Author Archives: Amanda

Effecting my other babies

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Today is 2 weeks & 5 days of us being a family of 5.  I don’t think it’s been going extremely fast as I feel like Aliyah has been here with us a lot longer than that.  But she hasn’t and I’m sitting back and realizing how different things actually are.

I didn’t expect things to change much, because what’s another kid in the scheme of things?  Things are actually changing with the other two.  Things that I don’t want to change are changing.  I’m holding a lot of this in and it’s probably not a good thing, but I’m very emotional about the differences in their personalities that I’m noticing.

Jayden’s not listening as well as he did before.  I’ve been frustrated with him and my patience is worn so thin already from Ella’s new behavior issues that I just at times CAN’T HANDLE ANYTHING MORE.  It seems like when I’m at my breaking point Jayden starts acting out.  Then I sit here thinking….. holy crap what in the world am I going to do?  Then after I’m acting frustrated and irritated with Jayden I start to feel so guilty.  I expect him to always be good and be my helper, but I can’t expect these things always from him.  He’s 9, and he’s so patient and understanding when it comes to his sisters.  He knows that they’re younger and that they require more attention, and he never complains.  I owe it to him to be patient with him.  I owe it to him to make sure that I am putting aside time EVERY, SINGLE DAY for just the two of us.  Just the two of us to talk, to read, to watch a movie together….. I HAVE to make sure that he’s getting his special attention from his mom.  I HAVE to remember that he needs praise for all of the things that he does for me.  I can’t forget to let him know how grateful I am for all the help he gives me, for the hard work he puts into his school work, and for the amazing big brother he is to both of his sisters.

My Ella.  Oh my sweet, sweet girl who seriously has my heart grasped in her little hand.  She’s been my baby for the past 3 1/2 years and all of a sudden when I look at her I don’t see baby anymore; I see a girl.  Ever since I came home from the hospital she doubled in size.  She’s become more independent and doesn’t “need” me as much anymore.  I still cling to the snuggles I get when she crawls into my bed in the middle of the night.  As much as I don’t like her in my bed, it still gives me a sense of her still being my baby girl in a way.  She’s been amazing with her new baby sister.  No jealousy, just love.  She’s been a struggle though in other ways.  She isn’t listening.  At all.  To the point where I seriously just want to freak the freak out.  My patience with her has worn EXTREMELY thin and I find myself just praying that we can have one day of her cooperating and not making things difficult for me.  Actually, not even a day…. half of a day would be lovely.

But I need to realize that life for them has changed.  For Jayden it’s changed drastically, because not only has a new baby entered his life – he’s now being homeschooled.  I need to find the patience within me that they need.  I need to realize that they’re acting out because life as they knew it has changed.

Many people have told me that 3 kids is hard, and I’m realizing now that it’s the effect on the other children that makes it hard.  Adding Aliyah into the mix isn’t hard; she’s not hard.  It’s just having everybody find their new place in this growing family.  It’s me having to allow Ella to become a little girl as she so abruptly flees from being my baby.  It’s making sure that Jayden doesn’t feel like he’s getting lost in the mix of little ones.  These are the things that are hard as a mom for me.  My heart aches thinking that they might silently be struggling inside with the new changes in our life.

But in the end I know they love Aliyah so much, and I know that this too shall pass.  And until then I will lavish in these beauties that I call mine.

Pour Your Heart Out…. In Laws

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Believe it or not I hate drama. I say believe it or not, because it seems like we ALWAYS have drama going on with family. So I’m here to pour it all out.

I’ve never had a good relationship with my inlaws. They have this preconceived idea in their minds about me, and it’s never changed. We’ve basically played fake with each other for the past 10 years. I’ve always known they didn’t like me, and with how they’ve treated me in the past…. sadly, I’ve never respected them.

The thing that gets me is the act they’ve put on with how wonderful they’ve been to my husband and his brother….. the people gave them a place to live and THAT IS IS. That’s not being a parent. What did they do to set them up for success in life? NOTHING. My husband turned 18 and for Christmas he got tubberware and basically a rush for him to move out so they could play house with his step-mom’s real children. Did they prepare him for college? NOPE. But they have this attitude that they have done so much for them. Sorry, but the fact that his dad is biologically his dad he had no choice….. and doing the absolute minimum for your children is not what I would call a fantastic father.

But the above is not my opinion, the above is my husband’s opinion. The above is how my husband has always felt. Marrying me and starting OUR family is where my husband has discovered what true parenting is really all about.

With that said – it seems that we are having a major issue here based on the fact that I wouldn’t allow my inlaws to camp out and take over my entire downstairs area with their 2 big, teenage children and themselves…. sleeping on my couch and literally making it so there is nowhere comfortable to sit, 4 DAYS AFTER I GIVE BIRTH TO MY DAUGHTER. The comments of “I don’t think you should even have to ask to visit family” makes me laugh. Um, I’m sorry you feel that way, but when you coming to visit actually means me basically not having a house then you bet your ass you’re gonna ask if you can come visit. On normal circumstances, it’s okay to come and visit and take over my entire downstairs of my house, of course with notice …. but 4 DAYS AFTER I GIVE BIRTH ~ I’m sorry, but even the idea entering your head that this would be okay is not okay to me.

I’m of course the devil who is brain washing my husband even though my husband is a grown man who has always had his own opinions on his family. He didn’t need any brain washing from me. I can’t help but giggle at the fact that they really think that.

To be honest, my husband I are so sick of family drama that we just can’t do it. My family is filled with it, now his family is filled with it and it’s just exhausting! Especially right after we have our baby and then her having to be admitted back into the hospital.

I can say this much…. moving to Oregon away from all of them was by far the smartest thing we ever did.

Aliyah’s First Tanning Bed

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I’m sitting in the hospital with little miss Aliyah and can’t connect my computer to the Wifi and thought to myself ~ what a perfect time to try to blog from my DROID.

Aliyah was born with something called Coombs. The word made me squeemish and wonder what the %*#! But once the doctor explained it a little more I relaxed. Aliyah has the blood type of A+ and I have the blood type of O- so basically my blood was attacking her blood, which makes her belirubin levels high.  For the first few days of her life the levels weren’t alarmingly high, but as of yesterday they were.  She was looking a little too yellow and after getting her blood tested it was decided she needed to be admitted into the hospital and spend some time under lights.

It’s really been uneventful, she spends most of her time in the incubator and comes out every 2 hours to eat and get snuggles from her mama.

I just can’t get enough of this baby girl and feel so happy and so blessed to have her in our family.  She’s such a good baby so far!  She loves to just snuggle into me and I just love to breathe her in.  I look at her and am in complete awe at how she’s mine, and she’s Gino’s, and she looks equally like her brother and her sister ~ she’s a new little puzzle piece to our beautiful family.  I’m still on a cloud 9 high over her.

Just a Motivating Monday

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I LOVE inspiring things to motivate me and I thought what better of a day to read inspiration than on dreadful Mondays. If you would like to write something you think will inspire or motivate others PLEASE link up!! I’d love to read your words and I’m sure that others would as well!

It’s been so long since I’ve done Motivating Monday, but it’s back! One of my favorite books that I think every single person alive should read is called {The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews}. Today for Just a Motivating Monday I wanted to share a quote out of it that sang to my heart when I read it.

“Circumstances do not push or pull. They are daily lessons to be studied and gleaned for new knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom that is applied will bring about a brighter tomorrow. A person who is depressed is spending too much time thinking about the way things are now and not enough time thinking about how he wants things to be.”

I know that when we go through a hard time in our lives it’s hard to not dwell and focus on just that. Changing our focus to how we would rather things be going turns a negative situation into a positive one. Focusing on what lesson we can learn from our hard times only betters our lives in the future.

I’m hoping that this quote inspires you in some way in your life.  And I hope if you have some inspiring words or posts that you’ll link them up!  I love to read inspiring things.

and then there were 5

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Through my pregnancy I was absolutely terrified that this little girl would enter this world and I wouldn’t be able to love her like I love Jayden and Ella.  I knew in my hear that this honestly in no way could even be possible, but I always had this small fear within me.

Aliyah came out and I thought WOW! She looks so much like Ella, and then I thought wait… she looks just like Jayden.  Then we discovered her eyebrows, eyes & nose are literally Jayden’s features to the T!  Then her mouth and cheeks are Ella to the T.  I got this perfect little miracle that’s both of my kids combined into one.

Oh, and that fear of not loving her the same way vanished the minute I heard her cry.  I am HEAD. OVER. HEELS. IN. LOVE!

Today Aliyah is 4 days old and she sleeps more than Ella & Jayden ever slept.  I don’t know if this is because I’m nursing her instead of formula feeding.  Speaking of nursing, it’s going amazingly well.  I’ve heard basically horror story after horror story and was pretty scared going into it, but am so glad I chose to go with it.  I don’t have a horror story yet, and hopefully don’t get one.  It doesn’t hurt and she’s loving it, and I never thought I’d say this but I’m loving it too.

Jayden is loving her and always says in the cutest voice, “She’s just so adorable!”  Ella has amazingly not shown one ounce of jealousy towards her new baby sister.  I don’t really understand why things are going to smoothly and why everyone is just perfectly happy, but they are and we are.

A little snippet about the day that I had Aliyah ~ 4 hours after I had her my mom showed up at the hospital with my children.  Ella walked in with this whole new attitude and I think I might have actually felt my heart break into two.  She didn’t want to hug me, she didn’t show any interest in her sister, all in all I thought it was going to be a horrible experience.  But then they handed Aliyah to Ella, and the look on her face in the pictures says so many things.  Most of all it shows the months and months of anticipation that Ella has gone through and finally being able to see her baby sister and hold her in her arms was everything to her.


After analyzing her and realizing the reality of her having a baby sister she decided that she absolutely loves her and I think her face here pretty much screams that

Then there’s the superstar big brother. Jayden has melted my heart with not only Ella, but now Aliyah as well. I have this video of him at the hospital when he came to meet her and he’s singing a lullaby to her. I have to say that I am beyond blessed to have Jayden as my son. He loves his sisters, and his love is so big that you can just feel it radiating off of him.


Gino and I are completely different this time around. With Jayden we were REALLY young and clueless, and didn’t even really get along with each other. With Ella we were 110% more comfortable and better at the whole parenting thing since we’d been parents for 6 years already. This time around we feel like we’re pros. She’s just fit perfectly into the crazy little family life we have going on here, and I feel like we know even more on how to adjust to a newborn in our family. The only major difference this time around is I’m breastfeeding, but I’m actually finding that more enjoyable and easier than bottle feeding….. especially in the middle of the night.

I have had an over abundance of help between my husband and my amazing and beautiful friend that lives right next door.  Gino took a month off of work and I’m so sad that this next week is his last week off.  It’s pretty much a subject that I don’t really want to talk about too much, because I could cry.

I can’t believe I have 3 kids!  I can’t believe we’re a family of 5!  I love it…. I have always wanted a big family and Gino and I are fulfilling OUR dream, and that’s all that matters.  Here’s our first family picture of us as a family of 5

We’re Homeschooling! And I’m STILL pregnant

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I really got quite used to my blog break.  I must say though…. I NEEDED IT!  With everything going on in our lives right now, I needed 110% focus on my life.  Tonight as I sit in a very quiet living room, with my children fast asleep, I felt the desire to come on here and talk a bit about things going on.

I’m still pregnant!  Last doctor’s appointment was a week ago and I was dilated to a 2 and doctor didn’t think I’d make it all the way to my induction date.  Kinda put the reality of oh baby right in me!  Next appointment is Thursday and I CAN’T WAIT to see if there’s any progression.  The contractions have come more frequently and some even contain pain…. not cool!  In 2 weeks from today I will be induced, and I will get to kiss the sweet little face of my baby girl.

We are officially homeschooling!  The first week was a whirlwind and I thought to myself…. holy crap what in the world are we doing?!  There were days that Jayden would go to his room crying and I’d sit and think how is this going to work?!  Then amazingly, together we’d get down on our knees and pray to God for guidance, patience, understanding and it works.  We HAVE to start out our homeschool day with a prayer or strangely it just doens’t work.

Jayden’s thriving and loving it.  I’ve noticed Ella & Jayden becoming even more close {didn’t know that was possible} and that in itself makes me gleam inside.

Speaking of Ella we joined a preschool co-op!  She goes twice a week and LOVES IT!  I think it’s great for her too, because she’s still getting the homeschool setting (we rotate houses and who teaches weekly) but gets to be with other children her age.  We currently have 3 kids and will do a max of 4.  Ella’s been learning a lot lately.  I try to do school with her when I do school with Jayden.  She’s doing a Letter of the Week curriculum at home.  I’m not pushing her or drilling in her head things that I want her to know, I’m just introducing her and letting her take her time and enjoy letters.

So… the Garibays are happy, healthy and EXTREMELY busy!  I should be having more time to blog now that I feel things dwindling down a bit.  I had to get used to the new schedule of not working and homeschooling.  It’s working and we’re loving it!

Photoshoot Preview

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Yesterday I had two amazing photoshoots and thought I’d share a picture from each other them. The first was the super cute Lewis Family. And the second was engagement pictures for my dear friend Amber & her fiance Benito. I love love love Amber to death and think of her as my little sister. Hope you enjoy the little preview!!

The post about it all!

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I woke this morning to one of the most beautiful faces I’ve ever seen.  Her first words to me were, “No work today?”  and I smiled with this warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart and replied, “No, no more work for me, Ella.” and what came out of her mouth next floored me….

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

I am so blessed to have a daughter that makes me laugh all throughout the day…. starting with first thing in the morning.

Today was amazing.  I had time to do things around the house, do my homework, spend time with my children, make a home cooked meal without stressing about only having so many hours to fit that in with homework and my kids and bed time routine and the other million things I have to accomplish in a day’s work.

And because I know you’re just DYING to know how adorable my children were for Halloween I come with pictures!

Ella was BFF hearts w/her friend Ruthie.  We decided to spice it up a tad and make them into an angel & a devil BFF hearts.  They were pretty much ADORABLE.

Jayden was Darth Vader.  I think he was more excited about the light up light saber that he got with his costume.

The kids had a BLAST!  Ella loved running up to each house and would actually walk into their houses when they opened the door…. she’s not shy!


And because a pregnancy update is totally needed ~ 4 weeks from today for induction and I’m feeling SO pregnant! Baby gets hiccups about 5 times a day, and she’s still moving and shaking like crazy in there. Today I’m 35 weeks 1 day.