October 2015 Edition: November 2007

Thursday, November 29, 2007

New @ Etsy.com

Tonight I went to a bow and vinyl open house, and of course, I didn't walk away empty-handed. My friends, Kim and Kathy, are quite the little entrepreneurs with their businesses. Everything was so cute and affordable that I couldn't resist getting some bows for Siena's hair. We've been going through a few withdrawals since Siena's old bows got a little too small for her ever-growing head. I mean, if your kid has hair, you have to take advantage of that, right? Anyway, Kim is selling her bows at Etsy.com and y'all should check them out. So cute! The thing I really like about the bows is that they are on alligator clips- something that will still hold on to very fine hair. Also, the headbands are adjustable (brilliant!) Another smart idea: the headbands have a band to clip a bow on, so they become interchangeable too! Anyway, here is her site.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

All Tuckered Out

...But too stubborn to close her eyes. (She must get that from her Mom.)

(Sorry it's so dark, I chose the wrong camera to use for this.)

Monday, November 26, 2007

Saturday

Siena helping Dad with his homework.

Siena helping Dad decorate gingerbread cookies.

The finished product!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Who's the silliest one of all? ...every single day.

p.s. Her hair is like that all the time. We're thinking of inventing "baby mousse".

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Ra, ra, ra ra ra... Ra, ra, ra ra ra... Ra, ra, ra ra ra... Goooooo Cougars!

"A minute and 23 seconds to go, BYU has the ball facing a 4th and 18. Look right, look left... Hall jumps out of the pocket and throws the ball down the sideline into Collie's hand. Pass Complete! Pass Complete! A few more plays, blah, blah, blah... BYU WINS and the Utes are left with disbelief and a second straight loss to BYU. Go Cougars!" p.s. BYU Men's Basketball vs #1 UNC tonight in Las Vegas!

Black Friday. Du, du, dun.

"Daddy, what are we going to do today?"

"Shopping!"

Yes, we did shop on Black Friday; however, we weren't fanatics about the whole thing. We left at noon... does that prove my point? We got a keyboard for me to practice on and for Siena to eventually learn on. I feel like it was a good and worthy purchase.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Stuffed!

Thanksgiving was a huge success this year. Considering it was the first time we had to organize it on our own, I think we did alright. This morning we got to work on getting the turkey ready for roasting. We regret that we didn't document it with the camcorder because it was a hilarious adventure! It started when we tried wrestling the bird out of the bag-o-brine and into the roasting pan. It was 17 lbs! Eventually it made into the 500 degree oven. Not minutes after we closed the oven door, our house was filled with eye-burning smoke. What happened? Well, we have our theories: either the pan had a hole and thus dripped onto the heat element, or the juices were being spit out of the neck to the same place. So we cleaned up the bottom of our oven and tried again, this time with a cookie sheet under the pan. In went the turkey, again. About 30 minutes later, Juan brought up the good point that the bird should be placed in the pan breast-side-up. Unfortunately, we didn't pick up on that earlier and the bottom side of the turkey stole the nice caramel color that the top should have had. So, we rotated the turkey and put it back into the oven... yet again. Luckily this was our last mess-up on the turkey and it ultimately turned out juicy and delicious. Hey, everybody has a "First Turkey" story, right? Between us and our friends we ate dinner with, we had food coming out our ears! Here is what was on the menu:

Roast Turkey
Green Bean Casserole
Homemade Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
...with Turkey Gravy
Homemade Dinner Rolls
Sweet Potato and Pear Crunch
Apple Pie
Banana Cream Pie
and Pumpkin Pie with Whipping Cream

The rest of the day went a little like this: an ultimate game of Boggle, a little more piecing here and there, more Boggle while watching the Dallas Cowboys/NY Jets game, pie round #1, more Boggle, pie round #2, and finally a grand finale of Boggle. What I loved most about this day was that it was a day to formally think about things we are grateful for. I am so grateful for my little family. My husband, Juan, is such a good example to me and so supportive. Siena gives us so much joy and teaches us every day. We are living in a beautiful city and a free country, with so much history surrounding us. We have so many family members and friends who love and care about us. Most importantly, we have an eternal family and the knowledge of the Gospel on this earth. Heavenly Father has blessed our family this Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A REAL-LIVE TURKEY!

No, not really... but we are cooking a turkey for the first time in our lives. Wish us luck! We are also taking on homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, pear and sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie for the meal. Aaahh! So much to do... but we're loving it because we're doing it all together and it's fun to see how we can do so much in such a small kitchen. I love that Juan didn't have school today and could hang out with me and Siena. We stayed in our jammies most of the morning and just played with our little monkey, "Gordis" (or "See-ne-na", or "changita", or "mami", or "ba-nena"... take your pick of nicknames.)

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

BOGGLE, BLOG, BOG, LOG, GLOB, LEG, GLOBE....

Our neighbors invited us for another mean game of Boggle tonight. It was girls against boys and when the boys teamed up, they were unstoppable. I felt bad for Genevieve because I kept dragging her down. In the end, the guys crushed our sad little score, but the game was fun. We are going to have Thanksgiving together, so maybe we'll have a little Boggle game after we eat our Gobble game. (sarcastic smile)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Our Nation's Capitol

Our trip this weekend was so fun! We started at the Lincoln Memorial, then went to the Korean, Vietnam, and WWII memorials. After that, we went to the Washington Monument and walked back to our car next to the Potomac River. It was so beautiful.

We experienced a pretty authentic Mexican lunch, (besides the portion size,) at Oyamel in Downtown Washington D.C. Both of us agree that the best Chipotle salsa is at Oyamel. We decided to change our plans from going to the art gallery at the Smithsonian to going to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and such at the National Archives Museum. It was so fascinating! I can't believe they have preserved thin pieces of paper for over 200 years!

We finished our trip at the Washington, D.C. Temple. Due to the fact that we had Siena with us, we were unable to attend a session; however, the Visitor's Center was interesting and fun to see and we enjoyed our last hour of D.C. at the temple. Luckily the drive home was long enough that we were able to translate my entire talk for church the next day.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Because I Said So.

Juan and I had a lengthy talk tonight about parenting. Yes, it didn't conclude until about 15 minutes ago (12:45 am). Because I had to post a blog today, I will share the brainchild of our conversation:

We hope to be tough, rough, lovin' padres.

The details we are still fine-tuning, but at least we made some progress on our 5-year plan. (ha ha, that was a joke?)

Fin.

(p.s. Does anyone have any ideas to go along with the topic of "The Principle of Welfare"? Necessito ayuda para mi discurso.)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Double-Chinned and Lovin' It!

sleeping like a baby

Finally, the monkey onsies fit!... sort-of.

Drool Queen

In the middle of grunting. You know what that means...

Monday, November 12, 2007

A Yummy Snack

We needed to "calm the worms" (as they say in Mexico,) in our tummies the other night but weren't hungry enough for a whole meal. So this was invented and in no time at all, we were gobbling these up. As with every invention, they need a cheesy/cliche name, so we'll call them Quick Italian Pinwheels.

All it takes is:

Bagels (we used Parmesan bagels)
Cream cheese spread on top
Spanish olives
Sun-dried tomatoes
Thinly-sliced deli ham
Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top

Set it under a broiler until the tomatoes start to turn brown and EAT!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Today's News

(You might have to click on the picture to be able to read the text)

Friday, November 9, 2007

Birthday Present for Buddha

(Buddha is my sister, Tristan, who just turned 20!)

We rented Ratatouille from Redbox today ($free.99 with promo code: DVDONME) and watched it with our neighbors. I think I can speak for all when I say that it was an "A" for Disney/Pixar. Maybe it is because I watch The Food Network too much, but they were so detail-oriented with how a kitchen is operated and how food is cooked and prepared. Wow! I also knew that it was a good movie because it kept the attention of both my sweetheart who always falls asleep during movies and my little sweetie who doesn't have a very long attention span yet.

When we returned back to our own apartment, the best thing happened... Siena talked, and kept talking even when the camera was busted out. You see, this never happens; I'm always too late and the fun has ended before I can push the "record button". Anyway, we caught it on-camera, and that's all that matters.

p.s. we know we blog a lot about Siena, but hey, somebody's gotta do it.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Spanish Word of the Day: "Jugar"

Everybody now: "who-gar". It means "to play" in Spanish. It is especially appropriate for our blog today because Siena discovered her first toy. She can't really pick it up by herself, but when I finally close her little fingers around it, she goes to town. There are two things she can do with it: shake it and gobble it. Little does she know that it also twists around and makes a clicking noise! Thanks to my Aunt Shell, she's a happy little squirt.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Some things I learned today...

Forwarning: this is going to be a really "blah" post because there are no images.

As I was watching Hazel today, I was getting a little frustrated because she didn't want to eat her lunch. She just sat there and stared at me as I was waiting for her to eat (I needed to put her down for a nap.) She just wouldn't budge. I didn't know what to do; before, when this happened, I would pick up a piece of food and bring it to her mouth to get her started and she would be fine. However, this time, she clenched her teeth shut and wouldn't let anything in. "Oh, you wanna play hard ball,eh?" Just kidding. I did have to feed a now fussy Siena, so I thought if I didn't pay attention to Hazel, she might default into eating. After feeding Siena, I went back to Hazel in her highchair to see if she had eaten her lunch. There she was, face pressed to her tray, in deep sleep. The poor thing! I didn't know that kids don't eat because they are too tired (lesson #1!)

It was a little funny when I lifted her up to clean her up and put her on the bed because there were pieces of food sticking to her face. Still, I felt awful! I wish I would have picked up on it earlier... before she clonked out. I also learned that (gasp!) sometimes kids won't do everything you want them to do (lesson #2.) I realized that I have to learn how to cope with this faster than I thought. Really, anybody who knows me knows that I am extremely determined when I get my mind set on something... sometimes even when it includes my own expectations of other people.

Lastly, I learned that I don't know everything about raising kids. (Again... gasp!) One of the hardest things for me to deal with when Siena was born was listening to people tell me what to do and what not to do with my baby. I had read books and plenty of magazines and had my own idea of how I would take care of her. However, I didn't want people to think of me as a terrible mother because I wasn't following their advice; so I tried to do it all. I quickly found that a lot of the pieces of advice I received conflicted, so I wouldn't be able to please everyone. In frustration, I swore off taking advice. Now I realize that I need advice. I have no clue! No matter how much I read, I couldn't have been completely prepared for this! The responsibility is HUGE and I don't want to mess up. So now I am going to actually listen to the advice I receive, but will only take it as advice, not doctrine (lesson #3.)

Good talk, we should do this more often.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Our Weekend on a Weekday

Since Juan was studying for a HUGE Biochemistry test all of last week, we didn't get to do anything that fun or extraordinary. Today, he got a breather and we went out for a day out on the town. (Doesn't quite ring the right way, huh?) We went to the King of Prussia mall again because there are just a lot of cool things to see there and we like to walk around. Then we got our new tires from Costco (the end of a long, long ordeal.) Finally, we looked around for a Christmas dress for Siena, but prices haven't really gone down yet, so we'll wait a little longer. Anyway, that was the weekend we never had. (We were supposed to get a movie from Redbox, too, but all of them were either rated "R" or were not yet released. Oh well, we're too tired for one anyway.)

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Siena Dance Party 2007

We have realized that we have a dancer in our midst. Remember (1) the music was playing before she started to shimmy and (2) she was the most content at the branch activity when she was out of her seat (carseat, that is) and dancing. I think the video is more descriptive.