Category: Family

Wed., Apr. 29th – I’d been anticipating the coming of April 29th probably even more than my birthday. On April 29th the Peñitas Walmart finally opened, which meant no more 30 minute trips to Sharyland for groceries or other necessities! It meant being able to go and buy milk, bread or any other things you may realize you need late at night. It meant faster trips and less headaches!

John and I’d made a date to go to the Grand Opening at 11:00am. Mom stayed with the girls while we went. (I can’t remember if I took Emily that morning or not.) There wasn’t much going on, so I figured we either missed everything or the events weren’t scheduled till later. We saw a few characters, like Elmo and Cookie Monster, the Twinkie guy, Hygeia Milk guy LOL, and a few others I can’t remember. We walked around, memorizing the new layout, trying out samples (we practically ate lunch there LOL) and of course, buying just a few things. They made a big ol’ deal about how this new Walmart was going to be a more “Hispanic” Walmart, which stirred up a bit of controversy of course, but the only big “Hispanic” difference was the new treat shop called “Flor de Michoacan”. They were supposedly going to be shipping Mexican products over here and selling them to keep business here instead of having people travel to Mexico, but I didn’t see any different products other than the few things in the “Latino” section LOL. It’s much brighter than the other Walmarts I’ve seen, the isles are much spacier, there’s an arcade (not that I’d let the boys wander off on their own), and the layout’s much more convenient. All toiletries, groceries, and cosmetics are on one side, while electronics, toys and housewares are on the other side. I really like it.

John and I went home and when I picked the kids up from school Mom, all the kids and I made another trip to Walmart so they could all check it out. All the festivities were over by the time we took the kids, which sucked. The only character the kids got to see was Chester Cheetah, and Alaethia was terrified of him. She screamed, “No! That’s not the Cheeto kitty!” when I was coaxing her to calm down.

Some NBA star was going to show up to sign autographs and a band was setting up outside, but we were all tired and the boys were getting antsy. So we just went home.

When Mario got home we made another trip to Home Depot to get a few more odds and ends for the living room, like the door knobs and deadbolts. We tried looking for Germ-X and masks, but like Walmart, they were completely sold out, too. Everyone was truly panicking over the swine flu.

We got home and I spent time with the girlies while searching for Re-ment stuff on Ebay. Ever since I saw Rachel’s Re-ment pics on Flickr, I became somewhat obsessed LOL. I’d ordered the Merry Strawberry Fondue set and once I had it in my hands it was all downhill. I want them ALL!

Mario and I chilled out on the patio waiting for Jason. We kept debating whether we should buy a mallet and a hand saw since Mario was having a difficult time installing the laminate wood floors without them the night before. Mario spoke to Jason, who just so happened to be at Walmart and he was picking up a saw for us. Adan, Aide and Belle came over and lent us their rubber mallet and Mario and I got started on the floors. We decided that no matter what, we were going to finish that night.

My job, aside from making sure we didn’t have any repeating wood-grain patterns, was to figure out how to lay the actual planks. Mario was the muscle who installed them. It took me a while, but my math skills finally kicked in and I figured out how to lay the planks without cutting too much and wasting the wood. In some rows we didn’t even have to cut anything away. I’m a genius!

We started around 10:00pm and finished around 2am. Mom, bless her, stayed watching Emily and Alaethia while we worked. Alaethia, out of nowhere, started sniffling and was moody. She stayed awake till we were done. We went straight to bed when we were done. We were exhausted but it paid off!

Right as I was tucking Alaethia into bed I remembered that I had laundry in the washing machine. I told her I’d be right back as she nodded off into sleep. I tossed the clothes into the dryer as quickly as possible because I had this weird feeling; a bad feeling. I ran inside and into my room and found poor Alaethia covered in vomit. I was thinking the worst: was this the dreaded swine flu? I wrapped up her sheets and placed a towel on her bed and the trash can next to it. I gave her a quick bath and I washed my hands and Lysoled everything. Just as I was wondering what the heck could have caused her to get sick, she started heaving again. I didn’t know what to do; she was so scared that she was swallowing desperately, trying not to throw up again. I couldn’t help but feel nauseous myself. I didn’t sleep very much that night worrying about her. She woke up two more times after that.

Thurs., Apr. 30th – Mario and I celebrated our 12-year “All Together Anniversary”. I couldn’t believe it’d been 12 years since that day he’d tried tricking me into telling him I liked him and he called me and asked, “Can I have a crush on you?” I still get all tingly thinking about it after all these years :).

I waited for the boys to get out of school and took Alaethia and Jaylen to the doctor. Alaethia hadn’t developed a fever, so that was good. Jaylen had a lingering cough and I didn’t know if it was allergies or not so I thought it best to take him in. I was so not looking forward to being at the doctor’s office for 3 hours like that last time, but it had to be done. At least I could start reading “Breaking Dawn”. That’s one thing I realized about being at the doctor’s office: that was when I’d actually get ahead in reading, I was there so long LOL.

I read while Jaylen and Alaethia played with the toys. I don’t usually like them to play with the toys there, because tons of other sick kids had been playing with them throughout the day, but I had an arsenal of antibacterial items since the whole Swine Flu thing.

Amazingly, we were only there for 40 minutes. Jaylen just had a slight cough and Alaethia didn’t have any type of flu (or cold or anything for that matter), so that was a big relief. I still wonder why she got sick, though?

Later that evening, Jason came over and I went with him and Mario (while Mom stayed with the girls, Mary had the boys) to the new Walmart. They got beer and munchies and I got some Jack Daniel’s Down Home Punch drinks. They were okay, but not as good as the watermelon ones. I can’t find those darn watermelon ones anywhere!

When we got back, we watched TV and I surfed the web while the girls slept. Then the guys (Mario, Jason, Adan) started playing Call of Duty 4, so that was my cue to go to bed LOL.

Sun., Apr. 26th – Mario and I got up as early as possible (at 8:30) and got ready. I called Mom to watch the girls and Eenan and Mario and I dropped Jaylen off at CFF. We went straight to Walmart to get the red paint for the flatscreen/entertainment wall and then to Home Depot, where we bought more joint compound for the texture on the walls, painting supplies and the taupe paint that’ll go throughout the rest of the living room. I can’t remember what else we bought, but it was, luckily, the last things we’d need to get the living room finished up.

We realized we were cutting it close, so I called my dad-in-law to please pick Jaylen up from CFF. He did and then at 11:30 I gathered the boys and we went to church. Yes. I finally made it to church after, what? A year? Awful, I know.

After church we went home, then I dropped Eenan off at CFF and Mario and his dad were already starting to work on the texture of the walls.

When I came back from picking Eenan up Big Mario had set a chair and table with my laptop on it in front of the windows in the nook. I. Loved. It. I could sit there and watch the kids playing on the deck! There was a nice breeze and I sat with Emily on my lap watching Alaethia blowing bubbles. It was the best.

Everything went so quickly! By the time I knew it, the texture was dry so I changed and helped Mario primer the walls. We ate lunch and then Mario went to take a nap. Jorge called about an hour & 1/2 into his nap and told us the Lumber Liquidators place, where he got his laminate hardwood floors, was having a huge sale. Mario got up in a flash and, all paint-spackled as we were, went to the place.

I couldn’t decide what color of laminate wood I liked and then we saw the perfect one. It took some doing, but the guy gave us a really good price! We had to buy 10 boxes; he gave us 5 for $1/sq. ft. and then the other 5 boxes he charged at $2.19/sq. ft. The original price was $2.79–we got a steal!

When we got back home I had the dreaded task of helping Eenan finish his castle model project. I don’t know why I say I “helped” him…I mostly did the darn thing on my own since I didn’t want him to burn his flesh off with the glue gun. We got all the walls glued in and then he had the task of painting it gray. We needed to get a brick pattern going on, so I cut a little square out of one of my new dish sponges and I had him blot the square into black paint and onto the walls in a brick pattern. It ended up looking really awesome. He had to get into bed at 9:30, but I stayed up finishing the details till midnight. I am SO GLAD that I’m not working anymore!

Mon., Apr. 27th – John invited me to Kumori so of course I said yes and got ready. Mom and Alaethia stayed at home happily watching Noggin while Emily went with John and me. I had my Fiesta roll and ordered an Omega roll for Mario and took it to him at work. I didn’t get to chat with him long since we were rushing to get everything done and pick up the boys on time.

We stopped by Walmart and one of the first things I did was pick out the nook wall color. Mario wanted cocoa brown, but all they had were reddish-brown colors. Still I ended up finding one I liked:

Since Mario wanted cocoa brown I got the Hershey’s syrup I already had in the cart and matched it up to the last one, Sienna Redwood LOL.

It took a while longer to shop around since they’re remodeling the store. I’m assuming it’s going to look a lot like the new one in Penitas. It was hard to find some stuff. Still, I finished up with the shopping and was thrilled that I stayed within my budget!

Emily woke up and started grunting for her bottle as I was paying. She usually does that. I tried fumbling for my wallet and making her bottle until I made John take over. At least she didn’t scream her head off like the last time!

We got home and I unloaded the car, put the perishables away and went off to get the boys. As I was sitting with them watching TV I started feeling a little more and more nervous about the swine flu. Everyone was panicking. I couldn’t even find little bottles of Germ-X at the check-out and I think two cases had already been confirmed in Starr County. Or was it Cameron. Either way, both counties are in the Valley and that was just too close for comfort.

I ripped myself away from CNN so that I could start cooking. I stuck Emily in her sling and cooked and did laundry just fine. My back was hurting a bit by the time I was done, so I handed her over to Mom and washed dishes.

John came over before I was even done with dishes to print a report at Mary’s. Dork kept talking in a Forrest Gump voice and telling me, “Hurry up…Jannay,” because my middle name’s Jannet and he thought it was hilarious. So I started calling him John-nay LOL.

I was running all over the place doing stuff for the kids and Mario and I finally, 3 hours after I made dinner, got to sit down to eat.

I chilled out watching TV and surfing the ‘net that evening with the girls. Mario was off somewhere, probably outside with Adan or at Adan’s. Alaethia came up to me and asked me for milk. When I said she could have some and got up to pour her some she said, “Thanks. You’re a super good friend, Mom.” She says the cutest things, that girl!

Tues., Apr. 28th – Mario was off that day. We woke up late, as usual and Mom was already chilling out outside. She offered to watch the girls since we needed to go to Home Depot, yet again.

First we stopped at WB though, since we hadn’t eaten breakfast or lunch. I ordered a WB Jr. with bacon and cheese. I couldn’t eat in peace since the darn bacon smelled weird. Mario said it smelled fine. I pulled most of it out and prayed that I wouldn’t get sick with food poisoning.

When we were on our way to Home Depot I texted John to ask him WTF was up with the stinky bacon at his workplace. All he texted back was: “I tell you not to eat there” LOL

We got to Home Depot and went straight to the lamps and lighting. We needed a nice lamp for the nook area and we found the perfect one. It was actually two of them for $14.87!

We looked around and I fell in love with the bathroom lights I want to install when we re-do the bathroom…again.

We got the rest of the stuff we needed, mostly painting supplies, and went home. I picked the boys up and Mario stayed behind installing all the outlet covers and so on.

Emily had woken up with a little bit of congestion that morning out of nowhere. By the afternoon the cold was progressively worse so I decided to take her in to the doctor before she really couldn’t breathe well at night.

As I’m driving into the parking lot I think, “Shit!” I don’t ever think I’d seen the parking lot that full of cars, and I’ve gone to the doctor when it’s packed. I was lucky to get the last parking space. I walk in and my friend Elisa’s at reception. She puts her hand on her hip and says, “You’re not here because of Swine Flu, are you?” I laugh and tell her no, that Emily just has a cold, no fever. It hits me; no wonder the doctor’s office was packed! Everyone there thought they had swine flu!!

I had Emily in her car seat and the car seat on my lap since there wasn’t any space on the bench I was sitting on to set it down. As heavy as it was, there was no way I was going to put the car seat with her on the floor because there were kids running around everywhere. This woman next to me, with three little girls, kept telling her (mucusy) kids to look at the baby. So of course they began putting their hands into the car seat to touch her. I almost hissed and told them to back off because she was sick, because apparently none of them thought that they were. When I’d finally had enough I texted Mario to please bring me Emily’s sling. I hadn’t brought it with me because it had been in the dryer. He brought it to me and helped me lug all my bags and the car seat to the car and helped me with Emily while I got her in the sling. I couldn’t thank him enough. I’d only taken out the most important things from my bag, left it in the car and only took Emily in the sling, her diaper bag and my book. Much better. And you can bet the kids didn’t try sticking their hands in the sling!

It was the longest wait ever. I even finished Eclipse while I was there! Emily was the very last patient, even though I was 4th to the last to sign in. Apparently the 3 people behind me had kids with fevers so they were taking them in first. We didn’t end up leaving the office till 6:20. They close at 5:30!

Mario had painted the nook wall with the brown color while we were gone. Although it wasn’t the paint we’d originally envisioned for that space, it came out looking pretty sweet.

Mario tried rounding up some of his friends to start installing the wood floors, but of course that didn’t happen. It makes my blood boil. Mario is always going above and beyond for his friends when they need help with stuff, no matter what it is, but when he needs something, are they there? That’s a big NO. He hates it when someone calls him up asking for help and I start bitching that he shouldn’t help them because of this or that. I hate being so mean and cynical, but I already know how some of his “friends” are after all these years. That’s just how Mario is, though. He’s nice. He wants to be there for people. I just wish some people would feel the same way about him!

The only person who did show up was Chris. He helped Mario install a part of the floor, about 3 rows since it was really late. Somehow–even though Mario works 10-12 hour days–we were going to finish up that floor that week.

Thurs., Apr. 23rd – I woke up in the morning and told myself Today is the day! You’re going to watch what you eat and get healthy again! I went into my school-supply stash and pulled out a spiffy new notebook to document what I was eating, kind of like Weight Watchers. Actually, I even pulled out my Weight Watchers booklet, and tried remembering little meal plans from my semi-diabetic days, because back then–when I was really watching what I ate–was when I started losing weight.

But that only lasted about 3 days.

Until I can get my sleeping schedule to one of normalcy (which means sleeping early and waking up before 11a.m.), there’s no way I’ll be able to “eat right”. I get so busy during the day with the girls and now with remodeling and cleaning all the time that I even forget to eat lunch sometimes. If it’s before dinner and I remember that I’m hungry I’ll pop a Ramen into the microwave or
I’ll reach for the nearest junkfood. This is reminding me of my days working in the library and skipping meals/eating too much junkfood. If I don’t watch myself I’m going to end up diabetic again!

Anyway, the boys had Report Card Night that evening so I left Alaethia with Mom and took Emily with me. I expected to be there at least 2 1/2 hours like we usually are but it went much faster that night. I had yet another conversation with Eenan’s teacher about his “bully”. He’d punched Eenan in the back this time. I told her that the counselor still hadn’t spoken to them like I’d requested over a month ago so Eenan had every right to defend himself and he better not get in trouble for it since obviously nobody’s doing anything about it during recess and P.E. She’s already done all she can and can’t really discipline him since it doesn’t happen in the classroom. She said to go straight to the principal. I don’t really feel like talking to the principal since the last time I had that little spat with her over the kids’ perfect attendance, but I really have no choice.

I finally saw who the bully’s mo is, and–sorry to say–I’m not surprised the kid’s a bully. She’s one of those parents who doesn’t care what goes on in school. And I’m not just making assumptions, I’ve heard from teachers themselves.

It took forever waiting in line to speak with Jaylen’s teacher, as usual. Jaylen started playing with his friend and his friend’s little sister shook Emily’s rattle for her and talked to me. She spoke beautiful, fluent Spanish and took me by surprise when she asked me in English that was just as fluent, “Do you speak English?” I told her, “Yes, I do. And you speak English very well, too.” She nodded and said, “My mom only speaks Spanish.” I smiled at her and said, “You can teach her!”

That’s one of the reasons I think it’s awesome that one parent’s primary language is Spanish: their kids speak it fluently and then pick up English from another parent or in school. Everyone here at home speak English primarily, so the kids don’t understand a lick of Spanish! I used to be fluent in Spanish as a kid also, when Dad lived with us. Once he moved out though, I slowly began to forget words and now I have a lot of trouble trying to articulate my thoughts in Spanish. I really need to look up ways to teach the kids while they can still absorb info like sponges.

Anyway, the boys are both doing great in school. Perfect attendance, all A Honor Roll. Eenan still rushes through his work, but his teacher always brags about how smart he is and how she expects nothing less than a 90, especially in math. Jaylen’s doing brilliantly and is in charge of Row Call in the morning and is reading and RR Testing at a 3rd grade level (he’s in 1st grade). His teacher says she knows he’s capable of even 4th grade, but doesn’t want to push it yet. I couldn’t even get some of my 8th graders (when I was working) to read 3rd grade level! I got a little lump in my throat when she sighed and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever have another student quite like Jaylen.” Aww *sniff*.

We went over to Mary’s when we got home, ate, and then started working on Eenan’s Castle in the Attic castle model again. We got pretty far on it. I hot-glued the “carpet” in the Great Hall and the “grass” in the courtyard, which were pieces of fabric we bought from Walmart. It’s turning out pretty good!

I spent the rest of the night just chilling out. Mario was outside with the guys while I held Emily and uploaded pictures to Flickr and made a wallpaper of the girls at 2 months. I never realized just how much they look alike! Even Mario had mistaken one of Alaethia’s pictures for Emily LOL.

Fri., Apr. 24th – Emily turned two months old!

And Alaethia turned 2 years, 3 months old! It was time for Emily’s 2 month vaccines so, as much as I was dreading it, I had to get ready to pick up the boys, drop them off with Mom and endure a 2-3 hour wait at the doctor’s office. I arrived at the doctor’s office…and it’s closed. I’d called to ask earlier if it was open and they said yes…and then I realized they were talking about the Mission office. The calls must have been forwarded over there. Gah.

I was smart this time and took my book, remembered my Centro, took only my important stuff in the diaper bag and took my Hugamonkey sling to carry Emily in. When I got off the car and walked through the lobby to sign her in, everyone just stared at me. Half of the people probably thought I was weird and the other half’s expressions showed that they thought it was the most genius thing ever, which it is. Emily slept the entire time in the sling and I got to read and finish Eclipse.

They took us in and weighed her. 9 lbs. 12 oz. All the girls took turns carrying her and saying how cute she was and making a big fuss about my sling.

And then they gave her the shots. It broke my heart to hear her scream that way but she thankfully calmed down quickly. I gave her Tylenol as soon as we got home and she was fine for a while. It wasn’t till night time that she became fussy.

I rocked her while I browsed through Ebay. It’d been a while since I’d actually searched for stuff on it. I bought myself some Macro lenses for my Kodak Z650 and I also bought a new Re-ment set and the 7th book in the Georgia Nicholson series with the cash my dad-in-law gave me for my birthday. I got a familiar giddy feeling thinking of the packages I was going to receive. Too bad it would take the lenses a while to get here since they were coming from Hong Kong with free shipping :(.

We stayed in that night and watched My Best Friend’s Girl, which I liked much better than I thought I would. Adan came over and watched the movies with us. When we left, Mario and I started watching Marley and Me, but we only watched half before we got tired and went to bed.

Sat., Apr. 25th – I was going to have tons of stuff to do that day and I was not looking forward to it. I woke up to make Mario’s breakfast and was going to set the coffee pot, but decided against it. I went back to bed for a while. By the time the girls and I woke up it was 10:30 and I still didn’t feel like getting up and going. We got ready, slowly, and left the house around 1:30. There was no way I’d have time to go to Walmart and grocery shop. We only had a chance to go visit Gramma for a while.

I rushed home, dropped the boys off with Mom, then Mary, the girls (who wore matching dresses) and I picked up Noelia. She looked so pretty in the dress she wore. She’s been feeling much better from the U.C. and is much happier now, too. It’s good to see her like that.

We got to Darla’s bridal shower early. It was being held at Macarena and Gordo’s house, Mario’s cousins, not far from where Noelia and Andy live. The house is beautiful. I fell in love with their outdoor kitchen. It was small, but what I imagine a future outdoor grill looking like at our home. We’ve already got the party porch ;). I wanted to take a picture of it but felt embarrassed.

I didn’t win any of the games, not even the purse scavenger hunt which I usually win because I’d just cleaned out my bag. Darn.

We didn’t stay long since we had Vicky’s 1st birthday party to go to also. Both parties were at the exact same time. So we said our goodbyes to the relatives, dropped Noelia off and drove across The Valley to get to the party.

Mom and the boys had ridden along with Elda. They fought the entire time we were there, mostly over their video games. Emily was passed around and Alaethia was busy playing with Matthew and Angela, so it was nice to get a little time to myself, even if it was for 15 minutes.

We’d arrived when the kids had already hit the piñata so the kids were happily bombarded with candies. We ate, then went inside to sing “Happy Birthday” to Vicky and had some cake.

We helped clean up a little and then we came home. Mario was just arriving when we got here. He did a few things outside–can’t remember if it was directly related to the new living room or not–and then Nancy and Chris came over to visit. I was washing dishes so Mom was watching Emily. She was crying inconsolably and Mom couldn’t figure out how to calm her. Nancy asked her if she could hold her (she works at a daycare) and as Mom passed her into Nancy’s arms Emily just magically stopped crying, just like that! I couldn’t help but think what an awesome mom Nancy would be. She’s so patient. But she and Chris have been trying all these years and still haven’t conceived.

We talked and caught up while she held a happy Emily and I washed dishes in the kitchen. Again, like she always did with Alaethia, Nancy told me to call her up if I ever needed help with the baby. I’m blessed to have so many awesome ladies willing to watch my adorable girls…but I still feel guilty and never call them up LOL.

After Chris and Nancy left we got in bed. We had to be up early the next morning. Mary was going to be at a Confirmation retreat with Yazmin at the church, so I had to be up early to pick up and drop the boys off at CFF. Mario was also planning to go to Home Depot so we could get more stuff for the new living room. I can’t wait till this whole project is finished!