Gaby has TWO digits...

... on her age!

It seems like "the other day", however it has been 10 years since I became a mom for the very first time. Happy 10th Birthday to Gabriela Michele! 

Gaby: I am so lucky to have you as my daughter, and your sisters couldn't ask for a better big sister. Continue working hard at school and making us proud. Hope you never lose your sweetness and kindness! I LOVE YOU sooo very much!

Luz means Light

Today is Luz birthday.  Her name means "light" in Spanish and that is exactly what she brought to my life when I needed it the most.  She is not only a great friend but she is also Mimi's godmother. Mimi is the only of my girls with two godmothers and the only one that has a godparent that is not related to me. Thinking on her birthday while also getting ready to celebrate Mimi’s birthday, makes me remember, once again, the sacrifice, unconditional help and love that she gave to us those last days in the hospital while we were fighting to keep Mimi in my belly for a little longer.

I would never forget the crazy lady (HER) that force herself into the NICU to take a picture of Mimi just for me to see. Details like that guarantee an special place in my heart for her. She may not be related to me, but she is family to me.  Here is a picture of her holding Mimi the day she was discharged from the NICU.

Happy Birthday to my big bro

Today is my big bro's birthday.  Our birthdays are two days apart and the day in between is a local holiday.  For that reason, my mom used to celebrate our birthdays together and we both loved it.  We had a great relationship growing up and honestly, he is the only person that shares all of my childhood memories as he is part of every single one of them.

He has always been there for me, even when he didn't even know what it was to be there for somebody. He always stood up for me as kids, and to this day he still does. He's also the best uncle my girls can ask for (and a bit more)...

I dont say it often, but I'm proud to call him my BIG bro, and he has a reserved parking place in my heart for life!!

Children's Museum

Ariel Enrique is in town and we planned a day with him and his mom (my bro had to spend the whole day taking final exams for the master he is doing)... My mom came along too, and it was an awesome day!!

We went to a place called Museo del Trampolin. This was Gaby's second time but it was like a first time, because she was only 2.5 years old the first time we went, so she doesnt remember it... At that moment my mother in law was visiting us from NJ, and Camila was a newborn and stayed home with my mom.

The kids had fun, even though they hardly understood anything. The musuem is REALLY projected for kids over 4 years old, so Gaby was the only one paying atenttion... Despite that, they all had fun, especially at the end in the backyard because they were running around like crazy playing with some balloons..

I didnt had my dad's camera with me, so we took photos with Ariel's mom cell. She will give them to me on the weekend, and in the meantime, Im going to post photos from the day that we went with Gaby when she was 2.5 years old as I didnt had a blog back then... These photos are from 2006:

Gaby and hubby before starting the tour:

Right next to the Earth:

Paying atenttion to the lady's explanations:

With a huge dinasour:

She was fascinated with this... I remember she kept saying those were big Cockroach:

More dinasours...Gotta love Gaby's face:

Gaby and me:

Everything looked sooo real:


Paying atention:

Oh my, look at that "chair":

The slide tongue:

The body parts playground:

Learning how a baby grows in the belly... She was fascinated by it, specially since this was a couple of months after I gave birth to Camila:

What is that daddy?:

In the area of "Things from the community"...

My mother in law, hubby and Gaby at the end of the tour:

Just the girls...

Today the girls and me (and I, however is supposed to be said) spent a few hours with my mom. We did something VERY fun for the girls, especially Gaby. Sadly we have no photos as the camera had no batteries. We went to the vet to take Lupita (my mom's dog) and spent over an hour there.

It is one of the most famous veterinaries in town, mostly because the location. We never go there, as it is out of budget for us, so we have a more affordable one. My mom goes there as she used to go to this vet when it was not famous and we had other dogs, and she simply didnt want to change even though he got TOO expensive (crazy to my taste, though).

So, what was FUN about it?? It was amazing the amount of dogs being dropped off and picked up, or simply going in for an appointment.... Im talking that we saw at least 25 dogs in the time we were there, and the girls LOVED seeing dogs in all sizes and all tempers!!! There was this friendly HUGE Golden Retriever that actually was taller than Gaby than Gaby got to pet and was fascinated with him... I told her that Sassy was going to be that size, and she couldnt believe her eyes!!! From all the dogs we saw there, there was only one, a Pekingese, that wasnt friendly, but the girls got to touch all the others, and it was truly fun... Now that I remember there was also a huge German Shepherd that they didnt got to touch, because the owner was really fast (she came to pick him up), and we didnt had a chance to ask if he was friendly or not.

Some of the breeds we saw while being there were: Pug, Chihuahua, Fox Terrier, Poodle, Yorkie, Lhasa Apso, and a few others that I couldnt tell the breed. My mom and I got very emotional with the Lhasa Apso because we used to have two: Toffie and Blackie. After my mom sold her house in 2004 and decided to move to an apartment, she had to give them up, and it was VERY sad for us. I got teary eyed just thinking about it, cause I had them since they were born, and we loved them so much. Here is a photo that I found of them when I was around 15.

Then, we stopped by kids hair salon. Every outing with my mom has to end up with the girls getting a haircut. It makes her happy because she insists that will make their hairs grow stronger and that I have to think of the future and not in the present and yada yada yada. So, I told her that as long as she pays for it, I will let her take them to get haircuts every couple of months. Anyway, I cut Mia's bangs the night before and she was in a serious need of somebody to fix what I did (ooops!).
Here is Gaby just as they were going to start to cut her hair.

My mom, Lupita, Mimi and Mia while waiting for Gaby to finish:

Mimi and Mia (please notice the horrible very cute bangs I did to her)

Here is Gaby after she was done:

Lupita at her first trip to a store (The kids hair salon is in a local toy store)

You wont see photos of Mia before or even after the haircut, cause for some reason she was not into it, and I had help in order for the lady to cut her hair... She always cooperates, but this time, she was not in the mood, I guess.

It was very nice to spend time with my mom. Since she is taking care of my grandpa, we can hardly go out. We had a great time. Then, Gaby left with my mom to spend the rest of the day with her and sleep over there... It was one of her rewards because she behaved EVERY SINGLE DAY of the week in the school.