Category: Health

Keeping Myself Busy, Away From Shopping

Got out of the shower a while ago and am now backing up my photos from December 2006 until now. I had this weird feeling, especially now that our Norton’s expired, that something bad might happen to my computer — like getting a virus — and I’d lose my precious photos. I’ve had it happen to me way too many times and I’ve learned my lesson!

Alaethia’s asleep right now (the boys have been asleep since 9:30, late for them even) and Mario’s out helping Eddie with something. I should be in bed too, taking advantage of her early nap, but this is my quiet time. Now I shall try and type as fast as I can since I probably just jinxed myself and she’ll be up any second!

It’s the start of a new week and the boys are already tired of school. They keep complaining more and more each morning but I keep trying to instill hope in them by counting down how many weeks of school are left. They don’t care.

I’ve been running on four hours of sleep all day. Alaethia didn’t fall asleep till 2:30am last night, it was awful. I skipped my morning nap with her completely in order to get my checkbook balanced. I hadn’t balanced it since March 9th — eek! We’re about $100 less than I hoped we were, but oh well. I was close.

I filled out the kids’ insurance renewals, which are a bit late. I hope I don’t have trouble turning them in. I was supposed to have sent them in 15 days after I received the letter but it’s been well over a month. I hate when I procrastinate!

Great. The darn CD drive won’t spit my Photo CD back out. It goes from showing me the green “Occupied” light to an angry red one when I push Eject. Stupid thing. I guess I’ll continue with my back ups tomorrow. *sigh*

I had a nice to-do list typed up, just so that I could stay on track.

1. Balance Checkbook
2. Fill out, have Mario sign, and have Mary fax boys’ insurance renewal.
3. Make copies of Saturday night’s pics for Yoanna, Jannet, and Mayra.
4. Go through cabinets and drawers in kitchen – get rid of stuff for garage sale.
5. Take Jaylen’s Jeep and toddler bed to storage.
6. Back up all December through March pictures onto CDs (- half-way done!)

1. Blog
2. Upload Matthew’s birthday pics
3. Scrapbook
4. Read

At least I’m doing 2 of the things on my 2nd, personal little list. I only got to read a chapter, but it’s all good. I’m reading Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, which I can totally relate to. Just today — after John, Alaethia and I picked Jaylen up from school and went to Target — I was tempted by so many wonderful things and was creating justifications in my mind for why buying the things I wanted was okay! They were on sale!

But — and I’m so proud of myself — I held back, and with shaking hands placed everything back on the shelves and away from my debit card. So many scrapbooking things on sale *gulp*, but at least I don’t feel my heart sinking when I’m looking at my checkbook and most purchases were made by me, heh.

John finally got himself a damn TV. That’s why we went. We drove straight to my storage unit and got a whole bunch of junk out so that I could sort through it for the garage sale. I was so pumped about doing this garage sale, especially because I need want to get the boys some new dressers, a new microwave and new TV Table/entertainment center. All of our stuff is almost as old as how long we’ve been married — which will be 8 incredible years tomorrow :). After picking Eenan up from school and after he did his homework, I took both the boys to their room and we looked through every last toybox they had so they could get rid of old toys. They got rid of one tiny box, and that was it. The rest of the stuff is brand-new, so it’s not like I could force them to get rid of anything. We spent money on them!

Alaethia slept while we sorted through boxes and only woke up about 10 minutes before we were done. I think, for now, I’ll wait on the garage sale. It’s not like we absolutely need the dressers, microwave, or TV table. My eyes have been offended by our current ones’ terrible sight this long — what’s a few more weeks or months?

Oooh! And I received the pictures I ordered from Winkflash this afternoon so I cannot WAIT to start scrapbooking! I’m so excited :)!

It’ll be soothing to the awful cramps I will soon be subjected to. It was a glorious month and 2 weeks without a period, so I’m bracing myself for the pain I’m about to endure. I feel pain at the tops of my legs already, which is a weird thing that happens to me when that time of the month is creeping up.

Alaethia has her 2 month appointment tomorrow, for sure this time. They’re going to poke and prod my little baby! And I’ve been wanting to get her ears pierced too, but I need to make an appointment at the boys’ doctor’s office since they numb the ears and everything. I can’t believe she’s 2 months already! I was looking through pictures from last year yesterday and it was weird seeing pictures of us without her. It feels like she’s always been with us :).

Oh, and Mario told the family something surprising. During the Rosarios they kept asking him how he felt being a father of three, if he enjoyed being a dad to a daughter and if we were done having kids. Know what he said? He said he wanted us to have another girl. I know, WOW. At first I was in shock, and immediately crossed my legs, but after thinking about it — sure! I’d love to have another daughter! Of course, after I’ve spent enough time with Alaethia — maybe spacing them out like Alaethia and Jaylen are (almost 5 years). We’ve got the rest of our lives :).

Desperate Housewife

I’m having an extremely late and unhealthy dinner of Burger King chicken fries and onion rings. And a Coke. And then I wonder how I gained that extra pound.

I did not feel like cooking dinner at all. Alaethia’s been in a mood since yesterday, so it’s not like she would have given me a chance to cook anyway. The only reason I got to make dinner yesterday was because Mom came over a bit late to ask me something and found me carrying her little screaming body in one arm and trying to mix everything for Spinach and Artichoke dip with the other hand.

Food, Glorious Food!

The recipe I used for the spinach and artichoke dip yielded a lot of dip. We all had some (except Eenan of course. He has an aversion to green foods, namely in vegetable form.) and there’s still a ton left over. Want some?

Alaethia didn’t fall asleep till late last night, around 1am and then woke up at 4 for a bottle, which she hasn’t done in weeks. Then she woke up again at 8am and finally at 10:30. The boys got ready for school with minimum tantrums and I took a quick shower before I had to pick Jaylen up. Mario was off work but was up early doing extra work and couldn’t watch Alaethia for me. So, I did the next best thing and put her in her carseat and took her into the bathroom with me. She was actually really quiet and was entertaining herself with the crinkly little bugs hanging from her carseat handle. She’s been trying to make her hands do what she wants and tries to grab things. It’s the cutest thing :).

We didn’t do much all day. We drove to Mission and back real quick after picking Eenan up and that was the highlight of my day. Other than that, I’ve been doing my best trying not to go insane since Alaethia’s been extra clingy today, probably due to a stomach ache. Mom said someone gave her Ojo since she’s been inconsolable. If that is true, I remember the exact moment that it happened: Wednesday at the doctor’s office. This girl I was talking to kept saying how cute she was and was just staring at her, but she never once reached over to touch her and I never remembered to ask her to. I do that. If someone oohs and ahhs over her I ask them to please touch her, and they always oblige, even if they don’t know about the Evil Eye. I’m Mexican, what can I say. Mexican folklore rubbed off on me.

I was desperate tonight and finally took Mary’s advice to call Elda’s Mom, Ofelia, over so that she could “sweep” Alaethia with an egg to cure the Ojo. She came over and held her in one arm while sweeping her with an egg with the other while saying a silent prayer. I’m not kidding you, she stopped crying right away and fell asleep. Before that, she’d slept a total of 1 hour, if even that, all day. Mario finds it silly, and I admit, I did too at first, but I’m a believer now.

Ojo?

Ofelia even had me make her some Manzania (Chamomille) tea to help soothe her tummy, and although I don’t like to do that I gave her some. Less than half an ounce, but it worked. She pooped seconds after drinking it. I hope she’ll be okay.

The boys were with Mary this evening watching The Last Mimzy. We would have gone, except Mario was exhausted and I knew that if I went, I’d be standing in the hallway again trying to console Alaethia. We were supposed to go to several friends’ houses tonight and all plans were out the window for one reason or another. Mario’s at Chris’ right now. We’ve been at each other’s throats the past few days, but he swears it’s not him at all. It’s both of us. I admit that I’ve been a tad bit frustrated and moody lately, what with being at home and struggling with Alaethia the past few days that she’s been feeling ill. I snap at him for everything and he makes rude remarks even when I haven’t done anything to “annoy” him. I blame it on our 8 year wedding anniversary that’s looming ever-closer. 8 years ago, on a dark, dreary, rainy March 27th, we got married. Who’da thought we’d still be together after all this time, with two sons and a lively, screamy daughter who’ll hopefully let Mama sleep tonight.

1 Month

Darn Internet Explorer. I was just writing about how lazy and unmotivated I’ve felt to blog or be online in general and it goes and dies on me when I’m halfway done with a post. That doesn’t exactly make me want to update more, now does it, Internet Explorer?

Not only have I felt lazy, but having a 1 month old baby doesn’t really give me time to update or read my favorite blogs, either. I’m only doing so now because Mom’s feeding her at the moment.

I guess I’ll rewind to Saturday, when Alaethia turned 1 month old :). We had a horrible night that night and the morning wasn’t any better. It was awful and I’ll never forget it. The only thing that made it better was hearing the little, high-pitched tired wail she gives when she’s tired of crying. It’s the cutest sound ever, and no matter how sleepy and frustrated I am from lack of sleep it always makes Mario and I laugh.

We luckily got to sleep in a little late once all the drama was over, since it was Saturday after all, and Mario had gotten the day off for the funeral. We got up around 11am and I took a shower while Mario rushed to JC Penny to buy a new black dress-shirt and belt. I ironed everything, left my hair curly since I didn’t have time to flat-iron it, and once Mario was done we left with Noelia to the funeral home. I was going to take Alaethia with me, but since it was already in the high 80s by noon I figured I’d leave her with Mom and the boys.

We didn’t make it to Tia Alicia’s final viewing but at least we made it extra early for the Mass. It was so depressing and sad, as funerals usually are, but Mario at least got to see relatives he hadn’t seen at all while they’ve been here. The procession made its way to the cemetary and we stayed briefly since it was too hot for the rest of the kiddos.

We came home and Mario and Noelia went to Star’s and ordered for everyone. We ate and then went to Tio Tavo and Tia Gloria’s house, where all the relatives were meeting. We chatted with everyone and I was complimented several times how nice I looked for Alaethia being one month old. Most, like Lisa, Tia Aurora and the group that was sitting at the kitchen table with Jennifer said it didn’t even look like I just had a baby. It’s nice to get compliments like that, especially since I was already starting to feel flubbery. I get no time to exercise and I haven’t exactly been watching what I eat so I need to get on the ball. I’ve only got 3 months till I have to pick out my Matron of Honor dress for Noelia and Andy’s wedding. I don’t want to look like a badly-packed sausage :(.

Mario was planning to stay behind with Jorge and Annie for a while longer but I needed to leave since I was already late to Ricci’s party. I gathered the kiddos and picked Mom up when I get a call from him that he’s on his way and he’ll be accompanying us. Awesome! I didn’t expect him to go at all.

I’m so glad he went, since Ricci lives pretty far and I can’t see down that road at night since I’m still adjusting to these darn glasses. We arrive and there’s already people there. Ricci brings us probably the best Frijoles a la Charra (aside from Taqueria El Molcajete) that I’ve ever eaten. They had little chunks of bacon, or fat, whatever you want to call it LOL. She served us huge plates of food and the kids had a blast running around the house looking at the goats, chickens, turkey, piglets, cows and whatever other animals were behind the house. Alaethia was an angel the whole time we were there and only fussed for a few seconds while I prepared her bottle when it was time for her to eat.

Rachelle looked like a little princess in her dress. I can’t believe I only haven’t seen her in a little under a year and she’s grown so much! After all the kids had broken the piñata, gotten candy bags and had cake the boys needed to go to the bathroom so I took them. When we came out all hell had broken loose. Goyo’s sister had picked up Kylie, Ricci’s 6 month old daughter with Goyo, because she was sick and they were going to either take her to the doctor or buy her medicines. Well, it had been hours so Ricci was getting worried and called to see what was going on. Apparently Goyo was saying he wasn’t going to take her back so of course Ricci was livid. She was still distraught when we were leaving so I wished her the best, but he did end up returning her and she was fine. Grr. They do that crap just to see how much drama they can stir up. To see how pissed or scared they can make Ricci.

We got home and Mario spent some time with Jorge before he left in the morning. I put the kiddos to bed and we decided to watch Friends with Money when he came back inside. I don’t like how the movie ended (I hate cliffhangers. I need to know exactly what happens!), but it was a great movie overall. There was a part in the movie where a couple are writing a book together and I tell Mario, “You know, it’s silly, but…nah, nevermind.” He pauses the movie and asks, “No, tell me. What?” I prop myself up with my elbow and face him and say, “I’ve always wanted to write a book. Or a story, doesn’t matter. I’ve got some ideas, but I’m not exactly very eloquent with words. I wouldn’t know how to start or how to make the story flow, y’know what I mean?”

He says, “That’s a great idea, Babe. I never knew that. I think you should. If anything, I could help you. What are some ideas.”

So I tell him of two I’ve had for years and he says they’re both good, although one sounds like something too commonly written about. I told him I’d like to write maybe an autobiography, or a story about our lives and he says, “I’ve always thought you’d do that.” Aww. He’s so supportive I could smooch him. I did, actually. On the forehead.

Sunday night with Alaethia was a little better and we got to sleep in late again. I woke up to an empty house: Eenan was at Mary’s and Jaylen and Mario had gone to McDonald’s for breakfast. When they got back we got ready to leave to town.

We went to Target where the boys took forever picking out a toy each, Mario got something for his Boost phone, we went to Circuit City to buy DVD+Rs and then went to get some meat to Bar-b-q.

We got home and Mario got the fire started while Mom and I went to Dollar General for some chips and salsa. It was such a nice day out for a bar-b-q, warm and breezy.

I think I spent most of Monday trying to clean and organize. I also cleaned the DVDs off my computer. I had, like, 30 movies on there, 15 on each harddrive and my harddrives were full. I braved it and started recording them and it actually worked! It didn’t shut down once in the two days it took me to get them all recorded. I wonder what the heck the problem was before then? The kids have been playing games online and the computer’s been fine, when before it would shut down after 10 minutes of game play. *shrug*

After both the kids had come home from school on Tuesday and had gotten their homework done, John and I left the kids with Mom while we made a quick stop at the tile store to buy some 1 inch tiles I need for the bathroom. Well, it was supposed to be a quick stop. We went to Ferro Block where I found some cute clear frosty tiles. When I asked about them they told me they had no 1 inch tiles at all and those frosted ones I liked? They weren’t working with that company anymore. Great.

We passed by Tile City, which was closed and then went to Lowe’s. They had nothing. I called to Home Depot so we wouldn’t have to make a trip there and they had nothing as well. We tried Michael’s last, where they had some 1 inch tiles but they were dark blue and I want something light. I considered getting the 1 inch mosaic tiles but I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea since the area gets really wet all the time and I don’t know if the mosaics would be good for the bathroom. I’ll have to read up on it. Needless to say, I was really disappointed and wasted 2 hours of my life. And gas, too. Thankfully, I got home with enough time to make dinner and bathe the boys.

Off topic: My God. I’m watching Maury and holy cow! New York’s (Flavor of Love, I Love New York) done bought herself some new boobies O_O. Those things did not look like that on her show!

Anyway, I had my 1 month postpartum check-up yesterday. I’m still at 119 lbs., got the OK to get on birth control, got the OK to be intimate with the hubs (woo hoo!), and got some new meds prescribed; new cold medicine and antibiotics for the horrible toothache my darn wisdom tooth’s brought on. I NEED to go get them all ripped out, even if I have to go to Mexico again :(.

I took Alaethia in, too, since she ended up catching my cold. She now weighs 8 lbs. 11 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches long–she grew half an inch since the last time, aww. Laura, our nurse, said she’s gonna be little like her mom LOL.

We got our prescriptions and headed to H-E-B. I refused to go back to the Saenz Pharmacy since they take about an hour to fill 1 darn prescription. I take the prescriptions to the pharmacy and they tell me it’s a ONE HOUR WAIT. Darnit. Mom and I both needed to get a few groceries anyway, so we shopped around while we waited for the medications. Jaylen, whom I’ve been having a bit of trouble with lately, was an absolute horror the whole time we were there so that helped us waste some time, too. After an hour of walking around we paid and went back to the pharmacy. They weren’t ready. They needed another 20 minutes. Grr. I sit there, waiting, looking deranged since Jaylen was still having his fits in the cart. After a while though, he kept himself busy with a little book he found and we waited some more. We waited for ANOTHER HOUR and when the guy calls me over he says one of mine wasn’t available. I could have slugged him. It took that long to get two prescriptions filled. I understand that they need to count and make sure everything’s right, but my God, two hours?!

We’re on our way home and I get a call from Noelia around 2:30. She says our door was wide open and that she closed it for us! I’m so glad she was home–who knows if some stranger would have, for some reason, come around my apartment and seen the door open! I don’t know how long it was open though, so I could imagine the flies and bugs that probably flew in, ick.

I eat a quick lunch because I was starving, feed Alaethia and then Mom stayed with the kids while I picked up Eenan and Brandon. While I was waiting for them I get a call from Ricci. She says she’d stopped by to see me but we weren’t home and that my door was wide open. This was around 1:30! She says she used my bathroom, and I go on and on expressing how worried I was about how long the door’d been open. I ask her how she’s doing and my heart sinks when I hear her sobbing. She’d stopped by her Grandmother’s after she’d left my house and they all treated her badly. They laughed at her. She said she needed to talk but she was on her neighbor’s phone since hers is still not working so I offered to go over.

I made sure Eenan did his homework because he’d forgotten it the previous day. He’d forgotten it 3 times last 6 weeks and finally got his act together when it came to his compositions and made All A Honor Roll again, yay :). We couldn’t find Brushka’s kittens all morning and while I was talking to Mario on the phone I swore I heard a meow. I looked in the closet in the living room but found nothing. A few minutes later I heard another meow so I reached my arm as far back into the closet as I could and felt my fingers brush something soft. I grab it, and it’s a gray kitten LOL. Brushka must have taken the opportunity to bring them all in while the door was open! All of the kittens were in there. The last one I got out was the white one, the one who’s father is most definitely Artemis. He’s fluffy and looks like a huge bear LOL.

I packed Alaethia’s things up and we get ready to leave. The boys, of course, didn’t want to go with me and I figured if I wanted to have a quiet talk I should leave them with Mom. Mom tells me to have a good time and drive safely.

I get to Ricci’s and we have a good, long talk. She gives me more of a backstory on everything that happened between her and Goyo and goes into detail about what happened at her Grandma’s. She’s upset and crying and asks, “Why are they like that? Why do they have to be that way?” and I tell her, “There’s just evil people in this world, unfortunately. That’s what they are, Ricci. They don’t care about anyone but themselves. It’s not anything you did.” She realizes that hey, maybe I’m right. Maybe they are just like that. I tell her I want to see her succeed and rub it in all their faces and that she better not ever take that dumbass back. I hope she can get the job she wants. I hope she can better her life for her and her girls. And I hope, that no matter what happens between Goyo and Ricci’s aunt (the one he left her for), no matter if he goes crawling back that she refuses to take him back. He’s the damn reason she changed last year. He’s the reason I had to be the one worried about her missing school and driving her around–because he could have given two shits about all that.

I got home and we had a quick dinner of sandwiches. Mom had already set the shower for the boys so they were nice and clean by the time I got home. Mario got home and watched the George Lopez comedy thing after the boys were in bed. Alaethia had gone to sleep too, so we found it the perfect opportunity to spend some alone time together ;). I was so giddy–I felt like a teenager all over again LOL.

As for today, I’m feeling really…blah. I had about four hours sleep last night due to Alaethia’s screaming. I did get her to sleep in the crib, but it was for a very short hour and a half =\. I was too exhausted the rest of the night to bother putting her in it. I swear it’s like she’s 5 months old already. She spends all day awake and still doesn’t sleep for long at night. How do other mothers do it?! I’ve had what seems like 5 month old newborns with all my kids!

I’ve felt the same laziness with my Spring Cleaning (and basic, every day cleaning) as I’ve had with blogging. I’ve completely lost the motiviation to continue with my decorating and organizing. I have all these ideas, all these things I want to do and I’ve done zip since Monday. I went through most of the stuff in my closet and although I did get rid of a lot of stuff, all the stuff I decided to keep that goes on shelves is strewn all over my bedroom floor. As much as I don’t want to, I need to get to that today. When Ricci’d told me she came in to use the bathroom I instantly felt so embarrassed–I have clean laundry that needs to be put away draped all over the back of the futon >_<. Other than that, the house is clean, but still, clothes everywhere makes any place look messy. I should eat some lunch since I have to pick Eenan up from school in a bit. See how lazy I feel? I don't even want to make myself anything!