Palomar Mountains

Daddy and Mommy: portrait taken by Nevaeh!

Nevaeh snuggling up to daddy

Nevaeh and her snowmen 

Mommy and Nevaeh keeping warm

The Mageo's

On Saturday, Jacob woke up early made breakfast and was waiting on both me and Nevaeh to wake up.  He had decided that we would head to the snow so Nevaeh could experience it for the first time.  I was being a big lazy pregnant grump and didn't want to go but decided to give it a try.  We ended up having so much fun... I am so glad Jacob had such a brilliant idea!  Thanks babe!

Merry Christmas

Hope you Christmas was as wonderful and blessed as ours!

Christmas Eve, all of the Amador grandkids... so far!

The feast Nevaeh set out for Santa, brownies, milk and artwork.

This is what Santa brought for Nevaeh... her 'scooter-scooter'!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours!

WHAT

Okay, so if you read one of my last posts you know that my mama and daddy bought us a brand new BEAUTIFUL bed.  My mom said she wished it would bring us good luck with the baby making.... well it worked!  She brought us the bed on Saturday and we got pregnant the following Wednesday.  My mother is pretty awesome and quite amazing!  She cried for about 10 minutes after I told her we were expecting.

Our newest addition is due July 22nd... but according to my latest ultrasound that little one is already measuring 3 days bigger... if that is any indication I am in for a whopper of a child.  Nevaeh was 9 lbs 13 oz, and I've heard that your 2nd tends to be bigger than your first!!   Luckily, I will be scheduled for a C-section a week before my due date BUT unfortunately that will be right around Nevaeh's birthday, and I don't feel like stealing her thunder.  I don't want to start any sibling rivalry the day the new one is born!  I guess we will just have to figure something out, right?!?!  Any ideas?  

Honestly, I don't know who is more excited, Nevaeh or Jacob.  Nevaeh talks about her sister (because she is already convinced it will NOT and I repeat NOT be a boy) non stop, and she talks to my belly all the time!  She rubs my belly and talks softly to her sister, so sweet.  I can't even imagine how she will smother her when she does get here.  

Jacob can't wait for me to start showing!!  He can't wait until he can feel the baby move so he can somehow be a bigger part of the process.  We weren't going to tell anyone (other than immediate family) until at least my 2nd ultrasound.  Well, every time Jacob came home from work he would say "babe, I told someone today".  I couldn't get mad, I knew he was so excited he couldn't help his loose lips!  Who am I kidding... as soon as I saw the baby's heartbeat I started blabbing... and telling all of my friends and neighbors.  

Jacob and I couldn't feel more blessed.  We have been praying for this baby for a LONG LONG time.  We both cried when we finally saw PREGNANT on the stick... it almost felt unreal.  After so many NOT PREGNANTs it seemed as if it was never going to happen.

OH by the way.... my sister Monica is also expecting.  She is just 5 weeks further along than I am.  We will be pregnant together again!!  Can't wait... 

  

NKOTB

Jen, DONNIE and Trish

The Kids

The Candid Shot

"oh, I didn't realize you were taking pictures!"

Only Uncle Jeff and Auntie Trish can really appreciate this pose... surprised, happy and loving life!

Update

here are some recent pics of Vaeh

Nevaeh with Tinkerbell (disney's latest character meet and greet)

Nevaeh and her amazing purchase from Dollar Tree... her pimp hat.

Luckily, nothing much has changed.  Jacob continues to work as hard as he can to support his family, taking as much overtime as one person possibly can. Nevaeh has been LOVING school and being her awesome fun energetic self.  I have been taking care of my family the best way I know how... 

I also have been trying out new recipes at home!  I am pretty much a one hit wonder when it comes to the kitchen but I have been trying my best to dabble into other recipes.  I must admit it isn't as hard as I thought it would be and it is much more rewarding than I thought it would be.  I think I will continue my new exploration in the kitchen until I get someone sick!!

The only bad thing that happened was that a water pipe started leaking over Nevaeh's room.  Unfortunately no one in our immediate family knows anything about plumbing.  We got a few quotes, the cheapest one was $300!!  Fortunately, Jacob's brothers friends husband came to the rescue and fix our pipe practically for free!!  We are blessed... simply blessed!  It is pretty crazy, it took the guy about 30 minutes... I can't imagine the other guy working for 30 minutes and then we have to dish out 300 BUCKS!!   We will have to re-pipe the entire house but we can handle that next year.... we just needed to get that little leak taken care of NOW.

***OH, My wonderful wonderful mother and father bought Jacob and I a brand new bed!!  My mom knew we had  a hand me down since we got married and decided to have one custom made for my birthday.  Let me tell you we have never slept better!!  Nevaeh says, "oh mom, it is so comfortable", too cute.  My mom hopes it brings us luck in the baby making department... we will see, only time will tell*****

Another side note Nevaeh's current FAVORITE SONG is Single ladies, by Beyonce.  She sounds so funny singing it!!

Happy Halloween!!

Nevaeh as Princess Jasmine

The school Director as a barrel of monkeys 

Nevaeh's class and teachers

Nevaeh's Preschool celebrated Halloween today (since she only goes to school Tuesday/Thursday).  There were so many different costumes but my baby looked the cutest!!  She was so excited to show off her Jasmine costume!!

So I have volunteered to make about 48 cupcakes,  a spiderweb cheesecake and a Mouse motel pumpkin for a birthday party tomorrow and it is currently 6:30 p.m. and I haven't started on a thing yet!!  I don't even have all of the ingredients... therefore I am a little stressed out but determined not to let anyone down!  So in other words I am probably not going to sleep tonight. 

Why do I do that, volunteer to do many things before really thinking it through?  Especially when I am not a Martha Stewart wannabe ... I don't even come close!   Well I will let you know how these items turn out... I am off to the store!!

Pumpkin Carving

Nevaeh and I decided to purchase our pumpkins today (I know last minute but time flies!).  We also decided to carve one... which ended up being a little more difficult and much messier than I anticipated.   We picked a patterned and began on our task.  An hour later we had a beautiful "glamorous kitty" pumpkin, Nevaeh is VERY proud and can't wait to see it tonight!

*daddy can work on the other two tonight, I am pumpkined out!!*

Mommy pumpkin and baby pumpkin

Focus

Cheese

Coloring and connecting the dots

Final Product

My Big Day

I had a wonderful birthday full of well wishes from every direction.  

Thank you everyone.

Here are a couple of pics of us at my Birthday Dinner at Harney Sushi!!

3.1 Miles

I did it!  This was my first real race and I DID IT!  I am so proud of myself... of all of us.  Honestly, the worst part was waiting for Vere to finish her leg so I can start on my run.  My anxiety was so bad I needed to pee every three minutes.  It was pretty exciting to see her get closer and then I cranked up my iShuffle and RAN.   My time wasn't too bad either.  My goal was to get it done in under 40 minutes and I finished in less then 32 (I don't know the exact time yet).  

The best part about this was having Jacob and Nevaeh (my personal cheering section) there as I ran across the finish line!  

I am officially hooked and I am now on a mission to find a Supersprint Triathlon to do all on my own!  

My Pit Crew

Anxiously waiting for Josh to finish his swim

Me getting ready to cross the finish line!!

The swimmer, biker and runner!

Saturday Evening

I want to send a big THANK YOU to my dear husband for putting it all together!  You are so thoughtful and I can't thank you enough... We had such a good time yesterday, retelling the same old stories but listening to them like it was the first time we've heard them.  

Thanks for making the long drive over here.  I can't imagine my life without my sisters, LOVE YOU!!  

Melissa, Moni, Jen, Alex and Nikki

Moni, Jen and Alex

Joe's Chair and beer we set out in his honor

Thoughtful

The 10 year anniversary of my brother's death is coming up this Saturday.  I mentioned it to Jacob last week and he has since arranged and put together a BBQ for my family!  He has contacted my sister in law, Melissa, and found out Joe's favorite food, drink and music so he can have those things available for all of us to reminisce on Saturday.

To top it off he has purchased our nieces (my brother's girls) each a gift and even went as far as having them engraved for them.  We weren't planning to do anything special but thanks to my unbelievable husband we will now get to celebrate my brother's life together... 

Thanks babe, Joe would have been lucky to know you... and I am sure he is smiling from ear to ear to know you are caring for his family!  

This is one of the last pictures taken of my brother about 5 days before his accident

Update on Preschool

About 1 month ago, I put our name on a waiting list for First Presbyterian Preschool, which is supposed to have an amazing preschool but do it it's amazingness it had super long waiting list.  Fortunately, Jacob was raised here in O'side therefore he knows just about everyone... that came in handy!!  We surprisingly got bumped up the top of the list last Tuesday and now she is attending First Presbyterian Preschool... which by the way, appears to be as amazing as I had heard!

Here are a few pictures of her first day as a student!!

Waiting for school to open

Nevaeh exploring in the science section

Her cubie

Playing while closely observing one of her THREE teachers

Nevaeh pulling on a string ball thing

Inspired

On Monday night, Jacob and I watched Michelle Obama give her speech at the DNC and boy was it inspiring.  She even made me tear up from time to time.  It felt like she knew exactly what my family went through growing up and she could relate to the "working class".  At the end of the speech I felt hopeful that everything (economy, gas, employment, morale) will get better when we get a new president into office.

Last night we heard Mrs. Hilary Clinton... she was also amazing.  Her speech was just as good if not better then Michelle's.  She definitely made me tear up.  She was so inspirational and moving.

After listening to their speeches I remembered exactly why my parents immigrated to this country.  

*If you didn't get to hear them check them out on You Tube*

Sunday

Jacob, Nevaeh and I had the best Sunday ever!  We decided to pack our play stuff and head out to the park.  We ended up at MLK and played in the sand, played soccer, played football, swung on the swings and slid down the slides!  We were there for about an hour and a half, it was exhausting!! 

When we got home I decided that I want to do some gardening.  I started on our side/front yard.  It was such a difficult task I undertook because our yard looked HORRIBLE but now it looks so much better!!  When we were done I was telling Jacob that we need to take pride in our home not just take it for granted... which is what we have been doing for the pat 4 years.  We have promised each other that will will work on our yard once every two weeks and hopefully we will have the "entertaining" back yard we always dreamed of by the end of the year!  We don't need to spend hundreds of dollars (at least not all at once), we just need to care for the things we already have!!  I am going to work on planting some pretty flowers next time!!  I am a little nervous but am committed to getting it done.

Once we are done with the yard, we will begin working on all the small tasks we need to complete inside the house.  We are hoping to have EVERYTHING done (inside and out) by Christmas 2009.  It seems like a long time from now but with only one income it is the best we can do ;).    

OLYMPICS and my crazy dream

Honestly, we can not get enough!!  We love love love the Olympics.  We have been watching it non stop and I think I have begun to get a little coo coo over it (more on that in a little bit).  Watching the Olympics makes me want to work out harder and eat better, every chance I get.  I have fallen madly in love with Phelps and Lachte!!  Phelps is my new hero, he is absolutely amazing!  Dara Torres is an absolute inspiration!!  I am so bummed that the gymnastics portion of the Olympics is over... it just came in went in a day or two!!  I was so disappointed for the girls, I was really optimistic about them getting the gold!!  

Okay, well... I had dream the other night and it prove that I have been watching the Olympics too much!!  

It started with me finding a hotel receipt in my car.  

I confronted Jacob and he said, "I am so sorry, i only went there for a four hours"

I began to sob and he looked at me and said, 

"But Jen, I was only going in there for lunch but I got an Olympic size appetite for sex."

I stopped crying immediately, and looked at him as he laughed!  

I need to change the channel!! 

Preschool, Camera and Jacob

Jacob, Nevaeh and I went to two completely different preschools.  The first was St. Francis Catholic preschool... it was the typical catholic school (I attended one for 12 years).  When we left, Jacob and I discussed a few things in the parking lot.  We liked the program and its availability but we didn't appreciate the $250 registration fee AND 40 hours mandatory volunteer time.  

THEN Jacob suggested we walk into "children's paradise", right next door and check them out, I agreed.  As soon as we walked in we LOVED IT!  The curriculum, the teachers, their policy's, the play yard (it is HUGE) the fact that they have a KITCHEN on site which they use daily to prepare the kids food.  Everything is fabulous except the price!!  It is slightly over what we expected to pay for Nevaeh's 2 day a week preschool.  Our church's preschool is cheaper than Children's Paradise but now there is no changing Jacob's mind.  He feel in love with the school and now he won't consider anything else.  So if everything goes according to plan Nevaeh will begin attending preschool in September!!  She is so excited and can't wait.  She talks about it daily... she says, "guess who is going to school soon?", too

 cute.

So now our camera.. it's back!!  I ordered a battery charger from Ebay and now I am back in action ... except, now I can't find our memory card.  I know, why did I take it out in the first place?!?!?  I have no idea!  i will be uploading more pictures!!

Lastly, here is a picture of my honey... without hair.  And our big girl! 

Ouch!!

Since it was such a warm day Nevaeh and I were outside getting ready to go swimming, I asked her to take her clothes off so I could put sunblock on her.  She went straight to the chair and began to climb on... before I knew it her little arm gave out and she hit the floor.  Unfortunately, her teeth landed first!!  I saw it all in slow motion but couldn't do a thing to prevent her from falling!!  She hit the concrete so hard, I thought her two front teeth were going to fall out!  I picked her up and I was scared to look at her (I am very squeamish), when I finally did all I saw was blood... I quickly called our dentist and was at his office in less than 5 minutes!!  He checked her out and she got her first x-ray.  He told us that her little teeth should heal on their own, but they will be a little tender.

Since her teeth and very sensitive she is afraid to eat... she hasn't eaten dinner and she is also afraid drinking her juice or water because she said "it is going to hurt my teeth".  I feel awful and guilty... I am sure I could have prevented her from falling!   

Giddy

Do you remember that giddy feeling you would get when you started dating your significant other? Those butterflies in your tummy right before you went out on a date. Or just the feeling you would get when looking at him/her.... WELL I got those silly giddy feelings back!!
Jacob and I were sitting in the backyard and he said "go get the scissors", I already knew what he meant so I looked at him and said "once we do it there is NO going back". He nodded to confirm he understood. Well, I got the scissors and proceeded to chop all of his hair off!!
He is currently sporting a "Michael Scofield" look which brought me back to our dating days!! He seriously shaved 10 years off, easy!
At first I was a little apprehensive since I have known him "with hair" for 7 out of the 9 years we have been together but he looks better than ever... I am really glad he did, I feel like a young college kid all over again!!

I will post a picture ASAP but we are having a camera issue!

Jen

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our 4 year wedding anniversary! We were blessed enough to be able to spend most of the day together!!
We also watched our wedding video with Nevaeh who continued to ask where she was. She also took it upon herself to cover my face most of the time and yelled "don't kiss her" or "don't dance with her"... I don't think I have ever meet a little girl who was more in love with her daddy!

Honey... thank you for the most amazing years of my life!

Finally

A couple of vacation pics...


#1) The first one is one of the high lights of Nevaeh's short life... she is in LOVE with Peter Pan. She was so nervous to meet him!! I ordered a 8 by 10 of this picture and hung it in her room and she gets giddy when she looks at it!

#2) Number 2 is a picture of us waiting in a TWO hour long line for some new ride!! Nevaeh was so patient!!

#3) The 3rd one is of Nevaeh all dressed up as Jasmine... Uncle Lofi and Auntie Jess were nice enough to buy that for her birthday!

#4) The last one is of all of us (Uncle Lofi, Auntie Jess, Leila and Johnny!).

We had so much fun and can't wait for our family vacation next year!

Car Wash

After being practically insulted by Trish about Jacob's filthy car, we decided to wash it this morning. Nevaeh was so excited to help! I told her to go to her room and get a sweater and some shoes... she quickly ran into her room... Jacob and I were already waiting outside when she walked out...

She was wearing sweatshirt, shorts and her glass slippers!! She looked so funny.. she ran out yelling...
Nevaeh: "I am ready, daddy!".
Jacob shaking his head: "I hope this isn't a an idea of how the future will be"
Me: "Well, at least she isn't wearing her bikini"
Nevaeh: "OH, MOMMY, I want to put on my 'baby soup'!!"
Jacob: "thanks Jen"


Oopsie...

JULY 13TH

My baby turned 3 today!! Only 3 short years ago Jacob and I were brand new parents ready to embark on this new and scary journey together... now we are the parents of a THREE year old, we can't believe it! She is an incredible kid that surprises us every single day!! She is already such a sweet and caring person, I can't imagine what the future holds!

1) My belly, 7 months pregnant

2)Nevaeh only a few days old!

3) Nevaeh on her 3rd Birthday!!

Weekend

On the 4th, we decided to go to our friends timeshare, which is right on the beach for a BBQ and sunbathing. It was a lot of fun and Nevaeh LOVED hanging out on the beach for hours!

Nevaeh slept in her underwear Friday night, because I forgot to change her. Anyway, she snuck into our bed around 4 and then at 7 she woke up yelling, "EEEWWW, daddy's gross!!" I asked her why and she said, "he is sweaty". I leaned over to touch him and leaned right into my daughter's PEE!! Gross, I know!! At 6:45 a.m. the last thing I wanted to do was change the sheets, give her a bath, and change her all while dealing with a crying kid!! The only thing that got me through it was Nevaeh apologizing for "pee the bed"!! My poor baby, I tried to make sure she understood it was an accident and it wasn't her fault. While I gave her a bath, Jacob changed the sheets and put the pee soaked ones in the wash. Nevaeh was not about to go back to sleep after that so she went off to the living room and daddy followed. I headed straight to the bed and went back to sleep. When I woke up I found the entire house CLEAN. Jacob was sweet enough to make breakfast, wash the dishes and clean the house... while I slept! So sweet, his mama taught him well!!

We ended up in church last night which was awesome because we always intend to attend Saturday service but usually miss it due to Nevaeh's napping schedule. Nevaeh FOR THE FIRST TIME, walked into children's church without the slightest whimper!! She was telling us in the car, all the way there, that she was going to play with her friends, pray and eat snacks all on her own... and to our surprise SHE DID!
Anyway, since we diid church last night we have all morning to hang out as a family!! We have decided to head out to Carlsbad and get a nice workout in then play on the beach. We have packed our lunch bag and are now going to get ready and head out! Nevaeh convinced us to buy her a kite, which we will fly at the beach today!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend... or what is left of it!

Tear jerker

Jacob, Nevaeh and I were watching "America's funniest home video's" on ABC family channel, when all of the sudden a commercial for the ASPCA came on. The commercial featured Sarah Mclachlan and her song "Arms of an angel". Of course, the commercial had clips from injured animals... this made Nevaeh very sad!! She turned away from the TV and said "I'm sad, I want a pet".. AND SHE BEGAN TO CRY!! This officially proved she is my daughter... I do this all the time!!!

Vacation, part 1

Well our vacation was AMAZING!! It was so nice to hang out with my little family all day long for 9 days straight!! We hung out by the pool, ate, swam, ate, laughed, ate, sweated, ate, laughed some more then lastly ate again!! It was definitely my kind of vacation...
The only person who loved it more than me was our little Nevaeh. She really couldn't understand why daddy wasn't going to work in the morning but she really didn't mind considering we were at DISNEY so often during the week. Nevaeh nearly lost her mind every morning when we would say "who wants to go to Disneyland?" She was such a trouper... the time change was hard on all of us as was the lack of nap time!! Nevaeh hung in there really well and didn't have ANY "meltdowns" at all... she get that awesome laid back roll with the punches attitude from daddy.

First of all our camera is broken... we borrowed Monica's (my sister) camera for the trip so we are unable to download the pictures onto our computer because we don't have the proper cable to do so. Therefore, we will have to wait a another week or two to see those fabulous pics!!
Our first night in Florida we visited my friend Erica and her family, Mike (her honey) and Kai her active one year old!! The Katz's were kind enough to welcome us into there home and provide us with shelter that night!! It was so nice to catch up with Erica since so much has changed. She is now a wonderful stay at home mom which is the complete opposite of the last time we hung out!!
Thanks again Katz's for the hospitality..
We will post pics as soon as possible!!

We signed Nevaeh up for T-ball and almost wasn't able to do so because she is only 2 years old and the age range is from 3 to 6 years old. We stated our case about her turning 3 in July and they finally had to do an "age over-ride" to allow her to play. She has played the past two Saturdays so far and LOVES IT!!!! Here is a video of the first two days...

Aguascalientes, Vacation

Here are a couple pictures of our trip!! 

1)Jacob, living it up in da club, Mexican style!!

2) Me, Carmen (our cousin), and Monica getting ready for our night out

3) Jacob and Scott (Monica's Husband) hanging out and drinking in the breakfast nook.

4) Nevaeh and Chloe (Monica's daughter) playing in the little outside patio

5) The living room