Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Pictures for dad...

Matthew is the new manager of the VRS center in Boise. He tells me that his office is bare of anything personal and he would like pictures of the family to help personalize it. I'll have to take his word for it since I cant' even enter the center due to the FCC regulations... whatever-
So, without a formal sitting arranged- and there won't be one until I like my hair... I decided to take the girls out and take some pictures of them at some of the places here in town. I don't have a fancy camera, and it wasn't the right time of day, but they turned out okay. Here are some of the pictures we took. I'd like to take them back at sunset so that the sun isn't in their eyes so much.... but in the mean time....
I had a few of them printed in 8x8's and 8x10's and those were a part of his Father's Day gift. I think he liked them, and I'm glad to have a few decent, updated pictures of the girls, no matter how, where, or what camera they were taken with...





















I love my pretty little girls! How blessed we are to have them!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Let's start with Splenda...


Remember how I said that most blogs are all sugar and spice and everything nice? Well, I'm up for a little splenda... baby steps, right?
I have a million of these pictures with the smooch (Maesyn) in the swing with her head covered- she loves to sleep with her head covered- if she is really tired she settles right down as soon as you throw a blanket over her head... anyway- here she is sleeping like a lil' angel!

This is today before conference. She wouldn't smile, but I think we can read her mind.... she's wondering how edible her dress is.... I think it wasn't very... but she's nothing if not determined!







Yesterday my swing died. It totally stopped even trying to be a swing... so we have grandmas here right now- I'll have to go and buy another tomorrow at the 2nd hand store- this is as current as pictures get- she is sleeping like this right now- so funny.... (at least she's sleeping!!!)












Here is Aunt Marie's travel swing that we borrowed too- I really need a swing! What did people do without them? ... crazy...
Okay- there's a happier entry. Hope you are all well!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

No holds barred...

Most blogs are are happy and fluffy and full of sunshine... this one isn't...... probably because I feel like screaming, hollering, bawling, and breaking things at the moment... anyway.... read on if you dare- but this one is really for me to vent and nothing more.

Kay- sometimes I really think about what I blog, " will it hurt _________'s feelings, or offend so-n-so? Reveal that I am indeed psychotic?"... well to he *& with all of that. I feel like I'm in melt down mode and I"m gonna type about it! Stop reading now if you think you might be offended or think, "gee, I wonder if she means me..." ... I don't- I don't mean anyone in particular- I'm just typing in general.

Lately I've been thinking about high school. Those feelings never go away. I don't know what your high school experience was, but mine was full of a feeling of inadequacy and general failure. I got good grades- that's not what I'm talking about- but socially I felt like, "I'm not pretty enough, not thin enough, I have zits (eeeeK! still sometimes at 35), I'm not rich enough, or talented enough, I don't drive the right car, I don't know the right thing to say, my fashion sense is all wrong.... I could go on and on... High School was brutal- so was middle school come to think of it.... anyway-

Lately I have been feeling the same way. I've connected with some old friends on face book and I think- "oh, crap... they will see that I'm still not 'enough'...." There were a handful of friends who were really that, friends- and i know that we could just pick up again and carry on- but not many!

My house isn't clean enough (and what's more people walk on it it when I'm not home and so they see whatever mess I thought, "I"ll do that when I get back"), my kids aren't presentable enough and haven't' learned to clean very well, I failed at nursing Maesyn-(I'm reminded by those close to me that she gave up on me, not the other way around... but still, I'm a nurser!!!! through and through! Heck- when I was pumping I literally cried over spilled milk because it was that much that she wouldn't get from me!), I'm ever gaining weight, and what's more-I despise working out! (so I don't do it... but I have goals!... I watch "the biggest loser" and hope it will rub off...)

I yell at my kids, my laundry is wrinkled, my work overwhelms me (well not work exactly- but balancing work and home), and my 5 mo old makes me crazy when she cries! I live in sweats, watch too much TV- I don't spend enough time with my family- I chronically worry that something will happen to my mom or dad and I'll regret that I lived so close and saw them so little...; I'm a poor money manager; I get resentful that I do what I do and I feel like the gender inequality is glaring! I work too, I mother (if badly), I do laundry, wash, fold, and put away; I vacuum, clean toilets, figure out dinner- sorta, pay bills, balance accounts, worry about other accounts that aren't perfect; and take out the trash, and make sure the kids have clothes that fit and are in season... (just off the top of my head... and then I'm suppose to be the molly mo-mo who is ready at a moments notice to run to the aid of another in need?... I struggle with that!) I missed church on Easter Sunday and, on that note, in family prayer the night before my kids went on and on about candy, eggs, and bunnies..... we really missed the boat!!!!! (don't worry, we had a long talk about the real reason for Easter)

I let my kids watch too much TV, I don't help enough with their homework, McKenna has a learning issue- I could probably fix it if I spent enough time... Bills are sometimes late, taxes are not filed... for like years!!! I don't call my siblings enough because i don't know what to talk to them about and then I'm just uncomfortable (I hate the phone to start with and the discomfort only heightens that... but I need to talk to them more often than I do- about more than I do... )

I don't think about dinner until the last minute, and then it's sometimes crap... am I the only mom who lets her kids eat Raman noodles? absolutely no nutrition there!!! I don't leave the house enough to do normal running around things- even groceries wait until the very last minute and are usually gotten on my way home from work... and I think I have some social anxiety...

My mother-in-law tells me the things my baby likes and dislikes (things I do that she- the baby- doesn't like...) and knows what is best for her always... I just feel like a colossal failure!!!

I need to have a whopping good cry, and the topper is that none of this matters! I need to stop obsessing and just get over it! I realize that frustration is a tool of the devil- dang the devil!!! But sometimes it just boils up and over and I can no longer contain it! No one ever says these things, so maybe I'm the only one- but if I'm not, and you sometimes feel the same- now that you've read this you can rest assured that you are not psychotic, or if you are you are in decent company-

So many blogs are all about the good things and how well everything is going... well right now i can't muster that up- so you are getting pure truth.... I have a crying baby to challenge me now, so I'm going to pack her up and run to H&R Block to file an extension paper thingy and call it good..... Feel good about your lives and hopefully when your dad says, "call over some friends to play cards with" you can say, "yeah, I have some!" because all I could think of was, "I don't have any, if I don't play with family, I don't play.....K, the kid is still crying and I'm not proofing this- it is a jumbled mess of complaints and self pity- I know that-= and if you are going to criticize me for that, well then, the next time you are feeling bad about yourself, I hope you remember that. I think you are all wonderful- but I needed to pound the keyboard for a minute and not worry what anyone would think or say......... Have a good day- Oh- and happy April 15th... I'm sure that is helping!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Squash, and not the game~!

Well, it doesn't get fresher, newer, or more "hot-off-the-press" than this! Even the pictures are in reverse order! Maesyn tried Squash tonight... seemed to like it. The other girls couldn't stand to not be a part of it, so they are up on the counter and dad has the cam.....

Here she is post facto...



Look how intense I am trying to get her to eat it... like it's going to help! Ha!


She really did eat pretty well... must have been all of the cheerleaders!


Her first bite she made a great face... this is one of the next bites- she really did well! Thank heaven for bibs!!!!!! ... and bumbos!!!!!
Well... it's midnight and Mae is finally asleep in the swing. I'm off to bed! Last night I didn't even hear her and Matthew had to get her! He's so good... and DANG if I'm not exhausted!!! I think he even said I snored! Gonna hit the hay!

Egg Hunt 09'


At our House the Easter Bunny hides the baskets and the kids find them Easter morning. Here is McKenna finding here loot..... they had looked in this messy pantry 3 times before seeing it! ...... wahhhh! I miss my l old pantry!

Here is Jocilyn finding hers. As you can see, We don't really "get ready" for the morning before the holiday starts... same with Christmas... oh, well.


We went to Matthew's parents for the egg hunt- here is everyone waiting to go out and start... Matthew was determined that Mae would hunt also! It was very cute!



I love to get a pic of each girl actually picking up an egg...




One of the plastic eggs Kenna found had $5 in it!!!! She keeps offering now to buy McDonalds for dinner now!





Mae and Matthew found some good stuff too! I think they ended up with 4 or 5 eggs- it was the principle of the thing!





Final goods- they each did well- after all- they are Gibbens, it must be in their blood! When I married into this fam, I was told- put on your runnin' shoes for the Egg hunt! It's serious competition!








I do not yet have pics of the girls in their Easter Dresses- they will come... Hope you all had a great Easter! Ours was one full of family and food- by 11 p.m. i was fairly certain that I was still full from breakfast! ugh!

Easter


Easter egg coloring fun! It seems that usually we do this with cousins or aunts and uncles... but not this year- -we were on our own- but the girls were excited (Kenna forgot to tell her face)- but they had a lot of fun, I think.




Here's how I helped- Daddy spearheaded this project. We did it Saturday and I had worked from 4 a.m to 5 p.m- so I came hope and took over baby duty while he helped get the eggs just right! This year we used a kit that had "gold' in it- so there was no doubt at the egg hunt which eggs were ours!




More baby duty... man, I look like poop at the end of my day!

Maesyn's first feast!

It's that time!!! Time to introduce food to the be-be! It use to be that you absolutely waited until 6 mos for rice cereal and juice... not anymore! My pediatrician says that grandmas everywhere are vindicated!!! Anyway here are a couple of snap shots of her experiencing rice cereal. She seemed to like it... messy... but what can we say?


She would always open for a bite- it was tongue control that was the trick... a lot of it came back out...


Very intrigued with the bib... I think that was the favorite part (for both of us- entertainment for her and less clean up for the mama!
Now, I notice that my house looks quite the mess in several of these pics... I've been giving that some thought- does a house ever seem "clean" when you have a baby? There is just so much clutter... bouncy seats, blankets, bumbos, swings, diapers and wipes... it's just insane- don't judge me! That yogurt on the counter is my lunch that day, or at least a snack before i ate a "smart one"... I'm feeling so huge lately... but Maesyn doesn't seem to notice which is comforting- she really does love me anyway, shape, or form... whereas- McKenna keeps telling me I need to loose weight and look like Marie. What she doesn't understand is that I was Marie's size in middle school- IF i WAS Lucky!!!! Any-who... here are some new pics!!! Hope you are all well and wonderful!!!!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Could be worse!

If you think you are having a bad day, here is something to ponder....

I have a patient who set himself on fire, not once but twice today while smoking with his oxygen on..... beat that one..... yup.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Hair today, gone tomorrow...

Okay, so I started this post in early March- I uploaded some pics and that's as far as it got... so for the sake of posting some things- here are the pics!

For those of you who know Matthew, he doesn't love for his girls to cut their hair (with the exception of me because he's learned that I'm going to do that no matter what!) Anyway, he hasn't let anyone cut the girls hair except for his sister, who went to school for it- and even then, only a little trim. I have to admit that sometimes this has been nice. Long hair, while it can be difficult- is very versatile. Anyway- I recently cut mine and both Jocilyn and McKenna were dying to cut theirs and have a "summer cut" like moms. So here we are at the salon... McKenna's before pic.....


Here are both girls afterward at the house- I started this post on the desk top and I'm currently on the lap top, so i cant' change what pics are in here or add different before and afters... I'll do that later... but here you get an idea anyway... and a new-ish post- so stop your griping!... just kidding!



Here is Jocilyn after her cut- she had a LOT of hair- and I really do like her hair long- I wish on her that we'd never, ever, ever cut it- it would be awesome... but it's been cut a few times. I guess you have to do that- and it's what she wanted- and it's something that is pretty maintenance free, she usually does it herself for school, which is nice.




Here is mine... the girls did it one night and I loved it so much that I snapped a self portrait!!!





This is just so that you can see just how much "ooomph" they got going on in the back! (don't mind the bug-eyes!!!!
Well, that's it for now.
I did download some of the Easter pics to this computer and I'm up with Maesyn... so there is another post to come... I know! Can you stand it?!!?!?

They say funny stuff!

Here are a few things the kids have said that I just thought were cute/funny.

1. We were having pork for dinner one night and the girls were not thrilled with the way I cooked it.
kid, "I don't like this chicken"
Mom, "It isn't chicken, we are trying to eat other meats, this one is pork"
McKenna, "OH! Speaking of pork, dad loves lamb chops!"

2. Matthew asked me to pause a program on TV...
McKenna, (in a very administrative assistant tone)"mom, can you pause that for dad he says?"
Mom, "okay little helper, how cute are you?"
McKenna, "Oh, I don't know, about 98% cute..."

3. I am the biggest home body you'll ever meet. I hate going out with the kids, and especially I hate the freeway here. So the other day I took all of the kids with me to pick up Matthew from the airport... We were on the freeway and finally the kids asked- "Mom, why do you keep looking back here?" (I was looking whenever I changed lanes... guess they don't drive with me enough....)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Maesyn's Blessing

On Sunday February 1st we blessed Maesyn Marie in our ward. The blessing was very nice, her dad did it. Standing in were Grandpa's LeGrand and Carl, Uncles- Travis, Jeremy, and Todd. Some of the points of the blessing were: - to be a leader among her peers -to find and marry a worthy young man in the temple - that she and her mom will have a "special" bond/relationship - it was noted that we have waited a long time to welcome her into our family and we are so glad that she is here.
After the blessing we had a combined family lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Gibbens house. GM and GP Dianne and LeGrand couldn't come to the dinner because GM has been really sick lately. But it was nice that Uncle Westen and Heath came to the blessing with their families as well as those families who participated in the blessing. We missed the aunts and uncles who couldn't be there with our family- distance is frustrating sometimes.
Here is a little family picture right after sacrament meeting.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Going for our 1st walk...

I've realized that I need to get out and get some fresh air... not to mention exercise. So I went on Craigs list and found a stroller that would work and help keep the little peanut warm in this frosty weather and off we trotted.
McKenna and Jocilyn helped us explore our new neighborhood with our new wheels. We liked our walk, even though it was cold to those of us not totally bundled in the stroller (at least I was chilly).
Near the end of the walk she was fussing and so we ended it earlier than I would've liked because I couldn't be sure that she wasn't cold. So we went home and she found happy again...
Here's a shot at the old house- the door was open so much with the in and out of boxes, that she had to stay pretty bundled. Well, she's calling for me from her swing- she calls for me a lot lately. I'm having to remind myself that this is her only language- it's noisy and gets old fast- but I keep responding to it!
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Saturday, January 24, 2009

A million posts while packing... I'm never this productive

These pics were taken when we came up to look at houses in Oct. 2005. They are pics of the house when it was new, empty and clean... now I'm packing it up trying to get it to the empty stage again- I hate packing... but today I've gotten a lot of blogging done because I'll set the computer to upload some pics and then come back and type a note and upload more- so there are a lot of new posts and a picture or two added to the Christmas post to show my little prisoners... enjoy! I can't wait to be totally moved and settled again... did I mention that I hate packing?


My Laundry room is one of the next projects...






Worked on the kitchen today, it looks strange devoid of decor...




Master bath- thanks for your help in all of this mom!
So there you have a couple of pics to know what house I"m packing up... I'll post some of the house we're moving to soon- I took a couple of pics when we signed on it.

Mae

This is what she wore yesterday- it's her first 3 mo outfit.... look at her "skretch!"
She is getting interactive- lots of smiles, especially in the morning, sweet girl.
She helps me with the laundry- it will be nice in the next house when the laundry room is down stairs- I know a lot of folks hate that, but I think I'll really enjoy it.
We love our headbands. I need to take more pics- I've taken adult bands and then put in a matching or contrasting ribbon to tighten it up, cute. This is one of my favorite outfits- red and green.
Peaceful sleeper- she does so good. Typically I get a good 6 hour or so stretch out of her at night, can't complain about that.
She's been such a blessing in our home. We will bless her on fast Sunday next month.




About Us

Tuvalu
Matthew and Patricia have been married 9 years in December 07'. We have 2 beautiful girls Jocilyn (6) and McKenna (4). Please enjoy our bloggity!