Alex Update

We went to the doctor on Tuesday. I have nothing to report. Nothing... I got nothing! Now, I realize that I am officially still 3 weeks away from my due date but I sincerely thought he would show up early. But, as I said... "I got nothing". Yes, he is fine. "very active and strong" according to the doctor. Although, because he and I were up from 4-6am that morning she had a hard time finding his heartbeat. I knew he was in there because he had a party at 4 am. I swear if I didn't know any better, I would have thought he had invited a few buddies over at that hour.

What's next?
Well, we wait and see. My doctors are concerned (and so am I) about my rapid delivery. There's actually a note in my file that says that! They said that as soon as I begin to dialate they will induce me, since another rapid delivery would be a threat to me and Alex. Bella was born slightly purple and the Dr. assures me that as long as I deliver in a hospital the risk to the baby is less. But, it's getting to the hospital that makes me worry. I told her that I do not want to be on the news and she assures me that they won't let that happen. Let's hope. So realistically, we are looking me being induced in my 39th week (1 week) early, which puts us at the week of th 11th. I have an appointment on the 13th where the decision will be made so that Thurs (14th) or Fri (15th) looks like will be the day.... Let's hope!

Pictures from the zoo

Pictures from the birthday

Picture of me and the girls at the family birthday party. (this is the best picture we got the whole day)

Here are the girls at the build-a-bear party. This is the crew Gaby rolls with. They look like a fun bunch.
(Bella looks like Ally Sheedy from Breakfast Club)

Little Miss Sensitive and Le Skunk

We took a trip to Wal-mart tonight to buy Bella new bed sheets for her new bed. On the way home we smelled a skunk. Gaby was repulsed "saying that it smells yucky" plugging her nose and telling us to let her know when the smell was over. We then get stopped at the stoplight where the smell seems to intensify. Gaby is still not breathing and continues complaining. Joe tells her that when the light changes, and we start moving the smell will go away. So, that is just what happens and Gaby now realizing that the smell is over says "Goodbye Skunk!" Bella then says "Goodbye Pepe Le Peu!" HA!

UGHH!

Ok, I am getting pretty scared here. I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones making my reaction time slower or if my children actually are at the brink of out-smarting their mother. This was the scenario in our kitchen a few days ago:

I see my precocious 2 yr old carrying her step stool (never has a good ending), so I am watching her closely. I wait to catch her in action. I see her setting it up near the counter by the microwave. Still no crime has been committed so I continue to watch. She then climbs up and reaches for one of the top cabinets. Now, for the safety of my child, I need to intervene.

Me: "Bella, Get down from there."
Bella: "WELL, I'M TRYING TO GET MY CUP! UGHHH!"
Me: "UGGHH! DON'T ANSWER ME LIKE THAT!"
Bella: "UGHH! WELL, I AM! UGHH!"
Me: "UGHH!"
Bella: "UGHH!"

Yeah, we'll have to work on the lines of communication.

The Birthday Weekend

Gaby's birthday weekend went off without a hitch.

Saturday, we celebrated with family. Gaby, who is now old enough to use her words and tell us what she is feeling, was upfront and said that she did not want anyone to sing "Happy Birthday". To this we obliged. The family still gathered around to watch her blow out her candle. This was even too much for her. She quietly told me that she needed to go upstairs for a little while and so she did. When she came back she asked if Bella could blow out her candle and Bella was more than happy to oblige. Gaby did want to cut her cake and pass it out so this was enough for me. I did manage to get a picture of her and her cake so again, I will take what I can get.

At gift time, Gaby wanted nothing to do with the clothes that she received. She pretty much just threw them aside. I tried to make her appreciate all the gifts but to no avail. Nina gave her a toy puzzle to learn to tell time. Very nice gift and educational too. Nina was a little hurt when this gift fell into the clothes category. The next gift was given by Marite. A princess dress-up gown. Gaby LOVED it! Nina tried one last attempt in explaining to Gaby that if she's a princess, she will need to know when it's midnight... Gaby wasn't buying it. Poor Nina. Today, however Gaby did sit and play with the clock for about an hour.

Sunday Gaby enjoyed her party at Build-A-Bear Workshop with her friends. Ramiro and I were very pleased with the party and the effort put in by Build-A- Bear. Each child made their own bear and chose an outfit. Bella chose the yellow outfit... Go figure, and Gaby much to our surprise chose the Doctor outfit. I will get a scientist out of this family yet. Each child also received a Build-A-Bear Backpack and a deck of cards. Again, Ramiro and I were astounded because we only paid for the price of the bears. I would highly recommend Build-A-Bear.

Tomorrow is Gaby's real birthday. (I can't believe my baby is 4!) We will be going to the zoo, just like every year. Stay tuned!

Let the games begin!

So drafting was this weekend for Dancing With The Stars. My husband in his true geekiness, created an excel spreadsheet with our draft pics AND a random generator to decide drafting order. God love him! According to his work this is the drafting order:
1. Nina
2. Ramiro (he couldn't very well put himself 1st... that would be suspicious)
3. Nana
4. Kathy
5. Pino
6. Dacelly
7. Vicky

The pics were unexpected.
Nina... after a week of crying decided to pick Willa Ford for her draft. Have fun taking care of the girls!
Ramiro picked Vivica A. Fox... big surprise there!
Nana picked Emmitt Smith and upset Pino.
Kathy of course picked Joey Lawrence... how could I not?
Pino was appalled that Joey Lawrence was taken and so he decided to take one for La Raza and chose Mario Lopez.
Dacelly chose wisely with Monique Coleman... as a newcomer, Dacelly has a great chance. Pino of course questioned her picking but really who's he to comment?
Vicky being left with no one but Tucker Carlson and Jerry Springer has to choose Shanna Moakler. Not a bad pick either.

The stakes:
7th place - stays home with the girls
6th place - pays 35% of dinner tab
5th place - pays 30%
4th place - pays 20%
3rd place - pays 10%
2nd place - pays 5%
1st place - picks restaurant of choice

Stay tuned for updates... first show is on Sept. 12th!

Reggae Pool Party and My Hammy

Yesterday, we were invited to a Reggae themed (almost end of the summer) pool party. I had a Dr's appt and planned on having Grandpa watch the girls, then come back to get them and go to the party. Patti offered to watch the girls while I went to the Dr and that way they wouldn't miss out on the party. I took her up on the offer. Gaby was more than willing to stay at the party without me. Bella, of course, would have nothing to do with it. So, I dropped Gaby off and Bella and I went to check on Alex. Bella was a perfect angel at the Dr. It' s usually Gaby who ends up in a T.O. upon return from the Dr. So, the party started at 12 and Bella and I arrived at 1:30.

Gaby was the perfect guest, according to Patti. She said "please" and "thank you" and politely asked to use to the potty. She had been forewarned that if she was not polite, we might not be invited back. Guess that worked.

The pool party continued without incident, until I had to rescue Bella in the pool. The pool must have been no more than 2 ft deep. Gaby was getting in and out of the pool and inner tubes by herself, and Bella (miss "anything you can do I can do better") wanted to do the same. I was moving towards her (slowly of course) to help her out of an inner tube, and of course she tried to do it all by herself. I was almost there when the inner tube capsized trapping Belle underneath it. Now, mind you, all of this happened in approximately 10 nanoseconds. I reached in (falling into the pool myself) and pulled her out with 1 hand. She of course was shaken up and so was I. Bella will live and maybe next time she'll wait for Mommy's help. So that was incident #1.

Incident #2 - Later in the afternoon. There were a total of 3 moms and 6 kids at the party. Patti's husband was home from work by now so that is 4 adults. Patti's back yard is approximately the size of Honey's entire back yard (the original part and the new part) Bella needed to use the potty and when I left to take her all of the kids and moms and the one dad, were right by the swing set. When we came back out, no one was out there, except Ava Claire, Patti's barely 2 year old. No adults in sight and Ava Claire was at the far end of the yard by the swing set, HANGING from the monkey bars screaming, crying bloody murder. AGAIN, no adults in sight. I looked around for help but no one was there. So, I sprinted across the yard to rescue this child, who from the looks of it had been hanging for several minutes. I finally got there and got her down. As soon as I turned around there were the other 2 moms coming in from the front yard. Mothers of the year I tell you. I told them of what happened (as best as I could because I was out of breath and about to pass out). Poor Ava kept saying "Monkey Bars... get down... Kathy.... get me down" Poor Baby! I am incredibly sore today. My poor abs (or what is left of them) Having this big kid bouncing on them for the entire length of the yard. At least Ava was safe. Patti of course sent me an email this morning to thank me for saving Ava. No more pool parties for me this season!

Summer Reading

The girls successfully finished their summer reading program at the library. Gaby had to report on books she read to earn book bucks which she used to "buy" things from the display case. Bella, because she is not enrolled in school, could not earn book bucks but didn't have to report on them either (although, we all know she could). So, for finishing the program, Bella earned herself a board book. I had spoken with Gaby and she was willing to give Bella some of her hard earned book bucks. So, the librarian let Bella choose her board book and Bella says 'I don't want one of those books" The librarian knowing my plan says "you can still buy something but you get a book too" Bella says "I DON'T want those books" The librarian says "ok, what do you want to buy then you can pick out your book" So Bella picks out a yellow super bouncy ball and a container of play-doh (1 book buck each). Then the librarian goes to give her a book and Bella screams "NOOOOO!!!!!" and runs away. It wasn't even a bad book. It was Elmo's world with lift a flap (which she loves)! I had to sneak the book into the bag so she wouldn't see it. Go Figure Bella.

Gaby made out with a decent sized stuffed animal, which is REALLY soft, a pink super bouncy ball, pink play-doh, and a pink alligator bath toy. We should have brought a separate bag for the prizes!

Our Next Top Model

This weekend we took the girls in for pictures. The idea was to get a "sisters" picture before Alex joins them. Kind of like capturing a moment in time. Gaby did not make it through the photo shoot deciding half way through that she was through. so, in true Bella fashion, she took over. I guess she figured "why waste a perfectly good photo shoot" Needless to say she made it her own with 6 of the 8 total poses being just Bella. The girls working at the picture people were commenting on how cute she is and how she can really ham it up for a picture. Not only that but the Picture People are also having a contest which the employees encouraged us to enter. We will wait and see if this picture gets chosen. Bella would have the chance to win free pictures for a childhood! Being a ham may just pay off for her.

No School for Bella

We heard back from school and Bella will not be admitted until Jan. As a matter of fact, according the administrator I spoke with, Bella was the topic of their last staff meeting. They wondered how they could incorporate her seeing as her class is nearly full. The short answer is that she will have to wait till Jan. The new problem is that since her class is so full, there may not be space for her come Jan. I'm having a hard time understanding this because our registration check for Bella has already been cashed. But according to them they cannot hold a year long space for a student who will only be attending for half a year. Again, the registration fee has already been paid and there isn't a reduced registration fee for half a year so, according to us, we have registered her for the whole year. At any rate, we will wait and see what happens.

They also informed us that this will not advance Bella into the 4 year old class next year. Because she will still only be 3 next fall she will have to be in the same class as this year. We understand that and are fine with it. However, because in Bella will be in preschool for 3 years, that 3rd year she will be allowed to be in the 5 year old preschool class. This class is designed for the young 5 year old that will not quite be 5 for kindergarten. Poor Bella!

Meanwhile, Gaby is off to the races getting ready for school. We have begun explaining to Bella that she will have to wait till after her birthday. Let's hope she understands when it's time to take Gaby to school.

Our Garden

So our garden, just now, decides to bear fruit. In addition to finally having cucumbers (which other people have had for months) we also have a watermelon. The girls are nuts over it. As Bella put it.. "Awwe... He's so cute"
Tom says "yeah, it'll take you till December to harvest" yeah, that may be true but at least my garden grows!

Happy Anniversary to Abba and Tata

Abba and Tata celebrated 41 years of wedded bliss... ok, there is no way all of it was blissfull, but nonetheless, a wedded union. We celebrated over the weekend by dining in Chinatown. Gaby loved Chinatown. Pino treated everyone to wooden back scratchers and massagers. Gaby loved this too and all of her dolls have had their backs scratched several times already. The girls enjoyed their favorite: lo mein.

It was nice to visit Chicago. Truth be told, I do miss it. But thanks to Pino, Nina and Aunt Valo the girls too are building memories there too! Now, if we could only get Joe to not be so suburban!

Day at the Shedd

Gaby enjoyed a day at the Shedd with Pino. Bella wanted no part in that outing. She was in till she heard that Nina was not going but only dropping them off. She asked why Nina could not stay and that she did not want to stay with just Pino (smart kid!) hee hee. Gaby then says "I'm still going" There was no way Gaby was going to miss "the fish museum".

Gaby's favorite thing at the Shedd was the woman feeding the rays and sharks at the Caribbean Reef. She could not stop talking about it. Thanks to Pino for an enjoyable day. Maybe next year Bella will be brave enough to go!

Gaby benefits from Pino's frugalness

So Pino volunteers to take the girls to the Shedd Aquarium. He gets the bright idea that the libraries give out free tickets. He calls 24... yes I said 24, libraries and gets free tickets. That's persistance!

Gaby's Tirade... the scaled down version

So, Gaby is not letting up on her demands or her tyranny. She has scaled it down and some days are better than others. We are presenting a united front and hope this "episode" will soon pass. We have created a chart where she needs to get through 5 days time-out free and will get a special treat of M&Ms at the end. For the second week that she goes 5 days time-out free she will be taken out for ice cream... not a bad incentive. Of course because all things must be fair, Bella is under the same stipulation. Of course Bella will be getting her treat tonight whereas Gaby still has 2 days left. This exhibition of independance is something we should be proud of but we too, cannot live under Castro forever!
Will Gaby ever get her M&Ms?
Will Bella share hers?
Will Gaby ever see the inside of an ice cream parlor?
Will Mom be commited to the psychiatric ward?
Stay tuned!

Short Stack

This morning's conversation:

Bella: Do you like my shirt?
Daddy: Yes, it's very nice.
Bella: I'm not talking to you.... I was talking to Mommy!
Daddy: Oh, excuse me!

Poor Daddy!