Jenni's Baby Shower

On Sunday I went to my friend Jenni's Baby Shower. It was thrown by her sister and she did an amazing job! From the decor, to the food, to the fun... it was a beautiful party. And Jenni got a butt load of gifts! Little Tristan has everything he needs and wants already!

Of course I took my camera... and I took a few pictures (because I was busy with Arielle), but unfortunately never noticed that I had it in the wrong setting. Boo! My pictures don't look so nice so I had to edit them a little and I am still not at all satisfied with them. It makes me sad. But here they are:

They had a jungle theme since little Tristan's room will have the same theme. I personally love it because it was the same theme I was planning on having if Arielle had been a boy.

Such and awesome diaper cake! I love it.

We got to leave advice for Jenni and it was put into this cute leopard box!


We mingled for a while and then it was time to start opening presents. She had sooo many that they were opened in intervals, in between games and such.

What a cute idea to set her up a nice place to open gifts. I do this at my kids parties but it never turns out right.

What did I get her? Among some clothes... I decided to make her a scrapbook. It took me over a week to put it altogether. All she has to do now is fill it with pictures of Tristan! I loved making it for her and I hope she enjoys it. Plus all of the knotties sent me advice and well wishes for her which I included in the book.



Then it was on to some games...

Lisa and Chelz smelling dirty diapers! Don't worry it was just chocolate...


Lindsay's turn
It's hard to tell what chocolate they are... so they had to discuss their opinions.

Jenni taking a hard look at the diaper. Get used to it... some weird things come out of babies... I know this.

Lisa

And Tiffany won! Yeah!

I was almost kid free. My mom took Diego and Alayna to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda and I just had to worry about Arielle. She did so good! And even napped for a while.

Mommy and Arielle

Then it was time for cupcakes!

They even matched the theme complete with zebra striped liners.

Here's Jenni and her sister who hosted the shower.

And here are the knotties!

I can't believe how much we've gone through girls... engagements, wedding, and now babies! This is our 2nd baby shower together. (The first was mine for Arielle) And we'll probably have many more soon!

Arriana's Baptism Photoshoot

I went to buy my Goddaughter her dress for her baptism. I was so excited that I asked my BFF to come over and let me do a photoshoot. She looked so precious. But that didn't last long... she soon got hot.

Here are some decent shots:

These are just some random pictures I found on my camera that I took. I am like that. I take weird pictures.

These flowers grow in a little bush in my mom's front yard. I love them and they're really big!

Some of the teeny tiny statues my mom also has in her yard.

A close up of the ants which is my personal favorite.

My Goddaughter Arianna's Chucks. Yeah!

So cute

Tempe Beach Park

I joined a playgroup 2 weeks ago because this summer I want to take the kids out. I hate being cooped up in the house! I get bored. My friends Lindsay and Lisa already belong to this playgroup so I really wanted to join as well.

So last Thursday I went on my first playdate and met some of the ladies... who I only talked with briefly because I had to keep my eye on 3 kids. My husband was off work and he came along and I invited my bff Jazmine to come as well with my Goddaughter Arianna. She also brought her little brother Joshua who Diego gets a long really good with. So we had a fun day! We packed sandwhiches for lunch because with such a big group I knew we'd be hungry!

Lindsay was there with her two daughters Cassidy (you may remember her from the Rock Star birthday party post a while back ago) and Madison...and her twin sister Alexis was also there with her son Brayden. Lisa didn't go. (We missed you!)

Here are some pictures:

My 3 Babies: Diego, Alayna, and Arielle

My husband Junior playing with our Goddaughter Arianna

Alexis' son Brayden

He was so cute I couldn't resist taking his picture. I got a few of them!

Lindsay's younger daughter Madison. She's such a cutie pie!

My Diego. He was having a blast going down the slides!

Alayna my little water baby

Jazmine and Arianna

Alayna said, "Look Mommy... Chickens!" Bwahaha!

My handsome hubby... and he's actually smiling!

Pretty Little Cassidy! (Lindsay's older daughter)

Alayna and I: Ready to go nap!

Pictures! - Memorial Day

** I finally was able to download the many pictures I had saved onto my camera. Yipee! So expect lots of picture posts.**

On Memorial Day my Best Friend Jazmine and I decided that we wanted to spend the day at the park together with our families. So we headed to the Goodyear park so the kids could get wet since it was such a nice day.

Definitely something we will be doing a lot of this summer!

Diego

Jazmine, Andrew, and Arianna

Little Miss Arielle... Enjoying a cool summer day


Ummm... can we say twins?

My best friend Jazmine and my Goddaughter Arianna

Look at that precious little face

Monkey Boy climbing on everything

Me and Arielle

Teeny Little Baby Feet

She is true beauty both inside and out

Jazmine Ann

Daddy's Little Girl

I Need to Vent

So most of the time I use this blog to tell a story about my life... show off my kids... display my pictures... and express different emotions. So today I am venting.

I hate to talk about religion... it's not my thing... I don't like when other people do it so I feel like I don't want to either. Everyone has their own opinions.

About 3 years ago when Jr and I started to plan our wedding... the most important thing to me was that we were married in the church. Since I was a little girl I always dreamed of the perfect dream wedding... the church, the limo, my Daddy giving me away... the whole nine yards ya know? So being that I am Catholic it's something I really wanted. Jr was raised Catholic but never baptized. And out of boredom when he was 16 or so he baptized himself Christian. Crazy? Yes. But that's Jr. So he's never really been a religious type of person. Just a bored kid with nothing better to do. And that's fine with me. Like I said I don't try to push my beliefs on anyone else... him included.

Back to my story, when we decided to actually start planning a wedding, I called my church and signed up for the pre-marital classes. I was excited... Jr wasn't, but he sucked up and went for me. After the first class he was pretty excited because he found out that we weren't focusing on just religion... but more on us as a couple. By our 2nd class we were all told to introduce ourselves. Jr and I were the youngest couple he was only 19 and I was 20 and I was also pregnant with Alayna at the time. I'm not sure if it was just his personality but starting that day the Deacon made us feel like we were the worst people on earth. First it was "oh you're too young to get married", then it was "oh and you're already living together", then "this isn't your first baby... you have a son from a previous relationship", and finally "your fiance is not Catholic"? It bothered me that he made all these judgements as I call them... because he had a look of disgust as he talked with us one on one. Sure I am not perfect. I am the first to admit that. And neither is Junior. But we genuinely have love for each other and out kids. And yes 3 years ago it was no different. Just because we've done things a little out of order I don't believe that it makes us any less worthy of being married in the Catholic church. I am still Catholic, I still have my faith and beliefs.

So I put my feelings aside about how they were treating us and continued on with the process. I was kinda used to in anyway because ever since I had Diego people in general looked at me as being incapable of caring for a child. His Dr's would seem annoyed when I'd ask a million an two questions at his appointments. Kids don't come with a manual and raising and caring for him, and now my other 2 babies, is something I am learning along the way. And I thought that these marriage classes were supposed to help Jr and I learn about each other, our beliefs, and life in general, not determine if we're qualified to be married. But of course there was another road block. Once we picked the date which in which we wanted to be married... we sat down with the Deacon to discuss it. He started explaining the rules about being married in the church. Like how we could only have a certain amount of people in our wedding party, we couldn't write our own vows... we had to stick to our standard mass, we couldn't do a special set of vows to our children, and more. I told him our complete wedding party (which they consider anyone who walks down the aisle) was 26 people. I know it's a lot. But these are the very most important people in our lives... standing up for us and supporting out decision. Amongst them our parents, my 2 grandparents still left alive since all of Jr's have passed away, our 13 bridesmaids and groomsmen, and 6 ring bearers and flower girls. And I know that doesn't seem like a big deal but it just wasn't turning out the be what I had hoped for.

So long story short we opted to have an outdoor ceremony in a beautiful park. Our officiant sat down with us and listened to everything we wanted in a ceremony. I wanted a long procession with all the most important people in our lives. We wanted to present our mothers with roses to let them know how much we appreciate them. I wanted for us to be able to write our own vows and read them to each other. Jr had suggested doing a ring ceremony with Diego and Alayna as well. And this impressed me because he wanted for Diego to look back when he's older and realize how much Jr loves him and Alayna both the same. And we got to do all this. I also wanted my family to be able to sing and read scripture at my ceremony... and our officiant met all of our requests and more. He personalized our ceremony to suit us as a couple. I couldn't have asked for anything better. And from that moment on I have been a little upset with the way the church runs. Every time I try and be more involved with the church again... I am steered away because I am not some cookie cutter definition of "perfect".

Now a month ago after Arielle was born I sat down with Jr and we discussed baptizing her. From the very beginning he agreed that our children would be baptized and raised Catholic because it's something that was important to me. I want them to learn what I know and go through their classes and receive each of their sacraments the way I have. I told him I really wanted to find a new church closer to us and start going to mass on Sundays. I also told him that he was invited to join us but I wasn't going to force him. He agreed that we should all go as a family.

We were also asked to be Godparents to my best friend's daughter Arianna. Both of us were honored to be asked and last week I started calling around to find a church to baptize her in. My church won't do it because she doesn't live in the area and neither do I. She barely misses the cut off though. This makes me upset. We can't baptize her there because we don't live in the area? So I ask her if we become members of the church can we do it then. She said no. So I called almost every church in the Phoenix area. At least 15 of them. And all of them had different reasons why we can't baptize either Arielle or Arianna in their church. Some said both Godparents have to be baptized Catholics. Which doesn't work because Jr isn't. Some churches said only one Godparent must be fully initiated Catholics which is good for us... but then said no because we don't live in the area. It was one thing after another. And then some said only one Godparent has to be Catholic but we couldn't do it because we're not married in the Catholic church. We NEVER win! Finally after 2 weeks of calling around and actually visiting most of these churches... my best friend decided that we're baptizing Arianna at the church that is in her area... and I will be the only Godparent since they won't let Jr baptize her. He's bummed but as he said... he'll always be her Nino and he doesn't need a paper saying that he is to love her unconditionally as a Godfather would do.

So I am more annoyed than ever before. Arianna will be baptized on June 29th. But we still cannot find anywhere to baptize our daughter Arielle. Because even though her Godparents are baptized Catholic... neither of them have done their first communion or confirmation. And my cousin who we asked to be her Nina... goes to church every Sunday and is even starting her classes this fall to do her sacraments.

I know there are rules... but sometimes it's ridiculous what we have to go through.

My Posts ALWAYS have pictures...

Well apparently not lately. So now that I am back to my blogging all the computers in my life seem to not want to help me out. I can't download my pictures.

My laptop is broken. It wasn't broken but then my husband decided to mess with it. Hasn't he ever heard the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Ugh. So anyways now it won't even turn on. I believe it has a virus. Good thing I have nothing important saved on to he actual computer... it's all on my external memory. Phew! I am smart... because this has happened before with him. And the first time it happened he lost a half a years worth of picture from when Alayna was a baby including Diego's 2nd Birthday party pictures and much more. I was furious and sad and cried. He thought I overreacted. But my pictures are my life. They tell my story. They tell our story. And I include them in all my posts because they help bring my stories to life.

So back to my point. My laptop isn't working. My mom's acts up. I think it has a virus too. It takes extremely long to get onto the internet. Plus it's old and doesn't have a a slot for me to stick my memory cards into. And if my husband would only install my printer onto my mom's computer like I've asked him many times... then I could use that to download pictures because it does have slots for memory cards. But he hasn't. And my daddy took his laptop to Mexico with him... leaving me with a camera full of pictures... and no one to share them with.

And not only that. My daddy decides that he wants to buy this cool new digital camera, pretty professional looking and all. Not quite as nice as the one I want for $1000 but for the price he paid for his... it's pretty fanfreakintastic! So before he left for Mexico (and if you didn't know... he's in Mexico for 2 1/2 weeks.. the story is here) he left me his brand new handy dandy professional looking camera and told me to play with it. HELLO! Does he not know I've been wanting one for so long and leaving me his in an open invitation to camera jack him? Well if he didn't, which he should know me very well by now, he should consider himself camera jacked and the proud ex-owner of said camera. So keeping my word I have been playing with the camera. We've been to two water parks in few days, I did a baptism shoot, and an outdoor shoot, and random shots of my kids... all to help me practice. I am dying to get them on here but... until Jr helps me out one way or another... I must just sit here and babble about nothing in particular.

Without pictures might I add.