Numero 4

"Are you crazy" "Do you want to go to a mental institution" "Hooch" "What is wrong with you"

These are just a few of the kind and exciting words that echoed around when the news of baby number 4 in the oven hit the streets. How funny how things change from the 1st one and how I felt it was appropriate to announce it via text! HAHA!

So yes this will be the final baby. I am only a month or so along and probably will not find out the sex just to annoy everyone!

Carrie wanted to know if I was going to blog the announcement because she said she wanted to know how it happened. Well Carrie, here it goes....

On one hot and steamy night, Benny and I were yelling at each other over who works the most hours, then out of no where Sofia hits Marisela on the head and she starts crying. Then Olivia starts crying because Marisela's cry is very loud and it startles her. Then I yell louder about how I am sick and tired of feeling like a single mom. Then I woke up the next day and I was pregnant. The end!

We will miss you grandma

As quickly as Angel noticed a change in Grandma, her health quickly declined as well. That very next day I went in to say good morning only to find her having great difficulty feeding herself. Her shaky hand just couldn't quite seem to get the spoon from the bowl to her mouth. She was quite frustrated with herself. With each passing day she slowly faded from us. Family gathered around her for the next 4 days. Her sons came from Miami, all of her grandchildren arrived and all of her great grandchildren joyfully played in the backyard. Friends and family provided comfort and food. On Sunday, October 12 @ 4:45 pm here in my home, surrounded by family, soft music, prayers and silent tears we watched her take her last breath. Eloquent and peaceful.

Then almost immediately we were in constant motion to plan her farewell. I never realized how much is involved with planning a funeral. I had the honor of dressing my grandmother and doing make up and hair for her in the mortuary. A good friend asked me why I would ever want to do that? My grandmother was such a modest woman that the thought of some man seeing her naked was more than I could bear. It was a very different experience to prepare her body for the funeral, but one that I am glad to have done. She was so beautiful that she really only needed a little blush, and lip gloss. Her services were perfect and Gilbert Sierra played a song that he wrote for her that was simply amazing.

Death is never easy, but I find great peace in her passing. She will be terribly missed and I am so thankful for all the memories that will live on forever. Thank you again for all of you who have been so supportive to my family over the years. We will miss you grandma!

"If we say good night does that mean she will not die"

When you live with someone, you do not really notice change so much. Today Angel came over to visit Nana R. When she walked out of the room in tears I was confused. To me, Nana R looks the same, but to her she does not look well at all. It has been less than a week that Angel has been by to visit but in that short amount of time Nana R's health and physical appearance has changed, most obvious to Angel. Now I know my grandma is not well and I have noticed that she has lost weight and that her appetite has changed. She has also been short of breath more so than ever, but it wasn't until today, through the help of Angel's eyes that I noticed the drastic change. Upon seeing Angel's tears, Miss M asked "Why is she crying?" Now she is only 4, and I was not sure how to respond so I thought for a second and decided that my Miss M needs to hear the truth. I know that she understands that if we do not water the flowers they will die, and I know that she know that if she goes close to the near by canal that she will fall in and the monsters will eat her and she will die. I finally told her, "Nana R is sick and she is going to die soon and go to heaven and we will not see her ever again." After some thought which is typical of things that she is trying to figure out, she said, "Well what will Auntie Berni do?" ( My Aunt B has been faithfully taking care of Nana R with us here in our home) I told her that she would eventually go back to her other home and Miss M said she wanted to go with her. This evening Miss M came up to me out of the blue and said, "I will miss Nana R when she goes with Jesus." I told her I would miss her too and that she needs to make sure that she tells Nana R good night. With a innocent and sincere look she asked, "if we say good night does that mean she will not die?" Oh, what do you say to that?

Back from New York to say goodbye to Yankee Stadium

Today is the last day that the Yankee's play in their old stadium, directly across the street is their almost completed new stadium. Now I am not really a sports fan, actually I like sports just as much as I like animals but after returning from our awesome NY trip, I have a great respect for the stadium, the team and the fans. What an awesome thing when your fans love you so intensely yet do not hesitate to let you know when you are messing up...only in NY. Mr. B is glued to the TV today watching all the farewell coverage. It was the place of his first job. My first job was at Bashas grocery store and I spent more time in the back eating fresh produce than gathering carts, not quite as awesome of a job as working at Yankee stadium. ATTENTION PLEASE-DEREK JETER ALERT...Mr. B actually found some people who he used to work with that have since worked their way up in the stadium. We had the awesome opportunity to see some of the off limits to the public areas filled with memorabilia. We hung out in the VIP lounge as, okay so you are asking what does that have to do with DEREK? Well we were in the lounge one of Mr. B's former co-workers, Anthony Fantasia, was holding a bottle of Dom Perignon (don't know how to spell that as I have never tasted it) the bottle was being saved for when DEREK JETER broke Lou Gehrig's all time hits, which occured the night that we were there. I touched the bottle and took a photo with it.....so that is the closest I will ever be to DEREK and just to know that he also touched that bottle that night makes me happy....now if I could just get that close to LL Cool J!!! Okay, so that was not the absolute highlight of our NY trip but it is close. We did all the touristy things that you do in NYC. It truly is the city that never sleeps. I walked up more damn subway stairs than I care to think about and when you have Ms. O strapped to your body you can only imagine how the additional weight feels. Speaking of Ms. O, she did awesome. As long as she was close to me she never feared all the loud and sudden noises the city offers. We made an off Broadway show and got a short appearance on the Today show (Al Roker said hello to Ms. O). It was an awesome trip where I got to see where Mr. B is from and answered some questions about his personality. It was beyond awesome to be with my dad to see it all. I would like to thank Mr. Joe and his beautiful wife Mrs. Jamie for graciously taking us into their home our first night there. Too bad Mr. Joe got sick on the boat during their fishing trip. I would also like to thank Mr. Joe for serving me wine in the largest wine glass I have ever seen, where did you buy those? I would also like to thank Mr. Victor, Benny's cousin and his wife and children for hosting us the 2nd night and taking us to Little Italy, Ground Zero, and to see the Statue of Liberty. Our 3rd and 4th night we stayed with Ms. Edie, who fed us yummy Dominican food, thank you! I would like to close with a story about NYC firefighters....Tata J walked up to a NYC firefighter and shook his hand and told him that all of us in AZ think and continue to pray for those that were lost in 9/11. The firefighter immediately had a stream of tears start running down his face, a reaction Tata J was not expecting. It is so hard to even imagine the pain they obviously continue to feel. So as exciting, face paced and fun NYC was, it was also a place to remind us how precious life is.

NYC Here we come!!!

So Mr. B and I have been married for almost 5 years and I have never been to his home town of The Bronx...why do they call it The Bronx? We don't call our home town The Mesa. Anyhow, I am super excited to see what NYC is all about. I have been there before, many years ago but it was quite alcohol induced and most of what I remember is due to the photo film that I developed after I was home. We are off tomorrow and we plan to see a show, catch a Yankees game (Mr. B's first job was at Yankee Stadium), visit friends and his family. Senora A, Tata J and Ms. O are also going. A first for Tata J and Miss O.

MHC Board of Directors has left the city!

It has come to my attention that the entire MHC Board of Directors will be out of the city the weekend of the 13th of September. I ask that all members and want to be members stay calm as we are all available via text.

Nana R turns 83

Nana R blessed us all with another year of life this past week. It was filled with family, flowers, love, and of course Nana D's famous red velvet cupcakes. Uncle L and his girlfriend J came from the big city of Miami to celebrate with us. Nana R, bravely walked out with the assistance of her walker to join us at the dinner table, something she rarely does as she prefers to eat in her room. The tables were set just perfect with flowers and wine glasses that little Ms. M placed just right. Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, salad and bread filled our tummies as we all sat together in harmony. It was beautiful to see and be apart of and I am thankful to my family who came together that night. Another miracle occured that night as well, Angel did the dishes.