Mia's Baptism

Today we got Mia baptized, yea!! Afterward we celebrated at my house. I invited Anna, Aroldo and Vivianne to join us for the celebration, but they couldn't come because they had forgotten Izabella's baby bottle, not the actual milk, just the bottle. I thought they could have asked to borrow a bottle, or perhaps they could have stopped to purchase a bottle, but alas they would rather go home. So I didn't even try push it on them. I'm sure they would have felt uncomfortable around my family. Whatever.

Mia was perfect throughout church and the baptism. Silly girl, she spit up while Deacon Gonzalez was giving her the blessing. Aside from that, perfect!! :)

Luisa was wearing a pretty red and black dress that my sister bought for her. It was probably more Christmas than anything else, but I think will try and get some Valentines' pictures done soon with her in this dress.

It's in the genes!

I am very blessed that once asleep my girls sleep. Sure now that Luisa is in her own bed she can get up and come to my room during the night. I find that it's no big deal because it doesn't happen every night and if she does do it it's usually in the wee morning hours. Then she ends up sleeping later since she is so comfortable next to mom! As for Mia she has been quite a blessing. She goes to sleep on her own and gets fussy if held too long, so she would rather you lay her in her crib and she puts herself to sleep. I guess this is some sort of redemption for the pain of the divorce! Or perhaps I'm just more relaxed because I'm no longer a first time mom. Call it whatever you want! I also want it noted that my mom's side of the family is notorious for loving the nap!! Grandma used to fall asleep mid sentence and then pick up right where she left off. My cousin Milo also did this. My sisters love their naps so much that they make time for them on the weekends. From time to time I too squeeze in a nap. I would more often, but I don't have time for that!

On another note, Mia is really into sucking on her two middle fingers, while I'm not crazy about this, I'm going to do my best to NOT STRESS OUT about it. Ask me about that in a couple of years when she's still sucking away!

This post was prompted because I was reading about a mom who is having to deal with an insomniac for a child. Yikes!! Please let that never happen to me.

OK, I'm off to join the girls in dreamland...

I should be in bed

Just a quick note to show that I'm going to make an effort to keep up with the blog this year!
Consider it a new year's resolution.

It's crazy crazy busy at work right now for me. I have a huge project, my personal deadline is Friday 1/25, but I think I won't actually be done until 1/27.

Mia's baptism is Sunday 1/27. Yeah!

Okay, going to bed now....I'll write more in a couple of days.

in the meantime check out www.zipskinny.com

one of those questionnaires...

1. What is your occupation? mom and part time accountant

2. What color are your socks right now? Pink

3. What are you listening to right now? two and a half men (TV in the background)

4. What was the last thing that you ate? Stacy's Pita Chips (simply naked)

5. Can you drive a stick shift? no

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Rosie, my sister

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Of course.

8. How old are you today? 33, I think! :)

9. What is your favorite sport to watch? basketball

10. What is your favorite drink? a cold coca cola from the fountain machine, but it has to be the perfect combination.

11. Have you ever dyed your hair? No way!

12. Favorite food? Lately, it's tuna in a pouch, in a salad with a nice dressing.

13. What was the last movie you watched? National Treasure

14. Favorite day of the year? Thanksgiving

15. How do you vent anger? I usually vent to friends, crying, screaming... depends how angry I am and at who!

16. What was your favorite toy as a child? I don't recall.

17. What is your favorite season? Fall since it's nice enough outside to go without a sweater and too cold to go swimming. You know just nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

18. Hugs or Kisses? depends

19. Cherries or Blueberries? cherries

20. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? yes.

21. Who is the most likely to respond? Whoever wants to.

22. Who is least likely to respond? Whoever doesn't want to.

23. Living arrangements? Renting, living across the street from my parents.

24. When was the last time you cried? Tuesday, 1/15/08.

25. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes, clothes, and some whicker baskets.

26. Who is the friend you have had the longest you are sending this to? ???

27. What did you do last night? Bathed my children and stayed up way too late being unproductive.

28. Favorite smells? Men's cologne.

29. What inspires you? My girls.

30. What are you most afraid of? Dying before my girls.

31. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? cheesy

32. Favorite dog breed? The jury is still out.

33. Favorite day of the week? Sunday

34. How many states have you lived in? one, the BEST one

My Favorite Snack

When I snack, I usually reach for these. Pathetically, I enjoy the simply naked. I say pathetically because I'm sure the flavored chips are pretty good, but I refuse to buy them! I have bought some hummus to go with them, but mostly I eat them straight out of the bag, plain!

Go have a pita chip and think of me!

Have a nice day!

Teething

Did I mention Mia is teething? Mia's first tooth broke through the gums on Dec 18th. Her second tooth emerged on Sunday January 13th. However, it is really bothering her. This morning at the library I was able to spot a little blood from that new tooth! It was a rough day for her, she was a wee bit cranky. However all that really seemed to change when I bathed her. She didn't fuss a bit during the bath, which she usually loves anyway. But after the bath she was happy while I dressed her. I fed her 6 oz and then she cooed and talked for a little while, then off to bed. She's still spitting up more than I'd like. I wonder if she really has acid reflux. I think I'm going to call the doctor and ask her about dropping the Prevacid.

The following teething chart obviously doesn't apply to my children. Both Luisa and Mia cut their first tooth at the beginning of their fourth month.

Teething Schedule

Age	New Teeth
6-10 months	Central incisors
10-13 months	Lateral incisors
17-23 months	Canines
14-18 months	First baby molars
23-31 months	Second baby molars

Hungry?

Luisa is constantly challenging with respect to eating. She constantly keeps me on my toes. She is very particular, she has her favorite things and then from time to time she surprises me with what she wants to eat.

She has gone through cycles, for example, there was a time where she would eat peas everyday if I let her. Then there was a time period where broccoli was her favorite thing, but it couldn't be just any broccoli, it had to be broccoli from Outback Steakhouse! Go figure. So lately, her favorite thing is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it's a favorite especially when she doesn't want what everyone else is eating. Imagine my excitement when the other day we were at the grocery store and I picked up some fresh broccoli. When we got home she ate almost all the broccoli I had bought that day.

Here is a list of her favorite foods:
PB&J, macaroni and cheese (Kraft EZ Mac), Corn on the cob (not kernal corn (off the cob)), Edamame, Peas, mandarin oranges, Oranges from grandma's tree, apples, cucumbers, baby carrots, pineapple, yogurt (sometimes with granola), fried chicken, broccoli, ground beef, cranberries, rice cakes, spaghetti, fruit leather, Cheerios, rice crispies, wheat chex, and of course all the bad stuff like candy, chips, chips & salsa especially!

I guess I just felt I had to write out this list to show myself that it's not that bad...She does like some variety in her life.

Have a great day!

Hello again everyone!!

I have really dropped the ball on this blog. Of course I'm putting off working right now so that I can blog. I will do better this year!!

Mia is doing really well. On Dec 18th I noticed her first tooth piercing her gums...she's well on her way to tooth #2. You can tell it's right there and her nonstop drool and fingers in her mouth tell me it could be any day now. She is smiling a whole lot lately and she is talking non stop. Her sleep has been a little disrupted, in that she is waking up around 3 to 4 in the morning. She eats and then she goes right back to sleep. I'm guessing the teeth are the cause. I don't mind since I'm hoping it won't last forever. She is such a good baby and I am happy I switched her to formula, I think it makes it a little easier for all of us and she is happier. My only complaint is the continued spit up. I read an article that stated the acid reflux is "over diagnosed" and that there are many children on acid reflux meds that really shouldn't be or don't need to be. I wonder if that is the case with Mia. The article stated that many baby's spit up and it's natural but as a parent we feel we have to do something to make it better and thus the acid reflux meds are supposed to help. Her appetite has increased a bit and she is even doing rice cereal. Most of the time it's in her bottle (to help reduce the spit up (yeah, right!)) but sometimes I give it to her with a spoon. Here is a picture of that:

Actually that's my mom feeding her and have I mentioned how much I love having my mom close by. She really is the BEST mom! Mia seemed a little unsure at first, but then she returned to smiling.

Mia has also started to scoot around. For example I lay her with her head on the left and then when I come back to the crib her head is on the right. She's really using her legs and arms to get her around. She's even rolled from her tummy to her back, but that doesn't happen as often.

Luisa has been doing really well. She is taking Singular and Claritan for the allergies and she has had a dry nose. Of course a dry nose doesn't mean a nose without those lovely little boogers. My dad often refers to picking your nose as being a pharmacist. As though you were making pills if you will. Fortunately, Luisa is no longer eating her pills. Although she does pick her nose she gets a tissue and wipes it on there. I haven't been able to get her to pick her nose with the tissue wrapped around her finger. Silly girl!! We'll get there eventually. Over the holidays she made a couple of memorable statements: "I'm not scared of Santa, I'm just afraid!" "Mom, we should say a prayer for Sara" (note Sara (my niece) lost her cell phone earlier in the day) and of course those random, "I love you, Mom!". I have to say going to church has really been a blessing for us. When Luisa made that statement about praying for Sara, my heart just melted. If she had asked for a pony right after that I would have gotten her 2 ponies!! She likes going to church because of the music I think. We attend the noon youth mass and I really like the priest. He makes a point during the homily and follows it up with "Amen?" and we should respond Amen! Luisa and I even keep up with the whole Amen thing later in the day, me: "We're going to have a great day, Amen?" Luisa: "Amen!" Luisa is all about spelling her name. We (Santa) got her a "computer" for Christmas and she loves spelling her name in the typing portion of the games. It's a Leap Frog Clickstart computer. Luisa has also been crazy about taking pictures of everything. She received a Fisher Price digital camera for Christmas from her Grandma Anna and she loves it. Here are a couple of pics from her camera ...a wee bit fuzzy, but with time she'll learn to stay still. She also received a few other prized gifts and she is enjoying them at her leisure. Luisa goes back to school on the 8th. Yeah!! :) We'll get back to crafting soon. And we need to send thank you notes.

As for me, there is A LOT of work to be done, soon enough it will get all done. I'm spending a couple of nights in Dallas and that should help out some. Jan 14th -15th...Jan 21st-22nd. Perhaps soon I'll send out pictures to everyone. My sister Rosie gave me a digital camera for Christmas.

My family has been great about helping me out as necessary. I've been fortunate to visit with a few girlfriends and life is good.

Have a great week!