Baby Ashton's 1st Video

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. A big "Thank You" to my daughter Kristin for doing the video for us all to watch. Grandma loves you baby boy and your mommy too!

PSST... Before playing the video scroll down and turn off/pause the music.

Yeah, I'm A Day Late....

But I want to tell a couple of ladies that I am thankful to have them in my life!

First, my Sister... She is my best friend and confidant. She and I are nine years apart in age, but she eventually caught up with me mentally. We may of had a rough time growing up, but she means much more to me than I think she realizes. What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger right?

She has taught me many things, like family is more important than anything else on earth, you can count on family to be their for you when you need them, she loves me unconditionally and provides so much support to me when things are tough.

Lisa, I am so thankful to have you in my life... adoption? Well that word doesn't mean a thing to me, you will always and forever be my sister. I am thankful that God sent you to me, otherwise I would feel so alone in this big world. Thank you for being my go to girl, I love you!

P.S. I can't wait for our road trip next month, don't forget to pack your laughter and depends, both items are mandatory! *wink wink*

Secondly, my Mother In Law... what a woman, she has raised six children of her own and still has a great sense of humor. I have only known her for 4 1/2 years, but she has become a mom to me. My mom passed in 1989 and I never dreamed that I would have someone come into my life and be there for me like a mom would be. She guides, but she doesn't judge.

She has given me a lot of insight about moms, kids, and husbands and I just want to say thank you. You are a blessing to me and you make me want to make you proud. I have someone I cherish to look up to once again. I honestly enjoy each and every phone call we have, you make me laugh at my mistakes and not be so hard on myself. I love you MOM!

I hope every one of my friends and family had a great "Thanksgiving" day too! And I hope each and everyone of you realize how thankful you are to have people that you love, love you too!

HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL

He Has Arrived...

Ashton Cruz Mijares

"A C"

born October 27, 2008 @ 6:34 pm

weighing in at 6lbs 13oz and 19" long

Proud Parents... Kristin & Oscar

Going Home from the Hospital

Sleepy Time

Showing off his muscles


What a handsome little man


Two Weeks Old

What a big boy!

I can't wait to see him, hold him and snuggle with him. See you soon baby boy. Grandma loves you!

Some Fun Stuff... Ethan's Birthday Celebration

Our little man turned five on July 31, 2008 and boy did we have some fun celebrating. He wanted an"Army" theme, so that is what he got!


At 8:00 am on July 20th, we jumped into the truck and we're off to the park. Someone is looking pretty excited....


and ready for a fun round of Frisbee Golf with Aunt Lisa, Uncle John, John Jr. and Eric.

First to send his Frisbee flying was Eric, note the positioning of his feet... Looks like he has done this before.


Next up we have John Jr. With Ethan standing close by and ready to

show us all how it is done...

The approach,

The swing,

and finally the release... traveling an amazing distance of 3 1/2 feet to the right of him!

Did she just yell---- "LOOK OUT?"

Yes she did and look at them all run...

After a few exhausting holes of golf and I mean few, we did not complete the course... It was too hot and some of us played so badly there was alot of walking around just trying to find your Frisbee.

We all slowly made it back to our trucks and headed off to the next destination for more fun celebrating.

Tribble Mill Park was the place to go for some nice relaxing fun fishing and enjoying a summer picnic.

Ethan unwrapping his new tackle box and fishing pole.

Who would have thought a box of artificial worms could bring on so much joy...


Time to get organized and ready to fish...


Showing some patience while scouting out the perfect spot... waiting for daddy to rig the line.

I got a nibble...
I think Uncle John is telling Eric to say "I caught one and it was this big." Eric is intensely studying the distance between his dads hands for future reference.

While just a few feet away, John Jr is thinking... I'm gonna catch on bigger than that!

What about me, I want to have some fun fishing too... Can someone please put a worm on the hook for me... How about you? Yes, you there with the camera, are you worm friendly?

Finally back home for the last leg of the festivities. Bring on the cake and presents!!!!

No help required. He is a fine blower.

Cool, I like it... but what is it?

Did you know, there is a right way and a wrong way to open presents. The right way takes some time.

A new remote control car and it's a Honda. Yeah, he got a new Honda before daddy did, maybe he will let daddy drive it around some too!


Some more fun army stuff to play with.


Optimus Prime Helmet... and it talks too! It even alters your own voice with a push of a button.


Aunt Lisa wants to give it a try. Watch her transform...


Just the boys horsing around waiting on the pizza to arrive.


Speaking of horsing around, we all went outside to play a game of horseshoes.

Warming up...


Dad vs. Dad
Game on...
It's gonna be a close one...

The discussion, "I think you got it." "No, I think you did" "OK, I got it"

Ethan showing us how to do it... All you need to do is just walk over to the pole and put it down. It's just that simple.

Now on to a friendly game of "Front Yard Soccer"

Looks like he's gonna score...

Whoops... we have a man down!

That's all folks... Our little soldier is signing off... time to march upstairs to take his bath and get ready for bed...

Yes Sir! Goodnight Sir!

We had a wonderful day and we will see you around the same time next year!

It's Time To Heal and Forgive...

Most of you may not know this, but I've been angry and hurting for almost twenty years now. In June of 1989, my mother died unexpectedly and I just haven't been able to move on and forgive her for leaving me. But today is a new day, I'm finally at the point in my life where I've decided to just let go of some things that are beyond my control.

Friday, August 1st was a tough day for me, it was my mother's birthday and I was experiencing an overwhelming day of missing her, yet I was still so angry at her for leaving because I still needed her. I am going to try to explain the feelings I was having on that day, because the way my day end has caused this new decision in my life. This is not a blog about my mother, but a blog about how my anger and hurt has affected my life as a parent.

Missing my mother, made me think of my own daughter. I felt my mother around me the past couple of days, I think I even heard her talking to me, not out loud, but in my head. Somethings just started to click and I felt she knew I needed her and I realized she is still there for me.

I don't know exactly how or when it happened, but at some point I finally came to the conclusion that I have done all that I can to try to mend the ongoing riffs between my daughter and myself. She and I are currently estranged from one another and she chooses not to include me in her life.

For the record, before I go on with my thoughts, I want everyone to know that my daughter is a bright and beautiful young woman who has, like the rest of us, made her share of mistakes. She feels that I have let her down and I sometimes feel that she has let me down too. That is what has happened to us, maybe it has happened in your family too. Families are often complicated and unfortunately some dysfunctional as well. I speak from experience here.

Anyway back to my thoughts, I have finally realized that there is a limit on what parents can handle. Just as children have rights, parents have a right to be protected too. Yet my decision to not beg for a relationship with her anymore and basically allowing her to cut me out of her life has not been done without a great deal of anguish. Even then, knowing that I am doing the right thing in keeping my distance it does not take away the pain.

With my mother's help I have found my peace and my closure. With that being said, my closure means "closing or being closed; a finish; an end; a conclusion." Just so everyone knows, my closure does not mean that I am writing her off forever, it simply means right now I am gently closing the door to our past problems and allowing the possibility of opening new doors for a reconciliation with her somewhere in the future when we are both ready and emotionally able. I am no longer going to be angry with my mother or my daughter and I am not going to hurt any longer.

I am choosing to no longer define my worth by my daughter's actions or her words against me. I am now defining myself based on my own actions. Some actions I'm not very proud of, but on the other hand, I know I have gone above and beyond what some people do for their children. I know I have done my best and I am still continuing to learn from my experiences as a parent. I know that I can't do any better than my best and I understand now that I should not be expected to do more than that. We all have our own life to work on and if she needs to not speak to me to get her life figured out. Then that is what I am willing to do for her as her mother.

I will always love my mother and my daughter. It may have taken me almost 20 years to figure it all out (yes, I'm a bit slow sometimes) but I finally understand why my mother is no longer here, she needed to go take care of herself. After all, I was a grown woman!

Well, it is time for me to take care of myself. I'm going to live my life focusing on me, no more pain. It is the time for me to heal and forgive everyone. After all, she IS a grown woman!

I forgive my mom, my daughter and most of all myself.

Some of this may not be written right where everyone can understand my thoughts or the situation exactly. But I didn't want to hurt my daughters feelings, embarrass her or add to my guilt anymore. So, I guess somethings are truly better left unsaid. I wish everyone the best. I want to also say, "Thanks mom! I finally got it..."

Has It Been Four Years Already?

My dear husband,

Today is our 4th anniversary and I love you more today than I ever thought I could. I don't know if I ever told you this or not, but while we were standing there saying our vows, my legs were shaking like crazy. I honestly thought I was going to drop to the floor. Terrie told me later that she thought she was going to have to catch me when I fell to the ground.

Let me tell you something now, here it is four years later and my legs are still shaking! Each day I never know what to expect. Which has its good points and its bad... But all in all, we have grown in so many ways, no one could ever imagine! We have shown each other so many things no other relationship has during such a short time.

We've seen each other in all of the following:

Anger, blessings, courage, determination, evolving fear, generosity, hope, imperfection, jealousy, kinkiness, love, mountains, nerve, opportunity, pity parties, quirks, reality, scare, tenderness, understanding, valleys, wanting, 'e(x)plaining, yearning and zoning out. These things I just mentioned, well they have become our ABC's of marriage. I think they all work for us the good, the bad and the ugly.

You have history in my past now, you are in my present and you are helping create all of my future. Unless we end up killing one another some where down the road.

Happy 4th Anniversary!

Thank you for being you,

I love you with all my heart.

Your wife,

Gina

Fishing With Daddy...

First cast into the water......

First fish caught with first cast into the water...

Fishing makes you a little thirsty and hungry...

On Thursday July 10th, my two favorite guys went on a little day trip to a fishing hole called "Rainbow Ranch Trout" which is located in Cumming, Georgia for a bit of "R & R".

Since we are not fully equipped with the necessary tools for fishing this place was the place to go. They provided everything you would need to fish, the rod and reel, the bait and a bucket to put your fish in after you caught them. This was all provided for one low price... Nothing!

What's the catch, you might be asking yourself ... Well, you must keep all the fish that you caught and when you are finished fishing they weigh your fish and charge you $4.69 a pound. After the weigh in, the fish are cleaned for you and packed on ice so you can go home and a fish fry for dinner. They call it "recreational" grocery shopping. That's a pretty catchy phrase, don't you think?

So, who caught more fish?

If you answered "Ethan" you're right!

Gas to go fishing with daddy...

$ 4.03 a gallon

Memories made fishing with daddy...

$ 4.69 a pound

Catching 4 fish and daddy only catching 2...

PRICELESS

Baby Watch 2008...

Kristin had her 3 month OB check-up on April 9th. All appears to be going well for our newly anticipated little one.


At first, the baby's heartbeat wasn't detected with the doppler equipment, so they decided to do a sonogram and see if they could get the heartbeat in action and there it was, pumping up a storm, they were reassured the heartbeat is good and going strong.

The following is the first sonogram picture. Sorry about the glare on the second copy of the picture, I was trying to get a clearer picture for everyone. Instead it looks like a warm glow in there! Or, maybe it is a warm glow, something to ponder?

Anyway, they say the baby is about 3 inches long and weighs in at about an ounce at this stage of the game. After going through several miscarriages in the past, I think we can all breathe a little easier and start to get excited now. She is pretty much out of the danger zone for miscarriages.

They have scheduled a second sonogram for the 21st of this month. It will be more accurate at determining the gestational age of the baby and give a better indication of her due date. At this time they believe the due date should be around the 22nd or 23rd of October, I'll keep you all posted as things progress!!!