He is one!

Little Mike turned one last month.  He wasn't sure about any of it; the singing, the candle, or the cake.  

He gave us a puzzled look as we enthusiastically encouraged him to blow.  

Maybe he thought it was a trick, and he was going to have nothing to do with it.

After some coaxing from the girls, we got him to relax,

and even smile.

But the second we helped him blow out the candle, we were back to square one.

We placed a slice in front of him, but he figured something wasn't right, 

so he swiftly picked it up and threw it on the ground.  

Eventually, with the help of a cup, we got him to dive in. 

Don't let his apparent calm (what some would call--serious) demeanor fool you.  At one years old, he has managed to completely rule our household.  Everything about this kid seems to be magnified when compared to my other kids at his age.  He makes daily rounds of emptying every drawer, shelf, and cupboard of all their contents.  He climbs any surface that is within reach, often found on top of chairs, desks, and bathroom sinks.  I feel like I repeatedly find him seconds away from serious injury.  He finds the toilet to be a perfect place to deposit objects.  He can be relentless when it comes to wanting to be picked up; following me around screaming until his goal is accomplished.  If I had to sum this stage up in one word it would be--Exhausting.

I blame this on Grandma, she cursed big Mike to have a kid just like him.  And he seems to be living up to the standard.  Heaven has a sense of humor because He waited to send little Mike to our family until the time when Grandma would be living with us, so now on the days I work, she gets to relive Mikey all over again.  But if his current behavior is any indication he will turn out like his dad--lucky be the girl that ends up with him.

9 years old

I remember turning 9.  We'd been in the US for only a few weeks and I was trying to navigate through a foggy world of incomprehensible gibberish.  My parents had gone back to Mexico to gather the rest of our belongings, leaving us with family friends.  And though they were gone, I woke up that morning to the most amazing birthday present.  Somehow while asleep, the weather had magically orchestrated something I had never before seen.  And I was sure, that the fresh layer of snow that covered the ground on that mid-April morning was there because it was my birthday.

Raquel and Mike ready for their Daddy-Daughter Date 9/22/2012

I don't really have memories of my birthdays prior to my 9th.  Maybe it stands out because that year brought so many changes.  Maybe it was because I was in a new environment.  Maybe it was the snow.   What ever the reason, it seems somewhat surreal to think that, as of 2 months ago, I now have a 9 year old.

It was out of the blue, but what Raquel really wanted for her birthday was to go horseback riding.  (I think it was because she had just seen Brave.)  We tried to make it a surprise and told her we were going hiking. I asked her to close her eyes as we approached the stables. However, as soon as we got out of the car, the horses made sufficient nickers to give it away.

It was just the two of us and we were both pretty excited.  I hadn't been horseback riding since I was 6 or 7 (and it really wasn't true riding because someone on the ground led the horse the entire time).

We rode for about an hour, and within 20 minutes I realized that the ride was going to be 40 minutes too long.  The way you sit, combined with the galloping motion, takes a toll on specific parts of your body.  Some which surprised me...like my knees.  But I stuck with it until it was over, despite my left knee's throbs.

Raquel was a champ, she did great.  But she too agreed that, though fun, it was a lot harder than she expected.  Lets just say, she's not singing up for any return trips any time soon.

When we got home we celebrated with cake, which Elena and Gracie helped make while we were gone.

I don't know how much of her 9th birthday she'll remember, maybe the soreness we experienced for days following will make it more memorable.  Regardless, I hope she knows, and always remembers, how blessed we feel to have her.

Top 10 in the Last 10.

Dear Blog,

Whoa, 10 weeks!  Don't worry, I'm still alive.  A lot has happened in the last 10 weeks and on multiple occasions I have thought about visiting to have you take a glimpse.  There's been trips, birthdays, holidays, races, first teeth, new glasses, and more.   Bringing you up to speed, here are the top 10 things that have happened in the last 10 weeks, in chronological order.

1) EASTER

2) A DAY IN ANAHEIM:  I had a CME conference in Anaheim for a week.  One of the days we got a hotel with a pool and Mike and the girls came up.  They swam, we ate, and ate some more, and visited a few tourist spots, like the Crystal Cathedral. 

3) MY BIRTHDAY: 

Celebrating at Claim Jumpers with my favorite people.

My men and I

4) VIEWS OF THE TEMPLE:  We took a trip to Utah and stayed with, as Gracie calls them, "the grandparents that live at the Temple".  I loved looking out the window and seeing this...

5) LITTLE EMMA:  And out of sheer luck, while we were there Mike's sister, Raquel, had her baby. 

Raquel holding Raquel's Baby

5 months apart

6) TIME WITH COUSINS:  The girls spent every moment possible playing with cousins.

My kids with the kids

7) DANCING:  We used to go all the time.  Then one day we got married and it ended.  After some nudging from my siblings, we decided to resurrect our dancing moves and go while visiting Provo.  I don't have pictures of the actual event, but here we are warming up the night before with Kinect dance games. 

8) PROVO CITY HALF MARATHON:  I've been known for rallying people to sign up for races and then for unforeseen reasons dropping out, leaving them to do it alone.  I almost did it again.  I started training for a half marathon back in January.  And I got my sister to start training too.

As my mileage increased, it became evident that I was going to have to give up on nursing or my long runs; my body was not going to do both.  So I backed off the running and called my sister to tell her it was a "no go" for me.  But as luck would have it, weeks before the race, I learned that you could do the half marathon as a relay.

So I called my brother and asked him if he would run the relay with me so that we could run along with Rebeca as she ran the full half.  He said yes, cuz he's a stud like that.

It was an absolute blast. 

9) BACK YARD EXPLORING:  I love that my kids spend so much time in our backyard.  A few weeks ago our garden flooded turning the outer edge into a mud pit, i.e, a kid's ultimate playground.  They spent the entire day out there, here they are prior to me hosing them off.

And when there's no mud, they still keep plenty busy out there...



A chariot with its horses

Enjoying the shade

10) MIKE'S BIRTHDAY: If it were up to him, this wouldn't have made the list.  In fact, the only thing Mike wants for his birthday every year is for everyone to forget about it, his words not mine.  I never oblige, because I can't help but celebrate the birth of this man.

There you have it.  Hope you enjoyed it.  And to prevent future picture overload (and because I need goals in order to get things done), I will be coming back at least once a week during the summer to upkeep this space.

Sincerely,

Maintenance  

Time

I don't like it. The passage of time.

No matter how hard I try to hold on, it seems to vanish.

I had a baby 3 months ago. 3 months. Thrrr-eeee.

This baby is growing up rapidisimo, and I don't like it.

Here he is today.

I'm so enamored with this little guy. 

I had a feeling it was going to be bad before I had him,

everyone told me so.  But I never expected it to be this bad.

Seriously.

This is what I see when I greet him in the morning.

You see how he looks at me?

We are super happy with this little man.  He has a very laid back personality.  When he cries it's more of a "talk" than a cry, as if he were trying to negotiate.  He gives smiles away easily and coos, babbles, and even laughs.  I love it.  And he is sleeping through the night.  Really, I couldn't ask for anything more.

And though I've slacked in posting, I've tried to keep up with picture taking.  The problem is that the two don't go together very well, because when you finally decide to post you have hundreds of pictures to choose from.  So I've picked just a few from the things that have happened in the past 5-6 weeks.

Little Mike at 2 Months

 

Elena turns 5!

She went with Grandma and Raquel to see Puss in Boots, ate at RR, and had a day filled with presents. 

Mike has discovered the swap meet, which according to him is better than any thrift store/garage sale/craigslist deal.  He spent the weeks leading up to her birthday collecting presents, so on her birthday rather than having her open them all at once, we had her open 1 present every hour.

This worked out so well, we might just implement this for all their birthdays/Christmases.

She was excited about every present.  Actually played with every present.  And it made the entire day special.

2011 Finale

We finished the year off with a bang.  With the company of family from Utah 

we celebrated a birthday and New Year's Eve. 

This little lady is 3. With all my kids this has been one of my favorite ages. 

I say that with some trepidation because it is also one of the most challenging. 

It is a good thing that with the increased dose of feistiness, independence, and demandingness, 

there is sweetness, personality, and cuteness to more than compensate.

And Gracie has that 3 year old charm down to a tee. 

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be better about documenting this spell before it's over.

The stars aligned in such a way that we had a lot of family here to celebrate. 

It was very nice and Gracie loved it.

  

New Year's Eve

It'd been several years since the last time we officially brought in the New Year. 

We played games, ate, danced, and cheered (more pics here).

These girls had a blast!

Thank you family for making it memorable!!