Los Dayton

My first Real digital scrapbook page

2011-08-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to develop better skills for scrapbooking. Many tutorials later I made this page from scratch using photoshop. I hope this is the first of many to more to come!

T

Important Milestones

2011-08-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Bryce is potting training!! Yay!

We started yesterday and he's been doing great. He likes going potty and getting either chips or chocolate kisses as rewards. He likes wearing big boy undies too!

On the 4th of July weekend Sophia lost her first tooth.

She was so brave!

After loosing her first tooth, the very next day she lost her 2nd tooth!

What a big girl she is!

McDonalds?

2011-06-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Bryce is at that cute age where he is getting more independent and more aware of what's going on around him, but he still has that sweet babyish innocence about him. I'm sure everyday he does at least one sweet or cute thing that I wish I wrote down so I could remember it forever. This is why I decided to include yesterday's event on my blog.
It was around 4:15 pm, around the time both boys are waking up from their afternoon naps. Blake was already awake and crawling around the house. Earlier in the afternoon, Sophia had asked me if we could go to McDonald's for dinner, so I had decided that was the plan after Bryce woke up. I got a phone call, and while I was on the phone Bryce woke up. As I was on the phone I saw Bryce go grab his shoes and put them on by himself (he rarely does this, he gets frustrated easily and usually insists that I put them on for him). As I'm talking on the phone I notice it, but when I'm on the phone it's like it's not recording because I'm trying to focus on the conversation. 10 minutes later I get off the phone and I proceed to finish the moping or sweeping of the house that I was doing earlier. Then I realize that it's awfully quite (meaning no demands as I'm doing my task). Then it records, hey Bryce is already awake.... wait I saw him put his shoes on and head to the laundry room... crap! he's probably in the car... he's been there for like 10+ minutes. I run to the garage, and we're talking Arizona hot garage, and he's sitting in the car, in his car seat, with his shoes on, like a sweet little boy playing with a toy. I open the door and he's sweating bullets. I asked him if he was ready to go? and he says, "yes". I had to explain to him I wasn't all the way ready to go just yet, and brought him inside. When I came in I talked to Sophia and apparently when he woke up she told him we were going to McDonald's. He was so excited he immediately proceeded to get ready to go! What a funny kid! He doesn't talk enough to have full long conversations like I've been used to having with Sophia while she grew up. Still, I find that it's those little things he does that tell me so much about who he is as a little person. I can wait what he will one day have to say, because he is quite the character!

Easter 2011

2011-04-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

Easter 2011 - The best we could get of the 3 kids before church. I think this was after dad told them to settle down, so even Bryce is folding his arms.

A cute smile from little handsome Blake

Sophia - a little model in the making. I love her pose.

After eating a chocolate first thing in the morning they all seem pretty happy, especially Bryce.

Bryce after picking some eggs at the Ward's Easter Egg Hunt.

Sophia got her own eggs without my help. For the first time she had a bucket full of eggs. Too bad they were all mostly filled with nasty jelly beans.

Blake's Haircut

2011-04-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

I think we still need another baby girl...

2011-04-04T21:18:00.001-07:00

... but since I'm not getting pregnant any time soon. Poor Blake will have to continue being the stand-in model every once in a while.

And I'll just have to settle with the fact that my girl is growing up... and that's ok because she keeps getting more beautiful every day!

Finally Catching Up!!

2011-04-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping up with the house, keeping up with the kids, trying to lose the baby weight (still not there yet), and trying to work on house projects .... hence my blog has been neglected. More posts to come!

Our crazy month of December...

2010-12-29T09:08:00.000-08:00

Sophia's 5th Birthday
No party this year, just celebrated together as a family. It was nice to make my focus of the day making her whole day special and not be focused on getting stuff ready for a party. It started off with opening presents and her blueberry pancakes she requested for breakfast. Then it was a" just girls movie date", we went to see Tangled. Sophia even got free popcorn for going to the movies on her birthday! After the movie, we came home had lunch and birthday cake (Ñaña's chocolate cake). Another of Sophia's requests was to get a haircut, so we went to the "salon"(Fantastic Sam's) where she got a haircut and even got her hair curled so she could be fancy. And last but not least, the final request was to go to Chili's for dinner. Sophia wanted to go there for 2 reasons, she really likes the corn dog there and she wanted the waiters to sing happy birthday to her. She got both things, and it was the cutest thing to see the big smile on her face when all the waiters came to sing to her and brought her a brownie sundae.

Bryce's 2nd Birthday
He loved having presents to open in the morning, just like Sophia did a few days earlier. Bryce LOVES going places in the car, so for his birthday the first thing we did was go out for breakfast to McDonald's. He was thrilled to go in the car so early in the morning and loved that we stayed to play for quite a bit afterward. We did all the things Bryce enjoys, like going to the park and riding bikes outside. Bryce even got his own cake too. His new words on his birthday: "My Bike!"

Christmas 2010
It was our first year doing neighbor gifts. We made some homemade candies: pecan roll, caramels and fudge. It was fun handing them out with the kids and it was a great way to introduce ourselves to our neighbors!
On Christmas eve we went to see the temple lights and had some Guatemalan tamales. It was nice to eat the traditional food of Christmas Eve. It was great to see everyone enjoying the tamales!
Santa decided instead of lots of toys, he would just bring a few big things for the kids. Almost everything had tags for both Sophia and Bryce to share. It's just a lot more fun when the kids can play with toys together and not fight over them. Their gifts were a big hit!

Family Portrait 2010

2010-12-17T10:59:00.001-08:00

This year we finally took some family pictures. Susan Carr was our photographer and she did an a fabulous job! (www.susancarrphotography.com)I can see why people don't do these very often, especially when they have young children. It certainly is a lot of work to put it together. From finding coordinating outfits, making it to the shoot on time, keeping the kids from getting dirty, to making the kids smile for the picture... and for the adults, trying to lose some weight before the picture. :) (ok, maybe most people don't worry about this part, but we do) Here are some of our favorites:

We picked this one for our wall:

Blake 3 Months

2010-12-16T21:15:00.000-08:00

So even though I don't have Dr. stats for this month (since his appointment will be until 4 months), I still wanted to post an update on my little baby boy. He's grown so much this last month! His hair has kept on growing, but finally started to go down... in it's own poofy way. He gets compliments on his hair EVERYWHERE we go! He laughs and giggles more. He drools like crazy too. He still wakes up 1 to 2 times at night. In the morning he wakes up just in time for me to feed him and head to the gym. It has been working out great! He takes a long nap after the gym while Bryce takes his nap as well (the house is pretty quite then, so that's probably why he's able to sleep so well). He LOVES his swing, and that has made a huge difference with making things run a little smoother at home.

Blake - 2 months old!

2010-11-16T11:32:00.001-08:00

Weight: 11 lb 13 oz (50%)
Length: 23 1/4 in. (50 - 75%)
Head Circumference: 40 cm (50%)

What he's up to:

- The poor little guy has a stuffy nose right now. He has been waking up at night more than usual.
- He smiles at people now. He can give the biggest smiles, and sometimes he even lets out a little squeal!
- He is very active, he's always moving his arms and legs. He plays with the toys on his bouncy chair really well. He activates the music and sounds all by himself.
- He makes cooing sounds when you talk to him.
- He still takes his binky when he needs to be soothed.
- He still loves to be held, but will also be fine if you put him down. He falls asleep easily when being held.

Adventures in Crochet

2010-11-13T15:03:00.001-08:00

Newsboy Hat:

3 Strap Flower headband:

more to come...

What we've been up to...

2010-10-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty consistent about going on a morning walk/bike ride around the neighborhood. Bryce and Blake ride the double stroller and Sophia rides her big girl bike with training wheels. She's gotten really good and confident at riding her bike. She goes down steep hills using her breaks and she's learned how to use her weight to pedal hard up hills too. If it were up to Sophia she would ride her bike all day long.

Bryce & Sophia at the park

On Saturday after we all did our chores we went out to get a entry way table that I've been wanting for so long. I was so happy that we found exactly what I was looking for.

Then we went out to dinner with the kids to a small Mexican cafe called Mango's in Mesa.

Bryce when he sees little Blake or animal babies, does this face and says "oooo" He's copying Sophia who says the same thing, "oooooo so cute!" It's pretty funny when Bryce does it.

This is Blake in the car.. that is if he doesn't have his binky and if we stop. As long as we're moving he's happy.
After he gets his binky he's a happy baby.
This is Us (minus daddy). Poor Blake, can't blame him.. when those two want to be next to mommy and can't seem to let him relax so he can sleep.

My Halloweeners - Blake 1 Month

2010-10-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Everyone is excited for Halloween at our house. So, last night they all got to wear their spooky glow-in -the dark PJs.
Blake had his 1 month appointment this week:

Height: 21.5 inches (50%)
Weight: 10 lbs. 4 oz (50-75%)
Head Circum: 30 cm (50%)

He loves to be held and either needs his binky to fall asleep or likes to be rocked to sleep. He is sensitive to Bryce's loud voice and easily wakes up to that. He is a good eater, but gets lots of gas. He is getting better at sleeping longer spurts at night, which makes my life better. Right now he wakes up at night every 3 to 4 hours.

Sophia & Bryce love having a baby brother at home. They love the baby so much... a little too much. They want to hold him and kiss him and hug him all the time. Sophia is a great baby sitter. She will hold Blake and bounce him in her arms until he falls asleep. I need to take a picture or video of her doing this. When Blake wakes up to eat, Bryce runs and sits on my chair before I get there and asks to hold Blake. Here is a picture of him:

My babies are growing up... too fast!!

Big Brother Bryce (21 months)

Big Sister Sophia (4 years old)

Sophia making Bryce smile

Blake Anthony Dayton

2010-09-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Birth Story:

When Tuesday, Sept. 7th (my original due date) came by and Blake was not born yet, it was hard not to feel a little discouraged. Every night I felt some contractions, but they would always go away. My legs and feet where super swollen. Being on my feet was painful and walking around felt like I was trying to walk with sandbags on my ankles or more like cankles. My Dr. when he saw me on Sept. 9th gave me hope telling me he was certain I was going to go into labor any time soon (I was dilated to a 4 already and 80% effaced). The Dr. scheduled an induction date for Sept. 14 at 3:00 am. but told me I probably wouldn't make it through the weekend.

Sunday came along and I was still pregnant, I decided to stay home from church and take it easy all day long. I pretty much stayed off my feet all morning long and by early afternoon the swelling on my feet had gone down a lot. On Monday, having much less swollen feet I spent my time cleaning, doing laundry and getting my house in order because Tuesday I was having a baby. That night, I got a call from the hospital - "Sorry, we've decided to move your induction date until further notice". I was a little frustrated, but I decided I was going to have that baby on the 14th no matter what. My Dr. had said if I had any contractions to go to the hospital and that he wouldn't let them send me home, he would personally come and break my water. As soon as we were done eating dinner, Brad and I left the kids with Grandma, and decided to go on a long walk. With less swollen feet it was much easier, so I told Brad to keep a fast pace and I would just try to keep up with him. If you don't know Brad, let me tell you Brad is really good at being the tough trainer/coach. No mercy. We walked and walked for almost an hour, until I couldn't keep up because I felt a lot of pressure. Our plan was to shower and go to the hospital.

After I showered all that pressure and discomfort went away. We decided to just stay home and watch TV. I started feeling my usual nightly contractions. After our show was over we decided to just go to the hospital. On our drive there Brad, the mastermind, was telling me how I needed to act like my contractions really hurt and maybe it would be a good idea if he would go in first and get me a wheelchair to make it more believable. I'm a horrible liar so I didn't go with his plan. I still exaggerated my number when they asked me how would I grade my pain, just because I would look really dumb if I said zero.

The nurse checked me and I was already at a 7. I was really in labor, the monitor showed I was getting contractions. Brad and I where really, really surprised. Our sneaky plan wasn't really sneaky!

Thirty minutes later the Dr. showed up and broke my water. Thank goodness I called the epidural guy right after the Dr. left, because shortly after I went from 0 pain to 10. An hour and 3 pushes later Blake was born!

My chubby, fuzzy little boy came out and peed all over the Dr.
Blake weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. Measured 21.3 inches long.

Pre-K for a girl who is 4 and a half

2010-08-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

We decided to wait until next year to put Sophia in kindergarten, when she is 5 years old already by the beginning of the school year. I'm not in any hurry for my little girl to grow up. Yesterday was her first day at her new preschool, or more specifically pre-kindergarten because it is for kids that are 4 & 5 years old only. That morning she woke up and served herself breakfast and was super obedient about cleaning her room and getting ready because she was so excited to go to school. She had a great time! Bryce had a hard time seeing her get dropped off. Since her school is close to Costa Vida, after we dropped off Sophia at preschool (which starts at noon),Bryce and I went to get lunch at Costa. I had a few errands to run in the area while we waited for Sophia to get out, but Bryce kept asking for Na (that's what he calls her) the whole time. He got really excited when I told him it was time to pick her up. Here are a few pictures I got of her before we left home. She was super easy going about wearing the outfit that I picked out for her to wear, she said I could improve on the bow though, but that she still was going to wear it. I love her personality, she has a good balance of sweetness, smarts, goofiness and spunk. Kids at pre-k don't know what's coming this school year.

Sophia showing off some poses

A big natural smile (my favorite)

Bryce using his rhino move to get Sophia out of the way

I would also like to add that Sophia doesn't suck her two fingers anymore. I don't really want to be too specific on how we did it because the key to the success of our method is that it is kept completely a secret from her. Can't take any chances on slip ups. All I can say is that one day her fingers started tasting gross... because when you get old your fingers start tasting gross so you don't suck them anymore.

Bryce 18 Months

2010-07-21T09:25:00.001-07:00

Stats: Weight 22 lb (5%) - Height 33" (60%) - Head Circum. 18.25 cm (10%)
Bryce has the 4 incisors coming in which caused his diarrhea and mild fevers.
He also is fighting a nasty congested cough that seems to be going around.
Some of the things that Bryce can do include:
-Loves music and dances to it.
-Understands directions & follows them
-Can climb up and down almost anything
-Loves to jump, he jumps into the pool to mommy
-Tells me when he wants a diaper change
-Uses sign language to ask for food or to say more
-Tells me when he wants to go to sleep
-Throws balls or any object really
-Feeds himself with spoon or fork (and hands)
-Brushes teeth by himself with help

Big Boy Haircut

Playing some tunes while waiting for his food

Dayton Family Reunion 2010

2010-07-15T16:26:00.001-07:00

We all packed up our bags and headed to Sundace, UT for a week. Sophi got a head start on the UT vacation, Ñaña and Pots where so nice to let her drive up with them a few days earlier than us. Brad was in the process of buying a car and our traveling plans were so up in the air until a few days before we left. We ended up flying to Utah, and on our way to Orem we picked up his brand new car in SLC, and then had a car to move around while visiting. The vacation was a lot of fun, the cabin in Sundance was AMAZING. I wish I could just go there every summer all summer long and escape the heat of AZ every year. It had plenty of room for everyone to have their own space, a theater room (which was the biggest hit for the adults and the kids), a hot tub which sadly I wasn't able to enjoy, and the cool weather of the mountains which was what I appreciated the most. We got to do lots of fun activities, like fishing, watching the parade (Bryce's favorite), hiking, eating smores, and just spending time together which was Sophi's favorite. She got to play with the cousins from the moment she woke up to the moment she went to bed. To come back we ended up driving all the way home. I was glad I had my crochet project to keep me busy so I could easily ignore my kids' whinning. Enjoy the pics!

A very dramatic moment

2010-06-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm cleaning up after dinner, thinking, "nice, it is almost time for bath and then bed time." Bryce is done eating and he is running around close-by playing with a couple of golf balls. Sophia, who is supposed to be sitting down eating her dinner suddenly disappears... that's never good. My quiet evening suddenly gets interrupted by Sophia yelling, "Mom!.. Bryce is in the bathroom!.. Mom! ... Get him out of here!..." Sophia is going #2 in the toilet. I start calling out for Bryce as I start hurrying to finish up what I was doing. All of a sudden Sophia starts crying "Ahh! Ahh!Ahh!" I run to the bathroom. "Mom! Bryce threw the golf ball in the toilet!" Stinker Bryce. I look in the toilet - first thoughts "gross, gross, gross". I finally calm down Sophia, who is freaking out (like she has to "fix" the problem). My solution - we'll just wait for daddy to get home. Sorry, that's way past my grossness limit. Stuff that you think is too gross to happen, ALWAYS happens when you have kids. I've had to deal with poopy situations in public places, throw up in the car, and now having to pull out an unflushable item from a poopy toilet. I still have more kids to go and many years ahead... I can't even imagine what the future holds.

Summertime here we go!

2010-06-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

May ended with preschool ending. Sophi had her preschool graduation and said goodbye to her wonderful preschool teacher Ms. Hinton & preschool friends.

A blow dryer for mother's day??

2010-05-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

I know Brad has gotten all sorts of comments from people when he tells them he got me a blow dryer as my mother's day present. In his defense I have to share with everyone why this present is so amazing. Do you ever find yourself thinking, why is it that I can never make my hair look like they do it when I get it done at the hair salon? The secret, a professional grade blow dryer. I don't really understand the technology behind it, I just know they cost a lot more than grocery store hairdryers. From the results I've gotten, they are worth every penny. My hair is dry in half the time with half the noise and the results are twice as good. Thanks Brad, every time I wash my hair and dry it I think about how much I LOVE my present (and of course you). I love how fast I can get ready now and I love looking at my hair and feeling like I just got it done at the salon. Less time getting ready=more time to spend with my kids. Feeling like a million bucks=a happy mom that feels more like a hot momma and not a diaper duty mom. So for all the husbands out there, if your wife has lots of hair and little kids that take up her time, maybe a professional grade hairdryer might be just what she needs for mother's day.

Looking back with photobooth..

2010-05-12T21:55:00.001-07:00

Ice cream on a hot afternoon..

2010-05-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

After chasing the ice cream truck over and over again and missing it, today we finally made it out just in time! Me with my pregnant belly ran out first and Sophi bare foot right behind me. I was kinda motioning to the driver to come our way, but Sophi being much more direct that me yelled from the top of her lungs "STOP!.... STOP!" (More like a demanding yell than a pleading one). She was so funny. The good thing is he got the point and drove right to where we were. Totally worth it, spongebop popsicle with gumball eye balls.

Birthday pics...

2010-05-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sophi and I made him a cake. She cracked the eggs for me and helped me put all the ingredients in. After that, all she wanted to do was eat the frosting. :)

Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you....

Happy birthday dear daddy...

Happy birthday to youuuuuuu!

18 week ultrasound

2010-05-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

All I wanted to hear was that our baby was healthy and was happy to hear that everything looked good at our 18 week ultrasound. This time around I felt very little anxiety to find out the sex of our baby, just knowing it was healthy was enough for me. Brad wanted to know, but was willing to wait with me until our baby's birthday. So without further ado here are the ultrasound pictures:
My ultrasound was after lunch and the baby was moving around like crazy. We even saw him/her opening and closing his/her mouth. I thought this picture was kinda freaky (I didn't get to pick the pictures the tech printed out) it looks like I'm having Skeletor's baby (I just had to add the quote).

And here is your typical sweet profile picture. It's cute you can see a little nose and lips.

I almost forgot: Happy Birthday Brad!! And happy 6 year Anniversary to US!!

PICTURE UPDATE!

2010-04-13T18:20:00.001-07:00

GETTING MESSY WITH PAINT - 2 TRAVIESOS

BEING SILLY

HAPPY EATING COOKIES

WARD'S EASTER EGG HUNT

EASTER OUTFITS

READY FOR BREAKFAST

PLAYING AT THE PARK

TAKING HER BABY ON A WALK

BEST BUDDIES

WATCHING T.V

READY FOR CHURCH WITH DADDY

Finally an update!

2010-02-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

If there was such a thing as a list of the voted worst bloggers ever, I would probably be on it.
House update: I love our new house and I love having so much more space, but transforming the house into a home is taking a lot more time than I anticipated. I can't say it is not fun, because it is, but with all the other things going on in our daily lives the time dedicated to decorating/shopping for accent furniture is very limited. I always think of the hgtv design star show where they dedicate hours and hours of "shopping time" when decorating spaces. Seriously, decorating and shopping for home decor does take time (and money). So slowly but surely, my house is coming together. Just recently we decided to get on the ball with our yard. We just got our pool drained and acid washed. For the first time we were able to see the bottom of our pool! We will be putting some grass on our side yard for the kids to play in.

Our side yard (the basketball hoop goes to the pool, we just had to pull it out to replace the tube, too heavy to move for the pic):

Before pic of the pool:
After picture of the pool, still not full yet:
Kids update: Bryce is officially walking. He now gets into EVERYTHING. So fun to see him and Sophia play together more. His favorite word is "Bah". Everything is Bah. If you listen carefully you can distinguish the regular bah and the "ahbah" which means he wants water (agua). He says more dada than mama, of course, Dad is the fun guy in our family. The other communication thing he does is he makes a chewing sound when he wants food. Food is VERY important in his world, after he wakes up in the morning and after naps he has to get food right away. He also sucks his thumb to let you know he is ready for bed.
Sophia is growing up to be mommy's right hand. She is a wonderful helper. As soon as Bryce wakes up in the morning she asks if she can go play with him, and she'll keep him entertained until Dad is ready to go get him. She is always keeping an eye on him and keeps him out of trouble. I love the 4 year old age. She says the sweetest and funniest things sometimes. Sophia has shown us she is capable of doing some chores around the house, and the best thing about it is that she really enjoys helping. Yesterday, she vacuumed our living room rug and today she cleaned up all the toys in the playroom by herself. The trick is to give her the ipod so she can listen to music as she "works" (just like her dad).
Did I forget to mention she dresses herself? She has her own unique style and I love seeing her express it. Here is one of her latest outfits:

Sicky ,Sicky

2010-01-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

So what is worst than having a little girl sick? Well, having a little girl and a little boy sick. And to make things harder, Mom is sick too. Yep, my two little babies are sick. I was certain it probably was only a cold. Soph, who gets fevers no matter what was having them but not nearly as bad as she's had them before. Bryce on the other hand had barely any fevers, just runny noise and coughing. Turns out, both kids have ear infections, Bryce having the worst one. The "well-child" checkup was more like sick-child check up. Bryce had just started wheezing the night before, and so he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis too. Sounds worse than what it is, but it's just that the virus is giving him an allergic reaction causing his bronchioles in his lungs to constrict, giving him asthma type symptoms. Poor baby, he's been waking up a lot at night, and now it makes total sense; he was having difficulty breathing. After half a day spent between the appointment at the pediatrician and going to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions, both kids got their meds. and crashed for the rest of the day. So, on the bright side, we're all on the road for recovery. Reporting on their checkups here are the stats:

Sophia - 33.5 lbs. 39.5 in. tall. 50% for both

Bryce - 20 lbs. 30 in. tall 10% for weight, 50% for height and head circumference 5% (smallest head ever!) Poor baby, I'm certain he's lost weight in the past week, even a couple pounds drop him down from 25% to 10%.

New Years Eve Hair Cut Day!

2010-01-01T15:08:00.001-08:00

Dec. 18th - Celebrating both Birthdays (Sophia 4 & Bryce 1)

2010-01-01T14:28:00.001-08:00

Not Property Virgins Anymore!

2009-10-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

So after a year and a half of house shopping and multiple offers placed we finally found a home!! The true test of enduring to the end, but totally worth it. My favorite part is the neighborhood, there is always kids playing outside and the parks look really nice. It is still not over though... We bought a short-sale home so the place needs some TLC and some. These past few weeks have been extremely hectic but it is so so worth it. Daniel & Nina & CA came down for fall break. They helped us so much with the whole moving situation. Sophi went back to Utah with them for a little vacation away from the crazyness while Mom & Dad & Bryce (with lots of help from the rest of the Daytons that live close) stayed in Arizona getting the house ready. I want to post before and after pictures of the interior after we are done fixing it up. Here is an exterior picture.

Sunday Dress

2009-09-26T10:52:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday it was the Primary Program. Sophi did awesome on her part and she did really well singing the songs. The poor girl was not feeling very well, but she would rest her head on the wood rail of the stage and still sing the words to the songs. I've been trying a little harder in making her matching bows for her church dresses. Good thing she likes to model and does some pretty cute poses.

Pictures at the park

2009-09-21T12:53:00.001-07:00

This post is way past overdue. Earlier this summer Susan Carr was very kind to do this photo shoot with the kids. I think the pictures turned out amazing. I wish I could take such beautiful pictures of my kids on a daily basis. I can't wait to get a house so I can blow some of these up and put them up on my wall. You can check out her work at www.susancarrphotography.com

Sewing 101

2009-09-03T09:46:00.001-07:00

My first successful sewing project!! A long time ago I bought zebra print ribbon, I don't know why but I tend to gravitate to zebra print. Just recently I made a new friend in the ward, Aprilee, who shares my passion (or addiction) to bow making. We shared our ribbons and came up with this funky little bow. Then, I had this cute bow but really no outfit for Sophi to wear it with. I decided it was time for me to give sewing a try again (last time I tried to make curtains it was not very successful and it was a huge pain in the neck!). Once again, I turned to my trustee internet tutorials (which I now love!) and found a few tutorials to make this skirt. One of them called it the 2-hour skirt. Yeah right 2 hours, more like 5 for me, but still it was nice to be able to start it and finish it on the same day. Now the next task to tackle is getting Sophi to wear it. She would not wear it this morning to preschool! Goodness!
Here are the links for the tutorials in case someone out there wants to give it a try:

http://www.kukyideas.com/journal/2006/07/tiered-skirt-tutorial.html
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/1608/two-hour-peasant-skirt

Bryce's Baby Blanket

2009-09-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

I got on a crochet kick again. I have been working on this blanket for almost 3 weeks now. It took me about a whole week of doing and undoing some crochet stitches until I got the pattern right. I'm not sure how much bigger I will make it, so far I've used 1 spool of yarn for each color. I found the pattern online with some great pictures to guide you through, here is the link in case you want to try it out:
http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html
Sophia tells me that when I'm done with this blanket I need to start one in girl colors. I guess I'll be crocheting some more even when I'm done with this one.

Pictorial: how to be a model (Sophi style)

2009-08-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

Sophia likes playing with my make-up and accessories. It's cute to see her what things catch her eye and to see her put them on in her own style. When she saw I was letting her go crazy she said, "Mom, do you want to play models?" So this is what happened:

Crochet Flower Clips

2009-08-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

I just learned how to do these. (Using Youtube) I was so proud of myself I took a picture. It's so fun having such a beautiful model at hand 24/7 :)

Bryce at 7 months

2009-08-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

One evening Brad was watching a soccer game at home. I guess Bryce woke up and Brad had to get up for a few minutes. I found this little guy sitting by himself watching the game. My first thought was, it looked like Brad had shrunk into baby form, because he was sitting exactly where Brad was sitting and he was watching the TV so attentively like Brad does. I had to take a picture. Like father like son!

Bryce likes eating his baby food. He enjoys the vegetables more than the fruit. Lately he has been doing a funny little scrunchy face and making a loud gasp when he laughs. I tried to capture it the best I could. :)

Summer is comming to an end....

2009-08-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

This only means that school is starting here in Arizona, because the heat is still not going anywhere. Sophi had her last day of Ballet class and her last day of Sports class with Isaak. She will soon start her little preschool on Aug. 13. Little Bryce (or Brycito)is now scooting and moving all over the place. It is so much fun to see both kids growing and each reaching there own little life stages' accomplishments. Sophi asks me to help her out on her computer games and sometimes she has to show me what buttons to push and how to do the stuff. It sure makes me feel old. Today we went to the pool, and I thought it would be a great energy outlet for the kids, but I ended up being the one feeling wiped out. Bryce is now sitting up, and he is very curious. Like the monkey. He wants to touch everything, pull on everything and he has big hands with a tight grip. The day when I won't be able to leave him out of my sight for more than 2 seconds is near!

Sophia's Last Day of Ballet Class

(I messed up a little in the recording by flipping the camera, sorry)

2009-07-30T17:30:00.001-07:00

San Diego Family Vacation

2009-07-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

House shopping was starting to get to us, so I was determined to somehow get the family out of the Arizona heat for at least a few days. It all seemed to fall into place, we got a great hotel deal online and Brad was able to take some time off work too. We headed to San Diego! I had never been there and it was so much fun. It was our first little family vacation. It was a lot of work to put things together to make it go smoothly, but it was so rewarding to see the kids having fun and really enjoying each other as a family. We even met up with The Daytons at the beach for an evening. Sea World was really a lot of fun for Sophia (nothing scary about Shamu and sea animals), so that made it really enjoyable for Brad and I. Bryce is so easy going that it really wasn't that hard to keep him happy and still have fun. We tried to keep things pretty chill and I think that really helped making it feel like a true vacation. We are all looking forward to doing another family vacation like this again.

Singing in the rain...

2009-07-09T13:20:00.001-07:00

Rain doesn't come very often to Arizona. I think this is why Sophia likes it so much. Every year she has asked for rain boots, a rain coat and an umbrella. I got the rain coat and rain boots, couldn't find a little umbrella for her. I got them just in time for the first "monsoon rain" this year. It rained for like 15 minutes max. Just enough for her to get her gear and enjoy the rain.

6 months!!

2009-07-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

Bryce is growing up so fast! At his 6 month check-up he weighed 16 lb 15 oz, measured 27.35 in (35%ile & 75%ile). He rolled over at 5 months 12 days. Now he's rolling all over the place and making his first attempts at scooting. He is very curious, constatly trying to grab things that catch his attention and that are within his reach. This past week he was a little awnry because of his teething. Today his first tooth broke through.

Summer Classes

2009-06-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Having a car now has given me so much freedom to put Sophia in different summer classes offered through the city recreational programs. She is almost done with swimming lessons, which she did together with Isaak. The kids really enjoyed the class and I they really acquired some basic swimming skills (blowing bubbles, floating with help, etc.) Sophi was the youngest in the class, but she kept up with the other kids really well. She is also doing a ballet class. The first day we showed up all the girls where in full on ballerina costumes/outfits, and my poor Sophi (thanks to mom) was just wearing her normal clothes. I guess I didn't read the class requirements ahead of time where they mention dance shoes and dance attire required. She still loved, loved the class. I mean, she was glowing of how happy she was there. They did all the stuff she does at home on her own (pirrutte, tip toes, etc.) I made sure I asked the other moms where they got their ballerina equipment so I could bring her prepared for the next class. That evening we went out to get the stuff. I had to try it on that night, so I took some picture because she was just so cute.

My Beautiful Ballerina.

Swimming Lessons.

May Summary

2009-06-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

So May was a very eventful month for us this year. Between Brad's birthday, our Anniversary, Mother's Day and opening the new Costa in Queen Creek, things got very busy. Also, we finally bought a second car. We bought Daniel's and Nina's Suburban. They drove it down to Arizona and stayed in Arizona for a while to help out with the opening of the new Costa. It was so fun to have them in town. Even Katie, Sam and Jack came along.

Sophia and her hero. They get so goofy when they are around each other. It's so much fun to see them have that special relationship. She's lucky to have such a cool dad. ;)
Brad even took a picture of his Mother's Day specialty french toast. It was very delicious, Thank You!Amy I stole your pic. I'm glad you're a great historian. Here's a picture of the lobby at the new Queen Creek Costa.
Here are some random pictures I took while Sam hung out at our house. I think we were bad influences with the "T", because it's on all the time at our house. This is when he woke up in the morning and I couldn't get him to look at me for the picture.
Sam woke up from his nap and followed Sophi outside while she played in the dirt. It was so hot poor Sam lasted like 5 minutes out there. In this picture Sophia is telling me the whole story behind her game and Sam is just having fun.

Sophi's Dance Recital

2009-05-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm really behind in posting... Usually Dance Class days are really crazy. Class starts at 9:00 am and with Brad's work and only having one car, makes it a very crazy morning to make thinks work. Having said that, now I can admit to my forgetfulness... yes, I forgot to bring my camera to her dance recital! On the bright side, Brad was able to shift things around work to be there (he went to work at 6:30 am and got stuff done). Her dance routine was really cute and she did a really good job. All I have is some video from Brad's blackberry. Not the best quality, but at least we got something. :)

Playing Freeze Dance

Ticklish Baby

2009-05-06T18:24:00.001-07:00

O.k. so most babies fuss when their getting changed, but Bryce just laughs. It was really funny the first time I realized how ticklish he was. I was changing him and he kept laughing and laughing so I kept trying to figure out what he was looking at that made him laugh so much. Then I realized that when I changed his shirt and touched his tummy it gave him tickles. I think it's so cute how ticklish he is. He is ticklish just like his Dad.

4 Months Stats.

2009-05-03T12:50:00.001-07:00

On Brad's birthday/our Anniversary, Bryce had his 4 month check up. He weighed 14 lbs 14 oz. and measured 25 3/4 in. He is in the 50% percentile for weight and 75% percentile for height. His 4 month shots where a little harder than the 2 month ones. He had a fever later in the day and through the night, and the next day he had a mild fever for most of the day. He wasn't quite himself, not as many happy faces and smiles as usual. Today, he is doing great, back to his normal self and no fever.

Pictures of the kids

2009-04-27T13:30:00.001-07:00

My favorite kids in the whole wide world. Sophi enjoyed holding Bryce on her own for this pic.

Sophi loves sharing her bed with Bryce. She wishes he could sleep with her. I don't think that is ever going to happen, and if it does it won't last for long. Sophi rolls around all over the place when she sleeps. I don't think Bryce could ever endure that.

Sophi doesn't take naps anymore. On some days, it is pretty obvious she needs one, but she will fight me about it and will not go take a nap. I then have to enforce "mommy's brake time". She is to go play on her own and not bug mommy. This is what usually ends up happening. She falls asleep, sometimes on her bed or on the couch. On this day she fell asleep on the floor. She slept for like 2 hrs. there.
You have look close, or else you might think it's Sophia. Lately, Bryce has been trying out new things with his fingers in his mouth. Sophi thinks it's pretty funny that he copied her. He usually just likes to chew on his fingers, I guess we'll just have to wait and see if this habit ends up sticking.

I love this picture because Bryce is watching Sophia so attentively. He really enjoys it when she plays with him and she enjoys teaching him things. Sophia always talks about being a good big sister, and she really is.

I have to call this picture, "what I learned in dance class". She never does any dance moves from her hip hop class, but all of a sudden she started posing like this because that's what her teacher from dance class taught her. I think it is how the dance routine ends. Her little recital is coming soon so I'll have take pictures and see if this is really the only thing that stuck with her from dance class.

Easter & Blessing

2009-04-27T12:58:00.000-07:00

It has been too long since I've updated my blog. We blessed Bryce on Easter Sunday. It was wonderful because so many people from the family where able to come. My parents came from Guatemala, Silvana and Ben came and a large portion of the Dayton family came as well. We even had a few Carrs. It was a really fun weekend. On Friday it was my Dad's birthday and we went to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple. It was so awesome. On Saturday we had our ward's Easter Egg Hunt and on Sunday we had Bryce's blessing. I didn't get a picture of Sophi in her beautiful Easter dress with all the commotion on Sunday morning (I'll have to dress her up again just to take pictures). We did Costa food for lunch, there was really no easier and yummier way to feed so many people coming from out of town. It was delicious. What I didn't realize is that it was easier for me but more work for Brad. Thanks Brad for making it happen.

Sophi had a blast at the Easter Egg Hunt this year. Last year she barely got a couple eggs at the hunt (they're not really hidden, but oh well). Anyway, but this year she totally knew how it was going to work and she was ready. She picked up her eggs as fast as she could. Good job Soph!

Bryce sucks his thumb...

2009-04-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Lately Bryce has become an even better sleeper than before. On Tuesday he went to bed at 6:30 pm slept all the way to 5:00 am, nursed, went back to bed, and continued to sleep until 8:30 am. We have noticed that sometimes he is awake in his bed but he is just sucking his thumb looking at the little animals on his bumper and smiling. This is awesome because he is pretty much holding himself over for me until he is really hungry and then he cries. I love how he makes my life so easy. Last night he slept through the night. (From 8:00 pm to 7:oo am without eating). The problem was that Sophia had a stuffy nose all night long and woke me up like 3 times through the night. So my streak of interrupted sleeping continues. Today I'm taking her to the Dr. because she has been complaining of an earache too along with the stuffy nose. I hope she feels better soon, she gets very grumpy when she is not feeling well. I miss my happy girl.

Sophia singing primary songs & spaghetti song

2009-03-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Bryce's Baby Faces

2009-03-16T15:46:00.001-07:00

1st day of Preschool

2009-03-12T12:45:00.001-07:00

It has been a few weeks since Sophia started going to preschool. The first day she was the first one to go into her class sit down and play while the rest of the kids came in. She was more than ready to be there, most of the other kids cried and didn't want their mom to leave. I think Primary really helped her prepare for this. It is just a once a week preschool class, but she loves it and wishes she could go more often. To make up for that, I have started doing "mommy preschool" with her. We have lots of fun doing art projects and crafts. I try to do some actual "teaching", but she gets a little annoyed with me. The good news is, she has learned how to write some letters and at least it has sparked her interest in writing.

Double Appointment Day

2009-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

--------------------------------------- Goofy kids ------------------------------------------

Today we had Dr. appointments for both kids. Sophia weighed 3o lbs. and measured 37 in. She is in the 50 th percentile for both weight and height. She was a great patient, she stood still when she had to and took deep breaths when the Dr. asked her to. Bryce weighed 12 lbs 5 oz measured 22.75 in. He is also in the 50 th percentile for both weight and height. His head circumference is in the 40 th percentile. All in all, both kids are growing up well and looking very healthy. Poor little Bryce started his shots today he has been a little sad today. :(

Growing up too fast!!!

2009-02-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Bryce is 2 months old today. Tomorrow he has a Dr.'s appointment so I don't know his measurements yet. I just wanted to post some pictures because he is just growing up too fast. I wish I could push the slow motion button so I can have time to take it all in. Bryce has a very sweet smile and he just started cooing back when you talk to him. He likes his naps, and if he is kept awake for too long he gets mad. He really likes sleeping in his bed and he absolutely hates the car seat. What's new in our family? Sophia hated the car seat too. Bryce doesn't take a binky very well, and he does not use his fingers either. Sometimes he'll try sucking on his fist but not enough to soothe himself. Usually when he is grouchy it means he is tired or hungry. He is very easy to please which makes him a super chill baby. We all love you soo much Bryce!

Kid Tag

2009-02-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

Name and Meaning: Sophia - "Knowledge"
Age: 3
Nicknames: Sophie, Soph
Favorite Activities: Watching TV (favorite shows right now: Max & Ruby, Disney Movies); Coloring with markers, making crafts, dancing, doing "cool tricks", making people laugh, being a "traviesa"
Favorite Foods: She loves most fruits and vegetables, she'll eat them first on her plate (her favorites include: broccoli, apples, oranges, pineapple, green beans); she loves desserts and treats that have chocolate, she loves her Costa Vida quesadillas and the tortilla soup with the crunchy strips.
Least Favorite Foods: Won't eat potatoes, corn, mushrooms and spicy things.
Favorite Music: Chris Brown- Forever; Riahana - Disturbia; Jason Mraz- I'm yours
Favorite Toys: A shopping cart her grandparents from Guatemala got her for Christmas. She pushes it all over the house filling it up with anything she can find.
Favorite Books: Green Eggs & Ham, Charlie & Lola Books
Favorite Item of Clothing: She loves her black shiny shoes that are supposed to be only for church. She wants to wear them everywhere because they have jewels on them.
What makes her happy: When daddy is home; her favorite blankies (blanco and twinkle, twinkle little star) especially right after they've been washed, playing with other kids
What makes her sad: When daddy is not home, when someone she loves gets hurt
Funny words or phrases: "Actually ..." ; "Mommy can you do me a favor?"

Bryce's First Dr. Visit

2009-02-10T16:13:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Bryce woke up with a goopy eye. His eye was super goopy but it didn't look red at all. We watched him all day and kept cleaning it, but as the day went on it was not getting better. In the evening I called the pediatrician's office and spoke with the nurse. She told us it sounded like an eye infection and recommended that we bring him in. The pediatrician's office was flooded with sick kids. Luckily, Brad was off work yesterday and he was able to stay with the kids in the car while I waited inside for our turn. Bryce got weighed and he weighed 11 lb 14 oz. (In 6 weeks he has gained 4 pounds). The Dr. determined he did have an eye infection (Pink Eye) and gave us a prescription for antibiotic eye drops. Since it is super contagious the Dr. was nice enough to allow 1 refill of the prescription in case somebody else got it. Sure enough, I woke up with a nasty eye this morning. So, now we're both using the medicine, but we're both doing much much better. Poor baby, it was really sad to see him with a sick eye. :(

P.S. - Today I learned that we're related to some princesses, Sophia says, "There's Snow White Dayton, Ariel Dayton, Cinderella Dayton, Sleeping Beauty Dayton and Jasmine Dayton." :)

Tagged!

2009-02-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged. answer with one word. ready.... set.... go!
1. Where is your phone? Upstairs
2. Where is your significant other? Church
3 .Your hair color? Brown
4. Your Mother? guatemala
5. Your Father? guatemala
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? House
9. The room you're in? Kitchen
10. Your hobby? Photoshop
11. Your fear? death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
13. Where were you last night? Park
14. What you're not? Crazy
15. One of your wish-list items? Car
16. Love Someone? Brad
17. The last thing you ate? Chicken
18. What are you wearing? Jeans
19. Your TV? Off
20. Your pet? none
21. Your computer? Mac
22. Your mood? Chill
23. Missing someone? notyet
24. Your car? maxima
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Costco
27. Your Summer? Hot
28. Where did you grow up? Guatemala
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? December
32. Something you crave? Chocolate
33. Why you blog? Share

I tag Vanessa, Mercedes, Jackie, Silvana and anyone else who wants to do it!

Bryce's Birth Announcement

2009-01-31T19:49:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

2009-01-12T18:58:00.000-08:00

Birth Story- Sophia came to wake me up at 1:30 a.m saying her pull-up was wet. I got up and felt like I wet my pants so I thought I was possibly getting incontinence problems due to the pregnancy because I really needed to go to the bathroom. While I was helping Sophia put on a clean pull-up, I had the same "problem" and then I started suspecting my water had broke. I woke up Brad and told him I thought my water had broke, but he didn't really believe me. He got up anyway and helped me pack my hospital bag. I was feeling any contractions and I was super tired; the last thing I wanted at that time was to have a baby that day. After we packed my bag, I put Sophia back in her bed and Brad and I went back to bed. While trying to fall asleep again, I started feeling contractions. Some were really strong some were really soft. They weren't very regular, but they wouldn't let me go back to sleep, so I told Brad to wake up and get ready to go just in case. This was at 3:30 a.m. Brad had gone to bed at 12:45 a.m. that night, so he was exhausted. I went downstairs and had a snack while I waited for my contractions to get more regular. They didn't get any more regular and we kept waiting and waiting until I was getting annoyed that they were getting very painful. I was so tired and I just wanted to get some drugs so I could go back to sleep! Brad was falling asleep as we waited and when I would tell him to call the doctor, he kept telling me to wait for another contraction to come... this happened several times until I started turning into the stereotypical angry lady in labor that we see in movies. We got to the hospital and it did not go smoothly at all. From getting a really painful contraction as I walked into the hospital to having to sit down and answer the registration paperwork questions as I was getting contractions. Finally when the nurse checked my cervix to see how dilated I was, I was already at a 7. (this was 5:30 a.m.). That's when Brad finally believed me that I was really in labor. After that things moved really fast, the nurses were running like crazy getting everything ready for the baby. I couldn't believe we were going to have a baby any time soon!! I got an epidural this time and it was so easy. It all happened so fast and everything just felt soooo easy I couldn't believe it. Bryce was born at 8:37 a.m. After he was born I told Brad, "If this is childbirth I could have 10 of these". In his short life-span Bryce has already taught me an important life lesson: Things that are "supposed" to be hard can actually be easy.... relax.. take it easy.

Finally some time to post!!! (Sophia's Birthday)

2009-01-12T18:14:00.000-08:00

December 18, 2008 - Sophia turned 3!!! We had a princess party. Sophia is really into princesses right now, so I had to do a princess party theme. I was planning on doing something simple, but her aunt Jessica has some really good cake decorating/cooking skills, that everything turned out much nicer than I could have imagined. Even Silvana flew from Utah to make it to the party. We had a Cinderella cake (her favorite princess) and cupckaes. Jessica made and decorated some really cool cookie wands that we used as prizes when we played hot potato. I found some candy jewlery and other princess-type goodie bag stuffers at the dollar store. I wanted to make crowns for her guests to wear, but I ran out of time, so I went to Burger King and they were really nice to let me have some crowns that I just decorated with girly stickers. Our guests included Isaak's family and The Schenks. Sophia had a great time and so did the kids.

Halloween

2008-11-16T13:09:00.001-08:00

Better late than never. Halloween was an interesting experience. I think Sophia enjoyed the whole anticipation of Halloween and getting ready for it than the actual experience of going out trick-or-treating. She absolutely loved getting ready in her costume. She got the whole princess treatment: hair, nails and makeup. I could not believe how happy it made her when I told her she had permission to wear mommy's makeup. We kept it at blush and lipstick, but she was loving it (she even picked out the lip color she wanted to wear). Sophia was terrified of the Halloween decorations in some houses... she would seriously freak out. Luckily some people didn't go crazy with their decorations, so she did get some candy. I'm glad she has her cousin Isaak close-by because she is crazy about him. She was so excited to go out and get candy with him and luckily he was not scared at all so that helped her a bit. Oh, and I almost forgot. Half-way through the night she said her shoes were hurting her, so Daddy had to carry her from house to house. Talk about the royal treatment. Well, we hope next year will be better. It was fun to dress up and I think I already have some ideas for Brad and I for next year.

Technology Girl

2008-10-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last year for Christmas Sophia got a video game that has a computer keyboard and mouse. I think it is called my first computer or something like that. Anyway, until recently she's been getting better at understanding how the mouse works (moving the little arrow over what you want and then clicking). In the last few days she discovered that the laptop has a little arrow too. I think she even found that using her finger instead of having to move a mouse around is actually easier. Well, now she's gotten really good at using the computer and she knows where to click to look at pictures (iphoto) and the computer camera (photobooth). I had to post this because I didn't know she knew these things until today when I found her laughing and I heard the photobooth camera going off. Here are some pictures she took of herself.

Utah Vacation

2008-10-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

At the end of September we finally made the long drive back to Orem, UT. It had been over a year since we've been back. I think we were scarred from the long drive when we first moved down to Arizona. It was not pleasant at all: Us three in the truck cabin, Sophia being much younger and screaming most of the way, the truck not being able to go past 65 mph, etc. Needless to say, this time around the trip was much more pleasant. We had a blast visiting with all the family in Utah. Sophia seemed to forget she needed mommy 24-7. All of a sudden she was little Miss. Independent that went off on her own and I had to search around the house to find her. We also got to meet baby Jack (that was Sophia's favorite part). Sophia also got to enjoy some time with her cousin Samuel. Brad got to play tennis with the family and basketball with his friends. I got to go to the MTC and send Nacho off on his mission and I also happened to celebrate my 26th birthday.

A typical day at home

2008-10-02T22:37:00.001-07:00

Some of Sophia's favorite activities include coloring and playing pretend games. Every single day she has to color and she really likes it when I sit down to color with her. On days I can't sit down to color with her she'll follow me around the house with her crayons and book just so she can at least be in the same room with me while she colors.

Here she was pretending to be a king. She kept getting frustrated that her "cape" wouldn't stay on, so I helped her by tying it for her. The king was going on a parade that's why he had his maracas.

I found this Costa Vida apron in our house so I washed it with our laundry. Sophia found it while I was folding the laundry and recognized it was from "daddy's work". She said she wanted to go to work too, so she asked me to help her put it on.

It is always fun when we can play silly games together and enjoy each others company. Sophia has grown up so much. I see her more as my little friend and helper than as my baby girl now. This just makes me more excited about our baby that's on the way; he just better be ready to have 2 mommies.

5 and a half months pregnant!!!

2008-09-30T15:10:00.001-07:00

In case you're wondering what the belly is looking like here's a picture. I took this picture about 2 weeks ago and I already know my belly is bigger than that now. I'll continue to take more pictures throughout the rest of the pregnancy. I still go to the spinning classes, they have helped with my hip and back pain (this really makes a difference, especially sleeping at night). The belly is starting to get a little more in the way when I cycle, but no too bad.. hopefully I'll be able to do it at least for 1 more month (7 mo. total) and I'll make my goal!

I got tagged

2008-09-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Finally I understand what "getting tagged" means...

First one:Post these rules on your blog.
List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself.
Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 Joys
1. Being a Mom
2. Family outings with Brad & Sophia - Even if it's just going out for ice cream it's always fun.
3. Finding a great deal on something I need/want

3 Fears
1. Sophia getting seriously injured or getting a life-threatening sickness.
2. Earthquakes.
3. Obama becoming President

3 Goals
1. Buy a home
2. Keep doing cycling class through at least 7 mo. of pregnancy
3. Become less of a worrier.

3 Obsessions/collections
1. Cycling
2. Cooking
3. Technology - I love my laptop & Tivo.

Facts About Me
1. I've lived in America for almost 9 years and I still get super nervous about praying in English.
2. I love going to Toys-R-Us. (By myself)
3. I don't like to drive.

Second one:Rules:Each player answers the questions themselves.At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.

Ten years ago…
1. I was having to live away from home
2. I was a size 1 and still thought I was fat - (Amen Amy!)
3. I was turning 16 this month
4. I was waking up at 4:30 am to get ready for School & Seminary that started at 5:30 am.
5. My lowest grades were always from PE class (sad!)

Five things on today’s “to do” list…
1. Laundry
2. Clean my house
3. Get a gel seat for cycling class - (I soo need one! The first 10 min. of class are torture!)
4. Make a things-to-do-before-we-leave-to-Utah List
5. Eat something Guatemalan b/c today is Guatemala's Independence Day!! (Sept. 15)

Five snacks I enjoy…
1. Strawberry popsicles
2. 1/2 bagel with cream cheese
3. Wheat thins with cottage cheese
4. Bananas
5. chips: doritos, ruffles, etc. (I'm trying to avoid these for now)

Five things I would do if I was a millionaire...
1. Buy my dream house and pay someone to decorate it.
2. Have a personal stylist to shop for me.
3. Buy a vacation home in Guatemala.
4. Start my own non-profit organization (aiding children in Guatemala)
5. Get a cleaning lady

Five places I have lived
1. Orem, UT
2. Provo, UT
3. Guatemala City, GUA
4. Veracruz, MEX
5. Gilbert, AZ

The 5 people I tag are: Silvana Bishop, Karin Fisher, Megan Mejia, Andrea Priest, Debora Mijangos. Maybe you all have better things to do :) but it's kinda fun/hard to answer all these questions about yourself.

My mini-me

2008-09-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

I've barely passed the half-way mark for this pregnancy. Luckily, I feel great even though the pounds keep on coming. I have to admit the belly is starting to make it harder to keep up with Sophie and it interferes with some of the games she likes to play (like I can't do somersaults with her anymore). Sometimes we will be playing and I tell her "Hold on, I need to rest for a second" and I sit down on the couch. And when Brad's home I usually ask for a foot massage at the end of the day. All of this I do without really thinking too much about it, but Sophie pays complete attention to it. When she wants to delay doing something she says, "hold on, I need to rest for second" and she goes and sits on the couch. And yes, she does... she goes to cuddle with Daddy and she asks for a foot massage. Sophia makes me laugh every day. I can't imagine what else she's going to get from me as this pregnancy progresses and I keep getting bigger.

Ultrasound Pictures (20 weeks)

2008-09-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here you can see the baby's profile and he is sucking his thumb.

When the technician first put the ultrasound instrument on my belly, this was the first image she got. This baby was very determined to let us know he is a boy.

This one is a picture of the baby's profile. It is a little zoomed in, but you can see a little fist close to his mouth and on the side something that looks like an ear.

California

2008-09-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

At the end of July Grandma & Grandpa, that live in Guatemala came to visit us here in Arizona. It didn't take too long for Sophia to warm up to them. We went to the pool a few times and did some shopping. After a few days here in Arizona we all headed to California for a fun weekend that included going to Disneyland and the beach. I don't think Disneyland was "the happiest place on Earth" for Sophia, but she had an unforgettable time. Her favorite ride was Autopia, she rode with Daddy and she got to drive all by herself. I'm kinda bummed I wasn't able to get a picture of her driving, but she had the biggest smile on her face as she steered the car through a bumpy ride. She had mixed feelings about some rides like Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. She hated some parts of it and loved some parts of it. She absolutely hated Finding Nemo, Parades and the fireworks show. I think Sophia's favorite part of the trip was meeting new friends. My cousin Karin, that lives in California, let us stay at her house. She has 3 kids, (Kiera who is 5, Mason 3, and Savannah 15 mo. aprox.) Sophia loved playing with them and being around them. One of the days, we all went to the beach together. Sophia didn't like the water so much, but really liked playing in the cool sand.

Princess Academy Pictures

2008-07-03T09:25:00.001-07:00

Princess Academy

2008-07-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Sophia got an invitation to attend Princess Academy this week. Holly, a 13 year-old girl in our ward, loves little kids and she is just starting her little babysitting business. I asked Sophia if she wanted to go and since she knows Holly, she was was very excited to go. She even told me that when she went to Princess Academy I had to say, "Bye Sophia, see you later!" (Pretty much kicking me out of the fun). So, this morning she went to Princess Academy for two hours. Sophia had a blast. She got her hair done and nails done. She even got to keep a necklace and a crown she made. The best part of all of it, they even took pictures of all the things they did.

I guess we're all basketball fans...

2008-05-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

I don't think a lot of people know this but I'm [Cynthia] a big Suns fan. Back when the Suns were still in the playoffs and Brad was working on those nights, I ended up watching the games at home by myself. I least that's what I thought. Anyway, yesterday after Sophia took her bath she asked to watch TV. As I flipped through the channels to find a cartoon I stumbled upon a playoff game. Sophia shouted "Go back Mom, that's my show!" At first I was a little confused and then I realized she was referring to the basketball game. I quickly flipped back to the game and these are some of the things she said: "Guys, don't let him, don't let him!"; "Come on guys, you can do it!" ; "Go Suns!" She is quite the imitator. I'm just glad I'm not the type of person that gets too involved in the games where they resort to cursing at the TV. Can you imagine? I probably wouldn't be sharing this with you!

Sophia

2008-05-24T17:10:00.001-07:00

We have a blog!

2008-05-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

For a while I've been wanting to create a blog for our family, but since it was something new to me I just felt I didn't have time to figure it out. Today, Brad really pushed me to do it. I like being able to look at friend's blog and be able to "catch up" with them just by logging in and reading what they're up to. I really hope all of you feel the same way when you check out our blog.