Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Busy weekend...so much fun!










I have been trying to figure out how to post better pictures so that is why this post is so late. (I didn't figure it out yet)

This weekend was so much fun and so much about family. It was great! Friday night was a going away party for my cousin Nicole. She will be moving to Denver to pursue a career in dance. I wish her nothing but the best of luck. She is so brave to just up and move to a different state to follow her dreams. I would dream about doing something like that but never actually do it.

Saturday was a super busy day. It was jorges parents block party. It is always a good time. Last year it was also my baby shower. It's kinda weird to think that last year at this time, I was still pregnant, desperately waiting for my little man to come into this world. (by the way, he is now eleven months old!) the block party was great. The pictures are from the party. Gabe really like the twins, well, one of the twins! He kept reaching for one of the girls and not the other. It was so funny because I cant even tell them apart!

Megan and will and Kyle came to the block party too. Kyle had such a good time. He was running barefoot in the street. He also loved the pony rides and the bouncy house. Even though I want gabe to stay little, it's exciting to see what he will be like sooner than I can even imagine. Next year, he will be almost two years old and running around and bouncing in the bouncy house. *big sigh*






It took gabe and I awhile to get to the party though. He fell asleep in his high chair while I was straightening my hair. I never thought it would really happen. I guess I kinda helped by giving him his pacifier. It was so cute! It helped a lot. He let almost everyone hold him. Towards then end of the night he got to play with his big sister and auntie jazzy. It was nice to have all of jorges aunts and uncles wanting to be part of gabes life.


I think Sunday might have been even better than Saturday. We went out to breakfast as a family. Then we went to old orchard and walked around. The weather was the nicest it's been in along time. We also went to the bookstore and Gabe played with some of the trains in the children's section. It was sooooo cute, especially because Sidney was playing with him, and she loved trains when she was little. Daddy and baby took a looong nap after our busy day before going to dinner at grammies house. I have some really great pictures that I took that I am working on getting posted.


If anyone knows about picasa or a good way to put awesome picture on a blog please please let me know! Thanks!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday, August 26, 2011

Being a mom


I always knew that I wanted to be a mom. I just had this motherly instinct i guess. My mom was a stay at home mom for most of my childhood. She went back to work when I was in high school. So, I guess that had something with my desire to be a mom. I think when you have a good role model then that's what you would like to emulate too.


I had wanted to be a teacher when I was in high school, and then I did go to college for education. However, along the way I worked at a Montessori school and realized I liked working with kids a lot but there were drawbacks to working in a school environment. But, I knew working with kids and having a family was for me.


I could keep going on about how I knew I liked kids, but what I really wanted to blog about was how I love being a mom.




I just look at gabe and my heart swells. I am so in love with this little person. It's hard to believe that he wasn't in our lives eleven months ago. I don't know what I'd do without him. It is stressful sometimes. It's frustrating sometimes. Overall though, I wouldn't trade him for anything. I also knew that I wanted to be a mom but I didnt know I'd love it so much.

I had my doubts while i was pregnant. I was afraid I'd be a bad mom. I was worried about having the responsibility of taking care of someone for the rest of my life. In the first few months I was also worried. I was worried I wasn't taking care of him well enough because I couldn't breastfeed or whatever silly little thing I could think of. It was a stressful time in the beginning, with pumping and going back to work after two weeks.




I think I'm a good mom. I hope I'm a good mom. I try to do everything I possibly can for him. I think that's why the iPad was such a struggle for me. I don't really uy myself things anymore. I am always thinking about gabe first. I just love him so much. Maybe one day he will read this, possibly during those crazy teenage years, and know his mommy love him more than anything else and that he always brings a smile to my face and a song to my heart.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Sinks are fun!











We had a low key Monday. We both had the day off and it really made it seem like it was a Sunday.

We helped our good friends move some boxes from their apartment to their new house. It was a little difficult with three babies though. If we had a babysitter tons of work could have been done. Three kids under two is a lot of work!

Then we went to my moms for a small BBQ. Gabe had gotten a little dirty during the day so he got to have a bath in Grammies sink.

I forgot to mention, gabe is still sick. I hate having a sick baby. There is nothing I can do for his boogery nose except suck it out with the aspirator which of course makes him cry. If it were any other season besides summer I'd have his humidifier on, but it seems pointless when the air conditioning is running. Hopefully he is feeling better tomorrow. At least he slept a little better last night.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Lazy sunday


Yesterday gabe really showed signs of getting a cold. Unfortunately he and I didn't sleep very well. I had a horrible headache so I went to sleep early while Jorge put gabe to bed. However, it wasn't long before gabe was in bed with me. I wanted to get some sleep but I also knew that he couldn't sleep, so I gave in pretty quickly.



It's really hard when gabe has a cold because he loves his pacifier. When he is so stuffy he can't suck on it and soothe himself. He is still pretty congested tonight so we will see how it goes. It breaks my heart to see him want to comfort himself with his pacifier (dog in this case) and not be able to.



Otherwise, today was the first Sunday that we really didn't do a whole lot. It seems like every weekend we are on the go. It was nice to be home for once. The only place we went was the grocery store and that was because we had absolutely no food. We did get some things around the house done and that was a relief. It seems like nothing ever gets done around here.

I have a huge stack of boxes that i went through today that is all of gabes old clothes. Our neighbor is pregnant with a boy so i am giving her almost all of gabes old clothes. I took out my favorites and my mom is going to make a quilt out of them for gabe. I am still trying to decide what I want to do with some of his outfits, like his christmas jammies. They have a cute reindeer on the butt. I would like to hold on the them instead of putting them on the quilt but I'm not sure what I'll do with them.




Right now i am enjoying my new toy. I am really glad that I don't have to keep using jorges computer. Let me know if there are any good apps that I should get. Hopefully gabe will be feeling better soon. Maybe the chicken noodle soup he had for dinner in the above picture helped.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

I have a new toy!

I have the best husband ever! Yesterday he bought me an iPad! It's a combo super belated birthday gift and super early Christmas gift. I am so excited! Well.....I also feel like it was a huge amount of money.

On the other hand I'm not really able to use my computer anymore. I have had the same computer since 2006 and it was refurbished when I bought it. I'm not really sure how old that makes it, but it doesn't really work anymore. I cannot update any software. It doesn't recognize my camera or iPod anymore. I have been using jorges computer and don't even ask me when the last time I used my iPod was!

So watch out! Hopefully I will be able to blog much more often!

Thanks again hubby!!!!!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

WARNING! im venting!

ugh! does anyone else out there think that they look great and then see a picture of themselves and realize...no...not so much? i have been losing weight for the past couple of months. i haven't really been trying per se. i have been trying to eat right/less and i have been sneaking in some push ups or sit ups. however, there hasn't been a full out, 100% effort. still, i have gone from (gasp! im going to send the numbers out into the world) 174 to 159 in the past few months. still, i really want to be closer to what i was pre baby, 135.

anyway. i was feeling really good about losing weight this weekend. we had a few parties to go to, like i mentioned. i was feeling good. cute. i dressed up. then i see pictures and i think, who am i fooling? i look the same! still the chubby face. still with a belly that could be mistaken for a baby bump if i weren't holding a baby. what gives?!

with my limited time, and a baby that likes to cuddle, i really don't have a place for a real workout right now. also, there are the migraines that i get from an intense workout. yes, yoga is wonderful. however, it is a super big time commitment. i would be sacrificing almost three hours on a sunday morning. yes, i realize that it would make me happier but it also has it's draw backs. i could also stay up later and exercise, but i like my sleep. i feel like it's all a double edged sword. all of those women who look like they never gained a pound while pregnant...im totally envious.

well sorry about this sucky post. i had to get it off my chest. i was so disappointed. thanks guys.





Monday, August 15, 2011

slow down!



i wish life would slow down sometimes. gabe is growing up so fast. it's exciting on one hand and really sad and scary on the other hand. i love my little baby and i don't know if im ready for a big guy yet.
here he is in his big boy car seat. aaahhh!!! wait! i still want to carry you around in your carrier. stop getting so big!

i also wish our weekends were not so busy sometimes. this weekend it seemed like we were hardly home. we had to get invitations for both of gabe's birthday parties. then jorge took sidney to the doctor for an insect bite (scary stuff! we still don't know what bit her) then we had two parties to go to. the first was a family birthday party. the second was a celebration! gabe's godfather's mom has been cancer-free for two years! gabe made a new friend at the celebration. she's a nanny so i think he knew she was "safe". he was really getting tired by that point.

sunday was busy but i guess i kinda made it busy on my own. gabe and i went shopping with my mom in the morning. part of me was trying to get out and do something. the other part of me was trying to get out of the house so that sidney could sleep. the medicine for her bug bite makes her really tired. then we went to my mom's for dinner because we always eat dinner there on sundays. -gabe had the craziest dinner there...he had some beans from our chili, some pears, some chicken noodle soup and some puffs- but we didn't end our sunday there. then we went to megan and will's and gabe hung out with kyle for a bit.

i am ready for a nap just writing about how busy our weekend was! this week/weekend doesn't look any quieter. SIGH. i guess i will just have to keep pretending that my baby isn't getting any bigger and try to schedule some down time into our busy schedule.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

the zoo!!!














we went to lincoln park zoo on tuesday with gabe's new best guy friend, kyle. my friend megan, her son kyle and her hubby just moved back from tennessee and i couldn't be more excited! kyle is two, so he is a little older than gabe but they get along great.

the zoo was awesome! we had great weather even though there was rain in the forecast. it was kyle and his dad's first trip to lincoln park and i think that they had a great time. gabe got to get up close with his favorites, the seals. it was pretty cool, although i didn't have my camera handy. one of the seals popped his head out of the water only a few feet away from gabe. they were staring at each other. then we went "under" the water to see if they would swim up next to the glass. i don't know what it is about water and animals in the water but gabe loves them both! we were lucky, the seals swam really close to the glass to gabe and kyle's delight!

we saw almost all of the animals. we went to africa and saw the giraffes and my personal favorites, the meercats. i think they are just so funny! we also saw the lions. they were sleeping up next to the window and kyle and his dad got to get really close. gabe spent a lot of time in his stroller. i want to take advantage of the stroller and a kid who will sit in it while i still can!

i can't wait to go back. we were talking about buying a pass which would be pretty awesome. it covers part of parking, which is an insane $30! one visit would pay for each part of the pass. or maybe i will get it as a christmas present!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

so big!


i can't believe how big gabe has gotten! it seems like only yesterday that he was barely crawling, only army crawling. now he is run/crawling. he takes off down the hallway at top speed.

the other day he had four teeth. then i looked in his mouth yesterday and...were did tooth number five and six come from!?! he won't need baby food for very much longer with all of these teeth.

this weekend was a preview of how things are going to be in the future. we were running errands and jorge and i wanted lunch. gabe had a pouch of food and then he got a hot dog all to himself! of course i had to peel the skin off and cut it into tiny pieces, but it was weird ordering him his own food. we went to our favorite mexican restaurant after beatlefest, and gabe had big kid food there too. he had a tamale, and a quesadilla with guacamole. where did this big kid come from and where did my little baby go?!
YES! he even bit the quesadilla!

i know that everyone says enjoy them, they grow up so quickly. and i have enjoyed every minute, i just want some of the minutes to last a little longer. i love some things that i know he is going to grow out of like slobbery, open mouthed kisses and hugs so tight you wonder where he gets all of this strength. and even though he is heavy, i will miss it when he no longer wants me to carry him. it is exciting that he is growing and changing and that i have this blog to record it all. i hope i won't want another once he's a toddler for real!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

you're going to the fest for.....BEATLES!!!












































today we celebrated sidney's 13th birthday. it was a little early but i think she was so surprised and had a great time. we had been keeping this secret for a very long time!

we surprised her with some beatles toys and tickets to BEATLEFEST!!! it is pretty cool. it's like a convention for beat
les (the band not the bug if there is any confusion). they have vendors with collectible memorabilia, toys, clothing. you name it and you can probably find it there. they also had booths set up with some awesome art.

let's not forget that they are playing all of the beatles albums over the sound system. there were panels discussing the beatles and a pretty cool auction. there was even a band who set up in the hall and played beatles songs. they were really good.

sidney got a lot of cool stuff. she got an awesome hat. she is wearing it in one of the pictures. gabe enjoyed himself too. (kinda) he was being a little weird about the stroller. usually he loves it, but for some reason today he decided to cry. i think he hasn't been for a walk in a while
and was just confused because he couldn't see me. he did get a little dancing in, you can see it one of the pictures too.




gabe was sound asleep by the end of it all.










Friday, August 5, 2011

cheese!



i am missing gabe horribly today. he had to go to abuelita's house. i am house/dog sitting and he hated the dog. i felt so horrible watching gabe screaming but needing to let the dog out to pee.

anyways i thought i would post some cute pictures of him and his new love...CHEESE!!
he had mac and cheese and slices of cheddar cheese
and loved both. he really likes it when you give him a big piece of cheese. the little pieces just annoy him.




Wednesday, August 3, 2011

anger

i was very angry yesterday. unfortunately, some of the anger has carried over to today. there was no real reason for me getting so angry. a side effect of my anger was jorge also got angry.

i would like to say that i came in the house yesterday and told jorge right away that i was in a bad mood. there were a million things to do before gabe went to bed and not enough time to accomplish everything. also, i was starving!!! i hadn't planned on getting home so late so i kinda skipped dinner. i think almost everyone gets a little crabby when they are hungry. i wonder if that is how my anger/bad mood got so bad. i was really hungry, tired and overwhelmed.

sometimes, i feel so overwhelmed i cannot go to sleep at night because my brain won't shut off. i want to get up and do some of the things that are racing through my mind, but i also want to try to sleep. i don't have insomnia. i will eventually fall asleep. unfortunately, gabe wakes up soon after i do.

back to anger....i wish i knew a good technique to stop anger in its tracks. i mean everyone needs to get angry every once in a while but there are times when i am angry and it's unnecessary. i guess i will just try to take a deep breath and put things in perspective. i have a beautiful little man who adores me and who i adore. i also have a handsome big man who does the same (most days). i am pretty lucky. (and not so angry anymore)

Monday, August 1, 2011

wow!! where did the weekend go?!

i wanted to post this weekend about my awesome week, but my weekend was even busier than my week. funnily enough, my week didn't start out so amazing. i was going to post about weight loss but i will save that for another time.

i don't even know where to start with how busy this week wound up being. i had to watch maggie (gabe's girlfriend) on wednesday and wow! it was a lot of work. i could not imagine having two kids that close in age. they are also so far apart developmentally since maggie can walk and gabe really wants to. maggie would be sitting on the floor playing and gabe would take off crawling down the hall. i really got a workout!

the following day was even more exciting. maggie's little sister was born!! i don't know how gabe is going to choose between two sisters. i guess maggie has dibs since she was here first.

friday was kinda quiet. jorge's dad got back from mexico so we went to see him. gabe really missed him. saturday was crazy though. it was our block party and my friend megan moved back to chicago! so we had to get stuff ready for the block party and then during the party i went and helped her and her husband unload.

we spent sunday out and about. we went to see the baby. she is so tiny. i can't believe that gabe was once that size and now he is trying desperately to walk. OH! i totally forgot! gabe is now officially ten months old! anyway...after we spent time with the baby we went and hung out with megan, will and their son kyle. he is two and he and gabe are going to be great buds. i can see it already!

wow! what a busy week! here are some random pics of gabe. enjoy!!