Mother of 6 1/2

1 week
6 kids
10 loads of laundry
9 episodes of puke (hence the 10 loads of laundry)
8 loads of dishes
$175 worth of groceries (and I still ran out and had to go back to the store twice)
22 meals
14 snacks

=6 happy kids and 1 exhausted mother

This past week we watched Jason's nieces and nephews while their parents went on a cruise. The kids were so excited to spend time with their cousins but I was a little nervous to go from a family of 4 to a family of 8 overnight. It actually went better than I had expected (for the most part), their kids were well behaved and they all played really well together. The oldest, Amanda, is almost 11 and she was such a great help. The youngest, Samantha, is 2 and was so cute. She called me "mommy" the whole time and once when we were at the park another little boy ran up to me and she immediately clung to my leg and told him, "no, my mom!" It was hilarious. We even ventured out and took the whole brood to the theater for the summer movie pass. We definately got some odd looks, though, especially since their kids are half Chinese as well so it looked like they really were all our kids. The hardest part of taking so many kids out was that I was a nervous wreck counting heads every few minutes. Things were going better than expected, until Tuesday night. I was out with friends when I got "the phone call" that the youngest one had thrown up. By the time I got home Jason had her bathed and everything cleaned up so I thought I was off the hook. After she threw up 5 more times throughout the night and 3 more times in the next couple of days, I realized that I had definately not gotten off the hook. Jason was supposed to be in Vegas this week and I thought I was going to die, but thankfully he got rescheduled and was even able to work from home a couple of days to help out. It was a fun week, but I definately gained a greater appreciation for mothers of large families! I'm also REALLY looking forward to next summer when they're going to be watching our kids while it's our turn to go on a cruise (I used visions of the Carribean beaches to get me through all the vomit).

yeah baby, 99 cent Sonic milkshakes--who said you can't feed a big family on a small budget?

checking out the 2 foot Goldfish on steriods and cooling off in the splash pad
how we spent the majority of our dayshanging out at the Martinez's house for a Memorial Day picnic--you would never guess these two were cousins, huh?

Graduation Hoopla

(Gotta love the kid next to Jayden that's picking his nose :)
We'll start with Jayden...his speech therapy preschool didn't really have a graduation since most of the kids are continuing on with the program next year (he's improving lots but I have to admit that I was excited that he qualified again next year. I'm sorry if that makes me a terrible mom, but I've grown quite fond of the free preschool and "baby bus"). So they had that pizza party for their end of the year shebang. We did have a little graduation for the preschool class that I help teach and I'm really going to miss those kids! Jayden was probably the most rotten out of the whole class since I was the one teaching, but it was still fun having him come with me. His graduation wasn't as emotional for me because the poor kid is going to have 2 more years of preschool before kindergarten so I have plenty more graduations to go. It was still a fun day and cute to see him get so excited, though.As for Kylie.....it was exciting to see how much she has grown and changed since the beginning of the school year. She started out as the quite, shy and timid little girl that sat by herself and dug holes in the dirt during recess (that image still rips my heart out) and has turned into a confident, outgoing and energetic girl who even received the "kindest friend award". It makes my job as a mom so much easier knowing that she is happy and loves school. So the graduation was a lot of fun and so cute to see them perform all the songs that they had practiced so hard. I didn't expect to get emotional, but when their teacher put together a slide show using the song "Let Them Be Little" by Billy Dean, then I totally got choked up. It is sad to see them both growing up so fast, but at the same time it is so exciting to see everything they're accomplishing and the little people that they are becoming. These kids sure know how to make their momma proud!

check out Jayden's mid-song botty shakin' action

It's A......


....boy! (I'll refrain from posting the crotch shots for all to see, but trust me, it's a boy.) I was 99% sure it was a girl. Before I even got pregnant with Kylie and Jayden I knew what they were going to be and the same thing happened this time (or so I thought). All signs were pointing to a girl--the Chinese conception chart, the ring over the wrist and my all-knowing motherly instincts. I hadn't even remotely considered the idea of a boy and now I'm just trying to get over the shock. I spent the first 20 weeks preparing for a girl...coming up with names, thinking of decorations for the nursery, browsing through all the girl racks...and thankfully I have another 20 weeks to get ready for a boy! A girl would have been fun, but who doesn't love a mamma's boy? I'm just seriously worried that we're never going to come up with a name for this kid. Kylie was a little disappointed, she had her heart set on a little sister, but we're all really excited now, especially Jayden. It's going to be so fun to have my two little boys together. So here are the first shots of our little man, we can't wait to meet him!

As a sidenote....just some proof that my pregnancy brain is in full force, here is a list of things that I have forgotten in just the past two days:
-the appointment that my visiting teachers had set only the day before
-mutual activity night--it's always been the same day and same time so I don't know how I completely spaced it
-library books due like a week ago--at $2 a day for each late DVD, I may have to take out a small loan. Need I remind you that to this day I have never ever had a late fee at the library?
-carpool--I knew it was my week to drive, I had taken them that morning for heaven's sake. But come 2:45 when school is already out, my brain was on vacation. Thankgoodness Jason was home to remind me.
-Everytime I make a payment for my lab work I do it on our health fund credit card. This time I completely spaced it and put it on our regular credit card, which meant that Jason had to spend forever on the phone trying to fix it (I love how he is always coming to my rescue).
-I was supposed to have an important paper for Jayden's preschool next year turned in yesterday. Yeah, I barely made it to the school today before they shut down for summer.

I don't know how I can even function in society with a brain like this.

When "Heck" Freezes Over

It was hot as "heck" this past week (just trying to keep it G-rated, people) when we reached up to 109 degrees. I could barely bring myself to even wear clothes. Our feet got singed on the concrete as we ran to the pool, and we stayed in there pretty much all day since that was the only way to cool down. That was on Tuesday, by Thursday it dropped atleast 50 degrees and we got hit with a freakish hailstorm! If I lived anywhere else then I think I would hate weather like this at the end of May, but for us here it was the best present ever. As soon as the kids got home they begged to go out and jump in the puddles, my initial motherly reaction was, "of course not, you're going to get sick!" But then I realized that it hardly ever rains like this here so I might as well let them get out there and enjoy it while it lasts, especially since it's supposed to be back in the 100's by next week. We dug through boxes to find winter clothes that haven't seen the light of day since February and they went crazy running, jumping and swimming in all the puddles. They had the best time and eventually a hot bath brought color back to their purple fingers. I sent Jason to the store for ingredients to make chicken noodle soup for dinner which totally hit the spot. I love venturing back into the world of fuzzy socks, bubble bath, warm blankets and sweaters. I may even be tempted to bust out the Christmas Cd's.

New York

I have to admit that I was a little jealous when Jason found out that he was going to be going to New York for work. We went there 4 years ago for our anniversary and had such a great time and I've been dying to go back. But I was excited for Jason, especially since he had a chance to fulfill a childhood dream. He has been a huge Yankee's fan ever since he was a little kid and collecting baseball cards (Don Mattingly is his hero). He's always wanted to see a game at the Yankee's stadium, so we were pretty disappointed when there wasn't a home game on our last trip. We did get a chance to do a behind the scenes tour of the stadium which was cool to sit in the dug out, check out the locker room and things like that, but it wasn't the same as seeing a game there. So he was pretty stoked to find out that there was a game this past week while he was there. It was especially cool since this is the last season that they will ever play at the original Yankee stadium since they are building a new one. So naturally he immediately hopped on Ebay in search of tickets for him and his co-worker. He thought he hit the jackpot when he scored tickets that were about 20 rows up for only $30 a piece. It wasn't until they got there that they realized that there was "an honest mistake" and they were actually up in the nosebleed section! After a nice little email to the seller he got his money back, but he was pretty disappointed to not get the great seats. He and his friend were naughty and moved down closer during half time, so I guess it ended up okay. He was only there for a couple of days but packed in a lot between meetings and work. He had a great time and I'm hoping I can join him next time!

World Trade Center site (he said that it hadn't changed since we were there 4 years ago which was surprising)

Brooklyn Bridge

the nosebleeds

much better view

The Child Formerly Known as GiGi



It seems like there have been a lot of Kylie posts lately, so in an effort to prove that we really don't play favorites, here's some of the reasons why my little Jayden manages to put a smile on my face every day:

He has had a love affair with his little bear, "Hugsy" since he was like 5 months old. He used to carry it every where, but now he is content to just sleep with it. Although it is not enough to just snuggle with it at night, his bear is treated like royalty and has to have his own little bed. He helped me make a pillow for it and he loans hugsy his "snuggles" blanket. We have to tuck Hugsy in each night as part of the nightly routine and if he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night I've learned not to panic because chances are Hugsy has just managed to roll off the bed. He also makes his bed every morning (love that) and lovingly makes Hugsy bed too.

This kid is feisty and has a temper like no other. When he doesn't get his way, he scrunches his face all up, the tension builds and right when I think he's going to burst he lets loose with the only profanity he knows--"Oh goodness!" When he's really mad, an "Oh goodness gracious!" sometimes escapes his lips too. I better get that bar of soap handy. He's also been known to say "what am I gonna do with you?" when he's mad at me.

I still get a kick out of Jayden's reaction to my hair (by the way, the only thing I don't like about the hair is when I have to bust out my driver's license. I always get weird looks and comments about how fast my hair grows. In an effort to prove that it's not a stolen ID I tell them that it's extensions. This isn't always the best idea as it usually leads to a long discussion about how they work, how much the cost, where I got them from...and usually ends with the bank teller feeling my head.). Every morning I ask Jayden how my hair looks just to hear his reaction. He sits there in deep thought for a minute and then responds with something different every time. My favorites are, "you look like princess beauty" and "your head looks small".

After hearing enough parking lot safety lectures, the kids decided that the best way to avoid getting hit was to walk across the street on their tippy toes so that they are tall enough for the cars to see them. I crack up everytime I say Jayden prancing daintily across the street on his tippy toes with this stone cold serious look on his face.

When I ask Jayden a question and the answer is no, instead of just saying "no" he gets a very serious look on his face, furrows up his brows, shakes his head and replies, "hmmmm, I don't shink so". When he is confused he also busts out "what the heck", but it sounds more like, "wot the hake".

Wednesdays are the only day we don't have anything scheduled so Jayden and I have kind of made it our traditional game day. He could spend hours playing one board game after another. Candyland is his favorite and whenever I'm losing he says, "don't worry mom, it not matter who wins", of course if he's losing then it's another story....

The ultimate compliment in Jayden's eyes is if I tell him that he looks like a "worker". He has his favorite t-shirt and jeans that he thinks look like "worker" clothes and would wear it every day if I let him. His list of favorites also includes his favorite spot on the couch. I don't think I've ever seen him sit anywhere else, even if I bribe him to snuggle with me in another spot.

And last but not least, how can you not smile when you see a smile like that??

7:40 AM

Kylie wanted an alarm clock for her birthday. Okay, so maybe she didn't come up with the idea by herself. Okay, so maybe mom was getting tired of having to drag a tired cranky girl out of bed to get ready for school every morning. Okay, so maybe this mom was slightly brainwashing this girl to believe that having the responsibility to get up by yourself and get ready can actually be a fun thing. Either way, it worked and now a fuscia pink Barbie alarm clock (complete with a story telling option and picture projector--very classy) adorns her night stand. The first night I got her all pumped up about the alarm feature and we had a little practice run of what she should do when it went off. She was pretty excited about her new found responsibility and I was pretty excited to see if it would work. 7:40AM rolls around, I hear the alarm go off. I then lay in bed and hear the annoying alarm for the next 7 minutes before I finally go in there and find Kylie sound asleep. The next morning the alarm goes off and I hear her turn it off immediately. I was so excited that I got to go back to sleep for 10 more minutes until she was dressed, but when I went in there I found her still laying in bed, wide awake but too tired to get dressed. I was crushed that my ingenious plan didn't work but I decided to give it another try before calling it quits. I was in the shower the next morning when it was supposed to go off. When I got out I didn't have very high expectations, until I heard a noise downstairs. I went down to find Kylie all dressed, bed made, hair done, teeth brushed, getting herself a bowl of cereal. Not only that, but she was also getting a bowl of cereal for everyone else in the family too. It was such a proud moment for me, but I was also sad to see that my baby wasn't a baby anymore.

18 weeks

Here's some more belly shots and pregnancy ramblings for my own journaling sake, so feel free to skip this one...

First of all, I love that this pregnancy is going so fast! I'm feeling the 2nd trimester love here, I'm not sick and I'm not uncomfortable yet (besides these darn braxton hicks, I started getting them around 15 weeks which was a lot earlier than I remember with the other ones). Instead of living on cold cereal I feel like I'm eating constantly and gaining like 5 pounds a day. Watermelon and Red Vines seem to be the drug of choice these days. I bought a one pounder Red Vines bag on Thursday with plans to take it to the movies for our girls night. I totally forgot to bring it and as a result I was forced to eat the entire bag by myself in 3 days. Yes, I could have shared some with my loving children but then that would mean less for the baby and it is vital that I look out for the needs of the baby at this point.

I'm dying to find out what we're having but since Jason is traveling so much and since I figured that it was just slightly important that he was there for the ultrasound, I had to reschedule it for the 27th. I'm getting girl vibes and Kylie already has everything planned out for a girl (she wants to name her Shelby, she knows how she wants to arrange her room once they are sharing and she has outfits already lined up).

I was feeling kind of sad because I hadn't felt the baby move yet. They say you can start feeling it as early as 16 weeks and I was almost 18 and hadn't felt a darn thing. Every night I would lay in bed as still as I could just trying to feel the slightest movement, but nothing. Then on Mother's Day I got the best present (next to the snowglobe, of course). That evening I felt the baby move and it seemed like all at once the kid sprouted arms and legs because for like a half hour we had some sort of acrobat circus going on in my uterus--it was awesome! You would think this would happen as I was laying motionless in deep concentration on the bed, but no---I was blogging. Yeah, that's my kid.

I Wish Every Day Was Mother's Day

I have been basking in the glory of motherhood today and taking full advantage of doing absolutely nothing. Here is what Jason and the kids did most of the day:
and here is what I did (crown and all):

.....Pancake breakfast, afternoon nap, Jason's curry dinner and not a single dish to wash....it was heavenly, Jason and the kids were cute to spoil me rotten. And of course I have these cute kiddos to thank for making me a mother. It was so cute to see all of the home made gifts and cards that they made for me. Saturday night Kylie was busy outside working on some project. When she was done she wrapped it all up then made a little throne on the couch for me to sit on and open the present while everyone else sat on the blanket that she had set up on the floor. She worked so hard to make me a snow globe with water and sand that I can shake up and watch the mud settle on the bottom. She tried putting a picture in the snowglobe but it always fell apart in the water. It was definately my favorite present and I love all the thought that she put into it, what a sweetheart. She reminded me about 20 times throughout the day that she loved me and that I was the best mommy ever. Jayden was so cute and kept writing me love notes and drawing pictures for me on his note pad and spoiling me with all his hugs and kisses. And Jason did an awesome job to make sure that I didn't lift a finger the whole day, I seriously couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day. Before I had kids I could never even fathom all the emotions that would be involved in raising kids. I can't even imagine what it was like to only be worried about myself and my own interests and I'm grateful for the selflessness that motherhood has taught me. My greatest joys and my greatest worries in life are all wrapped up around these 2 1/2 kids and I couldn't imagine it any other way. Thanks Kylie, Jayden and new little baby Young for putting a smile on my face everyday and finding new ways to melt my heart, I love you guys! It was also fun talking to my mom on the phone. She is such an amazing person and I totally miss living close to her! I'm grateful to have had such a wonderful example and I'm doing my best to follow it, although I've got some pretty big shoes to fill! Thanks Mom, I now know how much work it takes to be a mom and every day I have a greater appreciation for you! Happy Mother's Day to all of you amazing moms, I learn so much from each one of you!

Pizza and Muffins

I was so excited about this week because I got to go spend time with Jayden at his preschool for an end of the year pizza party and then I also got to go to Kylie's school for Muffins with mom. It's so fun to see them get excited when I come to school. I love when they show me around and are so proud of all their work that's displayed, and it's especially just fun spending some one on one time with them. Jayden was hilarious when I got to his class and watched them during circle time. He kept turning around and giving me the hugest grin and once he got picked to help out with the song he was so giddy and funny, it was cute. He then proudly showed me their class garden before we headed to the party where we both ate our fair share of junk food and had fun talking with all his little preschool friends. Kylie's class has been working so hard to get ready for Muffins for Mom. They had so many cute little crafts and adorable songs that they sang before serving us our food. My favorite was this little fact sheet that she filled out about me:

What's your Mom's name? Jaime

What do you call her? Mommy

How old is she? 30

How tall is she? 5 tf 4 in (that really is how tall I am, weird)

How much does she weigh? 112
What color is her hair? blak

What's her favorite drink and snack? woter and chips

What does she cook? pees

What's her favorite TV show? the noos (the news)

What's her favorite thing to do with you? play Barbes

What does she like to do for fun? play with me

What does she do during the day? read

What's the one thing she says to you most often? I love you

Hair: Part II




I feel like a new woman! I totally love my new luscious locks, the extensions are so fun! Jason's in LA right now so I had to use the self timer to take a picture to send to him, so it's a little blurry but you get the idea. I hope he's excited to come home to his new wife.....

The Interview




Here's the official low down of Kylie's faves now that she's 6:

Favorite color: pink and red
Favorite food: steak and chicken wings
Favorite toy: Barbies and Webkinz
Favorite movie: Enchanted and Mermaidia
Favorite outfit: long jeans, pink and white striped shirt with the 2 pockets
Favorte place to go on vacation: hotel and disneyland
Favorite thing to do with the family: swimming and going to Chuck E Cheese
Favorite part of school: recess, but not the lunch one, just the regular one (on the kindergarten playground)
Best friends: Noelle, Kailee, Marlee
Favorite thing to do with Jayden: play trains
Favorite song: See You Again (Hannah Montana-of course) and Follow Him in Faith.
Your biggest wish for this next year: that I can go to Fairyland (she loves hearing stories about this place that we made up. As much as I tell her that it's pretend, I think that deep down she kind of believes that it really exists).

Happy 6th Birthday!

I can't believe that she is already 6 years old, but at the same time I can't even remember life without her, which makes 6 years seem like so long ago. Either way, my baby is 6 and she's loving every minute of it! She's been counting down her birthday for the past 364 days, so she was beyond excited when the day actually came. We started with her requested pink cat shaped pancakes in bed (of course she had woken up at 6:30 because she was so excited so by the time I got around to breakfast she was dressed and had to hop back into bed for effect). She only got through half of her breakfast because she was too excited about opening her presents. This was the first year that she wanted big girl presents instead of toys and it was kind of sad. She scored a kid's IPOD, alarm clock, CD and lamp for her bedroom. Jason was able to work from home and took Sonic to Kylie for lunch. Then Jayden and I had our turn with the birthday girl when we took cupcakes to her class. For dinner I made Kylie's latest favorite, chicken wings. This girl lives for steak and chicken wings, she definately gets that from her dad and not me! We ended the night with cake and ice-cream while watching "Enchanted". We started up again first thing in the morning when we got ready for Kylie's party. I was a little nervous to have a pool party with so many kids, but everything turned out great and hopefully everyone had a fun time. We packed swimming, pizza, water balloon toss, presents, cake and ice-cream into two hours (of course Kylie had to change into a "party dress" immediately after swimming). It was definately a fun party weekend!