Category: Photos

Shame on me for spending the last (quiet, chore-free, childless!) hour online and instead of updating my neglected site, I was obsessively browsing Pink Is the New Blog. I don’t know what it is with me and celebrity gossip blogs lately, but I go to PITNB at least 5 times a week. I’ve even got Mario reading those sites when he gets bored LOL.

My French Vanilla coffee’s got me peeing every 5 minutes, I’m not kidding. I decided to drink regular coffee instead of decaf so I won’t feel so sleepy throughout the day since I had to wake up at 4:30am again to pee, as is the drill every night. At least I’m feeling Alaethia move a lot more now :). (Yes, I think we decided on that spelling. For now LOL.)

So let’s see…last Friday was a good day. It was Mario’s day off so he went with me to drop the kids off in the morning. I took Eenan to his class while he took Jaylen, and Jaylen stayed tear-less and tantrum-less. When I picked him up after school I asked him, “How’d it go? Were you brave?” and he said, “Yup! I felt like I was gonna cwy, but I wiped my eyes and I didn’t cwy!” (As you can see, he still has trouble pronouncing his R’s. Eenan had the same problem. I think it’s adorable though LOL.)

We spent that morning/afternoon moving furniture around (well, Mario and John moved stuff, I just pointed to where everything should go) so that we could finish up with painting. Mario and I did the closet in our room and in the evening finished up with the kids’ room. All that was left to do in that room was the edges near the ceiling and the corners, but I would do that later.

After all the painting we did on Friday, Mario volunteered me to help Mary paint her house. I was silently cursing him since I was hoping to finish painting our house (I still needed parts of the living room + edges and corners like I’d said before) and the whole house needed a desperate cleaning. There was sheetrock dust on every surface of the house and my floors still had clumps of spackle all over the place.

But, I sucked it up and went to help Mary after I’d had breakfast. I was to help do a texture that uses a plastic bag and paint all over her walls. It actually looks really nice and gives the room a vintage look, which works out since Mary has a few vintage-looking porcelain dolls on a shelf. After I’d finished there, I came to work on my house before I became engaged in anything else over there. I was feeling a little annoyed since I had to do all the painting by myself at my house and the only person to help me move things around was John, which I appreciated greatly. Elda, Mary and Noelia were all helping each other paint and were done with Mary’s room, the kitchen, living room, Noelia’s room and her bathroom in one day. Grr. I still had the kids’ closet to paint but I was way too tired to even bother.

We’ll need to buy maybe two more gallons of the beige paint, since the “new” walls don’t look glossy like they’re supposed to. I think the texture sucked it all up.

Noelia’s birthday was on Sunday. We’d slept in as much as we could and then got ready. The food was great and everyone was here, so it was nice. After Noelia’s lunch, Mario and I hurried to Target to get a birthday present for a little girl whose party we were invited to. While we were looking around for something to buy for a 1 year old girl (we were having so much trouble! We need to get used to the baby girl toys LOL) Mario called his friend Manny to check if he was going and he said no, so Mario didn’t want to go anymore either. He’s such a girl about stuff like that LOL.

So, instead of buying the birthday present, we got the kids 2 screen-print shirts that were on sale. We wandered over to the baby department and saw the 4-in-1 crib I liked (and it was less expensive than I thought!) and the Boppy and stroller/carseat combo we liked–in pink! I need to add all this stuff to my Pregnancy Timeline page to keep track of links just in case they don’t have them at the store.

Monday was a normal day, I think? Can’t remember now. Tuesday, of course, was spent doing these things and crying my eyes out because of all the Katrina Anniversary stuff on TV. I only got the things that are marked off done that day and of course washing dishes (which I did the next morning because I was dead tired. I had to drag myself into the shower at night. I even whined to Mario, “I wanna stay dirty!” which is Eenan and Jaylen’s favorite phrase.) I’m glad the house is much cleaner than it had been for a few days, though.

I spent most of Wednesday with a headache (I didn’t sleep enough) and was nodding off every time I was sitting quietly. I didn’t do much that day since the house was actually CLEAN!

Jaylen had been doing wonderfully all week–no crying in the morning since I’d give him a You’re Gonna Be Brave, Right? pep talk on the way to school every day. Well, this morning I didn’t get a chance to give him a pep talk since we were talking about other things. He immediately started freezing up as we approached his class and threw himself on the floor in front of the door. His teacher heard and quickly came to my rescue (thank GOD!) and tried consoling him. I ran away as fast as I could to drop off Eenan before he was late.

Eenan’s been doing great in school, except for the fact that he forgot his homework folder Monday and Tuesday. When he told his teacher about it on Tuesday he said she replied with, “It’s not my problem.” Geez. I know he forgot and all, but do you have to speak to him that way? She looks like she’s a bitter old woman. Hopefully I’m wrong.

He finally brought his homework yesterday though, with the warning that if he forgot it again he was going to get a Red Mark in his behavior folder. A Red Mark is like, the worst thing, ever. I hope he remembers it today *crosses fingers*.

Mario gets paid tomorrow and we’re sort of nervous since it’s been a slow week so far. They’ve been experiencing their Slow Season since about June, but Mario’s always done great. Well, this week they’ve hardly had any work, and Mario’s finally feeling the brunt of it. We have our car payment this week, Mario needs shoes (his current ones are “talking” to him), Jaylen needs new shorts for school since all the other ones we got him are HUGE, thankyouverymuch; plus our credit card, personal plan payment at JC Penny, and storage payments. Oh, and I forgot, we need to get the trim for the doors:

(Nice improvement from before, right?)

And trim, is it? For all the rooms and whatever we may need for the closets. I REALLY need those closets to be finished. Look at where my clothes are for the time being since we took out my old wardrobe closet on Friday (and it quickly decided to fall apart as soon as they took it outside):

May God help us.

Took a break to pick up Jaylen and Brianna and he did much better after I left. He even got another sticker for behaving well :). I’ve been keeping all the stickers he gets on a little sheet for his scrapbook. I wish I’d done the same for Eenan :(. John calls me “Psycho Mom” LOL.

Totally random thought: I love how coffee smells when it’s scent is wafting through the house. Even decaf smells good!

We ended up watching RV at the dollar movies, because we’re broke LOL. It was a really cute movie, no matter what anyone says. I’ve always loved Robin Williams. The kids laughed non-stop throughout the movie and we adults (Mario, Noelia and I) loved it, too.

After the movie we stopped by Home Depot to get paint chips/swatches and idea books. Only Noelia and I got down at the place and we went crazy with the books. That night Mario and I laid in bed and argued decided we wanted a light tan color and picked out 3 paint chips.

Nothing interesting happened on Thursday except that I woke up feeling really sick–worse than the day before. I don’t know if I caught a cold from someone or if it was because I slept with the fan practically on my face, but I had a sore throat, ear ache, constant sneezing, and a nasty runny nose.

I spent most of Friday feeling like crap too, but worked up some energy to get ready and go to Mary’s. She was making lasanga and everyone was invited over for dinner. We talked about baby names and I told everyone which name we picked. Annie, of course, didn’t like how ‘Rose’ sounded with Alathia (still not sure if I want to spell it that way or Alaethia, which I think would make more sense) but I love how it sounds. I’ve only liked it since I was pregnant with Eenan.

Mary invited the boys and I to the movies on Saturday. I still didn’t feel too hot, but went anyway when she said Tommy, Yadira and Yazmin were watching World Trade Center. As I expected, I bawled my eyes out 5 minutes into the movie all the way till the end. I kept remembering that actual day; Mario still worked at the hospital and had his day off–it was a Tuesday? We had decided to sleep in and at around 9:20 we get a knock at the door. It was my dad-in-law telling us we were under “Terrace Attack”, or that was what I understood anyway. Up to that day, I didn’t really know anything about Terrorist Attacks. I remember we sat in front of the TV with Eenan on our laps and my hand on my tummy. I kept thinking how this would undeniably start a war and what if more terrorists bombed Texas because the President’s from here? I was 2 months pregnant with Jaylen. It was horrible watching all those people throwing themselves from the buildings, trying to somehow save themselves. It was like something out of an action movie, only unfortunately, it was real life. I probably bawled even more at the ending credits when they rolled the names of all the Port Authority cops that didn’t make it out. *sigh* I should stop thinking about this. I’m getting a huge lump in my throat again.

Anyway, it was a long process after the movies–they were driving around looking for ballrooms for Yazmin’s Quincenera next year. After they decided on the second one, we had lunch at Denny’s, and I became a little upset because Tommy made fun of Alaethia’s name. Grrr. I was quickly growing tired. We stopped by Andy’s to see how big his hound, Curtis had gotten. That dog is huge. He’s much bigger than the kids are.

We got home and I didn’t get a chance to rest. We had a Quincenera to go to and I had to iron. I didn’t have anything to wear so that made me even more frustrated, but I decided on a blouse and jeans. When we got there I didn’t feel too uncomfortable since there were others in jeans, too. The Quince was nice. Mario and I both agreed we need to learn to dance–he’s never ever said he’s wanted to learn and I’m running with it LOL. We definitely need to learn by Noelia and Andy’s wedding.

Mario woke up in a crappy mood on Sunday and totally upset me. We didn’t talk most of the day. I called several places that sold paint and oh my gosh, most places were so expensive. The $25 paint place we usually go to was closed and I really wanted to get started ASAP so we went with Walmart which has the 5 gallon tub for $54. We finally started talking while we were there, because we had to talk to eachother and then we bar-be-qued that night. Mario made the fajitas (beef and chicken) and I made Frijoles a la Charra and Rice. We ate at my dad-in-law’s house when everything was done. The only thing missing was guacamole dip :(.

Monday came around and my cold finally went away. I went to buy paint supplies, such as a paint pan, rollers and masks. I started painting at 12pm and didn’t finish till 5:30, with a lunch break and water breaks. I painted all day. John helped move things, like furniture and the ladder for me, but that’s it. I love how the room looks. The paint looks different during day and night. I was afraid the paint would be too dark, but it’s pretty light and looks even lighter at night for some reason.

Here’s the actual paint color:

And here’s a piece of my room:

I was SO sore that night. Everyone kept telling me to take it easy, and I thought I was but going up and down the ladder as carefully as I was, was a workout I didn’t expect. I felt like I’d been doing crunches all day. I still need 1/2 of a wall; I couldn’t do it since a dresser and the bed are against that wall.

One of the most greatest, most unexpected things happened that day. I spoke to Sally after what? Almost 4 years? The last time I saw her was when Jaylen was a few months old. Thanks to Myspace and my old buddy Kristina we got back in touch. Sally gave her my number and I called her. I love Myspace. I’ve found a few of my childhood friends there–literally people I’ve known since I was 4! I’ve also found a few middle school friends. I’m so glad we’re back in touch. I couldn’t imagine going through life without ever seeing her again. Maybe I’ll even get the chance to rekindle my friendship with Veronica. Sally still speaks to her, but hasn’t in a few months. The ball of jealousy that was in my chest unraveled when she told me that. I was sort of relieved to find out they weren’t having the time of their lives without me LOL. I haven’t seen Vero in like, 5 years. I didn’t even know she had a little boy now! And people are married! People who grew up together! We made plans to get together on Friday, probably for dinner. We have so much to catch up on!

I also spoke to Jessica M. that night. I remembered that it was her birthday and called her and we made plans to get together Friday night to celebrate. We’ll be meeting her at a club and I’m sort of nervous about that because of the smoke and all, but we’ll at least see her for a little while.

Mom had yet another one of her appointments on Tuesday morning, only this time it was at the ripe hour of 8:00am. I had to wake up an hour earlier than usual to do everything, like get Mario’s lunch packed, make him breakfast, iron his clothes, feed the kids and myself and get them ready. Oy. Sally and I kept calling eachother in case she would stop by on her way from Laredo. She needed to get to work so she didn’t get a chance to stop by.

I was EVEN MORE SORE yesterday. The back of thighs hurt, my calves hurt. Now I know what to do after the baby’s born :P. I’ll just walk up and down the ladder about 1,000 times.

Speaking of, I read that Gwenyth Paltrow gained 40 lbs. with each of her pregnancies! I see that woman now and I just don’t know how she does it. Here’s an article I read:

“They should see the cellulite on my thighs right now,” the part-time actress and full-time mom of Apple, 2, and Moses, four months, reveals to Harper’s Bazaar.

Paltrow, 33, who gained 40 pounds during each pregnancy, says she no longer agonizes over whether her body will snap back to its pre-baby shape.

“The first time, you are horrified,” she admits of the added baggage. “It’s all lovely when you are pregnant; but when you are not pregnant and you haven’t been for a couple months and you are still carrying tons of extra weight and everything’s all hanging and sagging, you think, ‘How is this ever going to go back?’ But it does — if you do a lot of working out.”

According to Gwyneth, she lost 20 pounds immediately after giving birth and sweated off the rest with exercise: “With Apple I kept the extra 20 pounds on until she was three months old, and then it came off. And that’s exactly what’s happening now.”

She’s been working out, “but not dieting, because I am a milk machine … I’ve got the appetite of a breastfeeding mother.”

(Full story here.)

Now, if she’d just be a dear and tell us exactly WHAT she’s doing to lose that weight, I’ll buy all her movies.

And speaking of babies, I think Alaethia’s been moving a little more. I get worried sometimes since the boys were definitely moving by 4 months, but I hear girls move “later” than boys do. I can’t wait to feel that sudden *bump* though! I think I’m just impatient.

As for today, I have nothing to do! Well, that’s a bit of a lie. I have to wash dishes, put laundry away, pray that the rooms get finished–or at least the closets! Sweep/mop, put junk away where I can. And, if I can work up the energy, I want to paint the boys’ room. They start school on Monday and they don’t have a decent closet and there’s still that huge wardrobe/closet and a dresser I’d LOVE to get rid of in the way. Plus, they keep taking tons of toys to my bedroom. There’s nothing more painful than playfully jumping into bed with Mario and landing ass-first on a Power Ranger. Holding a sword upright.

I keep thinking, “Mario can finish painting”, but we definitely won’t have time to do anything over the weekend. Mother has another appointment on Thursday and it’s also meet the teacher night. We have bills to pay on Friday, plus buying the remainder of the kids’ school supplies (yup, they added more!) and clothes, a present for Mom for her birthday on Saturday, buy stuff for her bar-be-que on Sunday to celebrate her birthday, then we have dinner w/ Sally and meeting Jessica–and there’s no way I’m giving the last two up. I can paint on Saturday, but that’s about it. I also really need to clean the house for Sunday when we have company over for Mom’s birthday.

My back aches already.

As I assumed I didn’t sleep very well last night. I kept having these mini-dreams where I was getting an ultrasound done and everytime the doctor was about to tell me what the baby was I had to get up to go pee O_o. I woke up half an hour earlier than I set my alarm and practically waited at the edge of the bed to shake Mario awake so we could leave.

They took us in right away and took my vitals. Blood pressure was good, weight was the same (125.2), urine was normal. Have a slight cold (yuck) but other than that I’m good. They took us in to the sono room and Dr. C got started right away. He took measurements of the baby’s head and torso and she’s measuring at 15 weeks 1 day, so that bumps my due date to January 30th instead of 28th. I didn’t see how many beats per minute the heart was beating at but Dr. C said it was great. We asked if he could possibly tell what the baby was and he looked around until he saw her little legs. He said, “Ah ha! There! You’re having a….girl! I’m almost positive. See those two little lines?”

The sucky thing was he wasn’t recording at that time for some reason so we didn’t get a picture of her little “peach”, but we did get two of her face.

Mario affectionately reffered to her as “The Punisher” LOL.

I can’t tell you how happy I am! I feel like I’m floating. When Dr. C told us tears immediately started flowing out. I look at Mario and he had a goofy grin on his face. I started calling everyone as soon as we got home. I still need to make more calls. Mary, the ladies at Mary’s office and Yadira squealed with happiness :P.

Now I can get all those little dresses I’ve been drawn to at every store that has clothing in it. Now I have someone to pass my collections on to! Now my family will feel complete :).