Hey hey, just a quick update. The quarter has ended and we are now enjoying our spring break! We just found out today that Nathan passed all of his classes. He was a little worried, he always is at the end of the quarter but as usual he has come out triumphant and victorious. He's a lot smarter that he realizes. Our plans were to work on the garden over the break and get the planter boxes up and make it look pretty but as it has turned out, our neighbors have needed help getting their summer projects up and running too so Nathan hasn't had a lot of opportunity to garden. My cousin and neighbor has been nice enough to employ Nathan in helping him move out so we feel very blessed that the Lord has presented so many opportunities for Nathan to earn money. Benny is getting soooo much more active. He cannot be contained at church and we find ourselves missing a lot of the meetings. I remember when he couldn't move and he would just sit there and now I look at him now and wonder how people do it with more than 1 kid. I guess its something you work up to like most things in life. As for me, everything is going fine, I'm getting more and more excited for when the baby comes. I want to sleep on my stomach again and wear my old clothes and just be back to normal. Don't get me wrong, being pregnant is great but I'm ready for a change. I'm also very hopeful, I got an ultrasound today, and the baby is head down!! That means I might deliver naturally. I really don't want to do the whole C-section thing again. This baby seems a lot more active in the womb than Benny was. Nathan still thinks it will be a girl but I still don't got any gut feelings about this one. Anyways, ta ta.

Miracle

Okay, so lately Nathan and I have really been trying hard to save money. I mean, we've always been trying to save but this time we actually seem to be making progress. First of all, we managed to pay off all of our debt which consisted of my old student loans before we were married, so that opened up a lot of room to save money since we didn't have to make those payments anymore. Second, we decided to get a savings account at a separate bank. Before, our savings account was linked to our checking account so that we could transfer money from our savings to our checking with the click of a button on the internet. As you can see, that was very problematic. In other words, we didn't save anything that way. This way, with another savings account at another bank, we have to physically drive over there to withdraw any money. So, we finally have a little bit put away in saving that we've managed to keep our grubby little hands off but that also means we've had to live a little tighter since our savings aren't so accessible now. About a week ago, when Nathan got paid, we paid off bills and stuff and it was enough to get by accept that we wouldn't have enough for gas. Nathan began to think that we would have to take from our savings but we didn't want to because once you take a little, it gets easier to take the next time and this was kinda a little beginning of security for our family in case anything should go wrong. Anyways, we decided that we would be strong and not take from our savings and just trust in the Lord that He would provide some money for gas before our car reached the "E." Last night, we were coming home from cleaning the funeral homes and Nathan saw Lewis (my cousin and neighbor) working on an emergency renovation project and decided to just drop by and help. He helped Lewis till 1:00 in the morning! But when he finally came back, he said that Lewis had given him $40 for helping even though Nathan wasn't expecting it!! It was a miracle!! Just this morning, our gas light went on and I was able to fill up. It was such a happy sight watching the gauge go up. The Lord provided!! I was so excited about this little miracle that I had to write about it. It's a little thing but it was still amazing to us.

Obsession

Recently my awesome sister-in-law, Jillian, has introduced me to an amazing new author called Elizabeth Gaskell. I absolutely looove her writing. I've only read one book of hers but I've seen a couple of movies based on her novels and one movie in particular has taken hold of me. I have fallen in love with the movie "North and South."






















It's amazing. Pride and Prejudice fans can eat their heart out on this flick. I can't stop thinking about it. It's become rather an obsession with me, so I thought letting out my obsession in writing would help quell it a bit. After I watched it the first time, I watched it again the very next day and took the liberty of watching my favorite scenes over and over again and then I had to give it back to Jillian. Then I rented it from the library as soon as I could and kept watching it over and over till I found the will to return it back to the library early so that I wouldn't be glued to the screen all day. It has everything a truly good romance needs; a smart, out-spoken, independent heroine; an honorable gentleman that's willing to change for the heroine; and an involving and hearty plot with enduring characters. It's up there with my two other favorite chick flicks; "Pride and Prejudice" and "Anne of Green Gables." I've been noticing a lot of similarities between them. They all start out with the heroine hating the guy and they all involve a first proposal in which the guy gets rejected. There are other stuff too but I've already said too much for those who haven't seen it yet. I don't know why I find those kind of plots so appealing but I do. The character who plays Mr. Thorton is equivalent to Mr. Darcy but a bit more romantic and I think the end scene is a lot more romantic.... ahh so good. Anyways, I gotta go. Watch it!

I'm returning from a long slumber of not blogging finally. A lot has happened but things are still pretty much the same. Benny is now 1 year old and we had a fun birthday party at his grandma Robles home. It felt kinda awkward having him open presents especially since he had no idea what was going on. What is he supposed to do with them? He doesn't know everyone is expecting him to open them. Are they even necessary at such a young age? I don't know, but it was a fun excuse to gather as a family and eat cake.
Nathan is still chugging along at CBC and is past the halfway mark! This quarter we both took a class together and it has been fun. It will be the only class that we get to take together. I thought it would have been more fun to take a snowboarding class together when we were at BYU-I but he wasn't up to it then and biological anthropology is rewarding in its own way. I have decided to make an extra push and take two classes next quarter instead of one so that I can graduate. The plan is to graduate before the new baby comes. My due date (June 22) and the finals week for next quarter (June 18) are pretty close together so I'm hoping that this baby comes on time or a little later. I don't want to be in the hospital and have to worry about finals.
So I discovered that dehydration brings on contractions. A couple of weeks ago, I started experiencing pain in my abdomen and it kept getting worse. I ended up going to the hospital and felt kinda dumb when I found out all this came about just because I didn't drink enough water. I was actually kinda glad I went through it though because that was the first time I had ever felt a contraction!!! I never felt it with Benny so it was nice to know what to expect. I feel more prepared for when this new one comes now.
Anyways that's all for now, ta ta.


25 weeks along















The beginning of Benny's haircut















the middle, kinda has a captain picard feel to it















the conclusion, shorter than we thought but I like it















Benny loves the outdoors and he developed a habit of taking a walking stick with him on his walks