The Prayers of a Three-Year Old

Nayeli is beginning to learn to pray and it is the most adorable thing ever. Most of the time she just thanks Heavenly Father for "this day", but the other day she offered a prayer like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, we're grateful for this day. Please bless that when I get older I'll still have curly hair and I'll like tomatoes. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Ben and I couldn't help but peek and smile at one another. Nayeli is such a joy to have in our house and she is getting to be such a fun age. I'm so happy she's ours and I look forward to many more prayers from this sweet girl.

Nayeli and Ben perfecting the selfie

Nayeli's Dream House

For our entire married life we have lived in a two bedroom, one bathroom, single story apartment. Consequentially, this has become Nayeli's norm and it's been evidenced by her amazement when we go to other people's houses.

For example, if we are visiting another home it isn't uncommon for her to come to me and say with amazement, "Mom, this house has a garage!" or "Mom, this house has stairs!". My favorite though was when we visited a friend and she told me with wide eyes and excitement, "Mom, this house has two bathrooms!"

From these statements Ben and I have been able to formulate the qualifications for Nayeli's dream home:

-2 bathrooms
-Stairs
-A garage

Picky girl, huh? The beautiful thing is that the house we are buying has all these qualifications and more such as an entry closet, two family rooms, three bedrooms, a crawl space, a backyard, and a pantry. Needless to say that we are all pretty excited about the house and we feel really really blessed. Dream house found.

She's a Sunbeam!

This month Nayeli started Sunbeams. She had been so excited for weeks to be in Primary. She is getting so grown-up and it is so fun to see her become a little person.

Her teacher told me last week that she asks lots of questions in class, questions that pertain to the lesson but are a little off subject. For example, the lesson was on Moses and she asked, "Why did the King kill all the babies?" and "Will slavery ever come back?" She is a little questioner and it cracks me up. I think she's going to give her teacher a run for her money.

Also, a few times since she started she's said to me, "Mom, guess what song I have in my head? Scripture power!" What a smile it puts on my face! I love Primary and the principles it teaches and am so happy she's learning the gospel truths that bring me so much joy.

Nayeli-isms

Nayeli is such a character and says the funniest things. Here are a few of her Nayeli-isms of late:

• (Driving around looking at Christmas lights we saw an inflatable snowman on a lawn). I said, "Look Nayeli, it's Frosty the Snowman!" She replied, "No mom, that's not Frosty. He's not smoking. Frosty is always smoking."

• She was sick for a week and had to miss church. She was sad because she missed seeing her friend Audra. I told her she could see her next Sunday. She said, exasperated, "It hasn't been Sunday in weeks!"

• She was introducing Teddy to my friend and said, "This is my brother Teddy. He likes to ruin anything I'm trying to do."  That's only a little better than when my mother-in-law came to visit right after Teddy was born. She asked Nayeli, "Do you like your new little brother? What does he do?" She replied matter-of-factly "He cries".

What can I say, the girl is honest and cute to boot. I sure love how fun she is getting, and wouldn't have her any other way.

She's starting to dress herself and favors the monochromatic look. If it all isn't the same color, she doesn't want to wear it. My little fashionista.

Seussical!

When I was growing up, my dad took each of his kids out on a "date night" about once a month or so. We could choose whatever activity we wanted, do our hair however we wanted, and wear whatever we wanted (to my mother's dismay). It was great bonding time with my dad and I really believe those dates helped me feel very close to my father.

Ben has begun to do the same thing with Nayeli. At the beginning of November, they went on a date to see the musical "Seussical" at the local high school. When I told her that she'd be going to a play, she asked, "What will we play?" I don't know if she fully grasped the concept before they went, but it turns out they had a great time. Ben said she was attentive and well-behaved the whole time. She is getting so big.

 Date night with Dada!

Meeting with the cast after the show

Here's to many more fun daddy-daughter dates!

Nayeli's 3rd Birthday

Nayeli turned three a few weekends ago. We decided to keep her birthday low key and not stress over doing anything too elaborate. It ended up being a really great and fun weekend.

Her birthday fell on a Saturday, but since Ben had to go camping with the scouts on Friday night and he wanted to make her breakfast in bed, we decided to celebrate it over two days. Saturday morning the grocery store near our home had an Easter celebration so we met our friends the Clarks there. There was a mini petting zoo and cookie decorating, as well as the "Easter Bunny" aka some guy dressed up in a really creepy bunny costume. Nayeli wouldn't go near him, but she loved the cookie decorating.

 It was her birthday- the sugar coma was inevitable :)

The Clarks then invited us to their house for lunch so we ate there and Nayeli got to jump on the trampoline (her favorite). After awhile Ben called to say that he was on his way home so we went to meet him. He took some time with Nayeli before they both crashed on the couch for a nap.

 This is exactly how she fell asleep. The girl loves her sippie.

 I eventually took it so that she could sleep a little more comfortably.

That evening I had to go to the General Women's broadcast so Ben took the kids. They went to a park and played, then went to the local arcade to play some games. On the way they stopped at Jamba Juice and Nayeli got to pick an "ice cream". She had a great time on her special "date with Da-da".

 Ben got these pictures taken in a booth at the arcade specifically for me because I LOVE booth photos. The one on the top is my favorite.

Sunday morning Ben woke up to make her breakfast in bed (it was the tradition in his family growing up). Everything he made was pink- her favorite color. She thought that was so fun.

In the afternoon after church we finally let her open gifts. She has been asking for a dog or cat for a really long time but since that is not feasible right now, we decided to go with a fish. She was thrilled. Bingo.

 She named the fish "Sally". 

 Opening gifts

 She also asks for a pink sucker every time we go to the grocery store. I attached one to her gifts.

That night, we invited a few family friends over for cake and ice cream. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted this year, she said a "pink Minnie cake". She even picked the kind of frosting she wanted at the grocery store, then we put dollar store figurines on top. Easiest cake I've ever decorated.

 I love Teddy's face. He's so mad he can't get to the cake.

Our friends the Goughs came for dinner and then the Clarks and Pops and Anita joined us for dessert. We sang Happy Birthday to her and she was so pleased. Then we had pink cake and pink ice cream (of course). We told our friends not to worry about bringing gifts but Anita gave Nayeli a really cute Minnie doll. The night was a hit and it was very little effort on my part. Perfect.

Lastly, I thought I would do an interview with Nayeli. All answers are in her words exactly.

Nayeli's 3rd Birthday Interview

1. What is your favorite color? Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? My Minnie doll
3. What is your favorite animal? Doggie
4. What is your favorite food? Quesadilla
5. What is your favorite treat? Gum
6. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Hiking
7. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Play tigers
8. What is your favorite thing to do with our family? Play lions
9. What is your favorite TV show? Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Paw Patrol
10. Who is your best friend? Momma
11. What is mom's job? Be with me, play with me
12. What is dad's job? Play with me too.
13. What is your favorite song? Let it go
14. What is your favorite movie? Let it go (Frozen)
15. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Blow bubbles
16. What is your favorite outfit / thing to wear? The Minnie one
17. What is your favorite holiday? Valentine’s
18. What do you want to be when you grow up? Be a birthday cake

Anything else you want to say?
Yeah, um.... play.

There you have it folks. She is the cutest and best and we sure love her.

Teddy at 6 months

Our sweet little Teddy turned six months at the end of October. I posted this picture on Instagram with this caption:

"Teddy can sit up well, is rolling both ways and all over, has his two bottom teeth, is super ticklish like his dad, loves his older sister, is very social and tries to make friends with any person who will make eye contact, still wakes every 4-5 hours to eat, and is the sweetest little boy I could ever have asked for."

I'm so happy to call such a cute little boy mine, and it's been great to see the bond he and Nayeli are forming. She smothers him with love and often says, "Oh Teddy, you're my best friend I've ever seen!" I have no idea where she got that from but it's the cutest.

My little rascals at work making messes :) They are so so fun.

Halloween 2014

About two months ago, Ben took me completely by surprise when he stated, "Let's dress up as a family for Halloween!" I was shocked because Ben hates dressing up, but since he was offering I began plotting costumes for our family.

I found two animal costumes on Craigslist for only $16 for both! They were a lion for Nayeli and a monkey for Teddy and they were the perfect sizes! I was so lucky! As a bonus, they were in great condition since they were worn by an only child once. Welcome to buying children's clothes secondhand in Oregon. It's awesome.

Anyway, I hadn't wanted to do something too complicated for our family and the costumes sealed the deal. With a small excursion to Goodwill and some khaki items from our closets we were officially headed on a Halloween safari.

Nayeli the Lion

Ready for candy! (Teddy was napping when these photos were taken- we love him just as much as Nayeli I promise :) )

Thursday night (the 30th) was the ward Halloween party. There was a chili cook off and Ben made his "award-winning" chili (it won first place in our ward in Provo). It got a runner up prize last year and this year too! We've now dubbed it "Three-peat champion chili".

The Petersen Family Safari

The carnivorous lion enjoying a corn dog.

Halloween night we made pumpkin pancakes for dinner and then took the kids trick or treating to a few of our neighbor friends. We have the only kids who live in our area of the apartment complex and so Nayeli and Teddy were the stars. One elderly neighbor even got them special gifts. So sweet.

The cutest lion and monkey I ever saw.

 

The "silly" pose

Nayeli's 2nd Birthday and Hermiston, Oregon

On March 28 we celebrated Nayeli's second birthday. It's amazing to think that two years ago I became a mother. Although some days I want to pull my hair out, I love being a mom. It has fulfilled me in ways I never could have anticipated and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Plus I love my little Nayeli. She is such a good girl and my little buddy. We had a great time celebrating her birthday.

Nayeli's birth- 2012

The celebration started early when she found (aka Ben left it on the porch when he got out his bike from our storage closet one morning) her main gift about a week before her birthday. We picked this mini Jeep up at Goodwill for just $8. She'd been asking for a "car" for months before that so we knew she'd love it. And we were right. It's one of her favorite toys.

The actual morning of, Ben made her breakfast in bed and we woke her up singing Happy Birthday (traditions taken from Ben's family). We opened a few gifts and Ben headed to work.

I let her get herself dressed for the day. She chose a Mickey shirt, Mickey socks and a Hello Kitty headband. Can you tell she's really into Mickey Mouse right now? Oh, and this is how she wanted to pose for the picture I took. She cracks me up.

We ran errands in the morning and by 10:30am she had already consumed a chocolate egg, soda and a doughnut. And she had a balloon she'd picked out from the dollar store. It was turning out to be a great day. The rest of the day was spent at playgroup then getting ready for our weekend getaway.

That evening after Ben got home from work, we packed up the car and drove to see my sister Emily and her family in Hermiston, Oregon. They just moved there from Florida since my brother-in-law Darren will be working as a nurse anesthetist. Anyway, I had told Emily that we would come and help unpack, move boxes, etc. It was a 4 hour drive so we got there late Friday night, chatted for a bit, then went to bed.

Saturday morning Nayeli was so excited to meet her cousins. She LOVES other kids and she especially loved Gabe. They are only 6 weeks apart.

 

Paul, Gabe and Nayeli. I can't get over Gabe's cheesy grin. So cute.

That afternoon we had lunch and then did a small party for Nayeli. She had requested a rainbow cake so my nephew Paul helped me make one I had seen on Pinterest. She loved it, mostly because it had "num-nums" aka Skittles on the top.

The inside of the cake. I was so pleased with how it turned out.

Isn't she the cutest? Ben had me make sure she was wearing this shirt to go with her rainbow cake. She's also got a thing for rainbows right now.

We had a great weekend hanging out and helping Emily and Darren. Actually Ben helped and I laid on the couch. Being 37 weeks pregnant made me pretty useless, but we still had a great time talking and enjoying each other. Besides, Emily and Darren are great hosts and it was so fun to see them since they've been living far away for so long. However our fun was short lived as we left early Sunday morning to be back for our 1 o'clock ward.

 

That evening we gave Nayeli the rest of her gifts. We had also got her this mini-kitchen (a hand-me-down from a friend) and a basket of plastic food that you can cut in half. She's played with all of it incessantly since. Parenting win :)

Since then Nayeli has also been incessantly talking about her birthday and the "rainbow cake". I'll admit, it was more fun than I anticipated to plan a fun birthday for her. I really enjoyed it. Plus the whole weekend was that much more fun visiting Emily and Darren. I'd call it a win-win for everyone.

Life Lately

This is my third attempt at blogging in the past week. For some reason I couldn't get pictures to upload, but since today it's finally working I'll give a quick update on our life lately.

Nayeli

Oh how this girl keeps me on my toes. She has started talking a lot and, with her signs, she can communicate quite a bit.

For example, on this specific Sunday she was able to communicate after church that she wanted her tights put on her head. Guess who taught her that trick? *cough, Ben, cough*. Then she proceeded to go look in the mirror and laugh at herself. Sometimes I think her cuteness might kill me.

 Speaking of cuteness, this is how she decided to accessorize her outfit a few weeks ago. You can never wear enough necklaces, right?

In January we went to the Portland Children's Museum with some friends. It was a great experience and Nayeli loved it. She especially fell in love with this huge dog. She carried him around for about 15 minutes, until she finally got too tired. 

 I tried to paint her face to look like a dog... but I sort of failed. At least she was convinced.

Pregnancy and My Life

Here's an obligatory pregnancy selfie at 25 weeks. I'm 30 weeks now and baby boy is growing and moving lots. We're getting really excited for another baby to come to our home.

Last week I failed the gestational diabetes test at my doctor's office, so this week I had to have a three hour glucose test. Besides the fact that I had to fast the night before, drink double the sugar in the half the time, then sit in a waiting room for three hours without throwing up, it wasn't too bad. Thankfully, no gestational diabetes for me. 

My 29th birthday was in January. Ben was out of town  for my actual birthday, but I had a great day anyway. I got a babysitter in the morning so I could go shopping by myself, then went to lunch with a friend from the ward. The next day Ben and I went to dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in town. It was delicious and very unique.

I've also been crafting an extreme amount. I think it has something to do with the nesting. 

I got these fun burlap canvases on sale at Joanne's. On this one I painted a heart.

I also decorated our mantel for Valentine's. This is the one area I can decorate without having to worry about Nayeli breaking something. It's my outlet.

Ben

As of late, all my posts seem to indicate that Ben is going through a quarter-life crisis. The truth is that... well... he is going through a quarter-life crisis. That may be the reason he had the crazy courage to ask me if he could go on a three day skiing trip just after returning from a week long business trip. What's even crazier is that I said yes.

So last week Ben flew to Colorado and got to ski Breckenridge and Veil. It was an impulsive decision on both our parts, but a good one. Besides, it's not every day you get to ski Veil for free.

Ben loves to save money and decided to make himself a ski "bag" instead of buying one. This cardboard box with the paracord handle was what he ended up putting together. I told him I'm going to send this Jeff Foxworthy with the label "Redneck ski bag".

At Veil

The Goose Was Getting Fat...

I was supposed to post this video weeks ago but, in the rush of the season, I didn't get around to it. It's a little long, but hopefully you can enjoy the first minute of Nayeli's cuteness and get a feeling for how fun it was to prep her for Christmas.

This year she was really into the songs Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, the Little Drummer Boy, and Rudolph. The video shows a little bit of her "enthusiasm" for two of the songs.

A New Strain of FOMO

In my immediate family, we have a disease. My mother, who has a severe case, passed it on to nearly all her children. It has been unnamed for years but recently, thanks to the popularity of internet acronyms, it finally has identification. It's called FOMO, or "fear of missing out"

You may think I'm kidding, but you can Google it and read all about it. Or all you have to do is attend a get-together at my parent's house and you'll see exactly what this disease is and how strongly it runs in our veins. We can't handle to miss out on part of the action or conversation. My mother, being the worst of all, refuses to leave the room if there is something interesting being said. And if she does have to leave, she'll say, "Don't say anything important while I'm gone!" This is typically followed by my father waiting until she's left the room to say loudly with a smirk on his face, "Wow! What an interesting and exciting thing!" My mother then responds from the other room with a "Paul...." in her classic warning voice.

 Nayeli with my parents last Thanksgiving

And as I mentioned, this disease has been passed onto me. In my marriage it typically causes the most discord when Ben finishes a phone conversation that I didn't hear but am interested in knowing about. Here's an example of how the conversation might go:

Ben: I talked to my friend today.

Me: Great. How is he? What did he say?

Ben: I don't know... he's doing... good.

Me: Good. What else?

Ben: Well... life is good. He's fine.

Me: Great. But why? What's happening to him? What's new?

Ben: I don't remember. 

Poor Ben. He gets an interrogation. At times, it can cause me to practically loose my mind. Luckily, since we married, Ben has accustomed himself to remember conversations better. It's an effort of which I'm extremely appreciative.

 

But now the problem has magnified. We have recently discovered that Nayeli not only carries the FOMO gene, but also FOOMO. This is a newly discovered strain of FOMO and stands for "fear of others missing out". Don't Google it- Ben and I named it ourselves. But it truly exists and is just as real as FOMO.

We first knew that Nayeli had FOOMO when I left her with a friend one day while I ran some errands. They watched a movie together, and although my friend's eyes were on the screen the entire time, Nayeli tapped her "every few minutes throughout the whole movie" and pointed to the screen. Luckily my friend thought it was hilarious. I guess she understood that Nayeli just wanted to make sure that she wasn't missing out on anything.

Since then I've noted that she's constantly tapping us or grunting (while pointing) to make sure we don't miss out. Sometimes she will even turn my face to make me look at something. But the most common method is pointing. Observe.

 Oceanside Beach

 Sauvie Island

 My personal favorite. Sometimes there are not only one, but two things she wants to show me.

So what to do? Nothing but enjoy the ride. Overall, it's very endearing and I like it. And one day, when she has phone conversations I want to know about, she'll be the ideal subject of my interrogations. People with FOMO love talking to people with FOOMO and vice versa. We are the perfect pair.

January 2013, Utah