Bowbeautiful!

My sister in law on Luis side of the family sent 3 of these headbands to Ashlyn, aren't they so cute! So now I'm inspired to make them too! Had to share, I love these pictures of her.

Who are you and what did you do with my baby girl?

My little fish wowed me this evening. She was out in the pool with her Aunt Lacy watching her and Lacy came inside calling for me not knowing what to do. Ashlyn was wanting to jump into the pool and swim! So I said Let her! I gave Ashlyn the "go" and she jumped off the steps in the pool and started swimming. I had to be there to help her back to the side but OMG she's doing it on her own! So i got in with her and let her swim. She was non-stop! Swimming from me to the side, to the steps and back! Then she wanted to jump off the side of the pool so I let her! She started jumping off and swimming to me over and over again! I was amazed! With only 5 days of swimming lessons she's in the pool swimming with on fear! Ms Pam said it usually takes 2 weeks after for them to regain the confidence in getting back in the pool,but Ashlyn has never hesitated. My baby is the youngest in her class and I'm so proud of her! I cant wait until Tuesday to tell Ms Pam this story. The end of next week they are jumping off the diving board! I may try that with Ashlyn in our pool tomorrow ;)
Here is a video clip that Lacy took with her cell phone, if it's big on your screen you may have to squint to see it or it may be tiny but wanted to show you. Here's another one. By the way, she's naked lol. A week ago she was screaming and afraid to swim and today she can't get enough of it.

On another note, Saturday when I get home from school my mom told me she had been taking Ashlyn to the potty around the clock and Ashlyn was wearing her big girl undies, so potty training has been going well this weekend, after swimming lessons is over I'll dedicate a few days to stay home and take her around the clock. My baby isn't such a baby anymore, isn't there something we can feed them to slow down the growing part? lol

Going Private

Weird people are posting comments on my page which means they read my blog and that doesnt sit right with me so I too am going private. So please email me your blog email addresses so I can invite you, I sent out a few but not sure if it was your blog email or not. Thanks :)

My princess ballerina

My little princess ballerina was without a tutu so I decided to make one for her today and she loved it! Now all that's left is a pair of ballet shoes. She loves to dance, I cant wait until she's 3 so I can put her in dance.

My little fish

Just a few more pictures of swimming lessons, my little fish is doing so good! I'm so proud of her.

1984

This is me and my sister, both on left, taking swimming lessons from Ms Pam in '84.

Sweet words

Tonight before bedtime we were sitting on the sofa and Ashlyn started talking to me about her swimming lessons. She said:

Mommy...I go swimming with Ms Pam and kick a feet and blow bubbles. up up up! Go to ladder and up up up.



Today after her nap she wanted to get in the pool so we did and she had her mermaid Ariel doll and was holding it by the hands and telling her to kick her feet and blow bubbles. Then she would tell it "good job" She is such a nurturing little mommy, I love it. She's already trying to teach her own swimming lessons. Which by the way today she started out crying but halfway thru she stopped and did really well. She was wrapped in a towel on the side of the pool waiting her turn and I noticed she was very still and her head was a bit tilted, went over and looked at her and she was asleep!! It was so cute, the day I dont bring my camera! ha. She is worn out by the time it's over.



And then I put her to bed and we say I prayers. I usually pray first and she repeats me but tonight I was quiet to see what'd she say and she says with her hands folded:

Jesus, thank you for our day, Jesus..thank you ...(pause) for our day. Amen.

And we always pray "and please keep daddy safe and bring him home soon" so I start out..

Me: please keep

A: please keep.... daddy.... safe.........home.......soon. amen.



She brought tears to my eyes tonight of just how sweet she is and I love how she is communicating so well. I'm so proud of my baby girl.

Fun Times and Great Memories

Here is a game I copied from Victoria:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot-- or just from blogland-- anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

1st day of swimming lessons

Today was Ashlyn's first day of swimming lessons with Ms. Pam. At first she did really well, she was taking it all in, wondering why other kids were crying and throwing fits. Well, it didnt take long for Ashlyn to figure out why and she joined in to. Crying is contagious as Ms Pam was telling us. Her first 2 turns she just kicked her feet and the other few times she went under and swam to the side. For whatever reason Ashlyn was screaming and crying the rest of the class time, class time is only 45 min. I'm hoping by day 5 her crying will calm down, I'd hate for it to get worse and last the full 2 weeks. It was neat going back to the pool where I grew up taking lessons from Ms Pam as did most of the kids in my family. Anyway, here are a few pictures of my big swimmer girl.

Happy big 60 Birthday to my Mama

Happy 60th birthday Mom!!!

Thank you Mom for being the strong, caring, hard working woman you are. Everything you have done for me, reflects in me, I am who I am today because of you. I am your clone as most say ;) And I wouldn't want it any other way. I proudly walk besides you learning from you and growing. I'm happy I am here for yet another birthday to celebrate with you and all the other holidays to come. I love you so much and I thank you for being the best mama a girl could ask for!

Love you,

Nubbin

New photography pictures

Go check out my photography blog to see the shots I took of Lacy today at school. We have been learning how to take pictures in the studio and this week we were asked to bring someone to class with us that we could practice on, so I had the studio to myself and Lacy was my model. It was fun and I'm falling more in love with photography every week! I have a ton more pictures to post on that blog that I'll be posting probably by next week once this class is over. I take another one in the fall, very excited!

Doctor's checkup

Just an update on Ashlyn. She had her 2 year checkup today. My skinny-mini weighs only 25.10lbs (20%) but she's tall at 35.5in(80). They were impressed at how well she spoke, full sentences and very clear. She got one shot but overall she did really well I was very proud of her. She does have this dry scalp with dry patches that you can pick off. I asked the DR what to do about it and she said to use Selsun Blue shampoo on her twice a week and put baby oil on her scalp and let it soak then brush out the flakes. So will try that. I also was told that Johnson & Johnson dries out skin so I may have to switch shampoos. Any suggestions on what shampoo and conditioners you use on your child?
Also since Ashlyn will not drink milk, she wanted to make sure I was giving her vitamins that contained Vit D, Zinc and Iron so I found some Dora Complete vitamins which she doesnt really like compared to the gummies she was eating.
That's about it, she's healthy and doing well!

My Prayer

I pray this prayer O Lord

for all ears to hear,
for the protection of my soldier who is fighting over there;

Protect my husband,

O dear Lord I pray,
keep him safe in your care each and every day;

Give him strength and courage

to finish his job at hand,
and bring him back safely to

me on this American land.

___________________________

Heavenly Father, hear my prayers, keep Luis safe and everyone around him. Give us all strength to get through these last 6 months so we can be reunited again one last time. He means the world to me and without him I would be incomplete. I pray your guardian angels surround him on air and on ground and ask for a shield of protection to be placed upon him. Thank you Lord for all your blessings.

Our faith and trust is in YOU and we know you will get us through this again.

I hate goodbyes

(A dreaded loud SIGH) as I write this post. It's the hardest thing to say goodbye or even 'see you soon' especially when you have to do it over and over again all throughout your marriage. Dont get me wrong we had a wonderful time these past 2 weeks but you know how time flies when you have fun. And that it did. So the clock has been reset, to wait another 6 months before we see him again. To know this is the last time we have to go through this is a relief but it's still hard. We took my parents out to dinner last night to Red Lobster had a delicious seafood meal. Then just came home and spent time together. I held back tears all day, all night, which is hard to do but I know he wants me to be strong and not cry but when he tucked Ashlyn into bed last night I broke down. She didnt go with us this morning so he said his goodbyes to her last night, of course she doesn't really know what is going on but I do believe she understands a little. She has had so much fun with her Daddy, she has him wrapped around every finger possible. He did go in this morning around 6 to hug and kiss her one more time and she hugged him and went back to sleep. He called us from Dallas and talked to her again and explained to her where he was etc and she responded with "ok" and "I love you too".

We will miss him so much and count down yet again till we see him again in 6 months.

I love you Baby and I thank you for all the wonderful memories we made while you were here on leave. We will be strong for you and we'll stay safe if you stay safe. I'll take care of your baby girl and we cant wait to talk to you again.

A night of romance and fun

San Antonio has always been 'our spot' It began in our dating days. Luis had joined the Army and his training school (AIT) was in San Antonio and I drove pretty much every weekend to go see him and we walked up and down the Riverwalk all day. On our honeymoon, since we were not able to go out of state or country because he was in the Army, we spent a few nights in San Antonio.

And now this past weekend Luis and I were able to get away for a night and spend the night on the Riverwalk at the Westin Hotel. We spent Saturday walking around, ate a wonderful lunch at Saltgrass yum! Went back to the hotel to relax, drank some wine and geared up for a night on the town. We went to a couple of bars, had a few drinks, listened to some live music and just enjoyed each other's company. It was so nice. Sunday we got up and had lunch one of our favorite restaraunts Pico De Gallo and walked around the Market Square and then headed home. Here are some pictures of our date weekend.

It was my first night ever away from Ashlyn and she and I both did great. She stayed with my parents of course so there were no worries.

Also I have been taking TONS of pictures for my photography class and once I edit them and bring them home I'll post those on my photography blog.

Love Birds ;)

Our Hotel Room

Waiting on Luis to hit the town

View from our hotel room at night

Pico de Gallo

4th of July

For the 4th of July we went out to Round Rock and watched the fireworks from Old Settlers Park. Luckily my mom's aunt lives right across the street so we always get front row parking without the hassle. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Swimming Lessons

All throughout my childhood my sister and I among with several of my childhood friends took swimming lessons at Bartholomew pool with Miss Pam O'Connor. That was over 20 years ago. It's pretty much a MUST when you have a pool in your backyard, esp for safety reaons if a child were to fall in etc. Well now I have a child who has a pool in her backyard and who did I find to teach her? Miss Pam! She is still teaching and has been for over 50 years! She's one of those teachers that we didn't LOVE to see everyday. She's a little rough around the edges and makes toddlers jump off the diving board at 2 years old in the deep end and find their way to the side!! Talk about torture watching this, as we have many home videos of these days, but her teaching works, we learned and we are great swimmers because of Miss Pam. Even better, she still remembers me and my family. So I have enrolled Ashlyn in her class stAarting later this month and I'm a bit nervous. Ashlyn is a bit of a drama princess and screams so this will be interesting. I'll update on this subject later after classes start! Wish us luck.

Soon to be....Officer Sanchez

These 2 weeks that Luis has been home he's been going through the Austin Police Dept application/hiring process. He had a great recruiter that hooked him up and let him do the whole hiring process from start to finish while he was here in town which usually is months worth of steps. This morning he had his final 'test' which was the oral board, presenting himself in front of 5 police officers high up in the ranks. After all his hard work he has passed all tasks of the APD hiring process. Now based on his overall score that will determine whether or not he gets hired on, but from what the LT told him today chances are he will be hired on with the APD, but we will get a letter in the mail letting us know for sure.

I'm, as always, extremely proud of Luis. He always accomplishes anything he puts his mind to, he's so amazing. Now am I excited about him being a cop, um..not really, but I am proud of him. Having to constantly worry about my husband's safety isn't something I get excited about but I've always had to worry so I guess it's nothing new. But I am excited that more than likely he has been hired on and has a job when he gets out of the ARMY, so we'll be able to transition smoothly and not go months without him having a job and looking for a job. God has truly blessed us and taken care of us through all these years and I'm so grateful.

Now on another, but sad, note, Luis does leave first thing tomorrow morning. Saying goodbye is always so hard, especially having to tell Ashlyn everyday that Daddy had to go back to work for awhile. But 6 more months and then he's home for good and we are back in Austin. But it has been a blast having him here. I'll be posting again soon with pictures from our date night in San Antonio.

I just had to brag about my wonderful husband and all the hard work he does to take care of his family. Soon he'll no longer be SSG Sanchez but Officer Sanchez. It's bittersweet. But I'm loving him in a suit! Had to take some pictures of that!

Bachelorette

Ok so I finally got to watch the Bachelorette last night. My DVR only recorded the last hour on Monday so I missed the dates and had to watch it online. Ya know, I'm pretty impressed with Jesse, the underdog. He's growing on me for sure. I was shocked that Jeremy went but I understood what she said when she said she cant let their connection confuse that with falling in love. I can see a genuine love in Jesse and Jason. At times Jason , to me, seems 'too sweet' and sometimes a bit child like, just a little annoying for me, but I still like him. I'll be happy with either one of those guys. I'm happy for Jesse for making it this far, especially since the first night looking all crazy. So I cant wait till Monday to see who she will pick!!

Recap in pictures

Just a few pictures from our week. We had a good time in Laredo visiting Luis family and getting to see Samantha. She and Ashlyn got along great as always.
We took Ashlyn to the Children's Museum, she loved it! I've been wanting to take her for awhile now so I was happy that Luis and I both got to take her. Here are a few pictures.


My adorable, handsome and oh so good looking love of my life, my hubby

Sammi swimming


And that's a wrap!