Happy 4th Birthday to Bella Blue Eyes!!

Little Miss Isabella turns 4 today! Oh my goodness where has the time gone?!? Bella is slowly losing her title of "ruler of the house" to Sophia but something tells me she won't stand for that. She makes it clear that she is the prettiest in the land and therefor no one should question her motives and just give her what she wants. I wonder if she will be able to retain that power through adulthood. That way she won't need college she'll just get a good job because she is fabulous. No wait this is assuming this girl will actually work....lol that's funny!

I think she thinks she will be a princess forever and move up to be ruler of the land. Well she will always be her daddy's little princess!


Here are some oldie but goodies!



NO THE BOW ISN'T TOO BIG!




She never did catch the bubble


Bella dances to her own beat!



This one will be saved forever to show future suitors!

This is why I know Steve is in BIG trouble - she is already picking out her wedding dress :)



So the cupcakes are made...



the goodie bags are ready for her class



the presents are wrapped



and now all we need is the birthday girl.......OK she's awake now :

opening some presents



showing some sisterly love



dressed and ready for school:

Are you ready for some footballlllll!!!

The annual Pepe Super Bowl Party was a success yet again! We are going for a theme here and as usual more then enough food was had. So much so that I think I actually threatened people to eat more to take more home, etc... I am this close to learning my lesson....with the food I am talking about the food. What did you think I was talking about?!?!




Really the only other highlight of the evening I feel like mentioning would be the 3D commercials. Thanks to Mary and Magoo everyone was guaranteed to see it clearly:



Come on I couldn't resist my pictures NEVER disappoint!

Jamie's 30th Surprise Party

I'm a nice sister and did a nice sisterly thing and together with my brother-in-law we threw my nice sister a surprise party for her 30th birthday. She was surprised! We had to much food as usual. I am not sure if we will ever get that right but I have enjoyed the leftovers.

Here's Jamie when she came through the door - see she was surprised!



getting her cake


Make a wish !


Now it's not been a party at this house lately without some rockband! Meet Renae the lead vocalist. Her backup singer is Willis. Now Willis has a story. First his name isn't Willis - not even close but I am not getting into that now. What I will say is that it's a pretty funny story. More importantly Willis is my new Beltrami. That's right - Bel has been replaced by a Willis. It was a long time coming but I think you all will love the replacment!



Here is the rest of the band - We have Anthony on Guitar, Kara on Bass and Steve on the drums. What a bunch of freakin clowns!!

Sophia with her favorite doggy

I am not about to tell her that she has established a relationship with a statue. I think she misses Yogi or possibly Abbey or maybe she just likes the fact that she can't get knocked on her ass by this dog's tail and is in complete control. So most mornings I can find her here feeding the "fake" pug some fruit loops, crackers, fruit snacks or even a bagel. Not to worry the water cooler is right there in the corner so when the "dog" needs a drink she just pulls down the little lever to let the water go all over - yah know in case the dog can't find it a puddle is best.



They talk about their day and the mischief they will cause


Oh and she shows plenty of affection - she's going in for a kiss

1,2,3,4,

5!













YES WE ARE SURE!











Seriously...really really sure!



Now that you have had a moment to adjust to the news pick your jaw up off the floor. It is January as I write this and I am exhausted and cranky really really cranky -- the only kind of cranky I get in the beginning of my pregnancies. I don't keep track of anything so I couldn't tell you if I was late but I will say I just had a feeling. A feeling like I could seriously rip another human's head from their body and use it as a soccer ball. Yes I have a list of people....lol So this new found desire to murder led me to take a test (PLEASE NOTE THE FIRST TEST TAKEN WAS AT HE HOME OF THE RIKERS - THEIR BATHROOM WILL ALWAYS HOLD A SPECIAL MEANING TO ME NOW) :) then another, and another until I was convinced. Telling the man was going to be a different story. When I let Steve in on the "news", I tried to get him to keep his head between his knees till the feeling passed but he felt pacing the floor was more productive. He didn't understand the concept of a "faint" line so he was positive that the test was not. For those of you that have taken a test you know what I mean about a faint line. In fact I will bet money that some of you have gone as far as to dismantle the test to really really see that 2nd line. I took another and then another the next day and made him watch the 2 lines appear. This time they came faster then they did the day before. He doesn't think it's false anymore...lol

Now as you know I made no secret about having "just 1 more". With that said I was starting to think 4 was a good number. We have perfect seating at the dinner table. Just enough extra space in the truck. Well actually Dexter took over what little space was left. Oh and not to mention I was back in my size 4's and 6's. So 4 kids was fine by me and my waist line! Anyway, Steve traveled alot in December. After one of his trips he came home and was more than happy to see me and that weekend we went from The Pepe 6 to The Pepe 7.

It has a nice ring to it don'tcha think?!?!

If you think about it it was fate really....(sam) 2001, (steven) 2003, (bella) 2005, (sophia) 2007 and now (to be named later) 2009! Here's hoping I just get a new car in 2011!

I assume after reading this you will feel the need to say Congrats! That sentiment will be greatly appreciated and accepted.

Now if your way of saying Congrats to us might go something like this:

***** PLEASE NOTE: THERE HAS BEEN SOME INQUIRIES INTO THE FOLLOWING SENTIMENTS. THIS WAS ALL THINGS THAT WERE SAID WHEN WE GOT PREGNANT WITH SOPHIA FROM VARIOUS PEOPLE - IT WAS RUDE THEN AND WOULD BE RUDE TO SAY AGAIN NOW *****


"WOW 5 kids are you nuts?!?"
(sure a bit but anyone with 5 kids needs to be a little whacky)

"We're you drunk?"
(hmmmmm Yes YES I was and Steve was too.......it was a fun night :) )

"Better you than me!"
(That's probably true! )

"You need a hobby!"
(Actually I have a lot of hobbies and am asked quite often how I do it all - well see the trick is to have a lot of kids so that I have free child labor - isn't it obvious?!? )

"How about renting a movie"?
(no worries my Netflix Queue is quite exstensive and how do you know we weren't watching a movie :0 )

"REALLY another one?"
(Yes ANOTHER one - and don't say it like they are collectibles or some sort of knick knack for pete's sake BUT I bet I could get a pretty penny for the 4th one)

"How will you handle it?"
(have you met our other 4 children?!?! I'd say we've done a pretty damn good job so far and quite frankly I "handle" my children pretty good if I do say so myself")

OK you get the point! So if any of the above sentiments might be something you would think is appropriate to say either before or after actually saying Congratulations or just saying that instead of Congratulations then do us a favor and remember what your Mother taught you when you were a kid -

"If you don't have anything NICE to say then DON'T say anything at all!" You don't want to make the above mentioned list....do you?!?!

We're excited to have this baby! I look forward to my endless appetite over the next few months. The kids are excited to have another sister or brother to share their toys and bed with.

So to re-cap

YES - I AM PREGNANT AGAIN!!!!!
YES - I KNOW WHAT CAUSES IT!!!!!
NO - I DON'T HAVE TO MANY!!!!!
Oh one last thing:

COMING THIS FALL !

Rock On Sophia!

Sophia getting ready to take the stage!



Reacting to her audience (which only consisted of me and me cheering her on)


She wanted to do that Aerosmith thing where he throws himself down on his back and kicks his feet in the air. Problem was she could'nt figure out her to roll over:


Thank you NEW YORK - I LOVE YOU!

Good Night!

Stole this from a friend - thanks Nina!

"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success."

- Norman Vincent Peale