Let Me Tell You "Bout My Best Friend....

Joey and I cannot get enough. Every second we have free we are getting our fill. We are trying to catch up for lost time. I am talking about the funniest show on MTV right now, Rob & Big. The second season has just started and we are just getting into this show so we are watching all the back episodes on-line. We are anxiously waiting for Season One to come out on DVD. This show is so funny, and the interaction between Rob & Big makes us both laugh out loud. And if your know PR Dad, lol-ing does not happen often. Seriously though, this show has us rolling on the flooring laughing our asses off!

In other mindless entertainment news, I caught the movie Blue Crush on television a few weeks ago. I had never seen the movie (even during my surfing phase) because it just seemed cheesy to me, but I was so surprised to learn that I really liked it. Of course it did have a cheesy, modern day version of North Shore, but it was still good. I recommend it for a lazy weekday watch. I also finished reading the book 'White Oleander' and the immediately watched the movie (gotta love Netflix!) and this was one of those time where the movie did not do the book justice. Not at all. The book is like 155,785,631,876 times better than the movie was. That's a lot of times.

So what are all you reading? What are you watching these days?

Tata's 80th!

G-G-G-Giant 80th Birthday Love to Big Tata!!

On the Monday holiday we all got together (again!) to celebrate Big Tata's 80th Birthday! Everyone had pitched in (and my parents footed the rest) to buy him a super duper awesome chair. It is remote controlled to recline, and even stand him up from a sitting position. It also heats up! PR Dad and I wrapped the box and PR Dad created the bow all by himself! We are glad Big Tata liked it so much that he wore it on his head.

Baby Central. There were a lot of years where the family was baby-less and we are now starting to multiple again! I love it!

Gabriel is one talented kid. Not only can he snap his fingers, but he can snap them behind his back!

My god-daughter. What a cutie!

Big Tata, signing his own cake.

With all the new toys she got at her birthday, she played with an empty toilet paper roll.

I just had to post this picture because it was too cute!

Happy Birthday Big Tata! We love you so much and the PR Family was so happy that we were able to celebrate with you!

I Madonnari

After a nights rest from the big party we all woke up and got ready for the day. After Mom freaked out over the fertilzed eggs she cracked open when making breakfast. (The price you pay for having eggs that fresh!) We headed out to the Santa Barbara Mission to check out I Madonnari, the annual Italian sidewalk painting festival. Angelica called it magically, and she was right.

Work in Progress

Me and The Girls

The Phi and the Forbidden Ice Cream.

Angelica is posing with The Phi just like Cari use to pose with Elaine!

I am gonna get you!

My picture perfect girls!

Party Time!!

The Birthday / Baptism Party was a blast.

The Phi found a friend in her cousin Devo! One of my cousin Lori's adorable little boys. He is a year older than The Phi, but they had fun going down the slides together.

The kids weren't the only ones having fun on the slides. My cousin Arnie went down sitting on his skateboard

The Birthday Babies! The Phi showed us all how she can drink from a water bottle. Okay it was really more like rinsing her mouth. You should have seen the floaters in that bottle!

Money falling from the sky. Any one know why we do this?

Sneaking some cookie from her egg-free mousse cake.

The Phi's cousin Angelica was so considerate and because she knew that The Phi can't eat cake, she made her this special dessert.

BFF's. Another hug-fest from with these two!

My Dre's. Jigga Dre and Dr. Dre. (Yes people she is officially Dr. now!!!)

Rosie, here is the payback for taking this picture. Now its all over the internet!!

Present time! Our family spoiled The Phi with clothes and toys!

Her Uncle Tommy bought her a kick-ass drum. She loved it. She reminds me of Animal from the muppets when she drums.

2 whole years old.

Having fun with Uncle Tommy and his new hair-do!

Thanks to everyone who came out and celebrated with us!

Becoming God Parents

It is official. Lili has become PR goddaughter! PRGD for short. On Sunday morning during a pretty long, but very wonderful ceremony Lili and Felix were baptized and the devil horns were gone forever. Well at least until they turn '2'.

Lili was great the entire ceremony.

Felix was a little crabby, but even he loved the warm water.

The priest had all the kids come to the baptismal fountains and look at some symbols on the ceiling. Look at The Phi, just one of the kids.

After being baptized the babies put on their white dress and suite. Lili was just chill. She loved staring at her Nino's goatee and Felix knocked out. Then it was party time!

R.I.Peep

Rest In Peace Baby Mini Chicken

5/26/07 - 5/27/07

A Silent War

There is a silent war going on in my office. No one talks about it, or even admits it but it is definitely going on. It is a power struggle

and we are all determined to win. It is a battle over refilling the copy machine with paper. As of right now it has been over a week with the "Tray 4 Empty" flashing on the screen. And we all see it, and we all know its there, and we all know that all we need to do is put in 3 packages of paper to make it go away, but that would be surrendering and losing power. Each tray is slowing starting to empty and soon the entire machine will be out of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. It is going to come down to who will need to make a copy when that happens. Because only then will we will be forced to surrender the power and refill the machine.

Birthday Dinner

The week long birthday celebration continues. On their actual birthday we had dinner at Joe's Sushi. PR Dad has been dying to go to an all you can eat sushi place. Matt, Drew and Gruve (not in a speed-o) joined in the festivities. Matt who is anti-sushi had some California rolls. Gruve learned that he did not like hand roll scallops and Drew realized that he LOVES soy beans. It was a fun place and when they brought out the ice cream and candles they dimmed all the lights and announced to the entire place and everyone sang.

When you share your b-day with your Dad, you get sushi for your birthday dinner!

Happy Birthday to my True Loves

Today is my baby and my Babe's birthday. My little girl turns 2 and my wonderful husband turns 34. They are my pair of Gemini's. Both with the same personality and same features. She is her daddys little girl and though they can bump heads they are closer than I could have imagined. Today they gave each other groggy birthday kisses this morning and tonite I will sing to them over a sushi dinner. It has been a crazy year for them filled with separation and with lots of fun times and mornings together watching 'toons'. The Phi is becoming such a "kid", and all the good and bad that comes with it. She is at a strange stage where she is independent, but doesn't really know all the 'rules' yet. Rules like, no running around Target. She is a smart kid and she will learn with time. In one year she has gone from barely staying stable on her two feet to climbing playground equipment and going down slides all on her own. Seems like she has a bunch of new words everyday and one of them is finally Mom. She has fallen in love with her cousin Angelica and loves to play with her. Her hair has gotten longer, or bigger really and has stayed curly and light brown. I love her curls because they fit her quirky personality. She has developed an attitude and when PR Dad finally came home she had a period where she wouldn't sleep. She has tested my patience like no one else ever has. But I am so proud and happy to be her Mom. She is excited about her birthday and her party. And I am excited for all the fun stuff she will learn and we will do together in the next year. The Phi has effortlessly become the third person of our exclusive group. Joey sacrificed so much this year in hopes that the house would sell and we could be where we want to be and where we belong. Things have not worked out as we have hoped but despite the setbacks, this year I have watched him become an even better Dad than when The Phi was a baby. He has remained the funniest man that I know and don't let the grey hair fool you, he still is cool as hell. And if you forget that giant ZZ Top goatee will remind you. I wish that I could give him the Harley motorcycle that he dreams about. One day. Today we will be together and I will get to celebrate the 2 loves of my life.

2 out of 3 Parties

\PR Dad and I both come from big loving families. Unfortunately they are all far away from us. And since most of PR Dad's family wont be able to make it to the big Baptism/Birthday party coming up we celebrated The Phi and Joey's birthday with them this week. On Thursday PR Dad paternal side got together for cake and ice cream in honor of PR Dads 34th birthday and The Phi's second. In case you didn't know, The Phi was PR Dad's 32nd birthday present. She was born on his birthday. Pretty perfect huh??

We had a great time with tacos, enchiladas, stuffing, and 2 cakes!

Now my poor allergy Phi can't have cake, so instead we bought her a rice krispies treat. But of course she scored some frosting...

Today we had dinner with PR Grandma (PR Dads Mom). Her birthday is the day before PR Dads and The Phi's. I know crazy right. At dinner I was the only one not celebrating my birthday. As usual PR Gma spoiled The Phi with gifts. A cute brown tank top with khaki shorts. A baby doll that cries and says Mama, a little bunny, a box of the fruit snacks she likes and the big gift was.....

That's right people, they still make Sit and Spins!

There will never be a portrait of The Phi hanging in our house

We have never been so embarrassed or frustrated in our entire parenthood lives. We scheduled her entire day so that at 3:30 when she had her picture appointment she wouldn't be tired or hungry. We tried to make sure that she looked cute in a pretty pink dress and her hair looking cute with a pretty pink flower in it. We got to the appointment on time and she was good in the waiting area. We chose the backgrounds we wanted and then entered the studio area and things just fell apart. We walked in and the photographer moved the table and the background scenes moved up and down and The Phi freaked. She refused to sit up on the table, she refused to stand on the table. I kept trying to sit her down and she just clung to me. I peeled her off and she tried to get off the table, No amount of stuffed animals, or books, or ticking mommy and daddy with a feather duster, could calm her down of keep her on the table. I couldn't believe that this was my bratty kid. After half an hour of this, we were all getting hot and sweaty from wrestling with her and we were completely frustrated and we needed to get on the road so we threw up our hands and left. Never ever to return again.

A Simple Thanks

A few minutes ago one of my dietitans stopped by the office. She has just left to company for a full-time position at a hospital near her home. Most of our dietitans I only deal with over the phone or email. There are some who have been here the last 3 years that I have been here who I have never met. Well this dietitan came in to drop of her notebooks and she left me a gift. A simple card thanking me for my help over the last few years and some bath and body works lotion and a cute post-it note set. It was so thoughful and so wonderful to be appreciated by a co-worker.

We Are Not Morning People

This is no surprise to anyone who knows us. Even The Phi is not a morning person. We prefer to sleep in as long as we can. I wake up with just enough time to shower get ready, get Phi ready and get out the door. PR Dad is a horrible sleeper. He can never fall asleep. It takes him hours. He averages about 4 hours a night. Well since Saturday our neighbors a few houses down decided that 5:30 AM is a great time to water the flowers and B-L-A-R-E Mexican music. 5 fucking 30 in the morning. It is so freakin loud that it wakes up PR Dad, it wakes me up, but the woerest of all, it wakes up The Phi. It leaves her tired, cranky, and completely off schedule. Yesterday, after be woken up at 5:30 she fell asleep at the office at 9 am and slept for over an hour. So after a day out and a trip to the park she fell asleep again about 6pm. I had to wake her up at 7:30 and she was so cranky. All because someone blared their music at such an ungodly hour. When it happened on Saturday PR Dad got out of bed and walked over there, but it was over by the time he got out there. This morning I was pissed when it woke me up, then I heard The Phi calling for her Dad and I picked up my phone. I called the cops. I totally ratted them out and made a noise compliant. A cop cruised by and of course it was over by the time they got there. The cop called me and said he didn't hear anything, but if I were to hear it again to call back. Tell me people, what would you do in this situation? Would you try to solve it yourself, or bring in the authorities??

2004.44 miles

That is how far away Chicago is from my house. A 29 hour road trip. I mapquested it and thats how far away my friend is. I kept thinking if I leave right now I can be there by Wednesday. Or how would The Phi do on a 2 day car trip. Would I have enough dvds to keep her entertained? I have been considering this all day. I hate having my Boo so far away.

Post-Mom Day

It was a great Mother's Day. We had a great brunch with PR Dads family. Complete with great food, margaritas, lots of kids running around, and live mariachi's (that The Phi loved!), and bouquets of sock roses. After brunch we did what we do best and walked a mall. After the mall closed, we meet up with our buddy Sam and had a wonderful dinner, and fun conversation. The Phi was a great kid all day, rocking her trendytadpole.com shirt for the occassion. Of course PR Dad was great and spent the entire day chasing our rug-rat around. It was a day where I did not have to make any decisions, I am so tired of making decisions. PR Dad even decided what I had to drink at dinner. A yummy fruit mojito. I was sad to not see my Mom, but I let her (and the whole Internet world) know how much she means to us. I hope that all the Moms out there were pampered yesterday and thanked for doing the hardest job in the world. I know that some people feel that Mother's Day is just a phoney holiday, but I think it is nice to have one day where Moms get the most beautiful pictures. Just like the ones that The Phi gave me. Pictures of puppies and Mommies that my baby colored for me. Pictures that I will date and keep forever!

Happy Mothers Day

My Mom is a tiny woman. My sisters and I were all taller than her by the time we started high school. Chone is getting pretty close and she is only 7. Despite her petiteness, my Mom has an inhumanely loud voice. It is booming and piercing all the same time. There were times when that loud voice was like fingernails on a chalk board to me. Like when it was 6 am and between her high heels on the kitchen floor and her loud voice I could never sleep. But it can also be comforting like when right after Sophia was delivered my Mom told me she was perfect. It can also be just plain fun, like when she is making fun and joking with her sisters. I am glad that my Mom has such a loud voice, because it has made it easier for me to remember everything about her and what it means and takes, not just to be a Mom, but a damn good Mom. There are many many moments that I have with The Phi that I stop and think, "this is just like my Mom use to do". I find myself using the same silly voices when I read to The Phi, just like my Mom did. And apparently I also read in a very loud voice. The Phi will often pick up a book and pretend to read it out loud at a very high volume. I can only assume she learned it from watching me.

My Mom is an exercise junkie, chocoholic, coffee drinking, candy hiding, funny card making, flower loving, Il Divo listening, hard working, neat freak, and we would not have her another way. She really is the best Mom in the world. She has made our lives easier and made motherhood look like a piece of cake. She made it look so easy, but I know that there must have been days when us kids were little and she was exhausted, frustrated, and didn't know exactly what to do. There must have been days when she lost her patience with us and my Dad, tired of being the maid and disciplinarian. But what we remember is the happy, smiling, ever patient Mom who loves us unconditionally. The one who helped me write a song about my cat, the one who let Ouie dress us as Cyndi Lauper for Halloween, the one who let cover my walls in New Kids on the Block pictures, the Mom who kissed us and hugged us, tucked into bed and read us bedtime stories, the one who encouraged us, praised us and has never ever let us down.

Mom, I love you so much. You are my inspiration and I hope to be as good of a Mom to my Phi as you are to me, Ouie and Elaine.

Happy Mothers Day

-Your #1 daughter

Elissa

Birthday Love x 30

It is the year. The dread 3-0 b-day year! One of the first to turn 30 is....

AUNTIE SAM!

Happy Birthday Sam.

You may be 30 today, but we are all right behind you.

Does that make you feel better?

We Love You. Enjoy your day.

Today is also....

Dia de la Madres

(Mother's Day in Mexico)

So happy Mexican mothers day to all my Mama's, Nana's, Ninas, Tias, Hermanas, Amigas, Primas.......

Hi I'm a Mac

With modern technology I now fast forward through commercials. I even wait to watch something after it ends so I don't have to watch commercials. EXCEPT I will rewind and watch if a Mac commercial comes on. First I thought it was because they were really funny, but I think I have a crush on the Mac guy. I can even get past his role in "The Break-Up". He is just so cool, casual and confidant. Oh man, I totally have a crush on the Mac guy.

Birthday LUV

Happy Birthday to my Asian Brother!!!

Tommy, our favorite business owner is 33 years young today.

We Love You Tom!

Oscar was robbed

We ended our Cinco de Mayo by watching the De La Hoya / Merriweather fight.

Family, friends, food and Oscar without a shirt for 12 rounds. Doesn't get much better!

Here is the picture Cari!

Sheer cuteness

The Phi and her favorite cousin Angeligeligelica

Sheer Cuteness Part 2

The Phi and Marissa disappointed with the outcome of the fight.