Ummmm.....

I don't have too many new things to report and therefore, can't come up with an interesting title. We've just been taking things easy the past week and haven't really done much. Elena now insists on saying her own prayers - she doesn't want any help from anyone. She says really sweet things too, like "Help us be happy" and stuff like that. Three more weeks until the baby is here. I hope the three weeks go quickly - it's so hot here and I'm getting way uncomfortable. We still have no name for her, guess we better get crackin on that.

I forgot to do a recap of our trip to Texas. We didn't do too much while we were there. Went to Benjamin's birthday party, went to Juarez, went to the funeral. We had a really good time, it was relaxing to have a little vacation. The girls had a lot of fun playing with Ariel, Soly, and Benjamin. We didnt'take very many pictures so I don't have that many to share.

Here's one of Amya jumping into the pool at Benjamin's party.



Here's Keith doing one of his crazy pool tricks. (I don't know why this is coming out so small - if you click on it, you can see it bigger, although I don't know how much bigger you want to see Keith. Maybe this is a good size after all. :P )



Here is one of us in the mercado in Juarez.



I would have taken way more pics in there, but Keith didn't want anyone to see us with the camera and then try to steal it, so we didn't take it out until we were just about to leave. We really had a great time going there. We ate lunch at a little shop inside the mercado - chile relleno burritos with avocadoes, tomatoes, and lettuce for $1.50. You can't beat that price and what's better, they were THE BEST chile relleno burritos we've ever had. Plus a huge glass of lemonade for another buck. We had so much fun talking to the people there and shopping. I got a really pretty picture to hang on my wall (maybe I can take a pic of that later) and we got matching dresses for the girls - even the new baby has one. (They're the dresses the girls have on in the Father's Day pics). All in all, it was a fun trip.

run

Just a page I did today. I was playing with the camera, trying to take pics of Amya running where she's in focus but everything around her isn't. The big one didn't come out exactly right - her hand is in focus, but nothing else - but I just love the smile on her face.

For credits, go to my 2Peas gallery.

Random Pics

I also wanted to post some silly pics of the girls that we've taken lately, so here they are.
Here are the girls in the shirts we bought them in Vegas. We couldn't find a funny saying for Amya, so her's is just a monkey. Elena's says "I have to hide my candy from my mommy" (which is totally true) and Téa's says "I didn't do it, Nobody saw me do it, I want to speak to my Grandma". Yes, we bought it for her, not her grandma, but we thought it was funny.

This is Téa making her own pizza the other night. We did this a little bit ago, and I thought she was too young to do her own, so I made one for her. When we had pizza again for Father's Day, she wanted to help, and sure enough, she did a pretty good job. She had a lot of fun putting on the pepperoni and pineapples.

Here's Elena, trying to hide the fact that she's sucking her thumb. I don't know what we're going to do with her.


Here's Amya getting Spiderman (Elena) ready for the day.

Amya making a silly face.


Elena with a Kool-Aid mustache. (and apparently very pleased about it)

Me and my pregnant self.


Téa trying to carry a 2 liter soda pop bottle. Maybe she was thirsty?

Happy Father's Day

Okay, I know it's not Father's Day, but this post is about it, so why not have that as the title, right? We had a pretty laid-back Father's Day. I had gone to the store the night before with Amya, and she picked out some cinnamon rolls that she wanted to make for Keith for his breakfast. Then we went to church and when we came home, Keith got to take a LONG nap. While he and the two younger girls were asleep, Amya and I made him some cards and got his present ready. I bought him a Willow Tree statue that has a dad holding a baby.


I had wanted to get the dad and daughter one, but all the stores around here that carry Willow Tree have been sold out of that one for awhile. So maybe next year.

The girls had fun playing with Keith and helping him open his present. We made a card and I traced their handprints on the card and they each wrote inside their hands. (Well, Amya did the only real writing, but the other two tried) These girls sure love their dad!

Vegas Baby!!

So I wanted to post about our Vegas trip so that I wouldn't forget any details. We stayed at the New York New York Casino. It was pretty nice. We had a really great view - we were in the white tower on the far left, in a corner room, high enough up to see the rollercoaster and a good deal of the strip from our room. Before we left, I had looked online and found a list of free things to do in Vegas - things you could look at in the casinos, a chocolate factory tour, a museum, things like that. So we rented a car and did some driving around. Also, since parking in all the hotels is free, and I'm pretty pregnant and not up for walking, we drove around to all the casinos. The car came in really handy. :) We went to the M&M store to get some candy for the girls. Here's Keith picking some out.

The Bellagio hotel was really nice. We went there to see the conservatory that they have inside. Keith was watching something that said that they change it every month. He was pretty amazed by that, seeing as how there were so many details in it. He really liked the water that shot back and forth as you were walking through it.


On the second morning, we went to see a timeshare presentation. I know, how boring. But, we got a $100 gift card to spend in the gift shops and restaurants at two of the casinos and a $25 gift card at one specific restaurant. So we used the $100 to go to the buffet at the MGM Grand (which was SOOO good) and then to buy gifts for the girls. Here's me with all my desserts from the buffet.


We also got to see one of the Cirque du Soleil shows. Keith's brother got tickets for us and we went to the 10:30 showing on the 2nd night. It was really fun. We had pretty good seats, and before the show even started, some of the actors were running around and scaring people right in front of us. The show was pretty cool - some of the acrobats did some pretty neat tricks. Too bad I couldn't take any pictures.

On the last day, we shopped for the girls and did a little more sightseeing in the casinos. Then we drove up to see the temple. It was really neat to go there. Both Keith and I commented on what a different feeling it was to be up by the temple, away from all the other stuff that goes on in Vegas.


All in all, we had a really great time. I hope we can go on another trip together sometime soon.

Lagoon

So while Keith's family was here, we spent one day at Lagoon, the amusement park here. We had a pretty good time. We spent half the day on the water park side - that was a lot of fun, but we don't have any pictures of that. But I thought I'd share some other ones from the day.

Here's Elena and Amya riding the bumper cars. Lagoon wasn't that busy, so the girls were able to ride a few times without even having to wait in line.


We rode the merry-go-round with the girls. Amya and Elena really loved it.



Téa, not so much. She was fine while I was sitting on it with her, but the operator had said that we couldn't both ride the same one, so after a couple of turns around, I got off, and she was not happy.



Keith rode one of the kiddie rides with the girls - it was a boat that went up and down and turned around all at the same time. The girls really liked it.



So I thought that I could take them on the bigger boat ride. The one that just goes up and down, but way more than the kiddie one. They both passed the height restriction, so we got on. They were so totally scared. It's my favorite ride, so I was having a good time, but I felt bad for the girls. Amya was screaming and Elena was so scared that her legs were shaking.



Here's a close-up.



And so that I don't end on a bad note, here's a pic of Keith and the girls on the little train you can ride. All in all, we had a really good time.

Miami Ink

Okay, so here's my first picture post. I was just so excited about this, I decided to share it first. On our first day in Vegas, Keith and I went to eat some burgers at In-N-Out for lunch. It was totally packed, so he went to get a seat while I ordered. When I sat down next to him, he pointed across the aisle and said "Hey - isn't that one of your guys from that inked show?" (He doesn't like to watch either one of the shows and gets annoyed when I do. He thinks it's silly to watch shows about tattoos when we don't believe in getting tattoos. I just think it's a fun show to watch and better than some other reality shows out there.) I said "No, but he could be the guy from Miami Ink". He said "Yep, he must be, it says Miami Ink on his arm". I couldn't believe it, I was so excited!! Keith said I should get a picture with him, but I didn't want to bother him. A few minutes later he got up to walk out and Keith said I should follow him and ask for a pic, it would be my only chance. He also thought it'd be funny to have a pic of a pregnant woman with a tattoo guy. So we went outside and asked him if he'd take a picture with me. He was really nice - asked when the baby was due, chatted with Keith and I for a few minutes. Keith told him that he doesn't like me to watch the show, and he was saying to keep watching cause he needs the ratings. It was really cool. I'm glad Keith convinced me to get the pics. (In case anyone doesn't know who this is, it's Ami from the show Miami Ink on TLC.)

Recap of the last few weeks

Okay, so it's been an extremely long time since I last posted. Sorry. Right after my last post, we decided to drive down to Texas to attend the funeral of one of Keith's uncles. We left Friday night and came back Tuesday night. We had a really good time while we were down there. Then we had my birthday (I turned 26!), some of Keith's family came into town for a week and we did a lot of stuff with them, and then we went to Vegas! I had found a really good deal for airfare and hotel to Vegas and since we've never gone anywhere together (not even on a honeymoon) I decided that we were going before this next baby comes. So we went this past Mon - Wed and had a really good time together. It was our first time leaving the kids and amazingly, they survived without us. Maybe it won't take us 7 years to take another trip alone. Also, on Friday, we found out that the new baby is a GIRL!!!! We've had two ultrasounds and her legs were in the way for both. I went to the hospital on Friday for some stomach pains (they couldn't figure out what was wrong and they've gone away) and while I was there, they did an unltrasound to check my gallbladder and the baby. While they were doing that, I asked if they could try to see what it was, since we still didn't know, and right away we could see that she is a girl. I'm so relieved. I just didn't like not knowing for sure, and now I don't have to worry about what's going to come out of me in (hopefully) 5 weeks. So that's my update on what's been going on the past few weeks, and I'll probably be doing some more posting today, just to add some pictures of all the things we did.

Little Princesses

Just wanted to share another page I did today. Here are the girls all dressed up for church Easter morning.

For credits, go to my 2Peas gallery.

Also wanted to add that Téa has a few new words. She can say 'ball', 'boots' (from Dora), and 'shoes'. Of course, none of these words sound completely right, but we know what she's saying. :) She also likes to try and say prayers. We're going through a stage where Amya and Elena both want to say prayers, so we usually have to have two prayers at every meal, when we go to sleep, etc. Now Téa wants in on the fun. The other day, after the usual two, she grunted and fussed until I realized that she wanted to pray, too. So we folded our arms again, and I whispered words into her ear while she sat with her arms folded, smiling at everyone. Keith says we better figure out a way to get them to take turns, cause our food's getting cold while we wait.

Peekaboo

Just wanted to share a scrapbook page I did today.

If you want info on the credits, go to my 2Peas gallery.

She's growing up

Today was Amya's last day of school. They had a program where the kids sang songs and each one was recognized and everything. The flyer that was sent home said not to bring your other kids. So we arranged for Keith's sister to watch them while we both went. I told Keith that I wanted to be there by 9:15. He didn't think that we had to be and because he poked around getting ready, we didn't get there until about 9:50. If we hadn't dropped the kids off at his sister's, we would have been there at 9. The whole reason for this story is that we missed the presentation!!! They did it at 9:15. I had thought it was at 10, and when I asked the teacher around 10:30 if they were having the presentation, she told me I had missed it. I smiled and said "Oh, that's okay". Then a few minutes later I had to hand the camera over to Keith because I knew I was about to cry and didn't want anyone to see me. So I had to go to the bathroom and compose myself. I was so upset that I missed Amya singing with her class and being recognized in front of everyone for 'graduating' from preschool. Keith said it was no big deal, but it was to me. (And I'm sure the pregnancy hormones had something to do with it.) We had a fun time making crafts with her, playing outside, and eating lunch, but I was just so upset about missing the presentation. I know there's nothing I can do now, so I should just get over it, but I'm still upset. (Can you tell? :P) And if we had brought the kids, we wouldn't have missed it. There were plenty of people there that had brought younger kids, and there were no problems. But, then we would have been taking care of them, instead of making it just about Amya. Anyway, it's over. And my firstborn is moving on to regular school next year. I can't believe how fast time flies. She's just getting too old! I'll be back later to post some pics of her on her last day of school.

The training is over

Elena is finally completely potty trained. She tells us every time she has to go, and we don't even have to bribe her with candy anymore. I think she forgot that she used to get candy every time she went, which is good, because for a few days she was telling us she had to go all the time, just to get the candy. Keith kept saying, just stop putting her in the diapers, but I knew she wasn't ready yet, and that when she was, she would just do it. So I'm glad it's over, and now I don't have to worry about how expensive it would be to have 3 kids in diapers.

Lizards and Mountains

Okay, Elaine, this update's for you. :)

My Dad and Grandma have been out visiting for the last two weeks and we've had a really good time with them. I've had a few stories to share, but haven't had a lot of time to be on the computer. Two of the funniest happened when we went with them out to Dinosaur National Park, which is outside of Vernal, Utah. While there, we were exploring and Keith found a lizard. He brought it over to show the girls. Amya and Elena both didn't want to touch it. (As you can see here)

Téa, however, was not as smart. She wanted to give it a kiss. Oh how sweet, we all thought. So I get the camera out, she leans in for the kiss, and as I snap the picture, the thing bites her on the nose!!! And it wouldn't let go - Keith had to pull it off. She was screaming, Amya was freaking out....it was a tense 5 seconds.

Here's the aftermath. We were in the middle of nowhere, so I had to use a wipie to clean it off and apply pressure to get it to stop bleeding. She cried for awhile, then went back to playing. Amya, however, was very upset with Keith and yelled at him for quite some time about letting her little sister get hurt. I was a little worried it would get infected, but it's almost completely healed now.

While all of this was happening, my Dad was off somewhere exploring the mountains. We had seen him a little ways up right before this, and thought that he was on his way back down. A little while later, we hear him shouting. We're looking all around for him, and don't know where he's at. Then Keith realizes that he's all the way at the top of the mountain.

I know it's really hard to see, but he's in that black circle. I wanted to put the full shot so you can see just how high he was. Here's one zoomed in - I can't get any closer, cause it just gets blurrier.
Keith said that he finally knows where Robert gets his craziness from (like when he climbed Bridal Veil Falls last summer). So we started yelling "Come back, Robert" and stuff like that. He was pretty proud of himself when he got back down. We were just glad he didn't get hurt. I don't know if Keith could've climbed up there to rescue him without having a heart attack. :)

Here's a pic of us that we took by putting the camera on a rock - I think it came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.
And last, but not least, a picture of Grandma and me, taken in Temple Square. She said that I took too many pictures of her (we only took about 600 while they were out here). But I'm glad that I have these pictures so that we can remember the fun things that we did with them.

Happy Friday!!

Seriously, I don't know why it's so hard for me to keep this thing up to date. Type a few things in and ya, you're done. But I'll be thinking, Oh I need to blog about this - but I need to put a picture with it - that means I have to upload it to the computer - then I have to tweak it in Photoshop - It'll take too long, I'll do it tomorrow. And then it doesn't get done. So anyway, here are some things that have happened lately (and hopefully it won't be too long before I blog again) -

• Amya lost her first tooth on April 25. We had gone to Ben&Jerry's for their free scoop day, and on the way home Amya was wiggling her tooth. By the time we got home, it was hanging on just barely, and Keith barely had to tug on it to pull it out. She was so excited. I took some pictures of her, and then caught her checking it out in the mirror and smiling, so I took more pictures of that. She was all excited about putting it in the tooth fairy pillow and getting money the next day. She keeps telling people that the tooth fairy brought her $10, but really, she got $3. In the last picture, you can actually see the new tooth coming in. It won't be long before the front tooth next to it comes out as well, cause you can already see that new tooth starting to come in too.

• Amya and Elena taught Téa to say "crack". Isn't that great? (read that with lots of sarcasm) The girl has 8 words that she can say, and two of them are 'crack' and 'poop'. If there was any doubt at all before over who their father is, I don't think there is now. I swear, I don't need boys, these girls are already too much like their dad. (By the way, her other words are 'mom', 'dada', 'milk', 'go', 'cheese', 'shoes', and one more that I can't remember.) **** I remembered - it's 'yes'!****
• Téa feeds herself now. She doesn't like anyone else to feed her. Usually Keith shares a plate with her and gives her bites, but not anymore. She's too big for that. She wants her own plate, her own fork (which she really doesn't use, it's more for show), and her own food. If you don't give it to her, watch out, cause she gets mad. Then she makes a big mess and laughs about it. And if Elena's in the high chair, she goes over and takes Elena's food, too. We really need to do something about the seating situation. What with one chair for the kitchen table and one high chair, and three kids needing seats, we're having a bit of a problem.

• Elena is on her fifth day of wearing pant*es and I think this time it's working. The first two days she didn't have any accidents and that first night, she woke up with a dry diaper. So Keith let her wear pa*ties the second night, and that didn't really work out. So she's been wearing them during the day and diapers at night. She's doing really good at telling us when she has to go. I'm so excited. She only had two accidents this whole week, (yesterday) and I know it's cause I told Grandma that she hadn't had any, so I jinxed her.
• On that note, my Dad and Grandma got in late Wed. night for a visit. They'll be here for almost two weeks. The girls are way excited to have them. Elena was a little shy at first. I had asked her what she was going to do with Papa when he got here, and she had said "Kiss him". But then after he was here, I asked her what she wanted to do with him, and she said "Not kiss him". But she's gotten used to them now and is already trying to pull Grandma all around the house.
• I had another ultrasound done yesterday and the doctor still couldn't tell us for sure what the baby is. He said he thinks it's a girl (and Keith says that if it was a boy, we would have been able to see right away that it was his boy, if you know what I mean). He said to let him know if it turns out to be a boy, so I guess he's pretty sure that it's a girl. But he still didn't really see anything, the legs were totally still in the way. So I'm still not okay with saying it's a girl for sure, cause we don't have actual proof. I just don't want to be surprised when it comes out. I want to know for sure. Oh well, I guess I won't. Unless I can talk him into another ultrasound next month....

So that's the scoop for now. I'll come back when I remember more.