Munoz's In Da House

I had a busy weekend!! And I loved every moment. My family came up to visit me. They came in Thursday evening and left on Monday. I have been so excited to see family this summer and my parents kicked it off to a great start. Its funny that no matter how long its been since my kids have seen my family its like they never forget. Viggo loves my mom. I don't know what happened that week that my mom helped me out but Viggo and my mom have a bond. When she was here the first week after Viggo was born she helped me out so much! She would have Viggo sleep in her room, and she would bring him to me once he needed to eat. But I guess when she would put him to sleep she would hum to him. Well to this day when he is soothing himself to sleep he hums exactly the same way that my did to him. So cute!!


Ariana was so excited because my parents brought her up a play house. She can't get enough of it. She loves when my parents come up its like she knows that they can't say no to her. And she take full advantage of it!! She loves going into the bathroom with my mom and watching her do her makeup. She is such a girl! She also has so much fun with my dad and Naomi. She loves playing with my dad and then telling him "Abuelito creo que tu eres loco". And then he will till her no Ariana you are so crazy. And then she precedes to do her funny faces. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and I miss them already!!




Lucky for me this summer will be full of traveling so I won't have to miss them for too long. Next up is David's family!! I feel so lucky to have such wonderful in laws!! David's brothers and sisters are so nice and are a ton of fun!! They make me laugh so much. Plus they all have the cutest kids ever!! So excited to see my nieces and nephews this summer, I miss them so much!!! This July his sister Sara is getting married!!!! She is going to look so beautiful for her wedding. And everyone is coming down, and we get to stay in these condos, where the kids can play all day and swim!!! David and I can't wait!!! So here is to a wonderful summer of seeing friends and family!!

I love how big this Chess Board is!

Family Playing Chess (more like just moving pieces around)


Can't get enough of this face :0)

He looked so cute picking up these gigantic pieces

Married to a Lumberjack!!

I am so proud of my love right now!!!!!!! He got a phone call yesterday saying that he has been accepted to Northern Arizona University!!!!!!! That's right people he is officially a lumberjack. I can't believe he waited to tell me when he got home. And then he acted like it wasn't a big deal. I know he is so humble he makes me seem like a diva. I would have come home dressed up in all NAU attire and had made him take me out to celebrate, just kidding well I would have at least ended up doing one of those two things.


How exciting, he went back to school in September and here we are today getting ready for him to go to NAU in the fall. So far the plan is working out. Once he's in school this fall we got two more years before he gets his bachelors, then we are off to Tempe Arizona for four years to get his Doctorate!!!! I know it seems like a long time, but I know time will fly. Can you believe that when he is all done with school we will probably have four kids.......... Sometimes David is like uggggh its six years away, but then we start thinking about how once we are done we can move anywhere and the place we want to move to is New Zealand. When it seems so far away this is what we look at and then it feels like six years is nothing if we get to move here!!!



Yup we want to live in New Zealand. We are so EXCITED!!!! There are so many job openings over there but he needs to be an Audiologist. We laugh at the idea that our kids are going to be speaking Spanish with New Zealand accents. We are just worried that we are going to love it so much that we won't want to move back. We have met people here that have lived there and they say its amazing. We will just miss family!! But I guess we will just have to fly people out to New Zealand to come and see us...... hopefully they will want to make the big trip.

So anyways CONGRATULATIONS DAVID!!! You are such an amazing husband. I don't know how you do it all, and you never seem stressed out or over whelmed. I love how when you set your mind to something you do it. .Here is to taking this next step in our journey which I am sooo excited about. And I hope you realize how proud I am of you!!!! I really hope our kids turn out just like you!! I Love you David Ettinger!!!!

Viggo's Birthday Weekend!

Yes my baby is officially one!! I can't believe how fast the year went by. Viggo's Birthday was on Sunday but we decided to celebrate Saturday night, because Sunday's are so busy. It was a lot of fun. Ariana helped me make Viggo's Birthday cake, and we decorated the house, and we made Viggo our official traditional b-day dinner, hot dogs with chile beans and fries! His birthday present was a ball pit, and he loved it!!! It made me so happy to see that he liked it!!!


But my favorite part of the day was when we sang to him Happy Birthday!! He was so happy!!! It made my heart so happy, at that moment I realized that I am one lucky girl!!! So here are a few things Viggo as to why you are so special to me and your dad!!

1. You have the best smile!
2. You just radiate joy. Seriously the very same day you were born you were always smiling in your sleep!! I think you just couldn't wait to come into this world.
3. You love music..... You are normally happy but nothing brightens you up like hearing music
4. I love how sometimes you just kiss us out of no where
5. You love your sister. You do fight with her sometimes, but you both love each other so much!!
6. You love your dad. The moment he comes home from work its like I don't exist!!
7. You love food. I have not found anything that you don't like. You eat anything. Even vegetables. You are such a big eater!!!
8. You can stand on your own but you haven't taken your first steps. I love how proud you are of yourself when you stand all by yourself. You just look around at us with the biggest smirk
9. Your favorite things to play with are balls. Which makes Daddy happy because he thinks you will be great at soccer and he will have someone to play with. And if your wondering why we named you Viggo it's because in case you become this amazing soccer star you will have a name that no one on the field will ever forget...... ( I know your parents are so crazy) And you love playing with Nana's polar bear. I don't know why but the polar bear gives you the giggles!! So cute
10. You are the best sleeper. You take two naps a day since you were born, and you have slept through the night since you were 3 months!!! This makes me very HAPPY!!!
11. And we just love loving you!!! You have brought so much joy to our family!!

I know you can't say anything yet, but I hope you enjoyed your first birthday!!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE VIGGO!!

Is it bed time yet?

So yesterday was crazy!! Both my kids are sick and well its hard to please them when they both want to be in your arms. My alarm went off at 5:20 a.m and I thought to myself ugggh I don't want to get up and go running today I'm just going to stay in bed and relax. Who was I kidding!! Yup of all days to not go out running yesterday was not the day, it probably would have helped out my reserve tank of sanity that I run on when I think "oh it can not get any worse." Ariana was a walking disaster. She seriously hurt herself like 20 times yesterday. She ran into a door, closed the drawer on her finger, while doing laundry somehow the hamper fell over on her the list goes on. And my little Ariana well she is a bit like her dad very dramatic. lol Yeah no one is going to believe that, more like her mom unfortunately!! David never loses it. ( I hate that) Anyways her and Viggo were at it all day!! They usually do so well together, but not yesterday. She would cry because I was holding Viggo or Viggo would scream for a toy that she was holding. Even though he has the exact same one but in a different color. I guess he was mad because his was pink....

So knowing that David wasn't going to be home till around 9:00p.m due to his work, calling, and social networking for work. Seriously he is 28 and part of an old people club called the Lions Club. He goes to be able to help market for his hearing aid office. But its not work at all. Even though he says he would rather be home with me I find that hard to believe. Every 1st and third Tues of the month he gets to go to this fancy resort in Sedona and eat at their fancy restaurant. Sounds horrible dosen't it. And then get this on Wednesday afternoons he goes to his second old people's club and has a lunch at another fancy restaurant. ppppfff.....

So coping mechanisms that I went into to be able to make it to bedtime. (Otherwise known as throwing out the mommy rules and doing what it takes to survive) Starting at 4:00 I kept looking at the clock. Not to mention that my daughter dosen't want to go to bed at 7:00 anymore because "El sol todavia no se a dormido mama" ( Said with a duh attitude)

1. Made dinner for two nights.... hoping that time would go by faster.
2.Had kids play in the closet while I organized closet. I don't know why but just seeing a neat closet always makes me feel so much better!! But still did not work.
3. Planned on taking a shower while kids napped, but guess what they did not nap.....
4. Served up some mugs of ice cream and yes we ate this before dinner :/
5. Thought about taking a ride in my car, so I would get a break from saying "Ariana Viggo whats wrong; when we are happy we are sharing; there is no need to cry; do you need a time out....
6. I realized that when I feel a little crazy I always just think to myself "just breathe" It calms me down so much. I use to say this to myself whenever I was nervous, like right before a church talk, a race, my first kiss with my hubby, or an argument with my hubby. I remember when Drew Barrymore said this in her movie where she played like a Cinderella character. Ever since then it has been my mantra to calm me down. I think I said it out loud a couple of times yesterday so glad no adult is around to think I have lost it
7. Gave kids a bath, their little bodies are so sick that they look physically exhausted and cried the whole time. They looked how I felt.
8. Put the kids PJs on read books and sang ( they started to calm down)
9. Last but not least the kids finally asleep ( ahhh the silence)

But in the end what brought back my sanity is when I went to go take my much needed shower.
( The hair could no longer be passed as shiny and healthy just plain o' greasy.)
As I was heading to the shower I found one of Ariana's toys blocking my path. I found that Ariana had placed her little polar bear in a baby seat, and tucked it in for the night. Just like that I remembered how lucky I was, and how a day like this just makes little moments like that mean so much more. I went to bed feeling grateful and happy, and hoping that tomorrow would be a better day for my babies and me!! :)

Easter Weekend

I can't believe that Easter weekend already came and went. It was a great weekend. We watched general conference and got Easter Baskets ready! I love general conference it is so uplifting and always reminds me of the things that are truly important in this life. Which is family!! I don't know what I would do without family!! Especially my babies..... they can make me go a little wacky sometimes ( nice way of saying crazy) but it is all worth it!! I would not change anything I feel very lucky to be able to have been entrusted with two little special spirits!! Oh and I realized that I am just as horrible at blogging as I am at writing in my journal. I am going to try extra hard because I want to make sure I have something to pass down to my kids!!

Ariana realizing the Easter Bunny had come!!
I love spring but with spring she wakes up at 6:00 a.m there is a downside to having the sun rise earlier :( Viggo just liked throwing the eggs and watching them crack open.... he found it so amusing

I forgot to write that on Easter April 4th 2010 Ariana wrote her name out all by herself!! I had to tell her what letter came next but she wrote it out by herself. I was so proud!!

Daddy and Ariana enjoying conference together!! She is a total Daddy's girl!

Its a New Year!!

So last time I blogged, I blogged how I wanted to explore photography. Well, besides reading some books I haven't really done anything. Unfortunately I didn't think about how my wallet would be unable to afford this new passion I wanted to explore so badly lol. I still want to do it, but maybe I will wait till buying a camera will not cause me to be behind on my bills. So instead I am doing what I said I didn't feel would be such a challenge to me. hehe well after having two kids it has been a challenge. I have started training to run a marathon. I have been doing it for about a month now. On Feb. 6 I am running in the Sedona marathon but I am only going to be doing the 5k. Then in April I am running a half marathon, or 10K.... we will see where I'm at. Then I am heading down to San Diego to do the rock and roll marathon but only doing the half. And if all goes to plan in November I head out to New York do the marathon. Two of my friends from highschool are planning on running it with me. Should be fun to have an all girls trip!!!! So far so good. I'm up to running five miles and feeling real good. So wish me luck!! Oh and I have the most considerate husband ever. He fully supports me and always makes sure that I go on my run, he even bought me new running shoes for my birthday!!! How did I get so lucky!!!!!

So lets see what has happened? I feel like I love my kids more and more with everyday. Right when I think its not possible to love them, more I feel like something happens that melts my heart into a smile. We had a wonderful Christmas!!! We were so blessed this year to spend it with family, and I feel so lucky to have a roof over my head, and a fridge full of food. I do love food!!!





Ariana is now in Sunbeams!!! She is so cute!!! I feel so lucky to work in primary and see her reach this milestone. She was so excited and she did great!!! I don't know what happened but I credit her teacher!!!!! She is like a new girl ever since she went to primary!!! Before she would throw a couple temper tantrums through out the day, I felt like I was constantly having to have talks with her and put her in time out....... but ever since primary its like I can reason with her!!!! She hardly ever talks back, and she is so happy!!!! I can't remember the last time I put her in time out!! Its been wonderful!!! But at the same time sad. One day to the next she grew up, she's now my "big girl". And she reminds me everyday how big she is. At dinner time her new thing she does is take a bite of food, and then stands up to show me that she grew.... and yes she does this after every bite!!! Oh how I love her sweet little voice and face. I love looking into her big brown eyes that penetrate my heart every time. I love the freckles on her nose, and how her hair curls just at the ends. I love how she is always singing, and dancing. And I love that she loves to use her imagination!!



Now about my little Viggo!!! He is growing up too fast as well!! He is standing up on things and trying to let go!!! He has already had some pretty nasty falls. He is so brave and determined!!! I don't know how to describe it, but my life before Viggo was wonderful, and my home felt complete. But now that I have Viggo, I feel like he has added so much to our home!!! He has provided our home with joy. His unfaltering smile lights up our home every day!! He is the most wonderful baby!! He loves to cuddle, and loves to press his nose up against mine. I love how sometimes I catch him staring at his dad, or Nana with so much love that it seeps through his pores!!! Uggh did I mention how his first words were dada!!! I know right before Christmas at 8 months he said his first words..... Dada!!! I love it you should see how happy David gets when he here these simple words come out of our boys mouth!!! I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little jealous!! But so proud at the same time!!!! I know I am biased but Viggo has the most contagious joy!!! He can make anyone feel happy!!! At church he is known as the Happy Baby!!! "The baby who can smile through his pacifier" . What would I do without my little boys, my little piece of sunshine!!


Then there is my David, my best friend!!! How lucky am I that he married me!!!!!! He makes me feel so loved, and I know that he never gets sick of me!!!! ( Or at least that's what I tell myself) He makes me laugh, and I love that he takes his responsibilities as husband and father so seriously, but never allows it to overwhelm him. Seriously, he works full time, goes to school full time, and serves his calling like all the time, and gives 100%, and he always manages to fit me in. Its been so wonderful since we moved up to Northern Arizona. We have our babysitters Ashley and Lexi and they are wonderful. For the first time David and I are going on dates consistently, and its wonderful. I can't get enough of my best friend!!! So happy he came into my life seven years ago!!! hehe even though I was a stinker!! Long story maybe another time.


So all in all I can't see how this year can be a bad year. Having to spend another year with my best friend, and my two adorable children..... I don't now how it can go wrong. As I see it as long as they are with me my heart will always be full. Plus it will only get better because who knows maybe next year I will have another little gift from God on the way.......hmmmm that would be exciting ;)

Time for something new!

For the past two years now I have been wanting to find something that I am great at. My husband always tells me that I am a great mother and wife, and I am so proud of this!! But I feel like everything I have done in life I can pretty much be good at. For example in highschool I was a runner and I was good, but not great. I was always athletic but nothing out of the ordinary. I can sing, but once again its just average. I play the piano, but its just good. I think I am an excellent cook, but nothing that no one else can do. I can sew, but nothing that one would consider a masterpiece. I'm smart but I am not a genius!! I don't know what it is, but this has been bothering me!! I guess my thought process is, is that if I can find something that I am great at, I will find my passion. I wan't to find that thing that I can do, that makes me feel like " this is what I do".

I have considered many things. For example I have wanted to take up surfing, but being that there is no beach out here I can not do that. Then I wanted to prepare for a marathon, but to be honest I just feel like this won't make me grow. I know I can run. Running has always been easy for me, and I feel like it will be just something that I am picking up again. Then I thought well I can become a gym instructor, because I love health and exercise. But once again I feel like I won't grow from this. I want to do something that is out of my comfort zone. So I began to think about what I can do that would be a challenge for me. So I have decided that in this year I would try and tap into my "creative self". I want to explore this side which I have never really considered. Don't get me wrong I do stuff like buy patterns from the sewing department and make my daughter a dress, or I can buy flowers and make them into hair clips, or I can scap book...... but I want to go deeper than this. I want to be able to do something out of my own mind. I do not want a pattern or a set of instructions that will cause me to produce someone else's idea. I want something to be my own. I want to use my mind and create something for myself.

Maybe this dosen't make sense but I am so excited to do this. Yesterday I went to the library and picked up some books on photography. I have decided that I am going to see if photography can be my creative outlet. I am very excited. I love taking pictures, but I want to take good pictures. I want to capture a moment. I want to capture an emotion, a feeling, I want to stop time for a brief second. I want to capture beauty where one may not ordinarily look. So here I go....... I don't know if I will be great at this, I may simply just end up being good, but I am so excited to see if this could be what I could be great at. I am excited to see if this could be my passion. And if its not, its not a problem, because I learned something new along the way. But I am determined to find my passion. If this dosen't work I am going to take a class in pottery, or jewelry. I am so excited...... I am excited to see where this exploration takes me.

* To be honest I know what my passion is...... and its helping others. That's why I majored in sociology. I love people!!! I once wanted to be a doctor so I could help children, and families. But I decided, that for me I could make the greatest change in the world by raising my beautiful children, to be good citizens, and good people!! This is what brings me my happiness!! But I just want to explore myself and find a tangible talent. Something that I am great at. I don't know if this makes sense, but I guess this what a blog is for......... so here's to finding what I am great at!!!