Galveston island day trip

We decided to have a little stay-cation in Galveston. We decided to gor a little further down the beach towards Jamaica Beach so we could drive up. We had a nice little set up, our canopy, music, food, drinks. We gathered hermit crabs, sat in the ocean

Who knew digging in the sand would be so fun!?!?

Maddie was building a "castle" and decorating it with shells.

Maddie was so focused building her castle. She would build it up and then run back to the water to gather shells. Then she would scurry back over with her new found treasures. She carefully placed each of them where she wanted. I'd ask her what she was doing, building and she was so concentrated that she was ignoring me. Cutest thing, love this girl!!

Max in the water

Max enjoyed the sand a little, but he was loving the water. Even though Galveston doesn't have nice white sand and clear water, the kids loved it all. The waves were so fun for them. They would try to get "wiped out". Again, thankful for our puddle jumpers! We didn't get too far in, but with ocean it can knock you down unexpectedly.

Loving on Daddy!

Max and his muscles

Building a fortress, but the tide eventually got it. :(

We had a great trip. We left refreshed, relaxed and sunburned!!! We focused more on getting it on the kids than ourselves. We need to carefully apply sunscreen next time!

Father's Day Weekend

I have to first honor my sweet father who has always been there for me and now "us". I wouldn't say we've always agreed on things, but I love and respect him for all he is. He would do almost anything for my little family and I am so grateful for him and the love he shows us.

Me and my Dad, I'd say circa 1984

We had a pretty low key Father's Day weekend. Shawn kept the kids Saturday so I could do some things in Houston. When I got home it was so hot, the only thing that sounded like fun was the pool. Shawn wasn't up for it, so I loaded up with the kids(and puddle-jumpers) for some pool fun. We had a blast! I know the puddle-jumpers are a crutch, but its so nice to relax a little and let them explore. We stayed for a while and came home to a homemade dinner by Shawn. 

Sunday we went to a delicious brunch at the Egg & I. Shawn got his usual, the flapper. The kids loved their whole wheat pancakes drenched in maple syrup---healthy right?? My greek frittata was amazing and cheesy! Shawn wanted to mow the lawn, so who I am to protest. I made a yummy Caldo de pollo for lunch (yes, I know it's hot). After that we went to meet one of the newest members of our family, Brain Kai. Seth and Jen had him last week. He was so sweet and tiny!! They are going to be great parents and I can't wait for our kids to play together!!

We had a great day as a family. I am so thankful for Shawn! He is a great dad and a loving husband. Never mind he's a cutie and can still make my heart skip a beat!

At Brunch with our littles

Pre-swimming picture

Fantastic 4...Maxwell

The past few weeks have been crazy busy around in our family, but one person that has proven to be a pretty mature 4 year old is Max. He has been very understanding about what is going on with his sister. For the first time ever he spent the night at my parents house without us. We've left the kids with them before, but always at our house. He did a great job too, hopefully they will do it more often. (wink, wink) The end of school had an "End of Year" program. All the kids participated, Max was so cute. He kept waving and smiling at me. He knew all the songs and hand movements, I loved it! Here are a few things about Max: 

• Max is 44.5 inches tall and weighs about 43 pounds. He's still long and lean like the day he was born. He wears 5t and size 11.5 shoes!!
• His hair is beautiful as ever. Everywhere we go people will usually comment on his hair color. He's due for a haircut soon!'
• Max has finally gotten an appetite. He LOVES oatmeal. He asks for it for dinner sometimes too. Super easy and healthy, love that! He also loves pop tarts, raisin bread, fruit snacks, oreos, asparagus, chicken nuggets, cheese pizza and lunchables.
• He loves to be Shawn's shadow. Whether it's Home Depot or mowing the lawn, Max wants to help. Shawn loves it and they are even planning a Hamilton trip in the Fall. It's funny, if Shawn walks outside and Max doesn't go, he high-tails it outside. This could be a problem, but usually Shawn is out fron talking to our neighbor.
• He is really into new shows lately: Sonic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and Super Mario. We finally got him a television for his room and he already knows how to use the remote to watch netflix from the blu-ray.KIDS!!
• Max has been writing his name for awhile, but we've been working on his whole name. He can identify letters in his name and a few others. He doesn't seem overly interested in that yet. We did start reading a few easy early readers. He does a great job using picture clues and pointing to the words. I love pulling out my teacher tools with him!
• He loves to draw. Today he drew a dinosaur and it looked like a dinosaur. He has great motor skills. He can cut with scissors and he traces really well too. We did a Pinterest tracing activity with paint. He was very meticulous and it looked great. Picture belo.
• He pushes boundaries all of the time. If he has a meltdown/tantrum I usually give him time out or send him to his room. He has gotten a few spankings, but I'd rather talk him through it. I think the results are better with him. Lately, he understands when I say no, I mean no. 
• I love having conversations with him. It's funny see his sense of humor and how smart he is. He speaks clearly but has some speech issues still. His "L's" still sound like "w". He still says "dren dries" for french fries, he loves to talk about something in the past and saying "bemember".
• He's a great helper. He likes to help me set the table. Even though I never set the table. I think Suzy did it once and he liked it.
• He is such a sweet, sensitive,tough,compassionate, funny little guy. Love him more and more everyday!

Max and his buddies for their Water day

Big brother Max, watching out for Maddie at school

Max and his teacher

Fun at Isabel's 5th birthday party

Love this smile!

Pinterest project

Mommy and Max time at the pool!

Still loves Cars!

Max and his black eye....or black spot. No idea how he got this!

He loves playing dress up

Max and his chocolate treat. He loves to go to the ice cream shop!

Maddie at 35 months!

I wanted to take a break from Maddie's hospital visit to write about what she's up to today. She is so full of life and conversation!

• She can name her ABC's - out of order, in words, etc.
• She can count to 13 on her own
• She sleeps in her big girl bed. She loves to sleep with all of her little dolls, stuffed animals, pillow pets and blankets.
• We are still potty training her. Not that she was potty trained before, but the hospital stay did cause her to regress. But that's okay, I'm hoping that something will click around her third birthday. We NEED her to be potty-trained by August for school!!!
• She loves to sing. A few of her favorites are "I love it" by Icona Pop, "Call me Maybe", "Happy Tapping with Elmo", "Los pollitos dicen" and any princess theme song. She is a pretty good actress too, she can express different moods depending on the song.
• She likes to choose her own clothing. She prefers fancy dresses, so getting dressed in the morning is challenging some days. She also likes to sleep in gowns.
• She is loving swimming in the water with her puddle jumper. She's brave enough to jump in and doesn't get too scared when her head goes under water.
• She loves her "make-ups". She wants to polish her nails, wear lipstick and carry a purse. She is very much a girly girl. I've been french braiding her lately. She doesn't like me doing it, but she likes the look of it. It's really cute too!
• She loves to say "Aww, that cute!". Wonder where she got that from?!?!?
• She likes me to read books to her, she also likes to retell stories herself. Her favorite books are Max & Ruby Sunny Bunny Tales and Dora's Valentine book.
• She says she is excited for me to be a teacher next year. I've told her that I'll be right down the hall, but I won't be HER teacher. She seems to be okay with that. Pray that all goes smoothly in August!!
• She wears a 3t in dresses, 4t in bottoms. She wears a size 9 in shoes. Size 6 in diapers!!!(Lord help me, it's the biggest size)
• She is so sweet! She loves talking about her classmates/other friends being her "best friends". She is also quick to tell me if someones is "being mad with her". That usually means not sharing or bossing her around. She's a leader and doesn't do well with that.
• She loves to pretend and imagine. Many times when we are getting ready, she says "We have to get ready for the ball". One day I was asking her to do something, she answered "Yes, your majesty". She watches a lot of Cinderella!!
• She'll be 3 years(36 months) old in 36 days!!

Fun at our neighborhood pool.

At the movies for Shawn's birthday - she did a pretty good job. We saw Epic.

Putting on her make up!

Ready for the gym

Maddie's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day Part I

“the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”

The second weekend of May we had the biggest plans for our trip to College Station. My cousin Rosie graduated Friday night. I got to see her walk the stage for the third time to become Dr. Rosalinda Castillo-Reyes. Saturday we had planned to visit with all of my cousins and their kids and go to Rosie's graduation party. Sunday was Mother's Day and I was so looking forward to a pedicure with my mom and maybe getting pampered by my hubby and kids for the day. It was going to be the BEST weekend!

Here I am with Leilani at her mommy's graduation

Cut to Saturday morning, May11, 2013. We spent the night at my mother-in-law Suzy's house. We slept great there and were relaxing enjoying coffee, cereal, the news and each other. Maddie and Maddie were loving being at "Honey's" house. The next thing I know I hear screams coming from Suzy's room. At the time I had no idea what was happening. From what I understand Maddie was playing on Suzy's bed. She fell off the bed and and landed on Kale. That is when he started to attack her. Shawn jumped up, ran to her room and saw that Kale was on top of Maddie. The other dog Macey started to bite Kale too. Thank God, Shawn was able to pull Kale off of Maddie and threw him outside. This was not easy to do, Kale was a huge dog, about 100 lbs. Through all this, I can't even remember the details, I panicked. Thank God Shawn kept a clear mind and we rushed to the ER immediately. Maddie had obvious head wounds and was crying, but I knew she would be okay.

So Shawn, myself, Maddie and Max were at the ER, all in our pajamas. All shaken up, Shawn and I were covered in blood. Max was scared. They rushed Maddie to a room, started her on and IV and gave her ketamine. I called my parents to come help with Max and just help us out. It was all so surreal. The nurse was great and she helped to calm me down. I was either in tears of very matter-of-fact about the whole thing. Shawn was my rock through it all. He held Maddie while they did the stiches on her neck and ear as well as the 16 staples she needed on her head. With the anesthesia she felt some discomfort, but it made her sleepy which I think was good to let her sleep. After they finished with the staples and stiches, the doctor decided to do a CT scan since one of the wounds on the back of her head was pretty deep. I was able to hold her hand through it all. She did great and went right back to sleep when they were done. She was scared though. It was so hard to see my baby go through so much pain. 

This is from  after her CT scan when she was finally resting

The CT scan results showed that Maddie did have a small fracture to her skull and the doctor told us that we could take her home and observe her or be transferred to Texas Children't Hospital in Houston for observation. Shawn and I didn't know what to do, but we decided that point we to go ahead and be transferred to Texas Children's Hospital for observation because for fear of any complications. 

I rode with Maddie to Houston in the ambulance. She looked so uncomfortable, but she slept most of the way. The EMT was great and shared that she had been attacked by a dog when she was young. Since this incident, so many people have shared their stories of dog bites. When we finally got there we had to go through their ER system. We were visited by the general pediatric doctor, Neuro and ENT specialists. They talked about more CT scans, infection, CSF leakage, etc. We were finally admitted.

The ambulance ride

My gorgeous girl, waiting and watching Cinderella

We had several friends and family come by the ER to show us their support and to see Maddie. Everyone kept telling me how strong I was, but honestly I don't think the reality of it had really sunk in. By the grace of God, that dog didn't kill my baby that morning. If it hadn't been for Shawn's quick actions, we might not have been so fortunate.

Our first night at Texas Children's Hospital

For those wondering, Kale, Richard and Suzy's dog was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. He was an agressive dog, normally he was kept away from crowds and children. Suzy is in the process of moving from her home in the country to her new home. We all had our guard down, Maddie should not have been near him. Suzy decided to put him down that day. We all know it was for the best.