It's Jello not Blood

I have to share this. I got an email yesterday from Amie. Unfortunately, I got it a bit late in the day, so she may have thought I fled the country because of what my Sophie did since it took me forever to reply. But anyhoo, the title of the email reads: "it's JELLO not BLOOD." A title such as this immediately sparked my imagination, so I opened it and read:

"Sophie learned some new things today.

First of all, cherry jello powder tastes goooood.

Second, it looks really pretty smeared all over the couch!

WE DO NOT PLAY WITH CHERRY JELLO POWDER!

And I learned not to leave 2 girls alone with a jello box in reach......"

And of course, Amie is an amazing scrapbooker and quick to take a pic ,so I got this attached:

Notice the tear drop, and the other tear drop stained red on her chest. Mind you, she smeared herself and clothing with mascara just a few hours before doing this.

Ah, toddlers.

Bean

10 years ago, I was 19 years old. I was laying in a hospital bed. I was in pain.....well heck, I was having a baby, so I would be in some pain *wink*

Yes, my beloved Blog Stalkers, I became the proud mama of Joey, 10 years ago today. Here he is when I still lived at home with me moms (yes that was on purpose), when he would sleep in a crib (it didn't last long-as soon as he realized Daddy hugs you when you go to sleep in Mom and Dad's bed, he was hooked, he didn't leave until he was 3. I'm not sure how Abby came about...oh, sorry).

He had a Blue's Clues party for his 1st birthday. The one and only time we had it at a park. Yuck, September weather. James tried to make a pinata. He got paper-mache everywhere. Somehow he got it on his speakers, the one's next to the television. Weird...(Sorry about he pic sizes, they were scanned, they look horrible when re-sized)

When he was 3 he switched from home daycare to a Preschool where my mom worked (technically a daycare center, but he called it his school). They took pictures of the kids like they do in elementary school.

It's fun to look back at Joey when he was little, since most of you know, he is far from little. BTW, the title of this post comes from Joey's nickname. Bean is actually a shorter version of "Half a Bean." James made this up because he's half Mexican and half white. They also use "Honkycan" but I don't approve of this one.

Happy 10th Birthday Joey! Below are some random insights into Joe as well as some memories..

• Joey once smeared himself head-to-toe with peanut butter. Even his eyelashes were covered.
• He once woke his Dad up using a mini baseball bat (thanks Uncle Steve)
• When he was 2 years old he was able to ride every ride at Disneyland but Indiana Jones. He didn't like Space Mountain. It was too dark. This means he was over 40 inches tall. He is currently 5'3".
• Joey is a huge Austin Powers fan. He watched #2 as a toddler and would make air quotes whenever Dr. Evil did. Weird.
• He crawled for a can of Pepsi.
• When Joey walked for the first time, he had crawled behind me into the bathroom and then pulled up on the cabinet. When I walked out, he followed me. He scared the heck out of me, because I wasn't expecting a little person following me. I screamed, so he cried. Poor guy.
• When he was 3 he would sing "Joey to the World" I have this on video tape. Too cute.
• When I was pregnant with Abby he would tell the cashier's at Wal-Mart EXACTLY where the baby would be coming out. Yup, he was precise.
• When I was pregnant with Sophie, Joey would put lotion on my feet and rub them. He would bring me water and snacks. My husband didn't do this. He is going to be a wonderful husband.
• He can change a diaper, even a poopie one. Thought he prefers the #1's to the #2's, LOL. Who doesn't?
• When he was a baby, he had a wooden puzzle with handles to help little ones put the puzzle together. He used them as cymbals and would scoot around in his walker singing and banging them together.
• He loved Teletubbies.
• He would bark like Blue from Blue's clues when he was 1. He would also tell us how old he was (with his finger) do Home Alone (scream with his hands on his face) and be "Cold" (hold his hands frozen and face frozen then shake like he was cold). He was a comedian even then.
• He would rather hold a conversation with an adult then play with kids his age. Once you laugh, he'll never leave you alone.
• He has an incredible memory. He has been asked to perform whole George Lopez comedy acts and can deliver.
• He is an amazing artist. Sometimes it looks like he traced it, it's so perfect, but I watched him draw it, so I know he didn't. I hope he continues with it.
• And (From James) he's his dad's best buddy. (I seriously teared up on how cute that is)

Anyone else have any Joey memories or anything you want to share?

8 years ago...

I was a bride. Yup, today is my anniversary. Hey out there, don't bother doing the math, I'll tell you right now. My Joey was a gorgeous ring bearer. Adorable! I don't have a scanner to add any pics but let's take a look back...

Since my husband comes from a picture taking family, we opted for the Relief Society Room instead of the chapel so we could take pictures of it. My mom and aunt did a great job of making it pretty. Bishop Harris performed the ceremony. My friends Lisa, Cheryl and my Aunt Denise were my bridesmaids. Cheryl was the maid of honor. James' cousin Martin was the best man and my brother Steve and friend Richard were the groomsmen. My wedding colors were deep purple with lilac and gold accents. My dad walked me down the aisle. I was totally teary eyed.

Cheryl sang "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand, since I thought it a bit tacky to sing during the actual wedding ceremony. Tacky for me, ya'll, maybe not for you that have done that. I did sing Celine Dion's "Power of Love" during the reception. My cousin Josh played the music on a CD player. Whatcha' we were like having a real wedding, eh (that was me impersonating my son, impersonating George Lopez). It actually was really elegant.

After we took a limo (my only time riding in one) to the reception, which was in Surprise at the Windmill Inn (that's behind the KFC on Bell Road, cute little hotel). The reception started at 2:00 and lasted until 10:00. We did have the reception at a hotel so James' family could consume mass quantities of alcohol. Don't worry, his family are cute drunks. They like to dance, with everyone!

Anyhoo, so I had karaoke at my reception, provided by a real DJ, not my primo on a boombox. We had mexican food prepared by James' Aunt Josefina (Josie) and it was amazing! My mom and I had made the decorations, though she did the majority. She made topiaries, large and small to decorate the tables. I went to every thrift shop in the valley and bought tea cups and saucers that we put candles in and placed them on the tables.

One of the most romantic things James ever did was pick out our wedding song. It's a Wynonna song, it's called "She is His Only Need." Look it up, it's about a cook and a waitress that fall in love and they live in Arizona. Totally us!

We stayed in a suite in the hotel (that was trashed by my brother and friends, but nothing I had to pay for) while my mom watched Joey. Just to let you know how trashed, when I sat down on the bed, the picture hanging above the bed hit me in the head. No damage. We went to her house the next morning, said goodbye to Joey before heading to Disneyland for our honeymoon.

It may not have been fancy, it may not have been perfect, but it was ours. It was an important step, although it was only "for the period of our mortal lives." But that's okay, we've done made it forever. Just like Bella and Edward ;)