Make a Smilebox greeting

Naomi's Super Day and Why Alex Watches Too Much TV

Naomi had an amazingly productive day yesterday. First, she said "more" all by herself, with no coaching from Mom. So, of course, I had to give her more. Unfortunately, what she wanted more of was cookies, so she had cookies for snack. At least she's talking. Second, she stood up on her feet all by herself, with no coaching from Mom, TWICE! This is big news at our house. Our physical therapist will be very impressed. In other news, Alex has developed the movie-quoting skills of his parents. His favorite movie to quote is Home Alone. He walks around saying, "You better come out and pound me." He can also quote Incredibles, A Christmas Story, Cars, Bolt and several movie previews from his DVDs. The fact that he watches too much TV was also brought to my attention in the car this week. As we were driving to the mall, Naomi began pointing out the window. Alex thought that she was pointing to the mountains, which he calls the snowy mountains (from Dora the Explorer). So I said, "Alex, those are called the Rocky Mountains." He responded, very excitedly, "Like Rocky Mountain PBS?!" (which is our local PBS station). It took several tries to convince him that the TV station was named for the mountains and not the other way around. PS- We are all ready for Christmas and have already been to one Christmas party and hosted another! Merry Christmas!

Two Funny Stories

This week Alex made us laugh so hard that I just had to tell the world about it. First, on Tuesday we had to go to JoAnn's to get a few things for Christmas craft projects. Alex had been doing a good job and was eagerly awaiting his reward (a treat!). We were almost finished shopping when a sale display caught my eye. Alex began saying that he wanted to go get his treat, so I said, "Hang on, I just have to check my list to make sure that we got everything we need." While I pulled out my list and read over it, Alex decided to do his own checking. He found a sale sign on one of the displays near me, and using his finger as if he was reading it, said, "Let's see what the sign says. It says that we got everything we need. See, Mom? So let's go." When I told Ben about it that night, he nearly fell out of his chair laughing. The other funny story really caught me by surprise and requires a bit of background information. I recently purchased a new type of make-up. I got a kit that contained all of my make-up, brushes and an instructional DVD. So, one afternoon about two weeks ago, I watched the DVD while the kids ate snack. The make-up artist on the DVD referred to the "swirl, tap, buff" method of applying the make-up several times during the video. This means you swirl your brush in the loose powder, tap off the excess and buff the make-up onto your face. Alex seemed to completely ignore the video and we have not watched it since. But, this morning as I was putting on my make-up, he came into my bathroom. He watched me for a minute and then asked, "Did you tap off the excess?" "What?" I asked. "Did you tap off the excess?" Now it dawned on me that Alex had not only watched the video, but had correctly learned how to apply my make-up. So I responded, "Yes, I tapped off the excess and now I'm buffing it on." He nonchalantly replied, "Okay" and walked out of my room, as if he was just checking up on me. That kid kills me.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time at our ward Halloween party and trunk-or-treat. There were so many kids that I gave out five bags full of candy. The girls had a great time wearing their pricess costumes and Alex made a fantastic dragon. Because I ran out of candy, we didn't do trick-or-treating that night. Today, we hit the Halloween clearance sales and we are ready for next year already! Only 363 days to go, right?

Before and after...

These are two views of our backyard during the blizzard that we got last week. We didn't move the bike; it got buried. Alex managed to dig out the handle after making his snow angel. We got two feet total, but ended up with a four foot drift in our front yard because of the wind.

A week of patience

So, we had a pretty busy week and through all of it I was fighting off a cold. I won the fight, but some funny things happened in the process. I had to work a lot this week, so I was forced to run errands with children. This is always interesting. One morning, while trying to get everyone ready for a trip to Walmart, I was definitely running short on patience. I expressed this to Alex in an attempt to gain his cooperation. I said, "Mommy is all out of patience Alex, so you need to be my helper." His response was, "Maybe we should get some patience at the store." We had to go to another specialist this week to figure out what in the heck is going on with Alex. It turns out nothing is going on with him except an easily treated bacterial infection. This resulted in another trip to the store to fill a prescription. So, we waited in a pharmacy for 20 minutes. The kids actually had a great time. Emelia danced to the "easy listening" music they had playing nearly the whole time. It was pretty cute. It also snowed this week. We got about 3 inches at our house. Alex got to try out all of his new winter clothes. He had a great time and was thoroughly disappointed when the snow melted the next day. His response: "Oh no, it's fall again. Winter's over." If only.

Surprise!

My sisters and I surprised our mom for her 50th birthday. The party was a blast! Here are a few shots of all the fun. In other birthday news, Ben's birthday went off without a hitch. He got some blu-rays, socks and a new nephew! My birthday is tomorrow, but I have already opened my gifts and celebrated by going out with Ben, so tomorrow may be a bit dull. Honestly, I'm not much looking forward to being 27. My dad's joke growing up was that he was always 27 since his older sister was always 29 and he was two years younger than her. Now I associate being 27 with being 40. I'm sure it will be a great year anyway.

Happy First Birthday, Emelia and Naomi!

Here is the video of Emelia and Naomi's birthday celebration. The girls had a grand time eating cake (two cupcakes each!) and opening presents. They are getting big (though not big enough to turn around in the car). They can play, crawl, laugh and throw tantrums like pros. Emelia loves to wave night-night. It's pretty darn cute. Naomi is constantly on the lookout for Alex and crawls around the house calling his name until she finds him. They have discovered unrolling toilet paper and throwing toys out of the bath, but mostly they are good girls.

Alex's First Face

Alex drew his first face this morning. I thought you might want to see it. He also drew the letter T all by himself!

September already?

I looked at my calendar today and realized that I haven't posted anything for nearly four weeks! So, it is high time for a few updates and funny stories. Tomorrow, Ben goes back to school. This will be his first day of his second year at the University of Denver. I can't believe that we are already a year into this degree. He is excited about his new practicum and his classes, but will be very busy for the next 10 weeks. I am currently teaching three ACT students and got business cards this week. I suppose I am officially "self-employed." Alex is as funny as ever. I got him new Sunday clothes this month and a few other new things (like pants that are long enough). He threw a fit about trying them on. When I asked why he didn't want to try on his new clothes, he said, "Because I'm lonely." How those things relate, I'm not sure, but Ben and I got a good laugh out of it later. Later that week, Ben was talking to Alex and laughed at something Alex said. Alex had not meant to be funny. He looked right at Ben and said, "Look at me. Do I look like I'm laughing?" Emelia has a physical therapy appointment tomorrow to figure out why on earth she isn't crawling yet! Naomi has an appointment on Tuesday to figure out why in the heck she isn't standing yet. I'll get the results right after the evaluations and then we will find out if the girls need physical therapy or just a little more attention at home. In a very touching moment this week, Alex showed he can notice and understand sad things. While driving to the mall on Friday, he noticed that the flags were at half-mast. He asked me about it and I explained that several years ago bad men had killed people in our country, so we lower the flag to remember them. He said, "That's sad, but we can still be happy." I suppose the terrorists haven't won. The last amazing thing that happened this week: we took family pictures and no one cried! (Not even me!)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Week of Firsts

After recovering from piles of laundry and unpacking, we had a pretty fun week. I took the kids to the pool and the girls had a great time splashing in the shallow water while Alex played on the kiddy-sized water slides. Ben and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Saturday night. It was the first time we had been out by ourselves in over eight months. We had a great time eating in peace and watching Harry Potter. On Sunday, we figured out how to do Sacrament meeting with a little more grace and dignity. Alex didn’t throw a single tantrum and I didn’t bring in the carseats. Emelia had a hard time in Relief Society, but we think she has said her first word: Mama. She cried for me a few times at church and each time distinctly said, “Mama.” I’m so excited about it that I don’t even mind that she was whining and crying my name. Naomi officially has two teeth and likes to play with them. We are looking forward to another fun week, although it will most definitely be busy since Ben has more testing to do and I have four tutoring students. Wish us luck!

The Wilson Family Reunion

We’ve been home a week and I thought I should finally write about our fun family trip. We had a great time visiting my parents and sisters and their families. I drove the kids out a few days early. My parents are almost done with their remodel, so Alex got to watch a lot of construction work. As the concrete patio was being poured, he told my mom, “Let’s mess it up!” She didn’t let him. We had some real fun going to Lake Tahoe. Alex took an inner tube ride on a friend’s boat. He loved it! We went through about half of our sunscreen, but not one of us got sunburned. We also went swimming at a friend’s pool and played lots and lots of games. In true Salazar tradition, Naomi got her first tooth on the trip. Alex also got his first tooth on a trip to Reno. Ben drove back with us and we got see his sister before she entered the MTC in Provo. By the time we got home, we were all sick of fast food. As we passed a McDonald’s a few miles from our house, Alex said, “I hate McDonald’s!” Ben responded, “Good!” Overall, we had a great time and I discovered that 16 hour road trips aren’t that bad. We may even do one again next year.

It's July!

This week was full of fun at our house. We went to the doctor and found out that the girls are growing like weeds. They weigh over 17 pounds each! There is definitely a reason I have really buff arms these days. Unfortunately, we also found out that they have the world’s worst yeast infections and have to go to the doctor’s office again tomorrow. Alex went to storytime again and had a great time learning a new song about bunnies. He learned that bunnies hop, hop, hop. So, when he got home and saw Daddy hopping everywhere (Ben hops short distances to avoid using his crutches), he was very excited. He now follows Ben around hopping and laughing. Ben found a new favorite show. It’s a candid camera show that features several really silly situations each episode. While discussing why Ben likes it so much, I realized again just how overeducated he is. He said, “I think other people like the show, but I really like it because it features such interesting social dilemmas.” Social dilemmas? Yep, all that tuition is paying off. Finally, my cousins Tyler and Stephanie came to visit for July 4th. They brought awesome fireworks from Wyoming and we had a great time wowing the neighbors. We didn’t think Alex was paying much attention to the fantastic (and completely illegal) fireworks that Tyler was setting off, but he woke up talking about them this morning. I guess they did make an impression. Naomi also thought that the fireworks were great and stayed up way past her bedtime watching all the fun. I forgot to take any pics, so my fantastic descriptions will have to do this week. We are looking forward to another family reunion next week and hope that everyone had a great Fourth like we did.

Pics

A very quiet week

This week was full of all sorts of fun things at home. Yea! We went to storytime at the library, Alex learned to play a new game on the computer and I almost caught up on housework. I have started walking in the mornings with Alex and a few friends. Alex likes getting to ride in the stroller again, since he has to walk if we take his sisters anywhere. He loved going to storytime this week and was disappointed when his stamp washed off in the bath. He got a prize from playing the SuperWhy game on pbskids.org. It was a paper crown that I printed, cut and stapled together for him. He loved it to death; the crown made it through about 36 hours of Alex's enthusiasm before it succombed. A funny, random story: When I walk, I wear work out pants and a t-shirt. I have gray pants and several gray shirts. One morning, I happened to wear my gray pants with a gray shirt. Trust me, this was not a bad attempt at matching. I don't have enough mental energy to care what I wear when I work out. But, Ben thought it was funny and teased me. He called me "Miss Monochromatic." I, of course, told him it didn't matter and that no one would notice. Not two minutes later, Alex came up to me saying, "Mommy, look, you match. See your pants are gray and so is your shirt." Ben thought it was hilarious. Apparently, more people notice my workout clothes than I initially expected.

Salazar Family Reunion

We had a great time visiting Ben’s family in Houston last week. We learned several things on our trip: 1- Flying with kids is no fun! 2- Swimming in Grandma’s pool is our new favorite thing to do. 3- Naomi may take a while to warm up to people, but she’s a doll once she does. 4- Red snapper is Cielle’s new favorite food. 5- Emelia loves to dance, especially when Uncle Ryan is playing his guitar. 6- If you cook pork for a really long time, it tastes really good! Thanks Aunt Lindsay and Aunt Lisa for the awesome food! 7- Alex is almost as good at pool as his Grandpa Salazar. 8- Ben is no longer allowed to play church basketball. He almost agrees with me on this one since recovering from a partially torn Achilles tendon stinks. 9- Flying with kids and an injured husband is no fun! 10- Family reunions are definitely worth flying to!

Let's go camping!

This weekend was Alex's first official Father and Sons camping trip! Ben took Alex to Wal-mart to buy a tent, sleeping bags, tarps, and sleeping pads a few weeks ago. Ever since then, Alex has been talking non-stop about roasting marshmallows in a fire and eating s'mores. He was convinced that the fire would be in the tent, so we had to have a few clarifying conversations.

On Friday, the guys loaded up the car and had a quick pizza dinner before heading out into the great outdoors. According to Ben, Alex thought the fire was too hot and was perfectly happy to let Ben roast the marshmallows. He also thought that the graham crackers were an unnecessary part of the s'mores, so he just ate chocolate and marshmallows.

Sleeping in the tent was fun until about 11:30 pm, when Alex wanted to wake up and help Daddy make the pancake breakfast. Alex didn't really go back to sleep until about 3:30 am and then got up with the sun. He thoroughly enjoyed having pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast. Ben's Elders Quorum committee was in charge of breakfast and, despite a few last minute changes, it was a huge success.

All the fun and food wore the boys out. Everyone took naps on Saturday, except me, of course. I was too busy washing the camp fire smell out clothes! Overall, the camping trip was a great experience and we are already planning next year's adventure.

Naomi's First Haircut

Today was a momentous day! Naomi got her first haircut. She was a very good sport about it, playing happily in the bath while I hacked off half of her hair. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But, I did take off a lot of length. Her hair was getting a little out of hand. Her bangs were in her eyes and her curls were all over the place. I think my first attempt at a girl's haircut went pretty well. Her bangs are even, at least. So, if she wasn't the cutest baby ever, she sure is now!

Happy Valentine's Day from Naomi and Emelia. Emelia has started rolling over and Naomi giggles a lot these days. They really like to play with Alex and they love cereal! They are growing like weeds and the rolls on their legs prove it.

Going out

I know that all of you are just dying to hear how Cielle is managing these days. So, I thought that a glimpse into "how the Salazars go out" might be interesting and somewhat entertaining. Today, I had a doctor's appointment. I, by the way, am sick of going to the doctor's office and don't plan on doing it again for at least a year. My appointment was at 11:40. So, last night, I called my visiting teacher to see if Alex could play at her house. No answer. That meant that all three kids had to come with me. This morning, I showered while Alex watched Rudolph (we still haven't put away all of Christmas). He watches a show every morning while I shower and for the last three days Rudolph (or as he says, "Roof-doll") has made the cut. Then, I packed the diaper bag while the girls ate their bottles and Alex pooped his pants. Potty training is no fun some days. Because Alex pooped in his pants, we couldn't go to McDonald's for lunch, so I packed a lunch (at least the doctor will think I'm a good mom and never feed my children toxic fast food). By eleven, we were all clean, dry, fed and loaded in the car. I actually found a parking spot at the doctor's office and didn't have to embarrass myself unloading one toddler, two car seats, one double stroller and a diaper bag in the valet parking lanes. (Valet parking is free at this office because parking is nightmare!) Even more exciting than finding a parking spot was that I was actually on time for my appointment. Alex was so well-behaved that no one even stared at me. I usually get a look that says, "What are you doing out? Don't you know you have a double stroller with babies in it and two-year-old who is on a leash?" Alex, by the way, likes his leash and one woman once told me that she wished more moms would use them. (Whatever that's supposed to mean.) All the nurses at my doctor's office were very nice to Alex and he introduced himself as "blue Sonic" the whole time. (Thank you, Nintendo.) The girls slept the whole time, Alex ate his lunch while tied to his chair and my appointment was over in no time. Alex did not fall asleep on the way home, thank goodness. He spent the whole time looking for airplanes (which he's quite good at spotting) and talked to me so much that I got distracted and missed our exit. Oh well, we just had to take the long way home. And that is how we do it. As you can see, outings are no small feat, but they also don't scar anyone for life. Tomorrow, we are even going to attempt to go to a wedding reception. Wish us luck!