Abuelita's 3-month-visit (Sep-Nov 2010)

I decided when I have a little more time after posting something recent I will also work of something from the past and see if eventually I can catch up.

Few pictures from my mom and the kiddoes..

Abuelita (Fanny) came from Sept 14th until black Friday Nov 26th. It was such a priviledge to have her here with us and my in-law's, since we live in their house for now. She played with the kids for half of the time, and the other half she was cleaning around like crazy.. Then, baby arrived and she added caring for him too, while I read and gave my attention to Samuel and Benjamin..

She also enjoyed seeing my in-laws, who she adores. We also got to go few places. Some she really enjoyed like the Laritzen Gardens.

I have never seen my mom truly smiling of happiness.. And now, she got to enjoy the grandkids with their unconditional love.. especially baby time..

Till we meet again Abuelita! Thank you for your help and visiting us!

Day.. night.. it's all a blurr

Sick... (sniffles) Two weeks ago I had a weird flu with only boy aches. Three days later I got over it and last week, Benjamin started with a dog's cough little at a time. By Friday he started with fever until finally got rid of it yesterday (almost 4 days). The cough worsen and runny nose began. Took him to the doctor to know for sure.. and she said:
Severe Croup cough with stridor. (Croup is a condition with inflammation of the upper airways caused by a viral infection)
So 3-4 days of fever, and 10 of cough. My poor little guy was sooo sick he would eat a little breakfast and just go back to bed without telling him anything.. or just laying lethargic on the floor with a blanket.. Well, he is better alright, but as to expect Samuel came down with it. The difference: Samuel would drink and eat everything from soups to medicines, except for honey. While Benjamin more picky wouldn't drink much but he would take the honey which has helped his cough.
New info learned: when they get those coughing attacks (stridor) is best to let them breath the freezing air from outside for 2-5 min or leave the fridge door open on their faces.. interesting. My mom would flip if I told her that one. ;)

So it has been the most TV we have had ever.. they are literally pbskids out and now just one few movies instead.

Schedules totally screwed up.. and nights are as long as 1 or 2 hours at the time. But today is a good day at least for my two older ones. Only cough no fever. However my little Daniel (now 3 months) is coughing and vomiting a little. My poor baby. At least there is no sign of fever. And me? well, my throat hurts and have a lot of runny nose as of last night. As much as I miss Jay, I am glad he is not here. The last thing I would want is for him to get so sick , especially approaching his first mini.

On the brighter side, although we missed Church on Sunday I got called as a Relief Society teacher. I felt excited but intimidated since I have taught before, in fact, I have been in charge of education for the sisters as a first counselor in the RS but did I mentioned in Spanish wards? So, in this ward there is few older ladies and less younger ones (since most of the younger ones have Primary callings) and boy, they know their scriptures. Furthermore, as I always thought callings are more for the people who are called to learn from it than for the ones that get to hear you. So, overall I am very excited. Obviously blood drive representative wasn't enough. The funny story: my father-in-law is my bishop.. so you really have only the option of accepting.. hehe not really, I have not turned down a calling and now I am not gonna do that so.

Hopefully we all be good by the weekend.. besides, we are supposed to be -26 F tonight with windshield of course. So, we wouldn't be going anywhere.

Another year page to the book of adventures

2010 came and is gone.. But as I look back, it amazes me how busy we have been at times, how much the kids had grown, how many miles we had traveled, how many changes has our little family made in just a year.
Let's recount.
Chronologically speaking would have been like this:

January - lots of snow, no job, cooking with daddy, church ball, Mavericks hockey game.

February - more snow = sledding, still no job, reading with daddy, church ball, Valentine's, baby news = vomiting.

March- little snow, no job, road trip for family funeral (WY) and best friend's wedding (UT)= road sickness, birthday, baby growing, more morning.. all-day-sickness..

April- Easter egg hunt, Samuel's first kite flying, museums visits, little vomiting, got a job but too late because we are returning to Dominica.

May- Enjoying Dominica, Samuel's first school, loving playgroup, little dermatitis, no more vomiting!

June- too much dermatitis = flying back to NE sooner than planned, cute beach family pictures before leaving.

July- family reunion (SD), enjoying AC, dermatitis getting better, enjoying summer, belly really growing, missing hubby and daddy, enjoying summer with lots of time outside.

Aug- enjoying summer weather, little dermatitis, Jay's visit x 2 weeks, first time sewing (Relief Society activity.. jean quilt).

Sept- posters for welcomes = my mom (Colombia), my sister-in-law (ID), my brother-in-law coming back from mission (Germany) all in the same week! adjusting to more crowded house.. but loving the extra help!

Oct- no snow, belly is too big to sleep good, anticipation.. Jay is here for 8 days, induce and 4 hours later with no drugs Daniel got here! Bye daddy, hello baby, trick or treat.

Nov- no snow, little sleep, recovering, enjoying abuelita.. thanksgiving, black Friday, bye to my mom.

Dec- little snow, abuelita withdrawls, enjoying Christmas time, baby sleeps through the night, Jay's here for 3 weeks, sister-in-law's here for a week, brother-in-law's engaged, Santa was very giving and generous (I have a feeling because is at Grandma's house), 30-hour-trip to Nauvoo, IL, family pictures, bye sister and brother-in-law, a week later bye daddy..

Ladies and gentlemen, that was 2010 and a lot of adventures and we hope to have a lot more this year.. It broke my heart to have decided with Jay for the kids and I to not return with him to the island.. but this time, my health came first.

From mending to quilting!

My mom is an amazing seamstress, but I never learned how to actually sew (just like cooking). I always have know how to mend, but only by hand. I have never even touched a sewing machine. However, I made my first quilt back in August 2010. This quilt taught me how to sew.. And how to mess up, redo stitches many times, put threat in the needle (machine) many times because i didn't leave enough threat in between pieces.. It also expanded my English vocabulary! It started as an activity in the Relief society back in August 2010. We were supposed to use old jeans and they gave us different styles for the design of the quilt you could choose to follow. I verily had enough material for the one side and few little pieces on the other side where the jean pieces were. Such material (stars one)was given to me by my mother-in-law. Since she couldn't remember where she got it from or how long ago, we went to Joans to look for something to match it with so I could finish it. For three weeks with my big pregnant belly I spent sitting on the floor (because it was the right height with relation to the table in the family room in the basement) every night working on it, because I knew that if I didn't finish it before baby's arrival, it would be one of many unfinished projects to continue moving with us and not using. So I did my best to meet my goal, which was to get it done for the quilt exhibition they Mormon Trail Center was having at the beginning of September. There were amazing quilts shown.. Just take a look (ton of pictures by the way, too much time to make collages).

Even though, my quilt wasn't that great or creative, or colorful, I was sooooooo proud to have accomplished my goal and on the journey to develop a new skill that I am sure will become handy later on..
Now, I have a new project in mind, which I already cut the pieces but haven't done any sewing yet till baby gets a better schedule. My mom is an incredible crafty woman. She does painting, works with wood, sews, etc.. When I had Samuel she made him a whole set of bedding for the crib. She even did one for the bassinet I borrowed. However, after the island I fell in love with pack and plays (almost as much room for baby, easy to move, easy to pack and store, especially since we are not done moving). In June, I gave away my crib to a couple in our ward expecting their first child. So here I had all that bedding set that I couldn't use.. yet don't want to sell or give away because of all the months my mom spent making it. So, I decided to turn it into a quilt. Here is a better picture of what it looked like (since by then our new camera had flash), although the picture is more of Samuel than the bedding, but it gives an idea. Did I mentioned she made it reversible? Amazing skill. So perfect for a quilt, except it is already stitched and filled but I will figure out how to make it work overlapping the pieces.. that is why is a project. So we will see how will it look when is done. And hopefully by then Benjamin will sleep more "normal" under his covers and can actually use it.

Great start, but will it last?

I started this week (after Jay's departure) to really make a difference on my routine, including the kiddoes' as well. First I would only shower at night or during Benjamin's nap with Baby sleeping too or awake in the bouncer in the bathroom. But decided to be like a "regular" person and wake up earlier and shower first. I used to wake up to feed baby (5:30 to 6ish am) and go back to bed until Samuel and Benjamin would wake up and come to get me (I hear their steps since my room is below theirs) which would be around 6:30ish or 7am; and have breakfast together and start our day. Well, I never been able to really study my scriptures, because (if you know me, I am a terrible reader, even in Spanish) I would fall asleep every time since I would read them at night on bed. So, now almost unwillingly (in the morning) I just jump in the shower as soon as I feed baby. Then I get breakfast ready, and study my scriptures. I have seen my father-in-law, (a 100%-routine-person) do this every morning.. and thought, may be I can really get more knowledgeable on my scriptures if I follow his example. Besides, may be I could feel more awake and productive too. Well, reality set in. Yes, I am more awake (for the first hour, or until my hair dries). No, I am just as productive but less cranky. No, I am still not knowledgeable on my scriptures but here is the thing: when tantrums, or fights between the kiddoes happened, I was far more patient and felt a lot more spiritually in tune. I have also tried to go to bed by 11pm (1-2 hours more sleep than before), which explains why I am still backed up on my blog. Has the change been worth it?

YES. I know I am hard on myself since it has only been 3 days. However, I am happy to say that I start my kids day with a truly awake smile with big morning hugs and kisses instead of a cranky, asleep face with losing my patience because of their "over help" with breakfast.

I hope I can keep it up, and just waiting for baby to be 6 months so we can all go to the gym (kids club starts at age 6m) so mami can go back to swimming.

I also requested some material on homeschooling and other fun toddler activities. No, I am not homeschooling my kids, I believe social exposure and interactions are more important. However, all my kiddoes are fall birthdays which will put them "behind" a year in school. Therefore, it will be a full year for all of them to start school. I do believe children need routine, activities and lot of opportunities of learning environment. I didn't graduated on teaching or child development majors but I wish I did (far more useful now) but I am a mother of three wonderful little active boys who need good guidance and your greatest, first, and eternal earthly guidance is mom. Why not better myself not just as a person but as a mom?

May be I am just trying to convince myself that I am an ok mother, and wife, and although I wasn't raised to be either one, ironically I had a great example, my own mother. May be that is why I am so critical of myself there, because I have to truly raise the bar to be better than what she was.

I used to get frustrated on seeing my kids acting out with other kids or being a bad example.. But, we do have wonderful kids. Did I say kids? Yes, and they need to act like them.. kids. So, 2011 started with a more relaxed view of my poor judgement on my little ones (hooray for them), and more structure for mom (boo for me). But if my dear hubby is doing all this sacrifice, of bettering himself spiritually, professionally, why not do the same on this end?

Hopefully I can remember this later on. May that is why I am putting it on my blog. More as a reminder for me than for information for anyone else.

I truly love my Savior and know whatever happens "we will live" like grandpa says.

These pictures were taken by Samuel on a regular mommy moment. I guess that is how I look on a regular bases.. interesting..

Welcome home Daddy!

I am sooo behind, is ridiculous.. oh well... someday I will catch up..

today was a very tiring but calmed day.. Because last night at 10:30pm Jay arrived from the island for the Christmas break.. We are sooooooooooooooo excited to have daddy back.. If you know me, I am not much of an emotional person when it comes to crying.. however, seeing my little ones run up to him just got my eyes shining of water..

Of course, we were late.. and my mother-in-law dropped Samuel, Benjamin and me off and left to park.. And as we are running inside he was already waiting with luggage and all, since he also happened to arrive 10 minutes earlier. So he yelled my name and there he was.. I let the kids run to him first.. and then I almost was forgetting to take pictures.. and then it was my turn.. I asked him how he recognized me from far away.. and then I answered myself.. only small woman running with no luggage and two kids in their pajamas.. haha

Soon, grandma, baby, brother-in-law and his sweet girlfriend got there...

Baby slept all that time and woke up as we were going to bed.. Daddy was surprised to see how much he's grown. Have in mind that baby was 2 days old since daddy held him last, and now he is 2 months! Daddy got to hold him; then, as he smiled he also super unloaded!

Later as I went to sleep, in a bed where I wasn't alone anymore, I felt as the happiest and most privileged woman in the world.. My better half is finally here, and we are finally together as what we have been since 5 years ago.. a family!

Welcome home JAY!

Living by the minute

My mom is gone.. so sad.. I promise there will be a post just of her visit.. We sure miss her, and not just the kids but my in-laws as well. My little guy is already 6 weeks! He is growing so fast. Life has been busy, I don't think as much more stuff to do, but not ENOUGH hands to do it as efficiently as before. Now with my mom gone, poor baby gets less arms and more bouncer, floor and crib time. But such is the balance of life with three little ones and one mom. I have to be realistic. Cant blog much these days, especially with Daniel not quite having a set schedule.. we literally have been adjusting.. but last night he sleep 5 hours straight! And then woke up every hour after that.. :(

Thankfully Samuel and Benjamin are always sooooo excited to see baby Daniel, to hug him, kiss him and especially hold him. They also get excited about his toys.. and try to play with them. Although, since coming back from the hospital Samuel likes to "be in charge" and he takes it to heart. So, when he feel like the "big brother" he decides to be very bossy to Benjamin and even tries to make him obey..It doesn't always work.

However, he is adorable with baby.. just listen how he is trying to help him fall asleep.

The other day I pumped some milk so that Samuel could feed baby.. he enjoyed greatly...

He had a good laugh when baby started unloading too as he feed him.. haha

Now just getting ready for Daddy coming in 17 days, which we have the countdown for that as well as for Christmas. I am excited to be together as a family again, and for Jay to enjoy Daniel for 3 LONG GREAT weeks before he goes back.

We love our boys although the time out corner is getting very used these days. Hopefully it will pass soon.

Summer of fun at Granparents! Part 1

I am sooo behind on posts.. we will see how much can I summarize and get up to date..
Yes, it's been a crazy summer.. all started in Dominica, coming back to the States sooner than we thought, and continued to enjoy the places we were and are.
Of course, the States offers other kinds on entertaintment we could have on the island that we still enjoy... picnics, 3-D movies (Benjamin looks too funny with those big glasses, but he loved it), and their favorite, playing at the park with their sand toys.. Mami is always delighted to joined in.

Some weekends we were lucky enough that grandma found some cool deals on exhibitions and museums and the four of us went together.. even in very hot weather but still enjoyable. Unfortunately, it was long ago that I cant even remember the name of the places, but one was a train museum. Benjamin in particular loves machines, trucks and trains, and really enjoyed it until he nap time got him to miss a little of it. Also, grandma being a cub scout leader was glad to see the train painted in honor to the 100 years of the BSA so that was fun too. Samuel often talks how many awesome things he will do in scouts when he turns 8.

The kids also had their grandma and grandpa moments in different activities or daily tasks; for example, everytime grandma checks her email, they know she will have a "fun video" to watch, service projects, fun activities.. Or when grandpa reads to them..

There is also fun times at home. Being creative..

Even if they try to communicate but dont get the message through..

Or playing "taking care of baby" which the poor BYU monkey ended up being the baby, changing diapers, feeding the bottle.. Samuel even tried to potty train him! So funny the stuff they come up with..Back in July, we had a family reunion (every 2 years) in South Dakota from my father-in-law's side. The kids were excited to pack their toys and blankets and stuff and go.. obviously, we spend some time site seeing, like at a like aquarium.. They even had a wagon of Legos in the restaurant we stopped for breakfast once we got there from driving through the night.We also stopped at Deadwood, were lots of hotels and interesting history took place.Some times being silly was the best.. like playing with blankets in the car, trying to kick the air, trying to figure out the frog ballon, or simply fall asleep with a monkey on your back..Finally, time with the cousins.. Although there were far more girls than boys, the still had fun with the toys and few boys there too..On the way back, we stopped at two great places.. Storybook land in Rapid City.. with the coolest statues from famous books.. too back we only had an hour before closing.. still got the last train ride and quick stop through it all.The other place was a dinosaur park.. with huge statues.. which was a ton of stairs since it was on the top of a mountain, and the funny thing is that when we got there Samuel decided he needed to go potty! Yes, I was still pregnant then and that was not a joke at the time@!I always have seen funny or interesting stuff during trips anywhere.. especially liscence plates. However, this time was a sticker.. just read it for yourself! Too funny, that it deserve the picture!

Later after we got back from the trip there was a memorial done for our neighbor friend who past away the day after Christmas last year.. Her family decided to do it at a beautiful botanical gardens. Since we were early we decided to tour it. Samuel was lucky enough, that they had a "explorer back pack" with binoculars, magnifying glass, etc.. He sure got into it!

And the libraries always have something going on.. this time was boats! Samuel got to make one and be on top of a sail boat.. Soon they got tired and it was time to leave.. on the way home grandma had an erron to run and while waiting in the car, they got very silly!

Part 2 coming soon.. stay put!