heartbeat

Today I went to the doctor to hear my baby's heartbeat!  Everything sounded great.  My due date is July 30th.  We're so excited for our little family to grow.

Much Needed Haircut

Ella has crazy hair.  Part of it is curly while most if it is straight.  In addition, she has multiple cowlicks throughout her hair.  For this reason she has pig tails every day.  Her hair had become pretty long so I wanted to get it cut, but was worried about whether or not it would look good down.  Finally around Christmas time Ella started really fighting me when I'd try to do her hair so for the first time on Christmas Eve we took her out with her hair down.  It looked pretty crazy, but she was happy.  Ever since I've been counting down for this much needed haircut that we finally got today.  Here are the results.

As you can see, I should have gotten it cut MUCH sooner.

The Rundown

We get to celebrate Christmas 4 times each year. Here is this year's rundown:

#1 This year we celebrated Christmas Eve with Abuelo and Abuela.  Ella was so spoiled; she got a pony, slide, and castle.  She couldn't believe all of these new toys belonged to her. 

#2 Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents as a family.  Gustavo taught Ella about Santa and showed her the candy in her stocking along with her presents.  She loved her candy so much that she refused to let go of it until we let her eat some.  Ella was thrilled by the baby doll set Santa left (especially the baby bottle and food).  Ella also got the Beauty and the Beast dvd and hasn't gone a day without asking to watch it.  Up until this point the only thing she has ever cared to watch was Baby Signing Time.  After Ella opened her presents we got dressed and headed down to Provo.
#3 As a tradition, my sisters and I always make Christmas breakfast.  At 10:00 we all met at my parent's house.  We enjoyed eating together and opening presents.  The vacuum and cute headband Grandma and Grandpa bought Ella was a HUGE success (can't you tell?)

#4 As soon as Ella woke up from her short nap at my parent's house we headed down to Nephi.  We arrived around 2:30 and spent the afternoon and evening with Gustavo's dad's family. Yaya, Cary, and Sigfriedo were her from Puerto Rico and they went down to Nephi with Gilda and her two children, Natalie and Robert.  We enjoyed a traditional Puerto Rican meal and then opened presents together.  Again, Ella couldn't believe that people were giving her more things.  Grandma and Grandpa got her a new bike.  At about 7 o'clock we headed back home to finally relax.  It was a great holiday spent with all of our family.

Gustavo's brother Laz was in Virginia for Christmas, but he and Allie came and stayed with us the following week.  Ella fell in love with her uncle "Gaz" and Allie.  She was so spoiled with attention from 4 adults all day long.  She is still sad they are gone and talks about them every day.  We can't wait to see them again soon.

Merry Christmas

Free Things for ME

My sister in law Yolanda started a money saving blog a month ago. She is an amazing saver/couponer. She is constantly getting things for free or close to it. Her blog keeps readers informed about great deals (and teaches you how to get them- think packs of Huggies diapers for only $3.50!) she also has great give aways regularly. You should check it out!
freethingsforme.blogspot.com

adults

So I decided we should do Christmas cards this year. It seems like something most adults do. If you would like one then please e-mail me your address. THANKS! If you don't have my current e-mail address let me know by leaving a comment and I'll get a hold of you to make sure you get a Christmas card from us.

second wedding ring

Yep, you read the title correctly. Today I went to the jeweler and picked up my SECOND wedding ring. No, I don't have two, this is a replacement for the ring Gustavo proposed to me with on my 20th birthday. I had fallen in love with the ring my senior year of high school. After seeing it in the mall I found a picture online and tucked it away in a file folder labeled "important." When Gustavo and I decided we wanted to get married three years later I showed him the picture and sent him off searching without much luck. He was in California for language training and I was in Provo and neither of us could find anything like it. I had despondently decided I would need to find another style of ring when my friend Aimee and I went to one last jeweler who told me he could order it in! I scheduled an appointment so they would have it when Gustavo was coming to visit for my birthday. When he came to Provo we went and looked at it and Gustavo had me go to the car while he talked to the jeweler in private - of course, I figured he was working out the details of purchasing the ring and getting it sized and dipped. I expected to get it while we were together for the holidays a few months later. To my surprise the next day, my birthday, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him while revealing the ring! I was completely shocked. After I settled down and told him yes, he told me that a jeweler in California located the last ring the company had in Texas and got it sized and sent to him the day before he traveled to Utah. I LOVED this ring, but a month or so before our first anniversary I lost my first diamond. I had it replaced and within six months lost another. This continued to happen for the next 5 years. Some years I lost one diamond, while other years I lost 4. The ring was sent away for 6 weeks each time a diamond was lost. As most of you know, this July I lost my ring and didn't find it until the end of August. After I found it, I took it to the jeweler to have the diamonds checked. They found another loose stone - of course. When they sent it away to get it fixed the "master jeweler" tried to make the ring more stable and ended up ruining it during the process. They told me I could keep my ring although it looked different and much worse, or I could take credit for my ring and order a replacement. I found the ring I feel is closest to my original ring and was able to go pick it up today (6 weeks later). It is so nice having a wedding ring again. Let's just hope I have better luck with this one!!!