First day of school

....well actually these pics were taken on the second day of school. I missed the first day because I had to work. I hate missing milestones like these! Anyway, we pretended that this was our first day. Allie wanted to pick out her own clothes. After arguing...I mean discussing what matches and what does not.....I decided to just give up and let her pick out whatever she wanted. At least she brushed her hair and brushed her teeth. That in itself is an accomplishment! She has on her new pretty converse shoes that she picked out at Target. Love that store. I swear they look too big on her. She says they fit fine. But she kind of reminded me of Ronald McDonald. But, she is still beautiful no matter what.

Allie with her friends, Makayla and Cheyenne

It took several times to wake up Jacob. He didn't go to bed until late last night......like almost 11 pm! I tried to get him to bed earlier starting at 9 but he just couldn't/wouldn't fall asleep. It will take some time to get him back into a routine. Yeah ,he is holding a check for lunch money. Man, lunch prices went up this year. I am still figuring out how I am going to pay for school fees! I guess I better pick up some extra hours at work! I am happy to announce that our school district is in the "Excellent with distinction" rating. Which I am surprised about because we can't pass a school levy around here. I am content to know that the kids are getting a good education. The school district I graduated from is on academic watch. Ouch! Makes a lot of sense if you think about it! ha ha....

I was so not ready for school to start. I loved having all the kids home...and waking up whenever we wanted ...no schedule to follow....but now that it has started....It sure is quiet around here...I mean...... I realize that maybe it will be good for us to get into more of a routine. I am not looking forward to homework....the deadly trio (Jacob, Mommy, and Homework) aahhh! But, I am looking forward to a wonderful new year.

Jacob

updates, updates, and more updates!!!

First off: Allie's birthday. Unfortunately, Allie's birthday was the weekend of my Cancun trip, so I was not able to spend her actual birthday with her. : ( I felt really bad....guilty even about the whole thing. So to make it up, we celebrated her birthday before I left. We spent some girl time together, just me and her. It was lovely. I love spending time with my girl.

we spent some girl time getting pedicures

getting matching henna tattoo's and eating out with my girlfriends at the Melting Pot

We went shopping!

Here, Allie is making her own birthday cake! Hey....she wanted to!

Celebrating at Chuck E Cheese. It was so weird....Allie invited her friend Evie to come, but her Grandma said she was unable to make it because they were going to be out of town. Allie actually told them the wrong day. We went to Chuck E Cheese anyway and we saw Evie there! We had no clue that she was going to be there! They just decided to go that same day. AND, Evie even had a present for Allie! A BFF necklace that they got earlier in the day! It was so bizarre. There was even an empty table right next to them!

I cannot believe my girl is 7!

Allie is such a good girl. She is so agreeable and easy to get along with. She is so helpful around the house and is just an overall wonderful person. She is so polite and always says her thank yous and pleases. She is so beautiful inside and out. I am so very proud to be her mom.

We also celebrated my baby daddy's birthday. I surprised him with takeout from his favorite restaurant Thai 9. We used our special China for the first time in 10 years. I can't believe that we never used it! They were wedding gifts. It was fun to use the pretty plates.

Cheesecake, his favorite.

I also want to update on how big my 9 year old is getting! Look at this! Already taller than my aunt.....okay so she is really short....

Jacob and Auntie Venia

Here is a pic of how tall Jacob is compared to me! He really is getting up there!

I also wanted to update on my beautiful girl Maddie. She is going to be 2 1/2 soon. Hard to believe. I started this blog when she was just a baby. This little non talker has finally started to do some talking. She still has a long way to go. I think part of her problem is how shy she is. She is just sooooo shy! She loves her Disney princesses! She can count to 10 all by herself! I am so proud of her. She sporadically uses the potty....and has to have pull ups on.... and they have to be princess pull ups. She even favors the one that has all of the princesses on them. Maddie is also so very sweet. She always says thank you. She is so very appreciative of everything you do for her. I bought her a bracelet while we were in Gatlingburg and she said "thank you, Mommy" over and over again...all the way home! She won't sleep anywhere but with her mommy and daddy. YES, she is still in our bed!

Here she is with her princess.....

World A'fair 2010

The World A'fair was a huge success this year. Jacob and Allie did a fantastic job dancing! I was so proud of them...I had tears in my eyes. Not long ago, I was the little girl dancing the folk dances, and now my children are filling in my shoes. It feels good to pass on our Philippine heritage to my kids. It feels darn good!

Here are a few pictures:

Allie's Birth Story

A few weeks after finding out I was pregnant with Allie, I started working in labor and delivery as a nurse. I was working full time and learning the ins and outs of delivering babies. It was a stressful yet exhilarating time in my life. I loved the excitement and the adrenaline rush I would get when we would have a stat c/section for a baby in distress....rushing the mom to the operating room, shoving a foley catheter into her bladder....watching anesthesia put her to sleep.....and then the doctor cutting into her as fast as they could to get that baby out......the
"decision to incision" less than 20 minutes....we saved that baby's life.....


I was around 37 weeks during a routine OB visit when the doctor heard an arrhythmia in Allie's heart beat. He set up an ultrasound which turned out to be fine....the tech didn't hear or see any problems with the heart. The doctor said......."well, whenever you work again, just get on the monitor and we will do a non stress test to make sure the baby is ok." I was scheduled to work on a Saturday and it turned out that we weren't that busy so they put me on call. A few hours later my co-worker calls and says that the doctor wants me to come in and get on the monitor.....so I come in.

Allie was not very cooperative. Her arrhythmia was loud and clear and her heart beat tracing would hardly pick up on the monitor. The doctor wanted to go ahead and induce my labor. I was already 3 cm dilated and thinning so he thought it was time. They started me on pitocin....and then then he broke my water and placed an internal monitor on the baby's head so that we could pick her heart beat up better. Not much longer after that, the heart tones plummeted.....it sounded like her heart beat was in the 80's....arrhythmia or not...? it was hard to tell. 10 minutes of flipping side to side, oxygen, iv fluid bolusing and shutting off the pitocin I hear the doctor say "Open the OR!" The next thing I know he shoves a foley catheter in my bladder and I am being whisked away to the operating room.

At that point I start crying. I was soooo scared! It was surreal. All these months I was the nurse taking care of the mom and baby in distress......and then all of a sudden.....I was the patient laying on the OR table....crying....scared....

Meanwhile, Ervin is scared to death, stuck in the hallway, worrying if everything was going to be ok.

Anesthesia puts me to sleep........(after they yell at me to stop crying because I had too many secretions)

Next thing I know, I wake up to a tube in my throat, gagging uncontrollably.......and in PAIN.

My baby was out.....and she was doing fine....her apgars 8 and 9.....her cord blood gases normal...

After taking the breathing tube out, I was taken to the recovery room. I was in lots of PAIN. It was horrible. I didn't even want to breastfeed my baby because the pain was so horrible. As I came around, I just kind of felt empty and defeated......

I didn't do anything to help get this baby out. I was asleep when she arrived. I missed out on the birth of my baby girl. I was sad.

We don't have many pics of Allie as a brand new person because it was so emergent. We were not prepared to have a baby that day. We didn't have our camera with us. Here are a few shots of us the next day....

Allison Juliet

Born April 3, 2004

8 pounds 0 oz., 21 in. long

I was so thankful that Allison came out ok . She continued with the arrhythmia for awhile, but it resolved on it's own and she is as healthy as can be now.

I will never forget that experience. I feel like it has made me a better nurse because I know what these mom's go through....and it's not easy. Whenever I have a patient rushed to the OR and under general anesthesia, I can't help but think of my very own experience every time......

Celebrations

We've been doing a lot of celebrating lately! Ervin's bday, Allie's bday and Easter all were clumped together this year! I had to work on Easter so I missed out on all the fun festivities...egg hunts, yummy food, and the joy of family! I did get a glimpse of the girls in their Easter dresses. Allie complained that her dress was too itchy! and I heard that Maddie was trying to take her dress off in the car on the way to the party!

Aren't they just adorable???

Ervin turned 33 this year. We celebrated by going to the boat aka casino. My mom treated us to an overnight stay for free as well as dinner and breakfast buffets. We even brought the kids. The kids loved the pool! We had a good time.....the only downfall.....losing 300+ dollars to those awful slot machines!!! My mom won 35,000 dollars a few months ago and I was hoping to win a little! Not so much!!! We had cheesecake, Erv's favorite to celebrate!

Allie turned 6 this week! I cannot believe how much she has grown. She wanted her party at Chuck E Cheese. We went there on a Saturday and it actually wasn't tooo crowded! We were there early around 11 am so that may have made a difference. She had a really good time and got some cool presents including an i pod shuffle from grandma and grandpa. She loves listening to music and wanted her own tunes to listen to. I am now trying to download some music on to it but I am having some technical difficulty! Why is it that you can spend hours on the computer waiting for downloads! So frustrating!!!

My baby girl is 6 years old! She has grown into such a loving and beautiful person. She is sensitive and funny. She loves it when we spend time together. She loves her family...and we love her too!

Happy 6th birthday baby!

Kindergarten

There's just something about the first day of kindergarten that pulls at your heart......letting your baby go on that bus without you for the first time......it's like you are letting go of that baby........forever!!!! I know, I know....I am being a LITTLE dramatic! I am so proud of my little kindergartner. She was so happy to get on that bus all by herself. She was so excited today. I was excited for her too. On the walk back home from the bus stop is when it hit me. My Allie is growing up....and there is nothing I can do to stop it.

boarding the bus for the very first time!

aAllie outside her classroom, on her phase in day

Allie's kindergarten teacher, on phase in day

Allie at breakfast getting ready for her big day

waiting for the school bus

Superstars

My kids are superstars at soccer! :) Allie scored her first goal this past weekend! I guess since her brother scored last week she thought she should step up her game and score too! Jacob's game was cancelled because the 6-7 year old field was like a "swamp". I was kind of disappointed. I thoroughly enjoy watching them play!

Soccer

Do you think her pink shorts match???

Jacob

Saturday was the first game of the season for both Jacob and Allie. It was a perfect day for soccer. I have to say, Jacob has come a long way from 4 seasons ago. The first season he played he would pick at the grass, play with the goal netting, just stand there, cry. He didn't even finish the season because he was just DONE. Last Saturday, I just have to gush.......Jacob scored his first goal ever!!! It was amazing! I am soo sooo sooooooo soooo proud of that kid. He was the only one that scored on his team too. He played hard! He is starting to come out of his shell. Jacob is a very shy kid when it comes to new people and new surroundings........I just found out that he barely talks at school and that his teacher thought he had a speech problem......she even had the speech therapist evaluate him......the eval came out normal. He is just shy! I couldn't believe my ears...at home he is so LOUD. Anyway, I am off subject now.... I am just so happy that Jacob scored, because I think it gave him some much needed confidence.