Goodbye Elder Gibbs!!!

Well, the day has finally come and gone!  My little (albeit much much taller) brother Chris has become Elder Christopher Austin Gibbs!  I can't believe it!!!  For those who want to follow Chris' adventures in Rosario, Argentina, I have set up a blog to post his letters to friends and family.  The address is http://eldergibbs.blogspot.com/.  He hasn't sent any letters yet, but hopefully soon!

Elder Gibbs entered the MTC in Provo, UT on Wednesday, March 23rd.  The weekend before, we all flew down to St. George, UT to visit with Chris one last time.  We were able to attend church with some of the family and listen to Chris give his farewell address (I know, they don't call it that anymore, but what do they call it?).  He did a great job and made us all laugh and cry at the same time.  We had a great time hanging out with my Mom, Dad, Chris, Grandma & Grandpa Gwilliam, and the Simpson family.

Here we are waiting for Chris to be set apart as a missionary.  To the right is his first companion (hi Dad!)

Grandma & Grandpa Gwilliam held Austin while we waited....he was so good and so quiet until the prayer.  Then he decided it was a good time to cry.  He must have been following my example :)

Handsome Sammy with his new "missionary shirt".  All he is missing is his tie Aunt Lew gave him!  (Pictures are coming Lew!)  

Mom pulled out her giant collection of Thomas the Tank Engine wooden trains for Sam the night we got there.  It was 2:30 in the morning, but Sam just HAD to start playing right away.  He was never away from the trains for long the whole time we were there.  

The best way to get Sam to eat?  Make something for yourself.  Sorry about your pancakes Chris!

The big day!  Sam getting his last hugs in with his favorite person, Chris.  The only one who can give Chris some serious competition for Sam's affection is Toby.  Yes, Toby the dog.

One last picture together...Notably missing are Ryan, Jon, Allison, Rachel, and Paul.  Ryan went back to WA for work, Jon is deployed, and the rest of the gang were in Kuwait.  We missed you!!!

After Chris entered the MTC, Mom & Dad headed back to St. George.  The little boys and I stayed a few more days to hang out with Ryan's side of the family.  More great home cooking for me to eat and lots more spoiling for the kids!  It was awesome!

Austin telling Grandpa Stanley his thoughts on the Cougars during the BYU/Florida game :)

Austin and Grandma!

Austin, Grandma Great, and me!

Auntie Kim and Austin!  Austin got held almost constantly while we were in UT.  Now that we are home, he is like, "Wait, I have to sit in my swing by MYSELF?"  Poor kid.

You might be wondering why there are so many pictures of Austin.  Well, that is because most of the pictures I took of Sam while we were in Draper turned out like this.  

Austin and his buddy Ezra Chaves.  They are so cute and have almost matching hair-dos :)

Grandpa rocking Austin to sleep down in the nursery formerly known as Carly's bedroom.  (Sorry Carly!  Once the grand-babies came along your room didn't stand a chance!)

Now we are back in home sweet home Washington.  My major accomplishment of the week was flying home with the boys all by myself (although I had lots of help from my MIL Susan getting checked in!).  By the time we got there we were all so glad to see Ryan again!

Go Cougs!

Apparently our BYU pride has been passed on to the next generation...

Love it.  Last week Sam was tossing around an orange balloon he calls his "basketball".  I asked him if he was pretending to be Jimmer.  He replied, "Ya, I be Jimmer."  You go Sam.

Brothers

Austin fell asleep on our way home from Costco yesterday.  He looked so cute, I just had to take a picture.  Then I thought, "Wait a minute...I've seen this picture before!"  What do you think?

Do they look like brothers or what?  On the left is Sam at 2 months old.  On the right, Austin at 3 months.  I have to say, we have pretty cute boys!

Small Victories

It's no secret that I was REALLY overwhelmed right after Austin was born.  The combination of too much to do and too little sleep was a recipe for nightly meltdowns (anyone who was at my house from 7pm onward knows what I am talking about).  Luckily, I have the most wonderful husband, family, and friends in the world.  Without your help and encouragement, I would not have made it through the past 3 months.  

Another thing that has really helped is some advice Ryan gave me mid-meltdown one evening.  He told me to turn my focus to the small victories I had each day.  So I did.  Instead of getting depressed by what I hadn't done, I started to look for the little things I was able to do.  For example, I changed 12 diapers today.  I kept Austin and Sam fed.  Sure, my house wasn't spotless and we had mac & cheese again but that's okay.

Anyway, here are some of this week's small victories:

I got everyone dressed by lunchtime.  Yes, I know they are in their jammies here.

Everyone went down for their naps on time.  Sometimes this means sleeping in unusual places, like on the couch, but I think it still counts :)

I kept Austin from getting body-slammed WWF-style.  No comment on where Sam learned his WWF moves (Ahem, Ryan.).  Here he is being such a good brother and putting Austin's binky back in.

I kept Austin from being poked, whacked, and dumped out of his baby-chair.  We are still working on the meaning of the words gentle, soft, careful, etc but Sam is getting much better.

We got out of the house.  One day it was sunny and not too cold, so we went for a family walk.  I quickly learned how badly we needed a double stroller.  Sam had a hard time giving up his spot.  

So, here is the new "ride".  Thank you Craig's List.

Another day we went for a walk along the Columbia River with our friends, the Malufau's.  It was gorgeous, but a little cold.  It will be an awesome walk in the summertime.

Now that we have made it through the first 3 months of Austin's life, things are getting much easier.  He sleeps better, eats better, and doesn't cry as often.  But, every once in a while I still have to play the, "look for small victories" game to help boost my confidence.