Dance Recital Time

June brings us summer, end of school, a bunch of birthdays and of course the famous dance recitals! This was Jenna's first year of dance and I have to say she loved it! She took combo for her first year - tap and ballet. We were a little nervous for the actual recital - we thought she would get stage fright or a case of the nerves, but did she prove us wrong!

Her first dress rehersal went great. She came out danced her heart out and exited the stage with a huge smile and waving. The only crying we heard that day was from Michael when his "JaJa" left the stage. He apparently thought she wasn't coming back ever.

The day of her recital, I could tell she was excited and a bit nervous. Recital day is a bit more hectic than dress rehersal and of course there are many more in the audience. Grandma Gladys, Aunt Susan, Uncle Thomas, Mike and I sat proudly in the theatre waiting for our girl to come out and shake her stuff. She strutted her stuff out on the stage to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", did great and again exited the stage with a huge smile and big waves. We are so proud of her. Watching my girl up on that stage brings back many memories of me up on that stage.

And with those memories brought my recital. It's been 16 years since I've been on a stage. I had a great time and rocked out both shows in a tap trio number. Jenna was excited to see Mama up on a stage just like her tapping away. What a great recital month - looking forward to next year!

Welcome Ryan Sebastian - the newest member of the Rivera Family

I must say we were very surprised to hear that the newest member of the Rivera Family was arriving. He wasn't scheduled to make his appearance until June 7, so having him arrive on May 11 was a big surprise. Ryan Sebastian entered the world on Tuesday May 11, 2010 at 932pm, weighing 6 1/2 lbs. Mom, Dad and baby are doing well, just adjusting to life as a threesome. I was lucky enough to see my new nephew while he was still in the hospital. Below are a couple of pictures I took. Jenna can't wait to meet her new little cousin.

God Bless Ryan Sebastian and welcome to the world!!

Springtime

Springtime has hit Long Island and we have taken full advantage of the transition from the cold, snowy winter weather to warm, sunny weather! We've spent a lot of our time outdoors lately. We tried a new park down by Sayville Marina and the kids loved it. There was a park, beach, tennis courts and picnic area. The kids were having so much fun it was hard to get them to leave. They have also been running around the backyard which is great for us since they are completely fenced in. No worries of them running off. We even ate our first meal outside. Looking forward to starting up the BBQ soon!

Springtime also brings about Mother's day. It felt like Mother's Day weekend with all that was going on. Friday, Jenna's class hosted a Mother's Day tea and she was so excited that I could go. We listened to them sing, recite poems and received some great gifts! They had a plant for us, a cookbook that they made themselves and a self potrait of all the moms. And we were served cookies and iced tea. It was a fun afternoon. Saturday Gladys came out and we cooked a Mother's Day meal for both Grandmas and Jenna presented each of them with a plant she bought herself from the school plant sale. Sunday was a day of rest and family time for me. It was enjoyable to spend quality time with Mike and the kids.

Springtime also brings about unpredictable weather. Today we dropped in temperature and it has forced us to pull out the long sleeves and coats. The weather is more like fall then spring, but who is complaining - the heat will be here soon enough!

My baby turned 2!!

Two years ago on April 26, I woke up that morning to my water breaking and heading over to the hospital. What a surprise since he was 9 days early. Since that day, my little boy has not stop surprising me. I've watched him grow so much in these past two years that it is so hard to remember him as my little baby. He really is a full blown 2 year old and he never ceases to amaze me. Each day is something new, whether it's a new word or just the random things he does. His smile lights a room and constantly lights my heart.

Below are pictures from our family celebration. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time. Happy 2nd Birthday to my little boy!

Baby Rivera will be arriving soon!!!

Haha - I bet you all thought we were having another baby!!! Nope, it's our soon to be nephew arriving in June. We held a baby shower for the parents-to-be on April 17 with all our family and friends. They received so many wonderful gifts for the baby. Jenna is so excited for this baby to arrive as well as the rest of the family. Iliana is feeling and looking great and you can see how excited Darren is below.

Only 6 weeks to go!!!

Easter 2010

Easter this year was very exciting. Jenna was very into the Easter Egg hunt and even got Michael into it. I don't think he really understood what was going on, but he enjoyed finding the eggs. Of course both were excited to see what the Easter Bunny left them. These two definitely take after me, because they were all over their chocolate! After a relaxing morning, we heading into the city to celebrate Easter with the Rivera side of the family. The kids had a blast as always at Grandma Gladys' House and it was a nice afternoon.

Below are some pictures of the kids during their egg hunt. The family picture below was taken by my budding photographer. I think Jenna has a pretty good eye and maybe a calling. And the last picture is Grandma Teresa and Jenna at the end of the day when we returned home. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Luke's 3rd Birthday

Hard to believe that it was 3 years ago I got the call to head to Staten Island for the birth of Luke Richard Sere. I remember that day clearly, sitting in the hospital waiting for his arrival to the rushing of Michele to the OR for an emergency C-Section. Standing outside the OR with Richie, we heard Luke's first cries. We were so excited and couldn't wait to see him. Now look at him 3 years later he is such a big boy. Where did that baby go!!!!

Luke had a great birthday celebration at the Staten Island Children's Museum. The kids had a blast as they ran around the construction and boat rooms. Of course to top it off the kids enjoyed pizza and yummy canoli cake!! Ok so maybe I enjoyed the canoli cake a bit more than my kids, but it was so good!!! Below are just some of the pictures from that afternoon of fun.

Happy Birthday to our favorite little Staten Island boy!!! xoxoxo

A little bragging about my big girl

Kindergarten just celebrated their 100 days of school about 2 weeks ago. My big girl celebrated by making a huge poster of 10 butterflies with 10 spots on each butterfly. We are so proud of our big girl because she has been doing so well this year!! She has just been made Bus Rider of the Month again - 3 times so far this year and was the Star Student last week. Jenna really loves school and it shows. She has been getting 100's on her spelling test week after week and has not missed a day of school so far. My little Star Student is the apple of our eyes!!

And to top it all off, our big girl is losing her first tooth!! A bottom tooth has moved over and started to get wiggly. We can now see the new tooth behind it, so it should be any day now that the tooth fairy comes for a visit!

Michael's First Haircut

It was finally that time to take Michael for his first haircut. He had this curl in the back of the head that reminded you of the 1980's. Mike will only have his haircut by his barber who is located out in Brooklyn. We trekked out to Brooklyn to have Sammy cut Michael's hair. Michael was not thrilled at this and we had to have him sit on Mike's lap. When Sammy started to cut, Michael started to cry. He definitely did not like having his hair cut. Jenna was much better on her first time. Below is the picture of Sammy's first cut of Michael's hair. Can't believe this baby is going to be 2 in April!!!





And here is the big boy minus a few pounds :)

Sesame Street at MSG

This past weekend, Grandma Gladys and I took the kids to see Sesame Street at MSG Theater in the city. They loved it! Jenna was dancing and singing along with her favorite characters. Michael did well for his first show. He got a little sleepy at one point, but perked back up when the fire engine and train came out. We had a great evening with them. And if you want to know where Mike was, well he was enjoying some peace and quiet without us :)
Valentines Day came and went without much fuss. I'm not a big fan of the holiday, but it is my mother-in-law's birthday - Happy Birthday Gladys! And topping the weekend was having Monday off with the kids. Too bad we got more snow, but I know Spring is just around the corner....

Kyler's 2nd Birthday

This past weekend we headed out to NJ to celebrate Kyler's 2nd Birthday. Cannot believe she has turned 2 already!!! It seemed like yesterday she just arrived.
Jenna and Michael had a blast playing with Kyler and the other kids at the party. Below are some of the pictures that they actually stood still for.

Happy Birthday Kyler!!!

A nice day at the park

This past weekend we had some nice weather - a little chilly, but the sun was shining. Took the kids down to the Patchogue Docks so they could play at the playground. Michael had a great time since he is now big enough to climb by himself on all the equipment and Jenna had a blast riding her new scooter and even helping Michael down some of the slides. We had a great time watching the fun the kids had. Here's hoping for some more nice days like this one.

I've been bad lately...

So I haven't been posting as frequently as I should be but I figured it's a New Year and a brand new start :)
I am going to do my best to keep the blog more up to date so you can see how big the munchkins are getting!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Here's looking to 2010!!!



Jenna and Michael with Uncle Darren on Christmas Day.


Jenna getting Julie from Santa.


Michael opening his gifts from Santa.


Jenna, Michael, Brandon and Ethan on Christmas Eve.


Jenna and Michael visiting Santa.