Category: Photos

Alaethia is finally taking her before-bed nap so I thought I’d update real quick. (She’s also finally better, thank you for your comments!)

I’ve been way too enthralled in my Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book that I haven’t had the urge to get online. That, and I’m afraid I’ll go into a random site and the end will be ruined for me. That site I linked in one of my previous blogs — the one they mentioned on CNN — was the real thing, pictures and all (which is why they probably took them down. I went back the next day after I linked it and it wouldn’t show the pics, then the site wouldn’t load at all.). So…I know who’s going to die since I saw the very first line when the site loaded. I’m on pins and needles, anxious to know when this character will meet their untimely death. *sigh* It’s been great so far; very action-packed. I can’t wait to finish reading it.

I’m writing mainly to document Alaethia’s 6-month-birthday :). (I shall update about this weekend later.) I can’t believe this little lady’s already been with us this long, and at the same time it feels like she was never missing from our lives.

My poor girl’s already had her first virus and has had at least 3 different colds. I’ve learned that when she’s at her fussiest, when her bottle nor rocking her will put her to sleep, slipping a blanket or wash cloth over her eyes will put her right to sleep. She never took a pacifier, which is great since this is the month I would have weaned her off it anyway. She maneuvers her walker with ease now that her feet lay flat on the floor. Her crawling is getting much better, but it’s still not a true crawl — yet. She likes to “feed herself” when it’s time to eat. She gets food everywhere so it’s a good thing she loves her bath time.

And separation anxiety? I didn’t know they could suffer from that at this age; she screams as soon as she loses sight if me. Even if someone else has her and she’s being walked around (which she absolutely loves), she won’t stop crying until I get her. Then she’s all fine and dandy as if nothing ever happened.

She’s still taking 4 ounces of milk, loves water in sippy cups, and is going through an I-don’t-want-to-eat-anything-stage. Before that though, her favorite food was squash.

She’s my only child who’s slept in a crib and before catching the Roseola Virus, she’d been sleeping anywhere from 5-7 hours a night (if she’d fall asleep at 2am — her usual bedtime), would wake for a bottle and diaper change and would sleep another 4 hours. Now we’re back to her waking every 3-4 hours, but we’ll hopefully get that fixed along with getting her to sleep earlier (she’s been crashing at 1am now. Mama needs more sleep!).

Her temperament is just wonderful. She’s even more sweet and beautiful than I ever imagined she’d be.

I thought Alaethia’s fever had finally broken and gone for good, but then we woke up at 7am and she was back at 102.4°. Mom came over to watch the kiddos while I showered and then Aly and I left to the doctor’s office. I told the doctor about my concerns; how I thought she may have strep and that she developed this weird rash on her back. She said the rash was just dermatitis and there were no signs of a cold or Strep. I told her how the diarrhea and vomiting happened only that one time. She probably had the virus Rachelle had the first day, then she caught another virus since her immune system was already compromised. She said the only thing she could have would be a virus called Roseola. To summarize: it’s a virus that lasts anywhere from 3-7 days, but usually only 3 days. After the 3 days of having fevers of 103°, she’d develop a rash. It wouldn’t be itchy or painful, but it would mean that she’s at the last stages of the virus. The rash would show up in little spots or patches, some with a ring around them. She told me to keep doing what I was doing, only instead of alternating Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours, to give her her usual dosage of Tylenol, then give her the Motrin 15 minutes later. Her fever’s actually subsided twice today!

I kept an eye on her body all day just watching out for the spots. I gave her her meds at 7 and 7:15pm and started getting worried when the fever wasn’t going down. Then, almost in front of my very eyes, the spots started showing up:

When her fever was still at 102 half an hour later I gave her a nice bath (while answering a survey about fruit…stupid telemarketers!). She felt cheerful and much cooler afterwards, thank goodness. She’s been doing pretty good and actually sleeping for longer than 10 minutes again, poor baby. I’m waiting up till 1am so I’m sure to give her her medicine.

Other than that, I did laundry and helped the boys clean up their room. It was a disaster. They let it get so bad that they just don’t even feel like tackling it anymore (kind of like when I’d let the dishes pile up, heh). I’d gone into their room and Eenan was sitting on the floor surrounded by toys. He looks a little sad, so I ask him what was wrong. He sadly waves his hands over the mess and says, “I can’t find Jaylen. I don’t know where he is.” My heart stops, even though I clearly saw him leaving with my dad-in-law. I wouldn’t put it past one of them to get lost in their pigsty of stuffed animals.

They kept fighting and whining, so I sat in their tiny red chair watching them until they’d done a little over half. If I hadn’t done that, they would have strangled each other. We moved some stuff around and every thing’s much more organized now. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of it in it’s clean state…it won’t last long.

The boys are both sleeping over at Mary’s tonight. They usually take turns but they both went today. Mario’s finally home. He’d actually been getting home early every day this whole week, so I cut him some slack and tried not to complain when he said he was staying out with Chris and Jorge. Tried being the key word…I’m clingy when I’m PMS’ing =\.

Okay, gonna start getting ready for bed so I can give Aly her meds in a bit. Goodnight!

I totally thought the perfect day I’d envisioned was going down the toilet. After blogging from my cell phone while waiting for Mario at his workplace I waited for about 20 more minutes until he was done with the car he’d been working on. He gets into the car and breaks the news: no paycheck. The boss hadn’t come around to sign them yet so they couldn’t give them out. We were totally broke so we had no choice but to go home. BUMMER. As Mario was getting out of the Equinox to get into his truck (the Silverado) I get a call from John telling me I’d received a package from FedEx. Yay, my laptop! The day seemed just a little brighter. We both left and (safely) raced each other home to get the first glance at the laptop.

I got here first with the boys (buahaha) and we started taking the box apart to look at the new beauty. And let me tell you: it’s gorgeous. The 17″ screen is huge, the case is a metallic-y indigo, it’s got a built-in webcam and mic, an SD card reader, it’s got a regular-sized keyboard so there’s a number pad…I could go on and on. I want to have its babies.

I set everything up and I had to make lunch so Mario messed around with it. We had some ice cream (those of you who live where there are H-E-B’s have GOT to try the Creamy Creations Smores ice cream. I could eat the whole thing on my own. But I held back…) and then looked at the clock. 3:15. Darnit. We’d missed the last “less expensive” showing of Transformers. I hate going after 6 because it’s so expensive. Then I got an idea–hello, the theatre in McAllen! We searched and there was two we could still make it to at that one. We rushed around getting shoes back on and I got Alaethia’s food ready so Mom could feed her (she was babysitting for us, bless her. If it weren’t for my mom I’d have no social life). We had exactly half an hour to get there on time but still had to stop at the ATM. We get there, it didn’t work. DAMMIT. Only other thing to do was go all the way around the crossover to the bank and withdraw from our savings. We’d already wasted 15 minutes — there was no way we’d make it on time. Mario stopped by his workplace to get something since we were already over there to get his drill and then stopped by Jorge’s work a few blocks away. Jorge told him about the Carmike Theatre. We hadn’t even thought of that one! So there we go and there’s two shows we can catch. Woo!

We get our snacks then get in line. The line was about a mile long but we still got perfect seats for the 4 of us. I ask the boys if they need to go pee and although they don’t, they go just in case. Then the movie starts.

SPOILER ALERT!! DON’T READ IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE AND HAVEN’T!

It was THE GREATEST MOVIE, EVAR. Seriously, the best thing I’ve seen this year. Brought back memories of childhood and hoping we could have a car that would turn into a giant robot. I’ve got to admit, as girlie as I am I love cars and robots, always have. Maybe it comes from having mostly male cousins and a brother. I’m so glad my kids get to experience Transformers. Although they have loved Transformers even before the movie was even announced. Anyway, enough cheese. It was just awesome. I seriously had chills running up and down my arms and it was just suspenseful and awesome. There was also a sad part where I held it together and let the boys wrap themselves around my arms since they were crying. Eenan couldn’t stop crying after that. John totally missed out! He didn’t want to go because he said he wouldn’t enjoy it but my God, he’s going to regret it!

/END SPOILER ALERT.

I can’t wait till next week, for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! I know I’m going to love it as much as (if not more than) Transformers.

We were a bit somber on the way home. Mario’s becoming really stressed with stupid things that keep happening at work. I won’t go into detail, but I just wish they’d notice what a hard worker he is and show their appreciation. Gargh. But anyway, we got home and chilled out at Mary’s with Jorge, Mary, Yadira and her kiddos, and Mom. We talked, laughed at Alaethia and Matthew’s baby-ness, and checked out our new laptop. We had some ice cream cake and then after everyone went home (and Mario went to Chris’) I came home with Aly. The boys are both sleeping over at Mary’s so the house is quiet, I washed up before bed and have Aly here in bed with me while blogging. This is the life right here, people. Why didn’t you all who surfed the web from bed ever tell me just how awesome this is?!

I may just finally get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (if I don’t have it already…I have these weird balls on the back of my wrist that Carmen said look like the cysts she was diagnosed with) but dammit, it will be well worth it!

(Just looked at the time –it’s 07/07/07!! How cool is that?)

[Edit: 12:59am.] Okay, so Christina Aguilera is apparently pregnant and Mario’s heart has broken into a million pieces. Nicole Richie is also supposedly pregnant, but that one’s not confirmed. Craziness.

And also, J.K. Rowling bawled her eyes out while writing the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

She finished the book alone in a hotel room.

“I was sobbing my heart out — I downed half a bottle of champagne from the mini bar in one and went home with mascara all over my face. That was really tough.”

… She also tells interviewer Jonathan Ross how she changed the last word in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” at the 11th hour.

So if she cried, I might just die. I can’t tell you just how friggin’ EXCITED I am about this book. I have all these theories swirling around inside my head but we’ll just have to see. Okay, I’m going to bed now, for reals. Alaethia’s asleep and it’s 1:05am, which is pretty “early” for her, so hopefully she’ll stay asleep when I place her in her crib. [/End Edit]