you & me

Here's a layout I did for Amya. She wanted to take a picture with me, so we took some self portraits, and I really liked how this one came out.

Click here for credits

Our new niece

So Keith's brother Ian and his wife Laura welcomed their newest daughter to their family on Mother's Day. She's a tiny little thing - she was born at 28 weeks and weighed in at 2 lbs. 1 oz. We went up to see her and Laura yesterday (and Ian and the kids too). I have never seen a baby that tiny before. But she's got some spunk to her - she had already pulled out her intubation tube all by herself. The doctors say that she's doing fine right now and they'll just have to keep watching her. Laura seemed to be doing good as well. We're so happy for them. Here's a little clip of their new baby. Look at how her hand compares to Ian's fingernail, and the size of the pacifier compared to her little tummy.



P.S. I didn't put her name because, when we left, Ian and Laura still weren't decided on a name for sure. But they were thinking Sofia Rose. How pretty!

Mexican dancer

We had a Mother's Day party in our ward, and they asked each group (Primary, Young Women, etc.) to participate in a little talent show. The Primary had some of the older girls learn a dance and perform it. Amya was asked to participate in the dance and we were so excited for her. She did such a good job - it was really her first time performing in front of a group. Isn't she great?!?!?!

An era has ended

The other day we were watching TV with all the girls. Keith was not liking whatever show it was and said "This show is G-A-Y". He spelled it out so that the girls wouldn't know what he said. Almost immediately Amya says "Gay? Why is the show gay dad?" We were laughing and saying that we couldn't spell things out anymore. About half an hour later, we were watching another show and Keith says "This show is Y-A-G". And sure enough, after about 2 seconds, Amya says "Dad, that's gay spelled backwards." We couldn't believe it. It's gonna be so hard now to talk about stuff we don't want them to know about now that Amya can figure out what we're saying. We also won't be able to talk in Spanish for much longer, cause she's figuring that out too. That smart little booger is ruining everything! :) Oh yeah, I forgot, then she started spelling stuff out herself, like "d-a-d i-s g-a-y" and stuff like that. Crazy.

In other news, Maricela's other top tooth is coming in now as well.

funny of the day

Elena: Why do you love me so much?
Me: Cause you're my beautiful girl.
Elena: No I not, I your funny girl ... but I still beautiful.
Me: Oh, you're my funny girl today?
Elena: Yes, and not a mean funny girl, a beautiful funny girl.

dance

For credits click here

I made this page today. As I was posting it, I realized that the last three pages I've done have all been about Elena. Well, one had Téa in it too, and obviously this one has Benjamin...but I better do some for the other girls before they get jealous!! The journaling says: "We already knew that you were a dancer, but we were surprised to see that Benjamin loves to dance as much as you do. It was only a matter of time before the two of you started dancing together. Spins, twirls, booty-shakin', what next?"

Houston, we have a picture!

(I'm not quite sure why I'm stuck on that saying.)

Last night we were playing outside and the baby was in her little swing that hangs down from the awning of our porch. I was taking some pictures of her swinging and then realized that I could get a shot of her tooth. So I got her to laugh and got the shot. Her fever is gone now, so that's good, but she still has boogers. I'm thinking maybe the other top tooth is coming in, you can kind of feel it underneath her gum. Anyway, we're excited for her.

Also, I forgot to mention what Amya did on Sunday. She was assigned the scripture for Primary, so she had to read a scripture (John 3:16) during opening exercises. I don't know if all of you know, but we go to a Spanish ward, so she had to read it in Spanish. She did it PERFECTLY!! We were SO proud of her and how quickly she has picked up reading - in English AND Spanish. Here is what she read: "Porque de tal manera amó Dios al mundo, que ha dado a su Hijo unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna." Isn't that so cool? And she's reading everything. Everywhere we go, she reads signs. "Mom, did you know they're hiring at Wal-Mart? It says so right there - Now Hiring." "Who knows what tomorrow will bring (on the wall at Sam's)" I can't remember any more right now, but believe me, she's reading everything. It's so neat to see how much of the world is opened up to her now that she can read.

Here's a picture of Téa that I took yesterday. I put her hair in pigtails, dressed her up, and then thought she looked so cute that I took some pics of her outside. The only way I could get her to sit still was to bribe her with dandelions, and she was waving them all around while we were taking the pics. Keith is not going to be happy about that when he sees all the new dandelions start to pop up.

I have some pictures and stuff to share - I just downloaded over 1000 pics from this month onto my computer, and I had already forgotten stuff that we've done. So after I get some breakfast, I'll come back and put up some more pictures. TTFN!