The big game!

While we were in Nor Cal, we were able to finally see one of Grant's baseball games. Diego LOVED it and was very excited about watching the game and later, "running the bases". We really enjoyed getting to see Grant play short stop, pitch, hit, score a RBI and score himself. Diego also got to play on the playground with Katelin and Aunt Sheri, but it was at that point I realized my camera was out of battery and I had no charger with me (I'm a smart one, I know!). All in all, it was a wonderful day!

I wish you could see D's face a little better in this picture...he is just beaming with pride that Grant is taking a picture with him! :)
Diego actually kept the hat Grant had loaned him on most of the morning...a true feat! It is, of course, a very special "Go Giants" hat.
Grant is number 9, playing shortstop at this time.

First Base Coach, Uncle Bob, comes to check in on us.

Diego watches eagerly as Grant steals a base and eventually makes it home!
Diego walks the line...Mama told him to stay off the field, but D likes to flirt with danger.
Grant at the plate right before his big hit.

Grant on the pitcher's mound!
Katelin and Diego
D posing for a picture on Aunt Sheri's lap.
"Running the bases" with Aunt Betty, was a much talked of event after the game. It obviously was very exciting to my small boy! :)

In all my pictures of Katelin, she is hiding behind her cool red camera! :)

Diego enthusiastically ran up to Grant and gave him a hug...too cute!

June fun.

At the very beginning of June, Diego and I got to spend a day with my cousins in Nor Cal. Diego just loves playing with Katelin and Grant and running all over their property after the dogs. We always have a wonderful, relaxing time!
Katelin and Grant are so great with him, they will follow him all over, get balls for him, pitch to him...whatever his little heart desires. I remember watching them when they were little...it's so fun watching them with my little one now!
You can't tell from the picture, but Diego is carrying Grant's huge metal bat around. He could barely lift it, let alone swing it, but he was very determined and would not let us substitute for a bat that was his size...he could tell that this was the real thing!
My cousin, Bob (D calls Uncle Bob (as did I when I was a kid)), held this noodle up for probably an hour so Diego could play T-Ball. Diego did pretty well with it too! :) Everyone else, including the dogs helped chase after the balls. Diego had it made!
You can see how happy Diego is with himself! We had a wonderful time. I'll use another post to talk about going to see Grant's baseball game.

Big Boy Haircut

I finally couldn't handle how long D's hair was so I took him in for a "big boy haircut" this morning. The lady that cut his hair commented on how well he did--he didn't even fuss when she sprayed water on his head!

She cut the front of his hair first which gave him a pretty crazy mullet (think Joe Dirt) for a few minutes, but quickly remedied it. I wish I had had a camera!

As I watched all his curls fall to the floor, I was thinking to myself, "what have I done?", but I think it came out really cute and it's great to see how expressive his face is when his eyebrows aren't covered with hair.



His new favorite: making "scary faces" with Daddy.

Diego finds it hilarious when Rico makes my stuffed bunny talk in a scary voice saying things like, "I'm watching you!" and "I'll get you!" Which Diego repeats in this hilarious, trying-to-be-scary voice. It cracks me up (although I act horrified that my 30 year old bunny is making such threats).

Diego and I love having Rico home in the mornings...does school really have to start again this September?

May & June!

The past month has been a total blur for me...I realized this past week that I haven't been to church in Isla Vista since Mother's Day, which means Diego and I haven't been at home during the weekend in a month! So now you know why blogging has been almost impossible for me. This is not to say we haven't had a wonderful month, it's just been really BUSY! We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family. However, I'm glad we'll be home for at least a couple weeks before we venture out again. I'm too pregnant to keep up this kind of pace! :)

Diego at a beach in the sound near Seattle

I was blessed with a new cousin this June too. Shiloh Mae Cleveland was born to my Uncle Baker and his wife, Cindy. Although we haven't had a chance to see her yet, we're excited to meet her in August. Diego already talks about seeing "Baby Shiloh."

We're both enjoying Rico being done with school for the summer (well not done...he has to start reading for exams and is writing some articles that will be published this fall). Diego has been having a wonderful time playing with Daddy both inside and outside! Yesterday when I had to go to work, it didn't even phase Diego that I was leaving (even though I said goodbye) because he was so enthralled wrestling on the bed with his Dad.


Daddy and Diego playing on the couch at home

Baby #2 is getting big! Unlike his brother, he is quite a squirmer. I definitely have "popped out" and really can't fit in anything but Maternity clothes now. My ribs are killing me! :) I'm excited to meet the little guy, but we have lots to do before then. :)

Diego and I at Tarzan's treehouse in Disneyland

Yesterday was Rico and I's 6th Anniversary, due to work and a busy weekend, we didn't get to celebrate it, but we'll go out sometime this week. I can't believe 6 years has already flown by! They definitely have been full of new adventures! I'm very thankful that God brought us together that day 6 years ago!


Diego and Rico one year ago on our trip across the country. I can't believe how much has changed in that year. :)
In the next two weeks I'll post more pictures from our month's adventures!

The big trip!

Tomorrow, Diego and I are going on a big trip to the Northwest. My Aunt Betty is here and will take us to see my old roommate and bridesmaid, Rachel who is visiting her family in the Bay Area. In the past 5 years, I've seen Rachel once, so I'm really excited to see her. From there we'll get to visit more family in Santa Rosa and see Grant's last baseball game. Diego has not been to any type of baseball game since he was very little, but likes watching it on TV, so we're both excited about it. From there we'll spend a day with my parents and visit the cats (Diego is very excited about visiting them again). On Monday, we're flying to Washington (from Nor Cal) to visit my friend and bridesmaid, Mandy (have only seen her once in the past 4 years), and her son Isaac. Diego is eagerly anticipating flying in the airplane (we see them coming in for a landing on a daily basis). I'm eagerly anticipating a good visit with a dear friend in a BEAUTIFUL location. We'll be in Washington for 4 nights before flying back to LA for our friend, Nora's wedding! Uncle Jeremy will pick us up from the airport and we'll hang with him until Daddy can meet us.

In the meantime, Daddy will be taking finals and writing papers, so it's a good for him to have some extra time to himself, but we're really going to miss him!

Please keep all of us in your prayers this next week.

I'll leave you all with a picture of Diego in his "Big Boy" bed...he loves sleeping in it. I'll have to blog about it another time! Now, off to pack!

Baby Boy in 3-D

As a belated Mother's Day gift, we took my mom, Rico's mom and Rico's grandma, Jennie, to see a sonogram (my in-laws had never seen one). Actually, Rico didn't come, but both our dads did (the limit was 6). I had never seen a 3-D sonogram, so it was a treat for me as well. I still prefer the 2-D kind, so I was glad we got to see those too. The technician verified for our parents that our baby is indeed a boy (we even have a picture of his anatomy). It was amazing to watch the baby yawning, trying to put his fingers in his mouth, sticking out his tongue and trying to get comfortable by snuggling into the placenta.

The baby's face (the thing sticking out of the side is placenta). His eyes won't open until 8 months.

In this picture, the baby is clasping his hands together. You can see both arms with the umbilical cord going through the center.

His tiny crossed feet

Another face picture with his chin resting on his chest.

We can't wait to meet this precious little one...I can't believe it's just a few months away now!

Mother's Day Weekend

I had a wonderful Mother's Day last weekend. My brother and his girlfriend came up to see us (her half marathon on Saturday had nothing to do with it). And Diego was able to have a friend over Saturday. We had lots of fun and I especially enjoyed having a kick-back, stress-free Mother's Day.

Roses from Rico, Gerber Daisy from church. Diego signed his "name" to my card...so cute!

On Mom's Day, Rico stood with us in church which was a really big treat for me (most weekends he is serving). We went to lunch at a new favorite, Kahuna grill, with my bro & Ann and afterward Jer bought me some candles and honey from the farmer's market. Jer also got me special raspberry fudge and he and Ann did all the dishes while I laid down! Rico got me flowers and a card and he and Diego took me out to dinner later. A friend sat in our house after we put Diego to bed so that Rico and I could go to have dessert at Fr. Nicholas' house for a reception with Fr. Tom Hopko (he used to be the dean at St. Vlad's). I was so spoiled--it was a such wonderful day!!! I feel so blessed!!

Playing Elefun with everyone Saturday night.

Diego's friend came over for the afternoon on Saturday. They two boys had so much fun together! Here they are eating snack together...Diego wouldn't pose for me which his friend thought was hilarious, which egged Diego on to do it more (it starts this early?).

More play time!

This week...

Here are some pictures from this week's activities...

Making biscuits


Playing with and decorating Dada

I love this picture! :) A real smile caught on camera...it's a miracle! :)

The above is Diego's usual "smile" for a picture. LOL!

Uncle Jeremy (who is an rocket engineer)was here this past weekend. One of Diego's favorite things to do with Uncle Jeremy is look at pictures of rockets, satellites and space shuttles on Jer's i-phone. So it was natural that D and I spent much of the week building rockets and space shuttles out of blocks. :)

He cracks me up!

And here is my activity from this past week. I drew this for Diego with oil pastels...it's a badger (I know it looks like a dog). Diego has this book with the text of Psalms 104 and there is a picture of a badger ("the Rocks are a shelter for the badgers"). Diego laughs every time he sees the badger in the book, now he laughs every time he sees this picture. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

We just wanted to say "Happy Mother's Day!" to our moms, Grandma, Godmama Nicole, Aunts and all of our friends who are wonderful mothers. We love you!

Some conversations from today...

Sometimes I can't believe our little Diego.

What amazes me most are his speaking skills. Here are just a few of our conversations I managed to jot down or remember today. None of these have been edited...they are exactly what he said.

1. While dropping Daddy off at school and seeing all the bikes:
D:"Mama, there are so many kinds of bikes!"
M: "What kinds do you see?"
D:"Yellow ones, blue ones, green ones...there are so many kinds!"

2. I had to go shopping for a couple things after dropping Rico off. So we get to the Trader Joe's parking lot and Diego says:
D:"Mama, I don't want to go to Trader Joe's."
M: "Why don't you want to go to Trader Joe's. We can get a banana," I say as I'm circling around desperately trying to find a parking spot.
D:"There are too many people at Trader Joe's. Let's come back later."
M: (blown away by his speaking ability and his logic also it was late and crowded) "Okay, we'll go home and come back after nap."

3. Also while driving:
D:"The smoke looks like a cloud"

3. At home right before lunch:
D:"Mama, what's baby brother doing? He's kicking!"
M: "No, he's sleeping. Baby brother sleeps a lot. When he comes out he'll sleep a lot and eat a lot. "
D: "What will baby brother say?"
M: "He can't talk yet. We're going to have to help him learn. He'll probably only say "googoogaga!"
D: "Like Baby Sea Turtle on Wonder Pets!" (lots of excitement in his voice)

Towards the end of lunch, Diego made a loud sound. The baby started kicking.
M: (laughing-not scolding at all) "Diego, I think you must have scared Baby brother with that loud sound! He's woken up and is kicking now."
D: "I don't like to scare Baby Brother. Baby Brother is sleeping and then he'll be awake. Baby Brother will say something!"

4. This morning we saw the news that Manny Ramirez, of the Dodgers (Rico's favorite baseball team) tested positive for some kind of undisclosed drug and will be suspended for 50 games. Rico was understandably upset since Manny is to the Dodgers as Barry Bonds was to the Giants. To make matters worse, while I was gone last night, Rico and Diego had been watching a Dodger game and Rico specifically pointed out Manny to Diego. Diego was fascinated by him (we think it's the dread-locks) and kept asking where he was for the remainder of what he saw of the ball game, so this morning it was quite crazy when the news broke.

In order to explain the situation, I told Diego that "Manny didn't obey and ate something he wasn't supposed to, so now he can't play baseball." Diego responded:
D: "Manny is a bad man!"
M: "No, he just didn't obey. (I'm trying not to have a little pharisee on my hands) Do you sometimes choose not to obey?"
D: "No! I listen and obey!"
M: (second attempt) "Manny is very sad now because he can't play baseball." (Never mind that he doesn't get almost 8 million dollars of his contract now).
D: (In a sing-song kind of way) "Manny is a bad man. Manny is a sad man."

Finally, Manny hadn't been spoken of for hours but at lunch (between the baby brother quotes), Diego asks:
D: "Where's Manny?" and promptly answers himself, "He's in another space!"

I literally laughed out loud. Where does he get this stuff?

5. Lastly, I told Diego it was time for his nap. His response:
D: "I want to wait for Giraffe."
M: (muffling laughter) "No, I don't think we can wait for him anymore."
What Giraffe, where he is coming from and why we are waiting for him (other that to prolong the inevitable), I have not a clue! I'm still laughing. What will he say after his nap?