NINE YEARS.

Nine years ago today, I remember knocking on the door of a guy I met not too long ago and I had serious feelings for him. I was so nervous that I almost ran back to my car. Good thing I didn't. He opens the door and leads me to the dinner table where he has cooked spaghetti and meatballs (very much Lady & the Tramp vibe going on here) with a single rose right by my plate. After dinner, we turn the television on where the only movie that was playing was Knocked Up so we watched that. In between commercials he mutes the movie and says to me, "I hope you enjoyed dinner. I'm good at making pasta dishes and soooo I kinda like you a lot so maybe I was thinking do you want to be my girlfriend?" And I know he said these exact words to me because I have it written on my journal on 10/11/2009 with lots of hearts around it.

Nine years flash forward and here I am literally knocked up with twins on the way. Earlier today, he leaves the kitchen asking me, "what do you want for lunch, sugar plum?" I walk away and laugh out loud and he mumbles "well that's the last time I try to be sweet" and gives me the same smile I first fell in love with. I hear our Emma yelling in the background, "Daddy, where are you!?" and when she finds him, she hugs him tight as if she hasn't seen him in days. The crazy thing is that I envisioned our life exactly the way it is now nine years ago. I only knew Kevin for a few months and I knew he was going to be the one I marry, the one who I adopt fur-babies with, the one I find a home with, the one I raise children with, and the one I will grow old with. I knew all of that before he knew it himself and I didn't tell him that until after he proposed. OBVIOUSLY. I mean I didn't want to scare him away, but I knew. Before you, I thought I knew love, but I had no idea. God knew I needed you. Love is what we have now, what we've built together for the past nine years, and what I know we will have for years to come. Happy 9 years, mi Amor. I love you.

With love, 

Ale 

Dear Danielita.

Dear Hermanita,

When I saw you walk on that stage, all I saw was 5 year old Daniela pretending to be a ballerina, wearing her new tutu and twirling in the hallway of our old home and now, here you are, about to embark the next chapter of your life: college. When I saw you walk on that stage, I couldn't help the tears that ran down my face (I have them now as I am writing this). My concert buddy won't be 45 minutes away fro me. I won't have you to come over and spend the night so we can watch (one of the following) Pride & Prejudice, The Proposal, or About Time over and over again. Over the last few years, you've become my closest friend. We danced, laughed, and screamed our guts out (more me than you) because The Backstreet Boys were right in front of us. You've cried when you found out that I got us tickets to see Ariana Grande or Justin Bieber. You have witnessed Emma's birth and nervously accepted to be our photographer during the 14 hour process. You've been there for every important moment in my life and I am going to miss not having you only 45 minutes away. I may be sad, but my happiness overpowers my sadness by a lot! I cannot wait to hear all your stories and spend weekends with you in the near future and I'll bring Emma and it'll be a girls weekend! Just like the ones we've always had, except it'll be in your college dorm or at a hotel room.
I cannot wait to see where this journey takes you and to see the friendships you'll make and to hear about the knowledge you'll gain. Mi hermanita, I don't know if you know this, but your light had always shone the brightest, not just because of your beauty, but because of the brains you have as well. You make me want to go back to school because listening to you and learning about the things you tell me is inspiring. I know one day Emma will see you and I know she's going to say "I hope to be like my Tia one day." You are the greatest role model for her and all young girls.
High school is fun and important, but it's nothing like college. Start this new journey the way you've  started any obstacle in your life with a smile and with the positivity that you always carry with you. You know that you can count on me every step of the way. We love you very much. Congratulations, hermanita. I am proud to be your big sister, and always will be.

**photos taken by my beautiful friend, Andrea Villa**





With love,

Ale

Things that Emma say.

Emma is talking more and more and I love watching her learn new skills every week.  Here are some words or phrases that she has learned in the last few months:

-When we say, "ready, set.." and Emma yells, "GO!"

- It's cold.

-It's HOT! (she typically will scream this phrase, not sure why. She's silly).

-Hi!

-Dyeeee!! (for "bye" LOL)

- All done (and waves her little hands to show that there is nothing on her plate).

- I...love....(and she will dance to the name instead of saying it).

- Dada...

-AND she finally says MAMA!

-Let's go! (and will typically scream it).

-On and Off

-She says coc for sock. LOL. We are working on that one.

-kkpppa for "ipad"

-eche for "leche"

- When we sing the wheels on the bus song, she will always sing and attempt on saying the ending of each chorus "ALL THROUGH THE TOWN!!"

- She can't say the words too clearly yet, but she sings twinkle, twinkle, little star and you can tell by the melody of the song and she can say the word "star".

- When she counts, she always says, "two" and totally skips one and three. We are also working on our numbers.

- Whenever we do something she really likes such as picking her up and twirling together, she will say "again!"

-Dexttahh!

-cooooww

-woof for dog

-Nanaaa

-And she says mmm for anything she can't say and we ask her to try. Her response is always, "mmmm"

-thankuuuuu for thank you

-eeeessse for please

-She attempts to sing "if you're happy and you know it" and she will yell "hooray" at the part where it says to say hooray. She gets super happy.

- "naaack!" for snack

- she hides when she needs to poop and when she is all done, she says, "i pooped'. I think she is ready for potty training this summer.

-& her current favorite word is "noo" but she says the n as "ñ" like how you would say ñiño/a.



I know I've said it a million times before and I will never stop saying it, but I love being a mom.

With love,
Ale

Danielita.

To everyone else, she's Daniela. To me and our family, she's Danielita. Kevin will call her that in public sometimes and she will ignore him as any 17 almost 18 year old would do.

18 years old. I just stopped in thought. I am thinking about the moment we learned that you were on the way. Before I share that story, let me say that I prayed for my little sister for YEARS and I begged my parents for a little sister every Christmas and it was my wish every time I blew out my birthday candle. You see, I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I was a HUGE Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen fan growing up and I wanted that sisterly connection so bad. Having a brother was cool and all that, but there's nothing like that sisterly bond (I love you, Tono). Then, one day, at the Merced Mall Food Court while my brother and I were about to enjoy our chicken sandwiches our mother shared the most joyous news and you know how I just stopped in thought about 2 minutes ago? The same thing happened to me during that moment back in 1999 when my mom told us she was pregnant. Then, I prayed for every second since that moment asking God to PLEASE send us a little girl. I know I had nothing to do with that and Daniela was probably a girl before sending those prayers, but I got my little sister and my heart has been so full since her arrival. You see that moment doesn't feel like it was more than 18 years ago. Just thinking about that moment pulls on my heartstrings in the best way possible and it honestly feels like it was just yesterday.

My sister was and still is the very expressive type. You can tell what she is thinking or feeling just by looking at her eyes. At One, she ruled our home. Oh, and once she started walking, goodbye freedom. I didn't lose my freedom when Emma started walking a few months ago, I lost it about 17 years ago the day Danielita learned to walk. She was our shadow and wanted to do everything that our brother and I did. At Two, I started teaching her every Disney song, Backstreet Boy song or Spice Girl song there is and we would dance to their music every weekend. At Three and Four, she would be my little hostess whenever my friends would come to our house. I was always surprised at how well she would fit in any group. I mean my friends and I were 11 years older than her and she would be able to hold a conversation just as well. At age Five, she would come home and share what she would learn at school and I loved how she would explain everything to me. I love her love for learning till this day. As she moved on to middle school, I started to realize that she passed my grade point average a long time ago and she was only in 8th grade. Then, High School happened and her love for fashion became more noticeable. She is my professional make-up artist and go to stylist. She has the confidence that I wish I had at her age.

18 years later and there hasn't been a day that I don't thank God for sending my family my sister. I finally have that one person who knows what I am thinking without even saying anything. I finally have that one person who can finish the rest of my sentences on accident. I finally have that one person I can share everything with and laugh and cry and sing Backstreet Boys with. I have been so lucky to have been a big sister to my Danielita. On her 18th birthday, words cannot express how much I love you.

With love,
Wawa