MAMA'S FIRST MODELING GIG AT 37!!! - SEPTEMBER, 2014

Recently a women that I went to highschool with named Angela Phillips (Hanson) sent a message out on Facebook to all her lady friends saying that one of her clients was looking for 15 models for a fashion event.  She also mentioned that you didn't need to be a professional model and you didn't have to be 6' tall.  So I thought, "what the hay" and private messaged her letting her know I was interested.  She asked for my phone number and email address and said that someone would be sending me an email the next day.  The next day I did in fact receive an email from a women named Chantelle, who is the marketing manager for The Outlet Collection in Auburn (formally the Auburn SuperMall).  The event was called Girls Night Out Event on September 25th at 6:30PM at Auburn Wine & Caviar.  She mentioned that the event will be a night out for friends to enjoy food, fashion, fun and fundraising for the Kiwanis Club.  The outlet stores that were participating in this event were Old Navy, Chico's, Dress Barn, Guess Factory, Torrid, Levi's and Lane Bryant.  She asked me to pick two different stores that I would be interested in modeling their clothes and I said Levi's and Dress Barn.  Primarily I said Dress Barn, because she indicated that they had a great petite section, as did Levi's.  She booked my fitting for Tuesday, September 16th at 11:00AM.  I dropped Christian off with my Mom and then I drove to The Outlet Collection in Auburn and met Chantelle.  I still really had no idea what I was getting myself into even at this point.  As we were walking to Levi's, I asked her to explain the event in more detail.  She said that they will sell out of tickets at the Auburn Wine & Caviar bar, $30 per ticket maxing out at 70 people.  Each person that bought a ticket would be seated at a table and will get a glass of wine and eat appetizers.  I asked what us.....ahem.....models (hee hee) would be doing and she said there wasn't a runway or anything like that, but basically we would be walking around all of the tables and people could stop us and ask us what we were wearing, where they could buy it and basically try to sell the store and The Outlet Collection.  We will have two outfit changes during the event.  So back to the fitting.  We first went to Levi's and I didn't know that we were litterally going to shop for an outfit right then and there, I kinda thought they would have picked the outfits out already, but now after experiencing it, I guess that would have been hard not knowing what the model's body type was like.  So she picked out an outfit for me and I'm going to try to explain it.  Black slim fitting jean (size 6) with a boyfriend cut, camoflauge button up shirt with a cordoroy plumb jacket with white fuzzy lining at the top.  When I tried it on, I walked out and she cuffed the bottom of the jeans and I'm wearing plum flats and a plain gold necklace that hangs low.  So cute & fun!  We were done at Levi's and the lady working there put the entire outfit in a bag and wrote my name on it and Chantelle will pick it up on the 25th.  Then we were off to the Dress Barn.  We immediately saw this picture on the wall with this really cute outfit so we located the outfit and here's what it will be:  Dark navy dress (size 4) with a long, very thin fabric, scoop neck shirt, with black high heels and a long chained necklace and bangle bracelets.  I felt so tiny and pretty!  I guess it's helped my ego that I've lost 10-12lbs recently!  Never in all my dreams did I ever think I'd be a size 4-6 in my late 30's, YAY ME!  So again the lady working there, bagged up my stuff for pick up on the day of the event.  Chantelle said I was so easy to style!  Before saying out goodbye's, she mentioned that Star 101.5 was going to be there at the event, so I asked her who from Star was coming and she said Jen Pirak.  So that will be fun to see someone that I worked with at Fisher Plaza.  Plus, Angela who brought me into this is also modeling for the event, so I'll get to see her as well.  I haven't seen her since highschool.  So back to the actual event.  I asked Chantell what I should be saying about my outfits and she said that she was going to type something up about each outfit, so I knew what to say to people if they asked.  Phew.  Because if anyone knows me, I know Nothing about Fashion.  But I sure like to wear it!  My Mom is going to come and spend a few nights with us and then she is going to watch all the kids while I go to the event on September 25th.  I have to be there at 4:00PM for hair and make up and then the event starts at 6:30PM.  I didn't have any idea what the Kiwanis Club was, so I looked it up online.  http://www.kiwanis.org/

The event was awesome.  The models showed up early and were taken upstairs to where hair and make up was being done.  While the hair and make up ladies were getting ready, us models sat down to glasses of wine and yummy appetizers.  Finally it was time to get my hair and make up done and get my first outfit on.

Once we had hair and make up done and had our first outfits on, of course we were all goofing around!

We were split up into two groups and each of us were taken own back stairways on separate sides of the room so we didn't crowd everyone downstairs.  We had to visit each of the tables, and each lady at the table had our number describing our outfit and we were got the items fromt The Outlet collection.

Lori and Katie ended up buying tickets so they were sitting at one of the tables downstairs, judging all the models outfits.  It was so nice of them to come and support me and the cause. Then it was time to run back upstairs and change into our second outfits and then go back downstairs and do the same thing.  It was fun having all the ladies compliment me and the outfits.  It all went by rather quickly, so we went upstairs to change back into our regular clothes and a lady let me know that my brother Rod was downstairs!  I flew down there and he and Desi were there to say hello.  It was so nice having them there.

Unfortunately it was a bar, so they kindly said that Desi couldn't be in there, so I grabbed my things, along with my Swag Bag, said goodbye to Lori and Katie then met Rod and Desi outside.  PS.  The Swag bag was Awesome!

My Mom was at my house with my kids for the night and Julian was out of town, and since I had a few glasses of wine, I decided to jump in the car with Rod and Desi and go with them to where they were staying.  I stayed with them for a while until I sobered up and then Rod took me back to my car and I drove home.  The entire evening was SUCH a blast!  I would love to do something like that again.

SEAHAWKS SUPER BOWL 48 CHAMPIONS!!

GO HAWKS!!

Katie and Justin had a SuperBowl Party and it was so exciting because we actually won the Super Bowl (48)!!  

Even before the game, the City was in an uproar, then after the win, it was even worse, then the City had to prepare for the Superbowl parade.  The Super Bowl parade was on a weekday during the day which meant if we decided to go we would have to pull the girls out of school for it.  While I was super excited that the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, I wasn't sure it was COOL enough for my girls to miss a day of school over it.  The night before and the day of, it was all Celine could talk about, how she wanted to go to the parade "and all her friends at school were going", blah blah.  It was the night before the parade and Daddy was at work all day and I had already told the girls that we weren't going to the parade.  Number 1, because I didn't want them to miss school and Number 2, because I knew it was going to be A NIGHTMARE downtown and the thought of it being cold with three kids, didn't make my decision any easier.  BUT, again, Daddy came home from work and told the girls to go clean their room (so we could talk) and they left the room and he talked me into keeping the girls home from school, so we could go to the parade.......something like......"this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, they could never win the superbowl again, it took them 40+ years this time, blah blah".  Because we weren't SUPER DIE hard fans, we didn't wake up at the crack of dawn or spend the night downtown like some fans did.  That morning I had to call the girls school and leave a message on the attendance machine why the girls weren't going to be there that day and I didn't even bother lying and basically said, we were going to the parade!  Pretty sure it was even an excused absence.  We woke up and drove to Daddy's office, parked and then his friend Russ drove us as close as it could get to 4th Avenue.  

The cool thing was, is that Katie and Justin were smart and they rented a hotel room, with a room that looked right down onto 4th Ave!  They did that, because they are a little bit more die hard fans than we were, plus they had new little Baby Sunday to keep warm.  So the plan was, that we were going to go to the parade and go to Katie and Justin's room to watch and keep warm.  Cept, when we finally got to 4th Ave, we looked for the hotel and it it was on the other side of the street!  You would think it would just be easy to cross the street, except for the fact that there were closed 250 thousand people (thats what the news estimated, I don't know how they could come up with that number) and anyone who was actually on the street on 4th Ave, wasn't letting ANYONE get close to the street, fearing that you were going to take their spot.  It was cold.  I wanted to go to the hotel room "where everyone was at" and Julian said that there was no way we were making it across the street to the hotel with those crowds.  Well apparently, he's never met me, cause I put that bet to the test.  Christian (2) was in a stroller, so Julian said he would take Christian in the stroller over to the teriyaki place to get something to eat, (cause the parade hadn't even started yet and we were waaaaay down fourth ave) and me and the girls were going to try to make our way across the street.  So, I have Addy's (5) hand and I tell Celine (9) to stay close.  I'm going to admit, it was hard.  People were NOT letting me and my two cute girls through that line for the life of them.  Finally we made it through the first line and made it onto 4th avenue where it was clear, because the cops were keeping it that way.  The next line of people was EVEN harder to make through!! When was trying to find my opening to get onto the side walk,  I had to pull my Motherly lie and say "listen I'm not trying to take your spot, my girls have to use the restroom, so we're trying to make it to that hotel".  I had my head down the whole time so we didn't step on anyone, so I didn't notice that once we reached our "opening" I had missed the entrance to the hotel!  So not only did we have to cross a thick line of people to get onto the sidewalk, we had to back track to the left to get into the hotel!!!!  Finally, we made it to the hotel, find the elevators and make it up to the room.  Knock, Knock, no one answers.  I was thinking CRAP, nobody is even in the room and after all that work to get here.  Cell phones weren't working because everyone was on their cell phone and there were sooooo many people that all of the cell towers were overloaded, so I couldn't get a hold of Katie or Justin.  Boo.  So there we were standing in the hallway on the 11th floor of Hotel Murano, but we were okay with the fact that the hallway was clear and we had a clear view of the parade once we went by.  Not bad right?  Cept this time, I really did have to use the bathroom and I didn't want to go back down to the lobby, since there were hundreds of people in there keeping warm.  Then I was feeling guilty that we left Julian and Christian out in the freezing cold, and there really was NO WAY he was going to make it across both those lines with a stroller.  Then the elevator button dinged and low and behold there was Blake (Cassi's husband)!  He was heading back to the room to make himself another drink.  We followed him to the room and asked if we could stay in there and watch the parade from there.  It really was truly amazing what our view was from the room.

Then Katie and Tina and Tina's little girl Alethia came upstairs and I told Tina I would take care of Alethia in the room so she would stay warm.  Katie, Justin, Blake, Guss & Tina, were all sitting outside down on Fourth Ave right in front of the hotel.  Then the parade started and the Seahawks busses went by first, then the Ride-The-Duck trucks went by that had all of the SeaGals in it.  Plus Marshawn Lynch was on the hood of one of the Duck's throwing out his signature Skittles!

Then in all of these Military Vehicles, they sent the coaches by, Coach Carrol with his family.

The players, organized by field positions.  

And of course, Mr. Russell Wilson :)

The parade was ending at Century Link Field where you had to have a ticket to be there, when all the vehicles arrived and then they were going to do this huge ceremony.  After all of the vehicles passed by, out of our site anyway, it was a little nerve wracking to watch, because after the very last vehicle in line, the crowds were just following directly behind the vehicles, the police couldn't stop them, so the crowd would be moving, but then the vehicles would have to stop, so all these people would run into each other.  Our City has had our fair share of riots, so you never knew what was going to happen with all those people, energy, alcohol, etc.  We later found out that there wasn't ONE arrest during the parade.  Nice Job Seattle!!

I have some pretty good video of the parade from our view in the window as well.  It was amazing to see how fast the streets cleared once the parade went by.  Everyone including Julian and Christian made their way back up to Katie and Justin's room, there was, Justin/Katie/Sunday; My Family; Kelly/Tony & their kids, Mike & his kids and Blake.  We were watching the rest of the parade make its way to Century Link on TV and everyone was still so amped up.  But we were starving, so all the guys, ran across to the same teriyaki place and came back with tons of food.  There was a knock at the door, so I answered it and it was a hotel employee, delivering a FISH, in a fish bowl to Katie & Justin for renting a room at the hotel.  Ummm, okay....I forgot to take a picture, but they ended up leaving it there.  It was getting late, and we all ate and Kelly/Tony, Mike & Blake and the kids left to to take the Light Rail (since thats how they got down there) back to Burien. Well after about a 1/2 hour, Kelly came back with all the kids. I guess the Light Rail and the bus system, just totally failed.  They did not anticipate that many people making their way into the City, so it took hours for people to get home.  Finally Tony & Mike hired a couple mini-van taxi's to get them all home.  When it was time for us to leave, we walked down to street in front of the hotel entrance, and we rented a town car to bring us back to Daddy's office.  It was a great day for sure.  I'm so glad Daddy talked me into going.  

It truly was an amazing experience!

ADDISON ALICIA REYNOSO

Typed from an old journal

September 15, 2008 - When I found out I was pregnant with you, I decided to start a journal for you throughout by pregnancy, but obviously by looking at the start date, that didn't happen.  :)  Everything has been so crazy busy and lots of new changes.  Today you are 6 weeks old.  All of the important dates are in your baby book, but I knew i was pregnant with you even before i was late on my period.  I could just feel my body changing.  I was with Auntie Tanya and I waiting in the car with Ava and Celine while she ran in to Rite Aid and grabbed a pregnancy test.  I went home and took the test and sure enough I was pregnant.  Then it was time to tell Daddy.  I sat on the couch with him and my heart was beating so fast and he finally sensed that something was up, so he asked me and then I told him the news.  He was shocked, but really happy!  I still made a doctors appointment just to confirm the news.  On March 11th, Daddy and I had an ultrasound to find out if you were a boy or a girl.  As the lady starting taking pictures, she wasn't giving up the info so I told her that we did want to find out the sex and even still she made us wait! Grrrr.  Finally as she was taking more pictures, she said "it looks like a Girl"!  I had a feeling you were a girl, but Daddy was Sure you were going to be a boy.  I asked him if he was disappointed and he said of course not.  He couldn't beleive what we got to see in the ultrasound.  Pretty amazing stuff.  I was so excited to be having another baby girl!  Being pregnant with you was much different than being pregnant with your big sister.  I felt more tired and I felt it more in my body.  You little stinker!  It was probably because it was my second pregnacy.  Thank goodness this summer wasn't as hot since I was huge and uncomfortable.  Your big sister went to Buffalo to visit her Dad and came home on August 4th, only 4 days before you were born.  I was so afraid that I was going to go into labor before my scheduled date.  I decided to have another C-secion with you since there is a small chance that if I were to have a vaginal birth, my scar from my first C-section could tear which would mean I would have to have an emergency C-sectioin and Hysterectomy.  No Thanks!  I went to all of my regular doctors appointments and for a few weeks there, I was measuring bigger for how far long I was.  For instance, I was 29 weeks, but I was measuring out at 31 weeks.  That happened twice so my doctor had us go for a second ultrasound.  We went to the ultrasound and you were still a girl and everything was fine.  It was getting close to your birthdate, which is super cool by the way.  It's 08.08.08.  My actual due due was August 23, but since I got to choose the date, I chose the 8th, since it was after when Celine would be home and before my actual due date.  I later found out that August 12th is my Dad's birthday.  I confirmed the date with my doctors office, but I had to wait until July 7th to see if I got the date at Swedish.  Obviously I did.  It was the morning of August 8th and my surgery was schedule at 2:30pm with a check-in of 12:30pm.  Daddy, Celine and I all drove to the hospital and Nana and Papa were there, then Grandma came.  We all waited to be called in and then finally we all went back to my pre-op room to be prepped for surgery.  I had to lay on my side in the bed since you didn't like me on my back and since your heart started to slow.  Then Uncle Lalo & Auntie Amanda and Kaiya came.  Then Auntie Tanya, Susan and Lacey showed up.  We had a full room.  Finally it was time for me and Daddy and Nana to go in, so we all walked to the operating rooom.  I sat on the table while they gave me my spinal block.  I immediately felt my legs get warm so I laid down.  It was almost time for you to get here!  They put the blue sheet up and gave me tests to ensure I was numb.  Daddy wasn't going to watch, but the anesthesiologist told him he could watch so he stood up and looked over the blue sheet.  I had my eyes on his eyes the entire time and boy did he keep a straight poker face the entire time.  Nana stood up and took some great pictures as they were taking you out.  Finally you were here!  My doctor said that she had to work to get you out!  They took you over to the area to clean you up and have Daddy cut the cord.  Nana was doing a great job of taking pictures.  They were still working on putting me back together which didn't seem like it took too long.  The nurse bundled you up and handed you to Daddy and he walked you over to me and my eyes starting to well up, you were so beautiful.  I wanted to hold you so bad.  Nana went back to the room where everyone was waiting to tell them you were here and nice and healthy.  Daddy kissed my forehead while holding you and I was all done.  Finally, he walked you back to the room where everyone was waiting to meet you, while they wheeled me behind him.  Uncle Taj was there and everyone thought you were perfect and beautiful. Tanya held Celine up to you and you started to cry and Celine said "Oh, I'm not gonna hear that"!  I said, you better get used to it sister!  It was so funny!  Celine kissed you while Daddy was holding you then I finally got to hold my precious beautiful little girl.  You had dark dark hair and of course blue eyes, but I figured they would change.  Nana said goodbye and left with Celine for the weekend while Daddy and I stayed in the hospital with you.  Everyone left and we were taken to our post-partum room where we would stay for the next 3 nights.  Daddy did great.  He had never held an infant, let alone  changed a poopy diaper.  I couldn't walk yet, so he was changing your diapers like a champ and learned how to swaddle you.  You latched onto my breast right away which was great.  The nurses bugged us often to check on our vitals and our room was so hot during the day because the sun was beaming through the windows.  But if we didn't open the blinds, the room was so dark, so we had to deal with the hot room.  When I tried to continue to breast feed you, you seemed to be having a harder time since my milk hadn't come in all the way yet, and Daddy was trying to help me and I was hot and getting frustrated.  Then they let me borrow a breast pump to try and stimulate the milk to come down and it wasn't really working.  Then this stinky nurse came in and snatched you out of my hands and said you were losing too much weight (got down as low as 6lbs,6ou--you were born 7lbs) and that they needed to supplement with formula.  I would have been fine with all of that, except for the fact that she just took you from me and starting feeding you formula out of a bottle without asking us first.  I was furious.  Finally I agreed to supplement with formula, but I didn't want you to reject my breast so they gave me this small feeding tube that was in a bottle of formula and then held the small tube near my breast, so you could hopefully latch onto my breast while also sucking the formula out of the tube which we had to do for a few of the feedings.  You finally gained two more ounces and they were okay with that.  We finally got rid of the tube and you were latching onto my just fine.  We tried to introduce a binki to you but I think that was just confusing the matter more, so we did away with it.   We had several visitors in the hospital (all the names are in your baby book).  Finally it was time to take you home.  We snuggled you in your take home outfit and drove home.  Nana, Celine and Marissa were there waiting for us and had a banner saying "Its a Girl" and balloons outside waiting for us to come home.  It was the day we got home that my milk came in, then you had no problem latching on and getting milk.  The first night was intense.  Thank goodness Nana was there.  Celine was feeling a little left out and wanted to sleep in our bed since she knew you were going to be there.  Then you started crying and so I gave you to Daddy.  Nana held you while I laid in bed with Celine and I fell asleep.  I woke up and walked out into the living rooom where Nana was and you were sleeping on her chest and she was holding you with her hands crossed.  I thought she was still awake so I told her I would take you so she could get some sleep, but she wasn't answering me.  You two fell asleep so sweetly on the couch.  It was really sweet, I wish I would have taken a picture.  So I did what any new Mommy (again) would do........and I went to bed!!  Nana woke me up with you early in the morning so I could feed you.  Nana stayed with us for a couple of days which was very helpful.  Then Grandma came andn spent a few days with us.  You had your first pediatrician appointment on the Tuesday after we got home with a new pediatrician, Dr. Judith Kuo.  Daddy and I both went and it was the first time that we had met her and we both really liked her.  You were still at 6lbs, 8ou so at least you hadn't lost any weight since coming home.  Plust they measured you as 19 1/2 inches.  They said said the hospital does a quick measure, so thats why they had you at 18".  She asked me to come back in one week for a weight check and when we did, you still weren't back to your birth weight so I had to go back in one more week and you had finally made it back to your birth weight of 7lbs..  You had gained 14 1/2 ounces by the 3rd visit, which was your one month check up.  7lbs, 14ou.  September 19, 2008 - We dropped Celine off at school and we went home to get ready so we could drive to Bellevue to have lunch with Daddy and Auntie Tanya, but at 10:30am, I got a call from Celine's school saying she had a fever and wasn't feeling good.  We went to pick her up and all three of us hung out in Mommy's room for the day.  She even threw up later in the evening.  I really hope that you don't get what she has and that Mommy and Daddy don't get it.  We need to be able to take care of our little girls.  Daddy got home and made us burgers for dinner.  In a way, you will sorta have burgers too, though my milk!  Tuesday, Septemer 23, 2008 - Today we woke up when Daddy and Celine left for school/work.  Instead of going back to bed, I called Grandma and told her that we were going to come over for a bit to get us out of the house.  Today is the first day of Fall.  Fall is my most favorite season.  I threw on some sweats and then we drove to Seattle.  It was nice out today.  We hung out with Grandma and Uncle Taj.  His friend Nancy drove his truck to Portland for a few days so he was pretty much home bound.  Since we don't want to put you in childcare at the YMCA at such a young age, Grandma as agreed to watch you for at least another three months would bring you to at least six months before we have to make a decision on what to do next.  we are hoping she will do it for longer.  I think it will be great since I can leave all necessary things for you at her house..  The only struggle is having to wake up so early, then drive all the way to Seattle, then drive downtown to Fisher Plaza.  Although I like the idea of having you close to me anyway in case of an emergency.  Plus it's free and saving us $1,000 per month.  Celine is $741 per month.  It's crazy expensive.  When we got home from Grandma's I was waiting for the autoglass guy so they could replace Daddy's broken window since someone bashed it and stole his laptop :(  Then we had to go and pick up Celine, then drove to Bellevue to Daddy's work to pick him up so we could go to Chava and Fanny's house so they could meet you and see Celine.  Fanny made us dinner.  She held you and you were smiling and cooing at her.  She had to work late that night, so we eneded up leaving around 8:00pm and dropping Daddy back off at work so he could drive the truck home.  We got home and I fed you, then read Celine a bedtime story and per her to bed.  You are in your swing that NeuroVista bought for us.  It's a Boppy swing that is very cozy.  Wednesday, January 14, 2009.  Wow time flies when you have two beautiful girls.  I can't believe it, you are already five months old!  Your eyes are still a deep steely blue around the edges but you can see some light brown in the middle.  It's like the brown is pushing the blue out.  If your eye color does change, you will be the first in my family not to have blue eyes.  If not they are going to be beautiful.  I went back to work full time on November 3, 2008.  I wake up each morning, get ready, change your diaper, then leave the house at 6:30am to go to Grandma's house.  She absolutley adores watching you.  It's truly been a blessing for her and you have given her a purpose.  She is an early riser, so the house is always warm and cozy when we get there around 7:30am.  She spoils you rotten though, holding you non-stop.  She laughs and says she has to talk to you the entire time when she's walking away from you to pee!  She says she feels guilty putting you in your swing.  She has her own ways of doing things, so she's gotta set herself up for everything.  One day after New Years, 2009, I walked in and the lights were dim in the living room and she had put Christmas lights on the top of your small crib and you were laying there just staring at all of them.  Grandma and I have an on-going joke that she thinks you are "her baby".  For instance, I got to her house from work one evening (5:30) and you needed a bottle and she had alrady made it and it was on the coffee table and she was up doing something, so of course I started to feed you.  She came to sit down and she told me she felt weird that I was feeding you and not her.  So I said "she's MY baby" and thats how it all started.  She's a weirdo :)  We had a lot of snow in December, 2008 so I m issed five days of work.  I just didn't want to risk driving with you in the car to go to my Mom's, then get stuck.  Wasn't worth it to me.  Luckily I had my work laptop with me.  Your big sister was loving the snow and even made a snowman with Daddy and named him Joey Jones!  He melted quickly though.  We got a few pictures of us with you and your 1st snow.  When we get home each day, typically around 7pm, we are pooped.  Now that you are five months, we introduced you to solid food.  We have you rice cereal and formula.  Daddy videotaped it while CJ watched.  You weren't quite sure what i was trying to do so you kept sticking out your tongue every time I tried to put the spoon in there.  It was funny.  Plus you made a funny face because of the taste.  The second day of it, you were struggling to poop since it has so much iron so I started mixing it with sweet potatoes.  I found out later that Daddy had fed you about three tablespoons of rice cereal instead of just one, so that is why you were so backed up.  He felt terrible.  So far you've had rice cereal with sweet potatoes, carrots and recently squash.  We'll try the gree stuff tomorrow, peas and green beans!  I brought some food over to Grandmas so she could feed you solids forlunch and she was cracking up the first day she fed it to you.  She said at one point, there was more food on your bib, than in your mouth and that you kept using your hands to put your bib in your month and you were licking the food off!!  Poor Baby.  I haven't' seen or hear Grandma laugh so since she's started watching you.  At five months you are all smiles and you crack up laughing.  Sometimes you'll just look at Justice or Mina and start cracking up.  You are hurting your cousin Susan's feelings though cause lately when she tries to talk to you, your bottom lip goes way out and you start to cry!  I think its her jet black hair.  She's 16 right now.  Daddy loves to hang out with you and making you laugh.  Tonight when we got home, I put you in your hair chair and began to feed you rice cereal and squash.  Everytime I gave you a bite and would put the spoon back int he bowl to get more, you were already sitting there with your mouth wide open!  Guess you like squash.  Your a pro at this eating stuff now.   Today when I picked you up from Grandma's, I walked in the door and she said you were a cry baby today and that she had to rock you to sleep.  I told her it was her fault for spoiling you!  Plus I yelled at her for calling you names.  Everytime Uncle Taj is home and I'm about to leave, he always carries you down for me.  At your four month appointment, you were 14lbs and that was just before we started solid foods.  Can't wait to see what you'll weigh at your six month appointment.  Big sister will be leaving for Buffalo this coming Monday.  Her Step Mom Bev is coming to get her.  She'll be gone for one week.  Celine just adores you now that she's used to you :)  She can make you laugh pretty hard and she's very gentle with you and always kisses you on the cheek.  You slept in bed with me for the first several months.  I know, I know, thats against the rules, but to each their own! But now you sleep in your cradle right next to our bed and you are only waking up once per night usually around 4:30am.  We have put you in your crib in your room a few times fora nap during the day, but not at night so far.  You are sleeping right now and you look so peaceful.  You never took to the binkie which was perfectly fine with us, but when your tired and half asleep, you put your left pointer finger in your mouth and it calms you down.  I always take it out though.  You can get rid of a binkie, but you can't get rid of a finger! February 10, 2009 - You had your six month check up  and were just over 17lbs.  For Valentines Day, Ava spent the day with us since Auntie Tanya had a romantic date with Jeff.  Mommy had some changes at work.  I no longer work for Egis Real Estate, I now work for CP Management.  I still work at Fisher Plaza as I have for the last 6 years and have the same duties, just work for a different company.  You will be eight months old tomorrow.  You are still loving hanging out with Grandma and she loves taking care of you.  we put you on the floor and your not quite crawling yet but you scoot around.  Plus you push yourself backwards.  I got your ears pierced a couple weeks ago.  I took you myself to Piercing Pagoda at Alderwood Mall.  I was nervous since there was only one lady working since they typically have two people so they can pierce each ear at the same time.  I picked our green 14c gold earrings since it was your birthstone.  You sat on my lap and she marked your ears.  I held you tight while she did the first ear and you jumped then started to whimper, but by that time she already had the second ear done, so I stood up and you were fine.  You looked sooooo cute and girly.  You still dont have any teeth yet, but you chew on everything.  You started to get a little temper on you since you don't like it when we take stuff away from you.  You love remote controls and my cell phone.  And you think Mina is Hilarious!  All you have to do is catch sight of her and you crack up laughing.  I mean belly laughing. We can't figure it out, but it's so funny.  Celine can make you laugh pretty hard as well.   She is so lovey dovey with you.  She keeps saying "I love having a baby sister".  Last Saturday, we all drove out to Orting to Krista and Rod's house for the Daffodil Parade.  It was sunny outside and it was the first time that you actually spend a lot of time outside.  A bunch of kids were there.  Everyone thought you were so beautiful and a good baby.  That was also the day that we all met at St. Burnadette's school since Tony & Kelly Etzkorn won the auction to have the field memorialized for Stevie Bushaw, since he died in 2009.  The sign says "In Memory of Steven Ray Bushaw" and it will stay up for one year.  April 14th at Safeco Field, Ken Griffy Jr. came back to visit the Mariners and will retire his jersey here.  The Mariners haven't been doing well the last few years so hopefully Kenn Griffey will get some more people in the seats.  What else is going on.....oh WA state sales tax just went up to 9.5!!  It's expensive to live in Seattle, but its so beautiful here!  My 32nd birthday is in 2 days and Me, Trisha, Erin & Tanya are all going to the Brittany Spears concert at the Tacoma Dome.  She can't sing for beans, but she's a great performer!  Right this second you are sound asleep in your crib in your room.  You still wake up at least once per night.  Time varies depnding on when I lay you down.  Plus, I sweawr you've been walking up 10 minutes before my alarm clock goes off!  Grrrrr.  Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - Today before we left for Grandma's I fed you a bottle while I got ready.  Daddy was laying with you and I heard him say "oh no" and he picked you up while you were projectile puking on his chest.  He stood in the bathtun while holding you while I made sure you could get a breath in.  I got you all cleaned up.  You didn't have a fever and you didn't even cry which surprised me.  I grabbed tylenal infant drops and we went to Grandma's.  I let her know what happened so she was going to keep and even clower eye on you.  After work, she said you were fine all days and that you played and ate your normal meals.  We got home and you ate a small dinner. April 18, 2010 - After work I came home and starting packing Celine since she was going to see her Dad in Buffalo.  Yesterday we woke up real early so you and Daddy could drive us to the airport.  Daddy drove you home, then Papa came to pick you up so you could go and spend the night with them.  It was Auntie Tanya's 30th Birthday party so Daddy and I got to go out for that.  Daddy and I woke up today and drove to Mt. Vernon to see you.  It was a beautiful day out, plus Uncle Lalo and Auntie Amanda and the girls were there.  We decided to go to the street fair in downtown Mt. Vernon.  We walked around and you were in your stoller, but Daddy let you walk with him.  we had some lunch then walked back to Nana and Papa's and stayed for a little while but then we drove home.  Uncle Carlos was at our house when we pulled up so he could grab his BBQ.  Daddy mowed the lawn and I did some laundry. We ate dinner and then watched the Country Music Awards (CMA's).  Right this second, Daddy is on the big counch trying to sleep and you are laying on the small couch next to me fighting to fall asleep with your sippy cup clutched under your arm.  We are trying to get your comfortable with using your little potty.  We took your diaper off today and I told Daddy I would clean it up if you made a mess.  I thought it would be a good way to actually show you what needs to go into the potty when you have an accident, rather than trying to explain it to you.  BUT.......you must have peed three times on the carpet, so I decided to put your diaper back on!  

January 8, 2014 - You are now five years old and you have a little brother named Christian Avila Reynoso. 

CELINE VS. ESCALATOR

On Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Josie took the girls out for their second annual christmas pajama and earrings date.  Josie came to pick them up at my house and once they were in the car, she presented them with two pairs of earrings.  So nice.  They left and headed straight to Khols Department Store to find their pajamas.  She called me once from the store since she forgot to ask me what sizes they were.  They found the pajamas and were heading back down the escalator to pay for them on the first floor.  Josie went down with Addison first and Celine waited behind, then finally started walking down the escalator.  Then for some reason, she decided it would be a great idea to turn around and try to go back up the escalator, causing her to trip and fall.  Josie noticed and asked if she was okay and she made it down to the bottom of the escalator and Josie asked again if she was okay and Celine said yes.  They conitnued to walk to the cash registers and by that time Celine had noticed some blood forming on her pants and called to Josie. Josie noticed a small rip in her jeans where she hit the escalator, but when she rolled up the jeans up past the knee, she saw this terrible laceration.  She asked Celine not to look at it and walked away from Celine to call me.  She was very calm on the phone, but she told me what happend and said that it was pretty bad, but she doesn't want to freak Celine out.  I asked if she could find an employee to help stop the bleeding, which they did, however they only brought her two bandaids.  When the employee actually looked at the gash, she was taken back and said she needed to get her manager.  I packed Christian in the car and told her I was on my way.  During the drive, I called Julian and left him a voicemail as to what had happened. Julian called me back so I gave him a run down of what happened. He immediately called his Mom and she got in the car and was heading down. During the drive, Josie text me a picture of the cut and it was Nasty!  I found out later that Josie has some type of vintage setting on her camera, so it made it look even worse.  I forwarded the picture to Julian and he called me back and said that was really bad.  I was trying not to cry so I could be strong for Celine, so I got off the phone.  Told him I'd call him from the hospital.  

 Small Hole in her Jeans

What was under the jeans (Josie's vintage picture)

I got to Khols and they were shocked at how calm and cool Celine was during all this.  She didn't even cry once until I walked in the door.  She finally broke down a little because she said she didn't want stitches!  Josie felt bad and I tried to re-assure her that its not like she pushed her down the escalator.....or did she?!?!?!  Hee Hee.  Kohls was great and had already filled out an incident report and helped roll Celine out on an office chair out to the car that was pulled up from.  I switched cars with Josie, since Christian was sleeping in my car.  I drove Celine to Swedish Emergeny in Mill Creek and on the car ride there, Celine said "so does this mean our date with Josie is over?"  I chucked to myself and said "yes honey, the night is over".  Fortunately there wasn't a wait at the emergency room and got right in. They had her get undressed and they they started to clean the wound.  I called Julian back to tell his Mom to turn around since the situation was under control and that she was going to be okay, but she insisted on driving down.  Such a good Nana.

 All cleaned up and ready to be stitched.  

Celine was still being a trooper and was actually being pretty funny and playing games on my phone.  She asked the doctor a lot of questions and sounded like such a big responsible girl.  Even the doctors were saying I should be so proud of her cause she was being so awesome.  

I think waiting 9 years for the first visit to the emergency room isn't bad.

Josie had taken the kids back to my house and ordered pizza.  Alicia arrived a little bit after and they were just waiting for us to come home.  The doctor came in and it was time to stitch her up.  Celine wanted to know how many stitches it was going to take and the doctor said she wouldn't know until she was done.  She hobbled out of there with 17 stitches!!!  Pretty impressive.  I called her Dad and told him what happend and sent him pictures.  Told him I'd call him when we got home.  Swedish gave us our discharge instructions and told us to make an appointment with her doctor to have the stitches removed after 14 days.  

We drove home and were greeted by Josie, Alicia and the kids.  They had all made Celine "Get Well Soon" cards.  It was sweet.  Josie told me that when her and Addy were walking back to my car, that Addy asked her "so are we still heading to dinner, or......?"  Sheesh insensitive little child!! :)  Celine ate dinner and I just baby'd her all night making sure she kept her leg straight and elevated and gave her some medicine.  It was then I realized that she was going to be in Buffalo for Winter break when I was supposed to have the stitches taken out.  I decided to make her an appointment anyway the following Monday after she got back, although that would have meant her stitches would have been in for 19 days, which isn't good.  I told her that she was staying home from school the next day and she was upset because she didn't want to ruin her perfecet attendance.  She finally agreed, but was bored to death all day.  Then the next day of school was cancelled since we had snow, then winter break started.

 I took the bandage off the day before she had to leave and this is what it looked like:

Then she was off to Buffalo the day after Christmas, I told her that she had to be extremely careful over there since there is a ton of snow and to take it easy.  I was a little taken back when I heard that Rob took her sledding and then they were going to go iceskating........which baffled me.  I later found out that they didn't actually go iceskaing, which made me happy.  Then for NYE they were going to this water park and they asked me if Bev could take the stitches out (she's a PA) since they had been in for 14 days and looked ready to come out.  I wasn't worried about her taking the stitches out, I was more worried about her leg being submerged in water after the stitches being taken out.  I called Rob and let him know I was frustrated with all the activities he was taking her too that was risk re-injuring her knee.  Before I agreed to let Bev take the stitches out, I called my doctors office to see how they felt about it and they were okay with it and were okay with letting her go in the water.  I later called Rob to apologize for possibly over-reacting and they went ahead and took the stiches out.  They also proceed to go to the water park and had a ton of fun.  She came home two days later and when she got home, I wanted to look at her knee and I noticed there was a large bandaid over the top of it.  We weren't supposed to keep anyting over it, we were just supposed to let it have some air.  We had a heck of a time getting the bandaid off since it had been on for two days (ugh), so when Celine was trying to get it off, she cried harder this time then when the actual injury happened.  The wound was very moist and some of the skin was coming off onto the bandaid.  We finally go the bandaid off and let it air dry all night, then she took a shower the  next day and I helped her wipe off all the extra loose skin and stuff that was on there.  It looks a ton better know.  Once it starts to heel more, I'm supposed to keep sunblock on it every time its exposed to the sun and put vitamin E oil on it for the next twelve months to help with scarring.  

My Poor Sweet Tough Cookie now has a set of stitches under her belt!

I told her that she learned her lesson that you are NEVER supposed to go the opposite direction on a escaltor.  She agreed.  :)