New Years Resolution Update

I set a whole bunch of goals in 2008. This year I don't think I will set that many. It was a good year though, I really do feel like I accomplished a lot. I think this was mainly due to being pregnant and wanting to get so much done before the baby came.

Here goes my evaluation of how I did...

Goal #1

Be more productive with my mind--Read one book per quarter -

I more than filled my quota for the year, thanks to the Twilight series and the pregnancy. Here's the books I haven't yet reported on...

Belly Laughs,

I have wanted to read this for some time, pretty crude (I had to skip a few parts), and not as funny as I had hoped, but I'm still glad that I read it. Someone has to write about this stuff no holds barred.

HypnoBirthing,

This one was awesome!

Mind over Labor,

This one I needed to re-read because it is awesome too.

I am a Mother,

A must read for any mother!!! An inspiring, easy read.

The Naked Truth,

A very interesting and eye opening true story.

Goal Number 2
Take care of myself--Wash my face every night

Did not do so hot on this one. My face cleared up with the pregnancy so I slacked.

Goal Number 3

Learn something new--Learn 10 key - I have been practicing with the 10 Key Tutor, and since I get to practice this regularly with my job, I was able to practice a lot.

Goal Number 4
Grow closer to God--Take an institute class-done-we took a wonderful Parables class full of kids half our age that made us feel really old.

Goal Number 5
Gain a talent--Learn to knit or crochet-well back in January my friend Leah did teach me how to crochet, can't say I did much with it though.

Goal Number 6
Family History--Compile Jasmine's baby book -almost done, still need to put a few pictures in. And in my defense, I did complete Shayden's book (pathetic I know) before I started on this one.

Goal Number 7
Slow down--Take up meditating again - good thing I was practicing for labor--done! Will definitely expand on this next year though.

Goal Number 8
Increase family together time--Buy a board game and play it: Not a board game but as a family we got obsessed with Family Frenzy. It's a fun card game, and Jasmine beats us all the time so it's good for super young kids too!

Goal Number 9
Improve physical fitness--Work out consistently--Thanks to my co-workers for creating the "exercise guild" at work. I did consistently work out about 20 min 3 times per week, until the baby came. Not a lot but something.

My son the reading machine.

So I have to post about this because it is so dear to my heart.


As a kid I had this love affair with reading that I can't quite describe. It was my escape, and I loved reading anything I could get my hands on. I wanted to be spunky like Ramona and whimsical like Anne of Green Gables.

I have always known that I wanted to raise good readers. I didn't really know how to go about that though, and I think I went a bit overboard with Shayden. I started WAY early, paranoid that he would get to kindergarten and not know how to read yet! Okay, now I know that this was nutty-first-time-mom-thinking.


So he got to Kindergarten and he could read better than anyone in his class but then switched to a much harder school where he was more middle of the road. Fine. I mean he didn't really love it, and that was my goal. It wasn't second nature so it was still really hard work. He would read for 10-15 min and then let out a sigh of exhaustion because it tired him out. Then he started saying that he loved to read, which was a good sign, but I still saw no major interest change.


Then something happened. I have no idea what, but around the middle of the last summer, his interest level shot up like a rocket. I have never seen anything like it, suddenly he was reading every waking moment and I mean every waking moment. All he wanted to do is read and read and read some more! And this is how it has been. He was tearing though the magic treehouse and a-z mystery books finishing one per day and then he wanted to read Harry Potter. He finished the first one last fall. He also has started the Boxcar children books, which I loved as a kid. His motto is "I read anything that comes in my way!".

He asks to read for his free time, he has a hard time putting books down at bedtime, I can't keep up with it. Going to the library has turned into this awesome treat like never before. Now he is asking how old he needs to be to walk to the library by himself. He said he would stay there all day. I hope he doesn't run out of steam and let it go all together after a while.

It's cool because Jasmine is modeling his behavior and she is probably learning to read in a more healthy pattern because instead of my cramming her with the letters, she is developing a love for this wonderful habit by watching him. I have also found myself wanting to read more because of his example.

I love that he loves this!

Christmas 2008

Hmm! Where to begin? ...my blog is so behind...

Let's start with Christmas 2008

First there was Jasmine's preschool program.

and at the end there were two surprise guests...
The bad news is Jasmine decided this year that she is terrified of Santa. The good news is, for whatever reason, be it the fact that he brought along Mrs. Claus to ease the tension, or perhaps it was peer pressure from her friends, maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was giving out presents to each child that he called, or the fact that there was an audience of wide eyed parents staring at her. But for whatever reason, she just sat there frozen in her seat and then...when he called her name...she actually sat on his lap! And my dad snapped this picture.

I never got a picture of Shayden with Santa because something came up each time the opportunity arose, so this will have to do.

The Green Elephant Party.

My high school friends get together each year for a fun gift exchange. Love this tradition! Becky did an awesome job hosting this year and we missed those gals who couldn't make it :(

Then Christmas Eve.

The traditional Guatemalan dinner of Paches at my sister's house. The kids entertained us with a wonderful program. Then put on their new pj's.

Christmas Day

The kids enjoyed their presents as you can see.Later we enjoyed our traditional Shrimp Etoufee at our house.

Making sugar cookies for some neighbors.

Going to see the lights at Temple Square.And Tayvee's Christmas shirt pretty much sums up the best part of the holidays...FAMILY!

Tayevion Newborn Pictures

My friend Leisha took the awesomest pictures of Tayevion when he was one month old!!! Check these out and check out her website here.

Thank you so much Leisha! You are amazing at what you do!

Christmas in New York

For the last three years we have taken the kids to experience the magic of Christmas in NYC. This year I couldn't go (and believe me, I thought about it) so Jonas took the older kids by himself.

They definately had a blast as you can see, even though they never actually got to see Santa at Macy's :(

They love spending time with their dad!

Here are some fun pictures from the one day trip (they left at llpm on Friday and got back at midnight on Saturday)

Random Sampler

I feel like so much has happened but at the same time all of my days look exactly the same that they run together and I forget what day it is.
My life basically consists of eating, sleeping and of course nursing a baby.

Here's what has been going on.

I guess what we've been feeding him is working because he is growing...

He sleeps a lot.

But he also cries a lot.

Here he is with his "angry eyes". He puts them on quite often to scowl at us.

Jasmine made him a cute little crown. It's supposed to say I love you sooooooo much...
She loves her brother very much and one day she says she wants to be a baby again and the next day she says she wants to be a mom.

She takes good care of him.

Basically you can sum up Tayevion's life this way:

The other day Shay said "I don't think the baby likes us very much. He only likes you." And I guess that from a 7 year olds perspective that is a pretty accurate assessment, I mean he doesn't interact very much of course and when he is awake, he cries most of the time.

***

Thanksgiving came and went, we went to my sister's home and all of her inlaws were there. My parents were in Texas this year visiting my brother's family. Here are the kids performing.And finally, 4 days before the baby was born, my friend took these really great pictures of my pregnant belly. I have always wanted to do this and never have. Here is just one.

Thanks Michelle!

Finally Halloween 2008

We came home from the hospital on Halloween day around noon. So thankfully the kids were still able to go trick or treating with dad that night. I stayed home with the baby, of course, and handed out a few pieces of candy.

After finishing the first Harry Potter book, Shayden decided he had to dress up as him. My sister graciously supplied both of our costumes this year, so that was easy. Jonas made him a really cool wand to go with it. I think he looked so handsome.

Jasmine was a "Shiny Blue Dress Princess." It took a lot for her to call it that, for a long time she was just going to be a "shiny blue dress". My sister has a collected over the years with 3 girls in Ballet and Halloween costumes, about a zillion princess dresses. Jasmine loves to go over there to try them on, so this year, I told her she could pick any dress out of this collection to wear for Halloween. She picked this one. Can't say I didn't try to talk her out of it. She wouldn't have it.

And what about this cute little guy? He had to have a "first Halloween" picture too. He's a penguin in case you can't tell.