Christmas Decorating and a little Randomness

Well my mother in law and I started decorating for Christmas! I Decorated the tree and she did everything else! :) She used all her things so I didn't want to get in the middle of her creative process! :) Anyway, here are two pictures of our tree! I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Why is it???

It amazes me every Sunday how this sweet little sleeping angel can become such a monster at church. Since we've been in Arizona church has been especially difficult with Oliver. I don't know what it is but much of our three hours is spent chasing a screaming monster around the building... it sure is exhausting. I guess it must be the age ... but I am finding it hard to even want to bother going to church because I know what I'm going to have to deal with, it doesn't matter how many snacks, books and stuffed animals I bring he is out of control. I feel like I can't control my own child and it is so frustrating.... any words of advice (encouragement) would be great other mommy's!!

Thanks!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!! We hope each of you were able to reflect upon those things you are grateful for! We had a good day relaxing and then ate some yummy food prepared by Berto's mom and aunt! It was a very casual day!

Of course I have a couple of pics! And notice our new family picture in our header!! Hope you had a great day!

Berto, Elizabeth and Oliver

Building forts with daddy

It was nice having Berto home today! Oliver and Berto built a couch cushion fort this morning! Oliver had a blast and wouldn't sit still for a picture inside of the fort! It was so cute to watch them play!!

Videos

I haven't posted in a little while. Here are several fun videos of Oliver. He is keeping us busy and entertained!!

I'm a ccoooooolllll rider....

Here are a couple of fun videos of Oliver driving his own quad... okay well it's actually the neighbors little quad. And a video of Oliver talking on the phone! Too cute!! Enjoy!!

Pears for dinner

So Oliver has become quite finicky over the past week. He doesn't seem to want breakfast no matter what I try to give him and he won't eat anything that I try to feed him no matter what time of day it is. Well today was one of "those" days. I decided I was going to give him some Deli Turkey Lunch Meat for dinner and call it a day. Well I tore it up and scattered it about on his high chair tray and stuck him in the seat. Oliver staying true to his self as of late refused to eat even one bite of the turkey (something he typically enjoys). Well, my mother in law has this little arrangement of plastic fruit that she keeps on the kitchen table. Oliver (who loves fruit always) started pointing at the fruit. So I held up a real pear and asked him if he wanted to eat a pear. He said "Da" and nodded his head. Well, I washed it, took a bite out of it to get it started and handed the entire pear to him. Usually we share and he takes little bites here and there well I could hardly get another bite. He held it like a chicken leg and chowed the entire pear down. Not a protein packed dinner but at least it wasn't cookies or something I'm counting my blessings about that!! :)

Prop 8 demonstrators and something that's been on my mind.

I've been getting tons of emails with articles about the prop 8 demonstrators at our LDS Temples. It pains me to see these people putting such an attack on the LDS Faith when most Christian Faiths and even non religious people have the same views regarding same sex marriage. I have seen posts on other blogs also about how sad it is. This morning as I was getting ready in the bathroom for our very busy day I was reflecting on the situation and a quote ( The Standard of Truth) that we used to say as missionaries kept coming to my mind and brought comfort with regards to this situation.Part of it says "... persecutions may raise, mobs may combine, armies may assemble and calumny may defame but the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

I truly feel that and I know we have been experiencing things like this for a long, long time I guess it just seems to hit home right now. And hope this brings peace to your hearts and minds today!

Love,
Elizabeth

Olivers 12 month stats

So we went in for Olivers 12 month check up today! 4 shots later we are home (well we've been home for a couple of hours) and Oliver is already fast asleep! He had a busy day!

Here are our big boys stats:
Finally a doctor that I like!! She thinks he's just fine even though he's big. He's a healthy breastfed baby and will get thinner.

Height 31 Inches tall
Weight 32 lbs
Head Circ. 47

Next appointment is in three months!!

My Big Boy Turns 1!

Today is a big day for us. Oliver is one! I can't believe how fast time really did fly by this year. I have enjoyed every moment of motherhood and watching Olivers growth and development. He amazes me everyday. He is so funny and so smart! I love my little Oliver and am so grateful for the blessing he is in my life. He is a joy and I absolutely adore him!! He is such a special boy! I love you Oliver and am so proud to be your mom! Thank you for bringing me joy and laughter everyday this past year and everyday for many, many, many more years to come!!

Party, Party, Party.... PPPPAAAARRRTTTYYY!!!!

Oliver was a lucky boy this year. We had two birthday parties for him, one was in California right before we moved, and the other one we had last night to celebrate since his birthday is today and Berto won't be home until Oliver's asleep.

Thank you to all of our wonderful friends and family that helped us celebrate this milestone in Olivers life.! Enjoy some pictures of Oliver's Parties!!

Olivers First Halloween

Apparently our town Queen Creek sponsors a Trunk or Treat. I say apparently because even though we planned to go with our neighbors Ana, Luca and Mauricio we did not actually make it. Oliver was too tired! Roberto works late so I was going to go with the neighbors who have a two year old, well at about 6:45 as we were piling into our cars Oliver started falling apart at the seams. So I decided not to force him to go do something he wouldn't remember or care about. Not to mention the fact that I'd probably end up lugging around my 30 pound one year old in my arms all night! :) So, off to bed Oliver went and I'm here posting the few pictures I was able to take of Oliver and Mauricio before they left! Oliver has also decided that he doesn't like pictures right now so I don't have very many good pictures in fact I think I might have one where he's actually looking at the camera... grrr... oh well! Enjoy my little dalmation puppy and his friend Elmo! :)

Ode to the Letter Factory

So my good friend Carol Ann told me about this amazing DVD called the letter factory, and my friend Heather happened to buy it for Oliver. For those of you who don't know what the letter factory is, it is this amazingly wonderful little movie that teaches kids the alphabet and one sound that each letter makes. It's geared toward ages 2-5 but when we were getting packed I was desperate to distract Oliver in any way I could. Well, Oliver will sit down (something he doesn't do often since he walks now) and he will watch the entire thing. He also frequently repeats the sounds of some of the letters. I LOVE the letter factory! It is awesome and I'm so proud of my little one for already picking up on the sounds of the letters!!!

2 Wonderful Years

Today Berto and I are celebrating our 2nd anniversary! Time truly does fly by. I know two years seems insignificant to those of you that have been married ions more BUT to us it means so much! I feel truly blessed to have such a loving, honest, hardworking man who is working hard to support our family and prepare for our future! I feel blessed today! I love my honey and am so grateful that he gave me our little Oliver who brings joy to me each and every day!

We're not doing much to celebrate. Today is Berto's first day at Verizon. I woke up to flowers and a beautiful card. When he gets home we're eating some yummy dinner (Pasole) and then I'm going to try a new bread pudding recipe! (Bread Pudding is one of his favorites).

What a blessing he has been in my life. I don't know how I could have made it through the tough times my family has had over the past year and a half without him. He is my rock and my anchor!

I love you Roberto!

We've moved

Well Saturday was our big move. Berto and our Elder's Quorum loaded up our Uhaul and Berto was off to Arizona. Oliver and I stayed behind for a few hours and at about 6:30 pm we hopped in the car with my mom and set out on our journey.

Berto's drive was smooth. He got in around 7:00 pm and they unloaded the truck in about an hour. My mom and I had a bumpy ride. We planned to leave later so that Oliver would sleep... well he did sleep in between a lot of crying. Three stops and six hours later we arrived at about 12:30 am.

Thankfully we are safe and sound, getting settled in and enjoying the time while my mom is here with us!

We'll be updating the blog frequently! Hope you are all well! We miss California already!

Roberto, Elizabeth & Oliver

My HILARIOUS Son

So Oliver is developing such a funny personality! (Like father like son I guess). Anyway, the past couple of days we've been singing "If you're happy and you know it" to him. This is one we sing frequently. Usually we repeat only the clap your hands verse because he can clap and knows how to do it on cue. Well yesterday he was having a fit in his high chair so we decided to change it up a bit and started singing the shout hooray part of the song. Well Oliver decided he liked that and when we would say hooray he would throw both arms up in the air and shout "YAY!!" It was so cute. I'm going to have to put it on video and get it up here.

Also, he is so random. There are certain things on T.V. that make him stop in his tracks no matter what he's doing. One of those things (I've posted about this before) is Billy Mays from the Oxy Clean commercials. The other is the Hillshire Farms "GO MEAT" commercial. I don't know why he likes it but he will stop anything he's doing and stare at the T.V. then when they yell "Go Meat" he throws an arm up in the air as if he's saying 'YEAH' to them! It's so funny!

And even when I was searching youtube for this clip he stopped what he was doing (crying to be exact) and turned to the t.v. The funny thing is the commercial happened to be on the t.v. at the same time it was on the computer!

Pumpkin Patch TIme

So I love the Pumpkin Patch and I have been dying to take Oliver to one. I couldn't wait to see how he reacted and how cute the pictures would be! So we took him a few days ago to the pumpkin patch, we took him to one with a petting zoo to double the fun. I personally am not a huge fan of goats and horses eating out of my hand but wanted to create the experience for Oliver (yes I do know he's not quite one yet) so I let them eat out of my hand (kinda gross if you ask me). Oliver wasn't too sure about the goats which is so funny to me because he is an animal LOVER. Here are a couple of fun pictures to document our day!

Our Big News

No we're not pregnant! :) Actually Roberto accepted a job in the Phoenix area! So... we're packing our bags and moving in three short weeks! Look out Arizona here we come! We are excited and nervous and looking forward to the next chapter in our book of life. We hope this will be a great move for our future! We will miss all of our loved ones that are staying behind here in California but we know this is the right move for our future!

We love you all and appreciate your love and support so much!

Roberto, Elizabeth and Oliver

Our trip to Tito and Tita's House

Oliver in a tunnel at the mall's indoor playground
Oliver and Vandana Playing with Bubbles
Berto playing with Oliver and Vandana at the splash park in Gilbert.
Berto and Vandana at the Gilbert Splash Park
Oliver, Vandana and me at Vandana's little birthday party!

We spent last week in Arizona visiting Berto's parents (tito and tita). We had a nice visit. My sister in law Terry and her daughter Vandana were in from Spain (where they live) it was a fun week! Vandana is two and is so fun! We had a blast. Oliver loved being able to chase his big (er I mean older) cousin around! We went to JC Penney's and had their pictures taken, went to a splash park and just bummed around for a week. We had a great time!