.George.Jenny.Carlos.Isabel.

Cute Sayings of Carlitos

2010-10-13T12:05:00.000-06:00

We all know the amazing miracle/international effort/blessing that is going on now with all the miners in Chile being rescued? Well, I was trying to explain to Carlos what was going on. So last night I said to him the following:

Well, there are 33 men that are trapped in the earth. They are miners which means that they dig for things for a living-like gold, diamonds, coal, and other things found in the dirt. They were trapped in the ground for 2 months and so they dug a small hole all the way down to them so they could pull them out with that machine you see there (watching tv).

This morning, we were all laying on the bed watching the coverage again with our laptop and he asks "Are they still taking them out of the planet with the missile?"

Haha, such a cutie

More Summer Fun and my Uncle's Visit

2010-10-03T21:32:00.000-06:00

We were able to hang out with friends on most weekends this summer with the schedules changes we have had to make. Here's a pic of Carlos and some of his friends. These kids are great-so cute too.

Time really flies. Seems like just yesterday these little ones were tiny ones. Speaking of tiny... these beanies below were made for a friend of mine who just had preemie baby twin girls. I wanted to make her something special-so I made her some beanies. Her mom loved them so much she asked me to teach her to make them. I taught her in a few hours and since she's made her grandbabies so many! They are adorable.

Carlos and Isabel went to the doctor for a check up over the summer. Carlos is bigger than average and Isabel is smaller than average. Their doctor knows what George and I look like so he said "Well, he's taking after his dad... and she's taking after you." I'm ok with that! Better than the other way around. :) Haha

This pic is of Carlos and his style. Love it.

My uncle came to visit this summer. It was great! I invited him to come months ago--not really thinking he would actually come. But he did! It was great. Here are a few pics of his visit.
First, Carlos loved my uncle's hat! I do too-it's pretty sweet.

Here he is at the Indian temple in Spanish Fork. Don't you think he looks like Robert DeNiro? Haha!

We took him to the base of Y mountain because we were short on time--he really likes it here in Utah. Every time family comes to visit I realize how great this place really is.

I'll post more about my uncle in Isabel's bday post.

Repentance as Time Out

2010-10-02T12:22:00.000-06:00

Today we were watching our friends' little girl. And as most 4 year olds do, she and Carlos both had trouble sharing with each other. I told them both to talk it out and say why each of them wanted to play with the ONE toy. Both of their answers to each other was "because". Of course it was... haha. Anyway so they both start talking to each other about their friends and I join in the conversation here and there. She mentions something about how sometimes her cousins are mean to her. Then later in the conversation she mentions that sometimes she does not like to share. So I mention this "Well, when you don't share, is that nice or mean?" "Mean." Then I say "Exactly. See, everyone can be mean sometimes but usually we don't want to be... " And just as I was going to try to teach these two little ones a lesson about repentance and the Savior, Carlos interrupts me and says to her:

Jesus Christ can help us! When we are mean we have to go to time out and after we sit in time out for a little while we can come out and then Jesus Christ helps us to be nice again.

I just LOVE the perspective of little children. I never thought of the repentance process as our own "time out". And he is right! When we're done with our time out (once we've repented), and we are forgiven, we are able to be "nice" again. I'll post some thoughts on something I learned about kindness later...

:)

Great-Grandparents

2010-09-26T21:54:00.000-06:00

In the midst of all my updating over the summer, I wanted to post a couple pics that are just awesome. Recently, George's grandpa was admitted to the hospital. He's doing really well considering he's 86 years old-but as we paid him a visit, the kids really were able to bond.

Despite us not being able to see him too often, it seems the little ones just continue where they left off. It only goes to show how important family is and how much the elders in our families mean to us. To think that someday we will be grandparents is insane. But it is inevitable. We all age and our families hopefully continue to grow. Cherish the legacies from your ancestors and elders. They are the way that we learn where we came from and help us understand who we are.

One thing I appreciate about both my family and George's is that culture and language are important keys to knowing who we are. Carlos is beginning to understand that he is different from most of his peers [at school and around]. My hope is that I will wisely choose the cultural traditions and customs from our families now in my own and that those combined with the gospel will help him come to understand where he has come from. I hope that it will also help him appreciate what he has because it is only because of the sacrifices of those before him. Sorry, totally random post-but just something that was on my mind as we drove home.

Enjoying the Water

2010-09-25T21:21:00.001-06:00

We made sure to go swimming as many times as possible this summer. We especially enjoyed going swimming with our friends to this place in Lindon. It was perfect for the kids-mostly shallow water, not too many people, a slide, and even a lazy river.

We had to be creative in our nap space because we would stay there all day for many hours. The littlest ones needed naps-so we made shade for them using chairs and towels, and umbrellas. This was also because Costco sold out of their Sportbrellas early in the summer. Next year for sure.

Carlos also took swimming lessons all summer long. He is a pretty good swimmer now. I hope to put him in the higher level swimming lessons next summer so he can learn the strokes as well as improve his skills. That is one thing that I seriously recommend to any one with kids. Not because it means I can stop worrying about him near water-but rather, so that I can worry less. I don't let down my guard even if he can swim a bit. But at least he's getting to the point where I will feel good about him swimming well.

These pics below crack me up. He often took naps with his goggles on over the summer.

And our little Isabel-copying her brother as usual. I just LOVE those chompers.

Isabel-loves the water. She doesn't cry if you put her in, or even if you take her out. She truly is an easy baby in many ways. Oh, and one thing about her swimsuits-adorable, I know. So before I had a girl, I was the friend who would buy cute 2-piece swimsuits for babies thinking they were so adorable (and they are...) but after having my own and trying them on her, I realized that I prefer one pieces on babies. They are so much cuter-at least on my baby they are.

Although I wish it was longer, this summer was a good one. We had lots of fun with friends and got to spend a lot of time outside. I hope the winter months are just as fun and pass quickly so we can do this all over again.

Breakfast in the Car

2010-09-24T08:47:00.000-06:00

What not to eat for breakfast in the car?

Nutella. :)

Probably the messiest baby ever...

Beautiful Little Hondurans. :)

2010-09-19T23:25:00.000-06:00

These two little girls are both 1/2 Honduran. Isla and Isabel are about 5 weeks apart (Isla older). Her mom and I are both Honduran and went to BYU together. Now our baby girls are close in age and both while are very different from each other, are both gorgeous.
Check out Isla's eyes. Amazing. Their daddies and brothers will have their hands full. :)

Happy Birthday BIG boy!

2010-09-19T22:45:00.000-06:00

Are you really 4 already?!
At four you:
Are incredibly smart (and I don't think I'm just saying that because I'm your mom)
Love puzzles, trains, cars, dinosaurs,swimming, running, kicking, jumping, building forts, playing outside

I particularly love how much you love those around you. You are loving, caring, and gentle with your baby sister. Although most of the time you run around and are FULL of energy, when you see a newborn baby, you can sit and "hold" him or her for a long time while softly rubbing their hair and giving them gentle kisses.

We couldn't be more proud of you. Thank you for always being a good example to us around you. Te amo chiquitin... :)

For your birthday, we threw you a fun Transformers pool party. We tried to keep the guest list short, but you are just so popular. Our friend at Cheat Day Treats made you this awesome Autobot cake and cupcakes. You had so much fun and having a birthday in June means you got lots of water guns. Happy Birthday, baby boy.

Pics above of Carlos and his friends... Pics below-some of the mommies and their babies. :)

After the party-opening gifts: Anyone ever need to borrow water guns-we got you covered...

What a fun party... they slept so well that night-especially with their gifts from Ita, hand-knitted blankets. :)

Some Summer Happenings

2010-09-19T22:13:00.000-06:00

OK so this is something we saw on our way home from church. "Escorpion" hahaha, hilarous! Oh and btw, scorpion in Spanish is "Alacran"...

Some more of Malosi's stay with us... He and I love cupcakes... :)

He came up here for BYU Basketball camp.

Softball-we played softball intramurals w/some friends from work. Good times.

Lesson learned this summer... if you leave your food on the table, the little one will climb and help herself.

Days leading up to Carlos' bday... he got a package in the mail from my mom, his Ita... And what a special gift! Handmade tambores from Honduras. They custom made the kids little ones.

Prepping for his party:

His party wasn't actually on his bday but on his actual bday he said to me "If it's my birthday then were is my cake and candles?" So I had to go buy him a special cupcake even though he was getting a party in a few days...

Strawberry Days n Stuff

2010-09-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

If there's one thing I LOVE about summers in Utah-it's got to be all of the town fairs. There is something fun going on EVERY weekend all summer long. For this weekend, we decided to check out Strawberry Days in PG.

Carlos enjoyed the rides.

We enjoyed spending time with friends...

We all particularly enjoyed the strawberries and cream... mmm

That week we had a friend stay with us from Vegas. It was fun having him around-the kids especially enjoyed him. We also did a service project for youth conference...

Just Pics

2010-09-19T21:05:00.000-06:00

Just pics of the kids in May 2010. We like berries and apparently we don't feel the same way about being dressed.

I hope these two will always have a close relationship.

Thomas! He's a Cheeky One

2010-09-19T20:53:00.000-06:00

There's hardly anything quite as sincere as the smile of a boy at the "Day out with Thomas".

It was dark, cold, wet, and gloomy... but Carlos' excitement and happiness brightened our day. He was so happy to be there he could hardly contain himself. He and his sister got some tattoos.

Riding the train-expensive. Seeing your son light up... priceless.

I'm so glad that he made it a point to include his little sister in all things Thomas-from the tattoos, to the train toys, to the ride itself.

We enjoyed some cotton candy. It was Isabel's first time and she was a fan for sure.

Finally, you can't leave there without a picture with the "useful engine" himself!

And later that night the kids inspected their tattoos and showed them off to the camera.

Class of 2010

2010-09-19T20:39:00.000-06:00

After many years of being a full-time student, father, husband, and employee my husband is finally done with this undergraduate degree.

I know that I could not do it all like he has done so I am very proud of him. Thanks for all your hard work, babe. I love you. We started the day by "attending" commencement. He didn't want to go and all I remember from mine is that I beat my high score on snake (old phone game)-AND there was no way I was going to sit through that with two kids by myself... so we watched it at home (only for a bit to take this pic). haha

I also told George "wear whatever you want... you worked so long and hard for this-there's no way anyone is going to tell you what to wear. So he wore comfortable jeans and kicks.

Many years ago when we first started dating, I would have never guessed we would be graduating with two kids. Wow.

Carlos wanted to wear his daddy's headband. And so I allowed him to put it on himself. I love his sense of style. :)

Here are the kids waiting on the grass. As we were standing there, many people walking past congratulated George and many a times mentioned something like "wow, I admire you determination-I'm sure it wasn't easy to do with two kids... etc etc."

Isabel

Like I said, I couldn't be more proud of him. Technically he is not entirely done, as he still has to turn in an internship paper, but close enough. Now that he's done I can continue my studies and hopefully go to grad school soon. I luv ya babe!

Ya so I got bangs back then... I like them but they grow out so fast. Speaking of which, I so need a trim...

New Zumba Classes!

2010-08-29T20:41:00.000-06:00

Hi All!

Here's the story behind this one... I LOVED teaching at Wasatch Ballet Conservatory this summer. I've grown so much as an instructor and am very grateful for that experience. But as fall approaches, I will be very busy and North Orem was too far away for me. So now I have the wonderful opportunity to teach Zumba at Sweet's in Provo. It is much closer to my home and the time will be even better for those of us working moms who need to appreciate and savor the bedtime routines w/the little ones.

I hope you can all come to a class sometime and if you are already a gym member somewhere-stop by once in a while for change... or spread the word. I love spreading the word for my friends and I do appreciate it too.

Ditch the workout and join the party with me!

Kiddies, 5K, Football, New Chairs

2010-05-31T23:11:00.000-06:00

I have missed a lot over these past few months.... but I think if I continue to push off updating this thing I will slowly lose interest and never get it done. :) So here goes a few pics of my little cuties just hanging out at home:
Having a girl can be lots of fun... especially once her hair grows in thick and she's asleep... I twisted her hair and it was really cute. Didn't last long once she woke up but still...

If you happen to visit us unexpectedly-don't do this... seriously-you will find the following on the floor: dvds, cds, books, shoes, and of course her favorite... diapers. Why bother picking it up when she's just going to pull them all out anyway? I usually just wait till she goes to bed. :)

Oh, and we usually have loads of laundry across our living room floor too... sometimes we play hide-and-seek. Isabel found Carlitos here. :)

Stake 5k. Our stake is the best ever. Honestly it is. We had a stake 5k and I was asked to give a talk about how exercise and wellness help me fulfill my other duties and responsibilities. I was a bit intimidated at first, but then after doing a little scripture study I was no longer afraid and wrote out my talk. I'll post another time about the details of my talk.

Isabel and I ran it so smoothly... it was a piece of cake. What a great run. And the boys played on the playground and had fun together as usual.

Football. George is playing football again this summer. And here are a few pics from one of their games:

This next one is cute... Carlos is such a big boy, yet he's so little still. :)

I made this as a dress for her... she wore it as a dress for luau this year and now it's more of a tunic.

Here we are at the famous BBQ place in SLC. These are our newest friends. They are so fun to hang out with.

And finally... chairs. I got these chairs for the little ones at Macey's. I could not get them to both look at the camera at the same time.

These two little ones are my favorite people in the world. Carlitos is so smart and is such a great brother. He's always looking out for his sister. And she enjoys waking him up in the morning-or at least follows him around the house and gets super excited when she hears or sees him. They like to play chase and when Carlos is sent to time out, she follows along and sits next to him to lend support. That is not what time out should be like-but how can I keep them apart when they love each other so much? I hope they continue to have a strong bond. Of course they sometimes annoy each other-but that's what siblings are for.
Love them. And more updates to come, promise.

Breakfast and Sleeping

2010-04-27T23:39:00.000-06:00

One thing that I've noticed about Isabel that is different from Carlos-she LOVES to eat. Forget about baby food-she wants the real deal. Pancakes and eggs are a favorite around the house these days...

IDK about you, but there is something that I just adore about watching my little ones sleep. They are so peaceful and serene looking that I can just sit and stare at them. So you will find that I take lots of pics of my little ones sleeping... Here are a few.

Some cute pics of Carlitos:

Pretty Little Thing

2010-04-27T23:23:00.000-06:00

Just some pics of this cute little bundle of joy that we have... We just love this little one.

Carlos is a handsome little guy-he's growing up so fast. I can't believe he's almost four.

Service Project, Football Game, Weekends...

2010-04-27T23:16:00.000-06:00

Each year for our office service project, we go to the cemetery to rake leaves and stuff. It is a lot of fun-as weird as that may sound. Anyway, this year I brought the family along. It was so fun to do it together and after that we went to the El Salvador restaurant in Provo... yum-always love going there. Carlos had lots of questions about the cemetery... it was a good opportunity to teach him about what happens after this life. He had so many questions for me-some I could not answer... Isabel enjoyed the snacks in the stroller, and Carlos liked being able to rake leaves with everyone else.

Oh yeah, don't mess with her food. LOL

Football: George has been playing football for most of the spring season. It's been fun-not as fun for me as before when I didn't have 2 kids to look after while trying to watch the game. Let's just say that my enthusiasm has reduced over the years... I still like that he's doing something he enjoys but I wish I could watch the game without interruptions... but I also don't think I'd enjoy being there without these little fans.

Weekends: George has had many weekends off lately. He really enjoys being able to relax and spend Saturdays with us instead of going to work. I have enjoyed having him around too. It's nice to both have the same day off for once. This particular weekend, he decided to take us up to the canyon. We spent a picnic at this park years ago for our second anniversary (no kids then). It was fun to come back with the little ones.

I love this face... haha

Isabel and I hung out at the blanket while these other two explored the water...

They really enjoyed it-Carlos especially loves to play with his daddy... lately football has been his choice sport.

Easters and Hanging Out @ Home

2010-04-27T22:53:00.000-06:00

Yeah, yeah... I'm super late, I know... I know.

Easter fell on Conference weekend this year. So I didn't really bother with the whole "Easter Dress" because no one would see it anyway. Instead we decided to try on some new clothes.

Cuties

2010-04-01T17:58:00.000-06:00

ONE of their favorite play-places in the house

My little boy is getting so BIG! He's so funny... here he's trying to snap a pic of him imitating George Lopez's opening song where they're jumping on the trampoline... do you know which that is?

Wow-look at those eyes... :) I can stare at them all day.

I <3 these two cuties

Work. Work. Work.

2010-03-31T23:24:00.010-06:00

So I've been thinking a lot about 'work' lately. And I've had some interesting conversations about it as well as some insight from other people about it. This post is simply a place to 'write' (aka type) my thoughts down.
I work. I work 3/4 time which means I work 30ish hours a week. I don't quite work full-time because it doesn't work into our schedule as a family. Both my husband and I work. Fortunately we can switch off and that way we don't have to put our kids in daycare. This is great because mind you, my husband all the while working full-time is also a full-time student. And well, daycare is not exactly something we can afford right now.
My thoughts on work? Well let's take a look back on my life: I have maintained a job since I was 12 years old. At 12 and 13 years old, I worked at a restaurant. Shortly after my 14th birthday (the minimum legal age to work in MA), I took on a part-time job at a bakery my freshman year in high school. I worked there on the weekends. A few months later, still 14, I got another job at a grocery store. I worked there after school some of the weekdays and of course on the weekends. After working at the grocery store, I worked at GAP through the rest of high school.
I took a short break for 8 months my freshman year and worked two jobs during the summers when I went home after college... My sophomore year in college, I worked in an office as well as some 'event staff'' jobs (free access to football games, :)). I worked throughout college, and then I got a job immediately after graduating. I did take a year-long break after giving birth to my son, but returned back to work when he turned one and have been there ever since.
After giving birth to my daughter this past summer, I returned to work just 2 weeks after her arrival. Yes, I DID say TWO weeks after. And yes, I was still sore, very sleep deprived, and I still even had stitches, LOL. There were many reasons for this... work related as well as personal reasons. This is not about that.
So I have been working for more than half my life. I feel like I have a strong work ethic and really enjoy being a part of something... and seeing results immediately and being a part of solving problems and working with others, etc etc...
When I was younger, I never thought to myself that I'd be a homemaker for a career. I think that being at BYU, I was influenced by the idea that men and women had and lived in these traditional roles. That was never a part of my life growing up, so the thought that I could be home with my kids all day seemed so awesome. But lately as I think more about things I realize that YES-that is awesome... but unattainable in our current situation. And guess what? That's ok.
I am so happy for my friends who get to stay home... and honestly I do wish that I could do the same. However, for MY own family and in MY own life, I don't believe it's fair to expect or demand or tell my husband to go to school full-time AND provide everything for our family. It's a team effort. And our current situation works for us. SO why have I been thinking about this? Because as I think about our future I think of the following:

Can we have a good retirement off of my 14ish years of work only and then just ONE salary?
Will we be able to visit our families and have 'family vacations' on ONE salary?
Will I ever get to see my husband?
How can we afford to send our children to good schools, colleges, missions (if they so choose), field trips, camps, and other things on just one income? (and no I don't mean that they are going to be spoiled and get everything that they want-but even the basic necessities in life require income and money)

There are many questions and I could go on and on... but I won't. Work is a part of life and just because you have children doesn't mean that magically your family suddenly will need just one income. Don't get me wrong-I'm not opposed to not working-but that's not what works for MY family. IF my husband were to get a job that paid more than what we both make together already AND didn't require him to be gone more than he was around AND he absolutely LOVED IT AND we had all our student loans paid off AND some other things... I would probably stay home. But for now-I think we'll continue to do what is best for us.
My favorite quote from the Proclamation on the Family is this "In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."
So I work and guess what? I am STILL an AWESOME mom. I STILL nurture my children. My husband and I have a GREAT relationship. We BOTH know our children really well. We help each other out and EQUALLY provide for our family. Our children LOVE us just as much as if I were to stay home.
Like I said... my thoughts-you don't have to agree with them-I'm just sayin' just like the legendary words of one of my favorite MC's, Jay-Z:
What you about to witness is my thoughts
Just my thoughts man - right or wrong
Just what I was feeling at the time, uhh
You ever felt like this, you vibe with me
hahaha-I'll be back to post pics and update this sometime cuz there are lots of cute things to post soon... Wow, this was a long post about my thoughts. LOL.

Aprons 4 My Baker Friends

2010-03-14T13:40:00.000-06:00

I have amazingly talented friends. And I do mean to boast because they are incredibly creative and talented people. So many of my friends have either started online blogs where they share incredible things or have started up their own businesses. I think that is just great. Anyways, two of my good friends, Tina Reid and Ula Inouye have started up their own businesses. Tina makes incredible cupcakes www.cheatdaytreats.com-OMG you guys... they are BOMB! OK, back on track... and Ula decorates amazing cakes! She has made a football jersey, a Chanel purse, a missionary shirt and tie, and lots lots more... FYI, her website is still in the works, so I'll post the link to it once it's up and running. So, as you can see, they both have businesses that require them to be in the kitchen.

Cheat Day Apron:
A few weeks ago, I made Tina some headbands for her daughter and she told me about her "Cheat Day" business. She asked if I'd be willing to make her an apron. Of course I said yes because I love sewing and it had been a while since I'd made an apron. She completely entrusted me in the design, colors, and all in between. I was flattered by her confidence in me but boy I was stressed because I was worried she wouldn't like it. But she did and so did I! Here it is:

I knew I wanted it to have ruffles and be cutesy because I just pictured Tina in something like that. She has a very friendly and approachable personality-which is what I wanted to reflect in the apron. GO to her website so you can see her logo... it is what inspired my color and pattern choice. The vertical stripes are like the paper cup they are held in. The pink and purple accent are obviously colors of Cheat Day. The lime and black just really complement the pink and purple. And the bow in the front is just so adorable. :)

Ulalia's Cakes Apron:
Ula is my visiting teacher and mentioned to me before that she was starting up a cake business and also asked if I would make her a couple aprons. I said yes again. I was excited to make Ula's aprons because her style is so unique. She's got a sassy-high fashion-funky style that I love. These are the ones I came up with for her:

Fuscia and Zebra: She loves bold prints and is going to set up her website with these two colors/prints. I was excited to make it. I could not find already made ruffle in the color I wanted, so I made it myself. After making it I thought it really needed something on the top corner... so I quickly crocheted a couple flowers and pinned it to the top.

Yellow and Black: This one is so classy looking-but still has bold prints and a funky I think are Ula-esque. Because she likes the zebra print and will be using it in her logo/site, I thought I'd throw in a little animal print to it, so as to make it more Ulalia's Cakes since it wasn't fuschia.

And about the flower... I knew I wanted to add something to it that was unique. I was playing around with some scrap fabric and suddenly I visualized a perfect fabric flower for her apron! So I hand sewed it and added it to the apron. I purposely chose not to add it to the top like I did with the pink one because Ula always has awesome accessories and necklaces. I wanted her to be able to wear necklaces without hiding the flower on the apron.

Now these ladies can bake in style! :) Congratulations to the both of them on their new businesses and THANK YOU for trusting me with this task. And if you're wondering what I charged them? Well, despite them being willing to pay me for my efforts, we agreed to do a trade. And I am SOOO excited for the yummy trade that is to come. :) haha

(NOTE: I don't have a pattern for any of these... well, I do-in my head. I hardly ever use patterns to sew because for one, I can hardly understand them and two, I like to make things my own. Someday when I have time, I will try to post a tutorial or something... but first I have to update you on my family's life. haha)

I Picked...

2010-02-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

...the Phil and Ted!! :) I debated back and forth and finally realized that THIS was the stroller for me. Here are a few reasons why I picked this one (not in any particular order):

~ Narrow design is ideal for going anywhere-whether on a track, sidewalk, or store.
~ Front wheel can either swivel or lock-swivel for walking or hanging out at the mall, and locked position for running.
~ It's just so dang cool looking (haha, may be on the top of the reasons, LOL)
~ It converts easily from a double to a single in no time-which is great because when i'm "at the mall" or at places where Carlos will likely refuse to sit in a stroller, I can just use it as a single stroller. This is going to also come in handy when we have another child... because by then Carlos will likely be in school so I could take the two smallest running with me while he's in school.
~ This will be so much easier for me to travel with-and what a great deal too-I'll have NO excuses when I'm home (Boston or Hawaii) to go for a jog
Limitations?
~ As for the limited view-it's actually not so bad... it's quite open back there for the little one... Yeah it would be nice to have a full view of things, but if she gets used to it now, she won't know any different.
~ They don't get to see each other or be next to each other-this is the ONE thing that I struggled with accepting. I struggled mainly because Carlos and Isabel have the cutest relationship and they like to hold hands when sitting next to each other. BUT, I know that despite this fact, Carlos does not really like to be in a stroller most of the time. Therefore, even with a side-by-side, he probably would not sit in it most of the time when out and about... so she'd be alone anyway. He is always willing to sit in a stroller when we're going "faster! faster!" jogging.

So yeah... this is the one I chose and I am very happy with my choice. It WAS quite expensive but I will use it until my last child outgrows it and then I'm sure I will be able to resell it at a good price. :) Plus-this is a practical and useful item/purchase. How can I NOT justify this when some unnecessary things (like xboxes and flat screen tvs) cost nearly the same or more.

George's thoughts through this whole process were pretty much "get whatever you feel is best... whatever you want." :) Thanks, babe!

can't decide!

2010-02-19T10:00:00.001-07:00

If you have any of these two strollers, please give me some feedback!

I am trying to decide on a double jogging stroller. If I don't get one soon, I'll never be able to train for my 1/2 in May. Based on price, the one on the left is the OBVIOUS choice. However, the green one is very popular among runners. It is lightweight, can be used as a single (once Carlos outgrows it...) But the one on the left is cheaper and the kids can see each other side by side. However, the fact that I have a 35lb-er and a 17lb-er means that the weight distribution will be off on my arms. Ahh!! Help me out here dudes.

Sweet Carlitos

2010-01-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

So I was reading a story out loud to George about these two missionaries in Romania who died in their apartment of Carbon Monoxide poison... so sad. Anyway, after I finished, Carlos asked me "The missionaries died?" I said "Yeah... sad, huh?"

He thought for a little while and said (SUPER EXCITED about his idea):

"We should go get the Optimus Prime "cume" (aka, the cube from the movie) so they can not be dead anymore! Yeah, we should do that!"

I said, "that is a great idea, thanks for thinking of it!"

So funny how these little ones listen to EVERYTHING you say. And even more amazing is how they think about the things they know to come up with solutions. In the Transformers II movie, they use the cube to bring Optimus Prime back to life. I used this as a teaching opportunity:

Me: "Carlos, you know how the cube brings transformers back to to life?"
Carlos: "Yeah?"
Me: "Well, for humans, it is Jesus who can bring us back to life."
Carlos: "Oh, and he can bring Transformers back too?"
Me: "No, they have the cube... we have Jesus and Heavenly Father."
Carlos: "Oh."
Me: "But usually when people die, they get to back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ..."
And here is the funny part... just as I finished my last sentence, he interrupts:
Carlos: "Amen!"

LOL! He is too funny.

Run Run Run

2010-01-30T21:39:00.001-07:00

I'm running the Provo City Half-Marathon in May... who's with me??

My Cuties

2010-01-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

Just a couple newest pics of these two. And a cute story about them [yes, another one].

It was about 4AM and I was done nursing when Carlos wakes up. He goes to the bathroom and then I send him back to his bed "Don't worry, I'll check on you in a bit, Isabel is almost done eating."

So he's laying in his bed and Isabel's playpen [where she sleeps] is perpendicular to his bed-and so she can see him from her 'window'. He's facing the playpen, asleep, as I put her down in her bed. I leave their door cracked and realize that she's waking up. Just as I am about to walk in to get her again, he opens his eyes. aww man, I thought, now he's going to get out of bed cuz she woke him up. But to my surprise, she stops whining and smiles at him. Then I hear a little giggle out of him and see that he's smiling [while his eyes are half shut].

It was such a nice moment. I left them in there and I could hear her 'talking' to him and eventually he just fell back to sleep, as did she. I'm so grateful that I have two healthy wonderful little monsters! I love them and they are my life. And boy am I lucky that they get along!

Carlos today at the store saw baby girl sandals and said "Wait! Mom! We should buy that! I want Isabel to have those Cinderella slippers!" So I could not resist and we got them. Pics of those to come later.

Big Boy Part 2

2010-01-23T22:20:00.001-07:00

My son never ceases to amaze me. I'm sure that many children his age are smart and incredibly absorbent of everything they hear and learn--but since he's mine... I'm going to write about his incredible milestones.

First, Carlitos has been able to spell his name for a while now. I wanna say it has been about a year since he began practicing... he'd say "...L.O.S." and then gradually added the rest of the letters together in the right way. Anyway, time went on and he got better at numbers (about 1-20ish) and the alphabet- both of which he can say in both Spanish and English.

Today he made quite the accomplishment for a boy his age [or at least I think so]. He wrote out his own name on the board!!! I am so proud of him! :) And that is a pretty darn good "S" for a beginner!

Oh, and I am also in love with this stage where he's beginning to draw people. It's so cute! I love how excited he gets about his drawings. He says "OK Mom, close your eyes really tight! I have a surrprriiisee for youuuu...TADA!!!"

What great accomplishments have your kiddies made (3+)? I wanna know what else I have to look forward to in this fun fun stage of life of his.

Big Boy!

2010-01-17T22:26:00.001-07:00

So the first Sunday of the year was a milestone for us. Carlos is officially in Primary and I just cannot believe it. Today was his second day in Primary b/c we had Stake Conference last week. And although I don't have any pics to share at the present moment, I just want to share how I feel about this.

I cannot believe how big he is now. It is incredible. Primary is a little overwhelming for him for the first little bit of it. So he uses his little Thomas train as a security blanket of sorts. He puts it in his pocket and walks right in. I am a convert to the church, so this is as new to me as it is to him. Fortunately he was the nicest teachers and his good buddies are in his class. He already is learning so much-and it's only been twice.

I asked him on our way to church today who was in his class... he responded with "umm... Elise, Paka, three girls, and other boys and my teacher and the guy with the glasses [his other teacher]." I asked him what they did and he said "umm, we sing. And we go to the other class [I think he means when they're all together]; and we go to the sunbeam class room."

This evening, I saw him doing the hand motions to "Book of Mormon Stories" so I took advantage of the opportunity and asked what else they sing. He said "... we sing 'I am a Child of God' and we sing 'Popcorn' and some other songs." He loves it so far... and I am so happy for him because he is beginning to learn more about the gospel and beginning to apply the things he learns from church and from us.

Another cute story: I was trying to reach under the fridge to get something and I couldn't reach. I said "I can't reach it." So he comes up and says "I can reach it because I'm STRONG like the Holy Ghost." :) So funny.

My baby is getting so big. I love it and yet I wish it would slow down a bit. What a wonderful little guy we have been blessed with. He motivates me to continue to grow and strengthen my own testimony.

And right now, as I am sitting here typing, he comes up to me to say [as he hugs me] "I'm so glad that you're my mom." Well Carlitos, I'm so glad that you're my boy! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!

I love you, Carlitos!
Love, Mommy.

Over the break and New Year's

2010-01-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

We relaxed during the break. I'm glad we were able to do so for even a few days, as this last semester will prove to be a busy one. So over the break we went to watch The Princess and the Frog. It was ok-honestly I doubt Disney will ever make another classic like those in the past. Carlos and Isabel enjoyed it (minus the "friends from the other side" part and the part where the lightbug dies-what the___ is wrong with them?). Here they are sharing a seat as they watched.

She immediately went to grab him-particularly his hands. She loves to hold his hands... and he doesn't mind.

Puzzles:

Since Carlitos was about 2.5 years old, I've been having him do puzzles. He really enjoys them and I'm always so impressed by a few things. First and foremost is the fact that he can actually sit and do his puzzle with little distraction. If you know how active my son is, you understand why this is impressive. Second, is the fact that at such a young age, he can quickly put together a 100 piece puzzle with little help in a short period of time-under an hour. And third, well he's 3! :)

Here he is almost done with the one he got for Christmas-100 pieces-and they're relatively small.

"I did it!"

Yes!!!

And now... the reason for my recent lethargic behavior:

Teething!

New Year's Eve-hardly any sleep... New Year's day-I see this above-the white lines behind the gums ready to explode. Jan 2-the first tooth breaks skin. Jan 3-second tooth breaks through... and so on and so forth. And now as I type, she's screaming in my ear b/c her gums hurt. And yes, I hurt too... my ears, and well... my other body parts if you know what I mean.

For all our sake, I hope it's over soon-poor baby. I just want her teeth to come out so we can move on with this. :(
A tip for u mamas w/babies who will soon teeth: don't give your baby orajel sortly before nursing. You will regret it.

On a positive note, these two are growing fast (too fast) and are cute as ever... here are a few pics of them recently. You will notice that little Isabel LOVES the camera. :) Smiles as soon as she sees it.

And finally... I cannot leave this blog without mentioning something about the latest crazy Utah trend: those Tai Pan giant flower beanie-headbands. When a trend hits Utah, boy does it get worn out quickly. I made a headband for Isabel a few months ago-crocheted it. And I thought it would make a cute Christmas gift for my family. Here's what I made, BTW:

Anyway... as I was making them, those Tai Pan ones were gaining popularity-I see them EVERYWHERE I go. Now that those are so popular here, I don't want to make one of these for myself. I mean, I think mine are better for a few reasons: 1-they actually cover your ears because they are intended to be worn as ear warmers, not partial. 2-They're not ginormous and don't make you look like those giant flowers with babies attached to them (get it? yeah... that's what I think about that too) and 3-I made them with my own hands, making it more special and of course cuter.
I hope I don't offend any of you who have already gotten one. Don't get me wrong, some trends are great for me too-like the shade trend. But this one is just not one for me. :)
One more reason why mine are better-

I'm really grateful they aren't so popular in Boston because now my family (mom, patty, rosie, kayla, mimi, pam, and juliette) can enjoy wearing something one-of-a-kind. :)

Till the next post friends.

Merry Christmas Day

2010-01-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas! We hope you all had a great Christmas. Ours was very chill-just like I mentioned before. First, George worked a grave shift from Christmas Eve to Christmas morning. He came home and then Carlos was able to see what Santa brought him. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to Skype, we were able to call my family in Boston as he and Isabel opened some of the gifts up.

He is a sweetie, here he is helping his little sister open one of her gifts.

He was super excited about the cars he got-I wasn't as excited about having 50 extra cars around the house. *Here's a side tip-see the big box behind Carlos? Well, that's an empty box that we keep close to the tree and he has to clean up the paper after he opens each gift. That way we're not left with a HUGE mess of 'find the toys under the paper' and when done, we just bring it out to the recycling dumpster*

Isabel was more interested in the bows than in her gifts... please excuse the boogies on her face-I have no idea how she got that on her head. Besides that, it's a cute pic of her. I could have edited it on Photoshop, but hey, it is what it is.

Carlos-a big fan of Transformers... got this Optimus Prime (I got this back in September and kept it stored in our closet-yup, I'm doing that again next year)

We did the same with this Transformers toy: "Talkietalkies" as Carlos calls them:

Holidays are so much funner with kids-their smiles make all the messes, stresses, and such all worth it

OK, so after the gift opening George finally went to bed and Carlos played for a bit. Then after seeing how much stuff they both now had made me realize that there was no way it was all gonna fit into our place. So I explained to Carlos that we were grateful for all the things that we received but now he had to do something nice for kids who don't have a lot of Christmas presents... he didn't understand why some kids didn't have toys. So funny. Anyway, so I said that we would have to put together some things from his room to give away to make room for the new toys.

So the three of us went into his room and we picked through his toys and books and he picked out a whole trash bag full of toys and books he wanted to give away. Luckily for me, it was easy to make room for the new toys he received, and he was able to give a little too.

Later that night, George woke up (5ish) and we began making Christmas sugar cookies. Carlos helped roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters. I made the icing and then we all sat at the table to decorate

Isabel sure wanted some of those cookies, but she was satisfied with making a mess of her cereal and spoon

Here's what we ended up with:

Later that night, we made homemade pizza... and hung out.

Merry Christmas Eve

2010-01-07T17:46:00.002-07:00

Our holidays this year were very relaxed and rather uneventful. It is not likely that we will be able to do this again in the years to come, so it was nice to just hang out at home and do nothing. On Christmas Eve, we went to Carol's and Carlos' place.
Carlos enjoyed playing the Ava and her other little cousins.

Isabel was cute as usual.

My cookie bars were a hit--I wrote out the recipe on a few pieces of paper for some who were there.

Santa brought the kids a present or two-Carlos got another puzzle to add to his collection. Isabel LOVES this little action figure that is attached.

Gifts galore. That night after we got home and the kids went to bed, I began wrapping all the gifts that we'd received throughout the weeks from family far away. Check out how many boxes of stuff we got! And a few more boxes trickled in later in the days following.

I was so worried that Carlos would wake up in the middle of the night as I wrapped presents. Fortunately I was able to do it all without "a creature stirring, not even a...3 year old [or 5 month old for that]."

In my family/culture we celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas morning. Growing up, we would open all of our gifts at midnight, and then Santa would bring one that night and we'd have his gifts to open up that morning.

Typically, our Christmas Eve would include partying, tamales, good food and music, and hanging out with family. George said they would open just one at midnight and the rest of the festivities would happen on Christmas Day. George and I are still working on what we want to do for our family, but we have time to work those things out... besides, Carlitos is too young to do anything at midnight still, so maybe next year we will do one or the other, or a combination of our two Christmas traditions.

As for all the gifts under the tree, would SO not be possible without all those boxes that were shipped to us. I'm not big on presents. I enjoy giving them, but pretty neutral as far as receiving. In fact, if it were up to me, we'd each get one and that's it.

George and I did a fun thing this year for gifts. This was my idea, because he always gets me WAY more than I get him. This year, we had a $20 total budget (I was trying to make it $10 but he insisted on more) and we had to get our gift for each other at Walmart. LOL, ghetto yeah? So on Christmas Eve (we had NO time to go any other day) we all drove to Walmart and we went in one at a time. First George went in while I stayed inside the car with the two sleeping kiddies, and then I went in once he was done. We each took about 30 minutes.George got a chess set and I got some organizing stuff for my crafts. :)

Wish I had this talent...

2009-12-29T23:21:00.002-07:00

I have amazingly talented friends... you might remember the pics from this past summer that my friend, Kristi, took of Carlitos and then again later this past summer of our brand new baby, Isabel. Well, I just LOVE pictures of my kids from talented photographers. What I love about having different photographers take pics of our kids is that they each have their own artistic style and it reflects on their pictures. Here are some pics that my friend, Elsie, took of Isabel when she was exactly 2 months old. She looks so different compared to the newborn pics-they grow wayyy to fast!

Anyway, my friend's blog is http://photosbyelsie.blogspot.com/

Here are some of my favorites:

This first one is tied as my first place favorite along with the last one I posted... awesome. It's not a traditional pic-but that's what I love about it.

I am always so impressed by photography. It is a talent that is beyond just having a good camera. It is truly an art form. I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but whenever I have spare time, I enjoy browsing through different photographers' websites and galleries.

And finally, my other "tied for first" favorite: I can stare at her ALL day.

Some of these are gonna be seen up in my place real soon... and real big. :) Thank you, Elsie.

Christmas Decor 2010

2009-12-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

This year I was not really able to get into decorating for Christmas.. I think it's because I am pretty sick of the old decor. I will NEVER buy Christmas decor just before the holidays, so I had to wait until today to get what I want for next year. I am super excited about the color scheme I am going to use next year.

Here's a collage of some of the colors that inspired my upcoming holiday decor... I can't wait for next Thanksgiving! (That's when my Christmas stuff goes up)

Facebook

2009-12-22T23:15:00.002-07:00

I am pretty sure that you all know what Facebook (FB) is... so I don't have to explain more than that it is a social-networking site. I LOVE FB because I get to keep in touch with old and new friends, I can share pics of our family to all who are on there. And because let's face it... it's fun to see what is going on in everyone's life. ha ha.

However, FB can be addicting. I have found myself browsing through FB for 20-30 minutes all to find that I felt rather unaccomplished at the end. At night while feeding Isabel, I would touch the handy FB app on my iphone and browse away until she was done.

So where am I going with this? Well, FB is one of those things that I enjoy doing. I like it. I am not obsessed with it, but I do like it. Sugar, now that is something that I like AND am obsessed with! :) A few years ago I decided that I would go on a sugar fast. I did not eat sugar or anything with sugar added to it for 40 days! Wow, the first 2 weeks was super hard. I had some serious withdrawals! After the two weeks passed it became much easier to do. The end result, I had lost like 7 lbs!

What does FB have to do with this? Well, I have tried doing a sugar fast again since then and have failed. I can't go like 4 days without cheating. I realized that I need to first mentally prepare myself. So I've decided to go on a FB lent for 40 days to help prepare my mind for a real fast. By starting with something I like [but not crave] I can mentally prepare myself for another sugar fast. If this makes no sense, that's okay because it makes sense to me and well I really need to do this.

So I have not been on FB for some time and my 40 days will be up on January 19th. I will probably download the FB app again but this time I will not go on as often as before. I hope that once this is over, I can do my sugar fast with success! :)

One More Semester TO GO

2009-12-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

Lately on my mind...

George has been in school for what seems to be a long time. Well, truth is that he hasn't been "in" school for a long time, but it has taken him longer than most to get done. He has the normal amount of credit hours for a senior at BYU--just that he has taken breaks throughout the years for various reasons-all of which are completely legitimate reasons and never just because he wants to take a break.

So here we are... Fall 2009 is over and now all that remains between he and that diploma are 5 classes. As we look back together we think that there are some thing we would have probably done differently... choices that had we made them differently we probably would have been done with this a LONG time ago. But hey, we did what we thought was best for us and our family, and things have still turned out ok.

I have lived a 'student' life for the past 8-9 years and I have NO idea what it will be like to not live that way. Granted, we will likely still live as a student family until his loans are paid off, but he will not have to worry about tests, books, papers, finals, group projects, etc. I look forward to the end of June when he will be officially done with school. What is it like? Those of you couples who both have graduated?

What is next for us? Well who knows... we are willing to go wherever a good job will take us. I hope it's somewhere along the East Coast so I can be closer to my family. Until we have another job, we will be here in Utah-and I'm okay with that because here I've established the best of friendships. Here I met my husband, earned a degree, learned much, played much, and here my two little ones were born. I don't think we will be here forever, and I look forward to moving on, but I will enjoy 'the bubble' as long as we are here.

Our 6 year anniversary is coming up on April 23rd and that is the same day that George will walk/graduate. What a great anniversary gift. Knowing how long it has been in the works, you understand why that is our greatest anniversary gift.

As of Late

2009-12-22T00:11:00.000-07:00

I have so much to catch up on over these past few months. But I realize that if I continually try to play catch up I may not remember to record some of the recent things that have been going on in our lives. Therefore, I've decided that I will continue to blog about more current events/things as I try to catch up on the few things I've missed (Isabel blessing, Boston trip, Halloween, her super fast growth, etc.).

Let's start with Isabel. She is getting so big so fast. She is already five months old! On December 2nd, she sat up all by her little self. She has been rolling around for a while now, so having her sit up is so exciting for us. I just love how babies have perfect posture once they learn to sit. I could really learn from her in that area.

She is 110% GIRL. Everything about her is GIRL. I love it. Everyone compliments her on her eyes. I must admit-those are pretty incredible eyes. :) I love the shape of them. Isabel also loves to eat eat eat. She isn't really a fan of baby food yet-and really doesn't like rice cereal. I 'm sure she will eventually like it all, but for now she prefers mommy's milk. Absolutely refuses to take a bottle (even if I pump)... so I have to be sure to come home after a few hours from work so that she eats. Just like her brother in that sense.

Carlitos and Isabel love to take naps together. OK so he's too crazy a sleeper and she's too young for this to happen yet, but they do enjoy being close together. He always asks to have her in his bed. He'll put her under his arm and sing to her and tell her stories and show her his toys. He really is so sweet. I do this every other night or so and allow them to "play" for anywhere from 5-10 minutes. The result is always either that she falls asleep on him or she is hyper and ready to play some more.

Carlitos is still as wonderful as can be with his little sister. He adores her. As for his own development, he is beginning to "read"... meaning that he now is more interested in how things are spelled. He doesn't really read the words, but he does spell them out. He enjoys bedtime because I tell him a made-up story about a little boy who does amazing things... at the end of each story the boy ends up being him. He gets excited every time.

This boy has gotten so big-it amazes me. We have been keeping track of his growth on a wooden board and it's incredible how much taller he is than just a few months ago. Makes sense that he is growing. Carlitos LOVES milk and boy is he grouchy if he doesn't get a nap.

I've recently taken up crochet again. I didn't crochet for a while and when I received such cute beanies from my friend, Lohi, I was motivated to crochet again. I've got some crochet projects in the works... mainly gifts for my family and friends. Here's a pic of a headband I made for Isabel.

These are a couple of extra pics that I just loved... and wanted to post them. I love it when Carlitos and his daddy dress similarly. It makes me happy to see that.

And here I was trying to get them to take a nice picture... one that didn't show that Carlitos was trying to strip his clothes off-first thing he does after church... and one where she wasn't slouching. This was the best I could get. It was pretty funny.

Some of the cute things Carlitos says

2009-12-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Last night, Isabel fell asleep in Carlitos' arms in his bed. I was watching them from the door when I heard him whisper to her "I love you, Tiny." and gave her a kiss on the head. Precious.

No time, but here's a fun thing

2009-12-15T09:48:00.001-07:00

This really put a smile on my face this morning. Very inspirational. If you have been to one of my "Breast Cancer Awareness" get togethers you'll know how much I appreciated this. :)

Photoshop Fun

2009-11-03T18:02:00.003-07:00

We joined the Giles' on a trip to the zoo. Carlos and Isabel fell asleep on the way up, and they stayed asleep for a little while longer. I'm so grateful for my double stroller!

We actually went specifically to see the baby elephant. If you have a chance to go-totally do it. So worth it-a once in a lifetime experience for most...

Carlos and Mana were so excited to see each other, as usual. They rode on the train together... what a great friendship they have.

There are occasional "nice" days in the fall here in Utah. The day we went to the zoo was one of them and another was when we went to Pumpkinland and the park

For some reason, ducks in Utah are not very hungry most of the time. This day was an exception... they were starving! Guess fewer people go out to feed them when it's cold. :(

And here are a few pics of the little ones that I just love... First, Isabel and the beanie I made for her

And in this pic she's laying on a blanket I made her-I really like this print-retro, but not.

And these of the two of them together. Carlos loves his little sister-he always tries to include her in things, and she is always trying to include herself too.

I LOVE this next pic because of the expressions and gestures... notice that they're holding hands (not staged, promise. haha)

Oh and in case you didn't notice, we pierced her ears... LOVE IT!

Mana's 3rd Birthday

2009-10-26T23:06:00.000-06:00

Mana's third birthday was back in August. A little bit about Carlos and Mana. They're really good friends. Dayna (his mom) and I were pregnant at the same time. They were supposed to just be 2 weeks apart-but with Carlos coming a month early, and Mana coming 2 weeks late, they ended up being 2 months apart. And ever since Mana was born, he and Carlos have been good friends.

For Mana's birthday, the boys went to Build-A-Bear--they both had a blast!

First they picked their bears-Mana got a Panda (Po, of course) and Carlos got a HSM bear (getcha head in the game!)

Stuff their bear with 'life' and 'love' and all that good stuff...

The boys got to push the foot pedal to get the stuffing going-they were still kind of getting a feel for the place at this point.

Now this part is fun-washing the bears and like blow drying them or something... it was cute.

Mana's bear bought some cool Kung-Fu outfit and Carlos' got a Batman costume.

Carlos sleeps with his bear every night now-he especially likes it when the bear says "Wildcats! Getcha head in the game!" So funny.

Mana's birthday celebration continued on his actual birthday...

Our little Isabel-just watching the boys play...

Carlos wanted to buy Mana a birthday candle-so that's why there are 2 of them. ha ha

Now below is a series of photos taken within seconds of each other... It reflects how fun and awesome their friendship is:

We tried pulling them off of each other-see in the second pic. Funny thing about these two is that they'll horseplay and one will end up crying a bit and then they hug and make up and are friends again. Now that is true friendship. I sure how they remain friends forever! George and Stephen (Mana's dad) have been friends since they were tots too.

Below: trying to make the "shaka"

Not quite, but it will do. :o)

Newborn

2009-10-25T23:35:00.000-06:00

Newborns are so special and sweet. They are tiny miracles and big blessings. I am blessed and grateful for the opportunity to be a mommy. Nothing is more rewarding. There are some things about newborns that I just LOVE! The stage of being a newborn does not last long enough. I just love so much about it.
I love the peach fuzz all over her body.
I love that her skin sheds and how fast it heals.
I love how her hair does a crazy "willey peka" do.
I love that she stares at my face in wonder.
I love that at night she does a crazy head shake as she tries to latch on in the dark.
I love the little noises she makes as she eats.
I love the weird newborn faces that she makes.
I love that nursing her brings her comfort.
I love her super soft skin.
I love her tiny toes and fingers.
I love her not-yet-filled-out arms and legs.
I love that little healing belly button.
I love to cuddle with her.
I love all these things as much as I loved them my first time as a mommy 3 years ago-only I appreciate it so much more this time.

My little milk monster. So worth the dark circles :)

Mi Carlitos-the BIG boy now

2009-10-25T19:04:00.005-06:00

I thought I'd share a little bit about my favorite little boy in the whole wide world. :) My Carlitos had quite an adventurous summer. He reached many milestones. First of all, he completely became potty trained. As Isabel's birth approached, I made it clear to him that it was something he needed to do. I regularly said this to him:

Carlitos, when Isabel comes, I am not going to buy more than one diaper size. So you're going to have to use the potty all the time. Okay?

It took him a couple weeks after her birth to be brave enough to go number 2 in the potty. Well, on Saturday, August 1st he did it! He was sooo excited once it was over. He yelled "Mommy! The BIG poop terd is out!" LOL, sorry if that's too much information but that's the language of a 3 year old.

It was the best evening for us. He gained confidence and we no longer buy him diapers. So I have 2 children now, and although I was never able to have a time when I didn't buy ANY diapers, I at least never had to buy more than one box! Yes!

In celebration of this event, I've posted pics of the couple weeks leading up to this momentous event and a few after... as you can see, he was super excited to wear his "undies" and to this day, he enjoys showing them off.

Boston

2009-09-26T08:53:00.002-06:00

So the kids are still asleep. Gives me like 2 minutes to write something. Wow, I am just now understanding why those of you with more than one child don't always get around to updating your blogs frequently. I have had NO time to blog. I will make it a goal to catch up though because this is my only way of keeping a journal of sorts.

I'm in Boston visiting my family. It's been a long trip-3 weeks total and I've still got a week and a half left. I love being here with my fam-but I sure do miss my hubby. Each time I come home, I think about how far away I am and that makes me sad. Especially since George's 'home' is just as far away in the OTHER direction. So in deciding where we will 'settle down', one of us will either make a complete sacrifice, or we both sacrifice together.

Isabel is growing so fast! Before coming to Boston, she began smiling and cooing at us. I just LOVE it. I read once that your baby's first social smile is the MOST gratifying milestone they reach. And I totally agree! My heart warms and gets so full each time she smiles at me.
She is getting so strong too! She can roll over, lifts her head when we hold her up or when she's sitting. Oh, and yesterday morning she officially laughed for the first time. The first "more-than-just-a-giggle" laugh came courtesy of Carlitos. They play a "bouncy bouncy" game where I hold her and bounce her while Carlitos jumps in front of her. I think she feels like she's jumping along with him and cracks up!
She ADORES her brother and gratefully, he reciprocates that same love to her. I'm so glad that he still wants to hold and kiss her. It's looking like it will be a great relationship between these two. Carlos still calls her HIS 'chixmunschin' and princess.
Oh, but what a drama queen! Ha ha! She is ALL GIRL-in the way she cries, smiles, seems to flirt... etc. There is so much emotion in all that she does. Everything is exaggerated and I think it's just so hilarious. George and I always say... "Carlos was NOT this emotional." LOL. I hope it's not a sign of how she'll be as a teenager. ha ha.

Carlitos-so grown up now it makes me sad! He's going through a 'fit' stage where he'll throw a fit about something so small. Mothers of boys older than 3 years old-please tell me this is a stage and that it's normal and he will get over it. :)
Here in Boston, he seems to be missing his Daddy a lot more than last time we were here. Shows me that he's more mature and better understands what it means to be away from someone. It makes me miss George even more when Carlitos cries for his Daddy.

This will be my last LONG trip without George. The three of us are all enjoying Boston and wish George was with us. Isabel just woke up so I better get off. :) I'll post pics when I get back home in October.

Speaking of which-I'm hosting another Halloween party again! Yay! Let me know if you want to come so I can send you an invite. (Lohi and Cam-come to UT for it! Tradition!) ;)
It will likely be on Halloween (sat) for a couple of hours. I've almost got Carlitos' costume complete-although it won't be as homemade as last year's.

Tummy Time, Daddy, & Hair Cut

2009-08-23T12:35:00.004-06:00

I love tummy time. It's one of my many favorite baby times. I am always amazed at how strong babies are just out of the womb.

But the thing I love most about tummy time is being this close to her while she's awake. So fun when she focuses on me and stays up-and then flops back down.

Spending time with their daddy.

George is funny-he will call me in from another room "Quick, Jenny... take a picture." I love it. It's not often he wants to be in a picture.

Carlos got a new haircut. This was quite a struggle for us. We love his hair long-and he liked it too. But it was always getting in his face, and reality is I didn't want to have to be complimented on my "girls". I hate when people assume boys with long hair are girls. I mean come on! He wears very obvious boy clothes.

Anyway, his hair is cut now. We'll grow it out again, but I doubt we'll keep it as long as it was before we cut it.

Videos of Carlos and Isabel

2009-08-18T14:51:00.003-06:00

Here is Carlitos singing Los Pollitos to Isabel:

In Her Brother's Arms...

2009-08-18T12:53:00.003-06:00

Carlos LOVES holding his baby sister. He is always asking "Can I hold her please?" We try to accommodate this as much as possible. He absolutely adores his sister-and has shown NO signs of jealousy so far. He just always wants to take part in all aspects of her life: helping to change a diaper, talking to her, burping her, bathing her, etc.

He can sit like this for like 20 minutes before having to call me for help. When she's awake, she will follow his voice and I think she smiled at him a few times too.

BYU Toddler packs

2009-08-16T17:05:00.004-06:00

Football season starting up again. These are great for the games-and for church. They can carry their own toys, snacks, diaper, whatever. :)

IF you're interested, I sell them for only $5.00. I can custom make a bigger one if interested. Let me know cuz I'm beginning to make some more. :)

If you prefer a different print/color-I can do that too. Just don't ask me for a Utah print-or Yankees (eww).

Isabel's Announcement

2009-08-16T16:36:00.003-06:00

Here are a few of the ones I made-but I am not putting up the final one cuz I've already began mailing them out. :)

I'd like to describe the style as clean and studio-like. Not very creative-or colorful. I should try that next time-maybe Christmas!

I have mostly every one's address-but if I don't have yours, please give it to me so I can add you to my address book.

I Love Photoshop

2009-08-13T18:15:00.006-06:00

Some of the fun I've been having on Photoshop. The more elaborate things I've done have been at work-but this is just playing around with it. I really like to edit pics but I have little time for it. I also wish I was better at it-I've taken some courses on it, but practice is the best way for me to get better at it.

Here I made it black and white, and then I revealed the color in just the pink places.

Let's just say Carlos can't do this by himself.

Here I messed around with the curves, levels, and brightness/contrast... makes the scene much prettier.

In these below, I made the white whiter and made Isabel a bit brighter.

So the hair is tricky-but Photoshop has a tool for near everything. Seriously-it's amazing how many tools there are. They really thought of everything.

The hibiscus is actually orange.

And that's just a few of the things I've edited on Photoshop.

Baby Blessing

2009-08-11T15:07:00.003-06:00

So-what did you moms out there of girls get for ur baby girl to wear at her blessing? I so don't want to spend a ton on a dress she'll wear once. So I've decided to make her a dress myself-and to save on buying fabric, I'm going to cut up my wedding dress (that I will NEVER wear again) to make her a dress.
I think it'll be more sentimental and meaningful that way. AND-in this economy I cannot justify spending money on a one-time-only dress.

So-farewell wedding dress... soon you'll be cut into pieces. :) Wish me luck on sewing her dress-not because I don't feel like I can sew it correctly-I just hope I have time to do it by September 6th! (PS: Save the date if you think you can make it).

Going Private-4 Real

2009-08-03T14:34:00.001-06:00

So I've read a plethora of creepy stories about blogs... so I'm going private. Please e-mail me your e-mail address to be included in the invitation to read our blog... gonna be official by the end of the month.

JenniferUyema@gmail.com

Thanks!

2-Weeks Old Already!

2009-07-29T18:38:00.005-06:00

Went to Isabel's 2 week check up. She gained 8.5 ounces and grew 1.5 inches. She's in the 75-90th% for length and 25% for weight. Her head is 50%. She's a little thing, but so cute! I can't believe how fast time goes by once they arrive-not to mention how fast they grow!

I absolutely LOVE these pics! And thanks to Aunty Lohi, she can rock the flowers from HI! Yeah, no other baby girls can say that here in Utah! :) Thanks, Lo!

I've gone back to work part-time (just 1.5-2 hours a day). It's not so hard actually. I thought I'd dread going back, but it has been pretty good so far. It's a gradual step to going back to work more hours. I'm just glad work is not too far from home.

Big Brother and Little Sister

2009-07-29T18:17:00.006-06:00

These two really have a wonderful relationship already. He cannot resist kissing her and constantly... well... smothering her.

One quick story... I was going to the bank and they were both alone in the back seat. I could hear her whimpering and I heard him say to her:
"Awww... Are you saaddd? It's okay... You don't have to be saaaddd. It's okay."

He really is so sweet to his sister. In fact, he has a nickname for her. It's funny-I heard him call her this on his own. His nickname for her is "chix-munchin". So cute. I think he was trying to call her something between a Chipmunk and a Munchkin. Hilarious.

I sure hope that they have a sweet relationship all their life. He is quite protective of her-doesn't really want anyone else to hold her. And so far, NO JEALOUSY. That is awesome for us. He is always running to her rescue when she even makes a peep. Tries to comfort her when she cries, and is always asking to hold her. She follows him with her eyes and I can tell that she recognizes his voice from the womb-he spoke to her in there almost every night.

What a great brother he is-I'm so proud of him. And he's so happy to have his little "Chix-Munchin". Oh, and George and I are no longer his best friends-Isabel is his new best friend-his words not mine.

Our Little Isabel

2009-07-29T18:17:00.000-06:00

Isabel's First Week @ Home

2009-07-29T17:48:00.005-06:00

As with any new baby, tons of pictures is a MUST. Her first week home was great. She slept a lot and ate a lot... oh, and pooped a lot too. She still does all three of those things. I had forgotten how much these babies sleep at first. And boy am I grateful for that.

Carlos got sick right after we'd brought her home-he was so bummed out that he couldn't hold and kiss her. Once he started to feel better, he was so excited to finally get to give her kisses and hold her.

The other fun thing about a newborn is that you can play dress up with them. When Carlos was a baby, I'd change his clothes like 3 times a day. He had a lot more than she does (clothes, that is). But with Isabel, I have fun changing her accessories. I can't wait for her to get earrings!

I guess I never realized how BIG Carlos has gotten until Isabel came along. I really wish that the night I went into the hospital I held him more. I held him as he napped (the night I went into labor)-because I knew how much his life would change after that night. But I wish I could go back and recount what I felt like holding him. The moment he came into the hospital room I realized that he no longer was my 'little one' and that he no longer seemed 'little' to me.

So, now when I hold him, he no longer seems fragile and small. He's a BIG boy now and has taken on the roll pretty well. Although he'll never again be my littlest one, he will always be my baby. :) And hopefully a "Mama's Boy" forever-in a completely healthy not-weird kinda way.

In the Hospital

2009-07-27T23:07:00.006-06:00

Our stay in the hospital was short. We went home the next evening. Here are some pics from our stay...

/>

The BIG Day...

2009-07-19T15:07:00.005-06:00

LONG POST-FOR DOCUMENTING THE EXPERIENCE'S SAKE

So my due date was Saturday, July 11th. That day came and went without a sign of her interest in coming out. My next appointment was scheduled for Monday at 4PM. I got there, still no regular contractions or much change. Doctor said that if she doesn't come on her own, I'll be 'induced' on Thursday morning.

A side note: After having a c-section, you can't actually be induced into labor because induction causes much stronger and harder contractions, which can increase the chances of a uterine rupture.

So, what would have happened on Thursday, is that he'd break my water and hope it causes a natural induction... and with a LITTLE bit of pitocin, perhaps it would put me into active labor. Fortunately, Isabel decided that she wanted to make an earlier entrance than that. At 5PM on Monday, I started to feel contractions (no big deal, I've had them for like 4 weeks already). I thought for sure they'd go away.

Well, they didn't. They were anywhere from 10-15 minutes apart. My friend, Carol, came over and gave me amazing foot massage-I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't contracting at the same time. Although, I do believe that it helped speed things up. :)

At about 6:30PMish, they went from being 10min to 5min apart. I took a long hot shower and tried to distract myself by playing with Carlos. At 7:45PM I noticed that they were only like 3min apart. I called George and said "I really need you to be home now-I'm sure it's the real deal now, and I'll need ur help in getting through them". So he came home at about 8:30PM. We then got all ready, took Carlos to my in-laws, and eventually made our way to the hospital at like 10PM. By the time we were at the hospital, they were 1-2 minutes apart and I was officially in active labor. I kind of wish I had stayed home longer because I think I would have been more comfortable.

(us dropping off Carlos just before going to the hospital)

At my doc's appointment that afternoon I was 3cm/70% effaced/-1 station. When I got to the hospital I was 4cm/100%/-1. At 11PM I was 5cm and they then broke my water. That is an interesting sensation. I must say, it was a nice distraction from the other feelings my body was going through. At 12AM I was at 6cm, 1AM I was 7cm, 2AM-8cm, 3AM-9cm and finally at 4AM-10cm! I pretty much dilated a centimeter per hour. That made me laugh. If labor were predicable, I could have just gone to the hospital at like 3:30am. Ha ha.

(me trying not to look 2 terrible... ha ha-labor is painful)
So at 4AM I was 10cm. Now, those who have gone through this know that by then you have already been feeling like you need to push. In fact, I felt the pressure to push at like 7cm. It was so hard to concentrate on NOT doing it because it is overwhelming. I was so exhausted by then-I'd been in labor since the previous afternoon-and I didn't take a nap the day before. I wish I would have taken one earlier in the day.

I began pushing at about 4:20AM and pushed for 10 minutes before the nurse called the doctor in. She said "okay, he's on his way... don't push until he gets here." What?!?! Are you serious? Don't push? Apparently she has never gone through this.... lemme tell you-you CAN'T "not push" at that point. I was trying to breathe through it as much as I could... the minutes passed and he was still not in the room. So I kept saying things like:

"Just catch her!"
"I can't NOT PUSH!"
"WHAT THE "F" (No, I didn't actually swear) is taking so long?"
"Ugh, where is he? Will you just please deliver her!"
"I can't hold it any longer!"
All as I panted through the urge to push.

(What a relief! Sorry, pretty graphic, I know...)

After 10 minutes, YES TEN MINUTES, he walked in the room and had to get all ready. Once he was finally dressed to deliver the baby, it was like 7 minutes before she was out. The clock was right in front of me. It was interesting because he was wearing the scrubs and all and then a red baseball cap on his head. How weird is that? The hat was a bit distracting.

What an absolutely overwhelming experience! Wow... it's exhilarating and emotional, and full of adrenaline. When her head came out, I was overwhelmed. And the feeling of having her pulled out (a relieving lightening sensation) was incredibly emotional. Having had a bad experience my first time (emergency c-section with Carlos after 28 hours of FULL labor), this one was a piece of cake.

(Isn't it wonderful that their heads don't actually stay like that?)

Hearing her for the first time after the long pregnancy and everything was so amazing. It was an instant love for her that I felt. All throughout this pregnancy, I was feeling like I wasn't emotionally connected. But that completely changed the moment she came out.

(Getting all cleaned up)

So, a successful VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). I could not be happier with the process and outcome. Not to mention, that my body feels amazing! I was amazed at how great I felt just minutes after giving birth. It's amazing how one's body is designed to do this. Your body knows what to do and naturally takes care of itself, and heals incredibly fast when it's a natural process. The only discomfort I feel now (just 5 days later), are the 2 stitches I got from naturally tearing. I am so ready to get back in shape, and I know it will be much easier this time than it was last.

(Finally get to hold you-not just carry you in my tummy)

I totally recommend it. And yes, I look forward to the next time *not any time soon, of course*. Awesome!

Motherhood is NOT Easy-but Worth It

2009-07-17T22:29:00.007-06:00

At the current moment, my daughter is waking up to eat... soon. My husband is taking a luke-warm bath with my son so that his fever comes down a bit... and I'm venting about what I'm experiencing as a mom of 2 for only 3 days so far.
Carlos is sick-probably a viral infection that is causing hives, high fever, runny nose, watery eyes, and a 'blah' feeling...
Isabel is 3 days old and eats a lot-thankfully she also sleeps a lot too.

I am trying to keep my sanity and absolutely emotional body under control (hormones). I feel overwhelmed (to say the least) but thankfully my husband is there to help. We've been trading back and forth: shift 1: Isabel shift 2: Carlos.

Being a mother is hard enough-add another child and things just get harder. And add one being sick is just plain wrong. Now on top of that-add the fact that the younger one is only 3 days old! I don't even have words to describe that scenario.

While Carlos was napping on my leg (trying to stay away from his baby sister who he absolutely LOVES), and feeding Isabel on my chest, I thought we needed a break-so I tried Halo for the first time with George. Nope, still don't like it.

If anyone has experienced something similar, please share with me how you made through it! At this point, I wish she were still in my tummy-safe from germs and infection and I'd be able to dedicate 100% of my strength to my son who just wants his mommy at this time.

Tear (although now is not the time to break down-so I probably will once this passes... ha ha). I really wish my mom were here in UT helping me. Just like my son needs me, I really need her. She'll be here in about a month-can't wait! Thanks for listening to my venting. I feel like a dork b/c I know that mothers deal with stuff like this ALL the time-but it's a first for me and I am just not feeling adequate enough for the job. C'est la vie.

Sigh.

Isabel Yoshiko Lisia Uyema is HERE

2009-07-17T01:24:00.008-06:00

What's her name? She is named after 3 very special people in our lives. This post is all about who she's named after:

"Isabel" (pronounced: "ee-saa-vel") is my grandma... the sweetest most dainty woman who ever lived in my opinion. She was born and partially raised in Spain-and then moved with her parents to Honduras. She taught my mom how to be a "lady" and refused to wear pants. She was such a faithful woman too-when she passed away, I inherited her bible with our family history in it. So grateful for her dedication.
I love my grandma so much. Although I never lived with her, I appreciate her so much because she taught my mom so much-who in turn taught me. Now my daughter is named after her-I couldn't be happier about that.

"Yoshiko" is George's grandma. I've asked him to write about her, but until he does, I will write what I know. She was born on the Big Island and lived both in Hawaii and in Okinawa. She was a HARD WORKER... worked as a child on a farm, and throughout her life. Loved to dance-and had an amazing sense of humor. She and George had a special bond-one that none of her other grandchildren had with her. I know how much he loves her-and what an amazing impact she had on his life.

"Lisia" is my sister-in-law. I could trust Sia with my children more than 100%. She loves my son so much and he loves her the same. If there is someone that I can completely count on, it would be her. I appreciate her so much because of how willing she always is to serve others. She was named after their other grandma-so our daughter has all three of her grandma's names-but is specifically named after Sia.

So, I hope that she will inherit these characteristics from the people she's named after:

Isabel: Femininity, poise, and faith
Yoshiko: Humor, love of dance, hard-worker
Lisia: Charity, reliability, humility

Of course these women exemplify other amazing characteristics-if our daughter can inherit just a few, she will be an AMAZING woman. :) She will go by "Isabel" (pronounced correctly, of course...)

She's here!

2009-07-16T17:16:00.004-06:00

She's finally here! I'll share my whole story when I have caught up on some more sleep. In the mean time, see mine and George's albums on FB for pics. :)

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-06T21:52:00.004-06:00

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Here are the pics from our celebration.
This first one wasn't exactly on the 4th, but Koa(la bear) is so cute in it, I had to add it.

The night before the 4th, we stayed up pretty late... so Carlos and George slept through the whole parade... I decided that since I wasn't able to sleep very long anyway, I'd make them a yummy breakfast. So, I made pancakes and a Magleby's Fresh-like syrup. It was yummy!

Later that afternoon, we went to the Giles' crib to have a BBQ... it was so yummy. :)

George worked, so I dropped him off and Carlitos and I enjoyed a long nap. Following the nap, we met up with Candice and Kaylene and went to Center St. to enjoy the end of the fair-we were there for about 20 minutes. ha ha

Just enough time to enjoy a discounted funnel cake with powdered sugar.

We drove back to the condo and walked up Univ. Ave to wait for the fireworks show to start. Carlos enjoyed playing with Uncle Keone...

Candice and Kaylene. We all enjoyed the show-although we went outside at the first sound of fireworks-apparently it was just the end of the Jonas Bro's show-so there was A LONG wait time before the actual show started. We all thought it was so lame... but the actual fireworks display was quite good.

Kaylene was in awe of the fireworks... all the colors. Wow.

Later, Carlos and I went to Miranda and Harris' house-Carlos was loving it cuz he was with his BFF and other kids to play with.

And here he is in his old car seat-aka his sister's new one. :) I can't believe how fast they grow. Glad I've captured pics and videos of him because the past 3 years have been awesome! Now he get's to share everything-:) I'm sure he'll do just fine.

Like Father, Like Son? Just a Little Bit.

2009-07-01T07:43:00.004-06:00

I did this once before... click HERE for the link to the previous post. According to the first one I did-Carlos looked equally like the two of us. Recently, I've heard people saying that he's starting to look more like his dad... apparently that is true [by 5%] ha ha. Check it out:

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

2009-07-01T00:44:00.007-06:00

My friend, Kristi is a great photographer... she enjoys taking pictures, and we enjoy reaping the benefits of that. :) My son and her kids are friends from church-in fact, if you ask Carlos who is friends are, "Sitani and Marley" are mentioned in his list of exclusive friends. She took so many pics of him and they're so amazing-but I thought I'd post a few of my favorites here. This is a LONG post... cuz there are so many more great ones. I posted them on my Facebook too.

Congrats, Babe

2009-07-01T00:39:00.003-06:00

So it's finally over... and George's team won the championship. I am happy for him because he gets to do what he loves to do... but it is nerve-wrecking each time he plays because I think about the knee and the recent elbow. He's got a VERY EXPENSIVE hobby. :) But he's good at it, and he loves it. So he might as well while he's still young.

2009-06-28T00:18:00.000-06:00

The 'Carnival' that Carlos was anticipating for a week. He asked me about it every day. It was the Lehi Round-up. The Giles' (Mana) live in Lehi and so we joined them in this adventure. Carlos and Mana had a blast, of course.
Carlos enjoyed the bounce houses and slides-they were only 25 cents! We enjoyed that part of the deal.

Mana was a bit apprehensive to join Carlos in the slides-weird cuz he never seems to be at Kangaroo Zoo... maybe cuz it was outside and they were bigger.

You can see his happy face-he LOVED it so much.

Carlos and his sunglasses-which he asks for every time that the sun hits his face.

Here's Mana-"pointing to his brain" as George would say. :)

When George saw the ponies, he said "Look Carlos, pupu's." Yesterday, Carlos saw a horse as we drove by a stable and he said "Look mom! Pupu's... (giggle, giggle) that's what Daddy's says..."

Mana jumped right on one of these ponies-Carlos was apprehensive about riding one-so we compromised and he was willing to ride the 'little one'.

They had these super cute cows there too-I HATED the smell, but Carlos enjoyed it, so it was worth it.

And the highlight of his carnival experience: The Train Ride! It was a tractor train-cute though cuz the conductor walked around and asked them for their "tickets" which made Carlos super happy-since he's the BIGGEST "Polar Express" fan.

Happy Birthday Carlitos!

2009-06-24T23:52:00.005-06:00

Wow! I can't believe you're already 3 years old. Seems like just yesterday you were in my tummy.
Here is the re-cap of the birthday boy's day...
First, you slept in as long as I could let you because you had a doctor's appointment (3-yr check up)

This is the outfit you chose to wear... no, the winter slippers don't match. :) After the doctor's appointment (you're WAY ahead of your age in development, by the way), you and Daddy flew a kite. So fun.

You helped me make the cupcakes for your 'cake'... you're super helpful in the kitchen.

While the cupcakes were baking, we went outside and played with the water balloons. Daddy was filling them in the bathroom, while I was filling them in the kitchen.

We made tons of water balloons, but they didn't last very long.

So, we decided to play with the water guns instead.

Here's what I came up with. I made the frosting, but it was kinda runny, so I put the cupcakes together so we could put the cake toppers on it. YOU liked it, and that's all that matters.

Waiting for birthday cake is so hard to do!

Finally! Happy Birthday my little Carlitos! Te AMO!

Later that day, Mana came over to play and swim...

You and Mana ate dinner together and played all over the house-you two seem to be BFFs, like your dads.

And finally, when Daddy came home, you were able to open your gift-WOW! A Cars race track!

Birthdays are so fun when you are with those you love. Thanks to all who made his birthday special!

Videos of Carlos at Mata and Travis' Dance

2009-06-23T20:41:00.007-06:00

Here is Carlitos "battling" with Uncle Justin

Some "Break Dancing"

Doing the "ROBOT"

And blowing out a fake candle

Just When You Think There's Nothing to Post About...

2009-06-23T10:19:00.003-06:00

Once again, our little ones create a BLOG MOMENT.
Background info: Do you know about the Disney Channel Campaign? Well, my son watches Disney Channel a lot-it's his favorite. Anyway, they're doing this green "Reg and Pledge" campaign and there are commercials for it on Disney all the time. You're supposed to register online and then pledge to be more green or something...
The other night, at dinner, I asked if he wanted to say the prayer... he said yes. So I asked if he needed help, and he said "No, I can do it by myself." Awesome-he'll do it all on his own... this is what he said:
"Dear Heavenly Father... we're grateful for this day... WE REG AND PLEDGE... bless this food... nourish our bodies... in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
I almost busted out laughing! It was the cutest thing ever! Hilarious! Oh, if only I had recorded that one.

Happy Daddy's Day!

2009-06-21T14:26:00.002-06:00

My husband is the bomb. He's awesome... here are just a very few (cuz I don't have much time to list ALL) of the MANY reasons why he's awesome and why I love him... and why he's a great daddy:

He plays with Carlos like he's a kid himself.
He kisses us goodbye and hello every time.
He works really hard at school and work for us.
Carlos says "I love daddy so much because I fight him." LOL (straight from his mouth)
"Buy toys, plays bowling game, all toys in there (as he points to the room)"
He loves my belly when I'm pregnant-and has NEVER ever made me feel self-conscious about my changing body. :)
He makes me beautiful arrangements (even after his class is over).
We talk about random things-school, sports, parenting, our lives, and any other thing...
He encourages, supports, and praises me in my crafts/hobbies.
He always says "I love you." on the phone.
He makes us laugh and laughs at us too.
He's fine-:) and real 'easy on the eyes' AND you'd never guess he was going to be 30 years old this year! I know-amazing... and I'm not just saying this because he's my husband, but he really is the FINEST of all his brothers. :)

I LOVE HIM! And our kids (1.5 of them) love him too. :)

Happy Father's Day!

Baby Shower

2009-06-13T12:06:00.008-06:00

My friend, Jen Phillips, threw me a baby shower on Friday-it was planned withing a week, and I think she did an AWESOME job. I'm glad so many were able to come-it was short notice and it's a busy time of year for people. So for those who came (and tried to come) thank you soo much! It was way fun seeing everyone.
Seeing all the girly things has really made me a bit more excited about our new baby. Pink is especially fun after a boy! :) So I'm looking forward to the "pink load of laundry" so many moms of girls talk about.
Anyway, the food was so yummy! Especially the sweets. :)
Our daughter was spoiled with many outfits-and I'm so grateful for that because it's been really hard for me to shop for her. When I used to shop for baby showers of friends having girls-I would have a BLAST buying cute girly things (cuz I have a boy). But I found that once I knew I was having a girl, it seemed as though my sense of style and excitement for girly clothes diminished. I have no idea why-but these outfits are inspiring. (I'll post pics of the actual gifts once I put them all on hangers and arrange the kids' room).
It's always so fun to hang out with friends-we should do it more often-and not just because of an occasion. This post has LOTS of pics, by the way...

Cute diaper cake that Jen made

All the yummy food!

The Sinclairs-they had to leave a bit early-but I was able to catch a pic before they did.

Carlos as the photographer

Lots of cute things

With Ginni, Carol, and Dinah (they all went to high school together-it's funny to hear them reminisce)

Carol doing the "Ginni Pose"

With my lovely sister and mother in law (missing Sia cuz she's in Hawaii)

Eva and Naia-I remember when we had her baby shower... crazy how time flies!

With Jen-the mastermind behind the whole event-thanks a MILLION!

Carol and I

Ginni and I

Dinah and I-she's due in December-can't really tell though. :)

Side note, I'm getting pretty big now. ha ha! I went to the doc earlier that day and found out I was at 1cm dilated-better than a zero I suppose. Who knows? Maybe she will arrive earlier. With Carlos, I only made it to 36 weeks, so I have NO idea what these next 4 weeks are going to be like. I am already feeling the "tiredness" of that last month. And there's still so much to do to prepare. :)

Can't believe we're having another!

Pan de Coco!! Pan de Coco!!

2009-06-06T20:21:00.003-06:00

What a treat! One of my most favorite things about Honduras is "Pan de Coco". Mostly only found in our family's neck of the woods, Tela, it is a specialty there. I don't really have a recipe for it-because I've learned to make it by watching my mom-and we just don't measure things traditionally.
Carlos helped me knead the dough-and now we're enjoying it with butter. :)

Now these are the kind of 'carbs' I don't feel bad about consuming. :)

Sing Along

2009-05-31T13:07:00.003-06:00

Carlos loves to sing along to the music we listen to in the car. It's super funny... we tried to catch him singing some of this song-as you can see though, there are many distractions for a 2 year old...

Pregnancy Woes

2009-05-31T10:30:00.002-06:00

Alright... so I'm sure that many of my friends can either relate to this, or have had it way WORSE than me. Here's a bit of info on my pregnancy with Carlos:

I was SUPER tired the first trimester, and sick (no surprise there)... then I felt much better the second trimester. The third trimester was sort of fine, except that I retained a lot of water and sometimes looked like I had elephantitis.
I got toxemia between 34-36 weeks and was admitted to the hospital at 36 weeks. The pain the night before was terrible! I'd say probably worse than labor-then again, it was my liver shutting down from the toxemia.
He was born via emergency c-section after 28 hours of labor. I didn't have that "natural birthing" experience I was hoping for because of the complications and also because the epidural helped reduce my super high blood pressure.
He weighed a whopping 4 pounds and 11 ounces & was 18.5 inches long. A small skinny little thing. He was in the NICU for 8 days before being discharged to go home. I didn't get to see him after the c-section (as most get to)-and I wasn't able to meet him until about 28 hours later.
Needless to say, this wasn't the experience I was hoping to have. Then again, I turned out okay, Carlos didn't have any major premature complications, and things turned out great.

This time around, I hope my labor/birth experience is great, and not complicated. I'm hoping for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean). As for this pregnancy, it's been different from Carlos'. First of all, I've been sick a lot more this time, but less fatigued. Here are some of the things I'm experiencing now:

Nausea (not terrible, but just constantly there)
Allergies (stuffy nose, itchy throat, sinus pressure)
Heart Burn
Pubic bone pain (seriously, I know that during pregnancy your bone down there softens to allow for more flexibility during delivery, but still-it HURTS bad)
Constantly peeing (I haven't slept all-night since I found out I was pregnant... not ONE night)
Uncomfortable (doing almost anything b/c the tummy's in the way, especially sleeping)
Breathing difficulty (b/c of the stuffy nose, and also b/c my lungs feel like they're always being squished)
Sneezing hurts

There are other little things, but for the most part, these are the major ones. Just 6 more weeks of this and then we'll finally get to meet the little one who's the 'cause' of all this drama. :) Can't wait, seriously.

Memorial Day

2009-05-29T19:11:00.005-06:00

Holidays are great-especially when the weather's great too. For Memorial Day, we went to a park with some friends and had a BBQ... Some of Carlitos' "Nursery" friends were there.
Carlos feeding the ducks.

Carlos and I by the duck pond... sometimes it's easy to get him to take a picture.

Carlos and Lia-they're great friends.

This one is funny-and I probably wasn't supposed to take it, but it was too cute... here he is with one of his BFF's, Lia... it's during the prayer, so he's trying to whisper to her to participate, while still participating himself... so cute!

Check out his slipper action-always on the wrong foot... :)

Me at 33 weeks along... "Girl, you huge..." Actually, I don't feel nearly as huge as I did with Carlos... I'm measuring right along and I haven't gained as much weight either... that's good for me.

Recent Randomness

2009-05-29T19:03:00.006-06:00

Just a few pics I wanted to post of some of things we've done since our trips...
First, here's a few pics of George's elbow a few days after it happened. The bruising is from the sling that he had to wear. And it was quite swollen that first week.

We visited our friends, the Bradley's... Janique recently had surgery, so we brought them some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Their little one is so cute! Carlos really wanted to hold her, but she was sleeping for most of the time we were there. He was quite excited when she finally woke up.

So, what do you do when you can't use your arm, and can't go to work? You rest. And that's what George and Carlos did. George is using his arm more now, but some things still hurt to do. Physical Therapy is working (at $30 a visit, it better be!)

This is behind George's job... we've made multiple trips there since his elbow injury-you know... medical leave stuff, paperwork, and other things associated with being injured and unable to work in a place such as where he works.

St. George Trip: May 9-10

2009-05-29T18:49:00.003-06:00

After Vegas, we drove up to St. George, where we stayed at "La Quinta"... that's a pretty nice hotel. George's game started at 7pm and so we had a few hours to kill, which we spent at the pool there.
During half-time, Carlos was able to go onto the field with George for a bit. It was nice to have like 7 minutes of peace, (AKA not having to say "Carlos, that's too far... or Carlos, stop running.") Geez, my son's got a lot of energy...

I mentioned before that George dislocated his elbow at this game... yeah, it sucked. Not much else to say about this trip...

Vegas Trip: May 7-9

2009-05-29T18:25:00.004-06:00

OK, so our trip to Vegas. George had a game in St. George on that Saturday, so we decided it would be fun to go to Vegas first. We drove down on Thursday and stayed until Saturday afternoon-that's when we drove to St. George for the game. We usually stay with family friends. This time however, we wanted to stay at a hotel to sort of celebrate our anniversary.
My brother-in-law, Vili, hooked us up. Here's where we stayed: The Rio. Nice hotel, especially nice room, as you can see.

Being 31 week pregnant at the time, it wasn't as comfortable as my own bed-mainly because I didn't bring my body pillow. George and Carlos found it quite comfortable.

The one thing that I get 'sick of' really fast during a vacation is eating out. We ate out pretty much the WHOLE time.

This pic was taken by the huge tank at Caesar's Palace... one of the only good things about the Vegas Strip is that there are some free things to do.

Carlos, Vili, and George. Vili treated us to Italian Gelato. It was expensive! I liked it though.

OK, funny story about the gelato... they had a "tiramisu" flavor which had some Kahlua (it's an alcoholic beverage, in case you didn't know). Of course, being that this was an ice cream parlor-the alcohol was totally cooked out of it, but the taste was still there. I still felt like maybe I shouldn't (being pregnant, just in case)... but I HAD to try it. WOW! So yummy! I know what I'm having the next time I go there. It doesn't have the alcohol, but it does have the taste. I already knew what it tasted like because I had tasted some of my mom's when I was younger. ha ha-the one I tasted back in the day was not cooked out... LOL

Taking a picture in front of the massively huge F.A.O. Schwartz horse.

Saying "Bye" to Vili on Friday night... That day we were able to spend time at the pool where Vili works at the "M" Resort... super nice hotel, I recommend it.

Our trip to Vegas ended on Saturday when we ate breakfast with the Kaimikaua's and then our routine trip to "Trader Joe's".

George and I

2009-05-28T20:53:00.000-06:00

Just a few pics of George and I... these were taken at Sia's graduation party. I had my camera for the end of it, so there's not many pics of the party itself-just of the two of us. :)

And yes, those are about 4" heels I'm wearing at 30 weeks preggo. :)

I LOVE my husband... :) He's awesome.

"Ita's" Visit-Part 4

2009-05-28T20:51:00.001-06:00

These are pics taken on my mom's last day here in Utah. Just a few of she and Carlos together.

In this picture, we're trying to explain to him that she's leaving to Boston and that we aren't going with her. He wasn't too happy about that.

Oh, and check out what we saw our way to the airport! So funny!

He was quite helpful at the airport-pushing the carry-on around.

As always, looking for "gum" in her purse.

As we were going up the escalator at the airport, he said "Hey, that's my bag...". He was talking about the carry-on that he was helping with earlier. It was so funny-made me laugh (even though I was sad to see her leave).

Well, my mom will be back in a little over 6 weeks when the baby comes. Can't wait!

"Ita's" Visit-Part 3

2009-05-28T20:50:00.010-06:00

Kangaroo Zoo! Some fun with Ita at Kangaroo Zoo. There's a weight limit on the bounce houses there-and being preggo and all-I no longer can play on the rides with Carlos. :) But my mom could... so he had her playing a LOT!

Thanks to Aunty Cee Cee (Sia), Carlos knows the proper form for hitting balls... they practice hitting on occasion.

"Ita's" Visit-Part 2

2009-05-28T20:10:00.005-06:00

Ice Cream. Women's Conference. Tucano's.
My mom's funny. While she was here she said that she apparently eats more than when she's at home in Boston. You know, the whole 'eat a lot while on vacation' thing. Anyway... she said "I think I'm going back to Boston round as a ball." And shortly after that comment... she said she was craving ice cream. ha ha ha! I said to her "OK, but don't say we sent you back to Boston round as a ball." So, we went to Baskin Robin's for a scoop of ice cream.

The main reason for her visit was Women's Conference. This is the second year we've gone to it. It's a great opportunity to be refreshed spiritually, but more importantly, to spend some time with my mom. Unlike last year, this year we went to more Spanish sessions than English. They were great. One of my favorite speakers (always) is Sister Allred-the second counselor in the General Relief Society. She was great.

During Women's Conference, there are lots of opportunities for service. One of the fun things we did was color a floor car play mat. I was pretty proud of our town.

Before the end of her trip, we decided to go to Tucano's for "linner" (Lunch/Dinner: eating at Tucano's always leaves you stuffed, so it's not like you need to eat much for the rest of the evening after eating there...).
Carlos loves to use the tongs-unfortunately though, he tries to eat with them! I constantly had to tell him that it would hurt his mouth. So, the next time we went there, we decided to bring a pair of his chopsticks (since it kinda does the same thing). I love creme brulee-but so does Carlos. Well, really he just likes to eat the caramelized sugar on top. :)

"Ita's" Visit-Part 1

2009-05-16T08:29:00.010-06:00

"Ita" is short for "abuelita" which means grandma in Spanish. My mom came to visit us again. She was here for Women's Conference. It's the second year in a row that we go together. This posting is all about Carlitos' new "toy".

The highlight of her trip, for Carlos, was that she bought him a new bike. She and George went to the store while Carlos and I were taking a nap and bought him this super cute bike. When he woke up, we showed him the helmet and pads-he was like "ooh, for skateboarding, mom?" That was cute. Then we told him that Ita had another surprise for him and that he needed to close his eyes and NOT peek. By his reaction, you can see that he was totally peeking the whole time! LOL

At first, he had trouble with pedaling, but he's got the hang of it now. We go outside almost every day to practice. Funny though, if he sees a rock on the ground, he'll try to avoid it. He'll say "I don't want to pop the tire mom...".

BIG BROWN EYES

2009-05-14T12:42:00.003-06:00

I love this picture... he's got big brown eyes. Click on the picture to make it big-you'll notice that his pupils are barely distinguished from his eyes. George and I don't even have eyes this dark. :) I wonder how our daughter's eyes are gonna be like.

Super Cute Gifts!

2009-05-12T10:14:00.004-06:00

Uncle Vili bought the kids some things while we were visiting in Vegas. Here are the pics:
A classic Oxford (for church)... since Carlos has been going to church (about 2.5 months old), he has always (except for 2x when he only wore sweaters) worn a white shirt (and most of the time, a tie)... :) We've gotten LOTS of these over the past 3 years.

Summer time! Yay! Time for sandals. He uses slippers most of the summer, but for church, and other nicer events, he uses nice sandals. Also great w/ a tupenu.

Now our little girl's wardrobe additions. This brown linen dress is adorable! I love it.

George picked out this beautiful yellow dress. It reminds me of a dress I used to have as a baby.

And my personal favorite (mainly because it's a Spanish-style dress): This dress is so great! I know, it's white... and will probably get dirty fast, but at least she'll represent her Latin side. :)

I'll post more about our trip to Vegas, but things are super busy and hectic right now-especially since George dislocated his elbow this weekend... I got a lot to do.

Our Anniversary Celebrations

2009-05-04T16:19:00.005-06:00

This year, our anniversary fell on a Thursday-same day as BYU graduation (will be the same next year too). My mom came to visit for Women's Conference this year, and came a week early to be with Carlos during our anniversary. I totally spaced graduation and forgot that Sia was graduating. So, we couldn't go out of town as I wanted to. Nevertheless, we did have a great time and here's a brief re-cap of our special (low-budget)day:
First, we went to Magleby's Fresh for their all-you-can-eat breakfast. I had the french toast, and George had pancakes. We didn't get 'seconds' but were quite satisfied... yummy!:

Later that morning, I sold our Combi single stroller (I need a double now) and went to the mall (CPK and Disney Store)...
After the mall, we came home for a nap and then to Sia's graduation.
After the graduation, we went to Costco to buy flowers. George thought it would be fun to make some flower arrangements together. We bought like $60 worth of flowers and make 4 different arrangements (we gave the basket to Sia and she used it at her party the next day):

And after that, we went out to dinner at Carrabas. I barely touched my meal (not that it wasn't good-just wasn't feeling it)-but I always have space for their Creme Brule:

And that's our anniversary this year. We have near-future plans to go to Vegas-that will be our extended anniversary celebration.

MSO/MSU/ROC Reunion

2009-05-03T19:45:00.006-06:00

I used to dance for this group called MSU... AKA-MSO @ BYU. And currently known as ROC. :) Wow... lot's of acronyms. Anyway, since it's first year, it's been 10 years. I was in the group for 2 years and has since helped with choreography and teaching other dances. So, I've kinda been in the group for 8 years. Ha ha... in one way or another.

Anyway, here are a few pics from our reunion show. It was fun to see people from the group a long time ago. I made lifelong friends in the group, and being in the group really strengthened my testimony.

I joined the group my freshman year. My friend Oliver introduced the group to me-and I'm so glad he did. I was just a little freshman from Boston-totally felt out of place (the "brown" person). Everything here was so different and it was certainly a culture shock. So, the first time I went to the practice, I was amazed that there were others like me here in Utah. I mean, obviously I wasn't the ONLY minority in Utah, but sometimes it felt like it.

So, it was September 2001-just shortly after 9/11 and I was feeling like I'd made a big mistake in coming to Utah. My mom was alone in Boston, my brother in Afghanistan (army), and I was in Utah. Being in the group helped me my first year-that's for sure. I made great friends, had something to do besides school, learned new things (dancing), and I experienced many 'firsts' w/ the gospel. George joined my second year, he did for me :)...

I learned to memorize my first scripture in MSU: 1 Nephi 6:4
I learned my first LDS quote: The Standard of Truth, Joseph Smith
I learned to memorize my first hymns and church songs: The Spirit of God, & that "Hello" song
I experienced my first fireside.
I bore my testimony in front of people I didn't know (@ fireside).
I grew a stronger testimony of the gospel and of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for me.
I learned that being LDS was cool and that it wasn't weird or different... :)
I saw my husband (boyfriend at the time) bear his testimony for the first time.

You see my point. There were lots of great things that happened in the group. I also made great friends... some of my BFFs.

Our classic picture: "Side Ponytails"-here's the original from tour in 2002, and below that one is the one we re-created at our reunion (it's missing a few girls)...

George and Carlos after the show

Good to see people after such a long time. Some of them I see all the time, while others-it's been years...

Trying to take an alumni pic is hard-especially when current members jump in-guess everyone will eventually be considered 'former'.

5 years (Plus the 2 Years and 3 Months of dating)=7.25 years of HAPPYness

2009-04-23T00:00:00.001-06:00

We were married in the Mt. Timpanogos LDS Temple on Friday, April 23, 2004. Amazing how time flies by. It was a bitter-sweet day, as I was sealed to my hubby for "Ever and ever" but at the same time, my mom was unable to go into the temple. We did have a ring ceremony at the wedding reception. That was nice and kinda fun to be able to do it.

Here are some pics from the past 7 years or so. We danced in ROC together one year. He joined for me-that was nice of him. Guess he figured that since I'd be devoting so much time into the group, he might as well join to-so we could be together more often.

Sure glad he did-I learned of a side of him I don't think I'd ever see otherwise. Spending that much time together is great-especially when we can have a little fun too. I saw him bear his testimony many times, cry, laugh a lot, and also saw him doing service in-action.

Just a few weeks after we were married, he began playing outdoor football with a team. He was gone for every other weekend-the whole summer. Not so fun for a new bride. :) But I enjoyed watching him do what he loves to do. He's always been supportive of my hobbies, so a little time away doing what he loves to do is not so bad. (Plus, it makes for great reunions).

Naturally, all that action may cause a few bumps and bruises along the way. In his second year of playing, he tore his ACL. He says he's grateful it happened while being married. I nursed him back to health (so-to-speak). I helped him with the bathroom, getting dressed, and even gave him baby wipe baths the first few days... Not sure any of this roommates would have been willing to do so. :) hee hee.

George is a very creative guy. That's one of his talents. Always thinks 'outside the box;' (excuse the cliche). On my birthdays, and other holidays, he always manages to do some thing special for me. The most creative thing I've ever given him was a story book of our relationship on our a previous anniversary. He totally beats me in great gifts and memories. :)

As I mentioned before, our ring ceremony was great.

I LOVE this picture because it shows how sweet he really is. This is certainly one of my favorite wedding pics...

So, as we celebrate 5 years of being married, I am more and more grateful for him in my life. I certainly LOVE him way more than I did then (and I loved him a lot then)... but fortunately, our love has grown and grown. Sure, marriage isn't 'easy' but I don't think it has to be hard either. It's certainly not impossible-and the blessings we receive from it out weigh any of the cons. I can't imagine my life without him-and I'm so happy with him.

Once, George received an award (in ROC at the end of the year)... "The Royal Pineapple Award". He received this for a couple reasons, 'Royal' b/c he's Tongan (and Tonga is the only remaining Kingdom in the South Pacific) and 'Pineapple' because he may appear rough on the outside, but is really sweet inside. You have to get inside him to realize that. Well, my "Royal Pineapple" truly is sweet, and certainly worthy of royal blessings. :) I'm just glad I get to have him all to myself-Forever and ever.