Ba dum da dum dum dum!

 Sammy is such a little lover! He just wants me to hold him all the time and he is so sweet and laughy! I love the way he is getting so long and limber! Its fun to see him try to crawl around things and over things and get stuck and unstuck, just to give himself a challenge! And every time I pick him up, he bites my shoulder :)

 Sweet little boy. Please don't ever grow up! He's so funny! He is really into humor lately. Whenever he gets in trouble, his response is always, "I just wanted to make you laugh!" and he tells half of this knock knock joke all the time and laughs hysterically. Its so cute! Something else funny is that he is always saying, "I don't know about that!"

 You can kind of see in the mirror that Sammy is laughing his head off too. The boys have been having so much fun in the car lately! Max does all kinds of crazy things to make Sammy laugh and they have so much fun!

 Last weekend we drove an hour and a half to this tiny little country town called Burnett, where the first Baptist Church of the town puts on this AMAZING presentation of Bethlehem as it would have been in the time when Jesus was born. You have to wait for hours because people come from all over to see it, but It was so incredible! I felt more immersed in the time than even in Williamsburg. There were hundreds of actors and buildings made from stone and dirt. You could go through the crowded town, seeing people making bread in the street, familys preparing dinner in their homes, blacksmiths, basketweavers, a synagogue, a well, a market, Real Camels, goats, donkeys, geese, everyone in super authentic costumes, roman soldiers! I am telling you it was incredible. And it was so crowded that It was really easy to imagine myself really there the night Mary and Joseph came into town and couldn't find a place to stay. In the end you saw an inn and a cave of a stable with a big lit up star. And it was all free, all that preparation and time, people just volunteered. Wow! We were really touched. It was beautiful!

 The other day I went to the store and Max helped me put away the food. He put the cans up on the shelf one at a time! What a sweet little helper!

 I love seeing Sammy play with toys! He is really enjoying toys lately! Especially this little nativity set. Max loves it too, it is so fun to see how they set it up, sometimes with the animals worshiping baby Jesus, or just one shepherd. It always makes me smile. Max is really learning so much! I have been telling him about when Jesus was born and he totally knows it. He makes up songs about the shepherds coming to see baby Jesus, and every time he sees a star he gets so excited and says, "The star was in the sky when Jesus was born!"

A Thanksgiving to be Grateful for!

 Oh,  my darling parents and little sisters came to our house for Thanksgiving this year and they made it feel like heaven! Oh my family! I love you guys too much! Mom had a birthday the week before so I insisted we get to celebrate it too!

 We went down to this little German town called Fredericksburg. I think we were all expecting Leavenworth, which it wasn't at all like that, but it was fun in a totally different way. Instead of being like a town taken right out of Germany, it felt like a town frozen in its pioneer colonizing days which was fun. We walked around a really neat little museum which was like a bunch of little farmhouses set up as they would have been a couple hundred years ago. I think we were all amazed first at how difficult life would have been and then at how closely we could actually relate to that kind of life. Dad told us lots of stories about his parents and explained that their life was probably much harder in Tetonia than for the people in this part of the country even a hundred years later and I realized that actually most of the houses were quite a bit nicer than the house Javier's family lives in now. So that is very humbling. Of course we have so so much that we don't appreciate nearly enough. Then we really enjoyed shopping in the most fun little stores I think I have ever seen. Stores full of beautiful quilts, and reupholstered furniture, and christmas, and lovely things, and finished off by eating 3 or 4 unspeakably delicious sweet pretzels...I'll be dreaming about those...

Aren't my sisters and my Mom Gorgeous!!

 I was amazed at how the cooking went for Thanksgiving! Everybody worked so hard it seemed like magic. 10 heavenly delicious dishes cooked and cleaned up in an hour. I kept thinking my house was going to get messy at some point, but it just stayed clean, longer than it ever has since we have lived here, until Everybody went back home, then we got it messy pretty quick :) SO I decided, I either want to move back in with Mom and Dad, or have them just come visit us indefinitely , or at least have a bunch of daughters as helpful as Maddie and Sophie. Javier said its like a symbol. He said that when the party is over you can tell who really loves you because they are the ones that stay to help clean up. If that's true I think people love me way more than I deserve! We rolled dice for who got to sit at the table with Max because everybody wanted to. Sophie and I won fair and square! We had the party table! And holy Cow, Sophie made this Chocolate Pudding Pie that made me want to Marry it. Yum!

 Our dear friends the Bushes came to share Thanksgiving with us, and we had so much fun having them there! They are really such a special loving family! They just moved out of our ward and we are going to really miss them! I love how Sammy is trying to get in this picture!

Oh! My sweet parents did so much to help us while they were here! Dad took me to the nursery for the first time and showed me how to pick out trees, and he planted 3 peach trees and 3 gorgeous Cana Lillies! We caught the bug so we went back on Saturday and picked up this little Live Oak for $50. Pretty good deal huh? While Dad and I were planting Mom and Maddie and Sophie painted the most GORGEOUS trees in our niches, I am excited to post pictures of them, but I didn't have any on my camera this time. I'll show them next time I post. But they are beautiful! All that happened in one day, I kept thinking, "what a difference a day made!" 

So we were pretty sad when they had to go home. It always hurts like a knife for a few days, but then it gets easier every day. Now we are just so excited that we get to come to Boise in a just a few weeks and see everybody, and mostly, I am just so happy that I have such sweet wonderful family! I love you guys all to crazy!!!!

So worth it!

So I used to take pride in a lot of things. 

For example I thought I was a really good conversationalist for a while. I think those days have passed. Now more often than not I find myself stuck in a conversation. I start a sentence and then I can't think of anyway to finish it, so I just trail off.

I used to be really good at remembering names! When I did my cohort I knew every kid's name in class by lunch time on the first day and I was proud of the way I never missed a name all semester. Now.... its just embarrassing. I run into my best friend and I just can't quite remember...

To be honest I used to think I was pretty smart. I got a 30 on the ACT. But I am not bragging now, no sir! Nowadays when I try to do even really simple math I mess it up, and then I can't even figure out why, like I just thought of a random number or something, and I read that last hunger games book a few weeks ago and I  was so confused about it. I just couldn't figure out the point. I can still understand Spanish, but when I try to speak it nowadays I don't make any sense anymore. Javier's family can't understand a word I say, and I find it so exhausting to try!

And the worst one is bad because it was never a strong suit anyway, but I have reached a new low for forgetfulness and flakiness. Try as I might, Javier laughs at me whenever I get that tortured look in my eyes and says, "let me guess, you forgot something important. Where is your calendar?" To which my only response is, "I don't know."

So yeah, its pretty bad, but I have a theory as to why. Sleep deprivation. Between my 2 kids I cannot remember the last time I slept through the night. I am ALWAYS awoken at least twice in a night to feed Sammy or help Max back to his bed or because Max has kicked me in the face or something, but to be honest it is usually more like 5 times every night and often as many as 8. So thats my theory about why I am losing brain cells. Sleep deprivation. 

But in spite of how I may sound, I am not trying to complain, just to philosophize. I have been thinking a lot these last few days about the joys of motherhood. I may have given up some things to be a mother, like my brain, and my figure, and my freedom, or whatever, but really, who cares about any of that stuff anyway. Those are not anything that brings you any kind of real happiness anyway. I have never known so much happiness as I have in having a family! Each sweet little smile, each midnight cuddle, every funny word said, and every precious moment I spend with these little monkeys fills my heart with unspeakable joy! Its the kind that feels like it will just take over your whole self, and since I have been married and had children I get that feeling all the time! Several times a day! I can't remember how many times I felt that way before, but I am sure it wasn't often. So yeah, motherhood may bring a few heartaches, but I wouldn't trade a second for all the brilliant conversations in the world!

My little slice of heaven!

So Sammy has started crawling...

 Now entering heaven! I love the crawling phase for so many reasons! The very best thing about it right now is that Max has been playing so sweetly with Sammy ever since he got more mobile. They crawl around together, and Max tells Sammy, "Come on, Sammy! Follow Me! I really want to show you something! Come look at this Sammy!" All day long! It is so cute. and Sammy of course can't get enough of Max so he wouldn't  be able to stay away from Max.

 The other best thing about crawling is how cute he looks! I don't think there is anything cuter in the world than a crawling baby! The only part I don't like is that like a day after he learned to crawl, he started pulling up :( So it seems like everyday he is having these horrible falls. I don't like pulling up!

We had a really fun Halloween this year! A couple days before Halloween we carved our pumpkin. Look at what we are wearing while we carved our pumpkin outside at the end of October. Welcome to Texas! Max had so much fun!

And Sammy had fun yelling at us while we carved.

Max took this picture of me. I think it is so funny that he can point a camera now and take a real picture. He's getting so big!

 On Saturday we went to our church party which was out of control Awesome! It was at someone's house who lives on a farm and because we are in Texas it was outside! With 50 kinds of chili and pony rides, a jump house, face painting, the bishopric in a dunk tank, crafts for the kids, and trunk or treating, no wonder every person in Round Rock seemed to be there.

Max was on the Tigger baseball team and Sammy was his Mascot. He decided way back in July that he wanted to be a baseball player. He was so sooo excited to wear this costume that Mimi sent! And it was fun that our neighbor lent us Sammy's costume and they just both happened to be Tigger related.

 And our cute Max! He's been funny as usual. The other day we were driving in the car and Max kept saying, "Mommy crash that car!! Crash that one car!"Then when I told him about how if we were in a crash we would be hurt and our car would be wrecked so we didn't want to crash, he said, "But Mommy I really want to crash the car. We have to crash the car!"

I guess its good he's 2 and not 16 :)

When Max prays all by himself, he prays vain repetitions. we are trying to teach him to say different things, but he never remembers. His prayers always go like this, and very fast , "Dear Heavenly Father, Please bless Jesus, please bless Baby Miles, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Also if anyone else says a prayer and forgets to pray for baby Miles, Max freaks out crying, " You forgot to pray Baby Miles!!!" And he won't calm down until he says another prayer in which he blesses Baby Miles. I'm glad because I never leave him out on purpose :) 

I also love how whenever we finish reading a book, he closes it and sings, "M-O-U-S-E" Not sure why...but it's funny

 I've been making Sammy's baby food this last week and it is one of my favorite things! Isn't that the prettiest color! So fun!

 And a little note about the Man I married. I love the way he is such a big kid! The other night we were at a party and Javier asked our hostess if he could turn on their Wii. A few minutes later, there he was, surrounded by every kid at that party,  from teenagers to 2 year olds and they were all playing and having so much fun!He loves to play and be silly with our boys! Last night he was playing Goku with Max and it was so funny! Javier would pretend to throw his magic weapon ball or whatever it is and Max would pretend to get hit and fall down on the ground then get up and yell, "Ga-me-ha-me-Ha!!!!" and pretend to throw his magic weapon ball at Javier.

 One of their favorite games is Caballitos! It is so fun to watch!

And here they are playing ring around the rosy. All I heard was ecstatic giggles!

 And Sammy wore his suit for the first time yesterday. So handsome!

 So the other day, I heard Max open Sammy's door on the monitor, so I ran upstairs. I thought it was pretty sweet when I found Max in there with Sammy's head on his lap, singing him songs.

 Sammy is funny these days. He LOVES blowing bubbles and he is very attached to his Mommy. A lot of times if someone else even looks at him, he will start bawling! But then other times he will yell and smile and try to get other people's attention, so it just depends.

 Max loves Baseball! He is actually pretty good at it too! He can hit the ball with the bat and he throws and catches way better than I do! He asks me all day long if we can play baseball, and the other day I was so surprised when he asked me if he could have a number shirt. He must have learned it when we watched baseball on a TV at a restaurant or something because we don't have TV at home. Funny guy!

 He also loves to wear his baseball hat all the time.

 Sammy loves solid foods and he sucks down whatever I give him. Max loves to help me feed Sammy and he is always suggesting that Sammy might be hungry.

 Ugh. where to start on this one. Max had his first asthma attack in 9 months a few weeks ago and it was a bad one. We were up all night long in hot showers, standing by the freezer door, giving puffs of rescue inhaler.  He would fall asleep finally and then wake up an hour later choking for air. IT was awful mostly because it had been so long so we weren't prepared with the medicine he needed. We went to doctor the next day and they got him back on his maintenance stuff at least for the winter and we finally got ourselves a nebulizer which is what he has in this picture. It takes like 20 minutes for him to inhale all the medicine from this thing, so it is hard to get him to sit still for so long. Finally we decided the easiest thing was to let him watch some show in spanish on youtube, and then we figured since he was just sitting there anyway, he may as well be sitting on the potty :) I was proud of him when he started holding it himself. He's is so grown up now, not the tiny screaming baby who we held in our arms and gave this medicine to last year.

 Javier has been working like a maniac!! Every day he comes home and then works until midnight. He goes to sleep only to spend half the night worrying about work the next day. But yesterday, he had a really good day so that was exciting for both of us. He is going to be able to give a lot of his dutys to someone else in the next month or so, so things will be looking up.

 It always makes me laugh when Max tries to hold Sammy because they are so close to the same size. Especially now because Sammy has started crawling, there is no keeping him in one place.

 I decorated for halloween. There are just a few little things around the house, but they make me smile when I see them. I have actually been OB.SESSED. with decorating blogs lately. Unfortunately I really can't put into practice anything I'm learning very quickly. Patience Charity, Patience.

 Here's my little firemen. Aren't these outfits cute!

 AND Sister Larsen was transferred. I cried. It was such an incredible blessing that she was called to our ward right from the beginning. I needed her so much! I can't say how wonderful it was even just to see her face every now and then. I am going to miss my friend so much!

And here is a video of Sammy CRAWLING! My favorite thing that I wasn't able to get on camera is the way he hops like a frog sometimes. He'll get way up on his feet and put his bum all the way in the air and then hop forward. He really does look just like a frog. So cute!