thetorreslunafamily

810/09: This summer is flying by! We have had a great summer. I love when all the kids are home. I am still working 2 mornings a week and then 3 hours on Thursday nights too. It's nice to be able to have most days free to spend with the kids! We have been swimming at the YMCA quite a bit and we also have a little inflatable pool for home. Maddy, Emma, and Landon can spend hours upon hours in the pool. Ava starting to get used to it now. It takes her a while to get in, but once she's in, she likes it now.

Last week we went to a new beach that was recommended to us. It's perfect for families with young kids. It's called Newport Dunes. It has a playground, nice bathrooms, close parking, picnic tables, and a life guard. There is also a whale for the kids to swim to that our in the ocean about 100 feet. When we went last week Lita went with us and she even swam to the whale! It was a beautiful day for the beach. We had lunch there and played all day.

The Ham family attempted Grunion Hunting" this year. We went to Ventura beach and had a BBQ with hot dogs and s'mores while we waited for the Grunion Run time to hit. They were supposed to be "running" from 11pm-1am. We all looked for them, especially Papa and the kids, but we never saw one. Maybe next year.... What a fun night t was!!

School will be back in session in a few short weeks. The girls start back (1st grade and 3rd grade) on August 31st. Landon will start preschool (his first year) on September 7th. I don't want them to go back, but they are all anxious to get back to their friends and the routine of school. Landon is super excited to go to school too.

Ava has become a little parrot now. She can repeat most anything. She knows all the kids' names and tons more. Plus, she'll repeat whatever you ask of her. She is playing with baby dolls and books. She loves to pretend! She is so much fun and such a good girl!

7/6/09: Ava had her well-baby check-up on Wednesday. She is doing well. She is in the 25th percentile for height and weight, but she is growing nicely. She is talking and signing quite a bit. She loves to do the signs for animals. Her favorite foods are: bananas, watermelon, peanut butter sandwiches, and granola bars. Her favorite things to do are #1- sit in anybody's lap and be read to, and she also loves to swing, play with baby dolls, and climb up the ladder of the swing set. One of the things she says most is "Quack -quack". She loves ducks!

I went ahead and had all the kids weighed and measured just for record. Emma wanted to be weighed to see how close she was to be out of a carseat. She needs to be 6 years-old AND 60 pounds. She's not even close!

4/26/09: This past weekend Christianand I got away just the two of us! Maddy and Emma went to Lita and Lito's house. Landon went with a family from church, The Vargas'. And Ava went with Auntie Amanda and Uncle Luis (and a little with Gramma and Tina). Originally, Ava was going to stay with all of them equally, but Auntie amanda enjoyed having her so much that they kept her almost the entire time! All the kids had a good time where they went and it was a very nice time for Christian and I to have a weekend to ourselves.

While Julie was at piano with the kids, I watched a movie with my boy. The following questions were asked about 3 seconds apart throughout the whole movie. This is just a sample

Dad, why does Superman wear blue?
What is that on his chest?
Why does Lex Luthor wear a wig? Why is he bald?
Do you like Lex Luthor? Does Superman? Do you like Spiderman? DAD! Spider man wears blue Too!
Why....why ...why do they wear blue?
I have superman underwear. Did you have underwear with Superman when you were little? Dad does superman wear underwear.
I have spiderman shoes?
Why is that lady screaming? Does superman like Lois lane? O
Oh this is my favorite part, whas this your favorite part when you were a little boy?
Dad is Superman real?
Does superman kiss like Spiderman does, cuz that's gross.
Oh dad why does that guy have a gun on a helicopter? Why do they have a helicopter on the building? Watch this part dad, superman gets shot in the eye! Tha .... tha....that's cool
Does that hurt superman? Why is he smiling?
Why are there bad guys? Are there real bad guys?
Is Lex Luthor real?
Does Superman like spiderman?
Is he going to kiss Lois? Tha tha thass growwwsssss!
Who is that little boy? Is that Superman's little boy?
Why does superman not wear glasses? Why do you wear glasses? Do they hurt? How come Clark wears glasses? Oh Dad! You wear a tie to work too! But not anymore. How come you don't wear a tie anymore? Do you like wearing ties? What's a tie?
Look at that train set dad! Did you have a train when you were a little boy? How come Lex Luthor has a train? Why is everything shaking? What's an earthquake? Does it hurt? I was in an earthquake! I wasn't scared, I said "YOU STOP IT EARTHQUAKE!"
How do helicopters fly? Do you like helicopters?
Dad why is Lex mean to Superman? Does Lex like Spiderman? I like Spiderman. I have spiderman shoes. And I have spiderman shirt and a spiderman underwear, and spiderman jammies. I have superman jammies too. Dad can you put them on me and hold me up on your shoulder?
Oh dad! I have an army shirt......you bought that for me. And an army hat too... but it's the Marines, right Dad? But they're the same, right? They are soldiers?
Dad when you were a little boy did you play armies?
Why is there fire under the streets dad? Why doesn't it burn Superman? Why is he blowing on it? Wow Dad did you see that? Can you do that?
How fast is superman? Why does he burn things with his eyes?
Is superman dying? Is he dead? Why is everyone so sad? Oh Dad! That's his mommy! She looks like grandma! Dad, why does she have grey hair? Do you have gray hair?
Dad, where did superman go?
Why is he in his bedroom? Is he crying? Dad why are you crying? Superman didn't die! Dad. Dad!
Dad....dad....I.........I. ......I...I Love you dad. Thanks for watching the movie.
Dad, what's for dinner? Are you making Dinner, when are you going to barbecue, how come mommy doesn't barbecue..........

It never never never stops...................But one day it will.

4/20/09: We spent Easter this year mostly at home. Of course we went to church in the morning. The kids got Easter baskets full of their own things to help with gardening and planting flowers. They were happy about that. Now, we jsut need to find the time to put the tools and seeds to use. We did a little egg hunt at home after naps and then lito and lita came by to bring Easter presents. Each of the girls got a handmade doll made by Tia Patricia and Landon got an army helicopter. The Bey's invited us for an egg hunt and dinner at their house in the evening which was a lot of fun and very yummy!

Madeline and Emma had a birthday party yesterday at the movies. I took them plus 7 more little girls and Jen to the theater. The Hannah Montana movie was very cute!! After the movie we went over to In N Out Burger to have dinner, open presents, and have cupcakes. All the girls had a good time and it certainly was a simple party to throw! My girls are growing up!!

4/17/09: I got some cute video of Landon and Ava playing around at home. You can see that Ava is getting close to being a walker...finally! She is 16-months-old and she's doing 6-7 steps at a time now. Yay Ava!!

Thursday, 4/9/09: Today we hung out at the condo for the morning and then decided to go into "Downtown St. George". The city of St. George has a long history, mostly with the Mormon people. We went to 2 museums: The Daughters of the Pioneers Home and Brigham Young's Winter home. Both homes were really neat, perfectly kept as they were in the late 1800's. There were no photos allowed in either of the museums. It was strange taking the kids into places with such strong Mormon beliefs (we are not Mormon), but it is the history of Utah and that's what we were there to see. Along those same lines, Wow are there TONS of Mormon Churches "wards" everywhere. We look over the cities from the highway and see 4 or 5 steeples at one time. They are on every corner!

We went to a pizza place for lunch and then headed back home to put the younger 3 down for naps. While I stayed home, Christian and Madeline went to one more museum, The Jacob Hamblin House. Hamblin was another Mormon settler of St. George. When they returned, we all headed to the pool for a swim. Ava did much better this time. She is warming up to the pool. All of us love swimming! After swimming, Christian barbequed steaks for dinner... yummy!

After dinner the kids took baths, got their jammies on, and played in the condo for awhile. We planned a late night out to Snow Canyon after dark to see the stars. We left the condo around 8:30 PM to stargaze... But, to our dismay, when we got to Snow Canyon all we could see was a cloud covered moon and a cloudy sky- no stars. So, we picked up a gallon of ice-cream and headed back to the condo for desert! What a fun day!

Wednesday, 4/8/09: Today was a day to relax after all of our sites and hikes this week. We slept in this morning, well at least Christian, Ava, and I did. The other kids woke up and watched cartoons while Christian, Ava, and I slept til 9:00! It was wonderful!! We had a "Family Movie Morning" and watched Beverly Hills Chiquaqua. Cute movie!! Then, Christian took Ava to the grocery store while I took the other 3 swimming in the nice waterfall pools. What fun! We hung out and relaxed here around the condo and then put the kids down for naps after lunch. Later in the afternoon we took a drive to go see "La Entrada", the Country Club from High School Musical 2. It is a private gated country club. I got the security guard to let us in on the premises because we were "checking out the place for a possible vacation spot" (Yeah right...$$$) But, Maddy and Emma were pretty impressed. They were showing us "where Troy and Gabriella sang into the pond", "where Sharpai rode the golf cart", "the baseball field", and so on.... It was pretty cute to see them recollect their favorite parts of the movie! We really wanted to see the red-rock pool, but couldn't get into that part of the club. Still, it was very very cool and nice bragging rights for the girls when they get back to school.

The drive to La Entada was as amazing as the sites we've seen here in Utah. Man, this is one beautiful state! The Snow Canyon that we drove through was the reddest (if that's a word) of the rocks we've seen so far. It was raining today a little so we didn't get out much at Snow Canyon, but it was so close (just 15 minutes away) we may go back tomorrow to hike a few of the trails. Having fun.... and still loving vacation with my family!!

Tuesday, 4/7/09: We started today at 6AM leaving the condo by 6:30. We packed breakfast baggies for the car for all of us so we could get an early start on our day to Bryce Canyon.On the drive it was 26 degrees in the morning, but when we got to Bryce it had warmed up to about 55 degrees. It was a very nice drive with lots of nice views along the way. We drove through Red Rock Canyon and many other beautiful areas. We drove the "Rim Tour" along the the edge of Bryce Canyon, stopping about every 1/3 of a mile to check out and read about the view points. Bryce was more beautiful than I imagined. Postcards and calendar photos don't do it justice. There was snow in all of the shady areas. But, it wasn't too cold at all. We all had jackets, but never even put them on. After the driving tour, we had a picnic with our packed lunches and then headed down to start our hike into the canyon. Wowee!! It was only .8 miles down to the bottom of "The Queen's Garden"; that was fairly easy. The .8 miles out of the canyon was tough! All uphill. Christian wore Ava on his back and the rest of us hiked it on foot. All four of the kids did fabulous!! We were super impressed with Landon's ability to do it without too much complaining. The hike was filled with glorious sites that we could never had seen on the driving tour. It was well worth the aching muscles now. We were all amazed at the formations of Bryce's peaks called, "hoodoos". It is like nothing I've ever seen before (except when I visited Bryce as a kid, but I didn't remember this!). God's imagination was flowing free when he built this one. It's strange looking, but beautiful!! What a full day of amazing sites once again. How anyone can not believe in God when they see His creation like this, is beyond me.

We are done visiting the sites now. We went to Calico Ghost Town, Hoover Dam, Zion Canyon, and Bryce Canyon. Now we have a few days to relax in St. George: go swimming, check out the local sites, play board games, and hang out as a family. Vacations are so wonderful because we get to hang out with eachother all day, every day. Christian is so great at planning vacations! He is the best!! He values the time we get to spend together and he enjoys making it as fun-filled, educational, and memorable as possible. We are having so much fun!!

We have taken about 700 pictures of our trip so far. I uploaded just a few to the picture page. I will do tons more when we return home on Saturday. I know...crazy amount of pictures, but at least I know I will have captured the fun we've had. Until tomorrow.... Bye.

Monday, 4/6/09: Oh My Goodness!! God's glorious creation was before us today. Zion Canyon was so beautiful!! I went there on a family vacation as a kid, but don't really remember the beauty of it at all. Breathtaking to say the least! We left early this morning and went to breakfast at "The Cracker Barrel", a place that Christian has always wanted to go (he has seen the commercials on Country Music TV...Lol!) We had a yummy country style breakfast and then stopped by Albertson's to buy a digital card reader (the laptop couldn't read our Compact Flash and we've already taken over 500 pictures!) While at Albertson's, Christian realized that we forgot to leave a tip for our waitress at the restaurant so then he insisted that we go all the way back to give our tip (I wouldn't have...but I guess he has more integrity than me). Anyway, finally after visisting Cracker Barrel a second time we were off for Zion at about 8:30 AM.

It was only a 45 minute drive (beautiful one at that!), and we arrived. Zion was so much more grand than I could have imagined. We took the tram on an educational tour of Zion and then stopped to eat our picnic lunch. We all headed down the "Riverside Walk" hike. The weather was perfect- warm in the sun, chilly in the shade. We stopped to take pictures all along the way. The canyon was magnificent and the children were impressed too. They especially liked the part of going in the "Virgin River" and playing in the water, mud, and rocks. We played in the river for a couple of hours and then headed back on the trail.

The next hike was a "moderate" skill hike and we gave the girls a choice to go on the hike or stay with me and Landon. Maddy and Emma both decided to do it and Christian "wore" Ava for it too. Landon and I took the stroller, and our "shtuff" and waited at the end of the trail. Christian said that it was a good thing I didn't go cause I would have been "Eeeking" at the narrow paths and how close the girls got to the edges of the cliffs. (I'm a little more protective and cautious than Christian). They enjoyed the hike of the "The Emerald Pools" and he was thrilled to spend that time with "his girls".

Today was one of those days that you dream of as a parent. We spent the entire day together basking in the glorious nature of Our Creator. Our children were thankful to be taken somewhere out of the ordinary for a day and we had a fabulous family day together!! Day #3 was our best day of vacation so far.

We were supposed to do Bryce Canyon on Wednesday, but we had a sudden change of plans this evening. It is supposed to snow in Bryce on Wednesday, so we altered our plans and are doing it tomorrow instead. It's a LONG drive!! Three hours one way! But, we hear it's gorgeous, and we've come this far, so tomorrow it is! Looking forward to it. I better get to bed now; big day tomorrow. Hugs!!

Sunday, 4/5/09: What a day! We woke up in Nevada, went to Hoover Dam in Arizona, and now we're in Utah! Hoover Dam was cool, but the kids didn't think it was all that great. It is amazing how much water is stored there and how many cities are in need of the power created. The kids thought it was cool and all...but they were done with the place in about 15 minutes. We didn't drive all that way to stay there for that short of a time, so we made the most of it. Thank God for snacks; they saved the day!

In the morning we hung out by the pools again and just relaxed. The heated jacuzzi pool was huge; it even had waterfalls!! It was nice to have a hot pool because the weather is mostly in the low 70's during the day.There was also a "lazy river", but that wasn't heated so nicely.

We drove a lot of the day today. It took us about 1.5 hours to get from Vegas to Hoover Dam and then another 3 hours to get from Hoover to St. George, UT. The kids are doing pretty good in the truck. Luckily we have 2 DVD players that they can enjoy while driving! The drive today was gorgeous!! We drove through "The Barge"...Gorgeous! Well, off to day #3 tomorrow. Looks like we will be going to Zion... You can check in on our adventures tomorrow. Bye!

Saturday, 4/4/09: This morning we woke up early to get on the road. We are doing half the trip to Utah today with a stop overnight in Las Vegas . We had breakfast at McDonald's, gassed up the truck, and then we were on the road by 8AM. We took our first break at Calico Ghost Town in Calico, CA. It is an old mining town that has turned into a fun little "museum" of tours, activities, and shops of the old west. Christian went there as a kid, but the rest of us had never been there before. We spent a couple of hours there and then we were off to our next destination. Landon and Ava napped until lunch and then we had our next stop at "The Mad Greek", a restaurant that was featured on "Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives". After lunch we finished the rest of our trek for the day to Las Vegas , NV . Once we got to Las Vegas we went to the pool. Maddy, Emma, and Landon LOVE swimming, but Ava is not that crazy about it. It takes her a little while to get used to it. The pools are just beautiful here!! We went to dinner and stayed in for the night. We had a family movie night with the movie "Bolt"- highly recommend it! Day one of our trip was wonderful!!

4/1/09: Madeline's birthday was celebrated quite a few times and we're not even done celebrating it. We are waiting for the new Hannah Montana movie to come out next week and we are going to do a combined birthday for Maddy and Emma at the movies and In N Out with a few friends each, and "the cousins". It will be nice to combine their birthday party, especially since they have a lot of the same friends and they both REALLY want to see the movie!! We will be doing their combined birthday party on April 18th. (Smack in the middle of both of their birthdays)

Yesterday I was a chaperone for Emma's field trip to the Long Beach Aquarium. What fun! Emma was thrilled that I was going along. I love that place and I also loved that I got to spend the day with my Ems. There were so many chaperones that went, we all only had 3 kids per group. My 3 kids: Jorge, Jillian and Emma, were great!

Ava is taking her sweet time on walking. She is taking up to 3 steps at a time, but not that often. She is sooooo cautious! She'll be 16 months tomorrow and I thought for sure she was going to walk by 14 months. She certainly proved me wrong! She is starting to talk a little more. She has added a few words to her vocabulary: "diaper", "poo-poo", "juice", "doggie", "this", "pretty" and "hello". Nobody else would understand these words when she says them, but we do :)

Landon's favorite things have gone from trains and cars to super-heroes and army stuff. He loves Spiderman and Superman, but he also loves his Army guys!! He likes anything camouflage, and gets so excited to see commercials and toys about super-heroes. He is very excitable! He'll scream across the house like it is a life and death situation when there is a commercial of something he wants. I've learned not to jump at his every scream. It's just another toy....

We leave for vacation this Saturday. We are all so excited to go!! Christian has been planning activities for us, typing out lists and agendas, researching family fun spots, and having a blast with all the organizing. He's so good at that! I can't wait to get away.... Only 3 more days!!!!!

03/16/09: Where does the time go?? Christian had his 34th birthday on Saturday. We spent the day in San Diego with his parents. It was perfect weather and we all had a great time flying kites, climbing trees,a nd enjoying the beautiful views. I love San Diego! Lito bought two really cool kites that were a lot of fun. Landon did not understand the idea of the kite staying the sky. He wanted to play with them. When we finally would get one up in the sky, he would say, "Ok, bring it down now." We ended the evening at a BBQ (of course) resaurant. Delicious food, great company, and a fun atmosphere at Phil's BBQ. What a great day! Happy Birthday Babe!

Maddy's 8th birthday is on Thursday. I can't believe my baby is already 8! For the first time ever, she wants clothes for her birthday?!? She hass always been the queen of Barbies, Polly's, and make-up.... Now she wants clothes? Isn't she too little to asking for clothes? She did say she needs a new convertible for her Polly Pockets (and an American Girl doll), thank God she's still asking for toys. I couldn't take it if she didn't want any toys. She is still my baby!

3/12/09: We are excitedly planning for our family vacation to the Grand Canyon that is only 3 weeks away!! I'm so excited to get away from the everyday things we do here and take off with the family. I love vacations!! I love the time I get to spend with Christian without him having to wake up early for work, I love that the kids get to sleep til whenever they want, I love the "treat" that it is for the kids to be doing things outside of their normal routine, I love to go out to eat, I love seeing new things, meeting new people, seeing nature through the eyes of my children, I love the packing and planning of snacks, games and movies for the roadtrip, I love the anticipation the weeks and months before we leave, I love the questions about our trip that the kids will come up with, the time spent in the swimming pools, the time of listening to the kids because we are "trapped" in the truck for HOURS, I love all the photo opportunities, all the scrapbooking opportunities, the extra money that gets to be spent guilt free because "we are on vacation", I love choosing our Christmas ornament souveniour, and letting the kids each choose a souveniour, I LOVE vacation!!! (Yes, I know I could make a list of why I don't like vacation too, but let's not go there) Three weeks, 3 days and counting....

3/12/09: Here is a funny lil' question answer session that I did for Facebook. Had to put it on here...

(I questioned them at different times so they wouldn't hear each others' answers...Cute!)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Maddy- "no"
Emma- "I Love you like crazy"
Landon- "Who's the cutest little boy in the World?"

2. What makes mom happy?
Maddy- making her breakfast
Emma- when I make you breakfast
Landon- hugging and kissing you

3. What makes mom sad?
Maddy- when I don't do my chores
Emma- When Grandma Dory died
Landon- when you broke your tooth

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Maddy- tickles my feet
Emma- tickles me
Landon- when I make funny faces

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Maddy- innocent... well, I wasn't alive how should I Know?
Emma- She babysat Auntie Amanda
Landon- you liked pricesses

6. How old is your mom?
Maddy- 35
Emma- 35 right?
Landon- he held up 10 fingers

7. How tall is your mom?
Maddy- 6 feet
Emma- 35 pounds
Landon- he put his hand above his head and stood on his toes, "About this big"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Maddy- Take pictures of us
Emma- Watch Baby Story
Landon- Washing laundry

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Maddy- Babysit Gracie and Gabriel
Emma- wash and fold my clothes
Landon- Look for me

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Maddy- You took the best picture in the world
Emma- singing on stage at church (I've never done that??)
Landon- "I don't know...I want to be done now"

11. What is your mom really good at?
Maddy- scrapbooking
Emma- Tucking me into bed
Landon- washing laundry

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Maddy- the splitz
Emma- singing
Landon- brushing her teeth (???)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Maddy- Teaches Children's Ministry
Emma- You work for church
Landon- to keep us safe

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Maddy- tacos
Emma- Green Bean Casserole
Landon- vegetables

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Maddy- you married Daddy so you don't have to be alone.
Emma- When you have a baby because that sometimes hurts to push it out.
Landon- Doing our chores

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Maddy- Belle
Emma- "This is a funny one....Elmo....I told you...giggle giggle"
Landon- Dr. Laura

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Maddy- It's going to be scrapbooking because I want to learn
Emma- play Barbies
Landon- push me on the swing..now can I be done Mommy??

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Maddy- We both have freckles on our faces
Emma- We both like to wear jeans
Landon- We both love Ava

19. How are you and your mom different?
Maddy- Our eyes are a different color
Emma- Mommies' eyes are green and mine are brown
Landon- we like to play different things

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Maddy- You give us things we really want
Emma- Cuz sometimes you let me stay up late and watch movies
Landon- because...becasue I said that

21. What does your mom like most about your Daddy?
Maddy- that he loves you
Emma- Daddy's really funny
Landon- because you got married.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Maddy- on dates with Daddy
Emma- Soup Plantation
Landon- Disneyland

2-26-2009: In the last 4 weeks we have been sick then well, sick then well, sick and now almost well. Ava managed to have the highest fever of any of the Torresluna kids ever! She had a 104.9 degree fever on Valentine's night. She was totally fine during the day then all of a sudden in the evening it shot right up. We called our good friend Liz Love to see if she thought we should take her to the ER, and she said to put her in a luke warm tub and call the doctor. That's what we did. The doc said that if we could get her fever under 104 with bath and Motrin to keep her at home. It went down to 103 with Motrin but continued to go up past 104 for the next couple of days. I took her into her pediatircian's office the following Monday and he siad that "it's going around". She had a cough, runny (gross) nose, conjunctivitus, and a very high fever for a week. It was awful. This is the worst winter has family has ever had. We just can't seem to get everyone well! Ava is on the mend still, but she's doing pretty good.

We went to Disneyland last week. Liz watched Ava and the rest of us took off for the entire day. We started at Disneyland in the morning and then spent most of the day at California Adventure. Thanks to Uncle Luis and Auntie Amanda for the tickets!! Landon is 39 3/4 inches tall and you have to be 40 inches to ride most of the bigger rides at Disneyland. When we got in line for Space Mountain, we measured him and saw that he was really close, but not quite tall enough. He really wanted to go on it! When we got to the front of the line he was just barely under the line. The guy told him to raise his hands above his head... and there it was, he grew that extra 1/4 inch. The rest of the day, Landon was raising his arms while standing under the height signs and he got to go on everything! Our kids are so brave! The only ride that scared anyone was Landon on "The Tower of Terror". Other than that, they are all "good to go" on roller coasters, dizzy rides, spinning ones...whatever. They love it all! (and so do Christian and I)

We're in full swing as far as our schedule is concerned. It's absolutely nuts! Monday is piano for the girls, Tuesday is Landon's t-ball practice during the day and the girls softball practice at night. Wednesday night is church group for the whole family, Thursday night I work, and Friday is softball practice for the girls. We have a game every Saturday for the next 3 months and a week night game once a week (alternating what night we play). Craziness!! Throw in homework, daily piano practice, my babysitting, and Christian's workout schedule and we have one very busy family! Just imagine what it's gonna be like when Ava is in music and sports too! Thank God we only do one sport for 3 months. I don't know how families do this all year round! I said we weren't going to be "that kind" of family. Yet, here we are.... :)

2-12-09: Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I've updated with a story or some photos! I'm slacking... or should I say we have been extra busy. Now that I am babysitting a couple of days a week, I don't have as much free time as I used to. But, babysitting Gracie and Gabriel has been fun for Landon and Ava. Landon really enjoys having some extra children around to play with. Even though I'm able to get Gracie and Gabe down for naps at the same time as mine, they sleep right next to the computer. So naptime isn't my computer time those days. I'm doing my best!

Ava has now taken 2 steps on her own. But, if we try to get her to walk she just crumbles into spaghetti legs and wants to crawl. If we hold her fingers she'll walk all over the place for quite awhile, but not on her own. She has a toy that she pushes like a walker; she'll walk back and forth across the the living room with it. It's so cute. But, our baby prefers crawling!

Maddy and Emma are on the same softball team this year. Their coach got first choice of color, so of course he took.....PINK! The girls named themselves the Pink Panthers (so original) and they started practice last week. They've only gotten to practice once so far because the last 2 practices have been rained out! We have had a lot of rain here the past week or so...unusal for California and unusually cold too. It has been in the 30's at night and only in the 40's or 50's during the day. That's really cold for us!

Landon is doing great. It surprises me how less independent boys are than girls (maybe it's just mine, but I've heard other Moms say this too). Maddy and Emma were dressing themselves completely by the age of 2 1/2 and by 3 they could put their shoes and socks on too. Landon is just starting to be able to dress himself...SLOWLY. And socks... forget it! He also likes to have help when he uses the bathroom, and he still needs help getting buckled into his carseat. I don't mind that he needs us, it's just funny to how girls his age are all doing these things on their own. I know... in time he'll do everything himself and then I'll miss this!! Yep. I love my baby boy just the way he is!

Christian and I are in the midst of planning our vacation. I can't wait!! We are going to the Grand Canyon in April! We will also visit Bryce Canyon and/or Zion Canyon too. I did this same trip as a child with my family. It was a memorable one; I look forward to our kids seeing that part of the country too.

The family photo-shoot the other weekend turned out great (as you have seen some of my photos). All of the children behaved beautifully!! We also did some shots in Dodger Blue clothes, I didn't get any snapshots of those, the photographer did though. I can't wait to see all the pictures!

Have a Happy Valentines Day...and by the way, Our good friends, the McLaughlins are due to have their baby girl any day now. Ahhhh, I can't wait !! Come on Marley! (Maybe she'll be a Valentine Baby!)

1/29/09: Has the flu-bug flown away from the Torresluna home?? It's yet to be determined. Just when we think it's gone....it's back! Just this morning at 2AM, Landon woke up to tell us he was sick and he puked all over the kitchen floor. At least it wasn't in his bed. We have now gone almost 24 hours of nobody throwing up, let's hope and pray that it is finally gone. Maddy and Emma had it once and Landon and Ava each got it twice...ugh!! Luckily Christian and I haven't gotten it- knock on wood!

Tomorrow is the Daddy-Daughter dance at school. It has been on the calendar for months! They are so excited!! They each got a new fancy dress and Christian will wear a tie to match them. How exciting!! Picture opps! They also have their meet and greet with their new softball team and coach tomorrow afternoon. They're going to go from sweats and cleats to dresses and lacy sock in a matterof two hours. Busy day!

Believe it or not, Ava still will not take a step! She will stand alone in one spot and watch the T.V, drink a sippy, play with a toy, anything except take a step. She has great balance and steady feet, but no walking. Silly baby!! She'll walk with her push toy or holding onto one finger, but not on her own. In her own time.... My goodness!

We are having a big family portrait done this weekend with my parents, sisters, and our families. My mom wanted one on the day of Amanda and Luis' wedding, but we didn't get a good one. So, we are taking another one, this time in khaki and white. Hopefully we'll have better luck this time. Landon has all kinds of bribes hanging over him... pray that he's a happy camper. He hates pictures.

I am so into Facbook these days, I'm having a hard time keeping up both Bhp and FB. But, Bhp is my first love and the one that I journal the kids funny things and accomplishments. So, here's to Baby home Pages!! I'll try to keep the stories coming!

Finaly Emma says, "I am going to throw up." So, calmly I ask the pharmacist for access to the bathroom. He hesitates because it is not for public use. I tell him Emma is not feeling well and we could really use it, just in case. Just then....Emma, my drama queen, stops the drama and really does hurl. All over the carpeted floor of CVS. Poor thing tried to catch it in her hands. We finally get into the bathroom and she hurls again into the sing as I hold her hair back with one hand and hold Ava in my other arm. Now, I do not have hips so Ava is actually slipping down my side, but no way will I let her down in a public men's room!

So now I have to clean Emmas hair and mouth with one hand while keeping Ava as high up in my arm as possible. Finally, we get done and walk out. As I walk over the, now covered with paper towels, vomit like nothing happened and sit down in the waiting area, trying to give my daughter as much diginity as needed so that she not cry from the embarassment. By the way we did detour to the kitchen accesories isle to get a bowl, lest she hurls again! So within a few minutes I pay for my prescription and walk out...chin held high.
Prescription...$33
Cheap Plastic Bowl $2.99
Experiencing another lesson in parenting.....PRICELESS.

Emma started the stomache flu here on Wednesday night, then Landon got it on Thursday morning, then Ava on Thrusday night... that's always how it works isn't it??? Luckily Maddy hasn't gotten it yet, let's hope she doesn't!

Yesterday when Landon was feeling yucky he threw up in a bowl. Then he quickly said he needed to go to the bathroom. As I was helping him get situated he said "It's not pee Mom, it's poop." OK, so I put the potty seat on the toilet and he climbed up. He looked up at me and said, "It wasn't poop, I just throwed up out my bum." ....I know, totally disgusting info for you all, but I thoguht it was hilarious!

1/19/09: We are back into the swing of things with Fullerton Hills Softball. The girls had tryouts last Saturday. (They aren't really try-outs, it's just that they want to see all the girls and their abiltity levels so the teams will be spread out evenly). Maddy will definitely play in the 8 and under (8U) league. We had Emma try out for the 8U also so that they can both be on the same team. It just makes it so much easier to have only one practice and one game rather than trying to focus on different teams... I know lots of you out there do it though!

Landon is going to be starting T-ball in February. He's not joining a leauge yet. He'll be joining the "Itty Bitty Sluggers" at the YMCA. It is T-ball practice to learn basic baseball skills. It's for an hour a week, but there aren't any games. I think he will really like it! He's excited to be a part of something after all the activities we drag him to for his sisters, it's finally his turn!

Still no walking steps for Ava. She will stand for a long time alone, even up to a full minute! But, she will not take a step. She's proud of herself for her accomplishment of standing though. She's so cute! She is getting all 4 of her molars right now. 3 of them have poked through and 1 of them is just swollen and looks like it will poke through any day. She has been a bit fussy about them, but not crying. I wouldn't have even known to look for teeth if it weren't for the clear runny nose. She is such a good baby! Her cutest word right now is "Seeee Deeee". She says it with a smile...She loves Sadie!

Sadie is doing great! She has been staying indoors at all times except to go potty. She has that funny cone around her neck to keep her from licking or biting her stitches. She got over 60 stitches to fix her up. Half of them on the inside to repair the muscle and tendon damage and the other half on the outside for the skin. She has been a real trooper. Now, 4 days after her surgery, you wouldn't even know she was hurt at all. She is running around the house knocking things (including the children!) over with her cone. Keeping her in the house all this time has been good for the family. The kids are all loving on her like crazy! She has been pretty calm and gives kisses to all of us whether we want them or not...Lol! We are all so happy that she is going to be OK. We love our "Sadie Grill" (That's what Landon calls her)...Sweet Sadie Girl!!

1/14/09: Long story (do finish to the end).... Yesterday, while I was babysitting we were playing in our front yard. Mirium, Maddy, and Emma said there was a dog in our backyard. I told them to stay in the front yard and leave the dog alone. The otherwise harmless pit-bull from next door has jumped the wall in the past and he would jump back home soon. But, I didn't want the children to go near him. Well... about 30 minutes later, Sadie, our 2-year-old Lab mix comes walking to me with her leg all torn up and bloody. It was obviously needing medical attention. I called Christian who was boarding a plane to fly home from Chicago. He told me to call Animal Control to report the pit-bull and I to take Sadie to the Animal Hospital. I did both. Shannon (Miriam, Gracie, and Gabe's mom) was here. She happily offered to watch all the kids while I took Sadie.

At the hospital, the vet said that Sadie was going to need surgery to repair the damage. There was torn muscle and a large hanging flap of skin (sorry to be so graphic!). She wanted to admit Sadie do the surgery right then. It was costly, I was angry, I was emotional, and I couldn't make this decision without talking to Christian (who would be in the air for the next 4 hours). She said that Sadie would not make it through the night without antibiotics and pain meds. So, without being able to consult Christian, I said no to the surgery but had her put on the meds and admitted to stay over night (still costly!).

When Chrsitian got home at 11PM we talked and cried over what to do. At night we had decided to let Shannon advance us the pay and do the surgery for Sadie and babysit my life away for the next 3 months. In the morning we calmly confronted the neighbor with tears and frustration. They denied that it could possibly be their dog. (Ugh!!!) As the day went on, Christian and I talked about it more and decided that it would be best for our family to go ahead and put Sadie down because of the cost of the surgery and the cost of the unknown to follow the surgery. It was a DIFFICULT decision to make, but that was it. We picked up the girls early from school today and went to the hospital to visit Sadie and say our good-byes. When we told the vet our decision, he said NO WAY! He would not let us put down our healthy, happy, friendly, 2-year-old dog. So, he significantly lowered the total cost and put us on $40 a month payment plan. That is do-able. Sadie is in surgery now. She is expected to make a full recovery and she gets to come home tomorrow.

Well, after we visited Sadie at the hospital we came home to check out the backyard for more evidence from the dogs. Come to fnd out, there was a bloody screw sticking out of the fence wher Sadie had tried to get through. It was obvious that it was the screw that did all the damage, not the other dog. Poor Sadie!! Christian went to appologize to the neighbors and explain what happened. I still need to call Animal Control to drop the charges (except the jumping fence). All that matters is that Sadie will be OK. What a stressful (and expensive) ordeal!

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