2nd Week of April

Mon., Apr. 6th – It was Mario’s 1st Monday off since his boss had decided the week before that they’d be working on Saturdays from 10-5. We woke up late–correction, he woke up late. I’d already woken up a couple of times with Emmy. We needed to exchange the cement Mario had gotten (it was he wrong texture or something) and exchange the ceiling fan we’d bought. It was black and pewter and the more I looked at it, the more I didn’t like it.

Mom watched the girls while we went. We did the returns and went straight to the ceiling fan section. I wanted the blades to be a nice shade to match the floors when they’re eventually installed and varnished and to have a dome light instead of 4 separate lights. Everything was so expensive. The one I really liked was almost $200!

We decided to try Walmart before we made a decision on a fan. I liked one a lot, but it looked really similar to one back at Home Depot so we were going to get it there since we were going back for the cement anyway. We were both starving since we hadn’t had breakfast or lunch, so we stopped by Quiznos first for lunch. I hadn’t been there in forever (since I’d had my short bout of diabetes last May, I believe).

We noticed the boys would be out of school soon and would have to be picked up, so we went back to Home Depot and tried hurrying. The fan I liked that was similar to the one at Walmart ended up being one that was on sale that week, so it came out to $65. We got the cement and some more joint compound and paid. We got home and Mario parked the truck and I got in the Equinox and rushed to the school to get the boys.

We got home with the boys and Mario’s dad sent us back to Home Depot to get the supplies they’d need for the central air in the new rooms. That was the first day I spent almost all day away from Emily :(. I don’t know what it is about Mom–it’s like she can feel that Mom panics with newborns–but every time Emily’s with her, she just cries and cries. Mom had thankfully calmed her down by the time we took off again. Thank God too, since we took forever trying to locate the register boxes and ducts since everything was all over the place. We finally found some that seemed like they were the right ones.

Mario asked me to text Jorge to come over to help him with a project. Something about flush-mounting the speakers we already have for the surround sound, but using the register covers we’d just bought. Maggie didn’t come over :(. It was just Adan, Mario and Jorge outside, and his dad, of course. For the first time I ever, Mario politely kicked me (and Mom) out of the party porch. I guess they had “man things” to discuss *rolls eyes*.

I took the opportunity to order my Hugamonkey sling. Kristen let me know about Hugamonkey on Twitter and it seemed like the perfect sling! I love that you can use it as baby grows :).

Tues., Apr. 7th – I woke up feeling like shizz. I still had leftover congestion from the last cold I had 3 weeks ago and now I felt like I had Strep and an ear infection. I was really hoping I didn’t catch it from Mary. I clearly remember using her cell to make a call for her the day she’d gone to the doctor and was diagnosed with Strep and Laryngitis.

I’d only slept 6 broken hours during the night and I tried going back to sleep after Mario’d left to work but everyone kept calling. I hate the house phone, especially because Mom doesn’t have one and gives out my number and everyone decides to call before 9am. I only keep it for when someone’s watching my kids at home and I have to call to check up on everyone. It’s not like the boys don’t know to call my cell if there’s an emergency, so I’m taking Mario’s advice from now on and disconnecting it while I’m asleep.

The house got really loud and noisy after I picked the boys up from school. Every little noise made my ears and head rattle.

I decided to be brave and connect my external hard drive and download music again. I really, really hope I don’t catch that stupid media virus again. John got it too recently.

I watched Girl, Interrupted with Mario at night. I hadn’t watched it in forever. We really need to get it. Alaethia and Emily were up with us but I kept Alaethia from watching the bad parts. She’d fallen asleep early but woke up and saw the familiar lime green popcorn bowl and refused to go back to sleep.

Wed., Apr. 8th – I really want my sling to come in. Emily doesn’t let me do anything around the house. As soon as I pass her on to Mom, she starts screaming. I really don’t know why she doesn’t like her!

Anyway, I went to JC Penny to shop for bras with John after I picked the boys up. I took Emily with me, of course, and left Alaethia with Mom. I actually, finally found some bras in my actual size! Not an alternate size because they never have mine–the RIGHT SIZE. I was so happy! Of course, I only found 2 and 1 on clearance, but that’s 3 bras in the right size I didn’t have before.

I got some news from John as we were walking around. He was really worried, I’d never seen him like that before. I’m glad he can count on me and tell me everything, though.

I got us some Caramel Avalanches from Gloria Jean’s since he was feeling down. I’d been trying not to spend anymore than I should since I was trying to be on a budget, but I figured it was okay to splurge $9 for 2 drinks for us.

We got home a few minutes after Mario got home from work. My dad-in-law and his friend Ricky were working on our new living room putting up the rest of the drywall and installing the duct-work for the central air. Mario helped until Jorge, Maggie, their boys, Jose and Adan came over for another impromptu bar-b-q. All the boys played together (Halo Wars, mine being the loudest of all 4) until it was time for Eenan and Jaylen to go to bed and later we had Maggie’s boys fall asleep on the sofas. Alaethia was still up and running about, but calmed down when she saw that Wubzy and Ni-Hao Kai-Lan were on Noggin LOL.

When we were sitting outside under the porch and I had Emily in my arms and the boys had gone to bed, I remembered that they needed 2 dozen Easter eggs and a basket each! Mario kept telling me he’d buy some from Chris, who was selling some but he apparently never told him we needed them Wednesday night. When he called him up that night Chris told him he’d just sold out!

Then began the frantic phone calls to every store in the Valley. Everyone was sold out. I once again found myself cursing the new Walmart for not being open yet. I finally called to H-E-B, where I didn’t even think they were selling eggs, and they had some. Chris was already there and got us some (including 4 dozen for Maggie ’cause her boys needed them, too!) and Mario paid him back when he picked them up.

I don’t know what or why I decided at some point that Mario, Jorge, Maggie and I had to have a talk about something that had been bothering us girls, but we did. The guys joke around A LOT and sometimes they–especially my husband–can go a little overboard. It was stupid discussing this after all the guys had been drinking because Mario was being hardheaded, Jorge wasn’t giving much input (which was really smart of him LOL) and Adan was trying to diffuse the situation when it got a little heated by making jokes. I kept trying to get through to Mario, who insisted that he wasn’t going to stop joking around like that and it made me upset. Everyone who knows me well knows that once I start getting really angry and frustrated, I can’t help but cry. I tried my hardest to hold it in, but when Adan made a certain comment I got even more pissed off and cried in front of everyone. I felt like a damn fool. I managed to calm myself down but he repeated it a while later and I started all over again. I just decided to come inside after that. Maggie followed me in a while later and gave me a hug and told me they were all stupid LOL. In a fit of childish anger I decided I was never going to forgive Adan, or even hang out outside when the guys were drinking. I kept trying to stop but would just start bawling when I’d remember later. I felt even worse when Mario snapped at me when he’d come in to get the 5 gallon jug to buy water. I don’t know why I was so sentimental that night. I tried my hardest to go to sleep, but it took a while. I’d locked the door to the bedroom because Alaethia doesn’t like when it’s open because the hallway looks “scary”, but I really mainly locked it to keep Mario out. He got the point when he turned the door and found it locked. He was asleep on the couch when I woke up the next morning LOL.

Thurs., Apr. 9th – I woke up having coughing fits, which in turn woke Emily up earlier than she should have been for her bottle. My epidural site was aching, and I was starting to wonder if it was because I’d been coughing so much or if it was almost that time of the month, hence the crazy hormones?

It was so hot outside and it made me feel worse; feverish even. I had a headache from crying all darn night to boot. I just felt awful. It was the boys last day of school before Easter holidays. Eenan called around 10am, which I found odd, but all he wanted was for me to drop off a toy. What? Why in the world would I do that?

Remember when I mentioned John was worried about something and had bad news? Well, everything’s fine now. I’m so glad!

I can’t remember much from that night, but I know for a fact we just chilled out at home after the incident the night before.

Fri., Apr. 10th – I woke up feeling a bit better from my nasty cold. My throat wasn’t aching as much anymore but I still had a headache.

The day was a usual one, except that I had the boys at home all day. They were surprisingly well behaved, and by that I mean there was minimal beating up on each other.

I helped Noelia file some of her student’s work with Elda that evening while Mom watched Emily and the boys kept Alaethia busy. When Mario got home and I finished helping we went over to Jorge and Maggie’s. We left Alaethia with Mom since she was already falling asleep, the boys didn’t want to go and stayed with Mary so we only took Emily this time.

Mario and I’d had a little tiff before we’d left the house but tried getting over it when we got to Jorge and Maggie’s. Apparently they’d had a little squabble as well so that made the night interesting for all of us, heh. Does that only happen to us, or to everyone: don’t you just love when you’ve had a squabble and your partner does every little thing to make you happy to make up for it? LOL

Anyway, the guys left to get dinner and us girls stayed behind with the kids (who were asleep). We all realized we’d forgotten our blender and Margarita stuff, so the guys came back to our house to get everything. Jorge and Maggie had bought tons of cocktail mixes so we spent the night laughing and making messes of some of the cocktails LOL.

Sat., Apr. 11th – Mario had to work again so I slept in after he left to work. When I got up I got myself and the girls ready and we went over to Mary’s to chill. We watched everyone assembling the Easter baskets. We still weren’t able to find Easter eggs for the kids on Easter day, so we were thrilled to find out Yazmin’s friend’s mom was still selling eggs.

Adan and Aide came over with Belle. I felt awkward but carried on with Aide like nothing happened although she probably knew what did happen. Adan came in and patted me on the shoulder. I kind of jumped, not expecting it. I’d mostly gotten over the whole thing since the incident, so I accepted his apology when he said he was sorry. Supposedly I’d promised myself I was going to stand my ground and continue being mad, but it would be completely immature and pathetic of me. We’re family anyway. I’m glad we were on good terms again since it would have been awkward during Easter for everyone if we weren’t.

I gathered all the kids (as if they were cows LOL) and got in the truck to visit Gramma and then the groceries. The boys were already fighting before we even left so Mary said watch them when she got back from her trip to Walmart. I decided going all the way to Gramma’s wouldn’t be a good thing to do since Alaethia was already moody. I didn’t want to feel overwhelmed like I did the week before.

The girls behaved amazingly well…until we got to the registers. Alaethia started throwing a fit because she wanted all the junk food in sight and Emily woke up–starving–just when I was putting everything on the conveyor. I’m not sure if it was because I felt stressed and overwhelmed but the store became ridiculously quiet and everyone was staring at us. I fumbled with my wallet and the formula dispenser simultaneously until I popped the bottle in her mouth and she stopped crying, as if nothing ever happened. A woman had the audacity to walk up to me and make a comment, asking WHAT I was doing to the poor child because she couldn’t believe she was the same baby who’d been screaming her lungs out seconds before. I wanted to shout at her, but kept my mouth shut and walked away.

Add to my stress the fact that I’d gone over my grocery budget. We’d been doing so well and I had no idea what happened. I felt awful. I immediately started feeling like I usually do when I feel like we might not make the bills and cried my eyes out. I put everything away while I discussed my worries with Mario. I bawled even more when I told Mario I was just going to have to go back to work. See, the job he was currently at was supposed to only be temporary, till he was called in to Border Patrol. We never expected him to work there till I quit, much less till April. Mario told me to calm down; he’d go back to his old workplace, where he made much more cash and never had to worry about money. The only bad thing was the amount of time he spent at work, which sometimes caused arguments between us, and the time he lacked at home with the kids. But we realized it was only while I was working that we were stressed from not seeing each other and not going out with the kids. We were fine before when I was a SAHM and he was working there. So he made the appropriate calls and they welcomed him back with open arms.

Mary’d come in while I was having my nervous breakdown and she told us not to worry; they’d help us get through everything. I don’t know what I’d do, literally, without our wonderful family. I’m so blessed.

Noelia came over again that night and everyone (Yadira, Aide, Elda and myself, while Yazmin, Mom and Angela watched all the babies) chipped in to help her file like we’d done the night before. I really can’t remember what else we did that night. I know we did a few boxes of filing and then the rest of the night’s a blur LOL.