Resolutions for 2009

I was checking out last year's resolution, and we didnt accomplish LOTS of them... That was not the plan (as Im very eager to follow with what I decide to), but I think we have grown so much as a family and as individuals that in overall I think the 2008 gave us LOTS of lessons learned.

This year I will be a bit more strict with our resolutions, and I will be going over them at the start of every season (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter). There are some that were from last year that we didnt accomplish, and that I plan to do starting now!

FINANCES RELATED
1. To work out on the new budget with the new expenses we have starting this month
2. To open an account for each girl and to put the same amount of money monthly in each account. It won’t be much because we are pretty tight, but at least 5 bucks on each account so by the end of the year, we can use that money to buy one Christmas presents for each. This is more to start teaching them to save.
3. To make food-shopping lists and to stick to them

SAFETY AND HEALTH RELATED
1. To get Mimi to get checked by the Eye doctor as I have the feeling she also has lazy eyes as Gaby.
2. To get Mimi to get checked by the endocrinologist this month.
3. To get Mimi to get checked by a dermatologist
4. To plan the girls lunch in a weekly basis and continue doing the snacks plan.
5. To get Gaby to get checked by an orthopedist for a second opinion on her bull legs
6. To go again to my OB this month for referrals to try to find out what is wrong with me and my inability to lose weight... I need to get checked from head to toes!
7. To buy my eyeglasses in the first 2 months
8. To finish Gaby's neurologist follow ups.

PARENTING RELATED
1. To resume with cloth diapers
2. To take the girls to play outside of the house at least one time a week
3. To make playdates at least one time a month
4. To go to the beach or another place for the family every last Sunday of the month
5. To have a day out with ONE girl at least one time a month (a different girl each month, starting with Gaby, then Mia and then Mimi).
6. To start the new reward program for the girls.

PERSONAL AND MARRIAGE RELATED
1. To have one night out with hubby in the first trimester of the year, and then at least 3 more before the year ends
2. To call my dad one time a week to check on him, and to visit him at least one time a month
3. Be more patient as a mother, as a wife and as a daughter

BUSINESS RELATED
1. Set up new monthly goals for my biz
2. To get the new version of my web page running
3. To launch a new website that I have been working with hubby (in order to separate the family customers with the business customers)

ORGANIZATION
1. To sort all the toys that the girls have outgrow and that needs a new home
2. To sort all the clothes that the girls have outgrow and that needs a new owner
3. To make a chores schedule and stick to it
4. To buy a binder for each girl and organize all their papers (medical, school, identification, etc.)
5. To fully organize that medicine cabinet and label the medicines

Year 2008 in review...

January
We had a good start of the year spending some quality time with my bro, sister in law and nephew. Mimi got her ears pierced and we started cloth diapering. Mimi was already 7 months and she and Mia started playing together. Also Mimi started holding the bottle by herself, clapping and got her first tooth. We also had lots of visitors coming this month to our house and it was awesome! It was also my birthday month and I turned 27. Gaby had her first trip from school and I went with her (Mimi and Mia stood at my mom’s house).

February
Mimi had her first Valentine’s Day. The girls had a playdate (and us too) with several “cousins” (my cousins’ daughters and son) and had lots of fun. This was a difficult month for Gaby at school. When her behavior improved she was rewarded with pool time in the backyard which they all loved! Mimi also took one step, and started getting ready to walk! Our old neighbor from our old town came to visit us with her 3 kids… That was really fun! It also launched my website after selling my cards for over a year by word of mouth and emails.

March
What a month!! It was an awesome month with great things. The first thing that happened this month is that the girls got to go to a party from one of my school’s friends since Elementary school. Then, Gaby had a get together at her godmother’s house with the other girls that she is also godmother to. Then my dear friend Cara came all the way from Australia to spend time with us. Also, I accepted the morning job in the school that Im working now, which meant that Mimi and Mia started “preschool” for the first time ever. I also ended up blind when I rubbed my eyes with my hands dirty of sunblock. We also celebrated Mia’s birthday party which was a total BLAST! Also hubby turned 29.

April
This was an adaptation month for all of us. I finally started talking to adults in real life (much needed), and the girls started to get some quality time with other kids their age. Gaby also had her first sleepover at a friend’s house. We got together with Cara at the Airport while she was changing Airplanes after her visit to Cuba. I also FINALLY started driving. On this month was Mia’s actual second birthday and she took cupcakes to her “preschool”. Mimi also started attending to a “preschool” close to my job, instead of close to the house.

May
We went to the Zoo with my nephew Ariel. It was also a scary month cause Mia and Mimi were both hospitalized which was no fun! Mimi also decided to walk by my eyes (as she has been walking in school, but not in the house since several days!!). Mimi turned ONE this month, which made me a mom of three toddler girls. We also celebrated Mother’s Day.

June
This was another month full of great things. The first thing that happened was that Mia started potty training. Then it was Gaby’s Moving Up ceremony as she finished Pre-K. We were so proud of her!!! Then it was Mimi’s baptism and birthday party. It was a beautiful day! Another thing that happened is that I got my first girls night out since forever with Luz. We found a place called Happy Land where we have take the girls several times after that… We celebrated my mom’s 57th birthday.

July
This was sure a busy month. Hubby and the girls were out from school and had lots of fun!!! Mimi is out of bottles for good. Also my best friend graduated from college. This was the month that my grandpa got sick, and Mia cracked her head open. We also celebrated our local Father’s Day. We also made lots of shopping for back to school.

August
Hubby started working at the same school that I work, which came with the package of Gaby changing schools so we are all in the same school except for Mimi (who is a block away anyway). Gaby did great at the evaluation to enter Kindergarten, and this month was mostly a back to school shopping. The girls also celebrated Sister’s Day. Both girls started this school year happily, and Mia even got to spend a day with her godmother. I launched my shop’s blog. We had several storms, and our car broke down!

September
This month the girls had mismatch day at school.. That was fun! There were also lots of days off because of the continue raining and storms. A new addition to our home came this month: Sassy! Also Mia and Gaby had severe asthma episodes…. It was also Ariel’s second birthday. This was also a difficult month for hubby as he got hurt on his back very bad.

October
Gaby turned 5!! We celebrate it with a My Little Pony party at school. Then something very tragic to all of us happened: My purse got snatched with the camera inside with all the photos from the party. Gaby got prescribed with daily eye patches because of her lazy eye. I also got diagnosed and medicated for Tachycardia and high blood pressure. Gaby also had a major haircut. I also got an award for my blog and my blog’s name changed to Blooming Buds. Gaby started having problems at school.

November
We started the month going to the beach because of our 6th anniversary! We also had a costume day at home as their Halloween got ruined. We got a meeting to try to solve Gaby’s problems at school. We also celebrated my first blogoversary! An “interesting” thing that happened was the Mimi poke my ear and I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss. It was evaluation time at school. Gaby got her eyeglasses which she most wear all the time. I also found out that my friend Cara is pregnant (even though I couldn’t say a word until she was 13 weeks).

December
My business is on her best moment and we are doing very good. Im very proud of my shop! It was my dad’s birthday and we spend some time with him! We also went to a birthday party and the girls had a blast. Gaby got evaluated by a psychologist and neurologist by preschool’s suggestion. Santa visited school and the girls were sooo happy!!! It was also the girls Christmas presentation and Gaby did an awesome job. Mia didn’t move but she was so stinkin’ cute. We celebrated Christmas eve and Christmas and we are so blessed. Mimi got to spend time with both godmothers also! My blog got its own domain!

Gaby being a big sister!

The girls were playing with their new kitchen in the playroom while I was working (of course, 2 meters of distance plus the monitor on). Mia started calling me and saying that Mimi was sleeping. As there was not possiblity of that being true, I kinda ignore it because if Mimi sees me, then she doesnt want to play anymore and wants to be held. Then, Gaby calls me and tells me that I have to pick up Mimi and take her to her crib... So, I decided to go and I found Gaby right next to the baby gate on the door of the playroom like this:


How cute and sweet is that?? Looks like she held Mimi and started rocking her and she felt asleep on top of that... She is not allowed to hold her, but how can I punish her when this makes me feel so blessed?

Lunch with Auntie Luz and Uncle "Cake" *** UPDATED WITH MORE PHOTOS ***

Luz is Amelia's co-godmother and one of my best friends. As she is living in Arabia, we dont spend a lot of time together, but she has been here visiting several times and I see her more that people from my family that live here!

She has been here for almost 2 weeks, but it has been impossible to get together as her days has been non-stop. Today we finally got to have lunch together and we really had a good time... Her hubby and "sister" (a friend who is like her sister) went with us too... Her husband's name is Craig, but Gaby called him: Uncle "Cake", and have continue calling him like that ever since... I DOUBT he will ever stop being uncle CAKE.

Mimi acted like she always acts when she is around new people and enviroment and it was really funny how she will try to look at them, but trying to hide the fact that she was trying to look... Hilarious... We hardly took pictures with our camera, so I hope she will send me the pictures from her camera SOON (hint, hint for her). Here are Luz and Carol:

Here are hubby, Mimi, Carol, Luz and Uncle Cake Craig: (Mia and Gaby were on the playground next to us)....

This picture came out grainy, but Im sure it came out better with her camera as they both look like they are looking to the other camera...

It was really nice, and I hope we can get together again before they leave....

UPDATE: Here are some of the photos from Luz' camera... When we got there, Mimi was sleeping:

Camila playing with her doll:

Mimi are her typical look when she is in a new enviroment:

Luz, Mimi and uncle "Cake":

"Gift Opening" time...

The girls had lots of fun opening presents yesterday. They played with them all day long... They actually took a shower at night time for them to wear something differently to go to sleep!! Mimi was the last one going to bed, and she was actually up until almost 12am (when she is always the first one going to sleep)....

They are just too happy with what they got. Well, with almost everything as Gaby doesnt seem to like her doll. It makes me very sad, because I have been dreaming about that doll since several months ago. She seemed very happy with it at first, but then all she wants is to play with Mimi's doll. The doll is a Gotz Muffin 16.5 inches and I was planning to buy a shirt and pants similar to the ones that Gaby uses for school plus some eyeglasses for her. The doll has long hair that can actually be shampooed so I was dreaming about lots of fun... I know I can make her fall in love with her, BUT I rather to save it for next year. It is very expensive and as she doesnt love her that much she will ended up on the floor and so on.

Anyway, moving on to the next things, Mimi got a Corolle Doll with a bit of dark skin like Mimi (12 inches with soft body). She is in love with her (and so is Gaby and Mia).

Mia got another Corolle doll but one that can go in the water.. It also has soft body but it says that is dryes easily. We are not planning to tell her that it can go in the water, but most of Camila's dolls ended up in the tub... LOL... Each one of the girls got a custom made diaper bag, bib, burp cloth and cloth diaper from an Etsy shop called Mimas (You need to check her out cause her quality is great AND the prices are awesome!). Anyway, here is one of the sets being right next to Camila's doll. There is also a mini picture of the other two patterns on the top left:

The girls got a new chair for the chairless table that we got several months ago (they are ridiculous expensive, so we were waiting for the right moment to buy them)... Each one has their name and picture (made by me and then laminated) and sticked on with double sided tape to see if it lasts... (the Little People are old, but it is the Nativity Set (with a few extra animals and they were thrilled to find them on their table). This is my mom's gift to them.

Mia and Gaby opening presents against the part of the wall that will have the brick wall at some point:

Each one of the girls got a new doll bottle to put on their new diaper bags:

Mimi wanted to give it a try:

Gaby got Interactive Flash Cards from Auntie Cara... She loves them!!!

Here is Gaby's reaction when she saw one of the Hi5 DVD's that Auntie Cara sent... There were three DVD's so there is one for each girl.

Camila got a iron board with an iron that soon become a changing table:

Hubby picked up a computer game for Gaby and as long as I have been writting this post, Gaby has been playing with it non-stop:

Auntie Luz got the girls also got a Super Spiral Bouncer and a new stroller for Mimi.

Their real present was a LifeStyle Party Time Kitchen... They are in love with it (hubby and I too!):


Of course, the box was as fun as the kitchen:


After Gaby and Mia were sleeping, Mimi was cooking and feeding her doll (notice that she put her doll on the high chair... Also notice how big is the kitchen compared to Mimi):

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all of you that celebrate Christmas!! My cards got here late from the printing company, and even though I got a percent off for my next purchase, that doesnt take away the fact that my cards will reach all of you VERY late!! I will send them anyway, because it is important to me, and I hope it is important for you guys too! Here is the front view of it:

Hubby and I went to sleep for a couple of hours at 5:30am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldnt finish the playroom, and the lollipops are not finished, but the girls loved it as they are... Gaby keeps saying that they are balloons, and not lollipops, but I promise I will make them look like lollipops before school starts again! Here is a preview of the view they had when they found the gifts!!!

Christmas Eve

We were looking forward to celebrating Christmas Eve in our house every year and inviting my mom over and grandfather over (my grandfather has been having dinner with us every year that I have been in this country since we were kids, even though he has 7 other kids...). This year, my grandfather is sick and in bed. So, we decided to have dinner at my mom's house which is where he is living since he got out from the hospital.

I totally forgot to retake a picture after the table was fully set, but here is the table ALMOST set...

We didnt had a fancy dinner, but it sure was yummy... We had pork, rice with corn, and Apple Potato Salad (I dont know the traditional recipe for that, but ours had potato, carrots, apples, corn and mayo). We also had nuts cake, and we ended up totally FULL!!! I couldnt even drink a full cup of coke...

Anyway, here is the cutest picture of my family... Im, of course, the one behind the camera, and I LOVE how it turned out:

Here is Gaby modeling her dress:

And here is Mimi being MIMI!

There was no way to take a "solo" picture of Camila, though.

The girls felt asleep on their way home, so there was no cookies or milk for Santa. Next year, IF we get out of our house for Christmas eve, we will be putting out the milk and cookies BEFORE going out.

All picked up!

Several of the things that we ordered online (including the kitchen) was still on its way, but we picked everything up today!!!! The girls wont be getting too much stuff this year, cause this Christmas Im going more with quality and not quantity. Im also planning to pick up everything they dont need or use to give away for Los Reyes Magos (January 6th)... Let's see how that works out.

The kitchen's box is way smaller that what I had in mind, but Im hoping it is the size that I have in mind once it it is put together.

Im sooooooo excited and I cant wait!!!

The worst timing...

... for the car to broke down!!! We were all ready and buckle up in the car... Hubby turned on the car and was ready to leave... BUT the car wouldnt MOVE!

We were going with my mom to help her pick out her gift for the girls, so after trying for the car to move forward for over 30 minutes, we decided to grab a taxi to my mom's house...

We had lots of fun picking up the gifts, as hubby was in one side of the store with all the girls, while my mom and I were picking up the gifts, and trying to hide them from them...

Anyway, we will be staying with ther car overnight to see if hubby can look for a mechanic to see what is wrong with the car... We are praying that it is not the transmission!

19 months old tomorrow....

Another month has passed, and it seems too fast for me... She continues with the same "double personality" as we call her as she is the funniest girl with us and in her little preschool, but she is the most serious girl around other people... Im sure most of it is because she is VERY shy around new enviroments and people, and it is only after 30 minutes in the same place, with the same people that she will start acting like herself...

Today she was in my room "playing" by herself while I was working on a few things... I knew what she was doing, but she didnt know I was looking at her... She took her cloth off, and started taking CD's and DVD's out of their cases... As always, when I turned around to look at her, she gave me her "classic" look: Too charming to punish (or at least that is what she wants me to think... LOL).

New playroom idea...

I started working on a new playroom today.... Im planning to decorate the girls playroom as a surprise for Christmas morning... I wish somehow I could design it on the computer and simply have them all printed out on the wall, BUT of course, that is not po$$ible, so I need to actually paint it... I have been planning to do it since so long and havent actually done it, so this is the perfect time...

Im planning to make some kind of Candy Land with flowers of shaopes of lollipops, and hubby wants to make a brick wall background for the new kitchen they are going to get for Christmas... I started painting it today, and so far I have the first layer of the sky and grass... Will see how this will look like at the end....

Wish us luck!

New blessings!!!

I have been dying to post about this, but needed to respect the timing... Im very happy to announce that I will be a new auntie time two!!!! My little brother is going to be a dad. I didnt know about this until a few weeks ago, because it was an unplanned pregnancy and they were keeping it low, but he is very happy, and of course I am too.... He is my brother from my dad and his wife, and I love him very much!!!

Also, the reason why Im posting about this today is because today I can finally announce a pregnancy that I have been drying to announce... My friend CARA is 13 weeks pregnant today!!!!!!!!!!! The first trimester is over and we are all VERY VERY VERY happy!!!!! She has been looking forward to have a baby for soooo long, and Im very happy that she is already pregnant! Her baby's due date has the same due date (except for 2 days) that Mimi had in 2007. That means that is everything goes as planned to she reaches her due date, her baby will be born at the end of June....

Here is a picture of the Jelly Bean aka JB:

Faculty and Staff Christmas Lunch

Today was the Holiday Lunch at the school for the staff and all the faculty members... I manage to leave two at my mom's house, so we took Camila with us. Camila is very easy going when ALL the eyes are focus on her, and she sure got them all!!! We took a few pictures but have no idea what hubby did with them... Will post them when I find out...

As for the lunch per se, it was delicious... It was a traditional "Christmas rice" with raisins and tons of other stuff, pork, salad and so on... It was very nice to be together just "chatting" and not stressing over a pending paperwork....

School's Christmas Play

Today was the Christmas Play at school.. They have been practicing for weeks, and all the parents were looking forward to it... Each grade was performing several songs, and wearing costumes... The costumes were handmade by the school's secretary so most of the parents (like us) had no idea what the kids where going to wear.

The first performance was Mia's grade (the youngest of the school - 2 years olds), and Mia was a CANDLE!!!!!!!!!!! She was soooooooooooooooo cute!!!! She didnt performed AT ALL, though. They told me that she was one of the best ones during the rehearsals, but I guess she had stage freight. They were actually only 2 or 3 performing as it was their first time ever... We recorded both performances, but we did it with the video camera, and we still need to download a program to convert it so I can share videos on the blog. Also, notice the banner on the back?? That was hubby who did it with the face of each kid from the preschool:

Remember Mia's crush? Well, he was one of the two or three that were signing, and he was actually screaming the songs.. It was sooo cute that everybody was laughing... Here is a picture of Camila laughing on him too!! Sooo cute!!!

After the 3 years old class and Pre-K, Gaby's K grade was up. She was a PURPLE CRAYON!!!!!!!!!! Tooooooooooooo cute!!!! They sang a song that talks about "Coloring your Christmas with love", hence why she was dressed as a crayon.

After the play, we stopped by her classroom and we found what they were using to learnd and practice the songs:

It was an awesome day. After the play, we gave Gaby an Activity Book from Hi5 that auntie Cara sent her with the package from the other day (as Im saving the rest for Christmas). She couldnt be happier. Everybody was asking her about the book, and she was proudly saying that they were Hi5 from Australia (as the guys from the show are different that the ones that the kids watch here).

Mimi also had the presentation at her program, and I was planning to stop by after Mia's perfomance but before Gaby's performance as it is a couple of blocks away... They called me just when Mia's presentation was about to start to let me know Mimi had fever (they wanted permission to give her some Tylenol). One of my co-workers was there, so I asked her to look out after her for 15 minutes while Mia's presentation was over (as they told me it was not that high). Anyway, when I got there, she was on her teacher's arms and not participating of anything, so I just took her over the other school with me to see Gaby's perfomance. Here are some pictures of her in the school's lobby, while playing with some puzzles...