JJ's first masterpiece

A proud moment.
JJ and Karina are so unbelievably loud. You cannot even hear yourself talk with the two of them in the room sometimes.

I was on the phone with somebody important. Somebody that I did not want to realize that I was unable to shush my kids when I am on the phone.

So I committed THE rookie mistake... I left the room!

When I came back a few minutes later, I found JJ lying next to Karina's new little art desk that she got for her birthday. Karina was at the kitchen table, in full view of JJ... but being five... she is OBLIVIOUS (and she is five - she should be oblivious - rest assured: she was not held responsible for her brother's transgression... this time)

As I walked toward JJ, I said, "Buds, do you not see what your brother is doing?!"

In her happiest, most cooperative voice, "Its ok, Mom, I can share."

I pick JJ up (now that I am close enough, I am horrified). I held him up so that she could see his first masterpiece... "Is this ok Buds?"

She was as shocked as I was. We laughed about it and I, of course, grabbed the nearest camera I could find.

Please, observe a few things.
1. Does this look like a "punishment"... sitting on the couch, or does this look like a child that is proud of what he did and looks forward to doing it repeatedly?
2. In his other hand (still gripping it in his little baby paw) is a color wonder marker. You know... the expensive kind that don't mark on anything but color wonder paper. You tell me... coincidence or this kid is a genius?

Captain Karina

Karina had "Pirate Day" at school.

She had to wear a Pirate shirt. So I went to her endless wardrobe and realized that she was just tired of wearing all of those boring old Pirate clothes from her closet. She wanted something new.

So Mommy made her a Pirate shirt.Not bad. Mommies as old as I am will appreciate the totally 80's bead fringe a la Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. I don't know a lot of other pirates.?
Not a scurvy dog in the bunch. Is it any surprise that she is in the 95th percentile for her height for kids her age? She eats her fruits and veg!

The kids really enjoyed it. They learned "Pirate words" like "AAArgh" and "matey".

Then Karina came home and plundered my wallet and made her brother roll the plank.

Intentional cake wreck

...some follow up to Karina's birthday...

We had the family over for cake and a pinata after Karina's birthday.

I sent my husband to the store to pick up a cake. He brought this back...
Yes, It says, "Happy Birthday Mylee (I tried to fix it to Mylie... regardless... wrong spelling and NOT MY KID!) He thought it would be funny since he has been calling her Mylie (she sings like Hannah) and that it would go with her pinata. Ugh.

Needless to say that when we took her to the Carniceria to pick out the pinata, she insisted on Hannah Montana. We begged, we bribed, we tried all the parental tricks in the book... but she would not budge. Then my sister reminded me - it might not be so bad for me to get out my "feelings" about this tiny, scantily clad, flash in the pan - the appropriate way - beating her likeness with a stick. She may have been right...Of course JJ won the paper shredding contest. Really, he has lots of practice.

Look at what my mom made for me!

It tastes better than it looks!
Now we are ready to go hunt some more bear in Payson.

We miss you, San Diego

I only do a few things well. Traveling is not one of them. We are the most awful tourists that ever existed. That does not stop me from wanting to travel all the time. This summer has been so difficult because it is the first season that we have not traveled to any destination. To make myself feel better, I have decided to journal about why I should be happy we did not go anywhere.

Part One - Our wallets ought to be confiscated

On a trip to San Diego we decided to try sushi together for the very first time. (I would NEVER eat sushi *comfortably* in a landlocked state!) We waited in line at a popular sushi buffet for an hour. We paid 35 dollars per person. I understand that for some this will not be a shocking number, but considering we were so young and so poor and buying a house... this was a great deal of money to us.

We walked in to the restaurant to see an incredibly long buffet line with lots of colorful options. We each took a plate and walked slowly down one side... reaching the end and realizing that there was nothing on our plates, we both sat down... confused. I took a bite of something raw and pink, "EWW!". I offered it to Guero. No dice. "Your turn." He took a bite of something that looked like rice rolled up in green paper. "Stinky fish face!"

"I cannot believe that we spent so much and there is nothing to eat!"

Guero says, "Ok, I know a lot of people love crab legs. I bet those are good! Let's get some."

We leave our stinky fish plates on the table, go back to the bar and put a few long crab legs on our plates. We sit back down and look at each other.

"How do you eat these?!"

"I have no idea!, Let's ask the waitress."

We call her over, and explain our dilemma. "Well, we have never eaten crab legs before."

She looks at us with complete disbelief. "You have never eaten crab legs before?" She picked one up along with the tool. I could feel that she was almost embarrassed for us. She showed us how to crack the shell and pull out a tiny piece of... stinky fish!

"No way! All that work? For what? A stinky piece of fish?!"

Ugh.

After a brief squabble over whether we should leave a tip, (its not the waitress' fault the food was awful... but we have only been here for about ten minutes - haven't we already spent enough to look at somebody else's food?!) We reluctantly decided to leave.

We drove back to the hotel. Disappointed and definitely hungry we decided to order pizza. I hung up the phone and said, "FORTY DOLLARS!"

The pizza came two hours later. I nearly cried when I opened the box and realized that we paid so much for a pizza that was so cold that the grease was sitting on the top in frozen, yellow, congealed lakes of disgusting.

That was the most expensive dinner that we never ate.

Is there rehab for babies?

My son has a little problem. It is the paper... it has him hooked.

He wakes up in the morning...
and after Lilo and Stitch and after waking up his sister... it is the very first thing on his little mind.

Give me more paper.

He likes Karina's drawings, but the crayon aftertaste ruins the effect.

He prefers glossy magazine and print ads.

Guero thinks he actually ingests it, I am not so sure. I think he just crumples it up and slobbers on it a little bit.

I tell ya, I am not sure who is more excited to see the Sunday paper - JJ or me? Wednesday is a good paper, but we have to wrestle over who gets the grocery ads.

Today was a delicious day. A big fat (not yet juicy) Vanity Fair came in the mail. (I won't let him eat, nor will I tear out pages from an Ensign - I think that might be sacrilegious, and I don't think that is what is meant by "feasting on the Word").

I put the magazine down on the floor and JJ dove right in - head first. He tore the pages to shreds and spread them out on the floor, all the while maintaining a position that looked like a dolphin in flight - both arms and legs in the air. He kicked his feet with excitement while he slobbered and bobbed his way through 250 pages of slick paper yumminess.

I let him go. After all, his sister was at preschool, and I eat when I am lonely, too.

At 2:10 it was time to start the Preschool carpool brigade. I grabbed him, flipped him over and put him (gently of course!) in his carseat. It was not until I started to buckle that I noticed...
Promises in Malibu or Dr. Phil's favorite - La Hacienda in Texas?

The FAA knocked on our door

They wanted to investigate the neighbors complaints.
The neighbor, (identity withheld) complained that there was a Hannah Montana concert going on in the house next door, with an F-16 fly over and fireworks during the opening act.

I had to laugh a little when I explained, "that was just my daughter practicing for Star Search, my son cheering her on, and me... well... I was vacuuming."

Sorry about that.

He still fined me $20,000, confiscated my radio and my vacuum and threatened to muzzle my kids. You can't blame him really. He was just doing his job.

Yesterday JJ turned into an eight month old child.

My baby is disappearing fast. He is being replaced with a little boy...

He is officially the loudest entity created by man in the universe. I have to leave the room when the phone rings because I cannot even hear myself speak over his noise maker.

He is a funny little guy with a good sense of humor. He likes to play with his Daddy. Yesterday he woke up cranky from a nap just as Daddy was coming in the door from work. Daddy saw Karina and started to love her... loudly. As soon as JJ heard his voice, he started screaming... like he was hurt. Daddy waited for him at the bottom of the stairs, he asked, "what did Momma do to you?"... like I bit him?

Nothing. It was just the combination of being cranky, anxious to see Daddy, and Mommy moves too slow.

Speaking of being noisy, I am also going to start giving him a little dose of GasX before church. Enough said.

He still has six teeth.

He sits, but does not get up on his own. He has figured out how to continuously reach until things he should not have are in his possession... apparently he won't hear of this lowly crawling. That is for peasants. He loves to eat Mommy's coupons, and Karina's Memory cards.

He loves to eat cucumbers (which may be the source of our gassiness?)

Daddy is obviously still working out the kinks in his Don Juan act. He is devastatingly handsome. If you don't notice it immediately, he will use his powers of persuasion to get you to notice... they include the bubble drool, ear-piercing shrill, or the ever popular... toot.

This is one of my favorite pictures of JJ. My sister took it with her good camera, thank you sister.


(As we speak, I can hear Karina in her room... she is doing a Radio Disney Commercial voice-over. "...like me you can win a trip to Disneyland for Miley Cyrus' sweet sixteen birthday party...")

Generosity

Generously... I loan my vacuum whenever my family asks. Apparently that is not enough.

Apparently they wanted a vacuum that performed all kinds of fancy tricks... like sucking up stuff. They want one with attachments that are still attached, with a cord that winds itself without the threat of electrocution. They want one that does not have to be cleared by the government before you turn it on for it's offensive noise pollution.

No pleasing some people.

My sister, however, being infinitely generous, and also amused by my OCD, (I have not seen lines in my carpet for months) bought me this most wonderful gift.(mine is blue)
She is a good sister, and I am very grateful. I have worked hard today to restore order to a world that has been suffering with a vacuum that barely sucked for months. I vacuumed everywhere today, the stairs are finally lint free, the nooks are now sucked clean of dust, the crannies are no longer harboring alien dust bunnies, and the ceiling fans can now spin in a balanced fashion...
Thank you, sister.

I am, therefore I annoy

I am the oldest of several siblings. When I was a small child... past the birth of my first little sister, I was asking my mom for an older brother. She never delivered.

The Lord, however, did.

I got a supremely annoying husband. Just irritating. He irritates everybody. Not in a strange anti-social, needs a psychiatrist sort of way... in an "older brother that I never should have asked for" sort of way.

Its the kind of annoying that only a sibling could conjure. He will take the last sip of your drink, pull your hair to get your attention, or call your daughter's favorite band "the Frog Brothers" until she cries and you have to explain that Daddy is silly and that is how we know that he loves us... which even Mommy does not understand.

I got this email from my husband today...
(names have been changed to protect the annoyed)

I was talking to (a female friend at work), and she was venting about how (her significant other) had a really bad habit of leaving the garage door open every time he comes in. She claims that he has never closed it behind him after he pulls his car in, even though there is a remote a button on his dash, and there is a button right by the door. He still won't close it.

When she confronts him about it, she says that they are going to get robbed one day while they are in the house. He starts arguing with her saying that he always closes it, and if he does not he is justified because he intended to leave in a little while or that he knows she is going to be home and she would close it... etc etc.

(Work friend) was telling me this because she was seeking a guy's point of view on this kind of behavior. I told her that (lazy boyfriend) was simply giving her affection. I asked her, "if the garage door was not open, what would you talk about? Would you have something else to share besides incomprehensible work stuff that neither of you want to re-live anyway?"

I assured her that this was probably one of the "buttons" that (irritating boyfriend) would use to garner attention to get emotion running through his mind. To bring out a spark that would hopefully lead to spending a few moments with the one he loves.

As predicted (long-suffering friend) is not interested in this kind of attention for it is negative and annoying. So now in full comprehension of why he has this irritating habit, she will from now on open the front door and leave it open when she find the garage door open instead of reacting to his "button" pushing.

How wonderful to see that all men that love their women show it the same way... and that all women don't like it. Ce' LaMour

True love shows from knowing the good and bad buttons of those whom you love and using them quite often. That is why we do it.

I love you

hubband

Marital bliss

There is a little boy in Karina's preschool class, obviously no more than four years old, that touches her face everyday during story time. He does not poke her. Apparently it does not hurt at all. He simply takes one finger and touches her face.

I try to explain what I know as an adult woman (that he thinks that she is pretty and wants her to be his friend) to Karina in pre-school terms that are appropriate.

Dr. Phil might make a house call if I tell her what I am really thinking...

This little four year old - is acting exactly like Daddy... he thinks you are cute and wants you to pay attention to him. Get used to it... apparently this is what they meant for us by "endure to the end".

My most favorite-est daughter ever

Karina is such a sweet kid. With much excitement and anticipation she quickly opened all of her gifts from the family. I felt a little sad while she did. Being exceptionally practical, and on a budget... most of my gifts might be really lackluster this year. She opened the much needed new dresses for church, with some new stockings to match. She gave me the obligatory, "thanks, Mommy." She openend "new hair ties" strangely similar to ones that she already owns... but the same ones that I love. Drooling baby brother even seemed to remember to get her a new video, the new "Ariel" movie, for which she was clearly grateful.

But this is why I love Karina. She did get one purely fun thing... a ballerina costume. I found it on sale at Wal-mart nearly two months ago. I really did not have the money to pay for it at the time, even though it was on the clearance rack. I could not resist, however. I knew she would love it. I picked it up and placed it in the cart. It had been pushed aside by lots of other Mommies... that is how it got here to the clearance rack, but I knew a little girl that would really give it a lot of love.

When Karina saw it, her little eyes lit up. She immediately needed to change her clothes and try it on. Sheepishly, she came back to the family room to show Guero and I. She looks adorable in this pink tutu with flowers appliqued. She loves it. I love her because I know her. I knew she would love it.

I definitely know that most everybody that she meets in life will love her... if they know her. She is so special. Like me she makes her intentions... all of her yummys! and all of her yucks! plain as day.

Happy Birthday to our Buds!, my most favorite-est, best-est daughter ever!

pay it forward

I love this idea. I have been so many places in the cyber world this morning that I can hardly remember how I got started.

I "met" a lady in Alabama, two boys and a brave husband who is sick.
I "met" another lady in Oregon who cooks! and has monoamniotic twins - not sure what that is, but you know me... love them words - gonna look it up.
I "met" another lady in Nebraska who is very spiritual, but also nearly lost her engagement ring when her husband proposed at Yellowstone.

I highly recommend that you check out where it all began...
pay it forward

Davy Crockett and Laura Ingalls, lecture series

The kids... being so successful in their marksmanship have decided to embark on a lecture series. Karina sacrificed her birthday to begin the International tour at our local Cabela's. (This stop on her busy schedule had nothing to do with the fact that Daddy wanted to do a little shopping for camping equipment.)
Karina posed in front of her first take... a male lion. She named him "Bravely" (apparently only her aunts could appreciate that irony)
Once again... she looked fabulous, while staring down those fierce (stuffed) animals. And I do mean ANIMALS, and I do mean stuffed.

Daddy's first true love

... his Buds...

This is the day that we became parents again. We are blessed with the knowledge that our children are a very special inheritance of the Lord. When we get to the other side we will find out why the Lord picked us to be the chosen parents to these perfect children.

Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved...

Doctrine and Covenants 121:40-43

6 pounds, 10 ounces, 18 inches long

born at 2:13 p.m. September 10, 2003

Beautiful and smiling from her very first day.

meeting Mommy for the first time... on the outside.

Mother Nature works in mysterious ways...

September 9, 2003. A painfully hot day. I went in for my regularly scheduled ultrasound (three a week at that point)... crying. "It is too hot. Please don't make me do this anymore." Karina was due on September 30th, but I didn't think I would survive that trip to the end of the month. Somehow, though I had only seen one doctor in the practice through my entire pregnancy, I saw a completely new doctor that morning. I didn't even care.

I felt as if I had been pregnant for seventeen months. I spent seven months pregnant with BJ. I had barely recovered, and six weeks later I was pregnant with Karina... for a whole nine months.

The doctor said, "ok, well, then let's get you in for an Amnio".

According to seasoned mothers out there - I should have panicked. An amnio is supposed to be painful because it is done with a nearly comically loooong spike (or needle, whatever.) I had zero fear. I had been sticking myself twice a day in the belly with a horse's dose of blood thinner since the very beginning of my pregnancy. Frankly, they could have come in to draw my blood with a rusty hacksaw and I wouldn't have made a peep. I was so ready to be done.

As she was about to leave the room I asked, "oh, can I get that order for the amnio?"... thinking that I would go home... sweaty from the walk out to the car... and still crying. Then they would call me back at the very end of the day to schedule me for a week later.

"oh, well, I was just going to check to see if anybody was in the room right now, but if you want to wait..."

"Nope" Gosh I hope that did not sound giddy, cause I feel giddy.

For the educational record. The needle was like something that you would see in a cartoon. Easily at least a foot long. They do stick it in your belly. I have now had two and I did not feel so much as a pinch. I think that the myth that it hurts is perpetuated by women that get worked up at the site of that sword they use.

While the doctor worked she informed me of the purpose of the Amnio. They would draw out some amniotic fluid and perform a test on it to assess whether Karina's lungs were developed, thereby determining if she was ready to be born. I knew there had to be a catch. That lab test would probably take a week.

"Ok, she is ready to go".

"What?!"

"Yep, the fluid is cloudy. That means that her lungs are functioning well. We will send it off to the lab to be sure, but it looks like she has been ready for a while... this is pretty cloudy"

I could hardly even think about "Windex-ing" the inside of my stomach now. "She's ready?!"

I got up, and grabbed my purse. Walking pretty quickly toward the door, I was completely inside my head. My thoughts were racing with all I had to do. I had phone calls to make, a bag to pack, a crib to assemble, what about bottles, blankets, pacifiers and a diaper bag? What about putting the carseat in the car? I had to get my husband's clothes ready and meals prepared... after all... I was going to be gone for four days. Suddenly I forgot about being so uncomfortable and just started thinking of all I had to do. I was having a baby in a week?.

I might not have even noticed, but the nurse that called me over to her station was my favorite, Brooke.

"Mrs. Gonzalez, I have Good Sam on the phone, they have an opening for tomorrow at 7 a.m. or another on the 11th."

"Huh!?"

Um. I feel totally unprepared to make this decision right now. I wanted to tell her that I had a lot of things to do to mentally prepare myself for giving birth. Now was not the time to bother me with trivialities like... when would I prefer for my baby to arrive?

I quickly thought, "tomorrow at 7 a.m. is less than 24 hours away, and I am totally unprepared... physically... mentally... emotionally. But, if I wait one more day, my baby's birthday will be September 11th? Do I really want to start out on that foot from her very first day? (at that point it was still unclear if Sept. 11th was going to be a national holiday... possibly a national day of mourning.)

Shocked at myself, "I'll take tomorrow".

more pictures...I remember this day well. At Tita's house. Karina laughed and laughed while Tito snapped a million pictures.
There is no doubt about it, she loves to dance.

the Buds

Five years ago today, I sat at home on a deliriously hot day. I had no idea that I would have a baby in just two days. She was still not due for a little more than three weeks. I am sure that I cried quite a bit that day. I was so tired of being pregnant, little did I know that all of these water works would pay off big at my OB appointment the next day.

I have decided to dedicate a whole week to our little princess... full of quotes and anecdotes and pictures all about how much we love and cherish her.

First day... a question.
Why do we (Guero and I) call her (the) Buds?
answer: I don't know.

and so ... now for some pictures

Karina at the same age as JJ, about seven months. SITTING UP and enjoying a cucumber. She is still a very healthy eater. She loves fruit and veg. One of our favorite pictures - that sat on Daddy's desk at work for a long time. Karina at Temple Square in Salt Lake.

The truth is that we sort of know how the name "buds" evolved, but it is kind of irrelevant. The name has stuck in our house. She thought her name was buds before she knew to say Karina. We think it sounds strange coming from other people. So we would actually prefer that it did not catch on... we think it would go over quite poorly on the playground... so for now... we just keep it in the family.

Happy Birthday, Karina (buds)

...like she just stepped off the boat...

I am doing a little experiment to see if I can put video in my blog. If you remember way back - I have an ancient camera... and no ability to take video myself. All of the other videos I had available were of my children being born. There is a lot of blood, sweat and tears in those. The blogging police would rate them ... at least R. My faith tells me that it is inappropriate to watch those movies... so... this is all I have left.




When Daddy leaves the house with a child... all bets on best dressed are off. I can assure you... I was probably tied and gagged back at the house, because I would have never authorized this ensemble or the hair... but that is why going out with Daddy is way more fun.

Nonetheless, this video gets me a little teary eyed every time I see it because I remember how tiny and cute... and friendly she is... well... was.

For the sake of journaling this memory - I have to say that to this day Karina is extremely helpful. She loves to go to the grocery store and push the cart (wildly, causing children to scatter and old folks to panic), she loves to pick things off the shelf (en masse and drop them on the floor), and she loves to "pay the lady" (swipe Mommy's library card in the machine). I really do love going shopping with her. She is my little buddy.

"My wife had a bug up her butt..."

My husband wrote that title himself.
Unfortunately this was no literary device.

As we were packing up to leave the campsite I was standing and talking with our friends. I suddenly felt a monstrous shark bite my butt.

Now what to do when you are trying to have a civilized conversation and you need to stick your hand down your pants? Well, unfortunately I am not 3 years old, so no matter how you go about it, it is inappropriate. All I could do was warn them, "I am going to stick my hands down my pants." I did that and I felt a bug the size of a bird still attached to my behind.

I looked at Guero, surely a little panicked and he said, "Go behind the trailer!" Funny, here is a moment that requires decorum and HE is giving ME instruction?

I did go behind the trailer and looked inside my pants... only to find this... staring up at me... laughing hysterically...Guero tried to tell me, "It is just a grasshopper!", but upon closer inspection I could clearly see that it had fangs! My knight in shining armor asked how I would like to see it die? Both Sarah and I responded in unison, "eat it". Instead, he chose the manly way to avenge my hideous deformation. This bat met it's demise by way of the tailgate smash. Hard to see but that is a lot of guts ... and part of my butt hanging on to the tailgate.

Harvard Law, Pre-K, Day 1

Finally Karina had her first day of school! She has been so anxious all summer. She has been asking every single day since school got out... how many more days until she can go back to school? She wore her new "Pony shirt" which was extremely exciting.

She allowed me to do her hair... which was the most exciting part for me. Karina and Carter... looking thrilled to be abandoned at Preschool for three hours while the Mommies go shopping.

Davy Crockett and Laura Ingalls

We went on our very first family camping trip with some good friends of ours. We camped at a site near Payson... or Strawberry... I don't know I didn't drive.

I think that the kids had fun.

JJ and Pa trapped a bear in the woods. JJ drug him all the way back to camp. He wants to have the head stuffed and mounted over his crib. The mountain men nicknamed him Davy Crockett for his love of the wilderness and vast knowledge of the outdoors.

Karina and I churned butter and tied a quilt. Karina taught the local girls how to read. They seemed to enjoy War and Peace the most. She also taught them to fish from the river while still looking glamorous. She and I also made some new clothes for the mountain men out of the bear skin.

The trip was sponsored by our generous neighborhood landscaper. We were blessed with an oversized truck and trailer to sleep in. We had a few toys to haul and play with while we were up there.

We roasted hotdogs on skewers. Our friend Brady instructed us in the art of roasting a perfect marshmallow. We were very fortunate because the nice bear that came to eat Sarah respected the fact that she was very pregnant. He let her sleep in. By the time she woke up, he had gotten too hungry and decided to eat somebody else. Kade got his first ride on a quad with his dad. They caught air a few times.

We hope to go again soon when we will build a village for the poor in the wilds of Payson.