The July Low Down...........

Wow! It has been a looooonnnnggg time! I feel like a lot has been happening and I've been meaning to blog, but then life gets crazy and.......... Anyway here I am with a synopsis and some thoughts for the month.

First, this might be a crazy post. It is 3:43 A.M. and I've been up for the last hour. I tried reading and I'm still wide awake. That is how I'm finding the time to write.

Sooooo.... last weekend Steve and I spent a night at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. It was to celebrate Steve's birthday, the big 40, last week. We had a great dinner, went to the show, got massages, etc. It was fantastic. I booked it last minute and was on a waiting list. We ended up with the Presidential Suite which was huge! It was nice to spend some time together on a date without the kids. I hope we can do it again before my 40th birthday! (Which is 6 years away.................... I'm still so young :)

Here are some birthday pictures. Steve is cracking up because at the end of the Happy Birthday song the kids are chanting... are you 1...are you 2...are you 3.... are you 4....all the way up to 40. It took awhile and the candles were definitely starting to melt.


Speaking of birthdays I have a funny Amanda comment. A couple of weeks ago we were at the mall picking out a gift for Megan, her cousin. Steve was at Max and Erma's with all 3 kids, I placed a quick food order, and ran into the GAP to find a cute outfit. I was so excited to find something quickly, and I was in and out of the store before our food had arrived. Amanda was anxious to see what I had bought. I thought the outfit was so cute and great for back-to-school. After looking at the clothes she announces, "They're fine. Now we have to get Megan something she can actually use." i.e. a toy, or something that sparkles, glitters, or makes noise, or something you can actually play with etc........

Speaking of cousins..... Here are Amanda and Nick meeting baby Emmersyn at the hospital. They were much less rambunctious this time around. When they came to the hospital to meet Gabby, Nick was hiding in the closets and throwing the super-bouncy ball, the two of them couldn't wait to go to the gift shop, and someone was always bothering the other sibling. Ugh! See what a few months does for their maturity.

Look.... more cousins. I had a great visit with Aunt Annette, Uncle Gary, and Janina a couple of weeks ago. Too bad the visit was so short. I guess I'll have to keep updated on her blog.

I just love this picture. Gabby is a little over 3 months old........... and just a little doll. This is her usual happy disposition.

This picture has been sitting in my camera from earlier in the month. I took a photo at 12:34:56 on 07-08-09. I guess this event doesn't occur very often and not again in my life time. I documented it in a photo, but you can't really read the clock. This is what we were doing at that exact moment during our day. Posing on my bed with an alarm clock in hand.........

Finally, the kids have been playing a LOT of tennis this summer. They go to tennis camp 3 full days and 1 half day when I work during the week. They have improved a lot. Here are some action shots when Steve took the kids to the court. (Steve loves to work the backhand.)

Doesn't it look like Amanda is hitting 3 balls at once????????????

And FINALLY...... I just have to say..... even though my brothers are great most of the time..... they can still annoy me..... Why they find it necessary to play devil's advocate is beyond me? I guess they enjoy getting a reaction out of me and honestly.... I can't wait for them to have children. It is great when the only 2 people without kids are dispensing parenting advice. So Brad and Justin... your time will come.......... and I won't forget... and you can send your kids over to Aunt Nicole's house for a hot dog with hot fudge sauce on top, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich layered with Doritos, and top it off with a double chocolate chip cookie dipped in ranch dressing (Ha, Ha, Ha,). I can hardly wait!

*If you can't figure it out... our argument was over healthy eating habits......

Welcome Baby Emmersyn!

Yeah!!! So I'm an Aunt again. Maureen and Mohamed had their beautiful baby girl yesterday. Mo had a c-section and is doing well. Emmersyn Rashwan weighed in at 6 lbs. 6 ounces, and she was 19 inches long. The kids can't wait to meet their new cousin.




Off to work..... Until later........

New Layouts.

So.... I actually have a few things I've been meaning to say..... Unfortunately it is getting late and I'm too tired to post. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow. I have been spending the last 45 minutes resizing photos for Steve's website. I needed to send them to the web designer and of course nothing is as easy as it should be. Anyway.... that got me into the scanning mood, so here are a few recent layouts from scrapbooking on Friday night with Mo Mo. This is the first time I have scrapped in the last 7 months. UGH! It has been too long. I forgot how much I liked to create. It took me some time to get into the groove, but here they are................ (Maybe Gabby will finally get her baby book.)

Painting with the Fam.....

Sooooooo..... I really feel truly blessed. I am lucky that I'm 1 of 4 kids and we all get along great. (That might not have been the case growing up, but it is true today.) I love having a lot of brothers and a sister. The fact that we live close helps, and we are able to see each other often. That is one of the reasons I wanted to have 3 kids. The work is enormous, but they are fun, they make me laugh (and cry), they help me relive my childhood, and test my patience. They bring our family so much love. I hope when they grow up my children have a special bond with each other. That will make this crazy life all worthwhile. I hope that when they grow up they make one another laugh, they enjoy hanging out together, and are willing to lend a helping hand.

With that said........ here I am paying it forward. Steve and I got roped into painting Justin's new house. After countless favors, it is about time that he is calling on everyone for paybacks (I found out that Brad spent a good portion of his vacation week helping out. That was one huge IOU redeemed). Justin is painting the ENTIRE interior of his house. He is taking it from granny chic to bachelor cool. Of all things..... I can't believe we were called on for painting. Mom watched the kids. (Thank you Mom, I can only imagine the chaos if the kids had been there. Paint all over the slip n slide.) Steve and I rolled on the paint in 2 bedrooms. Justin and Brad did brush work and I was only allowed to roll. I use the "W" technique as described on HGTV and get harassed. Brad, the pro painter, was trying to teach me the correct, professional technique. Horizontal lines with vertical lines, with just the right amount of paint, with no drips, no streaks, and Voila, perfection! My response was, "What do you want, Quality? or painting for FREE?" Justin pled the 5th saying he didn't care, he was happy I was there, and I was good for a chuckle. All in all, we got a lot of work done in a few hours. Here are some shots from my camera phone.........

My 2 goofball brothers...........



Check out the beatiful white primer and my 4 double chins!


Yeah! Raise the roof, we are done and outta here! (Actually, Steve has a paint can in his hand, but it didn't come out in the photo.)

Until later..

Everything is Alright!

So....everything is alright. Life is good. Not much news from the Herdoiza household this week. School is out and so that means no more funny conversations with Nic in the car. I've been back to work the past 2 weeks and things have not changed there. 2 months passed in a flash. The sitter is working out great for Garbriella, and they spend three mornings together. I spend the afternoons hanging with Gabby while the kids are at tennis camp. She is not much of a conversationalist yet so I have no funny stories to share. I am thrilled that she has been sleeping through the night the past 2 weeks. I'm like a new person! I can't believe she is growing so fast. Here are a few new pictures:

Gabby at 9 weeks old. What a doll! I could just eat her up.

Steve was out of town last week so I was a single mom for about 5 days. I tried to keep everyone busy so they would be tired at the end of the day. The only problem was...... I was exhausted myself! Anyway, this was our adventure to the splash park at Kensington. It was hard to get pictures. The kids didn't want to cooperate, and it was hard to keep my eyes on three kids while looking through the camera.

I tried to at least get a shot of the cousins together. This was my best attempt.

Just look at the kids seconds before the picture was taken. Amanda was complaining about the sun in her eyes. Cam was looking for his mom and not at crazy Aunt Nicole, and Nick was just plain fed up!

This is a photo I took just for Bradley and Laura. Brad was giving Laura a hard time about the slides at the park. He swore they went into a pool or the lake. Laura said they went onto the ground. Brad couldn't believe the slide finished in the cement. To solve this argument.... I say the slide lands you into a gigantic shallow bathtub. Take a look Bradley!

Finally, sharing a few smooches.....

I love this shot of Nicholas at his Big Brother BEST!

Until later..................