Relaxing weekend

This weekend has been so nice. Restful, fun and productive. Saturday, we had a nice lazy day. The kids played with Legos and magnatiles. We read books and took a family nature walk. The kids love collecting treasures. Rocks, leaves, sticks, dirt, buttons, trash, etc. Collin rode in the jogging stroller without the infant seat.


He lasted about 10 minutes before he wanted out. We had a yummy dinner together, even Colly. The kids gobble up taco salad. Collin had a sweet potato-pumpkin-banana combo.
Today, I made blueberry pancakes and we watched Disney's Oceans. We went to church. The kids were happy to play with Margarita and even the band was on point. After church we ate lunch at Top Hat Burgers. Yum. It's fast becoming a tradition to eat there after church because it's so yummy. While the kids napped Ell and I folded a mountain of laundry. I love when Daddy is home even if it just for the mundane boring, everyday stuff. We soak up every minute because tomorrow it's back to the grind.

Kindergarten visit

We applied to 3 progressive education schools, The Open Classroom, Ventura Charter, and CAPE. It's so important to us that Logan is in a good school that will foster a lifetime love of learning. As kindergarten approaches the thought of sticking my little boy in a desk for 5 hours made me sad. Thankfully there are 3 schools in Ventura county who feel the same way. Learning is all about experiencing the world around you. Doing more and sitting less.
The application process has been tedious. Lots of tours, meetings and paperwork. The deal with these schools is that admission is 100% lottery based for incoming students. so we applied and waited. Mama is not patient so this was/is hard.
Two days ago, we got a call that Logan had received a spot at The Open Classroom in their lottery. Phew. I was worried we wouldn't get into any of the schools. So yesterday, Logan had his visit at the school to meet his potential teacher and classmates. Overall the visit went smoothly. Logan was glued to me for the first hour. He was so nervous.
He isn't sure he wants to leave the YMCA or not have his grandma as his teacher or have new friends. I'm not so sure either. I'm sad that my little boy is leaving the security and comfort of preschool and moving into the big, scary, impersonal public school system. I feel guilty that we cannot afford private school and more specifically Catholic school. My husband is my living proof that the public school system can be good. I have friends who are public school teachers and they are good, caring women. I pray logan gets teachers like that. Im scared of the many kids my baby boy will meet. I want him to make good, true, friends (with good manners and angelic behavior, pretty please!). I feel thankful that we have alternatives to traditional education available to our children. I also feel proud that my boy is growing up, that he's smart, and that he is good.
Anyway, back to the visit. After about an hour, Logan started to perk up. He enjoyed watching the kids. At center time he was put into a group and rotated through the 4 centers. He did great, as long as mommy was near. I was proud. He watercolored a tree. He heard a story about sharing written by a queen. He drew a robot and then wrote some words. He drew some fruits and vegetables and joined in on a discussion about nutrition. I couldn't help but think how teeny tiny he looked in comparison to the other kids. Logan is a dinkbot but throw him in a k1 combo and he looks like a baby. Teacher Scott buddied him up with a kindergartener named Truman. Truman took Logan to play at recess after they had some popcorn for snack. Towards the end of the day, Logan was comfortable. He was laughing, joking and chatting with the other kids.


We're still waiting to hear from the other 2 schools on whether or not he got a spot. We'll make our decision once we hear.
It seems like just the other day we were anticipating preschool and now we're almost finished. I cannot believe it.

Welcome to God's family

Yesterday, Collin was baptized in our church. It was such a sweet service. Pastor Mary is so kind to our family and loves our children so much. The band learned and sang a cute song with Collin's name in it. Esther brought a cake and flowers for his special day. I'm so happy to be part of such a loving church family.
After church we went to Topper's Pizza for lunch with our families. It was so nice to relax and enjoy each other and eat yummy pizza too. It was truly a beautiful and special day.
Collin,
I'm so proud of you. Congratulations on your baptism. You were such a good boy during the service. So smiley and you wanted to snuggle mama and hold my hair. Collin, I hope that you always know how much God loves you. I pray that you love God and feel blessed and thankful for the life he has given you. Always remember that God made you special and perfect. I love you, Colly boy.

Love Letters

Happy Valentine's Day!


Dear Collin,
Happy 1st Valentine's day! I'm so blessed to have such a smart, cute, smiley baby. I'm so glad God brought you to our family at just the perfect time. I love you, sweet baby.


Dear Nathan,
You are my sunshine. You light up my life with silliness and smiles. You keep mommy and daddy laughing with your cute Natey-isms. You have a kind heart and a joyful spirit that I adore. Mama loves you, Reedy Reed. Happy Valentine's day!


Dear Gracie,
Happy Valentines day, lady. You are such a beautiful girl inside and out. You are strong, smart, kind, sweet and sassy. I love your nurturing heart. You are the perfect sister for our family. I love you so much, pretty girl.


Dear Logan,
I am so blessed to be your mama. You are such a good boy. Thank you for being a wonderful big brother to your little sister and brothers. You are such a smart, funny, sweet boy. Mommy and daddy are so proud of you. I love the way you love and take care of Collin. Happy Valentine's day, Logie boy.


Dear Ell,
I feel so blessed to be your wife and mommy to your 4 adorable kids. You are a wonderful husband, an amazing father and the perfect best friend. Happy Valentine's day!

A birthday, a fever and a lazy day

Yesterday, we packed up a headed to Palmdale for Uncle Nick's 23rd birthday party. Traveling with 4 kids takes a lot. A lot of planning, time and a lot of stuff. I brought diapers, sippy cups, wipes, pajamas, extra clothes, toys, blankets, food and bottles but I forgot to pack Gracie's Valium. Darn. Of course she gets a fever. Double darn. Poor girl had a fever of 102. We gave her some Tylenol and 30 minutes later she perked up and ran to play with "the brudderth." We thought we'd dodged a bullet but just as we we're getting ready to leave, her fever spiked again. I had to call the advice nurse who called the doctor on call to see if it was safe to drive Gracie home. 2 hours later we got the ok to make the drive home. Instructions were to call 911 if she seized or turned blue. Really?! Thanks doc. So we decided to make the drive. We said a prayer for safe travels and loaded our completely exhausted family into the car. Nathan screamed a lot. Poor baby has never been so tired. Bedtime is usually 7 so the poor kids couldn't function at 1am. Thankfully our ride home was uneventful. We gave Gracie girl her meds at home and put everyone to bed.


Before the drama of Gracie's fever we really had a great time at Uncle Nick's party. Lots of loud, Rodriguez discussions and stories. Lots of great food and of course the best part was the wonderful company. We love seeing Faraway Grandma and Grandpa.
This morning we woke feeling surprisingly good. Collin was a rockstar and slept 7 hours in his own bed. That's practically unheard of in this house. Baby boy usually wakes to eat every 4.5 hours and he almost always sleeps right on my chest. He's not a fan of the bassinet so last night was a major treat.
Today we finally made it to church. Yay. It was so nice to see everyone. All the grandmas were all over Colly and asking to hold him. Love that. After church we went to lunch at Top Hat Burgers and Hotdogs. It was our first time and it was amazing. The kids took naps when we got home. After nap the kids played outside for a long time. They had a bucket of water, some rags and sponges and they had a blast. They washed the pool fence, the cozy coupe, the picnic table, and the ground. Eventually the washing turned into wrestling and they were tackling each other on the grass. I love to watch my kids play together. I love when they make each other laugh deep belly laughs. <3 them.
Tonight my mom and I made a yummy, veggie filled dinner. We're trying to be low carb.


I made brownies that aren't very low carb but they're very very good. I'm sending them to the bank with Ell tomorrow.

Reedy Reed

Oh Nathan, you make us laugh. You bring such joy to our lives. Your smile is contagious. It's mighty hard to stay mad at such a charming, silly, wonderful boy.


Yesterday, you were watching mommy put on deodorant. You looked at me with your beautiful big brown eyes and said "will you tickle me with that when I'm bigger?" You're too funny. Thanks for making me smile and laugh every day, Natey Reed. Love you.

5 months old

My sweet Collin,
You are 5 months old today. I can't believe it! This time last year we had just started telling our friends we were expecting. You are getting so big. You're such a smiley, happy, smart baby. You weigh 16lbs 4oz and are 25.25in long. You wear a size 6m clothes and a size 2 diaper. You eat 6oz every 4.5 hours. On Monday you tried your first solid food. Mashed bananas. You loved it. You're finally starting to tolerate your carseat. Car trips have been much more pleasant and quieter too. You are also starting to enjoy tummy time. You can roll both ways and are starting to scoot around. You love reading books and eating them too. You are just starting to take interest in your toys. Everything goes in your mouth. You especially like to eat mama's hair. Silly boy. Collin, you are such a joy in my life. You and mama are best buddies right now but I know it won't be long before you're off running with your brothers and sister. I can't wait to see what these next few months bring. You'll be doing all sorts of new tricks. I love you, sweet boy!

First food

Today, Collin enjoyed his first non liquid food. I mashed up a little banana with some formula and he loved it. He's just 2 days shy of 5 months but I decided to give solids a try. He's become very interested in our food and smacks his little lips while we eat. Logan and Nathan started cereal at 4 months and Gracie at 6 months so i figured we try now and if he wasn't ready we'd try again in a month. We are skipping the cereal this go around but Collin didn't seem to mind. He sat patiently in his flowery high chair and ate every single bite of mashed bananas. He even cried when it was all gone. My baby is getting big.

A mass, the zoo, and a birthday party

Ell had to work today but we had a super busy day planned. This morning mass was dedicated to my grandma. So we made the trip to Our Lady of Mount Carmel for mass. The kids were good as gold. Perfect little angels. They sat through 1 hour of mass with any trouble. I was so proud of my babies. After mass we went to lunch with my mom at The Habit. Yum. My mom went grocery shopping and Phee Phee and I took the kids to the zoo. It was so fun. We haven't been to the SB zoo in months so everything was new to the kids.


Logan is obsessed with penguins right now so he was determined to get to the exhibit. We ended up saving it for last. Collin loves being outside. He alternated between the stroller and the Moby. He really loved the train too.


I love going to the SB zoo. It's so clean, small and safe. My kids run everywhere and get lots of exercise.


On our way out Phee Phee took them to the gift shop. Logan got 2 penguin toys, Gracie got a ball and an elephant toy and Nathan got a snake and a tiger toy. Phee Phee is so good to them.


After 2 hours at the zoo we headed home for uncle Paul's birthday dinner. The kids bought him gifts that they picked out themselves. Logan got him a lighter, Nathan got him some sour candies and Gracie chose a robot note pad. They wrapped them themselves with lots of tape and drew him some pictures.


When Uncle Paul went to open the gifts the twins cried because they wanted to keep them for themselves. Note to self- they need more practice with gift giving. By dinner time the kids were done. They had a long busy day with no naps. Meltdowns were inevitable. Even though it ended a little rocky, it was a wonderful day. I love spending fun time with my kids. I only wish daddy could have come too.

No more pacifiers

Today's the day. The day we ditched our pacis. The twins will be 3 in May and I'd been meaning to get rid of the beloved pacifiers for a while now. I decided February 1st was as good a day as any. The past few days we've been trying to prepare them for what was coming and also talking up the fact the they are such big kids now. We told them that they'd get to trade in their pacis at Target for new toys. They seemed excited and I briefly thought, this is going to be easy. Wrong. Naptime was tough. Gracie decided that without a paci she wouldn't nap. So she sat in her bed and alternated between crying for her paci and singing Disney songs at the top of her lungs. Nathan was so sad. The boy loves he paci. He slept with 2 every night. One in his mouth and one in his hand. He cried himself to sleep and mama's heart broke into a zillion pieces.
After nap we headed to Target to get some new toys. Nathan knew he want a Green Lantern Imaginext toy. I assumed that Gracie would get some sort of cute, little stuffed animal. I was right. Except, honestly, it's not very cute. She chose a stuffed chihuahua. I was going to try to persuade her to choose someone else but then I saw that it was on sale for $3.99. Sold. We picked up a few more things and then headed to the check out.


I whispered to the cashier that they were giving up their pacifiers and that they'd be handing them to her as payment for their new toys. She looked a little confused but followed my lead. Gracie handed her the bag of pacis and I told them to say good bye and that they were big kids that didn't need pacis anymore. They happily said together, "bye bye, pacis!" Then I cried. Yup. Right there in Target. The twins were perfectly happy and I was distraught. The very kind cashier for sure thought I was nuts. I don't blame her. I was asking her to accept pacifiers as payment, I was taking pictures of my children with their new toys and crying about it all.
Giving up the pacis has been an unexpectedly hard transition for me. It makes me sad to see my babies turning into to big kids but at the same time it makes me proud and excited. We're ready for ballet, swim lessons, karate, soccer, preschool, and twin beds but that means we're ready to give up cribs, pacis, diapers, mommy&me classes, and footie pajamas. Sad and happy all at the same time. They're little bodies are changing from chubby rolly poly babies to skinny bean pole kids. They're finally out if 24m clothes. They have all sorts of opinions on what they wear, eat, watch and do. Ditching the pacis just makes the whole growing up thing seem so real.