We're Having a . . .

BOY!

Our little guy decided not to be shy during the ultrasound! I was sure it was a girl, but the crazy part is that I had those 2 dreams that it was a boy and one of them actually happened. Exact dream. Same angle on the junk and the very obvious boy parts and everything. Exactly. Nuts, literally. :)

We're so excited to meet baby brother! Now for a name. Oh dear, we're going to need some help with this one. Remember the process it took to name Malcolm? Elliot's new favorite is Harvey. Sheesh.

Is it a BOY or GIRL?

Not to sway anyone's vote, but . . . .

- The Wedding Ring test says I'm having a GIRL.

- The Chinese Gender Prediction says I'm having a GIRL.

- I think it's a GIRL. I've been right on both of my children so far. It's not any way that I carry my babies or sickness or anything (because I'm never sick), I just have feelings of what they are. I have, however, had 2 dreams where it's very obviously a BOY.

- Elliot, for convenience sake, wants a BOY. We have boy stuff. A girl would mean I get to go shopping.

- Stella really, really, really wants a GIRL, but says she'll still congratulate me if it's a BOY.

UPDATE: Strike that . . . Stella wants a BOY now because we just informed her that if it's a GIRL, she will always have to share her room.

- Malcolm doesn't know what's coming, but he loves babies now.

What do you think? Ultrasound is on Monday!

SURPRISE!

Joining our

FAMILY

in March 2013!

Job Jar

I may have gotten a little tired of hearing "I'm bored!" around our house. Also, we have lots of little jobs that I don't always get to, so what is a better cure for the "I'm bored" sickness than having to pick a job from the job jar every time you say it!

Stella said it so many times right after I made the jar that she had a few papers on the fridge to take care of the next day. She cleaned her bathtub and did her 8 times tables the first day. There's lots of crap in that jar to do. I might even pick one out just to get stuff done.

Stella's #8 Birthday

End of Swim Lessons

Ugh, they are just so strict at swim lessons. Who's to say that "free style" doesn't mean "dive down to the bottom of the pool and swim like a mermaid across the entire length of the pool"? Geez, lighten up Carson Junior High School swim instructors.

Malcolm is 11 Months Old!

Not sure how much Malcolm weighs at 11 months, but it's just so much more than I remember Stella weighing. He's definitely a chubby baby, but I think he's just solid. Brick. Anvil. Heavy.

Malcolm finally started crawling on July 1st! Stella see's everything first. I was in the kitchen refilling a bottle after church on Sunday and Stella started yelling, "He's crawling!" I grabbed the camera and made Stella drag him back so he could crawl for his bottle. It is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Malcolm got another cold. I did too.

Malcolm also finally got his first tooth (bottom right) at the beginning of the month, then 2 weeks later got the bottom left, 2 weeks later got the top left, 2 weeks later (August) top right.

Malcolm is pulling himself up to stand on everything and now that he's figured this and crawling out, he is INTO EVERYTHING! Seriously, it's like he's just been observing for 5 months and deciding which things would be easiest to get into instead of easing me into it. He's especially fond of the bathrooms and we are learning how to remember to shut the doors.

Now that he's more mobile, he is also more exhausted! I love it.

When I say "peek-a-boo," Malcolm will put his hand in the middle of his face. It's cute.

Malcolm has decided that he needs to try his best to be louder than his sister. Pterodactyle-like, even. I don't mind it so much when it's actually laughing. Stella can make him laugh harder than anyone.

Malcolm was amazingly well-behaved during a carwash we did for my friend Laurie. He held the sign for a little bit and then I pretty much forgot about him the rest of the time. He was entertained by the other kids though and he was in the shade, so I'm not that bad of a Mom, right?

Big Boy.

Malcolm loves his bath, so I was sure he'd love the water park too. He wasn't quite sure what to do.

Malcolm just likes to push stuff around. It gets loud on the tile floors, but he's so happy.

You won't see his happy face because he's stone cold around everyone else, but he really is a super happy guy and we just love him to pieces!

New Bishopric!

Elliot was released as Bishop of the Evergreen Ward on July 8th. He served for 7 1/2 years and had 7 counselors. We're going to have a few more Sunday afternoon naps here in our future. We're all very happy about it.

Our new bishopric is Bishop Barry Edholm (our good friend), John Flaherty (1st counselor), and Clint Bills (2nd Counselor).

Interview with the Bishop

Stella is talking on the phone to the Ward Executive Secretary to set up her baptismal interview with the Bishop.

Random June Stuff

Stella made a little decoration for us with some pictures we have around (left to right: baby Stella, Stella age 7, Whitney age 3, Whitney/Elliot wedding day 1999, Elliot age 2, Malcolm age 9 months, Malcolm age 3 months). She wouldn't let us take it down for quite some time.

We went swimming over at the Campbell's house.

Franklin and Malcolm played inside with me.

Malcolm learned how to climb up on short things. Then he learned how to fall off of them.

Mal likes a good ride to the laundry room.

Malcolm ended up in this thing for a while. Allison and Stella may have given him some rides for a while.

Stella does the best at voices. Her rooster is out of this world. It could also break your eardrums. Malcolm enjoyed it a great deal.

Elliot was gone for so much of June that he put this picture up on the door that he used for Pin the Patch on the Pirate at Girls Camp this year and left Stella a little note.

Stella is getting a little tired of Malcolm getting into all of her stuff, so she built a barrier to tease him.

Camo babies.

I went back to the gym. And then I promptly stopped going back to the gym.

Moving the Dibble's

So Elliot's brother Adam was in Africa when they finally got word that they could move into their new house in Mesa. Xan doesn't let anything stop her, so she was almost completely packed up before we even went over to start helping!

It took us a whole night to pack up that enormous pantry. I thought I was packing up a whole grocery store! Lots of food for a big family! Malcolm helped too. The girls pretty much stayed out of the way except for their one job of throwing away the expired cans of food.

The boys were a big help (once Elliot got there to boss them around . . . I mean, encourage them).

Then the actual move-in day came around after Adam got back from Africa. I thought that Malcolm would be safe at the lowest part of the house since this house has 40 sets of stairs. It figures that he would choose this day to learn how to climb stairs. I'm afraid I wasn't much help.

The girls tried to keep him occupied, but now he had a new favorite activity.

Everyone was thoroughly exhausted after emptying the trucks and arranging furniture and carrying boxes (I tried to unpack the pantry . . . P.S. Xan, you have plenty of Crystal Light drink packets). Elliot fell asleep on the floor.

Ray thanked us by giving Stella these little water baby bullets that you put in water and they expand. You can't use them unless you have the proper water bullet gun, but Stella insisted on keeping them in the cup on the counter anyway. It was fine until it was just in the way of something I dropped out of the cupboard and 500 water baby bullets and it's accompanying cup of water fell all over my floor.

I may have said a bad word.

Malcolm is 10 Months Old!

My baby is old. :( But goodness gracious he's so cute! I can't believe how fast time is going by and that Malcolm will be a year old before I know it!

Malcolm went camping for the first time. We also happened to be camping at the beach, so it was also his first trip to the beach as well.

This also means that he ate sand for the first time. He did not like it the first time. Nor the second.

He began acquiring a taste for it by the third try.

He wasn't a huge fan of the ocean. It was pretty cold and he had a kung-fu grip on Daddy the whole time.

Uncle Adam fed Malcolm his first taste of real people food while we were at the beach. Scramble eggs. Baby food will never be the same.

Malcolm also went to Disneyland for the first time. He was stroller-bound most of the time, but he did get to ride It's a Small World, Dumbo, and Pirates of the Caribbean. He did not like that one. Once again, kung-fu grip on Daddy.

Malcolm had his first sleepover at Grandma Dibble's house and he did really, really well. I was surprised actually. He's always just cried when he goes to babysitters, but Stella was there and I think she was a big help. The only time he cried was when Elliot and I came to get him and he saw our faces and remembered that we left him for a night.

Malcolm weened himself off of his binki. He was only using it at night for the last couple of months, and even then, he'd wake up without it. So one night I just didn't put it in his mouth and he hasn't needed it since. Malcolm is still a great sleeper unless I've made him take a nap somewhere else. Then putting him to bed he just cries like I'm abandoning him.

Malcolm loves to wave and just has the happiest face while he's doing it. Maybe he's just happy to see you go away.

Malcolm has learned to nod his head and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. We are always asking him if he's a handsome boy and the answer is always yes.

Malcolm started swim lessons at the Carson Junior High School pool. He was one of the oldest in his class and they basically only teach kicks, bubbles, going under water, and getting out of the pool. Malcolm liked kicking, but only on his own terms. It was right during his naptime, so poor planning on my part. He did learn to blow bubbles though. I mostly just put him in lessons so that I wouldn't have to sit out in the hot sun during Stella's lessons.

I can't decide if his mother of a bum rash is because of the swimming or if he's getting his teeth finally. But he also had a pretty high fever.

Malcolm learned how to climb stairs when we helped Uncle Adam and Aunt Xan move into their new house. I thought he was safe at the lowest room of the house with toys surrounding him, but he was much too interested in what everyone else was doing and ended up at the top of the stairs.

Malcolm is still not crawling, but the boy can slither like no other. He can get up on his knees so he can pull himself up to stand on something, but I'm in no hurry to get him all old and stuff. I love holding him and so I'm fine with him not walking before age 1. He's only a hefty 25 pounds and my arms still need a workout, so we're good.

Malcolm would be happy if I never went to the gym again.

Malcolm loves plugs, wires, cords, anything to do with electrocuting himself. He also loves Stella stuff. Stella is not happy with this turn of events. Malcolm also loves door-stoppers.

Malcolm loves Peek-a-Boo, So Big, and Wheels on the Bus.

Malcolm loves to play the piano.

Malcolm is an assassin. He will scratch your eyes out faster than you can blink and will pull your hair straight out of your skull. Just ask his cousin Claire.