A Work in Progress

To start:
Belated Easter Pics at Lake ArrowheadTia Lourdes With Seb
Benny with a flashlight (What is it with Flashlights anyway?).

Now to be brought up to date...

The boys love their new house!!!

So we are moving in, STILL....have been here over a week, but every minute is consumed with setting up. I fear that my garage is like Mary Poppins bag.....every time I unpack a box, another one pops up in its stead. We got the floor in, got the living room delivered, but still have a million things to hang and put away and scratch our heads and decide where to put. Also, there is that constant struggle where you want to discard or have a garage sale and the grandmas and mils want you to keep everything you have had sense the turn of the century(mismatch cast off hand me downs that you politely took in the first place)....i vote secret garage sale, hehe. I will post some pics and get back to unpacking. I will try to write more in my next post, if only I could also find some time to sleep.

To sum up....house = great, neighborhood = great, we = happy. The boys have their big boy beds and only fall out two times a night, haha. Check out the super cool double toddler bed my uncle made in Disney Red I may add! Things are looking great. The neighborhood kids came over to ask if the boys could come out and play (although our boys are a little young, it was nice to have friendly neighbors and nice kids around.)

The only bad thing to happen is stupid Best Buy hasn't mounted our flat screen yet. It has been a week, they no showed and then claimed to have no record of the appt. I didn't pay 400 bones to have a box in my front room dudes. Last time we trust the Geek Squad. You can't get anyone on the phone and when you do, they don't want to help. Have an appt. set for Monday (a week from my original appt.) Please let this work....I miss my TV!!!!!

I wish my to do list wasn't so long. Set up the house, write our 1 yr PP report and send in, get on the state of CA for not moving on our readoption and plan the boys 2nd bday party (running out of time on this one, have to get the invites out ASAP.
So long...until next time.
P.S. Here are the boys playing in Daddy's new "Jake Ryan" Porshce. Car guys already. Daddy told them it was Lightning McQueen (but I think Lightning is more of a Corvette).....I guess the boys wouldn't get the 16 Candles reference.

Almost Home

Yipeee!!!!!!!!! We bought a new laptop and so now can do everything from the hotel room that we could from our desktop at home. That means pictures people....I know how you have been missing the sight of my cute little men. We are signing the paperwork on Tuesday and so by Thursday at the latest should be in our house. Of course we need to get it all set up and move in our stuff...fun stuff.....but we will have an actual refrige and microwave and stove.....things which we miss so much. We will miss the hotel though, but after today....not as much as I thought we would.

Here's the situation....My parents went away on a weeks vacation, left the keys (oh wait....that is the Fresh Prince...not my story)....
So, we go to our usual complementary hotel breakfast. As I am making one of my many trips to get the boys more juice etc. I hear a guy talking to his wife saying how immigrants need to stay in their respective countries and how it is crazy to have Filipino nurses and doctors come to the US for work. I feel bad for the lady since she is a young Filipina wife to an old white man with such views, but it wasn't my conversation so I went to the table to eat.

When I get to the table, I see that my wonderful husband is very angry. I thought perhaps it is because he is Filipino and a doctor and even though he is US born, his family and parents are not. I told him to settle down, but if you know my husband, you know that he has quite the temper and will speak to things people say in a not so nice manner. Okay, not only that, but in an 8th grade school yard way. It was my turn to be embarrassed on this beautiful Easter morning. He started loudly commenting to the man. For example, (as I turned red) he exclaimed, "At least my kids won't grow up to be an ignorant white man who looks like Ben Franklin." He kept calling this clown Ben Franklin and I have to admit, he looked like a lumberjack version of our fore father. As the kids and I are headed to the elevator, my husband pokes his head back and says, "So, it isn't okay to have immigrant workers in this country, or to adopt children from abroad, but old lonely ugly white men can get mail order brides with no problems!"
So, we get in the elevator and I ask what the problem was. I was more than a little annoyed with him...given the day and the fact that the kids were there to witness their dad getting mad. I mean he is entitled to be upset by the anti-filipino message but that was over the top. Then he tells me that I missed the first part of the conversation. The speaking about the filipino invasion was the second part of a conversation /comments directed in a round about way toward our family about how unwanted, undesirable children don't need to be shipped in from abroad because there are plenty right here in America who don't spread disease and whose higher IQs will make this country a better place in the future. I don't think it would bother him so much if it was a domestic v. international flavor, but it was the way international was blasted. Like our kids were unwanted and dirty and just the scum of the earth. I am glad that he said something....but not in the manner he did. But, that is my husband. That is his way of expressing himself. I told him we better catch two Easter Sunday services today. It is hard to believe the things people will say....but we wouldn't let us keep us from enjoying the holiday.
I am just glad that the boys were too young to understand the conversation. They won't be that young for much longer. Hopefully we can raise them to be strong in this world that has so many ill informed ignorant people. I hope that they find a way to respond that doesn't lessen who they are. That doesn't bring them down to the level of the other person. Although......I guess there is worse language than bringing Benjamin Franklin into the mix. Just not the most educated eloquent way of responding. At least we were profanity free.
Here is to a big backyard in a matter of days. Here is to the boys wearing themselves out exploring and playing and soaking up the sun so that they still take a nap. I can't wait to get to work setting up home.

I will leave you with these smiling faces and will keep you posted as to our progress. Fingers crossed we will see some more language development as we approach their second birthday. I think that international adoption and being a twin set is slowing us down a bit. Not that they don't say some words, mostly understandable by us. It is just so hard not to compare. I hear what others, even in our adoption arena, have to say development wise and it starts to get to me a little. Something to work on.
Oh, and P.S. Do you like Ben's new style? Daddy isn't too keen on it, especially coupled with the numorous people who think Ben is a girl. I can't stop this kid from the off the shoulder look.
But, hey, he is happy and that is all that matters!!!!!

Take care all!

The Honeymoon is Over

Sorry, still no pictures with this combo of slow wi-fi and an archaic laptop. Bare with me and I will make it up to you all.

First and for most, I want to acknowledge our one year referralversary on 3/6. Again....I will have to post photos of the referral pics to now when I can....what a difference a year makes. We had come back from Vegas after my baby sis's wedding and for the first time in five months waiting, I was not waiting to hear the phone ring. I was playing my new baseball game on the 360 and "the call" came. It was Kritina asking if I had time. I knew then, but....the surprise of my life....twins. I couldn't get ahold of my dh, so I called my mom and all I said was "twins" at first. Then "boys". "Both boys". Then I tried dh again. He was on his way home....with his cell off. Dude, in a 4-6 month wait quote....five months and three days in....you gotta have that stuff on. So, I couldn't contain myself. I called Heather B. Then I looked at the email info for the first time. I read it again and again and looked at the pictures until I heard dh pull into the alley. I ran out like a mad woman, in sock feet and in the middle of the road wrapping crazily on his windows. He rolled down the window startled and asked, "What Happened?" He thought some tradgedy had occured with his wild eyed wife losing it on the side of the road. "We're parents.....to......TWINS!!!!"....."Now, why wasn't your phone on jerk????" We looked at the info for the rest of the day. Officially accepted the following day. Made up 8x10 photos and hung them on the wall. And waited for a travel date.......which would come with 1.5 weeks notice for the end of April.

Flash forward to current updates:
The positives first-
1.WE ARE IN ESCROW - set to close on or before 3/28- hoping everything works out so we can bring some closure to the hotel chapter of our lives.

2.WE HAVEN'T KILLED EACHOTHER - In such close quarters (and with only one bathroom) we are as much in love and a family as ever!!!! I will kind of miss the atmosphere of closeness we are forced into here. There is no watching TV or playing the 360 in separate rooms.....it is like Little House on the Prarie with a Pa and Ma and kids all enjoying eachothers company (okay, except for the HBO, maids, buffett breakfast and other crazy...and that is putting it nicely.....guests)

3. WE ARE REMINDED OF HOW LITTLE YOU NEED TO BE HAPPY - I am not saying we are in a shanty or anything and don't want to imply that this hotel is "roughing it" in any comparison around the world, but compared to the rat chase of American living my comment is aimed. Don't concentrate on number of bedrooms and bathrooms in a house, they distract you from spending time with eachother. Don't fret when you can't tape your favorite show because you have to do something for the family unit, we watch too much TV and are missing our real lives. Don't long for prime rib when you are on a hamburger budget, you can get by on much less (namely cup of noodle and pb and j, haha). This stay has really been a great opportunity to reflect. We can be happy without the extravagance we get caught up in achieving. I have always known what was important. Our family, our boys, have always been priority number one. But, it is funny to think how much more time we can be dedicating to that family. As I watched October Road last night....and was missing Medium because of no VCR....it was the first time in a long time I didn't lament it. That will be one more hour to spend with the boys today or with Michael tonight. I just hope I can hold onto these perspectives once we are in our new house and beginning real life again. Not to say I won't tape my shows or cook prime rib or tell Michael to watch Tokyo Drift in another room for the millionth time. I will just try to remember what is important and how we can all be happy with a little less indulgence. We will be stronger for it.

Now for the scary incident which made us want to be out of this hotel as soon as possible. It was 2:30 am as I had awoken from a nightmare and went for a drink of water and bathroom break. I just settle in and there is a big thumping on our adjoining door. It gets louder and louder and I know that someone is trying to come in and in a not too subtle fashion. I wake up Michael as with him sleeping through the last eight years of my night terrors and screams....he will sleep through anything. I get him up and he is scared too. I tell him to put a chair under the doorknob....it isn't tall enough, but at least it is a barrier. The pounding continues and my heart is pounding just as hard. Michael is calling the front desk and I am surprised that the babies were never awakened. They must be used to hearing my antics at night too. Finally, I roar,"Hey!" in a very deep authoritative voice and the bashing, thumping ceases. The front desk comes up to question the couple next door. They don't open their door. They tell us, there is nothing they can do....who knows what was happening. We couldn't get back to sleep for another couple of hours...it didn't help that Michael reminded me that it was similar to the movie "Vacancy" which was an okay slasher flick, but not one I would particularly want to live. We don't know why the dude was trying to come in, but he was slamming doors and banging toilet seats all night. Whether they didn't know we were there and wanted an extra room or if dude was so drunk he didn't understand why the bathroom door wouldn't open and was trying to force his way in....we don't know. But, that was scary. Then he smoked all night and day on our "no smoking" floor. I go with the drunk theory as we ran into him later in the day. He was in the hallway on the cell phone, no shirt, no shoes, pajama pants, door wide open to a thrashed room. Thank goodness he was moving through town and gone by the next night. Just a little flavor to add to our whole experience.

Sorry I haven't had much to share about the twins. This has really been a me, me, me post. The boys are doing well. They love walking the hotel and meeting new people. Sebastian still stops to greet each and every person. The server at breakfast has to retreat into the kitchen often as Seb will keep waving and jabbering until he leaves. For the most part people have been very accomodating. There are a few sour puss RR workers who are not into the toddler thing. But, surprisingly enough, I have seen Seb even melt many a gruff face. Well, not melt....there is still a grim frown, but a hand comes up for an obligatory wave. It makes us smile at least. Sebby is our little Cindy Lou Who, converting Grinches one heart at a time.
Soon my babies will be in their very own house with a big backyard. In the next couple of months we have their second birthday, will tackle potty training (fingers crossed on that one) and will try losing the corral. Needless to say....adventure awaits us.
Take care all....hopefully the next post will be all good news.....in my own house, with my nice fast picture full computer and with superfast internet speed.

The beginning of something special.....we hope

Hey everyone,
So, we are officially mortgage free. I prefer that phrase to homeless at the moment. We spent the last couple of days, endless days, horrible packing and cleaning and cramming days, moving out. I was so busy, I didn't have a chance to feel the gravity of it all. Of course, the boys were real champs even though their schedules were disrupted and their momma barely got a wink of sleep. I went through so much Monster that my system is now having a hard time correcting itself. Leaving last night, I felt that twinge for the first time. That twinge of leaving our first home, the boys first home with us and a pretty darn good start for us for the last 4.5 years. My doggies are staying with the inlaws and we are missing them like crazy too. The hotel is actually very good (we decided to upgrade so it is really the same as a mortgage payment). Every morning we have started a new breakfast ritual. We get up early with Daddy and go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Everything we need is there....cereal, eggs, sausage and the boys very favorite: the french toast sticks with syrup. My favorite is the coffee as now I am giving up on the energy drink crutch and replacing it with something just as leathal. Oh to be back with my closet of diet coke....
We have a line on another house. We are guardedly optimistic as we have lost out on two other houses we were trying to buy. If nothing else, the market is flooded so we will keep on trying until it happens for us. It is a funny thing though. Talk to any realtor and they will say that nothing is selling here. Now, two properties in a row we bid on has gotten other offers....Who is spying on me???? Stop please because as nice as living in this hotel is (even though we don't have a babysitter for Karyoke Tuesday) we want to move into our new house. The boys deserve it. I have to admit though, having Daddy home for breakfast and lunch and before bedtime is already a treat. Things are coming together. We are just waiting for the finishing touch. We have faith that our house will come. Until then, I will see this as what it is...a pseudo vacation with no cooking and cleaning.
Wish I could post some pictures, but am on my little lap top in the room and it is no where near what our desktop at home is.
Take care,
I hope to write again with good news soon. And pictures if we can actually win a bid.

The Count Down Begins...not enough time in the day

Hello Everyone. Well, I have been a little lax with my blogging. So busy with house stuff and putting out escrow fires. The movers officially come this Sunday and we are closing on Monday, which was first next Saturday....then today.....now Monday. Talk about on our toes and stressed out. I pack and pack and amass huge piles of boxes to the ceiling and barely scratched the surface. The next two days will be cram days.....Unfortunately, I don't know when I will be able to blog again. Because we don't have a new house ready (don't get me started on that one), we have to move into a hotel for three weeks. Our stuff will be in storage. I suppose we can pretend it is like the Suite Life of Zach and Cody....except I won't be a lounge singer (that would clear out the hotel fast). We are supposedly supposed to have a high speed internet connection, but will see how it goes. If it works well, perhaps I shall blog, if not......I will see you all in a month.
So, here we go. Embarking on a new chapter in our lives. Daddy will be a more present participant in our family and hopefully soon we can set down roots again. I don't even want to think about all I have to get done in the immediate future. I am already so pooped.
So, I will end showing you guys the cutest faces in the world which you may or may not miss for a couple of weeks. Ben, the biggest cheese in the world....who wouldn't miss this face even for a day.
And Sebby. Waving bye bye and ready to rev his engine and ride off into the sunset. This new chapter in our lives is fast approaching that timespan called the terrible twos. Please be easy on me guys. I will love you no matter what, but mommy is stressed to the max. Sebs favorite word now is no. Are you ready to get out of the bath? Vigorous head shaking and no, no, no. Why aren't you eating your cracker, don't you like it? No, no, no. Come on, it's good. You like it. No, no, no. Not to mention when the dog or his brother misbehaves, finger out, head shakes and no, no, no. Come here Seb----no, no, no. Always with a playful smile that no mother could resist, but still.....a preview of things to come.

Okay. I have to get back to the endless packing. Enough procrastination. And, I hope I'll be back sooner than later!

Close your eyes, count to three and we are Gone!

Please let's make it to Valentine's Day

As usual, things are busy around here. We are in escrow again and trying to make an offer on a new house. We are making repairs and hoping that we make it to closing, right before Valentine's Day. To top it off, poor husband o' mine got into a crash, wrecking his Audi on the way home last night. There was snow over the pass and his brakes froze and we are lucky that he wasn't physically injured, minus the usual car accident soreness. Let's hope that is our only little bit of misfortune for the rest of the year!


Here is my guy holding Sebby. Sebastian has amazed me lately and is really starting to widen his vocabulary. Of course, the last sound of the word doesn't come out just right, but he is getting there. His latest triumph is the word "more" which comes out without a full "r" sound, kinda like the old Oliver Twist movies. This "more" has replaced the very male grunting that he used to use to tell me he wanted a refill. No longer a cave man, he knows that it is hard for mama to deny his request when his little angel voice asks for more. Sebastian has also fallen in love with cows. It is his favorite animal by far and he often "moos" around and gets excited when anything cow is in a book or on the TV. The baas and quacks are now in a far second place. Of course, not even the cow can compete with cars and balls. And just yesterday, he sat me down and took my finger and pointed to my "eyeee", "no--", "head", "eearaa" and "bell butta". The boys can point out almost anything you can ask them to, but the words are now starting to come together as well.
Now, Benny....he is just as smart. He is definitely more into figuring things out and is really a trouble shooter. He can rig any situation to get what he wants. He is heavily into the snaps, velcro and zippers of anything he can find. My living room pillows are not safe with his constant zipping and unzipping. I try to remember not to put the shirts with snaps on his brother otherwise he is constantly snapping and unsnapping them to Seb's disgust. Ben speaks, but is shy when Sebby is participating too. With only one of me, when we are going over a book and pointing things out, Sebby is the dominant one. He will push his brother out of the way and answer first. If Ben is by himself, he will answer just fine, but Seb is a monopolizer. I was undecided before, but I think they may have to be in separate classrooms when older so that they both can shine. For, even if I give Ben a chance, he will look at his brother and let Sebby answer first.
I really think Benny will be a model. He loves the camera. He smiles right away and says Cheese....I know, I might as well be the paparazzi with all the pictures I take. Sebby isn't into the picture taking thing as much, but Ben loves it. If I try to convince Sebby to smile for a picture too long, Ben starts smiling and demands, "Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!" until I put the camera back on him. What a Ham!
And to end on a positive note, here is my Benny yesterday enjoying what is left of his lunch. Sometimes peanut butter and jelly is eaten and sometimes it makes for a good play toy. Ben eats his pb& j crackers like oreos mostly. Pull them apart and lick, lick, lick. Who cares about the crackers once the good stuff has been sucked off.
Sebastian wasn't too keen on the Boysenberry jelly. He ate some, but mostly crumbled and smashed his crackers in disgust. He did end up eating some as you can see by his jelly goatee. All that mess making makes a boy hungry. He couldn't help but eat after all that hard work.


So, everyone....cross your fingers for us. Pray for us. We really hope that everything goes well and that there are no more speed bumps in the road for awhile, a long while. Hey.....at least we are a happy family. Who couldn't be after looking at these smiling faces everyday? We must be doing something right with such healthy and happy boys.

Great Holiday Season.....Now back to Reality

I hope that everyone had a great holiday. We had a wonderful time going back home for Christmas. The boys met everyone under the sun and charmed the pants off of them all....not literally, thank goodness (not that kind of party).


Here is Sebby with his first car.....an Audi of course. I think Daddy is trying to rub off on him. Santa and the grandparents were too kind to our boys this year for their first American Christmas. In fact, my parents had to drive back with us and their minivan was literally full from front to back with gifts. We were planning to save many of them until we move, but the stinky buyer pulled out of escrow with only 2 weeks to go and have left us back in the limbo of trying to sell in this yucky market. At least we have each other to make it through this trying time.This smile melts all the worries away. Benny is just the cutest little guy, even just in pajamas and slippers at his Nonny and Papa's house. Those Mickey Mouse slippers are the only things that Ben will keep on his feet....socks and shoes are chucked aside even in the cold weather. Happy Kids= Happy Mommy, no matter what is going on in the grown up world.

After enjoying a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas, we were able to get the boys baptized at St. Patrick's church. It was a wonderful occasion to share with our family and friends. The boys were not all too keen about staying still for the service nor allowing the priest the ritual with oils and water, but we all survived.
Here is Benny and myself.....he is a wiggle worm even before the service. I must say though, my three dudes were all very handsome in their suits.
I think that Sebby is laughing here, although it may look like he is about to cry. He is all about the fake laugh now-a-days. Funny little man in a three piece suit.
Of course, after the ceremony as the family posed for about a million pictures, Ben was running happily through the chapel. No one can keep up with him......look at him go.
Here are my other two guys. All dressed up for the camera. It was a great day indeed.The reception rocked too. Here is the beautiful cake that my wonderful hubby picked out for the boys at the same place that did our wedding cake. It tasted as good as it looks.....but cost almost as much as the entire reception.....It was worth it though.
My boys love their Chinese Food, so it was fitting to have their reception at a place where they can drown in Chow Mein. They each had two big plates piled high with noodles and donuts by the time they were finished. They also loved running around the establishment as the family visited.
We have now arrived home. The hope and thrill of a move is dead for now. Michael is back to driving 3 hrs every day.....we really miss him after having him with us for the week. But, it is nice to be home. It is nice to settle back into our routine. We are grateful to have each other and that is all that really matters in this life.