Milestones

Halloween

2009-10-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

This year Mayah decided to be the princess on the movie "Ever After". If you haven't seen it, here is Drew Barrymore in the movie:

My mom was in town for Mayah's baptism, so she helped me think through what the dress would look like and she ended up doing a lot of the work on sewing it as well. I did most of the finishing touches and added some jewels/decorum, and gathered up her accessories. Clint got some industrial wire and engineered the wings. Together we added the material and decoration to make the wings pretty.

Here is Mayah's outfit as it turned out...

Here she is walking into the gym...

...she got a lot of compliments, but most importantly she felt great about it. There was a parade at her school for all the kids to show off their costumes. They came out by grade level and classroom. When Mayah's class came out, all the other kids had entered the gym before this extended pause, and then Mayah made this grand entrance as the last kid in her class, sporting the biggest ear to ear grin, and the sharpest bounce in her step ever. You could tell she thought it was awesome as well. She had to go through all the doors sideways, because of the size of those wings.

Ava was lucky enough to get two costumes this year...a Geisha for Friday's festivities and a Genie for Trick or Treating. We determined the Genie was easier because it required less make-up (and sitting still).

Ava has started to make a number of cute little friends her age. Tonight she got to go trick or treating with two of them (Dhevan and Dillon). It was so fun to watch how excited they got. After the first few doors they just tore through our neighborhood knocking doors and taking names later. You'd be amazed by how much candy each of them ended up with.

In all, it was a pretty fun Halloween. Considering we are in Omaha, we couldn't have asked for better weather. It was clear skies, fairly warm and just a perfect environment for Halloween fun.

Mayah's Baptism

2009-10-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Mayah's baptism! It was really fun to see how excited she was. When we woke up, there was snow outside and Ava was all excited for the day and for Mayah's baptism. Grandma Darcy and Grandpa Mike came to visit from St. George so they could attend the baptism, and so did Clint's parents, Rudy and Brenda. Uncle Justin and Aunt Andrea came up from Whitman Air Force Base outside of KC as well.

We weren't sure if some of Mayah's friends were going to be able to make it because they had soccer games. But thanks to the snow, everyone's game was cancelled and Mayah had a bunch of friends come to support her. After the baptism a few people came over to the house to hang out and eat a little bit... It was good having all our friends and family together.

We're proud of Mayah for making this decision and hope she remembers it for the rest of her life.

Boating...

2009-08-30T21:38:00.001-07:00

Today we skipped church and went boating with some friends that work with Clint. Mayah has never really had a day of boating and tubing and all that fun stuff, and Ava was too little last time to really enjoy it... so they were excited all morning leading up to it.

It was a little chilly out today (around 70), but other than that it was a great time. Here are some pictures to sum our time up. As you can see, even Ava got to ride behind the boat...

Jonas Brothers/Jordin Sparks Concert

2009-07-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight, was a night for Mayah to remember. One of her last birthday presents that Clint and I got her were primo tickets to the Jonas Brothers and Jordin Sparks concert. We went out and got her a cute outfit to wear at Justice For Girls, and got me a new one at Urban Outfitters. We were set for the big show. When we got there the crowds were crazy. We saw the Jonas Brothers tour bus and bought a Jordin Sparks t-shirt for Mayah on the way in. She was all fired up for the fun to begin.

Our tickets turned out to be pretty great. As you can see from the pics of Joe Jonas, he was standing right in front of us. We had no idea but all the girls were the most crazy for Nick Jonas, who is kind of the soft nerdy young one. They just screamed like crazy whenever he did anything, and I must admit he was the most talented of the three. It was hard to recognize Jordin when she came out because her hair was up in this crazy bob hairdo, but she did most of her big hits on the radio. We just had a blast dancing and singing next to each other the whole night. It was so hot in there, and we were close enough to get drenched with the bubble machine and some of the water effects...but that's the price you pay for a great time.

Mayah went home with the hugest smile and said it was a night she will never forget. I'm glad we got to go together on this "coming of age" experience for Mayah.

Ava's Birthday Bedroom Makeover!

2009-06-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

When we did Mayah's bedroom for her Birthday we debated on switching the girls bedrooms to make it feel completly new. We ended up not doing it because I was worried that Ava would have a hard time with the change. I thought this because when we moved into this house Ava was feeling really insecure and struggling with the changes. When we were all done with Mayah's room, though, Ava walked in and said with such pleasure and excitement, "This my room Daddy, you make this bed for me daddy...?" It broke my heart to explain to her that it was for Mayah. So we decided that we would take the stuff from Mayah's old room that was still good and use it to redecorate Ava's room like a "big girl's" room for her birthday too. The bedspread that Mayah had was a country flower design, so I thought it would be really cute to have her bed frame made out of a picket fence and continue the garden theme throughout her room. I am lucky that my husband is pretty handy, because all the picket fence bed frames I looked at online were running anywhere from $700 to $1200. We had been planning to do it, but didn't actually get around to putting the fence together and painting it until about midnight the night before her birthday. As you would know if you've ever done construction, there are always problems! We finally got done with everything around 4:00 am, the morning of Ava's birthday. Despite the hurdles (not enough paint, screws were too long, mis-sized wood) I think the room turned out great and Clint did an awesome job on the picket fence! I know that he wasn't too excited about staying up all night to do Ava's room when we had to be up the next day by 7:30, but he did it willingly because he knew it was really important to me and would make Ava happy. Thanks Babe.

Here are some pictures of Ava's new big girl room, and some of Ava when she woke up to find her entirely new bedroom.

Tuck Lovebug Ramos Carlos aka the tiniest turtle

2009-06-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

So the other day, Mayah went to her friend Ashley Johnson's house to play. Her mom had found a tiny little painted turtle out by Lake Zorinsky on the outskirts of Omaha and brought it home to show her kids and maybe keep it as a pet. It was literally the size of a quarter. We can tell she really got into it, because she was telling us all about the type of habitat it needs, the appropriate water level, how to avoid chlorinated H2O in the tank, what it feeds on and how to tell it is a boy (because the underbelly is concave). The Johnsons make an annual trek to Utah each summer to see family and they stay for nearly a month. They are leaving soon and didn't know what to do with the turtle.

After Mayah went to their house, she kept hounding Amie to go to the pet store and find a small turtle she could bring home. In "typical Carlos fashion", we were tough and held out. Then, the tides turned with a single phone call from Ashley's mom, Pat. She called us tonight to say they had reached a crossroad and needed to decide what to do with the turtle. They would either let it go in the wild, or turn it over to Mayah for ownership, since they couldn't take care of it while they were on their trip and couldn't commit to ownership after they returned. Mayah was ecstatic. In "typical Carlos fashion", we were soft and caved in to Mayah's request. So we now have a tiny pet turtle. He kicks some serious butt. We fed him a worm today and although it was about 6 times as long as he is, he absolutely devoured that thing. There were worm gut floaties drifting around in the water afterward. Now he's safe at his new home in a plastic bowl with some rocks, some turtle vitamins and a piece of lettuce. After a dismal search for an aquarium at Wal-Mart (it was the only place open when we got home), we'll resume a search for the proper habitat tomorrow. Petsmart here we come.

We had to go through quite the debate as we chose a name. Mayah had already settled on Mr. Lovebug (with Grandma Brenda's help), before we really started the conversation about a name. Ava happens to love watching WonderPets! so of course we wanted to name him Tuck (it's the funniest thing, if you ask Ava what works, she always says TEAMWORK in a loud energetic voice)... After a 3-1 vote, Mayah lost, but continued to pout. So we gave in. I told her Lovebug could be the last name if Tuck could be the first name. Then she said, well its last name is Ramos (which is Mayah's father's last name). So again we compromised and settled on Tuck Lovebug Ramos Carlos...the tiniest turtle in the world. He's pretty cool looking and Mayah's stoked to have a pet.

Mayah's swim/sleep over 8th b-day party

2009-06-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

This year Mayah decided that she wanted to have a slumber party for her birthday. Clint and I thought it would be fun to take the girls to LifeTime Fitness to swim for a few hours before heading back to our house for the craziness. I think the party turned out great and I am pretty sure all of the girls had a really great time. Mayah said this was her best birthday party to date!

We had all the parents drop the girls off at our house around 4:30. The girls decorated flip flops as they waited for everyone to show up. As you can see from the pictures, the girls had fun giggling as they showed their artistic side through their decorating.

Next we loaded up in two cars and drove to the pool around 5:30, where we played in the water (the girls mostly tortured Clint in the water), went down the slides and played what the girls called "toilet tag" in the grass. Once you get tagged you have to sit with your hand out like a little lever or something and wait for another person to come and "flush you." Once you have been flushed, you can continue to play. At the pool, we ate sandwiches from Mr. Goodcents and just had a good time.

We headed home around 8:00 for Birthday cake (which we hired my friend Jessica to make). It was delicious and adorable... Thanks Jessica!!) While we were eating, Mayah opened all of her presents. After that we did a chocolate fountain and had sparkling cider in fancy little plastic champagne glasses. This was the highlight of the party. When we asked them, each of the girls said the chocolate fountain was their favorite part of the night. Originally, when we had checked the forecast for the day of the party it was predicting thunderstorms and Clint informed me that under no circumstances would we do the chocolate fountain indoors, because when we did this at Christmas time in Cancun with cousin Mia it was a complete mess. I told Clint these were all very mature 8 year old girls and would be able to do this in a clean manor! Luckily for us the weather turned out great and we were able to do the chocolate fountain out on the deck. Clint was right, though, because that chocolate was everywhere! We had to check each of the girls thoroughly for chocolate splatter before entering the house!!!

When we went in the house, we played a game where the girls had to go around the house and find little glow in the dark critters. Whoever collected the most bugs got a little prize. It was fun to watch the girls hunt for bugs around the house in the dark with their flashlights which I had put in party bags for each of them. They would scream with excitement each time they found one. They never did find them all, because we are still finding random critters around the house. Mayah's friend Josie won that game with 31 bugs. Then we had a potato sack race (in sleeping bags) which was pretty entertaining to watch. It was too close to call in the end, with the last two girls racing so close that we had to settle the winner by doing a long jump contest. In the end it was Kyleigh who won that game. Next the girls went down to play a few games of Twister (another present from Gma Brenda).

Finally around 12:00 it was time to wind down with a movie. Mayah, Josie and Kara all fell asleep around 12:40, but there were two girls Halle and Kyleigh who stayed awake until nearly 2:00 am! I was so tired and sooo ready for those girls to pass out. In the morning the girls didn't even let me sleep in on the one night without Ava. On my one chance to sleep in, the girls woke up at 6:00 am!!! We had breakfast at 9:00--pancakes with strawberry's and bananas, eggs, sausage and bacon. Finally the party came to an end at 10:30. It was fun and I know Mayah loved it, but I was so glad it was over! I fell asleep the next night at 7:45 and slept until 9:30 the following morning. I just can't handle late nights like that, like I used to!

Mayah's Birthday Bedroom Makeover

2009-05-31T19:44:00.001-07:00

We've been planning to makeover Mayah's room for some time now. We started collecting decorations and pieces of furniture that fit what we were looking for and had done a good job keeping it under Mayah's radar. Then one day, I asked her to go grab something out of the laundry in our basement. As she walked down the steps I remembered that we had stashed her new bed down there along with a few other decorations. After she came up, she casually mentioned to me that there was a cute pink headboard and footboard in the basement. I quickly looked for an excuse and told her it was for Ava. I wasn't sure if she bought it, but a few weeks later Clint went and got a twin bed for Ava which helped convince Mayah that maybe the stuff she saw was not for her afterall.

Over the past six months, we've fallen in love with this little boutique shop in Omaha's Old Market. It's called "You could, but wood ya?" and is run by this overly friendly (and talkative) lady, Linda. Linda is the owner, operator and artist all in one. She finds old pieces of quality furniture and then paints them to look sort of shabby chic...or antiqued. We bought a little rocking chair, a step stool and a dropleaf table from her a few months ago and told her to keep her eye out for a cute bed and dresser. It came down to the final week before Mayah's birthday, but she finally had all of the pieces we were looking for. My father-in-law was a little skeptical of the dresser when he helped me pick it up yesterday, because at first glance it looks pretty aged. He didn't know what theme we were going for... but when we got it home it fit in just perfectly...and added a lot of character.

I decided to go with black/white/pink and light green for colors, and collected all of the boutique-looking pieces I could find... from shelves to a mirror and picture frames. Grandma Brenda pitched in a really nice blanket, lamp and some silk flowers. We were a little uncertain how Mayah would actually like this new semi-grown up look... but the moment she walked in she absolutely loved it. Ava greeted her at the front door and said, "Mayah, Happy Burfeeday!" and then grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up to Mayah's room.

You can get the rest from the pictures... I don't think any other 8 year old girls will have a room quite like this...at least not with this much character. We sure love Mayah and hope she feels special in her new room!

Wicked

2009-05-11T18:46:00.001-07:00

Mayah and I have been super excited to go see the musical play, Wicked, which my father-in-law was generous enough to buy us tickets for. All week Grandpa Rudy was talking to us asking if we were ready and excited to go see Wicked this last Saturday and getting us both pumped up about it. So Saturday afternoon Mayah and I got all dressed up and headed out to have sushi together at a fun little place in old market downtown called "Blue." We had so much fun laughing together trying to teach Mayah how to use the chopsticks and just talking about how much fun this place is going to be and spending time together!

As we got downtown, parked and headed into the Orpheum theater we were trying so hard to contain our excitement. The usher walked us down to our seats which were sixth row from the front smack dab in the center. Grandpa could not have gotten us better tickets! We had the perfect view of the whole stage. We couldn't stop giggling to each other about our seats. All of a sudden this group of about six people walk down our row and stop right at our seats and look at us with a confused look on their faces and said to me, "I think you may be in the wrong seats..." I looked at them with such confidence and flashed my tickets at them and said, "oh no, I think we're not." They then proceeded to tell us that their tickets were the same seat numbers. Mayah and I started locking our legs around the seats and thinking to ourselves, "We are not moving!". One of the ushers came down to assess the situation and as it turns out, our tickets are actually for May 16th (we had shown up a week early!!!). The confidence in me suddenly vanished as I shrunk in my seat and was too embarrassed to move. As fate would have it I am going to be out of town the weekend of the 16th and will not be able to see the play in those amazing seats! Clint also bought tickets for the two of us to go for a date night on the 23rd. So I will still get to see it, but it wont be with Mayah and it wont be in such primo seats. Mayah will see it with Grandma while Clint and I are in Kansas City. Mayah had to make sure that she laid down the law with Grandma ahead of time, saying, "Grandma is not allowed to talk and comment during the entire play!" She cracks me up! Even though we didn't end up seeing Wicked together, I still enjoyed the time we spent together. Mayah is so much fun to be around. I love her so much!!!

Bye-Bye, Pacifier

2009-04-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

During the month of April all around Omaha different neighborhoods have a weekend set aside for garage sales. This weekend was our neighborhood's. Friday morning my friend Heather and I loaded up Ava and her little boy Dhevan who is the same age as Ava and went looking for a few good finds. I have to say I think I found a really good one too. It was the only thing I bought and it was only $0.25--a book called "Bye-Bye Pacifier". Ava loves this book. We have read it several times to her and you can tell that she fully relates to Piggy about needing that pacifier. On Friday after reading it I asked Ava if she wanted to do as piggy did and say bye-bye to her good friend the paci. I got a definite NO! Then this evening I was talking with Ava about her favorite paci that was completely torn apart, telling her it was ripped and should go in the garbage. With no fight out of her she said "Mommy, I frow it in gabage." I told her if she throws it in the garbage there is no getting it out. She said "OK mommy" and up she went and threw it away. Immediately she ran into her bedroom and said, "I need my blue paci mommy." She found it and was very happy about that. I would say it was an hour later that she tells me she was going to throw her blue paci in the gargbage too. Again I told her if it was in the garbage it was gone forever. "OK mommy"! and up she went again and threw it away. She came down stairs so proud of herself saying "Daddy, I frew my paci in the gabage." We all told her what a big girl she was and how proud we are of her. Later when she went to bed she cried a little saying "I want my paci" when I asked her if she threw it away she said yeah and pretty much accepted that it was gone. She is in bed sleeping now and I am really proud that she did that all on her own without too much fuss about it. We shall see how she does tomorrow.

Dirty Ava...summer is officially here

2009-04-23T21:11:00.001-07:00

Last night we all went to Clint's double-header of softball games. It was opening night for his city league, and I took the girls out and met his mom there to cheer him on and have fun in the sun. It was the first 80 degree weather we've had and we took full advantage, spending all evening at the ballpark.

As you can see, Ava made friends with kids whose dads are on Clint's team, so she will have fun watching most of his games this year. They got so dirty playing in the dirt, so I learned my lesson and will dress her in grubs from now on. We got home and put her in the shower with Clint. Turns out when you add water to dirt, you end up with mud. After Clint handed her out of the shower to me, I had to re-shampoo her head to get all of the mud out, which had been caked in there.

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T21:36:00.001-07:00

OK, so I really don't remember Easter dress shopping being so difficult, but for some reason this year I had the hardest time. And since when does a cardigan cost more than the dress itself?! I can't believe stores can charge $50 for a little girls' cardigan. After returning about a million different dresses, we finally decided to go with a pair of "matchie matchie" dresses and use cardigans the girls already had used before. I was pleased with how cute both girls looked!

We had a pretty good Easter day. My brother Justin and his wife Andrea were able to drive here from their new home in Knob Nauster, MO., to spend the weekend with us. Saturday night they hung out at our house, had a BBQ and made cookies. Ava has never been too good with men and this weekend she finally warmed up to Uncle Justin which might have gotten a little tiresome for him. He could not leave her side, and if he did she would call out her orders for him to come back and sit where she told him. It was cute though and I am sure it made him feel good. Today Ava woke Mayah up pretty early to go downstairs and see what the Easter bunny had left for them and eat peeps for breakfast. After a long morning of getting ready, we finally left for Stake Conference and then went to Grandpa Rudy and Grandma Brenda's house for a yummy dinner and Easter egg hunt with family and friends. It was fun to watch the girls run around searching for eggs. Of course Mayah was a pro and found a ton of eggs, and Ava caught on quick to the concept and was super cute to watch. Ava would let out an "Ahh" with each egg that she spotted. I enjoyed the day and seeing both my girls light up with the excitement of the day. I feel blessed to have been able to spend the day with my brother and sister-in-law, good friends and of course Clint's parents, my husband and two beautiful girls!

As far as pictures go... it was a bit difficult as always to get Ava to cooperate, but to make matters worse it was a cold and somewhat gloomy day so even Mayah was having a hard time being her usual photo-friendly self. Clint did manage to get a few cute moments of the girls, but for the most part Ava was a little stinker when it came to pictures. She frustrates the heck out of me, but that is part of what I love so much about her!

Happy Easter 2009

Viva...Grand Island?

2009-03-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend we packed up the family and did a road trip to Grand Island, Nebraska for a Gymnastics Competition. As you can see from the picture above, it was not the usual sing-a-long in the car, where families play the alphabet game and continually say, "are we there yet?" Mayah, Ava and I fell a sleep the second we got in the car and didn't wake up until our exit in Grand Island. That left Clint with enough time to flip through all 170+ XM channels and recite the dictionary. We got to the dump of a hotel we booked because it was the only one with an indoor pool and close proximity to the Gym. We had a good time hanging out in the pool and hot tub, but there was a team of 12 year old basketball players staying on our hall. They were running the halls, making noise until all hours of the night, when I finally opened our door and hollered a warning down the hall. The kids seemed to settle down after some time, although the parent social hour continued until long after we finally fell asleep. We got up early and headed to Mayah's competition. There were girls from all over the state at around the same level. Mayah competed on the Beam, the Bars, the Vault, and the Floor Routine. She has improved a lot since her first competition a month or so ago. She must have gotten a taste of what competitions are like, and knew she wanted to win...because she's been practicing parts of her routines all over the house, every day. At her level, they do not actually give a numbered score for the girls, or place them (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc). Instead they give them ribbons that signify their proficiency. Blue is the highest level, followed by red, then a few other colors. Last time, Mayah got a blue on the vault, and reds on everything else. This time, she got all blues! They also did a head stand competition, and Mayah placed 4th. We are so proud of Mayah. She came focused, ready to compete, and she was the most graceful, best prepared, naturally gifted, all around little gymnast in that place! I think she has a bright future ahead of her in gymnastics. She better work hard, cause Ava is going to be trying to compete with her before we know it. She is already dying to get out on that floor, as she points and says, "nastics." When Mayah is practicing at home, if she falls down, Ava says, "do over, do over."

Maui

2009-03-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

Clint and I were lucky enough to go on a little vacation to Maui for 8 days with no kids! My in-laws had been offering to send us on a trip since we got married and we finally found the time to take advantage. Clint got my mom a plane ticket to come to Omaha and stay with the girls. It was nice of her to make the trip and also nice for her because she doesn't get to see them very often. I was a little worried about how Ava would do without me, but she did great. I tend to think she needs me a little more than she really does.

We had a really good time together. We had a bunch of activities booked, including a snorkel cruise, a luau, a zipline tour, and cliff jumping. We did some shopping, lots of eating, and drove around most of the island with the top off the Jeep. All that stuff was really great but honestly our favorite thing while we were there was to just lounge on the beach or in the hot tub and read our books with no interruptions from the girls.

You know how you always go on vacation and come home with only pictures of either you or your spouse (never both at the same time), because the other one is behind the camera? Then the few times you ask some stranger to take your picture together, they end up cutting peoples' heads off, or shooting out of focus. We didn't want to take the risk of being disappointed with the pictures we came home with, and decided to hire a photographer to do a little shoot. We're glad we did.

Now as nice as it was to have a break from the girls it was funny how much we talked about them, and how often we said, "aww, Mayah would LOVE doing this..." or "Ava would be having a blast here." I think the best of both worlds would be to take a vacation with the whole family, but arrange for a babysitter some of the time. Turns out you can arrange for that through the concierge or other local services. We'd just have to get past the initial worry of leaving them with a complete stranger.

After 8 days of doing everything imaginable on Maui, we were excited to come home and tell the girls about the whales, dolphins, sea turtles, fish and other wildlife we saw. We both had built up a pretty good tan (which is already fading), and our batteries were charged to get back to our daily lives.

Omaha welcomed us home with its hospitable 9 degree weather.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2009-02-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Mayah was invited by one of her good friends Ashley Johnson, to a daddy-daughter dance that was at the local YMCA. They also invited Mayah's friend Meg and her dad, so the three girls (Ashley, Meg and Mayah) went with their dads to the fancy Valentine's day dance. She and I have been excited about this night for a month. We went out and bought her a new outfit, complete with accessories to help make the night feel that much more special. I even ordered complimentary boutonnieres for Clint and Mayah to wear. Ashley's mom did a great job planning the evening. She had a fancy dinner set up at their house for the couples with a romantic atmosphere: dimmed lights, candles, goblets to drink from and young waiters to serve them (Ashley's 2 older brothers). On the menu was a salad prepared by Meg's mom, shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, and heart shaped strawberry shortcake for desert which I contributed. After the dinner they all headed to the YMCA for the dance. Now most of you may not know that my husband is a really amazing dancer! As I was getting Mayah ready I told her "you are going to have the best time, because you have a great dance partner" but she couldn't have imagined what that really meant. When she came home she could not wait to show me all the moves that she learned. She was more excited than I have seen her in a while. Clint was doing all kinds of swing dance moves with her and of course those two were the center of attention which Mayah always loves and to be honest so does Clint :) It made me so happy to see the two of them come home in such a good mood and know that they had a great bonding date together. I know that it really meant a lot to Mayah and it really meant to a lot me. I get just as much joy watching Mayah have fun as I would if I were going myself. Thank you so much Clint for always being there for us. We love you!

Little Gymnast

2009-02-03T17:01:00.000-08:00

Mayah has been enrolled in gymnastics now for the past 5 months, she attends a Wednesday class which teaches the fundamentals of gymnastics. Then she goes on Saturdays for "All Stars." That is where they have the opportunity to learn real routines, how to greet judges, and compete with other girls around Nebraska. This weekend was her first official competition/invitational. It was so fun to watch her compete. She kept watching for us and waving into the stands, but we could also tell she was feeling the pressures of the day. She had practiced incessantly for the week leading up to the event and was getting really good at her routines. At the competition, she was easily the most graceful one in her division, although she did fall off the beam and over rotate on the floor routine. But in all, we were so proud of her and she did a great job. She took home a blue ribbon (the highest) for vault, and red ribbons (the next highest) for beam, floor routine and bars. I think if she would have done as well as she practiced, she would have easily taken blue ribbons in each part. I think next time she will have fewer jitters and be ready for the spotlight. I did a quick post of a picture of her jumping above the beam. Ignore the copyright. We're buying the picture from the photog, but are waiting for the official files =). You can see how much air she got and how graceful she was. All the other girls barely made it off the beam, or didn't even try the jump. So we are so proud of Mayah. Here's a video of her beam routine:

When she received her medal, she was smiling from ear to ear and said she didn't want to take it off--ever. Her next competition is March 7-8 in Central Nebraska (Grand Island), so we'll do a road trip that weekend to support her.

Cancun, Mexico!

2009-01-31T16:33:00.000-08:00

We had a blast in Cancun. We went with Clint's whole family and stayed over New Year's for 8 days. You can see from our pictures that it was quite an experience. Lots of lounging at the pool outside our villa (which overlooked the beach) building sand castles, shopping (aka bartering), eating out, and just having fun. Mayah got to swim with dolphins, and we snorkeled in underground rivers. We have a million more pics, which we will post on our smugmug site soon. It was another great chance to get away from Nebraska during this terrible winter and enjoy the sun! Can't wait to go back!!!

Mommy wow! I'm a big kid now!!!

2009-01-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

We've had surprising breakthroughs with Ava's potty tendencies for the past couple of weeks.

I think this stems from her being a natural neat freak. Ava is always pointing out everyone and everything that is messy. She will keep saying "messy" until something is done about the mess. Pretty funny if you ask me. The first time she made a potty breakthrough, she came in after doing it in her diaper and goes, "I pooped...poopy." So I asked if she needed her diaper changed, and she replied, "yes, messy!" I chuckled and then changed her and figured if she was to the point of not wanting to sit in it, it was worth starting to try. The next day or so, she came to Clint and said, "poopy." He asked if she had pooped and she said no, so he thought maybe she needed to go and asked her. She responded, "yesss" so we took her in and sure enough she went like a big girl. She was so excited and dancing around at the time. We all cheered and she did NOT want to put a diaper back on. So we put her in Mayah's panties, which she loved even though they were too big. She wore them all over the house and didn't want to take them off. So the next day I went and bought some "big girl" pnties and thought I would officially start the potty training. We have also been unpacking and trying to get things set up in our house, so today was the first day that I actually kept her in panties for longer than an hour or so. Ava loves her chocolate... so I put a little peice of chocolate on the toilet and told her she gets the chocolate every time she tells mommy that she needs to go potty. It worked pretty good. Today she went poop 3 times and pee once.(Yes I literally change 3 poopy diapers a day)! The thing that surprises me the most though is that I thought kids usually pick up on going number one a lot easier than number two, but with Ava it is the other way around. But fine by me! I would be so grateful if I didn't have to change another one of her stinky diapers again. We are all so proud of Ava.

Here is Ava in her big girl panties:

Here is Ava flushing the toilet:

Here is Ava eating her chocolate and waving bye bye:

I think you can guess what this is. I couldn't resist. If Jon and Kate Plus Eight can take pictures of their kids' poop, then so can I!!!

Bienvenido a Miami

2009-01-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

Beach Fun in Miami

We stayed at the Hilton Bentley in South Beach and there was a cute little path from our hotel to the sand. It was such a cool little place.

We went to the beach one day while Clint had meetings and the birds swarmed us because Ava spilled her Dorito's. Then Mayah found this dead fish and Ava wouldn't leave it alone.

When we first got to our hotel room, Mayah says, "Mom, you've got to come in and look at this cute little sink in here." She hadn't seen a bidet before, and we were surprised to be staying in such a fancy little boutique hotel. It was right around the corner from "8th & Ocean" where that reality show about modeling is based, so you can guess the type of crowd that hung out there and drove up in their exotic cars. We laughed when we pulled up to valet in our little red chevy rental car.

We took a day to drive to the everglades and do an airboat ride. We saw alligators and crocodiles and got a history lesson on the natural wetlands. Then we got to tour the "petting zoo" which comprised of several small lizards, random roosters, a few jaguars, pumas, and a "bearded dragon" (which Mayah was able to name!). Clint and Mayah got to hold a 1 yr old Alligator. It actually pooped on Mayah, and the guide said not to worry about a little bit of "gator-ade". ha ha

It was a fun trip, and a good way to get away from the bitter cold of Nebraska for a week or so.

Update: Finally!

2009-01-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

So it took a while, but I'm finally back on and ready to catch up on my blogging. A lot has happened (which explains why we haven't had a chance to do a post in a while), so I thought I would just write a list and then get to each major thing in a different post (not in chronological order):

1. We moved into the 'burbs...
2. Ava has learned to tell me before she poops, and go like a big girl (sometimes)
3. We went to Cancun, Mexico for the week of New year's...and Mayah swam with a dolphin (sort of)
4. We did Christmas with Clint's family in Omaha (minus Chad, Melissa, Mia & Ty)
5. We froze our tails off...
6. We went to Miami and Fort Lauderdale with Clint for a week in December
7. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Clint's family in Omaha (this time with everyone there)
8. We camped out for a few weeks on an airbed
9. Mayah started going to a new school and we started in a new ward at church
10. Ava started going to nursery
11...you get the picture

So finally, tonight, after I got home from work at Janie and Jack I have a house full of furniture and an internet connection where I can reflect on the busy months we've had.

Sorry for not being a very faithful writer... hopefully this will make up for it!

7 Random Facts About Amie

2008-11-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

If you weren't aware, Amie was tagged by Rhandi (http://theormefam.blogspot.com) to list 7 random facts about herself. She keeps saying there is nothing interesting, so I decided to intervene and write them on her behalf. Shh...don't tell = )

Here goes...

1. Amie has the strongest hands ever. They're not exactly man hands, but they're really strong like a man's hands. She always wins when we play that game "submission" where you interlock hands and try to make the other person give up.

2. Amie is a natural red-head. Most people are surprised when they find out, because she's had dark hair for as long as I've known her. This might explain her feisty personality.

3. Amie and her friend Serenity always planned to live in a VW Bus on the beach in Belize...kind of like hippies. I thought it was strange, but it shows how much of a free spirit they both are.

4. Amie has been skydiving 4 times. She kept trying to get me to go, and I do love adventure, but I'm always scared of being the one guy who is stupid enough to die skydiving. I mean, what would my kids and grandkids say? But that's what I love about Amie. She'll just do that sort of thing on a whim and totally isn't scared of anything.

5. Amie is secretly a really amazing writer. I only know because when we were dating I sneakedly read some of her journals. (come on...how could I resist?) Her blog is a form of a journal now, but it's not the same...and you would be amazed by how thought provoking and authentic her writing is.

6. Amie's favorite activity is singing Karaoke. She's a Karaoke maniac. Even though you can only find karaoke nights at bars, she is willing to brave the belligerent crowds and get up on that stage. Every time I've watched her, she steals the show and is a crowd favorite. The old drunk people always come up to me while she's singing and tell me how lucky I am and how cute she is on stage.

7. Amie's claim to fame is being a body double in one of those real life tragedy re-enactments. The girl was thrown from her car in an accident on a snowy day and Amie got to be the girl laying in the cold snow acting unconscious. At least that's how I remember her telling the story.

Anyway, I think she's got a lot of unique things about her. I'd keep going...but the challenge was only 7. Now you can see why I love her so much, and there's never a dull moment in the Carlos fam.

I won't tag 7 people for her, so consider yourself tagged if you read this.

Funny little girl

2008-11-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Ava has become obsessed with babies and is constantly dragging one around with her... So yesterday we went to the store to get a few things and pick up a prescription...of course Ava had to bring her baby along. While we were waiting in line to pay for our things Ava was having a major meltdown. Usually I am trying to calm her down and give her anything because I get so embarrassed, but I was just to the point where I didn't care anymore. Nothing I was doing would make her happy, so I was pretending like I couldn't hear her. A lady from the flower department came over and handed Ava a balloon and (I kid you not) she stopped crying the second it was in her hands. I was so grateful for the lady because I would've lost it if I had to endure any more. Well when we got home I had so much to unload from the car that I couldn't carry her in. I unloaded her with her baby and balloon, then set her down and began taking things into the house. I looked out the window from the front room as I placed the bags on the table and Ava looked so adorable that I had to take a picture! There she was, right where I left her. Crying and waiting for me to go bring her in...baby, balloon and all....Oh and did I mention it was raining? I love this girl!!!!

Fall Pictures

2008-11-09T15:19:00.000-08:00

So I have been saving up some money from all my haircuts to buy Clint a birthday present. He (we) really wanted to new digital SLR so we could take good pictures of everyone. We've been shopping around and found the one we wanted online, but went last night just to see if the Nebraska Furniture Mart had any that were comparable deals so we didn't have to wait for the shipping. Sure enough, they had the exact camera we had picked out and it was $20 less than the cheapest place we found online (newegg.com). Needless to say, we went ahead and bought it as an early present for Clint's birthday which is coming up on November 14. After church today we went to the park to capture a glimpse of Omaha's fall and test out the new camera. It was chilly, so Ava didn't last long, but here's a sample of what we got.

You can see more of our fall pictures here .

More of Halloween

2008-11-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

Our girls got several opportunities to wear their costumes and get candy this year. We did 2 "trunk or treats" at church, went to Gallup for the Halloween production, Ava had Halloween at her Gymboree class, and Mayah got to go trick or treating with her friend Josie. It was a fun year and perfect weather all week!

Halloween Preview

2008-10-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's not officially Halloween yet, but people in Nebraska start early with the costume parties and trick-or-treating...I thought it would be fun to post pictures of Mayah and Ava in their costumes, even though it is only a preview. We'll post more on the real day!

Hannah Montana and Rapunzel

(Mayah and Ashley Johnson)

Ava the Flower Fairy

I have been putting Ava's hat on her all week long because I want to make sure that she leaves it on the night of Holloween. We had not been successful at all. She would laugh and look at me like she knew that she was being defiant and pull it off the minute I moved my hand. The hat in my opinion is the best part of the costume. It makes her eyes look so big! I had little hope that she would actually leave it on when Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Rudy took her trunk or treating, so it made me extreamly happy and proud of my little chubbs when Gma and Gpa said Ava left it on THE WHOLE NIGHT!!!! I am really excited for Friday when I take the girls to Clint's work for their Holloween party! I love to hear people tell me over and over how cute my girls are and now that Ava will leave her hat on I will hear it more, yeay!!!!

Ava Bava

2008-10-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post some of the recent pics of Ava. She is really growing up and become less of a baby and more of a toddler. She is really starting to become a great communicator. She started with nods and gestures and then started picking up words. She shakes her head "no" more than we like her to, and she has this overexaggerated, super dramatic head nod that she uses for "yes." Her vocabulary always surprises us. She seems to pick up multiple words at once, kind of like phrases, instead of just a word here and a word there.

Whenever I burp, she says, "xcuse you!" Or "Ah dawn (all gone)," as she tips her little bowl upside down after dinner. I thought it would be a good reminder for me, if I wrote some of her words down here:

- Guh gurhl (good girl)

- dane doo (thank you)

- Hah Hah (hot)

- Hah Hah (cold)

- ssshoo (shoe)...which she loves! She's always picking out pairs at the store and bringing them up to me and holding them up and saying "shoe?" Oh yea, and that reminds me how much she loves purses. Clint got me a new purse that is bigger than Ava, and today at church she put it over her shoulder and walked out of the chapel (in the middle of the meeting), and said "BYE BYE" as loud as she could.

- Of course she can also say the typical words: Mom, Dad, Ball, Papa, Baby, Mama (Gma), MiMi (Mia), Maaaaa (Mayah), mom (this time it means everybody look at me), Bobble (bubbles, which she loves!), mo...? (She says NO with an M and always inflexes her voice like a question. It's hilarious.), Pup (cup), Pop pop (popcorn), Bear, Gog (dog), Kitty. I'm sure there are others.

She also knows a plethora of animal sounds, and mimics their gestures:

- Monkey: she makes a cute monkey face where she sticks her fingers in her ears and wiggles her little snout.

- Lion: RAAAAWWR

- Dog: she has a ferocious little growl

- Fish: she opens and closes her mouth really fast like a fish

- Cat: Meow

- Lizard: slithers her tongue in and out really fast

- Woodpecker: she clicks her tongue repeatedly

- Cow: muuuh

- Bird: she makes little cheeps and synchronizes her hand motion (kind of like that chicken dance)

- Bee: sssss and flies her pointer through the air

- Owl: hooo hooo

Anyway, this is all I can remember right now. I think you get the picture. It's just really fun to watch her grow up and pick up so many new tricks.

Another Alarming Adventure for Ava

2008-10-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

So we were all standing around in the kitchen tonight looking for snacks and talking, when all of a sudden we saw this huge flash of light and heard a "pop" sound, as Ava yelped and jumped away from the wall. I dropped my spoon and watched for Ava's reaction. She slowly frowned, looked at us with a somber face and started pointing at her index finger. I ran it under the sink to wash off the black residue on her tiny finger and that seemed to calm her down. As I turned off the cold water she started to whine again and continued to pull/flick at her finger as her blue eyes teared up. It was obviously hurting her. We asked if she wanted Daddy to make it feel better and she nodded yes. He went to get Bandaids and wrapped two of them over what was forming as a blister on her pointer finger.

When Clint pulled the glade plug-in out of the electrical outlet to see why it had sparked, there was black residue all over the plastic cover and the back side of the plug-in. The prongs from the plug-in were scorched and there was a little earring just big enough to be held in place by the 2 deformed prongs. Apparently Ava, in her curiosity, had found Mayah's earring and wiggled it in between the prongs of the glade plug-in, which happened to be plugged in the electrical outlet. As you can see from the pictures, we were lucky it wasn't a lot worse. She could have been electrocuted or burned the house down!

We definitely learned our lesson, and I told Clint that he needed to go buy those child-proof plastic plug things and put them all over the house. I'm actually surprised this is the first time something like this has happened, because we are ALWAYS finding Ava hanging around the outlets and we always have to pull her away and distract her.

Omaha Race for the Cure

2008-10-05T12:57:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we decided to join the Gallup team for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We didn't have much time to prepare, but figured it was only a 5K. Mayah decided she wanted to join in, so we invited her friend Kesiah to spend the night and come do the race with us. It was a great opportunity to take on a challenge that would benefit so many people.

Well today was the big day. It was filled with crowds all clad in pink. There were a few hundred survivors and many thousand supporters. We started at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha (where Gov Sarah Palin will be speaking later today) and ran through some of the industrial parts of downtown Omaha.

Our first leg was a 1 Mile run for the little girls. At the last minute, Clint and I decided to go with them, which we thought would be an easy warm-up for the real race since Mayah and her friend would most likely walk a lot of the way. Boy were we wrong. As soon as they saw all those other people, Mayah couldn't stand being beat by anyone. We crossed the finish line in about 10 minutes and were the 2nd group of runners to come through. We were so proud of Mayah for enduring and running the entire way. Not bad for a scrawney 7 year old with legs the size of our arms. She was extra pumped up for the day since she got her very own running shoes and outfit for the occasion.

After our 1 mile "warm-up" run, we raced back to the starting line after a quick potty break and got in our place. About 1 minute later the starting gun went off and we were on our way. We hadn't prepared a lot, so we set a modest goal of finishing in 30 minutes. We got separated in the beginning because of the mass of runners and the fact that Clint tends to run in bursts rather than consistent throughout... but eventually we reconnected and ran most of it together. If Clint's stopwatch was right, he finished in about 28 minutes and I was just a few steps behind. I think we could have done under 25 minutes if we hadn't already run a mile before hand. Next time we'll train a little harder and see if we can't shave a few more minutes off.

Clint's parents came out to watch Ava while we ran. After the big event they had festivities in the Auditorium where they gave out trophies to the top finishers and all the sponsors had booths. Mayah and Kesiah got their faces painted and each came home with a bag of SWAG (Stuff We All Get), ranging from McDonald's coupons to keychains.

Now we're ready to relax and let our bodies/joints recoup.

Gymboree play day!

2008-10-02T20:31:00.000-07:00

I always wished that I could have been so lucky to stay home with Mayah when she was a baby. I was always working so hard with Mayah on things like flash cards, and making sure that when I was not at work I was spending every minute I could with her, just playing and trying to show her how much she means to me. Now that I am lucky enough to stay home with Ava, I have started to realize that I have been taking it for granted and sometimes act ungrateful for the time we have together. I am constently looking for ME time.

Last week I decided to get online (before my computer crashed) and get some information on the Gymboree play time that I have heard many people talk about. They allow you to come for a trial run before signing up. I registered for Ava and me to go check it out today. When it came time for us to get ready this morning my lazines kicked in and I thought to myself "I don't think I am going to go." Just then, Ava crawled on my chest and gave me a completely unsolicited slobber kiss that just melted my heart! As you can probably guess from the title, we ended up going and I can't even begin to tell you how great it was for both of us.

When we first arrived, Ava was a little apprehensive. It must have felt like the child center at our gym and she was outwardly worried I would abandon her. That changed quickly. We played so hard together, jumped on trampolines, made huge bubbles, climbed on stuff and whatever else you can think of. She was the only one her age that could complete the little obstacle course, and was the only one daring enough to jump off their platform onto the mattress! We learned all about textures and shapes and it was just such a fun time!

It's always amazing to me that such a tiny little person can bring so much happiness and joy to my life. She wasn't really interested in playing with all the other kids, and it just made me feel good that she was so happy playing with JUST ME!

A big black rain cloud hanging over us....

2008-10-01T20:26:00.001-07:00

We have had quite a week of bad luck. Now I hear that it usually follows in 3's, but we have had more than three things happen in just the span of about three days... oh it just dawned on me as I am typing that maybe that was what the 3's are all about!!

So, about our bad luck...first when we were at Adventureland our digital camera got soaked with water and no longer works. Before getting home from Des Moines, we realized we had lost the family photo we bought at Adventureland and Mayah's iPod, which she had gotten for her birthday. The next day, I was working on a blog and my Apple laptop crashed. Still haven't been able to get it to run. Then today when I was waiting for Clint to come home from work, he called and said the car wouldn't start! I mean geez... how many things can go wrong in a single week? So we had the car towed and they'll diagnose it in the morning. Next, we have to take my laptop into the Apple store to get repaired, find a new digital camera and get Mayah a new iPod!

I'm trying to stay positive here...so maybe all of this is a sign that great things are just around the corner! Cross your fingers, because I am!

If you're wondering how I am typing this blog without a laptop, I had to wait for Clint to come home so I could borrow his. It's been hard to get enough time to keep up on blogging and to make matters worse, I don't have any more cute pictures from our trip to post! = (

Adventureland!

2008-09-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

We had our last summer trip of the year and went with Clint's parents to Des Moines--final destination?............ you guessed it! Adventureland! Think Disneyland, subtract Mickey and other characters, cut it down to about 1/30th the size and you have Adventureland. It was just the right size for our two girls...and it's only a 2 hour car ride away. Who needs Disneyland when you have such a great substitute?

Mayah was such a great sport this time. Always in the past, she would shy away from rides that seemed too scary. This time she was ready to try them all! Ava even joined in on some fun, trying to climb out of the top of the ferris wheel, riding in the hot air balloon ride, and doing a few with just Mayah. It was fun to see them having such a good time!

Here are some pictures from our trip. I hope you enjoy!

Photo shoot with Ava

2008-09-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

These pictures are for Grandma Brenda. Even though Daddy doesn't really care for Ava's hair like this, he thinks it makes our girl look chubby ( hard to do I know!) :) Grandma and I think she looks adorable! Although I am usually the worlds worst photographer (Serenity will attest to that), I thought these ones turned out pretty good and wanted to share a few. I love this face!!!

Carlos family 8/9/08. For time and all eternity!

2008-09-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has been wondering why we haven't posted anything about the sealing of our family. Especially since this is such a HUGE milestone for us.... I have been waiting for my BFF Melissa to send me a CD of the pictures. As you can see I finally have some! They say a picture is worth a thousand words... so these 15,000 words (15 pics) ought to sum it up! It was a great experience for us, and in one of our favorite places on earth...San Diego. Our families and friends on both sides were there to support us. It's nice to have such a great support network to encourage us and set such great examples. Thanks to everyone who came and those who were there in spirit.

Back to school....

2008-09-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

This will be Mayah's third week of school, but because I lost our camera for a while I am kinda playing catch up with the blogs!

The first day of school is always exciting, with the butterflies of starting something new, not knowing if you are going to know anyone in your class or have someone to sit with at lunch and play with at recess. Fun because you finally get to wear the new clothes that you bought weeks before and have been dying to show off. You can finally put the Hannah Montana backpack, folders, pencils, lunch box and thermos you have been looking at in the corner of your room to good use. It was the same anticipation as knowing your clothes would be the envy of every girl in school! It's about the only day of the entire school year where you wake up alert and ready to hop out of bed at the first call from Mom, thrilled to be getting ready for school. You never doubt that you are absolutely going to LOVE your day!

That was Mayah! All smiles as we walked out the door heading to the new school that she's been anxiously awaiting since last February. She was accepted into a visual/preforming arts and mathematics/engineering school that she couldn't wait to be a part of. I dropped her off at her classroom door and said goodbye to a cute new second grader! I couldn't wait for the end of the day to hear all about how much fun she had.

I only wish that I had the camera to capture the expression on Mayah's face as she exited the doors of the school at the end of her first day. It was so shocking to me! There were no more smiles akin to the little girl I dropped off, instead was the look of pure disappointment. I hugged her and asked "How was it?!" as excited as I could. Her reply.... "Second grade stinks!" She continued, " Remember how when we met my teacher she was all bubbly, well she is not that way at all! When we went to art class we didn't even do art! We only got one recess, and the one that we got was only like 10 minutes!!!" The more she talked about it, the madder she became. It was not the Mayah that I know. She is usually so upbeat and optimistic about this kind of thing. I felt so bad that she didn't enjoy her day and that she was not looking forward to going back. I tried explaining to her that things are sometimes hectic on the fist day and that things would get better. I think one of the problems was that she just expected that she was going to an arts school, so she should be doing art and fun things all day! As I said at the top, this is the start of her third week and I am happy to report that things have gotten much better with each day! Mayah is back to loving school!

Our summer camping trip

2008-08-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

It was the last summer weekend before school and we'd promised Mayah all year that we would go camping, fishing and the whole shebang! We figured we better not break that promise. We didn't really have any camping gear other than two sleeping bags and a lantern, so we went out the night before and bought a tent, another sleeping bag for Mayah, cooking pans and the food needed to make s'mores, pancakes, tin foil dinners, and all the camp-friendly snacks we could think of. We also got online, so Clint could get a fishing license and find a good campground.We decided to stay close to the city and ended up at a place called Two Rivers. After a 30 minute drive, we came to our destination, which was surprisingly clean, green and looked like fun. There were lakes for fishing, sandy beaches for swimming, playgrounds, and plenty of campgrounds. They also have this group of cabooses that have been decommissioned from the Union Pacific Railroad that people can rent and camp in. We found a spot close to the sandy beach and playground and got started setting up the tent.While it was really Mayah's camping trip, Ava had a blast. Both girls made friends on the playground and enjoyed the swings. They each got to eat a hot dog and make a s'more before bed. Mayah gave fishing a shot for one of her first times. Didn't catch any fish, but she got better at loading the bait (night crawlers) and casting.It was hilarious watching Ava roll around as we finally laid down for sleep. She was giggling and climbing all over us. It's the first time we've let her sleep right between us. After a while, she settled down and went right to sleep.In the morning, we made a pancake and egg breakfast and relaxed a bit on our lawn chairs before breaking down camp and hitting the road back home. It was a fun time that I'm sure we'll all remember.

Our long over due post of our trip to San Diego

2008-08-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

Since Mayah spent most of the summer with her Dad in Utah, Ava hadn't seen her in almost 5 weeks. She was so happy to have her back that she didn't want to leave her side for one second! It was so cute to watch our two girls reunite in San Diego.

Trip to the beach

Clint and Mayah wave jumping

Ava and Grandma Darcy
We all thought that Ava might be a little timid around the waves, but we should have known better. Ava has little fear of anything. She just went charging right out there as excited as possible!

Mom and Mayah posing as usual! Our suits match, cute huh...

Clint and I just before I went out and tore those waves up

We tried to get Ava free of sand for the drive back to the hotel. This required removing her swimsuit completely..... would you look at those cheeks?

We all had a really good time while we were there, it almost didn't last long enough. It was nice to spend time with both sides of the family all at once, and of course to see some old friends as well.

Our girls trip to Vegas!

2008-07-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Farewell my old friend!

2008-07-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

As I take a big step in my life toward eternal happiness I am forced to say goodbye to my favorite article of clothing. This week I'll be going into the Temple for the first time, which means I will be wearing a garment after that. For anyone who reads this and is not familiar with the LDS garment... it is a type of modest under clothing that is worn to remind us of promises we've made to God, and is symbolic of Adam and Eve covering up in the garden of Eden. We believe they'll help protect us from temptation, and be an outward symbol of an inward commitment. The downside is that it does limit certain clothing choices available to the rest of the world.

Tank tops in the summer were always essential for me....especially since I have never thought much of wearing shorts. I have been trying to slowly work them out of my wardrobe for the last year, but still wear them on occasion. As of this coming Thursday I will have to say good bye to tank tops forever...I will be a garment wearing LDS girl!! As my good friend Serenity says "it is a small sacrifice for heavenly blessings," but in the heat and mugginess of summer, as I feel multiple layers of clothing sticking to my body it may be hard to think of it as a small sacrifice! I will do my best to stay positive about it and try to remind myself that I am setting an example for my girls to follow, and in the end it will all be worth it! So at this time I will have a moment of silence as I say farewell to my old friend--you will be missed!

Ava's First Birthday

2008-07-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

For Ava's first birthday we just had a simple get together with Clint's best friend Justin and his wife Brianna, Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Rudy and of course her best friend /sister Mayah, Mom and Dad. She was completely unaware of the fact that it was her birthday but very excited when a GIANT cupcake (seemingly twice the size of her) was placed in front of her and no one stopped her when she slowly dug her little fingers into the frosting! She didn't really eat any of it, just played for awhile and then wiped the remaining frosting where she could. After singing Happy Birthday, she finished destroying the cake then went in for a bath before opening presents... I think she thoroughly enjoyed each gift. As Ava is always looking up to big sister, she wanted a piano...simply because Mayah got one from Grandma Brenda for her birthday! So of course Grandma Brenda also got one for Ava and she plays it everyday! Her favorite note is "yellow". She got her very own cell phone which was a huge hit when we visited Grandma Darcy and Grandpa Mike in Utah. All of the older girls, including Mayah, were fighting over whose turn it was to play with Ava's cell phone. She also received a magnet set and a slew of clothes...all in all, I'd say she had a good day!

I thought it would be fun the add some of the tricks Ava can do at her year mark...

She can wave (a pageant wave) hello and good bye
The itsy bitsy spider
Head shoulders knees and toes
Paddy cake
blow kisses
give high five
play peekaboo
tell you what a fishy says
Ava loves to play games and is pretty much always in the mood to laugh. She will let you know she wants to laugh by doing this forced laugh out of no where and will keep doing it until you start playing with her.

My personal favorite at this moment is this funny face that she makes and does pretty often now because she knows that we find it hilarious. It's kind of like the wide eyed, open mouth look when McCaulley Caulkin screams into the mirror on Home Alone.

Kitty Lee Dance Recital

2008-06-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

After 6 months of hard work and early Saturday mornings we finally got to see the fruits of Mayah's labors. We went to Burke High School in Omaha to watch Mayah and at least 100 other dancers from the Kitty Lee Dance Company perform. Upon arrival, the whole school was rigged to extract every last penny from would-be spectators. They had carnations, roses, purses, ribbons, hair bows, and miscellaneous other souvenirs that deserving little girls just couldn't resist. What better way to show support and recognition for their efforts than to spoil them with armfuls of the stuff when they finished?

Then we entered the auditorium to learn that all video taping and photography was banned. Of course they had their own "professional" version of the tape that you could buy for a mere $45, which of course wouldn't zoom in on your kid, and would include all of the other performances in the very lengthy recital. Needless to say, and as evidenced by the videos in this post, we are not the type to passively follow those kind of rules. The first video was a pretty shaky and the angle was a little too wide to see much of Mayah. At that point, Clint was still trying to hide the fact that he was video taping and didn't spend much time actually looking through the viewfinder... but we got braver on the second song, and ended up zooming in and following Mayah a little closer. If you can't tell, Mayah is the front girl on the far right for the tap dance, and the middle girl in the right column for the ballet number. Once again she was the shortest in the group...but living up to the award they gave her, she was by far the "most adorable dancer."

She said she was feeling some butterflies before the performance, and wasn't so sure about performing in front of about 500 people...but in the end she LOVED it, and said she didn't want to get off that stage. She loved having fancy hair and make-up, and I have a suspicion she'll be anxious to do it all over again in the fall.

We were sure proud of our little Mayah, and I couldn't help the tears from streaming as I watched her. How cute is my kid?

Happy Father's Day Clint!

2008-06-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today Mayah, Ava and I woke up at 7:00 am, made cinnamon rolls & scrambled eggs, poured a glass of milk and went upstairs to surprise dad with breakfast in bed. Mayah and Ava also presented him with their Father's Day gifts. Ava colored a wonderful masterpiece for him and Mayah wanted to spend some of her birthday money to buy him a pair of swim trunks that she had overheard him say he liked. Here is a picture of the three of them this morning.

I just wanted to take a minute and express my appreciation for Clint and the kind father he has been to our girls, and the wonderful husband and friend he has been to me. He loves to play with both the girls and is good at spending quality time with them. He has a way of taking an every day thing and making it seem like something extremely exciting and out of the ordinary. For example one night Mayah was saying she was bored and wanted to go some where and do something. Clint told her that he had something planned for all of us... We were going to have a big sleep over in the living room with blankets and pillows on the floor, popcorn and a movie. Mayah was so excited and we weren't really doing anything different other than the fact that we had blankets and pillows on the floor. Clint is always willing to change a diaper, and get up with Ava in the middle of the night even though he has to be up early for work. I don't know too many guys that are willing to do those things, and he does it without complaint! He is generous and a hard worker. He sacrifices a lot and works hard just so that I can stay home with the girls, and that means more to me than I can ever express to him. Clint is so patient with me and that (I hate to admit) is not an easy thing to do. I can tend to have a short fuse. He is always there to rationalize and help me (in a nice way) see how ridiculous I really am! Clint is a good example and great leader in our home. I love you babe! Happy Fathers Day!!!

Clint the first time he met Ava

Clint the first time he met Mayah

Lemonade Stand

2008-06-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the perfect day for an ice cold lemonade! Who better to get it from than my cute girls! You would think with those two girls sitting out at the edge of the driveway, business would be booming right....? I mean how could you resist!? Ava was so excited to just be a part of this with Mayah. She was all smiles, sitting in her chair like a big girl ready to sell.

Sadly, not all of us thought lemonade sounded ideal. Ava got a little restless and couldn't sit still any longer. She wasn't done being a part of it completely, but had to get a few wiggles out. Between her and Rhet we couldn't keep the dang lemonade sign up long enough to let people know how much it cost. Things got a little hectic for me. Cups were blowing over, Rhet was eating the sign, Ava was trying to climb on and off her chair, and if she wasn't doing that, she was busy trying to get some of the lemonade! I was ready to call it a day before we even had our first customer.

Luckily, Mayah has patience and was not going to give up. She sat out there with high hopes of earning a buck. She recently got a new iPod shuffle for her birthday and was content sitting out there with some tunes and her dog. She smiled and waved at every car that went by. 2 hours later Mayah was finally ready to come in. Not to worry... she'd earned $7.50! I admire Mayah's willingness to put the time in to get a few dollars. Ava, on the other hand, went in for a nap after about 25 min. In the end, Mayah was happy with how much she earned and I was proud of her for not giving up ... because if you wait, they will come... I'd say those girls did pretty good for their first time!

Tiniest artist...

2008-06-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days where Ava caught us totally by surprise. We had been out playing with Mayah's friends and Rhet, our puppy. I turned around to see Ava sitting quietly on the porch, drawing on the blackboard! I told Clint to hurry and get it on camera, so here it is. Honestly, what kid do you know at 11 months that gets the concept of holding chalk, not to eat, but to draw on a blackboard? I have no idea how long she's been doing this behind our back, when she's up in Mayah's room playing...but we did notice a couple of months ago that she could use the chalk eraser and was constantly erasing Mayah's pictures--much to her chagrin. It's bad enough that she's walking all over, and stumbling downstairs...now we have to worry about her coloring on the walls.

So on top of all the other crazy things that happened today over the course of Mayah's birthday, we now have another young artist to applaud!

The Golden Birthday

2008-06-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

I think that's what they call it. Today, on June 7th, Mayah turned 7, and she'd also like me to add that she lost her 7th tooth the night before her birthday. Triple 7's!! I think that's a sign for good luck right? The good luck has already kicked in, too. She won a birthday party to the "Amazing Pizza Machine" (a $200 value) which was announced on Action 3 news, when they said the winner was "Mia R." Mayah was yelling at the T.V "IT'S MAYAH!" She wanted me to call the station and tell them to re-announce it correctly. I told her that anyone who knows how to read would have seen it on the T.V screen and known that they said it wrong. Too bad I didn't know she was going to win that before I planned the party we had today. It would have saved myself and my poor husband a lot of stress. Clint had to deal with all my freak outs for the last week during all the preparations. I am lucky to have such a good guy to put up with me.

Mayah had requested to have a cooking party. At the time I thought, oh it will be so fun to make all the little girls cute aprons with the sewing machine that I got for my birthday. For the first time I actually started something a few weeks before it needed to be done and it was a good thing, too. It was a good learning opportunity because of all the errors I had to re-do on those aprons. But in the end they turned out great, and were even finished on time.

Thanks to my husband (who has learned from the best how to be a great party host), the party was a hit and all of Mayah's little friends had a BLAST! We started out by having them decorate their own place mats and then roll out pizza dough and add their own toppings.

While the pizzas were in the oven, we played a few games and started on dessert. The first game was like a dry version of bobbing for apples, only with doughnuts on strings hanging from the ceiling. The next was a blind tasting contest where they had to identify raisins, m&m's, pickles and surprisingly the hardest of all--ketchup--just from taste. Apparently, they've only ever tasted ketchup on things like hamburgers, french fries and eggs...because they had guesses such as pickle juice, vinegar, etc... Then the girls made cupcakes that resembled flower pots, using ice cream cones, oreos, frosting and green coconut shavings. They also made "sherbet the frogs" using lime sherbet, gummy candies for legs, and junior mints for eyes. Before everyone left, we cut mayah's birthday apron cake and opened gifts.

They all took home lime green whisks stuffed with candy, chef hats, home-sewn aprons, miniature rolling pins, self-decorated place mats, and the cutest recipe books, which my sister-in-law Melissa helped design. On their way out, they all stopped to run around in the yard with our puppy Rhet and laugh at him licking Ava's face.

After all of the work, stress and money we spent on this party, I learned that I could actually pull something like this off, but I might not choose to do it again--at least not any time soon. I wonder if that hassle-free party at the Pizza Machine will still be usable for next year's birthday...??

The newest member of our family...Rhet

2008-05-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today we took a country drive out to an old small farmhouse and came home with a 5th member of the family. His name is Rhet, although Mayah likes to spell it Ret.

We debated between Rhet and Wrigley for a while, and Clint and I were leaning toward Wrigley, but when we got to Petco for some Puppy Chow, Mayah told the clerk that his name was Rhet. When we asked if she wanted to name him that, she said yeah, maybe Wrigley can be the middle name. And we asked if she didn't really like Wrigley, to which she responded, "I'm just not feelin' it..."

One of the reasons we finally decided to give into Mayah's demands was that Ava seems to have an infatuation with dogs! Every time we're at the park and a dog walks by, or she sees one on TV, she starts to grunt and point. It's the cutest thing ever. Today, when Clint sent me the Craigslist ad about the puppies, I showed the pictures to Ava and she went wild. When we finally brought the puppy home and gave Ava a chance to pet him, she got a little more timid. She will approach him slowly, and then back away super quickly as soon as he looks at her. This last picture catches her reaction perfectly. Hopefully she'll get over her initial scare and enjoy having a "brother."

Ava Walks at 10 months!!

2008-05-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

As you can tell from this video, our little Ava is figuring out how to put one foot in front of the other and walk...at least short distances. She took her first steps on May 1, which is eleven days after her 10-month birthday. She's starting to do it more and more, and always in the least expected moments, which has made it difficult to catch on film. Tonight, we got it. She whined at first, but eventually gave in as you can see. In the same time frame, she learned to voluntarily give kisses and we love every slobbery one we get. Tonight, as she was being sent to bed, I asked her to give Mayah, Daddy and Mommy kisses, and she leaned out to each of us one at a time with little puckered lips (partially open). The thing she's also learned in the last couple of weeks which is beginning to show her stubborn side is to shake her head "no" when she doesn't want something. I walked her to the park today and played on the swing with her. I asked if she was ready to go home and she shook her head no. Then before bed when we asked for kisses, she actually shook her head no at first and made every attempt to avoid it. It wasn't until a few minutes later (after she walked a little more and got worn out) that she eventually gave in and did it willingly. Then when I went to lay her down for bed, as we got near her crib, she shook her head even more vigorously. She is going to be that kind of kid that has to have her way, or else she'll let you hear it. Sure is fun and cute to watch her grow and learn right now... but there will be times to come when I wish we could turn back the clock.

HELP!!!

2008-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Nope, not a hair issue... Need another clue?

I think you might be getting warmer.....

I feel I should give you a little background first because I have not written too much about our little Ava. She is what I like to call "my little Curious George." Ava doesn't seem to be the kind of kid who learns from others' experiences, she is more of a first-hand knowledge type of girl! That is where she and Mayah are totally different. I am already afraid of what's to come with Ava. She will definitely keep Clint and me on our feet at all times and has proven to do so from the get go! She is always keeping me busy cleaning up after she's pulled every last Q-tip out of the box, or all of Clint's socks out of his sock drawer; or making me chase her up the stairs after I turn my back for a second.... and her personal favorite: sticking EVERYTHING in her mouth. Like when she found an old, tiny, fuzzy raisin on the floor at Whole Foods and was eating it before I figured out what it was, or the time I pulled a pebble out from between her two front teeth. It must not have bothered her, based on the enormous smile that revealed the pebble to me. Which brings me to my story.

This morning while I was making our bed, Ava was on the floor in the room playing with a doll of Mayah's that I had given to her to keep her occupied. I should have known that Ava needs something more interesting to keep her attention, because moments later I heard coughing coming from the bathroom. I walked in to find Ava with a tube of permanent hair color in her hand, the contents of which were dripping from her mouth. I freaked at the sight of red dye running down her cheeks, chin, hands and consequently everything she touched. My first reaction was to flush her mouth with water and wipe the mess off her face and hands. Then it dawned on me that it could be poisonous. I dialed 411-connect on my cell phone and asked for Poison Control, only to be patched through to an invalid number. More aggravated than before, I re-dialed and asked for a different number. This time, as I held my breath, it worked and soon I was talking to a rational human being on the other end. After describing the complete details of the substance Ava had potentially swallowed, I was placed on hold for what seemed an eternity (although it was only about 60 seconds in reality). The woman returned and asked one last pointed question, "It wasn't the developer was it?" I said no, feeling a little relieved, and then she continued to calm my anxiousness. She said I had done the right thing by flushing it down with water, and to just continue to watch carefully to make sure there's no problems with her airway. She suggested giving her juice or formula to coat her stomach and make sure she didn't show signs of vomiting or irritation. Once again, I'm grateful to have her survive the risks of a day in the life of Ava. There have been many falls, bumps, and scares that have left me wondering how she'll ever make it to her first birthday. This was just one more occasion for worry and relief at the same time. If there's one thing I can say about Ava, it is that there is never a dull moment. She is a full-time job and keeps me on my toes. If this is any sign of what's to come, I think she'll have an adventure-filled life.

Oh the tragedy ...

2008-05-06T19:57:00.000-07:00

Who ever thought it would be such a terrible thing when the Dr. comes in the room and announces "Guess who doesn't need glasses..."? Well that's our Mayah! For weeks she has been complaining of poor vision, and trouble reading. Several of her friends got glasses and I guess she was feeling left out. Finally after I got tired of hearing her complaints I figured it was worth going in to the optometrist just in case. $70 and one broken heart later, we can now be thankful that Mayah has great eyesight. I keep trying to explain that I would give anything to not have to wear contacts or glasses but I am not getting through to her. She has been pouting ever since, so we had to send her to bed early tonight :(

Although I do remember as a child wanting silly things such as braces... things that as a parent make no sense. I do have to admit that wearing glasses nowadays is a lot cooler than when I was a kid! I felt so bad for her as I turned around and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks before we even stepped out of the room. Feeling embarrassed but not able to hold back her tears she buried her face into my stomach. I would have gotten the frames for her just cause I felt sorry for her, but the glasses she wanted were the most expensive pair in the place. The girl does have style! I just couldn't justify spending another $130 on a pair of frames just for play.

Tooth Fairy

2008-04-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is a picture Mayah drew for the Tooth Fairy and left under her pillow on the backside of the note. The picture is a good representation of her room with the picture on the wall, the TV, the red basket in the corner.... I love how she drew the money in the Tooth Fairy's hand.

The note is as cute as the picture...with that spelling! In case you can't figure out what "tuing " is... she really means tongue. But as for the rest of it I think you can figure it out!

Mayah keeps forcing her teeth out, even though they aren't really ready. Now she has only one top front tooth, with 2 missing on the left and 1 missing on the right. We jokingly call her "Snaggle Tooth" and it seems that she may have officially entered her awkward years.

The kind of person I would like to be...

2008-04-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Does it bother other parents when your kids friends won't say what they want when you are around. Or does this only happen with me? Mayah has several friends that Clint and I find just a little awkward around, and they sometimes come off as sneaky. The constant whispers in corners and the back seat of the car, tends to make me wonder what is being said.

About a month ago I took Mayah and a friend to the movies, now you need to understand that this girl is one that Mayah considers to be her "best friend". As we are driving to drop off her friend I hear some whispering from this little girl to Mayah, I can't quite make out what is being said and Mayah doesn't seem to be responding to it either. I hear Mayah ask questions about whether her friend likes American Idol or Hannah Montana. Her friend quickly responds and then more whispers. Now as a mother you have wonder if this is something you should ask your child about or just leave it alone. What do you do?

Well I couldn't leave it alone, so I went with the first option. Immediately Mayah begins to cry and replies, "I don't want to tell you!" I figure if she is crying, this can not be good! This conversation of me trying to convince her to tell me goes on for quite a bit. The more I ask the harder she cries and resists. I ask her how it made her feel when her friend told her whatever this secret is.. she answers "not good". I am now past the point where it is an option for her to tell me! I figured it had to be something really really horrible, and I had to know! I tell Mayah that I am not going to allow her to hang out with this little girl anymore, which I thought would be very upsetting to Mayah, seeing as how this is the girl that she is best friends with. Mayah then tells me "That's fine, I have other friends." I was shocked to say the least. In the end I get it out of her, and it turns out to be no big deal... but the reason I am telling you about this is after all of the crying stops, I ask Mayah why she was willing to give up being "best friends" just to keep that a secret. Mayah told me that she doesn't want to play with this girl anymore, because she has other friends and this girl "chooses the wrong"!

I was so proud of her! Now in case you missed what it was that made me so proud, I am going to share it with you... I was never that strong of a person spiritually, and I would have made up excuses for my friend and ignored the bad feeling that I may have had from what was said just to save a friendship. But Mayah recognized that feeling and was not willing to compromise her spiritual well-being, and knew that she would be fine in the end because she had other friends that did not make her feel sad inside. Even at 6 years old she felt it was important to keep only friends that uplift her and make her feel good. I hope and pray that she continues to keep up that strong self-confidence and integrity even when she is 16. I think if I had only been that strong when I was younger I may have chosen some easier pathways and saved myself from the long road. It is important the kind of friends you choose, because they do affect the choices you will make. Mayah has always been such a good example to me. Thank you Mayah, I love you so much!

Journal entrees

2007-09-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

I was always a very faithful journal writer back in my teenage years (much of the times that would be nice to forget). But as so many of the most important milestones in my life have past, I failed to document them. I received a journal from my mom when Mayah was born and had every intention of keep track of all her major events, but each time I sat down to write, I felt so overwhelmed with things to say that I always thought, "I will do this later when I have more time." And as many of you mothers know "more time" is hard to find. Now that Ava is here and starting to do all the fun things that babies do for the first time, such as roll over and laugh. My memory is not so good, and I have forgotten when Mayah first rolled over, or what first struck her as funny. These are things that you would think are so memorable that as a mother you could never forget.... I am hoping to use this blog as a sort of journal where I can start now to document my feelings and thoughts on the very exciting everyday things which both of my girls do to make my life so meaningful. And let's be honest, who doesn't like to read someone else's journal (Clint)?!