The Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat

We had a funfilled family day with Caleb and his cousin Elana at the Mirage hotel. We finally found sometime to use our free adult passes to get into the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. It was amazing to watch the beautiful dolphins entertain all the people who came to see them at the habitat. Because Ryan's buddy was there working he was able to get us a VIP experience. Guess what?!?!?!? We got to go on the pool deck and pet Maverick the dolphin. He was approximately 10 to 11 years old and was less experienced with tricks, but we thought he did just as good as the other dolphins. The oldest dolphin at the habitat is approximately 30 years old. So far since the habitat opened in the early 1990's, they have had three dolphin births.



We also got to walk around and see the wild cats. I most particularly enjoyed the view of the leopard. The white tigers were beautiful as always. The lions were a little funny. Let's just say they were acting "too friendly" with each other. I accidently took a picture of this "too friendly" activity and realized after what these two wild cats were doing and decided to delete it because it is not a picture I particularly want to have in my album.





Caleb enjoyed seeing the dolphins and the wild cats. I think we might take him there again when he is a little older so that he understands it more.

Caleb's 2nd Easter

The Easter bunny brought Caleb some delightful treats! He got a new wooden train set which he calls "Jack", tons of plastic eggs filled with assorted goodies, three books, an Easter bunny stuff animal, a monkey magnet, and best of all his size 4 real soccer ball to kick around :-) Shhh... do not tell him, but we had to convince the Easter bunny to give him his soccer ball early so we can play kick outside together as a family. Ryan had to work on Easter so he was not there to see Caleb's reaction to his treats from the Easter bunny. We spent a good part of the day at Auntie Nikki's house eating lunch and hanging out. Caleb enjoyed playing with his cousin's Elizabeth and Elana.

Our Growing Family

Ryan and I have been waiting to inform most of our family and friends till we had a few appointments. Great news! We are expecting another little one. Today we had an appointment with The Center for Maternal Fetal Medicine. We had an early ultrasound done and so far our little bundle of joy is growing healthy. I am measuring at 3 months and possibly carrying a baby girl. The doctor and ultrasound tech said that they are both 85% sure that we are having a baby girl. We will not get our hearts set on the exciting news of having a baby girl until we know for sure in May, which is when our next appointment is scheduled. Although I must say my stomach is turning because I am ecstatic that I will have my boy and my girl. Ryan and I both said, if indeed the baby is a girl we are "done for the day." (Meaning done having kids)

Comedy for the day: During the ultrasound Caleb pointed to the screen then pointed at me and said "Mommy Uh-oh." I asked him later today why he said "uh-oh" about his possible sister :-) and he said "Mommy Oh-no." He is just the cutest. I know he will be the best big brother whether we have a boy or girl!



Caleb

Our little monkey is no longer little. He is getting bigger every day. He is more daring too. He loves to climb, jump, and run. He makes his daily messes around the house with toys everywhere. I cannot count the many times I have stepped on wooden blocks, Lego's, and hot wheels.

He is due for another hair cut and we are planning on waiting to get that done when his Grandma Julie and Aunt Meghan come into town, which we are hoping soon. :-) They need to visit when the weather is nice. Then by the time one of our Guam families (The Balbastro's) come into town, Caleb can get his hair cut again with Andre :-)

Since the weather has been nice here in Las Vegas, aside from the occasional rain and wind, I was able to snap a few shots of Caleb playing outside.

Caleb Police Patrol's

Great news for our little chunkster, he finally got to ride his Dodge Charger police patrol vehicle that Grandpa D and Grandma G got him for Christmas last year. Because our little man cannot reach the pedal yet, his cousin Elizabeth was very kind and eager to offer him a lift!

Here are a few pictures I was able to snap :-)

More news... Caleb had his doctor's appt on Weds the 17th instead of Mon the 15th because the doctor's called and rescheduled due to being closed to observe President's day. Caleb's appt this time around was just a wellness checkup. They pricked his fat toe to check for his iron levels, and he is good. I believe they said his level is at 12 and the normal is between 12 and 14. So far, he is a healthy cute little boy. His doctor just loves him. Although, everyone in the office says he is starting to look more and more like his Daddy... and agree that he has my cheeks and nose :-) Oh, and I cannot forget about the hair! They absolutely love his curls!

Other news... (Me)--I start my 9th week of class this Monday and will officially be done with 9 week courses on Sunday. I move over to finish off my bachelors program and will only be taking 5 week courses. I do not start that till March 16th! I am so excited because I am that much closer to graduation. I only have about 15 or 16 classes to go :-).

Other news... (Ryan)-- He has had a few busy weeks of work at CiCi's and will keep getting busier. CiCi's is celebrating their 25th Anniversary of being in business and are having a special on their buffet prices. $3.99 is the price till next Sunday for all you can eat pizza, pasta, salad, and dessert buffet! He also has decided not to do the paper route as it would cut into too much time with our sleep and our family time together. Our second job is picking up a little bit, which is a good thing.

Thats about it :-)

February Rolls In!

Good bye January, hello February.

I am finally in my seventh week of class and cannot wait for it to be over at the end of this month. Caleb has an 18 month check up on the 15th that I am sure he will probably not enjoy; he only enjoys the lollipop part :-). Speaking of Caleb, he has sure been a screaming handful these days. He has gotten better at night in regards to sleeping in his own bed and not waiting up so late for Daddy to get home. He is teething more and more and it has been rough for all of us. The upside to all his teething is finally having a mouth full of baby teeth! He enjoys reading more and more books these days. He always goes to his bookshelf and brings me a book to read to him.

More updates on Caleb, he had his first hair cut the other day and enjoyed it! We took him to a place called Cool Cuts 4 Kids. It certainly was a kid friendly salon. He sat in a cool yellow car, which Ryan and I both believed help keep him occupied versus a regular salon chair. This place even provided us with a free keepsake to remember his first hair cut. I think we all had a good time :-) He was such a good boy during his hair cut.

The weather.... I must not forget to report on the weather... we experienced quite a bit of rain the other week and this week so far it has rained again. The one week it rained for 4 days straight and sadly to report our kitchen flooded. Doesnt look like there is too much damage, but we now know to be more prepared the next time it rains.

Unfortunately because it hardly rains in Las Vegas, drivers out here do not know how to slow down. Drivers consider wet roads as a sign to apply more gas to the pedal. Therefore, Caleb and I have decided to stay home on those wet days just for the sake of our lives and of course because we dont like going out in the rain. :-)The only time we absolutely leave the house when its raining is when we have to go do houses for our property management job.

Well, that is about all that has been going on with us... We hope to report more exciting events in the upcoming weeks and months.

2010!

Goodbye 2009 and hello 2010. We started the year by literally taking down our Christmas decorations New Years Day. The thing is, it was Ryan's day off and it would have been the only time we could have taken them down before February rolled around... :-)

Ryan is still staying real busy with his management position at CiCi's. Caleb and I have also stayed busy learning new words and making tons of messes around the house. Caleb has also taken on the adventure of art with his new crayola beginner markers.

Our second job has been real slow, so we have applied for a paper route. We are crossing our fingers that we get the job because then I can still stay home with Caleb. I have applied to several places, but have not had much luck with phone calls back. Many of the jobs out here require bi-lingual Spanish speaking to qualify. I am finding that I may just have to get my gears in order and learn a second language.

Good news! We might actually be done with sippy cups, Caleb is loving the whole "lets drink out of a straw." Although, I still have to work on his habit to squeeze his juice box or perhaps his Capri sun pouch. I am not brave enough to give him a cup with just a straw in it, unless there is a lid. It really is an accident (big mess) waiting to happen. I am not up for the cleaning involved.







Also, Ryan and I celebrated our 3rd year wedding anniversary. We have been together for about 5 years now, feels a lot longer but still happy as ever. Some people say that the "honeymoon stage last for 10 years," but I do not see the reality in that statement. I think as long as a married couple works hard together to reach a common goal in life, things will work out. We are both striving to reach individual goals, but doing it together. There is nothing like having to do things on your own, its possible, but its still nice to have someone there to share your own success. Ohya! This photo was taken on our Anniversary, unfortunately, Ryan and I did not get one together... BTW, I cut my hair, and I am loving it! Although, I dont have much time to curl it every morning!

I started a new class, well actually my last class required for my associates program in school. I will have a three week break after I am finished with this class, which is the last day of February. We are currently in week four of a nine week course. After my three week break, I begin my bachelors program. I only have about 15 classes to take and then I am done. Each class is 5 weeks long, with no planned breaks in between. The only breaks I will take are for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Well, ta ta for now... that is about all the updates I can think of that have taken place :-)

P.S. I forgot to mention that Ryan surprised me with some anniversary plants. He knows that I am not really the bouquet kind of lady, so he improvised and bought me plants :-) I hope I have the green thumb with these two beauties!

Counting down the days!

Wow! I cannot believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow! It has been one hectic week trying to finalize our holiday celebration plans. This week consisted of a little bit of relaxing [I had too fit some time in our busy days for some 1 hr naps with Caleb], Ryan shopping at the last minute as always, and Caleb throwing fits like a 2 year old.

For those of you who do not know, we do celebrate on Christmas Eve, so I am very excited to have family together. The dinner planned so far is red rice, brown sugar ham, veggies, chicken kelaguen, finedene, potato salad, Ryan's family orange and green salad desserts, and much much more...

We or should I say I, prepared hot cocoa mixes for our neighbors. We plan to hand them out either tonight or early tomorrow morning. I found some unused gift Christmas color bags from a while back and decided to use those to hand out the Christmas decorated mugs and hot cocoa mixes.

Moreover, I have also been busy with making blankets for my nieces. I decided that since I did not have time to buy thread for my new sewing machine Ryan got me for my birthday and different patch fabrics, I would make the "girls" tie blankets instead of square patch blankets.

















More news, I have had to re-wrap several gifts because Caleb has decided that all the gifts under the tree belong to him. He is definitely an excellent unwrap per and should not no problems opening his gifts this year.
Caleb is receiving two big gifts this year from his grandparents on both sides... I can say what they are on here, just because he wont be able to read this posting-- He is getting a dodge police car with upholstered seats that he can drive around and a rocking horse called lucky that sits on a frame from Ryan's mom and step dad.