Kamilo was Baptized!

As you all know I married Eddie who is a cradle Catholic on August 5th, 2006. We were married in front of our friends and family by my non-denominational pastor. It was a beautiful ceremony and a fun reception. One of the things I promised Eddie is we would renew our vows in the Catholic church. Well when we were blessed with Kamilo, Eddie and I after a significant amount of thought and prayer decided to raise Kamilo Catholic. . At the time of my research and prayer I discovered I knew nothing about the Catholic traditions and it was very difficult to Baptize your child through the Catholic Church unless you were ready to make the commitment on raising him properly. One of the traditions that I did not particularly know was the meaning behind a Catholic MarriageEddie and I felt in our hearts it was important to make sure our wedding vows were blessed by the priest before we Baptized Kamilo so we with the advice from Father Matt we renewed our wedding vows and Baptized Kamilo all in the same ceremony! To make the day memorable we did this on May 30th, 2009. This is the day after Kamilo's first Birthday! What a beautiful a memorable God moment in our lives! Ana and Marcelo who are Kamilo's Christian Godparents stood up for Eddie and I during the renewal of our vows, and Allison Eddie's cousin was Kamilo's Catholic Godmother!
Most of Eddie's family attended the event, I was blessed to have my younger sister there to represent my family. Some co-workers of mine both past and present also attended the event. Even though I was saddened by the reality that only one member of my direct family was there for such a spiritual moment it made me realize how blessed I am by my in-laws and friends!

On this speacial occasion we had a large party at Mission Bay to celebrate Kamilo's glorious Baptism and his 1st Birthday.
It was a rainy and cold day but we could feel the prescence of God being there through out the afternoon. Eddie and I arrived at Mission Bay at 4am, then my best friend Lori showed up to cover for us and missed the Baptism graciously so she could hold our spot at the bay.
When we arrived home, Cruz and Angela had Kamilo and Alan dressed for the ceremony! After the ceremony we had about 20 people tough out the rain to BBQ with us and Celebrate for over five hours
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Eddie's aunt showed up with Hot Coffee for all our guest's.



What a beautiful and God-filled Day!

Kamilo Turned 1!!

Our Baby Boy turned 1! He is so grown up! On his actual birthday we had a small party a home because we were having his Baptism and Party the very next day!

For his birthday party his cousin Melissa made him a Elmo cake with a smaler cake for him to destroy!




We had quite a handful of guest's they were his uncle Cruz and Angela,Landra, Noah, Nolan, Grandma Briley and Rob, Cousin Melissa and her boyfriend Chris, Our downstairs neighbor Lupe and her sone Angel.

With all our Love, Happy 1st Mother’s Day 2009

This Mother’s day I wanted to reflect on how blessed I am for being a mother! Two years ago this June, I was told I would not be able to conceive without fertility treatments. Three months later I found out I was pregnant without fertility treatments, God is GREAT!

Eddie gave me the best Mother’s Day present! On his own he brought Kamilo to Sears and got thier pictures taken together. I was presented with a framed photo of Eddie and Kamilo! I just Love the pictures they have taken.

That weekend we went on a walk in Balboa parks and took some cute pictures, then Sunday morning Ana and Marcelo Kamilo's Christian Godparents took me and my boys out to brunch in Old Town and then to Roadrunner Sports to buy me a new pair of walking shoes.

In the late afternoon of Mother's day, my two sister in laws Luz and Meriam and my Mother in law came over from Tijuana for a Mother's Day BBQ and brought me flowers. It was a very nice afternoon.

I have been so blessed this year with my Husband, Baby, Family, and Friends!

Stopping to Smell the Roses...

Since Eddie and I got together, We have been on a constant go go go…roller coaster ride, starting from our short 2 months of dating and quick 4 months of engagement which included a very heavy stint of pre-marital counseling. Eddie and I never really had a chance to sit back and enjoy life together as one, especially since we started our relationship off as instant parents of three kids.
During the time of my pregnancy and after Tristan and Kylie went back with there mom, we did have a good year to just to be us! But yet we were still constantly going … due to the excitement of the pregnancy and the adjustment to a life with no young ones, it kept us on our toes and kept us very busy getting to know each other from a different perspective. Once we had Kamilo … well that was an entire different Roller Coaster ride that I hope will continue for a very long time!


I think everyone knows how chaotic my life was before I met Eddie, I was constantly working, constantly volunteering and if I was not volunteering I was probably having a get together at my apartment or house-sitting someone’s animals or teenagers. So you can imagine I never really had time to just stop and smell the roses. Eddie has been constantly working on getting me to SLOW DOWN! Since we got pregnant with Kamilo not only has my work schedule changed completely so has my stress level! I do not work as many crazy hours and I have cut out a lot of my extracurricular activities. Now the wonderful part of this is I am learning to enjoy San Diego! Eddie, Kamilo, and I started walking at least every other night in Balboa Park, enjoying the scenery…which includes the Cactus Garden, Rose Garden,
and just walking across the bridge and taking in the beautiful Downtown Skyline! We have been to the Zoo many times with only a goal to walk around or focus on seeing a single particular animal.

We have walked around Old Town to enjoy the scenery. Since I have had Kamilo, I have learned to enjoy the little things in life and not stress about the minor things. To not overextend myself on pleasing people, or trying to be the best at everything. I have learned to accept things for what they are and not go crazy trying to keep up with everyone/everything. I just love my life, love my WONDERFUL husband, Love my AMAZING and miraculous baby boy! I am amazed and thankful everyday by what God has done for me and changed me into the Wife & Mother I am today!

San Diego Wild Animal Park and Mommy & Kamilo Art!!

Due to Kamilo’s rapid learning ability, Eddie and I decided to purchase year passes for the Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Eddie the wonderful Stay at home Dad takes Kamilo for a walk at the Zoo at least once a week while I am at work. Kamilo loves growling at the Crocodiles and watching the animals at play. While Eddie enjoys the plants and landscaping!

I just love the Butterflies! So every year in April they have a butterfly show, the year Eddie and I got engaged it was Butterfly and Orchids. Well this year since we had passes again I decided to take a day off work and make it into a Family day at the Wild Animal Park. I thought I was going to beat the long lines and large crowds by going the week after Easter. This did not work out for me, but we did manage only an hour long way for the 30 minute trek through the butterflies .

Well as we were walking to the butterflies I notices a cute little art stand tucked away, it had the cutest pictures of Hands that were turned into painting that looked like animals such as Giraffes’, Zebras, Monkey’s etc. Me of course always wanting something “Special” decided to ask if they could do a Frog? Once they said it was possible I jumped at the idea to make a hand print of our hands as Frogs. Well Daddy did not agree on spending the money on something we can do ourselves! So the only help I could get from him during this adventure was taking pictures. He did a great job of taking the pictures, I struggled with keeping Kamilo on my lap as they painted our hands green.



Now to explain why I chose Frog’s: I have always loved frogs, but once I found out I was pregnant a frog theme for Kamilo’s bedroom seemed perfect. At my baby shower I was completely buried in frog clothes for Kamilo! My best friend Leslie even bought me a sterling silver frog necklace less than a week before I gave birth to Kamilo. I have also always pictured an infant looking a little bit like a frog, especially when they are lying on their tummies and there legs are frog style with head up a little.



I do hope that one day Eddie, Kamilo, and I can look at this darling picture and have happy memories of my little frog baby!

Besides the sentimental art that I was able to take home that day, Kamilo was able to get up close to a Boa Constrictor, Watch and grunt at the Gorilla’s and see a lot of beautiful plants and butterflies.

I almost forgot about the funny story of the day. This is not a good story for people with weak stomachs. Kamilo had made a little present for us in the afternoon; I was waiting quietly at the Co-ed bathroom so we can team up on changing this messy diaper. Well Eddie decided the wait was too long and took off to the men’s bathroom by himself, he did stop and tell me I was trying to get out of changing the diaper. Well about 15 minutes later, Eddie still had not come out and I was getting worried. Men were also coming out of the bathroom with a look of disgust on there faces. So I decided to call Eddie and check on him, well Kamilo had an explosive diaper! Poor Eddie stranded in the Men’s bathroom by himself trying to undress and clean up Kamilo all on his own. He ended up bringing me Kamilo with only a onsey on and he had to go back into the bathroom and clean up the mess that was made! The funny part about this is Eddie is always telling me to be patient, he is the calm one and I am the impatient one. Lesson Learned "Patience is a Virtue"

Easter, Cousin, Running and Beach Play!

Kamilo’s first Easter was not as I pictured it, but we did make the best of it. We went to the Good Friday Service at my home Church. Then the plans that we had made for Easter Sunday fell through that Saturday Night at 9pm. So we woke up in the morning went to church as we had already planned. The service was beautiful; I have never been to a Catholic Easter Service before so it was a new experience. It is such a weird feeling to know that next year during this time I will be going to that Ceremony in a completely different perspective. I am planning on attending RCIA classes this year and converting to a Catholic Christian. Eddie my husband is Catholic and we have decided together to raise Kamilo Catholic, so I have decided to attend the classes and see where God leads me. So after the service we went to my Brother in Laws house and met my little sister there with Kamilo’s Easter basket. Kamilo got to spend some time with his Aunt Landra, and Cousin Nolan. I got some great pictures of the boys going through there baskets, including some of Kamilo feeding Nolan the Easter grass. It is always nice to get them together! That night Eddie and I went home and had a quiet Bean and Cheese burrito dinner celebrating and reflecting on how much God has done for us in the past years of our marriage.

Alan has been spending his entire breaks down in Mexico with his Mom, but before he left we were able to celebrate Easter with him. Instead of an Easter Basket, I decided to use a Backpack instead. He has been asking his Dad for a new backpack for awhile. So instead of giving him a bunch of useless candy and trinkets, I stuffed the backpack with items he needs. I followed my Mom’s tradition and put in a Bathing Suit! Then I added some small stuff like a belt, underwear, some toys he enjoys, and of course with Alan a little money. I was trying to fill every Zipper Pocket of the Backpack with something! I think we had a good Easter Celebration with Alan. He is in a year round school so he gets a month off and should be returning home on the 4th of May. Kamilo does miss his brother very much when he is not home.

Kamilo has progressed so much on his walking; he can balance and kick a ball over and over again. I have a video of him doing that just one week after he was fully walking on his own. The other night I was in the bedroom preparing for bed and I set Kamilo’s two bottles on my nightstand. Kamilo comes up behind me, grabs a bottle and runs around the bed giggling. It was so adorable! I did not realize that he can run! So the very next day when Eddie brought him to my work for lunch, we set him down to show the office his walking ability and again he took off running around the office!

Kamilo loves dogs! When we go for walks and he sees a dog, he will make a barking noise in a very deep voice. He does the same thing with his doggie book; he pets the dog in the book and makes the same barking noise. I am trying to get it on video, but he gets too interested in what I am doing instead of making the noise. One Sunday at church there was a dog in a car barking at us, Eddie pointed it out to Kamilo and this time Kamilo surprised us both as we were walking away by saying “Doggie”. He really amazes us everyday by everything that he picks up! He will mimic everything that we do!

This past Sunday after Church, Eddie, Lalo and I did not want to go home! So we were going to try and go to Earth Day at Balboa Park but the traffic was crazy so we decided to go to the beach instead. It was a Hot beautiful day and Kamilo loves the water! He has never been to the beach before so I was super excited. We went home and picked up Kamilo’s bathing suit and headed down there. It was super crowded so we had to park about a ½ mile away. Kamilo’s first reaction was shock when the cold water hit his feet! He was amazed to see the waves hit him, no matter how cold the water was he just kept dragging us down to the water. Kamilo looks white, but he definitely has his Dad’s skin! In the car we put sunscreen all over Kamilo except where his shirt was. When we got down to the beach we lost the sunscreen, so I took the t-shirt off and still let him go down in the water but I kept a very close eye on him for any pinkness. An hour later I put his T-shirt back on and then a half later in the sun, I started to Panic and put a long sleeve shirt on him.

After an afternoon in the hot sun, my legs look like lobster claws and Kamilo did not have any pink on him! He tanned beautifully! It is funny because even Eddie’s brother Lalo got Pink on his back but not Kamilo. Lalo was the one who spent most of the time with Kamilo down by the water and in the water. Even though Kamilo has a great tanning ability Eddie and I have both agreed we still need to keep sunscreen on him to protect him from the harmful sun damage.

Kamilo at 10 Months ...Walking, Laughing, and Curls!

I can officially say that Kamilo is now walking! It has been a long 4 month process but he now has the skill to walk across the living room. He does fall quite often, but as long as he stays calm and does not get to excited he can make it across a room! It is very sad because I will be in the Kitchen and look around for Kamilo, he will be walking across the dining room, I get excited and start cheering, he gets excited because I am cheering for him and then he falls on his bottom!

Two days before Kamilo turned 6 months, he started to crawl. Two days later Kamilo has been standing up on the side of the couch without help. He also started pulling himself up in his crib and cruising along the crib railing. Kamilo got more experienced at the cruising from furniture item to furniture item in the living room and greatly mastered the skill of crawling by 7 months. We all thought he would be a walker by 8 months but nope he was happy just crawling and cruising. We have video of Kamilo taking about 3 steps just before he turned 9 months … but I think the max number of steps Kamilo took was tens steps and he looked like a little drunk man walking with Mommy or Daddy right above him just to catch him when he topples. The week before Kamilo turned 10 months he was growing more and more confident, the spaces between the couches got farther and farther apart and we would catch him standing in middle of the living room standing up chewing on a toy. The Friday (2 days) before Kamilo turned 10 months, we noticed the he was walking without looking for the next object to grab onto. On Kamilo’s 10 month birthday he was walking all over the house taking strides to go to the next room on his own without the furniture! This is such an amazing time in our little boys life, to watch his confidence grow and see the smile on his face of how proud he is that he is walking. He gets so excited all giggles and laughs when he makes it to his determined destination.

Not only is Kamilo’s personality taking its form, his features are becoming more defined. People are commenting that Kamilo looks more European then Mexican (Eddie) or whatever I am (Portuguese, Irish, ect ect.)! He has beautiful long eyelashes, and curly reddish brown hair. I feel as if the curls just appeared overnight one night! One day Kamilo barely had any hair, and then the next day he was sporting a backside of curls!

Kamilo at 9 months

I think I want to start every blog out with the words WOW!! It is such a mystery on raising a child. It is hard work, and there is such a large variet of feelings and emotions involved! you have your moments where you are so tired you want to cry and you have your moments that you want to cry becuase of how much pain your baby must be in! Then you have the moments where you get butterflies in your stomach becuase you never thought you could love someone so much! And yes again those feelings make you want to cry! It is almost like reliving the day Eddie and I got married over and over again! At that moment in my life I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love Eddie, then came Kamilo! 9 months ago this baby boy was bumping around in my belly and today he is ... EVERYTHING! With Eddie, Kamilo and Alan in my life the world seems to have gone into a warp zone! Some times it goes by so fast and other times it stands still and I feel as if I am frozen in time holding my baby boy in my arms or kissing my wonderful husband.

This past week has been so hard on Eddie and I, Kamilo came down with his very first Stomach Virus on Sunday night! It was a horrible time, he just cried and cried and could not stop using the restroom, his fever even spiked up to 102.3 at what time! Then he would not eat for almost 2 days .. I think he lost 2 pounds .. and after two trips to the doctor and one midnight phone call, he is a little better. But .. he now got a cold from a boy in the doctors office! His throat is sore and he is sooo still not feeling good after a week. We also believe a couple top teeth are coming in because everytime he bites down on anything he cringes. He just cries and tears are in his eyes and all I can do is hold him and hum in his ear his favorite song. Then he calms and sleeps and sleeps restlessly. My poor baby boy! I think the most difficult part of motherhood is watching your child be in pain and not knowing what to do or what is hurting him!