3 MORE DAYS!

(Courtney and Maggie)

(Ryan, Jason and Ronan)

(Riley and Conner)

Until we get to see Jason, Courtney, Conner and Maggie!  It's been about 10 months since we've seen them.  They live in Harrisburg, and Jason is Ryan's older brother.  We've been so blessed to remain close to them, despite all the dirty stuff that has happened with Ryan's family.

After our first beach trip fell through with Ryan's entire family (everything happens for a reason!), Courtney and I began to plan for our OWN family vacations together and with much rearranging and date changing...we are finally going to see them in a few days!  Courtney's parents have a house in Rehoboth, DE, and we decided that seeing them was worth the 16+ hour drive from Tampa.  Yes, people, we are driving.

Could we have flown?  Sure.  Would we want to be trapped in the air, thousands of feet above ground with Ronan running rampant down the aisle screaming bloody murder?  No way.  And, we wouldn't have been able to fly direct to Rehoboth.  We would've had to rent a car and drive anyway.  So, we have opted to take on the road trip and I'm looking forward to it.  (Yeah, I really said that.)

We have braved the drive from Pittsburgh to San Diego.  And then again from San Diego to Pittsburgh.  And then from Pittsburgh to Tampa.  And for Ryan...San Diego to Tampa (in 2 days!)  If we can do all those drives, we can do this...and the payoff is so worth it.  

I miss my sister-in-law, Courtney.  I just love her.  And if I ever speak to my mother-in-law again, it'll be to thank her for Ryan and for Courtney.  My MIL brought us together years back when she had Jason and Courtney stay at our house with my nephew, Conner.  Ever since then, we've been close and I am thankful for this relationship each time I talk to her. 

And she'll probably kill me for saying this, but the girl makes swear words sound good.  I think every time I get off the phone with her, I want to drop the f-bomb (for no particular reason.)  I have come to believe it's her pronunciation of every syllable and making the "f" word sound like 2 syllables.  Haha.

So, I'll probably make a few more posts before we leave for our vacation...but if not, I'll be sure to post a ton of pictures when we get back.

"Sorry 'bout the mess, momma"

Well, it lasted a whole week...that's one week longer than I thought.  It's really not THAT bad, but after the explosion I had the week of Riley's birthday, you would have thought that the room would be sparkling for much longer.  I know, she's only 6.  That's why I haven't freaked out about it.  What I think I appreciate the most now, is that she is AWARE.  I walked into her room and said, "I need to take a picture of this, Riley, so you see what I see."  And she knew. She immediately apologized and I said, "it's cool, Riley.  We will clean it up together."

Baby steps, right?

The Many Faces of Ronan

Sometimes, Ronan is deep in thought.  Whether it's about what toy he is going to play with next, what crazy move he has in store to torture Riley, or if he's pooping...sometimes he just has that look.  He had that look the other day when he started playing with the water toy.  And then, he had this look:
That's what happens, dude...when you decide you are going to throw your water in the air...and when you have bad aim.  He got it all over himself.  He laughed.  And then he went back for more:
What you don't see in this picture is the crazy little dude taking huge gulps of water.  You would think we never hydrate him.  Eventually, he tried to climb into it but we stopped him before it got dangerous.

Needs no words:

But since I'm a blabber...I'll just add that when I told Riley to turn around so I could take her picture, I didn't realize she had this shirt on...and her playing nicely with Ronan and laughing like she was right before this completely fit the sentiment.

I'm sure there are days she probably wishes we could give her brother back to wherever he came from, but all in all, I think she's got it made.

Bye-Bye Grandma

Almost 11 weeks have gone by and Grandma has left us to go back to Pittsburgh.  The kids have loved having her around.  For Ronan, it took some adjusting to, but he went from being scared to death of her the very first day, to climbing into bed with her and giving her kisses when she'd go to sleep.  

Riley has always been close to my mom and made her sleep in her room with her every night since she arrived.  So last night, when my mom wasn't there, I'll admit, Riley's room seemed a little lonely.  Riley ran into our room at 10:30 p.m. tearing up a little saying she missed Grandma and I felt so bad that I let her sleep in our room with us.  She fell asleep almost instantly next to our bed and when she woke up this morning...Grandma was the first person she went looking for.

We're glad the kids had a chance to be with her for as long as they did.  I'm also glad it gave me the chance to spend some time with her.  We played bingo once a week for the last 7 weeks she was here!  No, we didn't win and no, I'm not going back.  I'm over bingo.

Crazy Life Happenings...

Since my fury from this week, I finally have calmed down and decided I would give it another go at trying to be a good blogger and post about the precious nuggets...

Two or three days before Riley's actual birthday, we were walking around the mall when she turned to me and said, "Momma, don't you think I need a birthday outfit for my birthday party? I mean, a NEW one?" And if you know Riley's voice, you know it's hard to say no to her when she is trying to be super sweet. Of course, I couldn't turn her down and as I began walking toward The Children's Place (the more economical clothing store in the mall), she grabbed my hand and led me to Gymboree (the store where you have to remortgage your house to get one outfit and take out another adjustable rate mortgage loan to get an outfit for your other child).

It didn't take me long to see that for Riley, it wasn't about the outfit, it was about the shoes. As she scoured the store for what she considered to be "heels," she came across a pair that resembeled a slight heel and it could have been poop brown for all she cared. It was what she wanted. What she didn't realize was the price tag that came along, $34.50...for a pair of shoes. Being that she was MY child, she was quick to point out the "SALE" sign after I sighed and said, "Riley, these are expensive." She looked at me with her big brown eyes and long, wispy lashes and said, "But momma, I just love them." So there I stood with a pair of blue floral sandals wondering how much I was going to spend after having to find something to match those shoes. Within seconds, she screams "I found a dress that matches!!!" I walk over slowly and see that she's picked the dress with the same exact pattern as her shoes and as I grab the price tage of the dress, she steps up on her very tippy toes to grab the head band that coordinates. A girl can't have an outfit without the proper accessories, right?

There we were, in Gymboree with an outfit that was going to cost us $100 and poor Ronan was going to get nothing. Thank goodness for coupons, because I had one and woo hoo, it was GymBucks time. It occurred to me that if Ryan was going to be upset, I would just have to tell him I was saving HIM money. It was on sale.

We left the store, poorer. But Riley was happier and looking forward to the day she would be able to wear the dress. And on July 12th, the morning of her party, she modeled it for all of us to see. Here she is with Ronan before we left for her party:

The party was exhausting. There were a ton of screaming kids and not enough alcohol (or not any, I should say...) and I left there knowing that I will only be the mother of two children. Riley and her friend, Hannah, had a great time and it was good to see them both so happy to be around their school friends. Hannah's mom, Lori, and I have decided: Never Again. It was way too much work. I'm spoiled. I like things planned for me. I think the next party will be an all-inclusive one. One where you show up with your kid and their friends, they wear them all out with some sort of activity, you eat cake, open presents and then you go home. And THEY clean up! Anyway...thanks to everyone who came and shared this special once-in-a-lifetime 6th birthday party with Riley.

So for my birthday, Ryan got mii a Wii. And with it came the Wii Fit and Mario Kart. I love the Wii. It's a family affair, for sure. What's great about it, is that there aren't a ton of buttons to press when you want to play a game, so it is extremely kid friendly and the games we have are so entertaining...not just for me, but for Ronan, as well. He loves the Mario Kart game. We didn't have a controller hooked up for him, but gave him the empty wheel to play with and he sat, completely content, feeling as though he was actually part of the game. And here are all my kids, I mean, the kids and Ryan...enjoying a race around Coconut Mall. Even when you are in last place on this game, it's still fun. Frustrating at times? Yes, but fun.

Even Riley got into it. She generally gets upset if she loses (can you say, 'sore loser'?) but this game is so fun that she didn't even really think about it...not until they give you the score at the end and she had a big fat ZERO. As Ryan says, "Zero is so much better than a negative one, Riley."

And I say, "yes, Ryan...except if you are talking about pounds."

And what week would be complete without Dinner with Shelley Wednesdays? I'll tell you what week. Last week, Shelley thought she was entitled to some sort of vacation at the beach and left us high and dry for our Wednesday dinner (mind you, that was my actual birthday she missed...feeling guilty yet?) Kidding. But, she made it up to us by taking Ryan and I out to our new favorite Mexican restaurant, Sinigual, on Monday...and then she and Elsie came over for Pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) on Wednesday.

If you haven't ever had Pho, you need to find a Vietnamese restaurant and try it. The first time Ryan had it was when we were dating. He didn't think he would like it -- but he loved it. Since my mom has been here, we've/she's made it every other week. It's been such a treat and now that I know how to do it, I'll be able to make this Pho Soup for the Soul on occasion. It's delish.

Here are Shelley and Riley...they love each other...

And someone, thank you Shelley, thought it would be a good idea to put poor little Elsie in Ronan's shopping cart for Mr. Crazy to push around. Surprisingly, Ronan was very gentle and loved the fact there was a tiny being for him to push. He must've gone back and forth in the living room over a dozen times with her. He had the biggest smile on his face and was like the gentle giant when he would pet her. Truly, one of the cutest things ever.

And speaking of Ronan, he's made some accomplishments these past few days. He's starting to add a few words here and there and his latest word is: "GO!"

Ryan will make the kids run from one side of the house to the other -- to get them tired -- and will make it a race, screaming "Ready, set, go!" and within the past two days, I've found Ronan standing in the kitchen, yelling "go" to himself and running back and forth. It's so funny and it's a happy moment all at the same time.

I didn't think I would be that happy to hear him say things. With Riley, talking came so easy. She'd repeat everything I'd say, almost like a parrot. Her pronounciation of words was impeccable. With Ronan, it's been so much more difficult and heart-wrenching...only because I know and have seen him get so frustrated and upset over not being able to get us to understand what he wants. We are back to the pediatrician on Monday for his well-visit and hopefully then, I'll be able to get some input about what the next step will be about his speech and whether or not he'll need a speech therapist. We shall see...

Mini-Update

Hi Friends!

Sorry for those of you that arrived at the blog only to find it blocked.  My in-laws might have possibly gained access to my blog...something I was trying to avoid, so I had to think quick and do something.  

I've learned that "family" is such a loose term these days.  We've been blessed with friends that have become our family and that care about us and for that, I feel lucky.  Because I love my husband and my children, I want to protect them from evil people and unfortunately, we have that in our lives.  I choose to keep my children surrounded by positive people.  I want them to be loved by people that not only love them as little people, but love us, too.  

So much has happened between my in-laws and us that I couldn't even go into it without writing a book (which I'm seriously considering), but after I found out that they possibly were able to see pictures of my precious little ones, I had to put an end to it.

I'm sure there are some of you out there that would say to me, "Maria, life is too short... mend those relationships for your kids..." etc.  And I understand that, but for us, we've been through it too many times and for too long to deal with it anymore.  I'm just emotionally exhausted by them...and unfortunately for them, I have the mean emails they've sent to prove it all.  

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back to my normal happy posting soon.  I just need to let it out now before I explode and end up on Dr. Phil or something.

Thanks for caring....

Breach of Security

I know that the internet is not the best place to put information you don't necessarily want public. For me, it's not the public I was scared of. It was my in-laws.

Unfortunately, I have come to believe that they have somehow gained access to this site and so sadly, I am going to have to cease and desist any future posts.

I'm sure I will start up a new blog soon and those of you who are interested in reading about our crazy life can leave a comment and I'll be sure to include you in the email list (if you give it to me) for a new blog address update.

Thanks for reading.

Purge, purge, purge!!!

I lost it today.  I flipped a lid and any patience I have had in me -- left my body within a matter of seconds.  Why?  Do you have an hour?  

I know kids make messes.  I'm fine with it.  I know everything can be cleaned up and put away within a matter of minutes and it's done.  BUT, for the past 2 months, what Riley considers to be 'cleaning' her room, is basically a 'shove it in a corner or a drawer and cover it with more stuff' session.  

With her birthday party in 2 days and knowing that more junk, I mean toys, are coming...I told her it was time to purge.  To a 6-year-old, it was the end of the world.  I grabbed all the drawers to her art table, pulled out all toys in the corners of the room and dumped it in the middle of her floor.  She looked at me, stunned, and for the first time in a while, she had fear in her eyes.  

I was a different person.  I grabbed 3 garbage bags and started throwing her treasures away.  I looked at her and gave her a warning to save what she could because what was still on the floor and in my path, was getting tossed.  Mean?  I'm sure I was.  But I really felt like she needed to see me follow through with my threats of throwing things away in order to understand I meant business.  

I filled up three bags.  Say good-bye to the stuffed animals that were collecting dust and mites, adios to the toys that were missing shoes and ciao to the naked Barbies who looked like they had been through something illegal.  Within 20 minutes, the floor was visible again and Riley's fear of my trash wrath was over.  She began to help me out.

Which is where I started to wonder what I had taught her all these years about cleaning.  I was the one doing it all.  I would send her off to play while I reorganized and cleaned her bedroom, and when it was clean, she would walk into this brand new bedroom -- restocked with toys, crafts and a cleared off table.  So I realized today that I had been doing it all wrong.

I am doing a disservice to her by being her personal maid.  How is she going to learn about how to maintain and upkeep her space if I'm the one doing it for her and then she thinks it magically appears clean?  Today, we changed that.  She was the one to put everything in its place and even though she will need lots of practice doing that, she's going to learn to keep her living quarters clean.  

I have to also say that it wasn't easy for me to throw it all away.  I'm a hoarder.  I keep a lot of stuff.  But I know that the more I hang onto things, the more lost I get in life.  I don't want Riley to be that same way.  So, I had to suck it up and watch Ryan's hard-earned money go into the trash.  It really stinks, but it was a lesson we both needed to learn.  

Riley doesn't need all that stuff.  I don't need to keep buying her things she asks for, simply because she asks.  We need to respect the stuff we already have. 

I'm in my "thirties" now...

Woo freakin' woo.  I guess I'm not at the point where I can embrace the thirties yet...since I just turned 31 less than 24 hours ago.  And you would think that since I got carded at the grocery store by a college student when I purchased my 12-pack of beer this evening that I would be elated and jumping for joy.  Nope.  Another day....another year....all blasting past me before my very eyes.  

I can't say it's all been bad, though.  Ryan got me a Wii Fit to play and although I told him I wanted it, subconsciously, I have convinced myself he wants me to drop a few pounds and work out...(lol).  

My friends have been awesome and celebrated with me at lunch with Mexican take-out and funny stories about farting and adult-material not suitable for the ears of youngsters that might read this blog on occasion.  

And tonight for dinner, our neighbors, Becktor and Thalia are treating us to dinner...so I'm at least excited about that...

Don't look for any new pictures though.  Who wants to see a face covered in age spots and wrinkles.

Say "Cheese"

The man of little words is slowing adding more to the vocab. He clearly understands everything we say to him, follows direction when he feels like it and last night, he demonstrated to us that he can ham it up to the cam when he wants to. He repeated "cheese" to us and when I asked him to show us his teeth (thinking he would smile), I got a dental view of his mouth.

What a hambone.

Happy 6th Birthday, Riley!

(Riley at 1 day old.)

For 6 years, I've been a mom. And the nine months leading up to Riley's arrival to this world, I dreamt about what motherhood would be like, who she would look like, what her personality would be and feared all the things I would do wrong. I remember the adrenaline rushing through my body as the doctor was delivering her (and I couldn't feel a think, THANK YOU EPIDURAL!) and truly how scared I was of the unknown.

I didn't know how to hold a baby.

Were we sure her head wasn't going to fall off if I didn't support it properly? And was it a good idea that the hospital let us leave with her, only two days later, knowing that these 25-year-old parents knew nothing? Probably not...but here we are, 6 years later...and I have this truly amazing daughter who teaches me everyday what it means to love unconditionally.

She tells Ryan and I that she wants to live with us forever, or "until she is big," whatever comes first, I guess. And we are okay with it -- as long as she knows that when she and Ronan are older, momma and daddy are going on vacation alone! Ha ha. But, it's the innocence in all Riley says and does that makes me look forward all the birthdays she has ahead of her!

And of course, it's still a learning process for us. There are days I probably say things to her I shouldn't and times I stand in the hallway trying to think of how to respond to her latest question or tantrum. I'll probably have to pay for her therapy for all the ups and downs we'll have, but the greatest thing is, is that I'll probably be there with her!

I love you, nug. Happy 6th birthday!

And this year, we couldn't go completely nuts with lavish gifts, but she did get a very nice present. The "Entendo DS" and something she really wanted: Heels. (They aren't real heels. They have some height to them, but they aren't stilettos or anything...)

Photo Booth Family Picture

We don't know nearly enough about our iMac as we should and barely take advantage of all the fun features it has to offer.  Sometimes, we remember we have these applications and yesterday was one of those days.  We have maybe a dozen family pictures and this is one to add to the collection.  Amazingly, we are all happy and smiling for the camera.

Happy Soon-to-Be Baby, Joanna!

Our friend, Joanna, is 35 weeks pregnant today and practically ready to give birth! Her baby shower was today and Becky and I were able to celebrate with her and all her friends and family...the upcoming arrival of her baby boy, [name has yet to be decided.]

Can't wait to meet Christopher's new baby brother!!!  Hurry up and get here!

(Jaci -- Joanna's sister, me, Joanna and Becky)

Say it again, Riley?

"Daddy has physical pair-of-peas."

Now picture me and my sick mind thinking, 'tell me she's not talking about what I think she is and please tell me it's not time to have THE TALK'?

Translation:

Daddy has physical therapy.

Thank goodness.

Happy Independence Day!

It just isn't right that the only thing my daughter knows about these types of holidays is that there are huge sales (I mean, it's cute, but not right!) I know that Ryan and I have to put a little more effort into explaining the meaning of all the holidays we celebrate -- but for this time being, my kids will know that it's a time to spend with friends...and that we did!

The day was filled with lots of fattening picnic foods, laughter, RAYSball, and of course, fireworks. Vic and Ryan went fireworks shopping with baby Thalia early that morning and what I thought was going to be just sparklers and flaming turds became massive explosions of mortars...24 of them! If you saw the mini show we had going on in our street, you would have said it could not be legal, but alas, they were "BARELY LEGAL."

We had a great time and can't wait until the next get-together...but until then, here are some pictures I had to share:

This is Riley's friend, Hannah (they share the same exact birthday!):

My bingo-babe friend, Mandy and her daughter, Haley.

A rare picture of Riley and Ronan together -- with the amount of people we had running around, they didn't find the need to play with one another at all!

All the dad's chillin' on the couch (and Abbey too!):

The girls (me, baby Thalia, Becky, Lori and Mandy):

Baby Thalia and Becky (Thalia is wearing outfit #1 of her two outfits she had for that day...isn't she just so stinkin' sweet?):Little short man, happy as a clam, running around the house chasing after something:

Ryan and Riley, holding some sort of firework -- as I reluctantly watch on:And the best picture of the night...Vic and Ronan getting ready to put on the biggest firework show our street has ever seen. If you look up the definition of "crazy," you would see a picture of Ronan. He saw Vic setting it all up and walked into the street and planted his little butt down, as if he was just going to help out. And no, there were no cars driving down the street or else we wouldn't have let him run out there...

Little Bit of Our Day

Ronan's crazy. There is nothing more I can really say about that. He's a boy and so I've been told, boys are crazy. Well, leave it up to Ronan to fit that mold perfectly. He's a momma's boy and in the tender moments of life when he's hugging me, giving me kisses and calling for me, I love it. Other days, I wish he would just play with his toys and his sister. On this day, he wasn't playing with his toys OR his sister. He wanted me to hold him ALL DAY LONG. And when I put him down on the floor next to me, this is the look I got:
And Riley, oh, Miss Riley. Riley's not one to play with toys either. We buy her toys that she will stand in the middle of an aisle and beg us for and within 15 minutes of opening it at home, she's either missing a piece or forgot she even got it to begin with. She's always been more on the artsy side and if you give her a stack of newly sharpened colored pencils and some paper, the girl will go to town. Surprisingly, she was the same way with a MATH book.

I told Riley the other day that she needs to exercise her brain like she exercises her body in gymnastics. She looked at me like I was whacked. But, it's true. She's been obsessed with Camp Rock (thanks DVR) and when she watches that, she is in a trance. It's the kind of trance where you say her name a dozen times and she still doesn't hear you. So, I had enough. I whipped out the school books I've been buying and forced her (like a boot camp instructor) to add numbers upon numbers together. She learned to add a few columns together and instead of arguing about doing "homework," this is what I got to see:

She told us that day that she loves math and loves to do homework. I'm posting this so that in years when she tells us that 'school sucks' or she 'hates homework,' I have something to show her. Multiplication tables, here we come! (I'm kidding, I'm saving that stuff for next week!)

I'm On Fire

The nice thing about having my mom here visiting, for me, is that Ryan and I have the chance to get out for a couple hours here and there... and last night, we spent it with some friends at Sally O'Brien's in Riverview. What we thought was just a night of drinks and food turned out to be much more than that!

It was KARAOKE night! Now, you might think because I'm Asian that I would have been all over that (Shelley, that was for you!), but I am the last person that would ever subject others to hearing the wrath of my singing voice. Let's just say my own child has asked me to stop singing. But this was right up Ryan's alley. After a few Blue Moon's and a couple shots of Jager Bombs, there was my Ryan singing "I'm on Fire" by the Boss.

Others in our group made it up to the stage too and it was sad to have to leave after only being there for 2 1/2 hours, but it was a great time and we're ready for the next Karaoke night. Of course, I'll be there watching, not singing.

Deep Thought of the Day: by Riley Egal

"Momma, wherever I tell you I am going, that's where I'm gonna be, okay?"

And it would be just sinful if I didn't share this funny little story with you from very early this morning.  

I was still lying in bed at 7:05 a.m., when I hear Riley scream to my mom to get her some cereal. This is what I heard:

"Ngoai (which is 'grandma' in Vietnamese), can you come he-yah (here)?  You get that for me? Not too much. Just lee-tall (little) beat (bit) plea (please)?"  

She has completely adapted her vocabulary and pronunciation of words to fit her conversations with my mom and amazingly, they both understand each other.  Funny.

Not 'Ordinarily Crazy' Week

What generally seems to be hectic and unmanageable, didn't seem so much like that this week -- or maybe I'm losing my memory and that's why I haven't blogged about it!

We did have some fun this week, though. Riley spent the mornings back at camp, which left Ronan and I off to do our own thing. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Definitely fun for an 18-month-old, don't you think? But, I'm grooming him to be a good husband someday. Anyway, Thursday, I was called by Riley's gymnastics coaches telling me Riley wasn't feeling good and her throat hurt. Off to the doctor we went and our little Miss Thang was diagnosed with a case of the Thursdays. I'm kidding. She had strep. So, we drugged her up with antibiotics and made her rest.

This is a picture of Riley after her first two doses of medication. Does this look like a sick child to you?

On Friday, Ryan asked us to visit him at work and have lunch with him. How could we refuse a request like that?! We ate at Tijuana Flats and then the kids got to play right outside of his office (which is right on the water. Imagine that, a Coast Guard office, right on the water.)

Then on Saturday, Riley and I had an entire day semi-planned out with Shelley and Emily. We headed out to Orlando (home of the Mouse) to the Stampfest and then to Downtown Disney for lunch and window shopping. Lunch was delish! If you ever have a chance to eat at Raglan Road, you have to try it. We ate there during our vacation and fell in love with it...Shepherd's Pie, baby. Yum.

But the day didn't end there. Nope. We had to have dessert and rather than re-mortgage one of our houses to have 1 scoop at Ghiradelli, we drove to Cracker Barrell for their milkshakes, frozen strawberry pie and vanilla ice cream.

Think we were done? Absolutely not! It's not a complete day unless you stop at a scrapbook store, too. I had never been to Violette's in Lakeland, so we had to make a quick trip there to check it out...I mean, really, it was "on the way home." After perusing every room and touching all the paper, I spent $10 (proud of me or what?!) on some pretty papers and yes, we then headed home.

Today, poor Ryan had to work, and since Shelley couldn't get enough of us yesterday -- she invited us over for a pool party. Ronan had to sport the new outfit Shelley bought him from Cracker Barrell:

The front has a tractor on it and says "Loader." and fittingly, on the back it says "Dumper." Something only an 18-month-old Ronan could wear, I think. And yes, that afternoon, he definitely lived up to that...(I'm gross, I know.)