Festival of the Arts

Stacy, Colleen, Matix and I went to the Festival of the Arts the other day. It was SO fun. We went later in the day so we didn't have too much time to see everything (there were WAY more booths than I thought there would be), but it was perfect.

The booths had jewelry, pottery, paintings, sculptures, and anything else artsy you could imagine. I love little festivals like this.

Matix enjoyed being able to walk wherever he wanted to. Here are some pics of him exploring... He looks so big!

This woman looks pretty grouchy, but she had BEAUTIFUL hand made jewelry.

I am trying my hardest to fatten up a bit... although, you have to admit I am looking pretty big in this picture! :) I got a chocolate covered banana, and Stacy got chocolate covered cheesecake. I love getting junk food from fairs and festivals!

Matix enjoyed helping me eat my banana.
Here we are with chocolate filled mouths... MMMMmmmmmm!
Colleen also got kettle corn and I had a root beer float. Yum!

This was my favorite part of the day though...Matix wanted to get out of his stroller so HE could push it. I think he will be a great big brother! :)

36 Weeks!!!

This is me at 36 weeks! :) This baby is just hanging out of me, and he's ready to go! I love this part. He kicks all the time, not as much as Matix (thank goodness), but WAY harder. I am pretty much at the waddling all the time stage. :) I can hardly wait to meet this little guy....

By the way, I am loving being able to straighten my hair again and not have to wear it up to keep it from going curly! :) Hooray for the desert!

Seminary

So, a few months ago in church I was called to be the Young Women's President... Young Women's is an amazing program that our church puts together to teach and guide young women (ages 12-18) to realize and reach their divine potential. It focuses on the girls ability to live virtuous and exemplary lives in order to influence the world for good. I am really excited to be a part of the program, especially since when I was that age I was not a part of any such program.

I am really grateful to be a member of a church that supports it's youth in this and many other ways. Another thing my church has available to the youth is Seminary. It is a program the youth (boys and girls) have the opportunity to attend during their high school years just before their regular school starts. Seminary is for the youth to study the scriptures and learn more about important gospel truths.

I was also not a part of this program when I was that age, but recently I had the chance to go with Stacy (she is a Seminary teacher) to one of her classes.

It was really cool. I hope these kids understand how lucky they are to have this program available to them. They are learning about things that will help to shape their lives and develop their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. I hope when Matix is old enough, he will want to go to Seminary... partly for the selfish reason that I want to hear about more of the lessons than just this one :) and partly because I am really impressed with the material presented and the lengths that the program directors, teachers and leaders have gone to, to make it as wonderful as it is... and I want Matix to learn and be steadfast in what he believes.

Anyway, I am just so glad I am able to experience these things now, even if I didn't get a chance earlier. :)

Tonight

Tonight...

Stacy and Colleen went to see Ballet Arizona perform "Swan Lake" at Symphony Hall (they dressed up, so fun!)...

Lee was at a dinner for a young man who just received his Eagle Scout award (Lee has been involved in scouting FOREVER)...

Matix went to bed early (before 6pm)...

Paul went to our date night alone (so sad, I miss date night!)...

and I caught up on our blog! :) I posted a few things tonight and pretty much everything else will be posted as it comes. So make sure to scroll down to see the other posts from tonight, but then I will be better about posting every day, or every other day, like in Dominica. :)

Exploring

Matix and I are SO happy to be back in the States. Stacy (Paul's Mom) left up the Halloween decorations (she is really good at decorating every little nook and cranny for each season) for us. I didn't realize how much I really LOVE Halloween. I wish I had brought some things with to Dominica to decorate our house.

Matix, apparently, loves it too. I wish I recorded Matix on our first night here. He ran around pointing at everything, and making his "OOOOOHHhhhhhh" sound. It was so funny to watch. Each little pumpkin, or ghost, or leaf, was interesting and had to be pointed out. :)

Matix has also been having fun going outside whenever he wants to. So often in Dominica, it is raining too hard, or there are too many bugs near the door that would be let in, or our yard guy is working on the lawn, so we have to stay inside. Not so easy for a little guy to understand. But here... the weather is PERFECT. He has figured out how to open and shut (and open and shut and open and shut.... ) the screen door and loves to go exploring. Sakina (our dog) has been keeping an eye on him too, which I think is cute. Not just when he has food, but often throughout the day, she follows him. Here she is watching him play in the backyard. :)

Dr. Appointment

I went to see my OBGYN yesterday and everything is good. The baby is bigger than Matix was at this point (yikes), but I am smaller than I was when I was pregnant with Matix... how this happens, I have no idea...

Also, I do NOT have gestational diabetes this time! Hooray hooray! That was no fun last time, and I am grateful not to have to deal with all the finger pricks, scheduled eating, etc. that goes with it.

Matix had fun at the office since there are decorative rocks along the wall in the waiting room, just asking to be played with by little boys. :)

Also, it is cooler here than we had planned for, and we didn't have very many pants for Matix, so we went shopping with Grandma Stacy and she got him a few pairs (thanks Grandma!) I think he looks so big in this outfit. When did he grow up?

While I was getting my check up, Matix was getting a little bored, so Dr. Bruce blew up a HUGE glove balloon for him to play with. (It is the big white thing in the bottom left corner of the picture)

He played with it all the way home, well, until he fell asleep. :) Sweet boy.

Second Babymoon 10-30-09

When Paul and I were pregnant with Matix we went to a fancy hotel to celebrate the end of our time as a family of 2, and also to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter in our lives as a family of 3. We called it our babymoon. It was so much fun. We just went for one night, but it was nice to celebrate that huge change.

Now we are pregnant with baby number 2, and thought we should have another babymoon. This time, we went to an island in the West Indies... Oh wait, we were living there! :) But what better place to have our second babymoon. Matix goes to sleep still really early, so we had lots of time for just us. It all started with Paul doing the dishes, while I rested my feet (SO nice). We also ate lots of cheese cake, mousse cake and a peanut butter/brownie cake... Very fun.

This was our celebration of the end of the part of our lives as a family of 3... and the beginning of a bigger family of 4... We can still hardly believe people will say to us, "how are the KIDS?" Plural, KIDS... that is going to be so strange, but we are really excited and feel prepared to handle all the craziness. :)

Trip to Arizona 11-3-09

So, Matix and I are back in the states! Hooray hooray! Long trip, but worth it! :) BUT, We miss Paul like crazy... He has to stay in Dominica until the middle of December when his tests are finished for the semester. :( But then he will join us here in Arizona! :) YAY!

I just posted a few things from our last couple days in Dominica, so make sure you scroll down to read them too. Our internet went out on Saturday and got me a little backed up on posting, then we spent all day coming here and of course I took a million more pictures, thus getting me very behind in posting on the blog. Sorry! :)

So on Tuesday, Dominican independence day, Matix and I started our long journey back to Arizona. Of course the night before, in preparation for independence day, and to celebrate another mini exam done, EVERY person except our family was out partying! There was music playing SUPER loudly and people out in the streets until 3 in the morning! Of course we had to get up and out the door by 4:30 am, NO THANK YOU! :)

Our friend Dave gave us a ride to the airport since he is one of the few students here who has their own car. He is awesome, thanks Dave!! :)

It is a long drive and our first flight was going to San Juan, Puerto Rico at 7am. The drive was beautiful though and we got to watch the sun come up. I tried to take some pics of the silhouetted palm trees with the ocean and clouds in the background, but they came out a little fuzzy.

Matix got in some good Daddy time snuggles with Paul while we were waiting to get checked in.

This is our last picture of us as a family of 3... How weird is that?!

So, I said we were going to San Juan, right?! See this face on Matix?

This is his version of my "What do you mean we are in Antigua???!!!!" face... Yes, that is right, we went to Antigua, NOT Puerto Rico! After talking with the flight attendant, she explained that although I DID have a "direct flight" to San Juan, we were just making a "short stop" in Antigua, and that since it is short, it counts as a "direct flight" still! ??? What?! This is the airplane.... Really small and noisy. We sat next to the propellers.

So, we got off, put the stroller together, went through the airport in Antigua, their customs, security, took apart the stroller, and finally went back onto the airplane... they said it was a new plane, but it was the ONLY one there... :)

The flight to Puerto Rico (for real) was fine. It took longer than I thought it would, but we made it. :) Matix fell asleep on my lap/belly for a while (hooray hooray!) and woke up happy, even though he only had a 45 minute nap...

Is this really my child? Happy after a SHORT nap?! Matix, you're such a good boy!

In Puerto Rico, we had to go and get our checked bag and stroller from baggage claim Matix REALLY liked the baggage carousel and was very happy chasing bags and getting his hands completely black from touching everything. This made it possible for me to get the stroller put together and loaded up with our carry-on and diaper bag, while I wore the checked bag like a pack mule...

Matix ended up NOT being a big fan of going through security, because they often made him walk through by himself. I was right there if course, but this is his "not THIS again mom!" face. Poor little guy. :)

We had to wait for a while, but we had fun watching the planes and trucks... Do I have a little boy or what? :)

Matix got a little sleepy while waiting for the airplane to go to Dallas, Texas... If you know Matix, you know he doesn't slow down, unless he is REALLY tired... So this is an unusual sight. :)

Here is a short video of how bad it got.

This is after we got on the plane... trying to play, but really needing to sleep. :)

This flight was the hardest one for Matix. We had been flying all morning and of course, this was a 4 and 1/2 hour flight. YUCK! He slept on and off, had 2 blow out diapers, and was pretty fussy in between happy Matix moments. He sat mostly like this on my lap facing me, I just didn't really realize I had not very much lap left. :) Here he is flirting with the lady next to us.

When we got to Dallas, our stroller was not there. :( Of course! They sent it to baggage rather than the gate, so we had to go get it and come back in AGAIN through the dreaded security line. We only had a 45 minute window, and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. Even I was a little grouchy at this time. :) After getting through security and back to the terminal, our flight was already boarding! We still got dinner from Wendy's :) YUM! and made it on the plane.

Matix slept the whole 2 and 1/2 hours back to Phoenix, but when he woke up he was NOT happy.

It was 9pm Dominica time and we had been traveling ALL day.

His long awaited reunion with Grandma was less than climactic. He was ready for bed! :)

Of course since then, the Grandma/Matix love affair has resumed. He is just as in love with her as the day we left for the island. :)

This is Jessie the pack mule... This is what I looked like (plus Matix in the stroller) when we had to carry all our bags. Notice Matix back in the arms of his Grandma. :)

Matix's new love... 11-2-09

So after having the Halloween party and trick-or-treating the day before, Matix discovered his new love... SUCKERS! I guess one was left in the basket underneath his stroller (which of course he discovered)... He brought it to me and HAD to have it. :)

He is doing better at not drooling out all the sticky mess onto his clothes now, so he doesn't need to be stripped down each time.

ALSO, Paul had his second mini exam on Monday! YAY Paul! We made a sign for him (of course... who doesn't like to be cheered on?!)

We are really so proud of Paul and all the hard work he is putting into Medical School. He is such a wonderful person and a good example. We love you Paul! :)

Belly Picture 35 weeks! 11-1-09

Yes, that IS my HUGE PREGO BELLY! I am getting bigger by the minute! This is from Sunday when I was exactly 35 weeks along!

This was also the last Sunday I had to WALK to church pregnant. :( yuck! It is a 30 - 45 minute walk each way... not the most fun thing to do while pregnant. AND, check out my rockin' sandal tan. Can you tell I do a LOT of walking in Dominica?!

Halloween party 10-31-09

This is the Halloween party we went to on Saturday. It was SO much fun. There were decorations, kids and parents EVERYWHERE! Very chaotic, but we all had fun.

There was this little picture thing where the kids could peek their faces through to be a prince or princess... Matix totally got the idea and had a great time peeking at Paul, who was taking the picture...

Here he is with his friend Lily. She wasn't quite sure what to do, but she was definitely peeking... You have to look closely to see her though. :)

There were lots of other friends there to play with too. We didn't dress him up again because this was also a pizza party and our little guy is not a very clean eater yet... His little monkey costume is too cute to mess up. :)

We had lots of fun, especially because Paul took off some time from studying to join us. We really do miss you hubby! :)