Catching up is hard to do :)

Having a toddler and working full time is quite the job for a NEW mother, can I even call myself a new mother anymore :) Kamilo is now 2 1/2 years old, fully pottie trained and quite the entertainer and flirt! So much has happened this past year, including the death of my Mom which has been tragic, Eddie and I buying our own home and Kamilo is now two! Recently some changes have taken place in my health also and I am home on temporary dissability due to a lung issue. I have been superficially (means I hope it is wrong) diagnosed with Intersistial Lung disease.

So since I have some time off I am going to catch up on the last year of the Medina Family life :)

The Medina Family Bought a House :)

Back in November Eddie and I made a huge decision and decided to buy ourselves a family home, we got pre-approved right away and did not want to stretch ourselves too thin. Eddie and I had two very different opinions of what we both wanted, Eddie wanted a house with a garage and a large yard, I wanted something more modern and not to big or too expensive, I was thinking a Condo would be perfect. Well we had an AMAZING house hunting experience, we took a look at our first house in La Mesa, it was definitely a fixer-upper but had great potential, but before we could even put an offer in it was bought for cash! Well the real estate agent Marcia Tolin told us we would probably have to put in about 50 offers before we would actually get one accepted. So we looked online at different houses and put our first offer in on this cute little two bedroom house on a 16,000 square foot lot.



The house only two bedrooms but is modern with new kitchen and granite counter tops, move in ready no repairs needed for the house and a big open blank canvas of a yard for Eddie to play with!AMAZINGLY our offer was accepted, this was a short sale so it was still a if/if situation. Well in March just after my birthday we were very happy to find out that everything worked out!! We signed the final documents on Easter Sunday and we moved into our new home on April 15th, 2010. We were so surprised because not only was our first offer accepted it was approved!



We have been so blessed ..... :)

THREE KINGS DAY (Dia de los Reyes Magos)

Eddie and I decided that we are going to raise Kamilo with as much as his Mexican heritage as possible, one of the holidays we are going to celebrate is Three Kings Day. I believe the story behind this holiday is beautiful and special. When my husband was growing up he never celebrated Christmas day he always celebrated the Three Kings Day. I wanted to include a little bit of history in my blog today, so others can know about the spirtual element of a beautiful Mexican Holiday. :)



January the 6th is a special day in Mexico. Known as 'El Dia de Reyes' (Three Kings Day), this holiday represents the height of the Christmas season. The date marks the culmination of the twelve days of Christmas and commemorates the three wise men who traveled from afar, bearing gifts for the infant baby Jesus. The children of Mexico in particular look forward to this holiday as traditionally, gifts are exchanged on this date, not on Christmas day.

In Mexico and many other Latin American countries, Santa Claus doesn't hold the cachet that he does in the United States. Rather, it is the three wise men who are the bearers of gifts, who leave presents in or near the shoes of small children. The holiday is also known by the name of the Epiphany which dates back to the 4th century. A grand feast would be held on this day to honor the occasion of Jesus' baptism and to pay homage to the three wise men.

Many believe mysterious events preceded Jesus' birth with perhaps the most notable being the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem. This new star appeared in the evening sky just prior to the arrival of Jesus. Three wise men or Magi as they were then known, whose names were Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, traveled a far distance to pay homage to the Christ child. They brought with them fine gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Three Kings Day remains an important holiday for the people of Mexico. In addition to the gift-giving aspect of the day there is also a culinary treat that is specific to the holiday. Known as 'Rosca de Reyes' (King's Cake), this holiday dessert offers much in the way of symbolism. Shaped in the round to signify a king's crown, this sweet bread holds a special surprise. Baked inside is a small plastic figurine representing the baby Jesus. Whoever finds this token is obligated to host an upcoming party for the occasion of 'Dia de la Candelaria' (Candlemas Day) which occurs each year on February 2nd.

The effigy of the baby Jesus, hidden inside the cake, represents another aspect of the holiday. The reason Jesus is 'hidden' inside the bread is to symbolize how in life, the Christ child's birth location also needed to remain secret, in order that his life be spared. The ruler of Jerusalem at the time, King Herod, had been appraised of the mystical signs that indicated the new and rightful King of Jerusalem was soon to be born. Herod's reaction to these predictions was swift and horrible. He ordered his minions to murder all male infants recently born in Bethlehem. However, as destiny would have it, Mary and Joseph found their lodgings in a manger, not an inn. Herod's henchmen didn't think to look for an infant in such a location.

Merry Christmas 2009

This Christmas was great! Kamilo understood a little more about Christmas and finding something under the Christmas tree, I was able to spend time with my Family and Eddie's family came over and we made tamales.
We were very blessed to have Alan spend Christmas with us this year since last year was his Mom's turn.

GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS 2009!

Kamilo is growing up so fast,it is becoming dificult to capture all of the moments on film.
One of my wants/wishes lately to catch up with him is a DSLR camera or what I call a "Big Girl Camera" they are a little pricey but they capture images more clearly and quicker than a point and shoot camera. I have been asking permission to buy one for myself for almost a year now! One of the reasons that have held us back is that on my sony cybershot I have the ability to edit the images on the camera before I download them to a computer. Well I finally found a DSLR that has the capability to do that and it is under $1000. So for the past couple of months I have been telling Eddie that all I want for Christmas is my Nikon D5000, I am being a little annoying about so he will give me permission to buy it for myself one day. Well he REALLY surprised me with work being so slow for him I never expected him to save up the money and actually purchase me the Nikon D5000 along with the largest memory stick they sell (16GB)! He did give it to me a couple weeks early so I can start capturing memories of the Medina 2009 Christmas :)


I have been so blessed with a wonderful caring husband!

The Medina family goes House Hunting!

This November we are Thankful for the many opportunities that God has put in front of us. Since the apartment complex has been sold and taken over by a property management company, Eddie and I decided to check with a lendor and see what we had to do to improve our credit and get into a house of our own. To our surprise, my many years of paying off old debt and keeping ourselves debt free with no credit cards had finally paid off! The Medina family was pre-approved for a home loan! Wow we are super excited! Since we have such a great discount on our apartment rent, we decided to start the very long process of looking for a short sale house. Again to our surprise our very first written offer was accepted and approved in the first week of looking. We were chosen out of 20 other applicants for a cute 2 bedroom/1 bath house in Lakeside with a very large backyard that has a cute shed/workroom.

We are told the process can take three to five months, which is needed since we have no money saved up for the downpayment. In our hearts we both know that if it is God's will everything will go smoothly.

Balboa Park

Since we live so close to Balboa park, Eddie and I like to walk around the park on the weekend. There is always some interesting entertainment to watch and we just love to see Kamilo's reaction from the different attractions.

HALLOWEEN 2009

Halloween was a wonderful time! For the second year in a row we as a family spent Halloween at my Aunt Lorna's house like we use to do when we were younger. Landra was there with Nolan, Ryan with his Fiance, and of course my aunt and her family.This year Angela and Cruz were able to join us and see how my family celebrates Halloween :)



I do truly hope that we are able to carry this tradition year after year as Nolan, Kamilo and Alan grow up.

PUMPKIN PROJECT FUN WITH LORI :)

Lori and I have been friends for at least 7 years, we were both blessed to have boys that are only 11 days apart. This Halloween Lori came up with some great craft ideas to do with the boys. We had so much fun!

Kamilo and the Pumpkin Patch

Just a reminder on how much Kamilo has grown up in a year … crazy! The top two pictures are from last year when he was 5 months old ...