Celebrating Ashley's 5th Birthday Party with Just Us Girls

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We had to celebrate Ashley's birthday late but for this birthday it was just my mom, dad, Ivy, Ashley, and I.  My dad just met us for dinner and then us girls headed over to Chuck E Cheese.  

My dad is so good at winning these things and he got one of the first try.  Sheesh!  Isn't it funny though how the people tuck everything in so tight?  We were lucky to get that one because after that he couldn't get a second one.  I mean, nothing budged.  I seriously need to own one of those machines.


It is really, really nice to spend time with my parents.  I always wonder what life is gonna be like when all my kids grow up and I'm still here without them.  Are they gonna move far away?  Are they gonna want to bring their children here?  Charles and I have already planned out making one of the rooms a guest room and another one a nursery....just in case anyone will bring the kids by.  I know that's really thinking ahead but I love family around me so much.  It was even a little bit hard going to Chuck E. Cheese without the rest of my family.  We still had fun but I can't help feeling like that.  I think the hard part about being a grandparent would be knowing that you aren't the decision maker on raising the kids anymore.  Your job is done and however your kids decide to raise their kids, that's their choice.  

Have you ever been to Chuck E Cheese during the school year on a week night?  It's so empty AND wonderful!!!  We had the whole place to ourselves.  Usually the place with all it's noise can get really crazy but it was much more enjoyable with not having the over crowding.



Chuckie completely caught me off guard.  I turned around, saw him, and almost fell over.  Sheesh.  Ha ha.


I think the girls cared more about winning tokens then anything.  Ashley was excited about her winnings!  She still carries them around everywhere.  She's so polite though so when we got home and the kids wanted to try out her things she said yes.  I told her to be careful because they break easy.  She shares everything.  Her toys, candy...  The wonderful thing about having several kids, they learn to share so much easier. :)

Happy birthday my sweet princess.  My 5th child turned 5.  You have been so easy to raise thus far and you always have such a sweet spirit.  You even skipped the terrible twos.... I need more of you.  Heh heh.


After Chuck E Cheese we headed to McDonalds so we could have coffee with the cake.  Boy, my mom is a night owl and we only left at 11pm because they were closing.  LOL.  I got my night owlness from my mom.  


So you know how I'm on a diet?  Seriously, I love my diet.  I basically eat only meat and vegetables.  I allow myself only 25 carbs a day MAX.  That's usually just from my milk and coffee creamer.  I ate two tiny bites of my cake.  Heh heh..... so proud.  Seriously though, we went to Denny's, Chuck E Cheese, then McDonalds and I still stayed within my diet.  I'm so proud.  Pat on the back, pat on the back.    :D

Let's Fire Obama!

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Vote Jeff Flake for U.S. Senate!

Here is a funny story... the other day my mom and I were gonna take a class to help work at the polls for the election.  I've worked at them before but never got to take the class. I figured I might as well.  This guy misdirected us to the wrong building and my mom and I didn't realize the mistake till we were half way through the training.  The training was to be a poll observer instead.  We were not sure what to do but decided to stay so we could get licensed to be one.  After we finished the training we were told we had to take a test.  Uhhhh....oh.  It was a four page test and I started to remember my school days where I wished I had taken notes.  Well, I passed!  I'm now a licensed poll observer.  Ha ha.  It ended up being a fantastic day and we got to talk to so many like minded conservatives.  Not a democrat in the house.  A little bit like heaven to me.  :D

Getting my signs to put out

I got to meet with Jeff Flake running for U.S.  Senate.  He talked about some things he stood for but also went into detail when he was really questioned on it.  He didn't talk in circles like most politicians  (and evolutionists).  I really appreciated that.  After talking with him and hanging out with some others we had a pizza party!  I ended up finding out about possibly joining a conservative women's club.  Not sure at all where I'd find the time in my over busy day to go to their meetings but I would like to pop in every now and then.  :D  Was it a surprise to me that I was the youngest person there (by a long shot)?  Noooo....


Would I love to fire Obama?  That's a big F. A. T YES!!!!!  Please let it be so and VOTE!  You can't complain about who is in office if you don't vote.  People in some other countries wish to God they could vote for their leader.  We have it good here in America.  Well, be careful who you vote for.  If you are unsure about it then please go over the the local video store or to Amazon.com and rent Obama 2016.  You would be shocked what we're in for if Obama is reelected.  Let's fire him!

We've Been Doing Stuff.

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Hello neglected blog. I like blogging but as you can see, I haven't done it in awhile. We've been having fun doing family things and the thought of catching my blog up with our activities makes me tired. So, I think I'll just post a pic here and there and then try to resume my semi-regular posting activities.

We've been busy making weird faces...


Goose egg + vomit = Emergency Room

"You've been here before, right?" -Triage Nurse
"Mmm, hmmm..." -Charlie's mama


Happy birthday balloons are fun even if its not your birthday. Thanks dollar store!


Visits with Mimi and Poppy are one of the highlights to Charlie's week.
Terrorizing Buddy is a good time killer.


First annual trip for apple picking at Gizdich Ranch. We have not had too many of the apples we picked but we devoured the pumpkin pie and apple pies we bought.



Going to "sea" the Monterey Bay Aquarium and having lunch in Moss Landing is good for the soul.


Playdates with neighbor friends makes for a great start to the day. Have I mentioned what great neighbors I have?! It took us 3 years to meet but thats ok. We are making up for lost time, now.
A trip to the pumpkin patch during the week is highly recommended. And, free parking. Score.




Charlie, the artist.

I've also been busy with my little bus-nas. #6 out of 250 peeps in sales in September. Just sayin'.... :)

That's all for now.

Hi, Blog. It's me, Alyssa.

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I'm just going to pretend that I haven't NOT blogged in 2 months. No great reason why I haven't been around but I am pregnant so I think I'll be blogging more often! And with that said, here is my first pregnancy quiz for "#2".

How far along? 12 weeks, 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: I've only had 1 appointment so I'm not sure yet. I do know I started this pregnancy off about 20 lbs higher than Charlie's pregnancy (sigh) so I hope to not gain as much this pregnancy.

Maternity clothes? Yes, I busted out the maternity clothes around week 7. I told you I'm big!

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep: I sleep fine other than getting up 2+ times a night to pee.

Best moment this week: Charlie and I went to Diddams earlier this week to shop for some stuff for his birthday party. We're having a farm theme but the only farm animal stuff they had was horses so I guess its now a horse theme! Its pretty cute though. I also had fun making the favors.

Movement: No.

Food cravings: Depends on the day. Most days I crave deli sandwiches. I just might buy stock in Subway.

Gender: I'm thinking girl, Rob thinks boy. What do you think?!

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? In.
What I miss: I'm not a big drinker but I went to PF Changs with some ex-coworkers a couple weeks ago and I really wanted their Key Lime Pie Martini (my favorite).

What I am looking forward to: Rob and my dinner/movie date on Friday plus we have 2 appointments next week (regular appointment and NT scan).

Other Updates: We had our first dr.'s appointment at 9 weeks on Dec 15 and saw our Charlie's sibling. It's heartbeat was a healthy 180.

I am going to have a planned c-section since I had a c-section last time and am not interested in a VBAC so we get to choose a birthdate within a week of the due date. I think we're going with Thursday July 12. I was thinking of doing it that Friday but it would have been Friday the 13th and Rob felt a little funny about that. Of course, I could also go into labor early but since I didn't go into labor early with Charlie, my dr. doesn't think I'll go into labor early with this one. I guess we'll find out!

This week, baby is the size of a lime!

Colorado 2012 & Charlie's First Plane Ride.

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A couple weeks ago, we flew out to my parents lake house in Colorado with Charlie and his cousins. Even though it was a bit crazy at times having 3 little ones together, I think it made it a little easier. They were able to entertain themselves a bit by chasing eachother around. I think if it were just Charlie, it would have been a bit more challenging to keep him happy.

Overall, Charlie did better than we thought he would. There were times where we wanted to pull our hair out (especially around take off and landing where the attendants insisted on having him in a seatbelt even though we'd be taxing for awhile). Often times we would let him not be in the seatbelt and then when the attendant came by, we'd try to put it back on so we wouldn't get in trouble. After we landed in Colorado we rented a big car and the 7 of us drove 2 hours to the cabin. It was a looooong travel day. Did I mention we also had a 2 hr layover in LA?

We stayed in Colorado for 4 nights and did a lot of hanging out and playing in the snow. Getting Charlie to agree to wear snow clothes just didn't happen so we had to stuff him in the clothes. By the time we were done, Rob and I were sweating and swearing. It was awesome! ;) I think the highlight of our trip was sledding. My dad bought 3 sleds for the kids but the adults had fun with it, too. There is a little hill by their house that we walked to and played for awhile. Charlie didn't want to sit in the sled but I held him down and went - he looooved it.


I love this one. Rob accidentally went over a bump and they totally went airborn. Rob is trying to slow down with his hand, and Charlie has his hand over his forehead as if to say "geez dad, what are you doing?!" I think I might frame this. It makes me laugh whenever I see it.






The day we came home, we had to leave the house at 5:30 am. It was snowing and super windy so it took us 3 hours to get to the airport (almost 3.5 after getting gas). In the morning when we left, Rob checked the flight and it was on time. We pulled into the area to return our rental car around 9:00 am and Rob checked our flight status again and it said, wait for it...CANCELLED. WTF? Rob called the airline and they said they could get us on a 1:00 pm flight but we wouldn't land until 8:00 pm in San Jose. Rob told them that wouldn't work so they ended up getting all 7 of us on a non stop flight to San Jose and ended up landing hours before our original flight was to land (our original flight had a 3 hr layover at LAX). It caused some stress for a short time but in the end, the travel gods were working for us.

All in all it was a good trip but its always nice to come home and to come home to almost 80 degree weather was wonderful. There's no place like home!

Celebrating Ashley's 5th Birthday Party with Just Us Girls

To contact us Click HERE
We had to celebrate Ashley's birthday late but for this birthday it was just my mom, dad, Ivy, Ashley, and I.  My dad just met us for dinner and then us girls headed over to Chuck E Cheese.  

My dad is so good at winning these things and he got one of the first try.  Sheesh!  Isn't it funny though how the people tuck everything in so tight?  We were lucky to get that one because after that he couldn't get a second one.  I mean, nothing budged.  I seriously need to own one of those machines.


It is really, really nice to spend time with my parents.  I always wonder what life is gonna be like when all my kids grow up and I'm still here without them.  Are they gonna move far away?  Are they gonna want to bring their children here?  Charles and I have already planned out making one of the rooms a guest room and another one a nursery....just in case anyone will bring the kids by.  I know that's really thinking ahead but I love family around me so much.  It was even a little bit hard going to Chuck E. Cheese without the rest of my family.  We still had fun but I can't help feeling like that.  I think the hard part about being a grandparent would be knowing that you aren't the decision maker on raising the kids anymore.  Your job is done and however your kids decide to raise their kids, that's their choice.  

Have you ever been to Chuck E Cheese during the school year on a week night?  It's so empty AND wonderful!!!  We had the whole place to ourselves.  Usually the place with all it's noise can get really crazy but it was much more enjoyable with not having the over crowding.



Chuckie completely caught me off guard.  I turned around, saw him, and almost fell over.  Sheesh.  Ha ha.


I think the girls cared more about winning tokens then anything.  Ashley was excited about her winnings!  She still carries them around everywhere.  She's so polite though so when we got home and the kids wanted to try out her things she said yes.  I told her to be careful because they break easy.  She shares everything.  Her toys, candy...  The wonderful thing about having several kids, they learn to share so much easier. :)

Happy birthday my sweet princess.  My 5th child turned 5.  You have been so easy to raise thus far and you always have such a sweet spirit.  You even skipped the terrible twos.... I need more of you.  Heh heh.


After Chuck E Cheese we headed to McDonalds so we could have coffee with the cake.  Boy, my mom is a night owl and we only left at 11pm because they were closing.  LOL.  I got my night owlness from my mom.  


So you know how I'm on a diet?  Seriously, I love my diet.  I basically eat only meat and vegetables.  I allow myself only 25 carbs a day MAX.  That's usually just from my milk and coffee creamer.  I ate two tiny bites of my cake.  Heh heh..... so proud.  Seriously though, we went to Denny's, Chuck E Cheese, then McDonalds and I still stayed within my diet.  I'm so proud.  Pat on the back, pat on the back.    :D