La Fiesta para Bebe

Last Saturday my awesome friends gave me a baby shower. They figured since my kids were all half Mexican we should welcome la niña in style, so we had a fiesta complete with virgin margaritas, a maraca-shaped cake, and a chili pepper piñata full of baby stuff. It was so much fun and I felt so spoiled. Everyone was very generous and this girl is going to be one stylin' diva! I literally received mounds of clothes for her. I didn't count all the clothing items, but I am estimating it was at least 60 different things, not counting the hair bows and socks and blankets, etc. etc. I also got a couple of super cute bags to tote all my stylin' things in. Even after having 3 kids, I have never once had a cute diaper bag so I am excited for it. It was such a fun party and I was glad to have good friends to celebrate with.

The spread

The cute hostesses - Sarah, Milli, and Daisie. (I don't know who that fat chick on the end is.)

The only picture I will post of me opening presents, just to prove I did.

So Much Excitement

Today, we made the leap and Little Man is now in a big boy bed. It's something that had to be done, but that I had been dreading. But now that he is potty trained and theoretically needing access to a toilet more readily, there was no more avoiding it. Not to mention the fact that he was going to have to be evicted from the crib sooner than later and so we might as well get on with it.

We found a great deal on a basically brand new mates bed with a bookshelf headboard on Craigslist yesterday and were able to snag it. And then a friend traded me an almost new twin mattress for a big bag (meaning a garbage sack full) of opened packs of diapers and a couple of packs of unopened Pull-Ups I had saved at the top of the closet since Little J was potty training. But since Little Man just kind of skipped over that, I no longer needed them, but her son could use them. So...we were set. Little Man was excited, but fell asleep quickly and easily tonight. I will say he was purposefully worn out and I did lay down by him until he was asleep, which was about 10 minutes. But hopefully he will stay the night in there and we'll be on our way.

On another topic...what would you buy with gift cards you got on your birthday? Little J's birthday was in March, and this year he got a lot of gift cards. He has already purchased for himself a $30 Lego set, a Scooby Doo movie, and a Rubiks Cube in previous trips to the store. Today, however, I can't stop chuckling at his great buys. Are you ready? They were:

1. A ream of printer paper

and

2. A pack of orange Tic Tacs

He was soooo excited to find out he could buy 400 sheets of plain white paper! I guess our huge scratch paper drawer full of paper and his 10,000 notebooks and drawing pads were just not good enough. The Tic Tacs were an impulse buy in the register line. Maybe Santa will have it easy this year and just leave him a big box of printer paper from Costco or something.

And not to neglect my oldest child, Big J had his first book report and book project due this week. They could read whatever book they wanted and then they had to write a report on it, present it to the class, and do an choose an additional "project" from the list. He decided to read Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and then dress up as Indiana Jones while he presented his report to the class. Do you know it is almost impossible to find an Indiana Jones-ish hat without paying tons of money for it?? I finally ended up buying a costume set that included a shirt, a hat, and a whip for more money than I wanted to spend, but justified it in the fact that I have 3 boys that will all at some point be Indiana Jones for Halloween and many times in between. (Hey, Little J went through a phase where he wore his Spiderman costume everywhere, every day, so I figure if I groom Little Man just right this will pay off in the end ;-)

In other Big J news...he informed us that he doesn't want to take Tae Kwon Do anymore. This isn't the first time this has come out of his mouth, but before he would change his mind after watching The Karate Kid or something like that. But I think he is really serious this time because he received a letter saying he could test for his orange belt this upcoming weekend and he didn't even care or want to. I don't like to see him quit, because it really goes against something fundamental in me, but at the same time, I am not going to force him to keep doing something he doesn't enjoy doing anymore, especially since he is involved in so many other things he is good at and enjoys doing. So, I guess that's that, unless he changes his mind in the next few days.

Now that you are sufficiently caught up on the extremely interesting goings on at our house, I guess I will go and finish the laundry. (So much excitement - can you handle it?? :-)

Sweet Boy

Little J picks flowers for me often. (Sometimes from places he shouldn't necessarily pick flowers from, but it is the thought that counts, right?) Often, he has pulled out of his jacket pocket a flower he picked up along the way sometime during the day. But today, he out did himself.

This is what he brought me home from school:

All picked during his recess time.

This and That

It's time for another addition of "Around the Water Cooler" - my version of a totally random and unrelated blog post.

Topic #1 - Oh No He Didn't! Mother of all Moments - For those a little behind on their DVRing, all I will say is two words: Tony Almeida. OH. MY. GOSH!!!!

Topic #2 - Crappy weather. Today I can't complain. Currently, it is a sunny 56 degrees, but yesterday it was in the 30s and raining. A couple of weeks ago, my kids were doing this:

Global warming? I think not. Atleast not in these parts. It's mid-April, for goodness sake! Let's get on with it!

Topic #3 - Easter. It was a weird Easter this year. We had Stake Conference, first of all. Then it was cold and gray and rainy. Just weird. We had the obligatory visit from the Easter Bunny and all that jazz and had some friends over and had a nice dinner.

Little J had a note from the tooth fairy saying she did indeed run into the Easter Bunny. But they didn't fight.

Traditional Easter pancakes

Tonight He Became a Man

Little J lost his first tooth... What'd you think I was talking about?!?


He was really excited about the prospect of the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny running into each other. Or, I think his exact words were, "Maybe they'll FIGHT!"

Little Man Update

I thought I would update on the potty situation at our house. Exciting, I know. As you may recall, Little Man decided a week ago today that he was done with diapers. Since that time, he has had exactly 6 accidents - all pee -half of which were that first day, and all but 2 in the bathroom trying to get his pants down. He has not had one since Monday night - not even a close call. And after waking up dry for several days, he has even slept in underwear since Tuesday night and has stayed dry and clean.

I am still amazed at this. It is so foreign to me. He doesn't even want me to help him in the bathroom anymore unless I need to wipe his bum. I will ask him occassionally if he needs to go, but he just takes himself most of the time. I don't know why we were given this blessing, but, hey, I'll take it!

In other news, I went to the dr. on Friday, a day before my official 30 week mark, and I was measuring 34 weeks. I told you I was HUGE and that proves it! My dates aren't wrong, I'm just ginormous. The most I've measured big with my other kids is 3 weeks bigger with Little Man, but then he kind of evened out and I only measured one or two weeks bigger after that. She wanted me to do another ultrasound sometime soon, but after talking to her, we decided it could wait since there isn’t anything she can do about it now anyway (and since we are paying all this out-of-pocket, I wasn't too anxious to pay for a fourth ultrasound).

She brought up the possibility of having a c-section because I have had large babies in the past and if this one is already measuring so big she said it could easily be 10 ½ pounds! I don’t want that, but I know I do not want a c-section, either. Mostly, because they scare me. Plus, Little Man was my biggest at 9 lbs. 4 oz., but his labor, delivery, and recovery was my easiest. Also, I somehow have not gotten stretch marks on my stomach after 4 pregnancies and I would hate to have to get a scar on this last one. I know that's a dumb, superficial reason, but it is the truth. I might go for it if she threw in some free liposuction while she was at it, but otherwise I'm not a big fan. Besides, how in the heck do they think I would not be able to pick up things or drive or not do anything for 6 - 8 weeks or whatever the recovery time is? That's just impractical at my house. I’m thinking that I can just be induced early like I was with all the others and everything will be fine. Right?

Long overdue critique

So I've held off making any type of American Idol commentary this season, mainly because, well, frankly, I haven't been too invested in it and it will probably be the last time I watch it. I spend most of my DVR viewing of it fast-forwarding through it because I just don't really care that much and most of the contestants bore me to tears. That being said, here is my rundown of the contestants that are left:

1. Lil Rounds - She has a good voice, but not the awesome voice I think the judges would want you to believe she has. Most of her performances seem gimmicky to me and more like top-notch karaoke than anything else.

2. Scott MacIntyre - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh, I'm sorry, what was I saying? Holy snoozefest.

3. Matt Giraud - The guy can sing. There's just something about him I don't like. I think it's his tight pants and fetish with fedoras.

4. Kris Allen - I like him, although he is a mite too boy-bandish to me, minus the cheesy dancing. To me, he has one of the least grating and most consistant voices.

5. Danny Gokey - His voice makes me think of Michael Bolton, except with a lot more slobber. Have you ever noticed how much he spits when he sings or talks? I don't know. I know the judges want to adopt him or something, but there is just something about him and his Sally Jesse Raphael glasses that gets on my nerves.

6. Adam Lambert - I like Adam. At least he is interesting each week. I think he is one of the only true "artists" among the contestants and he's got a range that doesn't quit. If he just didn't creep me out so much, I think I could really like him. I am just waiting for him to come crawling across the stage through a thick fog and lick the microphone stand.

7. Anoop Desai - I can't help thinking of a young Ralph Macchio when I look at him. I like his voice, but the only time he seemed like he had a personality was when he sang "My Prerogative" ages ago.

8. Allison Iraheta - She has to be my favorite. I like her spunk and I like her voice. Again, one of the only interesting ones to listen to and watch. I'm sad she keeps ending up in the bottom three each week, because I think she is really talented. But I guess I can't complain, since I never vote.

So there you have it. Who are your favorites?

Whaaat's haaappenninnnggg? *Edited with updates

***2000 points to whoever can tell me what movie that's from. 1000 extra points if you can tell me who said it. (Sister, if you don't get this, I will be sorely disappointed and will take over the title of Movie Quote Queen from you, effective immediately).

Saturday, Little Man turned exactly 2 1/2. Also, Saturday, while getting dressed, Little Man decided he didn't want to wear diapers anymore. He went to the drawer that has had big boy underwear in it for about 4 months and put it on. And wore it all day. And only had 2 accidents. And peed standing up like his brothers. And woke up the next morning with a dry diaper, said, "No more diaper," and peed in the toilet.

This may not be the most exciting news to anyone but me, but considering my other children who are now potty trained were not so until they were 3 - 3 1/2, this is awesome!!! Considering I had one child who couldn't care less if he was sitting in his mess, big boy underwear or not, this is incredible!!! The fact that he even wants to do this now is mind-blowing!!! Ok, enough adjectives.

But seriously, we are on day 3 now, and I think this is the real thing. He hasn't gone #2 in the toilet yet (but not in his underwear, either), but he has woken up 2 mornings dry and today so far has had no accidents at all and has initiated all his bathroom trips himself. I almost dare to hope this time around will be this easy....

Please send all good big-boy potty thoughts this way. Thanks!

*Edited at 3:15 p.m. As of now he is still accident free, including during a 2-hour errand run, and also pooped in the potty. Yay!

**Day #4 update - 5:30 p.m. - I think this is the real deal. He's doing awesome!! No accidents today. Another poop success. We're on a roll!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!!!

Today is my dad's birthday. I have learned so much from my dad and am so happy to have him as a father. I will share just three random memories I have of growing up with my dad.

One, is that I remember him always teaching me and practicing with me sports. I still remember how he would explain certain skills or moves in a way that made it easy for me to understand and implement. I have found myself saying almost verbatim the same explanations to my own kids. He put a lot of time into working with us on the sports we loved. I remember many times him coming home from work still in his suit pants and button-down shirt and catching for me in the hot sun while I practiced pitching. I remember all the drives to and from sports camps and games. And I remember the many, many games and events of different sorts that he was always at. Always.

Another memory, that kind of goes along with the practicing sports, is that I remember one time playing catch with my dad when I was pretty young (probably 8 or so would be my guess) and he threw it a little high and I had to jump up to catch it. I barely caught it and made a comment like, "Geez, Dad, who do you think I am? Kareem Abdul Jabbar?!" I don't know if he thought it was funny I knew who that was or if it was just a funny comment, or if it was the way I said it, but he totally cracked up laughing at it. It's pretty random I would remember that, but for some reason it made me feel good that my dad thought I was funny!

Another random memory I have is in 7th grade we were assigned a project to build a rat trap car. Basically, we had to have a car powered by a rat trap. Kids in my class had all these elaborate plans. I was good to just snap the trap and let it propel one of my little brother's trucks (which technically met the requirements, it was just super lame), but unknown to me, my dad stayed up late into the night trying to figure out a better way to make this car. I still did my idea, but obviously it touched me that I remember him being worried about it enough to stay up late fiddling around with it.

There are more, but I'll just sum it up by saying my dad is great and I love him a lot and I hope he has a great birthday!