We're having a ...

Boy!

We visited the doctor before Christmas and she took a look to see what might be going on gender-wise with the kiddo. Matt watched the monitor and said, "I may not be a doctor, but I'm pretty sure I know what that is." The doctor agreed, but said that since she wasn't the ultrasound tech that we should save the receipts on any baby blue purchases.

Well, today was the 20 week ultrasound and sure enough, our little boy was not in a shy mood. We'd post pictures but hey, we're not that kind of blog.

Sharon continues to feel well overall. She's tired of the constant middle-of-the-night bathroom trips, and the heartburn is a pain. But all in all, we're feeling very fortunate. Sharon avoided any major morning sickness (just some occasional queasy-ness, but no "toliet-hugging") and other than an aversion to chicken she's feeling pretty good.

Other aspects of our lives continue to go well, also (we do have other aspects of our lives that don't immediately involve the fetus.) Sharon is working for an HVAC wholesaler here in town doing their accounting and financial analysis. She's enjoying the reduced stress compared to her time at Walmart. She's also the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society. She loves the sisters, but definitely misses her Primary kids! Matt's job continues to go well. There was a lot of travel at the outset, but now that it has settled down he's enjoying the work. Matt got called as the Young Men's President and is loving it! (Mostly because he hasn't had to go on any camp-outs yet.) There is plenty to keep us busy and occupied until the little bombshell arrives in May.

We'll do our best to keep this updated as we progress in the pregnancy. Thanks to all for the many well-wishes!

Worth a Post

We've been hearing for a while that it was time for us to get back to the blog and let the world know what's going on with the Gosneys. Since we last posted (back in Feb. of 2010) quite a bit has happened! Matt was called into the Bishopric. Sharon was called into the Primary Presidency. Matt and Sharon made the very difficult decision to move from their good friends in Centerton for a new adventure in Tulsa. And yet, none of this was evidently deemed "blog worthy." But for those of you who know us well, you'll agree this bit of news had to be shared.

Yup, that's what it appears to be. Due 5-15-12. We'll share more as we go, there's a great story behind this little fetus (which is, by the way, the most attractive and obviously intelligent fetus either of us has ever seen.)

Quick Get-Away

We decided for Valentine's Day (or close enough) to make a quick trip to Greenleaf State Park in Eastern Oklahoma for a couple of days in a cabin. Greanleaf is a one of the smaller, quieter state parks, but their cabins are relatively nice (as far as state park cabins go) and really our only goal was to just relax and do as little as possible. If those are your goals, Greenleaf fits the bill.


Here's our little cabin. It had satellite TV, so we didn't really "rough it." The beds were a little firm, so those with delicate backs probably should look elsewhere. Great for an inexpensive couple of days away, though.

The state park itself is really beautiful. You don't really think of Oklahoma as covered in trees and hills, but Eastern Oklahoma is really beautiful. Even in February.


The drive down there took us through Tahlequah, OK and dinner at the Oklahoma institution: Del Rancho (home of the Steak Sandwich Supreme.) Sharon fell in love with Del Rancho on the first visit, so another visit had to occur on the way home. Here's the famous Del Rancho. Basically unchanged since 1959.

Math by Music

This is a shameless plug for Sharon's brother's project: Math by Music.

Several years ago Sharon's dad wrote a series of songs to help children learn the basics of math. He was an elementary school teacher until recently retiring, as well as a guy pretty handy with a guitar. He wrote the songs for use in his own classroom, and eventually had them produced and recorded. Sharon's brother bought the right to the music a while ago, and decided now was the right time to get them out there to a broader audience.

Sharon can still remember the lyrics to these songs from when she was little! She won't say if she sings "The Missing Addend" to herself when working on month-end close for Walmart.

If you have kiddos ags 4 and up these songs are designed for them. If you have a minute, follow the link below and take a listen to some of the songs.

http://www.mathbymusic.com/index.html

Special Needs Snowman

Anyone watching the weather over the last few days knows that we had a pretty significant winter storm roar through Northwest Arkansas. We got some freezing rain, but mostly snow. It snowed from early Friday morning all the way through until the middle of the night last night, for us here in Arkansas that is a lot of snow! We are lucky enough to be able to take our laptops home and work from the kitchen table, so that's what we did on Friday. On Saturday we decided to have a crack at building a snowman. Here is what we learned:

1. Building a snowman that actually looks like a snowman is much harder than you remember from your youth.

2. You wouldn't think that rolling big balls of snow would be physically taxing. It is. Extremely.

3. The target height of the snowman will begin to diminish rapidly as construction begins.

So here's our snowman. He looks like someone whose mother may have taken drugs while pregnant with him.

We're proud of him, nonetheless. He'll last until he melts or until neighborhood kids decide to knock him down.

Have You Ever....

Have you ever woken up on Saturday morning totally thinking that you had to get up for work/school but then (before you get ready) the wonderful realization hits you that it is Saturday and you can spend the next couple hours in bed? What a happy feeling! That is how I felt when I found out that mocha syrup doesn't contain coffee (thank you Jen, I don't know you but I love you!). I called Starbucks to confirm and it's true...sorry to my hubby who thought he might save some money :)

The Saddest Thing Ever :(

My dear husband is the writer of the Gosney family blog. However, I found out the saddest thing ever on Friday that I felt worthy enough to be my very first post.

Friday was quite the frigid day as those of you here in AR know. I decided it would be nice to treat my team to Starbucks. My favorite warm beverage ever is Starbucks regular hot chocolate with caramel syrup (regular hc not signature, venti, no sauce, add a straw). They have the best hot cocoa on the planet and so while I was there I decided to ask what was in it (I've been drinking it for years, so why I decided to ask now I still don't know). The barista proceeded to tell me that they add vanilla and mocha syrup. MOCHA SYRUP, what?!? I must not have heard her correctly, maybe she was talking about the signature hot cocoa, which I find disgusting by the way. So I drank my hot cocoa and savored every sip. Matt checked the ingredients on line that night and the barista was in fact talking about my hot beverage of choice.

Matt is happy about this new information because it is going to save him some money. I on the other hand still have some healing to do. If there are any of you that currently drink this cocoa and shouldn't be drinking coffee, I apologize for posting this blog.