{first crush}

natalie talks about Jude, a boy in her class, all the time. jude this, jude that, how do you spell jude, i saw jude's mom pick him up, etc. etc. etc. but my mouth dropped when she drew this the other day.

what!? her first crush! in pre-k??? way too early! i guess i have my work cut out for me...

bring in the new... DECADE

what can i say, i'm officially OLD. let me just warn all my age 30 and older readers that this post will probably come across as slightly annoying but please try to remember back when you left your 20's and how difficult of a time that was for you (more likely than not), and try not to roll your eyes too, too much ;)

since the beginning of the year all i could think of was how *this is the year i'm turning THIRTY*, even though it was months away. i knew it would creep up on me, and surely enough it did, and before i knew it i was facing the reality of my life. i kept reassuring myself that turning 30 wasn't really going to be a big deal for me, and i thought i was cool with it. but when october came, it was a different story. i know how fortunate i am to still look young (due to my lack of height and not to mention some awesome family genes), and i definitely don't think i act "old" (and i use that term loosely) but it's just the number that got to me. when i was young (again, i use that term loosely), i used to think people who were in their 30's were "old". isn't that crazy? but it was still implanted into my brain which is why i was having a hard time dealing with this particular birthday. especially since just the other day our teenage nephew, who had just found out i was turning 30, said to me, with his face all scrunched up, and i quote: "YOU'RE TURNING 30??? MAN, THAT'S OOOOOOOOLD!!!" see what i mean, that's exactly what *i* thought at his age...

with that being said, i think i handled my 30th birthday rather well. it helped to have so much love and support from my family and friends. speaking of... my sister and mom so graciously threw me a birthday bash to celebrate this momentous ocassion. i had a blast hanging out with my friends and family, laughing and goofing on all the silly pictures from my past that they put together of me, and dancing my 30 year old butt off. i couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my 30th birthday!

me and the party planners

i stepped out of my comfort zone with my outfit this year; no better time to do that than now!

me and my wonderful man


my girls


{to see more pics from that night, click here and here}


A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY MOM, SIS AND DAD
who went above and beyond to make this such a special birthday for me!
i love you!

hApPy HaLlOwEeN!

what a hectic time of the year! the last 2 weeks have been full of lots of extra activities on top of our normal routine, which alone can be pretty crazy. but i do love this time of the year (if only the weather would feel like fall) and all the fun that goes along with it. especially for the kids! i have a lot of updating to do on this blog, but i think it will be easier for me to start with this post and backtrack from there. so please bear with me, as i know some of you have been waiting for those PICTURES :-)

today we went trick-or-treating with our friends barry, alisha and ashton. last year was so much fun, we decided to do it again! we got there early for a little cookout, and of course, the gator game was on. later on the kids got their costumes on and we headed out for some... CANDY!

on the way there -- they were so excited:

russell the chef, and natalie as princess ariel:

russell was not feeling picture time:

his fake smile:

the stars of the night:

chef, cowgirl, spiderman, mermaid, minnie mouse

a little clip from tonight:

on the way home we decided to stop by grandma and grandpa's house to surprise them with some *special* trick-or-treaters! needless to say, they were overjoyed when then opened the door! and then natalie and russell got to hand out candy to some neighborhood trick-or-treaters for the very first time. they loved it

happy halloween everyone!

poor sweet natalie

good thing picture retakes are on wednesday.

she looks totally spaced out, and in pain.

hopefully our "coaching" tips on how to smile for the school camera help the next time around.

and hopefully, these so called professional photographers will take another shot if she tries to pull this look again.

sheesh

handmade with love and spooks

this year russ had the idea to let the kids have a little halloween party. in fear of going overboard when my finances simply cannot handle that, i decided to make it like an extended playdate. we invited the kids' friends from playdates and their parents, and are having them over on a week night. i went with a monster theme because Target had a lot of "monster" things for halloween, and they were not really scary-looking, which is good because russell is going through a scared phase right now.

anyway, i got really excited about our little "party" and decided to make [the highly unnecessary] invitations by hand. there were only three to make, so i had fun making them unique.

Pumpkin Patchin

The weather was absolutely perfect for a trip to the pumpkin patch today. So I dressed the kids up in their festive clothes and we headed out for some good pumpkin hunting and, of course, lots of pictures. This was actually our 2nd trip to the pumpkin patch but yesterday's trip was just a spur of the moment thing. I'll post those pics later.

Lots of catching up to do here on the good ol' blog!

Pictures from our Vacation

slideshow:

Our week was packed with lots of fun, including a few "firsts" for the kids: Downtown Disney, miniature golf and crafts at the condo. Between all of that, plus fun in the pool, AND our day at Disney World, I'd say the kids had a fantastic week! I know *I* did!

Many thanks to the grandparents! Without you, Magic Kingdom and its souvenirs, plus ALL of our memories wouldn't have been possible! We Love You!

things are finally back to normal since we got home from vacation. on sunday night russ got very ill and spent the entire night/morning hugging the toilet. i was so nervous that he had a virus or even the flu, i kept Lysol-ing everything i could think of. i couldn't imagine the kids catching something as bad as that with how pathetic *russ* looked. and if *i* got sick, well, i don't even want to think about how my never-ending TO-DO list would have to wait! russ missed work on monday but went back on tuesday, even though it rained and he couldn't do much. he's still feeling weak but seems to be doing fine. it must have been something he ate, although we could not pinpoint it to anything in particular.

natalie is loving being back at school. on monday morning she got very upset because she thought that since *daddy* was sick, that meant *she* would have to miss school! but she was fine once i explained things to her!

tomorrow, i'm taking russell back to storytime at the library, hoping that he will love it just as much as he did the first time!

and these are just a few things on my to-do list:

- take kids to see Toy Story at the movies (only playing for 2 wks!)
- hit the pumpkin patch at least once this week
- get my hair done
- continue planning the kids' halloween party :)


i LOVE october!

Our trip to Disney World: Magic Kingdom

We couldn't have picked a more perfect day to go to the park. The weather was GORGEOUS (unlike last year) and the park wasn't crowded! To me, that makes the perfect combination. And to top it off, the kids were great! We decided to do away with the stroller this year. It was a little risky because #1 - it was going to be a LONG day, #2 - Russell likes to be independent and walk on his own sometimes, and #3 - Natalie is one lazy girl (she takes after her momma)! BUT it turned out to be a great decision and having a stroller would have only added stress on our day.

Since it rained --err, POURED-- on us last year at Magic Kingdom, we missed out on a lot of attractions. This year we had time to do most everything we wanted, and tried new rides/attractions that we'd never been to.

Russ and I agreed that the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor was the best show there. It's like a comedy show that uses people in the audience as a part of their "story." Celena actually made it up on the screen right when we walked in! As far as rides go, Thunder Mountain was the best! It had been years since I rode it and I had forgotten how much fun it was!

The kids loved BOTH roller coasters they rode -- Natalie said that is was her favorite thing to do at the park. Little Russell had a huge smile plastered on his face practically the entire day. I think he enjoyed meeting Buzz Lightyear and Mickey and Minnie the best. Natalie got to meet the Disney Princesses for the first time this year. It's definitely a *must-do* for anyone who has a little girl. She was in heaven!


All in all, we had a blast at the park, there wasn't a moment wasted and it truly was a magical day!

we're baaaack!

we had a FABULOUS week in orlando... our itinerary was quite close to perfect ;)

however, we arrived home today only to discover that our refrigerator had stopped working! i left my house nice and clean: new sheets, new towels, clean bathrooms, no messes, AND my mother in law surprised me by folding ALL of our linens and towels! but my happiness was quickly crushed when we opened the fridge to put some stuff away and realized that it was not cold. about 95% of our food had to be thrown out. luckily we found a repair man to come out today (on a saturday), and thankfully the problem was easily fixed but it certainly was not the happy ending to our wonderful vacation that i wished i could have had :(

i will be updating soon with more details and pictures from the trip. kids are in bed, and i'm about to shower and R-E-L-A-X. unpacking, doing 4 loads of laundry and dealing with a broken fridge can really wear you down...lol

we're glad to be back though -- there's no place like home!

isn't she beautiful?

getting in the spirit of halloween

letting go

yesterday i took russell to the library for storytime. before natalie started school, we all went to their "family storytime" where moms, dads, and kids of all ages were welcomed, on fridays at 11:00. I would have continued to take russell to that class but that particular time interfered with driving natalie to school. so this week i finally looked up other times/classes available and was even open to going to a new library. i decided to try a new class for russell. luckily, it was at the same library, which is less than a mile away from our house. the class is called "preschool storytime," which is limited to 3 and 4 year olds, and they go in all by themselves. i was nervous about how russell would take to something like that -- if he would cry and run out, sit and behave, be able to COMMUNICATE (since it's hard for other people to understand what he's saying), but i said to myself: this is what he needs so let's just try it! i walked him in the class at 11:30 yesterday and sat him down on his very own square mat, briefly explained to him that i was going to leave the room and how he needed to sit and be a big boy, and turned around and walked out. it felt so weird but i was excited at the same time. while he was in his "class" i was able to return, renew, and check out some library books in peace and quiet. that was so nice! when i was done i went over to wait by the door to the room he was in. eventually, one by one the kids started to walk out. i saw him, but he didn't see me right away, and then i saw him start to get upset. when he found me, he let out a small sad cry but i hugged him real tight to comfort him and let him know that i would never leave him. then he proudly showed me his craft that he made, a cutout of an apple with the letter "A" pasted in the middle. i asked him if he liked storytime and if he wanted to come back next week, in which he replied to both questions "YEAH MOMMY". i'm so proud of the little guy. he really needs stuff like this to help him progress in his speech and language, and i think that he is finally open and ready for it! me, on the other hand, i'm slowly learning to let go of my baby... =)

{love}

i love how natalie comes home every day from school singing a new song. i don't know how she remembers all of these tunes! it's so funny to hear her sing them because she doesn't know all of the words, and you can tell she is making some of them up, which REALLY makes trying to understand what she is singing almost impossible! she also has learned the Lord's Prayer, which she broke out with after we said our bedtime prayers while tucking the kids in the other night. Not to mention she has taught us a new prayer [to SING] before we eat our meals at the table. listening to her recite all of these new things is just plain adorable!
GOD, I LOVE HER SCHOOL! i so wish i could be a fly on the wall in her classroom...

on a side note:

russell had his weekly speech appointment today, and he did SUPERB!

i had a very productive day with the kids, so when russ got home slightly early because of the rain, i was in very good mood for a change!

*today was a good day*

(4 more days...)

getting ready

for some reason, these past few days seemed to fly right by. i can't believe that we're at the end of september...it's 2!!! days away from fall (of course, you'd never know it with as HOT as it's been here in jacksonville)...aaaand our yearly "summer" vacation is only ONE WEEK AWAY!!! we've been keeping pretty busy with natalie being in school, and russell's new activities, all the while trying to sqeeze in much-needed [and much-MISSED] playdates (you know, mommy needs these playdates just as much as the kiddos do, if not more...). natalie is on to her second head cold since she started school, and all i can do is laugh about it. it was bound to happen, right?!

despite her cold, we all managed to have a productive and fun-filled weekend:

on friday, i took the kids to "free-play" at MyGym, the gym that natalie used to attend, but since she started school, russell took her place; then we headed over to our traditional friday night dinner with grandma and grandpa at brooklyn pizza; natalie spent the night with them that night while russell got to ride his bike in the neighborhood and watch Kung Fu Panda (a very cute and funny DreamWorks movie) with mommy and daddy; Russ worked ALLLLLL DAAAAY saturday (9-7) while i cleaned-cleaned-cleaned the house til my back almost gave out, but since life doesn't stop when you want to, i went to run some errands (good ol' Publix, the supermarket i spend at least 2 days of every week frequenting...), then natalie returned home and i took the kids to the park to spend a few minutes of fun outside; i cooked an amaaazing dinner (if i do say so myself), something new that i threw together, which happened to turn out very delish; on sunday we attended the 12:00 mass (which we haven't been able to do as a family lately because of one thing or another); after church, natalie had a birthday party to attend -- her first classmates birthday party! they had a huge waterslide set up, a playground, hotdogs, cake, ice cream... needless to say it was a lot of fun!; when we got back home, nana and papa, and daddy's friend james came over for last minute dinner arrangements (leftovers from yesterday plus some extra goodies; and lastly before bedtime, i helped natalie with her homework. every weekend she has to work on finding and cutting out pictures that begin with the following week's "letter of the week." This week's letter was "C".

WOW, i'm tired just typing all that out! as i sat here waiting for russ to return home from his run, i decided it would be a good time to update this blog since i've been slacking lately!

oh, so do you want to know what we are "getting ready" for??? our vacation! -- which as i mentioned is only ONE WEEK AWAY! we cannot be any more excited! next saturday russ will be running in the Ronald McDonald House Children's Way 5k and immediately following, we will come home and load up the car to head down to Orlando! looking forward to all the fun and relaxation to follow :) so THAT'S what I'M getting ready for!

results

just in case any of you were wondering about the results of my labwork, i found out today that my results came back NEGATIVE for hypothyroidism. in a way i was relieved to find out i won't have to deal with taking medication and all that, but now i just wonder WHAT is causing my "symptoms". none of them are urgent concerns so for now i'll wait and see how i feel until my next check up with my doctor. really, i'm feeling fine (aside from that totally random, unexplainable and close to death experience migraine i suffered yesterday) and i definitely feel like having the internet can be a curse because having all the "answers" to your questions literally at your fingertips can certainly create unnecessary worrying!

p.s. i feel like i haven't been keeping up on here lately, so i will put "update blog" on my ever-growing, daily TO DO list soon!