The Quintana family

Memorial Day weekend....

2011-06-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh this weekend felt like it was crazy! We had a great time though. Saturday my sister-in-law graduated (with honors) from Juan Diego Catholic High School. Syd and Dom had slept at my parents house the night before, so just Anth, me, Tasia and Bella went to the graduation. It was packed! We ended up in standing room only spots, but luckily got an aisle so we were able to sit on the ground and still see everything perfect. Afterwards we hung out at the school for a few and took lots of pics with her, and she took lots of pics with her friends and teachers. She is off to school back East in the fall, and I think Anth is going to worry about her as much as he would our own kids lol After pictures we all went out to eat at La Hacienda. It was yummy!!!! Anth wants to go back there this weekend again.

Sunday my in-laws threw a great graduation party at an amazing fine dining restraunt called Vuz that just opened up in Draper. Everyone just sat around and visited and ate some of their yummy food. If you get a chance to try it out I definitely recommend it. Everyone was in love with our little Bella. Everytime I turned around a different person was holding her. Anth went to offer to take her from his Aunt Edith at one point, but my father-in-law stepped in front of him and said "Don't even think about it" and took off with her lol Even my sister-in-laws friends parents were holding her. One lady said her daughter told her they should go to the adoption agency to find a baby like her lol After the party we went back to my in-laws and watched old family videos from when Anth and his siblings were all younger. I love watching old stuff like that! Anth had a hard time watching one video that had their Grandma Anderson on it. She passed away 6 years ago, and he was extremely close to her. He still misses her so much everyday. We didn't end up getting home that night until about 10:30, so needless to say by the time Monday came around we laid in bed all day and did absolutely nothing!

This week is a busy one for us, and it seems like it's going by so fast already. Dom has 4 baseball games this week, because they are trying to make up for all of the ones that have been rained out these last few weeks. Anth has 2 games. We live at the baseball fields in the summer. Dom's season was actually suppose to be over tomorrow, but because of the rain it won't be over until the end of June I think. Who knows lol Friday we are taking Bella to get her ears pierced. I am so excited!!! I love when little girls have their ears pierced, and I think it's easier to do them at a younger age. Then they don't mess with them. Plus when Syd got hers done she was 3, and she screamed!!! I felt so bad. She loved them, but she screamed. When Tasia got hers done at 2 months she slept through the whole thing. She was asleep on my shoulder when they did the first ear, and she picked up her head and made a little grunt then laid back on my shoulder and slept through the second ear. I will post pictures after we get them done :)

Preschool graduation and math awards :)

2011-05-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last week Tasia had her preschool graduation. I am so proud of her, and yet sad that she is getting so big already!!! Her teacher rented the clubhouse and had it all decorated cute. The kids sang some of their favorite songs for us. When they were sitting in front of everyone Tasia leaned over to the kid next to her and said, "Why is everyone taking pictures of me?" His response was..."I think it's because you have a flower in your hair" LOL!!! I love the way kids think. Each kid got a diploma, a congrats grad balloon and some flash cards from the teacher. I think I am going to miss her teacher more than Tasia will. She really is amazing, so for any of you looking for a preschool teacher for next year let me know. I would be happy to give you her information!

Yesterday we got to go to an awards ceremony for the 2nd graders, because Dom received an award for passing both his addition and subtraction time tests. They have to do 100 addition in 5 minutes, and the same for subtraction. Dom came up short on both almost the whole year, but has worked really hard and pulled through this last term. We are so proud of him! Friday is the last day of school, so I expect to say goodbye to my sanity by Monday morning lol We'll start counting down the days for next school year soon I'm sure. I can't believe I will have a kindergartener, a 3rd grader and a 6th grader next year!

Bella Baby Photography photoshoot

2011-05-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

This is what they do instead of the cheesy hospital pics now! I love every single one of them, so even though it was a lot I had to post them all. My sweet mom bought the cd and gave it to me for Mother's Day. I can't wait to get some of them printed out, and hang them up in our house :)

Labor story

2011-05-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little slow, but like I said I don't actually get on here much anymore. I just play on facebook from my phone. Our sweet baby girl is now a month old, and is already growing (she's 8 lbs 8 oz now) and changing. She is starting to smile at people, and no it isn't just the gas smiles. She gets a full blown toothless grin. I love it!!!!

Ok where to begin...Well I guess the whole process started Sunday night. It was quite a weekend! We took the kids Sunday April 10th to have a sleepover at my in-laws house, so that if we had to head into the hospital right at 5:30 in the morning when I called they wouldn't have to get up so early. As soon as we walked in the door their dog decided he didn't like Dominic, and latched on to his leg right on his calf and his upper thigh :( Anth and I ran him to the after hours clinic in Sandy to have it checked out. Luckily he didn't need stitches, but he did have to be put on antibiotics to avoid infection and he had 2 major bruises that lasted a couple weeks. After all that we finally headed home to try to rest, but of course we were extremely anxious so it was next to impossible. I woke up at 4:30 to shower and get ready, because labor can make you look like hell anyways so I had to at least try to look decent for pics during and after. We had to be to the hospital at 7:30, and they started me on pitocin right away and tried to break my water but Bella was in the way. I was already contracting on my own, so the pitocin just made them extra strong and almost back to back. They checked me thinking I would have progressed since I was already a 2 1/2 when I got there, but I was barely a 3. Now with my other 3 kids once I hit a 3 I was at a 10 20 minutes later, so I kept waiting to get that urge to push but this little woman was stubborn and decided to take me each and every step of dialation. After a while my contractions were basically nonstop, and Bella didn't like that and her heartrate dropped scary low so they had to take me off the pitocin for a while to let her calm down. I was still having contractions, but they were getting farther apart and Bella wasn't moving down into the birth canal much at all. After a total of 3 attempts they were able to break my water and they started the pitocin again, and found out that Bella was turned sideways so that's why she wasn't moving down. They had me lay on my left side to try to get her to turn, but my blood pressure dropped to 90/52 so they had me lay on my right side to see if it'd come back up. After a while we tried the left side again, but my blood pressure really didn't like my being that way. Bella wasn't turning, so they decided to give up and either my dr would turn her while I pushed or I would push her out sideways. At one point my epidural stopped working as good as it should have been, so I had to have a booster shot put into it because I was feeling every contraction! My kids were at the hospital most of the day, and were so unbelievably good. My sister took Syd and Dom and my nephews to play at McDonald's and to go shopping, but Tasia wouldn't leave my side. She even booked it out of the elevator on the wrong floor when Anth's mom tried to take her down to get a snack in the cafeteria downstairs. She finally crashed at 5:00 that night, and was able to nap. At 7:00 I was dialated to a 10, but surprisingly wasn't having that sensation to push. I had it with my other 3, but Bella's whole labor proved to be completely different from my others. I had a really sweet nurse all day long that I loved and was hoping she'd be there for delivery, but she got off at 6:00. My new nurse wasn't quite as pleasant and even stood in Anth's way when I was trying to push. He was pissed! I pushed for a half hour and our little angel came out. I expected her to be no bigger than 7 lbs (all my other kids were under that), but she was a healthy 7 lbs 8 oz. She came out sideways and with her hand up by her face. It was a little rough lol We had so much family there with us that came into the room to see her right after she was born. It was a little overwhelming, but nobody stayed too long. Tasia sat outside the door while I was pushing, and said she could hear me trying to get her out. Within 10 minutes of her being born we had the dr and nurses, Anth, our kids, my parents, Anth's parents, my 2 sisters and 2 nephews, Anth's sister, Anth's aunt, his cousin and her 2 girls all in there. That's the most I've ever had at the hospital with me. It was a little crazy!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

I know I still have to post my labor story, but I swear everytime I try to sit down at the computer or do anything for that matter a little sensor goes off in Bella's head that says "Oh mom is about to be productive I think it's time to fuss" LOL It's amazing how they learn that so early, and how quickly we forget that! I hope everyone had a good Easter. Ours could have been better, but my kids thought it was great so that's all that matters right :) Here is a pic of my cute kiddos from yesterday. Arabella wasn't too thrilled, because she wanted to eat right that second.

I'm not sure if you can see, but I painted Arabella's toenails and fingernails. I love when babies have that done! It looks so cute. Plus I am one of those crazy moms who thinks that for special occasions my girl's nails need to match their outfits and we might as well get her used to that early right. I know it just creates more work for myself, but I love sitting with my girls and having conversations while we paint their nails :)

Arabella Lu Quintana

2011-04-14T10:36:00.001-07:00

She's here! She's here! She's here! Monday night after a bit of a rough labor (I'll save that story for another day) our baby girl was born at 7:30 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz (my biggest baby!), and was 18 1/2 inches long. She is perfect as can be! We are all enjoying every minute of having her around. Tasia says she loves being a big sister. Syd and Dom can't get enough of kissing her. I am still trying to figure out my new camera, so I haven't had a chance to upload the pics on there yet. Here are some from my cellphone for now though. Also if you go to bellababyphotography.com, view photos and put password 0411arabellaquintana you can see her gorgeous photoshoot they did at the hospital. This was about 5 Monday night. The kids had been so good the whole time I was in labor, and Tasia finally couldn't take it anymore and crashed! She didn't want to leave my side all day. Here is our baby just minutes old! She looks so much like Anth and Tasia :)

She seems to like that fist :)

Look at all that dark hair!!! I love it!

Seriously, I can't get enough of this little girl!

This was just this morning. We were taking a picture to send to Daddy to tell him good morning. Can you believe her dark piercing eyes?!?!

Ok so like I said, it's just a few pics from my phone, and you can see more on that website. I will try to get my camera figured out and get the rest uploaded soon, so I can post them. Then next week I will post the fun labor story, because I know you are all dying to read it lol Well I am dying to document it at least :)

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

At my appointment yesterday I was dialated to a 2 and 70% thinned. My dr said it's possible I will go on my own this weekend, but if I don't he is starting me Monday!!!!! There's an end in sight. YAY!!!!!!!!!!! I have to call at 5:30 Monday morning to find out what time to come in for induction. The kids are going to have a sleepover with Grandma Quintana in case I have to go in right away, so they can spend the day with their aunties. Then after I have Bella they will come to the hospital to meet her, and sleep at my parents house Monday night. Tasia says that as soon as she wakes up Monday morning she will be a big kid, because she is going to be a big sister that day lol I can't wait to hold our baby girl! My next post will hopefully be pictures :)

Still hanging in there...

2011-04-04T12:14:00.001-07:00

We are 8 days away from our sweet baby girl's due date, and I am feeling it lol I tried going and having a pedicure, because I had heard it can put you in labor but all I got out of that was cute toes :) I am still contracting a lot, but according to my dr it isn't doing much. I am thinned out, but not quite dialated to a 1 (as of this past Friday). My heart has decided to play tricks on us, so we are constantly monitoring it. I have a bit of an irregular heartbeat, and it has been beating really fast. My dr says it's normal, but if it gets up to 120 then call him. The highest it has gotten so far is 111, and let me tell you it's not a pleasant feeling. I am pretty sure this little girl is sitting right on my pelvis, because I can barely move most days. My funny mom tried to tell me to get on my treadmill today to try and get contractions moving, but she is up in the night! Anth is pretty sure I will have her before the end of the week. I am starting to feel like she will never come, and that I am going to raise a toddler in my stomach but I know that isn't true. Sorry I know I have done a lot of complaining lately, but if pregnancy gets worse with each one I don't know how people keep having kids. I swear soon you guys will get all the sweet, mushy stories of our new baby girl, and it'll make up for all of the complaints you've so patiently sat through recently. I bought Castor Oil, and am considering taking that tomorrow night. We shall see. It worked with Tasia, so I am hoping it'll work with Bella if it comes down to that. Wish me luck!

My babies are headed home!!!!

2011-03-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

My parents and kids left Cali this morning to start their trip home. I can't wait to see them. I have missed them so much! Tasia is going nuts without them too. She asked me 3 times yesterday when they will be home lol It's too quiet around here. Tasia has slept with us the entire time they have been gone, because she is so used to having someone to sleep with at night. Last night when we told her it was bedtime she didn't even bother going into her room she just went straight to ours. I'm used to her climbing in bed with us at night, but it's different having her there from the start. I have talked to my mom everyday since the kids have been gone, and most of the time they were too busy playing to come talk to me. When I talked to them in Vegas they were just winding down for the night, and Dom had had so much fun that he said he wished they could stay there for a week lol They had been playing in the hotels arcade, and had gone on 3 different motion rides. They each had 4 new stuffed animals they'd won to bring home. My poor little man had a rough time sleeping that night though, because he told my mom he isn't used to being so far away from us. He's such a little sweetheart. I love my mama's boy! I guess Syd had won a few games in a row when they had been downstairs playing, so she purposely let Dom win and then made a big deal about how he had beaten her. She is such a good big sister! I am going to go enjoy some quiet time with my little Tasia, but I will leave you with this picture. This was the first morning in Cali at about 8, and the kids were already trying to convince my mom to let them go swim in my aunt's pool. She made them wait until the sun was at least shining on the pool some, so it wouldn't be too cold though :)

So proud of my Sydney!

2011-03-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

Syd came to me yesterday and tells me, "Mom I need to talk to you." Pretty scary words coming out of your child's mouth, but I tried not to show that lol She asked me to read a note that her and a boy had been writing to each other that day, because she was worried about him. She noticed the boy was upset, and like the sweet girl that she is passed him a note to see if he was ok and ask what was wrong. The boy proceeded to pour his heart out to her and tell her that some girls have been telling him at lunch and recess that they want to kill him, and that everyone would be better off dead. Syd told him she didn't feel that way, and that she thought of him as a friend and asked if he had talked to the teacher about it. The poor guy said he was afraid to, so she came to me to see what I thought she should do. I wanted to cry knowing that this poor boy is going through something like that in 5th grade! Kids can be ruthless (girls especially!). I told Syd that I'm proud of her for being so kind to him that he felt he could open up to her like that. I also explained to her that she needed to show the note to her teacher, because something needed to be done about it and I can't help him. We talked about how sometimes kids get bullied for so long that they can't take it anymore and they end up hurting themselves, so if she let the teacher know what was going on and she could put a stop to things that it could make a huge difference in this boys life. I have always told my kids that they should be nice to everyone no matter what race, age, boy/girl, what they look like or how rich/poor, etc. they might be, and it makes me feel good to know that Sydney is listening to me. I'm glad that she knew it was serious enough that she needed to talk to someone about it. She has such a kind heart, and I hope she continues to be that way as she grows older.

Wow!

2011-03-04T14:05:00.000-08:00

I swear when you are told you should be on bedrest (even light bedrest) that is when life picks up and goes crazy!!! Anth's bp wasn't going anywhere with the one med, so they went ahead and put him back on the one with 2 different meds in it. So far he is doing great on it! His bp isn't perfect, but it's close. That's one thing I can quit stressing about lol

Today we had to register Tasia for kindergarten, and I am just shocked that she is even old enough for that yet. She told me she doesn't want to go. In fact our conversation went something like this...

Tasia: Mom I don't want to go to kindergarten. I want to stay in preschool with my teacher and my friends I have now.

Me: Honey, you'll have lots of fun in kindergarten. Some of your friends from preschool might even be in your class, and you'll have lots of new friends.

Tasia: I'm not going!

Me: If you don't go a police officer will come and take mommy away for not sending you.

Tasia: That's ok. I'll still have daddy.

....I feel loved lol Dom told her there is a playground for the kindergarten kids though, so she is starting to warm up to the idea some. When we went today we saw Syd eating with her class, and she thought it was kind of cool to see her so maybe seeing her big brother and sister will make her even more excited to be there.

Syd and I have to go to the maturation program on Tuesday, and they will teach her not just about the girl stuff (which she already knows from the program last year) but also the boy stuff. I'm not quite ready for that at all! I like her being young, innocent and clueless. Well as far as I know she is still clueless, and I kind of like thinking that so the school is really bursting my bubble on this one!

Then on Wednesday Sydney and Dominic are leaving us for a whole week to go to California with my parents. They can't wait. I am a little nervous! I'm secretly glad that Tasia didn't want to go, because I don't know what I'd do if all my kids were gone lol They have lots of fun plans for while they are gone. They get to stop in Vegas, and are excited to sleep at the "castle hotel" (Excalibur). My mom has even promised them a trip to the M&M factory while they are there. They have every toy and little thing they want to take to keep them busy on the drive planned out too. My cousin is planning a sleepover for Syd and my other cousin's daughter, and Dom gets to have a special night with my parents while she is gone. I'm pretty sure by the time I get them back they are both going to be exhausted, but it'll be well worth it!

Last but not least....pregnancy (ugh!). Yes I am finally at a point where I am uncomfortable and not exactly enjoying it. I love feeling this sweet little girl moving inside me! What I don't love is that I am having contractions EVERY SINGLE DAY to a point where I start to wonder if I should go into the hospital and I am in tears, but at my appointment today I was told everything is still closed like it should be and that unfortunately I am probably just going to have a really uncomfortable last month. I also don't love the waking up nonstop to pee lol I don't get much sleep, so I have no energy anymore ever. Sorry I know I shouldn't complain, because at this point we are both really healthy and honestly that's what matters the most. I just want to be comfortable and normal again, but hey just over 5 weeks and this will all be done and over with and I'll probably be missing having her inside me feeling her move :)

Jealousy

2011-02-17T11:38:00.001-08:00

I think we may have a bit of a jealousy issue between Tasia and Arabella already, and Arabella isn't even here yet. We could be in for trouble lol Tasia has decided she needs to sleep with us almost every night. She doesn't start out there, but at some point in the middle of the night probably 5 nights a week she ends up right in the middle of us. She has also started having separation issues. She has gone to church with my mom every Sunday for probably close to 2 years, and the last couple of weeks she has cried that she doesn't want to leave us. My parents are going to California next month, and they planned to take our kids but Tasia won't go because she doesn't want to leave us. Also she was crying to me this morning about not wanting me to sleep in the hospital when the baby is born, and that she doesn't want Anth to sleep there too. She says she doesn't want to stay with Grandma, because she wants us. She has never been so attached to us in her life, and has always loved sleepovers with her Grandmas. I tried to explain to her that it'll probably only be one night (I don't like staying in the hospital any longer if I don't have to), and that she can even come visit us in the hospital but she didn't care. I knew there would be some jealousy, and we have let her be involved in picking clothes out, hearing the heartbeat, seeing the ultrasound etc. We have also told her that she can help us with the baby if she wants when she is born, and tried to amp up how great it will be to be a big sister. She seems excited, but obviously there is some jealousy there. I don't know what else to do, and it may just be something she'll just have to get used to because I am out of ideas as far as how to prepare her for things to come. We have explained to her what babies are like, and have told her that at first she will just eat, sleep, cry and poop but when she gets bigger she will be able to play with her. I guess we will see in about 8 weeks how things turn out :)

Update on Anth

2011-02-17T11:28:00.000-08:00

Anth went back to the dr last Friday to have his blood pressure checked again, and his dr decided to put him on a medication that had 2 medcines in one pill to try to give his blood pressure a boost in getting lower. It seemed to be working well, but when I took his bp Sunday night it was clear down to 100/50! Apparently he has no in between which is a little frustrating. We had to go back into the dr again Monday morning, and they took him off of the stronger pill and put him back on the original pill he was taking. Now the stupid thing is back up. It's not quite as bad as it was (it's 157/102), but it still needs to come down. I guess we'll just have to be patient, but Anth is having a hard time with that because they won't let him back on a forklift at work until it's 140/90 and he hates busy work!

Never a dull moment!

2011-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Anth had his yearly physical scheduled yesterday which at the time we thought was no big deal. Boy were we wrong!!! When he got to his physical the nurse took his blood pressure then she gave him a look and just said, "Are you serious? Umm...let me take that again!". So she takes it again and this time she says, "I'll be right back. I'm going to get the dr!". Way to leave him hanging huh! Come to find out his blood pressure was sky high. I'm talking there is no way my husband should have felt fine, and was on the verge of a stroke high :( The dr told him he needed to go straight to his dr, because there was no way they would do anything more for him there and he wouldn't allow him to go back to work with it that bad. Anth called me from his dr to let me know what was going on, so I sat on pins and needles for the next hour or so waiting to hear from him. At his dr his blood pressure was 180/120...like I said, scary high!!! His dr put him on some strong meds to bring it down, told him to go home for the day to monitor it and go back today to the clinic dr and to him to have it checked again. They also drew about 3 vials of blood and did an EKG on him. The EKG came out fine, and we are still waiting on the bloodwork results. Last night I checked his bp 3 more times, and each time it seemed to go down. It was still up there, but way down from earlier. His final reading last night was 152/99. He got up this morning and went to the clinic, but when he got there his bp was 160/113. Right back up! The dr wouldn't release him back to work until his bottom number was below 110, so he had to lay in the clinic for about 2 1/2 hours trying to relax and make it go down. He finally had a reading of 142/102, so the dr released him back to work but he isn't allowed to run the forklifts which irritates him. That's all he does all day is run a forklift basically, so he's kind of stuck on paperwork and busy work which he doesn't like. He also feels stupid for being sent home for his blood pressure. I don't think he realized how big of a deal it was until he found out he could have a stroke at any minute. Plus he felt bad, because he knew they had trucks coming in that they needed to get unloaded. Leave it to Anth to worry about making things inconvenient for others when his life is on the line huh. Anyway...at this point we are kind of left hanging until we get the bloodwork, and until the meds really start to work (which I hope is fast!). I will keep everyone posted, but for now prayers that we get this under control would be very much appreciated :)

Baby update...

2011-02-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

We are in the home stretch waiting for this baby. She is due in 9 1/2 weeks, and everyday that goes by I become more and more anxious!!!! We went and bought all her carseat, bed, stroller and of course some clothes last week. I even made her a blanket, and have been picking up diapers when we go to Walmart. We are doing everything possible to be prepared for her to come, because at this point we really don't know when that will be. I am still having major contractions all the time. My dr checked my cervix when I went last week, and he said everything is still closed like it should be but that that can change pretty fast so I am suppose to be resting and taking it easy. Good luck with that!!! I try, because I really don't want her to come early but with 3 kids and being the homemaker it is REALLY HARD!!! The OCD in me doesn't do well with sitting around while messes are being made either. Anthony is a huge help though, so I am incredibly lucky and thankful for that. I am going to my appointments more often now too. My dr scheduled me for 3 weeks instead of a full month, and after that I will go every 2 weeks. I really can't believe how fast it has gone by so far. I might not be saying that in a couple more weeks, but for now I feel like it has flown by!

Happy 8th Birthday Dominic (better late than never)!

2011-02-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

On January 22nd my little man turned 8! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. He's so grown up in every way. He's so much help around here. He will make Tasia breakfast if she wakes up before me, so that I can sleep in. He helps me clean up all the time. He even wants to smell more grown up lol He wanted his own Axe body wash and body spray like Anth has. We had a great day for his birthday. We had family over for cake and ice cream, and that night my sister and her 2 boys slept over and we had a movie night. It was pretty crowded in our livng room, but we had a blast!!!

So much going on!!!!

2010-12-31T08:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry I know I suck at updating anymore. We don't have our internet at our house right now, so I just use my phone for stuff, and I am limited on how much I can do. Since I am at my mom's today I decided I would do a long post, so I hope you have time for it lol

WE'll start with Syd's knee. The orthopedic surgeon could not seem to figure out what was going on and why it wasn't healing when we went back in for her check-up. He ended up sending us for an MRI, and everything on that came back good but she still insisted she was in pain. Wel the gentleman we had been seeing said "Lets get Dr Douglas in here to look at it" Ok call me crazy, but I don't recall ever being told that the guy I was seeing the whole time wasn't Dr Douglas. I was obviously a little irritated by that, but the guy was nice so I didn't raise a fess. Dr Douglas came in and looked at her knee and felt it for about 2 seconds and said (in laymans terms) it's just swelling right on the knee cap. REALLY????? All of this for SWELLING!!!!! I was a little peeved to be honest with you. He said stop the use of the brace, stop the use of crutches, give her ibuprofen and if it still hurts after the first of the year we'll do some physical thereapy. Well what do you know...it isn't hurting anymore. I'm glad it wasn't something more serious, but I am really cranky that it took that much time and effort to find out it was swelling.

Baby update- Pregnancy is still going ok. It has definitely been my hardest one so far, but I am still trying to enjoy every minute since it'll be my last. I had a check-up yesterday for my glucose test, and when I got there my blood pressure was high. My blood pressure has always been perfect up until the last couple of weeks, so my dr was a little concerned. He had me lay on my left side to try to calm down and relax for a few minutes, and he took it again and it was fine so I guess it's just something we have to watch closely. Then I was telling him that I have been having Braxton Hicks already for the last 3 weeks. They are a daily occurence, and sometimes they are downright painful! He said I need to monitor them, and if I get more than 6 or 7 an hour that I need to call him and we'll do a test to see if Miss Arabella will be coming early. I am crossing my fingers and saying my prayers that she doesn't, but you just never know I guess. That's another thing...we decided on the name Arabella Lu. Lu is after my Grandma that passed away last year. We will call her Bella, but it isn't because of Twilight. When I was little my Grandpa used to call me his "Bella" or "Bellisima" which means beautiful girl in Italian (as well as Spanish), so we thought it'd be neat to call have our baby girl's names both have meaning to them.

Now on to Christmas- We had a great Christmas!!! The kids were spoiled. We went to my parents early Christmas Eve, and I made us all dinner. Then we opened our traditional pj's, and headed to my mom's church for their candlelight Christmas Eve service. Anth and I were up until 2 in the morning wrapping gifts, and the kids had us up at 6:45. They tried at 5:45, but I made them go back to bed for a few because there was no way I was getting up! We did gifts, had orange julius' and breakfast casserole and relaxed for a bit to let the kids play. Then we got ready and headed in to Anth's mom's for dinner, and for the kids to be spoiled more. It was a great day with family, and it was exactly the way I would have wanted it.

Tonight for New Year's Eve we are doing our usual, and hanging out at home watching movies and eating treats with our kids. We aren't big on going out for New Year's, and as far as I'm concerned there are way too many crazies out on the roads tonight. I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's as well :)

Update on Syd's knee

2010-11-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

The dr told us Syd's knee looked like it was just swollen and maybe had a torn tendon, but it should heal on it's own. We were told to take off the brace and stop using the crutches after 2 weeks, and if it still hurts to call them and they'd refer us to a specialist. We took her off after 2 weeks, and by the following morning she was in tears from pain so we put it back on. The dr sent a referral to Dr Douglas (an orthopedic surgeon), and we got in to see him today. He said she fractured her growth plate, and the reason it isn't healing is because the brace she has allows her to move her knee. In order for a growth plate to heal it has to be completely immbolized, so he gave us a brace that'll do exactly that. We have to go back in 2 weeks, and if it's healing she'll be back in the other brace for a couple weeks. At this point we're looking at another month @ least in a brace and on crutches assuming it starts to heal in the 2 weeks.

It's a....

2010-11-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!! We are having another beautiful, precious baby girl. We are so excited! They also moved my due date up a few days to my Grandma's actual birthday. Pretty crazy huh! After the ultrasound my in-laws took us to Chuck E. Cheese, and ate dinner and let the kids play lots of games. It's been an amazing day, and I'm ready for bed now lol

Boy or girl???

2010-11-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

We find out today what we are having, and I can't wait!!! I didn't sleep hardly at all last night, and when I did I had dreams we were having twins lol My appointment is at 3, and I'm really hoping the day doesn't drag. The kids can't wait to go and find out either. It's all they've talked about all weekend! I will keep everyone posted :)

Monday is the big day!

2010-11-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

I have my ultrasound on Monday, and I can't wait! I'm sure this weekend is going to go super slow since I want Monday to get here so bad.

Is this year over yet???

2010-11-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ok so 2010 really has been a year full of bad luck for us, and last night added to the long list of things that have happened. Yesterday at recess Syd was standing on a platform waiting her turn for the monkey bars when a kid ran by and accidentally pushed her off. She landed funny on her leg and couldn't straighten it or put any pressure on it, so I took her to Dr Gould's after hours clinic. I had to take her to the hospital, and my parents came to help me since I can't carry her around and Anth had to stay home with the other kids. After looking at the x-rays the dr told us it looks like a tendon tore and pulled some bone away from her knee. Ouch huh! She's in a brace and on crutches, and after the radiologist confirms it we have to take her to see an orthopedic surgeon :(

My poor sick baby :(

2010-10-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Tasia has had stomach cramps to the point she was curling up in a ball in pain for the last 2 days along with diarrhea. My mom was telling me to call her dr, and see if they wanted me to bring her in because it could be constipation. Just after I hang up with her my poor girl started throwing up everywhere :( I called the dr, and he did want to see her. He ended up telling me that he's pretty sure it's the stomach flu, so he gave her anti-nausea meds and anti-diarrhea meds. He said if they don't work to take her straight to Primary Childrens to make sure it isn't appendicitis :( So far she is doing better with the medicines, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way!

Life is good!

2010-10-11T12:42:00.000-07:00

I am finally almost never nauseous anymore. Syd, Dom and Tasia are loving school and having fun. Anth still has a job for sure for the next 6 months, and hopefully by then he'll be hired on permanent and we won't have to be on this rollercoaster everytime layoffs come up. Inspection is next week, so I'm trying to gather the energy to clean my house the way I like it. Like I said, life is good, and I really can't complain!

We have a heartbeat!!!

2010-09-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our first dr appointment, and we got to hear our little ones heartbeat for the first time. Even after 3 babies it's still such an amazing sound! My dr confirmed I am due April 15th which puts me @ 11 weeks along right now. Already almost @ that 3 month mark! He said that it's weird that I am having morning sickness even though I never have in the past, but that it's a sign of a healthy pregnancy so I guess we'll take it :) He also tried to scare us by saying maybe it's twins, and you're sick because of the extra hormones. Not funny! Can you imagine...5 kids?!?! There's no way. In about 2 months we'll be able to find out what we're having, and I can't wait! Tasia says if it's a boy we have to put it back lol We also started talking about different methods of permanent birth control (tubal ligation, vasectomy or essure implant). Any of you have any suggestions on what they think? We are trying to weigh our options financially, recovery time, etc.

Baby #4!!!

2010-09-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

That's right we are excited to announce that we are expecting our 4th (and last) baby! I'm 9 weeks and due on April 15th. I'm hoping to have him or her on the 12th, because that was my Grandma's birthday. Also I've never been so sick in my life lol I have morning sickness like you would not believe, and I never had it in the past so it's been quite different for me! Anyway...we are extremely excited!!! Tasia says we can have a girl. Dom really wants a brother, and Syd doesn't seem to care either way. The Chinese birth chart said it's a girl, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see :)

Toys, vampires, dead batteries and surgery....OH MY!

2010-08-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I saw that Toy Story 3 and Eclipse were at the Drive-in. I had wanted to see Toy Story (and Eclipse again, of course), and my kids had really wanted to see Eclipse. We got a group of us together, and set out to have a good time. During Toy Story I kept telling Anth he should turn on the car to make sure the battery didn't die, and he kept putting it off and saying it'd be fine he'd do it in a minute. Well a minute went by and the movie got over, and our battery was dead. Huh, maybe he should have listened to me! The drive-in has a battery charger, because things like that happen all the time. Unfortuantely, our battery was so drained that there was nothing to charge. We decided to watch Eclipse and my cousin's husband towed us home afterwards. I had to borrow my other cousin's husband's car to be able to make it to cheer the next day, so by the time we picked that up and got home I didn't get to bed until 3:30 and had to be up at 7:00. The next day after cheer Anth went with my mom and $105 later our car was back up and running. It could have been worse, but I still wasn't thrilled to have to deal with all of that. We got things done just in time to get ready and head up to Ogden to have a family BBQ up there.

Sunday night we dropped the kids off at my parents house, because Anth had to be in Salt Lake for his 2nd surgery by 7 in the morning and it was easier for them to sleepover than it was to drag them out that early. We headed in, they took him back and I got to hang out in a little private room with a couch and a tv while he was in surgery. It only lasted maybe a half and hour. All they had to do was remove the pins. He is in a soft cast until his follow-up appointment on the 19th. After that they want him to start using the arm. He is excited! I am nervous lol I just don't want to have something happen to it after it's been braced all this time and have it hurt again. He is breakable to me now, if that even makes any sense. The day after he gets his cast off we go on vacation to Starvation for the weekend, and I can't wait for that! We have a fun group going, and who doesn't love camping out, laying by the beach and playing in the water all day!!!

:My foot hurts, because it's green!"

2010-07-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning Tasia was standing on the kitchen floor, and she told me it hurt her foot. I had no idea why that would hurt her foot, but her response was..."It hurts, because my foots green!". HUH??? I looked at the bottom of her foot, and she had this hard, green ball on her heel. A couple of weeks ago she had stepped on something (she said it was glass), and I had checked her out and couldn't see anything in there so I cleaned her up and thought everything was fine. Apparently, I was wrong! We took her to the dr, and after taking x-rays and seeing that something was there they strapped my baby to a papoose board (a backboard with straps to hold them in tight like a burrito, so they can't move), numbed her foot, made a small incision and went in to find 2 small pieces of glass :( As she was strapped to the board and numbing her foot she was crying and telling me "Mommy it hurts", and it took all I had not to cry. I hate to see my babies in pain! When she was done the dr gave her a popsicle, and sent her on her way. They didn't stitch it up in case there are more small pieces in there that need to work their way out. She was numb until after she fell asleep last night, and says her foot doesn't even hurt today. She's a tough girl!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Matrix Cheer

2010-07-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

I didn't get any really good pics myself from the 4th, because my camera isn't working :( I did get these from a few friends though. I really do love the group of girls we have! They are so much fun to be around.

We had to have a pic of the back of their shirts. They say "Stuntin is a habit"

Syd's so tiny next to all the other girls in the older group (she's 3rd from the right on the bottom row...not counting the little girl out there lol)

There's my little Tasia!

We had a ton of fun in the parade. Quality donated this nice truck to us. We listened to the same songs over and over, and danced to them the whole way through. We had candy, but the little girls decided to throw WAY too much of it at the very beginning of the parade, so we were pretty much out by the time we turned onto Main Street lol So sorry to all of you that didn't get candy from us!

Hey it's Frankling...coming over to our house

2010-06-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of the Quintana family. His name is Franklin, and he's a Russian Tortoise. He won't get much bigger than he is now. The kids love him! I think he's pretty cute too :)

Things are busy as usual around here. The cheer group that Lacy and I are doing is coming along well. It's a little hard to keep 11 3-7 year olds attention for an hour and a half, but it's ok. We will be in the parade, so be sure to look for us!

Fundraisers

2010-06-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Lacy and I are looking for possible fundraiser ideas to earn money for our little girls cheer uniforms. If anyone knows of a company that's great to work with, or has any ideas we'd greatly appreciate it!

What's so hard about it???

2010-06-01T13:56:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or does it seem like divorce due to one of the parties being unfaithful is on the rise?!?! I'm not talking about my marriage, but I know MULTIPLE people who are getting divorce or are already divorced because one or the other is cheating. I thought the whole point of getting married was, because you wanted to spend the rest of your life with someone. If you are just going to go out, and sleep with someone else then WHY GET MARRIED?!?!?! I also thought that if someone was married that meant they were off limits to others, but apparently I am mistaken. There are people out there sleeping with married men (and probably women too) that are bragging about it. If you slept with a married man you better be prepared to be called a homewrecker. I know it takes 2, but that's just it you aren't the innocent party. The poor wife who has no idea is the innocent party. Oh and if you are the one sleeping with that married man you really shouldn't be calling his wife a whore, because that's pretty much calling the kettle black if you ask me!

Lol thanks for listening to me rant. It just pisses me off that some people take marriage so lightly. I love my husband, and never in a million years would consider doing such a thing to him. I just don't see how girls can even consider getting with a married man, or how a married man could step out on his family. Like I said, this isn't about me, but someone close to me is going through a divorce because of it and it just disgusts me.

I'm slacking a little

2010-05-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Anth had his surgery 6 days ago. When the dr got in there he said the cyst was worse than he thought, and it took a lot to scrape it out. Otherwise though, things went great. They had to use pins, so he will have to have the 2nd surgery to remove those before he can use his arm without the cast. Anth is sore, but doing great. He is sick of his temporary cast, because it is HUGE! It goes from his knuckles all the way past his elbow, so he can't do a whole lot for himself. He says he feels like a child. He has his follow-up appointment a week from today, and he should get his first of many hard casts put on (he will have to have his cast changed every 3 weeks). From here on out it will be a wait and see process on whether or not the surgery actually worked though.

10 years ago...

2010-05-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago yesterday I was celebrating my 18th birthday with dinner at Melina's and watching "Where the Heart Is" while timing contractions! Interesting experience to say the last. I went home after the movie to try to get some sleep, but at about 3 in the morning Sydney had a different plan for me. I got up, took a bath and my mom called my dr and we were told to come into the hospital. After a few hours being monitored they were planning to send me home. I was not a happy camper!!! Again Sydney had different plans....she moved away from the monitor and they lost her heartbeat. When they found it again it wasn't as strong as they would have liked, so it was decided that I would have her that day! There I was barely 18 and scared to death, and I had a nurse who panicked with every little issue that came up. Not a good combination. She had me in tears by 10 that morning, because she rushed in and said , "You just bought yourself a c-section!" WHAT?!?!?! Last time I checked you can't just "buy" yourself a c-section, and could she not tell how scared I was anyway and that maybe she should be a little more sensitive! I was EXTREMELY happy when she went off duty (Funny little side not though...she ended up being my nurse with both Dominic and Tasia too, but I LOVED her those times.) Regardless of what she thought I did not have a c-section. At 10:06 PM May 13, 2000 I gave birth to a gorgeous 5 lb 9 oz baby girl! I was scared to death when I found out I was pregnant, but from the minute she was born I didn't know what I would do without her. I love you Miss Sydney Elizabeth Busico! You have changed me for the better, and I don't know what I would do without you. Happy Birthday sweetheart!!!!

Trainers and Cheerleaders!!!

2010-05-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

I had my appointment with the personal trainer last night, and I swear she was trying to kill me lol She had me doing all kinds of crazy stuff, and I am feeling it today. Last night I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I could feel my heart POUNDING in my throat! According to her plan though I am suppose to workout 6 days a week. Three of those days I am suppose to do strength training for 30-45 minutes and cardio for 15-30. Then the other 3 days I am suppose to do strictly cardio. If I do that and eat healthy I can be close to my goal weight by November, so 6 months! Not too bad. I wish it was faster, but at least this way it's not some drastic change and I am doing it the healthy way. Plus it'll last longer than some quick fix diet. I am going to become obsessed with going to the gym lol

Also yesterday I found out that I am going to help teach the cheerleading group that they have for little girls! I am way excited. I miss cheerleading and dance, so this will be a way to be involved in it still. Plus my girls will get to be cheerleaders, and follow in my footsteps :) If any of you know any girls ages 4-17 that might be interested we will be doing another sign-up next week. We are thinking Wednesday from 6-8 at All Star Lanes, but I will let everyone know for sure as soon as I know what's going on. Practices will be at the swimming pool park Wednesdays and Fridays from 10-11:30 starting the 2nd week in June. They will perform on the 4th of July, and get to be in the parade. Plus they will do competitions in November and December. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!

Birthday party, Mother's Day and a hectic night!!!

2010-05-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

We had Syd's birthday party Saturday, and of course something is wrong with my camera so I didn't really get any pics :( My mom did though, so hopefully she will send them to me soon. Syd got some really cute stuff, and was way excited. Everyone convinced us to give her our gifts too (even though we usually wait for her actual birthday), so on her birthday we will have treats and go to Dom's game. Lucky her huh! Oh I did get a pic of her cake, and it was so dang cute. I will have to post it later.

Mother's Day was great! My parents took us to breakfast, we came home and I got to take an uninnterrupted nap and then we went back to my parents for a BBQ. Nice and relaxing. I couldn't have asked for anything more!

Tonight I have an appointment scheduled with a personal trainer, and I am excited!!! I'm sure tomorrow when my muscles are screaming at me I won't feel the same way, but for now I do lol My schedule tonight is jam packed, and I am still trying to figure out how to do it all. I'm praying for rain, so that Dom's practice is cancelled! Of course when you want it though it doesn't happen, so we shall see. I need to do dinner when Anth gets home around 4:45ish. Dom has practice from 5:30-6:30. My mom will pick the girls up from practice at 6 for their church class. After Dom's practice I have to get him up to his church class, sign Syd up for the little girls cheerleading and be to my appointment by 7. I am thinking we may need to leave Dom's practice early if it happens, but now you can see why I am praying for rain. Either that or I will have to have Anth drop me off at my appointment before we take Dom to the church class. I don't know, but I should probably figure it out soon huh!

Gold's Gym

2010-05-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

Anth entered us into a drawing for a free membership to Gold's Gym, and WE WON!!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! I swear I never win anything, so I am so stinking excited that it's something so cool that we did finally win. We both have a free 2 year VIP membership which means we get to use everything (all the equipment, spin class, aerobics, kickboxing, swimming, sauna, etc.), plus free child care for an hour and a half a day and free tanning at Deluxe tan. Oh and we were both offered a free session with one of their personal trainers. Anth decided not to take it, but I am taking FULL advantage of it. I have my appointment on Monday at 7. Last night we worked out for an hour, and can I just tell you that the elliptical is hard!!! It definitely gave me a workout, and I am feeling it today. Syd and Dom weren't too thrilled with the daycare, but Tasia on the other hand didn't want to leave. Oh and they gave us each a fancy Gold's Gym water bottle lol Anth and I both agree that we are going to use our free passes to our advantage. I want to go at least 5 times a week whether he comes with me or not.

Hmmm....

2010-05-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to say lately. We are getting closer to Anth's surgery, and he is starting to get nervous. Truthfully so am I. Our stupid washer isn't working now. I probably should've expected it since we bought them at the same time. It will fill up with water and it will drain, but it won't spin. We have been spending a lot of time with our families lately. Last weekend my parents fed us both Saturday and Sunday. It was nice to not have to worry about figuring out dinner and cleaning up dinner for a whole 2 days. Yesterday my mother-in-law came out to hang out at our house for a little bit, and she ordered us pizza for dinner. It has been a nice relaxing couple of weekends. Anth cleaned the house for me yesterday, so other than load the dishes and get kids ready for the day I am kind of lost on what to do. I'm not complaining though. It is definitely nice!!! Oh I do have a birthday party to plan. We are doing Syd's birthday party this weekend, because the weekend after her birthday Anth will have just had his surgery and won't be up for company. Syd isn't sure what kind of cake she wants, because she has decided she is too old for character cakes. She wants something more teenagerish (if that's even a word). I still can't believe in just over a week she is going to be 10!

Bed for sale

2010-04-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

We got Dom a bigger bed, so we are selling his twin size frame and headboard for $50. If you know anyone who wants or needs one email me at abusico2@hotmail.com. Have a great weekend everyone!

Surgery

2010-04-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Well the appointment with the specialist yesterday actually went worse than we thought :( Not only does Anth have the fracture, but with it not being fixed a cyst has formed in there and the cyst is blocking his blood flow. As a result he has dead bone in there, or dying bone I guess. The dr has to go in and remove a piece of bone from farther down in his wrist, and put it where the cyst is. That bone has an artery that will remain attached to it, and hopefully they blood flow will basically revive the bone that is dying. If it is a big chunk the dr will put a screw in to hold it in place, but if it is a small chunk he will put pins in there. Anth will have a cast for about 3 months, and if they have to use pins they will have to do a 2nd surgery to remove the pins before he can use the arm without a cast. Even with the surgery it isn't a guarantee that it will revive the bone, and if it doesn't they will have to go in later and remove the chunk of dead bone and fuze his bones together. The dr also told us that if it does fix the problem he will still always have pain and stiffness in his wrist. He has a 90% success rate with this surgery, so we are definitely praying that Anth is in that 90%. Anth will be having the surgery on May 14th, and it'll be about a 4 hour surgery so as you can imagine I will be a complete wreck during it!!! We have supportive family though, so I know I won't be there alone.

4 times that guarantee chaos will occur within the Quintana family

2010-04-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

I have decided there are 4 times that there will always be chaos going on around here. Getting ready for school, cleaning rooms, going for a ride or getting all 5 of us ready at the same time.

First of all...getting ready for school. Sydney and Dominic fight over who is going to brush their teeth first, who is going to do their hair first, who gets to open the door when they leave, who gets to unlock the door for my sister to come drop off my nephew...the list could go on forever! I try to do things to eliminate as many of the fights as I can, but it is impossible. For example, they take turns everyday opening and unlocking the door. I make one brush their teeth and do their hair while the other gets dressed and gets their backpack ready. Somehow they still seem to find a way to pester each other and fight like cats and dogs.

Second....cleaning rooms. Oh how I wish I had a maid to come do ALL the cleaning around here, but even if I just had one to clean their bedrooms I would be happy as can be. When Syd cleans her room Dom and Tasia go in and bug her, or Tasia goes in and starts taking out more toys. Syd seems to think that when I say it's time to clean that it's really time to read a book or something besides clean. She has been bribed with everything you could imagine by me, Anth and my mom. She has been threatened with every threat that I can think of too, but she just doesn't seem to care. It's quite frustrtating! Dom thinks it's the end of the world when I say it's time to clean, but after he throws a fit for a few he is usually good about getting it done. Tasia just won't clean. She claims she can't or makes up some excuse to get out of it. I do what I can to get her to help, but some days it feels like such a lost cause.

Third...going for rides. Gone are the days when I used to go for rides for leisure time. Now going for a ride or driving anywhere period has somehow translated to "lets fight as much as we can about everything we can, so we can see how crazy we can make mom and dad". I miss the leisure rides! The kids seem to fight over everything. He's touching me, she's looking at me, he touched my carseat, she's sitting too close to me....and then the hitting starts. I swear I have taught my kids you don't hit at all, and they do fine with other people but when it comes to each other (mostly Syd and Dom) it's like a dang boxing match. They try to hit the other one harder and more times than they were just hit. I threaten, yell, ignore and every other possible thing I can do, but nothing works. Someone ALWAYS ends up crying, and by that point I just don't have any sympathy because I have already warned them that someone is going to end up hurt and they chose not to listen to me.

And last...having to be somewhere that all 5 of us have to get ready at the same time. The kids are fighting, I'm trying to get myself ready while breaking up fights and I am trying to get Anth to quit procrastinating on getting ready so we can leave on time. I love my husband more than anything, but he procrastinates when it comes time to get ready where I start getting ready like 2 or 2 1/2 hours before we need to leave. For example, Dom had a game last week and I had told Anth all day long we had to be there by 6:40. He got home from work at about 4:15, and I started telling him then we have to be walking out this door by 6:30. He acknowledged that he knew, and I reminded him about an hour before we had to leave that we had to leave in an hour. Well he waited until 5 minutes before we had to leave to get in the shower. Luckily he was just throwing on a hat and not doing his hair, but we still didn't even leave until the time we had to be there so I was frustrated!

Go Dodgers!

2010-04-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

My camera decided it didn't want to work right before we left for Dom's game, so a pic with my phone of Dom in his uniform is all you get for now. I think he makes a pretty handsome ball player. Anth says he's going to make us rich some day, because of his amazing talent. If I had a video camera I would take video of him, so you guys could see how good he is. I swear I'm not just bragging, because he's my kid. Well I am bragging (again!), but he's one of those kids who hits the play or throws it and you hear random people in the crowd say "Wow that kid has a good arm" or "Dang he has a powerful swing!". Of course, I beam with pride everytime I hear comments like that :)

Not a lot to say

2010-04-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

I really don't have much to say lately. Things have been sad around here, so I am trying to pull myself up out of this slump! We celebrated my Grandma's birthday Sunday with the notes written on balloons and sent up to Heaven. It was hard, but it also felt really good. My mom even made a cake, and my kids sang Happy Birthday to her. Monday was her actual birthday, and my dog that I got when I was 11 had to be put to sleep that day. She hadn't eaten in 2 days. She was collapsing constantly. She had lost a ton of weight, couldn't see or hear and was struggling to breathe. It was time to let her go, but it was an already emotional day so it made it even harder. I went with my mom to take her, and I couldn't even check her in without bawling. My dad says he feels like he lost a child. I agree...it's like losing a family member.

On a brighter note, Dom has his first game tonight. I can't wait to watch him!!! He is very talented, and it always makes me proud. I love hearing other parents comment on how good of an arm he has or how well he hits the ball. I'm sure I will try to get some pics posted, but I can't promise anything because I really am slacking on that lately!

Feeling a little BLAH today

2010-04-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

This snow is really making me cranky! It needs to go away. I swear we are getting more snow now than we did in December, and I am over the cold weather. We bought Sydney a new swimsuit last night (as part of her birthday presents), but at this rate she won't even get to use it unless we go to the indoor pool. This diet doesn't help my crankiness much either. So far I have lost 7 pounds, and I am thrilled about it but I am having a REALLY REALLY hard time not cheating. I'm not going to lie I cheated for Easter, but it's Easter how can you not cheat.

My Grandma's birthday is fast approaching, and it's been hitting me hard lately that she isn't here. I bawled most of the way to Ogden last Friday for our family Easter party. The kids want to celebrate her birthday even though she isn't with us anymore, so thanks to my great friend Ashley for giving me the idea we are going to write notes to her on balloons and send them up to heaven. I'm sure it'll be quite emotional, but my kids wanted to do something and I'm not going to discourage them from trying to remember her in any way at all.

Our stupid dryer went out on us Friday, so now we are trying to find one that isn't too expensive. I had to break down and wash a couple of loads and hang them to dry today, because my kids would have nothing to wear to school the rest of the week if I didn't. It's not convenient at all, and the piles are getting extremely large. I usually have to do at least 2 loads of laundry a day to keep up if not more, so you can imagine since I have done none since Friday what it looks like. Anyone have any ideas where to get a good deal on a new one? I'm not crazy about getting one used on ksl, because I don't know the person we would be buying it from. That probably sounds kind of snotty of me to say, but not everyone takes care of their things the same as I would and I don't want to take any chances.

Easter

2010-04-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

We had an extremely busy Easter as I'm sure most of you did. The kids went to church with my mom just like every Sunday. Then we had a BBQ and Easter egg hunt at Anth's cousin Nikki's house. Then we headed out to Sandy to have dinner with his parents and sisters. My kids were sugared up, but exhausted by the end of the day. It was all around perfect if you ask me! Don't my kiddos look super cute in their Easter outfits :)

How much leisure time do SAHM's really have?

2010-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through the channels yesterday, and I saw that Dr Phil was about how much time mom's really have of leisure time so I decided to watch it. Some Professor did a study, and according to him mom's have 30-40 hours of leisure time. 30-40 hours...are you kidding me????? I would love to find the mom who has that much leisure time on her hands to find out what I am doing wrong. Even if all of my kids were in school all day long I wouldn't have that much time to myself. There is always cleaning, laundry, cooking, errands and other things to do. I don't usually have 10 minutes of leisure time to myself, let alone 30-40 hours. Even when I am exercising I am telling kids to quit messing with something, or to quit fighting with each other. My schedule is like this everyday....

7:00 Boston comes
7:20-8:00 wake Syd and Dom up and get them ready for school
8:00 Get Tasia breakfast
8:30 Get Boston and Tasia ready for the day
9:00 My nephew gets here
9:15-11:00 Do dishes, sweep and mop, clean bathrooms, start laundry, vaccum and dust
11:00 Make kids lunch
11:30 Lay kids down for naps
12:00 Exercise
12:30-1:30 Shower and get ready for the day
1:30 Change laundry, fold and put laundry away
2:00 Kids usually wake up from nap
2:15 Get kids a snack
3:30 Syd and Dom come home. Do homework
4:00 Start dinner
5:00 Anth gets home. Eat dinner
6:00 Start kids shower and bedtime routines
8:00 Kids go to bed
8:15 Wash Anth's work clothes
9:00 Go to bed

....That doesn't include changing diapers, breaking up fights, helping kids clean up toys they take out and baseball practice!!! Now tell me where do these supposed moms find 30-40 hours of leisure time, because I don't see where that would fit in with my schedule at all.

HCG

2010-03-31T08:28:00.001-07:00

Ok I am on my 3rd day of 500 calories of the HCG diet, and I'm not going to lie it's hard!!! I have lost 3 pounds already though, so it'll definitely be worth it to stick to it. I need to find more food combinations though, because I swear I have eaten nothing but boiled chicken, strawberries, oranges and cucumbers for the past 2 days. It will all get VERY old if I don't find something else to eat soon. Anyone that has done the diet have any tips they can give me??? This weekend is going to be extremely hard with Easter and all the junk food that will come up. We have an Easter party in Ogden on Friday night, and they are ordering pizza for dinner which is definitely a big no no for me right now. I will have to take some salad or something for me to eat, so I don't just watch everyone else eat and wish I was eating with them :(

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2010-03-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

We hope you have a great day even though you have to work ALL DAY LONG!!!

Who said weekends are meant for relaxing???

2010-03-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know who said you are suppose to relax on the weekends, but we pretty much never do. This weekend was no different.Thursday night we went into Salt Lake to get the kids Easter outfits. Children's Place was having a sale, so we got the girls some way cute dresses. We got Dom's outfit at Ross, and I have decided I just might love that store. They have way cute stuff for way cheap! The kids were out of school Friday, so we had a house full while Anth and I were trying to clean the house (scrubbing walls, mopping, etc.). Then we got ready, and headed out to Sandy for a surprise party for Anth's little sister Danielle. The kids had lots of fun hanging out with all her friends, and Tasia LOVED the attention! She decided she wanted to have a sleepover. We were skeptical, because she didn't have her blanket that she is SO attached to, and Syd and Dom wouldn't be there and she hasn't had a sleepover anywhere without them yet. At 1:45 in the morning we got a text from Anth's other sister Stevie that Tasia was freaking out. We called and tried talking to her, but she kept telling me she wanted me. I ended up driving back to Sandy to pick her up, and didn't get home until 3:30 and had to be up at 6. Syd and Dom had Awana Olympics in Syracuse that we had to be at at 9:00. They did really good, and had lots of fun! When we came back to Tooele I had to go to Walmart to get food, because Anth had people coming over to watch the fights on PPV. During all of this I am also having to take my HCG drops every 2 hours, because I started my binge days on Saturday. Like I said...who said weekends are meant for relaxing, because I honestly can't remember a weekend when all we did was relax!

The verdict is in

2010-03-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Dom had an allergic reaction to something in the sunscreen. Also it was a severe sunburn! Lucky for us there isn't any permanent damage, so all he has to do is use some antibiotic eyedrops for a few days and we are done. My poor dad has been so stressed out about the whole situation, because he feels like it's his fault since Dom was with him. Now he can finally relax a little. The dr did say that his vision is a little blurry (completely unrelated to the allergy or burn), so he wants him to be seen in August for an eye exam because he thinks he'll need glasses.

No luck :(

2010-03-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Dom hasn't shown much improvement so far, so it looks like we will be seeing Dr Griffith the opthamologist. Hopefully he can fix my poor little man's eyes, because he is pretty miserable :(

OUCH!

2010-03-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Dom went ice fishing with my dad on Saturday, and when he got home his eyes were red. We figured it was just a sunburn, because he didn't have sunglasses on at all. When he woke up this morning though his eyes were even more red and pretty swollen!!! We decided to take him in to the after hrs clinic at Dr Gould's office. Dr Gould thinks he may have gotten sunscreen in his eyes, but he isn't sure if it was a chemical reaction or an allergic reaction. We have to flush his eyes out 3 to 4 times a day for the next 2 days, and we have to give him some eye drops that are basically like motrin for the eyes. It should help the swelling and the burning. If we don't see an improvement by tomorrow we have to go see an opthamologist to see if there is something else we need to do for him, and make sure there isn't any additional damage that Dr Gould can't see. Don't his eyes just make you want to rub yours!

Sweet Pea Giveaway!!!

2010-03-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

Every Friday Sweet Pea Boutique does a free giveaway. This week is a $20 gift certificate to their store. They have some of the cutest bows, headbands and hats. Head on over and enter for your chance to win at www.sweetpeaboutiquetooele.blogspot.com!

A cup? You mean like a drink???

2010-03-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

Dom's first baseball practice went great last night. I was proud of him, and how well he did. He was the first one to connect with the ball on their first try. Yes, I am bragging! Before they got started the coach asked if anyone was wearing a cup. The boys all looked quite confused, and one even says, "You mean like a cap? Like a baseball cap?" So then the coach asks them, "Do any of you know what a cup is?" Some sweet innocent little boy with the most confused look of all says, "You mean like a drink!" LOL Not quite buddy. The coach just said it was protective gear and left it for us to explain the rest, but I thought that was funny and had to share it with you all :)

Keep an eye out

2010-03-17T12:54:00.001-07:00

We got a note a couple of weeks ago that there was a middle aged man in a white van trying to pick up 12 and 13 year old girls, and to talk to our kids about stranger danger. Then today we got a note saying he tried to pick up 2 girls (one in 1st grade and one in 6th grade) from my kids school. I was freaked out before, but now it's even closer to home. So anyone in the area please keep an eye out for anyone suspicious, so we can get this guy off the streets. I hate to think of what he might do if he ever got a hold of any girls.

UPDATE...Just a little more information. He drives a white panel van that says Lakeside on the side, so keep your eyes peeled and warn your kids!

Sickness all around

2010-03-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

I am so tired of the cold weather and all of the sickness going around lately. Sunday night after Dom went to bed he started puking, so he was out of school Monday and Tuesday. Monday night Tasia was sick to her stomach. She was pale and had a little bit of a fever, but she never threw up. Thank goodness! Now Syd is saying her throat is hurting, and from what I understand strep is going around so I am hoping that she doesn't have that. Guess we'll be making a trip to the dr to be sure.

I really just can't wait for the warm weather to come, and to stay! We keep getting these little teasers, but then it will snow. Seriously, just be spring already. I'm sure the little kids are as tired as I am of being cooped up in this house, and I would love to take them all outside to play but not unless it's warm. Hopefully it stays warm today like it's suppose to, so that we don't freeze at Dom's first baseball practice tonight. We got his mitt and bat ready last night, and he was so excited to be able to get out there again. He has hit off of the machine before, so I know he will do good. Plus that boy just seems to have an amazing natural talent when it comes to baseball. Watching him makes me proud! Anth loves that it's something that he's into too since Anth has played ball since he was little also. He has the same kind of natural talent that Dom does :)

I have to go to what?!?!?!

2010-03-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last Friday my sweet Sydney had her maturation program at school. She was nervous, as were the other girls I'm sure, but she already knew about most of the stuff anyway, because we have talked a little about growing up before. When I got there and sat down I looked around, and I swear to you I was the only mother under the age of 40!!! I felt like I should be taking the stupid class, and not a parent to a child in the class. When the girls walked in they were all scared to death. I remember feeling that way for my own maturation program, so of course I had some sympathy for Syd. When the nurse actually started talking though, and she said the word nipples there was about 50 shades of red on the girls faces throughout the room. Then the lady breaks out a pair of underwear, and shows them how to put on a pad and the girls all but climbed under their chairs. The did not want to even look at the nurse LMAO! They got off lucky though, and all they had to walk out with was a cookie and a cup of water not a pack of pads like we did when I was little! I was laughing when I came home and started to tell Anth about it, but he was as bad as the little girls were at listening without being embarrassed.

8 lbs and counting

2010-03-08T11:45:00.001-08:00

For the past 2 weeks I have been working out everyday during the week, and then taking a break on weekends. I've been doing Turbo Jam and if I don't have the energy for that (because trust me you need a lot of energy for it!) I will do the treadmill. I have officially lost 8 lbs as of yesterday. Not a ton, but it's getting there, and I am doing it the healthy way and not by crash dieting or taking some miracle pill that as soon as I go off of it I will gain all the weight back. I can finally say too that I feel like exercising is just a part of my routine. No it isn't easy, and some days I still have to force myself to do it but it is part of the routine that I have set for myself. Granted with that, cleaning and taking care of kids I don't always get to shower until noon, but that I can deal with. I'm sure these little ones don't care that much what time I shower. My days feel a lot more productive lately, and I really do have quite a bit more energy. I am sleeping better, and I don't feel completely drained all day.

Memories...

2010-02-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

We went to my stepdad's funeral today. It was sad, but good at the same time. A lot of memories were shared while we were there, so I thought I would share a few of my memories on here.

*Mike LOVED popcorn! When I was little I remember we had this old school popcorn maker that you poured the kernels in and had to put a bowl under it to catch the popcorn as it came out. I swear that thing was one of the most used appliances in our house!

*Mike would always let me drive his car. When I was little he would sit me on his lap starting at the bottom of our road, and he would control the gas and brakes and I would control the steering wheel. One time when I got older he let me drive on my own while he was in the passenger seat, and I backed over our neighbors sprinkler so he had to replace it. I think I was in maybe 4th grade.

*Mike would always pay attention to whatever new thing I was into or name brand clothing, and he would surprise me at random times by bringing it home for me. He bought me a scooter when I was little, and put it in our bathroom then made some excuse that he needed me to get something out of the bathroom so I would go see it. One time he gave me batteries, and then when I was reading the note he said that maybe I could put them in this (and when I turned around he had a new discman for me). He was always very giving.

*Mike's family spends their summers in Montana at Seely Lake, and we had lots of fun trips up there. Mike taught me how to water ski when I was just little during one of our trips there.

*Mike was an avid Neil Diamond fan, and to this day I can't hear a Neil Diamond song without thinking of him.

*Mike probably to this day has an 8 track player in his basement. He hated to have to upgrade to new things when his old things were still working, but when he could no longer find his Neil Diamond on 8 track or cassette he didn't have much of a choice but to upgrade. He used the same theory with his cars. He used the same cars until his 2 older kids ended up wrecking them, and he had no choice but to get a new one.

*Mike was also very supportive. He was constantly driving me to and from dance classes, and he would sit for hours through my millions of performances.

*Mike liked to take us to movies or waterparks. He continued that tradition with his grandkids. When I was little it was Classic Waterpark or Raging Waters that we went to. The first time I went anywhere with Mike by myself (I was 3) he took me to a movie. My mom had the little talk about having manners. I wasn't suppose to ask for anything and I was suppose to make sure to say please and thank you for things he did buy me. Me being the clever little child that I was told him when he picked me up, "My mom says I'm not suppose to ask you for anything, but if you want to buy me something that would be ok."

...There are many more memories I have about Mike considering we lived with him for 11 years, but I will stop right there so I can go relax and spend some time with my family :)

What's going on in the Quintana household???

2010-02-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

Lots is going on around here as usual. Last week my step-dad passed away. He has been fighting cancer for about a year now, but they only found out last month that he had it. He was given 6-8 weeks left at that point, and he only made it 2. I had lost touch with him until recently, but I am very glad I was able to get in touch with him again before he passed away. As sad as it is that he is gone, I am glad that he is no longer suffering. The last 2 or 3 months were pure misery for him. My mom and I were able to go see him a couple of weeks ago, and I am happy to have had that last visit with him. We will be heading to Ogden this Saturday for his funeral :(

Then yesterday my mom found out she has a form of skin cancer. She had a mole looked at last week that her dr decided to biopsy, and it's cancerous. It isn't deadly, but it will be recurring. I am just sick of that stupid word cancer all together. It has claimed too many people in my life, and I hate it. It also makes me scared to death that I could get it since it is obviously so common in my family.

On a lighter note, my sister came over yesterday to pick up my nephew and she brought her stuff to wax my eyebrows. While we were at it we did Syd's for the first time too. She looks so much more grown up to me! See for yourself.....

I know she is only 9, but when you have an aunt who does that stuff for a living and you have your sperm donors bushy eyebrows/unibrow you have to tame them! We have started doing stuff to both my girls young. My sister likes to play with their hair. Tasia had highlights when she was only 2, and Syd had them for the 1st time at 3 and has had them quite a few times since. It's fun to do little girly things like that with them. Syd loves her eyebrows. I think they have always made her a little self-concious.

Valentine's weekend

2010-02-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

Anthony and I got to have a night to ourselves on Saturday night. The kids slept at Anth's parents house, and we went to the tattoo convention to get our tattoos. After I had been getting mine done for about 10 or 15 minutes the guy came and told Anth he was ready for him, so he had to leave me. I was a little nervous, but I made it through lol They both took about an hour to finish. Anth got Tasia's full name, and I think it's the first time he realized just how long her name really is! Mine is the angel wings with the nickname Syd gave my Grandma that stuck with her through all 3 of my kids. My Grandma used to sing Old McDonald with Syd all the time, but instead of singing E I E I O Syd would sing I E I E O so she started calling my Grandma Ahee since she associated her with that song. These pictures are right after they finished, so they are red and obviously have some healing to do. I think Anth's tattoo looks sexy!

Afterwards we went shopping for the kids. We got them each a stuffed animal and a cute little tin with some candy in it, and we bought a Wii for the family. I think Anth and I love it as much as the kids! We played bowling, tennis, baseball and golf together. Then after the kids went to bed Anth and I kicked each others butts at boxing lol It gives you a little bit of a workout, and my arms are a little sore. I think we need to do a family Wii party! We also got the new Super Mario. It's definitely a fun, classic game. I think the next game I want to get is Just Dance, and the Wii Fit.

What else is new???

2010-02-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

As always we have a busy weekend ahead. Syd and Dom had a birthday party last night. I ended up picking Dom up early though, because the girl whose birthday it was has this older brother (he's 13 and in junior high) that felt the need to pick on my son. Poor Dom was sitting on the curb wanting to come home. The dang kid bit him! That's right, a 13 year old BIT my 7 year old. The dang mom didn't do much about it either, and I was pissed so I went and got my son. Today we have baseball sign-ups for Dom, and after that we are going into Costco with my parents to stock up on groceries. Then we will come home, go pay bills, get kids ready and head to Sandy to drop them off so we can have our night out!!! We are going to dinner at the Olive Garden (one of my favorites!) and then heading to the tattoo expo. I think I am getting a tattoo that will be a tribute to my Grandma. I'm pretty excited! Anth still isn't sure what he's getting, or if he's getting anything at all. Stay tuned for pics!!!

Anastasia (Tasia)

2010-02-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

I just realized I haven't done my post that's strictly about Tasia! See what happens when you feel like life is shitting on you left and right. Oh well, we are working on getting back on track, so we shall see how things are over the next few weeks.

My little Tasia is the child who will give us a run for our money! She is extremely stubborn, and thinks she can run the household already. In fact, she thinks she is Dom and Syd's 3rd parent. Tasia is into everything girly. She loves Dora and the Disney Princesses. She loves makeup, and is constantly getting into mine. She has to have perfume put on her when I put mine on everyday. She likes me to put mascara on her when I am trying to do my makeup. Tasia is constantly walking around singing. She seemed to be the entertainment as we walked the aisles of Costco a few weeks ago. She was belting out "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus at the top of her lungs, and people just smiled and giggled at her. Tasia is extremely smart, and always has been. Her dr told me at her 1 year old check-up that she had a 2 year old vocabulary. She has recently learned to write her own name, and loves to try to write new letters everyday. She is also a little parrot. She pays attention to things that you would never know she was paying attention to. The other day we were sitting at a stop light, and when it turned green and nobody went she yelled "Green means go people!". Apparently she wanted to get somewhere, and they weren't moving fast enough for her. She is equally a mommy and daddy's girl. My mom would say she is a Grandma's girl, but I will have to argue with that. Tasia has a perfectly comfortable bed in her bedroom she shares with Sydney, but she insists on sleeping on a bed made out of blankets on Dom's bedroom floor. If she does decide to sleep in her room she still chooses to lay on the floor rather than her bed. She will argue that she isn't tired, so she doesn't want to nap or go to bed at night but within 10 minutes she is usually out cold. On the nights when she isn't tired she has a tendancy to get caught sneaking into candy or some other snack foods. She ate her whole bag of Halloween candy one night, and the next night she ate about 4 pieces of sandwich sliced cheese. Tasia is a dare devil child. She tries to climb and jump off of everything, and it doesn't even phase her. The kids went through a phase where they liked to watch Big Momma's House 2, and Tasia decided she was going to try to jump off the top bunk onto her mattress because the little boy on there jumps off of everything. Tasia doesn't have a favorite color. She just tells me that every color in the rainbow is her favorite. Tasia is VERY attached to her purple blanket. We have bought her many blankets, but for some reason it is the only one she will use. She likes to take it everywhere with her, and it gets dirty easy and we have to fight with her to wash it. She eventually agrees to let it be washed, but after about 10 minutes she is whining that she wants her blanket back. It makes for a very long process! Tasia is also helpful. She likes to help me clean up. She loves to help me with Boston. Anytime Boston cries she is the first one there trying to talk soft to her to get her to stop, or giving her a toy to try and make her happy. She loves to make Boston laugh, and she loves when Boston will give her hugs and kisses. I'm sure that as Boston gets older they will be good friends. Having Boston around makes me worry less about how Tasia will react when we have another baby. Tasia likes to sleep in her underwear. She has lots of cute little jammies, and we get her in them every night but they NEVER stay on her. As with all of my children, Tasia likes to have a routine. If we mess with her routine at all she can get pretty cranky. I'm sure that's her OCD coming out. She definitely shows characteristics of OCD like me. She has to put toys away just the same as they were when she took them out. She lines up everything...blocks, movie cases, shoes, pillows, bottles of shampoo, you name it she probably at some point has put them in a line across our floor. I think that about covers it for now. She is our little wild child, and we love every minute of it!

Have a good weekend

2010-02-05T06:41:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I've got a busy one ahead as usual. Saturday I am going to my cousin's baby shower with my mom in Ogden. After that she is taking me to the hospital out there, because my old step-dad (my mom and him were married from the time I was 6 until I was 13) isn't doing so well. They found out a couple of weeks ago that he has cancer, and it has spread extremely fast. In less than a year it has spread through basically his whole torso area and more. Anyway...he had a biopsy done Monday, and wasn't stable afterwards and has to stay in the hospital for a while. He only has an 8% chance to live with the cancer even, so I definitely need to get up there to see him. It's scary and hard, because it's been a lot like the situation with my Grandma. They said he had gallstones, he isn't eating and is starting to become dillusion, etc. It's making it all a little hard to deal with. On a brighter note, Syd is probably going ice fishing with my dad Saturday, and Anthony will be cleaning out the garage. Then Sunday, of course, is the Superbowl and I am pretty sure we are going to my parents to eat munchies and hang out. Neither of us are big football fans, and neither one of the teams is even the team Anth likes, but it'll still be nice to get together and hang out with family. I need to go start scrubbing the house (another inspection is coming next week). I have already warned Anth that when I pick him up today I probably won't even be showered yet...pretty nasty huh!!!

Rambling

2010-01-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

*There hasn't been a lot to post about lately that I care to discuss on a public blog, so I have just chose not to post at all. I know I suck, but things are looking up so hopefully there is more to post soon.

*Dom is finally getting a hair cut tonight, so I may post pics soon. I swear we were going to have to start calling him Dominique if we didn't get it cut. He's starting to look a little girly lol Ok maybe not quite that bad, but he definitely needs it done like yesterday!

*I am having a bit of a lazy day today. I spend all day everyday cleaning and doing laundry, so today I am just doing laundry and reading. The cleaning can wait until later or tomorrow. Maybe I can even convince the hubby to help me do some of it, so it'll go faster (as if there's that much to do lol)

*My parents got Dom his own ice fishing pole and his own little tackle box filled with different lures, so my dad promised to take him out again maybe this weekend. He loves going, and I love that he can share that special time with my dad.

*We have my little Boston's birthday party tomorrow. I know she isn't really mine, but since I spend all day 4 or 5 days a week with her I love her like she is mine. I can't believe she is already 1. This past year has sure gone by fast. I started watching her when she was only about 3 months old. After the party I think we are going to Sandy to spend some time with Anth's family since we haven't been out there since Christmas.

*We are anxiously waiting my W2 from my work-from-home job, so that we can submit our taxes and get that lovely big deposit into our account. We are paying off bills with it, so that we have little to no bills left. Not very exciting, but it'll make life a little less stressful. We are considering getting a Wii too. Anth has played one at his friend's house, and the kids play my nephews and love it so we are considering getting one. Maybe we can do some fun family get togethers with it!

*Like I said not much to post, and if you have stuck it out through my boring little rambling then you must be pretty bored yourself lol Anyway...hopefully there will be more to post soon. Maybe Anth and I will get to make a trip to the tattoo expo again this year, and I can post about that. I can't wait for my next tattoo. It's going to be a little bit of a tribute to my Grandma :)

Preschools

2010-01-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

My sister and I are looking for a preschool that we can put Tasia and Havyn in together out here in Stansbury since I have Havyn during the day. I have googled everything I can think of, and looked at Dexonline, and can't find anything. Does anyone know of any good preschools that don't cost an arm and a leg out here??? I don't want to go into one blind, so it'd be nice if I knew someone who took there kids there or someone who has heard about it from someone else even. The preschool Dom went to when he was 4 was great, but she doesn't do it anymore so it's out of the question. I took him to Kids Park when he was 3, but he didn't learn anything so I don't want to do Kids Park either. Any suggestions???

I love giveaways!!!

2010-01-25T06:23:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Andrea's blog, so I had to go check it out and I fell in love!!!! This blog fairywonderful.blogspot.com is having a giveaway of any pettiskirt of your choice. So all of you who love making your little ones look girly go check it out :)

Happy Birthday little man!!!

2010-01-22T07:42:00.001-08:00

My Dominic is 7 years old today! I really can't believe it. He is getting so big. It's kind of sad :( I always let the kids pick what they want for dinner on their birthdays, so tonight we are having pizza. Then we'll do cupcakes and his gifts from us. Then tomorrow we're having family over for cake and ice cream, so I'm sure there will be pictures to share! Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you :)

Mommy daughter day

2010-01-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Syd and I had a little bit of mom and daughter time. Anth was off for Martin Luther King Day, so he stayed with the other kids and we went and got our hair done. I hate pictures of myself, so you just get to see Syd's new do. Eventually I'm sure mine will get put on here, but I can't make any promises when lol We cut Syd's in an A-line (short hair just looks really good on her), and we added blonde highlights. She looks grown up to me *tear*, but she is almost 10 so I guess that's going to happen right :)

Dominic

2010-01-15T14:58:00.001-08:00

In keeping up with the posts about personalities and all that fun stuff it's Dominic's turn...

Dominic is my mama's boy! He is extremely loving. He is my first child to remember to hug and kiss us before bed each night, and a lot of times he comes back for a second hug before finally heading to bed. Dom can be very shy at times (until he gets to know you), and he doesn't really like to be the center of attention. He gets nervous easily. He also cries easily. Not one of my favorite things to deal with. It's not just one of those little cries, it's a you're murdering me type of cry. I really hope he grows out of it soon! He likes to color, but doesn't like to let people see him color because he has familial tremors and is VERY self-concious about them. However, he makes sure to concentrate really hard when he is coloring or writing, because of his tremors and he does very well at both. Dominic is all boy!!! He is into all the blow up, fighting crazy type movies. Some of his favorites are Transformers, GI Joe, Iron Man, Spiderman etc. He can watch them nonstop over and over again. He likes to play video games, but would rather be outside running around or riding bikes and scooters. He loves baseball, and he has a really good arm for someone his age and even for someone a few years older. He will go far if he continues to pursue baseball throughout his life. Dominic has my OCD lol He has to have things just right or he gets frustrated. He likes to clean his room, so it's exactly the way he wants it. If people help him clean and they don't put things where he wants them, he will move them to where they should go. Dominic has little to no patience, but when he is fishing he has more patience than anyone I know. He can sit still for hours and watch the line, and just wait for the fish to bite. Even if they don't he enjoys himself. He has a short temper with some people, but when it comes to Tasia his temper doesn't come out as much. Dom likes just about any food you put in front of him except fried potatoes. I don't know what it is about them, but he can't stand them. He isn't a fan of hot foods either, so he complains when Anth cooks because everything he cooks is hot lol When you do give him food that he likes he can eat more than I can! I don't know where it all goes, because he is a skinny little man. I think he ate 3 plates full of food last night. I wish I had his metabolism! He isn't big on sweets. He will eat them, but he is perfectly happy without them too. My little man will be 7 next week. That sounds so big to me. Six still seems like a little boy, but 7 sounds so much more grown up!

The stress diet lol

2010-01-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy dealing with stuff between my Grandma passing away and Anth getting into an accident that I don't eat as much. I'm not snacking as often, because I generally snack when I am bored and I don't have enough time to be bored anymore. I forget to eat sometimes. I know that sounds stupid, but it can be bedtime and I'll realize all I've eaten all day is a roll or something else equally as small. Apparently the stress diet is working for me though, because I got on the scale yesterday and I have lost 14 lbs!!! Now I know that not eating isn't good for you, but the not snacking as often is a good thing. Hopefully when life gets back to normal I can continue to watch what I eat more, and continue to lose weight. I love seeing that ugly number get lower when I weigh myself!

NEW CAR!!!!

2010-01-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

YAY!!! It was a long day, but well worth it. I love our new car! It has plenty of room for us and one more when we have him/her. Plus I really like the color. Anth says it's army green, but I like it because it isn't your normal everyday green. Also there is that wonderful bonus that we are no longer CARLESS!!!! We got a great deal too, so that's always nice. We owe less on this car then we owed on our Trailblazer, and it's a newer model and has less miles. Can't go wrong in any of that.

Personalities, likes and dislikes

2010-01-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

On my blog I always seem to document the things we are doing, but not really any individual person and the things they like or dislike or their own personalities. It's something that I want to remember as they grow, so my goal for this year is to at least every 3 months update on those things that make my kids who they are. I will probably focus on Anth too, but I'm not one to talk about myself much so you won't get much of the ins and outs of Angela.

Today I will start with Syd...

Sydney has such a tender heart. She loves everyone, and she treats everyone very well (except maybe her brother, they fight ALL the time). She gets her feelings hurt really easily, so you have to be careful what you do or say so she doesn't take it out of context. She is also very careful not to hurt other peoples feelings, because if she does she also gets upset. She is an amazing reader, and is well above her grade level at it. She doesn't throw anything away, and sometimes that's one of our biggest fights but she'll learn as she gets older. Syd loves to spend time with family. Family movie nights are some of her favorite times. She is starting to become quite a bit more mature. She is right at the age where she isn't a kid anymore, but isn't quite a teen. She still loves some toys, but is growing out of most of them. She has taken quite a major liking to Aeropostale clothes and peace signs lately. All she wanted for Christmas were shirts from Aeropostale, so she was kind of hard to shop for because we didn't want her to not have something to play with when Tasia and Dom asked for a bunch of toys. Syd is REALLY into music! She constantly has her radio going, or has a cd playing while she is in her room. She knows the words to the songs I listen to more than I do now. On New Year's Eve we were watching the thing in Time Square and a song came on I had never even heard, and Syd knew every word to it. It kind of made me feel old lol She also loves to dance around, and just be goofy. We are going to put her in a cheerleading group out here, because it would be perfect for her! Sydney is getting pretty tall! She is my long and skinny girl. I sat on the floor by her the other day, and she was as tall as me sitting. I'm pretty sure she will pass me up one day :( Syd is also pretty indecisive. She does better not to have too many options to chose from, because if she does it could take a while for her to choose. She always wants to be sure that she makes the right decision, so she wavers back and forth between things a lot. I think that pretty much sums her up for now. She is my beautiful preteen, and although I am sad to see her grow I can't wait to see the things she will continue to accomplish as she grows up!

Car search

2010-01-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

We got the phone call yesterday about what they are paying for our Trailblazer, so now it's time to really get searching for another vehicle. It's only been 2 weeks since Anth's accident (tomorrow is exactly 2 weeks), but it feels like forever when you don't have a car to get you around to the places you need to go. We considered getting a car instead of an SUV this time, but really with the 3 kids and the fact that we do eventually want another one it's going to be best to go with another SUV. I don't want to have to trade a car in and end up upside down in our next car, so we'll just cut out that middle step lol Besides I really liked that I could seperate the kids in our Trailblazer, because when all 3 of them sat right next to each other in it, it was a NONSTOP fight no matter where we went. They just seemed to get on each others nerves when they were sitting so close to each other. So for my sanity, and the sake of not having to look for another new car before we are ready we will just go with the SUV now. Wish us luck!

Royal treatment...

2010-01-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

My dad invited Dom and my nephew to go out ice fishing with him, but my nephew couldn't go so it ended up being just Dom and my dad. Dom LOVED every minute of it!!! My dad called Saturday afternoon and asked if he could just come get Dom that night, so he could sleepover and my dad wouldn't have to wake us up early Sunday morning. My parents picked Dom up at about 7 that night, and headed straight for Walmart. Dom couldn't find his beanie, so my dad decided to buy him a new one and let him pick any beanie he wanted (he chose a GI Joe one). Then they went to the snack aisle, and my dad let Dom pick all the snacks for the next day. Once they got to my parents my dad made popcorn and let Dom chose some cartoons to watch until bedtime. The woke up early in the morning, got ready and headed to McDonald's for breakfast, and then they were off to Vernon. They spent all day out on the ice, and Dom still wasn't ready to come home. My dad drilled him his own hole to fish through, and Dom caught about 8 fish himself but most of them were to small to keep so they put them back. When they headed home they stopped at my parents again, so my dad could show Dom how to gut his fish. Fun huh lol My little man is pretty proud of himself, and can't wait to go fishing again. If the weather is good they are going out next Saturday. Here is a picture of Dom's first fish he's ever caught....

A little Christmas...

2009-12-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Despite everything Anth and I did what we could to put on a happy face, and make Christmas great for our kids. We started out with opening gifts from Santa at home. My living room looked liked we hadn't cleaned in a year, because there was paper and toys everywhere! After the kids played for a little bit, and we got ready and went to my parents for our traditional breakfast casserole and orange julius' and presents. The kids got spoiled from them as usual. Syd got a Super Mario game for her DS, and I think I have played it as much as she has if not more lol She didn't get a whole lot of toys this year, because she is starting to be more grown up. She cared more about the clothes and purse and all that kind of stuff than she did the toys. My mom let us use her car to go out to Sandy to visit with Anth's family, so we ate dinner and did gifts with them too. All in all the kids got everything they wanted and practically a whole new wardrobe! I hope you all had great Christmas' with your families too. Tomorrow it is back to the real world dealing with insurance, cleaning out our car and starting our search for a new one :(

P.S. Today is my nephew Gabe's 7th birthday, so happy birthday buddy! We hope it's a great one. We love you very much!

I can't believe he is alive...God must be watching over him

2009-12-25T20:55:00.000-08:00

You know how they say that God will never give us more than we can handle...well he must have a hell of a lot more faith in me than I have in myself. Guess what God, I have had more than I can take so PLEASE quit putting more on my plate!!!

Anth was on his way home from Grantsville Wednesday night when he hit some ice, and slammed into a tree going 45 MPH!!! He hit so hard that the steering wheel bent in towards the dashboard. A cop had someone pulled over just down the road, and as soon as he saw it happen he left that person and hurried to help Anth. He was unresponsive at first, and as they were about to start cutting him out of the vehicle he came to and was able to tell him he was ok. He walked away with nothing more than some bruising and a mild concussion. He has very little memory of it, but they aren't surprised by that. Just last night he remembered that when he hit it felt like someone hit him with a sledge hammer. Getting that call to meet them at the hospital was the worst call a wife could EVER receive. I swear to God after seeing my car on Thursday I don't know how he lived through it. He got extremely lucky!!! I wanted to puke when I saw it, and I have been having nightmares about the wreck over and over again. I can't tell you how thankful I am that my husband lived through something like that. We went to the accident site yesterday, and the tree didn't even sustain any damage. It was our only vehicle, so we are kind of SOL for a little while. I have already called insurance to get things processed as quickly as we can, but it won't be fast enough. My mom has helped us out by giving us rides the last few days and letting us use her car, but that's not something that's going to work forever. I contacted the company where we got our Trailblazer, and they have some SUV's with 3rd row seats that we might look into getting. We are kind of at a stand still though until we know what is going to be paid on our current loan. I really think I have prayed more in the last month than I ever have, and probably in the last couple days more than anything. I kept just thanking God that my husband was alive as I drove my mom's car to the hospital that night (she kept my kids, so they didn't have to see Anth in the hospital). I refuse to let my kids see this picture of our car, because I think it would freak them out worse than it did me. God and some guardian angels must have been watching over Anth that night. There is no other explanation of how he came out of that wreck. God believes that there is a reason Anth is on this Earth, because if he didn't he would have left us on Wednesday night :(

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

I just want to tell you all I hope you have a great Christmas! I'm not much in the mood this year, but am definitely doing the best to not let my kids see that. We will be spending the day baking cookies for Santa and decorating our gingerbread house :)

Lack of sleep and a 20 year anniversary

2009-12-23T08:07:00.001-08:00

I have not had a good nights sleep in almost a month, and it's really wearing on me. Most nights I lay in bed in the dark and a million thoughts run through my head. If I happen to be lucky enough to go straight to sleep, it's a restless sleep. The other night I didn't get to sleep until 12:30, and when Anth's alarm went off at 4:50 I felt like I had had about 2 minutes of sleep. It's really wearing me down, and it's making me not much in the Christmas spirit since I have no energy. I am still doing activities such as decorating a gingergread house and baking cookies with my kids, but I just feel like I am not into it this year. I have tried taking Advil PM, because I heard it doesn't give you that horrible can't wake up feeling the next morning like Tylenol PM does. It didn't even work at all though. I still lay awake forever trying to fall asleep. Does anyone know of any OTC suggestions I could try? I don't want to have to go to a dr for it, but if I don't find something soon I'm going to have to because last night I laid awake crying because I was so frustrated. A friend of mine suggested some night tea they have at GNC, and if it comes down to it I will try that but I hate tea so I would have to literally gag it down :(

On a completely different note, it has been 20 years ago today that my Grandma Busico passed away. She is another testament that you NEED to go to the dr. She didn't believe in vaccinations, or going to the dr for anything routine. She would only go if she was extremely sick. She started with cervical cancer which we all know can be caught if we do our yearly exams, but since she didn't, before they could catch it it had spread through her entire body. So again, PLEASE do your routine check-ups for everything you should. I remember my Grandma Busico passing away being one of the 3 times I have ever seen my Dad cry. The second was when I told him I was pregnant with Syd, and the 3rd was when my Grandma passed away just recently. It reminded him a lot of his mom. I don't remember my Grandma Busico a whole lot, unfortunately. I lived in Ogden my whole life until I was 14, so I only saw her a couple times a year when I would come spend time with my Dad. I do remember that she was a neat freak big time. I'm sure that's where me and my dad get it from. She was a loud person. She was German, so even when she spoke it seemed as though she were yelling. She lived for her kids and her grandkids. In her eyes, us grandkids could do no wrong. Although I didn't know her, I still miss her. I hope her and my Grandma Lue are hanging out together keeping an eye on all of us, and hanging out until we can all be together again someday.

Most amazing picture EVER!!!

2009-12-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

My Uncle Jerel took a photo of my Grandma from my wedding, and photoshopped it to look like the most amazing picture I have ever seen. He had one framed and displayed it at her services for us, and just sent us the link to be able to share it with everyone (and print one out for ourselves!). I can't wait to print mine, and hang it in my house for everyone to see :)

Santa video

2009-12-18T09:07:00.000-08:00

My friend Erin made a post about this site...www.portablenorth.tv/home/. You can upload info so Santa will send a personal message to your kids. I checked it out, and think I'm going to do it for my kids. It looks pretty neat, so I wanted to share it with you guys to do for your kids if you'd like to.

Happy 101

2009-12-18T08:19:00.000-08:00

Hayley at Gone with the Twins kindly gave me this award, so I am going to keep it going. Everyone could use a little award once in a while to make our day right!

Here are the rules... list 10 things that make you happy, and try to make one of those things something that happened for/to you today, and then tag your 5 bloggers that make you smile to win said award and keep the awards going!

1.The thing that made me happy for today was waking up next to my hubby! Anth leaves for work at 5:30 most mornings, so on the mornings he doesn't have to work I love rolling over when the alarm goes off and seeing him laying next to me!

2. I love seeing how much my kids have grown up! The last few days I have noticed that Syd seems to be growing into her body, and becoming a really beautiful pre-teen. She cares more about how she looks, and what she wears lately and although that scares me a little I can't believe how much she has grown just this year. Dominic is learning more and more everyday. I was watching him read this morning, and I couldn't believe some of the words that were a piece of cake for him to read. I'm not quite ready for him to be so big yet. Then there is my little Tasia. My little spitfire attitude child. I love her death! She is going to give us a run for our money, but she amazes me everyday with the things she says and does.

3. I am unbelievable thankful for my entire family. They have all been SO supportive with my Grandma passing away, and I don't know how I could have made it through without them. We all sat around and talked about memories of my Grandma. There were constant text messages from each other asking how we were doing. My Aunt Dolores made a big meal for all of us, and sent my mom some pretty flowers. Anth's mom kept the kids while we were in the hospital that last day with my Grandma sitting by her bedside while she passed, and she also kept them overnight so I could have a night to relax. That helped so much! I couldn't ask for a better family than the one I have. On the same note, I am also thankful for the friends who have been there and supported me through such a rough time!

4. I love getting my hair and nails done. Thank goodness for my sister doing my hair for free, or I couldn't do it as often as I like. I feel like those are the things I can do for myself to make myself feel girly and pretty. Also I feel like taking care of myself is a good way to keep my hubby happy. A lot of times I think we let ourselves go, but I think in order to have a happy family and happy marriage you have to take care of yourself sometimes too. You have to feel good about yourself, and not down about how you look. That may sound snobby, but think about it...if you don't like they way you look and are feeling bad about yourself you aren't in a very cheerful mood and your bad mood will rub off on your family or people around you. So taking care of ourselves is definitely a must!

5. Italian food definitely has to be on my list! I love when we have our Busico family Christmas party, and my Grandpa Tony makes his famous Italian meatballs. NOBODY can make meatballs like he can. I love all the other dishes too! The lasagna, the spaghetti...there are so many to name. My mouth is watering just thinking about it all lol

6. I love quiet rainy days. I love the calm that seems to fall over things when it rains. I love when it is warm enough during the rain to open my windows, and let the smell of rain into my house. I love that rainy days are the perfect day to just lay on the couch and watch a movie or read a book.

7. I love waking up to a clean house. It seems to start my day off so much more relaxed, because I don't feel like I have a million things I need to do. Then I can spend more time with my kids.

8. I love listening to Tasia and my nephew Havyn play with each other. They say some of the funniest things, and they are really lovey and nice to each other when they think nobody is watching or listening lol Today when Havyn got here Tasia walked up to him and told him she had missed him. I love their sweet innocence!

9. I love hugs and kisses from my kids and my husband. I hope that as my kids get older they won't feel like giving me hugs and kisses is dumb anymore, because it will make me sad. I love when they come up and just want to sit in my lap and cuddle with me while we watch TV or while I am reading to them. I think that kisses and hugs from Anth show more affection than anything else in the world can.

10. Last, but not least I love alone time with Anth and my kids. It doesn't happen very often for any of us, but I love when we can just hang out and spend some one-on-one time talking to each other. Dominic almost always wakes up about half an hour before he has to be up for school, and we have had some of our best talks during that time. Sydney and I usually get our time in after school for a little bit, and I love to hear about all the things she did at school that day. Or even the things that she considers "drama" with her friends. Tasia and I get our one-on-one time during naptime. A lot of times she doesn't fall asleep, so she will come cuddle on the couch with me and we will watch a movie together. Anth and I try to make it a point to get that one-on-one time after the kids go to bed each night even if just for a short time. Occaisionally, we get a sitter and will just go to dinner then come home to just spend some nice quiet time without the kids. Life is hectic, so it's all those times with each of them that I cherish the most :)

Now I hope that those of you I tag will keep the award going. I would love to hear all the things that make you guys happy! I tag....

1. Bethany at The Grundvig's
2. Melissa at Enjoy...for these are the days (I know Hayley tagged her too, but oh well lol)
3. Angie at R & A Curtis
4. Erin at Derek and Erin
5. Joanna at The Carter Family

Have fun guys!

P.S. I took out my extensions today to give my hair a break, and I feel completely bald!!!! I need a trim, and we need to dye my hair again to make it match the extensions because my hair has faded.

It happened...

2009-12-17T07:19:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have dreaded most happened last night. You will probably think I am crazy, but oh well I don't care lol Dom came in last night after we had gone to bed, and said Tasia had gotten the scissors and was cutting a bunch of paper. I went in to take them from her, and I could see hair everywhere. I kept looking for a doll hoping she had cut it's hair, but I eventually had to look at her and unfortunately it wasn't the doll's hair she cut :( I love Tasia's hair! It's down to her waist, thick and pretty, and I didn't want to cut it at all (just trims)! I have always told her that only Aunt Stephy is allowed to cut her hair, and that she is only allowed to use scissors with mom or dad's help. Apparently no matter how hard I tried it was going to happen anyway. I know all little girls do it, but I was hoping to prevent it with her. Luckily it's just in the front, and I think my sister can just do some layers to fix it. I will literally cry if we have to take any length off the back. I got teary-eyed last night when I saw it at first. You can think I am crazy if you want, but like I said I really love how pretty her hair is!

I must be losing my mind :)

2009-12-14T08:25:00.000-08:00

It's official I am losing my mind!!! Anthony has talked about doing the Ultimate Combat fighting since I met him (For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the Salt Lake version of UFC). I have always told him NO WAY!!! It's ok to watch other people do it, but there is no way I could watch my husband be up in that ring. Well lately he has been bugging about it more and more, so I finally gave in...well kind of. I told him that if I see him put in a good effort to train and workout for at least 2 months that we would talk about it after the 2 months is up. I don't want him to go in there clueless like some people do, and think that it's just like street fighting. It's way more technical than that, and I want to know that he has at least the basics to know what to do in the different circumstances he could be put into. He wants to lose more weight before he does it, so that he is in a lower weight class too. I don't want him starving to lose weight, so I told him he has to do that the healthy way too for me to consider giving into him doing it. That kind of makes me sound like a psycho wife, but really that's not what I am doing. I just want him to do things the right way, and not just jump into it because it looks like fun. I wanted him to stop after the first time if he loses, but he wants to do it at least one more time if he loses so he can try to improve on the things that caused his first loss for the second fight. I don't know where this is going to go, but I know I am going to be a nervous wreck if he does end up doing it!

Christmas program

2009-12-14T08:03:00.000-08:00

Sydney and Dominic had their Christmas program at their church last night. It was really good! They got to be little angels who came down to see the birth of baby Jesus. They both did really well, and I was definitely proud of them. Dom would sing really loud until he noticed one of us looking right at him, and he'd get shy and put his head down. When the girl who played Mary came out holding a baby Tasia was convinced that it was the real baby Jesus and she wouldn't stop freaking out, because she wanted to see baby Jesus! We had to track the girl down after the program, so that we could show Tasia it was just a doll lol

Taking a que from Hayley...

2009-12-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Once in a while Hayley posts some random thoughts she is having, and right now I have about a million of them running through my head so I'm going to post mine too.

*Why is it that I can clean all day long, and by the next day or even within hours you can't even tell I cleaned???

*I feel like I have so much to do to get ready for Christmas still, and I don't even know where to start. We have been a little sidetracked, and although I had every intention of having my shopping done by now I don't. I have 1 gift for Dom and Tasia, and 2 for Syd. We haven't even started on stockings. I want to go shopping this weekend, but I don't want to put up with the crowds. Syd wants some shirts from Aeropostale though, so I may just have to suck it up and deal with it because they have their stuff 50-70% off right now. I'd be crazy to pass up a deal like that.

*Money is seriously the root of all evil! If life didn't revolve around who could afford to do what or get what with their money I think people wouldn't be nearly as stressed out or depressed, and the world would be a better place.

*I am sad to go say goodbye to my Aunt Jeri tonight. She is the last one of my mom's siblings here from out-of-state, but she leaves tomorrow so we are going to go over there and visit with her before she goes.

*I need a vacation!!! I need to just get away from here and focus on having a good time with my kids and my husband. When I am at home I stress so bad about everything, and I think getting away to a different environment would do us all some good.

*I love Christmastime!!! I don't like that it is so cold, but I love all of the traditions and the lights and spending time with family. Some of our traditions are: Christmas Eve pjs (just like a lot of other people), baking a cake for Jesus' birthday to remind my kids that Christmas is about more than just presents, breakfast casserole and orange julius on Christmas morning at my parents...there are a ton more, but I will stop there. I would love to hear about some of everyone elses traditions too!

*This holiday season is going to be a hard one, but I know if we are all there for each other we will make it through it. My mom is used to going to Ogden on Christmas Eve to pick up my Grandma, so she can come out here and spend Christmas with us. She even buys my Grandma a new pair of Christmas pjs like the rest of us. I want to try to think of something to keep her busy, so that she doesn't get too depressed on Christmas Eve thinking about all of that :( We bake the cake on Christmas Eve, but that doesn't take very long. Any ideas???

Stupid computer!!!

2009-12-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Aren't computers suppose to make our lives easier??? Well 2 days ago I got a message saying I had a trojan virus (thanks to limewire!). No big deal right. All I have to do is dump my computer which should be easy since I have a disc I just put in that does it for me....WRONG!!!! The dumb disc wouldn't work. I tried it for 2 days. Then my aunt told me she had a link for a program that you download and it does it for you. No such luck with that either. Finally this morning I decided to give my disc one last try, and if it didn't work I was asking Hayley (yep I said you Hayley) to ask your tech savvy hubby how I can do it another way. Low and behold the last time it worked, and now I don't have to bug Hayley and her hubby for help. Then when I get it all up and running the stupid arrow for my mouse is missing. It would move across things, but I couldn't tell where it was until something lit up because I couldn't see the arrow. I had to shut it down again, and it finally magically reappeared! I was ready to throw this stupid thing through the window after 2 days of fighting with it.

Trip down memory lane!

2009-12-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

Obviously we have been going through my Grandma's stuff trying to get rid of things we can, and keeping things we want. Well my Grandma had a ton on videos, and since my girls have a VCR (I know old school right!) in their room my mom let us take them. There's a lot of Disney movies and stuff in there, but I also found some of my old dance tapes. I watched them, and all I could do was laugh. My very first performance from when I was like 5 or 6 was on one of them. There were dances to Can't Touch This, Good Vibrations by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and also The Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block LOL I laughed so hard watching them! Of course there was the crazy makeup and hair that contributed to all that laughing. I needed that laugh too. I'm sure some of my friends from Ogden will read this, and remember those days as well as I do!

We had services for my Grandma on Thursday, and it turned out really nice. She would have been proud! My Uncle Jerel took a picture of my Grandma and photoshopped it so that it looks like Jesus is standing next to her looking at her, and putting his hand on her shoulder. It is the neatest picture I have ever seen in my life. He is suppose to email us a copy of it, so as soon as he does I will post it. I hope you all had a great weekend! We spent it putting up Christmas decorations, and decorationg gingerbread men cookies :)

Going through the motions

2009-12-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Things have been so crazy busy since my Grandma passed away that I don't think it has truly hit me yet. On Sunday I was a walking zombie (I don't remember the drive to and from Sandy to get our kids), but since then it has been nothing but getting together with family and trying to get things figured out. Yesterday was hard, because everyone but me was in Ogden cleaning my Grandma's house. I was really on the fence of whether or not it was something I even wanted to be involved in, but I did want to be there to have the comfort of being around family. I was tending and when the kids laid down for a nap I felt really lonely. I had a bit of a breakdown last night at bedtime too. Tomorrow is my Grandma's "celebration of life". She didn't want a funeral. She wanted us to do a get together, and celebrate her life and how she impacted each one of us rather than sit around and cry for hours. After that when everyone leaves and I don't have stuff to do every single night I am scared that it's going to get even harder :(

"Holes in the Floor of Heaven"

2009-12-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

I am the type of person who relates music to life events, and right now this is the song that seems to fit best with my life.....

Holes in the Floor of Heaven by Phil Vassar

One day shy of eight years old,
when grandma passed away.
I was a broken heart little boy,
Blowing out that birthday cake.
How I cried when the sky let go,
With a cold and lonesome rain.
My mom smiled, said: "Don't be sad child.
"Grandma's watching you today."

Cuz there's holes in the floor of Heaven,
And her tears are pouring down.
That's how you know she's watching,
Wishing she could be here now.
And sometimes if you're lonely,
Just remember she can see.
There's holes in the floor of Heaven
And she's watching over you and me.

Seasons come and seasons go,
Nothings stays the same,
I grew up, fell in love,
Met a girl who took my name.
Year by year, we made a life,
In this sleepy little town.
I thought we'd grow old together,
Lord, I sure do miss her now.

But there's holes in the floor of Heaven,
And her tears are pouring down.
That's how I know she's watching,
Wishing she could be here now.
And sometimes when I'm lonely,
I remember she can see.
There's holes in the floor of Heaven,
And she's watching over you and me.

Well my little girl is 23,
I walk her down the aisle.
It's a shame her Mom can't be here now,
To see her lovely smiles.
The throw the rice, I catch her eye,
As the rain starts coming down.
She takes me hand; says: "Daddy don't be sad,
"Cuz I know Mama's watching now."

And there's holes in the floor of Heaven
And her tears are puring down.
That's how you know she's watching,
Wishing she could be here now.
And sometimes when I'm lonely,
I just remember she can see.
Yes, there's holes in the floor of Heaven,
And she's watching over you and me.

The power of God

2009-11-30T10:12:00.001-08:00

Most of you know by now that my Grandma passed away on Saturday afternoon. It was extremely hard and I miss her more than I ever could have imagined. This is a long story, so sit back and relax. The ending is nothing short of amazing though, so it's worth it.

On Friday my Grandma had been having pain 10 times worse than it have ever been before. The dr decided to run some more xrays to try and figure out what was going on. He also put a feeding tube in her nose, because she still wasn't eating anything at all. When they got the results of her xrays there were multiple hip and pelvic fractures that hadn't been there that hadn't been there when they took xrays on Wednesday. Obviously they needed to look into it more, so they had to run even more tests on her. Saturday morning my mom called me at 6 in the morning and said it wasn't good at all. My Grandma was diagnosed with blood cancer that was going through her body and braking all of her bones :( Their options were to keep her on pain meds and since her body can't metabloize it she would go fast, or take her off of the meds and she would suffer but her life would be prolonged. Obviously we aren't heartless, so we chose to keep her on pain meds. She had also started having what they call the death rattle. It just sounds like when you have a rattle and need to cough. I went right away to the hospital with my parents, so I could be with her. When I walked into that room it wasn't my Grandma I was looking at. She was scary thin and yellow. She was moaning in pain and struggling to breath, and she had that ugly tube coming out of her nose. The dr and a nurse came in about a half an hour after we got there, and told us that lab results showed she only had hours left to live. They wanted to know if they could take the tube out of her nose, keep her on pain meds and agitation meds to just keep her comfortable while she went. We agreed that would be best for her, so from there on out that's what they did. We called all our family, so they could come say goodbye. I even called Anth, so that he could get a sitter and come be with me because I knew I couldn't go through it without him. Even though she had been sleeping all day I like to think she felt us there with her. Anyway...all day long she had been struggling to breathe and moaning while she slept. It was really hard to listen to her, but the dr and nurses all said she was comfortable and fine and all of us continued to sit with her all day long. About 4:15 in the afternoon 2 of my cousins husbands came to give her a final blessing. I sat and held her hand as they did and just watched her. You could feel everything get really calm about halfway through the blessing, and my Grandma's breathing even started to calm down and become quieter. Once they finished the blessing I continued to sit with her. I rubbed her hair and told her I loved her, and my mom laid on her and cried. I felt so bad for her. I tried to comfort her, but I knew nothing I said would. My mom and I both looked at my Grandma and one single tear came out of her eye, and then she took her last breath. It was nothing short of amazing! She had been struggling all day, and within minutes of that final blessing she just had that one tear, and then she was gone. I know it's sad, but God was there with us. I don't care how religious you are, or even what religion you practice that was a very spiritual experience. I will miss my Grandma like crazy for as long as I live, but that experience helped comfort me, because she was so peaceful and I know God was there the entire time!

It's really hard

2009-11-27T09:26:00.001-08:00

I know right now everyone is trying to be all positive and uplifting, but with the situation at hand I just don't think I can. I'm just going to apologize right now for all my negativeness (if that's even a word). Yes I am thankful for all the great things and people that I have in my life, but one of the most important people in my life is not ok right now so it's taking it's toll on me. My grandma ended up being admitted to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. They have ran tons of tests and poked and prodded at her nonstop. They took away all of her dignity, and they continue to use her as a pincushion. Her sugars were scary low, and that was what was causing her dilusions. They have to poke her every hour to check her blood sugars. We were told yesterday that she has advanced liver failure. Her liver is dying, and she is too old for a transplant. Unless one of us can donate to her (if it's even an option) then we are losing her. We don't know how fast it's going to be, but she is in pain. Apparently your liver dying is a VERY painful process. Since her liver is dying toxins are being released into her body which is causing her to feel sick. Since she is sick she doesn't want to eat, and since she isn't eating her sugar levels are low. She is dehydrated, and no amount of water is helping. She is retaining water in her legs and hands which just baffles me since she is dehydrated. I'm confused and upset, and I just keep hoping and praying that when the specialist comes in today he can give us good news about one of us being able to donate. As far as I know many of us are willing to. Anth and I have talked about me possibly donating. He was surprised that was something I would do, but my grandma is like my second mom and I can't stand the thought of losing her. Please continue to keep her in your prayers, because really at this point it's all we can do :(

Prayers needed again

2009-11-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

My Grandma is going downhill fast, and I would really appreciate prayers from anyone who is willing to help. Since her recent diagnosis she has slept for days at a time. She doesn't know what day it is even, and since she doesn't know what day it is she will think she has taken her medication when she really hasn't. My Aunt Jennifer is out here for the week to help her. She just text my mom and told her that my Grandma can no longer be left alone. She is too nauseous to eat and she isn't taking her meds, and she has asked my Aunt multiple times where she is. My family and I are extremely worried about her, and we don't know what is going to happen. When my Aunt leaves on Friday my Grandma is going to have to come stay with my parents, but we are just going to have to play it by ear from there on out.

I want, I want, I want!

2009-11-23T12:45:00.000-08:00

Anthony and I have been talking about buying a house a lot lately, and I have been getting online to look at houses available and I WANT one now lol That sounds really bratty of me doesn't it. I would love to stay in Stansbury, but I don't know. Anth wants a house that needs a little work done to it, so that he can fix it up and make it our own. I am ok with that. I would love to take a HUD home (depending on the shape it's in), and fix it up. I found one house on utahrealestate.com. It's a HUD home for only $114,900. It has 5 bedrooms and 1 and 3/4 baths. It needs some work in the yard which is great because Anth really wants to do our landscaping himself, and some definite painting done to it (the kitchen is flourescent green!!!), but other than that it looks great. Anth says to call on it, so we'll just have to see I guess. My friend's uncle actually use to own the house and she says it has a big basement. Sounds perfect for Anth's "man cave" that he wants! Now is such a great time to buy with the first time home buyer tax credit being extended until June too. A lot of things point to it being a great time for us to buy, so we'll just have to do a little more research to make sure we are ready!

Not at all what we were thinking!!!

2009-11-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

My Grandma finally went to the dr yesterday to get the results from her CT scan, and to figure out why she is still in so much pain when she pulled her muscle a month and a half ago. They had originally thought she was having problems with her pancreas and that she had a pulled groin muscle, but that's not the case at all! She has a swollen liver from bile stones. She has osteoporosis, and she has a broken bone in her back! No wonder the poor lady can barely move. They won't do surgery on her back, so I don't know what they are going to do for her besides pain meds. They gave her other meds to take care of her other problems, so basically she is a walking pharmacy now.

Today I am thankful for...

*The sweet text messages that I woke up to from my husband.
*Self-control
*Grandparents who are willing to tend, so my hubby and I can have date nights
*Heart-to-heart talks with good friends
*Cuddling with my babies
*All the "spunky" little attitudes in this house that keep me laughing

I love my hubby!!!

2009-11-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

I just had to get on here and brag to all of you about what a great husband I have! Anth knows I have been stressed lately about keeping everything perfect for inspection, and he also knows how much I LOVE the Twilight series. So today he calls me on his break to surprise me and tell me that he arranged for his mom to tend (Thanks Cindie!), so that he can take me out to dinner on Saturday and to go see New Moon. I can't wait! I'm sure New Moon will be packed, and we will have to buy our tickets early but I don't even care. I couldn't ask for a more thoughtful husband!

2 down and 3 to go

2009-11-17T09:08:00.000-08:00

Syd woke up with a really sore throat today. She has been exposed to swine flu and strep throat, so it could be either or it could be nothing. Obviously I am hoping for nothing, but you never really know. THIS is one reason why I hate the cold seasons. Everyone gets sick, and unfortunately there aren't many ways to avoid it.

Today I am thankful for...

*Warm baths to soak in
*Church for my family to learn
*Plants to bring life and color into our home
*My nephews who, although wild, know how to give us all a good laugh!
*Juice to give my family vitamins to help them get over sickness
*Innocence...it's rare in kids anymore, but I am so glad that my kids still have it

7 stitches later

2009-11-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Anth, being the nice husband that he is, was cleaning the house for me today while I was at my purse party. While he was cleaning a mirror that we have somehow a big chunk broke off, and it sliced his finger! That man is SO accident prone. I swear as soon as he gets over one injury he is on to his next. We took him to the ER, and luckily they weren't too busy. The nurse that cleaned him up and got him ready for stitches wasn't exactly bright though. She didn't numb him before she cleaned the cut, so the poor guy had to deal with the pain of the soap and her scrubbing. Then she couldn't figure out how to wrap it once the dr was done. I really think Tasia could've done a better job wrapping it lol Anyway...the dr said the skin won't make it, so it will eventually shrivel up and fall off. Gross huh! For now it is serving as a protective layer to the exposed tissue underneath until it can heal. The nurse who checked him in said she thought his visit should be free since he was cleaning the house. Wouldn't it be nice if that were really the case???

Swine flu

2009-11-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

Yes folks, the swine flu has started it's rounds in the Quintana household. Saturday night we all went to dinner then my oldest sister got it, my little sister got it, her boyfriend got it and now my baby has it :( She has had a horribly high fever that has her laying around doing nothing. It takes motrin and tylenol a full hour to bring the fever down. Once it's down she is ok, but it sure kicks her butt when it is up. Her dr also told us we need to watch for signs on pnuemonia, because she doesn't have a booger nose but she is coughing stuff up (gross I know) which means it is in her lungs. Poor girl doesn't want to eat, but she is drinking fluids and her dr said as long as she is doing that we don't need to worry. We started her on her tamiflu last night, but she is contagious for 7 days!!! I will be VERY shocked if none of the rest of us end up with it.

Today I am thankful for great health insurance! We only paid $15 for 2 prescriptions, and I have a friend who with insurance paid $50 for the Tamiflu alone.

Waking up early really can be productive

2009-11-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

I have been up since 5:30, because my mind is going a million miles an hour with all the things I need to get done around here. We have inspection AGAIN, so psycho clean mode HERE I COME! I have already done 2 loads of laundry, cleaned my kitchen and picked up my living room today though and it's only 7:19 in the morning. It's going to be a productive day...if I get myself off the computer lol Just kidding! I would go crazy if I sat on here all day. There is only so much you can do on the computer before you start repeating things and you get bored.

Now for my list of things I am thankful for...

*Good health
*Quiet time in the morning before my kids get up
*Computers and internet to google things I am clueless about!
*Weekend breakfast that my hubby cooks for us
*Making new family traditions with my kids
*Decorating for the holidays to get everyone in the spirit of things

Time to get kids ready for school. Have a great day everyone!