Can you say Happy Halloween?

Say Happy Halloween! Say Happy Halloween! :) We had a lot of fun with our Halloween costumes this year! We were Dora and Boots from Dora the Explorer! Some people that don't have kiddos didn't get it of course, but it was a hit with everyone else!!! Seth was Dora and I was Boots! We had a little girl ask us at the Trunk or Treat for our ward last night why wasn't I Dora and Seth Boots???? It's just wouldn't have been as funny that way... check out pics below!! I'm sure we traumatized a lot of kids, a few stated that "Dora is a girl". I hope we didn't confuse them too much, especially in the midst of the Prop 8 campaigning! Seth just made a better Dora with his big ole eyes! It was actually his idea, we saw a little girl Dora costume at a Halloween store and he was totally set on it! He thought he could pull that one off! Be glad I didn't let him get that one, no one needs to see that! LOL! We ended up going to Walmart and making the costumes ourselves! We had a great time being creative together and ended up wearing it a few times this last week and cracked up a lot of people! Good Times!


Full body shot! As you can see I am wearing red boots, like Boots does! Seth spray painted black boots from Walmart. And it is a little hard to see but I made him yellow frilly socks tops out of felt for his costume, for some reason they don't carry frilly yellow socks in men sizes! I wonder why? :)
More up close! See how cute Seth is as Dora! I made our hats/hair/wig things out of baseball caps with the bills cut off and then hot glue gunned felt and yarn to them, they actually turned out pretty sturdy!

The "Backpack"! Love it! So hilarious and totally made his costume! We were looking for one to make into "Backpack" with a face on it and then Seth found this! He could barely get it on and cannot put his arms all the way down in it!! He actually needed help getting out of it! So funny!! It was nice to have to store our stuff in and whenever he needed something he would say to me, "Can you help backpack find the keys?" or whatever he needed! So much fun!

Seth on the stage for the costume parade! :) The picture isn't that great of quality but I totally love it, I begged him to get up there! His calling is in Primary as a sub and he totally loves to help out with the kids in there! He is definitely a hit with the kiddos! :)

Sew Fun!

This month I have been learning how to sew! My mom bought me a machine for Christmas almost 5 years ago! I had made pillows for a place I worked at, but that is all that poor machine has seen! She had also bought me a pattern and fabric to make Seth pj pants and those have been stored away all lonely too! I had actually gotten the pattern out to do awhile ago, but I was so confused by the pattern jargon! So my mom came over and taught me how to cut out patterns correctly and how to make my machine work properly! It is so fun! I feel so crafty! That first day she coached me along and I finally made the pj pants for Seth!

Me at my machine working on the pants!

The finished product! Yay! Felt so good to accomplish that!

My Mom and her "Smart" Machine! This thing is so awesome! She hemmed Seth's temple pants for him and they turned out so good!
So after I got done with the pants I decided that I would probably need help doing another sewing project I had purchased... a Renaissance costume! Yeah I know, quite a jump - what was I thinking?! We go to the Renaissance Faire every year and I've always wanted a costume, so I went and got a pattern and material earlier this year and it too has just been sitting there! So since I had a little more pattern experience we got it out that day and started to cut out the patterns... well I had purchased the wrong size!!!! Argh! I am definitely not a size 18-22! So we decided to call it a day until I had the right size! Well I found it online at www.butterick.com and since I opened a new account I got the pattern for free!!! It was $14 at Joann's! So I got it a week later and went over to my Mom's to cut out the pattern and material! That took us a little while, so I decided to try the skirt and shirt on my own and then I would comeback to my Mom's to make the vest, that one was going to be harder! I actually was able to make the shirt and skirt on my own! My Mom helped me hem the skirt but she said she was amazed that I was able to do the other stuff on my own! Me too! I think it helps to stare at the pattern and directions for long periods of time until you go crazy... then take snack break and a nap, then come back and all of a sudden it makes more sense!!!! LOL! So this last Thursday and Friday I went to my Mom's for a few hours to do the vest, it was a lot harder! I'm glad we had her machine to do it! I basically watched and learned, it was cool to watch it come together! Then I took it home and added the rivets so it could be laced up and then my Renaissance costume was complete!!!

This is it all finished!!!

Me at the Renaissance Faire on Saturday, we got it done in the nick of time!

We thought this would be a good picture! My baby bump was a little strange in the costume! One of my next projects is going to be a costume for Seth and the baby for the next Renaissance Faire!

Thanks Mom for all your help, I had a lot of fun hanging out and learning from you! Love you!

Me and My Bestie!

My best friend Crystal and her family came for a visit this last week and we were able to see them, it wasn't long enough though! Her kiddos have gotten so big! Her daughter Brittany remembered Seth and I which we LOVED! She is usually shy but she jumped out of the car and ran to hug us, it was so sweet! We took them to a Pumpkin Patch and dinner and then they spent the night. We got to play with the kids a lot the next morning, Seth was so good with them, I wish I had gotten pics of that! We made a big brunch and then they had to go! :( I'm glad we got the time together and cannot wait until the next time!
Here our some pics from the Pumpkin Patch...

River and Brittany really enjoing themselves! They were giggling so much, so cute!

The kids and Crystal in the blow up rat race obstacle course! River had gotten stuck and Crystal had to go get him, it was hilarious!

Pumpkin pic with the kiddos!

Feeling Thankful!

So this year has been a harder year for us... I know most people think it is because of our struggle to conceive and yes, that was a big part of it! But we have also been struggling to keep our home. We had had it all planned out! Ever since we got married our plan was to purchase a home and then have kids, we wanted the best for the family we dreamed of! Well 3 and a half years ago we found our house and were so excited watching it being built! We came came out every couple weeks to see how it was coming along! We moved in in October of 2005 and decided to start working on growing our family to fill the space! Well as you know, it didn't happen right away! We never thought it would be so hard. At the start of this year we were finally told that we would not be able to conceive naturally. It was such a hard thing to hear and I had a really hard time coping. We were already struggling with our house payments because the interest rate went up and the equity in our home went down before we could refinance, like we had planned to. Knowing it was going to take a lot of $ to get pregnant we made a hard decision, to make our future family a priority. We paid our tithing first(as we should have done all along), we made the gospel a priority and cut a lot of things from our lives that were holding us back, little things that we never thought were a big deal. We also tried negotiating with our lender and they would not help us, they said "doesn't seem like you have any trouble paying", since we paid on time since we moved in. (Yep, we paid on time - paycheck to paycheck and not paying our other bills since the rate went up!) After doing all that we felt that we needed to try and sell our house. We wanted a family more than the house it would be kept in, we could make anyplace a home. We decided to put our home on the market and wait faithfully. We had our home appraised and it came in 200k lower than what we purchased for! So crazy! So we decided to do a short sale. People started coming to check out our house. In the meantime we started in-vitro and became pregnant! Such a bright spot in our life and what we were going through! We thought, "Awesome, this is worth losing our house! We made the right decision and are being blessed for it!" We got an offer on our house the middle of July and were ready to take it. Then we heard about a "short-refi" program, Seth called our lender to see what could be done in our case and he was told that our lender had closed its doors and couldn't help us with it, but we could try to do through another party! REALLY!! We couldn't believe our ears! So Seth found a loan officer who was up to date on all the current programs and he told us about an FHA loan and a bill that was passed to help give struggling home owners relief! Again, REALLY?! It is called Project Hope and you can find a lot of good info here on it, we hadn't heard of it before! He took a look at our situation and told us we were good candidates for it, so we got started with the process. THE VERY LONG PROCESS! It has been worth it though, because we just found out that we have officially closed on the new loan and are able to keep our house for 200k less then we originally purchased for! We are feeling pretty blessed at the moment, obviously and cannot believe it has worked out this way! We have felt that we need to share this with family and friends, because we know a lot of you might be in a similar situation. This year has been a hard one, but also the best one so far because it has really grown our faith. I'm not saying that only because it has worked out the best way possible for us though! We learned how to say "Thy will be done" and that made us happy even before we became pregnant and learned that we could keep our house! I know that these trials may not be the worst we will go through and I'm glad we now have the faith to make it through the future ones. The Lord and my wonderful husband have been pillars of strength through all of this and I have been able to share beautiful moments with them in prayer. I'm so thankful.

With sharing this I wanted to add the name and contact info of the loan officer who helped us, he was amazing! He specializes in new home loans, but is open to and is really good with refinancing as well. His name is Dennis Mayville and he can be reached at 858-693-5406. He knows a lot about the current market and even if you just need advice he is willing to help!

Also this is a great website with info on mortgage relief... http://www.governmentrefinanceassistance.com/

Oh Boy! Our 4 Month Update!

Yep! You are seeing it right! We are having a BOY!!!! We couldn't be more excited! :) We have known since Tuesday, sorry to those who I fibbed to! I have been asked a lot this week "When do you find out the sex?" and I would just say "Really soon!"... it was so hard for me! But we wanted to tell our family in special ways before breaking the news to everyone! We had a lot of fun telling them check it out...

We told my parents by bombarding them in the middle of watching a Dodger game the other night! I had purchased a Dodger PJ's last month since my Dad LOVES the Dodgers and I figured girl or boy, they can wear it for $3! :) Well it worked perfect for surprising them! We packaged that and a pic of the sonogram so they could open it up and find out what their 5th grandchild is going to be! This will be their 4th grandson! Here is a pic of their surprise...

We told Seth's parents when we visited yesterday to hang out! I framed and wrapped a printed version of our header for them to open! They were excited too! Seth's Dad said every man wants a boy first, which is true in Seth's case! We would have been just as happy with a girl, but we are really excited about our baby boy! This will be the 1st grandchild on the Andres side! Here is a pic of them with their surprise...

So we are now 4 months along and we are so happy it is going so well! I am feeling the baby move more and more, which is so reassuring! I feel really good most of the time, I'm just still getting used to sleeping on my sides and eating more frequently! My tummy has totally popped these last couple weeks and is rounding out more and more each day! I love it! Now you can finally tell I'm prego! A lady at a swap meet we went to yesterday actually asked what I was having! :) Afterwards I told Seth that I should have acted all upset and said I'm not pregnant! LOL! Maybe one of these days I'll have fun with it! Here are our 4 month shots...

Me and our baby boy!

Seth got a pic this time too! I love how he is totally making fun of me! :) He's just jealous that he can't feel the baby kick yet!

We are now having fun looking up names and compiling our "like list", it's fun now that Seth is a little more serious about it then before! My friend Fran told me about this website that combines your photos to make a pic of what your baby would look like! I did it for us and this is what our baby boy is gonna look like...


What do you think about my little new baby Baby Andres?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?


Pretty funny I think! I would be amazed if we had a blonde baby! And without curly hair? We will just have to wait and see!

4 and 4 Tag - The Cat Chronicles

For this Tag you go to your "My Pictures" select the 4th folder and 4th picture in it! This is our cat Foster in our last apartment right before we moved into our house, she wasn't even a year old then!

I had to do this since the picture was of our Foster and we had a scare with her yesterday! Luckily it ended well!
Since moving out here to Elsinore our little Foster has lost 2 brothers. :( We are in the wild out here! Her first brother was her actual brother from the same litter: Donald, we got him 2 days after her to keep our poor little Foster (who would not stop crying unless she was right by us) comforted! Soon after moving here we think he was carried away by an owl! How do we really know? Well we don't really except that Foster would not come out of the garage(in the middle of July) and kept looking up at the sky all crazy! Just a hunch it was an owl! We were really sad!
Well a week later Seth found an abandoned kitten where he worked and brought him home to fill the void! He was adorable little rascal and acted like a dog! He would just fall over if you started to pet him! We named Foster's new adopted brother Kink(for the kink he had in his tail) Well he was far more adventurous then Foster and Donald ever was and roamed a lot more, he eventually went missing too a year later, we think by coyote or some other wild thing... our luck with boy cats haven't been so good!
So now to yesterday... we thought Foster had met the same demise! She has been getting more adventurous lately, going out in the front yard a lot when the garage is open and we don't realise and shut the door! Anyways, she went missing suddenly and we could not find her all day, which has never happened! We have seen an owl roaming lately and thought the worst! Well... we found her! :) Thankfully! She had gotten trapped in the neighbors yard above us... Harley(our dog) had dug a hole under the fence that Foster squeezed through and then Seth covered it up not knowing Foster was over there yesterday morning! We went out looking for her last night, calling her and searching everywhere. Well I finally went in the backyard and I could hear her collar jinglng! So Seth went out there and she started meowing, Seth undug the hole and she got her self through that hole pretty fast, the most relieved cat you have ever seen! LOL! I think she was more hungry than anything actually! She is such a crazy cat! It's a good thing we found her though, I don't know if she would have lasted the night with that Owl roaming!
Well that is the end of our cat chronicles, hope you enjoyed! This tag just got me going! I'll end with pics of our cats who are no longer with us, we like to think that some nice families have them!

The Donald, aka the Trumpster! We actually trained him to use a toilet! No joke, it actually worked! :)

Cute little Kink when we first got him! He was such a little rascal!

Foster and Donald when they were kittens, so adorable!

We love this pic! Foster really hated Kink when he first arrived, it took her weeks to warm up to him! Well he loved her right away and tried to cuddle up on her all the time! She would hiss and run away and this was one of the first times she allowed him to lay next to her! You can tell she is still pretending to be mad though! :)

Vote Yes on Proposition 8!

I couldn't say it any better than this...

The Issue
California voters passed Proposition 22 in 2000 by more than 61%, saying that a marriage in California is between a man and a woman. Earlier this year, four activist judges based in San Francisco wrongly overturned the people's vote, legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Consequences
The Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage did not just overturn the will of California voters; it also redefined marriage for the rest of society, without ever asking the people themselves to accept this decision. This decision has far-reaching consequences. For example, because public schools are already required to teach the role of marriage in society as part of the curriculum, schools will now be required to teach students that gay marriage is the same as traditional marriage, starting with kindergarteners. By saying that a marriage is between “any two persons” rather than between a man and a woman, the Court decision has opened the door to any kind of “marriage.” This undermines the value of marriage altogether at a time when we should be restoring marriage, not undermining it.
The Solution
Vote YES on Proposition 8 to overturn the outrageous Supreme Court decision and restore the definition of marriage that was approved by over 61% of voters. Proposition 8 is NOT an attack on gay couples and does not take away the rights that same-sex couples already have under California’s domestic partner law. California law already grants domestic partners all the rights that a state can grant to a married couple. Gay couples have a right to their private lives, but not to change the definition of marriage for everyone else.

Passing Proposition 8 protects our children and places into the Constitution the simple definition that a marriage is between a man and a woman.

Here are some great websites to check out for more information...

http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

http://protectmarriage.com/

Husband Tag...

1. Where did you meet? Friend of a friends Labor Day/Housewarming party
2. How long did you date before you got married? Exactly 4 years
3. How long have you been married? 6 wonderful years!
4. What is your favorite feature of his? His sexy back and shoulders... and big eyes... AND strong hands... well pretty much everything!
5. What is your favorite quality of his? How laid back he is, I stress and worry so much and he helps calm me.
6. Does he have a nickname for you? Honey and now Baby Mama, I love that one!
7. What is his favorite color? Blue
8. What is his favorite food? Probably American - Burger and Fries or Sandwiches
9. What is his favorite sport? Hockey, he's played roller hockey and loves it! And he is into watching UFC, he would never participate though! :)
10. When & where was your first kiss? 2 days after we met, before our first actual date... he did break up with his girlfriend first though! It was at his friends apartment where we had first met.
11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? It used to be awesome vacations, but now it is dinner and a movie! We still would love vacations but they just don't happen as often as they used to anymore! :) We just dream of them now!
12. Do you have any children? 1 on the way! :)
13. Does he have a hidden talent? :) Not sharing that one but he does squawk like a crazy bird pretty well!
14.How old is he? 30! Never thought we would be that old, but here we are... I'm not 30 yet though! Not till next year!
15. Who said "I love you" first? Me... I know, I know! I waited 3 months though, cause of the just broke up with his girlfriend thing! Even though I knew I loved him right away! We were watching a movie, Backdraft and it had gotten me upset cause he wanted to be a Firefighter(and is now). Well I decided to just tell him that I love him and turn away so I didn't force him to say it back! Well he (quite forcibly) turned me back towards him and told that he loved me too! It was very sweet! We still say it at least 10 times a day and I don't think I will ever get tired of it!!!
16.What is his favorite type of music? Beastie Boys... not sure
what type that is!
17. What do you admire most about him? That he joined the church for himself and what he wants his family to be, he really took the lessons seriously and didn't just do it for me! Watching him now when we go to church and with the faith that he has gained is inspiring! Also that he takes care of me and is so excited to be a dad, he will be a great one! He gets along so well with my family and really makes an effort to let people know that he cares about them! He is a very brave fireman and goes out of his way to help people! He takes pride in taking care of his family, home and possessions... I could really go on and on... he is an awesome man!
18. Do you think he will read this? Maybe... he checks it out every once and awhile! I think to make sure I haven't posted anything too embarrassing about him! LOL!

Thanks Sarah, this was fun! I tag whoever wants to let us know a little more about your man!

Feeling Nostalgic...

I have been organizing house lately, maybe nesting somewhat and going through old stuff like pics and keepsakes. I started getting hungry, which is often lately! So I decided to go see what I had to make... well I had just gotten English muffins and had everything else to make an old favorite from my childhood! English muffin pizzas! So yummy! My mom helped me make these whenever we had pizza because when I was little I was allergic to mozzarella cheese! I know... poor thing! Well just think of all the pizza parties you have a chance to go to when you are a child! :) So we made English muffin pizzas with cheddar cheese! I make with mozzarella now since I grew out of that allergy, luckily because pizza is so much better with mozzarella! :) Anyways here are my creations, so easy to do with the kiddos and fun for them!


English muffin, favorite spaghetti sauce(mine is Prego), mozzarella cheese and pepperoni!

Just out of the oven! YUMMMM!

Okay so I promise to try to not blog about food for awhile, but it will be hard! :)

Ode to my lap top!

It has been a great 3 years with my laptop, but it is now officially dead! :( I'm so sad! Especially cause now Seth and I have to share the computer, which means I have to wait for him to stop using it! Not fun! We were luckily able to save everything on the Hard Drive, I'm so glad because I had a lot of stuff on there! Photos I would be devastated to lose! We are going to sell the working parts on it cause the people at the repair shop (where it was at all last month) said we could get $400 for it all! So we shall try!

This is such a sad pic to me! Good bye my sweet lap top!

On a happier note... I have been craving Thanksgiving dinner so much lately that I finally put together a small version of it for Seth and I! We have a lot to be thankful for lately, so I thought why not?! I made stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes(Ruth's Chris style! Click on this for the recipe! So yummy! I found the recipe online and it was just like how they do it! You have to use actual sweet potatoes though, no canned stuff if you want the real thing! It was easy actually!! Seth went and picked up a fresh cooked rotisserie chicken, I know I know - but cooking a turkey is not want I wanted to do and the chicken was perfect! Anyways it all turned out great and we are still enjoying left overs and now I cannot wait for actual Thanksgiving! Here are some yummy pics...
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I of course had to have cranberry sauce, just not the same without it!

Why does it look so much better piled up on a plate? Probably cause I get to shove in my face ASAP! :) Total Carb overload! I of course could not fit it all in, but I tried! Seth and I were laughing at how tight my stomach was after, a tad uncomfortable! We took the dog for a walk later that evening in hopes of burning off some of it! LOL!