Holidays and stuff

Here's a little picture update on our holidays and other things we've been doing lately. Barrett finished his second of four internships on the 9th of December and starts his next one January 9th so we've had a fun month having him home. He's been busy hunting (with no luck), working at his parents' house, working on cars, and doing school stuff. Not much of a break for him! Here's what we've been doing:

 Playing with play dough

 Building with blocks

 Watching a little tv

 Climbing on the table...ugh!

 Family pictures on Thanksgiving

 cutting a Christmas tree

Attempting to play in some snow...come on Rexburg where's the winter?

 reading lots and lots of books (and getting relatives to!)

 Taking family pictures on Christmas Eve

 Being a little silly

 Opening and playing with new toys

 Having colds two months in a row

 Drinking salsa?

and sleeping. Plus getting some good Daddy time!

Oh, and spinning! This kid is crazy! PS Barrett goes to Utah again this Sunday....anyone feel free to give me a call any time or invite me over....ha ha I'm counting down the months until we can have our own place again!

Picture Update!!

 My little book worms

 Lovin Papa's new ride!

 Anna's first day of preschool

Cousins in the leaves!

Lara's fans at her district cross country meet

My twins! ha ha Caleb and cousin Elie

Warning: novel alert!

I don't even know where to start this post. My life right now is... crazy I guess is the only way I know how to put it. Our living situation is less than desirable, mostly because Barrett is gone during the week doing an internship in Utah. I have never missed someone so much before, but at the same time it has been a great growing experience for me. I have realized how much I depend on Barrett for so many things, so his being gone has helped me be stronger and make decisions on my own. I'm so grateful that we live at a time with great technology where we can talk to each other in real time and not have to wait weeks to see or hear from each other. We're so blessed to be able to have him home every weekend.

A big thing I've been doing lately is trying to change the way I think about mothering. I have been introduced to an amazing book called Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman. The book is based on ten years of research on the family and reiterates the importance of the family in society. I highly recommend this book to every parent. The subtitle is The Heart of Parenting and it is very very fitting. My heart is becoming more involved in my children than my mind as I read this book. It is teaching me to have empathy for my children, to recognize emotions as opportunities for teaching instead of discipline, and helping me understand my importance as a mother. The book also has an awesome chapter on fathers and their powerful role in the lives of children. 

So I feel like I've been having this huge enlightenment on how I can be the kind of mother I have always wanted to be, but my struggle is that I am living with my parents. I love them and am so grateful to them for letting us live here, but I feel like I keep getting pushed back down in a rut with my parenting because they interact with my children the way they were taught to. Children are so so different than they used to be and so I feel like we have to parent differently than we used to. I also feel like I have to constantly pick up after my kids and like they are in trouble a lot for getting into things they aren't supposed to because the things they aren't supposed to get into are basically the whole house. Once again, it was my choice to live here and I am grateful. It is always hard not having your own space or your own things. Hopefully only 6 months and we'll get to have our own place!

I feel like this post is rather negative and I don't mean it to be. I am enjoying being so close to family and not missing out on fun things like when we were away. And living here is saving us a LOT of money. My kids love being with their grandparents and getting extra attention from them. I have lots of babysitters! My mom has been nice to watch Caleb for me twice a week when I take Anna to preschool so I can go to the gym. That is a really good outlet for me and helps a lot.

Barrett has a month off for Christmas between his internships so hopefully we can do lots of fun things. I love this time of year and festiveness in the air. I think this Christmas will be fun because we aren't focusing on a lot of material things. We don't need anything much because we don't have a house and little space to store things so I'm thinking Barrett and I will try to go somewhere or do something fun for our Christmas presents to each other this year. Any suggestions?

I apologize for the lack of pictures on this post. They are all on our laptop with Barrett in Utah. Hopefully soon I can get on when he's home and post some. Caleb is getting so big and finally getting some more teeth. He talks constantly (often like a broken record) and loves to explore and learn. One of his favorite phrases right now is "happy day!" I don't even know where it came from! I call him my little monkey because he climbs anything he can. I take him off the dining table like 5 times a day! He is enjoying being in nursery at church with Grammy and Anna.

Anna is loving preschool even though we can't get her to say much about it. If we ask her about anything her response is ALWAYS "I don't know." A little frustrating but I guess I have to learn to ask better questions. I went with her class on a field trip to the fire station and it was really fun. She is learning to recognize letters and write her name. She loves going to school. Anna says the funniest things and likes to make up nonsense names for her toys. The other day we were playing with Barbies and I asked what her name was and she said Slutty. ha ha ha  Barrett was also asking her about who she will marry someday. She said "I don't know his name yet, but he will be nice and handsome!" :)

I love my kids and I love being a mom! There is nothing else in the world I want to be doing right now. I'm so thankful to the Lord for the blessings He has given me and the tender mercies I receive every day.

I don't know why it is so hard for me to blog lately. I think about it all the time, but I never get around to doing it! So here goes I guess!

July was a crazy month for us. I took over 350 pictures that month! We celebrated the 4th of July, the 24th of July, went camping in Utah with my extended Andersen family, and went to visit my sister in South Dakota. From April to July my little family has driven about 5000 miles. Wow. My kids have been troopers this summer spending so much time in the car and new places and not having a home of our own. They've adjusted well and have really enjoyed spending time with family.

In August we had a Gibson family reunion, celebrated our 5th anniversary, and Barrett started his first internship in Driggs. He only has to go up 3 days a week and is enjoying himself there.  For our anniversary we were able to get away by ourselves for a day and night, which was awesome! We stayed in a hotel in Idaho Falls, went to the temple, the bodies exhibit at the Museum of Idaho (which was awesome), did some shopping, and then went to the Josh Turner concert. We had a great time. 5 years. Wow. It seems so short because it feels like our family has always been together. It's hard to imagine my life without my wonderful husband and beautiful kids. I love them all so much!

Anna has been having lots of fun here with Grammy and Papa and Lara. She says the funniest things and is always telling stories. She went through a phase this summer where she talked about her "other family" all the time. She apparently had another family with a dad named Phil who often seemed to be in the hospital... funny girl. She is in love with books and loves getting anyone to read to her she can! Anna starts preschool in a couple of weeks and is so excited to go. I'm just glad it's only 2 days a week. I'll miss her!

Caleb is growing up so fast. His vocabulary has grown like crazy lately and he talks so cute. He still has only 2 little bottom teeth and is 16 months old! I hope he gets some more soon so he can eat better! He is a busy little guy and gets into everything. He loves to climb and open doors and drawers. He says the cutest little "ta da!" when he stands on something, but we have to be careful: sometimes it's the kitchen table! Caleb loves animals and playing outside. He's still a huge mama's boy, but refuses to call me mama. I'm daddy. And daddy is daddy. And grammy is daddy. But papa is boppa and Lara is wawa and Anna is Annie. He is pretty funny. I love him to pieces!

I have a calling as the ward choir accompanist and I'm loving it! I love practicing new pieces and playing them with the choir. It's been really good for me to develop my talent some more. I've also been trying to run regularly and I want to do a 5k this fall. Lara started running cross country for Madison this fall and I'm loving going to her meets. It makes me really want to compete! I wish I could just hop into her races sometimes!

Well that's about it for now I guess. I'll try to be better about blogging!

Idaho Summer

Life has been a little crazy the past few months. We moved from Flagstaff to Rexburg in the middle of May. Barrett's brother Jason did a semester abroad in Greece and flew to Phoenix the week before we moved. We picked him up and then he helped us move. I was so thankful to have him help! He rode with me in the car to help with the kids while Barrett drove the moving truck. We had a little mishap with a balcony and the front of the moving truck and learned a little lesson about getting insurance, but other than that our trip was uneventful.

 

 

We moved into my parents' basement to save some money and so I don't have to be alone all the time when Barrett goes to Utah for his internships. My parents have been lifesavers! It's been an adjustment not having our own place and all four of us staying in one room, but we are doing well and are grateful for a place to stay.

Anna and Caleb are loving having lots of room to play and extra attention from Grammy and Papa and Lara. She just turned 14 and is a great help with the kids. The kids have a big plot in the garden to play in, a trampoline, swings, and lots of grass. What more could a 3 year old and 1 year old ask for?

 

We haven't really done anything big since we've been here. We've just been enjoying family and the summer weather. We've been helping both of our parents with work around their houses too. We helped my parents take down their old fence and put in a new wood one. It was a lot of work but it looks really nice now.

It was Barrett's birthday July 1. We had a fun weekend with his family and he and I went camping one night without the kids. It was fun to have a little date night and enjoy some nature. We went near Kelly Canyon and camped right by the really high and muddy river. It was a beautiful drive and a fun night. I love that guy!

I love the 4th of July and we had a fun one this year. The weather was really nice and we had a fun day. We went to a ward flag raising and breakfast and then went to the Rexburg parade with both of our families. There were some fun floats this year, but we left the memory card to the camera in our laptop, so we didn't get any pictures of the parade. We went home and took naps and had a relaxing afternoon and then went to Idaho Falls to the fireworks. It was a fun, relaxed day. I am so grateful to live in this country where we have so many freedoms, especially to be able to worship the Lord as we please. I am very grateful to all the men and women who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms I have today. God bless America!!