The Fall brings a wonderful mood.

There are so many events planned for our family at the beginning of Fall!  Birthdays, Holiday get togethers and community activities.  We recently went to Bobby's cousin's wedding and had a lot of fun taking pictures at the photo station set-up that they had.  I loved the addition of all the different dress up items the photographer provided.  I think a photobooth is such a great touch when it comes to weddings.  We had one at our wedding but it was a more traditional photobooth.  Guest were able to take pictures and they would get a sleeve to keep and one to leave for us! The company compiled all these pictures and placed them in a Keep Sake Congratulatory book.  Guests were also able to write out little messages of congrats or what have you near their pictures.  We actually just looked through the other day and it was nice to read he sweet comments our Family and Friends left for us.  I can't wait to show our girls one day.

The Thanksgiving Holiday is always spent at my great Aunt Tuttie's house.  Her home holds so many good memories of my childhood! (I'll save those in another post!) Some of the highlights: Her beautiful china, rice salad and her mashed potatoes!  My sisters and I always go after the bowl of black olives left on the table.  We can't resist putting them on our fingers and eating them off.  Funny, because now our girls do the same thing! So much to be thankful for on this special day reserved to give thanks to God and reflect on all the many Blessings this life has brought me.  But it is my Nina Tuttie that I am most thankful to have in my life.  Our visits with each other are not as often as either of us would like, but I think about her daily.  My faith, character and tolerance for others was shaped by this woman. Thank you!

A couple of other things I am giving thanks for:

 My sweet little Juliann who came into my life this year.  She is the most precious and well behaved baby I have ever experienced!  She is so patient and happy.  Thank you for putting a smile on my face each and every day!

My siblings (two are missing) who always give me the biggest and funniest memories every time we come together. Which is often (also thankful for that!).

 My parents for being loving grandparents to my girls and for helping me build the life that surrounds myself with family.

 My sisters, thank you for your honesty when I need it the most and the friendship that I hope everyone in this world can experience.  I don't know what my life would look like without the two of you in it and I don't want to know!

To my husband and two baby girls, you have given me a life that I never thought I was worthy enough to have.  You have given me days filled with love.  Thank you for always loving me and giving me chances to be a better mother and wife. You three are my hope and future.

 

The fall to me is about getting under blankets and cuddling with family and enjoying the warm smells that fill the air.  The warm apple cider (with rum, thanks sis!), the hot apple pie and sizzling turkey.  I wish fall was longer than just three months but I cherish these days.

Goodbye October (Best month of the year)

October signals the start of the Holiday season for me.  Halloween has always been such a grand gesture in my house growing up as a kid.  My parents would take the day off and we would spend the day decorating the house and baking cookies.  We would carve the pumpkins and wait for the trick or treaters to come.

This Halloween, we took the girls to my mom's of course.  We dressed Isabella and my niece Riley in their costumes (A Candy Corn Witch and a Vampire Batch Witch) and we prepared to take them out.  Little Ju Ju (Black Cat) stayed behind to nap.  As we were walking the streets in search of the candy, i could smell the candles in the jack-o-lanterns and a swarm of memories came back.

Almost every house in our neighborhood would pass out candy.  The parents would open their garage doors and sit out in lawn chairs and pass out the candy.  It looked like a giant block party!  This year was not the same.  1 out of 3 houses passed out candy!  It was not the Halloween Trick or Treating experience that i had as a kid.  I'll give the neighborhood one more year, then we might just have to give our neighborhood a go. 

Isabella did so well at trick or treating, making sure to say the magic words ( no not please): "Trick or Treat" then-"Thank you, Happy Halloween!!!"  Did you notice this year that most kids are mute when you open the door? They just stick out their bag and wait for the candy.  Bobby made the kids say Trick or Treat before handing them candy.  I was shocked the littles all went mute!

I'll post some pictures of the night later, i wanted to hurry up and get this post up before i had to edit it to say Goodbye October, and November and Decemeber!

A love like no other

This year marks the 15th year Bobby and I have known each other.  Most of our friends and family know that we met on a family camping trip.  Camping was something my family enjoyed doing before I started playing competitive softball and it had been a few years since we had gone.  So we were surprised that labor day weekend approached and I did not have to play in a tournament! We weren't planning on going camping but we begged our parents on Saturday morning at the breakfast table and they said yes!  We could not believe it.  We were packed and in the car in less than an hour I think!

When we arrived at camp, my extended family was already set up and we were finding out place at the camp site to park our car and pitch our tent.  I saw two guys throwing a football around and me being a 12 year old girl, i looked a little harder!  He was cute but waaaaayyy too old for me!  What I noticed first were his ears!  I like big ears Then upon introduction, I noticed his eyes!!! His beautiful eyes hazel eyes with a scar on his eyebrow.  I'm a sucker for scars!

All weekend we talked and played hide and go seek when it got dark.  I remember he asked if he could have my number and I said, "Maybe."  My dad always told my older sister and I, "Catholic girls don't give out their numbers."  I guess you can say I took that to heart.  But on our last day, I walked over to his camp site and I was going to give up the digits, but he wasn't awake.  I thought it was divine intervention and sulked back.  On the way back home, I think I may have cried a little.  In those days, I DID NOT CRY!  I was beside myself. Was this guy really that great?  I had just met him. 

Later that week, on a Wednesday, he called!!!  I remember I was watching 90210 in my mom's room and one of my siblings yelled for me to get the phone.  A bit annoyed, I loved 90210, I picked up the receiver.  It was Bobby's sister Ginger on the phone!  I remember she said that Bobby had tracked down my number through a great uncle of mine and that he was disappointed he didn't get to say goodbye to me before we left.  She said she was calling because Bobby didn't know if it was ok to call me.  He didn't want to get my dad upset.  I told her I would love to talk to him.

I was so touched, and frankly a bit weirded out, that he gave so much effort to find me.  Our first date was that Friday, we went to a local High School football game.  My sister chaperoned, as she did all our dates until I was about 14 or 15 years old.  We were an official couple on Sunday, September 8, 1996!  The rest is history......and our future!

The oldest picture I could find of us on this computer. I think this was right after I graduated college in 2006

Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary.

Weekends

In my world, weekends are for catching up.  Catching up on family. Catching up on yard work, laundry, and house work.  Well, sometimes. Sometimes, weekends are for socializing.  Who am I kidding? MOSTLY, weekends are for socializing.  My family and Bobby's family, is so ridiculously huge that there is always some party (sometimes TWO parties) going on for both Saturday and Sunday.  But when the four us can sneak a few hours together.  They are always special.  Even if it is just the mundane activities.

A photo shoot with the girls is always needed.  These little darlings are growing up so fast!  Julianna seems to be growing up even faster since I don't get to spend every single hour with her.  I was lucky to spend 10 months at home with Isabella and got to see almost every major milestone.  I love my job and I love getting up and going to work everyday to help support my family, but some days I wish I could just stay home and rock my baby girl in the recliner and read her books and just look into her eyes and smile and wait to hear her little growl! Yes, Julianna growl.

 Some of my favorite times spent on the weekends is being home! Discovering new adventures outside (and inside!....we do have a two year old) while cleaning up the yard.  On this particular day we found a little bird egg that fell from its nest.  It was covered with ants.  This was a perfect opportunity to teach Isabella the circle of life.  All day she would say, egg fall! egg fall! Bird fall!




On this day, we also got to witness another one of Isabella's outfit choices.  Already, at only two years old, she wants to pick out her own clothes and shoes.  This is the outfit she came up with: Olivia shirt, a skirt (of course) that does not match the said Olivia shirt but apparently looks good to Bells and plaid blue shoes. Love it! Its genius in only a way a two year can dream up.  She sits here watching Bobby cut the tree. Eager to get up and help her daddy, I let her.

 

And while we were outside, exploring our tiny part of the world, our little one slept and dreamt!

Miss Fluff

When I was pregnant with Julianna, I didn't know how I was going to be able to share my love with another little one.  Isabella has filled my heart with so much love that it seemed impossible to squeeze in another child.  Remarkably, to love another child, is as easy as breathing.  When I held Julianna for the first time, it felt like I was a new mother all over again.  And in a way, I was.  I had never been a mother to TWO beautiful babies.  I had to change my routine with Isabella to include this newborn baby.  I have expanded my heart to encompass another life.

Julianna has been another dream of mine fulfilled.  There was a time in college when I decided that children probably were not going to be in my future.  My life was taking a different turn.  New doors were opening and at the time, I thought kids just won't fit in.  Then fear set in.  I convinced myself that I was not a woman who could physically have children.  That fear became very real to me and I was certain my body could not produce a life.  With that fear of not being able to give birth to an extension of myself, and the love of my life, my dream for children multiplied!  I knew being a mother would be a dream that I might not get to live.

With the birth of my first daughter, I was relieved and joyous.  Isabella opened our eyes to a different life.  She allowed us to experience adventures we could only hope for.  Julianna has made our family and adventures that much sweeter!  She has been such a wonderful addition and I am still in awe at how I can love a being so much!  When I am away from her, just a thought of this sweet baby stops me and I smile...and almost cry.

I thank the heavenly beings above for granting this wish.  I thank them for making my dream of children come true.  I thank my husband for being such a wonderful man.  He is a constant presence in his daughter's everyday lives.  He is a true partner.  A father that every woman hopes for their children.  My dream of a family has come to life.

My little Firecracker

Two years have gone by since I fell completely and utterly in love with a person I had only laid eyes on for less than a second.  Though I knew her more than anyone could know a person that they just met.  She loved loud cheering (Diamondbacks games) and would bounce around when she heard it.  She loved when I would eat cupcakes!  Or maybe that was just me!

Now, she loves Abbie from Sesame Street, the movie Dispicable Me, Dancing in only her diaper, her little sister Juli-Nana or another name for her, Baby Sanna!  She loves waking up to see her Dad there to rescue her from her crib.  She loves ALL her cousins!  She loves going down the slide over and over  a n d  o v e r.....again.

She is my little Firecracker, appropriately born in July.  She is a feisty one who demands the rooms attention.  She has fiery fits and snuggable hugs.  She knows enough words to melt your heart. She is my little doll face.

And my little Firecracker turned two.

Some say I'm a Dreamer......

Picture of me 4 years ago

....I hope I'm not the only one!

Growing up as a young girl I felt it extremely important to set goals for myself.  I'm sure this was influenced by my father who encouraged my love for sports, namely softball.  He taught me that working harder than the rest would ultimately lead me down the path to a scholarship, a full-ride scholarship, to any college I wanted.  

So at the young age of 10 years old, I set my very first goal that would not be realized until 8 years later.  I was going to push and pull and tear my way into the hearts of the college recruiters to earn a full ride scholarship to a Division I Pac-10 school. I would settle for nothing less!
  
You can call this my first true dream.  A dream that lead to many other dreams.  I wanted to be a lawyer and attend Stanford Law School.  I wanted to be a heart surgeon, ala my idol at the time, Dot Richardson.  I wanted to be a power house business woman. I had many dreams. 

When the time came to go to college, I did not get that full ride scholarship to a Pac-10 school. But I did get one to a Big XII school. It was around this time that I began to realize that dreams can shift into a slightly different version of the original one, and that's ok. 


The picture above shows a young woman who just graduated college.  I felt like my life was truly beginning.  I had dreams of a glamorous career.  My hopes were to travel and taste foreign cuisine. I would find that those dreams would wait....


......for a time after another adventure was somewhat complete, raising children.  Just as my other dreams were shifting, I found that my life was calling for something more concrete.  I discovered that I am a woman who wants to experience motherhood.  All of a sudden, and I do mean sudden, my dreams of motherhood over took my dreams of being an individual.  And I'm glad it did!