Ocasio Family

Finally, an Update......

2011-12-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

It is official, I am super lame at this blogging stuff, but I will continue to update anyways. So much has happened once again.....I am a stay at home mom/student/wife now. I am an Independent Gold Canyon Consultant, the BEST candles, oils, scent pods EVER!!! I am currently attending EMCC working towards my Associate of Science and then I will be transferring to a university to study Psychology. I either want to be a Psychiatrist or be a Psych Nurse, in that case I would have to get my degree in Nursing. Decisions, Decisions. Antonio is currently working on the LARGEST solar plant in the Nation in Gila Bend, AZ. He is a Crane Operator/Lead. We were so greatly blessed with this job and the ability that it has provided me to be a stay at home mommy.
Channing is in 4th grade and doing well! She loves to brush my hair and give me massages, Seriously she does. It is actually VERY nice! She loves school and helping me with my chores, etc. Joseph is in 2nd grade and doing AWESOME! He brings home spelling tests with 100's every week! He loves playing baseball and doing karate. Mikey is in Kindergarten. He loves school and is completely girl crazy. He loves playing baseball and doing karate with his big brother. Little Ande is now 2 and is definately a terror. He loves cars and anything with wheels. He enjoys playing outside and picking on his older siblings. These are some of our fun family adventures.

Ande's fro

After the fro!

The kids!

My love and I

Mommy and Mikey at the State Fair!

And.....my sweet little Munchkin!
I couldn't have asked for a better little family. Love all of them!!!

This year so far.......

2011-04-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

January 1, 2011- Mikey had his 5th birthday! It is so amazing and sad how fast they grow up. He still seems like a baby to me. We had a little party for him at Peter Piper (his choice), and just had family and friends over.

March 16, 2011- Joseph turned 7! He is getting so big and in a year he will be able to be baptized! Just the other day he asked me if he could get married in the temple. I was so happy to hear that he loves the gospel.

Also in March, I quit my job to stay home with my little boys again.

April 2011- I began a new job working from home for U-Haul. I really enjoy it and

I love being able to stay home with my babies. The boys love it too. I have so many more opportunities to bond with my boys. Just a couple of weeks ago, I went on a field trip with Joseph to the AZ Science Center. It was lots of fun and I got a lot of pictures of Jojo and some of his friends. I have also decided to start being more dedicated to my blog. I need to be better at updating our blog, so that is my goal.

Antonio is doing well in his job. Although he is already looking for a new career. He is hoping to get back in law enforcement, so hopefully he can find a job with an agency soon!

Ande is getting so big and loves dancing. He climbs on everything and when he hears any music he starts dancing with his daddy. He is 18 months now and in nursery and We LOVE it! Everyday with him is an adventure, h

e has such a sweet, yet sassy and demanding attitude.

That's all for now.

New house & new puppies

2010-01-31T09:39:00.001-08:00

That's right! On January 26, 2010, Antonio & I closed on our first home! We were renting a beautiful house that we were told we might be able to buy in a year or so. Unfortunately on December 28, 2009 we received a phone call from the property manager saying that the owner's were moving back and they needed their house! I was so upset and stressed and didn't know what to do. One day while chatting with my friend Ginny online, I just began crying and felt like I didn't know what to do or where to go. I suddenly got a feeling of peace and a knowing that everything would be alright. I was ok, but still not sure where to go. We were about to sign papers on a town house in Mesa, when I knelt down and prayed that if we were supposed to stay in Buckeye to please let me find something. About 5 minutes later, I got Mike and Ande in the car and started driving through our neighborhood, when I found our house! I immediately called the realtor, got all the info, went home woke Tony, took him by the house, and then called the realtor back to set up a viewing.
The next day, we went and walked through the house! It was perfect! There was NO qualifying, NO down payment, and it was an Owner carry/Owner Financing! This was it! We were unable to purchase due to credit caused from both of our divorces, however, we found this! The seller gave us early occupancy on January 13th, and we closed on January 26th. My prayers were answered!
So, now with the purchase of our OWN home, we were able to have pets once again! After looking on Craigslist and driving around, we found some puppies for free from an LDS family! We took two! A boy and a girl. The boy is Sparky, and the girl is Sweet Pea! The kids love the dogs and so does Tony! I love the dogs too, but my priority right now is Ande. So while dad and the kids all love on and play with the dogs, I love on and play with Ande!
What a beautiful way to start the New Year!!!

For any one who may want our address it is:
25841 W Dunlap Rd. Buckeye, AZ 85326

Mr. Anderson

2010-01-31T09:33:00.001-08:00

I am also a little bit late in making this post, but here goes! On January 22nd, Mr. Ande turned 3 months! My where has the time gone?! He is truly a GREAT baby! We love him so much! Here are a few things he does now!

*Smiles constantly
*Coos when anyone talks to him! It's so cute, he will carry on a conversation with you!
*He is already trying to roll over
*Sleeps through the night! YAY for me! LOL!
*He is constantly blowing bubbles, so he always has drool on his face

Ande is such a sweet little boy! I can't believe how big he has gotten! At his last dr appt he weighed 13 lbs 9 oz and was 23 3/4 inches long.

Happy Birthday to Michael!

2010-01-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

I am about a month late in posting this, but things have been super busy and so much stuff has happened since my last post!
Anyways, on 4 years ago on January 1st, Michael Keith Roman was born! This year to celebrate his life, we took him and Joseph to Amazing Jake's pizza! The boys had so much fun riding the go-carts, the train, the carousel, and all of the other way cool rides! We had the buffet for dinner, and then played for about 2 hours! Michael had so much fun and was so excited to get to do so much!
After Amazing Jake's the boys went to their dad's to celebrate with his family. When we got the boys back, we went over to our friend's house for cake and presents! We let Mikey pick out his cake, so on top of it, he had DINOSAURS! LOL! Of course, anyone who knows Mike knows that dinosaurs are his thing right now! Then he opened his present and it was a dinosaur with a button on his back that walks and growls! Mike loved it so much! He is so easy to please, just takes one dinosaur!
A couple weeks later, while the boys were with their dad, Tony and I wanted to get Mikey something else for his birthday since we had a little extra money. While at Wal-Mart we saw this huge dinosaur named Spike that had a remote control. He usually cost about 200 dollars, however, my hubby wanted to scan him. So we found a scanner and Spike was ONLY 60 dollars!!!! So, we figured that was an awesome deal and got him. The next night when Mike got home from his dad's, we pulled out Spike! Michael was ecstatic! He loves Spike and constantly plays with him! He has even tried taking a bath with him!
In Michael's eyes, he had the best birthday EVER! We are so grateful for this little boy that we have to spend time with and love and take care of! He has such a sweet spirit and brings so much Joy to our lives, especially mine! He is truly special to me and I am so grateful to be his mommy!!!

Time to re-decorate!

2009-12-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

I have this fetish with constantly changing rooms and moving furniture around! I just can't seem to stand things being boring or feeling boring! Anyways, when we were preparing for Ande, we moved my office out into the living room and turned the garage into a game room! Well, now that I will be working from home AGAIN, I have decided that I need my own space again AWAY from everyone and everything! So I told Tony that I want my office moved out into the garage as well but on the opposite side of the game area! Then we will put the living back the way we originally had it. It was more open than it is now! Also, I asked him if he would make a book shelf to put in the living room for all of the our books and the kids books! He said yes! YAY! Totally excited, can't wait to start this project!

Then, for the kids rooms, lol, I am going through ALL of their toys and getting rid of the ones they don't play with. I am also buying bins that will be labeled for all of their different toys! For instance, Michael has about a million dinosaurs so we will have a dinosaur bin! Same with Joseph and Channing!

I guess it's just my new thing! I am trying to get organized like I used to be before I had 4 kids! Anyways, that's it! I will try to update after the New Year and Michael's 4th birthday!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, all the kids were gone except for Ande! The boys were with their daddy and Channing went to California to see her mom for the first time in over a year! So the house was very quite! Also, due to the economy, Christmas was alot smaller than usual!
On Christmas Eve, my brother and his little family came over, and one of Tony's buddy's from work came over! We had lots of YUMMY snacks and hung out! We watched Star Trek, the boys played X-Box 360, and after my brother's kids went to bed, Santa came and put out all the gifts!
On Christmas morning, I woke everyone up to open presents! YAY! Everyone loved what they got and around 11, we had our BIG Christmas breakfast! After that, we went and picked up the boys, came back home and opened presents AGAIN!!!
After all of that, we were all extremely tired so we took a little nap while Joseph and Michael played with all of their new toys and Madagascar video games! Later that evening, we drove around to look at all of the beautiful Christmas lights!!!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

Ande at 2 months!!!

2 months old!!!

2009-12-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is Ande at 1 month!

I can't believe how quickly time has gone by! My little Chubsy Wubsy turned 2 months on December 22nd! So here are some things that he is doing now!

* He holds his head up very well now!

* He smiles when I talk to him or smile at him, and if I say, "Ande, where's mommy's smiles?" He smiles really big! LOVE IT!

* He coos and makes sounds when we talk to him.

* He is staying awake more and so car rides are getting to be a little bit harder.

* He goes to bed at 9:30, and doesn't wake up until about 2 AM! YAY!!!

* Every night he falls asleep in his swing while I relax in the bath.

Ande is such a sweet little boy and we all love him so much! His older siblings love to help mommy, but sometimes they help TOO much! LOL! Poor Ande doesn't get any rest when they are around!

1 month old and a Blessing

2009-12-02T15:19:00.001-08:00

My sweet little boy turned 1 month on November 22nd, which is when he was blessed. Since Antonio is a convert to the church and does not yet hold the Melchezidek priesthood, my dad is the one who blessed him. My family, my best friend Tarah and her hubby, Antonio's friend from work and his wife, and our friends the Christensen's all came for his big event.
I can't believe my baby is already one month. He wasn't due until December 4th, but well he is here. He has been so much fun and is such a good baby. His nickname from my dad is little billygoat, because he makes so many noises and really sounds like a goat. It is so cute. I just wish he could stay small forever!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving my mom, dad, Aleah, Caleb, and Kaprial came and stayed at our house, which meant for my little family that we were going to get an AWESOME Thanksgiving meal! Mom made tons of cakes and pies, ham and turkey, my favorite rice, green bean casserole, gravy, and mashed potatoes. It was absolutley delish! We had the missionaries over for dinner and played board games. Then mom and I took a nap. Later that evening, we all went to see New Moon. It was so much fun and I loved hanging with my family. This was by far the BEST Thanksgiving I have had in about 6 years!

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

I am a little bit late in posting this, but here it goes. This year for Halloween Tony took the little ones out Trick-or-Treating while Ande and I stayed home and passed out candy. Joseph was Snake Eyes, the ninja from GI Joe, Michael was Woody from Toy Story, Channing was a princess, my little Ande was a monkey, and I was a Cheetah. Every Halloween, my mom would make Chili and a witches brew (root beer), so I decided to carry that tradition in our little family. The kids thought that the witches brew was soooo cool!!! Anyways, it was a really fun year!

Anderson Pilanui Ocasio

2009-10-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Finally some pictures of baby Ande!!! We came home from the hospital yesterday evening and Ande is doing so well! We are truly blessed and happy to have this little one as a part of our family! He is such a joy already!

Ande has ARRIVED!!!

2009-10-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update! Ande has arrived. On Wednesday October 21, 2009, around 2:45 PM, my water broke. We rushed to the hospital and the doc delayed delivery until tests were run to make sure Ande's lungs were strong enough. Ande was born Thursday October 22, 2009 @ 5:47 PM, via C-section! He is 6 weeks 1 day early, however he is doing wonderfully! He is perfectly healthy! He stays in the NICU to be monitored 24/7 because of his preemie status! He weighed in at 5 lbs 8 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long!!! He is a beautiful mixture of mommy and daddy and we love him so much!!! We will post pictures soon as mommy is still in the hospital and can't leave until Sunday! We love you all and appreciate everyone's prayers during this time!!!

Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

After we got all the kids back after their fall break, we figured it was time to do our annual Pumpkin Patch visit! So with all the kids in the car, we headed for Gilbert to go to Mother Nature's farm! The kids had so much fun seeing the animals, playing in the little houses, picking out pumpkins and decorating them, and riding the hay ride!!! It was a really great day and everything was perfect! Amazingly, there were NO issues with any of the kids! We all really enjoy going to the Pumpkin Patch each year and hope to be able to continue this Fall tradition!

Halloween Cookies

2009-10-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to bake some cookies for the kids to decorate one night! It was just Tony and the boys and me, so these are just a couple of our creations!

The Enchanted Island

2009-10-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

This month Tony and I took the boys to the Enchanted Island at Encanto Park in Phoenix. The boys had so much fun riding all of the rides, eating Ice Cream, playing in the Splash Zone, and running around chasing the birds! Our friend told us about it, and invited us to go! I am so glad we did, it was the best day and the boys really enjoyed every minute of it!!!

Fall Break

2009-10-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

This week is fall break for the kids. Channing went to California to go visit Tony's mom for the whole week!!! YAY! That's one less kid this week. The boys go to their dad's on the weekends, so I got COMPLETE quiet time last weekend and then once again this weekend!
Since the boys will be home with me and Tony all week, we have decided to take advantage of our time together and spend some MUCH NEEDED time with just the boys! So on Thursday, we are taking the boys to the Enchanted Island at Encanto Park. They have a fall special so for unlimited rides and splash access, it's only 6.50 per person! What a GREAT deal! Joseph is totally excited, Michael doesn't seem to care right now, however I know once we get there, he will be super excited.
I have also thought of checking out the pumpkin patch that is in Gilbert/Mesa, to see if it is open yet, and if so, we will take the boys there as well. Gotta do it this week while they are out of school since I don't get them on the weekends!
Then on Friday evening, after the boys go to their dad's, my grandma is coming in from Utah and taking us out to dinner! YUMMY!!! I told her I wasn't sure what I wanted yet, since I will most likely change my mind, my taste buds change every day!
Anyways, that's it for our Fall Break!!!

Pictures

2009-09-13T08:45:00.001-07:00

Mikey's first day of preschool!

My babies kissing Ande, Joseph and Chan's first day of school!

Ande 27 wks 3 days, and my new haircut!

School and my little Mikey

2009-09-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

So...... I forgot to mention that school started! Channing is in 2nd grade, and MY first baby went to kindergarten. Joseph started school, he cried and I cried. It was the hardest thing to do, SERIOUSLY! I love him so much, I have been telling him stories about when he was a baby and when he was born ALOT lately, but he loves hearing them so it doesn't bother him! Mikey is in preschool again this year, and has developed a love of Jelly! In the little play kitchen at school there is a little thing of.....JELLY! His teacher said he plays with it EVERYDAY, and when he comes home, he always says, "Hey mom, teacher said jellies!" LOL He is soooooo cute!
Speaking of my little Mikey, within the past month or so, he has developed a love for Ande that is so sweet. One afternoon I was napping in bed, and woke up to find Mikey sitting on my legs with my shirt pulled up over my belly kissing it and then saying, "Goodnight Candy!" How cute is that! He always comes up and lifts my shirt and kisses "Candy" now! If he ever sees Tony talking to my belly, he will come up and talk to him. He will say things like, "come out of there candy" or "come on Candy, it's dinner time!" He even tried to pull open my belly button so Ande could come out! Joseph likes to talk to him as well and kiss my belly constantly! It is so sweet how they are reacting, but Mike has got to be the funniest! That's all for now, just had to share those cute sweet moments!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

2009-09-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I last wrote, so ALOT has happened. I will begin with our Cali trip. We all went to San Diego and stayed with Tony's sister and her fam. It was super fun, we went to the beach EVERYDAY! I got in up to my hips, Tony and Aleah went boogie boarding and some other kind of boarding, lol! The kids played in the water and sand and Tony helped them all boogie board as well, Mike loved the ocean. Unfortunately, due to my lack of memory caused by the pregnancy, I forgot my camera, so I had to buy a couple of disposable ones, which I have yet to get developed! Anyways, by the third day, I was so sunburnt I had to stay under the canopy at the beach, so I just laid there and watched everyone else have fun.
We also went to Sedona to go camping labor day weekend, however all the camp sites were full, so we stayed at a cozy little hotel. I can't complain, nice warm beds and hot showers, and a continental breakfast!!!
I turned the BIG 25, on September 3rd. That was a crazy day, the boys got some fillings in their teeth early that morning, and then my hubby and sister made me the cake I was craving, Pineapple upside down cake! It was scrumptious!!! We had a really fun day!
About a week ago, I went to the doctor because I was having persistent cramping, BLAH! The doc sent me to the hospital and had me monitored and gave me some medicine to stop cramping/contractions. It really stunk because I don't want to go to the hospital until Ande is coming! However, I can't complain, the doctor ordered another ultrasound while I was there, so I got to see my precious little boy. The ultrasound tech said, there is no denying IT'S A BOY!!! It was clear as glass! She gave us a few more pics of our little man, so exciting!!! We have been shopping around alot for him, I have NO baby stuff, it all got lost in the divorce!
Anyways, ummmmm.....I cut my hair, it's way cute, thanks to my BFF Tarah!
And, the last thing that was big that happened, is Aleah went back home to Texas! We miss her a ton, however, we are really enjoying preparing the room for Ande, and the quiet time here at the house! I will post pictures soon of all of our madness that has gone on!

Oh my gosh!!!

2009-07-19T14:20:00.001-07:00

During pregnancy, you are supposed to gain 5 lbs during the first trimester and then 1 lb per week the second and third trimesters. Well, I did not gain any weight until I was about 4 months, and I only gained about 4 lbs, so I figured my baby was just going to be small. Well, today when I got ready for church, my sister came up to me and said, "You used to not be able to tell you were pregnant, and now you are getting FAT!" OMG! So, I had her take a side profile picture of me, and wow, I had no idea I was this big now. I guess Andy is just having a growth spurt. He is constantly wiggling and all over the place. At night, I will lay on my back and Tony and I just sit there and watch my belly move. Michael knows there is a baby in there, however that doesn't stop him from jumping on my back and always wanting to sit on my lap. Apparently, he hasn't noticed, or just doesn't care that my belly is getting bigger. LOL! Silly boy!

Anderson Iakopo Ocasio

2009-07-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was very eventful! I woke up super early because I couldn't sleep due to the excitement of my ultrasound! My appointment was at 12:30 and we left our house at 11:15. We arrived at the doctor's office at 12:20. My brother, his wife, their new baby, Antonio, my sister, Joseph, Mikey, Channing, and my ex-husband's sister Lisa were all there waiting to see wait they thought was my first little girl! However, I kept telling them they were going to see a little weiner. The excitement was getting to me and naturally the tech was running late so we waited about 20 minutes. Once we got in, the tech said that she needed to take a few measurements and then after she was all done she would take some pics for me and show us the different parts of the baby. After about what seemed FOREVER, the tech finally started showing us the baby. He kept scratching his head and then looked as if he were waving. It was so cute. It took forever to see what his little parts were because he had his legs crossed, just my luck. I thought we would leave the doctor not knowing what we were having and began to lose hope. For about 10 minutes the tech starting jiggling my stomach, and the baby looked like he was bouncing on a trampoline, it was so funny. Then she said alright, this is what I have been waiting for. Instead of saying, it's a boy or it's a girl, she just started typing on the screen, It's a.......BOY! Everyone was in disbelief, except me. They just couldn't believe it was another little boy! Joseph, Mikey, and Channing were so excited, and Joseph began crying because he wants to name him when he comes out. So....I agreed to let Joseph name him when he is born. So I have about 4 months to convince him that Anderson (Andy) is a good name for his little brother!

Anyways, that is about it. We are going to get a 4D ultrasound at 30 weeks, so once we do that we will post those pics.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday Tony!!!

2009-07-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

This year, we had our 2nd Annual 4th of July party/ Tony's Birthday! It was not as big this year because I did not feel like cleaning up a bunch of poppers and streamers and confetti like I did last year. Also, since we do not have a pool at this house we were all inside. However, it was a TON of fun!!! We had hamburgers, which I grilled, YAY, It was my first time grilling anything, and they turned out really good! Then we had mashed potatoes, gravy, and fried chicken! We sang happy birthday, ate cake, (that I made from scratch!!!) And then we watched Paul Blart Mall Cop. Tony had been wanting to see it for awhile now, so I figured I would buy it for his birthday! He had fun and really appreciated all the hard work I put into throwing his party! Happy Birthday Tony, I love you!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-22T16:11:00.001-07:00

This year for Father's day, the kids and I, oh and my sister Aleah thought that we should do something on Saturday, rather than sunday. So we took Tony out for dinner at Red Lobster. It was quite eventful. The kids were all grumpy and acting up. Then Channing and Joseph were playing across the table, and of course, they knocked over RED fruit punch and it spilled all over me!!! Luckily I was wearing dark blue jeans and a dark shirt so you couldnt' see it was red, it just looked like I wet my pants! Anyways, after dinner we went out to the movies to see Night at the Museum 2. We thought it would be fun for the kids and be super funny. We were wrong. Mikey wasn't intrigued, Joseph fell asleep, I fell asleep, and after awhile Aleah asked if we could go and see if we could get our money back because we were seriously bored. So of course we left, got our money back and went home. I don't know if it was just a really boring movie, or if everyone was just too tired. Maybe I will try to go again when everyone is more up for it. Anyways, we had a GREAT day, and we all love Tony soooooo much! He has been the greatest father to my little boys and of course to Channing. We love you!!! Also, we just want to say we love my dad! He is AWESOME!!!

Baby Updates

2009-06-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

Notice, it's baby updates, so there is more than one baby involved. No I am not having twins, but my best friend since I was 15 is pregnant too!!! She was originally due in late December, however she swithced Doctor's and her new Doc did an ultrasound yesterday! YAY! Always fun, well surprise, surprise, Tarah is due December 12th and she found out that she is having a BOY! I am totally jealous because I am waiting to find out what I am having. I am due Dec 4th and I was supposed to get my ultrasound in early July, but because the Ultrasound Tech is out I have to wait until July21st!!! It is killing me! Anyways, I have my names picked out either way so we are totally set. It took me awhile but thanks to Tarah, I was able to come up with a girl name. If it's a girl, she will be Amber Lei Ocasio and if it's a boy which I am hoping for, he will be Anderson (Andy) Iakopo Ocasio. Because my husband is hawaiian it is tradition to have hawaiian middle names so Lei I don't know what it means exactly I know what a lei is but anyways, Iakopo is Antonio's middle name so we thought it would be nice to name him after his father. Okay so more on our little one, he/she is VERY active!!! The heartbeat is 160 and everytime they use the doppler this little one is doing flips or something, LOL! Well, once we find out what it is, we will announce it to the whole world!!! Can't Wait!!!

Summer Time

2009-06-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

This summer has been crazy already! We went to Texas on May 24th for my sister's high school graduation! Congrats Aleah!!! We had so much fun, swimming EVERYDAY, getting sun burnt because the sun screen did NOT work. Slamming on our brakes every time a deer ran out in front of us, which was pretty much all the time. Going out back to sleep in the trailer for a girls night, roasting marshmallows in the fire pit, attempting to sleep on the trampoline, but come on I am pregnant, so it lasted for about 2 hours max. LOL!!! All-in-all, It was just super fun! Now we are back home, and Aleah came with us. I took her to the bank to open a new checking account, her first ever!!! She is so funny because she is not ready to grow up. She has no idea how all of this stuff works!!! Now that we are home, I quit my job, it is hard to work for your ex-husbands family, child custody issues become a problem in your job. So now I am a stay at home mommy, and Aleah and I are BORED all of the time!!! We don't have a pool anymore so no swimming everyday and it's just too hot to go outside. SO like I said it has been crazy so far, and there is still so much to come. Antonio's birthday is July5th, so we usually celebrate the fourth of July with his birthday, so we have a party to plan! We are planning two more trips. One to Cali and one to Vegas. Anyways, that's just about all of our summer, so far anyways, more stuff could happen!!! We will see!

Easter

2009-04-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

This year Easter was a little different. According to my court order, the boys were supposed to be with their dad, however due to the death of my Grandpa Ireland, I got to keep the boys, and we took a surprise, and VERY unplanned trip to Texas! Because of the rush to leave on Thursday so we would be able to be rested for the funeral on Saturday, I forgot my camera, so I have NO pictures of ANYTHING! My mom is supposed to email me some soon. Anyways, It started out like this.

Thursday morning I woke up to a phone call from my dad saying that his dad had died over night. So we began packing immediately. I then called my brother about 10 times before he FINALLY answered his phone. I told him we were leaving for Texas and asked if he wanted to go. At first he said he couldn't, and about 20 minutes later he called and said he wanted to go. We originally wanted to leave by 10 in the morning because it can take about 15-17 hours, however Jason wasn't able to leave until about 12, so we ended up leaving at 1:30 that afternoon. We began our drive to Texas.

Friday morning we arrived at my grandma's house just in time for breakfast. We went Easter shopping that afternoon with my mom and grandma. Then later that evening, my sister Aleah, brother Caleb and I went with my dad and uncle to our Aunt Theresa's house.

Saturday Morning, we woke up early and went to the funeral home for the viewing, then right after that we went out to the cemetary and did the grave dedication. After all of that was done, we all went to my uncle Russ's house for food and games.

Sunday Morning, we woke up early again and went to church. It is so weird because in Texas they do Sunday School and Primary first and then they have Sacrament. Anyways after church we had 2 Easter Egg hunts, and then on again to my Aunt Theresa's

Monday morning, we woke up early again! We packed everything up, said our good byes and started our trip back home!!! My brother drove most of the way home since my husband drove almost the whole way there. He got pulled over TWICE, got a warning the first time, but was not so lucky the second time! We got home at about 2:30 am.

SO as you can see our Easter was extremely busy and hectic!!! Ever since the trip, nothing tastes good, I always have a bad taste in my mouth, I have NO cravings, and I am not eating as much!!! We have our first ultrasound next Wednesday! We will keep you posted, and I promise we will put up pictures soon, once I get them!!!

Happy Birthday Joseph!

2009-03-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

I am a little late at posting this, but oh well. On March 16, 2009, my first born baby boy turned 5! It is so crazy, It seems like not long ago I was in the hospital with him. He used to take naps with me everyday and always wanted to hang out with mommy. When he was about 2, he would get so mad at his dad, if his dad tried to hug me or hold my hand, he didn't want ANYONE, especially another guy touching HIS mommy. Now he is always busy playing X-Box, listening to my Ipod or just playing on the computer. He just grew up too fast.
So, for his birthday, his cousins, and some friends went to the zoo. Joseph has loved the zoo ever since he was little. He loves the lions!!! We were at the zoo for about 2 hours, and then we left right as it started to get warm. We had so much fun, though it was a little crazy and stressful trying to keep track of all of the little people! After the zoo, we went to Peter Piper for lunch! The kids got to play and run around. Joseph opened presents and blew out the candles on his Incredible Hulk cake! After the cake we did presents, unfortunately I forgot the presents we got him, so once we got home, he got to open them. He got a lot of race cars, an Indiana Jones whip, Ninja Turtles, and a Bunny Rabbit! He was so excited for the rabbit. She is still not very comfy with people holding her, but we are getting her used to it. We let her out of her cage every now and then to run around the back yard and eat the grass! Well it was a really fun day for all who went. Oh and by the way, we are expecting, we will keep you all updated!!!

Since January.....

2009-03-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

Alot has happened!!! Sorry, I am a sucky blogger! Anyways, let's see..... The 2nd week in February, the kids and I flew to Texas to visit my family. So Tony and I spent Valentine's Day apart, but it doesn't really matter because he had to work so we couldn't do anything anyways. So on Valentine's, my sister and I went to the movies. Then while we were down there, mom and dad took us to the glass bottom boats! It was so cool, the kids loved seeing the fish swim underneath us! We just hung out the rest of the time, it got really cold and I hate going out in the cold!!! Anyways, we came home on like the 16th, and I will NEVER fly with all three kids by myself again!!! It was horrible! It wouldn't have been so bad if my plane wasn't delayed like 10 times, but it sucked because Mikey just wanted to get on the plane and we couldn't. So by the time we got home from the airport it was like midnight. Antonio had planned this whole Valentines Celebration for the kids and I, so we did it anyways, the whole house was decorated I couldn't let it all go to waste!!! There were rose petals all throughout the house, I got 2 dozen red roses, some daisies, chocolates, cookies, sparkling cider, stuffed animals, and a docking station for my Ipod!!! The kids got cookies, little chocolates, and a heart pinata! Oh and Joseph got a video game!!! They loved it!!! It was the best Valentine's surprise EVER!!!
So after Valentine's, I have just been working alot and so has Tony. The kids are all in school, including Mikey! They love it, and it gives me some time without the kids, so much easier to do my work when I don't have them running in my office constantly! LOL! Our schedule is so busy, lets see. Monday's Mike has Speech Therapy. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have school. Thursdays Joseph has Ice Skating lessons to prep him for hockey. Channing will be starting Cheerleading and Gymnastics this month. Michael will be starting Occupational therapy soon. We have a ton of stuff going on. I have no time to do anything anymore!!! I have about a million alarms on my phone for all my events. My house is always messy now. But that is changing this Saturday!!! I hired a landscaper and a housekeeper!!! YAY!!! They start on Saturday. I know, I know, my mom would tell me I am ridiculus, and maybe I am, but I just feel like I don't have the time to clean anymore!!! Soon enough I will slow down and make time for these things, but right now I have to be committed for what I have signed up for!!! Well, that is pretty much it for now. Joseph's birthday is this Monday! So hopefully I will write then!!!

House

2009-01-25T08:29:00.001-08:00

So.....I know that we have lived in our new house for about 3 months and I have yet to put pics up. So here they are!!!

Time just goes by too fast!

2009-01-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

So.... I know I haven't written in a long time, so here is what's new. My baby had his 3rd birthday on the first Saturday of January! He had so much fun!!! His birthday was a Thomas, Curious George, and Wall-E themed party, courtesy of Party City not having all matching decorations, but Mike loves all of them so he was totally psyched to have his FAVORITES!!! We did it at our house and Mike absolutely LOVED the Wall-E cake. We ended up doing the cake first because once he saw it, he just had to blow out the candle and take Wall-E and Eve off of it. We ordered a 6 ft sub and had chips and soda. After the eating was all done, we went out back for the traditional pinata!!! It was Mickey Mouse from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Mike didn't want to hit it, he just wanted to hug it!!! Overall, it was probably the best party he has EVER had!!!
On January 10th, Channing lost her first tooth!!! YAY!!! The Tooth Fairy came and she was soooo excited, she wanted to take her money to school and buy her own lunch rather than take one. LOL!!!
Then on January 12th, Joseph lost his first tooth! YAY!!! It's actually kind of sad, because Joseph is just 4 and he is still a baby to me! He it just a reminder of how fast time actually does go by!!! He too got money from the Tooth Fairy, but he was somewhat confused as to why the tooth fairy gave him money!!! Joseph put his in his piggy bank! The funny thing is that they both lost the same tooth!!!
Yesterday Tony called and let me know that his days off are changing to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This will be so GREAT, because now I will have someone to help me take Mikey to all of his appointments. Everyday he has an appointment for something, I am not exaggerating! It is CRAZY!!!
As for me, everything is still the same here. Working all the time, doing homework, and being a wife and mommy!!! I have tons of pictures from the birthday to post, and I will post them soon!!! Oh and by the way, we are free and clear to try for another baby!!! YAY!!! We can't wait, Joseph insists we are having a girl this time, not pregnant yet, that I know of anyway, but we will let you all know!!!

Christmas!!!

2008-12-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, we stayed home. It was our first Christmas together as a family, so that was exciting. We originally thought it would be fun to go to Cali to visit Tony's family, however that didn't work out, plus Tony had to work on Christmas day, soooo... we just stayed home!
Christmas Eve, my brother, his wife, and kids, came over for movies, and treats! We watched Step-Brothers, and The Bad News Bears, and then played X-Box 360. When it was almost bedtime, we sat the kids down to read a Christmas story, then they each opened one present. Before my brother left, I pulled out the laptop and began tracking santa so the kids could see where he was! It was really neat, and the kids really enjoyed seeing santa flying over the ocean.
On Christmas day, Tony woke us up at 3:15 so that we could open presents before he had to leave. We must have been good, because Santa brought us some really awesome gifts, and everyone got just what they wanted.
After opening the presents, we all went back to bed, while Tony went to work. After Tony got home, we went to my ex-husband's sisters house for Christmas dinner. I know it is weird, but they invited us, and since we have no family out here besides my brother, we gladly accepted!!!
After dinner, we went to go see a movie, a family tradition that we have done since I was little. We saw bedtime stories, with Adam Sandler. It was hilarious!
All in all it was the best first Christmas I could have asked for.
Hope you all have a Happy New Year!!!

Update

2008-12-28T15:43:00.000-08:00

First off, just want to say Merry Christmas!!! Hope everyone had an AWESOME one, I know we did!!! SO....I know it has been a couple months since I have updated our blog so, I will just fill you in on what has happened.
We are all moved into our new home. We absolutely love it!!! Our room is plum and peach. The boys room is green. Channing's room is purple, and my office is red!!! The red goes great with my Edward posters!!! The house is pretty much done, with the exception of a few wall hangings. Since Tony and my best friend Tarah think I am not so good at decorating, they both did the pictures!!! It looks great!
I started working again, for my ex husband's family's pediatric practice. It is nice because I get to work from home or take the kids with me when I go out there to the office. I am also going to school full time to get my Bachelor's in paralegal studies. After I am done with that, I will continue my education to be a family law attorney!
Antonio is doing well, still working down in intake at the 4th Ave Jail. He is now on first shift, so he goes in at 5 a.m. and gets off at 3 p.m. He works 4, 10 hour shifts, so it is nice having him home 3 days a week!
Joseph and Channing are on school break. They start back on January 5th! They are loving being at home, and NO HOMEWORK!
Little Mikey is doing well. He has speech therapy every Thursday. He has 5 different evaluations scheduled in January, so it will be a busy month. He goes to the neurological psychologist, DDD, SARCC, and an evaluation with the school district for preschool! He will begin school in February, and it's free!!! YAY! I have to pay for Joseph, so it is nice that Mike will be free.
Our little family is doing wonderfully and we hope you all are too!!!

Messy, messy, messy and I am going CRAZY!

2008-11-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

My daily routine as a stay at home mom is: wake up, get the kids dressed for school, drop them off at school, go home clean up, take a nap, pick up Joseph, make lunch, clean up, help Joseph with his homework, pick up Channing, help her with her homework, make dinner, clean up, get the kids all bathed and clean and ready for bed, clean up again, oh and take care of Mikey all day.
So as you can see, I clean up constantly through out the day, a trait I must have gotten from my mom, so my house is ALWAYS clean! However, due to the events of the past couple weeks or so, I have been bed ridden and unable to do anything. My husband promised to take care of everything, since he has taken off to help me, but I have learned that unless he is working out side, or playing with his toys, he can not do anything unless he is directed. Don't get me wrong, I love him, I just didn't realize when women said their husbands were like children, that they were serious!
So.......it's 9:15 at night, and the house is a wreck, I just can't stand it anymore! Despite what my doctor told me, I just had to get up and clean a little bit. I started putting the dirty clothes in piles, all of the trash in a pile, and put the million stack of dishes in a more orderly fashion to get cleaned up. I then instructed my sweet husband on what to do with the clothes, what to do with the trash, and I told him to leave the kitchen alone, I will handle that one!
Then after all is done, we will be able to pack everything in a cleaner environment! Soon enough, we will be in our new home, and I will be able to keep things clean again!

Pumpkin Carving, Orange Party, & Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, this week has been awfully busy with my surgery, packing, Halloween parties, pumpkin carving, and well of course, Halloween! On Thursday, Tony decided it was FINALLY time to carve our pumpkin as the next day would be Halloween. He wanted to do this really hard design, however I thought it would be cute to do something that was more simple and traditional. Maybe next year he will get his way!

The Town of Buckeye does things differently than most. They like to celebrate Halloween and do the Trick-or-Treating the night before Halloween, then on Halloween they hold a big carnival. So, last night we got to take the kids out Trick-or-Treating. Well, I didn't, I got to stay home and pass out the candy as I am still recovering and I am not supposed to be up alot! So Tony took them. The kids had a blast, but Michael and Joseph must have eaten all of their candy already!

Then Today, I was feeling somewhat decent, so I went to Joseph's school party! It was fun, the kids, including Michael, got to decorate Halloween cookies. Then they got some snacks. Mainly, the snacks were orange in color, due to the party being called an Orange Party! Anyways, Michael and Joseph had a blast, and when my pain started to get worse, I decided it was time to head out!

Tonight, since it is Halloween, we are taking the kids out to Gilbert to go Trick-or-Treating in Grandma Merry's neighborhood. Once again, I shouldn't say us. Tony will be with the kids, I will stay at Grandma Merry's and once again, pass out candy!

Then tomorrow, once all of the festivities are done, Tony and some people from church will be packing up all of our belongings so next Friday we can move into our new home! YAY! We are so excited!!! Once again, I get the priviledge of pretty much doing nothing! It's not as great as it sounds, especially when all I have done the past two weeks is a Whole LOT of NOTHING! Happy Halloween everyone!

Pumpkin Patch!!!

2008-10-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I was feeling some what decent, so I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch out in Gilbert. Joseph has been before, but Channing had NEVER been to a Pumpkin Patch, I swear her parents must have been boring! Anyways, the kids had so much fun. They got to go in the pumpkin patch and each pick out a little pumpkin! After they picked out their pumpkin, they sat down at a table to decorate it with different stickers! Then they got to play around, ride on the hay ride, eat sno cones, and see all of the little farm animals! There was also an author there who was doing a book signing for a children's Halloween book! So, we went and got a book. After about an hour, I decided we needed to head home, I wasn't feeling too good, but the kids had so much fun, and I guess that is all that matters!

Baby update....

2008-10-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

In my last blog I mentioned how sick I was with that flu virus. So, on Friday night I kept having pain in my stomach to where I couldn't even walk standing straight up. Tony and I decided that I needed to go to the ER. They took us right back and hooked me up, I was dehydrated and needed some fluids. They did a bunch of blood tests and all of that good stuff. Next, it was time for an ultrasound. Unfortunately, they were unable to find the baby's heartbeat and ruled that it was dead, I just had to wait for it to pass. By Monday, I still had not had any cramping or bleeding, so I went to my doctor and my doctor scheduled a D and C. So... yesterday morning we went in to the hospital and they took me back and did the whole thing. So, basically I had a baby, I just didn't get to bring it home with me. This has been an extremely difficult time for both Tony and me, however, we have decided that once I am healed up, we will begin trying for another one. Our ward has been so helpful with watching the boys and bringing in meals as I am not supposed to really do anything. Like I said before, it is exactly like having a baby, so for now I am just resting and trying to heal.

Sick...

2008-10-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, like I said in my last blog, Michael had gotten really sick while we were camping. He wasn't able to hold anything down, and had diarrhea. He almost had to be admitted to the hospital for dehydration. So, on Tuesday I started feeling pretty down so I just brought the kids into my room and told them they could play or watch tv, but they needed to stay in their with me so I knew what they were up to. So I took a little nap and then when Tony got home around 11:30, I was vomitting, needless to say, there was no food in my stomach because I wasn't able to eat so It was my stomach acids. (Yuck!) Then Tony got sick. So we have both been sick since Tuesday, I have lost about 7 or 8 pounds and I was told by my doctor if I couldn't get water in me, I would have to be admitted. So, right now, I am just waiting on a call back from my doctor. I will keep you all updated! Hopefully my next blog, will be something more cheerful!!!

Fall Break

2008-10-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

For fall break, the boys went to their dad's house for a couple of days, and then they came home and we went camping with some friends from church. The kids had so much fun! Unfortunately, the second day we were there, I had to take Mike to the doctor. He wasn't able to hold anything down and he lost 2 1/2 pounds. They said if he had lost another half pound he would have been admitted because he would have lost 10 percent of his body weight. He is doing better today, but we had to leave church early today because he had a rash all over his body that was just getting worse by the minute. Other than that we had a lot of fun this week.

Michael also went to the doctor this week at Phoenix Children's Hospital. He was diagnosed with Autism, but they said it was very mild. However, I refuse to medicate him or even believe that Michael is really autistic. He just seems like a little boy that went through a tough divorce and is lost and confused. He seems to have made so much progress. He is talking so much more now, and lately he has been coming up to me and lifting up my shirt to say hi to baby, kiss my tummy, rub it, and then cover my stomach back up. I think he will be okay with the baby after all!

I am still feeling super! No sickness, (knock on wood). Just extremely tired all the time. I don't even feel pregnant, besides the non-stop eating, and being tired. I take a nap everyday around noon and sleep for about 3 hours, Mike usually sleeps with me. Well that is about it for now!

Update!

2008-10-07T19:30:00.001-07:00

So, I decided that since my email address has changed, I would change my email for our blog, but it wouldn't just let me change it so we just started a new one. So, lets see the last thing I wrote about on the other blog was about the baby. Well, we went to the doctor yesterday and they did another ultra sound. My due date is now 05/29/2009, so I am only like 6 weeks and 4 days. Anyways, on the ultra sound, they were able to see the little heart beating, it was sooo cute because the baby is so tiny and has a heart. They were also able to get the beats per minute which was 125. The boys went with us and they thought it was cool to watch the baby inside my tummy. Because of the heart rate, it sounds like a boy, however Channing is still set on a girl and said that she will keep praying it's a girl. Then she asked, "Mommy, who is making you have a boy?" LOL! I said, "Jesus," and she said well, I have never had a baby sister, and I just told her, Channing you have never had a baby anything so be happy you are getting a baby! Kids, they say the funniest things! Anyways, next week is Fall Break, the boys will be with their dad, and well, Channing's mom doesn't want her, so she will be here. We are trying to find someone she can stay with for the week so that Tony and I can have a week to ourselves. Well, we will write more later!!!