It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Decorating this year was so great! We loved being able to decorate the tree with the girls. This year we were even able to put up ornaments that Carla had made the previous year. I have always wanted to have a homemade tree. As in, most, if not all of the ornaments were made by someone in the family-except for the special occasion ornaments, such as Baby's First Christmas, etc. The girls, especially Carla, LOVED decorating the Christmas Tree. (Yes, that is a fireplace on my TV.) She keeps calling it her Christmas. As in, don't touch her Christmas or else! It is so sweet. There were a lot of projects that I wanted to do for Christmas this year, but in the end, none of them got done. Oh well, next year perhaps. Although who knows if life with three will let me get projects done then either.

Birth and 6 Month Comparison

It is amazing how different 2 sister can be! I was just thinking about them and decided to do a quick comparison. Here is Elizabeth at 1 day...

Here is Carla at 1 day...

Here is Elizabeth at 6 months...

Here is Carla at 6 months...

Wow are they ever so different! Carla was a string bean, then she exploded! Poose was a chunky monkey at birth and then thinned out! Crazy crazy!

Carla turned 3!!!

Yup my big girl! It is funny that she turned 3 because if your ask her how old she is she will tell you that she is 6! Crazy girl! She really acts like she is going on 6 though. She is so smart, kind, goofy and lovable. All of the pictures that we take of her she is making some sort of funny face. I love it most of the time. ;) This was her first year having a friend party at the house. She LOVED it! The children came over. Of course, we served dinner, I wonder what it would be like to only do snacks at a party, I made turkey, rice and beans.

We love them rice and beans, maybe because we are hispanic! Ella, Eliza, Justine, Owen, Eli, Baylee, and Taylor all came to celebrate with her. We played pin the tail on the donkey,

broke the pinata,

and then she opened her presents with her friends.

All of the children were super excited and she loved everything that she got. Especially her fairy wings.

She still won't put on the skirt that goes with it (she does NOT like dress up) but I have coax her to take her wings off before bed or whenever we have to get in the car.

She is such a girly girl. I love it! Every morning she takes me to the bathroom and picks out her hair bow for the day. Then she goes and finds her little brush, and brings it to me so that I can do her hair. She loves makeup and jewelry. Both of which she will be getting for Christmas because she keeps loosing mine! But shhhh, don't tell her! She loves to read. It is punishment for her to only read 3 or 4 books before bed, we usually spend at LEAST a half hour or so reading before nap and bedtime, and still during the day we read. I am so glad that she loves to read so much. She is a really good big sister. If Poose is crying she finds her binky and puts it in her mouth so she'll stop crying, then she'll rub her back and say, "It's okay sweetheart, it's okay." Adorable!

She loves to say prayers! They are sweet, innocent, and short, and usually consist of things that she is grateful for. I need to take some lessons from her! She loves to read the Book of Mormon and her favorite story is about the "fruta" with in English means fruit, Lehi's dream of the tree of life. We have learned about thousands of different applications for the message in Lehi's Vision. She is very independent. She can get dressed all by herself, shoes, socks, everything! She turns the car on, the climbs in her seat and buckles herself in. She does not like any help! It amazes me all that she can do.

Her hero of course is me...NOT! She loves her daddy. He is the love of her life. She always wants him close to her. In the morning when she wakes up, if I get her out of her room she always has to snuggle with daddy. She goes to our bedroom door and says, "I need daddy to snuggle me." So sweet!

This is Carla waiting oh so patiently for daddy to come home. She sat there for almost a half hour until he finally came home. One time, he left to take the missionaries home. I was in the bathroom, when all of the sudden I heard screaming and the door open. I ran outside chasing after her, she was chasing the car down the street. Thankfully Zach saw her and stopped. She is a blessing in our life. I don't know what I would do without my big little lady. I love you Carla!!

Your hair! Your beautiful hair!!!

Yes, Carla did the unthinkable. She got scissors and while she was supposed to be napping, she cut off her hair! Her beautiful brown, beach curly hair! Oh I'm sure it hurt me more than it did her. I ended up cutting her hair. It was her first haircut and she loved it! I guess 2 1/2 years before her first haircut is a pretty long time, but hey, I love her hair. She loves her hair short. Slowly but surely it is growing out. I part her hair down the middle a lot to try to hide the huge patch of stubby hair on the side of her head. Children will be children right?!

Anniversary and California

Our anniversary was spent driving to California. The End.

In California however we had so much fun! Too much probably, we didn't want to come home. We stayed with my little bro and his wife, Abi and Diana. Whom we are eternally indebted to. They payed for our gas to go up there and let us stay with them. We (Abi, Diana, Saria and Patrick-sister and bro in law, Zach and I) went out for hibachi our first night there. They sang to us, and Abi and Diana and took our pictures because we were all celebrating our anniversaries. It was amazing! We even got to wear Pikachu hats!! We spent a lot of time at the swimming pool at Abi's place and just hung out. We went to the beach, and yes, that is a HUGE snake around my neck, yes again, I am holding my 8 month old daughter.

The snake even crawled around her neck! EWWWWW!!! What was I thinking!?!?! Oh well, it was a great memory! The other girly is my niece, Noemi, who was excited to have the snake around her. Apparently she loves snakes. Crazy head! I loved being there with my family. I realized how much I really miss my siblings. It was great to be there with them.

Zach graduated!!

Zach also graduated! He didn't walk, he didn't want to take away from my moment of glory. So sweet! He got his AS in Integrated Studies. I'm so proud of him. When he graduated he had the same level of education as his dad, and the only child to graduate from college. I'm so so so amazed at all that he has been able to accomplish. Now he is getting ready to start grad school in March! So for him, I got him a cake and we broke a pinata! It was so much fun.I love you baby!

I graduated!!

I know it is totally overdue, I actually graduated in May, but eh, life happens. So I graduated with my BA major in Spanish (Translation and Interpretation- emphasis in medical and business). I was so bummed because I was .02 points away from graduating with honors. Oh well. I took 19 credits with Poose being a newborn. Zach dropped down to working part-time and I studied...a lot! Finally in May, I did it! I am now officially done! I want to do something with my degree, and if I find a job from home, that pays exceptionally well I might consider it, but at this point in my life, my greatest job is taking care of my girls. Their smiles, hugs, and kisses are the best payment I could ever receive. I am the wealthiest person in the world. Back to graduation... Zach threw me a little party and it was fabulous! My graduation present from him... a CLASS RING!! I have always wanted one. I don't have one from when I graduated High School, and I have always wanted one. So he bought me a beautiful graduation ring. He gave it to me at the party. I am so blessed to have him as my husband, he does so many little things for me that mean so much to me. Oh yes, and the cake.. grrr... yeah, they spelled congratulations wrong!! What the gravy??!!?? I fixed it with icing but come on! A graduation from college cake and you can't even spell Congratulations?? Good old Wal-Mart. Blah!

Poose turned 1...a few months ago...

Oops. I know it has been a while since she turned 1, but I want to write about my little angel.

Her Birthday-
We went to the zoo, which she and her sister both love to do. In the afternoon was her party. Let me tell you, it was a PAR-TAY! We had a balloon artist who also does magic tricks come. She loves balloons so we thought that would be perfect! Zach and I made Salvadorean Tamales, rice, beans, salad, and for dessert... a chocolate fountain and cake! I know, I know, we really went all out. But hey, we weren't just celebrating that she turned one, but that we made it a whole year with two children. That IS something to celebrate! Back to my baby. She loved the food, and especially the cake! It was so much fun to see her interacting with her cake. At first she didn't want to touch it. But as soon as she figured out what it was she ate the ENTIRE piece! It was great. She wasn't too sure about her pinata either, she'll learn though. Oh yes, and I also made her dress and matching hair bow!

Her Person-

She is growing up so fast! She is walking...well running! She LOVES to laugh, especially at her sister, or is it with her sister??I guess it doesn't really matter, all I know is that she laughs and that her laugh makes me smile. She is starting to talk more. Her favorite word is "no," of course she probably learned it from her sister...or me. She folds her arms when we pray, as the matter of fact, a couple days ago she said her first prayer! I didn't understand it, but she folded her arms, closed her eyes, and started babbling, then she said, "amen" and opened her eyes. I am blessed to have her in my life. She makes me so happy. She is definitely a cuddler, and I love it! She will walk over to me, sit on my lap and lay her head down on my chest. It is so sweet! She still prefers to be held over walking. She may be spoiled, but oh I love her snuggling with me! She LOVES to nurse. I finally weaned her about 2 weeks ago, and she STILL asks for it. Not with words, but she will get a pillow, put it on my lap and lay down, yeah little lady I can take a hint. Sorry but the answer is "no." She loves her daddy also. When she sees him, she squeals and starts running to him and gives him a great big hug. It just melts your heart.

Life as we know it.

I love Iowa for so many reasons. We have felt right at home. As I was stating in my last post, Poose has started to walk, but the silly girl will only take 5-7 steps then sit down. She will take a couple steps, stop, look around, take a few more, stop, look around, then another, then sit down. Yeah, I think she is just too lazy to walk. Just like she still is not talking. Crazy girl. She either squeals, yells, or simply shakes her head. She loves to be outside, and amazingly enough she loves to crawl up the slide, then slide back down, and yes, she goes up the stairs on the slide by herself. Seems to me like I have another daredevil on my hands. She is such a sweet girl though. She will crawl over, put her head down on my lap, shoulder, arm, or head. Snuggle in for about oh, 2 or 3 seconds, then go play. A couple minutes later, she returns for another short lived but sweet snuggle. Oh yes, one thing that she does say is "Hi Mama!" Yes, TWO words. She probably thinks they are one though.
Zach got her up from bed one morning, and when they came into the room, she squealed and said, "Hi mama!" I thought it was Carla because she said it as clear and day. I turned to look and it was my little pumpkin! I couldn't believe it! Zach couldn't either! She is growing up so stinking fast. Grrr! I don't like it. I am so guilty of not taking advantage of every moment, every second soaking up her giggles, smiles, laughs, cries, and times of sheer contentment. I try look look at her, examine her as much as I can every day so that I can commit her perfect little self to memory. A memory so ingrained in my mind that even when I'm 102 I'll be able to think back and see her as clearly as I see her today. I love my little baby more than words can express. Poose, you are so dear to my heart sweetheart. Know that you and your sister are my greatest treasure.

I will be better....

I can't believe it has been so difficult for me to blog/ write in my journal. I will be so much better. I have had so many blessings in my life in these last 3 months in Iowa that it would be very ungrateful for me to not document them for my posterity. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have so many wonderful experiences with my family and loved ones. So much has happened here. Poose had her 1 year birthday palooza, a new niece was born (Stella), Carla loves nursery, we have made lifelong friends, Poose is starting to walk, etc... Details on these events are to come!

Our new home!

We made it to Iowa. Boy oh boy was it a lot of drama to get here too! So we had everything ready to come, the U-Haul was reserved and the tow dolly. Then Tamara called and asked if her brother could come with us. We were thrilled because that way we would not need the tow dolly because Jesse could drive one of the cars. Everything was going great. It is now been almost three months since I started this post, so to recap. Jesse couldn't come because his dad had a 2 day long heart attack. The day before we left we packed up the truck, then unpacked it because we had too much stuff and couldn't bring it all, then packed it again. We drove out here, it took us three days. I left my wallet at a gas station. About an hour later we got a call from Mountain America Credit Union. Some NICE man found my wallet on the ground, called the customer service number on the back of my debit card, and they called me to give me his number so we could meet. We met, and I was eternally grateful to have my wallet back, but sadly someone stole over $200 cash from it. Count your losses though, right? Now, here we are three months later and loving it!!

Am I crafty enough?

Thinking about doing an Etsy site. If you saw these, would you buy them? If so, which ones?

Not my children!

Picture this. Zach in the bathroom (don't picture this), hearing Carla saying, "Ouch, ouch, nose, ouch." Then she starts crying, "Stuck, owie, stuck nose, help, ayuda porfavor!" Zach finishes up (don't picture), goes into her room and she is in her crib saying that her nose hurts. Zach thinks, oh maybe she just has a booger stuck up her nose. So he has her blow her nose, and lo and behold, a bead comes out of each one of her nostrils! Gross!!!! One of them was even bloody. What in the world posses children to stick things up their nose?? I don't understand. But then again, some grown ups have a fascination with sticking their fingers up their nose. Sorry no picture of either scenario.

Book of Mormon Stories is...

Carla's new favorite song. We sing it all day long, especially before bedtime and naptime, and of course every Family Home Evening- along with Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam. It is so stinking cute! What a cutie pie.

That is "kitty" doing Book of Mormon Stories with her. Kitty is Carla's best friend. He does everything with her. She got Kitty from Grandma Roberts for her 1 year birthday and she is still in love with him.

The move...

So about 4 months ago, on a nice Friday afternoon, Zach comes home from work. It was great to see him. Then we all went as a family to Wendy's for a bite to eat. He looked a bit pensive, so I asked him what he was thinking. He then asked me a question, "Could you see me as a chiropractor?" My response, "Why are you asking?" His states, "I think I want to be a chiropractor." In shock I say, "WHAT?!? You have wanted to be an orthodontist since you were 3! Are you sure this is what you want to do?" He very seriously says, "Yes, it is." So I call my brother who is at Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, Iowa. I tell him what we are thinking. I sent him Zach's transcript via e-mail, he takes it in that day to the admissions guy. Monday we get an e-mail that everything is a go for him to start in November. Wait what!!! NOVEMBER!! Yup, that was what he said. So we sent official transcript, filled out other paperwork and got started on finding a place to live, etc...

A couple days later, Tamara, my friend and sister in law, called that she found us a place to live. Lo and behold everything went through and now we are moving into a town home that is 1700 sq. feet and we are only going to pay $620 a month! Amazing, absolutely amazing! After some drama here and there, we decided to still move for July 1st but not start the program until March. Zach has to take a couple classes at the community college there before he can start school and so instead of him starting the classes July 11, he isn't going to start until Fall semester. It will be nice so that we have some time as a family before the craziness of grad school starts, especially since he has been going year round for the past 3 years. So to make things short, we leave for Iowa on Wednesday and hope to be there on Thursday.

This is what my house is looking like now.

Yes, Carla is watching Blue's Clues. I regret ever putting it on for her. That is all she wants to watch, and because I'm packing like a mad person, she watches TV. Yes I know I'm not sticking to my TV rule (TV watching only on Sat and Sun). Oh well. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I 'm so excited to move though!! We'll get to be 5 min away from Jorge and Tamara and the kids. It will be so great to have Carla so close to cousins. Tamara, who was my friend before she was my brother's wife is super crafty, like me! YAY!!! A crafting partner, finally! So Zach baby, thanks for turning my world upside down!

Sister Bath in the

Kitchen Sink??? Yup, they are in the kitchen sink taking baths. I first put the baby in, not uncommon, because she needed a bath and Carla was eating lunch, and I didn't want to leave either of them alone. So I put the baby in the sink. Then, Carla was adamant that she wanted to join in the fun, so she finished eating her lunch and went in the other sink. They make me laugh.

Sincere Prayers...

So, lately Carla has started to say "real" prayers. She has been asking for what she really wants and needs, and being grateful for real things. She just makes my heart melt. Some the the things that she has included in her prayers are as follows:

Please mommy so Carla Winnie Pooh poop

Translation: Please let mommy let me watch Winnie the Pooh

Bless Daddy homework

Translation: Bless Daddy at school and at work whichever one he is at

Thank you toes

Translation: Thank you for my toes

Please Singa mimis, mommy mimis, daddy mimis, Carla mimis

Translation: Please bless each one of us that we can go to sleep (mimis)

Please Bita and Wito come here

Translation: Please let Grandma and Grandpa Barrientos come see me

These are some of her please and thank yous. Goodness she is smart! It also got me to thinking. She really prays for what she wants, even though she is so young, she understands that Heavenly Father is listening to her and cares about the simple things. Do I have that kind of faith? Do I pray for the small things that concern me, or just for those life altering decisions that need to be made? Carla tells Heavenly Father EVERYTHING she does during the day, that we went outside to play, that she had eggs for breakfast, that she played with her toys, why don't I? She has such a sweet, innocent, and sincere relationship with her Father in Heaven. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to see why the Lord said to become like a little child. Their relationship with Father is sincere and simple. Something I need to work on. Thank you for your wonderful example mi hija!