Check Ups

About a week and a half ago I took Dimitri and Karmen to the doctor for their check ups.  Dimitri: 3 years, Karmen: 4 months.  Here are their measurements:
Dimitri: 38lbs (94th percentile) and 38.75 inches (72nd percentile)
Baby Karmen: 17.1lbs (95th percentile), 26 inches long (91st percentile),  and 17.1 inches in head diameter (93rd percentile)

The doctor said they both appear to be healthy and developing properly.  He did hear a slight heart murmur on Dimitri but he doesn't think it is serious but just to be sure he referred us to a pediatric cardiologist.  Dimitri has an appointment with the cardiologist on the first of April.

Good Cold Fun!

There hadn't been snow on the ground for some time now.  I thought that we might have missed out chance to make a snowman the season.  On Thursday the snow came and there was plenty for us to work with on Friday.  When the girls went down for their naps Dimitri and I ran outside in our snow pants and got to work.  We made our first snowman ever.  It was a ton of fun.  We took some pictures with the snowman.  A friendly neighbor, who had seen the difficulty I was having trying to get Dimitri and I in the same picture, took one for us.  When we came inside Katina had just woken up and Baby Karmen was still sleeping so you got Katina dressed and took her outside.  Byron came home when I was getting Kat ready in her snow pants.  So we all went out to enjoy the snowman.  

Mr. Snowman was rather popular.  From our living room window we could see neighbors take their kids outside and take pictures and play with him.  I never knew how heavy packed snow could be until I had to lift his body parts of the ground. =)

2.5 years later...

I finally finished my first sewing project.  I started it when Dimitri was 6 months old.  It's been 2.5 years since then.  Two weeks ago I picked it up ago and finished it last weekend.  This is the first thing that I have ever

sewn with a sewing machine.  I wanted the practice before I started on Katina's Easter dress.

 

  

  

 

Valentine's Day aka Heart Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  Or Happy Heart Day according to Dimitri.

Byron spoke in church on Sunday about Love.  While Byron was up front I took care of the 3 kiddos during Sacrament meeting.  They did really well and were mostly quiet.  At the end of Nursery Katina and Dimitri handed out Valentines to their fellow classmates.  They seemed to really enjoy handing out the cards.  After church we had a nice evening at home.

Here is a picture summary of our holiday festivities:

The New Us

Byron and I are trying to be healthier and are recommitting to losing weight.  We are going to post things on our blog so that we feel more accountable and help us stay motivated.  

Goal of the Day:
Control Portion Size

Easter Project

For Easter I am going to attempt to make Katina's Dress.  Here is the Pattern Byron chose.  I really like it.  I hope it comes out ok.  I will post pictures of the finished product.  Wish me luck!

All Caught Up

Well, I think that does it. I have caught up on most of the main items I wanted to post. Now I need to stop blogging and finish the dishes. =D

Anita vs Katina's Hair

I gave Katina bangs because her hair was uncooperative. It would always fall in her face unless it was in a rubber band. As soon as I would take the rubber band out, her hair would flop back into her face. So I gave her bangs so she could see better. I could never get a part to stay with hairspray or gel. Her hair must of had magical powers because it would just return to its original state which was right in front of her face.

Since this picture was taken I have fixed it a bit more. I think it works for her.

Dimitri turns 3!

My baby boy is now 3 years old!!! For his birthday I made him a "Birthday Boy" Sign that he wore to the mall and had people tell him happy birthday. He really likes people so he had a lot of fun. We also took him to Red Robin for "hambygergers" (I love they way he says hamburger, it reminds me of Steve Martin in the Pink Panther.) The girls at Red Robin gave him a balloon. It was the closest color to orange that they had. It turns out that Orange is his favorite color. I never knew anyone whose favorite color was orange. When I was in college sure but not as a kid. I think that is shows that he is a true Longhorn fan! Makes me so proud.

PS- The black eye is compliments of Katina with here sippy cup. Ouch!

*Happy Anniversary*

For our 4th Anniversary we celebrated by putting on our UT gear and watching the National Championship Game. It was sad to see McCoy get injured so early in the game. We had a lot of fun though. Next year's football team will be AWESOME! Looking forward to it. Hook 'Em!

Smile!

Here is a picture taken around Karmen's two months. It is one of her first smiles caught on camera. She is very smiley. Recently she has started to laugh. But she doesn't find her parents all that funny. However, Dimitri and Katina crack her up!!! Her first laugh was more like a giggle fit that lasted a minute or two thanks to her siblings.

Christmas Cookies in Provo

As a family we attempted to make Christmas cookies. I soon learned that I need to alter the recipe because of the altitude. The cookies came out deformed. I still don't have a good sugar cookie cut out recipe for High Altitude. Below is a picture of what our cookies looked like before they went into the oven. I love my TX cookie cutter.

2010 Happy New Year!

I am a little late seeing how it is now February but HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This year I am going to be a better blogger. I want to be able to connect with people while we are in Provo.

Byron is attending BYU. We are really excited to be here even though we miss TX a whole bunch.

Since our last post we have a new addition to the Family... Baby Karmen born Oct 13th. I think we are going to have a lot of fun with the Friday the 13th thing for the occasional birthday.

Hot Hot Hot!

Today it has been cooler than other days. The high is suppose to be ~94 degrees and currently it is 86 degrees @ 12:30pm. I use to check the weather pretty frequently. Ever since the weeks and weeks of above 100 degree temperatures(beginning of summer) I stopped checking. Hot is Hot!

Almost the End of August

This month went by really fast! It feels like this month just started.

Quick updates:

Baby #3 at 32 weeks is measuring approximately 5.25lbs. So that puts her on track for being huge. Again. They said that if she puts on half a pound a week from here to her due date that she will be around 9.5lbs. But seeing how she is suppose to be around 3.75lbs at 32 weeks and she is already big she isn't growing at the normal pace. You don't weigh 5.25lbs by growing at the normal rate. So I think I will stop counting the 39-40th week. That last week that hasn't seemed ever take place because of their hugeness. So instead of 8 more weeks I am going to tell people 7 weeks.

We are still trying to pick out a name for baby #3. We thought we had a name picked out before but we aren't so sure anymore. So I started to create a list of possible names.

Our current top secret plan seems to be going according to plan... more on this when we are ready. We have made too many changes over the past year to feel confident about announcing our current plan.

Dimitri and Katina are adorable. Katina is super sweet. Dimitri is full of energy and getting into a lot of trouble. Byron says he is just being curious. Dimitri really likes to "help" out. Today he helped me cook stuffed bell peppers and cookies. Too cute.

I turned 25 this month.

It's been really hot this summer.

I was able to see my Dad's family get sealed in the temple earlier this month. It was a really neat experience.

Last Day of July

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. We will be welcoming another baby in 2.5 months. Summer is almost over and we have only been swimming a handful of times. This week we changed our life plans too many times to count because things kept coming up. We think we have a plan but I will wait to post what we have decided until we are more certain. Katina is walking really well and Dimitri is talking more and more. He is using full sentences it is great!

Things that I am looking forward to in Aug '09:
-turning 25
-going to see the Wiggles Live at the Paramount
-Coopers BBQ
-Family BBQ
-More HOT weather (yikes!)

Cake

The cake for Byron's birthday was really good. I added chocolate syrup too and did not have chocolate covered toffee just regular toffee bits. The name is kind of embarrassing.

Byron's Birthday Cake Recipe

I am going to attempt to make this cake for Byron's birthday. I was looking for a recipe similar to one a friend use to make but I couldn't find her version. So instead of attempting it from memory I found this version which seems to be very common and had a ton a good reviews. So hopefully it will taste good.

Better Than Sex Cake II

Rated:	Prep Time: 30 Minutes	Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Submitted By: ANGELADY41	Cook Time: 1 Hour	Servings: 24

"Rich chocolate cake, caramel, toffee, and whipped topping - need I say more?!"

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix 1/2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 6 ounces caramel ice cream topping

3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

1.	Bake cake according to package directions for a 9x13 inch pan; cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Make slits across the top of the cake, making sure not to go through to the bottom.
2.	In a saucepan over low heat, combine sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping, stirring until smooth and blended. Slowly pour the warm topping mixture over the top of the warm cake, letting it sink into the slits; then sprinkle the crushed chocolate toffee bars liberally across the entire cake while still warm. (Hint: I crush my candy bars into small chunks as opposed to crumbs - I like to have pieces I can chew on!)
3.	Let cake cool completely, then top with whipped topping. Decorate the top of the cake with some more chocolate toffee bar chunks and swirls of caramel topping. Refrigerate and serve right from the pan!

Customization

I finally figured out how to change the background. After several sites that lead to errors I found one that worked. I had to change the fonts but other than that it was a lot of fun. Yay!

Blogging

I have been on facebook for many years but it seems like everyone has a blog. I never write notes on facebook and I figured I would like to start blogging. So finding stuff to say and writing about them is new to me. What could I possible have to say that is blog worthy. I guess it forces me to slow down and think a bit harder about what is going on in my life instead of letting life fly by unnoticed.