I am 30!

In case anyone wasn't aware of this, I am thirty years old.  I say this because I still get comments about looking young.   Not that thirty is old, but it seems that I don't even pass for an adult.  I was really hoping that I was finally starting to look older since I have four children and all.  About two weeks ago, I was at the park with Bristol and Aspen, and a woman there asked if I was their babysitter.  She looked like she was within ten years of my age, and it wouldn't surprise me if she was actually younger than me.  Anyway, she didn't think that I looked old enough to have kids that age.  Well, Bristol is only three so I can't believe I don't look old enough to even have a three year old.  I shocked her when I said I was thirty and that I also have an eight and five year old.  She told me that I looked really good for my age, and that's nice.  It would just be kind of nice to not look like a babysitter or a teen mom.  Or maybe I should just be the babysitter and have the father of the children pay me for my work. 

Happy Halloween

For Halloween, Brooke was an Egyptian girl, and Jade was a bride.  Bristol was a bee, and Aspen was a butterfly.  For the last couple of years, I've tried to keep Halloween costume expenses to a minimum and buy as little as possible, but this year I did buy all of the kids' costumes.  I have to say that they look really cute.

This is really the only picture I have of them in their costumes, which is too bad because you can't see much of Brooke's costume.  Aspen was really good about keeping her antennae headband on her head for most of the night.  Bristol also had a headband, but she was not good about keeping it on.

We went to our ward trunk or treat on Halloween night.  Then Brooke went trick or treating with her friend Mercy and her family.  Trent and I took the other three to some houses in our neighborhood but had them back home at about 7pm so that they could go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Birthday Girls

Bristol had her third birthday on October 20.  We didn't really do anything special other than cake and presents, but Bristol was perfectly happy with just that.  She was really spoiled getting lots of presents, but she really loves them.  I also made her a red velvet cake.

 

Don't mind her being unclothed except underwear.  She usually ends up that way at some point almost everyday.  I don't really care when we're at home, and of course, I make her wear clothes out in public.

 

 

Aspen had her first birthday on the 25th.  I didn't want to make an entire cake again since Bristol's birthday was less than a week previous.  So I just made chocolate lava cakes.  They were way faster and easier to prepare, but they were also way messier.  Look at how chocolatey Aspen is!

I removed Aspen's shirt because I didn't want it to get all messy.  She was cute and funny eating the cake and ice cream.  At first, she was getting upset because she kept wanting to pick up the ice cream with just her hands, but it was too cold.  She didn't like that and would cry everytime she tried.  Anyway, she also was spoiled with lots of presents and seemed to kind of enjoy opening them.



Fall Break and More

This past week has been Fall Break for Brooke and Jade.  We started it out by going to a funeral on Monday.  Sadly, one of Trent's coworkers was killed on October 2.  He was also in ward until August which was when they changed our ward boundaries and that family was put in a different ward.  We didn't know them that well, but from what I did know of them, they were/are really nice.  I feel bad for his wife and two little girls.  Anyway, I was worried that my children wouldn't behave too well during the funeral, but I had a nice talk with them beforehand so they did behave pretty well.  We also opted to attend the broadcast of the funeral at our church building rather than attend that actual event at the stake center.  That way I wouldn't have to be so paranoid about the kids' behavior.

On Wednesday, we went to Mesa so that we could attend the temple.  We stayed in a hotel that night, and Trent went to the first session of the day on Thursday.  When he came back, I went to a session, and Trent took the children swimming while I was gone.  While it wasn't too much of a hassle having to go to Mesa to attend the temple, I have to say that I am really excited that there will be one in Tucson. It will be so much easier for us to go. I just hope that it doesn't take too long to get it built.

After we checked out of the hotel, we went to an urgent care center down the street.  Jade had been complaining a little bit about a sore throat for a couple of days, and it seemed to be getting worse.  I didn't want to make her wait another day to see our pediatrician.  She tested negative for strep, and the doctor said that she did have something.  He just didn't know what it was, but he did give us some antibiotics.  Jade has still been complaining about her throat a little, though, so I may end up taking her to the pediatrician afterall.  At the urgent care center, I was reminded of how it's such a small world sometimes, especially for Mormons.  The doctor was also Mormon, and he was telling me how he had just returned from visiting Nampa.

For the rest of the week, we pretty much stayed home and attempted to get some organizing done with kids' bedrooms and toys.  Unfortunately, we failed pretty miserably in doing that so I am hoping that I'll have more success with that tomorrow.  Since Friday afternoon, Trent has been feeling sick off and on so that hasn't been really conducive to accomplishing those things.

Today there was an October 14th miracle.  Bristol actually went to bed within about ten minutes of bedtime.  I only had to put her back in bed two or three times.  Then she actually stayed in bed and quickly fell asleep.  She has continued to be horrible at bedtime for the last few weeks.  She still gets out of bed over and over.  We did play at the park for a while this afternoon, and she didn't have a nap today.  Maybe that's why she was better at bed tonight.  I don't really know, but I hope she does this well every night from here on out, though I'm not counting anything.

Recent Outings

***Yay!  I was finally able to add pictures here also!***
On Labor Day, we decided to go to Apple Annie's to pick produce since the kids were out of school.  We also went there last year on Labor Day (I think).  The picture that is on the header was taken there.  It's not a great picture.  Bristol was way too interested in her drink, and Jade wanted to make silly faces.  That's what I have for now, though, but I am hoping I'll get a better picture there soon.  Anyway, this year it was hot when we went to Apple Annie's.  It was like 95 degrees, and the sky was pretty clear so there was no hope of rain to cool things down.  Bristol, Aspen, and I ended up sitting in a covered area for quite a time while Trent, Brooke, and Jade picked vegetables.  I don't think it was the best day to go, but it was kind of fun.  The best part (note sarcasm) was when Bristol managed to find the only mud puddle around, right after we arrived, and then fell in it.  Luckily, I brought her an extra outfit.

This past Saturday, September 15, we went to Oktoberfest in one of the parks here.  There were rides, and it seemed like it would be fun.  However, I was reminded of why I don't go to these things.  For one thing, they are expensive.  We bought $20 in tickets which paid for Trent,  Brooke, Jade, and Bristol to go on one ride.  There were enough tickets left for Brooke and Jade to each play one game, and that was it.  Also, it seems like there are so many smokers there, and I cannot stand cigarette smoke.  On our way back to the car, we let the kids play on the equipment at the park for a few minutes.  There was a merry-go-round, and it turns out that the kids liked much better (and it was free!).

 

We're Back (to blogging, that is)

***Yay!  I was able to add pictures!***
I am so infrequent about posting, and I wish that I wasn't because I don't really keep a journal (though I always intend to).  There are lots of things that we do that I would like to write about so we can remember them well, and then I never write about them.  Anyway, these are some things that have been happening with us lately.  On August 6, Brooke started third grade and Jade started kindergarten.  Brooke is doing really well in school and is reading on a sixth grade level.  She loves to read and reads several chapter books a week.  Sometimes we have to take away her books so she will do other things, like chores.  Jade was really excited to start school.  For weeks beforehand, she would ask me if school was starting tomorrow, and I would answer, "No, not for three weeks" or whatever.  Then the next day she would ask me again.  I think that school has lived up to her expectations because on a recent Friday, she was so disappointed that there would be no school the next day that she told me she was running away.  I'm not sure how that would have solved the no school on Saturday problem, but I guess it made sense to her?  Jade also goes around calling me Mrs. Delgado, the name of her teacher.  A great thing about her attending school is that it makes her really tired so that she goes to sleep quickly at bedtime. 

Bristol is fun, but she is certainly a challenging little girl sometimes.  At the end of July, we got bunkbeds for Jade and Bristol.  We decided it was finally time to get Bristol out of the crib since she is almost three.  I was really nervous about putting her in a bed because even though she could climb out of the crib, she stayed in it pretty good and usually went right to sleep at bed and naptime.  I was worried that she wouldn't stay in a bed the same way because it is so much easier to get out.  Bristol was actually really good for the first month or so of being in the new bed.  She stayed in most of the time, but unfortunately, that hasn't lasted.  For the last month or so, she has been getting out of bed more and more, and it has been making me crazy.  At first, it was just a few times a night, and she would do things like put on Jade's school clothes.  One night I checked on her after she went to sleep, and I saw that she had put on Jade's outfit for the next day including the shoes.  Anyway, last week, I decided to make a concerted effort to curb this behavior so I would put her right back in bed without any interaction (no talking, no eye contact, etc.).  That was kind of trying.  One night, I had to take her back to bed over seventy times.  Yes, seventy!  I have pretty much been doing this every night now, and I am not sure if it's working.  At this point, though, I don't know what else to do so I am sticking with it.  Tonight,  she only got out a few times before she fell asleep so that was nice.  She also wouldn't take a nap today so I wonder if that is why tonight was better.  Hopefully, the situation permanently improves soon for my sake.

Aspen is doing good.  She is cute and still so small.  Recently, at the gym childcare, another woman asked how old Aspen is and said she looked about the same age as her son.  Her son is four months, and Aspen is almost eleven months so maybe that gives an idea of her size.  She has been crawling around for more than a month now.  She actually does more of a scoot where she is sitting and uses her left leg to push herself around.  She can move really quickly this way.  She is also pulling herself up to things and can even stand alone for a second or two.  I think that she could stand unassisted for a few seconds longer, but it seems to scare her a little bit.  We keep waiting for Aspen to get teeth, but so far, it hasn't happened.  There have been lots of days recently where she has been fussy, drooling, and chewing on her hand so maybe it will happen soon.  I'm not counting on anything, though.

So that was an update on the kids.  I don't really have much to say about Trent and myself.  Nothing is really new with us.  If I think of anything, I'll post about it.  Maybe.
***I thought of something and actually added it:  Trent's birthday was August 22, and he turned 33.  Not super exciting, but it's something.

Lately...

I meant to publish this a long time ago, but I wasn't done with it.  Since it's been a while since I started it, I don't remember what I was going to add to it.  So I will just post it as is.  I meant to post it way back in February, but now I am really posting it today, May 27.  By the way, Aspen is about three months or so in these pictures.

Soccer

Jade is playing the winter session of soccer.  Now she has never played soccer before, and I am not really sure how she feels about it.  At games, she runs after the ball, but once she actually gets to it, I don't think that she knows what to do.  She just kind of stands there, but so do a lot of the other kids.  Sometimes she complains about it.  The other day, though, I asked her if she wanted to play the spring session, and she said "sure."  However, Bristol, seems to like soccer and can kind of dribble the ball already.  So as soon as she is old enough, I am going to sign her up.  I think she should be old enough to play in the fall.  Here are some pictures from one of Jade's games:

The name of Jade's team is the Bumblebees since they have goldish-yellow shirts.

Christmas

I know it's been a little while since Christmas, but I want to post about Christmas just to remember some things about it.  This year there was nothing particularly special about it other than that it was Aspen's first Christmas.

Aspen on Christmas Day in her cute little dress.

Trent had to work Christmas Eve so it was just me and the children that afternoon and evening.  We didn't really do anything.  I took a nap when Bristol napped, and the kids pretty much played for most of the day.

Since Christmas Day was on Sunday and we had a ridiculously early church time of 8am, we quickly got ready for church that morning and left.  The kids didn't even really have time to look at the presents.  After church, Trent and I would have preferred to just nap, but we knew the kids wouldn't go for that.  Of course, they wanted to open the presents, and they were a little too eager to do it.  When we got home, they ran in the house and were about to start opening them before I had even come inside.  Trent stopped them, though.  We were kind of mad that they were being a little bit greedy like that so we told them that now they were going to have to wait until after we ate.  So I cooked our waffles, and we ate.  When we were done eating and the table was cleared, we started opening presents.  Brooke got a new bike.  Jade got lots of Barbies, and Bristol received a play kitchen.  She plays with that kitchen (and the fake food that she also received) all the time now.  Honestly, all the kids play with her kitchen a lot.  Oh yeah, Aspen got some clothes, and we decided to get her a crib.  Bristol still sleeps in her crib really well, and I didn't want to kick her out of it.  We thought that it would be better to just get another crib for Aspen.  Besides there wasn't much else that we could think of to get her for Christmas. 

Bristol is wearing her new polar bear scarf.

Jade got a piggy bank which she actually broke later that day.  She knocked it off the couch while she was messing around.  At that time, she was actually supposed to be taking it to her room...

Bristol examining a gift.

Trent is modeling the sweater I got him.

Brooke and Jade opening presents.

Later that day, we went to our friends' home for Christmas dinner.  I made rolls and a cheesecake, and I was so glad that I didn't have to prepare an entire Christmas dinner by myself.