The Baby Blog

Last night was nothing special, but I still appreciated that time, and wouldn't trade it for the world.

The race home..since we ran out of noodles, and John made all this spaghetti sauce we agreed that whoever made it home first would go to the store to buy them. I won... so I headed to Safeway in Dixon. I got the needed noodles (buy 1 get 1 free!) and my coffee beans! I mixedd the Espresso Roast with Kona Blend.. yum!

The boys were home when I arrived, but it was still a little early to start dinner. So we followed John to the backyard to check on the "weeds". My flowers are totally dying! I am so sad... it hasn't even been a month. I figured that they probably weren't getting enough water from the "drip system" so I grabbed the hose and gave them some H2O. All before the sprinkler went off... and yes, John we do need a lawn mower... at least it's not a huge lot of grass... In fact it would be a waste of money to get a motorized mower for that space since the HOA hires someone to mow the front... (however, we still have that bush of weeds growing!!)

Dinner...a simple spaghetti dinner with the Costco garlic bread. We sat and just joked around. It was then that I looked at my husband and thought to myself... "sorry it took me awhile to see all your greatness, but I am VERY thankful that you still ended up with me!" (and yes, everyone, I have kicked myself in ass a few times by passing him up before!) So, John, I love you! I love how you give so much to me, our boys, our families and friends. Your sense of humor keeps me smiling, and your energy is endless. Your selflessness is unmatchable. We may struggle month to month financially, and just dream of the vacations we want to take, things we want to buy, but I will never exchange I am sharing all this with you!! (because I would like to share the rest of my life with you, you are still not getting that motorcycle!)

Kembot..we were able to catch the tail end of So You Think You Can Dance last night. I had to give Mio a bath since he decided to take off his diaper and pee all over the floor,although he was nice enough to try and stop it... with his hand!!! Beforehand, we were able to get AJ to kembot for us... Our boys are naturals... okay it's not exactly the best but it's so cute watching him shake his booty side to side and wave his hands like he just don't care!!! WE NEED A VIDEO CAMERA!

By the end of the night I was exhausted. so off to sleep I went while the boys went downstairs to "help" daddy clean up.. Sorry, but I really don't know how much help they were! It was a simple night, but one that had all I needed... MY FAMILY.

I think ate something bad cuz on Friday, I stayed at home with some tummy issues. I pretty much spent the day in the bathroom or drained from my trip to bathroom. Since John worked the circus, I eventually got purtied up and picked up my lil ones. Since I also got stuck in Friday traffic, I decided to take the kiddies to watch Valiant at the mall. For a mall, the theater was pretty big and nice!

The movie was cute. It was based on the homing pigeons used in World War II. I didn't know that they gave out medals to animals?! And course in Laxa fashion, AJ walked away repeating his favorite lines: "I can lift up your spirit!" and "Reporting for duty, sir!" The fun part is when AJ and Mio just bust out laughing at each other as they repeat these lines.

Saturday we woke up early to drive out with John to the Arena to watch the circus. His boss hooked us up with free tix in the suites, which was really nice of him. Then as John said we got "hooked up" with hella junk food! Too bad it was just me and the boys! A lot of it went to waste!

The HOA BBQ block party was cool. I enjoyed meeting other young homeowners, and especially ones with boys the age of our kids. However, Mio and AJ seemed really attached to one of the 'teenagers' of the neighborhood. I gotta say that she wasn't that bad looking either! But it was nice of her and her friend to play with them! It lasted til 9 which was an hour past the planned time, but it was nice to meet some people of our neighborhood.

Sunday Ninang Liz came over to see the house, and visit. It was really nice to see her and catch up on all things happening in her single life. We had lived together back in college for almost 4 years, and we are in different places in life, but we can still hang out and laugh at all the things we used to do, and all the ex-boyfriends we had.

We then hooked up with UPSer to watch the Great Raid. Yes, Benjamin Bratt is still fine. It was nice to see Mark Consuelos (Kelly Rippa's husband) doing some work. But the bottom line was that it was about heroes left behind by their country, and what it took to rescue them from cruel Japanese. It was cool to see the role of the Philippine resistance. It was sad to see all these historical places now serving as resorts and/or golf courses versus places of real education and rememberance.

But today it was back to my 8-5pm work schedule. The A.M traffic wasn't that bad... I actually still got in at 7:35!! And I left at about 7:47?! But I paid for it in the afternoon traffice which took me 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach home! and it was hot... The pace at work has definitely picked up and a lot student traffic has picked up.. but I am still not one to just process paperwork all day!!!

I am looking forward to my new position with the Comets!!! The countdown has definitely started.!!!

Well, Monday also means Laguna Beach! John is chillin' with a high school buddy who he has not seen in 9 years. He has always mentioned him, but I finally got to meet the man behind the stories. He is really cool!! The boys are already attached to him, too (even before he bought them the push pops!!) hehehe

What it's really like raising a 4 year old...

Poo-poo hands
Yes, he is potty trained and goes to the bathroom when he needs. Although holding his "tee-tee" was a telling sign of needing to go, I think at this point he just likes hold it. Then came the "mommy, I'm done" phase where he calls out to either me or daddy to come wipe his butt when he is finished. Lately, I've noticed the toilet full of poo-poo and a handful of toilet paper sitting in the toilet?! Then when it comes time to change or clean the bathroom, there it is... the brown streaked underwear! I commend my little guy for trying, but I don't think he's quite there yet!

Then on Sunday while we had my mom, bros, and my sister visiting he did it again, but left a little more evidence. He snuck upstairs, used our bathroom, didn't flush, AND left little poo-poo handprints on the light switch, on stool (he moved to the counter to wash his hands), and on the sink!!! GREAT. I do believe he washed his hands, but I wasn't quite sure how much was actually cleaned from the his little behind!!

After 2 months of preparation, the big Navarro Family Reunion has come and gone! It was soooo much fun, and soooo many people. My "aunt" (she is 2-3 years younger than me, but is my mom's first cousin) worked on a family tree by making a leaf for every member of the family. The total number of leaves made and cut = 145, and we were missing another 8 people!!!

Unfortunately not everyone was there, but it was really great to see my 'Nanay' with her siblings again. We learned a lot about our Lolo and Lola which created some tears, but it was great to see all my relatives who I last saw/remember as being the ages of my sons!! Now they are all taller than me!

We took family portraits which was fun, until I had to get our "Santos" family picture. Let's just say that we took up half the family tree, and when we were gathered for our picture it looked a Likha cast picture with KP!!! Practically the whole party was in our picture. That's a lot of reproduction! We are also definitely the comedians of the family! Even our sad moments ends up with laughter!

DJ John was great with all the music and karaoke he provided, and his cleaning skills are impressive! Thank you babe for sharing YOUR birthday with my family. The funny thing though was that he saw a former co-worker of his from his days at Wells Fargo!!! What a small world.

That day I realized how important FAMILY is. Not just immediate family but the extended family. We all grow up differently and separated but we can always come together to enjoy our bond as family.!!! And that is something I am thankful for being able to provide for my children.

we spent a good hour and a half at Lowe's yesterday picking out and purchasing our plants/tree for the backyard... I tell you, if you don't know anything abou this stuff go to a nursery first and ask all your questions there, cuz there was NOBODY in the nursery to help us!

So I picked out a variety of colors of this. And a Gardenia bush for the corner of the grass area. The plants will grow close to the ground but will be along the fence lining the grass. We may have to pick some more looking at how much space we need cover.. I personally want another Gardenia bush... I can't wait to see it bloom!!!

Well, here we go again. I have officially accepted a position back with the Comets!! My last day with the Hornets will be Friday, September 9th. I figured that the least I could do to help my current boss out was to stick around for the "peak season". I have been asked to attend a one day retreat with the Communication and Advancement Office team before my actual start date.

I am excited to return to my "family" (dysfunctional at times, but family!!!) hehehe. They are actually in the midst of transition because our President had accepted the position as District Chancellor, our Vice-President will step in as interim, but may not apply for the permanent because he plans on retiring in a year (or so). But they are providing me a full-time permanent position w/ benefits! It does pay more, too (yeah, pay should not really matter, but right now it does!). The position will not be the same, but more in the coordinating level working on developing some sort of alumni recognition/database, and with donors in regards to scholarships.

Most importantly AJ gets to return to the pre-school there!!! YIPEE, one less headache. It will be a longer commute by 10 to 20 minutes, but John and I have been talking of ways to make ourselves a carpool by driving to Vallejo/Hercules/Pinole together (leaving a car somewhere at one of these points) then driving to workplaces, and so on for the drive home. We'll see cuz just by writing it, this plan seems to need some major coordination.

So after my 5th month... I will be out of this heat (missing the horrible winter weather), and into the bay area..

Last night just started off WRONG... beginning with my commute home. Since it's summer we get out of work at 4pm (gotta be in by 7:30 am w/ 30 min lunch breaks) but right when I hit the 50/80 merge getting out of Sac ---- BOOM brake lights. From there all the way to Davis it was stop and go for a paratransit van w/ a flat tire. The stall was already off the freeway, but EVERYONE had to stop and look at the Firetruck/police car/ ambulance/ tow truck! So that took me a little over an hour to get through and I still had about 20 minutes to travel!!

So in the 100 degree heat (maybe 98) I finally made it home at 5:30 already exhausted and in a bad mood. Then the kiddies came home, but DJ John had not gone to the store yet to pick up tomatoes for our torta. So he left, but didn't return for another 30-45minutes since Raley's was packed. But he did come home with a few extra goodies!!

While we were cooking, he decided to play his new CD he made. AJ apparently got hooked to one song, and just wanted to repeat it over and over and over again. But when John wanted to hear another song (which he claims AJ would like) AJ through a fit. Cried and cried, even when John took the CD player/music with AJ to the playroom. I later when over to check on him and try to explain why daddy got angry. But all he wanted to do was for me to carry him.

John and I finally enjoyed our dinner talking about random stuff. Then it was time for me to watch the replay of this week's Laguna Beach. (we were at his mom's house on Monday, thinking I could watch it there, but with Satellite TV the shows get played on "real time" which for MTV was EST!!) No wonder I got stuck watching the Andy Milonakis Show!

While I snuck out to go upstairs I was able to put some clothes away, and watch the first half of So You Think You Can Dance? (For any old school SF State peeps, do you remember Alan? The big Filipino/Black guy that was part of the dance group that taught us the Modern Dance routine for the '93 show?) Anyways, he made it to the final 16 !!

After all my shows were done and I was about to fold and put away the last basket of clothes, AJ comes into the bedroom wanting to brush his teeth. Yes, I am happy that he actually want to brush, but I decided that it would also be a good time to take a bath. FIGHT #2 begins!!

Nana and Lolo bought him a new Monsters Inc t-shirt that he had been wearing for 2 days now, he has done this w/ his Power Ranger shirts in the past. When I told him he was taking a bath he went on another crying fit. Cried the whole time I was giving them a bath. Cried while John took him out and got dressed. Just cried!!! He finally cried himself to sleep.

However, right after his bath Mio fell asleep downstairs on the couch. BUT, in the middle of the night at around 3 am I here him getting restless, and eventually he begins to cry. He wants his juice, but apparently not just any juice, he wants the Minute Maid Fruit Punch (or as we call it, the RED JUICE). He would not drink the apple juice, so he just kept crying. Then he was getting irrated by a rash that was forming on his leg, so he was crying over that. I finally just let him cry and tried to go to sleep ("tried" being the operative word).

Soon it was 5 am and my alarm routine began. I decided to turn the volume down on the radio, but apparently turned it down too low. I woke up at 6am! I was only 5 minutes late, but my morning was just so rough! I hope tonight will be a little smoother!

Yesterday it was 97 degrees outside in the double V!!! woohoo... below a 100!!! Today it's supposed to be cooler, too, so I am actually gonna try and eat outside for lunch. DJ John laughed at me yesterday when I told him the temperature, he responded (w/ his witty sarcasm) "yeah, that's a great goal!"

Our newly hired landscaper (, since the last one never called or showed up to do any work even after we paid a deposit) began laying out the gravel for our cement in the backyard. It's started to come around. We have to buy our tree and bushes by Friday. I told hubby that the tree should have the long leaves (I want a banana tree) so that he doesn't have to bother raking the small leaves off his Japanese sand garden. I also chose the Oleander bushes to line the fence ( I think I'm gonna go with white) and we were thinking of planting bamboo to give the "garden" the real Asian flare! We'll see.

Speaking of change... I've decided to return to my old job. Well at least to the Comets in a different position. This time I will have full-time permanent status and paid above the entry level which will be more than what I am getting now! I'm exicited. Trying to see if there is room for AJ to return to the on-campus pre-school as well. I need to keep my fingers crossed, as I want this transition to be smoother and hopefully go without any major hitches. More details to come later.

PARTY...and reunion

Friday night we attended Weekender and Etch's birthday bash along with 2 other friends at Zebulon Cafe in SF. It was REALLY nice to see old friends from my days at State. Of course 1 person who I was REALLY looking forward to seeing was not there! (yes, I was very disappointed! but that's something I'll get over eventually). Didn't actually drink much since I don't even know what I like anymore, and not quite sure I can handle a WHOLE drink either. Pretty much spent the night choppin' it up with friends.

I may not get to see you all every week, but it was so much fun to catch up! I hope one day you can all make it out to the double V for a bbq! Miss you all, and take care...

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up? My mom says that I used to want to be a bus driver. But my earliest memory was wanting to be a flight attendant, then a divorce lawyer... I used love watching Divorce Court! Unfortunately til this day, I know I'm in the field of what I want to be, but not quite in the job I want to be or have! Oh well that will all come in time... I guess I am NOT one of those "you were meant to be in this field" kinda person!

However, lately I've been wondering if my own kids are beginning to find their own paths/interests. Lately I've been recognizing Mio and what he does. Here's the story:

For his birthday, Ninong and Ninang Cruz bought him the Leap Frog Magnetic Alphabet (really cool gift cuz the magnets are exposed like our old skool kind, and it comes with an additional gadget that tells you about the letter the put inside the "pocket" or sings the alphabet) Abot 2 weeks ago I see a handful of the letters almost perfectly lined up vertically. Then AJ comes around and lines them up according to color (show off!) hehehe

Then 2 days ago I see all the Star Wars DVD's lined up across the floor. And recently Mio has been playing with his blocks. 1 day he lined up all the same shapes across the floor again. Now he has learned to stack them on top of each other! So now, about every 10 minutes I hear, "mummy, yook it!", and he points me to his new structure. Maybe I should start playing Jenga with him!!

He looks so proud. I would be too if I could stack 5 or 6 blocks on top of each other (and not laying down flat...he had them stacked the tall way!) Could I possibly have an architect or engineer on my hands!!! Of course then you have AJ who comes in like Godzilla messin' with his brother's stack, and then I hear "waaahhh....waaahhhh.....iya ......"!!!

The funny part is seeing how they know exactly what makes each other so upset...and just keep on going... boys will be boys! have a great weekend everybody... DJ John and I are having a date night tonight while we attend the Leos birthday bash at Zebulon in SF... check out the restaurant, our good friend is the co-owner and chef!!!

I don't know why I got hooked (maybe because my mom has been a hairstylist since I was 4), but I ended up watching a Blow Out marathon that ended with the "reunion" show. For some reason now, I want to go to Sephora and try his new line of products, of course, named Jonathan!! Maybe it's because I am getting ready to cut my hair short for the tail end of the summer and add some flare to it while I'm not performing.

As soon as it ended I gathered my flock of 2 and lead them for a bath. It was fun watching my little ones play in the tub. AJ serving his "coffee" to Mio. Mio trying to pretend he's diving in and out of the water. AJ saying, "mom, wait a minute, I'm relaxing!" while he lays on back with his hands under his head, all while trying to not let the water cover his face.

Of course we do all the things you do in a bath, too. Fight with Mio while I try to wash his hair, fight with Mio while I try to brush his teeth, and AJ showing me that his "tee-tee is big". And of course the ultimate, "I don't want to get out of the bath tub yet" fight. But I eventually get them both out, dried, powdered (to give that fresh clean, non-chafing feeling), and dressed, and ready to watch The Little Mermaid. That didn't last very long as it turned to Blues Clues then Animal Planet.

The best part of the evening was having my bed to myself. Since Monday, the boys have been sleeping on the floor at the foot of our bed. It's cooler and less crowded. It's just funny to see where they start that evening when they fall asleep, and where they end up by the time I say "I love you" and kiss them good-bye for the day. I could have sworn AJ was on the other side. or not knowing who's arm or leg that is cuz they some how got tangled.

AJ is working.
Earlier that evening I found AJ in the playroom---no tv no video games on. When I asked him what he was doing, he replies, "Oh, hi mom... I'm just working." He has one of his books, I think it was the Berenstein Bears alphabet book, and he was trying to copy the letters! I told him to trace the letters written inside, and to show me what letters they were. Before I knew it, he says, "mom, can you get Mio out of here, he is bothering me." and poor Mio is standing there (w/ no diaper on) looking at his kuya wondering why he wasn't playing!!!

While they were watching TV I hear AJ tell Mio, "okay, let's do some work". He takes out his book and starts to show Mio his alphabet. Mio repeats the letters, together they completed the whole alphabet! These are the days that make me so proud of my boys, and thankful that we have them so close. If I can only get Mio potty-trained!!!

Just as one ends, one seems to begin. Last night I watched the finale of Hell's Kitchen. The winner got a prize beyond the original, own your own restaurant, but Chef offered to take the winner to London and learn from him to train to be a world-class chef!! How awesome is that?! I can't really cook, but damn!!

Then I watched an episode of Laguna Beach. It's just funny seeing these spoiled teenagers in their world and dealing with opposite sex. I don't know which part makes it so funny to me, but I'm addicted to this show.

Then on Sunday I started watching this new series on Lifetime called, Beach Girls. And on Wednesday, I'm looking in to watching the next episode of Over There on FX.

Other than that, I pretty stick to the Disney/Family Channel, Animal Planet, or whatever DVD the boys want to watch. Oh and of course my new episodes of Degrassi!! hehehe

Well enjoy your Tuesday, everyone... and hope you update since half the people will be out of the country!!!

To all Brazil bound members of Likha. Break a leg and knock 'em dead with your talents while you share your passion for our culture with those in Brazil... It sounds like a very busy program for 2 weeks, but it will all go quickly. Enjoy yourselves...take care of this tour's preggy momma. You may not feel prepared now, but by the the 3rd day of performing the same dances, it'll be second nature! I hope that we can join ya next year in France!!!

BE SAFE... let us know if there is anything we can do on the homefront while you are away...