Goodbye 2009

As I take a look back at this year, I am very glad it's over, and very happy and blessed. I feel each year gets harder on me near the middle of the year and by the end, I feel relaxed, nervous, and excited for the next year to come. I can't believe I have another baby this past year has gone by for me wayyy too fast. My baby will be 6 months Jan 3rd!! WOW!! I feel like I just had her a couple weeks ago! My sis in law had her first baby girl. My son lost his 2 front teeth and one on the bottom. My oldest is growing up into a tween (tears). My hubby and I are still in love and are striving to strengthen our home. All I can say for 2009 is thank u for a learning year. I feel like this year I have learned so much about myself. I've met some amazing people. I have let my guard down and have opened up myself to others and changes! I have forgave tons of people who have hurt and offended me. I have just learned to not let little things stand in the way of true happiness. I have just been so optimistic and hopeful. Faith has been my biggest issue as far as spiritual wise, and I feel like I have gained a far greater testimony in that. I am happy and I am excited for what 2010 has to offer me and my family. Thanks friends and fellow bloggers who read my blog. This year was amazing, and my goal this year and every year in the past is to lose weight, but this time my main goal is to learn to cook healthy!!! I know if I can get this down, exercising is easy. So wish me luck!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

BEST CHRISTMAS THUS FAR!

the 3 babies of the family Selini (mine), Gabby (Cia's), and Jaida(Kels)
Grampa, with some of his grandkids


Kel +Tala

Jay, Junior, and Nana

We went to see the temple lights and it was fuhhhreeeezzing!

So this year was different from the years past because we all decided we wanted to do a Christmas Program. So my mom got their ward so we could hold our Christmas Program there. We thought it would be nice to invite the widows, and single mothers out to our program so we invited 4 women. It was so nice to have them and their kids there. So we started off by eating and just mingling. We then went to the Relief Society room and we started with the program. First it was my mom and dad and my mom read the book about the 3 trees, it set the mood for our Christmas Program...then my dad and the grandchildren sang Jingle bells and made up their own verse my dad solo'd to, it was hilarious! Then my family went and we did a Christmas Skit on the Polar Express and it was very fun, and spiritual. It was about Believing in Miracles I gave out 3 bells to the 3 widowed sisters who didn't hear the bell in my skit and tied it into Mary and Joseph believing that she would bear Christ. I ended with my testimony about having a miracle happen to me on Christmas morning about 3am someone left a card at my door and inside was $400 dollars, and no name on it! How did that person know me and Pulu needed that? Miracles do happen, I BELIEVE!!! Anyways then Cia's family program was so fun, she had each family do a competition to that song Christmas is upon us...blah blah We make the toys for all the boys and girls, my suit is red, I drive a funny sled, my nose, my nose in the dark it glows!! Needless to say DA OTUKOLO family took the cake!! haha good thing I had my sis inlaws help!! After that Mr and Mrs Claus (aka my bro Lame and his g'friend Betty) along with their 2 elves handed out candy to the kids (which were HUGE mexican candies) our kids love em! But then after that my bro Kel and his wife Tala put on a slideshow and it was sooo BOMB. It started with my parents and then it said "All because 2 people fell in love" and then it showed me and all my siblings and then it started with Eta, and went down the line with showing off our individual families. It was super sweet and brought tears to our eyes, esp because we were missing Eta and her family!! I am so happy that we started this family tradition! We are growing rapidly and I love that our children know that it's alll about them, and I'm glad they can see how close we all are as bros and sisters and that they will follow in our footsteps.... thanks to my parents!! This Christmas is soo memorable to me and I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family. And whoever left that money on our doorstep...THANK U, THANK U!! We are soo blessed to have wonderful people in our lives. We did soo much more on Christmas Eve as well. We went to Temple Square to see the lights and then we came home and me and my mom made soup, and breadticks, and then we had the missionaries over and then we decided to do our gift exchange for the kids...they loved it..and then it was our new annual "WHITE ELEPHANT" exchange, but good gifts, and we loved that, it was so funny! Lame opened up like 4 times cause his gifts kept getting jacked! I ended up with a scentsy plug in and 2 beautiful pic frames! We had tons of fun that night! Christmas day we were surprised with our $400 and the kids opened up their 3 gifts. 1 spiritual, Ariana got a mini Childrens song book, 1 want: Crazy Cookin bake set, 1 need: Penguin house slippers to keep her feet warm. Jay got 2 spiritual gifts: CTR Ring, and a Missionary Bank, 1 need: shoes, and 1 want: Nerf gun. They loved it and were so humbled this Christmas...although they did get tons more from Pulu's sisters...we were truly truly blessed this time around. I have the best inlaws ever because they totally spoiled Selini...she has tons of clothes and toys, and shoes, and a jumper, that she loves cause she thinks it's a swing! I know my children got "it" this year... the true meaning of Christmas, which is to give all of yourself to OTHERS! We truly felt that this year, and hopefully through many years to come!! I love Christmas time!! :)

BIGGEST LOSER

8 out 0f 38 that showed up for our biggest loser challenge!! It was really fun, and it would've been so much more fun and competitive if everyone showed up!! Oh well we had a blast! :)
Holy crap I didn't catch this on time, but Betsy hella flipped over and came rollin down the hill, it was soo flippin funny, I mean sad!! hahah jk Bets :)

Teki came down like he was all cool! haha

So the challenge was to run up this freakin 10 mile hill (thanks Kass) and then tube your way down and then tag your partner and they had to do the same thing!! Boy oh boy it was HHHHHAAAARRRRDDD!! I mean I was like almost all the way up when my legs were like shaking to go up anymore! ahaha it was definitely a fun challenge and I would love to go back again when there's more snow! So let me know Kass...cause Sugarhouse is a lil dangerous with the billions of people that go there every year. Us 8 that showed up are prally gonna take this whole thing, cause that's how dedicated we are!! :P hahaha we got a one point advantage WOO HOO!! JK I'm juss messin with you other losers!! Can't wait for the next challenge :) BRING IT! hahahaha

Christmas Program

Jay had his Christmas musical program at school Tues. It was soooo cute! Now I know I have to buy a video camera to catch all the memories that pics just cannot do justice for!! He sang a song about a Christmas mouse and he was shakin and movin it was sooo freakin cute! Ariana's program is tomorrow...Oh I can't wait!! I love this time of year :)

BNO (boys night out) haha

Last Friday I promised Jay that I would let him have a "BOYS SLEEPOVER" so I kept my word and had him invite Junior and Tevita leka...well these boys were sooo excited to sleepover cause they heard that we were gonna make a gingerbread house! So when they got here I had the kit all set up and out so that they were able to just go at it and do their own thing. They really did have a blast making it, and they had a blast eating the candy at the same time!

Me and Seli Bean about to get these boys ready


It was so funny to watch em put the frosting everywhere, they really aren't great artists!! hahaha


They really only focused on that side! haha

they were looking at the box and wondering why there's didn't look the same lmbo!!
And here is their FINAL one sided masterpiece, that had I not taken this pic one min later it was demolished and they ate it!! hahaha it was really fun watching them make it. Unfortunately Vita was sick and didn't really participate much in the activity...but he had fun watching.

After all that we ate chicken nuggets and bbq wings and salad, and they sat down and what did they wanna watch??...They watched Pulu's film from when he was in College football, it was hilarious...but that's BOYS! boys are so much more easier to please. I'm glad Jay had a great night. Next time it will just be Pulu and the boys...poor boys had to deal with me and Selini! hehehe :)

Challenges

This past week has been quite challenging. First of all I joined a "Biggest Loser Competition" which I'm going to try and win! It was $20 to get in, and so far the pot is up to $600.00!!! OOOhhh WEeeee!! I hope I take it lmbo! But how come I haven't even started!! I have been so side tracked this month!! CURSE this Dec month!! Soo sooo busy!! That's another challenge I had to deal with this week, is my time!! It seemed that I was so so scattered all over the place with work, kids, homework, household chores, and shopping for Christmas!!! Gees Louise, can I take a breath!!! Anywho last night was thee MOST challenging day for me this week! So I come home, house is a mess, kids are brats, baby is fussy...so we chill for a lil while, then I get up and start cooking, then I start cleaning, then I get a text (while yelling at my kids to get their chores done) "Hey can u come get the food and drop it off cause me and my girls are sick", I'm thinkin...huh??...Then it hits me I was suppose to drop off dinner to one of the women in our ward who just had a baby!!! OK Pulu knows me so well...I DO NOT WORK WELL UNDER PRESSURE AND MULTI TASKING!! So I start to FUUUHRRREAKK out. I am washing dishes and calling my mom to ask her to help me. She's at Walmart and she says she will go pick up Little Caesars Pizza after they leave. Mind you we are suppose to drop off the food at 5pm...it's 5:02pm!! Then Atisa textes me again and says nevermind my hubby dropped it off!!! OH GEES I'm thinkin, crap now the dessert and salad is there and no main dish!!! AHHHHHH is what's going thru my mind. My kids are fighting and I flip out on Jay...then he starts cleaning and Ariana retreats to her room and hides (pretends that she's cleaning their room). I stop and take a breath and ask Heavenly Father to help me. All of a sudden Selini is chillin in her swing just looking at me smiling!! I know my prayers were heard!! Jay cleans up the living room, I get the kitchen done, and my mom and dad pull up with the pizza...I go drop it off with my dad and come back and relax with my kids. Pulu is at work so not much help he could do from there. I start thinking about how I reacted and I start getting pissed off, that Pulu can't help me as much cause he's working CONSTANTLY..so I start thinking more and more about the things we need to get done, and I make a list, I bring the kids together so we can say a prayer b4 bed time and they start goofin off and I get mad/sad, and send em to bed. I stay up watching tv and rant and rave on fb...cause I can't call anyone cause I'm too mad...went to bed on the couch and didn't sleep at all. I thought to myself that I need to turn my frown upside down! I need to start thinking positive, and start with my list. So today I feel a lot better. I look back at my week and I am so upset that I didn't pray for myself to have some patience and to be better. I think about the small prayer I said in my kitchen to help me and how he calmed Selini down, and it seemed like she just knew I was having a hard time! It makes me cry thinking about her face, and my other 2 kids as well.. how they were trying so hard to please me....but I was so angry things weren't going my way, I didn't want them to act like kids! So I have some apologizing to do today to Ariana and Jay! I'm glad that I can go thru these challenges and learn from em. And see all my perfect imperfections slapped in my face!! hahaha CHEERS to a better week next week, and to another CHALLENGE, I'm ready I got my game face on now :)

5 MONTHS

Today Selini Ann Otukolo is 5 Months!! Can u believe time has flown by so quickly!! I can't, seriously I can't. Day by day goes by and I just think she's gonna be walking soon! That's how fast time has gone. It's kinda sad to think about it. Here are some of the things she has mastered!

• she can roll around like a ball
• she wants to be held by her dad all the time
• she knows my voice and my face
• she smiles with her whole body
• she spits/slobbers all over herself
• she drinks 6 oz
• she wears size 3 diapers
• she is eating table food all ready
• she loves loves loves chocolate and skinny cow ice cream sandwiches
• she laughs a lot louder now
• she wears 6-9 months
• she's losing her hair. especially on the sides!
• her toes no longer stink like throw-up! haha

Every minute of everyday this lil girl is smiling at me, laughing at me, and she is just so fun to have in my life. I am grateful for the joy she brings into our home, and I'm glad that she's healthy and a happy baby! Happy 5 months Jelly bean!!