Daddy Daughter Dance

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

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!

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!!!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!!