crossrhodes

I missed a wedding today because of Layla. I was looking forward to the reception, too, because it’s at a super upscale restaurant in my hometown. But such is life with an infant. Can’t go to an adult-only wedding reception. Can’t go on a cruise. Can’t go to Jamaica. Yada… yada… yada.

Lolo’s Girls

Oh well, she’s still cute anyway. And we still got to party this weekend. We had a pool party at the Marriott to celebrate my oldest niece’s graduation.  Go Jezz!!!

With Auntie Nette

Layla swam for the first time… sort of. She just waded up to her knees on the pool steps. I didn’t want to dunk her in yet, per doctor’s orders. The truth is, I just wanted to take a picture of her in her itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny polka dot bikini and show off her hairy back and shoulders in a halter top =)

P.S. Can you tell when I don’t have my “good” camera? I can! I forgot my DSLR at home, but I always carry a little point and shoot in the diaper bag just in case. I’ll need to get a bigger diaper bag to accommodate my DSLR because the point and shoot quality just doesn’t do it for me anymore.

Remember this? This is our computer-generated daughter.

Four to five years later, our real daughter came out much prettier!  (That dot on her nose is a scab from when she scratched herself.)

Last week, she started to smile and sleep longer stretches through the night between feedings.

Well, that’s all I have time for today. Enjoy the pics!

He did it! He graduated high school! We’re so proud of him… and we really mean it! This young man has accomplished more in high school than Don’s and my high school years combined. And he’s been less than half the headache we were to our parents at his age. Okay, I speak only for myself on that one. Don was an abnormally low maintenance teenager. =)

The ceremony was like any other commencement ceremony… Y-A-W-N!!! But one of the things I won’t soon forget is this capture of James’ ROTC Chief saluting him and his other cadets as their names were called to the stage. That made me all phaklempt =)

Per the grad’s request, we had a small celebration at home with immediate family only. We grilled some chicken and ribs (Kansas City style with a dry rub and mopping sauce), fresh whole tilapias, summer veggies, and crostini for the bruschetta, among other things. I made the BBQ rub and sauce from scratch and would’ve taken food pics to blog but my hands were kinda full, yah know.

So, he’s officially an adult now. Say goodbye to your childhood. There’s no turning back. Like his graduation cake said, “Good Luck” instead of “Congrats” as if to say, if you thought your childhood sucked, wait till you reach adulthood!  LOL!!!

She was born with a Mohawk (and a mullet, too). We call her Chief Thunder Pants coz she farts a lot. *hehe*

Kuya James was jealous so he got a Mohawk, too. We don’t know what to call him yet. Chief Forgets A Lot? Any suggestions?

It’s James’ last week of school. He wanted to do something fun and different for graduation. Hey, it’s not a body piercing or a tattoo. It’s just hair; it will grow back. Besides, it’s about the only thing he can do at graduation. The school has so many restrictions: no cheering, no screaming, no noise makers, no decorated caps, no this, no that.

If this look was my first impression of James, I might be scared. But because I already know him to be an intelligent kid who stays out of trouble, the punk look is rather amusing! Don and I can’t help but chuckle when he walks by us.

I know I haven’t blogged much about James since Layla was born. He’s been a busy beaver in his senior year. Between his prom, her prom, his ROTC ball, her ROTC ball, college stuff, last weeks of high school, CAP, part time job, and long-distance girlfriend, there’s really nothing outside of his routine to blog about. (Nothing that he won’t kill me for blogging, that is.)

My sister dubbed him “the phantom cousin” since he’s been missing from family gatherings of late. In fact, we tease that he may even be missing in action at his own graduation party!

But if you’re wondering how he’s doing since Layla was born, he’s actually been a good kuya (older brother). I mean, yeah, he likes to stick his finger in her mouth when I’m not looking and carry her every time she cries while I want her to soothe herself to sleep. But he’s taken good care of his little sister in every way but change her diapers. (The boys like to save that task for me.)

There have been no signs of sibling rivalry or jealousy. They’re too far apart in age to compete with each other. They get different types of attention. In fact, James has been getting more attention from us lately than the baby, what with all the drama a teenager brings to the family.

Anyway, all I know is, Kuya James is pretty proud of his baby sister! His guidance counselor told me he shows off pictures of her on his camera phone. I didn’t even know he was taking pictures. It’s a good thing!