2 Years Later

So it's been 2 years since I last updated. I never planned to blog again until I was notified through email that I had new followers. YAY!!! I love to meet new people, and some of you I'm really excited to meet. :-)
Okay, a little about me. Yes, what you see is real, I do have 8 children. My children are my life. They are the best, well behaved children you will ever meet. I have 7 daughters.....
Sharaya 17
Hunter 14
Alaena and Braeden (the twins) 10
Kidron 9
Edyn 6
Seylum 3
and FINALLY my lil prince....
Beau 2
My children and I love sitting around and laughing, window shopping, watching movies, eating,(however just because I have 8 kids doesn't mean I have to look like it, so I work hard at eating healthy), playing, swimming, and once again LAUGHING!!!!!
Life has handed me lemons so many times that I have learned to make the best lemonade you ever taste. The recipe Is... A cup of Joy, A cup of Love, A gallon of forgiveness, and enough laughter to wash away bitterness and pain. Life is not always easy, but as long as I have my children, God, and roof over my head, and a full tummy, what do I have to complain about?
The other things about me are, I LOVE the gym. There is no other place (okay maybe one but I wont mention it lol) where I can go and completely lose track of time. I believe exercise is the one thing next to God the keeps me sane. I also love to hang out with my friends. From movies to dancing to sitting outside of Starbucks life is grand when I'm with them. I also enjoy going to church. Without God, I could not survive this thing called life. He alone is my source of strength.
Well that's my life in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed learning a tad about me. I will try to stay on top of my blog now that I know I have new "friends". Until next time......

My Babes

One Busy Household

Well, instead of taking my Sunday afternoon nap, I've decided to update my long, lost, blog.
Life at our home has been busy! Starting with my hubby being laid off - ARGH! - and being home for the past three weeks. He has kept himself busy following some dreams and looking for a new job. God did bless him with an awesome new job. It will be quite a commute, but well worth it. It is located in the BEAUTIFUL Napa Valley. The one downfall is our insurance will be changing and there is a huge possibility we will have to find new doctors for Beau. This sickens us because we love the Sutter panel and Dr. Granger Wong. In the mean time, I've been busy with Sharaya and Hunter's home school. Just to give you an idea how busy we are, here is a peek into Sharaya's schedule. While most of Sharaya's peers are taking 4-5 classes, she is taking 12. Yes, 12. Two of which are college courses. She is taking Physics and CISA (Computer PowerPoint). Physics is tough for a 15 year old, but she has gotten A's in her Summer class and so far, in her CISA. She is an AWESOME, student, daughter, young lady, sister, and TRUE friend. I'm proud of her and her determination to achieve her dreams.
Hunter is taking 6 classes, and is very self motivated. There have been several nights that I would wonder where she is and I'd find her in her room working ahead in her studies. WOW!!! most kids are always behind in their work. Hunter, is always ahead of her age. One of her classes is guitar. Her guitar teacher, Mr. Miriam, is amazed at fast she is catching on. He had to pull out lesson #4 on her 3rd lesson. He said this was the first in his history of teaching that he's had to do this on a student who has never played before. She wants an acoustic guitar for her birthday. She already has a pink electric guitar but she explains that the acoustic is much better to learn on. Among her other qualities, she is very sensitive to others and their needs, loves to laugh, loves to make people happy, is beautiful on the inside and out, and is just as smart as her sister. I can't wait to hear what she will choose as her career. So far she can't decide between a Chef, or a Pediatrician. LOL. BTW she is an awesome cook. The first meal she ever prepared without the help of me was, beef tenderloin, green beans, french salad with home made dressing, corn oysters and dessert. Might I add, she was 11 yrs old! Not only was it yummy, the presentation was incredible - down to the beef tenderloin laying on a bed of leafy greens and lemons sliced to perfection.
Alaena, Braeden, and Kidron are in school everyday and have only 3 years left to be at home with me. YEAH!!!! I can't wait to have my girls home. Some parents can't wait to get their kids in school, but I dread it. I love having my kids home. If it weren't for me having so many kids, I'd home school from kindergarten on. But they are doing well in school and will remain in school until 7th grade.
Edyn is one of my most passive children. She is calm and quiet. She loves to play and have fun with her sisters, she rarely gets in trouble, and is great with the babies. She is getting so big. I'm enjoying having her home this one last year before she goes off to school next fall.
Seylum, oh what to say about Seylum??? A few words come to mind, ENERGY, Curiosity, Energy, and more ENERGY. From the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed (with no naps in between) she is into stuff. Anything she can reach, she touches and for those things she can't reach, well... there's always a chair or something to climb up on. She is the one child who'll keep me young in body and old in hair (gray). Gotta love her :)
Beaudrick, he's everything I've ever dreamed of. You can check his blog out at http://beaudrick.blogspot.com This lil' man is now crawling everywhere. There is no holding him back. I do believe he'll give Seylum a run for her money when it comes to attention. I can't seem to keep him and Seylum out of the Christmas presents. I've had to re-wrap 2 already. Speaking of which, am I the only one who is ready for Christmas? This is my favorite time of year. I want to enjoy it for more than 30 days, so I decorated Nov 1st. I play all my Christmas music and keep my lights lit so that the atmosphere is that of Christmas. I also like to keep my candles burning for the perfect aroma of sweet Holidays. If only I had time for the 2 new Harlen Coben books....

OH! What Fun It Is To Ride... A Hydro Bike

Yesterday, my Hubby and I planned to go rafting. We meet Paul and Darcie, Matt and Tishauna, James and Emily, and Jonathan and DeAnna, at our house. We all loaded up in our Excursion and Paul and Darcies Suburban. As we were getting ready to pull out, Cam called the American River Raft Rental to reserve a raft. We were all so disappointed to find out we were 24 min late. We would not be able to raft. Seeing that we were all ready and excited about our Adventure Date, we were NOT going to let this stop us from having fun. We put our heads together and devised another plan. We loaded back into the SUV's and headed to Sacramento University Aquatic Center. Once there, we rented kayaks and Darcie and I rented hydro bikes. What a MAJOR blast!!! The workout was incredible. Paul and Cameron shared a kayak. As the men approached James and Emily, they gave them a "shower". James, coming to his beautiful wife's defense, abandon his kayak and dove onto Paul and Cameron's. It was two men overboard. Three if you include James in the water. War was on!!! Me being the TRUE friend that I am, came to James rescue. I let him step on my Hydro bike that is "untipable" to get back into his kayak. James being the clown that he is, tried tipping me over. He almost accomplished his task until I blurted out a reminder. Everyone's cell phones and wallets were on my bike. THANK GOD!!!!! Darcie however wasn't so lucky. Her bike went completely head over heels. Thanks to.... James :). Matt and Tishauna played it safe and stay far away. When they did get close, James was up to no good again. Good thing Tishauna had her cell ph in her pocket, it saved her too. Jonathan and DeAnna didn't get tipped, but the did get drenched. Jonathan did dive off the outhouse boat into the "ol' dooky water" LOL. Yes, there was an outhouse in the middle of the lake. We all just wondered were the "stuff" gets dumped. YUCK!!!!
After this fun adventure, we all came together at our house for a BBQ. Adyn and Janelle joined us along with all 20 of our kids. Sharaya brought over about 8 more friends for games and dessert. Thank God we have a large home. HAHAHA What a party it was. Cant wait until next time.

Back to School

Here are the girls on their first day back to school. Alaena, Braeden and Kidron were excited to take a picture with their wonderful principal Mr. Burke. The twins are now in 3rd grade and once again were put into separate classes ARGH!!!! Kidron is in 2nd grade and just adores her teacher Mrs. Beckner.
Sharaya is hard at work doing 11th 12th and college this year. This was her idea and she is VERY determined to complete all work with high grades. You Go Girl!!!!
Hunter is now in 8th grade and VERY motivated. She wakes up on her own, cleans her room, eats breakfast, gets dressed, and is at the table by 9:00am. Must I also mention she is so excited about her work, she is working ahead of herself. YEAH Hunter!!!!
Edyn wants so bad to go to Kindergarten but she is only 4. I decided (I know, I'm crazy) to home school her this year. She is AMAZING. She writes her own name on all her papers, recognizes all her letters, numbers, and colors. She is very much ready for school. Her vocabulary is astonishing. I guess this has to do with having older siblings. I predict she will be reading, writing, and adding by the end of this school year. Mommies Proud of you Baby!!!
Seylum is not in school, but has made a HUGE accomplishment over the last three weeks. She is potty training herself. She wear panties, climbs on the toilet, goes potty, uses toilet paper, flushes, then washes her hands. The only thing I had to teach her was how to climb the cabinets to wash her hands. She did the rest on her own. Your a big girl now!!!
For Cameron and myself, we started working out together. He has lost 15 pounds and I've lost 10 in the past 4 weeks. I LOVE working out and having my hubby as a partner makes it all the better. We also went on a $2.00 date. We went to Taco Bell and got 1 bean burrito fresco style each. Then we went to Elk Grove park and roller bladed for an hour. It was so much fun not to mention cheap. We have since decided to have active dates instead of food dates.. We are loving the change Thanks honey for making the change with me. I cant wait to go rafting with you this Saturday. We'll have buff arms in no time :-) LOL I Love You!!!

The New Me

More Before Pix

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The last pictures taken of me before my surgery. Here I am playing with Daddy, playing with a crib toy, me and Mommy, me,Daddy,and Dr. Wong. and me and Daddy again.

Beau is Home

Well, we are pleased to say, the Lil Man is home and is doing quite well. Our morning started off at 6:00 am. We had to be at Sutter Memorial Hospital by 7:00am. After we arrived, we began the registration process. Mar came and brought Daddy Mc Donalds and stayed until after the surgery. Mema came to be with Daddy and Mommy too. Auntie Rahni and Auntie Darcie were also there. They were all a big comfort to Daddy and Mommy. Sister Young and the rest of the church ministry prayed for me. Jesus helped us all. Dr. Wong did a GREAT job. I love my new lips and cant stop playing with them. Guess what? I can now blow raspberries (bubbles). My nose look perfect too. Dr. Wong said I would continue to swell over the next few days, but then I should look beautiful. Once again, Daddy and Mommy took over 100 pictures of me before the surgery and after. Mommy will continue to update my blog while I rest. I hope you enjoy the pictures of the new me. Love you all. and THANKS to every one who prayed, and especially to Jesus for hearing and answering the prayers.

13 Days and Counting...

As we approach July 28th, I will be creating a blog for Beaudrick that you can follow. I will post updates on his pre and post surgery days. Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and support. To visit Beaudricks blog, go to Beaudrick.blogspot.com.

Beau's Auditory Brainstem Appointment

Here are a few pictures of Beaudrick during his auditory brainstem evaluation. This was a very torturous morning for baby Beau. It all started at about 9 am when he was awaken from sleep to have his bath. He had not eaten since 6am, and he was hungry. In order to get a proper reading of his brainwaves, he had to be completely asleep. To achieve this, he could not eat or sleep before his appointment.
As my little prince tries to sleep in his cozy car seat on the way to the hospital, I had to fight back with blasting the AC, rolling down the windows, and Hunter sat in the back seat with him rubbing his chest and head every time his eyes started to roll back. By the time I arrived at the hospital, he was MAD. I walked through the doors with Beaudrick showing off his tonsils (and let me tell you, they are BIG). It took all of about 2 seconds for every head to turn in our direction. After about 20 minutes, a lady asked "Man, is he hungry or something?" I said "no, he is not hungry, he is STAAARRRVING and tired from not being allowed to sleep" You should have seen the look on her face. LOL! Needless to say, after that no one else asked any more questions but rather avoided our icy glares. Now I know we are supposed to be happy people and not let others around us know we are less than perfect HAHA but none of you had to endure the hours of torture Beaudrick and I had to go through.
Finally, we were called in a room where the lights were dimmed and I was able to feed my precious little guy, and wrap him in a warm blanket where I could snuggle him for his hour long test. Once asleep, Three monitors were taped to him. One on his forehead, and one on each ear loop. Then a special little tube with a ear piece was placed on his ear canal. He could only have one ear tested at a time, and do to this, I had to keep switching arms so that each ear was exposed for the test. He must have been so tired, cause he slept through his whole exam. That was his reward, a warm baba, cozy blanky, and sleep. My reward came after when I got to eat a Prosciutto, goat cheese and caramelized onion pizza from Sellands YUMMY!!!!
Please keep us in your prayers as Beaudrick approaches his surgery date, July 28th. If he gets sick at all, his surgery will be postponed. I will try to keep you all updated, but with my chaotic life, please be forgive me if I'm a little flaky. :)

Michael English

This is a picture of Sharaya and Natalie on their first day of college. As I have mentioned in past posts, Sharaya wants to be an attorney. What I haven't mentioned is how, when and who inspired her.
It all started when she was 8 years old. She had been talking to a friend of ours who was an attorney. He had asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. Up to this point she had no idea. He began to talk to her about being an attorney. That night, when she got home, she told me that she may want to be an attorney. I asked her "really? why?" She said "because I was talking to Mike, and it sounds like it would be a cool job". Since she thought (and might I add, still thinks) he was so cool, she wanted to be an attorney too.
Sadly we all lost Michael English on July 9th 2005. And what a loss it truly was. Today is the 4 year anniversary of this tragedy. Mike will never be forgotten in our household. Sharaya has never forgotten the conversations with Mike. She is more determined than ever to fulfill the dream of hers.
As part of a final for her summer course, she had to interview someone who has the same degree she is pursuing. My heart broke when she was telling me how much she wished he was still here. As part of her High School plan, she wants to volunteer at at a Law Office. Once again, she reminded me how much she misses him. He may no longer be here on earth with us, but as long as I put my daughter through college, and I see her dreams become a reality, he will always be in our hearts and our minds. I thank him personally for making a life long POSITIVE impact on my baby girl.
Mike was such a fun loving guy. He was the type of person everyone wanted to be with. I can still hear his laugh. I'm smiling now at all the silly things he loved to tease us about. His laugh was contagious. He was such a giver in so many ways. He was my attorney at one point in my life, and every time for several weeks after I used his services, when he would see me, he would ask "Are you doing ok?" He truly cared and loved people. If only more people could carry on his legacy of putting others before yourself, it would be a much happier place on earth.
To Mike's dear family that was left behind, our thoughts and prayers are with you, not just today, but always.

Missing My Babies

Today, I'm feeling lonely. Both of my older girls are gone and I miss them. They are having Fun in The Sun, in beautiful San Diego CA. They are also going to The Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland. My all time FAVORITE thing to do, is spend time with my babies. ALL of them. When one is missing, I know it and feel incomplete. I have two missing right now and am beside myself sad. Sharaya, Hunter and I LOVE to laugh. We share many fond memories like, laughing so hard and hiding behind display cases at Smart and Final just so we could get a picture of this crazy guy that weighed about 450lbs. That wasn't bad, after all, I'm over weight too. The bad part (picture worthy)was, he was wearing tiny shorts with a midriff top that showed off about 8 inches of belly. He also sported knee high socks and a tight beanie to top it off. Why he was buying 100 rolls of toilet paper and cheese is beyond me. I guess the Good Lord sent this angel to us because he knew we needed a good laugh.
I could sit her all day long with stories to tell, but Beaudrick is calling for me, I need to put dinner on the grill, and the girls are begging to go to the park. By the Way, Beaudrick is scheduled for surgery July 28th please keep him in your prayers.
To Sharaya and Hunter, if you read this, have loads of fun, create funny memories that we can laugh about, and be ready to party when you get home. I Cant wait to pop some corn and stay up all night laughing. Love You Both, Mom

Beaudrick Update

Last Wednesday we took Beaudrick to his cleft lip/palate meeting with a panel of doctors. We met with an Orthodontist, an ENT, Three Plastic Surgeons, a Dietitian, a RN, a Speech Therapist, and a Periodontist. We were disappointed to find out that Beaudrick will not have his first surgery until he is 3-6 months gestationally corrected, which is 4-7 months old. We were originally told he would have the surgery once he reached 10 lbs. His plastic surgeon said that with recent studies, it is better to wait until the baby is a tad bit older since their skin is so thin and soft. There is a "window of opportunity" in newborns between 3-6 months old where the scaring is almost null. He said if you do the surgery too early, the skin is fragile, it could pull apart and leave a bigger scar. If you do the surgery too late, the scaring tends to become darker and more noticeable. If the surgery is done between 3-6 months, it is possible the scar wont even be noticeable. The surgeon is the best in this field, and came highly recommended by a few doctor and dental friends. He was also highly recommended by a woman who works daily with parents of cleft palate/lip children. She has seen hundreds of lip repairs and said none comes close to the work of our surgeon. She said "he is the best". Because of this, I truly trust his judgment and will patiently wait until the Fall for the surgery.
Every time I go to church, I miss my baby. I will begin taking him to church in June once the RSV and flu season has passed and after he has had his first set of immunizations. Once he gets closer to his big surgery date, we will keep him home again to make double sure he does not get sick.
Beaudrick now weighs 7lbs 15oz. He is still such a tiny little guy. We all LOVE to hold him. Seylum didn't learn to walk until she was 14 months old. This had to do with being held all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if Beaudrick doesn't walk until he is 2. The princesses are so good with him. Seylum loves to rub and kiss his head. She is very gentle with him. But she is sure to get tons of attention herself. She makes sure of it, one way or another. She keeps us in stitches. Her personality has really came out since Beaudrick came home. She will always be our baby girl. I cant wait to watch Beaudrick grow up with these girly girls. :) I will have to post pictures of what happens when daddy falls asleep and the girls want to play "hair salon" LOL. Poor Beaudrick, his baby scar will soon be the least of his worries :)