Happy Valentine's Evening

Edgar's working tonight--all night. Liliana, Ruben, and I played Candy Land to celebrate Valentine's Day. I wasn't going to cheat at that game tonight, but I did. Lili was stuck, waiting to get a blue forever and I rigged the cards. I've cheated every time we've played that game--just to get the game over with. Then Marcos started throwing up. Four shirts and five vomiting episodes later (I finally quit changing shirts), he snuggled up to me and fell asleep.

It's not the most romantic Valentine's evening I've had, but it might be the most loving. I'm amazed at how much love I feel for my sweet little baby who's sick for the first time in his life. I look in at his siblings sleeping peacefully and feel the same incredible love for them. And when I called Edgar to report the throwing up episodes, I felt so grateful that I have someone to call who loves and cares about these little people we're raising as much as I do.

Our Family Got a Haircut!

When I was growing up my dad cut my three brothers' hair (usually on a Saturday night) and my aunt Mary (a professional) gave us three girls and my mom haircuts and perms (during the same trip to Salt Lake). We always got our hair cut together.

It had been eleven months since I'd had my hair trimmed and twenty years since I'd had bangs, so I got both. Mindy Uhlig is set up now as the local beautician in Wells so Liliana and I left the boys home on Saturday afternoon and got our hair cut. I'm trying to get used to having something on my forehead and still don't know how I feel about my new look. Anyway, our haircuts coincided with Edgar cutting Ruben's hair so our family got a haircut.

Our other big news is that Marcos is starting to dribble cereal down his chin (I can't say he's starting to eat it because none of it is getting inside him). I only try to give him a few bites every night, but Liliana is more persistent. Our first night of solid food, I came out from giving Ruben a bath to find this:


There's just something about feeding a baby that makes you open your mouth really wide.



Marcos enjoyed the experience--socially, not nutritively (is that a word?).




Here's Lili doing math. I love that I don't have to fix her hair before school.

I NEED A NEW NECK!

Last night the missionaries and a Spanish-speaking family they're teaching came over (Edgar and I are ward missionaries, called to work with the Spanish speakers).  The Elders had a little game that involved opening up bubble gum and chewing it.  I foolishly let Ruben have some gum and he somehow got it on his neck.  I was trying to scrape it off and it hurt, so he yelled, "I'm going to die!"  Then he told me he needs a new neck.

I like some of the things our kids have said of late.  Lili gave me a picture of a heart she made for my birthday and told me she gave me a heart because she "loveded" me.  I hope she still does and it not just double-past tense.

On my birthday Liliana and Ruben went to a birthday party.  Edgar and I took advantage of the free babysitting and went to dinner.  The party had an "under the sea" theme and each child left with a goldfish.  We have recently gone through three goldfish in quick secession.  When the first one passed on, Lili was really upset, so Edgar quietly disposed of the second and third ones when they went the way of all the earth.  On our drive home, Liliana said, "When (not if) my goldfish dies, I want to bury it."  I guess she has a good grip on reality.

Ruben has started saying the following prayer, "Heavenly Father, we miss you."  I never would have thought to say that in a prayer, but I like it.  This week we found out that he no longer qualifies for Speech Therapy.  The teacher said, "You don't have to come back, Ruben."  He "loveded" going, so he said, "I will!"  We decided we could visit . . .  sometime.  During the test, he said some funny, but factual things.

"Ruben, what's the opposite of good?"

"ME!"

"Ruben, a ladybug is little, but an elephant is _____________."

"Eating the ladybug!"

Marcos doesn't say many words, but he does squeal and laugh in delight.

Aren't kids fun?  Here are some pictures of us of late:

Lili invited the cousins next door to a tea party.  They were so nice and not only humored her, but got really into it, dressing up for the occasion.  Carolina even walked over in flip flops!  Yes, it is January, but she's a Johnson.

Don't tell my in-laws, but we returned some of their Christmas gifts to us (our kids had too much) and bought the kids snow pants and a sled.  If only the children could have brought themselves to look at the camera (and the sun) at the same time!

And here's the chubby-bubby, roly-poly, fun-loving, laughy-jokey, should-be-in-a-country-song one:

Wearing Grandpa's hat:

Stalked in Spanish--This Close to Navidad too!

Saturday I answered the phone even though the caller ID said "unknown name."  I was greeted with "Buenas Tardes" and a fast-talking hispanic trying to get me to accept a phone card that would allow me to call free in the United States.  I already can call free in the United States with our phone plan.  I made sure we couldn't use the card to call to Mexico and told the nice fellow that we didn't need his card.  I also told him I didn't know Spanish too well.  He didn't give up, but he did start saying "free" instead of "gratis."  Isn't it funny how the words someone will change to English for you are the most basic ones that you already knew in the other language? "Puede usted llamar en los estados unidos FREE."  Oh, now I understand.  I admired his perserverance and I eventually thought that maybe we could use the card from another phone sometime in a pinch.  So I gave him my address.  Then he wanted to transfer me to his supervisor to "confirm."  

I started to be nervous that I had agreed to buy something because I didn't understand everything the guy said.  I knew something was free, but . . . I told the supervisor that I didn't feel comfortable enough with my Spanish to confirm and asked them to call later when they could to my Spanish-speaking esposo.  The supervisor and the original guy both panicked that they were losing me and started saying, "Senorita Olivia ..."  I thought I was a senora, being married and all, but they were calling out desperately for Senorita Olivia.  I gave a brusque adios and hung up.  

Right away, they tried to call back (thanks goodness for that caller ID).  They called back six times and I didn't answer.  After Edgar got up to go to work (he's working nights) they called again.  I made him answer.  They explained it all to him, he thanked them for their attention and said, "No gracias."  They called right back and told Edgar that his wife had really wanted the phone card.  Sure.  Blame it on the wife.  Edgar knew that wasn't true and he did something completely out of character.  He got sassy.  I didn't know he could do that (fortunately for me, I don't think he can in English).  He said, "Mira, Senor . . ." and went off and then he hung up.

They didn't call back until just a few minutes ago.  I didn't answer the phone.  You've got to admire their perserverance.

May your days be merry and bright

And may no one phone-stalk you tonight.

Wesolych Swiat!

Grudzień 2008

Drodzy przyjaciele!

Szczęśliwego Bożego Narodzenia! Pozdrawiam was wszystkich. Mam nadzieję, że ten list znajdzie was w dobrym zdrowiu oraz szczęśliwych. Jeszcze raz, będę prosić o pomoc Renatę, moją przyjaciółkę z Warszawy.  Naprawdę, jest błogosławieństwem mieć Polkę tutaj w pobliżu.  Ona mówi bardzo dobrze po angielsku, więc, nigdy nie rozmawiamy po polsku. 

My mieliśmy dobry i zajęty rok.  Najwaƶniejszym wydarzemniem tego roku byly narodziny naszego drugiego syna.  Nasz synek urodził się we wrześniu.  Jest zdrowy i bardzo ładny.  Tym razem nie miałam trudności jak byłam w ciąży i nasz syn urodził się bez problemów.

Styczeń zaczął się pracowicie dlatego, ƶe brałam udział w przygotowaniach do przedstawienia w teatrze muzycznym. Premiera sztuki odbyla się w marcu.  Moja siostra takƶe brała udział w tym samym przedstawieniu.  Było to dla nas bardzo fajne doświadczenie.

Ruben ma juƶ cztery latka a Liliana skończyła pięć.  W tym roku, w marcu, mieliśmy możliwość przejechać do Disneyland.  Odwiedzieliśmy takƶe naszych przyjaciół oraz rodzinę mojego męƶa.  Było wspaniale poznać jego rodzinę. W Kalifornii dobrze się  bawiliśmy i podobało nam się  bo było ciepło. 

Takƶe w tym roku, zaczęłam uczyć Lilianę w domu.  Ona juƶ moƶe czytać oraz pisać troszeczk ę po angielsku i po hiszpańsku.  Ruben chodzi do preschool (cos w rodzaju przedszkola) jeden raz w tygodniu. Kilka mam ze  Starr Valley zorganizowalo takie domowe przedszkole dla dzieci.    

Chcialabym życzyć wam zdrowych, spokojnych świąt Bożego Narodzenia oraz szcześliwego i pomyślnego Nowego 2009 Roku.

Boże Narodzenie jest ważnym dla nas świętem. Są to urodziny naszego Zabwiciela. Bez Niego nie możemy wrócić do Naszego Ojca w Niebie. Wiem, że Bóg żyje i że On nas zna, i bardzo nas kocha. Czasami mam doświadczenie, którego nie rozumiem, ale wierzę, że On wie wszystko i On chce to, co jest najlepsze dla nas, Jego dzieci. Jestem bardzo wdzięczna za Syna Bożego. Wiem, że Jezus Chrystus jest moim zbawicielem. Czuję się, że On mnie rozumie i pomaga mi w trudnych chwilach.

Niech Nasz Ojciec w Niebie ma was w swojej opiece.  Pozdrawiam was serdecznie.

 

Merry Christmas!

Since I know I missed people on my Christmas card list, I am posting our Christmas letter here, for your reading pleasure.  Thanks to my Polish friend Renata, it is also available po polsku (see next post).

Our year in review:

On my birthday (January 15), we found out I was pregnant (Hooray!) and I also started practice for a musical production, Quilters, that I was in with my sister Marianne and five other women.  It was a big commitment, but a lot of fun.  We didn’t finish until mid-March. 

At the end of March we went on vacation to Southern California.  We spent 2 days meeting/catching up with Edgar’s friends & family there. Edgar and his childhood best friend, Luis, hadn’t seen each other for 14 years.  We also went to Disneyland for 3 days.  We decided not to return to Disneyland until our youngest child is 5.  Ruben loved the rides, but was very unhappy when they ended and he hated waiting in line.  Getting to know Edgar’s family and friends made the long trip worth it.  They were wonderful.

 In the summer we went to Twin Falls, Idaho to attend the Twin Falls LDS Temple Open House.  It was a lovely experience to have as a family.  It was great to see our children’s attitude change to reverence and awe as they felt the spirit of the temple.  They felt the difference of being there.  Also this summer, I started teaching Liliana kindergarten in June (she will be 6 in March).  With our baby coming, I felt like I needed to get a head start. Other than school, I did nothing in the summer.  I was hot and pregnant and the cilantro and sunflowers took over our garden.  Lili is doing well with school.  She is starting to read and write in English and Spanish.  The poor child is our little guinea pig and we have yet to see how well our little bilingual experiment will turn out.

Ruben started going to our Starr Valley cooperative preschool this fall (he turned 4 in November).  He loves it. Lili is part of our local Sunshine Generation performing group (her cousins next door teach it).  Also this fall, Edgar’s friend Luis and 5 of his relatives came from California to help Edgar shoot his deer.  When I met Edgar I never would have dreamed he would want to hunt—you never really know what you’re getting into. The silver lining is that Luis and his family were able to take the meat home and enjoy venison birria.  Though Edgar is bloodthirsty, he doesn’t like venison.  Edgar has continued with his woodworking hobby, which I much prefer to hunting.  This year he made a beautiful bookshelf and a dresser.

Our biggest miracle and best news of the year came in the form of little Marcos Edgar.  I had a much better pregnancy than anyone expected and went 37½ weeks!  Marcos was born on September 9.  He weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and came home with us!  He has been completely healthy.  It is a delight to see the little fat rolls on his legs when we change his diaper. Our greatest misery of the year was that I had a tonsillectomy in November.  It seemed like a good thing to do because it was free.  We had met our out-of-pocket limit with our insurance because of my pregnancy.  The recovery was rather painful.  I learned the hard way that there’s no such thing as a free surgery.

 As Christmas approaches, we are grateful to remember the miracle of our Savior’s birth and life.  We rejoice this Christmas season in Him and pray that you will feel the peace and joy that He brings.

With Love,

Olivia, Edgar, Liliana, Ruben, and Marcos

 

Marcos, My Good Little Monkey

The most amazing thing happened at La Casa Cobian last night!  Marcos celebrated his 3 month birthday (and his Uncle Enoch's 31st birthday) by sleeping for 8 hours.  What an amazing child!  Liliana came home from the NICU the week she turned 3 months and she was not even close to sleeping through the night.  I know Ruben didn't sleep for eight hours at a time until he was at least one.  Needless to say, Marcos is my favorite.  I, of course, did not sleep that long (I haven't since I was pregnant with Lili).  I woke up and worried about the little guy and checked him several times.  He's a cute little monkey, isn't he?

Monkey pajamas courtesy of Uncle Enoch and Aunt Jennifer & Family.