The Injustices of Motherhood

Lately, I've come to learn that life just isn't fair. My pregnancies aren't the greatest. I'm nauseous and sick for the entire first trimester, I get migraines, my face gets numb, I salivate like crazy, I gain about 40 lbs, and I have major back pain which leads to what seems like endless insomnia. Then after 9 months of enduring all this, I go through the labor. And well, I won't go into details about THAT! It seems only fair that Moms get a little credit.

So it is with great displeasure that I announce Evan's first word: Dada.

Now I'm only joking about being unhappy about it. Dallin is thrilled about it, and so am I, really. But I can't believe that NONE of my kids has said "mama" first. It seems like an easier word to say. I mean, you don't have to use your tongue to say it, like you do with "dada". You BARELY have to open your lips to say "mama." AND, I have to admit I have spent countless moments repeating "mama" to all of my kids to get them geared up "their first word." Life just isn't fair! :)

It really is cute hearing Evan say it. He says it all day long, sometimes even screaming it. He said it for the first time on November 26th. He is 8 months old.

I also have to report that we had a great Thanksgiving here in Reno. We hosted it and had my brother Juan and his family come out and my sister Becky and her husband Garrett. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins, and I have to say their Uncle Garrett was a big hit. In fact, Aubrey is still talking about Garrett. On the day, he and Becky went back to CA, I caught her singing the "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" tune, but replacing ALL the words with "Garrett." She also spent the entire time tracking him down so she could dance with him and show him her "pretty shoes." I think she's had her first crush! :)

We ate a TON of food and went out 1 night to watch a magic show. Dallin and Juan got called out of the audience to participate in the show, which made it even more fun. We also spent one day and drove to Lake Tahoe and roasted smores at one of the local resorts around Tahoe. We also did some shopping and watched movies. All in all, we had a great time. We'll have to have another "west coast" Lorenzana reunion again soon. Disney cruise, anyone?!!



Breaking bread at the first Reno Thanksgiving



Playing in the snow at Squaw Valley

The Graffiti Artist

Yesterday, our Aubrey turned 2 years old! We decided to celebrate her birthday today however because we knew Dallin had to work late yesterday. Let's just say that Aubrey has been in her "two's" for the last 3 months or so. She's not full blown terrible two's yet, but she knews how to pout, whine, and scream like the rest of them. To her credit, she's got the most amazingly effective pout you've EVER seen. As soon as she puckers her lips (my mom calls them 'Angelina Jolie lips') and opens up those big brown eyes of hers, our hearts melt. I know how to stand my ground with her though. Her daddy, on the other hand, doesn't stand a fighting chance. Aubrey is definitely "daddy's little girl."

Our big girl has had some changes in her life lately. We bought her a big girl bed, which she's learning to sleep in at night, but we have still been using her old crib for naps during the day. Today, after I finished reading her some stories and snuggling with her for a minute, I put her down into her crib. She only had her doll and a blanket with her when I left. Somehow (don't ask me HOW), she smuggled in a piece of white chalk. After about an hour, I went to peak in her room. She was sitting up in her crib, with the guiltiest expression on her face, saying "no, no, no" in the voice we use with her when she does something naughty like pulling on the curtains, or poking her fingers underneath the bathroom door when Jacob is going potty (it drives him CRAZY!!), or throwing her food on the floor.

Then I looked at her crib, and the bars had been scribbled on with white chalk. It actually kind of looked like one of those old movies where prisoners keep track of their jail time by writing on the walls! It looked like she had put a line for every minute she had been sitting in her crib. Maybe it's her way of telling me she's all done with her crib.

We celebrated her birthday tonight with some cake and ice cream, presents (which included princess dress up clothes, a big purple boa and necklace, princess stickers, and a princess cartridge for her LeapPad). Are you getting the theme here? Yes, we are in full princess mode and I absolutely love it! We then went to Boomtown, a little amusement area for kids close to our home. We rode on some rides and then came home and put them to bed. I'm including some pictures below of our little graffiti artist and some other fun pictures from her birthday! Caught, red-handed! A closer look at the evidence. Aubrey, overjoyed at seeing her Princess stickers!! Posing by her princess birthday cake.

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The Truth Hurts

Well, in true form, I seem to have a caught a cold. Not any old cold... but a BAD one. I've lost my voice, which I seem to do at least twice a year, and my kids actually seem quite amused by it all. In fact, a few days ago when I woke up with barely any voice left, Jacob came over with a confused look on his face and this was our conversation:

Jacob: Mommy, why are you talking so quiet?
Me: [said in a barely audible whisper] I lost my voice
Jacob: You lost your voice? [looking more confused than ever!]
Me: Yes, I lost my voice.
Jacob: Is it because you're sick?
Me: [nodding yes in agreement]
Jacob: Mommy, it's good you lost your voice.
Me: Really? Why?
Jacob: Because you can't yell at us when we're naughty if you've lost your voice

OUCH! Truth hurts, doesn't it?!!

On a much BETTER note, my youngest Evan cut his first tooth last week. I'm not sure why but I feel such pride in the fact that he's cut his tooth. It's not like it takes any skill (I'm fully aware of that), but I feel like he's crossed that first big milestone. Next he'll be sitting up and before you know it he'll be crawling all over the house. His little smile gives me such joy. In my mind, I've nicknamed him the one-toothed wonder! :)

I'm including pictures from Halloween last week. We had a blast with the kids. We had the Little Einsteins Rocket (Jacob), a cute little chinese girl (Aubrey), and a frog (Evan). We went to our ward's trunk or treat party and then came home so that the kids could trick or treat a little here on our street. Aubrey was terrified of everyone in a costume. In fact, she wanted to be held all night. Can't blame her really. To a 2 year old, seeing Frankenstein and all other kinds of spooky goblins barrelling towards you can be pretty scary... even if they have big smiles on their faces. Dallin and I dressed up like Hawaiians complete with a grass skirt and a coconut bra, although I didn't wear the bra to the ward party. I just don't think I could have faced the bishopric with a coconut bra on. I don't know... maybe it's just me. But nonetheless, we did manage to get some good pictures anyway. I'm trying out this new slideshow on my blog. It has a bunch of pictures from all of our Halloween adventures this year. Enjoy!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Needing a Vacation from the "vacation"

For us Nevadans, we get a freebie holiday thrown into October called Nevada Day. So we decided to head over to Apple Hills in CA and beat the crowds (since we had the day off and Californians didn't). Apple Hills is a beautiful area full of apple orchard farms that set up pumpkin patches, spooky nature trails for kids, and bake shops loaded with the best pies, apple crisps, and donuts you've EVER had! So, we threw the kids into the minivan and cruised on over. We stopped at several of the apple orchards and gorged ourselves with apple pie, apple cider, and all kinds of other apple desserts. The kids had a blast playing in the leaves and (of course) eating dessert morning, noon and night.

After spending all day at Apple Hill, we drove to our friend's furniture store outside of Sacramento and did a little shopping, then headed back to the hotel to swim, eat dinner, and put the kids to bed (finally!)

On Saturday, we went to the UC Davis/South Dakota football game. Dallin's cousin's husband (you still with me?!) is one of the coaches for the S.D. team, so we went out to watch the game and support him. We had seats in the bleachers but after about 5 minutes of trying to deal with our 3 kids there, I decided it would be better for "everyone" (aka ME) if we just sat over in the grassy area where the kids could run around and enjoy themselves. So that's what we did.

We grabbed some dinner and headed back to Reno, which was about a 2.5 hour drive. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it was a couple of busy days. Even though we had a great time, we came back EXHAUSTED. I'm ready to begin my next vacation... without the kids, this time :)

Us "non-techies" join the tech world

Okay, it's 2007 and we don't have cable TV, a DVD burner, nor do we own an iPod (or know what it really DOES)! Heck, we just got REAL cellphones about 2 years ago. So I figured we better start throwing ourselves into the tech world whether we like it or not, hence this blog. I titled it The Reno 5 for several reasons: obviously, there are five of us. Five a.m. is the time Evan seems to be waking up these days, 5 is usually the number of different meals I seem to prepare for dinner daily, and five is the number of days I will be leaving my family for this weekend to visit friends in DC. Okay, it's really only 4, but I thought I needed one more "five" item to really sell this whole "The Reno 5" deal!

Having a blog might not be so bad, I figure. I can rant nonsensically (I have a feeling that is NOT a word) to an inattentive cyberworld about my bad days, and pretend I have an eager audience waiting to hear about my good days. On that note, this past weekend was one of those good couple of days. We decided to hire a photographer to take our family picture b/c we never seem to have any lucky doing it ourselves or asking a friend to take the picture. THe main reason is because of our eldest, Jacob, who can't seem to sit still for one second (literally). But this year, I had a plan. I hired a photographer with the fastest trigger finger in the west and planned on bribing my children unabashedly with M&M's after each picture. And to my surprise, my plan worked. Not only did we get a great photo of the ENTIRE family looking at the camera at the SAME TIME, but the fall colors were changing this weekend, so we even got a pretty background as well! Ah, miracles really do happen.

Then, we had stake conference on Sunday. I have to admit, I had to talk myself into going b/c having my kids sit on those hard chairs for two hours is next to impossible. But again, much to my surprise, they did great. Of course, I had to load them up with all kinds of sugary goodies whenever they got loud. C'mon, you know what I'm talking about: "Oh Aubrey, please don't cry. Okay, okay, here eat some M&M's" (leftover from the photo shoot from the previous day, of course). Or , "Jacob, if you scream one more time, I'm gonna... okay, fine, here have another fruit roll up!" So, they came out of stake conference with the best sugar high they've ever had, and Dallin and I came out patting ourselves on our backs like we had just scaled Mt. Everest.

On that note, I'm throwing in some pictures to make my first blog official looking and complete. Until next time...

Aubrey and Evan with bedhead!

Aubrey and Jacob at 4th of July parade