Celebrating Baby Henry

I was thrilled when I found out that my best friend Jackie was pregnant with her second.  Her pregnancy has flown by this time and I can't believe baby Henry is going to be here in 8 weeks or less.  During Jackie's first pregnancy it was great.  I was pregnant with Skylar, we both were working so we would email each other daily to check in.  This time both of our lives are so busy with having toddlers running around and me just having Madden that I cherish the rare times we actually get to just chat on the phone.

Dianne, Darci, Jenn (who was out of town) and I wanted to do a little something for Jackie to celebrate baby Henry so we decided to take her out for breakfast in San Clemente and shower her and Henry with love.  We wanted to have our get together now because in about a week Jackie will start her bed rest until the end of her pregnancy.  Lincoln (her first) was born premature so Jackie and her doctor are taking all precautions to make sure little Henry stays inside Mama as long as he can.  

I won't lie, I think that going from 1 kid to 2 was such a huge adjustment and it has been really be hard for me, but I know Jackie is going to handle it like a pro and will probably have far less trouble adjusting then I did.  She is a wonderful Mom already and little Henry is really lucky to have her.  

Congrats again to my best friend and her precious second baby boy.  Can't wait to meet you Henry!!

Pino Family Reunion

So what do you get when you have 125 Mexicans in one room during the hottest heat wave of the summer....you get the Pino Family Reunion.  For months now, my family had been putting together this reunion and the day had finally arrived.  I appreciate the hard work of my Aunt Sandra and the committee of cousins who worked hard on the event.

I honestly had no clue how huge the Pino Family is and was shocked by the turn out!  I am just so used to our little group of Pino's from my Papa Tony and Grandma Ramona.  My Papa Tony is 1 of 8 kids, and sadly he is the only Pino sibling who is still alive, so this event was something he was really looking forward too.  The event was held in Corona at the American Legions Hall.  Each family was given a color and a name tag so everyone would be able to see which of the 8 siblings you were linked too.  Some of the families even wore the color they were given to help distinguish them.  We were YELLOW but decided against color coordinating at the event.  They had each family go up for photos and it was crazy seeing how small or how big some of the families were.  Jennie family (the blue family) was by far the largest family. They were probably 50% for the total people at the event. 

There were so many people there that I had never met.  I mostly caught up with close family.  However, it was nice to see people like my Dad, Aunt Sandra, Grandma working the room and catching up with distance relatives.  We did end up meeting some relatives who actually lived just up the street from us, which was pretty interesting.  

There were chips and homemade salsa on all of the tables (of course).  The dinner was catered by Maria who made some amazing tacos and there were even Mexican breads for dessert.  It was getting late, Madden was getting fussy, and honestly it was so hot in that hall, we decided after about 4 hours it was time to leave.  So I'm sad to say I missed out on watching my Dad hit the dance floor for 2 hours.  

It was a really nice event and a great history lesson on our family.  I know how much the whole event meant to Papa so I'm glad we were able to be there to support him and see how big of a family he and his wonderful sibling's all have.

Not too sure who these people are, but I think they are all cousins.

Skylar and her Great-Grandpa (my papa Tony) 

Madden and his Great-Grandma (my grandma Ramona)

Papa with all his 7 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren, with 1 more on the way.

Our attempt at a family photo.

Matthew mingling with our relatives.

Skylar having a ton of fun dancing with cousin Toni.

And other attempt at a family photo that just turned out really bad.

Football is Back!

My Sundays are now complete that football is back!!  We go seven long months with no Sunday football and I count the days until the NFL's returns.  With two kids now watching a full football game is totally impossible which is something I'm trying to get used too.  Jake has been great and taking Skylar to the pool or park Sunday mornings to help tired her out so we know she will take a long nap.  It was the Chargers first home game this past Sunday and we made sure to get the kids in the Chargers spirit.  Skylar was jealous at first to see Madden wearing his Chargers oneies that she immediately wanted her Chargers dress on.  Skylar did a bunch of cheering and clapping whenever she would see us cheering.  We may have a cheerleader on our hands!  

Growing up and watching football with my parents is a memory that I still remember and cherish.  We were huge Raiders fans and I would go to each home game with my parents when they were still the LA Raiders and I have nothing but fond memories from those Sundays.  I thank them for making me the football fanatic that I am today.  I really want Skylar and Madden to enjoy football as much as I do and I hope its something we can all watch and enjoy together as a family.....well they really may have no choice!

 

Madden and Uncle Matthew

Everyone asks me who I think Madden looks like; Jake or I, and I can't say who.  With Skylar I could totally see Jake in her from the day she was born, but with Madden I can't decide who he looks more like.  Well I think we now know who he looks like because here is a comparison picture of my brother Matthew at around four or five months and Madden at three months.  They could be twins!!