Category: Movies

Wed., Nov. 12th – Mario’s birthday! I got to sleep 2 hours more than usual because I’d already reported my absence to everyone who needed to know a day early. I woke up, took a shower, and made Mario breakfast. I couldn’t eat, of course, because I had to fast for the glucose screening. I woke him up to eat and get ready to go to my appointment. I was so excited that he was actually going to get to go with me to an appointment. This was the first time he’d gotten to go with me this whole pregnancy.

We get to the office and I sign in. I explain to Mario what the appointment is about and tells me he’s going to go home to get our books. While he’s gone they give me the drink to take. Bleh. I’ve never liked that thing, especially because I feel nauseous after a while and then get heartburn.

We read our books and when he’s not reading he’s complaining that he doesn’t want to be there that long and I should have warned him–which I had, but he was playing Mobsters and wasn’t listening. Both times I told him. And I can’t ask him when he’s not playing Mobsters because he’s always playing Mobsters, or else he’s not here or asleep.

Anyway, although he annoyed me he made the time pass more quickly than if I’d been there alone.

They called us to the vitals room. I’m happy to report I hardly gained anything in the 3 weeks since my last appointment. I was 137 last time and 137.8 this time, woo! It was really surprising, though, since I’m visibly bigger than I was 3 weeks ago.

An hour passes and they come and prick my finger to check my blood for the glucose and anemia. Dr. C. comes in about 15 minutes later with a grim look on his face as he’s leafing through my chart. He says I failed the screening by 9 points. I should have been at 140 but was at 149. He said he’d work out a deal with me: would I want to take the 3-hour test or be monitored? I chose monitoring. I already felt really nauseous and hungry; there was no way I’d survive another 3 hours.

So the deal is I’m going to have to start monitoring my sugars again and they’re going to be seeing me every 2 weeks instead of 3. I really hate pricking my finger.

I got an ultrasound done after that and we watched our little one move around and we saw her profile. And yes, she’s most definitely still a girl LOL. I ask them to check to be sure every single time. I’ll still probably be in disbelief until they place her on my chest when she’s born and I get to SEE that she’s a girl LOL. It’s too awesome and I can’t get over it: two boys and two girls!

We came home and Mario got on Mobsters (of course) while I looked through my Baby Name Book. I found nothing. I’m starting all over from “A” and I hope we really find a name before she’s born. All my other kiddos had their names by now!

Eenan called us around 12:30 and wanted us to pick him up and bring him home. I was a little alarmed and asked him why; he was adamant on coming home. Later that night he asked again if we could pick him up after they take attendance and I asked why. He confessed that a boy is bothering him at school. I’ve never had to deal with kids bullying mine before and vowed to speak to his teacher about it.

I was sleepy and nodding off (even after getting 7 straight hours of sleep + an extra one) so Mom offered to watch Alaethia (and John was on stand-by while he was on the internet LOL) while Mario and I napped. It didn’t take long for me to pass out at all and I woke up with 5 minutes to spare at 3 so I could pick up the boys at 3:10.

When everyone got home that night we all got in the vehicles and left to Chili’s, where we were celebrating Mario’s birthday. I was glad that John was actually joining us for once. Poor Mario was not in a good mood, especially because they didn’t save enough seats like we asked for and they took unusually long with the food; there were at least 5 other birthday boys and girls there, too. And of course, as if just knowing Mario’s in a bad mood isn’t nerve wracking to begin with, they bring his food last. Grrr.

Alaethia ate really well for once. She had a little bit of everything, but mostly had the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, my favorite. The boys sat with Angela, Andy and Noelia at a bench behind us, so we didn’t really get to talk to any of them much. I was so upset at how well the Chili’s people took direction that night; why else would you call and make “reservations”!

Mario opened his gifts when everyone was done eating. He’d opened his Blu-ray movie from Sonia (Hellboy II)—and he eyed me suspiciously. Mary had sneaked off to get the Playstation from all of us while he opened another gift from Mary: 2 shirts (which he already had =\) and 2 DVDs. He got a DVD and shaving kit from Noey and Andy. He opened a CD from us, the new AC/DC one. He got a laptop cooler from Mom, which he really, really needed. His face was priceless when he saw Mary bring his gifts to the table. He was thrilled.

The staff from him a complimentary chocolate cake (that sort of, in a small way, made up for the whole lack of seating fiasco) and everyone sang Happy Birthday. On the way home he said it was one of the best birthdays he’s had in a long time. I’m so glad. He always surprises me somehow, and I’m so glad I finally got the opportunity to do the same for him.

We stopped by Target to buy Alaethia a cute, soft, HUGE Care Bear for $9. We looked around quickly, since John and Mom were in the car with Alaethia, and came home. We unpacked and went next door to say hello to my father-in-law. He was thrilled because he shot a deer.

I checked my sugar before going to bed, and after eating all that stuff for dinner my sugar was at 141–dammit. It should be at 120!

Thurs., Nov. 13th – Back to work. At least it was one day of work and the next day: Fantasyland Skate Center! I tried getting everything done as it came, like shelving, so that I wouldn’t have anything to do the next day since I didn’t feel like shelving when we got back from the field trip. I just wanted to relax after we got back.

When Mrs. Ruiz got there that day she was packed with a huge bag from Mervyn’s. She’d bought me two sweaters for Christmas (’cause she said I was growing out of my other ones LOL), with the excuse that Mervyn’s was going out of business. That woman spoils me, seriously!

I think this is the day that Jaylen confessed something to me. I picked them up from school and on the way home he tells me, “Mom, guess what?”

“What?”

“I have a girlfriend!”

I’m taken aback and hide my grin. “A girlfriend? What’s her name?”

“Jazmin.”

“Really? Is she in your class?”

“No. She’s a third grader.” He’s smiling, quite satisfied with himself.

Eenan and I stare at each other and try not to look too surprised. I ask him, “Where’d you meet this older woman?”

“During lunch.”

“And you asked her to be your girlfriend?”

He says, very matter-of-factly, “No. I didn’t have to.”

Well, excuse me!

Eenan tells him, “You have to know a girl at least two years to be her boyfriend. I’ve known Lauren since 1st grade.”

I look over at Eenan (because I don’t expect them to have a “real” girlfriend yet) and ask him, “You already asked Lauren to be your girlfriend?”

He says, “No. I’m not in middle school yet.”

I’ve taught him well! Now if the Birds and the Bees talk works out this well, we’ll be all set!

Fri., Nov. 14th – The day of our field trip to Fantasyland. I got to the library and shelved the few books that were left from the day before. I knew we were going to be closed during the day while we were gone, but I wasn’t sure about 1st period and there were still kids coming in and checking in/out books. I quickly accumulated a nice pile until Mrs. V. noticed and told me to lock the doors LOL.

My group was the 6th and 7th graders and 2 other teachers, plus the nurse. The kids were actually really well-behaved on the bus and at the rink. And that’s because we had a lot of the, how do you say it–troublemakers–go along with us. But really, they were great. The kids all wanted me to skate with them. One of my girls even said she’d take care of me, but when I looked for her she was having such a hard time keeping her balance LOL. I was okay watching from the sidelines. Roxanne went with her whole class and she got on the floor for a while. And then we sat and talked about diabetes…and munched on nachos and chocolate chip cookies!

When it was all over we took the kids next door to Pizza Hut to get their personal pan pizzas and we got 4 extras for the adults. I scored one for myself, but when we got back to school I ended up giving half to one of the kids because I was full. We got the lunch from school, too, so it was a lot of food. We had a designated table where all the kids who didn’t want their food would leave the tray there, and others who wanted to trade something could—with me supervising of course. There ended up being so much food left over that once the kids were dismissed to their last period, Mrs. V. and I ended up taking a heaping tray full each. The lunch ladies would have thrown it out anyway, so that would have been a shame.

We went to the teacher’s lounge after that where we met everyone else who’d gone with us. I hadn’t expected to see Mrs. Ruiz that day but she at the lounge. We sat and talked and then went to the library when everyone else was done. We shelved a few books and just chilled out the rest of the day. Well, until one of our adopted students stopped by like he does every day, every last period when his teacher gets “tired” of him and kicks him out. No, really. But yeah, he was on a mission to drive us nuts and it worked for the 10 minutes he was there before the bell rang LOL.

I can’t remember much from after school, at home. I think we watched movies all night, Hell Boy probably. And me, being the pregnant, old-lady that I am like Mario calls me, fell asleep.

Sat., Nov. 15th – I woke up early to get ready since Mary invited us to have breakfast and then a movie. I’d just gotten dried and dressed when I hear a knock on the door. I figure its Mom because it sort of sounds like “her” knock, but when I open the door Dad’s the one to greet me. I had no idea he’d be visiting! My hair wasn’t brushed, I was in a tank top and jeans and the house was in shambles. But he didn’t mind at all.

He told me he’d told Mom he was coming over Saturday morning, but what Mom heard was that he’d call to make plans to see each other. Never leave messages with Mother.

We sat and talked about everything, including his best friend, Sally’s dad. He took a TV of my father-in-law’s and said he’d fix it for us (that’s been Dad’s job, self-employed, for as long as I can remember. I still remember the smell of all the equipment in that brown, rusty toolbox of his). He showed us his new car and we said our see-you-laters. I really need to call him up and invite him over for Thanksgiving.

We finished getting ready to go to breakfast at Denny’s. I had chocolate milk with one of those Create Your Own Grand Slam meals. It was soo good and Alaethia actually ate some egg. We went to the movies to watch Madagascar 2, and Alaethia actually paid attention! We even forgot her sippy in the car and she didn’t make a big deal about it till the movie was almost over. The movie was hilarious!

We came straight home after the movie and had about 20 minutes to chill out before Mary, the kids and myself went to one of Mary’s co-worker’s parties for her daughter at Peter Piper. We got there early so the kids could play and not be moody by the time the people and the food got there. Alaethia had fun on the little rides and the boys played their games for tickets. We came home and then watched movies the rest of the night. I was so exhausted by the end of that day. But I guess those are the good days, right?

Wed., Oct. 8th – It was an okay day at work–the usual, really. I rushed to pick Jaylen up from school, dropped off our stuff at home and then I took him to get a haircut. Eenan was at UIL practice till 5, so I asked Mary if she could pick him up on her way home and take him for a haircut, too. She said yes, thank goodness. Just like their school to let me know they have pictures with such short notice. At least it was two days notice this time.

I got Jaylen into the shower to wash up when we got home, then went straight to pick up Mario from work and took him to his Lasik consultation. To make a long story short: the whole procedure would cost $4,400–after the $1,300 “discount”!! Because of Mario’s severe astigmatism he’d need two surgeries to fix his vision. Something told me to ask what his vision was without corrective lenses and the lady said 20/75 in one, 20/80-1 in the other. I looked at Mario and couldn’t help smiling: his vision was within the requirement for Border Patrol without corrective lenses! Yes!! The reason they’d sent him that notice was because his vision was 20/20 in one eye with his current glasses, 20/25 in the other eye. We didn’t even think that would be the case. We kindly declined the (very expensive–$250) dilation and came home. We decided we’d set up an appointment with another ophthalmologist on Saturday for new glasses. Even though I feel incredibly nervous all over again just thinking of him being away for three months (and possibly missing the baby’s birth) I know this is something he really wants to do, so I’m supporting him all the way.

Mario and I lay in bed that night watching TV with Alaethia between us. I’d been feeling the baby flutter for a few days already and have a habit of just placing my hand on my belly, just in case the baby would kick. I actually felt her kick hard for the first time! It wasn’t just the little it-might-be-gas fluttering that I usually feel—this was a swift, genuine kick!

Thurs., Oct. 9th – Mrs. V. took Mrs. Ruiz and I a huge bag of corn each from her mom’s garden. All I could think about was some yummy corn with mayo, chile and lime for the rest of the afternoon.

The boys had picture day so I left their clothes and instructions with Mom like I usually do. I prayed that they’d stay clean until they took their picture. I was so tired that afternoon after work that I just chilled out till 5:30, when Report Card Night started. It wasn’t very restful, as Jaylen was sleepy and refused to take a nap. It’s so exhausting when he gets that way. I told him I wasn’t taking him with me since he was acting up and he stayed behind with my dad-in-law and Alaethia. He ended up falling asleep on the hammock Big Mario had just put up again.

The teachers both had nothing but good things to say about the boys. I was a bit disappointed to find out Jaylen had been moved to a different class, but still reports to his old class as his “advisory” for breakfast. He was moved away from his best friend, Aaron. And I’m not sure I’m too keen on having him in a Bilingual class, even though it’s considered “GT”. He already has a GT class. But still, his old teacher said he’s extremely bright. I didn’t get to talk to the new one because her mother had passed away and she was absent.

We visited Eenan’s class and I was glad to find out his behavior’s been improving. He isn’t talking as much (but he is still talking) and he’s turning in his work. He got off of his “half-grounding” and now gets to play video games (for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on behavior at home) after he finishes his homework and reads for half an hour like Jaylen. His teacher still seems…different. She’s not as happy-go-lucky as she was when I first met her. Maybe she was just tired?

I’m so proud of my dudes—they both made the All ‘A’ Honor Roll! Eenan had a close call—there was an 81 printed on his report for Language Arts, but when I showed the teacher she said it was the system messing up—he’d actually gotten a 94!

We got home and my dad-in-law had already put some of the corn-on-the-cobs on the grill…they were delicious!

I stayed up that night feeling for Little One’s kicks but felt nothing. I know it’s still early, but I was worried since by this time in my other pregnancies I’m sure I was already doing Kick Counts. I didn’t fall asleep till 11. Add to that Alaethia beginning to get sick and teething; she kept tugging at her ear and was having a hard time swallowing. Then she woke me up for some milk at 4:30 and again I stayed up feeling for kicks, but I didn’t feel anything. I fell asleep finally at 5:15—and my alarm went off at 5:30. Needless to say I felt like a slug all day and couldn’t wait to just get home.

Fri., Oct. 10th – One of the teams at work was going on a field trip for the Goodlife Celebration and we’d agreed that we’d watch 2 of their kids that hadn’t passed, had referrals, etc. Well, Mrs. V. agreed—I obliged, which basically means that I was mostly the one dealing with them. At the last second they left us 4 kids, but the only boy refused to stay, so he was left somewhere else. So we were left with three girls, one of them being a girl who’d given me trouble in the past. Later on they sent us two boys and they actually did everything they were told with no problem. The girls on the other hand…well, let’s just say all three ended up writing words from the dictionary till it was time for them to leave. I kept my cool the whole time, but by the end of their stay I had a headache.

Mrs. Ruiz and I left to lunch after that, which was such a relief. When we got back it was time for the Goodlife video-game party another team was throwing in there. They played Xbox—loudly. I wouldn’t have minded, but I had a pounding headache from being with the girls all day.

I was so glad to get home and just chill out. When Mario got home we went outside with the rest of the family. We hung out and then grilled some more corn-on-the-cob again.

Falling asleep that night—and staying asleep—was a challenge since poor Alaethia was in pain again. She was fine all day; her cold and teething were only bothering her at night.

Sat., Oct. 11th – I woke up as soon as I could the next morning and had a quick breakfast, fed her and got her dressed to go to the doctor. Ear infection and sore throat, just as I’d suspected. Jaylen had made plans to go to Aaron’s house that morning, so we went to the pharmacy to get Alaethia’s prescription and then dropped him off at Aaron’s. We went home and I tried giving Alaethia her medicine to no avail; she quickly squirted it through her lips as soon as I gave it to her. It was that nasty ear-wax-tasting antibiotic. So there I go back to the pharmacy to get them to flavor it, even though it didn’t make a big difference. We left Eenan and Alaethia with Mary while Mario and I went to his optometrist appointment. He got his exams done and he JUST BARELY passed the requirements for Border Patrol! We picked up his check afterwards and then went to Walmart to cash it since the bank was closed. We picked up McDonald’s and then picked up Jaylen from Aaron’s. We sat around talking with family at Mary’s. Noelia was over getting help with grading her students’ work. Aaron’s mom was picking up Jaylen so we turbo-cleaned just in case she wanted a tour (she did the same for us when Jaylen first went over)…but she only came to the door. Oh well, at least the house was clean.

Jaylen was invited to a party at Aaron’s aunt’s house so they picked him up and went to party. We’d made plans with Mary to go to the movies so we let Aaron’s mom know to drop Jaylen off with Mom at our house when the party was over. She was babysitting Alaethia and Eenan, too.

Mario and I watched Pineapple Express, which was even funnier than I thought it would be! I couldn’t stop laughing. Mary watched The Mummy 3, I think. We ended the night by picking up pizza for dinner. Lately—even though the food’s fattening—there’s nothing I like more than not having to stand in front of a boiling stove and minimal dishes to wash, heh.

So, yeah—this has taken forever. I’m so tired of my entries being squished into one huge post. Not only is it inconvenient for me when I’m looking for something, but it must be boring as hell to read as a whole!

I’m taking a break from all house duties (since I did them over the weekend anyway), making something quick for dinner and watching Alaethia playing with her Magna Doodle while just so I can update for once. [edit: only got to finish up to October 7th…will update with more HOPEFULLY later.]

Sun., Sept. 28th – We woke up late, which we usually do on Sundays, and went over to Mary’s to eat Barbacoa that Mom had treated us all to. My dad-in-law added a few extra feet of cement under the new carport he made especially for me and the kids (I’m so spoiled :P), which is awesome ’cause now they have even more space to run around and play. He and Mary started talking about landscaping and she and Mario decided to go to the flea market and buy sod. Super last minute decision! They got home with Mario’s trunk bed piled high with sod. Big Mario and Mario quickly got to work and laid the sod down in about an hour and a half. Mario finished just in time to quickly shower and we left to the movies. Mary, the kiddos (except Aly—she stayed with Mom) and I watched Eagle Eye–OMG awesome movie! My hormonal self was crying at the end, of course.

Mary had a Rosary to attend so she took Mario’s truck and we took her car to Target and then Walmart. We got home and I only had enough time to put groceries away before Adan, Aide and Belle came over. I love having company but not when the house is a mess—and boy was it! I contemplated staying home from work the next day just to clean the house but thought better of it.

Mon., Sept. 29th – I put up posters at work that day. I was worried about being asked to glue the posters on the walls since I was afraid Mrs. V. would ask me to put some up that were to high, hence needed to stand on a ladder or something, but thankfully she didn’t. Things got really hectic that day; our stupid check-out system is super slow still. There’s no change since last year. I was having to do tons of things at once and didn’t really have much time to shelve the books that I’d checked in. Mrs. Ruiz got there around 11am and helped me, thank god. She’s my guardian angel, I’m telling you.

Mario was disappointed when he received a letter from Border Patrol letting him know that as of that moment, he was “not medically cleared” because he basically flunked his eye exam. It was so discouraging to know that he aced everything else, but his vision was holding him back. He was either going to have to try to get a new prescription for glasses…or get Lasik.

Tues., Sept. 30th – The kids were having their 1st 6 weeks reviews and tests beginning that day so it was much calmer. 2nd period was still crazy, but I had it under control for the most part.