After 4 years we finally decided to go on our first camping trip with the kids! We went with our good friends Jen and Jay (Marco's Ninong and Ninang) and their son Derek. It was hot and dirty and chaotic. A fun time, but don't know if we'll be heading out on another camping trip any time soon. The boys had a ton of fun playing with dirt and sticks and with the water. Mateo loved looking for bugs (what else is new). Sleeping in a tent was super cool for him. It was hard with Marco tho cause he wasn't able to just be put down and crawl around...so it made for a whiny little baby. All in all we had a good time with good friends and made great memories!!


My little fisherman!





My little happy camper






I think they need to fix the hole in the wall between the two showers!!

The boys having fun with their flashlights

First time making smores, didn't eat too many but he loved making them

Breakfast Buddy's

Mateo and his Hippo! (We took him to the park and pushed him on the swings today too)



Pancake buddies... not sure who likes pancakes more!!



They share push pops too!

Mickey Grove Zoo

It's an understatement to say that Mateo loves going to the ZOO!! He probably asks at least once every day if not more. So while I had some time off work I thought it would be fun if just the 3 of us, Mateo, Marco and I went to the Mickey Grove Zoo. It's small, with limited animals but Mateo didn't care. He had a great time and keeps asking to go back!

Nothing better than ice cream on a hot day!


So many turtles and all blending in


Can't go to the zoo without seeing some Monkeys


They have a Lorakeet exhibit where you can feed them and they come sit on your arm. So cool.. Until he actually had 3 on him... then not so fun. LOL



Good old brotherly LOVE.. Love these boys!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Spoiled mommy got 2 birthday cakes. One from Nanna and Tete (my mom and my aunt) and one from Jeff, Mateo and Marco. Doesn't get much better than that. And my boys surprised me with handpainted treasures from Color Me Mine. I just realized I dont have pics of them so I will have to take then and add them!



Super yummy coldstone cake in my favorite flavor, Coffee Lovers~!


Love Love Love my Boys!!

Mateo's 1st Dentist Appointment

I know it took forever for us to go to the dentist. But if you know Mateo, you know how he is when people try to get too close to him. He does NOT like it. So we postponed for way too long but finally went. Dr Solomon is a pediatric dentist and his office was right up Mateo's alley. Felt like we were in an aquarium. Animals everywhere, cool toys in the waiting room including phones and keyboards. So fun. Well we walked back and Mateo was Mateo...he had talked about the denist, even went to one appt with me, and right on cue decided he wanted nothing to do with it. Poor guy, it was a little traumatic, but all said and done, sparkling shiny teeth and NO cavities. Thanks goodness for small miracles. (Couldnt get any pics on him in the dentist chair cuz, um, mommy had to help hold him...)

Happy Father's Day Daddy~!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!! We love you!

Soccer it is!

If you know Mateo, then you know it hasn't been easy to find an activity for him to do. Preschool in itself was a Big adjustment that took a while to settle into.
We talk about activities, he seems excited, we sign up, we go and eventually end up coming home not to return again. (Martial Arts- no go, Swimming class- no go). But I think now we may have a winner. We've been talking about soccer for a while and he seemed excited. But you never know with this one. He can talk talk talk and once he gets there totally shut down. No biggie, its just his personality but he was excited about soccer. So Thursday came, he asked about it all day. We showed up and I think he was pretty excited seeing all the other kids there. Coach Harley is awesome. So good with the kids. He even started off by saying it may take 3 weeks for your little one to feel comfortable enough to get on the field but not to give up. Well Mateo wanted us by his side and daddy went on the field with him but in no time.... Mateo was off and running, no longer looking back for daddy and having so much fun!! It was so much fun to watch!! Finally, something he loved and made him grin from ear to ear. Not to mention the Dora (yes I said Dora) popsicle he got from the ice cream truck as we left! He can't wait to go back next week and neither can I!!


As you can see, it started off with the comfort of his thumb


Learning to touch the ball with your foot

Being silly and touching it with your belly button

and with your nose! They all had so much fun!!




Showing his cool soccer stamp and big cheesy grin

A treat ~ A Dora Popsicle

An afternoon at the Lake

On a whim we decided to meet Jeff at the lake after work one day. The boys had a blast in the water. Will definitely have to do it again!!

Photo Shoot of the boys~

This was supposed to be Marco's 6 month photo shoot, but we couldn't get an appt with the photographer until his 7 month birthday! So a little late but still here. The intent was to get some good shots in his baptism outfit and of the boys dressed up but the day was COLD and our smiley Marco was not a happy camper as you will see with the red nose. So we got what we could and still got some cute ones. Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Rest in peace my Sweet Maxine!

This weekend was a sad sad weekend for our family! Unexpected, sad and full of tears and the questions of a 3 year old. As many of you know, Maxine has been with me for the past 11+ years. She was my graduation gift from college from my parents. And funny enough, when I first got her I automatically thought, girl, you will be with me through most of my adult milestones. My first "real" job, getting married and having kids. And yes she was a part of all of them. And luckily I did get some great pictures of Maxine with Marco.
Her poor hips had been starting to cause her problems. About a month ago I thought we were going to have to make the painful decision of what to do. But luckily it was only short lived and she bounced back. This weekend, that wasn't the case. Friday she started to have problems walking. I kept watching her, freaked out a little bit and just took things slow. By Friday afternoon it wasn't looking so good so I called the vet and made an appt for Sat. Needless to say by Friday night she could no longer walk, and it was not a "fixable" condition. So very sadly on Saturday the decision was made to send her to a better place. I will spare you the details and I painfully I will never forget them so no need to write them down. But as you can imagine, it was all a bit confusing for my very smart, inquisitive 3 year old who truly adored his doggy! Rest in peace my sweet Maxine. Thankyou for the past 11 years!! ( so until I'm ready I won't be removing her from our family scene above)

not sure why this picture is sideways but its too cute not too add



2 buddies sharing watermelon!

Best buds!

My most recent favorite picture!

Is today Christmas?

Every morning when Mateo wakes up, he stops and asks, "Is it Christmas today?". He is so excited and the anticipation of Christmas and Santa are so fun to watch thru his eyes! We have and advent calendar box that he gets a small "treat" in everyday and he really loves that too... I mean what kid wouldn't. But I can see how hard it is for him to see presents under the tree and understand that he has to wait to open them, and that when we are at the store we are not buying any toys cause Christmas is almost here and I know he will get plenty. A little hard for a 3 year old brain to grasp. But today he is very excited to leave cookies and milk for Santa so we had to make a trip to Safeway to get ourselves prepared. And ooops, just realized I forgot the carrots for the reindeer... guess that means another trip out!

I realize my pictures havent been making it here but that seems to take so long when time is not what I have much of with boy little guys right now. But that is my goal before the end of the year.. update these sites to get them to current!~

Something new ~ Monsters

In the past week or so, Monsters have become real in our house. Mateo has been talking about monsters for a little bit but nothing serious. Then when we went to Disneyland, everyride started with "is it scary, are there monsters?". All from the little guy who last year LOVED rides with no fear. Funny enough most rides at Disneyland are dark, never really thought about it before, but Mateo was on top of it. He did well but was easily rattled. Funny too, he went on the Matterhorn and loved the speed but can only remember the red eyes at the top of the mountain. Poor little guy.

Forward to Monday. He woke up saying that he didn't want to ever go mimis again (to sleep) cause there were monsters. He had a dream that a monster washed him away and he was trying to kill him. All this from a 3 year old. So now the dark is a bad thing. And while I can explain to him that monsters are not real, I cannot guarantee and promise him that he will not have bad dreams.. ugghh. He talked about not wanting to go to sleep all day, but with reassurance did fine. Then Tuesday morning, the 1st thing out of his mouth when he woke up, "mommy, the monsters stayed away last night". Best news ever!!! We'll see how this monster thing pans out!

Mateo cuteness

Just a little something Mateo said this morning that I don't want to forget! So darn cute. He woke up and gave me a huge hug, then in his fun, surprised sounding kind of voice says.."uhh did you hear that? My belly is burping. I am really hungry~!" So freakin cute~~