JUNE 2, 1994

Yes, the story continues. Well, I will spare you all the painful details. Just know that about 24 hours after that initial cramp at Toys R Us, I, received the most precious gift EVER! At 7:36 pm weighing 5lbs 15oz, and 20 inches long, Miss Dominique Aliyah was born! Some days, I think wow, it has been a LONG 14 years. Then on days, like today, I just cry because actually, they have been the quickest 14 years of my life. My little girl will be starting high school in just a couple of months. WOW, where does the time go........here are a few pics to let you know!











HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOBIE!!!

JUNE 1, 1994

Fourteen years ago this evening, I was at TRU in Fairfield, looking at Little Tikes slides and playhouses for my 2 year old Nick (for those that do not know, Nick is my nephew that my parents have raised since he was an infant). We had just found the perfect set when.........BAM.........

What the heck? cramping??? gas??? poop cramping??? NO......CRAMPING??????Is it time???

My mother said, "NO, it is just indigestion". Umm...okay.....although, we have NOT eaten yet!

So, we drive back to Vallejo. Oh, let me rephrase that........I drive back to Vallejo, all the while not feeling too good. Maybe she is right.....indigestion.

I get back to my dads and start decorating the kitchen like I always did the night before someones birthday. I remember this SO vividly, I was standing on one of our ugly arse "wicker" 80's, maybe it was a 70's chair when........

OH SHIT....... I start to........... pee my pants??? I jump, okay, almost fall off the chair and waddle my way up the stairs and "finish" peeing. Ummm....I have indigestion and I can NOT hold the pee. OKAY?????

YELLING from upstairs........."DAD....I think I "might" have peed my pants"......................................................................


to be continued........................

DOMINIQUE'S GRADUATION

SO, my "baby" graduated from 8th grade last week. I have not stopped crying. It really is hard to believe that she will be starting high school in the fall. As we all know, Catholic schools treat 8th graduations like high school graduations. lol The graduation consisted of a full Mass, graduation and awards ceremony. It lasted almost 2 hours. Dominique received "B" honor roll for her entire 8th grade year. Following the graduation, there was a reception with a slide show of the kids. After that, they had a party just for the kids. Dom skipped that party. Instead, we headed to AppleBees for dinner. It was a nice LONG evening.

Here are some pics of the ceremony, and a pic of Dom with her favorite teacher, Mrs. Walker. Mrs. Walker has LOVED Dom since the day Dom arrived at St. Francis School.

Kayla's Recital!!!

Kayla had her first dance recital on Saturday. She danced twice.....tap and ballet. For Tap she danced to "I'm a Cute Little Girl". It was the second dance of the recital. Then for Ballet, she danced and sang to "Kitty Kat". It was the 28th song of the night. UGH! Luckily we were able to leave after her ballet dance. I do not think we would have made it through all 59 songs. OH and that was only the first night. There was just as many dances the second night.

Kayla did awesome. We are so proud of her. We could NOT take pics OR video tape at the recital. However, I was able to video tape at the rehearsal. IF, I can ever figure out how to post a video, I will add it to my blog.

Here are some pics, including her professional pics. Also, notice where she is asleep. lol We had about 2.5 hours between her first and second dance on the night of the rehearsal. She fell out within 10 minutes of her first dance. lol

My baby is NOT a baby any more.

Confirmation Pics!

It is late and I am exhausted. But I wanted to post some pics before I hit the sack. Dom had her Confirmation this evening. It was REALLY nice. The Bishop came from Springfield to say Mass. There was a reception after Mass, however, we stayed just long enough to get a picture with the Bishop. Then we headed to the Chinese Buffet for dinner. It was a REALLY nice evening. We could not take pics in church. Here is one before we left for Church and then one with the Bishop.

DIAMONDS!

As we all know, Kayla is quite the diva, princess, girlie girl, etc, etc. She loves to dress up whether it be in one of her many custom or boutique outfits. She also loves to play dress up. Besides her MAJOR love of clothes and shoes, she also adores jewelry. She loves everything from her plastic dollar store jewelry to my diamond ring and earrings. She is ALWAYS "oohing and aahing" over my earrings. She has a MAJOR fascination with DIAMONDS. YES, diamonds (yep, I am raising my daughters well....hehehe) For the longest time, I have been trying to get her to get her ears pierced, but she has been scared. Unfortunately, "holes in yours ears" sounded too much like the "hole in her arm" (from her last surgery). So, I decided to hold off a while until some of her fears went away. Then, one day we were watching our favorite show (J & K plus 8), when they showed one of the oldest girls getting her ears pierced. I was so excited because I knew if Kayla saw a "big" girl get her ears pierced, she would follow suit. NOPE....did NOT happen. lol

Well, a couple of weeks ago, we decided to head to STL to do some much needed Costco shopping. Before we left, Kayla started to throw a fit because she could not find her diamond ring (a little plastic blue ring that is shaped like a diamond........not a diamond like a girl's best friend, but the shape of a diamond). Finally, she had her jewelry and we were off. While driving, I asked if she wanted to get her ears pierced. Naturally, she said "NO!". Hmmm......I had an idea. "Kayla, what if we bought you DIAMOND earrings, then would you get your ears pierced???" I really did not think she would say yes, BUT she DID!!!!!!!! What a girl will do for some diamonds.

So, we make it to the mall. We do a little shopping. Jason is relaxing in one of those massaging chairs, when we notice a Claire's store. Hmmm......I wonder if she remembers agreeing to getting her ears pierced??? YEP! So, we head over to Claires, just as a little girl is sucking on a lollipop with red little ears. She had just finished getting her ears pierced and thankfully survived without any tears (or at least any noticeable tears).

Next thing we know, Kayla is picking out her diamond earrings (actually they are cz, but we will not tell her that until she is married and her hubby can buy her real diamonds) is in the chair, I am signing a consent form and asking 101 questions about the ear piercing degree that the employees have, yada,yada, yada. I think Jason and I were more nervous than Kayla. I am already planning on taking her to TRU and buying her everything in the store because I KNOW my drama queen will be in tears, whether it hurts or not. Trust me, that girl tries to milk me for EVERYTHING. Well, the next thing we know, Kayla has 2 earrings in ears and is seriously LAUGHING HER BUTT OFF! She did not shed a tear. My freak actually started to laugh, which by the way, saved me a trip to TRU and a whole lot of money. lol

Now, what to bribe Dom with in order to get hers done???

Here is a pic of Kayla showing off her new studs!

News from Miss Dominique

Things have been quite hectic the last couple of weeks. I have SO much that I need to catch up on, but have not had the time. Things will only be getting worse in the next two weeks. I wanted to at least give everyone a quick update on Dominique.

As many of you know, my "baby" will be turning 14 in less than a month. She is also hitting two "major" (major when you are 13 years old, lol) milestones before that. First is her Confirmation and second is her 8th grade graduation.

Dominique will be Confirmed tomorrow (May 13th). She has spent the last 8 months getting ready for this special day, including several hours of community service. Her community service included helping to bring Communion to local homebound parishioners, babysitting young children while parents were with older children at communion or reconciliation meetings, helping out at our parish Christmas bazaar, and other activities for our church. Besides community service, she had to be involved with several events within our Parish, as well as our town. She attended Easter Vigil Mass (a VERY long Mass, where adults are baptized, receive the Eucharist and our confirmed), she visited Quincy University Friary,volunteered at our Quincy Bridge the Gap event (a 5 & 10 K event that raises money for physical, mental and spiritual health in our area), attended several religious retreats and many other spiritually enriching events. For each event and service, she had to write how she was effected spiritually from being involved in each event. I am REALLY proud of how loving, caring, and selfless Dominique is. Unlike several of her classmates, who only volunteered because they "had" to, she really enjoyed helping others. Dominique is also very lucky that we found a wonderful lady in our Parish to be her sponsor.

Besides Confirmation, Dom will also be graduating from 8th grade. Which means....my baby will be starting HIGH SCHOOL in the fall. I still can NOT believe it. She graduates on May 22. Her last school day is this friday, the 16th. Then on Monday, she heads to STL to spend the day at Six Flags for her 8th grade trip. Let me say, she is SO excited. I have not seen her this giddy in ages. I love it! Seeing her excitement puts a smile on my face.

I also wanted to share some pics of her science fair. The 8th graders have to make an invention. The invention has to be a completely new product that has NOT been patented. Well, this was NOT easy. Luckily, we came up with a product by ACCIDENT. When Jason was painting Kaylas playroom, he put tape on the baseboards to protect them. When he tore off the tape, we noticed how all of the dust (yes, I SUCK at house cleaning) came off the baseboard. So, Dom decided to make a cleaning product. Well, since both Dom and I are vertically challenged, she decided to incorporate our "height issues" into her product.

The name of her invention is called "THE ADJUSTABLE ROLLING BASEBOARD CLEANER". It was made using an adjustable handle (extends for us short people), a paint roller and a "sticky" lint roller. Since the lint roller has "sticky" tape on it, it helps remove all the dirt and dust without any chemicals. It rolls back and forth, so there is not a lot of work (quick and easy...YEAH BABY!). The handle can adjust not only to help us short people BUT to reach high spots like above the doors. Her cleaner can be used to clean baseboards, crown molding and above door ways. Her invention was a MAJOR hit among teachers and moms. Honestly, I am NOT being bias, but her invention was definitely one of the top 3 out of both 8th grade classes. She had to do an oral and written report, as well as turn in several other assignments for the project. Then she had to attend the science fair, where she displayed her product and had to be prepared to answer questions. Out of over 300 points, she only missed 2 points. NOT bad!!!

Here are some pics from the science fair as well as her demonstrating her product.






Check back as I will be posting confirmation and grad pics!!