Always put your best foot forward...


Oh yes, she is a quirky one.

This weekend was great!

Daddy was home, the sun was shining, and we were ready for fun!

Saturday we did our spring cleaning...translate that to Daddy and I cleaned the kiddies played, and played,and played....before we went to our Family Fun night.

This month Joan hosted, and although our camera man was off duty we DID have a blast. I learned how to play chou chou but hit a huge speed bump when Tiny refused to sleep. With a little tag team help she finally gave in and we could get back to the fun. As she grows it'll get easier I'm sure.
I know I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again but I'm so glad to have befriended these families. Hanging out is always so easy, and although we don't talk faith very much through all the laughter; it is always there.We share the same Jesus. There is such safety and peace in that.

Then on Sunday we took the kids out for a day. It was so nice. We didn't have any distractions looming, or deadlines to worry about we just got to enjoy our children, while they enjoyed themselves. We took them to San Ramon Central Park. They always have a great time there. It's true the play equipment could be updated, but kids care very little about these details. What they care most about is fun. This park has it.

This was the first time Little discovered the water feature, and man was she loving it!


Big was really enjoying playing boats and learning about the current...gatta love those teaching moments! He also built this great chain of islands in the sand.

Tiny, well she just loves to people watch. She didn't have much interest in the water although we did let her get her feet wet. She's not really a fan of the swings.
Unlike her Ate. But she did love watching them play, and practice finger walking around. All in all it was great.

Since AJ had yesterday off, and I've been a bad blogger lately I'll count that as part of this weekend too.It was a full day though. Yesterday was our dear friend Jordan's Birthday!!! We all went to pump it up and played. Then we gathered at a park and ate cup cakes and played some more. It was so much fun! He really is worth celebrating, if I get my way maybe he'll be one of my SIL's someday! LOL

Then we rounded off the day by hanging out at Heathers. This was our first visit since Jilly's surgery, and we got to see her big pink cast. That little girl is such a rockstar. She's crawling all around and back to her normal sassy self. It made me happy to see that.

That was our weekend, fully fun and fabulous.

It's not often that all my blogs focus on one thing. I keep them separate for a reason. If you follow more then one of them forgive me the multiple posts. But tonight I'm begging you...believer to believer, mama to mama, friend to friend. please pray for Stellan and his family.

...or a post only fully appreciated by Filipinos.

It has dawned on me recently that although I am clearly white- My mannerisms , cultural values, and cooking style have evolved to be very heavily Filipino. I cook a lot of Filipino dishes, so much so that even my Filipino friends say I cook traditional food more then they do. HA! That is so funny to me...Don't get me wrong, I love to cook globally, and I l-o-v-e my down home American style dinners but for the purpose of this story I'm going to talk about a conversation Daddy had with Big over dinner a couple of weeks ago.

That night I made Tinola for the first time. Everyone was seated and enjoying dinner (yea me!) when Daddy got up to get more fish sauce. Once getting back to the table he had this conversation with Big:


Big(pointing to Daddies finger dish of Patis): Daddy whats that?
(see he is a white boy too!)
Daddy: It's Patis.
Big: what's Patis?
Daddy: Fish sauce wanna try some?
(Big then tries it and decides he likes it. He also looks like he's a bit troubled and deep in thought)
Big: Is Patis fish pee?
Daddy: NO! Why would you think that?
Big:Oh Patis...It sounds a lot like piss.
(Relieved he then asks for more Patis)

hahahahahahahaha....

In the next few weeks I will be making some changes here. I'm not going private per-say BUT I am making this blog less accessible to the casual blogger. If you follow us, we will still show up on your dashboard...so no worries.. it just won't show on my profile anymore (thanks for the help Joan!)

Also the kids will be receiving shiny new bloggyland names. I still need help with a good name for brother. The girls have oh, nontraditional, I guess, names set.So I'd love something like that for him too.It should reflect his personality as well. Sound off and let me know what you think.

Besides that we are great.
I'm just holding off posting anything new until I edit the blog and they all have their new monikers.

Hugs!

Abby-tude!

Well, By now you know that today is THE day. Miss Abby grace is 2! I thought about writing her a letter too but she can't read, and lets be honest that's not her anyways. She's a horse of a different color, and mushy isn't really her style. Don't get me wrong, with me as their mama they all have a little mush in them but from the moment she entered the world she had Abby-tude.

Abby-tude can't easily be defined in words. It's her state of being. It's who she was born to be. But I will do my best to show you why today really should be National Abby-tude Awareness Day...in my humble opinion.

Our wonderful nurse was set to go off duty 8 minutes after she was born. 8 minutes, and I would have had awitch to deal with. Clearly she has a flair for dramatic entry. This was how she entered the world. Wide eyed and waving! She scored a nearly unheard of 10 on the apgar....So when I say it's who she's always been you can believe me- within her first 10 minutes of life she began displaying Abby-tude.

It means being able to master mind mischievous or sweet moments in seconds

and honestly anyone who can look this cute in leg warmers HAS to be full of Abby-tude.

Oh and Abby-tude isn't just about sassy flair and personality, effortlessly looking cute is a HUGE part of the mystique.

Abby-tude is all about knowing (and testing) your limits.

It makes you HATE the paparazzi,

It means putting your foot in your mouth...literally. Or thinking of ways to entertain yourself that are out side the box. Again while managing to look adorable in your naughtiness, actually that last part is key to harnessing the power of Abby-tude.

It means being a firecracker. It's a delicate state of being that gets you nicknamed AbbZilla, and lets you offer things like your beloved candy to daddy without a second thought or GIMME attached.

Having Abby-tude means you know how to use your entire face to express your moods, and you have genius comedic timing.



It means dancing to your own beat (or being on beat if the situation requires it)

It means being carefree and bright.

And not being afraid to venture into new or taboo territory and breaking down gender myths.

All that is Abby-tude. But it's also so much more. (just read through her other antics) Like I said it can't be fully explained in it's complex wonderfulness. It's a gift God gave our family on March 4th 2007 (3+4=7...lol I love when He does little helpful things for me like that). But I guarantee it's something that will only get better with time, and those who have had the pleasure of her company will attest to that.

Today is her day, so it's only fitting that she leads us in singing:



Happy Birthday Sweet Abby, Happy Birthday to you....
I love you today, tomorrow and always just the way you are!

xoxoxoxMama

In all the birthday frenzy, I realized I haven't posted much on little miss lately.

I wish I could say we've enjoyed wonderful sunny days like her name implies, but February was rough for us. The thing is, rough for Tiny isn't the same as rough for the other kids. She has such a different feel to her, I often call her my sweet spot, or my sweetness. Even though most of February was spent dealing with something or another she stayed sweet. Clingy -yes, a little sad -ok, crazy nursing, and not sleeping -sure, but a grump...no not really.

Within 2.5 weeks she got a bunch of shots, we found out that dairy and her don't mix, she cut FOUR teeth, and lived with a 102.8 fever from a virus that nothing could bring down. And, yet Jay was able to snap this shot of her. I don't know about you but I find that pretty stunning.

Oh and look at those cheeks- so soft and inviting...yum, yum, yum. defiantly sweet.

She's just her own little person. My other two kids could not wait to get moving, but she's comfortable just knowing how to cruise and stand. I'm sure if she weren't afraid she'd be walking now, but she is so she's taking her time. It's kinda nice....because of who she is, who God made her to be, I get to enjoy her so much more. She's content to stand in my lap, she loves snuggling, and if I'm gone she misses me on such a deeper level then the other two ever did.

While I was at class last week she refused the bottle Daddy had prepared. In a moment of pure frustrated genius he walked her over to a picture of me and he said she sighed and reached for it- for me. He was only able to feed her while standing in front of the picture. Is that not the sweetest thing ever?

The great news is that sad sweetness is gone. She's back to her giddy sunshiny self. She's experimenting with her sounds (of course ma is her favorite),she's clapping, and oh, the giggling. Nothing beats baby giggles. Today while watching Little she just started busting up and my heart did a cart wheel.
When I remember that I thought I was done having babies after Little it makes me so glad that God has the final say....really... because I'd be lost without my sweetness.

Littles second birthday is Wednesday.

Wednesday already? wow. I'm feeling particularly sentimental lately. See Little was the culmination of a dream for me. If I had custom designed a child she was it.

I don't want to give the wrong idea here. Having her took nothing away from Big, he will always be my hearts new beginning. I will always see the world fresh through him. Having him restored my tarnished faith. I adore him with all that is in me. The circumstances of his birth were just so very different then hers. I was young and awkward when he was new. I was living day by day, I questioned the stability my relationship, and I never felt content in the moment. I was always waiting for the next thing. The wonderful thing was, that like all mothers I grew with him. Our relationship is more precious to me then any worldly treasure, and I am only the woman and mother I am today because God trusted me with him.

But, Littles journey into our lives was soooo different. She was our honeymoon baby- the place where all my dreams came true. We were secure, committed, and ready for her. I had faith in my parenting and could not wait to see Big interact with her. People often saw me with her and thought she was my first. Not because I handled her with kid gloves, but because I knew better this time. I wasn't scared to get my hands dirty with motherhood. I stuck to nursing, I hand-made her baby food with fresh farmers market produce, and I wore here.

Oh how I loved the feeling of her near me. Her warmth would radiate through me until it filled my heart with complete contentment. In this picture she was a week old. We were at the park by our house. There I sat, with my new baby girl snuggled in close; watching the men in my life play tag. They were laughing, she was sleeping, and I was smiling. This moment...so calm and serene... this was one of those perfectly warm mommy moments you want to cling to forever. This was bliss. In this moment my life made perfect sense.

...and now that same little baby is turning 2 in five days.....wow.....cue the tears.....

....finally I have a moment to sit and type. I'm sorry if I've been MIA, I hope to catch up to everything in bloggy land soon. I've had sick children to tend to. Since it's been awhile I thought I'd share some photos from our Valentines Day.

It's so hard to find a sitter for 3 kids so Jay and I scrapped the idea of a couples date and instead we loaded up the kids and went to Studio Grow. It was so fun! Here's our day in photos:

Little liked playing in the playhouse area. She's such an Ate mommy. This is Littles's tiny baby in a BIG bed....LOL


While Little played House with Daddy. Big and Tiny explored these gears....what a fun lesson in cause and effect, and mechanics! Tiny was so fascinated by them.


After playing block, puzzles, pretend, and gears we hit the dance floor.



Look at that wonderful blackmail picture! LOL He's so my child.


After they were done shaking their tail feathers we headed into the play area. They had this great play structure, ball pit, rocking toys, basketball hoop, and more balls they you could count.


Tiny feeling oh so proud of herself for going through the tunnels.


Little always makes being cute look easy....gahhhhh.....


There was also this roller coaster toy. It was a blast. I mean the face says it all.

Yes, this is the only picture of the three of them for the day. As you can see the big kids wanted nothing to do with posing. I can't say I blame them with all that fun surrounding them.

But, poor poor Tiny can't run away and I HAD to have a picture with the heart Dino. I mean common it was Valentines Day....and she does look divine.

After spend a HUGE chunk of time in the play room we checked out the art studio. They had these awesome Buddha Boards I feel in love with...but the price not so much. I think when we get our someday house I'm going to figure out how to make them.

Once they had their fill of playing chalk, dough, and painting we divided again.

Little went and played Dinosaurs. There were so many great shots of her roaring and playing but this one of her feeding the T-Rex a smaller Dino took the bloggy cake! LOL she's such a riot.


Big enjoyed playing with these shapes at the light table. He's always creating...my artistic soul.

Finally on the way out we stopped and played trains ALL together.....

... and from Tiny's POV....


LOL.