The Force Is Strong in Our family...

Haven't posted anything in a while, and I am really bad at uploading pictures. Here are some from Halloween. Yes, that is Myla in the Darth Vader costume. She was great in it, and totally requested it. Emmy is in our old Yoda costume, and was the cutest Yoda the world has ever seen. =) Those of you who know us, know of Myla's love affair with Darth Vader and how she loves him and says he's just grouchy? My funny little Mim.

Thankful for...

After losing Lolo Ben last week, our week has been a little upside down. It's Thanksgiving week and I am thankful for a few things: 1. My WONDERFUL family. I love that my girls and husband are gifted, healthy, and just all around great people. I love them more than anything. 2. Roof over our heads 3. The rest of our family... and for having me get this far in life. I will have pics soon, and there will be pictures. Many, many pictures. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves and let's take care of each other.

Love You, Lolo Ben.

Info about Lolo Ben

more info on him...

Today I feel like a scared little girl. Now that Lolo is gone from where I can see him, I have to grow up. This fear will pass, I know. Loben (as Myla called him) and Lola have blessed me with the gift of strength and practicality, knowing that life is always made of change. We can't avoid this stuff, so we might as well meet with it -head on, guns a-blazing.

On my yearly visit, when it came time to say goodbye, Lolo always ended our trips the same way. One of the last things Lolo always said to me, was, "You know I hate long, emotional goodbyes. Just kiss me on the cheek and know you will see me again." And I didn't dare look back at him, until I knew I was out of his sight. I always felt a little bit stronger every time I did it. One time, I looked, and he was looking too, with wet eyes, and I pretended not to see. Even though, in the back of my mind, I knew one day, this would come.

(deleted letters to family members)

I wanted to write something profound and exquisite about a great soldier, journalist, a great mentor, editor-in-chief, boss, and writer. I wanted to write an epic story with special effects and CGI, and fireworks and a 21 gun salute, and a procession and parade and LARGE headlines, and a day of mourning and a holiday, but this isn't how I feel.

Instead, my heart is heavier than it ever has been my whole life. I have cried some quiet tears, while I think about him. I think about our talks about life, and love, and work, school, politics, and the mornings when he got ready for work and we listened to Botticelli and Pavarotti. I think about soft bread and butter and coffee and piles of pineapple that made our lips itch. And anything he saved in a napkin from a luncheon he had the previous day. Im thinking of fried eggs for breakfast and how I ate the yokes and he ate the whites, and our egg system: if he got there first he'd leave the yolks for me, if I got there first, I would do the oppsosite- eat the yolks and save the whites. I think of his uncanny ability to make me laugh in the face of adversity, and to never be afraid of people. Also he taught me to depend on other people for something either.

I never told you about the one time, at the airport, I DID look back, Lola was crying, and Lolo had tears in his eyes, (although he told me later that it was allergies.) And one of the very last things he told me (besides jokes about everything) on our last visit, (he was sick and I looked worried)

"Never mind, it's all part of life. Can't change that, I just don't want to be ugly and drooling on a rocking chair like some of those old people you see. Just shoot me instead." And we shared a laugh over it. I'm glad, my dearest Lolo, you are the handsomest, non-drooling Lolo in the face of the earth, and I will never forget you. Thank you so much.


Love to you all,

Melissa, Andy, Myla & Emily


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http://www.balitapinoy.net/journal/599238/EXEDITOR_OF_MANILA_BULLETIN_DIES

When Girls are A Napping, It's Time for A Blogging...

Here are the girls when we roll Pedro's windows down... it's hilarious.

Growing, growing, growing... as they should be. The thing that astounds me about Myles is the things she says to show how cognitive and intuitive she is to her surroundings. Which, proves my point that you shouldn't ever underestimate the intelligence of any child, and dismiss them as "just kids." We watched Harry Potter (1st One) and she seemed to understand everything that was going on, (including the fact that Harry's parents died and that sucks for a kid.) Also, we just watched Kitt Kittridge and she cried when her Dad left for Chicago. So, me n myles can watch a good movie together and have a cry. She's only 2! =) Also, for those of you who haven't been to our apartment, the master bedroom window looks down on any passers by coming and or going to our house. So, if you leave our house and head towards your car, you can see through our window heading towards the parking lot. Myles LOVES this. Like a cat. So, the other day, after my dad and sister left, she screamed, "Bye! Bye! You be careful down there! Love you!" Like an old lady. It was HILARIOUS.

And Memmy... oh where do I begin with Memmy? We like to call her, Destructo, or our little Raccoon. Because more than likely, you'll see her little butt sticking out as she rummages through something she is not supposed to. Since, both my girls walked at such an early age, I really feel like I missed out on some 3-4 good months of baby time. Where they snuzzle with you, and sit on your lap, and you can put them on a blanket on the floor while reading or doing somehing peaceful.

But, no at 9 & 10 months, I was and have been a nervous wreck. Mems, seems to be the naughtier of the two... today for instance, I opened our "I Love Lucy" washing machine (it's a front loader, and low to the ground) and ran into our room to grab the dirty clothes. Then I hear, "Mama! Mama! Em-UH-LEEE went IN there!!" and I run out, sure enough, Emms had placed herself in the washer, with the cylinder sort of moving as she did... door open of course, and she was pretty pissed at the fact that she had gotten herself in the predicament. She was stuck. I wanted so badly to get a picture, but she is very sensitive about being embarrassed. So I pulled her out and scolded her, and she smiled her Damian smile. She ALWAYS does this when she knows she did something she wasn't supposed to. She doesn't fuss or scream when you pull her out of something... she just sits very still and looks at you... with the smile.
(Ring in dramatic Omen Music...)
Sanguis bibimus
Corpus edibus
Rolle corpus
Satani, Satani, Satani
Ave, ave Satani

After the washer incident, I pulled her hands out of both out toilets (no more if it's yellow it's mellow! Sorry water shortage!) and pulled her out of the fireplace at least three times, wrestled her off the stairs and also kept her from spraying some 409 in her face. YIPES! Baby proofing the house... she will always find a way...

Halloween was cool.

Myles is truly understanding the whole trick or treating thing, and truly understanding the candy thing. She was Darth Vader and all the storm troopers and Clone troopers on the block were bowing to her. (Haaa!) She enjoyed that. Darth Vader and Myla is a whole other post, as we know the ongoing saga with those two. We went to the pumpkin drop, Myles has been going to them her WHOLE life, as Emmy has as well. This year, two pumpkins were dropped. Please ask Myla to tell you about it next time you see her.

Emmy was an ADORABLE Yoda, and she was hot a lot, but she loved just being a part of it all.

For Papa, it's still the same ol' grind at Elsevier... which as much as he complains, I know he loves. He got a window seat where he can see Coronado and is moving from floor 20 to 17... kinda excited about the move... =) We will visit and post on that.

I have been taking writing classes at UCSD Extension on Saturday mornings. It gets my head together and helps with the creative juices that make me grouchy if I don't release them.
Also, I have started part-time seasonal employment at Build A Bear... working from my friend LG! It's fun, it's retail, it pays shit, but now we can have a Christmas!! =) I'm sure I won't see anything I haven't seen before working with all the moronic customers out there.

And, Papa and I have joined a Martial Arts school so now, I can kill someone with the "Killer Fist" really. Also, I learned how to chop a corroted artery, but I haven't learned how to spell it. So, when we get in shape and train how to kill zombies with weapons with out bear hands, we will be ready.

Til next time...
Peace!

GAP CASTING CALL

Here are the pics we are entering in the Gap Casting call, I don't know what they would win, but it's great exposure. This is like the mother of all photo shoots for kids under 3. VOTE FOR EMILY. VOTE FOR MYLA! There have been some folks that have been entered for awhile, but that doesn't mean much, you can still vote every day! Anyway, hope all is well with everyone...

The Salt Mines With You! Some updates and news...

It's official, the girls have an agent. Yep. They are gonna be baby models. We get our first tiny paying gig in the next few weeks for some random online catalog. Ill let you know where and what it's for, because I don't really know. haha! There are so many rules (as a few of you who read these understand about SAG dues and baby and child labor laws in the state.) For instance, the girls can only work 4 hours each, for each day of work. This is fine for baby modeling, since a lot of the stuff takes only a few hours anyway. We were turned on to this when a family we love recommended their agent to us. She is based in LA but has a handful of clients in San Diego, and also lives here and commutes there. Since, Papa and I are really trying hard to make ends meet, we decided that this would be the only way we could pay for the girls school in the future. And any kinds expenses they have now. For instance, we Myla's soccer and Kung Fu and Emily's Gymboree Classes...

So, also, next week, we are opening an account (this is also required by law in California) where at least 15% of any money they earned is put in this trust account, where only they can receive it when they are 18. I am really excited about it, but also a bit worried about working my kids too much. But, I know when to say enough is enough. Especially when it comes to my kids.

We don't really plan on putting the girls (mostly Myla) into pre-school as of yet, because we like the way things are going now. I will continue working part-time in the evenings, while Papa works full time in the day. I will have to be the one taking the girls to auditions to LA, which will probably be once a week or something, but thank goodness my parents live down the street. I haven't researched the difference between private and public school education- and how it will affect my kids. Also, we want to have the private school option in case Andy gets assigned somewhere that's not where we live now. This is always a possibility.

As far as socialization and structure goes for my kiddos with no preschool, neither I or my siblings went to preschool. And the girls will be so active and involved that I am not worried about them being socially deficient in any way.

In other news...
We are going to participate in this annual consignment thing to see if we get rid of a bunch of clothes that the girls have outgrown, or if the clothes just aren't what the girls are wearing. I have, about 12 trash bags full of shoes, clothes and accessories. I am hoping to make about 200 USD with it. If it's more, than I certainly will be pleased. This consignment fair works out of a mall here in San Diego three times a year. (You sell the clothes for the next season.) You register with the company, they give you access to their tagging system, and your tags and prices are put on your clothes. You have to separate everything by outfit and put on specific kinds of hangers etc. You also name your price (there are guidelines on this too). You get 50% of the price you put on the tag. There are of course, guidelines and suggestions on how to price something. For instance, Myla got this same fleece Carter's outfit, with tags still on it (pants and a top) the tags read 12.99. So you name a price, I put 8.00. I would get 4.00 of this sale. They recommend, unless you see a tag on there and it's cute, to make of course, a selling price. Everything of course has to be cleaned, and pressed and ready for a sale.
I would recommend if you are on a budget, and don't mind slightly used clothes, to go to one of these things, because I am pretty sure you could find some great deals on kids clothing. There is a HIGH demand for clothing for school age kids, as I can imagine they go through clothes quickly if they aren't lucky enough to wear uniforms.

Before you stop reading, there is one important thing I wanted to mention...we are seriously considering that I be a gestational carrier for someone in the near future. So, please, don't be shocked when and if you see me pregnant and I say, "Don't worry! It's NOT MINE!" Haha! But really, this is a possibility. We are 99.9% sold on the idea. But of course, this is a whole other post.

Overall, I think we are pretty much over the whole newborn, baby thing. But that doesn't mean I still don't have a place in my heart for third baby (our third) in the future.

Just stuff to think about. Happy week ya'll.

Nothing much

Hello ya'll!! So, we are abuzz-buzz about this month of October because we have so much going on again. We just dropped off my parents at LAX for their 2 week long trip to the Philippines, just in time for the Typhoon that has ravaged Manila. It looks like a BUNCH of our friends and family are going to be able to attend the 2010 Holy Land Cruise! So very excited about this... more on it later, when we know more about the who's who and what's what.

Emily is up to 9 steps! She is almost always standing, and just in time for her ten month birthday! What a character this Emily Mairin. I feel like she has been so neglected by me... not really. But in comparison as to how we were with Myles, she is. For instance, we used to fawn over every little thing Myles did. And with Emmy, we kinda expect her to already know more than she might. For instance, if the girls are going to play with blocks, with Myles, I would have sat down next to her and showed her the colors and how to stack them etc. With Emily. we just kind of dump the blocks there and watch her... she doesn't seem to mind us deeming her independent. This is where I think the Oldest, middle and youngest behaviors are born. Is Emmy a middle child or a baby? We will have to see, only time will tell.