Good Ole Friends

Last week I went to my friends shower who I haven't seen since I was about seven. It was so nice to see her and catch up a little. She lived across the street from me when I lived in Rodeo. Her family moved a little after Haley was born. I saw her once after she moved and the communication was lost. After so many years we found each other on facebook. What a coincidence! Her sister Candice is also my FB friend and secretly invited me to Richelle's baby shower. I'm so glad she did and I was able to go. I got to reconnect with the family who pretty much watched me go through my treatment when I was a little girl. It was a total flashback. Her mom was telling me of how scared she was when I would stay the night because the tube I had that went into my chest for my medication. I'm so thankful for her family and for her. They treated me so good more than one could expect.

In seventeen years so much has changed. I don't think we would have ever recognized each other walking on the street. Its so bizarre. On my way there all I could think of is were they going to know that it was me walking through the door and hoping her sister was going to be the one to answer since Richelle didn't know I was coming. All in all it made my weekend. Reconnecting with old friends is such a nice feeling.

We exchanged phone numbers and are hoping to keep in touch for the future. <3

Big girl this and Big girl that

(This post I drafted and forgot to actually post it, so here it is)

Last week Jay and I went I bought Bri'elle her first crib. She has been sleeping in a bassinet since she was a newborn. The poor girl was getting so squished in the thing we HAD to buy her a crib. We were trying to hold off as long as we can because they are so expensive and we were hoping we would get other options, but nothing came to us. So, here we are now! Little miss looks so tiny in her crib, its crazy. I'm glad we got it. She has been sleeping much better and comfortably in it. Our room is a little tight right now but its well worth it. Bri'elle is so happy too. She will play in there for a good hour before she wants out when she wakes up. And she doesnt cry when we put her in it. The best thing out the crib we picked out is, it's a convertible crib. Now we won't have to buy her a toddler bed, big girl bed, or a bed when she is a teenager. It turns into a full bed!!! Its a good investment seeing how we won;'t have to buy abother bed until we have another baby and we already decided we will buy another convertible one. This will save us from having to buy so many beds and mattresses. It's a win win situation.


Also during the weekend (last weekend that is) Jay got her "big girl" carseat out of storage. Bri'elle sits a little higher and she can see all whats going on. Her seat even has little armrests and a cup holder. Someone is just a little spoiled. I'm glad we got this when we did, it was 75% off at Target when I was about 4 months pregnant. We figured it was a good deal considering it was on sale for only $30.00 or something and was originally in the hundreds. If we didn't use it for her it would've became a gift for someone. Bri'elle isn't too fond of the seat yet. We haven;t totally figured it out to sit absolutely right. I feel like it should lean a little father back. It makes her sit up straight which she is not used to. Last night on our way home from my cousin's wedding I somehow loosened the headrest and Bri'elle was happy to sit in her seat. So I think I solved the problem, hopefully.

First Mom-attack

A week ago from this past Thursday I went with my bestie Sherin shopping in Walnut Creek. It was such a lovely evening. The air was nice and crisp but it wasn't cold. Since it was summer there were lots of couples and families window shopping just like we were. As were strolling on by all of a sudden I feel something off, so I stop the stroller and as I go to look at Bri'elle I notice she isn't in her stroller anymore. I just see this little baby laying face first on the ground screaming crying. Of course I swoop her up in an instant. I just couldn't believe it. I wanted to start crying right there on the spot. A lady came over to help but there really wasn't much anyone could do but offer the sympathy for a mom who just watch her baby girl get her. The lady handed Sherin Bri'elles blankie that luckily fell with her. When she had slipped underneath the tray the blanket landed on the ground first. This allowed Bri'elle to fall perfectly on top of it besides one of her knees. Quickly Sherin and I kept going back and forth looking her over for any scratches, bruises, or bumps. Neither one of us noticed anything wrong besides Bri'elle being a little shaken up. I kept thinking to myself what do I do, what should I do. I wasn't sure if I should take her to the ER to get thoroughly looked over or what. I think Sherin read my blank expression because even at one point she asked me if I wanted to go. After about 5 minutes of crying and comforting, Bri'elle was herself again. Talking and smiling away. Once I seen that I decided to stay and just keep an eye on her. The incident had me so stirred and I felt totally horrible for the fact that I couldn't answer the question of how she got out of her stroller. I wasn't sure if she unbuckled herself, if the buckle came undone, if it wasn't buckled all the way, or if she simply just wasn't buckled. It still boggles my mind. I just don't know! And I don't like not knowing. To help make Bri'elle better we went in to one of the nearby baby stores and I bought her a new pair of stunner shades. They are so cute. I'll have to get a picture of her in them. I let her wear them as soon as they were paid for. She actually kept them on for a good 20 minutes. She was very proud to have something new and I think it did help make her feel a little better. I read that most of the time a baby just needs distraction of whatever it is that makes them feel sad, annoyed, upset, lonely, etc... I think the sunglasses did just the trick.

I just can't believe the anxiety that a fall like that makes a mother feel. I don't know if I could handle anything worse than that. Another thing is, is that it happened in public and you don't know if the other people who saw it happen think to themselves. I remember instantly wondering if they think I'm a bad mommy and how could I have let it happen. But after telling my mom the story and then thinking about it. All moms have their own experience with something like this and should be supportive and understanding. Its an awful thing that we can't really prevent; some things just really do happen. Most happen within a blink of an eye. I'm just really glad Bri'elle didn't suffer any major or minor injuries. I'm sure that wasn't the last of the falls especially when she starts walking. Just think in about 16 years I could be facing a crying teenager who got her heart broken. I better prepare myself now for this.

Good luck to all you moms-to-be out there; I'll pray for all you moms out there with infants & toddlers; & major props to all those moms that have been there and done that.

My Dad's B-day

On July 8th we celebrated my father's birthday. He didn't ask for much or really anything at all so we all brainstormed and decided to have a dinner for him. We invited my nana & papa (my mom's parents) and my grandma (my dad's mom). My Aunt Maggie came with my grandma. My dad was pretty surprised to see his mom and sister at our house. Usually it's just our household gang. Grandma Edmunds gave my dad a wonderful gift. It actually touched me seeing her give it to my dad. It was my grandfather's rosiery that he had. I know it means a lot to my dad since my grandpa passed away when my dad was 17. The next gift my dad liked was his dinner. Yummy meatloaf, mash potatoes, brown-sugared carrots, green beans, rolls, and salad. This was all topped off by a chocolate fudge cake Jason made my dad. Another wonderful birthday to celebrate.

4th of July Weekend

This year for 4th of July I took Friday off so I would get a 4-day weekend and be able to spend the Holiday with the fam. My cousin Jan asked if we could watch her son Anthony from Thursday night to Sunday Afternoon. Of course we said we would. So I picked him up from Kristen's house Thursday evening. I was so excited to have him for the weekend. We don't see him very often so this was a nice treat. For 4th of July and since we had Anthony we planned lots of things to do.
On Friday we had a kick back day. All of us lounged around the house during the morning and then in the afternoon my mom, Jodi, Bir'elle, Anthony, and I headed to Six Flags so my mom and Jodi could activate their passes and we could use them the next day. When we got back me and Jason had to take Bri'elle to her doctor appt. As we got back to the house Anthony was outside with my mom jumping through the sprinklers.

Once we got settled inside we decided to go swimming. Bri'elle loves to go in the water so its so nice to be able to go into the backyard for some sun and fun. Anthony didn't care for the water too much at first but then warmed up to it. We had to make everything a game.



We called it an early night because the next day we went to Six Flags! On Saturday morning I took Anthony to the playgroup that I take Bri'elle to. I chose to just take Anthony because Bri'elle had just went down for a nap and she needed her down time & it will allow Anthony to have some time with his fave cousin Bandi. Anthony was really shy at the playgroup and kind of kept to himself. I expected that since he hasn't been around the other kids before. After playgroup was over I took Anthony to McDonalds and got him a Happy Meal. He was so excited. All he cared about was his toy. I went through the drive-thru to be quicker and so then we can get a start on going to Six Flags.
Jay and I decided to get passes to Discovery Kingdom/Six Flags. We figure it'll give us something to do the whole summer and it won't cost everytime we go. It was the first time I'd been to six flags since Sophomore year in highschool. Things are so different now and theres so many new rides and attractions. Its pretty nice though. Bri'elle loved it. The loud sounds and all the people. Anthony rode on a few rides with me. We had alot of fun and I let Anthony pick out a souvenoir from one of the gift shops. It was nice to get the whole fam bam together to go, I'm sure we'll have many more family days to Six Flags.





The next day (4th of July) we woke up late and missed church, had some breakfast, and then headed into the pool. Anthony did not want to be in the pool but Bri'elle did. So we just played poolside and let Bri'elle get some pool time. I got a call from Jan right when we were heading to the pool saying that they just landed and they would be at our house soon. I got all or should I say most of Anthony's stuff together while he was outside. About 45 mins to an hour later Jan showed up. Anthony was sooooo happy to see his mommy. I can now definitely relate to how Jan felt having her baby boy get excited because she was there. Always a great feeling. After Anthony left we stayed in the pool for a little longer. I was really trying to work on my tan since I'm not going to the the fake n bake any more. Its is soooo bad for your skin and natural is always the way to go. I actually got a little bit of a tan just from walking back and forth in my shorts. I'm curious to see what Bri'elles skin color will be. We definitely put sun screen on her, but she still gets some color to her. Its like a bronze color. I think she might be more on the tanner side of both me and Jay's whiteness. Jay bought Bri'elle a water floaty that has an awning to keep her covered just incase. It is so cute to see her in her floaty and kicking her feet. We really want to do swimming lessons for her. I'll be looking into that this summer.






Later that day Jay went and picked up his niece Anella for the night. We went over to Jay's dad's house and had some BBQ. It was a really yummy dinner and visit with the family that was over there. Jason's dad has a new gf who I absolutely adore. She is so amazing. Its really nice to see his dad happy and with someone. Marty did some sparklers after dinner while we waited for the pineapple-upside down cake baked in the cast iron skittle that Jason, Shelly, and Deanna (Marty's girlfriend) cooked up. I took Brie'elle outside to see the sparklers. I was a little nervous at first when I brought her out there becuase I didn't want to freak her out. When she heard it her little head whipped over to search where the noise came from. As soon as she see the sparks I was saying "Yay" so she knew it was a good thing. Next thing you know Bri'elle is bouncing up and down - which means she likes it. I was so glad. I didn't want her to be scared and next year not want to watch them. Since it was getting cold and we didn't have a jacket for Brillo we headed home to get a change of clothes for all of us including Anella. By the time we got home Bri'elle fell asleep and it was about time for the fireworks to start. Jay stayed home with Brillo and my brother and I walked Anella up our hill to see the fireworks. My mom, dad, Jojo, and little cousin Kimmie were already up there. It was so neat to see the fireworks from up there. We have never watched them from our hill and it was pretty amazing to see our view. We saw about 6 different firework shows. Since Jay was at home with Bri'elle I recorded them for him.





Monday, the day after 4th of July, Jay and I left while Bri'elle was napping (my sisters watched her of course) dropped my car off at the shop for the service that was due and headed for breakfast. After breakfast we gathered all the kids around and were off to Six Flags again for the weekend. Gotta love having the pass! We bought Jays little brother Carlito a pass for his birthday. This way pretty much everyone in our families have a pass. If not good thing we have the book of savings and signed up for the emails. When we got home Jason's mom came and picked up Carlito. This was the first time she has met Bri'elle. At first Bri'elle acted a little anxious since she didn't know her but with Jason and me next to her she did fine. After they left which was about 10 minutes later, it was winding down time and ready to start the work week.

We had a blast all weekend even though we were exremely busy. It is always fun getting the little ones and spending time with them especially now that we have Bri'elle. I think it is very important for her to grow up around the family she has. I have always been really close to my family/friends and couldn't see it being any different. Now that the weekend is over I'm glad to home some family time with just us three.

Bri'elles 6th & 7th Month Mark

I swear life goes by faster when your a parent. Bri'elle is just a little over 7 months old and I just can't believe it. I know every parent watch days go by and wonder where the time went especially parents of parents. Bri'elle missed her 6th month appointment because I though it was one week and it ended up being the week before. We weren't able to get her another appointment until she was just shy of 7 months old. In a way it was better because she became effective with her medical coverage a day before her appointment and we switched her pediatrician, so she was able to see her new doctor.
At her appointment she weighed in at 19lbs and 8.5 ounces and then was 27 3/4 inches. The doctor said she is between 80 and 90 percent above average which is wonderful. About a week later Jay took Bri'elle to her WIC appointment and she had already gotten to 20 pounds and 28 inches. That was a quick growth spurt. Now that she is a big girl. She can go in her big girl car seat. We are going to get it out of storage this week and try it out. I think she is going to be very excited. Whenever she does something new we tell her "what a big girl" or "your a big girl" and she gets a huge smile on her face. You can tell she knows she did something new/good.
There is so much more a little baby can do and how much they learn at the stage she is at. She now eats big girl food: her crackers, and then we give her soft people food like avocados, bananas, melons, beans, pasta, etc. We started her on a sippy cup. She almost has the whole drinking process down but she still sometimes will try to drink it backwards or upsidedown. We noticed the over these last few weeks she has learned how to through a fit. Her little legs lock up and she tries to scoot and then gives you her poutty lip face. Its so cute but we have been reminding ourselves that you can't let them get away with it. I read in a book that this age is the perfect time to start discipline. Right now it is the NO stage. If she does something she shouldn't do we tell her very firmly "NO!" and look her in the eye. You can't smile or let up and then we disctract her with a toy or whatever. So far its working pretty good. She is catching on to the word. On a sweeter side of baby life she knows how to give kisses. This is one of the best things. She doesn't give them freely though. If you gotten a kiss from her and you ask for another one she may or may not give you another kiss. It is soooo funny especially when she starts to give you a kiss and then takes it away. Bri'elle loves to stand and will try to pull herself up to anything that she can grab. She hasn't mastered crawling yet its more like the army crawl backwards or she flips herself over to quick to even stay on her belly long enough to attempt to crawl. A few more things she does is dance, "ride the horsey"-we call it-she knows how to bounce up and down like she is riding the horsey when you do the click click sound to make a horse go, does patty-cake but likes to hold your hands, she does this thing that will probably be hard to explain on here but I'll try so bare with me....She puts her lips together and goes "pppphhhhh" and sometimes spit comes out. It so darn cute!
There are so many things she has been doing. I will put together a whole post of "new" things for her 6/7 month mark of pictures and hopefully some videos.

Medical Security

Finally!!!!!!
We were accepted for medical coverage for Bri'elle. This is such a relief. We got the letter from Kaiser in June and her coverage started on 07/01/10. When I was on maternity leave in October 2009 I started the process to get her, her own coverage. My employers insurance is too expensive so Jason and I opted to get her separate coverage. I wanted her to still be under Kaiser. Working in medical billing is an advantage since I understand the whole system. Private insurances are too confusing and can be tricky. Kaiser has been wonderful to my family and to me for all my services and I want the same for our daughter. We tried to get coverage for Healthy Families since Nov of 2009 and found out in April of 2010 that we weren't approved. Of course I was extremely upset to find out in April because she had already had two doctors appts that we would have to pay out of pocket. We were approved for Medi-cal (yes, we applied. I feel everyone should apply that are from the US and use the government funds that OUR taxes go to) but have a high share-of-cost because of our income. I needed the denial from Healthy Families to be able to apply directly for the Kaiser coverage. Now I get to practice what I do at work for personal use and appeal Bri'elles doctor appts that weren't covered to Healthy Families. This will be exciting to do this for myself.
Now we can enjoy taking her to doctor visit's without worrying if we have enough money. I'm so glad Kaiser approved us. The medical coverage through them is very inexpensive as long as you fall within the guidelines. This was quite an experience going through the process.

TS3

Bri'elle had her first trip to the movies to see Toy Story 3. Jay and I were so excited to take her. Even though she doesn't know exactly what it is she is watching she responds really well to the colors and sounds. We thought it would be interesting to see how she would act in front of a big screen. She did awesome. More than we could have expected. We got to the movie right when the preview started. It was Saturday morning the weekend it came out and since we went to the first showing it wasn't that crowded. As we walked in and she heard the noise she starts jumping up and down. We sat down and she just started staring. She seemed to be very interested in the screen. Next the movie came on and she went totally ecstatic when it was playing the music. About 15-20 mins in the movie she fell asleep. I couldn't believe it. I looked down and her eyes were slowly shutting until they were closed shut. She woke up at 10 mins left. At the very end she wanted to stand up and got a little more active. Jay stood up with her about 2 mins before it was over to let her get a different view and to let her think she was doing something else before she really got antsy. All in all I would have to say it was a success. I can't wait for the next movie. We want to take her again sometime soon so she can get used to it.

Father's Day

This year Jay celebrated his first Father's day (Bri'elle out of womb). In the morning I woke up and had full responsibility of Bri'elle. He got to have a daddy day pass. Jay and I equally take responsibility of Bri'elle besides when I go to work and Jay stays home, which doesn't really got to sleep in while me, Bri'elle, and my mom went to church with my nana & papa. We were gone for about 2 hours and got home around 11:15. At 1:00 we were having our families over to my parents house for a Father's day BBQ. It was a great BBQ. There was tons a food and great company with our families. Jay and I got all the dad's (my dad, Jay's dad, Jay's grandpa, & my papa) frames that say grandpa & me (from Bri'elle) or I "heart" papa (from Bri'elle). We got pics of Bri'elle with all her grandpas so they can put the picture in their new frame. It was a great day. We all had a lot of fun.

Playing Catch up

So I've been totally lagging on this. I swear when I used to blog in a notebook I was religious. I have tons of notebooks from blogging every year since I was 18. I would write in it almost everyday. Now I can barely get on here to write once a month. I feel so terrible and everything that is passed is the past. Its hard to write about things that have happened so many days ago especially for me. I can't do it during the beginning part of the weekdays because of work. I don't have an option to use my computer at work for things that aren't work related. Also I have such a great memory but certain part of my memory gets erased really quickly which I think has to do to some of my treatments, no fair! Its hard for me to go back and remember everything. Recently I have set aside some time to do certain things so I'm planning on getting this in the schedule as well. So the next few postings will be things that happened within the last month. Let's hope I can get everything!!!
I want to re-do the blog so I'm going to try to keep writing as I figure out what exactly and how exactly I'm going to do it. I want to blog about different things and don't want them under the samething. I want to have one profile and then different options so you can pick my different "blogs" to read. So if any of you know how to create something like that let me know. :)

Uncle Sam

We love the beginning of the year when we get to file for taxes. Especially since we get money back. I guess that would've been a given. We filed late this year. I waited about a week before the deadline was, to actually finish them and mail them in. We do direct deposit so they came back to us really quick. With this said, I'm proud to say, Jay and I are back in the house hunting business. It will be a long process until we are ready to purchase a home but we have our goals set and are now talking about our plans in the next year or so.
All this was prompted by getting taxes back. This will be the only time I thank Uncle Sam {lol}. Jays bills are almost completely payed off including his car. We then are going to pay off some of mine as well as eliminate what Jay has in collections. When we first got together that boy had so many credit cards and since he was a party animal and made a good amount of money he blew it. If only we could go back in time now. I basically told him he needed to get his act together if he wanted to have a relationship with me since we were getting serious. We worked so hard to get things out of collections and did the "right thing" and then we were shot back when he was laid off. Jay felt bad if anything of mine would've went to collections so we paid my bills or should I say those that we were able to. Luckily, since I work for a billing/collection agency I know how to work my way through the delinquent bills. Since then we have been trying to catch up. I would say now we are pretty much there. I'm so proud of us!
Over the next 6 months we are going to watch our credits and pretty much try to get them as close to perfect. Your credit score is very important in todays economy. Not only are we going to pay bills another step we are starting to do is save for our down payment, our back up money, and house money. I have learned a lot the past few years about purchasing a house and one thing I have learned is you got to have a decent down payment. I told Jay that I did not feel comfortable buying a house unless we have at least $15,000 to put down, and he agrees. I have gotten advice and everyone says to save as much as you can and not be in a hurry. I would really like to aim for $20,000 but we are going to see how it goes and take baby steps. As for our back up, we want to save a little extra money for any mishaps. You never know what can happen to you in this economy right now which we have experienced. We would feel better knowing we have that extra money to cover us. A lot of people don't have this either because they think it can't happen to them and are to comfortable in the places they are at or never think of it. I know so many people who lost their homes and their advice was that if they would've not been so hard headed and spent so much money here and there they would've been able to remain in their home. It is very sad and the rest of us have to learn from these types of unfortunate happenings.
Jay and I have bought things here and there for our future home. We keep all the stuff in storage so it will be brand new when we get to move. Until we move we are going to keep purchasing little things (only if they are on sale) that we need for our home. The only downside is that we have no clue what our home looks like (not counting the one I can see in my mind) so we are working with an open slate. Any extra money for the house is going to be put into the house. I want to be able to buy all of the appliances (if they are not included) and furniture when we have the keys in our hands and before we move in. We are hoping to buy a newer house or a house for really cheap that we can redesign and make it a new house. We are up for the challenge and I think it is pretty neat when you "flip" a home or "demolish" the original layout. That is exactly what our house fund will be for.
As this is the beginning of our process some things will change and some things will not. We set these goals as our preliminary process. We know what we want and how to get there it just depends which path we decide to take and if there will be any shortcuts or deadends. The plans we mapped out will allow ourselves time to be prepared and we will not feel rushed or pressured when the official house hunt begins.
I'm so excited for this next phase of life. Both of us are beyond ready to be in a house that we can have all to ourselves. I can remember back to when my parents took vacation and I had the house all to my own. I was so excited. I rearranged the furniture and cabinets. The duties I was left with was to watch my sisters. At 18/19 most teens think PAAARRTAAAYYY, but I thought of it as a way to be responsible and get a taste of what homeownership is. That is exactly what I got and I wanted more. Before I bought my mustang I was actually looking around to save for a house. At that time the house market was at a steady pace. My mom and I went around looking at houses and I had already started saving, but having a brand new car was also appealing to me. The car came first obviously. Too bad! But I did learn a lot from the experience. Now I can look forward to buying a home with my soulmate. To build a future in and a home. One can dream and my dream will come true when I'm granted my home - A place that will be the definition of love, family, & happiness.

5 months!

Our little girl turned 5 months a few days ago. I can hardly believe it. Time has gone by so quick. She is a growing like a flower. Literally! When people say be careful they will change within a blink of an eye, you never really know what they mean until it happens. You have to cherish every minute with them and take a lot of pictures to capture everything.
At 4 months she was weighing in at 15.6 pounds and 25 1/4 inches tall. We were amazed when the doctor gave her stats. This means she is a very healthy girl, which is great to hear. When we found out we were pregnant I was a little concerned with how my children's health will be like considering I had bad luck. Some things that I have been diagnosed with aren't hereditary, but there are other things that worry me. I will always have my guard up when it comes the her health.
Lately she has picked up on so many new little tricks. Things she has started doing with her mouth are hard to describe in writing of what they are. Let me tell you though, a lot of spitting action and drooling. Now she can reach for her toes and grab them. Its so cute to see her bring them to her mouth and try to eat them. She knows how to put her hands out because she wants you. She can almost sit up without any help. I have a feeling she will be at the point soon were she will not need anything behind her helping with her balance.
It is so neat to just sit and watch them. I enjoy just laying her on the bed and watching her entertain herself. This is such a rewarding job.
Below are a few pictures of her new tricks!

First Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

First off, I'd like to say that I'm blessed to be able to call myself a mother. It is truly an honor for God to grant me with a child and one who is as amazing and beautiful as my daughter Bri'elle. A year ago on Mother's day Jason and I announced to my family that we were expecting. Now to actually have our little bundle of joy here to celebrate the day made it even better. I always wanted children and thought it would be just great but words can't even begin to describe the love you have for your child and how awesome it is.

I had a wonderful day. It started off with me waking up to my little princess early in the morning. Since she went to bed a little earlier the night before she missed the memo that mommy had for her asking her to sleep in for an extra 30 mins to an hour. Who could blame her though, right!? I mean I guess I was lucky she wanted to get up early to have mommy and baby time before daddy got up. I loved every minute of it. I got her up, changed her, put on some cartoons, jumped on the bed to wake daddy up, fed her some cereal, and then we took a shower. Daddy took the baby from there while mommy got ready. At church they hosted a brunch for all the moms catered by the Powder Keg, so we set off to church a little early. My nana, papa, Jason's grandma, my mom, brother, and sister Jodi joined us. It was nice to have all of them there. The service was amazing as well. My friend Lissa had her baby girl Ava dedicated to the Lord this morning so it made it extra special. Next we came home to unwind, do some homework, and get all of our mother's day gifts together. My nana had a BBQ at her house so we went there for some dinner. It was good visiting with everyone but Bri'elle was so tired and teething really bad she got a little cranky and then went to sleep. On our way home from my nanas house we stopped by Jason's grandmas to visit with her and his poppa. After a busy day we where finally on our way home, but it didn't stop there. We had to cram a lot of last minute homework in. No worries since I got A's on everything. Yay!

I would have to sum up the day and say it was pretty awesome. Here are some pictures from today. I'm also going to add the picture my family took for my mom as her mother's day gift. She wanted a family picture of all of us kids.

Time Flies - Update

HOLY MOLY!!!! Time sure does go by quick. Sometimes I just can't keep up with how much stuff we have going on. Between a fulltime job, fulltime student, and a fulltime wife/mother things like facebook & blogging get pushed off on the back burner. I need to start making time and set it aside so I can keep up with posts regularly. It makes me sad when I don't have time to blog and update about our lifes. I would love to have all the blogs up to date so one day Bri'elle and the rest of our clan (when they get here) can read it and have a glimpse of what life was like when she (they) are younger. Its always nice to bring back childhood memories.

Now for an update. AS of 04/16/10 Bri'elle had her 4 month check-up. She weighed in at 15.6 pounds and is 25 1/4 inches long. The doctor says she is between 83 & 84% above average. He has no concerns besides her eye. Her right eye is showing signs of an obstructed tear duct. I also had this a few years ago in the same eye. The result was a surgical fixation of my tear duct and nose. It is too early for them to determine if she will have to go through the same procedure. I really hope not. I won't be able to bear watch her go through surgery especially at such a young age. Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope it goes away.

Not only has her growing increased significantly but so has her learning ability. She has picked up on a lot of new things. Now that she eats regular baby food she always wants to feed herself. Of course she doesn't quite know how to restrain from choking herself, I've actually let her try to and she did a fantastic job getting the spoon to her mouth. She is talking ALOT more. It so much fun to see the many different things she can do now. I'll post some pictures of her recent capabilities.

Easter

This year was not only Bri'elles first Easter but also our first Easter as a family. For the most part is was as I anticipated it to be. Saturday before Easter we went to Bay Hills Easter Spring Fling. They had a yo-yo show, egg hunt, jumpies, egg dying, and a petting zoo. It was a lot of fun. I catch wait to take Brillo next year when she will be able to interact more.
We were able to get Anella, Bri'elles cousin for this event. It was the first time the two cousins met. Anella is 4 1/2. At this age she was halfly interested in Bri'elle and the other part of the time she was in her own little world. When Anella became super hyperactive Bri'elle would freak out. Poor thing! I would have to explain to Anella that Bri'elle needs her space. It was cute though when Anella would tell me what Bri'elle is saying. Bri'elle would be "talking" and Anella would translate for her. It was hilarious.
Later on in the day we dyed eggs. Even though Bri'elle is too young to particpate it is still fun to do! At the end of the night I was up by myself dying eggs. Everyone flaked on me, but my mommy got to watch me dye then and think back to the days when I was little dying them. Good times.
The next morning the Easter bunny came! Anella stayed the night so of course he came for her too! Anella got a basket full of princess stuff (hair barretts, coloring book, lip balm, a little purse), a shirt, scarf, and candy. Bri'elle got a backet of candy (lol), Disney's Alice in Wonderland DVD, a sleeper, and a head band. After the baskets were found we got ready for church. Once church ended we began the scramble to get to everyones house for dinner.
First was my house. We prepared some of the dinner and then headed of to Jay's grandmas house. There the three of us (Jay, Bri'elle and me) had dinner with his grandpa. It was nice to see Bri'elle awake and interact to a new voice. She was in a good mood and went to sleep at the perfect time, when we sat down for dinner. After Jay's grandmas house we headed back over to my house. There was my family plus my nana and papa and my Aunt's family minus Ryan. Another dinner we got to eat. Bri'elle also had her dinner. Pears! A little after dinner Anella had went home. Not long after that we then started our way to Jay's dads house. There we met Marty's girlfriend DeAnna and her family. It was nice to finally meet her. Bri'elle was just amazed with Marty. This didn't surprise me since she LOVES my dad. I think Marty enjoyed it too. He hadn't seen her since she was 2 weeks old. Not only did he dance with her but even changed her diaper. Now this did surprise me since most men don't do the dirty work. Way to go grandpa! We ended the night here and made our way home.
Easter was such a busy day for us but I'm glad we had each other and got to enjoy our baby girl Bri'elle. Below are a few pics from the day!

Busy Weekend

The past weekend flew by. We started it off by meeting some friends of ours, Marissa and Justin on Saturday. The four of us met at the park by the bay to get some pictures of Jordan, their two year old daughter and Bri'elle for Easter. The pictures turned out great. I'm glad the weather allowed us to take them.

It was so much fun to set up for our little photo shoot. I love taking pictures! I decided to have another Easter Photo shoot this Thursday at my house. I'm going to put up a white sheet and a few props and see how they turn out.

After the photo shoot we went to my nana and papas to visit. We hung out there for a few hours then came home. Bri'elle got to try her first taste of baby food. She loved it. We started her on bananas, this way the taste is similar to her cereal. After her dinner, we then proceeded to our dinner. Grandma Josephine bought tickets for the annual Spaghetti Feed at St. Joseph's. Great food and good company. Family functions are always fun. We then headed home. Jason and I ended the night watching My Life In Ruins. This was a great movie.

On came Sunday. This was bound to be another busy day. First off, Bri'elle and I went to meet up with Laura, her mom, and her grandma from New Mexico along with Sherin. We went to breakfast and then to see Auntie Lala's wedding dress. Bri'elle slept for most of the meet and greet but at the boutique she woke up. Everyone got to experience the wrath of Bri'elle since she is teething. Not only did Bri'elle have a moment so did Laura. Lala's dress was tagged wrong so they end up ordering the wrong dress in which she purchased. So now she had to re-order her dress which ended up costing a little more and now has to wait another 4 months for it to arrive. Poor girls! Bri'elle cried herself to sleep after about an hour. She didn't want anything but mommy to rock her. Jay and I are pretty sure she it teething. Onc she fell asleep we headed home.

Once we arrived home, we picked up daddy and headed out to San Francisco to take Bri'elle on her date. James and Chrissy met us at Pier 39 with their son Caden, who is only two days older than Bri'elle. The two are destined to be "friends". We were joined with Miles and Jen. The six of us (plus Bri'elle and Caden) had lunch/dinner and then walked around the pier. Bri'elle slept most of the time. Basically she fell alseep earlier when we were with the aunties and didn't wake up until 4:00pm. This would have been about 3 hours which is not like her. When she woke up not much longer Caden had then fell asleep. Although the two kiddos are too young to really interact with each other is it still fun to get together. Not only do they get to have baby time, we get to have parent time with James and Chrissy. It was a lot of fun to just hang out. I'm glad we all met up and did something. I just hope we can keep it up and try to aim for a get together at least once a month.

After our date we came home and had to finish up some homework and do some winding down. Bri'elle easily went to bed after a long day. As for me and Jay, we had some homework to do. I was so tired from the weekend I fell asleep doing my homework at the computer. I woke up about an hour later and Jay had put my computer away and put me in the covers. I remembered I had a test to do but was told by Jay that he did it for me since I was so tired. I was so happy and felt so loved that he would do a test for me. What an awesome husband. I'm so thankful to have him :)

Now on to the week......

Our Tumbleweed (Bri'elle rolls over)

When I got off of work today I was introduced by my baby girl rolling over. It was so exciting. I think tears of joy almost ran down my face. I can't believe she is moving on to another milestone in her little baby life. Being able to witness it and actually being home made me feel so good. I didn't miss out and I thought I might have just because for the majority of the day I'm at work. It was so cute the way ti happened.
Jay was playing with her since I had homework to turn in. Usually on homework days Jay watches her for an extra 30 min to an hour just so I can concentrate and get it done. For the most part I'm able to let her lay there and play by herself. Jay got her tummy mat out and let her lay on it. The last time she was on the mat she kept trying to roll over but got so frustrated when she would get up on her side. She was on the mat a little in front of me on the bed, so everytime my eyes would glance up I could see her from my computer. I happened to look up just as she was starting the process because I felt her feet moving a lot and saw her wiggling. She was on her tummy using her feet to kick herself over. Not too long after trying she made it all the way over to her back. I think what made it easy for her was her shoes. They allowed her to grip with her feet. I tried to get it on video but by the time I got the video up on my phone she had just rolled over.
This now means mommy's little baby girl is growing. I can't believe how quickly things are happening. I love this little stage she is at.

Keep Praying

This past week I found out that my cousin's daughter Shelly (she is actually my thrid cousin) was rushed to Stanford for liver failure. She went in for a routine biopsy to try and diagnose what is wrong with her when her liver started failing. Kaiser immediately sent her by ambulance to Stanford. She is now sedated as they hope to find a donor. Last Friday my nana called to ask what everyones blood type is, they are now searching for a piece of a family member or close relations because her situation has worsened.

My blood type is the same as hers. The only problem is my medical history. With having cancer twice doesn't qualify me to possibly save my little cousins life. For a moment I felt completely helpless however the best thing I can do for her is pray.

I feel so terrible for my cousin and what he is going through. His 13 year old daughter is on remission from brain cancer. She was diagnosed with it 2 years ago. Now is 5 year old little girl is laying there practically out of it waiting for a liver. I know my parents can relate a lot to this. I was 5 when I was first diagnosed with cancer. I hope and pray what got my parents through my situation is what helps him.

On the upside, Shelly has 3 possible donors. One being her Uncle Jose, the other her moms best friend, and the third is my mom. Shelly is very lucky to have those people surround her able to give her what she needs. Hopefully one of them will meet the qualifications is takes for someone to donate that organ.

My God bless Shelly by watching over her and keeping her safe in his arms. Please God minimize her pain and suffereing. Only you would know exactly what she is going through. God please watch over her family as all they can do right now is watch her go through this terrible illness. Lord please put your hands on the three possible donators. Bless one of them with the gift of life. Lord you are an Almighty God and my trust is in you.

Coco's 21st

On Saturday, March 13th, my family celebrated my brother's 21st B-day. We decided to go to Dave & Buster's in Miliptas at the Great Mall. Everyone who came was me, Jay, my mom, Haley, Brianne, Jodi, my cousin Andrew, my cousin Kyle, and my brother of course. Little miss Bri'elle got to stay home with her gran-pappy. This was nice because he hasn't gotten a chance to babysit her yet. It was interesting since the last time he taken care of a baby was about 12 years ago. At first I was pretty nervous just for the fact that we weren't a quick phone call and short drive away. We would be about a 45 minute drive. However, I knew my dad would take good care of her. He had nothing really to worry about though because she fell asleep about 10 minutes before we left to leave and she usually sleeps through the night. When we returned home my dad said she slept the whole time besides a period where she was being a little restless so he got her out of her basinet we brought downstairs and rocked her. She went right back to sleep when she felt the comfort of her pappy. That girl slept until about 7:00 a.m.

Meanwhile, we were partying hard at D&B's. We left pretty late so we had to hurry and put our name at the reservation table for dinner. The wait was going to be 3 hours. This gave us plenty of time to play games. After about an hour or so playing games our name was called for a table. We ate and ate. After dinner some of us hang out at the table to absorb our food and the rest of us went to cash in our tickets. Jay and I have tons of D&B cards so we let my sisters use them. The trade was we got to keep their tickets. Mwah-haha! We were on our way home about 30 minutes later we were on our way home safe and sound.

We had a lot of fun. Especially since this was pretty much mine and Jay's first night out and about without our baby girl. And now we know my dad is a great sitter!

Fast Forward

Wow! Time has flew by. Since joining this blogging site a lot of things have happened.

About two months after we were married we found out that we're expecting. Seven months later, Bri'elle Aolani Alfonso welcomed the world. A whole 6 pounds/10 ounces and 20 inches of a beautiful baby girl. I would have to say that it was the best 12 hours I have spent sitting in a hospital bed, and believe me I've spent many hours there.

When she arrived it was as if our world ended but yet just began. I remember as soon as I heard her cry Jay and I met eyes and tears of Joy streamed down my face. She was so precious. After her first little cry she quietly stared around the room taking in all the sounds and faces. I just held her there in my arms. My eyes locked on her. What a joy it is to be a mother.

Unfortunately there were some things that didn't exactly get accomplished in 2009 like we thought they would. Jay was unexpectedly laid off in October of 2009. Just 2 months before our baby girl was to arrive. A great shocker it was to us, we had to cope. Since he was laid off we were left struggling to buy things left for the baby and just to make it by. We still are having a hard time trying to juggle it all. We are hoping that this is a blessing in disguise.

Now that Jay is laid off and the baby is here, he is Mr. Mom. I'm back at work and who better to watch our little girl than her dad! It is awesome. And we don't have to pay for childcare which is pretty pricey these days.

A house is definitely out of our league now. I must have cried for weeks on weeks just thinking about how close we were to starting the house buying process. I still catch myself tear up whenever we pass by a house with a for sale sign thinking to myself that could've been the one, can be the one, just isn't the one. On the upside of things living with my parents has been a lot of help. It's nice to be able to come home and if I need to run somewhere for the most part there is always someone home. Also another thing that I love is that she is going to literally be attached to every single person in the house. I know living else where she wouldn't see them as much as she does now.

So many things have certainly happened this past year. Welcoming the new year definitely wasn't easy and won't be easy as the year is progressing. However, my goal is to look on the brighter side of things. Jason and I celebrated our first marriage anniversary. It was so nice. He really did a good job in keeping a smile on my face since we couldn't celebrate it the way we wanted. One thing we were able to do together is start school back up. Jay is taking two classes and I'm taking three. My mom takes one class with us. Its been pretty nice to get back into school. I'm hoping to graduate pretty soon. I would love to start benefitting from my education in the workforce.

All that we can do now is pray that 2010 is going to bring us laughter, love, and memories. The best things in life are our bare necessities.