TGIF

Today was such a busy day. We had a Doctor's appointment, picked my hubby up from work, went to Costco, made a stop at Farm Country and did some laundry. Although it was a little hectic we managed to have fun.
My Doctor's visit went great. I started off by getting an ultrasound which was great because they were able to determine when my due date is. I'll be having a baby boy on Nov. 2nd! Here's my belly at 23 wks 4 days! I feel HUGE!!! I am carrying him low and he's getting very active. He's a good size baby...I only hope he doesn't go beyond 8 pounds. All of my mom's babies were 9 pounds and up except for me. I was only 7 pounds. Sela was 7 lbs 15oz and Sinalei was 8 lbs 4oz. It seems with each pregnancy my children get bigger.I have a feeling this kid will be big. My next appt is in 4 weeks where I have to drink the nasty sugar water for the diabetes testing...I am not looking forward to it at all! So everything looks good. I just have to stay on top of taking my iron pills.

Jared and I were able to take Sela to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. It has a bunch of animals, but you're not able to touch them. Sela went on the pony ride. She enjoyed it a lot!There were so many fun things to do. Here are a couple of pictures.Sela on the wagon rideJared and ISela posingShe loved the horses..but they stink!

Overall we had fun at Farm Country it was just HOT HOT HOT.
Sela also got into my makeup today and tried to apply mascara..lol. I had to take a picture of it. She is always getting into everything! She misses her little partner in crime. I can only imagine what kind of mess Sinalei would of made if she was there with her sister.

We're looking forward to having a FUN weekend!

Catching Up...

So I haven't been the most consistent blogger..but I'm trying. We have been soooo busy lately. I don't remember if I mentioned that we moved in any of my previous blogs...we are now living in Lehi. We absolutely love it here. Our ward is literally across the street. We could walk there is we wanted to, but it's been in the 90's and I am not use to this Utah sun yet. The sun is sweltering HOT! I totally MISS the California summers...oh how I took cali summers for granted. My girls love going to our pool. It's great because I refuse to do anything else during the day besides stay inside with my AC. All errands I've tried to set up online billing or I save all errands until around 6 when it's not so hot.
Lets see...in June Jared and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary. We didn't do much since we had already taken a trip to Hawaii this year so we went to our favorite restaurant Tucano's Brazillian Grill in Salt Lake. It has the most amazing food. Now I must warn you...you have to be a meat lover. They come around each table with a skewer of meat and it's just delicious. We actually brought our girls along with us because they love the food. Next to the restaurant is Clark's Planetarium. The girls love this place. They have an IMAX where they show 3D movies. Their favorite is Under the Sea. They also have movies they show in their Dome. Jared and I have seen Extreme Planets...honestly I was a bit bored, but I'm sure those fascinated by space will love it. Our next movie we want to see with the girls is Bugs 3D. I'm sure Sela will enjoy it, but Sinalei will probably freak out. Over all it was a wonderful anniversary. I'm thankful for everything that my husband does for my children and I. He's an extremely hard worker and the BEST father ever.
Sela went to her new Pediatrician this week. The staff is great and he's a wonderful doctor. She got 2 shots...where she cried for maybe 2 minutes, but complained that her leg hurt the rest of the day. She measured 36 inches and 32 pounds. In January she was 32 inches...I cant beleieve how much she's grown in 6 months. Her doctor said she was a bit "stocky" for her height...I was like are you kidding me..lol. I'm always hearing she needs to gain weight...so I guess for a Poly baby she's "skinny" hehe oh well. Sinalei goes in for her Doctor's appt. in August and I'm sure she'll be tiny for her age. Sela is learning so much right now. Her speech is coming along and she is completely POTTY TRAINED!!!! I cant beleive it. I tried to Potty train her after she turned 2 and I wasn't having any luck, but 3 months later and she was practically potty training herself. We just used some positive reinforcement...high fives...no candy needed. She's becoming such a big girl...kind of makes me sad how fast she's growing up. In 4 months she's going to be a big sister again. That's why I'm glad that I've been able to have some one on one time with her. Her sister Sinalei is in California with her grandparents having the time of her life. I'm sure she's enjoying being spoiled rotten. Sela and I have been hanging out. Jared's been so wonderful when he gets home from work. He always suggests that we go somewhere when he gets home. We've been hitting up Cabela's, Walmart and other little stores Sela loves to run wild in. If you've never been to Cabela's and you love camping you should go. The have a bunch of taxodermy and an aquarium that my kids enjoy. They also have a restaurant that served meat like elk. I wasn't brave enough to try it, but I did have their club sandwhich which was yummy.
July 4th was a blast. We met up with Jared's siblings and they had a BBQ and then we watched some fireworks. Sela loved it. She was also obsessed with these kites that people were flying at night. I think Jared and I will get her one and see how it goes.
We wish Sinalei could of been with us, but we know she had just as much fun. We cant wait for her to come back home. Her siter misses her a lot. She asks me ever morning, "momma where's sissy?" She loves her sister dearly.

I went in for my first official doctor's visit this week. All we did was some blood work and a previous pregnancy/birth questionaire with the nurse. She was great. They called me the next day to tell me that I was anemic (which I am normally anyway) and I needed to take some iron pills. I had been noticing that I was feeling very lethargic lately and I was sleeping in till 11...which is unusual for me since I am a morning person. Lucky for me my daughters sleep in till 11 as well. Anyway I've noticed a dramtic change in my level of energy since I've been taking my prenatal and iron pill. So I'm back to my normal self again. I have my official ultrasound Friday where they will tell me my exact due date. I'm pretty excited. So I'm sure I will find some time to blog about it.

Family Vacation

We went on a spontaneous trip to Hawaii last month. It was a blast!!! We didnt really do much except be beach bums and hit up a great shaved ice place. I love Hawaii so much. The people are soooo nice and it's just BEAUTIFUL. The water is crystal clear and the weather is perfect. My girls loved the beach. Sela loved the waved, but she got knocked over on day 3 so ever since then she stayed far away from it. Sela and Sinalei were content with drawing in the sand and playign with their cousin Semisi.
One of our favorite things to do was watching the sunset in Waikiki. We also went to Aloha Stadium, which is a huge swap meet. We bought some cute t-shirts for the girls and some yummy treats.
The shaved ice place we always go to when we're in Hawaii is call Matsumoto's. It has the most delicious shaved ice ever. I totally recommend it to everyone.Here we are visiting Jared's cousin Monique. She was wonderful. She made us delicious burritos for dinner.
I had such an amazing time and I cant wait to go back!

Elder Gregory Utupo

In April my borther Greg entered the MTC. We're all so proud of him for making the decision to serve a mission. I know that the people of Washigton will love him. We all miss him so much, but we enjoy hearing all of his funny letters. He just left for Washigton on the 16th of May. He was actually suppose to leave the last week of April, but he injured his ankle playing basketball on P-day. We were all worried, but we're all relieved that he is finally out in the field. I love sending him packages...but I think I better stop because he's already gained 25 pounds!!! Can u believe it??? They must be feeding this kid well in the MTC. Greg is the first boy to serve his mission in my family. So he is so spoiled in the field. I think he gets 2 packages a week and tons of letter. I try to write him every 2 weeks. His birthday is coming up in June so I'm going to have to think of something special to send him. Greg is such a great brother and I see how much he loves being a missionary. I cant wait for him to come home and see how much he's grown.

Sela and Sinalei's Birthday Party

In April, Jared and I had a small birthday Party for our youngest Sinalei. Sela and Sinalei's birthdays are separated by 6 days so it was kind of for both of them. It was a ton of fun. We had some family over and just enjoyed lots of food and good company.
I cant believe how fast my girls are growing up. They're both walking and running around. It makes me so happy whenever I see them playing together. Sela has become such an amazing older sister. She always makes sure her sister is okay when she starts crying and loves to take walks with Sinalei down our street, but she has to be holding her sister's hand. The only downside is that Sinalei gets irritated with Sela very quickly. Sinalei is a very independent child sometimes. Since she was maybe 10 months she refused to let me feed her. I have to put the food in her hand so she can feed herself. I hate it because she can get pretty messy. I have come to truly believe that each child really does come with their own personality.
I love Sela's spunkiness and she is such a little comedian. She loves to make people laugh. She also loves to dress up. She just started to pick her own clothes and she's a fan of extra girly dresses. Sela is very friendly once she gets comfortable and loves meeting new people.
Sinalei was such a handful for the first...I dont know maybe 7 months of her life. She was ALWAYS crying. I dont know what it was, but I am sure glad that she has calmed down a lot. She is a very demanding child, but I find it a little entertaining at times. She takes a lot longer to warm up to people, but once she has, she's such a delight. She loves to dance and sing like her sister. She loves to follow her sister around...as long as Sela doesnt try to smother her. She has the cutest raspy laugh. Sinalei NEVER smiles at strangers. People will stop at the mall and tell her how cute she is, but she wont budge...no smile..lol. Well I guess thats just her.
I loves my girls so much and I'm glad that we were able to celebrate their birthdays with family.

Happy 1st Birthday Sinalei

I cant believe that our daughter is already a year old. It feels like its really flown by. She wasn't the easiest baby, but she brings so much joy into our lives. She decided to start walking right before her birthday and she absolutely loves it. She loves to play with her sister, as long as she's not bossing her around. We love you Sinalei.

Oh the Holidays (warning tons of pictures)

So I haven't blogged in a while because I've been so busy with my kids. We've done a lot of fun things the past couple of months.

In November, Jared and I took our daughter Sela to see the Backyardigans Live (courtesy of her Grandma Sela). The seats were awesome! Front and center...we couldn't have asked for better seats. Our daughter had the time of her life. She was laughing, singing and dancing.

Thanksgiving was great too. We spent it with both of our families. We had Thansgiving lunch with the Rogers clan and then went to my families. During Thanksgiving weekend we took family pictures at the beach with Jared's family. They turned out great. Here are a couple of them.

It was really hard to take pictures with my oldest daughter. She is such a handful. I actually lost my temper with her because she would not cooperate at all..lol. Oh well I guess I cant expect a lot out of a 1 1/2 year old. Hopefully next time she'll be better behaved. My nephew and youngest daughter were hamming it up so that was great. Overall Thanksgiving was wonderful. I love spending time with our families and seeing how much our families have grown.

December has been such a whirlwind with Christmas coming up and so many ward activities. We had a great time at the ward Christmas party. I heard my daughter Sela was tearing it up on the dance floor with everyone. She is so full of life and is such a little comedian. She cracks us up everyday. Oh yeah and her favorite place to go is nursery on Sunday. She begs to go up there during Sacrament. It's kind of funny.

My Great Aunt also came down to visit and we spent a lot of time with her. She spoils my kids and me rotten!!! I got some awesome perfume by Ed Hardy. It's my new favcorite scent. We also got to go to dinner a couple of times. My daughter's love her so much.

For Christmas my siblings and I got together to take pictures for my parents. I think they came out cute.

I love my brothers and sisters. It's getting so fun because as they get older I can relate to them more...and not feel so much like their mother.
Sela

Sinalei

This past week I got together with a bunch of my girlfriends to wish our friend Chiemi goodbye as she relocates to Utah. It was sooooo much fun just reminicing about old memories. We were laughing so hard. I am going to miss her so much and hopefully I'll be able to visit her soon. have a safe trip Chiemi and please keep in touch. I am so glad that we reconnected.

As Christmas draws near I am just so overcome with a feeling of gratitude. Jared and I have been so blessed this year. It is so easy to look at all of the negative things happening in our lives, but if we just take a step back and see all of the blessings we have I'm sure all of our attitudes would change. My visiting teacher last month suggested making a "I am thankful for..." journal. I think it's a great idea. You get to think of all the "little" blessings we receive each day. One blessing that I am extremely thankful for is our families. Without them I don't know where my husband and I would be....we'd probably be homeless..lol..k maybe not homeless, but we sure would be struggling. I am also thankful for my children. They are the WORLD to me. They make me a better, more patient, loving person. Because of them I've gained a better understanding of our Savior's love for each of us. As Christmas comes along lets try not to focus on the "WORDLY" things and focus more on the true meaning of Christmas. Lets try to serve more and be better people. I love my family and my friends and am thankful for the impact you all have had in my life.