Ellie

Been a while, hasn't it?

2008-07-19T02:46:41Z

Wow, such a long time since I last posted. I guess the reason I'm posting is because I want to blog a memory of what a nice time we had yesterday. It was the very first time we took the kids to play at the beach. This Monday was the first week of a four day work week for my husband, and Thursdays are his days off. Yesterday being Thursday started off with a pancake breakfast I made, then packing things we would need for the beach. I wanted to watch Hellboy 2, so we did that first, it was fun to watch and then took the drive down to Sandy Hook. The kids were a little bit apprehensive of changing into their bathing suits so we didn't force them but took them down into the sand towards the ocean. They started having fun in the sand and touched their feet into the water. Claire was more receptive to trying new things whereas Mikey had to be urged a bit more. Once they got a little wet they agreed to change into their swimwear. Claire had a blast in both the sand and water, she loved jumping in the water and squealed and laughed. Mikey didn't like the water as much and I think got a drink of the salt water and it caused him to throw up a little. It was not too hot or sunny yesterday so no one got sunburn or even a tan for that matter. Sitting down on the wet sand to play with Claire and wait for the waves was fun but I ended up with sand in my bikini bottom and I could not figure out how to really get it out. All in all a really fun day and I can't wait to do it again.

Other things of the year.... Claire turned three, Mikey graduated from pre-school, and we had our 5 year wedding anniversary.

I survived....

2007-09-05T02:07:18Z

Today was the first time I drove with my kids in my new car. Also, today was first day of pre-school for Mikey. Mikey took to pre-school very well. He was calm and ready to go and take to his new surroundings. It was hard however for little sister Claire to say goodbye to Mikey. Of course she wanted to stay and play with everything that was there, but I managed to get her to say goodbye to Mikey and come with me. Claire and I got home and she wouldn't stop crying that "Mikey gone." What can I say.... she was stressful. Two and a half hours later we were off again to pick up Mikey from pre-school. He was as I left him.... just fine. Claire fell asleep on the way there and when we got back home she was up and cranky. Well, here's hoping for a better tomorrow with Claire, though I doubt it... *sighs.*

New car.

2007-09-02T02:21:10Z

Got a new car today! It's a silver 2008 Corolla LE with automatic transmission. Really nice and I'm so excited about driving it. Had to get a car before Mikey starts pre-k, so here it is :D. Gotta start penny pinching a bit from now on.

She's two now!

2007-05-14T06:42:19Z

Happy Birthday Claire.

Kids

2007-02-01T22:14:34Z

My little girl is a big meanie. Recently we purchased the kids some wood blocks so they can use thier imagination and build towers but the thing my little girl likes to do is knock the towers down.

Yesterday night The March of the Penguins was on cable so I put it on thinking it would be interesting to the kids. They weren't very interested but Mikey watched a little bit and we saw the mommy penguins marching back to the sea to get food after they've laid their egg and passed it to the daddy penguin. So I explained to Mikey that they were going to get food to eat and he asked me if they were going to McDonald's. :) That's just funny.

First post of the new year.

2007-01-25T17:16:10Z

Seeing as how some friends that rarely post has posted, it has inspired me to post. Few of you know that the new year didn't get off to a swell start for me. Instead it was fairly depressing with the passing of my father-in-law. He was hospitalized just before Christmas and he didn't recover and was laid to rest just after the new year. Not much more to say about that, life goes on and my in-laws have adjusted and all seem well.

Now then... what's worse than having one sick child? Having two sick children. Both my kids have a cold. It's not keeping them down though, they're still alert and active, it's just some sneezing, a runny and stuffy nose. They're both good and growing. Mikey (3 years old) knows so much now and he picks up on so many things, I've got to be careful of my own actions and words around him because he's already mimicking on how I discipline him. He'll either try to discipline me or his sister in the same way. He can count, sing his alphabet, play catch and throw, jump and tumble, play online games (pbs, nickjr., noggin), and has a healthy imagination. He'll pretend to be a magician and put a blanket over my head, count to ten, say "alakazam", and pull the blanket off, and what I'll do is take my eyeglasses off and hide it to pretend it's disappeared. He likes to help too. He'll help clean up his toys and sometimes I'll let him help in the kitchen, like washing fruit or handing me something. Claire (1 year and 8 months old) is good too, she's learned a lot of words, knows how to pout, likes to help me move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, and can jump, but only a little bit, she gets like half an inch off the ground. What can I say? They keep me busy. Sometimes they're great and well behaved, other times they drive me up the wall. I love them.

Because of you, JamesKirk!

2006-07-26T19:48:20Z

I must've been naughty this year.

2005-12-26T05:04:55Z

All I got for Christmas were poopied diapers. They came one after another after another. There was only one time when I took off Claire's diaper and there wasn't poop. She made so many poop nuggets I lost track of how many times I changed her poopied diapers. It must have been at least eight times if not more. It was so many times that I started to feel bad for her because I think all that pooping made her little tushie sore. Mikey also made poop today, but only once and daddy took care of that one. Well, I'm sure everyone else had a less smelly Christmas. Hope it was filled with presents you wanted.

chibi_tennyo @ 2005-11-07T10:35:00

2005-11-07T15:43:59Z

On Saturday I got added to the car insurance and then on Sunday morning I drove myself to the local supermarket, which is literally just a minute away, and got milk and bread. Go me! ^_^

chibi_tennyo @ 2005-10-31T22:34:00

2005-11-01T03:40:08Z

Aside from Q who gave me a call (Thanks babe), where's the love? Trick-or-treating was alright and the dinner out was nice.

chibi_tennyo @ 2005-10-31T14:33:00

2005-10-31T19:38:51Z

It's my birthday! The big 3-0. Tonight's plan is take kids trick-or-treating and then out to dinner. This year little Mike will be dressed as a devil (he's a handsome little devil already) and Claire will be the cutest pink bunny ever.

chibi_tennyo @ 2005-10-18T11:31:00

2005-10-18T15:33:44Z

DMV was open late last night so once Mike got in, we went to there to get my license. Now all we have to do is add me to his insurance.

Driver's License

2005-10-17T14:36:37Z

I got one! Well... not an actual license yet because my driving instructor didn't have time to wait for me to get my actual license but I passed the road test and it's noted on my permit. Yay me.

Is it that time already?

2005-10-09T03:33:18Z

Time for me to put some stuff into my lj before it becomes obsolete. Well now, let's see... Claire is almost 5 months old now and she can roll over both ways (back to front and front to back) and can crawl too, although not very well. Mikey is two and he's a smart little boy. It's amazing to see how much he knows and how much he learns. He's not articulate yet but he knows a lot. He knows a lot of body parts, he knows a bunch of animals and the sound they make, he's catching onto his alphabet pretty well and he knows a whole bunch of other words like train, rain, wet, hot, cold, boat, run, jump, sit, and more. He also knows a bunch of Cantonese also, which makes sense because he's with my mom a whole lot and that's the only language she pretty much speak. Myself? Right now I'm crunching for my road test. I've been taking driving lessons with an instructor and have had 4 hours of practice on the roads. So far so good I guess, I'm mostly having trouble with my turns, like turning too early and cutting into the wrong side of traffic and sometimes not turning soon enough so I have to make a really wide turn, or finally turning too much and almost hitting the curb =/. What can I say when it comes to driving? I have to start somewhere and I doubt everyone starts out as perfect drivers. Wish me luck cause I'm probably only going to take two more 2 hour lessons and then on the 17th, it will be time for my road test.

Go Mikey Go

2005-09-12T03:55:39Z

Little Mike is officially two today. Unofficially I think he hit his terrible twos earlier than this day. Didn't do much of an official celebration since we couldn't get Mike's (aka. daddy's) family together for a party because of disputes between siblings. It was super nice that we had a great dinner and ice cream cake with my family though. Mikey got plenty of presents, the big one being a train table and train set from his aunt Mercy. Claire is officially four months old today and since I haven't noted any of her baby milestones, I figure now is the best time to add some. She can turn over on her stomach now and she's a great conversationalist. Both kids as always are cute as heck.

Notable events of July

2005-07-20T04:45:57Z

July 8th: Went to take the written/knowledge test to obtain my NJ driver's permit. To pass I need to answer 40 out of 50 questions correctly. Sadly and embarassingly I did not pass. I failed but considering I honestly did not study the driver's manuel, it made sense that I would not pass.

July 10th: Two year wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary! Did nothing special but we did have a drink to it at home.

July 15th: Went to re-take the written/knowledge to obtain my NJ driver's permit. Studied a little bit more for it and luckily passed. Woohoo. I was shocked however to have my driving/road test scheduled for Oct. 18th, which is approximately three months time to learn to drive. I was shocked because I did obtain a NYC driver's permit which is valid for 5 years. I've had it for three years now and never once got behind the wheel and now that I have a NJ permit, in comparison it's just shocking at the "little" time given by NJ for learning how to drive.

July 19th: First time driving lesson from my dear hubby. I had poor control of the car. I gripped the steering wheel. Dear hubby, you yelled at me :( and I was already nervous as is. It was not a pleasant experience, but still I intend to try again and keep at it to learn. I'll be looking at those driving schools soon enough.

Well, that's about it. More to come....

chibi_tennyo @ 2005-06-08T00:07:00

2005-06-08T04:12:47Z

I love my babies but they wear me out. It's not good to stay up late as I am doing while both kids are asleep but this is pretty much the only time I get to check e-mail and such. I can hardly wait till my mom comes over to stay the week and nights, she has been and definitely will be such a great help to me. My only fear is that both kids will wear her out as they do to me.

A Star is born!

2005-05-16T21:01:26Z

It's the news you've all been waiting for... on Wednesday May 11th, 2005 I gave birth to Claire Elizabeth Ortega.

Things, things, things.

2005-04-27T15:22:31Z

Lots going on and lots on my mind these couple of days. It all pertains to Woodbridge condo repairs and the baby being on it's way. Just seems like endless things to do before things are settled. All I can say is I can't wait till I've had the baby and have settled into Woodbridge, with most all repairs, replacements, and minor renovations done. It apparrently seems now that I'll be having the baby sooner than my given due date. Not surprising since this is my second baby, but still giving me anxiety. Well, any day now, I'll be having the baby is what this all means.

My baby is a little boy.

2005-04-04T18:14:57Z

As much as I look forward to my son growing up big, tall, and healthy, he's growing up so fast. This morning at my mom's I said to him "Kiss, bye bye" and he did, without any resistance or whining or crying he gave me a kiss and started waving goodbye. He was just so ready to let me go on my way to work and enjoy his breakfast and his day at my mom's. This has just left me shaking my head and thinking to myself how grown my baby has gotten so quickly.

In other "news"... my baby girl's name has been settled. Although it was not very much liked at first by my mom, what can I say except that this is the best name that I could come up with and I liked at first and well, she's my daughter, so I'll name her what I want. Baby girl will be named Claire Elizabeth Ortega. It has a nice ring to it.

Still around for those who care or wonder.

2005-03-27T05:42:13Z

It's late, I'm still up, the little one is asleep, so it's the perfect time to brief update. Work can be summarized in one word... blah! I'm gonna be looking for a new job during maternity leave. Don't ask what's wrong or what happenned there because I'm still trying to figure it out myself, work just sucks now and I don't get the impression that it's going to get any better... ever.

I still haven't picked out a name for the baby girl and there are no particular names that appeal to me. I'm up for name suggestions. It doesn't have to start with any particular letter. I've given up on that already and just want pick a good name for her.

What else? The baby girl has given me gestational diabetes. I now have to check my blood glucose levels four times a day and give myself insulin injections.... in short, no fun at all. Her birth and my maternity leave is not coming up soon enough for me.

Well, that's it. Feel free to comment and say hi. I'm more or less still around. I'm wondering what everyone else is up to.

Time for an update.

2005-01-30T20:58:28Z

Like about time for an update, right? Okay, I'm alive and well, much busier at work these days. Work starting to suck because one boss is under pressure, so of course, this spilled over to me. I think it's time once again to not be returning to the present job after maternity leave.

Other news, I've got a new cell phone, and my husband as well. I've switched over to Verizon but I've kept my same number. New cell phones and a new service provider has been long overdue. Sprint sucked and the cell phone had since been so abused due to countless dropping from Mikey that it was starting to break down. That's about it, all is as well as it can be, drop a comment to say hi.

This just in.

2005-01-07T12:36:03Z

It's a girl. Yup, now we'll need a whole new set of clothes. Suggest some names please. I've been fixated on initials being CEO. C____ E____ Ortega. The names Claire, Clara, Carmen, Crystal, and Christine are out so I really need something good.

Obligatory Holiday Wishes

2004-12-27T04:12:17Z

Happy Holidays everyone. Hope your Christmas or Hannukah or maybe even Kwanza was good and have a Happy New Year. Mine has been turning out very nice. Lots of seeing family and I'm taking off from work till the new year. We all just got over a stomach virus which had us very sick last weekend. Just lots of diarrhea from little Mikey and last Sunday was myself not being able to keep anything down. Mid-week, the virus was passed from Mikey to my mom, but now she's better. My husband was mildly affected by the stomach virus and my brother managed to miss it completely... but there's still time for that nasty virus to make it's run through. I wouldn't wish it on him though, but he's family, so it's kind of not fair. Haha... just kidding Ed.

Latest Mikey gross-out

2004-11-20T03:23:52Z

I turned around and found him with his hand in the toilet bowl, swishing around the water. Ewwww, but I suppose that's better than being the one who found him eating his poop, isn't that right daddy???