Ventura Familia

Wow! I’ve always thought Lucy and Jack look like Tanya and that Lauren looks like Victor but I see a lot of similarities between the 3 kids so they must look somewhat like Tommy and I!? Check out these 2 pictures…the first is of Lucy and the second is of Lauren. Can you tell they are related?

The cottage is no longer my parents home away from home….it’s their home. They sold the Whitman house and bought Cheryl’s half of the cottage and have moved in. I couldn’t be any happier for them! Sure it’s a little weird that the house I grew up in and that I’ll always associate with Gram is no longer a part of our family. But this was by far the best thing for my Mom and Dad. This is the very first time either of them have owned a house on their own. It’s also the first time either of them have lived in a house! My father lived in that apartment in Whitman his entire life!! My mother lived there since she was 17 and before that she was in an apartment with her family. So this is huge for them!! Of course it doesn’t have the 2 bathrooms like my mother wanted, another thing she’s never had, but maybe it will someday. My parents have worked hard all of their lives and they deserve this. I am so proud of them and so happy for them!!

Lauren and I went to visit Grammy, she had the day off from work for Veteren’s Day! It was so awesome to see the furniture from Whitman in the cottage! It looks like it belongs there The lack of lighthouses in the living room will take some getting used to, though. Lol! The place looks great, even full of boxes and the old furniture. I can’t wait to see it all finished! It already felt like home!

Even though it was cold and windy, we took a walk to the beach. Lauren wanted to go swimming but we had to explain that it was way too cold for that! The waves were huge!! I’ve never seen such big waves at that beach! We also saw a great blue heron in the marsh. It really is a beautiful place and I’m so glad my parents can now call it home!!

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It snowed for the first time this year!! And it was Lauren’s first time playing in snow!!! Okay okay, snow before Halloween is a little crazy, even for me….but we decided to take full advantage of it anyways! Josh had slept over and didn’t have proper snow playing attire, but we made what we had work. And the only snowsuit we had for Lauren was from last year, which she never wore. It was a little small but it did the job. Victor made a snow slide so the kids could go “sledding” and Josh showed Lauren how to eat the snow, which she loved. Everyone had a blast!! Even the dogs came out and played for a little bit!

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We went to Edaville 2 weekends in a row!! Lauren loved it! We had plans to go with Jenn and Brooke for a picnic with the Berenstein Bears. Jenn had a BOGO coupon for tickets so we were all over that!! But then the weekend before, we found out Curious George was there! Lauren LOVES George!! So Victor and I brought her and we had so much fun! Both weekends were a blast and the weather was perfect!! We hope to go back for their Festival of Lights this winter!

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Yup….Lauren’s going to be a big sister!!! I’m officially 12 weeks today and I’m due May 11th. Although at the ultrasound I had on Tuesday the baby was measuring a little over a week ahead so we’ll see.

We are scared, about a lot of things….how Lauren’s going to be when the baby gets here, money, losing sleep, and how we’re going to handle having 2 children, but we know we can do it and we are so excited!!! And I know Lauren’s going to be a great big sister!! She tells me she loves the baby, kisses my belly, and carries an ultrasound picture around the house. It melts my heart!

I’m feeling good! Really good actually. Other than my already large belly, I’ve been wearing maternity clothes for weeks, some days I forget I’m even pregnant! It’s probably partially due to the toddler I’m constantly chasing around I was nauseous for a few weeks but that’s thankfully over with and I’ve been pretty tired (aren’t I always though?) but that seems to be getting somewhat better, too! All in all, I don’t feel much different than I did when I was pregnant with Lauren….another girl perhaps?

I’m so happy it’s no longer a secret so I can really enjoy being pregnant, especially since I know this will be my last pregnancy. Two is more than plenty for us!! Even if it is another girl! One of each would be perfect, of course. And I would LOVE to give Victor a boy. But another girl would almost be easier, although I’ll totally take that statement back when they are both teenagers, ugh. But seriously, we have a girl so we know what to expect and we have all the girl clothes and stuff already. We’d be pretty much all set! Most of the bigger stuff we got for Lauren I got so either sex could use so we’ll be pretty set either way, other than clothes and bedding and a few things. I’m not too worried about it. Healthy is all we care about! We already have our appointment set up for when we find out! December 8th!! But we won’t know that day….I’m going to have them write it down, seal it up, and we’re going to open it on Christmas morning!! Well that’s my plan. We’ll see if I have the patience for it

Stayed tuned for more pregnancy updates!

Construction is finally complete!! It actually has been for a few weeks now but I just got around to taking pictures. I am so so happy with how everything came out. Victor is working on the downstairs room when he has time and its coming along great! So here it is, our construction, from start to finished product

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I was thinking the other day about a previous ToT that I did….the 10 things I do every day. I was wondering how many of them had changed. Turns out, it was almost exactly a year ago that I posted it and not much has changed at all

And ten things I do do everyday:
1. Wash my hair (Still do this! It’s a must!!)
2. Drink a coffee (Uh huh!)
3. Apply sunblock (Everyday, no matter the weather…..harmful UV rays are always present!) (Of course!!)
4. Put on mascara (Yup)
5. Watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (This isn’t an everyday thing anymore. We do usually watch it but we’re more of a Nick Jr household these days)
6. Clean and sanitize the bottles (Gets done everyday after dinner….it’s never ending!!!) (Now this is something that has changed. BUT, I do still clean sippy cups every night, and it’s never ending!)
7. Clean up pee and/or (usually and) poop from the damn dogs (I am very happy, and proud, to say that this is occurring much less frequently!! I’d say I clean up poop maybe once a week and hardly ever pee. That makes me very happy! Yay dogs!!)
8. Tell Lauren she’s beautiful (Way more than one time a day)
9. Tell Victor I love him (I sure do!)
10. Go to bed by 9pm (Now that Lauren is going to bed at 9pm, I usually stay up until about 10pm. That’s an improvement, right?!)

So a few months ago, I went to PF Chang’s with the ladies. We had a wonderful dinner and lots of laughs! When we were done, we had our fortune cookies. Mine had no fortune. I was upset because that is bad luck. But I hadn’t really thought about it and my luck hasn’t been all that bad since. Well, last night, we were having chinese food for the first time since that incident with Mike and Jenny and the kids. During dinner I said, “last time I had chinese food, my fortune cookie had no fortune!” They all said they had never seen that happen before. So we finished our meal and opened our fortune cookies. And once again, MINE HAD NO FORTUNE!!! I am a fairly superstitious person but even someone who isn’t at all must think this is a little strange! Seriously, twice in a row, on 2 different occasions, from 2 completely different chinese food restaurants. I’ve heard from a few people now that its actually good luck but I think they’re just trying to make me feel better. I’m watching my step very carefully though for the near future. Wish me luck

So I’ve been wanting to go check out the sheep pasture forever! And I really have no excuse as to why we haven’t been…its only 5 minutes from my house and its free!! So we finally went and it was so much fun! Lauren loved seeing and feeding all the animals. There are a bunch of walking trails that we didn’t even check out but we will soon, I’m sure!

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This time last year, we were getting ready for our Pimental family trip to Disney! We had so much fun and I can not wait to go back!! Hopefully in a few years This was my favorite picture from the trip! We are a goofy bunch!! I only wish we had put the bar on the stroller down so you could see Lauren better….but we’ll know better for next time!