Prose and Melody

Pictures November-February

2012-02-12T13:28:00.001-08:00

Here are the pictures I promised!

Here are a few updates that are really current:

Prose got released as the Second Counselor in the bishopric to be the Young Men's President. So still not a lot of time I get back with him...but slightly a little more...I think. Today I think I've actually seen him less. But here's a HUGE "plus." He gets to sit with us during sacrament meeting! I forgot what that was like!

I think our house is infested with cats. First of all, I have inherited my grandfather's genes in that I hate cats. I really do, sorry. And they are everywhere outside. Seriously, I'm going to call the pound. They are outside our windows, especially at night and they meow but it's more like a moan and it's the SAME pitch as when Mico whines when he wakes up from sleeping so we always have to listen if it's him or the cats. ....and it's always the cats now.

Did I tell you that I joined BNI? It's a growing experience and I really like feeling like a professional in my area of choice. They have been supportive enough, but I really need to help them understand how to refer people to me because it is something none of them really understand.

Mico is praying! We started him off by having him repeat each word when we prayed and he would get so mad if it was one of our turns to pray and not his. He wanted to pray every time. So we let him! And just a few days ago, he turned it on us and my husband was repeating every word after HIM! He's not quite yet able to pray by himself though he could. He wants us to repeat him. So his prayers go something like this:
Nosso Pai Celestial, Agradecemos...[I don't want to give away their full names] P____, J_____, E_____, L_____, Ti Tia, Tio D___, Vovo, Vovo, Mamae, Papai, (Nummi), eu, Dora the Explorer [yes, not just Dora, Boots, or Tico, but their full titles], Boots the Monkey, Benny the Bull, Tico the Squirrel, Isa the Iguana...em nome de Jesus Cristo...amen!

Here's our MUCH improved new kitchen! (Well, I need a more current picture because this doesn't have the dishwasher or mini freezer (for our food storage).

Nummi looking so handsome in his church outfit! (this is about 4 months...I think the outfit is for 6-9)

My husband had been doing so much for our family that I wanted to thank him, so one day he came home to this! (bag says "World's Greatest Husband")
He loves persimmon, so I found one, and also passion fruit, and I found some jelly and curd. Yum!
My birthday breakfast!
Nummi exercising and almost rolling over.
He's such a happy baby. LOVE him!

This is how we spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws. In fact, they shot to fatted calf and took a whole afternoon cutting it up and my 5 and 7 year old nephews were putting the pieces into the meat grinder so we could take home ground beef. I think we have enough to last us until next thanksgiving!

Nummi doesn't like to just sit (though he's more likely to do that than my other son at his age). This is him flailing his arms around to try and grab something...anything.

I have to tell you about our ward Christmas party. I was a little late because I was at the Star Consultant Party, but I left that early to come join my family and wow. I have never had such a good time since singles/youth dances. Miami Mormons know how to party! lol Mico was running around with some children in the Primary room (we checked on him every once in a while) and my nanny just loves Nummi so much that she held him while my husband took me out on the dance floor. I was in my AWESOME HOT new peep toe platform wedge high heels and I did not sprain my ankle! I was dancing like a Cuban (well, not really), and it was just such a long time that I've been able to dance like that. They even had a fog machine. In all my years, I have never seen such a ward party.

Ok, funny story. So Mico LOVES Dora, right? Well we were in the waiting room of the Dentist and he points to this and says, "Spooky Forest!" You gotta love assimilation!
I couldn't get one without him picking his nose!

Arriving at Vovo's for Christmas. He loves Vovo and his truck and the animals.
Christmas dinner table in their outdoor kitchen.
The tree.
Christmas Eve.

Mico was introduced to Santa, who came from the "Pole North" and had a pretty heavy Latino accent. :) All the rest of the cousins got it. But Mico was just enchanted with him. When Santa went upstairs to get Vovo, Mico followed him to the bottom of the steps and just had this sad look on his face that he had to leave!

Now Mico has a back pack just like Dora!
Had church in the morning, so came home to take a family photo (the family grows every year!)
Baby's first Christmas

We thought this was an awesome gift for my brother-in-law (dentist-to-be), just something great he could display at his house or put in his future office, idk...

But he was nice enough to let the kids play with it since they thought it was so cool.

After the in-laws, we got on a plane with our TWO sons (I am never flying with them by myself, I could barely handle it with my husband even helping me!) and went to Vegas! Nummi was sooooo good on the plane, even when we had stopovers. People said they'd never seen such a well-behaved baby. I was so proud of my son. And Mico just loved the "aviao." To this day, he asks if we are going on the aviao. He loved the whole airport experience. And he was well-behaved too.
Here's Grandpa!

And Great-grandpa!

And Papai!

From left to right: Brother-in-law, his wife my sister (she's pregnant!), and my other sister.

Great-grandma's gifts to my sons. I LOVE these jackets. They are so stylish and not too heavy for Miami, but just right for when it gets chilly.

The four sisters...j/k (my mom just looks so young)

What a great thing to see friends. If we were going to have a pre-arranged marriage for Nummi, this little girl would be his future wife.

This is how young my mom looks. That's her with my brother-in-law showing her how to do something with the camera I think.

I almost didn't go with my family (jet lag, I was soooo tired) to go ice skating but I'm so glad we did because it was such a great time. We were going to take turns watching Mico, but the skate rental guy was SOOO nice and let Mico skate for free! He loved it!

We flew back in time for J____'s baptism. I had such a fun time putting together his baptism book and recording the dates, thoughts, and feelings, and program, etc. of his special day. And here is the amazing cake my mother-in-law made!

Back home, Nummi started wiggling out of his carseat. We looked over, and he made his way onto the floor!

Just to show you how chunky my baby is...

So I mentioned in my previous post that my Grandpa (mom's side) passed away. I was going to go to that funeral. First of all, I grew up with him and let me tell you, he is a special man. Second, my Grandma is one of my best friends, like a second mother (I felt so at home when I could go to her house when I was attending BYU). So we were sooooo blessed (thank you Southwest!) that my uncle got me and Nummi (like I said, I was only traveling with one, so we drove up to Orlando to drop off Mico at his cousin's where he enjoyed a week running around with them and my husband went back down for school rotations) two seats round trip to SLC. What blessings from the Lord.
The funeral was Monday and I didn't know how long anyone was staying, but I knew that I was staying until Thursday at least because I remember how many things there were to do after my grandma lost her mother. And now she was going to have to do the whole thing over again for her husband. I knew I couldn't do anything with the funeral home, government-related stuff, etc. but if I could even cook meals, wash dishes, write some thank-you notes, address envelopes, and just keep her company, I knew her spirits would be lifted. And I'm so glad I did because it was like everyone came and as soon as the funeral was over, they left. If it was me, that would have been the most depressing thing and I would have felt so empty. My mom stayed too and we all had such a good time while it lasted. And they just adored Nummi, saying once again, he was the most well-behaved baby.
It was brought to my remembrance, that in his baby blessing, Nummi was told he would bring joy to the lives of others. In only five months of his life, this was the second instance I saw that fulfilled. It was such a good thing for my grandma to have him around. He brought smiles in ways that countered the sad situation. It was "Baby Therapy" for us!
On Wednesday, we were running errands and my poor mother was driving us around and got pulled over for having tinted windows too dark. As if she needed that right then. When the policeman walked back to his car, we talked about letting him know that her dad passed away, and I calmly suggested her what to say, and she was just in tears. My heart went out to her and my grandma because it was a week ago to the day that he had passed. The policeman asked if we happened to have proof of the funeral and since I put everything in my awesome purse, I found my program and he let her go with a warning. I tell you this not to embarrass anyone, but for journal purposes because this is something that we went through together and we had so many experiences I never want to forget.
People said it was the most beautiful funeral they ever saw (and some of these people have been to many!) I, personally, had one of the most reflective and relaxing times of my life. I learned so much and was so inspired by it all to go home and change what I needed to in my life. Though I missed my family terribly, and I still do.

What an amazing idea, to have a drawer in the casket, where you can leave a parting message to the deceased.
If you don't mind, I'd like to share mine:

Dearest Grandpa,
My first memory of you is thinking you looked like Santa Claus. As your oldest grandchild, I felt like I got to spend many years with you, and remember developing a close, spiritual bond with you. You used to always talk about the gospel, in every conversation you had with me. Something you said over and over again was that you couldn't wait to pass on to the other side of the veil to be greeted by your father, and many other friends and family members. I don't know why, but that always touched my heart and made me think of the bigger picture. You talked to my spirit when you spoke of spiritual things beyond the veil. Now, you are there and I am sure it was even more wonderful than you expected. Grandpa, you were the most righteous man I have ever known. You were always patient, kind, caring, and most of all, loving. Your actions were always full of service. I never saw you do one thing for yourself. I just want to take this time to thank you for raising such a wonderful woman to be my mother. Everything you did for her, the values you taught her, the lady she became because you treated her like one, and for making her go to BYU-she has been able to be an example for so many people because you were an example for her. I'm not sure how much people who pass on see what the people they left do on the earth, and I would like to say sorry for my mistakes you will see, but I am trying, and hope to become as great of a person as you on the inside because you were at peace. I love you so much and look forward to seeing you again in the next life. It will be a great reunion.
Love,
Melody

My grandma is the best. Though she had a lot to do, she let me take the time to get a much-needed haircut. I need some slammin' hair. This is what is looks like now (un-styled)

So...back in Miami, here are some more pictures. This is Mico, and he fell asleep in the car because he refused to take his nap at home. We found him like this:

This pajama party was another turning point in my business. It gave me to motivation to go and do it!

Again, such a happy baby!

We went for playgroup to a fire station and Mico was so excited by the camiao de fogo. And the outro camiao de fogo!

Story. Ok, so we all gather outside far away from the hose and they proceed to show us and the kids how far the hose shoots. And all the kids were like, awesome! And I see my son make his way to the front of the crowd. I got it on video but I can't figure how to upload it from my phone. But I see him go to the front and then the hose is turned off. Well he is a curious, independent, confident, audacious, precocious, go-getter! Because he breaks off from the crowd and goes up to the fireman, and you can just put words in his mouth as you watch him.
"Hey, that was pretty cool! The water!"
"Yeah? You liked that?"
"Yeah." (pointing) "Can you show me how to do it?"
"Sure!" (takes him over and lets him pull back the lever, and thus the following picture)
Yep, I was a proud mom that day.

Mico sometimes takes two showers a day...

I thought I'd put in my Mary Kay "before and after," but I thought it would be interesting to do an after, and then before!
Makeup makes a difference! As someone once said, she went to Publix and most women were not wearing makeup! And in her words, "It wasn't pretty!"

Love my boys!

I decided to make this with playdough and see if Mico could recognize it, and he did! Boots the Monkey!

Here is a Valentines basket I made for a BNI member who needed to bring something to an auction.

My sister-in-law gave us a tea set and I remembered those times when you were a little girl and you had tea parties and played with makeup! Well, I decided to throw a "Big Girls" Night In Tea Party (no kids!) and it was so fun! Only two out of the eight girls I invited showed up but we had a blast.

And finally, this past weekend was Auri Hatheway's National Debut and it was huge. I got to see some great Nationals, including Gloria Mayfield Banks and she is AWESOME! They had a fleet of cars earned showcased for you to see and I just fell in love with this license plate.

I have been so tired lately and my sons are sick, so I'm going to bed! Good night!

So Much Has Happened...

2012-01-30T18:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it, in a couple of days, Nummi will be 6 months old! I usually would feel like a horrible person for not keeping up with our family journal, but I have to say, it is for a good reason. Not only have I been super busy with absolutely not a second to get on blogger, but I have been in the process of reflection, change, self-improvement, adjusting my thoughts and really, a lot of maturing, I think. Warning! The following has a LOT of very personal information. Your opinion of me may be different!

The change that has come was brought on, yes, and you may be tired of hearing this, but God placed Mary Kay in my life because He knew that it was something I needed to do to change my life. I used to think of women who work and leave their kids with a nanny or day care were only respectable if they had to work because their husband did not have a job that could really support the family. I wrote a research paper in college about attachment and working mothers with children. I told myself, if I ever decided to work, it would be after I was a mom and the kids were either in school or grown up. I believed deep in my heart that children who have their moms at home do better in school, have better behavior, and form better relationships.

Then I had kids.

All of a sudden I was not in the life that I had always expected. Motherhood is dang hard! When people say you need time for yourself, they are right! And "time for yourself" doesn't satisfy when it's your child's naptime and you are exhausted and want to sleep, need to use the time to clean, or be on the computer. I found myself so overwhelmed with motherhood that I became depressed and lonely. And I have been slipping into that state ever since. I eat a lot, I watch TV to pass the time, escape the world, and to cope. I don't have the patience to sit down and play with my children-it's just not in my personality. (If you hadn't noticed, this is confession time!) I had a ton of things to do but couldn't do them because there was too much time! Can you believe that? It's true! Busier women get more done in less time.

And what would happen was I would go go go and do do do that I would crash and for a few days rest and recover...then I would have so much to do because time slipped away and it would happen all over again. I felt lazy, ungodly, guilty, and I was really going nowhere in life. I wished a lot of things.

I joined Mary Kay and it got me out of my slump a bit, but I would dip back in now and then. I guess I was committed but not really because I could not bring myself to change some bad habits. I was stuck. During the last 3 months or so, I have been making changes here and there inside myself because I really do want a better life for myself. I want to be a good person. I want to show my children what hard work is. I want to show them what setting goals, not procrastinating, failing, trying harder again, and achieving is like. When they see their mom, I want them to think I am a strong woman. And lately I've been making those changes.

Some of those changes I never ever saw myself doing and am a little embarrassed by some because we really don't have the money, but they are decisions we have made that have allowed me to change, be happy, and grow my business. We have, hired a nanny for 4 hours a day, hired someone to come clean the house twice a month, and the most expensive of all, I have joined BNI. Already it has paid off. I am in the company of professionals who take their business seriously and challenge me to do the same. I had better step it up if I don't want to be wasting money. If I have a nanny, I had better be out there making contacts, doing facials, and growing my business to pay for it! After 4 hours without the kids, I come home and I am SIGNIFICANTLY happier the rest of the day than if I had them all day. I am happy to see them and they are happy to see me! I don't think there is an attachment issue at all! And my feelings of guilt that someone else is doing my job as a mom for me are not very big. In fact, I welcome it for a few hours! I have to say, the biggest come-around attitude change was just recently, when my grandpa passed away. There was something about that funeral that made me want to go home and really change my ways. I think I just don't want to disappoint my grandpa who may be watching from above. Or maybe that he led such a great life and I want mine to be the same way. Or I learned that he appreciated the finer things in life and that quality mattered to him. One way or the other, I had an awakening to go forth and improve myself even more.

There are some adjectives I am going to use to describe myself that are the complete opposite of what I used to be.

Confident (Just know the opposite of this word and that's what I was)

Mature (I've definitely grown up a bit)

Business Woman (Now I understand the way business people think! There's a whole different level of education out there when you are part of a business)

Happy (much less depressed)

Independent (I used to emotionally depend on my husband too much)

Hard Worker (not a lazy bum)

Social (able to go up and start talking to anybody! approach people!)

Hopeful (that my future is bright, I can make a difference in people's lives, and I am forming good habits of self-improvement...I'm seizing the day!)

Beautiful (when my husband says I'm beautiful, I say "thank you!" and I believe him!)

Kind (This business forces you to be nice to people, on the road, in the store, etc. and it forces you to smile more!)

Positive (in this business, you find the worst pessimist, like me, turning things around to stay positive. It's one of the hardest things and the biggest change I've made)

Productive (I am getting more done and I am committed to this change!)

I won't stop until I am speaking to thousands of women and inspiring them to motivate themselves and do what they need to do to make a good income, help their kids to go to college, get to their dream home, get out of that abusive relationship, be able to quit the job they hate so much, make an executive income and still be a great mom, donate to charities, supplement their average income, find their inner beauty, overcome their shyness, find their confidence, and live their dream!

And during it all, I give all the glory to God. For though I know that He has His church on the earth today and the gospel does wonders, I needed something to help me live those commandments. God doesn't want me to be lazy. So He put something in my life to motivate me to work hard and get out of being lazy. I want to keep His commandments and this is my way of doing just that. I have had a change of heart (Alma 5) and am trying to repent and learn good habits. I'm not perfect and still have a lot to work on, but I am finally, after I have wasted so much time, turning over that new leaf. I pray I am able to reach all my goals and turn into the woman the God intended for me to be!

Soon I will post about our family, complete with pictures!

Baby Number 2's Blessing

2011-10-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

I thought I already posted about this! This post should come between my last two postings. My family came for the baby blessing and I was sooo happy to see them. We had a lot of fun together and I miss them so much. Nummi was given his baby blessing that Sunday and afterward, we had family over for a little celebration in our tiny home!

(This is a Moby wrap I made...much cheaper than buying it!)

Neat Experience

2011-10-02T16:57:00.001-07:00

Prose- So this week I had a great experience while spending the Friday at school to study. One of the associate deans of the medical school asked me to take a minute to speak to some interviewees about the medical school. I was wearing a shirt that I had gotten as BYU for donating some blood. it was a kind of cheesy shirt that says I bleed blue and white and says BYU on it. in any case, one of the interviewees asked me if I had studied there and asked me if I was LDS. I told her I was and she seemed to be very excited.
She went on to explain how she had spent some time serving in Ghana doing some volunteer work with some members of the church and that despite her lack of being very religious, she admired them and thought they were some of the hardest working people she had ever met.
I thanked her for the kind words and left pensive about her experience. it is amazing how members of the church can accomplish so much and impress so many people for good just by the lives they lead.
I hope to always be able to live up to examples like the one that clearly left a lasting impact on this young medical school interviewee. Ultimately I hope to live up to the Savior's example and his expectations of me as one of his disciples.

Two Months in and Rotting House

2011-10-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

Two months! Just about! Yes, it has been crazy and eventful around here. I'm sure I have a lot to say but just can't remember right now. My oldest son...ok, I've got to develop nicknames for our sons so I'm not just saying oldest son and youngest son, or baby...just so you know who I'm talking about. So. Let it be known my oldest son is Mico, and my newborn son is Nummi.

Ok, so Mico has been talking more and more and acting VERY stubborn, so there is a lot more discipline we need to use. Like helping him not whine (oh, I HATE whining!) and using a nice voice and to say "por favor." Other things are like not climbing up on the "mesa" and not touching the computer buttons and obeying our directions right away. Unfortunately, it's hard for me because I know have two children and therefore less control, so my patience is even shorter, if that was possible. Some things I was able to get over, like Mico eating food off the floor, I have regressed and can't stand. Other things are sticky hands and a dirty face. Or even him acting a certain way. It truly tries your limits as a mom and as a person. If it weren't for Prose...hmmm, I don't know. I'd probably lose it altogether. :)

But...children are also a joy. Mico can do some pretty cute things and really is a good boy. I'm trying to raise him with a perfect combination (driven, stubborn, and curious, but also disciplined and with self-control), but still hoping not to pass along some bad habits of mine (namely impatience and stress)-ha! And Nummi is soooo cute. He's just a good little baby. He makes cute sounds, he's great to cuddle with, and well, just dang cute! He's got beauooootiful eyes and great hair. Yup, my kids are going to be heartbreakers.

In many ways Nummi and Mico are opposites. For one, Nummi looks more like me and Mico looks more like Prose. Here's a picture of me as a few days-week old baby, and the baby in the corner is Nummi at two weeks:

More opposites: Mico would cry and scream all the way, but Nummi will cry and then stop after a bit. Mico is crazy and all over the place, and Nummi is calm, chill, and for the most part will be able to sit in his chair or rocker so I can attend to Mico or household chores or errands. Nummi has a lot of hair that never fell out, and Mico went bald after birth. Nummi also keeps me up more at night than Mico did. Nummi eats well and is a little fatty and Mico ate often, but never really gained the weight. It's easy to help relieve Nummi of gas, and Mico had colic all the time and we could never get it out. However, as Nummi gets older, I think he's becoming more and more like Mico. He'll cry longer and he's alert. I guess that's it for now...

Let me tell you, though. Nummi, at 8 weeks weighed 14 lbs. 12 oz. That's in the 95th percentile. His height is over the 100th percentile and head circumference is in the 75th. For at least a week now, he's been solidly wearing 6 month old clothing. I imagine he and Mico will be sharing clothes.

I've got lots of pictures to share. They are pretty much in chronological order from about end of August to yesterday (October 1).

To start out, this is the stroller we were able to get with some help from family members. It is so the boys can get outside, I can keep my sanity because they are both buckled in, and also so I can exercise and burn off that baby/pregnancy/and other fat! I was so excited to get it, but knew I had to wait until 6 weeks postpartum to use it.

We visit my husband at his medical school every once in a while and Mico always likes to climb inside the lockers in the Panther Community rooms.

So I've got a pretty good amount of students (7 and two of them take both piano and voice). This picture was during a lesson. I turned around and Mico was trying to give Nummi some of my pumped milk! So cute!

The brothers. Mico loves his brother. He gives him kisses and hugs, but sometimes they are a little too hard and his affections end up hurting Nummi. I don't want to discourage him from loving his brother, but have to teach him to be softer! I found them like this after I went to wash my hands after changing Mico's diaper. (I set Nummi in Mico's bed while I change Mico's diaper.)
At the base of his finger, you will see it red and swollen where he got his first wasp sting. Poor guy, hurt so bad. I got ice cream for my first bee sting, so luckily we had leftover ice cream cake from a labor day visitor (Prose's mentor in school and her new adopted daughter).

I finally felt comfortable taking my children out for a playdate. I LOVE this place. You can sit while your kid goes crazy. :) Perfect for me.

After I left the playdate, I found this foot place that had the orthodics I've been looking for for months now, since my old ones of 10 year, yes, that's right, 10 YEARS (I like to make things last), have developed a crack. They have more of an arch support and are the same size and same material. That was important to me. Like I said, I like to make things last, so I'm going to wear my old ones out until I can't use them any more and then I'll have the new ones ready!

You may be wondering how I am doing with my Mary Kay business with having two children now. With more support from my husband, I am doing pretty well. I don't think I'll be a director just yet, but I'm going to get there one day. Right now I am a Red Jacket and below is a picture of our Holiday Expo event we had.

I love being a part of something. I feel important, fulfilled, and like I'm doing something productive with my life. I am adding to my family's income, changing lives, changing my own, growing into a better, more mature person...I really need this push. It's HARD. Nothing good in life is ever easy. Hmmm, scratch that. Nothing is easy. What I'm saying is nothing starts off easy. You really want something? You have to work at it. Mary Kay has forced me (they don't force, I choose to take the encouragement and do something with it) to be more confident, social, less insecure about myself, and it has given me a great education on dealings with people, business, and life. I am learning and growing and one day will become a better woman than I am now. Already, Prose says it's amazing how I can just go up to people and ask them to come get a facial. Let me tell you I still get soooo nervous and I hate doing it (both he and I are extremely shy) but I noticed yesterday when I took my children to the park, I AM better at approaching people! Prose was saying the other day he's seen my growth and I see it too! I actually can talk to strangers better and hold a conversation longer than I used to be able. I don't know if that makes sense, but in this business, you have to like people. Because of some personal issues, I don't really like people. It's kind of like me verses them, and I know that sounds horrible, but like I said, I'm pretty shy, so maybe that's why, I don't know. So yesterday I was talking with someone and I realized I am beginning to be genuinely interested in other people. Yes, I know everyone has a story, but in my mind, they don't want to be bothered about it because nobody cares. Well I think I'm beginning to care. I think and hope I'm starting to like people.

I don't know how well these are in chronological order, but here are a few bed pictures. Sometimes we just hang out in bed. :)

Mico being cheered up with stickers at the store...

Yay! 6 weeks postpartum and I got to take out the stroller and exercise!

Oh the medical humor...this is on the desk of one of the doctors at Prose's GI rotation.

And this is what happens when you have two children and no time to wash dishes. When you finally get around to it...this is the end result.

Prose mentioned he had a birthday. Every year it's become a tradition for me to make an ice cream cake and take it to his school. the first year it was strawberry. the second it was marble. And this year it was vanilla and chocolate fudge.

Saturday mornings are interesting for us. Prose goes to play soccer and then comes home in enough time or meets me at the Beauty Center in enough time for me to have my weekly Mary Kay training meeting. He'll take the kids and we'll switch cars. He needs to leave at 9:45 to get there by 10. In the past, I've been a little late and he was waiting where he could have been playing soccer, so recently I've made it a point to get there on time. A week ago, I got there with the kids and we were waiting and waiting for him to show up. Yes, I have the air conditioning on in the car, but it's still hot and the car is idle and it's no fun for a kid and therefore me to be waiting that long doing nothing. I called and finally Prose called me back and said he decided to play to 10 because he really wanted to. By the time he got there, Nummi was crying, Mico was restless and whiny, and I was near crying. I was also mad. I told him it was rude of him. I know I'm rude too sometimes. I should just be grateful. After all he's watching the kids so I can go to my meeting. We're not perfect, but he realized it and felt sorry so he did something romantic. One of the most romantic things he's ever done! I went to my meeting and at noon I get a text saying I need to come home right now. I thought, oh no. Maybe the baby's crying and things are out of control. So I left and got to the car. On the steering wheel there was a gift certificate for a mani/pedi. (It's funny, as a side note, I only thought it was a pedi so I left and when I found out, I wanted my mani too! So I went back to get it because I didn't want to waste money or opportunity because it was my first time getting one.) Let me tell you, it was GOOD! So here is my pedi...

And here is my mani...I only had them paint it purple. I saved $5 and did the design myself.
That's right...I did the design myself!!!!!!!! Pretty good, huh? I love my nails! Because of the treatment I've been doing and because of the mani treatment, this week, I've felt like I had acrylics on the whole time!

Because Mico was driving me crazy and I had to get food on, I decided to involve him...(carefully)

Mico had blood drawn for the first time to test for routine lead poisoning since our house was built when lead-based paint was used. Since he knows what a needle is, when he saw it, we told him he was going to get ice cream afterwards (hmmm, we use ice cream as comfort food a lot, don't we? Maybe we'll have to think of something different). Well, it seemed to work fine.

Yesterday was the beginning of General Conference, of which I look forward to very much! But let me tell you what has been happening in our home. There's this moth-looking fly called a drain fly, and I didn't know that until yesterday morning. You see, we get a lot of moths here and I just thought it was a moth (which is common with this fly). But they seemed to reproduce before I could kill them all. We also noticed a smell when we opened our cupboards and our kitchen mat was constantly soaking but never getting dry. When we removed it, there was no water, so there must have been a small leak that evaporated but only collected when the mat soaked it in. The plumber came yesterday in between sessions and it turns out, to put it short, we have a leak and there is rotting wood and mold in between our kitchen and bathroom. We'll need a new kitchen and new bathroom. This may turn out to be a good thing...we'll have to see.

Half way through third year

2011-09-24T21:58:00.001-07:00

Prose - So this week begins my intersession week of my third year of medical school. With the third graduating class already in the grind, it's interesting to look back and see everything i've been through and learned. Some things i've been able to accomplish well and in others i've just barely scraped by. The most important thing to me, however, is that my family has a husband and father.
"No success outside the home will ever compensate for failure inside the home." I know this statement to be pure truth. And in in a society that's ever more dealing in the grey, it's nice to be able to have black and white to live by. And besides that, my little men are just so fun to hang out with!

On another note, since it's intersession week, I'll be picking my fourth year rotations tomorrow. That will be pretty exciting. Hopefully I get all of the slots I want. It's crazy to think that in just about a year and a half I'll be done with medical school.
ooh and I almost forgot, my birthday was this past week and Melody made a spectacular ice cream cake as usual. It was a hit. I had a good birthday despite having to study for an exam on the following day. One more year down, bring on the next!

Welcome Baby Number 2!

2011-08-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I wrote this yet, but for the sake of journaling and remembering what was going on during this time in our lives, I would like to tell about the situation we were in. First of all, I learned my doctor was not on call at any moment if I went into labor. He was off the weekend of my due date and therefore wanted me to be induced before. While I would have loved to have the baby early if he decided to come, I was stubborn and told him I would not be induced before my due date. So he said ok, but didn't like it. After the weekend would be perfect for our schedules anyway. Not only would my mother-in-law be here, but those three days after the weekend were the only ones my husband was going to get off, and he had to fight for those. They were only going to give him one-the day I delivered.

Well, it all worked out...

About 2 weeks ago (yes, it has taken me this long to post) I went to the hospital to be induced! I guess my babies don't come out without a little help-haha. I guess I knew everything would be fine if I waited until after my due date. Anyways, here I am before.

So, after being hooked up the monitor, it was the same story. Regular and frequent contractions, but not "labor" contractions. After talking to the doctor, we finally decided to go ahead with pitocin, which is funny, because we decided that would be the last resort, along with manually breaking my water. Breaking my water would be the absolute LAST thing, especially since I've heard so many people break the water too soon and don't have the baby within 24 hours so they have to go to C-section. I thought that all they have to do was soften my cervix and then everything would happen like last time, where my water would break on its own and then the baby would come out without any pitocin. But the nurse explained that the first time around, the cervix softens first and then you dilate, but the second time around, your dilate and the cervix softens with it. Here in Miami, there are way too many C-sections (it is a known fact) and I wanted to do everything possible to avoid it, though I know certain situations call for it. I knew my body was capable of delivering vaginally so I wanted to make sure it went that way again.

Me in labor. My husband thought it was funny..."Even when in labor, every woman should look beautiful with Mary Kay!"

So we went with the smallest pitocin dose, which was sooooo small! Something like 1 ml/hour. That got my contractions going, but not enough, so I consented for them to break my water (I know! Everything I said I wouldn't do!). Yes, I had an epidural...no regrets. It was so wonderful, except when it ran out and I felt every contraction full blown for about 30 minutes before they finally replaced with another bag. Then I felt GREAT! Totally worth it to me. After a while, with positioning, he finally came down. After wondering if I really would be able to deliver vaginally since we thought his head was too big, I finally reached a 10 and it was time to push. I pushed and pushed (the hardest part of having a baby) and decided to have an episiotomy, again...for which I have no regrets, and he came out! 15 minutes of pushing beats more than an hour last time.

He came out 8 lbs. 11 oz. (whew! yes, he was the biggest baby in the nursery) and 22 inches long. The chord was wrapped tight TWICE around his neck. The nurse told me that if they knew that, it was more than likely I would have gone immediately to a C-section. But the heart monitor didn't show he was in any danger so we were blessed. He is a strong boy!

Check this out. Remember this picture? (Maybe not...I don't remember if I ever posted it!) Anyways, this was my first son at 24 hours...
And this is my second son at 23 hours...CRAZY! But actually, they really don't look alike. Maybe they look similar, but they definitely have different features. But in these pictures, they look almost identical! My lactation consultant-in-training is holding him.

Brothers meet for the first time! My son took it really well. He loved to hold the baby and kiss him. We have been preparing him by pointing to my tummy and saying "baby (insert name)" and that he's going to come out. So when he came out, we called him the same thing so my son would maybe get the idea.

Getting ready to go home!

At home! Again, my first son was so great with the new baby! (The only thing he doesn't like is sharing his changing table...haha. And he gets a little jealous every once in a while, but overall, he's really great.)

He prefers our bed to his...means I don't get as much sleep...haha

Today, after Stake Choir practice. This is his classic face. He always looks so disgruntled. All the time...kinda funny...

Aaaaaaaand...yes, I still love doing my nails!
So, my mother-in-law came and she was planning on staying two weeks to help with my first son and cook and stuff, but she had a knee injury and I was getting the impression she would rather be at her house where she could work and take care of her house and garden and plants and knee, so I told her she could take my son and go up there for a week and bring him back in time for when my parents get here. So that's where we are now. I have almost fully recovered as far as pain goes. Today was my first day without any pain medication and I'm so proud of myself! It's been hard, but let me tell you, soooo much better than the first time! Circumstances are better and the whole process has been smoother, and I think it's partly because my body has done it before, and partly because I know how to care for myself better as well. I know how to manage my pain meds, clean "down there," actually use the Sitz Bath (love it!), and I can rest!

True, this baby is different. He wants to eat ALL the TIME!!! Like every hour almost. With my first, nights were better because he would eat and then go right to sleep. This little guy wakes up every hour to feed at night and then there is one stretch of 2 1/2-3 hours where he sleeps. It's interesting. I know a lot already, which makes things easier and less stressful, but I'm still learning a lot this time around as well.

Monkey Jungle

2011-07-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

J/k, I guess I'm not posting now about the baby...I just had to get these pictures up because they are so cute. We decided to splurge and go to the Monkey Jungle here in South Miami as a birthday gift for our son. My husband thought it was the perfect gift and I couldn't agree more. Our son loves animals, especially dogs, ducks, and monkeys. So to take him to see the "macacos" was a real treat for him. Way expensive, but this was a special occasion for a one-time thing, especially since he'd get in for free.
The best part was having the little cups on a chain where you can feed the monkeys as you take your tour. That was his favorite thing to do! He wanted to feed the monkeys all day long!

And this is later that day when I told him we were going to go out to the store so he needed to get his shoes. I guess he decided it didn't matter which shoes he got, as long as they were shoes!

Waiting and 2nd Birthday "Party"

2011-07-28T18:53:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday to my son! It's not till this weekend, but I don't know if I'll be having the baby then or not!

So, we've just been waiting, and waiting, and waiting...but it seems like history is wanting to repeat itself. I'm having contractions, and pretty frequent, but no ripening or dilation. If baby's not out by Monday, I'll be induced. In the meantime, I've been NESTING! Wanting to clean everything and get everything in order for the baby.

Here are some fun pics since last I posted...

Papai was doing pushups, and our son decided he wanted to do some too.

This is the new swimming area for kids that was built right behind our house. Pretty nice for living in a ghetto neighborhood, right?

Pioneer day celebration (in Miami, we go to the beach!)

Representing our neighborhood. J/K, some good friends came over and hung out for a bit. This is how my son ended up.

After having two Girls Nights and doing nails while watching a movie, I learned to do some great new things! I love doing nails!

Ok, below is the result of me trying to be a good mom. You see, we have playdates every Wednesday and I suggested to our leader that I could host a mini birthday celebration for my son since we aren't planning a real birthday party for him in case the baby comes. I wanted to give him at least SOMETHING, so for this weeks playdate, I invited the group over. Nothing fancy, and I know my son doesn't even know the difference, but I at least felt a little better!

I'm sure the next post will be about the new baby! Wish me luck!

Amen!

2011-07-11T19:06:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to post this hilarious story. About a month or so ago, we attended the broadcast for the ground-breaking of the temple down here in Ft. Lauderdale. Unfortunately, the connection kept getting lost. So there would be a speaker and then in the middle of his talk, it would go blank, leaving us to wait until someone fixed it. (Why are there ALWAYS technical difficulties?) Well, one time, the connection was lost, and hence the speaking stopped, and my son said in a loud voice, "Amen!" Everyone laughed, which was good because it was starting to get really annoying. I was amazed that he can pick up on social cues so well. Though he doesn't seem to pay attention in church, he can tell that when a speaker is done and says "amen," so does the congregation. He's such a cutie and brings lots of joy. :)

I should be sleeping...

2011-07-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Prose - So I'm basically always sleep deprived because of hospital rotations. But that is the name of the game I guess. I decided to sleep a little less today to at least put in a long overdue post. Between Family, Church Calling, and Med School I am spread so thin I'm probably transparent (metaphorically speaking :D ). I don't think I've mowed my lawn in close to two months! Every time one of my responsibilities requires more time than normal, the others suffer and get placed on the back-burner. But I would not trade my life for anything. I love my growing family, my wife, the opportunity I have to serve Heavenly Father, and the medical field. Each plays a vital role in my life and I am grateful for each of them.

I am excited for our new little one that will be born in the coming weeks. We believe we have found the right name.

All in all, my life is harder than it's ever been and I love it! Sure it has its unpleasantries and reeeally rough spots, but whose life doesn't? Even the greatest life ever lived, that of our Savior, had rough spots. If fact, he endured far more than we could ever imagine.

On another note, I haven't really had time to write poetry in the last few months, which is kind of sad. With the new calling I haven't really had very much time at all on Sundays. I know that has been taking a toll on Melody as well :S . I trust the Lord though and know that he will consecrate our sacrifices. It kind of reminds me of Oliver Granger, "his sacrifice will be greater to me than his increase."

Hopefully I will have a little more time with my family now, though. I just finished a set of rotations that is considerably far away from where I live. I was filling up my tank with gas about every 4 days, ouch! Now I'll have less traffic to deal with so I should have more time with my family. I'm excited. It should work out nicely with the upcoming birth.

I really should go to sleep though... have to take someone nice and early to the airport. Until next time! (who knows when that will be?!) :)

Colors and Car Breaking Down...again.

2011-06-29T09:16:00.000-07:00

My son is so intelligent! I mean he is right on track and even ahead sometimes with his developmental growth...just not height and weight...haha, but motor skills, problem solving skills, language, etc. he is excelling. He hasn't gotten behind on his language though he hears three languages almost daily. Most of it is in Portuguese (only a few words are English) and he knows many, many words. I praise him and smile really big when he says something right. I say, yes! And then repeat what he said to reinforce the correct pronunciation. So funny, right now he's lifting a squash we grew in our garden and trying to say, "Tao forte!" And I say, "Yes! Voce e tao forte!" The cutest thing is when he sees something cool and says, "Legao!"
He's such a happy kid overall. He's for the most part obedient, which I need to be careful with. I need him to learn obedience, but I don't want to take away his independent thinking and desires. It's hard to explain, but I don't want him to feel like he never has a say in something-that mom is always right, or that he's trapped. Hmmmm, it's hard to explain...I think so far I'm doing fine.
So I say he's intelligent because guess what! He can verbally identify and recognize colors! He knows blue, yellow, orange, red, purple, and green-and all in Portuguese. His favorite is blue. Just like mommy and daddy!
He has the cutest personality in the world. And I can say that over and over again, but until you've met him...you have no idea how cute. The young women just fawn over him. In fact, I've taken on three new piano students and one more voice. They are all sisters and they come over and play with him while I take each separately for their lesson. They adore him.
He will throw something and say, "Hiya!"
He will see a fly and say "Mosca!" and try to shoo it away.
If he wants something, he'll take your hand and lead you to do it because he can't.
Oooo, he'll hold our hands from the car to the store (I'm glad I don't have to fight him on that).
I think I've told you before, but he likes to take the keys and open the car and sit for a while in the drivers seat until I tell him it's time to sit in his car seat (which generally doesn't go very well). But hey, at least he's not running around in the parking lot while I try to unlock the car. He participates! (Which, btw, is a great secret in parenting. If your child is acting up, have them help you and make it fun.)
There's so much more, I know, but that's what comes immediately to my mind.
By the way, my visiting teacher is the best I've ever had. She's AMAZING. She doesn't even ask, she says, ok, this needs to be done so I need this information so we can get it done. Like she said, "Ok, you have a son, so we are going to coordinate the dates and make sure someone is available to watch him when you have the baby." "I want you to give me a list of things you need done around the house to prepare for the baby." When she came over to work on the closet and my son was sleeping so we couldn't, she said, "Ok, that looks like laundry. Where is your washer so I can take it out...(after)...you sit down while I do dishes" (I can't do that. I can't do nothing while someone else works so I gave her another task she could do while I did dishes.) "Where is your broom so I can work on this floor?" Yes...my house was a little messy, but she was an angel for helping me that day with much-needed chores. "There is this great mop I use..." and she bought it for me and gave it to me next time she was over along with soap and towels AND a rocking chair and mini vacuum because the broom wasn't good enough last time. (We were just using dollar store mops until they were too dirty to clean with. This one is a much cheaper option!)
Actually our car broke down. I dropped him off at her house so she could watch him (she suggested it so he can get used to her if she needs to watch him while I'm delivering/recovering) and I went to a Mary Kay party. I almost got out to the main road and the car died. I walked back to her house thinking I was just going to have to hang out until my husband got home and cancel the party. She immediately suggested I take her car so I can make the party because we need the money. I couldn't believe it. I did and everything worked out. Of course now I don't have a car, but the Lord is blessing us through the kindness of others.
Speaking of Mary Kay, I have a wonderful director who wants to help as many people reach directorship as possible. Shoot, I really need to because I need a new car! But it's going to take a lot more than I can give right now. She suggested I hold a "Ministry" as she calls it. In our church it would be called a Relief Society Activity. The thing is, our religion isn't a business and we can't promote our business on other people. Having a Mary Kay party for a Relief Society Activity would be like taking advantage of the women. So I told my President my problem. Because I don't want my director to feel like our church doesn't support each other either. Because we do, but it's just a really weird line to see. I totally understand both sides. So the Relief Society President thought it was fine to have a beauty class and not mention Mary Kay or sell anything. Of course my director was thinking it would be perfectly fine to at least book some parties from it, so I had to figure out a way to keep all the rules and respect the women who were coming. I thought I did a pretty good job. I made it even more of a class than my presentation already is. I taught them (using MK products) how to take care of themselves, proper skin care, and makeup application. And I taught the spirituality of taking care of yourself and treating the outside of your temple as well as your inside. I didn't mention Mary Kay until the end, saying that times are tough and I have found something that I love doing. I love helping women feel good about themselves so I would love to call them and answer any questions they may have and perhaps they could help me out and host a party. My director was sooo nice to come, especially since she's really a National, but she added a little more "Mary Kay" than I planned. Ah well. I really don't think she over did it. She's just trying to help me. Here are some pictures!

And during cleanup, I found my son doing this:

Looks like he's ready to give a talk!

Intimacy

2011-06-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to organize these same thoughts and resources for many years now. My sister's class is having her write a blog for different topics as an assignment. Intimacy is something that a lot of people (even in the church) don't agree on. But to me, it has always been pretty clearly laid out. This is a MUST read for EVERYONE. Please.
http://myforverfamily.blogspot.com/2011/06/marital-intimacy.html?showComment=1308446605323#c5890784991685311658

And then after that, there's this great video you should check out.
https://lds.org/youth/video/chastity-what-are-the-limits?lang=eng

When I heard about some of these things, I resolved not to harden my heart and be prideful or think I was above such things, but to humbly follow the counsel of my church leaders, and look where it has gotten me today. I have a loving husband and we are faithful to each other. We have a great marriage that is strong and I know it will last forever.

Train Museum

2011-06-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

So my son is growing SO fast that I can't keep up with what's new with him anymore! Among other things, he is repeating words well, throwing a ball (even winding up his arm behind his head to do so-Dad, you'd be so proud of your grandson when he has his little football), swinging like a monkey on anything he can, communicating in one word or two what he wants, and saying his own name (for those of you who know what it is, you know that it is an amazing accomplishment)! Oh, and he's soooo smart. You know how you have to tell a toddler something over and over again until they get it? Well, when we were driving, I pointed out a boat (navio) hooked to a truck to my son. A few days later, we are driving and I hear him say "vio vio!" I wondered as we are passing a boat, and thought, na...but just in case I validated him and said, "Yes! Um navio!" Then I was with my husband driving and the same thing happened! And then yesterday again! We have to look around to see if he's really saying "boat." My goodness, he sees them before we do! He also likes police and emergency cars. He calls them "Weeoo weeoo!" because of the sirens. I don't think I even had to teach him that one.

He also behaves really well. I've tried to train him, yet let him keep his independence (a very hard balance). He'll hold my hand when we walk from the car to the store, he'll say thank you and bye to everyone, if someone drops something he'll pick it up for them (where did he learn that?!), he'll put garbage in the garbage, if I get him a napkin he'll try to clean up a spill, he'll put his toys away with our guidance, and he loves on us and gives us kisses!

Of course, he has his many, many other moments! Like giving me grief when I change his diaper, not wanting to go in his car seat, not letting me do dishes, saying he wants something and then refusing it 4 times in a row before I make a decision and not give it to him, not eating all his food, not getting his way, and of course times when he just disobeys us. He's normal!

I'm so amazed with his assimilation and association skills. For example, not all fish look alike, in fact some are more detailed than others. But if I drew something like this...

...he would know it's a fish. Not all dogs or cats look alike. In fact, many toddlers get them, and even pictures of horses, mixed up. Not my son (well, maybe two times he did...)! He can see something in a book and then see another version somewhere else and be able to correctly identify it. He's so smart! Also when he sees a white truck/working van, he says "Caminhao! Vovo!" because he knows that Vovo drives that kind of van. Just recently he's been on his Elmo alphabet toy and starting to repeat the letters back that they say. So, like a good mother (haha), I went over and coached him through a few. I pressed the letter and said it over and over so he would realize the shape of the letter and that it had a name associated with it. After not too long, he was able to find "I," "O," and "H." (His patience isn't very long but I'm sure he could have learned more.)

Yes, I like to brag about my son! What mother doesn't?

As far as pastimes, he really likes Dora the Explorer. He calls his favorite shows/shows I watch by a part of the song they play at the beginning. (Monk-"da da da", Suite Life on Deck-"Oh-ee-oh," Smallville-"ay me," Dora the Explorer-"Dora," and Psych-"I-oh, I-oh.") And he dances to the music when it comes on and I dance with him. We sway back and forth side to side. In fact, I was at the doctor's office a few days ago (baby is fine and head down!) and a catchy song came on. I noticed that I was swaying back and forth, side to side and I'm sure looking really funny doing it. Oh the way we rub off on each other!

A few weeks ago, we took him to the train museum near the zoo. A kind man who works there had given me tickets at Home Depot because he thought my son was cute (everybody thinks he's cute and not just because he's a little one, but because he's REALLY good looking!-they all comment on his eyes). We got to take him on a ride. The caboose went out and came back and he got a kick out of it. He looked out the window the whole time and every time he saw a train, he said "Trem trem!" He was so excited. When it came back, we got to go to all the different old trains and run around inside. He loved it.

I must tell you about this AWESOME nail polish (besides the ones from Mary Kay!) No, really. I go swimming and this lady was telling me about this awesome Colombian nail hardening nail polish. She uses it and her nails are as hard as acrylics. I thought they were fake! Another lady started using it by her recommendation and I got to feel her nails and they were hard too! She was saying she had the most weak nails and now they are strong. Colombian nail hardener, where have you been all my life?! Check it out: http://compare.ebay.com/like/150593040358?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
You have to use it for about ten weeks to really see a difference and so far in three weeks I have already seen a difference!

First REAL Haircut

2011-05-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

First of all, our son came back happy, energetic, full of life, and talking even more. He's still as stubborn as can be, but he LOVED the time he spent up north. He especially loves his cousins so much.
Well, we've cut our son's hair many times before, but only in trimming, really. He's got my hair-including how fast it grows. He's only 2 months shy of 2 years old, and if we hadn't cut it ever, it might be down his back already. So we've trimmed it and tried to keep it a good length and we love his little bowl cut, but I felt it was just "time" to give him a real hair cut. I didn't want to have to keep trimming it all the time (and it's not like we do a good job anyways). It's summer and it's hot. And with all our mistakes it's just uneven. It's been in his eyes and he gets food in it and when it's hot it gets matted and sweaty. I'm saying this because my husband on the other hand did NOT want to cut it. It was so sad for him (probably like it is for me when my husband cuts his hair because I like it longer), but as we all know, who's really in charge? The wife! J/K...ok maybe not really. We're a team, but I really felt that he needed a cut. So my husband got new clippers (our old ones would end up cutting it too short) and this way we are saving money too. I even got a little sad when I saw the hair falling to the ground. My poor husband must have been even more sad if I was feeling sad too. In the end, we've got a child who is blessed with a face that can go with anything. Long hair, short hair, hat, sunglasses, etc. He's so handsome with his new cut and now it can grow back even and cute again!
You may wonder how our son acted during the cut. Well he was a little wiggly, and kept wanting to grab the clippers, so I grabbed the calendar off the wall (that was a Christmas present that has pictures of my husband's side of the family) and let him look at everyone. He loves to find his cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. The funny thing is, since the calendar was made, there's been a new addition. And in the calendar, there are pictures of him when he was younger. So whenever there was a picture of him at age 1 or younger, he would point and call the "baby" by his new cousin's name (even though she's a girl)! So funny. Anyways, as long as he had that distraction, he was pretty good.

Not This Time

2011-05-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

I finally had my gestational diabetes test and unfortunately this time I don't have it. I went in fully expecting to have it since I had it last time, but for some weird reason it turned out negative. I was counting on it because last time it forced me to lose a lot of weight. It was hard, but turned out to be a positive experience because I learned SO much about nutrition that I wish more people knew. Having a diabetic diet to me isn't a diet. It's how EVERYBODY should be eating. I am going to have to figure out how to have more self control on my own without something scaring me. :)

Happy Mother's Day. We went up to spend time with my in-laws and dropped off my son to spend time with his grandparents. It's getting harder and harder to do so. Funny because the first time is hard and you'd think it would get easier after that, but though he's a pain sometimes (always getting into things he shouldn't, making me nervous, and whenever he gets cranky), he's my little buddy and we have such a STRONG bond. Man...now I'm crying. I miss him so much and pray for his safety on the farm but I'm grateful for the break. Moms really need it. I hope to take advantage and have lots of parties! If you know me and are in the area, schedule a party with me! I need all the help I can get!

Oh! I have to tell you about the other day. After scripture study and prayers, we say like we do every night, "Vamos guradar!" My son proceeded to happily put away his books, place his toys in the places they are kept, and then climbed up on the toy bin to turn off the light, climb down, and make his way to his bed. He climbed inside and waited for us to kiss him goodnight. I was soooo impressed with him. I must be doing something right! Another cute story is him pretend talking on the phone. He'll hold up something to his ear (most of the time it's his shoe) and say, "Heyoh? Hayoh?...Hiiiiiii!!!!...eksdhfashwe (however you spell baby talk)...weowewoehwo...hahaha (I love his pretend laugh!)...weooshdokksdoo...ok...bye." The funny thing is his voice fluctuation and even word choices mimic me exactly when I am making calls. They pay attention so much!

I've been thinking a lot about friends. I'm a little saddened because it's been on my mind and then my sister-in-law brought up the subject. I've realized lately that I'm not as good of a friend to people as I used to be. I'm not the same person I was in high school and in some ways that's good but in some ways it's bad. In high school, I was kinder, a good example, strong in spirit, a true friend, ambitious, hard-working, passionate for life, and I used and developed my talents. On the subject of friends, I love all my friends from high school. They are some of the best relationships I've had. I will always cherish those memories. And I will always be friends with them forever. But then you move away. After college, you go to the "real world" and everybody becomes independent. Where did all your friends go? Nobody has time for anybody. I don't know of anyone right now that I can count on or feel comfortable to call when I need to talk. Maybe some people out of where I live, but nobody here. Perhaps I'm too shy to make good friends, or perhaps I'm too busy to put forth the work to do so. Not having anyone close by and my fear and frustration of driving more than 7 minutes to get somewhere doesn't help either. Perhaps it's knowing that I will be moving in two years makes it so I don't invest in friendships. Whatever the case, it's really hard for me because friendships are so important to me, but I'm used to seeing those kind of people on a daily basis for 6 hours out of the day. How am I to make friends here? And I'm kind of a serious person which doesn't help. Most people who read my blog are family members, who I cherish with all my heart. But I look at other people's blogs and they have tens of followers. They've got a lot of friends who keep in touch and are interested in their lives. I must be stand-offish or something. I used to be sweet and full of service to others. Now I'm the one who needs it (don't we all at this point in our lives? I mean, I wish I could serve, but I don't have the means any more. I do the best I can. Really, I do.) and because I don't have friends, no one is willing to sacrifice for me. They have their own lives. Why should I intrude? Even when I offer something in exchange, it doesn't matter. They have their own problems to worry about or their own justifiable responsibilities. Where is our society headed when we are too busy to serve one another? I know there is a lot of good in the world, and some places are still able to develop strong friendships. Here in Miami, if you don't have family (like everyone else does), you have no one to help and no one to support you. Perhaps this is unfair of me to say. Perhaps it's a little embarrassing for me to indulge these feelings. Perhaps I should keep this to myself. But perhaps I'm not the only one who feels this way. Again, if you read this, fine, and thank you. But this blog is very much a journal for me (not a diary...I don't include my deepest darkest feelings and secrets! Haha), so I write about how I am feeling and what I've been going through. It is a record for my posterity and of my life. I like the organization of having a blog. For now, I like this form of preserving my history. Anyways, life is busy and because I have a child and one on the way I understand how hard it is to be available as a friend, but it saddens me greatly. I'm frustrated I can't be a friend and frustrated I have no really close friends here. Thank you to those who are my friends. I wish I could be a better friend to you.

Deviled Eggs Too Cute Not to Share

2011-04-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

http://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com/2011/04/alishas-famous-deviled-egg-recipe-in.html

Sidebar

2011-04-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

Well, with the new baby coming, I've decided to take some steps to prepare my son for some changes. Not that I couldn't afterward, but I felt like it was a good time for one in particular and that was converting his crib into a toddler bed. Basically we just took off one side and got a sidebar from Walmart and stuck it on. They say it's for 2+ but I really think he's ready. Besides, he's almost 2, right?! I wanted to give him a little more choice and independence in his bed routine. To train him to go to bed when it's time and you know...when they do something themselves as opposed to you doing it for them, they have more autonomy in that area. So instead of me "forcing" him that it's bedtime (and by forcing I mean our regular routine and he goes down really well, but yes, there are bars so if there was ever a time he wanted out, he couldn't-which is great for us! But again, he's not learning to put himself to bed when it's time.)...I hope this makes sense. I'm not good with words, but I can understand it in my head based on my education as a child development "specialist" in school.

So I thought when we put him down, he would see that he really was free to get out of bed and move about the room, and we'd have to constantly put him back in bed until he learned that it was "sleep time." At least at night. During the day I want to give him a choice, but at least it is "quiet time." Knowing him and his age, I expected he would need a nap though. But it turned out the opposite. When we put him in his bed, he stayed there with his "ursinho" and "corbeto" and "poohpooh" and went right to sleep! I was especially worried about the daytime when it's still light and he can see, but no. He stays there though suspect sometimes he does get out and ends up sleeping on the floor with all his blankets. When he wakes up, I hear this "KNOCK KNOCK" (he loves to knock hard-it's so funny) and then I immediately come and open his door. Sometimes he's not ready to come out I guess, so I just leave it open and when he's ready, he comes out. Other times he wants to be picked up, held, and cuddle a while until he "wakes up." He's kind of cranky after naps.

Another reason I was worried was, of course, the falling out part. So, like any mother, I stuffed the openings with extra blankets and a stuffed animal so he can still push them out when he's ready to get up but hopefully keep him from slipping out during his sleep. So far, he's been absolutely and perfectly fine! He's adjusted super well.

Another thing I wanted to mention is how one day...well let me copy and paste my Facebook status post...o...k...can't find it. I'll bet my son somehow deleted it from my ipod. Dang it. Ah well, it went something like this: My husband called to me from the other room and said, "Did you leave [our son] on top of his changing table?" I ran in to his room and there we found he had climbed his changing table and was laying down, saying "co co!" (Poo poo.) Some people have suggested from that post that he may be ready for potty training. Haha. Another thing to do before the baby is born, but I heard that once the new sibling is born and using diapers, the older sibling's potty training is ruined because they want to as well. I don't know. We'll see.

Did I tell you that my son calls "sunglasses" "cool dude?" He points to them and says, "coodoo!" because when we put his sunglasses on, we always tell him he's a cool dude. Tragically I went to the mall (outdoor) with him the other day and couldn't find his sunglasses when we returned to our car. :( That was the saddest thing because they were the perfect kind for him.

So every time he masters a new word, he exhausts it but we don't mind. It's cute. So now it's cars and trucks. We'll be driving and in the back we hear "carro!" (more like caoo!) and "caminhao!" (more like inhao!) over and over and OVER again! (Again pardon my laziness to go and find the accents for the different letters in Portuguese.) But we don't hinder it. I want to foster learning and excitement in life for him so EVERY time I say, "Yes! Caminhao!" (Also positively reinforcing the actual pronunciation of the word.) And every time a bus or truck passes our house which is SOOOOOOO often-I can't count the number of LOUD (our windows might as well be absent with all the noise that penetrates our house) buses and trucks that come through our street-he exclaims the same thing. Of course I have to say "Yes! Um onibus!" when it's a bus. He's learned to differentiate between a truck and a large van or pickup. And we're pretty sure he can say "aviao" because when he's talking about an airplane it sounds slightly different than "caminhao." Needless to say, we got him a truck set we'll give to him on Easter.
He also LOVES when he spots a bird. So he'll say "piu piu!" So, of course, for Easter I picked him up one of this chicks that chirps when your fingers touch the bottom two "mini circuits" I guess I'll call them. It's battery operated, but when you "complete the circuit," it chirps. Here's one I found online.

So I've been taking my son to the playground more often and let me tell you he LOVES the slide! He calls it "wee!" He will go on that thing over and over and over again. I'm still worried about some of the drop-offs so I have to be with him up there if there are any. So far there is this great playground and it only has one real "drop off" and even then it's really a slanted climbing wall. And last week I guided him through how to do it so he at least had the skill. It turned out useful when I was with a girl who had lost her grandpa so I sat with her while he played and he did it all by himself-thank goodness he had the skill!

He has a favorite TV show. Since we don't have TV, we watch it on my computer, which he calls "duh dah" because when it turns on and takes us to the desktop after signing in, it has a perfect fourth musical introduction ring. So we sing it as it pulls up on a "duh." (I really hope that makes sense.) And he always asks for "Ba ba ba ba ba" which is "Big Time Rush" from Nickelodeon. He calls them "Ba ba ba ba ba" because of their song, "Boyfriend." Listen to that link and you'll understand why. He even tries to sing it with them sometimes. Like I said, he's gonna be a singer! Yay!

Aaaaaand, today (Monday, April 18) he officially made his first "real mess" while Mommy wasn't looking. Of course, whenever I point the camera his way, he immediately gives me the goofiest smile for a "pose" which he thinks it really cute...and it just can't be anything else.

And yes...this is his changing table he climbed (it's a regular thing now). I need to always put something big on top to hinder him from making it up all the way.

Here are some random pictures to enjoy. Again, he LOVES to give me that goofy smile.

He LOVES to give us kisses. We love on him soooo much that now he's starting to show us the same affection. He won't stop kissing us! (But we won't stop kissing him either.) The funny thing is if we're out in public and it's like ok! You can stop now! But most of the time people think it's adorable.

Oh, the pregnancy is going fine. As of today I'm 25 weeks. I only know that because I just checked. I never know how far along I am when people ask. I figure if I don't know it will go by faster! He's kicking a LOT. Never painful. I don't get painful kicks like other moms do. But he kicks more than my first son ever did. So it makes me nervous because I don't know if I can handle an even more active kid than I have now! (I know that there are no studies to show activity in the womb predicts activity outside, but I can't help but wonder...)

Conference Weekend April 2011

2011-04-06T19:25:00.001-07:00

So....I want to start off with the day before Conference. What was it? April Fools day! Ever since I read my friend's post on what she did last year, I decided that I wanted to fool my family too! You know, the whole dinner for dessert and dessert for dinner thing. So I did a bit of online research and the cheapest and best ones I could come up with were the following:

Pictured above are meatloaf and mashed potato cupcakes with cheese "sprinkles"

Pictured below is pie crust, jam, yellow-dyed coconut, and cut out circles of fruit roll-up.

Below is lemon jello.

The best thing is I sent my boys out while I cooked and when they came back I had dinner on the table. My husband looked at it and I thought he got it so I said "April Fools!" But then he sat down and after our prayer tried to drink his "drink." Only then did he really look at the food and got what I meant. Muahaha!
Even my son wanted "suco" (juice) when he saw it, so we gave it to him and he was trying so hard to drink it and it was so cute! But then we felt bad so we got him some real juice.

General Conference was great as always. It's amazing how the Lord prepares a way for the speakers to say just what you are praying for at that time in your life. One even touched on this and it was an incredible talk, giving us insight on how Conference talks are prepared and topics chosen. What a wonderful assurance that the Lord knows our needs and is mindful of His children!

Children's Museum

2011-03-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I've posted. I've been busy with my new job, but I've also been dealing with some personal issues.

Our son has grown incredibly. It's like he's 2 years old already. He's able to try and repeat words, he's running around, climbing things (which isn't new, but he's more capable at it), and has more personality (good and bad!). He tells us what he wants instead of points (which he's been doing for a while but now there are more words I can recognize) and he shows affection more voluntarily-cute!

The best is when we have him repeat "I love you." But it's the funniest thing because it will go like this:
Me: Eu
Him: Ieu
Me: Te
Him: Ti
Me: Amo
Him: Aam!
But now it's evolved into this:
Me: Eu
Him: Ieu
Me: Te
Him (skipping repeating me because he knows what comes next): Aam!!!
Me (trying to help him not to forget to actually say it): Te
Him: Ti
Me: Amo
Him: Aam!

We also have him say "Jesus Cristo me ama." And one day we were reading the scriptures for bed and he's always running around playing and we even wonder if he's listening. Well the word "Jesus" came up and after it was read over, we hear him say "Aam!"

Here are some GREAT pictures! Enjoy!

Playgroup fun!

My sister-in-law and our new niece!

New niece in her mommy's arms (left)

My son LOVES his Papai.

OK, below are picture from the Children's Museum. We took him on a free day and it was sooo crowded, but I think he had fun. And putting up with us posing him and taking cute pictures.

The following pictures are definitely going in his senior salute (assuming he's going to be a singer with his music skills from his mom!)

Eh, who am I kidding, all he wanted to do was push the buttons.

The final masterpiece.

Just like his dad...always on the computer...

The following three are for you, Dad.

Geocaching for our date this last Saturday! My son loves my sunglasses, especially since we put them on him and exclaim "Cool dude!" So I had to get him some that won't break. He likes them for a while, but then gets tired of something being on his face.

New Calling, New Job

2011-02-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

Well, this has been quite the last two weeks! To put it short, our little family's lives are going to be changed immediately. I've been sitting on the fence about joining Mary Kay and becoming a consultant. There are so many things going through my head about it. Is it doable? Is it too good to be true? What am I going to do with my son if my husband is always gone? Am I joining for the right reasons? Am I letting the emotional glamor cloud my reasoning? Can I afford this? Will I be comfortable with this?
I don't even know why I even considered it! Much needed extra income? Belief in the product and what Mary Kay stands for? Me going out of my mind feeling like I'm doing nothing to contribute to this world except that I know that I'm doing the most important thing I can ever do-being a mom. And a stay-at-home mom too. I think our society doesn't have enough of those. Children are not taught by their parents anymore. They are taught by day care leaders, teachers, media, and peers. A woman's natural job is to be the mother of her children and that is not just a title. It's a verb. Women need to mother their children. That entails many things, namely, developing a healthy attachment, discipline, nutrition, emotional and physical well-being, and teaching. I personally believe this is why less and less kids have healthy attachments in future relationships, why less and less kids grow up with a good work ethic, and why kids are more likely to turn to peers than parents when they have concerns or questions. Anyways, I didn't mean to get on my soap box. Just that I believe that what I'm doing is right. However, I do envy people who aren't married yet, in that they get to further their education even more than I did. Of course, I have the most wonderful man in the world and I wouldn't change that for anything. It's just that I really need to be doing something. To the point that it is affecting my mothering. Everyone is different. Every situation is different. I would hope that people would make the best of their situations. For me, it has turned out that my situation is feeling a little alone and depressed sitting at home (I can't go very many places due to lack of money, unfamiliarity of the city, fear of traffic, and some other reasons, but those listed are the main ones). Thank goodness for things like playgroup on Tuesdays. So anyways, this results in me having the symptoms of depression though I don't think I actually have the diagnosis! Namely, lack of motivation, letting things go like cleaning the house, having a lot of screen time, etc. I don't play with my child as much as I should. I'm a little too permissive than I should. It's like I have all the time in the world but I do nothing with it because I'm too overwhelmed by me not seeing my husband much, the baby being too difficult to handle sometimes, and lack of interaction with people that I'm so used to from all my years in school. I need to do something with my life in order to be a better mother and wife and person!!!
So the Mary Kay opportunity was once again presented in my life as a friend from playgroup joined. I still thought it wasn't for me, besides what the heck would I do with my child while I did a party? It's not like my husband can watch him. It's not like I can ask people for so long or often to babysit for free? But then one Sunday, I went to Relief Society and the Lord spoke to me in the form of a lesson. It must have been planned especially for me. It was "Work and Responsibility." People brought up the fact that work is something extremely important (of course), but when my visiting teachee brought up the fact that when she's busy she can accomplish more things. Hmm that sounds obvious. I can't remember the exact words she used...basically in my heart, I knew that in order for me to be a better mother and homemaker, I need to busy my life. And yes, I knew that somewhere in the back of my mind already, but sometimes it's the reminders at the right timing in one's life that makes all the difference in the world and will change a life. I decided I needed to change mine. So I called my friend up the next day and told her I was ready to sign under her. (My hubby and I prayed about it the night before because we include each other in every major decision.)
So now I am, indeed more busy, but my life isn't going to change overnight. I need to build my business and little by little it will grow and it's something that I can do as well as being at home with my children. Most of the work is at home. Every once in a while you go out to throw a party or do a face. So far, it has already begun to change my life. Thank goodness for Mary Kay and Enriching Women's lives.

Now to my husband. The Thursday night after I joined MK, my husband got called in to see the Stake President. I was thinking, no. No way it's anything too serious. He's in school and he's too young. Maybe it's a stake calling of some sort, but nothing like the bishopric. Well...I was wrong. The Lord had spoken. The boundaries where changing and my husband was going to be the second counselor of our new bishopric. Thus, I REALLY would never see him again. Yep. Consider me once again, and even more, a single mom. What a responsibility for someone so young. Why? I don't know, but the Spirit spoke so strong to the bishop of the ward and he just knew that my husband was the one the Lord wanted. I've said how much I love my husband many times through blogging, but let me tell you that I know he is a man of God. He loves the Lord and is not perfect, but he's dang close in my opinion! Of course he would disagree. And yes, I know he's not perfect. But this man, he strives to be close to the Lord and to live worthily to feel the still, small whisperings of the Spirit. He knows the gospel well and has a clear understanding of it. He's patient, hard working, and deeply spiritual. I have someone in my life that I can look up to and admire. These are just some of the things that I feel are so amazing about my husband. I'm so proud of him. So last Sunday (oooo! don't let me forget to tell you about the choir!) he was called in Stake Conference and his mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law were all there to support us. His father was able to ordain him to a high priest and then he was set apart after that. What a week.
OK, so I must tell you about the choir (a little selfishly)! So I'm the stake music director and a lot of preparation was put in to the choir. Ok, so...church choirs...aren't known for their great singing. Because anyone can join, even if you can't read music, there are a lot of untrained voices. So, the beauty of it is that people can all come together and praise God through music. But then there's me. I'm a stickler for good music. And that includes not only the music selection, but that the choir sounds good. So I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but I've been bound and determined to change the sound of normal church choir music. Normally the choir gets up to perform and it's the same stuff over and over. Sure, the music is different, and people think it's beautiful and nice, but I know it doesn't reach everyone. I know I'm sounding really awful right now. Sorry. I just want to make sure that the music penetrates the hearts of everyone who hears it and once again, that's the type of music, and the musicality of the choir. So I chose two songs. One from Sally DeFord and one that I composed a while ago. My composition isn't perfect. It needs a little more variety and maybe a key change. But it's beautiful. Please understand that if there was other music out there like the stuff I compose, I would be glad to use it. But I haven't found any. You see, there's this composer that, well. Eric Whitacre. I don't think I have to say more. It is my goal to incorporate his style of music into church choir music because I have never felt so spiritually deep as when I have sung his music. It is the most ethereal music that I've ever heard and brings about in a way no other music can compare, an ability to touch hearts and change lives. I want to arrange LDS music Eric Whitacre style. And I've come so close with the second song I picked for the choir to sing, "Mas Cerca Dios de Ti." I was so determined to train them in a way that they could sing this a Capella because the sole human voice is the most heavenly sound (in my opinion). It's so natural. So, if you could have seen the progress we made over time! Here's something that just touched my heart. I wasn't going to tell them that I wrote it (it looked like I just got it online somewhere). But after learning the notes and hearing it put together, one of the singers (who studied at BYU, one of the best college choirs in the world) actually felt it was worth looking at who the composer was! Because they said, "Wow this is really beautiful! Who's "so-and so?" I was so deeply honored because who looks at the composer? Not many people. But the fact that it was even worth looking at for someone made my heart swell with gratitude. So since the cat was out, ah well. I told them that was my maiden name and why I wrote it so many years ago (for the Spanish Intensive Program to sing in Mexico). I did everything I could and had such high expectations for them to tune, have the same vowels, drop their jaws, add dynamics, etc. And it wasn't perfect (like a trained and auditioned choir) but let me tell you. They probably did as good of a job as some high school choirs we went with to competitions. Maybe even better than some! I was humbled when the Stake President (not knowing I wrote it) said that "Mas Cerca Dios de Ti" was the spiritual highlight of the meeting for him. I was so proud of the choir for their dedication, willingness to do crazy stuff in rehearsals, and rising to the occasion. Next time, I'm bringing on my arrangement of "How Firm a Foundation!"

Cakes and a Messy Cutie

2011-02-10T06:54:00.000-08:00

Our very first tomato from our garden! And it was DELISH!!!! Reminded me of my grandma's tomatoes. Tomatoes are one of the things in life that you can't beat being homegrown.

Ok, the following pictures are of the cake that I made for another baby shower I threw. It began with me going to the store to see what I could find as a quick cake topper and I only found rubber duckies. But then the creative juices got flowing and one idea led to another and this is what both me and my husband came up with:

Our next door neighbor's son had a birthday and wanted to share with my son. They brought over a cupcake. So like a good mom, I scraped off that nasty frosting and yet my son STILL managed to get the remains of that potent red dye all over himself. But it was too cute not to take a picture. This is him "smiling" for the camera. Or trying to be cute. One or the other. It was hilarious.

After cleanup...

So, I think I forgot to mention my son's fascination with buckles. Like in the stroller, shopping cart, or his high chair. He can't unbuckle (muscles aren't that strong), but for months now already, he's been able to figure out how to snap the buckle! And prefers HE does it! At first I was afraid he'd catch his skin in it and pinch it but I figured that it was a "natural consequence" and he would learn fast if he ever did. And surprisingly he didn't have to learn it right away! He's only pinched himself a couple times. And he gets over it quick.

Also I have the CUTEST story to share! So a little after my mother-in-law left, my son saw bananas on the counter and wanted them. So I gave him two (he likes one in each hand for ANY type of food...we call it his "food storage" because he'll eat one and then walk around with the other in his fist for a long time). I watched in amazement (and didn't realize right away what he was doing) as he went over to our rug, sat down, set the bananas in front of him, put his hands together, and then began to "speak" or mumble some noises. Then I heard him end with some punctuated sound that mimicked an "amen." And then he began to eat a banana! I was floored and my heart was filled with joy! I wish he would do that every time we pray, but we can't always get him to participate. We don't force him even though it's important for him to pray and even want to pray. But this is something that we want to lead by example and let him come to want to on his own. But him even doing it on his own this early is amazing!

NEED FOR PARENTING ADVICE:
Does anyone out there have suggestions on how to get a young child to concentrate? I mean I know that their attention spans are short, especially at this early age, but I'm concerned that when it comes down to someone else wanting his attention, he won't give it. For example, he won't sit while I read him a book. I often read while he plays with his toys. If I want him to sit and concentrate on a certain toy, he won't if he's bored, can't do it quickly, or sees another toy he wants. I guess you could say he takes after my impatience. But here's the thing. These are all signs of permissive parenting. How do I train him to sit and concentrate on a task? Because when it comes nursery or preschool time, he's going to be all over the place! He SUPER independent and loves to do his own thing. Which is GREAT but I think he needs more guidance and I'm not sure how to do it. I've begun reading to him while he's in his high chair so he can't move, but that's all the ideas I have. I've even tried to draw his attention to pictures and things in the book he loves, like "ursinho." Anyways, advice would be welcome! Thanks in advance!

Tribute to Great-Grandpa

2011-01-27T07:05:00.000-08:00

So, there's something I wanted to mention before but to be honest, I had to end the post (the one with the pumpkin soup) early because I was feeling so sick. But I'm kind of glad, because this deserves it's own post.
My great-grandfather passed away this month. It was especially sad for my grandpa to lose his dad, and within a year of losing his wife. Though I wasn't close with him, it still brought tears to my eyes. He and his wife sent me a birthday card every year in the mail since I can remember. Who does that? To be able to keep up with every child, grandchild, and great-grandchild (assuming I'm not the only one who got a card every year) is amazing. I can barely keep up with my own family's birthdays! So even that one connection meant something to me. My first memory of him was during Christmas when we went to visit Florida at the grandparent's place. I remembered he looked very much like my grandpa (and therefore young and studly)! The men on my dad's side do age well. Last year, he even traveled to see my grandmother's funeral. We took a five-generation photo (I'm the only girl in the link, ah well).

It's been hard for me to do anything but pray for my family members. I love my grandpa dearly, and have wanted to call him since the day I found out, but I really for some reason didn't know what to say. I felt so inadequate for words. The usual, "How are you doing" and "I'm sorry about the news" and even the "I'll keep you in my prayers" seemed so clique. I wanted to offer him more than that, but I couldn't figure out what. Besides, I've been so sick this entire month. It's been miserable. I did actually call him a week ago and I think he could sense that I wasn't really feeling well enough to talk, but I hope he knows that I love him a lot and that I am still praying for him and the family. I wish I could do more. To be there. To make more phone calls to him. I don't know, something.
Well, that's one more funeral in my life. I hope it's a while before I hear about/or go to any more. I'd like my son and other children, in this life, to know the people I know and love them as I love them. They are great people and I am so blessed to call them family.

Baby's First Phone Call

2011-01-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

So, two days ago, I'm just sitting and reading in my chair and I had given my son my cell phone (putting it on airplane mode so he can't call or text anyone). He's already figured how to unlock both the phone and my ipod but I figure if he's just pushing buttons and can't call anyone he's fine. Well, I hear him in the hall and he's babbling on and being all cute and actually laughing. He laughs at himself a bit when he's in his crib so I didn't think anything of it. But it turns out he had somehow managed to call my grandma (luckily she was awake in her time zone)! He had been chatting with her and laughing when she laughed (how could she not when she realized what was going on, and he's just so darn cute!). Later she told me that because she had JUST read my previous post on all the words he could say, she was able to say some of those over the phone so he could recognize something! I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at that. Indeed, I had heard him say "coco" (his new favorite word). In fact, now he'll say it and we'll go to check and he'll say "nao" if he doesn't have any, and if he does, he won't say anything at all. But I just had to share this because it was too funny for me not to. I've called people and let him talk to them but most of the time he'll just listen to the other person. He did everything by himself this time (phone call, talking back and forth with more effort that I've ever heard, and even laughing). Amazing!

A Visit and Pumpkin Soup

2011-01-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

So, as you may have noticed, I've boldly put up a button that says I'm having a baby girl. I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE, but that's kind of what we want and somewhat expect. So if it turns out to be a boy after all, I'll be sure to change it asap. :)

I wanted to continue posting about Christmas because it didn't really end once we got back from Vegas. You see, AS WE FLEW IN to Ft. Lauderdale, my best friend growing up flew in to Miami. We were then to pick her up and have a great weekend together. The problem was that we were still miserably sick, just wanting to pass out, hungry, and had no ride to pick us up like we expected. So we ended up taking a taxi to our car and then drove to Miami to pick her up and go home. She was soooooo great. She was like, you rest and I'll do the dishes! It was a much needed rest and it felt really nice to be back home (though I wouldn't consider Miami home...it's just that the weather was nice and we have a memory foam top on top of our mattress-yes, I guess we're a little spoiled). So though we were sick, it was still VERY nice for my friend to sacrifice to come and visit since we haven't seen each other for so long. You see each other every day for over 10 years and then all of a sudden, I get married, move away, she goes on a mission, and we never see each other for quite a while. We went shopping (for groceries), saw a show (at home), and ate gourmet food (that I cooked). So...not so glamorous, but hey. We were together, and honestly, the best thing we can do when we're together is just talk. We don't have to do anything. All we like to do is talk-and we did!

So, I'd like to share my "gourmet" food recipe. We decided to cook the fatted pumpkin in honor of our guest.

Carve out the pumpkin in pieces you can cook in a pot of water.
Saute garlic and onion.
When pumpkin pieces are cooked and cooled, put in a blender with a little of the water they were cooked in, garlic and onion, and powdered milk.
Dump inside of empty pumpkin and cook in oven a little more with added small pieces of olive, carrot, and mushrooms.

Voila!

Baby's Second Christmas

2011-01-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Well, just within the past month so many changes have happened, namely, our son has developed even more and is pretty much exactly half way between a "baby" and a "toddler." I wish he's hurry up and be all toddler because I'm going to need him to be a big boy and help out with his new sibling!

One thing I forgot to mention last time that I really wanted to write about (because it was a big part of the week) is something about my neighbor. So, she's my friend, and she says I'm one of her best friends (wow, I'm not sure about that. She's got to have closer friends than me, right?). But we help each other out and though she does ask for a lot, I'm kind of grateful to have someone in the neighborhood that is...well, friendly. Someone to be in contact with, you know? That being said, I've never really had a friend where we get in fights. I usually tend to choose friends who are peacemakers, who are understanding people, and those who...I don't know, don't have much that's different from me (education, standards, attitude). So now that I have this friend who comes from a culture of some contention, pure honesty (which I think is great), and frankly an unhealthy lifestyle, it's just a different experience for me. Since I'm pregnant, I had to tell her that unfortunately I won't be able to drive her around to places or even knock on her door because there is just so much third-hand smoke from her body and clothes (and I made sure to say it in a nice but firm way). I gave her an article to read and told her that I'd love to do anything else for her (run errands and such) if I was feeling well enough (morning sickness). She of course, as any natural human would, took it personally. But it's just something I needed to do for the safety of my family. It's hard because in her mind, what's a little smoke? She's got many kids and they're good kids, and they've got goals and they seem healthy. Well, she doesn't realize (it's amazing what simple education can do for you) that her kids also have asthma, possibly a little brain damage (which will just cause you to not do as well in school), and the youngest two have other problems too. One may have arthritis in her feet and the other has a deformed face (which is probably from a compilation of unhealthy lifestyle choices. But you can't really tell her that. (Sigh). I'm trying to be a good person, but my biggest worry is that she's going to see me as a bad example of Christ. In her church, they're all about forgiveness. God will forgive and you should forgive all men. It's a slightly different view because in her mind, by me refusing to take her to the store because of "an impurity," I'm not a forgiving person. And therefore I'm not a Christlike person. So what am I supposed to do? Well, I choose to not put my family in harms way. Third-hand smoke can be dangerous, and as a mother, I have that right to protect my children. I can still love my neighbor and I can still be her friend.

So, on the subject of my "hood," we hosted a friend of my husband's and her husband for a night and it was just so embarrassing because I had morning sickness and to top it off, there was the loudest and most obscene party a few houses down. I mean you could hear just about everything. Rap music is evil. It's racist, it promotes drugs, sex, and violence. I mean it was driving away the spirit in our home. I could not study my scriptures and it was hard to pray. I finally put earphones in and listened to the scriptures that way. Each of us called the cops and they said they would send someone out even though the noise ordinance was not effective until 10:00 pm. Well, by 1:00 am, they finally stopped. I'm so angry at the police department for not doing their job. It's one thing to have noise at night when you are trying to sleep, but it's another to force evil on other people when they're trying to sleep. I don't want to hear those things and I really shouldn't have to. There's freedom of speech and actions, but I believe in this case it can be taken too far. When the world is too "politically correct," it will fail morally. And there are natural consequences for immorality. There are laws of man, but some don't realize there are laws of nature.

So, on a happier note, I went to see the doctor before Christmas, and the baby was fine. (Whew!) But because I still didn't have insurance, they wouldn't do anything else. So, I am sitting here today, just about 11 weeks along, and I haven't had any tests done at all. No blood work, no urine tests, nothing at all except to prove I'm pregnant. And that's a story in of itself! So I go to the doctor's (that Medicaid, Medically Needy will cover) and they test for pregnancy but it turns out they can send the proof of pregnancy to Medicaid (so I can qualify for Pregnancy Medicaid) but they can't send the stupid due date (which is the easiest thing to even figure out)! Because they are not authorized to do that, or whatever, I have to spend $250 to go see the OBGYN for them to fax over what? Nothing but the due date. THEN I can qualify. So, after lots of stress, tears, and work, I am sitting here, finally qualified and hoping to get my money back. I should, but there's nothing else that is worth this effort, let me tell you, than finally being on Medicaid. 'Cause we sure can't afford anything else! One day we will...in like three years.

Soooo, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Wow, it's been stressful! I feel like Scrooge. Bah humbug! The Christmas season is so busy and there are just so many things to do! There's shopping, packing, planning, cleaning, etc. And all while being morning sick. I swear, I'll never conceive before the holidays again. Christmas with my husband's family was great! I loved it. Watching young kids open presents was fun and I loved seeing what everyone got. I also loved seeing their reactions to what we got them! It was sad though, because my mother-in-law was too sick to join us. It ended up being that we caught what they had too and by the time we arrived in Vegas to see my family, we were sick as dogs. It was sad because it seemed like we didn't get as much quality time as we would have if we were healthier. When I go to my parent's now, I try to at least do the dishes and take that burden off, but this time I couldn't. I was just glad that someone could do it (my amazing sister and brother-in-law). They were there when I couldn't be. Whenever I feel a little under the weather or just too stressed out, I call my mom and we always wish she was here to help out and take care of us like so many families have down here in Miami. They've got a huge support system. Even where I grew up, there's a lot of support from the church because there are a lot of them there and therefore they all live close. Here it's just such a big city and everyone's spread out. My husband's classmates (two of the sweetest girls ever!) have been a huge help for me. And yes, people from my ward. Sometimes, though, I wish my mom was here to just be a constant help with the baby, housework, etc. when I'm too sick to get up from the couch. So, I told her when we came to Vegas and were sick, here was her chance to nurse me back to health and to take care of the baby (something she didn't mind, except that if either me or Prose was around, he would want us). Well, it's always nice to be home and see the family. And it was nice to see the reactions of the presents we brought too!

That deserves it's own paragraph. You see, for months now I've been wanting to tell about this AWESOME present we have been preparing, but I couldn't because it was a part of my family's Secret Santa name drawing. Our family has three people, so we drew three names and they all turned out to be the oldest three adults of the family (Dad, Mom, and Grandpa). I had read this great idea from the Dating Divas and decided this was what I was going to do. But of course, I was going to make it better. ;) I created an email account (something like secretsanta@___.com) and then told them I was a family member who wanted help on their gift. So I asked them questions and with their answers, I made articles, advertisements, and other pages of a magazine featuring them. For example, if I asked, "what was your favorite Christmas present growing up?" then I made an advertisement for that toy or item. You know how magazines always have recipes? Well I asked what their favorite food was and then researched recipes on that. I did a little "20 Questions" to learn more about them and then called it an "exclusive interview" with the one and only (insert family member's name). Another one was "what challenges are you facing in life right now" and then I found an article online to match/help with their issue (citing the source of course) and all these things I put in a magazine form. So it really looks like a real magazine. I had them email me pictures and I was surprised I didn't go into graphic design or something in college because I could have had a promising future in it! Prose was in on it of course and he helped put the covers together. So we had "Person" instead of "People" magazine, "Family TIME" instead of "TIME" magazine, and "C" instead of "O" magazine. All of these were in close fonts and designs of the real magazines they were copying. Anyways it turned out great. I emailed friends and family to write little notes of love and appreciation to put at the end of the magazine and it was really touching.

Anyways, you are probably tired of me talking. I'm tired of it too. Before pictures, I am going to write down a list of words my son can say!

Papai
Mamae
uh oh
bye bye
agua
nao
pe
nummy num!
wow
moo
hey!
uva
meia
baby
xixi
coco-he can tell me now when he has a poopy diaper, I love it

(Forgive my laziness on adding the accents and tildes where they are supposed to go)

So many presents to open!

Waiting for the cue!

My husband's reaction to me giving him the second season of MacGyver.

My husband and father-in-law playing chess-aren't they just so handsome?!

My family surprised us with an anniversary cake and my grandpa with a birthday cake.
How sweet!

Drowning in presents from my family. :) This is us sick on the couch. We pretty much never left it. :(

Grandma and Aunt playing with my son. Wish I had more pictures of the presents, but they are mostly videos which take forever to upload. If I was thinking clearly (which I don't when I'm sick, let alone prego), I would have taken more pictures.

Thanksgiving 2010 and Special News

2010-12-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

We went to pick up our little guy from his grandparents and yes, it was a little weird at first. Being away for that long, he just kind of gives you this look and then slowly gives you a hug. Like he's remembering who you are! Oh, but by the next morning things were back to normal. And he was a little more cuddly too! Yay! Most of our time was spent in the hammock outside-even taking naps together. That some some nice, quality mother-son time!

For Thanksgiving they killed the fatted calf and all the kids pitched in a dish or two. I decided to bring my aunt and uncle's deviled eggs and sweet potato casserole. Those are my favorite dishes for Thanksgiving at home, so I wanted to share them and they all loved it!

Now for the big news. Yep, you may have guessed it. It seems every other Thanksgiving we have a special announcement for the family. I took a test and it's positive! We are expecting again! Yes, I know we must be crazy because our son isn't even 2, but we really want this for our family. We feel it's the right time. And it's a little early to be telling people by our last standards, but now that we had one and he turned out all right, I can put my worries to rest that I am fertile and my body at least has the capacity to develop a baby right. So this time we are letting just a few more people know early, and we don't mind if word gets around. If anything happens in the next two months, I will be sad, but I won't be so heartbroken as if it happened the first time. So wish us luck, pray for us, and we hope that all goes well and we have a little girl soon! Haha, if it's a boy we'll be just as happy. :) Yes, we thought we were crazy because around here kids are 3 or 4 before their parents try again. Plus it's just really HARD being a mother. What am I getting myself into again?!?! But we were comforted in knowing when we called some friends that we are not the only ones who are and have been trying-and have succeeded! Congrats to our dear friends and good luck to those who are still trying.

So our son finally gained some weight at his grandma's hard work and we are trying to keep it that way here at home. He's such a funny little guy with a big heart and a lot of personality. We've been to our ward Christmas party and playgroup and it's so great to see him grow socially and play games with other kids. Right now he love to play "chase." So he'll run after them or they run after him and then he'll stop, crouch down, and then give the biggest grin ever. Oh yeah, and sometimes when he laughs with me, he'll laugh just like me. I tend to sometimes throw my head back or double over just a bit when I laugh at something, so can you imagine this little guy doing the same thing when he laughs? Oh, so funny.

Did I tell you that he's really musical? He has a really good ear and likes to sing and sometimes keep rhythm to a catchy song. He will be playing and hear the faintest car horn from so far away. He'll look up from what he's doing and point to his nose. The only reason I understand is because that car's horn is in my memory trace. We'll be somewhere and there will be some music and he knows when a song is about to end (like when the person is on the last note) because he'll start clapping. It's amazing.

Did I tell you he pinches and bites and hits when he's angry. Well, we've been trying to tell him to be soft (don't tell him what he can't do, tell him what he can). But I wasn't thinking he was really getting the point. So I started saying no. When that didn't work, I got a brilliant idea where I could really integrate my education. You only know that the child really gets it when they can show it. So I took his hand (as I had in the past) and showed him what "soft" was. Now, if he's being disciplined, he has to show me "soft" before we let him off the hook. And he's finally getting it! Oh I'm so happy. And if he ever does that to other kids, we make him show "soft" on them.

I am...more emotional, more forgetful, and more nauseous than last time. It has taken me a week and a half just to do a little laundry. It wasn't even that much. I am taking naps whenever my son does. It's pretty hard, but it could be a lot worse! What I hate right now is food. In a love/hate relationship, this is the hate. I have to have it, but I don't want it. Nothing sounds good to me-even the stuff I normally LOVE. I hate it all. Ah well. It should pass by week 15. Oooo! I should put up one of those cute count down gadgets at the top of our blog!

Here are some pics for you to enjoy.

He's ALWAYS trying to unlock stuff with keys.

At the farm, killing the fatted calf

These boys are so lucky to have the opportunities on the farm. I mean, who can say they've ground beef?

After we got back, we harvested these from our garden-beans!

Birthday and Our Garden!

2010-11-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

So, it was my birthday last week and it turned out to be a really, really good day. I went Visiting Teaching and then Prose took me out to eat. After that, some girl friends took me to get a pedicure and then went out for pizza at this really awesome pizza place. We were laughing and having so much fun. It was one of the best birthdays in a long, long time. Then another friend came over while my husband was out camping with the scouts in our backyard to give me a home-made card and to visit. I didn't expect anything or anyone to really make me feel special on this day, but it sure happened! I can't thank everyone enough!
I've been talking about our awesome garden to my mom and decided the best way to show her was to put up pictures, so here they are! Honestly, I don't even know everything we are growing...pumpkin, bean tree, spicy mustard leaf lettuce, other lettuce, collards, orange tree, banana trees, some other berry tree, green onions, garlic, papaya, sugar cane, cactus, hopefully basil but I can't find it, lemon grass, etc. I know there are more things but I'm not sure what they are. Enjoy the pics!

Happy 100th Post!

2010-11-14T12:56:00.000-08:00

Haha, just thought it would be fun to acknowledge that it's the 100th post. Wow...maybe I am good at this whole journal thing. It's funny because whenever I hear a talk that encourages you to keep a journal, I'm always like, "Dang, I need to keep a journal!...oh wait...I'm covered because I do! It's just online!" (I've kept written journals my whole life.)
Well, this post is actually a solemn one. First of all, I forgot to tell you last time about how I was coming home and near my house, I passed a car accident. It must have just happened because no one was there yet. My heart swelled with empathy for them. As I reached my house I wished so badly that I had some snacks or cold water to give them. I didn't know them, and maybe someone was already there helping them out by the time I would get there. It didn't matter. With tears in my eyes, I parked the car in my driveway, went into the house really quick, and grabbed some room temperature water bottles. Then I drove my sleeping baby to the site of the crash. A policeman was there but no one else. There were houses all around; why weren't people helping out? When I was in my accident, I was so blessed with so many people coming to our aid. Some young men stopped to pull me out, a man left his office to take the carseat out and calm down my screaming baby, people asked if they could help, and the same man brought us some cold water bottles-as much as we needed. So this was my turn. Emotionally I pulled up, put the car in park and ran over with the water. Thankfully I was wearing sunglasses. They were grateful for the water. I wished them luck and then drove home. Just a lot to ponder, you know.

Next, I have a recent story. This weekend, we decided to go to the temple. Since my husband had Thursday off, we went then. We were driving past Port St. Lucie on the I-95 when we passed a cargo truck. Thank goodness we did because about 150 yards later, my husband saw it tip to its left and overturn in his rear-view mirror. All he could say was "Look!" What? Where? "Behind us!" I turned and saw the truck we had just passed in the lane to its left now overturned and sideways, blocking any oncoming traffic going north. Here's what the traffic report says:

Traffic back to normal following dumptruck rollover on I-95 in St. Lucie County

By Lamaur Stancil
TCPalm
Posted November 11, 2010 at 4:46 p.m.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A dump truck rollover slowed down traffic for a couple of hours of northbound Interstate 95 Thursday, officials said.

The crash happened at 11:30 a.m. north of the interchange at St. Lucie West Boulevard, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. No serious injuries were reported.

Here's one after it:

I-95 northbound in Port St. Lucie now open

By staff report
TCPalm
Posted November 11, 2010 at 1:48 p.m., updated November 11, 2010 at 2:20 p.m.

PORT ST. LUCIE — All northbound lanes of Interstate 95 are now open following an accident involving a dump truck that overturned at 11:30 a.m. Thursday north of the interchange at St. Lucie West Boulevard.

All lanes are now open.

I'm reminded of my previous post on prayer, for we had prayed for safety on the road before we left. Perhaps that is what got us through safely.

We got to see Grandpa at the temple-that's always special. Even if it's for a short time, it's still a treat! He's a very special man. When we came back to my in-law's place, we heard a story about our son and food. You see, my mother-in-law is a very good cook and she's very good at feeding kids. My sister-in-law's kids are healthy and well-fed. So anyways, we were told she was chasing him around with spoonfuls of food. After a while, apparently he got fed up with the feeding that he found a cupboard and hid his head inside. In a few seconds of hiding, he poke his head outside to see if she was still there, and when he saw her, he had this expression on his face that seemed to say, "Please, stop!" And he put his head back inside to hide. First of all, HILARIOUS! I would have just loved to see that. So funny. Maybe you have to know our family for it to be really funny. Second of all, I'm glad to know that my son is developing really well because it was a manifestation of problem solving skills and creativity on his part.

Here's a picture of our son enjoying new toys at my parents-in-law's house. :)

Now we're missing our little guy because he's staying there while we are here getting a break. We'll go back for Thanksgiving and bring him back then. In the meantime, I'm gonna get so much done!!!

Happy Halloween Ye Maties!

2010-11-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

There has just been too much going on, so I'm just going to post pictures and say a few things.

I'm developing a friendship with this great girl in my ward. She got married October 23, so I ended up throwing her a little bachelorette part after institute. (Notice it's Sparkling Grape Cider!) The bucket full of things is a game...

Below is Field Day with the medical students. The baby is pointing to Koda, the Harlequin Great Dane I talked about in an earlier post that actually runs away from my little guy. So funny. But I think Koda just gets annoyed with all the touching, pulling, and high pitched noises my son makes. This is his classic gesture whenever he sees a dog, or any other animal for that matter! He points and then says, "Uh! UH!" But in a really, really high voice like he's so excited. And sometimes I think he's trying to make the noise they make because I always try to make the noise after saying the name of the animal.

Below is our ward's Trunk Or Treat. We went as pirates. We also drew a mustache on the baby to make him look more pirate. THE funniest thing. I don't know if you can see it in the following pictures. But he LOVED it because he got to just run around the cultural hall with everyone else.

How perfect was it that there was a "pirate ship" game?!?!

He loves to play on the piano. I hope if he has fun on it, he'll really want to play it someday.

Doesn't this look good?...

I would say so! All it is is sauteed maxixe (you can leave it out since you probably don't have any!), onion, carrot shreds, mushroom, and oh whatever vegetable you have available, plus little chunks of chicken. Shred some lettuce and stack it inside two toasted (with cheese!) whole wheat sandwich rounds. Yum! (For seasoning I used salt, garlic, and cumin.)

And this fall festive salad... ...is made with fall-colored fruit, like red apples, strawberries, red pears, oranges, etc. Then topped off with starfruit (though they kind of look like fall leaves)!

The baby has been growing so much and becoming more and more a little person. There is a lot that I want to write that he does. Some things are so funny or so cute but maybe I'll catch up on another post. One thing I have to say if I didn't say it in another post already is that he says, "Wow!" It's THE cutest thing! He does something, and then says, "Oooaaooo!" It actually sounds really clear! It's the best word he can say. You know he's saying wow, and it's the funniest thing because I've never seen a baby his age say that.

For now I wanted to just touch on some things that have been going through my mind about Christianity and how it seems to be viewed in the world today. There's actually a lot I'd like to say, but I want to limit it to prayer and to life's milestones. You see, as a stay at home mom, I end up watching a lot of TV because it's a coping mechanism for me (sound in the house means I'm not by myself and it's a good distraction to keep my mind off on mundane tasks like washing dishes). I'm not proud that I watch a lot, and I try not to go past a certain level of standard, but it's TV and pretty much every show is unclean and I really shouldn't be viewing it, I know. But it has also opened up my eyes to what the world's views really are. And even though it's drama, the media is so powerful that the morals and lifestyles of the shows are going to be copied by the world. TV reflects the world, but then it takes it to a dramatic level, and then the world reflects the shows and it's this spiral downward. I mean infidelity, unfaithfulness, cheating, dishonesty...these are what make movies and shows fun to watch, right? Because without them there would be no exciting plot. It's so sad.

Anyways, I got off on a tangent and I said I'd stick to prayer and life's milestones. Ok, so prayer. In one episode, a young man doesn't believe that prayer is going to do anything for his father who is in the hospital. He's a homosexual and doesn't believe there is a God who would put gay people on the earth and then tell them it's a sin. (OK, I must touch on this! In fact, I recently had an email exchange with someone and I'd like to share what I wrote):
In truth, homosexuality is something that mankind has to deal with, and has had to deal with even back in Bible times. Yes, there are members of the church who are homosexual. But this is just an area that they need to work on in life. For others, maybe it’s alcoholism in their genes, for others it was an abusive household, and for others, it’s some sort of other addiction. Everyone was put on this earth with specific trials that they need to overcome to master their physical bodies and make it back to God. In this, they also realize the amazing power and love of the Atonement. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I don’t feel for those people who are told “they can’t experience the same type of coupled love that you or I can.” I really do feel for those people. Love is such a blessing in this life and it doesn’t seem fair that some people are genetically prone to never experience it like that. This is where I struggle with it, but it’s not like I’m one to question the Lord. I believe everything happens for a reason. People have children who die young. Is it fair? People are handicap? Is that fair? Some people have abusive parents. Life is not fair. We all have trials that we are to experience and homosexuality is one of them. I am quite sure, though, that if we are faithful, in the end, we can experience a fullness of joy-and that means a fullness of love. So, yes, there are people in the Church who struggle with homosexuality. But they don’t act on it because it is a sin. It’s not a sin to be homosexual (if that is how your brain is wired), but it is a sin to act upon it. Just as it is a sin to give in to alcoholism. There are church leaders and books that lovingly help those people out. And yes, all are invited to Christ-of course! His hands are stretched out and open to anyone who will follow Him. But that’s just it. It’s our choice to follow Him. You can choose to keep the commandments and follow Him, or not…Yes, He will still love you, but it’s up to you to show that you love Him. When we do follow His commandments, and we are ready to be part of His Church, we make covenants with Him, and are baptized. To be worthy of the blessings that come from that, we must first answer that we are ready to drop all our sins and obey Him.

Back to the episode. Well, one of the teachers also doesn't believe there is a God because she had a sister who was mentally handicapped and so she prayed that her sister could be healed or something or that I people would stop making fun of her...(something like that, I can't remember). Well, when what she prayed for didn't happen, she decided that there isn't a God since He didn't answer her prayers. I feel so sad for people who believe this. They don't understand our loving Father in Heaven or His plan for us. In our printed Bible, we have a really neat source. It's called the Bible Dictionary. It is a "concise collection of definitions and explanations of items that are mentioned in or are otherwise associated with the Bible" (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/contents).

In it, under prayer it says, As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7: 7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

I am just in love with this definition, because it really puts things into perspective. One of the efforts we need to have is faith. Faith is definitely something to work at! Also, sometimes it is the will of God that something happens or doesn't happen. All things work together in His plan for us, but we have Christ's atonement to help us along the way! The second thing is the milestones in our life. Another show I was watching was about two people sharing their points of view on life. One was saying that he didn't want life to be about checking things off a list (high school, college, marriage, having kids, etc.), but instead being "free" to discover, experience, and live. The other one was brought up with being able to rely on the stability of "checking off" milestones in life. May I add to this, that important milestones like these are actually commandments of God and are put on earth to bring us the most happiness we can have here. Even more, they lead us to the Celestial Kingdom. Let me explain a bit better. In 1 Corinthians 15:40-41 it talks about the 3 Degrees of Glory. Well, in order to get into the Celestial Kingdom, one needs to complete certain milestones, namely, baptism and being sealed (Mt. 16:19) to an eternal companion-both by the proper priesthood authority. Then both of you are to endure to the end of your lives, keeping the commandments of God, including having children. Of course, if you do not have the opportunity in this life, you may have it in the next life. However, baptism and marriage are mortal ordinances, so through proxy work, someone can do these ordinances for you after you are dead (see 1 Peter 3:18-21, 1 Peter 4: 6, 1 Cor. 15:29). Then you have to opportunity to accept or reject it. So in summary, certain milestones in life are God's way of helping us to return to His presence and experience a fullness of joy. He is all-knowing and wise, so I trust Him. I want to make it back to Him and receive all the blessings He promises. Something that I learned today was an insight: God can only give you as many blessings as commandments you keep!

Sabbath Day

2010-10-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

Prose - I feel impressed to write a bit about my thoughts about the Sabbath day and what it means to me. This thought does not come unprompted, something remarkable happened to me today. I have often been applying for scholarships and praying a great deal that the Lord would help me avoid debt as much as possible. I have spent many long hours over the past year or two searching for scholarships and applying for them. With this in mind I would like to share what happened.

I was studying at night when I received a call from one of the organizations to which I had applied for a scholarship from. They let me know that they had a scholarship available due to a donation from a large beverage company and wanted me to answer a few questions before I was offered the scholarship. First they asked me if I was still enrolled full-time in school, to which I replied yes. Then they told me that to receive the scholarship I would have to attend a concert in Miami on a Sunday. I told them that I would not be able to do this because for religious reasons I would not be able to attend on a Sunday. They then told me that they could not offer me the scholarship.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am extremely frugal. So when an opportunity to save money comes along like this one, I normally jump at the chance. In this case, however, I had more important commitments. When I accepted the Gospel and was baptized, I made a promise to strive to do everything that my father in heaven asked of me. One of the things he asks is that we keep the Sabbath Day holy. This is what the ten commandments says:

Exodus 20

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

I did not really have to decide whether or not to take the scholarship I was offered. My decision had been made many years before today. It was not based on how badly I needed financial assistance or how great a scholarship would be to put on a resume. Instead, it was made out of love for my creator.I am grateful for everything I have received in my life to this point: A beautiful and wonderful wife, a wonderful and vibrant son, a home, the chance to be in medical school and do what I love, etc. All of it was given to me by God. After looking at everything he gives me, looking at what he asks of me makes it seem so insignificant. In fact, it's a privilege. Even when I do what he asks, he blesses me all the more, making me even more indebted. Here are some blessings for keeping the Sabbath day Holy.

D&C 59

9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
11 Nevertheless thy avows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times;
12 But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.

I can honestly say that my life is full of joy. I can also say that much of the sadness in the world today is because of the world's lack of keeping the Sabbath Day holy and of not setting time aside for God.

To anyone reading this, If you haven't done so in a while, say a prayer where instead of asking for things all the time (I'm definitely guilty of this), all you do is thank him. You'll be surprised at how great you feel and at how many tender mercies you start noticing in your life.

Snake!

2010-10-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to go use the bathroom and when I came out, I saw what looked like a dying worm (probably from poison-thank goodness it works!) right in the middle of the hallway. I'm glad I had to go, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed it. I'm even more glad when I found out what it really was later. So I called Prose over so he could see it and dispose of it. Upon closer look, I said, "Is that a snake?" The reason was because I felt like it was behaving more like a snake. I'm not sure how I figured that, especially since I was really tired, but something about it seemed snake-like. But it was so small...maybe a baby snake? Uh oh, there must be a mother around somewhere.... But Prose said, no, it's just some sort of worm. Then he tried to pick it up with a tissue and it was hard to kill. It kept, yes, slithering out of his grasp. Whatever. Weird worm. Or not. I was about 96% asleep when Prose said, "It was a snake." He looked it up and he found it was what is known as the flower pot snake. I was like, "Thanks for telling me that. I was almost asleep and now I'm going to have nightmares about snakes in my house." Well, here's a picture to help you understand how small these guys are (in comparison to a quarter).

More Updates and Conference Weekend

2010-10-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

Above everything else, I would like to share a post that my friend put up. It's one of the most powerful testimonies of Christ I've ever heard: http://timandloriorr.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-just-have-to.html.
To add my own testimony, I'd like to talk of General Conference. I mentioned that it is a big deal for the Saints because we get to come from all over the world to hear God's prophet speak. We hear other talks from some of the 12 Apostles and other General Authorities of the Church. Let me tell you that their words touched my heart. Ok, so it is SO interesting. I know that I'm not the only member of the church in the world, but you know how unintentionally in Conference they tend to have a "theme?" Like more than one talk is about, or mentions, a certain subject. It's so funny that it seems lately that whatever the "theme" ends up being, I am going through it right then! For example, when I picked my college major as Marriage, Family, and Human Development, the "theme" was on families. When I was trying to decide on choosing Prose for my Eternal Companion, it was on trusting the Lord. And this time I have been telling some friends about the authority and organization of the church, and what is the "theme?" Pretty much that. There was also a "theme" of faith and cleaning the inner vessel. There was a lot on not judging, having gratitude, and generally being a better person and living the commandments of the Lord.
I recently typed out something I shared with some friends and I'd like to share it now with you. If anyone out there has ever wondered why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims to have direct communication to Jesus Christ, this is why:

There is one President of the Church in the whole world, and he is referred to as the Prophet, but the 12 apostles are also prophets, seers, and revelators. God calls prophets who are given the keys of the priesthood-the power and authority given to man to act in God's name for the salvation of His children. Prophets learn the gospel of Jesus Christ through revelation. The Bible speaks of many instances of apostasy. After, God calls another prophet and gives him priesthood authority to restore and teach the gospel. Each period of time headed by prophetic responsibility is called a dispensation. Adam was the first prophet. After him came other prophets, but eventually his seed rejected the gospel and fell into apostasy. Other prophets who headed up new dispensations are Noah, Abraham, and Moses. God gave us our agency, so men are able to choose to accept or reject the gospel, but the Lord loves us, so He always calls another prophet to restore His gospel.
A few hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, people again fell into apostasy. Then the Savior began His mortal ministry and headed up that dispensation at that time. Christ did so much during that time by fulfilling the law, calling the twelve, giving priesthood authority, organizing, performing miracles, etc. and of course the most important even in the history of the world-the Atonement, making it possible for us to repent of our sins and make it back to His presence.
After Christ died and was resurrected, Peter became the President of the Church. Then came the Apostasy, where all the apostles were killed off and therefore, the keys of the priesthood and any presiding authority in the Church killed off too.

Here are some scriptures that speak of the Great Apostasy and a restitution of all things:
Matthew 24:9-11
Mark 12:1-9
Acts 3:19-21
Acts 20:28-30
Galations 1:6-9
1 Timothy 4:1-3
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Amos 8:11-12

Through revelation, the Apostles had kept the doctrines of the gospel pure and maintained the order and standard of worthiness for Church members. Without them, eventually the gospel was changed. People did their best to interpret the scriptures and maintain the gospel, but this was relying on human wisdom. Much knowledge was lost. Many churches formed, trying their best to put the pieces together and teach the gospel. God loves His children and I can only imagine that He is pleased that people would want to keep Him in their lives and maintain Him the best they can without revelation, but it also seems clear in the scriptures that He was displeased that the important doctrines were to be changed by the people. We have our agency, and that is a gift we have here on the earth. Just like our children. They can make choices that displease us, but we still love them.
In the 1800's the Reformation resulted in an increased emphasis on religious freedom, which opened the way for God to once again restore His gospel. When the circumstances were right, Heavenly Father once again reached out to His children by calling upon Joseph Smith as a prophet. Through him, the fullness of the gospel was restored. Before that, other religions had bits and pieces and human wisdom, but through the Prophet Joseph Smith, God restored the fullness of the gospel. Joseph was prepared because he had been studying out religion. He knew that the Bible taught there was "one Lord, one faith, one baptism' (Ephesinas 4:5) and read "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5). Joao already told you what happened next, but if you want, you can read it: (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/js_h/1), particularly verses 17-20.
We are now living in the final dispensation of time. Through revelation we know that these are the last days of the earth and that Christ is coming soon. I was thinking just now, why is it so easy to believe something that happened a long time ago, but harder to believe something that happened in closer history to us? Why wouldn't the Lord restore His gospel in another dispensation just like He did in Bible times? I believe Joseph Smith to be called of God, and I believe that the same church that existed in the primitive church exists today. God does speak to His children through a living prophet on the earth. Christ, Himself, leads His Church.
This next weekend is General Conference and I am so excited to hear the words of the Prophet and the 12 Apostles. Read Amos 3:7 and I would like to share Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/1) So when the Prophet speaks to us in Conference, it is like we are listening to the words of Christ.

After I wrote this, it seems like most of the same stuff was shared in Conference. I just think it's interesting...maybe what I'm going through, a lot of people are going through. Maybe also, it seems like the world is ripening for the gospel to be preached.

Listen, I know mostly my family reads this blog, and I'm not sure how many friends read it, especially those that don't share my faith. Those who do not believe that Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth and saw God and Jesus Christ, I can understand. Really. Looking at it from someone's perspective from outside the church, it seems absolutely crazy. But if you could, consider for just a minute that it is true. Really and sincerely consider it. Why couldn't it be true? I know it is. The Holy Ghost has told me over and over again. And if you learn about the gospel and go to the Lord and ask, you will receive a witness for yourself through the Holy Ghost.

Last Saturday I was playing in the park while my husband played soccer with some people form the ward and there was someone else there talking on the phone in Portuguese while her kids played. I got the feeling that I should definitely ask her to church. Why not?! And the Lord provided a way. Someone came through the park with a dog. All the kids went over to see the dog and it started barking pretty loud, so that got the woman to come over to make sure her kids were ok. I speak to my son in Portuguese as much as I can, so naturally I was saying (in English): "Look at the dog! Soft..." And so after the dog left, we chatted and it turns out she doesn't speak much English. So I invited her to church (we have a lot of Brazilians there so she'd feel comfortable) in Portuguese! Haha, I'm so glad that I know enough Portuguese to do that! Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.

So, there are a few things that my son does that are just so cute that I forgot to mention.

Whenever he hears music come on, he dances. Sometimes he'll even spin in a circle!
Make plane sounds. There is a plane one of his aunts gave him for his birthday and I'll pretend it's flying, making plane sounds, and then hand it off to him and then he'll do the same thing. Sometimes he makes a different sound, but still "boyish" for planes or trucks, etc.
LOVES playing peakaboo. I mean he liked it before, but now he likes to surprise YOU. He gets a kick out of building up the element of surprise. So funny.
If you ask "Where's your bellybutton?" He'll lift up his shirt and show you. Then he'll come over to Papai and look for his.
When we dress him for bed, he wears long sleeves and now I do this thing to teach him "hand" (in Portuguese) where I say, "Where's the hand?" until it pops through and then I kiss it. So lately he'll put his hand through whatever outfit we're dressing him in, stick it out toward my face, and then smack his lips, like he's reminding me to kiss it. Then I do and he's satisfied. :)
Today we went on another playdate and on the way home, he held a girl's hand for the first time! Oh no! Growing up so fast!

I'm so pleased with myself! I went to a Relief Society activity and made these:
I love crafts and have been doing them all my life, but it's been a while. So I am happy and am glad we actually have a decoration for Thanksgiving!

We are getting food from our garden now! Maxixe, a Brazilian kind of little squash, is what has been growing on our "monster."

Also, last Sunday we made the most awesome citrus fondue. A-MA-ZING. Here is the recipe because I know you are going to want it.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
10 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine, cubed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
Fresh fruit

Directions

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and flour. Stir in water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, lemon and orange juice and peel and ginger; cook until the butter is melted. Transfer to a fondue pot and keep warm. Serve with fruit.

Music Lessons, Papai's Birthday, and Playdates!

2010-09-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

So, you remember that great pizza recipe that I told you about in my post? Well here's what I put in mine:
Corn, mushrooms, onions, green onions, hard boiled egg, shredded carrots, mozzarella cheese, and tomato sauce...man, I think I'm missing something...

Well, things around here have been eventful...and non-eventful. It depends on the day. Right now we are in the middle of a tropical storm, which means it's been raining nonstop all night and day. It should let up tomorrow.

Let's start with the baptism of a good friend. One of Prose's medical classmates invited us to attend her Protestant Christian baptism and we said of course we'd go! When I walked in the church, I was very impressed with its size. I really liked the service. The pastor was nice, a very good speaker (he's be a good motivational speaker!), and had some really nice insights he was able to make clear. It was very enjoyable with the projector helping with scriptures and songs, and the music! It was really nice with the talented musicians. It kind of moved you inside (music is very powerful that way). I really like Christian music. Anyways, I couldn't believe that I am in my twenties and this was my first Protestant Christian church experience. I was thinking I HAD to have gone to one before, but I hadn't. I kind of wish I had just for the educational experience it would have given me for another church. Well, I'm glad I experienced it, even if it was a little late! :) There are some good people there who love Christ and really like to study Him and be more like Him.
Through my Christian friends, I am really getting to know more about what they believe and, funny enough, what I believe. It's really an enjoyable experience. You see, I've never really had to share what I believe to anyone before. Prose has, because he's been on a mission, sharing the gospel. It's one thing to know what you believe, but it's another to express it. Since all my friends were of my same faith, and those who were not were just used to us, I never had to explain the fundamental principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. All I did was live the gospel and share my testimony. It was just normal to live the way we did, surrounded by our faith on all sides. So now, I get to talk to others about the gospel. I believe that when you teach something, you learn about it even more. And it's been a learning experience to hear others' beliefs as well.

Anyways, if any of you out there want to hear a real and living prophet of God speak, go to http://lds.org/broadcast/gc/1,5161,9199,00.html this Saturday and Sunday (there are two sessions each day). You may have to be patient with the website since thousands of people will be using it at one time. General Conference comes twice a year and the Saints really look forward to it (in some places it's almost like a holiday)!

Well my little man is just the funniest little guy. He's full of life, learning, and laughs. Here he is at the Lego table.
Here he is with an avocado smoothie mustache.

He REALLY enjoyed it!

We had a double date making sushi with friends. LOTS of fun! After I blogged about it, I got a request to teach...actually, I think I was asked how and then Prose may have had the idea for a date...anyways, here we are:

Another thing that's been happening is that through Stake Choir, I have gotten some music students! I am teaching one girl (about my age) and then a mom and two daughters. I am REALLY enjoying it (I use the word "enjoy" a lot, don't I?). Really though. I am having such a good time because music is my passion and I really do love to teach it. I've taught piano and flute in the past, and have helped some voices before, but I've never taught voice lessons. Actually, I'd never dream of attempting to teach voice because it's such a delicate thing to work with. You could really ruin someone's voice if not taught properly. Plus I didn't even get a degree in any sort of vocal training let alone music education. So pretty much I'm sooo not qualified to teach voice, yet...I feel that I am. I never thought it, but I am teaching voice! Of course, I let my students know before that I'm extremely unqualified but they really wanted me to teach them, so I'm accepting a very low pay. But you know what? I really think I'm giving them just as good of a voice lesson as any that I've had. I really mean that. In my heart, I feel like I know what to say to them, how to explain things, and I have a really good ear so I know when they are singing right and when I need to help them work on something more. The family I'm teaching is already musical, but the single is not, so I'm also teaching her music in general. That's why I am considering what I'm doing as "music lessons." Last Monday I taught her the basics of sight-singing, which will eventually lead in to key signatures and the circle of 5ths. There's SO much in music that I didn't realize I know so much! Anyways, I love it.

One sister in our ward recently called some of us mothers together to have a playdate for our babies (and for us to get out once a week-love it!). Here was our first one at my house. We decided to put my son in the middle of "the ladies" and it just looks so funny!

My goofy kid...
For Papai's birthday we went out to eat the night before (because he had scouts the night of). One of his favorite places is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. It was sooo good, as usual. Those burgers are so big. I mean, we're talkin' at least two inches in between the buns. It's crazy, and guess what. Our son somehow fit 3/4 of a whole burger into his little body! That alone is proof that he eats a ton but doesn't gain weight. Actually he's finally up to 20 lbs, but he's just about 14 months. He should be much more. The next day I brought ice cream cake to the medical students and it turned out good again! They loved it! There were also amazing guava and cream cheese cupcakes our friend made for him too. Here is Papai and our filhinho together in the parking garage on his birthday:

Prose has been working on a project. He's building a portable/foldable soccer goal. He's so excited for this project and has been working hard on it during his "free time." Here it is so far (without the net):

So our son likes to pull down the dish towels, so one day after he did that, I just stuck it in the back of his clothes and gave him his first cape. (I know, I'm silly.) He looked so funny walking around. But hey, Super Baby climbed up on top of his Lego table!

Like I mentioned before, there are so many things that he's developing so fast that I can't write them down or remember them. So here are a few.

He loves to sit down with me and do the shape-sorter. He'll come and get me by handing it to me and we'll sit down and do the task together.
He loves the stacker thing. He's pretty good at it now, but doesn't quite get the concept of stacking according to size.
Loves to try and use his own fork
Loves to turn the light on and off while looking at the light go on and off
Can finally kick the ball (like throwing it too)
I think his new favorite color is yellow because he always carries around the yellow piece of the stacker or the yellow shapes of the shape sorter. When we do the shape sorter, he always puts the two yellow shapes in first. Isn't that funny? He prefers the color yellow!

There are of course times when I can't tell what he wants, but for the most part, I think I can tell what he's communicating so it's good because at this age they get frustrated when they can't communicate what they want. However, if he knows that I know what he wants, then he won't have the desire to try and say words to express what he wants. So it should be interesting to figure that out.

Oh! One last thing. There's a girl who just moved into our ward straight from Brazil and she's learning English, so she can't speak much. It's SO cool because I get to practice my Portuguese! When I speak with her I realize two things: 1.) I really do know a lot of Portuguese! I can get by in a whole 20 minute conversation! and 2.) Wow, I really don't know enough Portuguese-especially grammar. But it's fun. I wish so much that she were staying longer in our ward because she and I really hit it off as friends.
Well, until next time!

Recently...

2010-09-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

*****I realize the sound on the videos is not working. I'm working on that...man, sometimes Blogger really ticks me off...

The baby is now 13 months and I thought I'd make a list of his development. Some are pretty funny.

Can push the chapel door open all by himself (I'm telling you, he's SO STRONG!) Those things are heavy even for me!
Loves to climb inside the laundry basket now-he's got good balance and coordination...to see him hold on to the sides and maneuver his legs around, shifting the weight.
Withstand banging his head, falling, getting bumps or bruises, etc. without crying. We've taught him well! As long as we don't freak out, he doesn't freak out.
Can climb on a few things (bins, little Lego table, the camping chair)
Makes "animal noises," except all of his sound like my imitation of a cat or chick. I'll do: roar, arff arff, moo, quack, meow, neigh, co-co-ro-co-co! (cock-ca-doodle-do in Portuguese), oink (snorting it of course!), piu piu (chirp chirp in Portuguese), and maybe some that I'm forgetting. But whenever he sees and animal, he'll point and make these really high pitched sounds. They're really cute.
Hugs stuffed animals. He loves hugging them, and loving them, and (again) making cute little high pitched sounds (like we make when we love on him)!
Sings to electronic musical books. There's one in particular that he'll push a button and it plays the song, and he'll sit there, dancing a little as he tries to sing to it (again, in really high tones...future tenor?)
Will FINALLY drop the bouncy ball. He isn't throwing it yet-we'll have to work on that
Looks at me when he's getting into something he knows he shouldn't...like the diaper genie
Knows the word "shake." I'll say it and he'll shale whatever he has in his hand.
Spin in circles (not to many!)
Better communicate his wants (pointing, saying "ba!" which means food, making other sounds, body language, etc.)
Can stack with that stacker-toy-thing...
Now that Papai is gone again a lot, I've been pointing him out in pictures. But now he thinks that any picture he sees is called "Papai." Every picture he sees, he points and says, "Pa! Pa!" Now I'm trying to say "Um foto do Papai," or saying what really is in the picture.
At mealtimes, he'll hold his hands together, or try to fold his arms (when prompted) when we say the prayer.
Has a really hearty laugh that's just so cute. His giggles are more mature.
Will hold a toy phone to his ear. I'll try to say "Alô!" when I see him do that.
Tries to plug cords into outlets. Dangersous, but smart! (We have protectors)

The other day I was watching TV where someone went across the screen with their fingers in their ears so they wouldn't hear what was going on. It must have been 1.5 seconds it was up on the screen and I look over and there he is, with HIS fingers in his ears, giving me a big smile. So funny! Something to think about...
Today he dragged around his nighty outfit all around the house, watching as it followed him, dragging on the floor behind him. Something so simple, yet something to discover.

The best one is an experience we had at a potluck. So far he loves dogs, but they don't seem to love him. They end up running away from him. Well at this house, they had a Great Dane (which I heard was about a foot taller than normal sized ones). I was thinking, whoa, this dog is huge. The baby is going to maybe be scared or intimidated. Nope. He went right up to him and tried to touch him. At first they kind of got along, but then it was one of those "I've seen it all moments" when the Great Dane was actually being chased by my 30" tall son. That baby is crazy.
Whatever this is!:

I forgot to mention that the other day, we went out to water the garden, and he picked some daisies and then came up to me with his arm outstretched to give them to me. I'm sure he didn't know what it looked like he was doing ("Look, Mommy! I picked these for you!"), but I don't care. I found joy in the first flowers my son gave to me!

Of course there are other things he can do and will start doing which are developing at a faster pace, so I'm not going to be able to keep track on the blog but I'll do my best. Also, I wish I had more videos but it was hard to even get these up.
Something I also wanted to say is that a lot of commands we say (like when we ask "Where is [the baby]? and he points to himself) are really trained responses. I've noticed he doesn't really understand what we're really saying to him. It's just like a trick. Ah well, I'm sure he'll get it one day. This last video is something I've wanted to capture on camera for many months now. How does he do that with his mouth?!

Oooo, I Can't Wait to Try These Pizza Pockets!

2010-09-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Meal Planning Mommies, I found this great recipe!

Crust

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 t. sea salt
1 cup melted butter
1 cup plain yogurt

Stir ingredients together until thoroughly mixed. This is sooo cool! A much easier recipe than mine, and who would have thought of using yogurt? I've never heard of that.

Pizza Sauce

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce You'd be surprised how YUMMY natural (unprocessed) blended tomatoes can be. To get rid of pesticides, wash or peel off skin, then blend with just a tad bit of water and some salt.
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 t. oregano
1 1/2 t. basil

Stir together and simmer for a few minutes.

Pizza Pocket Fillings

Grated mozzarella or white cheddar cheese, cooked hamburger, pepperoni, olives, peppers, mushrooms I'm going to stuff mine with bits of corn, pineapple, olives, mushrooms, carrots, onion, green onions, and mozzarella!

To form a Pizza Pocket

Roll a small ball of dough into a circle. Place one tablespoon of pizza sauce in the center. Put in a small amount of your choice of toppings. Fold the dough in half. Use a fork to pinch the edges together.

Lay Pizza Pockets on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for about one hour. Pop them off the cookie sheet and put them into a freezer bag…and back into the freezer.

Bake your Pizza Pockets

For frozen Pizza Pockets, bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. If the Pizza Pockets are thawed, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I love the convenience of this nutritious ”fast food”! Serve them with fruit and veggies(God’s fast food!)…and you’ve got yourself a quick and easy lunchtime treat!!

Missing Provo

2010-09-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not NEAR as good of a poet as my husband. I just kind of put words together sometimes if I ever write. Sometimes it's the only thing you can do to help you express yourself in a more powerful way. Here is a poem I just wrote to him. I warn you, it's kind of depressing and sad. It's a side of me you don't really get to see and that I don't share, but right now I'm sharing it with you.

I love you, hun.
And I love our son.
I know we are super blessed,
but I'm depressed.

When I am here,
and you are there.
Our friends back west
In P-town are best.

Things to do, smiles on faces
Friends next door, of all places.
They lead productive lives
And I feel like my blog is lies.

Our pictures, though fun, they portray
When looking at others, I sigh in dismay
The lives they lead outweigh my own
What have I to show?

Though much to do, here at home,
Dishes, laundry-I'm still alone.
Even if I had a car,
Friends live way too far.

What I would give
To go back and live
Where friends are nearby,
An endless supply!

Where things to do
Never cease, it's true.
And everyone has joy
It's the gospel they enjoy!

This poem is sad, I know
Full of heartache and woe
But it's how I feel
And that's the deal.

I can't change anything
Or what circumstances bring.
So if you read and can spare,
A little advice, please share.

For someone like me,
Who wants to be free
No car, no money, no life.
Please save me from this strife.

It's ok to be "homesick" right? Well, maybe that's what I'm feeling. Though I think it's a little more than that. The lifestyle out here is just so different than what I'm used to. I came from a place where everyone is full of life, full of joy, and full of the Spirit. There are great opportunities and family-friendly activities. Everyone is nice to everyone, and you see your neighbor every day. They hold the same morals, standards, and beliefs. I know that that may sound like a bad thing to some of you and you may think, well that's why you are sad now-you shouldn't have been so "sheltered." I understand that, but I will also say to you, live there for one month. Just give it one month, and you will more than likely fall in love with it too.

Morality

2010-08-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Prose -

I recently had a sexuality class in school. As usual, whenever there is one of these style classes, I find some of the material offensive and am saddened at the direction in which our society is heading. The weekend made me reflect significantly on my own values and what chastity and modesty mean to me.

The thirteen Article of Faith states:

13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
AOF 1:13

I believe that the world is absolutely lost with regard to chastity and modesty. Many have no clue about what is right and what is wrong with regards to these two essential principles of the Gospel.

Paul said:

1 Corinthians 6
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

If our bodies were given to us by God and they are a temple of the Holy Ghost, shouldn't they remain pure and undefiled? Shouldn't they be preserved in modesty and sanctity, just as any other temple of God? We should take care of our bodies just as the gift of God which they really are.

The temple of Solomon built in Jerusalem was a very protected place in the city. Not only was it protected by the city walls, but the temple itself had walls to protect it. These walls kept out invaders as well as those who were defiled. Chastity and modesty are these temple walls that our Heavenly Father has given us to protect our personal temples.

Here is some further scripture about chastity and modesty:

Jacob 2
27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;
28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.

Moroni 9
9 And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue—

Alma 39
3 And this is not all, my son. Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the harlot Isabel.
4 Yea, she did steal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son. Thou shouldst have tended to the ministry wherewith thou wast entrusted.
5 Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?

Just because we have control of our bodies does not mean that there are no consequences to how we use them. While here in mortality, we have the freedom to choose our actions, but we have no choice over consequences that follow our choices. These are inherent to the choices themselves. We have the choice to view pornographic material, commit adultery, or fornication, but we can in no way choose not to receive the destructive consequences that each of these actions has on our soul.

The world today thinks that the viewing of pornography is normal and that it is expected of teenagers because they cannot help themselves. They say teenagers are expected to be sexually active because their will is not stronger than their hormones. This is a fallacy set up to condone this soul eroding behavior. It is because of this kind of philosophy that we have so many children with STDs and teen pregnancies.

We should expect more of our children; they are capable of great things. We shortchange them when we tell them they have no self-control and that they are not capable of of moderation, modesty, and chastity.

It is generally accepted that exposing of your body, wearing revealing clothing, or wearing form-fitting clothing is fine. All this does is stimulate pornographic thoughts in the minds of those one comes in contact with. I wish more people thought understood this...

As children of God we are capable of great things. We should start as a society to live up to this potential. Last year, Elder Christofferson gave an amazing talk on moral discipline. I know if if all of us made the decision to live up to our potential, this world would be a different and much better place.

Baby Bookcase Project

2010-08-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this!

My husband had the honor of baptizing a new member last week!

Earlier this week I finally finished sorting through baby toys-putting away ones that aren't quite age appropriate and dividing up the ones that are into self-correcting toys. Hmmm, what I mean by that is that ever since I discovered Montessori methods (I'm not sure why we didn't learn about it in any of my classes...maybe because it's not research based?) I have fallen in love with them. It's like children play with toys but at the same time are taught by them. So I have made the baby's room into a learning room and our living room a free-play zone. Needless to say, he spends most of his time in free-play. Those are with the big (mostly electronic) toys. In his room are neat and organized "stations" of toys in his bookcase. I will rotate or switch them out as I see necessary. These are age-appropriate, self-correcting toys (my guidance is needed of course for the beginning, but hopefully he won't need that after a while.

This basket has different objects he can put inside of a can to help him learn about volume (space items take up) and sounds each make against tin.

These are animals that he can match up. This helps with matching and vocabulary skills.

Every month or so will be a different color basket.

This one tool the longest. Matching pictures with an object in 3D form.

Here's a closer look.

Then of course you can see in the bookcase picture that he has age-appropriate books, stacking rings, and a shape sorter. In drawers we have puzzles and quiet books.
And update: the baby points to himself when you say where's [baby]? And then point to me when you say where's mommy? And he loves to point to Prose when you say where's daddy? Of course, all of this is in Portuguese. I don't know if he'd know it in English!
You remember our garden? Well here are updated pictures.

Also check out my boy's fine motor skills! (Haha, I'm such a child development nerd!)

Now for the rest of the day he's been taking it around, trying to plug it into things. Here is a video of him pointing to himself-it's sooooo cute!

Rock 'n Roll Date

2010-08-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hey, a lot has been going on around here. Prose is working on a post to explain more about that since a lot has to deal with his experiences now. For one thing (that he might not mention) is that he was at school and the teacher told the students to leave their belongings in a room for a couple of hours while they went somewhere. Well when my husband came back, his precious iTouch was gone. Granted he shouldn't have left it, but I was just so ticked off at this teacher who would even suggest a thing. She had no respect for the students' personal belongings and made an incredibly stupid and irresponsible call. There was no lock, no one watching over the backpacks, and the door was left open. I mean, who does that? I am so mad at her right now. That ipod had my husband's life on it and now some sicko has it to do with it what he likes. I pray that we are protected. It even has pictures of our family. Whoever stole it will see that my husband has a family. It's not like we can afford something like that being stolen.
Not only has he had to deal with that, but the very next day, a teacher made an inappropriate move during their sexuality class by beginning with 1930's porn clip. YOU FREAKING DON'T NEED TO DO THAT! (Pardon my almost cursing). I am just so mad that someone would subject students to such an inappropriate thing! I don't care what argument you use, it is unacceptable and crosses any and all lines. Setting aside religion, people chose to view porn privately. Do not show it publicly! Now considering religion, values, morals, etc. there is no need whatsoever for that to be shown. It damages more than helps. In fact, my poor husband was so shocked even though he put his head down on his desk, and was not able to effectively learn the rest of the material presented the rest of the day. Anyways, we were texting back and forth during it and it gave me more motivation to research and learn more about the dangers of pornography to the point of being able to convince others of it's harmfulness. By just saying that it ruins satisfaction in relationships, I don't think that's really going to change minds. If anyone can direct me to some good sources or professional contacts to get me involved in protecting families and relationships and even people on this subject, please let me know.
Now, on a happier note, the night my husband lost his iTouch, I had a really great date planned that I would like to share with you. I put together this idea from different sources, catering it to our circumstance, namely being poor and not being able to leave the house because of the baby. So, when my husband came home, he stayed outside and mowed the lawn. Then he came inside with his eyes closed so we could put the baby down. After that, I led him to the door where I then told him he could open his eyes. This is what he saw.
Then he turned around to see this (taken from the angle where I was standing)
I explained that this first part of our date was the "Roll" part of Rock and Roll. I led him to the table which looked like this:
Since I've been craving sushi (california rolls), we made them ourselves! I pre-cut everything so it was ready and added more ingredients than the sushi rice and california roll video clips I used to teach myself call for, like cheese and carrots.
By the time we ate, we were soooo hungry that we made five rolls (each roll cuts into about 8 pieces) and after doing the math, it cost us about $8.81 for everything. If we had gone out, it would have cost, at the cheapest, $20-30. I love saving money! I also love learning how to be self-sufficient. It's kind of empowering. :)
So then we proceeded to the "Rock" of the Rock and Roll. My husband's back has been bothering him lately and he's been under a lot of stress from school and having to be a husband and father. So I decided I would give him a spa treatment! We decorated spa rocks.
I got these in a whole bag from the Dollar Tree and I got the crayons there too. $2 total! They had pretty much cooled down by the time we were done decorating them so I told my husband to take his shirt off and lay on the couch face down. I turned off the lights (I had candles set up around the room) and played some spa music while I put the hot rocks on his back and gave him the best massage I could. He was so relaxed that he pretty much fell asleep! After a while, I woke him up and we had "record" decorated cookies (1/2 bag devils food cake, 1 egg and 6 Tbs. butter...after they cook use a glass to "cut" them better into perfect circles and a water bottle to cut the hole in the middle) with ice cream.
See that awesome bowl that the cookies are in? It's a record bowl. My husband thought it was the coolest thing. :)

My Sister's Wedding

2010-08-09T18:53:00.000-07:00

Melody-Here I am in my hometown now, really missing my husband. He's so cute. He says Miami is crying because I'm not there. (It's been raining a ton there) :) My sister's wedding was beautiful and it was nice to see her now husband and get to know him a little better. He really is a great guy. My mom is so blessed to have two such great sons-in-law. The baby...well I'll just say that it's amazing how RIGHT when they hit a certain month (or year), BAM! They can do something new. Like on the DAY he turned 4 months, he could reach for a toy. Just a day or two (if I remember correctly) before he turned 7 months he could pull himself up to stand. The week before he turned one he started walking. Since he turned one, he is not a baby anymore. He's soooo toddler. He has errupted with a cute little personality and is so much more playful. He's also totally a person, so he has his preferences and he's able to express his desires better, like when he's hungry, point to what he wants, what makes him happy, come to mommy when he needs something, and even say a word that means something, like "ba!" (banana, or food).

Well, I flew into Salt Lake City and spent some time with Prose's cousin-we love their family! And Tia! She's there to help out. Anyways, she LOVES children!

Second cousins!

I let the baby stay while I went to my sister's bachelorette party. We all went to park city and had lots of fun playing games, doing nails, and...giving advice while the younger girls watch a movie. ;)

The next day we picked up the baby and dropped him off to be watched while my sister went through the temple.
And after, we went out to eat at the Lion House.
The next morning I got up bright and early to do my sister's hair for her wedding.

This picture is taken later, of course, but here is her hair I did!

My uncle watching the baby while my sister gets married. They were so great together!

With Grandpa on the temple grounds.

With great-Grandpa.

Wedding luncheon

On our way to Vegas, we stopped at Craker Barrel! Mmmm! Here's my little guy in their totally awesome high chair!
My parents were so kind to want to celebrate the baby's birthday too and give him a cake and presents, so here are some pictures from that!

"Please! No more cake! I can't take it!"

Baby's first pool swim at Grandma's! (August 11)

There are some videos below but I can't seem to get them to work...

If a tree fall in the forest....

2010-08-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Prose -

Melody is off at her sister's wedding and I'm stuck in Miami. :S I tried about four times to get on a plane and got bumped all four times. The first time I was even inside the plane! After trying for over 24 hours I felt maybe the Lord didn't want me to go. Kinda makes sense, I have a quiz tomorrow and an anatomy test the following day. Ah well!

The moral of the story? If you ever get a buddy pass from someone and want to use it during the summer time, think twice. Ask yourself, how much time do I reeeeally have?

I've been trying to study a lot, but sometimes I feel like that tree in the woods with no one to hear it fall... haha.

Well in any case, I though I would get on and post my most recent poem. I'm thinking about writing a series of poems exploring different gospel/virtue related topics. So here is one of these, enjoy!

Conversion is known
by many a name
Though varied its description
Its meaning is the same

It means to start anew
To change one’s path of life
To strive to look beyond
Mundane toils and daily strife

Draw close to your creator
And promise him anew
To achieve, become, fulfil
All he has for you.

Oh why then is it all too clear
that not all who claim conversion’s path
do indeed walk circumspect
and set claim to what their Father hath?

Some of this can be ascribed
To the fallibility of man
To inherent imperfection
Regardless of effort to do all he can

Despite this truth, yet I suspect,
A reason yet, there remains to cite
For this reason on its own
Explains not all aright

May I suggest that many a one
Who affirms the disciple’s way
Indeed has yet to understand
What the word conversion means to say

For conversion runs far deeper than
A mere habit change or two
It requires all that one may have
A mighty change the whole soul through

This change of heart by nature brings
A change to action, word, and thought
One no longer wants at all
The things for which his soul once sought

The converted soul is not at ease
To do just some of what he should
And still condone a little ill
Satisfied with being mostly good

Not found in him malfeasance is
For though temptation he will see
His heart views not a prohibition
Instead it knows all liberty

He who walks conversions path
Indeed walks and does not stand inert
improved today, more so tomorrow
His actions will assert

So peer into your hearts of hearts
And answer then this question true
Do you declare a true conversion
Or now perceive yourself askew?

And if the song of redeeming love
You have known and sung before
Yet does it still now grace your lips
Or need it be learned once more?

Return to him who gave you grace
Offer him all thy soul hath
For all was given once for you
That you might know conversion’s path

Baby's First Birthday

2010-08-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

I threw my first baby shower! It was for a sister in the ward whose husband works closely with mine in scouts and as home teachers. So we are good friends and I wanted to make sure that she had a nice shower. It was so much fun!

One thing that our baby is doing lately is imitate and elephant. And by imitate and elephant, I mean imitate us imitating an elephant. He doesn't know it's an elephant. So we'll say, "Que diz o elefante?" (What does the elephant say?) And he'll raise his arm and move it around (elephant's trunk) and blow through his lips. It's THE cutest thing.
Let me tell you, it has been crazy preparing for my son's birthday. There have been so many things I wanted to do for him (but I guess mostly for family since he doesn't care right now). First of all, I decided that I wanted to make a fondant cake-my first ever. Prose doesn't like fondant so then I had to make another cake that people would actually eat. When the cakes were in the process of being put together it turned out that I made THREE cakes. The third was JUST for our little one to dig into all he wanted (which ended up not being much)! The celebrations began when our good friends from Provo and the Brazilian ward, who also were expecting a week and a half after us, came with their son during a 10 hour layover. We had them over and let the kids (future best friends) play together. We also had a barbecue. The baby's got along great! And played really well. There was a few instances of "mine" but they worked it out! In the end, our little one even got a kiss and a hug!

Our family!

One of Prose's classmates came over and helped me with the cakes. I'm SO grateful to her. She was even sweet enough to bring a present!

Here are my finished products:
That night we traveled a little up north to my brother-in-laws place where the grandparents and cousins met us to have a giant sleepover. The next day we celebrated by having a barbecue in the park.

The Trip

2010-07-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

The baby has been getting more and more playful. He likes to crawl around with his "food storage." This means that he'll hold in his fist some food (Kix mostly), and crawl around with it (even playing with other toys, as long as the fingers he needs are still tightly closed around his food) until he wants to snack on it. He laughs a lot more and is easily amused. Peekaboo is more fun with him. He also plays us in getting what he wants, mostly by throwing a temper tantrums. So now we really have to start picking our battles with him, but at the same time, not be too permissive or authoritative. There's a lot of research showing that authoritative parenting is linked somehow to anxiety. I feel like I may be too permissive sometimes because I fear him developing anxiety, so I just have to find the right balance. I also need to be reading more books to him, like his Tia does with her kids.

Mi, I hope you don't kill me for putting this up. It's such a precious moment and I hope to be just as good of a reader to my kids as you!

But whenever I read to him, he never sits still or looks at the words or pictures. He LOVES to turn pages though...so I end up letting turn (or else they'd rip) too fast for me to even read. When I do read, which isn't often enough (though we do read Portuguese scriptures every night), I end up just reading while he wanders around.
I'm starting to teach him animal sounds and possibly colors. It's been fun doing animals, especially since we visited vovo's farm this past week and saw the cows, ducks, geese, goats, roosters, and chickens. If I have a toy animal, the natural thing to do is hold it up and move it/shake it around like it's making the sound itself every time you make the sound for it. So when my son holds the toy, he shakes it up and down like he's wanting it/waiting for me to make the sound.
Usually Papai can get him to give a kiss, but unfortunately we've taught him how to kiss the way Prose's family shows affection, and that is to basically pretend-eat the baby. You just have to see it. For your convenience, I have included a picture of Prose's mom showing affection to our niece, her granddaughter, over a year ago.

This particular "kiss" runs in Prose's family, and I personally love "eating up" my little one. But as a result, this is how he gives us kisses. He opens his mouth and places it on our cheek and then withdraws. Of course this is different than him biting or blowing raspberries. Those, he doesn't pull away.
When you put out your hand and say, "Me da?!" he will give what he has to you (unless he really doesn't want to-haha).
And last but not least, he is just about walking! He can take, at most, 7-14 steps before he either sits down or falls down.

***Update as of July 21: Here is a video today:

I've been recovering. It's been scary, and I'll talk about that later, but for now, I am feeling better. I've had a bit of rest time (sort of!) this past week experience. We were going to head north to go to the temple the day I got in my accident, so we decided that we would try again a week later. Well it turns out that it was convenient and more adventurous this way. This was our adventure:
-Leave on the 9th for Prose's brother's wife's (whatever, I just call her my sister-in-law!) white coat ceremony, pick up our new car, and get to Prose's parents' house by midnight
-Wake up and go to the temple on the 10th (and meet my grandpa there!) while Mae watches the baby. (By the way, he was heavier when we got back. She really knows how to feed kids!)
-Prose leave that night to go to scout camp just north and meet his troop there for sacrament (July 11) while I go to the Deltona ward (to see my old peeps!)
-Prose comes back that night...then we were all going to go the next day, but since Prose had to come up later for scouts, Mae suggested we leave the baby and have some time to ourselves. We prayed about it and felt that it was a good idea.
-Prose and I leave the next morning before dawn (July 12). On the road we saw this and I felt very strongly that it should be against the law. Look at it compared to the gas pump!
-Head to Marco Island where Prose has a medical presentation to do for his internship. Yes, we stayed in the Marriott Resort and Spa for free!!! It was AMAZING, but I didn't get a lot of time with Prose. So I just rested (I really needed it!) and watched some Disney and Nick. That night we went swimming in the pool! Here are some pics (yes, you are allowed to be jealous!).

-Next day (July 13) get up, go to a town meeting breakfast to learn more about the health care reform, go to the beach, check out, and then head home to Miami.

-July 14, I stay home, rest and recover while Prose goes to his internship. I also took an online traffic school course. Then later that night we have a date at our first drive-in movie! We saw Karate Kid and it was awesome.
-July15, run a whole bunch of errands including me going in to get x-rays because it was killing me not knowing if, since I was still in pain, my bone were actually fractured and healing wrong. Here is a current picture of my knee.
The yellowish part is where the most swelling is and I can't even feel it. It's weird, but it's numb. The nerves are being blocked by edema, or something...
It turns out all was well! But not mentally. Though I was put at ease about my physical condition by knowing I would heal well, my nerves when Prose was driving were so high, they were going through the roof. I had some anxiety attacks. Basically I freak out when we are too close to any cars (not slowing down sooner or driving close to one) or changing lanes. Florida teaches you not to look behind you in your blind spot because you take your eyes off the road, but Nevada knows that even if you look everywhere using your mirrors, you can still miss the blind spot. So he never looks back when he's switching lanes. It freaked me out (especially since I now have this fear that another car will be switching into the same lane at the same time as me), but it freaked me out even more because there was this one time when he actually was going to hit the car because it really was in his blind spot. Anyways, you don't want to read all this...basically I hate driving now.
-Then drive north. Get in by midnight. Towards the end, I was forced to drive since Prose was falling asleep. It was really good for me to get behind the wheel again. And it was nice that we didn't have traffic. I hate traffic now.
By the way, it was so interesting to see how many guys hit on me. It was shocking! You take away the baby on my hip and all of a sudden I'm attractive? Never mind the ring on my finger?! It's there! But no. I guess they don't even look there, or maybe I'm too young-looking to be married. It was so funny. The mall and the gas station...I mean guys treated me different: held the door for me, actually said hi, wanted to carry on a conversation. Hilarious! Too bad folks. I'm already taken by the most amazing man on earth!
-Wake up the next morning, say hi to "the boy" and then I stay while Prose again goes to scout camp.
-On Saturday he stops by and picks us up (with two scouts he's bringing home) and we all finally head home!

Sunday was great. Our little one had his first sacrament. I didn't even plan on it. The priesthood holder came by and I took my piece of bread and he kind of held it there, offering the baby it too. Of course, our little one took his piece (and very nicely too!), so when the water came, I let him drink from a cup too.
Congrats to my sister-in-law! She's having a girl! I'm happy for her for a number of reasons. I know they were worried about not having any boy clothes left and besides, it will be a really good thing for my niece to have another girl to play with (aka, get along with!)
Prose mowed the lawn (after two months of it not being mowed) with our new used lawn mower. We sprinkle the cut grass over our garden soil to help no weeds to grow. Before that, we had a TON of weeds to pull out Monday night.
It's amazing. I'm actually losing weight even though I haven't been able to go to the gym. I'm so close to having lost 20 lbs! I really want to have lost 25-30 lbs. by the time I go to Utah for my sister's wedding. I still won't be a healthy weight, but I'll be where I was when I was in college. No matter what, though, my body looks different because my bones have moved to pass a baby through them. I'll have to work on that.

We Are All Trees

2010-07-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

Today was fast and testimony meeting which was so great. I haven't been able to sit through and just enjoy a testimony meeting for...11 months now. This one was just amazing. I really felt the power of the Spirit. The things that were said were just what I needed to hear at this time in my life.
There was one man who got up (he fought in 3 wars for the US!) and said that as he was looking over the congregation, we all looked like trees from the Garden of Eden. At first I was like, "Huh?" Then he went on to explain and I thought it was the neatest insight. He said that all the people in this ward were like trees gathered together by the hand of God. Some trees bare sweet fruit. Some trees bare bitter, yet medicinal fruit. Some don't have any fruit, but they grow tall and cover other trees who need the shade. Some are just beautiful to look at. There are some other characteristics that he mentioned but I can't remember them all. All are different but what makes us strong is that our roots grow together and hold us firm. Anyways, I thought that was so cool that I had to share!
Another thing that I learned from someone is her testimony of an article given by M. Russell Ballard, one of the 12 apostles of the Lord. He talks about how Latter-day Saints seem to be defensive about the gospel when they are sharing it with others...like we are afraid of and expect criticism, judgment, and possibly persecution. I can thing of two ways why I have been like this. First of all, it's hard for me because I just want to shout to the world that, "Guess what! This is the biggest and most joyful news since Christ came the first time! God speaks to a prophet once again and His church is here on the earth!" But it's not that simple. The gospel is not preached that way. Was it preached like that when Christ was on the earth? No. It went from person to person and each willing to listen to the Savior came and learned for themselves if it was true. Today, I feel like I have to prove that the same church exists. But that's not my job. I don't convert. The Spirit converts. When I say that I have certain standards or beliefs, I feel like I have to defend or justify them when I base them off the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, if I say, "Don't have sex outside of marriage," I feel like I have to back it up with secular research findings. But I shouldn't. I know that Sexual Purity Blesses Lives. God gave us that commandment, and what else do I need than for God to command? My other fear, of course, is the fear of rejection. Because it is my life, because it is so much of who I am, and because I know it's true, and because I love people so much, it's hard when someone rejects the gospel. Of course, missionaries deal with it all the time. I think that would be so hard. My favorite part of his address that I'd like to end with is, " I look forward and greatly appreciate every opportunity I have to share my testimony of the marvelous message of the Restoration. And I cannot ever remember offending anyone in the process." I need to be better when I share my beliefs to not feel like I'm being defensive to, or offending someone, but simply sharing in love. Happy 4th of July everyone...I'm going to go rest some more so I can recover!

Car Crash

2010-07-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, sadly I am sitting here, recovering from some nasty bumps and bruises and swelling. On Thursday, I was going out to run some errands before getting ready for us to drive up to Orlando to go to the temple when I got in the left turn lane in back of a big truck. Before getting in back of the truck I had not seen (but not well enough) any oncoming traffic. I made one of the worst decisions of my life and went for the turn. I can tell you everything in chronological order that went through my head from that point on but I'd rather not think about it. I keep trying to push it out of my mind. It's hard because I'm in my room, just lying in bed with my legs elevated and if I don't keep myself busy with the computer, my i-touch, or phone calls, the scene will replay in my head over and over. I've had so many great people help me out. Like right after the crash (my car spun around and the other driver's ran into a light pole, bending it over), someone came from a nearby office building and got my scared and crying baby out of the car seat. I was trying to comfort him with the only way I could at the time-my voice. I knew I was pretty banged up. My left heal, right ankle, left knee on the inside (I have no idea what hit that), fourth toe on the right foot, right hip, skin scraped off from the left arm, and a nasty seat belt burn across my neck. The worst injuries were my ankle, knee, (which make it difficult for me to walk or stand) and seat belt burn. What keeps me in bed right now are the knee and ankle. They are just bruised and swollen and I'm sure I'll get better soon. It could have been a lot worse. And the baby. I went to a safety baby gear workshop (aka "sales pitch") and there was some good information. What we learned is that the Cosco-Scenera car seat is the safest on the market. So we got that one and in the crash, the baby was perfectly protected. NOTHING was wrong with him. Just scared from the whole thing, but after he was picked up he stopped crying and acted normal. One of our friends came and stayed with me until my husband came and that friend also drove us to the yard and back to figure out what to do with the car. Another friend made us dinner and babysat the baby while I was recovering/signing for the car at the towing place. My in-laws who were going to have left after a job down here (who in the mean time also helped us plant our garden!) decided to prolong the job to stay and help out.

Here's our new garden!!!

Friends have offered to do things and my husband has been absolutely amazing. As far as costs go, we should be able to, in the end, only have lost a car. Which, of course, is a huge disappointment, especially since we just got it. It was like my baby. The first car that was ever "mine." Tell you what. I'm just glad we only spent $4000 on it. Still, for us that's a lot of money.
In trials I always ask, "why?" Yes, I'm guilty of asking "why me?" but if you stop there, you are not growing. I also ask "what?" "What am I supposed to learn from this?" In the words of the lady I hit (who only had a banged up knee, thank goodness), "...the Lord had different plans for me today." Of course, I have totally beat myself up over this (I know better than to turn without knowing 100% no traffic is coming!) and I expected everyone to be disappointed in me, especially my husband. But his unconditional love reminded me of Christ's love. I asked for a blessing from my husband and his father and besides the blessing of recovering quickly, I was told that this experience would teach me about the blessing and things I have in life (I guess like my home, family, tender mercies, not getting seriously injured, etc.). I really am blessed and I really will be fine. I just never thought it would happen to me. I'm not sure about driving any time soon though...that's ok, right?
Here are just a few pictures. They don't really show everything (lighting, angle, etc.), but maybe you'll get the idea.

Lest you think I'm a wuss, these injuries are a lot worse than they look! But like I said, they could have been even more worse.

The next day was also sad...but this picture was taken before the game started.

Hurricane Prep, Opinions, and Development

2010-06-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

There have been many reasons why I have gone so long in posting and I, of course, wish I hadn't gone so long because there is just too much to catch up on that I won't be able to...nor would you really want me to. Over the past month or so we've had some more family things (read below for incidents like illness, diaper rash, sunburn, and water damage), but I've also really developed some strong realizations and opinions on certain controversial subjects that have been recently rising up in the media, and I have been debating on how to address them in this blog. So I've decided instead of going on and on about them, I will just mention some and why they bother me. They are such things like certain career choices, teenagers being encouraged to give up their virginity, Christians made out to be comical and frustrating extremist characters, the idea that monogamy is extinct because we are biologically incapable of it. My guilty pleasure is watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette and there's the guy named Justin who is an entertainment wrestler. I don't like wrestling, first of all. So for someone who is beating someone up for real, or to be someone kicking the snot out of a dummy, I am just made sick by the violence. What you are doing or portraying to another human being is just...think about it. And don't get me started on other immoral career choices. Certain careers pay good money, and you have the choice to do it, but they are ruining people's lives. And that, to me, is wrong. Ok, next one. What's the statistic now? Something like 80% of high school teenagers are having sex. Forget that STDs are spreading like wildfire. Relationships, jealousy, faithfulness, unsatisfaction, and aggression are all issues that shouldn't have to happen in high school. You can say that that media is just reflecting high school promiscuity, but even if it does, it's reinforcing it. And this is TV-PG! A girl is walking with her friend and the friend finds out she hasn't had sex with her boyfriend. She counsels her friend, "If you're not together in that way, how do you know you're together-together?" PEOPLE! You don't have to "do it" to be together, hold on to your man, or have a satisfying relationship. There is so much more to a relationship than seeing how far you can push it or getting physical. Focus on that. You don't need to worry about sex. You don't need to "test" out your partner to see if they are compatible with you. What is sex? Really. It is the power of procreation. That is what it's initial use is. When you just throw it around, throw yourself around, to get a fix (mentally, physically, however you get it), you are misusing that power. Seriously, you are missing out so much in life. There is so much peace, love, and comfort when you are able to enjoy marrying someone who has saved themselves for you, and who will be faithful to you forever. Which brings me to monogamy. It's interesting to see how the world rationalizes sin-any sin. "Oh, it's just a little." "It doesn't hurt anyone." "Just this once." "It's in my nature, I can't help it." "I'm not a bad person." "I go to church." "I confessed it, so I'm good." The one I'd like to focus on is "I can't help it." "Oh, I was so worn out from the day and I just needed a beer and a pick-me-up." When you've had a long day, go home and sleep. Nothing good happens when you are tired and it's late. Or, "I'm a man, and I'm just programmed to cheat." No, no, no no no no. That's a lie. That's you giving in and giving up (on your self control, on a good relationship, on true love, etc.) I know plenty of men who have been completely 100% monogamous their entire lives. You just need to set the standards for yourself. Communicate with your spouse, set goals together, etc. Alright the last one. Christianity. Have you noticed that in the media, Christianity is a joke? People think religious people are uptight, restrictive, imposing, unsociable, and sometimes comical. It poses a "hellfire and damnation" stereotype on faithful and practicing church-goers. When it comes to religion, I prefer to hold high standards, share the true and restored gospel with others, but in the end let them make their decision because they have their agency. That decision is respected and I don't make them feel pressured or guilty in any way. I think that is how a lot of Christianity works. Maybe I'm wrong. But from what I've seen, that is the case. (Sigh) I just know that God loves His children-all of us. You, reading this. He loves you and He wants you to be happy. So how does He help us be happy? By giving us commandments. Commandments are not "restrictions." If you think about it, they actually make us more free. We are happier, healthier, and more in control of our lives. Put it to the test. Stick it out, and see what happens. Yes, there is a lot of sadness, pain, and evil in the world, but I'm just glad that the media allows for the goodness to be portrayed as well. I also like to watch Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Losing it with Jillian. Those show that there is good in the world. I like that. Well, thanks for letting me share my thoughts. Again, this is my journal and I don't mean to offend anyone. I love you regardless of the choices you make in life and I still consider you a friend, especially since you took the time out of your life to read this!
So, it is hurricane season and yes, I had a freak out moment, trying to get our hurricane survival kit ready. We also don't have storm shutters so that added to my stress, knowing that if our windows broke, there would be negative pressure inside that would take off our roof and papers, journals, important documents, pictures, etc. would fly out as well. Yeah, scary. So we had a guy from Home Depot come by and we almost bought their windows. Apparently they are cheaper, but in the end, we decided that we don't have enough money so we will just pray and do our best.
I got sick again, and it lasted for maybe three days. A little after, the baby ended up teething pretty badly. He even got a little fever. We had to go to the store to get him some pain reliever. And we wouldn't have gotten it if it wasn't really bad because I don't like medicine.
My husband and I have enjoyed his brother and wife coming over now every once in a while for Sunday dinner. They are really nice and it's always good to see family. They came when I was sick and also for Father's Day. Also, we enjoyed going on a real date for Dia dos Namorados! A sweet sister in the ward has offered several families, whom she knows can't afford, free babysitting and we were one of them. We took her up on it for June 12 so we could celebrate Brazilian Valentines Day. This was our first real date without the baby! It was nice. :) Actually, during the day we went as a family to the art museum.

Then at night after the sister came over, we had a coupon for a restaurant and then we tried to get ice cream but they wouldn't take our coupon because it had expired without me knowing. :( We also went shopping a little at the mall. I had such a GREAT time with my husband. He's amazing. After we came home, we watched a movie as well. He was so nice to work his tail off studying so hard during the week for his final so he didn't have to study on the day of our date. And guess what? He got one of the highest scores on the test!
I have been experiencing a nursing strike. :( It's made me really sad. Because he was teething, he kept biting me and a couple times I reacted a little too strongly and he got traumatized and just would not nurse anymore. I've been trying to introduce him to the breast in a non-threatening way (showers) where there is skin to skin, and I've been taking feenogreek but the pumping is just killer for me this time. I absolutely HATE it and can't do it often enough. I believe I have officially "dried up." I am worried about him getting enough milk. He won't drink anything. From a cup, from a bottle...nothing. So getting him milk is a trial for me. (Sigh) He's only got one more month before he is 1 year, so I hope I'll figure something out. Poor first kids. I'll definitely know much more next time. :(

We had our second beach outing as a family. A friend told me that if you get to the nice beaches early enough, there is no one at the pay booth so you can just go right in without having to pay. So we did because we are cheap. It was great, except that Prose took the baby in the water and after five minutes, realized that he had left his phone in his pocket. :( He's had to get a phone off Craiglist now. (I wouldn't let him buy a phone over $40.)

Getting his phone soaked...

And then I ended up putting sunscreen everywhere on the baby, and everywhere on me...except my back. For the past week I have been in so much anguish. The pain and the itching. Eventually we had to go buy a benzocaine spray which saved my life. Really. I don't know how I would have survived if we hadn't gotten it.

Papai getting us a coconut

I got a new calling. Stake Music Chairman. I thought all I had to do was direct a stake choir, but there's more. Much more. I know I am really qualified for this and I want to do the best job I can and magnify my calling, but I am really nervous and freaked out. Little young me is leading and training all the music positions in the stake. I should be going from ward to ward and checking out their choirs, Primary, RS, etc. I will be attending stake meetings and reporting and such. That's a lot to do! Pray for me!
Now we are experiencing another diaper rash/infection (poor little guy!). I'm not sure if maybe he's allergic to grapes or traces of milk ingredients or if it's just so humid here that I need to change his diaper every hour. Hmmm. Another thing we have been experiencing lately is the World Cup! Viva Brasil!!!!! I am just so lucky that the only time my husband sits down to watch "the game" is when the World Cup is happening. It's been really fun to experience it with him. Like always, he teaches me a lot and I get to see him even more passionate about futbol than normal. :) We are also about to plant our garden finally! And last of all what we are experiencing lately...is SPIDERS!!!!!! They are EVERYWHERE. My husband has cleaned out the "washroom"

three times now and they still keep coming. He started to dig along the side of our house for the garden and he must have hit a nest of them because fifties of them started scurrying up the side of our house and he had to squash them all. That explains why most of the time the jumpy spiders I kill are in the baby's room (right where Prose was digging). We also have the same spiders in our house that are in the "washroom." They stay in one spot but they are EVERYWHERE. Under the tables, behind sofas, on the walls, behind the beds, in our closets. And I'm getting bit sometimes too. I laid down on my bed two days ago and looked down (I was on my stomach) and one was crawling out from under me. I am so fed up with them. I really need to get this house organized, vacuumed all up, and sprayed. I don't even think that will keep them away. On average, I still kill one spider a day.
Hey! I ran my first 5K last Saturday (June 26). I had a goal to actually run the whole thing (not walk at all) and I just about did. I pushed myself far beyond what I thought I could do and then I ended up walking for maybe 10 yards towards the end. After that, I pushed myself again and ran to the end. My amazing and supportive husband was there with the camera taking pictures and filming my finish. My time was 36:50.

Alrighty. Now to finish it off, instead of going on and on in explaining how the baby is, I'm going to make a list. Keep in mind that some of these things he's been able to do for at least a month now. There are a couple of dates I actually recorded.

Our Baby:

Able to know and press the button to make the song on the toy. (June 7)
Throws tantrums (real ones)
When audience claps on TV (or when we're at an event), looks up from whatever he's doing and claps too
Helps pull his shirt over his head
Sleeps curled on top of his blanket instead of underneath it
Says "ah" and moves his whole arm across and back over his mouth so it's more like "Bababababa"
Walks holding on to furniture or the wall
Took his first step (June 13)
Takes a step from furniture to furniture
"Shares" (Will offer you something and will actually let you accept/take it from him)
Says "banana" (more like baba)
Is now much more playful/enjoyable
Won't eat just anything anymore. Is a little more picky (especially when it comes to meat jars-yuck!)
Whistles! Yep, that's right. He'll mimic you when you whistle (sucking in though)