Grab a cup of coffee my loves. This is going to be incredibly long. I’ve been updating little by little, just never published it. I don’t remember much from the 7th to the 10th since I didn’t update at all at that time.
Sunday, 3-11-07 — We were home all morning. Mario didn’t want to go anywhere. He only wanted to stay home and watch TV. The boys didn’t want to go anywhere so Mom, Alaethia and I went to Big Lots on our own. I hadn’t been there in about a year so I was excited to see what crap I’d find. As soon as we walk in we’re bombarded by people who want to touch and see Alaethia. Then we’re on to the frames section where I found a great frame for 3 4×6 photos with hooks for sweaters and whatnot. Just what I’d been looking for. And it was only $12! Cheapest I’d seen anywhere.
We strolled onto the scrapbooking isle next and I was in love. I gave myself a budget–because, are you kidding? No budget = us broke. I would have bought so many more things, but I picked only my favorites.
Mario sent me to Sears next, where I had to get a raincheck for the multi-meter he wanted that was on sale for $10.
Monday, 3-12-07 — The first day of the boys’ Spring Break. Mary was off from work, so she, Noelia, Mom, all 3 kiddos and I went to eat breakfast at Denny’s. Noelia and I shared a meal (those things are huge). Best French Toast I’d had in a long time. The boys behaved so well and had Alien pancakes and colored on their placemats. They’ve been so artistic and creative lately. Makes my heart dance with joy that their only source of entertainment isn’t just video games and TV anymore.
We came back home to get jackets since it was drizzly and cool and was quickly getting worse. We were going to go to the outlets in Mercedes, but the rain just didn’t make it possible. Mary and Noelia went to Mexico for a few things (the rest of us stayed in the car). We went to watch Bridge to Terabithia and I bawled my eyes out. Alaethia was a little moody so I spent most of the movie at the foot of the theater in the staircase, walking around with her and rocking her. I tried my hardest not to cry since people could see me down there but once everyone was walking out when it was over, I couldn’t stop! Eenan was crying too and had his hoodie over his face. He get embarrassed sometimes because, like he says, he’s so sensitive LOL.
We did a few more things that day, like Mary had to go get plates at the sticker place (forget what it’s called), Alaethia screamed her head off because we ran out of water and the bitchy girl at Stripes wouldn’t bring me a warm water from the back, and I got Mario’s multi meter from Sears after spending half an hour on the phone with incompetent salespeople.
I finally popped in The Biggest Loser 2 Workout Video I purchased from Target the week before into the DVD player that night. I figured if I want to be in shape for Noelia’s wedding (which is a mere 3 months away — EEK!) then I better get on the ball. Which reminds me, I need an exercise ball. Can’t do the crunches or back exercises correctly without them! I felt so flexible and relaxed when I was done and I didn’t feel sore at all the next day!
Tuesday, 3-13-07 — The kiddos were still in bed and Mario was just walking out the door to leave to work when he gets a call on his cell phone. He closes the door, then quickly comes back in and has this look on his face that’s all too familiar: The Bad News Look. My heart sinks and, bracing myself for the worst, I ask, “What happened?”
He says, “My mom just called to tell us Tia Alma passed away this morning.”
My heart sinks even more and, thinking I heard wrong, say, “WHAT? Tia Alma? No…”
He says yes, that she died from a heart attack. All I could think about was Jason, Adan and Jennifer. They’re all too young to lose their mother. Especially Jennifer. She’s only 19 and needs her mom.
He tells me he’ll get more info later and he leaves.
Mary calls and fills me in on what happened. Apparently she’d felt bad all night. She thought she had heartburn or air in her chest, so she kept sending everyone to get her mineral water and Tums. Her husband insisted on taking her to the ER but she refused and said she’d feel better; that it would pass. Finally, at 5:30, she listened to her husbands pleas and went to the hospital. She was fine at first and then she said she couldn’t breathe after they hooked her to the oxygen so they got ready to transport her to the Heart Hospital. After half an hour, she was pronounced dead :(.
I’m still in shock that this happened. It was so sudden. She was fine one day and gone the next. It’s sort of a reality check, for everyone. Tia Alicia, her sister, barely passed away 2 weeks before she did and now her. It’s unreal. I pleaded to Mario to stop smoking, but he won’t listen. I fear for his health; for his whole family’s health on his Mom’s side. First Tio Saul, then Tia Alicia and now Tia Alma. I can’t believe it. She was only 53; 4 years older than Mary and 5 younger than Mom.
We, Noelia and I, spent the rest of the day with Jason and Mireya. Mom watched my kiddos for me. First we were at their (Tia Alma’s) house, then at the funeral home, at their house again where we met with more family who came to give their condolences and just to talk about what a shock it was, and then later we went to Chilli’s to have lunch since Jason hadn’t eaten since the night before because of everything that was going on. It was so sad. Everything. Watching Jason make all the arrangements, at the age of 23, picking his mom’s casket…just everything. And he was so strong, too.
We had a Rosario that night for Tia Alma. The whole family came over and we prayed. I had a lump in my throat the whole time hearing the Tias crying and just seeing the sadness in Jennifer’s face. It’s always great to see everyone, just unfortunate that it had to be under these circumstances :(.
Wednesday, 3-14-07 – We (Mom, the kiddos and I) spent most of the morning at home, then, when John got home, we decided to go thrift store shopping. It took a while for us to remember where it was, but we eventually got there. The boys had a great time playing with the toys and picked out 5 things each. John sat with them at the toys and watched them while I looked around with Alaethia in my arms (she didn’t want to stay in her stroller).
I went over to their huge library and immediately found three brand-new books: Like Water for Chocolate, Always the Bridesmaid, and A Million Little Pieces. On the other side I found The Wedding and The Divine Secrets of the Ya-ya Sisterhood. All for $3! I wanted to look around more but I would have been there forever.
We made sandwiches that evening since we had another Rosario that night and this time Mario got out of work early and made it on time.
Thursday, 3-15-07 — One of these nights was when Alaethia slept in her crib the whole night! From 11:30 to almost 7am. It was absolute bliss. Well, almost. I woke up at around 5am expecting her to wake up for a bottle, but she didn’t. It would have been so awesome to sleep the whole night but I’m just so used to waking up that I can’t! The two nights after that I was woken by Jaylen’s screams from his room around 2am, so I didn’t sleep the whole night those times either.
I tried taking a nap with her after Mario’d left to work, but it was a no-go. Alaethia wanted a bottle so I stumbled through the hallway and was surprised to see Mom and John already here. The boys had just woken up about half an hour before and had let them in. I laugh and make a joke about how they should just have their own key already and John says, “Hello?? Free Starbucks?” and I remember that, duh, it’s Thursday the 15th! Free coffees at Starbucks. I’d only been bitching for two whole weeks since I’d read about it in a Parenting magazine and I totally forgot. I fed Alaethia, washed up and got dressed, and since I was going to buy a top for the funeral the next day Mom gave me some money to get her something and she stayed with the kiddos.
We stopped at the Starbucks in the Target first and got our drinks. I’d never really had coffee from Starbucks, just lattes and Frappuccinos, so I was pretty darn surprised when I put about a pound of sugar and half a cup of milk in my coffee and it still tasted super strong. John had never had a coffee in his life and ended up putting some honey in it. When I yelled at him not to do that, I was a second too late and he says, “Then why do they put it here if it’s not for coffee?!” I tell him, “This is Starbucks, Dork. They sell tea, too!” He supposedly made it taste “really good” and offered me some but I took his word for it.
We took our coffees and left to McAllen. I stopped by Mario’s work and asked if he wanted some and he said, “Sure!” so off John and I were to the Starbucks on 10th st. — with the coffees we already had hidden of course.
We kept making jokes and, my God, I don’t remember the last time I was that hyper. We kept giggling about how they were going to ban us for trying to get two more coffees and I tried my hardest to have a straight face while the girl handed us the coffees through the drive-thru window. We took them to Mario and Manny and later on when I spoke to him he said they had a bitch of a time trying to get them to taste good LOL.
We stopped by Ross, where it took forever for me to find something for Mom. We were there for a good hour. I wanted to get a cute white hoodie with red and black skulls on it but of course, they had a shitload of them and non were in my size.
We went to the mall next, where we went to Hot Topic and John got Alaethia this cute little doll:
Next stop was Target. I found a cute black blouse with hearts on it and got a grayish/blue tank that matched the hearts. We got a few things John needed and I found some scrapbooking stuff that was on clearance and headed home.
The Rosario that night was at the Funeral home. I walked around with a lump in my throat again and finally let it out a little after a while. I had to go to the lobby with Alaethia for a little while since she was fighting sleep. Once she was asleep we went back and then she was passed around by relatives LOL. Tia Amelia scared everyone. She passes out when she gets really emotional and she usually comes-to quickly. This time, it took her much longer so everyone was panicking. She was fine though, but my gosh, it was a huge scare.
Friday, 3-16-07 — We woke up early to get everyone ready. Mario was moody so he kept snapping at me and quickly put me in a bad mood, which just made me feel even more horrible than I already felt considering the funeral was in a few minutes. I didn’t know what to expect when we got to the church. I found Mario (he’d left early with Jorge, who was a Pall Bearer) and we sat together. The reality of everything finally hit me and I couldn’t stop bawling. Then Anabel, the youngest of the sisters, started crying loudly so that made me cry more. I just still can’t believe this happened.
We followed the procession to the cemetary and found places to stand in the shade since Alaethia and the boys were with us. It was so sad seeing the kids, Jason, Adan and Jennifer watching their mom be buried. It’s always so hard to go up to them, even if we’d already seen them before, and pay our respects to them one last time before they bury her.
We all came home and then, after Mario and I’d had yet another little tiff, left to eat at Golden Corral. The boys didn’t want to go anywhere, as always, so they stayed with Mom and John at our house.
I hadn’t been to Golden Corral in so long. The food was really good. I had popcorn shrimp, bourbon chicken, macaroni, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese and ate almost everything! I hadn’t eaten breakfast so I was starving, as was everyone else. I hid some cookies in my bag for the boys (buahaha) and we were off to Wal-mart.
We got a few things we actually needed and then I found these little blouses for Alaethia in the baby department:
So adorable! I couldn’t find tiny jean shorts for her, but I’m having her wear them as a dress with bloomers under until she fully grows into them :).
We had the Rosario at home that night. There was lots of food that everyone brought and later on, crazy things went down. Crazy things that involved Yazmin poking all the women in the boob and everyone poking each other back O_o.
Saturday, 3-17-07 — Mom and I’d made plans to go to the flea market Saturday morning. We actually left on time for once. The only kiddos we had with us were Jaylen and Alaethia; Eenan was going to town with Mary. We get there, find parking quickly and put both kiddos in their strollers. Mom finds a glass punch bowl with cups right away so we take them to the car. Jaylen finds a plush R2D2, I find lots of new-release DVDs and have to stop myself before I spend all my money, Mom finds plants and some parakeets she’s been wanting forever, I find Pokemon plushies for the boys and a cell phone case for Mario’s new phone. Pretty successful flea market day. We saw Lisa there and she said the family had been there, too, but were already leaving. We didn’t even get to see at least a fourth of the flea market — it’s huge! Next time we go, we’re starting from the side we didn’t get to see.
Mary called and said she, Noelia, Eenan, Jose, Elda and their boys were at Luby’s and if we’d like to meet them there. We said sure, and went. I had marinara chicken, or something like that, and mashed potatoes and macaroni. LOVE Luby’s macaroni. The kids ate well and when we were done, we switched kiddos. Eenan came with us to drop the cell phone case off to Mario and then we went to Big Lots, where I found some more awesome (and cheap!) scrapbooking supplies. I’m becoming obsessed, I think! I have so much stuff that I can’t wait to use.
We went to see Gramma next. She’s fine, except that she has yet another cough. I get so worried about those darn coughs. I’m always afraid she’s going to develop pnuemonia.
Our last stop was Target, where we ran into Mary, Noelia and Jaylen. He came with me and since they’d behaved we promised to get them a game. They had to decide which one they wanted to share, since they were only getting one. They decided on one of the Final Fantasy ones.
I also got Alaethia the Fisher Price Rainforest Swing. It entertains her for a while, enough time to do a few dishes, but she always ends up screaming her head off LOL.
I went to the scrapbooking isle, just to see what they had on clearance again (obsession I tell you) and found a corner shelf for $12.50. I plan on asking for the rest of the cubes for my birthday if anyone asks what I want :). I just hope the rest go on clearance. $24.99 regular price seems like too much for me.
We got home and it was one hour till we had to go to church for the Rosario. I got into the shower really quick since I felt gross from walking around at the flea market in the humidity and when I was done we left. Mom went with me and Alaethia, John, who was desperate to use the internet since I hadn’t been home all day, stayed with the boys.
Alaethia was a very good girl the entire time. She even slept through Matthew’s squeals LOL.
Sunday, 3-18-07 — Matthew turned 1 year old on Sunday. I didn’t go to the Rosario that morning since I was exhausted. At least Alaethia’d slept through the night again.
Mary and I went to Target really quick to get Matthew a gift. I’d totally forgotten to get him something when we were at Target the day before. I got him a t-shirt that says ‘Ladies Man’ on it, since he’s such a flirt, and some khaki cargo shorts.
We went to Matthew’s party, which was being held at Chelito’s house. It was nice sitting around with everyone and talking. Tia Tala was having a garage sale, which made me want to go through my stuff and have one even more. I need to do that soon. For some extra bucks and just to get rid of all the clutter.
The food was great, I got a break from Alaethia since everyone was holding her and passing her around. Matthew opened his gifts and then we had cake and came home.
Monday, 3-19-07 — It was back to school for the boys on Monday. It was hard putting them to sleep the night before and a little more difficult to wake them up that mroning. Mom and I went to Target yet again ’cause she wanted to buy who knows what, and I ended up finding another corner shelf like the one I’d bought on Saturday and the desktop shelves. Now I only (ha, only!) need two of the 4-shelf cubes, 1 3-drawer cube, and the 4-drawer cube to create my scrapbooking space!
Mario called and asked me to check out prices at a car dealership. He was tired of the Sentra and he’d told me the night before that he needed a new car, but it was just a casual sort of thing. After I picked Eenan up from school, I left the kiddos with Mom. John accompanied me to the dealership. Mario was a little pessimistic about it, as always, but I promised him I’d be dropping off a car to him in a few hours.
We got a really cool salesguy. He asked what I was looking for, I told him and he delivered. We went out to look at the cars. We had a choice of a red 2005 Cavalier, but it had dents on it. A silver 2006 Chevy Cobalt, but it had horrible cigarrette burns and reeked of smoke. No thanks. Another 2005 silver car that I can’t recall at the moment but it was really used looking. A 2006 Scion, but Mario doesn’t like those. A 2005 or 2006 PT Cruiser, but Mario doesn’t like those either. Then he showed me a metallic silver (like the Equinox) 2005 Dodge Neon. It looked great from the inside, the engine, and only had 34,000 miles. Not bad. Mario wanted to see it, and I mentioned this and the salesguy, Carlos, said, “Let’s take it to him so he can look at it.” He was awesome. We drove two cities so Mario could take a look at it and he loved it. We go back and finish up the paperwork. It took about 4 hours total but when we were done they’d dropped the price from $12,000 to $10,000, I’d left $159 down and got the price we wanted of $218 a month. Awesome. When John’s ready to get his car we’re going with the same guy :).
But this also means I must stop spending recklessly. Must start being frugal, like I was those many months ago :(. Still, I’m glad Mario got a new car. He needed one. It just sucks that we barely paid off the Sentra last year and now we have two new car payments LOL. That’s how it goes I guess.
I got home just in time for the Rosario. It was supposed to be held at church that night but something happened and they moved it over to Mary’s.
Tuesday, 3-20-07 — I went grocery shopping after dropping the kids off at school and stayed within my $120 budget (I spent $111). I took them to the book fair, where Jaylen got two coloring books and a book-making pack (it’s like scrapbooking basically) and Eenan got a The Cat book, a Pokemon book and the same scrapbooking pack. Then I notice that I missed the kids’ Open House the previous day. That sucks! It’s the only one I’ve ever missed of Eenan’s and it was the first one for Jaylen. I felt like a bad parent, but it’s not like I would have been able to go if I’d remembered since I was at the dealership anyway :(.
Since Big Mario needed a new vehicle, too, Mary went over to where Dalia works and got him a truck. It’s nice. A white Ford F-150. He was sort of in shock and kept saying, “I told you to get a car, not one for me!”
We had another Rosario that night with finger foods for a snack afterwards. Mario actually got out early enough to make it. The kids all played and it was nice and breezy outside. We’d had Monday’s and Tuesday’s Rosarios outside and the wind felt awesome. Mario left to Adan’s afterwards (and then ended up at Isaac’s) and so I didn’t get to take a shower that night. I LOATHE going to bed without showering!
Wednesday, 3-21-07 — Alaethia didn’t fall asleep till 1am the night/morning before. She let me sleep a full 5 hours, but I was exhausted in the morning and she had her two-month checkup. Since Mario was out being a darn bachelor and didn’t come home from his cousin’s house till God knows what time, I had to take a quick shower in the morning and ate breakfast really quick before we left.
Mom went with us. We wait a whole hour before they call us just for them to tell me that she’s not “old enough” to get her vaccines. They should have given her an appointment for exactly 2 months or a few days later, not a few days earlier. She was 3 days too early. Grr.
I checked my weight on their scale, since it’s the one that’s most accurate and the one I’ve been weighing myself since I was pregnant. I gained a pound! I haven’t been working out like I wanted to because of all the Rosarios and, of course, because of caring for Alaethia. I need to work out more. And stop eating so much junk food!
They gave me another appointment and we left to pick up Jaylen.
Jaylen had a note taped to his wrist. Picture Day’s Tomorrow! it said. Bastards. I hate when they do that; when they send last-minute notices. It would have been nice if they’d reminded me about the Open House!
The boys didn’t have any decent clothes so I had to rush to JC Penny to get them some. (But not before stopping at Michael’s really quick to buy some scrap paper that was on sale!)
It took FOREVER at JC Penny since there were tons of people from Mexico shopping. One had about 100 items of clothing and wanted a sale price on each one or else she didn’t want it. The other 3 (that cut in front of me no less!) were arguing about a coupon they had that didn’t work and were insisting that they try everything in their power to make it work. I had the same one and it didn’t work either, but I just left it at that. Grr. I was almost late to pick up Eenan!
The last Rosario was last night and it was held outside. We had Pan Dulce as a snack and talked with everyone. Since Alaethia’s nap was ruined in the morning due to her stupid appointment, she was super moody by nighttime. She cried during the entire Rosario, which is not like her at all. Everyone was surprised. It took me forever to put her to sleep, but it gave me some time to order some prints from Winkflash. I can’t wait to get them and start scrapbooking again! It’s been too long!
While looking through the pictures I realized how fast Alaethia’s growing! Sometimes I wish I could just clutch Time in my hands and bring it to a screeching halt — it just goes by way too fast! At 6 weeks Alaethia looked so much older. Cradling her in the crook of my arm for too long makes my arm sore. Her legs stretch out beyond my arms when I’m carrying her when just a week ago she was the length of one of my arms to the other. Now, at 8 weeks, she almost sleeps through the night (goes to sleep anywhere from 11pm to 12:30am and doesn’t wake up till 6:45-7:30am. She’s learning to focus on things and even reaches out her hand to try and grab things. She holds her legs stiff for a good while and has been holding her neck up since she was 4 days old. She smiles and softly coos when I do my Crazy Mom Baby Talk and she’s even laughed a few times when I Raspberry in her neck. She’s significantly heavier and her legs are so cute and chubby!
And the boys! Jaylen’s almost Eenan’s height. They’re already talking about what they want to be when they grow up (at the moment, Jaylen wants to be a soldier in the army and Eenan wants to be in the Navy — which, considering our current wordly position, scares the hell out of me). I was looking through their baby albums to see how much they resemble Alaethia (she’s a carbon copy of newborn Jaylen) and I almost cried remembering how tiny they were and wishing, like I’ve been with Alaethia, that they’d stayed that little, where I could hold them all day long, love them and protect them from all the horrible things in the world.
*sigh* This was long. I finally don’t have anything to do (well, that I know of. You never know if there’ll be a pesky surprise!) so I finally got to finish this post. It’s only taken me several days of spurts of typing to finish this up. My appologies to those who are subscribed to receive e-mails when I update: I accidently pressed ‘Publish’ last night when I was updating instead of pressing on ‘Save and Continue Editing’. You recieved a blank e-mail when I pressed Publish, so I’m sorry about that.
I need to make it a point to blog, especially since Alaethia’s litle. I’ll so regret it if I don’t keep updates on her. I want to remember everything. Good and bad.
