F is for Football

Last night, we went to see Sean (Suzanne's oldest son, 16) start on his Varsity Troy Football team.  They lost but played well against La Habra.  Sean is number 63 and his sister Paige (Suzanne's oldest daughter, 14) is in the band and she is quite talented.  Sara (Suzanne's youngest daughter, 8, and my god daughter) kept Salvatore very entertained with pompoms while we ate pizza and nachos.  It was the first event that we did not have to cancel because I was feeling sick.  I felt great and it was so nice to get out of the house and spend time with friends.  I don't think I have been to a high school football game since I was a cheerleader back in 91.  Not much has changed since then.  Thanks McPhillips clan for a wonderful evening!

First Popsicle

Last night, we went to my dear friend Michelle's house for a feast of Cedar Creek House Salad and Domino's Pizza.  Elisa and Salvatore ran around and entertained each other while Michelle and I talked about school (she teaches 6th grade with Phoenix in Anaheim) and family.  Michelle is expecting another daughter around the 1st of December!!!  Salvatore tasted his first popsicle and loved it.  Elisa had to show him how to properly eat it.  Time to start making my own!

Cousins in Costumes

Here are Amber, Salvatore, and Nicole at Daniela's birthday/Halloween party!

Boy or Girl? We want your thoughts!

We all know the Old Wives' Tales to predict what sex your baby will be.  And for every person we know who happened to fit one stereotype or another, there have been many more to break that stereotype completely.  I can't seem to get one Old Wives' Tale out of my head though.  The one about how carrying a boy gives a woman a "glow" and adds to her beauty and how carrying a girl "robs" a woman of her beauty.  When I was pregnant with Salvatore, I had morning sickness all 9 months, but I always felt relief and I felt so healthy and energetic.  I exercised throughout the pregnancy and ate well and my skin cleared and my hair grew in so thickly that I had it thinned out every month.  With this one, I haven't felt good for one whole day.  My severe nausea and vomiting have me on medication and I have no energy and I don't even remember HOW to work out.  My skin is not clear, it is greasy.  Same with my hair.  Even my fake blonde colored hair seems to take on an orangey hue.  Regardless, I am still THRILLED TO BE WITH CHILD.  So, family and friends, what are your thoughts?  Chinese calendar says "girl".  Luz at work says "girl".  I always imagined myself with two little boys.   Please post a comment and share your vote!

P.S.  We will officially find out what we are having mid-December and you will know shortly after we do.

  

EEEEEEK! No...wait...

I woke up at 2am this morning to use the bathroom.  As I stumbled through the house, I kept my eyes on the floor.  With only the moonlight and the digital microwave clock to light the way, I froze in my tracks in the doorway of the kitchen.  There, in the middle of the floor, was a mouse.  

Earlier in the week, Salvatore and I were playing with his Mickey Mouse coloring book and 

he kept saying, "mouse" for each picture.  When we were finished, he said, "mouse" again 

and I said, "yes, mouse" and he said, "No, mama, MOUSE" and pointed underneath the

 hutch

in our dining room.  Sure enough, there was a dead mouse! Probably a victim of Benedict, 

so I scooped it up and threw it away and sanitized the floors.

With that incident still stuck in my head, I froze when I saw this little black creature not moving in the middle of the floor.  Panicking, I grabbed a large plastic container and placed it over the mouse so I could use the bathroom with some piece of mind.  I did not want to have to kill it or watch it escape, so I put another bowl on top of the container and returned to bed.  In the morning, I crept back into the kitchen and saw the bowl on top of the plastic container and knew that I must deal with the fate of the situation now.  I pulled off the bowl, and raised the container.  Guess what was underneath.....a black, toy plastic car of Salvatore's.  No mouse.  Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.

There's a New Sheriff in Town

This is his Halloween costume this year!!

Salvatore plays with dolls

Soccer bobble head dolls.  He had them all on his bed the other day and I could hear him yelling, "GOL" from the kitchen.  For my English speaking friends, I did not misspell "goal".  That is how they spell it in Spanish; they waste no time with double or silent vowels like we do!  

Thanks Sita and Fred

My grandparents came over on Saturday night and they brought bags of stuff.  Toys for Salvatore, a Jesus pillow for Salvatore, David's favorite chewing gum, a necklace for me, a new school bag for me, old family photos to look at, Dad's favorite Lemon Merange Pie, and DINNER!  They know that I am struggling with food and cooking right now and they brought it all.  We ate dinner, watched the whole (sniff) Angels game, and they entertained Salvatore until he was exhausted.  My dad helped, too!  Thanks family, for spending time and taking care of all of us in ways that we really needed it.

They are Genetically Wired...

to shout at the T.V. while watching sports! The only thing he is missing here is a big bowl of chips or pretzels.  We cheered our Angels on for all 5 hours and 10 minutes of this devastating game. To quote my favorite movie, The Natural, "Losing is a disease."  It really is, but that is what I always loved about sports.  They teach you the value of both winning and losing.  And that "disease" has a cure.  It's called "get back on your feet and play another game." We will be at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night with Uncle Brian, cheering our hardest for you all.  Come on Angels!!

Memories and Feelings

I have a good friend named Melodie, who has an awesome son named Reece.  Reece is about 9 months older than Salvatore and they love to get together and play.  You should see them when we push them in their strollers side by side-they can't stop squealing, giggling, and reaching out for each other.  About a month and a half ago, we had them over for dinner and we ate outside on the patio in the final days of the warm summer nights.  If you have been in my backyard, then you know that we have an unnecessary strip of concrete left over from the construction that separates our two sections of grass.   Reece tripped over it and landed on his knees and scraped them up.  He was a good sport about it, and really only cried when he knew that the length of his shorts hurt worse to rub against his knees than the actual fall did.  So we took off his shorts and he was fine.  We ate, laughed, played, and finished the night with a neighborhood walk with the strollers.  

Salvatore has brought this evening up many times because he will suddenly call Reece's name and make a sad face and reach down to hold his own knees.  The first few times he did it was when we were in the backyard, but he has been bringing it up lately everywhere we go.  Last night, as we drove to pick up David, Salvatore retold me the story of Reece falling down in the backyard and even made some crying sounds and some "shhhh" sounds that  the antibacterial spray made as he touched one knee and then the other.  I listened with my usual "Oh" and "Really" comments as I drove.  He finished with the sweetest, "I'm sorry Reece, I love you Reece, and I miss you Reece."  To me, it felt like I was listening to a dear friend recount an event from his life.  I felt a deep connection to Salvatore and he could remember, retell, and connect feelings like a big person.  As we continue to watch the "baby days and stages" completely disappear, I am loving the person he is becoming. And we do miss you Reece!!

Squealing

We thought the bouncy houses and slides would be so fun for him.  Turns out he only wanted to play with the pumpkins!  This pumpkin patch is on the corner of Beach Blvd. and Malvern Ave. in Buena Park.  They even have a petting zoo (Molly and Avery) with pony rides (Haylie and Kendyl)! It is free to get in and everything costs $1 to do.

Pumpkin Delight

King of the Pumpkins

A favorite

Last year

Listen carefully...

to what Salvatore says at the very end...

                                      

He didn't care for this slide and he said, "No thank you" as soon as they reached the bottom!

Bubbles can distract even the best player

Morning Sickness...

does not only happen in the morning...it lasts all day and night for me!  At 8 weeks pregnant, my heart is filled with joy but my body feels like it has been run over by a truck!  I have tried many remedies, but have yet to find any relief.  It is not getting through work that is the hardest, it is when I am home and have free time with Salvatore and David that it is hard because neither sleeping or eating makes me feel better and sometimes I lay on the couch all day while they continue on.  I am grateful for my husband, who has easily stepped up and taken care of most of the things around here.  I can nap whenever David is home, though sleeping actually makes me feel worse.  And I can't cook much because seeing, smelling, and handling food makes me sick. I feel terrible when Salvatore watches T.V. more than usual, or when I can no longer crawl around and fit into his little clubhouse in his room.  He sometimes follows me into the bathroom and pulls all of the Q-tips out of the box while I am vomiting.  Then he says, "Bless you, mama" when I am done and we go on.  Today, I pushed him around in his stroller INSIDE the house because I did not want to go outside.  And we folded one load of laundry together in about one hour-I folded and he unfolded. I still haven't put those clothes away.  That's OK...there's always tomorrow.  Gotta go-time to order pizza!!!

On your mark, get set, go!

Simpsons

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to watch The Simpsons.  It has been my favorite show for many years.  Salvatore likes it too. When he hears the theme song, he runs into the living room and jumps up and down.  He is starting to imitate Homer Simpson and another character, Nelson.  Hilarious!

Brushing Teeth

Salvatore has always been very good at letting us brush his teeth and he will often ask for it every time we are in the bathroom.  Once he wanted to do it all by himself, it was more difficult because he didn't brush as well as we did for him.  To solve the problem, I bought two toothbrushes and I give him one and make him hold the toothpaste in his other hand while I get his other brush in there.  Here, he looks like an annoyed celebrity who was caught by papparrazi doing something so personal.  Cracks me up!

 

Day and Night

Chasing bubbles with his Angels bat.

Trying to pop the bubbles with his head.