Happy Halloween

Here are our pumpkins. We actually had to throw them out a few days BEFORE today cause we carved them too soon and left them in the nice warm house, but they were cute while they lasted. Israel did most of the hard work, and I got to paint and help carve the pictures. Asher's contribution was . . .admiring them afterward.

Thanks to Austin Kramer, Asher decided it wasn't a bad idea to put on his pumpkin costume, and thanks to Heather, he had a nummy bread stick to eat. We could have gone home right then and he would never have known what he missed. This is the same costume he had last year, so the sleves are a little short, but I thought he was pretty darn cute. Almost time to start Trunk or Treating. Good thing I stuck that had on him, cause it ended up being the only thing we had to stash all his candy.

Woohoo, the hats full! It took him a few cars before he figured out that he was getting treats at every one. He never quite got to the point of actually saying "Trick or Treat" or anything else for that matter besides, "Da!" when we'd walk away from each car. He preferred to take the candy himself and then put it in the hat. I must say, I was pretty proud of our costumes :-)

Now THIS is a happy kid. He ate a sucker on the way home and a Baby Ruth and 3 Musketeer while sitting on the couch. Luckily Israel got home, distracting Asher long enough for me to put the candy away for the night :-)

Daddy and Asher, watchin' TV - Funniest Home Videos I think.

Here I am! This was taken on Sunday, October 12, at 37 weeks. One of the few times that I'm actually dressed and able to get a picture taken.

We took these this morning :-) Oct 15th. Israel and I had an adventure with our security system, it started beeping repeatedly at around 2:30 a.m. About an hour and a half later we had it figured out and went back to bed, but it set us back. Luckily, Asher let us sleep in until 8! Unluckily, Israel was supposed to leave around 8:15 - so, we decided to take family pictures. Random? I think so. Asher sure liked the countdown and the big flash at the end :-) so it turned out to be a pretty good time for him.

8 Months!!

I know, I know, it's been over three months since I last posted ANYTHING. And I still don't have a single picture of me - but you can imagine, I'm huge, and I feel bigger :-) I've only gained 20 lbs. so far, but I sure hadn't lost much after Asher, so I'm hoping it stays around there. I have taken pics of Asher, though I'm having a hard time finding them right now, so . .you'll just have to take my word for it that he's darling and active and going to be hit hard I'm afraid when this new little one comes along. On the other hand, I think he'll appreciate having a playmate. His favorite word is "Da" and says that for Everything imaginable except for 'bath' and 'ball', for both of which he says, "Ba". He loves to throw balls, drink milk (he's been going through his own gallon every 2 to 3 days), and Dance :-). He's figured out that if he pushes the buttons on Israel's iPod he can usually turn it on. Then he holds one of the little ear buds to his ear and does the cutest dances. He LOVES his daddy, and misses him SO much when he's gone. They are inseparable when daddy is here, and Asher copies everything Israel does. He's actually quite posessive of him. I've been pushed away from Israel more than once when Asher was pretty sure I was hogging all of his attention. :-)

I'm feeling really well considering my size. Having a toddler to chase this time around has definitely put more of a strain on my body, but I sleep well most of the time and am able to do all the stuff I need to do in a day. I've even started on Christmas stuff, just so there is less to worry about later.

Israel continues to be SUPER DUPER busy. He's working so hard. I love him. We are lucky to see him for 1/2 hour or so in the mornings before he heads to school and then work. Getting home by 9:30 is early. Then he's usually either up till 2 a.m. or up at 5 a.m. (and occasionally does both) in order to keep up with his homework. I don't know how he's doing it. Luckily, he never has to work on Sundays, so he's got one day a week to spend with us.

I've got 3 1/2 more weeks left! The more I think about it, scheduling an induction sounds like a great idea. Any opinions on the matter? I've heard it's harder on your body - but I'm a huge fan of epidurals - And there's always the chance that the baby could come earlier, but I'd be really surprised if that happened. The convenience of knowing when he's coming is sounding really appealing lately. I'm due on November 2nd and Israel wants a Halloween baby - mostly cause it happens to be a Friday and he'd have a whole weekend to be with us. We'll see!!

It's Summer!

Israel's Family (left to right): Ismael (his dad), Zulema (sister,2nd oldest), Lupita (his mom), Me, Israel, Asher, Abelardo (nephew). Israel's oldest sister, Liliana, took the picture, and his brother Zaid and his wife Veronica are in Mexico with their two daughters. We are at the Boise Zoo.

So, I'm not the best at Updating my blog :-) but I love to look at all of yours, so I thought I'd try and update a little today. I'm not great at posting, for instance, I can't figure out how to get that picture of Asher turned the right way, so, there you go.

It's my birthday and Israel's family is here. We've had a good time. We went to the zoo yesterday and had a picnic. His family has cleaned up our entire yard, bless their hearts. Asher is having a wonderful time with so many people to take him outside whenever he wants. At the park he decided he wanted to climb a tree. He would stand at the bottom and put his foot up on the trunk and call for someone to come. His tia Lili was usually the one to help him "walk" up the tree. I think they did that 20 +times.

The pregnancy is going really well so far. I feel great, especially since I've been able to nap regularly since Tuesday when Israel's family came, and I'm not too big yet. In fact, they couldn't tell that I was pregnant until we told them after getting home from the airport. I'm at 22 weeks today. For my birthday I got a bunch of summer maternity clothes which I'm VERY thankful for. All my maternity clothes from Asher were for winter and it's getting warm. As much as I don't immediately look like I'm showing, I just hide it well, because none of my clothes fit. I was down to one pair of "yoga" pants from Old Navy that I literally wore every day except for when I wore a pair of size 16 shorts that are also too small in the waist. I'm super comfy now.

Yesterday Israel was able to feel the baby kick me for the first time. He's been kicking me for a while, mostly at night of course, but he doesn't keep me awake yet. The Ultrasound was fun. We were expecting a girl for some reason, so to find out it was a boy was a shock, but we're really excited!! I don't have cravings as much as I did with Asher, actually, food in general just isn't appealing to me, unless we go out to eat. I think that's my favorite thing to do. I actually lost 4 pounds at the beginning of this trimester - hooray! - I'm not worried, losing too much weight will never be an issue for me I'm afraid. This morning I ate a piece of german chocolate cake, bacon, and milk for breakfast. I'm in no danger of loosing too much weight, or any more weight for that matter.

Mother's Day

It's still hard to believe that I am a mother and that this day is now for me too. Israel doesn't forget though, he woke up extra early and made a great breakfast of strawberries with whipped cream, sausage, toast, and eggs. Complete with flowers and a whole package of mini candy bars on the floor that spelled, "Happy Mom's Day" Do I have it great or what! I've made a little DVD for my Mom, and put a bunch of pictures of Asher's first year along with as many little video clips that I could find. I'm just so amazed as I look back through my life how much of me is directly connected to my Mother. The other part is directly connected to my Dad. What would I be without them? I hate to think.

Asher and I are at the top, then there's my Mom and I, and the three girls of the family taken after a production of "State Fair" that Bethany and I were in, then there's Mom and Asher when he was less than a day old.

I know this goes around here somewhere

Asher was watching Israel get ready for work yesterday, especially the part when he puts on his belt. This morning, Asher tracked down the belt and tried for quite a while to get that on himself. It was pretty tricky. We'll have to keep an eye on him, there's a BIG difference between waists and necks!

Inspiration

So, I was watching Oprah yesterday and it was about her online class about the book, A New Earth. I appreciate that she has many shows that are uplifting and/or informative. This book seems to be such a new, wonderful phenomenon for all of them on the show, but it sounded familiar.

I realised that the Presidents message in the Ensign, "Treasure of Eternal Value" had already given me the same message, plus infinitely more. President Monson talked about "living in the now" and gave much deeper and meaningful reasons for doing so - eternal reasons.

I just love the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the living prophet. I love little testimony builders like this in my life. I know the Church is true!