Ahhh...Christmas Time

Christmas time is in full swing and Jayla is definitely in the spirit. Blake was like Jayla last year in that when its brought up he's excited for Christmas. Jayla doesn't have to be reminded Christmas is coming. She has her list memorized and is prepared to give it when anyone asks. She wants a Princess Piano the most. Before when I asked Blake what he wanted for Christmas he would say, "Princess Piano!" He now says a Super Why computer. I think the older the kids get the more fun Christmas will become. Something that I need to think about is what kind of traditions do I want to start with my family. One that I started is that each child gets a new ornament every year and also one for the family. Daniel grew up as a Jehovah's Witness so he is no help in this area but I think I would like my kids to learn about Christmas traditions in Uruguay. I need to do some research. A lot of times I get stressed thinking about getting ready for the holiday (especially now when I only have one present and Christmas is less than two weeks away) but I try to make myself relax and enjoy the music, the lights, the decorating, and the special candy, oreos, and hot chocolate that come out this time of year. I hope that I will always enjoy Christmas more than I'm stressed out about it

Our ward Christmas party was last week and Santa Claus came to visit. Jayla was so excited and laughed and clapped when she saw Santa enter. Blake was excited too until it came time to go up and sit on his lap. Jayla was thrilled to talk to Santa and tell him what she wanted but Blake refused to go near him.

Jayla was able to be in the Christmas play the Primary put on and she got to be a sheep. She was just supposed to follow the sheperds around and didn't know any of the songs because she's still in nursery. But in this picture you can (kind of) see that she's tryng to sing along. At the end of the play Blake was really tired and started throwing a tantrum so I had to take him out. When I was able to peak in the play was over and they were getting ready to say the prayer and Jayla was running around up on stage. I thought, "Oh, what do?" Blake was still screaming his head off so I didn't know if I should take a screaming kid in during the prayer to get Jayla down or just to let her run around. I figured that it was better for Jayla to run around because Blake has some pretty piercing screams.

I hope that we all have a joyous holiday season and can enjoy more than worry and be grateful for all that we have and for the birth of our Savior and always enjoy giving more than getting.

Mini-Vacay in Las Vegas

Last week we took a quick trip to Las Vegas. We decided to take the kids with us this time and it was quite the experience. Blake got a fever the night before we left so he slept almost the whole way there. But the fever stayed throughout the trip. Poor little guy. He was a pretty good trooper though. We stayed in the Luxor hotel and our room was in the pyramid so when you stepped out of your door you could look over the railing and see all the way down to the first floor. Daniel is a little afraid of heights and we found out that Jayla is too but Blake is like me and he loved looking over.

The Luxor didn't have a heated pool but next door at Excalibur had one. It was a warm 65 degrees and sunny so it was a perfect day for swimming. Jayla was in heaven and despite Blake's fever he had good time too.

I'm glad that I had a maternity swimsuit so I could go swimming too.

In Excalibur at the entrance is Spongebob and Blake and Jayla freaked out. They just kept looking up at him in awe. It was hard to get them to look forward so I could get a picture. You can see that I didn't quite succeed getting Blake's full attention.

It was fun to walk around at night and look at the lights. Jayla and Blake never complained because there was so much to look at. We rode the tram, saw the lions at MGM, watched the fountains at Bellagio, and of course hit some good buffets. It was nice to be able to get away for a while and I appreciated that Daniel took some time off for us and himself.

Hair

About a month ago I finally braved it and cut Jayla's hair. This was the first time I'd cut someone's hair like this and it didn't turn out that bad. I decided to try giving her bangs. At first I wasn't sure if I liked it but then I decided I did and now I think I'm going to grow them out. I think I prefer her with no bangs but this was good for a change. After I cut Jayla's hair she started calling it her Dora hair. I also gave her a trim which turned out a little lopsided but I didn't want to even it out because then her hair would have looked shorter and Daniel would have known that I gave her a haircut.

Mr. Blake's hair is getting long and Daniel is so opposed to getting it cut so I'm trying to find a way to comb his hair. Here I was trying the look of Zac Efron on 17 Again. Hopefully I can convince Daniel to let me cut his hair or it will soon grow out of this awkward stage.

And I had to throw in a bathtime picture because they're just too cute. They have recently discovered the shower and they love it much to my relief. It was getting really hard for me and my big belly to give them baths.