Now THAT'S the BIG PUMPKIN, Charlie Brown!!!!!!!

After a day spent pumpkin and apple picking nearby in Warwick, NY, Tyler and Al were inspired to find an even BIGGER pumpkin than the farm had....

Here is how it all went down...



A good time was had by all, and the memories are priceless!


Not sure what to say about this one...




The Artists and their Muse!








TA DA!!!!!!

8 MORE WEEKS....

Well, we're almost there! 8 more weeks until our scheduled c-section (unless SHE decides otherwise!). It's been a long hard journey, but the payoff is priceless!

As the end approaches, I thought the fears would dissapate that plagued me this whole pregnancy. After losing 2 babies, I guess that fear never leaves you. Unfortunately, Tyler has that fear also. Last week he asked me if the baby was going to die before we got to the hospital. He was 7 years old when we lost Gaby and I guess he remembers it all very well. I told him God wants us to have a healthy baby.

So, preparations continue....and we wait with unbridled joy at our baby girls' arrival.

Happy Birthday, Tyler!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday marked a milestone for Tyler...his 9th birthday! He started the weekend of festivities out early, on Friday, by being sent home from school because he threw up in class...not a good sign. But, after being home for the whole of an hour, Tyler announced he was feeling better and "starving." So, three bowls of chicken broth and two jellos later, with still no sign of fever, he was pronounced well by doctor mom. The nervous stomach was attributed to the anxiety or excitement of the upcoming celebrations.

Saturday was Tyler's first sleepover party, with 4 guests: Luis Valenzuela (Tyler's best buddy from White Plains), Kevin Gilson, and Joseph and Nathan Greco, all from our neighborhood, and bus buddies. Here is a picture taken at a (very) rare moment of relative silence:

The festivites continued on Sunday with the gathering of old friends, new friends and dear family with a fiesta of food lovingly made by yours truly. We feasted on baked ziti, meatballs, sausage and peppers, chicken adobo, rice (thanks to mom and dad for letting us borrow the rice cooker as ours is still packed up somewhere), salad and of course, the kid friendly chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks and french fries. Seems like everyone enjoyed it, as there was not much left in the end.

Pictured are Al, his brother Santiago, his mom Rosalie, me (attempting to hide my pregnant bulk), friends May and Ben Eng (our old neighbors in White Plains). In front is Al's brother Francisco holding birthday boy Tyler. In the second picture, Ben is taking the picture and Al's dad, Santiago joins us.

At the end of the exhausting weekend, Al and I reflected and thanked God for blessing us with such a rich tapestry of family and friends around us. It was our first party at our new house and it was such a delight to see everyone we loved in the most special place to us, our home. There were of course family and friends missing from our celebration physically, but were most definitely in our hearts and spirit there with us.

This sums up the weekend...

ZZZZZZzzzzzzz....thanks everybody!!!!

Shucks, I'm sure tired from panting & beggin all day!

Where did everybody go??? Is there any cake left for me????

Thanks to all, and to all a good night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST DAY OF 4th GRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today marked the first day of Tyler's fourth grade year at Pine Tree Elementary School. (I remember his first day of kindergarten!!! Seems like yesterday!)

He suffered a bit of anxiety as he was worried that he wouldn't know anyone again like last year, but we know that a few of his classmates will be the same, so finally at 11:00 pm last night (after being in bed since 8:30 pm!) he succumbed to sleep.

He was wide awake and ready to go as you can tell from this picture taken in front of the house this morning.



This was taken at our bus stop with Tyler and his buddies, Nathan and Joseph.



This is Laura, my neighbor, and Nathan and Joseph's mom, happy for school to start!




Left behind were our fur-children who have already started suffering the withdrawl of an empty house again, especially BoBuddy, who grew quite used to watching the boys play all summer.

BoBuddy, silently asking me, "where's my boy, mommy?"



Sassy (short for "Sasquatch" for his 6-toed front paws and in memory of a previous feline friend I had) was bewildered enough to wake from his morning nap



Sausy (short for Sauserage--don't ask--she was named by Tyler!) was equally bewildered...

2007 Summer Vacation!

This summer we went to Pennsylvania to Hershey Park and to Gettysburg, along with Al's parents and brothers (for part of the trip). We all had a great time, and the weather could not have been better!

This one is of Tyler at one of the Gettysburg battlefields, called "Devil's Den" where almost 10,000 men fought and many died.

This is of Tyler, Al and myself (25 weeks pregnant) at Devil's Den

Honest Abe, a.k.a. Tyler

This is a picture of Tyler with his new obsession, pressed penny souveniers, thanks to his Lola :)

This picture is of Tyler and Al with Al's parents, Drs. Rosalie and Santiago Wong and his brothers, Santiago and Francisco, at HersheyPark on Sunday, August 26.

After our Hershey adventure, our vacation continued in upstate New York. We visited Howe's Caverns and went 15 stories underground (where it was 52 degrees in August!) to check out the rocks and minerals that were millions of years old. Tyler also had a chance to "mine" for minerals afterwards, and he even found some "fools gold"

This is a picture of us at Howe's Cavern's, NY on Wednesday, August 29.

This is Tyler mining for minerals

On Thursday, August 3o, we visited my grandmother, Virginia Dumond, in Binghamton, NY

All in all, a great time was had by all!

In the Beginning...

This is our first picture of our baby girl, as a blastocyst, the day of our in-vitro transfer on March 30, 2007. Our intention that day was to bring our last two embryos home to my womb and give them a chance at life, and leave it up to God.

A Lesson in Patience and Perserverance...and Miracles

Three years ago, it was Dec. 10, 2004, and I was sitting awaiting friends for a birthday cocktail. I sat there and prayed for a special birthday gift...a baby. I asked God to bring me a baby for my birthday, as Al and I were trying to conceive at that time. I was so hopeful and sure that God intended me to be a mother again. You see, before conceiving Tyler, I was told the chances of me conceiving were very slim due to having a severely tilted uterus. So, to have Tyler was our first miracle. And my first biological link as an adoptee. So, even though my birthday came and passed, and the next birthday came and passed too, and no baby, I didn't lose hope. Then in March 2005, we conceived Gaby, only to lose him at 18 weeks. But despite the pain and lonely desparation, Al and I still believed that we were meant to have another child.

Fast forward through painful tests, procedures and protocols and God sent us our third miracle, our baby girl due on...you guessed it...MY BIRTHDAY, three years later!

So, the lesson learned for this girl was to never give up just because you don't get God's answer right away. It's all in God's time, not ours. We're just asked to have the faith of a mustard seed, that's all.

One Decade Down....and many more to come!

Today is Al and my 10th year wedding anniversary! It's been a decade of many emotions and experiences, none of which I would trade for anything. Our marriage started out with both of us very immature but definitely knowing no matter what we loved eachother. It was a bumpy road over the next few years, but wise choices and tough decisions were made and we stuck it out. Just when we thought we were cruising down easy street for a while, a major accident left us again with choices and decisions...this time was when we lost our beloved baby Gaby at 18 weeks. The saying, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" defintely rang true and although we were not glad that this happened to us, it definitely made us a stronger couple and family. Tyler was a surprising strength through the experience, as he was with me when we found out the baby had died. This then-6-year-old acted with the courage of a firefighter, calmly getting mommy through a waiting room of pregnant women and to the car, and then getting daddy on the phone. For the next few days he demonstrated his strength by telling me, "don't worry mommy, you don't have to tell anyone...I will handle it!" This strength and determination has continued to impress and amaze both his dad and me. We're convinced that he's an 80-year-old man in an almost-9-year-old body.

After dealing with our pain as a family we decided to seek the aid of science to help us achieve not only our dream of another child, but Tyler's deep desire for a sibling. Talk about testing your marriage...try having your husband poke you in the derriere with a HUGE painful needle every night for months on end! And then still love him!

I am still very much in love with my husband after a decade, even more than this day 10 years ago when two innocents vowed before God and our families to love eachother in thick and thin, in sickness and in health...

So....Happy Anniversary to my dear, beloved hubby!

In our 6th month and counting...

This was taken at my brother Jim and sister-in-law Julie's house in July. Doesn't Al look thrilled to be between two horses? LOL

Holy crow does time fly by! Even though it's been three years in the making, of procedures and pain, shots and tears, thus far we've made it through to our 22nd week of pregnancy! Now that her birth is closer, I'm starting to get nervous and my Type A personality is rearing it's ugly head. I am petrified of making sure Tyler (who turns 9 on 9/30!!) is taken care of while I am having my scheduled c-section (probably the week after Thanksgiving) and just worrying in general. It's been so long since we had a little baby in the house, both Al and I are a little nervous...we're hoping it's like riding a bike.

The nursery is almost ready. Daddy needs to assemble the crib but it's otherwise done. We went with pale yellow walls and a pink, green and lavender flowered rug.

Our little girl kicks all day and all night long, briefly napping in the afternoon. Tyler thinks she'll be a great soccer star someday. I'm sure he'll teach her everything she needs to know.

Tyler and his best friend, Bo Buddy