A talk about death.

So I know this is literally a little morbid. But we woke up this morning and found Nick's beta fish dead in the tank. This is Nick's first real (although small) exposure to death and what it really means to die. I wasn't quite sure how to handle things. I explained to Nick that we could see that the fish was not swimming around and that he wasn't moving any more. That meant that he had died. We needed to get rid of the body because the fish's spirit was not here anymore but in heaven. I then had him help me flush the toilet with the fish to dispose of the body. He seemed okay with this explanation, but ask me to reexplain about five times. Why did the fish have to go in the toilet? I don't know if I said or explained it well enough for him to understand, or if he can comprehend at all what death is. I hope that he will remain innocent for awhile anyway.
When I chose to have children, I really didn't think about the questions and the situations like this down the road that I would have. I forgot that it can be a little uncomfortable at times. I guess this will go down as a learning experience for mom.
On the other hand, Nick and Nate were cracking me up the other night. I had ask them to get ready for bed, and they had managed to pull off their clothes but not get their p.j.s on yet. So they were clad in very little running about the house singing at the top of their lungs, "you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why...Santa Clause is coming to Utah!" I sure do love my kids.

What do you want for Christmas?

The other night we took the boys to see Santa Clause at the city building. This is the first year that Nick has not been scared but very excited to see Santa. We gave him a choice of going to the movie or to go see Santa Clause. Well you see what won out. It is so fun to have a child who believes. I can hold the fact that I am going to tell Santa Clause he is being bad and he believes. I wish that I could still have that innocense and faith in my own life. I am trying to follow the example of my child.

Thanks to those who remembered my birthday and those of you who sent cards. I really do appreciate the friendship and kindness of each of you. I was able to celebrate my birthday last night, because my dear hubby has to work tonight. We went out for some prime rib, and then hit the mall and Toys for some Christmas shopping. What a zoo at Toys. However it was the only night that we will have a babysitter and be together, so we had to take advantage of the occasion.

Happy Holidays

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was very nice to have Jeff and his family and my parents in town. Nothing beats enjoying the many wonderful blessings that you have with family. While everyone was here, we went down to the Temple square lighting. I have included some pictures of that event. I am very glad that something as simple as holiday lights on a cold winter's night can remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. We can forget the stock market and our savings accounts for a few minutes and remember Christ and the light he gives the world.

While "Gampa and Gamma" were here I had them help me put up and trim the tree. Nate and Nick sure enjoyed decorating the tree, but even more showing and having Gamma's help. I am getting very excited as well. December will keep me very busy with all the birthdays, holiday parties, and of Christmas. But even more exciting to me is the fact that I will only have six weeks of pregnancy left when its all said and done. I can't tell you how happy that makes me as I am feeling "oh so pregnant."

Well I hope each of you enjoy the season. And greetings to all.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know that I haven't posted for a while and that I don't have any pictures, but I hope to get some new ones soon. We are extremely busy around the house but things are pretty routine and non noteworthy. That is really okay by me. We are frantically getting ready for the holiday season followed shortly by the coming of the baby. We are very excited and nervous at the same time.
We will be hosting Thanksgiving here with my parents and brother coming. We will also have Porfirio's parents here as well. This will be my last big bash before the blessing of the baby. The baby appears to be healthy and big. He is running about two weeks ahead on head size as well as weight. Right now he is breech but we're hopeful he'll turn so we don't have to have a c-section.

Anyhow, before I leave, I must say I am so thankful for the many blessings I have been given. I am especially thankful for my little family, my husband and my little boys. They are truly the light of my life. I am thankful for my parents, siblings, and their families. They are such great support to me. I know that not everyone is blessed with a family that they love and get along with. I am greatful for mine. I am greatful for Porfirio's family as well. They are great examples to me. I am thankful for wonderful friends who I have had the priveledge of knowing along my path in life. I am grateful for this country and the opportunities I have here. Even in these economic times, I still am far more blessed than I would be in many other countries. I am so thankful for my faith and for the blessings that come from there. I don't know where or who I would be without it. I am thankful for everything in between.

May God bless each of you this Thanksgiving.

Fall Spirits

Well as everyone is posting there colors. I thought I better update and post my litte colors. As the weather and the economy grow dreary and cold, I have two litte spirits who add all the color in my life. I sure love these little ones.

The other day Nick's preschool had a short little program to sing Halloween songs to the parents. Most of the children sang and nearly all of the kids did the actions for the songs--not Nick. You would have thought he couldn't move. However, I had Nate with me and he immediately joined in and started singing the songs. I have two very different boys.

On Halloween we went out trick-or-treating. Nick did most of the door ringing and talking. Nathan insited on ringing the door as well, usually two or three times. My kids really enjoyed Halloween this year. On Saturday we packed and headed North to Idaho to visit Grandma and Grandpa for Grandpa's birthday. The boys were so excited. They enjoyed playing with their cousins too. I have included some pictures from the trip.

Well get out and vote tomorrow. I jokingly told my husband that I am voting for Ralph Nader tomorrow, because my vote in the Utah presidential race doesn't really matter as Utah is about the deepest red state on the map. I don't agree with either candidate on all issues so I really don't want to vote either party. Alas it really doesn't matter here. However, I do care a lot about some local issues so I will head to the polls.

The holidays are upon us. Enjoy and don't gain too much weight.

Kid Capers

Okay, just a warning to my single child sisters. Two kids make bigger messes because they encourage each other to outdo one another. The other night I was doing dishes and the boys wanted to take a bath. I told them they had to wait until I was done with the dishes. They didn't want to wait however. They went into the bathroom and retrieved the baby lotion and started rubbing it on each other. Nathan started putting it in his hair. Nick thought that was really funny and encouraged him to do more. He then had to help him add more. Mom was oblivious to this scene until Nathan started crying because it was in his eyes. And here is the result. It took me over an hour to clean up.
The next day the kids decided to play with some playdo that they recieved at a birthday party. They rubbed it all over into the carpet. The playdo was Halloween black, by the way. Playdo is also not that easy to get out of carpet.
Well I hope that you enjoy my follies.

Musings from W. Bountiful

One of my good friends is getting ready to move in a month to Oklahoma City. She has become quite a close friend to me and I am really going to miss her when she is gone. I really doubt that I will ever see her and her family again in this lifetime. Yes, we will keep in contact, but I don't think that our paths will cross again. I am sad to see her go. This got me to thinking though, of all the people that I have met and grown close to in my lifetime. As our lives have changed and as we move on, we grow apart, but that is okay. I am so very thankful for the many wonderful friends who I have met along the way. I am ever grateful that I was able to get to know you even if it was for a short time or a longer time. My life is richer and so much better for the wonderful associations that I have had with such great people. I really count myself blessed. Thank you all.

Last night, I had just fallen asleep when I was jolted awake by Nathan. He had woke up at about midnight and needed some comforting. However, he found that my bedroom door was closed. So he teared up and let out the most heart wrenching cry (at least for a mom) and said, "Daddy, mama's door was dark and I need her."
I felt really bad and of course, Nathan was able to come to bed with me for a while and snuggle. I was touched. (Now this could very easily have been pregnancy hormones and lack of sleep, I realize). But I always want my kids to find my door open and not dark to their needs. I do want to be there for them.

Life is very busy as usual. We are very busy trying to winterize our yard, gardens, and house. I have managed to pull out most of the garden, get it fertilized and ready for the compost material. The flowers have frozen so I have taken them out as well. I do hope that we have a few more days of nonsnow left. I still have much to do outside. However, I feel comforted that much of it is done. I also degrimed the grout in my kitchen and will work on the cupboards next week. I am feel I need to get much of the heavy work done soon before the big beached whale syndrome kicks in. I am already beginning to feel the effects of this pregnancy on my back. I am very worried about the authritis. This will definitely be the last pregnancy for my health's sake. This boy needed to be here, I'm convinced.

Tuesday Nick's preschool is going to a local pumkin patch for a field trip. His family gets to go to school with him. We are very excited. Nick loves preschool and is doing very well. We are working hard to get him to learn the sounds that the letters make so that we can progress in our reading skills.
Porfirio is working double time to try and keep our heads above water. The recession has hit his business hard.
He is very anxious. We really appreciate his efforts in our behalf. I am very lucky to be able to stay at home and raise the kids--so far, knock on wood. We will miss him while he travels. He will be going to Cali next week. Hope you know we love you daddy.

Is it me or is the world spinning crazily out of whack? I have been very crazy busy of late and a I must admit a little anxious. However, nothing bad is happening, knock on wood.
We had a fun weekend. Nick had his first primary program at church. This is where all the young kids put on a program for the adults during our regular meeting. He did very well. He had a one sentence part, "We know we are children of God." He was near the very end. He said it but unless you were listening very closely you wouldn't have heard it. Of course, Nate piped up very loudly and announced that he needed to go peepee right before Nick's part. I ran him to bathroom and returned just in time to hear Nick talk. We were sure proud of him.
I must say that we are excited about Nate's progress as well. He is doing excellent. I don't think I will have to buy any more diapers. We haven't had any accidents except for sleep times for a week. We decided to put up bunk beds so the boys could adjust before the baby comes. Well Nate is on the bottom and Nick is on the top. Nate rolled out of bed the first night. Scared us both to death. So we have invested in some side railings.

Well as for me, I officially had my ultrasound last week. The baby looks very healthy with no problems detected on the ultrasound. He definitely has a Suarez head though. It is very round like his dad rather than oblong. Oh yeah, his head is still ahead of the rest of his body. I have been really beginning to feel his movements lately. It took a while for me to feel much because the placenta is wrapped nearly all the way around the uterus. This is not causing any problems except acting as a cushion so the baby has his own built in punching bag. He is currently sitting breach or horizontally. His head is on one side and his feet on the other. I feel very pregnant and feel like there is already no room left in the abdomen. Boy is it going to be a long third trimester.

However I have to brag about one small accomplishment. I have succeeded in going through the 15 boxes of clothing in the storage. I gave away three boxes of clothes and will be excited to see most of it exit the house permanently after this baby uses them.

I hope all of you are surviving the wallstreet turmoil and are relatively happy.

Gender News!

Well to all of you who have been anxiously sitting at the edge of your seats to know the gender of the next one... The family went to the doctor today and we got an ultrasound. We are having a new baby brother!
We are excited, but probably not as excited had it been a sister. The doctor says the baby looks healthy and everything is going great so far. Of course, we have a baby that has a large head. His head size is about three weeks ahead of the rest of his body. I was very excited to hear this news. Believe you me! I guess we will probably be inducing this one as well. I don't think I know how to make babies with small heads.
Now the name debate begins... any suggestions?

Hello

Hello all friends!

Because I do not correspond well by email. I have decided to go ahead and setup a blog so that everyone can keep up with the news in our family and with me. I will try to update at least biweekly if not weekly.

So where to start? Just a quick bio of our family. Porfirio (my husband) is a sales manager for Royal Prestige with his network and business covering much of the western states. I am a stay at home mom with two young boys. Nick is four years old and just started preschool. Nate is two years old and loves to talk your ear off. And we are currently waiting for the final member of our family who will arrive in February.

We are currently very busy. We enjoyed a wonderful summer with trips to Portland and more recently to Dinosaurland here in Utah. We also enjoyed some time and Bear Lake and shorter trips to Park city and wonderful family reunion in Idaho with Grandma and Grandpa.

I have been very busy harvesting and canning the vegetables from my garden. I have a wonderful crop of tomatoes and I have been canning spaghetti sauce and now salsa. Nick just turned four years old and we built a backyard playground for him and his brother of course. We finished just in time to have a birthday party on the playground with some of Nick's friends. Now Nick has started preschool. I can't believe that he is already old enough to be in preschool. He wishes it was the big elementary school but is okay for now. I am really proud of him because he knows his letters and numbers, colors and shapes, and many other things. I am sure it won't be long before he is reading.

Nate is a precocious little two year old. I am currently potty training. He is doing very well. I hope it is a completed task real soon. Nate will talk your ear off if you will let him. He is also learning very rapidly. I enjoy his laid back temperment.

Porfirio is very busy trying to be successful in this economy. He is gone all the time just trying to put food on the table. We really appreciate his hard work and effort so that we don't go without. We love you Daddy!