Ready for potty trainning

Another reason why I have not been blogging lately, besides my new passtime of reading twilight, it's due to my computer being infested with viruses. I can not type more than half a minute when something comes popping up on my screen and I HATE IT! So I have stayed away from the computer almost completely until my husband fixes it. Isn't it ironic, he fixes bugs for a living and it's been about 2 weeks or more since my computer was stricken by this virus and until this day it still goes unfixed! - I love you honey! :)

But something happened today that just can't go without blogging about.

I think Jocie is ready to start potty training! I have heard that after the first child the ones to follow are pretty easy. Today I found out that it might be true, to my relief.

Jocie woke up from her nap this morning and the first thing she said to me was "po-po" or poo-poo, I did not take it seriously, since she often seats at Naomi's potty just for pretends, diaper on and everything, so I told her to go while I did something in the kitchen- I started sitting her on potty pretty early on, thinking that it would work to my advantage some time in the future, what I did not know was how early that future might be- a couple of minutes later she was standing next to me with a red face and grunting, the I'm doing a poo-poo type of face, "mmm..." I thought. Could it be? I asked her "Do you need to go poo" and she nodded yes and we quickly headed to the restroom. I pulled her diaper off, but she had already gone in her diaper. I sat her down anyway, and waited to see if she still needed to go some more. She stayed sitting down for a couple of minutes, but she was done. She did not want to get up after that, she would throw my hands off of her if I tried to help her up. The only way she agreed to get up was after I asked "Te limpio la colita?"-" Can I clean your bum-bum?" Then she nodded yes and got up to rest her chest across my lap, just like big sister does while I clean her bum-bum, all on her own. I guess she knows the routine after seeing it time after time. We clapped and danced and cheered anyway, just as if she had really gone, and she looked so happy and proud of herself.
I had just put away a bag of training pants that Naomi did not use, and it seems that I will have to go hunting for it in my garage (the scariest place on earth) and get them to work right away. We'll see how it goes. I hope I'm not speaking to soon and jinx Jocie's potty training. We will keep you all informed!

Reading Twilight

I have been away in a land of vampires and werewolves all week long, hence my absence from the blogging world. Yep, I have fallen in love with the Twilight series. It all started with the movie everyone seemed to be talking about, I finally caved in and went to see it as soon as I got the chance, and an accomplice to back me up, Aaron would not have watched any other way, ( thanks Julieta and Skyler!)

I knew there was more to the story and I just wanted to know. I thought would have it the easy way and ask my youngest sister, Itza, the book aficionado in our family, to tell me what happens, she wouldn't budget, but happily offered to let m barrow the book (New Moon) I have never, ever, read a book (a novel), or even come close to have the desire to do so, but somehow I just devoured this one in less than one week, I just could not put it down and used every spare minute I had towards reading it. I just got started with "Eclipse" last night, but I have decided to take it slow, I do not want to run out of twilight books to read too soon.

Two nights ago Aaron came home from school after the girls had gone to bed and didn't get to see them. The next morning he had to leave the house earlier than usual and again did not get to see the girls. But Naomi woke up excited to see daddy and ran into our room to wake him up, only he wasn't there anymore. So she asked:

Naomi: Where's daddy?
Mami: He had to go to school early to take a test
Naomi: Oh. I'm hungry. I want some banana bread!
(mami and babies walk over to the kitchen)
Mami: It's all gone. I think daddy ate it.
Naomi: It's ok, we can make some more.
...and we did.

Later that night Aaron came home and both girls were now in bed. He walked straight in there to say Hi to his already sleeping babies. Naomi must have been waiting for him because she was right awake. He kneeled next to her bed and gave her kisses, then had a little nice converstation which started some what like this:

"Daddy, why did you eat all the banana bread?" It was important for her to know. She then told him all about our day, the bread that we baked, our trip to the park, the books we read and Aaron a very tired daddy, sat there and listened. I have a feeling it was his favorite part of his last couple of days.

Sometimes, when Aaron goes to school right after work, and ends up spending all day away from home, we like to go visit buelito y buelita, so that our day doesn't get to be as long. Buelita will cook for us and spoil us and the girls have lots hands and eyes to watch over them.

This is what we like to do over at buelita and buelito's:

Jump on the trampoline, no matter how dark or how cold it is outside.

Tortillas!
(I made these myself, with my mom's supervision)


watch Disney Movies.

get lots of huggs from tio Mickey!

run around the house with this very noisy toy.

Give Nakon lots of huggs!

It's always fun to go to buelita y buelito's, but seeing them is our favorite part!

Animal sounds

Jocie is now saying a few words and sounds, among them are some of her animal sounds. She can go like a cow, like a sheep, like a dog, like a fish, like a horse in spanish, yes, even horses speak different in spanish.

I didn't get her to do all of them in here, before she walked away, but here are a couple of them.

I will try to get her to do the rest later.

Jocie's skills with the fork

I've been wanting to post this so you too would be impress by Jocie's skills.

Check out my baby using the fork like the pros.





(Please ignore our annoying talking and laughing, you can even turn your volume off)

Funny things Naomi said today

This little girl is just too sweet and funny. Don't believe me? I'll prove it to you:

Funny thing Naomi said today:

Today we were playing on the floor with her baby doll. Out of the blue she says:

Naomi: "Mommy, today I will have boobies"
Mami: What? You will have what?
Naomi: Boobies on my belly (lifts up shirt), for my baby (puts baby doll under shirt)
Mami: Really?????

Sweet thing Naomi said today:

Bath time came along, and as the big girl she is, I asked her to take her clothes off to get ready to get in the water, while mami helped Jocie. She pulled both arms through the neck opening of the shirt trying to slip it off through her torso instead of up through her head, her brand new shirt that she had just worn today! I freaked out thinking that she was going to stretch it out and ruin it, and told her to stop, actually yell at her to stop. She looked at me and said:

Naomi: Mami, I like you when you are happy.
Mami: (realized what a dork she had been over something so stupid) I know, I'm sorry. I love you!
Naomi: I love you too mami.

Isn't she adorable?

Naomi's 3rd b-day

My entry about Naomi's b-day has been long over due, so here it goes before another month passes by.

This year she actually knew what was going on, and anticipated her b-day party for months. She even asked for a piñata and was most excited about that. We almost ended up not having a party, but changed my mind just the day before, and even though it was very last minute, like almost everything that I do, it turned out pretty good. I was battling with the idea that now that she is older I do not know if I want to teach her to expect a big party every year, or if I want to keep it more simple and to ourselves, but at the end this was what I decided. Plus the day was gorgeous and we just had to take advantage of that too.

We started the day with a birthday breakfast- whole wheat pancakes topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, and scrambled eggs with ham. I decorated that little foam crown the night before, I'm gonna try to keep it and have the girls wear it every year for their b-day. I think that as they get older it will stay put for longer than a couple of minutes at the time. I took Naomi to the store with me that morning wearing her birthday girl crown, she got a couple "happy b-days" from complete strangers, she would say "thank you" in her sweet little 3 year old voice and then would go on to tell them she was 5, or 7, or 4, but never 3. Oh well, there's always next year.

Tia Areli spent the night with us to help me with the last minute party preparations and crazyness. I can always count on her. I love you sis!

She approves!


Birthday girl princess and daddy.

I wanted the kids to do a craft or something fun to keep them busy, but did not want to spend a lot of money on it. I got these little pumpkins for about $2.5o for a package of 6 and little halloween stickers, I already had the washable finger paints and q-tips to use as paint brushes and had them decorate pumpkins. I thought of it all by myself! I was so proud of me and the kids loved it!

Jocie joining in on the fun.

Yes, we found this available just the day before.

She had always been scared of breaking a piñata, until that day. This is her conquering her fear of piñatas.

Sweet little Jocie is not scared of anything. Bring it on Diego!

Wait a minute. Whose b-day was it? Does this mean they get a free wish? (I love this picture)

*Little Naomi, would you please stop growing and stay my little girl forever and ever?

Bum-bum doing better and the goodness in our youth

Today was a better day for Jocie, which equals to a better day for mommy as well. Her bum-bum, as Naomi calls it, looks a lot better. Her diarrhea is also going away, but I'm not holding my breath hoping that is gone, because it might just be back tomorrow, you never know. She would cry and try to hide from me every time I'd ask her if she was clean or not, she knew what was coming, but we had a lot less episodes today than we did yesterday. I planned our meals around her all day today, trying to help her tummy settle. For breakfast she had toast and bananas, no milk. For lunch we had plain yogurt with honey and bananas, and for dinner we had pasta and mash potatoes, chicken, brussel sprouts and green beans. We stayed away from milk and juice all day long, and gave her plenty of water to drink. I hope she feels better tomorrow.

On another note. Today the Seminary students at Highland High School had their yearly Thanksgiving fruit basket delivery. They made hand made cards and fruit basket for the elderly in each ward and then they deliver them along with a couple of Christmas songs and/or a scripture. I was really surprise and pleased with the youth in our branch, specially the Youngmen. They were very polite and sweet to elderly members that we visited, even hugged and kissed some of them. The last family we visited was that of a 87 year old brother who was a Sargent in Dominican Republic, his native country, and he had lots of stories to tell. The young men and women sat and listen to him very attentively. I thought they were just pretending to pay attention, but to my surprise they were all listening to every detail. I thought we would never get out of there. We finally did and as we left and walked towards the car I heard them all talking about how cool his stories were and going over them again. I was really surprised. I felt a little bad, I guess for under estimating the goodness in our youth. They are good kids. Hats off to them!

The worst mom ever

I felt like a really bad mom all day today, no surprise, there's always a reason to feel this way, if it's not this then is that. Today's reason was Jocie's sore bum. She has had diarreah all day long, and even thought I tried to keep track of it, and change her diaper as soon as possible, somehow it was always too late, and diaper after diaper, it kept getting worse. Her bum was bleeding on that last diaper I changed tonight. GRRRR! How can I have let it get like that! She was also due to have her flu shot boost 4 days ago, but since a week before that her and Naomi had what I thought was the flu (vomiting and diarreah) I thought that it would not be any good taking her back anymore and I would save her from getting pocked again. I guess I was wrong? or what is this she has now? I'm calling the Doctor first thing in the morning. I hope her bum gets better over night.

Got leaves?

I love the trees that sorround our house, even if this is what we get during the fall season, I wouldn't want it anyother way.

This summer I was really sad to see our apple tree go, it was very infested and did not give any good apples, we were only left with the mess of apples sauce all over our backyard. I was very upset at Aaron for cutting it down, but I now see that it was for the best. We still have an apricot tree, so that was my consolation.

And what do we do with all these leaves?Work hard...and then....Play harder!

What did you just say?

We went to the park at around noon today. The cold weather kind of scared me off and has kept me in the house for the past couple of weeks. The cold mornings just set my mood for the day, even though it does get warmer later in the day. Today we just had to get out. I got lunch ready to go, put on some sweaters and jackets and headed out to the park. Jocie is so independent now a days, I had to split from Naomi at times just to go follow her. Big sister is now interacting with other kids and doing pretty much her own thing at the park, of course I always keep a vigilant eye over her and make sure she was always within sight.

Well, Jocie just kept wanting to wander farther and farther away from the play area where Naomi was, and we needed to go back and stay closer to big sister. I had to call on Jocie to stop going the direction she was heading and when she turned around to look at me I asked asked her if she wanted to go find Naomi with me, this is what came out o her mouth, a very clear and distinctive "NO". First she shook her head and then she said the word "NO" My jaw literally dropped, while I gasped in disbelief. "What did you just say?" I guess this is just the beginning, the first of many, many, many more "NOs" to come.

Morale of the story "Don't ask!"

My first recording

There will be a Spanish Christmas program at the Tabernacle on December 5 and 6. This is a annual event since 6 years ago, when I was part of the choir performing then at the Conference Center. This year again, I will be part of the Choir. This time it will be a little bit different. It will be like a repertoire of all the different Latin American Christmas Carols and folkloric dances. We have been practicing since October and I am really excited. There is particular song I am most excited and nervous about "A la media noche" a Puerto Rican popular Christmas song, it is very fast and there will be dancers dancing a Cuban guaracha to this song which we will sing acapella! YIKES! A small group will be singing this song. Last night we met to rehearse the song and record it for the dancers, I guess they have been practicing to a music track and they want to start rehearsing to the actual voices singing it to have a better feel of what is going to be like. So we went to this recording studio at one of the directors house, everyone kept scooting their selves to the back of the room so they wouldn't be in front of the mic, it was funny. Afterwards I realized that I have recorded my first song! ....with a whole bunch of other people, but still, it is something that I had never done before, and it was kind of cool.

If you are interested in going to this event, let me know. There is limited admission, but I can try to get you some tickets. Mark your calendars! It will be fun! and if you are not familiar with how latinos celebrate their Christmas's this will give you a pretty good idea. We are full of festivity and fun!

Busy-busy

This past couple of weeks have been busy! I spent most of last week cleaning out our basement. My sister Areli and my tia Chave were a lot of help, I don't know what I would have done without them! Thanks!

You might wonder why I cleaned out our basement? Well Aaron and I made the decision to rent it out. We had rented it before about 2 years ago. We really didn't make much use of it, other than pretty much a play area for the girls. We wanted to move Naomi downstairs so that each of the girls would have their own room, even painted the room, but never made the move, it was just to hard to have her be so far away from us at night. The apartment downstairs has it's own kitchen, living room, bathroom and 2 bedrooms. We need the extra cash right now so renting it made sense. Then on Saturday I spent the day having a yard sale to get rid of some of the stuff we no longer have room for. The day turned out to be pretty nice and sunny, and I made about $160 bucks. It felt pretty good contributing with the making of the moneys around here, even if it was just $160. Aaron spent the day cleaning out the garage that very much needed it. I have been running stuff to the DI all of last week and part of this week. I still have lots of stuff I need to get rid of I don't see the end to it. I'm trying to clean out our closets to have a little bit of extra room and have been thinking of ways to keep stuff organized in small areas. The girls room looks pretty good, I am almost done with it, next room after that will be our bedroom, YIKES! Wish me luck!

Little witch's dance

There was music playing at one of the stores we went into, enough to make her want to dance, add a mirror and this is what you get.

Halloween day.

The actual day of Halloween we went to my mom's work in the morning. The girls went around the lunch room where people were getting candy out of the vending machines just to give to them. Then we went around the offices and got lots of good candies and compliments, everyone thought they were cute. I have been going to my mom's work ever since Naomi first Halloween, I think we are the only ones who ever come trick or treating there. My mom loves it and of course the girls are always happy to see buelita Martha. Then we went to Aaron's work and again were the only trick or treaters there. After that we headed home for a nap to recharge and be ready for later on that night.

At night we went to the gateway mall with cousin Alex and Evelin.

The mall was surprisingly not very busy. There were other kids there but not as I imagined, which was good, it made it more pleasant for everyone there. Here's little Jocie admiring the water show. She was a little scared of the water shooting up so she made sure to stay really close to me. This was the only picture I could take because she did not stay on the floor for very long before wanting for me to carry her and not put her down. She did so good trick or treating. She had enough practice before hand that she was an expert by then. She would take her little candies and put them into her little bag, she knew exactly what to do, sometimes she would even say thank you.

Loaded up on sugar and ready to go home.

After this we went home and went trick or treating around our block. We even had time to come home and have the girls hand out some candy. They were really cute and even more excited to be given out candy than to receive it. Naomi would answer the door and say "Oh you want candy? Here's one for you and one for you"

I let them eat their little hearts content with candy that day, and then gave them a good teethbrushing before going to bed. After that I put all the candy away and out of sight. It will be our bribe candy.

We had a good Halloween, so good I have decided that this is my favorite holiday from now on. How did yours go?

Here's us!

I did not want to wear a costume but then Aaron dissapeared for a good hour after arriving at my parents ward halloween party. He then showed up with this costumes and practically forced me to put it on. Oh well, it was halloween right?

Halloween Fun.

Halloween started a couple of weeks early for us. The girls ended up wearing their costumes 4 different times! First to the Gardner village, then to the Zoo, my parents ward halloween party (our branch did not have one) and Halloween day! We got good use out of those costumes.

The Zoo was crazy packed! It seemed like the whole town was there. People had to park all the way down as far as East High School, that's how crowded it was. We were lucky to find a spot right accross the street from the Zoo. To top it off, people were standing in ridiculosly long lines to get their candy. We tried standing in line a couple of times and then accidentally figured out a faster way to get our candy after Naomi just walked up straight to the girl handing out the candy, and who can deny candy to a sweet little thing like my daughter? even if she did not stand in line. From there on we stayed back and just let her walk up on her own to get her candi. Oops!

It was a fun day, our friends the Collins came too and we had a good time.

My little butterfly.

Batman and a cute little fairy. She was supposed to be a princess, but lost her crown before we even got out of the house, add some wings and voila!

Tired little ones with daddy.

With the elephants and mami.

The wolf getting ready to go on a run

Today was a really good day, the girls and I found some good ways to keep us from not going out of our minds trapped here in the house, with it being cold outside. We played with bubbles, danced, sang, made a little house out of blankets and chairs, built block towers, they shared their snacks with the baby dolls, had a tea party under the little house that we built, played hide and seek and "jugaremos en el bosque mientras el lobo no esta- we will play in the forest while the wolf is gone" This last one is Naomi's favorite game. We sing this little song and then we ask the wolf what he is doing. The wolf in response says that he's waking up, then we sing again and ask again what he is doing, next time he'll say something like "I'm getting dressed" and so on until he is finally ready to come get you and chases after you, and when he gets you, you are in for a tickle attack. Well, Naomi and I took turns being the wolf. When her turn came and I asked what the wolf was doing she said "Me estoy bañando- I am taking a shower" then "Me estoy poniendo mis pantalones- I am putting my pants on" the third time was just funny, she said " Me estoy poniendo mis zapatos para ir a correr- I am putting on my shoes to go running" and of course I had to laugh. That little girl is just funny.

What do you in the house during this cold winter days?

Going Private

I've been thinking of going private with our blog. I watched the news the other night where they talked about the dangers of blogging for everyone to see. I initially thought about it when I started the blog, but then convinced myself that people would have to know the link to our blog to get to it and that only those who I'd told about it would know how to get to it. Well I guess with some of the new gadgets blogger has added that is not the case now. I will be doing this during the next few days. Please email me your email address and I will add you to our list so you will be able to see our blog. Hope to hear from you all!

I've been tagged

I was tagged by Karly, my sister in law's sister. So here we go...

I: voted for the first time ever this year!
I am: a runner, a rookie but still a runner
I think: Oprah is the bomb.com
I know: the Church is true
I want: more time with my hubby
I have: the cutest babies ever!
I dislike: tobbacco smoke. YUCK!
I miss: my brothers in Texas
I fear: the economy right now
I feel: tired. It's been a long day!
I hear: nothing, everyone is asleep.
I smell: nothing
I crave: chocolate chip pumpkin cookies
I cry: during general conference
I usually: wake up at 7 am
I search: for the girl's ositos all the time!
I wonder: how some women do it!? Keep a house tidy and pretty all the time, do their hair and make up, cook fancy dinners every night, exercise, are creative and crafty, etc, etc...
I regret: Not finishing College
I love: My little family
I care: about recycling
I always: make sure the doors are locked before going to bed
I am not: a good piano player
I remember: all of my siblings b-days, all 7 of them!
I believe: in God
I sing: I am a Child of God to the girls at nap time and bed time
I don't always: clean my house
I argue: over many things!
I write: down notes during conference
I win: never, I never win!
I lose: my debit card all the time
I wish: I was more organized and crafty
I listen: to my babies talk in the mornings before I get up to get them
I can usually be found: at home
I am scared: of natural disasters
I forget: everything, really. I have the worst memory ever! I think I get it from my mom.
I am happy: when I have a productive day

I I I I I I tag Kelli, Alisa and Areli

Junior High Buddies Christmas Party Poll

This poll is for my Junior High friends. We are trying to have a get together in December. This poll is to help us figure out when we are going to do it.

Road trip to California

Our family took an unexpected trip to California a few weeks ago. Aaron's grandfather, Grandpa Jim, has been battling cancer and after a long stay in the hospital he was finally going home. We tought this would be a chance to visit and have the girls meet him and as well as having him meet them. He's the only great grand parent left on Aaron's family's side, so I saw it as important to give the girls a chance to meet him, even though I'm sure they will not remember when they get older, there will be a picture and they will know that they met him once.

I met one of my great grand mothers when I was little, and I remember her, but I do not have a picture to show that I met her and show my children who she was, but my kids will have a picture of his great grandpa, I have made sure of that.

They also have both of my grandpa and grandma on my mothers side. They live in Saltillo Coahuila, Mexico, where I was also born. How would I love to take the girls there some day and show them were mami grew up. Anyway, that is another meeting I have to arrange, to have my girls meet buelita Coco y buelito Chuy.


We had a nice visit. Aaron had the chance to sit down and talk to grandpa Jim for 2 days in a row. I was chasing after the girls the whole time being there, making sure they wouldn't get into trouble, but even I was able to learn somethings about Grandpa Jim and his life, from his childhood during the great depression, going to war, how he met Grandma Jimison, and how he became a successful salesman after becoming a husband and father. I have to have Aaron write down all the things he talked to Grandpa Jimison about now that I think about it. He also told us some things about Grandma Jimison that I was very impressed about. How she graduated from Standford, how talented and smart she was, and how she was a great piano player who even gave concerts, if I'm not mistaking.

Like I said we had a nice visit.

Here's a picture with Grandpa Jim.

On our way to his house we saw cactus like this all over the place and were really excited to see "tunas" on them (cactus pears) This are very common in Saltillo, instead of ice cream vans we had "El Señor de las tunas" The tuna man, who came around the neighborhood with his tuna cart, chanting "tunas, tunas!" and all the kids would ran out to buy some, seriously. Aaron tried some a few years back when we went to Saltillo and he loved them too, so we knew we had to get some somehow before we left.So on our way back we tried knocking on a couple doors to ask for permission before taking some. We finally saw some people outside their house and ask them if we could take some, even though I think we would have been ok without asking because I don't think anyone eats them, there were a lot of them that had already fallen off on the floor, but we asked anyway, we didn't want anyone chasing us down, and they were nice and said we could take them. We brought some home for my family. They were all excited. It's been 13 yrs since any of them has had one of these. We didn't know how in the world we were going to pick them so we had to get creative. We had this hard plastic thing in our glove compartment, I think it was the package to a binky or something, it was perfect. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention they are prickly, so you have to be really careful."El Señor de las tunas"Tunas to go.

After that we found this little fruit stand on the side of the road. We got some of these. Honey sticks. None of us had ever heard or had any, and the lady said they kids love them, so we had to try them. They came in all different kinds of flavors, peach, cherry, rootbeer, and orange. They kids did love them! It kept them occupied for a while, it was really hard and slow to get the honey out, but we were in no rush, our 12 hour trip back home was just getting started!
And we also got some of these. Nectarines. They were really, really good, very sweet and earthly. I have never tasted one like this. My mouth waters just thinking about it. So good, they were worth taking a picture of! We took a small country road that we were on for half of our way through California. The scenery was beautiful, it gave us something to look at, good thing or we would have gone crazy! Did I mention our radio went out just as we were getting ready to head back home. Aaron left the keys on while we were inside the house saying our good-byes and that drained our battery. We had to jump start the car and that left our radio dead, we needed a code to restart it , I guess it's an anti-theft feature it comes with, and we did not have the code. We still don't have it 'til this day. We need to take it in to the dealer so they can fix it.

Anyway, there a cow in this picture, is that little black dot in the distance.

Another picture we had to stop for. This white fence went on forever and I thought it would make a good picture. There was a tree orchard on the other side of it, I think they were apples or something. Anyway, this is me trying to get artsy with my camera (is that even a word? artsy) Isn't the sky beautiful?
We came to this view point while we were driving through a canyon. The guy who took the picture didn't do a good job, but that's what we got.
I was really nervous taking this picture. In case you can't tell, there's a big cliff behind that little wall the girls are sitting on. The wind was blowing strong, so I had Aaron on standby. I think this is the quickest picture I have ever taken.

The girls did awesome! We sang, we sang a lot. We played "I spy!" or as Naomi says "Io veio!" (Yo veo) She can't help having an accent. We read books. We stopped for lots of potty breaks, including one on the side of the road in broad day light (for Naomi of course). We draw pictures. Played with toys. They napped!

They are the cutest little girls ever! They did so good, not much crying or complaining. Jocie took like three naps each way, and they were both out by night time. Aaron did not let me help him drive, he drove 12 hrs straight coming home. We left California at about 1 pm and got home at 2 am. He did awesome too!

We had a nice trip.