Monkey Monkey Underpants

Rafael's Birthdays

2012-02-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

My little man turned 2 in November! What an awful mama that I'm not even writing about it until February! The lucky little man got 3 different birthday celebrations because of all the craziness of Thanksgiving and surrounding weeks.

For his "friend" birthday party, I had fun putting together a dinosaur themed brunch party.

We had a Dino Dig Site outside which the kids largely ignored because it was a beautiful day and ohmygoodness LEAVES!!!!

I saw a neat idea for "volcano lava cakes" on Pinterest, but they didn't turn out quite as beautifully as I was hoping. Oh well, they were still delicious!!!! (And huge thanks to my friend Tina for helping me make them!)

Rafael got TONS of boy toys including various cars galore! We have a whole toy bin dedicated to cars now!

I made little favors out of leftover Halloween candy whoppers.

It was such a fun day!

He also celebrated with our choir family at one of our choir practices.

Sitting with his Nina Amy

Blowing out his birthday candles with his sister and Nina's Andrea & Amy

Enjoying his dessert with his Nina's

Opening his present from his ninas.

Here he is playing with his gift. Such a cutie!

His THIRD celebration (what a lucky boy!) was on his actual birthday, which fell on Thanksgiving this year! We celebrated with family after our big dinner by having him blow out a couple of candles on a cupcake.

All in all, I think his birthday was thoroughly celebrated this year!

My new niece

2012-02-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have a new adorable little niece! It was fun being pregnant at the same time as my sister - but not the first time! I was also pregnant at the same time as my oldest sister and that was cool too. It is nice to have cousins who are the same age - or close enough!

I combined forces with my sister's mother-in-law and provided all the decorations and games for my sister's shower in October. It was so much fun!

The invitations that I made

I didn't get any other shot of the decorations, which is a shame because they were so cute! I did a pink/green/brown butterfly theme. So fun!

Playing a blindfolded diapering the baby game

My 7 year old niece was the fastest!

My sister with my Grandma, Aunts, Cousin and niece and nephew

My 2 sisters

My sister with me and the kiddos

2 pregnant sisters! It's funny because I felt HUGELY pregnant and the time and you can hardly even tell!

My adorable niece was born in the wee early hours of Nov. 19th.

Meeting her for the first time

A month later at Christmas

I just saw her again on Tuesday and while I didn't get a picture she was wide awake, alert and watching the other kiddos play! I can't believe how fast they grow up!

Fall Recap - Little Stuff

2012-02-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

While I was doing my last post and uploading photos of all the exciting things we did this past Fall, I realized that most of the photos I wanted to post were completely unexciting, everyday things. So here's what happened in our day-to-day life this fall.

Rafael started joining Michaela and I during our school-at-home time. It was a rocky start while we figured each other out. Like me learning never to leave Michaela's dry-erase-marker work out with him nearby...

And to put a lock on my homeschooling cabinet!

They both had way too many moments of general cuteness!

They both got used to the idea of "babies in tummies" since both I and their Tia Racquel were pregnant.

This is supposed to be the baby in their Tia's tummy

This is supposed to be the baby in my tummy

They had a lot of snuggle time with Philip and I

Rafael proved he was a hungry growing boy by always eating all of Michaela's food after she ate her "required" 3 bites.

He also started becoming more independent - entering the "I do it all by myself" phase!

Michaela finally had legs long enough to ride the tricycle she got last Christmas - and she took her brother along for the ride!

The kids were obsessed with our massive leave piles out front. All I had to do to get a few minutes to myself were bundle them up and take them to the front yard. They would play for a good 45 minutes in those leaves while I read or worked on the computer in my little lawn chair!

I love looking back at pictures and watching my little ones grow up!

Fall Recap - Big Stuff

2012-02-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Recap of our Fall in Photo Form because I've been too lazy to do any posts! Warning, they'll be a few more long photo posts coming up soon! (Some of you may have seen most of this on Facebook, but since I plan on printing this out some day as a scrapbook, I figure it'll be good to get this all on here!).

Ballet Class
Michaela took a ballet class through the community center this Fall and absolutely loved it! She just started up again last week and is so happy!

Practicing Plie's - she's the one in the bright pink pants!

Waiting Off Stage for her end of year performance

State Fair
We once again went to the State Fair in September - something the kids always enjoy!

Watching the cows get milked - ever since then she is so proud to know where milk comes from!

Family Outings
We really tried to make a point of taking the kids out as a family after Phil started his school semester at work. We went on tons of fun "field trips"!

NM Museum of Natural History

Super excited to see Nemo and Dorie!

He LOVED the volcano floor - Michaela stayed far far away from it.

Zoo

Feeding the ducks our old bread

Home Depot Kids Workshop

She made a valiant attempt to make the little storage caddy...

...but the call of free hotdogs and chips was too great!

Daddy ended up finishing.

Balloon Fiesta
Albuquerque hosts one of the biggest Hot Air Balloon gatherings in the world - we are so lucky to live here! We went to a balloon glow one night - it is where they keep the balloons on the field and light up in various patterns. So beautiful!

Hanging with Tia Racquel!

We have balloons flying over our house from late September through March-ish. It is really cool!

Pumpkin Patch

Riding a Horse

PresFest
A new hospital just opened up in our area and they had a HUGE Grand Opening to celebrate. Who can turn down free bounce houses, games and food?

Daddy Days/Dates
Philip started instituting Daddy Dates with Michaela and Daddy Days with Rafael to get some one on one time with them. It's not super often, maybe every couple of months, but the kids love them! The first one, he took them each seperately (on different days) to the Aquarium/Botanic Gardens.

I think they both really enjoy having that special time with Daddy!

Chillin' w/ Friends
The kids got a lot of opportunities to hang out with their friends since I was a babysitting fool this fall! One of my friends said she saw into my evil plan - store up babysitting favors now so that I can use them all up when the baby is born! Muah-ha-ha!

They also went to tons of bday parties this fall!

First time at a bounce house playroom bday party!

Beating up a Pinata at her bestie's Halloween Themed party

Hanging out at their cousin's bday party

Halloween

The kids were Jesse and Woody from Toy Story
All homemade costumes - I am so proud!

Philip had class that evening so we went Trick or Treating with some friends.

So cute!

Visiting Tio Norm at the Fire Station
My brother in law, who is a firefighter, moved to the station right next to our house so we decided to visit one day when they weren't busy.

The kids had so much fun!

That's all our "big" stuff, stay tuned for more!

And the dogs save the day!

2011-11-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

See this?

Yes, that is a clean floor. A clean floor! What's the big deal, you ask? The big deal is that I have a 3 year old and a 2 year old and THIS does not exist in my universe!

Earlier today the dogs ate one of their toys and they were pretty upset. I warned them that the dogs love eating toys and that if they leave them out, that's what will happen. So of course before nap time they picked up each and every single toy off the floor to make sure that the dogs wouldn't eat them while they were napping.

Thanks dogs for actually being useful for once!

Dejavu

2011-10-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago my then 1yr old daughter used to have THE. WORST. TANTRUMS. Like so bad that she would make herself throw up. I shudder to remember those days and am SO glad that Rafael has not hit that level of extreme tantruming (and knock on wood never will). Maybe partly because I was a new mom with Michaela and would never dream of diffusing a tantrum with bribery, whereas now that's the first resort with Rafael!

Anyways, Michaela. Tantrums. They always used to happen when there was a change in routine, however slight. Maybe I told her we were going home but forgot I needed something from the grocery store and so she would FLIP out. Or maybe I forgot to give her a 10 minute warning at playgroup and tried to just leave. Whatever it was, it made her very unhappy. Well the last few days these wonderful things seem to be re-emerging. At almost 4!!!!!!!

Like yesterday when we went to the Dollar Store and there were no carts left. She was pissed and threw herself on the ground screaming "I want a cart!" No amount of hissing that she was too old to act that way, or there's no carts left, or cut it out this second or so help me I will give you something to cry about's helped in the slightest. Rafael is still too easily distracted to walk in a parking lot so I ended up having to hold him in one arm while I literally dragged Michaela out the door and back to our car with the other arm. I drove straight home in a rage and put her in quiet time/nap time without any lunch.

Of course, I can't stay angry at her for long because she always apologizes so quickly! I heard her knocking on her little door and she told me that she was sorry that she yelled at me and that what she did was not very nice. Sigh. How could I stay mad after that? Of course, I'm sure she's playing me just to get her sentence reduced. Don't laugh, yes a 3 1/2yr old is perfectly capable of being that conniving.

I'm hoping she's off her game because she's been sick (possible allergies), because if she reverts back to that stage right now, I am just not going to make it!

Estrogen

2011-10-19T06:23:00.002-07:00

So...the baby's a girl! We think. Because for insurance purposes we had to use the crappy in-office ultrasound machine instead of the nice fancy 3D one that people usually get. But seriously, I don't know what poor Rafael is going to do with even MORE estrogen in this house!

Update

2011-09-19T15:27:00.001-07:00

Other than the post about my brother-in-law's wedding, I took a break off from blogging this summer. So what have we been up to? Not much! We took the summer pretty easy. In case you didn't notice the new ticker at the top of the blog, we're expecting our third baby! It's due Feb. 15th and we will have our ultrasound to find out the gender on October 5th! Philip is back at work and taking his PhD classes, and I've started up home Tot School and Preschool with the kiddos again. Here's an update on the kids:

Michaela:

She's a big girl! She does NOT stop talking and is constantly asking "why". It was cute at first. Not so much after the 50th billionth time....in an hour.

She's an absolute love. She constantly tells me that she loves me and asks for "mouth kisses". At bedtime earlier this year I taught her about "butterfly" and "eskimo" kisses (eyelash and nose) and ever since then, she must have kisses all over her face every night.

She seems to have (mostly) gotten her temper under control. She still has occasional bouts, but gone are the days of the kicking screaming tantrum. Mostly when she gets in trouble it's because she talks back to me or tells me no. Fortunately she is really quick to apologize after a quick trip to time out!

She is obsessed with ballet. Like, OBSESSED. It all started when she fell in love with Angelina Ballerina. She started ballet at the local community center a couple weeks ago and loves it.

Doing a Butterfly Dance in Ballet

Her best friend is my good friend Jen's little girl Sierra. Every time she sees her she runs to her and gives her a HUGE hug. They're in ballet together too, which is awesome.

Best friends!

She loves her little brother. She won't let me get him out of his pack n play in the morning without her. She has to be the first to say good morning and give him hugs and kisses.

She also gets super annoyed with her little brother. Most days are split between them being overly lovey together, and them fighting like cats and dogs.

She has requested that the new baby be a sister.

Rafael:

What a joker! He loooooves to hear his sister laugh so he has started going out of his way to make her laugh. His favorite methods of joking around are hitting himself in the head or putting his fingers in his mouth to make a silly face.

He's almost 2. Mommies, you know what this means. TANTRUMS! It's his way or the highway. Not fun, but all in all, less intense that Michaela was at this age. At least he hasn't made himself throw up yet!

He is a boy. As in he loves making messes, playing with rucks, making noises for everything, going a billion miles a minute. You know, all the stereotypical boy traits. But....he's also a little brother to a big sister. Which means he loves wearing tutu's, playing with barbies, etc.

Having a Tea Party with his Curious George

I was worried for a short time because he still wasn't talking about a month ago, but ever since we started doing Tot School, his language has exploded! He went from having less than 10 words a couple of weeks ago to over 30 at this point!

He's a love too. He loves to cuddle with mama (except when he's trying to play) and is constantly giving his sister kisses. On a side note, he calls her "mama" too. :)

He has a best friend too. Sierra's little sister Chloe. They fight sometimes too, but since Jen and I have already pre-arranged their marriage, it's totally expected.

He is insanely mischievous. He knows this and has developed a ridiculously adorable smile when he's either about to or in the middle of doing something he knows he's not supposed to do. It's really hard to get mad at him when he smiles like that!

There's that smile!

Summer Photos

2011-09-19T13:34:00.001-07:00

Recap of our summer in photo form. *Warning! Super long!* :)
4th of July

Me and my sister

Camping

Petting deer at the deer farm near our campsite

Smores!

Us and The Packhams - our friends that we cabin camped with

Galloping Grace Ranch

Michaela got to ride a horse through a free program near our house

In return she had to help around the ranch, like grooming horses...

and scooping poo!

Michaela's Little Safari Class

Michaela took a Little Safari class this summer and learned all about nature, bugs, etc.

This was her end-of-class field trip to the Rio Grande Nature Center

Daddy and brother tagged along

Relay for Life

My sisters and I had a Relay for Life team in honor of our Aunt Donna and in memory of my mom and father in law

MOMS Club Fun

Water playdate at my house

Playing with sidewalk chalk in my driveway

Michaela and Rafael chillin' with their besties

Messy playdate at my house

Going to the zoo with some of our mommy friends

Fun with Friends

Cousin night!

Pool day with her friend Ariela!

Chillin' with Daddy

Teaching them how to use a spirograph

Planting a plant

Daddy showing a frog he found

Misc.

Eating breakfast together - Rafael doesn't use a high chair anymore!

Relaxing and playing with the ipad together

Meeting Elmo at a local play area

One of her creative summer outfits - chosen by herself of course

We attempted to put them in the same room. It didn't work - we'll try again this Christmas!

Wedding Weekend

2011-06-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

My hubby's brother got married this past weekend so we packed the kids up and flew to Minneapolis/St. Paul for the weekend. I know, I know, I swore after our last trip that we would never fly with children again, but it was important for us to be there and a 4 day road trip was out of the question!

Let me tell you, it was a JAM PACKED weekend. Here are the highlights:

Friday - Left for airport at 4am. 1st flight went well - Rafael fell asleep, Michaela played with ipad (sweet glorious ipad!) and our flight was right on time. And then we landed. Our layover in Chicago was BARELY long enough for us to run from one terminal to the other but we made our flight just fine. 2nd flight was better than expected as well, especially since Philip's mom and brother connected on that flight as well so Michaela was able to chat with her Grandma a bit. We got our rental, ran some errands, checked into our hotel, and spent the evening at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Saturday - We spent ALL DAY at the wedding. We had to be at the church by 10am for pictures (both Philip and Michaela were in the bridal party), then we ate lunch there before the wedding at 2pm.

What a cute little Flower Girl!

Our attempt at a family photo. Notice that I'm the only one looking at the camera. :P

Michaela is not super photogenic, let me tell you that. Getting her to smile for the photographer was like pulling teeth. I had to bribe her with endless rounds of snacks and candy to even get her to sit still!

With the bride and other flower girls. Notice she's not smiling even a tiny bit!

It was a really long time for the little ones to be hanging out but thankfully they had a very well stocked nursery/playroom for the kiddos.

Bribe snack time!

Taking a break from her fancy dress after lunch.

The wedding was beautiful and the bride and groom looked SO happy! Michaela did a great job walking down the aisle by herself and throwing petals and as soon as the ceremony started she promptly fell asleep in the lap of my new sister-in-law's mom.

The reception was wonderful too. The food was delicious and the kids had a blast dancing the night away. The only bad part was that my contacts decided they had had enough and I had to throw them away. (Meaning I was blind for most of the evening!). The kids slept like rocks that night!

Michaela dancing with her daddy.

And dancing with her Grandma

Bride and Groom, Philip's brother Peter, and mom Que.

Rafael's getting down on the dance floor with his cousin and sister.

Sunday - We got up early to go to Mass, and then spent the rest of the day at the bride's parents house as the bride and groom opened presents and the family all hung out. We put the kids down for a nap at one point, and had a very relaxing, very nice day. By the time we got back to the hotel that evening, we were all exhausted from our long weekend!

Monday - We woke up, ate breakfast, and took a leisurely stroll around the lake that was across the street from our hotel before checking out. We took the kids to the Minnesota Children's Museum in St. Paul to tire them out for our flights that evening. They had so much fun! This was easily the best Children's Museum we've been to so far!

We made our way back to the airport (after I had a tiny fender bender with the rental car. Ooops!) and caught our 7pm flight. This flight was a little bit harder since it was late and the kids were so exhausted, but still SOOOOO much better than the ones last year! We didn't get in until midnight and promptly fell asleep the second we got home. It was a great weekend, but man, I need a bit of recovery time!

Born Free!

2011-05-31T14:40:00.000-07:00

I was getting her bath ready for her when I turned around and she was gone! This is how I found her, butt naked with a tutu and "pretty shoes" on. Crazy girl!

Family Photos

2011-05-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

Our amazing family photographer took another great set of photos for us this year! I love that she takes them outside and that we can take natural poses while the kids are roaming free instead of being stuck inside a studio.

My favorite actually comes from the blooper reel. We are supposed to be gazing at each other lovingly but I'm looking off in a different direction, Michaela is preparing to do something really naughty, and Rafael is signing "more" since we had been bribing him with cheerios all morning. So funny!

Spring Break Fun

2011-04-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of Philip being a teacher is that he get's Spring Break off. Here's some of the fun stuff we did a couple of weeks ago during Spring Break.
We had family over for a BBQ and the kids enjoyed some cousin time in the back yard.

Still working on her trike riding skills (her legs are too short!) with the help of her Tio Norm, and her brother catching a ride.

The kids decided they wanted to have a lunch picnic in our front yard one day, so we went with it!

And then we went to the park across the arroyo from our house.

We went to the zoo with the Johnstons, some great friends of ours.

That's not trash with the baby leopards - it's enrichment. Trust me, they love it!

All the chimps were sleeping next to their little river, which is a vast improvement of their usual activity there - eating feces and smearing it on the windows!

We have a membership to our zoo and come probably 10-11 times a year, and yet I have never ONCE seen our giant crocodiles before. How did I miss this?

We had a great time and can't wait until the summer when Philip will be home for several months!

Love Getaway

2011-04-05T05:11:00.000-07:00

My husband and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in March! We made it really special and had my brother-in-law and sister watch the kids overnight. We dropped them off around noon on our anniversary (which was a Friday) and went to "our" restaurant. It's a great gourmet rotisserrie place that we went to on the night Philip proposed, and we've gone there every year for our anniversary ever since. (Well, except the year that Michaela was born - which was a week before our anniversary. We still managed to order out from there though.)

After an awesome dinner, we went to a local arcade and spent the afternoon playing around like teenagers. We had such a great time!

We stayed at an amazing bed and breakfast near Old Town. It was HUGE, had an amazing hot tub, tons of great amenities, and was just such a warm, cozy little retreat.

That evening, we were still full from lunch, so we grabbed a quick snack of chips & queso (and margarita for me!) at a restaurant in Old Town, and then we went on a Ghost Tour of Old Town. Old Town Albuquerque has been around for at least 300 years, so there have been tons of deaths, accidents, and more. We didn't see any ghosts (we did snap a few pictures, but alas, no ghost "spots"), but if was really fun and a great history lesson at the very least.

We capped the overnighter off with a great breakfast at the B&B, and then picked up our little munchkins. It was a great weekend, and definitely what we needed to recharge our "marriage batteries" after 5 years and 2 kids!

Michaela's Birthday Parties

2011-03-07T15:22:00.001-07:00

My lucky girl got two birthday parties this year; one for our family (which she shared with her cousin who also has a March birthday) and one for her little girlfriends.

We went pretty simple for the family one and had a great time enjoying pizza and hanging out at Dions (a GREAT local pizza joint).

Then we had her friend party which had a Princess Tea Party theme. Oh my goodness, I had so much fun planning this and almost died from cuteness and pink overload!

Michaela had so much fun and now she has a big stockpile of new toys and goodies!

Happy Birthday Michaela!

2011-03-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

I just can't believe that you are 3! When you turned 2, I was so amazed that you were actually a little girl; no longer my little baby. I couldn't imagine you getting older, and yet here 3 is and it came oh so fast. I can already see 4, 5, 6, and on, all lining up, jostling to get ahold of you and I know it will happen in the blink of an eye. But I can't get ahead of myself now. Right now I'm going to enjoy your three-ness.

The way that you have to do EVERYTHING all by yourself (and at your own excruciatingly slow pace). The way that you wiggle away from me when I go in for a big kiss - apparently you're too big for that now - unless of course you initiate it yourself. The way that you name all of your toys and narrate everything that you or your animals are doing all day long. You are completely single minded. If you get set on a task it is almost impossible to call you off of it. It really drives me crazy when I am trying to get you to do something, but I know that trait will serve you well in the future.

You are SO smart! I know every mom says that about her kids, but you really are! I mean, you potty trained yourself! You love school and are constantly amazing me by how much you understand. And you have such an amazing heart. You look after your brother and make sure that his needs are met. If I don't take care of him to your standards you make sure to let me know what your "Guy" needs!

Physically, you haven't grown much. Sorry kiddo, but you're always going to be small like your mama! But your face has matured, and I can't even put your signature pigtails in your hair anymore because it looks to babyish!

I love every single thing about you right now (even when you are driving me crazy!) and I can't wait to see where another year takes us! Happy birthday princess!

I've fallen in love!

2011-02-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

So...I've sort of been keeping a secret. I'm in love. I know, I haven't really said anything because...well...I feel sort of naughty. You see, it only happens when Philip is in class on Monday nights. I always beg one of my friends to take the kids so that I can get my fix. I don't really care who watches them; as long as they aren't with me. Whenever it starts my heartbeat goes through the roof. I get a silly little grin on my face and my hips start moving uncontrollably. And then...well, it happens. By the end I'm exhausted. Sweat covers my body and my breathing is wildly out of control. And I can't wait for more.

Yes, I'm in love with Zumba. I only get to go once a week and by the end of it, I already can't wait until the next week. If it's wrong to be addicted to a workout, I don't want to be right!

Rescue Me

2011-02-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

Things I have rescued from the trashcan today:
2 little people
1 pretend fork
1 plastic container
1 pretend french fry
1 sippy cup
1 pacifier

Things I have rescued from the toilet today:
little boy hands
reusable snack container
tampons (yes, again)

Things I have rescued from Rafael's mouth:
Fake flower petals
a stick
a knife (it was a butter knife, still not safe, but at least you won't report me to CPS, right? Right?)
tampons (I know, I know)

I. am. exhausted.

Pee Hands & Responsibility Chart

2011-02-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

I stuck my hand in the toilet 3 times today. I kid you not. My lovely daughter has decided that in order to wipe herself when she's done going potty, she has to use the entire roll of toilet paper. Which then gets shoved in the toilet. Twice today. Yes, after the second time of fishing a wad of toilet paper out of the toilet with my bare hands I learned my lesson and took the roll of toilet paper out of the bathroom. Now she has to call me when she needs to wipe, but I'd rather that than pee hands any day.

And then. My monster boy-child decided it would be fun to play in the toilet water. And threw a handful of tampons in to help him swirl the water with. Yeah, another lovely trip into the potty for my poor hands.

We also went to the library today and Rafael decided it would be HILARIOUS to run as fast as he could away from me while giggling hysterically. And Michaela, being the good big sister, would scream at the top of her lungs, "Rafael, come back, what are you doing?!?" So I was trying to shut her up while running after the boy, who would then trip, fall flat on his face and start screaming. After a couple rounds of this I tried to just herd the kids and leave but Rafael started screaming at the indignity of me picking him up, while Michaela freaked out because we had only been at the library for a few minutes and ohmygodIwanttoreadsomebooks! I don't know how we got out of there, but we did, and in a fairly quiet and normal matter. I definitely think I'll be taking advantage of the "hold" section more often though.

On a plus note, we started using a Responsibility Chart today for Michaela, and the thing is freakin' genius. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to see a halo of rainbows and unicorns around this sucker, it is that awesome! Michaela was soooo good today! Not a single tantrum! Even the library incident was just a bit of a whine, nothing compared to the evil that was before! I am shocked and amazed at how well this stupid little thing works, but I'm just going to stop talking about it because I don't want to jinx it! This little chart alone totally made the pee hands worth it!

What have we been up to?

2011-01-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I realized it's been a month since I posted anything, so here we go!

Rafael decided that his goal in life is to single handedly destroy my house and every belonging we possess. He takes every book off the shelf and scatters it around the room. He finds every single toy we own and puts it in a new spot that is more to his liking and most likely to kill me as I trip over it. He plays in toilet, dog, and spilled water with equal parts abandon and glee. He climbs on everything! Couches, stools, anything with steps, they are all fair game for this little daredevil who tries to kill himself every other second! And then he smiles his little smile and just DARES me to be angry with him. Little stinker. On the plus side, he is still a super happy kid, and he can communicate! I love that I can ask him what he wants and he will get up, walk across the room and show me. It is so much easier! And he dances. All the time. Every time a song with a fun beat comes on he starts to shake his little booty. He is so cute!

Michaela decided that her goal in life is to disagree with every single thing that I say and to yell no at me every single time I ask her to do something. She has also taken to climbing on the top of furniture and sliding off of it. Not cool. I am working on a chart for her, because being the optimist (or delusional crazy, whichever title you prefer), I'm hoping this will cure all our discipline problems! On the good side of things, she is completely potty trained! She started potty training herself (I kid you not, this girl is awesome) before Christmas, and throughout the past month has not only weaned herself off of daytime pull-ups, but in this past week has also started sleeping in underwear. It is so nice not to have to worry about 2 sets of diapers!

I've been doing pretty good. There was alot of crazy drama with my MOMS Club that happened at the end of December that simultaneously caused half of the club to drop out and me to become President all within a couple of days. It has been a really tough month trying to pull everything back together and move forward, but as the dust starts to settle, I feel really good. I discovered that I am stronger than I thought I was, and am proud that I stuck with it. My strong friendships were strengthened more than I could have imagined. I realized that I can depend on these women for anything, and that they will always be there for me, through thick and thin. They have seen me at my best and at my worse and they love me regardless, which is worth all of the craziness that happened. And I truly wish the same for everyone that left. I hope that they find or have already found a group of women who will support them and love them through anything life throws at them.

I've also been getting healthy. I have been going to the gym every single day (and sometimes twice a day!) with a friend, and have been eating healthier. I've only lost 5lbs, but I'm down a pant size and I feel really great. There is something to be said about knowing that I am taking care of my body and teaching my children the importance of being healthy!

That's all we've been up to! Now I'm off to contain the little monsters running loose in my house!

Ghosts of New Year's Past

2011-01-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

4years ago I had a crazy, drunken, smooch filled New Year's Eve befitting my age and childless newly married state.

3 years ago I was pregnant with Michaela and exhausted all the time. I slept through New Year's Eve.

2 years ago Michaela was a baby, we were still co-sleeping, and I was exhausted all the time. I slept through New Year's Eve.

1 year ago Rafael was a newborn. I was exhausted all the time. I slept through New Year's Eve.

This year I have an almost 3 year old and a 1 year old, and even though I am still exhausted all the time, they both sleep glorious 12 hour nights. I figured if I was ever going to actually stay awake during New Year's Eve, this had better be the year, before I get pregnant again. And so I invited 2 of my sisters over and spent the night drinking wine, watching Love Actually, and hanging out with the 2 women who I never have to censor myself around. It was a great night, and the perfect way to bring in the New Year (finally)!

Christmas!

2010-12-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend filled with family and food! We spent Christmas Eve relaxing before heading out to an early Mass that evening with my sister.

(Michaela was so excited to see Mary! and Joseph! And Baby Jesus! and Santa brought a present to Baby Jesus!)

After Mass, we headed down to my mom's grave to set up some luminarias. I didn't take a picture, but if you've never seen a New Mexico cemetery on Christmas Eve, it is beautiful. There are thousands (I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) of luminarias covering the entire field. My mom's were by far the cutest! :)

Then we drove through a few local hotspots for Christmas lights and luminarias before heading home and calling it a night.

The presents after being set up on Christmas Eve by Momma & Daddy Claus

Christmas day was also very relaxing. My dad stopped by early in the morning for some coffee and breakfast and then stuck around to see the kids open their presents once they woke up. The kids then spent the rest of the morning playing with them. The favorites so far have been Michaela's tricycle and Rafael's basketball hoop.

Sustenance comes before all else!

The gift opening aftermath. What a mess!

They loved that tricycle!

I mean really loved it! Can you see Rafael's little arm sticking out in front there?

A friend stopped by for as visit during naptime and I left him playing video games with Phil while I went to visit my sister for a bit. I ended up down the street at my Grandma's, where my sister, dad, aunts, and cousin were all hanging out. We ate a delicious lunch of posole, tamales, turkey and all the fixings! After that, I went back home and we returned to church for Mass again (yes 2 days in a row! Friday was the Christmas Mass, we still had to go to the Saturday vigil Mass for our Sunday Obligation).

On Sunday, we went over to my sister's house for our big family celebration. My brother-in-law is a firefighter and was working Christmas Eve and Day, so this was the only time to do it. My sister (who doesn't cook) completely outdid herself cooking up posole, tamales, red chile and homemade tortillas for our Christmas feast! It. was. amazing. We spent the entire day hanging out and playing Monopoly while the kids played/napped/crafted.

Hat & mittens from Tia & Tio

Fingerpaints from Tia & Tio

I put out some craft stuff to keep the kids occupied while we played Monopoly

...and put Rafael in the baby cage...parenting at it's finest folks!

We got home way past the kid's bedtimes, but we all had fun and it was an awesome day!

All that matters...

2010-12-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is the reason I wake up in the morning.

This girl.

This boy.

These are my priorities and everything else is just extra.

I shouldn't be losing sleep or going on crying jags or drinking uncontrollably because of a few bullies and some misplaced words.

All I can do is pick up the pieces, fix what I can fix, and move on.

And remember that this is why I'm doing it.

Comments are closed. I don't need anyone sympathizing, and I certainly don't need anyone's negativity. I just need to vent and remember what really matters right now.

Kids squared

2010-12-14T07:04:00.000-07:00

When Philip and I first got married we wanted a football team of kids. At least ten, but more if that's what we got. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....ahem...excuse me. I start laughing maniacally every time I think about our youthful optimism and...well, plain crack smokin' craziness in thinking that we could handle 10 children. After Rafael came along I was so exhausted I decided never to have any more children EVER. Then I cracked and realized I wanted more and so we agreed on 4. 4 children and that is it, because, well, Philip is a teacher and it's not like we're rolling in money. Also, because at some point I would like to have my body back to myself and have a career.

Anyways, when I start doubting whether or not I can handle 4 children, all I have to do is watch my sister's kids. Yesterday, faced with being cooped up with 4 kids, a super messy house, and a lack of desire to clean said house while they were running underfoot making more messes, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and we headed to the zoo. (Thank goodness for zoo memberships is all I can say - $3 for 1 adult and 4 kids? Yes please!).

Everything was going fantastic as the 3 older ones happily swarmed around me and Rafael sat contentedly in his stroller staring at all the animals. We even managed to get through the huge play area of death and stuck children without any incident. And then around the chimpanzees, an area ridiculously remote from any bathrooms, my 5 year old niece contorted into the pee dance and yelled "I have to go pee RIGHT NOW!"

Great.

So off we were, running through the zoo as fast as we could in some ridiculous parody of that scene in Home Alone 2 where they are all running through the airport as fast as they can. I kept looking wildly around searching for children who were lagging behind or getting distracted by one of the animals. Michaela looked like she was about to pass out, so I ran to swoop her up in my arms so that we wouldn't have an accident, and OHMYGOD why in the world would I ever attempt to do such a horrible thing as pick up an independent two year old! She screamed bloody murder so I after dragging her for a few yards, I put her back down and let her "Walk by meself!" Thankfully we were finally within eyesight of the bathroom by that point so I told my niece to run ahead and go in without us. I gathered the other kids up and we walked at a normal pace to the bathroom and miracle upon miracles, all 3 older kids went potty in the bathroom! Yay! Piece of cake.

Seriously though. What sort of crack was I smoking to think I could handle that with 10 kids?

Walking!

2010-12-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Rafael took several steps across the room the week he turned one, but I think he scared himself because he promptly refused to even stand up on his own after that. On Saturday, he finally started walking again! He's so proud of himself!

No, they are not twins...

2010-12-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

because if they were twins, then the kicking screaming tantrum that the girl is throwing right now would be completely age appropriate. I would not be trying desperately to quiet her in a much more patient and kind manner than I would be if we were alone because ohmygod the entire store is staring at me and I don't want anyone to report me to social services for being too harsh with my daughter. Why oh why oh why does she do this? I never hear of other children her age doing this. Do they? Do the parents just have the common sense not to tell everyone about it? All I know is that if I was like this as a child, I have a whole new respect for my poor parents.

P.S. Please please please tell me it's ok to leave my daughter in time out in her room for a couple of hours so that I don't kill her.

Pee Pee in the Potty...then the Bathtub...

2010-12-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

Michaela has secretly been using the potty for the last few days. Wait wait wait. Let me rewind.

For several months Michaela has asked occasionally to sit on the potty so that she could pee. Every single time I would stop whatever I was doing and go in there with her and watch her sit on the potty, but she would never ever go. Every. Single. Time. So finally I got to the point where I just told her to go by herself. I knew she wasn't going to pee, so I didn't even bother going with her.

The last few days she has been asking to go much more frequently but I just assumed it was because we've been telling her so often that she is going to be potty trained when daddy is home for winter break.

Except today right after she said that she went potty ("Oh good job baby girl! That's awesome that you are practicing to go potty even though I know that you don't actually go!"), I had to go to the bathroom as well. As I was in the bathroom, Michaela ran in and said, "Look mama I went potty!" and pointed to the bathtub. Confused, I looked in the bathtub and saw some liquid. Some liquid that I thought was just an overturned bottle of shampoo for the past few days. (Yes, we haven't given the kids a bath in 3 days. Yes it's gross, we simply have been away every single night and it just hasn't happened!) Then I looked back at her little potty and saw a tiny drop of liquid there. The lightbulb clicked. That huge puddle of 'soap' collecting in the tub with the drain closed was not soap. It was pee. Probably from the last couple of days. Gross.

"Michaela, did you empty the potty full of pee pee into the bathtub?"

"Yes mama, I cleaned up my pee pee!"

Suffice it to say, the bathtub got a thorough bleaching and Michaela got a huge hug, and M&M, and a thorough lesson on how we dispose of our pee pee into the big potty.

Rafael's Birthday Parties

2010-11-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

My little boy turned 1 last week! He had his family birthday party on Saturday at his Ninas' house and it was so much fun! We did a Monster themed brunch, and I had a blast making the "monster" food. We had a green chile breakfast casserole, fruit, Monster Toes (sausages), Monster Fingers (french toast sticks), Monster Eyes (donut holes), Monster Blood (blueberry pomegranate juice), OJ and muffins. By the way, those muffins are a huge step for me. My poor Michaela wasn't even allowed to have sugar on her first birthday, at least these muffins had a tiny bit of sugar and some chocolate chips!

His favorite toy was one of the balloons that we had bought. So happy!

I want to grab that candle!

Yummy! Sugar!

I love my nina!

Our friends and family

Michaela decided to take a break from the party with her friend by taking a nap. And by taking a nap I mean screaming and giggling together for 10 minutes while they pretended to close their eyes.

He was so happy that day and in such a great mood being the center of attention!

And he made out like a bandit!

I have some truly great friends and family!

By the way, he had a great birthday party a couple of weeks ago with our MOMS Club family, many of whom were planning to be out of town this weekend. Such a lucky boy to have two birthdays!

Dear Rafael!*

2010-11-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday! It's amazing how fast this year has gone! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital, just in time to meet your sister and enjoy a relaxing Thanksgiving dinner. And here you are a happy, active 1 year old, taking your first steps and getting into trouble every time I turn my back.

From the very beginning you were my easy baby. You slept most of the time and rarely fussed, a far cry from your colicky sister. Yet, you also quickly developed a personality that let us know that you were her brother and my child. You know what you want and heaven forbid you don't get it!

I was also a completely different mother with you than I was with Michaela. More experience and being around other mommies taught me not to sweat the little things. I gladly handed you off to friends when they offered to hold you, knowing that you would be a stronger child if I didn't insist on being with you every second. As you have slowly started crawling and cruising, I haven't hovered over you. I trust in your strength and know that you will recover quickly from any bump or scrape that happens.

You make everyone around you want to love you. Daddy, sister and I all absolutely adore you. I can't wait to see you continue to grow into a little boy and am looking forward to the changes this next year brings!

*Ok, well it's a couple of days late, but that's what happens when a second child's birthday falls so near a holiday. :)

It's 5 o'clock Somewhere

2010-11-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's barely noon, but I'm pretty sure this is the only way I'll get through the rest of my day.

I went to make the kids breakfast this morning (the kids who woke up before the sun was up), and realized I was out of eggs. I don't know how I missed this, but I was on my own yesterday, and sometimes bad things happen when I'm husbandless. Anyways. No eggs. My kids only eat eggs for breakfast. It's my fault, I'm a huge egg eater, so I've encouraged their egg loving fanatacism. In any case, I was hungry, the kids were hungry, and I knew we would not last an entire trip to the store and then back home to cook eggs, so we went out to breakfast! I was so impressed by how well the kids behaved, and I'm pretty sure the group of old men sitting at the table next to us were too.

And then it all went to hell. We had plans to go to the local fire station for a tour with my MOMS Club, but the second we walked in the door, it all went down hill. The girl decided to scream the entire time and spent most of the tour sitting on the floor in tears. I don't know if she was overwhelmed by the size of the firetrucks or if she was just tired from waking up too early. Maybe both, maybe something else. It really didn't matter, I couldn't pick up a screaming kicking child and carry Rafael at the same time, so God bless the amazing firefighter who helped me get both kids to the van. (Can I just say how upset I am that I didn't get my adorable shot of Michaela with a firehat on standing in front of a firetruck? I mean seriously, thats the main reason we went!)

I was ready to call it a day, but I had a great thought. We decided to go outside and play ourselves into a good mood. The kids loved playing in the leaves from my Halloween Jack O Lantern bags. Michaela jumped and kicked and fell herself back into a happy child. And silly little Rafael crawled right into the middle of it all and enjoyed the heck out of it.

I'm still tired, I still need a glass of wine, but thankfully the kids were able to go down for naps happy, and I'm able to sit here and relax without having murderous thoughts toward my daughter. Salud!

Library Woes

2010-11-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

We were planning on meeting a friend for lunch today, but Rafael was super grumpy so I put him down for a nap. It was a really fast nap so I decided to load the kids up and run to the library real quick with the intention of calling to see if she was still at the restaurant when we were done. Our library trips usually only take about 10 minutes so it was totally possible.

Except while there, Michaela had a really really hard poop (I'm sure you needed to know that) and started screaming and crying in pain. Many of you who actually know Michaela can attest to the fact that she is a REALLY loud screamer. Yeah, imagine that in the middle of a quiet library.

God bless the amazing librarian who took pity on me as I struggled to make an escape while holding and comforting Michaela, pushing the double stroller with Rafael in it with one hand, and dragging along the full bag of library books we had just picked. She helped me into a small bathroom I've never noticed before in the children's section and I was able to get Michaela's diaper changed and calm her down.

Yeah, we decided to just call it a day and go home after that.

Halloween!

2010-11-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

I had an awesomely fun Halloween weekend! Date night on Friday, moms night out on Saturday, family Halloween party on Sunday morning, and family night and trick or treating at night. It was great!

Abby Cadabby and Elmo getting ready to go Trick or Treating. Michaela did great, saying Trick or Treat at all the right times and saying thank you after each person gave her a piece of candy. At first she wanted to hold her candy instead of putting it in her bucket, but she learned quickly. The only part she had a little trouble with was the one house that had scary music, strobe lights, and corpses! I tried to be upbeat as we walked up the driveway, but about halfway through she yelled "I'm scared!" and turned around. That's the first time I've ever heard her say that!

Michaela counting all her candy! We only went down one street so she didn't get much. This was all that was left after I took out all the gumballs, taffy, gum, and other dangerous candy.

She was so happy when I told her she could eat all of it! Which really wasn't much because she ended up not liking the Sour Patch Kids or the Nerds. So she ate a packet of M & M's, half of a Kit Kat, and then nursed a lollipop the rest of the night. She was a tiny bit upset when we took her lollipop away because she had been sucking on it for half an hour and it was bedtime, but she got over it. After I told a little white lie and said it dropped on the floor so now it was yucky and WOW wasn't Halloween fun?! Let's go to bed!

All in all, a successful Halloween!

Messy Monster

2010-10-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

My little guy has been mobile for a few weeks now, and though it's totally adorable, it's also a lot of work! For instance, he can make a perfectly clean room look like this in under five minutes!

He is so fast! I will literally turn around to do something for thirty seconds, turn back around and he is gone! Off to destroy something or get into the dogs water.

Speaking of which, he has encouraged my daughter to regress and start playing in the dogs water bowl with him. Something that we ~~beat out of her~~ taught her not to do over a year ago.

He finds tons of other ways to be messy too. Beside shoving food into his mouth as fast as his little hands can, this is his preferred method of eating.

He loves soups, stews, applesauce, yogurt, anything that is any sort of messy, but surprise surprise, he wants to eat it himself! And since he doesn't have enough manual dexterity to handle the spoon very well, this is how it usually goes down!

He is definitely keeping me on my toes these days!

Don't Judge

2010-10-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who writes the most amazing blog ever. She's a mom who tells the truth and doesn't pull any punches, and I absolutely adore her for it. Today she had a horrible, terrible, no-good, very bad day and managed to cope by putting makeup on her two little boys. So. smart. I was totally inspired by her "hey don't judge me" attitude, that I decided to post my own "don't judge me" moment.

Yup, that's right. That's my 10 month old sitting in front of a tv, eating fast food with his sister. Yeah, don't judge me. It was a crappy day. I'm my-throat-hurts-so-bad-I-can't-even-scream-at-my-children-and-I-just-want-to-lock-them-in-their-rooms-so-I-can-sleep sick. Philip was working late, and since I'm one of those moms who thinks she's too good to keep a frozen pizza or can of ravioli in her house, I drove to the nearest fast food joint that had something my toothless baby could eat. Mom of the year right here folks.

Butterfly Wings & Tutu's

2010-10-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

Michaela was invited to her friend's butterfly tea party themed birthday party and I just about died from cuteness overload. Seriously, the birthday girl's momma did a great job and the party was absolutely perfect!

They decorated and ate their own butterfly cookies.

The adorable tea table

Th birthday girl's baby sister got a little tutu action as well

Aren't these girls the cutest?

They loved their cups of tea and finger sandwiches.

But of course, they're two, so their attentions quickly moved on to the outdoor toys sitting enticingly nearby.

Michaela is jumping in this one, but doesn't it look like she's flying?

When it was cake time, Michaela decided to blow the candles out before the birthday girl did...

and then eat from the big cake instead of the tiny piece on a plate in front of her.

We'll have to work on that before her cousins birthday next weekend!

One Year

2010-10-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

One year and one day ago I went to visit my mom. The moment I walked in, I knew the moment was coming. She was losing her battle with lung cancer. She could hardly breathe and was hardly lucid. Not unkindly, after a very short visit she asked me to leave. She didn't want me to see her like that. It was the last time I saw her.

One year ago I sat at my dad's house, visiting. It was sort of late in the day for a visit, not to mention a Sunday and Philip should have been at home getting ready for school the next day. But he sensed that I needed to be around family because I knew what was coming. When my phone rang, I was already prepared. And yet I wasn't. Nothing can prepare you for the death of a parent. There is no feeling like knowing that I was never ever going to talk to her again.

Almost a year ago I sat in the church, numb and exhausted. I hadn't been able to cry the entire week. It was like my brain hadn't processed the fact that my mother was gone. Until that moment. As I saw my mom in the casket, and listened to the beautiful music coming from my friends in the choir, reality hit. I couldn't stop crying. I sat there surrounded by my sisters and we all wept together.

It's been a year and so much has changed. I have a son now who brings me happiness and joy. Michaela has grown one year older and is coming into her own as a little girl. I have wonderful mommy friends who fill my days (and many a fun night out!) with laughter and understanding.

And yet there are things that still exist exactly as they were on that day one year ago. Like the bag of fideo in my pantry, sitting unopened. It was one of my favorite dishes of my mom's and I had bought it a week before she died, intending to call her up for the recipe. For some reason, I always used to call her when I was elbow deep in the middle of cooking, looking to her for advice on how to salvage the dish. I can't cook that bag because I know I won't be able to call her for help if something goes wrong.

There's a picture that my mom gave me last summer. A beautiful black and white picture of a little girl looking to her future as a woman. I always loved it growing up and my mom gave it to me. I put it in my garage waiting for a chance to hang it up. And now I'm terrified to, because it will remind me of my mom every time I look at it. So it just sits in my garage gathering dust.

It's amazing how the littlest things can still set me off crying. You would think that after a year, the grieving process would be over. But there's not a day that goes by that I don't think of her. That I don't wish I could talk to her or share with her the news of my day. It pains me so much to know that she doesn't get to share in my joy of the kids. She would have loved them and spoiled them rotten. I would have rolled my eyes and complained to Philip, but it's what I would have wanted for them.

It's funny how after years of fighting and not getting along, I discovered how much I needed and loved her only to have her be taken away from me. I wish I could see her one more time, or know that she's looking down on me. I love you mom. I miss you.

That was close...

2010-09-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

This morning started off kind of shaky. I've got a couple of big projects on my plate and it feels like I haven't had a chance to just sit down and take a breath. On top of that I was running a bit late to a potluck this morning and my dish was taking forever to cook and my son was screaming and refusing to nap and my daughter couldn't be plied with Dora, she wanted SCHOOL NOW! and I didn't have time to set up a school project for her and I just wanted her to leave me alone so I could finish getting us all ready, andforgoodnesssake, PLEASE JUST WATCH TV!

Whew. I finally got us out of the door mostly on time (30 minutes late is mostly on time, right?), and we spent a lovely morning hanging out with friends. And then.

Then we got home, I walked in the door and realized that the back door was wide open. Wide open. I must have left it open after I brought the dogs in before we left in such a hurry. Forget the fact that we could have been robbed blind. We have two declawed indoor kitties that have been with us longer than our dogs and children. We love them. If they got out they would be torn to shreds by the neighborhood kitties.

I frantically started searching the house, knowing with a sinking feeling in my stomach that the cats were gone...the cats were gone...oh my god, my cats are gone! And then.

Then I found them, sleeping peacefully under my bed. Content and probably perfectly oblivious to the fact that the back door had been wide open for the past three hours. I cannot even describe the feeling of joy I had when I found them. All I can say is that someone above was looking out for my little kitties today!

Reading

2010-09-27T15:24:00.002-07:00

Tell me this isn't the most adorable thing on the entire planet!

Rainy Day

2010-09-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

It's been raining all day. So naturally we went outside to play. :)

Daddy, Get Your Shotgun...

2010-09-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

...because this won't be as adorable in 15 years when she's riding away on some boy's motorcycle!

We had friends over for dinner last night and we had a lovely time.

And we discovered that Michaela likes the younger men. :)

State Fair

2010-09-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

We went to our State Fair today and the kids had so much fun! They have this fun little farm area where the kids can pretend to harvest food. Michaela loved it!

She even got to rope a (fake) steer and ride a (fake) horse!

Then on the way to the Petting Zoo...

She spotted the REAL ponies and spent the next 10 minutes whining mercilessly. I don't usually give in to the demands of pint-size dictators, but then I started remembering when my parents used to let me ride the ponies at the fair and I couldn't resist. It was a good decision, Michaela loved it!

She was so happy and proud of herself! It was definitely the best part of her day!

Rafael kept himself entertained with a balloon...

and just hanging out in the stroller and people watching.

Michaela spent the rest of the morning playing around in the various kid areas. Like the "sand"box filled with dry corn kernels...

Making some art...

and playing with blocks, turtles, fossils and more!

The kids were tired out when we got home! Although when Rafael woke up from his nap, he rediscovered that awesome balloon.

Tumbling Queen

2010-09-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

This summer Michaela took a tumbling class and she was so cute! Here she is stretching with Daddy: She loves going through the tunnel!

She absolutely hates the balance beam. Oh well, maybe next time.

Here's a video of her rolling. Towards the end is a great hilarious bit of her dancing with her daddy.

We'll be taking another class this fall. She's taken them twice before so this will be her 4th class!

Botanic Gardens

2010-09-08T17:24:00.005-07:00

We had a really nice outing today with some of our friends. We went to the local Botanic Gardens and let the kids run around and explore!

When Will the Tantrum Barfing Stop?!?

2010-08-25T11:26:00.003-07:00

Today we had a "throw such a bad tantrum in the grocery store that we have to leave without groceries" moment. It was wonderful. Especially the part before we left the grocery store where people were actually stopping and pointing at us as they whispered to their shopping companions what a horrible child I had. Seriously, all that was missing was some popcorn and some lawn chairs.

It started because I had the nerve to unbuckle her from her carseat instead of letting her do it herself. Because I was in a hurry and because when she does it herself it takes her 10 minutes and for-the-love-of-God, just let me take it off for you already! So she was already kicking and screaming before we walked into the store. And I made the rookie mistake of thinking "oh, she'll calm down, it will be fine". It was not fine.

And then to top it off, once we got back to the car after our wonderful mid-shopping tantrum, it just got worse as she started screaming "I wanna go back inside!!!!! Back inside!!!!!!!" As I wrestled her writhing, kicking, screaming body into her carseat, she got so bad that she threw up all over herself.

At this point I gave the day up for lost. On the way home I stopped quickly at a friends house to tell her that we wouldn't be making it to our regularly planned "put the kids to nap in a separate room and surrender ourselves to 3 trashy hours of Kardashians" date that was in half an hour. She saw how upset I was so being the good friend she is, she gave me a half a loaf of freshly baked banana chocolate chip bread to take home. Which I promptly ate in it's entirety during the 2 minute drive home. Emotional eating at it's best, folks.

My only comfort (other than that glorious bread!) is that I get to hang out with my girlfriends this evening at a pedi party. Sangria here I come!

Tot School

2010-08-22T16:45:00.002-07:00

I'll be starting my Tot School posts at my new blog tomorrow if you're interested in following along. :)

The Boy

2010-08-03T13:39:00.003-07:00

He's been sitting on his own for about a month.

He started eating baby food and less than a month later he promptly decided that he was above being spoon fed. As in every time I bring a babyfood filled spoon within a five foot radius of his mouth he screams bloody murder. So I gave in and he's happily learning how to stuff soft foods into his own mouth.

He's stubborn. (Wonder where he got that from?) He knows what he want and he knows how to get it. (Loving eyes and adorable smiles in case you're wondering. Or screaming. Either way he has us wrapped around his little finger).

He's a master sleeper. About a week before we went to San Antonio we realized that he had to be sleeping on his own. The bed we would be staying on at Philip's mom's house was a full and there was no way all three of us could fit on it. So we put him in his own room and *gasp* let him cry it out. I know, I know, I'm a horrible mommy. The longest he's ever cried was 30 minutes and now a few weeks later he never cries at all. I figured he's 8 months old. He doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night anymore, and the better rested he is at night the happier he'll be. And he is.

The quiet baby moments are swiftly passing by. He wants to be playing and getting into things, not snuggling. But those magical times when he's sleepy or nursing or just in a quiet mood, I hold him close and try to breathe in every moment of baby bliss while I still can.

I Love...Lamp?

2010-07-11T20:47:00.003-07:00

Today as my dear child was running around naked in the front room while I made dinner I heard her say "I love you books!".

That's when her daddy found her strapping some of her books into the double stroller like they were her babies.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the sad nerdy little tree.

*20 points if you can tell me what movie the title comes from. :)

When Two Arms Just Aren't Enough

2010-07-09T06:26:00.003-07:00

Last night I was woken up in the middle of the night by Philip searching around the room for the gripe water. Michaela was awake and she was screaming uncontrollably over some nightmare she had. Unintentionally, Philip's searching and Michaela's screams had woken Rafael up too so he was also crying. I started searching around for the gripe water also, but for the life of me could not find it anywhere. On one of my umpteenth trips around the house to search, Michaela saw or heard me and called out for me to hold her. I stood there in the hallway looking at my baby girl who was so upset, and even though Philip was hugging her and trying to comfort her, in that moment she wanted me. Across the hallway Rafael was screaming, angry that he had been woken up and just wanting some comfort to get back to sleep.

What do you do when you have two children that need you at the same time? It is probably one of the hardest things to deal with when you have two children. I can only imagine what a mom with 3 or more little ones feels like.

I realized that Michaela needed me just a little bit more at that moment so I picked her up and snuggled her until her sobbing became more even and she was able to calm down a little bit. Philip walked Rafael around and around the house until he calmed down and for a moment the house was quiet. After a while Michaela asked for "Daddy hold you" so I switched off with Philip and he was able to get her back to sleep while I got Rafael back to sleep.

I'm so thankful I have such a loving husband who knows how to be tender and comforting to his children, because right now my two arms just aren't enough, and probably never will be.

Chicago Trip - Part 3

2010-06-17T13:18:00.004-07:00

We drove back to Chicago the next morning and dropped Philip's cousin off at the airport. Our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we ate lunch and then played at a little park until it was.

We tried to go to a little frozen custard place in Lincoln Park but the traffic was so bad and there was no parking at all, so we ended up just eating at McDonalds and heading back to the hotel. Luckily we saw another frozen custard place on the way back, so we ate there and then relaxed for the rest of the night.

The next morning we packed up and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Again, the traffic was really bad, it started raining, and we had to make a 2:30pm flight home anyway, so we didn't get to see all that we wanted, but it was still nice.

The flight home was horrible. We ran out of Michaela's diapers and didn't have room to pack a newly purchased package so we tried to use up the last of her swim diapers instead. Apparently swim diapers don't hold as much as regular diapers.

So she peed out of her swim diaper at the airport and we had already checked our luggage so she was running around pants-less. I was THAT mother. Then she decided to throw a tantrum right before we got on the plane, about the same time Rafael decided he was hungry. So we boarded the airplane with 2 screaming children, trying really hard to ignore the glares from the flight attendants and other passengers. Rafael calmed down as soon as we sat down and I could feed him. 2 hours into the 4 hour flight, Michaela finally calmed down a bit and was able to play with some toys the lovely flight attendants had plied her with.

We were so glad to finally get home and relax. I'll tell you though, that experience is not something I would wish on my greatest enemy! I think we'll stick to driving from now on!

Chicago Trip - Part 2

2010-06-17T12:10:00.004-07:00

After we left the Children's Museum, we picked up Philip's cousin from the airport and drove down to Southbend. We had been planning to meet up with a good friend who lives in Michigan for dinner after we dropped off Philip's cousin and let the kids take a quick nap at our bed and breakfast.

Unfortunately the traffic was really bad and we didn't count on there being a difference in time zones. We didn't get a chance to get back to the B&B for naps, but we were still able to get together with our friend, the woman who had been campus minister when we were in college. She was like a second mother to me and I was so glad we were able to meet up.Then we drove to our B&B, which was absolutely amazing! We had to drive through a long winding road in the forest to get to it. I felt like we were driving to the Cullen's house.It was basically a little apartment over a family's garage. It was so great, and so private as opposed to a hotel.They had kids too, so they had a little jungle gym that Michaela took full advantage of.The next day we just relaxed and went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Michaela screamed through most of the rehearsal, so I was a little worried about whether or not she actually make it down the aisle for the wedding. I ended up walking with her, but she did great.

As soon as she got down the aisle I whisked her to a quiet area right outside the entrance and bribed the quietness out of her with toys and books. She wasn't really into taking formal pictures afterward but she did wander over with a cookie in hand and plopped herself down right next to the bride and groom. I'm sure those were some cute pics.

Philip with his mom & cousin, who is the brides brother and is becoming a priest.

At the reception.

My handsome man with his Grandma.

The flower girl & ring bearer, having fun now that they are out of their fancy clothes. By the way, Michaela had been pulling at her dress the whole day and I just thought she was uncomfortable. Turns out she had a needle sewn inside the lining that was stabbing her the whole time! Yeah, we'll be getting a refund.

Philip is showing them the way to escape.

Chicago Trip - Part 1

2010-06-17T06:25:00.007-07:00

Philip's cousin got married this past weekend in South Bend Indiana and had asked Michaela to be her flower girl. So this past Wednesday we loaded the kids into the van and headed out, knowing a 4 day road trip would be better than several hours on a plane with screaming children. Oh wait, no, we weren't that smart.

Actually, the flight over was fine. Other than me losing the folder with our passports, the kids birth certificates and our boarding passes. Yeah. Thankfully a very kind TSA agent found them and had Southwest page us. After that, things went smoothly. Michaela was kept occupied with various toys, books, and snacks, and Rafael slept most of the time. Michaela had a little bit of a meltdown when we landed, but that was understandable considering she had been up since 4:30am.

We rented a van and drove to our hotel in downtown Chicago. It was right on the river and so beautiful! After the kids took a little nap we headed out for a walk downtown and ended up at a huge public fountain in Millenium Park. Michaela had such a blast running around and getting soaked.

After we went back to the hotel to dry her off, we returned for dinner at a restaurant in the park.

This little bird had built a nest right over the entrance to the restaurant and attacked the back of my head right after I took this picture.

Then we visited the "bean," which was kind of cool.

Philip's mom flew in late that evening and the next morning we went to the Children's Museum on Navy Pier. The exhibits were amazing and we could have easily spent the rest of the day there if we hadn't of had to drive down to South Bend.

Breakfast Time

2010-05-20T12:50:00.002-07:00

I asked Michaela if she had finished her breakfast and she told me that her babies were eating the rest. Apparently this teeny tiny gorilla and the number 2 are her babies. The next morning she had her monkeys join her for breakfast. She even gave them plates with their own food.

I love how her little mind works.

Perspective

2010-05-15T13:08:00.003-07:00

Sometimes it's really easy to get really down on my life and wish we had more. I see the families with nicer houses, nicer cars, money to go out and do amazing things with. I look around and think of the improvements I would make to our house and to our life if we had a little bit more money. I get jealous of the couples without children or with older children who can go out, go on vacation, go to the bathroom alone or take longer than a 5 minute shower while the baby is screaming in the background for goodness sake!

But then I realize.

We have a home that is ours. In a nice neighborhood, with enough room for our growing family. We are not upside down on our payments. We are not in any risk of losing it.

We have two vehicles that are ours free and clear. They are not the top of the line, but they are ours. We don't have to worry about monthly payments or unnecessary credit.

We have no outstanding debt and while it would be nice to have a bit more money, we have enough to create a safe little "just in case" nest egg for ourselves.

We have food in our stomaches, clothes on our backs, and a faith in God that will get us through anything.

We have two gorgeous kids who are normal, healthy and happy. They make my heart so full of love that sometimes it feels like it will burst.

And Philip and I. We have each other. We're a team in this marriage and a team in raising our children. We are the steady and safe foundation for our little family. Watching how hard Philip works to provide for us, and how loving he is towards me and the kids, I know just how lucky and blessed I am.

I've realized that if I spend my entire life thinking about what could be, or what it would be nice to have, I'll waste all the time I could have spent enjoying what is.

This is what is.

And it's perfect.

Food Preferences

2010-05-12T07:08:00.002-07:00

Rafael has been reaching for and drooling over my food every time I hold him while I'm eating, so I decided to give him some real food. If you can consider rice cereal real food. He was not at all pleased. Actually, he was pretty pissed.

I guess he prefers to forage for food on his own

Oh, hi there!

What? Have you ever tried it?

He'll be crawling soon!

2010-05-12T06:58:00.002-07:00

Sometimes when he's trying to get something he'll wiggle his little butt back and forth and occasionally will manage to scoot forward a tiny bit. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll get there before his sister did, who didn't start crawling until 10 months and who screamed like a banshee whenever the horrors of tummy time were forced upon her!

She is very very sneaky...

2010-05-07T12:48:00.002-07:00

Michaela isn't much of a dinner eater, but it's mostly because she eats so much the rest of the day. Usually if she does eat dinner, it's because it's a type of food she really really enjoys. So when I left her with a full plate the other night to go nurse the baby and came back to an empty plate, I was super glad that she liked my dinner.

Ok, to be honest I may have been completely disbelieving. I checked the usual culprits. There was no food in the trash can or on the floor. The dogs were outside, so she couldn't have given it to them. She hadn't thrown her full plate of food in the sink.

Allright, cool, I guess she really DID like my meal!

Until I found this the next day.

Clever girl.

Happy Little Man

2010-04-19T13:50:00.002-07:00

Rafael is almost 5 months old, and his personality has really started to shine through. He's always been a happy little baby, but it so much more apparent now that he is awake and alert most of the time. I hope to get a video of him laughing soon, because it's one of the greatest sounds in the world!

Silly puppy, crates are for kids!

2010-04-15T13:16:00.002-07:00

I've been looking for an alternative to the packnplay to take with us when we go to Chicago in June. Something that is a little lighter, yet still keeps Michaela contained so that she can't get up and run around the hotel room instead of sleeping. I've looked at lighter mini pack n plays, small tents, and I found this cool little pop up tent/bed: It's really cool, but this is pretty much the same thing & even cheaper:

Know what it is? Basically a dog crate in tent form. Is it bad to put my kid to sleep in a dog crate?

Easter

2010-04-08T12:33:00.004-07:00

We had a really great Easter this year. Michaela was actually an angel at church, which is quite rare these days. After Mass, we wen to my sister's house for a BBQ with the whole family.

We even color coded ourselves: Yellow = Girls & Blue = Boys

After Michaela started getting messy in the backyard, we changed her & gave the kids the little easter baskets I made them.

Then we had a little egg hunt, which was hilarious because my nephew (who's Michaela's age) had no idea what to do, Michaela kept stopping to open her eggs, and my niece zoomed around grabbing up the eggs.

They were all proud of their loot afterwards.

Cousin Fun

2010-04-08T12:06:00.005-07:00

A couple weekends ago we spent a fun day hanging out with my family at my sisters house.

Rafael loves his Grandma:

Hiding with Grandpa:

Then I babysat my niece and nephew later that week. I made a fort out of the kitchen table, which the kids loved!

When my sister got home she decided to play dress-up with Michaela and put make-up all over my TWO YEAR OLD's face. Oy.

Michaela loves her cousin time!

This and That

2010-03-25T06:35:00.003-07:00

In case you haven't heard, 80's fashion is totally back in style. Here's Michaela rocking the tunic/leggings look (of course with some boots with the fur to accesorize!):

Isn't that face precious? She just needs a sideways ponytail and she'll be all set! My friend Amy let me borrow a cookbook for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. It's really helping me get more creative with the snacks and meals I'm feeding Michaela:

Meanwhile Rafael has been a smiling little cutie. Here he is charming the dogs (see how submissive Loki is to him? And Kira is a little mommy, constantly trying to clean him!):

And here Rafael is trying to fight the Stegosaurus. He almost rolled over trying to do this!

My Little Handywoman

2010-03-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

My sister is so sweet. Knowing how desperately I wanted a kitchen for Michaela's birthday, she bought an adorable little kitchen-in-a-box for Michaela. Unfortunately, I hadn't yet told her about the one I found and bought! I decided to exchange the kitchen she got for the exact same thing, just for the workshop-in-a-box version. Michaela loves it! For the last few days she's been hammering and screwing away. I love how portable this toy is, and that it's completely self-contained so that I can have her put it all away in the box and put it away when she's done. :)

Hidey Hole

2010-03-23T05:05:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while I'll find Michaela hiding and playing quietly in some corner or alcove somewhere. Here's her most recent hidey hole. This girl brings so much color to my day!

Spring Break

2010-03-22T06:53:00.006-07:00

The great thing about Philip being a teacher is that we get him all to ourselves during the school breaks. We had such a great time with him this week. Monday and Tuesday we took advantage of his being home to get some serious spring cleaning done.

Wednesday we went to the zoo and met up with our good friends the Johnstons.

Thursday we did some more cleaning and hanging out, then that evening we went out to dinner on the fly. We went to a local vietnamese restaurant (which Michaela loved!) and then on the way home decided to stop by the library for awhile. We had a great time reading and checking out a few fun books.

Friday we went to see Walking with Dinosaurs - which was one of Michaela's birthday presents. It was such a great show, and both kids did amazing. Rafael slept through most of it and Michaela was completely amazed with the huge dinosaurs.

Saturday, in true New Mexico spring break fashion, we got a huge dumping of snow. We took the kids outside and had a blast playing with it before it started melting. (Snow doesn't stick around long here. Usually if it snows overnight, it melts by that afternoon.)

We are going to miss having Philip around!

Michaela's Birthday

2010-03-15T17:07:00.007-07:00

Things have been so crazy, I haven't had a chance to write about Michaela's birthday almost twoo weeks ago! Michaela woke up to find her birthday present waiting for her in the living room: a play kitchen! ($15 at a consignment store!)

Then she got to eat "cake" for breakfast! (No, she is not about to blow out those lit candles, she is about to stuff them in her mouth! I had to grab them out of her hand before she burned her mouth. Yikes, I guess we should have practiced.)

We went to the zoo after breakfast. It was such beautiful weather and she had such a great time. I think this will be a new birthday tradition for us!

That weekend we had her birthday party. It was butterfly themed, so in addition to fruit, veggies, and chips we had butterfly shaped chex mix snacks, and butterfly cupcakes.

The party was at the park. It was a teeny bit windy, but overall, we had a lot of fun. We had invited family, family friends and lots of mine and Michaela's good friends from the MOMS Club so there was a great turnout!

Michaela decided she'd rather play on the playground than open her gifts so she quietly sneaked away while I opened them for her.

She had fun though, and loved all her new toys once we got home!

Why It's Worth It...

2010-03-11T06:46:00.002-07:00

So yesterday was crap. I had to vent, and I'm really glad I did. It kept getting worse after I wrote my post yesterday and culminated in Michaela throwing a tantrum at the door of the fridge yelling "snack" over and over again while I was trying to nurse Rafael. I finally finished, put him down (he promptly started screaming) and went to get her a snack from the fridge, when a box full of things that I had been trying to keep out of her by putting on top of the fridge fell down on my head. I couldn't help it, I just sat down and started crying.

Something amazing happened. My little girl stopped throwing her tantrum and came over to me, giving me a huge hug and saying "mommy crying?" Then she (no joke!) rocked me back and forth and patted my back. When I finished I told her I was sorry for crying in front of her and she wiped my nose.

I wish I could say she was perfect for the rest of the night, but she's a two year old, of course she wasn't. I did realize in that moment what I was so upset about. I've been missing my mom so much lately. I just want to call her and tell her what a crappy time I'm having and I know she would say exactly what I need to hear to make me feel better. She used to give these awkwardly long hugs where you would be thinking "ok mom, let go!" but right now I want one of those hugs more than anything. Last night my daughter channeled her. She gave me the love and comfort I've been missing.

I learned last night that it's ok to cry. And that sometimes the mother/daughter roles are reversed and that's good for both of you. Michaela showed me how big her heart is and I couldn't be prouder.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-10T16:37:00.002-07:00

I try really really hard to be positive and not be Debbie Downer, but sometimes things suck and you just gotta vent! Everything is going wrong today.

I was making a pot roast in the crockpot for dinner which had to be cooked on low for 8 hours, but I forgot until 12:30, so I decided to put it on high for 4 hours (makes sense right?) Wrong. It cooked in less than 2 hours, which I didn't realize so by the time I checked on it, it was allready the consistency of leather. Yum.

I am trying to cry it out with Rafael. I haven't done nightime yet, but I've been doing naps. So far we've had tons of crying, barely any sleep, and a nervous frazzled mom who is going through a million breastpads a day because of the havoc the crying is wreaking on my let down reflex. Top it off with the fact that I am doing the worst possible thing by picking him up after 30 minutes because I just can't handle it anymore!

Michaela has a really nasty diaper rash. It's so nasty that I'm wondering if it's some sort of allergic reaction. The only difference in her diet has been pineapple. The rash looks as if someone poured acid on her, which is exactly how my friend Morgan described the rash her daughter got when they found out she was allergic to strawberries and other red foods.

My house will never be clean. Ever. Trust me, this is not hyperbole. Every time I feel like I'm catching up, something happens. I nurse Rafael and somehow Michaela manages to grab everything in her reach and throw it all around the floor. I was trying to reorganize Rafaels clothes because he is getting into a new size (0-3 month, yeah!), but of course I didn't have time to finish, so all my piles have now become strewn all around his room and I can barely even walk in there. This happens every time I try to clean something. I can't ask Philip for help because he works such long days and is also working on his PhD. By the time he gets home, he is exhausted, and usually goes straight to our room to work. I feel like a single mom.

Michaela has not had a tantrum today (yay!), but that is becoming really rare these days. The littlest thing will set her off and she will melt into a pool of screaming, kicking incoherent monster. I feel like I am constantly walking on eggshells to keep her happy.

I have been spending my last few nursing sessions searching the internet for a 2 year old toddler preschool class so that I can just have a few hours a week to get things done. Guess what? They DO exist! Guess what else? They are more expensive than we would ever be able to afford on a teachers salary.

I'm starting to feel like I'm just not cut out for being a stay at home mom. I've always been good at my jobs, always been a workplace winner, but I am not doing a good job with this one. I keep wanting to break down in tears. I love my babies, and I love being able to spend time with them and watch them grow up. I just wish I could go to sleep and wake up in a few years with perfect well behaved children who can do things for themselves. That's understandable right?

Oh My God, When Will The Tantrums Stop!

2010-03-04T13:36:00.002-07:00

We went to our good friend Amy's today to do some crafty stuff. Michaela had a super meltdown while we were there, but calmed down and we had a good morning. Until we left. As we were getting ready to leave, she started up again. I managed to get her in her carseat while she was still screaming and thrashing around, but then as we were driving away she was crying so hard that she gagged and threw up. Then she started crying again and gagged and threw up again. Then a third time, this time all of her lunch came up too.

We got home and I took Rafael inside (he was screaming too because he hates the sound of Michaela's cries), then went and got Michaela and carried her into the bathroom. I closed the door and left her in there while I went to close the garage door, because I didn't want her to get throwup everywhere.

When I came back inside, I went to open the door and I couldn't. It. Was. Locked. Oh boy. Luckily I was able to open it and get to Michaela who was thrashing around on the floor and still screaming. However, now she had a huge angry welt on her head. Oy.

I stripped us both down, got a bath ready and tried to get the vomit off her as best I could without drowning her as she continued screaming and throwing herself around. I managed to get her cleaned, dried off and dressed in new clothes and then held her for 45 minutes until she finally calmed down. I put her down for her nap and then spent the next 30 minutes calming down Rafael who had been screaming the whole time.

Now he's asleep and I have to go scrub down the carseat, wash the vomit off her clothes, the carpet, the walls, and the bathroom.

I don't even have words for what I'm feeling right now.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2010-03-03T07:56:00.002-07:00

I can't believe how much can change in one year. One year ago you were still our little baby. You could barely crawl, you couldn't walk, you couldn't talk, you barely had any hair and you rarely graced us with a smile! Now you're a a real kid, running around, climbing on furniture, talking up a storm, and generally charming the pants off people with your cute little pigtails and chipmunk smile. You have real opinions and you can articulate what you want (and oh boy can you articulate when you don't get what you want!). You're becoming such a good big sister too. You let me know when Rafael is crying. You remind me to change his diaper every time I change yours. And now you've started kissing him good night and good morning.

And the changes in me! Parenting a toddler is soooo different than parenting a baby. You've helped me grow from the hovering paranoid mom who wouldn't even let her daughter eat a cupcake on her first birthday (the sugar! Oh the horror!) into a relaxed laid back mommy who tries to roll with the punches. Yesterday morning I went into your room when you woke up and you gave me a huuuuge smile, saying in your sweet little voice "Hi mama!". As my heart melted, I knew then that even though we've had some bumps along the road, as long as I keep showing you how much I love you, you're gonna be ok. I'm so excited to see where the next year takes us!

Just Like Mommy

2010-03-01T14:40:00.001-07:00

Michaela finally figured out how to work the baby doll sling that some of our friends gave her for Christmas. She hasn't used it with her dolls yet, but a puppy is just as good right? By the way, this is also the dog that she tried putting a diaper on...

Too smart for her own good...

2010-02-20T15:02:00.003-07:00

Michaela has figured out that if she moves her little chair right next to the counter, she can reach everything! Yeah! Can you see how excited I am for her?!? *Nervous shuddering* This is me attempting to keep her away from my dinner ingredients by giving her a bowl full of beans to play with. Which worked...until I realized she was trying to eat the beans...

And dropping them all into the cabinet...

Oh my goodness, I'm not sure I'll survive this stage!

It wasn't me!

2010-02-19T20:18:00.003-07:00

I was busy making dinner today when I realized it was eerily quiet. If you have a toddler, you know that is usually a bad sign. I turned around and found Michaela sitting on the floor with an open container of ground cinnamon. Not only had she dumped out half the container on her clothes and on the floor, she was also attempting to eat it.

Michaela! What did you do? What's that, what are you trying to tell me? The baby did it?

Nice try kiddo, nice try...

What We've Been Up To...

2010-02-14T12:41:00.008-07:00

Michaela got to hang out with her new bestie this week. They are about a month apart and get along great! They used to be frenemies but I think they've finally realized that they really like each other. They also went to Burger King and played on the structure together (ohmygod my baby is old enough to play on those things!) but I didn't get any pictures.

I got the chance co-plan the Valentines Party for my MOMS Club this year. The kids would have been content just playing with the balloons but we had lots of fun activities planned. They got to decorate their little favor bags with crayons and foam sticker hearts.

We had a Heart Hunt where they ran around grabbing paper hearts which they then exchanged for toys and candy.We got to decorate sugar cookies with colored icing, sprinkles and mini m&m's.

Michaela with her BFF again. :) Rafael hanging out with daddy. Family picture. It was the end of the party and they were both a little tired and cranky. Later we went to the circus! My dad and stepmom bought the tickets for Michaela's birthday gift and she loved it! I'm not sure if she liked the tigers or dancing dogs better, but the parts with animals were definitely her favorites. She also got to ride a pony at intermission with the help of her grandpa. We didn't get to stay for the second half because it was already 9:30pm and she was fading fast, but it was still so much fun.

It's a Wonderful Life

2010-02-09T16:44:00.002-07:00

Shhh, come real close so I can tell you a little secret...being a mom is pretty hard. I know, shocking right? In our average work day, we deal with bosses who are not only critical and demanding but who are also constantly undervaluing and under-appreciating us. We rarely get bathroom or lunch breaks and don't get evenings or weekends off either. Some days are so exhausting, both physically and emotionally, that they bring us to tears and make us long for our carefree child-free days of being in the workplace or on the college campus.

Yesterday was one of those days. Michaela didn't take much of a nap and Rafael was a little clingy after getting his shots. As I sat on the floor with Rafael pressed up against one shoulder, rocking Michaela back and forth to calm her from a huge meltdown, I had an odd thought running through my head: God, I love my children so much! Even though it was the low point of our day, I also felt such an overwhelming love for my kids and such pride in my ability to relax them and show them how much they are cared for.

Our job is hard, but isn't every job? If the alternative is working an easy 9-5 and going home to an empty lonely life, I wouldn't want to trade. Besides, I get some truly amazing benefits. I get a toddler running up to me and planting a wet kiss on my lips. I get to nuzzle the soft downy head of my newborn as I rock him to sleep. I get to share my day every evening with a husband who works hard to enable me to stay home with our kids, and who loves and appreciates me. Despite the hard work, it really is a wonderful life.

Time-Saving (and Daddy proof!) Clothes Packages

2010-02-05T12:29:00.003-07:00

When Rafael was born, Philip started being the primary caretaker of Michaela whenever he is home. After a few days of him asking me what she should wear, and where everything was located in her closet, I started putting together clothes packets for him. On laundry day, I take a gallon size Ziploc and put in a matching shirt, pair of pants, and pair of socks. Then I put all the bags into a $1 hamper in her closet. It is such a time saver in the hectic mornings just to pull out a packet and get her ready. It also is so much easier for Philip to get her ready, and everything is guaranteed to match! If you have a kiddo that likes to pick out their own clothes, they can help you put together the packets, or they could choose which packet to wear that day.

It seems like such a bad idea...

2010-02-05T12:22:00.003-07:00

and it's probably really unsafe too. But perching the carseat on top of my non-compatible baby swing at top speed as soon as I get home from wherever I was, really gives me some needed time to get Michaela down for a nap, or put the groceries away, or (gasp!) go to the bathroom. And he really doesn't seem to mind either.

My New Babysitter

2010-01-31T08:19:00.005-07:00

Have you ever had a paint with water book? My mom used to buy them for me all the time when I was little and I really really enjoyed them. I was looking for a mess-free craft that I could give Michaela to work on while nursing Rafael and so I started looking around for these. I remember them being EVERYWHERE as a little girl, but nowadays they are nowhere to be found. I finally scored at Target last week and bought a few of them for Michaela.

We spent a good 30 minutes playing together with them. I showed her how to dip her brush into the water, how to apply it to the page, how to be careful not to spill the water, and how to clean up the water if she did spill. I really enjoyed spending this time with her. But then Rafael had to nurse, so I left her playing with it by herself. It was perfect! She didn't make any messes (and even if she had, water is no problem to clean up!), and I kid you not, this kept her occupied for several hours. Oh she'd go play with something else for awhile, but she kept coming back to it. I think this is a new favorite in our house!

Good Intentions...

2010-01-29T07:19:00.002-07:00

Yesterday at a MOMS Club meeting, a friend who is moving on Sunday was talking about how they are living out of boxes and off of pizza. I had a huge container full of chili left over from earlier in the week so I offered to bring it over for their dinner. I know, I'm so sweet right? Well here's how the conversation in my head went when it got to be dinner time:

"I think I'll put the chili in the crockpot to warm it up since their pans are probably already packed."

"Wow, I'm such a thoughtful person, etc, etc (other self righteous mumblings...)"

*Takes the container of chili from the fridge, opens it and looks inside*

"WTF!"

"Where did all the chili go! There's only half a container left! Nobody else in this house loved it, so where did it go?!?!"

"Ok, breathe. Think Andrea, think! Is this enough? Michaela wouldn't eat much, but they have three boys and I hear rumors that boys eat their weight in food, so this is definitely not enough!"

"Ok, lets take a look in the pantry and see if there's any more beans to bulk this up!"

"Nope. Oh look, a can of Hormel chili! Perfect!"

*Dumps it in*

"Hmmm. That doesn't look right. I'll mix it in really well and hopefully they'll never notice."

"Well, that's better, but I'm still not sure it's enough. I'll make some cornbread too."

*Rifles through pantry for a bit*

"Seriously, no cornmeal?!? Ok, corn tortillas? No. Cornstarch? No. Cornbread dressing? N...wait, I remember reading something online around Thanksgiving time about stuffing muffins, I can make those!"

"Shoot, I don't have time to search for that recipe online, who knows how much longer Rafael will be content in that swing?! Ok, how hard can it be?"

*Makes stuffing on stovetop. Puts finished stuffing in muffin pan. Bakes for 15 minutes.*

"Well, it's stuffing in the shape of a muffin, so I guess that works. Allright, I've got half a pot of chili and 7 stuffing 'muffins'. Is it enough? Aw, screw it, I'll take them a pizza from my freezer too and hope they learned their lesson about accepting food from neurotic mom friends!!!!"

If you're reading this, I'm really really sorry for the crappy dinner! Be safe while you're moving! We all love you and are going to miss you so much!

One fell off and bumped her head...

2010-01-27T07:39:00.002-07:00

My little monkey has a new habit of jumping on furniture.

Maybe I need to re-read her the story of the Ten Little Monkeys. :)

Mommy Guilt

2010-01-26T14:14:00.002-07:00

I don't know how it happens, but mommy guilt always seems to interrupt my day and make me feel like an inadequate mother.

Like yesterday when I took Rafael for his wellcheck and found out he had a sinus infection. At the doctor last month, the doctor told me his stuffy nose was due to remaining amniotic fluid in his system, so I never really worried about it. At what point did it become a sinus infection and why didn't I notice the change? How long has my little guy been sick?

This morning I was nursing Rafael and Michaela was playing nearby when she came up to us and asked to be picked up. Usually I'll pick her up and snuggle, but since Rafael hasn't been feeling well he's been really restless while eating, so I was trying really hard to concentrate on getting some food in him. Michaela was NOT happy that I wasn't paying attention to her and decided to throw herself down on the ground in a tantrum. Later, I managed to get Rafael down for a nap so I ignored the fact that my house is in serious need of some cleaning and sat down to read some books with her.

Sometimes I think we were absolutely crazy to have kids this close in age, but I can't imagine my life without either of them in it. I love them both so much and although I know it's completely unrealistic, I want to always be there for both of them all the time. How do you deal with mommy guilt and knowing that some things are going to slip through the cracks?

Michaela's "Babies"

2010-01-26T12:48:00.002-07:00

Michaela was fairly indifferent to her baby dolls before Rafael came along. Then all of a sudden she became a little mommy. She is always feeding them, wrapping them in blankets to put them to sleep, and carrying them around with her everywhere. Everytime I go to put Rafael down somewhere, one of her babies is already there.

What a little sponge!

Shopping Superwoman

2010-01-20T13:31:00.002-07:00

There's nothing like completing an uneventful shopping trip with two kids under 2 in under 30 minutes to make you feel like Superwoman. So since I am such an amazing domestic diva, here are some tips on how you too can have a melt-down free trip to the grocery store.

1. Stuff your children like a pinata before you go to the store so that they have absolutely no reason to beg for food. We try to go right after breakfast and I nurse Rafael immediately before we leave so that their tummies are full and happy. I used to take graham crackers to the store but since Michaela's tummy is a bottomless pit when it comes to anything with carbs, we would inevitably run out and she would scream "more, more, more". So now, no food in the store. Period.

2. Keep them locked up as long as you can. I have never ever let Michaela walk freely in any store that has a cart. She sits in the front of the cart and is perfectly content because she knows nothing about the knocking displays over, running away from me possibilities that come with being free. She will stay sitting in the cart until she is too big for it to contain her, which, with her rate of growth may be never. I carry Rafael in the sling and will do so as long as my back can handle it.

3. Be prepared. I make a grocery list before I leave and have it completely categorized in the order in which I walk through the store so that nothing gets forgotten. I also put everything I need (diaper bag, cup of coffee, etc.) into the car before I nurse Rafael so that I don't spend twenty minutes running back in and out of the house for the various items I forgot.

That last one is a biggie. Otherwise you may end up driving all the way to the grocery store before realizing that you left your credit card at home and your entire trip was in vain. Only your credit card was really in the pocket of your jacket in the trunk, which you only find out after searching the entire house after you get home. So really, you did have your credit card and could have bought groceries after all. Not that that's ever happened* to me or anything.

*Yesterday.

101 in 1001

2010-01-19T08:51:00.002-07:00

Have you ever heard of the 101 in 1001 project? I just discovered this amazing idea a few weeks ago and decided I have to try it. I am so horrible with following through on things that I want to do, but I think keeping this list will really help keep me accountable.

Here's the skinny: You have 1001 days to accomplish 101 goals. The goals have to be specific, from many areas of your life, realistic, measurable, and self-stretching. The question I kept asking myself as I added goals was "Will this make you happier in the long run?" My start date is February 1st and I'll try to update everyone periodicallyon how I'm doing. If any of you start a list, I'd love to hear about it!

I have:
1001 days
143 weeks
33 months
2.75 years

and will end on:
Sunday, October 28, 2012

Here are my goals:

Personal
1. Get a professional massage
2. Write a funeral service for self (I know this seems morbid, but what a help it would be for family if anything ever happened to me!)
3. Get a very short haircut
4. Get sized and invest in very good (supportive) bras

Technology
5. Download music for a travel CD
6. Don’t use any technology (computer/tv/radio) 1 day a week (0/143)
7. Watch TV only 5 hours a week while kids are awake for 6 months (0/6) (0/33)
8. Scan and put all important documents/photos/etc on dvd or usb drive
9. Transfer all important things off gray laptop
10. Don’t watch soaps for a month and use time for more productive things (0/30)

Family
11. Talk to Ivana about dad
12. Try to do a family game night once a month (0/33)
13. Throw Philip a kick ass 30th bday party

Romantic
14. Go away for a weekend on our own.
15. Date night at least every other month (0/17)
16. Have sex at least 3 times a month (0/99) - don't laugh if you have a fabulous 3 times a night sex life. Try having two back to back kids and sleep schedules that don't line up and THEN tell me how often you have sex. If it's still 3 times a night...well...how nice.
17. Read 5 Love Languages
18. Make Philip a boudoir calendar

Travel & Entertainment
19. Go on a cruise
20. Go to a movie in the theater - haven't been to one in THREE years!
21. Ride the tram to the top of Sandia
22. Watch all seasons of Lost
23. Watch all seasons of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman - shut up, I love them but they are an hour each so they take forever!

Food
24. Make homemade sandwich bread
25. Preserve fruit
26. Make a pie crust from scratch
27. Make chili
28. Make tamales
29. Perfect a malt recipe
30. Make a delicious dish with red chile and chocolate
31. Create a signature cocktail
32. Try 101 new recipes (0/101)

Crafty
33. Make a scrapbook for each year of Michaela’s life
34. Make a scrapbook for each year of Rafael’s life
35. Make wedding scrapbook
36. Copy pics from moms picture albums & give to girls
37. Make & sell items in a craft fair
38. Make iron pad
39. Make Michaela kitchen
40. Turn old cards into new ones
41. Print all craft/recipes
42. Organize all craft/recipes
43. Make a quiet/fine motor skills book
44. Make 101 different things (0/101)

Holidays
45. Make Advent calendar
46. Make every gift that I give for Christmas

Health
47. Get down to 145 and keep weight 5lb within that for at least 6 months (0/6) (0/33)
48. Walk the run for the zoo or other charity walk - not ready to take on running yet, maybe after I finish this list I'll start a new one!
49. Go to the dentist - haven't been since I got my braces off, eek!
50. Get records on mole that was removed
51. Take a multivitamin every day for 6 months (0/6) (0/1001)
52. Find a family doctor
53. Get a complete physical every year (0/3)
54. Buy and use a pedometer
55. Do cardio at least 3 times a week for six months (0/72) (0/429)

Education
56. Read all Jane Austen books again
57. Re-teach self Spanish
58. Read histories of Catholicism books
59. Teach Philip Spanish
60. Read 101 new books (0/101)

Kids
61. Write a will
62. Designate guardians
63. Potty train Michaela before she is 3
64. Open savings account for Rafael
65. Wean Rafael from pacifier and boob before 15 months
66. Potty Train Rafael before he is 3
67. Do 101 crafts with kids (0/101)

Home
68. Paint living room & kitchen ceiling
69. Decorate Michaela’s room
70. Decorate Rafael’s room
71. Paint hallway
72. Decorate bathroom
73. Order and hang up pictures
74. Get St. Anne from Eddie
75. Buy a St. Rafael & St. Michael
76. Clean out/ replenish wardrobe
77. Trim trees in front
78. Remove tree in back
79. Landscape back yard
80. Start and maintain a garden
81. Update and Follow cleaning lists
82. Buy fireproof safe
83. Make my own cleaning products
84. Buy blinds

Religion/Faith
85. Say the rosary every day
86. Read 1 book of the bible a month until have read the entire bible (0/33)
87. Family prayer every day
88. Go to confession at least once a month (0/33)
89. Read the entire Catechism

Professional
90. Write a book
91. Complete 365 days of one minute writer (0/365)
92. Write something for money

Financial
93. Set up and follow a monthly budget (0/33)
94. Tithe every month (0/33)
95. Go an entire month without spending money on non-essentials (0/30)
96. Enter receipts at least once a week (0/143)

To Be Determined
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.

I owe you one George

2010-01-14T14:08:00.003-07:00

When Rafael was born, we started seating Michaela at her own small table to eat since I couldn't lift her into her high chair until I recovered. She loooooved sitting there right from the very beginning, but always wanted company. It wasn't enough for someone to sit at the big table right next to her. She would pull out the empty extra chair and point to the seat with such a pitiful face until one of us would give in and sit on the teeny tiny chair next to her.

A couple mornings ago, I was holding a sleeping Rafael in my arms and I just did not feel like squeezing into that little chair. That's when I glanced across the room and this little guy fixed all of my problems.

Apparently she just wanted the chair to be occupied, not necessarily by a human.

Play Time!

2010-01-14T13:38:00.003-07:00

With the help of Philip's handyman skills, our office/playroom/craft room is all finished. Here are some pictures of the playroom part.:
All of Michaela's smaller toys are in these clear plastic shoeboxes up out of her reach. When she wants to play with something I'll pull down one or two boxes at a time. If she wants to play with something else, all the toys have to go back in the box and back on the shelf before we get a new box down for her. This helps contain the mess and fixes our problem of having all the toys scattered all over the living room floor. It also helps that it's up out of her reach!

On the top shelf are all her craft supplies (pipe cleaners, fingerpaints, etc.).

On the other top shelf are large canvas bins full of all her big toys that won't fit into the shoeboxes.

I'll show you my crafting part tomorrow!

Michaela's Words

2010-01-10T21:03:00.003-07:00

My little sponge was a slow starter for talking, but lately has been picking up words right and left. Here are some of the words Michaela can say now:

knee-yo - cheerios or any cereal
knee- cheese, snake
awa - agua (water)
puppy
mowe-more, mouth
bow - ball, bird, brother, or bigo (belly button)
poe - poop
guy - Rafael
mao- mouse
rawr - dinosaur, bear, tiger, lion, etc
nigh- night
mummy- mommy
daddy
eye
know-nose
ewe- ear
hi
bye
baa - bad
ha - hot
appow - apple, elbow, red
no
boo- book
ti ti - chi chi (boobs)

It may not be much but I'm a quiet person and I can tell that her verbal skills are fine in other ways. She understands pretty much everything and is able to follow two or three step commands or instructions. She's also starting to put together two words at a time to form simple sentances. Soon she'll be chattering away like crazy, so I need to write this down now so I can remember her sweet little voice and her first attempts at communication.

Michaela Likes Boots and Rafael Thinks We're Boring

2010-01-10T14:26:00.002-07:00

Michaela has decided her new hobby is walking around in huge mens boots. Here she is walking around in her daddy's:

And here she is with her Grampa, fitting into his:Meanwhile Rafael has recently started being more active and awake and was starting to be more fussy. Since we were so obviously boring him, I pulled out Michaela's old tummy time mat and gave it a try. He loved it! Well, for about 5 minutes before he decided he'd rather have boob. Oh well.Here's a bonus picture of Michaela helping my dad vacuum. I don't know why, but my kids really love vacuums! By the way, she's bent over because my dad was bent over so that's how she thought you were supposed to vacuum!