Come one...come all!

So I got out a blanket (to avoid dog hair) for Levi to lay on and show Brian how he can ROLL OVER (he did it by himself for the first time today). I was so focused on how cute Levi was rolling over that I didn't even notice when Gus joined us! Then Lucas noticed that there was a party on the floor and had to come lay down as well :) My 3 boys all laying in a row. Aren't they cute!

Cute things

So lately Lucas has been saying and doing the cutest stuff and I never remember for long so I decided I better write some down...

The other day:

I started singing a song from Dora the Explorer and then annoyed that I was singing it said "ah, stinkin Dora"

Lucas: "Stinky Dora? Xexe Coco (pee poo)? Need change diaper!"

Yesterday:

Lucas: "I need a wipe"

so I gave him a wipe and he took a little stuffed Curious George, laid him face down on the couch and wiped his bum!

I was sewing and Lucas came and got a spool of ribbon and draped it all over him and said "Look it's a dress"

Today:

Me (talking to Brian about a sewing project finally completed): "See isn't it cute!"

Brian: "yeah, you showed me last night"

Me: "yeah but you didn't say 'Wow, good job!' "

Lucas: "Wow, Good Job!!"

I was picking up some of Lucas' cars so I could vacuum and Lucas came and gave me a big hug and said "Thank for helping mom"

Well that's all I can think of right this minute...

oh and you know you are going to have your hands full when your 2 year old asks to watch dirt bikes every night and makes his toy dirt bike jump the gingerbread house!

Christmas Letter/ 2010 Wrap-up

It is crazy to think that a year has gone by already. This year came with a flood of changes for our family. We have been so blessed and can't wait to see what the next couple of years hold for us.

2010 started with us in Wichita Falls, TX. Brian was finishing up Tech school there at Sheppard Air Force Base and Lucas and I were hanging out in our little apartment off base. During school he was learning how to become a Turbo Prop Mechanic (he would later work on C-130 aircraft)

In February we moved from Texas to Albuquerque, NM. A hard move considering our stuff was in Utah and I was a few months pregnant! Thanks to our friends and family in St. George and our Elder's quorum here, we made the transition pretty smoothly.

At the end of March we found out that we would be having another little boy! This was great news, especially considering I already had everything we needed. I know that 2 boys will give me a hard time when they are little but in the end, I am glad to know that they will able to be little buddies growing up.

Knowing that my peaceful afternoons while Lucas takes his naps were soon to end with our little guys arrival I spent a good part of the spring trying to finish up all of my sewing projects. I made 6 baby quilts, 2 curtains, 3 car seat covers, recovered a car seat, made a nursing cover, and also made several stuffed little taggie fish, and numerous other little projects.

Lucas and Brian both got their favorite toys in the spring. For Easter Brian was able to find a 2 seater Hummer power wheel for Lucas on Craigslist and that has brought endless hours of fun. Now that he is older and knows how to steer it, he loves to try and run people over! Brian was also able to do some trades over Craigslist with dirt bikes and ended up with a 2003 YZ450. Now if only he had more time to ride it!

The summer here in Albuquerque was a lot of fun. The housing we live in, on Kirtland AFB, has a community pool that we were able to go to a few times a week (for free!) and we also bought a pass to the zoo here so we would go there about every 2 weeks. Lucas LOVES the zoo!

On August 16th little Levi Nelson Bone joined our family. We were very blessed to have him arrive during the day and fairly easily. With us not having any family here, we actually took Lucas to the hospital with us and he had a blast eating ice chips and watching Curious George. My parents arrived a few hours after I was released from the hospital and were able to stay and helped us out for a few days.

We slowly went adjusting to our new little addition and although my house is not as clean as it was with only Lucas, I think we are doing quite well. Call us crazy but we decided that it would be so much fun to have a camp trailer. So in the middle of October, we bought one! Because it was getting cold we were able to take one short little camping trip and then it was done for the season. We are really looking forward to this summer being able to go camping with our boys.

Since it was easier for the 4 of us to go to St. George than to have the family come here for Levi's blessing, we packed up the truck and went to St. George to bless Levi at the end of October. It was nice to see the family for our "holiday" visit and get to take Lucas to all the many Halloween activities there.

It seems like November and December have come and gone so quickly! We had a great little Thanksgiving here and we were able to convince Santa to come a week early so we already had Christmas too! Brian has this week before Christmas off work so Santa saw it fitting to do an early deliver on his way to visit the Mall :)

We hope that it has been a great year for all of you! If you ever feel like coming to Albuquerque our doors are always open. May we all have a wonderful 2011!

Our early Christmas

Since Brian has the week before Christmas off, and starting the 26th has to work 12 hour shifts, we talked to Santa and asked if he could drop off our presents on the 18th. Santa was going to our Community Center on the 17th, so he said he could do that just this once.

It was a great Christmas morning! Lucas quickly got the hang of things again and was very excited to get 16 cars from CARS, Mack (the trailer that pulls lightening McQueen), a Thomas the Train Mega Blocks set, a Thomas train track, a some other little things. Poor little Levi already has everything he could need so he had a very simple little Christmas, but really all he wanted was some love and his binki :) Brian was happy with his Chest protector (for riding his dirt bike), his keyboard for the computer he built, his gift that hasn't arrived yet, and I was very excited for my Better Homes and Gardens stand mixer (like a kitchen aid - I used it to make rolls on Christmas!), a wallet, and some perfume. All in all we spent way to much and had way to much fun!

"Christmas Eve"

Today was a lot of fun! After making sure the house was ready for Christmas, we got to go and see Santa. Levi, being the friendly guy he is, didn't have a problem but Lucas sure did! He loves talking about Santa but he did not want to go near him!

When we got home we started our new tradition of making a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve. Lucas thought it was more fun to eat the candy than to put it on the house. But after he ate a ton of the candy he did like to put it all over. I have to say that I love that we able to come up with new traditions for our family to have!

Levi's 4 months old!

It is amazing how fast time flies. Levi is already 4 months old. How did that happen?

I am lucky that my boys adore each other. Levi is just a little sweet heart (who likes to be up walking around more than sitting...) and Lucas does really well with him. They are always very interested in what the other one is doing.

This afternoon we made cookies for Santa since tomorrow will be a crazy day with a visit to the Dr for Levi's shots :( Lucas wanted to "help" so I gave him a bowl with a little bit of sugar in it and the sugar ended up EVERYWHERE. Oh and don't worry...Levi's candy cane has a wrapper on it, I am not giving him candy already!

Oh - at his appointment Levi was 13 lbs (exactly double his birth weight) and 23 3/4 inches long. He is just a little guy :) in the 30th percentile compared to Lucas always being in at least the 75th!

Santa visit

We took the kids to see Santa last night here on base. Levi did great with Santa! He had just woken up so he had is "crazy eyes" but he didn't cry with him or anything :) Lucas on the other hand... Well he didn't cry so that's the good thing. However, we were there for about 45 minutes and he would not get near Santa. Finally towards the end I got him to go see the Christmas tree and got a few pics with Santa in the background, but even though he talked about seeing Santa all day before going, he did not want to get close to him. I guess I will have to take him to a few more Santa visits to see if he will warm up to him!

Christmas Cookies

With Christmas in the air I decided it was time to make some yummy cookies! I spent Lucas's nap making a double batch of cookies so that we could decorate them together when he woke up. He thought it was pretty cool to "Frosty" (as in the snowman) the cookies. Brian also thought my one color cookies weren't cool enough so he had fun making them pretty.

Merry Christmas!

Zoo Day

So we have been trying to take advantage of the last good days by going to the zoo. Lucas asking me EVERY SINGLE day if we can go to the zoo to see various animals. This time we took the carrier for Levi to sit in if he got bored and it was a good thing! He had so much looking around he was constantly smiling and when Lucas would take off running his little feet would go crazy. This kid can't wait to play with his brother :)

LOVE

With my 5 year anniversary just around the corner it has me thinking a lot about love. You know I feel really bad for people who choose to be single or who choose to be married with no children. Yes, I miss out on things being a married mother of 2, no crazy late nights with the girls or only thinking of myself, but that is nothing in comparison to the love that I get from my kids or from Brian.

It is the most amazing feeling to know that there are people that love you unconditionally. I am so grateful for making the decisions in my life that have led me to where I am today. 5 years ago when we were getting ready to be married I really prayed about whether or not I was making the right decision getting married at 19, I was young but I know it was the right choice. I can't wait to see what the next 20 years bring!

I love my boys! (Brian, Lucas, Levi, and I can't leave out my furry boy..Gus)

Happy November

Well I have really been slacking on my posts for the past month so here are a few quick highlights.

*11/4 Gus took off out the back gate and went on a joy run for about an hour or two until with the help of our friends we found him!

*11/12 in the first 3 days we had our Christmas stuff out Lucas broke 3 ornaments, an angles wing, a snowman, pulled apart a santa door hangars hands, and broke a bowl in the kitchen (luckily since then he has only broken 2 more ornaments - maybe after Christmas it is time to buy some plastic ornaments!)

*11/14 sick kids again :( (Lucas got sick 3 weeks before too)

*11/18 Lucas kept asking Levi to play cars with him. So I went and played and put Levi in his bouncer next to him and Lucas kept on putting cars in Levi's hand. He still asks Levi to play with him...I love that I got 2 boys!

*11/18 I finally started putting Levi to bed before Lucas so that Lucas and I could have our special before bed story time again.

*11/20 Took the kids to the zoo (Levi's 2nd time) for the last nice day of 2010

*11/24 My mom and Dad came for Thanksgiving! :)

*11/25-26 Woke up to snow on the ground! Lucas insisted that we "Go make a snowman" so we made like the 3 inches high mound and I called it a snowman. Had a Fabulous Thanksgiving meal! Went to Toys-r-us at 10 pm, saw the mile long line just to get in and went home. Brian went to Wal-mart and midnight and then we left the kiddos with my parents and went shopping again at 7! So nice to have had them here so we could do that.

*11/27 Took the fam to the Biopark trilogy. Started at the Aquarium where Levi was mesmerized by the big tank, next swung by the Botanical gardens Children garden, took the train to the zoo, and then spent about an hour at the zoo.

*11/29 Lucas pooped on the toilet for the first time!!!! ...oh and now he tries to pee standing up...

Halloween!

I have a ton of catching up to do on posts but these pictures were just to cute I had to do them first! We 3 days of Halloween this year. Friday afternoon we went to SkyWest, Friday evening Trunk or Treat, Saturday afternoon the mall, Saturday evening Panorama neighborhood, and then a tiny bit when we got back to Albuquerque on Sunday.

Levi was a dragon, Lucas was a monkey (Curious George), Brian was a demon on Friday (due to his costume delayed arrival) and then on Saturday he was The Man in the Yellow Hat.

SG Visit - Goncalves Fam

Time flies when you're having fun! This time we went to SG Raquel was finally able to go at the same time, making this the first time we saw her and her little family since Christmas! It was lots of fun because we both got there the same night and the kids were super excited to see each other that bed time came a few hours late. The blessing was an awesome excuse to get the family together, although we never were able to get the entire family together at the same time to take a family picture (maybe next time?).

Now I can't remember if it was Cai or Dez who kept on saying that Levi had "Crraazzy Eyes", but then I kept on watching for it and sometimes he totally does! Every once in a while he opens his eyes up super big and it does make them look a little crazy. Lucas loved playing with Cai and Dez so much that the kids slept at my moms and my sister and her husband stayed at her in-laws. The cousins thought it was pretty fun to ask Lucas for hugs since he is such a fantastic hugger. Although for poor Cai who is 2 years older but still weighs the same as Lucas 2 of the hugs turned out to be tackles.

Lucas liked asking his cousin Raini for concerts, since he is learning to play the viola. When Raini would finish a song Lucas would look all happy and clap and clap for him! It would be nice to be a kid and so easy entertained. On Saturday morning he was playing with my mom and she was just throwing these little playing cards down on him and he thought it was the ultimate!

SG Visit - Brian's fam

It was really nice this visit to have more time to do family things. Julie (Brian's mom) even flew his sister who is living in Memphis home so we could have the whole family together. We snapped a quick family pic at the "after blessing" party since there are now 4 1/2 new family members since the last picture.

We also had to run over to Rose Crest to see Brian's Great Grandma, Rose Blackwell. This November she turns 99. Amazing that my kids will have seen her, although in a few years they may not remember her if she doesn't stick around. I wish I could have known my grandparents better let alone Great's and Great-Great's. They will for sure remember their Great Grandma because Carole is amazing, I think that she will live healthily for a long time to come! Five generations of healthy family on Brian's side, lets hope my kids get those genes!

For those family who want these pictures double click on the slide show and it should bring up a new window into Picasa Web Albums. If you use picasa you can download the entire album to Picasa, if not then just right click on the photo and "Save As". If you have problems let me know and I can just email them to you :)

SG Visit - Friends

It was great to see so many friends on this visit! I wasn't very good at taking pics with everyone but at least I got these :)

SG Visit - Kids fun

Having 10 days vacation this time was a lot more fun. This time it was not only a vacation to see family and friends, but Lucas actually got to do some fun some with his daddy, and mommy and Levi got to tag along too.

Lucas got to go riding on a 4-wheeler (borrowed from my good friends the Colmeneros) twice, got to go Jumpin Jacks, in addition to all the fun with family and friends. He had a blast going riding and quickly learned how to start the bike. Brian convinced me that I had to ride the 4-wheeler at least for a second since I had never been on one, and I should have ridden it alone and not with Lucas! However, if anyone even sat on the bike (with it off) without him, he would start crying saying that he wanted to ride. The second time we went out we took my dad with us and it was fun seeing him ride, he was way more cautious than Lucas! He barely gave it any throttle and only wanted to ride for a minute, but he still had fun :)

Not sure if it will work but I uploaded a video of Lucas riding on YouTube.

SG Visit - Family Pics

While we were in SG my sister Raquel took us out to try and take some pics of my little family. Although the wind and Lucas were difficult to get to cooperate, we got a few shots that I liked.

Camping

This was such a fun adventure! Since we had this fun new toy, we had to take it out! After loading up a ton of stuff and the kids we hit the road. We ended up on Manzano Mountain (Cibola National Forest) right outside of the Red Canyon Campground. There was this little pull off that had a great little camping spot where we didn't have to pay (WooHoo!) and Gus could roam free without bothering anyone, not to mention we wouldn't have to worry if the kids cried.

As soon as we got there Brian unloaded Lucas's little battery 4-wheeler and Lucas took off. He had a blast riding around out there and we didn't mind tagging along after him. Gus loved to have a buddy to explore the woods with! Gus would take off running and Lucas would follow him yelling "Gus get over here". Man that kid cracks me up!

The only thing that made me nervous was that it got down to around 40 degrees at night. Luckily our camper has a heater, but because this was our first time taking it we didn't know how much propane the heater would drain. We kept it warm enough to take the edge off, but not warm enough to feel all nice and toasty. I worried a lot about Lucas since he wasn't that great in the sleeping bag, but other than that it was great! It didn't use much propane so in the morning we cranked that heater all the way up and now the next time we go we know we can keep it warmer.

Overall it was a great trip. Levi was exactly the same as home and Lucas did pretty well considering he skipped his nap. Can't wait to go again and take some friends or family!

Our new (2001) Camper!

This post is mainly for my dad to see...

We bought a 2001 Palomino Filly pop-up camper on Friday and we had to give it a try this weekend! A post on that soon to come, but for now here are the pics of the camper.

Levi 1.75 months

Isn't he cute! And super strong neck muscles...

September comes to an end

Lucas got Gus cornered

Lucas did this completely on his own...such a goof ball

It looks so good on him!

My cute little sleeper

Lucas and Zach

Ok so not good pictures but it was at dusk, they were moving, and they were far away so I was so zoomed in that the flash did no good! This is Lucas's new cute little friend Zach. He lives 2 doors down and Lucas LOVES to play with him! A few nights ago at dinner he kept on yelling "Zach where are you?"
It's so cute because Lucas floors it in this Hummer and Zach isn't used to it, so most of the time he links his arm with Lucas's and holds on to the dash with the other hand :)

Who needs blocks?

September 13-26

My boys like to spend Levi's "tummy time" together :) Lucas finally had his 2 year old Dr.'s check-up and he was 33 lbs and 36 1/4 inches tall (75th% for both height and weight)! While we were there we put Levi on the scale with his clothes on and he was already at 8 lbs 12 oz! I wonder how much his clothes weigh?..

Brian didn't have time to use the flash so it came out blurry but as you can see I was sitting on the couch enjoying a bowl of cereal and Lucas decided to climb up on the couch and attack me! He climbed up on me all by himself and was trying to jump/hop while on my shoulders. I should get a medal for not spilling any milk! Oh and aren't my pj pants cute!! I made them a few days before that :)

My little cuties cuddling on the couch this morning :)

Cliff's Amusement Park

So yesterday Brian wanted to take Lucas out on a fun date. They thought about going to the fair, but it seemed way to pricey to me so I suggested Cliff's. It turned out great because this weekend happened to be a 50% off "end of summer" weekend!

Brian said Lucas had a blast and that when the rides were over he had to drag Lucas off the ride and out the gate because he refused to leave on his own! Since Lucas is so tall he was able to go on all the rides in Kiddiland. I am pretty sure that he would have been the youngest kid on all the rides, and it's probably a good thing I wasn't there because I would have been scared!

1st stop Cliff's, next stop....DISNEYLAND! (although not until at least next Spring/Summer)

Picture day

So this was the day I was taking Levi's picture for his announcements. Lucas found some popsicles in the freezer and insisted on eating them like corn on the cob! Maybe the yellow reminded him of corn?...

Levi is going to be blessed

Levi 3 weeks

These pics are from the 1st week in September

Lucas loves to be close to his brother!

First REAL bath

Lucas helping...and then just trying to soak him..

Nap time with daddy. See the resemblance?

1st appointment

Well we took Levi to the Dr. and we really liked his new pediatrician! She is really sweet and even gave us her cell # so that we can call or text her with questions anytime :)

Levi was down to 5 lbs 15 oz but already grew 1/4 of an inch! 18 3/4 inches long

Catching some rays. Levi is a tiny bit jaundice so the Dr said to put him in the sun to help.

Introducing...

July wrap up

Well this month we have actually had one thing going after another. We started the month going to St. George, Lucas was sick for a week or more after we got home, mixed in there were Lucas and Brian's birthdays, I spent a week recovering the car seat, and then my mom came for the last week!

Lucas has become quite the little helper. He is pretty good about cleaning up after himself and he LOVES to help do laundry!

We have a "garden" aka one enormous zucchini plant. I swear from one day to the next we have a little zucchini that starts growing and then the next time I look at it, it's 16 inches long and 3 inches in diameter.

I am getting a lot more into sewing. My latest things were recovering the car seat, making a cover that attaches to it (with a peep hole), and making cute Activity Bags that I am selling if anyone is interested!

That is my super quick recap since most things were covered in other posts from this month

Mom's visit

For the six days my mom has been here visiting and it has been lots of fun! We haven't done a ton, but we have had a few outings and she has been able to help me out with Lucas a lot. Although we are sad to see her go tomorrow, it won't be long before she and my dad pop back here to see the baby!

Since it is monsoon season here in ABQ it hasn't been the best of weather for going out and about. On Tuesday it was the only clear day while she was here so I decided to take her to the zoo and of course Lucas had a blast. His obsession with peacocks (and of course feeding the fish and ducks) grows with every visit. This time he chased this poor peacock for probably 5 minutes, all over the elephant enclosure, until finally the peacock went into a roped off area and I pulled Lucas out of the roped off area and carried him away screaming.

On Thursday since the morning was supposed to be clear we took the time to go and see the Temple. It isn't as "grand" as the old Utah temples but like all temples, still was beautiful in its own way. The only real downfall in my opinion is that they don't even have a visitors center here! I had never heard of a temple without a visitors center.

It is going to be weird to have an empty house again! Hopefully it won't be for long. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little guy. Oh!! We finally found a name we can agree on....ddddrrrrddddrrrr (drum roll)..... Levi

I forgot to add this picture! So one night my mom was making me my all time favorite food and she likes to "beat" the dough with a plastic bag on her hand to limit the mess. Without us realizing why he was doing it, Lucas pulled out my box of sandwich size ziplock bags, pulled a bunch out, and then opened one of them. He then put his hand in the bag and was trying to reach up on the counter and stick his hand in the dough!! Because he was so excited about it, my mom put the dough on his table so he could help. This kid is seriously so observant and just plain smart!

Brian's Birthday!

Well Brian turned 28 this year!! It was cake overdose by the time his birthday rolled around so Brian asked me to make a frosted Angel food cake. Although it doesn't look the prettiest it was pretty good :) Lucas thought it was especially fun to help blow out so many candles. Now every time he sees candles he says "cake!"

For you dirt bikers or motorcycle riders we got Brian some really good priced gear on www.cyclegear.com. He was excited to get his first (ever) pair of new riding boots and a new helmet.

Lucas's 2nd Birthday!

Well I know that I am WAY behind on posting seeing as how I have skipped the entire month of July.

We went to St. George for a few days over the 4th of July (more posts soon to come) and while we were there we decided to have a party for Lucas. So, on the 4th we invited the family out to a cool park we had never been to (Highland Park - in Bloomington Hills) for a little get together. I was especially excited that some of my family from Brazil was able to be there and experience an American birthday party.

It was great to have everyone together for a few hours. The kids had a lot of fun playing on the play ground, but the most fun was filling up balloons and throwing them around! Poor Dad had one of the worst "explosions" when he caught a balloon!

This year Lucas was lucky enough to have two cakes! He had a Yo Gabba Gabba cake in St. George and then on his real birthday I made a cake for him and put Curious George on it. I am not the best cake decorator but he did like how he could take the characters off of the cake and play with them! I think that next year I will have to step up my skills, but for this birthday it worked out great.

4th of July in SGU

Since Brian got 2 days vacation over the 4th we were lucky enough to be able to make the LONG 10 hour journey to St. George. We had lots of fun crammed into 3 days of actually being there. Someday we hope to be able to spend at least a week there so we can see more people and not be quite so rushed, but who knows when we will get the chance for that!

We got to watch a Brazil game with my mom and dad. Which unfortunately was their worst game of the cup and got them eliminated. It was hard not to let that ruin the rest of our day, but there was too much to do! Towards the evening we got to go swimming with Brian's family and it was a lot of fun to see them and especially see Lucas and Mya enjoying the water. Those 2 are pretty close in age (6 months apart) so it is too bad that we live so far away.

It was also really nice to have a chance to see my best bud Shannon pregnant! We were only due 3 weeks apart (so why does my belly appear to be bigger?) but she ended up having to deliver early (4 weeks early?) a few days after we left. The boys were giving each other high fives through our bellies :)

Sewing Projects

Well yes I realize I have fallen off the face of the planet. It is because I have become obsessed with sewing again :) These are the projects that I have actually finished. Total I made 7 quilts, 6 fish, 1 bag, and am half way done with 2 car seat covers (photos soon to come). For now here are the pics I have!

ABQ Zoo

I know I post a lot of zoo pictures, but we love the zoo! We bought a pass when we very first moved here and I try and take Lucas at least once or twice a month. Due to the size of my belly it is getting a little more difficult to enjoy it there so we will see how long I can keep it up!

Father's Day

This year instead of planning something for Brian for Father's Day I told him he could pick whatever he wanted to do and we would do it. Naturally, his choice was his dirt bike.

We all went to a motocross track for the first time (well to ride anyway, Brian and I had gone to watch races before). This track is on the other side of town and Brian was really excited to get a membership there and he plans on going there at least once a month to ride. It wasn't always easy to keep Lucas entertained but in the end we all ended up having a good time there. Brian was really impressed that he was being able to keep up with riders considering this was his first time ever on a track!

Mud

How is mud so much fun?

There is this sprinkler pipe thing that comes into our patio that has been leaking for a week onto our patio. It is really ridiculous that it hasn't been fixed already, but they say that MAYBE it will get fixed on Thursday...

Anyway, after so many days I had to cave and let Lucas walk around it for a while on Sunday. We are trying to grow grass back there or I would have let him sooner. He had a blast walking around in it!