Kiddos playing in the yard...

Well, the Ol' Blog has been neglected lately, but I've committed myself to getting it updated so everyone knows what's going on with us....and we don't get forgotten..LOL.

I'm going to be updating the blog very frequently in the next few days, I have a lot to cover.

I'm also slowly updating our Phanfare Albums at the same time, so please enjoy our pictures!

These pics are of the kiddos playing in the yard. We enjoyed the yard quite a bit this summer, the kids had a lot of fun playing now that we have grass. These pics were taken in August and Aaron was just learning how to walk so he's still a little wobbly in these pics!

But the wobbly steps didn't stop him from being a total daredevil on the slide!!

Click here to see all the pictures of the kids playing in the backyard!!!

Parenting Skills

OK, OK, so we've never claimed to have the BEST parenting skills in the world...and we proved it on this day when we left the tequila bottle unattended for our 1 year old to get into!!!!

But don't worry, he didn't spill it or drink it..LOL...he just played with the bottle & tried to put the cap back on!

We've learned our lesson, since he started walking and climbing, he's such a hand full. He gets in to everything and we really have to be careful now! We had to put locks on the cabinets and make sure all the doors are locked. If I leave the front door open, even a little bit, he's out there in a flash!

So, anyway, we learned our lesson...he's not quite ready for a shot of tequila...yet...




Click here to see all the pictures!

Chaffee Zoo

Last month we went to the Chaffee Zoo with the kiddos. It was pretty hot that day so we went early in the morning and left by noontime so we didn't get too hot. It was Gerardo's day off and we wanted to do something as a family before Jacob started school again and we are back to a super busy schedule!

I'm so behind getting pictures up on Phanfare, I've been so busy with the kids. Jacob and all his school stuff, Lilly & Jacob and their church groups, and of course trying to keep up with Aaron running around everywhere, he started walking a couple of weeks ago and is now running, jumping and getting into everything, everywhere!

So, I'll have to try a little harder to keep the ol' blog up to date. I have more trips and pics to share!

Click Here if you want to see all the Chaffee Zoo pics!

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever.

Sometimes I sense a little flutter,
Like a shadow swiftly slipping by,

Or I hear a silent gentle murmur,
Like a soft whisper from the sky.

Sometimes I hear you call my name,
Or I clearly see your face before me,

And I feel that you are with me still.
Then peacefully I come to know,
As I am thinking happy thoughts of you,That you, my grandma, are thinking of me, too.

I wanted to share something special that happened last week; I took the kids to the Los Angeles Zoo. For those of you who haven't been there, it is a truly beautiful place, lots of trees and flowers, and big animal exhibits.

The kids & I walked along the paths & just enjoyed each other and all the beautiful surroundings.

At one point we were walking down an empty pathway, trees and flowers along both sides of us. We were walking in silence, Lilly holding my hand, and Jacob pushing Aaron in his stroller.

All of a sudden, Lilly stopped, Looked around, & then looked up at me & said "Mommy? Where's Grandma Chayo?" As clear as day.

It took me back a little bit & I tried to run the day through my head, I tried to remember if we had mentioned her that day, but I had been alone all day with the kids while Gerardo was in training.

Lilly didn't spend much time with her Grandma Chayo & I don't know why she happened to mention her that day. I guess we'll just believe that Grandma Chayo came to visit Lilly, if only for a second, to keep her in her little memory, so she could feel & remember her Grandma's love.

My Daredevil Son Aaron:

Aaron & Lilly have been obsessed lately with playing outside. Which I'm not too happy about in this heat, but I take them out for short periods of time so we don't get too hot!
They have their Little Tike's playground that they LOVE to play on, and my little "baby" boy Aaron has become quite the daredevil:
He climbs up the slide...THE WRONG WAY... & then slides down on his belly BACKWARDS of course..LOLOL...he usually follows with a big exaggerated laugh at the bottom of the slide. He's too funny!!

On Top of Spaghetti...

When I wasn't looking Gerardo gave Aaron spaghetti.

Okay, no big deal right? But he gave him the whole noodles without cutting them up!

It ended up being fine, Aaron had a ball sucking up the long noodles.

And I had fun snapping some pics!

Click here to see all the spaghetti pics.

I finally got the pictures up on phanfare of our trip to Ventura Harbor.

We had a really good time that evening taking silly pictures.

First we went to dinner at this great seafood place. I had scallops, G had fried shrimp (of course) & my cousin Steff had homemade clam chowder in a bread bowl. It was da bomb, so yummy!!

During dinner the kids had fun watching the seagulls flying around and actually landing in the restaurant hoping for a bite to eat!

Then we walked around the harbor and took some pictures. But then we had to leave because it was TOO COLD !!!! Yes, you heard me right...TOO COLD, the kids were cold and I did not pack any jackets so we just packed up and left back to Steff's house for a quiet evening and to let all our food digest! It was great.

Click here to see all the pictures of Ventura Harbor!!

Look who's talking...

I've been wanting to post for awhile all the cute and funny little things that Aaron has been doing lately, but I haven't had a chance. Hopefully I'll get it together & put up some kind of list of his milestones big and small.

The biggest thing lately is how much he's been talking. And all the "words" that he says. It so funny to hear these words come out of my "baby's" mouth, of course it's just because I still look at him as this little baby but the truth is that he's almost 14 months old!!

Here are some of the words he says:


~"wooo" like when he farts or has a stinky diaper he'll wave his hand in front of his nose & say "wooo" (Whew)

~"ha" (hot), when he gets close to the stove he always says this & waves his hand in front of his face in the same motion as when he farts...lol.

~"wow" when he sees something really cool.

~"num-nums" when he's eating or wants something to eat.

~"mmmmm" (really exaggerated) when he's eating something really delicious like Doritos!

~"Spy" (spike) when he's calling the dog.

~"ball"

~"bad, bad, bad"...self-explanatory..lol, my poor baby gets into trouble a lot.

~"uuummmm" when he's thinking really hard or trying to make a decision.

~"Da-U" (thank you) usually when you give him something.

& all the "norms" .... "ma-ma", "da-da", "pa-pa", "grm-a"(grandma..that one's really cute to hear), "wa-wa" (water), "bye"

~"Uh-Oh" this is one the first things he started saying, it's my favorite so cute in his big deep voice.

~"Uh-Uh" as saying NO to me, he got this one from copying Lilly she says the same thing when she doesn't want to do something.

~"DA-r" (there) he'll say this when he hands you something...and he hands me everything, one by one, toys, papers etc.

~"hi" & "O" (hello), "hey" ...he'll get my cell phone or the house phone & hold it up to his ear & say "O" I'm guessing this is "hello" & he's copying how I answer the phone.

~"bubba" & "bubba" ...one is "brother" and the other is "bubba" for his bottle, they sound almost exactly alike to the untrained ear, only we can tell the difference.

~"BA" (Boo) in his deep man voice, he says this when ever I'm putting his shirt on & it goes over his head, he'll say "BA" (boo) when his head comes out the top of his shirt.

I think he's mastering mimicking his brother and sister because he always tries to say the same words as them and if they're laughing he'll start laughing too, he doesn't know why, he's just copying them! It's so funny and cute to see all this take place, he is talking a lot quicker than the other two kids did. I guess it's because he's learning by example & they never stop talking all day long!! LOL!!

Today I was standing in the hallway with my little sister Martina. Aaron had crawled all the way at the other end of the hallway. He pulled himself up onto the wall. And then off he went. Walking. He took several steps down the hallway towards me & Marty.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was such a mix of emotions, totally joy for my baby boy and this major accomplishment. But I also felt a little sad because this is just another 'step' towards him becoming more and more independent and not such a baby anymore.

It was a great moment and I was so happy to be there to see it!

We took a much needed break from the Valley heat wave this past weekend. My cousin invited us to go visit her in Oxnard. It was so nice and cool there, it was unbelievable. My cousin even took us to the local police department so Gerardo could get an application!! They did have a heat wave of their own, one of the days we were there it actually got up to 80 degrees!! I really would move there in a minute!!
My cousin Stephanie lives in Oxnard with her husband & her two boys Matthew & Tyler but her husband and her boys were in Illinois for the week visiting her husband's parents. It was so nice she lives really close to the beach and Port Hueneme, we just did a lot of relaxing and cooling off!!
It was perfect.
First time Aaron has been on the beach. Port Hueneme, I don't know the name of the beach. He was fine here with his Daddy.
I actually lived here while I went to college, I would sit right on this beach and study!! But, I haven't been here in about 2 years, so it was nice to come back & be jealous of all the great weather!!
I love this picture because you can see Lilly playing in the water in the background!! So cute!! But Aaron did NOT like the wet sand or the water on his feet, he totally cried when I put his toes in the water!
Jacob loves the beach and the water. One of his favorite things to do is to dig up sand crabs. Then he would show them to Lilly and she would run off screaming...funny!
It was also Spike's first time at the beach. We didn't have any one to watch him so he went on our mini vacation with us. It was good because he kept the kids entertained!

Click here if you want to see all the pics of Aaron's first time on the beach & how much fun we all had!!