1st Day of School 2012

Today was the first day of school here in our town. 

My oldest daughter is a freshman in high school this year. It is really hard to believe, since I still remember dropping her off for her first day of Kindergarten. My baby girl is in the 4th grade. Which means she will only have one more year of elementary before she starts middle school. 

Time really does fly by!

Here are a few pictures to share of my gorgeous girls' first day of school..

19 Weeks & School...

We have officially made it to 19 weeks without any complications! Woo hoo!

Praise to God for such a wonderful blessing. The baby's kicks are getting stronger and increasing. Not a lot of fear is running this pregnancy these days. I know we still have a ways to go, but it feels right this time.

The girls started back to school this week and are enjoying it so far, considering it is only Tuesday. The only problems we have faced getting them ready for school is bed time. We have heard "but it is not bedtime, the sun is still out" or "what time is it, bedtime is not until night time & it is still daytime?". We just give the stern look along with, "Go to bed".

Andrea is in 7th grade. She is going out for the volleyball team. I hope she makes the team, either A or B team is good. She played a few years back with Kids Inc and she had fun doing it.
Makaila is in 2nd grade. She wants to join Kids Inc cheer-leading. I think she would have fun doing that. She has already received a birthday party invite and it is from her "boyfriend".
JD has went back to school as well, so he is now working and going to school. He is majoring in computer technology, unless he changes it again. While waiting for his financial aid to go through he changed it three times. I really think he will stick with computers though.

Andrea's birthday is coming up and we have been trying to decide what we can do for her. She is going to be the big 1-3! It makes me feel old thinking about 13 years ago I had her. I can remember going into labor with her and not having her until seven minutes after midnight, all thanks to my big brother for jinxing me! He got a great birthday present that year. I would be so lucky to have a niece or nephew born my birthday. I remember her baby moments. Watching her grow into such a beautiful girl with such an attitude. I know my parents are probably reading this right now and laughing. Dad is probably thinking "like looking in a mirror".

Well, I hope everyone has a great school year!

Happy Birthday/Angelversary!

Happy 2nd Birthday/Angelversary
Nehemiah Christopher Reyna!

We love you & miss you dear boy.

The four of us plan to go to Medi Park today & release balloons with messages. We will feed the ducks as well. It is hard to imagine that 2 years have gone by. During this time it has gotten easier. Not to say we are totally over this love, it is still hard to see newborn babies & to see babies at the age he would be.

I have tried picturing how he would look. When my oldest daughter Andrea was born, she had thin pink lips, hair covering her body from head to toe & the hair on her head was as black as night & thick as could be. She never lost her hair as most babies do, so it grew out nice & long. She has dark eyes, you cannot even see the pupil. She has her daddy's nose & ears (hopefully they won't get as big) & she has my smile. I have literally walked into a room & smiled & had people say, "We know who you are here for...Andrea your mom's here!". She has really long toes & fingers & she is 5'2 at 11 years old. We need to get her into playing basketball. She is really smart & talented. She may become a singer/songwriter. She use to make up the best & silliest songs. Or she could become president one day..she is bossy! Ask her cousins & her sister. She loves to talk, especially on the phone, so she may become a public speaker. Over the years we have kept a little binder for school & one question it asks is "What do you want to become when you grow up?", for the first two years she has custodian in it...lol For now she wants to be a doctor. I guess we will wait & see.

When Makaila was born, she had a full set of pink lips & she had hair from her head to her toes. Her hair was thinner & a little lighter than her sister's had been. Her hair fell out in the back & on the sides, so she had a baby mo-hawk for a while. The funny thing I remember about her hair though is when it grew back in it looked layered & it got lighter. She has golden streaks along her hairline & streaks running through it. People would stop me & ask if I had her hair cut into layers & added highlights. She has natural waves & body. This girl has the best hair ever, excluding the two cowlicks in the back that go in opposite directions, so I have to make sure & comb it wet to make sure it lays down. Her eyes are not so dark, more of a topaz color. She has her daddy's dimples. But her smile is a little different, it is radiating! Sometimes if I am mad & she smiles at me, it makes me stop being mad. She loves animals & dressing up (& going topless at the same time). Right now she is at that stage where she wants to do what sister does & sister gets rather annoyed by it. I just have to sit back & laugh as it is a little like dej a vu. She is silly & loves to be the clown. She loves to be called Beethoven & pretend to be a puppy. She is very smart as well & loves to read. She is girly yet holds her own at the same time. She is petite, where her sister has always been one of the tallest in her class, but she has a rather big head like her cousins (you know who you are..lol). She is in love with John Cena & wants to marry him one day. Or she may be the next Taylor Swift, as she knows all of the words to her songs & loves to sing.

So, when I try to imagine Nehemiah, I always wonder if he would have had his daddy's ears or nose. Would he have had a full head of hair that was dark or light. Would he have the thin layer of hair on his body & long eye lashes like his sisters do? Would his skin tone be olive like his oldest sister or a little paler like his middle sister? Would he like to sing or play football? Would he have been a mama's boy or a daddy's boy? Would he fight with his sisters or would they have babied him? Would his eyes be dark or light? I usually imagine him looking like a little JD & laughing as loud as Makaila & Andrea giving him piggyback rides.

We miss you little one & only hope we make you proud!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Andrea & Makaila



P.S. October 15th was Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day. We went out to the candlelight vigil & I read two poems. I could not believe I had actually gotten up there to read them, but I had taken a look around the circle & that gave me the courage to do it. Originally I was going to read just one, I'll Be There, but a friend of mine had asked me to read the poem "Somebody" that I had posted earlier. I did not write either of these poems, but I love to share ones I find on the world wide web. It was a really nice night. Not too cold & the candles stayed lit. There were more people there this year than last year.

cOoLeSt WeBSiTe By FaR..............

A friend of mine told me about a cool website where you can edit your pix for free (there is a fee for "premium" editing), you do not have to register to use it.
It is so much fun!! Check it out!!
Here I did a little of my own.

Drea's self portrait (one of many),
I added a tiara & tattoos & a kiss on the cheek...

The picture is bright & soft at the same time...

This one of Drea looks like a picture from 1960...

I love this one! Focal point being in color.

tHiNgS tHaT tiCkLe mY fAnCY.....

The smell of the air before a storm.
Handmade cards.
Love stories.
Baby giggles.
Homemade ice cream.
X's & O's.
New rose buds.
The smell of a baby.
Listening to made up songs by little children.
Puppies.
Love letters.
Kool-aid smiles.
House full of family.
Coloring Easter eggs.
Fresh baked cookies.
Holidays.
Home cooking for my family.
Sleeping under the stars.
Sitting on the porch watching life.
Black & white photos.
My Girls!!

Drea, it had snowed the day we moved into our home,
March 14, 2005; it was Spring Break.

Drea after her 1st hair cut (May 2005).
It was to her behind.

KK, looking precious!
(2yrs. old in both pix)

DiD a LiTtLe....

This weekend went well. I actually took off Friday to spend the last day of Spring Break with the girls & to just have a day off.

We did a little sleeping....
a little TV watching....
a little web surfing....
a little cooking....
a little cleaning....
a little park time....
a little horror movie time....
a little shopping....
a little bracelet making....
a little staying up too late & sleeping in the next day....
a little showering....
a little getting ready for Monday....

Makaila has officially changed her name to Beethoven. She has the movie, you know the one about the clumsy Saint Bernard, that she got for her Birthday. She has been asking me a LOT of questions lately & I love trying to answer them all for her.

This particular question went like this, "Mom, if I am born again & I am your baby, can my name be Beethoven?" I of course tell her yes & then she tells me that she wants that to be her name now. So, Beethoven it is. I think I need to tell her about the musical Beethoven, since she is going to be a singer & all.

Today she asked me this one, "If I was a puppy & I could talk & you went to the pound & I was there, would you pick me?"
Me: "Of course I would, you would be the cutest one there!"

I have a really bad habit of calling my girls 'Baby'. Andrea use to get so mad when I would call her that. When the Bratz dolls became famous she wanted me to call her Bunny, as one of their nicknames is as such.

Children are just so funny about everything! I will have to get the exact story about how my nephew became 'Pepper'. One of his darling brothers, Dobie, thought the soda "Squirt" ment just that & did not want his brother, Connorad, to open the bottle. So, when my brother explained to him it is just the name of the soda, Dr. Pepper was brought up & he suggested his unborn baby brother be Pepper.

Well, I am off to bed so I can get Drea & Beethoven up for school in the morning. Maybe another story tomorrow as Beethoven has her first indoor soccer game tomorrow.

pHoTo TiMe!!

It is definitely Spring Time around here (at least for a little while) & while it is nice we love to go to the park. The girls & I decided to have a photo shoot. Here are some I would like to share.

KK, she likes to pose

My first born, Drea

My girls are gorgeous & I am not just saying that because they are mine neither. I have been told that people are not envious.

We had loads of fun, if you can't tell.

We plan to go out & do this again in some other spots around town once it turns green, so I will make sure to post some more then.

Spring Forward

This weekend has been fun. We had Makaila's birthday party yesterday & everyone came. She got a Razor Scooter & a V-tech gaming system. My dad got her John Cena poster that he gave to her on her actual birthday. I will get picture up soon. She is in love with him. I just had fun having all of my family around me, that is my favorite thing. I wish my older brother & his family lived closer, they were the only ones missing.

After everyone left we had to take her to Wal-Mart to exchange one of her movies, Madagascar II. I forgot we already bought it & so I put it on her list of wants. So, she exchanged it for a three disc package for the same price. It has Babe, Cat in the Hat & Beethoven. Pretty good deal I might add. The cashier said, "That will be $21.61 sweetheart", "MOM, he just called me SWEETHEART!!". She just gushed over that for the hole trip home.

It reminds me of a time we went to Andrea's volleyball game. Makaila's hair goes past her butt & I had braided it. Well, she was walking off so JD grabbed it in front of a man watching the game. JD told the man that was what that braid is for & they both laughed, the man looked at KK & told her she is pretty. So, what does she do? Winks at him! He reached out a gently pinched her cheek, so then she blushed & told everyone about how he touched her cheek. It was the funniest thing EVER!

What are we gonna do? Anyone have an extra shotgun lying around?

My children are so dramatic, I guess that is to be expected with girls.

One time Andrea & I had went to a local department store. I was looking for an outfit to get her pictures taken in. Drea likes to go in & out of clothes racks & run off. So, when I had had enough I grabbed her hand & charged up to the counter to make my purchase. Well, Drea starts yelling, "HELP ME, HELP ME, SHE'S BREAKING MY ARM!!" OMGness!!, I wanted to die. One woman gave me that look, like "Do you want me to beat her for you?". When we got in the car I did spank & told her we do not act like that in public. Since then she has done very well when going to the store.

I could go on & on, but I won't. I will try to share one story a week w/you. How about that?



Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverb 22:6

LiTtLe GiRls ArE.......

Wiser Than Men

Precious
Born Shoppers
in Love
Not to Be Trusted
Little Divas
Sweet
Daddy's Little Angels
Princesses
Silly
a Gift
Better at Math
Pretty
Perfect
Made of Sugar & Spice

fam - i - ly (noun): any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins

Princess Drea

Dutchess Makaila

My Nephew Alex

My Nephew Connorad

My Nephew Dobie

My Nephew PepperMy Niece Cadence

My Nephew Carson

My Daddy & I

Me, Doing My Best MySpace Picture Pose lol

My Mom & Dad (aka Granny & Papa)

My Older Brother Michael (the wind beneath my wings), Getting a Kiss

My Sister-in-Law Jessica

My Baby Brother Bo, never can get a serious picture

My Sister-in-Law Laci

My Grandma

My Favorite Aunt Na

My Cousin Anthony, Showing off His Guns