Hey Mom look at me!!!

Alright here is the moment I have been waiting for... announcing the arrival of my new (to me) Honda Odyssey!!!

So it's not the best picture! It was parked in the garage at night-- so that's as good as it gets! It is silver, but a browny silver. We got it this weekend and I love it. Jonny actually loves it too! I'd say it takes a real man to drive one of these Dave! It is so nice to have the room to fit all your kids plus some groceries and then some! My poor Mother though, she had always driven 2 door vehicles up until about what? 10 years ago? She bought her first 4 door vehicle and I remember her calling me and asking if a Dodge Durango would be okay to have because it had 4 doors. So when I had mentioned that I wanted an odyssey I thought she would have a heart attack. I gave her at least a year and a half, maybe even more to get used to the fact that her daughter wanted a minivan. She can now visit and not be stuck in the trunk of the car-- we have a seat in the car for her now! I would like to report that she didn't go into cardiac arrest and may actually ride in my vehicle, paper bag included, I will even cut eyeholes in it!! I have been talking about this odyssey for such a long time, I've done lots of looking and lots of research on them. I had a picture of one hanging on my fridge for maybe even a year just to get Jonny used to seeing one around! We got rid of the poor Xterra, it was a good vehicle, a little heavy on the gas consumption, but I did like it, although probably won't miss it too much!

Quick Story for you: Poor Jonny already having to get used to the fact that the family ride is a shuttle (as he calls it) and not the rugged SUV that it once was. So we were driving home from Houston on Friday night after we got it. We pulled up to a Sonic at about 11:00 at night, we pulled into one of the stations and the girl taking the order said, "Mam would you please pull through the drive through?" Poor Jonny almost started to cry. His first ride in the minivan and he got called a woman!! What men don't drive these things? Well he made the mistake of telling a friend at church and well he told his wife and a few others and now the engineer formerly known as Jonny is now called Mam!!!

Tag you're it!!!

Thanks Kate! I usually don't do these but it sounds fun and you might learn a thing or two and then again you might wish you didn't learn a thing or two (as Jonny would say...)

The Rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog....

1. I have learned to hate mopping and actually like scrubbing my bathrooms, toilets included. Backwards I know...

2. I get so tired at about 8:30 each night and contemplate going to bed that early. Never make it but believe me it sure sounds good!

3. If you would have told me 3 years ago that I would love driving a minivan I probably would have laughed at you and maybe called you a bad name!!!

4. I love my new minivan!!!! Sorry Mom!!!!

5. I actually don't mind waking up a couple of times a night to feed Mia!

6. I can pick up almost anything with my toes!!!

Alright if that brings shame to the Gibson name I am sorry! Well...not really I actually probably fit in better now!! As for tagging someone else, I don't know too many others that have a blog that haven't already been tagged. So... if you want to, send me an email with your answers if you don't blog and if you do, well then go ahead a post your answers if you choose! I would love to hear your answers!!

The many faces of Luke..

This is why I laugh so much!

Luke...can I take your picture?

Yesterday was Luke's first day at his little preschool that a few of us from the ward are doing. As you can see he was very cooperative in letting me document this day. I think I chased him down (which actually then turned into a game) for about 15 minutes and this was pretty much all I had to show for it. This is his new thing lately. If he doesn't want to go somewhere- he runs and hides. Some days it turns into laps around the house and others it is an exercise routine for our lungs as we are doing a lot of talking in various tones and octives! I dropped him off for school and he cried, I had to rush out of there while he was in distress. That is not the fun part of parenting I have to admit. Luke especially is hard to leave crying because of the anguish that is on his face in times like those. But he got through it and I think even had some fun, yoohoo!! We'll try it again next week and see how that goes. I had 2 whole hours to myself, well okay I had Mia, but only having a baby to tote around was wonderful and easy. It was almost like having the time to myself. She pretty much slept the whole time. It was nice to have the peace and simplicity that the one brought but at the same time I have to admit that I was bored! Luke is my comedian and Mckenna asks so many questions that it forces me to be creative in coming up with ways to entertain her as well as answer her questions in a way that a 7 year old will understand. And Mia, my sweet little princess, she is so fun and cute and round and oh my gosh I love having a little one around! I love being a mom! My kids bring me so much joy, a lot of the time, that being a mom is so much fun! I really struggled for awhile with not feeling like I was doing anything with myself, no career or anything. But now I can say I wouldn't want to do anything else, I can see now that the Lord puts great importance on the role of a mother and there is so much responsibility that comes with that. Along with that responsibility comes immeasurable love and joy--most days of course.

I do actually have a lot to report today, okay a lot for a Gibson! Let me start with yesterday. Mckenna had her well check up with her doctor. Most of you wouldn't think that is a big deal, well, let me tell you around here it is. I dread taking her to the doctor. Last year for instance, I had to chase her down and literally drag her in the front doors of the doctors office. She kicked and screamed at the nurses who were just trying to get her weight and heighth. Yeah fun huh? That was a typical doctors visit for the last 7 years. She has pretty severe anxiety issues. I have cried so many tears to try and figure out how to get past that. I am happy to report that yesterday we had no tears, no kicking, no screaming, nothing. Complete cooperation. I was so amazed and shocked. It was awesome. She has started to grow up the past few months and have rarely had those types of meltdowns that were pretty regular last year (kindergaten year.) That makes our day yesterday so amazingly remarkable!!!

Now, thing number two, well this morning we woke up to find standing water in our garage. Fun huh? Turns out that our hot water heater needs replaced. Ouch, that may put a crimp in my car buying timeline! Okay probably not if I have something to say about it!

Event number three... another Gibson is as we speak or blog, trying to make its way into the world today. Serena and Dave are adding to the Gibson family with a baby girl, Maggie Grace--I think. So we are being kept up to date via text message and will look forward to seeing what their creation turns out to look like. Mine all look like Gibsons, as well as the other cousins who are very recognizable as Gibsons! We are excited for them and anxious to hear the news!!

So that is actually a lot going on for us, not the norm, but we will get through it and make it to see what tomorrow brings!!

Word of the day....

And the word is...gastrocolic reflex, oh okay so it's two words. Anyhow if you want the definiton here it is: Gastrocolic reflex causes the digestive system to be active whenever the stomach is full. Okay question...why did you need to know this you ask? Well the answer explains what I do for a great deal of my day. Mia is the sweetest most addicting little baby ever, I love having her around, but she has, as I was reading in my book, this reflex. So, here's how our feedings go. She wakes up with a big diaper, I used to change her first, then I feed her, burp her, she poops, I change her diaper again--after I have waited for a good amount of time thinking she is done right? Wrong. Then she decides she isn't done eating or just needs to go to sleep (bad habit I know) so I feed her again, she is almost asleep to where I could easily move her without her waking up. What happens next you might ask? Yep she poops. So I wake her up, change her, and then wrap her in her blanket, bounce her, pop the binky in her mouth, hold her close, change holding positions a few times all in the attempt to get her back to sleep as quickly as possible before she gets dirty again. That was the routine until I read my book and figured this out. Now she wakes up with a nice big wet diaper I then feed her as much as I can, burp her, she poos, then I change her diaper and her clothes because we just had a blowout, and then either play with her or do the getting-her-to-sleep routine all over again. Each time her feedings/diaper changes end up taking a nice hour (at least) out of my day. This is my life, I'm not complaining by any means just giving ya'll a glimpse of the fun that goes on in my house. This is my life and I happen to just love it, dirty diapers/diaper rash and all!!!

Change

I am going to post a warning-- I guess that would be the best word for it. That being-- if you check this site more than once you will probably discover that it is never the same. I enjoy change (most times) and am trying to figure this whole blog thing out. So far great fun.
This last year has seen a lot of change for us. In November our family size changed from 4 to 5. We don't go many places and we take an extra long time to get there when we do but all in all it has been lots of fun. The other changes, Jonny took and passed his big engineering test and is now able to put his name on projects instead of working under someone and letting them stamp his work. I am very proud of him and apparently he is very proud of himself, as he boldly declares that "P.E.s don't change diapers or P.E.s don't..." That has been great fun finding out what P.E.s don't do, as a result my work load has changed!! (For a little while at least, when I show him what P.E.s will do!) Another contributing factor to the change in mine and Jonny's work load is our new TV(More for me, less for him.) Yep finally made the plunge to High Definiton and DVR. Ahhh the beauty of modern technology! Well, okay I will give him a break, tv is a very big weakness of mine so I won't put all the blame on him, just most of it.
I do have to say that 2007 was good to us and I am looking forward to what 2008 will bring. Hopefully a minivan soon! (hint hint Jonny)

Wow, time sure flys!!!

Well, Christmas has come and gone, so has the new year! I started this blog to keep more updated than once every 2 weeks but so far I haven't succeeded! I will keep trying though. I didn't think that having three kids would be that much of an adjustment, but for some reason I can't get a whole lot done any more. So I guess I would have to say it is an adjustment having three kids. I love them so much. Mia is getting rounder by the day with lots of smiles to accompany the roundness. Luke has turned into a Jedi freak. He loves his little Jedi "dudes" as they are affectionately known. We got a nintendo wii for Chirstmas and made the mistake of getting Luke the star wars lego game. Yeah, he LOVES it and I can't seem to keep him off of it. Who knew I would have to ground my 4 year old from video games? Yikes! Mckenna is loving school and is starting to read really well. She is also really starting to have a desire to learn from the scriptures and about standards, her big thing right now is making sure everything is modest. She is really funny! I can't believe how big all my kids are getting. We did have a great Christmas, it came and went WAY too quickly but it was still good. It was actually fun having Mckenna home from school during the vacation. She was a big help, and her and Luke had a great time together. Now we are back to life as usual, with nothing much happening, just lots of laundry for me and busy times as work for Jonny! Is that the washing machine I hear calling my name? Yep, sure is, better get going!!!