Well, hello MoMs!!!!!

Does this blog make my behind look big? .....I feel like I should have given my blog an extreme makeover for this occasion!

This week, my little ol' blog is getting a shout out from the Multiples and More blog!!!...I'm giggling with excitement! . Oh wait, wait....before we get started I would like to thank the academy Lani and Amanda for thinking of us!

Just in case this is your first time here...get your 3D glasses on and get ready for a WILD ride!. Nah, just kidding, it's more like the ramblings of a chef wanna be, schnauzer loving, wifey, reggaeton closet lover, daughter and sister, aspiring marathoner, stay home/work from home mama!. I'm Andreina, mom to seven month old identical twin boys...Alexander and Lucas.

I became part of the multiples and more community when I first found out I was pregnant with twins. I loved reading blogs from other girls going through the same thing as I was as well as how the moms of babies/kids were doing. Quickly, I made great "blog friends"...and it was so awesome to get support throughout my pregnancy from everyone!. Now, I love seeing how the little ones are growing up and I LOVE reading from MoMs of older multiples because then I get a sneak peak of what's to come (the good, the bad and the ugly!)!.

I have so many favorite blogs I follow from that community!. Let me tell you, I think in order to have multiples you have GOT to have a sense of humor...and that's easy to come by if you start reading through the blog roll over at M&M.

To my friend bloggers, I am sorry if I'm not commenting as much as I used to on your blogs! It's just hard as you guys know and for some reason I can't comment from my blog reader on my blackberry!. Just know that I do still follow and read your stories (and cry and laugh with you!) :)

Thank you Lani and Amanda for doing such an awesome job with this community! You guys rock!!!!!

And thanks everyone else for stopping by!!!...make yourselves comfortable, have some coffee (or a Margarita if you're still celebrating Cinco de Mayo!) and I hope you stay a while ;)

I leave you with a picture of my two favorite little guys....Alex & Lucas.

Celebrating with live entertainment

Last week it was my 28th 33rd birthday. I had an awesome day...lunch with the hubs, coffee with my mommy friends and finally dinner at home.

Then, my mother in law offered to stay with the kiddos on Saturday night so we could go out. This is the second time the hubs and I have been out on a dinner date since they were born, so needless to say we were excited.

Where do we go?. We talked about this all week....so many options, so little time (literally!). I kept telling Alejandro I wanted to go somewhere lively -- with maybe some sort of entertainment. Well, we couldn't figure out what met those specifications...so we settled to go somewhere with a guaranteed awesome meal: a nice steakhouse in town (you know, the kind with the ridiculous expensive cars parked in the front).

The place was awesome, the food was delicious. But, live entertainment?

Oh yeah...we got our piece of entertainment!.

There were two wealthy older couples sitting across from us. All of the sudden, we hear some commotion...and see that the two old geezers guys are about to FIGHT!. No kidding, apparently one of them was making advances to the other one's lady friend under the table.

There was some screaming and even some pulling up of shirts to get ready to "take it outside".

My hero husband thought he was going to have to leave his delicious steak, to break off the "fight".

Finally, one couple left (leaving the check to the other couple...haha, joke is one him considering the type of bottles of wine they had been drinking!)....and we got to enjoy the rest of the meal listening to what the one guy left with the check thought about his pal.

So there you go, I had my steak and my live entertainment too!. Gotta love birthdays.

Maybe I should stick to singing in Spanish

My boys love it when I sing to them. I mean, they LOVE IT. If they knew how to clap, I guarantee you they would clap after each song, with more excitement than you ever saw Paula Abdul back when American Idol was worth watching.

There is one song I sing to them every night or when I need them to calm down. You're guaranteed silence within a few minutes of singing it. All the other songs are usually tunes and words I just make up as I go.

Then one day, I thought "hmm, perhaps I should teach them some English kid tunes". You know, so when they get to school one day, they know who itsy bitsy spider is and all....and are not sitting there singing made up Spanish songs about what we're making for dinner or how beautiful their leg rolls are.

So I thought I would start with an all time favorite: "Old McDonald had a farm!". What kid doesn't love that song?. So off I went and started singing to them.

After a week or so of singing the new tune, they really started to love it as much as all my other great songs. Then one day, daddy came home for lunch...and I was busy singing to the fellas their "English tunes":

Old McDonald had a farm....and BINGO was his name-o, B-I-N-G-O...B-I-N-G-O...ee i ee i oh!!!

My husband looked at me puzzled. He was like did you just say?. I explained I wanted them to know some English songs so I was singing to them the old time favorite kid's tune!.

He started laughing...told me about my two-song fusion and then directed me to Google to find some lyrics so that when our kids do go to school they don't think Itsy Bitsy spider lived in Old McDonald's farm named BINGO!.

Easy yummy recipe...

You can never go wrong with tenderloin tips, can you?. For our anniversary dinner I decided to make up a recipe and it turned out great!.

Rosemary Port Tenderloin Tips

1 Tenderloin Tip
2-3 Shallots, minced
3-4 Rosemary Sprigs, chopped
3-4 Garlic tooth, minced
Port (about 1/2 cup)
Olive Oil
1 tsp brown sugar
S&P

Season tip with S&P and heat the olive oil in a pan until almost smoking (make sure it's hot!). Brown the meat in all sides, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and reduce the heat. Sautee the shallots with garlic and after a couple of minutes de-glaze the pan with the Port. Add the chopped rosemary, S&P to taste and a little bit of brown sugar. Let it cook for a minute or so and return the meat to the pan. The heat should now be medium low. You can cover the pan and after about 3-4 minutes flip it cover again and cook until desired doneness. We like ours medium and that was about 10-15 minutes in low/medium heat.



I served it with a simple salad with Olive oil/Balsamic dressing (arugula, watercress, tomatoes, avocados and red onion). On the side we also had garlic roasted baby potatoes....yummm!



In the interest of full disclosure, there also was a rack of lamb (mustard crusted)...my very first rack and well, maybe my last (at least with that recipe). I wasn't impressed so I'm pretending that never happened and not showing it off.

Since our anniversary feel on a Sunday, we went out Saturday night and had dinner at home Sunday...so it was a weekend long celebration ;)

Running update: Not feeling my foot is doing well lately so I haven't ran since Saturday. Just playing it by ear for now!

Happy Anniversary!!!!

Tomorrow (Sunday) is our anniversary!!!!

I couldn't have asked for a better year. It was just amazing and I feel blessed. I'm happy, in love, and so grateful!. Here is to 70 more years! (yeah, we plan to live a looong life!)

Baby, I love you and thank you for an unforgettable first year!!!

Who's under those hats?

Probably up to no good, the Mr and I, during "cotillon" time at our friend's wedding in November

...And here sharing a tender moment ;)

On another note...

Has anybody read "The Senator's Wife"??. Well, don't. It's painfully slow and boring. I can't wait to finish it. On the positive side, it does put me to sleep every night veru quickly!.

2009, here we come!

Happy New Year!. We got back today from our Marco Island mini-getaway. It was great!. Best company, beautiful hotel, spectacular beach, breathtaking sunsets (gotta love the West Coast!), a great pool, good food and of course...some good wine! (Alejandro's decided to crash our wine cabinet prior to heading down!).

The wine turned out to be a great idea because we quickly settled into a nice little routine while we were there (Wed-Sat). We would hit the beach/pool and relax (read, write resolutions, etc). We would then take a little walk down the beach, then back for a little more relaxation. Then it was time to get a workout in before hurrying up stairs to open a bottle, pour our selves to nice glasses of wine and head back down to the beach to take in the Sunset. A-w-e-s-o-m-e. Then back up stairs, polish off the wine while getting ready and go out for dinner.

I am ready for 2009!. My home office has been cleaned up and the calendars in there have been updated!. While on the beach, I used a handy little notebook my Mother-in-law gave me to write down some resolutions. To say I don't believe in resolutions would be a flat out lie!. I LOVE resolutions, I just never remember what they were!...so I truly can't say whether I followed through. I am sure this is my mind's self defensive way to keep me from thinking I'm a failure at the end of each year.

So I thought since I now have this little blog, I should write them here. This could be dangerous as my dad is my #1 Fan and I know he will remember (even if I don't, or if this blog entry mysteriously disappears before the end of '09!)

In either case, here it goes!

#1 - Finish my name Change -- I am basically two people at all times. For some things, and the majority of things, I still have my Maiden name. For other things I have married name. It is time to get it straight because it is a major pain in the behind. I was at the Dr's office last week and they had a hard time knowing who was waiting in the room...was it Miss "S" or Mrs "B"?? I even over heard them calling the insurance company because they wanted to verify the person sitting in the waiting area was the insured. Nice!.

My goal is to have this done prior to our 1st year anniversary (that means everything! frequent flyer accounts, insurance, bank accounts, auto stuff and all the systems at work -which will be painful-) ...I better get going!.


#2 - Run at least 40 miles a month -- I will track my progress here in the box to the right (which I just noticed is in urgent need of an update!!...I guess that's resolution #2B!). Along with this resolution I wrote down some mini goals while I was at the beach: Get My Ipod-Nike+ calibrated so I start tracking things more accurately, sign up for more races, join a run club.



#3 - Get organized in EVERY room -- The house still needs some stuff (like the new bedroom set I've been eyeing from Pottery Barn, a chandelier, a new mirror...etc, etc - I could go on and on, but this is a resolution list, not a wish list!). Buying and selecting all those things take time until you find just the perfect piece at the perfect price. However, the house has everything it needs to be a home...so it's time to get organized. I mean *every* corner in this house. I plan on selecting at least one space per month (no matter how big or small) and getting it organized!. I will post it here so I can hold myself accountable, and so you can laugh at the mess or smile at the transformation.


I have other ones that I don't want to write as resolutions because they should just be part of my life. What are those, you ask? (you didn't really, but I'll tell you anyway). Have a colorful diet (skittles don't count...and white and brown to be limited!), continue to work on getting back in shape (to lose the newlywed 12 lbs!) and continue to enjoy and be grateful for everything we have, starting with health!.

So what are your goals/resolutions for 2009? Feel free to share!

Here are some pictures from our mini get-away ;) Enjoy!


Our View...



Last Sunset of 2008...






Let's get this party started! (and look at my super-handsome husband!)






A little later...me jumping in bed, Alejandro wondering how old I am ;)


Day 2, Alejandro as we walked down to see the first sunset of 2009!


And me as we waited for dinner (a little chilly!)



And here was our last Sunset of the trip, Jan 2nd.





Good bye Marco Island, I will miss you.

2008 in Pictures...

I started writing this LONG post about 2008....but 2008 went by flying...or did it?. It was an intense, fun and unforgettable year for me and I wouldn't know where to start or end if I told you about it (plus it would be ridiculously boring!).

So rather than tell you, I'm just going to show you. So here we go, get comfortable as I take you down Andreina's 2008 Memory Lane....the year in pictures!

Disclaimer: There are some obvious moments missing, but those moments were just as special (I guess just not camera-ready moments!)

January

We rang in the New Year at my friend's house with both our moms!

The entire month of January was spent with preparations, preparations, preparations!. Finishing up all the details for the big day!. My sister, and Maid of Honor, was in town and thank God!! she was HUGE help!...Here is me working on the out of town bags (Isabella would not be very happy if I posted the one of her as it was not her best Kodak moment...which is highly unusual of Miss Photogenic!)

February

Aww, the month of love....and the month we went to the Chapel! (it was hard to choose pictures as you can imagine, so bear with me as I couldn't pick just a couple!

March

Let's MOVE!. I didn't find any pictures of the actual move, but believe me...this was a HUGE change!. I moved far enough to turn my life and routine upside down! (65 miles). Of course it was all worth it as I was moving to our new *home*.

Moving also meant I started working from home...another HUGE change and not as easy as a lot of people seem to think it is!. After a few months of crashing Alejandro's very-manly home office, I decided I needed my own space, so I made a new home office in one of the spare bedrooms.

That change made a tremendous difference...it's a little girlier and brighter!

Chepe celebrated his 4th birthday, happy as could be with his usual special Birthday dinner...ribs!

April

Happy Birthday to me!!!. I celebrated my 31st in my new home with Alejandro and his mom. I requested "little cakes" so I didn't have to deal with the temptation (very hard when you work from home!).

We also got invited to a Polo match!!! That was a lot of fun and very interesting!

....and last but not least, I got my new car!

May

Say hello to the new Engineer in the family (that's 3 for 3 sisters!). My sister Isabella graduated and I couldn't miss it!...it was so exciting to see her celebrating her huge accomplishment!!

Since I was in Colorado, a visit to my best friend was also in order!....her Fiance (now husband!) took us out on a very chilly but fun boat ride in the lake!

June

Que Viva Espana!!!. Spain played and won the Euro cup finals!! woo-hoo!

July

We went out to celebrate my promotion!. It was a huge promotion and with that came more changes for me...more travel, more responsibility and less free time! (making it even more challenging to find my new routine!).

We also had our yearly visit to the Cape to our friend's house to celebrate July 4th.

My best friend got married in July too! We had a grat time and it was a beautiful wedding..I just don't have any pictures :(

August

Like I said, I was busier with my new job...so busy that I can't find a single picture from August!. So there you have it, a BUSY picture-less month!

September

I left my heart in San Francisco...

Really, all over California!. We had a 2nd honeymoon (or so I liked to call it...and let me just say we scored some upgrades thanks to that!). We started out in San Francisco, drove down to Monterrey, Carmel by the Sea, Big Sur, headed West to Yosemite for some hiking and ended up in Wine country were we met up with some friends. It was one of the best vacations I have ever taken!

During the month of September we had a very special visit from my Dad & isa. I just can't find those pictures on this computer!. We had a wonderful special birthday dinner for Isabel!

October

Halloween!!!!. Alejandro and I had to look for last minutes costumes and ended up at Sports Authority and decided to be referees!

What I loved most about October was that I discovered my new love...RUNNING!. I started running in September, but it was towwards the end so my first full month was October!

While I ran, Chepe indulged in his favorite past time...NAPPING!. This picture could have been taken in any given month really...as this is how we often find him in the sofa!

And let's not forget October was Down Syndrome awareness month. My sister and nephews joined me in the walk to support our little friend Niko and his parents :)

Here is me with both my nephews (they were very tired!)

November

This was a special month!. We celebrated Alejandro's birthday with a quiet dinner at home, but then got a visit from our friends Jeff & Emily!. We all took a boat ride on the intercoastal to see how the riches live ;)

We also celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our home as Mr & Mrs ;)). It was extra special because my sister, nephews and brother in law joined Alejandro, me and his mom!.

And we went to a friend's wedding and made it into a tiny little getaway ;)

December

And that bring us to December. I loved the Holidays, all the family and friends...but most of all...I loved my RACE!!!. I know, that sounds a lil' selfish, but I'm just being honest here. I loved it and it was a great way to end the year!. All those runs...the good, the bad and the ugly brought me to that day. It was all worth it!...even the runs that my mind kept wondering "why the heck am I doing this!!?", all the alcohol shots that made my toes look like tiny little hot dogs...all. worth. it.

I hope 2009 brings more races and more fitness!.

Of course I also loved Christmas and having our house all decorated! ;)

Tomorrow the husband and I will leave on a little getaway to ring in 2009 (I just realized I had written 2010! I'm jumping ahead of myself!). I cannot wait to see what the new year has in store for us!.

I hope you all have a safe, peaceful and Happy New Year!!!!. I hope 2009 brings you all HEALTH, love, happiness, success and joy!

Cheers,

Andreina