family photos

Tanya Mercado Photography Blog: The Balat Family Video

so ever since Jeremiah was born I've been big on taking family photos every year. In prior years we've had our good friend, Ferdi (frameandfocusphotography), take our pics...we'll probably hit him up this year for photos too cause I just got the kids Christmas outfits and they are too cute I can hardly stand it! haha. Anyway, this year, one of my good friends from a previous job, Tanya, started taking pics professionally. I love her photo style (She's really good at scrapbooking too!) and I was excited to ask her to take our pics! We also got to finally take pics with my sister & her family (I'll post photos again in the near future). We took some joannemichelle photos as well, but we were missing my cousin so we'll have to re-do those business pics later. Anyway, the link above its to Tanya's blog and our family montage. Hope you love it as much as we do!!! :D

It's our 5th Anniversary!!!

It's Jenner & my 5th wedding anniversary today.  We didn't really plan anything special for today, just because I had clinical almost all day and Jenner had to work.  I think the only thing we did plan was to have dinner somewhere with the kids.  Thanks to our little family business that I started with my sister and cousin (joannemichelletreats.blogspot.com) we've been able to take the kids out a couple times a month.  It's nothing extravagant, but it's good to get the kids, well, all of us out of the house all together once in a while.  The kids are at the age where they can feed themselves well, plus they're so curious about everything around them, we might as well use this time as a learning experience so that they can learn some social skills as well. 

Like I said, I had clinicals almost all day today.  I woke up at the crack of dawn hoping the day would go by quickly.  Don't get me wrong, I like being able to experience new things in clinical, but this time around isn't really any different from our past clinicals.  Welllll, we all got to the clinical site early to research our patient, but hit a road block because it seemed that the charge nurse was not aware we were coming early.  There was a little mix up and no communication.  Long story short, we needed to pick patients, but didn't know which ones we weren't allowed to get or which one had precautions.  Finally we met our instructor for our morning meeting and he said 1 of us would be able to go to the ER and another would be able to go to Ambulatory (which is basically pre-op).  We all put our names on a piece of paper and our instructor picked 2 randomly.  Luckily, I was one of the people picked!  The other was a friend of mine from past semesters.  Guys usually like to go to the ER, so not knowing what was in store I chose Ambulatory.  My instructor took me up to meet the charge nurse and she suggested for me to stand in on a surgery!!!  I was soooo excited!!! When I was younger I saw a total knee replacement surgery on PBS and was so enthralled by it!  I thought, wow! wouldn't it be cool to see one of these in person!? Back then I didn't even consider a health care profession, but now, today, I got to witness a total knee replacement!!!!  Talk about crazy!  I got to shadow the pre-op nurse and watch her prep the patient about what was gonna happen and she let me prep the IV bag (of course, I didn't put the actual IV in) and I got to use a doppler to try to find the patients pulse.  Then after a couple hours, I helped her take the patient to the operating room!  I even got to change into surgical scrubs...booties, hat, mask, face shield.  I didn't go near the sterile field, but I was close enough to see everything!  Everyone was so welcoming and the nurse in pre-op was a great teacher!  It was my best clinical experience yet!  Can't wait for more days like this! :D

Now I just gotta wait for the kids to wake up from their nap and for Jenner to get off work so we can have family time!  What a perfect Anniversary/Friday/Clinical/Family Day all in one!!!

my! how time flies!

It was Jeremiah's 4th and Emma's 2nd birthday on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, this weekend.  We planned for a small Halloween Costume Party, but with all our family & friends and their children, small is no longer an option! haha.  Miah & Em had soo much fun at their party! Jeremiah dressed up as Thomas the Train, of course! and our little Emma was a ballerina.  Jenner & I were surprised so many people dressed up! We're thinking we might continue this Halloween Costume Party theme.  It's so hard to choose a theme party when you have a boy and a girl whose birthday's are so close together! Our solution, Halloween! :D

Above is a pic of Miah & Em when everyone is singing Happy Birthday and you can tell how happy they truly are that all their friends were singing for them.  When everyone started to sing Jeremiah looked at me with a surprised look and smiled.  He even started to sing along with everyone!  Emma loved it too!  She knew exactly when/how to blow out her candle.  I'm so proud of both of them!  That was my favorite part of the party because the happiness in their faces was priceless! 

Eventhough it can be rough sometimes, being a Mom is the most rewarding title ever!  I love my kids so much and I can't believe how fast they are growing!  All day Sat & Sun, everytime I looked at Miah & Emma, I just thought of the day they were born.  I can still feel all the love I felt for them back then on top of all the love I have for them now.  The whole experience of Motherhood is awesome and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Jenner & I are sooo blessed to have Jeremiah & Emma in our lives.  They are so loving and caring and they make us laugh everyday!  I am truly head over heals in love with my little family! No words can express my love and joy for them!

Happy Birthday my Jeremiah and Emma Michelle!  I love you both sooo much!!!

My daughter is sooo me!

There's been so much going on in my little corner of the world the past month or so...that will have to be another post, that I hopefully WILL write someday. Anyway, I've been on vacay from school for the past two weeks and thought I would get a chance to purge & throw away a lot of un-needed clutter and most importantly spend some quality time with the kids. Although I didn't spend as much time as I wanted on those things, i did get to catch at least a little QT w/ Jeremiah & Emma.

I have the tendency to just post on my FB little things that the kids say just because it's quick, but I really think I need to start posting it here. Somehow I feel like it will last longer here. For lack of time (I start a new semester in the morning & figure I should try to sleep earlier than my usual 3-4am bedtime) I'll just write my little post about todays funny things my kids say.

When Jeremiah was little I used to make it a point to read to him every night. He'd always want the same story How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight. I didn't mind it, it was a cute story, and I tried to make it interesting and fun and he ended up memorizing it and repeating it the way I had read it to him. Anyway, I haven't been consistent with reading since I started nursing school, so since I was on vacation I tried to resume my nightly story time. This weeks winner was The Foot Book by Dr Seuss. Emma loves this book & makes me read it all the time! It's pretty funny cause she also repeats things the way I read it to them and she hates it when I say it's the end. Today she even stopped me before getting to the last page and tried to tell me to read it again....which brings me to one of the points of my title! When she knows what she wants, she wants it done right now! Soooo me...sometimes, ok, most of the time!

The kids have a little kitchen that my husband got from his work. We keep it in our play room/computer room/my craft room along with the bulk of the toys so that I can work/study while they play. Today, Emma announced that she was gonna cook for me. "I gonna cook por u, ok mommy?!" Of course I said "oh, OK!" so there she stood at her kitchen pretending to cook. She even paused to look for the spoon to mix her concoction in her little pot. "OH! where's da spoon?" looks down and sees it near her foot and says, "OH! der it is!" hehe. I just wanted to squeeze her! Anyway, she continued to cook, pretended to ladel something out of the pot and gave me some. Then she says, just like me, "is it good? u like it, mommy?" I said "ya, that's yummy soup!" Then she says w/ a smirk, "nooooo, dat's not toup! dat's noodles!" lol.

Oh, I wish I had a way to record her or DVR her so I could play back what she says! haha.

She's also been going at it with her markers lately - washable of course! We set up a little table with a roll of paper for the kids to draw on right next to my computer table. Emma loves to draw and has almost fill up the roll of paper with circles! We had to turn the roll over to use the other side. I think in 20 minutes she could fill a table worth of paper into a drawing of tiny circles and still not be tired of drawing! Last week I decided to show her how to write her name. you can never start to early, right? haha. Anway, she would constantly ask me to "draw Emma", so one day I decided to draw a face w/ eyes and all and even added curly hair and told her that that was Emma...OMG, now she ALWAYS wants me to "draw Emma" One time I tried to trick her and I just wrote out her name. She got mad and said, "NO! wid da eyes!" hehe. Now to get her involved in drawing herself I only draw the shape of her face, eyes, nose, mouth and ears and hand her the marker & tell her to draw her hair. I think she's catching on though cause she'll only draw a circle on or around the face then tell me to "draw Emma!" again. and again. and again. Oy! This child! She's just like me! She knows all my lines (like "What da heck!?"- not proud of that one, but it IS pretty funny when she says it and I always have to fight a laugh!), gets mad JUST like me, wants what she wants right away, oh, I could go on and on! haha. She cracks me up everyday and it's amazing how much she learns from just watching what everyone around her does everyday! hmm, that sounds like me too! lol

July Highlights

July was a very busy month so this highlight may need to be divided. July 1st was our good friend Jos' bday. I was bummed I didn't get to go to her surprise bday dinner at the new Spaghetti Factory! Jenner was at work & I didn't have a babysitter available. It was also my neice, Kiana's bday. I was supposed to go up to Corona & make some Hello Kitty cake pops for her, but had to stay down & study for a big test I had that Friday. boo! :(

3: This day was our friend's Butch & Andrea's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony & reception at Mariner's Point. They both looked fabulous! & no doubt, I cried! I love weddings! We're so happy for the newlyweds! Definitely good times w/ good peeps!

10: Wedding #2 for this month! Kim & Newc's wedding was at Bali Hai. It was a beautiful ceremony on the beach, then we headed upstairs to the ballroom for the reception. Beautiful view of the bay & the Sea World fireworks! We also got some great photobooth pics of the old Ikea crew. Congrats to the happy couple! & Thank you to my sis & family for watching the kids while we were at the wedding.

11: Cousin bonding at Otay Ranch Mall. Again, we met up w/ the Penaranda's, Aquino's and Carbonell's. FUN TIMES! Always!!!
12: Finally a day of sun! The kids & I headed to the beach w/ my SIL Annalou & her kids. Fun in the sun quickly turned into fun under the clouds, but we still had a gun & relaxing time. That afternoon when Jenner got home we went to Maggie & Andretti's new place for late lunch. Had some yummy food that included a bacon wrapped hot dog inspired by Lucha Libre's - w/c was somewhere Jenner & I always talk about going...so after resting for a couple hours Jenner & I took the kids to Lucha Libre's for dinner! haha. There was a long wait in line, but it was well worth it! sooo yummy! Luckily Jenner figured out how to make the special green sauce so we can enjoy it at home w/out waiting in line!
16: I had this overwhelming desire to bake, so I baked my heart out! Made cupcakes filled w/ cream cheese icing, topped w/ homemade buttercream icing, an assortment of cake pops, homemade marshmallow fondant and chocolate chip cookies w/ cream cheese icing topped w/ the fondant. I also made some w/ ice cream filling, but they didn't turn out so clean so I didn't take pics of them. I also practiced making designs w/ chocolate to top off mini cookies & for possible future cupcake toppers.
24: Lola's birthday! The four of us had a family day at the beach. Luckily it stayed sunny, however I forgot there was a rosary for Lola at Auntie Marie's house at 5pm. I lost track of time- FAIL for Jen!
27: Completed my first order for cake pops! - 15 cake pops, pink & purple for a birthday for one of Jenner's coworkers. She really liked them & decided to give me an $8 tip! Jen FTW! AND I got another order on the same day! Talking w/ my sis & cousin about starting up a family business! We're pretty excited!!!
This day I also got to visit Jos & Jo #5, little Joel Ayden! so cute!!! I could've held him all day!!! I didn't bring the kids w/ me cause I wanted QT w/ baby & mommy, but I should've at least brought Em so she could play w/ Joelle!
31: Joshua & Ethan's Lego birthday pary!  Stine was gonna make a Lego cake, but ran out of time so I offered to make one for each of them, along with some cupcakes.  I had a lot of help from my sis & the girls and everything turned out looking great! 

Funny things Jeremiah said the last week of July:
25th: J & I were looking at baby pics of Em & I asked J if he remembered when his sister was still in my tummy & I had a big belly. He says, "yaaahhh!!!" then he looks at my tummy & his eyes move upward & he pats the girls up top & says, "Ohh, mommy! What's this?! ooh! there's two babies inside??"
26th: The kids & I had to go to Jenner's work to pick something up from him around lunch time, so I ask the kids if they wanna have lunch at daddy's work. No answer, so I "hello!? anyone? Can someone please answer mommy?" J whispers to Emma: "Eeeemmmm, youuuu doooo iiiiit!" Aye! they're funny little people!
27th: I had school so I dropped the kids off at Lolo & Grandma's house. Miah sees me off & before he closes the door he says, "Ok, have fun and don't get mad at daddy, ok?" LOL.

June 2010 highlights

highlight for this month... 2: drove up to Corona with mom & the kids for a couple hours to witness Mikaela's induction into the National Junior Honor Society. soo proud of her!!! 3: AJ & Jayme's promotion from Bonita Vista Middle. Headed over to eat some yummy sushi at Todai after to celebrate. 12: June cousin get together. Menu: Mexican cuisine and cake to celebrate Mikey's birthday befor he left for NJ for 3 months. 19: Took Father's Day photos of the kids. Tried to be creative and took a pic of the kids holding a Happy Father's Day sign. Turned out pretty goo, although J was a little cranky that day & forced a smile. 20: Father's Day at SD Fair (Del Mar Fair). Met up with the Penaranda's, Aquino's, and Carbonell's to watch Mik & Kian perform w/ their Hulau(?)-Hula family 23: Mikaela's promotion from El Cerrito Middle and my first attempts at making cake pops. Flavor: Red Velvet dipped in chocolate. I also made chocolate graduation caps which turned out pretty cute! I was proud of myself...AND of course, proud of the graduate! 26: Jeff & Chrysty's baby shower at Maida's beautiful house! Fail on my part-didn't even get a picture with Jeff &/or Chrysty! Had fun though! There were a lot of kids & we got to see a bunch of old OVC members. Misc: random pics of the kids, including Emma on the drums...

May 2010 highlights

ok, so I thought I should start trying to catch up on my blog. I gotta back track a little to get up to date w/ my stories. Since it's pretty late, I'll just start off with May. Had a lot of pics so I just combined them into one slideshow. Here's some highlight of the month of May: 10-12: Jenner took me to Vegas for Mother's Day AND to watch the JABBAWOCKEEZ at MGM Grand for their show Mus.I.C (Great show!!!) We got to stay at the new Aria Hotel (LOVE LOVE LOVED IT!!!) We also ate at Hash House a Go Go, KOI at Planet Hollywood, after that he had a hot dog from Pinks cause it was on our way back to our hotel. We also had my friend from school, Nelly & her hubby come over for some drinks and the next night we got to have dinner w/ them at NYNY before we watch the Jabbawockeez. 15: The DelaCruz's babysat Jeremiah & Em while I went to a dr appt. I met up w/ them later at Rohr Park. 22: May Sushi night w/ the Penaranda's, Aquino's, & Carbonell's - hosted by the Aquino family. We had fantastic sushi as always, Rex & Jenner won their first beer pong match, 80's kareoke and bday cake for Ashley & Ginger. 22-28: Jenner's mom & dad come home from Florida for a week. Tito Ike & Tita Len also come for a couple days from Virginia. 30: J & Em hangin out on a Sunday afternoon after mass.

<