I needed her more than she needed me.

I had just turned 26. For my big birthday weekend I spent two full days out partying. I mean big bash, dinner with fam, drinks with friends, dancing, out until the sun comes up kinda partying. I even happened to run into Miss Kulu at Glow in San Mateo that weekend. She can testify to how much FUN I was having. ;-) I had a BLAST and I thought there wasn't anything else I would have rather done as I ventured into life in my "late" 20's.

Life went on as usual and 5 days later my niece Kylee was born. I totally remember it like it was yesterday. Still glowing from the weekends events, my sisters and I set out to find some cute GIRLY things for our FIRST sweet niece! Something we hadn't ever had the pleasure of doing since our family was blessed with all boys before her arrival. It was fun!

After visiting Ky, we went home and then I felt it. I don't know how or why, but I knew it. I was pregnant! It was crazy that I found out the day Ky was born and I'll always remember that. Made the usual rounds and told all the sissies and mi madre. It was official and I was excited!

The pregnancy was an easy one compared to the others. I was sick and couldn't keep anything down, ended up being "bedridden" and forced to stay off of work for months. But NOTHING compared to the craziness with Papa and Josh. It felt normal EXCEPT that during every ultra-sound we couldn't figure out if it was a girl or a boy! Doctor Bauhmik joked that the baby was shy, my mom said she knew it was a girl cause she was being "lady like" and not showing off her goodies. LOL Whatever the case, the sex of the baby was completely unknown all the way up until the delivery day.

I had to have a c-section because of a prior c-sec with Joshy. No fun BUT I did enjoy the idea of knowing EXACTLY when I should expect the babies arrival. I was ready. Then SHE came. March 26th. Just Siua and I were in the operating room and the nurses and doc all let Siua announce the sex of a baby. My sweet baby girl. I can't lie, my initial reaction was "dang it!" LOL I wanted all boys. Always have. But there was something so sweet and precious about a little girl. Something that I'm sure I needed to soften me up. I had a name already picked out. Mackenzie Rene. My sister Lani and I were looking over cute uncommon girl names and decided that one was super cute AND had cute nickname potential (such a ME thing). Rene is my sister Kris's middle name. After a few days we were out of the hospital and at home.

The boys adored her. Joshua is her everlasting fearless bodyguard. I'm sure he'll keep her in check when I'm not around. Papa is such a nurturing and patient big brother.

It wasn't until later on that I realized what this precious spirit was going to do for our family. I had been going to church semi-regularly but only staying for sacrament meeting. I wanted my boys to get used to the feeling of attending church on Sunday but thought they were too young to really understand. Obviously I had other priorities and remaining active in the church wasn't one of them. My kids were all blessed right after birth so Mackenzie was no different. After she was blessed by Fekita on the first Sunday of May, I thought things would just kinda fall back into place. Boy was I wrong.

A small turn of events led me down a path that I will be forever grateful for. Starting with Mackenzie's blessing. That Sunday I was heading out after Sacrament meeting and walking to the car. I took the usual route and went downstairs in order to make my quick exit to the parking lot. Just as I was about the turn the corner I saw Lucy (Faaumu) standing in the doorway to what was then, Lavina's Sunday School class. She saw me heading out and said "You're not coming to class? Lavina's really good!" to which I replied "Nah, I'm out. I ain't trynna sit there with my kids making noise. LOL" with that wise crack, I was out. No hesitation. I thought about it though. All week long actually. So the very next Sunday I decided I would actually go to Sunday school class. It had been YEARS since I'd stayed for the whole 3 hours of church. Figured it would be good for the boys too.

During my first Sunday "back" I couldn't help but cry real tears during Sunday school. Lucy was right. Lavina was an amazing teacher. She found a way to make the lesson, whatever it was, hit home. She did it time and time again. One Sunday after another. My interest grew, my faith grew and little by little right in that class Mackenzie grew! She was my little symbol of how much spiritual growing I was doing. I knew that she was only a month old the first time I stayed for Sunday school so as I saw her reach her little milestones, I found myself reaching some of my very own. It because of her sweet spirit that I was even at the chapel in the first place the day that Lucy mentioned Sunday school. She had so innocently, being the youngest of us all, placed our family on the track of spiritual progress. I couldn't be more humbled by the experience.

Happy Birthday Luvie Luvs. You blessed us all before you even knew the power of a blessing. I love you. Endlessly and Unconditionally.
Mom

Sometimes...things DO run smoothly!

Everyone is up and ready to go, school is a breeze, dinner is good, things are clean and kids are bathed and happy. Don't ya just LOVE smooth days? When things just fall into place without too much effort. I LIVE for days like that!

Yesterday just happened to be one of those days and I took full advantage of the mellow mood and had a little kitchen fun with my kiddoes. They made a fruit "pizza" and we loved every minute of it!

I enjoy doing fun things with them when we get the chance but even more I LOVE the idea of creating these fun little memories with my babies.

Fruit Pizza Recipe
-Sugar Cookie Dough *I usually make it at home because it's cheaper but I've used one tube of Pillsbury cookie dough and it works just as well.
-Cream Cheese Frosting *I'll include the recipe for that as well, never tried it with store bought but it's probably good and easier!
-All of the fruit your heart desires! My kids love sliced kiwi, strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, bananas and grapes.

With wet hands, press the cookie dough into the bottom of an ungreased sheet pan or cookie sheet until it's evenly spread out. It's going to look really thin, but it'll cook up to a thicker crust. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. I keep mine on the light side so that the crust doesn't get too crunchy. Just when the edges start to look brown. Take it out and let it cool completely for at least an hour. After it's cooled, spread the frosting on as thick as you like. I do just enough for the fruit to stick. After that it's completely up to you to decide how you want to layer the fruit. Once the fruit is layered it's ready to cut and enjoy! Have fun!!!

Cream Cheese Frosting -
1 part Cream Cheese
1/2 part butter
2 parts powdered sugar
splash of vanilla

I do the recipe in parts because depending on how much you want to make, measurments are going to change. :-)

"Oh My Goodness"

It's so funny how quickly kids catch on. Sometimes it's not so funny when you find them repeating something that you wish their sweet innocent ears never heard. I was lucky enough to catch my Luvie in a candid moment when she was singing what I've learned is her favorite song. If you know Mackenzie or have been around her enough, you know she's pretty timid and shy. I had to pretend I wasn't recording and you'll notice she asks at one point "What's that mom? A picture?" before going right back to Spawnbreezie lala land. Thanks Lomes for clarifying cause I'm so cool that I thought it was Josh White who sang this! LMBO

Please excuse the poor recording and angle. I could have edited it but didn't want to miss a single second of it. ;-)

Time to get off of the sippy cup Luvie...FUN times!

If you have a baby and you haven't ever had the pleasure of weening a toddler off of a bottle or sippy cup, you're in for a treat! Mackenzie enjoyed her passie and really liked her bottle but she LOVES her sippy cup. Imagine how much fun it was to start the process of getting her off of it for good this weekend. That task, along with a SUPER uncomfortable stomach bug for me made for an extra "fun" few days for the both of us.

I could go on and on about Luvies first day without her "baba", but I think this video just about sums it up. I can't tell you how excited I am about having day one under the belt. Now I just have to get all of the other days out of the way (withgout giving in to her cries) and then it's on to getting her out of that diaper she's grown too comfy with! Oh the joys of motherhood! Gotta love it. ;-)

Summer Time!!!

It's been a long time since I got to have a real summer break and this year summer is off to a great (suppper busy, but still great) start. I love having my boys at home during the day and we've managed to squeeze in a few fun activities here and there. Next week we're off to girls camp and they don't have a clue! I can't tell them ahead of time because then I'll be dealing with a million questions until we leave. LOL It's been YEARS since I've been to girls camp and while I'm not the outdoorsy type I'm still excited to do something fun.

Tons of things have happened over the past couple of weeks and unfortunately I haven't been taking as many pictures as I would have liked. Joshua lost his very first tooth just last week. He's a late bloomer but he was so STOKED about it and woke up in the middle of the night checking for the toothfairy before crying REAL tears when he thought he lost the tooth under his pillow. LOL Oh how FUN is life when you're 6?

Papa is getting more and more excited about getting baptized soon. He is constantly reminding me that he's turning 8 this year. His vocabulary is a bit much for my liking at his age. LOL That kid and talking back! Gotta love the fact that he's vocal and opinionated though. Wonder where he gets that from? ;-)

My Luvie is really starting to speak full sentences and her baby talk is something I know I'll miss one day. Every once in a while I ask her what her name is because I love the way she responds with "Tenzie" instead of "Kenzie". My baby is a little bossy one too!

Here are a few summer snapshots from June '11. There are going to be TONS of more fun things to come! Stay cool everyone!!!!

Fathers day cards for her FAVE such a Daddies girl.
Joshy being a good big brother and pushing Luvie
Homemade playdough and cookie cutters=hours of fun!
My Papaman posing with his playdough creation.
Luvie getting her face painted at Carmine's circus bash
Papa after the jello eating contest.
Joshy smiling after a freshly pulled tooth.
All you need is the sun and a hose. LOL
Sugar cookie decorating. It's not Christmas regardless of what color the sprinkles are. LOL
Visiting Gpa on Fathers day.

Kids!

Isn't it funny how kids get into the most random things? You leave them alone for 2 minutes and they manage to do more than you think they're capable of.

This isn't the first time Luvie got her hands into the tub of gel and I'm sure it won't be the last. Kids! Gotta love em.

Celebrating and Recuperating

Gosh it seems like forever since I've blogged. I hate not having a working laptop! I hope things get back to normal soon. I had my procedure done to determine what condition is causing all of the swelling and joint pain. Thankfully they ruled out lymphoma and I'm waiting to get the full diagnosis any day now. This has all be such a learning experience! We are so much more fragile than we realize.

Although I haven't been in the best of health, I had to pull it together and do something sweet for my Luvie's 2nd birthday on March 26th. I've given up on the idea of having huge elaborate parties for my children. I would be doing them an injustice because the truth is we can't afford it. Not every year for 3 kids. It's just not realistic. So for Luvie's first birthday we had a simple bash here at home with close friends and family. All of the children were given a chance to decorate their very own cupcake and we forfeited the regular birthday cake for Luvie's cupcake creation. This year we did the same thing.

We were lucky and tons of Luvie's family and friends came by to show a little birthday love. A owe a huge THANK YOU to each and every person who came to make sure that she felt extra special. What are birthdays without tons of good people around? She had a blast!!! I opted out of ordering a ton of food and just made a simple home cooked meal. For the kids we had a few pizzas and a pinata. That was it! Except of course for the cupcakes. We all had a good time and Luvie was so excited after opening all of her cute gifts. Girls toys are soooooo much more fun than boys! Our space is now filled with tea party sets, dolls, dress up clothes and play tents. THANK YOU familia for always coming through for us!

Now I'm glued to my bed in hopes of recovering from the operation ASAP so I can get back to my regular routine. This is starting to get the best of me!!!!

Lucky Girl

It's been CRAZY for me lately! You can tell by my lack of blogging. ;-) We were lucky enough to have a whole lotta family join us for Mark's farewell program last Sunday. It turned out really nice! I'll post pictures soon. I also have a back-up of recipes that I need to post. Geez it's sucky trying to play catch up!

I've been busy at work especially. It gets hard to be away from everyone for most of the day. I'm not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom, but oh how I miss everyone while I'm at work.

Siua has made it a routine to send me camera phone snapshots every once in a while when I'm at work. They help me maintain my sanity when things are tough and it's a subtle reminder of why I'm here in the first place. More likely than not, they are pictures of Luvie doing whatever task he has planned for the day. I must say, I am one lucky mama. He's AMAZING with the kids! They have been blessed with an incredibly patient hands on Dad. Most times I don't even know what he has planned for the day with his baby girl. But sure enough, I get a picture of Luvie at the park, the store, the two of them out to lunch or going for a walk. He does the same when he is on field trips with the boys. He went on one with Joshua recently and my Joshy couldn't have been more excited for his Dad to go.

It's the little things that help my babies feel special and loved. He does such a good job with those special little things. I once read "The best thing you can give children, next to good habits, are good memories." I'm so glad that so many of my children's good memories are shared with their Daddy.

Here are a few of the cell phone snapshots along with Siua's subject heading in his emails -

"This guy is lovin' it. All hecka juiced to brush a goat.lol"
"She's ready to shop."
"Lunch on the go. She's feelin' her Lunchables. lol"
"Someone wants her own bowl of cereal. Straight throwin' a fit."
"Lunch at Round Table with Rich and Marky Bo"

Our New Friend

I'm not an animal lover. It took a whole lot of begging from my boys to allow this one. But I am a fan of our friend Lily. She's a new "family member" and she's a little sweetheart so far! I have to admit, I love the picture but I couldn't help but to follow my "Awwww how cute" with "What is Lily doing on my bed!?" LOL.
Luvie and Lily

Daddys Girl

I know that Luvie is a daddies girl. I think she's actually the BIGGEST daddys girl that I know and I am perfectly fine with that.





BUT does she have to make it so COMPLETELY obvious in pictures? I mean GEEZ! Crack a smile with mommy once in a while will ya? ;-)