Lately...

I have been wanting to update my blog lately for my own sake, but I am too lazy. Here is a run down of what we have been up to:
1. Weekend before Easter- Glauco, Camila and Diogo came to visit. The kids love having company and were happy to spend lots of time with these 3.
2. Easter Weekend- Saturday we took the kids to a local egg hunt, worked in the garden and colored Easter eggs (AJ broke 2 eggs and Allie dropped an unboiled egg, but aside from that, it was fun). On Sunday the kids were thrilled to find the Easter Bunny had come. They loved hunting for eggs and finding their baskets. These two are totally spoiled, they each got 3 Easter baskets (thanks Nana and Great Mama). Later that day, we went on a fun picnic with my family.
3. Potty Training- I finally broke down and decided to get real about potty training this month. The first two days were ROUGH!! By the second afternoon I ended up teary eyed in my room saying a prayer that one of the kids would have even a little success and much to my delight, shortly after that, AJ did a pee in the potty!! Thank goodness he did or I would have given up. Alberto had the next 4 days off in a row and I really think having him home made all the difference. It was great for me to have the support and the kids (especially AJ) loved having daddy their to celebrate their success with them. By day 4 of potty training they were doing great and now we are over 2 weeks into it and doing great overall.
4. This week- Alberto is graduating with his Bachelor Degree from SUU (way to go daddy). We are so proud of all his hard work and his dedication to providing the best for us. Glauco and Camila are here with us spending a few days before they move back to Brasil next week and later this weekend Cecilia and Dale (my in-laws) will be here too. We are so glad that Glauco and Camila could come spend some time with us before they go. We will miss having them around.
5. Baby #3- I am now 31 weeks pregnant and doing great. I feel bad that I have not really said much about this pregnancy. People ask me all the time if I am having twins again. I feel sort of bad because I know my belly is huge and it makes me wonder if I am going to have a giant baby. Aside from the huge belly it has been a good pregnancy. We feel very confident that it is a girl who is coming to our family and the kids are getting more and more interested in her and my belly. I think they are going to be great with the baby. It is definitely different this time around. With two other kids and working at home, I don't have time to sit and day dream and wonder and read like I did with the twins. Overall, I feel really calm, but not completely ready for another child. I have been nesting like crazy and all I want to do is get my house in order, but I am also really tired. People ask me a lot too if it is easier being pregnant with just one baby. I am sure it must be, but I can't really remember the twins pregnancy being too bad. I swear this baby moves just as much or more than they did. My belly doesn't get as distorted with just one rolling around, but she sure can keep me awake at night. At my last appointment I had an ultra sound to check my plecenta (which is fine) and the baby was laying horizontal, just like the twins. My doctor said, most babies would be breech or head down already, but not to worry yet. She said my uterus is probably so stretched out, the baby just has a ton of room to lay however. Lucky baby :)
6. Allie and AJ update- As always, the kids are changing and growing faster than I can believe. They are speaking so well lately. It seems that from day to day their vocabulary grows and they are using more and more sentences. They are also both really into asking questions these days. They are constantly asking "What are you doing?", "What is this?", "What sound that makes?" (What makes that sound?) and "Where's ______?" I can't wait for them to start asking "Why?" :) I have noticed lately that they like to mock me. For example, everyday probably more times than necessary, I complain about my back hurting. So the other day AJ came up to me holding his back and said "Oh, my back hurts. Oh, my back hurts." It was funny. You quickly learn what you say too often when you have two toddlers (I won't share some of the other words and phrases I have taught them). They repeat everything! They are getting really good at pretending too. I love to watch them play together and see how their imaginations are growing. A few of their favorite pretending things are making food for each other, and pretending to be different animals. They are also learning that they can pretend one object is something else. Both Allie and AJ love our cat, Shanaynay. They chase her around all day trying to get her to play with them. They love to give her treats and are always asking where she is when she is out of sight. They will go up to her and say, "Hey little Buddy, Whatchya Doin?" I can't tell if Shanaynay really likes all the attention or if she is just too lazy to hide from them. In the past few months, the kids have started waking up really early in the morning. At first this made me so mad, but I am getting used to it. Allie loves to climb in our bed and get under the covers and snuggle and AJ either wants to watch as show or have someone get up and play with him. He is a morning person like daddy used to be until I taught him to be lazy :). As always the kids still love to be outside (preferably in the dirt at Nana and Papa's), watch their favorite shows, play with their friends, go bye-bye and dance to the Beatles (AJ with his guitar and Allie in her Tutu). They have both become big fans of going to church too. They love nursery because they get to see their friends and will ask several times during the week if we can go to church and "play with the kids." I am glad they love it and hope it lasts. In the last month or so, they have taken over prayer time. I am so surprised at how good they are at praying. AJ likes to say thank you for every wall, light, window etc.. he can see, ("Thank you for my wall, Thank you for the other wall...") and Allie likes to give thanks for hamburger sandwiches.
AJ has become such a mans man. He loves to be with the guys and "fight" with daddy. He has this deep voice and can be super bossy, but he is still such a tender heart. When ever he gets hurt he wants mommy to "Kiss it" and when he is sad he will give me big snuggly hugs. I am glad he lets me do this because aside from that, he doesn't let me love him nearly as much as he used to. I can't believe how good he is getting at teasing Allie. He will take her morning milk or something she is playing with and say "This is my milk or this is my toy" and Allie screams every time, he loves it. He is going to have such a great time when he has 2 little sisters to torment. AJ also loves, loves, loves automobiles of any sort. When we are driving he is always looking out the window trying to spot trucks, race cars and motorcycles. He has to make sure everyone in the car sees and acknowledges every one of them too.
While AJ has taken to all the men in his life, Allie has become more interested in being with us women. It is so funny how that all works out. Just today she came with Camila and I to the grocery store and had to take her "curse" (purse) so she could be like us. A few days ago I was wearing a skirt around the house for comfort sake and so she had to wear a skirt too, not a dress a skirt. Later when I tried to change into jeans before going out, she burst into tears screaming, "NO!! Wear your skirt like Allie." She loves wearing dresses, skirts and pink and being a princess. She also suddenly likes to have her hair in pony tails. Just recently we were at a bbq and Allie got to dress up in princess clothes. She was in heaven parading around with her plastic high heels, tiara, magic wand and Snow White dress. I wish I had my camera because it was so cute. We will have to look into some dress up clothes one of the these days. She has also turned into quite a clingy little thing. She loves to snuggle and will grab my face and say, "I love you mom".