Summer 2008

Hello all! This past summer has been very busy in the Vinson-Perez household. As most of you know, I struggled with breast cancer this summer. I was diagnosed in April and I started chemotherapy right away. I spent a lot of time in the hospital with an IV delivering poison into my body. It wasn't much fun. Good thing is I didn't lose my hair (even though I recently cut 13 inches of it off). Throughout all that I took care of Sierra, with the help of friends. If you ever feel like your kids are driving you nuts and you just don't have the energy or patience for them, give me a call and I'll let you know how much harder it could be.

Anyway, even though I had a rough summer and I was very busy...going to school, going through chemo, taking care of my baby...that's not the reason I didn't blog. I didn't blog because I'm lazy and I never take pictures.

So, here's some pictures of this summer. Enjoy!

Her hair is straightened in the picture and it makes her look so grown up. This is the first picture taken of her as an official 3 year old!

In June Justin and I took Sierra to the zoo. She had a great time! She wasn't scared of anything even a huge lizard-dragon thing....but when we got to the turtle cage, she said, "mommy, I'm scared of those (pointing at the little, tiny turtle)." I picked her up and tried to ease closer to the cage, but she hid her face in my shoulder and reminded me that she was scared. She's so funny.

Me and my good friend Rebecca.Sierra loves to walk around in my high heels.

We spent some time at the beach. Sierra didn't like the sand at first, but when she realized it was okay she really started having fun. She loved playing in the water and finding pretty rocks to take home with us.


In August we went to the fair. Let me tell you, it's over-rated! Never, and I mean NEVER take a 2 year old to the fair! She didn't understand that she had to wait in line. A couple of times we got to the door of the ride and they shut it because the ride was full and Sierra threw a major fit because, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't explain to her that the ride was full and we had to wait....again. I spent over $60 and I had about 15 minutes of fun and 3 hours of NOT fun. Here's some pictures of the FUN:

She loved the animals!
June 2008. Justin brought Sierra home one day and announced that he was ready for me to cut her hair. Her beautiful hair was getting too long and unmanigable. When wet her hair reached half-way down her back. I was nervous about cutting it, but my mom was there to help me through it. Besides she was overjoyed that Sierra was finally getting a hair cut.

Sierra was crying the entire time, with some screaming here and there.
I tried to distract her by having her count my teeth (one of her favorite past-times).
THE END

A few things. . .

For a while Sierra was terrified of water, but now she can't get enough of it! She still doesn't like her hair washed or water to get on her face, but she loves to play with the hose and sprinkler.

Sierra likes to pretend make me dinner now. She'll bring me a plate from her little kitchen and say something like, "here's some spaghetti mom." Then she'll watch me "eat" it and ask, "you want more?" Of course, I'll say "yes, please" and the game will continue. She's so cute when she does this!

Ever since Sierra's cousin, Liam, came to visit and showed her how to connect her Legos, she's been more interested in her Lego table. She gets very impressed with herself after she puts together a bunch of Legos.
Oh, here's a picture of my rose garden that I worked very hard on.

Grandma, Aunt Gina and Liam Visit

Sorry everyone

Sierra in the tub looking all grown-up. So, it's been quite a while since I've blogged, and I apologize for that. I recently started school again and it has demanded a lot of my time...I mean, ALL my time. Sierra has grown signifacently since my last blog, as you can see in the following photos. Her mind has also been doing some growing and here are a few things she has learned or said in the past few months:

• She can read and say her alphabet.
• She can count to 20, although she usually skips 12 and 19.
• She can count things, like her toes or her fingers, etc...which is really impressive.
• She likes to tell me when things are "cute." Example: "Little toy, cute toy." Apparently all small things are cute.
• She likes to brush my hair and tell me that I'm pretty.
• She likes to brush Tony's hair, but he's not to fond of it.
• She tattles on Tony all the time and she always complains that he hit her (he swats at her harmlessly sometimes). After I kiss her "wound" she then tells Tony to go to Time-Out.
• Time-out is my choice of discipline with her and she really responds to it. She doesn't even try to get out of it and I don't let her until she says that she understands what she did wrong.
• She likes to swim like a fish in the bathtub.
• She's begginning to say "Mine" or "My" a lot. Ecspecially when other children approach me or climb on me, she'll say "My mommy!"
• She's extremely independent and likes to play with her blocks or read to herself...ecspecially inside her little tent in her room.
• She is really into cuddling now.
• She knows some Spanish, which is weird.

Okay, that's just a few things, I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them at the moment. Enjoy the pictures....

Jaxson at the Dollar Store with a cheap safari hat on...he's so cute!

In December, right after a bath.

In December, what a nice profile.
Now that is some crazy hair!!!
Tony, after a hard day of doing nothing.