My weight loss struggles...

"Weight loss struggles" is one of those things people don't talk about, not because they can't but because they don't want to... it's a hard thing to face, a sad thing, an annoying thing, and just NOT a good thing to deal with...

Well... it's happening to me too... I'm having such a hard time losing weight, and granted it's not like I'm trying really hard, but I still hate being at least 20 lbs heavier than I'm supposed to be... it sucks!

I can't wear the clothes I like, my jeans are tight and my belly just hangs everywhere... and no, I can't use the "I recently had a baby" excuse anymore being that my "baby" is already a year old...

I could use the "it's my mom's genes" excuse, or the "I don't have time to exercise" excuse or maybe the "I have a sweet tooth" excuse, but none of those work, and they're certainly not going to do anything in helping me lose the extra weight...

I know I have to get on it... I have to find the inspiration to be thin again....

At some point in my life I could fit in a size 4 (I am now a 10), I had a tiny waist and felt good about myself.. I want to feel like that again.. I want to stop feeling embarrassed about my weight and just get rid of it!

My goal is a size 6 (because I know a 4 isn't happening) before April, when my BFF gets married....

Come on Adriana! You can do this!! Get your body back!!!!

More to come on this subject... at some point!

The life of a working mother...

I am a woman, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a WORKING mother... the last one being my least favorite, of course....

Every morning when I drop off the girls at the baby sitter and school, I get teary eyed...I feel like somehow I have to abandon my children to go make a living... they stay there, content, because they know that at some point their mommy will come back and pick them up...no matter how many times I do it, I always feel like crap...I'm sure a lot of working moms feel like I do!

When I pick them up in the afternoon, after a long day of work, all I want to do is hug them and never let go and no matter how tired I am, I could play with them all day... it's a crazy feeling... I know they're in good hands, but they're not with me...which means they could do better!

I, on the other hand, don't think that I could be a "stay at home mom", although I have a high degree of admiration for those that do it... I crave adult interaction and actually enjoy my career and my job.. I feel like I have to do this for my daughters' future and my own personal sanity.... such mixed emotions...

When Gaby was born, Iggy and I discussed the possibility of me quitting my job to stay home with the girls and even though we could do it (financially speaking).. I wasn't ready to give up what I had made for myself....am I selfish for that?

I feel so torn... on one hand I'd love to spend all the time in the world with my babies...but on the other hand, I feel like I have to nurture myself to be the best mother I can be... does it make sense?

It's not easy being a working mother... it's a hard life, it's a crazy life, it's a life where a lot of sacrifices have to be made, but I certainly hope it's the best life I can have to share with the people who I love the most!

Wordless Monday...

Froggy's Playhouse

Recently, a new business was opened in our town.. it's called Froggy's Playhouse, it's an interactive play are for kids, with bouncing houses and a toy area for toddlers...

We decided to take the girls and invited our friends Hugo and Rosanna along with their kids Isabella and Ale... my niece Erika also came along....

The girls had so much fun jumping around and Gaby enjoyed some toys in the play area as well...

The place still needs some decorating, but the whole indoor playhouse is great...rain or shine, the kids can always have fun....

Very fun Sunday!

Andrea's Birthday

Today we attended Andrea's first birthday party at C.B. Smith Park and it was wonderful...

Andrea is the daughter of my good friend Liz, whom I met through the "What to Expect" website, which I was part of during my pregnancies.....

The party was ballerina themed and everything was amazing... the food was delicious, desserts were amazing and the girls had so much fun....

Liz rented some ponies and I thought that was such a fun idea... Olivia loved riding the pony and even Gaby went on it... it was cute....

The birthday girl got a lot of presents and all the attention in the world...

Happy Birthday Andrea!!

Tropical Storm Bonnie

Well... what a storm.... NOT!....

Having lived in South Florida for almost 15 years I should know better than to believe the weather predictions regarding storms and hurricanes....

It all started in the news last night, when they warned all southern Floridians to get ready for the coming tropical storm Bonnie, who was supposed to bring along "heavy rainfall and gusty winds".. ha!

It was raining alright but nothing scary or out of the ordinary...

While the weather was yucky and very gloomy, I did not feel a thing and everyone went about with their normal day....

Now the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is long gone, currently threatening to hit the Gulf Coast region... it's still raining here but it's not so bad!

Iggy used the storm excuse at the office and got home early from work... that's all the storm did!

Thanks Weather Channel... for being wrong... again!

Wordless Monday...

Birthday party

Today was the much anticipate Snow White party for the girls... wow! what a day!

I was so stressed out since very early in the morning.. for some reason I felt like something was missing... but thank God I was wrong...

The party turned out to be great.. Everyone showed up and the girls had an amazing time...

All the kids played around, ate and even had their faces painted by a lady I hired.. too cute...

I had such an amazing time with all my friends and their kids and the girls enjoyed their party until the last minute...

The gifts were amazing and my girls felt so important all day long!

Thank God for wonderful friends and wonderful times!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

My beautiful daughter is 3 years old today! Wow! Where did all these time go?? It's crazy to think that just 3 years ago I became a mother and today I this little person is my best friend and has a mind of her own....

She is now 34.5 lbs and is 39 in tall!

Olivia is incredibly fun, she is so awesome to be around and never ceases to amaze me with her creativity, curiosity and great ability to have fun and enjoy her life to the fullest...

She still loves music and dancing and has recently become OBSESSED with Shakira.. so much that it's starting to make me sick! ha ha ha!

She is very active, sometimes I'd say HYPERactive... I wonder how she manages to not get tired.. it's crazy how much energy she has...

She loves to color and is quite artistic, she also loves to hang out with her friends and sister and loves to eat ice cream.

I love her to death.. and this year has been quite the ride...

She did go through a crazy period of the "terrible twos", but it wasn't too bad.. Now I wonder what the "horrible threes" will bring for us... for now.. let's just enjoy this beautiful day!

Happy 3rd birthday Olivia! We love you so much!

Happy Birthday Gaby!!!

My little baby is now a toddler and of course I'm so emotional today...I always feel so torn about my babies growing up!.. I figure every mother feels like that!

Gaby has grown into such a beautiful little girl, who amazes me and makes me incredibly proud every day!

She is now 19 lbs and 28.5 in long, she's still on the tiny side but the doctor said she was super healthy and very smart...

She loves music and is quite the little dancer...it's so cute to see her shaking her booty every time any song starts...just like her sister!

She loves to play with her toy cell phone and pretend she's having a conversation...she's also quite creative and very "talkative"...she makes us laugh so much!

Gaby is in love with her big sister and they play together all the time....She can now defend herself when Olivia tries to bully her.. it's really funny!

She is still doesn't walk (but you already knew that) and isn't really interested in anything other than crawling! Oh well.. her time will come!

Happy 1st Birthday Gaby!! We love you so much!

Gaby.. are you ever going to WALK??

Uggh!! I had this crazy hope that Gaby would walk by her first birthday, but unless she starts walking within the next 6 hours, I don't see it happening...

She is so lazy and has no interest in walking whatsoever!

A few months ago she started to stand on her own and would walk while holding hands, but then it all changed and she stopped doing that...

As of right now, she has not taken one single step on her own and it's usually a challenge to get her to even move her legs or make a walking sort of motion!...She does stand while holding on to things but that doesn't do any good and is no indication of walking at all!

For some reason I feel frustrated about it.. I want her to walk already!

So Gaby.... please.. pretty please.. would you walk already???

Wordless Monday...

World Cup final!

Congrats to Spain for winning the World Cup! It was an amazing month with all the soccer matches and special events... in the end, the best team won...

Although I'm not a big soccer fan, I did enter a pool and what do you know, I picked Spain as the winner... fun, huh???

Great World Cup.. until 2014!

"Snow White" aka Olivia

Olivia has a serious obsession with Snow White.. she really believes she is Snow White personified... so much that when she wears her Snow White costume, she gets upset when I call her by her name...

She tells me "I'm not Olivia... my name is Snow White"... its very funny...and she looks so cute in her costume...

Her upcoming birthday party will be Snow White themed (of course) and I can't wait to see her cute happy face when she sees all the balloons and favors...

Court Wedding Anniversary

Today we celebrate 5 years since we got married through the courts...

Iggy and I got married on July 8th, 2005... a few months prior to our church ceremony...

It was a simple court ceremony, held at the courthouse on a Friday morning... right before going to work...

At the time, I seemed like a joke since it was so impromptu and spontaneous, but today I can honestly say that it was one of the best days of my life....the day I became Mrs. Perez!

We celebrated by going to dinner and having a brownie with ice cream! yum!

Happy Anniversary, my love... we've had a wonderful time... Looking forward to many more!

Happy Birthday Iggy!

Today we celebrated Iggy's 34th birthday with a little get together at our house...

It was very rainy so we didn't do much during the day...

We went to have lunch at Iggy's favorite restaurant, then we walked around the mall for a while and finally gathered with our family at night...

We all enjoyed the cake I made (which was amazing), as well as other desserts I made from scratch...

Iggy was so happy throughout the day, he got a lot of messages, phone calls and love from everyone that matters...

Happy Birthday love!

4th of July

We had a wonderful holiday...filled with family time and fun with the girls...
The weather was a bit crappy so we stayed home for most of the day... We grilled hamburgers and had family lunch...
Iggy's brother and his wife came to visit from Venezuela; they got here last night and are staying at our house, so they had the chance to celebrate the holiday with us...
At night, we went to Miramar Regional Park to see the firework display.. it lasted about a half hour...both girls loved all the colors and noise from the fireworks.. it was great...
We're getting ready to celebrate Iggy's birthday tomorrow, so our busy weekend is nowhere near done...
Happy 4th of July everyone!

Home made birthday cake

This coming Monday July 5th is Iggy's 34th birthday so I went all out and baked him a cake...

I made a regular vanilla pound cake (from scratch), cut it in half, filled it with "Arequipe" and then made white frosting to cover it up...

I still need to add some color candles so it doesn't look so plain....

Until I taste it, I can't really guarantee it's not a disaster, but it was fun making it and it definitely looks yummy! We'll see! ;)

Toy Story 3

Yesterday I took Olivia to see Toy Story 3... can we all say AMAZING movie? wow! It's been a while since I've been to the movies, let alone to watch an animated one, and wow again! it was so good!

Of course the best part was seeing Olivia enjoy herself so much; she ate a whole bag of popcorn and sat attentively through the whole movie, reacting accordingly to every piece of the plot... too cute...

I've always been a fan of Disney animated movies, but this one is by far one of the best ones I've seen lately...

The movie follows the story of "Andy", the owner of the toys, who is now grown up and about the go to college... The toys are faced with the tragedy of being "donated" to a day care and being left behind by their owner... Throughout the movie, the toys go through several tragedies and obstacles to find their way back to a loving child....it's great! it's a happy ending for all!

I give it FIVE starts and strongly recommend it... great for all ages!

Welcome July!!

Our busiest month of the year has officially started...

This month we will celebrate the 4th of July, Iggy's birthday, our 5th wedding anniversary (court wedding) and both girls' birthdays... wow!

On top of that we will have a few visitors staying at our house... and a trip to DC at the end of the month!

Bring it on July! We're ready for you!!!

Let the fun begin!