This Guy!!

We're a match made in some really odd, weird kind of Heaven.

♥ ♥ ♥ 

Friday the 13th is a lucky day!

It's my baby's birthday! 

If you ask him how old he is now, he'll hold up his little fat fingers & tell you that he is "fwee" years old. (That's THREE years old, if you didn't read that right.)

I try not to be a braggy mom but how can I not when he does so many cute things?!

His current favorite things include:
- Spiderman (ask him to show you his Spiderman web shooting hands)
- Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
- Thai rice
- "Somebody That I Used To Know" and this song..  (he knows every single word)
- Big Bear (but who are we kidding? Big Bear is always his favorite)
- David's version of the Three Little Pigs
- Swimming
- Pretending to be a robot ↓ ↓ ↓

David and I agree that he's probably the cutest child in existence (we are a little bit biased..)
And we just love this little guy. Oh so very much.

This Man of Mine

Gentlemen take note.
If you like a girl, get her flowers.
Doesn't need to be a holiday,
Actually, your ladies appreciated it more if there isn't a holiday.

David knows my favorites.
He brings me flowers often.
But he also knows that some of my most favorite flowers he's
gotten me, are ones he's pulled off the side of the road
to pick them himself.

Show Me Your Teeth

Is this the cutest face or what?
Okay, so he's got a lot of cute faces...
But this one is definitely one of my new favorites.

↑ The ONE time he reacted when I asked him to smile. ↑

And Calvin pouting that I laughed at his cuteness.

Here he is trying to escape the camera in the corner.

No such luck, little man.

Thank You, Blogger.

After a few tries, Blogger is finally letting me upload pictures! 

Sorry for the long wait! 

And for your patience, I reward you with these Hang Out Dood Tender Moments.

Do you love that Calvin is totally absorbed with that toy 

and not paying attention to David? This kid is so awesome.

Myself. Doodlin'.

The Best Surprise!

Sunday afternoon, after our stake conference, Cal and David and I went up to my parents' house for dinner as we always do. It was kind of a lazy Sunday, I headed over a little early since I really didn't have much to do after stake conference.
Enter the house, put Cal down on the floor (he takes off running, of course) and I see my whole family in the front room.

.... Strange..

And then out of nowhere, my Dad appears! He decided to drop in on us unexpectedly. We haven't seen him since December when he visited from Peru for Christmas. Actually, I was so confused! I talked to him just the day before on skype and he told me that he didn't know for sure when he was going to come visit. He said something like, "I may just come and surprise you all."
And of course, I was totally oblivious when he said that and didn't think anything of it.
And here he was! Fresh off the plane from Peru!
Turned out to be a much more interesting Sunday afternoon than I'd originally thought I'd have.

I am not sure what is happening in the above picture. 

I like to think that this is my little sister's best surprised face. Ha! 

Kisses with Calvin

This is yet another example of my Dad's very animated story telling skills.

And last but not least, we filmed my sister Andrea seeing my dad as he entered the room.

Her reaction was GOLDEN. 

Dozer

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day for the Gomez Family.
Our puppy, Dozer, will officially be going to a new home tomorrow around 6 p.m.

He is technically mine and David's dog. We thought we could keep Dozer at my parents' house temporarily (one year or so) until we could get out of our apartment complex, since we don't have the money to pay for a pet deposit. Soon, one year turned into two years, and we've just renewed our lease for a third year in this complex. Which means Dozer has stayed at my parents house for longer than we'd planned. And it's been really good there for him. The only thing is that with my parents working and all of the kids gone at school and such all day from early in the morning to late in the afternoon, Dozer doesn't get a whole lot of attention (poor thing has to hold his pee for that long?!).

So we decided it would be best for him to go to a home that could give him the care he deserves.
We found a home for him not too far from where we are. A family with a stay-at-home mom and two little girls who want a loving doggy. It makes me happy for both the family and for Dozer, but I am going to miss his cute cuddly self. He fits in so nicely with our family, I mean, the dog loves to sing, after all.

Seems so silly to be writing all of this about a dog, but he is part of our family.
He will be greatly missed.

Zumba. Need I say more?

And now....


A little bit about an obsession of mine.
ZUMBA!!

(anyone surprised?)

Here are some pictures from a recent 2-hour Zumba event (or Zumbathon, as it is lovingly called) I attended. Wooo!

My sisters and I after the Provo Zumbathon 

This was a Zumbathon held in Midvale. I got some AIR!

The Instructors and I. We are a pretty good lookin' group, no?

Provo Zumbathon up on that scary wobbly "stage".

Midvale Zumbathon shakin' our bootays! 

Nice and sweaty!!

You can read more about it here on the Zumba Blog. 

Two Hang Out Dudes..

Calvin never gets this cuddly with me *whine*

I enjoy seeing these moments.

A Moment of Still.

Calvin goes down for the night at 8 and doesn't make a sound for the entire rest of the night.
Tonight, David and I heard him crying in his bed and decided to go in and comfort him.

I'm not totally sure what got him so upset (bad dream, sore gums from teething, etc). But I could tell from his hiccuping and huge tears that he needed some mom and dad time. And after singing all of the primary songs I could think of and rubbing his back (all of this while his dad is holding him all wrapped up in a blanket with Big Bear). And the hiccuping began to slow and finally stopped. We thought he'd fallen back to sleep because it's a rare thing for Calvin to stay still in one spot unless he's sleeping. I lean over to see whether he's sleeping and his little eyes drift over to meet mine and he just looked at me, his head buried in his dad's chest. It was this awesome moment of peace. I could feel the love radiating from David to Calvin and at that moment, I think Calvin felt comforted to know that his parents were there to save him from whatever. There we all sat quietly on the bean bag for a while. We read "Where The Wild Things Are", said goodnight and Calvin curled up with Big Bear and a blanket and went straight to sleep without a fuss.

It was this amazing togetherness I felt right then. We didn't need some cheesy, expensive outing for us to feel that connection. No frills. Just the quiet of that room that enveloped all of us right after the fear.
I always wish that moments like this would happen more often, but then I know that if they did, I wouldn't appreciate them as much as I do.

It's amazing what little children can show you, teach you and make you feel.

~Angie

ZUMBA!! :)

My dear sister, Andrea, who is also a Zumba instructor finally found a job at a local Taekwondo studio in Lindon and she is officially now teaching Tuesdays and Thursdays there at 8 o'clock. Last Thursday was Andrea's first day teaching at her new studio and I'm pretty sure at least 40 people were there, Zumba-ing and having a good time. I was a little new to some of the choreography haha as I'm sure most of us were, but we all picked it up pretty easily. Andrea is such a great instructor. :)

There are a few more pictures that I'm sure Andrea will post on her blog. Anyway I have been missing out on my Gold's Zumba classes for like two weeks and I feel like I haven't lived in that period of time! Okay, maybe that was a stretch. But I certainly do miss it. I am finally MAKING the time to go this week. In fact, I intend on going everyday this week (except Sunday, of course). How could you blame me? I just LOVE MY ZUMBA!

Big Bear and Baby Cal.

David and I first realized Calvin's love for stuffed animals when he was only a few months old. But we never thought it was anything more than "ooooh colorful!" or something he'd just eventually put in his mouth and drool all over.
I actually bought Big Bear at Albertsons and thought, "He'll never like this.. he probably won't care for it in another week or so" and it was my sister Andrea who insisted that I buy it. She noticed how much he loved it right away and that he didn't want to let him go. And so for Christmas last year, Calvin got Big Bear and it was love at first sight. I've actually just recently found HOLES in Big Bear because of how much rough housing he's been through with Calvin.
David and I have actually started sticking Big Bear in Calvin's crib so in the morning he wakes up and sees him there. We've actually found him "talking" to Big Bear in the morning when we go into his room to say good morning!
It's so cute and funny. It's like Big Bear is alive to him and he talks to him and hugs him and kisses him. He'll tackle him and lay on him. I LOVE watching him play with Big Bear. So after all this time, I finally took pictures of him with Big Bear. Sorry if the pictures are blurry, Calvin was moving pretty fast when I was trying to capture him with Big Bear.

I adore my little (SHIRTLESS) baby Calvin. 

Always A Crowd Pleaser..

I get so "Mom-ish" when I get to playing with my little Calvin. There is something so wonderful about his little personality. David and I always talk about what a blessing he is in our lives and how much light and joy he brings. 

I'm afraid Calvin is going to feel a little neglected this weekend. David and I have loads of things we have to do this weekend that require all of our attention. Unfortunately, that means we have to leave Calvin with someone else. Although I know he's in wonderful care, I miss Calvin so much when we leave him with my parents. It must be a parent thing. Like I feel like I have to squeeze him so tight like it's the last time I'll ever see him. Ah. I love that little guy. 

Anyway, Calvin's been learning new ways to "cute" his way into getting things he wants. I can see now how he might use his little tricks to manipulate me in the future. I've got to keep a close eye on my little boy.

He's my everything.

Genesis Sunday

Conference Weekend. Don't you just love it?

A friend of our family spent conference with us yesterday and invited us to a fireside in Salt Lake in which he was participating. He is in a group called R.O.C. (which stands for "Remembering Our Culture"). Both my sister, Andrea and I were part of this group a few years back! Immediately, I got kind of a bad taste in my mouth- Andrea and I left because of some unfairness we felt in the group. Anyway, Joshua asked us to please go with him to the fireside because it was going to be a special fireside. This was going to be in Salt Lake with a congregation known as the Genesis Congregation which basically is a group for "colored" LDS people. I've heard in the past that Genesis is a lot of fun to be a part of so I decided I'd go. I really didn't know what to expect- like, I didn't know if I was about to attend a Baptist congregation or something I wasn't used to.. and I was partly right. ... I definitely wasn't used to this. 

We finally found our way to the church and sat in the congregation. The chapel filled and ROC began to sing. Although the music was nice (and just as I'd left it), it wasn't the music that made my evening great. The evening was filled with gospel style LDS music and even some real gospel music.. Yes. And that came with clapping, standing, dancing, and a number of hallelujah's and amens. Like I mentioned before, I was not used to seeing such behavior in a chapel.. Then again - I've never seen so many Black people in one room! It was really really fun. Andrea felt a little bit uncomfortable getting into the swaying and the clapping but I felt right at home. I think I really needed to feel the spirit that way. I can't really describe the way it feels other than, the music is so wonderful, and loud and everyone is singing almost like it was their way of offering praise for the Lord. It just filled me and made my heart swell.. (I hope I did an adequate job at describing that feeling.. It only happens with music)

At one part of the meeting, a gentleman got up and sang "Amazing Grace" in the most beautiful way I've ever heard it sung. It wasn't full of technical runs or high notes.. It was just sung in the way he knew best and the congregation hummed along in the verses and sang the words they knew during the chorus. It was really very touching. 

And my favorite part of this particular fireside was a lady who'd just recently moved from Alabama who called herself Sister Dee. She is also a recent convert to the LDS faith from being a deep south Baptist! She talked about how "at home" she felt with the music and the spirit and also her conversion story. She shared her story about growing up- Sister Dee actually had the privilege of knowing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. AMAZING. And she told of the marches she'd participated in and hearing the "I Have A Dream" Speech at Washington D.C. and also how Dr. King told them to be peaceful and to overcome. I was amazed at her experiences and her testimony of faith (Not to mention, she wore the coolest hat). I can't say enough about that amazing piece of history that she shared with us. 

The evening ended with one of my favorite songs by ROC called "My Life Is In Your Hands" (Listen to the song, here.) No matter the bitterness I feel sometimes toward my experience in ROC, I nearly ALWAYS am brought to tears by this song when I hear it sung in a fireside. 

Wow, this is a very long entry.. Sorry.... 

Anyway, I was so glad to have gone and been part of Genesis for one night. I had a marvelous time.

Sister Dee also recalled singing "We Shall Overcome" while marching with Dr. King.

 

Blessings Flow

Teri (A neighborhood friend) was over at my house yesterday. We spent a good chunk of our day making headbands, watching The OC, and talking about baby things. Teri's pregnant and 18 weeks. We were talking about how excited she is, and I am so excited for her. She can feel her little girl kicking now! We got onto the subject of parenting.

A lot of people tend to look at me (whether they mean to or not) with this expression that says "Oh, you're tied down with a baby and a husband" or "Oh, you're settled". It makes me a little frustrated more times than not. Not because I'm frustrated that I can't go out to the club or whatever the hip youngsters are doing nowadays... but because they have NO idea what they're missing out on.

True Confession:
Finding out I was pregnant was one of my hardest days. I remember feeling a huge sinking sensation in my stomach and tears welling up in my eyes because I had no idea how David and I were going to survive and provide for a baby! Not only that, but I had plans (finishing school, going to Disneyland, etc). But as time went on, and the weight kept building and my belly kept growing- I felt myself being more drawn to the idea of having a family and raising a little boy. Finally- Calvin made his debut and I could not have been happier.

As Teri and I continued our talk on family and babies it was like, WOW. I feel so blessed. I described to Teri how amazing it felt to finally see Calvin. How fun it is to watch them learn and grow, and how much you grow in that process as well. I can honestly say I would not have my life any other way.

I know it's cheesy. I feel like I need to share this- I feel so happy sometimes. Like I'm as light as a mist and at any moment I could be blown away by a breeze. Light as air.

I can't wait for Teri (or anyone else for that matter) to feel that way too.
It's the greatest feeling in the world.



Better than prom.
Better than finding a dollar bill in your pants.
Better than finding your favorite color of nail polish.
Better than stepping on a crunchy leaf in the fall.

:)
My heart is so full.