone at work and my response has to be yes, sure of course we could be alittle more prepared or organized. I think that with our family and friend support we have been able to better prepare ourselves for whats about to happen in our lives. Me, personally I feel I am ready, if I'm not ready by now then I'll never be. I've had the last 9 months to evaluate and analyze how things will be impacted and how to adapt to our growing family. As the countdown is coming to the last few days, I'll be sure to let everyone in on any developing details.

Meet The Gardieff Girls

Here's a video I made while practicing video editing again. I only had a bout four old clips of the cats to work with, but it let me do some practicing which was nice to do outside of a show or a parade.

Video Skill Training

Since it's kinda been slow on updates I figured I would share a little bit of what I've been working on as far as editing movies I had taken a while ago. These are two videos I had edited and uploaded today, one is Shamu Rocks from a few years ago and the other is the more recent Celebrate A Dream Come True from the Magic Kingdom, sorry for the quality it's an older camcorder but it's better than nothing until I can one day afford a new one.

Change It Up

Last night my parents came over and brought with them a new gift, the changing table, that goes along with our crib. This morning I went and got it put together and moved into position in Michael's room. Like the crib the table actually went together rather easily and didn't really encounter and problems in the building of it. Room is definitely looking like a baby's room now.

I know alot of people have been asking for photos of the room, it still is a disaster zone, with just getting all the furniture we have only just now been able to start putting away and organzing all his little belongings. This is what the room looks like currently. Its probably gonna come down to the wire but, I think we'll be set and ready for when he actually decides to show up.





Dresser Monday

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting on the GE Appliance tech once again. This be their fourth visit out here, three visits and a Better Business Bureau letter and maybe this time they might actually fix it. Of course you get a window of 8am-12pm and of course the routine phone call of running late and that whole morning you wait and now are like I could of done so much more instead of waiting for a guy running late. The one time I would of done something else and I would bet he would be knocking right after I left the house. While I sat around waiting I put together the dresser for Michael's room that we bought at Ikea last night. Dressers....my least favorite of all furniture to put together, very repetitious putting the drawers together and just seems like you do the same thing again and again. It's the Malm 4-drawer chest from IKEA with Birch coloring.Went together fairly easily as most of IKEA's products do, did have a couple issues decoding a couple of the installation photos but after studying the pieces was able to figure out what to do, of course when you have a cat (Roxy) for a foreman constantly walking through the construction site examining everything, it makes it a little more difficult.

Back from a long day

Just got back from a long day out and about. Started with us leaving about noon and going down to CiCi's on 192 for pizza which actually ended up more as an all you can eat cheesy bread lunch. After that it was down to the Premium Outlets on International Drive where an upfront parking spot we knew would mean we wouldn't find anything and we didn't, Disney outlet is always hit or miss, sadly this time it was a miss. We walked around there for a little bit and then headed over to Ikea for our main mission of going out today and that was to get a dresser for the baby's room. Like most times when we go to Ikea with an idea in our head we ended up changing our buying plans after thinking and looking over all the choices again. We got a Malm four drawer dresser, we originally had plans to by the six drawer but after looking at in and thinking about it decided it would be too tall for what we were going for and decided on the three drawer of course which they were out of leading us to our final purchase the four drawer. Now the big thing is to get the room cleared out so I can have room in there to work and get it put together, that way we can get started on organizing and sorting things out in there. Anyone watching the Academy Awards tonight? We will of course be watching them me more for the actual awards, Julie I feel may get more entertainment out of watching what everyone is wearing.

Born to travel

     I just finished putting the baby car seat into the car and it was not as bad as I thought it would be to put in. I don't know if it was just our brand or if they are all as easy as this one was to put it, it was pretty simple level out the different level bubbles and pull the strap through, lock it off and pull tight. As much as I feel confident in my own work I am still going to run it by the local fire station and have it checked by a professional. I don't think it's quite hit me yet on having it in my car, but after driving around with it in my car today I'm wondering if it will hit me, that thought of holy cow shortly I'll have a little one riding back there. I'm hoping it will pay off installing it early and being able to break it in and practice utilizing it and also remembering "Hey, you can't just get out and go shopping, get the baby". It's also nice that our carrier is not just our baby seat, its also our stroller and that sure makes it easier and simpler, well at least on paper it looks simpler. I'm definitely jealous of him already we get to drive he gets a nice comfy cozy ride.

Pack'N'Play

     Yesterday we received from Babies "R" Us our Pack'N'Play, which we decided on for a base of operations for the baby in our upstairs master bedroom. When I got home from work I figured I would put it together and we could see if in deed it would work for what we were expecting for it to. Lets just say some assembly was required shall we...well, the main portion the play yard was easy enough unfold it and there you go, now the extras like the bassinet and the changing station well they weren't so easy. The bassinet after decoding the instruction pictures did go together relatively peacefully, but, that changing station was another thing. Having to put bent poles through a pulled tight straightaway and then to find you slid them in backwards is not a fun thing to have to go through, in the end though it did get put together. I'm sure before Michael takes up residency in it, I wouldn't be surprised to see a cat (Roxy) taking up temporary lodgings in it. We "played" out pretending he was in the crib and seeing how easy it would be to move him from the bassinet area to the changing table and vice-versa and checking the integrity of the unit for anything that might be unsafe and I think we are confident this will be his first main sleeping quarters. It's hard to see from the photos that will be following this text, but, there are Mickey danglers about the bassinet and Mickey's on the padding. Take a good look cause i'm sure in a month from now it's not gonna look as clean and pretty or as empty :).

Blog Site New Direction

I'm going to be over the next week or so gearing the blog toward a new direction, away from just about the baby to include more of the three of us as a family, i'd appreciate any comments or ideas you have that you would like to see executed on the website. My goal is to be able to update it on a semi-daily basis so everyone can be in the loop and be apart of our lives. I'll also be working out a system to better post and share photos with everyone out here.

Doctor Visit Update

Sorry for the lateness of getting this posted on here, been a crazy week. This past Thursday the 24th Julie had yet another doctors appointment. Now they are getting a little more into "examining" her, she has not started dialating, well she wasn't then, who know now. The decision has been made that the birth will be induced on March 14th, so most likely we are thinking he'll be here on the 15th. Baby weighed in at 6lbs 9oz.. Today (Yesterday at the the time writing this), we got the pack'n'play delivered, and after getting home from work set it up in our bedroom and I'll be posting pictures of it shortly online along with pictures of several others of gifts we've received. Take care everyone and I'll be posting pictures like I said in the next day or so and hopefully be writing out here on a more daily basis. If anyone would like to leave a comment to this article I'd love to see comments on what you think his actual weight will be.

Thank You

     I wanted to come on and thank everyone that attended the baby shower, those that couldn't make it but sent their love and to the two guys that hung out with me upstairs. We are in the final month now so things may be quiet or could get very crazy quickly. Michael's Room now that it was unveiled at the shower will be going away and start turning into his own page, where stats, photos, and stories of our son will be posted. The main page will continue to update you on the latest news and also stories related to the two of us or the family in general.

Saturday Night

Incase you missed it, this Satuday 02/19/2011 is the place to be. It's baby shower night and we're featuring a new concept dual party design.

Pooh's Baby Shower Celebration - Join in the big celebration for baby Michael on the porch.

Featuring desserts and wine.

For details please email jeweles018@aol.com

Car's 9 Month Race To The Hospital - Come upstairs to the deck for one last pitstop before the final month. Featuring drinks and snacks to help you refuel.

For details please email agardieff@gmail.com 

All the fun begins at 6:30pm

For gift registration please see registry lists at

Target - http://www.target.com/

Babies R Us - http://www.babiesrus.com/

Newest Photos

Well, it's been a few weeks since we actualy had photos from the doctors to take home, but, here they are the new ones. Everything is going fine with baby and mommy.

Vero Beach Trip Photo Report



 Our Welcome Critter



View From Room

Another Room View

Dinner at Shutter's

Alex's Selection

Julie's Selection

Saturday's lunch. Alex had a Cuban, Julie had a Grilled Cheese in a pail

Beach Goofy

Beach Donald

Resort from beach



Henry

Update

     Some have wondered where all the updates have been, its been a little crazy around here, but, have no fear new updates are soon to be on the way. Julie and I will be spending the weekend at Disney's Vero Beach Resort and I plan to have a nice little review of our experiences there, also I got some yellow up on the doors in Michael's Room and will be updating that page with pictures shortly. Most of the work is completed in the room, its coming down to just doing alot of the little touch-ups here and there.
     For those wondering and may did not hear by now, Julie did pass her three-hour glucose test from last weekend with flying colors. Unfortunatly, the last two doctor visits we haven't left with any photos to update everyone with on him. Mom and baby are both doing fine (except mommy's feet are swelling and none to happy about it). As of today we have 37 days till the expected due date and boy are those days going by quickly now, even though we may not have everything ready yet, we do anticipate having everything ready for him in the next couple weeks and can't wait to welcome him home.
     We do have our baby shower coming up next weekend, Saturday the 19th at 6:30pm. If you would like to attend please RSVP ASAP to Juliet Carroll @ Jeweles018@aol.com. If anyone needs directions or have questions feel free to email her or myself @ agardieff@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing everyone.
     If you were following my other blog I have moved it to a new hosting company it can now be found at http://theanimatedworld.weebly.com/.


     We did have some technical issues with our Target registry with some having problems searching and pulling up our list. I have been assured by Target that it has been resolved and should be working fine now and I haven't heard of any problems accessing the Babies 'R Us registry. If you do encounter any problems with the registries please email me so I can make sure to address the situation promptly.

Thank You Friends & Family and I'll be back on Monday

Meeting the Mice

We went to Magic Kingdom the other day and luckily got a picture with both Mickey and Minnie at the same time. Minnie was very impressed with my Mickey video game shirt and actually did a Mario Bros. 1up jump which was fun and both were giving baby some love.

Brief Update

     Yesterday was another one of Julie's weekly appointments, sorry no pictures this time. We do have an update on the weight and Mikey is now at 4lbs. 5 oz.

....And Action (A Day at the Studios)

Today we went to Disney for the day. Started off at the All-Star Movies for lunch and then over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We went to the Magic of Disney Animation and walked around and looked at the art and tried our hand at the Animation Gallery where we learned to draw Dopey. See photo's below, and then we saw the new parade and took pictures with a couple characters. Sorry for photo qualities will try better next time after all it was my first flight (Congrats to those who made that connection).

Changes happening around apartment

Today I was off and did some work around the house here some photos and on Michaels Room page the video is updated.

New Couch, New Bookcase, and New Shelf

New Ikea Shelf, not the really close hidden mickey by bracket

Posters going up stairs

Painting Update

     Today hit a milestone on the painting of Michael's room. 95% of the walls are painted, I just have some left around the ceiling, bottom and window left to do. The roller is put away its all brush work from here on out. We'll be picking up the border paint tonight hopefully and will be ready to start that the first chance I get. The page was updated with a new video and some new photos.

New Ultrasounds

Many of you probably didn't know that yesterday was another appointment for Julie. All is progressing well with the baby. He is at 3lbs. 6oz. which the doctor said is average at this time during the pregnancy. Julie did get bad news that she failed her 1 hour glucose test and must now take the 3 hour glucose test. She didn't miss it by much, the doctor said a year ago she would of passed but now they made the cut-off score even lower. So wish her luck and here's hoping she passes that test. We are now moving into the time frame where she will be going once a week for an ultrasound and non-stress ekg test. I'll keep you posted.



Feet



Registry Update

I've had several people ask me about registries, we are registered at Babies R Us and Target. Anyone experiencing any problems accessing the registries or anything please let me know so I can clarify or fix anything that needs to be done. We are also planning to do some updating and adding to our list on Monday at Babies R Us. I also know some have expressed interest on what clothing we have already gotten so they don't purchase the same thing twice. I am currently working on photographing and getting ready to put online a listing of what we have already been getting for gifts coming it.

Painting Update

     Yesterday started as a pretty ugly day here, grey skies and rain. Somehow the sun and blue skies decided to shine through, I took advantage of the window of good weather and painted the wall 2 in the babies room. It's the largest wall in the room and it was a bear to paint. After rolling so long and brushing above your head, boy do your arms get tired and sore quickly. Schedule right now involves 3 more days of wall work and 2 days of border work. There's an updated video and a new photo should be up shortly. We had some technical difficulties with our internet the last couple days so I'm a little behind getting everything online and up to speed.