Car Seats and Hot Chocolate

It's been a really fun month so far and although it's been brutally cold lately, we are enjoying the Christmas season.
Luke is starting to get used to the idea that there is going to be another baby in the house soon.  Actually, I'm sure he has no idea what lies ahead, but he points to Mommy's tummy and says, "baby".  We pulled out our baby car seat for my brother to borrow over the holidays and Luke thinks it is a lot of fun.  I remember the day we brought him home in this car seat at a whopping 4 lbs 13 oz.  This car seat drowned him then.  I guess he's grown a little bit.

Ever since Luke got his last eye tooth he has been SO happy. He just plays and doesn't need me to entertain him all day long. One thing Luke LOVES is books.  He's always bringing them to me wanted to read.  Well, the other day, I walked into his room and found this.  He climbed up there all by himself, 
got all cozy and started to read.  Of course, I had to run and grab my camera.  He's also started to figure out the whole smile at the camera idea.  You can see him saying "cheese" in the one shot.

And, as always with cold weather, Brandon loves to break out the hot chocolate.  And there's nothing Luke loves more than sharing a hot chocolate with his Dad. I wish he would stay this little forever.  It's going to be a sad day when he doesn't think it's fun to hang out with Mom and Dad anymore.  But for now, we'll just soak it up as much as we can.

Merry Christmas, Yo!

Candice is very excited about sending our real Christmas cards this year and I will shamefully admit that I have not shared her enthusiasm. For those of you who still have limitless paper in a paperless world, I suppose you can look forward to a 2-D, still-photo greeting card with our warmest holiday salutations expressed by a fancy signature and some cute Gibb Family Christmas prose. However, snail mail still costs money and gathering addresses of everyone is a daunting task so I regret to inform you that even our closest friends and relatives might not have the pleasure hanging our photo on their refrigerator for a year--that does not mean we don't care about you, it just means we can't afford the rising price of nineteenth century friendship. So, instead of reaching out and warming your heart with a letter in your mail box, we have decided to express our fondest Christmas wishes to everyone who cares to receive them in the form of a get-up-and-make-you-feel-like-spreading-holiday-groove shout out. Merry Christmas Everyone! Tis' the Season to bust-a-move. (Make sure your volume is turned up)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Seriously, I don't even know who reads this blog these days, but for those of you who do, thanks for being interested in our lives. We are thankful for friends who make life Merry, whether we see you often or have not seen you since the interweb was invented. The fact that we can wish all of you a Merry Christmas without a single postage stamp is the truest kind of Christmas Miracle :)

Big Boy Bed

I'm getting close to putting Luke into a big boy bed.  Well, actually I'm delaying as long as possible.  Bedtime and naptime are SO easy right now.  I think I'm still going to wait until after Christmas to make the switch.  However, this week I just finished making this quilt for his new bed.  I'm so excited about it and hopefully he will love it.  He's not really into movies yet, but I'm counting on him liking Lightning McQueen when he does get into them.  Anyway, here's a picture.  I'm so proud of myself. :)

Baking Contest

So, I entered a recipe in this online baking challenge and need lots of votes.  So if you check my blog, and you have nothing better to do, will you please go to this link:

http://www.bakingchallenge.ca/recipes/6da37dd314b/

and rate my recipe Crescent Cheesecake Squares - make sure you give me 5 stars (trust me it deserves them).

You can only rate it once per day.  I know there's not a chance in the world that will win, but it's still fun to try.

P.S. Brandon is  making me clarify that I got this recipe from someone else (I made some minor modifications).  He just doesn't want me taking any undue credit.  :)

Mamma and Bappa

We spent the last week in Calgary while Brandon was taking a course as part of his articling year.  It was so nice to have family there that we could stay with.  It wouldn't have been fun to stay in a hotel for a week.  Luke LOVES his Grandma and Grandpa.  All week all you could hear throughout the house was "Mamma" and "Bappa".  He would watch out the window at night waiting for Grandpa to get home and then followed him around the house wherever he went.  It's interesting how he just has a natural love for his Grandparents.  I went to Lethbridge with my Mom the other day and everytime we got out of the car and tell him to hold me hand and he'd say, "No, Mamma".

We got to spend Halloween in Calgary this year and it was pretty fun.  Here's the best picture I got of Luke in his costume.  Sad I know, but he would NOT sit still for more that 2 seconds.  This is the little scarecrow costume I made for him.  Nothing fancy I know, but not bad for a first.  There was a cute little hat that went with it that he REFUSED to wear.  Oh well.  He still had fun trick-or-treating with his cousin Mylee.  He didn't really get that people were putting candy in his bucket.  He just thought it was fun to run up to their doors and bang on them.   At one house  there was a lady with a big popcorn bowl of suckers (He's very familiar with suckers... they've saved me in plenty of grocery stores) and he got really excited about that.  When she held the bowl down where he could see into it his eyes got really big and he went, "Oooooooohhhhh"!  
The other day I took Luke out in his gum boots to splash in the puddles after it had rained.  He thought that was pretty fun.  The only problem is that now he thinks he can splash in all puddles, gum boots or not.  I changed a few pairs of soaking wet shoes and socks this fall.
While we were at Grandma's house last week it was so nice out we decided to get some fresh air and rake up the leaves.  Well, I raked up the leaves and Luke scattered them around.  I love autumn.  I wish it was a longer season than it is.  

We had a fun week, but it's also nice to be home.  Luke didn't sleep great up there and it's nice to be back in our own beds.  

I've been feeling the baby kick a lot more this week so it's starting to become more of a reality everyday.  The pushed my due date back 5 days at my ultrasound so instead of today being my 5 month mark, I have to wait until Sunday.  But at least everything looked healthy and normal.  We're really praying that we finally get that textbook pregnancy this time around.  So far so good.  We've finally started agreeing on some names, but I'm sure we'll change our minds a hundred more times before March.  It sounds so far away, but 4 months goes fast.  The baby will be here before we know it.

Everyday life

I feel like it's been so long since I posted anything on here.  Nothing too exciting to write about, just everyday life.  The picture above comes with a cute story though.  The other day Brandon turned on the shower to let the water get warm, and then went into our room to get his things.  When he came back into the bathroom Luke was standing in the shower fully clothed, having a great time.

We had a great thanksgiving this year.  Brandon flew down to Vegas to go to a BYU football game with some of his good friends.  They had a good time, even though it was a quick trip for him.  Luke and I went and stayed at his Grandma's for the weekend and had a lot of fun with family.  We ate lots of turkey (well Luke didn't, but I did) and played with the cousins.  

These are the "WALL-E" masks that Brandon made for my niece and nephews.  I especially love Natalee's robot hands.  Apparently Logan is saving his in his closet for his halloween costume.

Luke is getting really attached to TV.  Every morning as soon as he's done his breakfast he runs to the living room and says, "Dori, Dori, D

ori" (Dora the Explorer).  We've had a pretty miserable couple of weeks.  He's been fighting an eye tooth, and has had some trouble sleeping.  But it finally broke through 2 days ago and he's been sleeping again.  One down, three more to go.  To top it all off, both of us have had BRUTAL colds this week.  I had a full week of appointments booked this week and canceled every one.  But, we are over the worst so things are looking up.

Some good news... I've finally started feeling the baby kick.  I've been thinking I have for a couple of days now, but last night as I was falling asleep there was some definite kickage going on.  So fun.  Even though we aren't finding out what it is, I think it's a girl.  I don't know if that's because I have a maternal instinct, or if that's just what I want it to be.  We shall see in another 4.5 months! 

Can't wait for Halloween

September has been a crazy month.  I finally forced myself to take Luke's soother away.  I was absolutely terrified to do it, but, it actually wasn't that bad.  He adjusted really quickly.  It makes me braver to change other things about the routine.  We've put a mattress in our third bedroom and I just need to make a quilt for it before we make the change from crib to bed.  The other day I took Luke into get his 18 month shots.  He did pretty well.  They had me fill out this little questionnaire that basically allowed them to compare his development to every other 18 month old in Alberta.  I'm kind of getting tired of all this comparing.  Anyway, one of the questions asked if he had started forming "sentences" yet.  Things like, "my toy" or "go outside".  I had to mark no.  He's saying a lot of words, but definitely wasn't putting then together.    Literally, the next day, I was putting him into the car in the morning and it was pretty chilly.  I handed him a book that was in the car and he said, "book cold"!!!  Then, later that day when Brandon pulled up from work he said, "Daddy car".  So, whew, I guess he's not behind after all. 

I came into the kitchen today to find Luke helping himself to some peaches.  Whenever I put fruit into the bowl and leave it on the table, he finds his way to it.  And then proceeds to take 4 bites out of each piece of fruit.  I had 3 peaches in the bowl and he found all 3 of them (notice the one he put back into the bowl).

He thought he was pretty funny.  It made quite the mess, but it's sure fun being a little boy isn't it?

I was inspired by my friend Danielle to try making Luke a halloween costume this year.  It's almost done and I'm SO excited about it.  I had a dream last night, or I guess I should say nightmare, that halloween was changed to Sept. 30 this year and no one told me.  So we missed it and Luke didn't get to wear his costume.  Not that he would be too sad about that.  He cries every time I make him try it on.  It's a scarecrow costume from the Wizard of Oz.  Basically I went to the store and tried to find the most simple and basic costume I could.  I still feel extremely ambitious anyways.     

09/09/09

I almost didn't notice that today was 09/09/09.  And in honor of the special occasion, I guess it's time to spread the news...

It's official!  We're having another baby.  The stork will be dropping him/her off around March 16.  

New House

This first picture isn't of our new house.  I wish we had a piano.  This is just a cute picture of Luke playing the piano with Grandma.  He sure misses Grandma's house.  She has way better toys than we do.
Brandon's brother Justin and his wife Leah came down this weekend to do a little camping and watch the BYU game.  It was really fun to have company!  We had a campfire and cooked tin foil dinners and then they slept in a tent while we slept inside.  I know, we are big wimps.  If I'm going to go camping, it has to be somewhere very far away from the house where I don't have the option of going in to a nice comfortable bed when I wake up cold at 1:00 in the morning.  The temptation is too great for me.   Justin and Leah are troopers though.  They stayed out all night.  It was really fun to have them around this weekend.  And to top it all off, the cougars WON!  So, Brandon has been in an ultra good mood since then.  Luke was really into the game as well... so long as there were treats to eat.  I didn't even realize until after taking this picture that he was wearing RED socks! 

I've had a few people ask for pictures of the farmhouse.  Here they are.  It's turned out really cute and we are enjoying living here.  I'm sure there were a lot of people with some different mental images when we said we were moving into the farmhouse.  But, it's a great little place.  


I love the kitchen.  I know it's not huge, but it's much bigger than our kitchen in Edmonton.  I don't even have to stack my pots and pans on top of each other.  I can just place each one in the drawer in their own spot.  It's great!

Ignore the fly tape in this picture.  We learned very quickly that flies come along with living on a farm.  We're not complaining though.  The fly tape works great... as long as you can stand looking at it everyday.  It's better than having flies in your food.

Luke's a BIG boy!

Since Luke is my first child I don't really have another one to compare him to, but I'm pretty sure that he is extremely independent and stubborn.  He wants to do everything himself, which is nice sometimes, and not so nice others.  He has not let me feed him since the day he learned to hold a spoon.  In addition, he won't let my put a bib anywhere close to his neck.  So, yes, most if his clothes have stains.  Also, he will NOT hold my hand.  If we got for a walk he wants to walk by himself.  It's really sad.  And don't even think about trying to get him to sit in the stroller, he wants to push it.   One thing is for sure thought, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.  He is just like his Dad.  Everyday when Brandon gets home from work Luke wants him to let him drive his car up and down the alley.  He's even learned how to honk the horn and shift the gears.

But, truly, he is getting more and more fun everyday.  I know I've been saying that since the day he was born, but it's really true!  He understands me when I talk to him and he's starting to say words himself.  His favourite word... Ball.  That kid can spot a ball from a mile away.  But he's also learning to say "need more" (as in food) and "Grandma" and "Grandpa".   What other words do you need to know, really?

Luke's second love, next to driving... freezies. He can eat one faster than Brandon or I can.  The other day he got brain freeze from eating one so fast, which was really funny, but also really sad.  He didn't know what was going on.  He's sure having fun with his cousins this summer.
Here's a shot of him on top of Bear's Hump in Waterton.  Walking stick and all.  Man this little boy has me wrapped around his little finger.  

Even MORE summer fun

We have had a busy week and I have a ton of pictures to go with all the fun we've been having.  We haven't moved into the farmhouse yet, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks.  We are hoping to start painting soon.  

Even though we haven't moved there yet, we head out there almost daily for some reason or another.  I decided to plant some strawberries out there so that next summer we will have some.  So, I've been trying to go out once a day to water them.  My family was all in town last week and we took at trip out with Grandpa to ride the horses.  I missed the part below but apparently Luke was laughing every time the horse would eat the grass out of his hand.  He sure is growing up fast.

Since the entire family was together on Sunday we decided it was a good time to take a family picture.  And I insisted that we take a picture of just our family too.  I really like the one on the left because it looks like Luke is glaring at Brandon.


Friday, the 3rd was the 6-year anniversary of when my brother passed away, so we went up to Waterton for the day to spend some time together.  I love waterton.  It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time.  Brandon still had to work, so he couldn't be there, but we missed him.  We hiked up Bertha Falls and I was so proud of myself for carrying Luke the entire way.   He stayed awake until the very end and then had a 15 minute nap and my back.  




It was also my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary on saturday, so we got to see all the cousins.  It was a lot of fun and it's really made me think about how much I love my grandparents.  They such good people and such great examples to me.  I'm so blessed.

Summer Fun

Well, we've been having a real fun summer so far.  Luke loves playing outdoors and exploring new things.  The other night right before bedtime Grandpa pulled out the lawnmower.  I thought it would be cute to let him ride with him for a minute and take a few pictures before carrying him off to bed.  Well, I couldn't peel him off that lawnmower after that.  So, he got to stay up an hour late and mow the lawn with Grandpa.  Luckily Grandpa had some extra ear protection for him to wear.
It's been pretty hot lately, and I've been filling up a little kiddie pool for Luke to play in everyday.  He loves to play in it, but once he's done, he doesn't like having wet clothes.  So, the other day instead of going inside to get him dry clothes I just let him play without his shirt on.  He thought that was pretty fun.
He has to wear this hat everytime he's out in the sun.  This is the only one I have with a strap so that he can't take it off.  I just can't bring myself to rub sunscreen through his hair.  If he actually had enough that it blocked a little sun it wouldn't be so bad, but when you only have about 4 hairs on your entire head, you're likely going to get a sunburn.
Luke had a really exciting day yesterday.  He learned 3 new things.  We were over at his cousins house and he watched them climb up the ladder on their bunk bed a few times.  Once he figured out how they did it he went over and climbed up to the top.  He was so proud of himself and grinned from ear to ear once he got to the top.

Later that day we made a trip out to the farm and Grandpa saddled up the horse and gave him a ride.  There are some pictures on my brothers camera that I will post when I get them.   He wasn't scared one bit and loved to pet his nose. 

Then, his Uncle Benson pulled out his dirtbike and gave Luke a little ride around the yard.  He sure thought that was fun.  He had a pretty fun day and went to bed REALLY good that night.  It sure is fun being a little boy.

Graduation

We decided to head up to Edmonton last weekend to go to Brandon's graduation.  Actually, the truth is I forced him to go.  He didn't think it was worth it, but I did.  You only graduate from Law School once, and I'm really proud of him for doing it.  So, in the end I won and we made the long voyage up to Edmonton one more time.  It was great and it totally took me back to my own graduation and how excited I was.  I got goosebumps several times throughout the ceremony.
Brandon's parents drove up from Calgary for the ceremony.  It was nice to have them there.  Luke especially liked having Grandpa around to give him pop and cookies.  I have been looking everywhere for a little tie for Luke, and haven't been able to find one.   We stayed with some friends while we were up there and they had one they let us borrow.  I was really excited because he looked so sharp in his white shirt and tie.It doesn't look that cold in this picture, but it was.  In fact, we came back down to Calgary for the remainder of the weekend and it snowed.  Seriously.  June 6th and it was dumping outside.  So much for growing a garden this year.
Anyway, it was a fun trip.  Lot's of driving, but we had a good time together.  I love my little family.

Moab and May

May has been a crazy month and I've been meaning to update our blog for a few weeks now.  At the end of April Brandon graduated from law school, and we packed up and moved out of our little condo.  It was a good place to us and we are really glad that we had such a great place to live in for the last 3 years.  The picture above is Luke helping out with the packing.  His little world has been turned upside down in the last month.  The picture below is one of the last ones we took at our place.  I know... the view from our balcony is fantastic!

Right after Brandon's last test we left Luke with his Grandma Gibb and headed down to Utah for a little celebration getaway.  It was our first time leaving Luke so it was a little tough, but he did pretty well from what Grandma says.  While we were gone he got 3 knew teeth, so she could be just telling us that to make us feel better.  Anyway, we stayed a few nights and Brandon's sister Sonya's house in Orem and had a fun time with her 4 kids.  Utah is so beautiful and the whole time we were there we were wondering why we don't live there.  It didn't help that we left Canada with snow on the ground still.
What is a trip to Utah without a stop at Krispy Kreme?  We got some hats and had a little party with the Brimhalls.    

Next we headed down to Moab for about 4 days to do some mountain biking.  It was SO much FUN!  Anyone who has ever been there will know what I'm talking about.  We had a great time down there and can't wait to go back one day.  

The famous slickrock bike trail.  I was a little nervous before we rode this because we heard that it is a pretty hard ride.  And even though I did get off my bike and walk several times, it was still amazing.  I didn't fall, although Brandon did have a few battle wounds.  He actually ended up cutting his ankle pretty bad and got about 3 stitches.  But, it I'm sure he would say it was well worth it.

Catching a breather at the top of one of our trails.  Did I mention the weather was GORGEOUS in Moab.  It was about 30 degrees everyday, without and clouds or wind all day long.  We were in heaven.  

One of the days we took a break from biking (our butts were pretty sore) and Brandon rented some 4-wheelers with one of his friends that met us there.  They had a good time and he's still talking about it.  I, of course, had a great time back at our condo taking a nap.

When we got back we spent a few more days with Brandon's parents.  I decided it was time for Luke to get his first haircut.  Not that he has a lot of hair, as you can see, but he had a little tuff in the back that was about 1 1/2 inches long that needed to go.  He sat really still and was a really good boy.

Could he be and cuter?

Now we are back in Barnwell at my parents house for a few mores weeks.  Brandon has started work and is really enjoying it.  It's weird to think that we are finally settling down.  We haven't lived in one place for more that eight months at a time since we got married, so it will be a little different for us.
Luke it growing up so fast now.  He's 15 months and walking like crazy.  He's starting to communicate with me which has been really nice.  He waves bye bye and jabbers all day long in his little baby language.  My favourite thing that he does right now is at bedtime.  I feed him his bottle and then give him his soother and blanky and put him in his crib.  He looks up at me with his big blue eyes and waves bye bye to me.  When I wave back he smiles and rolls over and goes to sleep.  It's SO cute.  I wish I could get a video of it.  I hope I remember the little things like that in 30 years when my kids are grown.