Waiting for Spring

We are patiently awaiting the arrival of Spring around here. It's supposed to snow again next week. So to by our time, we've resorted to crafting and other nonsense. March is kind of busy month for us, with two birthdays and all, and we are trying to add in some St. Patrick's Day traditions. It's one of those holidays that has never been celebrated in our house before, but the girls are really excited about making a leprachaun trap this year. And we decided to make a holiday tree. I got the idea here. With a spot at $1 rack at Joanne's fabric store, we have completed our tree...finally! (we were going to decorate if for Valentine's Day, but it never happened and we've had this crazy thing floating around our house for a while)

 While we are waiting for warmer times, I've finally taken the innitiative to potty train Julianne. I have been dreading this like the plague. I would rather you cut my foot off than have to potty train. But, she has done surprisingly well and yesterday she pooped in the potty for the first time and stayed dry all day. That was as exciting as winning the lottery, let me tell ya. So here she is giving us a thumbs up while dissolving that yummy Hershey's Kiss in her mouth. No her teeth aren't natually brown.

 And group baths are happening a little more regularly. It's a little cramped in there. I don't know that the two little ones really like Gabriela in there with them, but what do you do?

Gotta love SISTERS!!!

Remember when I went to this?

Well I'm going again! Woo-hoo! Last summer, I went to a Power of Moms retreat down in St. George. This was such a good experience, with great women, and a great organization. If you haven't checked out the Power of Moms yet, then click on the tab on my sidebar and see what you've been missing.

On April 15 &16 they are hosting another retreat right here in our area and it is at Linda and Richard Eyre's home in Park City. It's going to be amazing. They always are. I know spots are filling up quick so act fast and check out the details here . If you want to come away feeling great about your job as a mom, if you want to get more organized, or just need a day or two away, then this is the thing for you. I'm really excited to learn from my favorite mentors, the Eyres. Anyways, COME WITH ME!!!

A week at a time...for now.

Wow, I would love to get on here and blog all the time. I am constantly thinking of things I would like to write about, but it's just never at a convient moment. So for now, we will have to cover a lot at one time. So here's what's been going on with us.

Last Saturday my dear friends in the neighborhood threw me a wonderful baby shower. I get so nervous about those things, because anytime I have home parties or things noone usually shows up, but it made me feel great when so many people came out to support me. I think baby brother is pretty set now. Thanks to everyone!

Gabriela has an obsession with the body. We are constantly having conversations about the body and how it works. She is particularly interested in her "eggs." A long time ago she came to me and told me she already had her babies inside of her, but that they were just teeny tiny and hadn't grown yet. That led me to tell her that she was kind of right and that she was born with little eggs inside her body and that someday when she was big and married, those little eggs would grow into babies.

Well she took that and ran with it. One day she was complaining about her leg hurting and told me it was her eggs in her leg. So I had to obviously have another discussion about where those tiny eggs are hiding and that they don't move. Anyways a long story short, she is constantly asking about the brain and the heart and how stuff works, so I finally checked out some awesome books from the library. You should have seen her face when she opened them up. She devoured them! I guess this is all good, because I'm sure we are going to have to have a lot of anatomy conversations when baby brother shows up. Yikes!

  Sophia is in a little rotating preschool here in the neighborhood and yesterday was my turn to teach. In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, we made our own Dr. Seuss fish after the book One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. I think the kids did a great job. I really do love teaching kids. Oh and Gabriela was home that day and joined in because she was out for parent teacher conferences. She actually said preschool was a little boring. I guess you can't please them all.

 Another big kick I'm on is whole foods. I posted a while back about the green smoothies and now I've been reading her book. I'm totally convinced that this is the way to go. I don't even crave high fat food anymore. I would be happy with simpler food and less processed stuff. The funny thing is, the kids love it! They come to me in the morning and ask for "healthy cereal." They are pleased as punch when they get to show how they eat their broccoli for dinner. They don't whine and gripe when at the store they ask for something and I don't buy it. All I have to say is that is not really healthy for us and they get it. It's awesome. Well today I went to the grocery store and when I checked out, I was so proud of myself and felt great. I came home with a bunch of greens and natural foods. More granola, almond milk, fruits and vegetables. It's a great feeling to know I'm feeding us a lot better. The oranges, bananas, and carrots are missing from this picture.

Lets see, what else, oh, I'm chewing on the idea of trying to have this baby the natural way. No wait, not natural as in I don't want drugs, but natural as in vaginal. Crazy I know, but after reading so much online and so many people's stories, I think it can be done. I'm crossing my fingers and toes I can find a doctor who will support me, but I at least want the chance to labor and see if I can do it. If it doesn't work out, well that's fine too. I was already signed up for surgery anyways, but I just don't want to heal from another surgery. It's emotionally challenging for me, becuase of all the demands at home. Anyways, stay tuned for more on that.

That about wraps things up around here. My kids still fight, my house is a mess, but we are doing well.

Just the latest...

It's been a while since I've updated, and I've thought of a million things I could write about, but I'll just keep it to the basics. I'm happy that our Valentine's Day turned out better than I thought it was going to be. I've been wanting to start a breakfast tradition for a couple of years, but this year it finally worked out. We had all been sick that week and I didn't have time to get to the store to get the girls some Valentines, however my mom did come through for me. She had gotten the girls some really cute outfits when I was there visiting and I was going to wrap them up as a Valentine from her, but she let me just let them be annonimous and so the girls had something waiting for them that morning. We had a really yummy breakfast and we all sat around the table together at 6:30 in the morning. I turned the camera off while we ate so I could be more in the moment and it was lovely. We went around and told things we loved about each other and fun just being together. The tradition is definately sticking around.

 Over the weekend, Gabriela had her first dance competition. We had to go up to the Salt Palace for it and she was pretty excited about it. She got to perform her new lyrical number and they wear these little princess dresses. She did really well and doesn't seem to get nervous at all. But after spending our whole afternoon up there, I think we are both done with this dance thing. It's taking over our lives and our family's. Grandma and Grandpa were nice enough to drop in and watch her second number.

 And these two little rugrats hung in there for the five hours that we were there. I spent most of my time chasing and trying to find them as they ran around the convention center. That Sophia is a fast one! The picture is really bad, I know, but those are the outfits they got in their valentines and they refuse to wear anything else these days.

 Oh, and everyone had to get in on the makeup action. Bright red lipstick included. And for some reason, Sophia insisted she wear this ginormous bow on her head all day.

In other news, we went to an RV expo...don't ask how we ended up there...on Thursday and we found the perfect one for us. We've been thinking about one for a while and how nice it would be to take to GA every year since we can't fly anymore (too $$$). The girls wore themselves out going in all 1000 or so RV's in that place. I thought I was going to have this baby right their on the expo floor from all the walking. I was having major contractions that night, but we survived it.

Life is good. It's been busy. Just looking forward to hanging around in my sweatpants today and not doing anything. Thank you President's Day. Oh wait, I never did have time to go to the grocery store on Saturday. I guess I better get to that since we have nothing in the fridge or pantry.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our love was sweet back then...

but it's even sweeter now!

Happy Valentine's Day Amor!

Gabriela's Valentine's Day Party at School

Well, we had Gabriela's party today at school and I volunteered to go help out, which is always fun, and the girls and I had a good time (mostly) making these cute Valentine's for her class, thanks to Familyfun.com. They are cute little flowers made from hearts with suckers stuck through them.

 This is the Orange Table making cute valentine's for their parents, or whom ever they choose.

 They also made cute notes to their teachers at this table.

 I think decorating and eating your own sugar cookie was the crowd favorite.

 And these are by far the cutest things I've ever seen. They made their Valentine's boxes in class and each kid got to decorate thiers after themselves. I like Gabriela's flower in her hair.

 Class photo

 And a silly one for good measure!



A last minute getaway!

So I had big plans to go be with my little sister at the birth of her first baby in March, but as I got talking to Miguel and evaluating the situation, we decided now would be the best time for me to go. So I was extra sneaky and flew home to surprise her at her baby shower. But the only way Miguel was going to let me get away with it is if I found sitters for my kids and totally prepped him before I left.

I washed and packed outfits for each day I would be gone, for each girl, and labeled them all so there would be no confusion. I felt awesome at the end of the day when I got this big project done.

 I left cute little notes and treats from me, in their bags, so each day they would be reminded of how much I loved them. (I know Mommy is spelled funny. We spell it the spanish way around here thanks to a Dora book I read when Gabriela was little. It's just habit now.)

 This is my beautiful baby sister, Cortney, and I before the shower began. She's due in like 4 weeks! I'm so jealous.

 My aunt and grandmother were totally shocked when they saw me as well. It was so fun to see the lightbulb come on and their faces light up when it registered who was standing in front of them.

 This is me and my two sisters. You would never know we were related. I'm obviously the runt of the litter.

 My sister had a great turnout at her shower and now she's set for baby Bentley to arrive. Doesn't she look happy.

 After church on Sunday, and a nap afterwards, my mom treated me and my sisters to an amazing southern dinner. We've got creamed corn, country fried steak, crescants, mashed potatoes, green beans, and fried ocra. And to top it off, she had the most amazing cupcakes I've ever put in my mouth. They were banana bread cupcakes with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Heavenly! I was also able to visit with my childhood best friend Ereca. She recently moved back to GA with her family from Las Vegas and was insistant that I move back too.

 There's the cook herself! My sweet Mama! I seriously love this woman to death. She is my best friend....well, her and Miguel that is. Thanks for a great time everyone!