fun with Bryce and Sylas

Bryce and Sylas came over to play Saturday night (and again today). They had a lot of fun painting. A week or two Michelle and Bryce decided to fish in the bathtub. Usually the girls "fish" while taking a bath, but Bryce and Michelle wanted the tub filled up so they could fish from outside the tub. Here's some cute pics.


Michelle collaborated on a joint painting. Bryce also did one of his own.


l

Sy really concentrated on his painting. I know it's not real

clear but he painted his cats and his family and you could tell who and what his pictures were of.
two little fishermen
Look! I caught a fish!

sleepy head

Yesterday about 3:00, Ella came and said she was tired. I gave her a sippy cup and told her to go lay down and that I'd check on her in a few minutes. She walked out of the kitchen and down the hall.
About ten minutes later, I went to check on her. She wasn't in her bed or Michelle's. She wasn't in my bed either. I thought that was strange, but Alfredo had been gone all weekend, so I thought, "Well, I guess she went downstairs and laid down by him." (He was watching tv.)
About 10 or 15 minutes after that, I went to lay down and rest in my room. After laying down for a minute or two, I thought I could hear a small snore. I got up and followed the noise. I opened my closet doors (which were shut) and there, curled up on the floor, was a sound asleep Ella! The girls and I often play hide-n-seek inside the house (especially during the winter) and this is Ella's favorite hiding spot. So I shouldn' t be overly surprised. But how cute is she curled up on the floor of the closet. :)

proud new owners

We have a new car. We bought this Toyota minivan from Alfredo's cousin for a great deal. It has 14,000 miles. The kids are way excited because it has a DVD player in it and 7 seats. (Bryce and Sylas, you can both fit legally in our car now! No one has to sit in the front seat.) Michelle has decided that she and the baby will sit in the middle row and Ella can sit in the back. And Bryce and Sylas can sit in the back when they ride with us. Nice of her to relegate Ella to the back, huh!

When the girls told my dad that it has a DVD player, he said, "Well, now you'll have to stay awake and watch movies while you're driving the car, not sleep in the car."

Ella immediately responded: "I don't drove. I'm not the daddy. (Points to Alfredo) He's the daddy."

spring break

Hooray for spring! We are finally leaving winter behind (for good, I hope... I hope there aren't any more snow storms to come) and a few of my tulips are just poking out of the ground. The snow has almost melted, my kids can finally play outside; I love this time of year!!!

Best of all, it is now spring break for me! Two weeks off. I am, voluntarily (I'm crazy, I know), working for 1 1/2 hours each day this week to tutor six of my students that need just a little extra help to be on grade level and be able to pass the CRT's (the state mandated standardized tests). But essentially, I can read, relax, play with my kids and be stress free for two weeks. Hooray!

Tuesday is my ultrasound. I don't think I ever posted this but those of you who want to make a guess about this baby can go to www.expectnet.com. Then you type in the game name which is panamenobaby (no capital letters, all one word). You can enter a guess about the baby's sex, birthdate, weight and length.

I'll post more soon, now that I have a little time off.

michelle's imagination

Last night while the girls were taking a bath, Michelle was playing with the lid to a razor (just the little plastic part that goes over the blade). She started talking to it and calling it Boobee. She had it in a plastic cup filled with water and was singing and talking to it. So I asked her about it. "Boobee" is a bear... he lives in a cup of water. He likes to eat grass and hair. He is very happy. She told me what kind of bear but the (invented) word has slipped my mind. She's too cute. She, of course, knows that it isn't real. But I love that she has such an imagination.

baby news

I went to the doctor today. I had lost two pounds at my last checkup and gained 1 of them back today. So essentially, I've gained nothing so far. But I'm feeling good now, and I"m hungry and I'm starting to show just a little. I can still wear many of my regular clothes. I took my maternity clothes out on Saturday and was disappointed to realize that I had exactly 2 short sleeve shirts!! Both of my girls have been born in the spring, so the majority of my pregnancies has been in the winter. But this time my pregnancy will extend right through summer. I have several shirts that I absolutely love, and this may be my last chance to wear them. So I made an executive decision to start wearing some of my favorites now... even though I really could go a few more weeks in regular clothes. So I wore a maternity sweater yesterday and a cute top today. Tomorrow I think I'm wearing regular clothes, but sometime this week I have a very nice black top that I'm going to wear even though it's a little big.
Why let such lovely clothes go to waste?


Alfredo told the girls that I am pregnant a week ago. (I would have waited a little longer... it's still a long time away for them. Oh well.)

I walk in the door from work, and Michelle yells, "Mommy, are you really pregnant?"

Me: (Pause)... Did someone say that I was pregnant?

Michelle: Daddy did.

Me: Oh... well, yes, I am. We're going to have a baby.

Michelle (who has been asking for a brother for six months): Why? I don't want a baby.

Ella: I do. I want a sister. Can I see the baby right now?

Me: No. The baby has to stay in my tummy for quite awhile.

Michelle: Is it a brother or a sister?

Me: We don't know yet. We'll find out in 3 weeks (Side note: It's down to 2 now... 2 weeks from today. Hooray!)

Michelle: I do NOT want another sister. I want a brother.

Ella: I want a sister.

Now, Ella asks me almost daily if she can see the baby. Michelle keeps asking why I want another baby and what the baby will be like. She seems to have very mixed feelings. Sometimes she is excited and other times she says she doesn't want another baby.

Valentine flowers

These are the Valentine flowers Alfredo gave me.

I never got around to posting them, but they were so

beautiful I wanted to share them.