Ok, so today I realized that I started this blog and never did ANYTHING with it :( It's been sitting here waiting for an update for about 2 years now! That's terrible! The worst part is that we've had another child, moved to a new house, started homeschooling our kids, and a whole bunch of other things and none of it was documented for anybody to see or experience with us :( Well, I'm hoping that's going to change. I've always loved to write and it's actually very therapeutic for me after a long day to write down the day's happenings and look back over them. Anyway, until I get a moment to post a new blog, I'd like to introduce you to our newest member of the family, Mattea. She turned 1 year old last month (see I told you it's been a while). I love her to bits and am so proud to be her mommy!

Introductions...

I've been thinking of starting a blog for quite some time now, but I give the credit to my friend Kelly and her sister Michele for getting me going. I read their blogs each time they post something new about their family and it's so wonderful to see all the exciting things they do and the wonderful changes within their family, that I thought it would be great to be able to keep my own family and friends in the loop about our own family's happenings and goings on. So, without further ado, let's get on with the introductions.


Ok, so I'm Cheryl. I've been happily married to the love of my life, David, for 10 1/2 years now. You'll hear about him in a second. I'm the mother of 5 beautiful, smart, energetic, sometimes mischievous (hehehe), amazing kids! I am a Christian, and try my best to live according to God's will. I am a stay at home mom most of the time, doing some substitute teaching in special education classrooms from time to time through our county office of education. I absolutely LOVE being a mommy, and really do believe that above everything else I have the ability to do, God has called me to be a mother, and so the perfectionist I am, I try, try, try to do the best I can everyday to make sure they get the best of me! I believe I am a pretty humble person. If you get to know me, you will find that I am tickled pink over my husband bringing me flowers, my kids art projects often make me teary eyed, and I LOVE my trips to target and shopping for kids clothes on their OH SO AWESOME clearance racks! Anyway, I look forward to sharing more of me with you all as time goes by. Now onto the other members of our family :)


David is my oh so amazing husband, and father to my gorgeous little herd of children. Hahaha! He works for a company called Pitney Bowes and is just celebrating 10 years with the company. He works his tail off but is now in a position (Service Manager) where he gets to work from home. He still works ALL THE TIME, but being home has been amazing...for me and the kids anyway...lol! He graduated from ITT Technical Institute back in 1999 with a degree in Electronics Engineering Technology, and I am proud to say he can fix ANYTHING :) Aside from his slight obsession with elecronics and computers (where he currently has a slight affair with Linux software), he is very interested in fixing up our 1967 VW Squareback. Although it's a slow moving project, since he has to complete it as funds come available, he really enjoys researching Volkswagens and has plans to someday have it fully restored for Noah. He is truly the best thing that has ever happened to me!


Noah is my oldest son. He was born January 23, 2000. A true brainiac, he reads ALL THE TIME! He can pretty much tell you any fact that exists about bugs, rocks, or anything that might have possibly been in the "Guiness Book of Records", "Ripley's Believe it or Not" or the Encyclopedia Brittanica. No...seriously...he can! He is an awesome kid, with a HUGE heart! He's a pretty emotional being and can often sense the hidden emotions of others. He can say more through a hug than most adults I know can say with all the words in the world. He has a very strong connection to his little sister, Gabby, and very often is found just sitting with her and reading or watching SpongeBob and sharing quiet moments with her. When we get to Gabby, you 'll see why that's so special. Noah is a very creative kid, often stealing stuff from the pantry and performing "experiments" in the garage, and planting trees (that I'm not always sure where they came from) in the backyard. He's a kick! I'm so blessed that he was my first born!


And now, there's Juliana. My 8 year old (going on 20), Hannah Montana obsessed, girly-girl. She is pretty much happy as long as she has anything girly. If she has her lip gloss, frilly dresses, and hair "pretties", she's ok. Throw a tea party in there and you've won her over! I'm not quite sure where she got such a girly gene...I've certainly never been that girly. I mean, I love my girly time, but more often than not, I'm ok with a comfy pair of jeans and a cute girly top. Not my "Junebug"...she needs to have the accessories and shoes to match too! Must be Grandma Torres' granddaughter! She is amazing with monkey bars and should really be a gymnast (if not for my fear of gymnastics). She is very talented with physical things like that and even rode a 2 wheel bike pretty early. She might be super girly, but look out she can put most boys in their place with her skills ;) She is very sweet and loving and will often crawl up in my lap without me even noticing. She loves to cuddle and can tell the most elaborate stories sometimes...and boy do they go on, and on, and on...teeheehee! She's already learned how to call her girlfriends on the phone and tie up the line...and she's only 8! Gotta love having girls!


And of course then, there's my Kyla (or Kyla-la-la-la as we call her). She's also known as my "Punkin" (as she was VERY jaundice as a newborn and literally had the skin color of a pumpkin), or my bumblebee (she was a bumblebee on her 2nd halloween and was the cutest thing ever...just kinda stuck). Kyla graced us with her presence almost 6 years ago, 6 weeks before her due date. She's been on her own terms ever since ;) She gives bear hugs and big smooches. She's a ham for a good hug! She has read "Guess how much I Love You" about a million times, and tells me pretty much on a daily basis how many times she loves me "to the moon and back". She LOVES to give back rubs and I swear, she has healing hands! There's something about her! Kyla is my ball of energy....my megaphone...my comedian. She loves to sing! And she LOVES High School Musical. We own all 3 movies and soundtracks and she can recite them all, line by line. She loves to be the center of attention and can really put on a show and make even the saddest person bust out in laughter. Kyla was always a bit tomboyish, being bald until she was nearly 2, and having a bit of a raspy voice. She was always a bit rough and tumble, but now, as she approaches 6 years old, she is completely blowing my mind with how incredibly feminine she is becoming. She too, like her big sister, is obsessed with her makeup and fancy shoes, etc. Boy am I in for it...lol! The one thing about Kyla that has always cracked me up is that she has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL curls...but she absolutely hates them, and even as young as 3 years old, she told me to not make her hair curly, that she doesn't want curls. Oh, am I in for it as they get older!


And now for my yougest daughter, Gabriela. Gabby is my miracle! Born at 35 weeks gestation, infected with Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) she is lucky to be here with us. We were told she would not do a number of things (walk, talk, sit on her own, etc.) but she has by far proven all the doctors wrong. Gabby is absolutely amazing. She can make my heart melt with just one glance, and make me want to cry seeing her communicate through sign. She is a bit like the energizer bunny, going and going and going until her power runs out at the end of the day and she goes to sleep. She has a will like no other child I know, and if she has a goal in mind, she WILL accomplish it. She is very smart, loving, and completely on her own terms with most things. She even decided to be left handed--I swear just to keep us on our toes. Lol! She wears glasses and bilateral cochlear implants. She is deaf, but she hears! How cool is that! I often just hold her and rub my hands over her hair. She has the most amazing, super tight, ringlet curls that just bounce with her every step. She is absolutely tiny, and has these really defined petite features about her. I often just sit and stare at her in amazement, trying to understand how I would have ever lived without her. She might scale the walls at times, and make us sit down at the end of the day just to catch our breath, but "Gabbelina Ballerina" has changed all our lives and made us see something about life that we never knew before. Compassion toward others and humility especially. Gabby LOVES SpongeBob, and dresses. Another girly girl in the making it seems.


Jeremiah is my youngest son. He was born November 15, 2007 at 9lbs. 5oz. Big boy! He is now 19 months and weighs about 30 pounds (the same as Gabby at almost 4 years)! He is such a good baby, and such a mama's boy! He has a favorite "blanky" and MUST have it when he goes to sleep. He has a purse fettish and loves my shoes. He's often spotted walking the halls with a pink purse on one arm, and a pair of my shoes on his feet. He's so funny! At the same time, he love his tonka trucks and tool bench, especially his drill that is ever so noisy...lol! We often refer to him as "Bob Dole" as he ALWAYS seems to have a pen or pencil in his hand. Even when we can't find one, there goes Jeremiah with one in hand. Jeremiah, or Miah as we call him, thinks he's one of the big kids, often mimicking exactly what his older siblings are doing. He wants to be just like them. Miah is so stinking cute, and often catches me off guard with the cute little things he does. Just the other day, he told Gabby to "do dit"while signing to her, and pointed toward her bean bag chair. He was clearly saying and signing "go sit" to her. So awesome! He is picking up on the ASL so quickly and it's great to see him communicating so well with Gabby at such an early age. They often sit in their high chairs and "converse" with each other at meal times, in a world all their own. Anyway, Miah is a very easy baby, even throwing tantrums that consist of nothing more than laying on the floor and looking around to see who's watching. No stomping or kicking, or screaming, just laying there silently. He's so funny! He loves giving "kissy kissies" and will give them over and over again. I can't get enough! He's growing so fast...it's amazing!


And lastly, I should mention a few other members of our family. We have Charlie, the chi-weiner (chihuahua/dachsund mix), and Sunny, Midnight and TJ the guinea pigs. Sunny, one of our supposed males just gave birth to 3 little piggies on June 23rd, and boy are they cute! So, needless to say, she wasn't a male. Never a dull moment in the Torres house ;)


So that pretty much sums us up in a nutshell. I look forward to posting more as time goes by and giving a glimpse into our daily lives through blog postings, photos, etc. Happy reading!
-Cheryl