Happy Birthday Phoebe Jean!

I'd like to wish our girl a Happy Birthday! She has been a blessing to us since she arrived in this world 5 years ago today. We love you Phoebe Jean and we're thankful for you, each and every day!  

Today was a vacation day for me. I took Phoebe to school then went shopping at Target, came home and took care of a few things from work, then went and picked Phoebe up early. 

We let her choose where she wanted to have dinner and we all headed to Pei Wei (Mommy, Daddy, TeTe, MawMaw Jeannie, Nanny, Uncle Ruby, Aidan & Evan). After dinner, all of us, except Dadda, went to Second Baptist Church for the Kids Crazy Christmas Show. We had a wonderful time! 

 

Then we headed back to the house to sing happy birthday, eat cake and open presents. We unfortunately had to say our goodbyes to TeTe & MawMaw since they'll be heading back home in the morning. :( But it was great to have them here for a visit. 

All in all Phoebe's birthday was a perfect day! 

As of today, she weighs 33 lbs and is 38" tall.

LaKay's Voice

Please help spread the word. This is for a friend whose daughter has cerebral palsy.

Joyful Noise Choir Concert (Phoebe, Aidan, Evan)

The kids sang in the choir concert at Kingwood First Baptist today. After the program was over, we all headed to Sharky's to congratulate them on a job well done! They were great! But Aidan stood behind Evan so we couldn't get many pictures or video of him. At Sharky's the kids got a rice krispie treat in the shape of a shark, they were given food coloring, paint brushes and sprinkles to decorate their shark. It was really cute & the treat was tasty too!

Celebration in the Oaks

Ms Tess & Mr Mike took us to Celebration in the Oaks on Friday, Nov 26, 2010. This was Phoebe's first visit, and mine as well. We went there after having Thanksgiving dinner, we expected to do the drive thru to see the lights. Well little did we know, they haven't had that since Katrina! It was freezing outside and we weren't prepared, but we roughed it since we were all so excited to go. We had a lovely time! Phoebe got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas and we took a group picture with Santa. We drank lots of hot chocolate (thanks for the recommendation Agg!).

Planning Phoebe's 5th Birthday Party

9/5/10 - I'm trying to get a head start and begin planning Phoebe's birthday party. We're thinking of doing it after Christmas so it's not so crazy for everyone. We asked her what kind of party she wanted and she's been saying Tinkerbell. So I'm thinking we can do a Tinkerbell and pirates party, so the boys can enjoy it too. We asked where she wanted to have it and she said "at my home". We offered several ideas but she kept saying home. So we are considering having it at the house and renting a Tinkerbell space walk. If you have any suggestions or ideas on party ideas and favor ideas, I'm all ears! She'll be 5, her friends from school are 4 and 5.

10/10/10 - Update on Party Ideas - For the Tinkerbell/Pirates party, we're thinking of getting fairy wings and pirate hats or swords for the kids to decorate themselves. (these haven't been easy to find so let me know if you know a place I can buy these at a decent price) We can also do face painting and paint pirate patches on the boys and maybe put pixie dust / body glitter on the girls. We can spray everyone's hair different colors.

11/13/10 - Another update - I received a great idea of doing Message in a Bottle invitations! (thank you Ms Tess!) I was thinking of making them myself, but I know I really won't have the time, so I'll probably just purchase the kits. I found sword and eye patch packages at a decent price online, so I think we've got that covered. I just need to think of some activities to keep the kids happy and busy!

And we set the date! We're going to have her party on Saturday, January 8th... so mark your calendars!

Aidan & Evan's Fall Festival

Aidan & Evan's school held a Fall Festival last night. We met up with Tammy, Rudy and the boys there and the kids had a blast! They played games, went on an inflatable titanic, got their hair sprayed different colors, had their faces painted, and then danced for about an hour!

Phoebe's 2010 Class Pictures

Taken September 24, 2010 at Little Friends Preschool.

Learning to Talk to Him

Mike and I say prayers together every night with Phoebe, but we recently agreed that we need to change it up. She should learn to pray, so she's comfortable talking to God. So in my Mom2Mom class at church Wednesday, I brought it up and got some pointers. No matter how much I want to pray, I could never find the words. I do pray, just not the way I would like to. I want to learn more and get more comfortable talking to God, so I can share this with Phoebe. We started off by asking Phoebe to say her usual "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer and then asked her to tell God what she is thankful for. Here was her first shot at it "Thank you for my friends and family, my health, thank you for Jesus and God and the children, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen".

And today we started a thankfulness journal. I asked her to write down some things she's thankful for. Here is what she was thankful for today: fruit, house, swing, chairs, Jesus, God.   =)

Thanks Connie from Mom2Mom for sending me the info on praying with your children. And thanks to Sally W. for the prayer parent book, it will certainly come in handy! I really appreciate that you ladies thought of us!

Finally, after 33 years, I will be baptized!

I will be joined into the love and grace of God's family through baptism on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 10:45am.

Tammy surprised me with a bible, the NIV version.

My hubby surprised me with my first cross necklace, which I have always wanted!

Kelsey Call - Camera Class 10.9.10

I attended Kelsey's camera class today and learned lots about our camera and lighting! Here are some shots that I took of our "model" today. =) She was awesome! The pic above is one of my faves of her.

Click on the slideshow below to view the rest!

RIP Benjamin Moreno V

My cousin's son, that just turned 21 on September 29, 2010, died in a car wreck this morning. Please pray for the Moreno's and Ben's friends. Such a tragic loss.



Benjamin Joseph Ben Moreno V Obituary: View Benjamin Moreno's Obituary by The Times-Picayune

Benjamin Joseph "Ben" Moreno V
| Visit Guest Book

MORENO Benjamin "Ben" Joseph Moreno V passed away on Friday, October 08, 2010, at the age of 21. Ben was a native of Kenner, LA and a resident of Covington, LA. Beloved son of Amie Drolla Moreno and Benjamin J. Moreno IV. Brother of Jessica Ann Moreno and Justin Daniel Moreno. Grandson of Liz Lightell Ancalade and Larry Ancalade, Daniel Drolla, Benjamin Moreno III, and the late Cheryl Ann Moreno. Great-grandson of Anna Bea Lightell and the late Joe Lightell. Ben attended Archbishop Rummel High School his freshman year. He was a 2007 graduate of Covington High School and was attending Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, LA. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Service in the Chapel of Bagnell & Son Funeral Home, 75212 Lee Road, Covington, LA 70435 on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. Visitation from 10:00 am until service time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ben J. Moreno Memorial Fund at any Capital One Bank. To view and sign the family guest book, please visit www.bagnellfuneralhome.com.


Covington_man_killed_four_others injured.html

 

Phoebe's 1st Visit to City Park & Storyland (and mine too!) 9-25-10

We were in town for Mikey's 15yr high school reunion, which we attended on Friday night in New Orleans. His parents had plans for us to go on the peddle boats in City Park on Saturday. When we got there, it was raining with some lightening, so we decided to drive through the park until the rain stopped. It was then that everyone discovered I had never been to City Park, or Storyland. Mrs. Tess and Mr. Mike were determined to show me everything, it ended up being like a family vacation, in New Orleans! Phoebe loved the park and the trees, then she loved seeing everything in Storyland! It was certainly a memorable trip.

Here are some pictures from our trip/vacation. :) Mikey took some good pictures at City Park. (clicking on the slideshow will take you to the album for a better view)

Crown Making and Costume Ordering Weekend =)

Saturday morning we made princess crowns for Phoebe, me, Lightning and Minnie.. using the make your own tiara kit. We had fun making them.





Phoebe decided to wear hers to Sunday school, but she also decided to take Minnie and Lightning for a ride to church and ended up losing their crowns.

We ordered Phoebe's Halloween costume. We let her pick it out and she chose Princess Jasmine from Aladdin (that's her favorite movie right now). I love getting these things taken care of before the last minute! And hopefully we'll be able to take a good picture of her wearing it so we can send out Halloween cards again this year! :)

Wand Making and Move Watching Weekend =)

Saturday morning we made Phoebe's wand, using a make it yourself kit that Nanny got for her. It came out great and we had fun making it!



She just wanted to pose for this one ;)



We went to the movies Sunday, to see Cats vs Dogs, the revenge of Kitty Galore. We were about an hour and a half into it when Phoebe said she was ready to go. She gets so excited to go to the movies, but she never wants to sit through an entire show. She'd rather have it on at home in the background while she chases after Jack or draws her artwork. :)

I truly love him so...

I love my husband, he's such a selfless, loving, caring man and don't get me started on how great of a father he is. I really do have it made. And I am thankful everyday for this wonderful family of mine. Just had to take a moment to share that. :)

Why Do I Love Kingwood? Let me count the ways...

People have always asked me if I like it here, in Kingwood. I always say that I love it and it's kid friendly. But Mikey said something recently that truly made me realize why I love it. We were going to the 4th of July celebration at Town Center. They have booths set up, a stage, music, grass so you can lay out a blanket or just sit in the grass, space walks and food. Mikey made the statement that we couldn't expect anything like this in St Bernard. And we all realized that if there was an event like this in St Bernard, that there would be smoking, fighting, cursing, drunks, people walking around half naked and just having no respect for anyone, not even themselves. It's the complete opposite here, the place is packed with local teens hanging out and families with their children, if people are drinking, they're holding it together pretty well because you sure can't tell, there's no cursing, I have yet to see anyone smoking in the midst of the events. So when I say it's kid friendly here, it truly is. And that is why we love it here. Of course I'd love to be close to my family in LA, but we have a 4 year old to raise and this just seems like the better choice for her. I'm not criticizing the people in St Bernard, I used to love it too, but now that I'm a Mom and I have seen what else is out there, and what I can offer my child, it's an easy choice to make. She comes first, and that's the way it should be.

Every Move I Make _ by Phoebe 7/22/10

Dentist Appt tomorrow

Phoebe has an appointment with Dr Butler tomorrow morning. I am hoping that she will cooperate. She did okay last time but was still a little terrified from her first experience (with that horrible dentist!). Tomorrow we're hoping to get her teeth cleaned. I'll post an update after we get back. Say a prayer and/or wish us luck!

Phoebe did amazing at the dentist! She let them floss and polish her teeth! We let her choose where she wanted to eat after and we all went to Wendy's for lunch. We are so proud of her!!!

Update on Swim Lessons

Phoebe had her 2nd swim lesson today. I wasn't able to go this time, but Michael and Phoebe gave me the report once they got home. She put her head all the way back in the water, and started learning how to float on her back. We bought her some goggles the other day and she went underwater 3 times with Ms. Stacia today! I asked if she wore the goggles and she said yes and she said she kept her eyes open underwater. I'm really glad that we chose Ms. Stacia because Phoebe is really cooperative with her.

Swim Lessons for Phoebe!

Phoebe will begin private swimming lessons Wednesday evening. Let's hope all goes well and she at least gets in the water! :) I really don't want her to go through life not knowing how to swim. I did and I missed out on so many activities with my friends. So keep your fingers crossed that this will work out! I'll post an update after her first lesson.

6/30/10 - Phoebe had her first lesson today. She did great! She learned to put her mouth under the water and blow bubbles, she learned to kick, push herself from the wall with her feet and the teacher, Ms Stacia, got her to lay on her back. Which is almost impossible, Phoebe has always had a fear of putting her ears under the water since she had tubes and couldn't do it for years, now that she's older and she can, she's scared to. But it looks like Stacia will be able to help her get past that. We have another session scheduled for tomorrow, depending on the weather of course.

Today was the day

Today was the day that I welcomed the Lord into my heart. I gave myself to Him back when I wasn't truly ready. I know that I am ready now and Tammy was by my side every step of the way. I felt immediate relief, it was a nice experience. Next I will be baptized. I've been waiting my whole life for this. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me.

Phoebe's getting more sleep

We've never wanted to put Phoebe in bed early because we're at work all day and want to spend as much time with her as possible. Work gets 9-10 hours of our day (after you include lunch and travel time), it's hard to think about getting home at 5 or 5:30 and eating dinner, taking baths and putting her straight to bed at 7 or so.

Well she was always used to taking naps during the day and now it's a different story. At her preschool, they are constantly doing things and Phoebe is so wound up by the time they go to lay down, that she fights herself to get tired and as soon as she's about to fall asleep, they're getting up from their nap. (It's just a 45 min rest time, they can just lay there and relax or take a quick nap) The teachers and Director told us 2 weeks ago that Phoebe seemed really tired and just not herself. So we decided that we have no choice but to put her to bed earlier. We started last Monday at 8:00, she had the tv on (in order to get her to move out of our bed and into her room, we let her keep the tv on as a comfort thing)... I checked on her a few times and she was still awake. Finally a little after 9, I turned off the tv, she said okay but then I heard her crying through the monitor. She NEVER cries so it broke my heart... but we knew it was going to be rough. I let her cry for a few minutes and she ended up walking in our bedroom, she was really upset. By this time it was 9:40 so we said to just come sleep in the bed with us and we'd start again tomorrow. It wasn't a point of giving up or giving in, it was just too late to let it go on, she needed her rest.

Tuesday we put her in bed at 8:00 without the tv and she fell asleep within minutes. She slept through the entire night and walked out of her bedroom at 7am the next morning (the time I normally wake her up). We did the same routine Wednesday and Thursday and it worked out great. On Friday evening after we got off work, me, Mikey and Tammy brought Phoebe to CiCi's to celebrate! She's getting the rest she needs and she's having much better days. It's hard having to spend less time with her, but we know that she needs this, so we'll make the sacrifice.

Speckled Frog Song 6/11/10

Phoebe singing a new song she learned in preschool this week, it's super cute! Enjoy!

Phoebe's First Ballet Recital

Phoebe performed in her first ballet recital tonight. She's been in ballet since February and she did great! We couldn't take video, although I snuck a short one of the parade, but I really wish I would've recorded the performance! We'll buy the DVD once it's ready though. Here are a few pictures, enjoy!











Here's the video, she's the 3rd little butterfly to come out =)

Happy Shark Song 6/2/10

Phoebe singing the Happy Shark song that she learned in class. I'm not sure what the name of the song really is, I just named it Happy Shark, hehe!

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

We headed to the beach first thing Saturday morning, we got there around 8:30 and stayed until about 2:00. When we first got there, Phoebe didn't want to go near the water, after a little while, she got to the very edge of the water and tried to fill her bucket, it was so cute. By the time we left, she was walking out about 20 feet in by herself and didn't want to stop. We headed home, picked up some lunch and MawMaw came over for a couple hours. Phoebe fell asleep in the car on the ride home, she was exhausted! But we all had a great time! Tammy came and picked MawMaw up and me, Mikey and Phoe went outside and washed the cars.

Then on Sunday, we headed over to Tammy & Rudy's to swim for a while. Mikey made gumbo and brought it over, everyone loved it. Jack came with us, he was walking around the pool and ended up slipping and falling in! He didn't care for that much! Then a little while later, Rudy threw him in... he still didn't care for the water. :) Phoebe wanted to stay and sleep over, so the hubby and I headed home around 5:30. I got a few things done around the house and with home videos (converting them and putting them on dvd) and then we watched Sherlock Holmes (good movie!). A storm came through and knocked the power out 2 or 3 times, but it didn't stay off long.

On Monday, I went and picked up Phoebe from Tammy's, hung out for a bit and then we headed home. Mikey woke up with a migraine so he stayed behind. We hung out around the house for a while, cooked some lunch and then Tam and Ru invited us bowling, so we headed over to the bowling alley, the kids had a great time! Then we went to the grocery and then home and stayed there! It was a fun-filled weekend! Pictures and videos to be posted soon!

Phoebe's Class Ceremony 05.28.10

The learning center that Phoebe attends had a celebration today. One was the preschool graduation for the kids going to Kindergarten next year. And the other was for the class that's moving up to Pre-K next year. It was so cute!

I'm hoping to post videos soon, but they are too large for You Tube, so I'm trying to figure out what to do to get them online. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures! (Click on the slide-show to view the pictures larger)

Aidan & Evan's Preschool Graduation! 5/27/10

Aidan & Evan graduated Preschool and will be heading to Kindergarten next year! Where do the years go??! They were so adorable in their cap and gown. And Phoebe was there to show support for her cousins. :) After the graduation, we headed to CiCi's Pizza to celebrate!

Phoebe's Mini Olympics 5/24/10

Today was Mini Olympics at Phoebe's gymnastics school. We were able to go and watch them demonstrate all that they've learned this year. Mom, Tammy, Aidan & Evan were there to cheer her on. They all received award ribbons for their achievements. And Nanny and cousins gave her a ballerina chain and a "Love Niece Always" charm bracelet. She loved them! She did a great job showing off her skills! :) We are all so very proud of her.





Her cousins Aidan & Evan, always there to show their support :)


Tammy, the greatest Nanny ever...


MawMaw, so glad she was in town to show her support :)


And let's not forget me, the greatest Mommy ever! =)




Thanks Tammy for being my camera girl while I was taking video!

Matthew's Graduation & Grad Party 5/22/10

Matthew's graduation party was great, they had a 28 foot water slide, a dunk tank and boiled crawfish. All the kids and graduates... and adults had a blast! Phoebe went down the water slide w/Taylor but she cried when they got to the bottom. The thing was pretty high so I don't blame her for getting scared.







But Phoebe had fun jumping in the spacewalk and playing with Maddi. And Maddi just loves her some Phoebe :)




It ended up being a great weekend! Except Mikey didn't get his tattoo and the drive home was horrible! We got stuck on the Paris Rd bridge for 2 hours. There was a 3 car accident at the bottom of the bridge. The National Guard ended up coming out and turning everyone around on the bridge. We left at 9am and got home around 5... and it usually takes us 5 1/2 hours to get home. But regardless, we made it home safely so all is good!

Matthew's Graduating!

My nephew Matthew is graduating Saturday! We're leaving tomorrow after work to go to Nola. Will probably spend the night by Aggie's in Arabi. The graduation is Saturday at 9am in Metairie. They're having a grad party for Matthew and his girlfriend Britney that afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting to spend time with the family. We've gone in twice in the past month and I've only seen them for minutes each time. So this time I'm guaranteed a few hours! Lol! Then we'll head back Sunday. Mikey is supposed to get his tattoo, we'll see how that goes.

Little Family Outing

It was a gloomy morning and there wasn't much we could do, but we were all itching to get out of the house and do something together. So we all got dressed and took a ride to the mall to walk around and have lunch. Phoebe picked out some navy blue Converse from Journeys and they looked so cute on her. Mikey got him some white dress shoes and we went to Dillards to get my Angel perfume refilled. Then we headed over to Icing and Phoebe saw these silver butterfly earrings that she had to have! We stopped at Claire's and got her some fashionista sunglasses, lol! We had lunch and headed home, Phoebe fell asleep right before we got to the house. She's going to sleep by Nanny's tonight so it's probably best if she gets her rest now, hehe! And we'll meet up at church in the morning, so it's going to be a nice weekend home. We went to Nola last weekend and we are heading there again next weekend for Matthew's graduation, so we were hoping to have a nice, relaxing weekend. So far so good!

CHS Class of '95 High School Reunion 5/8/10

We went in for my 15 year high school reunion this past weekend. It was held at The Napoleon House in the FQ. We had a great time! Getting ready was so much fun! I wasn't able to attend any proms so it was fun to get ready and take pictures before. Mrs. Tess (my mother in law) even helped me with my hair. =) The reunion was from 7-9:30 and then we all headed to BBC then Gold Mine. Aggie & Shannon met us at BBC and we all had so much fun! My hips are so sore from dancing so much! Mikey drank water all night and he was up all night getting sick from a migraine... and he felt horrible all day Sunday. Poor thing was feeling bad while we were out but he kept quiet and didn't tell me he had a headache. I felt fine Sunday, just a little dehydrated and tired, but it was well worth it! We went by Aggie's on Sunday for a Mother's Day get together. I was able to see my whole family (that still lives in LA), even my Grandma! We couldn't stay long since we had to drive back...and my hubby was still feeling pretty bad, but we'll be heading back there in 2 weeks for my nephew's graduation.

Phoebe's Recital Costume Rehearsal - So Beautiful =)

Domino's Chicken Kickers!

We ordered pizza and chicken kickers since the boys were coming to spend the night. Well the hubby and I ate all but 2 of the 10 pc chicken kickers... I went to tear one in half (I was just biting into them) and this is what I found:






And most of you know the story of me and chicken. I received chicken that was raw in the middle from Popeyes and Chick-fil-A before. So I'm pretty picky with chicken. As you can see, I have no luck! This just turned my stomach, again.