my beloved

this is the kid that would drag his blankie everywhere if i let him. his aunt karianne made it and i love it as much as he does, so i don't let him drag it everywhere, because it would be destroyed. but it is his one true love.

what does that tongue remind you of?
yup, he's crawling like a maniac and pulling himself up on everything.
his first meal on his own. woah.

party hardy, dude

jack had his first official b-day party. we went to a park, played games like "red light, green light", had cupcakes, opened presents, and played on the playground. soooo much fun. thanks to all of jack's little buddies for coming!

this is jack's most exciting present, a full-size trampoline named herbert. yes, we splurged. but i'm so glad we did. he did not leave it for a full 24 hours. i think shawn loves it just as much as jack does. we've already had some great family times, telling stories and making up silly dances (like the "movie" dance and the "crying" dance) on the tramp. here is one said story:

"once there was a t-rex and he at ALL the fruit loops

and so his tummy hurt,

and his face,

and his arms,

annnnnd his elbows!

the end."

by jack gibbs

i am a little embarrassed about the above picture because i have many friends who decorate cakes for real (like tarryn and leslie and natali, etc). i'm really embarrassed actually. this is supposed to be a baseball cake for jack and shawn, but i ran out of the red gel frosting. and it was sunday so i couldn't buy more. the end. don't judge.
so shawn saw the movie "chicken run" for $5 at wal mart so he grabbed it for jack. jack doesn't get it, and is bored after 5 minutes of watching, but still insists on watching it almost every day. i don't understand.

the saga ends...

from the old...

to the glorious new...
meet the newest members of our fam, clarissa and shirley. we surely do love them.
and if you're wondering about the adorable pillows, as you should be, i made them. i'm not usually the bragging type, but as sewing is not my forte, i feel a certain amount of pride that they actually turned out.

jack's list

jack's birthday is two days after shawn's so this is always a crazy time of year. but i thought i'd give you a list about jack. we went on a walk the other day and i started asking him his favorites...

fav color: blue

fav animal: cow

fav dinosaur: t-rex

fav food: meat!

fav drink: water....orange juice....SPRITE!!

fav thing to do: draw with my colors

there you have it. a couple of them are highly suspect, in my opinion, but no use in arguing with a 3 yr old.

the 27 list

shawn is 27. we both agree that that is old. it sounds old. he is now officially old. it's definitely closer to 30 than 20. ouch. anyway, this is a little tribute to him that i'm stealing from our friends leslie and morgan...thanks, leslie.

here are 27 things you may or may not know about shawn.

1. he has to sleep on his right side.

2. he loves to shop for clothes and shoes as much as i do.

3. he LOVES to house-hunt.

4. he sings hymns in french a lot.

5. he wakes up with the most random songs in his head...like ace of base "i saw the sign". what the? and now you're singing it, and it will stay with you, i promise.

6. he loves campfires and the smell of wood burning.

7. his nervous habit is picking and biting at his nails, so they are basically non-existent.

8. he wears baseball gloves while he studies so that he won't do #7.

9. when he disappears for a while, i know he's either on the toilet, or watching ESPN elsewhere.

10. i think his man-crush is steve carrell.

11. he is the best father i have ever seen.

12. he accidentally taught jack how to say sh**, but i promise #11 is true.

13. he feels really bad about #12.

14. he secretly loves good musicals.

15. he plays the guitar, sings, and writes his own music. he wrote a song for me that he performed at our wedding lunch.

16. as a teenager, he regularly snuck out with his friends at all hours of the night.

17. on many of those excursions, he and his besty, jordon, would streak butt-naked.

18. miraculously, he was never caught for #16 or #17.

19. was recruited by colleges for baseball and football.

20. is a little bit of a harry potter geek, seen all the movies, listened to the books on tape.

21. doesn't really like to read, unless it's a harry potter.

22. he is kicking trash in his PA program. one of the top students.

23. he is a fiercely loyal friend.

24. as explained in a previous post, he CANNOT hold in surprises.

25. is insanely petrified of back hair, growing it and witnessing it.

26. has a red beard, which i love.

27. he is the best hubby in all the world.

love you, shawn! hope you can make it to 28.

easter

we had a delightful easter weekend. so relaxing, somehow, i don't really understand how it happened. anywho, the fun started on friday when we colored eggs. everything is so different now that jack understands what's going on and gets excited.





how relaxed is that?!
after the hunt. he loved it.

of course, sam is just happy to be along for the ride. my little sweet pea.

conference...wow. there is nothing more powerful and peaceful than hearing those men's voices in my home. it truly feels like a little bit of celestialness. i'm always sad when it ends. and here's a phenomenon for you...remember when you were little and conference never seemed to end? and now you blink and it's over.

my favorite conference moment: listening to the beloved elder holland speak on the difference between true love and lust and feeling overwhelmingly grateful to be sitting next to my sweetheart, a man who wants what i want and is willing to work for it. words cannot express.

ps. elder holland...i swear that man will be the band leader who marches in the second coming. oh my.

bedhead