why it's been awhile...

Yeah I know, I usually update this blog like every day or two! The past couple of weeks have been crazy and hard. Last Monday we went to the doctor for what was supposed to be my first prenatal appointment - I was about 8 1/2 weeks pregnant - and when my doctor did an ultrasound we weren't able to see a heartbeat. After more blood work and ultrasounds, we found out that it was, in fact, a miscarriage.

While it is definitely one of the hardest things we have had to deal with, I am so grateful for my sweet husband and family and friends who have been so kind. I have a much greater understanding of and sympathy for what so many women go through, and I have gained such a greater love and appreciation for our dear James.

Our weekend consisted of a lot of waiting around for it to happen, a lot of time spent with my two sweet boys, and a lot of movies and shows to get our mind off of things. James now enjoys Gilmore Girls as much as I do (in fact, Jonathan even watched quite a few episodes with me!) and excitedly says, "Girls?!?" and climbs on my lap when I start a new episode. We are also now newly-addicted to Lost, to which I can credit some crazy dreams about bears and things.

It's hard to move on when you are still waiting for a miscarriage to happen, so it was kind of a rough weekend. Monday I went in for a d&c and we were finally able to have some closure, for which we are so grateful. We are just so grateful for all the sweet phone calls and messages and emails and meals, and are now feeling much better and are ready to move on.

I am so glad that I have two amazing boys in my life! They are just wonderful :) Also on the up-side, I am enjoying my new burst of energy and am finally hoping to for real finish getting us all "moved in" - today I even got some family pictures framed and hung up. Stay tuned for pictures of our new home :)

Gracie

On Saturday my Mom and sisters and I gave a baby shower for my cute cousin Michelle who is finally, after years of trying, having a baby, due next month. They are going to name her Grace. We are just so excited for her and Alex, and we had such fun celebrating with all the Gibbons girls!

Opening gifts...



My cute aunts Suzi and Ruth - Suzi and the Burton ladies all drove down from Boise just for the shower - it was so fun to see them all!


My cousin Emily's baby, Helen Bay ("Ella") Richards, named after my Grandma, Helen Bay Gibbons. What a cute baby!


My cute Mama


Aunt Suzi and sweet Grandma Gibbons


Cousins Lisa and Brookie


Aunt Ruth


Cousin Molly Bay


Molly's adorable little guy, Graham, with Abby


My cousin Emily's cute daughter Addie


Lori's daughter Lizzie


Lori's daughter Emma


James had tons of fun being with all the ladies, but really enjoyed playing with Uncle Josh outside on the deck. Thanks Josh!


Grandma Gibbons


Baby Ella



James is very interested in his 2nd cousin Luke...


Lisa's cute little guy, Luke


My cute cousins Heidi, Lisa (with Luke) and Michelle


My sisters and Mom and I


Michelle with Luke


A whole lot of Gibbons girls! (plus a few little boys...)

So happy for Cheryl and Dave!

I just am so excited that I had to post and congratulate my best buddy Cheryl on the new addition to the Athay family! Amelia Claire Athay was born on Tuesday, May 5 at 10:43 am. She was 7 lb 7 oz and 20 inches long. I haven't seen pictures yet, but I talked to Cheryl and both she and baby are doing great. Her husband Dave is in the Navy and is away for six months, and I so wish I lived closer to Virginia so I could hang out with Cheryl and Amelia! Anyway, we're so happy for you, Cheryl! Love you!

And, for your viewing pleasure, a couple of classic Jen and Cher pictures from high school.

A few random pictures found on my in-laws' camera...

So I found some great pictures on my in-laws' camera and just had to share. These are great.

This picture was taken last October when I was pregnant with James. Look how huge and exhausted I look. Good times.


I am guessing this was on Halloween. Not sure what Anna is supposed to be, but Spencer is that funny Wendy's guy from those Wendy's commercials. I am pretty sure he got this awesome costume idea from my brother-in-law Jeff, so I've gotta give him credit, cuz that is a really funny costume.


Rebecca has the most gorgeous hair, and it looks like they were straightening it. Doesn't she look excited?


Classic Anna face. Getting Anna (and Spencer too, for that matter) to smile naturally for a picture is like pulling teeth.


This is what you get when you grow up on a farm.


The cute Daniel & Bethany Boster family - I love these guys!


Joseph is hard-core.


Funny picture of James, love the eyes.


Jonathan's parents and the huge watermelon they grew in their garden.


The fam weeding the garden. I helped too, I swear - I was just already in the swimming pool when this picture was taken ;)


What makes a farm even more fun on a hot summer day? A swimming pool.


A fun photo shoot they did with Rebecca. She is so cute, I love these pictures!

Baby Shower

Last week my cousin Molly Bay had a baby boy! She wasn't actually due until September, but he came about six weeks early, and we had a baby shower planned for Saturday. Little Graham was still in the NICU, but Molly got to come to the shower and we had so much fun with all the Gibbons and Stoneman girls.

James, Mama, Aunt Ruth, cousin Henry

Abby and James

Kelli, Kayla, Abby and James

"What's wrong with the Bosters?"

While in St. George we went to Snow Canyon and played at the sand dunes there. It was lots of fun and was so pretty there in the evening, we got lots of fun pictures. My family has a running joke about the sand dunes; last year we went there, and Jonathan and I were standing on top of one of the dunes. The rest of the family walked far away to the next huge dune over. Unfortunately, they did not realize how the acoustics worked on the dunes, and Liz said to the rest of the family, in a normal voice, "What's wrong with the Bosters?? They're sure grumpy today," to which I responded "We can hear you."

I can't even remember why/if we were really grumpy that day, but I do know that I was pregnant at the time :) In fact, here is a picture from last year to compare with this year (at the time I thought I was a LOT bigger than I really was):


And here we are this year with our baby! My how your life can change in a year!


We've had a lot of fun with this "What's wrong with the Bosters" joke, but it also kind of backfired on Jonathan and I one night of our trip. We were playing a board game, Diplomacy, where you have to take over countries and you make alliances with people and plot to take other people out (we're kind of nerdy that way). Jonathan and I went to our bedroom to plot against my Dad or somebody, I can't quite remember, and we had this big long conversation - and then we realized that the baby monitor was in the room and was on, and the receiver was in the kitchen, where the rest of the family was. Oops! The moral of this story is, be careful what you say about other people, because they just might hear you!

Anyway, here are some fun pictures of our family at the sand dunes: