The darndest things

Kids really do say some funny things. For example, I was putting Kiera down for a nap and she began picking her nose. I tried to explain to her that it was kind of gross to do such a thing and that she really should ask for a Kleenex. She simply said "sometimes boogers get stuck and I have to pick them with my finger or else they won't get out." And for a split second, before I handed her a tissue, I thought, well, how do you argue with that logic?
As Kiera was sleeping, Cambria was complaining. She didn't feel well and she was really cold. I made her a cozy little bed on the couch and tucked her up in a blanket and tried to do my workout video. She kept making soft little moaning noises, so I pushed pause and sat by her. I ran my fingers through her hair, then pressed my palm to her brow to check for a fever. She said to me in such a sweet little pitiful voice, "Mom, do I have a beaver?" It was all I could do to keep a straight face. I know a smile or a snicker of any kind would have hurt her feelings. I said I thought she might have a fever and I would get the thermometer to check as soon as Brother woke up. (It was in his room, he was sleeping, and his door is really squeaky.) She seemed to feel better after a little rest on the couch because she got up to finish my workout with me. By the way, Cambria picked out this outfit all on her own. Yep even the shoes and socks. She's free spirit. We'll work on the outfit selection. (She is being a shark swimming in the water. Its related to the comment below.)
Finally, Kai has been doing A LOT of yard work this week. His brother Ke'ala came over to help him take a load of junk down to the dump. Ke'ala also wanted to take some dirt from a huge pile that we have to make a garden at his Mom's house. When we went into the back yard, this is what we saw.
Its not a great close up picture, but if you look really close you'll notice that Ke'ala is wearing swim goggles. I guess the dust flying in the air from shoveling was too much for him. He began doing the swim dance, so Cambria decided to be a shark in the water (picture above).
Okay, so this is a new binky. Its kind of big, but he likes it. I wish he didn't. The picture below I thought was pretty darn cute, even though there is no fancy story to go with it, except that Bubba is now eating rice cereal.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This tiny little guy was the source of much joy and much sorrow in our house today. Kai is on Spring break this week and is doing A LOT of much needed yard work. While Cambria was out helping him, she came across a caterpillar. Being animal/bug lover she immediately took to it. She came in the house, got a cup, plastic wrap and some tape and went to work on making him a home. She completed his new apartment with a few leaves and a stick. She carried him around ALL day. At dinner, she took him out (I was not home) to play with right by her dinner plate. Just in case you are wondering, no, she did not accidentally (or purposely) eat him. She did, however, leave him next to her plate on the Dora table while she ran outside to jump on the trampoline. She came back and the caterpillar was gone. This is when I walked in the door. She was devastatingly sad. We looked high and low. I knew he couldn't have gotten far. But we had no luck. Cambria said between sobs that she would miss him so much. Kai said a prayer with her. Well he asked her if she wanted to say it but she said, "No, Dad, I can't but I will smile." After the prayer Kai lifted up her dinner plate, and low and behold, their he was, crawling around the inside ridge. He is back in his cup now. Safe and sound. We said he could spend the night there but that we should release him in our backyard tomorrow. This brought on a new flood of tears and she said, "I will miss him so much. I will never see him again." It was very sad. You'd think she'd been through some kind of recent trauma.
We took a picture of Cambria and the caterpillar because we told her that even though she couldn't keep it forever, she could keep a picture of it forever. That seemed to make her feel better. Kiera wanted her picture too and she wanted to pose with the blue sippie cup in her mouth.
In other news, Happy St. Paddy's day! We celebrated it with friends dying Easter eggs in our backyard. This was our "green" picture. The girls' wanted to say "hi-ya" and throw punches for the picture. They were a little sad that Kai wasn't wearing green. He told them that his undies were green, but I know better. . . they're white.

Did you let your kids have pacifiers? I hate them. Malachi is my only child who ever wanted/needed one. Sometimes I feel like I may never see his whole face again.

Growing Pains and Disneyland

These two little monkeys have had trouble jumping on their bed. I like to call it the curse of the bunk bed. I hate their bunk bed. Its too big and bulky and my girls are too daring for their own good. Cambria often jumps from the top bunk to the bed below. Very common, I know, I used to do it myself. Well, the other night after her jump she somehow ran into Kiera and sprained her wrist and hit her head pretty hard. So hard in fact that her nose began gushing blood. Kai ran her to the toilet to let it drip while he called for me to get a wash cloth. It was pretty nasty and Kiera had nightmares about it. She has a cold too and it really wasn't a good combo for a nose bleed but I'll spare you the details. Then the very next night, Kiera was upset that her Dad was laying with her and not me. So while having a tantrum she had meant to do a dead man's drop to her pillow , but she dropped and hit her head on the bed frame. She hit her head so hard that she threw up and was left with a large purple goose egg on her temple. I guess we won't be getting her three year old pictures anytime soon.

Malachi is 6 months old now. Where has the time gone? Well I can't tell ya. It seems like I was just posting a comment that said he 3 months old. He is still as sweet as can be. He loves his big sister Cambria. He pretty much thinks she is a comedian and starts laughing as soon as he sees her because he knows what ever she has got to say is gonna be good. He isn't really sitting up for more than a few seconds. I had to catch him a soon as I snapped this shot. He sure loves playing with his toes when he is in the position. I was surprised he looked up for the picture. He has been pretty sick lately. I have to suction his nose before every feeding and he coughs like a smoker. I'll be happy to have him healthy again.

The countdown is on. We will soon be embarking on our first family trip to Disneyland. We have planned this to celebrate out two little girls' birthdays. The last time Kai and I went together we were single and we went with our friends Jill and Stuart. Our children have never been and they are very excited even though they don't know what to expect. It figures that we are going now. I have held on to my California license longer than legal all because I wanted to be able to get in at a cheaper rate than the unfortunate out-of-state tourist. Well, I had to let go of my Cali license in October and trade it for a crappy Nevada license. When Kai first got his Nevada license in 1999, it was still a laminated document. Even our BYUH student ID cards looked more professional. At any rate we are all very excited. To add to our delight, we will be able to stand in the long lines with our good friends Miexia and Netty Ah Loy and possibly see Cherisse and Austin Dyer while we're there. Any other Californians interested in joining us? I hesitate to put the dates, so just give us a call!

Ramblings of A Stay At Home Mom

Last week Kai had a basket ball tournament so my family came to keep me company. I love to have them visit. They were only here for one day, but that was enough for Chris and Ryan to reek havoc on our quiet little town of Mesquite. The girls were dying to take them to lunch at Del Taco (I know, Del Taco, its really sad, but remember we live in a small town) so we went there for lunch. Since there really isn't room on the play place for a 6'5" 20 year old and a 6'2" 17 year old, they did the next best thing. They emptied the vending machine of flaming skull tattoos. They went to the bathroom to put them all over various places on their bodies. While Chris was rubbing a skull tat on Ryan's chest, an old man happened to walk into the small bathroom. i think he got scared, because he turned around and walked out. Mesquite is not used to such friendly relationships between men I guess. We then headed up the road to the local Walmart (remember- small town). We separated to get different things and a short while later I see a shopping cart rounding the corner carrying a load of a 6'5" big blond boy with long legs sticking out. It was being pushed quite fast by a the 6'2" boy. If I hadn't known them, i think I would have been scarred. My mom told me we should quickly walk away so we wouldn't be near when some poor store clerk who chose the short straw had to ask these tall muscly boys to kindly knock it off. Its always and adventure with them and I wish they could have stayed longer.

So this is where the rambling comes in. I used to be really, really good at soccer. I feel like I can say this without feeling cocky because its really like I am complimenting someone else since I can't even run around the block without getting winded now. I probably wouldn't even be able to score a goal in a wide open, un-manned net. Kai was at another tournament this weekend and so my mother-in-law invited me to a charity soccer tournament that thee of my brother-in-laws were playing in. It was really fun. The girls had a great time running around and coaching from the side lines, Bubba was enjoying the fresh air, it was just simply a beautiful day. Watching the game made me want to play again so badly. It might have been just the motivation I needed to get active again. Or my new motivation could be this: My daughter's comments about my belly. You know, things like, " wow, mom, your tummy is really squishy. Can I touch it?" I usually lose weight much faster after child birth and still have some pounds to shed, obviously. But I did just move to a smaller pant size. So while my weight loss efforts are slow, it is happening. I really hope it happens by swim suit season. As soon as basket ball season is over, I will leave the girls and Bubba with Kai and hit the gym with a renewed passion.

In other news, these are a few of the conversations that have taken place this week:

Scene: Me putting Kiera down for a nap.

Me: Kiera, close your eyes.

Kiera: I am mom, but my eyes are playing hop scotch.

Scene: Lunch time prayer by Cambria. We had just watched our neighbor being taken away by ambulance. I thought this was cute because it was completely unprompted.

" . . .and please bless Dan's Daddy to get well and please make sure your are with him at the hospital."

Scene: During the same lunch, Kiera stepped out the back door and the following words were said:

Kiera: " Mom. I'm painting!" Me: not worried because this often happens on the wall with a pretend paintbrush, Oh, good . . . wait, stop!" It wasn't a pretend paintbrush it was a hot dog with ketchup paint going onto the wall of our house.

And lastly, Since going to enrichment this last week I have discovered that many women in our ward think that I am from Hawaii. (It must be because I look so exotic:)) I think this is funny, and I like the assumption and so I reluctantly correct them. "No, I'm from California, but I lived in Hawaii for 7 years. Its where Kai and I met."

I wonder, If you had the chance, would you pick up your family and all your own and move to Hawaii. There really is a lot to think about when considering this move. Would you do it?

Number two

Love this little face. Wish it didn't have the pizza smeared all over it, but what's a mom to do. We have been trying to potty train Miss Kiera. I realized I was way behind a couple of weeks ago. Cambria was well trained by the time her 3rd birthday came around, I hope that will be the case with Kiera. I have until March 30th. She really is doing pretty well. She can do number one just fine. She still prefers to wear her diapers, but she usually lets me know when she's gotta go. We rip those diapies off and sit on the pot. The problem has been number two. She hasn't been able to figure out how to do "that" while sitting. She i s quite a regular girl and quickly became constipated. It was awful. Well, tonight we had a victory. Of course it was as we were laying down for the night when she told me she had to "go".I thought it was only number one but to my surprise we got a little more. To my even greater surprise we were in el bano for 30 minutes while she worked on squeezing it all out. She was very proud of herself - so hopefully we've go this problem, solved. When she is older, I am sure she will be horrified to learn that I wrote about this little experience.

In other news, my animal rights activist daughter, Cambria heard the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice" in the form of a song. She was very concerned about the farmer's wife cutting off the mice's tails with a carving knife. She kept asking me, "what did that say?" What was up with those nursery rhymes anyway? Like "rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub . . ." What kind of message is that trying to send?

For Katrina

I've been tagged by my friend Katrina:
This was a hard one,

Six Little Known Facts About Me:

1. I never finished a book/novel until my senior year in college. Now it is a rare day when I do not have a book in my hand.

2. I almost swallowed Draino as a kid. I spit it out because it burned so bad. Big time hospital trip. Moms- keep that stuff out of reach!

3. I am half Spanish. Or Mexican. The Carrillo side of the family can't really agree. I have one uncle who says we must be Mexican because his skin is brown. They can argue about it for hours. I guess it all comes down to this . . . Carrillo is of Spanish origin.

4. I write songs and play them on my guitar. Poorly.

5. I lost the use of my right hand for a year in 5Th grade after suffering a compound fracture to my humorous bone. It was nasty. My arm actually bent the wrong way, as if my elbow was on the other side.

6. I am a horrible speller. I constantly have to ask my hubby how to spell things and he constantly reminds me that he is a former spelling bee champ.

Lately . . .

I haven't had a single note worthy comment for what seems like quite awhile and now all of a sudden there is much to say. Thank you to all of you who made comments on my eye candy for the home post. I had actually meant to put that on my "say it sweetly" blog, but it ended up on our family blog. I blame it on sleep deprivation. But I am glad so many of you got to see what I have been trying to turn into a business.

Now onto the good stuff. This is my beautiful boy. He is now 5 months old and I find myself thinking, "where did the time go?" We still affectionately call him Bubba and my grandma asks "how in the world did such a beautiful boy get a nick-name like Bubba?" We don't think the name makes him any less adorable though, so we still use it. he is starting to roll over, but not very often. I am sure the days will soon be here when he is quite mobile. Just look at that face would you?!
His favorite past time is to try to see how many of his fngers he can get into his mouth at the same time. He also loves to suck on his lower lip. It keeps him happy. He is almost sleeping through the night. He usually wakes up once for a quick meal then doses back off (if I'm lucky, otherwise I have to rock him back to sleep.)
I don't know how to rotate pictures, but I figured with his last picture in the Hannah Montanna wig we needed to add a manly one. Kai has recently introduced my girls to the old series, "Thunder Cats" and "He-Man". Does anyone remember watching those? Kiera runs around the house with this sword yelling, "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!"
This is my little fashion designer. She has recently taken to coloring. She will sit for hours with a coloring book and box of crayons. Her other love is Barbie Dolls. We don't have very many beautifull ball gowns for our dolls so Nani decided to make her own. She ripped of a paper towl square then colored it with a dark orange and a light orange crayon. Using a piece of tape and butterfly hair clips she attatched her creation to her doll (who I think looks like my old roommate Dani) and viola- she had a new ball gown. I think that shows a lot of creativity. Maybe she'll be a famous designer someday. Note: See He-man on TV in the background.
Finally, we had a fun filled family trip to the snow for sledding. We drove to a place called Woods Ranch, an hour and a half away, just outside Cedar City, Ut. My Camera was acting up so I din't get really great pictures of all our activities like I had hoped. Too bad because Cambria was doing some pretty extreme stunts. Kiera was content just too eat every patch of snow she could get her hands on.

After we were done going on this little hill, Cambria wanted to hike the big "mountain" hill. She climbed clear to to top before she was ready to go down. She sat in front of me and we got going so fast that I had to put my feet down to slow ud before we ended up in this little ditch at the bottom of the hill. When I did so , the snow of course sprayed all up in her face and despite my attempt to sheild her, she was covered from head to toe with a fine powdery layer of snow. She rolled out of the sled and stood up ready to yell, "look what you have . . ." Then she changed mid sentence and asked in a friendly voice, "How do I look? " and she struck a pose. It was so funny, I rolled off the sled laughing. We had a great time and hope to go again soon.

Now for some very exciting news. . . My brother Chris just got his mission call. He is going to Kennewick, Washington. (Don;t know how to spell it). He is a little disappointed that he doen't get to go foreign or learn a language, but he is willing and ready to do his duty for the Lord. He reports to the MTC on April 16th. I am so proud of him and this decision that he has made. I know that it will enrich his life as he serves Heavenly Father and his people.

Another cool thing is that My Cousin Tyler just got his mission call too. Maybe they will be in the MTC together. The funny thing is that Tyler was called to the Las Vegas, Nevada mission which is only about three hours from where he lives. His area just may cover my city and his other cousin, Kellie's city. I am sure he will see more than one recognizable face.

Side note: I was just interrupted by a Doctor's office who wanted to collect money from a vist that they had previosly said we wouldn't have to pay for. It caught me off guard because it was a conversation that she had with Kai that I was oblivious to. I was a tiny bit rude and I feel really bad. I tried to be very nice at the end of our conversation, but I am sure she got off the phone and cursed my name. I wish I could call her back and apologize. I hate that.

Eye Candy for your Home

Go ahead, go crazy. Decorate your house from head to toe! Here are some more wonderful ideas.

Above entery inside master bedroom.
Welcome guests with a pleasant greeting on your front door
"All because two people fell in love"

Above master bed, "Choose the one you love, love the one you choose"
On foot board of bed.
Close up of wall above master bed.


Customized blocks

Birth announcements


Above closet

On the wall in your daughter's room

Laundry room

On Mirrors
On picture frames

Seasonal
Hallways:
On wall in the office.
Another picture frame

Customized blocks
Message board in the kitchen