Category: Decorating

I’ll start with the lows, so that I can end this entry on a more chipper note…

First, I realized that I can’t take the teaching job and that realization sucks. I hate to go all “emo” as John would say, but it seems that everytime a great opportunity knocks on the door, I have to slam the door in it’s face.

I had to work up the courage to call Mrs. C-R and break the news to her. There’s just nobody who can pick the kids up for me. John volunteered to walk to their school and pick them up and bring them home, but I can’t do that to him. Not again. He made me the huge favor of babysitting the kids for me the 9 months I went to school and I can’t do that to him again. I can’t stop him from getting a job (which he’s in the process of doing) just so that I can go and persue something for myself. It’s his turn.

My interview was tomorrow at 2 p.m. She told me to call her tomorrow morning just in case anything changed, but the only thing I’ll be calling her is to confirm my unavailability. I felt so embarrassed and just plain terrible for having to back out. It’s not like I wanted to, but it’s out of my hands at this point. I wish I would have known sooner that there was no way I’d be able to do this. It really sucks.

Another thing that crapped on my day was that I had my doctor’s appointment today and I didn’t get any sono pictures of Alaethia :(. I took a CD-R in so that Dr. C. could record my ultrasound but it obviously didn’t work. The pictures saved in a .CIN format and I searched all morning for a way to convert them (or at least view them) with no luck. Poo. And she grew since my last appointment, too! I can already tell she’s going to be gorgeous :).

Now for the better things:

I had a little trouble getting Eenan to cooperate with me this morning, but eventually he gave in and got ready for school. Jaylen surprised me. I thought he’d fight me on going, but he asked, “Can’t we leave to school already?” when noticed I was taking “too long” to eat my cereal.

Eenan asked me to walk him to his class today, which made me feel like, ‘Yes! He still needs me!’ LOL. I gave him a kiss and he said ‘See ya’ to Jaylen and he went on his merry way.

It was Jaylen’s turn. I gave him a little pep talk on the way to the class.

“You’re going to be a brave boy for me today, right?”

He nods and smiles.

“You’ll be fine. You’ll have fun and be with your friends, like Brianna and I’ll be back for you before you know it, okay?”

He nods again and we get to the door. He gives me a kiss and I watch as he walks into the class. He turns and I blow a kiss to him and wave. As the door’s closing I hear him wail, “MOOOOM!” and I think, “Oh no, not again!”

He’s already in tears when he reaches me and says, “I forgot to give you a hug!” He hugs me and kisses my protruding belly repeatedly. He looks up at me, eyes filled with tears and says, “I don’t want you to leave. I don’t get to spend enough time with you!” I tell him, “It’s okay, Baby. You’re only here for a little while and you get to have fun! I’ll pick you up at 11:30, okay?”

He wipes his tears away and says, “But you’ll never come!” I laugh, wipe his eyes and tell him, “Have I ever forgotten you? No, right? You know I have to pick you and Brianna up. I promise I’ll come for you.” He wipes his face with both hands and we try again. I tell him to have a good day and say hello to Brianna for me, but she’s already sitting at the table eating her breakfast and yells, “Heyyy!” His teacher walks over to me with a huge grin on her face and says, “He’s doing better!” I nod, relieved, and proceed to tell her about his nosebleeds and not to panic if they happen. He knows what to do.

I left feeling so much better than yesterday. I got home and tried waking Mario out of his coma. Mr. Man was busy watching TV till 2:30 a.m. and then kept waking me up to, uh, “cuddle” from 4-5. I finally had to put my foot down and said, “No, means no!”

So needless to say, we were both tired and sleepy. He got dressed and got his stuff together and I sat on the couch to watch TV to help me stay awake. It was 8:25 a.m.; I had my appointment at 10. I ended up falling asleep. I had a feeling I should wake up at what seemed like just 15 minutes but the clock said it was 9:52! I got smoothed out my clothes, fixed my hair really quick and left. I didn’t even get to put make up on. I made it at 10:01!

I had a conversation with a girl I met there who’s 3 months along. She was there to maybe find out the baby’s gender (she wants a girl since she has a boy) and she congratulated me on my girl. We talked about our ailments and previous pregnancies. I didn’t get to ask her what she had, but I hope she got the healthy girl she wanted :).

I was panicking because they took much longer than they usually do today. They finally called me in at 11:12 and I stared at my cellphone till 11:20, when the doctor finally came in. He said we’d be doing the measurements again and the triple-screening (AFP).

We go into the room and I hand him the CD. He tells me he’s really not familiar with the machine, but we’d give it a try (great!).

He measured Alaethia’s head, torso, legs and checked out her spine and said everything looked great. She was moving around a lot this time; she was kicking her little legs, moving from side to side and either she sucked her thumb or touched her face–we couldn’t tell. I asked him to please confirm her gender and he took a still of her bottom. He points to the screen and says, “Ah! That right there’s her little vagina” LOL! I asked him, “So it’s okay to buy her clothes now? and she said, “Sure!”

I weighed 127.8 this time and the nurses said I’m doing great with the weight gain. They were surprised to see how gigantic I am now :P. They also asked about her movements and I told them that I didn’t feel them a lot, but I have been feeling little flutters and “spasms”. I’ve actually been feeling her move much more today. It makes me feel at ease knowing that she’s moving around in there. I was so worried before!

They took my blood (11:30) and I get out of there at 11:33. Thank goodness the school’s nearby; I made it right on time at 11:35. Jaylen ran to the door when he saw me and hugged me, then Brianna grabbed me, too. They were much better behaved today. I felt so overwhelmed yesterday (the kids + not being able to take the job + having to fix Elda’s computer + having to clean up after construction = emotional wreck). It was the cutest thing when Brianna started snuggling up with Mom and then she snuggled up with me. Mom called her my “new daughter” when we had to go pick Eenan up LOL.

John went with me since he had to drop off an application afterwards. It actually didn’t rain at 3 today (it rained both Monday and Tuesday and only at 3 O_o).

We dropped Brandon off at home, then went to Burger King. Got the kids some tenders then we went to get the boys’ haircuts. Jaylen was cooperative, Eenan was throwing fits. He loathes haircuts. He’s always afraid they’re going to cut more than they should, but we go to the same lady everytime and she knows how they like their hair. Didn’t stop him from getting himself into trouble and getting grounded for an extra day, though.

The lady and I spoke about how much the school district sucks, ideas why last year’s principal is now working at Target (no, really), and how the school’s construction is ruining her business. She even complimented my belly and said, “4 or 5 months right? It looks like you’re that far along.” She’s the only one who’s been right. Everyone else freaks out by the size of my stomach LOL.

I also chopped all my hair off on inpulse. Something just came over me. It used to be waist-length, now it’s a little under my shoulders. Crazy. I do love it though. It feels so much healthier. I was due for a haircut.

Mayra asked me about how remodeling’s going and it’s actually picked up speed a little. I helped my dad-in-law finish texturing the walls so now I need to paint. Hopefully those closets will be up in the next 1-2 weeks. I seriously can’t wait!

I also got my beige futon cover and clear frame magnets for my fridge from the ABC catalog. The living room looks like it got a makeover just by changing the cover and my fridge looks so organized and spiffy :).

Once the hallway’s done I want to buy a small mirror and table to give the hallway some life. If not, just this nice corner shelf where I can put some nice vases/trinkets.

At least I have my redecorating to keep me busy now that I’ll be home for this entire pregnancy.

I’m so sleepy I’m getting a headache. I’d take a nap, but it’s impossible to sleep in this house. As soon as I lay down the kids start fighting, the phone rings, or someone’s knocking at the door (and they usually don’t get the point and continue to knock until someone answers it).

Getting the kids to bed the past two nights has proven to be…overwhelming. No matter how early I feed them dinner and bathe them they still aren’t in bed until 10-10:30. Not good. I’m PRAYING that things start getting better.

It was Tuesday yesterday, which means Mario either chills out at work drinking with his co-workers or they go eat somewhere. Yesterday, their choice was Hooters. Mario’d never been there. When he called around 11:30pm that he was on his way home he sounded disappointed. He kept saying it wasn’t how he thought it would be. I asked him, “Aww, were the girls ugly and flat-chested?” LOL.

We talked and cuddled till 1am after he got home. Then he tells me his other schedule starts the next morning so he needs to go in at 9…which means I have to wake up at 7:30 to make breakfast and all that. Grr.

I kept waking up all night, which is the norm these days. I swear, it’s like my kidneys disappeared and all liquids go straight from my mouth to my bladder. I already had to bust out the leg-wedge pillow to help me sleep. And to top it off, the fan can be in my face and I’m still burning up. I had to switch my comforter for a flat sheet.

Last night when Mario and I decided to go watch TV in the bedroom instead of the living room I tried getting up from my half-laying position. After rocking back and forth like a turtle on it’s back Mario helps me up and I tell him, “I’m really afraid of how BIG and uncomfortable I’m going to be at 9 months!”

Speaking of being uncomfortable, I wish I could do more around this house! Not chore-wise but remodeling-wise. I painted half of the living room yesterday but had to leave some spaces unpainted since those areas still need the texture, like around the new hallway door. It frustrates me that the house is basically in shambles right now. I know my dad-in-law and Mario are busy all the time, but it sucks that it seems like we’ve come to a hault. Nothing’s getting done. The kids start school on Monday and their new clothes are still just draped over the back of the couch. All I want is for the closets to be completed, at least. But anyway. No use crying over spilled milk I guess.

I’m going to try and get some rest before our hectic day. Mom has an appointment at her hearing aid place, then we have to visit Gramma, I promised Mario I’d drop off a drink from Circle K to him, and in the evening we have Meet the Teacher Night. Let’s hope their teachers are nice people!

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.