Spring Cleaning (& a shout out to my folks)

Let me first start off by saying my mom and dad ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More on my dad later but my mom surprised me yesterday by kidnapping Alizea for what was supposed to be a couple hours which turned into an overnight vacation for both child and parents! It was oddly quiet last night but oh so nice to recharge and regroup! Not to mention some extra quality time with the hubbs. It is such an indescribable blessing to live 8 miles away and to have my parents support & involvement in our family's life. Whether it's bringing me groceries on minutes notice (bc my mom insists that it is much easier for her to drive 15 minutes to bring me 3 items then for me to walk 100 yards with 2 kids), give me a spiritual boost or heck, build a play room for my kids, I can NOT get over how unselfish and incredible these two individuals are!

Ok, so back to my topic: Spring Cleaning is in the air! Since I would've been plain foolish not to take advantage of the extra time today, I found myself in the "cesspool of hate & discontent" (according to Dean), otherwise known as, the garage! Yes, dear, that cob-web, dead cricket-filled, nasty place is where I get to spend a lot of my time doing your laundry (said with the most loving affection, cough, cough). I have been putting it off far too long and I'm lucky I haven't seriously injured myself in there. There was no method to my madness, just picking up things here and there, filling bags to give away, throw away and then...then...there was light! I opened a tub of treasures. Clothes! Lots of clothes! Clothes that I completely forgot I owned because I haven't worn them or seen them in over a year! I practically hugged and kissed them, I was so excited! 

And then I took an unexpected trip down memory lane... 1st lost love I came across was this cropped sweater that I wore for our engagement video shoot! It totally made me reminisce about our courtship stage and I was amazed I still had this thing from 5 years ago! I slipped it on and... it fit! WAHOOO!!!!

Next, I found this adorable swim cover-up skirt. The 1st image that popped in my mind was the amazing cruise we went on with our dear friends, the McCray's, shortly before I became pregnant with Alizea. That might have been the last time I wore it. Again, I was filled with happy emotions of the beginning stage of our marriage as newlyweds & the anticipation of starting our family. I slipped it on over my shorts and to my amazement, it hugged my thighs quite nicely! Cha-ching! 

Some more digging and I found this shirt that Dean bought and mailed to me during his year in Kuwait. And yet again, I was flooded with memories of another chapter of our life and marriage. One filled with tremendous challenges yet growth. This one is brand new since well, shortly after I received it, I got pregnant with numero dos. It's kinda cute in a gaudy, random kind of way! ;) I can't seem to make sense of it. Maybe Dean was trying to tell me how much he missed me!?!?! See for yourself:

So yesterday I was semi-bragging about returning to my normal size & after the first 2 discoveries I was feeling pretty good about myself. Well, with the next find I got a major reality check to the fact that 9 pounds is quite. a. bit. and probably the hardest 9 to lose. You can imagine how excited I was to find my two most favorite pair of jeans that I spent hard earned paychecks for (we're talking like several, high salary-paying paychecks).  I held my breath and sucked in as hard as I could praying, wishing, hoping that maybe, just maybe I could be reunited with my 2nd 4th, (forgot about the kiddos) love but.... not. even. close. waaaaaaah! You stupid  @#*!*#!*@  jeans! (excuse me. we have sort of a love-hate relationship going on at the moment)

Ah well, they're back in the closet for motivation! On a happier note, I pulled out some summer wear for little G which brought a smile to my face:

So, all this to say that what I anticipated to be a dreadfully horrible experience turned out to be a fun shopping spree while driving down memory lane! And in order to make room for my new wardrobe, I forced myself to get rid of some clothes in my closet and clear out the rest of the maternity wear! (of course saving it for next go-around) ;)

Now, as I mentioned earlier, my dad is UH-mazing!!!! I think about him every time I am in this room which is several times a day, every day, no joke. It's impossible not to. Every space in that room that my eye glances upon has his labor of love etched within it (not to mention so much of his time spent with us). I had a special moment tonight. The girls were occupying themselves, I was folding laundry and Dean was relaxing after a long week of work. I said to him: "I love this! This makes me SO happy!" I had to clarify because I could tell from the look on his face he had no idea what I was talking about. Playing. Watching the girls play. Eating. Relaxing. Folding laundry. Praying. Being together. Enjoying our living space. All in one room.  Which of course, would not have been possible without my dad. (not to mention all the other favorite things in our house which I loooooooove: fireplace, wall unit in A's room, bead board in G's room, custom, built-in office area/desk/crafting/sewing area) So these next photos are especially for you, pops! Thank you.

And a perfect Family Friday night would not be complete without...

  
Homemade cookies of course!!!

Have a great weekend!

BIG Girls don't cry!

Today, we challenged ourselves. Genevieve was the leader of the pack. She got her work-out gear on (ok, I helped a little), and headed to the 'gym' to work off some of her forearm chub by smacking her dangling rattles one arm at a time (a 'first' which was so neat to see). I have also started imposing lots of tummy time for some additional upper body work-out. As she grunted and groaned, I'm pretty sure I saw one of the 10 rolls from her back disappear before my eyes! She also did some 'upside down' crawling, or scooting on her back. The girl travels. She started off here...

I went to the kitchen for no more than a couple minutes and when I returned, she was here:

Next up, BIG sis. Within just this week, she has been very interested, curious and cooperative with sitting on the potty. Although she wears her diapers out & about still, she gladly tried and successfully emptied herself (you get the point) in the church bathroom yesterday, along with many successes in her mini-potty at home. There have been some accidents but I think this time might be the real deal. (shoot, it better be, she'll be 3 in less than 3 months and I'm running up against my self-imposed deadline!) Like her Dr. said though, it's not her will against mine on this one, it's her vs. the diaper (dun dun dun) so naturally, I've been bad mouthing and trash talking that thing as creatively as I can think of so she'll want nothing to do with it!

As for BIG momma, these girls are hard to keep up with but I challenged my bod with some  push-ups, sit-ups and squats today as I cheered them on reaching a milestone myself: I'm in the single digit number of pounds left to loose to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. As in, less than 10 pounds to go. So, 41 pounds down in just under 4 months. Not too shabby, eh? But oh my, still so flabby! Five weeks left until the onset of bathing suit season. Eek!!! Not that I need to worry about showing off a flat tummy. Pretty sure I'll be covering up those stretch marks in a one piece this year, tear.  Anyway, I also worked the brain muscle forcing myself to thread that bobbin several times from memory.  My first sewing projects ever revealed
(minus Mom's present in case she visits here before Mother's Day):

The big one is reversible (I know, I'm so fancy, hehe. And no, I didn't mean for the little one to look like it's wearing a corset! Guess I need more practice in making straight a stitch)

And after all that hard work, some well earned 'down' time relaxing together, watching a video:

(oh yes G, I can see the results, BIG time!) 

Apparently, spicy A thinks baby sister = personal pillow. Poor G!

Good job ladies! We all challenged each other and it felt good! You make me proud!

Back on Track

Well, as both my sissies pointed out to me, (which, by the way, makes me feel good and special that you anticipate and enjoy the updates) I have been lagging on this blog writing...I like to call it blogger's block. And it doesn't help that our "schedule" (loosely used) has been way off the last couple of days. It all started Sunday night when I was on my selfish sewing kick and I completely forgot I was a mommy with responsibilities. Since Alizea was yet again enjoying her computer time and rather quietly, I lost track of time and before I knew it, it was 11pm, Oops! It was nice to sleep in on Monday until 9:30 but the vicious cycle began... 

Monday: spent the day at Mimi's and Bapa's welcoming Ito back, hearing about his adventures and highlights, opening special gifts from Spain and getting extra lovin' (all three of us!) Alizea was so excited to be amongst, arguably, her four biggest fans that she didn't nap...until we hopped in that coma inducing ride, er, the van, whereby she passed out. Big problema: It was already and only 5pm. Despite Dean and my efforts to wake her, (we tried everything shy of splashing cold water in her face) she would have NO part, (at times, she would wake and then fall right back into a deep sleep) ....until 7:30pm! Although we adults enjoyed a nice, peaceful dinner together, big trade-off was a child who didn't go to bed until 12:30am! Ok, so at this point I'm trying to convince myself that the 4 pillows I made were totally worth the exhausting loooong day...Hmm, really???

Tuesday: slightly better...we awake at 8:30, have breakfast and head to IKEA and Costco. Again, Alizea doses off right as we pull into our track and I was totally confident she would transfer inside or worse case, if she awoke, welcome her nap after running through two huge mega-stores. Wrong! Apparently the 90 seconds of sleep was plenty to give her that 2nd wind! To my amazement, she remembered the water paints we bought at IKEA and perked up begging and pleading, "I play paint?". Because it was going on 2pm and I was on the verge of fainting due to lack of food consumption and sweet G was sharing in my hunger pains, I compromised with the thought in mind that once all tummies were full, there would be no more excuses! Then, just as I'm cleaning up and mentally preparing for the possible struggle I'm about to face with forced nap-time, I see our dear neighbor Yvonne crossing the street to come love on the girls....Now before you accuse me of being a total weakling parent with no structure, take a look at the pictures. How can you turn your back on and say no to 'Granny'??? That would be just plain cruel. She absolutely adores the girls (not to mention I always feel uplifted, encouraged and less anxious after talking with her).

So, nap time got pushed to 4pm (since a bath was mandatory) with a bedtime of 11pm. 

Which bring me to today: I awake at 8am, to the most adorable, high-pitched, squeaky voice next to me (I have no idea how nor when she got into our bed): "Good Morning Mommy, It's wake up time!" Sweet G awakens an hour later. We feed all mouths, get dressed and head to church. Mommy needs some heavenly motivation, big time. Pulling into the church parking lot, I partake in a cute theological dialogue with Alizea:

A: It's church!
M: Yup, we're going to visit Jesus and Mama Mary and the Saints
A: And God?!?!
M: Yes, sweetheart (chuckling out loud) and the Holy Spirit.
A: And baby Jesus!
(...the beginnings of explaining the Trinity to my child. Hmmm, I'll need a couple years lifetimes to come up with that one...) 

After feasting (literally) on Jesus' love, peace and joy, we ran an errand and headed home. Nap time was somewhere between 2:30-3 with a bedtime of just before 10pm. We're back on track (Although, I have been trying for over 2 years now to bump that time up to 8pm or heck, I'll take 9!) Anyway, I can honestly say I was still able to enjoy every moment, even the frustrating ones, and trust me, there were many. (I just start laughing, out loud, it really works!) Here are some highlights over the last couple of days:

I love the clinched fist showing her passion and intensity perfectly.

Just an adorable profile. Those lips!

Anyone that knows this girl well, knows that 'open mouth' concentrated look. Again, passion and intensity!

  I think my jaw dropped when I saw this. I was seriously SO impressed and proud of her masterpiece. (I think it's a cross between a bear and lion even though she insisted it was a self portrait) From the focus, enjoyment and talent I saw yesterday, we may have a future artist on our hands.

  

The brush painting quickly turned into finger/hand painting...

which then turned into body painting!

I know, Alizea, those cheeks are irresistible!

No, this was not posted by mistake. This would be the best (if I may say so, myself) home-made, juicy cheeseburger with bacon, mushrooms, avocado and did I mention, cheese? (cheddar AND american) A definite highlight given that I skipped lunch and savored every bite in complete silence!

Okay, this is just hilarious because it depicts the interaction between these two perfectly! I think the look on G's face expresses what she is thinking a lot of the time about her big sis. Spicy A, giggling at some mischief she's always getting herself into.  In other words, G: Help me!!!!! Someone?!?!?!, ANYONE!!?!?!?! 
A: Muahahaha!!!!!!

And then there's this... which just makes me feel unworthy. I'm so in love with them!

So sissies, hopefully, I more than made up for my "break" ;) I love you two!

A SUPER Girls Date

Just like a SUPER Kmart or SUPER Target has a good reason for the special title, this was a SUPER Girls outing due to the three generation factor and of course having the matriarch of the family present! What a perrrrrfect way to end Ita's last day as a bachelorette enjoying a spa pedicure....Ahhh, to be there again:

So many choices but the winners are:

 Can you guess which foot...

belongs to which face? 

Please do not look too closely....I am the only one with NO make-up on (due to dashing out of the house immediately after b-feeding and before the sleeping toddler awoke, forgetting my secret bag of beautifying products in the bathroom).

A SUPER Good time indeed!!!

TGIF!

Today was supposed to be a nice, relaxing 'catch up' day - after a quick trip away from home, I was in much need of some time to unload, unpack, wash, quality time with A after 2 days with Mimi, maybe a trio nap, etc. Well, after being up almost all night with an uncomfortable toddler, the day's plans took a turn.  Just yesterday, Alizea began complaining of burning when she went pee pee, then last night her "privates" (as Dr Wong called them) got red and between coughing (that darn cold is lingering) and yelling every time she urinated, the Soto fam had a rough night. So instead of cartoons, coffe and PJs, our day began bright and early at the doctor's office. Sooo, remember this?

Well, it's possible (could be a number of reasons) that the lack of a proper water absorbent diaper (oops! Mommy faux pas. Note to self: have proper diapers for water play on-hand at all times, or let child remain in the nude) along with the interesting critters in this old, old grass and too much time in the non-water absorbent diaper caused poor spicy A to get a yeast infection! Never knew little girls can get them too, huh? Well, they are different from big girl yeast infections (according to doc) but still a good ole fungus friend. Anyway, all this to say that after an interesting (yes, that's sarcastic) morning and very little patience on my part due to lack of sleep (seems like a reasonable excuse), momma was in desperate need of an escape and treat! With little time, as the tots were approaching their meltdown point, and little spending money, a trip to the discount fabric store right around the corner from the house did just the trick! I was extremely pleased with my findings for my next project:

Ever since the room addition was built, I've wanted the front living room and new family room to somehow coordinate, connect, flow yet still have their unique styles, colors, etc. It's also been hard to find anything that goes with our muted green/grey/not sure what color it is couch. Now with coordinating fabric (which are actually the same, just different colored backgrounds) I think we are on our way! I also like how much the black one pairs with our already made (thanks mom!) zebra pillows:

As soon as I finish (& start) mom's Mother's Day gift, I'll be able to focus on the finishing touches to our ever-changing home (hey, it's only been 5 years since we moved in, give me a break! ha) 'After' pics coming soon (or eventually)

BIG points to Dean for bringing home a pizza from BJs for a mellow, no-cooking night in! Shhhh, he doesn't know I just went there with Ita! hehe 

TGIF!

A Rosey kind of day

It's no wonder why my Grandmother was named after such a timeless, stunning flower...

Her name means "rose garden" or "garland of roses" and she is simply.... beautiful

Yes, we are back in Sun City, this time less the sunshine and one child but I can't say enough about this quality time with my 'Ita'... We've shared much in the past 24 hours: prayer time, laughter; tears (alright, it was only me, watching The Ultimate Gift); lots of interacting with Genevieve (she is quite the talker these days); what she misses most about her "tornillo"; learning she was born in a country and time when Christians were being persecuted and she had to be secretly baptized underground; hearing memories and funny stories of my great-Grandma (what a character! The 1st time the woman wore make-up besides the fat from boiled milk, visited a beauty salon, and finally tried on a pair of pants after much nagging from her daughter, she was more than 60 years old ); what it was like to live in a time with no stoves, refrigeration (yup, you got it! daily trips to the market) or washing machines, and this was with 4 kids under the age of five; how she & my Ito raised 8 kids on 1 income in the OC and how she remained faithful to God and His will after she had to bury a child and without her husband by her side.

This woman has so much wisdom. Not wisdom that comes from living on this earth for 80+ years, birthing nine children and being self-educated (never went to school past the 2nd grade) but wisdom  that comes from knowing God through lots and lots of prayer. 

Perhaps the best thing I learn from Ita is how to live in the moment. The more time I spend with her, the more I want to know, the more I discover about myself and the more I see who I want to become. Now that is a good friend! To my excitement, we have a lot in common:

Our love fore babies/children....

and for BJ's/pazookies (ha!)

At some point while I was taking these shots of baby G (trying to capture her chubbyness), it hit me again....

Had my Grandparents not come to California to give their children a better life (which was no easy task), my mom would not have met my dad, I would not be here, I would not have met Dean and my beautiful Alizea and Genevieve would not be here either. Now that's something to ponder...

PS - On a side note, today Dean got word from the company he has been negotiating with for over 2 weeks/waiting to hear from, that they accepted his proposal! God is good!!! All the time!!! (and not just because He has blessed us financially either - this is a reminder for future (inevitable) difficult times that our faith is not dependent upon outward signs/blessings)

Oh Happy Day

Latte's in hand, ocean on our left, driving up the coast to Malibu...No, Dean and I were not on a romantic getaway (as wonderful as that sounds), we had tots right behind us, one of them practicing her "Yay, Auntie Karyn!!!!" congratulatory exclamation ... over ....and ....over...and over!

Yesterday we went to Pepperdine University to see my BFF Karyn Fierst receive her MBA degree! What an exciting event! Since the Firestone Fieldhouse was packed and there were mouths to feed and bottoms to clean, other than hearing her name called and seeing Karyn walk across that stage on the 20-foot large screen, we spent most of the ceremony doing this:

Two years of dedication, discipline, sacrifice and hard work! I am so proud of you K and I admire you so much for always striving to attain your goals with such focus yet your ability to continue building and nurturing your relationships by being so unselfish, thoughtful and generous with your time! You are an amazing woman and friend whom I appreciate and cherish and it was so exciting to be there (with the whole fam) with you at the end of the journey!

And the celebration continued on....

Alizea was very too excited to see one of her suitors, Mr Cole Miller. We obviously haven't had the discussion yet about courtship etiquette and who makes the 1st move.

Oh Happy Day!