Our little walker

Just a snippet of Emma's walking skills (with a preview of Miah's stubborn-ness too!) Emma's walking everywhere now-like she's the ruler of the house! haha. They grow so fast! Seems like just yesterday Emma was still holding our hands to walk & Miah was saying only one word at a time. I guess it's true that time does fly when you're having fun - sometimes I wish it flew slower though. My babies are growing too fast! *tear*

Miah's haircut

Jeremiah's hair was getting pretty long so I thought I'd cut it before getting ready for our Thanksgiving feasts. We've only taken him to a professional twice & both times he cried his eyes out, so I decided to buy some clippers & tackle the task myself. I think I've cut his hair maybe 5 or 6 times already and it's always been a hit or miss, depending on his mood. This day was not a good mood day. He kept pulling his shoulders up and crying. I'm surprised he doesn't jump off the chair! Anyway, we were both getting frustrated so I decided to shave his head.

Poor Miah. I always feel sorry for him because he hates getting his hair cut. I think it's cause the cut hair sticks to his neck & it gets itchy. He usually likes his haircut after he's calmed down & taken a shower. After his shower I put a hoodie on him cause I had shaved his head so much that I thought his head would be cold. Poor baby, he was so ashamed of his haircut that he didn't wanna take his hoodie off. Luckily after hours of telling him his haircut was nice, he began to like it. At one point even pointed to his head & said, "Mommy, nice hair cut!" and smiled. The top picture was Jeremiah at Thanksgiving dinner, not minding his haircut at all.

Well, today is the picture below it. This was before we went to Grandma Marie's house to watch the Charger game, see all the cousins and welcome our cousin from Canada who just flew in last night. Mind you, we didn't see all these people on Thanksgiving so they didn't know about his hair. Needless to say, when we went in, everyone in the house made a fuss about it and he got ashamed & would not take off his hoodie. They weren't making any bad comments, but Jeremiah has never had his hair this short, so I think everyone was just surprised. Poor Miah, I felt so bad for him, but I took off his hoodie anyway (not w/out a fight) just so he could see it wasn't a big deal.

Luckily it didn't bother him anymore and I think he's back to liking it. I'm still trying to get used to how short it is, but I can't stop touching his head cause his hair is so soft! haha.

Thanksgiving 2009

Usually, every year, Thanksgiving involves going to 3 different places to stuff ourselves with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pancit, ribs, roast beef, etc. This year we only went to Grandpa Rudy's and The Dela Cruz's house. Auntie Marie had surgery the Tuesday prior and had told us that they weren't going to plan anything for Thanksgiving. Thankfully, she's doing well. Regretfully, we didn't take any pictures at Grandpa Rudy's, but as always the food was DELICIOUS!!! We met up with my sister and her family there, but after 2 or so hours of getting our grub on, we had to leave to go to Jenner's sisters' house. The spread is always eyecatching & of course delicious as well.

This year I also decided to join Annalou in some Black Friday shopping madness at Toys R Us. It wasn't too bad. We got in line around 11pm & doors opened at 12am. We split up & found things on her list. Good tag-teaming. Luckily Jenner got paid so I was able to spend a little on the deals. The best part of the morning was when Annalou bumped into an old friend of hers (whom she was trying to avoid, but kept seeing! haha) Worst part of the morning-the line! I think we stayed in line for 2 hours and I just made it home in time for Jenner to go to work at 5am!

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful to God for my loving husband, my caring children, my health and also my family & friends that have enriched my life with their friendship! God has blessed me!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

awww maaann!

This Saturday we went to watch the Pacquiao fight at my cousin's house. (Go Pacquiao! It was an exciting match!) Before we got to their house, we picked up some chicken wings. The drive to the restaurant seemed longer than usual and I guess we made a U-turn, at which point Jeremiah says, "Aww maaann!" and his dad says, "Aw man for what J?" and Miah states, in the same tone as his first aww maaann, " Wronggg Waaayy!" He cracks us up!

Halloween 2009

The theme for this years costume was "going green" and by that I mean reusing costumes! :D Emma wore Miah's old costume and was a Hunny Pot, while Miah borrowed AJ & Jayme's old costume and was a bumble bee. This year we had a mini-mini party with Jenner's side of the family (thanks to Annalou & family for making it festive with Jack-o-Lanterns and halloween goodies!) All week before Halloween I told Jeremiah that we were going to go trick-or-treating and how it would be like. He kinda got the concept of it all with the help of the Disney Channel & Sprout, but I was surprised how well he did! He had so much fun going from house to house with his cousins and sister. When we went to the first house, the other kids said "Trick-or-treat!" when they answered the door and the kids held out their pails Miah held out his pail right along with them. When the person put candy in it, he kept the pail up and waited for more. By the third house he got the routine down. Holding Jayme's hand he would wait at the door for someone to answer & when they came he'd say "Trick-or-treat", wait for his candy, say "Thank you", then wave & say "bye-bye". I'm so proud of him. He had a lot of fun. Only problem now is that everytime we drive down our street to go home he'll point to all the houses and say "Candy! Ha'oween!"

Emma's 1!

I wrote this post after Emma's birthday, but I guess I was so exhausted that I forgot to actually post it...




Happy 1st Birthday to my precious baby girl, Emma Michelle!!! Emma's birthday was Saturday, but everyone was soooo exhausted from spending the day at the park to celebrate Emma and Jeremiah's birthday that I didn't have the energy to get on the computer & blog.
I can't believe how fast the year went! It seems like just yesterday I was complaining of being extra preggo & wanting to give birth already! haha. I can't believe how fast Emma is growing! I think because there was so much going on with having to raise 2 kids I never had time to anticipate what developmental stage was coming up next for Emma and I was always surprised that they came up so fast!
My Emma is a character just like her brother! I love watching them interact! Emma loves Jeremiah-especially when he's doing something he's not supposed to and it's hard to tell him to stop because Emma enjoys it so much! Jeremiah was the first one ever to get Emma to laugh! They have such a sweet & special bond and I hope they grow up to be best friends! (ya, good luck, huh?! I can dream!)

Our baby boy is 3!

My miracle baby boy is 3 today! I can't believe it! Just typing those first two lines has already made me start tearing up. I literally fall asleep looking at him sleeping every single night and think to myself how blessed I am that Jeremiah is in our lives. Every night I think of how God gave him to us and how he just started out a tiny tiny cell...yes, I do, I literally picture a little cell, dividing and growing bigger and bigger -and then I think about the miracle of life...his life...every single night before I go to sleep. Funny, I know, but that's how I start my prayers of thanking God for my family. When I look at all his pictures in the hospital from 3 years ago, I can't believe how teeny tiny my little boy was! I knew in my heart that Jeremiah would thrive and get stronger every day. I like to think that that was a big reason he did so well - I like to think that my 2lb 10 oz baby boy could feel the extra strength and love that Jenner & I brought with us everyday, just for him. I will never forget how overjoyed I was when I gave birth & they put him on my chest. I felt a love that I had never felt in my whole life and in those few seconds I blocked everyone else out and it was just me and my Miah. My little Jeremiah has, so far, grown into a little character making us laugh every single day. I can't believe how smart he is and am in awe of how he thinks and what he is capable of learning. He is what I've always wanted in a son and more. God has truly blessed us and I can only hope and pray that we will raise him to be an intelligent, loving and caring person.

Happy 3rd Birthday, my Jeremiah!

Mommy loves you! Always.

"M is for Emma!"

I think Miah has a thing for the letter M. It's always the first letter he picks out from a picture of the alphabet. Anyway, tonight the kids were hanging out in our room (by "our" I mean all 4 of us! haha. Em's crib is by our bed & Miah still sleeps w/ us...which is TOTALLY fine by me! I like how we end up looking like a human "H" in the morning. haha) and I pointed out a picture of a snail on his pajamas and so he started sounding out an "s". After that he started saying "m. m. m" then this comes out of his mouth..."M is for Emma!" Jenner & I just laughed and corrected him, but I thought that was pretty clever for a 2yo. haha. Anyway, after that I tell him, "D is for Daddy!" and he repeats me. Then I say, "M is for Mommy!" and he says, "M is for ...DAD!" ya, he calls me dad. He calls Jenner, daddy. gotta love him!

btw, Happy 6th Birthday to my niece, Keilani!!! Love you! -Auntie Jen

Happy Birthday Mikaela!

today's my niece Mikaela's 13th birthday! i can't believe she's 13 already! it seems like only yesterday i got to witness my sister give birth to her! that was one of the greatest experiences of my life! back then my mom and i used to live with my sister, Donna, and her husband, Rex, in a house we rented by the two story McDonalds on paradise valley rd (if you're from east side you definitely know the area i'm talking about! haha). i think it was on mesa vista way or something like that. anyway, i had class that morning at southwestern college and when i got home my mom told me that my sister went into labor and Rex's friend, Jojo took her to the hospital. i remember Rex coming home from his job at the Catamaran all calm- mom was laughing at how calm he was and tried to hurry him up to go to the hospital. haha.

i'm not sure how i got to the hospital, but it seemed like we were waiting for mikaela to make her debut for a loooonnnggg time, so rex and i walked to a fast food restaurant across the street from the hospital to get some food. i secretly didn't wanna go cause i was afraid we were gonna miss something, but at the same time i was really hungry! :)

when we came back, my sisters back was really hurting bad and she had this tennis ball to massage her back. she had me pushing that tennis ball against her lower back so hard i was sweating! haha
anyway, when it was finally go time, we got in position-rex on my sisters right side, me on her left side with a camera and stine up by her head with the video camera! oh ya, and jojo was behind the curtain. lol
then we saw the top of mik's head! oh boy, did i lose it! tears kept filling my eyes and i couldn't wipe them with my hands so i had to blink so fast to get them out! it was amazing! i finished the whole roll of film just taking pictures of her when they moved her under the heater; i forgot to leave some for a family picture! luckily there was extra film.

later that day everyone came to the hospital. mg lynne saw me and asked me how it went and i just started crying! i couldn't even describe how awesome it was to see her birth! i can't believe that was 13 years ago! and now she's a teen! how time flies!

Happy Birthday Mik! I love you! -Auntie/Ninang Jen

cousin bonding

This past weekend the kids and I went to visit my sister and her family up in Corona. The four of us had gone up for a couple hours last weekend and since then Jeremiah's had been asking for "Kai's house" everyday. Jenner worked that weekend and had to stay home, so I packed up the kids and drove up during naptime. I think Jeremiah was too excited cause we were already past Temecula when he finally fell asleep. Our cousin Stine and her family came up as well. It turned out to be a great family bonding weekend!

Everyone got there on Friday afternoon and we decided to stay in for dinner. I cooked some fish tacos and my sis made some turkey lettuce wraps (yummy!) Saturday the mom's went out to get a haircut (thanks to my sis for treating Stine & I) then we sneaked over to Berrysweet (thanks Mg Stine) for some yummy yogurt (don't tell Kiana cause she sooo wanted some Berrysweet that weekend). Anyway, that night we ALL went bowling! It was the first time for Jeremiah and luckily I got to capture his excitement with a photo. I guess we were having so much fun bowling and playing in the arcade that we didn't leave till almost 11pm! Luckily Mg. Lynne got to come by the house that night to partake in Mg. Stine's de-li-cious graham cracker/brownie/marshmallow dessert! It was so yummy that we made her make it again on Sunday! haha.

my Miah

Miah's such a riot! Yesterday I told him to go call his daddy and he says, "Baaaabe!" Jenner & I looked at eachother and I said, "Did he just say babe?" and Miah looks at us, smiles, and says it again only louder! Then, today Emma was w/ me in the kitchen standing by the microwave and Miah comes over and says, "Hi Emma! (babbles something i couldn't understand while patting her back) okay?" then gives her a kiss on her head, says ba-bye and runs off to play w/ his trains. He cracks me up!

walking in the near future!

So I guess Em did have a new trick for today! She stood by herself for 2 seconds! LOL. I guess we better have the camera ready to document her first steps cause it's coming soon!

Jeremiah & Emma's new "tricks"

Today I found out that Jeremiah knows his letters! I know a couple of kids his age that know the alphabet already and I tried to start teaching him earlier but didn't really push it until he showed more of an interest. I thought he only knew a few letters, but was surprised to learn he knew much more than I thought. He has that leap frog gadget that sticks onto the refrigerator & teaches you how to say each letter & what it sounds like. There's also a button that plays the whole alphabet (which he used to press all the time w/out it finishing the whole alphabet!) He actually has 2 here at home & 1 at grandma marie's house, so he plays with it often. I also bought Thomas the Train letter flashcards which he also loves. Anyway, I guess I'm so surprised he knows his letters because everytime I play with him & try to teach him the letters he gets bored w/ it and goes to play with his trains. Anyway, he recognized the "m" the other day & said "m" and today after dinner he was playing w/ the letters and I thought I'd quiz him. Low & behold he knew practically all of them! He got maybe 2 or 3 wrong, but we still praised him for trying. He still pronounces some of them wrong, but I'm sure w/ practice and at the rate he's learning, he'll get it in no time. I'm so proud of him & you could tell he was proud of himself because everytime we exclaimed "yay" he smiled & laughed.

Jeremiah is also starting to tell me "I love you" more often!!! He used to say it very rarely...usually after I'd tickle it out of him, but now he says it everytime I say it to him! What a joy that is & my heart skips a beat every time he tells me "I love you."

His little sister Emma has some new tricks up her sleeve too! She already mastered giving 5 and I recently introduced giving kisses. It didn't really take more than a day or two cause everytime I gave her a kiss I'd say "kiss" first. Now when I say kiss she plops a wet one on my face and then smiles and laughs. I love it! I've been working on clapping but have noticed her belly gets in the way. LOL. She's also starting to lift herself up more to cruise around the couches. It seems as though she likes standing better than sitting...which might help the belly situation! haha. As much as I make fun of her belly, I absolutely love her chubbiness right now..so squeazably soft! LOL

Can't wait for what new "trick" tomorrow brings!!!

Emma's dr appt

My little buddha baby had her checkup last week. I was really excited to find out how much she weighed because she filled out pretty quickly since her last dr appt. plus she's been eating the pureed fruits & veggies like the dr suggested. sooo, drum roll...Emma weighs a whopping 17lbs (which is only 9 lbs lighter than Jeremiah who's 2 yrs older) and she's 25 1/2" long! The dr said that she was overweight! hahah. So different from Miah who was always underweight just until his last appt. Luckily Emma didn't get any shots this time. She did however have to get blood drawn, but she didn't even cry one bit! What a strong girl...just like mommy. LOL. Anyway, now she gets to start eating pureed meats. So far she likes it. The only thing I've found she doesn't like is peas...again, just like mommy :P

Happy Father's Day Jenner!

Jenner couldn't decide on whether to stay home or go out for father's day. I was hoping he wanted go out because family time outside the house is rare with our busy schedules. Luckily he had the idea of going to the beach! Jeremiah loves to play in the sand and it was a great time to try out his new beach toys. Once we got his toys out he was in a world of his own! haha. This was also Emma's first time at the beach. Her belly barely fit in her bathing suit, but she looked so cute! :D It was a great way to spend Father's Day!

it's a laughing matter...apparently

With Jenner being at work a lot , there's a lot of times when I need Jeremiah to entertain his sister for a few seconds. Sometimes she starts crying when I'm not in her view and Jeremiah pats her and says in a very gentle voice, " It's ok Emma, don't cry." But most of the time she's laughing like she can't control it! This was how I found out that what really gets Emma laughing is her brother! Apparently she finds it hilarious when Jeremiah yells, screams, growls, etc. at her. It's really funny to watch.

& she's off!

Just 2 weeks ago Emma started trying to crawl and after a week she got the crawling thing down! Now she's starting to pull herself up! She's just been growing so fast I don't wanna blink so I don't miss a thing! I think with Jeremiah I was focusing on milestones that were coming up because he was all by himself, but now there's so much going on with just having to look after both kids, Jenner having two jobs & me being back at school. It's like Emma knows what milestones are coming up on her own. I can already tell she's gonna be a handful. Yesterday I went to pick up the kids at Grandma Marie's and she kept trying to grab some travel books on the coffee table. Everytime I pulled her away she would look at me and give me the mad cry & crawl back to the books. She's so fast, just like her brother. Maybe they'll grow up to run in the Olympics! :D

mothers day 2009

As I start this blog, I'm wiping away tears. I don't know if it's just cause it's Mother's Day and I love my kids so much or that I just feel so blessed to have them in my life. Probably all of the above.

Anyway, today was a nice day. My sister, Donna, & her family came down last night to babysit for us and this morning my bro in law, Rex, made us all crab/cream cheese omelets for breakfast. The conversation over breakfast included updating eachother on the new HappySlip videos on youtube and such. I decided to show my sister this new video of this young guy I've subscribed to on youtube named AJ Rafael. I came across his videos a couple months ago & have been following him ever since. Anyway, he posted a new video of him singing a song he wrote for his mom. I thought it was such a nice tribute to his mom & a great way to say Thank You to her. My sister and I could not hold in the tears...



(ok, take some time to wipe your tears...LOL) Anyway, back to the rest of the day...Jenner had to work early this a.m. and came home around mid morning. Unfortunately he couldn't join us for mass because he needed some well deserved rest. We met mom & the rest of the family at church and then headed to our Auntie's house for lunch. It always feels good to have the family just hang out even if we're just eating, watching tv or watching the kids run around...which usually all happens simultaneously. We stayed there for a couple hours then Jeremiah, Emma & I headed home to spend some time with daddy. I guess the kids & I were really tired cause we all knocked out while Jenner made dinner. After dinner we just hung out and had some quality family time.

My best gifts today (everyday) were the random times Jeremiah stopped playing just to give me hugs & kisses and the smiles that Emma gave me in return when I smiled at her. I am truly blessed to have such sweet kids.

Happy Mother's Day!

About me...

blogging. this is my first blog & I guess I really wanted to use this as a journal to ultimately record  what's going on w/ my life esp in regards to my family. 

I met my husband, Jenner, back in 1998 when we worked at a clothing store at the mall.  Back then I was in a relationship & Jenner & I had a cool coworker friendship.  Two years later I left the retail industry & got hired to work for the state of CA.  In 2003, after a bad breakup, I moved back home & spent weekends bonding with my mom & cousin at the local casinos.  Some months later, on one late night/early morning I unexpectedly ran into Jenner, or rather, he saw me at Barona & sent me a text asking if I was winning.  I didn't have caller ID on my phone & got kind of worried.  To this day we joke that he was stalking me.  Long story short, we fell in love & married in Oct 2005, 3 yrs 7 mos ago today.

A year later & 9 weeks earlier than expected, we had our first child, Jeremiah.  It was a hard pregnancy due to my pre-eclampsia, but all worth the blessing we received. EVERY night as I say my prayers, I look at Jeremiah in awe & remember how little (he was 2 lbs 10oz at birth) & fragile he was when he was born, & thank God for him & his health.  Even though he was 9 wks early, I knew he would thrive & get out of the NICU quick.  He got to come home 1 month & 4 days after he was born...just in time for Thanksgiving!  What a great Thanksgiving that was!

Three months after Jeremiah was born, I started a new job & later that year, started back at school to start my journey to become a nurse.  Part of the reason for this career change was not only to better provide for my family, but also to give back to the medical field in appreciation for the care given to Jeremiah in the NICU.  I admire all the Doctors, Nurses & staff for what they do everyday & the love & care they give.  To complete the program at school,  I had to quit my job after a year and 3 months.  I was also 2 months into my second pregnancy.  A couple months later Jenner got a second job & since then I have been a SAHM....it's been hard, but I love being w/ the kids & I'll miss being home w/ them terribly when I start Nursing school in a couple weeks.  It'll be a looong 2 years, but well worth it in the end.

Exactly 2 years & 1 day after Jeremiah was born, his sister Emma Michelle arrived!  Thankfully I carried her full term & was able to have more of a "normal" pregnancy & delivery.  I felt like a new mom again & kind of was because I experienced Emma's first month of life w/ her at home, unlike Jeremiah in the hospital.  It was hard because Jenner worked (still works) both jobs & rarely had a full day off.  Luckily Jeremiah welcomed his new sister w/ open arms & since the first time he met her, has always been the doting brother.  I am very lucky that Jeremiah is so sweet & gentle with Emma.

I am totally in love with my family & can never find enough words to describe how thankful to God I am to have them in my life.  Hopefully I can keep up my blogs so I can remember our cherished family time together no matter how big or small.