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.

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!

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.

Random pictures from the last month or so...

I just hate it when the "feet" of the jamma's don't stay in the right place... so we fix it with hair bands (don't worry... they're not too tight)
Isn't this just the most stylish daddy you've ever seen?
If I could draw a devil, I would've...
We had a sleepover with cousins here. It started out with Kenna and Gwennie here on the "shag-nasty"... and ended up with sisters side by side- and they say they want separate ROOMS?... hmmmm.... Jocilyn and Hunter started out on the twin mattress in separate sleeping bags... ended up that siblings were together, isn't that sweet? It was a fun treat to have them- I'm glad we waited until a night when uncle Matthew was home to help though, because not one of them slept through the night without some sort of incident. Family is good.

There are 3 new posts, one per child...

Toothfairy in town

Jocilyn is my kid. By the time I was 3 I had something like 6 cavities at my first dental visit (mom, correct me if I'm wrong...). Joc has had more dental work than any of my other kids- so far Maesyn has been perfect! She's had to have a couple of extractions to make room for other teeth and also one or two just because we were beyond saving the tooth- so she has a space saving retainer in her mouth- in this pic you can also see a silver capped tooth in the back top left of her mouth. Anyway, she has really started losing teeth on her own. She lost her right front tooth around Christmas and the left has been getting looser and looser- last night she was able to pull it. Matthew thinks I'm hitting her or something (just kidding) he just didn't realize that they all fall out close together leaving very toothless grins...

Her cousin, Hunter, had gotten pixie/fairy dust when the tooth fairy visited him. So when I rang the tooth fairy I added that as a request on Jocilyn's behalf, she was even willing to take the dust in lieu of money (wow!). I wasn't really very excited about fairy dust because I thought, "yuck, on the sheets? Firstly, what if she breaths it? Secondly, I have to change already clean sheets..." The tooth fairy is clean though, and thoughtful of moms having to change sheets... Here is a pic of how she delivered the dust and money combo- fancy! Jocilyn was thrilled.

Her bottom tow teeth just fill in that gap- looks like very buck teeth (she's ready to play the part of the Easter bunny now!)

The toothfairy left her a note attatched to her money last visit, stitched to her pillow with dental floss. She has very nice, TINY, writing and there was pixie glitter all over the note- it read: "Jocilyn- I'm sorry that I missed you last night. I've been very busy. Please take care of the rest of your teeth. I don't want to come back for any more that the dentist had to pull becuase they were rotten. Brush, brush, brush! Set a good example for your sisters! ... Sincerely, The Tooth Fairy"

... She is very creative- that note has been floating around my house for at least 2 months- so I took a pic and threw it away- paper is my nemesis. Anyway... until the fairy strikes again!