Welcome Gibson Ellett!

Baby number four for our family in 2010 arrived yesterday! I have lots of stuff still to post between the fair (which needs an update) and now, but this must go up directly! Gibson Ellett was born on Veteran's Day at 4:34am via emergency c-section. Mama and Daddy were up all night with the birthing process. He eventually arrived and is beautiful and wonderful by all accounts. He was 8lb, 5oz, 20in. I can't wait to meet him at Christmas, and am totally thrilled to once again be an Aunt.

His first name, Gibson, isn't after anyone - just a name his Mama and Daddy chose especially for him. It was a while after he was born before he received his name, as they were hashing it out even after he arrived. I don't know what his sanctioned nicknames will be, except for perhaps Branch, which he's been called for several months (another branch on the family tree) but I've taken to calling him Gib, Gibby, and the Gibber. These may all be contraband. I don't know. But it's a name that lends itself to cool nicknames, for sure. His middle name is a family name - my grandfather's name was Edward Ellett. Ellett was his mother's maiden name. Her family helped to found Ellettsville, Indiana.

Of course, relying on others to send me photos, here are some photos of the new little guy with my Indiana family:

This is the only one so far where I see some resemblance to his cousin LM


Here he looks JUST like his dad.


Kissy face!


Dad and Mom with their new son.


Veda, Deacon, Cora with their new brother!


Nana with another new grandbaby.


Grandpa and Torchy checking out the babe.


Uncle Bob and cousin Amber.
I think it's funny Gibson already has his eye on Uncle Bob.
Smart kid. ;-)


Bevi and Unk stopped by too!


Cool Man Gib.


It's like he's saying, "Enough with the photos!"


The three boys.
And, my brother Steve with a look on his face that looks like HIS dad.


The four kids, dad looking on.


Four kids and dad, clearly after a Cora meltdown.


The whole beautiful family.

So there you have it! Our latest baby! As I said, I'm dying to meet him in person. It won't be long.

See you soon!

State Fair 2010! ***UPDATE COMING***

***HI ALL - I Just found my other State Fair photos and will be updating this post shortly.***



This year's butter sculpture was about Texas-OU

Also in the "old news but previously not reported here" category - an update on the State Fair of Texas! Yes, that's right. It closed almost a month ago. But sister, I'm living on little sleep and borrowed computer time these days. So here is your update of the great State Fair of Texas 2010.

We went to the fair four times. We took Little Man each time. He seemed to enjoy it except the day it was really hot. Each time we went to the fair, we went by to see my photos. They were displayed in the Creative Arts building with lots of other beautiful crafts and creations of all sorts. It is a great building to spend some time marveling in.

Me standing near the butterfly photo.
It's just above the one LM is looking at.


The other one - the sunflower image - was on the top row.


We walked all around.

On this particular night we went with S's brother and sister-in-law and Mark and Kim, their kids, her mom Debbie, and S's parents Cheryl and Sam. There were strollers and baby bjorns involved heavily in this outing. What a difference a year makes. We checked out the treasures people sell as well as the automobile buildings. And, of course, we ate our weight in fair food.

LM helped his Nonna down some fair food.
Not really. He just got some "sugar" from her.


Big A and Kim had cotton candy.
I can honestly say I am not a fan.


But Alexandra was. She liked it.


Even Kim's mom is a fan.
Don't worry, I get my calories in elsewhere, ladies. Ahem.


We saw the trains.
We all thought the trains were moving to Grapevine before this fair.
But they were still there.


We also went to the butterfly garden.
I highly recommend this place. Beautiful.


All of the fair photos were with the purse camera.
A couple turned out alright!

So there's the quick, late fair update!

See you soon.

Sophia's Baptism

Waaaayyyy back in early October cousin Sophia was baptized. I have a lot of way back in October posts coming your way, as I am able. Here is the first one.

Little Man's cousin Sophia is two and a half months older than him. But, they are about the same size because my boy's such a hoss at this point in his little old life. And there are times these two look A LOT alike. I'm sure you'll see the resemblance.

Here are the photos of the day:

Sophia with her mom before, and with her dad after the baptism.



LM was bright eyed and bushy tailed for the event.
Or not.



Sophia with Nonna and Papaw.



The baptism girl with me and S.


She wouldn't stop looking at me.
It was my magnetic personality I'm certain.



Aunt Brooke and Uncle Michael with cousin Katherine.
She was about three weeks in this photo, I think.



Big sis Alexandra was there of course.
Shown here with Aunt Kelsey and Papaw.


Then the actual baptism service began.
And this catalogs some of the action.

I have to say I really liked how the priest managed the service. It was appropriate and reverent, but not two hours long. Appreciated on both accounts.

Then, the big moment came.
She was anointed with the holy water and baptized.



There were three babies being baptized on this day.


Lots of family were in attendance.


At the end of the service, Sophia was over it.
But she did pretty good until then.


Posing with the Godparents, Kim's sister and brother-in-law.




It was a good day for a nice service for a sweet girl.

See you soon.

Twelve Weeks Old

It's hard to believe my baby was twelve weeks old last Friday! Almost three months! Barely yet a "newborn". And still a bundle of love! Here is the next post on our progress. To catch up on the last post, click here.

Ten weeks old on Nana's quilt.

He sleeps in his crib during the day now! Success! Nice long naps, easy to go down, etc. He is still sometimes fussy before he goes to sleep, but not for long. He prefers, however to sleep on his tummy, which they will not allow until he turns over for himself at daycare... so he will have to adapt.

I love this one.

One thing I sometimes do is make a "ohhh, so sad" sound to console him when he cries and let him know I feel for him. One day during week ten S tried to mimic this action while I was in the other room. He, however, did it so loudly in a falsetto voice that it sounded like pterodactyls had landed in our den. If Little Man had WANTED to sleep, there is no way it would have happened. I have to give him a big ol' A for effort, but it made me CRACK UP in the other room.

In an outfit from his Great Great Aunt Jeannie.

Little Man has also increased his love of little toys. He likes to suck on Sophie the giraffe's head. He likes to "hold" the toys, and bring them close to his mouth if he actually gets a good grip. One "toy" that is easy for him to capture is a silk handkerchief. We have a set of these from my cousin Candy, who knows a thing or two about little boys with two herself. He can easily grab one of those and shake it all around. He likes that a lot.

REALLY excited about camo day.
Or camo moment until the next blowout.

He has increased his drooling, and his waist size. Of course, three month old babies are some of the rolliest, polliest around, since they eat but still don't move around too much. He fits into this category. We will baptize him this weekend, and the outfit will just fit.

"Participating" in cousin Sophia's baptism...
I'll tell you more about that one day on the blog...

A little about my state of being. I love being a mom. But, it has its lifestyle changes. I no longer have pretty toes. Thank goodness cooler weather is upon us! The downside to that, however, is that my feet grew while pregnant just enough that all my shoes are a tad uncomfortable. I am trying to find some replacements, but as of this writing have only tennis shoes and black loafers to my name that fit. Before it got colder, I could sneak wearing the sandals in my closet, since my toes stuck out. It limits the number of outfits I can wear to work because I don't have shoes to match!

Eleven weeks on Nana's quilt.

Also, I spend a great deal of time feeding the boy. Now that I am back at work, I take two short breaks a day to pump out food for the boy. I tried breastfeeding to see how it would go. It was HARD, sister, at first. Very, very hard. And, another downside is it is all on you, pretty much, to wake with the babe at all hours to feed him. But, it has worked out for us and it is now so easy to feed him. No bottles to make or warm. (Until this week...) And I have managed to make an abundant supply for him. And, I have to say, I enjoy it. I really do. It is a special thing that I can do to feed my baby. It gives me "downtime" each day (and night...ahem) to spend with him and bond. Or, if he is semi-sleeping, to catch up on my emails or read a book. I have to say when I think about the day when I no longer breastfeed this baby, it makes me sad! It will be hard to give it up. It has turned out to be a wonderful thing for us. And now I am trying to make the transition to working, pumping mom. Pumping is not the most fun thing to do at work. We'll see how it goes - I hope it continues to be a blessing.

While in Indiana...I'll tell you about that on another day right here.
Great trip.

Speaking of reading, my bookshelf has made a few changes. I've read Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, two books on being a working, breastfeeding mother. (One, called the Milk Memos, I highly recommend to anyone in this boat.) I have also read Get Me Out, a history of childbirth through the ages, Anne Lamott's journal of her son's first year called Operating Instructions, and numerous books on raising your child up right. I am sure it will ensure I still screw my kid up just as much as the next person.

So far being back at work has been good. I really enjoy being back and the work that I do. I enjoy the people I work with and the environment. Heck, I even enjoy not being quite as physically tired as you are after being with a baby all day. But of course I miss said baby terribly. I'm so glad to see him at the end of the day, and I think he's glad to see me too. He's such a sweet boy and such a blessing to me. And I am sure the eternal balance every working mom searches for will get better for me. We will find our rhythm and it will be alright. It's been so nice for my mom to be here to help with the transition. This first week he has been at home with her. Next week we ramp up to daycare. I am pleased with the care we have found for him, and I know it will be a good experience for him. He will love it. Mama will have to adapt...

He is pushing up that head big time now!

Let's see - more about the boy. He is trying so hard to sit up. Seriously - he pulls up with his stomach muscles. He can't do it, but he wants to do it SO BAD. And when he has tummy time he moves those legs so fast - once he can figure out how to go, WATCH OUT! He'll be GONE!

Twelve weeks on Nana's quilt.

He talks and coos even more these days. And my mom says he even did a belly laugh this week. (A week thirteen accomplishment...) I can't wait to hear that one. He still loves blinds and ceiling fans and his mobile. He now also likes the "aquarium" in his crib, though, and looking intently at new objects. He still likes music and movement and snuggles.

As requested, one week and twelve week collage.

As I mentioned, we will baptize him this weekend, and he will also cross over the threshold of three months, out of newborn baby land and into just being my sweet infant son. I love him to pieces. I'll tell you more about all of those accomplishments another time...when I have a moment to sit down at the computer and type.

See you soon.