three items for your perusal...

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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!!

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!!