Friday, November 19, 2010

First road trip in our new car!

Our first road trip in our new car was to.... drum roll please..... BATTLE MOUNTAIN! Shocked? I know, it is rather shocking. Still, this beautiful buck thought it was very exciting. Actually, Brian and I went on a very unsuccessful duck hunt and suddenly looked over to this....
Apparently Xiana likes the new car because she slept on the way there and back. Plus, she has graduated to ear phones.... tear... it's hard to believe she's growing up so fast. It feels like just yesterday she was babbling to her baby Einstein while I painted her little finger nails. Though, I guess in some respects I get to keep her a baby forever since she still weighs about the same as in my fond memories :)
I know I have a lot of these pics in front of the tree. But you should all know... this one was extraordinarily coerced. Therefore it's worth more because it took a lot of work to make it happen... and it's raining! I love having a family picture before church on Sundays. Plus, over the last year we have seen some serious recorded growth of that tree!

volcano!

Maybe if we lived somewhere where there was an impending threat of volcanic activity, we wouldn't encourage our kids to gather around and watch it explode. But... we don't so... we do! Karina made a bunch of play-doh and then colored it so that the kids could make trees and bears and plants. Then they all were ecstatic with every explosion. (There were many as she went through an entire thing of vinegar and baking powder).
It was a ton of fun to watch and entertained the kids of all ages for a long time.
Plus, the moms got in on the sculpting action. I must say, you never outgrow play-doh. It's like we're hard-wired to enjoy it or something.
Xiana's tree before it met with disaster.
oops... this is the wrong page, but here's another Halloween festivity. Aren't holidays fun when the last a long long time?

Halloween... a little bit late

I know, I know... first I post for Halloween way too early, now way too late. But, you know how the saying goes.... better late than never.... As you can see Xiana was a ferocious Little Bo Peep. I am happy to relay that she now knows the lines to that favorite nursery rhyme.
She got these disgusting teeth and I'm positive that Brian had wayyy more fun with them than anybody else. Please note that this is one of many self portraits taken on Halloween night.
She got a lot of loot! Including whistles, sunglasses, coloring books, etc. Brian said that at one house she and Rowan were the last on the doorstep and the guy kept saying how cute they were and putting more and more candy in their baskets. It does pay to be little and cute on Halloween. Xiana ran to keep up with her cousins and friends. Her little head was bouncing every step of the way as she took her three bounces for every one of her accompanying peers.
This was the group of kids.... accompanied by 9 adults. Can you say overwhelming? One of the houses a woman yelled out, "don't worry, I'm giving them enough for all of you!" What can I say? We are an involved group.
We did carve a jack-o-lantern... and then promptly forget to put it outside ever... not even once. Oh well, it was awfully cute!
And Xiana got a kick out of the disgusting insides. "Ewwww!" she squealed.
At our ward's trunk-or-treat I asked Brian to take a picture of us. "'Why?" he asked, "we already have this picture from last year. Okay okay... enough already!
Yet, these are virtually the same pictures as last year. This year there was one MAJOR difference. Brian is now daddy and he got to go trick-or-treating with us which was a treat!
Earlier in the week we were fortunate to attend LOTS of Halloween parties and playgroups. This one was particularly fun with a spider craft and cupcakes!!!
Xiana wouldn't let the spider out of her sight... it took a week before I could get it away and dispose of it. She loved it! So cute!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Life through Xiana's eyes

  • On her birthday I let Xiana run wild with my camera for a while. This is what she sees.... minus the 500 pictures of every single item in our house.

Dad cooking dinner...
Mom cutting vegetables...
Her own transvestite make-up-ed face...
glitter lips...
And mommy laying on the floor.

  • She has gotten to be an incredible story teller. She often begins with "my daddy tells stories about a galaxy far far away."
  • Once while adjusting my mirror and holding a cup while driving Xiana exclaimed, "this car can drive by itself!"
  • Brian regularly complains that he isn't going to make it. One night Xiana said, "if my daddy dies we'll have to buy a new one."
  • She proudly pronounced, "everybody needs me!"
  • In her prayers one night she said, "please bless my babies to sleep."
  • I've heard her countless times telling people that "when we die we go live with Jesus and Heavenly Father."
  • She asked, "Is Jesus in our ward?"
  • Her one to one correspondence is amazing.... but she's taken it one step further. Now, compliments of Dora, she counts everything in Spanish!
  • One morning while driving to my parents after a particularly late night she asked, "mommy, are you happy?" "yes," I replied, "are you?" "No! I'm too sleepy to be happy."
  • I had a wallet photo sitting on the desk and she asked if she could play with it. I said sure and then noticing the picture mentioned that I should put it on the wall. She said she would do it for me and I laughed explaining that I would put a bigger one up on the wall. She said, "oh, let me just zoom it out for you... zooooom!"
  • At the pumpkin patch there was a petting zoo and Xiana said, "I think that goat farted a stinky fart."
  • One day I was mad at her for something and I angrily asked, "what are you doing?!" She promptly replied, "not making a good choice."
  • One night I caught her with her hand in the toilet and freaked. I yelled and told her to never do that again. A fem minutes later Brian asked if I even bothered to question why she did it. I hadn't. She explained, " I was counting my poops."

Xiana turns 3!!

Like last year, we had Xiana's birthday party at an indoor swimming pool. She was slightly miffed that she couldn't have it in out backyard with pools like her cousin Kylee did. We had to explain to her that June birthdays and October birthdays are slightly different. Ekco got to come so Xiana was a happy girl!
This year there was no ambulance...
Xiana insisted that she wanted a princess party, but when push came to shove to opted for a caterpillar cake instead... go figure. That's okay. I'm sure there are many princess parties in her future.
The whole fam.
The party had the usual... all her friends, family, cake...
too many presents...
Way too many presents...
and Swimming!!!! This is a perfect party for both Ekco and Xiana as they are little fish and LOVE the water.
It was remarkable to see how much all the kids have grown in a year. Last year Kylee was jumping in all over the place. This year she was swimming!
Last year Rowan could barely touch in the deep side of the kiddie pool... this year he was a full head out of water.
Last year Brian and I were not married or engaged.... this year we are pregnant, bought a house, a new car, and have established a life together.
This year, Xiana plugs her nose... last year, she didn't know any better.
She had a wonderful time with her family and
Friends!
Then, on her actual birthday I let her open her present from Kacie. A few weeks prior to the big day we went to Toys R Us with Kacie. Xiana went back and forth between gifts trying to decide between barbies, dolls, art kits and then, when she found the makeup sets, there was no more indecisiveness. She was dead set on getting makeup and did not waver. So... that's what she got. I didn't let her actually open it until the day of her birthday. I'm pretty sure that according to her it was worth the wait....
She loved it. Plus it kept her occupied for hours.
Then my parents and Garrett came over and Brian made Xiana's special request (homemade spaghetti sauce from tomatoes in the garden and elk burger... delicious) and we had leftover cake.
We got her a frog and the princess music kit which Garrett and Brian were happy to help try out.
They could have started their own band!
Of course we put more candles in the cake. You have to make a birthday wish on your actual birthday!
The makeup went perfectly with the vanity her uncle Kevin got her. She is in girly girl heaven.

Xiana continues to be a social butterfly. She loves to have friends and people around. In the last six months she has FINALLY developed the skill of self entertainment. Instead of following me around the house all day long, she can usually play make believe and do art projects for regular intervals. She bears her testimony every fast Sunday. Her little spirit is growing. She is just as tiny as she has always been, but she's small like dynamite. She is will full and headstrong: two qualities I both dread and commend. She is sensitive and easily gets offended when others aren't as aggressively social as she is. She loves play group. She thrives on her new preschool. She never ceases to amaze me with her intelligence. She counts everything and has just recently taken to counting in Spanish. She is confident and loved. She seeks justice in all things and regularly explains why something is or is not fair. She loves to read books, watch Dora, Barney, and Sesame Street. She loves to sing. She reminds us every night to read scriptures. She has been saying her own prayers for a long time. She is insightful and perceptive. She recognizes hurt in others and tries to make people happy. She is a joy (most of the time). Her spirit is strong and she is dedicated to living a full life. I'm so grateful that 3 years ago she joined me on this earth. I genuinely don't know where I would be without her.