The last beach days of Summer....

We went up to Ventura for the 1st 2 "official" days of school. It actually felt good to be so rebellios because I felt so un-ready for school to start. this year has been the hardest so far to "get into". It must have something to do with having a baby this summer! :) So worth it but it went by way too fast. I am sure we will get into a groove soon, but I don't want to....not yet...how about after Labor Day!!! Until then, we will ease into a schedule and try to suck the last bits of fun out of the summer! Silly boy....happy to be back at the beach!

As the boys got ready to go out in the water, Josh came running up from behind....."wait for me"!

Jeremy took his little sister out on the kayak! She got a bit nervous about tipping over.

Love that sweet smile from Julia! Here she is having fun on the sailboat.

Jonah is so sweet and enjoys being at the beach. Today he was wearing a cute little terry cloth cover-up that my mom bought him from Gap....not necessary but so sweet!

Love the above picture of Jeremy carrying his surfboard to meet up with his brother and friend.

I have pictures of josh and Julia like this when they were little. I love it. I love that they are buddies...even though they drive each other crazy sometimes!

Josh was excited to surf on his own again!

....and, he "ate it" a few times too! :)

Here's the whole group...Cervantes and Modugno kids....they have sure grown over the years...in number and in size!

Cervantes boys! ....I love how Jonah is looking at them

My sweet fam.....how they love the beach.

There go the boys.....wow....unbelieveable. Exciting to see them grow and so sad at the same time. How I wish I could freeze time....just for a little while.....

"When the dog bites..."

Julia was rolling around with grandma and grandpas very large golden retriever and ended up getting bit. So strange and out of character for the dog. Just had to document it so she can have a tough "war story" to tell when she's older!

happy/sad

Sweet little boy....it was a sad day, the day before these pictures. Jonah turned 8 weeks an had to go to the dr. to get all his shots. He had a very sad day...crying and sleeping and didn't even want to eat. :( It's so funny to me how it has been harder and harder for me to see each baby be sad. I definitely think the day was harder on me than it was on him. I also thought it was so funny that the nurse gave him Sponge Bob band-aids. After all the shots, we had to go down the hallway and get a blood test. This was hard but also a test of my faith. When Jonah was 2 weeks old, his bloodcount came back low. So the dr. told me we would re-test at 8 weeks. it was a long 6 weeks but i had to constantly give it to the Lord, trusting Him with Jonah and remember that Jonah belongs to him. This was finally the day we would check to make sure everything was ok with him. I must admit, my mind kept wandering to the worst case scenario. I think it was a combination of post-pregnancy hormones and the fact that I had 4 healthy kids prior to Jonah and "something is bound to happen to one of them" because we have been so fortunate so far. Anyway, after waiting several days, we got the results and all his counts were normal. Praise God or another healthy baby! That was a joyous day. Sweet little Jonah, though so sad the day of the shots, was happy and smiley the day after (which is when the below pictures were taken). Oh, how I love that boy!!!

7 week love........

I was so touched on this day. Julia took a lid to a box of computer paper. She envisioned a special bed for Jonah. So, she filled it with blanket. Then, she realized he needed a mobile and went out to gathered some sticks. The papers that she added to the ends of the sticks are replicas of charms I had bought her recently. Earlier that day, we were at a boutique and she saw some sweet charms like ones my dear friend had bought me earlier. She asked me if she could get some to wear on a necklace like mine also. So, the 2 charms she got were: 1 with a heart, engraved with the word "LOVE"; and 1 with a little footprint engraved with the word "BABY" (for her new baby brother). She copied these charms onto 2 circular papers and hung them over his "bed". It was so sweet to watch her work so intently on this all afternoon. I love her thoughtfulness and creativity. She couldn't wait to put him in his new bed.

At 7 weeks old, he was a bit too long for the bed, and his feet hung over. However, Julia was so proud to see him in it!