Catching Up

Isn't she the cutest even when she's all messy!?

Since it's been a couple of months since I posted I'm going to be doing a little catch up. This picture was taken after Melia's first attempt eating yogurt all by herself. She decided that she no longer wanted help eating and was going to do it all on her own.

These pictures are the end result.

When we moved into our place it didn't have a yard yet. Me and my kids were anxiously awaiting the day for them to lay sod and it finally came on our one good spring day. We were able to enjoy it for that one day and then again a couple months later when summer decided to show up and we're definitely still enjoying it now.

It's a little on the small side but it's better than we had before which was nothing. It's nice to have a place to relax and enjoy being outside without being on display for the world to see. We got lucky to be on the outer borders of the property because we have a brick wall along the back and one side and then post a fence on the other side so only one neighbor can see into our yard. Those with a house in the middle of the property has a post fence all around so they have no privacy.

One drawback though is that edging on the right. It's about two feet off the ground and my kids love to walk on it, including Melia. I thought once they put the gate on the fence I can let Melia loose and she can play outside without me having to constantly supervise...Well, I was wrong. She has no fear and she'll climb up on that and walk on it back and forth regardless if I'm there or not. But again I'm grateful that we have a yard our kids can enjoy.

Wow! What A Year!

Melia Carol Montero turned one on Febuary 6th. I know everybody says this but I can't believe that a year has gone by. My sweet Melia has been just that..sweet. She sure gave us trouble in the beginning with pre-term labor, bed rest, pneumonia, and a 10 day hospital stay for RSV. But she is making up for all that yuckiness by being such a good-tempered, happy baby. We had a little party at our new home and it was just a nice, enjoyable day. And not to mention that it was also Super Bowl Sunday (I'm sorry Melia, I'm sure it won't be the last).

She didn't want much to do with the presents so good thing she had some great helpers.

When we lit the candle she wasn't too sure if she liked that but then we started singing to her and she basked in the attention.

This is my favorite part of the 1st birthday. It's so fun to see how hesitant they are at first, probably because they can't believe they've been given permission to be messy with a whole cake, and then in the end you're picking cake out of their nose.

My little strawberry Melia, what can I say about you? When I first saw you you looked like you had been in a fight with your black and blue eye but you had the cutest little nose and precious lips and had that wonderful, glorious new baby smell. And then what else did I see? Red hair!? I was very pleasantly surprsied and my dear you catch a many eye with your hair. Now you are exploring your world more and more and always want to keep up with Jayla and Blake and you love them and they love you. I am in awe by how beautiful you are and I could watch you smile and laugh all day long. I love you to my deepest depth and I cannot imagine our family without you. You are a perfect fit. I love you my baby girl.

I Love to See the Temple

On Saturday February 19th I went here. What a special and life-altering event this was. It is very hard for me to put into words my feelings about this day. It is a day that I have waited for for a very long time. Many people told me that mine and my family's life would be blessed abundantly from this day and how true they were. I'm not saying anything outwardly huge has happened like I was saved in a car accident or we came into a lot of money but the way I feel inside has changed immensely. The way I feel about my family, my life, the gospel. It is all so much fuller and oh so good. My feelings are so tender and precious that I feel it is not appropriate to discuss them in any more detail so publicly. But those of you who have been know what I'm feeling and just how excitingly awesome it is and those who haven't...I want to keep you in suspense until you can experience it for yourself. What a blessing the temple is and I am in awe by how much our Father in Heaven loves us to allow us to have them.

Living the Small City Life

So folks, according to my blog Christmas did not happen. I never got around to blogging about it and I really don't want to play that big of catch up so we will start with events that have happened more recently.


Yes, we moved to Brigham! Never in my life did I ever think I would live here. I said the same thing about Salt Lake and ended up loving it so we'll see if the same thing happens here :/ We moved into a brand new 4 bedroom 2 bath duplex with a 2-car garage and a little yard. And the KITCHEN! It's 3 times the size of my old one! This is a huge step up from where we were living before and big step down from the rent that we were paying. It has a very homey feel and we are grateful to be living in such a nice place. That being said, I have not adjusted to living in a small city. I got so used to everything being so close and right outside my door. Plus in SL everything was conveniently online, i.e. info on businesses, schools, recreation...so not the case here in Brigham.


But another plus is having my family much closer. It is very easy to get a babysitter nowadays. I even had my mom watch the kids twice last week *gasp*. I never want to take advantage of my family but my mom assured me I have a long way to go before that happens. I'm just so used to doing everything on my own and finding a way to do things with 3 kids in tow that this alone is a big adjustment but one I will gladly go with. The kids are also in love with having their grandparents and cousins closer. Jayla was sad to move at first because she had so many good friends at school and church but her, Blake, and Melia have adjusted very well. It will be interesting to see how our new life develops living the small city life.

I Like Pie

...And so does Melia. This is what I found one morning after spending a few moments in the office. Blake had gotten out a chocolate pie. And naturally Melia wanted some too.

It was all over.

She even had some up her nose. I immediately put her in the bath (after taking some pictures of course) and put her in some clean clothes. I then went to dress Jayla and Blake and when I came back into the kitchen what should I discover? That I forgot to put the pie away!! She was a complete mess again. This time she got some on the floor and then was stepping in it so it was all over her feet and in between her toes. I could only laugh because it was my own studpidity that was to blame. I didn't bother with the bath the second time around. I just stripped her down and wiped her down with wipes. It was definitely a memorable moment and gave us a good laugh. It's impossible to get upset with Melia because she's so *deliciously* cute.

Soccer Mania

I cannot believe that I didn't blog about soccer. In my mind I did but when I was going back and reading through I realized that I never did. And I have to document it because it was my little man's first season. One of the things I look forward to the most is seeing how their ginormous uniforms drown them. I'm sure there will be a day when they will fit perfectly and I might feel sad because they're just so darn cute this way.

Jayla chose to be #5 and Blake chose #6. Blake was so excited to play but of course was hesitant once we got there on the field. Jayla felt like such a pro showing little brother how it's done.

After standing with Blake for a couple minutes during warm up/practice time he was good to go. During warm up he would take his shot at the goal and score and he had to come over to me to tell me just in case I wasn't watching. Jayla was adorable and every time she made it in would yell, "Yes! Yes!," and jump up and down.

When the game started Blake did surprisingly well and would get in there with all the other kids even though he was for sure the littlest one out there (Jayla was the 2nd to the littlest). After that first game something must have happened because Blake then started playing like I kind of thought he was going to all along. He wasn't even paying attention half the time. Sometimes when they would have the kick-off he would be standing with the other team on the wrong side. This was all fine because it's what you expect from 3-4 year old soccer. He gave all of us parents a good laugh. When he would pay attention and saw the ball heading down the field he would go run after it but not without looking at me to make sure I was watching and then that would result into running into other players.

Jayla is starting to understand more of the game and she doesn't just follow the ball in the cluster like most of the kids. She can see where the ball is heading and she'll go there and wait. Since she knows she's little and the other kids can beat her running to the ball she's figured out to predict where the ball will be going. She is a very good defensive player because of this. She did almost score a goal...for the other team but I still was proud of her for coming close.

With the teams you never know what you're going to get but they were a good bunch and all wanted to be out there and play (with maybe one exception). We nicknamed ourselves the sibling team because 6 out of 10 of the kids were siblings with another teammate. It was a fun team and the coaches were great and worked really well with them. We can't wait for next season!

Halloween Cuties

Yay for Halloween...I guess. I'm not a huge Halloween lover. I don't mind the holiday but I never go out all out for it. We do the pumpkins, I dress up the kids and take them to get some candy but that's it. Maybe I should become more of a fun mom and make this event more special. But does it really need to be more special for a kid? Getting a bucketful of candy seems special enough to me. I guess everything is all worth it to see these little cuties get even cuter. Jayla has wanted to be Ariel ever since I first asked her (back in the summer) and I think Blake wanted to be Spiderman for Halloween last year but they were all out of costumes. This year I got them a month early to be on the safe side. My little lady bug's costume was a hand-me-down from a neighbor and is actually a newborn size but I squeezed it on her because it was too darn cute not to.

Here the kiddos are at the Trunk or Treat. It was raining pretty good when we got there and by the time we got half way through it had stopped. We made out, weather-wise, a lot better than some people, so I hear.

After our ward's Trunk or Treat we have a dinner and then game for the kids. This was Blake waiting for dinner. I let them have one piece before they ate or else I wouldn't have heard the end of it...

...And I still didn't hear the end of it because here's Jayla begging for ONE more piece. Look at all that loot!

Now here is the cutest picture ever! It was so hilarious to watch her crawl around the floor in this thing. I couldn't stop laughing and she just thought I was crazy and was wondering what was so funny. I've got to say it again that I have THE cutest kids in the world. Of course there are a lot that come in a close second but still..