BIG news!!!

This house is in the process of becoming OURS. That's right, we are growing up, we are saying good bye to apartment life, and we are buying a house!

The process happened so quickly. I requested to see a different house a couple Saturdays ago. And that house was a dud. So then there was another house that wasn't officially on the market yet. This house. And we were blown away. It was one of those things where if we kept looking and let this house pass us by, we would be comparing every house to this house. So we made our move and we close in about a month!

It is a couple miles away from where we are now, which we know we love. It is in a cul-de-sac and right next to the neighborhood pool and playground. It is spacious and lovely and the backyard is huge and perfect for our family. We are in love with this house.

  Our covered patio and our swing set! There are huge trees that provide shade.

We are so happy for our next adventure. 

Balance

I have been really focusing on the girls these last few weeks. We are doing Mommy school almost every day and Amelia is really catching on to recognizing letters (S, E, O are her most consistent) and she loves our time together learning. Maya is learning animal sounds and identifying her nose, eyes, ears, etc. She is hit and miss with loving learning time, haha. Maya has also re-invigorated our love for books. Amelia went through a period where she was less interested. But Maya is obsessed now so we spend a lot of time reading together all three of us. I love this part of being a mom. And I am proud of myself for getting more consistent. 

And just like me, whenever I improve one thing, other things fall off the map. This time it's the state of my apartment and the constant mess. Also my cooking has gone way downhill and I just don't have the motivation to do it. Thank goodness for Juan to pick up the slack when I go through the down slopes. 

Speaking of Juan, he has started a new position with Dell in Accounting and it is looking to be a great position for him! He is coming home happy and really likes his managers and co-workers and I couldn't be happier for him. Juan is such a hard-worker, I love that he is enjoying his work.

And Juan and I, on our downtime, have been having Dawson's Creek marathons. Something I love about Juan is he has always watched all my girly dramas, even before we met! I remember when I first met him when I was 15, I was watching Days of Our Lives and Passions (soap operas, which I don't watch anymore mom, don't worry) and he was watching the same soaps! We are in the Pacey and Joey episodes and it's fun to hear him share things like he remembers his mom watching this part with him, or they definitely changed the song it was actually a different song playing in the background. He has a good memory! Or he has a secret obsession with Dawson's Creek, haha!

We have big things coming up in our near future. It is so exciting to go through changes together as our little family. 

Amelia took these pictures, pretty good!

Maya's face is exactly how she felt about being forced to sit in the itchy dirt for these pictures.

But we are Texans now, we can't pass up a photo shoot with the Blue Bonnets.

Love

 I am feeling so blessed and privileged to be the mom to these beautiful girls. 

 They are both mama's girls right now, which is normal for Maya but totally new for Amelia. And I pretty much love it. Every morning starts with Amelia running to me on the couch and wanting to snuggle. And Maya is obsessed with saying Mommy over and over and over.

 Amelia is 100% potty trained these days, not even diapers at night. And today she even woke up mid-nap, went potty, went back and kept sleeping. Sometimes I think I have a teenager when I see how much she likes to sleep.

 Amelia says the best things. Most recently I asked her how playgroup went, I said, "Did you share and put your hand out to say please?" She paused and then said, "Maybe next time mommy." Focus on the positive girl!

 Maya is getting a little more high maintenance these days, but some days we are blessed with angel Maya. Today at church, she sat in our arms, and folded her arms the whole time. It was such a blessing since it is Easter Sunday and I was able to feel the Spirit so strongly and really enjoy the Easter program. I teach the 6-year-olds and every now and then Maya did lean over and give little Charlotte a poke in the eye, but other than that she was perfect!

 These girls, they love each other. Amelia always wakes up for the morning and from her nap after Maya, and Maya is terribly lonely without her. When Amelia opens her door and comes out, Maya throws her hands up in the air and cheers! They have good and bad days with sharing, but lately they've been doing really well.

 It's relatively easy to get out and about with these girls. They love parks and love going down slides together. Maya still does the stroller and Amelia is excellent at walking long distances and staying by us.

 (Please notice Maya's glare-producing bald head in this pic, she is STILL that bald.) Amelia is so into holidays and Easter has been the best yet. She was so excited for both her Easter egg hunts and today she was so happy to find her basket that the Easter bunny hid, and couldn't stop talking about it all day. She has also been very interested in Jesus and the resurrection and loves watching videos about it on The Mormon Channel. 

 Speaking of holidays, is it too early to be talking about Christmas? To avoid a meltdown at the mall, I told Amelia to ask Santa for the sparkly purse that she wanted to take home. Ever since she has been telling us about all the things she's going to ask Santa for. Juan said it got a little too sad when we were at the dollar store and she was telling Juan she would wait to ask Santa for a $1 toy. March birthdays are brutal in that way, she's got a LONG ways to wait.

Maya has begun climbing on everything. The toy box to look out the window, up onto the toilet and leaning over onto the sink. She is fearless. My heart is full, I love these girls.

Pretty cute videos, long overdue!

It's been a long time since I posted video of our girls. I just love to capture their personalities. Amelia is so chatty and always moving and dancing and happy. Maya is a charmer. Her little smile can just melt anyone. She is so much fun.

Enjoy!

Amelia turned 3!

This was the best birthday yet! Amelia was so into it and just excited and said "I'm so happy!" multiple times throughout the day. 

We started the day off with Breakfast in bed! She was so happy to be awaken to the sound of my sweet voice singing Happy Birthday. I've never seen her flip around in bed like that and jump up like this was something she needed to be awake and alert for. She hasn't stopped talking about it 2 days later: "And mommy sing Happy Doddy and eggies and sandwhich in heart-shape". She LOVED it.

Devouring her food. And yes that is our bed, she ends up in our bed around 6 am most mornings, as long as she keeps sleeping I'm all for it!

The 3 year old photo shoot.

Seriously overnight, she became a little lady.

During her nap I hung these balloons from her door. Again she was delighted and she and Maya had a giggle fest running back and forth through the balloons. Simple joys.

She's a big fan of Monster's Inc these days and Mike (who she called Michael). 

She loved her cake and here she is posing for the picture since we got the actual blowing out the candles on video.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! This present has just been the best. She has played for hours and hours and hours, her little imagination going crazy. And it has only been 2 days! Every spare minite, she is playing with Mickey and friends.

She also got 2 princess dress-ups (which she had been asking for like crazy) and a new monster bag for church, the crayons are teeth!

 The next day her friends came over for playgroup and we all had cupcakes to celebrate a few birthdays in the group.

And here they are squeezed into the tent, listening while I tell riveting accounts of Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks. This is such a fun age!

More birthday activities: We video chatted with Grandma and Grandpa, ate a favorite- Spaghettie Pie. Amelia and I went on a little walk in the afternoon, just the two of us and dipped our feet into the ice cold pool. 

Amelia is in a great phase right now. She is so obedient and conscious of our feelings. She is polite, always saying Keets (thanks) mom. And she loves to say "Talk me mommy". It is a dream to sit and talk with my little girl, to know what is going through her mind. I remember daydreaming of these days, and now they are here. 

She is our little sweetheart with a kick. She definitely keeps us on our toes, being wild or pulling a stunt when we least expect it. I love her personality, I love her craziness, I love that she is unlike anyone else. 

Lately

The party continues over here! My dear friend Andrea came to visit and stayed with us. We had the best time with girls' nights, shopping, eating, deep conversations about life. There is nothing better than a good friend that you don't have to entertain. We would just chill and maybe not shower until 4 in the afternoon and it was a good time. And Andrea was the best house guest, so gracious and always conscious of us. And Juan, he gets a special thanks for watching the kiddies all weekend and just being the best ever. 

Jaymie, Kasee, Andrea, me, Jen at Safe Haven.

Jaymie and Andrea at Rudy's.

Just the most adorable picture.

New shades.

Juan had knee surgery this past week to repair a torn ACL. Everything went smoothly and it has been nice having him home with us this week. He'll be back on the courts in 9 months or so.

 Maya is really getting particular these days. She loves to eat at their little table and I'll ask her to go to her high chair but she'll go and plop herself down at the table instead. It makes for more of a mess, but it is sure cute to see them together like this.

 Only the cutest picture of my life. Amelia has become very protective of Maya and on our walk today she would not run ahead, she stayed back at Maya's pace and they would stop and pick up rocks together. All the while I die of how fun they are.

And I'll leave you with this gem. Juan at the costco in the motor wheelchair! He actually loved it, but did not like me laughing and taking a picture every few min.

We be friends again mommy?

My Amelia, she knows how to melt my heart. We were out on a walk with friends. We were a building over and she was playing with rocks. And she says, I go home now mommy. And proceeds to take off running to our apartment building. I scooped up Maya and caught up with her just in time to see her starting up the stairs. But she had been out of my sight for a minute and it scared me. And she knows better. So I was upset.

We get inside and she got a timeout. Then she comes out and is asking for snacks, for me to play with her, etc and I'm doing dishes and just being short with her and still frustrated. So she walks up to me and says, "We be friends again mommy?" 

Who can stay mad after that?