So, we've been crazy-busy lately & we feel so out of touch with our friends & family! But it seems like so much has been happening in our lives lately, it's hard to even catch a breath! We have been enjoying some of these early spring-like days & playing outside w/ the kiddos.

If some of you did not know we officially became foster parents last week & got two foster children in our home. A 4 1/2 yr old girl that is bff's with Lilly & a 10 mo old boy that Aaron is...well, let's just say...uh, not too fond of...hmm, we have to work on some issues...lol!

This first week with 5 kids has really run me ragged! I almost threw in the towel! But, as the week went on & I got into a routine, it has been getting better & better. Hopefully things will continue to go good!

Gerardo is moving out of the house that he has been renting a room in. If you all haven't heard, there has been major drama at that house that could really cost him his career if things get more out of hand. But Thank God, he has found another place to rent a room, and it's with another Deputy from his department so it should work out! I'm so happy for this change for him.

G bought me an early Valentine's Day present & so these pictures were taken w/ my new Nikon CoolPix camera! Thank you Hunny...love you! He even got me a pink one...he's so sweet..sometimes...lol j/k!! We have officially paid off the Honda...and G called me from the bank to tell me that for the first time in his life he actually OWNS a vehicle!!! But the best part is NO MORE $400/month car payments for that car!! Yeah!!

Lilly and Aaron have been so much fun lately. Lilly just comes up w/ so many funny things, her little mind is just totally amazing. I LOVE to just sit and have conversations with her, actual conversations about all the little things that are important to her, like My Little Pony's!

Aaron is sooooo bad!!! He is a total boy!!! All dirt and bugs and being mean!! He is really keeping us busy, so busy, so busy, I can't even explain what a handful this boy is!! And he talks sooooo much. He has a huge vocabulary, I believe it's because of Lilly and Jacob, he mimics them all the time, he pretty much copies every word that they say, it's really cute. He's started putting 2-3 word combos together, which is amazing..except that the combos are "Let Go!", "It's MINE", & "Let Me Go"...among others that are equally bad...did I mention that he's a handful???

Just a few pics of us...Just in case anyone forgot what we looked like. Since it's been months since we've seen any of the Flores family!! We've been so busy the last few months, it seems like so much has happened.

Nothing totally exciting we did get certified and we are officially ready to get foster children, we are just waiting for the phone call that we are having kids placed with us. Jacob changed schools. Gerardo went back to his old shift after a shift change he had for a few months. Aaron is talking a lot and it totally active and really funny. Lilly is getting ready for pre-school, she should have already started but she is STILL not quite fully potty-trained so we had to find a pre-school that will take her, we starting to get worried cuz she'll be in Kindergarten this year...yes that last few years just flew right by. Other than that we have just been totally busy with a million little things like bills, bills, bills, re-financing our house, paying off the Honda, doctor appointments, planning Jacobs birthday party...oh, the list just goes on and on and on...

Jacob in Toon Town!

Deputy G w/ Lil' G on the Tea Cups in Disneyland.

Mama and Aaron on the Jungle Cruise in Disneyland. Aaron has been having some trouble swallowing and has been choking at night so we have been in and out of doctors appointments regarding this problem. The latest is that we have to spend a couple of days in San Jose so he can have a "sleep study" done, that will determine exactly what the problem is and then we will finally know how it will be treated. We are hoping that he doesn't need surgery, but if he does, at least the problem will be corrected. But we have been told that surgery on such a young child has many, many risks. So we have been pretty stressed out about this.

Mommy and Aaron eating lunch at our 'beloved' Plaza Restaurant in Disneyland. We ate almost EVERY meal at this restaurant, Gerardo wouldn't eat anywhere else, it was expensive but sooooo worth every penny..it was totally yummy!!

My princess with Princess Snow White. She was so happy to meet the princesses. She's so funny and precious. She talks so much now and has all her own ideas and though processes. It's so fun to hold a whole conversation with her, she's very smart.

One little story about Lilly: When we were at Disneyland, we were in the hotel room one night. The kids were running around wild and Aaron pushed a button on the clock radio that was sitting on the nightstand. Music started to play, SUPER loud, Spanish music. Before I could get there to turn it off, Lilly and Aaron stood in front of the radio dancing, and Lilly looked up and told Gerardo and I "Oh, this is Grandma Chayo's favorite song"...it was so sweet, I guess she just associated the Spanish song with her Grandma Chayo, I don't know, I don't really have an answer. But it did put a little tear in her daddy's eyes!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE CHAVOYA-FLORES FAMILY!!
Aaron & Lilly dancing to "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano, he was singing it for the Walt Disney World Parade. We LOVE watching parades on t.v.

Lilly getting ready to look in her stocking to see what Santa brought her!!!!

Happy Birthday Lilly!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to my Lillers, Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you....to ALL of you that joined us for the 'Flores Family' celebration of Lilly's 4Th birthday.

It was so much fun!! The food was good. The games were fun. The prizes were great. And the company was especially wonderful!!!

We love you all!!

So, 4 years ago... a princess was born. Our princess Lilly. So perfect. So beautiful.
She is still the light of my life. I love her so much. I love being the mommy to such a girly-girl!!

As I look back, I realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful daughter. So full of life. So funny and creative.

I can't even believe that it has been four years. These four years have just flown by!

But they have been full of adventures, laughs and growth. I have seen my princess Lilly grow so much over the last four years. I am so proud of her. And I am so glad that I am her mommy.

Click HERE to see ALL the pics of LILLY'S 4TH birthday &...a little look back!!!

So this is my new favorite pic of me n my baby boy!! He looks like such a big, big boy!! Gerardo took this pic of us at Knott's Berry Farm on Tues Dec 16, we went for Law Enforcement Appreciation Days. It was really fun & as you can see....Aaron was in a great mood!

Giving Thanks.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Gerardo was working so I was alone with the kids. We went to my mom & dad's house for our dinner. It was fun with the kids and we got super stuffed!!

Martina is Aaron's "Mommy Number 2", he always wants to be with her & loves all the attention that he gets from her. So, of course, he wanted to have his Thanksgiving dinner on her lap!!

My Flores kids are some GOOD eaters!! I'm so lucky with them, they are not really picky and are always willing to try new things. But, of course, Lilly's favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner was turkey & gravy. Aaron's favorite was the stuffing!

Lilly is always being silly and she keeps us totally entertained all day long, especially when we are at my parent's house, she seems to get extra silly and loves to 'show off' when we're there.

This year I was very happy to be celebrating Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Especially that I have my mom here with us, she has officially beat cancer and we couldn't be more thankful for that! I could not even begin to imagine my life without my mom so the past few months have been really hard on me & our whole family. But thanks to God we will hopefully have my mom for many more Thanksgiving's to come!!

We also have to give thanks for all the little blessings in my life. I have to remind Gerardo of this quite often, but we are very blessed & are very thankful to God for that.

We have beautiful, wonderful, healthy children that are growing and blossoming.

We have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, food on our table and all the extra's we could possibly want or need.

We are thankful for Gerardo's career and thank God for keeping him safe.

We are thankful for our family, friends. The wind, the rain, the sun. Basically we are just thankful for all the blessings in our life great and small.

Six Flags Magic Mountain

In August Gerardo had some police officer training in Long Beach so we all headed down to Southern California for a few days. During the week we decided to take the kids to Magic Mountain, I hadn't been there for many, many years. It was really nice & tons of fun for the kiddos.

I was pleasantly surprised that Lilly was not afraid of the characters, she loves to pose with all of them. And even though Jacob is getting older he still likes to take pictures with the characters too, since he's a big cartoon-addict!!

This picture cracks us up...so true, so true..our very own little Tasmanian devil!!!! hee hee hee!!

The weather was good & we went on a weekday so we just walked right on to all of the rides, no waiting in line. That's one thing we've learned with amusement parks, we never go on weekends!

Click here to see all the pictures from Our Trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain!!

Hot, Hot, Hot

Aaron's First Haircut

In August Gerardo had three days of training in Long Beach. So, the kids & I tagged along (I wasn't gonna let him go alone..right Noemi??lol).

We had a lot of fun & did a lot of stuff. A lot of sightseeing, shopping and visiting family.

We were less than an hour away from my family in Oxnard, so one day while Gerardo was in training, me and the kids went to Oxnard to visit.

While we were there, we decided to give Aaron his first haircut, well, it was more of a trim than a full on big boy haircut.

My Auntie Mary had the honor of cutting my baby boy's first little curlies off. She is Jacob's Nina & gave Jacob his first hair cut when he was 9 months old. So, I knew that I wanted her to do it and this was a perfect time.

Aaron did a really great job, he didn't cry or get really fussy. He even smiled and laughed quite a bit during the haircut.

When it was all said and done, it looked pretty cute and you could still tell that he had lots of curls. Gerardo was a little upset with me because he wasn't there, and I don't think he was quite ready for our baby to get his first haircut...even though he had been bugging me about it...ugh, men, they can never make up their minds. But in the end he liked it too.

Click here to see all the pictures of Aaron's first Haircut and some pictures of a short trip to Oxnard Beach.

A few more pics of the kids in the backyard...

These are some more pictures and short videos of the kids playing in the backyard.

These pics and vids were taken almost two months ago, so Aaron was just learning how to walk.

He was still super wobbly and fell down a lot. But now he's an expert and he even runs!!

There is also a little video of my princess Lilly chasing Spike around the yard, so cute!

Click here to see all the pictures and videos!!!