Just Another Sunday...

** I wrote this on Sunday but didn't realize it was saved a DRAFT. Whoops!

So this weekend FLEW by way faster than I wanted it to. Seemed that nothing was delayed and I also didn't do half of the stuff I planned on which in itself was sort of odd since I am pretty uptight when I don't get what I planned taken care of. Haha. I know me, uptight. Who knew. I am not a planner but at the same time I am. Don't try to understand me you will end up with your head spinning!!

Anywho enough mommy rambling, about this weekend! Yesterday was pretty uneventful for the most part. OH except I FINALLY had time to get my hair cut again. FINALLY. Last time I got it cut was a week before the wedding which was...3 MONTHS AGO! Yikes. Quarter of a year married already. Crazy. We also hung out with 2/3 of the Trojan family (I know you guys hear that last name a lot but hey, good friends are good friends)which included lunch and some Target shopping...hence the pic from yesterday's posting.

Today we all hung out again, this time Ashley came along and we went to Desert Ridge. We actually had a double whammy hang out session cause Matt forgot Xanders shoesies here and Xander and Ashley (mommy) are going to Jersey for a week so they needed those shoes. I think Xander just asked his daddy for an excuse to hang out with his best friend Rian again. Haha.

Today it was well over 100 degrees so we ALSO enjoyed the little water park out there. It's not as cool as some of the other ones we have posted about but hey, water is water. The girls as always had TONS of fun and so did Xander but Rian who is spoiled by heated pools and such, was a little more hesitant at first. I guess we need to start raising him with less "over protection". He is defenitly our most spoiled but hey that isn't saying much cause the girls are pretty darn spoiled as well.

Speaking of spoiled. I have learned that kids (especially daughters) sure know how to "work their parents". Carina and Neya while we were out shopping gave me the look of "OH man I want this" but their teeny little voice boxes blurted out "NO mommy, we don't want anything". haha. I swear. The guilt trips never end. I can't wait until they are teenagers and this leads to expensive prom dresses and expensive jeans and TONS of shoes (Neya seems to think her 6 pairs of flip flops, 2 pairs of tennis shoes, 1 pair of crocs and her "fancy shoes" aren't enough just yet). SOOO long story short, Carina got a harmonica, Neya got a doll bottle, and Carina got 2 shirts, not to mention the little dump truck Rian got. I did good though, I got out of Desert Ridge only spending 25 bucks total! WOOHOO! OH and Ashley bought them these squishy things that are actually pretty cute. They squish out on the ground which is awesome, Rian even likes them.

Now dad just walked in the door with Burger King (which we def shouldn't have spent money on, but hey with only 3 hours of sleep, momma wasn't cooking!) so we are headed to the dining room table to grub. Unfortunately for Rian he will have to eat his FIRST Gerber Graduates meal and not enjoy the yummines that are french fries! Poor little guys, he can blame his wittle heart for mommies over protectiveness!

Here are some other pics from the day...

Rough Target Trip...

DBacks Game

So last night we got free tickets to the DBacks game and although the day was rough I had to try and take my mind off of EVERYTHING, work included. So I called RC on my way home, I packed up the kids as fast as I could...and here is the list of things I forgot...

1. Rian's Blanket
2. Rian's Wipes
3. A bib for Rian

Yeah pretty much all the necessities outside of food. At least I remembered the bottles and snacks. LOL. GEEZUS I told you it was a rough day!

So we get to the game about 15 minutes late and the first thing the kids want is FOOD. Typical right. So we stand in TWO lines, only to be told that Subway doesn't do substitutions (yes Neya wanted Subway...not me), so Neya just had Fries and Cotton Candy for Dinner, topped off with a Root Beer that she shared with Rina (Man, what YUMMY and HEALTHY dinner that was). What did Rina have you ask. She had Chicken Tenders. haha. No surprise there. The kids were pretty good until Neya "angered" the man next to us because although he was sort of heavy set and leaning ALL OVER her chair he got angry when she got up and the chair seat snapped his hand. Hey it's not my fault he couldn't sit in JUST his seat. Oh well.

Around the 7th inning Carina decided to stand on the chair (yes, another bad mom move I told her it was okay) to try and get a shirt thrown to her and that ended with her empty handed and on the ground. In case you weren't reading earlier the chairs are spring loaded so she moved, caught her foot, the chair closed shut and she ended up knocked on the ground. Ugh. Shortly there after we decided to leave. Couldn't bear to go through MORE tears and angry innocent bystanders. LOL.

Needless to say I think our first game was a success all things considered. The funnier part was that I think Me and Neya enjoyed it the most. She loved when they slid into home, she loved when they "bunted" and she loved loved loved when they ran home. haha. So cute she is. Just like our FIRST little boy. haha.

A Thank you and a SMILE!!!

I got home today and we had the girls go check the mail and to our surprise we saw this package! It was from Bory, Anthony and Aubrey. So cute. It was a couple outfits for Rian and each one was EXTRA cute. Check 'em out!



Thank you Cordero Family!!!

Also. As an added bonus. If you guys are avid tv watchers, and you ALSO enjoy the Progressive Insurance Commercials with FLO the every enjoyable car insurance employee. You will appreciate and chuckle at this video of Neya doing her best impression of Flo :)

Great Memories

So as we get older and have more jobs we realize that we have to move on, run on a different path and in that path we leave behind some GREAT friends and even GREATER memories at those "old work places".

After 4 years of my time at my job I have seen a lot of great friends come and go and this last one was again, just as sad as the rest.

Matt, from us to you, we wish you many new great adventures and opportunities. Remember to stick up for yourself and speak not only when spoken to but when you believe strongly in something! Take care good friend. Take care. And yes, we will STILL see you and the fam on a very regular basis. LOL.

"Da Crew" From Left to Right: Alison, Matt a.k.a. TROJ, Don, Drea

WOWZA!

So when we got Gibby we knew it was a "test run". How very horrible to say it but if you know us at all you know our house can be a hectic one. Kids up at 6am and running and screaming from then until bedtime. About a week after we got Gibby we noticed that he was losing hair...which OF COURSE could not have been induced by this exact string of conversations...

Mommy: Neya, Carina, while I am at work DO NOT put the hamster in its ball, you wait till I get home so I can make sure you don't scare him to bad...

N & C: Okay mom, we won't...we PROMISE

Mommy: *walks in the door from work* Hey guys...how was the...HEY! What is the ball doing out?!?

N & C: OH, well uhm..mom..he just looked like he wanted to play so we took him out..he had lots of fun

Mommy: Did you chase him around..just like I told you NOT to?!?

N&C: He had so much....

Mommy: Answer the question...

N & C: Yes mom, we chased him and he ran into the cupboards, but he was having fun...

THis conversation happened two days in a row. Must have been my fault for not telling the Nanny to NOT let the girls play with him. Oh silly mommy of 10 years for thinking the kids would just listen. Hrm. Maybe next time...or not.

So we had that conversation which led to the DO NOT TOUCH THE HAMSTER talk, which led to the knock onthe neighbors door who gave him to us in the first place...

Mommy: Hi, I hate to do this to you but I think we need to give Gibby back as our kids have stressed him out so much he is losing his hair....I'm so sorry

Neighbor: Haha, no problem...not at all

THANK GAWD for the most amazing neighbor ever. She is truly a gem. I think sometimes that we have been blessed and just don't even realize it since we don't all talk that much. Kinda silly actually.

Well that is the news for this week. We had to give Gibby back but at least he went back to his original home...and we found out his actual hname was Peanut. ha. Whoops.

For Fathers Day we got RC two Candy Apples (the red ones like you get at fairs and such) and he was content. Since we did it up last weekend I am sure this was even more than he expected.

So here we are...

Any of you who read this blog, know that it is a family blog, updated VERY often and it probably gets quite a few smiles and sometimes maybe you wonder...What the heck, do they ever have DOWN moments. LOL.

So here we are...

Last week we took Rian to his 9 month heart appointment. ALL family and friends know what we dealt with at first and it's no surprise that it still sometimes catches a few of us off guard when we see his scar or question why he is breathing harder than normal, or rather...is it normal that he is breathing a little heavy. Over cautious is better than under cautious, I know I have some friends out there that can relate!

So we took him a week ago (Actually RC took him as I had to work...and have NO PTO left from my last hospital stint...and OH MAN did Mr. Guilt step in after the appt. was over)...

They said he looked good and did good during his chest ultrasound of his heart, lungs etc, RC asked a few questions and after the appointment this was the verdict:

He has noise in his valves still, which means the bloodflow is still restricted but it hasn't gotten worse, nor has it gotten better so there isnt "much" to worry about or cause concern. The other thing is that the "pressure" is higher for him than what they would like. It is a 32 instead of the prefferred 25. What did this mean. This meant that he will need to go back in 6 months (which is better than the "every 3 month" intervals we were at). It means that his ease of breathe is not the same as a "normal child his age" and that he has to work a little harder, we had never heard this before...so it was a new thing to worry about...

RC was relieved, he said he was happy with what the doctor said and felt no need to be concerned as they seemed very confident. I on the other hand, sat at work the rest of the day and then went home with a chip on my shoulder. I remembered ALL the days and nights I sat in the hospital (at the time 3 weeks was WAY to long). I remembered the breathing tubes, the needles, the IV's and constant beeping from the machines and I wanted to know everything I could do to AVOID that for our son for the rest of his life.

Needless to say in true Drea fashion I picked a fight with RC, then broke down, then cried, then told him I loved him I was just worried (yes even with ALL the good news I was still worried) and to actually say it out loud hurt more than holding it inside and only having MYSELF feel or know what I was thinking. It made me realize that no matter how big Rian gets, how many tumbles he takes, how good his scar looks or how brave he is during all his appointments I will always think of him as my tiny little heart baby who was as blue as a blueberry when he first came out.

So the next day I called the heart doctor, waited all day, played phone tag (I called her three times, she called me 4) and when we finally talked her last words to me were (in a very strong filipino accent)...

"Mrs. Hernandez, You have nothing to worry about. We are doing all of this to keep to OUR routine and make sure we DON'T miss anything and with as big, strong and healthy as he is now at 9 months, you have nothing to worry about what-so-ever, take care and have a good night, see you in 6 months"

With that I hung up and proceeded to cry in the quiet of my bathroom (this seems to be the place I believe NO ONE will hear me...crazy I know), and then I laughed at how silly I was to still be worried and then I cried some more. Crazy as this may and as simple and "short" as maybe our struggle was compared to some other friends I know it will constantly be something that tears at my heart.

This is soo different than a normal blog I would post but I was blog-surfing today (I in fact think I want to start following some "strangers" blogs but how do you be-friend a fellow blogger who doesn't even know you...LOL.), and I realized everyone has struggles, not every day needs to be a perfect day or end in smiles, so from here on out I will post tough parenting days, tough married days and of course our ever infamous FUN FUN FUN family days, and then the days that make you say "why did I have a family" may just seem like a "regular" day as opposed to the "most horrible" day. Of course though, the fun days are probably still going to be most prevelant but I won't be so "quiet" about a tough spot. LOL. Every story ends with a laugh or smile anyways when I tell it! Hehe.

TO end this I want to put on here a few pics and sentences that depict the struggle we went through...and where we are today...

Rian right after he was born. He really was BLUE. You can't really tell in this pic, but it was the look on the nurses faces when I was holding him right before this, and the look when they carted him away without a word that caused us to be worried.

This was the day after he was born. The night he was born they quickly took him by Ambulance to the St. JOsephs Childrens Hospital. It was how we saw him when we first walked into the Childrens hospital once they released me from Arrowhead, breathing tubes and all. We couldn't even hear what he sounded like when he cried for 4 more days. In fact I cried tears of joy the first time we heard him choke out some tears.

This was the day of surgery. He was a week and a half old, and it was SOO rough to let him go into that surgery not knowing how it would all turn out. We thought he had IV's hooked up to him before that scared us, this was WAY worse, my heart broke even more just wondering what he must be feeling...

This was the day we brought him home, I was SOO excited to FINALLY put on his first piece of clothing...Yes it is a tribute to Momma, my wittle messican baby!



This is how our little guy looks now, so strong and tough, a soldier in his own right. OH yeah...you know you love his side profile!



We went from having a healthy baby boy in my belly to having a baby facing "deadly situations" and being diagnosed with "Transposition of the Great Arteries" to having a baby that will be able to have a happy, "healthy" life. I have friends and family members with so many other struggles that its hard for me to NOT feel quilty at how short, or how "simple" (simple only cause after all was said and done he lived and has a great chance at a "normal" life...) this was for us but when I really sit down and think of the struggle it will continously cause, the worry and the questions it will bring up (can he have McDonalds, can he run in track, can he play sports, can he have a higher risk of heart attacks or heart disease)and the emotions, heart ache and pain it made me/us/our family and friends feel in the beginning, my heart goes out to them...it makes me realize...that here we are. Here we are, we have made it this far...

To end this entry...here is one of my very favorite quotes from one of my very favorite books that we read Rian at bedtime....

"Little Boy, you remind me how so much depends on days made of NOW"...

To this day I can't help but choke back tears when I read him this at bed time...it is SOO true.

Happy Fathers Day...wait...what...

So as you all know, RC works TONS of hours and it just so happened that he was off this Sunday. So a week early we celebrated Fathers Day for him. I know, random but he enjoyed it...I think. Haha.

So we started the day off and we got him a 'dad' frame along with a King of the Remote trophy (along with ALL day privileges of being the ONLY one to use the remote). Oh the joys of being a daddy!




Then we decided that going to lunch and hanging out would be fun, so we did that. We headed over to 5 and Diner where dad decided that he enjoyed hearing mom sing to all the oldies. I know, I am odd, but I totally dig the oldies!! When we got there, I was immediately mesmerized by "big girls don't cry" from one of my all time favorite movies, Dirty Dancing. Hehe. so I guess dad got his other fathers day wish. LOL. After that we were going to take pics with him and the kids at Picture People, since we have this cool membership where we constantly get free picture sheets and such we figured why not, but once the day wore on we were totally "over it" but not before we took the BOYS to get hair cuts. So Rian, whose mohawk I made sort of crooked, got cleaned up and daddy got his hair cut to. We tried to get him to shave it but he was not for it. Rian went first, and here is a cute pic of the boys "bonding" in the hair cut chair :)




After the hair cut session Dad wanted to BBQ some steak and potatoes. Sooo, we went down to the grocery store, got us some yummy steaks, baked potatoes and such and went home and relaxed and bbq'd everything up. We topped off the dinner with some Bruschetta (thanks Tiff for the recipe) and some Brownies. I was so proud of the Bruschetta that even Dad whom HATES tomatoes tried it and said it was pretty good!! Either he is a good liar or he actually liked it. hehe.



All in all the day went pretty good. I hope RC/Dad enjoyed his day, his brownies, his boy bonding time, his steak and of course the drink he had while washing it all down :) Love you hunny!!!!

Big Boy Carseat

He's a big boy now!

n00bie

So I just downloaded this app on my G1 and it helps me upload blogs and stuff from my phone without going all the way to the site etc. I have no idea how often I will use it but sounded pretty nifty at the time!!

Today I am sitting at home with Neya and Rian. Carina went to her friends cause we are "boring". The reason we are boring today is because Neya is sick so we are just trying to keep her resting and hydrated. So far she is good. What a trooper though. She made getting "sick" seem so easy and non scary. No tears. No whining. Sheesh. I wish I was that mature about it!

Well I am going to hit "upload" and see if this application really works! Wish me luck!

No words...

I have no words to describe this. Although it came out pretty dark I felt I was doing myself an injustice NOT posting it for you all to see the amount of personality my kids contain in their little tiny bodies. Yes my 9 year old is singing Bon Jovi. Ha.

Yumminess and Silliness

Rian can now eat MOST normal food and just like momma he is a pasta fanatic. Loves him some noodles. So last night we made some with dinner and I got the bright idea to let him feed himself. It started out with a bowl and ended it all over him, his highchair and the floor. Lucky for us our dogs like to clean up after him. Here are some cute videos of him shaking his head like crazy and clapping along with a pic of him as messy as can be...but oh so adorable. P.S. Playing while eating, another "never gonna let him do" moment...that I caved for...Sheesh, where have all my strict mothering skills gone ;)

Mommy and the kiddos go on a Trip!

So as you all know we made it to Nevada just fine, from my previous blog you might have thought I just slept after that LONG 16 hour drive TO Nevada, but nope, not me. I kept going and going just like the energizer bunny, or like Rian just after he wakes up for a nap ;)



Thursday was us getting the house ready, cleaned and such for my little sisters graduation party. Nothing to monumental, but then we woke up on Friday and that is when the fun began. Friday morning was already threatening us with rain and since we knew the rain and wind was making the town freezing, and the graduation was outside, I decided to make a trip to get Rian a sweater. What a mistake. We drove all the way to Carson City and went to my mecca: Target. Hehe. They didn't have ONE sweater for a baby, and all they had was long sleeve onesies. So we bought a pack, and since it was 12 months, I know for a fact he will not be wearing them again. So sad, cause he actually looked really cute with long sleeves under his little man shirt.



We went to the graduation and it was FREEZING!!! I mean COLD. The wind was cold, the air was cold. EVERYTHING was cold. So what do we do when it gets cold you ask and you are trying not to focus on things. We take pics! LOL. Then of course we waited for Ashleys ceremony to start. I still don't understand the hoopla. I get its a HUGE day, but man, when it's cold you would think they would just hand over the diploma's and get the heck out of there! Of course not, so we sat for a couple hours (nearly 3 to be exact), listened to speeches, jokes and then also joked around as our families ADD kicked in and we got bored quickly. haha. I know, what great adult examples we are. After her ceremony we quickly headed home to grub down and get our party on. So much fun.

I had to post this pic because we took one LAST YEAR at Amy's Graduation and we all looked so different. I was more saddened because all of THEM looked MORE grown up! This pic is of me, Amy, Ashley and our Cousin Georgia!



Saturday morning, we drove to Cali to hang out with my family and friends over there. Along the way we picked up my little "big" bro Gabe from Davis and dragged him down to Napa as well. On our way into town we met up with my bestie Mel and stopped at Mary's to enjoy a wondrous salad and breadsticks. Gawd, that is the one place I miss the absolute mostest. I have no idea why, I mean its not THAT great...or is it?!?! OH wait it is that great. So great that that night at 830pm I ordered a veggie pizza to take home for my Hubby and yes...he gobbled it all up in two days. Silly guy.

Saturday we also had a bbq. We invited some friends and fam over (Tiffany, Gabe, Noah, Aaden, Melody, Peyten as well as my in-laws, Rudy and Jackie...still kinda funny to be able to say that...hehe) and we all enjoyed burgers, dessert and singing me happy birthday (totally on key of course) and just catching up. It was sad that it was such a short trip but it was totally jam packed with fun.







Sunday we left around 9am and headed off for our trip. The kids did so stinking good, so much better than the way down, and so at the grapevine we decided to stop for Starbucks...and not to long after they were all hopped up on sugar (rian's cup was empty...but he LOVES it anyways)...





They quickly ended up crashing out. So cute.



The trip was fun, but that is the LAST road trip I take without RC for A LONGGGGGG time.

Ashley is a Graduate!!

Sissy Ashley:

We are so proud of you, what a terrific young woman you have grown into. You have made some big choices, grown up a lot, and even held a job all while working towards your High School Graduation, and of course that one very special "award", your Diploma. Don't rush life to quickly, and make sure you are doing what makes you happy and not whats pays your bills ;)

I cannot say enough how happy I was that I could be there with you to share in your special day!!!

We love you Binky!!!

Ashley is a Graduate!!!

Me and Ash

The 3 Sisters: Andie, Ashley and Amy

Ash and her man Brandon

Sissies: Ash and Amy