Little Flutterbugs

Last minute, we decided to take the girls to their first baseball game. 

The Gators were meeting the Seminoles tonight at the Baseball Grounds of Jax for the second encounter of the Sunshine rivals. 

Gabby giving her Gators a “thumbs up”. 

How can you attend a ball game and not eat ice cream from the helmet and then wear it on your head.

After we cheered on the Gators. We gave Ariana a special treat to try for the first time. 

Yummy cotton candy. 

We totally lucked out it didn’t rain on us. Skies were dark and grey. We walked the grounds and the girls ran and played. 

We left at the bottom of the third inning.  A great evening for all of us.

Three years ago today, I was awaken by the house phone. My sister in law called at 3am to inform me that she was driving herself to the hospital because she was in labor. My brother had to stay home with my older nephews and they were trying to get my parents to go over to watch the boys. Well that never happened.

I got my preggo self out of bed and dressed and drove over to the hospital to be with her. Interestingly enough, I had never been to the birth of my two older nephews. However, I wanted to be present for this one; maybe because I was pregnant with Gabby at the time. So there I was with my sister in law and all her co-workers; she is a labor and delivery nurse at Memorial Hospital. I did all that was required of me and just pass 9am, Drake Evan Rodriguez was born. 

I had the privilege of cutting the umbilical cord.

Happy Birthday Drakie Poo! We love you lots and we hope you enjoy your Spider Man birthday party on Saturday! 

Love,

Gabby, Ari, Titi and Tio Jorge

Whew!   End of January already!  Took forever to put away the Christmas Decorations.  It felt like we needed a long rest from our holiday travels.  Need to organize toys and girls’ closets.  Had to buy new shoes and longer pants for them… growth spurts.  Redoing and decorating the girls’ rooms. Cold weather.  Rainy, wet and colder weather.  Colds, Croups and Fevers being passed around.  Realizing that in just four weeks we will be celebrating Gabby’s 3rd birthday! Where does the time go… 

Excited to find a fudge brownie mix with chocolate chips that is peanut and dairy free. The product line is Cherrybrook Kitchen. We had them for dessert tonight. Very tasty. 

I let Ariana clean out the bowl and spatula. 

She seemed to enjoy the special treat. Hoping the girls can get better from their colds and we can catch up with our friends soon. 

I decided to have a Valentine countdown for the two weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day.  Just fun stuff for the girls… baking, crafting, and making cards for family and friends. Will try my best to post our activities!

We had a fun filled Christmas Break this year. We did so many activities and visited with so many loved ones. We started of by making homemade ornaments. The girls enjoyed kneading the dough and using cookie cutters. We then decorated the ornaments with paint and glitter.

Messy Indeed! 

Gabby kept saying the ornaments looked “delicious”… “I can just eat them mama”. 

The girls also were busy with holiday activities. We went over to our neighbor’s house for brunch one morning. What fun they had with the kids in their neighborhood. We also went to the holiday party at Cecil Field. Though, we didn’t stay long; Gabby was able to get her face painted. 

Jacksonville had lots going on for the kids in Downtown. We hung out with our friends the Davis Family. It was a really cold Saturday morning and we decide to hang out at our favorite downtown spot, the library. 

We finally took off for Miami, but had to make a quick stop to celebrate my nephew Aidan’s 5th birthday at Fuddruckers. 

Where Gabby tried her first vanilla shake. 

And where this little one couldn’t get enough of her abuelo.

More Christmas Memories with the arrival of the girls’ Tio Juan from London. 

Tio Juan happily played ball, hide and go seek, endured the torture of Dora and Diego cartoons and played some tunes for the girls. 

Gabby was smitten by her Tio Juan. 

We have definitely started a new tradition among the Sierra/ Rodriguez cousins. Noche Buena the kids enjoyed running around my in-laws backyard wearing their reindeer hats. Gabby and I spent the morning making them. 

And while it rained, it didn’t stop the reindeer games. 

After all the clowning and running around. The girls settled in for the evening in their Christmas PJs; which conincidently were reindeer pajamas this year. 

Sixteen years ago, I was sitting at home when my father surprised me with a little black and white cat my godmother had found in her backyard. My father said, my godmother had named her “Oreo”. I quickly changed her name to “Gatina”. I was pleasantly surprised that my father had finally given in to my countless requests for a kitty cat. I had unofficially been caring for the local alley cats in our neighborhood. Caring for them by providing food and water and a clean front door mat for them to sleep on.

When Gatina arrived, she hid for days; only peeking out to eat and drink water. Gatina had been terrorized by my godmother’s dogs for days. My godmother told me she couldn’t figure out why her dogs kept barking and jumping into the bushes. She finally took a peek and found a defenseless kitty. 

Gatina was always an indoor cat. On occasions she will sneak out and catch a lizard. She would quickly bestow the lizard to us and be proud of her days hunt. Other than that, she was like any other cat. Curled up on our couch or on our bed. While she wasn’t the most social cat; she was very loyal and loving towards us. On any given morning you could find Gatina on our bed and on our pillows. Some how she would manage to take over your pillow and leave you nothing but a hard mattress to sleep on. She learned to tolerate Gabby pulling her tail and Ariana pulling on her ears. Nevertheless, she would show her affection towards the girls by giving them head butts.  

Last Friday, around 6pm, I drove Gatina to the vet. As I drove, I cried. I cried because I knew this would be the last time I would see her. I cried because I knew Gabby would ask for her. I cried because I knew my cat was in pain. A couple of months ago, we noticed a bump on her side. The vet confirmed she had a tumor. Since Thanksgiving weekend, she had become increasingly lethargic, wasn’t eating or drink much. I had also noticed she had lost even more weight. As I sat at the vet’s office holding her, the medication was administered and she quietly drifted asleep. This may be crazy to say, but I’d like to think she is some place better… some place were she is not in pain. 

Goodbye Gatina.. you were loved and will be missed immensely.