Happy Birthday to me!

I had a delayed birthday celebration. It's hard to get everyone together because of work, callings, etc. So we ended up celebrating my birthday on Sunday night instead of Saturday. We were planning on eating my bday dinner (RIBS!!!) around 5 but again delays. The power went out while we were cooking the ribs and then there was seminary graduation, so we didn't eat until 9:30-10! And yes, Jax and Jake stayed up. Jake only made it halfway through dinner though! We had Elder Landeen eating with us, who is not an Elder anymore... but it's weird to call him his first name. He was a missionary here a few months ago and came back to visit. Speaking of missionaries, our new missionary sounds exactly like Jacob from Twilight... Taylor Lautner. It's not just me either. When I told him that, he says he hears that ALL the time. :) I love it. Ok, so here are some pictures of the adorable birthday cake Luis made.

Not pregnant!

It happened to me... Someone asked me if I was pregnant, and I'm NOT!!! Hahaha, I just laughed, I wasn't insulted or anything. It was a lady in our ward that I used to visit teach. When I was pregnant with Jake, she asked me if I was pregnant and she was right... she knew before anyone in the ward, even my friends! Well, I guess she got too confident because she asked me that today... and she was wrong. Her husband was with her and he looked so embarrassed, which was the funniest part. I was wearing the dress from the post below, and it's very light and flowy fabric, so maybe not that flattering! Still love it though!

Sewing adventure

When I say Sewing adventure, I'm sure you automatically assumed I had done the sewing... I did about one minute of sewing, if that, before my mental breakdown caused Silvia to lovingly intervene. Actually, I begged her to do it for me. I like the idea of sewing, but when it actually comes down to it, it is way to stressful! I have such a fear of messing up. A few months ago bought 3 pairs of pants and hemmed them all and even fixed a hole in one of them... It turned out ok, but not impressive. I also now can sew on buttons... again, not an impressive task, but for me it's a big deal! I bought this dress online and when I got it, it was of course, a little short on the bottom. Kinda cutting it close. So, I bought some matching fabric and Silvia and I sewed a rim around the bottom and put a triangle at the neckline so I won't need to wear a shirt underneath. What do you think? I think it turned out really cute. All I really did was iron the gray fabric pieces and pin it together. Silvia did all the real work. I love the dress so much I was just way to stressed that I was going to mess it up. And the fabric is so fragile (don't know the right word...) That there really wouldn't be any fixing it!


Jake and Jax both love putting on anyones shoes, but especially my high heals. I finally had my camera around when they were doing it! The pic with Jackson's tummy showing is just too funny!

"The Echo"

The other day Luis read me a poem from the conference issue of the Ensign. It really hit home with me because it made me realize how important it is to be a good example to our children. We have such a huge responsibility to raise them right and teach them the true principles of the gospel. The world today really is full of so many things that can pull our children away from what is right... we need to be faithful and teach our children, through example, that we are enduring to the end!

’Twas a sheep not a lamb
That strayed away in the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong:
They lead the lambs astray.
Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong,
It won’t take long till the lambs are as wrong as they.
And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when the sheep are lost
What a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay.

Here is the complete article: http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/establishing-a-christ-centered-home?lang=eng&noLang=true&path=/general-conference/2011/04/establishing-a-christ-centered-home

I have read your blogs!

Ok, for the past few days I have been trying to post comments on everyone's blog but I can't I don't know what's going on. SO just so you all know, I am reading your blogs, I just can't comment!

Here's what I've wanted to say lately!

Kaylee: I can't believe how awesome Derek is at making those cupcakes and Happy (Late) Birthday to him! It sounds bad, but I am glad Jesse get's Bryan back now! I can't wait for Jake to get Jackson back! Poor baby gets so beat up!

Megan: I love how Tinian's bottom lip just pouts out all the time... it is too dang cute!

Aubry: That is awesome that Ricky got a job with his brother... Careful down there by the border! Just be happy it's not the Texas-Mexico border :)

Isabel: What's going on with you BESIDES Gaga?!?!?!

Love you all!

Do you know what a dangling participle is?

This is a conversation that Luis and I had as we were getting in to bed last night... Oh, a little background. Luis has been reading a book on rhetoric and has been learning a lot about correct grammar. So, here's what we said.

Luis: Do you know what a dangling participle is?
Me: The little thing hanging in the back of your throat?
Luis: Ah, see now I think I have to go to the bathroom. (I guess he had been debating to go or not to go... like I needed to know that!)
Me: Well, what is it?
Luis: #2
Me: No, I meant the dangling participle!
Luis: OH!!!

TMI!!!! I couldn't stop laughing! And for those of you who wonder, a dangling participle is something like - "Running quickly down the hill, the trash can tripped the little girl."

Luis has been saying so many things lately that are just cracking me up! I am always reminded of how fun it was when we were dating and I'd come home from being with him and I just couldn't stop smiling... my cheeks seriously hurt from laughing so much. My roommate, Ashley, would always say "You were just with Luis weren't you? I can tell because of your smile!" According to all my roommates, that's how they knew we were "Gonners", as in, there was no chance we weren't going to end up together... because he made me so happy!

The other day I asked Luis to look thr ough the freezers to find some kale we would need for soup.I reminded him that it is a green leafy vegetable with kind of ruffled edges. He starts looking and pulls out this bag of some other type of green, unidentifiable leaf and says "Hey Rachelle, can we smoke this?" What?!?!?!? Out of his mouth that was just hilarious. I think I need to start a quote book of hilarious things he says! Ok, on to some pictures!


These are the baby chicks that Silvia had in the incubator a few months ago. There are about 30 there... I know it doesn't look like it. The boys were obsessed with them! It was so cute. They always wanted to look at them!

The other day we were about to go to the clinic and Jackson saw Luis' car magazine on the way out the door and begged to take it with him. So I let him and Jackson fell in love. He kept saying "That's a nice car!" He must have overheard Luis at one point. It was so cute because he wouldn't put the magazine down. He kept saying "my car book" and I would say, "no, that's Daddy's car book" so Jax would humble himself and ask permission to look at it. It was too cute.

Change in name...

No, not me... been there, done that :) I am looking for a new name for our blog. I'm growing tired of "Proud 2 be Weger"... not that I am not proud to be Weger, but I'm also just as proud to be Doty and Paulos, so I think I am searching for something else... seeing as how "Proud to be Weger, Doty, and Paulos" just doesn't look right :) Any suggestions?

Let's see... update... I don't have any more pictures lately... we need to do some fun stuff. We are going to be starting Joy School with a couple of friends. So far there are 3 of us and several more interested. I am excited about this! I remember being in Joy School when I was young and I think Jackson definitely needs the structure before he starts real school. On that note, I have put together a Good Behavior Chart for Jackson and it is almost finished. Once it is I will post a picture. It is kinda lame (I am SO not crafty!) but it gets the job done. I really hope to see a change in behavior. I am also starting a token behavior system for church. He has had a lot of trouble in his class and rarely makes it through without being brought out to me. This is a problem because I am in the Primary presidency and am doing sharing time or conducting almost every Sunday and Luis teaches Young Men's 3rd hour. So we have really been struggling with this. The theory behind the token system is you break up the class into little time slots, like 10 minute increments, which are easier for a child to handle. Jackson makes a goal for how many stickers he wants and after every 10 minutes, we evaluate his behavior and if he was good, he gets a sticker. At the end of church, if he met his sticker goal he gets a big reward. In our case, ice cream or watching a movie or something that Jax loves. We are starting this for the first time tomorrow, so I will let you all know how it goes. Obviously his teacher will have to be very involved. Wish us luck!

Jackson's prayer

Luis or I usually start the prayer and sometimes Jackson wants to say it, whether he is asked to or not. Tonight, I started praying at bedtime and said "thank you for..." (I was going to say "our family")and Jackson jumped in with "the gold plates" which I immediately repeated... "thank you for the gold plates and..." Jackson again threw in "the bible"... so I said "and thank you for the bible". Then there was a long pause and Jackson said... "Um... thank you for the Book of Mormon." I couldn't help laughing during the prayer because it was so cute that he remembered all these things! I love it when Jackson tells us things to pray for without prompting! On Sunday he said his first prayer in Primary!!! With help of course, but he actually spoke instead of just standing there staring at everyone!

And speaking of staring... this is totally random. I was subbing today at a middle school and there was this boy that literally sat in his chair and stared at me for about 3/4 of the period. It was really uncomfortable. I would look at him and he'd look away really fast and then 2 seconds later look back and keep staring... it was really creepy. I would be working with the other kids and think, "Hey, I wonder if that kid is still staring at me..." and I'd look and sure enough, HE WAS! I'm serious... he was doing this for about 50 minutes. Weird.

GIRL'S NIGHT!

Ok, there is a story behind this girl's night. And first let me say... if you don't have girl's night, ladies... start doing it! I FIRMLY believe that every woman/mom/wife needs a break! Even if it's just once a month or something. Usually we just get together for dinner or a movie or something cheap. Well, on one of those occasions we all started reminiscing about tv shows we grew up with! you know... Family Matters, Full House, Step by Step, Growing Pains... and of course, Saved by the Bell! So we thought it would be really fun to get together and watch some of those old shows! So we decided to have an 80s themed Saved by the Bell marathon!!! We all dressed in our best 80s outfits... mine accomplished by raiding Silvia's closet... yes, those are her blue leggings and denim jacket! I had to look up what 80s fashion was like... afterall, I was only 4 years old in the 80s. Mom told me I should tease my hair, I still don't fully understand how that works :) I settled for the easy half-ponytail, classic! Blue eye shadow, big jewelry, mini skirt... all these things I learned through my 15 minutes of research are pure 80s! So, this is what I put together... oh yes, and who can forget the vest??? Again, compliments of Silvia :)


And here is a picture of all the girls! Thank goodness I am wearing leggings beneath that mini... :) I obviously missed the part that the 80s was very pink. Lesson learned!


Bottom line... so much fun hanging out with my friends and laughing and not worrying about kids... thanks to a husband that handles them so I can take it easy!

Brothers...

Jax and Jake are starting to act like brothers... you know, fighting all the time, being possessive of their things, beating each other up... well usually it's just Jake getting beat up. Jake copies everything Jax does which isn't good for the most part, because Jax gets into trouble a lot. For example... see pictures below. Matching forehead owies, both climb over up to the big bed in a dangerous way!


The babysitter got the boys dressed on Saturday and when I noticed what Jax was wearing I just cracked up. Those blue pants are actually Jake's size 12 month pants... they are super tight capri's on Jax :P






Jackson got a major bump on his forehead at church. Luis was taking him to timeout for the usual reason! Apparantly Jackson ran right into the outside door handle. You know the ones on the glass doors to the church? OUCH! Luis said it immediately started to swell, really big, and that it was really freaking him out. Luis isn't one to freak out at the kids getting hurt, so if he says he was worried, I would have been 100x worse! He ran and got some ice and thankfully it went down. This picture was taken after church, can you see the size of that! It was hard to get a good picture of it but it's all blue now, not a pretty sight!


The walkway outside is lined with these decorative bricks and Jake fell and landed with his face right into one!


Jackson has graduated to napping on our bed... uh, Becky's bed! Sometimes I put him down for a nap and if Jake is already sleeping in their room, I would put him in the playpen we have set up in our room. Well, I figured he's big enough to be on our bed, with more room. I was nervouse because it is so high off the ground, but I put pillows down and he was fine. He napped there again today.

My dear, sweet, manipulative Jackson!

Jackson is very familiar with time-out. Usually he makes a fuss or plays with the wall or something. Lately he has learned very well when to say I'm sorry. He now yells "I"m sorry, Mommy" from his time-out corner... which is very sweet. Well the other day he was in time-out and this is what I heard...

Gentle words I hear you say,
Your kind hands help me each day.
Your my mother kind and true,
Dearest mother, I love you.

That is the mother's day song they learned in Primary this year and the one they sang in Sacrament meeting. He was singing that to me from time-out! I'm sure he thought it was too sweet to resist... but he still did his time :)

Sometimes I find Jacob in his crib after a nap just sitting there, looking at the animals on his quilt that mom made. He points at the duck and says "du, du, du"! I love that he is beginning to talk!

A little bit of everything!

This is what happens when you give a book to the devil bird. You know who I mean... Sabrina... She eats it! I salvaged it thankfully, it is one of my favorite books from growing up. The binding was all torn but thank goodness for clear packing tape.


Jackson got his head in... but couldn't get it out... I was on the phone with Mom when he did this and I stood there laughing and getting my camera while she was on the other end saying "Go help him!" Haha! He was freaking out... at least I didn't have to get the butter. :)




Proof that the guys made dessert on mother's day!


Not the best picture, but I realized that Luis and I never take pictures together... so here is our impromptu picture on Mother's Day.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

We had a happy, yet uneventful, 5th anniversary! Luis spent the morning with me and the boys, we exercised, had lunch, hung out... then he went off to his office and Young Mens and then to run a few errands... so I was alone with the boys until about 10-10:30ish. So what did I do after the boys went to bed??? I watched a romantic movie, of course! After much debate I chose Serendipity because it is my all-time favorite love story! Probably because nothing like that would ever happen so perfectly in real life! If you haven't seen it... see it. Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack... I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time I watched it. Luis brought me home a piece of my absolute, most favorite chocolate cake... ever. It's from the Olive Garden... again... if you haven't tried it... go right NOW and order a piece. Right now! Mom, I know Dave is a chocoholic... take him to get a piece! Luis told them that it was our anniversary and asked them to decorate the box... this is the masterpiece he brought home :)

This one's for you, Alan!

I'm posting a lot today, I'm just in that mood! And some days there just isn't anything to say!

I just had to do a post about this! I've mentioned before that Jackson remembers Liz and Alan from the few times they have visited. Well, just as a background, whenever any of us come home, Xela, the little inside dog, hears the gate open and runs to the garage door and sniffs and whines until we come in. So, the other day, Jackson was eating lunch at the kitchen table and Xela thinks she hears the gate open (no one was really coming home) and runs to the door like usual. No doorbell, no car door slam, nothing... but Jax sees Xela run and he yells out "Alan! It's Alan! Alan is coming!" I cracked up! So hilarious... I just thought, where did that come from??? I haven't even told Jax that Liz is considering coming to visit soon. He just pulled that out of nowhere! Poor thing was so excited and I had to let him down by telling him it wasn't Alan coming home! So, Alan, if Liz comes to visit soon... you better come too!

I don't abuse my child...

...although it sure sounded like it in the Wendy's bathroom today! It was so embarrassing. Jackson has a dryer-phobia. He is TERRIFIED of the hand air-dryers in public bathrooms. Don't ask me why. He FREAKS out whenever he sees one... lately however... the fear has escalated to not even wanting to enter a public restroom. I can tell when he needs to go potty and we were eating lunch at Wendy's today and he started bouncing in his seat and shaking his legs... yeah, that's when we run to the potty. Well, I said "Jackson, let's go potty." and he started yelling and crying and screaming like he was dying. I had to drag him into the bathroom, physically put him on the toilet for him to go. He was screaming the whole time and kicking and punching and whatever else he could do to keep me away. Then when he was done he refused to leave the stall. he was almost hugging the toilet as I was trying to pull him out. I again, had to carry him out, screaming the whole way. Of course, I imagined everyone in Wendy's could hear my son... and yup, according to Silvia, they all had! It was horrible. We concluded that everyone probably thought I was beating/abusing him in some way. Sure hope he gets over this quick, but not likely since he's been afraid for MONTHS!

A beautiful day in South Texas

This is in response to Liz's post about the beautiful weather in Chicago... she posted a picture of a beautiful blue sky, sun shining and all... well... here is a picture of a beautiful day in South Texas!

I had just read your blog, Liz, when I walked outside and saw what kind of weather we are having! I had to run inside and grab my camera! It is such a relief from the heat! It's been in the 90s then all of the sudden, today is 70 degrees and not the slightest view of the sun! I love it! It is feels great. See, in South Texas, a gray sky is a beautiful day! :)



This is a random picture... and I wanted to get a shot before Alsation (the dog) got up from laying down. Anyways, dogs are man's best friend, but they are also man's best burglar deterrent... Wouldn't you be terrified if you walked into a yard and saw this!!! Sorry the picture is blurry, I don't have those awesome professional camera's like Liz and Megan. Anyway, I love the German Shephards and can't wait til Luis and I get some of our own!

Time Out For Women

...was amazing! I am so happy that I went. For those of you who don't know... it is basically a 2 day conference for women put on by Deseret Book. It was so much fun. I drove to San Antonio with 2 of my friends and met up with many more there. It was funny because there were actually some men in the audience... not cool. We don't go crash priesthood session... stay out of our conference :) Kidding, but it was kinda weird. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza on the riverwalk, Bethany got an amazing deal... and we were able to have dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Riverwalk. I was on a major budget so I had a teeny tiny salad. I figured since I am doing P90X, it helps me save money and eat right :)Plus, the Riverwalk is very expensive! On Friday night Sheri Dew spoke which was so wonderful. I have never heard her speak and now I know why she is as popular as she is! I loved it. I learned so much... I wish I could type everything out for you guys! I went over all my notes with Luis and shared some of what I learned but it isn't that same. You know, the moment I walked into the room the very first time, the Spirit just hit me, so hard! There were 2400 LDS women in one room! Amazing... all waiting to be spiritually fed! I imagine this is what being at the Conference Center for Genereal Conference would be like. We learned a lot about our identity, meeting God's expectations (which are very high by the way :), female friendship, and becoming the women we are meant to be! There was so much music involved too! The first night the musical presenter was Dallyn Vail Bayles... This is the first time I ever heard him but he was amazing. He a lot of church music but also sang "Bring him home" from Les Miserables (He sang on Broadway in Les Mis and Phantom, so needless to say, he was amazing). There were many speakers the next day and I can't remember their names. I do remember one, Kris Belcher. I can't believe her story. She shared about overcoming her trials. She went blind 7 years ago and has an amazing story of coping and learning to realize Heavenly Father's love for each of us! Such a good example and it made me feel like my trials are nothing, at least I have my sight, hearing, a healthy body!!! The musical presenters the next day were... get this... Jericho Road! Ha, it brought me back to my middle school/high school days when I owned their CDs... I still remembered the words to some of the songs they sang! At one point, they were kind of making fun of themselves for being a boy band, which they are proud of. Then started to sing songs from other popular boy bands, Boys II Men, Jackson 5, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!! You should have seen that room of 2000+ middle aged women turn into 12 year old girls again! It was hilarious... anyway, they are very talented singers and we had a lot of fun. I didn't win any of the prize raffles they had- I never do! If any of you ever have the chance to go, GO! It was so worth it. It was spiritual but so much fun at the same time. IF you imagining an atmosphere like General conference... very serious... you are totally wrong! What a blast! I am going to go the next time they come close to our area. I left with a completely new resolve to be a better mother/wife/servant of the Lord!

http://deseretbook.com/timeout

This is what happens when Jax dresses himself

I asked Jackson to change out of his church clothes when we came home today. When I found him, this is how he turned out... those are some cute booty shorts huh??? Actually they should be down to his knee but he had them all rolled up over and over at the waist :)