Rachel's Baby Shower

So my cute sister is having a baby very soon...less than a month away. I am super excited. We had her baby shower the other day. Just wanted to post a few pictures to remember it. It was at her friends house in Alexandria.

So this candy was my little project...I had no idea it would be soooo hard finding orange candy!

So I thought it would be fun to have everyone fill up a bag with the candy to take with them as a party favor...I found some cute stickers that I had printed to put on the bags that said Rachel's Shower 6-10-10.

Sienna really loved it....

Sienna was extremely helpful with the present opening...a little too helpful. I think she almost gave Rach a heart attack.

She got some awesome gifts, people are so generous and kind. Even some of my friends gave her gifts..have I ever mentioned what great friends I have? :)

I think Rachel was very grateful and overwhelmed by everyone's generosity.

So I will keep you posted to when the little guy gets here. Let's just pray he comes sooner rather than later because we have a beach trip planned.... :)

Grandpa Vic comes for a visit!

So let me start with a little back round on my dad.

When I was a little girl (not even 1 yr old) my mom and dad were divorced. They had been sweethearts since 5th grade... they grew up going to Catholic Schools together, but were married too young and there were a lot of interferences in their life which didn't help them to work things out.

I have to say that my dad was the love of my mom's life. I believe she loved him until the day she died.

She was remarried and moved me to California (from New York) my dad was very young..22 yrs old I think. He was then told that my mom and her new husband were trying to adopt me. He tried over and over to fight it but only had so many resources. He moved out to California to try and fight it. In the end he wasn't able to keep me which I am just amazed about...that the courts would take a child away from her father when he so clearly wanted to stay in her life. So for job reasons he had to go back to New York and we stayed in California.

My step dad raised me and had 5 other kids with my mom.

I never knew anything different. I eventually was told about my dad Vic. He would send me birthday cards. I always wondered about him growing up. When I would talk to him on the phone I would tell my friends my dad sounds just like Rocky! It wasn't until I was 11 or 12 that I actually met him for the first time. I was soooo excited.

Then I started going out to visit him in the summer time for a few weeks at a time.

I feel sad about what happened to him and we both feel like we were jiped from not getting to be able to be father/daughter. I have to wonder what my life would have turned out like if we had the opportunity. But I am grateful I have my family, my brothers and sisters that I grew up with, and can't imagine my life without them.

So back to the visit! We were so excited to have him come out! Sienna had never even met him. I was amazed how fast she warmed up to him. I think she could feel he was a part of me.

The more I talk with my dad and get to know him the more I know where I came from! We are so much a like.

This was right when he got to our house...Sienna loved him right away.

She read him her favorite book purplelicious...

We headed right to Jackson's baseball game and it kept grandpa on the edge of his seat! Ha ha...not really...they sadly lost.

Then we went to Sweet Water Tavern after the game for some dinner...

Sienna didn't last long....

She fell dead asleep while eating....

The next day Grandpa wanted to take Sienna to the toy store to pick something out. The boys got some cold hard cash from him to go pick what they wanted out too...

Little did he know it takes Sienna a VERY long time to look at every little thing before she can decide. They had fun wandering the store though....

She finally decided and no not on the life size fairy. She got her self a nice big strawberry shortcake doll. Once she saw it she knew that was all she wanted.

That night we had a nice little rainstorm which messed up our dinner at the pool plans...but we had a nice dinner of my chicken enchilada's at my house. Some of my girlfriends came over to meet him and he was a trooper through all the craziness...kids coming and going to practices...lots of Sienna's friends running around. He just sat back and took it all in. Probably with a major headache! My sister Rach also came up. She has met Vic through the years and just loves him. He feels the same.

The next morning we headed to the gym. I love that he came with me and I could introduce him to some of my friends there.

We stopped for drinks and fruit after....

Then we headed to the pool! It was a perfect day......

We were running out of time...sadly his plane was leaving at 5:00 that day. So we grabbed some lunch at Subway and headed home to pack up.

Sienna got a quick trim before we headed to the airport though...my dad owned lots of salons in his life and went to all kinds of schools in Paris... But yes he is straight! :) Sienna loved getting a haircut from him.

Jackson got home just in time to head out with us. Bummer the boys were still in school and were gone most of the time.

So thank you for coming to visit us!!! We had such a nice visit and hope there are many more to come!

Sienna turns 4!

I can't help but feel very sad about Sienna turning four yrs old. I keep telling her to please stop growing up and she just laughs, but I keep telling her I am really serious....I say Sienna I don't want you to grow up and leave me...she says Mom...it's just kindergarten! Oh she makes me laugh. If only it were just kindergarten...before I know it she will be in High School like another kid I know.

Sienna has been talking about her big day now for months and months....She kept telling everyone she was going to the beach for her birthday and they were invited. I am not sure where she got this idea....but I started thinking....since we weren't going to the beach for her b-day...we will try and bring a little beach to Sienna for her family party.

I watched the weather all week with looming thunderstorms for her big day....not sure how a beach party inside would work out.

We woke up to pouring rain...I wanted to cry. It continued to rain all day long...and then at about 3:00 it stopped. Do I dare set up outside? Well yes I think I was going to live on the edge and do it. Although we didn't do the sand and pools we were going to I think it was okay and still seemed beachy to Sienna...

This was the night before her birthday...I told her I needed a picture of her on her last day of being three....as the tears started to flow.... :(

So Cooper and I set this up the night before so she could come down to it in the morning....

And I don't know if you remember last year and the Ariel cake I tried so hard to make...and how badly it looked possessed. Well this year I decided to let Wegman's make the cake! :) I let Sienna go through the book and pick any cake she wanted...this is what she chose. Works for me!

4 is a great age for opening presents. She loved the rings Cooper gave her.

And the Princess and the Frog movie she got from Grandpa Vic....

I love birthdays because they are soooo content playing with new toys for at least 2 weeks!

And this is what she chose for breakfast. Chocolate Chip Pancakes! The girl loves her chocolate that is for sure! She also chose Trix cereal and Cinnamon Toast Crunch...funny the things they pick when they can.

On to the party...

Here is the pinata she chose...pretty cute if I do say so myself.

So nice to have sweet friends who drop things on your doorstep especially things like this!!! Thank you Carmen! And friends who make cakes for you when you just don't have time....thanks Jules...

Jackson and Henry...Henry and Sienna share a birthday so it was his birthday too...

He is the big 10! Happy Birthday Hen!

Rach and Jimmy...Rach is having a baby soon. Look how cute she looks! Last year at Sienna's family party I think I had a picture and said the same thing about Conwey's sister Summer..which btw we missed you guys and Sierra too!

and for some reason I don't have very many pictures of everyone that came. Sorry guys...we love you though and are happy you all came!

This is what Conwey did all night.....

Opening presents....

Oh wait let me just take a break to put on some lipgloss...ok then back to presents....

Sienna giving Grandpa hugs for the awesome presents they gave her!

Time for Cake....

Then on to the Pinata!

Conwey was a mean pinata puller...the poor boys I don't think they even got one good hit...

I love how one piece of candy falls out and every kid dives for it even when there is a swinging bat flying by...

But everyone got lots of candy...so they were all happy. Isn't he so dang cute!

And more fun the next day with Jackson and Holly who brought yummy cupcakes and sweet presents for Sienna...Jackson and Sienna were playing in the pool that is why Jackson looks not clothed.. :)

I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in Sienna's life who love and care about her.

I feel so lucky to have Sienna in my life.

So here are my

10 Things I LOVE about Sienna Maureen Casillas

1. She makes me laugh a lot every single day.

2. She gets SUPER silly around her brothers.

3. She is a mini me.. I love how she loves all the same things that I do...it's so fun!

4. She loves her shoes, clothes, and make-up.

5. I can always get her to stop crying or having a temper tantrum by picking her up and giving her a hug.

6. She loves to sing and knows words to songs on the radio I had no idea she even had ever heard.

7. She still loves to snuggle....

8. She loves to go to "the salon" as she calls it.

9. She is a trooper about getting dragged along from game to game to game...every night of the week.

10. She loves her family so much...her dad, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, she loves her friends that she feels are her family so much too.

So 3 went way to fast! Here's hoping 4 slows down a bit. I can't handle her growing up so fast!

Stuff....

So it's now May 19th and I have been meaning to post for quite a while but life just gets in the way. Spring time is my craziest time of the year...I feel like I can barely catch my breath most days.

I wanted to just write down a few things about life right now so I don't forget...a lot of them probably silly...I just want to remember. Might bore a lot of you.

I have three boys playing baseball right now...and for those of you with baseball players you can feel my pain x 3! Plus Jackson plays on a aau basketball team and has 2 practices and 1 game a week on top of the baseball...hence the craziness of spring.

It is almost Siennas 4th birthday and I feel sad about it.

I am sooooo excited to have Friday Night Lights back on.

I had a root canal today and it wasn't very fun.

I went to an extremely rude endocrinologist last week who made me feel so stupid for going to see her. Her final rude comment to me (after many) was "you should be grateful your healthy and the only thing wrong with you I can see is that your eyebrows are uneven and you have a stye on your eye" WOW...really? Yes.. I pluck my own eye brows and just haven't ever wanted to have surgery to remove the stye.. Really lady?

I went off diet coke about 6 weeks ago and the only thing I have noticed is I am really tired and fall asleep very early every night.

I went off sugar right after Christmas and the only thing I have noticed is there is nothing much to look forward to when you want a little treat.

Hunter is really really big now. He has discovered Lost and has watched 6 seasons in a month. He is now all caught up and it's the season Finale next week! We could have had some good bonding time over Lost!

Cooper tells me everything...I love it.

Jackson still gives me awesome hugs...and tells me he loves me everyday when he leaves for school.

Conwey has started playing tennis again with our friend Jonathan. I am so happy his knee is letting him start playing again.

I had a great Mother's Day this year.

I miss my mom a lot.

I feel guilty I am not very good at keeping in touch with my family that is far away.

I am sooooo excited for the pools to open next weekend.

I love the lotion exotic coconut from Bath and Body works and they only sell it twice a year so I have to stock up.

I love watermelon extra gum.

I have some really awesome friends that I don't know what I would do without.

My sister Rachel is having a baby soon and I am super excited.

I love to get a good deal...my favorite stores are Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, Tj Maxx, and we won't even talk about that I have the outlets 10 minutes from my house!

I decided not to go to our pool in Mclean this year and am having Jackson swim on our neighborhood team and I feel soooo relieved about it.

My dad is coming to visit me in 2 weeks and I can't wait to hang out with him.

I don't know what I would do without my Blackberry....

I love suave shampo and conditioner the professional versions...(makes you feel you spent a fortune on your hair..ha)

I love a clean house. I mean really really LOVE it.

Thank heavens for DVR's!

I love my bed. I mean I really really love it. I am very picky about my pillows and my blanket. I can't sleep without them.

I love flip flops, and bags, and jewelry...

I love music!

I was called to be a Nursery Leader in my church and was thrown up on last week. (the kids are super cute tho and I have one of my best friends in there with me so it makes it soooo much better!)

I wear a pony tail almost every single day sometimes I wonder why I have long hair.

I love Vitamin Water Zero...(thanx Holl)

and

I love my family and my life....most days... :)