From the mouth of a 2 year old

The other morning I woke up to the sounds of my sweet little two year old yelling from his room. This was unusual; he usually just gets out of bed and comes into my room; then pokes my eyes telling me to "Geck up! Stop sleeping! Sol up, luna down." (Translation: "Get up, Stop sleeping, Sun up, moon down!") But that's a totally different story.

So, you might ask, what was this cute little kid saying?

"Mami! Us stuck here! Help! Us stuck!"

Sure enough, I walk into Sam and Luke's room to find two cute little boys wide awake and "stuck" in the crib together.

-Emily

Random things that I talk to myself about.

1. Sam loves doors. Have I mentioned this before? Anytime a door is open, he promptly crawls over and plays with it. He shuts it, then gets stuck behind it. Constantly. The other day, Luke locked Sam in my bedroom. I couldn't get it open and had to call maintenance. It is days like that when I am SO thankful that I live in an apartment building with an on-site maintenance crew. A few days after that, Luke slammed the door on Sam's fingers. As soon as he calmed down, Sam went right back to playing with a door. Oh Sam!

"Door" was also one of Sam's first words! (He says "Mama". That was his first word) But the other day when he was playing, I was talking to him and saying "You like to play with that door!" and Sam promptly replied, "Door!" and I got really excited and I repeated it back, then he repeated it back. He said it at least 5 times in a row! He has said it a few times since then as well.

2. A friend of mine posted a picture of her friend nursing her minutes old newborn baby saying "I am proud of my friend, a proud mama with her baby... she worked so hard" or something like that. So a well meaning woman commented saying that the "proud mama probably wouldn't want that picture on facebook" because it was an intimate moment between her and her baby. My friend replied that she had asked the proud mama and  mama said she did want it on Facebook. So the comment argument continued a little more and a few more mothers commented and really attacked this first commenter. They said it was a beautiful picture and there was no reason for it to not be on Facebook and breastfeeding is natural and she had no right to "dig" on this new mom for breastfeeding... I felt really bad for this well-meaning commenter because I don't think she meant any offense and was really just concerned for the woman in the picture because this intimate moment was all over facebook on her friend's friend's news-feeds (like mine and well-meaning commenter). We don't know this woman and I doubt she would want us looking in on this moment. The commenter never said she was offended by the picture or that it was offensive in any way (which is what the others were accusing her of). Anyway, it was on my mind and it bothered me that people were so quick to judge and attack one well meaning opinion of breast feeding pictures on facebook. My opinion? BF pictures are not offensive and should be allowed on facebook if the mother wants, BUT I think it was inappropriate to have the picture posted on her friends wall therefore allowing all of her friends friends (strangers to the BFing woman) to see the picture. If you want friends and family to see it, great! but it is an intimate moment that strangers don't really need to see.

3. Luke has started doing "imaginary play" with his toys and animals. It is SO cute to watch him "talk" for his animals (his favorites are my old Ty beanie babies). They play together, eat fake food, fly, then convenienly "fall" because they have no wings!

4. Sam is teething and has been pretty grumpy because of it. He has a bit of a passionate personality and I thought that his happy happy days were over and he was already going into toddler-hood where emotions are so unstable. Then, I gave him some ibuprofen and put him down for a nap. He woke up so happy and it was SO good to see him in such a good mood. It makes me sad to see him in so much pain that it is affecting his mood. It really had been a long time since I had seen him so happy.

5. We read the parenting book, "How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk" by Adele Faber and Elaine Maz... something. It has been really good for us! It teaches you to give emotions a name and acknowledge your child's feelings. So, now Luke tells us what he is feeling and says, "Me happy Mom, me happy!" in a very sad way with a very sad face, often with tears. So I respond, "you're happy?" He replies, "No mom. Me sad!"

-Emily

The simple, routine things of life

One of the things I try to do with the kids is brushing their teeth. We started to brush Sam's teeth and so we made quick video. Hope you enjoy.

Feeling Refreshed for new goals

I am not a believer in New Years Resolutions. Not because I am not goal oriented, simply because I believe in year round goal setting and that you shouldn't wait for the new year to start improving yourself. If it's going to be something that sticks, you might as well start now. I am constantly making new resolutions for myself and I don't think that just because it is January 1st, you need to overwhelm yourself with a bunch of new goals.

That being said, the past few months/weeks/days (I'm not really sure when this started) I have been feeling a little renewed and refreshed. I have gotten over the new baby thing and I am starting to feel more like the me I used to know. It feels good. I feel like I am not just surviving anymore, I am thriving. This does not mean every minute or even every day is fantastic and filled and that my life is exactly where I want it to be. Not at all. However, I feel that now I am able to start climbing that mountain to be the woman that I want to be.

I have more energy, I have learned how to balance my needs along with the needs of my family. I am starting to think more about what I can do for others, rather than what I need them to do for me. Because I am feeling this way at the moment, I have concocted up a few goals for myself that I know will help me to be a better wife and mother, have more energy, and be happier.

I thought to myself, I want to have these goals on my blog so that I am a little more accountable. So here they are!

1. Find time to read the scriptures! (This is a hard one or me. It's 11pm and I still haven't read them! yikes)
2. Exercise every day. Go to the gym 3x/week.
3. Go to the temple on ward temple night each month (Francisco and I are going to try a system where we trade off each month and every 3rd month, we find a babysitter and go together)
4. Decrease the amount of sugar in our diets. We eat too much sugar. I used to not think this was a very big deal because we eat a lot of healthy things too, but I think it  is too much and we need to figure out some alternative snacks that aren't so sugar-packed.
5. Increase the amount of beans/legumes that we eat. I've been working on this for a while and haven't had a lot of success. Just need to do it.
6. Spend more quality time with my husband. Now that school is back in session for him, we need to make time for each other. I got really excited today about some of the silly dates I read about on thedatingdivas blog.
7. Make time for me. Whether it's to read a book, make some crafts, or try something new, I want to have hobbies that are for me, so that I don't lose myself in motherhood.
8. Open up and let people get to know me better. I want to share my thoughts and opinions, my likes and dislikes. I tend to put up a wall and don't get to close to people, but I think that the more I open up, the deeper and more meaningful my relationships with others will become.

I think that's it! I think these are all doable things and I am excited to do them.

-Emily

(and be sure to read the second post from today as well! Yes, I posted twice in one night and sorry gramma, no pictures of your grandkids :)

I'm dreaming of a cool autumn breeze and crisp red leaves.

With the end of this sweaty summer we have been (and still are) enduring, I have become unattainably excited about fall. Most of you already know that this is my absolute favorite season (I've posted about it on here in previous years) but I am just too excited to not write about it!

This year, I have already written my bucket list for the coming season. It is a little longer than normal; actually it is the first time I have made an official bucket list, but still it is more than what I normally think to do during the fall. I think this is for 2 reasons. One, last year I was pregnant and had a baby right before Halloween. That is a bit of a buzz-kill on the outings, recipes, decorations, pretty much everything... Not that having a baby was bad, just bad timing for me, because I wasn't able to do all the things that I wanted, so this year I feel the need to make up for last year. And secondly, this Texas summer has been SO dreadfully long and hot hot hot that I am dying for cooler weather to come! I have been planning my decorations and activities since the beginning of August and the anticipation of waiting has made everything become a little more extravagant in my head.

Here is my list (I had to go get it from my refrigerator):
- Make caramel apples
- Make apple crisp
- Make costumes (I am planning a fairy-tale theme. I will be a princess, Francisco my Knight in Shining Armor, Sam his handsome steed (horse), and Luke the scary dragon. I am pretty excited about it!)
- Make new decorations (I am planning a candy pumpkin garland, a candy corn wreath, adding pumpkins to my living room in my wood-burning fireplace, and some sort of burlap banner.
- Decorate!
- Go to a corn maze
- Pumpkin patch and tractor ride
- Have a Halloween party (I want to have a poker night and use candy as bets!)
- and of course carve pumpkins!

I am just giddy with excitement! Please fall come early this year! (It was 105 today so it's not really feeling like fall.) Oh fall. A girl can dream, right?

Happy dreaming until autumn really does come! What's on your bucket list this season?

-Emily

Skinny Sammy

Sam had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Just his normal 9 month (although he is now 10 months) check-up. Now, we already knew he is a light-weight skinny boy. You can tell just by looking at him and holding him. He is VERY skinny. His 6-9 month clothes are baggy. You can see his spine down his back. He doesn't have a single roll on him; especially around his middle. I was anxious to know how much he weighed.

Yesterday he weighed in at 15lbs 11oz. This is off the charts below the 5th%ile. His growth curve has really leveled off instead of curving up. He had gained about 1&1/4lbs since his last check-up. So, it was good that he had gained, but it was not as much as he should have. When I got home, I found a paper I got from his pulmonologist appointment 2 months ago. His weight at that appointment was 15lbs 4oz. I realize that this was a different scale, but it concerns me even a little more because that means in the last 2 months, he barely gained anything. He's going back to the pulmonologist in a couple weeks, so I will compare his weight there again.

His length measured in at 28 and something inches. He is following his 50%ile growth curve perfectly in length and head circumference is also growing as it should around the 50%ile.


We have pretty much exhausted all possibilities of chronic diseases that might cause this failure of growth. His heart is fine. His lungs are healthy. He eats and poops plenty. One thing it MIGHT be is his reflux. He still throws up occasionally. (Last night he threw up a TON). My instincts say that it's a combination of genetics and reflux. My family is genetically skinny. Both my dad and brother are extremely skinny.

The doctor suggests that we go talk to a dietitian. Ha. I say, 'I am a dietitian. BUT, I would be willing to go talk with another dietitian to see if we can come up with some more ideas concerning his diet and weight gain.' More to come on how this consultation goes. It's a little embarrassing that I have to go talk with a dietitian. I am supposed to be the expert in this area, but I realize that I don't know everything about baby weight gain and it might be beneficial to talk to another expert.

I am considering formula feeding. He has started taking a bottle this week, so this is now an option. I just get really sad to think that it might be my milk causing him to not gain enough weight. From the medical stand-point, all breast milk should have the same amount of calories as formula, so as long as I'm producing enough milk, he should be fine. However, I keep thinking in the back of my head, maybe my milk is different. Maybe my milk isn't giving him the nutrients that he needs.

I just hope we can figure this out. I love my Sam so much and I just want him to be happy and healthy. Maybe he already is.

-Emily

I'm proud to be an American

I became a citizen of this great country on August 22, 2012. Everything happened so fast that we didn't have time to plan a celebration or anything : ( , but it was all good.

My interview was schedule at 6:30 am. I got there at 6:00 am and they finally interviewed me at 7:00 am. Those 30 min of waiting really make you wonder what kind of questions are they going to ask you, but it was  super easy and stress free. At the end of the interview she offered me the opportunity to come back at 1:00 pm the same day to make the oath and become a citizen; I wasn't expecting it to be that quick. 

After the interview I rushed to school, changed into my scrubs and had 4 hours of operative dentistry, then I changed my clothes again and made it back to the building at 12:25 pm. The ceremony started around 1:30 pm and it was a bit weird saying the pledge and making the oath.... but I'm happy I made that decision. 

I was back at school at 3:00 pm in my scrubs ready for 2 more hours of fixed prosthodontics lab. 

This day was definitely an emotional one, but in a sense was kind of surreal because I didn't have time to let the feelings soak in (if that makes any sense).

-Francisco

Nothing beats free!!!

I just want to make a short entry to remember how blessed we are. We got a totally free piano from Sister Colson in our ward and it is just awesome. We moved it with tons of help and it really wasn't that bad moving it to the second floor with the help of 8 other people. I loved how friends from our ward came together and helped me out.

Here is a picture of our new piano!

-Francisco

Summer activities

We have had a great summer. It is quickly coming to a close so we thought we'd right a post of the things that we enjoyed doing this summer! It has been do great to have Francisco home most of the time with us and we are going to miss him next week when he starts school.

Here is what we've been up to:
Play-dough: We made some home-made play dough and Luke absolutely loves it! He will sit and play with it for a very long time for a 2 yr old! Maybe 30-60 minutes at a time! Of course, we had to make it a neon green color!

Washing storage closet door: Luke really likes to wash the door that goes to our storage closet on our balcony. He takes a large bucket of water and a wipe or a wash cloth and goes at it! Awesome.

Water colors: With Mami or Papi painting, Luke LOVES to paint as well. He is getting much better at not mixing the colors and a lot of this paintings are quite creative!

In order: Emily, Francisco, Luke

Game boards: Luke has gotten into the habit of taking the board games out and making a mess playing with them. Cranium was the worst. All the cards. Everywhere.

Luke is saying that he's two and pointing to the 16+ 

Blocks: Gramma K bought Luke blocks while she was here last October and he loves them. He builds "casas" and likes to make more messes with them. We are working really hard to teach him to pick them up after he's done playing with them.

Splash Pads: It is impossible to enjoy the outdoors without some source of water during the summer here. So, we checked out a Splash Pad. It was really cool and free!

"Pillow me": Luke loves to take all the pillows off the bed and couches and cover us with them. Then we must do the same to him. I (Emily) actually enjoy this game because I get to rest while he throws pillows on top of me. We are playing and I am sleeping at the same time! Win-win!

Train tracks: Today Luke brought out his train tracks and we put some batteries in his cars. He went wild watching the cars chase each other! We usually do not have batteries in the cars because they run out so fast!

Bath time: Luke loves playing in the water, but does not necessarily enjoy baths. The washing part takes place maybe with 1/2 of his baths. Usually it is just playing in the water with his bath toys. At least he gets rinsed off! We recently moved his toys to his bathroom rather than in our master bath. I am enjoying having my shower toy free, but I"m not looking forward to washing two showers! (Although Francisco usually does that lovely task anyway! Love you sweetie!)

Craft sticks/glue: Luke is our resident crafter. He recently discovered a box of craft sticks and has been addicted ever since! He made a house, a kitty, a grid. Then he colors them with either water colors or markers.

mirror smudges: Did we mention Luke is artistic? Even his messes end up being a work of art! Check out this mirror smudge. What do you see? Pretty good for a 2 yr old, huh?

swimming: With a pool literally outside our apartment, I thought we'd hit the pool a little more than we did, but we still made a few trips with the boys. Luke loves the water, Sam not as much. The Olympics have inspired us to take up swimming as a workout and both Francisco and I went this morning (at separate times) Both of us only lasted about 20 minutes. Swimming is hard work!

Oregon trip: This deserves a post on it's own. It was awesome! (Horse back riding, Wave pool, Yurts at Wallowa Lake, paddle boats, Family time, learning to play, "I'm trying to be like Jesus" on the piano, visiting friends, the Saturday market, Enchanted forest)

Work: Both Francisco and I picked up some summer jobs and made a little extra cash. I worked for Green Pest Guys Pest control doing some scheduling from home and Francisco worked for Baylor doing research and teaching a summer program.

It has been an awesome summer! I'm not loving the heat, but what can you do?

Francisco loves seeing his little Luke growing and trying different things. He loves when Luke hugs and kisses him and says that he loves him. Luke is a really good kid. We love him so much.

Now we are looking forward to a lovely fall and are excited for Halloween!

Because Francisco and I both post and both use the first person when writing, we are going to start signing our names at the end of our posts.

-Emily

I just love my boys!

These are a few of their expressions that I just love. I love looking into their eyes and see their innocence and love.