Way to Go!!

Today Alberto found out that he passed his NCLEX! This is the test that you have to pass to get your RN license. It has been a rough road getting through this test and we are all so proud of Alberto! This morning Alberto was getting ready for work and decided to check online and see if they posted his score. The kids and I were still in bed as Alberto leaves for work at 5:30 am. Imagine my surprise as I suddenly sense the light flip on and here the sound of Alberto rushing into my bedroom and proceed to jump up and down yelling, "I passed my test! I passed my test! I can't believe I passed my test!" It was alarming and exciting all at once. Alberto was shaking like a leaf. This really is a big deal for our family! We are also excited that he won't have to spend the bulk of his free time studying! Ways to go honey! We are so lucky to have such a great daddy in our home!

Concert anyone?

I am pretty sure none of my friends like country music, but just in case... Lady Antebellum is coming to St. George on July 22 at the Sun Bowl. I really like them and I think it would be fun to go. Does anyone want to go with us? Tickets are $22 and kids under 10 are free so even if you don't have a sitter, they can come. Let me know if you want to join us.
Alberto is taking me to Keith Urban on July 18th in Vegas!!! His concerts are the best and I am so excited to go. I LOVE concerts!

Welcome Back!

Yesterday my little brother Brad returned home from his mission in Tacoma Washington. We are all so excited to have Brad back home and grateful for the wonderful experience he had on his mission. Below are some pictures from the airport. It was very exciting and emotional. This was also the first time for Allie and AJ to meet their Uncle Brad. Allie was a little shy, but AJ was excited to show Brad the planes. Brad came home with another missionary who lives around here and so his family was all at the airport too.

18 Months

Today Allie and AJ are 18 months old. They are suddenly becoming these opinionated little people instead helpless babies. Both of them are learning and using a whole variety of words now. Our favorites are "Alright", "I don't know" and "Are you serious"... In the last few days the have pretty much decided it is no longer fun to let me feed them at all, they want to do it all by themselves. Although this creates unbelievable messes at times, I know it is important for them to be independent. Both of them love animals right now. They love looking at pictures of animals and making their sounds. Lucky for us they still love books and spend a lot of time looking at books and listening to us read. Lately we have been reading those simplified scriptures with pictures in the evening. They love to look at the pictures and point out "Jesus" and "Josie" (Joseph). They have also taken up an interest in TV. Somehow we happened on this cartoon called "Olivia", its about a pig, anyway, they beg for "piggy" whenever the TV is on. A few days ago they both figured out how to climb into their high chairs alone and now that is the most fun thing to do. Alberto has also been trying harder to use Portuguese when he talks to them. They are both starting to recognize certain phrases and know a few words. As always they love being together and overall get along really well. When one wakes up in the morning or from their nap, the first thing he or she wants to do is go get the other one. It is pretty sweet.

Playing dress up. AJ trying to put a clip in Allie's hair.


I like to call Allie our "mother hen". She is always trying to make AJ feel better when ever he is sad. If he is crying, she says "SHHH, don't cry" and will find toys or his binky and try to give them to him. She also likes to boss AJ and our cat around. If the cat is on the table or AJ is on a chair she will say "get down" and wave her hand at them, just like me. Her new thing is to go look at herself in the mirror in my room. She turns from side to side just like I do, as if checking to make sure her butt doesn't look big. It is crazy how observant she is. Lately when she gets excited she gets this big cheesy smile and does this little giggly dance. It is cute. She is still an avid thumb sucker. In fact, her thumbs are currently chapped and cracked. She calls them "ouchies" now. Last night I put some ointment on her thumbs and then put socks over her hands. I thought for sure she'd hate that, but in fact, she loved it. She slept with them on all night. She is one funny girl. I feel a little bad for Allie because she is the only kid her age I know who doesn't mind sharing. Both AJ and Allie are pretty good about sharing, but AJ does take a lot from Allie and she rarely fights for it or whines. When they are playing with other kids she lets everyone take stuff from her and doesn't bat an eye lash. I guess she is my little peace maker.


AJ has always been my more fussy child and as of late he has discovered the dreaded temper tantrum and man-o-man, he is good at it. Luckily, they don't happen too often. AJ still loves his binky and his snuggle puppy. When he gets hurt instead of crying for me he cries for his puppy. He calls his binky "muna", what ever that means. Even though he can throw a mean tantrum, he is overall such a sweetie. He has the biggest smile and gives the best hugs. When he says things like "I don't know" he makes these cute hand gestures, you just want to squeeze him. In addition to animals (specifically cows) AJ also loves cars. He likes to look out the window when we're driving and see the cars and he loves the movie "Cars". Everyday when we are eating lunch a school bus drives past our house and we can see it through our front window. The kids both say "bus" and now AJ likes to get on the love seat and look out the window for the bus. AJ is also learning to tease Allie. He used to take her a cup of milk or a snack, but now he will take his and hers, eat or drink most of one and then give her the whats left and keep the full one for himself. He also loves to take her baby away. That is the one toy she will fight for and he knows it. He is a typically big brother...

American Idol Miracle!!!

Although I greatly dislike Adam Lambert, I love Kris and he is in the finals. This season all you hear about is Danny and Adam so I haven't been excited about the finals and then tonight Kris made it in! Yipee!!

Allie's celebrity look alike??

This morning when I went in to get Allie from her crib, her hair was so crazy! The first thought that entered my mind was "Phil Spector". I told Alberto I was going to post a picture of Allie and Phil Spector, but he thought that was not a good idea. So, I will just post a picture of Allie and AJ. If you don't know who Mr. Spector is, you can google his name and you will see the similarities. My kids are so cute!

More Spring time fun

A few weeks back my friend Jamie and her little girl Jordyn met up with us at the Coral Canyon Park to let the kids play. It was such a great day out and the kids had a lot of fun. I love to watch Jordyn with Allie and AJ because they are the same size, but she is about 8 months older so obviously she is more verbal. She talks to Allie and AJ and tries to reason with them and they just don't get it. It is so funny to watch, but they have fun anyway!

Recently we decided to plant a garden at my parent's house. We spent a Saturday tilling, raking, hoeing and planting. Allie and AJ had a great time trying out all the garden tools and going for wheel barrel rides with grandpa. We are pretty proud of our garden, even though to date the only thing that has sprouted are a few green onions and a broccoli plant. I still have faith in our garden.

Red Cliffs

The wind has been blowing all week! So, after a week stuck indoors with colds, the kids and I have been getting cabin fever!! The few weeks before were so lovely and warm, we got used to spending most of our day outside playing in the rocks and dirt. Anyway, today the winds finally died down and so we took advantage and went on a quick picnic in Red Cliffs. Grandma and Grandpa Whitehead came with us. The kids were so happy to be outside and so were the adults. We took lots of pictures, explored our surroundings and ate some yummy food.

Groovin' to the Idols

Last night as we were watching American Idol, Allie and AJ were dancing their little hearts out. We recently taught them "Ring Around the Rosies" so we got them to hold hands and dance together. It was so cute, we had to share. I love the second video because it is like they planned their routine. Funny babies...

Prelude to a Kiss

Alberto and I decided it would be so cute to get a picture of Allie and AJ kissing to send out to everyone for Valentine's Day. They are going through a phase right now where they love to kiss us and especially eachother. With all the kissing going on around here and my new camera's ability to shoot pictures continuously, I thought this would be a piece of cake, but in fact it was very hard! Here is a collage of just a few of the "almost kissing" pictures and the one we finally went with.