Brianna's 8th Birthday Party

She wanted a Camp Rock theme... but we kinda changed it. It was more of a rockstar theme. We used blue, purple, and red as the main colors. And I don't think she cared one bit that we didn't have anything actually "Camp Rock" anywhere except for on top of cupcake stand.



She had a lot of friends from school show up and she felt special all day long. It was cute. I even fixed her hair for her and made her one of my "special tutus", and her Mom made her the shirt she wore. Again... she was cute.



And in true Rock Star style we had guitars and microphones!




And we had delicious cupackes... made by Linda once again.



Then it was "Happy Birthday" time...



And cake smash time...



And finally present time!






And she made out really good. I wanted to steal a few things, like a set of 84 gel pens, the Hannah Montana Movie, and some of her cute little outfits. :P

And then we handed out the candy bars I made. My sister designed my wrapper using an example I emailed her and they were a hit. I'll have to take a picture of them closer so you can see the details.


And that was that!

A Rainbow and a Rash

Alayna was at the table having her after school snack when all of a sudden I hear her yelling, "Mommy, Come here hurry... You have GOT to see this!"

So I walk, not run, but just walk over and I find her in the corner of the kitchen where our water dispenser thingy is. And she's staring at the ground. So she pulls me closer and says, "Mommy we have rainbows in our house! They're so pretty! Who brought them here?!"



So I explain to her that when the sun's light reflects through the water it makes a rainbow. Of course she didn't understand. So I show her, because of the sunlight coming in through the window, the water in the water jug can make a rainbow. Then I show her that if I tap the water jug then the rainbow would move... because the reflection of the rainbow is coming from the water.


She was totally excited and amazed. She sat there for like 8-10 minutes just tapping the jug and watching the rainbow "dance" and once it stopped, she'd tap the jug again and start over.


So funny!

Then all day long Arielle has had massive diarrhea. Doesn't sound nice right? Ah, motherhood. Well by the evening she ended up with a massive rash even though I would run her under bath water every time I changed her diaper (which was quite often might I add) instead of using wipes. It was horrible! So I kept latering her in diaper rash cream... which sucked because it didn't really do anything! Until I decided to start using A&D ointment instead. And she spent the whole night in a makeshift cloth diaper.


Yup we wrapped her in a recieving blanket and saftey pinned it. It was the only thing that made her feel better. And when I put her to bed all I did was put a regular diaper over the blanket for leakage. LOL

I am seriously considering cloth diapering the new baby. I've never looked into it nor do I know how it works but I know it's healthier. Plus it's better for the environment no? I'll looking into it maybe.

Dinner... Are You Sure It's Dinner?

With our new hectic schedule in place it's a little bit of chaos when it comes to mealtime. The girls have breakfast first thing in the morning between 7-7:30am depending on when they wake up. Diego does not because he has breakfast at school now. So I take him to school right at 8am when the cafeteria opens so he has 30 mins to eat.

The girls and I have a early lunch at about 11am. Alayna goes into school at 12:30 and right at 12:30 they have lunch. Alayna is SUCH a picky eater so that's why I feed her at 11 before she starts getting ready to leave just in case she doesn't want to eat what they provide her. I've discussed with them that she's picky and they have assured me that they will encourage her to try her food. She always eats her side which is usually a fruit or something like that and her milk. But never the "main" meal. And the encouraging is working. Today when I picked her up she was eating raisins. This girl wouldn't touch a raisin before if her life depended on it. And she sat there happily eating the whole box. So in any case, Diego has lunch at school, Alayna has lunch at school, and Arielle naps after we come back from dropping off Alayna. So I eat lunch while Arielle naps.

Diego gets out of school at 3pm and Alayna gets out at 4pm so instead of feeding them right after school, I give them a snack, fruit or PB&J is their favorite, since I am still full from my lunch and it's not long before dinner time. I don't want them spoiling their appetite for dinner.

Which brings me to today. Right after I brought Alayna home from school I made the kids some beef ravioli. And Arielle was adorable... sitting there using her fork to feed herself. She feeds herself but she NEVER uses her spoon or fork. Diego and Alayna did since they were very little. So I had to capture my excitement.




And then an hour ago when I went to try and figure out dinner I didn't know what to make. The kids had pretty much eaten enough and weren't that hungry... and I wasn't craving anything in particular. But Alayna said, "How about pancakes for dinner?" To which I replied, "Pancakes aren't for dinner silly!" But then I started thinking... Hmmm pancakes actually sound really really good. So I figured... Why not? Why can't we indulge ourselves and have pancakes for dinner? There's nothing wrong with that for one night? So ... I got to cooking!


Funny things right after I started my Mom got home from work... and she looks at the stove and says, "What are you making for dinner?" And I said, "Pancakes!" And she gave me a blank stare for a second and said, "I'll have some!" Haha!


So I guess my pancakes for dinner were a hit! Thanks to Alayna and her bright ideas and myself for my sudden craving.




Dinner was delicious!

The Baby and The Crybaby

So I had my first appointment yesterday with my Doctor. I called them monday morning and they got me in right away for Tuesday at 9am. So after we took Diego to school we headed to his office. After filling out all the paperwork I was taken back to pee in a cup. They verified the pregnancy... so in fact I am pregnant. And they estimated my due date at April 7th, 2010. (3 days after Arielle's birthday and 11 days after Diego's) So that puts me at 8 weeks. Give or take.

My Dr was actually out on vacation since Monday and he'll be gone for 3 weeks. So mid September I have my 2nd appointment to have an ultrasound done to get a more accurate due date. They couldn't do one without him there. Boo! I hate that I couldn't even get to hear the heartbeat and I have to wait 3 weeks for that! But I did all my bloodwork so it will be ready for when he returns. I am going to the same Dr that delivered both Diego and Alayna... and who cared for me up until the last month before I had Arielle. So it feels like home there. The same nurses still work there so it's pretty cool.

Here's my (almost) 6 week update: Sweet Pea!

Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks and chin. Those little hands and feet- still webbed like paddles- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate.

So many people are pregnant right now that I know...
My sister-in-law Liz is due 11/15/09 and is having a boy. (Her 2nd baby)
My cousin-in-law Sindi is due 12/16/09 and is having a boy. (Her 1st baby)
My sister-in-law Jen is due 03/30/10 and WON'T find out what she's having. (Her 4th and LAST baby)
And me who's due 4/7/10 and I am hoping for another boy... but don't care either way! (My 4th and LAST baby)

And there's 2 more people I know who MIGHT be pregnant but it's not confirmed yet so I won't post anything until they give me the okay!

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Other than that...



Today was Alayna's 3rd day of school and she started crying before we even got into the door of her classroom. As I signed her in she held onto my leg for dear life. I was carrying Arielle in my arms so I was having a hard time getting her off so I could say bye to her. But her teacher (which I love them both to pieces... they are so nice) came and gently pulled her away even though she was crying out "Mooooooommmmyyy! I'll miiiiiisssss you.... Nooooooo!" And I slipped out the door. I felt bad but I knew I couldn't linger there... it's only going to make her process harder. So I left.

When I picked her up at 4pm she was as happy as can be sitting on their circle carpet, eating her snack, and singing the "Goodbye" song with her classmates. One of her teacher told me that she literally cried for a minute and was done. She was very sad but she was done. I knew she would so that's why I left quickly.

She actually is really loving school... she just has a problem with me not being there. She's kinda going backwards... but she'll get used to it. After class she was so excited to show me that she drew a picture of her teacher and gave it to her and the teacher put in up on the board so everyone could see it. She was soooooo proud! She giggled while telling me all about it. It was adorable!

Alayna's First Day of Preschool... EVER!

My Princess started Preschool today. I can't believe it! Seriously. She was put into the afternoon class which runs from 12:30pm-4:00pm. So this is gonna be a change in schedule for her.

So last night after we got home, her and I sat together to pick out her outfit for her first day. I tried choosing a cute pair of shorts with a cute little top but she was having none of that. She wanted a skirt with a pretty shirt and ended up putting together a blue top with a blue/green skirt and blue shoes she was finally ready to go to sleep knowing she'd be wearing EXACTLY what she picked out. She's so into matching her own clothes... and sometimes she's TOO matchy-matchy for my liking but whatever. I love to see how proud she is making her own decisions.

So this morning she was up and ready to get dressed and go... but like I mentioned she's a part of the afternoon session. So the day dragged on until it was time for her to get ready. After feeding her a banana, I gave her and her sister a bath and got them ready. Alayna looked so cute! And even told me EXACTLY how she wanted her hair done. She loves to wear it down but knows I hate when it's in her face so we compromised and came up with the perfect hairdo.

Then it was time to go. But not before I took a few pictures of her.




And then we got to her school. We waited a little bit until her teachers were ready for the class.



Once inside they immediately have to wash their hands for lunch. And then sit down at a tray so they could eat.


And while she was distracted paying attention to all the other kids washing their hands... we walked over to her and gave her kisses and said goodbye and we were out the door without looking back.



She didn't cry initially but her teacher said she did shed a few tears after she saw another kid cry for their Mom... but she stopped really quickly and did wonderful the rest of the day.

And I didn't cry either! It all happened so quick (with the help of Jr because he KNOWS I linger) that neither of us had time to react. But I did miss her like crazy the 3 1/2 hours she was gone. More than I thought I would.

After I picked up Diego from school we had lunch and then it was time to pick up Alayna. And I was anxious to see how she did. She told me she loved it because they let her use scissors and hers were green. And she got to cut out bunnies. I am happy for her! She's going to have so much fun and learn so much... I just know it!

Juanito is Two!

Today was my nephew Juanito's 2nd birthday! We celebrated with a Monkey themed party for him. Lots of work went into putting this party together... but by now I think me and Jen are pros at organizing and hosting our events! Plus it's a lot of fun too!

The notsofun part is the clenaing BEFORE you can set up. Luckily my husband is a very good worker and Jen and I have no problem putting "workboy" (which is Jen's new nickname for him) to work.



And while he did that, and Jen ran around picking up tables, and food, and last minutes things... I stayed home decorating and setting everything up. Juanito happened to be napping while all this was going on... and when he woke up he walked in on me putting together the centerpieces... and was in amazement over the balloons. He was so funny... telling me "Broooom Broooms"



Then he played in the dirt as we waited for his guests to arrive



And I set up all the decorations with the help of my nieces







Then his Grandma Linda showed up to set up his cake/cupcakes. I can't stress how awesome this lady is. I love her!



Then the people came...




And after a while of swimming fun he got to open his presents. I have to add that this age is so fun. By 2 years they get the process of a birthday party better and they are more comfortable having all the attention on them the whole day. And after opening the first gift and we cheered really loud... he got to the second one and held it up for everyone to see... thus making everyone cheer really loud again. He had a blast holding up his gifts, and anything else he could get his hands on really, and waiting for everyone to cheer. It was hilarious!






And my Grandpa's (his great-grandpa) gift... Haha

And the cool shirt Jen made him...


And here's the cheering section:


And last but not least... cake!




Safe to say he had a great time!


Happy Birthday Little Monkey Boy!