Expectations for 2011

I can pretty much guaruntee this will be my last post of 2010 and as I sit here counting the minutes remaining in my work day I have to think of all I am thankful for that I received in 2010. In addition I'm thinking of my expectations for 2011.

2010 gave me my pride and joy, my beautiful son Antonio born on January 12th, 2010.  That child melts my heart more and more each day. I also noticed a transition in my daughter Sofia. She said goodbye to her last little bits of baby fat and looks more like a little girl now than my little chubby baby :::tear:::  But I'm so happy seeing her grow and learn and develop into a young lady.....and I'm definitely anxious to see how she changes in the upcoming year.

As for 2011 i'm hoping to ........

• Become a better photographer and maybe even take some classes or attend a workshop. My new baby Nikon D5000 will be put to good use........prepare to be overloaded with pics in the upcoming year people!
• Get Fifi's Closet where it needs to be with more merchandise and better pics ...definitly some self promotion!
• Become more organized in everyday life so I can enjoy more time with the bebes! (I think I'm a mess right now so I'm working on that)
• Take more time for myself.  I feel like 2010, while filled with blessings, was a year that I put myself to the side.....I let myself go a little ...ok ALOT!  I've always dressed nice and done my hair and made sure I was put together but 2010 got the best of me and I think I was a bit overwhelmed with life and being a mother of 2 now.  2011 is MY year and I WILL spend more taking care of ME!
• I also hope to find a home church which will either be Baptist or Pentecostal most likely I just haven't found one that totally feels 100% right for me ....but I know GOD has the place for me and my family and hopefully it ill be found soon!

Anyways I wish all of you an upcoming year full of blessings, happiness and love! I hope that you all have a fantastic New Year's whether at parties, at church or snuggling up at home! See you in 2011 !!!

Oh yeah don't forget to click the button below to vote for me on TMB too ....OR ELSE!!!......Just kidding! !

Check out some of these Thursday Blog Hops too!

DSLR Photography Help

So I just got my new baby of a camera as you all know....the Lovely Nikon D5000 and I'm having some trouble starting off. I tried shooting in manual mode as well as some of the preset options and to no avail. My apartment is a basement apartment so the lighting is atrocious. I've tried to manually play with the ISO settings and even use a flash attachment but all my pics just come out blurry, too bright or too dark. I will be buying my other lens a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 soon but until then ......Please give me some tips! Pretty Pretty Please!

Its Wednesday People!

Ahhhhh One more day after today then another lovely 3 day weekend. I have been slow checking out some of your blogs because of the holidays and there are some many but I promise I will soon. Happy hopping :)



Please please please vote for me on TMB too......I will be oh so happy if you click the button below!

Christmas/Weekend Recap

I must say we had a flippin awesome Christmas! Babies were happy and this year was Sofia's first year actually understanding about Santa and gifts and stuff so it was pretty exciting for me to see her little face light up.

I think my face lit up even more when Daddy surprised me with that Nikon D5000!! As I said in my last post I literally cried like I gave birth or something...I was THAT happy! Brownie Points for Daddy! I've been playing with it the past few days so hopefully I will finally be able to post pics of the bebes which haven't happened in forever.  Here is a little pic of baby #3. BTW he also got me a nice bag, lens cleaner, camera strap and memory cards.....PLAIN AWESOMENESS!




I have some great shots of Antonio's first haircut and OMG he is such a big boy now :::wipes single tear::: I can't believe my handsome little man will be 1 on the 12th. I think I'm sensing baby fever coming on again! Someone please slap me!

The holiday definitely went way too fast but I did get one extra day off yesterday....Thanks to mother nature for slamming North Jersey with one insane snowstorm yesterday. Bad enough for my job to close which hasn't happened since 2006! I never loved snow soooooo much!

As for now I'm back at work today just reading everyone else's Christmas updates .....How were all of your holidays?

Monday Mingle - December 27th

So this is my first Monday Mingle and I was a bit nervous ....lol....Sorry ! I hope I don't look like a total dork.  Anywho ...Enjoy!  You can also play along at Eighy MPH Mom.  I must've been really nervous because I just realized I called Sofia my "2 yr old" and shes 3 now! Total mom brain! I totally brushed her off too ...not purposely but usually she is trying to close the computer or pull it off my lap and I was hoping she might behave!

I also forgot to mention it ....but I was gonna get Antonio on camera to show you all his new haircut....that's right my baby had his first haircut the day before his first Christmas! He looks like such a big boy now.  We gave him a little mohawk which looks too cute! Hopefully I will get a pic up soon! And don't forget to vote for me on TMB by clicking the little button on the left ..>> TIA!!!

THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS (submitted by Paula from Thrifty Mommas Tips):

1. What first name would you have chosen for yourself? Why?
2. What city or country have you visited that has the coolest name?
3. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about yourself what would it be?

I don't think the linky is up yet for this week but I will link up hopefully once it's posted :)

I'm also in the spot light on ....

Fifi's Closet Custom Item - [Giveaway Winner]

I had this post scheduled but for some reason it never posted ........sooooooooooooooooooo...............

Congrats to........................

deanna said... 60

fifi's closet GFC deannalw47 at hotmail dot com xoxoxo

December 23, 2010 2:58 PM 

Deanna - Please email me so we can discuss the details or your prize! Thank you as always to all who participated and many wishes for a wonderful Christmas!

I'm a day late..

but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and that we all not forget the true meaning of Christmas....the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I hope everyone had a wonderful day filled with blessings and surrounded by love!

I would also just like to mention that daddy outdid himself this year and suprised me with my new camera!!!!!!! He got me the Nikon D5000 which I totally didn't expect. I was so elated I cried as if I just gave birth and it was the first time seeing my child! He scored some major Brownie Points! Ahhhhh the perks of having an SO who works for Best Buy!

Anywho I will update with some pics soon ....for now I'm just playing with my new baby and annoying my babies with a camera in their face all day....but what mom doesn't!

Saturday Stalk

Happy Holidays Everyone! This week, it might take us a little longer to follow back with all of the festivities so make sure to leave a comment under this post and we will visit you back as soon as possible! Welcome to Saturday Stalk, a blog hop hosted by Just Married with Coupons AND Debbie Does Coupons & YOU! We will pick one featured guest each week to hop with us. We will randomly pick a participant. Make sure you post our button each week if you would like to be eligible!

Thanks for those who have been participating from week to week and a big welcome to you if this is your first time. We are so glad you are here! This blog hop is all about having fun, meeting new bloggers and building new readership!

Grab our Hop Button

<a href="http://www.justmarriedwithcoupons.com/search/label/Saturday%20Stalk%20for%20Savings%20-%20Blog%20Hop" target="_blank"><img alt="Just Married with Coupons" src="http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3173/saturdayfeaturedstalkbu.gif" /></a>

This week's featured guest is:

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Blog Hop Rules

1. Follow the (2) hosts and the featured host: Just Married with Coupons, Debbie Does Coupons & One, Two, Buckle My Shoe  then we WILL FOLLOW YOU BACK!
2. Copy the Saturday Stalk into a blog post on your site.
3. Come back and post the direct link to that blog post here into the link forms below..
4. Follow as many participants as you would like, leave them a comment letting them know you're are following them.
5. Follow back anyone that is now following you and leave them a comment back letting them know you're following back through this event
6. HAVE FUN STALKING!

Christmas Here I Come.

Ahhhhh Finally! Today is my last day of work then off for 3 days! Today was also payday which means last minute Christmas shopping today and tomorrow too. I probably wont post again until Monday except to announce the Giveaway Winner.  You still have time to enter as I won't choose a winner until about 3pm or so today so get your  comments in! I would love some new followers for Christmas .....






.....and some votes on Top mommy Blogs would equal total awesomeness too! Remember just by clicking to vote that gives you an entry in the giveaway too as long as you comment that you voted! Click below to vote for me!

Meet Me On Monday - 2nd Edition

So i thought this was kinda fun last week and decided to participate again this week...you can also play along at Never Growing Old !!! Oh yeah.....if you like what you see would you be ever so kind and vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking the button below ....PRETTY PLEASE?!?!









1. What will your Christmas dinner consist of?

We cook a traditional Latin/Caribbean dinner which consists of Pernil/Lechon (Pork Shoulder), Arroz con gandules (Rice w/Pigeon Peas), Salad...








sometimes Pasteles....








but those are alot of work and we did them for Thanksgiving instead this year, so we might skip them for x-mas.  We also make Arroz con Dulce (Rice Pudding).







I also plan on making a few batches of Christmas cookies later this week.  Just simple dinner at home with the babies.

2. Do you watch commercials or flip through the channels?

I despise commercials so I am a flipper, however once I find something i will leave it there. I hate people that find a movie and every 10 minutes they change it. Daddy is like that. As soon as i start getting into whatever he picks he will up and change it .....over and over and over till I want to hurt him! DRIVES ME INSANE!

3. How long will you leave your Christmas decorations up?

TOO LONG! Only because I love Christmas and I'm a bit lazy.  Last year was awesome.  My wonderful mama took everything down for me on January 12th when I went in for my c-section so I had nothing to do when I got home. One time I had a real tree which I hated, and I left it up till it was brown and falling apart ...I know ....GROSS!

4. What movie makes you cry every time you watch it?

I know this is corny but the Disney movie UP....makes me cry when that poor old guy's wife is gone within the first 10 minutes of the movie....jeez....Way to go Disney!

5. Do you have a Facebook?

Yeah I do and I used to be super addicted ...uploading pics of my kiddies constantly till the whole Camera in the Garbage incident with my kid....but not that Daddy brought a new better one home I might become a facebook junkie again :) For now I'm more of a blogger junkie!

 

Figures

I was finally able to get a few great shots of the bebes and so ecstatic to share them with you on my blog ......but it figures the memory card in the new camera isn't compatible with either of our laptops. So now I'm just waiting on Daddy to get home to see if he has the cables for this darn thing! AGHHHH what luck!

I'm New

To the DSLR world that is.......and feeling a bit frustrated. Until I can buy my much coveted Nikon in a few months.....Daddy brought home a Sony a350 from his office for me to use temporarily.  I know I won't be an expert right a way but sheesh....this thing is complicated.  I'm trying to take a picture of something close up for my ETSY shop but it wont even snap the picture unless I zoom out and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.  I think I'm just to used to the old point-n-click habits. Time to go bury myself (very strong coffee in hand) in manuals and photography blogs and forums

Dear Zara

Dear Zara,

Can you please bring your children's line to some of your North Jersey stores so that I don't have to drive to South Jersey or into NYC to shop for my kids. If not can you at least offer online shopping on your website? I promise I will spend lots of money in your store! How could I not?!?! Look at all of these adorable pieces.

Girls Sizes (2-14 years)

Baby Girls (3-36 months)