My 100 Happy Days: Day #34

My best friend is pregnant and I can't wait to meet my "nephew". Seeing my "almost" nephew's face for the first time made me extremely happy. He was also VERY willing to show other parts and he even danced for us!

Being able to be part of this special moment with her, makes my heart full of joy. I know I would never be pregnant again (knocking on wood), and I know this is the most I would ever be able to enjoy a pregnancy.

And of course, here is the picture of his BOY parts... He was in total need to show off!

My 100 Happy Days: Day #15

A few days ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook about not having a Coke with her name and it made me think that there WONT be a Coke with mine. So, I decided to do our own bottles and just because I had fun doing it, I decided this was going to be my happy post of the day...

My 100 Happy Days: Day #14

A compliment can make you smile, but receiving this message today really made my day. In this specific moment of my life, it means a lot...

Mimi the First

My sweet little rascal turned 6 a couple of weeks ago. She keeps me on my toes but she also makes me proud every single day.  She is becoming a little lady and I am loving watching her grow. She has always been this tiny little thing with such a big mouth (to eat and to give orders). She’s so smart, passionate, dedicated and sooo funny!

All three girls have been in love with Sofia the First and that was the theme of choice for her party. Her actual birthday was mid week and it was also in the middle of the tests, so we had to push the party for a couple of weeks.

She was very excited and couldn't wait.  I did the same strategy I did with Mia's party:  A small party with just a few kids BUT with LOTS of favors and decor.  This way I get to spend more on each kid and get to do way more stuff.  She shares her birthday with a friend of mine (pictured above with Mimi) and we gave her a special hug at Mimi's party.

Here is the invitation I made for her...


Here are pictures of the decor and snacks...


And here are the goodies and favors...


Mimi was soo happy when we were signing happy birthday! The magic candles were a hit once again.


I also did a card to say thank you to all of those that helped to make Mimi's birthday EXTRA special. A friend helped cutting the ribbons for the walls (which is not a pleasant job, trust me), then another one who helped decorating until we almost passed out, then another who helped with the camera department, and then to all the ones that were present celebrating!! Thank 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.

Getting ready for Santa

It has been a tradition in our house to wear something special to receive Santa.  It may be the only tradition that we have never broken.

This year I wanted to have the girls do something and decided to try some Arts and Crafts project.

I purchased plain white shirts and Glitter Glue in different colors.  Not only was fun, but it was also very inexpensive.

They wanted a Christmas Tree on their shirts so I draw them myself and they did all the decor to the trees.  I even did one for myself.


They were SO PROUD of their finished shirts!!

A friend of mine was babysitting them in the morning when I went to purchase the supplies and she was BEAT after just two hours with them.  And of course, Gigi needed to be in the picture too.

Local Spring Break

I scheduled my work's vacation for this week as the girls were going to be off school for the whole week.  We got to do so many stuff and we simply had a blast.  I got around 500 pictures but I will just post a few for the memory lane.


Mia had a photoshoot for a "job" that he was hired for (that's another post) and here are some pictures from that day:


The girls also got to play Wii with my TV downstairs and I played a lot with them.  Our favorite Wii game is the Mario game called New Super Mario Bros just because we can actually play simultaneously and even though they fight when "the other one kills them", I'm convinced that it helps them to play as a team.  They ask each other for tasks to accomplish things and they sound so grown up.  They also got a playdate with the daughter of one of my cousins (remember her?) and they had a blast.


We also spent several days at a local club and they just couldn't get enough water and sun.  Different friends were with me each day and it was super fun.

School Play

Mia and Mimi had a Christmas play at their school. Mia was not really part of the play because she didn't want to rehearse as "the sun was bothering her too much" (her words). She's too girly for that... For Mimi that wasn't a problem, so she was part of the play and got to wear a very cute handmade outfit.


A friend of mine went with us to see Mimi's performance...


Mia with her two bff's...


After the performance, Gaby got to play with my friend's pup...


They LOVED their Christmas Tree...

What's going on?

A lot have been going on since the last update. My mother in law got to be sent from New Jersey to Ecuador to be buried in her native country and hubby got to fly over there to say the last good bye to his mom. She was buried on Saturday the 10th.

In a good note, even though it was for a VERY sad reason, hubby had 18 YEARS without visiting his native country and it has been something huge for him to be able to see all that family that he haven't seen in sooo long, and to meet those that were not even born the last time he was there. He is still there, and he will be coming back next week.

Gaby also lost another tooth (notice on the first picture), and survived *another* ear infection (sigh!). Mimi has an eating strike, and it is hardly eating. My poor petite baby is getting skinnier. Camila is doing great but misses daddy very much. The nanny, Yudy, is happy at home, and we love having her around! Me? Working like a donkey!

Last week I bring home a Nikon D50 with a 50mm 1.8 lens and here are some pictures I took (well, some of them were taken by my friend Perla who was home with us that day):

Another party for Gaby!

We didnt plan another party, however my mom wanted to invite for a pizza to the daughters of two of her employees who recently had their birthdays. One of them turned 11 the same day of Gaby's birthday (the 5th), and the other one turned 9 on Thursday. So, her idea was to sing Happy Birthday to Gaby and those two other girls over a pizza.

As soon as I mentioned Gaby another birthday party she asked for her BIRTHDAY OUTFIT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!! Luckily, it was washed already and I only had to iron it.

When we were coordinating the time and such, I asked her if I should get cupcakes, and she told me to do whatever I think it was cute, so with less than three hours of preparation, I came up with this:

I took a few of leftovers things from Gaby's school party and then ran to the supermarket and this is what I got:
- 12 cupcakes (6 vanilla and 6 chocolate)
- 2 large boxes of Jello (one Grape, and the other strawberry)
- A can of whipped cream
- A large package of Oreo cookies
- 2 M&M's

Then, I ran to my mom's house to put everything together... I first made the jellos and put them in the fridge so they could be ready right away. This is how they looked after they were ready:

I used again my homemade cupcake tower, and this is how each floor looked... As it was so little cupcake, I put a little crystal bowl with M&M's for the balance:

Here are the three cupcakes for the birthday girls:

Here are the birthday girls:

Gaby blew her candle before we finish singing Happy Birthday and this is her mischievous face:

The one that was turning 9 had a baby brother (11 months old) and he had a lot of fun with some of the toys we have at my mom's house:

Here is the whole group of kids (ages 11 months old to 11 years old):

The Flowers:

Even though they just met they were having so much fun that it looked they have known each other since forever... The other two girls, even though they are older, were playing with them and having so much fun, that they didnt want to leave.

We promised to do something together again very soon!

Putting a face to the screen name...

For years I have known a lady under her online screen name, and as the mom of two gorgeous boys... We "met" on the Latino Families board on Baby Center and we kinda lose contact after the boards changed (I think it was a year ago... or is it two years already??)...

Anyway, she is married to a dominican man, and they came to the country to visit his family... On the very last day of her visit, I got to meet, not only her, her husband and kids, but also her husband's whole family!!

We got together in a big department store that is kinda like a shopping plaza, just after I picked Gaby up from school, and we talked and talked and talked. The kids ran around like crazy, and my girls also ate some chocolates and junk food that they "stole" from her older son.. LOL...

Her younger son was at home, because he was sleeping, so we decided to go to their house and we had an awesome time... As soon as we got there, there were tons of arms to hold the girls and play with them... They live in a very small street and mostly all the neighbors are from the same family... My girls felt at home..


After a while, we went to my mom's house so Gaby could do her homework and to get together with hubby (I had my mom's car, so hubby drove my mom to her house and was waiting for me over there)... Then, we came back to my friend's house so hubby could also meet her and her family...

We truly had an awesome time, and it makes me sad that we got to meet in her very last day in the country... Im sure our friendship will grow up more, and they do visit the country as frequent as they can, so there will be more and more chances to see each other. Their family is very nice and treated us like queen, king and princesses...

An afternoon with Elmo!

There was another show from the same people that presented Dora a couple of weeks ago... They had animators from their company plus ELMO!!! The girls were thrilled.. All three of them!!! I even invited a friend that has a little girl that is around 15 months old.

We had an awesome time, even though Mia and Mimi were a bit shy, but they sure loved Elmo... They wanted to participate when they didnt want to be by themselves.... Here is hubby dancing with them:

Choo-Choo!

Mimi was sooo happy when he came out:


There were a few contests:



Mia even won one:


A group photo:

Elmo and Mimi.... Now, all they talk about is that he held Mimi..


The girls, Elmo and I (you cant really see Mia cause hubby was too scared Elmo was going to drop Mimi that he didnt even realized that I Mia was behind my head


Mimi got a Cars poster... She didnt want to let go for a while... She was holding it like it was gold:


With my friend Elvira and her daughter...


Mimi having a blast with a balloon:


Gaby and Mia showing off their painted face:



I got a a video of the girls during one of the contests, but You Tube is giving me a hard time to upload it!!! :(

After the show we went to my dad's house... Im very happy to announce that the girls left the show WITHOUT throwing any tantrum... Way to go girls!