Little Aspen. The one word that defines Aspen is: angel. She is seriously the most well-behaved and mild-mannered baby that I've ever seen. I don't know exactly why I'm blessed with such sweet babies, but maybe I did something right in heaven :) Aspen is a smiley, chunky-thighed, zucchini-loving bundle of sweet cuteness....that's a pretty accurate description.
So I'm due in less than 6 weeks and I haven't even looked at my blog since the last time I posted. I admire those that post regularly. I guess the point of this post is to give you an update....the whole due in 6 weeks part...and let you know that I will post pics of the baby here or on facebook when we get a chance. We still are unsure of the name (maybe Aspen???) since Stephen and I have a hard time agreeing (I guess he's not a fan of cute names). I think that's it. Yes, it is.
Remember how in the last blog I wrote that I want to record every moment of the girl's lives...well, I changed my mind. Bella has started that "disgusting beyond belief" toddler phase. Here are her top three "garbage pail kid" type behaviors:
1) reaching into her diaper and eating what she gets (yes, fingers in mouth, licking, swallowing...everything).
2) reaching into the toilet and drinking the toilet water with her hands (luckily, Lili always remembers to flush the toilet).
3) reaching into the garbage and eating what she finds inside.
Yes, we feed her enough, I promise. I did not have this problem with Lili at all, so it's all new to me. I know what it's like to be a parent that has to constantly chase after her child. But it's fine. Bella's too cute to ever get mad at or grossed out by...unless she's covered from head to toe in her own feces (I'm sure all parents have experienced one version or other of this).
So now you all know the joys of parenthood that we're experiencing right now with sweet little Bella.
Oh and by the way, I'm pregnant with baby #3...just in case any of you didn't know :)
I want to record every moment of the girl's lives so I don't forget. I always see cute or funny little things they do and think to myself "I have to write that one down" and there's so many of them and so little time that I forget. But I don't want to forget.
Anabella Daisi:
I get to bring the girls to work and Bella is quite the handful there. She gets into EVERYTHING. Her two favorite things to do when we're not watching are to reach into the toilet and drink the water from her hands (luckily it's been flushed every time) and to push down the water handle on the water dispenser so she can drink it until there's water all over the carpet and all over her clothes.
Her favorite foods are fruit snacks, very ripe blueberries, and anything with a straw (especially Jamba juice smoothies). She pretty much eats anything.
She is beautiful with those big blue eyes and small sweet lips and adorable little nose and big smile. She still has four teeth; two on top and two on bottom; although that's going to change soon since she has two more growing in on the sides. She hardly ever cries unless she's tired or hurting, but she is really loud at church. She wants to crawl around, make noise, look at everyone, touch everything...yeah, let's just say we can't wait until she can go to nursery (only 3 months and 17 days left).
She has her little rocker chair that she sits on and watches cartoons with Lili or watches Stephen's Mario Galaxy game. She loves to stand up on it and rock it back and forth like she's on a mechanical bull. She's not afraid of anything.
Lili Noel:
She's taking swimming lessons at the Lindon pool. She finished her level 1 lessons last week and started level 2 today. In level 1 she had a little girl friend and her teacher (also a girl) was awesome. This morning we get there and Lili sees that in her new class there's just two little boys and a BOY teacher. She grabbed my leg and didn't want to go. I had to push her into the pool. Once in, though, she didn't want to come out.
Lili's favorite toys are her Littlest Pet Shop animals. She spent her last ten dollars buying two small, teeny animals that don't move or do anything for $5 each (I guess she doesn't understand the value of hard earned money yet). But she loves them and she pretends they talk to each other. She takes them swimming (in the sink), puts them to bed (in her shoes) and sticks them in her purse to take along wherever she goes.
Lili's favorite drink is V8 fusion (the acai berry kind)...yeah she's 6 and she chooses that as her favorite drink over rootbeer or slushies...I must be an AMAZING mother (this had nothing to do with me, I hate that drink).
Lili loves to play with her friends (when I look outside I see them throwing sticks at our big hole in the yard or putting rocks in our flowerpot...how can kids be so easily amused? Love them for that) and play Super Mario Galaxy with her dad, and she loves swimming (she calls it swimming but it's more like sitting on a floatie in the pool).
You know how when you're little you dream of being a superhero? I don't know necessarily what it is about them. Maybe it's their supernatural powers, or their incredible strength, or amazing courage. Maybe part of what makes a superhero a hero is the fact that people want to be like them for one reason or another. I didn't really have dreams of being a superhero, but I guess as I get older, I would like to consider myself a "hero" in someone's eyes. Today I realized that I already am one to somebody. I guess I knew it all along, but today it really hit me. It was one of those "Wow, someone wants to be like me!" and also one of those "Wow, someone wants to be like ME?!?"
At first I had no idea what she was doing. She asked me for two bottle caps and a pen. She then proceeded to take out the plastic round clear thing (I think it's called a pressure seal)inside the caps with her pen. I turned away thinking "kids are just weird" and didn't think much of it. A few minutes later Lili comes up to me with one pressure seal over each eye and says "Look mama, I have contacts just like you." It was funny and weird and cute all at the same time. Where does she come up with that stuff? Then I remembered all the times that Lili has put on my shoes and said "Look Mama, I'm tall like you" or "Look Mama, I have a baby just like you" as she grabs her doll and holds it the way I hold Bella. She wants to stir the soup like me, and talk like me, and even stand like me.
After I got over being flattered, I started to do one of those self-evaluations. Do I really want my daughter to be like me? Do I really want her to copy what I do? Most of the times I could answer "yes", but sometimes, I had to answer "no." Sometimes, I think I learn more from my children than they do from me. And I'm the hero?
We went to Bear Lake for our annual Carvalho family vacation. It started out with a downer when Argentina lost to Germany...it's a little painful to write about it, so I'll just move on away from that topic. We did a lot in those three days: rode wave runners (not really my thing when it was my first time riding and Stephen was driving so fast we caught air and I thought I was going in the water for sure), played beach volleyball (Flav did his awesome kick serves), spent hours on the beach, fed the carps that gnawed on our toes, played Chin Chon, tried to beat Punch Out on the Wii, went to the pool with Jade and Maya's so-loved floaties, participated in mate sessions (Stephen just pointed out how weird that sounds, but I mean "mate" as in the Argentine herbal drink), waited hours to get shakes, went to the park where they had a cool charity auction where they sold exercise clothes for $55, sat in the hot tub and saw the most amazing starry sky, played tennis (Stephen and I got worked...yes, I'll admit it), and ate delicious chocolate covered raspberries. It was good to be with the kids and see them playing together, stealing each others stuff, giving each other kisses, and sometimes tucking each other's ears (little Bella's trademark). I think Stephen became a little more Argentine this trip. The last night we were there, Lili said "I wish this day could last forever". So yes, it was mostly sweet.
