Lakehouse with Reagan

A couple months ago, Diane asked if I wanted to join her at the lakehouse the last weekend of July, since her husband Jack had plans to go to Canada for a bachelor party. Her in-laws were planning to go to the lakehouse that weekend too, so there wasn't room for all of us. I just took Reagan so that she could have a fun weekend with her friends and so we could spend some quality mother/daughter time together. John stayed home with Avery and the dogs. I felt badly leaving him since Brutus died the morning that we were supposed to leave, but John insisted that we go and have a nice weekend. He ended up having a nice weekend too, bonding with Avery, so it all worked out nicely.


As usual, the kids all played so well together (Kaitlyn, JP, and Reagan)

Here is 4-month old Erin sitting on Gramps' lap, just after her bath

Reagan had such a wonderful time on the beach ... here she is with Grandma Connie, making mud pies on the dock. After making mud pies, digging in the dirt, and throwing rocks into the lake, she decided she wanted to swim in the lake. I put the inflatable floaties on her arms and she was in heaven, swimming around the lake! She's a little fish ...

I love this serious picture of Kaitlyn in her sunglasses ...

Eating goldfish

JP with flushed cheeks, due to the warm, sunny day

Many thanks to the McTigues for another fabulous weekend at my favorite retreat!!!

Beautiful Weekend with Reagan and Avery

On my way home from work on Friday afternoon, I stopped at the store and got some yummy summer-type foods for dinner: Corn on the cob and burgers! It was such a nice evening, so we enjoyed a lovely dinner together as a family. The girls got to have their first taste of corn on the cob.

On Saturday, I took the girls into Westwood with me to run some errands. First we went to the bank, where they were excited to get lollipops. After a stop at CVS, it was lunchtime, so we went across the street to grab a bite to eat at Starbucks. On our way back to the car, Reagan and Avery grabbed each other's hands ... the three of us walked around Westwood like this, which generated many smiles from passersby. It was time for Avery's nap, so we went home and I put her to bed. John was home mowing the lawn, so I gave him the monitor and took Reagan to the Kmart in Westwood to buy some flowers. We came back and planted the flowers while Avery was sleeping.

While digging a hole for a flower, I found a worm. My first instinct was to ignore it, but then I decided that Reagan might want to see it. When I showed it to her, she was so excited! She immediately picked it up and it became her "best friend!"

She treated "Wormy" like a little puppy, talking to it in a high-pitched voice, saying things like, "Oh Mama, little Wormy is SOOO cute! He just loves to give me kisses. Here Mama, he wants to give you kisses too! His kisses tickle, ha ha ha!" Thank goodness she wasn't kissing little "Wormy" with her lips, she was just referring to the way it felt when he squirmed around her hands.

Once Avery woke up, she was eager to help me dig and plant ...

Avery was also very interested in Reagan's new pet! (took all these pictures with my iPhone)

After being outside, we came in and I caught this adorable footage of Avery with a balloon. (Please excuse the HUGE mess in the toy room!!!)

On Sunday, I took the curling iron to Reagan's hair and it turned out so cute, I just had to take some pictures of her outside!

My mom sent me money for Mother's Day, so I spent the money on the flowers to create these pots (which worked out perfectly, since my mom always gives my sisters pots for Mother's Day).

A few days after the worm incident, I came home from work on a hot day and the girls had been jumping in the bouncy house in the backyard (they were very sweaty!) I asked Reagan to help me water the pots out on the front porch. She happened to spot a caterpillar crawling along the top step! I'd never seen a caterpillar in our yard and as far as I know, Reagan had never seen a real, live caterpillar before (I know she'd learned about them in preschool and in books, but I was surprised she knew exactly what it was when she spotted it). Without hesitation, she picked up the caterpillar and it became her new pet.

Video of Reagan and the Caterpillar

She let it crawl all over her arms and she loved every minute of it. It was time to go inside because it was time for dinner, so she begged me to take it inside with us. She was so excited about it that I decided I'd try to put it in a clear plastic container (like a tupperware). As soon as I placed it in the container, it stopped moving completely. I thought it was dead from all of Reagan's squeezing! Once we took it back outside, it was fine and it continued to walk around. It was then that I had to break the news to Reagan that she couldn't keep it and she'd have to let it go. Talk about a tough parenting moment! Reagan was a mess - crying hysterically about losing her best friend (yes, she had developed a strong bond with this caterpillar and now she couldn't live without it)! She was devastated and I couldn't seem to calm her down with anything I said. I pointed out that he was much happier outside and he needed to find his family, but she cried for about 20 minutes straight.

Perfect Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME! I had such a wonderful day :) Mother's Day is turning into one of my favorite holidays of the year. John always spoils me and this year was no exception. Let me start at the beginning. I ended up going to bed early last night, so when I woke up rather early and couldn't go back to sleep, I decided to have a little bit of quiet time to myself (VERY RARE). So I went downstairs and logged onto the computer, then spent a couple hours going through my pictures and working on my very neglected blog. It was heavenly! Keeping my blog current and updated is something I really miss, now that I'm working full time and have no extra time. It's so important to me to record all the important (and mundane) happenings of our everyday lives. It's also quite therapeautic and relaxing, so it's a 'win/win' situation ... until I get really behind and I start stressing about getting things posted - then it becomes a nagging chore, eating at me until I finish a post! And now I'm off track ... back to Mother's Day ;)

Once John and the girls woke up, I went upstairs and we all snuggled in my bed. I was given 3 of the most beautiful cards (note to self - scan those cards and post them here!), all hand-made with Dot-Art. John was so proud of Reagan, as he informed me that she made the card for me days ago, but kept it a secret. I broke down laughing hysterically when I broke the news to him that she'd already tried to give it to me twice! The first time, we were downstairs and she told me how she'd made me a Mother's Day card and it was hiding upstairs in Papa's closet - she begged me to take her upstairs that day so she could give it to me. The next time, we were upstairs in my bedroom, laying on my bed and she wanted to get down so she could find my card and give it to me. It was precious and I hope I never forget her sweetness and genuinely good-natured heart. She always amazes me.

After we laughed about Reagan's inability to keep a secret, John took out a beautifully wrapped box from the closet. I had NO idea what it could be, as I wasn't expecting anything. When I unwrapped the gift, I discovered he had purchased my dream Point-and-Shoot Camera!!!!!

I literally started crying. I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe he had figured out exactly what I was dying to have and he got it for me. Reagan was immediately concerned by my tears, so I tried to explain they were tears of joy. She was very confused! Turns out that he involved my friends, Autumn and Nicole, asking them thru email to find out which one I was leaning toward. Autumn had recently sent me an email, asking me about cameras, so I typed out this LONG email about all the cameras I'd been eyeing. Of course, Nicole and I had many discussions about cameras, but it didn't occur to me she was doing detective work, since she's trying to figure out which one to purchase for herself. I felt like such an idiot for not realizing they were being detectives :)


We spent the afternoon/evening at Maribel's house with John's family. It was a nice, relaxing day since we were able to spend time outside enjoying the beautiful weather. I placed the battery of my new camera in the charger as soon as I opened it, then grabbed it on my way out the door to Maribel's. I turned it on for the first time when we got there, and the above picture is the first picture I snapped! Not the best picture, but I figured the first picture taken on my new camera was blog-worthy, right? I know, I'm such a dork.

Avery was dying to have a bite of John's hot dog (her first taste of a hot dog on a bun, with ketchup and mustard) - she loved it!

Leftover ketchup on her lip

Jose and Lauren

Pepin and Nayda

I love this picture of Gabby - isn't she beautiful? She'd been up late the night before, then up early playing a soccer game, so she was beat ... but she was still a great sport, playing so well with the kids. Joaquin, Reagan and Avery all adore Gabby!

Not the best picture of Reagan, but a blog-worthy picture for this reason: Reagan is a bit picky when it comes to eating. She has always liked hot dogs, but she's always refused the bun. Today, she told me she wanted to try eating the hot dog on the bun! What a great Mother's Day gift: HOPE that she'll start trying new things and broadening her selection of foods!

Nayda gave Avery this dress for Easter, so I thought it would be a nice Mother's Day gift to Nayda to dress Avery in it.

Nayda and Joaquin ~ he went nuts over the watermelon!

I posted 2 similar pictures because the first one is such a cute picture of Reagan smiling and the second one shows what I was making: Rolo cookies! I used my sister Camille's recipe for these homemade cookes that have peanut butter in them. You have to mold the dough around a rolo, then when you bake them, the caramel melts and it's delicious. They turned out good, but they were very rich (difficult to eat more than one or two)

Maribel hasn't given Joaquin peanut butter yet, since he had an allergic reaction to a cashew once. So instead of giving him a cookie, she gave him a rolo. The caramel stuck to the roof of his mouth and freaked him out a little bit - we were all cracking up, watching him try to get it 'unstuck'!

Could this picture be any cuter???????????? I don't think so! I couldn't be happier with it :) I was also impressed by the fact I had zoomed in on her and it came out so great ... my old Point-and-Shoot camera was horrible when I used the zoom feature. It always came out dark and grainy.

Joaquin and Gabby - so precious

It was a great mother's day. The only bad part was that John, Marcelo and I did not have our mothers around to hug. Thankfully, I was able to speak to my mother and wish her a good day. I was grateful to have her in my life, yet sad to be so far away from her. It was a difficult day for John and Marcelo, since it was their first Mother's Day without their mom. My heart was breaking for them both.

Photo Shoot Attempt - Erin McTigue

Today was a great day ... I got to take pictures of my friend Diane's new baby girl! I love taking pictures and I'm having fun learning how to use my SLR Digital Rebel that I bought from Christie. I only wish I could be even half as talented as she is when it comes to taking pictures! She makes it look so easy, but it turns out to be pretty difficult! When I got to Diane's, it was pouring rain - obviously, not optimal lighting for a newborn photo shoot. So we tried everything to brighten the room ... unfortunately, I ended up having to use a flash on a lot of the pictures, giving such harsh lights and creating shadows. It was annoying that the lighting was so poor. On top of it, I brought both girls with me! Reagan was fine, as she played with Kaitlyn and JP quite nicely, but Avery was not happy that I was giving all my attention to this precious little baby ... as you'll see below, she went to the extreme to get my attention ... Anyway, what I'm trying to say with all this rambling is that although I had a great time, I was pretty disappointed with the results :( I wish I could have taken some amazingly beautiful pictures of Erin for Diane, but they definitely look like the work of an amateur. Oh well, I guess that's why photography takes LOTS of practice, right? I told Diane I'd love to give it another shot, hopefully on a sunny day when the lighting is better!

Diane had seen this idea, so we gave it a try ... once again, we felt like such amateurs!

Isn't she precious?? She's 2 1/2 weeks old in these pictures

After I snapped this shot, I was SO excited! But when I downloaded it, I realized it wasn't completely in focus which really upset me. Oh well, at least I got this adorable little grin!!

Big sister Kaitlyn (3) holding Erin

See this big stick in the middle of the picture? That's one of those sticks that has a horse head on the top ... Avery decided she'd had enough of me ignoring her, so she came over with this stick in her hand! I didn't notice she had it until I shot this picture and realized something was obstructing the view of Erin and Kaitlyn. When I realized what she was doing, I was appalled! Avery definitely has a temper and when it comes out, sometimes it's extremely nasty ... it kills me when I see it, especially when it's around other people.

We tried to get JP in the pictures, but as you can tell, he was NOT very happy with us! JP turned 4 at the beginning of March, Kaitlyn turned 3 on March 29th, just 3 days after Erin was born ... isn't that wild that all 3 children were born in March?? What's even crazier is that JP and Kaitlyn are only 12 months apart!

Here's Avery, getting into trouble again ... she insisted on putting her feet IN the toilet.

Reagan was downright adorable with baby Erin ... she was SO excited to hold her! The first time she held her, Erin was screaming and Reagan was just grinning from ear to ear. She was incredibly sweet with her, which warmed my heart :)