two baby showers for baby gabe!

I was very fortunate to have 2 Baby Showers for little Buggie. I had one in Modesto thrown by Terrie and one here at home thrown by my mom, Lindsey, Lupe, Radha and Vicky. They were both so great and really fun! I loved every moment of it, especially the food! Baby Gabe got lots of goodies! I am so thankful to have the support of my family and friends; life would be so difficult without you guys!

annual family gathering

This year we had our annual family gathering in Waldport, OR. It really was a blast having all the family together under one roof celebrating life, eating good food and laughing like crazy. Last year we started this tradition in Napa. We were lucky enough to get a gorgeous home for a crazy good deal. This year, we decided to do it at Jaye and Susan's place up in Oregon. It was really great having all the family together relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

We decided to take our annual family picture here in Oregon and as I was walking to get in place for the picture, Jaye asked "what is the name of the baby". I felt a lot of pressure all of a sudden and I responded "Gabriel". She said to make a sign for the belly and I did. When I walked back everyone saw the sign and shouted in joy that I had picked out Buggie's name. And so we documented with a sign, that Buggie was there too!

I knew that I wanted to pick out his name on this trip. I thought it would be a great thing to do while the whole family was together. We had a few conversations about the name and I told them my top 3-4 names. My top two favorites were Gabriel and Nicolas. Everyone seemed to like Gabriel A LOT! Tony and I had created a top 5 list of names and the common one in our list was Gabriel too. So it made sense to pick that name for little Buggie.

I have to mention that Gabriel was always the name I wanted to name my son (at least since high school). I had told myself I was going to do so after a friend name Gabriel passed away from leukemia. I held on to that name for years and when talking about potential names with Tony for a son, I always spoke about the name Gabriel. Tony, however, was not too impressed with the name and I always knew I would have to fight hard to convince him of the name. Well...now that I am pregnant with a baby boy and it is time to think of names, Nicolas became one of my top two along with Gabriel. I started thinking of other names as I knew that we needed options. I couldn't seem to convince Tony of Nicolas and since we were not coming to an agreement on names we decided to write down a list of our top 5 favorites. The funny thing is that Gabriel was on Tony' s list. I actually did not have to fight at all to get him to consider that name. So when Jaye put me on the spot to pick out a name for the baby, I easily chose Gabriel because...really, that had been his name all along.

So Buggie...Gabriel Alarcon Avila it is...I can't wait to meet you Gabe!

its a boy!!!!

I am so excited to announce that little Buggie is a boy! I found out last Thursday and I have been glowing ever since. Honestly, I did not care if it was a boy or a girl as I knew I would be equally as happy with either, but regardless, I needed and wanted to know. Both grandmas were present at the ultrasound with us. They were so excited to have seen the baby on the screen and to find out he was extremely healthy. I was the first to realize it was a boy when the screen was on his midsection. The doctor said "I bet you can tell what you are having" and I responded, "oh my gosh, I am having a little boy!" The rest couldn't see it but I saw it nice and clear. The doctor had to show them once again so they too could see that Buggie was a boy. The funny thing is that what I saw that made me assume that he was a boy was not his private, it was something else, like a leg or an arm. Tony had to show me the appropriate place to look from the print out the doctor gave us when we left. I could not stop laughing because what I saw was clearly the wrong thing and I was shocked how big it was! Yeah, I could have been wrong when I shouted out the sex but deep down inside I always knew I was carrying a little boy. I had a dream that I was having a girl and I just couldn't convince myself that it was anything more than a dream. For some reason I always felt it would be a boy, i guess mother's intuition.

Well my little boy on Thursday, November 18th was 13 ounces. My ObGyn adjusted my due date back to April 5th based on the measurements of the baby. My first 10 weeks I believed I was due on April 5th, then I was told I was due on April 10th and believed that for another 10 weeks. And now we are back to April 5th. based on the first day of my last cycle I am estimated to be due on April 5th so...I guess I will continue believing this for 10 weeks and we will see what happens after.

Anyways, this past weekend I bough Buggie some baby clothes and shoes. I wasn't planning on it but I was convinced as the proceeds of my purchase went to help the family of Tony's coworker. Good cause! so I bought some clothes and some shoes and some hats and some socks and man, I was going crazy! Luckily it was fill a bag for $5, an amazing deal! I just couldn't believe how cute everything was and I fell in love with all I purchased as I knew my little Buggie will one day be wearing these items. Honestly I am so in love right now that it is clearly visible with the glow of my face. I washed the clothes and folded them with so much care. Every so often I go back and take a look at them or the the little shoes and just get so excited with so much joy! I showed up to work with the biggest smile as I have been on a clear high from looking at baby stuff all weekend long. I just can't describe this happiness.

What is best is that Buggie is happy too and he lets me know with little kicks here and there that allow me to feel he is present in my belly. I felt the first kick on Nov. 12th and I was ecstatic! Luckily I was talking to Tony on the phone so I was able to share the experience right away. Tony got to feel the first kick yesterday, as he waited patiently for the little pulsations. I really can't wait to feel him a little more, luckily I have 19 more weeks to go feeling him this way.

my chief!

Tony became a chief in 2009 but in May 2010 he did his chief initiation where he officially entered into the brotherhood of chiefs. also, in November 2010 he attended the Chief Academy where he improved his skills as a leader. Both graduations were amazing and it was so exciting to see him in his uniform and see him glow! I am so proud of his accomplishments and I know he is a well regarded chief.

Oh, one more thing!!! tony you are Chief in the Coast Guard but I am the chief at home :b.

Nov. ceremony

May Ceremony

projects - before and after pictures

I finally got some before and after pictures of some of the projects that I have been working on in the past year. These have been really fun to work on and I am so glad to have found some time to add some pictures to the blog. I am currently focusing on things for the nursery and can’t wait for it to be completed, but first I need to find out the sex of Buggie so I can add the finishing touches. Did I say finishing touches? I still have tons to do! Does anyone know where I can find a vintage Danish rocking chair?


My first chair, I don’t know why I chose such a hard chair to do! Honestly I knew nothing about upholstering furniture. At one point I did ask, “what did I get myself into?!”

Got so excited about my first chair that I found two of these for an amazing deal! One is complete; I have to finish the second one!


I found these gorgeous stools (2) at an antique store in Oregon and I had to buy them! I am not too excited about the fabric I chose and will for sure change it to bring in more color. Most of the chairs I sold/will sell but I think I will keep these stools as they are so useful.


Found this chair for free on the sidewalk outside of a friend’s house. Forced him to put the chairs my car and he did not understand why I wanted to take a crappy thing home. Hope he gets it now! I like the old look of the wood but debating if I should add something to make it look less beat up.


I bought this dresser at the antiques fair with my sister. I was on a mission to find something I could use in the nursery as a changing table and found this reasonably priced piece. I love how the colors add vibrancy to the room!