What a Big Boy!

Hello again... it's been a pretty quiet week so I'm not sure how much I'll have to report on this week. I'll be able to make it short and sweet and right to the point.

Benjamin has been growing up so fast. It seems like every week he is starting to do something new. He is still teething... which means drooling like crazy and chewing on anything he can get into his mouth. He especially likes a stuffed duck that Grammy gave him for Easter. He has also started putting himself to sleep at night and for his naps. We used to have to spend a little while rocking him and singing to him and once he was pretty much asleep then we could put him down. But this week we've been able to put him in his crib while he's still awake, turn on his Baby Einstein lullaby cd, and leave the room and he usually falls asleep within 5 minutes. We have such a good baby, we're truly blessed!

This week Benjamin starting sitting up supported in his boppy pillow. He's still really wobbly, but I've been helping him do "sit ups" to strengthen his stomach and back muscles to help him sit up better. I know it's a little early for him to be sitting up, but he's loves being able to see everything around him from a new perspective. He looks like such a big boy when he's sitting up.

Friday night Jonathan and I took Benjamin to see Shrek 3. Jonathan's brother Evan came with us. Benjamin did really well for most of the movie. He watched part of it and drank a whole bottle while we got to enjoy the movie. The last half hour though he started getting a little restless and Jonathan had to stand up with him by the door and finish watching the movie from there. Shrek 3 is only an hour and half long- I guess we won't be able to take Benjamin to a longer movie until he's well into his preschool years and can sit through it quietly. Looks like Blockbuster is going to start getting a lot of business from us. For those of you who want to know, the movie was funny. We liked it (but not as much as the first 2 movies).

Well, that's about it for us this past week. We're heading off to Midway, UT this weekend to spend some time with the whole Gibson family- everyone will be together having fun. Hopefully we'll have some good pictures and stories for next week's blog.

We love you all!

4 Months Old Already!

Hello again everyone! It was a busy week as usual. Benjamin turned 4 months old on Friday, May 18th. I told my mom on the phone that he is going to be turing 18 years old before I know it. I need to start planning his first birthday party now or it won't get done on time!

Benjamin had his 4 month check-up this morning. He got his second round of vaccinations. He's been doing better than he did after the first round, but he wants to be held all the time and gets upset easily. But on the bright side, Benjamin now weights 14 lbs, 14 oz and is 25.2 inches long. His pediatrician said he was a very healthy boy. We're happy about that!

Friday night I decided to give Benjamin a chance to express his creative nature. Since he's getting better at holding things I put a highlighter in his hand and held out a piece of paper for him to "draw" on. He actually did quite well and Jonathan got some of it on video... mostly the end where Benjamin is starting to get bored with the idea of "drawing" ...but at least we got some video of it.

Jonathan went fishing twice this past week and caught some nice fish. Here are a couple pictures. The one on the left was taken Tuesday morning at Salem Ponds. That large mouth bass weighed between 4.5 and 5 lbs and was 20.5 inches long. Jonathan belongs to a website where local fisherman post their reports on how they have been doing. Jonathan uploaded this picture and posted his report and the website mediator decided to feature Jonathan's picture on the homepage! You can see it at www.freeformfishing.com (look about half way down the page). I'm not sure how long it will be there because it's been there for a week already. Check it out if you have a chance!

The picture on the right was from Saturday morning when Jonathan went fishing with our brother-in-law Rob at Deer Creek Resevoir. That is a good looking small mouth bass. It weighed about 3.5 lbs and was 18 inches long. Jonathan has been catching some big fish lately!

Jonathan is also excited that the Utah Jazz are in the Western Conference Championship. GO JAZZ!!!

Well, that's about it for this week. Please email us anytime to let us know how you're doing. We love to hear from you!

Rolling Over ... and Teething?!

Well, it's been an exciting week! On Tuesday Benjamin decided to impress his mom with his new rolling over skills. He rolled from his front to his back for the first time. Dad was off playing basketball, but I was able to get a couple "rolls" on video. He did it three times in about 5 minutes that night... but he hasn't done it since. Every time I put him on his tummy he kinda looks at me like, "Mom, I already showed you I can do it. Now leave me alone." We'll keep trying!

Wednesday morning Jonathan went fishing and caught some pretty big fish. Here's a picture he took of the catfish he caught while fishing for Bass at Salem Ponds. It was 22 inches long and weighed about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds. What a catch!

Jonathan is excited because he only has 2 weeks left before he switches to his "summer" work schedule where he has Fridays off. That means more fishing...

Well, we're not sure, but Benjamin might already be teething. He has had a slight fever a couple days this week and has not been sleeping well all week. And he's more irritable than normal. He's also been drooling like crazy... we're talking long slobbers constantly coming out of his mouth. We've given him some teething medicine and that seems to help him feel better. Benjamin has an older cousin who got teeth by 4 months old so it's possible I guess. We'll see if any teeth pop up soon, but this could just be a false alarm.

Saturday all three of us went to visit Grandma and Grandpa (Jonathan's parents) in Layton, UT. Jonathan and his three brothers helped his dad plant flowers in the front yard while Benjamin and I visited with Grandma in the house. It was a good visit and a chance to celebrate Mothers' Day with Jonathan's mom.

My first Mothers' Day was fun. I got a couple nice cards, all the fixins for a banana split (I've been craving one), and a nice long nap on Sunday afternoon. My present is a new professional grade flat iron for my hair, but it's still on the FedEx truck and should be here on Wednesday. Good thing too, because mine blew up (literally- loud pop, lights flickered a little) when I was using it earlier this week. Jonathan also made me dinner- what a great husband I have!

Benjamin Tour 2007

First of all, THANK YOU!!! to everyone who sent me pictures of Benjamin. I appreciate it soo much. I've decided to spend a couple hours every Sunday scrapbooking the pictures we take so that I at least have those if something ever happens again (heaven forbid!) So THANK YOU!

Well, this has been a fun week for us. On Tuesday morning Jonathan went fishing at Salem Ponds near Spanish Fork, UT. He is proud to announce that he caught his first bass of the season on a topwater. He didn't stop talking about it for days and is excited to go fishing again this next week.

On Wednesday Benjamin and I went to pick up his 3 month pictures we took a couple weeks ago. Here are a couple of my favorites... who am I kidding? I love them all, but I'll only post two of them.

On Saturday Benjamin and I flew to Los Angeles to visit my parents. Benjamin did really well on the flight there. He hardly fussed except during the landing part. I think his ears were bugging him a little- I know mine were bugging me. Once we landed and found Grammy at the baggage claim we were off on what we eventually started to refer to as the "Benjamin Tour 2007" We were on the go most of the weekend...

Saturday night we went to a birthday party for Rick's friend's daughter who just turned 21. Benjamin got to meet quite a few people... everyone loved to pinch his cheeks! When we got home that night Uncle Nick was off of work waiting to see us and my cousin Josh was also there from Rancho Cucamonga to spend some time with us. My Uncle Kevin and his girlfriend Christina also stopped by to say hello to us. By this time Benjamin was really tired so he said hi for a little bit and then was off to bed. I wasn't far behind him...

Here's a picture of Benjamin and Nick -->

Sunday morning Scott and Stuart came by for brunch before we went to church. It was good to see them and spend some time catching up. We went to church and Grammy had such a fun time showing off her grandbaby to anyone and everyone. After church it was off to a graduation party for another daughter of one of Rick's friends. Immediately following that we stopped by an "Ice Cream Social" hosted by the Bishop of my mom's ward. Phew... after that it was home and off to bed.

Monday we took it easy and hung out at the house before leaving for the airport in the early afternoon. It was a nice break from all the running around and Benjamin got to spend a little more time with Grammy, Pepere, and Uncle Blake. Benjamin enjoyed laying on Pepere's bed while Pepere folded laundry and put things away.

The plane ride home went fairly well. Benjamin screamed for the first 5 minutes when we were taxi-ing down the runway, but then fell asleep and slept the whole time. He woke up right as we were landing. As soon as he saw his dad, he was all smiles and had lots of "stories" to tell him. Benjamin seemed to really like being with his dad again. Anytime Jonathan was out of view he would start "talking" and looking around. Dad got to sit in the back seat with Benjamin on the way home while I drove.

Benjamin and I had a great trip. It was good to see a lot of people that we haven't seen in a long time. I know Grammy and Pepere and Uncle Blake all enjoyed having Benjamin come to visit. I think Jonathan enjoyed his time alone back in Provo as well. It's not often he gets the run of the house and a chance to have the TV all to himself.

Thanks again to everyone for the pictures of Benjamin. The three of us hope you're all doing well. We love to hear from each of you and all the fun stuff you guys are up to these days! Keep in touch!