pfjk

Natalia is coloring right now in her notebook and she is pretending to write letters.  She is staying between the lines and repeating, "pfjk" over and over.  She just has these cute little squiggle lines and she is so proud of herself. "mommy, I am writing letters.  Come, I show you...I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me."   What a cute little munchkin.

Silly Best Friends

Smile with your eyes open

These pictures just make me laugh.  The other day Natalia asked me to take her pictures.  I told her to smile and as usual, she smiles so big her eyes close.  I told her she needed to try smiling with her eyes open and I would take her picture agian.  She was really determined to keep her eyes open and smile at the same time... 

...and this is what we got!

Sienna loves to stand and she will pull herself up on everything.  The dish rack is her favorate thing to stand near.  So far she has listened well and leaved the dishes alone.  She is getting so big and changing so much.

Birthday Wishes

As to be expected, I had another wonderful birthday last week.  This year was extra great because my sister Rachel came to visit.  The trip was originally suppose to be a surprise, but Hector let the beans spill.  Since I knew about Rachel coming, but she did not know that I knew, I had some fun with her.  A couple of months ago I told her that I was going to buy tickets to Washington for my birthday and come and stay with her.  I told her the dates which coincided with her visit and totally stressed her out when I told her I was moments away from confirming my airline tickets.  I got her to break and she told me all about her secret plans.  We had a good laugh when I told her it was all a game I was playing on her.  Since I knew she was coming I was able to get us some theatre tickets for the night she flew in.  We saw Two Gentlemen of Verona.  It was not the best play we had ever seen, but we enjoyed it none the less.  Rachel was a super trooper; she had to get up at 2:00 in the morning to catch her flight and then I kept her out until about 2:00 that night at the play and milkshakes after. 

We were both really bad about remembering to take pictures during Rachel's visit, but we did have lots of fun.  We mostly hung out at home during the day.  Poor little Titus was sick; he still managed to be super cute even with his puffy eyes.  Natalia loved Rachel and Titus.  She wanted to sit next to Rachel at every meal.  We ate so many treats; milkshakes, cupcakes, chocolate strawberries, custard...just to name a few.

Making Cupcakes for FHE.  Talia loved the sprinkles

Tubby Time; Kids started crying so this is the only picture we got

Talia and Rachel eating the leftover chocolate after we finished the strawberries

Titus...we love you...sorry you were sick the whole time

Birthday Custard...Talia refused to look at the camera

Rachel was here for Valentine's and my Birthday.  We had fun making Hector a Valentine's present...we will leave out those details.  We did not make Valentine Evening plans because I had young women activities.  The lame thing about that is I want to the church, did not make plans with my husband and then none of my girls showed up.  Oh well. 

Rachel flew home on my birthday.  We all went up to the airport with her and then we went out to eat after we dropped her off.  It was a simple birthday, but it was nice to spend it with my family and the people I love most.  Hector made me a great birthday poster.  It really was funny.  I have made him candy bar posters before, but Hector took his own spin on this one.  It really did make me laugh.  He even bought a package of feminine products so he could use the word "always".   One line said he loves me because I am a cheese curl; at least that is what I thought it said.  Rachel and I laughed about that.  Found out Hector was calling me the "real cheese".  I guess that is a nicer compliment.  I loved having Rachel here.  It was fun to share all the fun with her.  I cannot wait until the next visit.  Thanks for coming Rachel.  You always make me feel like I am a priority in you life.

Chill'n

Mardi Gras

Another Mardi Gras has come and gone.  Mardi Gras always reminds me of my mission and I love to think back about all the wonderful people that I met.  I love the traditions that I learned from those people and it is fun to share that with my friends now.  My good friend Jodee was the queen of the party as she is the one who found the baby in the King Cake.  We ate tons of good food thanks to my good Cajun cooking and the great dishes everyone else brought to the party.  Natalia had so much fun helping me decorate and she kept talking about the party.  She was very disappointed that I put her to bed before the party started.  She kept sneaking out of bed, but she knew she was not suppose to be up so in her stealthy little way she would just sit at the top of the stairs in the dark.  I do not think that anyone even knew, with the exception of me, that she kept getting out of bed.  In fact, at the end of the night, Hector commented, "The girls did really well with all the noise, I cannot believe Natalia stayed in her bed the whole time."

We even had a less than three week old get in on the Mardi Gras action.  Olivia was the youngest lady to earn some beads.  Thanks friends for celebrating with us.  Everyone got into the fun.  My friend's kids came over the next day and they just loved the masks.  Mormon Mardi Gras is the best; so family friendly. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE

Amor,

I am thankful to have you in my life, and though lots of things have changed since we were married i.e. two wonderful little girls. I am grateful that you are still the same great person I fell in love with.  I hope you have a wonderful and enjoyable birthday.  I love you.

Hector

Babe and Dada (aka: Stephanie and Hector)

Natalia really only refers to me as Babe these days.  I guess it started because she heard Hector call me that.  She is so casual about it, we hardly notice it any more.
Natalia:  "I need to go potty, babe"
"Babe,  I need a snack"
"Can you read me a story Babe?"
We are so used to it now, and Natalia is not doing it for attention, that we forget it is not normal until someone else hears her say it.  It is really cute.  I wonder when it will fade.
Speaking of name calling; Sienna has started to talk.  She says Dada and Mama.  Mostly Dada though.   She also learned to wave a few weeks ago, so when Hector gets home from work in the afternoons she starts waving and says, "Dada, Dada, Dada!"  She is an enthusiastic waver, so it is lots of fun to watch her.  If she hears anyone say goodbye or goodnight, she starts waving.  Yesterday she heard Hector's voice on the phone and she started waving and repeating Dada.
She has really grown up lately.  She pulls herself up on anything that she can.  This includes Natalia, which I might add...Natalia is not a fan of.  She is still really happy most of the time and she loves Natalia.
Natalia, on the other hand, only loves Sienna when Sienna is confined.  When Sienna is in the high chair, they are best friends.   Natalia will tickle her toes or try to feed her food.  When Sienna is in her crib they are best friends again.  Natalia loves to go in after Sienna wakes up from a nap.  Sienna is still in the crib, so Natalia will peek at her through the rails, she will throw books into the crib, and she will do tricks on her bed so that Sienna will start laughing.   Natalia asks me to stay out so that she and Sienna can have their alone time.  I love listening to them laugh together.

First Snow and other Happenings

We got our first snow last week.  Natalia was sooooo excited.  Unfortunately, there was never really enough to play in.  Natalia did get to go for a walk with dad in it though.  Hector worked nights all last week and not the nights with the great schedule like he did over the summer.  This time he actually had to work all through the night, which meant he slept during the day.  It felt like we hardly saw him at all, but he is back on days again now.  I read The Help and then watched to movie with some girlfriends while he was working.  Loved it.  The girls and I have been having fun.  Natalia loves to play with her friends and asks about her buddies all the time.  She always asks for play dates; it is very cute.  Sienna is acting so big these days.  She eats like a teenage boy who plays on the football team.  I made chili the other day and she loved it.  She ate more than Hector.

Natalia, on the other hand, has become a finicky eater.  Some days she likes chicken, then the next day she acts like it is the worst thing in the world.  Sometimes she loves her vegetables, other days she misses out on desert because she refuses to eat them.  Last week, peas were candy.  She walked around with this bowl of peas for two days straight whenever she was in the kitchen or dinning room.  She hoarded them like it was the best treat ever.  Who needs chocolate when you can have cold peas?

When Sienna is eating Natalia loves to pull her chair over and play with Sienna.  She tickles her toes and the two of them just laugh together, sometimes Natalia eats Sienna's food too.  I guess they are learning to share.  I cannot say that principle is being practiced on a regular basis, so I will take it when I can. 

Sienna loves to stand; she has gotten really good at pulling herself up on the couch and chairs and pretty much anything she can grab onto.  Thankfully she has not learned to climb the stairs.  She got up on one stair a couple months ago, but I think she forgot about it.  She loves to follow Natalia around and she wants to play with whatever Natalia is playing with.  Most of the time this results in some possessive behavior from both girls, but when everyone is in a good mood, they are super cute playing together.  Natalia has been really into taking care of her baby dolls lately.  She also wants to color and play with play dough everyday.  Those are definitely her favorite things right now.  Well that and reading books.  We love books and we read everyday.  Natalia likes to read to herself as well.  She remembers the stories from when I read them to her and then I will hear her flipping the pages and retelling the story (minus a few details) just like she is reading. 

I played in a volleyball tournament last weekend.  I am so glad to be back on my team again.  I missed playing last season; it felt really good play again.  I was not near as sore as I thought I would be.  I have played several times since I had Sienna, this was just my first all day tournament with the club team.  I was actually more sore from playing dodge ball earlier in the week.

Happy New Year

We had a fun New Years with friends this year.  Natalia stayed up way to late.  She eventually fell asleep on my lap...she was very cute.  The other kids were super loud at midnight will all of the excitement of the new year,  but my girls slept right through it all; it was great.  We stayed up till almost three in the morning and while it was super fun, we were feeling the pain the next day.  On New Years we went down to Hector's parents' after church to welcome in the new year.  Both Hector and I at some point in the evening fell asleep on the couch.

2011 seemed to fly buy, but it was a great year.  The best part of the year was welcoming Sienna into the family.  She is the sweetest little thing and we love that she is part of our little family.  We have enjoyed watching her learn to sit, eat, crawl, and stand.  We have loved watching her make funny faces, giggle and start to babble.  2011 had many sleepless nights at the end of the pregnancy and the beginning of Sienna's life, but the second half of the year Sienna allowed to us to get lots of sleep.  Sienna has truly been a happy for girl in 2011.  Natalia turned two in 2011.  She has grown up so much over the year.  She went from a shy little quiet wallflower to a social butterfly.  She is a chatter box and we love to hear all the funny things that she comes up with.  She has really gotten into the world of imagination.  She loves to play pretend and it has been so fun to see her develop this side of her personality.  She loves to read books and play with her friends.  I could go on and on about her accomplishments.  We have had so much fun with her this year and I cannot believe how big she has gotten.  2011 has been great for Hector and I as well.  I finished teaching, enjoyed another season of coaching volleyball and have really enjoyed switching into my role as a full time mother.  Hector is still working hard at his job.  He has some good opportunities to shine and he seems to be receiving more recognition for his expertise.  It has been a great year for us and we are excited to welcome 2012.

I also found a little gem that someone had thrown out in the trash.  I picked up this cool antique stroller a couple days before New Years.  I think it is from the late 1800s or early 1900s.  When I saw it getting ready to be crushed by the garbage truck, I had to pick it up.  Mom, these pictures are mostly for you so you can see what I am talking about.