Gabriella the Scuba Diver!

Last night when Erik was giving Gabriella a bath she HAD to wear her goggles. Too funny not to post!

Santa came early!

This got delivered to me at work yesterday! Santa must have read my letter that said I wanted a bigger monitor. I LOVE IT!!!!

Happy 60th Birthday Steve!

Saturday was my Father-in-Law's 60th Birthday. I think we had close to 100 people at the house that night! There was a DJ, karaoke and lots of drinking, lol. It was a really fun night!

Who's that cute kid?

Nana, Gabriella & Papa

My sister's/BFF's lol

Everyone getting down on the dance floor!

Happy Birthday Steve!

Blessed!

I finally uploaded all my pictures from Thanksgiving weekend. I hope everyone had a great weekend! Thursday we went to my Auntie M's and had the "traditional" Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, rolls, and pie. It was all so yummy!! I'm so thankful for my family and friends. I count my blessings everyday!


Gabriella loved eating sweet potatoes! She ate them until she turned orange!


My Aunt and cousins did a GREAT job cooking!


My mom tried to take a nice picture with Ryan but he had to be silly as usual!

Wait! There's one!


The rents!




Gabriella had so much fun playing the piano with her Great Grandma & Grandpa!

The twins!


We also went to my Dad's and Gabriella got to play with her cousin, Brendan!



Gabriella got her first Christmas tree! So cute!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! xoxo

Hangin Tough!

Last night I was sitting in my bedroom watching the American Music Awards and New Kids on the Block perform. I was suddenly 10 years old again minus my side pony tail, over sized Joey McIntyre button and jean jacket with NKOB patches. I still remember my dad buying Ryan and I tickets for our birthday and Ryan being extremely disappointed. He listened to his walkman the whole time we were at the concert. Last night I was a little girl again jumping up and down singing "Please don't go girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl" LMAO! Good times!

Blessed

This weekend during breakfast, I was reading an article in the paper about a little Haitian boy that was so malnutritioned you could literally see his bones. The article was about the treatment these children get and how most of the time they end up dying because there isn't very much that can be done for them. Later on that day, one of my goals for the weekend was to clean out Gabriella's dresser and organize her clothes. Since Christmas is around the corner I wanted to make room for all of the new things she is going to get. Her dresser is next to her crib so I started throwing all the clothes that don't fit into her crib. Before I new it her crib was full! After reading the article in the paper and sorting through piles of clothes, I couldn't help but feel extremely blessed. We are so lucky in so many ways. We take so many things for granted and don't realize how fortunate we are. It really made me want to help in some way, even if it's just in my community. While adopting a child from another country might not be possible at this time (although Erik said he would defiantly consider it), I hope I can find a way to touch someones life that is less fortunate than I am.

Silly Girl!!

Last night before giving Gabriella a bath, I got her undressed and went into the bathroom to turn the water on. When I came back into her room, this is what I found, lmao! Apparently she likes to ride bare back! :)

Happy Birthday June!

Gabriella and I made a cake last night for my student worker, June. Gabriella had so much fun helping me and June loved her chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I attached the links with the pictures! :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabbysmommy16/LittleChef?authkey=DvESTA7uWD0#

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabbysmommy16/JuneSBirthday?authkey=2qAPAOLKzuA#

Already?!?!

My co-worker and I made our daily trip to Starbucks this morning and saw this! Yup, Christmas cups!! I couldn't help but get that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling. My normal Cinnamon Dolce Latte has now switched to my favorite seasonal drink, the Peppermint Mocha. Of course I started thinking about how I am going to afford gifts for everyone this year but also started picturing Gabriella's face on Christmas morning. The season also reminds me of Erik's proposal and my heart hurt for a minute but hope that everything is worked out by then. Anyway, this little cup made my day! I love Christmas!!!

Halloween Fun!

Gabriella had so much fun Trick-or Treating on Halloween! The original plan was so take her to a few houses and then go home, but she was having so much fun she ended up with a whole pumpkin full of candy! Everyone commented on how cute she looked and I have to agree 100 percent!

:)

My very good friend Bree brought me a chocolate shake today to cheer me up, so sweet. I'm so blessed to have such good friends right now when I need them. THANKS MAMA!!! Love the cup! lol

Meet June!

This is June, she is my new student worker. June is studying Tourism Management and is from Korea. She is 22 and very, very sweet. She's incredibly smart and a very good cook. I'm so happy she is working in my office!

It's potty time!!!

Gabriella went potty on her new potty chair for the first time this weekend. Of course, I burst into tears and tried to hide them so she wouldn't think anything was wrong. I just can't believe we are at this stage already. What happened to my baby? It all went by too fast. Before I know it she will be going to the prom and going on dates. After she fell asleep last night I snuck in and picked her up to hold her. I missed that feeling of holding her while she was sleeping the way I used to when she was an infant. Anyway, is was very exciting to see her go potty. Go Gabriella!!!

Sad and Happy Day!

My Grandma passed away two years ago today and it is also my Dad's birthday. My Grandma passed away when I was 6 months pregnant. Right after Gabriella was born I had a dream I heard a knock at my front door and it was my Grandma coming over to meet her. I've never had a dream feel so real. I think it was her way of telling me she is still with me and watching over us. I miss her so much! Today will always be a sad day for my Dad since she passed away on his birthday. Gabriella and I are taking him to lunch today, I know she can make him smile!

RIP little fish

Sadly, on October 4th at 11:00 pm, Dorito passed away due to swimming complications. Dorrito was part of the Paredes family for a whole week (LMAO). Dorito is survived by his wife, Cheeto,and will be greatly missed. RIP little fishy!

WTF!

Over the weekend Erik and I bought Gabriella her Halloween costume (see pic). As we were leaving the mall we were walking by a store that had adult Halloween costumes and it got me thinking.......why do all the costumes for girls these days have to be so damn skanky? If your boobs and ass aren't hanging out of a short dress you aren't cool. Now, due to the fact that my boobs and ass would hang out from them being saggy, that might be the reason for me not to wear a costume like that but I just wonder where the innocents of Halloween went. I remember when I was in high school my friends and were babies and we wore our pajamas and our hair in pig tails. What happened to those days? If I were to go to a party on Halloween I would probably be the only person that wasn't half naked. Am I being too judgemental? Am I mad at all the skinny bitches? Maybe. If I were a little thinner would I wear a costume like that? I don't know. I guess I am thinking ahead to when Gabriella is in high school and she wants to be snow white, but not the snow white from the Disney Store. She will want to be the skanky one. Maybe she will want to be a nun but I highly doubt it. Until then I am going to enjoy her being something sweet and innocent and hope Erik is out of town on Halloween when she gets older!

God is teaching me a lesson!

All week I have been bitching and moaning about how much I hate my job and how stressful it is. I keep saying how I want to quit and how my work load is just too much for me to handle. Since this week is the first of the quarter at UCR it's just been insane, I even cried last night when I got off. Today someone very close to me was laid off. It brings everything into perspective. I should be thankful that I have a job to go to everyday and grateful that I get a paycheck every month. I should be happy that I have a pile of work on my desk rather than nothing at all and have to worry that I might get let go. I was just telling myself this morning that I have so many things to be thankful for. God is telling me to appriciate what I have.

Love this song!

I heard this song on the radio a few weeks ago and it has totally grown on me. Let me know what you guys think. It makes me want to make out with Erik, lol. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgDwJ2d7BpM&feature=related

I love mail!

I received an envelope from Disneyland today and considering I get stuff from them on a regular basis (usually a bill that needs to be paid) I didn't really think anything of it. To my surprise it was an invitation to come and see what's new at Disneyland for 2009. It includes lunch, a short presentation and then two free tickets for both parks. How cool is that!?!

Mini Me

Last night after I gave Gabby a bath and got her ready for bed we were hanging out in my bedroom and I was folding all the clothes I had on my bed. Gabby started to go through my purse and I really wanted to get everything put away so I let her dig through my bag to keep her occupied. She found a bracelet I had taken off earlier and was holding it up motioning for me to put it on her. So I put it on her and then she took my make-up bag out and sat on the floor. She pulled my blush brush out and my powder and puts it on, just like mommy. It was so cute! I had to snap a picture of her in action....

Lucy Ann

I just wanted to post this adorable website for you guys to look at. My mom gave me a heart necklace for my birthday with Gabriella's name on the front and birthday on the back. They have all different styles for all the special people in your life (even your pets!). I love, love, love mine. Just wanted to share! xoxo

http://www.lucyann.com/Category/24/heart.aspx

Fun, fun, fun!

Gabriella had the best time at the Veggie Tales show! She started to get a little restless towards the end but all the other 500 kids did too so she fit right in. She sat through the entire first half and stared in awe at the huge veggies on stage. It was a total zoo, there were kids running and dancing in the isles and Gabriella had a blast chasing all of them. I had so much fun watching her laugh and giggle. It made my heart smile! Erik looks like he had too much to drink in this picture but it's still adorable!

27 and can't get a drink

Erik and I hardly ever get time alone together and since Gabriella was spending the night with Erik's parents in San Diego, we were both really excited about going out to dinner. Erik birthday was on Tuesday and mine was Thursday so it was a perfect time to go out and celebrate. I was so excited to sit down and have a few drinks, just the two of us. So, we sit down at BJ's and I order a martini and the waitress asked to see my ID. I hand it to her and she takes a really long time giving it back. I just cut my hair really short so I assume she is making sure it's me when she says "I'm sorry but your licence expired yesterday, do you have a new one?" WHAT?!?!?! I told her no and that I didn't know it was going to expire and she says that she is really sorry but she can't serve me any alcohol. I know it was my fault but come on, it expired YESTERDAY and I am 27 years old. I was so bummed. Our first night out in months and I have to drink water. We order an appetizer and decide to leave since the mood was pretty much killed. Erik pays the bill and the waitress tells me again how sorry she is, whatever bitch, lol. We decide to stop at Ralph's and get some dessert and a bottle of wine. I guess I should be happy since the martini I was going to order was $7 and a bottle of Beringer is on sale for $4.99. Looks like I need to go to the DMV......yipee!

Veggie Tales!!

My mom bought tickets for Gabriella to see the Veggie Tales in concert this Sunday. I hope she will sit long enough to see 5 minutes of the show. I have such a hard time getting her to sit down for 5 seconds, this should be interesting! I hope she has a good time. I'm sure there is going to be tons of kids her age so I'm sure she will have a blast!

It's only 9:00 and it's been a GREAT day!

I have the most thoughtful husband ever. Today is my 27th birthday and he decided to do something "original" this year. He took my daughter and had "Father-Daughter" pictures taken. The picture I posted is of them at the Mission Inn. Erik is sitting on the bench where he asked me to marry him (sniff sniff). HOW SWEET IS THAT? I love the fact that he didn't just go to a store and buy something materialistic. He too good to me!!!

Project Runway!!

Today is Wednesday, which means it's Project Runway night! Yipee! There are only a few TV shows I enjoy and it's on at the perfect time, right after Gabriella goes to bed. It's my time to sit in bed and relax after a long day. It also fills the spot of Grey's Anatomy until it comes back on (next week), I CANT WAIT!!!! I still have 6 hours of work left, an hour commute, dinner, bath time and story time but then it's one whole hour just for me! Let the countdown begin!

Fun at Ralph's

I had to stop at the store on my way home from work to get a few things for dinner. Gabriella and I were walking in when she got a glimpse of one of those carts that has a car in the front of it. If you have ever seen one of these, you know that they are HUGE! It's like pushing 8 carts around the store. I knew once she saw it there was no way she was going to get in a regular cart after seeing this bad boy. The look on her face was totally worth it. She was SO HAPPY to be pushed around in a CAR!!!. She giggled the whole time and kept looking back at me with a smile on her face. I think I ran into 3 people because it was so big and hard to push (sorry!) but it was totally worth it. My days of pushing her around in a regular cart are over!

Life before 7 a.m

I used to be the kind of person that got up early enough to blow dry my hair, do my make-up and iron my clothes before I left the house. Lately, I have somehow managed to become a total slob! I bring my bag full of make-up and flat iron with me to work and lock myself in my office bathroom until I look halfway decent. Yup, I am "that girl" on the freeway that is doing her make-up and handing her daughter a fist full of cheerios and a sippy at the same time.

Anyway, this morning in particular was crazier than usual. I think it's because of the change in weather. Usually at 4:30 in the a.m the sun is starting to shine and my bedroom is getting warmer by the minute. This morning the sun was still sleeping and there was a cool breeze coming through my window. I was under all my blankets and wanted to sleep forever. I hit snooze until I realized it was 5:30. That meant I had a 1/2 an hour to take a shower, blow dry my hair, get dressed, wake Sleeping Beauty Gabriella up (who is JUST like her mommy in the sleeping dept.), get her dressed, do her hair, get a sippy and some cheerios, pack her bag for daycare and find cupcake (her pink bear from Build-A-Bear) or else the ride into Riverside would be a living hell if she didn't have her best friend in her lap. I managed to get us all in the car and off to daycare by 6:15! GO MOMMY!

Down the street we go and I am digging in my Mary Poppins bag to try and find my sunglasses. Finally, I find them at the very, very, very bottom, under my flat iron and make-up and put them on. I am grateful I didn't hit anything/anyone while digging away. Then, I hear Gabriella start crying and screaming. She wants her glasses too and my memory reminds me they are on the floor in the back seat. Pull over? Keep going? Pull over? Keep going? Ugh, ok, I pull over. I jump out of the car and get her glasses from the floor and place them on her cute little face. We are off, again. I turn on the radio and I see her little head bobbing up and down to the music in my rear view. She's happy, yipee!

So, it's now 6:20 a.m. and I am ready for bed! :)