Elaina's 2nd Birthday!

The Birthday Girl. She was SO excited!

Mommy and Elle with her cake

Marcus wanted one with little sis too. :)

Elaina LOVES Minnie Mouse! She was fun to watch as her cake was getting made and she recognized that it was Minnie! She loved it which made all the prep work SO worth it for the Mama!

Popi and Elaina before her party. Love this picture of you two. xoxoxo

Oh darn. I got this one in the wrong place but here's her with all her gifts, minus her new wheels! So spoiled [loved] Elaina. I hope more than the nice gifts you received, you remember you have a family who loves and supports you in all you do! That is more valuable than ANY thing anyone of us could have bought you [even though all the nice cute clothes and other gifts and necessities were nice and VERY much appreciated. You are very blessed to have a family that loves and adores you! Don't ever forget that.]

I didn't really think this gift through, once all the kids saw, they SWARMED the car! Cute Megs ran for it, pushing Justin out of the way and hopped right in next to her! LOL I wasn't able to get my reaction picture due to the utter chaos following the exact moment they all saw it but it was fun to watch them esp. the birthday girl.

I love this picture! All the kids went CRAZY when they saw it! They couldn't wait for a turn!

You wouldn't know by their faces, but they were lovin' it! I think Justin just got to get back in for another turn and then they went down the steep drive way and he wasn't too sure about it.

2 years old and already a pro at walkin' in Mommy's 4 inch heels.

Mommy and Elaina on her birthday at Chili's! She got to share some of my DP...another generation started. ;) Not the best picture of her but she's getting hopped up on DP and it's her birthday so the Mama let her!

Our handsome boys at Elaina's birthday dinner. Owe owe.

Elaina and her best buddy and friend, on her birthday. She LOVES her Papa!

I cannot believe you are already 2 young lady. You have taken us on more adventures and thrills than I could have ever hoped for and it's been 2 short years. Popi and I have loved watching you grow and develop. It's been esp. fun lately to watch as you learn to talk and is always amazing and a surprise when you just repeat a word we didn't know you knew. You have developed quite the attitude and personality. You are THE sweetest, most thoughtful, caring little thing but you also have a a saucy, sassy side too, kind of like your Mama. ;) You love purses, shoes [you love wearing Mommy's shoes around plus you always show off your shoes to ANYONE who will look], cell phones, Minnie Mouse is your FAVORITE but you also like the Princesses and TinkerBell. You love Cafe Rio (and their mints) and whenever we drive by a Rio, you shout, "Mommy, Daddy...Rio!" and throw your arms up in excitement. You love going for drives and special trips in the car esp with Popi and "Maca" -your word you CREATED for Grandma. You crack me up when you turn your cell phone backwards and say, "Cheese." If that's the worst thing I teach you, I can definitely live with that. ;) You have a very kind and tender heart, you get HEARTBROKEN if Daddy or Papa tell you no or scold you! It's the end of your world and looking at your face I can feel the pieces of your little heart just breaking. You love your Papa and Daddy, you've had both of them wrapped around your little finger since the day you were born. You take such good care of your Papa. One example is if you see his oxygen has come apart, you immediately pick it up and say all frustrated/worried, "Papa." and run it straight to him-I know you've watched "Maca" and I do this over and over and it kills me how cute you are every time I see you do it. Your buddies include: Papa, Maca, Marcus, Justin, Megs, Josh, Emmy, and Jaxon. [Besides Justin, I think you and Papa and Maca get into the most mischief together.] You love ALL your cousins, Aunts and Uncles and frequently call them on your phone to talk and say hi. You LOVE spicey foods including chips and SALSA which you have been known to drink on more than one occasion!

For these reasons and SO MANY others, you have forever captured my heart and I will love and cherish you for eternity as I know your Popi does too. Thanks for being our ray of sunshine when things go wrong or get hard. You are truly a blessing to all who are lucky to be a part of your life.

My Love Forever, Mommy xoxo

New Arrival Coming May 2011

It all started January this year with a very strong impression it was time for baby #3. Elaina still being pretty small at 16 months I wasn't really ready to have another one. The feeling persisted ALL year long. It was very frustrating seeing how Manny was out of work for 5 months the beginning of the year, I didn't feel like it was the responsible thing to do to get pregnant when he was out of work and not knowing what the future would bring. In May, I couldn't deny the feelings any longer so I called my OB's office to see about when I could have my IUD out. Soonest I could get in was July 28th. I figured it'd take 2-3 months to conceive like they said it does with most woman [even though you idealy can get pregnant right away] so getting pregnant in September or October seemed perfect. This baby had other plans though. ONE month and he's on his way, guess they were really in a hurry to get here after all. The end of August I was EXTREMELY tired, dizzy, and had brief moments of nausea. I remember sitting for a patient at work wondering why I was so tired and not feeling so hot. I kept telling myself surely it wasn't that I was PREGNANT already but thought about how I was with Elaina and then knew that I was. Elaina's 2nd birthday was coming up soon so I decided to wait to take a pregnancy test the day of her birthday so we'd officially find out on a special day. On Elaina's birthday, we got home from Chili's for her birthday dinner and I headed to take the test. About a half a second and it was very much POSITIVE. Manny and the kids were their room talking so I took it in to show him and we just told them right then. They were SO excited. I don't know that Elaina really knows what it meant but she was sure EXCITED. Marcus yelled, "I get to name it. If it's a boy it's Tiger, if it's a girl it's Tiger!"

September 2nd, the day we officially found out, too excited to wait. My plan was to order T-Shirts for both the kids to wear to Sunday dinner to make their big announcement. Marcus' would have said, "I'm going to be a BIG brother, again!" and Elaina's would have said "I'm going to be a BIG sister!" We wanted to wait to make Marcus a part of it but we wouldn't have him again for another 2 weekends because of the holiday; factoring in Manny's big mouth and the fact he can't keep a secret we decided to go ahead and tell Grammy and Papa the big news and tell the rest of the family that Sunday. My ghetto sign isn't a cute T-Shirt but at least it was somewhat creative vs Manny just spilling the beans. We wanted the kids to make the announcement and since I couldn't get a T-Shirt made in 2 days, this worked.

Here's a few of the families reactions to Elaina telling the them about her big news! I love the expressions on the kids faces!

So proud! She was so cute prancing around showing everyone her big news!