Oliver & Company

ok blogging world..... I'm back!

2011-11-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm so happy to say that I just got my early Christmas present. Since our laptop has been acting up I haven't been able to get much blogging done. Well I just got a tablet and will be able to get all caught up! Be warned!

Big News

2011-10-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

Well, we got an email (yes an email) from our landlord yesterday. The business they own has grown quite a bit and they need to expand... into the rental house! We are going to be moving again in 30 days... now for packing and home hunting! AAAHHHH!!!!! I cried a lot yesterday. But now I'm in action mode. Here's to another adventure!

Aunt Lianna's Visit

2011-10-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Lianna came for conference weekend. We had a fun time! She had some mission friends over and went to conference on Saturday. On Friday we took road the trax and dragged her to Gardner Village which is all decorated with Witches for Halloween! We had a fun lunch and got some yummy fudge and wandered around! It was a great time! Come visit soon Auntie!!

A first

2011-10-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

The pictures are out of order!

Getting Casted

The bent arm!

Waiting to leave the Er!

Getting the splint

The Cast!

Well it happened. We have officially been inducted into that part of parenthood. The part that all parents dread happening ... And secretly wonder just how long it'll be before they get there. For us we thought we would have that dreaded ER visit a long time ago. We were pleased that we were six weeks shy of four years.

That's right, on September 19, 2011 Oliver broke both bones in his left upper wrist lower forearm. We were out in the front yard. I had been doing a bit of yard work. I had given a 5 minute warning so we could go in and have dinner. I turned around to put some clothes in the dryer and heard a smack on the concrete followed by lots of crying. I knew it was not good right away. Oliver doesn't cry over every skinned knee. He cries if he's truly hurt. We went inside and he sat on the step in between the living room and kitchen. Oliver was chalk white. For anyone who knows my O man at all you know his cheeks are always rosy! I cleaned up his scrapes and looked at arm. I could tell it was bad because there appeared to be a bend in his arm. I called a friend of mine who is a nurse at a pediatric orthopedic hospital. Her and her husband came right over and with their insight I decided a trip to the ER was in order. Our sweet friends drove the boys and me (since Berto was at work with our car).

After X-rays we found that he had in fact fractured both the radius and ulna bones. As soon as it was splinted the color came back in his cheeks.

We had to wait a whole week for his cast. He picked blue and to my surprise the cast is waterproof which is amazing! He has to wear it for four weeks, and it could take up to a year for his arm to appear straight again.

Our other first was on Saturday September 24, 2011 our sweet Isaac took his first steps. He was holding onto Berto and took three steps to the couch! He's not walking yet... But I am afraid it will be any day now!!

Parental Question and Advice PLEASE!

2011-09-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have about 5 posts that I've written and need to get pics cropped and uploaded for... but this is going to take a priority. Oliver is in his 3rd week of preschool. He comes home everyday and is bouncing off the walls, is mean to the baby and does not listen. What do I do? Nothing seems to help. I've threatened, put him in time out, spanked, try to give him love and attention. I'm at my wits end and considering (gasp) pulling him out of preschool. I don't know if it's normal for a kids to behave like this. Is it just a faze? On the days he's NOT at preschool it's business as usual. He's not nearly as hyper and disobedient. Of course there is some of that. He's not quite 4 years old. BUT on preschool days it's out of control. I don't know what to do.

Isaac's dreaded Iron

2011-09-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

At Isaac's 9 month check up they tested his iron and it was LOW. :( We spend the next six weeks making sure he had BEEF at least once a day to try and bring those numbers up. Last Thursday September 8, 2011 we had his follow-up appointment and to our dismay his iron was even LOWER. It was such a bad morning. After rushing Oliver to preschool and rushing back to pick up Isaac, on the way to the pediatrician I got into a little fender bender. There was no damage to either car but it was still nerve racking. Then to have to doctor tell me his iron was even lower. I was on the verge of tears. I had to take him directly to the outpatient lab at the hospital for some blood work. That was awful. They stuck him THREE times before they drew any blood. They were doing a more accurate hemoglobin test and testing for lead poisoning. The pediatrician called back Thursday evening to let us know that his iron was a bit higher from the blood test. It was basically at the very low end of normal. So we only need to give him a multi-vitamin with iron each day. PHEW. It will take a week for the lead test results to get back. In the meantime I contacted our landlord to find out how old the house we rent is. Thankfully, it was built in 1981 and they worry about lead in homes built prior to 1978. That is a huge relief. I'm not nearly as concerned as I was about the lead poisoning. Just a little more stress than any mom wants. But a multi-vitamin everyday I can handle if it gets his iron levels up so he's not anemic anymore!

Preschool

2011-09-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Oliver and his friend Anya in front of preschool on the first day!

Oliver and Anya with Miss Sam!

Oliver started preschool on September 6th. He was sssooo excited! He has been going for a week and a half now and all last weekend he begged to go to preschool! I asked his teacher how he did after the first day. She said " Oliver did fine today. I know that he had a blast because he was REALLY excited and happy throughout the class. He had a lot of energy and I am excited to help him learn to channel it. Please don't ever hesitate to email or call me, I am happy to help and reassure in any way that I can."
My sweet little ball of energy! Ha! He loves it! His teacher's name is Miss Sam. She's just awesome with the kids. I am so happy that he's having this time to learn and grow! And Isaac is loving having a couple hours of time with mommy and daddy and NOT having toys yanked out of his hands every time he gets a new one!

Oliver's teeth Follow-up

2011-09-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

After a second visit to the dentist for Oliver's face plant his teeth have not changed (which is good). I guess we are supposed to look for signs of trauma for up to a year post accident. But as of now they are fine and good and DON'T NEED TO BE PULLED!!!

9/11/11

2011-09-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

I have a ton of catch up blogging that I'm still working on... but I felt like I needed to get this written down. On facebook on the 10th Anniversary of September 11th a friend of mine posted what she was doing that dreaded morning 10 years previous and asked to share what we were doing. So I shared what I was doing and felt like I should write it down here.

I can remember that I was at home getting ready for work and my mom called me in to her bedroom to watch the news with her. I was horrified and spent the rest of the day (next couple of weeks) listening to talk radio as I worked out of my car. What really hit home to me was the fact that two weeks prior to 9/11 I had turned in my mission papers. I was waiting for an envelope that could send me anywhere in the world. I know it's nerve racking for anyone waiting for their "call" but I felt especially terrified because of the state of the United States and of the World at that moment in time. I received my mission call that Thursday. It was signed and dated by President Gordon B. Hinkley September 11, 2001. That said so many things to me about the importance of the missionary work I was about to do. It told me that it is so important that the world was falling apart around us (at least it felt that way) and President Hinkley the latter day Prophet didn't stop to watch the news, he kept moving forward. He kept issuing mission calls. I felt like that said that now more than maybe ever before the work needs to go forward.

Thank you Jaclyn Snyder for encouraging me to write this down for my kids to read in the future.

Vacation 2011

2011-09-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Sea World

Disneyland

Airport seeing Lianna!
Well, we went to California in August! It was a nice vacation and the main reason we went was to celebrate my sister Lianna's return home from her mission to Omaha, NE! It was so much fun to see her! We flew which was the best idea I've ever had! We arrived in CA on August 18th! Lianna arrived home on the 19th! We had a whirlwind of activities. We met Lianna at the airport with signs of love, went to her open house the following day, listened to her wonderful homecoming report on Sunday, ate dinner and celebrated Lianna's birthday at my moms on Sunday, Went to Disneyland on Monday, rested on Tuesday (ha ha), went to sea world on Wednesday and flew home on Thursday! PHEW I'm still exhausted thinking about it! It was a super fun trip! Oliver loved Disneyland and Sea World. Isaac LOVED Lianna! Which I'm so glad he did because she hadn't met him yet!

We also stayed the entire trip with our dear friends Greg and Carol Ann! They are so amazing to put up with us for so long! Our boys play so well together, 4 boys ages 5 years old down to 10 months and I think we had one little argument in an entire week! We are always so grateful for their welcome home!

So that was our vacation in a nutshell! Enjoy the pictures! I figure there isn't a whole lot to say! We barely blinked the whole week we were so busy with things to do! But it was a great time! I think two weeks later my kids are still recuperating! :)

5K

2011-09-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

No, No we did not win $5,000! But on August 6th Berto and I ran a 5k! It was fun! I am still trying desperately to get rid of some of, any of this baby weight that will not fall off of my body from my dear sweet Isaac. I had only ONE goal for this race... it was TO NOT FINISH LAST! And I didn't so I was happy! We just did a fun run with the Salt Lake Running Company... the one thing we learned about doing a free 5k... You HAVE to wear their hideous free shirts WHILE you run! We also WON an awesome New Balance Backpack in their raffle! It was a great experience and Berto and I have decided to run the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in the spring! WOO!!!

The Dreaded Face Plant!

2011-08-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the dentist chair waiting for the dentist to give me the verdict! Watching a movie!!

The teeth. This is after he pushed them forward a little with his tongue. (The discoloration has been there since his baby teeth grew in).

What a day! What started out as a promising day turned out to be one of the most traumatic days I've experienced this far in my parenting journey! I know I sound totally mellow dramatic... and I feel that way... and I'll probably feel really silly in a few days after I read this blog post... BUT I am still feeling the emotions of the day.

Ok, so today we decided to head up to the outlets in Park City. Berto and I have been in need of a few clothing items and are preparing for a trip to California. Also, Oliver has been needing new shoes... so our plans were made. After a quick and successful shopping trip I was sitting in the shade with the baby and Berto was letting Oliver test out his new Nike's at the playground. After about 15 minutes they came calmly walking over to me. I was surprised because Oliver doesn't typically leave a 3 year olds happy place (playground, park any where really) without a fight. Berto starts to tell me he tripped and fell and I suddenly realize there is blood coming out of Oliver's mouth. I hand off the baby to inspect the damage and find his right middle front tooth and the one next to it are severely pushed back and bleeding. PANIC. NAUSEA. DREAD. SORROW. Those are only a few of the emotions I felt. I get out my phone and start calling our dental insurance to see what our coverage is. THANKFULLY, I talked to a wonderful lady who suggested before I see our provider through our AETNA DMO, that I call our health insurance and see if they have accidental dental coverage! SCORE! I called and YES, he is covered 100% after a $50 copay which was a much better option for us than paying 20%! And they were amazing. They took the accident report, and helped me find a provider that could see him immidiately AND stayed on the phone while I made the appointment. They also told me EVERYTHING I needed to say so that they were billed properly. What a blessing!

So, we raced down the mountain. Oliver fell asleep so I called my mom and cried. I was trying so hard to keep it together for Oliver when ALL I wanted to do was morn for his poor front teeth.

Ok, so we made it to the dentist. They took an x-ray and thankfully there was no damage done to his permanent teeth which are just chillin up there waiting to come down. The dentist cautioned us not to have him numb Oliver up and try pushing the teeth forward. Oliver had already pushed them back up pretty far with his tongue and the Dentist didn't feel that he'd be able to do much more and it would be more traumatic than necessary for Oliver. So, basically they want to see him for a re-evaluation in 2 weeks as I guess it can take some time to really see the damage with dental trauma's. We just have to watch him for any absesses or anything like that or if he's in extreme pain then we have to bring him back in. The dentist doesn't think they'll fall out or anything like that at this point. So really it could have been much worse. I know that it's not the end of the world, they're just baby teeth... but I'm sad. The poor kid already had discolored baby teeth from who knows what reason... and now they're all wonky (for lack of a better term).

I am relieved that he's ok... but I'm sad. My Oliver doesn't look quite the same when he smiles. And he's been so subdued today. I think he got really scared and I think he's in some pain... and that breaks my heart.

Playing Catch Up!

2011-08-12T18:48:00.001-07:00

My pictures uploaded in the wrong order... but I'm too tired to fix them!

At the legacy field museum with Grandpa and Anna! I think they both have a way to grow before they're basketball players! :)

Isaac with Grandpa Rick at the Thanksgiving Point Dino Museum!

With Tita in our front yard!

Both boys with Tito and Tita at the BYU Dino museum!

Isaac... I'm telling you I have my hands FULL!!!

Well, I'm playing catch up again! Once again I've been gone WAY too long! Geesh! Ok, so as far as Isaac goes... On April 26th he had his 6 month check up. He weighed in at 19.38 lbs in the 79th percentile and was 28.0 inches long in the 91st percentile! At about 8 months he started crawling. He is into EVERYTHING!! He's so much fun though! Such a happy, fun and smiling baby. His first tooth poked through right at 6 months and he now has 6 teeth. All four top front teeth and two bottom ones!
On July 21st Isaac had his 9 month check up. He weighed in at 21.1 lbs in the 61st percentile and 29.27 lbs in the 83rd percentile! Isaac is such a joy in our family!

Oliver is just a funny kid. He makes us laugh everyday. We love the funny things he comes up with all the time. He continues to LOVE trains, cars and dinosaurs! He is ALL boy! He is a great big brother. He loves Isaac so much. He's always concerned when he cries, and does his best to keep Isaac happy and laughing by doing goofy things to make him smile! Their favorite game right now is a little game of chase where Oliver runs around like a maniac and Isaac does his best to keep up. They both laugh their heads off the whole time!

In June Berto's parents made a quick visit. We took them to Temple Square and down to the BYU Dino museum. They also got lucky and they and Berto were able to go to a free Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert!

In July my Dad and Anna came for a four day weekend! We packed it full of eating, visiting, a trip to the Thanksgiving Point Dino museum, and a trip to the BYU Legacy Field Museum, oh and swimming, swimming, swimming at their hotel! It was a blast! We did learn that Isaac does NOT like the swimming pool!

Isaac's 4 Month well visit

2011-04-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad, bad mom! Isaac is almost 6 months and I am just getting around to this post! It's been crazy around here! ;)

Weight: 16.9 lbs
Height: 26 inches
he's in the 82 percentile!

And just because I know I won't be on here for a while yesterday April 7, 2011 at 5 months old Isaac started SAYING MAMA!!! Oh yeah! What a little smarty! I was so excited! He's so cute when he says it! Oliver said it at 7 months.. I guess Isaac felt he needed to one up his big bro! So fun! Love my boys so much!!

Growing Boys!

2011-02-16T08:37:00.001-08:00

My boys are growing WAY too fast! I can't keep up with it! Oliver is such a chatter box! he is so fun to be around! He LOVES sunbeams. He doesn't ever say a word but he loves it! On Sunday they learned about the Holy Ghost and when I picked him up from class he said "Mama, the Holy Ghost is going to save me!" It made my day! That was one of those blessed parent moments. I was so happy that he told me that!

Isaac had a big milestone today... HE ROLLED OVER!!!!!! We were doing tummy time and I ran out of the room to get some water... and when I came back he was on his back!!! And so it begins! But I'm so proud of my little man!

Babies, babies and more babies!!

2011-01-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was SUCH a fun day!! I went to Lehi and had lunch with two of my mission friends Allison (Rock) Provenza and Katrina (Nurnberg) Dansie! It was so fun! Alli, Katrina and I were all pregnant at the same time and were all due in November and we all had boys! It was so fun to see each others babies!! Katrina also has a cute little 4 year old daughter named Malia! Oliver LOVES her!! It was a great afternoon with good friends and yummy food! I loved it!

The Babies! (Left to right)
Isaac born October 21st, Samuel born October 31st (Katrina's baby)and Dominic born December 2nd (Allison's baby)

Oliver, Isaac, Samuel, Melia and Dominic

I love that our boys are just a few weeks apart in age! I hope they will all be forever friends the way we have become!

My Boys

2011-01-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

I'm already a little behind on "keeping my journal!" Gosh the time just gets away from me! But here's an update on the boys!

Oliver is hilarious! He's a very reverent little sunbeam at church! He DOES NOT talk in primary AT ALL but we can't get him to shut up at home. His nursery leaders have always said the same thing. He just does not talk. Recently a girl at church was subbing in nursery. She told me she kept asking Oliver his name and he would NOT tell her. Finally she asked one of the other kids. I'm hoping that since sunbeams is more structured he'll start to warm up a little! This morning when he woke up (in my bed) I had turned on my bedroom light. He wined "the sssuuuunnn!!!" I told him it was the light and he said "I need you to tell me it's the sun!" I don't know where that came from! But it made me smile!

Isaac is as cute as ever! He's going through a VERY frustrating faze though. He wants ME to hold him 24/7. He's been taking 30 minute naps which is NOT working for me. I spend my whole day trying to get him to sleep. He's exhausted and cranky and will NOT let Berto hold him. He screams the minute Berto picks him up. I just don't know what to do. It's been going on this way for a couple of weeks already! I am exhausted. My house is a mess and I don't know what to do. I'm hoping he gets through this very, very soon.

Other than that there's not a whole lot to report! We saw tangled over the weekend! It was great! We all loved it! Even Isaac who was wide awake through the whole movie and only cried if I turned him away from the screen. I guess he must have liked the bright screen!

The Biggest Loser

2011-01-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

Berto and I are joining with some friends in a friendly biggest loser competition! I need something to get me motivated and get this baby fat off! :) SO we're taking the plunge! For the next 12 weeks it's healthy eating and exercise to the finish! I think I'm going to win! :)

Oliverisms

2011-01-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast Oliver is growing! Today was his first day as a SUNBEAM! This is the three year old Sunday school class at church! Up until now he's just been in the nursery! This is a big milestone! He did AMAZING! I was worried he wouldn't sit still or would cry and he did neither! I was so PROUD!

Earlier this week Oliver I had Issac sleeping in his bassinet and I was doing the dishes. Oliver comes in and says "Where's my baby brother??" It was too cute!

Yesterday we were having some friends over for cake and ice cream to celebrate Berto's birthday! Oliver was carrying around the paper plates and said "By mama, I'm going to school to eat cake!" I don't know where that came from but I want to go to his school! :)

Oliver is growing up SO Fast! It's bittersweet that's for sure!

Resolutions

2011-01-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

I don't typically set New Year's Resolutions! I break them! But this year I have been feeling like I need to set goals and this was the time to do it! My BFF Heather and I decided that we'd help each other stay accountable so we might actually succeed with our goals!!

Here are mine:
1. House of ORDER!
I have been completely overwhelmed since I became a mommy of two! My house has definitely been on the suffering end! My goal is to follow the FLYlady and spend 15 minutes a day tidying up a room. I love her way of doing things and I know my house will always look amazing and I won't feel like I'm neglecting my kids!
2. Study
I definitely need to spend more time strengthening myself spiritually! This is my year for that!
3. Journaling
I am going to "journal" twice a week. I'm not going to write in an actual journal. I'm going to use my blog for that purpose. But I want to remember all of the struggles and happy times and milestones our family has. So twice a week is my goal!
4. Exercise 3-4 times a week!
I have GOT to get this baby weight off! Enough said!
5. Date Berto
Berto and I don't spend enough time together! We're always so focused on the kiddos! We have met some amazing friends since we've been in our little house here and we are going to babysit swap! Even if all we do is go for a drive for and hour and talk just the two of us we are going to do it this year at least once a month!
6. QUALITY family time
We are busy and I feel like even though we're together a lot it's not always quality time. This year we are going to make it all quality time! These little ones are growing up too fast already! We need to make every minute count!
7. Family Home Evening
We haven't been the best at family home evening. But now that Oliver is a little bit older I think it is the perfect time to pick that up and run with it!
8. Meal Plan
I started this a couple of months ago but I want to make it a habbit for life. I am going to meal plan every Sunday and grocery shop every Monday. This has helped us stay within our grocery budget and helps me to stay organized. It's also helping us to make healthier choices!

So those are my resolutions! I'm excited for 2011! I know it's going to be a great year for our family! We are trying to be service minded and I know that many, many blessings will come our way!

Wishing you all the best year yet!

Our Christmas- 2010

2010-12-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

We has a nice quiet Christmas here at home! It was a nice day just the four of us! We woke up early and opened presents and spent the day watching Oliver play with his toys! After Oliver took a short nap we headed out to the movies to see Yogi Bear! Oliver laughed and laughed! He really enjoyed it! We had a great day and hope you and your families enjoyed your Christmas too! We have been truly blessed this year and are so happy in our home here in Utah! We've made some great friends and although we missed our family we had a lovely day here just the four of us!

Merry Christmas!!

Isaac is 2 months old December 21, 2010

2010-12-26T11:12:00.000-08:00

Issac turned two months old last week! He's growing so fast! He is such a sweet baby! He's been a little needy the past 3 weeks. He had a cold, ear infection and seems to be having some reflux issues. He is a trooper! I don't think I mentioned this before but Isaac was born with Pectus Excavatum (sunken chest). He will be able to lead a normal life but we did learn that we will always have to watch his weight to some extent. I'm not sure how you watch the weight of a breastfed infant but we'll see! He's smaller than Oliver was so that's a good thing!

Isaac's two month stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 12 ounces 75th percentile
Height: 23 inches long 75th percentile

We love our little peanut! He's brought so much joy to our little family!

Oliver's 3rd Birthday- November 4th 2010

2010-12-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

Wow, time sure has gotten away from me. I am completely overwhelmed with two kids! So today I'm going to attempt to play catch up on my blog at least a little bit (just the big events not EVERY little thing)... and I'm even going to attempt to clean my house... wish me luck!

Oliver had his 3rd birthday on November 4th. He's such a big boy! I love my little man. He's becoming a good helper and is such a loving big brother. He loves baby Isaac! Since I was planning on having Isaac just three days before Oliver's birthday we didn't plan much. Which was good since I was still recovering when we did celebrate his birthday!

My mom was in town helping with the kids that week so it was nice that she was able to be here for Oliver's birthday! We picked up a Costco pizza and ate birthday cake! Then we decided at the spur of the moment to take a ride on the trax to temple square! Oliver loved it! We had a little train theme going because for his present he got a Chuggington train station and some trains! He had a very special day! We love our big boy!!

Halloween

2010-11-14T16:20:00.001-08:00

Well, we didn't do much for Halloween this year. Since Isaac came early Berto took Oliver to the trunk or treat at the ward we had attended since June! (He went to ours but no one was there, weird!). They had fun. Oliver was super shy for some reason (So Berto tells me) Oliver was of course Harry Potter! I am so proud. I made his costume myself! Well, the robes I made anyway! I took Berto's gown from graduation and altered it to fit Oliver! He looked so stinking cute! Next year we're going to have much more Halloween fun!

Oliverisms

2010-11-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

I am going to have to post a lot of these now I think. Oliver is becoming such a big boy. Of course today I'm posting it to remember how much I adore my big boy... after an hour and a half long battle to get him to take a nap which ended in a complete sobbing meltdown I need this post! :)

It took him more than two weeks to warm up to his baby brother! But NOW he adores him!

On Sunday Isaac was crying (a rarity for our little baby) and Oliver said "Don't cry baby Isaac you're safe!"

This morning I was sitting down to nurse Isaac... and Oliver said "Mom, I think Isaac wants his milk in a cup!"

Those are the two things that are sticking out in my mind right now. I really should write things down!

Oliver has embraced big brotherhood. This morning when he woke up he came over and started rubbing Isaac's back! And he keeps trying to help him play with the toys on his bouncy seat! Also, last night I had Issac kind of sitting up in our boppy pillow and Oliver came over and laid his head down on the side of the pillow!

Isaac Reed is HERE!!!!!

2010-10-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Isaac Reed was born on October 21st 2010. He weighed 7 lbs 2 ounces, was 19 inches long and came into the world at 4:56 am. We are so happy to have him here... even if we do have to share our anniversary with his birthday! :)

Things did not go exactly according to plan. Oliver was a c-section because he was breach so we were all scheduled for a repeat section for November 1st. As you can see we didn't exactly make it that far.

Around 12:30 am on October 21st I awoke to a gush and somehow managed to JUMP out of my bed! I very quickly realized my water had just broken! Berto had fallen asleep in Oliver's room while putting him to sleep (I have a feeling Oliver could sense something was coming because he had only fallen asleep maybe 30 minutes before). I went and woke Berto up and told him what was going on. We were both very near panicking. You're supposed to be unprepared for your first baby... not your second one! :) Since we have so recently moved here we weren't sure what to do with Oliver. We don't have any family close by and we have friends but didn't want to bother anyone in the middle of the night... so we had tentatively decided that I would do the birthing alone and Berto would remain with Oliver. We got to the hospital and they told us that Oliver was allowed to stay all the way until I was either pushing or being wheeled into the operating room. That was a HUGE relief! So we hung out in the labor and delivery room for a couple of hours. After we had been in the delivery room for probably an hour and a half my contractions started coming extremely STRONG and very close together. They were trying to hold off as long as possible on the c-section because I had, had a snack at 10 pm. Their goal was to do my c-section at 6:00 am... that didn't happen either. Once my contractions started coming so quickly they got the anesthesiologist in to put in an epidural to try and hold thing off for a couple more ours. That was probably around 3:30 am... well it took him over an hour and multiple pokes in my spine to finally get the catheter in place. By that point my contractions were about a minute apart and the last three I felt I had the urge to push. It was VERY close. I was nervous to try a VBAC and that was why we were still going with a c-section (although the nurses were setting up the L&D room because it was going to be so close). We made it into the operating room. They let Berto watch this time. Something he was very disappointed not to be able to do when we had Oliver. (Eeewwww) But he said they really had to work hard to get him out of the birth canal. Isaac was just a little over three weeks early and a pretty decent size! He had some fluid in his lungs which I understand can be normal for c-section births. He did have to spend about an hour in the NICU while they observed him and made sure it was all aspirated.

I had a slight complication. On Friday evening I got this KILLER headache. It was the most intense pain I've ever felt in my life. I could not sit up, tolerate sound or light. It was due to the trouble with the epidural/spinal tap. They poked a little hole in my spine and spinal fluid was leaking out and pulling on my brain causing the headache. Saturday afternoon they did a procedure where they sterily draw blood from the arm and inject it into the site of the epidural to clot the hole. Within about two hours I was headache free!

We came home on Sunday afternoon. And are so happy to be home!

Isaac is a sweet little baby. He is easy going and such a joy in our home. He goes 3-4 hours in between feedings around the clock which has been so nice and he even lets me put him down! He is such a different baby then my sweet Oliver!

Oliver is still adjusting to being a big brother but definitely loves little Isaac. If he doesn't know where Isaac is he asks "Where's baby Isaac?"

We are so grateful that Isaac is here healthy and happy! And next time I will be prepared for anything... I hope! :)

Which one will be bigger???

2010-10-18T15:42:00.000-07:00

So today Lianna told me she thinks that this baby is going to be even bigger than Oliver was. All I have to say about that is YIKES. Oliver was 9 lbs 7 ounces. My belly was looking smaller for a while there... until the last couple of weeks it just popped out a ton. So today while Oliver was napping I decided to play around with photoshop and put these two pictures together. The one on the left is me at 39 weeks with Oliver. The one on the right is me at 37 weeks with Isaac.... which one do YOU think is going to be bigger???

I really need to remember to thank Berto for NOT telling me how big of a baby he was before we got married.... I sure am lucky to be the carrier of such HUGE babies! (Insert sarcasm here).

We are all still alive!

2010-10-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

And just to prove it here's a picture of Oliver! We're getting nice and settled! I'll post a few pictures of our house soon! We're loving the space and the quiet pretty much just everything about where we are!

Here's a fun picture of Oliver. Him and I went to the free craft day at the Lakeshore Learning Center today! He had a ton of fun! Also, I finally made the blanket I've been itching to make! I've had the fabric for a couple of months... and yesterday I cut it, pinned it, tied it and finished it! YES!!!

PROGRESS

2010-09-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is the front of the house!

This is the side yard! Check out the apple trees!

This is the kitchen!!

We moved to Utah just over two months ago. Since then we've felt kind of in LIMBO.. okay BIG TIME in limbo. Our very generous friend Alisa invited us to crash in her basement so we didn't have to add to our stress in finding a home before we moved. Since then it has felt as though one thing after another has happened. The BIGGEST thing is our car started acting up and it felt as though the transmission was going. We had already put one rebuilt transmission in it and decided it was NOT worth messing with again. So we sold it to Carmax just over two weeks ago. We acquired a rental car and the car searching began. We had one stipulation, the car had to paid for with the cash that we were given for our car as we do not want a car payment at this time. This did NOT leave very much room for choice AND it made car buying scarier than it has ever been for either of us. We didn't know who we could trust and felt like every car we looked at was junk and would fall apart in minutes after we bought it. After a lot of searching and a lot of prayer we were exasperated to say the least. I was feeling so discouraged. This was about a week after we sold the car. There was no turning back. That very evening Berto's mom called to tell us that his aunt decided she wanted to sell her low miles 1998 Honda Accord. We talked about it and with the price she was selling it for we could afford to fly Berto to AZ to pick up the car and drive it back. It was a major miracle for us. So we have a car that runs well and will be reliable and we are so grateful!

In the middle of all this we were still in our house/apartment search! Another thing that was adding to this pregnant chicks unwanted and unneeded stress. A couple of weeks ago I went to lunch with a friend from my mission. In passing she said she wished she knew a couple of months before we moved that we were moving because they had rented this great little old house in Murray for dirt cheap and it helped them save money to buy a house of their own. Well, I of course put that thought out of my mind thinking that there is no way such a great deal would still be around several months later.... well last week Katrina emailed me and told me that she had spoken to her father in law (who works for the landlords) and the house was still unoccupied. She put me in touch with the landlords and we are moving in on September 27th! We couldn't be more thrilled! The rent is inexpensive and we will have a 1900 square foot 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house to live in with a nice sized yard! It is going to be heaven!

We feel so blessed! On Friday I am meeting the landlord at the house to sign the lease and give them our deposit. They are giving us the keys that day so we can take our time moving in the little things before we need help with all of our bigger items!

It is so nice to feel like we're making progress! I was starting to feel like we weren't going to find the "right" place for our family before I have this baby and thankfully things are all falling into place! We will be moved in and settled with plenty of time to spare! I'm so happy!

Here are the three pictures we took of the house. For some reason we only took one inside of the kitchen! It's an older house but has been well taken care of!

This and That

2010-08-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

This is me at 29 weeks! I'm feeling pretty good! A little smaller than I was with Oliver which is NICE!

This was this morning at 30 weeks!!

This morning we decided to walk to church! It was fun! When I told Oliver we were walking he said "WOW, that's AMAZING!!!" He loved it! And so did we! It was a beautiful morning!

We haven't had anything too exciting to post about lately! Today I'm 30 weeks! Yay only 8 or 9 more weeks until little Isaac joins our family! We're so excited!!

Here are just a couple of pictures!

A couple recent Oliverisms

2010-08-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday:
Me: "Oliver, did you have fun in nursery today?"
Oliver: "Yeah, I played with the kids."
Me: Did you learn anything? Did you learn about Jesus?"
Oliver: "Yeah."
Me: "What did you learn?"
Oliver: "Jesus is up there" (Pointing to the ceiling!)

He's got a point! It was so cute!

A few weeks ago we were in Salt Lake and drove past the Salt Lake City Temple. When Oliver saw it he said "WOW MAMA A CASTLE!!!"

Today:
Oliver was pretending he was a doctor. I randomly decided to say "I love you Oliver Cole." He said "NO MAMA, DOCTOR OLIVER!"

Things for baby...

2010-07-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

I have a growing list of little projects I want to do for baby Isaac! First on the list is a blanket! I got the ADORABLE fabric above! I saw it and LOVED it and didn't buy it... after a few days when I was STILL thinking about it I decided to just go buy it! I love the puppies and the stripes coordinate PERFECTLY! I can't wait to see it all finished. Also on my list is a car seat canopy. I was thinking about making a whole new car seat cover for our infant seat ... but I decided that was just too much and that a little canopy would be the cute touch I was looking for and it would be easier AND cheaper! AND it would keep strangers, weather and germs off of our little bundle of joy! I also want to make some cute burp clothes and about a thousand other little things! Guess I'd better get started... and maybe should get a part time job to pay for all the fabric I want! lol! ;)

Movie Night at Capitol Hill

2010-07-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we went up to Capitol Hill in Salt Lake and watched a movie on the lawn! It was so much fun! this is just one of the many movie at the park type things they have all around us all summer long! It was great! The capitol was a beautiful location and best of all it was FREE!!! Oliver had fun running around before the movie started! We picked Berto up from work and took a picnic dinner! It was great!! Here are a couple of pictures we took while we were waiting for it to get dark!

Two year old trials and finger painting

2010-07-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Utah we've done A LOT! We've been enjoying having so many options so close by! It's been wonderful! This week has been no exception! Since my first trimester was so difficult and Oliver and I basically just sat around the house for four months, I decided when we got here that we'd do something fun together every morning after we drop Berto off at work. Most mornings we go hang out at a local McDonalds playland! He LOVES it! We call it the inside park and he loves to play with the kids. We were there a few days ago and there were some frustrating kids (who's parents were of course not doing their job). One little boy was into pushing and another one thought karate kicking was a good idea. Oliver handles things pretty well. He just gets up and walks away usually. (Sometimes he hits back but what can I say?) He's pretty good natured and doesn't cry or get nasty. One thing that Oliver does do is hit, but it's not to be mean. He gets SO excited to play with other kids (especially girls) that his hands start going and he "hits" the kids. It isn't hard and it isn't meant to be mean but it happens. We try time and time again to teach him that hitting is not ok, and are trying to figure out how to make our words sink in. Today we went over to Mc Donalds after dropping Berto off. There was one little girl who was probably 4 or 5 and her little brother who was probably 1. The little girl was so happy to play with Oliver... until a couple of other kids showed up. They were all four playing together fine until Oliver got over excited and hit the new little girl on the back. (I am not an irresponsible parent and I keep a close eye on what's going on and saw everything that was happening). I got up to have him say sorry and to remind him not to hit... WELL the first little girl comes up to me and starts saying that Oliver was hitting, kicking and pushing her. I was at the end of my rope and decided that it was time for Oliver and I to leave. I had him say sorry to the little girl he did hit and we left. Not without a fight of course. It was such a disaster. Oliver screamed his little heart out and balled his little eyes out. I guess I don't know exactly how to handle those situations. We're trying to teach Oliver what is acceptable but then he of course has the behavior he learns from all the other little kids... and then the nasty little kids that make up stories. I know this is going to be an ongoing battle of parenthood ... but any advice? What should I do? I know Oliver is only two and his behavior is completely normal and that part of the issue is kids think he's older because he's so tall and they don't really understand why he still acts like a younger kid. Anyway, once Oliver calmed down and we had a little talk I decided to do something fun at home with him...

So we attempted FINGER PAINTING!! We do art projects from time to time. And we've used paint... but I've always used paint in a very controlled environment because I haven't wanted to worry about a huge mess... well today I decided to get a little crazy and let him just go at it! Oliver had a BLAST!! We spread a big blanket out on the floor and I stripped him down to his pull up and he went crazy! He had a blast! He painted pictures for all of his grandparents, aunt Lianna, uncle Donnie and of course daddy! What fun we had... and clean up... well he just got his bath a few hours early!

Dino Museum

2010-07-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Waiting to meet up with our friends! (Nice face Oliver!)

The crazy boys! Oliver is the youngest! But look how tall he is!

Digging in the mud!! I think this may have been their favorite part!!

Digging for fossils... another crowd pleaser!!

The moms! We had so much fun catching up! It was like we just went to lunch last week not years ago!!

Today was the best day!! Oliver and I met two of my dear friends from high school (who I haven't seen in YEARS) at the dinosaur museum! We had a blast! The boys were all born the same year (I'm pretty sure) and they all had a blast too!! It was a great day!

Thanks Jen and DeDe!! We had a great day!!

Aquarium and Big Cottonwood Canyon

2010-07-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying all of the inexpensive and CLOSE family/kid friendly things to do here in UT! So we've been going a little overboard with activities. I think we've felt so deprived living so far away from everything that we're trying to get it all out of our system!

On Monday (Berto's day off) we went to the Aquarium! I was so excited! I knew Oliver would love it and he did! It was a great time! After we left Oliver conked out in the car (it was naptime) so we decided to head up big cottonwood canyon for a little drive! We've it was BEAUTIFUL!! We loved it! Oliver woke up during our drive and LOVED driving in the mountains and loved looking at everything. He would've been down for an impromptu hike... if only his big ol' pregnant mom had worn the right shoes! :)

Attack of the ducks

2010-07-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last week one day we were at the park in the neighborhood here and we were visited by about 20 ducks. There's a little loche right next to the park that the ducks hang out at and I guess they decided they wanted to pay us a visit! We didn't have any bread or anything with us but decided to bring some to them the next night!

We had a pretty fun time feeding the ducks. They are crazy though! One pecked my foot two different times and one got Oliver's finger! And they were super mean to the little baby ducks! As fun as it was... we'll probably stick to feeding them through the fence at the canal down the road... it's a little safer! :)

Fourth of July Celebrations!!

2010-07-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

(This is a horrible picture but we rarely end up with one of all three of us I had to post it anyway!)

On Saturday after we picked Berto up from work we headed over to Sugarhouse Park to watch their fireworks! We took a blanket and got ourselves seats on the grass! It was a neat park and there were TONS of people!! Oliver took every opportunity to run around and wear his dad out up until the fireworks began! Just before they started Berto grabbed us some yummy ice cream and we enjoyed some of that while we watched the fireworks!

This is the first year Oliver has really gotten to see the fireworks! His first 4th of July he was 8 months old and by the time the fireworks came around he was a mess so we took him home. Last year he conked out in the car while my mom and I (Berto was working) were on our way to try and watch them in Arizona.

We'd been hearing fireworks for a few nights before and when we dropped Berto off on Saturday morning at work he told Oliver when we pick him up that evening we were going to watch the fireworks. Of course I heard nothing but "mama, when sun going down so we can watch fireworks??" ALL DAY!!!

Well the fireworks did not disappoint Oliver! He loved every minute of them! He was saying the cutest things (I can't remember exactly what he said)! And kept pointing and smiling and laughing and yelling! It was so much fun to see the joy that the fireworks brought to our little boy!!

Just Had to Post this

2010-07-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

We've been wearing Oliver out every single day!! But he's enjoyed every minute of not being cooped up hiding from the blazing Arizona heat! On Friday we took another trip on the Trax up to Salt Lake! This was after about two minutes on the ride back... he was out like a light!

Thanksgiving Point Petting Zoo

2010-07-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

We've been keeping very busy since we arrived in our new home state!! Oliver and I have been busying our days with playing at Mall Playgrounds and Mc Donald's play lands! And since it doesn't get dark until after 9:00 pm (something that definitely is taking some adjusting too) after Berto gets home from work we spend an hour or so at our neighborhood park! We've been loving it!

Last week was a fun week! Berto's schedule was being changed so he now has Sunday and Monday off! (Yay he can go to church with us!!!) But since their new week starts on Sundays he had his previous Thursday/Friday off then worked Saturday and then had Sunday and Monday off! It was so nice to have so many days to spend together!

On Thursday we made a trip down to Thanksgiving Point to their petting zoo! Oliver loved it! (Big Surprise there!) It was such a cute little petting zoo! And he of course LOVED the two pony rides he was able to participate in! He'd never been on a horse and I wondered how he'd do... he did great! He smiled from ear to ear the entire time he was on the pony!!

We had a great day!!

What we saw today...

2010-06-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Near where our we're living for the next month or two they have this little Loche. It's so cute and there are always ducks in it. Well the Loche lets out into a little canal that goes behind the houses and under the freeway and down the street that we take to get two and from home. I always see people stopped on the side of the road feeding the ducks.

This morning Oliver and I were driving back from taking Berto to work and then running a few errands and I could see HUNDREDS of ducks, geese and on the banks GOATS!!! It was crazy! So we raced home and I ran in and grabbed a few slices of bread so Oliver and I could participate in the fun! It was so cool! There's a fence (probably so kids don't fall in) and some of the ducks were climbing under the fence and coming right up to us! Oliver LOVED it! I didn't have my camera and didn't want to take the time to grab it so I just used my cell phone to snap a few pictures!

We had such a fun morning feeding those ducks!

Our first day in Salt Lake

2010-06-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

Oliver was such a trooper on the trip. It would be hard for any little one. We decided to reward him! He LOVES trains! So we headed up to Salt Lake and let him ride on the Trax! He loved it! You have never seen a more excited kid!!

Our Move to Salt Lake

2010-06-29T12:48:00.001-07:00

This shot is out of order (I forgot to upload it and didn't want to have to rearrange all of my pictures) But this is what my pregnant feet looked like after 2 days in a big moving truck... not pretty... they have thankfully returned to their former slender selves!
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All packed up and ready to go! Salt Lake City Here we come!!!

We really were crazy enough to pull our minivan with the moving truck. It made for a long trip but Oliver was such a happy camper to be in the big truck with both of his parents!!

Somewhere along the way Oliver decided although the moving truck was super cool... it was way TOO loud!! :) He was such a trooper. He complained very little considering we were in that truck for two days and a total of 18 hours.

Our last look at Phoenix... we won't miss it!

After several hours on the road (I'm thinking around 5 or 6 we are almost to Kingman, AZ.. but we're STILL IN ARIZONA!!!

We made a quick stop in Kingman for some food and were back on the road. Once back on the freeway there were signs saying that moving trucks were not allowed to go over the Hoover Dam which was the direction our GPS was taking us. We had to reroute and go around. This took us through Bullhead City, NV and Laughlin, NV and added an extra hour or more to our trip!

We finally made it to the hotel in Las Vegas. We were all SO EXHAUSTED. Berto called a few days before to ask if there was room to park a big moving truck in the parking lot. Of course they said sure but neglected to mention that their parking lot was an L shape and had only one way in and out. We followed the parking lot around and got stuck. It took us about two hours to get unstuck. After trying to back the truck out with van and dolly attached (with no luck) we decided to unload the van, unhook the dolly, back out the moving truck and then hook everything back up going in the right direction. Thankfully towards the end a very nice truck driver (who wanted to leave and we were in his way) helped Berto and did a much better job than I did of backing him in to attach the car dolly. I wanted to snap a picture of the whole ordeal but was too busy holding Oliver's hand to keep him from getting squished by the moving truck! :)

Bright and early Saturday morning we hit the road! Bye Bye Vegas... Hello Utah!!

Gotta love the Virgin River Gorge! It's so beautiful!

More from the Gorge!
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Once you get through the Gorge you end get to St. George, UT! We made a lunch stop about an hour outside of St. George in Cedar City!

Here we are... almost there!... WE CAN DO IT!!!!!!

We finally arrived in Murray, UT on Saturday evening! It was two long days of driving but we survived! Since everything with Berto's transfer happened so quickly we had an offer from a friend to spend a month or two in her basement (Thank You Alisa!!) Instead of trying to figure out long distance where we were going to live. So we had a couple of guys meet us at a storage unit to unload most of our stuff for the next couple of months! I set up our account over the phone and we had a little mishap.. .they programmed our code into the wrong gate. Thankfully after an hour of waiting the storage unit guy showed up with a handful of friends and I recruited them to help unload the truck so it went pretty quickly! Then we headed over to Alisa's to unload our neccesities (beds, clothes and a few other odds and ends). Alisa lives in a little block of town homes and most of the neighbors are LDS and in our ward. When they saw the truck pull up they all cam out of their doors and started to help unload the truck! I was so grateful! It went super fast! I felt bad that I couldn't really help... but I can't lift much these days being pregnant and all!

All in all it was long, it was exhausting... but we're here and we're happy and we can't wait to see what opportunities are presented to us here in Salt Lake!!!

It's a ...

2010-06-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

BOY!!! Yesterday I had my ultrasound and we are happy to announce that we are having another little boy! We've decided that we are going to name him Isaac Reed! We love this name! We are definitely going to have our hands full!

I was so impressed with my ultrasound yesterday! It was amazing! The tech was great! She pointed out so much more than I remember with Oliver. She showed us parts of Isaac's brain, his spine, ribs, legs, arms hands and feet. She also showed us a shot up the babies nose which she was checking for cleft lip/ cleft pallet and she was able to show the blood flowing through the umbilical cord. It was so interesting.

Isaac is a healthy baby! So far he's measuring smaller than Oliver (I'm definitely okay with that). He's measuring one day early (Oliver was one week) and he's in the 64th percentile. Oliver has always been in the 90's or off the charts even in the womb!

That's pretty much it! We're of course happy to know our baby is healthy and doing great in there! I feel him moving around but not a ton yet so it's always a relief to see and hear that strong heartbeat and see him swimming around in there!

Moving On Up...

2010-05-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting news!! We are moving (AGAIN)!! We have been tossing around the idea of moving to UT for a few months now. With Verizon it's pretty painless all you have to do is request a transfer and within a few days it gets approved and within approximately a month you are on the road!!

We weren't sure we were quite ready to make the move until last week when we found out the house we are renting is being sold as a pre-foreclosure short sale. We decided this was the time for us to make the big move. We didn't want to deal with the time or expense of moving someplace else here in AZ and then again to UT so we took a leap of faith and we're packing up our stuff and moving! I also didn't want to find out when I was eight months pregnant that a sale had gone through on this house and we need to move... so this is really the best thing for us!

We're excited, a little nervous but mostly just thrilled! We feel like there will be so many possibilities for our little family in UT! We're both excited to see friends we haven't seen in years and for all of the things you can do in UT. And we're SO excited for the beauty of the mountains and the quaint houses!

We feel so blessed to have this opportunity!!

Potty Training

2010-05-21T11:37:00.001-07:00

So last week I decided that I wasn't going to buy any more diapers. So Tuesday we had just enough to get through the day. So through out the day as we were changing diapers we were counting down and I would tell Oliver how many diapers we had left and that tomorrow he was going to use the big boy potty! We dabbled in potty training a little (took a very passive approach just to get him more interested in it) before I got pregnant but since I've been feeling so yucky it got put on the back burner! But since Wednesday morning we've been in full potty training mode!

Wednesday we had about a 50/50 success to failure rate. Yesterday we had 2 successes and a lot of failures. Today is about like yesterday. I'm learning that Oliver is trying to be in control of the situation. He's very interested in his big boy underwear which is good! We had one HUGE breakthrough yesterday evening. I finally decided to bring his little potty chair out of the bathroom. We have a loft upstairs where all of Oliver's toys are and where we do most of our hanging out and t.v. watching. So I just set the potty seat out there. When I brought it out he sat down on the potty and watched t.v. for quite a while. He didn't got to the bathroom at that point but about 15 minutes after he had gotten up he ran back to the potty and sat down. I didn't say anything just observed. After a couple of minutes he stood up and looked inside and had gone #1 and #2! It was a very proud moment since he didn't have to be told to sit down and just did it on his own! We're having him go underwearless while we're upstairs too because yesterday after an accident we left him naked and about an hour later he begged me for some underwear... within 30 seconds of having them put on he had peed in them. So we're going comando! :)

We've definitely got our work cut out for us. But we're on the right track! Last night Berto went to put a pull up on him before bed (not ready to go without anything yet for sure) Oliver had a HUGE fit because he wanted to wear big boy underwear to bed... Berto compromised and Oliver got to wear his big boy undies on top of his pull up. Whatever works I guess! :)

Finally The Graduation Post!

2010-05-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Berto graduated from the University of Phoenix on May 8, 2010! I am such a proud wife! He has worked so hard over the past two years to get his bachelors degree while working full time supporting our family! He took on the task of getting his degree and I was still able to stay home and care for Oliver. What a blessing that was! I am so proud of his hard work and determination to accomplish this great task!

We are looking forward to many doors opening for him now! Here are some fun pictures from the day! It was nice. My mom, my brother Donnie and Berto's parents were all there with us!

It must be this pregnancy because I'm not usually emotional about things like this but I couldn't not control the tears during the processional and half of the ceremony! I was such a cry baby! We got super lucky. It was an early morning for us and I was worried I'd end up missing the ceremony having to chase after a busy toddler, but luckily for me after the grads were in the stadium Oliver climbed into my lap and fell asleep for the entire two hour ceremony! That was such a blessing!

IT was a great day! I'm so proud of you babe! You did it!!!!!!!!

Attack of the Bees

2010-05-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my mom told us that she saw a huge beehive in a tree next to the drive through at our local Jack In The Box. We were curious and decided to check it out on our way to Berto's parents house yesterday afternoon. That is what is in the picture above.

While we were at Berto's parents we went into their backyard like we usually do. Our backyard is ALL rock so Oliver always runs straight out there when we go to Berto's parents. Thankfully Oliver and all of us were still on the porch (which is not typical usually Oliver starts running laps around the entire backyard). But yesterday he was smelling some of the flowers on the back porch. All of a sudden (within maybe two minutes of us getting into the backyard) there were hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands) of bees swarming the backyard. Thankfully we were right by the door and were able to quickly get back inside. For about 30 minutes we watched these bees swarm the backyard. Then we noticed something that looked EXACTLY like what we saw at Jack's in the peach tree in Berto's parents backyard. About an hour later we noticed that it looked like there really wasn't a hive in the peach tree. Berto's dad went out to investigate and sure enough there wasn't. We're pretty sure it was just hundreds of bees all clustered together in the tree branch.

Our curiosity got the better of us and we drove back by Jack in the Box and the "hive" was gone from that tree too. We're pretty sure it was the same thing (maybe even the same bees because it's less than a mile away from Berto's parents) and they had just clustered in that tree also.

That was literally a scene from a nightmare for me. I am terrified of bees. It was crazy to see though. Here's a little video clip that Berto took of all the bees swarming the backyard. After Berto took this video even MORE bees came. It was seriously crazy.

My Picky Eater

2010-05-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

So Oliver is the most picky eater in the history of picky eaters. This is a typical (ok this is every single day of his life because he won't eat anything other than these things)

Breakfast: Cereal and milk
Snack: some kind of fruit or crackers
Lunch: Either a quesadilla with jack cheese (no yellow cheese) or chicken and some fruit or carrots
Snack: Yogurt, fruit or crackers depending on what else he's eaten that day.
Dinner: Whichever he didn't eat for lunch either chicken or a quesadailla (and sometimes a hot dog because he will eat those and sometimes I'm just tired)

That's it. The ONLY veggie he'll eat are carrots. Fruit he'll eat apples, bananas, grapes, pears, watermelon and cantaloupe. (And today FINALLY for the first time EVER I got him to take a bite of an orange and he was begging for more up until JUST TODAY he has refused to try orange).

He won't eat past, he won't try any kind of meat other than chicken, not ground beef, not pork, not fish. He won't eat eggs. He won't eat toast. He won't even eat pizza.

I'm venting this because from time to time I get a bee in my bonnet to try and get him to venture out and "try" something new. This morning I was at the grocery store and thought I'd get something fun. I bought bagel bites. I thought they might look fun and new to him and maybe just maybe he'd want to give them a try. I even decided I would eat them for lunch too. (Sometimes not often though that works!) So I sat and ate my bagel bites and he munched on his carrots. When he finished his carrots I convinced him to TRY the bagel bites. He does this thing with everything he eats... before it goes in his mouth he touches it with the tip of his tongue. I don't know if that is to see if it's too hot or what but he did that about three times to the bagel bite and then I got him to take a bite. You would think I had given him dog poop. He started spitting and gagging instantly. It was ridiculous. He doesn't have a gag issue he has NO trouble chewing and swallowing. It's not a developmental problem... he's just picky. So of course I want him to have a nice full belly and take a nice long nap so I went down and prepared his usual chicken (guess it's a quesadilla for dinner).

Oliver will NOT ever eat what we eat for dinner. I just don't know what to do. It drives me crazy. I'm sure he's fine. Obviously he's a healthy growing boy. It just drives me insane that he won't eat most foods.

But on the bright side we did have a huge breakthrough today. We have tried several times since his first birthday to get him to try oranges. For the past two or three weeks Berto and I have been on an orange kick. We just can't seem to get enough of them so I've been trying every time I eat an orange to get Oliver to try some of it. He has refused every single time to even take one little taste. Well today before he "tried" his bagel bite I had one segment of orange left on my orange and he snagged it and devoured it.. and begged for more! That was a good thing! So happy he tried something new!

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T08:18:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day was a super chill day. I stayed in my pajama's for most of it! The highlight of my day was after going downstairs and finding beautiful flowers and cards from my boys to go back upstairs and have Oliver say "Hi mama, Happy Mudders Day!" It was so cute!

We had to miss church because Lianna was going to be calling sometime during church so we of course waited patiently for her call! It was great to talk to her! Donnie has been here all weekend for Berto's graduation on Saturday and to spend Mother's Day with my mom so it's been a super nice, kind of crazy several days! I am going to post pics and stuff about the graduation as soon as I get the pics from Donnie's camera!

I am so thankful for my sweet Oliver and my sweet husband! They are just wonderful!

Look Who's 2.5!!!

2010-05-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

I know it's not his birthday and we aren't counting the months anymore, but I thought I'd do a post about Oliver because he's getting so smart and learning so much I don't want to forget all of the things he's doing at this age!

Oliver knows his ABC's! He is kind of funny. He doesn't sing the ABC song and he doesn't recite them but he can identify every letter of the alphabet! His favorite way of doing it is with a puzzle that he has! But also wherever we are he points out letters! He LOVES letters! I think he might end up being an early reader but who knows!

We're working on counting! He can count to 12 but he doesn't always do it right every time! He's getting really good at identifying numbers too! The other day we were at the LDS distribution center by the Mesa Temple buying Berto his graduation gift. You take a number and wait your turn. The number I got was 6. Oliver kept taking the number and turning it upside down and saying "mama look NINE!" It was funny!

You can't debate with Oliver. He is ALWAYS right. For instance with the above little story I kept correcting him and saying "no that one is actually a six" and he's say "NO MAMA NINE." It's that way with most things. If he thinks something is a certain way it IS because Oliver says so! There is no reasoning with him! I guess it's probably a lot to do with his AGE!

Oliver had frequent meltdowns at least 50 a day. They range from me leaving the room to use the restroom to him wanting a certain toy etc. He is definitely in his "terrible twos." Some days I want to pull my hair out... but we somehow make it through each day! :)

Oliver is terrified of BEES! We have a plant in our front yard and everyday when we walk to our mailbox that's a street over we walk past it. The plant ALWAYS has bees swarming in it. Oliver says "oh no bees" and walks as far away from it as possible. I'm sure he got that from me. I am terrified of bees! It's really funny to watch.. and even funnier to hear ME saying "they won't hurt you if you don't touch them." That is so not my thinking but I don't want Oliver afraid of things!

Oliver is becoming quite a chatter box! I'm so glad! For a while I was a little worried because he really wasn't talking much! But he is talking so much now! I love his little voice! I love it when he says "sit with mama" and "I'm coming!" One of my other favorites is "I'll be back!" He's so fun (When he's not throwing a tantrum lol!)

Oliver is obsessed with cars, trains and airplanes! He is definitely all boy!

We've been watching a lot of tv while I've been not feeling well with this pregnancy! He has become really responsive. I try to have him watch the shows that actually teach him something. One of our favorites is Ni Hao Kai Lan. It teaches Chinese words but also conflict resolution and how to deal with their emotions. He'll sit and watch and respond to their questions. He gets sad when the characters are sad. It's really funny! Thankfully he's still young enough that I think I'll be able to counteract the couch potato once I'm feeling human again! (At least I hope I will!)

Oliver is shy! When we go places if people are paying attention to him he takes my hand and hides his face behind it. It's kind of funny... but it also makes me a little sad. I hope he'll out grow that and be more like his daddy in that regard!

Oliver is a joy! I love him to pieces. I love hearing him say "Wub you mama!" That brightens my day! I'm so thankful that I am his mom! He has been such a blessing in our home! He's fun and funny and a little dramatic and whiny! But I wouldn't change him for anything!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-04-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

Monday was my birthday... it was my ... 30th birthday. I feel like I've officially left my youth! lol! It was a quiet day. Berto took the day off so he could spend the whole day with me! He got me some much needed make up from Ulta!! It was great! My mom made my favorite lasagna and strawberry cake! Our good friends Jen and Sasa and Berto's parents joined us for cake and ice cream! Jen and Sasa are amazing and got me this adorable pair of shoes... AND a pregnancy massage! I just love them! It feels a little strange to say "I'm 30" now... but of course I don't feel any older! :) The best gift of all was I felt our little peanut move for the first time! Haven't felt it since of course but it was a nice birthday gift! Thank you little peanut baby!! It was a fun day! Thank you every body for making my transition into my 30's so much nicer!!

It's a gross picture taken AFTER I blew out all 30 candles with one breath! :) I thought I'd put it up so you can see how big my baby bump is already... holy cow I know it's big considering I'm only 12 weeks... gotta get feeling better and get exercising so I don't gain a bazillion pounds again this pregnancy! .... Hopefully it's not too late!

The Dentist... duh... duh.. duh....

2010-04-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

We started taking Oliver to the dentist when he was 18 months old because inspite of my obsessive brushing of his teeth it looked like he was starting to have some tooth decay. It was really upsetting to me. After a pretty easy going exam by a local pediatric dentist it was decided that it was probably tooth decay and that we should take Oliver in every three months for flouride treatments and start using a small amount of flouride toothpaste on his teeth. SO that's what we started doing. At that point Oliver wasn't on our dental insurance. But we took him in like clockwork! We put him on our dental insurance as soon as open enrollment came around. So we took him in to see a new pediatric dentist last week because (even though I LOVED the other dentist he was not one of our providers for our insurance). I think that might have been a blessing in disguise. This dentist went ahead and did a x-rays and an exam on Oliver. (Something the other dentist had thought Oliver was too young for and probably was a year ago) The x-rays revealed that the discoloration of his teeth is not actually tooth decay. It was nowhere to bee seen on the x-rays. It looks like it's a staining on the surface that was probably caused during the development of his teeth.

To say that, that was a relief to me is an under statement. I can't even express the anxiety I would feel everyday (twice a day) when I was brushing his teeth feeling like there was something I had done wrong to make his teeth decay at such an early age. (Oliver never went to bed with a bottle, didn't use a pacifier or anything like that). So I was beyond relieved to hear that it was not decay after all!

Oliver did GREAT with his real cleaning! I keep trying to use that to my advantage when I'm brushing his teeth. He's so bad for me and just willingly opened his mouth for the dental hygeneist who cleaned his teeth. Thank goodness it worked out so well!

Fixing up the playroom

2010-04-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

At this house we have this huge loft upstairs! This is where Oliver and I spend probably 98% of our time! It's huge we have our t.v. up there and this is our "family room" and Oliver's toy room! It had a huge organizational problem though. Olivers toys were all in these big buckets! When we were living with Berto's parents it was convenient because his toys were kept in a downstairs closet and it was easy to pull the buckets in and out so Oliver could play with them. But that was the end of convenience.

One morning I woke up and had this idea in my head! These toy storage bins were my inspiration. I don't particularly like how they look but I liked the idea of them and thought I had to be able to come up with a better (cheaper because they are like $50-$60 bucks retail) way to do them! So I started thinking and looking!

This is what our playroom used to look like (on a good day this is a mild mess). It seemed like I would just get the toys finally all picked up and the whole bucket would be dumped out again for one car or one dinosaur. It was getting ridiculous!

This is our after. It cost me about $60 for BOTH. Which is a savings for sure compared to the toy storage bins. And I LOVE how it looks! And I have two containers that are completely empty and ready for more toys.

Oliver is a funny kid and has a little OCD in him I think. This has totally appealed to him and he plays with his toys more. I think it's because he can more easily see what toys are where. And it's so much easier to deal with the mess. He's been really good about getting one container down at a time and playing with it. Then we pick it up and get out the next! This has been so nice. He's learning to be more organized.. and I'm able to be more sane and not despise toys! :)

I bought the two bookshelves from walmart. They were $15 each! They are sturdy and look nice! I love them! The fabric storage drawers I got from Target. The blue (shorter ones) were in the $1 spot in the $2.50 section! I bought four of them at $2.50 each. The green storage drawers ( can't remember what brand they are) but they were also at target and just my luck were on sale for just under $5.00 each! Bringing my grand total to just over $60 (with tax) for two adorable storage units that look great and are way more storage than I had before! None of my bins are totally full! So we have tons of room for growth! I love it!

FOUND

2010-04-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Natacia Owens has been found and is being returned to her family in Waupan, WI probably as I type these words! I'm so happy for their family. I hope they are able to help her with whatever has troubled her enough to leave home... and I sincerely hope they don't have to go through that again.

I know that prayers are answered and I KNOW that they have had a huge miracle in their life today! Many blessings and happy wishes to the Owens family! I'm sure their struggles are not totally over... but the good news is their daughter is being returned home to them safe and sound!

Natacia Owens- Missing Child

2010-04-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

A girl I knew several years ago when I was serving a mission in Wisconsin appears to have run away from home. She left sometime during the night on Friday night. Here is a link with her statistics and a couple of pictures.

The family is asking for all the prayers and support they can get. Also, to keep your eyes peeled. She's been missing since Friday night and can basically be anywhere by now. They don't know that she's actually in Wisconsin any more at this point.

I had lost contact with their family and reconnected with them on Facebook! They are a sweet family. Natacia was a sweet 7 year old and I'm sure she's a sweet 13 year old too. I can't imagine what her mom is feeling right now. I would be a complete basket case if it were me.

Thank you for your prayers and for keeping your eyes open. You never know when you might just from seeing her picture see her.

Love,
Elizabeth

Here's the link: Natacia is Missing

Too much T.V.....

2010-04-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Since I have been feeling SO crappy Oliver gets to watch A LOT of tv. I'm glad he is cooperative and there are tons of shows that he can watch and actually learn something so it's not just mind numbing crap. BUT I still feel guilty a lot because I want to be doing more with him than I am... but I just don't have the energy!

Anyway, one of Oliver's favorite shows is Chugginton on Disney. He LOVES "Choo Choo's" and loves the show. For the past few days he's been saying something that sounds a lot like "oh bummer." He uses it in the appropriate context and everything. It's really hilarious... but what's even more funny is I realized today that he's actually saying "Oh Bumpers" which is what they say on Chugginton! It's really funny when he says it. The past few days it's when he asks for more candy and I tell him NO ... then he says "oh bumpers!"

It's really funny... but kind of adds to my guilt for letting him watch SO MUCH tv! But I guess we'll get back to normal in a few weeks when I'm feeling a little more human!

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

This year Easter is pretty low key for us. Unfortunately Berto is working (as always) and I'm not feeling great so we're not doing much! On Friday we did an Easter Egg Hunt at Berto's parents house with Oliver and his cousin Vandana who is still here for a few days from Spain! The kids LOVED finding the eggs! It was perfect for the two of them! They had a blast! Then they blew bubbles and chased them! It was a perfect afternoon for the two kiddos!

The easter bunny brought Oliver a fun little basket full of books and toys! At the last minute he decided between the egg hunt on Friday and the two other easter baskets he had gotten from friends that Oliver didn't need any more junk! So Oliver's basket this year didn't have candy and it wasn't missed! (Candy was bought we just left it out because he BEGS for candy all day!)

My mom and I are just hanging out today having dinner and watching conference! Should be a nice quiet day spent remembering our Savior for breaking the bands of Hell so we can return to him when this life is finished!

We hope you all have/had a wonderful Easter Sunday!!

Love,

The Galindo's

Backseat Driver

2010-03-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Lately Oliver will sit in the backseat in his carseat and try to direct us where to go. It's pretty funny. We of course don't go the way he wants unless they happen to coincide. I don't know if he sees something that interests him or what but all of a sudden he'll say "mama, that way" and point. It's funny!

Oliver actually has a really good sense of direction. He always knows where we are. When we're driving home from somewhere and we pass the street that Berto's parents live off of (no matter which direction we're coming from) Oliver starts asking to go to "Tito's house." It's so cute! I don't know how he at 2 years old knows exactly where his grandparents house is! But it's pretty funny!

Oliverisms....

2010-03-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

It took Oliver a while to really get into talking.. now we can't shut him up! We love it though! He is such a clown! He has the most fun personality! It's kind of funny Oliver is actually a little shy I think. He is such a clown for us but when we're around new or even just people we haven't seen in a while he gets completely shy and quiet and tries to hide. His usual trick for "hiding" is to put my hand in front of his face so he can't be seen.

His recent things that just crack me up:
1. When I ask him if he wants a Quesadilla (one of the few things he'll eat frequently) he says "ok mama, dilla (dee-ya)."
2. The other day I was making him a quesadilla and he was making sure I had all the ingredients out. "Mama, where tilla (tee-ya or tortilla)?"
3. Lately he says "ok mama" or "no mama" about EVERYTHING.

We frequent the library but Oliver has been uninterested in letting us read to him.... until last week. Suddenly he loves "storytime in Oliver's room" and begs us to read him "story books." I am so happy. I LOVE to read and have wanted him to enjoy reading as much as I do! And he is finally grasping that! He grabs every book he can find and adds them to the pile in his room. We've started story time 30 minutes before bedtime so that he's going to bed on time and still gets his fill of books!

One of his favorite books is a Thomas The Train book that plays music. (Most of the books are just plain old books this is one of the exceptions). He jumps off his bed and starts dancing to the song that's playing, runs back and pushes the next button and then runs around dancing in his room while Berto sings the words to the songs. That is my favorite time of the night! We have to put that book first so that the rest of story time is wind down before bedtime!

I love this little boy! He's getting so big! I definitely think he understands that a new baby in a few months means big changes. Ever since I became pregnant he has become the most clingy kid EVER. He wants to sit in my lap (with toys) and snuggle most of the day. I am having a hard time getting him to play with his toys or give me any kind of personal space. I'm loving this time with my boy... but at the same time I could use a few inches of space!

He is just so much fun though! Love, love, love my Oliver Cole!!!

Oh the joy...

2010-03-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

I am sorry if this is a super lame post... but since this is my journal as well I am just going to vent big time.

I feel like crap! I hate to complain about morning sickness because I know it's a sign that this pregnancy can be sustained, I know it's a good thing. I know so many people who are struggling to get pregnant for a first time, or a second time, or who have to adopt (not that adopting is a bad thing because I think it is an amazing way for people to become parents and give sweet little ones amazing families that love them) . I know that I am truly blessed that it is relatively easy for me to get pregnant and I should be suffering in silence because there are way worse problems to have.

BUT I just feel like crap. I have thrown up at least once but more usually twice a day for the past week. When I'm not throwing up I feel such extreme nausea that I literally have to force down each bite of food that I take in (most of which comes back out at some point). Everything grosses me out. Anything "sets me off." Yesterday I walked into Oliver's room to grab something there were no smells I just walked in his room, walked out and ran straight for the toilet. I'm so useless. All I do is lay around. I can't cook, the dishes make me gag, every time I open the refrigerator I dry heave. It's getting really unbearable and I know it's only just beginning. I feel like I can't function and I feel so bad for Oliver. I know he wishes his mommy were back. I have ZERO patience, I can't hardly get up without feeling like I'm going to have to make a mad dash for the bathroom so we lay around the house all day. It makes me sad that I am neglecting Oliver. I know he misses his mommy.

And to make things even more frustrating Oliver has become SUPER clingy since I became pregnant. All he wants to do is sit on my lap, lay by me, he won't play with his toys unless I'm sitting inches away from him. And that is trying my patience as well! I know I should be glad that my little boy wants to spend so much time with his lazy, boring sick mom... but it gets to be too much. I get the feeling that he knows change is coming....

Okay, I'm done with my pity party. I just wanted to record these feelings so I would remember them.

Oliver and Vandana's Annual JCP Photoshoot

2010-03-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

We took Oliver and his cousin today for their annual photoshoot. Once a year when Terry and V are here we take the kiddos to JC Penney and get their cousins photos. Here are my favorites!!

The Countdown Begins

2010-03-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Berto is on the downward slope. He has one more time going to school for one class and then he starts his LAST CLASS EVER!! So he only has seven weeks left until he graduates with his bachelors degree in business administration! With UOP you only go to class one night a week. I am so proud of Berto and his hard work, dedication and the many sacrifices he's made to get his bachelors degree to hopefully provide a more financially sound future for our little family! He's such a great dad, husband, employee and student!

We love you babe!!! Only 7 more classes until... SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Lauren

2010-03-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a bitter sweet day for our family! We sold our Mercedes. Berto bought this car before we even met. It has fond memories of our dating, engagement, newlywed, bringing home Oliver from the hospital times. It's fun to ride in but at the same time has been a source of stress to keep up the monthly payments. (they were big ones). So today Carmax took her into their inventory and we said our goodbyes!

It's definitely a weight lifted off our shoulders but it's a little sad too!

St. Patricks Day Fun

2010-03-17T18:59:00.000-07:00

My friend Megan called me today and invited Oliver and me to go with her and her kids to a little St. Patty's day celebration. It was at a regional park right here in Queen Creek. They had a one mile little treasure hunt for the kids where we found 5 little markers and collected treasure on the way. Then we made a little St. Patrick's Day craft! It was super cute.. and fun. I didn't realize it was going to be so involved! Oliver ran the ENTIRE time and would not listen and stay on the trails so I did a lot of running too... this morning sick mama was WORN OUT by the time we were done but it was a nice afternoon to get out of the house! We both had a great time!! We love our friends Megan, Mikayla and Ryan!! They lived around the corner from us when we lived with Berto's parents and Megan and I would take the kids to the park almost everyday to play! Now we have to schedule our play dates but it's always a fun time!! Thanks again you guys!!!

Terry and Vandana are here again!

2010-03-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

My sister in law and niece came in from Spain last Saturday! We finally got over to see them yesterday afternoon! Since Oliver and I had still had our little sinus stuff going on we didn't want to spread any germs to anyone at my in laws (especially my mother in law who is still undergoing chemotherapy) so we stayed away! It was fun to see them! Oliver is the same height as Vandana who is 3 1/2! They had fun playing in the backyard with Tito and running around the house chasing each other! It's so nice that little kids are so easy to please!!

Number 2 is in the oven!!

2010-03-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, we probably should wait longer to drop the news that we're expecting baby number two... BUT I wanted to be able to complain about morning sickness which is in full force so I thought now would be a perfectly fine time to spread the news!!

Seriously though we are so super excited! This baby is Due November 7th which incidentally is right around the same time Oliver was born. Kind of crazy!

Oliver is such a boy and loves to rough house. I'm trying to steer him away from that (because I always seem to get kicked in the stomach and I just don't think that's a very good thing if you know what I mean) so we told him the other day that he needs to be soft because there's a baby in my tummy. He proceeded to lift up my shirt and say "Hi baby it's me Oliver!" It was super cute!

I guess if I am anything like my last pregnancy I won't be able to hide it for long anyway because I start showing so incredibly early so rumors would've been flying soon enough!

Anyway, we are happy to share the news with our friends and loved ones!!

Love,
Berto, Elizabeth, Oliver and baby #2

On The Mend... Almost

2010-03-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Oliver and I came home from California last week and woke up the next day sick! :( We both made visits to urgent care (Oliver because it was a weekend evening me because my doctor couldn't get me in) and have been on antibiotics... 10 days later... we're both feeling almost human. Oliver turns out had an ear infection and was put on antibiotics for the 2nd time in his two years. I had a lovely sinus infection and was also put on antibiotics. We're both still a little congested and have little coughs... but we're both REALLY looking forward to not being cooped up in this house. I for one am super stir crazy and need a couple of days out of the house!!

Oliverisms

2010-03-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Oliver is becoming quite a chatter box! FINALLY!! He's so much fun! He is trying so hard to speak in sentences. Sometimes we understand everything he says... ans sometimes we hardly understand a word. I'm sure this is typical! Today he totally said a complete sentences it was so cute he said "mama, open bag of cereal! I loved it!

Also today he grabbed these two trolls (pictures above) that I am pretty sure we've had since my sister was a kid and now somehow we have them. Anyway, he brings them to me and points to their butts and says "mama poo poo chotky?" I have know idea what chotky is (that goes back to the sometimes we have no idea what the heck he's talking about) but I found it HILARIOUS that he made the connection between their butts and his own! I guess (even though he's not fully potty trained) at least from all the potty talk we do he at least understand the function of a butt!

Family Photo Shoot

2010-03-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

While we were in Cali my brother did a little photo shoot of our family! It was fun.. kind of exhausting because Oliver can be a little handful but we got some fun pictures! Here are some of the results!!

Out most recent trip to Cali- Goodluck Sis B.!!

2010-03-05T10:16:00.000-08:00

We just spent a week (well Oliver and I did Berto spent 4 days) in Cali again!! It was super duper fun! We made another trip to Disneyland. This time my mom came along as well as one of my bff's Rebecca and her little boy Cameron AND one of my mission comps Robyn and her two kids Stone and Regean! It was a fun day!

The purpose of our trip was to spend some quality time with my little sister and hear her farewell talk at send her to the airport! She's all checked in now at the MTC! We are going to miss her tons and tons but are so happy she has chosen to serve the Lord for 18 months!! She's going to be a great missionary!

We had a great time! Also while we were there we had the chance to do a little family pictures shoot with my brother! That was fun! (The header picture on the blog is one from that day! ) We're waiting for more of the pics and will post those as soon as they are up!!

Don Bon Photography

2010-02-15T14:38:00.000-08:00

So my brother Donnie is trying to get his own photography business started! Check out his blog Don Bon Photography He has a good eye, is creative and great with photoshop! Enjoy!!!

Oliver's Room

2010-01-22T05:58:00.001-08:00

I've been itching to do something with those four white walls in Oliver's room since we moved in! Decorating was not in the budget so I had to get creative! I think it's starting to come together really cute! It started last weekend I got the idea to print out some pictures of the Disney Cars, cars! I found some awesome ones! I printed a couple out on our computer and they looked so cute that this week I decided to print out a ton more! I mounted them on card stock to add color and to save money because frames were also not in the budget! :) I also got the idea to put up some "road signs" on the wall. I was racking my brain trying to think of what to do and then I remembered I had a ton of scrapbook paper and lettering and I really don't scrapbook anymore! I had the perfect letters they look like tire marks! So cute! Anyway, so I created a bunch of road signs and stuck them up on the wall! Then I used the scraps of checkered fabric from the blanket my mom and I made him a few months ago for the border on the wall! I also added a stop light just for fun! I think it turned out really cute! I am happy with it! And I've only spent $6.22!! It's not amazing but good enough for a two year old who will probably get into something different soon and I won't have to worry about having spent millions of dollars on his room! :)

Oliver keeps dragging us into his room and saying "ta da" and then pointing out and naming every car on his wall! I love it! I think he likes it!

No Time For Flashcards

2010-01-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have a new obsession! I founds this blog No Time For Flashcards (the link is in the right column under Some of my favorite sites). It rocks. I think the lady used to be a preschool teacher. She has amazing craft ideas to do with your kids. I'm always trying to think of new things to do with Oliver. This site is amazing! Love it!!!

Pleasant Sunday's Gospel ABC's Book

2010-01-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

I frequently check out this blog Pleasant Sunday she has GREAT ideas to keep your kids occupied at church and at home on Sundays! My absolute favorite is this AMAZING book she did. It's a Gospel ABC book! I love it! I have saved it to my computer and am trying to decided if I want to order it hardcover like she did or just have it printed out and put it into a scrapbook or something. Anyway, it rocks and for those of you with little ones I think you'll love it too!!

B A L A N C E

2010-01-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot these first 11 days of 2010 about what I want to accomplish more than anything. I don't really believe in making New Year's Resolutions because like most people I always break them and don't want to set myself up for failure. But one thing I've been thinking a lot about is balance.

Last Thursday we had an amazing relief society meeting. It was several speakers who were teaching us how we can fill our cups this year! All of the topics touched me. One was on journal writing, one was on fitness and one was on finding balance. I kept having the same thing come to my mind throughout the balance talk and decided that this was the whispering of the spirit teaching me what I need to work on this year. I don't have a terribly hard time finding balance in my life for the most part. I don't feel too overwhelmed with taking care of Oliver and keeping up the house etc. What kept coming to my mind is a different kind of balance. Some of you may know this and some may not. I have left Oliver very few times in his 2 years of life. Short trips to the grocery store are pretty much it. Mostly because since we've been in Arizona we haven't had many friends and Berto was working nights so I didn't have much of a reason to. I can see how my marriage could be much better if we had an evening out away from Oliver from time to time. I can also see how I would feel rejuvinated by taking a couple of hours for myself every now and then. This is a big step for me. My goal with balance is to have a more balanced life by getting a baby sitter and going out to dinner with my husband or going to a movie for myself.

I've already taken a step in the right direction. My mom and I went to see New Moon last friday! (loved it by the way) And had a great time.. AND Oliver survived 4 hours without me! This is going to be a work in progress for me but I am aware of it and it is my goal to help me be a better wife and mom by finding this balance in my life!

Canyon Lake

2010-01-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took a spur of the moment drive up to Canyon Lake! We had never been and it was quite cute! We didn't stay long but took a couple of pictures! There was a nice lady wearing a Wisconsin Badgers sweatshirt with her two horses. I struck up a conversation (of course because everything Wisconsin is near and dear to my heart). I found out she was from Janesville! Her and her husband are snow birds out here! She was nice enough to let Oliver pet her horse! He was beyond thrilled! It was a fun afternoon! It ended with my mom and I FINALLY seeing New Moon! Loved it by the way!

Happy New Year 2010!!!

2010-01-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions. I ALWAYS end up breaking them just like everyone else does. So I just don't usually set them! This year is much the same.
I am looking forward to a better year in 2010! Berto is going to graduate in May of this year. And we are very close to paying off all of our debt which is an amazing feeling that not everyone will completely understand!
My hope for this year is that we accomplish the few little goals we've had most of our marriage which is to be debt free and get a little closer to buying our own home. 2010 will definitely bring the former and will push us a little nearer to the latter!
We're also hoping to be able to grow our family in 2010! That is something we've both wanted for quite a long time but feel like right now is the time for us! (This isn't an announcement by the way we're not expecting yet!)
I have high hopes for 2010 and hope that the hard lessons we've faced in 2009 can be behind us and we can move forward with faith and receive the blessing we need!

We wish the best year for all of our friends and family! Happy New Year! God Bless you ALL!!

Love,
Berto, Elizabeth and Oliver

Happy 33rd Honey!

2010-01-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Today is my sweet husbands 33rd birthday! I am such a lucky girl to have such a sweet and hard working hubby! I love you Berto!! This is going to be a great year for you... especially in May when your hard work will pay off and you GRADUATE!!!!! I love this man!

We celebrated his birthday last night at his parents house! His mom was feeling up to and asked if she could make tamales! (YUM!!) So we went over to their house and had a great time with them and our friends Pedro and Crystal! I made the birthday cake which was a Tres Leches cake Berto's favorite! It was a fun night! I hope he had a great time too!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a little delayed... but we had a lovely Christmas here at home. It was quiet and humble... again... but those are sometimes the best memories. My sister Lianna came to visit for four days and Oliver LOVED every minute she was here and is still asking for her on a daily basis. It was a good Christmas. On Christmas Eve we spent a few hours with Berto's parents in the afternoon. It was just spending time with them and they had a few presents for Oliver. Berto's mom had a big Chemo treatment the Tuesday before Christmas so it was very low key and ended early so we didn't wear her out too much. On Christmas Eve, evening we had dinner with our good friends Jenn and Sasa! It was a great time with great company. Then on Christmas day we just lounged around the house, ate yummy dinner with my mom and sister and the in the evening we went to the Mesa Temple to walk around and enjoy the lights!

All in all it was a great Christmas and I have enjoyed reading about all of your families Christmas' too!

My Closer to Christ Posts

2010-01-01T11:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, for those of you who had been reading my blog I just wanted to say that I didn't totally fizzle out on my reading... just on my posting! :) lol... I felt like I just didn't have enough time to really get the studying that I wanted to and get everything posted. SO I decided not to worry about posting everything and I just have been studying. Sorry!

Free Photo Book EVERY MONTH!!

2009-12-26T15:59:00.001-08:00

I follow this blog money saving mom and she posted a link to a site where you can get a free photo book EVERY MONTH! Go Here to sign yourself up!!! Thanks money saving mom!!

21 Days Closer to Christ: Days 4-6

2009-12-19T11:16:00.001-08:00

Okay, I have not already started slacking! :) I just haven't had a spare moment since Wednesday to sit at the computer! I have kept up with my reading each day but have not had a chance to record my thoughts so I'm going to do that now for days 4,5 and 6!

Day 4:
On Day 4 I read in Matthew 9:18-26 about Jesus raising Jairus' daughter from the dead. In the book (not the bible) the author talked about the journey to get to Jairus' daughter and how just before they arrived the woman who had been suffering for twelve years and knew that if she only touched Jesus' robe she would be healed. And she was! She talked about how she imagines that Jairus needed to witness that miracle in order to really have the faith he needed to believe Jesus could raise his daughter. Then just as they were heading to his home servants came to tell them that the daughter had passed away. Jesus went anyway and she arose from the dead!

I can't even imagine witnessing the miracles that Jesus provided for so many during his ministry on earth. But I have the faith to know that He did them and that I can see miracles in my own life if I but have faith in Him!

Day 5:
On Day 5 I read in John 4:1-42. This is the story of the Samaritan woman. I love this story. It teaches me that Jesus does know each one of us. The samaritan woman was at the well getting water when Jesus asked her for a drink. In this time Jews did not speak to Samaritans. When she brought that to Jesus' attention he proceeded to tell her about her life. He knew her better than she knew herself. I try to remember that in my daily life. I try to remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know my needs, they know my thoughts, they know my strengths and my weeknesses. I also try to remember that they are mindful of me. When I am struggling and feeling like my prayers aren't being heard they are. They know Me. This is something that is difficult for me at times when I feel like I'm not seeing the answers to my prayers but I do know that God has a plan and that all things are possible through him!

Day 6:
Today she talked about how during times of trial it is hard to see the hand of the Lord in our lives. This really hit home for me. The reading was in John 9:1-38 where Jesus healed the man that was blind from birth. I have felt like Berto and I have moved from one trial to the next since we got married. Most of them have had to do with circumstances regarding family members but it affected us greatly. We've been married for 3 years now and I feel like we have not seen a break from the trials and frustrations. I have a hard time some days not asking the Lord why me? Some days I want to give up on prayer all together because I don't feel like my prayers are being answered. Something that I read today really jumped out at me today. The author suggested that you analyze through "different" eyes a trial that has been troubling you and "pray that the Savior will touch your eyes so that you can see what you need to do differently." That really hit home for me today. In fact I am going to kneel down as soon as I'm finished typing and pray for just that. She talked about hope and how when you are feeling your lowest it is hard to have faith and then when you do there is a glimmer of hope. Today's reading gave me the hope I need to make it through another day!

I'm really feeling uplifted by the readings. It's only been six days but I feel like I'm gaining a new testimony of the Savior. I highly recommend this book!

21 Days Closer to Christ: Day 3

2009-12-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Today's reading was talking about keeping journals as a way to record your life experiences as well as how your faith has helped you. This is not the first time (especially lately) that I've had counsel to write in a journal. I am not a good journal keeper but am going to make an effort for my children and grandchildren.

The "assignment" is to write down your testimony of Christ. I think this is as good a place as any. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that he sacrificed his life for me as much as anyone else so that we could one day return to our Father in Heaven again. I have seen many miracles in my life (especially recently) and I know it is because of my Faith in Christ that my little family was blessed with these miracles. I am so grateful to have a loving Savior who made up for my short comings. What an amazing thing it is to have Faith.

Today's scripture reading was in the Book of Mormon. It is actually one of my favorite passages in the Book of Mormon so I thought I would share it here. It is 2 Nephi 25: 21-26
21. Wherefore, for this cause hath the Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, that the promise may be fulfilled unto Joseph, that his seed should never perish as long as the earth should stand.
22. Wherefore, these things shall go from generation to generation as long as the earth shall stand: and they shall go according to the will and pleasure of God: and the nations who shall possess them shall be judged of them according to the words which are written.
23. For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children and also our brethren to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God: for we know that it is by grace we are saved after all we can do.
24. And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ we keep the law of Moses and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.
25. For, for this end was the law given: wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith yet we keep the law because of the commandments.
26. And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ we prophesy of Christ and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

For those of my friends and loved ones that may not appreciate my beliefs or understand them. My intent is not to offend you. I hope you will continue to check back from time to time as I am still going to be posting the goings on of our family. But throughout the next couple of weeks I will also be posting these little "journal" entries for my own spiritual uplift. I

21 Days Closer to Christ- Day 2

2009-12-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today I read about The Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of the deciples. He shows us such an example of love and service in this story. To wash the filthy (I would assume) feet of these men knowing that one would betray him and that he was going to be sacrificing so much more for them and people for generations to come. The magnitude of Jesus Christs actions never cease to touch my heart.

The assignment is to go through today and find ways to have Christ with you always. I have been for a long time now trying to make sure I pray during quiet moments. Driving in the car (something I do often especially living out in the sticks) I always try to say a little prayer for our safety and just to feel a little closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I also have been trying to be an example of kindness. I think those things can invite the spirit into my life and my home daily. I know it's only day two but I'm feeling like I'm getting into the swing of this and am really going to enjoy the next 19 days!

24 Hour giveaway

2009-12-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

I frequently visit the blog money saving mom she and shop at home.com are doing an awesome giveaway of 5 $100 gift cards!! You should check it out at the link above!!

21 Days Closer To Christ: Day 1

2009-12-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

I have had this book 21 Days Closer To Christ by Emily Freeman for probably about a year and keep meaning to get into it. I decided today was going to be my day one! She recommends keeping a little journal throughout your 21 days and since my blog is kind of my journal I've decided to go ahead and use this as my journal for my experience with this book! I'm looking forward to it. I've needed a little kick in the pants for a while to step up my spirituality and I think this is just the thing that is going to do it!

Today the reading was about casting aside your "nets" and following Jesus! I read in Mark 1:16-18 about the fishermen who cast aside their nets to follow Jesus. The "assignment" is now to figure out what "nets" are keeping me from developing a personal relationship with my Savior. I would have to say that I let myself get easily distracted with other things. Keeping up with Oliver, housework, laundry and errands can be overwhelming for me. I let myself be consumed with those things and easily distract myself and make it hard to find time to study my scriptures and pray as I should so that I can continue to be close to my Savior. It's hard for me to find that balance in my everyday life so that I am fulfilled spiritually and feel like I'm giving enough time to Oliver and my chores as well. I am going to try and make it a point to make the first hour of Oliver's nap everyday my time to study and pray so that my family is blessed with the Spirit in our home.

Sister Lianna Bonelli You are called to Serve in...

2009-12-11T08:46:00.000-08:00

So my little sister Lianna decided a few months ago she wanted to serve a mission for our church! She got all of her paperwork in order as is custom and sent it in! Yesterday she received what we call her "mission call" in the mail. Last night she had a bunch of friends and loved ones over (and my mom and I via Skype) so she could read her call. (that is another tradition). She is going to be serving in the Nebraska, Omaha mission at Historic Winter Quarters! We are so excited for her! I bet that is going to be such a great mission! She is going to be a great missionary and will touch the hearts of the people she serves! We are so proud of Lianna!

Love You Lianna!!

Battle Scars

2009-12-07T15:49:00.000-08:00

I guess there are many hazards of being the mother of a BUSY two year old BOY! Yesterday Oliver threw a very hard plastic elephant in my direction and it hit me in the face. I was wearing my glasses and it hit my glasses and the part of the frame that sits on your nose sliced a nice little gash into the bridge of my nose. OUCH! It hurt SO BAD!! Here's a lovely picture of my worse feature (my nose) for you all to enjoy! :)

O-L-I-V-E-R

2009-11-22T17:33:00.000-08:00

So we get in the car to go home from church today and all of a sudden Oliver starts saying... OLIVER!!! It was the first time he's said his name! It was the cutest thing ever! He says it very clear! I love it! I have been driving him crazy all day asking him what his name is?!

On the potty training front... today he had an accident while I was upstairs getting ready for church. Berto told me that Oliver came running over to him and said "daddy" and pulled him over and pointed out where the accident was and said "Sorry!" So cute! I think he's getting it! YAY!!

Our little P-I-M-P!!!!!

2009-11-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, so from a very young age Oliver could tell the difference between little boys and little girls! We would go to the park when he was around 7-8 months old and if he saw a little boy running around he wouldn't haven acknowledge him... BUT if he saw a little girl he would start giggling and smiling and totally working it!

Today at the park we were playing and two girls that were about ten stopped by! Oliver knew exactly what he was doing. He started talking their ears off and was telling them all about his ball, the park and a bunch of other words we couldn't understand. He gave them a little tour of the park pointing out all of his favorite things! (Mostly the slides!) then he slid down the slide all different ways showing off and showed them an imprint of a lizard that he found underneath the slide.

It was the cutest thing. He totally worked it and the girls were doing exactly as he said! It is so cute to watch his little personality! And those were so sweet to follow him around like that!

Sweet Oliver Moments

2009-11-20T20:37:00.001-08:00

Well, first of all we are POTTY TRAINING!!!! It's going fairly well! Oliver definitely gets the concept! We've had only a few accidents while wearing "big boy underwear!" (Thank Goodness!) Oliver is being a very good sport about it and we are so glad to be nearing the end of diapers... at least for a while!

Aside from that we haven't been up to too much! My mother in law started Chemo two weeks ago and is feeling pretty good. (Thank Goodness again!) She's a little tired and has had very minimal side effects!

Recently at bedtime Oliver has started "stalling!" Usually he asks for a drink of water, a hug, a kiss etc. Some nights if he's feeling really good he'll ask to say another prayer! I always let him have what he is asking for (especially if it's a prayer because that makes me so happy!) Tonight he kept telling me he needed to go "poo poo!" It was pretty funny! I let him try to go once (Just in case he wasn't stalling) but he was definitely stalling! But oh so cute!

My sweet moment of the night was at the end of our little evening prayer today I of course finished the prayer by saying Amen as I always do. Oliver usually doesn't say anything but today I asked "Oliver can you say Amen?" And of course he said it!

My little brag for the day is that my two year old knows all of the alphabet but 7 letters! He can look at all of the rest and point to them and say exactly what they are! He makes me such a proud mommy!

Hope everyone is great while they gear up for Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elizabeth
p.s. Please excuse my spelling and grammar my eyelids are ever so heavy and I just wanted to post this since I always forget! Goodnight all! :)

Fall Tree Craft

2009-11-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have been wanting to start doing little crafty things with Oliver but being not so crafty myself I didn't know where to start! A couple days ago I was looking at a friends blog (Thanks for the idea Katrina) and saw that she had done this craft with her 2 year old. So I decided to be brave! I bought some WASHABLE paints from Michaels and followed the directions from the website Katrina found this idea on. (You can click here to see the directions too) They have TONS of fun ideas on this site by the way!

It was a super fun experience! Oliver LOVED every minute of it. In fact he was so upset when we were done (making two) that the only down fall was the amount of tantrums that happened when we finished. I guess I need to do more things like this so he doesn't think it's a once in a lifetime opportunity! I definitely think this was a great project for his age!

Friends & Family Day

2009-11-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday they had friends and family day at Berto's work! Oliver and I got to take a tour of the call center and then we got to spend an hour with Berto! They had snacks and water and Oliver and Berto "played" ping pong! It was fun to see Berto at work and get to meet some of his co-workers that we haven't met already!

It's National Adoption Month

2009-11-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

It's national adoption month! My friends Sean and Jen are looking to grow their family and adopt a second child! If you or anyone you know is interested in adoption please take a moment to look at their blog! They are amazing people and I know they are looking to provide a home and family for another lucky little child!

http://ourhopetoadoptagain.blogspot.com/

Our Big Boy Turned 2!!

2009-11-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday (November 4th) Oliver turned 2!! He is such a big boy! He is talking more and more everyday and has such a fun little personality! We feel so blessed to have this little guy in our family!

We had a small little party for him on Wednesday. We invited a couple of neighbors and a family from our ward that have boy girl twins Oliver's age. He LOVES the twins! They are his best buddies in nursery! It was a fun day and Oliver soaked up all of the attention that was just for him!

When the twins were leaving the little girl Chloe came to give him a hug and a kiss. I just barely got them pulling away from their little kiss. It was SO CUTE!... And a little scary that my son already knows how to kiss girls! It was a fun day!

This morning we had his two year check up! Oliver's stat are...

Height: 37.5 inches - 95th percentile
Weight: 38.9 lbs - 95th percentile
HC: 50 cm - 91st percentile

Oliver continues to be a big boy! He has been consistent his whole 2 years! Well actually he has typically been in the 105th for his weight so I guess his height and weight are finally catching up to each other! But he's healthy and happy!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T12:27:00.000-08:00

We had quite a week of Halloween festivities! Oliver and I went to my moms wards trunk or treat on Tuesday. Berto, Oliver and I went to our wards trunk or treat on Thursday and then of course there was Halloween! Needless to say we got good use out of Oliver's costume! :)

I decided to be a good sport on Tuesday at my moms ward and threw on Berto's scrubs and was a Doctor. The rest of the nights I was just me!

By the time Saturday came around I was pretty Halloweened out! So (since Berto was working as usual) Oliver and I went to our neighbors (and friends) Jen and Sasa's and hung out for a while! Then I took Oliver trick or treating to just a few houses for the experience and photo ops! Oliver was so cute he would say "tru treat" (trick or treat) and "Tank To" (thank you) at every house! I was surprised because he usually will say things for me and then not to anyone else! I guess he was motivated because of the candy! While we were at Jenn and Sasa's Oliver helped them answer the door and every time he went to help with handing out the candy to the kids he would snag a few candies for himself. Needless to say we have TONS of candy that none of us need! But it was a fun couple of days!

Arizona Museum for Youth

2009-11-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

Last week on Berto's day off we took Oliver to the Arizona Museum for Youth in Mesa. It was so much fun! Oliver loved every minute of it. So much of the museum is geared toward toddlers so it was fun for Oliver which was nice! Here are some fun pictures from that day!

Also, as a little side note my mom and I (mostly my mom) made Oliver a new "night, night." He LOVES the movie Cars and has had for a long time a little fleece blanket with Lightning McQueen on it. But it's a crib size blanket and every time he rolled over in his sleep the blanket would uncover him so I got it in my head that I wanted to make him a new blanket! We found the CUTEST fabric and thought it would be fun to do a checker flag border. My mom put it together and I did the tedious tying of the quilt! But it was fun and Oliver LOVES his new "night, night" as he calls it!

3 Years ago today!

2009-10-21T09:24:00.000-07:00

Three years ago today Berto and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Redlands California Temple! I am so grateful to have such an honest and hardworking husband. He does so much for our little family. He works full time and has been going to school full time for almost two years! Sometimes I feel like I don't have a husband because he's so busy but I am so grateful to have him in my life! He is my support, my anchor and my love! I don't know where I would be without this man!

Happy Anniversary Berto! I love you so much!!!

California Vacation 2009!!!

2009-10-21T09:07:00.001-07:00

Okay, so slide shows are not my favorite but I tried for two days to get my pictures to upload and was getting a little annoyed!

So we've been back from vacation for two weeks I don't know why it's taken me so long to get this done!.. Probably because I was busy reading Dan Browns "The Lost Symbol." I have my priorities! :)

We left on Tuesday September 29th and headed out to California! Oliver was great on the drive out there. He slept for only one hour of our trip but did very little whining! He was a champ! For the first half of our trip we stayed with my friend Heather and her little family! It was so good to see them and spend time with them!

On Wednesday we went to Moreno Valley and took Donnie and Lianna (my siblings) to lunch at our favorite steak place Steer N' Stein! Then we spent the day visiting friends out there. That night it just happened that our old ward was having a ward activity so we were able to crash their party and see a lot of people that time may not have permitted us to see otherwise! It was really great!

On Thursday we pretty much had a kick back day planned. Thank goodness because Heather fell and had to spend the night in the hospital. Berto spent most of the day doing homework (that's why we didn't have much planned)and I was able to help Heather's husband with the kids. My other BFF Rebecca and her son Cameron came to hang out and we bbq'd and then took all of our munchkins to the park to let them wear themselves out!

On Friday we headed to Rancho Cucamonga. We stopped by Berto's old work TEAM Physical Therapy to say hi. He worked there for 6 years so he really wanted to see everyone there and show off how big and cute Oliver is getting! It was fun to see everyone! Then we just bummed around that are for the rest of the day. We went to one of our favorite malls Victoria Gardens and let Oliver ride the "choo choo!" We also ate lunch at one of our favorite places Legends!

On Saturday we headed to Upland. We stayed the rest of our trip with our good friends Greg and Carol Ann! Pretty much the minute we arrived we backed back out of their driveway and headed over to the Upland Fire Departments open house! Of course this was a highlight for Oliver! He got to sit in a fire truck but the best part of that little adventure was the helicopter! He even got to sit in that!! Saturday night we went out to dinner with some of Berto's friends from TEAM it was a fun night!

On Sunday we watched the morning session of General Conference with Greg, Carol Ann and Greg's family! After that we headed to Pasadena to spend some time with my friend Meghan, her husband Jake and their daughter Sierra. It was so good to see them!

Monday was our big day! Our whole trip was mostly to spend time with friends and family but Monday we did go to Disneyland! We went with my brother and sister and met my dad and his fiance Ana there. Dad and Ana scored us our free tickets through Ana's son Jeff who works there. That was a definite bonus!! Thanks again guys! We had a fun time. My friend Rebecca and her son Cameron also met us there! We had a great day! Oliver LOVED every minute of it from the ride on the 'choo choo" (the tram) to the fireworks! It was a great day!

The rest of our trip was pretty low key just hanging out with Greg and Carol Ann and visiting other friends and family! One night our friend Art stopped by with his sweet little girl Katelyn! She is such a good baby! I already have the "baby bug" but playing and holding Katelyn made me want another baby SO bad! She is SUCH a good baby!

All in all it was a fun, relaxing easy vacation! It was much needed and we were so happy to see all of our loved ones!!