Sunday Brunch.

Earlier this month we ventured out to the outskirts of Philly and explored Life's Patina Mercantile and & Cafe and it is the cutest shop. We went there for brunch and I had the keesh and Jon and Noah had the pork sandwich. It was delicious and the poppy seed cake was rich and mouth watering. I feel that my sweet tooth is diminishing. I've never had one to begin with but being that it's my birthday month splurged and ate some. I also love their home decor and they have funny birthday cards and fresh flowers. It was a beautiful spot and being away from the city was soothing. I love venturing out in the country every now and then. I love the city but sometimes you just need to getaway. Especially this time of year when the leaves are beginning to change.

Forever Grateful For Falls!

Now that Halloween is over and the month of October has passed I can now focus on November that includes my son's upcoming birthday! Can't believe how quickly time flies and that he will be an official teenager next week! So thankful for a new month that helps us to refresh and regroup. In spite of living in a time where there is STILL so much turmoil and despair in the world there is also beauty and light and so much to be thankful for. Family, fall foliage, the simple joys of life that include going on a walk. Happy November everyone! Let's hope the weather stays in the 60's for awhile so that the colors of fall linger a little longer!

Still Pictures of a Sweet 16 Birthday Party

"Youth comes but once in a lifetime."~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I woke up early in the morning to decorate the living room, wrap some last minute gifts, take a shower, drive to Wal-mart to buy marsh mellows for the caramel icing Jon needed for the cake, and drive to party city to get the balloons. I did all of this while it rained, and I wasn't stressed.
Why wasn't I stressed? Because I was excited for Sierra's party! 

Sierra was surprised as she came home from school, walked through the door, and saw signs of Spring decorations in her house.  She was testing for two days in a row at school and this definitely brightened her day. I don't think she was expecting all the decorations, after all...you only turn 16 ONCE!

Even Noah was excited!

Since I was running errands all morning, my better half  (like the great baker that he is) decided to make her cake. He took this day off just for Sierra. He made her a simple yellow cake with caramel creme frosting. A frosting recipe he found in the Kitchen Aid mixer recipe booklet. It was pretty good, and different. Sierra loved it.

Her sisters love to draw and make cards. Chelsea made the card on the left (I think she meant to write 16 instead of 13) mind you she's in kindergarten, and made this at the last minute! Lexie made the big card out of a poster board and drew piano keys on it. She also made her lip gloss out of petroleum jelly and strawberry flavored powered drink! Interesting! Sierra really appreciated them both.

 I had candy spread around the entire kitchen table and while Sierra was opening her gifts, Noah was opening candy and eating it. His favorite candy is the TWIX bar. What the heck...it's a party right?

My dear friends the Duces sent her a book written by David Archuletta. Although we were fans of David Cooke on American Idol a few seasons ago, we did admire the younger David too. Sierra is interested in reading his memoir.

Sierra received nice gifts and cards from family in Utah. Her grandma from Utah gave her a new scripture bag, clothes, a cute clutch bag with money, and books. Sierra always appreciates everything her grandma sends her. My mother, her wella from Texas, sent her a beautiful neckerchief and a card. Sometimes the smallest gifts are the ones that mean the most. One thing I have taught all my girls is to appreciate all the gifts they receive, and they do.

This sterling silver charm by James Avery was sent by her Aunt Lynn in Texas. James Avery has the best jewelry in the whole state of Texas! You should check it out here.

After the presents were opened and dinner at Cici's pizza was devoured, we resumed the party with the birthday cake.

The balloons began to wind down just like Sierra, and so all the kids began to play around with them. It was so fun watching them...I didn't even yell at them to settle down.

Noah was having a blast playing with the balloons! 

We didn't spend hundreds of dollars on a sweet sixteen birthday party. We don't have to spend so much money in order to have fun. Sierra was so thankful, and said this was better than having a huge sweet sixteen birthday party at a fancy hall. We are grateful to have made this day special for Sierra. It was such a fun day! I think her siblings wore her out...what do you think?

Or maybe she ate too much cake and ice cream!

THE END.

A Baby Story

^^^ The day of Sierra's blessing, circa-1996. ^^^

Behind every picture is a story. Today Sierra turns 16 and I would like to share a story about bringing her into this world. A few weeks ago I went to Costco to pick up my old negatives that were converted into a CD. As I was loading the CD into iphoto yesterday I happened to stumble upon this picture. 

It was Sierra's blessing day when she was three months old. I honestly cannot remember this picture being taken. The first year of motherhood wasn't easy for me. Sierra was born weighing four pounds and two and a half ounces. She was a couple of weeks early. I can't give you the exact number of days as to how early. All I remember is eating pizza, laying down and my water breaking at about 9pm. We were carless at the time and ended up having to call my father in-law who lived 15 minutes away to take us to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City where I was to deliver.

That evening I did remember.

I remember it very well because I gave birth to her in under ten minutes without any drugs or ivy's. I had her completely natural with only seven hours of labor.

Although I was 23, I was nervous being that this was my first pregnancy and first child. I didn't know what to expect. We went to ONE lamaze class and couldn't go consistently because we lacked a vehicle. During my pregnancy I had preeclampsia and had to be on bed rest for the last month of my pregnancy. I had to be brave and strong because at the time, I felt as if the only support I had was that of my husband. All my family was in Texas and I didn't want to bother his family too much.

Sierra didn't have any major health issues when she was born. She had a bit of jaundice and was under the billi lights for two days. She had trouble nursing and had to be fed with a tube. I hated when the nurse would shove that tube down her throat. Having seen the nurse do that was a motivator for me to get better at nursing and to not give up so we could get her out of there. We were able to take her home within 48 hours and I was a happy, yet exhausted mommy. I sometimes wonder if I repressed a lot of memories of Sierra because of all the stress I endured during, and after my pregnancy. I don't have too many pictures of her as a baby under eight months old. We didn't have a nice camera that captured good photos. I'm surprised to have found this photo. She sure does look tired in this picture (so do I!) I'm sure it was an exhausting day for both of us. Sierra looked at this photo and couldn't believe it was her. She said she looks totally different (so do I!) I explained to her the events of that day and she was sympathetic. I told her that she is special and that all those sleepless nights nursing a four pound baby was worth it. I told her that I only had planned on nursing her for about three to six months...I nursed her for TWO YEARS. She had a huge smile after I mentioned that.

When I found this other photo of her on this couch my mind became clearer. I recalled taking this picture of her sitting in the center of the couch. My mother-in-law made her blessing dress. Her sister Lexie wore the same dress when she was born. I still have it and I am saving it for when Sierra has her first child. Here she is smiling and looking more alert. You can see that she takes after me with her olive skin color.

I can't stop looking at these photos. Maybe it's because I couldn't remember them right away. You'd think that you would remember every picture being taken of your firstborn. I do have a few photos of her being born in the hospital. Those I do remember. I hope I'm not the only mom out there who had a bit of a memory loss. Then again I didn't start scrap booking her life until she was about five. I had to compile five years of her life full of pictures that I put into photo albums, and get all the essentials needed in order to scrap book, i.e., glue sticks, pretty card stock and scrapbook paper. I developed that talent right away. It took me about five minutes to finish a page. Now that I have a blog, I am blogging about her life. Which makes it a bit easier... if you like to write.

It seems as if these pictures were taken yesterday. I remember when it was just the three of us.
Backyard of grandma & grandpa's house

Austin, TX-1999

Salt Lake City, Utah -1998

Once we got a better camera I began going crazy taking pictures of Sierra. I always told Jon to take our picture everywhere we went and everything she did. I LOVED IT!

HALLOWEEN-1997

HALLOWEEN 1999

Our first trip to New York City-2000

Salt Lake City-circa, 1997

Raising her for the past sixteen years has been fairly easy. She truly is a wonderful daughter. Seriously...she is. She doesn't cause me any stress at all. She is strong in her moral values in respecting herself and others. She is thoughtful, selfless, a bright student, and loves her family very much. I know that others see the light in her and how she carries herself on a daily basis. She has the potential to move mountains and put a smile on a face that has a frown. I know I owe it all to my Heavenly Father. He blessed me with a beautiful baby that was meant to be born at the right time. I feel extremely blessed to have her in my life. I am very impressed in the way that she carries herself. I will always treasure the memories of her then, and now.

 TIMES SQUARE-2010

Happy Sweet Sixteen Sierra...you deserve the best today and always!!

Happy Tuesday!

One more day until Sierra's 16th birthday!!
If you could see Sierra's face while this photo was taken, I can guarantee you that she has a HUGE smile on her face. Then again... she's always smiling, and happy. I know Sierra is happy today because tomorrow is her 16th birthday. She's been receiving random texts on her phone, face book messages, and presents from across the country since Saturday. There is no way my oldest baby girl is growing up! Her sisters and I are very excited for her though. They all get excited when their birthdays come up so they can all make handmade gifts for each other. They all prefer to make their gifts than actually buy them. It's probably because they don't get a huge allowance! Still...I think it's sweet the way they think about each other's special day...especially their big sis. 

 Sierra has always loved the beach (or, as born and raised residents of Jersey call it... the shore) ever since she was a little girl. Every time we go she has to get into the water, and it didn't matter whether the water was cold or warm. Whether to get fully drenched or splash into it with her feet...she loves the feel of the waves crashing towards her. My brother used to call her aquawoman when she was little.  I don't even know if that's a word, but it sounded cute though.

Since she used to dance she's trying to do a pirouette in the water. She's such a goof!

Even though her birthday falls on a weekday, we still plan to make it special. We are really excited for her special day tomorrow. 

MAY

May holds a special place in my heart because it is the month my firstborn came into me and my husband's life, and the month that I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'll write about my conversion story in a later post. Right now it's Sierra's week.

In honor of Sierra's birthday week, I'd like to post pictures of her growing up through the years and to let everyone know how special she is to me. I looked back in her scrapbooks of all that she's done as a baby, and I can't believe how fast she has grown.

Sierra sure loved this couch. It was our first couch. It was comfortable, big and new...I miss that couch.

THE AFGHAN

This afghan was made by the grandmother of a dear friend. Sierra LOVED this afghan and I swear it weighed at least 10 pounds. I had to take this afghan with us everywhere we went in the winter time (which really came in handy), and the summer months for two years!! You can imagine how HOT it was hauling her and her precious afghan around in HOT weather.  She was attached to this and it really gave her comfort...I don't miss it all too much.

THE FASHION SHOWS FOR NORDSTROM

 Sierra had the privilege of modeling for Nordstrom for three years while we lived in Salt Lake City. She got paid $8.00 an hour and got to wear nice clothes by Calvin Klein. (she made more than I did back in 1996!)

THE HAIR BOWS

 I LOVED putting hair bows in her hair. She had so much hair when she was born and as she grew her hair became thicker and long enough to where I can put cute different colored bows in her hair. She loved them and I loved her pigtails...I miss that.

Unlike her little brother Noah...Sierra LOVED taking baths (still does!)

 THE BOB

 When she was almost two her curls somehow became a bit of a wave and turned into a cute little bob. It was unique and these are two of my favorite photos of her styling it.

FLOWER GIRL

Sierra always got excited when friends including her uncles would ask her to be one of their flower girls at their wedding. She never gave it a second thought and enjoyed being a flower girl at both of her uncle's weddings and one of my girlfriends. She looks forward to wearing a beautiful white gown someday...but not anytime soon! Maybe in about seven years...who knows.

 THE BIKINI

 This will probably be the only time you'll see her wearing a two-piece bathing suit. She prefers wearing a one piece now.

Sierra at age TWO

Circa, 2007- Wilmington Beach, North Carolina

As I look at these photos, it's hard to believe she'll be 16 in a couple of days! They say once they turn 12, the years after that begin to pass really fast...so true.