Mayday...mayday.....oh its June!!!!

ok...I know...I'm so far behind. It's June already and next Monday my man and I celebrate 8 years of marriage. Wow!!! I've been married that long? Who would of believed that I would be married for 8 years and have 2 beautiful daughters. I've also been very blessed with a wonderful hubby. I'll claim him.:) Also because I've been married to him we have had some very wonderful friends that are like family. We are so grateful for the impact that they have had in our lives.
Our diva just took her first step yesterday it was so cute. She's so excited when she did it. She has also learned to clap so if she does something that she thinks is cool she'll clap and look at you to say come on I'm cute clap for me. She usually does this when she goes from a squat to a standing position without holding on to anything. She's also getting tooth # 3 & 4 coming in at the same time. Boy am I lucky. She hasn't tried biting me yet..which is good... Also, we've been doing sleep training. Boy has that been fun. It's hard not to run in when she cries the first time. She usually puts herself back to sleep. Yeah!!!
Our princess is out of school right now. She'll be going to 2nd grade next year. We just had to do a new IEP since she's been diagnosed with a learning disability along with her speech therapy. We don't know what's going on but at least we are getting help. I'd rather get it solved now then wait till she's in highschool. For some reason she's having a hard time reading/writing. It's mainly her vocalization. Her non vocal reasoning she's doing great!! Especially in her math.
She's been having fun playing with her "cousins". They are here for one more week before they visit other family members then they are headed to So. Korea. It's been fun for both of my girls b/c they both get "play dates" and diva gets the attention. :) Next week we'll be going to the beach with friends to celebrate our anniversary and to play games. I'm so excited. We also get to shop and scrapbook (we'll see about this one) and hang out at the beach. I'm also going to start jogging again. It will be great to be able to exercise again. I haven't been able to much with hanging out with my 3 nieces, princess in school, piano lessons, and naptimes for diva. Boy will I be ready for a rest and the good news is my man is taking off the whole week...well he'll be able to work a little from the beach house but when he's not working we'll be able to hang out. Yipee!!! I'm so pumped. Well, I'll try to post some pics soon and some video of diva playing peek a boo. It's so cute. She's like a little Jack in the box. It's hilarious. I really should send it to funniest home videos it's that cute. But of course I'm biase. :) Well tata for now. Until next time.

March

So life is getting a little busier. I can't believe it's March and again I'm playing catchup. Will it ever get easier? I sure hope so.
I can't wait for the warm weather again. We just had another snow day on Monday which is unusual for our school district. Falls Church City is so small that other counties can be out but we are in school. Our princess loved it. She has had lots of fun playing in the snow, and helping me clean off the car and shovel paths.
Right now I'm in the midst of gearing up to go to New York for the Best Practice Seminar. I'm so excited to get to go. My mom and our little diva get to tag a long. Since, I'm the admin help I've been trying to get our diva prepared by giving her the bottle with my milk again. On Sunday she resisted so my man had to take her home to try to get her to eat. She ate a little bit but not really (less than a 1/2 ounce). She pretty much waited till I got home which was a total of 6 hours from the first time she ate. I was prepared to battle so we tried a different bottle and wala..during piano lessons yesterday I tried it and she drank it. Yipee!!! I was getting worried there. Yesterday she also went in for her 6 month appointment and yes she got more shots. She was so cute though b/c when she saw the doctor come in she looked at her and started signing the sign "all done". The doctor looked at her and said oh..she's doing something really cool with her hands and I told her that that was the sign for all done. She just smiled and said that I have one smart girl and wanted to know what other signs our diva knows. She knows the sign for milk, more, change (diaper), play, and sleep. She mainly only signs milk, more and all done though. On Sunday while my man was watching her our diva turned around in a circle on her tummy. She also scooted back while she was on the hardwood floor. She has also had her first "booboo". She took a flying leap forward while seating on the floor and hit one of the round toys. It just left a little bruise on the top of her eyelid. Oh well. I'm sure it's the start of many.
Our princess is enjoying being in school. She also loves it that I have piano students b/c that means she gets to have mini playdates through out the week. She is also starting to read really well. I'm so proud of her. She is such a big help and she's getting so independent, which could either be good or bad depending on the day. :) She's doing pretty good with reading 15 minutes a night for at least 5 times a week and she's doing better about going to bed. Of course her motivation is that if she's good about it then on Saturdays she gets to play the wii. Yep, we are bribing our kids. :) Also, if she wants to watch a movie or play a game with us (card or board) she has to have read her 15 minutes before we play with her. I love being the parent although you have to enforce those rules also. :)
I'm doing pretty good. I've been keeping busy by consulting for the seminar coming up, teaching piano, doing Creative Memories, playing basketball and singing in a group and of course taking care of our two beautiful daughters and being a wife and housekeeper. It'll be nice when b-ball ends so that I'll have my Wed nights and Saturdays back although I enjoy the exercise and the friendships. My man will like it also b/c I'll be home. :)
My man is doing well. He's getting bombarded with work which is a good thing but it's a little stressful also. I know he wishes that it will slow down a little but I don't think that will ever happen. He's such a great father and I'm so glad that I married him. I'm so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father and for my Savior Jesus Christ. They sure know what they are doing. I hope that I can be like them one day. I know I have a ways to go. :)

January catchup

I figure I need to do some quick updating. Lots of fun things have been happening in our life. Our diva is growing up so fast. The other day while in the tub with her big sis she started kicking water at her sis after her sis started splashing her. The war was on. They took turns splashing each other it was so so cute. Also, on Tuesday she started doing rasberries. She just sticks out her tongue and goes at it. I've learned this is one way she tells me she is finished with her food especially the non milk kind. She's been trying new things. She loves squash, bananas-are ok, frozen strawberries (in a mesh teether toy), rice and oatmeal. Rice is getting too blah for her b/c she will eat a lot of the other food but rice only a little bit. Our princess is starting to read a lot more. She likes reading to our diva and our diva likes listening. She tries to hold the books like her big sis. Our diva also likes to sit and stand up all the time while holding our hands. She has started to take a few steps. I keep telling her she needs to crawl first but she wants to be just like her big sis. Heavenly Father has truly blessed me with two beautiful daughters.
This past week has been really weird. On Tuesday we got our first "snow storm"-about 3 inches. Our princess got off school early. Then on Wednesday b/c it rained on Tuesday night which made a icy covering on the snow got her first snow day. Which for the school district she is in is unusual. Everywhere else they close the schools but our school is usually always in school. Then Thursday and Friday were teacher prep days. Boy am I going to be happy when school is back in session. :) Although it's been nice to sleep in (well as much as I can) and not have to worry about working around her schedule with our divas feeding schedule. Our princess has loved today since she was able to play her game (Princess adventure game) on the wii. Normally we have to set up the projector but her daddy set it up on the computer which was nice.

Something funny that happened around Christmas time was that while we were traveling back from my moms our princess said "I just saved "our divas"(name substituted) life". My man and I looked at each other. She continued and said that she put the hood of the carseat up so that "she didn't get blind". We had been talking to her about watching out for her little sis b/c the sun can hurt hers and our eyes if we look at it directly. The things they remember...

I'll have to post pics next time. I have some cute ones of the girls around christmas time and also ones of their first "real snow" which stuck on the ground.

December thanks

It's December. Where has the time flown? We've already flown past Thanksgiving which was awesome. We went to my man's uncle's home. I really enjoyed spending time with family and talking with all of the cousins. There were 3 babies there which was nice. My man did his black friday shop a thon. He went to the first store at midnight and shopped till about noon. Then he went to bed at 1pm for a couple of hours. This was the first time that I didn't do some kind of black friday shopping with him since we were married. (I don't count our first black friday together b/c neither one of us went shopping). He pretty much finished our Christmas shopping. It was rather nice not to have to worry about it. Last week Our princess was home all week with a cold. Her cough seemed worse at night time but during the day it seemed a little bit better. She liked to borrow my computer during the day so I couldn't get on so she could watch Silverhawks, Thundercats, She-ra and He-man. All shows that my man "showed" her and she really likes. She also got to read to our diva which was fun to hear her do that. But boy was I happy that this week she went to school. It was actually pretty good especially today. My man had off and we went thru the gifts to see which ones went to whom. We started wrapping them especially the ones to our princess from Santa. It's good to get at least some of this out of the way so we don't have to stay up late on Christmas Eve doing it. I still can't believe that Christmas is in 6 days. That's wild. After I picked up our princess from her bus stop, I was supposed to pick up my sister at the airport but I guess Rhode Island got some snow and her flight was canceled so she's not coming. I'm a little sad b/c I haven't seen her for at least a year and she really wanted to see "our princess" and "our diva". I wish she lived closer.

Our diva is doing pretty good. She's teething now which isn't fun at all but she likes to grab hold of our hands while sitting on our lap and she pulls herself to a standing position. She also likes to look at herself in the mirror and laughs and smiles. She's such a cutie. She doesn't like tummy time a lot b/c pretty much every time I put her there she rolls over to her back. Last night Diva gave me a good present. She slept 10 hours. I got to sleep 7 & 1/2 of those hours. Let me tell you...I felt really good. I was more alert than I have been for awhile that's for sure.

This evening was fun to spend together as a family. My man told our girls a story about the true meaning of christmas and what all of the symbols mean. It was great to hear it again. I hope you all are having a great time and that the Lord blesses you with all of the blessings that you need at this time. I'm truly grateful for this time and season. For my two miracles and my man. I'm grateful for my friends and family members and for everything they do for me. I'm grateful for my Savior for his atoning sacrifice. I love him and I'm grateful for all of the blessings that he has given me and my family. May your hearts be turned to him during this season and always I pray.

Happy Days

This past week and a half has been very busy. Between My moms & my b-day, Halloween, traveling, etc. It's been a lot of fun. I've got to tell you my "wahoo" moment at the pump. I paid only 1.97 in gas. One more incentive to travel 2 1/2 hours to visit my parents. :) I was so excited since gas across the street from us is: 2.49.
Our princess for Halloween was Superspy Sam. Between Trunk or treat at the church (which my hubby decorated our trunk and we won the "smoke and mirror" award), the carnival at the Community Center and Trick or treating in our neighborhood, she recieved 2 big bowls of candy and $1. Someone was passing out $1. All our princess had to do was trade a piece of candy for it. She traded 1 mini twix for a one dollar bill. She sure got "her money's worth". I like that trade. I had walked to the townhome with my other daughter in her snuggli and she received a dollar also. Getting paid to go trick or treating. That's my kind of deal. :) Our diva was dressed up as Eeyore. Both were as cute as can be. This weekend I traveled down to my parents since the princess had monday and tuesday off. It was lots of fun hanging out with my family. Also, my other brother got to see our diva for the first time. I also introduced him and his significant other to the mexican train game. They loved it. The first night my bro beat us but then I wised up b/c the next night I let him hold our diva the first two rounds and you know what...I beat him. I'll have to remember that for next time. :)

Our princess & diva hanging out



Diva in her Eyore costume

Blessings

On Sunday, we blessed our diva. It was such a beautiful blessing. I'm so grateful for the priesthood power and that my hubby holds it. We had friends and family over after Sacrament Meeting. It was great seeing everyone and we missed those who live to far away to come.
Our family

Me and the girls

Me and our girls
As you can see...I trimmed my hair. What's funny is it's pretty much the same haircut that I had when I met my hubby for the first time except for my hair was a little bit longer. :) But I like it this way although I need to take a little more time to do my bangs.


On Monday for Columbus day we went with some friends to Great Falls on the Marland side for a picnic and walk. It was lots of fun. My hubby took some great pics.

New baby..no sleep

Boy did I forget how it was when I had "princess". I guess it has been SIX years. We had our new bundle last Sunday on the 24th at 8:44 a.m. On her due date. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and measured 20 inches long. For this blog she'll be known as our "diva". Why the name? Well, its seems like we have a star in the making-everything dramatized. For the 1st couple of days she has been starving. I've had to supplement her with formula on top of what I've fed her. When she was crying it sounded like a high pitch squeak like a mouse or a very high soprano. I've also have had to bring her into bed with me so that I can get some sleep, if not she wants to be fed every 2 hours and that results in no sleep for mom since feeding and burping and changing diapers last at least 45 minutes. But, I wouldn't give her up in any way, shape or form. She is such a blessing and I'm very grateful to have her. It also makes me grateful for my mom. She had 6 kids, which before I was 6 she had had 4 kids. That's amazing especially since they didn't have an epidural like we have them. Isn't technology and medicine great? Well, the princess is happy that she has a baby sister (you can e-mail me for her name). She's like a little mom. I have to watch her though...she might take over my job. ;) I'll try to post a pic soon. Need to go get that much needed sleep.

Awesome Week

This past week we were able to enjoy a week of relaxation and fun on the beach. I love the beach. The "girls" went up on Monday and the "boys" staggered in. We got to shop at great prices, ride the waves, play games, eat lots of junk food, talk, relax and enjoy each others company. I even got to "ride" a little bit on the boogie board. Being 7 months pregnant, I had to be very careful. I just got up sooner than everyone else did and I didn't wait for the big "wave". We got back on Saturday. Then on Sunday, "My man" and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. We went to church then after dinner of grilled pizza (My man loves our grill) and our home teacher dropping by, we went up to the temple with our 6 year old daughter. We visited the visitor center and saw an exhibit featuring Pres. Hinkley. We also took some awesome family pics and "our princess" took a couple of her mommy & daddy in some of the same posses and places we did 7 years ago. I'm so grateful for the church and for my family. I've been very blessed with a wonderful companion and a wonderful family.

June

It's been a record high out here with a heat index of 105 for both Monday and Tuesday. If this is a sign of what is to come. Count me out. :) I guess I have to just deal with it right? It seems the other day it was May and now it's June. Before I know it August will be here, and life will be no longer as I know it. "Time" just seems to be passing me by. I wish I could grab a hold of it and stop time or if not stop it add some more time to my day. I never seem to have enough of it.

June is a time to celebrate summer and Fathers. Father's are such an important part of my life and I'm so grateful for each father that I know and have. The first one I can recall is my own father. My dad is such an awesome dad. He has taught me so much. He's always there for me when I need him. While I was growing up, he was the one I could turn to if I needed to get some deep answers especially about the scriptures or different things that were happening in my life at that time. "My Man" is also a great father. He plays a lot with "Our Princess" and teaches her different things. He also has a lot of patience with her. He's also a great helpmate, companion, sweetheart, and the list goes on. What a man! And last but not least is my Heavenly Father. He has done so much for me and I'm ever grateful for all that he has done and for all the wonderful people he has put in my life. I'm also grateful that he sent his only begotten son down to earth to be a great example but also to suffer in Gethsemane for our sins and to die on the cross so that we may live again. I love these great men in my life. I hope and pray that I will always be worthy of their love.

On a different note, I can't believe that "Our princess" will graduate from Kindergarten this Friday and be in 1st grade this next fall. She's growing up and sometimes I don't want this to happen. I want to keep her sweet and innocent. Although at times she seems like she's 6 going on 13. Oh, I hope that she'll still want to give me hugs and kisses and cuddle with me and talk with me when she gets that age. I guess only time will tell. There's that T word again. "Time". And on that note it's time to log off.

Is it a boy or girl?????

Well, the last time I went to the doctor in April it took two different technicians, two and half hours and 149 pictures to tell me the baby is fine but we don't know what it is. (Other than a baby of course) Well, yesterday I went in and the doctor took a peek. She didn't see anything in between the legs so it must be a girl but...if it's a boy don't be mad at me. Funny how when you want to really know the baby will be modest. My feelings are that this one will be a girl. Now, we get to hunt for names. Any ideas? I'm open for them. :) As long as they are cute. :)

Gratitude

I have been blessed with many great blessings of lately. I have great friends that I can talk to and that are always willing to help out. I'm also 5 months pregnant with our second child hoping that we'll be able to find out what our "bundle of joy" will be. I'm also grateful for my Savior and for everything he has done for me. For knowing me and for having gone through all the pain that I'm to endure in this life and having endured more pain than I'm ever going to have to endure. He knows each of us individually and knows what we can and can't handle in our lives. He is so awesome. I can't think of another word that would describe how I feel about him. I'm grateful for a special daughter who is so loving and cute and for a loving hubby that is so awesome. I'm so grateful that we are married for all time and all eternity. I'm grateful for the beautiful weather we are having, for the beautiful flowers and trees. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much. And if I haven't told you lately, Thank you for being such a great friend.

Yesterday we were privileged to see a baby blessing of one of our dear friends. This family has been trying for 6 years to have a child and they were blessed with one. Heavenly Father is truly a Miracle Worker. We were also blessed to hang out with some great friends this weekend. We are ever grateful for friends who will come and bring food to share to grill with us. Life is grand. Hopefully soon I'll post pics of all the great things that I get to enjoy in my life.

March

Isn't March a beautiful month. There are some pretty flowers blooming and it's a tid bit warmer. Not quite short weather but close. Although I don't know how forward I'm looking towards summer b/c of the pregnancy. Life is going well with us. "Princess" will be turning 6 next month and she is so excited to become a big sister in August. We'll also be finding out next month what we are having. Yipee!! "My Man" is still working for the gov. He enjoys it. Also since the last time I posted we bought a townhome. We enjoy the area and we love being able to walk to different activities. I also enjoy walking with my walking buddies. We try to go every week day depending on our schedules. I've been a little busy. I teach piano, I'm an assistant teacher at a jewish nursery school, work at a non profit office doing data entry and other projects, I'm a Creative Memories Consultant, a mom and a wife, I go to church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and participate in church activities. I think that's all my jobs and responsibilities. I think when the wee one comes I might not do as many jobs but we'll see. :) I like to be kept busy expecially since Princess is in Kindergarten this year. Wouldn't want to be sitting around like a couch potato, right?

First time

This is a pic of our "Princess" from when she was at preschool. I'm trying this out for the first time. I've heard a lot of people use it and thanks to Erin I'm going to try it. We are doing great as a family. "My man" has a new job for the gov. Yipee!!! "Princess" just turned 4 in April and she's as cute as ever. I'm teaching piano, watching my neices and the big news is....I'm a Creative Memories Consultant. I'm so excited. I love their products and I'm excited to use them and to share them with others. Hope all is well.
Mama mia