Wordless Wednesday- Super climbs on EVERYTHING!

Close to my heart...

Yay! It's vacation week at the Borquez house! Our orginal plans were to fly to Oregon to visit Chris's family and friends. At the last minute we decided to forgo our much anticipated trip due to the potential travel difficulities of tackling an airport with a toddler in tow. Hopefully this time next year Kal-el will be old enough to enjoy a nice little trip to Disney Land on our visit so it will be worth the wait.  We plan on just takeing it easy this week. We are takeing a small trip to the Chattanooga aquarium and staying at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. I'm really looking forward to it and I think we will have a great time. A great start to time spent at home was the arrival of my custom necklance I ordered with munchkins name engraved on it. If we had been out of town I wouldn't have gotten it so soon. I am so pleased with final product. I love large jewlery as far as earrings and bracelets go but for necklaces I tend to like dainty. I wanted the necklace to have a have a light feminine touch to it and I didn't want to run the risk of it looking like "soccer mom jewlery" as Mimsy calls it lol. In the future I want to order a few more, to include Chris's name as well as any other bambinos that will more than likely occur. I will most likely leave it on at all times, close to my heart. :)

Father's Day 2010

We had a fun, very laid back Father's Day celebration this year. I got to spend time with the three most important fellows in my life, my adorable baby Kal-el, my sweet husband, and my precious grandfather. Super and I gave Daddy his gifts when we got up this morning then we headed off to church. Kal-el made his way to the nursery again so all the fathers in the congregation could actually hear and enjoy the sermon lol. Super is on the move these days and simply can't bear to sit still through an entire sermon. Fiesta Mexicana followed church. We had a nice time and ate good food.  I feel so blessed to have my family.  I loved having two people to honor this year. My own father has not been in my life for going on four years now but I  have never felt like I had a void because I have such a wonderful grandfather in Poppa. He really has always been like a father to me. You couldn't find a better man if you spent your entire life looking. I hope we bring him even an ounce of the happiness that he fills our lives with. I love him so much. He has been a constant in my life that I can't ever  imagine not having. I can't express how happy it makes me to see that Kal-el shares the same bond with him that I do.He adores his Great Grand Poppa. Then there is my husband Chris, who is a remarkable father to our son. I couldn't ask for anything more. I've said before what a natural he is and it's so true. I cherish these times with all of my heart and I look forward to watching Kal-el grow up in his Daddy's footsteps. It is definately an exception these days as opposed to a rule to have such wonderful men for my son to look up to and I am forever grateful. Happy Father's Day Chris and Poppa! I love you both so very much :)

You can thank the wonderful Alabama humidity for this blurry shot :)

At church for the Father and Son Breakfast Saturday morning

To: Daddy       From: Mommy & Super

Kal-el's card :)

Mom and Poppa-Notice Kal-el doesn't appear in many of those

shots. He checked out to catch a few zzzzzzzzz's

Me and Poppa

Aunt Shane and Poppa

Best buddies

Calling it a day! :-)

Daddy's Story- Father's Day Eve

                                  Who will cry for the little boy? By Antwone Fisher

Who will cry for the little boy?
Lost and all alone.
Who will cry for the little boy?
 Abandoned without his own?

Who will cry for the little boy?

He cried himself to sleep.

Who will cry for the little boy?

He never had for keeps.

Who will cry for the little boy?
 He walked the burning sand
Who will cry for the little boy?
 The boy inside the man.

Who will cry for the little boy?
Who knows well hurt and pain
Who will cry for the little boy?
 He died again and again.

Who will cry for the little boy?
 A good boy he tried to be
Who will cry for the little boy?
 Who cries inside of me

                   Today is the day before Father’s Day and today I want to share a very special story. It’s a story of triumph, and perseverance amiss seemingly impossible odds. This is the story of my husband’s childhood. If you have ever seen Chris and Kal-el together since day one you can’t help but notice what a natural Chris is and how much Super loves his Daddy. Chris is an amazing Dad. Their bond is unbreakable. I can hardly put this into words without getting completely emotional. I am overcome with joy watching Chris fulfill his role as a father. Chris embodies the word strength. To understand the weight and validity of this statement you have to understand a little of his life as a child. My husband is a man that did not really have a family. His relationship with his mother was unreliable at best and as a child there was no real home to speak of. They sort of drifted from place to place. There were many days where he was left completely alone, sometimes in hotels, sometimes in random unfamiliar houses in the huge city of Portland Oregon to care for two younger siblings( at the tender age of 5 ) for days at a time. Most days were spent worrying about the next meal that might not take place. There were no toys, much less Christmas or Birthdays. Chris once told me for several years of his life he didn’t even know the date of his birthday, just how old he was. Broke my heart. He wasn’t talked to enough, thought about enough, touched enough, or loved enough and those were on good days. Several years went by this way. When Chris was 8 years old his life took a turn for the worse in an already despair filled childhood. He lost his mother to cancer. His Father was in and out of trouble and nowhere in sight when his little boy needed him. So begin Chris’s life in the foster care system. Most days were fine but that real since of family was missing for a little boy that never had it. At least there was some stability. School days were met with open arms because it was an outlet that took his mind away from the hurt going on inside. He excelled at school and sports that he become involved in. The foster home era proved to be very short lived when nothing short of a miracle happened in the streets of downtown Portland one day at a busy bus stop. Chris and his paternal Grandmother, that he had not seen since his birth , came face to face and knew each other instantly with only pictures to serve their memories. She was a petite Native American woman with kind features. It was Chris who recognized her first and gathered all the courage he could muster and ask the simple question with a child’s heart full of hope…”I’m Chris and I think you are my grandmother” In an unbelievable twist of fate that no doubt had God’s hand in it she immediately recognized him to and informed him that she had been desperately trying to find him. She also told him she had Birthday presents waiting on him from all the birthdays they had spent apart. She decided to fight the system for him and with Grande Rhonde, a very prominent Native American tribe in Oregon, she along with Chris's paternal Hispanic Grandfather won the parental rights to their grandchild. Chris said she did a great job of absolutely ruining him the years that she had him. He soon found out very quick when is birthday was not to be forgotten again! These were, as you can imagine some of the best years of his childhood. A few years down the road as Chris became a preteen he began to act out a little and at a young age did not have the emotional capabilities to deal with what hand his childhood had dealt him. His grandmother had her own vices as well and turned to them more often than she should of .Eventually things got worse when Chris's grandfather developed alzheimers. By the time Chris reached high school he might of gotten completely off course had it not been for a wonderful family by the name of the Pietrzyk’s. He became fast friends with all five of the brothers and their parents became the family that he never had. They were the best influence he had ever had and they guided him through the rest of his journey into adulthood. They are a big part of our lives to this day. They flew into town the day Chris and I got married and have been an a part of Kal-el’s life as well. I am so grateful for their influence in my husband’s life. Chris lost his grandmother, the closest thing he had to a mother back in 2006 when we were engaged. She will be grately missed. I mourn the fact that I never got to meet her in person but we talked on the phone many times and she would always say she was very proud of Chris and the direction that he chose for his life. Today Chris is no longer a little boy with a life filled with hurt. He is a man. He is a man with a family that will love him til the end of time. He has told me many times that I’m his angel, well I have to say he is mine. For all of my ideals and philosophys on life and my thoughts of what strength means and defining personal achievement he has defied every notion, tearing down the walls that a formal education boxed me into regarding the human condition. He personifies the strength and character development and gives it new meaning beyond a text book definition. It goes back to Psychology 101. Nature vs Nurture. He had neither in his favor and he rose above his circumstances. So this Father’s Day I want to make sure he is given all the credit he deserves. We jokely refer to him as the baby whisper because he can put anyone to shame when it comes to caring for little ones. He has never once cringed about a diaper change or tried to dodge any duties. As a matter of fact he wants a part of everything that involves me and Kal-el. No wonder DaDa is Kal-el’s best friend in the whole world. He is a Daddy’s boy all the way. I’m am so proud of our little family. Getting to watch Chris grow from an amazing husband to an amazing father has been a remarkable journey. I hope that I fill my roles half as well as a wife and Mommy. This was not meant to be a sad story but yet a touching reminder that anything is possible when you believe in who you are and what you want enough. As you can see the road may not of been an easy one to travel down but in the end true happiness was found.

         

 So.....I will do better than cry for the little boy...I will make it possible for the little boy to cry again then wipe his tears away....we all cry for the little boy..or girl...or man... or woman...when we live with love, acceptance, and compassion in our hearts.

Wordless Wednesday- Blast from the Past II- Daddy's Early Years

Toddler Leash :)

A slightly questionable purchase if you ask Chris. Ok lets just be honest my husband hates seeing little people on leashes lol. I formerly tended to agree...thats former as in past tense, as in before I had a child. I now think this is one of the best things since sliced bread. We have a very active toddler and this time last week I thought we were still going to Oregon on our family vacation. Being that we were going to be in very crowded airports there was no way that I could be talked out of this additional safety measure. Soooo I quietly grabbed one on our bi weekly wal mart trips. Chris, of course laughed and rolled his eyes but knowing there is rarely any talking me down agreed to let the puppy leash wear Kal-el :) Now that we are no longer going to Portland the need for it isn't as great but we will still be traveling somewhere so I'm sure I will have to break it out. Hey, I have no shame when it comes to the safety of Super he's ALOT of toddler. I wouldn't have it any other way but when we go to big scary places puppy will be attending piggy back style!

Max's trip to the vet!

Our poor wolf hybrid fur kid has been limping for about three days now. We didn't know what in the world was wrong with Max. One day our wolfy was just fine and the next day he had a terrible limp that refused to subside. Chris, Kal-el and I loaded hom up for a visit to see Dr. Youngblood. He is such an aweome vet. We totally trust him and our dogs don't mind going so it's a perfect fit. Today happend to be a slightly different story for Max however. When we got him out of the car he noticed where we were and immediately and bared all the weight he could on his hurt leg. "Wow!" I said to Chris. Maybe we should just take him home he is healed miraculously just by pulling into the parking lot. We knew better and figured he just got a nice little adrenaline rush before entering the dreaded war zone. Soon enough this proved to be true, he was back to limping minutes later and I was happy we didn't foolishly leave the vets care. Every animal in this city was in for a visit so the wait time was horrendous not to meantion the fact that Super was restless and in VERY rare toddler fit throwing form. The good news is Max got a pretty good report. No broken bones were felt so he was given a shot and now we are doing the waiting game for a couple of days to see if everything heals up properly. We will have have to spoil him a little extra these next few days and Kal-el will be no help with this as Ginger is still the love of his life. Quick prayer and howl for Max's speedy recovery. Our home just would'nt be the same without our fur kids. :)

The ride over....

He was into EVERYTHING lol

He wanted an exam like Max!

Texting always passes the time...unless your 15 months old

Yay! All done homeward bound :)