Berdugo Family

Hello there

2011-01-20T14:56:00.000-08:00

So I have been getting carried away with my fitness blog lately. I am going to start an externship in about three weeks so I am trying to market myself through the internet. My sight is http://seejilllift.blogspot.com/.
Anyhow my wonderful husband got me this amazing laptop for Christmas and I decided to put up some of the crazy pics of the girls and I have taken with the cam on here. It has been fun to have and will be so useful when I start working. Hopefully I will be out on my own some day without depending on a gym to take 60% of my profits!! Anyhow here are the pics and let me just say I love my little girls!!

So it has been a while

2010-11-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

I always come on here to see if any of my friends have update their blogs. Then I look at the picture and realize-wow my baby is almost 13 weeks. As a matter of fact she is almost 3 months old.

So this is a little of what is going on. I am in school and half way done. So far out of 2 terms I am holding strong to my 4.0. I would like to think it my competitive nature, but there is a scholarship they give to outstanding students that I cross my fingers I can get. So I probably stress myself out more that I should, but I still love the adventure and right now am trying to find an extership and may be able to find one that pays!! I am glad it is almost done so my girls don't have a stressed out studying for test mom. I can also get back to hanging out with my friends.

Afton and Isabel are doing preschool that some ladies and I in the apartment complex do together. The girls are loving it, at the same time it isn't always fun trying to get them wrangled back in to listen. They do get to make fun things and love showing their daddy when he gets home from work.

Eleanor is growing so fast and it feels like I just had her. I know I did, but I really cannot believe we are coming on 3 months. She babbles a lot to talk to us. She recently was watched by my friend Michelle and her husband so Mauricio and I could go out for our anniversary alone. I was grateful she would take on the task of being the first non family member to take her. I told Mauricio-this is the first time we left her with a non family member, and honestly probably the longest she has been without one of us. I wasn't nervous at all, because Michelle and Dan have done this just as many times as us and they are both great parent with super kids.

I love our little family and love that I have 3 little girls who are amazing in their own ways. I love this kisses the snuggles and the smiles. Thank you Heavenly Father for the super girls you have given us. Thank you for our great little family.

Eleanor Gabriella

2010-09-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Yay our new little girl is here and we love her. She was born on the 25th of August 2010. She was 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 19.5 inches long. She has been so amazing and beautiful. We thank Heavenly Father every day for bringing her to our family.

Little pink things

2010-08-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I bring another life into this world. Wow, isn't it amazing. While I am scared to death-I am so excited. I started washing all the clothes and just loved seeing all the little pink clothing we have picked up from already having two girls. I love baby girls, but I am biased in that fact.

Amongst the things being washed was a little dress I bought for Afton. Before she was even born I bought her the cutest little pink ruffle teared dress from GAP. Every time I see that dress it brings me back to when Afton was in the hospital. It was my favorite dress and I was so sad she never wore it. Then I had Izzy and thought-yes, the dress will be worn. I think she may have worn it once. For how cute it is, well it needs to be shown off more than that. So this time around it will be shown off. However, that is what I said last time.

So my bag is packed and I am ready to go-well at least I think I am. With Izzy I was worried I would never love a child like I loved my first. Well Izzy of course blew that theory out of the water. So this time around I look at my two beautiful amazing girls who lighten my every morning with their smiles and it makes me so excited we are adding on to this family with another little girl to brighten my morning. How did we get so lucky? I guess Heavenly Father just loves me so much. I am thankful to him and all the wonderful blessings he has given Mauricio and I by giving us the greatest gifts of all of life. I am loved and blessed by my girls and am so excited to meet our little Eleanor tomorrow.

Being A Mom

2010-08-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

I know I post one of my own, but man this hit home when I read it. Warning-very emotional!!

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."
"We're taking a survey," she says half-joking.
"Do you think I should have a baby?"
"It will change your life," I say, carefully
keeping my tone neutral.
"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on
weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and
stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moments hesitation.
I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.

I want my daughter to know that every day
decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children,issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that
restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she
will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to
play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the
belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it
actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this most wonderful of callings.

Author Unknown

Idaho

2010-07-04T15:02:00.001-07:00

We went to visit an old family friend a while back ago. Mauricio asked where the best fireworks show was around here. They told him that Idaho Falls has the best show in the west. Since our experience last year didn't add up to much-don't ever go to the Oakland temple to watch fireworks. You will see nothing!!!

So yesterday we packed up and headed to Idaho. We wanted to go to the famous Big Judds. Everyone in Idaho knows about this place. It was recently made famous by being on Man vs. Food. Well we got all the way to Archer, ID and it was closed for the 4th-which was being celebrated on the 3rd. Way to keep the sabbath day holy Idaho and Utah. So that put a damper on our trip. We decided to head to Rexburg. We ate at Craigos Pizza instead. It was nice-they were having a buffet. That and they serve apple beer there-yummy. Then we went and took a look at the Rexburg temple. Oh after a stop to Wal Mart. Poor Afton got car sick. We had an extra shirt, we just needed some new shorts and panties.

Well we headed back to Idaho Falls for the fireworks. We got there about 4:15-they had not closed off the road yet. So we got parking and a great spot. We had about a 6 hour wait. We did some walking around. I ran into a friend from California and talked for a little while. Took turns taking each of the girls for a walk. It was a long wait and by the time it came the girls were very excited, but at the same time very tired.

If you have never been to these fireworks think finale of any fireworks show and about 30 minutes. Yes it looks like the finale of a fireworks show going for 30 minutes-could have even been 45. It was amazing. Izzy came to me expressing she wanted to go to bed and Afton was asleep in my arms. So we packed up and tried to get out early. Ha-there is no getting out early of that place. A few minor bumps in the road and we were off to home at midnight. Long tiring drive. I tried to stay awake. I kept falling asleep for about 10-15 minutes here or there. I knew Mauricio was tired. Would try to talk to him. Well we made it home a little past 3 and went to bed. Home sweet home. Short trip-lots of fun-glad to be home!! Next time we will have to stay a night or two.

Back to School

2010-06-28T19:41:00.000-07:00

This week I start back to school. It has been crazy and scary to think about it. Considering the last time I went to school was about 6 years ago. However, I am excited and hopeful and it has been something I have had a huge desire to do.

I think the scariest part for me is the fact that I am having a baby in about 11 weeks. Yes, that is right-11 weeks. Mauricio has wanted me to go to school I think more than anybody. So he is totally invested in this and making sure I have no worries when it comes to our girls. It will be night classes four days a week. So I will get to stay home and study Friday-Sunday.

Well wish me luck. I am hoping and praying that i have not lost my skills of studying. Afton has been a little jealous. She keeps telling me-no, I want to go to school. Haha-she is ready.

Durango Colorado

2010-05-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

So Mauricio was asked by work to go to Colorado for a few days. I told him how I was going to make Mexican food the whole time he was gone. He was going to drive. I took him to the airport to pick up a rental. So I guess they have a rule if you live in the state you are trying to rent from, if you live here you have to pay them anywhere between $250-$400 and go through a credit check and jump through all sorts of hoops just to take the car. Weird, didn't we just rent a car last month and not even have this problem!?!-hmmm

Anyhow on the drive home he let me know he needed the car and I freaked out a little-no car for 3 days, I didn't know if I could do it. So we came home and I packed for me and the girls in 30 mins and we were off to Colorado.

Other than the rental incident it was a pretty good trip. The girls were amazing on the way there, just sitting back and watching their movies. We got there at 11pm. The girls were out by then. So the next morning we dropped Mauricio off at the hospital where he was suppose to go learn some things from these people. Turns out it seemed he was more there to teach them-haha. So the girls and I found a few parks and went swimming in the hotel pool. Their two favorite parts of staying in the hotel-the unheated pool and the breakfast in the morning. For some reason this was the highlight of Afton's stay-that breakfast.

So all in all it was a fun time. We were in Durango, CO. It is a little tourist town right outside of New Mexico. It is a great place and we actually had a great time. So if you are in the area stop by. Great little down town shops and some river rafting.

So it has been a while

2010-05-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

I am deciding to blog because it has been a while and also I took a pic of the baby bump!! It is just starting to show. I am 22 weeks and we still don't know what we are having, but should here soon in about 2 weeks. The girls are beautiful as always. As always they can also be a challenge, but I love them still the same. We are still loving it here in Utah and looking forward to the better weather to be able to get out more. Afton is more excited about the swimming pool than anything. Well that is about all I have for now. Hope to have more in the near future.

Motherhood

2010-03-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

At night when the girls are asleep I pick up toys and tiny little clothes and shoes. When did this all happen!?! Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a mother. I wanted children of my own. However sometimes I still get wake up calls after being a mother of 4 years-I am a mom. Sometimes it doesn't dawn on me until I am picking up these little tiny things. I have done it, I am where I have always wanted to be.

I have always watched basketball and thought-wow these people are getting paid to do something that the love. Then I wonder how many people in life actually do what they love and how many people do what they do so they can get a pay check. Obviously motherhood does not give you a pay check. Most of the great things you do go unnoticed. Yet for some reason I love my job. It is the job I always wanted growing up and I am doing it!! I LOVE my job.

I don't know when we really started teaching the girls about saying thank you, but I guess you can say it sunk it well. One night as we were having dinner that Mauricio made Afton said-thanks for dinner daddy, which then Isabel says-thanks for dinner daddy. So then Mauricio gets them water, again Afton-thanks for the water daddy, Isabel-thanks for the water daddy. This goes on with the spoons, the napkins, everything Mauricio does-thanks daddy. I just laughed and Mauricio says-hey we are teaching them right. This happens all day-we have very thankful children:)!

I went to a Relief Society activity tonight and it was full of amazing women singing some amazing songs. One was a song about a mother. I wish I knew all the words, but it talks about all the things she does for her family and how she is not like the women on TV and she doesn't donate hundreds of dollars to charity's, but how much she does and how it doesn't go unnoticed.

Sorry this is a lot of random things, but it also makes me think of my mother. I was talking to my sister about how we had to drive the family van around in high school. How embarrassing right?? However to think back my mother rode her bike to work and let me have the car. Will I be that mom that gives up her car so my kids can drive to school when they could very well take a bus or ride a bike themselves? I just don't know. It is funny the things you don't notice about your mother until you are older. Man I don't look forward to raising teenagers!! Thanks mom.

So for all you amazing mothers out there-Rock On. Know your work doesn't go unnoticed. Heavenly Father sees all you do and he blesses you. Hopefully with kids who chose the right-haha. I love motherhood and look forward to all it holds. I mean if I am willing to keep going through this sickness to have kids-I must love it.

The Honest Scrapbook

2010-02-26T17:45:00.002-08:00

So I apparently have been tagged by a friend to write 10 confessions about myself. I will do this and see if I even have 10!! Then I will tag 4 of you!!

1. I go through fazes with my look. I don't really care what others think. I should care what my husband thinks, but I feel bad sometimes to what he comes home to. Growing up I wanted to get to a point where I didn't care if I wore make-up. Well I think I have gotten to comfortable with that, if you happen to see me with make-up on we must be at church.

2. My girls, even though I want to give them away sometimes, at the end of the day I miss them when I put them to bed. However, I do love my alone times too, but still miss them at bed time. I guess that is their sweetest time. I say all this as I watch them get water all over my bathroom floor.

3. I wish that I finished school. I go through fazes where I want to do this and then I want to do that, sometimes it frustrates Mauricio. I can't decide what I want to be when I grow up. I am really sad I never finished, but I still intend to.

4. My poor mother did everything for the wedding. I don't really know if I chose anything, but what my cake looked like. I also don't know if I ever told her how amazing it all looked. She should be a wedding planner!!

5. I don't know how many know this, but I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom. I feel this may have something to do with the fact that I didn't finish school, but it has always been my dream and I LOVE it and I love that my husband has made it so I can.

6. Since people are still surprised by this: I met Mauricio on-line. I don't know how many of you know also that my roommate, at the time I met him, grew up with him.

7. I cry when I watch Biggest Loser. It is always when they show the contestants who have gone home. I cry when they have gone home and still lost weight. I chant-please, please to myself-in hopes that they kept it up. So I cry when they do-like I am proud of them because they are my best friends-haha.

8. I am not a secretive person when it comes to my life. I usually tell people everything. Whenever I find out I am pregnant I cannot keep it in. I tell everyone the minute I find out. I have thought of doing something fun every time, but I can't keep it in!!

9. I snore and I am worse when I am pregnant. I went to a ENT doctor and he wants to do surgery on my septum, but I got pregnant. So here I am-snoring all the time.

10. I have a treadmill and I never use it. I have had this thing about 3 years and I have used it 5 times. Mauricio is complaining about it now because I brought it up-haha.

So now it is your turn, Anupa, Jillian, April, and Carolyn. Have fun ladies!!

New Years Resolution

2010-02-19T17:37:00.000-08:00

So every year we all make one. Mine of course every year is losing weight. Why do we decided at the beginning of each year this one will be different? I do not know. So that is what mine started out as again this year. However as you all know we were blessed to have another addition to the family on the way-so I put the resolution out of my mind.

So three weeks ago, after once again biting my nails to the point of pain I decided this would be my resolution. So it has now been three weeks. I should have taken a picture of my nubs. It was pretty painful. So how do you take a bad habit that you have had all your life and get rid of it just like that. I just don't know, but I do know it has been 3 weeks and my nails already look like semi presentable nails. I think in another two weeks I might go get a manicure just to celebrate the fact that I have done this and done so well. I have been filing them and painting them with clear polish in the mean time. So we shall see-is it weird this is exciting to me-haha!?!

So back to weight loss. I had to ditch my workout efforts this week only because I have gotten too sick. It angers me really that unless I am sitting there eating 24/7 I get sick. I am so sick of food and that makes me not even want to eat anything when this is all over, I just want to sit and not eat. Give me a break from the food. I went out today-I was gone maybe 2 hours and I took a roll and a pear and that didn't bode well for my stomach. By the time I got home my body was begging for food and as most of you know-if you go to long without it while being pregnant you lose the want to even eat. Then knowing it will make you feel better you do it anyway. Aaaaahhh-It is 6:45 and I just want to go to bed so I don't have to eat-haha. Oh make this first trimester go faster PLEASE!! Oh and by the way-my nurse gave me this half an ambian(sp?) B6 concoction-trust me it does not work!! I am still SICK.

Max and Ruby-Questionable Watching Material?

2010-02-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

You tell me. First off if you have ever seen this show you know it is weird. Two kids (rabbits) living alone, hang out with g-ma at times, but for the most part on their own. It is pretty annoying, but Afton loves it. If you have never seen it-consider yourself lucky!!

So there is a episode of Max and Ruby where Max, Ruby and Grandma go to the store to buy Max a new suit. So Ruby is getting Max to try on all these suits and Max continues to say-NO NEW SUIT! So Ruby decides to tell Max the story about the King and his new suit. Well in the end Max comes out of the dressing room completely nude-I know he is a rabbit so what ever-and says, NEW SUIT!! Grandma gets a good laugh out of it.

So here is the thing. I have now had Afton twice get completely naked, luckily inside our house, and tell me-NEW SUIT! So basically this program has now taught her to get completely naked. It is pretty funny, but a little crazy, because we have had people over every time it has happened. Now if we are ever watching TV and that episode comes on the TV goes off!! Keep your clothes on baby!!

Pregnant!!

2010-01-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Yes for those of you who are not on Facebook, I wanted to let you all know that I am about 5 weeks pregnant. We are very excited and hoping for a boy, but picking out girl names just in case. I love Gabriella, but we are thinking Abigal. Don't worry about the boy name that has been picked since before we were married-traditions. So that is our big news for this month.

My 34th birthday is upon me. My birthday is Thursday and my friends are taking me out. So I am excited and hope to have a great time!! Above are my old preggo pics. The yellow shirt is with Afton the other Isabel.

The pics

2009-12-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

So I went down stairs to make my cookies for tomorrow and realized my mixing bowl was in the dishwasher-blah-so going to make those after my shower. I got my sweat on for 90 mins while watching Biggest loser, so therefore a shower is totally needed. Anyhow here are the pics I had discussed. The group pic is the people we went with-two of the families we have been really close to. I guess chalk it up to apartment living, but we get to see each other every day-it is fun!!

I am so lame

2009-12-01T19:00:00.001-08:00

Sorry I am horrible with blogging and anything for that matter now. I have put a lot on my plate and it is taking it's toll. I feel I have no time for anything. Mauricio keeps asking me if I have gotten his emails(he sends while he is at work). I always say yeah-when did I have time to get on line.

For the most part we have been having tons of fun here in Utah. We have made some friends who we hang out with all the time. Hoping they never get sick of us!! They have 3 boys-the two oldest are Afton and Izzy's age. So that makes for some fun. It has also been great getting to see cousins I haven't seen for a while.

I am even feeling guilty about doing this, because I still have SO MUCH to do tonight. So I will make this short and sweet. I wanted to first post a few pics to let you know we are still alive-haha. Here are some from our temple trip this last Saturday to see the lights-ran in to one of my cousins who didn't even know I was living out here!! Anyhow-just to let you all know Afton also has a boyfriend-haha.

Okay just found out Mauricio did not put the pics on the comp-so those will come up-maybe tomorrow, maybe never-haha. I promise I will post them because they are way too cute not to.

Started New Blog

2009-09-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

I am hoping to keep up my next go with P90X so I started a blog and hopefully will be able to update it daily with my progress. We will see how it goes!! seejilllift.blogspot.com

I heart rainbows!

2009-09-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

Found this one right out side of our house. Gotta capture it. I really do love rainbows. They are one of my favorite things.

Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters-Yeah Right!

2009-09-20T21:20:00.001-07:00

The very rare opportunity to photo our girls actually getting a long. Actually that hug picture-I had just broken them up from Afton tackling Izzy. They were willing to do a nice hug!!

Dirty Dumbo!!

2009-09-20T21:09:00.001-07:00

Oh yes the long awaited dirty dumbo story. Well I have been meaning to put this up and Afton erased the picture I had originally taken. So we lost our third dumbo in the process so the result is a partial picture.

Around May I think, my mom, Johanna, Owen, Afton, Izzy and I went down to southern Cali to visit Jenn, Steve and the kids. Afton had found these small rubbery animals Lauren had got from a pizza place we go to every time we are out there. So when we got there I decided to buy her one. Well we got two elephants and 3 cows. One had a blanket on his back. Well, Lauren explained to Afton that two of the dumbo's were Afton's, but the other was Laurens. Lauren then told Afton that the dirty one was hers. So from there on out there was dirty dumbo, clean dumbo, and blanket dumbo. We lost clean dumbo, but we still have dirty dumbo and blanket dumbo. I guess you had to be there, but it took us a while to figure out why she was calling the little toy-dirty dumbo.

Salt Lake Temple

2009-09-19T14:01:00.001-07:00

So it was our first weekend in Salt Lake so we decided to take the girls to the temple. They had a great time and we got a few pictures with them and us, but for the most part they goofed off and loved it. It was Saturday so there was a TON of weddings going on. A little crazy!?!

For the most part they just wanted to see the fountains. All we kept hearing was we want to see the water!!

Afton was confused when we left the visitors center. We took the girls up the walk way to see the Christus. So since that is was she usually goes to see in Oakland as we were leaving she said-mommy, I want to go back to Utah-hahaha. Now every time I say lets go home she says-I want to go to my new house. I don't know when it will just be home and not her new house-haha.

Cupcakes!!

2009-09-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

So I usually give the girls some kind of treat. This day was a cupcake. These silly girls as you can see Afton does-well, okay. However you can see Izzy developed more of a chocolate beard. This one was tame compared to the one the day before-haha!

Our new place!

2009-09-16T09:28:00.001-07:00

So this first one is just in front of our townhouse. It is a little of the view we have of the mountains. I will get a better picture later. I will have to take the girls out to the park on our complex-that is a nice view.

Here is our little town house. It is very nice and we love it. If you look really close you can see the bbq next to our door with the folders can on top that hold our neighbors cigarette butts and it is full to the brim with those-stinky!! Turns out there are only like 2 other tenants in our complex that are LDS and in our ward-crazy. I have heard SLC is only 48% LDS. Which is apparent walking around our Target-which is a Super Target by the way!!

Good Bye California you will be missed!

2009-09-15T07:32:00.000-07:00

So we did it. We made the move to Utah. I will be posting pictures of our views and the townhouse here soon.

So besides my family I will miss going to the beach with the girls. I was looking at pictures and realized-I am going to miss that. However this is a great move for our family. Mauricio has a great job and his ID now says Mauricio Berdugo MD. They are recognizing his degree-yay! He also likes the fact that his job title is research coordinator instead of medical assistant. The doctor is introducing him to all sorts of people that could help him get into a residency there. He is also getting to travel to Germany for a week the first week of October. Lucky duck. While he leaves his poor family back at home.

Thanks for all who helped in our move-especially mom and dad Harvey for driving with us all the way here and making sure we had at least the down stairs all unpacked. I cannot thank you enough for making that drive for us. Love you guys.

So here we start a new life. The girls have been okay so far. They love their new room and the fact that there is a park on our complex. I promise to get pictures up very soon.

Germs and Snakes

2009-06-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

So at 3am Sunday morning Afton came into our room and tried to crawl into bed with us because there were snakes and germs in her bed. I don't know who she talked to on Saturday about this, but I will track you down and get you. So that day why getting ready for church we kept hearing about snakes and germs. Before we left I told her she could not talk about snakes and germs anymore. There is no snakes in her bed or mommy and daddy's bed or Izzy's bed or Owie's bed, etc. I also didn't want her to go talking to the kids in nursery about germs and snakes in beds. So hopefully none of you had to have talks with your children about snakes and germs in the bed.

Afton Shopping.

2009-06-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

This is a video of Afton while we were shopping in New York. I guess I need to start watching what I do in front of her-haha. She does copy a lot of what I do.

Bowdoin Park

2009-05-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

This is a park Mauricio and I always head to whenever in New York. It looks out to the Hudson river. It is a very beautiful area.

The first picture you can kind of see the Hudson in the background. This lady with her little girl between Afton and Isabels age was totally following us around. I am not kidding she really was. We were at the swings and she came to the swings, we went out to the area where we were standing and she came and asked if she could take a picture for us-nice-yes. Well then we went back to the swings and so did she. Then we went over to this rock and she followed us over there. Kind of weird-she didn't even give time between us leaving-she left whenever we did-haha.

So the second picture I think it totally cute. Isabel was not wanting to be in pictures all week for some reason. It still turned out cute even if she was being a stinker.

First "real" haircut

2009-05-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

So for all who don't know Afton's mimi-Rosie cuts hair. So this is Afton's actual first real haircut and who better than her mimi to do it.

We have hair from most of her surgeries and I have given her a few haircuts on my own-well attempted a haircut-haha. She loved it!! Thanks mimi.

Circus

2009-05-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

So here is Afton with two of her cousins-Sebastian and Vince, and Uncle Jason. We went to New York for a visit and Afton got her first experience of the circus.

If you know Afton, you know she loves Dumbo's (elephants). So the whole circus she was cheering-Dumbo, Dumbo, Dumbo. Well she was pretty disappointed when they didn't come out before intermission. Then out came everyone from the circus including the "Dumbo's" and she let out a shrill. When they finally did come out and do their thing she was pretty disappointed that it was so short.

All in all she had a great time. Aunt Angie got Aftons face painted and she wanted a Dumbo. I had to explain to her they only do butterflies, dogs, cats or clowns about 3 times. She finally gave in to the dog. She wanted to show mimi and pop when we got back to the house, but it was so late they were in bed. She was pretty mad at me for washing it off, but I promised her we would show them the pictures and she was okay with it.

Jesus where are you?

2009-04-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

So on Sunday Afton kept telling me she had to go to the bathroom during sacrament meeting. So instead of being in and out we sat out and listened to the meeting. So we were sitting there and she asks me-mom, where is Jesus. I said he is in heaven watching over you, making sure you are being a good girl. So then I was sitting there listening to the speaker and Afton goes right under one of the speakers the sound is coming out of and says-Jesus? Jesus? It was pretty funny to say the least. The only thing I can think of that would make her think that Jesus is talking on the loud speaker is when we listened to the message at the visitors center in Oakland while looking at the statue of Christ. The sister missionary asked Afton-do you want to hear Jesus talk and Afton looked at her worried and shook her head no-haha. We all kind of laughed.

Walking

2009-04-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Yes Isabel can walk-she just chooses not to. Come on girl we know you can do it!!! It took a little coaxing with some jelly bellies, maybe we will just have to stock up on them-we will have her walking in no time-haha.

The photographer

2009-04-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

I think Afton thinks her calling is to become a photographer. She takes some amazing pictures as you can see here.

I got dressed myself

2009-04-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

No I would never let this outfit leave the house, but it is a hilarious memory none the less. She got all this on by herself and came in to show me how beautiful she looked.

Isabel

2009-04-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

I bought Afton some sunglasses a couple of days ago. She will wear them a little here or there, but Isabel LOVES them. I wish I had video of her wearing them in the car tonight. She thought she was the coolest little girl ever. It helps that she looks so dang cute in them too. I love this little girl. She was doing this thing with her tongue that I really have to get on video. It is hilarious. Anyhow here is a picture of my cute little angel in her cool glasses ready for bed. It makes it all the more better with that wild and crazy hair.

Dumbo

2009-04-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Afton calls any elephant we have Dumbo. I think she might think that is what elephants are called. So today I offered to get her a "dumbo" if she went potty in the toilet all day. She did-even when we took her out in her panties. So we went to Chevy's for dinner tonight. There was a very nice guy there making ballon animals. So he said can I make a flower or a butterfly. Little does he know how much Afton is in love with elephants. So I asked him if he could do one. He did it and an amazing job at that. She loved it and I loved the fact that we didn't have to go by the store to buy her a "dumbo." So here is a picture of her elephant. She slept with a ballon animal tonight-haha!!

Potty!!

2009-04-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

So I do not have a picture to document this momentous occasion, but yesterday I decided when we got home from the park that I would put Afton in some underpants. So when I do this I usually go throughout the day saying-do you have to go potty?-to which she replys-no! So I had gotten on line for a second and grandma was playing with Isabel and grandma comes and tell me that Afton is in the bathroom. So thinking she was just making a huge mess I yelled-"Afton get out of the bathroom." Grandma said-no she is going potty. So I got up and she had put back on her underpants and was leaving the bathroom. I looked in her little toilet and she had gone pee and poo poo. YES!!! I was so excited-without being asked-or telling me she had to go to the bathroom she took it upon herself to go in and do it herself. I guess people who say-when they are ready you will know-are right. So she has underpants on again today-we shall see how it goes today-fingers crossed.

Bragging Rights

2009-03-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

So I totally get to brag here. I made this dress for Afton for Halloween. We were deciding what she should be and I thought-my mom just bought her some red sparkly shoes, why not make her Dorothy. So we went ahead with it. She won second prize in our ward Halloween costume contest-Oh yea!! Although she called it her Judice dress. A skit from SNL that she loves. When ever we use to play the skit she would run and get her dress and demand we put it on her. It was pretty funny. I think she was the cutest thing this Halloween. Even though the day before Halloween I was thinking what was I thinking with this making this dress thing, I think I did a dang good job. There, this is me and my bragging!!

First night sleeping together

2009-03-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

So in the very recent past we-really Mauricio-decided it was time to get Isabel out of our room. It was hard for me because I didn't want Afton having to deal with the wrath of Izzy. So I finally gave in and said okay. It was hard at first. Isabel would wake up in the night to cry. I just taught Afton how to say-it's okay Izzy, go back to bed. Well from her it was: IZZY BE QUITE!!! GO TO SLEEP! Totally sad that she had to deal with it, but at the same time so hilarious to hear. It took maybe a week for them to get use to the arrangement, but it went off like it was always them together. It has give us some great nights of sleeping all through the night. LOVE IT!! Here is a picture of the first night.

Updates coming

2009-03-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Okay yes it is time for me to update. We do have our 4th member of the family. Isabel Elena-came 2 weeks early to us on December 27th. On cousin Lukes birthday. Could not be more excited. So I will start posting more often on here the great stories of Isabel and Afton and all the duels they have. This is our latest family picture. hope you all enjoy. I will post more stories soon, but now I have to go eat dinner.

Halloween 2006

2007-09-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

Every year Johanna (my younger sister) and her husband Tony put on a Halloween bash. It is mandatory you wear costumes at this party. We had picked out Afton's costume (a chili pepper), so it was only fitting that I be a can of salsa. We made a great combination. What to do this year!

New York

2007-09-18T01:39:00.001-07:00

Our last trip to New York to visit our Berdugo side of the family. This is taken in Maine by a lake where our cabin was. While in New York we visited Maine for the weekend with Aftons mimi and grandpa and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was so much fun.

Oakland Childrens Hospital

2007-09-18T01:28:00.001-07:00

Afton was in the hospital for about 3 months after she turned 3 weeks old. Dr. Charlotte Shieh was one of Afton's favorite doctors. Even though she is the reason we stayed so long-grrr. Just kidding she took great care of our little girl and we are eternally greatful for her. We love all the doctors who helped and still help Afton keep well.
Just a quick note on what happened. Afton was diagnosed with bacterial spinal meningitis when we arrived. The next day-thanks to daddy's medical expertise, they found a brain abscess in our poor babies head. It was removed that day. We were in the hospital for 3 months. After careful supervision, many residents and roommates, Aftons neurosurgeon Dr. Sun (who by the way is the greatest) found she had hydrocephalus. She then had a shunt placed and we were able to leave two days later. That is not to say we never went back. It is okay though we have made great friends with all the nurses on the 4th floor. Charlotte visits us ever time we are there-even though we are graduated from her program.

Aftons bath

2007-09-18T01:22:00.002-07:00

Our little Afton loves her baths. It is one of her favorite things to do. If you tell her it is bath time she will go running to the stairs. When you get her in to the bathroom she will stand and look at the tub and say bath, bath, until you let her get in. She is the sweetest little girl.