Bermudez family

Cuteness

2012-02-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes

their cuteness

is completely

Overwhelming!

25 Random things

2012-02-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

So some of my friends have been doing the 25 random thing post on facebook. I did one two years ago, so I just reposted that one, but it kinda made me want to do a new one. But, I didn't want all of my hundreds of friends on facebook to think that I am that lame person who has to write about themselves constantly, so I decided to write one on here. You know, cause way less people read my blog. (just as a side note, I'll probably re-use some material)

1. I never, ever, ever, fill out or do a "random things" posts. No exceptions.

2. I hate throwing parties of any kind because I'm afraid no one will show up, and I'll be left with a huge cake a sense of intense self loathing.

3. I have developed a strong affinity for Sid the Science kid. I used to hate him... but his infectious enthusiasm has grown on me.

4. My celebrity crushes are: Jack Bauer (NOT Keifer Sutherland... the actual Jack Bauer character), Andy Griffith, you know, from the Andy Griffith show, not Matlock; and Pa , from little house on the prairie (the TV show, not the book). Also detective Elliot Stabler from Law in Order SVU.

5. On that note, growing up I felt a strong kinship with Laura Ingalls Wilder (from the books, not the TV show). Probably because we both have brown hair. Our bond was real.

6. When we were growing up we watched the Andy Griffith show, Little House on the Prairie, Leave it to Beaver, and Gilligans Island. I literally thought this was what the "normal" American Teen watched during the 80s and 90s. I had no idea these shows were from the 50's.

7. I used to think that "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" was a French TV show.

8. I thought Celine Dion only sang in French.

9. If you haven't guessed by now, I grew up in France.

10. I am incredibly obsessed with Harry Potter. I kind of want to be a witch. Not the bad kind though. No unforgivable curses for me.

11. I just read the Twilight series. I read all four books in less than a week. I have been having weird vampire dreams.

12. As evidenced by numbers 10, 11, and 5, I tend to develop strange bonds with the characters I read about in books.

13. I love love love love love chick-fil-A. I actually tear up and become emotional when I talk about it.

14. I think I would make an incredible football announcer. I know reading this will actually make Andrew and Joel cringe (they hate female announcers).

15. During football season I listen to Mike and Mike every morning (or I try to... it's gotten progressively more difficult to do with each child added to the family)

16. I used to be very afraid of the telephone. And by afraid, I really mean afraid. I probably should have been medicated for this. It's gotten a little better.

17. I am an ER nurse, so I am a little bit jaded when it comes to accidents/injuries. If you are ever injured, and I say something like "wow, that's awesome", that probably does not bode well for you.

18. I have been on weight watchers for the past month. I would like to say this has been easy, but it hasn't. I love food.

19. I tend to sing the wrong words to songs. All the time. Even Leah starts correcting me now.

20. I started this post about 8 months ago, and I am just now coming back to finish it. Kind of depressing. Both because I didn't originally finish it, and because I'm actually coming back to finish it. Figure that one out!

21. I used to be a good writer. Now it pains my brain to put two sentences together.

22. As a testament of love to my husband, I have been watching Star Trek with him for the past two years or so. We have watched all of Star Trek next Generation and are now watching Star Trek Voyager. I'll admit that it's growing on me.

23. Ever since 24 and Lost ended almost two years ago (has it really been that long?) I have not had a show that I could really obsess over. I miss it. Please give me suggestions. I like to be obsessed with things.

24. If you ever hear me say "Why are they crawling so close together!!!!!!" and you know what I mean by that, then you know me very well.

25. I can't think of a 25th thing right now, and my kids are awake from their naps. So I'm going to publish this even though it's incomplete, because if I don't then I never will, and all of this hard work will be for nothing.

18 months

2012-02-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

My little buddy is 18 months old!

Allright, some things about Elias:
- He doesn't say many actual words yet, except for mama, dada, bye, and cheese, but he is pointing and babbles a ton.
- He loves cars and trains. he walks around with them goes "choo choo!!!"
- He really really loves to read books now, which is awesome! His favorite books are "chugga chugga choo choo" "Tugga Tug boat", "Mr. Brown can Moo" and "Goodnight moon".
- He is incredibly cuddly. He loves to be held and give hugs and kisses.
- He likes to try to lay on top of Elana and poke her eyes. She is not a big fan of this.
- He follows Leah around and generally wants to play with anything she has.
- He loves cheese, raisins, peanut butter and jelly, and chewing on apple cores.
- He constantly has bruises on his forehead, mainly because when he gets upset he tends to through himself down, often into a door, or wall.
- He loves climbing on the kitchen table and eating salt.
- He also likes throwing things in the toilet, like my phone and my wallet.
- He can get very very jealous when I am holding either Leah or Elana.... this can get kind of frustrating.
- He is incredibly messy. All the time. With everything.
- He loves his daddy very very much.... it's so sweet!

Rolling over

2012-01-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

Going

Gone!

She's so proud of herself!

photobomb

2012-01-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Elias and Leah keep on photobombing pictures of Elana smiling.

I finally got one!

But then Leah was upset because she wasn't in the picture,

So then I took this awesome picture of both of them.

picture

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here is one of those rare photos of all three kids at the same time.

Leah's hair is a mess, Elias isn't wearing pants, and they all look like they just woke up (because they just did), but they are looking at the camera and kind of smiling, so I'll take it.

playing outside with princesses

2012-01-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

Leah has been on this ridiculous princess kick lately, probably spurred on by our disneyworld trip. She wants to dress like a princess pretty much every day, and often begs to wear her "beautiful dress" outside to play. Sometimes I let her, sometimes I don't. But she definitely loves it.

funny things

2012-01-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

Leah talks alot. Incessantly, actually, and she's usually pretty hilarious. Or at least I think so. There are probably hundreds of things she has said, and I'm gonna try to write down a couple of them.

Leah- "I want a real dumbo Jr. For Christmas!" (dumbo is an elephant, fyi)
Me- "Dumbo is really big... where would he sleep?"
Leah- "He can sleep in my bed!"
Me- "then where will you sleep?"
Leah- "In your tummy!"

"Mommy, when I get huge like you, and grow up, and wear big bras, and have a baby in my tummy, and feed the baby with my boobies, then I can drink diet coke. But not now, cause that's an adult drink, and I'm just a little child."

"Ugh!!!!!!!!!!! Why is it getting dark outside again? Stupid World!!!!!!!!"

At the zoo, looking at the alligators :
"If that alligator gets out and tries to eat buddy, I'll jump on him, and hit him down, and bite him so hard, and eat him all up!"

"When I get bigger, and you are a little baby, then I will be in charge."

"Jesus isn't in my heart. He's in my neck. But we can't see him cause he lives in the sky."

"Mom! He's messing up the whole house! But I'm not, cause I'm a perfect princess!"

"Dear God, please help mommy be kind to others"

She has started having bad dreams lately, so one day we asked her what she dreamed:
"There were cows" she said. I asked "what were the cows doing?" "Nothing" was her answer. Sounds pretty scary to me!

- "Leah, did you have any dreams today?"
-"No dreams, just elephants in my head."

"Can I put gum in your hair?"
"No. Put it in your mouth"
"Can I put it in Elana's hair?"
"NO, keep it in your mouth"
"Can I put it in Elmo's hair?"
No, keep it in your mouth
"Oh wait Mommy, I have a great idea! I'm gonna put my gum in my mouth!"

snuggling with elephants

2012-01-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

At least once a day Leah wants me to take a picture of her holding Elana and her elephants. I am usually more than happy to oblige.

goals

2012-01-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I may as well write down my new year's goals, because that's what all the cool people do (Katie and Sarah). First off, I absolutely hate resolutions of any kind, mainly because I never keep them, and I end up getting depressed and eating alot. Which doesn't help with my usual #1 resolution: lose 10 pounds. In spite of all of this, I will give it a whirl. Oh, and these are all gonna sound super cliche, too.

1. Read my bible more. I'm pretty that at the top of every single Christians resolution list. I almost don't even want to put it because it sounds so trite. But seriously, I really do need to read my bible more. I don't think there has ever been a time in my life where I have prayed more, or read my bible less. As in, I pray all the time, mostly short prayers throughout the day (ie: please help me not lose it) , but I have been very slack about having actual time designated for bible reading/study. Mostly because the time I do have I spend writing this blog or creeping on facebook. Like now.

2. Now for the second most cliche resolution: Lose weight. I hate dieting. Dieting makes me super hungry, and I hate being hungry. I am not a nice person when I'm hungry. I am not a happy person when I am hungry, and I generally really really love and enjoy food. All of this combined makes dieting very difficult, and usually pretty unsuccessful. I'm going to give it a whirl anyways, for the ten thousandth time since leah was born. I am going to adhere to the tried and true method of "eat less, move more." Which brings me to goal number 3.

3. Exercise semi regularly. I want to try to do the Shred, although the last two times I did the Shred I ended up pregnant by day 20. I also want to start training for a marathon. hahahahah... no I don't! Marathons are stupid. Why would any sane person want to run for 26 miles??????????? I would be very happy to be able to run a 5k without feeling like I'm going to die.

4. Since I already mentioned it.... Here's to no pregnancy in 2012!

5. I want to have intentional 1 on 1 time with all three of my kids on a regular basis. I think I'll just have to be flexible with this.

6. Have structured "preschool" time at least 3 mornings a week with Leah and Elias. I'm really really really horrible with structure, and a schedule, so we'll just have to see how this goes.

hanging out

2012-01-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

Some afternoons

we go into the backyard

and just hang out

fun craft

2011-12-30T11:15:00.000-08:00

Milk in a cake pan, food coloring, and dishsoap =

Elana May

2011-12-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

I feel like I haven't posted any pictures of Elana for awhile, so I'm going to remedy that right now.

fun chores

2011-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

I don't think I have mopped the kitchen floor since Elana was born, since it's kind of hard to mop with the kids around. So, I decided to mop with the kids.

With the help of baby bubble bath and two willing helpers,

the floor is nice in clean. For a few minutes, at least.

deep convo's

2011-12-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest attempt at making the gospel real for Leah:

-"Mommy, you and daddy woke me up last year!" (everything is last year)
- "Oh, I'm sorry. Did that make you sad?"
- "No, it made me angry!"
- "I'm sorry it made you angry, can you forgive me?"
- "Yes, but you woke me up!"
- "yeah... i know I woke you up, but I said I was sorry, and you said you forgave me. Do you know why we have to forgive others?"
- "Because you woke me up!"
- "No, its because God forgives us whenever we sin, right?"
- "NO, you woke me up!"
- "Yes, I know that... but we are talking about what Jesus did for us. He died on the cross for our sins, right? So now we can forgive others. "
- "Jesus didn't wake me up, you woke me up!"
- "your right. I'm sorry."
- "yeah... you woke me up."

I let it go after that. One track mind.....

Leah

2011-12-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

Her name is kind of legible, right?

Disney!

2011-12-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

The big day has arrived. I was really really worried that I had built up all these expectations, and they would all be dashed, but the Magic Kingdom did not fail us. We had a fantastic time. Leah was in absolute heaven the whole time we were there, and I think Elias enjoyed it as well.

Every time there was a parade, or a show, Elias wanted to get out of his stroller to dance.

There are a lot of parades and shows at disney, so this happened a lot. I think we came at the perfect time of year. The weather was perfect, and the crowds were not too too bad. The longest we had to wait in line was about 20 minutes.

Elana was in my Moby wrap almost the whole time, so she was able to go on all the rides with me. I use the term "ride" very loosely. We didn't do Space Mountain or anything like that.

We rode on the massive carousel, and they all loved that.

We spun around on the teacups,

(I swear Eli was a lot happier than he looks right now)

We rode on the pirates of the Caribbean ride, which was probably a little bit too scary for them. But Tony and I enjoyed that one :). We also flew through neverland, and we Tony and Leah rode on the Dumbo ride.

I think the most fun we had was on the river safari ride. None of the animals were real, but they looked really really good, and leah didn't know the difference. At one point we were surrounded by about 30 elephants, and she was absolutely freaking out. "Mommy there's a baby elephant, and a daddy elephant! and Baby Dumbo! and Big Dumbo!"

We also watched a couple of shows, danced and twirled on the street, and got some pictures with our favorite characters.

But the highlight for Leah was meeting some of the princesses. There was such a long line to meet all of them, and at first there was no way I was going to stand in line to meet someone dressed up like a princess. But then I realized that to Leah, this WAS a princess. She literally thinks that its the real cinderella, and the real Belle, and the real Sleeping Beauty, and she could not have been more excited to see them.

The day was fun and exhausting. Just as a side note, I remember going to six flags as a family, and my dad would take me, Zach, and Katie and would do all the big roller coaster. I have no idea what my mom did with the other 3 all day, but I realize now that it was probably not easy.

Anywho, we had a great time! I can't wait to come back in a couple of years when our kids are older :)

Orlando, days 3 and 4

2011-12-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

Okay , so I had a nice long post written, but for some reason it didn't get saved. The long and short of it is that on wednesday we went to the zoo, and on thursday after Tony got off work we went to downtown disney. A good time was had by all.

Orlando, day 2

2011-12-11T18:01:00.000-08:00

On our second day there (tuesday) I decided to take the kids to the Orlando Science Center. We had a blast! They had a little kids section called "Kids town".

I like this picture because it seems like I made it purposefully blurry, to be all artsy and stuff. I didn't. It's just blurry.

They had a great time splashing in the water,

playing with all the musical instruments

Running through the "streets"

And playing in the spaceships, among many other things.

You might be wondering where Elana is during all this fun. Well, she is in my moby wrap. She loves that thing so much, and it's great!

The hardest part of these outings was getting from the hotel room to the van and vice versa, but once were actually at our locations, things went surprisingly well.

Orlando, part 1

2011-12-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

So this past week Tony had to go to Orlando for work, and after much deliberation and trepidation, we (the kids and myself) decided we would go with him. Kinda crazy, I know, but we had a pretty great time.

Now, what to do all day, by yourself, in Orlando with 3 kids 3 and under, one of whom nurses every 2 hours? The obvious answer to that is Disney World, but as it turns out, Disney world is a little pricey, and I'm just not sure going to disney by myself with them would be worth it. Not to mention it would be exhausting. So we decided we would go to disney on Friday, because Tony could come with us, and the rest of the time I came up with fun "alternative" outings because there is no way I am spending 4 days in a hotel room by myself with 3 kids. (just a pet peeve side note, when I google "fun free things to do in orlando with kids", why are the suggestions things like: go to the beach??? The beach is 2 hours away!!!! I want things to do in Orlando.... like in the city!!!! Not some natural spring halfway across the state! Moving on..... )

Before now, I was pretty much terrified of going anywhere by myself with all 3 them. All the worst case scenarios kept going through my mind: "what if Leah decides to melt down, and Elias starts throwing a tantrum, and the baby starts screaming and I'm all by myself.... what do I do?? What is Leah needs to go to the bathroom, and Elias runs away, and Leah pees on herself, and the Elana throws up everywhere, and then Elias has a dirty diaper..... what do I do???"

Well, by 10:00 monday morning I knew I had to at least try, cause the hotel room just wasn't cutting it. Our day 1 outing was to a pretty little lake and park near our hotel room.

We played on the playground,

climbed trees,

went for a walk

played by the lake

and walked out on the dock to look for alligators. We didn't see any alligators.

But I did realize that being on the dock with two kids while wearing your newborn was probably not the smartest move.

So we left the dock pretty quickly. On a side note, when we left the dock there were thousands of black birds in the trees behind us. It was kind of scary.

Day in the life of a sinner saved by grace

2011-12-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

*So first off, let me say I am totally copying this idea from the really popular blog, www.mycharmingkids.net. The words and everything are mine, but I definetely got the inspiration and format from her recent post.

Here is an example of a day in the life of me.... Keep in mind that all of these times are just general gestimations, not an actual schedule.

6:00- Elana wakes up again. I pick her up, start to nurse her, and promptly fall back asleep.

7:00- Leah starts yelling MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!! At this point, if Tony has not gone to work yet (on days that he works out he leaves at 6:30) he will go in at get Leah. On other days I get her.

7:02- Leah and I go into the living room. I turn on Curious George (love me some GPB), and I silently thank God that Elias is still asleep.

7:03- Elias wakes up. I get him, hold him for a few minutes, then put him down and he watches George with Leah.

7:04- I make some coffee and start making breakfast. I cut up onions, green peppers, and start scrambling some eggs. I think to myself "man.... look at me making such an awesome breakfast for my family. I'm a great mom. I feel bad for all those poor kids who eat poptarts for breakfast."

7:05- I remember that yesterday I fed them goldfish and craisins for breakfast, and I quickly repent for my arrogance.

7:30- Breakfast is ready, George is over. We eat.

8:00- Elana wakes up. I feed her. Elias and Leah play in the playroom.

8:10- For the next 45 minutes or so, we go from room to room, getting each kid (and myself) dressed and do quick clean up of the bedrooms. By the time we leave the bedrooms, they are messy again. Very productive. But at least we are dressed!

9:00- Elias and Elana are both super cranky. I don't know why Eli is cranky every morning at this time. He just is. The next 30 minutes are spent holding them and hoping Leah is not destroying things.

9:30- Elana is asleep. Elias is happier. During this time Leah has gone into my bathroom and has put makeup on. "I'm beautiful!" she says. She looks ridiculous, and I leave it on her all day. It's funny, don't judge me.

9:30-10:30- During this time, we usually read books, do puzzles, paint, color, listen to music and dance, among other things. If Elias is happy and playing nicely by himself, Leah and I might do a little craft, or work on numbers and letters. If it's pretty, we go outside. I try to sneak off and get a few minutes to myself now and then. My "alone time" usually lasts about 30 seconds until they come careening down the hallway to find me. As Leah says "mommies don't need privacy."

10:30- Snack time. The kids eat something generally healthy like apples or bananas. Maybe some cheese and raisins. I eat nutella bread. It's not fair, I know.

10:35- Elana wakes up again. I feed her while the others eat. After she eats she is usually awake for a while. She is either happy and sitting in the swing, or she is not happy, and I hold her in my Moby wrap. Both good.

10:45- 11:30- This is kids play by themselves, (either voluntarily or forced), and I make lunch and try to pick up a little time. Also known as kids destroy one area of the house while I clean up another. Seems counterproductive....

11:30- Lunch time!

11:45- Lunch is over. Kids play by themselves for a few minutes and I clean the kitchen. Leah sometimes "helps" me sweep and Elias likes to climb in the dishwasher.

12:00- We all clean up the playroom. We don't do this every day. Okay, so we hardly ever do this, but it seems like a good idea. Maybe I will start doing this more.

12:10- 1:00- Elana is sleeping. We read books, play together a little more. I put Elias down and I spend some time reading "big girl books" with Leah. I put Leah down.

1:00- 3:00 ish: NAP TIME!!!!!!!!! I spend this time diligently cleaning, preparing for the rest of the day, organizing and decorating. HAH.... thats totally not true. I clean up quite a bit, but I try to actually relax during this time, watch some netflix, and unwind. I feed elana at some point during this time, and then she usually stays up for about an hour or so, then goes back to sleep. Gotta love it when newborns sleep 18 plus hours a day.

3:30- Leah starts yelling "Mommy, I want to wake up!". I yell back "Well then get up!"

3:32- Elias wakes up. I go in a get him. He usually has a dirty diaper, and Leah says "yuck! Eli stinks... change him mommy!". Naturally, because I'm a great mom like that, I change his diaper. We spend a couple of minutes getting everyone dressed.

3:38- snack time!

4:00- If it's not raining, and If I feel like it, we go outside. I'm usually wearing Elana at this point. I don't know if I will ever be in shape again, but I'm telling you I'm going to have an amazingly strong back (because of the babywearing, not because I'm obsessively working out my back. That would be weird.) Just an fyi, we really really love playing outside. Life is better when we can play outside.

If we can't go out, then we usually paint, play with play-doh, or try to do some sort of craft (usually involving paint or play-doh. Sometimes we paint play-doh). Leah likes to paint random things, like pinecombs, and acorns, and boxes, and her clothes, and Eli. She will find something in the house, like my phone, or a book, and say "Mommy I paint this and make it BeaUtiful!" Sometimes I am too absorbed in something super important (like facebook) and I'll just say "okay, sounds good". Then she paints it. (Elias and I read a few books together, do puzzles, and he plays with his toys and Elana is usually super happy around this time).

Leah usually melts down several times between now and bedtime. Only when seriously provoked, though, like if her sock doesn't fit right, or if Elias drinks her apple juice. I patiently and gently spend several minutes with her during each meltdown, disciplining her appropriately with no anger or frustration and refocusing her heart on Christ. All right, maybe not every time..... and even if I do, in the back of my mind is the thought "wow, I nailed that one. I'm pretty awesome. Good thing she has me as a mom!" The blood of Christ has to redeem my good parenting as well as my bad parenting. Pretty humbling.

I start telling Leah "That's a great idea! I'll bet your daddy would love to do that with you when he gets home!" every time she asks me to do something.

4:30 ish- Tony gets home anywhere between 4:00 and 5:30. It just depends on what time he leaves in the morning. I leave one, two or all three of them with him while I take an actual walk. (Since I don't have a triple stroller, and since Leah can't walk very fast it's impossible for me to take all three of them. I am hoping that Leah will learn how to ride a tricycle soon and we can all go together. )

5:00- The kids and Tony play outside. I feed Elana again and start making dinner.

5:30- Depending on how they are acting, and how tired we are, they watch TV from now till dinner. Usually curious George, or a part of a disney movie.

6:00- We sit down to eat. Elana starts crying literally the moment I pick up my fork. Seriously, it never fails. I'm just about spent at this point. It's becoming incredibly hard for me to be patient (because before it was a breeze).

6:15- Tony does dishes and I give the kids a bath. Or vice versa. Or I just decide that I don't feel like giving them a bath, and I let them watch a little bit more TV instead. It usually depends on how much TV they have watched until now. I try to keep their TV viewing to less than 1 hour a day. Doesn't always happen.

6:45- Kids are dressed for bed. Elana decides she only wants to held. We let Eli and leah run around in circles for a while. Leah like to yell "I'm gonna beat after my buddy!" while chasing him around the room. I have no idea what this means, or why she started saying it. Sometimes she knocks him down "accidentally on purpose" but thankfully she is not doing that much anymore.

7:00- I read a few books to Elias, right now his favorites are "Mr. Brown can moo", and "sleepyhead", sing a few songs, give him milk and put him to bed.

7:15- We read a few books to Leah. Tony reads her a story from the Jesus storybook bible.

7:30- Leah goes to bed. I sing "baby mine" and Jesus Loves Me, and we both pray with her.

7:35- Party Time!!!!!!!!!!!

I was going to write more, but this is ridiculously long and I highly doubt anyone will actually read it to the end. It's probably the most I have ever written in 4 years. And it took me about a week to write it. Sad.

Sisters, sisters

2011-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Playing together

2011-11-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Life is a whole lot easier when Leah and Elias get along and play well together. Life is also a whole lot easier when we can play outside.

Leah loves hanging and swinging on the bar and rings.

Elias is learning how to sit on a swing like a big boy!

Elana usually sleeps through all the fun :)

Random things that I love

2011-11-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

First off.... I love babywearing :)

I love playing outside with my children

I love helping Leah hold Elana

I love watching Elias attempt to be gentle

Birth story

2011-11-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am going to try to write down this birth story before the emotions and feeling wear off, and I begin to say idiotic things like: "natural childbirth isn't that bad". If you ever hear me say that.... I'm lying. It's horrible. It's really, really horrible. Doable, totally worth it, empowering, amazing, and horrible. But we will get to that later.... FYI, if you are a man and are squeamish about these things (Andrew, Joel), please don't read.

About 4 hours after I wrote my post about how I will never go into labor I started having strong regular contractions. It was around 2 o'clock AM, and I kept getting woken up by these pains in my stomach. It took me about 3 contractions to realize what they were, and then I started timing them. They were about 5-7 mins apart, and were fairly painful. I decided right then and there that I would have a baby that day. I was gong to go to the hospital very soon, and no matter what, I was not going to leave without a baby. So we called our friend Madison, and she came over around 3:30. At that time contractions were around every 3-5 mins. Yay!!!!!! Then in the car, they stopped.

That's right... they stopped. I had one about 20 minutes later, and they picked up a little after that, but they were nowhere near as close or as intense as they were at the house. But, I was at the hospital, I was about 4-5 cm dilated, and they admitted me to my room. My midwife Holly was there, and we started doing the paperwork, IV, birthing ball thing. Midwives are awesome, by the way. I highly recommend them. They massaged my back and feet, really worked with me, and were all together fabulous.

But anyways... At around 7 AM I was at an 8, and ready to get into the birthing tub.Yes, I was determined to do a water birth. The tub was awesome. It really really helped with the contractions, but, unfortunately, labor really stalled once again. Contractions were about 8 mins apart and not too painful. Which was great.... but ineffective. So after a couple of hours of waiting it out in the tub, and thinking I was all the way dilated, and trying to push with no luck, I got out of the tub, and back onto the bed.

The midwife (April now, Holly had to go back to the office) checked me again, and it turns out I was still at an 8. And apparently the head was not pressing against the cervix at all. And my water was not completely broken. And I was having no contractions at all. Soooooo.... on with the pitocin. Not fun. However, it was on very low, and it was not unbearable. I was hooked up to the pit for about 2 hours, and it brought me from 8 to 10. We turned it off, made sure I was still contracting well, and I got back in the tub. It's amazing, but immediately after getting in the water the pain of the contractions decrease dramatically. So now I'm ready to go.

So I can labor with the best of them. I can go through transition with pitocin without uttering a sound, and I could do it all day long. Seriously. But, the pushing is another story. The actual act of getting the baby out of me kind of freaks me out. I was pretty terrified. I kept looking at my stomach, wishing there was another way (other than cutting me open) that this baby could just appear in my arms. I did a couple of fake pushes, trying to get into a comfortable position. I had this image of me pushing into eternity, never able to get the baby out. It's really quite a frightening thought. I really just wanted a guarantee that I would only have to push one time, as opposed to the three hour ordeal I went through with Leah (except with Leah I had an epidural). If I could have gotten that guarantee, I think I would have been less anxious, but, alas, it's impossible to give said guarantee.

So anyways, after about 15 mins of contractions and fake pushes, I made up my mind that this baby was coming out. The next contraction I pushed with all my might, and she came right on out. I guess this pushing lasted about 2-5 minutes, and all that was running through my mind was "#$#@&&&&*********$$$##@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I REMEMBER THIS PART NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The horror and pain of those 5 minutes is already fading. But let me tell you.... It's terrible. It's hard to describe the feeling. Oh wait... it's not hard to describe at all. It's like a baby is coming out of your vagina.

Interesting tidbit: my midwife broke her hand while delivering little Elana. Apparently she slipped while trying to get her shoulder dislodged, and her hand went to the bottom of the tub, thereby breaking it. Her 4th metacarpal to be exact. I feel terrible about that. I'm going to have to send to her flowers.

So there it is... the birth story in a nutshell.

More pictures

2011-11-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some more cute pictures of our growing family

Elana May

2011-11-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Elana May Bermudez:

Born 10/31/11, 8 lbs 8, 21 1/2 inches. Longer post and more pictures soon to come :)

waiting

2011-10-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, so my due date was friday. And this is my third baby. This was not supposed to happen. I have tried so hard prepare myself for going late, but the truth is I don't any woman is emotionally prepared to handle the comments, the waiting, the false labor, sporadic contractions, and the feeling of being in limbo. I had to restrain myself from making rude comebacks to the sweet old ladies from church who exclaimed for the 3 sunday in a row "wow, you're still here! Don't have the baby in the sanctuary!"

Right now it's 11:00 pm on sunday night, and I'm on night 2 of random annoying sporadic, semi-painful but not really contractions. I was convinced this morning at around 6:00 am that I would be heading to the hospital soon.... and then the contractions stopped. I was convinced that contractions would start again around 1:00 pm, like they did with Eli, but they didn't. I was convinced that by the time I got ready for bed, they would be long, strong, and regular (that's what she said) but they aren't. Now I am semi-convinced that I will never birth this baby. Now I know that this is not possible. I'm pretty sure that every pregnant woman in the history of the world has, eventually, one way or another, gotten the baby out of her. I have full confidence that my OB's and midwives will not let me go on being pregnant forever. But at this point, I'm having a hard time believing it.

I keep telling myself to trust God, to trust his timing, to realize that his plans are always better than mine. But it's difficult when all I want is to hold this baby outside of my body.

So anyways, here's a cute picture of Elias in his little hat :)

and this gorgeous one of Leah:

Happy Birthday Leah

2011-10-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Leah's birthday. It was also my due date for this third child. I am glad that they will not have the same birthday, but I am beyond ready to have this baby. But that's not the point. This post is about Leah :)

This scarf I made her was the first birthday present she got. I think she liked it.

It really is crazy how old she is getting. She's definitely not my "little baby" anymore.

So on thursday afternoon I decided that I would do a little impromptu get together for Leah, because I was pretty sure I would not be in labor any time soon. I called a few friends, and friday afternoon we had a very small, very informal party for her. The food was literally stuff that I happened to have in my fridge, and I made her half of a rainbow cake.

Not very spectacular, but what's a super pregnant chick to do?

The kids pretty much just played in the backyard. They are all great friends, so it worked out well.

My friend Leigh Anne's older boys were a big help. They were so sweet playing with all the little kids.

We sang happy birthday, ate the half rainbow cake

and opened presents

Like I said, a simple affair. But Leah had fun. At one point she came up to me and said "Mommy, all my friends are here! I'm sooooo happy!!!!"

Lane's Fall Festival

2011-10-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

I love fall. I love October.... so many fun things to do down here in middle Georgia (you know, now that it's not 100 degrees outside). We went out to Lane's fall festival on saturday morning and enjoyed some of the festivities.

They had a bouncy house area:

With slides

I think Leah must have slid down about 20 times. We got there right as they opened, so it wasn't too crowded. By the time we left it was ridiculous.

It's crazy how independent she has gotten when it comes to doing things by herself. She's so grown up!

So in the distance you can see the big corn maze. We decided not to do the maze this year, because it was super muddy and the stroller would not have worked, and we would have ended up carrying Elias the whole time. So we did the little haybale maze.

The kids probably had more fun chasing each other around through the little one anyways.

Leah got to paint some pumpkins

And Elias got to ride a baby tractor.

We topped off the morning with a hayride. I was hoping the hayride would help get labor going, but no such luck :)

A good time was had by all. This will probably be one of the last family outings we have for a while :)

Mossy Creek Festival

2011-10-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival on Saturday. It's kind of like a huge flea market in the middle of the woods. Most of the stuff being sold is homemade, and it's usually pretty neat. There is also good food, live music, hayrides, a little petting zoo and a lot more randomness to be found. We went with our friends the Anders, and we had a great time.

This was the first time that Leah has actually gone into the petting zoo part. I really really wish I was not in these pictures, but she would not leave my side :)

This is Jameson and Mae, with the biggest, creepiest and ugliest turkey I have ever seen in my life. Leah wouldn't go near it. I don't blame her.

Speaking of huge turkeys, they really shouldn't make pregnancy shirts with a bunch of giant polka dots on them. After seeing these pics I realized that I looked like the giant turkey.

Elias didn't want to go into the petting zoo, but he loved walking around and listening to the live music.

Jameson's aunt Caitlyn got the privilege of riding in the tiny hay wagon. Danielle and I were way too pregnant, and the men were too big :)

Ravioli

2011-10-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhh..... I love ravioli for lunch!

So does Eli.

Georgia National fair

2011-10-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

"The Fair, is a place, full of smorgush board, smorgush board....." Yeah, I'm not sure if those are the right words, but the song that the rat from Charlotte's Web sings always runs through my head as we navigate the awesomeness that is Georgia national fair.

This year we made the smart decision of going on a weekday early afternoon, and not on opening saturday like we did last year. It was soooooooooo much less crowded and more manageable, and we actually got to do a few things that we didn't get to last time.

Such as.....

Holding a baby chick (easy there, Lenny)

Riding ponies

Riding on daddy's shoulders

Riding on the "really high swing"

And eating lots and lots of fair food.

Sharks

2011-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, sweet Leah.

Such an innocent, sweet face. So funny, delightful, kind, and full of life. She makes me laugh all day long, an is a huge huge joy....... Most of the time.

Other times, she is like a shark. Stalking her prey, circling it, and then, when she smells blood in the water she pounces on the defenseless wounded seal.

Yes, I am that seal. I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant, and Tony is out of town this week. I am a wounded seal, operating at only half capacity. I really really think she can sense my weakness, and she takes advantage of it. And this week, I let it continue far too long.

It happens slowly, and I don't notice it at first. She becomes a little more demanding, a little more whiny, a little more difficult, and pretty soon I am just doing whatever I can to appease her and to get through the day. Well, history has proven that you can't appease a Tyrant.

This morning, after telling me "Don't wear your hair in a ponytail", and freaking out because I didn't pick up a book the "right way", I finally realized what was going on. She had almost taken over the house. And now it stops.

All day today we have been going round for round, and I have won every single one of them. And it's getting better. I will take back my house :)

Flower Girl

2011-10-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

Leah had her Flower girl debut the other day.

I was really worried about how she would do. She would totally be capable of bursting into tears and running away at the exact wrong moment, but thankfully, she did great!

Her cousin Daniel was the ring bearer, and he was a big help!

Elias looked pretty handsome too :)

Playing outside and Chandler Bing

2011-09-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

Elias LOVES playing outside.

Any time the door opens, or if the door even looks like it is going to open, Eli will run towards it and make a break for the great outdoors.

He could stay out there forever, and now that it's a little cooler outside, we spend quite a bit of day going from backyard to front,

eating sand, playing on swings and slides, and chasing cats.

In other news, Leah kind of reminds me of Chandler Bing from friends. Let me explain.. You know that episode where Chandler can't take a picture? That's kind of how Leah is. She will have a beautiful smile, but the second she looks at the camera, and I snap the pic, it turns into something like this:

Or this:

If she is aware that a picture is being taken, she will lift her head, close her eyes, and squint. I have to catch her off guard in order to get an all-natural smile like this one:

and this one:

I guess since she is only two we will work on the smile for the camera thing a little later. I just want her to be ready for all the pageants we are going to enter her into. I have been watching Toddlers and Tiara's, and I can't think of a better way to spend our time and money.

throwing fits

2011-09-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but this little guy has started to get pretty verbal (but you know, not with words), when something doesn't go his way.

I know, shocking right?

He has started something new when it comes to pitching a fit, and it's pretty darn hilarious. First, he turns around and around in a circle, crying. Then, he collapses to the floor and puts his face between his legs. Then, he sits up and starts kicking. Oh, and he does all of this while crying.

I really really thought he was going to be my easygoing child. It's not looking that way though :).

Velociraptors

2011-09-14T16:17:00.000-07:00

The other day Leah was "helping" me in the kitchen, and I made the mistake of turning my back to her. When I turned back around she was on the chair next to the counter, and had opened up the sugar container and was eating it with her fingers.

A strange, random picture raced through my mind.... You know that scene in Jurasic Park where the velociraptors are trying to break down the door, and all of a sudden you see them jiggle and eventually open the handle? And then Mr. Hammond (the old dude who made the park) said, with an ominous voice : "The're learning!" Yeah... that part has always really freaked me out for some reason.

But anyways, that's how I feel about the kids sometimes. Every day they learn something new, and do something different. It's awesome, amazing, wonderful, fun, and yes, terrifying. Leah is opening things she once couldn't open, she is reaching things she used to not be able to reach, she is picking up on things she used to be oblivious to. Same for Elias; he can climb up on pretty much everything, and does, all the time.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the fact that they are learning and changing like this. I love how everyday they surprise me. But it definitely feels like my control is slowly slipping. It's a preview of how I won't always be able to dictate everything they eat, wear, watch, play with, etc. I have a loooonnnnng way to go in trusting God with the safety and ultimately the lives of my children.

I told Tony about these thoughts, and he said: "Yeah, they're growing, learning, adapting, mobilizing, and multiplying. Soon, they'll outnumber us!" I thought that was pretty funny :)

playing in the rain

2011-09-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

At the end (hopefully) of a ridiculously long hot summer, sometimes a girl's just got to play in the rain.

This looked like a lot of fun. I almost joined in.... but I didn't.

I am really hoping and praying that this cooler weather we have been having lately is here to stay.

New bed

2011-08-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tony and I recently made Leah a "big girl bed". I'm really really happy with how it turned out.

We got the plans from ana-white.com, and the total cost was around 70$'s. I'm not sure if that saved us money or not, but I know I like it.

Leah really likes it too. Now she can "run around and around!"

Our Trampoline

2011-08-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Leah calls her mattress her trampoline, and every once in a while (okay, probably every day) we put the trampoline on the floor so they can jump on it.

Today I put it in the living room along with the couch cushion to make one HUGE trampoline.

(I made her jump off the couch about thirty times before I could actually get a picture of her jumping. )
She said: "I have big huge feet, like Jesus, so I can jump to heaven!"

They also rolled around and wrestled quite a bit.

I tried very hard to get a picture of both of them looking at the camera. No luck.

This is the best one I got. Don't they play so well together???

Okay.... maybe not....

They play well together sometimes... other times... not so much.

Princess

2011-08-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of days, Leah has wanted to dress up like a princess all day long.

She will prance around, calling herself princess Belle, and she will call me "prince". I'm not sure why Eli can't be the prince... I guess I'm stuck in that role during the day, at least. When Tony gets home from work he gets to be the prince.

Gone

2011-08-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

My baby is gone. He has been replaced by this little guy

This little walking maniac

Who is not afraid to run out into the road after Leah

Who shrieks (not just screams... shrieks) when he doesn't get his way

And who has a new found independence now that he is walking everywhere.

Man, I love this little guy.

Happy Birthday Elias

2011-08-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Eli's 1st birthday! The internet wasn't working, and we were gone all day, so I didn't get to do a post on his exact birthday. But here it is... better late than never.

I made him a delicious Carrot cake, which we ate the night of the 2nd, because I knew we would be gone the entire next day (I also just really wanted to eat some right then). Tony has been gone all week, so it was a small affair.

Elias seemed to really enjoy the cake :)

The next day (his actual birthday), one of my friends and her three boys, along with another friend made the three hour drive down to Tybee island to enjoy a day at the beach. This was a little bit crazy, I will admit. We spent over 6 hours squished in a huge old suburban with one baby, two toddlers, a 5 year old and a 7 year old in order to have about 4 hours at the beach on the hottest day of this god-aweful hot summer. But it was worth it.

The kids had a great time. I was very very worried about how Eli would handle it, but he was awesome. He loved the water, loved playing in the sand, and hardly cried at all.

He took three naps, one on the way there, one at the beach, and one on the way back, and was probably the easiest kid that entire day. He spent about an hour playing on a beach chair under a huge umbrella, and also chased seagulls around, although he screamed if he ever got too close. I think he had an awesome birthday.

Leah was amazing in the water. She was literally fearless. She wanted to swim all by herself (with her life jacket), and kept on asking to go "way way out to the end of the big pool". She rode over the waves like a champ, and was only knocked over once.

The rest of the time she played in the sand with her friend Jack. She also wanted to wear her life jacket on the sand because "a big wave can come and get me, and I'll drown!!!!"

The funniest thing that day was when the oldest boy, John Walter came running up and said "MOM! why did we come here??? Did you know this water was going to be salty!!!!!"

Okay, here are some "Elias facts"
- He is huge. Very very, very heavy.
- He is extremely cuddly. Way more so than Leah was. He will literally walk/crawl over to me if I am ever sitting down and will claw his way into my lap.
- He is walking now
- He doesn't say anything other than mamamamamam, and dadadadadadadadadada
- He loves to yell.
- He's doing this delightful new thing now where he will hit Leah whenever she tries to sit in my lap too.
- he has three and a half teeth.

water hole

2011-07-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today we went way way out in the middle of nowhere to this natural springs "swimming hole" in Marshalsville. It's on private property, but a friend of a friend has a hook up with the owners, and the kids and I were able to spend a couple of hours out there.

It was a lot bigger than I expected, with pretty water, a nice sandy bottom, and apparently a "snake area". I found that part out after we had been there a couple of hours. Fun.

There was an awesome rope swing that I tried out a couple of times. I think one of the other ladies got a picture of me with her camera. I need to get a copy of it, as I am sure I look pretty incredible.

Poor Elias was not too thrilled with his life jacket he had to wear. There are not many super safe life jackets that will fit comfortably on a 11 month old. He was happier when he could crawl around on the patio, playing with a little rubber ball.

I did refrain from jumping/diving off the top of the dock. Leah and I jumped from the bottom level a couple of times together.

Unfortunately I was not able to get many good pictures of my kids. With only three moms and 11 kids, we were too busy making sure no one drowned.

Leah had a really great time once she got up the nerve to swim around on her own (with her awesome life jacket, of course.) I was very impressed. She just paddled all around the little lake, saying "Mommy, look at me, I'm brave!!!!!"

Needless to say, the day was EXHAUSTING for me. I can't wait to go back!!!!!!

splash park

2011-06-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

* Warning: this post contains pictures of Leah wearing only her underwear. Please avert your eyes if you consider this offensive.

So the other day, we went with friends to a super ghetto, super awesome little park that had some "water features." It was basically a normal park, surrounded by a little cement moat fill with sand, with a bunch of sprinklers and little tunnels going around everything. The kids loved it.

Water is literally hitting them in the face right now.

They are so cute when they get along.

Eli had a fun time too. He stood there on this little "splash pad" for a long, long time.

Oh, the most fun thing about this park is that you have to actually drive through a cemetery to get there. Like, literally, turn into the cemetery, and go through it, and on the other side is the park. Probably why there weren't a lot of people there. And if you are not a dirt fan, then you will not be a fan of this park.

air museum

2011-06-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

The air museum on base is possible the most air-conditioned fun you can have for free in Warner Robins. It's actually pretty nice, and Leah loves it. I've been there with the kids a couple of times with some friends, but this weekend was the first time Tony has been able to come with us. Actually, it was the first weekend that I haven't had to work on a friday night in a long long time, so we were able to do something on saturday morning.

This is the view of the front lobby from upstairs. Pretty cool.

Leah and Eli flying the airplanes.

He is at such an easy going stage right now. He's so happy no matter what we do.

There is actually tons and tons more stuff inside that we saw and did. I just don't have pictures. There are three buildings, and it would take forever to actually walk around and read/look closely at everything. After we went in the main building we walked around outside, in the "airplane graveyard." It was pretty cool. We walked around, near, under, and got on old planes. There were TONS of them.

10 months

2011-06-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post has been a long time coming, because he is now 10 months old and several days. But our internet hasn't been wanting to upload pictures, so it took a while.

Anywho, Eli is now 10 months old.

- He is standing by himself like a champ. He can stand for several minutes without falling, but has not attempted a step yet.

- I think he is finally getting two little front teeth.

- He laughs, smile, crawls around like a maniac, and is generally incredibly happy.

- Unlike Leah, he won't really sit and let me read books. He just hits the books from my hands, or tries to eat them.

- He loves to eat. But mainly just fruit. He can throw down some blueberries.

- He is sleeping through the night on a semi regular basis.

- He loves being around Leah. He will follow her everywhere.

- He is super, super, super cuddly.

nap time

2011-05-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I know Leah has woken up early from her nap. I can hear her quietly and happily playing, so I usually just let her play for a few minutes, you know, so I can squeeze in a few extra minutes of whatever it is that I am doing. Usually when this happens, I open the door to a train wreck that happened in her room, and sometimes she is dressed like this:

I promise this is not choking her, mom...

I'm not gonna lie, I kind of like her style.

Strawberry picking

2011-05-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

We have been strawberry picking several times in the past couple of weeks/months at this wonderful mennonite farm down in montezuma. I have TONS of frozen strawberry's, and I made two batches of jam, so I think we are set for a while.

The three babies did great the whole time. You can't really tell, because we wiped them mostly off, but they were completely covered in red strawberry juices.

The four older ones did pretty well, too. It's always an adventure taking seven kids under 5 to a huge blazing hot field and expecting to accomplish something.... but, we all managed to go home with about 10 pounds of berries each! And hey, if all three of us ladies go again together next year, we will have 10 kids under 6!

pool time

2011-05-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days we have been playing in our lovely pool.

I put the slide in it, and it makes it just that much more fun for Leah. Now she can do something other than try to hold me underwater.

Eli likes it for about 30 minutes, then he starts freaking out.

I'm a wimp in the heat. The only way I enjoy being outside in these blazing summers is if I am in water, so, this 70 $ pool, in my opinion, is the best money we have ever spent.

Tea Party

2011-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Several times a week, usually when Elias is napping, Leah and I have a "tea party".

We usually drink apple juice and eat crackers, but she calls it her tea and biscuits.

She'll take a sip, and then say "I'm acting like a lady!" I have tried to get her to talk in Jane Austen fashion, but she's not really picking up on that.

In other news, Elias had his 9 month checkup and he is in the 14th percentile for height, and the 98th percentile for weight. He is a chunk!!!!!!

He's pulling up, crawling like a maniac, and is generally super cute and fun.

Easter activities

2011-04-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

I know it's a little bit late for the Easter post, but I'll go ahead and do it. Easter can't be complete without a egg dyeing and decorating (very biblical, I know), so that's what we did on Saturday.

It was the first year that Leah was really able to do it, and it was a lot of fun.

She naturally ate a couple of the eggs. She would have eaten them all if I had let her.

This is a creepy face... I don't really understand.

Our lovely finished product.

Elias just hung out in the yard, crawling and being cute.

I mean, he is very cute...

Easter Sunday was a great day. We had a wonderful Church service, then we celebrated the day with three families at our house. We did a non-traditional lunch (hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill), played in our little backyard pool, hunted easter eggs, and had great fellowship.

Savannah

2011-04-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

Tony had to go to Savannah for work this past week, and the kids and I were able to go with him. It was a nice little "vacation", so to speak, even though he had to work during the day. We spent a good deal of the time outside, as the weather was absolutely perfect the entire week.

We went to Tybee Island and had some beach fun

Leah loved playing in the water.

Eli, like his daddy, was not such a fan of it all.

We ate at Joe's Crab shack and saw some alligators, some real...

And some not so real...

We walked on river street alot...

She probably could have just looked at the river all day long and would have been perfectly happy about that.

and we even got to ride the ferry boat

We ate at all sorts of fun restaurants, like Spanky's vinnie van go-go's, and Lady and Sons

(funny tid-bit about this picture, I told Leah I would give her a sip of my tea if she smiled. She hates smiling for the camera...)

we played in City Markets fountains (which was just a huge cement hole last time I was there two years ago, so that was a nice surprise)

(she actually never even got close to the water... she ran around them in a very very wide circle)

And finally we played in the playground at Forsyth park (I never knew there was a playground there, and I have been there many many times... maybe I just never looked or cared because I had no kids at the time)

Another funny thing is that no matter how sunny it was, Leah always wanted to wear her hat backwards, "like Joel". At least she doesn't insist on walking around shirtless like he does. (Love you Joel)

But, if you ask Leah how the trip was, she won't mention all those fun things she did. She will merely tell you (and she mentioned this to several people at church today) "I slept in the closet."

Crawling!

2011-03-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

This little dude is crawling now!

And he also looks really cute in Leah's hat.

new puppy

2011-03-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

This is Leah's new puppy. His name is Pokey.

just some pictures

2011-03-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

I feel like we have not been doing much these past few weeks. Just hanging out at home, going one day at a time. Leah has become a bit "challenging" as of late, and it feels like everything is a battle. She reminds me so much of me it's ridiculous. I always think "where does she get this dramatic attitude?? I just don't get it." Then, I remember how I had to literally choke back sobs at work the other night because I opened up my salad from chick fil-a and realized they gave me ceasar salad instead of the strip salad. So yeah... she probably gets it from me.

Here are some pics of my wonderful children, though.

Elias is so sweet and happy. He is really delightful right now.

Leah is starting to look like such a big girl now. She really is a lot of fun.

"I do it!"

2011-02-21T16:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, those three little words: "I do it!" How much they are annoying me right now. Leah wants to do everything herself, which I know is good thing, and totally normal at this stage, but man it can be frustrating. Especially when we actually do have to get somewhere, and the getting dressed is not progressing very swiftly.

She definitely tries hard though.

Mommy look!

2011-02-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

"Mommy look! I helping Eee-i feel better!"

Apparently she heard him wake up from his nap and decided she would go join him. Either that, or she woke him up by climbing in the crib with him. Who knows.... I really should watch them a little closer.

mirror mirror

2011-02-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

The other day I brought the mirror down from upstairs so that Eli could sit there and look at himself, and hopefully be amused for a few minutes.

He was indeed amused. On a side note, I tripped and fell headfirst down the stairs while carrying it, and I thought I was going to be lying unconscious amidst a pile of broken glass while my kids ran amuck in the house, but luckily everything was fine. Okay, not completely fine; the mirror fell on the back of my leg, and it really hurt... but at least a piece of broken glass did not sever my femoral artery or anything.

Okay, back to cute pictures.

This reminded me of pictures of Leah in front of a mirror when she was just a little bit older than he is now.

Man, what a chunker!

Monkey see, monkey do

2011-02-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure who is copying who here:

All I know is that it was a beautiful day and we spent it outside!

Leah is definitely copying me, wearing her "special baby" just like I wear Eli.

She walked around saying "I wear baby in my carrier!"

I love the weather we are having lately! Sunny, in the high 60's. I hope it stays like this for a least a couple of months; you know, before it jumps to the 90's.

6 months

2011-02-03T17:36:00.000-08:00

My little Elias is 6 months old today! Time really has just flown with him. It's so much different with the 2nd baby than the first. It's kind of sad, really.... with Leah I could just sit and watch her, and focus all my attention on her, and with Eli I have to make a concerted effort to spend that quality time with him. I blinked, and now he is halfway to a year! Crazy!

Here are some pictures from the start of his very short life until now.

My little buddy at 1 day old.

His first bath at home.

The first hint of a smile... he's so sweet.

A nice real smile

Learning how to roll over

Chillin like a villain in the swing

Practicing sitting

playing with some toys

Eating some foods (so far he has been eating carrots, bananas, avocadoes, and rice cereal). Little man loves to eat. I wonder where he gets that from.

He is ridiculously happy, except for when he's not.

He loves chewing on EVERYTHING. This kind of upsets Leah... She will say "Eli, don't put dat in you mouf!"

He loves going on wagon rides

Especially if Leah is pulling him.

All in all, he is just a sweet, cuddly, happy, adorable little guy.

I think I'll keep him.

cubby bench

2011-02-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

I whipped this baby up during nap time yesterday

I really like it, and it was very easy to make. It's going to be our bench, shoe/purse/diaper bag holder. It helps that area look a little more organized.

Leah liked it. She thought it was her own personal "lilul" bed.

Here is my before:

Here is my after:

I think it looks a little bit better. I'm still trying to figure out what color I want to paint it. I'm thinking about red, but I'll probably look around for a little bit.

Tony's job

2011-01-31T16:45:00.000-08:00

A lot of people have asked me what Tony does at work. Here it is:

This is the airplane that Tony went to Rhode Island to fix; apparently there was a problem with the landing gear.

Obviously, he does not only deal with one plane. He is an engineer who maintains and fixes the landing gear for the C-130J's for the airforce. When I say fix, what I mean is that he tells other people how to fix it, or is physically present when other people are fixing it...... Come to think about it, I'm not sure what he actually does.... I just know that this is the plane that he works on :)

Good idea/bad idea

2011-01-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a very fun activity for a bunch of little kids to do during a snow day:

Finger painting with raw potatoes as shape stamps. It's very fun as long as you don't freak out about paint on your walls and curtains.

Micah, Connor, and Leah had a blast doing this.

Miraculously, they kept the paint on themselves and the paper, and not on my walls, cutain, and carpets.

This was another great idea: playing on the dining room table with shaving cream. This kept them occupied for a while.

The best part was that it made my table ridiculously clean when I wiped it off, which was nice.

Now this was not a good idea:

The point of said activity was to draw shapes in a pan full of flour, but I guess she is still a little young for that, because the flour ended up everywhere.

Flour is not as easy to clean.

And it's a lot easier to throw.

Leah Sayings

2011-01-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take the time to write down some funny things that Leah is saying now, before I forget them all. She makes me laugh all the time.

"Mommy come look at my pee-pee!"

Leah - "Mommy, whats dat?
Me - "well Leah, it's Eli's penis"
Leah - " where my penis??"
Me - "You don't have one, because Eli is a boy,and you are a girl.
Leah - "daddy is a boy" She then proceeds to run to Tony, hit him in the crotch, and yell "that's your penis!" we might need to start teaching a little about modesty.

"It's a bird! Birds fly like dumbo!"

"Stop singing Mommy! I reading the bible!"

I briefly walked out of the room where Leah and Eli were playing. Eli started crying, and I heard Leah say:
" Is opay Eli.... Mommy come back soon. She right outside de door"

My personal favorite:
"No ma'am Buddy! That's my food. You eat mommy's boobies!" (she calls Eli buddy sometimes)

Snow fun

2011-01-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

Tony and I have been keeping our two nephews, Micah and Connor for the past day, and we will have them until wednesday morning. So far we have had a great time. Micah, Leah and Connor play very well together. It's super cute watching them.

See Sarah, they are smiling!

There are a lot of good and fun things about having lots of small kids very close together, but dinner is not one of them.

The next day, as predicted, it snowed about an inch or so here. It was very very icy and wet, though, and Tony got to stay home from work.

They lasted about 30 minutes, then we went inside and drank some hot chocolate.

cooperative play

2011-01-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

In a rare moment of generosity, Leah let Elias play with all of her favorite stuffed animals.

He looks pretty thrilled, I know.

In the meantime, Leah had her own little dance party.

She had mad skills.

She kept on saying "Eli, dance with me!", but of course, Eli just sat there and stared at her.

She had a fun time anyways.

It's a bird, It's a plane....

2011-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

The other day Leah and Tony were playing with Play-doh while I was cooking dinner. Leah started saying "Mommy, mommy, look at this!"

"It's like Dumbo!"

Yes... it looks just like dumbo.

She is truly obsessed with that elephant. Every day she constantly says "when Daddy comes home, Daddy watch dumbo with me?"

New trick

2010-12-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

Check out Eli's new trick!

Little man is sitting up all by himself. Well, he's sitting up for about 10 or so seconds, before this happens:

sisterly love

2010-12-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

Leah loves holding Elias. She asks to hold him all the time. The only problem is that she is not the gentlest of sisters. Here is a narrative of our holding Eli experience.... all in Leah's words.

"I hold Eli on my lap!!!"

"I drop Eli!"

"Hahahahahahah!!!!!! that's too funny!!!"

"I hold Eli again. It's okay buddy, it's okay."

christmas day

2010-12-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas day started off pretty rough for me. After all, I had to work, and it was an awful night. I spent the first 3 hours of my shift holding manual pressure on a patient's bleeding perm-a-cath, which never did stop bleeding. It was not the preferred way to spend my Christmas Eve and the wee hours hours of the morning. But I got through it, and I slept from about 6:00 am to 9:00 am, and then we opened up presents.

Leah found "dorge monkey" and Abby peaking out through her stocking. I know... her hair rocks.

After she opened her stocking saw all of her candy, the only thing she wanted was more flintstone vitamin gummies.

Eventually she got over the gummies and began to open her big presents. It was one of those thomas the tank railway set, except that it was not thomas, it was the melissa and Doug collection. Still good, though.

I got a new camera, with which I have been taking all these pictures (I don't think that sounds right, but whatever). Leah posed happily at first....

and then apparently got tired of all the pictures.

After that we packed up (this little guy helped a lot) and headed to Columbus to see Tony's parents.

Where we opened more presents.

They bought Leah a wagon, and it was a big it for both of them.

Leah pulled her little buddy in the wagon, and he seemed to enjoy it.

I got one picture of me looking at least halfway decent.

and I don't know how or when this picture was taken.

Leah and Eli got to hug,

and I have no idea what was going on here....

And finally the day ended much like it began.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

super high

2010-12-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

Our neighbors put up an awesome swing set in our side yard a couple of months ago, and it's been great. Leah loves to play on it and she has become really good at swinging on a "big girl swing".

Whenever she swings she yells "SUPER HIGH" the whole time.

She literally swings as high as she possibly can. It's kind of scary, but so far she has been fine.

She did not, however, want me to take pictures of her..... which I did anyways.

She got over it pretty quickly, though.

friends

2010-12-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

I truly hope that these two cuties

will be great friends growing up.

So far they seem to get along pretty well.

Leah is pretty gentle with him, and love to hold him.....

but sometimes she just abruptly says: "move Eli", and kinda lets him drop, and he face plants on the floor....

Or I'll look up and she is "helping Eli", like this:

This gives new meaning to the phrase "love em to death."

Beans, beans, everywhere

2010-11-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

Old bathtub purchased from a consignment shop: 2 $

Five bags of dry beans: 8 $'s

Several different types of utensils: approx 2 $'s

Your two year old playing happily with them for more than an hour, allowing you to clean the kitchen, do laundry, vaccum, and make lunch in peace: priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sidenote: this is probably not the best activity if you are a super neat freak :)

Oh the cuteness

2010-11-08T11:03:00.000-08:00

Leah has finally started to play by herself. Yay!!!!!!!!! The other day she asked me to "buckle Elmos" into Elias's carseat.

Yeah.... she is pretty obsessed with Elmo. She has two of them now (thanks mom!) :). She calls one of them ABC elmo (because he sings the abc's, clever), and the other she calls "regi elmo". It took me a while to figure out that she is trying to say "regular elmo."

She spent a long time giving them her paci's. Very impressive. Then, she decided that they needed to go to the doctor.

She dragged (or is it drug?) them around the house for around an hour, saying "elmos go to doctor". It was painfully cute.

Doctor's visit

2010-11-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite quotes: "I used to be the perfect mother. Then, I had kids."

Basically, that sums up my feelings about kids and doctor/ER visits. Back when I had no children (and when Leah was just a baby), I would get sooooooo annoyed at the kids who would come into the ER and would scream and cry no matter what we did. Even getting their weight, getting their temp under the armpit, and listening to their lungs was a battle. It ticked me off to no end. I couldn't understand why these moms couldn't just control their two year old. I mean, come on! In my mind it was simple.

Well....... today was Leah's two year well check, and she pretty much screamed almost the entire time. I had no idea what to do. She looked terrified; she fought, cried, pleaded, etc. And the doctor wasn't even doing anything to her! By the end of the check up she was drenched in sweat, and was just holding onto me sobbing.

Good times!

Is this better?

2010-11-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

So apparently, some people who will go nameless (Tony and my mom), thought that Elias looked a little girly in this picture.

I totally disagree. These are clearly boy colors, but whatever :)

However, I went ahead and made him some new ones.

Maybe these are a little more manly.

Halloween fun

2010-11-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

We started our halloween celebration about a week ago, when we carved a pumpkin. By we, I mean Tony.

Leah helped at first, but she got tired of it pretty quickly. She did really love the end product, though.

Yes.... It is indeed an Elmo jack-o-Lantern. The child loves Elmo right now, and without meaning to Elmo was the apparent theme of our halloween.

We went trick or treating on Saturday night. It was tough leaving during the last few minutes of the Georgia/Florida game, but motherly love won out.

Elias was a turtle, and Leah was..... wait for it.....

ELMO!!!!!!! What a surprise!

I'll tell you this much, Leah really worked for her candy. She wanted to walk by herself... she did not want to ride in the stroller, or be carried, so we trudged along from house to house, Leah dragging her pumpkin and her own "baby elmo". It took us an hour and a half to walk maybe 500 yards, and we made it to about 8 houses.

She didn't get much candy, but that's just fine with me.

At the end of the night, she was ridiculously sweaty and exhausted. And now, she wants to eat "pumpkin tandy" all the time, so that's fun.

Happy Birthday!

2010-10-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Leah's birthday! I can't believe that my baby is already two, and that I have another baby.... it's crazy! It has been a wonderful two years, and I continue to love every bit of being a mother.

Happy Birthday, sweet Leah!

Two words

2010-10-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since I found out we were having a boy, two words kept coming to mind: sweater vest. I could not wait to have him rock out a sweater vest. Finally, my wishes came true.

I think he pulls this look off pretty well. I thought that sweater vest on baby boys were the cutest thing ever. I was wrong. Check these out:

Yeah... I think baby leggings may be the cutest things in the world. These are the first pair I have bought, and I am definitely going to buy some more.

Fall fun

2010-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we spent the morning out at lane's packaging having some fall fun.

We played on the playground

the big inflatable slide (which was actually pretty fun for me)

we ran around the straw bale kids maze

picked out a pumpkin

we even got to pick some flowers.

They had a corn maze out there as well, but by the time we got around to it both of them were pretty cranky. We would have had to pay to go in the maze, and I didn't feel like spending money to carry around two crying babies.

sharing

2010-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Sharing is hard. It's hard for adults, but for 2 year olds (or almost 2 year olds), it's like the end of the world. Generally, when Leah is playing with a friend, it start off like this:

She tries to pick up all of her toys, saying: "my bear, my elmo." Then, like a good parent, I "coax" her into sharing said toys, which ends up like this:

Finally, after a little bit of reasoning (haha), it ends up like this:

Things go a lot smoother when there are two elmos to play with.

In other news, I have been using cloth diapers for about a month now. I can't believe I caved. I'm such a hypocrite, because I used to think that people who cloth diapered were crazy (sorry Brandy and Laurel!) My main motivation was that all the cool people are doing it. That, and they are super cute.

Just an FYI, I bought my diaper from ebay. They are a chinese knock off brand of the bumgenius. They're called sunbabies, and they are only 5 dollars apiece instead of 15. So far they have worked great.

I have a bunch of different colored ones, but I really like the white ones look on Elias.

This is how she rolls

2010-10-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

THIS

HOW

SHE

ROLLS

Georgia national fair

2010-10-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

Now, why this is called Georgia National fair instead of Georgia State fair, I have no idea, but one thing is for sure: it's big. Very big, and very crowded. The fact that we went on columbus day probably added to the crowd. We went with some friends from church, and together we walked around, bought some food, looked at animals, and contemplated going on rides. The rides were so long though, that we didn't feel like waiting. We decided that we would just go to six flags when it opens in the spring.

Leah was not intimidated or scared by the crowds. She had a blast running around, and riding on Tony's shoulders.

She loved the petting zoo; we went through it several times. She did not pet any of the animals though. There was a giraffe, monkeys, a zebra, and the usual ponies, goats, sheep, etc.

Oh yeah... there were camels too.

Elias was an absolute angel the entire time. He just chilled in the stroller and slept most of the time.

By the end of the day she was pretty tired. All in all we had a great time. Tony was upset because he couldn't find any fried snickers; apparently they were selling them at the north gate, and we did not make it all the way over there. Seriously... it's a huge fair.

random thoughts

2010-10-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

So today, when I was instructing Leah for the 10th time that she can't whine if she doesn't get what she wants, I was struck with the thought that I expect more out of my not even two year old than I do for myself. Granted, I don't whine about not getting juice, or not being able to have cookies, and maybe I don't do it audibly, but how many times do I have a negative attitude, or whine to Tony, or harbor resentment and bitterness in my heart when things don't go my way. A LOT!!!! I have just become more proficient at masking these attitudes of the heart, but really, we are all two year olds crying about having to share.

Of course, I'm still going to try to teach her about having a grateful heart, and about having a good attitude, but this realization definitely helped me be more patient with her, and was an opportunity for me to repent of my own grumbling and unthankful heart.

centerpiece

2010-09-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

Now isn't he just the cutest little centerpiece you have ever seen?

playing outside

2010-09-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

The weather is getting slightly cooler, so we can spend more time during the day playing outside. Our days are so much nicer if we can spend at least 2-3 hours running around in the yard.

cute faces

2010-09-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

she is definitely my daughter!

2010-09-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

The other day Leah "helped" me make some cookies, and I made the mistake of letter her lick the batter from the blender. This is probably one of my favorite things to do. In fact, I often make cookies just so I can lick the batter from the bowl and spoons. (Yes, I know raw eggs can give you salmonella, but I have been doing this for more than 20 years, and it's just so darn good). Anyways, Leah would not let that spoon go. She carried it around for hours, long after every drop of chocolate was long gone.

She managed to get the chocolate pretty much everywhere.

She also wanted to carry around her elmo just like I carry Elias. One of her favorite phrase is "Ima do it", and she says this ALOT. I took one of my scarfs and made her a little wrap for her precious little "melmo".

After holding elmo she decided it wasn't enough, and she asked to hold her bear as well.

2010-09-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

My amazing and talented brother Zach came down to Warner Robins and took pictures of Elias when he was a week old. Here are some of my favorites, although I love all of the ones he took.

Three tables

2010-08-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Before Eli was born, I wanted to get a couple of things done around the house. I think it was my version of nesting, because I definitely never got into a cleaning spree. I wanted a dining room table (it's actually in the kitchen though), that could seat at least 6 people comfortably, and that I could squeeze 8 people in if I needed to. I also did not want to pay a lot of money for it. So I looked for plans in the awesome knockoff-wood website that I have come to love so much. I found this design for a farmhouse table and bench, and set about making it. It was very easy to make, it took only a couple of hours. However, the sanding, staining, and polyurethane took several days. I absolutely love the way it turned out.

I primed and painted our old coffee table, and now it's leah's "coloring table".

This is the new coffee table that Tony and I made. It matches the design of the end table. It was actually the most difficult piece of furniture we have made so far. It's also my favorite.

Jumping Jax

2010-08-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today Tony and I took Leah and Eli to Jumpin Jax. Jumpin Jax is pretty much a cheaper more ghetto version of Monkey Joe's. It took about 45 minutes of Leah screaming hysterically and clinging to us for her to finally branch out and play in the little toddler area. After about 10 minutes of safe play in the toddler section, she started jumping, climbing, and sliding around everywhere. She had a blast.

we finally got her to play in the toddler area by throwing the ball around.

Aw... look how much fun she is having :)

She became a jumpin maniac.

This was what little brother was doing while Leah played.

sweet nothings

2010-08-10T11:28:00.001-07:00

"Your thighs don't look as chubby"

Yes, these are the sweet words that Tony said to me the other day as we were sitting on the couch. He totally thought he was paying me a complement.

1 week

2010-08-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Its been one week since our sweet little Elias was born. It's been great being at home so far. My mom was here for three days, and Tony's mom will be here for three days. After that we are on our own! Tony will take the whole next week off from work, and I will hopefully be ready to tackle the two kids on my own after that. I will have to stop playing man-to-mom and will switch to zone defense after this.

Here are some pictures of him throughout the week.

Daddy and baby on our first day at home.

This is the second bath we gave him. He hated the first, tolerated the second.

Big sister being sweet and cute.

Of course I had to rock out my moby wrap!

First of many trips to Chick-Fil-A.

Eli at one week old exactly!

Elias Miguel Bermudez

2010-08-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

On tuesday, August 3rd we welcomed Elias Miguel Bermudez into the world. He was 8lbs 15 oz's, 21 inches, and absolutely beautiful!

Here is a short run down of the birth story: I began labor early that morning around 1:30 am. They were very mild, and were about 7 mins apart. By 6:00 they had completely stopped. At 1:00 ish PM they began again, this time a lot harder and longer, but still not so bad that I felt I needed to go in. I called Tony from work and he came home, and then thought, well, I might as well let my dr. office know what was going on. Good thing I did. I talked to the midwife there, and she suggested I go ahead and come to the office for a quick check, just to see how far along I was. At this point it's around 4:30.

We packed up Leah and our suitcases, just in case, and headed towards the office. I went straight back with the midwife, and as soon as she checked me I saw her eyes get all wide. She told me I was 9 cm, and that my water bag was bulging. We immediately left for the hospital (not even 10 minutes away), and she met us up in the delivery room. We checked the heart tones, started an IV in my forearm "just in case" (the nurses insisted), my water broke, and the baby was born barely 20 minutes after arriving to the hospital. I left the Dr. Office at 5:05, and the baby came at 5:44. I have to say, it was a very terrible few minutes of pushing, but overall a pretty great labor and delivery experience.

sweet little baby.

Leah watching Sesame Street on thursday morning

garden update

2010-06-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the pictures on the last post did not turn out as planned. I uploaded them from facebook, and I didn't know half of the picture would be cut out. Oh well. If you want to see some pretty pictures of our trip just go to Sarah's blog, May Days on my sidebar.

Anywho..... several months ago I planted a garden. It was our first garden, and I really didn't, and still don't know exactly what I'm doing. Here are the plants that actually grew and gave a good yield:

- squash: We were overrun with squash for about two weeks. I couldn't cook it fast enough. Next time I'll grow a lot more squash, but I'm going to space them out every few weeks so they don't all come in at once.

- Cherry tomatoes: those have just started to bloom, and they are fantastic. I have already used them to make a roasted bell pepper and tomato salsa, and I have put them in salads. I still have plenty in the garden that are just waiting to ripen.

- Regular tomatoes: not as high a yield as the cherry and they are still ripening, but at least they grew, right?

- Cilantro: we had fresh cilantro in various dishes and salads for about a month. I found out that I love the taste of fresh cilantro, and I'm going to dedicate several squares to it and I'll try to grow them for the fall as well.

Here are the once that failed miserably:

- parsley: we had maybe only one measly leaf grow. It was pathetic.

- Snow peas: very viney, and not a high yield. Not worth it.

- Garlic: Yeah..... I have no idea what that was supposed to do.

- Okra: it was terrible. Hard as a rock, low yield, and even when I fried it and covered it with ketchup it tasted horrible. I'm not sure what went wrong, maybe I harvested it either too soon or too late.

- Spinach: I shouldn't have planted it in the summer. It wilted as soon as the sun touched it, darn georgia heat. I'm going to try this one for the fall as well. Apparently I missed the memo about it being a cooler weather plant.

My peppers are still up in the air. They have grown, and there are little flower buds, but no actual pepper yet. We will see!

Home again

2010-06-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we just returned from another 8 hours away beach trip. This time we went way down south on the Atlantic Coast of Florida to Jupiter beach. We stayed at an absolutely gorgeous and gigantic house that was right on the river. Oh, and it had an amazing pool. I took almost no pictures while we were there, mainly because my brother Zach and my mom had their camera's, and I'm super lazy like that, so I'll just go ahead and say that I took these from Sarah and my mom's facebook albums.

We went there with my parents, Zach, Sarah, Micah and Connor, Andrew and Krista, and Joel. Mimi and Ted were there off and on as well. It was a blast! Leah loved the water; she was usually the first one in the pool, and the last one to get out. She also ventured into the ocean and braved the waves with my mom as well. I had a wonderful time relaxing, swimming, reading, and playing with Leah (actually it was more like watching my mom play with Leah). The boys had a great time fishing too. Tony caught a pretty big one, and we actually ate it for dinner (when I say we, I don't mean me, because I hate fish). We are happy to be home, though, and I have made myself a vow that I will not be in the car for more than 30 minutes at a time for quite a while :).

Leah thinks she is quite a swimmer now. By the last day she was kicking around the pool with this little floatie on. She did not want anyone to hold her. It was precious.

Playing with nana and Tony on the stairs.

This is the outside of the gorgeous house!

This is the view from the backyard.

Four generations! Mimi, my mom, Leah, and Me.

Aren't these cousins just too cute?

My little beach baby.

End Table

2010-06-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

-Lumber from Lowes: 15 dollars

- 2 packs of screws: 5 dollars

- New drill bit: 2 dollars.

Having a friend ask you if this end table you built is the one from the Hyde Pottery Barn collection: Priceless.

I know, I'm sorry this post is so braggy too. I promise I will try to contain myself from now on.

2 weddings

2010-05-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

Within the past couple of weeks we attended 2 weddings. My younger brother Andrew, and Tony's older brother Javier. They were very different, and we had a great time at both. Andrew and Krista got married at our church in Gainesville; it was big, fun, and lots of family and friends were there. We had a great time hanging out with family and relaxing in Gainesville. The ceremony and reception were beautiful, and the Palmer family did a great job with everything. I did not take any pictures while I was there, though.... so no pics of that here.

Javy and Angel had a destination wedding in the Florida Keys, and we had a great mini vacation down there. Their wedding was on the beach, and we stayed at the coconut cove resort.

This is the actual "cove" at the resort.

It was a lovely little place with a great view of the ocean and an awesome pool. We spent the two days were there playing in the pool and hanging out at the beach. Leah absolutely loves playing in the water, and she had a blast the whole time.

I could never get her to look at the camera, so most of the pictures I have are of her hat or the top of her head.

This was taken right before the wedding.

The beautiful beach ceremony at almost sunset.
The day after the wedding we went to a little outdoor aquarium. We saw a parrot, dolphin, and Sea Otter show, took a tour on a bottomless boat, and saw all sorts of other marine animals.