The Boster Family

lately I am loving

2011-12-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

THIS amazing guy.

THIS four-year-old.

THIS cute girl.

THIS moby wrap (but especially the girl in it).

THIS song.

and the fact that we are going to Utah in SEVEN DAYS!!!

Lucky

2011-12-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

What a lucky girl I am to get to see these two adorable faces every day!! Ahh, I love being a mommy :)

I want pie.

2011-11-28T23:54:00.002-07:00

Today was one of those slap-you-back-to-reality-after-Thanksgiving-break kind of days.

Pumpkin pie withdrawals abound.

Trying to convince my son that we can't lie around watching Christmas movies all day was almost as hard as convincing mySELF to not stay in my pajamas and lie around watching Christmas movies all day.

My piano student arrives while my baby is napping and son is in "quiet time." Her lesson ends with Little Miss in my arms, barely holding back the tears, and Big Brother (having just slid down the long staircase on top of a slippery sleeping bag) snuggling in his sleeping bag in the doorway while snoring loud, pretend snores during my student's rendition of "Silent Night."

Little Miss must be held at all times, making getting things done quite tricky. (Wait, I'm supposed to actually get things done again? I want to just laze around and flip through Netflix while eating pumpkin
pie.)

Husband returns home after school and practically falls asleep at the dinner table.

Later my house is still, everyone is asleep, and I am about to climb into bed, when I realize that I never even completed the first thing on my to-do list today (Sad, right? I did do some other things, I swear!). I take about a minute and clean the toilet, then hop back into bed and check it off my list.

Whew, I'm ready for Christmas break already!

sometimes I miss living in the dorms...

2011-11-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

I was just remembering these great videos my brother made at BYU, and missing him as he is a missionary for the Mormon Church in Oaxaca, Mexico. Although I don't get the inside jokes in the video, it is totally reminiscent of living in the dorms at BYU - so you gotta love it! Enjoy!

oh and p.s. my brother is the awesome one playing the piano/singing. Miss him!!

Sibling Love

2011-11-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

It doesn't get much better than this.

jeans on

2011-11-04T12:56:00.000-06:00

It must be documented that little Ella Bay wore her first jeans today. Because of the "cold" Texas weather (ha), I decided to break out some clothes I bought for her to wear in Utah at Christmas time.

I think we may freeze when we get to Utah...

Oh but look how cute she is.

Choices

2011-11-04T01:59:00.000-06:00

Today as I stood in my messy kitchen cooking dinner, mind rushing from task to task - things to check off, lessons to prepare, housework to be done - I saw my sweet boy playing on the rug, rolling silly putty into a looong snake, and my baby girl swinging in her swing, eyes big and taking in her world around her. I decided that these two little people were much more important than any dish I could wash or table I could set or piano student I could prep for. I hurriedly plopped the potatoes into the boiling water and picked up my girl. We had a nice cuddle. I visited with my three-year-old. We listened to music and sang along. We quickly cleared an end on our cluttered table, and served up our chicken and potatoes in bowls (nothing fancy tonight). We talked about things that make us happy. We ate all our dinner without a hint of whining. I sat on the bedroom floor with my two little pajamaed buddies and played two rounds of "Hi Ho Cherry-O" (I lost both times). Room cleaned, prayer said, book read, baby fed, both kids quiet in their beds. I tiptoed back down the stairs. I smiled at the mess, grateful that I let it be so I could spend a perfect evening with my children.

my life

2011-10-17T09:55:00.000-06:00

Life with two young children is a beautiful mixture of sweet, heavenly times and hard, frustrating, pull-your-hair-out times. The hard times keep you humble and the sweet ones keep you from going absolutely crazy.

Our sweet girl cuddles up against me and falls asleep, sighing sweetly. I should put her down but I just can't.

At the end of a long day, I try to tackle a few things around the house (like that huge mound of dishes in the sink) so I put her down in her swing; immediately she cries hysterically. I sigh and pick up my mama's girl and she just grins.

Teaching my three-year-old patience is seriously testing my own.

Without fail, he always needs something while I am trying to feed Ella. Getting him to wait patiently is almost impossible.

My son dumps a whole bowl of sugar in my lemon butter cookie dough.

He locks his bedroom door and shuts it from the outside.

From his mouth is a constant stream of "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?" and "Why? Why? Why?"

He warms my heart with questions like, "How did Jesus make Texas?"

He gives me the best hugs.

My son sweetly talks to my baby daughter and kisses her head.

My sweet Ella smiles and smiles at me and “talks” away. She has so much to say. I wonder what she could tell us if we could understand her?

There is a “Rrrrrip, rrrrip” sound coming from the piano room. There are strips of coloring book pages all over the rug.

A three-hole-punch is opened and its full contents of little paper circles are emptied all over the floor.

He rips a page right out of a library book (but could that be our fault from quoting that line from the movie “Up?”)

As my son takes his bath we sing songs and play. He smells so good and looks so nice after his bath, I just want to hug him.

We drive to dinner at the home of some friends’. I have two plates of cookies in hand that start sliding around as Daddy turns sharp corners (we are a little late, as is common with two young kids). I express my concern over his driving. James, who tends to stand up for his mommy, worriedly and frantically yells at his Daddy for the rest of the drive to be careful of the cookies! We try not to laugh.

Nightly dinner-time battles with our picky eater leave us frazzled and exhausted. Especially when we are guests for dinner at the home of friends, and James whines throughout the meal.

Nightly bedtime prayers and scriptures recited by our little boy leave us grateful and humbled.

You can only hear “but Mommy…” so many times before you lose your cool.

Sometimes I need a time-out more than my son does. And sometimes I take one. Quiet time is also a must.

Constant needs, incessant whining, never-ending messes abound.

Cute faces, sweet smiles, simple prayers, loving siblings, good boy, adorable girl, happy home. It’s all worth it.

Heritage

2011-10-13T02:24:00.000-06:00

I awake in the middle of the night to feed my baby daughter. These 3 am feedings can be harsh on a tired mommy. As I feed my sweet Ella I turn on my iPod to stay awake, and I read family letters from my parents - old letters from their law school days when I was just a baby, and emails sent today from across the world in Siberia.

I can't put these old letters down, identifying with my parents as they happily struggle through school with a young family, raising little ones, couponing, serving in the Church, facing the future with faith, relying on each other, Dad studying away while Mom took care of everyone. Food on the table, house cleaned, children taught, husband happy. Can I be a wife and mother as she was? We are in their shoes. I can't stop the smiles as I realize that I, once that chubby little girl with cereal on her head who wouldn't say a word, am now the mother - feeding, teaching, raising, quizzing my husband before exams, shopping on a tight budget, taking care of it all. I wonder if I can do it all as well as she did.

And I read their letters now - devour them, really - blinking back my tears as they step out of their comfortable world, out of the life they have always known, into the vast and cold land of Siberia, to serve the Russian people - preaching amazing sermons in halting Russian, visiting tiny congregations in ancient Russian cities, sleeping on Arctic trains, bringing the Gospel to sweet people in old Soviet apartment buildings, bidding farewell to tiny congregations of Saints who, with tears in their eyes, thank them for coming and visiting them in distant cities. Teaching, serving, building, testifying, parenting and grandparenting from afar, doing the work of our Savior across many miles of Siberia, sharing His love and His message and His work.

I now run to my son's bedside as he awakes from a nightmare with a fright. I hold him and utter a quick prayer to put his mind at ease. My tiny baby daughter sleeps in her bassinet at my bedside, full and content. My husband in the bed next to me sleeps, probably dreaming of optometric terminology in anticipation of his exam tomorrow. As I am about to close my eyes for some much-needed sleep, I at once feel gratitude for my blessings, for the examples of my noble parents, and for this season of life I am in just as they once were, despite all the sleepless nights, long days, tiny bank accounts, dishes and laundry piled high, children needing me every moment.

Life is wonderful. And I am grateful.

I love my kiddos

2011-10-03T21:52:00.000-06:00

cuteness.

2011-09-26T19:53:00.000-06:00

I just had to get that nasty picture of the lizard off of the top of my blog. And replace it with some cuteness. I am trying to get caught up on my photo editing - here's some of my favs of today.

So this one time last week...

2011-08-21T20:30:00.000-06:00

...I was cleaning up our piano room and James had left a bunch of paper and crayons and tape (his favorite things to play with!) on the floor. I was in a hurry so I grabbed the stuff and started putting it into a box full of craft supplies in the closet. Well, the masking tape had a big piece of tape hanging from it that had not been ripped off. I grabbed the whole thing and shoved it in this box. Just as I put it in the box I realized there was something stuck to the end, and that I had grabbed it.....and that it was a LIZARD!!! I was so creeped out that I started screaming and ran away and washed my hands like fourteen times. And then used hand sanitizer. Jonathan got the tape out and discovered that the little guy was still breathing! I'm still a little creeped out just looking at these pictures...

"Tour-quaise"

2011-08-21T20:23:00.001-06:00

James is way into art lately. He just LOVES drawing and coloring, especially with markers. (Unfortunately he still has the occasional habit of drawing on his body.....hmm, we're working on that...).

He loves to find cool things to color on, his favorite being envelopes. The other day he asked me if he could color on a box, and I told him to go for it. Best activity ever - he worked on this baby for a couple of hours and covered almost the entire surface with marker. It was pretty cute, and honestly pretty nice, because it kept him so busy!

He did the same thing yesterday on an entire page of a notebook. He used one of his very favorite colors as of late - "tourquaise." He covered the entire sheet with a turquoise marker and was so proud of himself! Cute kid :)

A few more cute pictures

2011-08-21T20:15:00.000-06:00

My handsome husband and adorable daughter. She's got him wrapped around her little finger already...

Love :)

Mother/daughter matching outfits! I actually didn't plan this, it just sort of happened...

Gotta love the pants!

My cute happy girl

Pretty Ella Bay

2011-08-21T19:50:00.000-06:00

the cuteness continues...

2011-08-21T19:27:00.000-06:00

I can't get enough of this cute girl.

For posterity's sake, our calendar of the weeks leading up to Ella's due date!

Sad but still cute. I just love this skirt on her.

Our first day out and about after her birth - I am feeling like a real person again!

I love my kids!

I love this picture. So happy to be a mama!

Ok I know I am biased....but could a baby be any cuter??

Peekaboo!

Getting ready for her first real bath

Bath time! Big brother was a big helper.

Love this :)

Me and my kiddos

James seems SO BIG to us now! He's a great big brother

Our pretty girl

2011-08-21T19:17:00.000-06:00

So, this was an outfit of mine when I was a baby. I had a portrait taken of me in it when I was just a few days old! Ella had just about had enough photos by this time...(do ya blame her?)

Ella and her big brother

Photo Catch-Up: Ella's first week

2011-08-21T18:56:00.000-06:00

Just home from the hospital! Ella got to meet her Nana right away - her flight got here about 30 minutes after we got home! We loved having Nana here for a whole week!

The proud grandma :)

Oh, and these are just tons and tons of cute pictures of our Ella...

Daddy didn't waste too much time before giving Ella her very first eye exam (of many, I'm sure) - she, of course, was thrilled

Love the little hands!

Boster singing genes, anyone?

Daddy and James took Nana to the Alamo while she was here

And the Riverwalk, of course!

Ella meeting our sweet next-door neighbor, Ana

Daddy looking good surrounded by pink things!

So sleepy. We took shifts with the baby so we could all get SOME sleep :)

James loves his Nana!

Daddy reading to his kids!

It's always nice when you have a cute little baby asleep on your shoulder.

James sure loved having his Nana here!! They hammed it up for the camera together.

Ella and her Nana

Nothing like a cute baby sleeping

Photo Catch-Up: At the hospital

2011-08-21T17:38:00.000-06:00

I just can't go on until I catch up on posting all of my cute pictures of Ella :)

But first, some of my belly! I think these were taken the day before she was born (or maybe two days before) - so at 40 weeks!

I was pretty ready to have a baby...

At the hospital!

First pictures of our sweet girl. So hard to narrow them down to just a few, her little face is so precious and new! Nice to meet you, sweet little stranger!

Getting all weighed

Our family of four!

Big Brother James meets his sister

Getting to know our Ella Bay

Going out

2011-08-19T17:21:00.000-06:00

Today I successfully got both kids ready and took them out all by myself...I think I feel like a real woman now! :) Ella had a weigh-in at the pediatrician's office, and gained ten ounces in one week. Way to go, Ella Bay! Here she is in her car seat all ready to go:

Eyes

2011-08-19T17:12:00.000-06:00

I love it when our sweet little girl opens her eyes and looks all around at her world. And let me tell you, there's nothing quite as impossible as sleeping at 3 in the morning (no matter how sleep-deprived I may be) when these cute little eyes are staring up at me. Now to work on getting those days and nights straightened out...

Bapa

2011-08-19T16:43:00.000-06:00

James: "Does Bapa wear a pen like this?"

Me: "I don't know, let's ask him!"

...email photo to Russia...

...and sure enough:

I am so grateful for technology that can keep us so in touch with my parents all the way in Siberia! They are such wonderful grandparents and wonderful people. My kids are lucky :)

Little Star

2011-08-08T19:34:00.000-06:00

My Dad wrote this sweet poem for Ella on the day she was born. This will definitely be something for her to treasure. My dear parents left three days after Ella's birth to begin their three-year mission in Russia. I am so thankful for my parents and for the sacrifices they are making to serve a mission. What a great example for my kids!

Ella means "torch" or "bright light" in Greek.

Little Star

Little star, rise and shine,
Planet, let the Light Divine
Reflect upon that face of thine,
And shine for us tonight!

In the darkness, whitest flower,
Little maid of morning hour,
Be to us a beacon tower
Of the Holy Light!

Ever cast thy steady ray,
To us who wander far away,
Guide us 'til the break of day,
And lead us home alright!

And be to those who stand apart,
Without a compass or a chart
A daystar rising in the heart
A sure and constant light!

So come into our safe embrace,
And cast the light of Heavenly Grace
Upon us from thine infant face,
And shine for us tonight!

By Daniel Bay Gibbons
For Ella
July 31, 2011

Ella's Birth Story

2011-08-07T09:41:00.000-06:00

Our Ella’s birth was such a sweet experience for our little family. It is so amazing to be able to bring these sweet spirits into the world, and we feel so incredibly blessed and humbled to have little Ella in our lives.

Little Ella’s birth was anxiously-awaited in our family. I never would have guessed that she would be overdue! It turned into quite the waiting game, but now I am so grateful for Ella’s perfect timing. I wouldn’t change a thing.

We had a nice little “trial-run” at the hospital on July 19, twelve days before her due date. I was having a bad headache with some weird vision problems, and when I called my doctor’s office they strongly suggested that we go into the hospital to get it checked out (they were concerned that I might be developing preeclampsia). So that evening, in the middle of a huge Texas rainstorm, we dropped sweet James off at our friends’ house and drove to the University Hospital. After a long check-in process (because the power at the hospital had briefly gone out!) we got to triage and they monitored me ALL NIGHT LONG. We were there for ten hours. It was a pretty busy night, lots of drama going on and we were sort of low on the totem pole since I wasn’t in active labor or anything. They checked my blood pressure over and over and monitored other things, and everything checked out just fine. Jonathan and I had a fun little “date night,” if you will, and played all sorts of games on his iPad and got very little sleep. While there, my contractions started getting stronger and more regular! I was having about four every ten minutes, and we were beginning to think that Ella was going to make her debut soon. The resident doctor thought that she would be making her debut in the next couple of days. He sent us home at about 3:30 in the morning to get some rest in our own bed, and we left with the hopes that we’d be back there soon!

The next day I frantically started to really get ready for baby Ella. I got my hospital bags all packed, packed a bag for James to take to a friend’s house, and finished up some last-minute preparations. Every day I would feel like Ella was coming really soon. Every night we’d time contractions while watching a show on Netflix. I was starting to get really uncomfortable and could tell that Ella was really low – I thought she was so close to coming!

We made it to my next doctor appointment that Friday, and then an entire other week with still no baby! Each day I was having more and more contractions. We walked around stores to get them going, and timed more and more regular contractions each night, just to have them slow down after going to bed. At my doctor appointment on Friday the 30th (the day before my due date), my doctor said he thought she was coming any day now, and he also offered me an induction that Sunday, because he was going to be at the hospital anyway. I immediately said that no thank you, I’d prefer that it just happen on its own. When we got in the car Jonathan said, “I can’t believe you turned that down! You want to have this baby so badly!” He did have a point. I began to wonder if maybe I’d made a mistake turning down the induction offer so quickly. Just in case, when we got home I called the doctor’s office and found out how to reach him in case I changed my mind.

By Saturday I had decided that if she didn’t come that night, that heck yes I wanted to be induced! I was so ready to have this baby. I also felt like I was so close to actually being in labor anyway that they really wouldn’t have to do much. That night I had a lot of contractions (and I could tell they were definitely more of the “real” variety – not just Braxton Hicks). I was determined to have this baby sometime in the next day! We thought we might just have to go into the hospital Saturday night, but I just never felt in pain enough to justify going to the hospital. It was a bit discouraging, because the contractions started slowing down again. I literally walked all around and around our house to try and keep them going. We went to bed late and decided to get up early and call the doctor and try and get in for an induction.

Sunday morning came and I was definitely having some contractions, but they didn’t seem super regular to me and I still was doing fine with the pain. I called the doctor and told him I’d like to be induced, and he said to go ahead and come on in! We were so excited! We got James all ready for church, grabbed our bags and took him over to our friends’ house – they were so kind to take him to church with them and to help take care of him. (We are also so grateful for the other family who took him in later that day and let him spend the night.) When we got back in the car and turned it on, the first thing to come on the radio was an Ella Fitzgerald song – so fitting I thought for the exciting occasion! It was a beautiful, clear morning and we were so happy to be going into the hospital during the day and not in the middle of the night.

We got all checked in – I was still feeling pretty good and really not in much pain. Sure enough, they started monitoring my contractions and they were pretty regular – and I was dilated to a 5! They told me that they no longer needed to induce me, that I was already in labor! They were also surprised when I rated my pain pretty low (don’t you hate rating your pain??) for how far dilated I was and how low she was. I was so happy and excited to meet our little Ella. And super excited that it was just happening on its own, and that the timing had worked out so perfectly. The hospital wasn’t too busy that morning, and all of the doctors and nurses were so wonderful.

We got in the labor and delivery room, and my contractions were getting stronger but still not unbearable. Part of me wonders how long I could have gone without the epidural…but I really am so grateful for epidurals and think they are wonderful. I got the epidural as my contractions started getting stronger. They did give me a little Pitocin to help the contractions be a little more regular. I was able to take a nice nap and it was so comfortable. I progressed quickly, and pretty soon around 3 or so in the afternoon I started feeling like I needed to push! My epidural was actually great because it was a little lopsided, and I could feel a whole lot more on one side. When I was in labor with James I couldn’t feel a thing, and I pushed for SO long. This time it was just strong enough to take the edge off the pain, but I was able to feel everything and be so much more involved.

I pushed for only a few contractions, and after about fifteen minutes our sweet Ella Bay was born. It was the sweetest moment, it made all of the waiting so worth it. It's amazing to finally see your baby for the first time after a long nine months of pregnancy. And it is so amazing to hold this sweet little stranger who so recently was with our Heavenly Father. They put her right on my chest and I was able to hold her immediately after the delivery, something I couldn’t do with James because of a few complications. They left us alone with her for a couple of hours to bond and get acquainted and to nurse and it was so special. She really is a beautiful little baby. I think she looks a lot like James, and definitely has a lot of Boster in her. I can also see some of me in her as well. She has quite a bit of dark brown hair, and beautiful dark eyes (we think they are dark blue). She was really alert after the delivery and we so enjoyed that special time with our little girl. We are so grateful for our little Ella Bay and will always remember her birth day as being one of the sweetest days of our lives.

Ella Bay

2011-08-06T13:22:00.000-06:00

We are so happy to welcome our sweet baby girl into the world!

Ella Bay Boster

was born Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 3:38 pm

7 lb 12 oz

20 1/2 inches long

We love her SO much. Many more pictures and details to come!

scripture power

2011-07-24T13:37:00.000-06:00

James loves going to Primary! A couple of weeks ago, we realized that he needed some scriptures of his very own. He came home from Primary one day and said, "Mommy, when we sing 'Scripture Power' the kids hold up their scriptures." We found him a small Book of Mormon and he was SO excited to take it to Primary. I just happened to walk by the Primary room and peek in as the kids were singing 'Scripture Power' that week, and James was proudly holding up his scriptures! What a cute kid.

Jukie must have been inspired, because about a week later James got a package in the mail from Jukie and Bapa (my parents) at the MTC, who sent him his very own special Book of Mormon and his very own missionary name tags like theirs! Just take a look at our handsome future missionary here -

And because I was just getting some other random pictures off my camera - my boys have been great buddies lately. Here they are "swimming" in James' little wading pool in our backyard. Anything to beat this San Antonio heat!

And a few more pictures of my 38 1/2 weeks belly from a few days ago. Due date is six days away and counting....but I would be happy to head to the hospital any time now! Come on, baby!

All ready for baby!

2011-07-21T14:38:00.001-06:00

So, I think I am pretty much ready for this sweet baby to come. I am about 38 1/2 weeks, but feel like our girl will make her appearance any time. I think I'm all ready to go...

House cleaned - check! (well, let's face it, it's not all cleaned but it's good enough)
Hospital bag packed - check!
Baby clothes washed - check!
Laundry caught up - check! (well except some towels, but ALL of our clothes are clean - it feels great!)
Baby clothes folded and put away - check!
Bassinet set up in our room - check!
Last-minute run to Target for remaining baby essentials - check!
Some dinners frozen in the freezer - check! (not as much variety/quantity as I'd like, but we won't starve unless we get sick of taco soup or tacos! haha)
Name picked - check! (we've actually known her name for awhile....I don't think I ever posted it on this blog yet....might as well keep you in suspense for a few more days, eh?)
Friends lined up to watch James - check! (people are so nice and keep offering, so we have plenty of options - aren't friends the best?)
Contraction timer app downloaded on iPod - check! (when we were expecting James, my mom was there to help me time and she has this crazy amazing memory for numbers - I figured since she wasn't here to help keep track I'd better find something that could help! haha)
Hospital test run completed - check! (haha, so this just happened to come about. I called my doctor on Tuesday about a crazy headache and some vision problems, and they sent me to the hospital just in case - we ended up being there in triage all night long for about ten hours while they checked all my vitals and things - everything turned out fine and they ruled out preeclampsia, which is good. While we were there, my contractions actually started up and were getting pretty regular - about 4 every 10 minutes - but they were not yet strong enough to be in actual labor, so they sent us home to sleep. The doctor on call said that he thought our baby would probably be born in the next day or two - so that is today, come on baby!!)

We're getting pretty excited!

My Dad told us we ought to watch this episode of I Love Lucy to get all ready to go to the hospital. Gotta love it! Hopefully my next post will have pictures of our baby! Stay tuned...

three items for your perusal...

2011-06-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

1 - the belly, at 35 weeks

2 - the cockroach I just found in our bathroom!

3 - Jonathan's Frankenstein ear - looks like they flapped it off and sewed it back on. Lovely.

Have a nice day!

updates

2011-06-19T16:54:00.000-06:00

1 - Jonathan had ear surgery on Friday - his cholesteatoma came back so we had to get it taken care of. We feel so blessed that the surgery went well and that he is recovering so much better than last time. We are also so grateful to all who have helped us out with watching James, Priesthood blessings, and meals. And letting James sit with them at church while I played the organ. It helped immensely!! We have wonderful friends!

Check out this awesome bandage Jonathan gets to wear this week!

2 - We got a quick visit from Uncle Benj!! James was just in heaven. Not only did he get to play with one of his amazing uncles, but there was someone here who would actually pick him up! (Daddy isn't supposed to lift anything for a month, and of course there is my burgeoning belly to consider - poor kid!)

We also got to meet Benj's girl, Brie! We had so much fun meeting her, and James quickly found a new buddy - so cute!

3 - My parents are now going to RUSSIA on their mission! They received a phone call last week three days before their farewell, informing them that their mission call had been changed to the Russia Novosibirsk Mission. I am so proud of them and excited for them! My Dad is going to be a wonderful mission president.

4 - I am now 34 weeks pregnant! Our baby girl is doing wonderfully. She is a feisty little one and rolls around and kicks like crazy - it is so fun! We are getting so excited for her arrival. Here are a few recent ultrasound pictures - if you look closely you can see her little face and her mouth wide open.

Life is crazy but we are so blessed.

Getting ready!

2011-05-30T10:04:00.000-06:00

Well, I am now 31 weeks pregnant and we are getting so excited to meet our little girl! This pregnancy has gone by so much faster than my first one and I can't believe she's almost here! It has been a great pregnancy and baby looks good and she kicks and moves like crazy. It's so fun to feel her moving around in there and I am so grateful for a healthy pregnancy! I am also so grateful for air conditioning, and I have to admit that I am getting a bit nervous about this whole San Antonio summer thing - seeing that it is not even June yet and we are already consistently in the high 90's (not to mention the humidity). One of my friends told me, "well, you have to experience the pregnancy, and you have to experience the heat - you might as well get them both over with at the same time!" Yes, I suppose that's a good way to look at it!

Here is a picture of the belly at about 29 weeks...I am feeling huge but everyone keeps telling me how tiny I am!

We are enjoying Jonathan's summer break! He has had this entire month off and we are just living it up and having fun together. He has a fellowship at his school for two months starting next week, and then he'll have all of August off (perfect for helping out with baby!). We just found out that he needs ear surgery again (you know, just to add in some craziness to our summer), so we have that scheduled for the end of June. Apparently he's not supposed to lift anything over five pounds for a month following surgery, so I am happy that my due date is like, almost exactly a month after his surgery! Perfect timing.

So basically, we are trying to get all ready for baby this month before his surgery! Here are my boys, in their "work hats," putting together the baby's bed. James is so excited to meet his little sister!

Proud of My Dad

2011-05-12T13:12:00.000-06:00

I just had to share this nice article about my Dad, from the Cottonwood Heights News Journal, May 2011 issue. I am so proud of my parents for serving a mission and know they will be amazing! My Dad is one amazing guy!

New Pajamas & an Anatomy Lesson

2011-04-21T14:30:00.000-06:00

One of my very favorite things is a little boy, just out of the bathtub, in new pajamas. Especially this little boy!

He is very into the body lately. Maybe it's because Daddy is studying eyes and the brain a lot. James loves to ask Daddy questions about what he is studying, so Daddy tells him all about it - and James eats it all up, he just loves it!

The other night as I was trying to put him to bed, James just could not stop talking about his body! Here is the little anatomy lesson he gave me (or at least a small sampling...he went on and on and on...)

Mommy, let me tell you what is in your ears. There's like, a straight thing that goes from this ear all the way to the other ear. And then the bugs can go in and out.

Actually, let me tell you what is in your eyes. There's like, flicks. There's like, round things, and eyebrows and stuff.

Actually, let me tell you what is in my foot. [pointing to his toes] There's like little bones, and other little tiny bones.

Let me tell you what is in your head. There's like bones, and your brain, and things.

Actually, let me tell you what's in here [pointing to his leg and knee] - there's a big bone, and it turns! [pointing at his knee]

Now, I'll tell you what's in YOU!! [pointing at my thigh] There's a bone that's really, really, really, really......[I'm thinking he's going to say how BIG it is]...It's a bone that's really, really, really, REALLY.....it's really tiny.

Mommy, let me tell you what's in your nose. There's like, boogies, and little tiny bones with boogies on them, and things.

apples & snakes

2011-04-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

At church yesterday James was looking at this cute illustrated Bible stories book. He was on this page...

...when he said in a loud whisper, "It's fun to get apples from snakes!!"

We love General Conference!

2011-04-06T10:41:00.000-06:00

James was so excited for General Conference this time, which was so exciting for us. We love that he was looking forward to listening to the Prophet and having a fun family weekend. I think this boy really enjoys family traditions! In fact, after eating banana bread during the sessions on Saturday, he insisted on Sunday that we had to wait to eat the banana bread until Conference was on. I suppose a tradition is born!

Here is our boy getting all ready to watch Conference from his comfy place.

my preschool piano camp

2011-04-06T10:36:00.000-06:00

So we arrived back in San Antonio from our trip to Utah at about 1 in the morning (which was brilliant planning on our part, especially since it had just been Daylight Savings and it really felt like 2 in the morning...), got to bed around 2:30 and then got up bright and early the next morning for the first day of my preschool piano camp!

I have been wanting to teach some sort of preschool piano class for a long time now. I recruited a good friend (who is also a piano teacher) in my ward to teach it with me, and we spent a lot of time planning and preparing, and we then held our first session of our Early Expressions Preschool Piano Camp. It was a success! We had a few no-shows, but the kids who attended the week-long "camp" were so smart and they all had so much fun. James just loved it, and it was completely worth it for me just for him to have the experience!

Here are some fun pictures of our camp:

catching up: trip to utah!!

2011-04-06T10:27:00.000-06:00

I just hate not being caught-up on this blog. So here we go - major catch-up time!

We were able to go to Utah in February/March for the nicest visit with our families! We miss them so much and it was just wonderful to be with them. Jonathan had a week-long spring break from school. We decided that James and I would go a week earlier to have an extra-long visit with my family for a couple of reasons: because my brother Josh was leaving on his mission to Mexico soon (and of course he has already left, that's how behind I am!), and also because my parents have also been called on a mission! My Dad will be mission president of the Arkansas Little Rock Mission; they leave in a few months and we are so excited for them! My parents are going to be amazing missionaries. So, James and I flew to Salt Lake City on James' first-ever plane-ride. Boy, was he excited!! (And boy was that a long day with a 3-hour (turned 4-hour) layover in Phoenix, traveling pregnant and with a small child!) Except for one small meltdown in the Phoenix airport, James was a champ the whole day!

Waiting for the plane in San Antonio

Our plane!

Ready for take-off (or splasht-off as James calls it)

First time in almost two years that all five siblings have been together!

The original 7 of the Gibbons fam

Sweet sleepy boy

What's wrong with the Shawcrofts?

Somebody messed up their plans in an Acquire game and they were a little upset...

We get really into board games in my family...

Celebrating with Ryan...er...Ron

James' aunts give him his first lesson in BYU basketball and Jimmer

Looking at maps of Arkansas, where Bapa and Jukie's mission house will be! We are so excited that we can drive and go visit them there!

Our little boy was just in heaven playing with his grandparents again

He had lots of play time with his Bapa

We got to go play in the snow!! If one of my siblings would email me some pictures, I would show you are sweet snowman "Phyllis" and our amazing snow igloo we built.

Shopping with Mommy and Jukie. James found a friend at Macy's...

Jukie bought James a nice new outfit!

Just look at my handsome boy!

Late-night Walmart trip

The snowstorm broke so many branches that my parents' yard was full of them. On Saturday the men spent the day with a chainsaw cleaning up the mess...

...while the girls spent the day baking like crazy for Josh's farewell! This makes me hungry just looking at it...

Visiting with friends and family

We had such a wonderful time with my family. We were able to all go to the temple together, and we got family pictures taken as well! I was surprised to see how pregnant I look in these! I will post more later when I get a copy of the disc from my family.

A nice cuddle with Bapa on our last day

Mid-way through our visit, Jonathan flew to Utah (poor guy had been all alone for a whole week! Luckily we have wonderful friends in Texas who fed him and kept him company!). On the same day, most of the Bosters drove down to Utah as well and we had a great visit with them! Thanks to Daniel and Bethany for letting us all crash at their house :) I really did not take enough pictures. Luckily I whipped out my iPod camera our last day with them...

I just love my in-laws!!

My amazing sister-in-law Megan

Cute Emma Jeaney and James

Hannah and I matched!

Uncle Spencer

Caroline & Caroline :)

Playing Noodle Hockey - it was quite fun to watch these two cousins go after the ball together. James would use his noodle to meticulously pick it up, and Joshua would come over and just whack it away.

Yes, Jonathan was there too!! I at least have one picture of him...

We finally met our hunk of a nephew, Grant - what a handsome kid!!

Sweet little Caroline with her Aunt Rebecca

Flying back home to Texas (with Daddy this time, thank goodness!)

Goodbye, Utah - we'll miss you!!

soap

2011-03-31T16:29:00.000-06:00

The other day (ok, so it was really a week or two ago) I came out of the bathroom to find this...

...James had drawn a nice picture all over our mirror with soap. What a creative boy. Thanks, bud! Oh, and don't judge me just because we still had Valentines things up..... :)

getting ready for summer...

2011-03-31T16:26:00.000-06:00

James has been SO excited for summer and has been asking for months if it is warm enough to swim. So we finally broke out the wading pool, he was so excited!! I can see a lot of this happening in the upcoming months...

Name

2011-03-31T16:21:00.000-06:00

At our Preschool Piano Camp (more on that later - oh my, I am so far behind on this blog!) a couple of weeks ago, James colored this picture and was so excited to write his name at the bottom all by himself. I had to chuckle when I read it. The last letter is a backwards S.

My little bro

2011-03-30T16:04:00.000-06:00

Well my little brother is officially all grown up and just entered the MTC today where he will prepare to serve in the Mexico Oaxaca mission!! We will sure miss Uncle "Dosh" but are so excited for him!

faith

2011-03-27T21:12:00.000-06:00

Last week for family night we talked about faith in Jesus Christ. And about how He died for us so we could live again. We taught James about how after He died, He was resurrected and was alive again.

James responded, with awe in his voice, "Wow, that's crazy!!" [pause]......"That's so crazy!!"

We talked about having faith in Jesus Christ, and how faith is like a little seed. We planted some little flower seeds and decided to see if they would grow! James has been watering them faithfully every day. We were so excited yesterday to notice that they are already coming up.

Well, since our flowers are doing pretty well....we have decided to really exercise our faith and see if we can get a little garden to grow during a hot Texas summer!

My boys getting the {really rocky} soil ready....

Planting our seeds....

Our little garden!

James helped me make little signs. He drew pictures of each vegetable with crayons...

This little squirt bottle was the best buck-79 I've ever spent. It will surely give James hours of enjoyment this summer, and save us mucho on our water bill :)

James has a newfound love for potato bugs!

Here's to hoping (and having faith!) that our little garden will produce something....or at least give us something fun to do as a family this summer!

my little helper

2011-02-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

I was taking some photos the other day and James just HAD to be in some. Who else loves his perfect little pose and adorable face??

December really did happen...

2011-02-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

...I just never blogged about it! I think I was busy being pregnant and stuff.

I couldn't pass up posting these pictures. Decorating the Christmas tree...

Learning about the Nativity...

And of course, our boy had a birthday in December! I can't believe he is three years old already.

Happy Birthday, James!

James filled his Daddy's pockets up with fun musical stuff one day.

And he filled my wallet with Monopoly money, "so we can buy $5 toys and dollar store treats!" Thanks Bud!

Making Nana's chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. Yummy!

(James LOVES playing in flour!)

Getting excited for Christmas!

Looking at the presents...

Our stockings! I finally made James' stocking....maybe one of these days we'll all have matching ones :)

Our tree on Christmas Eve

In Christmas pj's from my Mama!

Our own little nativity. What a cute shepherd!!

Christmas morning!

the belly

2011-02-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

For posterity's sake, here is my pregnant self at 16.5 weeks. Here we go!

note the summery outfit and flip-flops....I love San Antonio!!

what I've been up to...

2011-02-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

So for a long time I have wanted to teach some kind of piano preschool class. Well I finally decided to just go ahead and do it! I recruited a good friend who is also a piano teacher and we are in the process of planning for our first Preschool Piano Camp. I am so excited! We have lots of fun plans in the works, including lots of games and activities, as well as a giant vinyl floor keyboard which I am super excited about!

So, if you know anyone in San Antonio with children ages 3-5 who want to get a good start with piano, pass on the information!
http://earlyexpressionspiano.blogspot.com/

countdown

2011-02-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

We are so excited because we get to fly on an airplane soon and go to Utah to visit family! James can't WAIT! We made this paper chain to count down the days. Every morning James reminds me that we need to take a link off of the chain. He is so excited to go to Jukie's house!

3-Year-Old James

2011-02-16T08:26:00.001-07:00

Our boy is pretty nice.

Lately...

...He LOVES to sing. His favorites are Primary songs like "Follow the Prophet" (which he was heard singing the other day as he ran around the house naked........we are potty training....), "I am a Child of God" and his new favorite "Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked." Every single time we sing it he says, "Why did they wash in streams??" He also loves the Inchworm song and therefore is pretty good at his math (well, at least he knows that 2 and 2 are 4, 4 and 4 are 8, 8 and 8 are 16 and that 16 and 16 are 32!)

...He loves to come up with fun ideas to do. And there are always ten ideas in his list. Because he has ten fingers. He is often seen walking around holding up his ten fingers, all ready to do his ideas. Here is a sample list of James' ideas:

1. Play Duck Duck Goose

2. Play Patty Cake

3. Eat sandwiches

4. Do stuff

5. Eat sandwiches

6. Do stuff

7. Take a bath

8. Play with Daddy when he gets home

9. Check out more books

10. Then PLAY!!

After we complete an idea he puts the corresponding finger down with a resounding, "CHECK!"

...He loves eating breakfast in the morning with Daddy before school. And Mommy loves that he loves eating breakfast with Daddy before school because that means she gets a few more minutes of sleep! I also love that I can lay there in bed and say, "ok, go potty" and he can go all by himself. Most of the time.

...He has to have his room immaculately clean before going to bed each night, or else "the scary dreams will come!" We have to put away anything that is out, and we have to clean up everything in the bathroom, including all of the bath toys that may be in the tub.

One night last week we had a late night and he fell asleep on my lap. I was too tired to clean up and didn't want to wake him, so I just tucked him in bed and went to sleep myself. In the middle of the night there was a frantic boy yelling, "Mommy! We forgot to clean my room!!" So we cleaned it right then and there.

...He loves Dr. Seuss. We have a big book with thirteen Dr. Seuss books in it, and the other day Jonathan read almost the entire book to him in one sitting. It took over an hour.

...He is (finally) getting pretty good at eating his dinner! He likes to pick a number of bites he thinks he can take, and then he usually takes all of them (even when he picks 27!). Last night he ate an entire baked potato. Later when I tried to put him to bed he was super tired but frantically trying to think of a way to get out of going to bed.

All of a sudden he said, "I just realized I ever finished my dinner!!" (Which really means I never finished my dinner.) I told him that actually yes, he ate a lot of dinner and it was time for bed, but he kept protesting, "I ever finished my dinner!!" Finally in a sad voice he said, "Trust me!! I ever finished my dinner!" What a convincing boy!

By the way, do you notice the dirty sleeves in these pictures? Despite our best attempts, he lately has a permanent stain on his right shoulder from wiping his face at meal time.....

Legos

2011-02-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Our boy just loves building with legos.

He makes a pretty good airplane!

Guess what??

2011-02-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

We're having a baby!

We are so excited to welcome our new little baby this coming July! Baby is doing well, and I am doing great (I was feeling pretty sick for awhile, but now am fine as long as I get 9 or 10 hours of sleep per night!), and we are all just thrilled. When asked if he thinks the baby is a boy or a girl, James always says, "Let's see when it comes out!" He is also very interested in my growing belly, and the other day said, "I just felt the baby move!!" (even though he was sitting across the table from me!).

We just wanted to share our happy news :)

Me at almost 15 weeks:

potty training.

2011-01-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Grumpy.

My house is a wreck.

I never even showered today.

Load of pee-pee sheets and clothes in the washer.

No desire to cook, whatsoever.

Pizza o'happiness is on the way!! Thank you, Domino's!!!

I have decided

2011-01-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

I came to the conclusion yesterday - as James and I enjoyed 60 degree weather and a blue sky, sunshiney day with no jackets at the park - that I LOVE TEXAS!! :)

Long time no see!

2011-01-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

My sister Liz came to San Antonio to visit us!! It had been a year and nine months since we had seen her, so we were so excited! We of course wanted to take her to see some fun places while she was here, and we ended up doing it all in the rain! It was tons of fun anyway and James loved jumping in the puddles. In fact, his whole reason for wanting to go to the "Al'mo" was to jump in the puddles. Mission accomplished!

what is that face, James??

that's better!

Japanese Tea Gardens...

the zoo!

(apparently James and Liz have the same size head...check out his hat!)

planning out our route on the zoo map...

we were sad to see Liz leave!!

we love visitors! Thanks for coming, Liz!

Family music lessons.

2011-01-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things we used to do when I was a little girl was play music together as a family. We'd get out every instrument we owned and play songs "together" - you'd have a piano, a couple of guitars, a recorder or two, maybe a xylophone and a tambourine - oh man, we were awesome. Well tonight James insisted on having family night after dinner, so we decided to get out some instruments and make some family music of our own! Check out this kid's skills!

Phone calls

2011-01-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Is this what I sound like to James when I'm talking on the phone? :) Now, if only we could get him to talk this well during real phone conversations!

New discovery:

2011-01-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

I was just making a lasagna and made a NEW DISCOVERY that somehow I missed out on for the past 27 years:

I really like cottage cheese!

What else am I missing out on?? :)

Imagination

2011-01-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I don't know where my kid gets his great imagination. He comes up with the craziest names and words. For example -

Today we were looking outside on the patio at the leaves.

"They're changing colors, Mommy!!"

We see something kind of brown and bright orange - not sure if it was a leaf or what. I pointed it out to James.

He said, "It's a Neeorna!"
Me: "Really? What's a Neeorna?"
Him: "It's outside, and it grows into a BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY!!!!"

Oatmeal

2011-01-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I heard the clanking of dishes, followed by little footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Mommy?!! Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean???"

He sounds so grown-up!

"Yes, they're clean!"

"I'm making oatmeal!! I'm mixing it in this bowl!"

The entire contents of the Gerber oatmeal box was poured into a bowl, and our little man was so pleased with himself. What a self-sufficient boy!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

I figured that since Christmas is only a week away, it's probably about time I posted some pictures from Thanksgiving ;)

Our Thanksgiving day started out eventfully, with James getting a big bump on the head. He was sitting at the top of our stairs, and decided to stick his legs in his shirt and pretend to be an egg. I heard a little voice say, "Look, Mommy, I'm an egg!" and before I could reach him he was rolling down the stairs, head first. I got to the bottom of the stairs as his head smacked right into the tile floor at the bottom. Poor boy! He got a pretty good goose egg on his head and was pretty scared. Jonathan used his one-semester optometry skills to check James' pupil sizes and see if he had a concussion (which he didn't!)

We then headed off to a nearby field where a large group of guys from our ward were playing football. We sat on the grass and visited with some of the wives and kids while the men played. I am so grateful to be in a ward with SO many medical students and residents - I took James over to one of the residents and said, "is my son's head ok???" :)

We had a wonderful day being together and skyping with family. Here are my boys playing Mario Kart with some of the Boster men in Oregon. Thank you, technology!

A shot of James' bump on the head...

This was my first time making the ENTIRE Thanksgiving meal all by myself - and I have to say that it turned out really well!! We cooked a small turkey breast instead of a big turkey, and it was delicious.

And of course, true to Boster tradition, we had a pretty good pie-to-person ratio.

James enjoys some pie with his favorite stuffed animal buddy, Pongo.

We ended the day by watching "White Christmas" - sticking to the Gibbons family Thanksgiving tradition! Let the Christmas season begin!

We are so blessed :)

our James

2010-12-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

Did I ever mention how much we love this boy?

He says the greatest prayers lately. Like this one:

...Gateful for Mommy and Daddy and James.
Gateful for the Spirit.
Gateful for the other temples.
Gateful for our temple.
Gateful for all of the globes that other people have.
In the name...........................oh!!!
Gateful for Bapa and Jukie, gateful for Grandy and Nana, gateful for Annie, gateful for Josh, gateful for Bapa. Amen.

Or this one:

...Gateful for Mommy, Daddy, and James.
Gateful for froggies.
Gateful for Mommy Froggie.
Gateful for James Froggie.
Gateful for blankies.
Gateful for Superman shirts.
Gateful for ears.
Gateful for noses.
Gateful for hair.
Gateful for glasses.
Gateful for wasacki puzzles.
Gateful for turnaround pieces.
....Amen.

*We've been doing a Wysocki puzzle over Thanksgiving break. And apparently a turnaround piece is a type of a train track.

One more:

Gateful for Mommy, Daddy and James.
Gateful for our noses.
Gateful for the tv.
Gateful for the food we just ate.
Gateful for the Wii.
Gateful for my squirty things.

And he cracks me up sometimes with the things he says. Like:

A bee messed up my hair!!

Or: Mmmmmmm.....I smell something!....It's food!! Bresgrift, Crips, Marshmallow Mateys!

Bresgrift = breakfast

Crips = Chex

Or because of the fact that he calls our Nativity Set an "Activity Set."

He's a keeper, that's for sure!

My little brother is all grown up...

2010-12-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

My little brother Josh got his mission call a couple of weeks ago!
We got to watch him open his call on Skype - thank you, technology! :)

He's going to the Mexico Oaxaca mission.

We are so excited for Uncle Dosh!

James missed the opening of the call...we filled him in the next day and he anxiously got out his globe to find out where Josh is going!

Study Buddies

2010-12-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's nice to have a little study buddy.

Daddy Day

2010-12-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

In our house, Sunday is our very favorite day of the week because Daddy does not study!
James just loves having an entire day to play with him.

A couple of Sundays ago, James ran into our room at about six in the morning,
ran to my side of the bed and said, "Mommy...is it Daddy Day?!"

Here are my cute sticky-up morning hair boys hanging out on a Sunday morning,
playing games on Daddy's iPod. This is the life!

While Daddy studies....

2010-11-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday James and I had a little adventure while Daddy studied the day away for a big physiology test. It was actually a pretty chilly morning, and we were glad we had found our jackets before heading out the door.

We first went to the Japanese Tea Gardens to take family pictures for a cute family in our ward. James loved the cool bridges to walk on and the huge goldfish in the pond!

Then we took a little stroll through Brackenridge Park - we had never been in this park before, just walked by it on our way to the zoo, so we thought we'd check it out. As I pushed James in the stroller, I soon realized we had happened upon some big event which included a 2-mile walk for some cause. As we turned a corner, a lady said to me, "You're doing great!! Only one more mile to go!" Pretty funny. As soon as we passed her we got out of there, not wanting to get stuck in the loop with the other walkers!

We then headed to the zoo!

I just love my little zoo buddy, granola bar face and sticky-ups and all.

We somehow always find something new each time we go to the zoo - this time it was a pond full of huge goldfish, just like the ones at the tea gardens! We got to get up close and personal with these fish. *You ought to see James' impression of a goldfish - he's got that fishy mouth thing down!

FREE

2010-11-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

When my Dad was in law school, my Mom used to clip coupons and find awesome deals like crazy. In her letters home to their families, she used to tell them her amazing deals of the week. (In fact, one of my earliest memories is of climbing up on the kitchen table as a very young toddler and proceeding to mess up piles and piles of meticulously clipped and organized coupons....sorry Mom!) Well Mama - here is MY sweet deal of the week! I got ALL of this stuff for FREE!!

Thankful.

2010-11-04T16:09:00.000-06:00

In an effort to help us all remember that we have so many things to be thankful for this holiday season, I decided to make a Thanksgiving tree! Because we are so blessed. James reminds us of this every time he says a prayer (which is quite often). He reminds me that not only am I thankful for the big things - like our family, the Spirit, the Gospel, our Savior - but seemingly simple things, like lights and books and trains and cups. And that Daddy could go to 'tometry school. And for the yummy food we ate. And Daddy's eye stuff.

So every day, we take some of our "leaves" and write down a few things we are thankful for. Many things get repeated (James is thankful for Mommy every day - and I don't argue, I just write it down each time!), and sometimes we come up with wonderful new things to write down, like family home evening, James' smile, and pens. And of course the important things are on there too - like grandparents, Aunt Liz (who just got home from her mission!), and our home.

I can't wait to see how full this thing gets by Thanksgiving!

And a little Bing to bring on the holidays... :)

Catch

2010-11-04T16:01:00.000-06:00

Playing "ball ball" (as James calls it - he loves to make up names for games) in James' room. What a nice kid.

Doggies

2010-11-04T15:58:00.000-06:00

James: "Mommy, come see all of my doggies are on my bed. They are going to help clean up."

Me: "Will you help too, please?"

James: "Um, I am so busy putting my toys on my bed. So you will have to do it."

I love this boy :)

Halloween!

2010-11-04T15:54:00.000-06:00

So we usually tend to be last-minute Halloween people. We LOVE making cool costumes and being creative, but it is usually at the last second that we finally decide what to be. Which is why we spent our ENTIRE Friday, in preparation for our ward trunk-or-treat, making THESE!

I guess it was worth it, because we won the prize for most creative costume!

James kind of wanted to be a train, one of his favorite things. So we decided to each be a different car of the train. He ended up being the caboose because one of his favorite books is The Little Red Caboose.

I think it's a pretty nice train...

Daddy was the engine. I thought it was fitting, him being the one in the family who takes us where we need to go and keeps us moving.

Of course, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere without a good coal car behind him ;)

And last (but definitely not least, as we learn in James' book) is the little red caboose. Which actually is quite big for a young kid to carry around all night... (don't mind the wheels that are falling off...)

He trick-or-treated without the caboose getting in the way ;)

Checking out the loot he got...

I love Halloween!

Trains

2010-11-04T15:44:00.000-06:00

One of the absolute FAVORITE activities in our house is playing with trains. Even Mommy and Daddy have a fun time building cool train tracks. Notice this awesome double-decker track that I made.

And that cool tower behind James in this picture is the Alamo! He made it all by himself.

Zoo.

2010-11-04T15:42:00.000-06:00

More fun times at the zoo with some of our new friends!

Letters

2010-11-04T15:36:00.000-06:00

James loves learning about letters. We sometimes have what we like to call "Mommy Preschool" where we learn letters of the alphabet, sing songs and have lots of fun. I just love these pictures of James and his Daddy writing letters. Daddy taught him how to write a bunch of letters. In the 3rd picture you can see that he wrote all of the letters of his name!

Some new friends

2010-11-04T15:30:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago (yes, I am playing catch-up) we had a fun time having some new little buddies come over and play! We love being in an area and a ward with lots of young families, and James has met some nice new friends!

We played on the patio and blew bubbles...

...and acorns are always very entertaining.

We played the piano together (how cute are these photos??)

and read some books. Aren't friends fun?

a prayer.

2010-10-28T19:06:00.000-06:00

James said our family prayer tonight (as usual). Here are the things he is "gateful" for tonight:

Gateful for Mommy.
Gateful for Daddy.
Gateful for James.
Gateful for......us.
Gateful for......the family.
Gateful for Daddy's new light.
Gateful for Mommy's new light.
Gateful for the food we just ate.
Gateful for Daddy's eye stuff.

Amen to that!

A visitor!

2010-10-26T19:13:00.000-06:00

Well, we have had our first visitor here in San Antonio!! My sister Annie flew in last Wednesday (the day after my birthday) and stayed until yesterday. We had so much fun while she was here! We miss our families so much and it was so fun to have one of them visit us! Here is what our fun week was like...

Mapping the route to the airport

On Tuesday night we mapped our route to the airport. James of course had to "do the map" too. He absolutely loves maps. He loves to click on the map and drag it around and look for roads and things. He informed me of the directions to the airport to pick up Aunt Annie. Here are his directions:

"We have to go on Badcot (Babcock). Badcot is where the bridge is. Then we turn here to the airport. This is Madis (he made up that street name). That's where the airport is."

(I have to also point out that I drove to the airport to pick up Annie, and have finally become confident driving on and navigating the San Antonio freeway system! wahoo!)

The zoo

On Thursday James and Annie and I went to the zoo for about four hours! We had so much fun, and James and I even saw some things we had never seen before! Here we are watching the elephant trainers do some tricks with the elephants...

We explored a cool place called the Treetop Lookout

James has LOVED having Annie here, and insisted on holding her hand for most of the time at the zoo - they were good buddies!

James loves looking at the zoo map. In fact, each time we go to the zoo it is a tradition to sit on a big rock by the entrance and plan out our route.

We saw some cool fish and some big hippos in a big aquarium!

We like this grumpy fish...

Can you see the hippos?

Monkeys

Had to take advantage of this photo op! Love that my family is named after a monkey.

Probably the coolest part of the zoo was the butterfly exhibit! We had never gone in it before and it was the neatest thing! It is this greenhouse-type building just full of butterflies. James got a little nervous at all the butterflies flying around, but he really enjoyed it. I even got to hold one on my hand! James really wanted it to be on his hand, but we couldn't get the butterfly to comply. Pretty cool!

James checks out the prairie dogs

James got a fun lion toy from Aunt Annie!

Tum pluckered after a long day at the zoo

Later that night Annie and I double-team quizzed Jonathan on his flashcards for his test on Friday! We had lots of fun hanging out with Jonathan in the evenings after he was done studying :)

Raymond Rimkus Park

On Friday James and Annie and I went to Raymond Rimkus Park! James played on the playground and we explored the park. We discovered that there is a 1/2-mile loop path you can walk on - James ran almost the entire way!

Later we went shopping, then went to Red Robin for dinner!

And our awesome Friday night activities included eye exams, wahoo! good times! Annie loves this picture.

Incarnate Word Campus

On Saturday we all (yes, even Jonathan!) visited the main campus of his school. We gave Annie a little tour and she got her very own 'Carnate Word t-shirt!

The Riverwalk

We then went to the Riverwalk! This is such a cool place. James couldn't wait to come here!

The Alamo

While at the Riverwalk we walked to the "Almo" as James calls it. He kept on asking over and over again if we could go to the Almo - and then once we got inside he just wanted to leave! Silly boy. He did, however, LOVE all of the maps on the displays outside the building. We couldn't get him to leave...

Sunday Fun

We love Sundays because Daddy doesn't study!! We had lots of fun playing (and going to church, of course). We decided to get out our Halloween costumes and had some fun...

After dinner we were planning on carving pumpkins (or "punkpins" as James calls them) but we were sleepy. We ended up drawing on them with markers and had lots of fun! Our favorite was when Annie and I drew each other's faces on opposite sides of a pumpkin, then turned it around to see the end result - pretty much the funniest thing ever.

Annie's drawing of me:

My drawing of Annie:

Then I drew Jonathan:

And Jonathan drew me:

We had tons of fun! We also played with trains and toys a LOT, watched movies, ate yummy food, and just had a great time being together. We are so glad Annie came to visit!

So my brother is pretty much awesome.

2010-10-12T22:14:00.000-06:00

My brother made this amazing video. Even though I don't get any of the inside jokes it is still amazingly awesome to watch. And it makes me think back fondly on my college days of prank wars (think cold, cooked pasta in someone's bed and 12-seater vans filled to the brim with newspaper) and living in the dorms...ahh, good times. Gotta love it :)

I'm from out of state.

2010-10-12T08:33:00.000-06:00

As I was just on the phone with the drivers license division in San Antonio, the woman asked me what county I lived in. "Bexar" I told her. "Bear?" No, "Bexar." "Yeah, it's pronounced Bear. You must be from out of town."

You learn something new every day!

Raymond Rimkus Park

2010-10-11T20:18:00.000-06:00

I just love seeing the joy in my little boy's eyes when his Daddy is done with studying for the day and it's time to play. Mommy is pretty fun, of course, but nobody is as fun as Daddy.

On Friday after school, after a long couple of long weeks of tests, we took Daddy to one of our new favorite places - Raymond Rimkus Park. Yes, that is its name.

James was so excited to show his Daddy this fun place.

He was nearly bursting with pride as he said, "come on!" and led the way (because he had already been there two or three times, so of course he was an old pro).

We went exploring through the trees. We played on the playground. We had to sit at all the different picnic benches, just to try them out. I think next time we'll take our lunch.

What a nice boy we've got.

And oh, there's that silly smile again...