Speedy Speederstein

I got this from a friend's blog. Go me.

136 words

Speed test

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that one is wrong! This one is more like it:
93 words

Speedtest

Bye Bye Tio Say-oh

This week was quite eventful.

On Tuesday, I woke my children up at 4am to go to the airport to catch a flight to Texas to see my army bro. We got to the airport early, but thanks to some retarded Southwest Airlines employees, we missed our flight. So I got to spend the next 5 hours in an airport with my parents and my kids, because we were told we'd be able to get on the next flight. When it came time to board that flight, we were told that the flight was overbooked and we would not be able to fly. Do you know what it's like to be in an airport for a total of 7 hours with a 2 year old and an 8 month old who recently discovered he could scream? It's not fun. So my mom complained and we got vouchers. Marcelo and I will now be taking a free flight to the destination of our choice some time in the next year. With no children.

On Wednesday, we went back to the airport and got on a flight to Austin, Texas. My kids did really really, surprisingly well. I had two backpacks FULL of stuff for Diego to do and eat. He colored, played with playdough, watched a dvd....and by that I really mean "watched", with no listening involved, because he didn't like wearing headphones. When he got bored of all the stuff I brought for him, I loaded him with fruit roll ups and gummy snacks. The only bad part of the whole flight was during the descent, because Diego's ears started hurting and he started crying, loudly, for about 5 minutes straight. I felt really bad for the people around us, but I couldn't calm him down. The other not so fun part was changing 2 kids' diapers on a blanket on the floor in the back of the plane. The flight attendants were really nice and were like, "Oh just change them here" so I wouldn't have to try to squish into the tiny bathroom.

When we got to Texas, we picked up poor David, who had already spent hours sitting in the hotel lobby because he did NOT miss his Tuesday flight. We all went to see Justin and Betony Conte, and met their kids. It was kind of weird, because my mom used to want me to marry Justin, and she used to tell him so. But neither one of us ever had a thing for each other, so at least there wasn't that awkwardness. It was really cool to see him all settled down with his family. We both have two boys!

Anyway, we saw Sergio and Margaret at Justin's house. This was my first time meeting Margaret and I have to say, I approve. She's really really nice. Very easy to talk to. I feel so bad for her because she's not going to get to see Sergio for a year. That would be soooo hard on any relationship. But they've spent most of their dating and engagement long distance, so maybe they're used to it.

We didn't get to spend much time with them that night, but the next day, my birthday, we went to Sergio's farewell ceremony, and then to a picnic afterwards. We got to see Sergio march, then we got to see "the barracks" where he slept, and the best part of all...we got to see everyone saluting him. It was hilarious to see that everyone who walked by him saluted him. He walked into a room and everyone stood at attention. It was cracking me up. I was like, ahhhh, now I see why you left the air force for the army. To be a big shot. hahaha.

At the picnic we got to hang out with Sergio for awhile and talk to him a little. He said he was just ready to leave. I would be so scared. I know Kuwait is safe and whatever, but still...leaving everything I know for a whole year...that would be really hard. And he's going to have such limited contact with the outside world. It's going to be hard. As I write this, I can't help but think of missionaries, and the fact that even though, fingers crossed, my boys won't be military boys, they'll still leave home for a mission. That'll be hard. (Trying to set a record for saying that phrase as many times as possible in one post.)

After the picnic, we went bowling with Sergio and Margaret. At one point, I almost started crying because Sergio and David were both playing with Marcelito and giving him kisses. It was soooo weird to have both of my brothers there, with my babies. And it was sad to think that I really don't know when that will happen again. Sergio will be gone for a year, and who knows when David will be back here to visit. I miss those boys a lot. Why couldn't they be little cowards like me and stay close to home? (Okay okay, I didn't stay home because I was scared. I stayed home because Marcelo refuses to move. But NOW, I'm scared to move away.)

In case you're wondering, my dad won the bowling game. David and Sergio were a close second and third. And then me! I got a 79. I'm not very good. After we were done playing, we all went outside, took a few more pictures, and said our goodbyes. It was so freaking sad. That's the only way I can say it. I'm going to be a nice sister and send lots of care packages and letters.

This is already super long, but I just want to write about one more thing. The flight home. I was so scared that Diego was going to be a handful and get bored a lot faster. But this is how it went down. We got on the plane, Diego started asking for a drink. I couldn't get him a drink because we were taking off. As soon as I saw the flight attendant start getting drinks, I pressed my little button so he would come and give Diego some juice. Well, being the man that he was and not understanding in the slightest what it's like to try to keep a 2 year old happy on an airplane, he was like, "We'll be coming around for drink orders momentarily." I was like, we're sitting in the LAST row. I can get up and get the drink myself. The drinks were seriously a half step away from my seat. But no. We had to wait. As soon as Diego drank his juice, he was knocked out. He and Marcelito slept the whoooooooooooole flight. Landing and everything. It was bliss. My mom and I chatted the whole 3 hours. :)

And that was our trip to Texas. I'm glad to be home with my sweet hubby.

It's getting better all the time...

I've done laundry everyday for 4 days. It's a miracle. I folded it and put it away and everything. I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm pretty proud of my kids.

You see, I have a very very needy 2 year old. He loves constant attention. He is terrible at playing alone. So the fact that I was able to do laundry and fold it and put it away means......he was able to entertain himself!!! That's a big step. Especially after the month he just had of having tons and tons of attention on a daily basis. Now that it's back to just me, him, and the little guy all day everyday, I thought it was going to be quite the nightmare and that I could forget about getting anything done. But no! I've cleaned my room, cleaned his room, and I've even kept the kitchen clean! If someone came knocking on my door right now, I wouldn't have to turn off the tv and run and hide. And that feels nice.

Trust me, I know how sad that is. It should be like this all the time. But Diego makes it pretty impossible. So now I'm working on making him play alone for a little while everyday. Another awesome thing is that he and Marcelito are finally trying to play together. Well, kind of. They pay a lot more attention to each other, and Marcelito wants to be wherever Diego is. And they talk to each other in the car. This is what it sounds like:

Marcelito: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Diego: hahahaha, Baby!
Marcelito: hahaha.....uhhhhhhhhhhh
Diego: hahaha, Baby talking to you!

I love it.

The Evil Boob of Torture

So here is the update on the boob from Satan.

My evil right breast has been giving me intense amounts of pain since, oh, November. After talking to many doctors who apparently slept through the boob portion of med school, I was given a mammogram, ultrasound, and was then referred to a general surgeon. The general surgeon...retarded. I seriously wanted to kick him. He was sooooooooo rude to me. He basically told me that he has no idea what the lump in my breast is ("looks like a tumor....or a cyst....or just a milk pouch"), and that there is absolutely squat I can do about it. He yelled at me to stop breastfeeding, after I had already told him that I was no longer breastfeeding. He was a jerk and a half. I was like, "If we don't do anything about it, couldn't it just come back again the next time I have a baby and am breastfeeding?" He said, "That's highly possible." Great! Thanks so much for the help.

Soooo, now that I've completely weaned Marcelito (which was a really long and drawn out process because I was sooooo sad to have to stop...I even tried to do the one-sided thing for about 6 weeks), I have to wait a couple more months so that my milk completely dries up, so I can go to another doctor. (Yes, I know that was a run on sentence.) Hopefully they'll be able to tell me what the heck I have so we can do something about it and I never have to go through this again!!!!

Pictures

I just want to post some pictures of the boys. I didn't write a lot while my grandparents were here because I was trying to spend as much time with them as I could. So now I'm trying to catch up and post pictures that we took while they were here.

One of the last days they were here, we tried to go see the sunrise. It was too cloudy, though. Here's a picture of my grandma and Marcelito. I'm sooooooo sad because I've been looking through my pictures and I don't have hardly any pictures of her!! She was working on so many beautiful projects for us while she was here, so she wasn't there whenever I had my camera out. These are the only two I have. I think she looks so pretty, especially in the second one! I have to ask my parents if they have any more on their cameras. I didn't get a single one of her with Diego!!




































On the last full day they were here, my grandpa went out with me and the kids while my grandma went out with my mom. These are the pictures we took:



























These are the cute sweaters my grandma brought for the boys!




























And one of all of us.

Bye Bye Tato Beto, Tata Ceci

My grandparents left. They were here for over a month and I got to spend almost every day with them. I love them! My grandma is so talented and can teach me so much. And my grandpa and I have a special connection that we've had since I was 8 months old. (Seriously, I've been told the story many times. He was the only one who could get me to stop crying one day, and we formed a bond that has now lasted 24 years.) He's the sweetest man in the world.

Diego calls my parents Tato and Tata. It's his way of trying to say Abuelito and Abuelita. He made it up, but the funny thing is that it is actually a nickname for grandparents in Colombia. Anyway, he decided to call my grandparents, who's names are Humberto and Cecilia, Tato Beto and Tata Ceci. It was very cute. He loved my grandparents. It was wonderful to see my grandpa interact with Diego. He played with him outside every single day. It should be noted that my grandpa is going to be 80 this year, and has had two by-pass surgeries. But that didn't stop him from being outside kicking a ball around and walking to the train tracks with Diego. Diego adopted my poor grandpa as his new favorite toy. If my grandpa tried to go back inside the house, Diego would grab his legs and say, "No Tato Beto! This way. Aqui! (Here.)" My grandma made him soups, which he loved, and showered him with kisses, which he didn't really love, lol. He was too busy to stand still for kisses. Diego learned a ton more Spanish while they were here, so I've now made it a goal to talk to him in Spanish more. I'm terrible at talking to him in Spanish. I need to just make myself do it at least a little bit everyday.

Three funny things he learned from my grandparents:

• They drink coffee everyday. They call it "Tinto." He learned that word pretty fast. My grandma would come outside with the coffee cup for my grandpa and Diego would say, "Tato Beto's tinto!"


• My grandpa always says, "Mucho lo bueno" after he eats dinner. Diego learned to say that. "Muto bueno"


• My grandma called him "Chino" so he now relates that word to her. He says, "Tata Ceci, chino."

Besides seeing my babies interact with my grandparents, the most special part of the trip was the fact that my grandparents took the discussions while they were here. I admit, I am a terrrrrrible missionary. I've only talked to one person about the church in my life, and we all know how that worked out. (He got baptized, turned crazy, and became a Catholic priest.) I wasn't sure how my grandparents would take it, and I was sooo afraid to bring it up, but one day (thanks to the great motivation that my brother gave me) I worked up the courage and talked to my grandpa. I told him that the Church was a huuuuge part of my life and that it was very important to me and that I loved him and my grandma and that I would hate for them to leave without learning what it is that makes me ME. I said that I would love it if they would just listen to the missionaries, just to learn what I believe. And he gladly accepted! My grandma was okay with it, too! So the missionaries came over and we had some nice discussions. We watched The Restoration, and The Testaments. My grandpa agreed to read The Book of Mormon. I'm sooo happy that he's going to read it. He said he didn't want to get baptized, but I already knew that would be the case. All I care about is that he and my grandma left with a better understanding of what I believe. I'm so glad I got to share that with them! They mean so much to me, so it was really great. I cried so much when I said goodbye to them.

And now Diego has been asking for them for the last 3 days. "Tato Beto? Tata Ceci?" I have to say, "They left on an airplane, remember?" To which he replies, "Bye bye Tato Beto, Tata Ceci." :(

Sorry, Mommy

Sometimes, bribery is needed when attempting to raise children.

Whenever I take Diego shopping and he starts to be a terror, I say, "Diego, if you're a good boy and you listen to mommy, I'll buy you a present." The present is usually a little toy from the $1 spot at Target. Anyway, we haven't been shopping in over a month because my grandparents have been here and we've been with them every day.

So, imagine my surprise when I had this conversation with Diego a few days ago as I was strapping him into his carseat before driving over to, you guessed it, see my grandparents.

Diego: Sorry, Mommy.
Me: Sorry for what, Diego?
Diego: Uh...yeesening Mommy.
Me: You're sorry for not listening to Mommy?
Diego: Yes! (Very excited that I had understood him.)
Me: It's okay, Diego. Thank you. (Totally had no idea what he was talking about.)
Diego: Present?
Me: (After it registered.) You think that because you said sorry to mommy, I'm going to buy you a present?
Diego: Yes! Present Diego!

What?!?! Where do they get that stuff? It's amazing how they connect things.

Language Explosion

Diego is just cracking me up these days. I want to remember all these things so I can tell him when he's older, so I'm writing it here.

He talks sooo much. Some of it is really clear, but other things sound nothing like what he's trying to say. I have to admit, it feels good to know that I'm the one person who understands his crazy little language more than anyone else. Marcelo comes in a close second, but since I'm with him more, I understand just a teeny bit more. I love to translate his sentences for people. And he definitely needs translation sometimes. We were playing in my mom's backyard, and he started saying, "Oh no, ba-o-fy gone," over and over. After seeing my mom's confused face, I explained that ba-o-fy was butterfly.

He just comes up with the funniest things to say. Sometimes it's so random and I think, where did he learn that? The latest is that when I'm changing his diaper he says, "Hurry, Mommy, hurry!" Because he needs to get back to playing ASAP, I guess. Today, he looked at my shirt and said, "Wow, nice shirt." What?? And it's soooo cool to hear him forming sentences. He was helping my dad cut down trees the other day, (all he was doing was dragging braches away) so afterwards I asked him, "What did you do with Tato today? Were you helping? Did you cut down the trees?" He said, "No. Tato cut trees." Duh, Mommy, I can't cut the trees myself. It's so funny when he corrects you. Last week, I went to my mom's house and when he saw that her car wasn't there, he goes, "Tata está?" (Tata donde está? He mixes English and Spanish a lot.) I said, "Tata's not here. Tata is at school." We went inside and he played with my grandparents for awhile. Later, he went into my dad's office and said, "Tato, where Tata?" My dad said, "Tata's working." Diego spun around and looked at my dad and said, "No, Tato. Tata school." My little genius.

Since we've been spending every single day with my parents and grandparents for the past two weeks, Diego has picked up a ton more Spanish. He already understood a ton, but now he's saying a lot more words. Here are a few things he knows in Spanish:

• Numbers up to 15
• All the colors
• All the names of transportational vehicles (car, bus, motorcycle, train, bike, boat, etc.)
• The names of a few animals (cow, cat, dog, frog, duck, monkey, lion, fish....can't think of what else)
• The names of lots of outdoor things (tree, grass, sky, clouds, flowers, street, house)
• The names of body parts (eyes, nose, mouth, feet, hands, head)
• Mucho frío
• Así no
• No pinta
• Ay! and Uy!
• Afuera
• Vamos (He usually says, "Es vamos".)
• Zapatos
• Agua
• Leche
• Comida
• Te amo

That's all I can think of right now.

Sometimes, if I don't understand him in English, he'll try telling me the word in Spanish. He was telling me the other day, "I want you one." I was like, huh? He said it again and I kept guessing what he was trying to say, and finally he thought for a moment and said, "I want azul one." YOU was blue. Ohhhh. Also he told my mom, "Tata, has peas," and of course, she was totally lost. When she didn't get it, he said, "Tata, manos peas." Meaning, Tata, hold my hand please.

Okay, Marcelito is calling. More next time.

Just for fun...

I found this on a friend's blog and decided to do it just for fun.

All about my husband

What's his name? Marcelo Diego

How long have you been married? It'll be 5 years in June.

How long did you date? We dated for almost 3 months before we got engaged and were engaged for 10 months before we got married.

How old is he? 27.

Who eats more? We eat about the same, so I'm always trying to make him eat more so I feel better about my bottomless pit of a stomach.

Who said I love you first? He did. There was no way I was going to say it. It happened in his truck. That white, Ford ranger. You know, the one he also proposed in. Oy.

Who is smarter? It depends. I'm smarter in English and anything to do with communication/language. I'm also smarter with computers (typing, photoshop, etc.) But Marcelo beats me on lots of other things. He's an engineer, so he's very logical and good at math. He's amazing at anything that has to do with the house or cars. I can count on him to fix anything and everything. And he's also smarter than me on church related stuff. If I'm stuck on something doctrinal, he can always explain it.

Whose temper is worse? Um, mine. By a landslide.

Who does the laundry? It's a team effort. Our washer is in our pantry, and our dryer is in the garage. On the far end, by the garage door. So instead of getting a hernia carrying out a heavy wet load, I ask him to do it for me. But I'm the main folder in the operation.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If we're facing the bed, I sleep on the left and he sleeps on the right. So when we're lying down, he's on my left. Why is that question so hard to answer?

Who cooks dinner? Oh, me. For sure.

Who pays the bills? Oh, him. For sure.

Who is more spoiled? Me. I try to spoil him, too, but he wins. I mean, who bought who the minivan and a Canon Rebel XT camera?

Who drives when you are in the same car? Marcelo. And I do the backseat driver thing. It probably drives him crazy, but he doesn't let it show.

Who is more stubborn? We're both stubborn, but I'd say he's more stubborn.

Whose parents do you see the most? Right now, mine, because my grandparents are visiting and I'm there every day. But usually it's pretty even.

Who proposed? Marcelo. In his truck, in the middle of the woods. There's not much to say about that. But the second time he proposed (long story involving a botched ring sizing job) he did it at a beautiful park, in a beautiful way.

Who has more friends? Real friends? Me. Fake, chummy work friends? Him.

Who has more siblings? Him. He has a sister and two brothers. I have two brothers.

Who wears the pants in the family? Oh, for sure, he does. But I tell him when to put them on and when to take them off. :)