Memorial Day Camping

This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend and our family was invited to join several other families in a weekend camp out. For those of you that know me...camping is not my thing. I was a little at ease when Mando told me that there were restroom and shower facilities at this camp site. So, Friday afternoon we packed up our gear (to be fair, Mando did most of the packing) and headed out to Lake Perris. The kids could not wait to get out and camp. Upon our arrival, Mando quickly got to work setting up our tents. I've never been more happy to have married and Eagle Scout than I was Friday evening. He is a very hard worker and managed to set up the three tents for our camp. The kids on the other hand, made themselves at home. They were running all over the place with the other children at the camp. They were having so much fun and we were so busy setting up the camp that dinner took place around 9 o'clock at night. 

It was a fun filled weekend and I was a little grumpy due to the lack of sleep. I was pretty much freezing every night that we were there :(

Little guy got dirty from the minute that he woke up and the girls weren't that far behind him. I'm still trying to get all of the dirt off their clothes 2 washes later. The kids went down to the lake and took a dip. Samantha managed to collect a bottle full of shells. I think the pictures speak for themselves. We look forward to next year's campout and I will be better prepared so that I too can have a REALLY good time. :)

Cinco De Mayo

This year the city celebrated Cinco De Mayo today since it is actually on Tuesday. Samantha's class performed the Mexican dance known as "La Raspa". Armando's aunt went on a quest to find her an outfit to wear for today. She finally found one in El Monte. Samantha was so proud of herself for getting on the stage and dancing in front of everyone. Just look at her pictures. We had fun watching her perform and she had fun too :)

Little Guy's Birthday

I haven't really had a chance to post these pictures up from last week. We celebrated Little Guy's second birthday. He was a little under the weather due to the ear infection he was dealing with. He did manage to eat all of his cake and enjoyed eating the frosting as we were singing Happy Birthday to him. It was really cute. He is doing much better now that he's been taking his antibiotics. He had a fun day with our family. Here are the pictures of our celebration.

Catch Up

Things have been slow for the most part in our home in the last few weeks. We are getting ready for Easter and the kids are eagerly awaiting to see what the Easter Bunny will bring. I wanted to post some updated pictures of Breanna. She's gotten so big in the last few weeks. She is now making cooing sounds and is begining to make bubbles with her spit (sounds nasty I know, but it's so cute coming from her). I will try to capture it on video to share next time. I can't wait until Sunday so that I can post our Easter day pictures. If I don't post again before Sunday...Happy Easter!

Samantha's First Haircut

Today Samantha received her first haircut ever. She was 4 days shy of her 5th birthday. She was so excited. While we were at the salon, she was offered the opportunity to donate her hair to the Locks Of Love program. She took a before and after picture which will be placed in the salon's album. I was happy when Samantha made the decision to make the donation herself. She received a certificate of her first haircut along with a locket of hair to commemorate her big day. Here are the pictures!

Big Day

Today was busy as usual in the Esparza household. Monique lost a tooth today. She has 2 teeth missing on top. She is so excited that the Tooth Fairy will be visiting her tonight to leave her some money for her tooth. She had to tell everyone her good news. We took a picture to capture her news.

 Breanna has started to smile so I decided that I would attempt to capture her smile on camera (not as easy as it sounds!!). I tried for periods of time but the flash kept distracting her and ruining the pictures. I did manage to capture her smile though. The first picture included some drool (oh well). 

Little Guy

I have recently realized that I have no pictures of my Little Guy posted on our family blog, so I set out on a mission to take some snapshots of him to post. I managed to snap these pictures of him while he was a willing participant. He snagged a pair of sunglasses from one of his sisters and he decided to put them on and show off for the camera. 

He is so much like his father and he is still so young. I will figure out how to scan a picture of Mando with the new printer so I can post a comparison of Father & Son.

I hope you have as much fun looking at these pictures as I did taking them. :) I know he needs a haircut... I plan to take him on Monday!

Kindergarten Roundup

Every year, each school district conducts what is known as "Kindergarten Roundup" in which parents must register their children for Kindergarten. Azusa's roundup began today. Samantha will turn five in 3 weeks and will begin Kindergarten this coming school year. Our school of choice has only one Kindergarten class with only 20 available openings... and on a first come, first serve basis. To ensure her enrollment I had to save my place in line and that meant waking up @ 2:30 a.m. and lining up in front of the school @ 3:00 a.m. I know what you're thinking... is it really worth it? She must be CRAZY! The payoff at the end of today for me was the sense of satisfaction in knowing that Samantha is successfully registered for Kindergarten. I was the third person in line. 

Let me explain, Monique attended the same Kindergarten class and I know that it was a blessing to both her and us. She really learned so much and by the end of the school year she was reading at a First grade level. To me, the lack of sleep is worth it for the sake of their education. I know that they will thank me for this one day. I will remind them of this when I get old and they are considering placing me in a nursing home.  :)

So to sum it all up... I haven't slept since 2:30 this morning, Samantha is registered for Kindergarten and I WILL HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN NEXT YEAR FOR NATALIE!!!! All in a days work for this busy mom.

Update

WOW! Life has really been hectic in the Esparza home in the last few weeks. Our family has moved into a new home and we are trying to adjust to our new surroundings. I am a little overwhelmed with how much we had to pack and unpack. You don't really realize how much you really have until you have to pack and move everything. Thanks to our friends and family we were able to move our home in 2 days time. I know that we would not have been able to relocate without them. Thank you so much for your help...we really appreciate it.

We are doing well, the girls are right at home and Little Guy is ok with just about anything as long as he has a Lightning McQueen die cast car to play with. :) He is in his own world when he plays with his Lightning car. As far as Breanna goes...she is getting so big. She holds her own head up and is even trying to pull herself up to sit. She's growing up too fast. I will be returning to work in about two weeks and I'm excited and sad at the same time :( I hope that I can get back into the swing of things.

I haven't really had a chance to take too many pictures in the last few weeks since my camera was packed away. I did manage to find it in time to capture Breanna's First Valentine's Day. 

Proud New Siblings

On Friday my mother-in-law brought the kids by the hospital for a visit. They saw Breanna briefly on Thursday night but did not stay for very long. They each got to sit and hold their new baby sister. Natalie did not stop asking about her baby sister since her visit on Thursday. Little Guy was so indifferent to his new sister. He really didn't care too much about being able to hold her or see her. We stayed in the hospital until yesterday afternoon. Breanna had jaundice and had to be placed under the light to help stabilize her. She was not cleared to leave until yesterday. Here's some pictures of the kids with Breanna.

Breanna's Arrival

She's Here!!! Breanna Danielle Esparza has made her arrival.

We went to the hospital early Thursday morning to be induced. At about 10 a.m. the doctor came in to the room to let us know that labor was progressing but that the baby's head was not engaged for delivery..translation:we would need to do a c-section in order to deliver the baby safely. He was afraid that because her head was not engaged there was a possibility that the umbilical cord could come first and be compressed with the delivery. I found myself in tears as the doctor gave me option to continue with a normal delivery or opt to have a c-section performed. Armando and I found ourselves with a difficult decision. We decided to have the c-section performed with Breanna's safety on our minds and hearts.

She was born @ 1:50 p.m. on January 15,2009. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 20 1/2 inches long. She was a lot smaller than we had anticipated. The surgery went well. We are so happy that she's finally here. :)

Prepared for Baby?

I've been on this uncontrollable nesting stage for the last few days. I had a doctor's appointment Monday morning and we decided to go ahead and induce labor since I am already dilated 3 to 4 cm. I will be going in tomorrow morning @ 6 a.m. to begin the process. I am nervous and you would think that I wouldn't be since this is our 5th baby....but I AM! I hope that everything goes smoothly and that there are no complications. I am also excited since baby will finally be here. I can't wait to see her. I prepared and cleaned her crib and bassinet for her grand arrival into our home. Here's a picture of the bassinet.

Student of the Month

On Wednesday afternoon I received a call from Monique's school to notify me that she had been chosen as Student of the Month for December and she would be recognized on Friday at their assembly. I was so happy for her and she had no idea that she had been chosen. It was really hard for both Mando and I to keep this secret. Since her Great Grandmother is visiting us from Utah this month we all made plans to be there on her special day. We are so proud of her!

First Day

Hello :)

This is my first attempt at blogging so please bear with me. I am not quite sure what information to include. I have no pictures posted on the blog yet, but I am hoping to have some on here after tonight. 

Mando and I went to the Dr.'s office yesterday and were finally given a due date for the baby...January 27th! It only took us a month to get a date (it's a long story...I'll save it for another day!) I can breathe a little easier now. The kids are doing good and I am happy that they are back in school after their winter break. Samantha was especially happy to be back @ school. She's a sweetie.

Look forward to our pictures.