Good Bye 2009!!

Sydney and Colton Christmas Morning

Colton is the best present of '09

Snow Day in Houston! Dec 6, 2009

Sydney, Katy, Wendy and Colton

Sydney and Colton Christmas Eve




Colton playing with Cheerios

I have been terrible about keeping up with the blog! With two active children, 3 dogs, 2 G. pigs and working to establish a new business, time flies by each day. 2009 has definitely been an exciting year for the Gibbs family. We were thrilled to welcome our newest member, Colton on January 31, 2009. We just wish he would have hung out INSIDE until closer to his due date of April 12, 2009. Syd has finished up the first half of 3rd grade and is staying very busy with cheer leading, volleyball and gymnastics. She is giving up gymnastics for the spring and going to try some softball. Katy Bear, our chocolate lab was hospitalized this time last year with endocarditis and we were told New Years Eve 2008 that she would not survive the night. She is lying by my feet sniffing the air occasionally and thumping her tail as there is vegetable beef soup in the crock pot.

Colton is thriving and doing much better than anticipated! He weighs in at 19 lbs 1 oz! An incredible feat considering his 3 lb 12 oz start! His pediatrician has pushed high calorie formula and weight gain all year as studies show good weight gain by preemies in the first year correlates with good brain development and growth. It takes a lot of energy just to survive outside the womb let alone finish developing and grow when you are born too early and he has managed to do both! He is able to push himself into a sitting position and gets onto all fours and rocks. He will be crawling around any day now! We got the tree put away yesterday, so I am OK with him getting mobile now. He is eating stage 2 baby food twice a day and seems to enjoy eating a little more these days. He HATED it in the beginning. He has been taking the synergis vaccines to prevent RSV this season. He will probably get a few more and then be done for next season. Colton will celebrate his first birthday in a few short weeks. Its interesting to think about what I would have been doing right now this time last year had I known my little man was going to make his appearance 10 weeks early.

Colton will start at the Early Learning Center at Salem Lutheran School (where Sydney goes to school) on January 4th. We know the director well from when Sydney was there and we have met all Colton's teachers. He even spent a half day getting acquainted while I volunteered in the library earlier this month. (Colton and I together have logged about 50 hours at the school library this year!) I can't say I am looking forward to dropping him off on Monday, January 4, 2010; but, I have to go back to work.

Speaking of work, I have decided not to return to my previous employer. I have decided NOT to be employed by someone. I have established a pediatric home health company, Jump Start Physical Therapy, PLLC. I have evaluated 3 kiddos this week to start after the New Year, and I have 2 more evals on the books for the first week in January. I have three more referrals to chase in January as well. Ten children with 2 visits per week will be a full time schedule for me. I will probably look into hiring a PTA in the late spring or early summer if business is steady. The paperwork is crazy but I think all in all it will be well worth it.

So as 2009 winds down, we look forward to 2010 and watching Syd and Colt grow.....but not too fast!

Happy New Year!

The Gibbs
Wendy, Bret, Sydney and Colton