Pictures and stuff :)

Happy Monday! I should have definitely taken off of work today. It's not like I've slept in (that sort of goes out the window with an 11 month old and 4 year old :) but when my alarm went off at 5:20am I think I literally said, "UGHHH!!!" :) But it is what it is. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. The Gomez's definitely did! After I got over the inital shock of Mia vomitting all over me on Thursday morning and realizing her kidney scan would definitely be postponed, it was easy to get in the Christmas spirit! (In case you were wondering...I don't think it was the stomach flu (which was going around). I think she drank too much liquids and without anything else in her system, combined with an AWFUL cough she has, she just got sick. Either way, it was in God's plan that she not have the scan done, so I accepted it and moved on! :) I will speak to her Nephrology office tomorrow (when the lady who schedules things returns) and find out when we can reschedule it. Like I said in my post the other day, my husband is having a full ACL reconstruction on 1/11/11, Mia's 1st birthday is 1/18/11 (her party is 1/22/11), and Manuel's 5th birthday is 1/31/11 (birthday party TBD! :) so January is VERY busy. Clearly whatever is going on is not life threatening, so we'll shoot for February. BUT back to Christmas talk...ours was great. Christmas Eve was spent relaxing around the house. Then my mom came over to give our Christmas gifts and annual Christmas jammies! :) Then the evening was spent at my husbands grandmothers (Buscia). We had a blast. Then Christmas morning was spent at our house with hubby, the kiddos and I. Then we went to my hubby's moms house. Then headed to my Aunt's to visit wtih my family, play games, etc.

I'll start with the Christmas Eve pics...

Mia opening up her very 1st Barbie from Nonna (my mom)

Totally unlike me :) but me "modeling" my new jacket from hubby

Manny opening his new "house shoes" (are we too young to refer to them as "house shoes"? Oh well, we do! :)

 

Mia and Daddy snuggling with her bear from Nonni (her great grandmother)

Mia rockin' her tutu from Tutu Corner

Buscia and Mia

This picture makes me laugh..A) it's adorable and B) they both look SO chubby-faced! :) They aren't but I guess because I've cropped myself out and it's so close-up they just look that way! :)

My beautiful little girl

O-U-T on the way home from Buscia's

But not her! :)

*Christmas Day pics will be posted shortly :) *

Merry Christmas

Next week will be FULL of Christmas pictures, and I can't wait! :) I easily fill a memory card this time of year. I'm obsessed, what can I say? :) But for now, I wish you and your families a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! Have a great holiday weekend, and I'll see you all back on Monday! :)

And for good measure...

 

Manuel and Mia, this morning, with Santa. They both did GREAT! Please excuse the poor quality...this is a pic of a pic. But, it's adorable, no matter how low the quality is! :) Our scanner isn't hooked up! :)

Cancelled...

 *Post edit: and now she has a fever! :( I hope she gets better for her 1st Christmas!!!!!

If I wasn't the one going through this, and I was reading about it from someone else, who I didn't know in real life, I have to say, I may not believe them :) but for those of you following, Mia's scan has been canceled yet again! We were apprehensive about them even doing it because of a cough she's had, but the Radiology Nurse informed us that if she didn't have a fever and there was no wheezing to arrive at Hopkins as scheduled and the anesthesiologist would have to make the final call. So that was our plan. We got the kids up and ready (Manuel for school), and about 30 minutes before we were set to leave the house, the hubby and I stopped to pray, and told God we knew it was all in His hands, He'd be in control and if it wasn't meant to be (meaning the anesthesiologist would think it was too dangerous and her breathing would be compromised), then that was His will and we'd be fine with it. Not 10 minutes later I was getting ready to give Mia water (her cut off time for clear liquids was 8am) and she threw up ALL over me and all over herself!!!!! That is a clear sign to me that this was not meant to happen once again! Clearly God, for whatever reason, does not want this happening right now and we are okay with it. Hubby and I are off for the day, so I'll be snuggling my baby all day, while Hubby puts together Manuel's bike from Santa and Manuel enjoys his Christmas party at school! :)

As far as rescheduling it goes....realistically speaking it can't happen until February. There is just too much going on in January (including my husbands knee surgery which I'm taking off work for). It's clearly not a life threatening situation or else we'd get her in there ASAP.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I'll let you know when it's been rescheduled once again!

Merry Christmas to all of you. Thank you for being such kind, supportive, friends (who I've never met! :)

And for good measure...

Things you should know if we're gonna be BFF's...

I know I said I probably wouldn't post again until after Christmas, but I was wrong. I came across this super fun link-up and wanted to participate. A lot of blogs I follow participated, and I learned so much about people, so I wanted to give it a try. You all know I have children (OBVIOUSLY! ;) but there is more to me then that. Visit Little Miss Momma and link up! :)

*I have lived in Maryland my entire life, with the exception of the age of 8-9 when I lived in South Carolina. Although I missed my family terribly, living in the South was neat. Everyone was SO polite! :)

*My dream is to be a social worker/child advocate/something along those lines. I went to a few years of community college to get my AA in Mental Health and Human Services and then just one day, STOPPED going! :( I was too worried about partying (the story of my "previous" life ;) I hope to go back, one day.

*Ironically enough I ended up in a field that has NOTHING to do with helping people! :( I'm a Pricing Analyst for a mortgage company.

*I got pregnant with Manuel after only being with Manny for THREE months! We knew each other for a year or so prior, but we had only been together THREE months! I can't imagine my life any other way though!
*For the longest time (pre-marriage, pre-children) I had way more guy friends then girl friends. I wasn't (still not) a drama type person. I've just always gotten along better with guys.

*Manny is the only serious boyfriend I've ever had.

*I want to be a homeowner one day, very soon! It doesn't have to big and fancy. Something cute and quaint is all I want, but I want it to be mine/ours!

*I think of my nephews (who passed away in May 2008) every single day!

*My Aunt Kathy told me that my dad died of a massive heart attack, but in my heart of hearts I think he died of a drug overdose. I'll never know the truth, and I'm okay with that, because if she did lie, she only did it to protect mine and my sisters hearts. (sorry to get deep and sad! :)

*One of the saddest days in my life has to be when my mom "lost" our house (well she didn't do it, but lack of help from my dad (NO help at all!) made her unable to pay the mortgage so we lost it. I wasn't sad for myself...I was 18 and fully grasped what was going on. I was sad for my mom who lost the only thing she owned. I cried for days. (deep again, sorry! :)

*I can not imagine NOT going to church every Sunday. I really can't. It's just such a part of our life! :)

*I wanted to be a vet growing up, I would cry if I heard about animals passing away, or saw it on a TV show, now, not so much. Nothing against animals, I am just NOT an animal person, especially cats. SORRY! :)

*Whenever I want to cuss, I say "Punch!" (it's a word that has actually caught on at work! :) and it makes me feel SO much better

*I teach Sunday school to 2-3 year olds every Sunday. It is easily one of the most trying things I have to do on a weekly basis! ;) Especially when, at times, there is 12+ children in the class.

*I'm slightly obsessed with enter giveaways on blogs! :)

*I love reading about other families, seeing pictures of peoples children, etc. Even though I don't "know" you in real life, it's still neat. I'm not a weirdo, I swear! :)

*My patience level has dropped DRAMATICALLY since having a second child. Just being honest! :) I love my children more then life itself, CLEARLY, but I could definitely use more patience.

Okay, this was random and all over the place, but I think that's long enough! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! :)

Please pray for Mia, "She's here!" and Merry Christmas...

Okay, that's A LOT rolled in to one, but this will probably be my last post for a few days, so here it goes...

First things first...Mia's DMSA scan is Thursday, December 23rd. Please pray for her. As I've said a million and one times I'm not so concerned about the results themselves (although I probably should be, for whatever reason I'm not) I'm just SO worried about her being put to sleep. I'm worried about how she'll handle the sedation, being intubated, being extubated, and all the points in between! :( I just don't want her to be scared at ANY point. I don't want her to freak out if they have to put the mask on her face (thinking about it literally puts me into panic mode because I'm so claustrophobic and I know I would FLIP out! Of course Mia is a different person, but still, I worry! :( So please pray for all of us. My hubby will be the one to go back with her and I'm sure he's being strong just for me, so please pray for hubby too! I will keep everyone posted as soon as we know something (which I imagine won't be until after the holidays!)

Now, on the exciting part. My sister, Amy and her hubby just welcomed (less then an hour ago), their second rainbow baby (I apologize if that is not the correct term, and only Spencer is considered the "rainbow baby"). Vivienne (pronounced Vivian) Michele was born about an hour ago. I'm not sure where Vivienne came from, but Michele is Amy's best friend who passed away from cancer in 1996 She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19.5 inches long. She and my sister are doing well. Spencer is at daycare and probably has no clue how much his life is about change (he's only 15 1/2 months old :) We are very excited to welcome this adorable gift in to our family. Hopefully I'll have pics of her over the Christmas weekend, but I guess that all depends on whether or not my sister, her hubby and the kiddos venture out or not. Either way, I'll have pics soon!

Lastly, Merry Christmas from my family to yours. I appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to read my ramblings (usually about nothing! :) I hope you and your families have a WONDERFUL Christmas...

Happy 11 months Mia Grace

*Post-edit: I spoke too soon...I just felt inside Mia's mouth a few minutes ago, and sure enough, one of her bottom front is teeth is FINALLY coming in! It's about time! :) 

Mia Grace, today you are 11 months old! In exactly one month, you will be ONE! I really can't believe! I know every mommy says that (and I'm sure I was saying the same thing to your brother almost 5 years ago) BUT this time around, it REALLY flew by! I swear I was on maternity leave, um, yesterday! But apparently not. You are 11 months old. I love you SO much my sweet little girl. I can't wait to celebrate your very 1st Christmas a week from today. You are in to EVERYTHING so I have a feeling you'll actually enjoy ripping the wrapping paper! :) I love you baby!

You and your brother, a little over 11 months ago :)

Okay, now down to business...

-Nonna took you to the doctors on 12/10 because of a horrible cough you had (it ended up being nothing), but they weighed you (fully clothed) and you were 21 lbs. As far as your height goes, Mommy has no clue. But we’ll get an exact measurement at your appt next month.

- You started “real crawling” on Thanksgiving Day! Mommy, Daddy and Manuel were SO excited! I knew your physical therapist had come to realization that you may never crawl, but it’s for the best that you do. It works your muscles even more! :) You still continue to pull yourself up on everything. You are an expert at “cruising”! You haven’t taken any steps yet but if you want to get from the toy box to the sofas (at Linnie’s house) you just go for it and then fall and cry! :) Silly girl! :)

-You are in size 4 diapers and will be for a lot longer, assumedly :)

-You are primarily in 12-18 month clothing. Your Christmas dress is 12 months and absolutely adorable!

-You continue to spend your days at Linnie's while Mommy and Daddy are working. You are Linnie's baby and she loves you to pieces.

-At your last physical therapy appointment Mrs. Cindy said we can cut back to ONCE A MONTH! YAY!!! She'll just stop in once a month to make sure you are progressing and continuing to get stronger and stronger :)

-I had mentioned last month that I didn’t want to jinx myself by writing about how awesome you sleep, and I was right! :) You started randomly waking up in the middle of the night (only once). Sometimes you can be soothed by your “ninny” other times I bring you in bed (shhhh! Whatever works! :)) But then you’ll fall back asleep until your 5:30am-ish bottle, you fall asleep immediately after finishing that, and then Mommy wakes you up when it’s time to get ready for Linnie’s. (same as last month)

-You are still saying “Mama” and “Dada” to the correct parents now! :) (for the most part) I’ll tell you to say, “Please” and you’ll repeat the same noise, but it doesn’t sound ANYTHING like please! :) You’ve started using a lot more syllables…”gaaa”, etc. but other then “mama” and “dada” you don’t use any “real” words.

-You are still a pro at the sippy cup! It’s adorable and you LOVE your water! :) (same as last month). Hopefully your love of the sippy cup will make the transition from bottle to full time sippy cup will be easy BUT Mommy’s not holding her breath! :)

-You love your Stage 3 food, puffies and Cheerios. We’ve given you bites of “real” food (chicken, mashed potatoes, pancakes-no syrup, etc.) and you love it. I think you’ll be over baby food REALLY soon. If you see Mommy, Daddy and Manuel eating real food you don’t want anything to do with your baby food.

-You STILL don’t have a single tooth-NOT ONE! It’s really starting to worry Mommy, BUT as long as your pediatrician continues to think it’s okay, then I’ll be “okay” with it. If you don’t have any by your 12 month check-up then Mommy might freak out! :)You have been drooling a TON these last few days, so maybe it means something. Who knows? :)

-In regards to your kidney “issues”…you were SUPPOSED to have your DMSA scan on 11/23 but they cancelled it the night before because of your reflux. It is rescheduled for this Thursday, 12/23. You have to go under general anesthesia (intubated/extubated) which scares Mommy to death, but I know it’s all in God’s hands!

-Your personality has really blossomed lately. You constantly want to touch the Christmas tree. Mommy constantly is saying, “No-no Mia” and you look at me, stop for a second and then do it again! :) You are WAY more “curious” (That’s the nice way of saying ornery ;) then your brother ever was! :)

-You started giving kisses on 12/14. Mommy asked you to give me a kiss and you looked at me, with your mouth wide open, and leaned forward to “kiss” me :) You did it to Manuel and Daddy too. It is SO cute!

Okay, I think that's all for now. If Mommy thinks of anything, I'll do a post edit. I love you sweet girl! I love you bigger then the sky! ;)

Cookie Bake 2010

Every year the girls in my family (on my mom's side) get together and bake cookies. Some years we've gone "wild" ;) and made gingerbread houses but typically we stick with good ol' homemade cookies! :) This year we decided to do sugar cookies and then go crazy decorating them. This was Mia's first of MANY cookie bakes with the girls, and she really didn't do much, but still, it was fun just for her to be there. We started this tradition in 2003 and it's one of my favorite things about Christmas. Some of the cookies turn out awful (like the year I used 1/4 CUP of baking soda instead of 1/4 tsp! :) but that's what makes it fun and creates a ton of memories! My extended family is really close, so it's a very neat, special day for all of us.

Here are some pics...

Mia and I watching my sister decorate :)

My 80 year old grandmother (Nonna! :) She as Italian as they come. She moved to America when my mom was 7.

My cousin Megan (aka Megs :) Her dad (Uncle Craig attacked her with some batter! :)

Some of the finished products...you can tell which ones are mine, because they are the most basic. I have NO creativity in my body, AT ALL! :)

(L-R) Aunt Lucy, mom, Nonna, Megs, Amy (my sister, with my niece-to-be :), Mia and I

I had to crop all of us out of this pic because it was an "outake" :) but Mia just look too darn cute not to share!