Just Watching The Days Go By

An Update

2010-05-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

So I sadly crossed my own blogs path several days ago and realized, for how much I love reading others blogs I can't seem to find the "time" to update mine. I have so much to update others on regarding the kids and our family I don't quite know where to begin. I will start with the good. Hannah and Ethan are growing up so fast before my eyes. I am happy to say that they get along great and often I find them playing together in the little playroom kitchen and sharing books. They both love books. Hannah is so smart for her age and she surprises me daily with the new things she is saying and doing. I told her the other day "I am the boss" and she said back to me "Mommy, why don't we both be bosses"? She knows the Lords Prayer and she says it to me every night before bed. She also has memorized the words to almost all of the stories we read to her. Ethan is also growing in leaps and bounds. For a child that we were told "may never walk", he is running!!!! We feel so blessed everyday for his progress with his motor development. He loves to build and to organize things and he likes to learn how things "work". He does many little fine motor skills that Hannah could not do at his age. He is almost always good tempered and mild mannered - except when he doesn't get his way or you want to change his diaper!
We have had several issues with his health in the past few months. We have noticed that he always seems a bit sick with a small cold that he never seems to get rid of and that usually turns into an upper respiratory infection sometimes resulting in a visit to the emergency room. They have given us a daily inhaler and a nebulizer for at home treatments, thank goodness!! This helps with the asthma and junk in his throat. He had gotten a chicken pox vaccine in January of this year and following that had six weeks of diarrhea!! It literally would not stop. They did food allergy testing, stool samples, and a blood test. Everything came out inconclusive except for the blood test. He had two types of antibodies that showed up low. What this definitely means is that he will get sick more easily than others and be sick for longer when he does get sick and that it will most likely always end up in his lungs. I was sad about this, but hopeful that it wasn't something worse. In the meantime I have had him on several different diets to stop the diarrhea: lactose free - for 6 weeks, then wheat free. It wasn't until I tried the wheat-free that I noticed a big change in Ethan. Whereas he only slept for 2 hours at a time before, he started sleeping 6 hours straight!!! Also he was less irritable and rubbed his eyes a lot less. I had the doctor try and test him for celiac disease but since his antibodies came out low they were unable to get an accurate result. We have went to a GI Peds specialist and they feel that he probably has a Gluten Intolerance instead of Celiac disease based on the fact that his reaction to eating gluten foods is within an hour. For people with Celiac it is usually within several days for a reaction. The next step is to get a genetic test done to see if he has the gene for Celiac disease. The only problem with this is that 25% of the population that has this gene does not have Celiac disease. So if the test comes back positive then we would have to put him back on a gluten diet for several weeks to get a stomach biopsy. I WILL NOT do this to him!! So my hope is that the Celiac gene test comes out negative and I can stop there. Knowing he is only Gluten Intolerant means that at a certain age he can gauge how much he can eat without feeling sick. Kind of like me - I can eat cheese but not milk or ice cream. We are still waiting to be referred back to GI and to an Immunologist regarding the low antibody blood test. Our insurance changed and now we will be going to Rady's Childrens Hosp in SD instead of Loma Linda. I am sad but it is sort of bittersweet for me. It was very hard to drive near that hospital because of the memories of when Ethan was small and could not be brought home. I stayed there because I loved the care and I hope I can say the same for Rady's.
This is just a bit of where we are right now. I can honestly say I LOVE staying home with the kids. Everyday they do something new to surprise me and I get sad when I think of Hannah going off to school and it just being me and Ethan. She is such a good girl and she's my little helper! They grow up way to fast although I do look forward to Ethan sleeping through the night! But - Hannah didn't do it until 2 years old and since he's a preemie I am gonna not expect anything until he is at least 2 1/2. Other than that we are all doing fine and looking forward to our first real "family" trip this summer. We are renting an RV!!! Should be crazy, I know but I love building these memories with my kids and I feel fortunate we can do so.

After much insanity and without further ado

2009-11-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

I present........... an update!!!
It has been so long since I have written on here and the only excuse I have without making too many excuses is to say that I have had a mistress the last couple of months. Yes it is true my mistress is, dun dun dun, - Facebook. FB is much easier and consumes way less of my time. On the whole it probably consumes more but initially it is about a 5 minute look -see and it feels like way less of a commitment. Are there any "real feelings" or deep content on there? No. But I have liked it because I haven't had to "work" on it to make it right. Here I have to think about what to say, how to say it, and it has been much too difficult to use my few minutes in the day to compile a much larger final piece. Although I have enjoyed the time with my mistress I feel that I also need to make time for my wife. After all, the tryst was great but my wife knows me so much better. More posts to come. In the meantime..ponder my babies and how they have grown.

A Poem for the Lil' Ones

2009-05-14T14:34:00.001-07:00

My Children

Their smiles
Their eyes
Their laughs
Their cries

The way they look
when I enter a room,
it as if their face
could jump over the moon.

Their tiny hands
I hold so dear,
One day may hold
their own babies near.

Every line
that shapes their face,
Every new freckle and crease
I know it's place.

As time passes so
swiftly and fades away,
A year ago seems
like yesterday.

What I want them to know
is I tried my best,
Did a whole bunch of praying
and let God handle the rest.

Hopefully having
a "small" success in life,
It's to be a great mother
and wonderful wife.

I say "small" because to some people this is just done by existing, to me it is something I work hard at.

As mommies we know things about our little ones that on one else does. What is something you know about your babies(children) that no one else does?

Lord give me Mercy or kill me now....

2009-05-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

My Nana used to say this all the time when she was alive and I just used to chuckle. It never meant anything more to me than a saying she used to say all the time. It has a whole new meaning now. Do you ever have days that turn into weeks, weeks that turn into months, months into years, that you feel like you are waiting? The past few months since I was hospitalized before Ethan was born I waited for myself to go into labor, then I waited to some home to Hannah, then I waited for him to get out, then I waited for him to be off the breathing monitor, then I waited for him to stop having reflux, then I waited until I was not tired anymore....Today I am waiting for my blood test results to come back from the Endocrinologist. I had abnormal lab work about two months ago and with my HMO (die in a cot and not on the floor)ins policy It took about 2 months to get referred and get help for my sleepiness. I wasn't sure if I was sleepy because I wake up every two hours like a normal new Mom or if there was a problem. Well there was a problem. They now think I have an auto-immune thyroid disease. I will probably have to be on medication for a while and they are going to monitor me. There are many more worse things that I could have but being a person that likes to do everything I have not fared well with being tired all the time even when I do sleep. Do you ever feel like your waiting for something else? Is this just me? Do you need something to look forward to in the future? If not, how do you live in the moment?? I need to learn to live in the moment. In certain ways I never want to stop time until it is too late. Do you?

I have not abandoned you, my dear blog

2009-05-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry to my readers, what few of you there are, that it seemed as though I left this old blog. Carefully placed it right on the top of that old dusty bookshelf, along with my 3 inch heels, and note cards of times that passed, waiting for a day when I thought I would have, I mean make, the time to write. I could say a thousand reasons why I have not written here but none of which would be true. The truth is that I wanted this blog to be more than an update of events passed but also a place where others thoughts could be shared and, in reading about my interpretation and experience with my own family, others that read could say if they felt the same or different too. The problem is I ran out of wanting to write. It began to feel like another responsibility and it did not fulfill what it should have because I was not giving what I felt I should have. After much time away I have made a promise to myself to come back with a blog that could include others thoughts and feedback. As a Mom that stays at home this is what I need more of in my life. As it is so important for others to read what I write here and connect to it, it is equally important that I write from my heart and instead of just re-telling simple "facts", state what is really happening in my life. Life with my children is more than just a percentile or a step and it is my goal to open my heart to my readers that are still there and tell them exactly what that more is. Stay Tuned!

Hannah in Vintage Dress

2009-03-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

My Grandma Pearl's sister Aunt Gen used to make these cute dresses that are actually vintage pillowcases with a onesie on top. They are beautiful! When Hannah was born she sent one for her to wear when she got big enough. well yesterday we had her put it on and take pictures. She's into jumping big time and takes it seriously like it's an olympic sport so I got a really cute one of her jumping off her toy box. Anyhow here are the pics.
Enjoy!
Windy

Haven't posted in Awhile

2009-03-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry all bloggers but we have been a little swamped since Ethan arrived home. He came home 3 weeks ago tomorrow and this is the first chance I have had to update with the good news. He is doing well but as expected no one is sleeping around here. Between him and Hannah we have out hands full! My Grandma Sharon and Ryan's Mom Lynn have been coming and helping us out and that has made it easier in the days but the nights are all us and it has been a real challenge to get used to. We are so lucky he came home healthy and we have been blessed with not one but two miracles. I wanted to post some pics of him so you could see what he looks like now. He is 9 lbs and growing bigger each day. Hannah is turning into quite the Mommy and helper too. She wants to give him his paci when he cries and she calls him Queaky for Squeaky b/c he squeaks a lot.

Ethan Update

2009-02-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

Ethan is growing bigger each day. He now weighs about 7 lbs and is really starting to look a lot like Hannah when she was little. He was expected to leave the hospital sometime last week but he has not been able to increase his cc's when feeding from the bottle. If possible, I plan to breastfeed exclusively when he gets home but in the meantime he needs to be able to drink 60 cc's every 3 hours to be able come home. This amount is based on his weight and increases as he too gains weight. He was born with a pulmonary condition that all preemies have that are born at 30 weeks. It is called RDS - respiratory distress syndrome. It basically just means he cannot breath on his own and needs help of a ventilator or oxygen. By being intubated and then re-intubated for some days, and on ventilator assistance, his lungs suffered some damage. By the age of 2 it should virtually be gone because of the fact that children naturally grow new lung tissue by that age. After a preemie is on oxygen for 21 days they re-label them with Brachopulmonary Dysplasia which just means that they still need oxygen to live in. When Ethan comes home he will be on oxygen for sure. A nurse will come to the house several times a week and we will take him to a clinic where they will assess his oxygen needs and he will slowly in the coming months be weaned off of it. He also has what is called apneaic episodes where he essentially forgets to breathe. This actually sounds scarier than it is but it means that he will have to come home on a monitor which will let us know of this happens. He is on the medication caffeine for this and he has thankfully not had an episode in several days. If we wanted him to come home right now he would have to be tube fed at home on top of me pumping, trying to breastfeed, feeding bottles, oxygen and the monitor. I told the doctor today that with a 2 year old it just is not going to happen. So I am not quite sure when he will come home. It is essentially up to how well he feeds in the coming weeks and days. Ironically enough we need to get him to take a bottle so I can essentially get him home and get him off of one. Although it may seem like he has a lot of problems, for a baby born at his gestational age he is doing remarkably well. They are all typical "preemie" characteristics. I would like to thank everyone for their support and prayers. We could not have done this without our friends and families.

Two Great Showers!

2009-02-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

I had two great showers that were given in honor of Ethan's birth. The first one by my neighbor and good friend Liz. We went to a restaurant that I have always wanted to go to in Riverside called Sevilla. The food was wonderful and I was showered with wonderful gifts. The second shower was given by my sister in law and mother in law Robyn and Lynn. It was at a really tasty restaurant in Brea called Cedar Creek Inn. They have the best desserts and again I was so blessed to receive many more gifts for Ethan. For being my second baby he sure is spoiled! I want to thank everyone fro making him feel so special and welcome into the family. I have a great group of friends and family that I would not trade for anything and neighbors that are so sweet and special too. I feel so truly blessed. Thank you everyone!

Look how similar my babies look in these pics!

2009-01-25T10:31:00.000-08:00

Ethan James is one month and Hannah Noelle is two months.

More Ethan Pics

2009-01-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been so bad about reading and commenting on others' blogs. I have been soo busy going to the Hospital and back that I haven't had much time at all for the computer. I promise in the near future I will begin commenting again on others' blogs. I do however get a chance to read them every once in awhile. I hope everyone is doing well.
Happy New Year!
Windy

Hannah & Marley

2009-01-07T23:23:00.001-08:00

Marley stopped by with Kinsey this last week to visit Hannah. They had so much fun together! We miss living closer to them! Kinsey has already gotten so big! It's hard to think of Ethan that big but he will be someday soon.

More Ethan Pics

2009-01-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

In photo #2 my 3 and a half pound guy has cheeks! He is doing well, growing bigger each day. Thanks for stopping by.
Windy

Happy Birthday to our Baby Girl!

2008-12-30T16:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to our baby girl. She turned 2 on the 28th of December. You are a spunky, smart, and energetic little girl. I missed you soo much in the hospital. I can't wait for brother to come home and be with all of us. He has a wonderful sister to look up to. Mommy Daddy and Ethan love you lots.

Announcing......

2008-12-20T20:03:00.001-08:00

Our new baby boy, Ethan James, arriving 10 weeks early after two and a half weeks of bed rest at the hospital. I was admitted after a rupture of my membranes following Thanksgiving. He is at the hospital where he will likely remain for the next 6 weeks. He is doing well and growing bigger each day. I have a lot to say but not enough energy to write about it right now. Thank you to everyone for your support prayers and well wishes. We love you all!
Windy, Ryan, Hannah & Ethan

He was 3lbs and 5 oz, 15 1/2 inches long.
Born 12/15/08

Welcome back readers!

2008-11-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

Well what can I say...with Thanksgiving, X-mas and Hannah's birthday coming up I have been busy, busy, busy, and mostly trying to conservatively shop for the bargains out there. I have also been busy reading others' blogs but have not put forth the effort to update mine. I hope everyone is doing well. I am fine just getting bigger by the day. Feeling more and more fatigued running around after a 2 year old pregnant and trying to keep up as well as trying to think of fun things to do in the 90 degree weather we have here in late November! Not looking forward to cooking a turkey for several hours in the heat next week. I hope, hope, hope, it cools down. So much for Fall now what about a Winter? I am in a tank top and capri leggings today and I feel warm. On a much more interesting note Hannah is getting so big... she can sing several songs now and thanks to Dora she knows her numbers and colors(almost) in Spanish! I guess I am not too fond of too much TV but it is amazing the things they put in the cartoons now. She loves Dora so we will be having a Dora birthday party/fiesta for her b-day in early January. Should be fun and I can't wait to chow down on the Mexican food. Hannah also loves beans,rice, and chicken. In baby news, I went for my Glucose Tolerance Test last week and just like last time I have to go back for the 3 hour GTT because my sugar level was high again. Please pray that I do not have gestational diabetes b/c if I do I am in for a very interesting 3rd trimester of meal planning and maybe even insulin testing. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! I can't wait to show pics of my Thanksgiving table next week with our big meal in the middle. I just love all the food. To have to watch my sugar during the holidays....would suck!!!!!I will update after I get next results. Take care all!
Windy
P.S. This is a picture of Hannah last Thanksgiving. I don't have many pics of her sleeping as she never sleeps and when she does I am sleeping too. Sleeping babies are so cute though!

Kinsey's Welcome Party

2008-11-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to a welcome party for baby Kinsey and Amy in San Diego at a place called Extraordinary Desserts
I had a piece of chocolate cake and it was literally the best dessert I have ever tasted! We had so much fun hanging out together as Mom's and talking. Four of us there were pregnant! Don't drink the water out here!! Amy got a lot of wonderful gifts and she looked beautiful. I was able to borrow my sister-in-laws camera, thanks Robyn! I love her camera! It's called a Sony Cyber Shot. It takes great pics. Here are some pics of the party. Hope all is well and I am so glad it finally feels like Fall!!!!!!!!!Yeah

Halloween

2008-11-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our street decided to have a Halloween party for all the kiddos before the Trick or Treating. It was so much fun. Hannah wore her whole costume and I was a witch and Ryan was a pirate. I can't believe I even got him to actually dress up! Here are some of the pics! P. S. Hannah ate so much candy and cupcakes at the party - she was even eating the cake decorating supplies by the handful! Hope everyone had a great time last night too. Thank you for all your comments!
I added a pic of Hannah last year too so you could see how much she's grown!

Laughlin

2008-10-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

So we went to Laughlin this last weekend for Ry's mom's birthday. we took the boat but it was a lot windier than expected so Ry and Robyn just went out once. The boat was kind of slow this time in the water and when Ry got home he checked and ..there was no oil in it at all! The lessons you learn when having a new boat. Lucky for them it didn't blow up on the water. Robyn's face would have been priceless driving him on the wakeboard in the back. Hannah did fairly well considering she was trapped in a single room for four full days. We ended up going to the store and buying a portable DVD player because there was not one cartoon channel on the TV at all. Although she doesn't watch a lot of TV she couldn't possibly have four days without any, especially without all her toys from home, etc. We also bought her a small bucket of plastic animals and a barn from K-Mart. Boy did those come in handy. Next time we travel with child or children we will definitely rent out either a house or a condo. Kids need space to run. Needless to say, none of us struck gold in Laughlin, except for Hannah of course : ) Read the t-shirt on the first picture above, after four days with her in Laughlin I had to buy it to commemorate the trip!

Sorry I haven't Updated in Soo Long!

2008-10-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have been well...busy! to say the least. I have started a lot of my X-mas shopping. I know it's pretty disgusting. With Hannah's birthday December 28th I sort of reserve the month of December for her planning of her B-day party and getting gifts for her so I generally try to finish all my Christmas shopping by the end of November. I have been adding some elements to her Halloween costume and I can't wait to dress her up and post pictures. I also have a Halloween party on my street on Halloween day and I have been planning a craft for the kids to do that day. I am going to have them decorate frames and I will bring my soon to be extinct Polaroid camera to take pics of them in their costumes. I thought I would bring a crock pot of Apple Cider as my potluck food donation to the event. Topped off with whipped cream - sounds yummy! This time of year gets so busy and being bigger with Hannah sure makes it harder to get things done. I thoroughly love this time of year the best and I am happy to celebrate it with family and friends. This last weekend was my Aunt's birthday and we went to Lucky Strike Lanes in Orange. I haven't bowled in ages. Thank you to Robyn and Lynn for watching Hannah! We had a blast, although I think maybe I should have stretched first. I welcomed back the wonderful sciatica that I had last pregnancy! Other than that, this pregnancy has been much easier so far. I do not have any of the swelling..yet! that I had last time and I seem to have a lot more energy but do tend to get winded in the afternoons. Had another ultrasound last week and the baby is right on target for weight and length and is right on target for his due date. For everyone's info the baby is due February 24th but will probably end up being here more like the 17th because I will have a scheduled c-section since I ended up having an emergency one last time. Still no name but I think this one is going to be named upon arrival. I hope everyone is doing well and thank you so much again for commenting on my blog. P.s. Does anyone know where I can either get or make cheap placemats? I want the table to be pretty for Thanksgiving but I am having trouble finding placemats for under $3 and when you need about 15 that adds up. Thanks!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

We visited the pumpkin patch with Ryan's Mom today. It is in a beautiful location in wine country out here in Temecula. Hannah had so much fun! There was a small petting zoo and a train to ride, she also could not be more delighted with all the pumpkins to choose from. All she kept saying was "heavy". Once I found a baby one for her she was soo excited! We will go to a different patch one more time a little closer to Halloween as well because she had so much fun. I will also include a picture from last year so you can see how much she's grown!

Prego Pics

2008-10-05T20:26:00.001-07:00

Since people have been asking, here are a couple pics of my pregnant belly at 20 weeks. Enjoy!

Just found out I am having Thanksgiving!

2008-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have always loved Thanksgiving for the simple fact of the food. Turkey, pumpkin, etc. I love all of it. My Aunt and Uncle will be out of town this year so I will be having it instead. I am so excited! I decided upon getting my fall decorations out that my centerpiece flowers needed some fall updating. So I changed them and here is the new look. I love the fall colors together and hope to coordinate some place mats and napkin rings with the colors in time.

Hannah's Halloween Costume

2008-10-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

So since Hannah hates wearing all tutu's, costumes, etc I had to get crafty with her costume this year. She's very opinionated about what she wears now and if it's itchy she basically looks at me and says, "No, Mommy!". I decided a cat costume would be one that I could make both easily and comfortably. Since she doesn't like headbands I decided that she could not have the traditional cat ears and she would just rip them off. Knowing that she doesn't mind pigtails and barrettes I decided that I would make her cat ears out of barrettes. I then crafted her a cute marabou cat tail made with bendy wire so we could point it in all directions. She will be wearing black tights (which she generally doesn't mind) and a short sleeve leotard (no long sleeves b/c she's doesn't like!) and then include a lightweight sweater for the Trick or Treat part of the evening. I have the face paint and hopefully she will let me put a black nose and whiskers on her. In the case that she doesn't go for the leotard and tights combo I also have black leggings and a tee shirt for her. Lastly, I had to get the glitter spray for both of our hair! The street is having a Halloween gathering at 4 pm where each of us brings a game or craft and a snack to share. I will do cupcakes and a picture frame they can decorate. Should be fun!

Q & A

2008-10-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Okay so, Melissa wanted me to do this on my blog but it had all kinds of fancy stuff I was supposed to do with it and I couldn't figure out how to link other people's blogs to mine so here are the answers anyway.

The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? lost.. maybe my purse, maybe downstairs, maybe underneath the car seat
2. Where is your significant other? home
3. Your hair color? Auburn
4. Your mother? H.B.
5. Your father? He left Earth about 12 years ago and now he's hangin' with the big Man in heaven
6. Your favorite thing? I dunno????Maybe my wedding ring. Things don't really seem important.
7. Your dream last night? I had a 17 lb baby
8. Your dream/goal? To be a good mom
9. The room you're in? Office (soon to be little guys room)
10. Your hobby? Blogging
11. Your fear? Swimming in the ocean
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Not here. Someplace much cooler.
13. Where were you last night? Here, waiting for Ry to get home for the weekend.
14. What you're not? Well-rested
15. One of your wish-list items? A new camera
16. Where you grew up? CA
17. The last thing you did? Went apple picking
18. What are you wearing? Top and underwear (hey I am prego, cut me some slack)
19. Your TV? ...What? is this a question for a male?
20. Your pet? 3 rabbits. Bear, Lady, Mini-Me
21. Your computer? Dude, I got a DELL!
22. Your mood? Sleepy
23. Missing someone? almost always someone, yes
24. Your car? Nissan Armada
25. Something you're not wearing? Pants
26. Favorite store? Target or Sephora
27. Your summer? HOT
28. Love someone? yup
29. Your favorite color? OOh.....Maybe Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today, when Ry told me I pee too much and should wear a diaper to save time.
31. Last time you cried? when "Papa" passed away - Gpa Bob

It wold be nice if these fellow bloggers could do this on their blog as well:
Amy M.
Angela
Auntie Sue
Chiloe

A wedding and two birthday parties

2008-09-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

We had a really busy weekend this weekend starting with a wedding on Friday evening in wine country, Temecula. It was beautiful and thanks to Grammy Sharon we were able to go together and left the stinkbug at home. She did great for Grammy and Hannah even let her put her to bed! This is pretty monumental b/c Hannah fights sleep for everyone, including us. Saturday was a birthday party for Hannah's friend on our street Emily, who turned 2. Ryan really loved attending this one. His only comment when we got home was "two year old's should not have parties". Luckily for me he is an accountant and not a day care provider or we would be looking for a new occupation for him I think. Hannah wore her Halloween shoes that I bought for her. They are black and sparkly!!!!!!She is going to be a cat so I figured she could wear some sparkly shoes and if they still fit wear them for X-mas too! She picked them out herself and wanted to wear them to the party. On Sunday we celebrated Ryan's sister's b-day. It was a lot of fun and we ate some good Mexican food. We were all pooped come Monday and are still resting from the busy weekend. I go for my 20 week ultrasound next week and I will post an update on baby Ciucki then. Still no name though...........Maybe Colin or Aaron or Lyndon or Dylan, looks like it will probably be a name that ends in n, that's about the only consensus so far. I swear we'll name this one when we see him and that's about the only solution we'll come to. Hope all is well with everyone else. This weekend, the pumpkin patch!!!!!!!!!!Hooray

By the way some of the pics above are from Hannah today. She is quite the ham and when she sees the camera poses and smiles.

Announcing.......................

2008-09-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

Amy and Dan's little angel, Kinsey Rose.

Although she came about 6 weeks early both Mommy and baby are doing very well. She was born weighing 5lbs and her length was 18 1/2 inches long. If she would have went all the way to term this would have been a big baby! She is beautiful and looks a lot like big sister Marley, except for a little different nose. I took a picture of her hair from the back because I think she may have curly hair like her mama! We are so happy for the whole family and I can't wait to see her again.

Fun Day at the Pool!

2008-09-18T16:06:00.001-07:00

So today I had three mommy friends come over with their babies for an end of summer pool party. It was a hot one, about 99 out, I couldn't believe it! It was supposed to be 88 but you know how that goes...Oh well. We had a blast. Everyone brought snacks and one of Hannah's boy friends, who also has a brother on the way, brought his boy doll, Hannah carried that thing everywhere! She was kissing and holding it, I think I need to bring one of her dolls with us when we go places. We have them at home but I can't believe how occupied she was by it. I have to find out exactly what kind of doll it was, its' eyes looked real, it was kinda creepy! I also had a surprising phone call this morning from a friend's mom who was not due until October 28th, she had to go in for an emergency c-section and she delivered her baby this morning. I was so surprised, but more so relieved to hear that mommy and baby are both doing fine. Baby weighed in at 5 lbs already! Can you imagine how big it would have been had she went six more weeks to term? I am so happy everyone is well. I will see the mommy and baby Saturday and if I am allowed to get a picture and mom says it is ok I will share with you then. Hope all is well and have a great weekend. I will post pics on Monday!

Look how old my girl looks in this one!

2008-09-15T15:48:00.001-07:00

Weekend Fun!

2008-09-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

This last weekend my family that just moved here came by the house for a BBQ. It was alot of fun and we also went swimming at the pool. Hannah NEEDS to get in swimming lessons b/c she literally walks into the pool and keeps on walking until her head is underneath. Not a fear in the world about not knowing how to swim yet. Will not hold anyone's hand or listen either. Ryan had to carry her in the deep end and that was the only way she would be fearful when she couldn't touch the bottom. It was a great day and also soo nice to have more family living nearby too. So the name game.....I agree with the comment my cousin Laura made about it needing to be a traditional name like Hannah that is not soo common, the problem with this is that Ryan doesn't not really like traditional names for boys and ladies i may actually lose this abttle unless I can come up with something he hasn't already shot down. Out of all the names I posted last time the only one we "agreed" on was Anden as Ryan doesn't like Micah (I do!), the other two were just detractors. It will not end up being any of those names though as we are still on the hunt for the name that fits right and that we both LOVE!!!!. By the way, since it is a boy, he cares A LOT more about what the name will be! Inevitably this one will be up to him. If you know Ryan you know that there is no pressuring him either way into liking any name. BTW -Melissa, he does happen to like your brother's name Tayson! My favorite name right now is Brennen (I love, love, love, love it) but I have not yet be able to totally get Ryan on board b/c he feels that a double consonant looks too female in any name and I feel with one it just doesn't look right (Brenen). Let us know what you think about spelling. The pis are of Hannah and her second cousin Cayman playing and then Ry & Hannah at the duck pond on Sunday.

Lagging on posting

2008-09-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Okay so, so much has been going on that I haven't posted in awhile. First off Hannah had a bad spell of diarrhea followed by a rash on her chest and back supposedly called Roseola . Anyhow that has been followed by another cold that started with a runny nose and congestion that Ryan also caught this last weekend. All I can say is thank goodness I have not caught these as I am already tired enough! I am getting bigger and although I have not gained much weight yet I have a huge tummy already! I think the uterus has gone straight back to it's ending state of the last pregnancy! If this is any indication of how big I will be then I am going to have to be rolled into the L & D room! J/K! I have felt pretty good just real tired this time around. I wonder how I went to school and worked last time? Anyway I guess we just do what we have to when we have to right? Well if anyone has ideas on boy names, feel free to shoot any info. We have absolutely no name decided on yet. Although there are some potentials....Please vote! BTW Love this new pic of Hannah - she's soo serious!

Neuroblastoma

2008-09-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

A friend that I met at a breastfeeding mom's group when I first had Hannah found out when her baby was 5 months old that her daughter had Neuroblastoma, a rare childhood cancer. She has kept us updated on her daughter's progress through a caring bridge website. Her daughter is doing well now despite being given a 20% chance of making it to 3 years old. Through Rady Children's Hospital in SD she became friends with a little boy named Max who was fighting the same horrible disease. He succumbed to the disease a few days ago on August 29th. With it being pediatric cancer month for the month of Sept. I encourage anyone who can to please donate. You can go to this site http://magicwater5milewalk.ning.com/ . Also if you are interested in seeing or reading about Max's battle, a photographer chronicled Max's battle with cancer to help raise awareness about what families go through that are batting this horrific disease. It is http://mashedpotatoesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/ I literally cried for an hour straight. We are soo lucky to have a healthy daughter. I thank God everyday.

We will miss you Gramps!

2008-09-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa passed away this last Wednesday morning peacefully just before 10 am. Sunday, we had a celebration of his life at my Aunt & Uncles' home in Tustin. It was a really great day and although it was sad we know he is is a much better place now. He now can walk, talk, and enjoy all the things he used to in life. I will post pics of his wonderful program my Aunt Sue made and a pic of a shadowbox I created later today.

Hope everyone is doing well and thank you for all your well wishes,
Windy

New Life

2008-08-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

As I am preparing to meet a new life that is growing inside of me I have come to realize, lately, with my Grandfather being ill, that life passes us by so fast and it will not be long before I too am on the way out of this life as he is perhaps going to be very soon. It is weird because I look at pictures of him when I was about 7 years old and they don't seem very long ago when in fact it was a quarter of a century ago. Time passes on so quickly and all we have are photos for memories of what life used to be like. Thinking about my wedding five years ago when he stood on the stairs for the family photo to him slowly but surely declining in health over time seems astonishingly sudden. It also seemed so sudden when he was taken into the care of the nursing facility under hospice care but if you look at it over time it really wasn't that quickly at all. I just think that you don't know really what is missing sometimes until it is gone. Two weeks ago when all he could do was point to the pictures of us on the bulletin board and ask for us to show them to him, we thought this was a sure sign of decline. Then last week I said "I Love You Gramps" and he replied "I Love You". He couldn't lift his neck to look and see us though. We thought this was a rapid decline from the week prior. He now cannot even move his eyes to show us he knows it's us that is with him. We say now that this is definitely a decline. These are all declines of course from the prior week but we forget, of course, in our selfishness that he has lived about 75 good, long, healthy years. It is hard to not wish for more no matter who you are though because that is the human condition. It is hard not to be selfish when it is "our" loved ones. Then I think of my friend whose daughter was diagnosed with Stage 5 Neuroblastoma cancer before her daughter was even one. Every day is so important, we have to remember life is not a dress rehearsal. If you don't like the relationship your in, the job your in, who you are as a person, do not think for even a second that you can change it tomorrow because there are absolutely no guarantees that there will even be a tomorrow. I am not sure which process is more difficult, losing someone quickly and not being able to say goodbye and slowly process the idea that they will be gone, or losing someone over time and still never feeling that there is enough time left. I think it would be hard for me to understand death if I had no faith but since I do it is simple for me. Those whose bodies have failed them go on to live eternally with our Lord Jesus Christ if they have chosen him to be their Lord and Savior. These years, although they seemed so quick, pale in comparison to the rest of eternity with our Father in Heaven. I just think what a wonderful place that will be. Do you have someone you have lost whose memories live on with you? Please share who they were to you and what you remember fondly about them. I can still remember my Nana's hands with her pointer finger that her brother smashed when she was little, rolling out the dough to make the tortillas and how she never had to use tongs to flip her tortillas on the stove she just did it bare-handed.

It's a ......................

2008-08-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

Boy! Okay so now I need EVERYTHING! J/K Of course I have a lot from last time but no clothes and now I need furniture too, so it looks like I have a lot of saving and shopping to do. We could not be happier to add this new addition to our family and we now know Hannah is to be the only princess in this family. Which I am sure is how she likes it anyway : )

For those of you who voted.....

2008-08-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

Please tell me why you either would or would not want your child's birthday on V-Day. I needs ta know!

My baby has gotten so big!

2008-08-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Okay so I always tell Hannah she's Mommy's baby no matter how old she gets. Looking at this picture just shows me in a year and a half how big she really has gotten. I still think even when she is a screaming teenager she will always be my baby! **The picture on the right is when she was 2 months old.

Hannah and Her Friends

2008-08-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

So last week I had friends come over with their kids both Tues and Thurs and Hannah had a blast. The best pic is my friends' son Liam in the high heels riding the scooter. Hannah is growing up so fast. I think she will enjoy having another kid in the house and I have a feeling she will be a great big sister (as long as the next baby is the type that wants to be told what to do!) HA!

Cravings

2008-08-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ok so I haven't really had any cravings until this week and then BAM it started. I want things like Fruity Pebbles (keep in mind I don't like cereal), strawberries, pluots, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread (so bad for you!) and anything breakfast oriented such as waffles, pancakes, etc. I also am bored of drinking water and cranberry juice. Anyone know of a good caffeine-free pregnancy drink? This pregnancy has been fairly easy now that I don't feel sick but I already get winded carrying Hannah everywhere. If I wait for her to walk up the stairs it will take us a half hour though! I can't wait for the weather to cool down so I can start walking again!!!!!Hopefully in the next month it will taper off. I am not sure what I am having this time, some day I think girl and others I think boy. I haven't had dreams like I did with Hannah where I knew it was a girl. Ry thinks maybe boy and Hannah says Sister! But I think that is because she can't say the BR in brother. I will find out the first week of Sept. and will let everyone know then. By the way I picked out a really pretty necklace for my birthday that Ry picked up to give to me. It's not real diamonds but a really nice quality knockoff piece and you can't tell the difference! I promise, promise, promise, I will post pics today!!!!!!!!!

Here is a pic of my birthday necklace!

Sorry I haven't Updated on SOO long

2008-08-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well I had a wonderful time on my birthday. My mother in Law and sister in law watched Hannah and we went to my favorite restaurant to eat, Matsu. It is a Japanese restaurant with the best calamari & Ry doesn't even like calamari. He chows this stuff though. Matchbox 20 was great. We got to the concert just in time for their "radio song" set and so I knew all the songs. We stayed for about an hour and we got cotton candy & kettle corn on our way out so we had a lot of fun. Twas nice to get away for the evening. This last week I had friends come over to the house on Tues and Thursday, all in all 3 pregnant ladies and me! It's weird how people all get pregnant at the same time! We had a fun time with the kidlets and Hannah loved playing with friends. We can't wait for the Olympics to start b/c I love to watch the gymnastics and Ry loves the swimming. We will watch opening night tonight. Do you watch the Olympics? and what do you like best or worst about the Olympics? Thanks to all the name responses! I will post pics and video tonight on our adventures! Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Bday to Me!

2008-07-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

So today is my 30th b-day and I am so excited we are going to the OC Fair to go see Matchbox 20 tonight. Should be a pretty mellow concert with some great songs. I went to the Dr. today and all is well with the baby. They said it looks like I am 10 weeks along. I go back in the beginning of Sept and I will have more news on the sex of the baby, etc then. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Beach Bonfire

2008-07-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ry's family was visitng from Colorado this weekend and we had a beach bonfire. I got a few pics of Hannah with her second cousins. She had a blast. I will update again after my Dr appt on Thursday. Thanks for all the name votes BTW who's trying to take Colin to the top?

Very Sad Accident

2008-07-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by saying that everyone in our family is ok. Two nights ago we stayed at my mother in laws house in Fountain Valley. When Ryan left for work he took the Fastrak and at the end it turns into a carpool lane that you can drive in if you have a Fastrak. Well as he continued at about 75 MPH he almost hit a Caltrans truck in the carpool lane that was going approx 15 MPH. There was no cones or anything to warn him to get out of the lane prior and since the road curves he did not see the truck until the last minute. Well, yesterday afternoon when I went home taking the Fastrak myself I noticed that there was a fatal accident on the freeway and once I exited the Fastrak I took side streets home. We found out this morning that the person who died in the crash is the son of the pastor for the church we attend. He left behind a pregnant wife and a daughter. The reason this hits so close to home is not only because it was our pastors' son but because Ryan said that although he avoided hitting the truck he had a feeling someone might not. I am so thankful he is still here yet feel so bad for their family. At least they know that by the grace of God their son is now with him. It just goes to show you, you never know when this life is over. Every year his father does a very important event called the Harvest Crusade which draws people from all walks of life to know Christ. Lets hope he can have the strength at this time to still host the crusade as the draw for many people is Greg Laurie himself. My html link is not working but you can visit www.harvest.org for more info.

Thought This one was Good Enough To Post

2008-07-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

No offense to my fellow Catholics of course : )

Subject: Nun In A Taxi

A cabbie picks up a Nun.

She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won't stop staring at her.

She asks him why he is staring.

He replies: 'I have a question to ask you but I don't want to offend you.'

She answers, 'My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive.'

'Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me.'

She responds, 'Well, let's see what we can do about that:
#1, you have to be single and
#2, you must be Catholic.'

The cab driver is very excited and says, 'Yes, I'm single and Catholic!'

'OK' the nun says. 'Pull into the next alley.'

The nun fulfills his fantasy, with a kiss that would make a hooker blush

But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.

'My dear child,' says the nun, 'why are you crying?'

'Forgive me but I've sinned. I lied and I must confess, I'm married and I'm Jewish.'

The nun says, 'That's OK. My name is Kevin and I'm going to a Halloween party.'

Update

2008-07-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

So sorry I haven't been that good about updating. It's is because I have felt horrible! I have just been really tired every day and also really sick. Nothing sounds good to eat except for Chili Cheese Fries, smoothies, and hamburgers and I don't want to be eating those all the time or I will be a blimp when this is all over. Plus after I eat even one of those three I feel even sicker. Keeping up with Hannah and being in this heat has not been very exciting either. I feel very blessed to have a second child on the way and I know this too shall pass but when you are stuck in the middle of "all day" (who decided to call it morning?) sickness you really just want it to end. I go to my first appt next week and I will post an update after. Also, I think Hannah is going to be an accountant like Ry - She can already count to 13! and does so every time we walk up or down the stairs. I will post a video soon.

Announcing.......

2008-07-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

Baby Ciucki #2! We are so excited to announce to friends and family that Hannah will have a sibling arriving late next February. I have had a couple of bad weeks but overall have been feeling pretty good, just tired. I will, of course, keep everyone updated on the progress. We hope the baby is as happy and healthy as Hannah was when she was born. I found a cute shirt and decided to take a few pictures of Hannah wearing it. It says "I'm the Big Sister!".

My Grandpa

2008-07-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa's health has been deteriorating for awhile now and most recently he has been moved to a very nice nursing facility in Fullerton. Since he moved there he has come down with a couple infections. I have been occupied a lot with thoughts of him on my mind and I wanted to ask my "readers" to please say a prayer for him and his health. I can think of the last time I showed up at my grandparents house just a couple of weeks ago and he said to Hannah & I, "Oh look, the two beautiful girls are here". Even feeling run down with no make up on and my hair disheveled (mom syndrome) he was able to make me feel so beautiful in that moment. It is these moments I will hang on to for many years to come. It is so weird to think of how fast life passes us by and that it will not be very long before even myself and Ryan are the age of my grandparents. I can only hope we have loving and supportive family around us like he has.

4th of July

2008-07-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Well, the 4th didn't exactly go as well as we planned. We went to a BBQ at Ry's dad's house and then went by his sisters for a bit to return to my mother in law's house and discover that Hannah had 102 temp. This continued for two nights and then we took her to the Dr. She had a throat infection! I swear she got it from those germy(is this a word?) kids at Sea World. Even though I was very thorough about washing her hands and using sanitizer. Oh well, what can you do?

Sea World

2008-07-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not posted in soo long. We had a great time at Sea World but can you believe it - we didn't dress warm enough! It was only 69 degrees so we should have brought sweaters for the evening but the hotel we stayed at was beautiful! It is called the Hotel La Estancia in La Jolla CA . Please check it out if you get a chance. Since we booked far ahead and stayed mid week we got an incredible deal on the room. Ry thinks we should do more 1 day trips locally to cooler areas by the beach if we can afford it b/c it is a great way to get out of the heat and relax. Our stay included breakfast buffet and they had the best Brioche French Toast! I had like 3 slices! Hannah loved running in the room and going out on the patio to look at the plants. We also ordered room service and got a snack which is one of my favorite things to do. All in all it was a great time.

Happy B-day Daddy - We Love You!

2008-07-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

So today is Ry's b-day and we got him a couple of presents but the true highlight was watching him and Hannah blow out the candle on his ice cream cake we got him from Baskin Robbins. She couldn't wait to dig in! Tommorow - Sea World Yeah!

4th of July

2008-06-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

Okay so my favorite holiday is coming up and I can't wait. The parades, the fireworks, the food, who can resist 4th of July. Not to mention it's in the month that Ry & I share birthdays so it's that much more special (AAAWWWWWWWWWW how cute!) What is your favorite holiday & why?

Vegas Pics

2008-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Planet Hollywood Casino Thunder Storm Simulation

2008-06-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hannah & her friend Emily Playing

2008-06-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sideways orientation - sorry

It is truly Effen Hot!

2008-06-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

So after 3 days of intense heat (and you all agreed it was) I have come to three conclusions, 1) it is a lot cooler with the blinds closed - although I feel like hermit and miss my birds, 2) I am officially a dork for missing wild birds that I think are "mine", 3)I still can't figure out why but even if it is only 98 degrees outside and this is our internal body temperature why does it feel so damn hot? Here is an email my aunt sent to me. I am going to MEME Melissa,Chiloe,Zach & Aunt Chris(whatever MEME means) to do the following too and post on their blogs:

> Getting to know you
>
> 1. Do you like blue cheese? LUVZ it!
>
>
> >2. Have you ever smoked? Yes I have, although not in years, and some days I feel like I need one!
>
>
> >3. Do you own a gun? No - thank god for the other random humans/animals in the area
>
>
> >4. What flavor of Kool-Aid was your favorite? Fruit Punch - is that original?
>
> >5. Do you get nervous before doctor's appointments? Yes, that I will forget all the questions I have

> >6. What do you think of hot dogs? Love them with chili n cheese - schnitzel baby!
>
> >7. Favorite Christmas movie? Polar Express
>
> >8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee year round
>
> >9. Can you do push ups? If I tried I could do one or two
>
> >10. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring always!
>
>
> >11. Favorite hobby? blogging!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
> >12. Do you have A.D.D? Yes...what was the question?
>
>
> >13. What is one trait you hate about yourself? My temper
>
> >14. List three thoughts at this moment: 1) wow, this is a lot of questions 2) I wish I had iced tea 3) I am still mad the pool was closed today for maintenence
>
>
> >15. List three beverages you drink on a normal basis? Diet Soda, Water, Iced Tea
>
>
> >16. Current worry? That it will be this hot for two whole months at least
>
> >17. Current hate right now? I don't like that word
>
> >18. Favorite place to be? On vacation with my family
>
>
> >19. How did you ring in the New Year? Don't remember - it must have been uneventful
>
>
> >20. Where would you like to go? Bora Bora or the Carribean
>
> >21. Name three people who will complete this: Melissa is the only one I can guarantee
>
>
> >22. Do you own a pair of slippers? Yes, but I've never worn them.
>
> >23. What color shirt are you wearing? Black tank top
>
>
> >24. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? OOh yuck! What is this an episode of Dallas? Too staticky
>
> >25. Can you whistle? Yes--It's wierd to me that people can't
>
>
> >26. Favorite color? red
>
> >27. Would you be a pirate? WTH?
>
> >29. Favorite name for a girl? Hannah Noelle
>
>
> >30. Favorite name for a boy? Hudson Cole or Calen Rhys
>
>
> >31. What's in your pocket right now? No pockets
>
> >32. Last thing that made you laugh? My aunt on the phone.
>
>
> >35. Do you love where you live? Yes, it's home. It would be nice if it was by the beach but then I would have nothing to look forward to later in life.
>
> >36. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2
>
> >37. Who is your loudest friend? My aunt Sue

>38. How many dogs do you have? 0
>
> >39. Does someone have a crush on you? How would I know it's a crush. I think Hannah might : )
>
> 40. Favorite Book- Memoirs of a Geisha
>
>
> >41. What is your favorite candy? Too hard to pick one
>
>
> >42. Favorite sports team? What?
>
> >43. What song do you want played at your funeral? Oh Holy Night - hopefully I die at X-mas b/c this is my favorite song.
>
> >44. Are your toenails painted? No, unfortunately
>
> 45> Something you want back? Ugg boots that my friend Jennifer borrowed in 6th grade. Oh and my sanity.
>

Blog-Stalking

2008-06-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

Okay so here is a question I would like to pose to my readers, btw thank you for all of your wonderful comments! Have you ever blog-stalked anyone? This is where you get someones blog off of a blog roll and you don't know them and they don't know you but you sneakily read their blog but don't comment on it? This may sound way too creepy but I have. Have you????????

Ry's Birthday

2008-06-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

So for Ry's birthday this year we decided we wanted to to beat the heat and we will be going to Sea World and spending the night in a nearby hotel. Since Hannah is on a limited time amount we figured we would go back for a second day to see everything we will miss the first day. We are so looking forward to it and even more so looking forward to the holiday that follows - our favorite - the 4th of July! I am even happier for Ry b/c he will be able to have the 2-6th off of work! yay!

A belated Happy Father's Day to him, I couldn't wish for a better Daddy for Hannah, and all the other fathers out there - I hope you all enjoyed your day.

Vegas!!!!!!

2008-06-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Ok so since y'all are wondering.......Vegas was great! It didn't start out so great though. we almost missed our flight. Yup we cut it too close for LAX on arrival - thought it would be more like John Wayne aprt. Not so much. They were literally holding the plane for us. Soo embarrassing. We didn't get checked into our room until 2am Sat morning and all the rooms were full except for one so the first night we got two queens. We traded rooms on Saturday and got a great room with a beautiful view of the Bellagio fountains out in front of us. we could watch the show from our room. we hung out at the pool and the drinks weren't cheap. $18 for one large Pina Colada! we checked out the new Planet Hollywood hotel and then we went up to the room. we actually missed our dinner reservation - by choice- so we could relax and get ready at our own pace. It was cool though b/c we signed up for this concierge service that had a lite dinner 5-8 pm and breakfast 8-12am food buffet with drinks etc. we went up there and ate some food and then went to our show. Can't say enough about Le Reve'. It was just amazing. You cannot take pictures inside but Google it sometime and see if you can see some pics online. The people were diving into a shallow pool from about 300 feet in the air. This was the most beautiful performance I have seen . I would totally see it again b/c you can't possibly watch everything as it is happening. Sunday we gambled a little - we won & lost and altogether lost $50. Not bad for Vegas if you ask me. what a blast! Hannah did great but by Sunday she was asking Mommy? Daddy? to Grandma and she started crying once that night in the tub. However she was also sleep deprived b/c she did not sleep in her own bed at home etc. All together well worth the money and it reminded me of the reasons I fell in love with with my husband. When the stress is off we do have a lot of fun together. Lately the focus has been on Hannah(as it should be) and it was nice to not have to change a diaper or be at someone else's beck and call(even if it is a baby) for two days together. Thank you Lynn & Robyn! will post pics later.

Shameless Brag Post on Las Vegas Plans

2008-06-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Okay so the official countdown has begun. We now have reservations to see the show La Reve at the Wynn Hotel on Saturday night (soo excited!) and we will be eating at a restaurant called Bartolotta inside the hotel. The seating is inside these really cool cabanas and there is this water fixture in the middle - I couldn't pass up the ambiance.Check it out! So excited and I will definitely post after we return to let everyone know how it all went.

Ciucki Look-alike Meter

2008-06-09T21:26:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Disney Princess in Training

2008-06-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

Okay so we went to a friends to play today and she has a collection of "Princess Heels". Hannah and her tried them on and were walking around. I had to get a picture of their feet.

Somebody please tell me what this new bird is???????

2008-06-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

Okay being the bird nerd that I am I have looked everywhere to find out what kind of bird this is. He came one day in a group of four birds and I want to know what he is. I went on WhatBird.com and I still cannot find him. Please help I am going Bird Crazy!

The picture quality is not very good but help if you can.

Mom's Night was a blast!

2008-06-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

Mom's night was so much fun. We went to the pottery place and it was "therapeutic" to do my "piece'. I picked a plate that I can hopefully use to put appetizers or desserts in and display in my kitchen. I don't get it back until this week but when I get it I will show a picture. I am so glad I have friends that are mom's too that can take time away from their families to do girlie things . This is what I really look forward to each month. Thanks husbands and grandmas!

*Above is Amy F. (5 mo prego), Yours truly, Angela, & Amy M.

Happy Anniversary and now my other baby is sick too!

2008-06-02T14:39:00.001-07:00

We had a great dinner on Sat night although Ry has not been feeling well at all. We just went out local at Black Angus while Hannah slept. The dinner was delicious as I can't even remember the last time I sunk my teeth into a tender fillet. We got so much food that we took our dessert home. We actually had plans at a much nicer restaurant and opted to save our "nice" dinner for our weekend in Las Vegas. I really cannot wait. We have all been soo tired and busy - Hannah and Ry since they've been sick and me because I have been taking care of everything myself. Sounds wired to say but when you are spoiled like me and have a husband that helps out "a lot" you really notice it when there is a "man down".

To my sweetie - I do not know what my life would have been if we had never met. Where would I be? Who would I be with? How would my life be without my sweet baby girl? I am HONORED to be on this journey of life with you and I certainly do not tell you enough . This may sound sort of morbid to some but we always argue about who will die first because neither of us want to spend a day without each other. Well sweetie I want you to know that I have had a much harder life accumulatively and it is for this reason that it is highly justified that I should get the right to be in heaven first. Just Kidding!
To many more years
All my Love-
Tigs

P.S. For all that were curious I attached a pic of Hannah's poor toe. It looks much better now.

My baby's been sick!

2008-05-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated lately b/c Hannah has been sick. She has been soo whiny and I finally broke down and said either she has something wrong with her or I have something wrong with me. Turns out she had a pretty bad ear infection. Now she is on Ibuprofen, Little Noses congestion drops, ear drops for pain, Amoxicillin, and Benadryl! I have to give her something what seems like every two hours. Well, life could be way worse and I definitely know that, but I feel bad for my little girl. Just when she started to feel better this morning she opened the cabinet and then proceeded to drop a very heavy dish on her toe and now it is all black and blue. She's had a terrible week. There will be a silver lining for me this week though - tomorrow night is mom's night out and we are doing pottery at a place called Painted Earth in Temecula. Should be fun. I'll do a post again after we go. Above is a cute pic of my little "Cinderella" before she got sick helping me clean the floors. Gotta teach em' early! J/K : )

Mother's Day Campout

2008-05-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ok so being the dork that I am, I bought a ticket to go to the Mother's Day campout at the San Diego Zoo. After receiving the confirmation via email I noticed that it said that we needed to bring sleeping bags. When I called to find out why they said that they provided cots inside tents and we would be sleeping on our sleeping bags on the cots. Well my comrade in this whole thing, my friend Amy, is four months prego right now and she planned to go with me. Just to be sure she called again the night before the sleepover to confirm this peculiar cot situation. As with the cot situation we were already tense because she is prego and already has trouble sleeping. well they told her they provided tents only. We sort of assumed that they meant like permanent tents like small cabins or something. We were especially surprised when we got to the "campsite" only to find tents that would be too small for one, I repeat, one, six foot tall man. We really about shit ourselves and started cracking up. I decided to take a picture of all our stuff next to this teeny tiny tent. We let the idea sink in and decided to have a good time nonetheless. There were some very interesting night walks we got to go on and some fun "mom" games they had planned for us so all in all the night went well. That is until we were supposed to go to sleep. The "zoo" noises that we thought we would hear like lions, elephants, etc were instead replaced by Amy Winehouse and an ambulance. Why?, you ask. Well simply because we were "camping" out next to a Middle School that was having a dance and we were a couple blocks from a hospital. So essentially between the music and the sirens and of course about 5 pee trips, not just Amy but me too since I used not only mine, but her drink tickets as well. Yeah, 3 Coronas and a bathroom 500 yards away outside the sleeping bag - not such a good idea. Anyhow, the funniest part of the evening was at our 4 am pee trip when we were washing our hands. This lady comes out of the toilet, hair all ratted, missing several teeth, she walks up to us and asks, "So, you guys having fun?" I'm like thinking to myself I haven't even slept yet and even if I was having a good time I don't want to talk about it now. So I go "Uh what?, um yeah", and I walk out. Amy said it was so funny because it was so obvious that I was bothered by someone striking up a convo at 4 am. Anyway we actually had a blast despite minor sleeping inconveniences but next year I'll think we'll be doing massages at the spa instead. Thanks Amy for being such a good sport - even prego and thanks to Ry for taking care of the mini-me.

Wedding

2008-05-11T20:28:00.001-07:00

Ry's employee got married in Mira Loma on Sat with the reception at Doubletree in Ontario. Ry's mom watched Hannah with his sister and Hannah did great. We had a blast like old times and got a small taste of what our trip to Las Vegas will be like in June. Can't wait! Thanks Lynn & Robyn!

Mother's Day Recap

2008-05-11T19:24:00.001-07:00

We had reservations to go to the Rusty Pelican but even with our reservations it was still over an hour wait so we went to El Torito Grill instead. It was a blast and we took both our Mom's, which I am so thankful to be able to do, plus Ry's Nana . Here are some pics! also - i got a beautiful pendant from Ry for Mother's Day and it is Hannah's birthstone - Blue Topaz. I love my man! He's the best.

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a shout out to all the mommas out there that are doing their job! Before I was a mom I had no idea of what it meant to really enjoy the little things in life. I thought having a college degree or a lovely house was the most you could want to achieve in your life to be proud of. After having my daughter, I have realized that if my daughter can be proud to have me as her mother then I have an accomplishment that will not only extend my life but hers as well. Motherhood is so hard because it is not a job you can learn to do well, it is not a job where you will receive a quarterly review or accolades or promotions, however, it is so important that it is done right for not only the sake of your children but for their children as well. What i mean by 'right" is trying your best to do the best that you can. Running that last mile in the 25 k run - only that last mile is always right out in front of you, but always having that extra energy and drive to want to finish first. It doesn't mean you will, but to feel like you can even when your down. This is what's it's like to be a "mother". We are shaping lives and in doing so teaching our children what they should expect and deserve for themselves for their lives. This direction was never given to me by my own mother. Being a "good mom" in my eyes is not about being perfect but instead in trying the hardest you can to do the best you can and always thinking in the best interest of your child. I use the words "good mom" loosely because I desire to be "great" at this "job" and luckily I have many moms to look at for inspiration. I know I will not always be liked and I know that I will have many decisions ahead of me that will not be easy to make, but I also know that when I die, I will be able to say, with conviction, "I was a good mom" and what I mean by this is that I tried my hardest to do the best for my child. I certainly hope my daughter will be able to say it about me too. This is definitely not a "job" for the weak or the faint of heart, but I can certainly say that my heart was never as full as it was today and I have never been more honored to be able to hold the title as CEO of my own company "Mom".

Magazine Surprise!

2008-05-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Okay so about 2 months ago I submitted Hannah's pic to a local magazine in the area. If they like your pic they choose it as the pic of the day and from those pics they choose a winner for each month. Well, I never remembered to check to see if they picked her pic for the website but I got the magazine at My Gym (it's free!) as I do every month and low and behold the back cover flipped open as it was falling off my seat in my car and there she was. Ryan was with me and we were both soo surprised. Now if she wins at the end of the year out of the 12 that are picked she gets a prize and some money. I don't know if the magazine picks their favorite or people get to vote on it but either way I'll keep you posted. I've been thinking about it lately and maybe I should take a photography class??Perhaps I have some raw talent that has never been tapped into? : ) Or maybe it is because the subject was soo darn cute! - I know I'm biased. if you want to see the website for the mag go to inlandempirefamily.com

Birch Aquarium and New Bird

2008-04-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Although it was small (think about 1/2 the size of Aquarium of the Pacific) Hannah had fun and really enjoyed the fisheees. After coming home I realized on my new wild finch feeder that I had a couple new birds. The pretty yellow one is called a Lesser Gold Finch. I had to take a pic.

Babies Babies and more Babies!

2008-04-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Friday I had three of my "mom" friends over (you know, people that you would be friends with even if they weren't moms, but they are so that's cool too!). We hung out and played at the house for a little bit and then went down to the pool that has a kiddie playground too. We wore those little guys out! My friend Rebekah's son was the only boy there and he kept going "Mommy, pool!" I said, "Listen little guy, you are with six women, you just have to learn to be patient". I actually felt bad for the little guy as he has a world of time ahead of him waiting on women to be ready : ) . He was soo cute though. He had a little fisherman's hat on and I said he looked like a "Grumpy Old Toddler". At one point I had all the babies around me like little dogs begging for what I like to call "Baby Crack" which is actually Gerber Cheese Puffs for Toddlers. I do not know what they put in these, the ingredients don't have sugar listed, but I swear if a can is opened it will be emptied before the lid is put back on. We had a lot of fun and I hope we can do it again soon before it gets too hot out here. They all looked so stinkin' cute in their little swimsuits!

Video of Hannah saying Minna Mouse/Circle and Ear

2008-04-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Disneyland

2008-04-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland with Hannah for the first time this last Friday. Thanks to my uncle for getting us in. She loved meeting the princesses the most and Cinderella was walking by and said "Hi sweetie, I like your hair ". I thought she will probably get a real kick out of knowing Cinderella liked her hair - when I tell her when she's older and can understand. We had a blast - stayed for about 4 hours and that was about all that even we could take. Thought it was an absolute necessity to get Hannah one of the Mickey Mouse ear hats with her name on the back as that is the staple for your first Disneyland visit. Although we would like to take her to California Adventure too we will wait until she is a bit older since she probably would have had just as much fun at the park or My Gym. The pic above with her and Ry together walking down from the princess throne reminds me of a father walking his daughter down the aisle. It's hard to believe that one day that is just what he might be doing.

Mom's Night Out

2008-04-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

I seriously don't know what I would do without my moms night's out. We had so much fun last night. We went to the new Pottery Barn Outlet and I got 2 shadowbox frames for $20! Then we went to an Italian restaurant in downtown Elsinore that I heard about called Ravioli's. It was delicious! I wish I had a pic from last night but I forgot my camera at home : ( Next month we are going to a pottery place that has wine and cheese night. If anyone around here wants to go too let me know. I can't wait! I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my mom friends to talk to and spend time with. Thanks ladies! P.S. - so glad we don't sit around and complain about our husbands like I heard some women do! We are all so lucky to have our men!

Hannah and her new Retro Kitchen

2008-04-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

After going to several friends houses who had older children and seeing Hannah staying so busy in their little kitchens I decided to buy her one for herself. I looked at a lot of different ones and decided that this one was the cutest and not too big of an "eyesore" in the living room. The only thing was it took me about 3 hours to assemble though!

Video of Hannah saying Sheep

2008-04-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

The funniest part is at the end when I say "baa" and so does the sheep.

Las Vegas Here We Come!

2008-04-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

I am soo excited. We have just made airline and hotel reservations and we will be going to LV for our anniversary in June. First I have to say I can't believe that we have actually been married five years already. Five years has passed and you will not even believe the first thought that goes through my head....I have never cleaned my wedding dress. Nope, it still has the wedding cake I stepped in on the bottom and it is a filthy mess. It's one of those things where you say "oh I'll clean it next month when I have the money". Truthfully, I have had the money several times over I just never wanted to spend it on that. You know what? A friend told me about the best idea for a party. Since nobody ever gets to wear their wedding dress again or their bridesmaid dresses, you have a party and girls can wear either/or as a costume. I seriously think this would be a riot! I may be forming a party like this soon. Will you be in attendance? The last time we went on a vacation together was our babymoon - thought I would post the pic just for good times, I look like a Weeble. So weird to think that was my little girl in there.

Somewhat Healthy Banana Bread

2008-04-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Since i am always looking for recipes that use up old bananas here is a bread recipe I whipped up this evening by combining 3 other recipes. I thought it turned out pretty tasty.

2 1/4 Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup low fat sour cream or you could use plain yogurt
2 tbsp canola oil
4 egg whites
4 large ripe bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Heat oven to 350. Spray bundt pan with non stick spray. You could also use 2 loaf pans. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend 2 minutes on low speed. Beat 3 more minutes on high and pour into bundt pan. Bake approx 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. if you use 2 loaf pans bake for about 50 minutes.

I really wanted to find a recipe which uses no sugar but a lot of them are replaced with applesauce or all Splenda. I do not like regular Splenda but the brown sugar is great for baking because it is a mix of real brown sugar and Splenda together so you only use half but it doesn't taste so artificial. Also, all the Banana Bread recipes I have tasted that use applesauce only taste really bland. If anyone has a good one please let me know.

Bird Nerd

2008-04-09T20:19:00.001-07:00

These pics are not that great but I have been getting a lot more birds at my feeder lately (i know I am a dork!) because my aunt said to add some black oiled sunflower seeds to the bird mix. It helped a lot and now I am sort of becoming a bird nerd, researching feeds and the like. Anyhow I know the big bird above is called a Mourning Dove and the small is called a Purple Finch(even though it's red). I sort of enjoy opening my windows and hearing them chirp.

Thanks for the comments

2008-04-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Now for the biggest question of the day, who's the sneaky devil that would rather lose an arm?

Thankful Thursday is retired and it is now called...

2008-04-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tasty Thursday!
Since so many people have been requesting different recipes lately I thought I would make it the new Thursday "blogmitment" and include a recipe in the weekly post. Here is the first. It is a combination of about 3 recipes I obtained. I baked it for my family this past Wednesday night (Thanks Aunt Sue for the Goulash!) and everyone loved it! It's got a ton of sugar so that's probably why.

Apple Torte with Crumb Topping

Crumb Topping
1/4 c flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Crust
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c butter or margarine, softened
4 tsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour

Filling
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 8 oz block fat free crm cheese
1 large egg
4 c diced peeled gala apples (1 1/2 lbs)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450

To prepare the crust beat the first 4 ingredients with a mixer at med speed until mixed. Add the flour to the sugar mixture and beat at med-low speed until well blended. Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan that is well coated with cooking spray.

To prepare filling, beat 1/4 c sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, cream cheese, and egg at low speed until smooth. Pour cream cheese mix into crust. Combine apple, 1/2 c sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon in a bowl. Spread apple mixture evenly over cream cheese.

To prepare crumb topping, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with 2 knives until it resembles coarse meal. Cover apples with crumb topping.

Bake 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 400. Do not remove torte from oven. Bake an additional 25 minutes or until lightly browned and just set.

***I will still include thank you's from time to time.

My daughter speaks Vietnamese!

2008-04-04T19:31:00.000-07:00

Video of Hannah saying Shoe

2008-04-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Hannah has been saying alot of new words lately and shoe is one of her favorite, & mine too. She sounds like she is saying Schooo. I have her repeat it like 10 times just for giggles. Sorry the orientation is sideways.

Pool Day

2008-04-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

I had a really great time this week even though my poor teething baby has been cranky. I can actually see her 2 year molars popping through in the back! She so ahead of her time. This week we were very busy just getting everything straightened out post-Easter holiday and gearing up for our LONG, HOT, summer. We had beautiful weather today in the 70's and decided to take Hannah and her friend Lexi to the pool. Hannah is what you would call "slow to warm up". She definitely gets that from her Dad, which I am happy about since I sort of just jump in head first without thinking things through sometimes. When we first got to the pool she would lift her legs up when I dipped them in. After about 20 minutes she wanted to climb in and out herself - she didn't want any help. Well, I was in my pants and was totally terrified she would drown in the 1 1/2 ft deep water. Luckily, in June, Hannah will be starting her swim school and hopefully I can go from completely paranoid to just plain cautious when she is around water. I have always loved swimming and the beach and so does Ry so I hope she takes to it like we both did since it will make for some nice summer days. Here are some pics of the girls playing around.

Easter Update

2008-03-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Had a really cool Easter. Hosted it for the first time at my house. All the food turned out great. Here are some pics of the table and the place settings. I made them myself (stop it Martha Stewart!), I think they turned out so cute. We had an unexpected guest this week, my Gma Sharon, Hannah's Great Grandma. So we wnt to the Zoo one day and we have been having a blast showing her the sights of the I.E. Now she needs to go home and get a nap... HA!. I think we wore her out. Hannah has been having temper tantrums this week so I wanted to post a pic of one of her little fits. I have been cussed out in baby about 10 times this week. It sort of sounds like GA! GA! NOOOOO!GI! GI! GA!NOOOOOOOOOO! Also, she got a new stroller and she loves pushing it around the house, she doesn't realize she can actually steer it so she keeps picking it up to move it. It is kind of funny.

Easter Greetings!

2008-03-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

My Thankful Thursday this week is combined with the Easter holiday. I am so very thankful to be so blessed in my life with so many wonderful things. Wonderful family, close friends that I can count on, a husband that loves me, a healthy daughter, and the opportunity to be able to stay at home and raise her myself. I was raised in a Christian home as a child and continue to believe in the Chrisitan faith as an adult. It is for this reason that Easter is not just another day to eat and visit with family and friends but a day for me to remember the sacrifice that was made for, not only me, but for everyone else too, on this day by Jesus Christ. I was reading Hannah a new Easter book called "Jesus Loves Me" and I loved the biblical quote on the back. It said, "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens" - Psalm 68:19. It helps me to know that no matter where I am in life I am never alone and I always have the strength of Jesus by my side. Even though some days may be tough they are so much easier to handle because I have faith. I have lived with and without faith and for me it is much easier to live with faith. This is what I am thankful for. I will be posting Easter pics and a small menu run down later this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Best Salad Ever!

2008-03-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Okay so I combined a couple recipes together and came up with an idea for a wonderful Mexican salad.

You need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 boneless chix breast
2 tbsp green onion chopped
2 tbsp red bell pepper
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup black or pinto beans, rinsed & drained
2 tbsp fresh spinach
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/3 tsp salt
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese or cotija cheese
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 bag romaine lettuce

Cook chix in tbsp of oil about 5 min each side. Remove from skillet. Add onion & B.P. & saute for 3 min. Add corn, beans, spinach, & spices. Heat through. Plate romaine lettuce and add several scoops of skillet topping. Sprinkle cheese over top and sprinkle with pepitas. Put several dollops of cream on top of salad. Enjoy!

Dressing:
8 oz cream cheese (fat free or low fat)
2 tbsp sour cream
1 can tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1 bunch cilantro
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil

put all together in food processor and pulse until smooth.

Thankful Thursday

2008-03-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for alot of things this week but since today is my mom's b-day I am going to write about my mom. There are so many things I could say about her but I will narrow my list and make it small. She always listens when I need to talk (even if she disagrees with what I am saying : ). She helps me make important decisions, without telling me what to do. I can go to her with personal information and trust that she will not tell my secrets. Most importantly, I can depend on her if I need her. I am especially lucky b/c she is not just my mom but my friend too. Happy Birthday Mom!

Love,

Your favorite and only daughter - Windy

*Prego pic was all I could find

Spring is Here!

2008-03-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Okay so, I used to love summer the best but I now have a new favorite season - SPRING! I couldn't possibly live where I do now and love summer the best anyhow, considering it's about 115 degrees out here, so I have officially found a new favorite season. It is just beautiful out here with all the wildflowers blooming and the hills are so green. So I was feeling very grandiose this morning and decided to get Hannah all dressed up in her Easter outfit and do her famous pigtails with bows, then go get the rabbits and take them all outside and sit them all down on a blanket to take pictures for Easter. Now that I am actually listing off what I wanted to do, I realize - do I really need to put myslef in these situations? No. Ryan is constantly telling me to lower my expectations but alas, I always think I can do MORE! So anyhow, I get out there and what does Bear(my white rabbit) and Hannah do? Both go running off in opposite directions. Luckily Hannah started chasing him around and tried to pick him up and so I got a few shots. Of course, she's not really smiling and looking into the camera,but oh well, you take what you can get. Do you ever come up with ideas that are perpetually impossible to pull off? I don't know for sure but I am told the is a predominantly female thing. I also know I am very type-A and this is a very type-A thing to do. Anyhow, here are the pics, enjoy!

Thankful Thursday - My Country 'Tis of Thee

2008-03-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

I do not consider myself overly patriotic but my thankful Thursday for this week does come from a love for my country. I am thankful to live in a country where my daughter will have every opportunity she can imagine within her reach. She will have an education, books to read, a warm place to lay her head at night, and will have the freedom to vote for who she would like to see as president of her country. We, including me, take so many rights for granted in this country. It is simply because we know of no other way. Alot of people say they won't vote in the next election if it is two people that they do not like. It is hard for me to understand this because in so many countries, people, especially women, do not even have the right to vote, let alone, have the opportunity to actually run for president. I am so glad my daughter will be raised in a country where it does not matter what family you came from, the color of your skin, or your sex, you can become anything you want to if you put your mind to it and work hard. Whether you like Hillary Clinton or not, I am glad I will be able to tell my daughter she was born during a time when a woman actually was able to raise the funds and be taken seriously enough to run for president of this country. Women have only been permanently granted the right to vote since 1920, and I am so glad to see how far we have come. I can only imagine what my own daughter will get to experience in the next 100 years.

Best Fish Recipe Ever!

2008-03-06T20:28:00.001-08:00

So last night I cooked the best fish recipe ever. I don't even really love fish. This is like dinner and dessert. Cook this for anyone and they will literally not be able to say no to you. (take note employees wanting raises, and significant others)

Broiled Tilapia with Sweet Potato Crust & Vanilla Cream Sauce

Two 6 ounce tilapia fillets, seasoned

Filling
3 sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled (14 ounces after cooking)
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 teaspoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

Crust
3 graham crackers
1 cup roasted pecans
2 tablespoons melted butter

Sauce
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fish stock, crab or shrimp stock, or water
Pinch of seafood seasoning or Creole seasoning

Grind the sweet potatoes, juices, butter, salt and ginger together and set aside.
Grind the graham crackers, pecans and butter together.
Cover the fish with the sweet potato mixture, then sprinkle the pecan mixture over the sweet potato mixture.
Broil the fillets until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes.
In a 6 inch skillet, add the cream, vanilla, seafood stock (or water) and seasoning. Bring to a boil and cook for 45 seconds, until the alcohol in the vanilla is gone and the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Pool the sauce on a plate, place the broiled fish fillet on top and serve.
Serves 2
Recipe from Gabrielle and the American Tilapia Association

* The only thing I changed is that I cooked the fish at 350 for 15 minutes and then broiled for 4 min on HIGH. I also added suger to the vanilla sauce to sweeten it. P.S. You don't even need the sauce it's that good! Also, the sweet potatoes could be eaten anytime as a side dish. Hannah loved them!

Ma Porch Swang

2008-03-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

So I don't really have a porch swang. Nor do I have a porch. My house is only 2 years old and for some reason they don't really make porches on new houses anymore. Probably because they think everyone is too busy anyway to want to take the time to meet their neighbors and hang out on a porch. Not me though, I have always said if I were to do it again I would buy a house with a porch. I think in other parts of the country porches are more common than in Cali. I have still met some great neighbors anyway, even without the porch swang. By the way, who already voted? I didn't know there were so many Clinton fans out there. I want to say thank you to all my loyal commentators. The past week has been a pretty fun one. Hannah is finally being able to communicate alot more and it really makes it easier on me since she has SOO much to say. Like mother, like daughter. We have had "Pigtail City" ever since I went to my neighbors house last week and attempted to do some pigtails on Hannah. Wherever we go people say how cute the little ponies are on her and personally, I love doing them. I hope she wants me to do them when she gets older too but if not I can always get my fix now. I was and still am a total girly girl and so I am having a great time having a daughter. From the looks of some of the pictures Ry is too.

Thankful Thursday

2008-02-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

So thankful Thursday came a little early this week. I am so so so so so excited. We finally had someone come and plant plants in our backyard. It looks so beautiful and all of the plants are drought tolerant and will grow well in our hot,dry climate. I cannot tell you how blessed I feel to have a yard that I now can enjoy spending time in. Before, our yard was nice(grass,concrete,patio cover) but it lacked so much foilage, and me being a plant person (semi-professional horticulturalist), I just could not relax amongst dirt and rocks. It is so peaceful back there now and we just got a beautiful fountain for X-mas so tonight I sat back and listened to water trickling. It was such a special treat. Can't wait to fill my bird feeders and really get in crankin out there, Summer BBQ's here we come! A second and just as important thing that I am thankful for this week is that I just found out my friend is expecting her second baby. I am so excited for her. To know that she was able to add to her family, when so many people who try are not able to, is such a blessing. On a side note, we always joked and said we would be pregnant together, so I guess we'll see what happens................In any case, my biggest wishes of love, happiness, and health for her and her family. I will post pics tommorrow on the yard.
Have a great weekend!
Windy

Hannah and her Animals

2008-02-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

I have been taking Hannah to a place that I like to call the "Ghetto Farm" . It is simply a dairy farm here in Lake Elsinore but it is not in the most savory part of town. In any case, we are finding out quickly that Hannah loves animals. As soon we pull in to the driveway there she starts screaming to get out of the car. She has all her own sounds for the animals and has even managed to learn some of their names (duck,dog). Anyway, here is a pic of her feeding the animals and I am going to try to also attach a small video.

* update - i could not figure out how to do video yet. I will definitely post a vid later.

Have a great weekend!

Hannah Pics

2008-02-21T13:51:00.001-08:00

As promised to Grandma's and relatives here are new Hannah Pics

Thankful Thursday

2008-02-21T12:58:00.001-08:00

I have seen this on others' blogs and wanted to include it every week, if possible, on mine. I am thankful for so many things in my life right now, but most importantly, for my husband Ryan. He is the most awesome husband ever. He works an 11 hour day, everyday, and comes homes immediately after work to take care of our daughter Hannah. He is the most selfless person I know. While he takes care of her, I usually go upstairs and read a magazine or a book while taking a bath. For those of you who don't bathe, you are missing out on the most relaxing experience possible. If you think you have tried to take a bath and you didn't like it, please try again. I know what you're thinking. I won't get clean in the bath, it's too hard to get in and out, I don't like dirty water. Here is my solution(water conservationists, close your eyes). Take a shower in the morning and a bath at night. Don't do both everyday, but for those of you who do not like cleaning in the bath just use it to sit and relax and relieve tense muscles. My husband does not even know how much I look forward to this time and I didn't even really know how much it meant to me until he went away for a weekend for work. I missed my bath soo much. Of course I still took it after my daughter was in bed but it wasn't the same. I have said before I don't know how single moms and dads raise children alone, but both of our moms and my dad did it, so I know it can be done. I just want to say how very thankful I am to have someone to do it with and also to say now to our moms who did it alone - you ladies rock and we would not be who we are without you.

Eggplant Rollatini Recipe - just like lasagna

2008-02-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

You need:

1 large eggplant (2lbs)
cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch think slices

Coarse salt & pepper

1 cup marinara sauce

1/2 cup part skim ricotta

1/2 cup grated parm cheese (plus more for topping)

2 large egg whites

1 garlic clove

crusty bread - to serve with meal

Season eggplant with salt & pepper. Arrange in a microwave-safe dish with a lid. Microwave on high for about 6 min until eggplant is tender & pliable. With a fork, transfer the eggplant to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and blot dry. Dry dish and put 1/4 cup of sauce on the bottom of microwave dish. Set aside. In a small bowl combine the ricotta, parm, egg whites, garlic, salt & pepper. Spoon ricotta mixure on the middle of eggplant slices and roll up. Place seam side down in a single layer in prepared dish. Top with marinara sauce and then mozzarella and remaining parm. Bake for 25 min at 375. enjoy!

This meal is meant for 2-4 servings only.

It's The Neighborly Thing To Do

2008-02-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Okay so, everyone has a dog on their street that incessantly barks to the point of no return and perhaps you ignore it... or perhaps, like me, you picture yourself jumping a ten foot wall and putting a nuzzle on the animal and bringing it over to your house where it will be properly cared for. You all know who this dog belongs to. It's not hard to tell. It is your neighbor that has 5 children or perhaps the one with the newborn baby, you know the family that has absolutlely no business getting a dog in the first place. No, not to be mean but it is simply because they have neither the time or concern to care for it . Let me tell you a story .......Picture it, Sicily .. (sorry, had to for the Golden Girls fans-all 2 of them). Actually, it was this afternoon and Hannah was down for a nap, so I decided to do one of my favorite things, which is to garden. I know it sounds wierd but I love the idea of thinking about nothing and caring for plants. It's sort of like the whole bird-watching thing. You either get it or you don't. Anyhow, here I am ready to get my peaceful thing on and, as soon as I kneel down, I see a car pull out of the driveway across the street. Not a mintue later it starts. BARK! BARK!, BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! . At first I think that it is because the people just left, but no, it continues the entire time I am gardening so instead of thinking of beautiful blooming succulents I have masochistic visions of what I want to do to this poor animal, scratch that, these poor owners. You see, you know your dog, you know if you can leave your dog in the backyard and if it will not bark when you go. If you don't know this please leave your house immediately and walk down the street and see if it barks. Because while you are peacefully going on your morning jog, or sipping a cup of coffee at the nearest Starbucks, your dog could be ruining the 30 peacful mintues your neighbor has today. I hearby declare the day of February 20th, national Give a S**t About Your Neighbors Day. On this day, owners please give a s**t about your dogs(scratch that -neighbors). In the words of Deval Patrick, I mean Barack Obama, "Ask not what your neighbor can do for you, ask what you can do for your neighbor". Words, just words.

Good Times

2008-02-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Today a couple of friends and I went to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido - it will be referred to simply as WAP. Four friends and four babies all under 2 years old. AHH! What were we thinking? It took us about 2 hours to get to the WAP with several stops along the way including, but not limited to, carseat base changes, lunch preparations, and the ever present and fatefully looming "poop out". If you are a mom you know what a "poop out" is. For those of you who don't, it is where the diaper basically fills up to the point of the baby being covered on both sides by poop. It is not for the "weak of stomach". As every mother with a teething baby knows, if your baby is going through a loose stool spell, you wake up in the morning hoping that your child will have their "poop out" before you leave the house. It, of course, does not happen until you have clothed your baby in their finest WAP duds (Baby Gap anyone?) and you are exactly halfway to the WAP, driving in the front seat of the car with a crying baby in the back. Helpless in the front seat and not really sure what is wrong, you drive and proceed to your destination knowing that just one more stop will make you even later than you already are and your ultimate goal was to take your 1 year old to see the lovely Zorse or Hebra that they will never remember when they are 5 right? You eventually arrive at your destination only to realize that the reason they cried halfway through the drive there was because they were sitting in a clay mud bath of poop and now you get the lovely task of laying them in the back seat of the car to change them into one of the 3 outfit changes you brought (since you knew this would happen), all the while holding in your own urine to the point where you are actually considering stealing one of their diapers to pee in. This fortunately was not me, on this day, but it was my dear friend. I hope she doesn't mind me using her example of "a day in the life of a mom". By the way, for anyone wondering, a Zorse or a Hebra is actually an Okapi but we renamed it today based solely on it's looks. Also - cute legwarmer/footless tights on it!