Casa Moreno

Casa Moreno has moved!

2010-04-02T02:03:00.000-05:00

Click here to check it out!

Yay for a short work week!

2010-03-31T00:41:00.000-05:00

The weather was just too gorgeous Monday morning to go to work so I opted for a quick trip to Galveston with Chris and Cassie. 70 degree weather just doesn't last long enough around here so I want to take full advantage of it while I can ;-)

Cassie wasn't so sure about running her feet through the sand, or getting her shoes dirty, but she quickly adapted and loved every minute of it.

My favorite from that day:

I'll be back with more soon! Happy Wednesday!

Flying high

2010-03-24T23:26:00.003-05:00

Somehow, on what was supposed to be a quick diaper run to Toys R Us the other night, we ended up with some extra goodies in our shopping cart for CB. One of those was this awesome Brobee kite that we just couldn't resist. I haven't given a good CB update in a while, but just to briefly catch you up, her thing right now is Yo Gabba Gabba. Or No Bagga Bagga as she prefers to call it. It makes me laugh when I'm at work and I'm suddenly bouncing the theme song around in my head, "Muno, he's tall and friendly! Brobee, the little green one!" and so on, and so on......

So anyway, we picked up a kite for Mikey too since it wouldn't be any fun for him to just come over and watch us play. He was mad at us at first because he wanted the Brobee kite, but as you can see from the photos below, he quickly got over it. Cassie had a blast, Mikey had a blast, in fact I think the adults did too, right Chris? Being there and watching the kids play brought so many memories of my own childhood. I think that's just one of the many bonuses of having a kid sometimes, having fun doing the simplest things with them.

Rodeo Recap

2010-03-24T00:09:00.006-05:00

I'm finally back with some more photos from our trip to the rodeo. I hope my followers, yes all eight of you, have not given up on me ;-) Life has been hectic (in a good way) so as much as I've wanted to update the blog, I just haven't had the time to do so. I'm going to make more of an effort though because truly, it's always fun for me to come back and relive those moments.

And just for fun, click here to see how little she was this time last year :-)

(how you'll usually catch me: fixing her hair!)

(amazed at the sight of the ferris wheel)

I'll be back tomorrow with more of Cassie & Mikey's kite flying adventures, but for now here is one of Brobee......

Her eyes say it all

2010-03-15T10:02:00.001-05:00

Last week we took Cassie to her second trip to the rodeo. She was amazed by all of the lights, the sounds, the colors, the rides, the people. I love this photo of her because it will always remind of that day and how hard she tried to soak it all in.

An unexpected day off

2010-03-05T00:55:00.001-06:00

Lately, the urge to get to work has slowly been fading for me. I dread the traffic, the 2+ hour commute, the short lunches that leave me tied to my desk because I have to make up the time for being late each day, the mean co-workers that are quick to throw me under the bus, the unfairness of working in a politically charged environment where it's not what you know, but who you know.....but even all of that combined will never equal to how much I hate having to leave Cassie and how I long to spend my days with her.

So how happy do you think I was when I realized I accidentally ripped into my last contact this morning, leaving me unable to drive? For what was the first and probably only time ever, I was actually excited about being legally blind! I quickly got on the phone and left my boss a message explaining to her that I wouldn't be in because I couldn't drive in. And let me tell you, pretending to sound disappointed about calling in was not an easy task!

So instead of heading into work after getting my new contacts, this is how I spent my afternoon:

With my cowgirl, who looks like she's ready for our trip to the rodeo next week!

My Sunshine

2010-02-28T23:25:00.000-06:00

After a beautiful and sunny weekend, I am really going to miss my girl when I go back to work tomorrow. I hate Mondays.

If only Weli knew....

2010-02-26T23:15:00.002-06:00

I remember being a kid and my Mom making a huge deal about messing up the beds after she had made them each day. We weren't allowed to sleep on our comforters or just lounge around in bed, unless of course we were going to sleep. I always thought my Mom was a little OCD about that, but I guess being a stay at home mom to 4 kids was a lot of work, and making the beds over and over was probably the last thing she wanted to do.

Well dear Mom, guess what Cassie was doing in your spare bedroom while you were out of town?

I'm too tired to write a story

2010-02-21T01:22:00.001-06:00

The photos should say it all :)

It's a lovely day!

2010-02-20T12:44:00.000-06:00

And here's why:

1. Cassie woke up bright and early and excited to see me still laying in bed when Chris brought her into our bedroom. She greeted me with a "Mama!" and a big hug and kiss....what a sweet girl.

2. Chris picked up breakfast for us so there was no need for me to cook or wash dishes this morning!

3. The sun is shining and it's nice and warm outside. I can't wait until Cassie wakes up from her nap so we can go outside and play!

4. Believe it or not, Chris and I are going out on a date tonight!

It was just a matter of time

2010-02-17T00:09:00.004-06:00

I had a feeling this was going to happen soon, just wasn't prepared for it when it happened on Valentine's Day. I was quietly working on the computer Sunday afternoon as Cassie laid in her crib for her afternoon nap. We did our usual nap/bedtime routine: shared a hug & kiss, read a book, and recited a quick prayer before I left her alone to fall asleep. I walked over to the computer room and I could still hear her talking to herself, and to Lollie, pointing to photos on her dresser, calling her Papa, tossing & turning, and so on. Anything to prolong her nap time I suppose. Finally, after about 5 or 10 minutes, she was silent. I figured she was asleep, when all of a sudden I heard a loud thump. Scratch that, it was more like a loud thud. Scratch that too, it was more like a loud bam! A very unfamiliar sound to me, I thought maybe something had fallen off of her dresser. Annoyed that whatever it was has probably awoken her and interrupted my "me time", I ran into her room......only to find her laying on the floor. The poor girl had fallen out of her crib. She used the bumper as a step and used it to take a plunge. She was laying flat on her back, arms and legs wide open when I ran in. I don't think she really started crying until she saw the shock on my face. I made sure to look over every bone in her body and thanked my lucky stars she didn't hurt herself. I think she quickly realized the gravity of the situation because she was afraid of her crib the rest of that day and kept rubbing her head saying "hurt" and "cay" [meaning fall in Spanish].....this little tale definitely tops the list as the scariest thing that has happened to her so far. I have a feeling she's going to be good at keeping me on my toes....

Here's the little daredevil at the park for some Valentine's photos with her love, Lollie:

"Mama, what are we doing here? Don't you know it's c-c-c-cold?!"

"You want me to say "cheese?" Okay!"

"You want me to hug Lollie? Okay, that's easy!"

"I love Lollie!"

"Wheeeee, I love my shiny new shoes!"

Sweet Valentine

2010-02-14T12:45:00.002-06:00

Dear Jake

2010-02-11T22:37:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago, Cassie received a sweet and unexpected letter in the mail from her oldest cousin Jake. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Jake is 9 years old, the oldest of Cassie's cousins (well on my side of the family anyway) and for whatever reason, they cling to one another when we are all together. He spoils her with hugs and even willingly shares his Nintendo DS with her. It's so cute watching them play together. And just as much as they play together, they are equally inquisitive of one another. I remember him asking me why she drooled so much when she was just a few months old, and she gets a kick out of trying to yank off his glasses or pat his spiky hair.

Here they are together back in December:

And here she is working on her letter this evening:

Work is making me unhappy today

2010-02-11T12:24:00.001-06:00

But looking at these beauties quickly changes my mood. I took these last night right after getting home from work. They had just made it back home from the Children's Museum and were still in silly mode. Chris might get mad though if I post the one of them making a Bowser face together so I won't embarrass him like that :) Or should I???

20 whole months

2010-02-09T23:33:00.001-06:00

My girl is 20 months old today. I haven't had a lot of time to play with my camera lately so I don't have a lot of photos to post, but that doesn't mean that I can't take the time to tell you what she's like these days, right? At 20 months old, this is how I like to describe her: sweet, shy at times, sensitive, hater of hot food, overly attached to her Lollie, lover of music, silly, the most awesome giver of bear hugs, loves to sing and dance, smart, loves her books, shoe lover, playful, demanding, cheeto lover, but most of all, perfectly mine. Happy 20 months my love!

Just a quick snapshot from this evening.

January 29th

2010-01-29T13:12:00.001-06:00

I happened to be in the middle of organizing some files on my computer when I came across this photo today. Funny that it's dated today's date, January 29th. I will never forget this day, the day we discovered we were having a baby girl. I was thrilled and over the moon that day, and today, I still am.

Sometimes the best things in life really are free

2010-01-21T10:31:00.001-06:00

I thought I'd come back and share some photos from our trip to the park this past Sunday. Aunt Yaya & Mikey happened to be visiting, so it was perfect timing. And besides, Cassie is always up for a trip to the parque, as she calls it in Spanish, to feed the ducks and play on the swings.

I almost didn't take my camera on this particular day but I'm so happy that I did because these photos happen to be some of my new favorites. I can't help but to look at them and smile. We were making our way back around the park when we stopped to goof around in a field covered with leaves. It makes my heart happy when I look at these because the joy I see on Cassie's face is just priceless, and she loves her cousin Mikey oh so much.

It's funny because sometimes as parents, we're always looking for activities to do with our kids. We are willing to spend money on zoo and museum visits, trips to Chuck E. Cheese, and yet, sometimes the places that makes them the most happy is right under our nose. We are lucky to have this park so close to our house and I love that she gets out there and finds playing in what nature has to offer her just as exciting.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

2010-01-19T13:04:00.010-06:00

Yesterday marked Cassie's first visit to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, Texas. It was a gorgeous afternoon to take the hour or so drive out to the country. Being a lover of ice cream, I was extra excited to bring Cassie along to check out the place where all of that yummy-ness is carefully created. We took the 45 minute guided tour, enjoyed some ice cream of course, shopped around for some souvenirs in their Country Store, and snapped some photos. And when I write that we took the tour, that really means Aunt Yaya, Mikey, and I....Chris on the other hand spent the 45 minutes trying to wrangle up Cassie who misbehaved the entire time. My favorite moments of the tour were watching her pretend to lick the giant pictures of ice cream and say "peeeeese" followed by watching her hit Chris over the head and then kissing him on his cheek after he scolded her.

Some more silly photos:

The Realization

2010-01-17T12:52:00.005-06:00

(loving how her little right eye shrinks when she's laughing too much)

My baby girl isn't so baby anymore. She is quickly becoming a bona fide big girl. Her vocabulary is all over the place. Last time I counted, (prior to her 18 month doctor's visit) I came up with a list of 70 words that she could pronounce. Too bad her current favorite word is "no." In fact, that was the first thing she had to say to me when I walked into her bedroom this morning. It made me wonder what happened to a simple "good morning?" And speaking of favorites, she already has favorite music. Just to name a few, she's currently singing along, or attempting to at least, to Lady Gaga, Pink, Kings of Leon, Taylor Swift, and Reik. She's a teenybopper trapped in the body of a toddler. And to further solidify the realization that she's growing up way too fast and in the blink of an eye, she used her potty twice today! This is all so exciting and sad for me.

This hurts more than being in the hospital

2010-01-09T19:37:00.004-06:00

Before the ultrasound even revealed that we were expecting a baby girl, I had already envisioned what I wanted the baby's nursery to look like. I wanted a light and airy room for my baby. Some soft pinks thrown in, a chandelier, and a white girly, feminine crib.

This is what Cassandra (in case you haven't noticed I call her by her full name when she's in trouble) has done to that lovely crib that I thought she would cherish forever.

How and why Cassie would do this is beyond me....

A close up of the damage, chipped paint and all:

She's not even afraid to admit it. When asked what she's going to bite, she clearly replies "crib."

And this is the face she gives me when I scold her.

Terrible 2's, here we come!

I'm home!

2010-01-09T18:58:00.007-06:00

some pretty flowers from my Mama

I'm happy to report that my surgery went well and I'm finally out of the hospital! I'm a little sore but that is to be expected. I'm not well enough to sleep in my own bed yet because it sits so high, but even my living room sofa beats being in the hospital. Not having someone wake me up ever hour to check my vitals has been awesome!

Before Christmas rolled around, I teased Chris that the one gift I would like was a day off. A day off from him, Cassie, Dottie, work, cleaning, the house, etc. Not because I don't love them, but just because I would like some alone time. Being admitted to the hospital was not my idea of my day off so next time I should probably be careful what I wish for.

I missed my little fatty while I was in the hospital. I missed her silly personality, her hugs, and her I love you's [A-Wah-hooos]."

It's nice to be back home! Thanks again for the well wishes my lovely friends!

(Un)Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T11:29:00.002-06:00

New Years Eve started off pretty good. I went to work, came home and cooked for our delicious dinner that evening. We ate, popped a few fireworks that evening and then came inside. Shortly after midnight, I started feeling some very painful and familiar chest pains. And here I am, almost a week later, writing this from the hospital while my surgery is being planned. This really sucks and not even how I imagined I would start off the new year.

To make a long story short, I'm having my gallbladder removed because it's causing issues with my pancreas and liver. I had these issues a few years ago, but somehow they managed to disappear, until now.

The worst part of this for me is not even the fact that I can't eat or drink anything until the issues with my pancreas resolve themselves, but the fact that my sweet Cassie can't visit me. This is going to be the longest week ever but I'm looking forward to getting out of here and feeling normal again.

A girl after my own heart

2009-12-30T09:22:00.004-06:00

She loves shoes. Gives us a big "wheeeeeeeee" whenever we put on a new pair. Santa brought her these green satin flats and she loved them. Stomped around the kitchen all morning long in excitement.

And then got mad at me for making her take them off.

The lesson here: do not mess with a girl and her shoes, ever!

Christmas Recap

2009-12-29T23:36:00.012-06:00

I took the day off on Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve, to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping and to hang out with my Cassie Bear. I had the day all planned out, we'll wake up, share some breakfast, lounge around, get a little crafty, bake Santa some cookies....sounded like a great day, right? WRONG! I ended up spending the better part of my day at the dealership waiting around to get my car fixed, wrestled with a very fidgety Cassie in the waiting area, got into an argument with my own mom over the phone that left me fuming, and walked out of there with new brakes and a couple of hundred dollars poorer.

Nonetheless, I went home and tried to make the best of it. And by that, I mean, I had some peanut M&M's to make me feel better. Chocolate always seems to do the trick. I gave myself a little pep talk and convinced myself that tomorrow would be a better day, and it was. I was excited about hanging out with Cassie again and getting ready to go to my parent's for some Christmas fun with the family. Cassie made out like a bandit and the house has been invaded by many more baby dolls and strollers.

I didn't take a ton of photos because for once, I didn't want to worry about lugging the camera or worry about the best lighting....I just wanted to be able to relish in the excitement of it all with Cassie and Chris.

I hope it was an awesome Christmas for all of my dear friends.

Getting crafty:

Christmas morning:

[It's a wonder Santa left us any presents under the tree. Since we didn't have time to bake homemade cookies, all we left him were some of Cassie's graham crackers. Apparently he didn't like them because he only took a bite out of one and left the rest. Sorry Santa!]

Fighting with her sister over a cracker:

She figured out this was a ball popper before even unwrapping it!

Loving her Little People:

And her Papa!

Okay, so I lied....maybe I did take more photos than what I originally thought ;-)

Very funny Cassandra

2009-12-27T00:18:00.003-06:00

So of all movies out there, Cassie's favorite is Shrek. She can watch it over and over and over and over and shows no signs of getting tired of it. She has parts of it already memorized and imitates the singing as well. Funny girl, eh? So funny, that her Dad thought it would be cute to tell her that I am Lord Farquaad. He says my black hair resembles Lord Farquaad....ha, well then that makes him a big green ogre in my book. So to be funny, before the scene with Lord Farquaad even begins, Cassie looks at me, points, and shouts Mama!

She's lucky she's cute, otherwise she would be in deep trouble.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T17:51:00.004-06:00

XOXO, Chris, Ceci, and Cassie

Waiting for Santa!

2009-12-22T22:19:00.003-06:00

For tomorrow

2009-12-20T23:59:00.002-06:00

Cassie has a visit with the nurse tomorrow for 2 vaccines so I'm packing this in Papa's bag. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that I won't be able to be with her. I'm sure the tears will be plenty :(

The Ranch

2009-12-19T23:59:00.005-06:00

Today, we had the pleasure of tagging along with Aunt Yaya & my Mom to visit one of my Mom's friends that moved out to the country a while back. We should have really spent the day wrapping up our Christmas shopping, but this seemed like a lot more fun. And it was!

We played in the hay.

Saw some cows.

Met some donkeys, which were just the cutest little furry creatures.

Played outdoors even those it was windy & c-c-c-c-cold!

And before we left, collected some pecans to take home.

Look what we collected for Papa!

It was a fun, stress-free day. What I would do to have a house out in the country......

1 1/2

2009-12-15T22:23:00.001-06:00

My sweet girl turned 18 months old last week. That means she is officially one and a half years old, and quickly on her way to turning TWO. How can this be? It's so sad sometimes, she's getting so big, so fast.

About Mikey.

2009-12-14T02:02:00.009-06:00

Mikey is my nephew. Yaya & Michael's one & only child. There is nothing in this world that he loves more than his Nintendo DS, Mario Bros., or coming over to play Wii with his Uncle Chris. Little does he know that the Wii really belongs to him & not us, but his Mom is afraid to take it home because she knows it will only be the beginning of the end and it will be impossible to pry the remote from his hands if they were to take it home. He loves music, he loves to dance, and sometimes, he even talks too much. But, we love him. And my Cassie loves him. And today, he turns 5 years old! Happy Birthday Mikey!

Love, Aunt Ceci.

"Awesome!" - Mikey's word of the day yesterday

2009-12-06T13:48:00.002-06:00

Happy almost 5th birthday!

Oh yeah...

2009-12-04T18:55:00.001-06:00

I've been meaning to post about Cassie's new and lovely ensemble. It's what happens when Chris goes to the store by himself :-| A Spongebob one-piece isn't typically my style but oh well.....at least she's warm, right?

SNOW!

2009-12-04T18:15:00.019-06:00

It was an excellent day to stay home today. I thought there was no way I was going to work if there was a chance of snow like the weather forecast suggested. On a good day, my commute to work is at least an hour, and that's just one way. I could only imagine what it was going to be like if it was snowing on my way home.

So the day first started with a bit of ice.

As the snow started to pick up, I patiently waited for Cassie to wake up from her nap. Here she is with one foot hanging out of her crib.

The snow finally started picking up so we headed outside.

I've been feeling guilty about not putting the Christmas decorations out yet, so this definitely made up for it. Well at least for now anyway. Warm hugs everyone!

My Sweet Eskimo Pie

2009-12-04T14:02:00.001-06:00

It's snowing today!

Happy 3 days after Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T23:59:00.002-06:00

To say that it has been a tough couple of weeks for us would be an understatement. We unfortunately lost Chris' Mom to cancer this past Monday, November 23rd. Everything seemed to have happened so fast that sometimes grasping the reality of it all is nearly impossible. Thanksgiving Day was difficult because the funeral had not yet taken place, so I think it was hard to go on, knowing that saying goodbye to Mary was still lingering in our future. Going on with the rest of the world around you and "enjoying" the holiday is nearly impossible when the mourning of your loved one has not yet happened.

On top of all of this, I came down with strep throat and a very painful ear infection on the very first day of what was supposed to be the beginning of my Thanksgiving break from work. I was in so much pain that there was no way I could do any cooking so my awesome hubs prepared the delicious sides while my sister Yaya picked up the yummy turkey from Luby's.

With the exception of regaining all of the hearing in my left ear, I'm happy to report that I am finally feeling better, and also feeling especially thankful this holiday. Thankful for my wonderful husband that made me very proud this evening (I'll save that story for later) and my beautiful baby girl. Thankful for my family, especially to still have my mom, and also thankful for my awesome sister Yaya that still takes care of her little sister even though she has her own family to worry about. Thankful for all of the friends (online friends that I've never met too!) and family that reached out to us through phone calls, text messages, emails, and even on facebook, to express their sympathies and include us in their prayers through this difficult time.

And with all of that said, I'll leave you all with these from this morning. I know I'm a little late here, but I just had to :)

Sad

2009-11-21T00:49:00.000-06:00

Cassie's Grandma, Mary, is sadly losing her battle with cancer. If anyone has a moment to spare, please include her and my family in your prayers.

Up, up, and awaaaay!!!!

2009-11-15T22:10:00.001-06:00

My favorite part of our trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival today.

For Jorge & Tabitha

2009-11-15T01:58:00.004-06:00

Your gorgeous boy!

Because every girl deserves sprinkles on her birthday

2009-11-09T18:57:00.002-06:00

Happy 17 Months Cassie!

Missing Papa

2009-11-07T19:01:00.001-06:00

It's been a long time since Papa has had to work on a weekend, and well, this sums up how we're both feeling this evening.

Just because

2009-11-04T21:54:00.004-06:00

She has no idea that some girls would kill for those long lashes.....

Halloween Recap

2009-11-03T00:37:00.003-06:00

Before I get any further into November and start blogging about Thanksgiving, I thought I'd rewind a bit and give a quick Halloween recap. I can hardly believe we're in November already!

We had a great Halloween again this year. More gorgeous weather, good friends & family, and good food. We couldn't ask for anything better. I took Cassie trick or treating to a few houses and she absolutely loved it. It only took her a few houses and a couple of lollipops for her to understand what was going on and by the end of the night she knew exactly what trick or treating was all about. We were standing at the end of one driveway when she yelled "Maaaaaa" and directed me to take her up to the front door....she's no dummy and unfortunately, has a sweet tooth just like her Mama.

These first couple of photos are from our church's fall festival that was held Friday night. It makes me so happy that Mikey takes good care and watches out for his little cousin.

Going for a ride on the train....

Taking a break on her way to Grandma's :)

Too bad Grandma, this bread is yummy!

Wheeeee!!

All smiles :)

Proof that I do exist: Papa actually took a picture of me with my sweet girl!

And on Halloween Day, we had:

Sweet Little Red Riding Hood

Frightening Leatherface

Not sure if he's a bat or devil so how about we call him a Devilish Bat?

A Shy Princess

And a Chubby Pirate!

Pirates love their Mamas too!

A not so happy pirate :(

And a scene from a scary movie! This is the part where you yell at the movie screen in hopes that your favorite character doesn't get slaughtered: "Run Cassie!"

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Little Red Riding Hood

2009-10-28T20:30:00.002-05:00

We had a visitor today

2009-10-25T17:02:00.001-05:00

From Leatherface.....eeeeek! And he even stuck around for an impromptu "photo shoot."

Papa's birthday and some big balloons!

2009-10-25T01:27:00.006-05:00

Friday was Papa's birthday and since it was another gorgeous day here I thought it would be a good idea to leave work early to hang out with him and Cassie. In case you're not familiar with Houston, days like this are rare since our weather usually consists of being either really hot or really cold, there is no in between.

We started the afternoon off by visiting another one of our favorite parks. We walked around and really, just enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. And although Cassie looks fine in these photos, my poor sweet bear has a stomach bug and isn't doing to well......

After the park, we headed straight to my parent's house to celebrate Papa's birthday with my family. My Mom & Aunt Yaya cooked the most delicious tamales, and baked a homemade chocolate cake. Yum :)

To my first love: Happy Birthday! Thank you for being a great Papa to Cassie and a great husband to me!

And on to Saturday....we braved the chilly weather & awoke at the crack of dawn to head out to the ballunar festival at NASA. We should have taken the car accident that was blocking traffic as we were making our way out of the neighborhood as a sign that maybe this wasn't a good idea because unfortunately we had to cut our trip short. As soon as we made our way to the field and got our lawn chairs set-up, we had to pack up and leave because Cassie got sick again. I will spare you the details but lets just say Cassie had to come home without any pants...I know, my poor baby :(

Toddlerhood is just so unpredictable. You know you're a parent when you do whatever it takes to make them feel better or "fix" your baby. Over the weekend, Chris and I have caught ourselves changing diapers in the middle of the park, on a concrete parking lot, in the back of a golf cart, in the back of my car....it's tough sometimes!

Riding the tram to the fields...

See the one little hot air balloon?

Here they are all making their way to the fields...

Cassie's favorite balloon....moooooo!

Mikey, a little disappointed because we had to leave early.

Brought my sweet girl home and lounged around in pajamas most of the day.

Thought some sunshine might cheer her up so we made a quick trip to the park.

I'm hoping to see her smile again soon, so if you have any good thoughts to spare, please send them our way!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2009-10-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

Today marked the day that we officially became one 4 years ago. Looking back at that day, I remember being both excited and a ball of nerves. Excited that we were finally getting married after so many years of dating, and nervous because I was hoping everything went okay, which it did. It was the perfect day, the perfect wedding, and I married the perfect guy.

So here we are celebrating our anniversary today. Care to know how my day went? Well not so perfect. I had another long day at work, and was eager to come home. My car was basically running on fumes so I had to call Aunt Yaya to meet me at my mom's with some gas money because I left my checkcard at home, and there was no way I would be able to make it all the way home. On top of that, I wanted to pick up some dinner to surprise Chris with but again, I didn't have any money. Aunt Yaya to the rescue! Together we went to the restaurant & both picked up some yummy food to go. By the time I was finally on my way home, the rain started to pour. Great, just in time for me to stop and get gas. And of course, I got soaking wet. I finally made it home only to smell like a wet puppy. But hey, we still had a nice dinner, the three of us, and I even served our meal on our fine china just to give it that extra fancy restaurant feeling :)

After our "anniversary" dinner, we were off to buy diapers at Babies R Us. Yep, life has definitely changed in the last four years, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world.

Flirty

2009-10-19T23:19:00.000-05:00

Blue skies & pumpkins

2009-10-18T23:22:00.000-05:00

The weather was finally nice enough for our visit to Dewberry Farm yesterday, but apparently everyone else in all of Houston thought the same because it was insanely crowded. I'm thinking it might be easier to stock up on a couple of pumpkins & strategically place them in my backyard for next years pumpkin picking ;-)

not quite sure what to think of this place at first...

Mikey, proudly showing off his pumpkin

Aunt Yaya & Mikey

Andy!

Andy & Tabitha

Andy's Aunt Monica & Mikey's crush :)

Hanging out in the corn maze

Getting sleepy!

Cassie's favorite part of the farm: picking flowers!

Baby pumpkins at home :)

October fun!

2009-10-18T00:00:00.003-05:00

Houston's version of Fall finally decided to make an appearance this weekend and I just couldn't wait to get away from work to have some fun with my two favorite people. I left work early on Friday, and despite being stuck in dreaded traffic for an hour and a half, we still managed to have a fun afternoon. We started off with a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a, and by quick I mean it didn't take more than an hour. By the way, there is no such thing as a quick anything once you have a toddler. After lunch we headed out to another one of our favorite parks for some fun.

I will try to keep the comments short since there are so many photos this time around.

Our local Chick-fil-a is the coolest. Not only did Cassie have a good lunch with her cup of fruit, but she also managed to snag a balloon, a cup of Cheerios, and they even offer the neat stick-on placemats for free! Very handy for a toddler that prefers to eat off the table sometimes.

If you haven't been by Discovery Green Park recently, you should totally stop by soon to check out their newest exhibit: Cool Globes.

Playing in the water.

Showing Papa some love :)

Playing in more water....

See, the leaves are changing, it really is Fall!

Oh yeah, I'll be back tomorrow, or should I say later today, with more photos from our trip to the pumpkin patch!

October 15th

2009-10-15T23:58:00.003-05:00

Today is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day. This is for Miranda.

Just what I needed

2009-10-14T21:59:00.019-05:00

After a stressful and exhausting day at work, all I wanted to do was scoop Cassie up from Weli's and come home and play outside. It was nice to see a bit of sunshine this evening because I've pretty much have had it with the gloomy weather.

Cassie loves, loves being outside and I think these photos show just that. It's surprising how much fun the empty driveway next door can provide :)

this is definitely Papa's walk!

Oh, and in other exciting news, I can't help but brag a little about our sweet girl. Her little brain must be working overtime because she's talking more and more each day. She recognizes the witch we decorated the front window with for Halloween and calls it "wisch" and she was also able to identify her purple (popo) and green (gweeeen) crayons today!

She's smarter than us

2009-10-11T22:41:00.028-05:00

We each had the pleasure of taking turns putting Cassie to sleep this evening. Considering she didn't take her usual long nap today I thought putting her to sleep would be a breeze. What was I thinking? Instead of falling asleep in my arms like she normally she does, she insisted on spending the next 40 minutes poking at my eyes, my nose, her ear, her bellybutton, oh, and scratching at my face. Before I completely lost my patience and not to mention my mind, I took her upstairs to Papa. He spent the next half hour or so doing the same before taking her up to her crib, semi-asleep. Finally, out of frustration, and before he lost his mind, he gave up and left her to fall asleep in her crib, alone. We spent the next few minutes listening to her fake cries on the monitor and before we knew it, there was silence. At last, she was sound asleep! And it only took 5 minutes, yes 5 minutes! This girl has us fooled.

And further proof that she's smarter than us:

she was only willing to take a picture if we bribed her with a cookie.

Sixteen.

2009-10-09T00:01:00.018-05:00

Happy 16 months my love!

If Dottie could talk...

2009-10-05T23:09:00.010-05:00

She would probably say we're not the great parents that we think we are. We leave her at home, she rarely gets to go anywhere with us, she's always getting in trouble for being mischevious or begging for food. She probably wonders how on Earth Cassie can get away with doing the exact same things.

Dottie has been in a heap of trouble lately....hopefully a long walk will help her release some of that stored up energy. I've promised to be a better Mama to her too....again.

P.S.

2009-10-03T00:53:00.000-05:00

I decided to change the name of my blog. Not sure why, but it seems to make more sense now....or maybe I'm just bored :-)

It's October

2009-10-02T13:24:00.001-05:00

And I just ordered Cassie's Halloween costume! I don't have any photos to share yet so how about I add one from last Halloween? Can you believe how much she has changed?

Just me & Cassie today

2009-09-28T23:59:00.011-05:00

I was absolutely dreading this day today. Cassie had her 15 month well check scheduled with Dr. C and the thought of taking her all by myself was killing me. The dreaded vaccines, the loud cries...and Papa wasn't going to be there? Whaaaaa!!!

Her appointment was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. and after a busy morning of playing, we got ready and made a mad dash out the door. We made it to the clinic at 11:05 a.m., just in time for the nurse to tell us that Dr. C was running at least an hour behind. Great, of course this is how it would pan out the only time Chris can't accompany me. We waited so long that Cassie gobbled up all of her snacks in the waiting room; the Cheerios, the Lil Puffs, and her very watered down apple juice. The only thing I managed to save were the few M&M's I had for her....those were reserved until after her shots.

All in all, Cassie's appointment went really well. She now weighs 24 pounds, 4 ounces, and is 32 inches tall. She gained exactly 3 pounds since her last visit in June. My little meatball sure is rounding out these days.

I am not at all surprised at how she's rounding out so fast lately. She has discovered the kitchen pantry and is constantly working her way in there to look for snacks.

And speaking of discoveries.....the girl has also discovered her bellybutton. It is driving me crazy. I was debating on whether to share this with everyone on the world wide web....you know in case her future husband happens to read it, but what the heck...maybe she'll read this one day and realize how silly she was as a baby and how much she enjoyed to drive me bananas. To simply put it, she loves her bellybutton. She loves it so much she likes to poke it any chance she gets....especially if we're not looking. I had to dig out some old onesies just so she wouldn't be able to lift her shirt up anymore. Please note that these onesies are size 6 to 12 months and at one time were long sleeved ;-)

Some photos of our day:

A look at the morning sun.

Playtime in her room. And Aunt Yaya, thanks for Cassie's new hairbow holder, we love it! It matches her room perfectly!

Notice anything different? Stick-on earrings that Aunt Yaya bought her.

Maaaaa, enough with the camera!

Her favorite place to hide.

Looking for her bellybutton.

At Dr. C's.

My love.

One tired Mama

2009-09-22T22:27:00.007-05:00

I have this little ball of energy. Her name is Cassie. And today, she accompanied me to work again, just like she did yesterday, and just like she will do tomorrow and the day after. Why, you ask? Well Papa is in class (for hopefully a new J-O-B!) and both of our babysitters (Weli & Aunt Yaya) are out of town. I really didn't want to use four days of vacation at work so my super boss is allowing me to bring Cassie to work with me.

My morning starts of by waking up extra early, getting myself ready, waking Cassie up, feeding her breakfast, packing her bag, getting her dressed, combing her hair because she has bad beadhead just like Mama, brushing her teething, and attempt to get to the car without dropping anything and praying I didn't forget anything....

Trying to get work done while keeping her entertained is another job all on its own. The minute I'm working on the computer, she asks for youtube. If I print something, she runs for my papers as they feed out of the printer, she's constantly closing my office door so my co-workers keep sliding work under my door because they don't think I'm there, she's figured out the water cooler too by turning the water on & off and spilling water all over the floor......

And then we still come home and play....and play....and play, and have dinner, and then it's bath time, and finally bedtime, well at least for her anyway. Mine isn't for a few more hours....

No wonder I'm tired. I think both Cassie & I are ready to have Papa back.

These are from our of evening of playtime:

Rolling around on the floor

Mad at Mama so I'll drop to the floor

Look at my bellybutton!

Chasing each other around the sofa

Getting into trouble

Mad at me because I got mad at her

Insisting that Dottie wear her hairbow

Dottie's not having it

Let's go outside instead

Getting tired: hugging Lollie & thumb in position

And now it's my turn because I'm dead tired.

2 very important lessons today

2009-09-18T19:43:00.001-05:00

Let me start with Cassie's lesson first and then I'll continue to mine.

Her Papa is teaching her all sorts of new things these days. It brings my heart lots of joy to see things like this when I get home:

Working on colors and shapes. The only one she currently recognizes is purple, or should I say "popo".

I think she might be a lefty like her Papa.

And now for my lesson of the day, please take note as it's very important and might even save your life one day, or at least some tears. Never, and I mean never, attempt to climb wood furniture while wearing socks. I nearly killed myself trying to take the above photos of Cassie. My foot slipped while I was standing on top of the trunk in our living room and in an effort to not land on the TV, Cassie, or my camera, I somehow landed wrong and scraped my shin. It immediately turned blue and started bleeding. Can you say ooooouch?! Cassie wasn't too sure what to make of the situation so she just looked at my leg and said "bobo" {for boo-boo}. So here I am writing this while nursing my shin with a frozen bag of veggies...and it hurts! You would be proud to know that I didn't even shed a tear in front of my little girl....I mean, after all I did give birth to an almost 9 pounder last year, surely I will recover from this....right?

Help, she's fallen & she can't get up!

2009-09-15T20:57:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd snap some photos of Papa and his girl as they made their way back home after a stroll around the neighborhood this evening.

And for some reason, her feet turn to mush when they touch the grass....interesting....

Grandparent's Day!

2009-09-13T22:44:00.005-05:00

It was a last minute thing, but we decided to have my parents {or Weli & Welo as Cassie knows them} over to celebrate Grandparent's Day. It's also our usual day for Dinner With The Crelia's so they came over for some good food, and of course to visit with Weli & Welo too.

We came home straight from church, {where I should add Cassie behaved like a total monster and I don't think any amount of Cheerios could have possibly kept her happy or quiet today} and started cooking. We had the most delicious ribs courtesy of my hubs, beans, and potato salad. My Mom was quiet impressed with lunch so Chris definitely earned his bragging rights today.

It was nice just hanging out with my parents and watching Mikey & Cassie play. They started off with some colors...I think Mikey colored and Cassie preferred taking them in and out of the box, and playing with some paper hats that Aunt Yaya made for them.

best photo I could get with 4 uncooperative subjects:

Yep, my child is a clown.

It's 09-09-09.....

2009-09-09T19:08:00.107-05:00

And my sweet pigbear turned 15 months old today! I snuck out of work a few minutes early so that I could stop and pick up one of her favorite treats to celebrate the occasion. How terrible would it be if I told you that she already recognizes Shipley's logo? Her immediate response was "mmmmmm" when I waved the little white paper bag in front of her.

After hanging out with Papa at the zoo today, she was so tired! She fell asleep in my arms right around 6:45 p.m. this evening. Something tells me she's going to be up bright & early tomorrow morning.....good luck with that Papa!

And in celebration of Cassie's 15 month birthday, we purchased this beauty for us:

Yes, the beauty I'm referring to is the gate pictured above. We bought one months ago when she first learned to crawl but had to return it because it really wasn't that functional with our staircase. Since then, we have had to chase Cassie away from the stairs....over and over and over and over and over.......I can't express how much Chris & I love our new gate, no matter how hideous she may really be ;-)

Fluff

2009-09-08T20:55:00.000-05:00

Cassie has this weird fluff going on with her hair. Makes me wonder if she's going to have curly hair like Papa or straight hair like me? I'm hoping for the latter because I wouldn't have a clue on what to do with curly!

A simple request

2009-09-03T10:33:00.004-05:00

Please, whoever has the Ceci and Chris voodoo dolls, can you please put them away? I think we have had enough bad luck now, and it's not funny anymore.

I'll be back later with photos.

A quick update of what we've been dealing with this week alone:

1) our kitchen sink was backed up but fortunately Chris was able to fix it.

2) Our nice light fixture came crashing down last weekend. Glass was everywhere!

3) And then the glass on the backdoor shattered when a rock hit it while Chris was mowing the backyard.

4) And then Cassie got her first boo-boo by scraping her arm on the trunk in our living room.

5) And then we received this awesome water bill in the mail last night.

Surely it's just a typo...RIGHT?

Hoping this gray cloud that's been following us goes away soon......

Oh oh....

2009-09-02T12:34:00.014-05:00

While working on turning my blog into a blurb book, I got this message below....

Guess I better go back and edit some...

Just some more Cassie

2009-09-01T22:03:00.050-05:00

With nothing much to do this evening, we decided to take Cassie on a quick trip to the park. If it were up to her, she would probably prefer to live there just so she could swing her little heart away and live with the ducks. All we hear from the backseat as we drive in is "duck...duck...duck" and "wheeeee." She is learning so much and getting so big! (I know, I know, I say it all the time!) Some of her new things: insisting on feeding herself, walking and not being carried through the store, taking things to the trash can, insisting that we read to her, oh, and my least favorite.....throwing herself on the floor when she doesn't get her way. And yet she looks so sweet and innocent in these photos....

Zombies in the Night

2009-08-28T16:22:00.003-05:00

Cassie has been up just about every single night this week. I think I managed to get to work on time just one day out of the week. Luckily, I am able to sneak in through the back door that leads to my office so most of the time no one even finds out how late I really am. I just smile and pretend like I've been at work since 7:30 a.m. I thought I was doing okay by getting to bed before my usual time of midnight last night. I think it was even before 11:00 p.m. but I wouldn't be able to tell you for sure because the time on my alarm clock is set a few minutes ahead so I never really know the exact time. Just a tool I like to use to trick myself in the mornings in the hopes of actually getting up on time, but do you think it works? [Chris just thinks I’m crazy.] Sometime after 12:30 a.m. I awoke to the sound of Cassie’s cry on the monitor. The motherly instincts programmed in me sprung me out of bed and into her room. I found her sitting up in her crib hugging Lollie. I rocked her back to sleep and got back to bed. A little while later, that same cry drove me out of bed again. Except this time as I was making a dash to Cassie’s room, I passed up a very familiar face, the other zombie that lives with me, Chris. He beat me to her this time. I think he feels bad because I work all day, but yet I feel bad because I know he's at home with her all day and well, he needs a break too. It was hard for my eyes to focus since they were half shut as I passed him, so it wasn’t until I sat back in the rocking chair when I realized that was Chris I had just passed up in the hallway. I rocked and I rocked and I rocked….isn’t it funny how any other time of day the time just drags but at night when all you want to do is get back to bed the minutes just seem to fly by? The alarm clock read 3:04 a.m. by the time I made it back to bed. And not even a little bit later, that same cry came over the monitor again. I had two words for Chris: “your turn.” I just couldn’t do it anymore. I didn’t have one bit of energy left in me. My eyes hurt, my body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and I couldn’t muster the strength to get back out of bed once more….I was just too tired. A few minutes later I opened one eye just enough to see Chris place a very wide awake Cassie into our bed. At this point, we’re desperate and just ~~want~~ need some sleep. I finally force myself to wake up and get ready for work when I look over and Cassie is sound asleep, her body laying opposite of ours, and snuggled against her Papa’s leg. This parenting is hard stuff, but mix in teething and a tad of separation anxiety and it’s just that much harder. But I still adore my little Bear, even when she is a pain.

Little Miss Cranky Pants

2009-08-26T21:40:00.001-05:00

Sweets has some new chompers breaking through and she is not a happy camper. She's congested, her nose is extremely runny, she doesn't want to eat, she's having trouble sleeping, she's clingy & sad at times....

but thank goodness for youtube:

Because it's one of the few things that makes her happy right now.

Pretty in Pink

2009-08-26T21:18:00.004-05:00

I'm not a big sneaker kind of girl but these were too irresistible to pass up, and besides she needed some new shoes since her fat toe was coming very close to scraping the floor in her sandals. And I'm guessing that she loves them as much as I do because she said "wheeeeeee" when I slipped them on. Or maybe that's really her way of telling me she wants to go to the park.

And as soon as I shot this photo of her, I could not help but crack up. Where did that pose come from??

She also got this cute pink backpack over the weekend and she loves it. She looks like such a big girl when she wears it. And as a bonus, it even matches her stroller....and if you happened to catch my facebook status, yes, the same stroller with the flat tire....courtesy of Papa :-|

And on a side note: Dinner with the Crelia's yesterday consisted of shrimp cocktail, grilled salmon, steamed veggies, and roasted potatoes. How on Earth are we supposed to top this on Sunday?!

Dinner with The Crelia's

2009-08-19T22:26:00.018-05:00

I'm not sure how this all started, but somehow we have begun meeting Aunt Yaya and her gang for dinner twice a week. We meet at their place on either Tuesday or Wednesday and they come over to our place for dinner and swimming on Sundays. And the gang that isn't doing the cooking is responsible for bringing dessert. Well somehow Aunt Yaya forgot about our date tonight. I called her on my way home from work like I usually do and she mentioned that she had sort of forgotten about dinner tonight. Um, hello? What? How? Why? Disappointed, I offered to reschedule but she insisted that we go over anyway and that she would have a surprise for us. Mmmm....who could resist an offer like that? Everyone loves surprises! We were expecting pizza or something of that sort but when we got there they had warm Mexican food from Pappasitos waiting for us. Yuuuuum, it was oh so tasty!

And since it was our turn for dessert, we decided to stop by here for some sweets:

Cassie totally made us giggle because even though we had only been there once, she was already saying "mmmmm" as we were pulling into the driveway.

I snapped this one as we were driving over the bridge that gets us to Aunt Yaya's. See the tiny cluster of buildings to the far right? That's downtown Houston! It looks so tiny from way up there on the bridge.

Cassie making herself right at home at Aunt Yaya's.

Having fun with some fake food! Her imagination never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks for having us over guys! As usual, we had a great time. See you on Sunday ;-)

A conversation with my husband

2009-08-18T11:55:00.004-05:00

This conversation actually took place yesterday, but I was thinking about it on my way back to work from lunch today and it just made me laugh so I though I'd share it here too.

:::Ceci, while at work, dials her home number:::

:::phone rings:::

Chris picks up: "Hello?"

Me: "Hey, what are you doing?"

Chris: "Oh nothing, just changing her baby's diaper."

Me: "Cassie's diaper?"

Chris: "Nooo, her baby's diaper!"

Me [trying not to giggle]: "So that's what your days consist of now eh?"

Chris: "Yep, pretty much....dolls, diapers, and strollers...."

Is he not the best Papa ever or what? I love him for loving CB with all of his heart, and for embracing all of the girly things he probably never imagined doing in a million years.

And in case you're wondering why I ramble on about even the littlest things, well it's because I do it for Cassie. Being the youngest of four children in my family, there are hardly any photos of my childhood, well besides the embarrassing ones from picture day at school of course. And it's pretty much the same for Chris, but I guess that's what he gets for being a middle child. I'm probably overcompensating now with the gazillion photos I snap of Cassie, but I just want her to have something that she can have to look back at. Something to remind her of all of the little things and how much we adored her from the very beginning.

I Heart Faces - Bubbles

2009-08-17T23:54:00.002-05:00

So I came across this cool site today, iheartfaces.com. They host a weekly photo challenge based on a specific theme and anyone is invited to participate. This week, the theme is 'bubbles' so I thought I would play too because the photo below immediately came to mind. Cassie wasn't so sure about the bubbles and all Dottie wanted to do was eat them :-)

Click on the button below to see more bubble fun!

This totally made my day!

2009-08-17T08:37:00.001-05:00

http://blablakids.blogspot.com/2009/08/blabla-birthday-cake.html

A little bit of reading

2009-08-16T15:27:00.004-05:00

If I had to name one thing that Cassie absolutely loves to do more than anything, it would have to be to read. Well I'm lying, reading is probably tied with watching YouTube. She gets a kick out of watching and singing along to her favorite lullabies and we can't bring the laptop out without her wanting or should I say insisting on watching some YouTube.

CB and I headed upstairs to play in her room because we were not in the mood to watch Tiger Woods with Papa....can you say b-o-r-i-n-g??

Aaaaand she's off!

2009-08-16T11:46:00.001-05:00

So Cassie decided that she would start walking this past week. She started off with a couple of steps here and there but just over the last week or so she she finally started to pick up the pace. Anywhere we go now it's "down" because she doesn't want to be carried anymore. Sigh....another bittersweet moment for me, and another reminder that my baby girl is growing up right before my eyes.

Sweet:

2009-08-12T22:07:00.008-05:00

Cassie's new word, [well it's actually more like "wheeeeet" when she says it], and my favorite word to describe her.

We were upstairs in her room this morning playing and listening to Frank Sinatra when she let me snap these of her.

So she hardly keeps a bow in her hair for more than a few minutes but has no problem with me putting five in at once?

Looking a bit sleepy....

Giving me the signal, that she is in fact sleepy.

The time we spent playing in her room made taking the day off from work totally worth it.

My Sunshine

2009-08-08T23:15:00.007-05:00

I plunked Cassie down into her crib to do some straightening up in her room when I noticed just how much the sun was beaming through her window. And for some reason, it just made me smile and obviously run for my camera.

It's been a while...

2009-08-04T00:35:00.002-05:00

I received a threatening email from one of my many (ha!) followers [ahem, you know who you are] for not updating the blog so I thought I'd at least come up with something tonight....even though it's really late and I'm running on E right about now....

In all honesty, there hasn't been too much to report on these days. Cassie is up to her same old tricks....talking up a storm, taking turns pointing & laughing at us, taking a few steps here & there but still refusing to walk on her own. My own Papa swears I didn't start walking until I was 18 months old so maybe she's following in my footsteps? Ha, no pun intended there. She is beginning to get really heavy so it would be really nice if the girl would cooperate with us. Tonight was the first night she attempted to feed herself with her utensils, well besides taking over my plastic spoon last week to attack my sno-cone. She had no problem whatsoever fighting with me at dinner tonight. I must say she put up a strong fight with me and tightly held on to her fork with those chubby little hands. Isn't it funny how babies think they're stronger than us? Feeding time is just about to get fun!

Since I don't have any photos to go with this little story, I thought I would just add some favorites from the past few days/weeks to keep you entertained [that's for you Tabitha!] These photos actually give you a peek into what Cassie's day usually consists of....lucky girl!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Here's our early riser. How do you like the bed-head?

I think I can! I think I can!

Our usual evening trip to the park.

Thanks for the buggy Aunt Yaya! As you can see she loves it :-)

Hmmm....which way are the swings?

A relaxing bubble bath after a hot day at the park!

My bookworm loves her books. Her new word: pat-a-cake, sounds more like "paaaa-caaaaay."

A snack. Don't worry, we didn't let her eat the whole thing, it just appears that way. I promise Cassie gets all of her fruits & veggies as recommended by the food pyramid:-)

And if I could choose just one photo to describe my sweets, this one would have to be it.

Another lazy [and hot] Sunday!

2009-07-26T20:08:00.017-05:00

With nothing planned for the day we thought a stroll through downtown would be fun. I have no idea what we must have been thinking since it was scorching hot today! Worried that we might melt out there, it wasn't too long before we packed up and headed home.

her new thing, pointing and laughing.....[and no, I'm not sure from where/who she may have picked that up from]

cooling off at the water fountain!

and better yet, cooling off with a blue bubble gum sno-cone. "YUM" - her words, not mine!

And after working on this latest post, I do realize that several of my last ones have to do with food....hmmm, at the rate we're going we may have to join a weight loss club pretty soon ;-)

Feeling a tad guilty

2009-07-25T22:04:00.006-05:00

I knew that this day would eventually come....Cassie enjoying her first Happy Meal from McDonald's. And while I know it's not poison I'm feeding her, I couldn't help but feel bad about introducing her to fast food....mommy guilt I guess. I never said I was perfect, right?

I thought these were supposed to make kids happy??

Inspecting the goods

Perfecting "the dip"

mmm....this is deelish!

I promise Cassie's purple shirt was simply a coincidence!

This melts my heart

2009-07-24T22:13:00.007-05:00

Watching my 2 favorite people have so much fun. Chris loves cycling so he couldn't wait until he could take Cassie out for her first ride.

It's Dottie's birthday!

2009-07-21T20:10:00.010-05:00

Happy 5th Birthday Dottie! We have always celebrated Dottie's birthday so today was not any different. The three of us took a quick trip to the store to pick up some cupcakes and came back and sang happy birthday to our dear old pup.....

Dottie beggin' for more!

my favorite photo of the evening:

sick baby plus sick mama equals

2009-07-20T23:51:00.012-05:00

My Piggy & I had such a rough couple of days. We spent about 3 days just feeling miserable. This was definitely a first for me, trying to take care of a sick baby when I'm feeling sick myself. Chris was away working most of the weekend so it was just the two of us but we toughed it out. There was some waking up in the middle of the night, puking, just an overall cranky pants. By Sunday we were feeling better and were back to our old selves and even headed to the zoo for some fresh air. We were so relieved to have our happy girl back!

Less than 24 hours

2009-07-19T23:09:00.004-05:00

from my last post, I caught Cassie doing this:

Seriously?

2009-07-17T19:40:00.010-05:00

Cassie & I took a quick trip to the store this afternoon and this was the most expensive item we walked out of there with. I feel so robbed, especially when a box of 204 diapers for Cassie costs $40. How is this even fair? I was tired of seeing Cassie's baby in her birthday suit so I guess it was worth it. Cassie was so excited to see her baby back in a diaper, let's just see how long it will stay on....

It's so true when they say having a girl is more expensive than having a boy! Even their dolls require all of the extra accessories!

Cookie Monster

2009-07-13T22:17:00.006-05:00

How much damage can one little Oreo cookie possibly do?

Apparently a lot! What was I thinking not putting a bib on her?

Who should I spank first?

2009-07-13T22:07:00.005-05:00

Cassie, for taking my favorite Bobbi Brown lipstick out of my purse, or Dottie for chewing it up??

"MaaaaaMaaaaa!!!"

2009-07-09T22:23:00.003-05:00

The sweetest word I can possibly ever hear as I walk in through the front door after a long day at work.

And then I'm greeted by these little arms stretched high and ready for me to scoop her up:

And if I don't move fast enough, that sweet little face turns into this:

BUT wait! Look at the little stinker here:

She snuck this smile somewhere in between the "crying." Does she really think she's fooling me?

Little Lady

2009-07-08T22:10:00.005-05:00

Aren't these flats just ridiculously cute? I could not resist buying them for my sweets this past weekend. If I could only find a pair in my size now....sigh.

Andy's 1st Birthday

2009-07-06T21:21:00.009-05:00

Yesterday we got to spend the afternoon with our good friends Jorge and Tabitha to celebrate their big boy Andy's 1st birthday! They hosted a great party at the Children's Museum of Houston and Cassie had a blast. There was so much to do, for kids of all ages. Aunt Yaya and Mikey came with us too and we all had so much fun. We're thinking this might be a good spot for Cassie's 2nd birthday....oh wait, is it too soon to start planning?

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T17:15:00.005-05:00

"Someday"

2009-07-03T23:05:00.008-05:00

A word that has been bouncing around in my mind lately. A long time ago, I knew that someday, Chris & I would get married and live happily ever after, and sure enough here we are. Someday, I told myself, we would find the perfect home. A home where we would grow, laugh, and play, and we did. And I knew that someday, we would be blessed with a beautiful baby, and of course Cassie entered into our lives. So while it seems that all of my hopes for the perfect someday have come true, there is just one more thing that I wish for and that is for the opportunity to stay home and raise Cassie and whatever future children that may be. I feel like I miss out on so much while I'm at work. Especially the little everyday things. Things that probably don't seem like a big deal, like grabbing Cassie out of bed each morning and heading downstairs to make her breakfast. Reading her favorite books to her, teaching her new things, or even just planning the day around errands and the everyday mundane things such as laundry and washing dishes. I guess what I'm getting to is the quality time, instead of rushing home in traffic to squeeze in 3 or 4 hours of my entire day with Cassie. Never in a million years did I ever think that being a housewife and Mom would make me feel complete, but it's true, if anything, that is what I wish for someday.

Cassie Pancakes

I thought this would be fun to make for Cassie and since I had the day off from work in honor of the impending 4th of July holiday I thought I'd make them for her this morning. I borrowed the idea from an article in one of my parenting magazines so if you're interested in making them yourself, here is a useful tip, use a squeeze bottle (I bought a cheap condiment bottle at the grocery store) to squeeze out the pancake batter instead of trying to pour it....and voilà!

Lazy Sunday

2009-06-29T12:03:00.003-05:00

It's been so hot around here lately that the urge to want to get out of the house is a very teeny, tiny, small one, well unless it's for a trip to Marble Slab of course. Cassie and I spent Saturday hanging out with my Mom & sister Yaya and it was so hoooot out there. It had been a while since we tagged along on one of their Saturday shopping adventures so we were excited to have been invited. And even better, we got treated to a free lunch. Hmmm....maybe we should tag along more often!

Still recovering from a long day of shopping, we lounged around most of the day on Sunday. Cassie took a nap on Papa's chest right before we were about to go swimming but we decided to wake her anyway because we just knew how much fun she would have, especially since her cousin Mikey was coming over too. I can't tell you how much Cassie loves the water so how about I just show off a few pics instead?

Little Piggies

2009-06-25T23:13:00.002-05:00

Need I say more?

So sweet, I can just eat her up

2009-06-23T12:31:00.017-05:00

The kitchen was a mess when I woke up Saturday morning, and as much as it bothers us to leave Cassie to play by herself I just had to in order to tidy up the place. So I left her on the living floor to play with her toys while I got to work. If you have been to our place lately you should know that our living room has been taken over with all of her things. And even with all of those toys Cassie still manages to work her way to the kitchen to empty the Tupperware and measuring spoons out of the cabinets. It's a constant battle shuffling her in and out of the kitchen. So I finally managed to get her back in the living room when I noticed her playing with her new baby that Aunt Yaya and I bought her while we were on vacation last month. We thought she would love it when we decided to purchase it for her, but her reaction was the complete opposite, she was terribly afraid of it.

See what I mean? This is Cassie's "I'm scared" face:

So fast forward to the last couple of days and what does Cassie do? She attempts to change her baby's diaper, which means more like stripping the poor doll of her diaper. She sprinkles a little bit of baby powder on her, well on her face actually but you get the idea, she feeds her, and puts her to sleep. It completely caught me off guard to see how creative Cassie's little mind is right now. She is so into pretend playing right now....she pretends to eat soup out of Tupperware and laughs when she pretends to pour it on her head, pretends to eat and feed me cake, smacking sounds included, she feeds Lollie milk from her sippy cup and puts her to sleep too. Sometimes I just don't know how she got to be so sweet.

Feeding time:

Time to go night-night:

Time for a diaper change:

Sprinkling baby powder into the diaper just like Mama and Papa do:

A bit more juice:

Father's Day, Part 2

2009-06-22T22:55:00.010-05:00

Thought I'd come back with a recap of Chris' 2nd official Father's Day. Last year's is practically a blur since we had just arrived from the hospital with Cassie a few days prior. I feel guilty that I didn't plan his day a little bit better so I had to break it up into 2 days.

Yesterday, all I got to do was this:

make his favorite chicken enchiladas. Even Cassie loved them!

and since I didn't have time to make dessert yesterday because we ran short on time, Cassie helped me make these today:

one of his favorite snacks, Rice Krispie Treats, and yes Cassie loved those too!

and then we made him this while he was away for a bit:

We are two lucky girls to have such a great hubby and Papa. Everything he does is for us and seeing how much he loves our little babe makes my heart happy.

And in case you're wondering about Cassie's Discovery jersey, it's the very first thing Chris bought for the baby when we found out we were expecting. He has a passion for cycling {even though he doesn't get to do it as often as he would like to these days} and he couldn't resist getting it for the baby. Little did he know we were having a girl ;-)

Happy Father's Day Papa!

2009-06-20T11:32:00.009-05:00

We love you!

I'll be back with a recap tomorrow because I'm beat. How do you like our shopping list above though? Guess I should have erased that first...

a quickie

2009-06-20T11:27:00.004-05:00

while my Bear is sleeping upstairs....

a recent pic of her at the park. I know her hair is a mess but I can't resist the cuteness of her serious face.

Chunkster

2009-06-16T22:05:00.004-05:00

hmmm....I wonder what's in here?

Have I mentioned how much Cassie loves food? I can totally envision her hosting her very own show on the Food Network one day. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but seriously the girl loves food. She has taken it as far as crying when we are done eating and as we leave restaurants. I shared a turkey sandwich with her at Schlotzskys over the weekend and she just loved it, and of course cried after we left. After our sandwich we headed off to Marble Slab to share a waffle cone, and again what did she do? Cry as we left. There was a nice old lady, probably in her 80's sitting at the table across from us enjoying her ice cream cone all by herself, minding her own business and unfortunately for her, she had to feel the wrath of Cassie. Let's just say if looks could kill that poor old lady would be a goner.

Success!

Casa Moreno

Casa Moreno has moved!

Yay for a short work week!

Flying high

Rodeo Recap

Her eyes say it all

An unexpected day off

My Sunshine

If only Weli knew....

I'm too tired to write a story

It's a lovely day!

It was just a matter of time

Sweet Valentine

Dear Jake

Work is making me unhappy today

20 whole months

January 29th

Sometimes the best things in life really are free

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

The Realization

This hurts more than being in the hospital

I'm home!

(Un)Happy New Year!

A girl after my own heart

Christmas Recap

Very funny Cassandra

Merry Christmas!

Waiting for Santa!

For tomorrow

The Ranch

1 1/2

About Mikey.

"Awesome!" - Mikey's word of the day yesterday

Oh yeah...

SNOW!

*My Sweet Eskimo Pie*

Happy 3 days after Thanksgiving!

Sad

Up, up, and awaaaay!!!!

For Jorge & Tabitha

Because every girl deserves sprinkles on her birthday

Missing Papa

Just because

Halloween Recap

**Little Red Riding Hood**

We had a visitor today

Papa's birthday and some big balloons!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

*Flirty*

Blue skies & pumpkins

October fun!

October 15th

Just what I needed

She's smarter than us

Sixteen.

If Dottie could talk...

P.S.

It's October

Just me & Cassie today

One tired Mama

2 very important lessons today

Help, she's fallen & she can't get up!

Grandparent's Day!

It's 09-09-09.....

Fluff

A simple request

Oh oh....

Just some more Cassie

Zombies in the Night

Little Miss Cranky Pants

Pretty in Pink

Dinner with The Crelia's

A conversation with my husband

I Heart Faces - Bubbles

This totally made my day!

A little bit of reading

Aaaaand she's off!

Sweet:

My Sunshine

It's been a while...

My Sweet Eskimo Pie

Little Red Riding Hood

Flirty