Lilyana's garden Tea Party

I was thinking of what games to play at the table . So I came up with BINGO. I wanted to make a tea party bingo , but again. I just didn't have the time.

This was suppose to be a Tea Pot cake, I just couldn't get around to it.

Getting her first bible

All together we had 5 girls (suppose to be 6)

What's in a name? That is the BIG ????

The big Question was , so do you have names picked out? AHHH NO! I've never been good
with names. It's something they will have for the rest of their lives. UGH! The pressure!!


After the baby was born knowing is was a girl, I thought about it and
I've always liked the name Ezra (Like in the bible)But would change the z for an s to make it more femanine, plus in the spanish bible it's with an s. Yes! It's a boys name ,but who cares. So is mine.

Coming home I found Thing 1 sitting beside me talking to the baby.
Hi Maya
Maya , You're so beautiful

Me: Who's Maya

Thing 1 : The baby

Me: Where did you get that name from?

Thing 1: I don't know , in my brain

Me: You must of heard it somewhere

Thing 1: God told it to me

Is that not the best thing you've ever heard!!!
OH MY!! What now? Should we name her Maya, now after we've named her Esra Maria?
I don't think we've even actually used the name Esra yet. When I speak to the kids , it's always baby sister
or the baby when I speak to my husband,
Should I use it as a nIckname or change it entirely??

NO ONE EVER believes me!!!

When I get into the conversation of not using diapers (NATURAL INFANT HYGIENE)
people never believe us. I've never posted up pictures ( not this young in age) or really made the effort to Show anyone that you could
actually communicate with them from birth. This process is called ELIMINATE COMMUNICATE. The process in which
you can start from birth and have your baby eliminate in something other then themselves.
Communicating is a big part of EC . No one will know your baby more then you. You are with your baby day and night.
As time goes by you will learn their own cues as they will learn yours. Associating words with a sound....PEE pssss
Ca ca....grrrr. You get the picture. Sounds silly ,but I promise you. It works!

Newborns are very smart and we need to know that WE CAN communicate from birth.
I've post some pics of Thing 4 going pee pee at 1wk 1/2 old. People will probably say I photoshopped it in.
I don't care. I'm not the one buying diapers.

Pool Vs. Waterslide

And the water slide WINS!! We purchased this LIttle tykes Rocky Mountain water slide @ toys r us
Luckily .... I truly mean LUCKILY! We saved about $200 on this slide . I was in water slide Heaven!!!

So this was definitely a no brainer. Goodbye pool, HELLLO Water Slide.



So now that I have 4 kids, I was wondering how I would ever survive going to the beach or the pool
by myself. I realized that I really didn't want to know the answer to that question.

I discussed with the hubby on how I would be able to have some summer fun with the kids, but at home.
We were looking at pools which were a lot cheaper then water slides.

After much research and thought, we decided on the water slide. I came to the conclusion that I would have to
be inside the pool with them at all times and that definitely wasn't going to happen with having a new born. Plus
worrying about someone getting outside and drowning and who knows what.
Peace of mind was worth the price! I can just sit outside or inside watching them from the sliding doors.

We've used it once so far. But I will definitely get back to everyone and leave a Review.
So far so good! Let's put it this way, even my husband was jumping around in that thing.

BOY OH .....GIRL?

Thing 1 and Thing 2 holding Thing 4 for the first time. They were sooo excited!!


Our Midwife Rita AKA Jersey and our VERY PATIENT nurse Amber. Thank You both for all your help

encouragement with the birth of our daughter. We couldn't of asked for a better pair. But I have to say, if it weren't for the

totts. I don't know what we would have done. hahaha!

4am need to go to the restroom. OOH wait , do I?
Hmm. ok well let me do my business and see what happens.
Lay back down, OK I"M IN LABOR. Get my Ipod and start listening to some
soothing music and start doing my hypnobirthing.
5 something rolls around and the hubby wakes up.
Hubby "Hey Babe , you ok?"
Me "I'm ok , but I'm in labor"
Hubby " Are you sure"
Me" Are you kidding me , of course I'm sure"
Hubby" Get's up and doesn't know what to do"
Me" what's wrong with you? This is our 4th kid"
Well, with that being said. He fed all three kids, Dressed them , cleaned the
whole house and got me to the birth center which is an hour away in a half hour.
I was 7cent when I got there. About an hour later, I was definitely ready to push.
My midwife broke my water and 2hours later,Esra AKA Miyah was born.
I really thought it was going to be a boy, but deep down I knew it was a girl...I THINK!
SO,this is the end of a new begining.

NO FEAR!!

I wish more people knew about Hypnobirthing. It's an amazing technique that let's you enjoy Birthing your baby.
This book is not only for hypnobirthers but also for woman looking to put their fears aside and know that Birthing
is and should always be a natural process.

Estimated Due Date! (EDD) What's that??

KEY WORD: ESTIMATE

There are several reasons why your due date is only and estimation. To begin with, the selected date is usually calculated by

recalling the date of the first day of your last menstrual period ( which may not be accurate).

It's interesting to know that only 5% of babies arrive on their EDD.

I myself was given Three. I'm proof that estimates are not SOLID.
You need to be able to focus on the fact that the range is between thirty-eight and forty-two weeks.
Your EDD has no magical signifcance, and as long as your baby is strong and healthy and you are strong and healthy, don't allow yourself to be pressured into thinking that every day beyond the EDD is a precarious time.

For your baby's sake , resist the temptation to bring medical intervnetion to your pregnancy when you pass your GUESS DATE and certainly medical indictation.

Small but fun project

This was not a huge project but I had fun doing it. Every time I went to savannah or a historic sight. I found myself always
looking at the plaques beside the door. I don't have a historic house but I sure do want a historic wood plaque.
I bought this wood plaque at Michaels for about $1.50. I already had some black all purpose acrylic paint.

I figured I would just paint it black and kind of give it a vintage look after.
The stencil I used i've had for years. I couldn't tell you where I got it if I tried. It was exactly what I wanted.






I still need to maybe grab some sand paper to make it look more vintage. It was fun!

Dr Seuss Thing 1,2,3 and LASTLY 4

Wow I've been gone a while. I was just reading my last post and it made absolutely no sense!!!

What I'm about to write probably won't make any sense either. It's been 9months and I'm 3 days

away from my due date. I thought I would go a lil earlier being that my son came 3wks early.

GUESS NOT!!

Well, I was trying to think of something cool to do for the kids. I thought of Thing 1,2,3,,4.


First always get support from the hubby. Even though they're playing video games on the phone.

At least they are there.xoxox


I got the Images online. Printed them on regular paper first to make sure I had the size correct.


I went to Michaels and bought red T-Shirts that were on sale and used a 20% off coupon on your total purchase.The onsie I

purchased at Wal-Mart for $3. It had a Fourth of July image on it. Thing 4 Image covered it nicely.

I also bought DARK TRANSFER PAPER!!!! I made a huge mistake of using light transfer paper( Which is meant for light colored

t-shirts) . When I transfered the image onto the red shirt, the white part didn't come out. Unfortunately, Dark transfer paper is

really expensive. I also used a 50% off coupon at Michaels for the purchase. So , DON"T FORGET TO USE YOUR COUPONS!!!

The Dark transfer paper also gave me some trouble. You have to peel it and set it right side up on the fabric as a pose to

mirroring the Image like the light transfer paper. So when I was printing the Image the DTP would start peeling inside the

printer and mess up the image. So make sure you flatten out the DTP between a heavy book etc.



You need to use a hard surface. I used my wooden cutting board and covered it with a cotton pillow case.

I cut out the image ,Peeled it, set it on the T-shirt, covered it with another pillow case and ironed away for about 30 seconds.
On the directions it tells you to iron for 10 sec. I didn't think that would be enough. To each his own I guess.


So this is the end result. Not too bad.Now my kids have new names. Which is good being that I'm always calling one by the

others name.

Preggo's for the last time

So, not so suprisingly i found that I am prego once again. I always wanted 4 kids ,but what am i thinking. Anyhoo, I haven't been

great and with 3 toddlers and make me feel even worse. I plan to hopefully give birth at a birth center in Brooklyn, New York.

Not many people know. It took me a couple of weeks to tell my own mom. I just feel sick all the time , so i guess I'm not as eager... just yet

end of summer days

Breastfeeding

I absolutely love this cartoon. People have nerve to be disgusted by something so pure and natural

why breastfeed?
There are many benefits for both mother and child when a woman chooses to breastfeed. Human milk is custom-made for babies, with all the right nutrients and in the right amounts. There is no guesswork involved.

benefits for baby
Here are just a few of the benefits babies stand to gain from the breastfeeding relationship:

less gas, diarrhea, and constipation
stronger immune systems
higher IQ
fewer allergies and less risk of asthma
fewer incidences of diabetes and cancer
less risk of childhood obesity
less risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
better dental and facial development, and decreased likelihood of dental caries
benefits for mom
The rewards of breastfeeding are often overlooked when it comes to mom:

promotes bonding
promotes uterine contractions after childbirth and reduces bleeding
promotes weight loss
less risk of ovarian and breast cancers
economical—breastfeeders save over $1000 USD in the first year
convenient—always available, and always the right temperature
saves time—no formula to prepare, and no bottles to wash
clean and safe—and available when normal supplies of food and water are interrupted
benefits for employers
Employers are increasingly supporting breastfeeding, for good reason—breastfed babies are healthier, and their parents miss fewer days of work.

benefits for the planet
In this era of increased awareness about our impact on the planet, breastfeeding is a good green solution—there is no excess packaging, no factory processing, and no transportation necessary.

Hypnobirthing

This was the birth of our son Mateo and i really enjoyed it. I was aware of everything and everyone.



I just finished breathing here ( for those of you who don't know, that means ...i just had a contraction)




Our hypnotherapist Sharon Kennedy.
She is amazing!! Please ,if you're in the savannah , bluffton, beaufort area
and thinking of doing Hypnobirthing. she's the woman to call.

http://savannahhypnobirthing.com/hypnobirthing_testimonials.html
You can find her on :http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sharon-kennedy/11/104/45

Kind of a garden

Ok , so i had absolutely nothing to do with this. I wish i could take the credit, but these delicious wild berries grow and grow
without any of my help!

They can grow as much as they want, but they won't last long. They go great
with oatmeal. YUM ! YUM!



This was the day i got my tomato plant from the farmers market.
I really thought one needed a green thumb for this stuff. All you really need is a lot of water and manure . haha!



This is the girls watering and give it some plant food. They love this stuff.
I have to put some pics up of our compost.




I see it , i see it!
omg! i can't believe it's growing.
Well,it's been giving me delicious tomatoes since May.

SAUCE , SAUCE , SAUCE

I really love the mason jars. You can use them for ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING.


I use them as drinking glasses, which is my favorite way. Food , freezer, arts and crafts.


Like i said i can use them anywhere.



Although it takes me a couple of hours to make the sauce , it's definitely worth it in the end.


Not only does it save me a lot of time ,but it saves me a lot of money. Which for me ,is what gives me the energy to do this.


Plus i know what's in it and i know it's good for my kiddies.





It doesn't get any better then this. Making homemade pizza is a breeze!!!


I'll have to post up the dough recipe i use.

Ballet

The girls Ballet class for the summer.They absolutely love it!! As do i


I've been slacking on the blog, but give me a brake. It's summer time and if i don't have to be indoors i'm not.

Everyone is asleep and i'm here in the livingroom with nothing but time ...FOR MYSELF. Can you imagine?

I have no clue what to do with myself. I Pray for time like this and now that i have it .....what do i do.

aaahha ,let's blog a little bit.

Cinco de Mayo

YUMMMM!!! love this!!

I mixed up some smart balance or you can use earth balance buttery spread. Mixed in some salt, rosemary and garlic.

I smeared it on the corn and covered it back up with the husks. Ready to Bbq.





Cinco De Mayo would not be complete without some good cuban MOJITO"S
No, it's not a mexican drink,but we're not mexican or cuban ....so who cares. It's in the spanish family.lol

We were going to make some Horchata but maybe we can do that some other day and maybe i'll even post a recipe. We'll see.
stay tuned.

Mojito's are made with

Lime

sugar

Mint leaves

ice

light bacardi

and seltzer water, club soda , carbonated water. whatever you want to call it.
I don't really measure . I just use half a lime , teaspoon of sugar some mint leaves (depending on how much you like the taste of mint. I usually use ...ummm i don't know about 6-8 depeding how big they are . I beat it to death add ice and add the liquor.
I usually do my own thing though. I use brown sugar and i like using coconut rum. UHH soo good!!!!

Sky's the limit!!


These are called "duritos" or "churritos" they are made of flour and they come in different shapes, you eat them with

(tapatio sauce) or chile and lime. "WARNING" these are very addicting. You can't eat just one.

The kids love them as well. You can get these in any spanish market. My mother in-law usually brings them when she comes to

visit. I'm not sure if you can order them online. This is definetly a delicious way to start a party. Only bad thing is ,you have to fry

them. I fry them with either safflower oil or canola oil.