she's almost one.

the boys are at my parents' celebrating spring break, so i thought this would be a good opportunity to take mya out to the golf course to do her one-year pictures. jerry and jenny came along also. thank goodness!

it turned out to be a little cooler than i had anticipated. and also a little windier. okay, a lot windier. it was down right ridiculous. as you scroll down, you'll be able to see why the wind was an issue. a teepee made of a sheet and some flimsy bamboo sticks does not hold up well to west texas wind. thanks to jenny and jerry for reassembling it...many times. :)

amidst all that, i think i captured my sweet girl's personality.

melt my heart.

sweetness.

i die.

one hundred percent her. mischievous and irresistible at the same time.

i die...again. i could stare at this image for hours. the eyelashes. the lips. the sweet hand. the hair.

and then came the cake.

we pretty much started and ended the cake portion with this look.

we may just skip this part of her birthday party. :)

Eleven months.

i'm pretty much in denial about this month. especially since february didn't have a 30th day, i've been trying to just skip right over and continue with ten months. but alas, i cannot.

here are her eleven-months stats:

• 18.1 pounds.
• 28 inches.
• sweepy, blonde hair with "wings" on both sides.
• slate-ish eyes encompassed by dark blue.
• still only the bottom two teeth.
• naps! we've finally got something consistent going. of course, this all occurred as i contemplated joining the gym since she wasn't going to nap anyway. i'm gonna give it a go though.
• the girl yells...ALL.OF.THE.TIME. she's developing more of a "casen" personality.
• still not crawling the "correct" way. she gets on her hands and knees and lunges forward over and over...much like a caterpillar or something.
• explores the house now. the boys have had to start closing their door when she's awake. too many small toys for her small mouth.
• has begun to annoy her brothers. i no longer only hear complaints from them about each other. they've added mya into the mix. like, "mya is trying to get my food!" "mya won't stop following me!" "mya won't stay out of my room!" oh, joy.
• is obsessed with the security alarm sensor thing. i have no idea why.
• is also obsessed with the bottom shelves in the office and living room.
• is still calmed by the singing of "her song". little miss mya sat on a papaya. then she squished it. squished it like a biscuit.
• could be a gymnast in the future. you've seen the pics to support that.
• wakes up happy most every morning...despite the fact that her diaper leaks most every night. grr...
• is now less than one month away from turning one. holy moly. 

happy eleven months, sweet girl. love, momma.

Pillow makeover.

The current throw pillows on our couch are, let's say, less than impressive. I've been unhappy with them for quite some time, but I HATE spending money on things that just look pretty and serve no practical purpose. Also, I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go with them.

This morning, as I looked at them with disgust...again, I realized that I could just sew new covers to go over the existing filler. That thought was good in theory.

The pillows that I have do not have covers. They're all one piece with stuffing inside. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I had to cut the pillow to get to the filling. Since I wanted to sew a simple envelope cover, I had to first sew a cover for the filling that would then be inserted into the real cover.

It all sounds very complicated but turned out to be pretty simple.

I made a trip to hobby lobby this morning and found some super cute fabric that I think I'll be able to find other fabric to coordinate with.

The real plus is that with the existing filler, the fabric that I already owned to make the inside cover, and a 40% off coupon for the fabric, the updated pillow cost me $5.51. I can handle that!

One down, three or four more to go.

On another note, I would've posted a comparison of the old and new, but I currently have one cute boy taking a nap on the matching old one.

Recent quotes from the Ramirez family.

Jerry: "cici's pizza slices are like old navy clothes...short and wide."

Casen: "I want to marry you like daddy did."

Jacob: "this is the horriblest rice I've ever had." (about my Spanish rice.)

Casen: "momma, I'm so thirsty! I just don't think I can hold it!" (in a really whiney voice, like he's talking about peeing or something.)

Jacob: "momma, I want one of those things that zip around my tummy so I can be as skinny as you."

Mya: "mommaaaa!"

Ten months.

since i'm way late posting this time, i'm sad to say that my baby girl will be one...next month! she looks like such a big girl now. dramatic changes have occurred in her appearance and personality since last month. i can hardly stand it.

here are her ten-month stats:

• 17.6 pounds. (down from last month due to all her sickness.)
• 28 inches.
• more and more blonde hair.
• less blue, more slate-ish eyes.
• still two teeth, although she's been pushing hard on her top gums. you can see the shape of them. won't be long.
• we finally had somewhat of a nap routine going, and then grandma and papa came to visit. back to square one. :)
• says "momma" and "dada"...in that order.
• still not crawling. she inches forward by planting her face on the ground with one arm stretched out and pushing off with her tip toes. she mostly prefers to roll though. and she's fast at it.
• legs are getting stronger. she can stand supported for quite a while now.
• still fascinated with outside and now her brothers' room also. anytime we walk past a door to either, she gets really excited followed by really angry if she doesn't get to go out or in.
• is so happy lately. i mean, a little ham! she smiles at everyone. that is, after she plays shy. i think she thinks it gets her more attention. she's probably right.
• takes baths in the big bath tub now...usually with her brothers. she loves it.
• has no interest in a sippy cup...except to chew on the spout part.
• is working on building up her appetite again. she was so stopped up for weeks that she had no desire to eat...hence the slight weight loss.
• had three ear infections this month. grrr...
• had her first visit to the ER this month. double grrr...
• got her very own nebulizer mask this month. grrr...grrr...grrr...

i attempted to take these pictures in the morning before we took casen to school. this was the result.

much better results in the afternoon. 

(even though she about gave me a heart attack every time i tried to snap a picture. she was getting so excited she almost fell off that chair eighteen times.)

look at those big eyes.

i'm absolutely in love with the top right picture. those chubby fingers are perfection.

happy ten months, baby girl. love, momma.

He is four.

I don't know how it happened, but this morning Casen woke up as a four year old. It's not that I don't think he's big enough to be four. It's actually quite the contrary. He truly is his brother's shadow, and we treat him as so. I feel like he should be turning six. He has his three/four year old moments, but for the most part, we put him on the same level as Jacob. I guess there are pros and cons to that.
Anyway, here are a few significant things about my four year old baby boy. :)

He has the sweetest, most loving spirit.
He wants to marry me someday.
He loves his brother and sister like no other.
He's a talker.
He wants to stay with me forever.
He's shy around strangers.
He's loud.
He can add and subtract one-digit numbers.
He can write most letters of the alphabet with ease.
He can spell his name, along with Jacob and Mya.
He plays soccer.
He's about to start t-ball.
He loves school. I try to bribe him to stay home sometimes with no success.
He still has adorably, chubby hands.
He has "I can get anything I want with these" big, brown eyes.
He's everything a boy entails.
He has my heart.

Happy birthday, sweet boy. Momma loves.

Another one bites the dust.

Our collection of nebulizer masks. We now have one for each child. I'd really rather my children share some other trait besides the difficulty to breathe.

Kisses.

This better be the only boy she kisses for a long time! Well, besides her brothers. :)

Nine months.

i'm in awe of how much older she looks here than last month.

here are her nine-month stats:

• 17.7 pounds.
• 28 inches.
• blondie.
• still baby blue.
• what's that?? teeth? yes! two of them! had 'em for about a week now.
• naps? ha!
• last month she was babbling "m" sounds. that came to a screeching halt and was replaced with "d" sounds. grrr...
• is a master sitter. can even turn in circles now.
• still prefers rolling. the latest maneuver is to turn in a circle on her belly until she's pointing the right direction and then roll to her desired location.
• loves her toys. until christmas, she really didn't have any.
• is, without a doubt, the loudest child i have ever heard. she yells/screams when she's happy OR sad. not much differentiation. there are times when i'm afraid she's going to bust my ear drum...seriously.
• has quite the temper. when she doesn't get her way, she clinches her fists, grits her two teeth and shakes. it's a little scary.
• is no longer interested in wearing headbands. tragic. (this one came off as soon as i left her hands alone.)
• has never been and is still not interested in wearing shoes. tragic. (i put these shoes on multiple times during the two minutes i was taking her pictures.)
• still loves me. especially when she's sad.
• stops everything as soon as she hears her daddy's voice when he comes home from work.
• absolutely LOVES to be outside. if she sees outside through the door or window and doesn't get to go, she throws a fit. luckily it's been a little warmer this past week.

totally in love with this over-the-top smile!

happy nine months, baby girl. momma loves.

here are a few more pictures for entertainment.

this looks like attitude already. you better check that!

the shoes! she only wanted to eat them the whole time.

the next three pictures were taken back to back. my how she can turn fast.

 again with the over-the-top smile. love.

i guess we're done. :) oh, see those teeth?!

outside time.

we really have to watch the boys' toys. everything goes to her mouth these days.

how'd this cutie get in here??

and this one??

Christmas 2011.

a whirlwind, as usual. i can't believe it's already come and gone.

we started at my parents' on christmas eve.

 fake smile from jacob, real one from casen, and a half-smile-half-cry from mya.

 money from granny.

 shell shocked from the craziness that is my family.

 this was the scene christmas morning as we waited for the boys to wake.

 santa gifts.

 not quite sure what this look is.

 new bibles.

 then christmas night at jerry's mom's.

 pretty sure the shiner on his head will never go away.

 this is as good as it gets.

 hmm...

 again, hmm...

 she really only cared about eating the paper.

 see.

my boys declared it the best christmas yet. i'd have to agree.