The Menchaca Family

Two months down

2009-12-27T21:23:00.004-06:00

Five long ones to go. We hit a bunch of highlights already,Jovani's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New years in four days. Once we get into January the countdown begins. Hope everyone had a great Christmas! I did,Santa (dad) gave me my estee lauder make up! YAY FOR ME!!!!!!!!! It pays to be a good girl.

Greetings

2009-12-09T19:39:00.005-06:00

I finally found some time to get on!

Where do I begin? Thanksgiving was good. It would have been better if Fred were here. I took Jovani by the Menchacas first and then we went my sisters later on in the day. It really wasn't the same without Fred. The first Thanksgiving I spent without my family, I was wishing so bad to be back with them, but now I realize, that Fred is my family now. I mean, my mom and dad and sisters and nephews are always going to be my family, but Fred is my husband, and hes just...mine, if that makes any sense.

Before Fred deployed and he was training in San Diego, we found out that Jovani's favorite shoe Yo Gabba Gabba was going to be in Chicago at the time of our stay so Fred went ahead and bought Jovani tickets! It was on the 5th of December. Now, I know I'm a grown woman. But, I like a lot of their songs lol and I have to say their concert was the best concert Ive been to! No lie. The dropped balloons and confetti form the ceiling, bubbles flew into the audience, Biz Marke made a guest appearance, they gave away DJ Lance Rock glasses and everyone got up and danced. It was a blast! They only went to a few cities, I think they were Los Angeles, Houston, New York, and Chicago. I heard one of the employees say that there Will be another tour next spring and summer and we will be there!! I spent $200 plus on merchandise whoopsi! But We all got matching shirts for the next concert and Fred will be going to that one =]

I love this shirt, It says " Dear God, Please keep my daddy safe" in little kid hand writing with a yellow ribbon in the back.

A serious lack of updates

2009-11-08T09:29:00.005-06:00

Sorry, I have no time in updating this thing. I have a full time job working with my sister at the home offices of Rodgers and Holland (jewelry store) which is very boring, but very fun when I can try on the beautiful rings we get in =]. Fred has been gone for more then a month, but hes only been in Afghanistan for two weeks. Sometimes the time feels like it drags then there are other times when the week goes by so fast. He wont be home til May, and it seems like forever and a day until he comes home. But we talk everyday,email, and we even get to Skype! So, its not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. I was thinking I would only have to rely on snail mail. It doesn't take from the fact that he is in a very dangerous place, I'm always worrying for him. I don't want anything to happen to him or anyone over there. I just pray that these next seven months go by so fast. And in a way it has, because Halloween has past and so has Jovani's first birthday. I can't believe how fast his year went. He is no longer a baby, he looks like a big boy and it breaks my heart. I wish I could go back to the days when he would just sleep in his swing. Now, I'm always asking myself," is it bedtime yet?" lol Just kidding, I cant wait to come home from work to see my little buddy. Here are a few pics of Jo, for Halloween he was Brobee, his favorite character from Yo Gabba Gabba. Its this show on the noggin channel, now know as the nick jr channel. I like it too lol and some from his first bday party this past Saturday. Enjoy! I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU FRED!! MTYEK

Congrats Grad!

2009-06-27T09:07:00.005-05:00

Well, Fred is officially a St. Leo Alumni. The ceremony was nice. It wasn't too long. I was worried Jovani would get fussy, the night before I didn't get any sleep on the count of Jovani teething and I have a level 3 sprain and a small fracture in my ankle (I fell ), plus Fred had duty at the hospital so I spent the night alone. So both Jovani and had no sleep and we tired yesterday. But Jovani did a great job. After the graduates walked in and the speakers started to give their speeches, Jovani thought he would give his input also and he blabbed away along with them. I had to shush them and quickly find something to give to him to keep him quiet. Then , the moment we were all waiting for, diplomas!

I have to admit, I didn't like not having help all week long during school because Fred had to stay up late papers to write, math to study, get up at five in the morning to study some more. I never got to spend anytime with him and I didn't get as much help as I wanted with Jovani. But seeing him walk across the stage and seeing that nervous/happy smile on his face made all those nights alone worth it because he's happy. I'm glad he finished college. I'm very very happy for him. He said he was gonna do it and he did it. He's made it a long way, a lot farther then a lot of other people we know.

Fred, I wish you nothing but the best in your life. I hope that the determination you have will stick with you forever so that you will be successful at everything you do. I'm so happy for you and I love very much!

Walking in, Fred is the second one

He was pointing to me and Jovani HM2 Menchaca FMF now AA =]

I like his shirt and tie I love this pic lol **Thank you Dr. Luna for taking the pictures for us!

123 Numbers #

2009-06-09T13:05:00.005-05:00

I hate math. I always have, I always will. Numbers are bad. But for now, I guess they are good. considering Fred got his leave for Chicago approved! So as of today, there are only 23 more days left til we go back home!! We'll be leaving on the second right after Fred gets out of work and we'll be getting there on the third God willing. No more surprises. I'm tired of those.But I can't wait. I miss everyone! I can't stand this nasty Texas heat. Til then, two days til our mini trip to Houston to see the Cubs play against the Astros. (I, as last year,am going for the pretzels and to get out of Corpus, Jovani is going to get a foul ball). And 17 days til Freds college graduation. He'll be getting his associates and then in the fall he'll be attending Texas A&M CC for pre meds. The best for last, In August, we'll only have one more year left in Texas! YAY! Maybe San Diego after that? I wanna shoot for Virgina Beach. We'll see. Just a small post cause I haven't post in a long time.

A Quick Pic

2009-04-22T20:00:00.002-05:00

We went fishing again this past weekend. We went out to the beach on the island. It was very nice out. I caught a fish...again. At first I thought my line got stuck on the rocks, but as I kept reeling my line in I saw a big fish at the other end. I swear I thought my rod was gonna break. I needed help bringing it in so John grabbed the line and I was so excited because it was a big fish! (This time for real Rachel lol) Come to find out it was a Drum fish, I guess they are hard to catch and I caught one! Fred was down further on the rocks and when he came by me he asked to take a picture with my fish and claim it his. I said no lol.It wasn't legal size so I had to throw it back in. I forgot my camera but I took a pic with Natalie's iphone. Pay attention to the background, Fred was mad and stomped away. But, I gotta give him credit, I think he caught a gold fish or something =D

Easter

2009-04-16T13:38:00.008-05:00

This was Jovani's first Easter. This holiday was better than Christmas considering Jovani is older now and he can enjoy toys. Hes very grabby and curious. Enjoy...

See what I mean?

"Come on mom! I wanna play

Yikes

2009-04-13T21:50:00.012-05:00

Sorry I'm falling behind on this blogger thing. Well, I have two post to write about so lets get started shall we?

I think it was two Sundays ago I got introduced to a new hobby. Fred and I made some new friends, they go by the name of The Medranos. Very nice people. I don't have many friends out here. I have a handful of them and I, as always, am the youngest one. The Medranos, unlike my other friends (no offense lol) are young like us =]. In their 22s, married for 5 years. (crazy huh? Im surprised I made it to two haha just kidding Fred, love you.) Anywho, they are originally from Corpus Christi and they are into fishing. So one Sunday, they took us fishing on base and I caught my first fish and it was a MONSTER! I'm surprised I reeled it in. Jovani was then due for a feeding so I had Fred throw my line out and I caught another fish! A catfish =] Fred says he caught it, I say I did, so I'll give him partial credit for it. Men!!

Captain Jovani

Shrimp bait yummy

There is my MONSTER!

Award winning fish, you'll see me on ESPN soon

Then we used him for bait =[

See that white spot on Freds face? Thats a fish ha ha

Theres our (MY) fish we (I) caught

Cute, we threw him back

Easter Eggstraveganza!

2009-03-29T23:17:00.013-05:00

**There is a lot of spacing between the pictures so bare with me. Its 1201 AM and Im so tired** This is Jovani's first Easter. So in honor of this occasion, we went to JcPenny's to take some pictures. Now, we wont get them til the 7th of April, sooooo, ya'll back home will get them late.But, I expect to see those pictures in a frame when I get back home. The Navy sponsored a party/carnival for the kids who live on base. I was kinda iffy about going since Jovani is so young, he wouldn't be able to participate in any activity's. I still went and I met up with some friends there. Jovani had his first egg hunt. Fred took him, he got three eggs =]. After, we went to take some picture with the Easter Bunny. Jovani wasn't in a picture taking mood. Every time we would call his name to get his attention so that he could look at the camera, his head would go farther and farther down. I told the guy not to wait for a smile, just get him looking up. It didnt work. Fred did the hula hoop contest, but didn't win. Its ok, there is always next year. They had a deejay, a few of those inflatable jumpy things. I dont know what they are called. The sure did look fun though. There were pony rides, a petting zoo, and free food. I'm looking forward to next year when Jovani will be able to participate in the events.

So GQ don't ya think?

Hunting time

He was so tired.

Oh Jovani...

The other day he went to his cousins birthday party. I love dressing him up lol.

Isnt he BEAUTIFUL?!

I'M BACK!

2009-03-14T13:11:00.029-05:00

A lot has happened since the last time I updated. The first obviously, is I got my computer fixed =]. My friend Alana has a friend whose husband fixes computers. Can you believe Best Buy wanted to charge me all that money and this guy charged me 40 dollars, got rid of all the viruses, installed spy ware and antivirus, and he saved all of my pictures and videos.

The second I wanted to post so bad but I couldn't due to the fact that the surprise pertained to my family back home and they would of read it and known the surprise. Well my dads birthday is February 13. Fred's dads birthday is February 14 and we thought since Fred's dad never met Jovani and my sisters never met him either, it would be a good idea to fly out to Chicago to surprise them. The only one in on it was my mother in law because she is the one who paid for our trip to Chicago. Thanks mom! And of course Joey (Fred's brother cause he picked us up from the airport) Jessica, Tiffany and Amanda knew about it.

We got to my house around 1030 at night. My dad answered the door and we yelled surprise. I was so excited I forgot about everyone else and ran inside to see my mom. She gave me a blank look, like she didn't recognize me. Finally reality snapped and she started laughing. She said she was just thinking about me when she heard the doorbell ring. Mother instinct I guess. That night My sister Veronica and nephew met Jovani for the first time. The next morning, my mom had called my two older sisters to come over and have breakfast at her house, but she was going to the store so she would call them when she got back. Well, my sisters did not listen. They showed up to the house when I wasn't there. Nonetheless they were so surprised to see us there.

Jovani's first plane ride.He was such a good boy, slept all the way.

My dads "30th" birthday present. He has been 30 for five years now ha ha

My little sister meeting Jovani for the first time

Later on that night was my father in laws party. When we got there I called my mother in law to let her know were about to walk in. So as we opened the door, my father in law turned around looked at Fred, looked at me, back at Fred and then looked down to see that Fred was carrying Jovani. everyone there went crazy because no one knew we were coming. my father in law was speechless. He didn't know what to do or say. He was so surprised and emotional he cried,after all it was the first time he met his grandson.

Even after being bundled like this every time we stepped out the house, he still managed to get sick. He hated that thing too.

Fred's nephew Xzavier and Jovani

Apparently, he doesn't like the light on when hes sleeping.

My sister Letty and my nephews

And my boys who I miss so much!!!!

So, as some of you may know, the man I married just happens to be a fan of the WORST baseball team EVER! (Cubs) And I am a White Sox fan. Well, one day I was at my moms house, and Jovani stayed with Fred, when I got to them later on that night I was looking through my camera and I found this picture. I did some editing to fix the problem. Can you tell?

We were only in Chicago for 17 days, we were in 20 degree weather and before you knew it, it was back to sunny warm days in Corpus Christi. We wont be back in Chicago til the summer time. It seems like a long time from now, hopefully the days go by fast.

Outside watering the grass

Grandma Menchaca got this for him. He loves it. He cant really touch the floor yet but we put a comforter underneath so he can have his bouncy fun.

Aw man!

2009-01-30T19:16:00.002-06:00

My desktop got a virus!!! My computer wouldn't connect to the internet and long story short, Fred took it into Best Buy cause we have the warranty with them and it would still come out to 260 to get it fixed! Why did we pay an extra 300 dollars for then? I was just worried about my pictures because I have all of Jovani's pictures, my pregnancy, vacations back home and dumb pictures of Kobe. I used 3 thumb drives and 3 Cd's and I got almost all of the baby's pictures saved. So Im gonna have to go to Walmart, get a 200 pack of Cd's and maybe then I can save all of them. My friend Alana knows someone who can fix it for a lot cheaper, like 50 bucks, but who cares, its not 260. I dont understand the purpose of a virus, seriously, dumb jerks. Anyways, Jovani is turing 3 months on Tuesday! Hes a big chunker munker. Hopefully I can get my computer fixed soon so I can put pics up. I took a lot of them too. I uploaded them to Walgreens from my computer and sent them to Chicago so that my mom and MIL could finally have updated pics of the golden boy. Technology at its best =] Um, that all for now folks Eve

Sorry

2009-01-14T15:17:00.012-06:00

I have been slacking a lot =[

Lets see, I got over my throat infection, now I have a stuffy ear that I am completely deaf in.

Ive been like this for the past week. Fred has been messing with me and he'll talk low so I say "what?" and after about the third "what?" I'll look at him and he'll be mouthing the words to make me think Ive gone completely deaf. The doctor gave me some suddafed but all that does is make me fall into a coma and I fall behind my schedule.

I took Jovani to the doctor for his follow up and hes all better. Then she told me I could take him to get his two month shots. He wasn't prepared for it, neither was I. Luckily I ran into Fred at the hospital and he gave Jovani one shot and another corpsman gave him the other two all at once. I felt so bad for him, he turned bright red purple and he didn't breathe for a good while. I started to get a little scared and then he finally took a breathe. Next time, Ill be sure to give him some Tylenol BEFORE and then some afterwards.

And, what you've been waiting for... pictures!!

He sleeps JUST like my dad, with his hands crossed on his chest and some milk coming out the side of his mouth

I love his smile

Mr. CEO

"what mom? Im working!"

Time for a bottle and nap

mini me

ok, no more

M.I.A

2009-01-08T16:43:00.002-06:00

I've been sick =[ I don't know what I have or why I'm hurting. Every time I swallow it feels like I'm swallowing needles. Id rather spit. I went to the doc and good news is I dont have strep throat. Bad news is out of all the meds they gave me,nothing works. Its day three and I just want to numb my throat and go to sleep.To make things even worse, Jovani is sick too. He has an ear infection but I took him just in time cause the infection just started. His chest is congested and they gave him a nebulizer (sp?) and its times like these (doctors appointments)that I am thankful we have Tricare because the nebulizer was delivered to our house and the receipt was a total of 225.00 that we don't have to pay. Got bless the military for this. I have lots of pics to share, but my camera is upstairs and that to me feels so far away so Ill wait til Fred comes home from work to add them later on. Oh yeah, Happy New Year!! We didn't do anything special.

What a way to start off the new year

2008-12-31T14:55:00.002-06:00

I am so mad!!! Jovani wakes up this morning to eat and I turn on the tv to watch Spongebob Squarepants and I read the scroll at the bottom of the page that says Time Warner Cable customers will be losing 19 channels!!!! Are you serious?! How can they do that?! What am I suppose to watch at 4am when Jovani wakes up to eat? No more Roseanne?? No more Fresh Prince or Home Improvement? I look forward to Nick at Night. And what about VH1? The season finale of Real Chance of Love is next Sunday and I cant watch it! So I call TWC and wouldn't you know it, the numbers are disconnected! After calling a bazillion times theres a message about how MTV wants more money and TWC doest wanna pay up and blah blah blah All I want is my Nick at night and VH1 FIX IT!

Christmas Edition

2008-12-26T14:28:00.000-06:00

Santas little helper got caught sleeping on the job

Christmas came and went and I thought it would feel like Christmas to me but when the day actually got here but it didnt. It was nice outside, I would say about 74ish but a bit muggy. We went over the Montejanos house for Christmas dinner which consisted of a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, basically a Thanksgiving dinner and it came out good. Then we played Mario Kart on the Wii and OMG it is so fun! My little sister and I used to have so much fun playing it on Nintendo 64 and playing it on the Wii and so much more fun. Its tricky using a motion sensored remote. Now I want to get it. Jovani had fun playing with Stacys daughter Hendrix. Shes so cute and loving. When Jovani was sleeping in his car seat she would go rock him lol

playing around with the camera

After, we had to make another stop to visit Freds grandmother. Jovani got a pretty bracelet from his great granmother. It fits him a little big so we have to take it to get resized.There I asked Freds cousin Claudua if she would do us the honor of baptizing Jovani. She was so happy she cried tears of joy. Im gald we picked her because she is so loving with Jovani and just overall a beautiful person inside and out. So we're planning on baptizing him in Chicago when we go back in July.

When we got home we went straight to bed. Jovani didnt get to open his gifts til the next day. He didnt get a lot consiering he is so small theres nothing he can really play with yet. But here are some pics.

" I cant wait to open my presents mom!"

"Thats not what I wanted!!!!!"

"Well, that kinda looks cool."

"All right, here comes the good stuff"

"Parental assembly required? Aw man"

"Its ok I guess"

"I think I like my cow better"

Lets give this a try...

2008-12-23T14:50:00.002-06:00

I have no idea how to work this, give me some time and hopefully I won't forget I have a blog and I'll learn to use it. Rachel Camp gave me this idea, thanks girl. I don't have myspace anymore, so maybe this will work out for me to put up pictures and videos to share with you all.

An update on us, Fred picked up second class and has gotten so motivated that he's decided to go to med school. Yep, that means the rest of our lives in the Navy. Times are rough, so having a military life right now isn't so bad besides the fact that we live so far away from everyone. Its a steady job that puts food on the table and gets us what we need and Im thankful for it. So give Fred about 10 years and you can start calling him Doc Menchaca...and I'll be in the background sitting in my Mercedes waiving hello =] In the mean time Freds getting everything ready to get into IDC school which is basically a mini doctor. Since he just picked up rank, he has to wait two years to enroll into that school and right now he's getting his prerequisites out of the way.

As for me, um, Im still me only a mom now. Sometimes it feels like Im not a mom, like Im babysitting for one of my sisters or something. Then comes those 4 am feedings and Jovani is still here, so yeah, its true, hes mine and Im definitely a mom. Once January comes Im going to get on the right track and drop some Lbs. I lost all of my 17 pounds of baby fat I gained but I want to lose more. Living on base has its perks, a free gym that I will be going to. So next time my family sees me I'll look like I did when I was in high school, hopefully =P

Jovani is seven weeks today! He has gotten so big so fast. He went from this

to this

Big difference huh? He smiles so much and in the middle of the night I'll hear him laugh and talk to himself, he's so cute. He loves to stretch and eat, but most of all poop lol

Well, Christmas is two days away and it doesn't feel like Christmas at all. I have to say, that I've become very home sick =[ now more then ever. I miss my family and friends and its not the same without them. Not to mention the good 'ol below zero weather Im missing out on. I hate Texas. Its 40 out here right now which gives me at least some kind of comfort I guess. But I did put up my tree, I added some ribbon but I haven't even gotten a star yet. Whoops, Ill wait til everything is on sale.

And a pic of Jovani to end this blog.