Gabriela's 1st day of School

Saturday with Gabriela (updated with pics 8/28/07)

I spent the day with Gabriela on Saturday. It was our time to celebrate the big moment - first day of school! It's still hard to believe that Gabriela started Kindergarten today! (See pictures posted in the next blog)


We started off with a trip to the car wash (which Gabriela informed me the car was in desperate need of). While at the car wash, we shared a bag of free popcorn and the only drink in the coke machine, a Diet Coke. We then proceeded to Target, where I told Gabriela we were going to shop for some new clothes for school.

G: "But, CC, I already got a new outfit for my first day of school. I can't wear more than one outfit."
CC: "There will be other days, Gabriela."
G: "Oh yeah, you're right. Let's get shopping!"

And off we went. I told Gabriela to pick out a FEW things that she liked and put them in the basket. Then we would evaluate the choices and go from there. She picked out one dress, then another, and another and oh yeah, one more, a pair of jeans, 2 t-shirts, 1 (UGLY UGLY) jacket and (just as ugly) pants and 2 sweat-suits. WOW! That's a lot of stuff and much more than what I was looking to get...but I did tell her to pick things out.

CC: "Ok, Gabriela, these are all the things that you like but remember, CC can't buy all of these for you. You're going to have to choose."
G: "Yes, I know....you're CC, not Tia" (referring to her more wealthy aunt :) {Indeed I am}
CC: "You can have 2 dresses (eliminated from 4), 1 pair of pants (choice of 5) and 2 shirts."

After much deliberation, she picked out her favorites and away we were. But not before hitting the school supply aisle, JUST IN CASE, there was something there she couldn't live without! Sure enough, we found it! A folder with puppies on it. I figured I could splurge the 99 cents!


(I didn't get any pics of Gabriela with her clothes, but clothes-horse Maya managed to try on one of Gabriela's new dresses to model for us)



Off to lunch.....
CC: "Where do you want to go for lunch?"
G: "How about the hog dog place (aka James Coney Island).
CC: "Sure, the hot dog place it is."
{driving by Olive Garden.....}
G: "Noooooo wait, we need to go to Olive Garden. I want their bread and fettuccine and Black Tie Moussecake."
CC: "Isn't there some other place we can go? (I really did not want to go to Olive Garden) She was quite adamant that Olive Garden was the place to go. Thankfully, we soon drove by FUDDRUCKERS....
G: "Noooo, let's go to Fuddruckers."
CC: "Ok, sure!" And I immediately turned in, before she could change her mind.


Once we were finished with our lunch, Gabriela and I went to The Potter's Wheel - a paint your own pottery store. Gabriela had never done this type of painting before and she just had a great time. She was able to pick out a stand-up pony and a cross to paint. I'll just leave the pictures to show the great time we had and what a creative artist she is!
Whew ~ what a day. Gabriela didn't want to go home, but the day had come to an end. We were tired but made some incredible memories. Can you say just a little bit tired? ha!


Gabriela is such a sweet and bright child (wonder who's influence that is caused by? ;) She really is a joy to my heart. It was fun to spend the day with you Gabriela. CC loves you sooo much! I hope that you have the best time in Kindergarten this year...and yes, I'll be sure to come and have lunch with you one day at school real soon!

A few funny stories....

I stopped by to see the girls the other day - unannounced...oh my! I was greeted at the door by 3 jubulant faces and the ring of CC everywhere. Then boom....the firing squad hit with the questions....

Gabriela: "Why are you here, CC? It's not Saturday? Why aren't you working?" "What's a vacation day?" "Are you going somewhere?"Isabela: "Where's Uncle? Is he working?"Maya: "CC....love you. Do you have any gum? Can I have some gum?"

See where I actually fit in there? ha!

Reading books
The girls wanted me to read some books to them, so they picked out some really old books that we haven't read in a while. Isabela picked out one called "My Food - Mi Comida" It's one that shows the foods in English and Spanish. Before I could start, Gabriela saw the book and proceeded to say:

G: "CC, I don't what to read any books in Spanish. You can't speak Spanish."
C: "I can read this book in Spanish. I know how to speak Spanish." So I began to read the book to Isabela.
G: "Wow, CC, I was wrong. You do know how to speak Spanish. Pretty good!"

Call the Police!
Maya & Isabela decided to play hairdresser with me; messing up my hair, pretending to wash it, put barretts and pony tails in, etc. Here's a glimpse into our conversation:

I: "CC, you have beautiful hair. Let me wash it for you. Ok, good. Let me put a bow in it and a barrett and a pony tail and....oh CC, you have a big "sketa" bite on your neck (which was true)."
C: "Yep, I sure do."
I: "Maya, pick up the phone. Call the police. CC has a "sketa" bite on her neck and she needs help."
M: {picking up my cell phone and pretending to dial} "Hello, Police? We need help. My CC has a "sketa" bite. You need to hurry." {hanging up the phone, she then looks right at us and says} "The police are on their way. They'll help you, CC!"

Maya then proceeds to look at me with that side-crossed eyes and smirk and says:
"CC, I was pretending. The police really aren't coming to help you. Sorry"
.....too cute.....

Going anywhere?

As you all know from previous posts, the girls, Gabriela especially, like to go shopping with me. Yesterday was no exception. As I was getting ready to head out, Gabriela asks:

G: "So, CC, where are you going after you leave here?"
C: "No where really."
G: "You don't need to go anywhere?" (asking in disbelief)
C: "Nope"
G: "You're not out of anything in your house?" -- this would be the hint to go to Walmart
C: "no - I don't think so."
When Maya chimes in...."Yes, you are CC. You are out of gum."
G: "Ah-ha, CC....see, you are out of something. You need to go to Walmart to get some more gum."
Indeed, I was out of gum, but I wasn't in the mood to trek to Walmart for it. Shopping with CC would have to wait until another day.

I realize that I'm biased, but are these 3 smart girls or what? Must have something to do with the genes :)

Car seats....

Because Maya & Isabela are in carseats and Gabriela is in a booster car seat, it's easier for me to take Gabriela with me places, than one of the twins. It's a major hassle to take out the car seats and get them back in the van, etc. So if I do take all 3 girls with me somewhere, I just take their van. So, Maya & Isabela know that they can't go in CC's car since I don't have a car seat.....until tonight.

I went over to Ashley's tonight to get some things she's graciously allowed us to borrow in preparation for our adoption home visit. (Even though we don't know what we're getting, we still have to be prepared?! Don't get me started on this one here.....) Thankfully, she has an extra (or 2) beautiful cribs not being used, as well as an extra car seat.

The ever ingenius Maya saw me putting the car seat in my car and here's what transpired next....

Maya: "Oh, CC ~ you are taking that car seat and putting it in your car?"

CC: "Yes, Maya. Mommy's going to let CC use it."

Maya: "Ohhhhhhh reallllllllllly...." (now, you can tell by looking at her that she believes she's made an incredible discovery) ****this pic taken at Maya's b'day party is the perfect example of the look on her face as she talks to me tonight....*******

Maya: "Guess that means that you have to take me with you in your car now. You can't leave me here anymore."

CC: "Well, yes, Maya, I guess it does!"

And they say that kids don't listen to you......ha!

Day with the girls

On Saturday, I braved it and took all 3 girls to Chuck E Cheese by myself! We've gone before but there was always an extra set of hands. It's rather difficult to keep watch over 3 with just 2 hands but we managed to survive and have lots of fun in the process.


Before we got to Chuck E Cheese, I had a conversation with the girls...I wish I had videotaped it!


CC: Now, girls, we're going to Chuck E Cheese. Who do you need to stay with at all times?
Girls: CC!
CC: Who's hand do you hold?
Girls: CC!
CC: Who do you stand by?
Girls: CC!
CC: Who do you go home with?
Girls: CC!
CC: (not knowing what they knew about strangers, I then asked) Do you know what a stranger is?
Gabriela: No, CC, what is a stranger?
CC: It is someone that you do not know.
Gabriela: So, CC, you're not a stranger, right?
CC: Right, Gabriela.
CC: So, what do you do if someone comes up to you that you don't know?
Gabriela: Run, girls, run! Run as fast as you can, scream for CC and try to find CC as fast as we can.
CC: That's right! (I was happy to know that!)


So, we go into CEC, get stamped, order our pizza, get our drinks, and start to divide the tokens. Gabriela tried to be a little sneaky and give herself a few extras, but we fixed that. We went out for a few games and rides before lunch and started gathering all the tickets. At one point, Gabriela came up to me and said...


"Oh, CC, I looked to my right and you weren't there. Thank goodness you were on my left! I thought I lost you!" (had to laugh!)


Here are a few shots of the serious fun the girls were having.....





We had our pizza, enjoyed our time together eating, and then went back to the floor to finish the tokens off.

Once we were done with CEC, we went to the mall to play on the big playground there and play with the puppies at the pet store. We couldn't leave without a cookie and Coke Icee from the Cookie Company. We formed a choo-choo train in the mall.....all of us holding hands. I'm sure a few people were wondering about the slow hold up ahead but that's ok....we were having a good time and those in a rush, could always walk around us.



By the time I close the door after getting all 3 girls in their carseats and I get in the van, I look back to say something and see all 3 girls fast asleep! Wow! That didn't take long....guess I tired them out.




As always, I loved the time spent with Gabriela, Isabela & Maya. Always a joy to have around ~ they bring much love and laughter to my heart. Love you girls!

Birthday party for 3 lovely girls....

It's hard to believe, but Gabriela turned 5 in June and Maya & Isabela turned 3 in July. Because their birthdays are just a few weeks apart, we had a joint birthday celebration. Here are just a few (ha!) snapshots of the day's major event!

Chinta did a wonderful job on the girls' cakes. Each of them had their very own. There was plenty of cake to go around! I don't know if you can see it or not, but the first cake was Gabriela's and Chi actually cut out a picture of Gabriela's face and hands and put them on the cake!

And the girls had so much fun blowing out their candles....

The girls are really into My Little Pony right now, so Gabriela informed me that I would be getting them the pony stuff. Gabriela had been very specific on which pony she wanted.... Yellow Pony with pink hair and a purple hairbrush! Are you kidding me?! I told Gabriela that I would do my best but that sometimes things don't always come the way you want them. She quickly replied, "CC, I'm sure that you will find it and get it for me." No pressure. I searched high and low for that particular pony and could not find it anywhere. I was actually beginning to stress out about it. I guess this is what a parent feels like at Christmas time, trying to find that one particular toy that their child wants. Well, on Gabriela's actual birthday, I called to wish her a happy birthday. She was at Nana & Dandy's and Nana gave her a small gift that day....the pony barn. Here's what Gabriela said....

"CC, you're never going to believe what Nana & Dandy gave me today?"

"What did you get, Gabriela?"

"I GOT A PONY BARN!" (please note all caps, as she was basically screaming it out in excitement).

"Wow, that's great Gabriela...I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it."

"Yep, I sure will, CC. I got the barn....now all I need is the pony!" I had to laugh ~ if she only knew how much I had gone through to get that specific pony....doesn't she know that I know that she needs that pony? ha!

Well, I finally found the pony. YES! Thank you Target store #4. The next day I head out to Ashley's to watch the girls when Gabriela says she wants to ask me about her birthday present ~ I knew the subject would come up.

G: "CC, you know, tomorrow we're having our birthday party."

C: "Yes, I know. Uncle & I will be there."

G: "Can you tell me about my present? How big is it? Is it what I've been wanting? You're getting me the pony house, right?"

C: (inside my head)....ummmmm...wait a second...pony house? Are you kidding me? Pony house???? What happened to the yellow pony with pink hair and a purple brush?! afte rmuch deliberation in my mind, I respond: "You'll just have to wait and see tomorrow."

G: "Well, I know that I asked you for the pony house before but you said you weren't going to get that for me, so just thought I'd ask now."

C: "Guess you'll just have to wait and see tomorrow."

So, what do you think CC did that night? Yep, went back to Target, returned the pony and bought Gabriela the pony house. Here's a picture of Gabriela opening up her gift from CC & Uncle.

I wish I had videotaped her reaction...it was priceless. Needless to say, she was more than excited about her house. She looked at the bag sheepishly, knowing that it was too large to have just the one pony in it. She said, "Um, CC....is this what I think it is?" She preceeded to open the bag and said, "CC, this is a pony house! A pony house! One that I've never seen before!" [apparently, she hadn't seen this particular one before, but thankfully it was approved :) ]

So help me, if Gabriela ever brings up the yellow pony with pink hair and a purple brush again....

Maya & Isabela loved Gabriela's pony barn so much that they wanted one for themselves. You can't buy just one of anything anymore....must be times 3!

Maya & Isabela loved the pony house too!

In the end, a fun time was had by all......and thankfully we have a whole year to prepare for birthdays #6, #4 and #4!

Happy Birthday Gabriela, Isabela & Maya.....we love you all so very much!

Fashion Show 2007

The girls love to play dress up and put on a fashion show. So, as the girls say......Ladies and Gentleman....are you ready for the fashion show? Here are Princess Fiona, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella!

Happy 5th Birthday, Gabriela!

Gabriela enjoyed spending the night over at Nana & Dandy's house for her 5th birthday. As you can see, she had lots of fun making cupcakes and being the Princess for the Day!

Father's Day 2007

Just a few snapshots of the kiddos while celebrating Father's Day at Fuddruckers.

Gabriela's hair

Gabriela came in to the house on Saturday, as they were dropping off Maya & Isabela. I had to take a picture of her with her pretty hair-do. She was just too cute. She turned 5 last week...hard to believe!

Gabriela's friend had a dress-up/fashion show party at the Mall. Here are the before and after pictures of Gabriela.


Now, that's what I call hair! Boy, was she proud of her "do"!

Maya & Isabela

Maya & Isabela came over to spend the afternoon with us on Saturday, while Gabriela went to a friend's birthday party. We had a great time together. They immediately come into the house, open up the DVD cabinet and pick out a DVD to watch. As you can see, Isabela chose The Incredibles.



After watching the movie, we fixed one of their favorite lunches....corndogs and cheetos! Yummy! The girls just love the window seat in the kitchen. They call it their perfect table.

The girls adore their Uncle and had lots of fun with him on the couch!

After all the fun, we all went to the big bed and took a nap. Boy was that interesting. Maya is a wiggle worm...is anyone surprised? Isabela is as still as anything. Again, surprised? We had a great time and love having the girls over. As they were leaving, the girls give us besos and thank us for having them over. Maya looks me straight in the eyes and says, "CC, thank you for taking care of me today. I love you sooooooo much. Miss you until next time, ok, CC?" I'll miss you too. Love you!

Waiting for Nana & Dandy

My mom and dad, now known as Nana & Dandy, were returning from their 2 week missions trip to Kenya on Friday and I was picking them up at the airport. I thought it would be fun to bring Gabriela along for the ride and surprise Nana & Dandy. She agreed!

Their flight was scheduled to arrive at 8:08pm and we arrived a few minutes early. Gabriela has a huge fascination with airplanes so we drove around a few times, checking out all the planes taking off and landing, rolling down the windows so that she could listen to the engines roar and enjoying every minute of it. That is, until a few minutes turned into 20 minutes, then 40 minutes and then over an hour...and finally the wait was over 1 hour and 10 minutes later. Yikes!

Gabriela just couldn't understand why it was taking so long. Didn't Nana & Dandy know that we were outside waiting for them? Why can't we go inside? Why do we have to keep going in circles? Why won't the man just let us park the car here? Why do we have to be the ones to pick up Nana & Dandy? Can you just take me home, CC, and the airplane can just drop Nana & Dandy off at home? I could go on...but I think you get the idea.

On one of our last circles around Terminal A, Gabriela informed me of the following: "CC, let me just tell you something. This is the last time that we come to pick up Nana & Dandy at the airport. Someone else in the family can do it next time." ~ ha! At the time, I couldn't have agreed more :) I think next time, I'll just leave the little ones behind and go at it alone with a book in the cell phone lot and wait for my dad to call and tell me they've landed.

Here's a little video I took while we were waiting...it captures us waiting as well as Gabriela's fascination with airplanes...enjoy!

Overnight Watch

Ashley & Ed were able to get away for the long weekend without the girls, but in order to do that, they needed to have babysitters available :) Friday night, the girls' Tia Marisol and Tio George stayed with them, then Saturday night was Nana & Dandy's turn, and then Sunday night was our turn. This was the first time we had watched all three girls overnight before and they did great.

We went to have pizza at Cici's Pizza (which the girls thought was really funny, since they call me CC). However, the food for horrible. We will NOT be returning to that facility again. After dinner, we walked over to Petco to see all the animals - I think all the girls should become vets! They love those animals. We returned home and they took a bubble bath in Mommy's big bath tub, and this experience was much better than the last time I bathed all 3 of them together! I think it helps with them being older this time around :). We then settled in for the night with a new Garfield movie; thankfully one that I had not seen before!

You know when you're asleep and you can just feel someone staring at you? Well, I had that sensation times 3 on Monday morning. I turn over and see 3 little faces just staring at me. Gabriela then says, "Oh good, CC. You're finally up. We're ready for breakfast!" I offered waffles but donuts were more inline with what they wanted. So, we packed everyone up in the car and drove through the donut drive-thru, came back to the house, ate breakfast, played Dora Candyland at least 8 times (we had to keep going until everyone won an equal amount of times!) and then colored some pretty pictures.

We had a great time together but can you believe that I didn't take one picture the entire time! Even as I was leaving, Gabriela said, "Um, CC...you know what? You didn't take one picture of us this whole time! I guess you've learned we haven't changed much since the last time." Oh the logic of an almost-5 year old.

I am including though, pictures from a previous visit....enjoy :)

Twins....Double the pleasure! Double the fun!

Maya & Isabela enjoying their frozen fruit snacks. Double the fun....double the mess!

Picture Perfect

I watched the girls on Friday night and of course, I brought my camera! I took this one right before we all sat down to watch the latest Veggie Tales movie. Once the picture is taken, I always here "let me see, let me see". Gabriela, who is an amateur photographer in her own right, took the camera, pushed the appropriate buttons to review the pics and here's a recap of what she said:

"Oh my goodness. Girls! Girls! Look! It's perfect! We did a great job! We are all looking at CC! We all have our eyes open and we are all smiling! We're perfect!" Perfect indeed....

The love of 3 little ones

I went over to see the girls last night, as I hadn't been able to spend much time with them lately ~ between us all being sick. I knocked on the door and suddenly 3 little faces were glaring at me through the beveled glass, trying to see who it might be. When all of a sudden the sounds of..."It's CC, it's CC!" Gabriela unlocked the door (she's can't open it up) and I walked in and found the 3 sweetest girls waiting for me with besos, smiles and of course, arms in my purse searching for gum. I guess I will forever be known as the "one with gum". They had just finished their baths and were starting to watch Turner & Hooch, the movie with Tom Hanks. I absolutely love that movie. It was so entertaining to watch it with the girls, as they provided me a play by play, moment by moment account of what was happening and going to happen. Even though I had seen this movie many times, it was fun to experience it with them all over again.

As I sat on the couch and watched Turner & Hooch with the girls, I was overwhelmed at how much these 3 little ones truly love me. I had Gabriela to my right, Isabela to my left and Maya on my lap. All three were snuggled up next to me, on me, touching me, hugging me, kissing me. At one point Maya turned around on my lap, faced me and said, "CC, miss you so much" and gave me the biggest hug. I told her that I had missed her too.

{A little background into the next story: I have always taken Gabriela with me to go shopping - always been our thing. Well the last time we went, Isabela was just devastated that I didn't take her with me. It's hard to do so because of the car seat situation. However, I did promise her that I would take her next and by herself, then Maya and then Gabriela could have another shopping trip with me. Gabriela was not too happy about it but finally agreed}

About an hour later, I told the girls that I needed to leave. Isabela said that she was going with me and the next thing we knew, she left the living room and came back with her shoes on and her purse in hand. She was ready for her shopping trip with CC. I told her that we couldn't go right now (it was 9pm). She quickly told me "CC, you said my turn next shopping. Me go with you." "Yes, you're right but it's too late. I promise to take you next time."....to which Gabriela said, "well, I can go with you too, right, CC?" I just looked at her and smiled but didn't say anything. I guess she understood the look because she responded...."I know, I know...it's Isabela's turn. Well, can you at least bring me back some gum?" Ha - it never fails!

I really am so blessed to have those 3 little girls in my life....and no greater word has been shrieked before to me than "CC!"

Samantha's 1st Birthday

Samantha turned 1 on April 25th and John & Jenny had a swimming party this past weekend to celebrate. Unfortunately, Samantha wasn't too keen of the water, but Gabriela, Isabela & Maya had a ball.

A typical conversation

Here is a typical 2 minute conversation with a 4 1/2 year old and two 2 1/2 year old girls....from the etiquette of chewing gum to a discussion of movies to the making of animal sounds....enjoy this glimpse into CC's World!

Crazy Maya

Here is a short video I took when talking to Maya the other day....it is just too funny not to share :) I just love her facial expressions.

A few snapshots of the girls at Easter