Sweet Daisy

Daisy sure is a sweetheart! She is so obedient, and is a good example to Hallux. Hallux has been so much easier to train because of Daisy.

Daisy loves to cuddle up in our clothes & blankets...

And walking out of the kitchen to see Daisy sticking her face out over the edge of the stairs, is one of my favorite things!

I sure do miss my dogs! Only two more weeks until I see them again. :)

Kylee: November 2011

Kylee is 2 years & 4 months old now.

This month:

-Kylee thinks it is hilarious to ask us for kisses, then wipe them off

-She mimics Spiderman shooting webs

-She loves to hit trees with sticks

(I told her to do that one day when I wanted to distract her, & she has kept it up. :) )

-She has learned how to talk back.

(I was watching a show on the computer one day, when Kylee walks up to me, grabs my chin, turns my face towards her & says "Don't watch show Mommy. Turn around." She also tries to tell me, "Stop it right now! Go to time-out!" after which she gets to spend some time in her room. )

Kylee's new favorite show is Olivia & her favorite song is "Baby It's Cold Outside".

This girl sure has a strong personality! :) We really can't imagine our home or family without her.

Kylee likes to act like the tree stumps at the park are drums...

She becomes more creative every day with her dress-up outfits...

From the marker on her stomach & the sandal hanging on the chair, to the bottle of water in her hands & the look on her face...this picture just screams "Kylee"!

You sure are one-of-a-kind, Kylee Raelyn!!!

Showing My Gratitude

Well, I'm here in AZ and am so grateful to be here! I have SO many things to be thankful for right now, but what has been on my mind most lately is my health. It's been just over a year since I completely recovered from my hysterectomy & started my "healthy new life". I've truly enjoyed everything my body has been able to do without feeling pain...but I want (& need) to be healthier and stronger. 

I always promised myself that I would take very good care of my body when my endometriosis was gone. I have been a slacker. I feel like I have some good excuses for craving sweets, not exercising consistently & gaining weight...but it doesn't matter. They are just excuses. I want to show my body the respect it deserves. I want to take responsibility for every small decision I make each day. I want the peace & joy that I feel on the inside to reflect on the outside. So I'm going to do something about it. 

Next Thanksgiving I will post again about my progress in this area & see if I've achieved my goal. I'm ready to show my gratitude for my health & my body!

We're Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Well, a few days ago we made a last-minute decision for Kylee & I to fly to AZ a few weeks early. We were originally going to stay here in Mexico until the middle of December & stay in AZ for 3 weeks. Now Kylee & I will be in the U.S. for 6 1/2 weeks, while Lincoln stays here with the dogs until our original departure date. I've said many times how much I love Mexico & the adventures it brings, my friends here, the weather, the food, and so many other things. It doesn't mean it is always easy for me to live here though!

I want to feel a change in the seasons...I want it to feel like Thanksgiving & Christmas. I want Kylee to be around other people, besides me, during the day. I want to be able to go shopping, know exactly what I'm buying, & find good prices. I don't want to be stuck at home all day without a car. I want to see if my throat infections & Kylee's ear infections go away when we are in the U.S. (Yes, Kylee had another double ear infection last week & I came down with another throat infection yesterday.) I want to feel spiritually uplifted every Sunday...without having a headache from trying to understand 3 hours of Spanish & how the lessons (that I'm barely understanding) apply to me. I want to be able to leave the house & know exactly where I'm going & what to expect once I get there. I want to eat graham crackers, American-made sandwiches & salads, smoothies, and even Taco Bell! I haven't been truly homesick until now.

It has always been so important for me to be around the people I love during the holidays. I'm not one to spend every day with my family. Even when I was little, I went to Cali by myself (& stayed with a friend or my cousins) quite a few times & I never felt homesick. Since I've been here in Mexico, I've missed everyone but haven't just been aching to be back. But right now I do. I never miss an extended family get-together or tradition. I have eaten Sunday dinner with my immediate family for the majority of my life. Those are the things that are most important to me & the things that I am missing most right now. My family even celebrated the holidays that I would miss while I was back in AZ for the summer...and when I felt sad that I missed the family Easter Egg hunt & egg toss, as well as Trick-or-Treating for Halloween, I was so glad that I'd celebrated those things with them. 

Yes, I'm extremely sentimental about the holidays and I'm not afraid to admit it. 

Going back to the U.S. earlier will also make it so that I am able to get my HRT patches that I am almost out of & can't get here. Trust me, this is a great thing. When I'm not on the right hormone patches, it is not pleasant. It will also enable me to do some Christmas shopping & visit with friends before Lincoln joins us, instead of having to crowd it all in. Lincoln has finals until the day before Thanksgiving, then a few days later he will start a program with some friends who are a semester ahead of him in school. They will be studying Monday through Friday from 8am-7pm for two weeks. Linc will also have tithing settlement (since he is the ward secretary/clerk) a few nights a week, and his usual Sunday responsibilities, plus bishopric meeting. So...for my own sanity & Kylee's, I am very relieved that we will be back in the U.S. around other people. We will miss Linc like crazy though!

So that's it. We are leaving in a week & were able to get on the same flight as my good friend Vanessa & her daughter, which I am really excited about! (Although since we are waking up at 4am to be to the airport on time, the flight might be a little rough.) And yes, I've learned my lesson about taking a toddler & 4 carry-on bags with me, which is why I will be checking a bag this time. :) All in all, it should be a lot of fun to get our fill of the U.S. I'm sure by the end of our trip, I will be ready to come back to our daily life in Mexico. We'll drive home with Lincoln & the dogs the first week of January, & the next week Linc will start his 3rd semester of school! Whew, life in medical school sure gets crazy at times!!!

Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated two good friends' birthdays this week. Our friend Matt turned 30 on Wednesday...

Verenice planned a surprise party for him at a seafood place called Cabo Grill. It was fun & the food was yummy!

The kids ran around like crazy while we adults talked & ate. Kylee even got her face "painted"...

Courtesy of her sweet friend Eva...

Giving hugs...

Kylee's other friend Ava "painted" her face again later that night. Here's Kylee saying "No!" as I'm trying to take a picture of her new look...

Last night Heather, Jenn & I went to dinner at Applebee's to celebrate Heather's birthday. When we got to the restaurant, we realized that none of us speak Spanish well. Communicating with our waiter was pretty interesting. At one point, Heather asked for extra orange sauce...the waiter had no idea what kind of sauce we were trying to ask for, so he just brought out every sauce he had. :)

These two girls are great examples to me...

Happy birthday Matt & Heather! We are so thankful for your friendships!!!

Guadalajara Zoo

Last Saturday, we met some friends at the Guadalajara Zoo. Lincoln is right in the middle of finals right now, so this was our opportunity to spend some quality time with him before things got really crazy! We ended up spending over 6 hours there. All of the kids missed their naps and everyone was exhausted by the time we left, but we had a lot of fun. 

We bought Kylee an elephant visor when we arrived. Hallux chewed & ruined the butterfly visor that Grandma & Grandpa bought for her on our last zoo trip, so Kylee was pretty excited to get another one. She preferred to wear her new visor upside-down though...

We found a duck area that we'd never seen before. We were even able to feed them. Kylee thought it was so cool...

Until the ducks actually came close to her!

This was a "put my hair in a bun & leave it wet" kind of day for me. I was trying to get closer to the swan, but Kylee would have none of that...

Watching the polar bear...

Watching the black bears climb...

Kylee enjoyed holding her sucker in her mouth like this...

We stopped to eat our sack lunches and Kylee immediately started playing in the water...

Then, of course, Linc ran around with the kids. Kids love him...

There were some horses to pet...

And huge hippos...

Our favorites...the orangutans!

This baby chimp wasn't there the last time. He is SO cute!

We watched the mountain lion sleep...

And Kylee steered Daddy by his ears in the direction she wanted to go...

(Now Linc has cuts on his ears from her nails.)

As I said before, we were at the zoo for a long time. Kylee decided that she was tired & crouched down right in the middle of the sidewalk to rest...

She looked way too cute...

And one more...

This giraffe let us get really close to it again...

It totally looks like I'm wearing Kylee's visor in this picture...

The giraffe kept getting closer & closer to Lincoln, until...

It was licking his shoe!

After that, we headed to the aquarium. None of our friends had been there before, & we all really enjoyed it. 

We pet the stingrays & fed them...

Kylee listened to Daddy's music while she watched the stingrays swim around...

A cool starfish...

Kylee looking at the stingray...

(Her pigtails were gone by the end of the day. This girl's hair seriously cracks me up.)

This is me "telling" Kylee to look at Daddy so that he can take a picture of her, & Kylee acting like I'm ripping her head off...

Then we saw a stand where you could sign up to "swim with the sharks"! Verenice, her friend & I did it and it was a blast! I told Verenice beforehand that I was more nervous for people to see me in a wetsuit than I was to be around the sharks. And that was the truth. :) We stood in this box & went underwater to get a better view of everything. Verenice's friend actually stuck a stick out of the box with some food on it, but the sharks had just eaten and weren't very hungry. It was such a fun experience though!

 

We stopped by the fake hippo at the front of the zoo on our way out. Kylee made sure to say goodbye to it...

And here are the kiddos on it...

We ate dinner at Burger King with the Powell's, then headed home!

Kylee: October 2011

It's time for my monthly update on Kylee. She is 2 years & 3 months old now...& it is very obvious. Being the oldest child in my family, I thought I had a decent idea of what to expect when my kids turned 2, since I was constantly around my brothers & sisters at that age. Well, now I realize that it is completely different as the parent! Two-year-old's are...intense.

I've called my mom multiple times in the last few months to tell her thank you for still loving me despite the fact that I was a crazy two-year-old. And since I am writing this post on a day when Kylee has been extra cranky, I'll focus on the positive: the fun, adorable & hilarious things that she is doing at this age. Because let's face it...when she isn't screaming, crying or talking back she is absolutely adorable!

Kylee's favorite show is Caillou, and she has recently become fascinated with mine & Lincoln's wedding video. She is also very interested in Santa & Christmas right now. When she isn't behaving, I ask her if she wants to be put on "The Naughty List" like Swiper. (She has a Dora Christmas movie where Swiper is put on Santa's "Naughty List".) That's her biggest fear in life currently. :) Kylee wants Santa to bring her a Barbie, crayons, a coloring book, gum & candy this year.

Kylee loves to chase Hallux around the table. Her favorite song is "Kylee Raelyn" (a song that my mom made up about her). She is constantly talking to her stuffed animals & random objects in the house. Her conversations with them are hilarious. Kylee definitely talks to & disciplines her stuffed animals the same way that I talk to & discipline her. Kylee is still a total "Daddy's Girl". She knows that Daddy is usually at school or studying, but when he isn't, Kylee wants Lincoln's full attention. When Linc asks Kylee if she wants to run errands with him, she just beams. I love seeing that bond between the two of them.

Kylee's favorite things to say are "That's a funny joke!" whenever one of us says something funny, "I been in bed 2 hours!" when she wakes up from her nap, and "It's little bit big" when I put clothes or shoes on her that she doesn't want to wear. She is great at saying "I love you" & "Thank you". When I compliment her, give her something to eat, give her a kiss, etc. she always says "Thank you Mom."

A few funny things that Kylee said this past month are:
When I asked her what she wanted to do one day, she replied "Eat tacos & talk in Spanish."
One night she started yelling my name in the middle of the night, & when I went in her room & asked her what was wrong, she said, "Mom, I want cake from Walmart."
A few days ago, Kylee was taking a nap & Lincoln & I were watching tv upstairs. Suddenly we heard her yell "Room smells really bad! Little poops all over!" Oh, how I did not want to open her bedroom door when I heard that. I won't go into details about what we found. Let's just say we need to buy some duct tape because she is excellent at taking her diaper off. :)
When I ask her each week what she did in nursery (hoping she will tell me what her lesson was about or what songs she sang) she says "I hit. I pinched. I pulled hair."

Kylee's naps are becoming more sporadic. She either skips her nap or takes a really long one (like for 4 hours!). I'm not sure why, but I'll take it. Kylee has learned a few more Spanish words lately. We've heard her singing a song in Spanish that she heard one of her friends singing the other day. She also knows the answer to "Como te llamas?"

Kylee's potty training is going really well. I think I mentioned before that I am basically just letting her potty train herself. She goes in the toilet a few times a day, but still wears diapers. She hates having me sit in the bathroom with her & prefers to do it all by herself. Kylee's favorite part about potty training is the candy that she gets after she goes!

And now for my favorite moments:
Twice Kylee has mentioned Jackson out of nowhere and told me that he is a missionary. I love that kids are so innocent & pure and that they are able to teach us so much!

Here are a few pictures of Kylee from October:
Kylee sitting outside with Barbie, telling her what she did wrong & putting her in time-out...

Cute headband Kylee!

On Halloween, we were driving back from a friend's house & saw all of the Trick-or-Treaters outside. (Halloween was a way bigger celebration than I thought it would be here in Mexico. My favorite part was hearing the Trick-or-Treaters chant "Queremos Halloween!" ["We want Halloween!"] as they walked down the streets.) Kylee saw all of the kids in their costumes & immediately grabbed her Elmo bucket that was sitting next to her on the seat. She put it on her head & said "Elmo costume, Mom!"

We Love You Kylee Girl!