Happy Birthday to Chelsea! and a little bit more.

This year Chelsea's birthday was on a Saturday, it was so fun to celebrate all day long. I made her some yummy "Vitamin C" Waffles for breakfast, we went to lunch at McDonald's and had dinner at Chuck-A-Rama (best decision we could've made - endless Mac&Cheese and Chocolate Milk)! Right before dinner we took her to Boondock's to play in the Kiddie Area, only $3; however, we might try that again when she's 7. It was a little bit big for her... After the fun day, we opened some gifts and had some delicious birthday cake. Chelsea received so many fun gifts from her grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles! We want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for making Chelsea's birthdays special.

Who's Who...

A little trip to the zoo, anyone?

Chelsea CANNOT get enough of this snow! We have her boots, coat, gloves, and scarf right by the back porch for anytime she wants to play with (or eat) the snow...

With all that snow-fun, there's always some room for snuggling with her dolls and dou-dou watching a little "Thumbelina."

Celebrating the Christmas Season at Great Gram's house - playing with her hospital toys! Thanks for the "heated throw blanket" and the cute baby & toddler clothes, Gram.

Cute Girlies and Birthday Celebration! A Picture Update.

So grateful for these kind of carts!

I love going shopping with my girls.

Yes, I do love being a mother!

On the way to celebrate Michael's BYU Birthday Bash!

(Michael's Dad made us all Steak Sandwiches and then we watched the BYU Game)

Right after I made the cake!

(Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting with a little bit of red food coloring,

white Good&Plenty, and vanilla Tootsie Rolls - with coconut/green food coloring for the grass)

Right after Chelsea discovered I made the cake! :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you SO much.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your 26 years of life!

Heart Strings and Things.

I don't think it's fair that 2 months can just fly by without me noticing! But it's because we are having so much fun! I love my little family. These girls are growing up so fast! Lily is about to cut her first tooth. And I'm pretty sure my twins can crawl circles around your twins (and circles is about the extent of it...). Lucie does the cutest little grunt you've ever heard. They both are eating better and I can actually get a spoon into their mouths. I had to use a dropper for the past two months because they just wouldn't open their mouths for a spoon (they love their mommy)! I feel so blessed to be able to nurse these babies and can really feel the special bond we all three share because of it. I truly love being a mother. At an Elder's Quorum social tonight I was talking to some couples about how I don't know how I've survived these past 8 months. And really it feels like it's been one long day. In the words of Jacob, "our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream." I love my life! I love how the days flow together and I get to spend so much time with these sweethearts. They truly are heaven-sent. Chelsea is turning into the sweetest little girl. The other night when Michael was putting her to bed he laid her down and pointed to heart saying, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart." And she repeated back to him, "Heart, heart heart. Hi heart." She does things like that all day long, I love it! She has started repeating prayers and loves scripture time with daddy (I wish all of you could see his scripture-time dramatics, it's amazing)!

There is so much to be grateful for and I can only begin to count the blessings. I truly can feel the Lord's hand in our little family's life. I know Heavenly Father is aware of us and our daily struggles (the spilled juice, the messy dishes, or even the unfolded laundry). These struggles may seem small but to us the are big accomplishments at the end of the day. I know my capacity to handle the little things has been enlarged by a loving Heavenly Father. In a Stake Relief Society meeting lately, a member of our Stake Presidency shared an analogy about stress. He shared that it is through "stress" that silver is purified and the way the Refiner knows when the silver is finished is when he can see His image reflected in the silver. I truly feel it is the same way for us. That the stress we feel in our lives is our Heavenly Father's way to help us because a little bit more like Him. But, the biggest part of it all is that we don't have to go it alone. He is right there molding and shaping us into the beauty He knows we are. I want to thank the "angels" in my life who help me daily to relieve my stress and help me raise my sweet little family. 

Our Little Princesses!

Happy 6 month Birthday to Lily & Lucie! Has it gone by fast for you? Because I have felt like the past 6 months have flown by... They both are in the middle of teething, none have cut through yet, but they are gnawing on everything, including each other! It is so fun to watch these girls interact. They also have mastered the art of rolling over and are starting to scoot a little bit, even if it is backwards. These girls are also so smiley and happy! We couldn't feel more blessed with how healthy and happy these twins are.


Chelsea is in the stage of exploration! She wants to know how everything feels, sounds, and tastes like. The other day we were playing outside and she heard someone playfully scream from a neighboring yard. She of course couldn't resist the urge to copy it (same pitch, mind you) but then she discovered something...her echo! She kept doing it over and over again just to hear the echo, the look of discovery on her face was priceless!

Chelsea loves animals! She's had these sounds mastered for a while but this is the first time I actually caught them on video. Don't worry, she doesn't have a huge growth on her back, we were pretending she was a turtle.

Bread, bread, and more bread.

For some reason I have had a huge desire to become great at baking bread. I've really wanted to perfect the art - Not just know how to follow the recipe, but to know that putting water in the oven along with the bread makes the crust more crispy, or knowing to let the yeast sit until it is completely dissolved before I add it to the oil, sugar, and salt, even knowing that patience in letting the dough rise long enough is always worth it in the end. So a 1 1/2 years ago I made my first loaf of French bread and this is how it turned out:


Not bad looking, but it just didn't taste right. It tasted too flour-y and was very thick. Michael was very nice about it and told me he loved it, but for the most part, it didn't taste anything like the French bread he actually had in France. My problem is that I always thought that the bread isn't supposed to be sticky anymore after I've mixed it all together so I kept adding and adding flour, when really the extra flour just makes the bread heavy. So over the past few months I've searched and searched for a recipe that would taste amazing and look good, and have also done a lot of reading on how to make the bread the right consistency: fluffy, a little crisp on the outside, will go along with anything or will taste great plain. And this is what I've come up with:

The glazed look on the crust is a coat of egg whites I added before I let it rise for the last time.

My mother-in-law (who tells me that she hardly ever eats bread) has now asked me to make it every time I come over for a Sunday dinner. Isn't she nice? I have a long way to go still because all I can make is French bread and I'm still learning the tricks of that trade. But, my next journey is finding a good Sandwich bread recipe . . . Wish me luck on my continued adventures in the world of bread.

Twin Arm Wrestle - winner gets to eat first.

What's been going on at the Gibbons' home?

Guess what!?! All my girls are asleep for the night, yes, it is only 7:49 pm. This is saying a lot for our little family since last night it took until 11:30 pm for all of them to finally go to bed (we started putting them to bed at 7:30). Why is this happening, you ask? Because we just got back from the funnest vacation we've ever taken as a family and some nights we didn't get even back to our hotel until 11:30 pm! We spent the last week in California going to the Beach, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Old Town, Hollywood & DISNEYLAND! Oh my goodness, was it a BLAST! Here's a little bit of what we did:


We started out the trip by going to Sea World. I'd never been before and it was a BLAST! I already want to go back. We love seeing the Dolphins, Sea Otters, and Shamu (to name a few). But, Chelsea's favorite part about Sea World was that there was a Sesame Street Land - they had Elmo and Grouch rides - here's a vid of Chelsea during one of their shows:

The souvenir we got for Chelsea at Sea World was a stuffed Shamu! When she first got it she wouldn't let it go of it and kept making it jump while saying, "Jump, jump, jump." It was so cute! Right after we gave it her we introduced her to Shamu . . . if you've never seen Shamu in person, she is HUGE!!! Now every time Chelsea sees her stuffed Shamu, before she hugs it, she Roars! I think it really scared her at first.

We had so many good pictures from our trip that I decided to do a slideshow of the pics. We had such an amazing time as a family! We came back rejuvenated, filled with more love than ever for each other! Thanks also to Bob, Liz, Maddie, Jim, Mimi, Papa, Megan, Luke, Brocko, Sophie, Guy, Nannies (Happy Birthday), and Aubrea for also making this such an Amazing vacation!

And presenting . . .

I know it's been 4 1/2 months since my babies were born, but I wanted to show you my husband's handiwork . . . He took the pictures AND designed the birth announcement. I sure love these girls so much!

A Trip to the Zoo!

We decided to splurge this year and get a Zoo Membership! We've already saved money with it - we LOVE the Zoo. Chelsea has now mastered the following animal sounds: Monkey, Tiger (Lion, Dinosaur, or anything with scary teeth), Horse, Cow, Elephant, Dog (her favorite), kitty cat, bird, and I'm trying to teach her Gorilla. We have a lot of fun together as a family! We especially love it when Daddy gets to come along on our adventures:

Thanks, Daddy!

It was so cool - the leopard kept pacing back and forth. Right before we took this picture Chelsea's nose was practically against the glass - you can tell she is a little bit unsure about how close this Big Cat was.

We toted our cute babies around in a wagon! (now we have a minivan and can bring our TRIPLE stroller to the Zoo - which we did once already)

Of course, we must end the day with some Ice Cream! (I hope it was better tasting than the sand she sampled earlier)

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

My girls are 1-month-olds already!! They are growing up so fast. They can focus better, follow voices, and both Lily & Lucie have smiled at me while they were wide awake! They are still pretty hard to tell apart, but Lily so far has a little bit more chubs than Lucie and a little less hair in the front, but even then I haven't taken off their name bracelets - I would hate to get them confused permanently.

The best news is that they are becoming better sleepers! Lily slept a whole 7 hours straigtht last night!!! Lucie didn't sleep quite as long, but she is still making a lot of progress - 4 hours straight - which I think is amazing for a baby that is only 4 weeks old (Chelsea didn't sleep even that long until 6 months)! We've been pretty determined to helpthem get their nights and days straightened out. I make sure to get them up around 9 am (varies, obviously), feed them, then at least change their clothes, so they know it's morning and time to play. We have them on a Eat, Play, Sleep schedule and I usually feed them at the same time. I like this kind of schedule because I never feel confused about what they need. I can be sure I fed them, and then when they start to get fussy while we're playing (which is tummy/talking time) then it's time to go take a nap.

I couldn't do it without all the help I've received in the first month - thanks to everyone!! who've helped me clean my house, watch my Chelsea Rose, or make us dinners (plus I know there's been tons more you've done). Recovery from my C-section has been slow but steady. I definitely am learning a lot through this experience! And I can't end this post without acknowledging how helpful Michael has been through this whole experience - he is the sweetest. He helps me cook and clean - on Sunday I didn't do a single chore or make a single dish because he stepped in a did it all so I could have a "day of rest." He and Chelsea also are becoming quite the duo - he helps with her so much, because I'm not supposed to lift her yet (2 more weeks!).

These little girls are angels; we are so blessed to have them in our family!

Happy Birthday, Lily & Lucie!

February 21, 2011

8:11 am
52 seconds apart

Lucie Nicole

6 lbs 13 oz
19 inches

Lily Michele
7 lbs 0 oz
19 inches

We named them after our mothers, Lucie (Michael's Mom) & Michele (My Mom) as well as both Michael and I have sisters with Nicole their middle name, Laura & Brook. We feel so blessed that they came so safely. My biggest prayer was that they would be able to come home from the hospital with me and they did! We have the best family and are loving getting to know our beautiful girls!

Lily & Lucie were born on Michael's brother, Grant's, birthday. He entered the MTC two days later, I say, that was a close call, we're so happy he got to meet them before he left.

** Happy Valentine's Day **

Michael and I had SOOO much fun last night! We sure love each other SOOO much and love celebrating how much we love each other - we splurged and even got a baby sitter! He came home with these beautiful flowers - I LOVE FLOWERS!!! It was filled with roses, star gazer lilies, and beautiful greens! ** He also wrote me the sweetest love letter -

This is where we had our wedding luncheon - we can never get enough of Joy Luck! We shared Tangerine Chicken and Almond Shrimp. Delicious!!

Shoes, shoes, shoes! Thank you, Michael - we went to the Gateway after dinner, window shopped and got a few things for the both of us. We love getting each other presents and surprises!! (maybe a little too much . . . )

This is the Valentine's Card Chelsea and I made for Daddy!! Isn't she cute??

Here's us waiting at Joy Luck! We LOVE love and hope that you know how much we LOVE you!!

Cross Your Fingers . . . x2.

I'm really hoping to get everyone an update of our family - this will be the 3rd time I've tried. My Internet has been super fast today so I'm hoping that I can get pics and movies to upload. Here goes . . .

Chelsea's 1st Birthday:

We had a huge party for Chelsea Rose! She is growing up to be such a sweet gal and is in love with dogs! There are 3 dogs that live behind us so she always wakes up from her naps barking, it is so cute. Because of her love her dogs we threw here a Dalmatian Party! She had no problem digging into her Dalmatian Cake! It was so fun to have both sides of our family there to celebrate our sweet little angel. Thank you for all the gifts and love!

Christmas Time:

We had the best Christmas ever! We spent Christmas Eve/Morning with my family in Orem and then went home to have a little Christmas opening at our house - then headed over to the Gibbons Family's to celebrate the rest of Christmas day with them. Michael spoiled me SOOO much this Christmas! We feel so blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of the Savior every year. We hope to keep him at the center of our lives and hearts throughout the entire year! We talked about next year making Christmas more about the Savior - if you have any suggestions how you keep Christ in your Christmas we would love to hear them.

Yes, we all look a little tired, don't we? My family is up at 6 am (at the latest) to open presents! I love it - and with how many people there are it usually takes about 3 1/2 hours for everyone to get through their presents - well, mostly because we all get spoiled! :)

New Year's Celebrations:

We celebrated New Year's in style! On New Year's Eve, Michael's band had the opportunity to perform at the Tabernacle for First Night, they did such an amazing job! During the day, we went to Build-A-Bear with my family and then Discovery Gateway with Michael's family! And on New Year's day we met up with all of my extended family on my Mom's side at The Chinese Gourmet for our annual New Year's dinner (this is highlighted in the picture of my sister, Laura, and her new husband, Josh!! - congratulations! They got married on December 21st and spent their honeymoon in California over Christmas Break, fun huh?).


A quick trip to the doctor:

It was the first time that Chelsea has ever been really sick - she had an ear infection and a little cold in her eye, but she got better quickly with antibiotics and has been healthy ever since! She was such a sweetie, we waited for 2 hours to see the doctor (Michael is in the background trying to find something for her to watch on his iPhone).


And the waiting begins . . .

Can you believe we've made it this far into our pregnancy?? We are 36 whole weeks along and the babies are as healthy as ever! In fact, they are both about 6 1/2 lbs. each already. This isn't the best picture of me, but it shows how HUGE I'm getting! I told Michael that the next time we have a baby that if I ever complain that he needs to remind me about this pregnancy . . . It is just a little bit hard to get around these days . . . but, we can't wait to meet our Sweet Girls!