My Favorite Scriptures

I have two favorite scriptures that I would like to share.

Joshua 1:9
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.

I have a problem with fear. I have really changed since I became a mom. I have had anxiety and tend to be afraid of a lot of things. I worry a lot and try to remind myself to not worry about things that haven't even happened yet. It is a work in progress.
This scripture teaches me to not be afraid - that it is actually a commandment from God. I do not need to fear because I can have faith that Heavenly Father knows exactly what is going on in my life. knows how much I can handle, and knows exactly what challenges I need in my life to grow.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-29
26. For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for his that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
27. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and to bring to pass much righteousness:
28. For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
29. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with a doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

I need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause daily. Often I waste a lot of time and look back and think about all the good I could have done with that time. I love the first phrase of verse 28; it reminds me that I am powerful and I do have a divine nature and can do a lot of good in my lifetime.

Devotchka

Cesar and I went to see Devotchka on Dec. 30th. They played at Mercury Cafe. The show was so good! (Thanks to my mom for baby-sitting until the wee hours of the morning so that we could go!) They are definitely one of my favorite bands and probably my favorite band to see live. I first saw them 5 or 6 years ago open up for Belle and Sebastian. I really liked them, but didn't think much more about them until I saw one of their C.D.'s at the library one day under the local section. I had no idea that they were from the Denver/Boulder area. Then I started going to more and more of their shows. Since then, they have gotten bigger and are on tour all over the world, so their Denver shows are less often. They seem to always play a Valentine show, Halloween, and New Years show in Denver or Boulder though. Cesar and I went to the valentine show this year too.

Sick again and 10 more weeks!

Wow, I've been sick with the stomach flu three times in less than four weeks! I'm not sure why I've been getting sick so much. I was sick on Christmas (not so bad though), New Year's day (very bad) and then again yesterday (pretty bad).
Yesterday Cesar took care of Eli when he was home and thankfully my mom came over and helped the rest of the day. I was in bed most of the day. I missed going to church and I know Eli missed nursery. Today I feel totally fine again, but Eli has had diaharrea three times already today.
Cesar and my dad drove my Granny back home to Utah yesterday. They will be returning tonight- it was a short little trip.

I am 30 weeks pregnant, so I have 10 more to go! I really don't feel that big yet, but I do have some pretty bad pain. I have round ligament pain in my groin area on one side and it hurts! It hurts to stand up, turn around in bed, walk... I had this pain with Eli too, but only for 2 months. This pregnancy I got the pain way earlier than that! My lower back also hurts sometimes too.

I had an ultrasound the other day and they said the baby looks great! They told me he weighs 3 pounds 1 ounce which is right one developmentally. He still has a lot to grow though in these 10 weeks; I know I'm going to grow a lot bigger too!

I feel him moving around and kicking a lot. It seems like pretty much all day I can feel him. With Eli I remember his kicks hurting towards the end, I hope this baby doesn't kick so hard. So far so good.

I'm getting nervous to have a newborn and a toddler and hope I (and Eli) will handle it okay. Cesar has his Spring Break the week the baby is due so that is a plus.

We still don't have a name picked out. Any ideas (he is a boy)?

Two years and Two months

He looks like an angel, doesn't he?

I love him so much and I'm so glad he is my son, but...he is driving me crazy!

Maybe it's the terrible twos, or his back molars cutting through, or an upset stomach, I'm not sure, but I do know my patience has definetly been tested the last couple of weeks.

Eli has become a BROKEN RECORD. He says the same things over and over and over- at least a hundred times in a row! Most of what he says starts with "I want...." It could be yogurt, milk, to hug mommy/papi, to watch train, snow boots, etc...
It really drives me crazy while we are in the car. The other night we were driving and I pointed out the moon- he loves to see the moon. Then I must have turned a different direction or a cloud covered the moon or something, but he couldn't see it anymore. Oh man, he continued to say "I want to see the moon" in a whiny voice a million times while I tried to explain what had happened. I tried to ignore him, but it was very challenging!

Meal times are another very hard time. He asks for everything he can think of at once (milk, juice, water, cereal, yogurt, raisan toast, soup, sandwich....) The worst is when we don't have something - like today we ran out of milk! Oh no! He just doesn't seem to understand I don't have any milk!

He has also begun throwing fits. When he is frustrated or doesn't get something he wants, he throws himself down and cries. It's not so bad, I have seen much worse temper tantrums in toddlers before, so I guess I'm lucky with that so far.

I will continue to try to be patient, but I hope this behavior passes sometime soon!

One great positive thing that happened today is that Eli pooped in the toliet. So far he has pooped once in the toliet and peed once too (that was severaly months ago). I don't really think this is the start of potty training yet, but it was still very exciting!

Christmas Parade (before Thanksgiving)

Last night we went to a Christmas parade and tree lighting at Southlands. It was coooold! We had fun being together as a family and seeing all the people. Eli liked seeing Santa Clause in a firetruck at the end of the parade and also a man dressed up as Frosty the Snowman. I liked standing by the fire pit and getting warm. Then we ate dinner at Chipotle. It was a great night out!

Home Teaching and Prayer

Cesar took Eli home teaching tonight. He was his little companion. When Cesar was finished giving the message he asked Eli if he would like to add anything and Eli said some jibber-jabber and then clearly said Jesus Christ! So cute. He also held Cesar's scripture case for him.
Plus, I got to spend a few minutes home alone! I rarely am ever home alone and it was nice. I listened to Christmas music, folded towels, did some dishes, and just enjoyed myself.

Eli said the prayer tonight before I put him to sleep. This is what I heard clearly:
Heavenly Father
Nursery, church, books, Papi, Mommy, baby
Jesus Christ
Amen.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving on Thursday!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Count your blessings and be thankful for everything you have!

November 2009

I'm pregnant! We will be having a new baby boy around March 20th. I'm excited, but nervous as well. I'm feeling fine now, but for a couple of months at the very beginning I felt very tired, very moody, and had some nausea. Also, a lot of food just grossed me out and I wanted hot fresh french fries without salt!
I'm starting to show now and wearing almost exclusively pregnancy clothes. Many people are surprised when I tell them how far along I am (21 weeks) because they say they can't even tell. I was like that with Eli as well. I think I just have a lot of space in my abdomen for the little baby.
I have started to feel the baby move recently. It is a strange feeling.

Eli had his two year well-baby appointment today. He weighs 27 pounds (35%) and is 33.5 inches tall (25%). The doctor said he is a healthy pleasant little boy. He had one immunization today and didn't even cry! Actually this is his third shot in a little over a month (2 flu shots) and he didn't cry for any of them! Brave little boy!

Eli really liked Halloween and is already talking about Christmas! Eli would see witches, ghosts, or spiders and say "Halloween scary!" He loved to look at all the pumpkins and scarecrows outside of the grocery stores.
Now he is already excited about Christmas. He knows about Christmas trees and Santa Clause.
But, most importantly he does now about Baby Jesus too! He loves to pray and he thanks Heavenly Father for toys, fruit snacks, oranges, Mommy, Papi, Ivaras' house, etc. He says in the name of Jesus Christ amen. I love to hear him pray!

I am really excited about this holiday season. Two years ago Eli was just a couple of months old and I was pretty much a wreck with anxiety and baby blues, and found it very hard to enjoy myself during the holidays. One year ago we spent Christmas in Mexico and again I was kind of a mess with nervousness, missing my family, etc. Finally this year I'm ready to relax and just have fun with my family during this holiday season! Yeah!

Cesar spent all night at school last night. He had a big assignment due and worked all night. I missed him so much and wasn't able to sleep from midnight until 2:30. I'm so excited he is home now taking a nap and he doesn't have to work tomorrow! He has one more week of school, then a fall break Thanksgiving week! I'm so excited to spend more time with him- it has been a busy semester for him.