All I want for Christmas ...

All he wanted for Christmas was

a "yellow" puppy with blue spots ...

All I wanted for Christmas was

to make his wish come true

so I did



How was your Christmas?

(we do have a video of Christmas morning but I haven't taken the time yet to put it on the computer, you understand ... been too busy cleaning eating, playing and sleeping)

My Favorite Things About Christmas

Beside the fact that midway through the Advent Calendar is my birthday? ... well there's plenty more things that I love about Christmas.



I do enjoy giving gifts, wrapping them, watching people's faces as they open it (when I'm allowed to do so because if my son is opening presents in the same room than you I can assure you my eyes will be fixated on him, his expression, his words etc).

I enjoy decorating the tree and putting a few other decorations around the house, I'm not huge on decorating every single room or changing my whole kitchen or my whole house theme (what did I just said? theme? my house doesn't even have one during regular seasons of the year ... ha ha ha ha).

This year has been an incredible one with our son, because of his age he can understand a little more, we've had interesting talks about "Happy Holidays" vs "Merry Christmas" (of course we go with the 2nd one, THE TRUE one!), we've wondered when Santa is coming. When we woke up to snow flurries coming down last Friday he was so excited and quickly asked if Santa was coming that day, some days he's afraid of Santa, some days he can't wait 'til Santa comes, who knows what he'll come up with next.

He does love Christmas, through out the whole year we read Christmas books, we wait for Christmas lights to be up (not in our own house but on others who so carefully work on their yards to make them look perfect so people like us can drive by and enjoy them so much =) Thank you so much).

There's no doubt my favorite thing so far this year has been my sweet boy singing on his Christmas program at school, it melted my heart.




Oh my boy, how you melt my heart with your sweetness!!!!!



Santa and Mrs. Claus visited his school this week, his first reaction was to cry but quickly his sweet teacher got him better and he got to seat on his lap and told him all he wanted for Christmas was a yellow puppy with blue dots ... so you know what I'll be doing this evening, gluing blue dots on the yellow puppy I found at the store last night ... he he he.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!

Fun Times

This Sunday when I go to church I will carry a sign that says:

"yes I know my belly is big,

I'm 31 weeks,

my due date is Feb. 15th,

yes we know it's a girl,

yes we have a name, it's Emilia"

while the other person says "Amelia, what a pretty name"

so I have to clarify is Emilia with an E like Emily but in Spanish ...


I think I've had this talk with older ladies every Sunday for the past two months ... and I know I will have it again for the next 8 weeks.

Fun times! :0)

Full Flesh Three Year Old

In Chile everyone talks about the "terrible 3s". Here everyone talks about "terrible 2s" and what happens is your child hits that age and you are braving yourself for what's coming when you realized is not so bad at all. Little you know that the age you should be braving yourself for is 3!!!



So 2s go by, you think you've got it made and then your full flesh 3 year old comes alive and you see them braking from their shell. Showing off them selves in public, unwilling to listen, always going opposite to what you suggest and the list can go on and on. One second they are adorable, the next you are ready to send them jump off the bank from the back of your house ... he he he he he do not take me literal, please!!



Is not always this bad, trust me, the boy is sweet. Just like on Thanksgiving day he asked his sister (in my belly) what was she thankful for (awwww ...) but he can also decide not to put his jacket on when I ask him to - as I'm getting ready to check out the only two things we had to get at Wal-Mart Sunday Night after church, I thought it would be a fun little trip, since we could both walk together in the store, no baggy, just us two and it went pretty well until the moment I told him, "please put your jacket on". That's all it took for him to start acting like he's convulsing and would not put his jacket on, I got on my knees and used my stern voice and that intense look, nope ... that didn't do it either, I told him he was going to get a spanking and he barely moved his arm to let me put his jacket, right after that was done he decided to walk away (thank God he didn't run) so I grabbed him quickly, sat him on the floor and at this point I am yelling "sit down and do not move", my face is red and I feel the whole store is looking at us (not many people was there, which I'm not sure if it was better or worse) and he starts crying like I had just stabbed him with the biggest sharpest knife there has ever been created. The cashier was a very nice woman, she looked at me and said "You are a good mom, he's just testing you and you are doing the right thing". I thank God on my way home for putting that woman in front of me, I needed that little reassurance.

My son has decided to wet the bed again at nap time during weekends only, he won't do it while he's in preschool, thank goodness, but he does it at home. We are transitioning to a big boy cup from the "oh so convenient" zippy cup to see if that way he would drink less fluids. Of course this just started a couple of weeks ago, before then sleeping without a pull-up at nap time was a mastered situation or so I thought. I was expecting this after Emilia was born, after we change him into his new room or after he moves up to his new class or something like a big change of that nature but not now ... not when the only thing changing is the size of my belly (and my level of energy) oh well, it is what it is and we'll have to make sure we find a solution for it. We pull out the calendar with stickers again to see if they would do the trick once again.

Thanksgiving day Nicolas was so excited to see all his cousins, sit with them on that side of the table, play with them and run around until he decided he has had enough festivities and he grabbed my hand and said "come on mommy, let's go lay down and watch tv" so being the obedient mother that I am (who was dying to lay down as well) there we went, left our guests watching football and socializing and lay down with my boy. We watched The Brady Bunch for the first time which he loved, we also watched "Full House". He is now obsessed with this show, we have watched the same episode everyday since last Thursday, he laughs at the little jokes and loves "little Michelle", isn't it too early for a little tv star crush?

He puts his tennis shoes by himself (when he wants to do it), he now knows how to put his jacket on (when he wants to do it), he knows that I can't leave him in the car by himself when we go somewhere because somebody may get him and if that happens we may "never ever" see each other again (do you terrified your children like this too?), he is growing so quickly and yet showing his full flesh three year old self quite regularly now.

Oh the times ahead, you know a newborn and a stubborn three year old, Lord give us the energy, the patience and the wisdom we will need on the few weeks ahead, yes only 12 more weeks!!!

Thankful

I am so thankful of my friend who took this great picture, she's awesome, isn't she??

I am thankful of my babies, I am thankful to have a wonderful husband, I am thankful we keep each other on our toes and we don't put up with one another nitty gritty stuff, we are honest and yes we laugh a lot and of course we do have arguments, sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are serious but I'm thankful for each one of this moments we have together!!

I am thankful to be a part of a group that is learning to grow together as we do bible study, to share, to laugh, to think, to recognize our faults, to want to do better as we go in this journey each week and actually every day.

There are so many things I'm thankful for, it's hard to even begin to put them on a list. All I know is that I love Thanksgiving time, it makes me exercise in my mind all the things I so greatfully appreciate in my life!!

This year we are having lunch at our house, normally I do Christmas Eve but since I'll be bigger than the biggest Santa you ever saw I felt it would be better if I did my duty for this celebration and pass the torch to someone else for the next one. :)

I like cooking but I'm not confident enough to bake a turkey, so I told my mother-in-law if she would do the turkey I'd do everything else and put the house, she accepted my deal and everything is ready for our lunch tomorrow. I am excited, I like to have this get together because my goal is to make it as simple as possible so we can actually enjoy ourselves instead of just being stress out over the cooking, the decorating, the cleaning and all that. I know this time a year people pull their most fine china out of the cabinet and make everything look perfect, call me a redneck but I don't have china (I totally don't see the point to have it, may be when I'm older I'll change my mind), I buy pretty paper plates, who wants to do dishes on Thanksgiving, I just want to sit down and enjoy the time together, isn't that what all this is about??? May be is because my Mom - because of her job - had to work harder on every holiday, which put a chip in my brain to chose not to stress over the holidays, not to over work myself unless absolutely necessary (that day hasn't come yet) but to enjoy it. I want Nicolas and Emilia to grow up and have good memories of this times, I know so many people who don't even decorate their house because they have such a bad memories of the holidays, the stress and the work can make moms mean, it wasn't my case, my mom was always sweet although she worked herself way too much.

Can't wait to put up our Christmas Tree and the few little things that I put up this time of year. Believe it or not I kept my Nativity scene up all year, I strongly felt the need to do it as a reminder of how important that day is for us. Not sure any of my family members noticed but I did :) Well may be Nicolas enjoyed playing with the cow from the nativity and occasionally he got Mary out of her place to show me baby Jesus.

This is one of my favorite times of the year, it's been since I was a little girl. Growing up in South America, December marked the end of a school year, my birthday, my mom's birthday, Christmas and the beginning of summer, what else could a little girl like me wanted. All the things that were huge in life started in the same month. I guess in my subconscious mind I still have that joy and excitement.

During these celebrations I always think of those who have lost a family member (I know plenty of families who will be hurting because it will be their first Thanksgiving and Christmas without their dad, without their child, etc) how hard and painful is that, can you even begin to imagine ... I truly can't. I just know the only thing that can get them through is the love of our Father and the support of their loving ones here on earth. I think of my mom, who's only child decided to move to the other side of the world but I am happy to know we have tons of family who are making sure she's happy, filled with love and excited to spend another end of the year with them.

What do you think about during this time of year? Does it make you happy? Does it make you sad? Do you ever think about it?

Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to all!!

How things change from one pregnancy to the next

It's been so long since I've posted anything, I do have the perfect excuse though ... I'm pregnant, remember? :0) Seriously, being pregnant this second time has been so different, more exhausting, more challenging than the first time (this is when I think of families like my aunt's, who birth 5 kids!! Holy Cow!). On the other hand it has gone by so quickly, Matt and I have talked about this so many times, with Nicolas it felt like forever, like he was just not going to get here anytime soon, we dream about him constantly, who is he going to look like? how is his voice going to sound? what's smell would he have the first time we hold him? how warm would he be? and every single question that had ever existed, we thought, we dream. I did everything babycenter.com told me to do, well not everything but you know a lot more than what I've done this time around. I think at this point of my pregnancy Nicolas had heard Baby Mozart in my belly so many times I had lost count, ask me how many times has Emilia heard it? ... ONCE! Yes, just once, it was a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago (may be longer than a few, who knows) and I was relaxed reading a book of my favorite Chilean writer and it hit me, I had never allowed her to listen to classical music so I went and got the CD player (Yes I do have an iPod but I haven't downloaded music for it in a while and it certainly has no baby music in it, that's mommy's toy.) Anyway, all this to say wow how things change from one child to the next, and she is not even born yet.

Please don't misunderstand me, I will love my baby girl as much as I love my baby boy (yeah yeah he's not a baby, I know but in my heart he will always be) but you know, you find yourself with 3 years of experience on being a mother and those things that where oh so important, are not so that important anymore. You know the little things that you used to loose sleep over just doesn't matter anymore and I love that freedom. I love the fact that even though I know each child is different and unique we know what we are getting ready to face, there is not a fear of the unknown, at least not for this first few months, I even know the day she will be born because it's going to be a schedule C-section. I love it!! I'm not one who enjoys "to-do lists", I feel trapped by them, I say this to let you know I am not a planner, I don't like when you have to make your yearly appointments for the Doctor a year in advanced and that sort of thing, but I do enjoy the fact that I know for sure what day she will be born (Unless God has other plans for us of course, He always has the last word).

A lot of people has asked me what does Nicolas say or if he's excited and I can honestly answer he is really excited, which tells me he has no clue how is life is getting ready to change ha ha ha. He kisses my belly (he has to pull my shirt up in order to do that, somehow the bare skin contact is a must have to love on his sister), he's been very excited about opening presents that some people has already given us (what a blessing!), his main concern is to make sure she is not going to sleep "on my bed mommy!", I've tried hard to explain to him that she will live with us forever (yeah right, only for 18 or 20 years ...), I have also told him that when she's born she will be tiny and not able to play with him, talk, eat regular food. We have three different books that explain the process that goes on when Mommy goes to the hospital and brings a baby home. We've looked at his baby pictures to show him he was tiny once, that he was in my belly too, that he did wear diapers and we had to feed him, that he had a first bath picture, etc. He has enjoyed seeing himself on the short videos we made of him when he was a baby. It's been a sweet process we've lived together.

The fact that this Christmas will be the last one he will have by himself with us it's a mixture of feelings to me, Matt keeps saying is not a bad thing and I know that too but being an only child myself ... I know how good it felt to be the only one! :0) My husband was the 3rd of three children so he knows what having sibling is like, thank goodness, because I have no clue! he he he. I'm glad at least one of us knows what we are doing here ... just kidding!

We are only 13 weeks away from her big arrival. Wow where has the time gone!

The Sweetness of My Boy!!

Allow me a moment to brag on my sweet boy, oh I much I love him!

I love his heart, he has such a big heart!!

Last night Matt brought home a gift someone from work had given us for our baby, when Nico saw his daddy walked into the door with a present he said:
"Daddy you got a present??"

Matt responded yes and Nico wanted to know who was the owner of this gift, Matt told him it was for his sister Emilia. His sweet heart was so excited he yelled for me and said "Mommy, come see, we got a present for my sister!!"

So there I went, left my meat on the stove - about burn it of course - and I asked Nicolas if he could help us open the present since sister was in my belly, so I got down on my knees and he quickly pull my blouse and talked to my belly:
"Emilia look, you got a present today!!"

Matt and I just looked at each other feeling so blessed, what a sweet boy is he!!. I know the baby is not here yet and once she is at home everyday, all the time, his sweetness won't show as much (I'm not that blind ... ha ha ha) but right now I admire his giving heart and I pray it doesn't change as he grows older.

***************

I got my flu shot this week and I told him about it, since he got two shots in 5 days (one for his 3 year old check up and one for strep), I felt it was important to let him know everyone has to get shots every once in a while, when I picked him up from school the other day I told him. He looked at me and asked in a concern tone of voice:

"Mommy did the nurse come and give you a shot?"
Yes darling she did.

"Oh Mommy ... did it hurt???"
Well it did a little but not too bad.

"Mommy did you get a band aid??? Can I see it???
I'll show it to you when we get home.

That evening he spent time with his Nana and Poppie since I was going out to eat with friends and Dad was playing softball, so when I picked him up we talked about it again, this time he brought it up.

"Mommy, you got your shot today?"
Yes honey I did.

"Mommy, did it hurt??"
Well not so bad baby.

"Oh Mommy but it's OK, because shots are made to make you feel better!"

ahhhh ... so sweet!!!!!!!

***************

As I brag on his sweetness and I remember the news this morning, how a Mother who has a son burned by 5 other boys - not teens ... boys!! - I remember her words "We have to do something with our children, the violence that goes on among our kids, not only here but around the world" WOW I don't want to imagine what my sweet boy will be expose to as he grows older, I pray we as parents do everything in our power - given to us by God - to show him the right ways, to teach him right, to forgive him when he makes mistakes yet to be strong when it comes to consequences! Oh the road ahead.

For now I'll keep eating him up every time he overflows my heart with his sweetness, treasuring all these little moments we have together, praying that his sweet essence will always stay there.

The downfall of Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the year, I love the colors, I love the clear sky, I love all the pumpkins and the food and everything else BUT there is one thing I do not appreciate about Fall, all the sickness that goes around.

The season has begun at our house, of course right after my mom left, Nico started to get sick, continuing with his tradition of getting sick after abuelita leaves. (Mom has been here three times, each time this had happened). Six days after she left I get a call from Nico's sweet teacher (we absolutely love her) and she says "I hate to call you to give you this news but he is sick".

Ok so here we go, I went and got him and he was laying on his little mat, so pitiful looking while his little friends are all excited about snack time and what not. Took him home, the child was HOT, since he just got the flu nasal spray vaccine I thought it could be a little reaction to that, since I always get a cold after I get the shot, so I treated the fever for a day or I thought I could treat it with regular over the counter medicine, let's just say that as soon as the medicine stop working my boy was flying up high in fever. No need to explain what a horrible evening we had that night, I don't remember the last time I saw him so sick. Thank God for a wonderful husband who got up with me and together we put cold washcloths on his forehead and took turns laying with him in the bed (a twin bed, yes my husband squeezes himself to fit on the twin bed, and so does this prego mom but that soon will come to an end when Nico moves into his new room and there he will have a queen bed, but that's a topic for another post).

After not sleeping well at all, I told him we were going to the Doctor. We were at the Doctor's office last Friday for his check up and let me just say it didn't go too well, it started great, he was happy, talkative, collaborative, until he moved to quickly when she was checking his ear and that hurt and from that point forwards it was a total disaster, having that experience fresh in our minds I knew he wasn't going to be thrilled about going. He quickly told me he didn't want to see Dr. G again, he wanted to see Dr. M (this last one has been the Doctor that has worked with all of his sickness, respiratory problems, etc), I knew we were going to see him, so I told him not to worry we were going to see Dr. M. - I love the fact that he knows his doctors by name :0) - although that play against me when Dr. G was walking by the hall when he was being check by the nurse and he gave her the dirty look and said "I'm not here to see you today, Dr. M is going to see me, not you!" GREAT, the honesty of children, I do love it though. Wish we could keep that instead of saying the politically correct stuff as we grow, people wouldn't have their feelings hurt so many times, if we were all used to saying the truth at all times, don't you think?

So of course he had STREP THROAT, the Dr. gave me the choice to do a shot or 10 days of antibiotics, being the mean mom that I am proud to be, I chose the shot!! I knew it was going to hurt him right then but I also knew it would help him quicker than dealing with oral antibiotic for 10 days. I asked the Dr. to send me a strong nurse, he knew well and sent me two of them and between the three of us the boy got his shot, I had never cried when my son got a shot, not even when he was a newborn but since I am a sensitive hormonal pregnant woman I did cry this time. I held him after it was all over and he looked so sad, I knew he was hurting, I knew I made that choice for him, I knew it was the right now but boy I hate to see him hurt like that, so yes I cried and as he was crying he looked at me and asked "Mommy are you sad??" I told him it was sad for me to seeing hurting but he didn't need to worry, it's ok to cry when we are sad. Quickly he told me "Mommy I'm sorry I made you sad". This is what kills me, the fact that he thinks is his fault, he has such a giving heart and he's always so concern about others, which worries me about his future, peer pressure and all that fun stuff ahead. Surely I can instruct myself on how to work on that before we get to that age, right? (advice wanted on this subject)

After a four hour nap the boy was back to his normal self, happy, energetic, playful, normal!!!!!! Thank God for my wonderful pediatrician!!!

It's been a couple of days since then and guess who's getting sick now ... of course ME and my Emilia inside of me, yeap we are getting something, my throat is raspy, I have a tiny cough and yes I feel it coming. Here we go with the wonderful cycle of Fall Sickness.

I don't want to put my nose at my Family Doctor's office, since it seems that every time I'm there I'm the only person under 70 years old in his waiting room, which scares me thinking about their sickness and what I could catch while waiting, considering my Doctor is not one that gives away medicine like candy, I have to literally convince him of how much I need the antibiotic for him to write the prescription, so for now I'm going with my over the counter stuff, prayers, warm water and salt gargles, tons of germ-x and faith ... cough cough

What a nice weekend!!!!!

"Once upon a time ..." this is what you can hear at our house lately, specially this weekend, we've been enjoying making up stories, we all take turns (Matt, Nico and I), sometimes it's based on a true story and sometimes it's pure imagination.

Saturday morning we went out for breakfast, I truly believe this is our family's favorite meal, specially if we go to our favorite restaurant. While we waited for our food (we always get the same thing because we absolutely love it) we decided to pass time by sharing our stories. Nicolas felt in love with one that Matt told him the other day but he has adjusted some to his own little world and it's really funny.

The original story says
"Once upon a time there was a little boy name Matt who had a cat named Chloe, Chloe clime up on a tree and wouldn't come down, so the little boy went up the tree and save Chloe ... the end!"

Nico's version
"Once upon a time there was a boy named Matt, he had a cat name DOEY and the cat wouldn't come down, and then the monsters came (his voice gets loud at this point) and Doey was scare and then ... " the story goes on and on, including magicians, other creatures and who knows what else, eventually "Doey" gets rescued and the end comes, but his enthusiasm and different tones of voice is what I absolutely adore.
I love that he has a great imagination and that he likes to create stories, I'm sure I won't love it when he's making up stories about what happened in school or why his sister's face is cover in markers but we'll worry about that later in life. =)

Saturday was such a nice day, we spend it together from beginning to end. After breakfast we went to do a little shopping, I had the cart for myself while Nico and Matt went to look at toys, so it was relaxing and fun for all of us. We took a look at the Halloween aisle to try to figure out what our son wants to be this year, the final decision hasn't come yet, he seems to like "Thomas the train", then he said he wanted to be a "Zebra" but a good friend has a dinosaur costume I would really like to use so I don't have to buy anything :) (yes I'm cheapo like that). We'll see, while we were there Matt put on a very ugly mask to show Nicolas that people can wear mask and not be scary, we are trying to do this as he has developed this terrified fear over the cow at that chicken restaurant we all know and love! So Matt put it on, with a sweet voice talked to Nicolas and waved, Nicolas waved back and said "Ok Daddy, you can take it off now!" and then he proceed to ask for his daddy to wear another one. So we entertained ourselves for a little while. After that, we went to a Pet store to buy something for our dog and took time to look at the puppies, kitties and birds. The men of my house love cats, me? no thank you, if there was ever a toy size cat created, I could probably stand that one but that will be it. You know how they have those puddle-toy breed? I could use a tiny cat like that but not a big one, no thanks, not for my house! May be an outside cat???? ugh ... i don't even know.

After that I enjoyed a lovely nap, thanks to my sweet husband who took care of our son since he decided the tiny nap he took on the way home was good enough to help him rest and recharge his batteries. I'm afraid we are getting to a point where naps are starting to be shorter and eventually gone, I wish my child would take a nap 'til he's 10 ... hahahahahahahaha. They are my saving grace for my own nap, I'm not one of those moms who cleans or do things while the kids are asleep, nope I take my nap too, and those are pretty much sacred for me, oh my ... what a change that will be when we no longer have that time.

We finished up our day at a birthday party, a sweet boy turned 1 and this was a family fun afternoon, tons of young couples with their children got together to enjoy a gorgeous fall afternoon and evening, b'day boy's father did a marvelous job on the meet (it cooked for hours and hours), we moms enjoyed our talk together, guys play outside too, fun from beginning to end.

Mom has been gone for 4 days and yesterday Nicolas asked me "is Abuelita coming to our house today?" it was sad but yet fulfilling to know he misses her and that he has wonderful memories with her. We had another birthday party yesterday afternoon and on our way home he said "I want to go home and play with my Abuelita". I was ready to shed a tear but I didn't, took a deep breath and we called her, they talked, it was so sweet..

And this was our lovely weekend, one of those I hope to treasure in my mind for a very long time, if not I just need to read my blog and remember it again.

How nice it's been!!!!!!!!!

The time has come and Mom will be returning back home soon. Although it makes me sad because she has spoiled me to the point that is ridiculous I know she'll be back soon, when our daughter (Yes!! it's a girl!!) is born in Feb., Lord willing sometime after that she will be back to spoil us all. I truly believe that even our dog "Buddy" will miss her.

Today has been a wonderful day, actually the last week has been great, we went together to the ultrasound, Matt and my Mom were hugging each other so sweetly when we found out it was a girl, they swore it was a girl (along with everyone else in the county :D and they were right!), if someone would of taken a look at them from the outside it would of seemed like the child was born already, their excitement was so so so sweet that I'm glad we experienced that together!

Friday night Mom and I attended the women conference at our church, we were blessed to have a translator so Mom could understand the main speaker, she was so funny and so truthful, great evening. Mom also attended my class and for that I felt so excited and proud to have her there with me.

Today it has been raining all day again, Matt found out at the last minute that he had to work today so our original plan of going out for breakfast as a family was shaky for a moment but instead we decided to go on, grabbed a biscuit for Nicolas at Chick-Fil-A (thank God the Cow wasn't there since my son can't stand it) and then we head to our favorite restaurant to enjoy a yummy breakfast together, Nicolas was on his best behavior and Mom and I were in cloud 9 enjoying some delicious coffee and goodies. Rain kept pouring and I decided to go check a bouncy place that we've heard a lot about but had never taken the time to visit, it was a hit, the best $5.00 spent in my life, Nico bounced over and over and over again, I was hoping for a great nap but actually he hasn't, instead he has been calmly watching TV and playing with his toys, so it's ok if there's no nap.

As soon as we got home Mom decided to make a home made soup, which we are getting ready to enjoy right this minute!!

This afternoon we are going shopping to buy some last minute stuff for her to take home.

I just wanted to share how nice it's been, how much we've enjoyed her company, her love, her attentions, her cooking, her loving, her sweet self being with us, unselfishly ready to share her talents and love with us. Mom if you only knew how much we are going to miss you!! WE LOVE YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN TRULY EXPRESS.

My baby boy is 3 W O W

I know he's not a baby, far from it, but he is still my baby, although I'm carrying another one in the womb Nico is still my baby. :)

We celebrated his birthday at home this past Saturday, a simple party, filled with close friends, his teacher from his preschool came and that had him thrilled beyond explanation, he personally invited her one day (as he invited our whole town every time we saw someone we knew at the grocery store or at church or anywhere) and she sweetly came and made his day. Thank God for her being there because she was the only one to convince him to come to the table as all his friends were waiting to sing happy birthday, he kept his hands covering his ears since, according to him, "everyone is going to be too loud". I'm telling you what, this boy is going through some weird stages in life. He doesn't like anything loud unless is his own drums, fire trucks, guitar, police helmet (all of this are new toys) but if you are making a loud noise ... Oh My ... we can not take that!! :)



The kids play outside, got loaded up with sugar (cookies, cake, ice cream, M&Ms) we did have a few salty items (chips and cheetos) but everyone had a blast, he absolutely adore his birthday cake, he had to show everyone his cake, any time someone walked in the door, he wouldn't say hello or anything, his greeting was "come over here and see my cake, it's beautiful!!". I love to see my boy happy!!




I had to give my mom some not so great news after the party, I found out Friday but I didn't want to ruin the party for her, when I called to change her plane ticket to extend her visit for 3 more weeks, I found out that not only I needed to pay for the "penalty" but for the change in price which all together cost me as much as the original tickets, so of course I said "No, Thank You" when the lady asked me "Ma'am are you willing to pay that amount?" I'm totally ok with it, Mom is going to spend 2 months with us, she has spoiled us beyond comprehension and Lord willing she will be back after our baby is born to spoil us again, so I know this is God's way to say, you need to go back now, but I'm sad because I know she is, this was a change of plans and my sweet mother doesn't deal well with change, I truly believe as we get older we just don't deal well with that kind of stuff, so say a prayer for her to find comfort and reassurance that our God is doing this for a bigger reason, that she is needed down there more than up here with us.




Yesterday God gave me a perfect evening, I was achy all day but when we got home Nicolas was filled with happiness, he played outside, ran around following our dog, went around the house many times, then when he was ready, came back upstairs and watched some TV, then we all - by all I mean, my mom, my husband, Nico and I - colored together, had yummy supper together, sat down and talked, it was a perfect evening that we all needed after a crazy weekend. While we were coloring and talking, Matt told me something, which I commented with a "oh that makes me sad", quickly Nicolas looked at me and said "Mommy, you sad?" and before I could say a word he looked at his daddy and said "Daddy, don't tell mommy things that make her sad". He is so aware of my moods and how I feel, it's scary! So we explain to him that it's OK to feel sad, that sometimes we are going to feel that way and there's nothing wrong with that. Later on in the evening, all of the sudden, out of no where he got all teary eyed and said "Mommy I'm sad" I asked him why, he said "because my animals ... " (the phrase was never finished, he just happened to be looking at his animals when we were talking, so I guess that was the first thing that came to mind). I guess he was just applying what we had talked earlier in the day. =) Silly boy!

Vacation and parenthood ... sorry is long but please read bc I need your advise

Another summer has come and gone and we were blessed to enjoy a week at the beach, last year was our first and we loved it, enjoyed time with friends and family, this year and since my Mom is here we just did it as a family, my men, my mom, my little belly and me (I love to say my little belly because when I was going through my first pregnancy I was already huge at this time).

We had sweet moments, fun moments, melt down moments (from my child and me - don't forget how hormones can affect too), good heart to heart talks with my mom (I needed those), there was only one thing missing and that was dinner alone with my hubby, hopefully we'll get to do that soon.

The day we arrived was gorgeous, Nicolas went straight to the pool, which was right outside the back door while mom and I unpacked and my mom had a germophobic moment and started cleaning, washing, swiping and disinfecting every little corner, I guess is a miracle of God we (Matt, Nico and I) have not gotten contagious with any deadly diseases since I truly am not nearly as thorough as my mother would like for me to be, don't take me wrong, I'm not a nasty person, I love to take my shower everyday, wash my hands after I use the bathroom or if I have been out, you know all the normal stuff people do but I don't walk around my house with the mop and clorox disinfecting stuff ... ha ha ha. I had forgotten my mom had this quality and that I certainly didn't get it. No wonder she cleans for a living and I sit on my desk behind a computer =)

We had a rainy day too but we decided to spend it in other activities, we visit the Aquarium, went to the zoo and the kids museum, I was running out of ideas and places and the days started getting better so we were able to enjoy the beach a couple of times more.

My favorite moments were:

* watching Spanglish with my mom!
* seeing Nicolas enjoy the waves as he pushed us away since he wanted to stand on his own and balance on his own, he did really good, he loves water just like his daddy and I.
* watching Nicolas and my mom play together, building sand castles.
* taking a walk with my mom at the beach while Matt and Nico played in the water.
* walking in the beach in the evening and getting our feet wet
* seeing my mom's face at the aquarium, she absolutely loved it!!
* getting caught by a wave under the water (I'm not afraid of water) it brought back so many childhood memories!!!! I'm glad I didn't hit the bottom of the ocean with my belly because then it wouldn't been fun but it was funny to think back and remember how I was trying to fix my bathing suit before the wave would let me go since I was pretty sure everything was out of place =)
* Nicolas and my mom sharing a room together.

I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to spend time with my family. What a gift, specially considering my mom lives so far away.

In other news with our family, at the end of this month we should find out what our 2nd baby is going to be. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E is betting is going to be a girl, I still give this baby a chance that he could be a boy. Wouldn't it be fun if he is a boy and I'm THE ONLY ONE who thought of that chance!! he he he he.

Nicolas is being a normal 3 year old (his birthday is coming up this weekend). While we were on vacation any suggestion of what we could go or were going to do he did not like, his answer for them all was "nope, I don't wanna do that" or "but I don't want to" or "no thank you!" (at least he was polite, right?). Of course as he didn't want to go we still did what was planned and most of the time he had a great time. He's having a really hard time with people dressed in costumes, of course every where we went there was people like that, forget chick-fil-a if the cow is there, you would think he saw the devil himself, he starts shaking and his heart pounds so hard I can see it coming out of his chest ... is so sad and I have no idea where this fear comes from, people had told me this is normal but I don't like it at all, we've never talked about witches or anything scary and when he saw the clown at the kids' museum he said "that witch is going to get me" WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM???? I've been meaning to talk to his teacher about this but this past few days she hasn't been in the classroom so anyway ... anybody has any suggestion??? what to do?? how to handle this?? Oh yes and since I'm asking about suggestions I need more help. Here's an example of what the situation is:

The other day we went to my in-laws and my nephew was there outside without any shoes on, which we don't agree with, of course Nicolas wants to do that too because he sees his cousin doing it and I try to explain to him that it was important to put his shoes on so he wouldn't get bites or cuts or splinters or whatever and he said "but D. doesn't have his shoes on" I said but I am your mom not D's and if I asked you to do something is not to be mean, I just want to protect you" so he apparently understood because he put them on but then he went outside and was insisting that his cousin would go and put his shoes on, how do I explain to him that if his cousin is raised differently we don't need to interfere but just mind our own self, I don't wanna say that because it seems like I'm raising him to be selfish and that's not what I want for him either, I know he's only 3 but in his early mind there are things that are important for me as a Mom that he understand. Anyway my experience mothers that read me, tell me ... how do you do it? what do you say?

Thank you!

This is normal ... REALLY????

This second pregnancy has been an achy one. Not sure what everyone else has experienced but if we had not decided already that two children would do for Matt and I, I would of been seriously wondering if I ever want to be pregnant again. REALLY!

My bones are achy (yes those down there, inside my thighs ...). When I'm at work and I have to get up I look like a human who had just learned how to walk again, stiff, funny, waddley and I'm only 14 weeks, I am wearing some maternity clothes but I still have some regular clothes that fits me so I know is not the weight or the pressure ... what is this I wonder????

The Doctor told me this was normal. "NORMAL"????? Really????? Let's just say this is a very painful normal, my gift from above - my mother - has been making sure my house is working like a clock, she worries I'm not happy, I guess I can't hide the pain very well, can't I?

But seriously when I'm not achy, I'm nauseous, I'm not either one of those I'm crampy and yes GRUMPY too ... my poor family ... see? this is another good reason 2 children are just enough :)

Any suggestion on how to make my body less achy???

Do you ever ... ?

So do you ever argue about money??? yeah I didn't think so, we don't either NEVER EVER ... not even today, not over $8.00 ... nope that would be totally stupid and ridiculous. Who would run their bank account so thin that $8 would make such a difference right, is not like times are tough and you don't wanna get behind and sometimes it just has to stay that thin until your next paycheck comes ... nope ...we don't ever do that ... NEVER! I can just bet you don't leave without saying bye either, do you??? nope, didn't think so. My husband never does that and I never go behind him to point that he didn't tell me bye ... nope, what point would there be ... yeap, we surely don't!

Do you ever apologize in the middle of the argument because you realized you over reacted and he apologizes because he knows he shouldn't left without saying bye???

Yes we did that too! :)

Life as we know it my friends ... <3

Life couldn't get any better than this

A couple of weeks ago I called my doctor because I was experiencing pain on my bones "down there", know what I mean? With my first pregnancy I had no pain what so ever, except towards the end, probably because I was pretty close to the size of a whale, that being said, I'm only 12 weeks and this pain just wouldn't go away, I got a little worried and left a message to the nurse, who called me back and suggested the Doctor would see me the next day.

I saw the Doctor and she said:
"Oh Honey! Welcome to 2nd pregnancy"

(I'm sorry ... WHAT?! I'm only 12 weeks and I'm hurting like I was at the end of my first???? Wonder how is going to be towards the end)

I guess she could see the look on my face and she said with a smile on hers (not sure why she thought this was funny)

"You are going to feel like you are carrying this baby on your knees"

(hmmm exciting times, right?)

Other than that my nausea is almost gone, I say almost because every single time I feel it's gone, it pays me a visit AGAIN!

Since Mom has been here my house is such a joy to go to, everything is neat, clean, in order, table set and ready for us to eat, after supper we all take a walk to the mail box and sometimes further on the road, we enjoy the sunset together, we play outside, when I say we I mean all four of us, what a delightful time, Nicolas has been so happy, I know is because I'm overjoyed and relax, I mean how could I not, my house is working like a clock and I don't do much of anything, other than going to work and enjoy my family.

I know you may wonder if I had brought my mom to be my maid or something, but let me explain something to you, this is what my mom did for a living all her life, she had always said "I did this for everyone else now is time to do it for you, my love, and your family". The other day I was washing a pot from this wonderful soup she made me (Yes I know it's summer, I was dying to have soup) and she came to the kitchen and fussed at me for doing that, I told her I could at least wash the pot!!

This is my mother, she is loving, totally selfless, completely giving and the best way to show her love, other than her sweet hands hugging me and rubbing my hair is in the kitchen, she is the best cook in the world, she can make, bake, anything you want.

Someone asked me today, "how are things going?" I told them they couldn't be any better, they thought I was being ironic (guess I have a tendency to be that way ... he he he) but it is the honest truth, Life couldn't get any better than this.

Thank you GOD for this wonderful gift!!!!!!

Wonderful times

I while back I said this summer was going to be filled with special guests at our home.

The first one has come and gone, it was my friend Andrea, whom I met at my first job in Santiago, Chile. We met at the hospital where we all had appointments to have drug test and physicals, you know to be an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers you have to proof you are not a drug addict and that your poor self is gonna be able to make those late night hours, sometimes even weekend on rush period, anyway ... we were at the hospital and we started talking and what do I know, she lived in the US for a year too, just like I did and she came to NC, just like I did!!! Anyways, who would of thought we would of been through so many great memories together and others not so fun too, you know, life as we know it. Years went by, we moved on, we left PwC, she got married, had her second child, I got married, moved here, we still kept in touch (just like I do with all my close friends I had while I worked there) and finally she decided to come and visit her host family in NC and she took the time to pay us a visit for a weekend.

When you live far away from old time friends, family, the land that saw you grow up, having an "old time friend" gives you something that can not be explained nor put into words, if you experienced something like this you know what I'm talking about. I drove to a bigger city which was halfway through between both of us and we enjoyed the ride as we remember good times, old stories, review new things going on with our lives and what not, the 3 hour drive felt like nothing. We talked and talked and talked until our tongues gave out, we rested, she needed her resting time, being a single mom of two, this was a well deserved time. We went out to eat, we talked, we went to Main St., we talked, we enjoyed cookies, we talked, we had a wonderful weekend together.



I am so thankful to have friends that will make the effort to come see me, is not easy ride, long, expensive, tiring. Thank you!!!!!!!!

My next guest is much more than a guest, we could call her a "Royal Guest" because is my mother, the woman I adore, the woman who taught me to be a mom, the woman who showed me how to be strong and endure what life throws at you, my mom, the wonderful woman God chose to be my mother (can you tell how much I love her??). She had delight us with her presence since this past weekend and she will be here for 3 months!!!!!!

Oh if you only knew what this means, the love you can feel in my house, the familiar smells I grew up with, she cooks like the angels (do angels cook???), she brought us home made, by her, black berry marmalade, hazelnut pure (a delicious dessert) and tons of other goodies my family sent us, t-shirts, long socks for the winter, cute hand made hats for Nicolas, magazines, all kinds of stuff that I enjoy :).

Best of all has been seing interact my son with his Abuelita, they play, they love each other, although Nicolas gets excited and quickly forgets that his Abuelita doesn't speak any English they communicate through their love and my voice constantly reminding Nicolas how to say certain things in Spanish for her.

My heat is rejoicing, overflowing with love and appreciation for this wonderful woman who grew up in the rural area of Chile, who's bigger trip was probably on a train or bus somewhere local, that same woman took her flight and did everything by herself (God sitting right next to her at all times, that's for sure). I had made arrangements for the airline to provide assistance so she would know how to get around one of the busiest airports on this country and guess what, either because the flight was 30 minutes early or because someone drop the ball somewhere that help never came, she quickly realized it wasn't happening so she decided to start asking for help around the airport, that's how a pilot (who didn't speak any Spanish) helped her get her bags from the belt and motion to someone at the airport to bring her a baggy and loaded her bags there for her, the lady sitting beside her at the plane, who was bilingual, helped her go through international police and then got her connected with another girl from the plane who was also bilingual and she went with her all the way to the terminal (I'm telling the story in a very short way, this was after she had asked everyone else for help and what not). The result was my mom was ready with her bags and everything before we were even there, thank goodness we spent the night at a hotel right by the airport so when my cell phone rings at 6:30 am I knew it had to be her, who else would call me at that time, we took off and got her, she was oh so excited, she made it through all by herself (and God beside her), this was exactly what I wanted for her to have a positive experience!! I know what you are thinking, that wasn't a very positive experience, her help never came but you know what? this gave her confidence, she did it, she found a way to get help (God put wonderful people on her way) and did it. This is her 3rd trip to see us but the previous two times she had somebody with her so this was her first trip solo!!






Mom hasn't been here but a few hours when this picture was taken and there she is wearing her apron already :) I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!!!!

I will never do it again.

This past weekend a mother lost her 18 year old son, her "baby" boy, this woman is my husband's second cousin, I think I've seen her once (in a visitation), we've never spoken, we just shook hands, gave smiles and move on to the next person in line, the visitation where we met was for her grandmother. Although I've never actually talk to her, my heart goes for her ... I can not imagine the pain, the shock, the pain, the anger, the pain, the confusion, the pain of loosing your son. He was only 18, he was going to College this fall. He had a girlfriend, friends, a normal life, you know? It was all taken in a second, the second he decided to text while driving!! That second was enough to make his car go off the road, when he realized he corrected too hard, the car rolled over, hit a tree, the tree felt on his neck and killed him, immediately!! (Beautiful thing is that he was a donor so hopefully his organs will help others live longer).

I text a lot, at work, at home, while cooking, while driving YES while driving!! After this horrible accident, I can promise you I won't do it anymore ... ever ... I don't care if it's an emergency, I don't care if it's the Pope ... I am not texting while driving anymore.

My heart goes to this mother and family, to his brother who's only 21. What a pain and loss.

I love my blackberry (how twisted is to love a 'thing' like a blackberry) but I will not text while I drive ... NEVER ... I promise from this moment on ... I will not!

Pray for this family and if you text (like I did) please don't do it while you drive!

Our first encounter ... oh the JOY!

Yesterday was our first ultrasound and actually first Doctor's appointment. I was nervous, not sure why but I was, I guess the excitement, the anticipation, the what if's in the back of my mind that I'd never allow to be more than a split second but then it ends right there ... know what I mean?

So Matt and I went, we didn't have to wait much (which is a miracle on itself because I've learned that any time you have a doctor's appointment your time is never the time you are seen), pee in the cup, get on that pretty yucky gown and the Doctor came, she was very nice, I really liked her, never had a female before. My old Doctor is not delivering babies anymore. We talked, she checked my breathing among other body parts ;o) and then the ultrasound machine came rolling in and there he/she was.



As soon as she went in, the baby was moving his/her tiny feet and hands, it was adorable, the joy was exactly the same, I wanted to cry of emotion, it was a sweet sweet moment, as sweet as it was when we saw Nicolas for the 1st time.

There was only one moment where our hearts stop for a second, that was when the Doctor said "Let me look around to see if we have more than one baby" I could feel Matt and I just stopped breathing ... and then she said "let's look carefully because at this point they like to hide when there's two" and then she said "well it looks like we only have one" ... whoaaaaaaa ... sight ... back with the living! :)

Oh the joy, to hear his/her heart beat, to see him/her move ... to know you are in there darling baby, moving happily inside of me.

The nausea is almost gone and of course heart burn has made it first appearances but I'll take that any time instead of nausea!

Exciting times ahead!

"If this is not YOUR child ..."

You know how we, as parents, like to see what feature (habit, looks, you name it) of ours our kids have in them?. Not long ago the three of us went out to eat at a Pizza Place (one of my favorite foods since pregnancy # 2 started) and I looked at Nicolas, this is what I see, my sweet eyes dimpled faced child with a brownie on one hand and a plane pizza slice on the other, I gave Matt this looked and told him "If this is not YOUR child I don't know what ...". We both laughed and kept on eating. As we left the restaurant a guy drove by, windows down, loud music (Hispanic music I must say) and as soon as my son heard it, he started dancing right there in the middle of the side walk, that's when Matt looked at me and said "and if this is not YOUR child, i don't know what..." ha ha ha.

Last night as I'm laying on the couch after I went to the store, did laundry, swept the basement, yes I overdid myself but I haven't had energy in a long long time so like my husband told me "you got too proud of yourself" :). Back to the subject, as I was laying there Matt started Nico's bath (he always does that for him), Nico got in the water and was playing with what you could consider 50% of all his toys in there but of course he needed one more toy.

N: "Daaaaaddy!!!"

M: "Yes Nicolas?"

N: "I need Diego in the bathtub"

M: "Where is Diego?"

N: (small pause) "On the table"

Matt went to look and there it was, now let me explain something to you, this is the son of two people who are always looking for keys, glasses, cell phones, wallets, purses ... etc. We spend a lot of time trying to find that one thing we need, well our son, has toys in his bedroom, living room, dinning table (that's where Diego was) and he left it there the night before (I know you are wondering we don't pick up the toys everyday??? nope we don't, only the ones from the living room floor that drive me nuts, the rest is move to the side and it's fine) and he knew exactly where it was, so obviously this little person has some features of his own. Like knowing where he left his stuff.

I wonder if it'll stick until teen years ... I know, nice try, right?

Happy

It's been a long time since I've sat down to write down in my blog, I've had some tiring days lately, not only because my husband went on Mission Trip for 11 days but also because I'm pregnant (8 weeks yesterday) so my level of energy has been extremely low, adding to that there has been some on going nausea (nothing else thank goodness) so mix it all together and you have one tired woman.

Today has been the first day that I actually feel with energy to cook, do laundry, have a normal conversation with my husband, play with my son and of course, post something on here. :)

Since my pregnancy has been very different this time around, almost everyone has told me "may be this time it's a girl ..." which I understand but really I'd be happy with 2 boys, boys are all I know, I have everything for a boy and to be quite honest I'm not this very girly girl who loves pink (actually I can't stand pink) and all girly stuff, don't take me wrong I'm not a manly looking female either, I just don't have it in me ... know what I mean? Anyways, I'm not saying if I have a girl I wouldn't be happy, all I'm saying is the prototype of having a boy and a girl is so strongly engraved in people's mind that everyone is pulling for "the girl" and I really would be happy being queen of the house, surrounded by all my men! (I always got along better with males, anyway ... ha ha ha ha).

We have not told our son yet, we feel the wait seems forever for them and until I'm fully showing we won't say much to him, although it seems that he already knows something since he told the couple that kept the nursery on Sunday "My Mommy has a baby in her belly!" ok so may be he knows more than what we would like to admit but at this point we are not talking about it yet. (He could of heard someone asking him "so your mommy has a baby in her belly?" for all we know).

So bath time ran short and I couldn't finished this, now an hour and a half later I totally forgot where I was going with this post, all I know is today I felt great and I want to blame it all in my husband, the fact that he's home, helping, understanding (I almost burned the ground beef tonight, to the point of ruining supper but salt, pepper, oregano,lots of Parmesan cheese and a very understanding husband can fix anything, right?) has me so happy that tonight was a great evening, the fact that our son was happy had a lot to do with it too, but may be that had to do with the fact that I was happy :).

Hoping for more happy days as we receive lots of sweet guests this summer, I'll post more about that later.

Happy evening everyone!

Father's Day thoughts and celebration

My mom used to tell me "I just want you to have a better life than me". Her life was full of sacrifices and few hard times (may be more than few) but she's a wonderful woman and through prayer and hard work made sure my life was "better" - I finished High School, I got a college education, I have a husband and a son, obviously she had a daughter but she didn't have any of the other things I just mention, on that regard yes my life has been better and I will be forever thankful for all that and much more she has given me and continues to give me 'til this day.

As my son celebrated his daddy today - as much as an almost 3 year old can do - I thought how my son is already having a better life than me - which is every parents wish - he has a daddy, a wonderful daddy, one that is present in his every day life, one that starts his bath every night, one that has a calm tone of voice to calm him down when he's in the middle of a tantrum, one that plays with him, rolling on the floor and making him fly, one that plays with him outside on Sundays when we get home from church while I get things ready for lunch, one that used to put his cereal bowl on his back while he was laying on his legs as a baby :), one that takes him out for breakfast and into the park on Saturdays, one that studies every word and move of his son, that's a Daddy!!! I had a wonderful fatherly figure in my life but I didn't have a Daddy and I'm forever thankful and blessed that my son has that!

This week Nicolas made a pretty picture for his daddy (thanks to his teacher from daycare!) and we went to picked a card for him, which he did all by himself, of course it was a Mickey Mouse Card!! :) I wasn't sure the card was gonna make it home that day, because he kept opening it and closing it, just to see Mickey Mouse popped up "one more time mommy". He was excited.

This morning I prepared yummy breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, scramble eggs and sausage, orange juice and coffee (although I have to admit coffee looked crappy ... not sure why it just did ... oh well ... we are not perfect, are we!). Nicolas went running to wake his daddy up and when he came to the table we had his present and card, Nicolas helped me wrap the present took a couple of pieces of tape and stuck them on the present and he was so proud.

After church we had a good nap and then head to my in-laws for a father's day celebration that turned out really fun, kids played outside with their daddies, moms talked and watched the games, kids ran around until the point of exhaustion and then we came home with full bellies and filled hearts!

What a great day!

Always present in my mind, my Mom, the woman who did the double duty, the one who not once spoke bad about my father - although he was never on the picture - the one who taught me the importance of hard work and that no matter how hard life gets, God is always here with us, to help us get through anything!!

Te Adoro mi viejita!

Interesting conversations and more

One of the things I love about our son (among many other things that I adore about him) is his way with words. We've had some pretty interesting conversations lately.
He loves to look at pictures of our trips to Chile. I love that he loves that because it keeps memories fresh in his little big mind.

The other day Matt and I were getting ready to go out to eat and I was explaining to Nicolas he was going to spend some time with "Nana" and "Poppie". He said "OK" and a few minutes after that he looked at me and said "But why can't I go to "Tita's House??" (that's my mom = Tita). This breaks my heart but it also flatters me to know that he would like to spend some time with the grandmother he's lucky to see once a year, the one that doesn't speak any English, the one he talks on the phone once a week, I love that!!!!

Saturday morning I was talking to him and I asked him if he would like to have a brother or a sister?. A while back I asked him this and he said "nope, my friend John Patrick has a brother so that's OK" ha ha ha so I decided to ask again and see if he had changed his mind. His answer was:
"Siiiiiister!!!!! Sister!!!!! where are you????? Com'on Mami we gotta go find her"
So I still think he's a little confused on what a Sister (Brother) is at this point ... he he he.

He is such a big boy! Not wearing diapers at night (we have finally mastered the potty training during the day and nap time), we switched to pull-ups and the first night he woke up totally dry, last night he got a little wet but nothing huge ... he was so excited when we told him no more diapers at night, I think they made him uncomfortable because he's been sleeping much better now! (fingers cross).

Couple of weeks ago we went to a party and there was a pool and he enjoyed it beyond measure.



I can not believe what a big little guy he has become.

My favorite time a day with him is still first thing in the morning when he comes, crazy hair, blanket on his shoulder and eyes half closed to wake me up and ask for his milk, followed by an immediate request of picking him up by lifting his arms up, we have that code ... we are not morning people and not much talking is being made first thing in the morning, so we lay together on the couch and snuggle as he drink his milk.

Yesterday afternoon we went to play outside, I got carried away puling weeds (is there anything more rewarding than pulling those suckers!!) and I found a worm so I showed it to him, he was soaking wet, been playing in the water and I didn't care, I remember being little and my mom used to get upset when I got wet or dirty and what was the fun on playing outside if you couldn't get wet or dirty, right??? In my mom's defense I must say we did not owned a washer so she had to wash clothes by hand, with a brush and soap, not fun!!! I probably wouldn't even let my kids see the outside if I didn't have a washing machine. :) Back to the worm, I showed him how it moved and how it rolled up and all that and he thought that was cool. Cute moment between mother and son. After that we all went inside, after changing his clothes we all sat on the couch and watch whatever he wanted to watch. Ate supper siting there, completely lazy and lay back ... it was an awesome evening!

I know this is all random but I needed to leave a note of all the things my boy has been doing and saying lately.


He can be an angel





He can also be a little terror.



We love you son!!!

Something to complain reflect on

Friday night almost mid night, I can hear my dryer going (when isn't it going at night? ha!) I'm enjoying my huge cup of hot tea (just like I used to drink it in Chile) and the privacy and freedom of this evening. Nicolas is asleep, Matt is out with friends (don't worry tomorrow is my turn) and I am here, glue to my laptop reading all the blogs I follow and they are all so inspiring but out of all the things that I have in mind right now (You wouldn't believe how many different topics are in storage ... let's see ... interesting conversation with my toddler, daddy having an ear ache that lasted longer than expected, cleaning my pantry for the first time since I've been married, well and more ...) there's one that seems to be a repetitive one as I went through my week. Not only I am at fault on this but a lot of those - strangers and not strangers - that I have come in contact this week.

I'm talking about COMPLAINING!

How often do we do it? Why do we do it? Do we get anywhere with it? (this is a tricky one because if you complain to your cell company may be you could get a deal ... I don't know, I'm just guessing!) ... back on topic ... think about how many times you've complain this week, or not even that long the past 2 days. CRAZY ins't it?

Here are some of the examples I've experienced this week:

I complaint after I offer to do a shower for a friend because things were not turning out as I had plan them in my head (emphasize I ... who's the shower for??? that's right, my friend ... not me ... God spoke to me big time on this one).

I complaint to the girl at the bank when she asked the teller next to her if they were allowed to give me cash back, before I could even think words came out of my mind "Why wouldn't you, we have an account here!!!" (worse part? I had just heard a sermon on ANGER before I left work to go to the bank ... OUCH!)

Many customers I've talked to this week had complaint about the rain - we at the office have done it too - but for the last two years we've been complaining about the drout.

As I was waiting in a very small line (two people in front of me, one behind me) at the Wal-Mart pharmacy the lady behind me asks me "That looks like more than 5 items to me, don't you think???" pointing at an old couple who decided to bring their few items to the pharmacy as they pay for their prescription too (I still believe they have 5 items or less) but who cares??? The lady at the pharmacy could of let them bring more than 5 items, they were older, the man needed assistance to walk ... there was only 2 people in front of me - I promise you - it didn't take long ... so I didn't say anything else than "I really don't think they have more than 5 items" I wanted to say much more but I decided if I wasn't going to be nice I shouldn't open my mouth anymore ...

The secretary of the church where my son goes to preschool complaint to the Director of it that the teachers were showing too much cleavage (I bet she doesn't shop at Wal-Mart, she could have a heart attack by seeing some of the "things" you see people exposing there ... ha ha ha).

We complaint we have too much work, we complaint when work it's slow.

Jon & Kate complaint about the media following them, I'm sure they complaint when no one knew them and they didn't know how to pay their bills (sorry I do have People Magazine next to my laptop).

See where I'm going???

This is like an epidemic, it's contagious, we are in constant complain,
why do we do it????

What good does it do to our hearts????

Is it worth it????

I believe is part of our natural ways, it comes out before we can think about it, but we can make a difference by seeing the other side of things too. Much easier said than done but you know, life is what it is, God has a perfect plan for us and we are not going to like what HE has in store for us 24/7. Just like my mom used to tell me growing up "Things are not always going to happen the way YOU want them to happen" I'm sure she knew a lot about that (when she found out not only that she was pregnant but that my dad "forgot" to tell her he was married and already had 2 daughters of his own!).

Let's face it, perfection doesn't exist, life is not perfect, is unfair and it's ugly sometimes but there are also so many things that are wonderful about it.

Like this moment of tranquility at my house, like my son running to me when I pick him up from daycare all excited yelling "maaaaaaaaaaami, maaaaaaaami", like the time I could see in Matt's eyes that he was no longer in pain, like the play date I'm going to have tomorrow with 4 wonderful friends (2 of them I don't get to spend time with because they live out of town and I got the privilege to know them when I was an exchange student here back in 1994), you name it, there is plenty.

Yes there is!

Like the moment I clean my pantry and I realized I really don't need to go to the grocery store again because I have more than plenty in there ... see!!! We got so many things to be thankful for, I know there are terrible situations out there, I know people are aching, suffering, hurting, I know that but I also know there are good things in this life that we should recognize and value because we have no promises about what tomorrow it's going to bring, we could be really struggling then!

I do know one thing, if I don't go to bed right now I'll be complaining in the morning "why didn't I go to bed earlier" :)

Jon and Kate plus 8

Do you ever watch Jon & Kate plus 8?? I started watching it not long ago, I didn't realized how little TV I was watching - which is OK - until I hear all my friends talking about this and that reality show. (Sorry ... I just watched 24 and Lost and when I could remember I watched "Brothers & Sisters"). Anyway, so I started watching this a few months ago when they had a marathon on a Sunday, so after lunch that day I watched tons of episodes and felt in love with those precious children and it was an inspiration to me to see a couple make it with 8 children, surely Matt & I can do it with one (or may be two ... don't worry I'm not pregnant but let's just say we are not preventing it ...)

If you have look at the cover of magazines lately you surely know about him apparently cheating on her and how she is going crazy over fame, looks, money and what not ... or so that's what those non serious magazines say. Who knows! Only they know what's true! (We only know the truth about ourselves, even when we pretend we don't)

After watching last night's episode I was sad, sad to see a family crumble ... sad to hear one of those sweet little girls tell her Daddy how she misses him and she doesn't want him to ever go away again, doesn't this break your heart??? and let's just be honest, we don't even know this family, we just watch them on TV, we don't know their feelings, their struggles, their pain, we only see what TLC wants us to see! Can you imagine what this does to that Dad when he heard her say that??? Wow, I can't imagine the painful days they are going through. Hearing a couple say they are in something just because of the kids ... OUCH! Serious trouble ahead, big mistake we all make pretty often, we put kids before marriage WRONG THING TO DO!

How ironic is that reality TV is so not real. May be this show was pretty real at the beginning (I did not watch it then) but for what I could read on her blog today a lot of fans wrote comments saying how much she has changed, how their lives went from normal to celebrity style.

How much are we willing to risk for extra money?? How much are we willing to sacrifice so we can "give our kids what they deserve"?? What a twisted world we live in, do we really know what our kids deserve???? They deserve love, a good education and a healthy life. That's it, kids are happy playing with boxes and simple things, kids are happy being free. Yes they get excited to see fancy stuff, getting to meet movie characters and things but that doesn't last ... at the end of the day what matters the most is that hug you got from your mom and dad, what matters is to feel loved and accepted by those around you - and when you are a child those around you are just your family. (Just like I hope I never forget what I saw when I walked by the living room and I heard Nicolas as he's jumping on the couch saying "I love mommy and daddy ... I love mommy and daddy" with a singing tone. What an awesome feeling that was ... )

I'm not pointing finger, I don't have two sets of multiples, I didn't agree to have cameras on me 24/7, I didn't agree to have to travel around the country to sign up books or give interviews ... I'm not Kate, my husband is not Jon ... I'm not in their shoes. What do we know!!!

All I know is that this family is in trouble, they are breaking, this couple is going on different directions ... how many times do we feel that way with our spouse? Do you feel disconnected sometimes? I could pretty much guess that we have all felt that way, how thankful I am we don't have cameras on us 24/7, photographers following every where we go, yes they agreed to live a life like this, I understand but there's a limit on how much a family can put up with. I pray they decide to live their lives for them and not for the public, the fans, the money they are making or whatever it is driving their every move at this point in time.

Yes she treats him bad, disrespectfully but by Gohly he puts up with it!!!
What's wrong with this picture!!!!

I'm thankful for my ordinary life, I'm thankful I don't have many children (that's just not something I think I could handle but who knows, God may surprise me along the way too), I'm thankful my husband doesn't put up with me when I adopt a "Kate attitude", He quickly reminds me on how important is to keep respect in line! I know I have prayed many times to respect my husband, to get ride of those feelings that we hormonal-emotional-inpatient-women have toward our husbands and each time I pray God gives me what I need :)

Marriage is not easy ... can you imagine adding 8 children and cameras to that???? phew

Runnin' Thin

Do you ever feel like you are "running thin" with all the roles of your life???? You know, your relationship with your spouse, your motherhood roles, your housekeeper role, your working outside the home role ... and then there are your personal needs, wants, really wants, do I really have to do this for myself needs (exercising) ... etc.

I feel like I'm always running thin on at least one of these. I try for it to be those that are not so important - or the ones that I like the least (exercise) :)

Yesterday was a good example of this.

I left work to go to the bank (make a deposit for work) then ran to CVS to get a prescription that of course was never called in and then went to pick up my boy - which is the HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY, when I pull in and he sees me from the fenced playground area and he runs to the door yelling "Moooooooooommy" and I run to him and we hug like we haven't seen each other in so long - which actually feels like so long, 9 hours is a long time away from each other.

Back to the point ... we head home, I tell him I need to get supper started and then I'll play with him. Which he agrees to so sweetly (it's not always this way) and I get supper going, next I'm rolling on the floor playing with Mickey Mouse Club House or pretending to be a baby that needs her bottle, he wraps me with his blankie and gives me my milk (which is actually a stick ... hahahaha). Supper is ready, time to clean up the table (yes my dinning table is always full of stuff) and eat supper. After supper we go outside and play while Daddy is weed eating (I've always found that term to be so funny), we go for a walk, check our mailbox, we go back inside, we play some more, table is still not fully clean, watched some TV together, it's too late to take a bath, I just washed the essentials, put on his PJs, read 3 books, brush teeth, say our prayers together with Daddy and the last thing we do together is talk about our day, which is another one of my favorite things to do with my son. :) After that I take my shower (finally I feel I have some ME time, isn't crazy how an essential of everyday life becomes your ME TIME??) and then time for Hubby & Me Time. Watched the season finale of 24. While I'm watching I'm petting our dog Buddy (I feel we neglect him don't spend much time with him since we became parents). Close to midnight 24 we finished watching it (thanks for TiVo) and guess what ... there were still some dishes in the sink I had to put in the dishwasher, Nico's milk cup needed clean up too ... quickly loaded my dishwasher ... oh no my table looks full of stuff again ... oh forget it is too late now.

Hit the bed!

5:30 am Nicolas comes to our bed, we snuggle for about 45 minutes and it's time to do it all over again.

That's what life is all about, isn't it? Thank goodness we can start all over again every day.

Oh the mood swings in toddlers

As every Thursday after work, I pick my son up and went to the grocery store, only this time we had another very important place to go before we went to the store, our local Chick-Fil-A, I wasn't planing on going there at all but Nico's Pre-School Director was eating and had a bag from the restaurant that my son was able to read recognize so before we even left the office he said "Mommy, I wanna eat at Chick-Pil-A" yes with a P ... it's not a typo! that's what he calls it, of course he said it so sweetly I couldn't pass it, I totally felt for it. So I said "Sure! let's go".

Off we go with our happy selves, he is all smiles, he's walking into the restaurant like he owns the place, so happy to be there, so excited, we order our food, we sit down and eat he's ready to hit the playground and all the excitement and happiness was taken away then! :(

He didn't want to go up the climbing part

"Mommy I CAN'T DO IT!!!!!!"

"Yes you can Nicolas, you've done this before plenty of times!"

"NOOOOOO MOMMY, I CAN'T DOOOOO IT"

"Nicolas if you would come down you could do it"

(what am I doing, trying to reason with a toddler, I have major problems don't I)

You know how these moments are kind of uncomfortable, well let's just think what would we need on this picture to make it worse
... That's Right ...
someone that you barely know is in the playground too
... a guy your husband is friends with, they used to be close friends growing up, he's bubbly and all super happy (irritating the poop out of me since I'm trying to calm down so I can get my child to calm down too) and all nicely decides to talk to me as I'm attempting to reason with my very frustrated toddler.

Let's just say that didn't help matters at all, Nicolas got more frustrated although some how he manages to make it up the climbing steps ...

"Yeay You did it!!! ... Yes Matt's been doing great, how are you?"

trying to have multiple conversations at once is hard, when you know the man is not really listening to you on the first place as he's more worried about his blackberry (not that I have ever been in that situation myself ... yeah right) than our conversation but oh well ... I decided to go back to the eating area to finish my supper, somehow I realized my child is unhappy again.

I walk in there and he's screaming again "Mommy, GET ME DOWN!!!!"
"Nicolas, you've done this before, just relax and come down please"

(Of course Mr. all happy and bubbly is still there, enjoying his daughter as she plays on the playground so well)

"NOOOOOOO MOMMY ... GET ME DOOOOOOOOWN!!!!"

"Nicolas, calm down and ... " "NOOOOOOOOOO MOMMYYYYYYYY"

We are finally alone in the playground
"Nicolas come down the playground Now!"
"Noooooooooo"

this same repetitive conversation went on for a few minutes until my patience ran thin and I had to climb up through the tube slide to get my son, as soon as our eyes met he started crying really really load and put his hands on his behind ... he knew what was coming and it did happened indeed.

I told him afterward "When Mommy Calls You ... YOU COME, do you understand?" he said "Yeah " ... "Yes Ma'am".

I was so mad, I told him I was NEVER going to take him there AGAIN!!

(why did I say that???? Now I really can't take him ... gotta keep my word)

I decided to still go on with our plan and we went to the grocery store, Nicolas knew I wasn't happy, he asked me what he always asks me when I'm mad "Mommy are you mean???"
No son I'm not mean I'm just upset right now "Oh Mommy is upset right now!"
"Mommy Can I have a ball??? Mommy can I have that toy? Mommy can I have this and that and the whole store right this instant????"

"Nicolas ... we are her to get groceries not toy, not balls not anything else, OK??"

"Ok Mommy ... Oh Mommy you are so sweet ... I love you Mommy ... Hug!!!"
As I hug him he says "I'm sorry mommy for being bad on the playground" so of course I tell him I love him and that I'm sorry for yelling, guess what he asked me next ...

A few minutes go by as we keep going down the aisles of the store and as I'm trying to decide if this Ants Killer Powder is worth it I hear
"Mommy is never gonna take me to Chick-Pil-a Again ... that was very very ugly ..."

I take the powder, surely it will work and I he says

"Mommy Can I have a Ball???"

:)

What kind of night did you have?

How often does your patience runs thin in public places?