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.

"Z" projects

At the beginning of March I wrote my list of things I wanted to get done before baby came. There were important things to do, things my dad refers to as "A" projects, but for some reason I focused in on a "Z" project that I had wanted to do for years. This is definitely something I have seen my mother Rita do numerous times, so it really wasn't my fault when I couldn't get it out of my mind.

The project? Paint this coffee table that I bought four years ago at Saver's for $20. I had always meant to paint it, but was afraid I would ruin it. After finding some really good furniture painting tutorials online, I felt like it was now or never and I went for it.

 

Before

While I was at it, I decided to also paint an end table I picked up at the local Goodwill for $12. Here she is in all her glory:

Before

We live in such a small apartment that I knew I had to paint the tables out on our porch. That meant I had to have sunny days, which come and go in Oregon. But I went for it. Saturday night I bought all my supplies at Home Depot and I started painting Monday during nap time (there was no way Nayeli was going to let me paint without getting in on the action). By Monday night I had sanded, cleaned, primed and put two coats on. The paint was a little whiter than I had wanted but I didn't have the time or energy to go get a different color. White it was.

Ben took this Monday night as I painted after Nayeli was in bed.

As I painted late that night, Ben told me, "You are your mother's daughter". Most definitely. I can't count how many times I have seen my mom stay up late to paint something or finish some project. Thanks for the inspiration Mom :) I must say though that painting low tables while 36 weeks pregnant was torture on my back. Not something I would recommend.

Tuesday morning I awoke at 6am to hear rain pitter-pattering outside. I panicked. Although our porch is covered, I was worried the wind would blow the water in and ruin all my hard work. I jumped out of bed and pulled the tarp and furniture inside. I then stayed up to put a layer of varnish on both tables. Ben told me he'd never seen me be so exuberant at 6am about anything before. He's probably right.

It was hard putting the varnish on inside the house- I had to take Nayeli out of the house practically all day to keep her from touching the furniture. Plus I had to put a fan on to help it dry and it blew little fibers all over the top of each piece. So if you ever see the final products in person, don't look too close :)

And the final masterpiece. Drumroll please...

Didn't it turn out beautifully? It was worth all the backache. I replaced the knob with a fun one from Anthropologie. I am so pleased with the final look.

Here is the end table during...

...and after. Not a great picture since it's been confined to the toy corner for the time being. But I'm also so happy with the final product.

And as for those "A" projects? As my mom would say, the A's always get done eventually so you have to take the time every once in awhile to do the Z's. Besides, those are always the most fun projects to do.

We Can Be Spontaneous...

Ben and I are both planners. We love to have life laid out and are pretty bad at being spontaneous. Really bad. So when we were invited to our friend's beach house for the weekend a few weeks ago, we almost didn't go. Not because we didn't want to, but because it didn't fit into our "plans". Weekend plans which consisted of lame things like cleaning the house and organizing the closet. Yeah, we're pretty cool like that. 

But I'm proud to say that on Friday when Ben called me at lunch and asked if I wanted to go, I said, "Let's do it!" I packed our bags, Ben arrived home from work, we ate a quick dinner and we were on our way to Lincoln City, Oregon. We arrived at the Clark's cabin at about 9pm, stayed up late chatting with Tom and Dennine, then fell asleep with way better plans for Saturday than organizing the closet.

Ben and Tom went running in the morning and Dennine and I talked while the kids played. We then headed for the beach. The weather was blustery, and it wasn't exactly warm, but we were at the coast so it didn't really matter.

She LOVES the sand (although I don't know a child that doesn't). She's pretty attached to her shovel.

This picture just melts my heart. They are best buddies and it makes me so happy.

Dennine was joking that we could use this as our Christmas card photo. I said, "This is just how I want to look in our Christmas photo- 8 months pregnant wearing my husband's clothes". Needless to say this will not be the photo arriving at your homes this December. However I still love that it's a snapshot of our little family at this time of our lives.

Our whole crew

After the beach we went to get Clam Chowder at Moe's. It's a coast classic and was delicious. We then went on a little hike on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Ben and I then headed home since we both had to teach at church the next day. So although it was a short trip, we had a great time and were glad we'd been spontaneous. Thanks Tom and Dennine for helping us add some flavor to our weekend!

Trip to Utah

Last year I told Ben that I really needed a trip home before the baby was born. We bought tickets for February since Ben would have accrued some time off by then, but we wouldn't have to pay for a plane ticket for Nayeli.

Thus a few weeks ago we boarded a plane back to Utah. Ben stayed only four days while I stayed a whole week. The trip was so great- just what I needed to recharge my batteries and reconnect with family.

Watching the planes with Dad at PDX

Relishing in all the toys at Opa and Grandma Rita's house

We spent the first two days with my family in Provo (I'm ashamed to say that I didn't get any pictures of us with my family. Boo). Wednesday night we did dinner at my parent's and Laura and Christina came up with their families. Thursday morning my mom watched Nayeli while we went to do a session at the Provo Temple. It will always be sentimental to us since we were married there. In the afternoon we visited some of our old friends from the Provo 6th ward. It was great to see some of the people who we loved so dearly and worked so closely with. Then that night we did dinner at my parent's house again with Laura and Tina's families.

Friday Ben got to go skiing at Snowbasin with his dad and brother Sammy. They had a riot, like always.

While Ben was skiing, I bought cupcakes at Sweet Tooth Fairy (divine) and had lunch with my friend Jessica. I then drove to Bountiful to see my father's mother- my Nana. She is 97 and still lives alone and independent. It is hard to see her age but I know death will be a welcome relief for her. She has been a widow for 27 years and I know can't wait to be reunited with my grandpa.

A picture from a visit in June of 2013. Nayeli has changed so much since then.

Chelsea, Lacie, Nayeli, Lydia, Jace

That night we had dinner with Ben's dad and grandparents at their home in Ogden. Nayeli loved playing with Aunt Chelsea and all the cousins while we had a great time chatting with all the adults.

Saturday Ben went skiing again (that's what his family does when they get together) but this time at Deer Valley. He's been super spoiled this year- already he's skied four different resorts. I keep telling him that as long as he thinks, "I have the greatest wife ever" every time he boards the lift, I don't mind him going :)

A few of those that came to the shower: Laura, me, my cousin Lorianne, Aunt Margaret, and my cousins Jen and Anna

While Ben skied I drove to my sister Laura's house in Mapleton for a baby shower that my family threw. My sisters Christina, Julia and Laura together with my mom put together a beautiful shower. We had so many cousins come and it was so fun chatting together. It was one of the highlights of my trip.

That night I drove back up to Salt Lake to Ben's mom's house for dinner. They had spent the day skiing at Deer Valley.

I love this picture Ben took with a GoPro he had borrowed.

 Anyway, sfter a delicious dinner prepared by Jane we all went swimming in the pool. Nayeli was in heaven.

Nayeli and Grandma Jane

Sunday we went to church with Jane and Gary and spent the afternoon chatting. Some of Gary's family came for Sunday dinner and it was great to see them, as well as Ben's great-aunt Esther. She was kind enough to drive him to the airport that night when his flight left at 10pm. I may have cried when he left. Seriously, you can chalk it up to pregnancy hormones, but he's my other half and I hate being apart from him.

Monday morning Nayeli got to go swimming with Grandma Jane again, which she of course was thrilled about. I later drove back to my parent's house for the last few days of the trip. Being there is such a breath of fresh air. They built it more than forty years ago and raised all seven of their children within it's walls. Each time I walk through the door I think of the Miranda Lambert song, "The House That Built Me". It'll always be home to me.

I apologize for the nostalgia. Monday night my mom and dad took me to dinner at Kneader's, one of my favorite restaurants. I offered to drive so we wouldn't have to transfer Nayeli's carseat, but soon regretted it as they began to give me directions to the restaurant. I had to remind them that I had only been gone for six months and prior to that I had lived in Provo for 26 years. In their defense, I wasn't driving the way they drive there, so they felt they needed to intervene :)

Tuesday Ben's mom met me at Wal-mart in Orem so she could watch Nayeli while I got my haircut. Nayeli loved getting spoiled by Grandma Jane and still refers to "Jane, store" whenever she wants something. After, we had lunch with Gary's daughter-in-law Michelle at Jason's Deli. It was a great time to get to chat together. Plus, they have free ice cream, which Nayeli proudly paraded around on her white shirt the rest of the day.

That night my family had dinner together again and then I bid them all farewell. My high school friends and I had planned to get together for dessert, but each had to cancel due to various reasons. The only one still able to see me was my friend Ryan. She drove up to my parent's house, just like old days, and we chatted until about 1am. It was wonderful to catch up... we hadn't seen each other since before Nayeli was born. It's funny how those who you love will always be those you love, even if you don't see them often.

The next morning I packed up our bags, drove to Jane's, then she dropped us off at the airport. I paid the $3 to curbside check our bags (worth every penny), ate lunch at Cafe Rio one more time (I couldn't resist), then boarded the plane. 

Considering that I was 32 weeks pregnant with a toddler on my lap, the flight was fairly uneventful. That was mostly thanks to the mass of activities, games, puppets, and treats that I had packed. I also told myself that anything that fell on the floor, stayed on the floor until we landed. That rule came in handy when Nayeli dropped an entire pack of flashcards onto the ground mid-flight. Nothing that a sucker can't fix, right?

The most eventful moment came when I saw the flight attendants at the front of plane handing out drinks and told Nayeli they would bring her a drink. She then proceeded to yell for a "yummy soda" for the next 15 minutes until they arrived at our aisle, 20 or so rows back. Luckily, a few people later mentioned to me that they thought it was "really cute".

Ben left work early to pick us up and we merrily drove home. It's funny, when you juxtapose it with a trip to Utah, Oregon doesn't totally feel like home yet. However it's where we're supposed to be for the time being. And although that doesn't make it Utah, it makes it enough.

Portland Weather

Everyone talks about how much it rains in Portland, but in January we had very decent weather. Despite the occasional cloud cover, most days were 50+ degrees.  That made it possible to visit the local parks and go on family walks. Although I missed the snow sometimes, I really couldn't complain.

We live by some really great parks. This is the volcano slide park. It's a favorite.

In pursuit of a "doggie"

We found a fantastic park in Sherwood, a neighboring town. It is a Tonka truck graveyard and has dozens of trucks and sand toys in a big pit.

I don't know who enjoyed it more, Ben or Nayeli

And then came the snow...

One Thursday afternoon while Ben was on his skiing trip, I drove into downtown Portland to have lunch with a friend. While I was there, it started to snow and I realized I should probably head home as soon as possible. I should mention that Portlandians are great at driving in the rain, but not so great at driving in the snow. Even though it wasn't even sticking to the roads yet, the traffic was so bad that a drive that usually takes me 20 minutes took me an hour and a half.

By the time I got home, it was coming down fairly rapidly and sticking. On Friday morning, we woke up to snow like this:

 Nayeli was sooooo excited. She just wanted to get outside and play in it.

She kept saying,  "Stairs, climb mama".

According to locals, Portland hadn't seen this much snow in about five years.

Later that day I made her a fort and let her eat snow while watching a show. That's sometimes what happens when dad is out of town.

Because it kept snowing, almost all the flights at the airport were canceled. Luckily, Ben's flight from Colorado was not. He got home at 1am on Friday night.

 Saturday there was even more snow to enjoy! We went over to our friend's house to play in it and sled. Doesn't Nayeli look just like the kid from the Christmas story in this picture?

 We even took time to build a snowman, although Ben and our friend Dan decided to make it into a George Washington-man. Nayeli badly needed a nap at this point, as evidenced by her face.

The most unbelievable part is that by Tuesday, all, and I mean ALL, the snow had melted. Sunday morning everything was a sheet of ice but by Monday the warm rain came and melted all the snow. Coming from Utah where the snow doesn't melt until March or April, it was the craziest thing to see. So even though it was fleeting, we loved our little Portland snowstorm.

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