Almost 2!!

I should have posted this yesterday but I was crazy busy and didn't get a chance! So in exactly one month from now my baby boy will be turning 2 years old! It's incredible how the time is flying by so fast. I swear it feels like we JUST had his 1st birthday party. He is now a full blown toddler, going through the VERY "Terrible Two's". God help me! He is now a very hefty 30 1/2 lbs and 33" tall. He's learning new words and new things all the time, sometimes I'm thrown by what he comes up with. It's definitely a fun time though. VERY exhausting as well. He's a ball of energy that's for sure. We literally are together 24/7 and trying to keep up with him is a FULL time job, seriously! I tell my hubby that I foresee many visits to the emergency room in our future, because he such a dare devil. Constantly trying to jump off of furniture! So as you can imagine, I am always having mini heart attacks, LOL! He is super sweet at the same time. Always wanting to hold hands (he's been on this kick recently), BOTH hands! I have actually had to push around shopping carts with my elbows because he INSISTS that we hold both hands while he sits in the cart! LOL! Makes doing things very difficult but it's so sweet. So now the count down begins to Nate's 2nd birthday...... Wooh!

Where did the time go?!?! :(

12 years ago today.....

I became a mommy for the first time. It seems like such a life time ago. Back then it was just her and I against the world. Serina was such a calm, good baby, it was almost unfair for me to have it so easy. Especially when you're as young as I was and a single parent. She's now a tween and boy is it getting HARD! How I wish she was still that good little baby :( I have so many fears when it comes to Serina. I worry if she'll make the right choices, if she'll stay safe and if we'll have a good relationship. I do my best to guide her in the right direction and I try to open the lines of communication with her. I always try to make sure she knows that I am always here for her and that there isn't anything she can't tell me. I've had a couple of mini "heart attacks" recently, because of some issues that arose but everything seems to have been resolved. This did cause me to re-emphasize to her that there is no problem that we can't fix, as long as she comes to me for help. I never want her to feel hopeless, as I did many times in my younger years. But honestly, you will never know what your children will do and if they'll make wise decisions. All you can do is your best to guide them and I sure hope my best is enough.

Happy birthday Serina!! You are truly a blessing :)

Ms. Cool!!!

Happy Dia del Amor! What's YOUR story of love?

I want to wish everyone a great day, full of love. Now, I personally think it's a little over-rated. If you don't express love for one another the rest of your days, then this one day really doesn't mean much. But of course, when in Rome! So my hubby and I usually celebrate some how, whether it's by ourselves or with the kids. It is the day of "amor" after all and my loves are my hubby and beautiful children. My love story started way back in the 7th grade, when I met this "popular", "cute boy"! Totally crushed on him. Finally in the 8th grade had one kiss in the hall ways of our school and didn't reunite again until 7 yrs later. We've been inseparable for 10 yrs now! Through those 10 yrs there has been dating, children, marriage and more children. Hehe! I can't tell you how much better my life has been with this man in it and what an amazing life we have made. LOVE!

What is YOUR love story? Do tell! :)

Then.....

And NOW!!

A Lovely Sunday....... Part 2

Besides our brunch on Sunday, I also demanded that everyone enjoy the sun, instead of sitting on the couch, watching T.V. It's usually hard to get hubby off the couch, especially when there are games on. Surprisingly, no one gave me a hard time. We spent time in our backyard, the girls, along with hubby, played soccer and Nate sought out adventure in the backyard. It really was a lovely Sunday afternoon.

The girls showed off their gymnastic skills!

Nate tried to do the same! LOL!

We decided to grill some steaks for dinner.

Ending our Sunday with grilled steaks w/ bleu cheese chive butter, baked potato and salad with MORE bleu cheese crumbles..... was HEAVEN!

A Lovely Sunday........Part 1

My weekend started off rocky but ended on a wonderful note. I thought about so many things this weekend, mainly on Saturday night, while hubby and I had a long conversation. And we just realized even more, if that's even possible, that we have such a wonderful life! Despite any opinions people may have, to feed their egos, we know how lucky we are and there are NO other people that we would trade places with. I definitely wouldn't want anyone elses husband, because mine worked hard all weekend, washed my car and took us, along with my mother in-law to a champagne brunch. Luminarias in Monterey Park, Ca. has become one of our favorite places. Their champagne brunch is amazing, especially their dessert selection, SO YUMMY!

My girls are simply gorgeous!
The kiddos with their Grandma

I love my boys!

Take a REALLY good look at my BEAUTIFUL family. Trust me when I say, I don't EVER want to be anyone else, be like anyone else or have anyone elses life! I'm the luckiest woman in the world! :)

Nate opening gifts....

As you all already know, Nate is a huge YGG fan and of course he received a few YGG gifts. I decided to video record him opening them because I knew it would be funny. He is too cute sometimes and then sadly, I turn into "THAT" mommy! LOL! Check out a couple of short clips of Nate's excitment.....

Christmas Eve 2010

This year, like every year since my hubby and I have been living together, we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. My mother in-law, sister and cousins gathered at our home, where we spent the evening hanging out and enjoying each other. We let the children open their gifts and we opened some as well. Life is good and we are truly blessed! Christmas at the Rivas home.....

He was so excited to get his Brobee pillow!

These girls are so spoiled!

Daniel and Anthony look happy with their gifts! LOL!

Early Christmas morning he was already shooting hoops with his new Basketball court!

Christmas 2010: Cookie Baking Party

For those of you that have school age children, you know how CRAZY the holiday season can be. Especially when you have more than one child in school. There are holiday parties, programs and for some schools, it's also conference time. Last week was so crazy busy, I was literally so exhausted that I was delirious! Two of my kids had doctor appointments, there were 2 holiday parties/activities, I had to make desserts for 1 of those, an award ceremony and 3 of those things were on the SAME DAY! Lugging around my toddler, I did it all. I believe the term you're looking for is SUPER MOM, hehe! So the first one on the list was Tahlia's "Cookie Baking Party". Parents donated cookie dough, frosting, sprinkles, rolling pins, you name it, so that the children could bake and decorate cookies. The kids had so much fun and us parents had fun as well, helping them. Take a look at Tahlia's school party!

As you can tell, Nate got into the baking fun or COVERED in baking fun!

He likes them! Mmmm