the name of the game this week...

...is getting rid of all of the groceries that are about to go bad in my pantry and fridge without actually throwing them away. Soooooo, I am steaming a bunch of veggies (to puree and sneak into Henry's spaghetti sauce... oh and I guess I will eat some of them too), making "rice krispie" treats out of cheerios and lucky charms, and giving watermelon to homeless people on the corner.

I went grocery happy at the store last week, forgetting that 1- there are only two adults in my household and 2- those two adults like to eat out.  I also made the mistake of buying things that I thought would go well in phantom recipes.  In other words, I thought I would use them to cook, but I had no recipes in mind, nor did I try to find any- well I guess I'm doing that now in mass.

I can't tell you how many times since about Tuesday that I have Googled, "What should I do with [insert perishable food items] that are about to go bad."  What would we do without Google?

Dinner tonight should be interesting.  I have quite the assortment of things just sitting out on the counter that must get cooked or eaten.

Why am I posting this?  Good question.  Just thought I'd let you into the daily life of the Gibsons.

Just an update: The "chance of rain" that the weatherman predicted last week has totally disappeared, further supporting my theory that it's better just not to look at the forecast.  Okay, since I basically burned the marshmallows for the treats, I should probably stop "talking" now.

one year ago today...

I cannot believe it's been a year since Henry had surgery for his craniosynostosis.  At the time, we felt like the surgery was the big trial at hand, but now, we realize that the surgery was a MIRACLE!  Without the miracle of that surgery... well, let's just say to think about how Henry's life (and ours too) would have been without the surgery... could bring me to tears if I let it.  Jesus was good to us.  To God be the glory, for sure.

Here are some pictures from that day in 2010.  I still remember how sweet he was in the waiting room, even though we were pushed back hours and hours and he couldn't eat at all.  It still makes me sad to think that he had no idea what was coming for him, but now we have the joy of knowing that it was definitely the BEST thing for him.

Side view of sweet head.

He was such a happy baby!

Fell asleep in daddy's arms before the surgery.

Just after surgery, sleeping.  I love this little man.

We are glad to be celebrating a whole year later!  In case you were wondering, our follow ups for Henry include semi-annual trips to the ophthalmologist to check for pressure on the brain (the first of which was successful), an annual follow up with the surgeon, and then starting when he is three, he will have to have CT scans annually.  HOWEVER, I don't quite like the idea of that, so I am praying that there's a way we can space out those scans, or avoid most of them altogether.

Here's a picture of the side of Henry's head from a few days ago.  We just got his haircut before this picture.  You can only see tiny part of his scar right after he gets a haircut, and in this picture it's difficult to differentiate between what is blonde and what is the scar.  The scar is the part closest to his ear - everything else (that stuff above it) is just blonde hair.

It definitely looks like he's having a real conversation in this picture. :)

Thank you all for your love and support throughout that whole event last year.  Happy Last Day of August!

10 ways to be miserable and angry

Surely there are 1000 ways to be angry and miserable, but I just thought I'd give you 10.  Enjoy! In no particular order...

1. Take everything personally. Because, after all, people definitely make most of their decisions with you in the forefront of their mind.
2. Try to be perfect.  Then, dwell on all of your imperfections because it will definitely make them go away.
3. Expect other people to be perfect.  Then, dwell on their faults, especially those of your spouse and family members. Then, try to change them.
4. Don't acknowledge God or do what he wants.
5. Spend a lot of time thinking about all the things you want that you don't have.
6. Compare yourself, your life, and your accomplishments to other people regularly.
7. Dwell on the past and especially on what might have been if only you had _________.
8.  Complain as often as you'd like... preferably very often.
9.  Carefully guard your time and money, being careful not to volunteer too much or give too much attention to other people's needs.
10. Don't share the gospel. Keep Jesus to yourself.

Hope I gave you the tools you need to be miserable today. :)

Love,
Leah

the weather family

For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that Matt is obsessed with the weather.  The Weather Channel app rivals the ESPN and MLB apps on his iphone.

Enter record breaking temperatures and Hurricane Irene... and it now seems we must bend over backwards to find conversation topics that don't revolve around the weather.  (On that note, the cable news channels don't seem to be trying AT ALL to find any other news topics besides the hurricane.  I guess there's nothing else interesting going on in the world?)

Anyway, I thought it was bad on Saturday morning when Matt woke up and the first thing he said to Henry was, "HENRY, let's see what's happening with the hurricane!"  Oh my goodness... that was seriously the first thing on his mind when he woke up?  You have to admit, it's kind of cute.

But then I went over to Matt's parents' house today, and it turns out he gets his obsession honestly.  I told his family that I wish I had been keeping a tally of how many times they brought up SOMETHING concerning the weather.  I kid you not, it was nonstop weather talk.  (Not helping was the fact that my sister-in-law had to endure the anticlimactic Irene drama in NYC, so the family must have felt as though they got to be a part of both the heat and the hurricane drama.)

All afternoon, I heard things such as...

• "Yesterday was the 2nd hottest day in Austin history."
• "It's 108 degrees right now."
• "There is currently a 40 degree difference between the temperature in New York and the temperature in Austin right now."
• "I heard we were supposed to be getting a break from all this heat sometime in September because there is supposed to be a change in the weather pattern."
• "There is rain in the forecast for FOUR DAYS IN A ROW NEXT WEEK." (To which I responded, "I'll believe it when I see it." - oh me of little faith, jk hahaha)

I mean, this wasn't it, people.  These were just a few of the things I started to note once I realized JUST HOW MUCH they were talking about the weather.  And when I brought it to their attention, my mother in law responded, "Is that weird?  Don't other families talk about the weather like this?"

Maybe.  But not my family.  I mean, SURE, the hottest summer on record is gonna get talked about.  But I mean, there's only so much you can say... then it just gets DEPRESSING!  Yes, we live in a desert.  Thank you, Jesus, for air conditioning.  I guess for me in this situation, ignorance is bliss.  And talking about it just makes it feel hotter outside.  Let's just ignore the facts until October, please!

Next time I go over there, in addition to keeping a tally of the weather conversations, I am going to introduce a new game, which should be interesting... "Who can name off the most number of weather facts, statistics, records?"  You'd be amused.  They are CONSTANTLY spouting facts about the weather, those Gibsons.

I should also mention that they know every reporter/meteorologist on The Weather Channel (TWC), and they talk about them as if they are famous people who everyone else should know as well. TWC is on their TV about 90% of the time, even when there's NOTHING exciting going on with the weather.  And if the TV is not on, my father in law is getting constant weather updates on his iPad.

So basically, you know who to call when you need to know the forecast.

18 month old!

I can't believe my sweet baby boy is 18 months old today!  He is so much fun, and makes us laugh every single day.  "What is he doing these days?" you ask.  I will tell you... (The categories are more for me, so I can try not to miss anything, though I am sure I will.)  And I know that only a handful of you will sit through and read this, but it's really more for me than for you anyway. :) To the others of you who are keeping up with Henry through my blog, fair warning - it's long!


Talking
He has so many words, and he's started to put a few words together (but mainly only if he is repeating us).  He tries to say pretty much everything, but some of his new words include...

chocolate milk (pronounced, a-muh-a-milk) - he actually asks for chocolate milk whenever we open the fridge.
orange - he loves himself some clementine oranges.  he tries to peel them himself, but to no avail.  but his favorite fruit of all time is watermelon.  he might turn into one.
bubbles - because he LOVES his bubble bath, and he will say "bubble bath."
fountain (pronounced "ba-deen") - there is a fountain at the pool we go to, and he very much loves to go swimming.
sleep and sleepy (pronounces "heeps")- when he first wakes up, sometimes Matt and I bring him into our bedroom and close our eyes and he'll point at us and say "heeps" or "daddy heeps"
teeth- this kid is obsessed with brushing his teeth.  he asks to do it as soon as he gets out of the bathtub.  i think he just likes the way the toothpaste tastes.  (and, he's recently decided he really likes how tylenol tastes too.)
again (pronounced "adin") - he asks to do EVERYTHING again... and again, and again and again.
Matt (pronounced "batt") - He has heard me calling to Matt across the house, and he does the same!

He has repeated a few things that are super cute too.  He will say, "Oh no!"  And when I say, "Let's go," He will repeat "Hets go."  If he is trying to get up onto something, I ask him if he wants to "hop up" or if he is getting out of the bath, I ask if he wants to "hop out" and he repeats both of those.  He has started to say, "Hi [insert name here]."  So if I am on the phone with his Mimi or his Honey, he'll say, "Hi mimi" or "Hi Hah."

He is getting better at saying his OWN name, but we are still a little off.  He says, "Heh-hee."


Interests
Well, the kiddo is obsessed with balls.  He thinks every piece of fruit in the grocery store is a ball. He loves to "slam dunk."  He tries to shoot the ball from far away like he sees Matt do, but he often ends up just dropping it behind his head.  He has started throwing the ball more often.  Matt has taught him to kick the soccer ball, and we've bought him a little baseball tee and bat, so he's started to practice taking cuts, too.

He also likes cars and trucks (both are still "ducks").  My mom got him a little tractor while we were at the beach, and he was obsessed with that for a little while... I take him to play with the train set at Barnes and Noble sometimes, and it will keep his attention for a good 30-40 minutes.

He also is fascinated with basically ALL animals. Dogs, ducks, birds, cats... The kid is afraid of people (more on that in a second) but he waves at birds.  He kisses and hugs his stuffed animals, which I think is so sweet!  I always say, "Awwww," when he hugs or kisses the animals, and he has started to say it too.

Favorite toys?  Henry's always been good about playing with his toys.  Besides balls and water, I can't tell that he really favors any toys over the other.  He sleeps with Scout "Howk" and Glowworm "Go gum," so those are the only toys he really mentions by name.

He LOVES himself some Veggietales, which he pronounces, "De-Di-Da."  And he asks to watch it almost EVERY TIME we get in the car, even if we have gone for a week without any Veggietales.  And of course he still loves Elmo.


Eating
Henry is finicky when it comes to food.  First of all, he will not eat NEARLY as much if I feed him as he will if Matt feeds him.  Do not know why this is, but he will refuse things from me and take them from Matt.  As far as variety, I can't say that he has TONS of variety.  He will pretty much eat every kind of fruit.  But I broke down and bought the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" because I am nervous that he doesn't get enough veggies.  That cookbook sneaks pureed veggies into all sorts of normal foods, so that the kids don't know they are eating them.  Since Henry doesn't like to try anything new, and since texture seems to bother him w/ some foods, I am hoping this book will help.

Unfortunately, he hangs out with ME all day (as opposed to his healthy-eating Father, Matt).  So he has tried his fair share of candy and chocolate.  This is actually good for me, though, because I know if he sees me eating candy, he will ask for some, so I've had to show some restraint so that he's not also eating candy all day. :)

His favorite foods are: spaghetti, watermelon, grapes, chicken nuggets and mac n cheese.

Some of the stuff he used to love, like yogurt, he will now turn down sometimes.  I think this is mainly because he wants to feed himself with the spoon, which we allow about 50% of the time, but the other 50% of the time, I just cannot emotionally deal with the mess he will make, so I don't let him.

Social
Sweet man has been having what I am calling "stranger anxiety" (not to mention, separation anxiety) for about two months now.  What I mean by that is that if someone says "hello" to him in the grocery store or tries to talk to him, he starts to throw his head back and fuss.  He is very dramatic in his facial expressions and body language.  Example?  We were walking through the mall earlier this week, and a sweet old man smiled and said hi to him, and Henry collapsed to the floor and started whining/crying.  It's nothing TOO loud or obnoxious, but it's definitely DRAMATIC.

Sometimes he does the same thing to other kids, but "secretly" he really is interested in what those people are doing... he tries to watch them, but doesn't really want eye contact.  He does like to be around people though.

As with most kids, he is most himself at home or when we are with his aunts and uncles who will get down on the floor and play all sorts of games with him.  He spends a lot of time with Matt's family, so he is pretty much himself around all of them.  And he seems pretty much himself when we are at my dad's too.

I was shy as a kiddo, but I gave people the cold shoulder.  I am hoping that Henry is a LITTLE more social and outgoing than his momma was.

We are also still working on getting him comfortable being dropped off at church, gym, mom's group etc.  Sometimes he will fuss the whole time - but like I said, he's not too loud or obnoxious when he fusses.

Physical
Henry is not so active that I have to chase him all day, which I am thankful for (though I'm sure the next one will make up for that).

He can climb pretty well (he started climbing way before he started walking), and goes down the big boy slide by himself at the park.  (Not gonna lie, I haven't seen this because I don't go outside in this heat, but Matt has assured me it is true.)

He does his fair share of "push ups" and "sit ups."  After watching Matt complete the 100 pushup challenge and do his crunches, Henry has started to do them himself. So cute!

His favorite games are "peek a boo" under the pillows on the bed, and he loves to sit on Matt's back while Matt does push ups.

As of today, he is officially...
Height - 34.5 inches (95th %)
Weight- 27 lbs, 14 oz (75th %)

And as usual, his head is gigantic!

Because he is so tall, he is CONSTANTLY reaching onto counter tops and into drawers to see what treasures he can find.  (I'm sure that this will result in something dangerous or scary taking place in the future, but so far we've avoided catastrophe!)  He wants to get a spoon out of the silverware drawer almost every time I open it. He is always reaching in my bathroom drawers, etc.

He can open the kind of doors that have pull down handles, which is really fun when we are in the dressing room at the gym because that's the kind of handles that are there.  Usually I am in the middle of changing out of my swimsuit, and Henry is trying to open the door.  It's lovely.


Behavior/Temperament
You can probably gather this by the other information in this post, but Henry has a very mild temperament.  When he wants to cry or be dramatic, he can totally turn it on, but generally he is very laid back.


Something new he has started doing... tonight at dinner he accidentally hit his head on the table, which resulted in water works.  He apparently LOVED the attention he got as a result because later on during the meal, he started PRETENDING to hit his head on the table, and then he would cry (like real, crocodile tears) to try and get our sympathy and attention.  We just laughed at him, which made him cry a little more.  Then Matt and I started pretending to hit our heads on the table and pretending to cry, and he thought that was hilarious and started laughing a lot.

I'm sure I have missed a ton, but I figured I would hate myself in 10 years if I never recorded some of these sweet things about my baby!  We are getting some 18 month professional pics taken next Wednesday (which also happens to be the anniversary of his surgery), so hopefully I can find a way to share those with you when we are done!

what a gift!

1. Guess what! After breaking the record for number of days the temperature has gotten over 100 this year, God gave us a break today and only made the temperature go up to 94 in Austin. Wow!  That's gift number 1. Tomorrow, however, we will most likely start again with day number 71 of 100+ temperatures.  I'm looking for the silver lining.

2.  Guess what else!!!  I passed my glucose tolerance test with "flying colors" according to my nurse Judy.  Since that was left via voicemail, I will have to call back and get my actual numbers, because I am interested to know what "flying colors" means.  Either way, I am thankful I'm not a diabetic.  And next time I get pregnant, I will ask to please skip the 1 hr screen because obviously it doesn't work. That's gift number 2.

There are thousands more gifts, but I'm thankful for those two things today. :)

bye bye mitch!

We just had a bittersweet lunch with Matt's youngest brother, Mitchell, who is leaving for college today.  Henry is so lucky to have the best aunts and uncles!  He's gonna miss Uncle Mitch a lot. :)

Poor kiddo wasn't smiling, but I wasn't gonna be a perfectionist.

And, oh my goodness, my pregnancy hormones combined with the "back to school" environment have not been a good combo.  It was sort of depressing to be out and about yesterday since the stores were all empty.  Then, don't tell him, but I cried after Matt left for work today.  Weird.  Then I had to watch Henry say "bye" to his Uncle? There's only so much a hormonal pregnant lady can handle!  Let's just hope I am not pregnant when Henry has to go to Kindergarten... or college. (Okay, that was a joke.) 

So, for some reason I am not handling the transition from summer to school very well- which is funny since nothing about my daily life is changing - just everyone else around me.  I never said I wasn't crazy!

24 weeks!

I failed my 1 hour glucose screen again this morning. That happened last time too, so hopefully it's just my body being dumb and NOT gestational diabetes, but we'll find out for sure after my THREE HOUR diagnostic test on Monday. Here's a 24 week belly pic.

I should definitely win points in the no-vanity department for this one.  No makeup. First thing in the morning.  I sort of want to just blur out my face.

While we're on the topic, my doctor had 2 deliveries and 1 emergency "procedure" during my appointment this morning, so I had already spent about 2.5 hours waiting... It would have been nice if I could have just done that 3 hour test today!

I can't believe I am already 24 weeks.  Last pregnancy, I felt like I was counting down at 24 weeks.  Right now I still feel like I am just getting started... which might explain why we still don't know where we are going to put this baby when it gets here. :)

Oh, and because I am sure you are all wondering, my weight was back on track at this appointment. :)  So there was at least a silver lining on the 2.5 hour wait and the glucose fail.

Have a happy weekend!  I'll try to post more - our internet has actually been very shady lately.

Summer Pics

We are terrible picture-takers! Fortuantely, Matt's new iPhone has been a lifesaver this summer... like when I forgot my camera at the beach... and when my pregnant brain seriously cannot remember where we put our video camera. Here's some pics from the last two months.

at the cows at the arboretum...

messy hair after going swimming!

park swing... he loves it!

henry loved playing in the sand at the beach

he also loved the waves in the ocean... he got so relaxed at one point that he actually fell asleep in his float in the ocean.

happy babes!

water and sand... quite possibly his favorite combination.

we had a very difficult time getting pictures of the boys.  benny and henry wouldn't sit still, and peter wouldn't smile.

not sure what was happening here... they were all being very silly

this would have been great if benny wasn't blurry!

henry at the cows AGAIN... yes, that is a different shirt.

he cried when we were finished dropping pennies in the fountain...

want what you have...

Hola peeps!  I'm kind of excited right now because Henry just went down for his nap, and my first course of action wasn't to jump straight in my bed.  (Don't worry, if this post doesn't take his whole nap time, then I'll be headed there eventually... cause, well, why not?)

Four months from today is baby #2's due date!  We all know how that went last time, so I'm not gonna plan on him actually getting here any sooner than that.  I might just try to tell myself his due date is the 16th instead of the 9th so I won't be disappointed when the kid wants to overstay his welcome.

Anyway, none of the above is what I wanted to talk about today, but I really wanted to share something totally different.

Do you ever feel like the Lord is just pounding you over and over again with a theme - something specific He really wants you to do, learn, or understand?  Well, it took me about 1.5 years (or 18 months in mom language) to realize that God's been doing just that to/in/for me...

The theme = contentment and/or thanksgiving.  They really go hand in hand.  But it all started with the book "A Praying Life" which I started to read the day AFTER Henry was due because I needed to pass the time thinking about something other than downing castor oil.

Anyway, in that book the author quoted the verse 1 Thessalonians 5:17 OVER and OVER again, which said, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  For some reason, that word really has stuck with me over the past 18 months and I think about it all the time.

Next. You remember when I shared this post about Leah and Rachel - all about contentment.  Once again, God used his word and a gifted teacher to highlight this whole contentment and thanksgiving thing... how it might have possibly been missing in my life, and how I was looking for satisfaction in things other than Him.

The next two ways God has spoken to me are even more awesome because they have been through CDs and DVDs that I've been playing in the car to entertain HENRY!  Without going into too much detail, one song on a CD is all about being thankful.  And then the latest, a Veggie Tales DVD has a story about a "very BLUE berry" who is so sad that all of her friends and neighbors have nicer things than she does, so she goes to "Stuff Mart" to buy whatever her heart desires, but then realizes that "a thankful heart is a happy heart" and decides to give thanks for what she has instead of trying to get everything she doesn't have.

It doesn't end there!  I recently ordered the book "1000 Gifts" by Ann Voskamp from Amazon.  I ordered it because I had heard it was good, but I really had no idea what it was about - and I definitely didn't know it was a Christian book... on the very subject of thankfulness.  And it was soo, soo good.  (Side note: She writes very poetically, which is sooooo not my style, but I was able to look past it because the content was so great.)

Oh and how could I forget the little devotional book my mom gave me for Christmas that is filled with the themes of thanksgiving and contentment.  Not to mention - the Bible.

My new years resolution was to replace complaining with thankfulness.  Which, let me just say that grumbling = sin, and thanksgiving = the will of God for me... so yeah, that should have been a daily resolution, but oh well.

It wasn't till I picked up the 1000 gifts book that I was like, "Oh, goodness, Lord, it looks like you are trying to teach me something here!"  Dumb dumb, Leah.

Until now, I always gave thanks as a response - I was more of a passive thanks-giver.  I was passively content, assuming I had everything I wanted.  But what God has been doing is showing me that thanksgiving and happiness is an active CHOICE, and they aren't limited to circumstance because God's PRESENCE is not limited to circumstance.  Giving thanks is a way of seeing Jesus in all circumstances and letting Him be enough for you...

In the garden, Eve did not look at all she DID have, all that God had given her.  Instead she looked at the one thing she didn't have.  Discontentment and the lies that fuel it are the very cause of the fall.

So what are the things that you are looking to for contentment?  Surely there are a gazillion.  I truly hope that you and I both can replace our discontentment with thanksgiving and watch God work miracles as a result of our choosing to see His constant love in our lives.

I could totally keep going, but I think I've written quite enough.

where have I gone?

I usually don't announce our vacations in advance... since there's a good chance that all you readers out there would try to rob my house.  Hopefully you know I'm kidding. Sort of.

Anyway, we just got back from a week-long trip to Orange Beach, Alabama with my pregnant sister, her hubs, her two crazy boys (5 yrs and 2 yrs), my mom and her hubs.

As luck would have it, I forgot to bring my camera, so we relied on Matt's iPhone to document Henry's first trip to the beach.  Pictures to come.  (Oh and I promise to get those ultrasound pics up soon.)

Thoughts on the trip?

-Vacation is NOT the same w/ a toddler.  It is still work.  To actually get R&R, there'd have to be no children there.  But I loved watching Henry have fun, which must be why parents ever take their children on vacation!

-That being said, it was nice for Henry to have a 24/7 playmate, his cousin Bennett, who is about 10 months older than him (and could easily beat Henry up if he wanted to).  They just LOVED each other and were so freaking cute together.  So we weren't responsible for entertaining baby boy 100% of the time.

-Call me crazy, but hanging out in a maternity swimsuit (an ugly one) on the beach isn't really my idea of a good time.

-To add to the last thought... hanging out in a maternity swimsuit next to my also pregnant sister isn't very fun either.  My sister and I currently weigh about the same and she is due in 4 weeks. (I'm due in 18 weeks.)  We are 14 weeks apart, but we looked more like 4 weeks apart.  It was lovely.

- I wore 50 spf the whole time.  My family looks like we have been in an igloo... not on the beach.

-On our way home, at about 11 pm at night after driving all day long, I was barely awake trying to decide on names for our next child (and surely I was not helping Matt stay awake as I spewed my thoughts about the names incessantly), and we just might have finally settled on one... but we aren't 100% sure so I'll work on that and get back to you.

And I had two diet cokes at dinner tonight, definitely putting me over the limit for the amount of caffeine I should have in one day... so that is why this post was written from 4-5 am. :)  Where would my blog be w/out insomnia?