Well the day finally came and went with out a hitch. My lil' brother Tracy got married on Saturday. What a fun event it was. My wedding was nice, but I don't think it was as entertaining. Sad because the newly weds didn't get to join in the fun as much as I had hoped. But they had pictures to take! Tracy and Mary had asked DH if he would marry them. Tracy and Dan have always been close. All Dan had to do was go online and get "ordained" from some random online church so he could marry them. Mary wrote out everything she wanted Dan to say and Dan practiced and practiced. It was different then what I am used to at a wedding but I thought it was pretty cool. Dan did well and my favorite parts about the ceremony were the sand ceremony and the written vows. Glad that it is over and ready to move on. Maybe babies from them soon? I don't know. Here are some pictures of the wedding.





Life seems to have settled. No visitors, no wedding, no kid birthdays for the rest of this month.... just relaxing and enjoying time together. This week is Javi's spring break. We don't have anything planned. Going to hang out at the house. Dan might take a few days off other then that nothing. Scheduling a spa day with the girls for Mary's birthday. Kids are doing well. Getting bigger and funnier by the day. I can't believe how big Zander is getting. 18.2 pounds and not even 5 month old yet. What a big boy he is becoming. Makes me sad.... it is going by way too fast. He is my biggest baby I have had. All of other kids were small lil' things. Zander I guess is making up for that in a BIG WAY! ha ha ha.

Still stuck on my weight. No movement. I really need to buckle down and do something. UGH!!  I guess try try try and try again right? I was thinking about getting a tread-climber. I need to do a little more research on it. I have been wondering if I should get a treadmill or tread-climber. First I really need to stop eating things I shouldn't and to stop eating more then I should. Oops.... Well I thought I would sign on and update. Better get some sleep.

Today has so far been a interesting one. Woke up to Carson crying because he was getting trouble for pushing Alivia and I was unable to go back to sleep and then got into a spat with my son Javi's sister's "mom". She is not really even a mom to this girl at all. All she is, is a bully, mean, spiteful person who has no respect for anyone not even herself. Her oldest daughter comes and babysits from time to time for me    (she is awesome) and she even thinks her mom is out there. Why this women adopted these 2 wonderful girls is beyond me. She doesn't care for the older one and the younger one, I am sure will be kicked to the curb once she has this new baby. It is a long story. But here is the short one ... she was married for 13 years had one child with the husband. Was unable to have anymore children at the time and so she decided to do foster care. CPS had been called on her twice for not taking care of the oldest child (Javi's oldest sister) as she should and yet the state still deemed her fit to adopt. WTH? So finally after 2-3 years of battling with the state she adopts the girls. 3 weeks later she moves out of her house because she is having a affair on the husband and apparently had been for months. She is currently living with the new boyfriend and his mother and is pregnant with this new guy's baby. Crazy.... yes I think she has some serious problems.



The sad thing is, is that the oldest girl knows that this women does not like her. For example in the Christmas cards she sent 3 school pictures every one except the oldest girl she adopted. She screams in this girl's face and says that this girl ruined her life and is verbally abusive. The oldest girl lives with the husband (yes this lady is still married)  along with their bio daughter and the youngest girl that was adopted. She also has 2 other kids by a different guy but they are over 18 now. She is a train wreck and I wish that someone would hit her in the head so it would make her realize that she should not treat this girl this way. We try and pick her up as often as we can but with 5 kids of my own it tends to be hard at times. But I am picking her up this weekend and then surprising her by taking her to get her hair done. She needs it. Because they don't do it.

This is the oldest girl and Zander. Christmas eve, she spent Christmas eve and Christmas morning with us this year. We wanted to give her a good Christmas because she deserves it. She is a great girl


   I put in a call to a real estate agent this morning and hopefully he knows of a good mortgage lender. He is suppose to be really good and it helps that his wife and I were good friends in high school. We have decided to put our home up for rent once we find something a little bigger then what we are in now. We have lived in our home for about 7 years. We started off as a newlywed couple with 0 kids and now we have 5 so we are busting at the seams here. ha ha ha  It is hard sometimes for me to fathom moving because we have been here so long. This is the longest I have ever lived in one place in my life. I moved around A LOT when I was younger so being here this long and moving seems strange. It is a bit intimidating  I guess that is why I have waited so long to call a agent but, we did find something we might be interested in. So that call had to be made. It will be sad when we go. I love our neighbors. We have become very close with them and actually consider them are our extended family. We do lots of things together, our children have grown up together and it just seems weird I won't be able to walk next door to see them.

I have wanted to move for quite a while. 7 people in a 1800 sqft home means that there is a lot of running over each other and the kids are still little. We want to get into something before the housing prices and interest rates rise. I will be pretty busy this weekend and next. My little bro is getting married next week and I have yet to buy a dress and I really don't want to. I still have at least another 35 just to be what I was before I was pregnant. I have stayed the same weight for about 2 months now and need to motivate myself to do something but I haven't. Maybe a vacation is needed to get my mojo back. Who knows. Well I better get off have lots to do in little time.

Whoa it has been awhile. Between a new baby and 4 kids, the holidays, and family in town, I have been pretty busy. Things have finally settled down and I am finally starting to feel a little normal. I was still a lil' crazy even after I had Zander. My hormones were way outta whack and I finally feel like I am getting my life back. Breastfeeding is going strong and he is hungry as ever. He is a big boy at 15lbs @ 3 months. I don't even think Carson and Tatum barely hit 15 lbs @ a year old. He is a chunker.

Everyone came  back to our house and enjoyed some lasagna and salad. This is DH and guests playing some Just Dance 2 after dinner. Pumping it up to some Outkast. Funny stuff I know.

During the holidays we had my in-laws come to visit. Along with my mother's sister and her family from Japan. They usually come and visit once a year but haven't been able to for whatever reason. I always enjoy when they come and am always so sad when they leave. It takes a little bit to readjust once they are gone. Makes me sad for awhile. Especially since we don't have many family members who live near us.


My mom and mother in-law holding Zander while everyone else is playing with sparklers and fireworks




I had made him spiderman cupcakes for his birthday so he could take them and share with his class and then made some to take with us out to eat. But of coarse forgot them at home so on the way to Joe's we stopped at Costco and picked up a delicious red velvet cake. Yummy it was!! WW friendly...it wasn't :(

When Dan's mom was here visiting we took her with us and went with some friends of ours to a cabin 2 days after Xmas. It was so beautiful. We lucked out and got snow the morning we left. But I sure was scared coming down the mountains in a whiteout. Holy smokes I think I left indents in the oh crap bar.







Well I am not going to post Xmas pictures. That too would be a long post because we had so many people at our house. But we did really enjoy ourselves and hope that this year 2011, will be bring us lots of happiness like 2010 did. I was so sad to see 2010 go. I really was. It was such a great year for us. Zander was born, and financially we were moving in the right direction. I am hoping we will continue in the same direction and hope other great things will come. We have had a good year so far and hope the trend continues. My lil' guy is getting so big. It makes me sad. The first time he laughed (thanks to gigi) I cried. Man do they grow so fast. I am still trying to lose some more weight. I have lost around 29lbs and have 35lbs more to lose to be what I was before I got preggers and let me tell you I am really struggling. I am trying but I have not been very consistent. DARN holidays. The more we get into our old routine the better I think I will do. Zander has been sleeping through the night since about a week or so before he turned 3 months. He still has nights where he will get up every once in awhile but I have been very lucky. I still get little sleep because I worry about him. I love this website I found that has tons of weight watcher recipes. I have eaten a few of the recipes and they are really really good. Her blog is skinnytaste.com. Great recipes and some are stupid proof. Santa Fe' Chicken is one of our fav. Love all of her smoothie recipes, no bake pumpkin cheesecake, and the chicken chili. Check her out. I am sure you will LOVE HER as do I.

Zander is needing me. Hubby wants to get some sleep so I better attend to him. Glad I was able to catch up . Lets hope I can do better.  Enjoy the pictures

Warning a ranting post!


First here is a recent picture of me and my new haircut. Wanted to get my hair done before I delivered Zander but was put on bed rest. It has been a busy month. Still lots to do though. I have only lost 1.8 from last week :(  Thought I would be loosing more. I hope that I can lose more during the holidays and then get really really serious after the holidays. Interesting last few last few days for sure. Today Javi came home from school upset about what a substitute said to him today. Was having a pretty good day until that happened. Second time this teacher has name called to Javi. This really irritates me. I complained when it happened 2 years ago and I went in and complained again as soon as Javi told me what happened. The school secretary was very nice about the whole thing but the Dean of Students was actually kind of a jerk. It really seemed to me that he was taking the subs side. Instead of saying you know what I am really sorry about this. We are going to find out what happened and we will be taking corrective action especially since she has done this twice to your child. I know my kid is not completely perfect all the time. But to be called a baby in front of his class not once but twice, by the same lady twice really urkes me.

Then for the A-hole Dean of Students to sit there and say well Javi was acting poorly. Um excuse me... but that does not excuse her behavior at all.  I was thinking and he is 7 she is a adult and shouldn't be talking to any child like that no matter what. I told him before he even said that, that  I don't condone Javi's behavior today and he is in big trouble for his actions at home. But she should of handled it better and if she really was having that hard of a time with him don't you think he should have been sent to your office? Then I proceeded to tell him about how Javi's eyes watered up in the secretary's office when I went in hours after the name calling incident, because she really did hurt his feelings and the Dean of Students said "well you know I have told Javi not to do something and he starts to cry and well I think he is trying to get out of it". That is when I lost it. I told him, actually it's not that he is trying to get out of it he is actually a very emotional child... hell again he is 7 and has been through a lot. You have no clue what he has been through so who are you to say anything about him and crying,  especially since you have been here 1 year and know nothing about his situation". I told him that I work really well with the teachers that he has had in the past and his teacher now and that Javi is held accountable for his actions. Then he said oh.... well that is what I mean.... that he knows that is has done something wrong so that is why he is crying. The guy was trying to cover up from what he was really trying to insinuate before I told him that.

 I then said "you know what I am almost positive that she called him this in front of his class so I want to hold a meeting with this sub once you find out". The guy was like " oh well I don't think that is the best solution". I was said "are you kidding me"? He said "well I don't want you to get upset with her". I told him I won't be saying anything. Javi and her can apologize to each other for acting like this. Then he just kept saying well I got to get home to my wife and child it is 6:30. I was thinking really then why did you call me so late if you need to get home... because you thought you would blame it all on my kid and that was going to be that. Why not wait until you had enough time.  I knew that this was going to happen though. Because this is what happened last time. They thought Javi was lying and when I talked to the secretary she was saying is that this teacher subs a lot on campus and that teachers really like her to sub because she doesn't make up her own lesson plan. I was thinking but if she can't be nice or can't control herself from saying something hurtful to a 7 year old then something is wrong with her. It even further irritates me that they would put this teacher in with my son since he has had a issue with her before. They didn't even have her apologize to him last time and they asked witnesses from the last occurrence and they told them yes that she had belittled Javi in front of the whole class.  GRRR.....

So I filed a complaint with the district since this is the 2nd time that this has happened, and I will wait and see how this guy handles things. If he doesn't handle things to my satisfaction then I am going to take it to the district office myself and complain about him. The funny thing is, is that he said when he talked to the sub at home and then talking to me the stories added up except for the fact that she called him a name. I am thinking to myself do you really think that she is going to come right out and tell you that and of coarse he had no clue about the previous incident because he wasn't there last year. So instead of calling her first why was I not called first then you could of ask her? I really think I might pull Javi and send Carson to a different school next year depending on how this works out. As you can see I am infuriated.

Otherwise things are going well. Getting ready for the Christmas holiday. My mother-in law and sisters-in law are coming for Christmas. So is my family from Japan.  We are suppose to go to this cabin the week after and those plans might be nixed. I was waiting for the lady to let me know and now my DH's brother is suppose to be flying in for NY eve. We haven't seen him in a long time and it has been almost 7 years since he has visited us. He has never met any of our kiddos so we are excited about that too. Especially Dan well and me too ha ha ha.  This weekend we are meeting up with my brother's side of the family. Man they are sure good to us even if we are not blood related. Such sweet people. I got my hair done this last week and it turned out GREAT. So now if only next Thursday would get here soon so we can party like rockstars and Dan has a few more days off... lol.







Can't believe how big Zander is getting. Man he will be 2 months in less then a week. Time flies though right. I am constantly calling Zander, Carson. Because I just keep thinking of when Carson was a baby and now he will be 5 in January...... tear. They really do grow up fast. Well I better get off here. Things to do and such. Will update I am sure on what happens with Javi and his school. Here's to hoping things get taken care of the proper way :)

Well I have officially started my weight watchers as of the Sunday before last. I am down 3.8lb not too bad. Started the elliptical this Sunday and about killed myself. Holy smokes I am out of shape. I could do 12 minutes. How sad :( I used my heart rate watch to see how many calories I was burning. I burned about 200 calories and then walked about 1.5 miles earlier that day when we went to see the Cardinals game. Yesterday I went on a walk with the family. Sunday on our way home from the game we stopped and picked up a triple stroller. Very nice. So I tried it out yesterday evening. It is not the easiest to turn on sharp corners but allows my three littlest ones ride in it and if necessary my 4 littlest ones. I need my hubby to tighten the elliptical up later today and I will hop back on. I did my usual routine of workout after the elliptical on Sunday and realized how heavy my new self is. Ouch. Man oh man my legs are HEAVY. I am starting again around 5 pounds heavier than I was when I lost around 40 pounds a few years back and kept that off until I got pregnant with Zander, then gained almost 70 pounds, and have lost around 24 pounds since giving birth to him and with the holidays here, to lose that I think that is pretty good.


I can't believe Christmas is almost here. I am really excited about Xmas this year because we have so many family members coming into town. I am almost done Xmas shopping. Just have to get a few things for stockings, a gift card for Dan's brother for secret Santa, and a stuffed animal thing that Dan's mom wants. I am waiting for the birth announcements for Zander and Christmas cards to come in so I can mail them out. I ordered lots of 8x10's and 7x5's as well to change out pictures around the house. I am so excited!! Here are a few.



 Dan started his new shift at work. I think I will really like it a lot. 6am-2pm. Now he is home for dinner. I love that. We have been really busy since he went to this shift but I am sure it will calm down here soon. I think he feels he is on the go constantly since he gets off during day light. Usually he gets home at 11 at night and the kids are asleep and he can come home and relax. Now he gets off right around the time Javi gets out of school and helps with dinner, baths. shopping if needed, or any other plans we might make. Like the Cardinals game on Sunday. Yesterday when he got home we went to the bank, then to the store, out to eat, then for a walk, then fixed the boy's bikes, then he had to get ready for work the next day and then it was time to go to bed. Poor baby. Well I am going to take this time and get a few things done while Carson is in preschool. Man how different will it be once Carson goes to school next. YIPPY Enjoy my pictures