{ raeford johnson gibb }

Instead of posting pictures of my 39-week pregnant belly, why don't I post pictures of my almost 2-week old baby?



On March 30th, we welcomed our sweet baby boy into the world - three weeks early! It was rather unexpected, but we're thrilled he's here. He weighed in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces and was 19 inches long.











It ended up being the best possible timing and the worst possible timing.

Worst...My younger brother got married on April 2nd, so we attended his reception when Ford was 2 days old and his sealing and luncheon when Ford was 3 days old. Fun!

Best...Because he was born far enough in advance of the tax and audit deadline (April 15th), Brad was actually able to take some time off work. It was heaven!

Another disadvantage - my mom was all wrapped up in wedding stuff and was there for the actual birth but didn't get to come help out until several days later. I was supposed to be all wrapped up in wedding stuff, but was in recovery mode instead. She missed me and I missed her!

Another advantage - my sisters were all in town for the wedding and got to see him.









The actual labor and delivery went phenomenally well. I woke Brad up at 2:00 in the morning and he tried to talk me into going back to bed. I convinced him that wasn't such a good idea and we went to the hospital at about 3:00. Ford was born at 4:45. Brad was glad he hadn't made me go back to bed. *Someday I'll post the whole story - so that I'll remember it all - but for now, those are the basics*







As happy as we are to have him, we weren't at all ready for the little man to come. His crib is half-way sanded down to be refinished...his crib bedding is half-way made...all of his clothes were still in boxes in the basement...we had almost no boy blankets (I'll admit - he's been wrapped in pink a few times) ... my baby shower ended up being when he was a week old rather than two weeks before he was born. Oh well?

Aside from just his stuff not being at all ready, I was in the middle of a million projects - a complete living room make-over with all new furniture...the old furniture going downstairs...a new playroom going downstairs...old furniture downstairs going out...loose ends to tie up in the nursery. All of those projects are still up in the air - and probably will be for a while. Again, oh well? I'm sure it's good for me!





Overall, we're doing great. Ford's been a great baby and Orva seems to be adjusting well (mostly). I'm feeling great and loving being a mother of two! I'm sure Brad will be a lot happier when work slows down and he can actually come home once in a while!







*Sorry for the picture over-load...I figure I post so rarely that I may as well make this one very worth-while*

{ grandma orva dress }

This dress belonged to my mom as a child - it's so fun to have Orva wearing it now! I would love to have a nice, classy picture of her in it but she was much too wild during our photo shoot. We'll try again another time.

{ bubble bath }

* Sorry for the sideways video...I don't have a program on my computer that will rotate it and I always forget to turn the camera while I'm actually shooting the video. *

[ announcing ]

I tried to post these pictures six weeks ago when I was actually 20 weeks along, but had some glitches getting the pictures off my camera and have not made another attempt until now. So, these pictures are now entirely inaccurate (I'm much bigger now at 26 weeks) but I'll post them anyway.


Baby BOY Gibb is due on April 19th.




* Also, I know (hope) most of you already know about this pregnancy, but I feel more official posting it on the blog. Don't ask why - first, if things had to be posted to my blog to be official, nothing in my life would be official. Second, I've been sick enough to be very officially pregnant (feeling better now). Third, my belly is very big and quite officially pregnant-looking. *

{ halloween }

I'm pretty sure I have the cutest bumblebee ever...









She doesn't walk by herself yet, so we had her trick-or-treat with her wagon. She loved all the walking around but was so busy pushing her wagon that she just walked right by all the people with treats.





This last picture is of her taking a break in our trunk at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. I do love this smile, but wish we could document her real smile at least once in a while...she flashes this gem every time she sees a camera. Lovely.

{ alive }

We are alive. And well.

A complete computer crash in March and April, extreme busy-ness in May and June, and laziness in between can account for the lack of blogging.

I'm pretty sure I have now forgotten how to post.

I'll try to remember.

Oh, and until I can pull myself together and do a real live post, with lots of pictures and such (first on the list - 4th of July), here's one picture of my cutest baby ever.



Okay - that wasn't so bad. Consider me back on board with blogging.

{ eating: take II }

Orva's mealtime tactics thus far:

- Rice Cereal: close mouth as tightly as possible - do not take any more than three bites.

- Oatmeal: shudder and gag and throw up.

- Green Beans: keep mouth open as long as possible so that nothing is tasted or swallowed.

* In the beginning of the video, she's opening her mouth not because she wants another bite but because she doesn't want to taste the previous bite...

{ eating }

Orva has been eating rice puffs (just plain, as a finger food) for a couple weeks now but I've totally been putting off feeding her other solid foods. It's just so much easier to nurse her. I finally gave in, though, and we started rice cereal the other night. She's pretty sure she doesn't like it.





She puts her hands up by her ears like that when she's sad about things (or tired, or mad, or frustrated, or bored...)

She did, however, love the bib...







...and the spoon...



...and the sippy cup!





The actual food? No thanks.

{ yes i let my child be seen with this bunch }

My little brother and his friends had a day activity for a highschool dance. The boys got dressed up in disguise and went to the mall and walked around while the girls tried to find them. I was at my mom's house before they left and we came up with the idea of dressing Vic and Kyle up as a couple with a baby...a live baby...my baby. Not only did I give my baby to the cause, Kyle wore my jeans. Yes, he fit into them.





I went with them and followed them around to watch people's reactions. It was hysterical.

*Note: when we got to the mall, one of the boys (the one with the dark curly hair) didn't have a disguise. I had been staying at my mom's and had a suitcase full of clothes, so he is wearing my jeans, my shirt, my jacket, my headband, my sunglasses, and my purse. He's the one that got the wildest reaction out of people - it was awesome.