things I love...

introducing William Peter Hernandez...

2011-09-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

born September 9, 2011 at 9:19am * 6 pounds, 4 ounces* 20 inches

our first family picture

Bryant holding Will for the first time

i scrapbook...

2011-09-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

I did this two page layout on Thursday and Friday. I am trying to do a page a day not including the weekends. I am part of the Mother LOAD class, which is a Layout A Day class at Big Pictures.

Can you see the belly got in the way of the photo? Not the best photo, I took it Friday night when I finished it. I also couldn't think of a title for the layout and I didn't want a cheesy one, so I decided not to have one.

Random, but can you believe I only took 7 pictures with my camera during the month of August. I didn't think it was possible to take such a few pictures. Talk about the month of August flying by and I didn't even capture it :(

thankful thursday...

2011-08-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful that Bryant has such a great relationship with my parents and his cousins!! I never understood why family was so important, until now that I have Bryant. He gets so excited when he sees them, and wants to see them all time. He cries when we have to take him home. I am very grateful for my parents and his cousins!

overbooked weekend...

2011-08-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

Most weekends were are just sitting at home watching HGTV, hoping that someone walks through our condo and wants to do a free makeover!!! This weekend we had so much planned...

This weekend we were just going to go to Court & Randy block party, but a few days before Phil got a text from Edgar to join them in San Diego. Although I did want to see our friends, being 35 weeks pregnant I was not excited for a two hour drive down, walking around at Sea World in the heat, and then driving back up and then attend the block party. Bryant had been bugging me to go to Sea World, darn those TV commercials during the news. How could I look at those brown eyes and tell him no.

So we decided to drive down Friday evening and spend the night so at least we were not driving for 4 hours in one day. Friday was my mom's birthday and we were not planning to take her out for dinner (we were going to take her out on Sunday for brunch), but when we forgot about Tri, and decided to drop him off at my parents. Bryant/my parents wanted to have dinner, how could Phil and I say no. (this is starting to become a trend...not being able to say no). However, this meant that we didn't leave until 10pm, and arrived in San Diego at 11:30pm.

We did have a great time at Sea World, and I am glad we went down there!! Also happy that Diana was able to make it out even though we was helping her sister move.

We also had a great time at the block party...and didn't want to leave. I can't believe we stayed so late, but the kiddos were having as much as fun as. Phil and I also felt bad, because we had told Court and Randy that we were going to help them set up, and ended up being late from our drive from SD that we didn't even arrive on time but an hour late. We decided it was only fair to help clean up. While the guys were putting away the chairs, tables etc. the kiddos all sat down in line ...too cute not to grab my camera. However, by the time I got my camera out they were starting to walk away, I quickly started to snap away even though I didn't get a chance to set the settings. The photos came out blurry but it was too cute not to post.

Then on Sunday morning it was my day to help with the Children's Liturgy. I originally was not planning on helping out since I had "traded" with one of the other ladies my day. But I realized when she sent out an email, not only she was scheduled the same day as me so not only were we not able to trade, but also she wasn't going to be able to make it herself and was looking for someone to trade with her. It was fine because I actually had a great time with Karen who stepped in to help me.

Then after mass & doughnuts, we went out to celebrate my mom's birthday at Spaghettini's for Brunch. They sat us in the dinning area, and not were the live music was planning. I am guessing it was because we had Bryant with us =) We could still hear the live music, and the food was delicious so there was no complaints!!! Highly recommend to take the parental for a nice brunch on Sunday. I will have to post a photo of Bryant eating my mom's cake, I can't believe I forgot my camera.

It was a great weekend, and I could not complain that I was bored =)

oc fair...

2011-08-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great time with the Wherrys at the OC fair. We actually had such a great time, that we stayed way to late for the boys, and ended up sleeping in the next day and missed Church.

The food was okay, at least at the beginning. Read more below.

I really thought Phil was too big to ride and that it was going to break, but it didn't and it was a huge sigh of relief.

Both Celeste and I being pregnant this was about the only ride we could go on with the boys. As for the rest of the rides, the dads accompanied the boys. They even raced downhill...hmm who was really having the most fun on the rides.

Around 11pm Richard got hungry and decided to eat a turkey leg. Julian actually loved it so much, Richard had to buy two turkey legs. Finally found a food Julian loves!! I was going to buy a funnel cake, but yes the cheap in me won, and I could not get myself to pay more than $9 on funnel cake at the OC fair. Hey if it was a chocolate souffle at a restaurant it would have been a different story. But I did pay $3 for hot chocolate, more like hot water and Nestle mix, it got cold okay...

More photos over at flickr.

almost wordless wednesday

2011-08-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

I wish it was wordless photo, but it would not be the same. For some reason seeing a photo without an explanation is not the same. First impression of this photo would be that Bryant is helping Phil carry some things, cute!

THE STORY...
Bryant had not seen my parents for a few days, and had been wanting to see them for a while. He wanted to spend the night at their house and for them to take him to the zoo. However, we were just going to visit them for brunch on a Sunday. My parents were taking care of my grandparents, since my grandfather just had heart valve replacement surgery, and my grandmother does not drive.

Bryant is always upset with us that we don't pack anything for him. So this time Bryant packed his "bags" to go over to visit my parents. He packed his snacks in the lunch bags and then packed his toys in two other containers. It was too funny to see him carry his important items to stay at my parents' home.

i scrapbook...

2011-07-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

In case, you don't know, I love to scrapbook, although it is more for a personal hobby because I usually don't show my layouts to others or post them on the blog.

I am so excited that I was mentioned on digiscrap101. I first learned about this website on Paperclippings podcasts when they mentioned that Kayla was doing a free Lightroom Class. I was about to purchase Lightroom because I wanted to get my photos under control for this photo managing class I was going to take at Big Picture Classes. Kayla's class was perfect, I learned so much, and it helped me when I was taking my photo management class.

Now that I have been able to learn how to manage my photos better, and edit them faster, the whole reason to take these classes was because I want have to get more scrapbooking done.

So far what I have done is getting most of photos to share with friends and family on Flickr, and started updating my blog more often!

My next goal is to get this blog looking better!! Do you like the changes so far to the blog?

flickr friday...

2011-07-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

I posted these photos up on flickr today. It was my first photo shoot!!! I love taking photos and I have been begging Court to let me do a photo shoot for her family forever. She finally agreed!! I started freaking out the night before but I am glad the photos came out, at least in my humble opinion, great! No, I am not quitting my day job, but I had a ton of fun and would love to do this again. Any ~~victims~~ friends and family like a photo shoot! You just have to have a ton of patience for me to set the settings on the camera and change lens all the time, hey there is a trade off for having it free, right!

Back to photos...

Courtney is due one week before, it was so exciting when we both announced we were pregnant at the same time. She looks great!!! It is so funny because Court and Randy met in high school, but you couldn't tell they are so in love.

This is the before photo, which isn't bad, but with the art students in the background it isn't wow! So with a little LR magic I erased them!!

What a difference!! And I also cropped it so you can see the three of them better!!

I love this photo of Court and Misty!! Misty and Bryant are 2008 "babies" and the "new" babies are going to be 2011 babies!! You would have thought that we planned it but we didn't it was just a coincidence. Misty and Bryant are also the good eaters in the moms group kids. They can eat, and eat and eat when playgroup starts at 10am, and then Bryant and I stay after playgroup ends to have lunch with Misty and Court at noon!! I wonder if the next two boys are also going to be good eaters?

week(end) lens

2011-07-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July Weekend:

The weekend started on Wednesday for me... Courtney asked for me to take some maternity pictures for her!! I am so excited to have a ~~guinea pig~~ practice to take portrait photos. We drove around several places in Long Beach, and decided on the Japanese Gardens. This is a preview/practice shot we did the actual photo shoot a few days ago. Now I just need to find someone to take my maternity photos =)

On Friday, we went out for dinner with my parents to BJ and Bryant refused to go home with us. My parents kept him over night. They came over for dinner on Saturday. Bryant kept telling them that he didn't want to go over to our house, but wanted to stay at "Bryant's House" aka my parents house.
On Sunday, I completely forgot that it was Sunday and we didn't go to Church. I was suppose to be there to help with the Children's Liturgy. Instead we had breakfast and then the guys (Phil and Bryant) went to go play "golf" in the morning. Phil said that Bryant did a great job chipping on the green but his putting needs improving...hmmm maybe he could get a golf scholarship for college, but it is too early to tell. For me it was nice to have a quite house even though it was only one hour.

Then Sunday evening Dana, Kurt and the girls came over for burgers, and hot dogs at the pool. It had been really warm on Friday and Saturday, so we thought it would be nice to invite over a few friends to cool off at the pool. However, it cooled early on Sunday and we were actually freezing. The water was warm so the kiddos didn't want to get out of the pool because it was warmer in the water than outside.

Monday (4th of July) we went to the Bike Parade on Belmont Shore. Last year, we walked the ride while the boys "rode" their bikes, although it was more like my dad and Phil pulled and carried the bikes. This year we convinced my dad to ride his bike and have Bryant in the trailer.

After the ride we went to Seal Beach for breakfast, and walk around the pier. When we got back to the condo we tried to put Bryant down for his nap but he refused.

Crazy Sh** Bryant says/does:
(Note: Phil is taking over to tell Phil's story:

I know that Bryant is not stupid, he is moody, difficult, and stubborn but not stupid. Bryant learns lessons from when I discipline him, not always the right lessons, yet I can see that he is learning. This weekend I was working on stopping his hitting problem. I put him in the corner when he hits Carmen, Tri or myself and I am trying to be consistent in doing so. I tried to put Bryant down for a nap that afternoon so that he could make it through the late night, his response, lightly hitting me and then telling me "no hitting Bryant in timeout for 2 minutes." Seriously I had to work very hard not laugh at him. I wish he would put that determination in staying up to getting potty trained. Oh well, he's learning just not the lesson I want him to... (end Phil )

Then in the afternoon we headed over to the Calderon's house for bbq, pool, and fireworks. Bryant was excited to get into the pool, but got bored quickly and wanted out within a few minutes and sat down to eat instead. It's cute to see Bryant and Tyler playing together two kids who don't share playing with one set of toys always makes for good entertainment..

Bryant was not scared of fireworks (not that it should surprise me since he isn't scarred of anything i.e. heights, animals, etc unlike me). He actually wanted to hold the sparklers.

I was excited that I got to practice with my camera. I got this great idea from DigiScrap 101 and the fireworks photos came out great!!

eating cake...

2011-06-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Senor Fish for lunch to celebrate Jazmine's graduation from UCLA. Wow, I can't believe it, it feels like Phil and I just graduated from UCSD, but that was 13 years ago!!!

The boys really loved the cake, it was from Porto's after all, so it was so yummy. There was only of few us but we ate all three cakes!!

Bryant was front and center waiting for my sister and my aunt Juana to cut the cake.

Max loved the blue icing, and would not stop sticking his blue tongue out.

I could not or should I say, would not want to believe that Bryant actually ate his whole "slice" more like mini cake. This was after he ate all his chicken, three servings of french fries (two servings for him and then ate Eli's who wasn't paying attention) and rice/beans. I really don't know how his stomach can fit so much food...

After the luncheon we head over to see Sesame Street Live.

Bryant and his friends had such a great time. I didn't think Bryant was going to be able to sit still and watch it for several hours (although he did get up and run down the aisles twice). Phil and Richard were a different story, I can't believe they feel asleep with so much singing going on. (Yes Bryant is eating again...goldfish and afterwards we went to Outback Steak House and he ate dinner)

Here is a picture of the kiddos and parent's afterwards... It was the best photo we could take with 2 year olds!!!

FYI...something is the water, all four moms are pregnant!! Round 2 playgroups for 2011 babies!

tax season is over!!!

2011-04-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Finally tax season is over and I am back!!

Please stop by and say hi just so I know that someone else is out there!!! ha ha

This blog is going to undergoing a few changes, but I will still be updating you on what is going on with us, my photography photos, and my scrapbooking pages.

Ok, time for updates....
I am doing much better after my first trimester. I was nervous because with Bryant I didn't know I was pregnant until week 16 and I was nauseous the whole time. This time I found out much sooner and my nausea ended about a week ago yea!! I am also not planning on running any half marathons anytime soon. I don't know if it is because I know so much sooner, but I feel so much bigger than last time. Please feel free to share with me if you were also bigger on your second, or third. Also any cute maternity clothes stores, since I don't want to wear all those suits I bought last time working at the law firm.

Although I am much more tired than I was when I was pregnant with Bryant, after all I am officially an AMA (Advance Maternal Age) horrible to admit I am over 25 years old (plus a few more) ha ha, I am super excited. Tomorrow we find out if it is a boy or girl, so I am picking out names. Last time Phil picked out Bryant's name.

hawaii trip day 3

2011-01-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

Our adventure started with driving up to the Dole Plantation and taking a train ride. We also bought some gifts for our family here, yummy. I thought they were going to have a ton of pineapples to taste, but instead sold pineapples to take home. I guess if I lived in another part of the US that would be a great gift, but in LA taking home a pineapple everyone might think that we just bought it at the store. Actually we were surprised to see the pineapples cheaper at the airport. Unfortunately there was no pineapple tastings, only a small piece offered to us after the train ride.

The train ride was not exactly what we expected, we thought it was going to be a great history tour of pineapples in Hawaii, and see them in working farm. Instead it was a easy ride around with very little detail given on the train ride =( But I guess Bryant was with us, this ride would have been perfect. I did get to buy a really good cup of Kona coffee there!!

Then we drove up to the coast all the way north to Sunset Beach, then head back south to North Shore. We got off at Pupukea Beach Park were we saw some snorkelers and decided to walk down the cliffs. Walking down the cliffs in flip flops is a lot harder than surfers make it look, especially when you are afraid of heights like moi. When we got to the water, it was very very cold!!! I was not expecting that, everyone seemed to be in the water all the time and no one seemed cold. No to say that we didn't stay very long and decided to drive to North Shore.

This sign is the replica of a larger one that is on the highway. When we passed it I was going to have Phil stop so that I can take a picture, but there was a cop behind him. So I was really happy to see this little sign!

The North Shore is a really cute town with tons of shops. I really wanted to go shopping but Phil was on a mission to eat a typical Hawaiian dish, more on that later. I was really happy that the North Shore reminded me of most of the other small town in Hawaii. Phil on the other hand was really surprised that it was not at all like they showed on the TV cable show. He was expecting a mall, I think?

Here is Phil very happy to finally get to eat his dish. It turns out that the reason we couldn't find it was because it was breakfast dish. We decided to save money on this trip and only eat out for dinners. Usually I love to eat out for breakfast, since it is my favorite meal of the day, but I knew that eating out for dinner would mean we would get to do more exciting things. This dish by the way has a fried egg, sausage patty, and rice, I know it sounds more like a heart attack. I was surprised Phil wanted to eat it because he doesn't like fried eggs. But he liked it.

Then it was off the cruise dinner and dancing. Phil bought this upgraded package because it was suppose to include steak and lobster, but it was not steak, I am not sure exactly what type of meat we were eating. Also, because we were running late to catch the bus to get on the boat, we didn't have time to change, and you know me, I love getting dressed up so it was no fun for me to be on a nice dinner cruise in flip flops and shorts =( The hula dancing girls were great, but then they had other dinner guest stand up and dance the macarena, which was not the type of dancing we were going to be doing.

We still had a great view and a great time!!

It was actually really good, normally when desserts look this good they taste really bad.

hawaii...day 1 & 2

2011-01-03T12:40:00.000-08:00

These are just a few of the photos from our Hawaii vacation...we had four fun filled days in O'ahu. Our first stop was Duke's for dinner. I know we have one in Huntington Beach, and I didn't want to eat at any restaurants we have back home, but there is something so different eating at this Duke's. At Dukes we had just finished eating such a great meal, and then it started to pour. We "lucked" because we didn't have reservations our seats were not on the edge of the but closer to the inside of the restaurant. When it started to pour, everyone in the good seats got wet and we stayed dried, so we decided to stay longer and have dessert!!

Then the next day was driving around the southeast island to Kaneohe. On the way we stopped and decided to walk around. We thought we were only walking up the side of the hill. Instead we had to walk up and over two hills before we could get to the lighthouse. Since I am afraid of heights, we didn't make it all the way. I was okay until we got to the second hill, which was too steep and facing the water. We ended up walking all the way to the lighthouse, where Phil is pointing to. Good thing we took our running shoes because I don't know how everyone was doing the hike in flip flops, it ended up being more than just a stroll.

It was such a beautiful part of the island that the President and his family were also staying there. We didn't know where he was staying until we saw his motor cage drive by as we were eating hamburgers in a small market on the side of the road. It happened too fast for me to grab my camera.

For dinner we went to Germaine's Luau on west side of the island. Apparently Disney is putting the new resort on this side of the island. We had a great meal and entertainment. We also met new friends Gloria and Carlos who live in Diamond Bar. What a small world.

More tomorrow...

decorating for the holidays...

2010-12-31T11:29:00.000-08:00

We love decorating for the holidays.. this is Bryant decorating the tree. He felt that it need something extra that I didn't add originally.

And this is my new idea for decorating all the Christmas cards that we receive. We actually got another 15 ore that I could not fit and made a third row. Our Christmas card is in the center.

merry christmas eve...

2010-12-26T14:55:00.000-08:00

Dad, Mom, Eli, Bryant, Tori, and Max on Christmas Eve.

The boys were so excited to open the gifts they could not stay still for a moment to take a family picture. The photo of us (Phil, Bryant, and I) did not come out, Bryant was wiggling the whole time.

sharing

2010-10-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Bryant is still learning to share, and normally like all 2 yrs olds he doesn't, but...then he surprises when he allowed Jordan to sit on his favorite chair to watch TV.

daddy would be proud

2010-10-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

Phil would be so proud to know that Bryant loves to golf too!!

baby showers...

2010-10-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

For our MOMS Club of Long Beach we threw a baby shower for three of the moms to be....

so yummy...

Thanks to Courtney for opening up her home and for Tipa even though she just had a baby she did such a great job coordinating it all.

It was my idea was to paint the baby shirts, which turned out really cute (I was very worried) however my design was not super cute as the others...

more pictures at my flickr account here.

my birthday weekend

2010-09-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

I have a few thanks to give out for having such a great birthday weekend...

first to my favorite guy...thank you so much for taking me to the opera (even though I know you forgot we had already seen the Marriage of Figaro) I still love it!!!

to my friends who knew the surprise and kept it a secret!! Also thank you so much for the gifts and staying late just to sing happy birthday. Niki and Ian made a great dinner for us and then surprised me with...

and thanks to my family for taking me out for dinner, especially my sister who just had a baby girl the week before....

The boys being silly...

cutie pie

2010-09-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

with love

2010-09-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome baby

Jaden Victoria Riley Pedroza

Born: 9/21/10

@ 11:24pm

5lbs 13oz

18 in

Bryant getting very verbal

2010-09-05T23:42:00.001-07:00

Bryant has really become verbal and expressive. Lately he has decided when he wants to be taken on walks/runs/rides, and when he doesn't. He had been getting into the Bob stroller and it had become dangerous, so I decided to collapse it so he would not be able to get into. Then he decided to get his monkey and get into this...

Then this morning he woke us up by knocking on his bedroom door to come out. Some how he escaped from his crib. We weren't sure how he did it this morning. During his nap time he kept escaping, so Phil decided to "hide" in his room to see how he was escaping his crib. And sure enough Phil saw that he was able to go over the railing and then lower himself to the floor. We didn't think it was going to come so soon!! I guess it is now time for a toddler bed, even though that means he is going to be knocking on our bedroom door soon!!

He also tells me "mama come here" and holds my hand and takes me over to the fridge, and then tells me "up please" for me to carry him, and then tells me "open door". Once I open the fridge he then tells me what he wants to eat i.e. "apple" for the apple crushers, "cup" for milk, "juice" or just grabs the blue berries, watermelon or grapes.

sorry...

2010-08-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yes I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything....please forgive me. What have you missed...following the twin's birthday party there was...

My grandparent's 55th Wedding Anniversary Party. Here they are re-newing there vows in front of the priest. My parents were their matron of honor and best man.

My mom's club board installation dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. Courtney is getting her palm read in the picture. I also got my palm read (this was my first time, and I was very nervous) and she said somethings that were true and others that were not, and a few predictions...we will see if they are true...

We were also invited to the Wherry's house for a fun barbecue. Here is Bryant going to town. This was also when Bryant feel in love with Julian's train table, and Julian realized how much he loved his train table. The girls Misty Rain and Jordan had a great time in kiddie pool. Jordan kept insisting that Bryant stop playing with the trains and join them in the pool, but that didn't happen. Phil also thought he was going to show the kiddos how to play soccer, but that also didn't happen. We did have a great time!!

Bryant and Julian started taking swimming lessons. Julian took to going to the "beach" well and really enjoyed it. Bryant however, took about a month before he started liking his swimming lessons. It also didn't make it any easier that his instructor left to study abroad just as he started trusting him in the water, and started all over with a new instructor. It is going very well now!!

Fourth of July was a very busy day for us...it started at the bike ride for the little ones in Belmont Shore, that was a very long walk for parents. My sister made these cute hats for the three boys. Eli and Max did really good riding along the whole route. Bryant didn't my dad had to pull him through most of it. Misty, Jordan and Julian also attended, but were there for moral support!!

In the evening we went over to Phil's family for some barbecue as usual and for the fireworks. It was really special this year because Bobby and Stacy came over from Colorado to visit. It was really great to see them. The picture on the left is Bobby and Stacy's new baby boy Brandon born on Feb 11. The picture on the right is Ty and Bryant sitting on the back of the SUV watching the fireworks. Below is a picture of Bobby and Stacy's little girl, Allison.

On July 20th was Bryant's 2nd birthday. We celebrated by going to BJs. And yes he had his own pizzookie (pizza/cookie) and ate it all by himself!!! We has is party at Mother's Beach and I forgot to take pictures ;( When I was going to the birthday was in no mood for his picture. It was great to see everyone, but it was very crowded that day in Long Beach with the dragon boat races, and a cycling fundraiser going on. It was also a little chilly so thanks to everyone who made it out, we had a great time!!!

On July 31 we went to Knotts Berry Farm for Phil's company picnic. If you remember, the last time we went to Knotts Bryant was 2 weeks old for the company picnic. And no, Phil did not get his new job because his old job stopped having company picnics at Knotts it was a coincidence.

We also went to the OC Fair with Julian, Celeste, Anna, Niki, and Jordan. Jordan was not fond of the cows and pigs so we didn't stay to long with the animals. They also rode on the horses, which was the first for Julian (who go the biggest horse), and Jordan. Of course being at the fair, dinner was everything fried, yum but too much! The kids had so much fun on the rides until one ride that Bryant and Jordan really wanted to go on because it was bumble bees. When they got to front they were not tall enough to ride,so they were not allowed on. Funny because they were allowed on all the other rides...so Bryant and Jordan both started crying...Niki and I were stocked, I asked Bryant if there was another ride he wanted, he pointed to the Ferris wheel. Great! I am afraid of heights!! So to please the kiddos I got on, and as Anna said later, I regretted it. I was holding on for dear life, and Bryant kept swinging it to see Jordan. But we did have a lot of fun there...even though it was pricey.

It was my mom's birthday so we went to the Elephant Bar for dinner. Bryant of course helping grandma with her birthday cake and ice-cream.

It is a month of birthdays...This is Abby's and Audrey party. The picture is of my mom with Bryant eating all the watermelon and Abby and her grandma, i.e. my aunt Lucy. The picture on the right is of Max and Eli, they whole time Bryant is eating there were on the waterslide having fun and getting wet.

Boys Birthday Party

2010-06-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time at the boys birthday party at the train station at the park. Good Times!!

scrapbook and volunteer...

2010-05-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

One of the scrapbooking teachers that I love to take classes, Jennifer Priest, from is asking for help. She holds scrap classes for a group known as Craft Support Groups for Caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. She is having a great turn out, but need help setting up albums. Here is the link to her blog if you can help out.
http://hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com/2010/05/scrap-it-forward-call-to-action.html

cards

2010-05-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

I designed these for Mother's Day....

What do you think??? BTW I did the butterflies and letters with my silhouette!! I love that machine. The background designs are stamps from SU. I used the same cream color paper on everything. The top card background is done with the Sanded stamp and I colored the butterfly with old olive and blue then embossed with iridescent ice. The bottom card is done with Bella Toile stamped in celery green.

Hair cut time...

2010-04-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

I just love Bryant with long hair, but it was really starting to bug him. I found he had be scratching at his ears, which usually mean that his hair is going into his ears and bugging him, so it was time for a hair cut...he actually does pretty well. The first time, he had his hair cut about a year ago he didn't cry. Still doesn't but he does have a cookie to help out with keeping still.

Sweet Memories

2010-04-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a while, but I was first studying for the bar (I don't know results until the end of May, yes it is a long time ;) ). Then I was working crazy hours at my parent's office during tax season. In addition to being a notary public, I am also a tax preparer. Although, it is nice to make extra money, I am a little sad I didn't get to spend time with Phil and Bryant =( Luckily it is only for a few months. Now that it is over, I am back to hanging out with Bryant and Phil, my friends, and scrapbooking, I just need to get myself working out and running again!!

Here is a new layout I worked on for a while. I got a new laptop, so I have been having some trouble transfering photos and digital scrapbooking supplies over to my laptop, but I am loving it. Soon, you will be seen my new crafts on my silhouette.

crazy little guy...just turned 1 1/2 years old

2010-01-22T16:44:00.000-08:00

I know that I always say that I wanted a girl so that she could go to my high school and be in DG. But yesterday was the first time Phil said that he wanted a girl. Apparently Bryant was getting on top of our coffee table then doing a summersault to the couch... what craziness from a 1 1/2 year old...Phil said that this is the first time he wished Bryant was girl and just sitting on the couch watching TV next to him instead of acting crazy.

The pictures below are from last weekend...we were at my parent's tax business. Bryant used the copy paper box that my dad placed sideways to prevent him from opening the cabinet doors, to climb on top of and see what is on the counter. This was the second time he did this. The first time I got off the chair and ran over to get him off. The second time, I realized he was kinda safe, so I grabbed my camera and took these shots.

My mom always reminds me that I should be thankful that he is able to be so active, but I don't yet quite appreciate him being this active...

I guess I should appreciate him wanting to help out. Later his is not going to want to be at the counter helping my dad at the office.

and the stocking were hung...

2009-12-21T23:27:00.000-08:00

...well they soon will be at my parent's house. I made the boys names with fabic on the silhouette and ironed them on...they look great.

hum...I think Phil and I need new ones.

sushi dinner with Phil's family...

2009-12-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

I always joke that my family bugs all the time, but I really do miss them when they are gone. My parents have been gone for two weeks tomorrow, and my sister and her family has been gone one week. They went to Lake Tahoe...ah Lake Tahoe...I wish I was able to get time off work and go. I really miss skiing which is weird since I am afraid of heights. It sometimes hits me how afraid of height I am while I am on the mountain and then I have a hard time coming down....without help.

Since I was missing my family, we went out for sushi with Phil's family and saw Sandy and Larry's new pad. Great times!! We had a great time with everyone. Too bad it was a Sunday night and had to go to work the next day, or else we would have hung out much later.

Anthony...

...Sandy ...

Ruben, Jordan, Ty, and Darlene...

...Larry and Sierra...

and of course us.

busy working...

2009-12-19T21:16:00.000-08:00

Working on my Christmas cards...with my little helper..

Check out the cool gifts I have been making...if you get it, please act surprised!!

Christmas past...

2009-12-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post some pictures of the boys from last year. I have been busy making holiday decorations and cards...I will finish and show you soon!

Max ...

Eli...

Bryant...

The boys look so different in one year!!

Happy Birthday Jr....

2009-12-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

missing you a lot...

This picture was taken on May 13, 2006 while we were vacationing at Solvange during Mother's Day weekend with my parents, Liz and Eddie, my grandparents and Jr. and Michelle. Jr. passed away June 2007, it has been two and half years, but it seems like yesterday...

December 1 used to be the happiest day...first day to the count down to Christmas, and Jr.'s birthday...but it is now bitter sweet.

Thanksgiving decor...

2009-12-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

I did these with my silhouette!! I also did wine "charms" thanks to Tara's ideas, but I forgot to take photos.

The top is a leaf wreath. The bottom says "GRATEFUL" twice in a wreath.

This is the pumpkin place card...

This is the leaf place card. I alternated them on the plates.

season of...family

2009-11-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

Season of Family... Season of Bessing, Season of Thanks, Season of Love. I will show the picture of my door frame next time, which has this saying on it.

This photo is of Eli, Bryant and Max learning to bowl last night at Game works. We celebrated Phil's birthday at Game works in downtown Long Beach. I am going to be having my work Christmas party there, so I wanted to get some practice in bowling before the event. I haven't bowled since high school. We had so much fun, we will definately want to do this again soon.

The above photo was this morning at breakfast at Geoffy's in San Pedro. Liz and Eddie want to eat there. Max has the same love for ketchup that my dad has. Who would have thougth it was a genetic trait? We are definately passing our love for breakfast to the boys, yesterday we had breakfast at Schooner or Later. Funny picture below. We took a walk after breakfast around the Marina, and Bryant refused to walk, we kept taking a break. I ended up having to carry his 27 lbs around.

I didn't have any picture of us at my parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I only took photos of my decorations...I will post those next time.

These next photos are from Thanksgiving with the Calderon's. Haley took the pictures which is why they came out a little blurry. I feel bad that I didn't have a picture of my assistant photograph ...well at least I was in the pictures...finally.

This photo was taken at the Miyamura Thanksgiving dinner held on Sunday. Missing was Wally, who was the photographer of this picture...I should have brought my tripod (not the dog his name is Triton). Also missing Ted, he didn't come out of his room unfortunately.

Here is Phil's grandmother and uncle with Bryant. Phil went to visit her before Thanksgiving so she could see Bryant. I can't believe he was sitting on her...although this photo is such a great shot, I love the tender kiss she is giving him!!

halloween time...

2009-10-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from my front door, I made the signs with my silhouette!! I love this machine.

Here is a close up of the signs.

These pictures are from Liz's moms' club event last Saturday. I forgot my camera for my moms' club even which was on Friday. But Bryant looked just as cute!

My mom made the boys pirate costumes including the cute belts!!

bryant's baptism...

2009-10-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that I didn't post any pictures recently, but I had been sick with a cold all weekend. Today is the first day I am finally feeling so much better, and not dragging myself to work, meetings, etc. Luckily it was just a cold, and not the swine flu...those poor people that have the swine flu.

Josh, my cousin, with Bryant.

I was holding him while Deacon Carl, poured water over his forehead. He didn't even cry, but he did give me a dirty look. My sister and my bother-in-law, Eddie, are his godparents. They bought him his super pimp daddy outfit, it even included white shoes, socks, and underwear.
My parents with the boys.

My grandparents with Bryant. You can see Bryant's outfit better in this picture. I love his cute white bow tie, vest, and tuxedo pants.

My cousin, David, and his fiancee, Karina, with Bryant.

Funny story, Eddie convinced Josh, David and Karina that they also had to wear white to the Baptism since it was part of our parishes customs. They actually went out and bought white outfits for the event. It was really sweet of them to go all out for the event.

love...

2009-10-16T22:01:00.001-07:00

I love Phil for buying me the silhouette for my birthday!!! I love my silhouette!! The first thing I cut out was...my name. I welded the letters and added a flower on the end. It was so easy, I could not believe it, because I had heard so many complaints about the difficulty to use.

but then I finished my project for Liz...you are going to see so many more projects with my sil...

Can I just say how much I love stampin up products and ideas from my demonstrators?!?!

Tara made these goodie bags.

Liz also bought me some inks and Tara gave me my products in this super cute bag!! Talk about doing what you preach. She also made the cutest designs for place settings using the Autumn Splendor stamp set and the Autumn Meadows designer paper.

Julie did these goodie bags. My favorite was the box, I can see so many great ideas from using this box over and over again!! And decorating the candy...

The tough decision is who gets the bags...before Phil opens them up and eats all the candy.

friends...

2009-10-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend was about seeing old friends in San Diego...

On Saturday we went to San Diego for Lilly's baby shower... more pics at my shutterfly website. Actually I posted all the pictures on the shutterfly website.

Later that night we went out for dinner at Casa de Pico and met up with Clara and Carl. It is always great to see Clara.

Then on Sunday we drove back to San Diego to see Mike, Jen and Lucas. Mike and Phil grew up together in Walnut. Yes, I know we should have spent the night in San Diego instead of driving down there two days in a row, but I just started working so we weren't able to afford to stay down there. We had a great time with Mike and Jen and Jen's family at the Wild Animal Park. Can I just say that we have gotten our money's worth from those year passes from the San Diego Zoo!! Nice.

ever wonder what pet's think....

2009-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from a Dog’s Daily Diary:
8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat’s Daily Diary:Day 683 of my captivity:My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.
The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the floor.Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a “good little hunter” I am. The audacity!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies.” I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow– but at the top of the stairs.I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released — and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded!

(I could not stop laughing...)

thank you cards...

2009-09-19T01:04:00.000-07:00

Finally finished my first thank you card...

the first one is always the hardest but then it is mass production time and it comes much easier. Thanks to Liz for her help!! It also qualifies for the PPA Simple Sketch. They have such great ideas. Thanks to Tara for the inspiration.

korean bbq taco truck...

2009-09-19T00:44:00.000-07:00

Yes you read right...Liz and I got the boys out last night and followed the Korean bbq taco truck. Yummy...

It is kinda odd that you have look up the website to know where they are going to be at that night and then go and eat there. The truck was coming to the LBC so Liz and boys came on down for some food. Luckily Josh and Melissa got there first, so we didn't have to wait in the long line.

I don't think the line would be as long if they had a Mexican guy back there working in the truck. It took about 5 mins wait after you placed the order...that would never be the case in o.g. King Taco Truck.

Hard to see but the line in the back turned left and still continued further back to the street...It was kinda of a odd place, they was a second hand store selling merchandise, free ice cream, and a lady selling sweets. I convinced Liz to buy a chocolate cupcake that was inside a mason jar, really cute. The Max and Bryant (no surprise) were really hungry so we ate the cupcake before there were any pictures take. They would get so mad if Liz and I took a bite of the cupcake. A few time Eli got skipped because he was more interested in playing than eating. However Max and Bryant would not leave Liz alone until it was all done. Once we got the food, we had a picnic on the cement...

Sketches

2009-09-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

Check out!! I love this card sketch idea book from Kristina. I was orginally going to give it to Liz, since she makes more cards than but it came out so nice, I thought I should keep it for myself. Am I being an "indian giver" if I really never gave it to her, but thought about it????

Maybe I will make her one after I send out Bryant's thank you cards. Although I feel he should send them out.

Labor Day weekend...

2009-09-09T00:04:00.000-07:00

Friday Bryant and I had breakfast with Liz, and hung out by checking out scrapbooking stores!!

On Saturday we went to the Calderon's to hang out and celebrate Larry's birthday.

At first Bryant didn't want to go into the pool even though he was fully insulated. They don't heat their pool, so I didn't blame him, I didn't go into the water either.

Then he decided to hang out with Ty on the steps of the pool.

Then he went in just in his swimming diapers. He was crying because he didn't want to leave. Everyone was having fun, but it was getting dark and him for his bedtime.

On Sunday we went to the Animal Park in San Diego. Even though Phil and I went to college in San Diego we had never been to it. Since we got year pass to the SD zoo, it also included free admission to the Animal Park, free parking, and a tram ride!!! We had a great time.

Although we were a little to close to the animals...

Then on Monday we had breakfast with my parents, and went to the Greek festival for dinner. I wish the pictures would have come out because we had a great time, but the pictures came out really dark.

bryant's belated birthday party...

2009-09-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate on last minute notice. I wasn't planning to celebrate his 1st birthday since it was while he was on vacation in Florida with my parents, but my parents convinced me otherwise. It had to be last weekend because this weekend was Labor Day weekend.

We had a great time even though it was really hot. Luckily my parent's also convinced me to have it at their house instead of the park, they had the AC on full blast. The taco guy was great, and the kids kept going in and out of the jumper to cool off back inside the house. It must have been over 100 degrees in the jumper. Also thanks to my sister and bother in law Eddie for purchasing ice cones, which were perfect for this weather!!

We had to wait until after 4 pm for the sun to go down in order to break the piñata and then cut the cake. However, by then the birthday boy fell asleep. He had refused to take his nap earlier in the day when we were setting up for the party, so of course by 3:30 pm he could longer stay awake.

Max is so excited as he is getting ready to hit the pinata.

My grandma with Bryant as we were setting up for the party.
Liz and I made the banners and many of decorations for the birthday party. I can't wait until I buy the Silhouette SD, it will be so much easier.

Man v. Food...

2009-08-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

The eating contest went great. I will let Phil talk about it. Here are some of the pictures from the event. More on my shutterfly website.

This is Phil getting ready to start...

Each plate had 5 tacos on it. Phil finishing his second plate, and about to start his third plate.

Taken after the event. Bryant was going crazy that his dad was eating and not sharing. I should have bought a taco for Bryant inside, but I didn't want to miss any part of the event. I had to give Bryant to Phil so that Bryant could eat a taco after they counted Phil's tacos.

Are you ready for some footballl?

2009-08-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, Mexico won yesterday!!!

Just kidding...not that Mexico won, but I am talking about Football, not soccer.

I can't believe the first pre-season game of the Raiders was today!! YEAH, (I am more excited than Phil, Edgar, and my uncle Rigo). I get several hours to scrapbook and Phil gets to "watch" Bryant while watching the game. This is so much better than the Lakers games that are only 2 hrs. Football games last forever...the last 5 minutes alone could last half an hour....so I got Bryant ready for tonight's game.

Weigh in Wednesday

2009-08-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I decided to start documenting my weight...I know it is hard for me but Bryant just turned one, and I still haven't lost the weight. Enough is enough. I joined Weight Watchers, and plan to eat healthy dinners. Starting weight was 153 on March 2. I am only down to 146. I have stayed at this same weight since June 24. I know that it was difficult to stay on course while I was studying for the Bar and the week of the Bar, but that was 2 weeks ago, what is my excuse now? I run quit a bit, although it does show. I always wonder how big I would be if I didn't run. I think I need to do some changes... like exercise more regularly instead of when I remember or when I "feel" like running...and eat clean at least 6 days a week instead of "celebrating" with dessert or ordering my favorite fish and chips every time we eat out. Any suggestions?

Supreme Court Justice...

2009-08-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sonya is the first Hispanic female...=) Very proud day for me. Even as a little girl I have always wanted to be a tax attorney (I know I am not the type, I don't like brown suits). Luckily, my parents encourage me to be whatever I wanted. When people would say to them "are you pushing your daughter to be an attorney...it is a very difficult job...she is only going to be married and have kids why does she want to go through all that school?" My parents would just say "she can be an attorney if that is what she really wants to be." Although they encouraged me to be whatever I wanted, I really couldn't get any advice from them or their friends, none were attorneys. I always wished I knew a Hispanic female attorney growing up to mentor me. I am so excited that one glass ceiling has been broken...even if she is a democrat.

PS...still looking for an estate planning/tax attorney mentor...

Picture Friday

2009-08-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

Liz and I went Shop Hopping to different Scrapbook stores in LA. We had a great time. We went to about 13 stores in total, but didn't notice that three of there were closed when we got there (either we got there too early or too late). This Friday we are off to OC and SD's scrapbook stores. There are a few in the IE that we want to see soon, but we haven't choosen a date. Liz is going to Santa Barbara on Saturday for her anniversary, and is going to be stopping at a few stores on the way. Yep I'm jealous, that I have to be at work instead. Liz is going to post the pictures of us at the different stores on her blog. I have bought so much new stuff, I have to get scrapping soon. Anyone want to join me, for scrapping and a glass of wine at my place?

----As for the picture----

Phil, Bryant, and I went into our pool on Sunday, and then decided it would be a great idea to have a pool party the following Sunday and invite the family. These are pictures our of us hanging out at the pool.

We had the pool party on Sunday...too bad my mom had it work, budget time at the government. My dad, my grandparents, Liz, Eddie, and the boys came down and had a great time. Phil grilled burgers and hot dogs. I also forgot to bring my camera, but Liz took pictures. Hopefully she will have them on her blog soon.

photo(s) friday...

2009-07-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the week:

Bryant is soooo much like Phil, he is just going to town on those ribs...

even double fisting...

I am so excited, they are arriving a day early, so I will see him tomorrow!! Phil is taking him on Saturday to a bbq event that Eric brother and cousin are participating in. We went last year and had a blast...(even got to see Sam from The Cooking Guy).

...talking about Eric.... I also wanted to post my favorite picture from Eric and Diana's wedding. I don't know why they were so nervous, they have know each other for 15 years!!

We had such a great time, and I love the beach wedding, just like mine ;)

where in the world is Carmen...

2009-07-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

In case you have been wonder about me lately hiding under a rock... I have been studying for the Bar.

Yep that me, with glasses, no make up, hair messy etc. And if I had a wide angle lens (hint) you would see the brown sweatpants I have been living in.

I also want to thank all my friends and family for putting up with me during this time. I have been neurotic, crazy, flaky, bad at returning e-mails, not attending birthday parties or bachelorette parties, not being on FB, not updating my blog, not scrapbooking (I know I did take a class, but not the same), etc... I plan to make it up to you as soon as I get back!!!

Especially want to thank Phil for supporting me through all this and for all the "yes, I need a latte mocha from Coffee Bean to study," and him driving me there at all hours of the night. Love ya babe!

But I am excited to take the Bar, and look forward to getting my life back! See you soon!

I drive out to Ontario tomorrow, and it is from Tuesday - Thursday. Not much to do in Ontario so I plan to drive back on Thursday evening. Hopefully I am back in time for the concert in the park and a glass of wine (or two after all Bryant isn't back until Sunday)! Anyone want to join us?

happy birthday pumpkin

2009-07-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he was born today last year!! I am really missing him today more than I have since he left on Wednesday. I can't wait until he comes back home.

My grandpa sent me this picture of him...he just like his mama!!! ha ha... I hope he said "cheers" beforehand. Phil and I have been teaching him to say cheers everytime we pick up our cups.

Weiner Dog Races for the SBACC

2009-07-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Phil and I had so much fun today at the Weiner dog races. It was our first time at Los Alamitos Race Track. Erin's mom and sister volunteer at the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, and the shelter has their yearly fundraiser at the race track. The main attraction is the Weiner dog races (they also had the horse races). Erin had extra tickets, and was kind enough to give them to us, so Phil and I went. (It was a study break for me, which was so needed.) Unfortunately Phil had my cell phone in his pocket and didn't hear my cell ringing so we didn't get to hang out with Erin. In the end we were so tired from walking around everywhere looking for seats, it was very crowded (great turnout) and hot that we left before it ended.

Baby James

2009-07-18T22:22:00.001-07:00

Welcome Baby James!!!

(Oh how I miss Bry! Although according to my parent's he doesn't miss us.)

Mr. B

2009-07-11T17:55:00.001-07:00

Mr. B
Originally uploaded by Diana Mattar

I love this picture that my friend Diana Mattar took of Bryant when he turned 8 months old. (I really need a better lens for my camera...wish list)

I will miss him so much as he leaves for two weeks to Orlando Fl with my parents. Not to mention that Phil and I am going to be missing his 1st Birthday with him. We will have a party for him when he returns. I wish I could go...too bad I have to take the Bar.

working on my resolution...photoshop elements

2009-07-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

One of my new year's resolutions this year was to learn more how to use photoshop elements and to learn a little bit on digital scrapbooking. During tax season I saved up some money and signed up to take a class from Patty D the digital scrapbooking teacher. I signed up back in April and the first available class at my local scrapbook shop Scrapbooking Heaven was last weekend in Huntington Beach. I loved her, she was great. She is also very popular, there was a lady and her husband that flew in from Texas to take her class!!

Anyways...check out what I learned to do in one weekend, what I could not figure out on my own after several months of trying...

I gave the pages I made for Liz and my parents to them already, but I still have to give Ashley her page. I don't know what Phil is planning to do with his page.

Father's Day Gift...

2009-06-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Just want to show off my father's day gift to Phil...

I bought the wooden photo cube from Michael's painted it, and decorated it with paper and ribbon. I thought Phil would love this at work. I also made one for my dad and my brother-in-law, but I forgot to take pictures of theirs before they took it home on Sunday.

One of the photos Phil really wanted in the cube didn't fit into the space, which is why it is empty. Luckily I have signed up for a photo digital class this weekend, so I will know how to do all this cool stuff on Photoshop Elements, like resize a photo without distorting it funny.

The Hernandez Family Portrait...

books I have read...

2009-06-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

So, apparently (or supposedly - no one seems to be able to confirm the veracity of this claim) the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 beloved books listed below.

I read 36 of these, but most were mandatory for Immaculate Heart HS and I was bored during summer time in high school. So far my friend Izabelle Reyes has read more 49!! Anyone beat that??? Any recommendations on ones I haven’t read?

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'X' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE; add a '-" to the ones you HATE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X+

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X-

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X+

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X+

6 The Bible - really? the entire Bible?!?

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte X+

8 Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell X

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X+

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X+

12 Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy *

13 Catch-22 - Joseph Heller X

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare X (took a class at UCSD)

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier X++

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X- (Tried reading several times only finished it because it was for HS)

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger X+

19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell * (I also want to see the movie)

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (Started but didn’t finish)

25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (started but too boring)

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky X

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen X+

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen * (I know a Jane Austen book I haven’t read)

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernières

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden *

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez X

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X++(Of course what 13 year old girl didn’t love this book)

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X-

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley X

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov *

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas *

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding *

69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker *

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert X

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte's Web - EB White X

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery X (Read it in French)

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X (this is technically counting twice??)

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Ronald Dahl X

100 Les Misérables - Victor Hugo

AOTP

2009-06-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

This week Bryant and I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific twice. Good thing we have season passes!!

We went on Thursday with Liz and the twins. This was the only picture we could get the boys to stand still (although not Bryant) to take a picture of all of us together.

Then we went on Saturday with Phil, Edgar, Laura and the kids...

Laura and Sofia, I wish I had a girl...

Afterwards we went for dinner to the Yardhouse. It was great to see the Perez Family, we wish they lived closer and could hang out all the time.

Then Phil and I went to celebrate Sandy's 40th Birthday!!! We tried to party like rock stars, but Bryant did not want to go to sleep (even though it was past midnight), which was a little of a buzz kill. Darlene did a great job with the decorations. I wish I would have taken a picture of the bowl with all the "Sandy" pictures on it. It was such a great idea.

It was a busy Saturday, not to mentioned that it all started with a 5 mile run at 7 am!! We are training for the Long Beach 1/2 Marathon.

falling asleep while eating...

2009-06-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

My parent's joined us for breakfast at Schooner or Later (one of our favorite places for breakfast) on Sunday. We could not stop from laughing because Bryant was falling asleep while eating...

In case you noticed, Bryant has a bad fall that Sunday morning. He was trying to use the curtains to hold himself up to walk, and instead hit his head right on the corner of the sliding glass door and the wall and then hit his head again on the metal threshold when fell. I saw him as he was trying to use the curtains but I could not run over fast enough to catch him...my poor baby.

guess who is walking???

2009-06-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend he decided to walk more than a few steps... especially on Sunday. We were at my parents house celebrating my grandparent's 54th wedding anniversary, when Bryant decided to start walking with his balloon. I guess the balloon gave him the confidence to walk alone. My parent's video taped the whole thing.

I took these picture on Monday evening right after he had reached for my open water bottle on the dinning room table and poured it all over himself. I didn't realize he had grown tall enough to reach for things on the table.

Starting position. He is just standing and staring at me.

(Notice that Triton has Bryant's sock in his mouth and Phil is just watching. Bryant for some reason is able to walk without one sock or shoe. I would have imagine that to be difficult since it would throw his balance off.)

...walking towards me...

...he is running past me towards the hallway.

Happy Birthday Max and Eli

2009-06-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Max and Eli's 2nd birthday. We celebrated by going to Chucky Cheese. Although it was last minute planning, we had a ton of fun...

The beautiful and very yummy pineapple upside down cake my sister made. (Sorry you missed out Dad! Our Dad loves pineapples.) She does make really good cakes, but she is after all a pastry chef. But for my birthday she made me rice crispy treats, not that they weren't good , they were delicious but I expected a chocolate cake. Do pastry chefs make rice crispy treats???

Max blowing out the candle

Eli blowing out the candle

Wow, I don't know who had more fun the boys or Phil...I wish I had a picture of Phil on some of the rides it was hilarious.

Yes, I know, Bryant has no fear...I would have been afraid to have been up that high. I am afraid of heights. He on the other hand want to be up there the whole time and would get upset when the ride ended.

All of this reminds me that Bryant turns one next month!!! I have to plan his 1st birthday. Wow time flies. The last time we came here Bryant was about 1 month old, and the twins were about 14 months old. The twins were just starting to walk and not too much into the games. Now Bryant is trying to walk around everywhere, and the twins were not eating because they wanted to ride on the games the whole time. Max would just come to the table pick up a chicken wing and then take off again with the chicken wing in hand.

1st haircut...

2009-06-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well.. he needed a haircut...We were hoping that it was not going to be until after his first birthday, but as you can see it could not wait any longer.

He didn't cry or mind the haircut.

I did have to hold him because he was trying to check out Jaime, my friend and hair dresser, the whole time, and wanted to see what she was doing.

So cute... Do you think he looks like a little boy and not like a baby any longer?? I think he still looks like a baby, my baby!!

being Catholic

2009-05-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Finally on Saturday I am going to be getting Confirmed. And I am so excited!! I did not have to do two year of Catechism. In case you are wondering why I wasn't confirmed considering that I went to Catholic school until I went to college, yes even pre-pre-school: I felt that I should have being able to get confirmed through the school. I am a devote Catholic, but taking religion class everyday from pre-school until 12th grade and going to mass every Friday in elementary in addition to going to church with my family on Sunday was more than enough to show my devotion to my faith. I felt that I also didn't need to give up after school sports, and activities for 2 years in high school to show my devotion.

I heard recently that the reason for having us "Catholic school kids" attend the after school Catechism classes was not to torture us, but to include the non Catholic school kids into the community. Yes, it is turn that we, Catholic school kids, knew the priest better, and (at that time) the boys from the school could only be the alter boys. But I didn't realize that they felt outcasted or that we were snobby/inclusive. We just knew each other because we saw each other everyday. And you can't pretend not to know your class mates when your class size is about 25 students. So we were a little close knit. Yes, we did laugh at those kids, that didn't know the Apostle's Creed by heart, took communion the wrong way, didn't know when to kneel, stand or sit, didn't know the words to the songs, or could not sit through mass without being entertained i.e. coloring books, toys etc. But you have to realize that we went to mass every Friday for 8 years in elementary school!! We had to know all the words, and songs, and weren't allowed to bring anything with us. Even as first and second graders we had to be quite all though mass. We could probably lead the mass and recite all the words if the priest was sick.

Since Phil got baptised on Easter Vigil (thanks to are friends for coming out to support us), I decided to sign up and get confirmed. Little did I realize that it was only going to be six weeks. It is great, and I don't even have to memorize the Nicene Creed!! (Although I will, because it is embarrassing not knowing all the words. For the first time I am getting a little of my own taste of being an outsider.)

I decided on a Saint, St. Camilla. I love the name. Originally I wanted to be the patron saint of alter girls, since I always wanted to be an alter girl. Alas, I was born too late. But my younger cousin was an alter girl, and it made me so so proud. And thank you too all my friends that had other creative suggestions like St. Man Cave etc. but it did have to be a real saint.

If anyone wishes to attend it is going to be at St. Bartolomew in Long Beach. Saturday, May 30 Vigil Mass at 5pm.

Unfortunately no pictures of Phil's Baptism, Bryant got really anxious after 2 hrs and I had to be in the outside part of the Church, so I couldn't take any pictures. Then afterwards we were all being pushed out of the Church so I couldn't take any pictures of us.

Here are a few pictures of the new Los Angeles Cathedral when Phil was a Catechumen (i.e. never baptized). I expected there to statues of Saints, but instead there were murals, which is different, and takes some time to get used to.

I did find one beautify statute...

Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Los Angeles Archbishop, in purple, entering to begin the ceremony...

...the blessing of half of the Los Angeles County Catechumens...

a picture of the St. Bart's parish Catechumens, sponsors and a few of their instructors...

behind them is an ornate and beautiful alter from a parish from Spain. Apparently that parish sold their alter because the city needed the money after the Spanish Civil War. Such a sad story, I could not imagine our parish having to sell the alter. They don't make them like that anymore.

Poison Control

2009-05-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

Last week on Wednesday, Bryant gave me quite a scare that morning, and I needed to call poison control. Here is their phone number (800) 222-1222 in case anyone else needs it and the website is http://www.aapcc.org/DNN/.

the story...

Bryant was "walking", in his walker, around the house while I was cleaning. I saw that he had something in his mouth. I thought it was a rock that I have on the coffee table. I don't have a rock on the coffee table it is candles surrounded by decorative rocks . Going back to the story.... he has put these rocks in his mouth before. I went to pull it out, and it wasn't a rock. It was a package that the manufactures put in shoe boxes and purses to keep them dry. I pulled it out, and realized that the package had been open, there were little beads on his walker, in his mouth and on the floor. I was totally freaking out, because those things come with warnings not to ingest it. I called the doctors office, and after answering a ton of questions they had me call poison control. When I called poison control they said not to worry, he could have eaten the whole package and been okay.

Memorial Weekend...

2009-05-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

It started on Thursday evening...we went to Legends to watch some basketball game. Surprisingly, Bryant yells, and screams could not be heard over everyone else cheering and yelling over the game. People were really surprised how great he was behaving at a sports bar, I guess they really could not hear him.

On Friday, Bryant spent the day with my dad and the twins. After work Phil and I went and picked him up. We went out for dinner with my parents and the boys to a local Italian restaurant in Downey.

Saturday we had breakfast at Chuck's near the pier. I wanted a beach view but it was crowded so we had to sit inside. The mimosas were still good inside, which is a good thing. It seemed that they have the same highchairs my parents had for me when I was Bryant's age. Check out those metal highchairs...Then we went to LA Marathon Expo to check out some really good deals on running stuff. Bryant had quite a fever while we were walking around so we decided to stop at Kaiser and make sure he was okay. He did have a fever, but he was okay. We also found out that he is 21 lbs. We would have guessed way more. He is quite heavy. We were suppose to go to a going away party for our friends Beth and Cheston before they leave Cali for Colorado, but with Bryant having a fever, we were scared he would be contagious or get worse. Sorry Beth for not going!!

On Sunday Bryant got much better, and didn't have a high fever anymore. We met up with Edgar, Laura, Carlos and Sofia at the San Diego Zoo. Again we missed mass, but it would not have been possible to attend mass and still make it to San Diego. Originally we were suppose to go to the Padres game , but we weren't able to the get tickets, so we decided on the Zoo. It was perfect, because we have been wanting to go to the zoo!! Although it wasn't perfect for Phil since we didn't take our stroller he had to carry Bryant around.

You can see the elephant behind Phil and Bryant.

Then on Monday, we had breakfast on 2nd street and went to the beach. Yes, we walked to both breakfast and the beach, since it was only .5 mile away, but we walked up the coast towards downtown Long Beach. We walked all the way to the Long Beach Museum of Art, which made it about 6 miles round trip walk. Yes, I am trying to lose the baby weight. (What is up with my hair, Phil should have said something before he took my picture!! Got to love the ocean breeze.)

Happy Birthday Natalie...

2009-05-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

On May 17th we had a super busy Sunday. We had to miss Church unfortunately because we had to travel to inland, great ready, and pack all our stuff.

First, we went to Sofia's daughter's baby shower. It was a family baby shower so Phil and Bryant also went with me. It was great, Phil took Bryant inside the pool. I wish I taken a picture he was so cute in his wet suit. (Yes wet suit, later Phil took off his wet suit and had him in his swim suit.) We have been waiting for the temp to increase to at least 78 degrees before we put him in our pool, but it has been really cool with the marina layer here in Long Beach. We figuered that it was going to be warmer in Diamond Bar, and it was. Perfect poolside weather, which was nice!!

Then we were off to Chino Hills...for Natalie's Birthday. We had a great time celebrating Natalie's 1st Birthday on May 17th. We got there late, so we missed family and activities. But Nise waited for us to break the pinata!

Of course by then, Natalie was exhased and missed the pinata breaking ceremony...

However she woke up for the watermelon eating contest...

"Phil, do you think Bryant might have done this before..."

Mother's Day

2009-05-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was really great. I completely forgot that I was a mother until Phil asked me "what I wanted to do for Mother's Day?" I said "I didn't know and that I would ask my mom." He then said "this is your day too!" " That's right it is my day!! I am a mom. Wow! I am a mom..."

Well we still went to my parent's house. Liz and the boys showed up. I can't believe we are all moms. Liz bought us beautiful flowers which we are wearing.
I loved the gift I made for my mom with the help of Scrapbooking Heaven.

Then we went to Phil's uncle and aunt's house. It was great seeing everyone.

Phil's cousin Bobby and his wife Staci and their little girl came to visit from Colorado. We really do need to go out there and visit them. We miss them so much!

time...

2009-05-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

...(Sorry dad- no photos yet, just a "book")...

I know that so much time has passed since my last blog entry. Excuses, excuses, excuses...tax season finally ended!!!, and then my desktop computer crashed. I thought I was going to have my first heart attach at my young age.

All I could think of is of all my photos, which are not backed up anywhere. We finally got a new computer, and Phil has been slowly working on getting it up speed. I am not techky (sp???) , so when it breaks down I don't know what to do. As it is I get really upset when I get online for one reason or another. Phil has had to download all my software and my files which were painstakingly restored to this new desktop.

Then just as it seemd that all was well, when for the last two almost three weeks we could not find the Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0. I had so many pictures on my camera, and I could not down load them because I live this habit of fixing right after I download them or I never get around to doing it later.

Without telling me, (although he meant well) Phil download Photoshop 3.0 and download all my pictures from the camera. I almost cried (okay I did cry). They were not saved in the files I am use to saving them, and it was about 2 months of pictures... I did not know how to work Photoshop 3.0 and I did not want to sit down and figure it out. I had too much to do. Phil deciding to make thing better, when out and bought me Photoshop 7 for Mother's Day (thanks hun!!!) So I am slowing learning how to use it. Please wait patiently until the perfectionist in me feels that it is perfect to download those pictures.

the boys are back in town...

2009-03-23T12:41:00.001-07:00

Bryant was having fun hanging out with his cousins at the AQOP...

Getting completely wet outside...

checking out the Sea Lions inside...

Melissa and Catalina also joined us...

surprises...

2009-03-20T14:32:00.001-07:00

I love surprises, but not always. I usually do not have a problem when my friends or family use my camera to take pictures at events. I tend to be a perfectionist, including with photos. I 99% of the time carry my camera with me, but I don't use it unless there is a perfect situation. By perfect I mean, me looking perfect, or the something I think I should take a picture of and want to scrapbook. I thought I would get over this feeling when I got a digital camera and it doesn't matter how many picture I take, I don't have to pay for the development. But the feeling hasn't gone away. Least to say that I am very grateful, when I download my picture and find that others have been taking pictures, although not perfect, they are taking pictures of great moments, that I would not have thought were great at the time, but are. These are surprises I love.

However, when I was downloading these weeks pictures, I found some that were so cute of Bryant taking a bath. I never get to take pictures of him taking a bath. Then I realized that I didn't take them, Phil did. Then I thought why was he looking for the camera and taking pictures instead of making sure Bryant was safe, especially while he was taking a bath!!! Yes I was surprised, and the jury is out as to whether it is a good or bad surprise.

PS ask me to take photos when we are hanging out with me at places, dinner, etc. I really regret not having picture of all the stuff I do with family and friends.

just like great grandma and great grandpa...

2009-03-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

There are certain family traits that I have started to notice in Bryant. Lately Bryant has had this new thing about sticking out his tongue. I don’t know if it is because he is teething or if it is hereditary. My grandma sticks out her tongue a lot and we tease her about it.

He also has my grandpa feet. I knew that my grandpa and his sister had crooked toes, but my mom said that it was because they wore cheap shoes. I think my mom told me this because she never liked the idea that I loved shoes, and instead of me wanting one pair of shoes, I wanted several. Since we were broke when I was going up, I thought I would convince her to by me cheap shoes at payless etc so that I could have more to choose from, instead of buying one good pair. So I was very surprised when Bryant was born that he had crooked toes… he had not worn cheap shoes.

7 year itch...

2009-03-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, time flies by fast when you are having fun. I can't believe we have been married for 7 years, and I still haven't finished scrapbooking our pictures from our "reception".

We decided to have some R&R time in Palm Springs. Bryant was of course so sad to see us leave.... It makes me wonder if he will be like us and oh so excited to leave for college...

Although we had a late start, we still got to Palm Spring around 3pm. We decided to go to the River for some ice-cream and walk around. I don't know what possessed Phil but he really wanted to take a picture with the hog.

We went out for dinner at Falls restaurant. We had been recommended there by the locals; because of they had great martinis and steaks. It was a perfect combo for the two of us. The martinis were great, they put dry ice into the drink to make it smoky, it was so alluring that Phil even had one with me. We had their baked oysters as an appetizer, and it was delicious.

However, once we were about to eat dinner Phil was about to order his steak when he asked the waiter what he recommended. The waiter said that the lamb was the best. Phil went against his want of steak and order the lamb. I should have done the same, because the lamb was perfect, although my steak was also superb.

wants to stand

2009-03-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

I walked into his room on March 3 to find him standing in his crib. Oh my gosh, I almost fainted, because he was grabing on to the mobile. Instead of grabing him I grab the camera and my cell phone to text photo. It was so amazing and scary at the same time. Although by the time I took the picture, he had grabed on to his crib.

Later that night, we were playing on the floor, but he refused to stay on the floor. He just wanted to try to walk. He stood up holding on to the dog's cage most of the time.

7 months

2009-03-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken February 20... on his 7 month birthday. He could not stand still for anything in the world to take a picture. I can't wait until he is a little older so that I can bribe him to stay still. I have taking pictures of him every month birthday with the dog, and this time he would not stay still or leave the dog alone. He kept playing the whole time.

Baby Catalina...

2009-03-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

Here is a party favor gift from Melissa baby shower that was soooo cute!!!

Little feet...

We'll miss you Michael...

2009-03-02T22:18:00.001-08:00

Michael is leaving to the army for boot camp, so we decided to have a small family party to wish him the best at boot camp! Thanks to the Aunt Rose and Uncle Robert for hosting the event at their house. Also thanks to Aunt Linda and Uncle Gilbert for bring all that food. Although we were worried that it was going to rain, and it was a great day to bar-b-que.

Michael and Bryant.

Michael and Grandma Lupe!

Even Uncle Wally Miyamura was able to stop by and hang out for a while.

A day hanging out...

2009-03-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

Phil decided to take off a day from work, so we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Since Liz and I were going about every two weeks with the boys, I decided to get a year pass. For a few dollars etc I got the family pass, even though “when they are under three they are free.” I figured it would be worth it if Phil went even twice a year! We are so happy that we got the season pass. It was raining on and off, but we still had so much fun.

Yes, I was there too....

Christmas at Phil's Grandma Lupe's House

2009-01-21T22:39:00.001-08:00

10 pictures
View Album at Shutterfly

Aquarium with Liz, Eddie and the boys

2009-01-21T22:36:00.001-08:00

7 pictures
View Album at Shutterfly

Happy Birthday Bryant!!

2009-01-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

It is his 6th month birthday. Now I know how other parents felt when they used to see Bryant as a newborn and say that they remembered when their baby was a newborn. During mass on Sunday, a lady had her newborn 6 weeks old, and I could not stop myself from saying “I remember when my baby was a newborn, it seemed like it was just yesterday” as she was looking at my little guy holding his own bottle, while her baby was sleeping through mass.

But he is still so cute…my little pumpkin...

what are your resolutions...

2009-01-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

(First off I would like to say, "sorry Dad no pics on this post")

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Are you keeping them?

I finally decided to post mine on rather than keeping them a secret. Apparently if you let others know about your goals you are more likely to follow through with them.

1. Lose 20 lbs- I decided that I really need to lose 20lbs (and no it isn't baby weight I am back to where I was before I was pregnant.) I also want to run a 1/2 marathon this year, maybe the Long Beach. --So far I have been taking a lunch into work daily, but I need to workout. I think I need a workout or running buddy;)

2. Travel - Phil and I really don't have the money to travel somewhere far like Australia like Is and Ric. We decided that even going somewhere close like Palms Springs, Santa Barbara/Solvang would be fine. Our original plans BB (“Before Bryant”) was to travel to Europe and do a two week big city tour that Phil’s uncle and aunt did. They had such a great time, and saw so much. Right before booking the trip I found out I was pregnant. Although we were sad, it could have been worse financially if we had found out after we booked the trip. --We already booked a trip to Palms Springs in Feb 29-Mar 1!! Next book our trip to Santa Barbara/Solvang

3. Pass the BAR- I am currently working for a certified estate planning attorney, and she motivates me to pass the bar, get my LLM and be a certified estate planning attorney. First goal is to pass the BAR. She is so knowledgeable, organized and passionate about what she does that it is contagious. She is also super nice! I am working for her for a while, while her permanent legal assistant is going through chemotherapy. I am working full time and making more money than before. Hopefully to save enough so that I can study full time for the July or February (next year) Bar. I don’t like thinking about not having money to pay bills while I am suppose to be studying. --So far reviewing my outlines during lunch since I take my lunch in daily I don't have to waste my time going to get my food.

4. Hang out with Friends-I also having been felling somewhat depressed more like sad after having Bryant. I felt like I was all alone with no friends here in Long Beach. Then I realized that it isn’t that I don’t have friends, but that I don’t ask to hang out with them. I also decided that doing fun things like taking sewing classes and scrapbook classes, I would meet more people with similar interests. --Calling/e-mails to friends to hang out.

Maybe I could do two resolutions at the same time such as travel with friends, travel to another city to run a half marathon, or take the Bar in San Fran(but would I enjoy San Fran? maybe not.)

Share your resolutions on your blog or on the comments section.

something in the water...

2009-01-14T19:34:00.000-08:00

There must have been something in the water last year because a lot of my friends and family had babies.

Pictured from left to right isRosio, who had a baby in December, Laura, who had Sophia in September, and myself who had Bryant in July. This picture was taken at Laura's graduation party in June.

These party gifts are from Clara's Baby shower. Clara also went to college with me. Her shower was in October, and she had her son in December on her birthday!! This is really funny because she did not like her birthday being in December, it was either finals or vacation time and either way no one could join in the festivities.

As for my family... my cousin Monica had her daughter Julia three weeks after Bryant, and cousin Joshua and his wife Melissa had their daughter a few weeks ago. This picture is from the baby shower I had for her .

it's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS...

2008-12-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

The count down to Christmas...

This is my favorite time of the year, even though I hate cold weather. There is nothing like going to the parades, (Whittier Christmas Parade. Liz's mom's club participated)

boat parades,

posadas,

Christmas parties,

and seeing all the decorations. I guess I feel this way because of parents love of Christmas that they have passed to us.

And we are passing the love of Christmas down...

Christmas past...

phil's 32nd birthday

2008-12-15T23:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Phil!!!

32 years ago God was in a very, very good mood when he made you!!! I've never met anyone so hilarious, so energetic & so unforgettable!
If you've read my blog for a while you may think that Phil sounds kind of perfect. Well, that's because he kind of is. I mean, if playing video games is the worst thing someone can then play away! :) I guess he has to balance out our relationship with my drama and craziness!

Count 'em down! 32 reason I love you!

I love how whenever you have a receipt or piece of paper in your hand you fold it up as tiny as possible. Then I have to unfold all of them to see if you wanna keep it or throw it away.
I love how thoughtful you are of everyone around you.
You turn off your headlights if they're in someones eyes.
I love how you wake up with Bryant so I can sleep.
I love when I try to take a picture of you this is what I get... your muppet smile...
I love those kissable lips.
I love when we watch Craig Fergeuson (sp?) you practice stand up routines in front of me.
I love when you sing the Sunday/Monday night Football theme song at the top of your lungs while watching game, and that you are trying so hard for Bryant to learn the songs.
I love that you are a great role model for Anthony.
I love that you massage my back and my feet after a long day!!
I love that you are the Best Dad!
That you take me to the ballet, philharmonic, theatre, and operas, eventhough I know you really don't like them. I love that you surprised me with second row seats to see Wicked for my birthday.
I love how every single night since we've been married the last thing I hear is "sweet dreams."
I love how after evey single phone call you tell me "I love you".
I love that you probably change a many diapers as me (although I have to ask).
I love that you've never wanted to miss a day of church since starting your catechism class.
I love that you let me pick where we travel on our vacations, even though I know you are not into traveling and would just prefer for us to stay home!
I love when you drive me around late at night to buy donuts!
I love when you call around every restaurant in town on Valentines Day to find my perfect chocolate souffle.
I love when you take me out to get my cafe mocha and croissant from the Coffee Bean.
I love that after you finished the triathlon!!! Even when the other guys backed down.
I love that when we go on the cruise you sing your heart out at the piano bar.
I love your smile.
I love when you get so excited about buying crap and how much you saved!
I love that you are such a law dork!! I love the great job you did in your Trial Ad class in cross-examing that you made the poor girl cry.
I love that you have so much fun playing golf with the guys.
I love how you are completely supportive with my scrapbooking and all the time that it requires.
I love how you always order the exact same thing off the menu at Islands and don't understand why I ever even look at them.
I love how much you want to go back and help at Habitat for Humanity for their Christmas in April service projects. I thought you only joined the Rotary Group with me at UCSD to date me!
I love how much pride you get from having a fixed up home.
I love how you immediately make people smile when they talk to you. I love how you have me rolling on the floor laughing with the drop of a quote and a silly joke. I love that you hang out with your friends all the time, and try to think of things for us to do to hang out.
I love when you get home from work and I feel like a dead mommy you look at me like I'm beautiful!!

love ya' babe!!

4 months...

2008-11-24T22:05:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little punkin is 4 months. The time has gone by so fast...

This was a beautiful blanket made by my mother-in-law's friend. Bryant is after all 1/4 Japanese. Phil has a Japanese middle name "Musashi". We debated about whether or not Bryant should have a Japanese middle name in addition to my father's name as his middle name, but I thought that would make him more Mexican with four names. My father wanted us to not use his name as a middle name and instead use a Japanese middle name. So we thought about it. We even went down to the Phil's grandfather's grave to see his Japanese name and thought about naming him after his great-grandfather, but it wasn't listed. (Phil has great memories about his great-grandfather, and wishes he would have attended his funeral. His great-grandfather died when Phil was a little boy). We asked Phil's great uncle for advice on Japanese names, and got some great family stories. In the end after much thought we decided not to give him a Japanese middle name. Although my father insists on him having "Samuri" as his middle name and calling him "Samu". Phil and I find this funny because Musashi is a famous samuri, but Phil didn't want to name him Musashi.

Bryant with my cousin Monica's little girl Julia Abbey born three weeks after Bryant.

home sweet home...

2008-11-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

In a year it is amazing to see how far the condo has come. In case many of you don't remember how bad our condo looked like a year ago when we purchased it, I have decided to show you some of those pics. (Note to our neighbors, this is why we paid so much less than you. We didn't just a great deal.) There was the masive stained and popcorn ceilings...

the no paint on any of the walls (in years)...

a hole in the bathroom wall...

the bathtub that was unusable... (at least I didn't want to use it!) Apparently the previous tenants did.

the retro decor... (and not in the cool way)

So far we have been making it so much better, but still have so much more to do. This was especially difficult since I was pregnant through most of the construction, painting, etc. I could smell the paint for days. Also, being pregnant made it really hard for me to decorate, I couldn't just move the furniture around, and organize without the help of Phil.

The "after" oictures to come, I am still decorate the Christmas stuff, so there crap everywhere.

Our next year's project is going to be to buy a flat screen TV (not my idea), dinning room table so we can have some fabulous dinner parties ;) and update the kitchen, which has appliances that are older than Phil and I.

cali...

2008-11-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

Although like everyone else I complain about living in Southern California because of the traffic everywhere and at every time, I really should not complain.

This is my commute from Newport Beach to Long Beach...

Yes, I know I really should not complain when this is my view. Even though I could take the 405 and be home 10 minutes faster, why would I, when I see Pacific Ocean everyday. I think of all the people who are already shoveling snow, and I think how lucky am I that I live in Cali. Can you see the building in the background? It is downtown Long Beach. The picture was taken off of Goldenwest and PCH in Huntington Beach. Every time I cross this intersection, I can see the Los Alamitos marina, and think I am almost home. I wish I had a better lens so you could see the marina.

just one of the guys...

2008-11-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

Bryant has just become one of the guys watching football with his "Raiders" jersey on. (Thanks to my aunt Lucy and cousin Monica for the Raiders clothes).

One day, probably every soon, he will be attending the game with Phil and my uncle Rigo on the 50 yard line.

Election Day

2008-11-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

Phil and I voted early in the morning before Phil went to work. We didn't have to travel too far since it was at the Clubhouse. However, when we got there, there was a long line. I wish I had my camera, or not because I didn't get a chance to ready, and didn't look photo ready.

In the evening I went to a DG alumnae meeting, and when I got home I found Bryant like this...

Apparently Phil was trying hard to watch the election results, and Bryant wasn't cooperating. Phil feed him, which is why you see the two (by the way I was only gone for two hours!) bottles. Phil covered him thinking the light was bothering him. Phil took off his sock, because he might be too warm. He tried everything even entertaining him with his favorite too. Not so easy taking care of the little guy is it, babe?

**Phil's version of events: Bryant and I were playing the election night drinking game. Every time a state went for Obama, he would take a drink. By the end of the night the little lightweight was wearing a towel on his head and dancing with the musical duck while missing a sock. I took this picture after California was called for Obama.**

Half Marathon...

2008-11-18T22:52:00.001-08:00

I am soooo proud of Phil for finishing the Long Beach 1/2 marathon on October 11, 2009 considering he didn't even train, and I was not able to train with him. Bryant's birth really prevented him from training, and then the lack of sleep thoses months (he still wakes up all night to eat every three hours).

AND he beat his time from last year!!! http://www.runlongbeach.com/Home.htm

Originally, I thought that I would be able to run, but I was still recovering from the pregnancy. I can't wait for next year to run.

3rd month

2008-11-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

Bryant turned 3 months on October 20, 2008... do you think he is getting bigger? It is really hard for me to notice, since I see him everyday. By taking pictures of him with the dog, you can really see the difference.

BBQ...

2008-11-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Phil "helped out" at a BBQ competition. Eric's brother and cousin compete in BBQ competitions throughout California. Since the competition was going to be in San Diego, Eric asked Phil to help them as a body guard while they carry the food to the judges. Phil was so excited to go, that we were in San Diego at 7 am. Phil has never been a morning person, so for him it was a big deal.

The food was delicious. Although when Eric's cousin said that the chicken was the best chicken ever, I had my doubts. First of all, I only like white meat, and the chicken was the thighs. But when I ate it, and I ate it after I had eaten the ribs and brisque, which were great, they were right. The chicken was the best chicken I have ever had. I really think they should sell it or be allowed to sell it at the competitions.

my little pumpkin...

2008-11-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is the same costume that Eli and Max wore last year. However, it bearly fit Bryant. We were so nervous that it was not going to fit...

Rachel Ann made this for me and the other DG girls. It was too cute to eat.

Eddie's mom made these. Also to cute to eat. Although for Max and Eli's Birthday the other kids did not have any second thoughts about eating them.

Favorities...

2008-11-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

I just have to say that my favorite thing to eat is chocolate... especially chocolate doughnuts..(the other doughnuts are Phil's)

Hanging w/ Liz, Max, & Eli on Wednesdays...

2008-10-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

Liz has been after me to join a Moms club. I think that it won’t be fun because Bryant is too little and the activities at the moms club are for toddlers. So Liz decided that we should have a day where the boys get to hang out. I started working part time on Thursdays and Fridays, and Liz meets with the moms club on Tuesdays, and Mondays are not usually good days for us to meet. So Wednesdays is perfect.

Two weeks ago we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in LB. Liz has a year membership and I live in LB so it is perfect. The boys go there and love going there as you can tell the pictures. I really wish for Bryant to grow up like the boys and not be afraid of touching things. My mom didn’t want Liz and I to touch any of God’s creatures because they carry germs, are dirty etc. We don’t want that for our boys.

Liz decided it would be a great idea for me to hold the nectarine juice while she took the picture of the birds coming to me. As you can tell the boys really wanted to reach out and touch the birds. I on the other hand was nervous. Afterwards Liz told me she was nervous as well, which is why she had me hold the juice. Bryant saw the boys reaching for the birds and decided to reach as well. Liz didn’t get the picture of this because we both got scared that he might grab at the bird and the bird would peck at him. Neither of us thought Bryant would reach out!! Be careful what you wish for!

Liz never gets to be in pictures because when she is with the boys she is the one taking pictures. Here are a few pictures of her.

Here are a few pictures of all of us. We used the camera timer on the first one, and asked someone to take our picture on the second one. I just hate people using my SLR camera because they always want to change the lens. But if I want everyone to be in picture and there isn’t anything to place the camera on, then I have to ask someone. I usually have the camera “set” for them to take the picture and then they move it. On the second picture the worker moved the lens to include more of the background and make us hard to see. I guess I could take a tripod, but I already carry so much stuff for Bryant.

Last week we didn’t know what to do and Liz had already driven down to LB. It was too hot to go to the beach or the park, the boys would get sunburn. Liz has this great book with ideas, and in it was the Nature Reserve. It was perfect.

Inside the boys were able to touch everything without breaking it and there was air conditioning inside!!

Outside there were lots of trees, and the boys were able to go for a walk. It was ¼ a mile which is perfect for the boys to walk.

Can't wait for next Wednesday!!!

Check out more photos here!

UCSD Football...

2008-10-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

So I have to take back something I said in my earlier post. Although I am really pro UCSD for Bryant, I would allow him to attend UCLA/Cal. Let me explain...

I love UCSD...I am the one who convinced Phil last year to volunteer to at the high school fairs to talk about our experiences at UCSD. I am also the one who tries to convince Phil for us to join some of the alumni activities.

Here is a picture of Edgar, Laura, Phil and I at one of the alumni mixers earlier this year. We took this picture where we first met at a pub in downtown LA to pick up the tickets, have a few drinks (Laura and I were both pregnant, so we had soda drinks) and appetizers. From there we later attended a Dodger game. ( I of course didn’t think it would be safe for me to take my camera into the game. I later realized that other people from the alumni group took their cameras and nothing happened.) We had a great time and can’t wait to attend another alumni event with our friends again.

Although I have a huge love for UCSD, UCSD does not have football. If UCSD had football, UCSD would never be confused for San Diego State (the party school), or USD (the Catholic school). I don’t understand why UCSD doesn’t have a football team. The administration states that we would not be taken seriously as an academic school. What crap!!! Who doesn’t take Cal or UCLA seriously as academic schools. I would understand if Bryant did not want to attend UCSD because it doesn’t have a football team. I didn’t understand the important that a football team brings to schools. The main thing is school spirit. UCSD lacks school spirit, because it lacks a football team.

Ashley and Scott invited us to attend the UCLA v Tenn game, and we had so much fun. I forgot to take a picture of the four of us at the game. What was I thinking?? You can just see the school spirit at the game.

Without school spirit, why would alumni return back to school, financially support the school, or send their kids to the school. Although I love UCSD I don’t try to convince my friends to go to homecoming…seeing a water polo/soccer match isn’t the same. If we had football, I would definitely be pushing everyone to have season tickets. Maybe I wouldn’t have to push, there would be so much school spirit, that they would want to have season tickets. Have you seen a USC football game, half of the stadium seems to be of alumni season ticket holders filled with school spirit.

2nd Month

2008-10-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of Bryant at 2nd months, which I love!!

Of course he will attending our alma mater UCSD!!! Will he continue down our path and be a Poli-Sci major? Will he live at Marshall or ERC? If it is up to me, it will be Revelle, and be a bio major. He will grow up to be a denist. I should have listened to my uncle Rigo...and been a dentist. My dentist only works Mon-Thurs 7-2:30, and makes the bucks!!!

I saw the dog at the Bookstore and thought what a great idea it would be for me to take his picture every month to track how large he is getting compared to the dog. Originally I thought I would track this using the car seat, but he is getting so big that the car seat idea would not work.

I have been after Phil to finish the crib, because he no longer fits in my bassinet. This is my bassinet, which my mom lent to me for Bryant to use. I thought it was great idea that my parents kept it all these years. Although many of the baby books I read did not recommend using old bassinets because they are dangerous I didn’t care. Somethings are worth using even if they are old. One of the problems I did run into is that it rocks. Bryant is so big that when he a little the bassinet rocks and wakes him up. That problem did not last long. He weight now prevents it from rocking.

My happy baby! Bryant is happy, smiling, etc 85% of the time, which is great. However, when he gets mad, he really gets mad. I have to take a picture of him the next time he gets mad. There is nothing that can stop him when he starts to cry (except for food, I know, just like daddy!) And he has started to say "Da", which makes me mad! I am with him all day, and he says dad, what about me "Ma".
These just show how alert he has become. His eyes are following me around while I was taking the pictures. I will start showing him sign language very soon. Liz showed my nephews, Max and Eli, sign language it has helped out a lot. Eli loves to drink milk, so he sign "bottle/milk" all the time. Max on the other had loves to eat, so he sign "more", so that Liz feeds him more food. I wonder what Bryant is going to love to sign, hopefully "diaper".