The Dance

I thought it was about time to upload a picture of Lexi and some friends before their winter dance. They went to dinner at Red Robin then on to the dance.

The picture they had taken at the dance of the three girls turned out cute. I'll have to scan it in one day and post it. Ashley, Belle, Blaine, Lexi & Alex

Handsome lil guy

Look at this handsome lil guy. He's getting so big now. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He's our sweet baby. We just love him to pieces . . . and he loves us. He has a special bond with Lexi. He greets her every morning when he wakes up and as soon as she gets home from school. She can even get him to sleep if we need her to.

Sophomore Dude, Sophomore

Lexi started school. It's official, she is now a Sophomore in High School!
The first day she said that school was LONG. Yesterday it was much better than the first day. We're assuming it was still long, since the times haven't changed ;)

Now we have to worry about those horny high school boys again. Sure seemed easier when it was summer time and she didn't see as many.

Blog Off Babies

This weeks topic for the blog off for babies is . . . Babies! I decided that I would share our journey of how our babies arrived in our family.

It's only fitting that I start off with pictures of our cute babies.

Lexi, Sammy, Chloe and Colby

Ah, they were so cute!

Of course every mama thinks their own babies are cute, don't they.

Like all babies, my babies were heaven sent. I will admit that I took for granted my first baby. We decided that we wanted to have one shortly after we were married . . . and lo and behold, we had one, with no effort. We were blessed with the prettiest baby girl I had ever layed my eyes on. She was such a fun, smart and lovable baby. She brought us such joy, that we decided we would have another one. When she was 2 1/2, we decided it was time. At least that is what we had planned. To my husbands delight, we started trying . . . and trying . . . and trying . . . and we kept that trying bit up for a couple of years.

Then, we realized something just wasn't right. Turns out, it was me. I went the infertility route. I was diagnosed with PCOS. I tried a few cycles of treatments with no success. It was a devastating blow to hear the doctor tell me that I had a slim chance to get pregnant on my own and even if I did, it would most likely end in a miscarriage. John still had hope and I didn't. There was a part of me that resented him for reassuring me that one day we would have more kids.

Fast forward a little while . . . we decided that we did want to add more babies to our family, so we started up the adoption process. It's a rather long story of ups and downs, more downs than up . . . that will need to be told another day (if I ever decide to). Long story short, we had two adoptions that after months in process fell apart. One was for a newborn baby boy in Guatemala. We were in process for over six months with him only to have it yanked out from underneath us. We were absolutely devastated. We loved this baby boy. We considered him ours even though we never met him. Then months later, we accepted a referral of a newborn baby girl in Guatemala. We were in process just a few months when we found out the case could not go forward. Another devastation.

While we were in the process of adopting, I did end up pregnant, twice. We thought wow, double the blessings! The blessings were cut short. I miscarried both times and both of the adoptions came crashing down.

Miraculously, about the same time we started up a third adoption for a little girl from Guatemala, we found out I was pregnant once again. Of course, with the previous experience, I was thinking, "you've got to be kidding me". I know those around me thought that I wasn't happy to be pregnant. I didn't show much emotion about it on the outside. On the inside, I was very excited, but extremely nervous. Our adoption continued on as did the pregnancy.

It was unreal. After 10 years of secondary infertility, it finally happened! Right on time, Sammy was born. He was such a cute baby. He looked just like an old man in a little baby body.

Months later, our adoption was finalized. Things don't always turn out the way we think they are going to. With out going into details (especially since many don't know this), we later made the decision to place her with another family here in the states. Another devastating situation. Even though it was our decision, it was by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. She was ours & we loved her. I still think of her often, still will cry myself to sleep at times when I think of her & will always love her.

Jumping ahead, two years after Sammy was born, we had Chloe. She is our cute little petite, feisty stubborn child. Two years after Chloe, we had Colby. I would have to say he was somewhat of a surprise. My body finally remembered how to keep hold of a baby and apparently doesn't want to stop. Colby is now our final baby. He completes our family.

Our journey to have our babies was a long one, 15 years long. One filled with surprises & too much heartache. Maybe it was all in "the plan" for us to go the adoption route, to get our little girl to the right family for her, to eventually be blessed with the rest of our family after our job was done. Who knows really, but I can't wait to find out. That will be my first question once I die, no wait, my second question will be to find out the whys of it. My first question will probably be, "dude, what just happened"? :)

Girls Night Away

We (me and Bethany) decided it was time for a girls night away. Girls as in, the daughters with the mamas. We stayed at the Peppermill in Reno.



The girls swam in the pool three times & we did some shopping.
Check out this cute bag I bought Lexi for school.


We shared a giant pizzookie (that ice cream is so good with the cookie) from BJ's. Enjoyed cherry cokes (cherry sprite for Lexi - she normally is anti soda, so this was a stretch for her) from the dirtiest Johnny Rockets I have ever seen.


We all stayed up late, except Chloe, that was a lot of walking for her little legs. We played a little charades, laughed a lot and had a good time.

It's always nice to be home, but now I'm tired and sore.

One of our beauties

Bethany came over and took some pictures of Lexi. You know, Lexi, she loves to get her picture taken . . . especially when she's all dooded up!

Anyway, these turned out so pretty, I just had to share!

Look, the top right one is Lexi without glasses. She's just about at that age for me to start considering letting her wear contacts.

Lexi is 15!

Lexi celebrated her 15th birthday a few weeks ago. I'm just now getting the pictures on the computer, figures, I'm such a slacker.

We gave her a camera (which we have already returned, the quality of the pictures were horrible)! She mainly received clothes and books, both her favorites. Chloe and I ordered her a Princess Belle cake the day of her birthday. It was cute and lasted a few days.

Lexi went to Red Robin that night with her friends and then they came back and watched a movie. Earlier that day, I made her a jello cake and lemon squares. The kids all ate the jello cake, the lemon squares didn't last long enough for them to even try one!

Did you know back when I was ready to deliver Lexi, the bay area was experiencing a huge heat wave? How's that for a little tidbit of unusable knowledge for you?!

Let's play catch

Catch up that is!

School is out for all of the kids.
Sam graduated from tot time.
Lexi is now a Sophomore (and very proud of that fact).
Colby has had another set of ear infections that didn't quite clear up with the first medicine prescribed, so, I got to take him back into the doctors for something different. They are now cleared up and he has just a few doses left to take. Have I ever mentioned that our copays are $50? Well, they are. His ears are costing us just about the same as all of his diapers probably have!
John and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We went to Reno and stayed at the Peppermill. Our suite had a very nice soaking tub, which was used quite a few times. I would . . . or I will should I say, stay there again!

We've had lots of spiders, some even in the toilets. Good thing the lids are never down, other wise, those big floating spideys would've been big crawling spideys! I did find Colby trying to catch a big spider that was trying to run away from him on a couch pillow that was on the floor. Yuck! That's all I need, him to eat one of those.

No pictures to post just yet. Bummer, huh!

Blogaroo decor change and Lexi's blog

I'm almost done with my blogaroo facelift. I just bought Bug Out by Melissa Bennett. She was having a super good sale at her shop. In fact the sale is still going on if you want to pick up (or download should I say) something cute.

I really like this blog design but there are still some things I'm trying to tweek, like that darn border around the header. I can't seem to get rid of it. It's not supposed to be there. I'm also going to be adding the cutesy little tags on the sidebar, but I need to figure out how to get rid of the extra space under each one. I'll be keeping this blog decor for quite awhile. If you had previously saved it as a favorite, you'll need to update that link.

Our drama queen, Lexi, has now started a blog. We still have to fancy it up, but she is on her bloggin way! If you have a spare minute, go and check it out. I'm sure she'd love a few comments on there.

Another one sick & rainbow

Now it's Chloe's turn. She's now the sicky one. She has a cold, I think. Fever, runny nose, sneezing, lounging on the couch and a lot of whining and tears. Poor little feisty thing. She can't stand when anyone looks at her, touches her or talks to her. Makes for a really fun day.

Colby seems to be doing much better. He's in a much better mood. At least I know his medicine is working. He is teething again. Big huge swollen gums where the molars are trying to peek out. Ouch, looks painful!

This pic was taken this morning in the car waiting to drop off Sam at preschool. Chloe stayed home today to relax.

Lexi was over at her friends today. She sent this picture to us on her phone.

I haven't mentioned Lexi lately, but yes, she still exists. I just try to give her more privacy on this blog.

Out with the old, In with the new

2008 is over! Woohoo! Before we look ahead, let's look back at this past year . . . accomplishment wise.



I gave birth to Colby, not an easy birth experience for either of us, but the job was done, that's the main thing. Recovering from a c-section was unpleasant. Since I wasn't expecting to have one, I really wasn't prepared for the pain afterward.


Chloe finally became potty trained . . . all the way. She is even pooping in the potty, something that we didn't expect her to master in 2008.


Sammy started preschool, he loves it! There was only one day of slight whining/crying where he didn't want me to leave.



Lexi started High School. A teenage girl in high school. I feel like I can claim part of this one as an accomplishment also, after all, I have a boy crazed, drama-queen, teen girl and I am still sane . . . maybe barely hanging on, but still sane.



As for me, sometimes I think my big accomplishments are just making it through each day.


What does this upcoming year have in store for us? I'm pretty sure a few things will happen. Colby will start walking, talking, running and making our days even more enjoyable.
Chloe will start preschool in Sams class.
Sam will start Kindergarten.
Lexi will most likely stay a boy crazy, drama filled teenage girl.


I want to learn PhotoshopElements (John bought it for me for my bday), I want to learn to use my camera in manual mode, I want to scrap more pages, and of course there's that darn weight issue (I don't even want to mention that one, yet it keeps coming up every year).

Hopefully, John will work more this year so we can get a savings established. Sure would be nice to have a rainy day fund . . . or a family vacation fund . . . or a Christmas fund . . . all in advance before we need them!

frames by Misty Cato - Happy Birthday Baby Boy kit

Freshman pics

We have Lexi's freshman year school picture. She is just so pretty!
We thought it would be fun to show both of our freshman pics next to each other. I scanned a wallet picture that John had carried around in his wallet for years, that's why it's a pretty bad quality. Maybe we'll have to do this every year.



Coming soon: Colby's six month layout and update!

He's Baaack!

Maybe, maybe not though. When Lexi was little, she had an imaginary friend. His name was Michael. Michael was around our house for years, then finally left once Lexi started Kindergarten. He had then moved on to her cousins house to play.

Well, this morning, I was in my room and I hear Sam and Chloe singing Happy Birthday . . . to Michael. So, maybe he's back. Who knows, right!?

Photoshop Lexi

I was reading Heather Roselli's blog today. Posted is a mini tutorial on how to soften up a picture using diffuse glow. I tried it out. I used Lexi's first day of school picture. Here's the before and after. Isn't she a pretty girl!

The original might be prettier for this picture, but I wanted to try some Photoshop out. Little by little, I'll learn how to do things in it.

Two Nervous Nellies

Lexi starts high school tomorrow morning. She's a nervous Nelly. I can understand it. I told her that even the seniors will be nervous. Most people are nervous on their first day back to school.

Lexi shared with me something she read on the internet.

Freshman girls are checking out the Sophomore boys
Sophomore boys are checking out the Junior girls
Junior girls are checking out the Senior boys
Senior boys are checking out the Freshman girls

Isn't that the truth. Now that's what makes me a Nervous Nelly!

A new do for Chloe, Tot time for Sam, Mannequin for Lex & Laughs for Colby

This afternoon, Chloe got a much needed hair cut. She is too cute! I'll try to get the pictures uploaded tomorrow and post the before and after.

She's proud of her new do. She's the "new girl in town". She loves that song from Hairspray, so it's fitting for us to sing it to her and of course, she loves it.

Sam and I went to City Hall today to register him for a Tiny Tots program. I signed him up for two months worth. I figure about two weeks will be enough time to figure out if he does well there . . . and to see if they will want him back!

He is very excited about "going to school". We're going to go and pick him up a lunch box . . . or should I say bag, they don't really have too many "boxes" out there nowadays.

Lexi dyed her mannequin heads hair the other day. She's enjoying practicing different hairstyles on it. She's going to be a great cosmetologist if she follows through with her plan.

And finally, a little blurb on Colby . . . or "Wook" as Sammy has been calling him. He is laughing more, kissing more, hugging more and pulling out more hair of ours. More on him coming up for his FOUR months layout page in a few days.

What a difference a year makes

For the past few Fathers Days, I've been taking a picture of the kids with John. Here's the last three Fathers Day shots.

A Nail Biter

Most everyone knows that Lexi is a nail biter. She wants to get acrylic nails put on. So, she has been trying to stop biting them, key word is trying. She started biting them today and I told her to stop. Of course, her first response like usual was, "I wasn't". Lexi always has an excuse for everything. Her excuse was too funny for this one,

"I was just itching my tooth".

Only Lexi could have a tooth that itches!

I can't wait til she comes in late after curfew (when she's allowed to start dating) to hear what excuses she'll have then. I can only imagine.

Happy 14th Birthday Lexi

WooHoo! Lexi no longer has to refer to her age as "almost 14". Let's travel back in time, shall we?


While I was pregnant with Lexi, I was placed on strict bed rest at 18 weeks. I began to dilate too soon. I was accepted into a study that Kaiser was doing for preterm labor patients. Each day I would hook myself up to a monitor for an hour clicking on the clicker each time I felt her move. Then I would send the results through the phone line to Kaiser. A nurse would call me back and let me know how I was doing for the day. If I had over four contractions, then I'd have to redo the hour. Anyway, it kept things interesting for me. I tackled my first cross stitch quilt (stamped of course) while I was confined to bed. Let me tell you, an uncomfortable futon is not where you want to spend hours of laying down! Anyway, we made it 38 weeks and I was able to get up and get moving. The Dr induced me two days before her due date to make sure I made it to the hospital in time for the delivery.


My mom was my main support person. Good thing she was there, too. John supported the newspaper most of the time, could he have been too young for that next step?! I'm thinking so. After about three hours of the pitocin, I wanted the epidural. Thank goodness I received one. About five hours later it was time to push. I pushed for two whopping hours. One hour and 50 minutes too long if you ask me.
Lexi came into this world crying. As soon as I held her, I was crying. She was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I had no idea I could love a little baby as much as I did her. She was a biggie, nine pounds - one ounce and 22 1/2 inches long. She had lots of jet black hair which fell out by the time she was five to six months old.



Lexi was the happiest, smartest and most well behaved toddler. As a bonus, she was super cute! She loved to sing and dance. She talked early and was fairly advanced for her age. She was around adults all of the time so I'm sure that played a part in it.



Fast forward to now. Lexi is a great daughter. I still love her . . . and like her, just as much as I did the first time I held her, maybe even more now. She's a great big sister to the little ones (most of the time). She's grown up to be a beautiful girl inside and out. I look forward to seeing what her future holds for her.

She's growin up

Lexi went to the eighth grade graduation dance last night. She looked so pretty and was excited to go. One of her friends waited for her in the parking lot. As they both walked towards the school, John and I saw that our little girl isn't so little anymore. She's grown up fast. She doesn't look like an eighth grader anymore. To think that in four years, we'll be planning her graduation party is mind-blowing.