la familia moreno

my winter garden and girls

2012-01-24T11:50:00.001-05:00

from my flores del sol blog:

the dead of winter. plants are dried and dark. my girls' cheeks are rosy and plump. little penny loved watching her sisters run and make snow angels, i did too. We sipped frothy hot cocoa from our cocoa latte and warmed our frost bitten fingers back up. I keep thinking about the bulbs raquel and I planted in the autumn. They are nestled in the soil frozen and waiting for the warmth of the sun. It's kinda how I feel too.

how bout them giants off to the super bowl?! a little pride here. they play and practice here in JERSEY. they really should be the jersey giants. felipe is beyond excited. I had to put penny to bed in our room so he wouldn't wake her up from all his yelling during the game.

pretty penny at 6 months

2012-01-23T14:53:00.015-05:00

pretty and petite Penélope is 6 months old. Thank you abulea for her cute dress! She is a mere 14 1/2 lbs and 25 1/4inches tall. But don't let her size fool you, she shows us who is the boss everyday.

she likes to roll around, bounce in her exersauser but her favorite place to be is held, outward.
she had two bottom teeth and is getting more
her favorite pastime is crying. loud too. maybe i should just call it screaming. she also likes making sure our neighbors think i am an abusive and neglectful mother
she is still 100% fed by mommy. No bottle. I truly don't mind that she has figured out a way (since 2 weeks old) to get 100% of my attention and steal it away from her sisters a few times a day. She is one smart little cookie. I am grateful she loves me and that I am nurturing her. Raquel was an exclusive nurser for 3 weeks, camila 3 months and penelope 3 years? lets hope not ;) . on the other hand i gotta figure out how to get her on a sippy! she sees the bottle coming from a mile away and freaks out.
she loves tags. she likes toys but loves the tags on them even more. she even has a soft toy book with "tags" on it. she's not fooled, she plays with it's real tag.
loves baths, especially with her sisters. last time i pulled her out early and she literally threw a tantrum and was so angry at me.
has luscious eyelashes. when a stranger sees her their comments always are "oh look at those lashes!" or "do you curl them?". with camila it was her full head of hair that looked like a wig and raquel the comments were on her (then) blue eyes.
makes baby dinosaur noises when she is happy or excited

he may be a tough baby to handle but her cuteness gets me through it. i swear i smooch her cheeks a million times a day.

i love you so much penny!!

the rest of the trip....

2012-01-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

a few of the last days of our vacation we stayed at mom and rays. Mom took us to this pretty playground near her house in Coral Canyon that has views like the one above all around you. It is quite a pretty sight!

hot tub at nana's

the last night we had a bon fire with some smores.

me, penny and paytoni bologna .i cant believe he is 10! i swear he was just born. I guess i was still in high school when that happened though.... !

we had such a wonderful trip. a big thank youto Kari and Will for hosting us all.

highlights:

- no one threw up! As opposed to last time when everyone threw up
- watching the beginning of a meteor shower in the hot tub with felipe
- going to the st george temple with felipe
- hanging out a few times just the girls (meaning my sisters) and mom
- mila and raquel loving going to the dentist (uncle will) and getting their teeth checked and cleaned. now they will expect tvs in the chairs and princess toothbrushes at any dentist they go to.
- watching my girls get especially close to payton, eli, brinly and bronson. it had been 2 years since they'd seen them. they were so so so heartbroken saying goodbye. i got choked up watching it.
- a flight attended recognized us by looking at penelope and seeing her eyelashes (we had her on one of the flights out)
- listening to mom and ray give talks at church on christmas morning
- talon's amazing carmel syrup on top of pancakes
- my little girls barely bothered me the whole time. it was so nice having them constantly entertained and playing with their cousins
- both dance parties
- getting off the plane and being home in new jersey. I remember when I used to enjoy flying...

new years eve

2012-01-17T13:03:00.001-05:00

we spent it playin' at the park on a nice warm day.

squishing on the slide with brinly and addy :

sweet evangeline...

brinly and mila moo:

nana and addy

after playing some games and having yet another nana sponsored dance party in the dark with glow sticks, we put the kids to bed and played some games of our own. Minute to win it style.

pics i stole from annie:

the guys lit fireworks and we did some pretty sparklers.
hooray for 2012!

water park

2012-01-16T10:12:00.015-05:00

they have an awesome huge indoor water park at the community center in st george that the kids loved .

payton helping mila down the slide:

Raquel and Eli wrestling. It seems Raquel was always wrestling one of her boy cousins eli, payton or bronson:

Annie and Evangeline, happy eli:

Evie!! :

Aunt Carrot (kari) and Pretty Penny (or money penny as she calls her) can i say kari is one hot mom of 4!!!!!!!!!!!?:

(photo by annie):

we loved it and swam for a long time. I took Mila on the huge indoor water slide that juts outside and back indoors. She loved it and wanted to go again! Raquel on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it ;)

the day after christmas

2012-01-12T10:32:00.013-05:00

photo credits: annie

Zion National Park the day after christmas. One of the most beautiful places on earth. Not far from St George we took a trail in it. Our big family (minus the waldes who we missed tons) 10 adults, 7 kids, 2 babies, 3 dogs and a partridge in a pair tree. We felt like the pioneers pushing handcarts... on a smooth paved surface through the desert. Highlights: bronson's skinny little body in his skiviez in the cold virgin river, the warmth of the hot sun, Penélope screaming bloody murder the mile or two way back and camila running the whole mile or two way back (with some rests on papi's shoulders).

photo credits: ray

kari, mom and pipe watching the boys at the river

mom raising the zion roof

Christmas in the desert

2012-01-03T23:45:00.019-05:00

a full day of travel is what it took to spend Christmas in the desert of St George Utah. The girls did awesome for two long plane rides and then a car drive. It was so nice to spend time with my family, it makes all the trouble worth it.

My mom is an awesome nana. She just gets kids. I'm sure it has to do with having a daycare in our home growing up. She even threw a Christmas night dance party for the kids for cryin' out loud!

reading christmas books with nana:

decorating cookies for santa (with nana)

i love this picture of aunt sherri and lil penelope (via kari):

the two year olds mila and addy played nice this time around!

christmas eve bingo with nana:

cousins!

the christmas night dance rave

our girlies on christmas day

christmas card 2011

2012-01-03T23:22:00.010-05:00

some squishy christmas trees

and a cute lil Rudolf

excuse me...

2011-12-27T12:14:00.010-05:00

i mustache you a question

thank you maca. we love you.

it's christmas time in the city

2011-12-19T16:18:00.001-05:00

we spent an afternoon in the city with Tia Maca!! She is here for a few days. Hooray!! Here the girls are with maca waiting for the train into penn station.

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style. In the air there's a feeling of Christmas.

Children laughing, people passing meeting smile after smile and on every street corner you'll hear... silver bells, silver bells, it's christmas time in the city!

we also hit up shake shack (finally!!). I swear we have been trying to eat there forever. Here I am waiting in line outside for a tasty burger!

the shakes were so so so good, thick and smooth. the burgers were pink in the middle and full of juicy goooodddneeeeesssss. i see what all the hype is about.

Penny's first trip into the city!! She was quite confused and not a fan of how loud it is.
Raquel's first time in the city here, camila's here

my version of the song: city sidewalks, crammed sidewalks filled with tourists galor, in the air there's a smell of urine. people pushing, people swearing dropping fbombs everywhere and on every street corner you see.... me crying... me crying... why did we take 3 kids to the city??? kill me now, shoot me now... soon it will be christmas day! Hahahaha ok, it wasn't that bad :)

we are excited to head to st george, ut for christmas on wednedsay.

soon it will be christmas day!

hey santy claus

2011-12-13T14:34:00.008-05:00

waiting and watching patiently

hey santy claus!

oh dear. you miss one year sitting on santa's lap and all of the sudden your family is too big and he doesnt have enough "seats".

5 months old

2011-12-13T14:28:00.003-05:00

putting her to sleep is not an easy feat...

the other night felipe and I both were laying her down, but we didnt want to leave her. she was so cute and smiley, coo-ing and squishable, i finally grabbed my camera and snapped this photo to remember. i hear they dont stay this little for very long.....

snippity snip

2011-12-12T20:00:00.001-05:00

maybe i shouldn't have left my japanese bonsai shears on top of the desk

or mentioned they had appointments to get their haircut soon

or left a 2 1/2 year old alone for 5 minutes as she snipped at her and her sister's hair as I was on the phone

but I felt like laughing out loud when i saw the damage.

at least 2 year olds look cute with bangs

chicken and rolls

2011-12-07T13:08:00.005-05:00

lack of posts is not like me! when this happens you know i must be really busy, or sick, or BOTH. so a quick video and back to the grind for me.

lil pea rolls and silly mila....

rolls and chicken from teetee844 on Vimeo.

little penny also is sprouting her first little toothers!!

eatin' oatmeal

2011-11-22T18:00:00.001-05:00

lil pea is 4 1/2 months old !! Her stats: 13lbs 5 oz, 24 1/4 inches. A lil lil pea if you ask me. A little bit about Penélope:

she still fits in her 3 month onzies... not the norm for moreno babies.
so far she loves green beans! So much so that I can't shove them in her mouth fast enough. We will move on to the other veggies soon before the sweet tasting stuff.
she likes rubbing her feet together and clasping her hands when you talk to her
loves snuggles with mommy in the wee early morning
is about done with her colic
likes when mama sings her country music
loves to sit and watch her sisters. they are quite entertaining
is easily soothed by Raquel
can sleep through Mila's antics
is a quiet baby but boy can she get angry and loud fast!
is finally sleeping through the night (!)

raquel's first food, mila's first food

potty training miss mila

2011-11-14T16:00:00.002-05:00

sticker chart, check.
froggy potty, check.

dora undies, check.

angry birds, check!

a potty trained 2 1/2 year old, check!

Camila Bella is potty trained! Ok, she is not perfect (especially with a bout of loosey goosey #2's right now) but she is potty trained, even through the night.

What worked for her (for me to remind myself when im in this situation again in 2 years or for anyone else who is dealing with this issue):

Mila is very independent. Everything is "no! I do it!" Much more so than Raquel ever was. This is good and worked in our favor for potty training. The simple question "do you want to go pee pees on the potty or do you want mommy to do it?" (meaning take her and her clothes off and sit her on it) always sent her running to the potty pulling her pants down and yelling "no! I do it!!".

We started out by heading to the store to pick out some big girl undies. I had made a point of specifically making a big deal often about how Raquel is a big girl and goes on the big girl potty knowing we were going to be potty training soon (with Raquel we used cousin brinly as the example!). She picked out minnie mouse undies. We also picked out a treat, candy corn, for every time she went on the potty.

I cleared our scheduled and went at it for a day. I felt like it was utter failure with her having multiple accidents and Penny was still very colicky, so we stopped that day. About a week later, she told me when I was putting on her diaper "no! I want big girl underwear!!!" So I figured we had nothing going on that week besides halloween, lets try again, and lets not turn back. At first she needed constant reminders and peeing on the pot at least every hour. She got one candy corn per pee AND a sticker for her chart. Candy does wonders for her and I found she was working the bribing by tinkling a tiny bit for a candy corn, but HEY IT WORKED!! After a few days of constant peeing, it lessened up and now about 2 weeks later she can last a few hours and is getting better at telling me she has to go instead of me telling her to go. As far as nap time and bed time without a diaper, I was nervous about it (for Raquel it took a long time) but I told mila again she would get a treat if she stayed dry. She had an accident in her bed twice during nap time but when shown that she would have to wear a diaper when she went to sleep, she literally refused to wear it and she has has stayed dry ever since.

#2 is a whole different story. Mila has always had issues with it (hence the belly) and normally only goes once or twice a week (yes). But after sticking her on the pot with angry birds, low and behold she went!

so my found tips:
-once you start out, don't revert back to diapers at all. its better to change a million wet and messy clothes than revert back to diapers. They will get it.
-pull-ups- i dont use unless necessary. It's just like a diaper, they dont know the difference. I still buy a pack for nursery (mila loves to go #2 in there for some reason), or times when you are out and about and not by a bathroom.
-high fives, stickers and a bribe (candy in our fam) works like a charm. oh and apparently angry birds too.
-clearing your schedule for a few days and being in the right mind set to clean the floor, wash multiple sheets (which I learned to just put down a thick towel), clean the carpet and messy underwear for an undermined about of time until they get it is needed. no child is perfect. if you have a perfect potty trainer consider them, well, perfect.

only one in diapers is about the only incentive I needed to get her bum bum on the pot.

raquel on the potty here

the tale of a snowman in october

2011-11-11T06:03:00.000-05:00

2011-11-07T14:05:00.007-05:00

the girls finally got to celebrate halloween... somewhat. They went trick or treating at a few stores in the town next to us, New Providence, on friday night. After a full week of canceled school, our town canceled the postponed trick or treating too, but they decided to have a halloween parade on the track before a football game and after, everyone would pass out their candy to the little ones. Well, it was madness and candy everywhere, but the girls finally got somewhat of a halloween, even if it was in november!

And a few photos from last night. I love the pouty lip.. penny makes it all the time.

take one

take two

take i give up

i was caught

2011-11-07T13:45:00.005-05:00

red handed. 9pm last night and 3 little girls were in bed sleeping. I went into the kitchen and started shuffling through a plastic jack-o-lantern full of candy. I opened up a snickers and took a bite just as a little sleepy-eyed two year old walked in and caught me in the act. Oh the look on her face! You see, she too has the same sweet tooth as her mama.

"mommy, you eat- ed my candies?"

oh the shame!! I quickly picked her up as she repeated the same sentence over and over. She got lots of im sorry kisses, a little bite of candy bar, tinkle tinkle on the potty and back to bed. As I tucked her in and whispered I love you, she whispered it back and then reiterated "mommy, you eat-ed my candies!"

snowtober

2011-11-02T15:51:00.002-04:00

snow in october is just absurd. ONCE in my life growing up in Buffalo (land of the blizzards) can I remember snow covering the grass at Halloween. We bundled up and sang jingle bells instead of trick or treat at the doors. I even remember getting yelled at by a grouchy old lady who opened the door right as I threw a snowball at it (whoopsies). But this is New Jersey... not western new york!!

Jersey must be on mother natures bad side this year. Maybe she's been watching Jerseylicious, Real Housewives of NJ or the Jersey Shore. If that's the case, then I don't blame her. Three state of emergencies in less than a year? Christie better not throw down that card again anytime soon or the country will start thinking we are a bunch of softies.

Snowtober was pretty rough on our specific town though. The heavy snowfall (8in?) was too much for the trees that were loaded with leaves that had yet to drop and already weak from hurricane Irene. The result was downed trees and power lines everywhere. Everyone we know, but us, lost power (lucky us!!). Some still don't have it! Schools have been canceled 3 days already, (... just got the daily text its canceled AGAIN tomorrow!! AHHH!!) poor Raquel's class halloween party and parade was canceled. Heck trick or treating has been postponed until Friday night. Our town looks like a giant walked around and stomped on the trees. Its so sad, many of them probably wont survive. The first day it took Felipe a normally 10 minute drive to work, an hour. Even last night they had yet to fix random power lines hanging dangerously low with a simple plastic bag hanging from it to warn you, or cars who were in transit but hit by falling trees in the middle of the street were still there.

in this first picture to give you an idea, that tree is normally super tall and a skinny oval shape!!!

it will be a halloween storm to remember!

a snow storm halloween craft to remember with halloweens to come

lets see here, Penélope is almost 4 months old and has been through an earthquake, Hurricaine and now a bizarre snowstorm in october!

halloweenie 2011

2011-10-30T15:57:00.003-04:00

this halloween weekend has been quite odd and eventful to say the least. halloween this year is a weenie= halloweenie.

To kick off the halloween season, last week we went to the fall festival at church. See...here we are:

classic photo. no one wanting to participate in smiling.

The girls and I then went to play group's halloween party on friday. They had a cute little parade down the sidewalk.

wicked witches of the north east. costume design by christina moreno... $6 each for tulle material and hats

im so glad that we went to the play group party on friday to celebrate a little bit of halloween. who knew it would turn into such a weenie. Snowing 8 inches and canceling all the fun.

More to come ....

friday morning

2011-10-21T13:07:00.004-04:00

fridays. still in our pj's at 11am type of day. raquel doesnt have preschool and im pretty sure the girls make up for missed playing on friday mornings. Moments like this make me so happy we had them close in age.

see what I mean?

(oh and in the middle of the video mila says "popcorn!" and eats a piece found under the cushion. i didnt notice until after i posted the video, but raquel obviously did!)

my girls this week

2011-10-16T16:05:00.000-04:00

this week...

Penélope turned 3 months old and got her turn in the Mexican dress. I bought it in Tijuana when Felipe and I were first married, hoping that we would have at least one girl.

Camila is officially 2 1/2 this week. We found out she is car sick prone... hence wearing Raquel's undershirt at the farm in the country on Columbus day (luckily it was 80 out).

Raquel got her first face-painting.

and checking on my sleeping beauties (mila's first night in a big girl bed).

looking at these photos to me its apparent how much older they are each getting. not gonna lie, it makes me a little sad!!

magic blankie ride!

2011-10-11T16:37:00.004-04:00

a rainy day stop motion photography project (meaning hundreds of photos!) while annie and brett were here. quite the collaboration. and like annie said """Tina chose the song, and the night after we shot the photos we saw the new VW Bug commercial WITH THE SAME SONG. SOOOO RANDOMMMMM!! Its such as random old song WEIRDDD."""

Photography by Brett
Baby Positioning by Tina & Annie
Video Editing by Annie
idea to do a stop motion w the babes: felipe (dont want him to get angry at me by not giving him credit)
oh! and fish and raindrops colored by Raquel and Camila ;)

while making it, it totally reminded me of how we use to make "barbie videos" in middle school! (picture barbies tied to fish string in different hysterical settings).

my pretty girls.

2011-10-09T16:25:00.012-04:00

taken by annie.
when a photographer stays.. she pays in photos :)

evie mae and penny eve meet!

2011-10-05T13:20:00.004-04:00

BCF's (best cousins forever).

evangeline and penélope finally met! Not much playing was done. They were strictly business starring in their own film "magic blankie ride" that will be debuting soon. Be excited.

it was so much fun having annie, brett, evie and stanley the good dog come visit. I am excited to see them more now that they live in atlanta (i know, its not close, at all.. but better than cali or utah!).

funny thing happened. we went for a nice evening walk.

see all nice and happy.

the babies, just a minute or two before the SUDDEN DOWNPOUR!!!!

it was fun actually. Everyone got so soaked. Standing under a tree wasn't ideal considering it was lightning too! We literally ran as fast as we could to the cars 1/4 of a mile away. My flip flops wouldnt stay on so I had to run barefoot. Penny got so wet her hair was matted down and she looked so silly with it not sticking up.

funny funny. thank you for visiting us annie and brett!!!! we loved meeting happy evangiline.

oh check out this amazing video they made of evangeline's story. its the best thing ive ever seen.

last month in pictures

2011-10-03T11:18:00.002-04:00

someone had their 30th birthday!! .....

random huge rainbows

teaching penny how to play angry birds

celebrating chilean independence day with our chilean friends Julieta and Sebastian!

empanadas y pastel de choclo. yum!

and mila. she loves her woody toy (that she calls buzz) and sleeps with it. When she got her dora balloon for knocking her teeth out we tied it to 'buzz' and she slept with it every night. it just now lost its helium almost 2 months later.

and now we are all caught up. next up... annie, brett and evangeline's visit last week!

beef... its whats for dinner

2011-09-30T16:33:00.000-04:00

a typical family dinner. usually lots of bribing with promises of dessert if you finish your food. Felipe was trying to get Mila to eat a piece of beef when she got a confused and disgusted look on her face and refused to eat it.
"No papi, foot!"
"FOOT!!" she reiterated.
Confused as she was, Felipe inspected the piece of meat on the fork and burst out laughing.

would you want to eat a piece beef shaped like a foot!?

baby shadow

2011-09-14T13:44:00.001-04:00

not sure what I like best about this silhouette of penélope.

her spiky hair,

long lashes,

or chubby clenched fist

2011-09-11T23:00:00.000-04:00

9/11/11 from our town

raquels first day of pre K!

2011-09-09T15:40:00.000-04:00

raquel in front of her cubby!

This week was Raquel's first day of preschool. These pictures are from the family orientation day where I got to go with Raquel to meet her teacher and the classroom helpers along with her other classmates. The next day was her first day. I was a bit nervous that she would not want to leave our car and go with the teachers at drive thru drop off and I would be trudging in with her crying and her two sisters (most likely crying too). BUT Raquel did great!! No tears! She was so excited about her new smurf's lunch box and the snack inside of it that she didnt even look back at me. Mila on the other hand balled that Raquel left her and was a little lonely playing by herself while she was at school.

Raquel's favorite part: snack time. thats my girl!
She also noticed that their play dough is very green and smells different than ours. My little girl is growing up!

Penélope's 2 months old today!

2011-09-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

at her appointment today, before her shots

stats: 10lbs 13oz, 21 1/2 inches
-spiky hair, i try to comb it down but it sticks right back up!
-has already been through a hurricane and earthquake (we didn't feel the latter probably due to standing outside bouncing her around)
-wakes up 2-3 times a night still. lordy lordy!
-hates the bottle and binky (help!)
-seems like she may turn into a thumb sucker as per the last few days
- is snuggly in my arms right now and wails out in pain if i move her legs where she just got her shots
-is a sweet pea

addy and sherri visit!

2011-09-06T14:29:00.004-04:00

My sister sherri and Addy (who just turned two) visited us for 3 weeks! It was so nice because they live in MONTANA and everyone knows that Jersey and montana are not exactly close.

whats a cousin get together without a bath photo. this is what you get when you leave children unattended in the bath.

strolls down the street in style

hitting the pool almost daily!

lil penny

Mila and Addy did not always play nice, but for some reason they did at the pool!

to add to the fun, Cousin ayla came too!

we all went to jersey shore. the girls picnicking

funny how fast the girls changed in (almost) 2 years

thanks for the visits cousins! we miss you!

inconvenient irene

2011-08-30T13:14:00.008-04:00

before... felipe checking to make sure our camping grill still worked and raquel gathering veggies

after... i was expecting more excitement in our patch of grass besides wayward leaves....

inconvenient irene. thats all she really was to us, an inconvenience. I ran to the store a day before she was suppose to show up to grab some fruit and it was a mad house. I had to park in a different store parking lot and walk far only to find no available shopping carts, no water jugs, slim pickins in bread and other items. It was sad to see people buying a lot of frozen food and refrigerated items much Im sure have been thrown out since.

We were prepared for the worst. We had lots of water, food storage, flashlights. We filled the bathtub in case the water supply went on us, closed the storm windows, got everything up from the floors in the basement, did laundry, etc.

When the worst of her approached it was in the middle of the night. I woke up to powerful winds and rain beating on the windows. Soon the power went out and the girls woke up scared. We slept in their room with them. To tell you the truth, it was scary for me, but I was still waiting for it to get really really scary, which it never did. When we woke up in the morning, she was practically gone. Not much destroyed at our house, but lots of flooding in other people's homes and businesses. We got about 8 inches of water and didn't have power for about 20 hours, our water is still contaminated today... the pool is closed due to flooding possibly for the season, the roads to the mall are still blocked by trees and flooding, our favorite restaurant in millburn is demolished and I could go on and on with inconveniences from irene but thats it. We are lucky I guess, lots of other people in our area were not so lucky.

Now can you wash laundry with contaminated water???

i LOLed when I saw this video a summit resident "jersey johnny" made. we did not have much damage because we live on a summit hence the name.

penélope's baby blessing

2011-08-27T11:00:00.001-04:00

a baby blessing is one of my favorite important milestones in a child's life. In our church it is done early in life. I think that it is so beautiful when Felipe takes our daughter in his arms and gives her a name and a beautiful blessing for life. Naturally a lot of photos come with this post... or all of my posts :)

Penélope Eve Moreno
August 21, 2011

its always nice to have family in town for it...

it just started raining as I worked on this post... hurricane irene is on her way right for us here in jersey. a first for us and im nervous!

mila looses 3 teeth

2011-08-24T09:35:00.009-04:00

My poor little Camila! Last monday it was raining a ton. Sherri was visiting with Addy and we stayed indoors with the girls all day. When it cleared outside after dinner, Felipe and Sherri went to take the girls for a walk while I fed Penelope. Mila tripped on the steps up from the basement and fell down only a few but managed to fall right on her bottom 3 teeth and knocked them out. Poor thing had blood everywhere, two teeth completely out and one still in her gums but lying sideways. She was so brave though and only cried for a few minutes.

Felipe and I ran her to the ER where the trauma doctor checked her for concussion and other things but told us there was really nothing to do for her teeth. Baby teeth are baby teeth and will end up coming out anyways when she is older. They put her on antibiotics and we left after a while. Camila was really lucky though that when she fell, she literally only hit her teeth. She had a little bit of a puffy lip but was not cut anywhere in her mouth or anything that needed stitches.

She's had 2 follow up visits with a pediatric dentist here and she is doing fine, but she also wouldn't cooperate to get an x-ray.

Luckily I was prepared to see baby teeth getting knocked out from my nephew Bronson's recent accident my sister Kari blogged about. Seriously, If I hadn't seen/heard that, I probably would have been freaking out holding her teeth with blood streaming out, although it made me a little queasy to look in her mouth the first few days, but its healed so fast in a week!

Funny thing, after the ER we were waiting at CVS for her antibiotics where Camila picked out a Dora balloon and was sitting playing with it laughing and entertaining a lady watching her. The lady said "she has such a beautiful smile!" Felipe and I looked at each other and smiled and told the lady what had just happened. Her comment totally eased my worrying mind.

looks like the tooth fairy will be stopping at our house for a two year old!!

the moreno's visit

2011-08-23T09:21:00.011-04:00

we had a lot of fun with Felipe's family when they came to visit in July. We miss seeing them all the time and are sad they moved to florida (where all the old folks seem to move). Although palm beach gardens sounds much more exotic than summit nj. It's super exciting when they come to visit!

The girls waiting for their surprises with abuela:

abuelo, the mila whisperer (seriously!):

maca stayed an extra week with us. she had lots of time with the girlies!

abuela with penelope and wii allstar matt

dear morenos, thank you for coming! and watch out for the hurricane! we love and miss you so much.

penny's from heaven

2011-08-18T14:46:00.010-04:00

my little penny is from heaven, she is such an angel. she is growing too fast, way too fast! Here are some photos for her announcement that I took from a few weeks ago when she was about 2 weeks old.

here are two penelope songs both supplied to me from family while I was in the hospital after her birth. both muy bueno. although one is about a goldfish drowning or something like that... but who really listens to lyrics?

one for her latina side and one for her cool hispter side

and here is what I purchased in Virginia that had to do with her name and tied into the civil war:

its a big penny that on the reverse side has Lincolns Gettysburg address on it. When I saw it, I had to buy it because way back in May we were pretty certain her name would be Penélope and we would call her penny!

up next, the moreno's visit and mila's big accident :(

10 years ago today

2011-08-08T07:00:00.012-04:00

me and dad, 1996

August 8, 2001. 10 years ago my father passed away from a sudden heart attack. My daddy was gone leaving my mother and 5 daughters. I was 17 and heartbroken, my life changed drastically. This is my journal entry exactly as I wrote it (ok, I fixed the misspelled words) sharing the details of that life altering day and his sudden burial. One that I think my family should see. 10 years was so long ago, but I still miss him so so much. It's pretty lengthy, but here it goes....

i had written at the top of the page
DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD

August 19, 2001

August 8th... I can't even think of where to start. Dad. Such a little word for such an important man. One who I will love forever and touched my life forever. I never thought that I would be one of the people who others look at and feel sorry for. One who has lost a love one.
Life can change so drastically so fast. I feel as if I have been spun around numerous times and then pushed into a whole different direction.

August 8th, here I go.

I remember the day pretty clearly. I went babysitting the Dunns all day and ran numerous errands with the kids. They mostly concerned Freshman Orientation that I was in charge of running soon at the high school. I also had to stop at the dentist while he shoved some nasty tasting junk into my dry sockets from getting my wisdom teeth out a few days earlier. It was so hot outside that day, mid-nineties with high humidity. I swam in the pool with kids until their dad came home, then I drove home. I walked around the house in my bathing suit because it was so hot. I remember talking to my boyfriend then Frank on the phone lying on my bed when Dad knocked on my door. I said "Hello?" but he didn't come in. He must have thought I was in my underwear or something. Jason came over to pick up Annie to go out and I felt pretty stupid because I was still in my bathing suit.

I also remember Mom and Dad sitting outside on the back porch talking. Mom had me tell Dad what the dentist did to me because it hurt so bad. I then talked to Frank and Lindsay on the phone for a while. They both had wanted to hang out with me that night but I had a field hockey game at 8 which wouldn't be over until 9 and I just didn't feel like going out.

I was sitting at the kitchen table with Sherri for a while eating "fiddle faddle" when Dad came in through the backdoor and told us as he was leaving to go to his usual Wednesday night rollerblading with his friends "Pick up the yard for your mother, love you". The last words we would hear him say. That was at about 7. I watched Entertainment Tonight and part of Friends and got ready for my summer league field hockey game. Mom and Sherri left for the Mall while I went to my game.

At field hockey, I felt too tired, hot and weak to play. I had a bad headache from my teeth so I sat out most of the game. Little did I know what my father was going through at those moments. I drove home hot and sweaty. I decided to go on-line when I got home at 9 and I talked to Cathy Casilio, Crystal (cousin) and Cadence for a while on AIM. Mom and Sherri came home and showed me what they got from the mall. I got off-line at about 9:30 and check for messages on the phone (we were in the dial up internet era). There was a message left at 9:22 from Dad's rollerblading friend. He said that Guy was rollerblading and had a little heat stroke and was taken to Kenmore Mercy emergency room. He left his cell phone number to call.

I quickly told mom that dad was in the hospital and she listened to the message. We didn't really know what to think. Mom brought up that Dad had a minor heat stroke a few years back in Florida at Busch Gardens amusement park.

Mom called back the man and he told her to come down. So, I told her that I would come too... especially because Dad might not be able to drive his car back home. Sherri said that she didn't want to be home alone so she came too. Before we left, I ran upstairs and quickly changed out of my field hockey clothes and put on my red and blue tank top and jean old navy shorts. Sherri and I wrote a note for Annie that said "Dad had a heat stroke and we went to the hospital. Call us on mom's cell phone." We taped the note to the handle of the front porch door.

I remember Sherri saying "Dad is in the emergency room and mom is upstairs changing her clothes." Mom came down and before we left Amber called. Mom told her a little info and that we would call her back. Once she hung up the phone kept ringing one right after another. Brother Solario from the bishopric happened to call to ask Annie if she would give a talk next week before she left for college. Mom told him what was happening and he said he would be home all night if we needed anything.

We finally got into the Jimmy and left. Mom pretty much knew the whole way there because she had taken Billy our cousin to the same hospital a couple of years ago when he had broken his arm. I also sort of knew where we were because Mallory's grandfather had died the prior Friday and I went to the wake with Cadence around there.

I remember driving on the I-90 talking to mom and Sherri looking at a big green highway sign when mom said to us" You know girls, this could be serious." It made me feel kinda sick when she said that but we said we knew. "I just want to prepare you guys if it is." That was the only sign of worry she showed. Other than that it was just "They might have him on oxygen," ..." Oh, I hope he doesn't have to spend the night."... "You might have to drive this car home Tina so you have to take such and such road..."

We missed the exit we were suppose to get off at. Delaware, I remember. We had to turn around and go back. We followed the blue squares with the white H to tell us where the hospital was. Weird how I never really noticed them before. Finally we reached the hospital. Two ambulances were parked on the side with men waiting for a call.

On the radio station we had country 106.5 on and it was bothering me because Sherri was in the back singing cheerfully to Jamie O'Neal's "When I think about rain" song. Mom couldn't figure out where to park so she pulled into a "Reserved for Clergy" spot but then re-parked next to it. I remember asking her why a clergy would be needed at a hospital. "For those who are dying or already passed" she said.

We got out of the car and walked into the hospital. His rollerblading friend John met us at the door and asked us if we were the Gagliardi's. He introduced himself to us. He seemed very nice, around 40 with glasses and a gentle face. Right out he said he was going to get the doctor and knocked on the wall for his wife to open the locked doors for us. Odd, I thought. We weren't going into the emergency waiting room but a private family waiting room.

John's wife opened the door for us and we walked into the family waiting room where another couple was. They were all dressed in their work out clothes with water bottles and things. We were introduced to them and I can't remember their names now. We sat down in the nice chairs which outlined the small room. It had a small bathroom in it, a cross and a nice scenic painting on the wall. Everything else was a blur.

Dad's friends then began to tell us what had happened. They were all rollerblading on the bike-path down by the Niagara river in Tondawanda as they do every Monday and Wednesday. They said that Dad was feeling a little tired and began to slow down. So they stopped and took a break. Dad told them it was so hot and humid, it was kind of hard to breath. Also that he hadn't eaten any dinner. When he said that, I felt kind of sick and guilty because I remember thinking about making dinner earlier that night but I passed it up because I'm too lazy. They went on to tell us that dad told them to go ahead and he would start off later and he had his cell phone if anything ever happened. So they left and told him they would send a car back for him if he wasn't there in 10 minutes. Well, when John's wife went back for him, the paramedics were there. That is all they told us. We found out later that Dad had placed the 911 phone call himself.

The doctor then came in, I don't really recall what he looked like, just that he was young, tan with dark hair. He introduced himself and the nurse that was with him. I do remember her more. She too was young, with blonde hair and very pregnant.

The doctor began to speak to me, mom and Sherri. I don't remember the exact words, but I had an over calming peace come over me. I had a feeling that I can't even describe. The doctor said that Dad had been rollerblading and stricken by the heat with a heat stroke/ heart attack. He went on to say that when the paramedics got to him, he had no pulse.

No pulse, well then he regained it right? I was thinking.

He went on to say, "I worked on him for 40 minutes here in the Emergency Room and he still had no pulse."

But now you have him on oxygen and we can go see him now right?? My thinking was so optimistic.

"I'm sorry, but your husband passed away."

My life it totally different.

Mom started hysterically crying along with Sherri. No one else was there, no one that we knew... only us three, what do we do?

Mom cried out numerous times and I knelt by her and Sherri. I don't remember what ran through my mind, a million different things at once.

Mom.
Mom.
Poor Mom.

It felt like we were in a movie, a dream, not real life. This couldn't happen to us.

The doctor said he was sorry and excused himself. The nurse stayed. I liked her, I remember she comforted us without saying anything.

"Would you like us to make phone calls?" Who knows who it was that asked us, but I remember the question.

Calls, who do we call?

I don't recall who I called first but I called, and I called and I called. I went into the bathroom and called Amber. I remember telling her to come to the hospital. I didn't even know at the time what hospital we were at so I kept on asking Dad's friends with every call.

I called Aunt Lorrie and told her to come.

I called Mrs. Rein looking for Annie and her boyfriend Jason. I tried to tell Mrs. Rein what had happened but every time I tried my mouth would quiver. I got the words out but they didn't sound real coming from my mouth. She didn't help either. She became hysterical and asked me a million questions. I just wanted my sister Annie. "Please find her." I said.

I called my brother in-law Will's family in San Diego looking for Kari and Will who where there for a short visit. I don't even remember who, but someone called information for their phone number. I remember talking to Will's sister Becca who told me that Kari was at her brother Spencer's house. She gave me the number which I wrote down and called. It rang and I asked for Kari. I told my 6 month pregnant sister about Dad while crying. At first she didnt believe me. She asked if I was kidding "Tina, is this a joke?" "No." I told her, " Dad passed away...". Will wasn't even with Kari at the time to comfort her. I talked to Spencer, but I don't remember what I said.

Mom had me go out to the car to get her phone book. I stopped in the parking lot in front of the Jimmy and knelt down and prayed in the hospital parking lot. I asked God to please help me be strong. I lost it when I looked up at the hospital, knowing Dad's body was inside. When I walked in, the doors to the hallway were locked. Some Doctor started yelling at me and asked me where I was going. When I tried to tell him I started to cry and he quickly opened the door.

As I walked back into the room, some tall lady was trying to comfort mom and Sherri who were still sobbing. It was a Catholic "sister" who asked us questions like if we needed a clergy member. She only made mom feel worse.

I called the Munro's looking for our bishop and got Aaron. I asked for his father but he said he was at scout camp. Aaron knew something was wrong and gave the phone to Sister Munro. I told her what happened and she said she'd be right there.

Cara. Mom wanted Cara. Her employee who had become our long lost sister. I called, no answer. I got the machine. I called back again and she answered. How do I tell Cara? I broke down sobbing. "T... what's wrong!? Are you okay??" I told her somehow.

Aunt Lorrie came with Uncle Gary. Mom told her and she flipped out... causing us to also flip out.

Mom's cell phone rang. It was Jason at our house.

"Annie is in the bathroom" he said.

"Jason, does Annie know?" I asked.

" No, the police officer just told me." They had sent a police officer to our house.

"Jason, bring her here quickly okay?" I said. I remember talking to him crouched on the cold bathroom floor covering my ears from Aunt Lorrie's screams.

Annie doesn't know yet.

Police Officer?

My oldest sister Amber came in next and went ballistic with shock like everyone else.

"Wait, what day is it?" Mom asked.

"Wednesday August 8th" one of Dad's friends told her.

My mom started sobbing even harder. Her shoulders shaking up and down.

"Grandma died exactly a year ago today." she said. I held onto mom's legs while sitting on the floor.

August 8

My whole body hurt, especially my head. My eyes started to hurt from crying so much. Sister Munro, Brother Solario and Bishop Simons all came to comfort us. We forgot that Bishop Munro had been released the week prior.

I don't remember when but Dad's friends finally left.

Dad's brother Uncle Bill was there outside the room with his girlfriend Sharon who had just lost her sister.

We called Kari back. Her and Will were flying back from San Diego the next day. I remember getting yelled at by a nurse for using a cell phone in the hallway while talking to Kari.

"Tina, is everyone there?" Kari asked.

"No, not Annie" I said.

"Annie doesn't know yet?" She asked

"No".

where was Annie??

It was such a dream. I have forgotten most of it now. Brand new Bishop Simons asked if we were missing anyone else. I remember that Jason and Annie were coming hopefully soon, so I went with him outside and waited for her. It felt so good to go outside, away from everything.
It was so hot and humid that once we walked through the sliding doors it hit me hard in the face. I felt good though because I had been freezing in that little room.

We sat on a bench right outside the door and talked. He comforted without saying much. It was not long before Jason's parents drove up to the door in their white Lincoln and Jason got out and went around the car to get Annie.

Annie was wearing a skirt, but one of Jason's huge t-shirts which hung down low.
I quickly ran up to her and we started to walk into the hospital together clutching each other. I knew she already knew. We began to cry. Uncle Bill was standing outside of the room and he gave us a hug at the same time.

I am glad that Annie knew before she got to the hospital, there were too many people that room to watch her find out her father died.

When I walked back into the family waiting room, I noticed that Sherri was clutching Dad's rollerblades and a clear plastic hospital bag holding all of Dad's belognings. His wallet and keys. His water bottle with his unfinished water. His sunglasses, I noticed that they were broken. They were missing a lens from the frame. The most heartbraking sight though was to see my little fifteen year old sister clutching these items. She set them down on the floor. Who would give them to her to hold??

I pushed Dad's belongings under the chair so that mom wouldn't see them and get upset.
Throughout the time that we spent in that small room the hospital staff kept asking if we wanted to go and see him. They asked us when we first found out and my reaction was no. I wanted to remember him happy and living.

But at this point, Uncle Bill wanted to see him, so mom agreed to go. Then Amber, Sherri, Annie and I did too. They took us a little ways down the hall. I held onto mom's arm and we were the first ones into the room.

It did not even look like him.

We all only got more upset.

"Oh Dad" I remember saying as I grabbed his arm.

Coldness... he was not there, he was gone. No one else looked at him besides mom and me. Uncle Bill was in major shock. He stood at the end of the bed by dad's feet, which still had socks on them, just staring at dad.

We all quickly left. It was very apparent to all of us that Dad was not there anymore.
On our way back to the family waiting room we passed a room with doctors and nurses in it. I spotted the pregnant nurse who had comforted us. She gave me an encouraging smile. It made me feel good. We decided it was time to go home.

Before we left I grabbed Dad's rollerblades and the bag of his things and carried them out to the back of the Jimmy.

Aunt Lorrie told me later that Uncle Gary watched me walk out of the hospital with them in my arms and it broke his heart.

When we got home brother Solario and Bishop Simons all gave us blessings of peace and comfort outside on our back porch in the sticky air with the crickets loud in our ears. Each of us received a prayer. They were so thoughtful, personal and meaningful. Bishop Simons said mine. He said that memories with Dad would be very important to me and that I should write them down. Also that I should pray to Heavenly Father deeply with intent and many times pouring out my heart. The prayers also comforted us to know that Dad was with our future children in heaven.

Under the great stars of heaven is where they blessed us. I love the stars.

After everyone left, mom was on the phone with Kari and the organ donor lady.

Annie, Amber, Sherri and I laid down in the living room with all of the windows open and fans on because of the hotness. The sound of the crickets above the fans were relaxing. I don't really recall what we talked about, our blessings were cool. We were really there just talking as sisters to comfort one another.

We then moved into the kitchen with mom and talked. It was probably about 3 in the morning. Every once in a while I would loose it. but I was mostly still in shock. We all were. We all decided that it was a good idea to donate his organs to help others in need. By the time we all decided to try and get some rest it was very late (or I should say early).

I cleaned up a little bit downstairs, picking up Dad's work shoes he had left in the playroom on the floor. I put them on the basement steps along with his others.

I went to my room and looked in the mirror. I looked like hell. I still did not shower from my field hockey game. The humidity frizzed out my hair and my face was all puffy. My right eye hurt from crying so much and they were totally red and bloodshot. I also had a headache, a bad one I've never had before. A headache from just loosing your father and holding back tears all night type.

We all took a Tylenol PM but mine did not work quickly. Mom came into my room and hugged me. She told me she was so proud of how strong I was that night.

How strong I was? Look at yourself!

I could not sleep for a while, I laid in my bed and my mind kept on racing. Amber slept with mom in bed so she wouldn't be alone.

In the morning, I woke up early. Amber and mom were already downstairs. Mrs. Rein had brought over Manhattan Bagels. I could only eat a half of one, I wasn't hungry.
Cara came over soon after. She had taken care of all of the daycare conflicts and had closed both centers for mom and called the Dunns for me to let them know I couldn't babysit.

The phone rang all day. Bishop Simons came over to deal with special issues. Sherri didn't get up for a while. I went to take a shower but ended up sobbing in it when I found Dad's used washcloth in it and big blue cup with his water still in it. Tons of food, casseroles, flowers, visitors, friends and family came pouring into the house for the next few days. Nothing was normal.

Frank stayed with me the whole time and at one point he took Sherri and I out of the house to Tops to return a video, "Where the heart is." It was actually one that Dad had rented for me when I got my wisdom teeth out. It was strange walking into Tops. I felt like everyone was staring at me. Actually it was just weird leaving home for a while.

Kari and Will were coming in that night. Their flight was messed up and they had to land in Rochester. Mom, Amber and Sherri were heading out to get them and mom said they were taking the Jimmy. I remembered that Dad's things were still in the back from the night before. I told mom that I would get them out for her.

I went outside and popped the back hatch and saw his rollerblades laying in it. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was trying to fix his sunglasses when Annie came outside and stood next to me.

"His sunglasses are broken." I said to her at a loss for words.

We both began to cry.

"These are the things he died in Tina." she said to me.

His wallet full of reminder post-it notes, his gold watch still ticking. I tried to put all the items away, the wrist guards in the garage, his keys hanging back up next to moms with the "I heart My Guy" key chain. I placed his watch, wallet and glasses on his dresser. I wiped the finger prints off of his glasses and thought of how he liked to keep them so clean with his lens cleaner.
The sunday before at Aunt Lorrie's, Dad had just put on his swimming trunks and was walking though the family room when something fell out of his pocket. Annie tried to tell him but he was already outside. It was a little lens cleaner to-go packet. Later when Annie told him she had it, he said "Hey!! I was looking all over for that!".

I still remember him that night at Aunt Lorrie's as clear as day. I walked into her backyard and there he was floatin' around by himself in their crystal clear pool. He had all of his belongings lined up on the side of the pool but was still talking to everyone .

Later that night after dinner, I was sitting outside with uncle Gary, Grandpa, and Dad. It was weird because I remember looking at Dad and thinking how much I loved him. His leg hair was thinner at the bottom of his legs. I remember him telling me when I was little that I was because he wore knee socks all his life and that the hair just wore off. Dad was taking turns giving Sherri and I back rubs as we sat there. I remember him talking to uncle Gary about when he is older and how he wants a ranch house somewhere in Clarence.

Friday I woke and went to dentist with Annie. He pulled out the dressing which was shoved into my dry sockets. He said before I left " I'm sorry to hear about your Pop." It made me cry in front of the dentist because I had been there a few days earlier with dad. I wanted to go back a few days and for none of this to have happened.

I don't remember what else I did that friday. Breanna, Sarah, and Florie came to visit. Florie made me cry when I saw her. I think it was because she knew Dad well from when we were little. She also brought me a bouquet of sunflowers, my favorite flower, to match my room.

Saturday, I wore my black dress with design on it to the first wake for Dad. While we were driving there in Dad's car, Mom told us that they would have it open casket the whole time. Kari who went early also said that no matter where you were in the room you could still see him.
When we walked into the funeral parlor it was nicely decorated. As we stood in the lobby, I could see all of Dad's family sitting in the viewing room. Mom, Kari, and Amber went in after a little, but Annie, Sherri and I didn't want to. I did not want to face his body again. But when I saw my Grandpa, Bumpa, in the room I felt more comfortable and went in. I quickly walked over to Bumpa and gave him a hug. I hadn't seen him for two or three years. It was then that I saw Dad.

He was a lot better looking than at the hospital, but he still looked far from normal. I was ok though.

My cousin's little girl Gabriella kept pointing to Dad in his casket and asking "Why is he sleeping mommy?" "Why wont he wake up?" the same question I think we were all thinking.

So many people came. So many people. A lot of my friends, some of whom I wouldn't even expect. The night went on and on. I gave numerous hugs to people, faked smile too much and said "Thank you for coming" one too many times. We had two more viewings the next day. Over 400 people signed the guest book.

This is now Tina, Tina now in 2011. My journal continues on about the funeral and his burial. It took me a few hours to type this all out. During which I typed one handed as I nursed my one month old, was fed carrots by my four year old and snuggled with my two year old. And that is the beauty of this all, 10 years and I have moved on. Not a day without missing my Dad but comfort in knowing he is there, my girls have met him and that I'll see him again someday.

I have triplets... spread 4 years apart

2011-07-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

who is who?

This post is by request of Florie, and it's true, my girls look very similar when newborn. and still now too. Lots of dark hair, skinny little legs, serious faces. Can you tell who is who?

ill post the answers in the comments.

Nana's visit

2011-07-27T15:30:00.000-04:00

We were so lucky to have my mom here for five days with us after Penelope was born. She was such a help! It was so great to have her here. I think it was especially wonderful for the girls who pestered her with books, painting, coloring and anything else they could think of. Luckily Nana use to run daycare centers and is use to pestering preschoolers.

a trip to the italian bakery down the street

complimentary cookies cause they're so cute:

mom and i got some cannoli's, a napolean and some other things we couldn't pronounce.

magic fountain!

we love and miss you nana!

meeting penny

2011-07-24T15:47:00.003-04:00

videotaped by the lovely lauren

her first week of life

2011-07-22T10:49:00.001-04:00

lots of snuggles

penelope loves to sleep with her arm behind her head. im guessing it was her favorite position in the womb.

she wont take a binkie (yikes! my other girls were binkie girls!) and screams bloody murder when she has to poop. she also has grabbed her hair a few times with a baby death grip and screams just like camila use to. other than that she's a little angel, or a cute little baby monkey who snuggles up perched on your shoulder :)

up next... nana visits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4th of July 2011

2011-07-18T14:07:00.001-04:00

we spent our 4th of July going to activities in our town! In the morning we went to the decorated bicycle parade and carnival. The girls and I decorated their wagon.

loved the little boy next to us on his tricycle that had a bubble machine attached to it:

we later went to the pool for a long time and then enjoyed fireworks

Mila was not a fan of the fireworks again this year. She literally ran and hid shaking behind my chair when they started. Felipe had to hold her the rest of the time. And the baby (who was still in my belly at that time) was kicking like crazy because they were so loud! I was secretively hoping for a doodle dandy "born on the fourth of july" but that didn't happen.

it was a great family 4th of july!

Penélope Eve Moreno

2011-07-17T18:10:00.001-04:00

Penny's labor story:
Hot and uncomfortable I woke up at 3am and read for a while. The previous 24 hours were rough on my body, I felt like I was very overdue. I had even found this clip from friends of Rachael overdue in the hot summer and was going to post it cause that's exactly how I felt.

After I was done reading I tried to fall back asleep nudging Felipe to snuggle with me (which always seems to help). Then reasoning in prayer I said "You know, I have been overdue with both of my other girls, today would be a wonderful day to have a baby." Maybe 10 minutes later while lying completely still I felt a tiny pop. My water broke while lying completely still! I nudged Felipe, happily called Lauren to come and watch the girls and then called the doctor. That was 5am. We went to the hospital around 7.

6:30am before heading to the hospital

I still had not had any contractions and was only at 2cm when we got there. At 8am they put a tiny bit of pitocin in my system to speed things up. At 9 they had to turn off the pitocin because my contractions came out of nowhere heavy and strong! I was fully dilated a little after 11am, ready to push and was prepared for delivery. Penélope was born at 11:24.

first photo!

I would describe the whole process as calm and easy. I am so serious too. I even said to Felipe right after "that was too easy". Everyone in the room was calm, I was calm and it was beautiful! I held her right away all gooey and fresh for an hour nursing her and bonding before they took her away to clean and check her out.

She is a Moreno girl. She looks just like her sisters but she is a little smaller than they were, a little sweet pea.

first photo with papi!

chillin in the nursery. Facebook comments--
Annie: chillin'
Felipe: i think she was doing sit ups
Maca: no, no she's tanning. like a true jersey girl

after her bath and hair-do in the nursery and Penélope with Lauren:

me with my three girls

the moreno family, fiesta of five!

Raquel and Camila made Penelope a bear and also picked her out an angry bird. And Penny ready to go home!

Penélope Eve

2011-07-09T13:46:00.005-04:00

Welcome to the world Penélope Eve Moreno

July 6th, 2011 11:24 am, 7lbs 2oz, 20inches.

Our little new shiny Penny decided to grace us with her presence graciously 3 days early!!

we are happy, home and adjusting to our newest baby girl. More photos and posts to follow :)

38 weeks

2011-06-28T09:30:00.001-04:00

How about a pregnancy post?

38 weeks from my view this morning

the girls are so excited as we get things ready for their new sister. They love playing with her baby toys (their old ones!)

I have this list. It's quite intricate and is listed room by room with to-do's such as scrubbing floors on hands and knees, painting the kitchen so on and so forth. I am normally a fairly clean person but when I am pregnant I turn into Monica Geller from friends. No, I don't have 11 categories of towels but ask Felipe, it's pretty bad. The other day he yelled at me for washing a door in the living room " Tina! Stop! The baby is not going to be licking the doors!!".

Almost everything on my list is done though. Luckily I did most of it a few weeks ago because now I am just getting too fat, awkward, hot and tired to get much accomplished.

2nd purchase for this baby was an organic jersey state wood teether for our 3rd jersey girl!

I've been feeling pretty great! No major complaints. The doctors have sent me for a few extra ultrasounds because each week I am measuring 3 weeks behind and they are concerned the baby will be small. But each time the ultrasound shows a healthy size baby girl. Two weeks ago she was 6lbs. Plenty of time for her to get up to the 8lbs mark like her sisters. I guess I have it good. The ultrasound tech told me I am very lucky and have what all pregnant women want "Fat babies and little weight gain".

35 weeks

Cravings:

Thin sliced Provolone cheese, a good deli brand. Especially at 12am. The first time I asked Felipe in bed to get me a slice, he thought I was insane. But he did it anyways :)

In the beginning I was craving sushi (with Raquel it was Calzones from Joe's and with Mila it was mexican food). But this baby hasn't given me too many strong cravings. Apparently food tastes much better though. When eating with some friends at Tito's Burritos my mac daddy tasted so wonderful I swear they changed up the recipe or something. I took some home to Felipe so he could enjoy the deliciousness. He reassured me it is exactly the same and that I'm just pregnant.

Nesting gone extreme, Zapatos is now roaming free again at the bunny farm she came from. She started to become feisty and bite when we would try and hold her/feed her. So the girls recently became scared of her and never interacted with her anymore. She also stopped hopping out of her cage to play, her cage stunk up the kitchen and had to be cleaned every other day and lets face it we'll have enough on our plates very soon. So last friday morning I went with the girls to literally give her back to the farm/ breeder lady where we got her from. There were no tears from the girls, instead Raquel actually understood that Zapatos was not happy at our house and needed friends and more space to play. Mila on the other hand 4 days later walked into the kitchen and said "oh no! where'd bunny go?" 4 DAYS LATER!!! I felt so bad giving her back and actually cried a little when driving away because I felt like a horrible mother, but now seeing that the girls barely notice she's gone and our kitchen doesn't stink, I think it was the right decision.

kitchen painting before and after:

one last thing. All I wear are Felipe's gym shorts. They are the only things even remotely cool and comfortable to wear anymore and lets face it, I look like a fool. A dozen days (more or less) left!

elle decor

2011-06-27T20:51:00.007-04:00

I was stunned about a month ago to see a bunch of hits on my flores del sol blog coming from elle decor. I though maybe its just a fluke until I followed the link and found this!
(you can click on the images to read them better)

they said some very nice things about me and I am actually still in shock over it.
the end

coming up next, a little pregnancy update

Raquel's 4th Birthday Party

2011-06-22T11:08:00.000-04:00

the birthday girl

pin the cherry on the ice cream cone

a few of the attendees (mr cool)

the melting ice cream cake

"don't touch the cake!!"

sister of the birthday girl

cute baby bryndlee

a few of the friends Logan and Ainsley

la familia moreno

Happy 4th Birthday Raquel!

2011-06-18T15:14:00.000-04:00

Today is Raquel's 4th birthday! Can you believe it?? She is a sweet girl with a sassy side. Must be the Jersey 'tude in her.
She loves reading books, music, babies and coloring. Her favorite color... PINK. Favorite foods are ice cream, cake and cookies. Oh and blueberries, her and Camila have been known to sneak and eat a whole costco size container of them in one sitting. Her recent favorite songs include stereo love and firework -im not a huge fan of katy perry and its on all the radio all the time and I try so hard to turn the stations quickly before she hears it but she always catches it!---

We love you Raquel. My life has been so happy and enriched with you in it. Happy Birthday!

here is her birthday dvd:

the great swamp!

2011-06-15T13:05:00.016-04:00

My computer is not fixed yet but Felipe put my hard drive onto his laptop for now. So I can post now!

The kids learned about the swamp and insects and so forth during joy school so we took a little field trip last week to the Great Swamp a town away. It is a national wildlife refuge that is huge!! Any open space in our area of New Jersey is either turned into a reservation (not a native american res like we grew up knowing but to preserve the trees and nature) or a national refuge. Everything else is claimed for and over-populated.

Here are good friends Lincoln and Raquel. (I would say something here and tease her about him being her boyfriend or something but I dont want to jinx a good thing ;) )

They had paths and boardwalks through the swamp and different trails you can take. Lots of fun. So glad we brought bug spray. Even with it on the girls and I still got quite a few bites.

lincoln and raquel checking out the toad

Ellie and Mila. As you can see they were not fans of the mosquitoes everywhere:

After our swamp walk we hung out at the discovery room inside where they had lots of fun things for the kids to do!

i loved these tree blocks and so did mila. I found them online here which I might just have to get the girls someday.

broken computer

2011-06-13T13:02:00.002-04:00

sooooo no blog posts cause our 1 1/2 year old computer decided to hibernate permanently (seriously when you turn it on it stays in the power save mode and wont kick on). SOOO I cant post my posts and all of my info and photos for everything business, etc is stuck on it. Big dilemma. I wanted to make Raquel a baby picture dvd like i did for Camila's for her birthday on saturday. Hopefully Felipe can figure out how to fix it sooN!

our memorial day weekend

2011-06-01T13:18:00.002-04:00

friday night it was ice cream at magic fountain with Tio Adolfo, Felipe's cousin. Also a little photo shoot there for Raquel's upcoming 4th birthday. A sneaky peek:

saturday was the first day the pool opened and luckily it did cause it's been too hot for this prego lady!

what happens to an almost 4 year old when you spend a day at the pool and then mom makes you have quiet time:

sunday was a 'down the shore' feet in the sand family day. Can I tell you I love how close the jersey shore is? Every year we hit it up a few times. We went to a beach this time that took only 45 minutes to get there, although I must say there was more trash washing up there than normal and Im guessing because of it's close proximity to nyc.

wait papi!!!

monday we attended a very hot church picnic and then an evening at the pool cooling off.
What a wonderful family weekend we had!

joyschool graduation

2011-05-26T14:43:00.006-04:00

Today was Raquel's last day of joyschool. I can't believe how fast the year went. Here was her first day. They had a fun water party to celebrate with a picnic lunch. It was a pretty good year. I liked the program we used mother goose time. It had everything planned out for you per day and even craft materials, music etc which makes teaching a lot easier not having to worry about coming up with a lesson plan and craft.
Next year Raquel is on to public preschool! She's growing too fast and will be turning 4 in a few weeks. Today is our first day trying out no afternoon nap considering I've been finding her awake still at 10:30pm and then she gets up at 6am.

Its already stinkin hot and humid here in Jersey. Good thing the pool opens on saturday! Hooray!

virginia day 2!

2011-05-17T15:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday was Caiden Lucas's baby blessing!!

It was also mother's day...

Surprisingly I've gotten to spend the past 2 Mother's Day with my mom! It was a real treat to be with her, we don't get to see each other very often.

The rest of the day was spent outside.
Twinky captured by felipe:

Nana got the girls bug catcher supplies. Lookin' for bugs with Nana:

cousins!

sweet Ayla:

the bubbles were endless that afternoon with avid participators

pulled pork, homemade pies and some last baby holding. Then we were back in the car for our drive back to Jersey.

at church Mila made me the cutest card in nursery for mother's day. She wouldn't let go of it to give to me and was so excited showing me her "hands" on the paper. Ayla had made the same one for Amber and Amber asked me in church if I looked at mine and that her's made her tear up. I chuckled thinking to myself "im not that sentimental." Plus Mila wouldn't give it up. Finally after a while she let me see it. I did get teary eyed!

Raquel also made me a special card in Primary with the words to our favorite song "I often go walking" inside it. I also got from them a watering can and hose for our garden. They know their mama!

Oh plus I found a 4 leaf clover in Amber's backyard. It was a good day ;)

weekend in virginia day 1

2011-05-14T16:01:00.001-04:00

last weekend we drove down to meet my new nephew (tinky and twinky's cousin) Caiden Lucas in Virginia!
It had been a few months since the girls have seen cousin Ayla too so they were very happy and excited to see her. A big bonus was that Nana and Grandpa Ray were there for the week to see Caiden so we got to spend 2 short days with them.

cousins playing after our 4.5 hour drive! :

We went to visit some Civil War sights in Fredericksburg, VA where my sister Amber lives. I have visited her many times but never these sights! It was fun. I forgot my camera that day but Ray let me take some with his.

We first went to the Chatham house a few minutes from her home. It's an old plantation that was used in the civil war for care of wounded and housed some cool people. For several days, army surgeons operated on hundreds of soldiers inside the house. It was also visited by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and some other famous old dudes.

girls with Nana and Ayla in the rose garden.

an original old tree from the civil war. Apparently they would throw the arms, legs and other body parts that were amputated out the window at it. Grooossss. I felt like my feet were going to get dirty walking in the grass by it:

surprisingly Raquel loved hearing about the stories of the battle and shooting the cannons at the old church. She loved the old house and the squeaky floors. Just yesterday she asked me what it was that everyone was looking at inside the house. I feel bad I didn't describe more to her about it because she was purely interested! Now I know for future trips to DC!

so I (secretively) purchased in the little gift shop something for baby #3 that has to do with her name. Yes, its tied to the civil war.

Next we went to the Fredericksburg Battlefield center where they have the graveyard from the war. 15,000 are buried there and only about 2,000 are marked and known graves. The union was creamed here with more than twice as many casualties than the confederates. Luckily Felipe wasn't representing us Yankees with his Yankees hat that day. Embarrassing! jk jk

a cute picture ray took of Tinky in front of a patch of buttercups that she now loves!

mom, caiden and me

it was a jam packed day but the girls all did great! We walked around the very pretty downtown area afterwards. Raquel and Grandpa Ray:

i'll post more photos of our weekend soon!

easter 2011

2011-05-01T14:43:00.009-04:00

dont they look like two old biddies in this photo?

The girls in their Easter dresses. Actually this was taken today (May 1st). Mila had severe allergies on Easter and didn't get to go to church so Raquel had to wear her dress 2 weeks in a row (gasp!).

and a few photos from an easter egg hunt at playgroup:

the ever photogenic tinky...

and miss mila moo

our easter was quiet, we decided to have stuffed pork chops, asparagus and twice baked potatoes honoring a last special Easter dinner I had with my dad when I was 17. I had been on spring break with friends in the outerbanks, nc and mom and annie and sherri were in Florida for some reason without dad. While we were on vacation, my friend's dog got very sick and was on her deathbed so we had to go home early. Luckily we did because it is a great memory I have with Dad before he passed a few months later. He made the yummy dinner for the two of us and we hung out together. I think it will be our Easter tradition now because Felipe did a great job with the chops and my twice backed potatoes were to die for too ! :)

favorite mommy things

2011-04-29T15:15:00.008-04:00

one of my favorite things about being a mommy is that snugly surprise after moments of silence.

That time when I think to myself "uh oh, i haven't heard her for minute or two." Calling her name with no answer I think the worst. I'm expecting wipes sprawled all over the bedroom floor or wads of TP in the toilet. But then I find this, at 10am, snuggling with her favorite elephant.

melts my heart :)

Camila's bunny birthday party

2011-04-20T13:32:00.002-04:00

awaiting the guests!

bunny bum bums

boo-boo- bunnies! (did you have one when you were little??):

the valerio's! A moreno party must.

the wallins with Mila's "boyfriend" Maddox (even though they don't always play nice) and Jamie with Mila's good friend ELLIE!!! (that's how she screams her name when she sees her):

pin the bum bum on the bunny:

favorite saying: "I do it, I do it"or "I did it! I did it!" She is very independent. Also "Juice mama Juice!" and "snack mama snack".
favorite song: wheels on the bus, I am a Child of God and Mike Posner "Baby Please Dont Go" (seriously).
favorite show: Bubble Guppies. BUbba bubba guppa guppa GUPPies!!
lease favorite: wearing Raquel's clothes. Yes, they are in the same size now (3T) and she knows if I try and put one of Raquel's shirts on her. She gets upset and says "Nooo!!! Noooo!! guell's guell's!!". and she still only really fits into Jeggings or sweatpants.
favorite foods: ice cream, cookies and all fruits.
is: a comedian. dont ever say knock knock joke around her, she wont stop with them!

and lastly a video of the party and a few clips after for family that we miss SO MUCH!!!

Camila's 2nd Birthday!!!

2011-04-18T08:44:00.000-04:00

Today Camila Bella turns 2. Happy birthday Mila!

I've made a DVD for Mila of the best photos of her from birth to 2. Hope you enjoy it!

We had her birthday party this weekend and I will post photos and video from it soon.

baskets and boots

2011-04-11T09:36:00.001-04:00

on saturday we went to our town's easter egg hunt!

waiting patiently...

Remember Raquel last year here with her one egg? This year she grabbed 3 more!!

baskets and boots. needed for easter in jersey.

my chubby prego face and my cuties

this bunny is a lot bigger than zapatos:

26 weeks

2011-04-01T09:20:00.004-04:00

Update with #3:
26 weeks. 6 1/2 months?? I feel grrreat! I have popped and can't hide my belly anymore. Even Raquel told me "Mom, your belly is getting BIG!!!".

Speaking of Raquel I thought I would leave you with a funny story recently:
We were heading into costco and Raquel pointed at an african american costco worker at the exit and said "Mom! Look! It's the color man!".
I was shocked and almost fell over.
"WHat!??" I said, "no no no Raquel we don't say that!"
She got kind of angry with me and said, "Yes mom, he is! He colors the happy face on the paper!!!"
I was suddenly relieved when I realized she meant when he checks the receipt on the way out he colors a happy face for the girls. :)

meet brownie

2011-03-29T14:20:00.004-04:00

He's a 1930's jersey brown brick home built smack dab in New Jersey during the depression and prohibition era with its "faux marble" painted walls in the front stairwell and huge antique wine press hiding in the basement.

We live on the second floor. Not much of brownie has changed since the 30's, but the world around it has. I imagine you could see the then new Empire State Building from brownie's roof (actually, you probably still can, I just can't figure out how to get up there). It was once an all Italian neighborhood here. The mailboxes pictured above in the front entry have Italian last names scribbled in pencil like camerlengo. There is also an old Italian saint still on the wall of the basement that watches over me while I do my laundry. Mama mia. Good thing. I don't want to mix my whites and colors.

All the original doors still lock with old antique keys and have unique glass door knobs (no need for anthropologie repros here).

I do love the old beams and detailed woodwork that line the living and dining room ceilings and doors.

and the eclectic light switches

the girls room, not my choice of color, but we had to move in quickly and didn't have time to repaint it. The beach mats I found in the basement are on the wall to cover up a random door that Raquel was scared of sleeping in front of:

Being that our landlord is an old cheap Italian man almost nothing has changed in Brownie since the 30's besides the kitchen cabinets 3 years ago and a vinyl floor I put down when we moved in. But because of his cheapness, we do get a pretty good deal for a huge apartment in expensive jersey which is exactly why we moved right in when Felipe's parents moved to Florida (they lived in brownie for a long time).

I also like the fact that I have my own little studio off of the apartment to keep my flower mess in. It looks like a bomb went off in there now after being featured here though so we'll save that for later.

1987

2011-03-28T10:14:00.001-04:00

a repost from my floresdelsol blog:

This is me, when I was three in 1987. I'm the one on the left, nose deep in a rose with one of my sisters Annie. I love this photo. You see, my head has always been stuck in flowers, one way or another. I've been in love with them since birth. Probably due to the fact that I was given the middle name Rose.

I have vivid memories of my mother's garden roses. Especially their sweet and potent scent. Rarely will any florist rose have the pure scent as a true garden rose. The rich scent of garden roses are bred out of a florist rose on purpose to lengthen their vase life leaving their smell weak and dull. But once in a while, a certain variety will smell so pure and sweet that instantly I am 3 again with my nose deep in fresh garden petals.

I now have a cute, flower happy three year old with a little sister in toe and another girl on the way. Remind me to plant a rosebush for my three year old. Her middle name is Rose.

chubbymaker strikes again!

2011-03-24T14:36:00.006-04:00

Mila was such a good newborn baby. Calm and collected. I thought for sure she would be more calm than Raquel, who is quite the silly, giggly, energetic girl herself. Boy was I wrong! Mila is more silly, energetic and basically hysterical. Some days she wakes up with so much energy. It's so funny.

She is still a chubbymaker. I think this stage is going to progress and get worse as she hits 2 soon and will also be in competition with another new little sibling.

The other day I went grocery shopping. I brought a few bags up and put them in the kitchen and asked for Felipe's help. I think the girls were alone all of 2 minutes when we found Mila with a pile of eggs and 4 thrown in the direction of Zapato's cage. Smashed. All done of course with Raquel hysterically laughing.

Not to mention the incident a few days earlier. I was drying my hair and Felipe was in the basement doing Laundry. The girls were playing in the kitchen when I hear Raquel say "Mom! Come quick! Camila...... ". She had gotten a hold of syrup and dumped it all over the floor. When I asked Raquel who opened it for her she said "Oh, Santa did" (just like how she told me today that Dino Dan pushed Mila over). Mila smelled like syrup the rest of the day.

I don't think she is trying to cause trouble, she just is... trouble! It's been a few days now. She's due for another big one!

Camila in her earlier traviesa days here.

book reads

2011-03-16T11:48:00.004-04:00

I've found myself reading much more again. I love to read. I finally read Jane Eyre. It dragged on until about the 2nd half of the book where it finally picked up. It was a great read. I love her determination, self respect and worth. A great heroine. It's always a plus when you finish a book and find out there is a new movie coming out on it!

The Hiding Place was another great read. It is about Christian sisters involved in hiding Jews and the trials and faith they uphold during it. It's a very inspiring story and makes you want to become a better Christian.

Lastly I am about halfway through The Book Thief. It is another take on the holocaust set in Germany. Not as uplifting so far as The Hiding Place but so far so good.

I also just finished The Secret Life of Bees (it was ok). I'm looking for a new book to read. Please nothing about poor orphan girls who are abused (i've had my fill) and I need a break from the holocaust! Any good recommendations ? Each of these have been recommended by friends.

papi and the puppy store

2011-03-14T10:28:00.001-04:00

The girls don't get very many days to spend with their Papi. He works lots. When they do, they love going to the puppy store! Puppies, puppies, puppies. We picked one out!! JK. Just what we would need before a new baby.

our favorite was the cute little beagle. and the black Stanley :)

our day was jam packed with a diner breakfast, syrup dumped all over the kitchen floor, a huge load dropped of at good will, buying bunny supplies for zapatos, the puppy store and the park. oh and then I got to go clothes shopping. alone. it was weird. we heart papi.

little sprouts

2011-03-11T14:15:00.005-05:00

I did this post on my floral blog a few weeks ago and thought it too cute of the girls to keep off the family blog so here it is!:

My girls and I have started spring off early. A friend gifted them these cute little seed kits for fun and we planted them up.

Their favorite part was watching the soil pellet magically transform into a pile of dirt when you add water:

They planted parsley, wild primroses and sunflowers.

some have started sprouting while others haven't so we'll have to add some more seeds to the lame-os.

the baby in mommy's belly

2011-03-10T15:25:00.003-05:00

Raquel has taken very well to the fact that there will be a new baby in our family. She talks about her quite often and is very excited. She really wants the baby to sleep in Camila's crib next to her.

Mila on the other had has no clue in the slightest what is going on and the huge surprise she's in for.

I let Raquel stay with me during my ultrasound (after Mila proved she couldn't sit still and had to leave with Felipe). She was very content asking a million questions as any 3 1/2 year old does. Like "whats that?"
me:"that's the heart"
"what does the heart do?"
"it pumps blood through our bodies so we can move"

"mommy why did she put jelly on your tummy?"
me: "so the lady can move the little machine around and see the baby"

"like peanut butter and jelly?"

my first 3D ultrasound ever!

The ultrasound tech asked Raquel what we should name her. Raquel promptly spelled out
T. O. M.
wow. I think my uncle would be flattered Raquel, but this baby is a girl.

She feels the need to spell out names even though she doesn't know how to spell. She's great at guessing actual names. I asked her again today what we should name her. She spelled:
"M. I. A." (besides meaning missing in action, Mia is pretty cute) but after a pause she kept going.... O. E. I. Miaoei. Sounds Alaskan.

Here is the first thing we've purchased for the baby. They are itty bitty! Raquel and Mila helped pick them out and carried the little bag around like a special treasure. They're perfect for the hot summer :)

I actually had to go back for another ultrasound. She would not move from her cozy fetal position and they could not get the proper measurements for the heart. I went a week later and she was flipping around and doing great until they went to measure her heart again and she curled up like a ball! She called her a "stubborn little girl" and I got nervous. I've already have 2 of those. After having me use yoga positions and tilting the bed with my feet up in the air she moved. Only after 45 minutes.

2011-03-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

on my flores del sol blog. check it out here.

some strong genes

2011-02-24T15:00:00.005-05:00

camila and raquel would like to share something with you!

"it got a toe and a mouth"

una niña! que rica.

80% of you were wrongo!!! The Gigglyliardi girl genes are nothing to mess with. Bring on the new sweet baby girl! Thats all we know! Plus we can't think of any cute boy names. I wonder what our house will be like when they hit teenage years? Felipe says he is going to need a shotgun. Fo sho.

on the poll 18 voted boy, 6 voted girl

20 weeks

2011-02-20T17:48:00.004-05:00

this baby is 20 weeks old (1/2 way) and the size of a cantaloupe. We find out the sex on thursday! But we are zipping our lips. Maybe we'll tell you later or maybe you'll have to wait until July. man, i've turned into a mean person since marrying felipe ;)

whhaaaaa hahhaaaa hhhhaaaa....

soooo, i've put up a pole on the top of the side over there --------->
boy or girl? vote!

such a simple question. But in dealing with my family it gets kinda complicated. You see the Gagliardi Girl genes have dominated for 28 years. 2 generations so far and only pink. I guess you call can it a "curse" even though a baby is not one. But the stats are slim for baby blue.

melting

2011-02-17T14:47:00.001-05:00

Mama bear and her cubs finally escape. 60 degrees in February! I can't tell you how excited we are to see the huge piles of snow dripping and shriveling into puddles.

mila is clearly stunned by it all.

valentines day 2011

2011-02-16T16:32:00.007-05:00

we had a great valentines day! On friday we went to a playgroup party.

the girls had a lot of fun following the valentine fairy's trail of hearts

and enjoying their spoils

Felipe also surprised me as we enjoyed a romantic getaway to an Inn in a cute seaside village Spring Lake in NJ. Oh and of course I was called in last minute to help make lots of fresh Valentine's arrangements for everyone and their lover :)

superbowl sunday

2011-02-10T13:49:00.001-05:00

superbowl party!! great food, great friends. not much more can be said!!!

raquel's first field trip!!!

2011-02-09T15:27:00.010-05:00

Raquel had her first field trip with joy school. We learned about occupations in january so we took a field trip to the local fire department last week.

we had a full hour tour and the kids loved every minute of it.

Raquel had just rung the bell:

I think the question here was 'who wants a sticker?' :

it was a great time. we were glad all of the brothers and sisters could attend too!

year of the rabbit

2011-02-04T15:30:00.002-05:00

Gung Hey Fat Choy- wish you a good fortune

it's the Chinese new year and this year is the year of the rabbit. apparently they are in great demand in China right now. a great excuse to give zapatos her own photoshoot. she's pretty cute.

3 ring circus

2011-01-31T14:16:00.001-05:00

My arms are sore from pushing the shopping cart at shoprite. You know, the monster mommy ones that fit 2 kids on the bench behind the actual cart? I chose one and strapped the girls in only to find when we were already in the store it was the most difficult thing to push with a bad wheel. Grocery stores in northern jersey are nothing to brag about. Nothing like the beloved Wegmans. They are tight isles usually jammed with lots people in a hurry.

I normally try and wait to go shopping when I only have one girl with me or when Felipe is home, but today I decided not to wait because of the impending ice storm heading our way. Apparently so did the rest of Jersey as I waited for a parking space.

Comments always flow from people as they see our 3 ring circus in the store. Normally they are cute grannies who can't resist chubby cheeks and little girls with bright snow hats on singing jingle bells the last day of January. Today's comments were mostly encouraging like words from a passer by "keep up the good work. You are in great shape for having two kids!". You don't know how that lifted my spirits after just picking up an apple Mila threw on the ground and repetitively telling her to stop yelling at the top of her lungs.

Raquel said loudly as I let a lady pass us "mom, what did you say to that grandma?" just as she was next to us head on. Luckily the lady probably was one.

My favorite today was the vermont cheese man stocking the shelves. He heard us coming for a mile. Raquel singing jingle bells in the dairy section as she leaned in on Mila making her scream.
"Wow they are very happy girls." He said. "I bet you enjoy your break when they are sleeping huh!". It wasnt a rude comment as some may take it, but rather encouraging the way the cute old man said it with a sympathetic chuckle.

In other news, we have been enjoying feeling #3 kick. I have been feeling it for a few weeks now, but I swear it has gotten a lot stronger in the last day or two as Felipe feels the movements too.

too much jersey snow

2011-01-29T09:00:00.003-05:00

the girls watching their papi clean off my car after the storm this week that dumped a good foot and a half in a few hours

It's always on the national news, annoying all those who don't live in the north east. This is my 6th winter here in New Jersey. I can not recall more snow than this year! Neither can Felipe and he's lived here since 6th grade.

It started with the Christmas blizzard and now, two snow storms later, Jersey doesn't know what to do with all the snow. One more storm and we are done! There is just no where to put it. They try plowing but most of the side streets have turned into narrow passageways. What a winter to miss out on the good skiing powder! (preggo tt doesnt risk it).

jerzy girl 'tudes:

that is felipe's car under there:

the stop sign next to our house is about to be taken over. It's screaming. STOP!!!

post script- another storm headed our way for tuesday. heaven help us!

bunch of

2011-01-26T08:47:00.002-05:00

girls.

always excited over the deliveries of mommy's dried flowers.

pink. princesses. flowers. hair salon. nail polish. high heels. lip stick.

heaven help us if this growing baby is a boy.

cause we have this girl thing down pat.

and boys don't like sniffing flowers.

yet another snow storm for jersey today. and oddly enough i don't seem to mind.