9/26/06: Please continue to keep my grandma in your prayers. She went into cardiac arrest last night. She was transferred to the Critical Care Unit, which is more serious than the ICU. This has been really hard on the whole family, especially my dad and my grandpa. I drove out with the kids last night and stayed the night at Tina's. We are headed over to the hospital this morning. We have a babysitter lined up to watch all the kids for us so we don't have to worry about naps, feedings, and kids with the wiggles. We would all like to be optomistic that Grandma will pull through...but we know that this could be her time to go. Today will be a crucial day for her health....Please Pray!!!!!!
9/19/06:Things have been going pretty well around here. We are definitely into the groove as far as school drop off, getting to work on time, picking up from school, lunches, naps, piano...It's pretty hectic; and to think tomorrow we will add AWANA clubs to the mix. AWANA is a children's church group that meets once a week 6:30- 8:30 on Wednesday nights. They sing songs, memorize bible verses, hear bible stories, and play with their friends. Emma will be a Cubby and Madeline will be a Spark. They are excited to start tommorrow.
9/19/06: Emma has gotten a stubborn and independent streek that comes along with being three. She wants to do everything, "I'll do it MYSELF!" Even if it takes her ten times longer to do it on her own... she does not want any help. She needs very little help anymore with anything. She buckles herself into her carseat, she dresses herself, gets her own shoes and socks on, she cuts her own food, she gets the milk out of the fridge for me (the gallon jug), she packs her own backpack for travel.... She's on her own! She's pretty self sufficient. It's fun to watch her come into her own...and not copy everything that Maddy does. Her favorite things right now are: Barbies, legos, flip-flops, Ella Enchanted, Little People, and of course, make-up! She LOVES lip gloss!
9/19/06:
Landon is totally off the bottle! The last bottle he had was Friday morning...that's 4 days ago. He's totally fine with it. All day he is doing the sign for cup. He love drinking out of his sippy cup!
He is also crawling faster than ever! He gets all over the house likity split! It's cute to watch him try and figure out his way around things. He's pretty clever, but he has fallen down the steps into the toy area twice...oops!
9/16/06: Christian is away this weekend at Men's Retreat with our church. I will go to Women's Retreat in October. He is spending the weekend with the men from church in the mountians. They will have a speaker, worship music, praise time, prayer, and some free time. A bunch of the guys brought their golf clubs to get in a round of golf during free time on Saturday... Christian was thrilled about that!
Today I took the kids to Fullerton Airport Day with Araceli and her kids (Tracy is at retreat too). It was a lot of fun to see the old planes, new planes, old fashion cars, helicopters, and emergency vehicles. Believe it or not, Landon was more interested than the girls were. He absolutely loved being in the planes! He cried every time I took him out of one. We all had a great time at the airport. It was nice to have something fun like that do to break up the day while our husbands are gone. The guys come back tomorrow afternoon.
9/12/06: On Sunday Christian, the girls, and I all went for our first sailing trip (not a first for Christian). Landon spent the day with Lito and Lita. Our good friend Barry, recently got his sailing license. He is part of a sailing club in Newport Beach which allows him to take out their sail boats whenever he reserves one. Luckily for us, he reserved one for my birthday!! It was a beautiful 85 degreee day on the ocean with just enough wind for us to set sail. Liz prepared all the fixins for a delicious lunch on the boat and she even made her famous brownies. We, as always, enjoyed the company of the Loves. It was a day we will never forget!!
9/9/06: Today is my birthday. Being on a Saturday made for it to be a day packed with activities. We started off at church for a planting day. The kids rode their scooters around while many people were planting new shrubs, flowers, and trees in our church parking lot. I walked around and took pictures of everyone hard at work...it got me out of getiting my hands dirty..hee hee hee! After the gardening day we went to Northdridge to visit my Grandma and see my aunts and the rest of the family. My grandma is doing much much better!! She has the breathing tube out and she is able to talk with us. It was so wonderful to see her doing so well!! After the hospital we went back to my grandma and grandpa's house to visit more with my aunts from Washington. We don't get to see them often. Then, we went to Tina's house to let the kids run around and play with their cousins. After that we went to my parents house for my birthday dinner- tacos of course! It was a wonderful birthday- spending it with family all day long! Happy birthday to me!
9/08/06: Last Wednesday night Christian and I attended our very first "Back to School Night". Our neighbors watched the kids while we headed over to room K-2 at Fern Drive for our meeting. It was fun to meet the other parents in Maddy's class and to hear about what to expect for this school year. Madeline is doing great in kindergarten. She has made lots of new friends, she's behaving wonderfully, and she is above grade level in her reading skills. We are so proud of her. Yesterday when I picked her up she had made a book. On the front she had written, "Jron Bi Maddy". I couldn't figure out this one.... Then she told me the book was, "Drawn by Maddy". I guess she hears it a little differently. She's doing her best!!
9/8/06: Madeline starts piano lessons on Monday. She will be going every Monday at 4:00. Christian's cousin, Robert will be teaching her. Robert played the piano for our wedding creremony. It will be cool to have it "all in the family"! Maddy is really excited to learn.
9/08/06: My Grandma is doing better every day. She is now able to nod her head or blink her eyes when she is asked any questions. The doctors are now talking about chemo, we pray that she is strong enough to handle something like that. Praise God that she is doing as well as she is now! I get to go out there to see her again tomorrow. I will also get to see my aunts that are down from Washington that I havn't seen in years!
9/7/06: After I took his pix at JC Penney, I went over to Picture People to get Landon's free birthday 8X10. It was a tough choice, but this is the one we chose. To see the rest of the Picture People poses, click on the photo link below. It will ask you to enter e-mail and password to view the pictures. The e-mail address is
torresluna5@adelphia.net
and the password is landon. When you see Landon's picture, click on it to bring up the rest of the sitting.
We picked this nudie cutie one because all the ones we purchased from JC Penneys are in his cute little blue cupcake outfit.
9/5/06: This past weekend was a hot one! Luckily, we went to a pool party on Sunday and on Monday. There was an all church pool party at the Lemons' house. The kids loved it, and Christian and I had a great time too. On Sunday we returned back to their house with just two other families. It was soo much fun! The pool has a diving board and a slide, so we had a blast! Both girls were doing it all! Maddy has now learned to tread water in the deep end. So, she is extremely safe in the water now. She is doing great! Emma is still wearing her water wings, she is very cautious in the the water. She is now jumping into the pool though. They both love to swim. Landon is following in his sisters footsteps; he LOVES the water too. Landon and I left the pool party early on Monday to go get his one-year pictures done at JC Penney. He did pretty well. Penneys has now gone all digitial and they don't pose the kids on a table anymore. It's now done on the ground. I'm sure it will look really great, but it was very hard to keep Landon from crawling away. The pix turned out cute; I'll post them when I receive them on-line.
9/5/06: My Grandma Ham is doing a little better, but she is still heavily sedated. She opened her eyes on Saturday which is a good sign! I went out to see her on Friday afternoon and it was a very sad site. It was hard to see her without her smile. My mom, my dad, Tina and Amanda were there too. We all prayed over my grandma, that God would heal her, take away the pain, and that the cancer would be all gone. It was a diificult time for us all. My parents took us out to dinner as we waited for visiting hours to open again. It was the first time in about 15 years that we had dinner just our imediate family of five. It was an intimate time as we talked, laughed, ate, and worried about Grandma. Please continue your prayers; we want to bring my Grandma back to her home with my Grandpa!
9/1/06: Please keep my Grandma Ham in your prayers. She had surgery yesterday (on her 83rd birthday) and she is not doing that well today. They removed her uterus, and ovaries, and part of her small intestines. Pray for her to regain strength and return back to good health. Also pray for my Grandpa, my Dad, and the rest of the family as we all are wanting my Grandma to get better real soon!
9/1/06: Maddy did much better today when I dropped her off at school. She gaves hugs and kisses and said good-bye ~ No Tears!! Yeah! She really liked kindergarten yesterday, so I think it made it easier for her to go today.
8/31/06: Madeline had her first day of kindergarten today. She woke up on her own at 6:15 A.M. to get ready for school. She was so excited! She couldn't wait to put on her new outfit and grab her back pack! Lita came over this morning to join us for the excitement of meeting her teacher, seeing the other kids, photo opportunities, and Madeline's first impressions of school. Maddy tried to be brave and put on a happy face the whole time, but she broke down at the last minute when we were walking out the door (see pictures). She only cried for a minute (and she wasn't the only one crying). When I picked her up from school she said, "Mom, you have some homework to do." (I have paperwork to fill out) She said that she had a great day but, they did a lot of sitting! She is eager to go back tomorrow, so I guess that's a good sign! Lita took Me, Emma and Landon out to a nice breakfast; it was wierd to be out without our Maddy Rose!
PS- Of course I cried, but just a bit...I was fine until Maddy started the tears. I think Lita had bigger tears than I did. We are all happy/sad to see our little girl off to school!
8/30/06: Happy Birthday Landon!! Today is his actual birthday. He is one!! Tonight we will do a special dinner and a tiny cake just for the 5 of us.
This morning when Maddy walked into Landon's bedroom she said, "He doesn't look any older. Can he walk now? I bet he can say 'Maddy' now." I guess she was expecting a little more than she got. Landon looks the same today as he did yesterday. But, he is crawling even more today than he was yesterday. Happy happy birthday Baby boy!
8/30/06: Today is Maddy's last day with all the kids at church childcare. For the summer she has been with Mrs. Schubert, Maddy Lou, Lauren, Emma , and Landon from 9-noon while I'm working on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The Maddy's start kindergarten tomorrow (at different schools). Today they had a pizza party to celebrate their "Moving On.." Madeline is happy about school starting, mostly about wearing her new clothes and boots. She was excited to celebrate with her friends today! Off to the next era.....
8/30/06: Yesterday we met the Wilsons at their hotel by Disneyland. It was fun to see Haden and Kate in person. We packed lunches and swam in the beautiful pool all day. We all had a great time!
8/28/06:
Landon is crawling!!!! He started by moving a tiny bit toward my mom's glasses on the ground at his birthday party. Today he is doing it even more!!
He went from tummy to sitting up on Friday. Emma went in to his room after his nap and said that Landon was sitting in his bed. Lita and Nana were over, and we all went in there. Sure enough, he was sitting up in his bed. Now he does it all day long.
8/28/06:Yesterday was Landon's baby dedication and his birthday party. Everything went very well!! He was an angel during his dedication. Christian held him while we were up on stage until Pastor Ed held him for prayer. During prayer Landon noticed that there were pictures of Maddy, Emma, and himself on the big screens. While we were praying he was saying, "Emma, Emma, Emma", and then he was laughing. Pastor Ed thanked God for laughter during his prayer. It was really cute! Laura and Peter Runsten are Landon's Godparents; they were up on stage with us for the dedication.
His birthday party followed the service. We went over to the park along with 60 of our friends and family. It was a fabulous turn out!! We were so pleased to see how many people showed up for Landon! The BBQ was fun with a pinata and musical chairs. Landon enjoyed his cake; he got it all over his face! I opened his presents for him. He got tons of new clothes and lots of new toys. He is one lucky little boy!! Thank you to all who were able to come out to celebrate with us!!
8/25/06: Madeline and I went to our appointment at Fern Drive Elementary on Wednesday. We dropped off Emma and Landon with a neighbor so that Maddy and I could go to the appointment without interuptions. When we got there, Mrs. Lubudis kindly asked Maddy to come to a table with her and I sat down at a different table to fill out some paperwork. Maddy happily went with her. They chit-chatted a bit about some of Maddy's favorite things (Disneyland and Hannah Montana). Then, she asked her some questions...What is your name, when is your birthday, do you know your address, phone number.... Maddy knew it all! Then they went on and did some letter and number recognition, some math with unifix cubes, and shapes. Maddy did wonderfully! It was really fun to watch; Madeline was not shy at all. She did exactly what the teacher asked of her. After all the questions, they had her write her name on a paper apple and then to cut the apple out. Again, Maddy did great! (I know I'm bragging...but she's my baby!) They had her count as high as she could go, she got to 49. She did fabulous!! She left the school with a smile on her face. The teachers were both really nice and Maddy liked the classrooms. I hope she goes on the first day of school with the same happy disposition....I won't keep my fingers crossed.
Maddy will be in the morning class, which is from 8:30 -12:06. It will work out well with my 9-12 work schedule. Her teachers name is Mrs. Labudis. Madeline really liked her a lot!! School starts in 6 days!!!!!!!! I wonder how it will be...Will she cry? Will I cry? We'll see????
8/22/06: Baby Home Pages Websites has created friendships across the globe. I have met quite a few moms over the past two years of creating this website. I have kept in constant contact with one of my best friends, Cheryl, across the country as she and her family have moved with the air force. I see my sister's kids every day on the web, and countless other friends' families that I don't see as often as I'd like to. It's a cool way to keep in contact with the every day happenings in each others' lives.
Now, Tina and I have the opportunity to meet one of the families that we have only read about and looked at pictures for the last year and half. The Wilson family is coming to California, from Washington state. We will meet Jen and her two children, Haden and Kate (and maybe her husband, Russ) in just one week. We are meeting at their hotel in Anaheim, just minutes from my house. Pretty cool how the internet brings people together! Can't wait to meet you Jen! To meet Jen's family click below on their link:
8/19/06: Today is a milestone and a monumentous day for father and son. Since before Christian and I were married, Christian has talked about having a son to take to the barber with him on Saurday mornings. Well, the time has come that Christian gets to fulfil one of his dreams of being a father. He and Landon are going to the barber this morning. Landon is going to get his first haircut.
The top is becoming overly fluffy, and hair is hanging over his ears. Three times somebody has said we have a beautiful little GIRL. I guess it's time.
I have bugged Christian quite a few times to let me go with them (to assure we would get good pictures of the event), but Christian really wants to do this alone. I completely understand, and I have been prepared for this day for the last 10 years. Hopefully my baby won't come home looking like a toddler boy- but I guess that's part of entering his second year of life. Stay tuned for pictures of "Father/Son Day at the Barber Shop".
8/28/06:Yesterday was Landon's baby dedication and his birthday party. Everything went very well!! He was an angel during his dedication. Christian held him while we were up on stage until Pastor Ed held him for prayer. During prayer Landon noticed that there were pictures of Maddy, Emma, and himself on the big screens. While we were praying he was saying, "Emma, Emma, Emma", and then he was laughing. Pastor Ed thanked God for laughter during his prayer. It was really cute! Laura and Peter Runsten are Landon's Godparents; they were up on stage with us for the dedication. 
8/19/06: Today is a milestone and a monumentous day for father and son. Since before Christian and I were married, Christian has talked about having a son to take to the barber with him on Saurday mornings. Well, the time has come that Christian gets to fulfil one of his dreams of being a father. He and Landon are going to the barber this morning. Landon is going to get his first haircut.
The top is becoming overly fluffy, and hair is hanging over his ears. Three times somebody has said we have a beautiful little GIRL. I guess it's time. 
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