The Avila Family

vacay journal entry

2010-08-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

JonJon, Julian and their Uncle Mark.

Laughing on the way back from the Cheesecake Factory.

Cheesecake factory.

Mom and Dad's back yard.

Cheesecake Factory

My kids with cousin Emily!

Build A Bear fun!

Okay, I need to write this all down before I forget any of it happened.

Vacation:

Saturday morning 7am we pack up the van. We leave at 9:00.. ish... Nick drives until around 11am and I take over, we stop just north of Six Flags at a Carl's Jr for lunch, then we keep driving and stop at a Panda Express in Stockton/Lodi for dinner. Nick drives through the night and we arrive at my parent's house in Oregon at 7am. We hand over the kids and mom and Becca take over while Nick and I nap. Sunday night, my stomach not feeling so well but I manage to play a fun charade type game with all the adults in the house (Thanks BECCA!). Monday, still not feeling so well but we go to the mall where we eat lunch (I had a gyro- but I think its pronounced YEE ROH). Then my mom has the best day of her life! She bought each of her grandkids a Build a Bear. The kids have a BLAST! Nick snuck away from the bear store to buy Julian a lego set from the Lego store across the hall for his birthday! We also went to see the Portland Temple, which was closed so Sarah took our pictures on a nice piece of land next to the Temple. We also went to the local Harley Davidson dealership where Nick bought a souvenier t shirt and drools over the leather jackets. We then stopped by Costco and got Julian a birthday cake because it was his 7th (man I am OLD) birthday! We went back to the house, I made home made mac and cheese for the family and we have Julian a party. Cake and presents and in a rush we tell him the rest of his birthday day is to be spent having a movie night with his uncle Mark and aunt Jessica and Carmen while the adults leave them alone for two hours--- Mom, Dad, Sarah, Mike, Becca, Nick and I snuck out to watch "Inception." Wait, was Becca there or was I dreaming... hahaha. Such a good movie! So on Tuesday Nick and I went to lunch at the Sage. When Im at home, far away from Oregon, I crave their Marinated Mushroom salad dressing. Then Nick and I stopped by the hospital to visit my cousin Christina. She is dying of cancer. She is in her 30s and had two pre teen children. It was very sad to see her so sick. Even more sad than the fact she is dying is that her father and brothers havent gone to visit her. Her sister visited once, for an hour. My mom and grandparents visit her often so they are the rays of sunshine in her life. Then we went to my grandma and grandpa's house. We rode four wheelers, the kids rode miniature donkeys (burritos!) and we bbq'd some burgers. Then Nick and I headed out early to go watch the movie "Salt." It was probably a good movie but NO movie seems good after watching "Inception." Wednesday was my birthday! I woke up at 7am bright and early to be ready by 8 to go with Mom, Sarah, Becca, Jessica and Carmen to go get pedicures. We went to this awesomely cute spa and got pedicures and for my birthay present from Nick, he arranged for me to get a massage. I'd never had a real massage before, it was pretty relaxing. When I went back in to the pedicure area Carmen was green.... Becca and I rushed her back to my mom's house. Half way there Carmen threw up on her seat. I handed her off to Nick, cleaned up the vomit from the van and rushed back to pick up the rest of the ladies from the spa. Then we went to Panera for lunch and then to a mall, then another mall. Becca bought me sunglasses, Sarah bought me a wallet and a bag hook and Mom bought me a shirt and earrings. Then we met up at the Cheesecake Factory with Nick, Elias, Dad, Ryan and Justin. It was so good! Awkward when they came to sing to me, but good. Sarah, Justin, Becca, Nick and I had some good laughs on the drive back to Mom's afterward. On Thursday Carmen was still sick, so was my mom. Horrible sick. I helped take care of the kids and cleaned the kitchen. I think this may have been the day that Nick took the kids to see "Despicable Me." Not a whole lot going on Thursday because Carmen was sick. Friday we got up early and went to the beach. It was a lot of fun! The kids had fun playin in and eating the sand, the older kids climbed the big sand hill, Nick loved going out on the boat and when we were done at the beach we ate fresh crab then headed to the Tillamook Cheese factory. We bought cheeses, beef sticks and ice cream. The whole way to and from the beach Nick did a lot of talking about how much fun those roads woud be to drive on his motorcycle. We got back, showered everyone, started some laundry and then just hung out on the couch. Bryan Adams stopped by. Saturday morning, everyone thought we were going to leave but SURPRISE! We decided not to leave until night. We went to the park, my parents had all their grandkids together at the park and we took some cute pictures, then we went to the upper park to play some tennis. After that we left the two little boys at the house and Dad took the rest of us to pick blueberries. Free, all we could pick blueberries. Nick and I picked 15 quarts between us. They filled 4 gallon size bags. We only fit 3 into our ice chest. We also packed up crabs and fish to take with us. Then Dad took us all to Izzy's for all we could eat pizza and ribs. It was good to eat and be super full before bed time because once we said our goodbyes and left I, for the first time in my adult life, was able to sleep a night in the van. Nick drove throught the night and at 6am I took over and drove while he slept, handing the wheel back over to him somewhere in Southern California. We got home at around 6pm. The timing was perfect! We unloaded our stuff, got everyone ready for bed and we all were able to sleep at the same time, unlike previous years where we left Saturday morning, arriving home Sunday morning only to have one of us be able to sleep while the other stayed up with the kids. Not so smart. This trip, smart. On Monday we slept in, got some groceries and Nick rode his motorcycle. I miss my family. I am still waiting for the time the Lord reveals to us where we are supposed to settle, whether it be here or Oregon or somewhere else, I am just waiting to feel that feeling of, "This is where we are supposed to live" so for the time being, we live far away from my family. I miss my sisters so much. They are my best friends and no one understands me like they do. I had an awesome vacation. Melissa and Amanda werent there. Melissa was in Mexico visiting Gaby, Amanda is on her mission in Guatemala and just tonight Ryan opened his mission call, he reports September 29 to the MTC and will be serving in Lansing, Michigan. I love Ryan! I am very excited for him. On a heavier note.... this morning was the kids' Meet the Teacher day at school and we visited Julian's new classroom, then Carmen's. It hit me when I ran my hand across her name tag on her cubby that she is going to be in school and I almost started getting choked up but then I reminded myself that it's time, she's ready.

Oregon Coast Part 2

2010-08-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

My grandpa and his boat.

While Nick, my Dad, Grandpa, cousin and uncle were out on the ocean I was with the kids, Sarah and my mom on the beach playing in the sand. Some of us were eating the sand.

Haystack rock, Pacific City, Oregon.

Isaiah isn't very good at sharing the baby spotlight. Sorry Emily.

And of course, the classic sand burial photos:

Oregon Coast part 1

2010-08-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

So when I came across this picture I realized that this is my old camera, the one that Nick and Carmen use... OOOOH that explains the zhu-zhu pet pictures... So these are a few pictures from our trip to the Oregon Coast. My grandpa loves me! I know this because one of the last trips we took to Oregon my grandpa vowed to get me some crab because he knows that I love crab. He tried to find time to take us out to the beach but we never had the time so he paid $17 and bought me a crab but the day we were to leave to go back home my grandma and grandpa came by my mom's but had forgotten to bring the crab and he was so upset at himself and sad that he hadn't delivered. When he found out we were coming this summer he planned with my mom a day to take us to the beach. With the help of my cousin Anthony and my Uncle Brian they took the boat out on the ocean and pulled up a crab pot and did some fishing. Once ashore they stopped by the park to clean the fish and boil the crab, where my grandpa made sure I had plenty of fresh crab to eat. I am so grateful to have a grandpa that loves me. When I was younger we didn't see our grandparents much, from either side of the family, so I dont know how to have a relationship with grandparents. My grandpa was always buddies with my cousins but we were the odd ones out living so far away from them. Food does bring people together. AND now my grandpa can actually hear me speak thanks to his new cochlear implant!

My dad, on his cell phone, in the ocean.

Hi Grandpa Babb! Glad you read my blog! I dont have any pictures of you and grandpa to post but maybe next trip to Oregon Ill make sure to get some for the blog!

Summer Relaxing

2010-08-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

This summer we did a whole lot of relaxing! We went to the movies every Monday for Summer Movie Fun and on top of that we saw "Despicable Me" two times and Nick took the kids to see it a third time in 3-D. After our movies we would take our movie ticket stubs next door to Yogurtland where they give us 3oz free per ticket so we never paid more than $4 for our family to eat frozen yogurt! Ive also spent the summer trying the best I can with four kids at home to work on developing my talents. I've been creating levels on Little Big Planet, which I love because it reminds me of my days designing web pages. I've also been doing some sewing. I made Julian some armor because that's what he wanted, he even picked out his own wolf print fabric. I made Carmen a dress using a pattern. My first experience with a pattern and I've decided that I hate patterns. It turned out so-so. Then I decided to make her an apron, from my own head, not from a pattern and it turned out TERRIFIC! I created it to look like a fancy dress. Carmen loves it, but not as much as I do! I should make me one next! This is not actually the finished product, the finished product is much better, I pulled the front middle seam tighter so that it doesnt droop, I just didnt want to have to stop blogging just to take a picture when I already have quite a few pictures to blog about :D

Carmen Photography

2010-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

I REALLY need to hide my camera better before Carmen REALLY gets an embarrasing shot of one of us. When looking through my memory card for pictures to blog about, I found some that really stood out as pieces of Carmen Art.
This one I call, "Mom's Mess Sewing Carmen a Dress."" These next three pictures are part of a series I call, "The Zhu-Zhu Pet Photoshoot Collection."

(I think Julian may have taken this one. He is Carmen's apprentice)

And this next one I call, "It's Too Late, She DID Catch An Embarrasing Picture of Me."

this last month

2010-05-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

Since Im doing a lazy hurry and catch up blog post, this is the last month. We went to the zoo and to the Gila Valley Temple open house (and to visit the Windsors!) I picked just a few of my favorites to post.

Julian, the Genius

2010-05-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Julian received an award, a trophy for getting on the Principal's Honor Roll this year! Here he is with the Principal.

Julian and his BIG trophy!

We are very proud of our smart, dedicated, hard working little man!

2010-05-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

Hello! I feel happy! Had a wonderful mothers day! I recieved four boxes of chocolate, one from every child, and a new comforter set for my bed from my husband, and he did dishes for me and cleaned the house and made my day special. Its the little things that add up in a big way.

I love my family.

catching up

2010-05-05T23:21:00.000-07:00

I too have been bad at blogging lately. Like most people I keep current from August until December then spurt out a post every now and then until August rolls around again. So I am going to at least post whats going on currently so that I dont forget what my life was like in May, come August.

My sister Amanda just arrived at the Guatemala MTC yesterday and will be there for six weeks before she is let into the field. I am very proud of her and love her very much.

Elias will be 1 in five day! He has been walking since he was 9 months and 5 days old so to me it seems hes been 1 for the last three months. He likes golfing, boxing, playing baseball, chef boyardee pastas and clinging to me. He still wakes up twice a night and I cant seem to get him to cry himself back to sleep until he has nursed :S

Carmen celebrated her 5th birthday last month! Her birthday decoration theme was black and hot pink and before the party Carmen and I prepared chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels and made 4 mini pinatas. We played a toss game with the mini pinatas knowing quite well that 5 year olds cant catch- how else would we get candy out of pinatas without a stick? She had lots of fun and got a lot of cool stuff for her birthday. She passed her kindergarten assesment with flying colors and we are currently working on teaching her phonograms.

Isaiah currently isnt feeling well. His eczema is flaring up and he has been in pain. I need to be more consistent with his allergy medication and the 4 different creams we use on him. He also has a fever and stomach ache and this morning he said his head hurt. Illness aside he LOVES sports. All sports. He lives to play wii sports and even practices wii boxing on his little brother. Dont worry, they dont actually make contact, they just move their fists around in the air at eachother until one falls to the ground and then they start counting down to knock out. He is also still pretty good at knowing his letters and numbers and is talking a lot more.

Julian is in his last month of first grade! When did I get so old!? Last week we went to the Honor Roll Award Ceremony because he got Principal's Honor Roll! He has straight As on every report card! He is very kind, considerate, sweet and wants to always be and do his best. Today he asked for a Capri Sun. I told him that he shouldnt have another because he already had one. I said
"Julian, do you know how many kids are in our family?"
"Four."
"Do you know how many capri suns are in a box?"
"No. How many?"
"Ten. Now if each kid had two capri suns how many are left in the box?"
"Two. Can you put them both in my lunch tomorrow?"
"No because we need to share."
"Cant you buy like a lot of boxes of capri suns? Like 10 boxes? That would be 100 capri suns!"
"But Julian they cost $2 a box"
"That would cost $20! So next time you have $20 can you buy 10 boxes? I have some money from the tooth fairy I could give you to help pay for the capri suns!"

As for Nick and I we are doing well. I have been a little on the depressed side lately but I think its just an accumulation of lots of little annoyances adding up to one big headache. For one, I got mono last November. Nick didnt want me telling people because he was afraid people would start talking. I told him that no, people would understand that the "kissing disease" isnt always spread by kissing and that he and I know that I couldnt have gotten it that way. Despite being at the peak of my illness I put on Thanksgiving for my family and my inlaws, and made it to Oregon and back for Christmas and it took me months to feel back to myself, yet Im still always tired. Also, my sister Rebecca just moved her family back to Oregon so aside from my Guatemalan sister Amanda I am the only sibling not living in Oregon. I would love to live near my family. Every good woman with a good mother wants to be close to her. I want MY mommy and I miss my family so much. My sister sarah was by my side for 17 years and being apart isnt easy. And- now this is selfish of me, but I dont have a best friend. I see so many friends of mine put aside other friendships for thier "best friend." Now to clarify, my husband is my bestest friend but girls need girl time sometimes. I have lots of friends and friendships but when Im in my worst of days I have no one to call to vent to other than my mom or one of my sisters and Im starting to think they are getting tired of me always calling them. I know, selfish of me isnt it? But then again Nick says I just need to get out more :S I also have been having lots of family visit lately and it takes its toll on me. To keep my sanity I have to be in control of my surroundings and I have to make sure my home is clean and the home is running smoothly and on top of that entertain and cook and run errands.

Today things looked up for me. I woke up this morning and Nick had brought me three muffins from Starbucks. Then I went to the park and had a great time talking with the other moms. Later a delivery man brought me flowers (from my mom, dad and siblings) and then I made brownies and to top it all off the kids were all pretty good today! We all get in ruts sometimes and I know I cant be the only one that feels this way about life- its sad when we get sick, its sad away from family, its sad to feel alone even though we are not, but when the day is over and the sun rises again, there is love and hope.

Carmen Art

2010-04-15T22:09:00.001-07:00

I decided it was about time I updated my blog so I pulled out my memory card from my camera and plugged it into the computer to see what I had to blog about. Then I realized that ALL of the recent pictures on my camera were actually taken by Carmen, most without my knowledge. These are some of Carmen's photography pieces:

She captured another photographer in training.

The Self Photograph

WALKER!

2010-02-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday he was just taking one to two steps, today he took off!!! He is 9 months and 5 days old!!!!!!! Record breaker for my family! I love my Elias!

elias 9 months old, taking steps, dancing

2010-02-14T20:00:00.001-08:00

elias has been standing on his own, unassisted for a very long time now. many months. he crawls around but as soon as he gets to the toy he wants, he stands with it to play with it. he prefers standing and can stand as long as he wants without falling until he's ready to get down. just a day after he turned 9 months old he took a step and a few minutes later he took two steps! now just a few days after that he is a two step regular!

tortillas

2009-12-14T22:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I made tortillas. I had Nick watch the kids while I made them, but he wasnt feeling well.... Elias ended up licking up flour off the kitchen floor. But- the tortillas got made.

Julian took this picture of the dough. After cutting the shortening into the flour and salt, then adding in the rest of the flour and the water the dough gets kneaded and I roll it into balls.

Then I cheat and use a heated tortilla press to press the balls into uncooked tortillas. Oh and the counters are not dirty, theyre covered in flour and pieces of tortilla that have broken apart.

These are the uncooked tortillas. Good tortillas bubble up. Really good tortillas balloon up!

And while I was making tortillas Elias slipped on the kitchen floor and split his upper lip on the tile. No, he didnt get knocked out, I just couldnt get a picture of it until he fell asleep. But the tortillas taste great! He found out today when he started eating a half eaten one Isaiah had left on the living room floor....

Sorry I cannot publish my recipe, its a family secret but if I know you (and trust you wont start your own torilla business! heehee hee!) I'll send you the recipe to your facebook inbox if youre interested.

stairs

2009-12-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

and now..... at seven months and four days Elias learns to climb stairs. And he climbs and climbs and climbs!

birthday boy.

2009-12-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

My baby is 7 months old today! And his birthday milestone today was...............
he climbed up to the toilet and we caught him right before he was about to put his hands in the water! Nope, no pictures, we were too busy washing his hands.

Missionary!

2009-12-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

My sister Amanda (child #4/8) just got her mission call and opened it just now and she is going to Guatemala. Guatemala City Central Mission, Spanish speaking. I am so excited for her! I had no idea I would cry so much! I am so happy but I will miss my sister :D LOVE YOU AMANDA! SO PROUD OF YOU!!

Orange Chicken and Lettuce Wraps

2009-12-01T15:54:00.000-08:00

Im not the greatest cook, if I were, I'd be winning thousands on those Food Network Challenges, but I do enjoy tasty food. Bland food is my enemy. With my own experimenting these are the recipes I came up with for Orange Chicken and Lettuce Wraps. Sure there are many other variations and such but I did them with ingredients that are easy to find and recipes that take only about 15 minutes to make.
WHAT YOU NEED TO BUY: Mr. Yoshida's Sauce and Panda Express Orange Sauce. Everything else you probably already have.

Orange Chicken:

2 cans chunk chicken (from costco)

1 cup flour (salted and peppered)

2-3 cups of oil

1 cup Orange Sauce

Put the flour in a tupperware type container. Drain the chicken and dump into the flour. Put the lid on and shake shake shake. Open the lid just a crack and shake out the excess flour. Dump the chicken into the heated oil (medium-med high) and fry, turning when browned. Drain the oil. Turn down heat to low and pour sauce over chicken, stirring until well covered. Remove from heat. Let it sit until it cools a little, stirring once or twice.

Lettuce Wraps:

1 Head Iceberg Lettuce, cut in half

1 can chunk chicken or 1 cup of finely chopped chicken (we used our thanksgiving turkey)

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 package of ramen noodles, dry, finely crushed

3/4 cup Mr. Yoshida's Sauce
(I also like to add about a tsp of vinegar and 1/4 tsp of crushed pepper flakes for a zestier flavor)

In a small nonstick pan on medium heat stir together the chicken, pecans and noodles then stir in the sauce. Let it cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently and remove from heat to cool, still stirring occasionally. Spoon into lettuce leaves. Now what I dont have is a dipping sauce, that takes ingredients I dont have in my fridge.

Serve over rice.

cracker barrel

2009-12-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

Nick's parents came for Thanksgiving. On Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then to the movies to see Planet 51 and then we did some shopping. These are pictures from Cracker Barrel. Isaiah and Nick's mom Patsy. Elias and Grandpa Avila.

Nick's parents with all their grandkids.

Tempe Festival of Lights Parade

2009-12-01T15:13:00.000-08:00

The day after thanksgiving Nick's mom suggested we take the kids to the zoo to see the Zoo Lights. Realizing that it would cost quite a bit for all of us I looked up events for the day and found the Tempe Festival of Lights Parade. So we went to Tempe and watched the parade. When I moved to Arizona in 2001 my first job was at the Harkins Centerpoint/Valley Art movie theatres on Mill Ave in Tempe. It has changed a bit since I worked there but I still really like the area.

Sherriff JOE! :D

Two story bus.

Waiting for the parade to begin.
I know, my pictures are going backward.

Elias discovered that he can escape the buckles on the stroller.

While we were waiting for the parade we got donuts at Dunkin Donuts. Candy was thrown at the parade and I helped the kids make their way to the street so we did get candy enough for them all to share.

Sick.

2009-11-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

blaaahhhhh! Okay first I want to start off by acknowledging that there are so many wonderful people having hard times right now. Health, loved ones health, finances, home security, job security and so on so I know that I am blessed that our family is well.

So the problem. I have mono. Im tired. I want to cry because Im so tired. Mostly I want my mommy. No one else. Just my kids, my husband and my mommy.

I hate when people ask, 'so who you been kissin'?' Well, hmmm.... JUST NICK.

So this is my rant, this is me venting. I am sick and it doesnt change my kids' behavior for the better, nor does Nick get to get out of work earlier, nor do the dishes wash themselves or the mac & cheese cook itself. So the doctor says I should be feeling back to myself in a few months. Really? A few months? Okay Mom, Im ready to move next door to you!

Oh and to my friends, dont avoid me like the plague, just dont drink out of my water bottle!

Nick's Birthday: the aftermath

2009-11-16T21:22:00.000-08:00

After leaving Red Robin, Nick and I went to Old Navy and exchanged a couple of Julian's shirts. They were out of the kind we originally bought him so he ended up with this camo shirt. He loves it.

And on Saturday while Nick and I were at Red Robin.... well.... how do I put this.... Sareny bit Carmen on the nose? Hahaha! They were on the trampoline and Sareny got bumped into Carmen and her teeth bumped into Carmen's nose. She is healing just fine, no worries.

And Elias is all over the place!

At Nora's house the two little boys loved playing together, giving hugs and looking out the sliding glass door at the dogs.

Nick's Birthday: Part 2

2009-11-16T21:10:00.000-08:00

Embarrasing, yes. Hillarious, maybe. My idea, no. The kids wanted me to make a cake of Nick. Now if I had more time and maybe not had mono and maybe if the kids stopped asking me every 5 seconds if it was done yet it would have turned out better, but here's Nick. He's holding an iPod Touch. Thats what I got him for his birthday. His wonderful parents got him (and me- joint birthday and Christmas gift) a 42" plasma TV. We had gone out with friends on Saturday night so on Sunday we left church after Sacrament meeting to go to his Aunt Nora's house in Chandler. She made him Chico's Tacos (if youre from El Paso you know what these are). She only makes them twice a year and both those times are meant for Nick :D

Nick was ready to blow out the candles.

And here he is laughing because believe it or not, this was taken AFTER he blew. More unbelievable, he only had two candles on the cake. old man.

Now this picture of Nora I had to put up because she is the only person I ever knew to drink her soup through a straw. Thanks for the tacos Nora!

Nicks Birthday. Part 1

2009-11-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

This year I decided to put extra effort into Nick's birthday. Previous years have been okay, usually cake and family, or just family and cake. There was even one year I wasn't around because I was at my mom's visiting and poor Nick had to work so he spent it alone. This year Nick had a few celebrations.On Saturday evenings we have a babysitting exchange with two other families. One week we each take turns watching all ten of the kids. Seemingly quite daunting but thats what back yards and paper plates are for! :D Knowing we had a babysitter I invited a few friends to join us at Red Robin for dinner. Zander is the coolest little guy! He was telling Nick his poem he memorized for school. And Brandon was Brandon....

Alayna in the back with her two girls (and I must say her kids were VERY well behaved!), and Hillari up front. Alayna's daughter even sang a solo Happy Birthday to Nick, it was the cutest thing!

Hillari and Keith. Hillari was telling us how Keith wont let them buy a love toilet. A double seat toilet for a person and their love to face eachother in the bathroom. (she was talking about a SNL skit! so funny!)

And Keith and Randy. Kim is the only one who didnt make it in a picture. It was a good thing Randy and Brandon were at complete opposite ends of the table and that the kids were between them acting as a buffer... until Randy hit poor Zander in the head with an ice cube.

We had a lot of fun talking and laughing. Funny thing... my sister Melissa texted me the next day and was like, "why did you leave me a 2 minute long voice mail of just people laughing and talking?" --I checked my phone and apparently I called her.... oops!

Corvette

2009-11-11T19:12:00.001-08:00

The kids watched in awe... As dad's Corvette got towed away.

So the transmission can get fixed.

SIX MONTHS OLD

2009-11-11T18:49:00.001-08:00

Elias was born 5/10/09. This is him on 10/02/09, at still 4 months old. I think he was sitting up long before this but I didnt have pictures of it on my phone. This is Elias on 9/18/09, at four months old on all fours.This is Elias on 9/30/09 still four months, doing the bear stance.

Elias started crawling shortly after the bear stance, at just a week into being five months old. This picture was taken on 10/22/09 he was pulled up to the couch on his knees.

And just a few days ago I made myself an icecream cone and he decided to eat it. Bad mama. Bad.

And yesterday Elias turned 6 months old! And today he pulled himself up all the way on his feet!

I love my Elias. I am so glad he can crawl! It makes my busy life so much easier knowing I can set him down with some toys to play with and when hes done he will just crawl over to me and I know its time to feed him.

Grandpa and Toys!

2009-11-11T18:28:00.001-08:00

One of Julians friends at school told him that The Great Pumpkin comes to people's houses anytime between Halloween and Thanksgiving and if kids leave their least favorite Halloween candy by the front door and The Great Pumpkin will eat it and leave a toy. WHAT!? Okay now I know some parent made this up to get rid of candy but now I have to buy my kid a toy to ensure that his classmate doesnt find out that The Great Pumpkin is not real and have some parent call me up angry that I exposed the Great Pumpkin as a sham. So the night Julian decided to leave his candy out the "Great Pumpkin" left him a note. Basically an IOU. Only Carmen and Julian had left out a candy so last night The Great Pumpkin came with a gift for each of them. Julian got a Bakugon and Carmen got Babies in My Pocket. Isaiah cried all morning for not getting something. OOOOOOPS on my part!!! So today I ran to Target and got him a Bakugon too.

Today the older two went outside while the younger two were napping. They didnt understand why we couldnt go to the park to ride bikes, even after an hour of me repeating myself, "If I leave the boys at home, alone, I will go to JAIL!"

A few days ago we made chalk drawings on the driveway. This is mine. Its Bear, from 'Happy Birthday, Moon.' When Nick got home I told him, I drew Bear in the driveway with chalk, and he was like, "The BEAR, like BEAR GRYLLS?" And I was like, "Why would I draw Bear Grylls???" His response,
"I dont know, you do wierd things a lot."

My dad came to visit and he took us to Walmart and bought us candy and then we went to dinner at Panda Express, the kids' favorite!

And one day I found Elias playing in Carmen's candy bucket.

And this is what the kids look like playing with toys. I sent this picture to my sister and she honestly thought I had sent her a picture from a day care. Golly. Anyways, the kids love their toys!

Isaiah is so funny when he plays with playhouses. He talks for the characters and it usually goes like this, "Super Batman! Batman, batman, batman! OOOOhh Robin! Robin! Get bad guy! No bad guy! No!"

Elias likes sports. He is always playing with balls, bats, and toy golf clubs.

Halloweeeeeen!

2009-11-11T18:10:00.001-08:00

For Halloween all our boys were Link. Julian wanted to be blue so they were all Blue Link (from the Zelda series video games). I made all their costumes. I didnt put a whole lot of effort into them because Halloween is just one night :D I sewed a shield on one of Elias' sleeves and on the other I sewed a sword.

Carmen was a princess.

We went to a Halloween party thrown by one of Nick's coworkers then headed down to the church for the Trunk-or-Treat. The kids had a lot of fun and got lots of candy. Now Ive heard a lot of parents actually combine all the kids' candies into just one big candy bowl but I didnt want to do that, its not fair! Julian did way more trick or treating than the other kids and so to even things out I got to eat out of any bucket I wanted. The kids had to ask for candy from me, of course!

Julian wasnt happy about having to pose for a picture, he wanted candy.
This is me!

milk dud

2009-11-04T21:34:00.001-08:00

i put a Milk Dud in a clean diaper and told Isaiah to eat it so he popped it in his mouth and then I said, "what if its poop?" and he opened his mouth and let it fall out, and i said, "no its not poop" and he put it back in his mouth and smiled. nick thinks im evil. my dad thinks its funny.

never toothless

2009-10-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

Today Julian lost his second tooth! Well actually, I pulled out his second tooth. I probably wouldnt have stressed the teeth - but the adult teeth to his baby teeth were already both in and his teeth were super loose. My boy looked like a shark! Even with his first two teeth out he hasnt even had to experience toothlessness.

Elias is crawling even faster now and pulls himself up on his knees to reach the couch and up walls. He puts everything in his mouth that he finds on the floors.

I am working with Carmen to help her with the alphabet and learning to write her name. I am also working with her to teach her how her actions make other people feel, teaching her the difference between truth and lie and teaching her how to be more polite.

Isaiah loves balls. Still. Thats about it. Hahaha! He has a temper, as he has had since the age of 4 months old. I have been trying to work with him to teach him how to use words to tell me how he feels. He has the cutest smile. His eyes shine when he's happy. When he's sad theres a storm cloud over his head.

Nick's birthday is in November but I gave him his birthday gift early. I got him an Ipod touch and he LOVES it. On our date Saturday night we went to Pei Wei for dinner, then to Target where we bought him a docking/stereo system for his Ipod, it was on clearance for $25!!

and me. Last week I was on a roll. Cleaning the house top to bottom all week long, sewing, cooking. When me and nick were first married we did dishes1-2x a week. Now its 1-2x a day! Last night I made a Texas sheet cake (and the first time my Texan has ever had it!). The recipe called for 1 cup of butter but I reduced it to 1/2 cup and added 1/2 cup applesauce. It is FANTASTIC! So moist and delicate, it tastes like a mix between a carrot cake (minus the carrots) and a chocolate muffin. Now I will post the recipe soon but I will not post a picture because I covered the cake with wax paper late last night and it stuck to the frosting making it look like a choppy sea of chocolate, but it still tastes good. No one in the family will eat it but me, and sometimes Isaiah but he just eats off the frosting. Not sure why. Anyone want some cake?

my clowns

2009-10-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

Carmen decided to do her own make up but with a twist... she wanted to look like a clown! She came out of my room looking like this and said something to the effect of, "Look mom! I did my make up! I look funny!"Carmen handed Elias a toy baby bottle and he figured it out right away even though he doesnt ever take bottles. Now I dont really remember much about this day or this picture except thinking that Nick looks like he cant decide between being Jewish or being at Disneyland.

CT

2009-10-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Elias has been crawling for about a week now. He is 5 months old. He has been sitting up on his own since he was 4 months old.

Yesterday had another CT scan of my sinuses to track the cysts, no change- so the doctor said it would be safe to have me just return in 5 years for another CT scan unless I start to have problems breathing or have a series of recurring sinus infections.

They were discovered two years ago when I went in for an MRI after I was experiencing peripheral neuropathy. They never found the cause and thankfully they were able to rule out MS and brain tumor, but they found a 2 1/2 cm cyst in each of my maxillary sinuses (the ones above the top teeth). This was not long after I had had emergency surgery to have my gallbladder out (when Isaiah was just 2 months old). The neuropathy hasnt returned full force but when it starts to come back I do stretches to stretch my shoulders, neck and back since the mri was otherwise normal, the next thing that comes to mind probably a pinched nerve. Whatever caused it, I have figured out how to make it go away, but for now, the cysts are here to stay. I could have them surgically removed but the doctor said that the only reason he would want me to have them removed is if I was going to have my deviated septum fixed, then he'd remove the cysts while he was already performing an operation.

The past two days, other than the doctors appointment and carpool duty, Ive been cleaning house nonstop. Top to bottom, east to west, left to right, front to back and I was so wound up I couldnt stop last night. Had to force myself to go to bed at 2:30 am. I rearranged Isaiah's room, cleaned up all the toys and even put up a shelf, cleaned out the junk mail piles, folded laundry, fixed a broken toy, dusted shelves and desks, cleaned out our computer desk, and all the other fun stuff that usually gets done last on the list. And today.... you guessed it.... its messy again. Toys ALL over the living room floor and dishes piled high.

Today I found a Hostess cake in my purse- a ding dong. Nick said that for some reason that didnt surprise him. Its no wonder I blew out my gallbladder huh?

Thank goodness its almost the kids' bedtime.

This weekend

2009-10-13T15:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday the kids wanted to make Halloween decorations and I was NOT in the mood to take all four kids to walmart so I found some tape, construction paper and a set of safety scissors and this is what they made. This weekend Nick's parents were in Tucson for an RC Airplane show. On Saturday we drove 2 1/2 almost three hours to get there but we made it! We spent time at their camper trailer then Nick left to go meet up with is dad at the air field while Grandma, me and the kids went to JCPenney to do some shopping (much better than camping, I think!). Julian got some new pants, very much needed because his new birthday pants he got this summer are already TOO high!

We had forgotten to load the stroller so Elias got to be carried in the sling and he did pretty well. At JCPenney I actually put Isaiah in it for a while and it held him so comfortably! While we were at JCPenney Nick called and said he was headed our way because he had gotten lost looking for the air field (its 45 minutes outside of Tucson in the booneys behind Marana) so he decided to take a trip to the Best Buy next door to the JCPenney instead. After we were done shopping we went to Red Lobster for dinner and after that we drove to the air field (and found it this time). When we got there it was dark and I captured these two pictures.

Since the air show was to go on until Monday and it was Saturday and she had no interest in the little planes (I dont blame her, you see one fly, youve seen them all fly) we invited her to stay with us until Sunday evening when Nicks dad would come to Phoenix to pick her up. She said yes and jumped in the van, not caring that she didnt have a change of clothes or toothbrush- so we made a stop at Target on the way home and she got herself a change of clothes and a toothbrush. On Sunday morning we got ready for church and while Nicks mom was in the shower I (*confession*) broke the sabbath and ran to Fry's to pick up a Birthday cake, cupcakes, icing, a balloon, a present and a card and ran home with time to eat lunch and still make to to church on time. Now the reason I went shopping on Sunday was because we were gone all day Saturday and we remembered that Monday was her birthday so we decided to throw her a surprise party on Sunday. After church we ran home to get the kids a change of clothes (that was our cover) so Nick loaded the cakes up while his mom and I got the clothes for the kids and we drove to Nicks aunt Nora's house in Chandler and after everyone went in the house I came in last with the cakes and balloon and gift and when I walked in behind her we all yelled surprise! and boy was she ever! She didnt know we would remember that it was her birthday, nor did she think that was why I had run to the store. From what she saw I only had brought in a bag with a bottle of cranberry juice in it so perhaps she just assumed I had a uti. hahaha! Nick's dad met up with us while we were there and we sang and she got presents and we had dinner and after talking for a while we parted and we came home and they went back to Tucson. It was a fun weekend but sure was a busy one. Nick was so tired of all the driving we had done.

Grandma always brings presents when she comes and this is the shirt she got for me. Its so cute! I love it! Thank you Grandma Avila!

Bonnie likes Taquitos!

2009-10-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

taquito recipe? Bonnie wants me to post the recipe so here it is, kinda, Im making this up from memory as I go. Believe me, they are much easier to make than it may seem.

Taquitos

10-15 corn tortillas
1 can chunk chicken (I use Costco chicken)
1 cup mashed potatoes/hashbrowns/cubed hash browns (if frozen, microwave until slightly warm)
1/2 cup cheese

seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper

Drain chicken. Stir chicken in a large bowl to break up the chunks into shreds. Add seasoning.
In a separate bowl stir together the potatoes and cheese. I like to use leftover mashed potatoes straight from the fridge or frozen hash browns (microwaved about 1-2 minutes until mostly warmed and no longer frozen)

Microwave tortillas on a plate, covered with another plate, 45 seconds. Flip stack of tortillas and cover back up, microwave another 45 seconds until tortillas are soft. Dont hesitate to microwave longer if they arent as pliable as they should be for rolling. For some reason corn tortillas like to crack when rolled. This is usually caused by tortillas not being heated long enough or not being as fresh as they could be. Taquitos roll best when they are fresh. (Older corn tortillas that are susceptible to breaking can be cut into small pieces, fried in oil and cooked with eggs for breakfast)

Heat about 2 cups of oil (enough to cover the bottom of your pan about 1/4-1/2 inch deep) in a nonstick pan on medium heat or an electric skillet set to 375.

Drop 1 tbsp chicken and 1 tbsp (eyeball it) potato mixture onto tortilla. Roll and with metal tongs holding the taquito closed place gently into hot oil, seam side down. Each taquito needs to be rolled one at a time or they will open up before making it to the skillet. Its a lot like the cooking mama game, fill it, roll it, put each one in oil one at a time and remove as each one finishes. My skillet fits about 6 taquitos at a time and crowding the skillet is okay as long as the oil stays hot and they are each in enough oil to fry the bottom side. When the bottom side of the taquito is browned, turn to the side, and repeat until all 4 sides are golden. Now 4 sides may sounds like a wierd concept for a round taquito but when youre frying them, the side that is down will get somewhat flattened.

When each taquito is done place on a plate with a few paper towels to absorb any extra oil.

Spanish Rice

1 cup rice
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp bouillon (to taste)
1 tbsp oil

In a medium pot heat the oil on medium heat. Add the rice and stir until rice turns white. Remove from heat and stir in tomoto sauce. Add in 1 3/4 cups water and bouillon. Before returning to the burner taste the liquid, add more bouillon if needed. Return to burner. Turn up heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Refried Beans

1 can opener
1 can refried beans

Heat in microwave in covered bowl about 2 minutes, stirring twice. (I know, sounds lazy but it beats cooking beans for 10 hours for just one meal)

the pictures to go with the last blog

2009-10-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

Grandpa, a former elementary school teacher, testing the readiness of Julians tooth, yet it was me who actually pulled it out.

He sits up on his own, gets into position on his own and is still 4 months old.

Taquitos! I like to eat them with green enchilada sauce and sour cream.

Julians tooth OUT. The tooth fairy brought him 4 quarters! (I think the tooth fairy going rate hasnt increased at all in the last 20 years, i used to also get a dollar). At first he wasnt sure two of the coins were quarters because they had state designs on the back.

He's not stuck, hes throwing a tantrum because he wants the recliner put back to normal.

the blurb that's keeping me from the dishes

2009-10-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

Julian lost his first tooth today and Elias now sits up on his own! I dont put him in a sitting position and watch him balance til he falls over. NOPE. He gets himself into the sitting position. He isnt even 5 months yet! Ill post pictures later. Too tired right now. Long day. Went to the ENT for a one year follow up on the cysts in my sinuses. In two weeks I will have my 3rd CT scan and have to decide if I will have sinus surgery or not. Then I went to a fabulous Walmart on Union Hills way up north. All old people and everyone was nice and pleasant. Oh and I made taquitos for lunch. I make fantastic taquitos. Ask Jodie Stepp. All she had to do was have a baby and I took her some ;) haha! Sometime this week I plan on making homemade flour tortillas. One batch makes about 5 dozen and I always give away 1-2 dozen and we eat the rest during the week. I didnt sleep well last night, again, because Elias kept waking up congested and sometimes choking. Tomorrow I plan on redeeming my TGIFridays free burger coupon- IF I get enough sleep tonight. Right now Im procrastinating by blogging because the dishes are staring me in the face and there are legos and polly pockets at my feet.

flu update

2009-10-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

Well, at least I think its the flu.

Since I posted last Elias got a fever and was feeling crummy and spitting up and moaning a lot, so I kept nursing. Mommy milk does wonders for babies. I know I got intected too, though I didnt (knock on wood) get a fever, theres no way I could avoid getting whatever the kids had and I have been feeling the sore swollenness in my glands near my neck/jaw. Isaiah is 2. He has been wiping his nose on his arms all week, coughing and sneezing on everyone and everything, he doesnt wash his hands (he's not potty trained and cant reach the sink anyways), and he even threw up on me. Well, the antibodies in my milk fixed Elias, he was sick with the fever a little over 24 hours and after another 75% sleepless night last night Elias' fever broke around 8 or 9am this morning, giving me only an hour to sleep from 9-10am without him whining and waking up every few minutes. He slept until 11am and is now asleep again.

Poor Isaiah. Currently he is asleep on the living room floor. He had been asleep on the couch, then his legs fell off and he was sleeping with his head on the couch, feet on the floor, then he fell off completely and is now just on the floor. His fever has been around for 6 days now. I took his temp and hes 100.8 so its not high so Im not too worried nor do I need to give him medicine because its not very high. Im trying to keep him hydrated but I cant force him to drink water.

Yesterday I went to the airport with the kids to meet my dad on a layover. He was flying back from Mexico City to Oregon. We had a nice visit and he got to see the kids, and quite possibly he is transporting this West Phoenix version of the flu to the Willamette Valley.

Other than that, not much else goin on. I am just SO tired. I need a mommy day out for all the hard work Ive been doing keeping up with sick kids day and night but Im too tired to go out and do anything.

Being a mom IS a 24 hour a day job. All week long Carmen has been waking up at anywhere between 1 and 3 AM seemingly just to hang out. Today I think Ill make her do jumping jacks and run around the block before she heads to bed and hopefully all this sleeping Isaiah is doing wont end up with him wanting to be awake til 3am.

three sick ones

2009-09-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

julian was home from school monday and tuesday with a fever but the fever didnt slow him down much. he still did all of his school work and a book report and turned them in today. last night carmen woke me up at 3am. being so tired i pretended it was a dream and told her to go back to bed. she woke me back up a few minutes later saying she felt sick so i got up and put her to bed on the couch. when isaiah woke up this morning i realized he too had a fever, much higher than carmen's so i gave him the last of the medicine and after i showered i went to the store to stock up on both tylenol and ibuprofen. three sick kids. not much fun but at least isaiah isnt jumping off the walls. im trying to fight off the illness by taking my vitamins and emergen C. I dont know what they have because other than that one incident of Isaiah throwing up, none of the kids have thrown up. They seem pretty normal other than the fever and Isaiah is less active. my best guess is that nick and i will end up sick in about a week when the kids are back to their super active selves.

on monday hillari brought home julian's school work folder. on the front of it there was a sticker that said, "We missed you today!" and on the inside stickers that tell us where to put the homework and which folder is of papers to keep home. Now the folder they sent is one of the mass folders they send home with all the kids who have been absent. Julian thought it was a direct message from his class and as he read it out loud he said, "Mom! My class missed me today! Awww! I missed them too!"

Yesterday, julians second day off, I sat with him all day working on homework because thats what he wanted to do. When he needed a break he would stop and play a game or watch a movie then come to me and say he wanted to work some more. He is such a good kid.

Fatigued

2009-09-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Nick's been having a rough time at work lately so to cheer him up I took him to lunch at TGIFridays on Friday. (9/25/09) We LOVE sweet potato fries! After we were done we went and paid a bill (ick) then we parted and Nick left to work and I did carpool duty and picked up the kids. From there we went to Fry's and did some shopping. Wow. I even had a Fry's employee ask me mid aisle if I 'got it.' Now because of Nicks work schedule I cant avoid going shopping with all the kids. Ive had people tell me that I should go in the morning while hes home but if hes home hes probably asleep and then the kids would be watching themeslves and when hes awake, the precious time we have together I dont like trading in for a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk. On Saturday I took the two littlest boys with me to finish up my shopping while Nick watched the older two at home. Wow again. When I got home I cleaned up and then it was our turn for babysitting. We had ten kids in our home for three hours and they were all pretty well behaved. It went a lot smoother than we were expecting because of how tired we were, but things went smoothly AND we managed to keep the house clean!

On Sunday Julian woke up first at around 8. I told him to grab a poptart and go play. When Isaiah woke up I asked him to go open the gate (yes my 2 year old gets gated in his room) and then I heard Carmen wake up. I kept going back to sleep. After sleeping in til 10! YES 10! I woke up wondering why Isaiah wasnt bothering us. Julian and Carmen can go all morning without bothering us for more than a snack but Isaiah usually comes in and pulls us out of bed so he can tell us about baseball, basketball, golf, football, soccer, and bowling. Well I walked downstairs and saw Julian and Carmen playing quietly with toys in Julians room. I asked where Isaiah was and before I got a response I spotted Isaiahs legs on Carmen's bed in the next room over. I walked in there and poor, poor Isaiah was snow white face up on Carmen's bed covered in vomit, laying in vomit, next to vomit! He managed to roll his eyes toward me and groan "Mama." I had a vague memory come to mind of Julian coming in this morning saying that Isaiah was hungry and that he had gotten him a chocolate pop tart. And there it was, all over Isaiah- and Carmen's bed- the chocolate pop tart. Good thing Carmen's mattress has a removable cover. I threw Isaiah in the shower and though I dont do laundry on Sunday, the washing machine and I had an emergency laundry session. Now because I didn't get a picture of him (too graphic, and I was busy trying to clean up) I recreated the scene. The only thing missing was the pink pillow that was next to him (also covered in vomit). But yeah, this is pretty close to what it looked like. At least I got to sleep in!

I sent Nick to church with the two oldest kids for sacrament meeting and while they were gone I showered and took care of the boys and prepared dinner and made snickerdoodles for Nick to take to the families he home teaches. He was a little concerned when he texted me from church to ask if I could make cookies and I told him we were out of chocolate chips. He has probably never seen me bake cookies without chocolate. We love our chocolate, but the snickerdoodles turned out fantastic and I found a recipe that didnt ask me to chill the dough (I hate waiting).

And this is all that was left today, Monday morning. On Sunday evening we took the kids out play in the yard then go ride bikes. Elias had a lot of fun while I was holding him, not so excited about the stroller though. And to complete a busy Sunday, I made a big dinner so thankfully Nick washed the dishes! Isaiah is well again but now Julian has a fever. Nick had a dentist appointment today and was told he needs oh, $3000 worth of work (but Im not buying it, so again, Im looking for another dentist). Lets hope for a better week than last.

From the tabletop to the diaper bottom

2009-09-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well we upgraded from our 4 seat cottage style dining set to a 6 seat cottage dining set. We sold our old one on Craigslist for $50 and bought our new one for $80 Now we all fit!

And Elias is almost crawling. Well, kinda. He can get up on all fours and he rocks.

And Elias hasnt been a frequent pooper since he was a month old so now he can go as long at a week and a half without pooping, that is... unless he eats oatmeal. He is new to the solid foods and the solid foods go right through him (caution: picture not for the faint of heart)

I was able to save the outfit! And after I cleaned him up he was very content.

I know, this should actually be 2 blog posts, but Im trying to save myself a few minutes, its almost dinner time and I need to get dinner on our new table soon before the kids need to get to bed!

Fishing Trip: Part 1

2009-09-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the 19th of September we went fishing. I spent Friday evening getting out the camp chairs, ice chests, making pasta salad and sandwiches. The kids and I went to Walmart and bought Carmen and Julian fishing rods so that each of the kids would have thier own, I even called and borrowed one from a cousin, bought tackle and bait and got everything ready. I sold stuff on Craigslist to have cash for the fishing stuff and the trip and on Saturday morning we were off! When we arrived there was no one parked next to Nicks favorite fishing spot. We were up near Tonto Village by Payson. The kids were casting lines with no hooks and it took Nick a couple minutes to get his up and ready.
And he cast his line two times.
And then it suddenly started getting darker.
And then it started to sprinkle.
And then..... not even 10 minutes after we arrived, we were caught in a sudden downpour! And I mean DOWNPOUR!I had gone to the van with Elias when it has started to sprinkle and when it started pouring Nick grabbed the kids and threw them in the van, then he threw his phone and wallet into the van, then he ran back and grabbed the chairs and rods and tackle box.By that time he was DRENCHED! He may look like he was laughing, but he was laughing at the irony. Nick has been having a hard time lately and he has come to realize that it is true, that when it rains, it POURS.

Around the time of the picture he also started Mormon cursing, you know, a whole lotta 'dang its' and 'aw mans' and 'why the hecks' and he just fell short of 'golly gosh darn it.'

These are Nicks positive and negative latelies:

Negatives	Positives
- Nick hasnt gotten his last 2 raises - Nick doesnt have a Camaro - His Corvette needs a lot of work - He hates his job - He had to miss a family get together to study for a work audit - He had a work audit - Our insurance is going super crappy next year - Our lender is ignoring our requests for a loan mod because we are current - He hates his job - He doesnt have a Harley - He has been stuck in the same position at work for 5 years - We are short on funds - He still works a night shift and has never in our married life had a day time job - We drove to Payson to fish, and couldnt	+ We are healthy + We have a vehicles that are reliable + He has a job + He has lost 15 lbs + His sister gave him money with which he bought a new wardrobe and shoes + He passed his audit tests with 100% AND the hub passed their audit for the first time in many years + The Phoenix hub is #6 in the COUNTRY! + He has a Corvette + He now owns a fishing pole + He has a pretty wife ;) + He has insurance at all! + He has a degree so after July when his tuition reimbursement term is up he can apply for another job + He got to go to lunch with us, his family, in Payson (see Fishing Trip: Part 2)

Negatives

Positives

- Nick hasnt gotten his last 2 raises

- Nick doesnt have a Camaro

- His Corvette needs a lot of work

- He hates his job

- He had to miss a family get together to study for a work audit

- He had a work audit

- Our insurance is going super crappy next year

- Our lender is ignoring our requests for a loan mod because we are current

- He hates his job

- He doesnt have a Harley

- He has been stuck in the same position at work for 5 years

- We are short on funds

- He still works a night shift and has never in our married life had a day time job

- We drove to Payson to fish, and couldnt

+ We are healthy

+ We have a vehicles that are reliable

+ He has a job

+ He has lost 15 lbs

+ His sister gave him money with which he bought a new wardrobe and shoes

+ He passed his audit tests with 100% AND the hub passed their audit for the first time in many years

+ The Phoenix hub is #6 in the COUNTRY!

+ He has a Corvette

+ He now owns a fishing pole

+ He has a pretty wife ;)

+ He has insurance at all!

+ He has a degree so after July when his tuition reimbursement term is up he can apply for another job

+ He got to go to lunch with us, his family, in Payson (see Fishing Trip: Part 2)

Fishing Trip: Part 2

2009-09-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

When we came back into Payson it was sunny and Nick was soaking wet and freezing but we wanted to salvage our trip and went to Chili's. It did later start raining in Payson but by then we didn't care, we were eating indoors!Isaiah ate his Mac and Cheese but not after eating half of Nick's steak.

Julian had the Cheese Pizza and Carmen had Mac and Cheese
We made the best of our fishing trip.
And we can't wait to attempt it again!

Carmen feeding Elias Oatmeal.....

2009-09-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Mr Fuzzy and the basketball hoop

2009-09-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

Carmen and I bought this picture frame and decorating kit at Target in the $1 section so we used it and had some pictures printed so that we could put a picture in it. She wants her dad to take it to work and put it on his desk. I dont know if he will go for that.

Julian has been doing very well in school. He has an A in school according to his progress report, all 100's and one 98. He is a super fast learner and also received an award this Monday for being good at following directions. It came with a coupon for free donuts or donut holes at Dunkin Donuts!

Isaiah still sucks his thumb but at least now he's off of bottles for good and sleeps in a big boy bed.

Elias will be four months on the 10th and he has been rolling for almost a month now. I can no longer leave him on a blanket on the floor to play, he ends up on the carpet in less than three minutes so often times I have resorted to buckling him in his car seat while I get important stuff done (like dishes or showering). I went to the garage today and pulled out the kids' bouncer. It is date stamped 1997 and has been through all of my kids and at least two of my mom's that I know of. Isaiah didnt want me to put the seat in it because without the seat it looks like a hoop.

When we went to Las Vegas Julian saw this kiosk where they were selling Mr Fuzzy. He has been wanting one but I promised him I would get him one from the mall here and it would be way cheaper than buying one from Circus Circus. He agreed and put off the tears. Lucky for Julian I found a cheap knock off at walmart that does the exact same thing and is really no different. I paid $2.78!! He LOVES his new toy. Isaiah thinks its real and keeps trying to squish it. Carmen thinks of it as a pet in a girlie way and so wants to keep tucking it into bed!

bugaboo

2009-08-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

My little girl is an artist! She took this picture of herself and told me how great the picture turned out. She also drew these pictures:

And I wrote down her name on a different piece of paper and coached her into writing her own name:

She turned 4 in April. I love my baby bugaboo!

costco and chores

2009-08-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

I caught Elias sucking his thumb today.... so I covered his hand with a sock and popped the pacifier back in. Dont want another one. Isaiah still sucks his thumb and Im worried about the cost of braces!

Yesterday I was busy. Got to sleep at 2am because I couldnt sleep. Kept tossing and turning. Woke up at 7:40 to get Julian ready for and to school. Got home and washed the dishes, washed all the laundry and vacuumed. Then I took a nap. It was a super wierd nap. I had a hard time falling asleep. Then Nick came in and sat down on the bed and told me that it was time to wake up and asked if I got enough sleep and I told him that I had had a hard time falling asleep so it wasnt very restful. Then I woke up with Nick next to me, he said, "The baby is hungry and its time to wake up, did you get enough sleep?" Whoa.

After Nick left to work I picked up Julian and Sareny and took Sareny home then the kids and I went to Costco for gas and then to do some shopping. I stocked up on canned chicken because we live off of it, and a case of refried beans and Mr Yoshida sauce. The funny thing about Costco was when I went to park I spotted a new Camaro so decided to park next to it. It was taking up two spaces so the owner obviously knew how awesome their car is. Julian and Carmen kept asking why I dont just go buy one for dad because he likes them so I tried to explain to them financial stuff but I was just wasting all our time, they are 6 and 4. Julian posed in front of the car for a picture then we went in. When we came back out to the van we loaded up and as I was about to pull out of the parking spot I saw the owner of the car approaching. It was a little old lady! She proceeded to shove a jumbo pack of Charmin Ultra into the tiny trunk and got in the car. Wow, I hope when I am a little old lady I can drive a fancy sports car then everyone will think Im cool. Or at least thats what I will tell myself as they chuckle that I am a little old lady driving a fast car.

When we got home and I unloaded the kids and the groceries I decided to mow the lawn. The hard part about doing any chore is where to put Elias or finding a window of time when he's asleep. Because he is now rolling over and over and over I cant just leave him on a blanket on the floor anymore because he always finds his way onto the carpet. Solution: I strapped him in his carseat after feeding him, gave him a toy and a pacifier and sat him in Carmen's room facing the open window so I could check on him from outside. To keep him content I even turned on the TV. ICarly was on. Carmen and Isaiah LOVE that show but they werent inside with Elias, they went outside with me. The grass was pretty long since we had gone on vacation recently and we have a push mower so it took me some time and effort but Carmen and Isaiah were good. They played in the water the whole time! Next we went into the garage, opened it up and I washed the van while they played with even more water in their Easter buckets in the garage. They had a blast and Elias slept the whole time. When we got inside I changed the kids and it was 8:30 and we hadnt had dinner. I didnt want them to have to wait until 9 to eat so I made the quickest thing I could think of: eggs! They love eggs! After scriptures and prayer they were off to bed and asleep almost immediately. To make the day even better Nick got home before I went to bed so I got to stay up and talk with him as I hadnt been able to have a good chat with him without the kids all week! Now, the whole week itself was pretty busy but I dont want to write about Wednesday. It was grocery shopping day which included a trip to Walmart and Fry's with all four kids which included an Isaiah who hadnt had a nap. I am SO ready for Saturday!

culture passes!

2009-08-25T22:19:00.001-07:00

From our local Desert Sage Library I fought my way to two of the coolest culture passes out there. We got tickets to the Arizona Science Center and the Arizona Museum for Youth. Funny thing, Ive only gone to get culture passes two times. The first time there were no Science Center passes so I grabbed a Museum for Youth pass. We went there on my birthday. The next time I went Nick was on his vacation and the next day we were to leave for Utah so we were wondering what we were going to do that day so I got up and said, "we are going to go to the Arizona Science Center and Im going to get us a culture pass at the library today" and I did! I got there bright and early and fought my way to the pass, almost being bumped over by a large woman who kept pushing her way in front of me. Good times!

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, Arizona Carian = Carmen + Julian
Lego castle

Carmen and the lego house

Carmen on the bed of nails

Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona

Blacklight room

Play house

Making pipe cleaner people

Dollhouse

Julian on tv in the TV room

Monsters exhibits

August Vacation

2009-08-25T21:46:00.000-07:00

So this is what we did in August! We went to UTAH! We went to visit my sister Rebecca and her husband Justin and their new precious little (big) baby Emily. While we were there we stayed the first night with Becca and Justin in the living room of their one bedroom house. The rest of the stay we stayed in the basement of my sister Sarah's cousin in laws, with my sister Sarah, Mark, Jessica, Melissa and my mom. We spent good time together. We went to the Provo Mall, Bridal Veil Falls, Sundance, Salt Lake City and Temple Square, and to Nicks delight, the Timpanogos Harley Davidson. Isaiah and his cousin Jonathan

Sundance

Nick and the kids at bridal veil falls

Conference CenterNick, Isaiah, Jesus and in the Americas.

On the roof of the conference center overlooking the Salt Lake Temple.

My dad came and met up with us in Utah as well and on Sunday we were going to have Elias blessed in Beccas ward but because of the time zone difference we had the hardest time getting to church on time and we were late so after sacrament meeting the bishop pulled us aside and let us have him blessed in his office with just him and all the family. It was wonderful! Nick blessed Elias along side my dad and my sister's bishop.

On the way home we went to Las Vegas for a night. Our hotel room at Circus Circus costed us $35 and it came with free buffet meal tickets for the kids so that night we visited the adventuredome, saw all the rides and games, and went to the buffet. In the morning we had donuts and muffins for breakfast, Nick took the kids to swim (very briefly as the pool apparently was cold), then after we got ready and checked out we drove down the strip (the kids thought that a lot of the hotels were temples). Then we parked at MGM and visited the M&M world and saw the 3-D m&m movie and saw the Coca Cola Bear next door. It was a good trip and we had fun!

Oh yeah, and the kids won a baby spongebob from a crane game with only $3 and they played one of those games where you throw ping pong balls into floating glass bowls and won Isaiah nothing other than a pair of fuzzy dice....

Another busy week

2009-08-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

Busy week wore me out. Last Thursday the 23rd I had Hillari babysit my kids while I did some shopping. In return I babysat for her on Friday but the Harry Potter movie was a little long and she worried about me having 7 kids on my own for so long so I enlisted the help of Ginger. So on Friday the kids and I picked her up and we hung out at our house with Hillari's kids. On Saturday I decorated Julian's birthday cake and cupcakes and Nick's mom flew in for the party. We had his party at Peter Piper Pizza because in this heat and us having our living room/kitchen upstairs, there was no way that spending money at PPP was going to be more than our electric bill just from cooling off 15 kids in my hot house. I apologize to everyone who wasnt invited, we wish we could just have a huge party for the whole ward and all our family and friends we have but we dont quite have the funds for that, or the space. Peter Piper reserved us a whole table row and it was filled with kids and the adults had to sit in booths. I wish they had taken me seriously and actually planned for the number I reserved the party for. The kids had a blast and Julian got lots of awesome presents. After we got home Julian and Carmen played and played with the toys. After some rest Nick and I went out to dinner at McGraths for my birthday since he was going to have to work on my birthday day. We wanted to see a movie but nothing good was playing. Then we did some shopping at Walmart and headed home. On Sunday we went only to Sacrament meeting and long enough for Carmen to give the Article of Faith in Primary then we took off and headed to Nick's aunt's house. When we got home the kids were exhausted and we put them to bed. Monday after Nick left to work Nick's mom and the kids and I headed to the Chandler Fashion to spend Julian's birthday money at the Lego store. He came away with three new lego sets. We went to Claires and grandma bought her wedge heel pink sandals and rainbow sun glasses. She even bought me a couple shirts at Sears. We hung out at the mall and took our time. Tuesday, my real birthday, yes, its close to Julians, 6 years ago on my birthday I was in a hospital room :S anyways, on my birthday we went to the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa thanks to the Culture Pass (would have done Culture Passes a lot sooner had I known the library sometimes opens at 11am!) and then to Chili's for lunch. The kids were awful. They were jumping all over the place, the baby was hungry, I didnt have a blanket with me so I had to go into the bathroom to feed him and at the same time Carmen had to pee. When I got back my molten chocolate lava cake was waiting for me and after two bites the plate got pushed from where it was in front of me over to the kids across the table, my spoon was still in my hand in the air and my cake was gone and the kids demolished the whole thing in a matter of seconds. Did I want to eat the mushed up mushy mess after that? nope.
After we took Nick to work and we got home I got ready and I met up with Alayna and Alecia at Native New Yorker. Alayna doesnt like wings. Wierd! haha! Thanks guys for coming with me. I had a lot of fun and we talked and vented and talked and laughed. I had lots of fun.
On Wednesday Nicks mom flew home.
The rest of the week Nick took the van to work because his Corvette's AC doesnt cool him off very well. So the kids and I have been at home, with the AC turned up to 83 or 84 watching Nickelodeon. Today I made homemade flour tortillas!
And that was my week. I wil post pictures soon. I was just too lazy to hunt them down right now, they're still on my memory card.

Aging Gracefully

2009-07-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday and yet another year has passed. One of the saddest things about getting older is that every year I look different and as each day passes not only do I get older, but I look older. Oh well, Im not the only one! ha HA! I skimmed over some pictures of me and here is me over the last few years. Me at 24 years old.

Me on my 25th birthday.

Me at 25 1/2

Just now, me at 26.

Like most women I hope to age gracefully. Now those of you who are older than me are probably baulking- "oh she's only 26 she's still so young, why would she worry about getting older or aging gracefully" and to you I offer this, you were once 26, too.

I hope when I am resurrected I look like the 24 year old picture! Thanks mom for giving birth to me!

martian russians

2009-07-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

40 years ago today man walked on the moon. july 20, 1969. Though our technology since has grown exponentially we are still behind the Russians in the next space race to mars. I say let them have it. Yes technology is better and we know more about space, the cosmos, astrophysics, biology, etc etc etc what hasnt changed... human nature.

I say we should stay put until we can learn to play nice. Im in no hurry to get to Mars. I would however, enjoy a nice vacation home in Russia, since it will be pretty empty when they all leave to go to the red planet.

.................

Then again.... a litte vacation from earth couldnt hurt.

But lets wait to go to Mars until we have the money, mr president.

4th of July (I know, a bit late)

2009-07-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

This is how our 4th of July went. We went to Nick's aunts house. We went swimming. We showered. We watched fireworks. But that is not all. No that is not all. See the beautiful dog. So nice and sweet....

She did this to Isaiahs face. She snapped at him for no reason while he was laying on the floor watching a movie.

We were in Chandler so we watched the Tumbleweed Park display from a distance. Nick had our kids and his cousin's kids in the back of his uncles truck. It was HARD work keeping the kids contained but he survived. I was in a camping chair in the grass next to the truck.

And on July 7th Julian and I went to the eye doctor. I didnt need my eyes dilated this year but he did :) hehehe! He did get new glasses and with our insurance, the total cost for him to get the exam, new glasses and transition lenses was only $28!!

I made him wear the big shades for a few hours longer than they were required- you know- just to be on the safe side ;)

Cousins

2009-07-19T23:33:00.000-07:00

Emily is only the 2nd grandaughter born to my parents. Elias is the 4th grandson. Elias and Emily are the closest in age and already they enjoy being together. Emily slept great next to Elias. We would move her away and she would start whining. We moved her back to Elias' side and she would stop and go back to sleep.

Emily and Elias visiting Emily's dad at work.

Hugs!

Me and my babies!

Emily's Birth

2009-07-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

This is how my trip to Utah went. On Saturday July 11 I took a 10am flight to Salt Lake City. I took Elias with me and straight from dropping me off at the airport Nick continued on with the other kids to Payson where they went camping with Nick's parents. Elias slept the WHOLE time on the flight. He was such a good baby. I sat next to a recently return missionary who served in Scotland and lives in Gilbert but was flying to SLC to be at his mission president's homecoming. And before boarding I had purchased myself a bottle of water and a blueberry muffin at Starbucks. As this recently returned missionary next to me on the flight talked about his family and mission I stuffed my face with crumbly blueberry goodness and between bites would answer his questions about my family and my ward (my ward is AWESOME! TOLLESON ROCKS!). Anyways, when I got in to Salt Lake I was met my two of my sisters (there are 6 girls in my family- so this picture is just 50% of the girls). Melissa is 15, Rebecca (the pregnant one) is 22 (I think). Rebecca was scheduled to be induced that next day, Sunday the 12th. I flew in to help her as her baby was over due and the mom and mother-in-law had already come and gone :(From the airport we went to Wendy's for lunch. Becca's husband Justin made it into this picture. Who would have thought that just a couple hours after that lunch Becca would be in the hospital in labor. She was scheduled to go in that day at 4pm and 10pm for the gel preparation to soften the cervix before the actual induction with pitocin was to begin the next day. When she went in for her 4pm appointment she was already at a 3 and her cervix was completely softened so they just decided to check her in and start her on pitocin. They broke her water. I was at Becca's house with Melissa so Becca sent Justin right back to pick us up. Melissa and I (and Elias) stayed with Becca and Justin through the labor. Becca's contractions were consistent and strong, every 2-3 minutes and very productive. When the pain picked up Melissa and I watched Becca get an epidural (Becca is in LOVE with whoever invented the epidural). Justin didnt watch, blood makes him queasy. In fact, he was as far from Becca as he could get, near the door, crouched on the floor the whole time until the epidural catheter was in place and Becca was repositioned for laboring. When they checked her again she was at a 4. The next time they checked her she was at a 10. Becca had originally told my mom and all of us sisters that she wanted no one in the room other than Justin when the baby was born but Melissa and I (and Elias) promised not to look south when the baby was born, and we kept our promise. She pushed with the nurse for an hour and when she was ready to deliver the doctor came in.

Becca's hour of pushing seems so long to me because just having had my 4th and second smallest baby recently, I pushed through just two or three contractions with the nurse and just two or three with the doctor to get Elias out. Her pushing didnt actually become productive until Melissa and Justin and I started cheering her on and telling her to keep going and that she was doing great and I helped the nurse give her instruction on how to push productively (the first time you have to push a baby out, its kinda confusing as to how). When the doctor got there the baby was born within 10 minutes.

Emily Rachel was born on 7/11 and 10:11pm weighing in at 8lbs 15oz and 19 inches long.

I stayed with Becca until the next Tuesday and offered any and every service I could think of that a new mom would need. I cleaned, cooked, shopped, showed her tips on how to nurse, postpartum care, how to use a breast pump, how to hold and care for baby, anything I could think of that no one told me when I had my first child. People have asked me what the experience was like having seen my sister give birth and I can honestly say it was one of the highlights of my life, next to my wedding, going to the temple and giving birth to my own children. Though Becca is my little sister, I almost feel like her mom. I feel connected to her and Emily like I can only imagine grandmas feel. It is very strange. I find myself thinking about Becca and her well being numerous times a day and wondering how Emily and Justin are doing. I feel like I love my sister (and all my sibling) more than I did before this experience. I dont know why, maybe because we are all moving together into a new phase of life, maybe because I took on a motherly role through this experience, maybe because I have a greater appreciation for my mother now that I can more fully comprehend the role of motherhood and in response have a greater love for my family. I dont quite know, all I know is that this was one of the greatest weekends of my life and I have a greater love for all my family. Thank you Becca for letting me be there for you. Thank you mom for raising me and teaching me well. I love you!

birth

2009-07-12T00:48:00.001-07:00

I was able to see my sister give birth today (well now yesterday since it is past midnight). I flew in to SLC on 7/11 and arrived at 1pm. Then we went to lunch at Wendy's. Then we went to my sister Rebeccas house. Not long after we got there she left to the hospital because she was scheduled to be induced tomorrow but today she was just to go in to get the prepping gel. Well, when they checked her she was at a 3 and ready to start labor so they went ahead and checked her in. They put her on pitocin and broke her water. After an hour of pushing baby Emily Rachel Pardee was born at 10:11 pm. She is very beautiful and healthy and mom and dad are doing well and very happy. I will post pictures soon, I just cant find Justin's card reader. For now, I need some sleep.

Best trip to Ikea EVER

2009-07-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

Before we went to the fundraiser at Wingstop we first took a trip to Ikea. It had beena while since we had been there so it was time.
This time we went was the first time ever that Carmen was able to go in the play place. She is EXACTLY and barely the height children must be to go inside so she was so excited. She was a little bummed though that the ball pit was closed but she had fun.

Isaiah and Elias were SO well behaved. I got a cinnamon bun and I halved it with Isaiah and he ate quietly the whole time. I was able to take my sweet time and look at whatever I wanted without as much as a single complaint! Even after he had finished his cinnamon bun he stayed very quiet and content. Mr Elias was asleep most the time and thanks to his pacifier, quiet while awake. When the kids' time in the play place was up we checked out and they convinced me to buy them hot dogs before we headed out to Wingstop... I can be such a pushover! haha

Cinnamon Bun anyone?

No really, if anyone ever wants to go to Ikea with a friend, I am avaiable (and two of my four get to go in the play place! SWEEEEEEEET!)

3 Day

2009-07-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, July 1, the kids and I went to a fundraiser for the Susan G Komen 3 Day. My cousin will be walking and we went to Wingstop to support her by buying raffle tickets, Breast Cancer Support bracelets, and food (a percentage of proceeds went to her team). Her mother (my dad's sister) received grants from the Susan G Komen Foundation to cover the cost of her treatment when she got breast cancer.

Isaiah didn't like being enclosed in the small restaurant, he preferred running back and forth outside of Wingstop between the benches outside a Subway and a gelato place.

The kids with my cousin Rebeca.

To go to my cousin's 3-Day web page or to donate money online
click here

http://www.the3day.org/goto/rebecasmith

Individual minds

2009-06-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Isaiah and I went to the church to drop off a peach cobbler. He insisted on wearing his big brother's sunglasses the whole time. He even held his head tilted slightly back to add to the coolness factor. He's one cool boy but Im guessing he will be my hardest to handle as time goes by because of how independent he already is!

At the park on Friday evening Carmen fell down and scraped up her knee. When it first happened she came over to me and told me calmly that she fell down but that she's okay. That is, until she looked down and saw blood and she hunched over and cried all the way home. When we got home I showered her, dressed her (because she was afraid if she dressed herself she would accidentally rub the clothes over her scrape and hurt it), and I bandaged it. When I told her to start walking to bed she was still walking hunched over so as to not hurt her scratch in any way. I told her that if she couldn't walk standing up like normal she wouldn't be able to go to the birthday party for her friend the next morning. So she said okay, stood up and took one step, then hunched back over and did her "im-in-pain" walk but said, "I can still go to the party I can walk normal but I am just showing you how old ladies walk, they walk like this and sometimes they need help and the doctors can hold their arms but they still walk like this because they are old." Silly girl knows how to get around the rules already at such a young age.

Yesterday at dinner time we were sitting around the table talking about marriage and Carmen said that she isn't sure she wants to get married because she doesn't want to kiss on the lips. After the kids stopped giggling they were discussing marriage prospects. Ciara Olivas and Morgan Eaton made it to Julians list and Carmen couldn't think of any boy to add to her list (well, she's not in school yet and there arent a whole lot of boys her age at church). Then Carmen said, "Mom, I used to really like Julian and I wanted to marry him but then you told me we cant marry our brother so I dont want to marry him anymore. I'll find someone else"

Last night I left Elias on the couch while I got the other kids to bed. I kept spooking myself every time I walked in the room because Isaiah had left a baby doll hanging halfway off the couch and from the corner of my eye I couldnt tell a real baby from a fake one. Even though I knew where Elias was and that a baby doll was on the couch hanging off, I somehow managed to forget EVERY time and get spooked. Dont worry, Elias is fine, he cant roll yet!

swim!

2009-06-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

Today the kids and I went to visit some friends. They have a pool! It was a nice day. Hot enough to swim but overcast so no sunburns and great lighting for pictures. I only took three though because Isaiah made me play basketball with him in the pool bball hoop from the side of the pool. He didnt want to get in the water. Elias slept most the time in his car seat in the air conditioned house.

Father's Day!

2009-06-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

When Isaiah got sick he had a fever then threw up on his grandma. I threw him in the shower and when I got him out I put a diaper on him and wrapped him in a blanket and sat him on the chair in my room while I looked for his pijamas and got the other kids showered. He fell asleep not even three minutes after I sat him down.

For Father's Day we made Nick a gift basket with Dove chocolates, Harry and David truffles, beef jerky, and movies Yes Man, Click and The Italian Job. Instead of filler grass/paper I got him shop towels and rolled them up. Isaiah wanted to open it. His eyes and mouth were wide opened at the sight of the Dove chocolates. Nick decided he wanted to open his presents a day early. He didnt want to wait for Father's Day.

One of his other Father's Day presents was a stool to sit on while he plays guitar. I guess our Ikea chairs arent comfortable enough for him, but they are for Isaiah!

Happy Father's Day Nick! Thank you for tolerating us so well :D

Elias is HOME!

2009-06-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

When the nurses in the hospital needed to warm up Elias' hands and feet to help them find a vein I was surprised that instead of using warming pads they put warm water in diapers and wrapped them around his hands and feet. He didnt care for them.

Poor Elias did not want to be in the hospital at all. He was SO uncomfortable.
This is where he had the spinal tap. Poor baby.

His poor feet had tubes and wires. It made it so hard for me to nurse him especially when some of the cords werent long enough for me to sit down and feed him so many times I fed him standing next to his crib.
This is one of the many smiley pictures I took of him moments after I took him out of his carseat at home and laid him on my pillow on my bed where he frequently sleeps and Im sure he recognized the scent of home. He smiled until he fell back to sleep a half our later. We are glad to be home and we are both recovering from whatever this virus is that attacked us and we are hoping the other kids get passed by unscathed.

sick days=vacation days?

2009-06-15T17:57:00.001-07:00

What a weekend! Im so tired I have to strain to remember what happened. Friday night when I went to bed I was freezing cold. The thermostat was set to 78 and I was covered in a big puffy comforter and still cold. I woke up two hours later drenched in sweat. I got up to use the restroom and almost fell over. I was very weak and my whole body ached. My joints hurt, my bones hurt, my stomach hurt, my neck and lymphnodes under my arms hurt, my head was throbbing, my face hurt (yes I know, it hurts everyone else too :P ). I laid back down and I was freezing again and because I was so achy I was worried I was coming down with something and the worry kept me awake. I finally fell back to sleep, woke up drenched again, fell back to sleep and woke up a couple more times to feed Elias. When I finally woke up I felt okay so then we got ready and left to a birthday party we were to appear at. I stopped by JC Penney and got a super awesome shirt (found it in the juniors dept because for some reason the shirts in the womens department are so short!) and then we came home and babysat three wonderful children (yes to their mother, they are wonderful- they played well and werent messy, they just had a fun time being kids!) and then Nick and I watched a movie and we went to bed. I was so tired I went to bed two hours earlier than I usually do, which is still probably later than most people. I woke up still feeling drained and slightly off, you know... that feeling of I cant tell if Im dizzy or if my head is tilted to the side. I called into church sick. (just a side note, none of my other kids or Nick are sick at all, just me and Elias- probably because I dont get much sleep and him because hes a newborn) I got the kids dressed for church and fed and had Nick take the kids to church, minus Elias of course, he had a fever. I had noticed it when I woke up in the morning to feed him but as tired as I was I couldnt pull myself out of bed to grab a thermometer. After everyone left to church and I took another nap I took Elias' temperature under the arm, like the newborn baby hospital papers say to do, and it was 100.3. I took his temperature by ear and it was 100.4 the magic number for calling the nurse. Elias and I had taken a shower and I had no makeup, was in just a pony tail and weekend clothes. I called and she instructed me to take a rectal temperature. So I grudgingly did (EEW!) and it was 101.3 and was to take him to the ER asap. So I loaded him into the corvette. yes. we own a corvette. And drove to the Phoenix Childrens Hospital. FYI the emergency room parking lot was built for about 12 vehicles so they assume youre not coming alone, so if you do come, dont come alone. I had to find a parking spot in the garage around the corner and find my way to the ER. Once I got there and started checkin in Elias decided to poop, and the poop decided to make its way out of the diaper and onto the floor, and my shirt and my shoe, so off to the restroom I went to clean us both up. That left him in just a diaper. We got in and his temp was around 102 so they took us to an ER room and we spent our whole Sunday evening there. This is how it went

catheter for urine test
attempt to find vein for blood work
couldnt find vein, so they wrapped diapers soaked in warm water on his hands and feet to warm and expand the veins
they call the IV expert in, she finds a vein
vein elusive
another vein
elusive
another vein
near miss, just close enough to get blood for a draw but not placed well enough for an IV
spinal tap. I left the room, this I DIDNT want to see
they try to find a vein again and miss so they call in this Todd, hes good at blind IVs or something like that
Todd hits a vein after about 15 minutes and IV success- its in his left foot.

Okay now through all of this I didnt have my cell phone. I had called Nick on the way to the hospital and when I hung up sat the phone in my lap. When I got out of the car I left it on the seat on accident so I had called Nick from the ER after being there an hour or two and then again a couple hours later. Luckily the second time I called he was at the corvette picking up my phone for me and I told him where to find us so him and the kids could home in. Because I hadnt had my phone he was a nervous wreck not knowing what was going on. They checked us in because they want to rule everything out to narrow down what is causing the fever/infection. His spinal fluid was clear (I know, they showed it to me) and his urine was normal so now they are giving him antibiotics in case it is a bacterial infection. Cultures take 48 hours to fully cultivate so after 48 hours, if its positive we stay for 5 more days until his 7 day antibiotic course is complete. If its negative it must be a virus and they cant do anything for that but send us home and we give him tylenol. Nick and Randy came last night and gave Elias a blessing and today his fever has gone down some to a much safer temperature but he is still a little warm. He is and has been eating well so now it is just a waiting game. Nicks mom flew in today to help him with the kids at home. He took today off and tomorrow he has to go in so him mom will be at the house to care for the kids while I stay with Elias. I know Im not the one checked in but I may as well be. Sure I could leave any time I want to but I am his food source and because I probably am the one who got him sick, his food is probably and most likely a better medicine than what they are giving him in the IV. Okay I take back the work thing. Nick is so dedicated to his integrity that he called just now and said hes going in to help out because he was told some people didnt show up. So anyways, oh yeah I get hospital meals because Im nursing. Yay. Hospital food. Yipee. Oh yeah and the biggest pet peeve of being here is obviously being here but the second... I cant use Elias' bathroom. Its a RULE. you know, in case I contaminate his bathroom that he will be using to pee and shower in?

And the two funniest things nurses have said to me:

"Think of this as a vacation from your other kids"
"So this is your 6th child?"

Its so hard to be away from my other kids and to see my baby connected to tubes and wires and to see him whimpering from the fever. It hurt so much to see him be poked over and over and to see him cry in pain. I finally know what its like to want to take the pain on myself if it means my son wont have to go through it. I will post pictures when Im back home.

Okay I have to go now so I can walk across the wing, while I leave the baby in his bed, to the nearest public use bathroom to pee and think about how I miss my kids, my own bed, and the 5 second walk to my toilet. Sarchasm aside I am thankful Im here for fever observation and not a chronic or deadly illness, and that my mother in law could come help out, and that we have good hospitals so close to home, and that we have good insurance, and that the hospital has been very accomodating. I was able to shower today, eat healthy food, be by my babies side and Im thankful for prayer. And Im thankful for my dad. Happy Birthday Dad!

Birthday Boy!!

2009-06-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

My little man is 2 today! I would say it doesnt seem that long ago I was in the hospital giving birth to him, but since I just gave birth a few weeks ago, I realize that there was a 2 year span between then and now. Isaiah is very special. When Carmen was little and we lived in an apartment in Mesa. Nick said that we could have another baby when we got into a house. When we moved into this house we still werent sure yet when the time would be right so that summer we prayed and we both recieved the answer that we should wait til September. We did and got pregnant right away.

Isaiah Nicholas was born June 5, 2007. He weighed 7lb 10oz. He was covered in hair. His shoulders, back, arms, head, and even his face. Thank goodness hes grown into the hair! He's a beautiful boy.
He loves basketball and anything to do with balls. He watches basketball games, he watches SportsCenter, he makes us watch golf and womens softball sometimes. For his birthday I made him a basketball cake. Ill post pictures some after Ive taken some.

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

Another week of running

2009-05-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

Elias' first trip to Paradise Bakery. It was a nice day.

This is what Isaiah likes to do when his big brother leaves the room.

I love Paradise Bakery. We went there with my sister. My kids dont care much for fancy sandwiches. Julian ate half my salad and they had Burger King kids meals (I had coupons). The coconut chocolate chip cookies are my favorite!

I just had to take a picture of the kids in front of the Mexican Candy aisle at Walmart. My parents think they have to drive all the way to Mexico for the candy. I only have to drive a couple miles.

Today we went to the temple. We took my sister Amanda. The kids loved the visitors center and the water ponds/fountains. I told them not to touch the water and they kept asking why the other kids there were touching the water. I just kept telling them I am not those other kids' mom. As we were walking to the van I spotted a new bride and groom and we went and sat on a bench and watched as they posed for wedding pictures. The kids thought it was great but Carmen asked, "Where is her baby? She got married in the temple now she's supposed to have a baby." So I had to tell her that now that she's married her and her husband will pray to ask if they can have a baby and they will get a tiny tiny baby in her tummy and it will take a long time to grow like Elias did. She kept asking how it got in there and she seemed okay with my answer when I said that we will talk about this more when she's older.

2009-05-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Our family!

All of the kids together in a wagon.

Elias went with Nick and me to the movies.
And to Native New Yorker.

Our WEEK 1

2009-05-17T19:43:00.000-07:00

I don't really like staying in bed, at home after having a baby. It makes me feel like Im sick or wounded. I had Elias last Sunday and on Monday convinced the doctors to discharge us. On Tuesday we took Elias in for a follow up doctors appointment (a condition of getting to leave the hospital after one day). On Wednesday we went out to lunch before taking Nick's mom to the airport and then waiting at the airport to pick up my mom who was arriving at the same time. On Thursday we went to Julian's school to watch the Kindergarten awards ceremony and concert. He recieved awards for attendance, reading and science. On Friday I took Elias in for another check up at the doctor and he had gained 11 oz since his last appointment. On Saturday we went to my cousin's house to celebrate her getting her doctorate from ASU and a congrats from the president. Then after the party we went to Walmart then to Chick Fil A. Today, we went to church then after church I made taquitos for dinner! Great week. And I also want to dedicate part of this blog post to Hillari Fallstrom and Alayna Slinker for the wonderful handmade gifts! Thank you guys! And Hillari, I already have plans to pay it forward ;)

Elias

2009-05-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, I do want to apologize for my last blog post where I posted Isaiah's baby pictures! :) but come on, it WAS funny! So now Im going to tell my Elias story:

Once upon a time....

nah...

When a mommy and a daddy love eachother very much....

nope... too far back...

It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning at around 7 when I was awoken by a contraction....

ok wait.. I need to still go back just a couple days.

Okay. This last Thursday I had a doctors appointment. My last two appointments I had been dilated to a 1 and since I had had some mild contractions and braxtons hicks contractions over the week prior to the latest appointment I was hoping for some change... but there was none. I was still at a 1. I was sure it would still be another week and a half.

On Friday.. no contractions, I just cleaned house and took care of the kids.

On Saturday morning, after getting to bed late on Friday, I was hoping I could sleep in. At 7am I woke up when I had a painful contraction. I fell back to sleep and 20 minutes later I woke up when I had another, then I fell back to sleep. That went on until about 10am. Once every 20-35 minues wasnt very close, nor were they too incredibly painful so I went about my day. After we all got dressed and ready we decided to go out to lunch. We went to Sonic and got food and ice cream and then went to Target so I could pick out a mother's day present and to get some snacks. I like Target! While in Target the contractions were every 15 minutes and they were getting stronger but I was enjoying my shopping trip too much to care about pain. I got me some pjs (on sale for less than $4 a piece!), some chocolates, cereal, chips, those microwave betty crocker caramel chocolate cakes, a boomerang type toy for Julian and sidewalk chalk for Carmen. When we got home Nick laid down and took a nap so I took the kids outside with me and Julian and Carmen drew on the sidewalk while Isaiah and I walked around the street. I called my sisters in Utah and told them that I might be starting labor soon but that I wasnt sure yet. I was still in denial because everyone I know due when Im due hasnt had their baby but are already dilated half way. I certainly couldnt beat them to the hospital. Well all the kids and I ended up just leaving the chalk and walking around the block because an angry bee stationed himself around the bush in front of the sidewalk and was chasing us away from the house. It even crawled all over Julians head and back and he froze up because thats what his teacher at school told him to do. I finally convinced him to run when I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the bee. After a few walks around the block we came home and I made dinner. I made tacos. Nope, I didnt eat any. By this time my contractions were 10 minutes apart and I was suspecting I really was in labor. So the family finished up dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen and I decided to start timing the contractions. They were every 10 minutes. After 2 hours of increasingly instense 10 minute apart contractions we called a friend to come watch the now sleeping kids. By the time he arrived they were 5 minutes apart so we told him we'd call and tell him if we were going to be checked in or not (I was still in denial because I wasnt in horrible pain like I had thought I had experienced with the other pregnancies). I got to the hospital at 11pm. When I got to triage they checked me and I was at a 7! They pumped me full of fluids and moved me to a delivery room right away. I got an epiduaral and by the time it started working I was at a 10. The doctor wasnt there just yet so I had to hold back the urge to push through about 4 or 5 contractions until he came in. The baby was born in just 2 contractions. When they cleaned him up and gave him to Nick, he looked at the baby and said, "Let's name him Elias." Elias Adan was born at 1:16am, just two hours after I arrived at the hospital. We are both healthy and doing well. Thank you everyone for all the well wishes!

Baby Boy!

2009-05-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

My cute baby boy! Isnt he so adorable? Lots of dark hair, Nicks eyes, my nose, my lips. Nope, I didnt have my baby. This is Isaiah. Gotcha!

Went to the doctor today. No change... not in the last three weeks. Still dilated to a 1. With Isaiah I was at a 3 for three weeks. Ive had some contractions on and off but they've done nothing. Im due on the 17th so I guess theres no reason to worry, except that I just hope my mom doesnt have to take her return flight before the baby comes. I know I worry about going past my due date with every child, what woman doesnt? Im just getting antsy, what woman doesnt? I hope the baby is born before the fruits of my nesting labors have been completely reversed. We still dont have a name, but its okay, because we still have a ways to go before he's here :) Any name suggestions are welcome. See my previous blog post for my requrements. I am excited though that I will be at church on Sunday to hear the kids sing to me. They have been telling me for weeks how excited they are to sing the songs for me. I love my children, they are good kids and very much want to make me proud. And it works, I am very proud of them.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, caregivers, babysitters, teachers, grandmas and women with love in their hearts for Heavenly Father's most precious!

2009-05-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Big Belly Krystal

2009-04-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is me at ALMOST 38 weeks... I think... Anyways, sorry you had to see my pile up of towels, I had showered all the kids and because I was short on time, instead of bathing them one at a time and reusing the same towel like I usually do, they all went in and out and each had their own towel. But yeah, thats me, and my belly. And yep, another boy, and we are closing in on a name, but no we wont tell. Everyone I've told what name I was considering hated it and tried breaking me but the name has a wonderful meaning (soon to be revealed when baby comes- IF we do go with the name I have in mind). Part of me just wants to randomly pick a name from the baby book but whenever I do that... well let me give you an example: Im getting up right now to grab my baby name book and post the first 5 names I randomly open to.

Ridley
Jaspar
Peverell
Valerian
Reshean

And that is why Im not doing the random thing. Many have said, "Oh you'll know when you see your baby for the first time." Oh really? Most babies come out all red and squishy. Yes they are beautiful but it takes a few weeks for newborns to take shape. Plus, Isaiah was born COVERED in dark hair. Not just his head, but his face, his arms, shoulders, back, rear end. If we hadn't had a name picked out he may have ended up being named Esau.

My other issues include: not wanting a name that can be shortened into a common nickname (Michael: Mike, Samuel: Sam, etc)

And not wanting a name so common that my child will go through any given grade in school as ______ "#2" or "#3" or "Avila Kid," and

I have known WAY too many people in my life and I either

A. dont like the person with that name
B. like the person with that name but dont want to think about that person every time I call my kid
C. like or dislike the person but dont want them to think I'm intentionally honoring them by giving my kid their name, and finally
D. cant name my kid after an ex or criminal

I know, Im way too picky but havent I earned that right? I've been carrying the child for nine months now- and only have two weeks to go! Now I should get off the computer and go back to nesting... I have towels to wash.

Carmen's Birthday

2009-04-30T22:07:00.001-07:00

Carmen wanted a Barbie cake!

I think she peeked through the mask because she's now pointing out how perfect she got the tail on the donkey.

Carmen had fun with her friends at her birthday party. We had pizza and fruit and punch and instead of a pinata I had put candy and prizes in balloons and had the girls pop them to get thier candy out... most girls weren't heavy enough to pop the heavy duty balloons so I whipped out the scissors and saved the day.

We had all the girls decorate their own treat box to hold thier treat bag in.

We had a great time! My baby girl is now 4 years old! Later that evening we went to TGIFriday's and the kids were perfectly behaved. Carmen brought along some Polly Pockets she had received for her birthday, Julian was coloring and doing the word find on the kids menu, and we were in a booth next to the bar which had many TV's airing basketball games, so Isaiah sat quietly and watched basketball! It was great! Then the servers sang and brought out icecream for all three of the kids in celebration of Carmen't birthday.

Easter Trip!

2009-04-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

We drove through the night to get to El Paso early Saturday morning.

Sunday morning the kids got Easter baskets.

Later that day Carmen had her cake and presents.

And an Easter Egg hunt!

And an empty pinata.
And Carmen got a new princess to add to her collection!
And Isaiah got Krispy Kreme to keep him busy all the way home!
This was our trip to El Paso for Easter. Grandparents threw Carmen an early birthday party. We had a great time and the kids got lots of candy and presents! It is good to get home though.

Journal Entry

2009-04-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is how today went:

Last night (I know, this doesnt really seem like part of the day but it is) I could have gone to bed by 12 or 12:30 am as I have been getting to bed earlier lately but I felt like I hadnt seen Nick in weeks so we stayed up chatting and laughing until about 2am. I know, bad thing for parents of three kids (especially with one in school) to do. I enjoyed that time with him, going over the day, and the kids, and laughing about silly things people do and say. After reading scriptures and praying, we went to sleep. This morning Isaiah beat the alarm by about ten minutes. He started with a simple "Mama, down now!" and when we didn't respond right away, it turned into a loud cry. Nick got up and got him and his blanket. I heard Nick struggling on the couch to keep Isaiah calm but it didnt work so I got out of bed, grabbed Isaiah and his blanket and bottle (yes, we're lazy- but in our defense he is a thumb sucker and if it werent a bottle, it would be a thumb- and hes getting his calcium). I layed Isaiah in bed next to me and I stroked his hair and tickled him a little and just cuddled him. He cheered up, was happy and climbed out of bed and back into the living room happy. I was too hungry to fall back to sleep so I asked my wonderful husband to make me a PB&J, which he did, I ate and went to sleep while he took Julian to school. I woke up at 10 and sat on the couch for a little bit playing DS with Carmen then started getting ready for my doctors appointment while Nick took a nap. He needed to be up in time to be at the school at 12:30 to read to Julians class. I set the alarm on the cell phone, put it next to Nicks head and the kids and I left at 11:25. I made it to the doctors office at 11:40 for my 11:45 appointment. The appointment went well, baby is doing well and I am now on my weekly appointments. Only a few weeks left! When the kids and I got back in the van I called Nick to make sure he had left. I called him four times and he didnt answer so I called one of my sisters to call the cell phone I had left near his head because it used to be her phone number and is not programmed in my phone. He called me and said he has just woken up, the alarm hadnt gone off! I ran home, threw the kids in the house and I rushed over to the school, making it into the class room at 12:35. Julian was so upset. Nick had told him he would spend lunch with him and then go read to his class and when Nick hadnt shown up even the teacher was concerned. I explained that I had just come from the doctor (being 9 months pregnant sure helped my reason) and I read to the class. Julian was SO happy. I finished reading at 12:45 and I was home by 1. After Nick got ready for work we went to lunch at Subway. The kids dont like the Subway apple slices because they have peels so Isaiah ate them like watermelon. Then Nick left to work and I went to pick up Julian. Julian thanked me for coming but kept asking why his dad hadnt shown up. The only consolation I could give him was that Dad is planning on going to lunch with him next week and bringing him a suprise meal. I decided to take the kids straight to Target to get a gift for a birthday party Julian is attending tomorrow and when I was driving down 43rd Ave at McDowell I saw a fist fight taking place between four guys at the Shell Station. I called the police non-emergency line and they took my information and as I was driving away from the area I saw police cars headed in that direction. The kids and I had a talk about bad guys and police. Hehehe, I love getting to talk to the kids about reasons to be good. We went to Target and got the things we needed, including marked down Easter candy. When going through the toy aisle Carmen grabbed a toy she wanted and I kept telling her no, that her birthday is next week and we will save our money to get it for her birthday. She kept crying and crying and crying until I realized she was then crying because I had run over her foot with the cart and her poor toe skin was all scuffed up. Isaiah made me carry him through almost the entire trip throught the store, causing me to have 5 minute apart Braxton-Hicks contractions that lasted until two hours after we got home. The rest of the evening was a Spongebob/Fox News marathon as I was too tired to do much of anything. I fed the kids dinner and they finished up while I was on the phone with my sister in Utah. While I was on the phone with her Isaiah had gotten into the pantry and poured Raisin Bran all over the coffee table and was eating one flake at a time, not even touching the raisins. It was everywhere! So I cleaned up the table and changed Isaiahs diaper and found simple cleanup things to do until 9pm came so I could vacuum without it costing me more at the peak rate! The rest of the night was easy, reading scriptures, praying, pj's, brushing teeth and sending kids to bed. After putting them to bed I realized that the watermelon that I had cut and wrapped a few days ago was bleeding all over the counter, I had to clean up the mess and bleach the counter. I rinsed and stacked the dishes in the sink (I'll wash them tomorrow). Now Im just waiting for Nick. Now the reason I decided to document today is because yesterday Nick was all upset saying that he feels like every day is the same. I can say that no day is the same. Sure some days are similar but I am glad they are similar. We are healthy, he has a job, our routines with the kids are consistent, and I like it. Of course, he wasnt talking about daily routines but the fact that each new day has not yet brought him a truck, a camaro or a motorcycle. I doubt tomorrow will bring him one either but for me at least, it will be different than today.

Family Fun

2009-03-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Last week my family came to visit. I cant just say parents because there are still 4 siblings of mine living at home. They also have three foster kids but they stayed behind. This is some of us at In N Out. From left to right, my little sister Jessica, my teenage brother Ryan, my Aunt Rebeca, Carmen, my Dad, Julian and my brother Mark. They love chocolate shakes!

My teenage siblings, my brother Mark and Julian went to Stratum Laser tag in Mesa. Next door to Stratum is a bouncey house place called Xtreme Play. My mom and I took my sister Jessica, Carmen and Isaiah there but Isaiah didnt have sock (required) so we ran next door and caught Julian before entering his first laser tag game so he could lend Isaiah his socks. He is such a good boy.

This is the smallest of the bounce houses. It is for ages 3 and under. Isaiah played basketball for the whole 2 hours we were there, never once going down a slide.

He is obsessed with basketball!

Carmen and my sister Jessica went down the second biggest slide but Carmen refused to go down the biggest slide. She actually climbed to the top then sat in the corner for 5 minutes scared before going back down the ladder backwards. I highly recommend Xtreme Play. Adults arent allowed on the equiptment but I dont mind that at all, I dont have to worry about big teenagers pushing down my kids. They also have alarmed wrist bands so kids dont escape, they have a sitting area with a couch and TV for parents and kids to rest, they have a video game area with a Wii and a few playstations, an air hockey table and a gated toddler area with toddler toys. All that is included in the price and play is unlimited. Adults are free because they dont go on the equiptment, ages 3 and under are $5.95, ages 4 and up are $8.95, Mondays are family days where children are $5, they are closed Sundays, and there is also a snack bar with pizza, nachos, icees, candy, t shirts, and socks! Im sure one of our kids will end up having a birthday party there!

Stratum and Xtreme play are located just north of the 60 on Stapley (east side of the street). And for those of you who didnt know, In N Out is south of the 60 on Stapley (west side of the street).

A is for Alphabet, B is for Basketball, K is for KindergartenLaureate

2009-03-23T18:29:00.000-07:00

Isaiah loves basketball. He would have done a little better and more if he wasnt watching a game on tv at the time. He learned his letters by playing a VTECH computer at every meal, its the only way we can get him to eat. Our kids dont like eating so we always have had to distract them from ages 6 months to 3 years. This one was his.

And this is the award Julian got today at the Monday Morning Assembly. He got the Kindergarten Laureate Award (and a free kids meal from Mimi's Cafe!) We are very proud of our smarty pants.

Looks like who??

2009-03-16T22:20:00.000-07:00

Me and Nick

julian, carmen, isaiah

Nick

carmen and isaiah

Carmen, Nick, Julian

Every time I am pregnant I wonder what/who the new baby will look like. So I want you guys to decide who each of our kids so far looks most like and predict what you think the new baby will look like.

Foggy

2009-03-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

Will I ever recover? I feel like I am in a constant fog. Im always so tired I cant look people in the eye, I stare off into space, I hear only about half the things people tell me, I dont have energy to play with my kids or even have conversations with them, and my husband is waiting for me to 'come home.' Because Ive been so tired, Im far behind in a lot of things. Nick asked me to mend two pairs of work pants a few weeks ago, and at this very minute they are still sitting where he left them, untouched. Sure I could do it now, but that would require me getting up and walking around to find the thread, thread the sewing maching, pin the pants, get back up to find my scissors, and so on. I know, Im complaining a lot about something so minimal, but Im really that worn out. My mornings are no better or different than my nights. Just foggy and tired. I may as well not even wear my contacts! I also havent had the energy to think about preparing for the new baby, or even to think much about the fact Im going to have another baby! My sister Amanda is coming for a week in April to help out and I am SO excited. Im making her take Julian to school AND pick him up every day that week. Im hoping next year we can find someone to carpool with because this year has sure been a long one. Now Im going to go, not to bed, but to wait for Nick to come home, so we can salvage what is left of the day to finally have time for just the two of us to sit and relax and talk because this is the only time we have for us... between midnight and 1:30 am.

And tomorrow will start again at 6:45 am. But on a lighter note... Avocados were 25 cents at Walmart! YAY! Dont worry I will be just fine. I have Cherry Pepsi in the fridge, its almost the weekend, and I only have two months left until the baby is born, and then six months after that til he sleeps through the night! WOO HOO!

A two week slice of my life.

2009-03-04T12:08:00.001-08:00

Heres what went on in the last couple weeks:

-Had my gestational diabetes glucose test. Hate the orange flavor but Im not diabetic.
-Nick and I had our anniversary.
-The inlaws came to visit.
-I went to the mall, bought Julian LEGOs at the Lego Store.
-Nick, Julian and Grandpa and Aunt Cory went to the drag races with friends Morgan and Seth (pictured above with the geico gecko)
-Bought Carmen sparkly shoes with sparkles, a bow over the toes and an elastic band.
-She cried for me to cut off the elastic band.
-She cried for me to put back on the elastic bands.
-I took the worst ever trip to Walmart with the kids. Isaiah screamed the whole time. He didnt have shoes on, couldnt walk around, so spent the trip up and down the aisles in my arms hitting me and kicking my belly. Carmen cried because we could look at the shoes.
-Babysat a lot.
-Bought lots of food at frys. About 10 boxes of cereal.
-Learned of my brothers car accident. He wasnt at fault, everyone is fine.. but the truck. Broken axle and drive train.
-Learned that Isaiah knows most of the letters in the alphabet
-Monday through Thurday I go to bed at 2am and wake up at 645am.
-Got a gift and card from Nick, just because.
-Bought Nick NY Strip steaks in return for the gift and card.
-I ate salmon for the first time in about 4 or 5 months
-Ate at Chipotle, Wendy, Jack in the Box, KFC, Panda Express and McDonalds. When Im not running, Im dead tired, way too tired to cook food my kids probably wont eat anyways.
-Decided Isaiah wont let us break him from a bottle or his crib anytime soon.
-Found out when Mom is coming to visit
-Found out when my whole family minus half the family is coming to visit.
-Handfulls of people asked me if I'm ready to have the baby and/or if Im due really soon. I have more than two months left.
-Went to the Modest Mouse concert in Tempe. Was the only largely pregnant woman there.
-I mopped the kitchen and bathroom
-I paid the bills
-Nick juiced a few bags full of lemons and I froze the juice
-Carmen washed her hands with half a bottle of shampoo
-Julian finished his 25 book goal for school and recieved yet another book it award
-Julian and Carmen got bikes from their grandma
-I took the first trip alone to the store in over a year and I felt like I was floating on a cloud all through Frys
-I made Julian mop the bathroom floor for 'missing'
-Isaiah made us bring our little tikes basketball hoop into the living room and refuses to eat, only play basketball all day long
-We made fruit pizzas last night for Mutual
-I had a dream I stole a Gatorade
-I gained a few pounds
-I wondered how I will ever get the energy other people have. One day Nick will be on a normal work schedule and I will be able to be a normal mom. We look forward to the day when Nick can drop the kids off at school on the way to work, I can spend the day cleaning, doing visiting teaching, hosting playdates, shopping, I can then pick up the kids from school, make dinner and have it ready when Nick gets home, go to bed at a reasonable hour and be ready to do it all again the next day and have evening free for a date with Nick or a girls night out or a double date. Right now we are disorganized and inconsistent. Nick gets home late, we go to bed late... an NO I cant go to bed before he gets home, I cant sleep without him here. I get up with the kids I babysit, he gets up to take Julian to school. I try to take a nap when he leaves to drop him off, then I get up and he goes to take a nap and by 1:30pm we are both awake and Im rushing to make lunch for us before I leave to get Julian and he gets to leave for work and in the evening I have to do my chores and shopping with the kids by my side. Im very very thankful for Nicks job and that we have a wonderful family, home, food to eat, we just look forward to the day when we can have the blessings of early to bed early to rise. In the meantime though, we acknowledge the blessings we have been given.

ANNIVERSARY

2009-02-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

Today is our anniversary. This week Nick is taking me to a concert for our anniversary. It has been getting harder and harder to celebrate or remember our Temple Anniversary, which I prefer to celebrate, because it is only three days before Christmas and this last year I had the flu that day. We dont usually celebrate this one because the important one is our Temple Sealing anniversary. We were sealed in the Mesa, Arizona Temple on December 22, 2004! (Nick joined the church in 2003) I wish we had pictures but we didnt take any. We never think to have our picture taken in front of the temple or on the temple grounds when we go because we are usually in a hurry. Our marriage has been great. Nick is the most wonderful man I could ask for. He is very considerate of my needs and feelings. He lets me take naps when Im tired, he cleans and does dishes without being asked, he laughs and plays with the kids, and we can talk for hours and hours about anything. He is my best friend.

Did I Ruin The Economy? NNNNOOOOOO....

2009-02-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS AN ANGRY RANT. IF YOURE IN A GOOD MOOD, DONT READ IT.

So let me tell you what. When houses were selling faster than hotcakes we NEEDED a house. We bought ONE. 30 year fixed mortgage. Down payment. We saved up to buy it. We have one credit card. We pay our bills on time. We eat a lot of rice and pasta. We rarely eat meat because of the cost. We dont put our kids in preschool, dance, soccer, etc because we cant afford it (nope). We try to live within our means and make sure our bills are paid when we get paid so that if we run out of money, we have to resort to... more rice.

So late last year Nick and I were talking about maybe getting another credit card with a zero introductory interest rate to transfer our balance because are plans were to pay it off within the introductory rate time frame and save us that money on interest and help our credit with another card. We walked into Costco and saw the setup for applying for a credit card. We had recieved Costco offers in the mail many times and vaguely remembered the offer as something like: 0% apr first 3 months, after that a rate of 11%, the default being 24%. We walked up to the lady and she said, "If you apply you can get a free thermos right now."

Oh yay. A free thermos.

So we asked her, how long the 0% rate lasts. She said three months. Then we asked her what the rate would be after that... She said,

"It depends on how BAD your credit is"

I said, "We have really good credit" and we walked away.

Saturday we recieved a bill in the mail from the dentist for $169. It didnt list a date of service or a service provided. None of us have been to the dentist since August. I called today and the lady at the dentist office claimed I had just failed to pay that much for a crown (on top of the $325 I paid at time of service). I had gotten a crown in February last year and had paid about the same fee each time. In August I did even ask why there was a slight difference, they didnt really tell me why. So I called the insurance and they said they approved the same amount for both crowns and told me the amounts contracted between them and the dentist to cover and for the dentist to charge. Both were the same. I called the dentist back and she claimed that they had changed their contract with the insurance company in March... (changes arent made in March, anyone with insurance knows contracts run from Jan 1 to Dec 31- I verified it with the insurance). So I asked the dentist office lady how much the crown fee was. She said in Feb it was $518 and that the fee had gone up to $585 in March. That difference is not $169. So if I am paying the difference in their crown fees I should owe $67 (which they would have known at the time and charged me at the time). I asked what the full fees total were for a crown and she wouldnt give me an answer. Why... because I paid $325 out of pocket and the insurance paid $254: that adds up to $579. So if I owe anything it should be $6. If there are hidden fees.. the insurance company doesnt know what they are... they have a contract with the dentist for a set price and set reimbursement. I feel like Im being taken because the dentist is hurting financially. Am I paying someone elses unpaid bills? Did they look at my records and realize I had paid in full on the date of service and think, oh she has money, lets say our prices went up and we forgot to charge her some money.... I dont know much about insurance and billing, but I know how to add.

Oh and Unions... good for farm workers in the olden days, not good for today. We have lawyers and laws that protect workers. Unions today just protect lazy workers and hold back companies trying to compete on global scales.

And buy American?? Im having a hard time shelling out $3 for a plastic bin to hold my kids' toys in... do you think Ill be able to come up with the $15 the same bin will cost me for an American product (the extra money goes into American wages, insurance, union dues, pension). The Chinese that have jobs, are glad they have jobs, their country is able to grow because of them. Only recently have Americans become thankful for jobs.

And boy... what an idea... silencing Rush Limbaugh because he doesnt like the ideas the democrats are putting on the table.... what? Rush Limbaugh is great. Its not like all our radios dont have off buttons for those who dont like him.

And if you had the patience to read my rant. Im sorry for being so... angry. Yeah I know, what a way to show people how nice and friendly and sweet I am, Im just as much fun to hang out with. I'm just as upset about the economy as anyone, I am grateful my husband has a job. I pray he can keep it. I just am tired of people trying to blame some one/some thing/some business for the bad economy, and the media scaring us into further slowing our spending. I heard an economist on the news last week telling Americans "Dont spend ANY of your tax return! Hold on to it tight!" hahah lets blame them.. All in all, though, it was greed.

So are you all just as excited as I am to bail out the big auto companies who didn't change their business planning in the 80s when Asian vehicles were starting to enter the US full force? I wasnt the one who underestimated Toyota and Honda. Ooh lala the 80s Ford Escort.. nothing could compete with that. Surefire winner for generations to come, huh guys? Oh and the big banks that were given money to loan to people... and are not loaning it out. Yes, lets hand our paychecks over to those guys....

2009-02-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

You may have seen this done on other blogs--you leave a comment to receive something handmade and crafty, and then you make a post on your blog to "pay it forward" and send something handmade to three other people.Here's the deal:Be one of the first three people to leave a comment, and I will send you something handmade in the next three months.You get to pay it forward by doing the same thing on your blog for three people.Once you leave a comment saying you're interested, you need to make a post on your blog within one day.So, who wants to play??

2007 looking back

2009-02-09T22:34:00.000-08:00

This is a look back at 2007:

A year and a half ago we took a trip to Oregon. Well... we've taken trips to Oregon since but I was going through pictures and was wanting to remember this trip. The above picture is a picture of us at the Tillamook Cheese factory. From the left: Sister-in-law Cory, Nick, Isaiah, Me with my sister Jessica, Carmen, Julian, a friend, my brother mark, a friend and another friend. The thing that makes this trip so memorable is that we took this trip just two days after I had my gallbladder removed. I wasnt in much pain, just discomfort from the CO2 that still plagued my abdomen. I had the surgery on a Thursday I think... we left on Saturday morning to Oregon. We spent the rest of Saturday at Ikea, Sunday resting, Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday we went hiking around the Silver Creek waterfalls, to Tillamook, to the beach, to Portland and the OMSI museum and so on. What a recovery!

This was taken somewhere near the ocean! :D obviously. It was nice that week. Nick likes Oregon.

This is at OMSI. Carmen was playing and learning. While I was at the hospital my sister Sarah was housesitting/babysitting for me and the YW in our ward Heart Attacked me. That was so sweet of them! It was a hard time for me to have that surgery because Isaiah was only two months old and I had to be in the hospital about three days without him and I wasnt able to nurse him or see him but once and thats when he started sucking his thumb. He never started until then.

These pictures were taken the day of the surgery I believe. The incisions from the gallbladder surgery are the ones covered with tape. The scar across my stomach is from a surgery I had when I was two months old. Keep in mind I had just had a baby AND my abdomen was inflated with CO2!

Friday and Saturday

2009-01-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

I made carmen this dress. It actually used to be a tshirt. I didnt ever wear it because the sleeves were less than cap sleeves, just sleeveless. So I flipped it inside out, sewed where a Carmen would fit, flipped it right side out, stitched up the front V and sewed on a satin ribbon to tie in the back. All the money we spend on clothes for the girl and she wears old clothes... I think this shirt used to belong to Missy Windsor or my sister Sarah.

And I did Carmens hair in a cute updo.

And on Saturday night, after a day of relaxation and Peter Piper Pizza, we came home and before we were going to start a family movie, we heard the icecream truck. Nick grabbed some crumpled ones and ran out in his socks with the kids and they got thier treats. We later watched a movie and had a great family night.

Mark's Birthday

2009-01-14T11:09:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was my brother Marks 10th birthday. Guess what he did on his birthday? Nope, he didn't go to work with dad... and good thing too- that he spent his birthday going to school and coming straight home with mom and watching cartoons. This is what dad did on Mark's birthday:

This is what my dad wrote in his email to friends and family:

"These pictures were taken with a phone camera, sorry they are not very good. Car is a goner! I am blessed! Not a scratch.As I went around the bend North of the Lincoln Jct store, a car was stopped, waiting to make a left turn. As I stepped on my breaks the brakes locked up and I felt as though I was skidding on snow. I had three choices: continue and rear end the car in front of me, hit a tree or ditch it. I chose the latter. The ditch was so moist that when the car hit it, it slowed it down so fast that the inertia made the car flip over going "head over heals" and it landed on the roof. After I realized that there was no white lights and glass was all around me, I unbuckled my seat belt and proceeded to turn off the engine (it was still running) I heard people outside screaming, looking but trying not to look into the car since they thought I would be badly "damaged". I coul not open the front doors so I climbed out the back door. The driver of the other car was calling 911 but I told her to tell them I did not need help, and that I would call my own tow truck. They were amazed (as was I), that I walked away without a scratch. The airbags did not deploy and no headlights or anything in the front was damaged so speed was not an issue (I don't think, neither did the cop since he thought it was just an accident).A policeman showed up to write the report. At first he said I would have to file an accident report with DMV, he explained that a report had to be filed when there was an injury of more than $1,500.00 in damages. He looked at me and said, "No injuries!" and I said, "well, my car is not worth $1,500.00" so he said I did not have to do a report. Overall, I was very fortunate in that the only loss was my car and a towing bill."

And this is what I did on marks birthday:

For Mutual we made mini fruit arrangements!

And this is how Mark REALLY celebrated his birthday... last Saturday (good thing):

The Notebook

2009-01-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

The night before last I was folding a mountain of laundry and was flipping through the TV channels looking for something to watch. I stumbled across a movie that caught my interest. I didn't know what it was at first but by the time I realized what it was, I was already hooked. I was watching "The Notebook." The biggest problem was............ it ended right as Nick walked in the door home from work! I was bawling like a baby! He saw me and I could tell his heart sank as he wondered what was wrong. I managed to blubber out "the movie.. it was the movie" but I was still just too embarrased to tell him any more. I turned away from him after he had managed to give me a little hug and I washed my face and turned up the corners of my mouth. That movie was so sweet/sad/lovely, etc. I had never seen it before because I heard it makes people cry and I don't like crying at movies. I didn't even cry when I saw Titanic. At least I watched it while pregnant and can blame it all on hormones... right? :D haha ...... SO EMBARRASED

the box

2008-12-31T21:31:00.000-08:00

Playing in the shop vac box

I found him hiding under my end table with my cell phone

He loves the box

That's what we were up to on Tuesday. Just playing in boxes. We went to Sears to pick up the shop vac Nicks dad had purchased for him for Christmas. Then we went to Macayos for lunch. Then to the mall where we got some awesome deals at KB Toys (50%-70% OFF) and then to Target where they had a ton of leftover Christmas candy for 75% off. We stocked up on caramel Ghirardelli chocolates, Dove chocolates and Premium M&Ms. That night, new years eve, we put the kids to bed and Nick and I were so tired we managed to stay up til midnight while watching HGTV. I found that the ""Live"" New Years programs (balls dropping and such) were totally cheesy and lame and I HATED watching nasty people kiss on those programs after the new year hit every hour starting at 10pm. We didnt know it had hit midnight until my alarm went off.... Isaiah had unplugged my clock and when I reset it I didnt realize he had clicked my alarm to on, which defaulted to 12:00. We then drank some sparkling cider and were asleep by 12:30. Yeah, Im old and lame and even if I had a babysitter Id have no where to go so to bed it was. New Years is a wierd holiday. I cant wait til my birthday, now THATS a real holiday :S

Christmas was great, ready to rest!

2008-12-29T22:17:00.000-08:00

Joes Crab shackOur Christmas cookies

Isaiah on Christmas morningThe gifts

Its been a long couple months. Here it is: In November my inlaws came to town. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of running around. The following weekend we drove up to Oregon for Thanksgiving. The next weekend we drove back home (I drove 20 hours of the 24, we didnt stop to sleep). The next weekend Nick had to work. That week my sister Becca and Justin came to visit on their honeymoon. That same weekend we went to El Paso for Cory's graduation and back the next day. The next week I got strep throat and pink eye. The next week I got the flu (I lost five lbs). That leaves us at Christmas. We did the presents and spent the rest of the day with extended family. This last weekend my mother in law and sister in law came to town. Now we enjoyed being with family for the last two months and making and taking visits, but we are worn out!
Christmas was a lot of fun. On Christmas Eve I was so tired and sick still that instead of making cookies and icing I bought cookies from the Fry's bakery and a can of frosting. That evening we acted out the Nativity with the kids and Julian and Carmen sang Christmas songs as part of a program they put on for their dad. That night our kids were asleep by 8:40pm. The next morning I woke up at 8 and the kids were all still asleep! They woke up around 8:20am. We opened presents but Isaiah cared less about the presents. He spent all morning eating the leftover Santa cookies! We have strength for one more holiday then we are laying low for a few months. Next up.. New Years. What are we going to do? Absolutely nothing (not like we'd have anything to do even if we had a babysitter). This week I'm going to be organizing and reorganizing the kids' toys, clothes and rooms. Yay. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

"Kiddie Tag" Julian

2008-12-18T21:57:00.000-08:00

We were tagged to say 5 nice things about Julian. Before I begin I want to go ahead and tag others because my response is quite lengthy and you may get lost looking for the list:

Max Gibson
Sydney Poulson
Savannah Olivas
Jonathan Allred
Mylee Jensen

Julian was tagged by Kandice Alt so I'm going to tell you all 5 neat things about Julian:

1. Julian is the nicest child I have ever known could exist. He gets very sad if he can't manage to help someone in need and he is very polite and says hello to everyone and is very willing to make new friends at school. He always makes sure everyone has the same snacks and opportunities, he welcomes his siblings into his room to play and even has been letting Carmen sleep on his bottom bunk bed for the last two months because she doesnt like sleeping apart from him.

2. Julian has a whole lot of faith. When he is concerned about something he prays. When someone is sick, he prays. When he loses something, he prays. Before we can eat, he makes sure we pray. He doesn't let anyone speak of Christ out of context, and he and his sister speak of Jesus Christ as a close friend they are waiting to run into one of these days.

3. Julian can read. Julian just started Kindergarten this year. He has always been a fast learner and has to date earned a Kindergarten grand total of three Book It awards. When he was a baby the only way I could get him to eat was to read him the Dr. Seuss ABC book over and over until he refused to eat anymore.

4. Julian loves legos and video games. Better yet, both. Lego video games. He can sit for hours and hours and play alone or with a sibling playing with legos and action figures and of course, he can spend hours playing video games if I let him. He is so innovative with the legos. He takes apart his patterned sets to create new inventions. He also loves super heroes.

5. "You are number 1 and you are special" Julian has a unique way of making anyone feel good about themselves. When I am sad or upset he knows what to do and say to make me feel better. When I need help he is always willing. When I ask him to do something for me, he doesnt complain. On the flip side of that, those characteristics come to him as a sensitive boy. He keeps me in line when I act up. When my temper starts to show or I get impatient he is the one to call me out and tell me how I am making him feel and asks me not to make him feel that way. I cant raise my voice at him without him getting sad, he is the child that reminds me that my emotions must be kept in check to preserve their loving innocence.

Baby Boy's Ultrasound

2008-12-11T10:52:00.000-08:00

ITS A BOY!

2008-12-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

I will post ultrasound pictures as soon as I get them scanned.. but yes, its a boy! I had my ultrasound this morning and all the organs and parts of the baby look, as the technician put it, "all normal" :) YAY! Babies are such wonderful blessings!

HAIR!!!!

2008-12-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

This is what I would look like with Beyonce hair.

This is what I would look like with Katie Holmes hair.

Long Drive

2008-12-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we drove to Oregon. We drove up through Las Vegas, St. George, Orem (where we stopped to get free donuts from my sister Rebecca who works at Krispy Kreme), then through downtown Salt Lake (Nick had never been there before), then up through Boise to pick up my sister Amanda before making it to our destination, McMinnville, Oregon. We arrived about three in the morning on Sunday and on Monday morning Nick flew back to Phoenix to work. On Monday my sisters, a cousin, my mom and I went to see Twilight. On Wednesday my mom, Liss, Sarah and my kids and I went to the Salem Center Mall. We did some shopping (window mostly), the kids got to see Santa, we bought pretzels and white chocolate covered marshmallows for the kids, and we bought a Honeybaked Ham. On Wednesday night my sisters and I prepared all the Thanksgiving food, minus the green salad and the stovetop stuffing. I made the green bean casserole, candied yams, and four layer chocolate mud pie. Sarah made a couple banana creme pies and she was supposed to do the potatoes but forgot to. Mom prepped the turkey. On Thursday morning my mom and dad took all the kids to the zoo (free day) while I picked up Nick at the airport. When we got back to the house the older kids who had sayed home had cleaned house and set up. We baked the beans and yams and prepped the salad and made last minute smashed potatoes (thanks Sarah) and Amanda's famous runny gravy. It turned out very well and we had a great time. My kids, even with all the food available to them, only ate ham. Each one of the kids ate three helpings of ham, and left the rest of the food untouched. On Friday night my mom and dad and Nick and I went out to see Four Christmases. It was pretty funny, and we had a lot of fun without the kids. We left on Saturday at 2:30pm and I drove 20 of the 24 hours and we arrived in Phoenix Sunday at 3pm. The total trip going to Oregon, $150. The return through California cost us $86!! Hurray for the price of gas. I can live with a recession if it means $1.70 gas!!

Before and after. I hadn't had a haircut in three and a half years. I had the hair saved in a pony tail so I can send it to Locks of Love.

TWILIGHT: The Movie

2008-11-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today I went to see Twilight with my mom and sisters and one of my cousins. We like it but because of who we are, we spent a lot of our time in the theatre cracking jokes and laughing about little things here and there we would catch that were funny. My mom hasn't read the book so she kept leaning over and asking us, "Was this part in the book?" At the part where the Cullens are introduced to the story she leaned over and made the comment, "Those people look like vampires..." She left the theatre to take a phone call and when she got back she caught the last end of Edward telling Bella that she is his drug of choice and so she mostly just caught the word heroin and was asking us during the movie if drugs are in the book.... "No, mom... He is addicted to being with her, like a drug addict addicted to drugs...." We had a great time. Good way to end the day. My sister Sarah and I went to lunch today at the Sage. If anyone goes to McMinnville, Oregon, they need to go there for lunch. Best marinated mushroom salad dressing ever. I want to go back tomorrow for another salad. Dad watched all the kids while we were gone. That was my three, Sarah's one, three foster kids, and two of his own little ones. It was him and the kids until Ryan arrived at 6pm to help him out. Somehow they managed to have all the kids but one fed, dressed and asleep by the time we were home. Mom should go out with us more often. She deserves that kind of break!

flashback

2008-11-21T10:55:00.000-08:00

I guess this is a Flashback.... Well, since in Enrichment yesterday we did an activity where we picked a penny from a dish and told about what we were doing in that year that what printed on the penny... here are a couple pictures from that year. 2001. I was pretty crazy, and as the women at Enrichement learned, I have had a lot of different hair colors. Sorry guys, no pictures of the rainbow colors. I actually didnt own a camera during that period of time :) Lucky me..

Question about Gifts!

2008-11-19T23:12:00.000-08:00

QUESTION OF THE MOMENT:

What gift(s) did you handmake for others last Christmas? What was the handmade gift you are most proud of (any year/holiday/occasion)?

Today is Nicks Birthday!

2008-11-16T19:43:00.001-08:00

We started this weekend on Saturday with a trip to the Tempe Marketplace. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water and we bought presents for Nick. Then we went to Red Robin for lunch. We had a fun day.

For Nicks birthday I made him a Harley-Davidson cake. He wants a motorcycle but we can't afford one so we got him the next best thing, the chocolate cake version!

Nick's parents got him a remote control helecopter and accessories. I got him a Hurley backpack and Julian got him cologne and a shirt.

Nick blew out all his candles so I guess his wish will come true. I bet he wished for a Harley, because that one already came true (mmmmm chocolate!).

2008-11-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

Oh I just had to go and look at Amy's blog.... Thanks Amy, I have now organized my pictures into folders because before they were all just a mess of pictures in the picture folder. So I guess this means I was tagged, and so are you (anyone who may possibly be reading my blog). The rules are you post the 4th pictures of the 4th folder, 8th picture in the 8th folder, 12th picture in the 12th folder and the 16th picture in the 16th folder. I dont have 16 folders though and some folders are family history documents and such so here are four pictures randomly from four random folders: This is a picture of my Sister Sarah and her baby Jonathan. I have a folder of her photography on my computer because I'm working on a web page for her photography business. The kids were in the bath one day with their new bath paints and we decided to say hi to dad at work. I took this on my cell phone.This is a picture of Carmen and me taken with her KidTough camera. She got it for Christmas and we had been playing with it all week. I really should start showering BEFORE breakfast when there's a camera sitting on the table.

This is Nick when we went to Silver Creek Falls, near Salem, Oregon. That particular day was literally three or four days after I had had surgery to remove my gallbladder, and yep, I went on a hike up a waterfall that soon after surgery. I am insane :P I took that picture of Nick on the path that leads behind the waterfall.

King of the Knights

2008-11-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

Today my in-laws came to visit. They brought gifts! Nick's mother brought Julian a full knight costume. He insists that he is the King of the Knights and has gotten very good at nighting people. He says, "I knight you to protect your family and kingdom" as he taps the blade on the right and then left shoulders of the kneeling knight. Carmen was given a sesame street dress. She is the princess the King of the Knights defends and rescues. Isaiah, he just likes balls.

This Summer

2008-11-11T21:28:00.000-08:00

I just started this blog and there is no way I can catch up on the last 6 years so I'm reviewing this summer. This is what we did this summer:

We went to Oregon and saw the grandparents and great grandparents
Nick graduated college

I worked at a movie theatre to earn money for gas. The boxes are nacho chips I had to date and restack.
We went to see Wall-E.
Julian turned 5
I turned 25

We went to the mall
We got Julian ready for school

Remembering Tata

2008-11-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

My grandfather died when I was in middle school. This is a picturee of me (left) and my sister Sarah (right) with him. He loved icecream. I remeber every time he came to visit he would drink his coffee and smoke a cigarette every morning. Sarah and I used to always tell him "caca" trying to tell him that it was bad for him. I remember at our young ages we were concerned about the smoking killing him. We didn't speak spanish and had no way to communicate with him other than gestures and reactions and the two or three words of spanish we knew. We loved him so much. Once when I was about 9 I made by hand a case for his glasses. It was a simple pouch sewn by hand with thread and yard. He loved it. I have never known someone my dad respected more in the entire world. Yes he respects my mother and his children, but the respect he had for his father was one of awe. I miss him and though I could wish my heart out he was still alive, I believe it was part of the plan. He was preceded to the other side by my grandmother, who he missed dearly. They are together now.

Daddy Daughter

2008-11-09T21:25:00.001-08:00

Carmen and Dad went to the Ward Daddy Daughter Activity on Saturday. The Young Women and I organized the activities. It was a lot of fun and the girls did a great job getting things to run smoothly! Carmen had a blast!

Maybe next time there could be a Mommy Son Activity (according to Julian). He even went to the Bishop today at church and asked him when the next Father Son Campout would be, he felt so left out!