Your Christmas Present

This year your Christmas present is a posting from me. I know, I know, contain your excitement - it has been a while since I've given you a dose of my excellent writing.

Seriously, the real reason I'm doing it is because I just went to my friend Kathy's blog and that girl actually blogs like EVERY day. Or almost everyday. And she has 3 kids. And a daycare. And she still finds time to humoriously share her insight on almost a daily basis. STOP MAKING FEEL INADEQUATE KATHY!! I'd post a link to her blog, but you have to invited to read it. She's super snobby that way.

Anywho, let's get to the latest with the Silva Family. Andrew started school and is doing very well. He's doing great academically, and so-so behavorially. He's a well behaved kid, he just likes to talk. Alot. And he does when he's supposed to be working. Sooooo....we're trying to work on that with him. But he loves school and has made a ton of friends. And started giving his phone # out. To girls. We have little 5 year old girls calling our house almost daily. At first, I thought it was cute. Now, I think it's annoying because they call 47 times a day. It's worse than a telemarketer.

Alivia is also doing great. She missed Andrew during the day. She asks for him alot. And she gives him a big hug when he gets home. I think it's so sweet that they love each other so much. She's still repeating everything we say, over and over and over. She's also grown into her age. After being such a sweet mellow baby, she's suddenly decided that she has all sorts of opinions and she lets us know. Loudly. But, I know that this will pass, as it did with Andrew. Most of the time, I just enjoy the cute things she says and does.

Now, finally Jason and I have an announcement to make. For all of those who do not know yet, Jason and I are expecting #3!!! And YES, IT WAS PLANNED. That's the question we get the most! Butit did happen pretty fast. 3 weeks fast. It took a few months with both Andrew and Livie, so we were pretty surprised when the test came up positive after only 3 weeks of trying. Things have been pretty good with the pregnancy so far, I've had my usual morning (all day) sickness, but I've also had a few good days here and there. I'm still pretty tired, but I hope that goes away soon. My due date is June 28th, 2008 - so that puts me at 11 1/2 weeks today. We are really excited to bring a new member into our family!!!

Okay, that's it for now....hopefully I'll be posting more soon. Once I get my energy back, that is :)

Alivia Says the Darndest Things

So last night I took the kids to Fred Meyer (as I often do) to do some much needed grocery shopping. Since it was around dinner time, I decided I would get them each a corndog from the deli - a special treat for them - and in turn it keeps them quiet, so it works out being a special treat for me as well.

When we get to the deli, there stands a group of grungy teenage boys, all decked out in black tight pants, and dirty stringy hair and coats that have been "Sharpied" up the yang. And all I can think to myself it, I hope to GOD that Andrew doesn't ever go through this phase. I hope to GOD he always values a good shower. But anyhoo...that's not my point.

One of the boys had a mohawk. It was red and orange and shaggy and nasty. But a mohawk, none the less. Alivia spots this boy and gets VERY excited and says in her teensy baby girl voice, "Oh, HI CHICKEN!"

I about died.

From laughter.

The boy didn't seem to notice. He stood there with his dirty germ infested friends and ordered one eggroll and counted out his $.54 in change and then started to slowly walk away.

And what does Alivia do?

She politely yells "BYE CHICKEN, BYE!!!"

Oh Dear Sweet Jesus!!!

I don't know if you all know this, but when I was a little girl, I had a slight obsession (slight being the understatement of the year) with Barbies. I loved Barbies. I still do. I walk down the toy aisle at Wal Mart and feel like a little girl all over again. I want them all. I want to play with them, and dress them and comb their hair and act out little storylines. But I don't. Because I'm....well, I'm 30. (I can't believe I just admitted this online. Big step for me...BIG......HUGE.) So, I'm waiting for Alivia to get old enough to show a little interest in Barbies, so I can run out and buy her everything I wished I had as a little girl. Nothing like living vicariously through my two year old daughter, right?

Well the other day, I stumbled across this online. And holy moly - I was overjoyed! And I don't think I'm gonna wait for Alivia to show any interest this time. No - this one is for ME, ME, ME. God has been listening to my prayers.

New Stuff

This post is more or less just a trial...I needed to use one of my sets in Flickr to try this slideshow - so I decided to go with the ones that made it into Flickr's Explore archives...also it gives you a chance to see what I've been doing lately!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

I'm very excited to announce that Miss Livie has used the potty 4 times!!! I decided to completely skip the whole little potty seat and just get her used to the big potty right away. She's fallen in a couple of times, but luckily that doesn't stop her from being willing to try again. It's so funny when she does fall in...all the of sudden I hear her say "whoops!" and I look over to see nothing but feet and her crazy mop of hair sticking out of the toilet. Not that I encourage this, but I do get a good giggle out of it! She gets very excited when she makes progress, because she knows she gets candy. She asks for "Nems" otherwise known as M&M's and we go right downstairs to get some. I didn't expect her to be interested this soon after potty training Andrew (Mr. I Planned On Pooping My Pants Until The Day I Die), so this came as a nice suprise! My baby is getting so BIG!

Procrastinate

So, you know last March? Well, I was supposed to register Andrew into kindergarten and I didn't. I picked up the paperwork, filled out about 98% of it and sort of forgot about it. I needed his immunization records from the doctor, but somehow I forgot about that until about then end of June. I didn't really think this was a big deal - because HELLO, it's public school and he has a right to an education and all that crap. SO.....when I finally made got all the necessary paperwork together, and managed to get myself and two children to the school, well....it was closed for the summer. Bummer, right?

Not really, I thought - because HELLO, it's a public school and he has a right to an education and all that crap. So, I decide I'll show up the very first day that the office staff is back in the office. And I do. I was totally punctual on this one.

And you know what those ladies had the nerve to tell me? Andrew had to be put on a waiting list. A WAITING LIST???? For public school (and all that crap)? LAME.

Then they tell me that they don't even know which school he's going to get into. Which school? What is this? Harvard Elementary? Hmmmm.....

Okay, so at this point I'm feeling like The Mother of the Year. (please, please - hold your applause.)

So, I wait. And wait. And wait and finally the school called last Friday. They have a place for Andrew - in different school - but in the full day program. (YES!!)

However, it's going to cost $300 a month (NOOO!!!) I hang my head in shame as I tell them that, although we'd love very much to put him in the full day program - we simply cannot afford to do that.

"Okaaaaaaaay.........., well call us back if that changes," the lady says to me. Yeah, cause I'm magically going to be able to pull $300 a month out of my....you know what I mean.

20 minutes later. The phone rings again. It's the school again. And you know what they tell me?? They told that they will be able to place Andrew in the full time program and just have the tuition be waived for the entire year. WHA???? Yes, yes, yes!!! I'm now doing my version of cheerleading. Don't try to picture it - it's not pretty.

So the moral of my story is, proscrastination pays. Just Do It. Proscrastinate NOW.

Intervention: Ashley Update

Well it's been since the end of January since we taped Ashley's episode of Intervention - and I'm thrilled to say she's doing great. Really great. We've kept in contact since and although her struggle has been a great one, she's stayed sober, and I could not be more proud of her. This past Sunday we had a chance to hang out with Ash and her family at a BBQ - and I gotta say, it was just like old times. Ashley, her sister Kristie and I sat back in Ashley's old bedroom looking through pictures, talking and laughing. The entire time I was with those girls - I kept thinking how lucky I am. I'm so incredibly lucky to have both of them in my life. They are really my little sisters.

Looking at this picture of Ashley and I, I really felt like I was having one of those Sliding Doors moments. I could see into the future - and see myself at Ashley's funeral. I could feel the heartbreak and sorrow of not having her in my life. And thank God that path remained untraveled. It all started with one simple action - had I not written that letter to the producers of Intervention, Ashley told me herself that she would be dead.

But instead I get to see her and talk to her and laugh with her and know that she has a real shot at making this work. I love that chick - and it just makes my heart soar to see how well she's doing.

Her Baby Boy: Trace

The whole family - all together before Kristie goes back east to college and Ashley returns to California.

If you didn't get a chance to watch Ashley's Intervention Episode - I believe you can catch in on Comcast's OnDemand right now. It's under A&E.

Goodbye Grandpa

Goodbye Grandpa, originally uploaded by The Portrait Place.

My grandfather passed away this past week. He has had health problems for quite sometime, so this has been somewhat anticipated. We attended his funeral down in Vancouver, WA. It was very well done - my father did both the chapel and graveside services. Andrew became very emotional during the chapel service - this being his first real experience with death. Here is is watching his great grandfather finally being laid to rest.

NOT napping

NOT napping, originally uploaded by The Portrait Place.

And here is Alivia a few minutes ago - jumping...instead of napping. This is gonna make for a lovely evening....:)

Oh No You Didn't!

Oh No You Didn't!, originally uploaded by The Portrait Place.

Look what I did.....I saw a little boy with one of these and thought Andrew would look soooo cute with a Mohawk - so I busted out the clippers this morning and gave him the haircut of a lifetime! He loves it!!

I-DER-HO

Well, I did it. I loaded up my two little rugrats onto a plane, and in one hour, we landed in Boise. It was time for a cousin get together. Andrew and Alivia did great on the plane and even better once in the small town of Eden. Take a look at my sweet nephew and nieces - how big they are getting.

Here's Gabe - (and the old abandoned truck I was so excited to find!!). He's 6 now - and incredibly smart. I was so excited to see him, and to make him giggle. He can be a bit serious at times, so it was good to see him be sorta silly with his Auntie. He had Andrew played a lot (and fought a little) but most importantly, had a ton of fun together.

Here's Miss Gracie - my pretty pretty princess. She's a cuddle bug - and I ATE it up while we were there. I just adore her to pieces and pieces. I felt kinda bad for her because at times she was a little left out with between Gabe playing with Andrew and Abby and Alivia teaming up. And, OH HOW MY HEART GOES OUT TO THAT POOR POOR MIDDLE CHILD. Any time she needs sympathy for being the odd one out, she can call her Auntie. I really miss her, and I can't wait to see her again so she can do her "dance of joy" for me.

And here's Miss Abby. I can honestly say that I didn't really know her before this trip, and that always bummed me out. After this trip, she and I are pals (although she'll tell you with a devilish grin that she doesn't love me). She made me laugh outloud constantly with the things she had to say. We had all sorts of conversations - and her logic cracks me up. She's quite the talker. I have never met anyone like miss Abba-Doo - she's very unique. I had the most fun getting to know her.

This is the day we took the kids to the park - and below is Clinton and Jen looking beautiful as ever. I especially like how they tried to make the prettiest faces when they saw the camera pointed thier way.

This is how Livie spent most of her time - not sweeping the grass, but naked in the backyard. I'm not really sure why she was sweeping the grass, but she hauled that thing around the yard for a while. Whatever she was doing - it was accomplishing a lot in her mind.
Jesus, take the wheel....

Look at these cute little Mo's. I can't believe how big they are.

Did I mention they are strong, too?

{Just a couple more}

Abby Livin' it Up...

Livie Making Wishes...

The Big Kids in tall, tall grass...

Simpin'

So, Alivia L-O-V-E-S swimming - or rather, simpin. We had a stretch of nice weather here for a few days, and I filled up the pool and let the kids go swimming. If Livia had her way, she'd never get out...Here's the little miss having the time of her life! :)

Summer's a'comin!

The weather's gettin' better! Time to break out the popsicles. Check out the lips. Mmmmm.....

Intervention Air Date

Hey all - this is just a quick note to let you all know that Ashley's episode of Intervetion airs June 8th at 10:00pm (That's a friday) on A&E.

What's this?....Sun?....In SEATTLE!!??

So yesterday, it was nice and warm, so I decided to take the kids out and about all day to enjoy the wonderful weather. And it was so much fun. Have I ever mentioned that I DETEST the rain? Man, when it's sunny, I'm sunny! Here is a little play-by-play of our day....

Doesn't Andrew look thrilled to go have a fun day?....That's because I haven't told him yet that this day, there will be some fun to be had. I usually avoid telling him in advance because then I won't stop hearing about it until we are in Fun City.

Livers is all juiced up!

Okay, so we finally made it to the park and guess what? Livia loves the swing! She didn't want to get off at all. I think she would still be in that swing if I wouldn't have pried her out. And trust me, she wasn't happy about it. But what was I suppposed to do? I was under the gun. I had another mother wander over with her little boy who clearly wanted a turn on the swing. She kept saying loudly "Do you want a turn on the swing? Well, we will just have to WAIT OUR TURN." Clearly she was into waiting. On opposite day.

Here's Andrew on the digger. He just had a blast running around talking to random kids or pretty much anyone. It's hard to get shots of him because he does one of two things. He either makes some ridiculous face, or runs away. He really had learned to drive me crazy with the camera. I had to sneak up on him to get this candid shot.

There is a reason why I took this picture. Do you see what Livia is doing? She is walking - that's right - walking up the stairs. She has never done that before. She still has a hard time with our stairs at home, but here the stairs were just her size and she walked all the way up. Yeah!

The she proceded to take a nose dive down the slide. I swear she has no fear. None at all.

I told Andrew to hold Livie's hand while they walked around the park. He is such a good boy. Aren't they so cute together?

Yeah, she didn't think so. But look at Andrew's hand....still holding on.

Now look at Andrew mean-muggin' his sister. He's trying so hard to be a good listener and Livia is messing up his game. Aren't the terrible two's the best?

Now she's better. As long as she's not being restrained in any form, she'll be happy.

Here Alivia is enjoying the view, looking out at the beautiful Lake Tapps.

Oh, that's right. It's been drained for the winter. It's not pretty. It's not even cute. It's a drought.

So, there's a day in the life of the Silva kids! It really was such a fun day. I love when the weather is nice. The rest of the time I feel so couped up in the house, and it gets old. Makes me miss Cali.....if we ever become Grillionaires, that's where we're headed an we won't be lookin' back! But for now, we'll make due!

My sweet angels....from heaven above.

Here are a couple pictures I took of the kids today. Aren't they getting big?

Livers is turning two in 10, that's right 10 days. With that said, I'd swear that she's BEEN 2. Let's see....what is she doing now that I'm hoping she soon outgrows....Well, for starters, she won't eat ANYTHING. Okay, well she'll eat like three things. But that's it. Luckily, I remember Andrew going through this phase, and he outgrew it, so I know she will too. In the meantime, I feel like a negligent mother who never nourishes her child. Maybe I should start breastfeeding her again.....Oh, that's right. Those darn pesky moral issues creeping up on me again! If she's old enough to ask for it, she's too old. Check. - AND "No" is her standard answer to everything. And she shakes her arms all around to further prove her point. I try to prentend I'm 'doing the hula' with her, but that only pisses her off even more. (Sigh..) I love her, I really do. Just some days, I tell ya! But, isnt' she cute?????



Now - Andrew is 5 and smart as ever. And smart mouthed as ever...I know, "Someday, he'll grow to be a blah, blah, blah...." But for now, I find myself being sucked into these arguments with him and I don't want to argue with him. He's five. FIVE GOING ON 15. But he's not all the way there. He's still sweet and affectionate. I hope that never goes away. He can melt my heart into a PUDDLE when he wants to. And lucky for me, he wants to usually two or three times a day. He still leaves me love notes all over the house. When he's sleeping, I'll go into his room and leave him one for the morning.



Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. I'm discussing. Granted, it is with a computer screen, but somewhere, somehow, someone will read this and maybe, just maybe think to themselves that they feel the same way for thier kids. Crazy, intense love with a strong desire for temporary relief! Glass of wine, anyone? Cheers!

Thank You, God.

Today is a big day for me. I've been waiting for this day for so long, and it finally happened. I'm so overcome with emotion, I don't even know where to begin.

The last few months have been an excruciating emotional journey for so many people in my life, and we've had to keep quiet about it, in order to literally save someone's life. That someone is my little sister, Ashley. She is not genetically related to me, but she is every bit the little sister I never had. I held her when she was three days old, and I was only 8. Our families spent every holiday together, went to church together and I was also her babysitter. She was the happiest little blonde hair, blue-eyed tomboy of a girl. She loved macaroni & cheese and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved being around her because she was always laughing. It didn't matter what I said or did, it cracked her up. She was just adorable.

She is now 20 years old and her journey from childhood to adulthood has not been an easy one, to say the least. She has battled with drug addiction since she was 11 years old. Nobody understood the hold drugs had on her at even such an early age. Nobody understood why she even started using. She came from a good home, with alot of love. She had a great childhood -and then she started using pretty much anything she could get her hands on.

Since then, Ashley's life has been a rollercoaster of hardcore drug use, sobriety, drugs, sobriety and so on. Then when she was 17 she got pregnant with her son Trace. And during her pregnancy, she was perfect. She did everything the way she was supposed to, and gave birth to a perfect tiny baby boy. He looked just like she did the first time I held her. I thought for sure that the responsibility of raising a child would keep her on the straight and narrow. And it did....for a while. Then she started using again, and this time it was Meth. She lost it after that. She quit her job, blew alot of money in a short period of time and left her son to be raised by her parents.

I was FURIOUS. I know that anger is a secondary emotion, always brought on by something other emotion. I felt hurt, dissapointed, betrayed, you name it. I just wanted to be done with caring about her. So, I wrote her an email. I told her I was finished with her, and that she was a good for nothing loser and that I was out of her life for good - sober or not. I just wanted to stop caring so much about her.

Then one day, I was watching a show called Intervention on A&E. This show is a documentary that features people who are suffering from various forms of addiciton, but what the subjects don't know is that they will face an intervention. I've seen the show a number of times, it's really a touching show. And this particular day, after this particular episode, I heard in my heart "Write the show about Ashley." And at first I couldn't believe I had such a ridiculous idea. Write a TV show???!!! Yeah, right.

"Write the show." I heard it again. I thought about it for a moment. Then I figured it wouldn't hurt anything if I did. So, I did. Once I started writing, all this emotion came pouring out of my heart for the sweet little girl I once knew. The next day, I was contacted by the producers of the show. They gave me long list of things I needed to do, one of which was telling Ashley about "a documentary" that featured people suffering from addiction. They made it VERY clear that if Ashley ever found out during the filming that they were affiliated with "Intervention", they would pull the production team and go home.

Well, Ashley and I weren't speaking. I tried to get in touch with her. She ignored me. I had to find someone else who she would listen to. So, I asked my little brother Tony. At first, he really didn't want to do it. Didn't want to break trust with her. But, thank God, he changed his mind. He told her about it, and she contacted the producers. And the ball started rolling. During the next few months, there were times when I thought this whole thing wasn't going to happen because Ashley had to do things that I figured she wouldn't do. But then, when I had all but given up, she would randomly do these things.

She still would not return my calls or emails. So I gave up.

Then, the producers called me and told me that it was going to happen. They were flying out in 2 weeks to begin filming. When I did my interview over the phone, they told me that Intervention gets 50,000-60,000 email submissions a year. And they choose roughly 20 people. Ashley was one of those 20.

They came, filmed a large variety of things for about a week and then, the intervention took place. I was very nervous about how she would react, not only to the intervention, but toward me as well. Before I read my letter, I made her look me in the eyes so that I could apologize to her for the email I sent her. I told her that I didn't mean what I said about her, that I spoke out of frustration. She just told me I didn't have to be sorry. When I looked in her eyes, I saw that Ashley was gone. She wasn't there. The drugs had stolen her. I can't even BEGIN to put into words how emotionally draining the rest of the process was. It was so hard to watch her parents and sister break down. My father, Ashley's pastor, cried during his letter to her. Jason, who NEVER cries, broke down at the end because we knew if she didn't go, she was so deep in this drug use that she was going to die. So, after some hard pressure, and the reminder that her son NEEDS her, she decided to go. That was almost one month ago.

Maybe you think that that was the moment I've been waiting for. But, although it was amazing when she said yes, it wasn't what I've been waiting for. No, sir, my day was today. I've been waiting to hear the voice of my sister, my friend. I've been waiting for her to understand what I had been doing for her. I wanted to hear her say "Thank-You." Her gratitude symbolized the return of the sweet girl I know. The drug user wouldn't think to thank someone for anything, as she's too wrapped up in herself.

And today, much to my surprise, she called me from treatment. She thanked me over and over and told me that I saved her life. She's said she's really happy. For the first time in her life, she's learning about herself and why she struggles so much with drug addiction. It's alot of work, but she's doing great.

I just can't stop thanking God for providing such a wonderful opportunity for her. It's just so rare. I can't stop thanking God for working with every person involved so that the whole process went as it did. Her family was incredible. The producers and crew were amazing, wonderful people, who really care about the well-being of the people they follow. But mostly, I can't stop thanking God for Ashley. Because my life is better with her in it. I love that girl. As frustrated as I have been with her, I love her with my whole heart. And I'm so glad that I get to write this today, knowing she's alive and breathing, and on her way to recovery. This is the best chance she's ever going to get.

Thank you, God.

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