Jacob's First Communion

It was a happy day! I am so proud of my son. He has been preparing for this all year and it was a wonderful celebration. It brought tears to my eyes seeing him so big and taking the body of Christ. He decided that he didn't want to take the wine, and that was okay. This day brought me so much joy and it brought back memories of my own First Communion. I remember wearing a white dress and veil with bright red lipstick! I have no idea why my mom let me wear that , but she did. I wish I had a picture. Let's just say I won't be letting Allie carry on that tradition! Her first communion will be next year.

Jacob is wearing a "barong" which is a formal wear of the Philippines. It is worn on very special celebrations, such as this or a wedding. I think he looks very handsome!

Gracie turns 11 months

Gracie is already 11 months old...turning 1 in a few short days... She is growing so fast. She is so close to walking...She can take a few steps by herself but then gets scared and sits down. She climbs the stairs any chance she gets. She can say mama and dada....and repeat sounds.

Main highlights of this month include her first Easter, her first really bad injury, and her first tumble down the stairs.....yeah the bad injury is not the tumble down the stairs! Her right index finger was crushed and split open. Big sister accidentally slammed the door on her finger and it was horrible. Blood everywhere! I debated on whether I should take her to urgent care and decided at the time that it was ok....but looking back now.....I think I should have taken her. It looks like it could have needed stitches. I have worried about it for over 2 weeks and I think if I had taken her to the doctor that day....I would have saved myself from all that worrying.....instead I saved 100 dollars from not going to the urgent care.....now that I look back...I would gladly pay! Her finger does look better but is still black and blue and swollen. Her nail looks like it could fall off. Yeah I know! Horrible!

While I was busy dying Easter eggs with the older kids, Gracie crawled to the stairs, climbed the stairs, and then fell down the stairs. I heard a boom, boom pow.....AAAHHHH! boom boom..AAAAH! I ran to her rescue...she was scared mostly....thank God she was not hurt! I swear, this child will be lucky to survive her first year! During her first year she has also fallen off the changing table and the bed! Poor thing...I hope she can add and subtract when she gets older! Thank goodness all areas were carpeted.

loving her bottle....

looking outside watching Jacob and Allie play...

playing with her friend Michael

Easter dress

climbing stairs...

week one on medifast...

So Medifast was a lot harder than I thought it would be....as I am here typing and eating 3 pieces of toast! The food is not that bad.....I just missed eating real food. I was only on it for a week and really could not stay true to the plan. I was mostly on plan and lost 4 pounds this week. . At one point I was down 7. I am just going to admit this again. I LOVE FOOD. Food makes me happy in many ways.

That being said, I still have 3 weeks of Medifast food left! I will def use them...but I think I do need a break from time to time. I didn't feel that hungry on plan either....I just felt deprived. I couldn't even eat carrots! or any fruit! I didn't realize how much I wanted to eat that stuff. I think Weight Watchers is definitely the way to go. With weight watchers you can eat whatever you want!

So for today, I am taking a break from dieting and food and will restart tomorrow...midnight to be exact because I will be at work. Here's to another week.

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.....

Day 1

of what do you ask? I have started my new diet today. Medifast. I hope it works! I am committed for a full month. I bought a months worth of "food" if that is what you want to call it. I am just tired of counting points. With Medifast there is no counting. You always know what you are going to eat. I am willing to do this for a short period of time. I just need a break from weight watchers. I will go back to weight watchers after this Medifast break. I am excited to see what it will bring me! Who knows? I might love it and do it for another month. We will see!

Cancun

If you are going to plan a vacation any time soon...Cancun is the place to go! I LOVED it there. The place is beautiful!!! From cold weather to this...

paradise

happy hour

Xel Ha

snorkeling in a beautiful cove

swinging in a hammock getting all dressed up yard sized drinks coconut drinks

time with the girls

Mexican culture

more happy hour

beach

This trip was awesome! I had so much fun...3 nights was just not enough time there. I will definitely be visiting Cancun in my future.

Gatlinburg

We decided to take a family trip to the mountains.....Stay in a cabin, relax in a jacuzzi tub, do some sightseeing. I wanted to just spend time with my hubby and kids and do something fun that we could all enjoy.

We all had a great time. The kids said it was the best vacation they have ever been on! (They also said that when we went to Chicago), but it truly was a really good time. We had some great bonding time and we were able to do fun activities. We were able to let go of the hustle and bustle at home and just enjoy ourselves, doing whatever we wanted to do.

During our stay in Gatlinburg we visited "The Upside Down House" as the kids kept referring to it.

Wonderworks was a really cool place. It's kind of like a science related amusement park (without rides). It had all kids of interesting and cool things for children to experience and learn.

We also visited Cades Cove. If you are ever in Gatlinburg, this place is a must see. The trip to get there alone is beautiful, it's 24 miles of winding mountain road. You can't take your eyes off the scenery, my neck started to hurt because I couldn't stop looking out the window. Cades Cove is a historic settlement in the Great Smoky Mountains that can be toured. It is an 11 mile loop that you can drive or bicycle. It is very rich in history and has beautiful views. I would definitely go again.

We stopped by and took in the scenery of the Smokies. This place is so beautiful.

We also went to the Ripley's Aquarium. I was really impressed with how cool this aquarium was. The kids had a really good time, even Grace.

The rest of the time we just relaxed at "home" in the hot tub, played games, cooked, and enjoyed the scenery from our cabin.