Thinking about saving my pregnancy tests often disgusted me (C’mon, you pee on it!)  so after using one after finding out I was pregnant, I would just throw it away.  Little did I know that I was going to find a long-lost ept test years later.

A few weeks ago, I was clearing out my nite stand and I found a miscellaneous envelope. I opened it and I found a pregnancy test that I used for my last child.

I forgot to throw the last one away (from my 3rd child) and now regret throwing the first two out.

The memories flowed in my brain when I held it in my hand.  At that very moment, I realized that I threw away a part of my past.  I thought to myself, why did I throw the other tests away? But then I quickly remembered that I thought it was gross to keep those things.

To be honest, it made me sad thinking that I threw away “the greatest news ever in our lives” but I was also glad I didn’t throw away the one I had.  This last pregnancy test would indeed be the “last” test for me because I got my tubes tied after my 3rd child.

At that time, I felt regrets because I couldn’t go back in time like I did when I held the test in my hands (I know that sounds weird) but to me it is a sign that miracles do happen.

You see, after having my son and my daughter, I thought I was done having children.  My husband would often ask me if I wanted to have any more kids, I would always say heck no! We were both bringing home income, traveling with our two kids was fairly easy and we were living comfortably financially.

I didn’t want to struggle with money like we did before when the kids were babies.  Before we had kids, we both agreed that I would stay home for the first year with each child and I did.  It was a struggle financially but we managed but I could not face that once again.

In June 2004, my husband and I took a trip to Puerto Rico.  It was our long awaited “honeymoon.” We left our two kids with my mother and went away for 6 days.

It was the longest 6 days ever but it was the best 6 days too!  We had a great time exploring Puerto Rico (it was my very 1st time visiting P.R. & 1st time on a plane) and I even got to visit my godmother who I haven’t seen in 20 years.  I’m dreaming about going back – but this time with the kids.

Little did we know that we’d be bringing home a special “souvenir.”  A “souvenir” that would bring us so much joy and complete our wonderful family. I will be forever grateful for that trip to Puerto Rico (& to God) because it brought back our last child, our baby.

The moment I knew I was pregnant was the instant I felt the urge to vomit.  That is the only time I feel nauseous and queasy.   At first, I was not happy. I couldn’t believe it.  I told my husband how I was feeling and we literally raced to our local CVS to purchase a pregnancy test.  He kept on saying I don’t think you’re pregnant, you’re probably coming down with something but I knew.  When you’re a woman whose gone thru pregnancy before, you just know.

After I took the pregnancy test, the two lines appeared immediately.  I was in shock.  I came out of the bathroom with tears in my eyes.  My husband on the other hand was ecstatic! He saw the tears and he said don’t worry, we’ll make it.  He knew why I was crying.  I didn’t want us to worry abut money because the more kids a family has, the more money it costs – that’s just a fact.

After he consoled me and told me everything would be alright, I was happy and relieved.  It was great to feel the joys of being pregnant again after 6 years. Everything felt like new and things turn out to be pretty good. Thank God!

P.S. My daughter was born with a birth mark on her back with the shape of Puerto Rico. No lie! LOL I’ve got a picture somewhere and when I find it, I’ll post it on twitter. @Newyorkchica.

Click HERE to receive your very own keepsake bag to store your precious memory.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of e.p.t and received an e.p.t. keepsake case and a $20 gift card to JustGive.org to facilitate my review.

To my dad, my papi, you are always in my thoughts and my heart. I think about the times you spent with me guiding me and filling my mind with your wisdom. You were always thoughtful, caring and a very loving father. Even after the divorce, you never let that get in the way of your love for us.  You made sure to see my sister and I every week.  You never once not kiss or hug me. You taught me how a father should be. I’m so glad and very fortunate I got to spend 19 beautiful years with you. May you rest in peace, Pa. I love you.

To my husband, my love of my life, thank you for always being so supportive, caring and loving to our 3 wonderful children (& me ). Even though you grew up without a father, you have a done an incredible job being a great father to our kids. The love you give to them is unbelievable. You are constantly giving them hugs and kisses and you pour your heart out to them and for that I’m forever grateful.  You tell them you love them each and everyday.  They are very lucky to have a dad like you and I’m lucky to have such a wonderful husband. You deserve more than just a day so I hope today is a good one. Love ya!

To the rest of the dads and mamas, have an awesome day.  I hope your day is filled with love and happiness.

When I want my kids to go to bed at a decent time, they don’t.

Why?

Because they say it’s still light out. My five year old says “mom, it’s not time for bed yet – I can still see the trees.  When it’s night time and I can’t see the trees anymore, then it’s bedtime.”

WTH?

Don’t get me wrong. I love the long summer days when you can hang out and enjoy the night time air but when it comes to putting my kids to bed so I can spend some quality time with my hubby, I can’t.

Maybe I should invest in room darkening shades. What do you think?

Do you think it will fool my clever little five year old? Hmmmmm

What a week it has been.

For the past few days, I’ve been trying to get things ready (clothes and necessities) for all of my kids graduations.

My son, my first-born, had his graduation last night.  Even though it felt like the longest graduation known ever, it was great to see his smiling face as he took his diploma from the principal on stage.

My son and I after the graduation.

All three kids are graduating this year and will be in  new schools. Wow, how times flies!

My kids are ecstatic to start on their new adventures this September.  My son will be in high school (OK, I’m NOT that old, right?).  My 11 year old daughter will be going to junior high school (OMG, how did that happen!). And lastly, my baby will be finally starting kindergarten (another OMG!).

My husband and I are thrilled and sad at the same time.  We’re proud that they are succeeding so far (hoping they continue on the right path) and doing well in school but we’re sad because it just confirms to us that they are no longer our babies – they’re really growing up.

In my heart, they will always be our babies, no matter what. They can be married and have kids of their own, they’ll be our babies forever.  That’s just the way things are, right?

And now for the anniversary part.

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary. It’s weird to say “wedding anniversary” because we never had a “real” wedding.  We eloped without anyone ever knowing until we were actually married.

That didn’t go too well with our loved ones…

My mom was upset because she wasn’t there to see her first child get married and  my mother-in-law was upset because her only son – her baby boy got married without her knowledge.

Oh well.

They got over it.  They had to. It was our decision and they had to respect that.

You see, we both decided that we didn’t want to be the center of attention and because we didn’t have the money, we just got up one day and decided to “do the deed”.  We were dating for 6 years so we both thought it was time.  And plus, I was pregnant (I bet you didn’t see that coming, huh? lol).

Anyway, I had this whole “love story” post to write but guess what?

That’s gonna have to wait (I’ve been told it’s a great love story so stay tuned!) because I’m exhausted (we got home late last night) and I have to get this house in order and figure out what to cook for dinner tonight. I want to cook something special since it’s a special day

Circa 1995 - Strickland's at the Poconos

So, any ideas for an anniversary dinner that kids will enjoy too?

P.S.  Happy anniversary Babe!! I love you!!

Looking thru my old papers and old photos, I found this picture.

It was taken at Great Adventures in New Jersey in 1995. This is supposed to be the way our “child” would look if we both had children together.

HA!  HA!  HA!

We have 3 kids and they don’t look nothing like this picture. Looking at it now makes us both laugh and reminisce about the days we would talk about getting married and having kids.

The good ol’ days!

For more Wordless Wednesday, please visit Latinaonamission.com & Ridingwithnohands.com.

Now join the fun and add your linky!

Giveaway has ended. Winner is:

CONGRATULATIONS RACHEL. PLEASE SEND ME YOUR MAILING ADDRESS TO:  Lisa [at] Newyorkchica [dot] com ASAP! Thank you to all who entered.

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John Tartaglia is an actor, singer, dancer and a well-known puppeteer for Sesame Street. He starred in the musical Avenue Q, appeared on Broadway in Shrek The Musical and in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast. He also created and starred in the Playhouse Disney series “Johnny and The Spirites.” With all those shows under his belt, he now brings to you, ImaginOcean.

ImaginOcean is a magical black-light musical for the entire family.  Chock-full of puppets, special effects and an original score that ranges from motown to swing, ImaginOcean tells the story of three best friends who just happen to be fish – Tank, Bubbles and Dorsel, and their journey through the ocean to find a scret, hidden treasure.  Jellyfish, Seahorses and even a big lovable octopus join in on the fun in this exciting show – perfect for a child’s first musical.

GIVEAWAY

One lucky New York Chica reader will win two (2) tickets to see ImaginOcean at New World Stages at 340 W 50th St.. Tickets are valid the whole month of June for performances on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

HOW TO ENTER

Tell me what is your favorite puppet growing up? Is it from Sesame Street? The Muppets?

FOR EXTRA ENTRIES

1. Follow me on Twitter @NewYorkChica & Tweet this:

Win 2 Tickets to see ImaginOcean – An Undersea Adventure for Kids in NYC from @NewYorkChica Ends June 1st http://bit.ly/b0b0Dy #giveaway

[Leave a comment with the tweet’s url so you can get a valid entry (ex. click on the time your tweet was sent). You can Tweet ONCE A DAY. If you Tweet more than that, that entry will be disqualified. (Must have 50 or more followers on Twitter)]

2. Subscribe to New York Chica by email. Click on the link on the right sidebar to enter your email address (5 extra entries).

*Please be sure to confirm your subscription or the entries will be disqualified. If you are already a subscriber (Thank you for your loyalty, we really appreciate it!), leave us a comment with your email address telling us you are a subscriber.

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5. Like/Fan us on Facebook (3 extra entries).

*Please note that you must comment each time for EVERY entry. For example, if you subscribe to our updates, comment 5 times for that entry and let us know what the comment is for. It makes it easier for us to count the # of comments.

Thank you for entering & Good luck!

Giveaway ends on June 1, 2010 at Midnight EST. The winner will be announced the following day with the help of RANDOM.ORG and will be contacted via email.

If the winner does not contact us within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: Tickets were received in exchange for this post/giveaway.

I just received an email about a great event that is happening this weekend on March 20, 2010.  The Children’s Museum of Manhattan will be offering free entry to everyone all day this Saturday from 10am to 5pm.  It’s an all day event to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

The museum is located at 212 W. 83rd. St. by the 1 and 9 train.  For those of you who have strollers (for the little ones), please keep in mind there will be limited space so come early or let your kids roam around and leave the strollers at home .

They will have different activities for everyone such as Yoga for kids presented by Olay, Pampers will be sponsoring a Kid’s Zone, Story Circle from 12-12:30pm, Baby Loves Salsa from 1-2pm and lots more!

For more information, visit www.cmom.org.

Last week I was invited to an event that was sponsored by Ragu® pasta sauce for their “Feed Your Kids Well – Recipe For A Good Start” campaign.  It was a private event that I was excited to be a part of because my family and I love Ragu® pasta sauce.  We use it for a lot of our meals and for each half cup of sauce is a whole serving of vegetables, which is perfect for two picky kids in our household.

Upon arriving, I couldn’t help but notice the smells that permeated the air. My daughter immediately asked if she was going to eat pasta because pasta is her all-time favorite food and it was literally everywhere you looked.

The best part of the event (besides the food, of course!) was that we were going to meet Molly Ringwald and have a meal with Food Network’s newest star, Marcela Valladolid, who is the host of the show, “Mexican Made Easy.”

I don’t have to explain who Molly Ringwald is because if you don’t know who she is, where have you been? She starred in a bunch of movies such as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club & For Keeps – just to name a few.   In my opinion, she’s a great person for this campaign since she also has 3 children.

After everyone settled into their seats, Molly Ringwald took the stand and explained to everyone why she decided to partner with Ragu®.  This is a part of what she said:

“I might be known for my roles in movies and on TV, but my most important role is being a mom,” said Molly Ringwald, actress and mother of three. “I am so proud to partner with Ragu® to recognize all the special things that parents do to give their kids a good start — like helping them with their homework, encouraging them to play outside and making sure their kids eat their veggies,” she said.  ”Thanks to Ragu®, my family gets a delicious, nutritious meal and I get extra time to do the things I know will give my children a good start – like finger painting and family reading time.”

After her great speech, everyone was divided into three groups.  Each group was then brought to a station that was also divided into three.  One was Lasagna making, the other was eating a sit-down meal with Marcela and the last one was a round-table discussion on how parents can get their kids to eat healthy.

The group I was in was the yellow team so the first thing we did was make a meatless lasgana.  At first I thought we were going to use the no-boil noodles but we actually used regular lasagna noodles.  It’s a great time saver and you save money too.

Immediately after the lasagna making, it was time to get our grub on.  The table looked amazing.  I was kind of star-struck at first because we were going to have a sit-down meal with Marcela Valladolid.  But after hearing her talk about her ways of cooking and how she incorporates healthy eating with her son, I realized that she’s just like the rest of us and afterwards I felt very comfortable.

Although it was a rushed meal (it was the other group’s turn to eat), it was fantastic.  The food was amazingly good.  We ate meatless lasagna, no-fry chicken parmesan, skillet pasta and beef dinner and a nice mixed green salad with a side of Italian bread & bread sticks.  My daughter and I were in heaven.

Ragu® and Molly Ringwald has also partnered together to launch the “Recipe for a Good Start” Contest. Through the month of March, you can send in an original recipe using Ragu® pasta sauce along with a 250 word essay sharing their tips and tricks for giving their kids a healthy start in life.

The top three finalists will cook at a live cook-off in New York City in August 2010 and compete for the grand prize of a $5,000 college scholarship for his/her child.  Visit Recipeforagoodstart.com for more information and all the details.

Can you tell we had a blast?

Thanks to Ragu and everyone at BSM Media for a wonderful time. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.