A brand new surprise!!

This month has been full to say the least! My oldest turn 13...I celebrated 6 years of marriage! And now a new chapter in our lives will begin....well actually it already has I have just been keeping a big ole' secret for a few weeks now! But today I will blog about this new chapter and post a pic even! To all of my wonderful friends and family that follow my boring blog here goes..................I am pregnant!
Yes I know some of you may be on my doorstep in the next few minutes and turn me over your knee but really this was not in our plan. But I guess someone else had other plans for us! Today was the 1st ultra sound of our little bean growing inside of me....I saw the heartbeat and I was reassured that there is only one....but in a moment I looked at this baby on the screen and thought to myself "oh good there is a heartbeat....but then again Evan had a heartbeat and was ok until 23 weeks....please let this baby be ok"...I know I was so happy to see that baby and yet so scared....crazy right? Maybe...maybe not....I guess those fears and my fears will only go away once this little one is in my arms and safe with me. So here is the picture I have of our little bean.

Our news addition hopefully due May 10th 2012

Everyone I know has said "well hopefully it is a girl this time" or "I bet you really want a girl now".......to everyone I know....yes a little girl would be very much welcome in this family.....but to be perfectly honest I will want what ever I have been giving. Having had my baby taken from my life has made me realize that gender does not matter. If I am giving another loud , rowdy, sweet, dirty little boy then I will take him and love him and hold him and never let him go. So for all those that what one gender over another for whatever reason......please don't let that take away from the preciousness of life it's self.

6 years ago!

On this day 6 years ago I was honored to marry a man....a wonderful man! He is my knight and shinning armour....my prince charming.....my true love! I think back and remember that I was not looking for him...I had decided to stop trying to find love since it never wanted to find me! I was determined to raise my son and be happy with the things I had....not on the things I wanted! You know the old saying "when you least expect it it will happen"....well it did and I was not looking for it!
I have told myself many times I am thankful certain people decided to leave my life years before.....as much as it hurt then I am better for it now. There was no real love in that life before....they showed that the day they left and said "I don't think I ever loved you"! You feel like your whole life and family was a lie.....but through the years of hurt and anger I learned that he wasn't really the one and I didn't really love him...I was in love with the idea of being in love...and you can't build a life on that! So I am thankful he left us.....because I got something a million times better!
I still can not believe that 6 six years have come and gone and I love him even more than I did in the beginning! Everyday I miss him while at work....I love being with him almost every second of the day! I believe that our marriage is perfect....yes we are not perfect and no ones marriage is really perfect but it is perfect to me...and that is what matters most. In 6 years of marriage we have endured more then most couples and yet our marriage is still strong! We had endured not getting pregnant for over a year, we endure our first born almost dieing, we have endure deaths in both our families, endured our second child having surgery and last we endured the death of our unborn baby boy! Out of all those the last one could of broke this family and us but it didn't...it strengthened our family, our love our bond! I am truly blessed to have this man in my life and would never change it! I love you honey.........Happy Anniversary!!

Happily Ever After!

He is 13!

13 years ago today I welcomed the 1st born in to my life. It was not what I had imagined by any means....it was scary, painful and just not fun!! But he came into my life anyway at 3:45 am Sept 20th 1998! 8lbs 3oz 20 inches long........and I was done having kids! I remember very vividly saying "Dear god never again"! Well as we all know that was in the heat of the moment! But I thought I would share a few photos of Prince#1 over the years. Now please remember that most of these pic's are for a regular ole' camera....you know the ones the "old ones" that took that stuff called film! And I don't have a scanner...so if they look like they were copied with a digital camera as a picture that is because they were!

1 day old!

1 month old

4 months old...he loved that johnny jumper!

4 months old

9 months old

11 months old..and I can walk now!

14 months old...I still love this pic!

2 yrs old

3yrs old

1st day of Kindergarten!

Playing T-ball

1st Grade

One day at the fair!

Taken just this last Spring!

I guess as you watch your kids grow and all the pain and suffering you endure to have them in your life all of it now seems so small and not important! I have had my battle with this one....oh believe me I have! Would I change him? No....Would I wish him on someone else? There are days I wish the other half that made him knew exactly what I dealt with all those years....but really I wouldn't! Would I trade him for someone else? There have been days.....but it all comes down to this he is my baby, my first born and even with all the trouble that has followed him his whole life I would not trade him for anything!

The best day ever....or at least for a 4yr old and 2yr old!!

Almost 11yrs ago a Grandfather bought a metal swing set for his Grandson! He bought the biggest one he could find! His 2yr old Grandson thought it was the best gift ever! Now for the life of me I can not find a picture of the old swing set in my files anywhere! You would think I would have one of the boys playing on it at some point and time in the life span of the old swing set....but alas I can not find one! So here is one of the same set as ours was except for one part the little see saw swing by the slide...ours had a two seat glider swing instead.....please note...that is not our house or our kids!!

Grandpa did good 10 + years go!

 That swing set has great sentimental value to a almost 13 year old.......why??? Because his Grandpa is now gone..it has been almost 3 years come November. Prince #1 was very mad at the fact Grandma was going to have the old swing set replaced. He has been mad for weeks...hearing us talk about the new one and what is going to happen to the old one...etc. He has been mad since the boxes arrived over a week ago! And he has been mad at each and every step as the new one went up! Prince #1 feels that if you take way what he feels important that no one cares about what it means to him. But what he doesn't understand is he is not the only one that felt sad at the old swing set coming down...I just don't show it. So over the last few days I have decided to try and figure out what we can do with the old parts to the old swing set......something that would be just for Prince #1....something he would find special! Now just to figure it out!
I will share with you the pictures of the New Swing Set going up! I don't have any of the old one coming down because my other camera's (which I hate) battery was dead as a door nail!! So I only got these!

Stage 1! Framing!

Stage 2! Starting on the fort part!

Stage 3! Almost there!

Stage 4! Just missing a few things!

DONE!!!!!

Let the fun began!!

Having a good time!

More Fun!

They will be tired tonight!

Now it only took a few days for our awesome Daddy to build this! I actually put on the climbing rocks with a little help from prince #2.....somebody had to hold then in place while I tightened the bolts!! But he was helping and he loved it! Now if you look closely in the 4th to last picture you see the 2 for fun glider leaning up against the post there (it is yellow by the slide...not prince #1 but just below him)...well it seems that when all was said and done we were missing 2 bolts and the parts for them.....go figure! Well I emailed the customer support for the company that makes this swing set and they are sending out the parts we are missing ASAP!
Now I said before that Prince #1 has not been pleased about this new play set....he has complain and moaned and groaned for weeks now........but who may I ask was in three of the pictures....and who was playing on it with some of his friends.....and who did I hear say "Whoa this is really fun!!" Oh yeah that's right the almost 13 year old who was mad and pitched a fit many a time that's who!! In the end I knew he would get over his hating the fact that the old swing set had to come down and I knew he would actually really like the new one! Now if I could just figure out how to get him to do school work.....Hmmmmm.

Nicknames!

Well seeing as how my beautiful wonderful new camera took a noses dive on our Beach Vacation.......I have not wanted to use my old camera! It stinks and I mean stinks royal! I now remember why I wanted a new one! My boys are very active and so getting a pic of them is not a easy task at all....so I needed a camera that would take a shot just as fast as they move or pretty close to it!! My old one does not do this....so I have a 100 or more blurry shots that would have been so awesome if I had had a different camera! But I have taken just a few lately with my old one because well I had to or miss out on stuff.......so I will share a few pic's of  the boys. And this one of Pigpen ...I mean prince #3!

 

Pigpen

 Now we only gave him this nickname because well.........look at him! The dirt literally attacks him with in minutes! And it finds him no matter where he is!! Now the reason I so aptly named today's blog nickname is well we have given our boys nicknames....but for the life of me I am not sure why I never did give one to prince #1...shhhh he has one but he would not like it if I told you.......ok....."love bug"...shhhh don't tell him I told you! But Prince #2 was give his nickname only after the fact that he had to have his "nigh nite" 24/7.....and well it is blue....so he was dubbed "Luis". Prince #3 was dubbed "Pigpen" because some how some way that kid has dirt on him...and 99% of the time it came out of no where! It was and still is crazy! Other times it was self inflicted! Here are a few shots of my Pigpen..and you will see just what I mean.

PB&J attack!

Dinner attack!

Now I will give him the fact that these did involve food.......but he always looks like this! Well maybe not always! I do get some rare shots of him all cleaned up and looking mighty handsome....I will share a few of those too!

Handsome Boys!

Still Handsome!

Low key Handsome!!

My little handsome Pigpen!!

I may be biased but I do believe my prince's clean up rather nice!! I mean even the oldest does! See! (prince #3 did not want his brother to touch him.....hence the look on his face...he was mad!)

Handsome boys!

A little disheveled by still handsome!

No matter if my boys are dirty or spiffed up they are my boys......and I do love them each for who they are and who they may become. I can not change what they like or what they may do with their lives but why would I! They are all different in personality as much as they have different likes and dislikes! I love them and that is what matters most!
I had many a nickname growing up.....mostly from my dad.....who if I could hear him call me "skinny or Olive Oil" one more time I would take it. Some people think that nicknames are mean and to be honest sometimes they are especially if they intend to hurt someones feelings.....but I believe that if a nickname is used as an endearment toward someone you love and not in a hurtful manner than by all means love your kids give them a loving nickname! My Grandpa had give all us grand kids nicknames and for the life of me I wish I could remember every one's I only remember a few. Those are memories that should be remembered and cherished...and I really hope my boys will remember and cherish theirs!

Super Mom??? Really not so sure about that!

I guess being super busy in Mom duties can be a good thing...especially if you are trying to make your days go faster or you feel like you really are accomplishing something! But in reality....it just feel wrong to me!! I know crazy right?? But I love spending lazy days with my princes and hate that summer comes and goes so quickly!
Prince #1 has started back to school (home school but still school) as of Monday and it hit me this morning that in just 5 weeks I will have a TEENAGER!!! Those of you who love me please pray for me now!! Now don't get me wrong I love him to death but because of the "mood" he gets in 99% of the time...he drives me crazy too!

What were you thinking??? You are stuck aren't you!

 So much has taken place in the few weeks before school has started that I am not sure where to even start!!
Now I know that I had mentioned Prince #2 was potty training and that we have been doing it now for a while. As of last week he is wearing big boy underwear!! And only has one accident a day...if even that!! So our potty wall of cars is slowly becoming less and less! At least until Prince #3 decides that the potty is not so bad!! Yes folks...it seems that Prince #3 is now terrified of the potty as well as all the other things! I will say this he has gotten over one fear...over the weekend we stayed at a hotel were the boys were more than ready to swim in the pool! It took a few times but Prince #3 is now in love with swimming in a pool!! Here a few pic's of them swimming in the pool that Grandma took with her camera!

Loving the hot tub!

Wish it was not blurry Grandma!

Not so bad!

"I swim in da pool Mama (aka Grandma)!"

 

Prince #2 could be a fish...he loves the water!!

I hate that our Summer is over....and that Fall and Winter are just around the corner! But it is and I will have to just endure the cold snowy days ahead! SIGH......Oh well I will share more pic's in the days to come of my princes but for now I really need to get a new camera...I miss my old one....and I now remember why I wanted a new one in the 1st place...my old old one is not good at all!! Blah!! But I will soon post pic's of the new swing set that Grandma bought for the boys. Dad already has taken down the old one...I would have pic's of that but stupid old old camera was dead as a door nail......and so I have none! Oh well so is life! Until next time!

Been away!

Well it seems I have been away from my blog awhile! But I did not realise it has been a few weeks!
I have been super busy keeping the little princes busy with summer fun...kinda. They are content to run a muck in the yard and play in the dirt!! But this week we got to go on a little mini vacation to the beach. The little princes had never been before and prince #1 was like 4 or 5 when I took him. So I will share some pic's and a some mishaps of the 2 days we were at the beach.
We left Wednesday evening and drove 5 hours to San Luis Obispo........about half way prince #3 decided he wanted to go home and cried for over an hour about it. He was really mad at the fact that I had took his shoes off! Once I put them back on he stopped! Prince #2 had fallen asleep back before Merced and woke up in Kettleman wanting to go home too! Here is a before picture of the first leg of the trip (I didn't get one of the crying princes it was late)

Prince #2 sleeping and Prince #3 in a good mood!

We stayed with my cousin Amanda. She is a student at Cal Poly. Her mom went with us too...the boys love Kirsten!!! So Thursday morning we got up and headed out to the beach. Amanda picked Avila Beach for the boys very first beach! It was great!

Beautiful Avila Beach

Look at that smile and tell me he isn't having fun!!

Kirsten save me!!

Look what I drew!!

Rare shot of my awesome hubby!

This face says it all....."RUN"!!

At this point Prince #3 was very unhappy about being at the beach...he wanted to go home!
He would not take off his shoes or shirt and would not go anyway near the water.

 

I want to go home!!

Happy to play in the sand!

Buried Amanda's feet in the sand!! And loved doing it!

 Finally Prince #3 warmed up to taking off his shoes and shirt and putting on his swimming shorts...but still would not go in the water!

Your funny Kirsten!

Finally closer to the water!

After a day at Avila beach we headed back to Amanda's and made dinner. Then got ready to go to the Farmer's Market and Bubblegum Alley! But first Kirsten helped Amanda with a job she has at Cal Poly....collecting the eggs on the poultry farm. Well prince #1 wanted to help...and Amanda said he was her best helper ever! And she meant it too....he took the directions she gave and did it perfectly....she said most of the others that help (they are college students as well) are not as good a help as he was!

Helping collect the eggs!

After this we headed to the Farmer's Market. We found a place to park and then headed down the street to the Farmer's Market...where I saw this:

Is it really that cold???

That was just strange to say the least but what you are about to see next is just....well....here I will show you.

My thought exactly!

Cool but really weird!

Yes that is gum! It is called Bubblegum Alley for that very reason! It was actually kinda gross but the kids thought it was cool. Well prince #1 did....prince #2 was actually standing about a foot more away right before I snap that picture of him and the look he had was one of "OMG don't let it touch me!" Hence the kinda of not sure about this smile on his face! So next we had to hunt down some gum so they could add their piece to the wall!

Candy store where we bought some gum!

Prince #2 sticking on his gum

Prince #1 sticking on his gum

After this we walked the streets a bit and stopped at a street performer. He juggled and such...he was pretty funny. Although prince #3 was not impressed with the drummer he had helping him...he stared to cry and wanted to go home.....again!

Watching the funny man! See prince #3 eyeballing the the guy in the corner!

So after all our fun that day we headed back to the car and home to Amanda's. Got everyone ready for bed and we were getting our room in order to go to sleep....when suddenly it seemed a little to quiet in the other room. So I go to investigate and this is what I found:

Had to much fun today!

We put them to bed and put ourselves to bed....to enjoy the next days adventures!
Friday morning we got up and ready to head out. First we waited for Amanda to get back from work so we could go see some of the farm animals she helps care for on the Cal Poly farm. We saw horses, cows, and pigs (we saw chickens too but that was the day before). Next we headed to the railroad tracks to lay coins on the track.......

Will they be flat when we come back?

Then we headed to Avila Valley Barn to see the petting zoo and get pie!! Yummy!

Prince #3's new best buddy Amanda

 The picture above is extra special because I noticed the more we did with Amanda the more prince #3 would do things with her....where as he wouldn't do them with anyone else!

Waiting for pie! Oh and a corn on the cob (prince #1)!

After pie we headed to the Tide pools at Shell Beach. The boys loved it....well prince #3 really didn't care about the stuff in the Tide pools.....he just loved jumping over them!

Amanda and prince #2 looking for crabs!

Little crab little crab come out of your shell!

A rare prince #3 sitting moment!

Shell beach Tide pools

The Gang

A cave

What is in that cave??

The last shot I took with my beloved camera!

Right after this shot was taken my camera was dropped into a tide pool!! Yes I said drop into a tide pool! And yes it is dead!! But I was so lucky my memory card was still in one piece and all my memories of those two days were ok! I have more pictures of this trip I will share another time as my cousin has them on her camera because she took more after mine was put down (sniff sniff)! Yes I was sad my beautiful little $250 dollar camera that I just got back in February was toast...but we still had a awesome time and a great mini vacation! And we totally plan on doing it again next year....only minus the camera mishap and for a longer period of time!