Category: Daily

I stalled and stalled all of Monday (the 7th); I didn’t want to go grocery shopping. It was still raining on and off outside and my mood matched the weather. I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch and read. I finished with all 7 Confessions of Georgia Nicholson books and I started reading My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult and found out it’s going to be a movie next year!

John came over and I asked him to go with me. Mom would watch the kids. Awesome. Because going grocery shopping with the kids is never a walk in the park and I wasn’t looking forward to this in the first place.

While we’re driving I joke with John to remind me to buy a pregnancy test because I’m still late. 16 days, in fact. The same thing happened back in February so I was convinced that it was my sudden halt in taking the birth control (since I’d run out in June). All the other times I’ve been late I’ve taken a pregnancy test and it was negative, and like magic I’d get my period the next day. I was going for the same effect this time!

We do all the shopping and with legs that feel like noodles I walk into that isle and get a pregnancy test; the cheapest one you can find.

I see Mario’s cousin and she’s got less stuff to pay for than I do, so I let her in before me in line and hastily toss boxes around to cover the pregnancy test. Last thing I need are rumors!

As we’re putting the food on the conveyor belt I realize I’ve gotten a ridiculous amount of ramen noodles. I’m not even supposed to have those. I ask John, “Why’d I get so many of these?” and he leans in and whispers, “Because you’re pregnant!”

I punch him and hiss, “Shut up! Not funny!” and turn to check if Mario’s cousin heard anything. No, she’s already walking away.

We get home and I put all the food away. Mom’s actually at her house for once. The boys are quietly playing with Alaethia in their bedroom so I grab the pregnancy test and take my chance.

I’m shaking and my stomach is flipping uncontrollably. I’m telling myself I know this thing’s going to be negative, but there’s always that teensy chance it might not be. Besides, I’d gone back and tracked my cycle and my days of ovulation and we didn’t do anything on my most fertile days.

I take a deep breath, exhale and do what needs to be done. I set the stick on some toilet paper on the floor and stare at it.

And right before my eyes–and I’m being so serious, this happened in like, 1 second–I see a plus sign.

With shaking hands and racing heart I go over the pamphlet–DAMMIT! One straight line and one plus sign mean “pregnant”, no matter how light the plus sign is. I look at the stick. Shit. That thing is blue as the sky.

I succumb to the news. I’m going to have another baby. I sat there on the toilet seat and cried for a little bit.

I had no idea what to do. I just sat there in the silence, feeling like my world was caving in around me. I didn’t know who to call, especially because I knew the test was wrong. I didn’t even have symptoms! Well, except for that weird wave of nausea the night before, but I was sure it was the food. I need a new test. That thing appeared too quickly. There has to be something wrong with it.

I text John, because he’s the only one I’ve told anything to, and I’m rambling on and on, telling him how something must be wrong with it. He replies with, “I don’t understand you.”

I’m so annoyed I type back, “I HATE YOU!”

Yes, I was that emotional.

I’m pacing about, and finally decide to call Mary. Its 4:22…she’ll be out of work soon. She can get me a new, working test! So I call and tell her everything. She gets excited, but retains it a little since she knows I’m freaking out. She says she’s stopping by Walgreens so she’ll get one from there.

I check on the kids to see how they’re doing and Jaylen’s happily playing with Alaethia. He’s always so good with her. I feel all warm inside and ask him, “How do you feel about having another brother or sister someday?” He looks up, thinks for a few seconds and nods, “I feel good!”

Mary gets here seconds later with the test. I’d already drank another 16 oz. bottle of water and am ready to take it.

This one forms as quickly as the other one. I yell, “Oh My GOD!” And Mary’s already shrieking and gives me a huge hug. Mom comes in and asks what’s going on. I show her the test. Her eyes get big and she points to Alaethia, who’s standing by innocently, and says, “Another one?!” I nod yes. She looks at her again and asks, “Another one?!” I tell her, “Yes, Mom, another one.” My mom, who always has a way with words says, “Aww, Alaethia’s so little. And you were just starting to lose weight!” Gee, thanks, Mom! She eventually says, “Oh good! I’m happy for you!”

We call the boys in and I ask them, “Do you know what these are,” and I bring the sticks in front of me. Eenan’s eyes are the first to widen and asks, “Are you pregnant?”

I nod and say, “You guys are having another brother or sister!” They both start jumping up and down and Eenan rushes forward and wraps his arms around me. Jaylen comes forward and rubs my stomach and says, “I love the baby!”

They made me feel a bit better :).

My dad-in-law comes over and stands in the doorway. Mary says, “We have some news. You’re going to be a Grandpa again!” He grabs a bag of Fritos and starts munching quickly, just staring at me. He even drops a few LOL. At that exact moment the phone rings.

Oh my God. How was I going to break this to Mario. The last time we had a scare (in February) it didn’t go too well.

He says, “Hey, I’m on my way home.”

Everyone in the background is screaming and laughing about the news. Before he hears it from someone I quickly say, “Guess what? You’re going to be a Daddy again!”

He says, “You’re shitting me.”

“No, I’m not. I took two tests.”

He’s silent for a while then says, “Okay. Call Maggie too see if she’s there so I can pick up my camera. I’ll be there in a bit.”

And that was it. I was so nervous.

Mary was calling everyone she knew. And everyone was being so nice about it. I was smiling on the outside, freaking out on the inside.

Mario gets home and goes straight to our house. Doesn’t even go over to Mary’s, where everyone is visiting. I come home and ask him, “So, what do you think?”

He says, “What can we do, right? Let’s just go from here.”

My, he was calm. But he also bought a 6-pk of beer. It made me a little nervous just how calm he was.

He’s looking for Carrie Underwood’s video All-American Girl, because the lyrics remind him of Alaethia.

As I’m standing behind him everything hits me all at once:

♥ Alaethia’s so young. I feel like I’m cheating her out of her time with me. I feel incredibly guilty.
♥ I know nothing about what my insurance covers concerning prenatal care.
♥ How am I going to take care of a 2 year old and new born?
♥ I at least spent 6 whole months with Alaethia. I’m only getting about 3 months (counting summer) with the new baby.
♥ How will I work?! Mom can barely watch Alaethia, much less two!
♥ OMG. I’ve had at least 1 alcoholic drink a day for the past week!
♥ And then I feel guiltier. What if something bad happens to the new baby because I’m being so ungrateful for this blessing?

As the song starts to play and I hear the lyrics and start bawling. Uncontrollably. I can’t help it. Mario asks, “Why are you crying, Babe?” I tell him my feelings about Alaethia and the drinking and everything. Mary walks in and sees me crying and asks, “What happened!” Without missing a beat Mario raises his hands up and says, “I didn’t do it!”

I go back to Mary’s once I compose myself and start talking with everyone. Everyone’s already asking about who’ll Baptize the baby, what names are we thinking of, and what if we have twins! Or triplets!

Mario announces it on his Myspace that same night. I scold him, because now I have to tell the girls before they see it on his profile and I so wanted to tell them in person over dinner! I call Sally first, and of course she’s got nothing but encouraging words. Pete even calls later and congratulates us :). I message Karina and Carmen and tell them the news. Mayra and Ricci call me later during the week and are so excited and offering nothing but kind, encouraging words. Paul and Norma see Mario’s status and come over that same night with their kiddos to congratulate us. I text Maggie and she’s happy for us, too, and in just as much shock as I am!

I can hardly sleep that night. I tossed and turned like crazy. When I woke up the next day I was still in shock, but I told myself–like everyone else had been telling me–that everything happens for a reason and things would work out. Everyone else was happy for me, why couldn’t I be? A baby’s a blessing, no matter what time they decide to make an appearance in your life :).

Title courtesy of Mayra ;).

I dropped Mario off at work on Saturday (the 5th), deposited his paycheck, and went directly across the parking lot to Big Lots. I still needed to get a gift for Gramma for her birthday (which was the day before on the 4th) and she had already told us before that she didn’t want anymore clothes because they didn’t fit in her wardrobe nor did she want anymore trinkets. I had the perfect solution: some plastic Sterilite drawers for inside her wardrobe since the nurses just toss all her stuff down there and it’s a mess.

Jaylen was throwing a spectacular fit because he work up too early. He’s already 6 and still throws these fits. He wouldn’t put on his shoes and then he’d open the car door and shut it again. It took all the strength I had not to drag him out across the parking lot into the store. I couldn’t anyway because I was carrying Alaethia. He finally decided to come out through Alaethia’s side and climbed into a cart.

We took about an hour in there. The plan was no more than 15 minutes since we already knew what we were buying. Well, Mom hung around with me and didn’t look for anything till the last minute and Alaethia and Jaylen kept changing their mind about what to buy. And then of course my body wandered off into the scrapbooking section so I ended up with two packs of cute ribbon. So we spent an hour in there.

We get in line and I look out the window. It’s pouring outside. We pay and I tell Mom to stay with the kids while I run and get the car so they won’t get wet. I can’t believe my eyes as I’m approaching the Equinox. The door behind the driver’s side is wide open…and the seat’s soaked. The first thing I think is that someone broke in, but the TVs, kids’ stuff, everything was still in there. And then I remember….Jaylen’s fit. He didn’t close the door right!

Had it not been raining I don’t think I would have had a car when I went back out. Especially on that side of town where car theft is quite common. God was on my side, definitely.

I made two payments and then we visited Gramma. The first thing she says when we show her her gifts is, “Why did you bother? I don’t need anything!” But when I finish organizing her wardrobe she’s extremely happy. We realize she’s missing some sets of clothes and a blanket Aunt Nora gave her but we figure every thing’s in the laundry.

We rush home because we have a party to attend with Mary for Noelia’s friend’s son. It’s still pouring, but we make the trip anyway. The kids having fun running all over the place playing games and getting on rides. Alaethia’s satisfied with the mess she’s made with her food. It was Carb City and I must admit I was naughty, especially with the spinach pizza and Parmesan oil pasta.

Andy and Noelia met us there and they told us how they’d gone to the outlets in Mercedes and there were tons of sales. We were going to go straight over there from the party but we had the kids with us and Jaylen was still in his mood. So we drop them off with Mom and were going to meet Andy and Noelia in the parking lot of Pier 1. I’d never actually gone in there since it’s so darn expensive but they were having a sale! I was looking for something small and green, a figure, to go on my black shelves, since all I had on them were pictures. I found this cute, chubby green bird and it was the exact same shade as my sofas. I need to go back and get ideas for my kitchen; I’ve still got the cherry theme going on and am ready for a change. But I need a fabric as my inspiration since I need to re-cover my chairs.

Our first stop when we get to the outlets is the Children’s Place. They’re having this huge sale: most of the toddler clothing was $1.99! Mary got her a few things and we found some awesome sales for the boys, too. Most of their shirts were from $2.99-6.99. Now they just need pants!

We figured Mario wouldn’t be out till 8pm, but at 6:30 he calls that he’s out already. Great! Poor Andy goes all the way to Mario’s work to pick him up and goes back since we were in 1 car. Mario got some new Sketchers for work at the Sketcher’s outlet. I’m totally going back for the boys’ shoes there! They love Sketchers.

Mario was in a hurry because the UFC fight was on that night and we were going to meet Jorge, Maggie and the gang at Fanatics to watch it, so he was rushing us of course. We get home around 8:30 (the first fight started at 9pm) so Mario’s annoyed. We get dressed really quickly, kiss the kids and go.

Maggie had given us the wrong street so it took us a while to find it. Mario was livid. But I knew he wouldn’t turn back and go back home because 1) we’d come too far, 2) think of he gas!, and 3) he didn’t want to miss this fight.

We sit with everyone and I make a few bathroom runs with Judith and Maggie. I don’t know who brings it up, but we realize that none of us have gotten our periods yet. Argh. I don’t want to think about it. Neither does Maggie. Judith does, she’d like another little one.

Sally calls a few minutes before the main fight starts. She’s going to join us, yay! Maggie and I’d ordered panchos since we’d first gotten there and they were barely bringing them to us. Grr. Sally gets there and we get up to order some drinks. I get a frozen strawberry Margarita that’s incredibly watered down. Bleh.

I don’t remember much of the fight since we were all talking, but we had a great night. Sally was going home and Jorge and Maggie were going home so we went home, too. Mario ended up staying at Chris’ with his Nino and I came home. All the nights of staying up late were catching up with me.

Mario worked on Sunday, which sucked. We stayed home all day while I cleaned and uploaded pictures to Flickr at the same time. It was about damn time, too. I’ve been, as you’ve probably noticed, editing/uploading old entries that I started and never published. For dinner that night Mom ordered a botana from El Pato. Mario and I stayed up watching movies; Aly fell asleep. I started feeling really ill, like my stomach was upset. Stupid food. I’d been wanting Flamin’ Hot Fries all day but I didn’t let the stomach ache stop me. I felt fine a few minutes later, thank goodness.

I dreaded the next day. I was going to have to do everything I didn’t do Sunday, like grocery shopping >_<.

(Mon. June 30th) – Spent most of the day lazying around with the kids. Andy and Noelia invited us to their house for a bar-b-q. We ate (and I had this awesome Jack Daniel’s pink lemonade drink) and just hung out the rest of the night with them. Mary and Jorge were leaving and, since Mario was going to install Noelia’s radio into the Sentra, the kids left with them.

The men stayed outside and Noelia and I went inside to look at her photo book and got on Ancestry.com to look at Noelia’s family tree. Very interesting! I need to start updating mine.

(Tue. July 1st) – Can’t remember much of what we did during the day (man, my brain’s really turned to mush lately! I can’t remember anything!) It was Maggie’s birthday that day. She’d told us the Friday before that she wanted us all to go over, so I got ready. I caller her up to see if we were still on but she told me her mom was unfortunately at the hospital. We already had sitters (Mom had Alaethia, Mary had the boys) so we called up Adan to go to Whiskey’s. We get there and Mario had forgotten his ID at home so we go back to get it.

There’s hardly anyone there and there’s no kareoke going on. Phooey. I’d been craving a Piña Colada so I got one. It was alright. The best Piña Colada I’ve had so far has been from the Blue Shell restaurant, hands down. But it was good. Mario and Adan played pool most of the night and although they asked me to play a few times, I felt really tired and sleepy but didn’t want to ruin their fun so I just sat at the table surfing the web on my phone. I caught up on reading some blogs, so I can’t say I had a horrible time LOL.

(Wed. July 2nd) – We met Mary at the Carmike theatre and watched Wall-E. I am so in love with that movie! It was the sweetest, ever. I hope they make Wall-E and Eve plushes…I’m totally getting them!

We went to Wal-Mart in the evening to get a few things and print out some pictures for Dad from the Kodak kiosk. Of course we get there right at 8pm and they turned off the machines because the photo place is closed. Grr. We drive over to Target and get them there. 28 pictures for almost $7 isn’t bad, but I would have much rather ordered them on Winkflash.com if I’d had more time.

(Thurs. July 3) – We left around 12pm to visit Dad. Mom went with us again, even against our protests. We told her not to because she was rude the last time but she insisted on going. Fine, whatever. We stayed for a few hours talking about the big Digital TV thing next February, the kids, stories from when I was a baby, and I even got some info about his side of the family for my family tree. We ordered pizza for lunch. And he loved the pictures we printed for him.

We stopped by Mr. G’s Fireworks warehouse in Alamo and got $45 worth of fireworks. Mom got another $30. The kids were set. Maggie calls just as we’re leaving and invites me to go to Mexico with her and Judith; they wanted to buy bottles. I say sure, I can get a few packs of birth control while I’m there, since I didn’t get to buy them before Natalie’s Quinceañera since they didn’t end up going to Mexico. Mario drops me off. We stop at ATM’s to get money and go. They get three bottles to celebrate Maggie’s birthday and I get the birth control and some cigarettes for Mario, since they’re $2.50 over there.

Once you buy the bottles the cashier gives you a slip of paper and a delivery guy takes the bottles to you by bike to the bridge (I’m still not sure why they do that). Well, we had some trouble getting ahold of the bottles. We had to go back to the store to ask what was going on. We finally get the bottles and make the semi-confusing trip around the bridge back to the US. While we’re waiting in line Judith quickly tells me to switch places because she can’t drive (for a reason) and so we switch. I feel weird when I first drive others’ vehicles, but I drove all the way home.

I stayed with Judith at her apartment where she got ready and Maggie went home to shower. I felt so uncomfortable and sweaty LOL.

As I was waiting for Judith I noticed the Mission yearbooks were stacked on one of her shelves so I flipped through the 10th grade one. I was in there, but thankfully I didn’t look that bad LOL. As I was going through the pictures I realized I hardly remember anyone. It’s kind of sad, really, but I was so consumed with my relationship with Mario that I didn’t care if I had friends back then. Especially because the friends I had made at the time had all either backstabbed me or just disappeared. So I learned to keep my distance.

We went to Maggie’s and Mario was already there. Us girls went to Wal-Mart to get a few things (like chips, dips and stuff to make Margaritas with) and got some McDonald’s to eat. We ate at Maggie’s and just when Mario had finally come in and was about to sit and eat his dad calls him and asks if he can pick him up and take him home. He does that, then finally goes back and eats. We hung out till pretty late just talking outside. The girls shared with each other how we’re all “late” and how we’re freaking out.

On the way home Mario tells me he’s had a great time his whole vacation. I tell him I have, too, because it’s great having him home and spending so much time together, like the good ol’ days when I was a housewife. He asks, “Hey, did you ever get your…you know?” I had already mentally tracked my cycle while the girls and I were talking about it and there was no way. I figured I was just late for some reason, probably because I’d stopped taking the pills so abruptly since I ran out. We were both a little more at ease.

(Fri. July 4th!) – We wake up the morning of 4th of July and it’s POURING. So much so that these little guys made an appearance:

The first thing I think is So much for the fireworks! We didn’t let it dampen our festivities, though. We had to get creative, like rolling the grill under the side porch, but we made it work for the most part. The boys put on their water shoes and ran all over the driveway in the rain and even had a mud fight (which I had no idea was going on or else I’d put a stop to it!). Alaethia was loving the water and being carried around by her Bimpa. Mom, Mary, Jorge, Mario and I were all sitting around chatting. I’d been wanting a Chelada for a while, so Mario prepared one for me. It was so good!

The girls were all inside, nice and dry, and the guys were outside chilling out and making the food. Well, Mario was. He’s always appointed the cook because he’s so good at it.

It was Gramma’s birthday, but the weather was so bad and we had no idea how bad it was in McAllen, so we didn’t go visit her. I felt horrible all day, but I made a vow to see her the next day.

It was also Natalie’s birthday, so we celebrated with cake after the bar-b-q. We sat around talking for the remainder of the day, since it never stopped raining. We thought for sure we wouldn’t be able to pop any fireworks, but there was this nice gap when it was only drizzling and the kids started popping them. Alaethia was terrified at first and was clinging onto me, then to Mary, then to Big Mario and then to Elda.

By the end of the night she was perfectly fine and clapping.

Once we were done sweeping up we left Aly with Mom, Eenan with Mary and took Jaylen with us to Jorge and Maggie’s. They invited us over for burgers. The burgers were delicious! We sat around a while and Judith asked me to go with her to her apartment to get a bottle and the stuff for the Margaritas. She made some AWESOME Margaritas. It was like eating a raspa. We sat outside and talked and then Judith’s friend stopped by so we went inside. They’d been friends since high school and were telling us about all the crazy things they’d done as teens up to now. I was slurping down my Margarita like crazy, until my lips felt like I’d eaten a pound of sunflower seeds. I had to stop!

As we’re getting into bed we realize that it’s Mario’s official last night off. Back to work the next day. I was so sad. I wish we were millionaires and we could just stay home with our kids and enjoy each other and spend our days together. We totally needed this vacation. It reminded me just how wonderful it is to be married to him :).