July

We are all excited for July because that is when our family of 4 will grow by one!! Alberto and I got to hear our new baby's heart beat this week, which is the sweetest sound! We can't wait to find out if Allie and AJ are going to have a brother or a sister!

2009 Family Pictures

We got our family pictures done a few weeks ago and I am so excited to have them back. I was really worried that there wouldn't be any great ones of the kids, but lucky for us we got some really cute pictures of both of them. I even liked some of the ones of just Alberto and I. Here are a few of my favorites:

Birthday Bash and Halloween

Our babies turned 2 on November 15th! We had a great party with lots of friends and family on the 14th. We (I) decided to have the party at our house this year instead of using the clubhouse. It was super crowded, but fun and the kids really enjoyed it. Alberto braved the cold and grilled burgers and hotdogs and my mom and I made the kids a monkey and giraffe cake. We had a jungle themed party since both kids love animals and their favorite movie is Madagascar. They know all the animal noises, even some animals that don't have a "noise", Allie and AJ have a noise for them. Allie and AJ loved all their gifts and have had a great time playing with them since. I haven't really bought them new toys since their birthday last year so they were so happy to have new things. It was fun to have their little friends uncles, aunt and grandparents around to celebrate.
I haven't taken time to write all the cute things they do lately and now I am regreting it because some of that stuff has come and gone so quickly and I don't remember all of it. I still can't get used to how quickly kids change. Here's whats going on with them at Two!
AJ: AJ has turned into our shy guy in the last few months. He doesn't say much to people that he doesn't know, but once he knows you, he is a sweet heart. He LOVES trucks and cars right now and likes to line them up all around the house and make all the engine sounds. He also loves to watch cartoon movies and Elmo. He really gets into shows. It is funny to watch him get all wrapped up in the characters. He loves to ask, "What is it?" and "What's it say?" When you call him he says, "I'm comin" as he runs in the room. Both kids like to ask people, "You alright?" when they cough or sneeze or seem hurt in anyway. They both like to be asked, "Are you alright?" If you forget to ask them, they'll remind you and then answer, "I'm fine". AJ is the best at pouting. He has an enormous lower lip and when he gets sad he will milk that sad face for all it is worth. He also gives the best hugs, especially when he is sad and needs a love. I hope that lasts for a long time.
Allie: Allie is more of a show off than AJ. She is generally cheerful and gives lots of smiles, hugs and kisses. She is a major copy cat and picks up on everything she hears. I have to be really careful as I have already taught her some naughty words. Lately she says, "Mommy, I'm jealous" and "I'm hungry" all the time. It is so funny. I am not sure where she picked up "I'm jealous", but she doesn't know what it means, she just says it randomly. Alberto taught her to say "I'm hungry" in Portuguese so that is why she says that. Both kids like to sing songs and will walk around singing with eachother. It is so cute. Allie has taken to her babies lately. She likes to pretend to feed them and cover them with blankets. It is funny to me how she is all into girl stuff and we really haven't pushed it at all. She knows about princesses, even though we have nothing princess in our house. She was thrilled to get a tutu for her birthday and loves to wear it all around. Allie has always been a little OCD, but lately she gets all upset when she spills anything on her clothes. I think she learned that from her dad.
We have been so blessed to have two wonderful, well tempered babies. We are so grateful to be parents not only to twins, but to a boy and a girl. It is has been so fun to watch them grow and interact and develop their own personalities. I am grateful for their similiarities, and especially for their differences. Happy Birthday AJ and Allie! Mommy and Daddy love you more than words can say!
Halloween:
This year for Halloween the kids were kind of stand-offish about costumes. My mom pulled out some of the costumes she had made for my brothers and I growing up and the only one the kids seemed ok with was a pumpkin. So, my mom sewed each of them a new pumpkin and I was so excited. I got Allie to try it on once for a minute and AJ wouldn't come near his. I was pretty sure we'd end up not wearing costumes on Halloween. However, a few days before, Allie took a sudden interest in hers and began to ask to wear her pumpkin. I was glad. The night before Halloween our neighborhood had a party and AJ still would not wear his pumpkin. I hoped seeing the other kids would change his mind, but it did not. On Halloween, we went to my parents and the kids were so excited for candy. We finally told AJ he couldn't have candy unless he wore his pumpkin. He was not happy, but he let Alberto put it on. We never got him to wear the hat, but at least we got both of them in their pumpkins for trick-or-treating.

A Fun Weekend

Last weekend we took a few extra days and went up North to see our brothers, Camila, Alberto's mom and also to celebrate Alberto's 28th birthday. It was a really fun trip.
We left here Thursday morning and decided we'd go all the way to Logan. On our way up we made a stop in Fillmore to eat lunch and let the kids run. They had this bear (pictured below) at the gas station and the kids enjoyed sitting by it and eating their food. Once we made it to Logan we went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants (EL Torro Viejo= The Old Bull), looked around the town where we met and fell in love and visit John and Summer, our good friends and neighbors that just moved to Logan recently. I love Logan and I was happy to be back.
On Friday, we had a delicious breakfast at Angie's another Logan favorite, drove around town a little more and then headed back down to SLC. Once there we decided to take the kids to the zoo, since last time we took them it began to pour rain before they could see most of their favorite animals. The zoo was super fun. At first the kids were afraid, but once they realized the animals don't get too close, they cut loose and had a blast. It was a fun time to be at the zoo because we got to see the baby elephant, a baby giraffe and baby tigers. Who doesn't love baby animals? Later on Friday, we went to dinner with Wes, Glauco and Camila and then went to Toys R Us. The kids were in heaven once they found the section with the ride-on toys. While the uncles and aunt watched the kids, we got them a bunch of stuff for birthdays and Christmas.




On Saturday, we shopped a lot. We got stuff for the kids birthday party, and we took them to their first movie in the theater. We saw "UP" and they loved it. It was so cute how they were getting into it. While I was dragging Alberto all over town, Glauco and Camila were planning a surprise party for his birthday. It ended up being a really fun party. They decorated with a Batman theme, Alberto LOVES Batman, and they invited some of Alberto's really good Brazilian friends. It was fun to see all of them!





On Sunday we went to the outlet stores in Park City with Wes. I found so many cute clothes for the kids, I could have spent much more money, but luckily I have a little self control. Sunday evening, Alberto's mom and her husband came down from Idaho and we all went out to dinner at PF Chang. It was delicious and the kids even liked it!
On Monday, we hung out with the uncles and aunt a little more and then headed home. Allie and AJ sure love seeing their Uncles and Aunt.

Funny Fall

This is such a random post, but who cares. First off, I wanted to share some funny things from around our place.
Allie has never been faithfully to one object, except her thumb. AJ has always needed his binkie and the same puppy, but Allie often chooses something different she wants to sleep with. This has made her crib full of stuff. Recently, she has been wanting to sleep holding all of it. After she goes to sleep, I sneak in and move it all so she doesn't smoother herself under the mess.
Lately Allie has been doing her #2 on the toilet quite a bit, but the problem is Allie will hold it until she absolutely cannot hold it anymore. Last night she kept asking to "Poop on toilet" so we put her on and in an effort to get her to relax and let it go, I read her a book. She ended up sitting there for along time looking at a book.
This is AJ patiently waiting for Allie to finish her business. He is OBSESSED with his cars and trucks lately. He is very possessive of them and doesn't want to share. The car he is driving in this picture is such a piece. It falls apart all the time and he brings it to me and says "Mommy, FICK it! FICK it, please" I love to hear those words, they make me laugh.
Last night the kids and I attempted to carve pumpkins. I wanted to do two, but one ended up being all the motivation I had. The kids were so helpful scooping out the insides and then enjoyed a cupcake our neighbors brought over for them.
The other night I made stir fry, knowing full well that Alberto and the kids would not like it. AJ however, surprised me. He gobbled it up as if it was his last meal and the best food he ever ate. What a happy day for a mommy of two picky toddlers!

Lately...

Lately there have been so many cute things that the kids have said or done that I want to post about, but I am just too lazy to sit down and post. When I started my online job last year, we did the Color Code thing and I am a White personality. I don't remember the positive things about being White, but I do remember one of the negative things was that White's have a tendancy to be lazy. That is how I knew I was really a White. I am so lazy about the dumbest stuff.
Anyhow, as I said Allie and AJ are so cute and fun and smart. I just love them to bits and even though they wear me down all day, I miss them after they go to bed at night and I just can't relax when I am away from them for too long. They have changed so much over this last year. Where did my babies go??
Seeing my kiddos sit together and "read" books is one of my favorite things in this world.




Recently we went on a Pine Valley picnic, another one of my favorite things.





In September we took the kids to the rodeo and to Swiss Days. The rodeo was so fun for the kids. They loved seeing the animals and the cowboys and cowgirls and even dressed up in some rodeo attire. The pictures below were intended to show their cute outfits, but taking a picture of 2 toddlers is hard! The kids loved the swiss days parade too. They had fun seeing all the people and animals and machines and also learned about the goodness of candy!

It was Brazilian...with pictures

That is what I say when people aske me how our trip to Brazil was. It has taken us a few weeks to get back into the swing of things since arriving home from our two week excursion in Alberto's homeland. Between work, school, and getting back on schedule... I am still tired. After much thought I think the best way to blog about this trip is to break it into subjects rather than a day to day run down. Alberto and I have agreed it was a "trip" rather than a "vacation", but all in all it was a good experience and very important for Alberto.
RANDOM PICTURES:
Our last name is very common in Brazil. It was all over the place.
A Favela (Ghetto).
Alberto's childhood home and where his sister now lives.
This is how the building look. This picture is impressive because there isn't much traffic. That was rare.

TRAVELING:
We, meaning I, were nervous about what it might be like to fly internationally with two toddlers. Surprisingly enough the toddlers were not the hard part. Airport personel were the hard part. I could not believe the lack of help and human interaction that was available as we tried to check in for our flights. It took FOREVER and we barely made it onto our first flight. What a way to start a trip I was already nervous about. I will not go on about the rest of our airport hold ups and annoyances. I guess that is to be expected. The kids were really well behaved on the planes going to Brazil and coming home. They slept some and ate some and ran around the airports like it was Disneyland. It was a little difficult trying to keep them in their seatbelts and from staring over the tops of their seats and the people behind them, but all in all 30 hours to Brazil and 24 hours back, didn't end up being as bad as it sounded.
ACCOMMODATIONS AND THE CITY:
We stayed with Alberto's sister, Daniella, and her two girls in the house Alberto grew up in. It was interesting to see where he grew up and how much it had changed, yet how much it had stayed the same. Our family slept on an air mattress in the living room. This was rough, but Alberto and I actually enjoyed it to some degree. It was really fun to see the kids go through their night time rituals and snuggle and chat with them in the dark. It was interesting too that Allie wanted to sleep by me and AJ wanted to sleep by Alberto each night. If we tried to change this arrangement they became quite upset.
The houses in Brazil are so different. When we arrrived at Alberto's house I had to ask where we were because it was not obvious what so ever that we were in a drive way and behind that giant gate there was a home. As it goes in most cities, everything is very close together or connected. The houses are generally quite small and covered in tile. I don't think I saw carpet the whole time. As you drive through the city there are all sorts of businesses mixed in with housing, people setting up shop in their garages or on the side walks. One minute you are going through a Favela (ghetto), the next you are in what is considered a middle class neighborhood and every place is covered in spray paint. At first I thought it was all grafiti then after being around for a few days, I realized some of it was there on purpose, it just looked like grafiti because I don't read Portuguese :) One lesson I had to learn very fast was that I couldn't judge a place by its curb appeal or lack there of, once inside it is so much better.
DRIVING:
Many people warned me that driving in Brazil would be so different from here. I believed them, but didn't realize people could be so crazy. There are literally no rules. People create their own lanes, run lights when they are taking to long to turn green, they never signal and NEVER NEVER do something curteous like let another car in front of them. It is truly every man for himself. We learned that there is some unwritten rule that after dark you don't have to stop at red lights. What?? When people wreck, they jump out look it over and drive away, no police, no exchange of insurance. The motor cycles are the worst. They squeeze between cars and weave in and out and blow through intersection like nothing. I was a nervous wreck watching these idiots. The good news is they all wear helmets. Allie and AJ liked seeing all the motorcycles (aka: Michaels) and buses and big trucks (aka: big cuck) which are not actually big in Brazil. However they did get nervous at times also. On our way to the airport to fly home, we were in bad traffic and everyone was packed in like sardines. Much of the time we were wedged between buses or trucks and after a while AJ started saying "Oh NO bus" and "Oh NO big cuck" over and over. He was afraid of how close they were to him. Poor kid. We were blessed with safety and Alberto did an awesome job driving. I was really worried, but he kept his cool the whole time.
VISITING AND PEOPLE:
The bulk of our trip was spent visiting. We visited Alberto's mom's side of the family, several neighbors and old friends and ward members. The best was Alberto getting to see his sister after more than 8 years apart and meeting his two neices for the first time. It was obviously the first time for the kids and I to meet them too. This was the main reason for the trip and really made it worth it. People in Brazil are so nice. I already knew this because I have been around many Brazilians here in Utah. They love to talk and celebrate and hug and kiss. Everyone is loud, some louder than others, but its always loud. I was surprised at how everyone we saw and every place we went, it was as if Alberto never left. There was never an awkward silence or lag in conversation. I knew everyone in America loved Alberto, but guess what, everyone in Brazil loves him too. After a couple days, Alberto ended up making a little calendar/schedule for himself because everyone wanted to have us over for a meal and a visit. We had something lined up all the time. It was hard on the kids and I, but I am glad we got to meet people that were so influential in his childhood and he LOVED catching up with all of them and of course showing off his kids.

THE BEACH:
The weather was a dream come true while we were there, so we decided to load up our rental car, which was to biggest rental car available, yet so small, and head to the beach for a few days. Alberto and I had planned to stay in a nice hotel or resort type place, but his sister had a friend who offered us her beach house. It was a nice place and had plenty of room for the 8 of us, but we ended up having several problems from his niece getting eaten alive by Mosquitos to power outages in parts of the house to no hot showers. Once the showers went out, we decided to pack up and move on. We headed to another beach and found a cute place to stay for one more night. The beaches were beautiful and it was warm enough to go in the water. The kids LOVED it! They played and played and played. I can't wait to take them to California next summer. The beach was definitely the most fun of the trip. There is just something wonderful about the sand and the waves and the breeze.

FOOD:
For months before we left Alberto was telling me all the things he planned to eat while in Brazil. Just as he planned, he ate and ate and ate. I was actually surprised at all the unhealthy, fried foods we consumed. I had to remind myself that the average Brazilian does not eat like this each day. Alberto just wanted all the "good stuff" and people wanted to make us all the "good stuff" to celebrate our visit. I generally liked the food, some of it I could live without, but the real meals were all delicious. I love the flavors that go into their foods. The kids had a hard time without all their favorites. There were days we went to McDonalds inspite of the ridiculous prices and bought them chicken nuggies and fries just so we knew they had eaten something. The milk was an issue for AJ. People generally buy milk in a box there and AJ was not having it. He would take a tiny sip and hand me the cup back if I tried giving him boxed milk. We had to go all over town looking for cold milk. We finally found two stores that carried milk in a carton that was kept cold and AJ was satisfied with that. It was hard to find though and the stores were usually out of it.
IN SUMMARY:
I am glad we finally made this trip and got that out of Alberto's system :) kidding. But really it was a good experience for all of us. Alberto had a great time showing us around and introducing us to the life he knew. Making this trip helped me to understand a lot about my husband and his family and really made me appreciate the life we have here in America. I think I needed that, I know I needed that. I know the kids won't remember it, but I think this was the perfect age to take them and jump start their Portuguese. They picked up a lot of words and by the end of the trip they were saying "Oi" and "Tchau" (chow) instead of "hi" and "bye".

Brazil or Bust

Bright and early tomorrow morning we are off to Brazil!! I am a mix of nerves and anticipation! Wish us luck!

An attitude of Gratitude

This morning as I chased my kids around trying to get them ready to go to the park, I began to feel frustrated. They were both running a muck and I was thinking, "Give me a break! I am just trying to do something fun for you!" Once we got to the park with our neighborhood friends, we had fun sliding, swinging and visiting. We were all by the swings when AJ wondered across the playground to a picnic table where my friend Meagan's nieces were sitting. Before I knew it, he had climbed up on the bench and fallen right off the other side smacking his head on the pavement and on a bolt that was sticking out of the table leg. I rushed over, saw the blood running down his neck, said a swear and grabbed him. We decided I should take him up to Instacare to get it checked out and make sure he wasn't going to have any head trauma. Long story short, the blood flow slowed, AJ got two staples in his head and we both survived. AJ was so brave. He didn't cry or fight at all. The doctor and nurse were impressed with how well behaved he was.
This afternoon when I put the kids down for a nap I worked for a while and then looked at some blogs. I read some sad stuff that people are going through. Later this evening as I reflected on my day I realized how blessed I am that the worst thing I had to worry about today was some blood and two staples that AJ hasn't even noticed. I thought about how blessed we are to have great family, friends and neighbors who are always there for us. Without my friends with me at the park to help out, I probably would have freaked and cried, but they were calm so I was calmish. Then Meagan came and picked up Allie from the Instacare and what a blessing that was to not have to chase her and worry about what to do if AJ had been worse off. I have a fabulous husband and the two most beautiful and fun children in the world. I have parents who would literally do anything for us and the list goes on. I am grateful for this life and all my blessing. I am grateful that we made it through our first "serious" injury and that I get to spend each day trying to keep up with the two most wonderful blessing in the world.

I love concerts

Last Saturday Alberto and I went to Vegas to see our 3rd Keith Urban concert. In case you don't know it, he is my favorite! As always, the show was AWESOME!! I think it was my favorite one yet. Alberto got us floor seats, which I was afraid I wouldn't like, but ended up loving because the energy level was really high, plus we got see him up close when he came out to a smaller stage in the back of the floor seating, which also happened at the other two concerts, but this time I was like max 20 feet away and there were moments I swear he was singing to me. He sang 4 songs out on this little stage, just him and a guitar. It was worth the money we paid just for that part of the show.
He is such a great entertainer and I love all his songs. I never get sick of his music or feel like his songs are "overplayed" and the best part is that my kiddos love him as much as I do. Alberto says I have brain washed them...Every time we get in the car they ask for "beat bing", which translates to "Sweet Thing", the first release off his newest album. I know that the kids love this song because before the CD was released I would find the song on the internet or rewind it over and over on CMT and dance with the kids. It makes me happy to know they have made the connection between that song and dancing with mommy and daddy.
I always tell people whether you like country music or not, you'd like his concerts. His guitar playing skills are crazy and he never just does a song, he always changes it up or adds some over the top guitar solo, I love it.
I think the reason I like to go to concerts so much is that when it is good, like this one, you can't help but have fun. Everyone is dancing and singing and at times the crowd is singing louder than the preformer. The best part is that Alberto had just as much fun. He yells and dances around and sings with me and pushes me out into the aisles to try and touch Keith and then drags me through the crowd so I can see him up close. Alberto is the best concert buddy.
Our view of the main stage from our seats
View of the small stage from our seats

We ran around so we were standing right in front of the little stage. It was neat to be so close. I was giddy like a school girl.
On Wednesday we went to Lady Antebellum right here in sunny St. George. It was hot, as is to be expected outside in July, but I thought the music was great, even the opening act. I was disappointed in the crowd though. We sat on the grass (equivalent to floor seating) fairly close to the stage, but the whole time people were up and down and just sort of blah. I guess I am still living in my Keith Urban lala land, but I think Lady Antebellum is a really great band and I imagine they will be a big deal before too long, so I guess I expected people to be more excited. O well it was still fun to be able to see two great shows in one week with the best husband ever!

July Fun

On July 3rd we went to the Splash pad on Main Street to celebrate our friend Isaac's 2nd birthday! The kids love playing in the water and especially had fun playing with Isaac. I love the picture of the all the big kids (minus Emily's boys) sitting on the step. Angie and Jarred got pizza for everyone and of course my food lover, AJ, spent the entire time walking around picking up peoples leftovers and eating them. He had a scrap of pizza in his hand prettey much the whole time. We enjoyed this opportunity to get together with our friends and I got so many cute pictures of the kids!

On the 4th of July we started our day by going to the Hurricane City Park with our neighbors Tara and Colter and their kids Ayla and Max. There were lots of fun games and even races for each of the different age groups. We tried to get our 3 toddlers to race, but with all the adults crowded around trying to "help" we couldn't get them in line. It was still cute though. Later that day, we headed over to my parents to hang out and have a bbq. Angie and Jarred brought Isaac and Ava over and the 3 "big" kids played in the pool and we ate some yummy food. I think the best part was when we were taking the husks off the corn and Angie's corn cob had a worm on it. She screamed and flicked the corn sending the worm flying through the air and onto my mom's shirt. We were all squealing for a second. It was funny. After we bbq-ed and relaxed a bit, we headed to our traditional spot at Dixie College to watch fireworks. This is my favorite thing about the 4th of July. Lots of our family friends come and we visit. We have been going there since I was little so it is special to me. I was excited to have the kids awake for fireworks and although they watched them, they weren't too interested. I was glad they weren't scared though.

These are just a few silly things Allie and AJ have been doing lately. The other day I was changing sheets on their cribs and they both thought it was so fun to pretend they were sleeping in their cribs without the sheet.
We have some foamy shapes that the kids love to dump out and spread all over, but usually that is all they do with them and then Alberto and/or I end up cleaning them up over and over. Yesterday though, Allie woke up from her nap and was playing with the shapes and after a while came up to me with the stack she is holding in the picture and said "Samich". At first I was confused, then I realized she was showing me that she had made a sandwich with the shapes. It was cute because she used two big shapes and put a bunch of little ones in between. What a smartie, right! I was trying to take a cute picture of Allie and her "samich", but she thought I was going to take it from her so she kept running away. At the same time I was telling her "smile" (my kids don't get the concept of smiling for a picture) so I tried "show me your teeth", hence the crazy photo of her teeth.
Lately, I have let them have a popsicle when we are playing outside on hot days. It think it is so funny to watch them make faces as they attempt to eat them. Last night AJ was being so cute feeding Allie his popsicle and then later he dropped it, so the two of them attempted to put the popsicle back on the stick.

Last week we made a spontanious trip to SLC to see our Glauco, Camila, Wes and Alberto's mom and step-dad. It was a short trip and the kids did not sleep much at all, in fact none of us slept much, but it was fun. The first day we shopped, ate a HUGE lunch at McGrath's Fish House and then let the kids play at the Gateway splash pad. After that we went back to Glauco and Camila's and relaxed and had a delicious Brazilian dinner. The next day Camila took me to the greatest store that had the best deals. Later we drove to Sandy and took the kids to an aquarium. They really enjoyed it. AJ slept through the first half and Allie touched a snake. They both were very curious about the Rays, but refused to touch them. Later we went to lunch with Alberto's mom and stepdad and then back to the apartment to visit. Right before we came into town, Glauco bought a brand new, big flat screen TV. On the second day we were there, Allie found a pen and when none of us were paying attention drew all over the screen. I about died when I saw what she was doing. I was seriously starting to sweat, but luckily Alberto got it all off with a lot of scrubing. That was a close one! Anyway, we had a fun visit!

The other morning I was in my room with the kids folding clothes. AJ had disappeared so I came to the living room to look for him and found him sitting in the rocking chair. He had put a blanket over his lap and was looking at a book. He is so dang cute! I was taking his picture and I said, "read the book", so he held up his book and pretended to read. This age is so fun!