Love and Laughter - Part Two

Previously on Love and Laughter... Brett and Erin are in hiding for suspected involvement in a series of high profile bank robberies. Wait, that's not right, let's try that again... Brett and Erin were planning a wedding, yeah that sounds more like it. (P.S. This one's long too, you don't have to read it either.)

(Click here if you missed part one).

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I had proposed, she had accepted; the big question now was where to hold the wedding??? New Jersey reception hall? Too expensive. Giant slingshot? Too conspicuous. Enormous wooden horse? Too Greek! (At the risk of being accused of plagiarism by Hillary Clinton, my legal council tells me I must note here that those words were originally used in the movie Monsters Inc. and are not my own... sorry for the interruption). Then we decided on a park wedding, yeah that sounded nice. So we found a beautiful park, had everything arranged, rented all the equipment, even designed and built a cool little dance floor. Then the wonderful day came on which Erin would promise to forever be subject to my odd sense of humor and much-too-long blog posts... and it rained. No, it didn't rain, it poured. Buckets. And ladders. And other assorted items you might find in a tool shed. Needless to say, the park was off (and our poor little dance floor was completely ruined), though luckily we had arranged for a backup location for just such a situation (incidentally, our backup location was the LDS Morristown, NJ Stake Center, the same place where we had first met just over three months prior).



The wedding ended up going just fine, if not quite as planned. We exchanged vows to playfully pester each other for the rest of our lives, and had fun at the reception. In all honesty, the whole day was kind of a blur to me, only a few things really stick out to me looking back; first is how happy I was, no, not happy, elated. Second was how amazingly beautiful Erin looked, and third was how embarrassed we both were. Both Erin and I are quite a bit shy in large groups, and this large group of people had gathered that day specifically to focus on us... we couldn't wait to escape the spotlight. But it was still a lot of fun, and we loved having so many friends and family join us on that exciting day.


There we were, fourteen weeks after having met for the first time, married. Looking back we can't believe how crazy we were. In the moment we couldn't understand why our parents were freaking out (as supportive as they still were); but now we're surprised they didn't freak out even more... One thing we don't wonder though is whether we did the right thing, that's something I can confidently say has not crossed either of our minds (though I'm not sure how much longer I can keep Erin fooled into thinking I was a good catch).

For a few months things were calm as we got settled into our routine, we stayed home a lot, started going to bed at reasonable hours, generally just getting "old"... and then things started to pick up a little. In December we went down to Washington DC for our endowments, par for the course things didn't go entirely smoothly. There was some confusion since Erin and I were married, but not to be sealed for another six months. We finally got things figured out, but not until Erin had sat by herself waiting to come into the celestial room for a good 1/2 hour. Despite the confusion and uncertainty, we still enjoyed ourselves.


One year and six days after our rained-out wedding we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Boston Temple. This was a mostly "uneventful" day (excepting the obvious excitement of why we were there), there was a touch of rain, but only a minor sprinkling of nuts and bolts, nothing we couldn't handle. It actually worked out well, because the cloud cover provided for excellent lighting for our photographer's work.



We had family and friends together, we were more madly in love than ever, and we had made sacred covenants with each other and with God. We couldn't have been happier to be together on that day, especially knowing that in just about 6 months we would have a little bundle of joy joining what we had just made a forever family.

--- Commercial Break ---
Today's episode is brought to you by the letters "L" and "Q", by the number "6" (my favorite number), and by Orbit gum. Orbit gum is good, except for their new flavor "Maui Melon Mint", it's not very good, in fact when my friend tried it she promptly spit it back out, so try a different flavor instead.
--- Back To Our Program ---

So there we were, a forever family of 2 and 1/7th. It was time to celebrate. We had a huge trip planned for late-June, we started off with a honeymoon/1 year anniversary in Cozumel. We explored, we snorkeled, we swam, we relaxed, and we thoroughly enjoyed the all-inclusive food at the hotel. Erin isn't much for most Mexican foods, but she devoured the hotel nachos every chance she could. We're still not entirely sure if this was a special nacho recipe or a pregnancy craving, but either way we were in food heaven.

After Cozumel, we took the ferry and a shuttle up to Cancun where we spent several days with almost my entire family. That was an absolute blast. We went to see the ruins, swam in water holes, acted like crazy people Garners in the hotel pool, and just all-around had a great time. It was almost sad to have to finally leave Mexico, though the sadness didn't last long since we were headed back to the greatest country on earth and, more specifically, towards Orlando and a few days at Disney World with our best friends. At Disney World we just had fun, lots of fun. It was my first time there, and I definitely felt the magic making me a few years younger (though Erin will argue that it was less of a "transformation" and more of a freeing of my true self). Overall the entire trip was amazing, I think with only one thing we'd do differently next time, we wouldn't go on such an intense/hot vacation while Erin was pregnant... that part was a bit rough, but still a wonderful, wonderful trip.



The next several months included several smaller trips; we went up to Sleepy Hollow, I went on a youth trip to Palmyra (the first time since marriage that we'd been apart over night), and we spent Thanksgiving down in North Carolina. But really the vast majority of the second half of 2007 was spent getting ready for the new baby. We had extreme re-organizations of the apartment, we went to countless yard sales to pick up quality baby gear for dirt-cheap, and I constantly pestered Erin with bizarre suggestions for baby names (she was mistaken when she thought that the baby's arrival would put an end to the baby name suggestions, there's always the next one to think of).

Erin and I kept half-joking (okay, maybe one-third joking) that we wanted the baby to come just a tiny bit early so we could get a tax break, but Aeriana proved that she takes after her mom by being stubborn and coming late instead. At 41 weeks along, Erin was induced and our entire world changed. Definitely for the better. Aeriana Elizabeth has been an absolute joy to have in our home, even when she cries incessantly, or spits up on mommy's clean black shirt, or has really really stinky diapers... she's still a joy. It was difficult enough before to leave for work in the mornings rather than spending the day with Erin, but now with both Erin and Aeriana at home it's almost impossible to force myself out the door. Luckily we live close to my office so getting home early is never a problem, and coming home occasionally for lunch is also an option.



It really amazes me how much has happened over the past two years. I've gone from a geeky kid with no definitive long-term plan to an even geekier (if possible) husband and father. It's been two years today since it all started and it's been the best time of my life, so far. I look forward eagerly to the next couple of years, and hope that I can fully enjoy the time as it passes. I'm extremely grateful for all that I've had in my life, and especially grateful for those things that I have been blessed with over the past 24 months.

Erin, happy two years. I love you more than ever and am so excited to spend the next 2 years (times infinity) with you.

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I hope you've enjoyed this special broadcast as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Our regularly scheduled programming will be back on the air within the next day or two... we've got some adorable video we'll be posting. Aeriana is just getting so big and has been so much fun.

Labels: Erin, family, love, pictures, Temple

posted by Brett at 5:50 PM 8 Comments

Love and Laughter - Part One

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for a special announcement. We here at BEGarner Broadcasting are hereby initiating a 2-day special event chronicling the life and love of the Brett and Erin Garner family (so far, at least). This special broadcast is in celebration of the day they met and will end on the two-year anniversary of that wonderful evening (aka "tomorrow"). This broadcast, officially titled “Love and Laughter” (also known by its working title “What Was She Thinking?”), will outline, in sometimes painful detail, Brett and Erin’s life together, to date. Our regularly scheduled programming will recommence in approximately two-three days, as we wouldn’t want to deprive you of our main feature, and the real reason you tune in, for too long. We hope you enjoy this special feature. (P.S. This is long... really long... I won't feel bad if you don't read it.)

Love and Laughter - Part One:

Setting the Opening Scene: February 25, 2006 at the LDS Morristown, NJ Stake Center. The Young Single Adults group was holding a regional dance, a fairly regular occurrence. Unique for this fateful night were a couple of the attendees; first was the geeky guy with a laptop who’d been suckered into being the dj, second was the gorgeous redhead in the super-soft lightblue sweater who had been dragged to the event without foreknowledge that it was actually a dreaded dance.

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Erin and I briefly sat next to each other at the pre-dance dinner. As soon as Erin stepped away from the table I leaned over to a friend and demanded to know who this new girl was, and at the same time on the other side of the room Erin was asking another friend who I was (she apparently left either her glasses or her good sense at home that night). During the dance, we kept looking at each other, though I wisely refrained from actually talking to her… I had quickly learned that being a dj at a church dance meant suffering through endless complaints from those who’d put in absolutely no effort and yet still thought they could do a better job, so I was pretty grumpy and had I spoken up would have probably scared off this stunning picture of perfection (sometimes I astound myself with my impressive forethought… other times??? well, never mind).

Luckily my mood improved considerably after the dance; several of us stayed late to clean up and ended up turning the music back on and goofing off late into the night, finally giving me an opportunity to get a few words in (un-tainted by grumpiness) with this mysterious beauty. Desperate to spend even a few minutes more with Erin, I offered to treat her and a friend to a late-night snack at a local diner and afterwards, still unsatiated, I practically begged them both to stop by my apartment to watch a late-night very-early-morning movie. I’m not entirely sure what we watched (possibly The Count of Monte Cristo), but remember vividly the joy at cuddling up with this cutie and holding her hand (early in the movie she ended up falling asleep in my arms and it broke my heart to have to wake her up to send her home).

This started a pattern of spending every possible moment together. Despite our own "better judgment" (which by now had been unceremoniously thrown out the window), within days we had exchanged I love you’s and were discussing plans to get married. Our first official date occurred seven days after we met; knowing Erin’s love of theater and still desperate to impress, I surprised Erin with excellent seats at the musical production of Chicago on Broadway.



Fast forward 2 more weeks and I was dropped into what was probably the most terrifying event of my life… meeting Erin’s parents and asking her father’s permission to marry her. My psychological-survival reflex has mostly blocked this day from my memory, but I’m sure it went something like this: “Hello, Mr. Etter. It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name’s Brett and I’d like to marry your daughter.” … … [silence] … …

After a little while Erin returned and saved me from what might have been either (1) a quick, but undoubtedly painful death or (2) a complete mental breakdown due to being sucked into the black-hole of silence that filled the room. Eventually, several discussion filled hours later (“No we’re not going to move in together first…”, “Yes we’re sure…”, “NO! We’re DEFINITELY not pregnant!!!”), Erin’s parents gave their blessing (half-hearted though it may have been), and we kicked it into high gear getting ready for the wedding set a mere two months away.

Grand images of a beautiful wedding and reception filled our heads. It was decided that a civil wedding would be held on June 3rd so that Erin's family could be with us, and then we figured we'd get sealed in the temple later. But first there was the small matter of actually proposing to take care of.

Obviously Erin knew I was going to propose... there was no question of "if", only a question of "when". In a stroke of luck/brilliance I had her absolutely convinced that I was going to propose in early April, but I had different plans. My family was coming up from North Carolina to stay at my aunt's beach house on the Jersey Shore in late March and we were planning to go visit them for a couple days... this was my chance to surprise her. In league with my whole family I got everything set up. Under the pretense of showing Riley some stars, I set up my telescope on the roof of the beach house. Then after signaling Kariana and Riley, they headed back inside and I turned on the charm... or at least my best effort.

As a little background, Erin loves stars; really really loves stars. So I figured I'd incorporate that into my proposal. First came the ring. Without Erin knowing, I actually bought two rings, one for the setting she wanted and one with a special "White Star" diamond and combined the best of both into one, inadvertently loosing an unearthly creation that has threatened the very existence of the universe itself... okay, scratch that last part, I get carried away sometimes. Anyway, I had this "star" engagement ring for Erin and figured I'd supplement it with naming a star after her.

Up on the roof of the beach house, I pointed my telescope to her star, showed her the certificate for her star, dropped to one knee and I asked her to marry me. I was a bit nervous, and when she responded I actually thought she said "No". We just stared at each other for a second, me disbelieving what I was hearing, unable to process it; her not sure why I wasn't responding. (Erin will tell you that there's a pattern of me being a less-than-stellar listener starting here...) Finally we sorted out the fact that she did in fact want to marry me, and I was in fact quite happy about that. Then we headed back inside where my wonderful family had transformed the beach house into a candle-filled nest of romantical feelings, along with a bottle of sparkling apple cider. The next day Erin and I went out on the beach and took a whole slew of pictures that we used for our announcement.



To be continued...

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Don’t miss tomorrow’s exciting revelations! Do Brett and Erin really get married? Will Jacque finally confess that he’s Joshua’s murderer?? Will Isabella discover that Ethan is her real father and that Nicholas is a spy from the New Zealand government here to identify the thief of Isabella’s cousin’s half-brother’s illegitimate daughter’s candy necklace??? Tune in to find out on... “Love and Laughter”.

Today’s episode brought to you without commercial break by Dark Chocolate M&Ms. They’re good. Maybe too good. Except how can chocolate really be “too good”? Eat some today, or send some to Brett… that would be really nice of you.


Update: I posted this 10 minutes ago and then had Erin read it, she hadn't known I was writing this. Anyway, after reading it through and inserting the obligatory giggles at all the right places, she said "I'm so glad you're finally writing this down, we've been meaning to do this for so long." My response: "We have?" after which Erin tilts her head, looks at me quizzically, and responds "I've asked you several times to write this out so we don't forget the details..." And with that I point you once again to that pattern of stellar listening capabilities of mine. Absolutely stellar.

Labels: Erin, family, love, pictures

posted by Brett at 9:54 PM 4 Comments

Guitar SuperHero

Guitar Hero III is, in my humble opinion, the greatest game ever made. I was addicted almost as soon as I touched my first wii-guitar. At the time, Erin was violently pregnant, and though she tried the game, her belly proved too large an obstacle to overcome in order to actually correctly hold the guitar, and so it was impossible for her to enjoy the game.

Luckily in the past couple of weeks Erin has picked up the guitar and has since become addicted herself, though she still hasn't played nearly as much as I have. Last night we recorded each of us playing, and thought some of you might enjoy seeing the videos (granted, I figure the vast majority of you simply won't care, if you haven't played you might not understand the awesomeness that is Guitar Hero).

Here is the video where Erin plays The Metal on Easy, she got 5 stars, and considering she'd only played the song a few times before, it's obvious she's quite the natural.



Then, here is a video of me playing The Metal on Expert... I can only get about half-way through the song before the complicated note sequences get me booted off stage, but it's a fun first-half. (FYI - the first 60 seconds of this are Erin figuring out the video camera and me feeling awkward on camera... so feel free to skip that part).



Finally, here is a video of me playing Knights of Cydonia on Hard. This song is super intense and my arm gets tired half-way through, but luckily I'm able to finish the song. This one is pretty long so you might not want to try to watch the full 6+ minutes.

Labels: Erin, music, video

posted by Brett at 2:12 PM 5 Comments

The Chronicles of The Chunkster - Part 2

We'll go chronologically since there've been a few fun things...

We had a fun Valentine's Day, I got Erin a quad-frame of pictures from our sealing that's currently on our wall; Erin got me some really nice cufflinks and a really cute frame with a picture of Aeriana and her footprints that's on a shelf at work. We didn't really have anything planned for that night and ended up getting invited over to the McBrides' to hang out. Nayana and Nikki had a blast holding Aeriana (especially Nayana, she was in heaven being able to hold and feed a real baby).





The next day Chad came into town, he was in NYC for a conference and flew in a day early to get some Aerie-time. (I've decided that I like "Aerie" as a nickname... we'll see if it sticks). We loved having him here, and he was wonderful with her, as he usually is with all kids.





After all that action, Aeriana was a bit tired...



That brings us pretty much up to date... as of yesterday Aeriana had a few milestones. First, she's starting to realize just how weird her dad is (note the oh-so appropriate shirt).



She also earned the right to retain her title of "Chunkster", she had her one month check-up yesterday afternoon and she now weighs 10 lbs. 6 oz., a full 3 lbs. heavier than her birth weight just over a month ago. Needless to say, the doctor said we have to feed her less from now on before she becomes an all-consuming Godzilla-baby who wreaks havoc on small fishing villages in her spare time.

Aeriana's response to the allegations of her plot to take over the world? "You caught me, I surrender!!!"



After having her hopes and dreams of world domination crushed, Aeriana felt it was time for a nap or two. She sure does love to nap, especially when she gets to cuddle while she sleeps, whether it be cuddling in daddy's arms...



...or snuggling up with mommy.

Labels: Aeriana, Erin, family, pictures

posted by Brett at 12:02 PM 9 Comments

Martian Child...

My daughter is an alien... at least that's the best explanation as to how she can be so "other-worldly" cute.

Okay, seriously though we just finished watching a movie called "Martian Child". Really, really, really, really good (really). I had never heard of it, but gave it a shot because it stars John Cusack, who's one of my favorite actors. Well, it surprised Erin and me quite a bit. It's the story about a guy who adopts a kid, and this kid thinks he's from Mars... I guess I'd classify it as a comedy because we laughed a lot, but it was also very thought provoking and dare I say, endearing. Anyway, check it out if you get a chance, it just recently came out on DVD (this week I think).

And while I'm at it, I might as well post a picture of my "other-worldly" cute baby girl.

Labels: Aeriana, movies, pictures

posted by Brett at 9:25 PM 4 Comments

It's Bathtime!!!

"I get pretty stinky sometimes... mommy says it's time for a bath."


"Sometimes I like my bath, sometimes I definitely don't."


"I glare at daddy when he jokes that I look kinda like a grumpy fat old man."


"Thanks for warming me up mommy... I'm all clean (for now, hehe)."

Labels: Aeriana, Erin, family, pictures

posted by Brett at 7:15 AM 4 Comments

Time to Compare...

Today marked three full weeks of Aeriana-goodness in the Garner home. When I got home from work the three of us grabbed our gear and went for a short walk to take advantage of the bizarrely warm weather. As we were getting the stroller out and Aeriana strapped into her seat we realized that she was wearing the same outfit she came home in three weeks ago... of course this proved the perfect opportunity for comparison photos.


Three Weeks Ago


Today



Three Weeks Ago


Today


It's scary how fast she's grown...

Labels: Aeriana, family, pictures

posted by Brett at 9:18 PM 4 Comments

Mmmm, Steak!!!

Saturday night we went out on a date, the week prior Erin's mom had babysat while we grabbed a quick bite, but Saturday with no one around Aeriana became the third wheel... which was really okay with us.

We were torn about where to go out to dinner, until we thought "Mmmm, steak!!!" And so Outback became the first restaurant Aeriana patronized.


Erin looked as beautiful as ever, and boy was she excited about that 8 oz filet.


I was as usual the quintessential gentleman caveman.


Aeriana loved Outback, she was thrilled that they had the same motto as she does.

Labels: Aeriana, Erin, family, food, pictures

posted by Brett at 9:03 PM 3 Comments

President Hinckley

The passing of our prophet and president of the church has weighed on my mind this week, as I'm sure it has countless others. What sorrow to think that we will no more have the privilege of listening to his council at General Conference, but how happy to think that his pain and discomfort is over, and that he is finally reunited with his wife that he missed so much.

My friend Sariah posted some tribute videos that I enjoyed. Here are my two favorite, if you'd like to see the other two she posted check out her blog under the "Sariah and Ryan" link to the right.

Labels: religion, video

posted by Brett at 12:49 PM 2 Comments

The Chunkster

16 days ago when Aeriana was born, she weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. Five days later she had regained her birth weight and was up an ounce. Today she had another weigh-in and boy were we shocked... she's up to 8 lbs. 9 oz. That's a strong 16% weight increase in just about 2 weeks, not bad. The way I see it, if I gained 16% in two weeks I'd be... well, I'd be big.

In other news, Aeriana's neck is certainly getting strong, she loves lifting her head up, and sometimes when she's doing it her head will bounce up and down a little bit so that it looks like she's nodding her head "yes". I generally take this opportunity to claim that she's agreeing with whatever ridiculous notion I'm currently trying to pass of as fact to Erin (and hey, that makes it two against one, majority rules!!!). Aeriana is still sleeping quite well and we've actually started to supplement her feedings with formula at night. She seems to like it just fine, I enjoy being able to spend that time with Aeriana, and well, Erin enjoys not having to get up in the middle of the night. Life is good.

We've also added more pictures to our Flickr account. Here are the highlights.

Labels: Aeriana, baby, Erin, family, pictures

posted by Brett at 7:12 PM 3 Comments