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.

My Fairy and Superhero

These are some pretty cute kids if I say so myself. They were so excited for our ward's Trunk or Treat night. For those of you who don't know a trunk or treat is where you line up cars and give out candy from the trunk of your car. Some people get really creative and decorate their trunks. Our ward has the best activities. After the Trunk or Treat we go into the gym that has been decorated with balloons, streamers, pumpkins, and all sorts of Halloween decorations and we eat. Every year we have chili and hot dogs and yummy desserts. After eating we then have activites for the kids like the fishing game, bean bag toss, and a little craft. It's a pretty fun time.

I love this picture of Blake! My little Superman is just too cute. I even sprayed his hair black to be more authentic. I was chasing him around the house with the can because he didn't like it very much but he sure looked cute when it was done.

When we bought Jayla her fairy costume she wore it for three days straight. I finally had to hide it so she wouldn't get it dirty. For her hair she wanted it done like Princess Aurora. So we put curlers in her hair the night before. I'll be posting those pictures later. Then the next night we fluffed it up and I put it a little fairy make up on her and she thought she was the prettiest thing. And I would have to agree with her.

Here the kids are with their friends Annie and Ben and their mom Melissa at the Trunk or Treat. You really notice Blake's black hair in this one.

Every year one of the members always uses this guy to hand out the candy and every year Annie and Jayla are hesitant to take the candy. In the end the candy wins out over the fear.

20 Week Ultrasound

These pictures are pretty bad quality but I couldn't get the pictures from the disc they gave me to download or upload or whatever. So I just took pictures of them with my camera. The first one is of her face and stomach. Her face is in the upper left hand corner.

This one is my favorite. Here it shows her heart and spine. I was most fascinated with her heart the whole time. During the ultrasound you can actually see it pumping and all four chambers of it. Amazing!

This one is of her feet but it's really bad quality so you probably can't see it but it's a really cute one when you're looking at the real thing.

This one is a shot up her bum with her legs spread out and there's nothing between them, thus it's a girl. Most of the white is nothing but in the middle of the white is Melia's little bum Again, sorry for the poor quality.

I really want to get the disc to work because there's even video of her moving around. I was hoping to post that, so I'll have to try again and see if I can get it working. If you've never been to an ultrasound you are missing an amazing thing. It's so incredible what they can see. They check the baby's heart, spinal cord, stomach, kidneys, brain, spleen, bladder, and even upper lip. I am so bessed to be able to have these technologies and see my baby. I'm even more blessed that she is healthy. Everything on the ultrasound looks good and she's the right size for how far along I am. This is my favorite stage of pregnancy because I feel good, I have energy, and now people can tell that I'm actually pregnant. Oh, and I can also feel her moving around in there more and more. An update on the other kids is Blake is still clueless but Jayla is full of Melia this and Melia that. I can tell that this baby will bring about a lot of questions. The other day she said that when Melia comes out she wants to give her some candy. I told her that she'll only drink milk and went even further to tell her where that milk will be coming from just to see what she would say. She thought it was the most logical thing in the world. It's amazing what kids comprehend when you don't think they will.

Final Soccer Game

Wow! It's been over a month since I've last posted. I've really been procrastinating on it but I'm finally doing it. Jayla's last game was about three weeks ago and it ended on a perfect weather day. In the picture above she is waiting her turn in line to do some drills.

At half-time they would always get fruit to eat and oranges were a favortie because then Jayla and her friend Annie could make orange smiley faces.

Jayla was always nice enough to share with Blake.

Daniel made it to this game and played it a little soccer with Blake. Blake was in heaven, finally he got to play. I think that he's pretty good, too.

At the end of the season all the kids got a trophy and it is now Jayla's most prized possession. She didn't even eat her donut because she wanted to hold her (very heavy) trophy. She loves to show it off to her cousins and grandparents.

Go Jayla Go!

Jayla had her very first soccer game today and as you can tell she was so excited. Her uniform is huge on her but that what makes it cute, right.

This isn't a very good picture. Next time I'll use the zoom but Jayla's the one in the middle of the line. Look how much smaller she is than the other kids. Ha ha! Before the game for 20 minutes they have a little practice and do drills. This was Jayla's favorite because she actually got to kick the ball. She also learned how to throw the ball in and she thought that was way cool.

When the game started she just stood there and watched the kids run around her. I think that she was patiently waiting for her turn. When she finally got close enough to me I told her to go and try to kick the ball. She did much better after that. Poor girl would run so hard to get the ball but she never got it because all the other kids are bigger and faster than her. But that didn't seem to deter her very much.

This is me and Blake on the sidelines. Blake wanted to get in on the action and didn't want to to be stuck watching. Next year he'll be right along there with them. (It looks like I've got a black eye in this picture. Totally an illusion.)

I think it's definitely more comedic than anything to watch them play soccer at this age. I'm so glad that Jayla enjoying it and she's so excited for her next game. I asked her what her favorite part about playing soccer was and she said the snacks. What do you expect from a 3 year old?