Samantha's Shabby Chic Baptism

Last month Samantha was baptized in a small private ceremony at St. John Chrysostom Catholic Church by Monsignor Sal Pilato.  We were so blessed that Msgr. Sal Pilato was able to baptize Samantha (he’s a very busy man). He officiated our wedding and also baptized JD, and we wanted to keep the tradition going.  The ceremony was beautiful, and we were honored to have our close friends Alex, Angie, Veronica and Rene as Samantha’s Godparents. Following the ceremony we had a luncheon at our home, and then spent the entire afternoon and evening enjoying the company of our family and friends.

Wordless Wednesday

Photography by: Kersti Kooiman

I'm 33 weeks pregnant!

I'm 33 weeks pregnant and I am happy to say that so far this pregnancy has been great.  We are having a girl, and although we are super excited, I'm a bit nervous because it's just been me and the boys (hubby and JD) for the last 5 years.  I've become very accustomed to super heroes, Legos and sword fights.  I recently realized we only own two Disney princess movies, Brave (JD loves archery) and Tangled (Flynn Rider is awesome), oh and I can't remember the last time I played with a Barbie!  But I will admit that shopping for a little girl is so much fun, I think she owns more dresses than I do at this point.  I really can't wait meet our little princess and I'm pretty sure her Barbies will get along just fine with JD's action figures!

Photography by: Kersti Kooiman

Wordless Wednesday

Shirt: The Kids Next Door by Vicarious Clothing on Etsy

Father's Day

JD is such a lucky little guy; he not only has an amazing daddy but two amazing grandpas! I really love the fact that JD is growing up with such wonderful men in his life, they each share such a special bond with him, it really is incredible! I thank God everyday, especially on Father's Day for bringing these wonderful, loving and amazing men into my life!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy birthday, Mom!

May every second, minute

hour, day and year of your life

be filled with the kind of

comfort, security, and happiness

you give unfailingly to me.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Without you, there would be

a gaping hole in my life, an emptiness

that only your love can fill.

Thank you, Mom, for all that you do,

for the extraordinary person you are.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Our Christmas 2010

I hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas! We spent our Christmas with our family and friends at our new home and had a really wonderful time. JD has been a bit congested but he managed to be his usually crazy self and had a blast opening and playing will all his gifts. This year's Christmas menu was a mix of all our favorite foods including, arroz con pollo, tamales, stuffing, pork roast and for the very first time a fried turkey, courtesy of my in-laws (I don't think we will be eating turkey any other way)! I will admit the last few months have been a little overwhelming but God has blessed our family so much and everything has fallen into place perfectly. Our family is definitely looking forward to the new year and we have tons of new adventures planned. May God bless you and your family this holiday season!

Our New Home

I really wanted to announce much sooner that we found a house we love in October and were in escrow, but it would have been a real downer if things fell through, so we've been keeping it a bit of a secret until we were absolutely positively sure the house was ours! I haven't actually mentioned that we were thinking of buying a house, because we honestly weren't, but somehow one crazy idea turned into another and we did!

Back in April a really nice townhome (we had been eying for a while) became available in my parents complex. We contacted our friend Veronica who also happens to be a Realtor and told her we wanted to put an offer on the townhome and so with her help, we did; but sadly a month later the seller went with another offer and we became the "back-up" offer, so we just decided to wait and see. Fast forward to December, the townhome still hasn't been sold!

In September the hubby and I had somewhat of an epiphany; we both just started great new jobs, we were already pre-qualified to buy a house and we had been willing to buy that townhome a few months before, so why not just get serious and keep looking for a house! We started working with Veronica again and starting touring homes; townhomes, little homes, big homes, fixer uppers, you name it we toured it! But on October 11th the search ended.

The house was described as a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, turnkey, great starter home in a nice neighborhood, it featured new dual pane windows, refinished hardwood floors, a nice layout, a beautiful backyard with a covered patio, fruit trees and it was absolutely move-in condition! It just sounded too good to be true and unfortunately it only had 1 bathroom (once you live in a 2 bathroom home, it's a bit hard to go back to just 1), but we decided to tour it anyways. Hubby was working late that night so he asked me to tour the house while there was daylight and take pictures. I asked my mom to meet me at the house and the minute I pulled up to the driveway I became nervous, it was really cute. When my mom and I walked through the front door, we were both very surprised, it was clean and bright and after touring the entire house, I couldn't disagree with any of the homes listing descriptions! I took tons of pictures and before leaving the house my mom and I knelt down in the living room and prayed, asking God for guidance.

I hurried home and uploaded the pictures I had taken, emailed the hubby and waited impatiently for his response. When the phone rang and the caller ID read the hubby's work number, I became even more nervous, I wanted him to like the house as much as I did. After picking up the phone and talking to him for about 5 minutes, I realized I had nothing to be nervous about, he was totally interested in the house, he asked if there was electricity (there was) and if so could we tour it together that same night; I told him JD and I would be ready and he could swing by and pick us up after work.

He picked us up and once again I was touring this house I had already fallen in love with just hours earlier. I tried not to say much, I just wanted to see the hubby's reaction as he walked from one room to the next; JD on the other hand ran around in his pajamas opening every door, drawer and closet and stomping on the hardwood floors amused by the echo. After touring the backyard and the garage, I finally mustard up the courage to ask him what he thought of the house, he responded “ I love it, let's put an offer in!” That night we put an offer on the house and by that Thursday we were officially in escrow.

Well today was finally that day we had been waiting for, today we received the keys to our new home. Now the fun begins, hope you guys will follow along in next chapter of our lives as we turn a house into our home!

These are the first pictures we took of the house back in October

Our Family Portraits

A few weeks ago we took our first family portraits at JCPenney Portrait Studio in Lakewood and I finally had a chance to post them; just in time for Christmas.