Thanksgiving

I posted our Christmas pictures, but I forgot to post the pictures from Thanksgiving! I went to visit my grandparents early and they were so happy to see Bella!

Christmas photos!

Happy Birthday Sean and Gabe!

This past week i had the pleasure of celebrating two birthdays! Sean turned one and Gabe turned two! I love these little guys. They are my nephews and Bella's pals. I am so thankful for them and the love and joy that they bring into my life. Gabe is hilarious with his Chinese, and Sean's smile just melts my heart. Happy birthday Seany Sean and my Gabey
Baby. We love you!

Thanks Kim!

Two weeks ago I had to get some dental work done (fun right), and i aske my sister to watch Bella for me. I left my camera and told her to use it if she took the kids to the park. When I got back to pick bella up she was running around in her diaper, so i asked Kim what happened to her clothes. She told me that her clothes had gotten wet because she ran into sprinklers with gabe when they were on their way to the park! The pictures were just too cute for me to not share!

Bella loves the park!

Once a week Taryn and I try to take the kids to the park so they can play. Bella always looks foward to her play dates and shouts "SETH" the whole way to the park. She now associates the park with Seth so even if I take her by herself she will run around looking for Him.

Pumpkin Patch!

Last week Armando and I went over to my sisters house for dinner and after dinner we took Bella and Gabe over to the pumpkin patch. They had a blast! This was Bellas first time going, and she loved all the pumpkins, and music. I could write about all the fun stuff she saw, but ill let the pictures speak for themselves.

Walk Now For Autism

This is something very near and dear to me. My three year old cousin Vinny was recently diagnosed with Autism. Autism has and continues to affect many children and the numbers are growing. Although many believe that Autism may be caused by vaccines, the cause is still generally unknown. There is no known cure for Autism, but through wonderful non-profit organizations, we can help find the cause and a cure. This is what the Walk Now For Autism site says about autism
"Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in 1 in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The diagnosis of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown."
I am joining my cousins "team" to help raise funds for this cause and I will be walking on November 16th at the Angel Stadium. If so inclined there is a link to either join our team, or donate to it. Thank you in advance to all my friends and family who have supported us in this!

Bella

For those of you who know us well, you probably know how much Bella loves food. Most of the good pictures I get of her are when she is eating or helping me cook. The reason I usually get such great pictures is that she is happiest when she is eating! She eats a variety of foods, and it doesn't matter what the food is. If she has a plate of peas or an ice cream cone, she is HAPPY. Maybe that means I am a fantastic cook (or not) and she cannot resist my food.... or maybe she will grow up to be a famous chef... or food critic. I would almost be so bold as to say that food is her favorite thing although if you put a plate of food in front of her and a cute pair of shoes she may ignore the food for a bit while she tries on the kicks. Maybe she'll be a famous chef with her own shoe line!

Election Day Party!

On November 4 Armando and I will be hosting an Election Day Party. We are going to watch the results of the Presidental election come in, and celebrate the election of a new president! This is not a Party specific party meaning that people of all political parties are invited, and even people with no political party (Rachel). Now I know what most of you are thinking... are you crazy? And the answer is yes.. just a little. In all honesty we just want people to come together regardless of their political affiliation. So in saying that, everyone is invited to join and have some great "All American Food", RESPECTFUL conversations, and celebrate the election of a new President! If you would like to come just send me a comment or e-mail and I'll send all the specifics.
*We will also be surprising Armando by celebrating his 29th Birthday that evening. (Don't worry... He never looks at the blog!)

New Pictures!

Here are some new pictures

Finally! A new Post

I know it has been a while since my last post. We have been so busy lately. Armando's car broke down and was in the shop off and on for three weeks getting a new engine (fun right). On top of that he started his new job which is nice, but now I am adjusting to him not being home as much. The main reason why I have not posted in a while is because our laptop stopped working two weeks ago (thanks to Bella), and we just now got a new one. Other than that, all is well with us! We are all happy and healthy so we are thankful for that!

For all You Teachers!

Today my husband was watching C-Span, and recorded it for me. Those of you who don't know I was attending school to be a Teacher (Pre-Bella), so I sympathize with all the teachers out there who work their tails off and get NO appreciation, bad pay, and a crappy Federal program to deal with (No Child Left Behind) Just to name a few. The video link is of a Governor of S. Carolina receiving an award from the NEA, and boy does he deserve it! I highly recommend watching it if you are an educator (although it may make you want to move there.). If you watch it I would say it starts getting good at 7:30 into this clip, yes its a little long, but if you have the time its worth it!
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=206276-2&showVid=true

Ravioli!

Raviolis are one of Bellas favorite foods most of the time, but for some reason when i was trying to get her to eat dinner the other night it was a headache. Finally I just gave up and let her sit there with her food on the highchair tray. She suddenly decided that she in fact did want to eat and started feeding herself. I did not have the energy to fight her on the matter so I let her go at it... and boy did she. It really is much simpler this way... she gets a bath after dinner anyway so why not?

Watch out Mario Batali!

So i first have to say this.... I'm really not a fan of Crocs! I know... many people love them because they are convenient for adults and children, but I must confess; I thinks they are UGLY. Bella received a pair before she was even born but they were toddler size, so she is just now starting to fit in them, but I cant bring myself to put them on her for longer than a few minutes (and definitely not in public). Then one day I was cooking something yummy (homemade shortcake), and Bella was again my little helper. All of the sudden it hit me..... there is a use for ugly pink Crocs! So I ran upstairs and got those ugly shoes and put them on her. Those are now her cooking shoes! So watch out Mario, Bella is coming for your job! ( I must note she is much cuter than Mario Batali, and she has an excuse for being very plump.)

Bella and Gabe

My sweet little princess is so loving towards her cousin Gabe.... Cant you tell by the look on his face?
Actually, she is a bully and poor Gabe is so sweet that he just runs away from her. I really do feel bad about this because I don't want Bella to be a bully. She really can be the sweetest little girl, but when she feels like she can dominate.... She will!
So here it is... a formal apology to sweet Gabe...

Dear Gabe,
Even though I am a bully some times, I do love playing with you! I don't mean to make you cry (most of the time), and i really wish you wouldn't flinch every time I pass near you (although you probably have good reason to). I am very sorry for making you afraid of me (but its a good thing you are... caution is best). I promise I will try harder to not make you sad or scared (mostly because mommy is making me). But the most important thing is that you remember that I love you, because you are my cousin and friend (and subordinate).*
Love,
Bella

*I really do love Gabe!!!!

The Box

On Bellas birthday she got so many toys, and one of them was this farm set from my sister Kim. Since Bella received tons of toys, I decided to put some away so that a few months later they could be "new". I finally pulled out the farm set two weeks ago, and the only thing Bella wanted was the box! What is it with children and cardboard boxes? Every morning she would rush over to sit on it and scoot around the living room. What a silly girl!

Buy Pampers!

So maybe I am just a cry baby, but the first time I saw this commercial I cried. Any mother or woman for that matter knows why. How beautiful are all babies around the world? I am a proud supporter of Pampers products. Not only are they doing good, but the products are really the best out there!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8175811417119803898&q=Pampers+commercial&ei=JRo5SJPyCo-WrgPJ7vX1Aw&hl=en

Lemon Festival

This post is a little late, but I just had to share these pictures from the Lemon Festival. Armando and I took Bella just to get out for a little while. We got everything together and loaded Bella in the car and went to downtown. Once we were there (and found parking) I asked Armando if he had the cell phone. He reminded me that I had it while I was putting Bella in the car. Then I suddenly remembered.... I put the phone on the top of the car while I put Bella in! So then we got back in the car and drove home in hopes that it fell off the car on our street, but no luck. So I suggested we just drive back down there and look out for it on the road. Sure enough it was shattered all over Euclid. So Armando wasn't feeling all that festive after that, but agreed that there was nothing we could do at that point so we decided to go back to the Lemon Festival. I am so glad that we did! We walked around for a bit, then Bella got her face painted for the first time (which she cried all the way through.... I think the clown scared her), and then we got the best ice cream ever at Dr. Bobs! It was a really nice day (other than the whole phone thing)!