A pup's birthday

My nephew's pup, Lila, turned one and a party was done to celebrate.

This pup "resuscitate" today after being lost for two days and it was just an amazing experience for all of us, especially for my girls and nephew.

Lila did something that I have only seen in movies today.  She was able to get to our old neighbor's house, we assume it was because it was the only place that was familiar for her (as we moved last month).  The houses are far away, and we still don't know how she got there. But she did. It was like a miracle!

So, today, was a very happy day and we have enough dogs (and even a cat) in our house to be able to do a big party. On this picture, Gaby is holding Luca, Mia is holding Loly aKa Angie, my nephew is holding Lila (the birthday girl), Mimi is holding Gatie, and I'm holding Lupita (my mom's old dog that is around 12 years old)...


When we were going to sing happy birthday, ss soon as we light up the candle, the cat RAN away!! I'm talking that she JUMPED and ran away like if her pants were on fire. The way the kids reacted was priceless!

School's Family Day

Today was the Annual Family Day at school and we had an awesome time.  It was too sunny and too crowded to have my niece with us, so my nephew tagged along with us.

I love spending time with him without his parents because he behaves different when they are not around... He is more loving with me, he also respects me a lot and follows instructions... And of course, he cooperates with pictures (which he normally doesn't do).

There were some inflatables that they enjoyed a lot, but mostly it was the escalating wall that won them over. We also played dominoes and ate A LOT.  The sun was also unbelievable and that didn't help with the pictures, but I did get some good ones... Here are just a few... On the one just below, Mia is posing with her BFF.




One of childhood friends from school went with me and it was so nice to have her there. We also spent time with the daughters of another childhood friend from school and we took some pictures. Even though the girls are not in the same location I went to school at, it is still the same school...

A niece is NOT a nephew...

Duh! Right?

I have three bothers and all three of them "decided" they were going to have boys.  I was under the impression that the only girls were going to be my daughters.... and then my niece was born!!!

It's a completely different feeling and I know this beautiful feeling will only grow and grow. As much as I want to enjoy her as a baby, I can't wait to see how much will be to have a little girl running around with my girls.

Regardless the big age difference, I have the feeling she will be guarded and protected by my girls all her life. I think my two little brothers (they are my half bros from my dad) has not close down the baby making factory, but my older and I did... this means that my niece is the last of the grandkids for my mom. Who knows if this will be the only niece I would ever have.

I enjoyed A LOT taking pictures of her this weekend and this is just a little sample... (tons of pictures are posted on Facebook)...

Love goes beyond blood

Yesterday was a very emotional day for me.  Not only I got to meet and hold my niece for the first time, but also my best friend had her baby boy. I'm 7 years older than her, and it feels like she is the little sister I never had. For that reason, I will treat her son as my nephew and I would love him as an auntie.

She had a very difficult pregnancy with lots of bedrest and progesterone injections... Making it to 36 and 5 days was a huge success! He was born weighting 6 pounds, 5 ounces and 18 inches long.

He is just as gorgeous as his mom and didn't have to spend any time in the NICU.  I also got to change a diaper to a one day old baby for the first time in my life! I'm completely smitten with this boy! !

My niece's birth announcement

I have been posting the whole week about my tiny girls, and this post feels the complete opposite. My niece was born earlier this month, and not only she wasn't born early... she was actually born passed her due date!

She's breastfeeding like a champ and acting like a big baby. Gotta love her chubby cheeks, and chubby feet! And those eyes are just beautiful... they are dark blue just like her brother had them at this age.

My 100 Happy Days: Day #80

After being the mommy of three girls and the auntie to three boys, God blessed my family with my very first niece! She was too comfy on her mom's belly that she decided that 40 weeks wasn't enough for her... She decided to spend a couple of extra weeks in there! But, the wait is over and she is FINALLY here!

Receiving that message from my big bro got me so emotional and so happy! I'm already in love with her and I can't wait to have her on my arms!

My 100 Happy Days: Day #79

The way that it supposedly works is that you have a nephew that is born the day he is delivered by his mommy. That is what happened with my nephew on the right... However I just found out TODAY that I have another nephew (on the left)... He was born almost 3 years ago, but to me, he was born TODAY. It is sad that we didn't know about him until now, and seeing him already bonding with his cousin, made me smile!

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!

Off to school

Today was the first official day of school and the girls were really excited. They are aware of the many challenges each one of them will face this year and they are getting ready for them.

I wanted to get a nice picture of them together, another one with me and another one with my nephew.  I'm not very happy about the picture with me, but oh well, not much I can do when I can't be behind the lens myself.

The first day of school was a total success and they all loved their new teachers. Gaby has not meet them all, but ones she met so far are great ones.

I can't wait to see how this school year is going to be.


And here are the girls with my nephew...

Mia, the 3rd Grader

Mia is starting 3rd Grade, and she is super happy! For the "back to school sign", I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up and she said she wants to be a veterinarian to treat dogs and cats, and a graphic designer like her mommy.

In our local education system, kids from Preschool to 2nd Grade only get check marks for "accomplished", "in progress" or "not accomplished" (or something similar). This year, Mia will start getting actual grades and it means that it is the start of her real school years. Now she will get tests, grades with numbers, and the whole 10 yards.

All the way up to 2nd Grade, kids only need to have the correct age to move up from one grade to the other, but after 3rd Grade, kids can actually fail and repeat the year. I'm 100% that it won't be Mia's case, because she is very smart and dedicated, but it will be a huge change for her.

I can't wait to see how she adapts to be treated as a big girl... Many many changes for her, and also for my oldest nephew because they are in the same classroom. He's a little rascal at home, however at school he's very dedicated and a very fast learner.




Updated to add pictures of my nephew and Mia with their teacher...

Summer Camp

My girls and oldest nephew have been attending a Summer Camp for the last couple of weeks. They get to do sooo many stuff, and it has been really fun for them. It has many sports, including swimming and they just can't get enough of it.

Today, I decided to pay them a visit to be able to take pictures, and I was able to see them in several activities.

My nephew is not a picture person, but for some reason, he cooperates with me. Maybe he does it because he sees my girls cooperates, or maybe because he loves me... whatever reason, he smiles for me!

They are divided by teams, and that's how they do the activities. Mia and Gaby are together and they were jumping the rope...


Mimi was in a different team... She was playing Tennis... She was doing an awesome job!


My nephew was playing soccer... They were not in the actual field, so they were just kicking penalties...


Next, it was pool time! They ALL love the water, and they have progressed a lot in their swimming skills.




All four together!

Pizza time

My dad called early to invite us to eat pizza. I haven't break my diet in the last couple of months, but I was not going to keep my girls from spending quality time with their grandpa.

He showed up with my nephew and took us to a pizzeria that is close by. To be honest, my girls hardly ever go to a pizzeria. Why? Because when we want to order something in the house, pizza is always the way to go. So, if we go out to eat, I normally try to get something else.

Needless to say, they were thrilled. They ate their pizza with pizza and all.

My dad's eyes were sparkling, just as every time he is with my girls... It's a delight to see.


And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pic... Even my nephew is smiling which he hardly ever does on a picture. Wish my other nephew were in this picture, but I will make that happen sooner than later...

The 4 loves of my life

There is a post I made from last May called "what is love"... It has a picture of my girls and my oldest nephew...  It's hard to get a picture that I like of all 4, and I LOVE this one. It was taken by my sister in law and I stole it from her Instragra. I wish the sun would not be on Gaby's face, but whenever I decide to print my blog, I will just remove it with Photoshop. It's amazing to see much they have changed in just 12 months...

My dad and his granchildren

This is a BIG thing. As we don't live so close, my youngest nephew hardly ever sees my girls. Still he sees them some times. One thing that never happens is having my two nephews together.

My dad wanted to have all his grandkids together and he came to visit us.

The backyard is huge and they ran around like chickens without heads and had a blast!

We hope to be able to get them together more frequently! After all, there is NOTHING more important than the love of family!

Christmas Suprise

On Christmas morning we had a really nice surprise. All my mom's siblings (except for one) plus two of their wives came to visit us for a "Christmas Lunch". My brother, sister in law and nephew also came.

No kids were part of the visit, but my girls and my nephew know how to have lots of fun by themselves, especially with new toys around the house. Of course, most of the toys were too girly for my nephew, but somehow he always manages to have a blast.

I took lots of pictures, but of course, I am only posting a few.  Still pictures from my Galaxy phone, but they are just good enough for me.


The girls playing with their new toys...

Mia and  my nephew being silly...

More family time!

As my grandma is under my mom's care, we are receiving a lot of visitors. This is always fun for the girls, especially when the visitors includes children.

Whoever reads my blog knows that I have a favorite uncle (I am seriously hoping the others uncle don't read my blog), and he has two grandchildren.  Today, he came to visit us with his grandkids and they had a blast.  I didn't take the pictures myself as I didn't have the camera with me and my cell was very low on battery, but I hope to be able to take better pictures with the same group very soon.

Christmas Arts and Crafts

Every year we plan something special for the girls to wear for Christmas night. This year, we decided to do something different.

I saw an idea for Christmas Tree decoration on a tree at a local bank and loved it.  I knew I had to do that with the girls... I got the supplies and this is a picture of the last trip to the store to get a few more stuff... One of my favorite pictures of my girls with my nephew.


We had a lot of fun creating the ornaments and they worked hard and with a lot of dedication on each one of them.




And here is Mia showing off the white fingers and finished work