Tuesday Tell All

Can you feel it? Fall is in the air. What do you like about fall and the changing seasons? Is there something you don't like about it?

Well, I live in Florida, where there are no seasons. So I don't get to enjoy the gorgeous changing colors of leaves, and the change of temperature. No, it'll still be hot here for awhile. Maybe we'll start to get a couple of cool days in November this year. We'll see. My favorite weather is typical fall weather that other people experience in the rest of the country. If I could choose, I would live somewhere where I could wear sweaters on a frequent basis. I love "sweater weather".

Even though I don't get to enjoy those typical fall things, there are still lots of things I love about fall. First of all, I love the colors that come out during this time in all the stores (to make up for the fact that we're not seeing those colors on the trees). Fall colors are my favorite colors. In the spring, when all the stores are getting ready for easter, I really can't stand all the pastel colors everywhere.

I love the holidays during this season. My family is big on Halloween. Every year we have a big Halloween bash and everyone dresses up. Poor Marcelo isn't much of a fan. Especially because I always want us to dress up in a theme so we kind of match. I admit, I've taken it too far on a few occasions. Like the year we were Aladdin and Jasmin. But Caesar and Cleopatra wasn't that bad. And the couple from the 20s wasn't terrible. The bee and bee catcher....was that so bad? Tarzan and Jane and a little monkey wasn't the most fun for Marcelo, I admit. But last year we were a family of skunks. Yes, I asked him to wear a headband with little ears on it, but was that really such a big deal? Okay, okay, I guess I do owe him. He's such a good sport. We'll see what I can get away with this year.

Another fall favorite is the food! I don't really like pumpkin pie, but my oh my how I love pumpkin bread. And just that smell! Cinnamonny, spicy smells....mmmmm. Delicious. And even though it's still pretty hot during this time, I pretend it's cold enough to eat soup.

Speaking of food, who doesn't love a good Thanksgiving meal? Between the food at my side of the family's get together, and Marcelo's family's get together, it's a wonder we don't gain 10 pounds in one day. Sweet potatoes with marshmellows or pecans (I'm not picky, I love both), my mom's stuffing (my absolute favorite part of our Thanksgiving meal), green beans, deep fried and smoked turkey, gravy, cranberries, and the delicious desserts made by Marcelo's sister or cousins....love it! Now I'm hungry.

Yes, fall is a great time. Going to the pumpkin patch with the kids, dressing them up, eating yummy treats, watching Conference, what's not to love?

Photography Class Rundown

I went to a photography class on Saturday. It was good and bad. The good part was that I learned something new. The bad part was that out of the 4 hours of class, the only new information I learned could have been taught to me in 10 minutes. No exaggeration.

Not to be mean, but they seriously should have separated the class by age groups. I was the youngest person there. The oldest people there....well, let's just say they were the reason the class lasted 4 hours. One example: The teacher was talking about how there are regular old portraits, in which you basically take a picture of someone's head and shoulders, and then there is a different kind of portrait, in which you take a picture of the person with some background that shows something about them. He gave the example of a fisherman sitting on a dock with his boat behind him, or with fish around him, or whatever. We understood what he was saying. We could move on. But this old lady found in necessary to point out at that moment, that,"I get National Geographic because my son got it for me. My son that lives out of state. He's the one that got it for me. Anyway they have a lot of nice pictures. In National Geographic this month, there was a picture of a man from Africa, sitting with a hut in the background."

????

No one said a word. We didn't know what we were supposed to say to that. So she ended her story with, "It was pretty cool."

Even though it ended up being kind of a waste of my time, I was happy to see that I already know a lot more than I thought I did. And I was REALLY happy to see that a lot of what was taught was stuff that I learned in college. I always feel like I picked the most retarded major and I kick myself for not studying something more useful. I spent a year in Miami in film school, studying cinematography (to be a director of photography). And then transferred to Orlando and picked the closest thing to film, so that I wouldn't lose everything I studied, and that ended up being Radio and Television Production. Halfway through my degree in Radio and TV, I knew I didn't like it. It was nowhere near as creative as film school. Everything was very cut and dry, and there was no artistic freedom. Video had to be shot a certain way, voice overs had to be done a certain way, etc, etc. In film school, it was all about being creative and using your own artistic taste to shoot something in a different way. But, I was already halfway through and chose to just finish the degree in RTV, even though I highly doubted I would ever use it. Thankfully, I did use it, just for a year, at a local newspaper, writing for two TV shows produced by the paper. Still, I've often wondered if I'll ever use it again.

Anyway, in the photography class, when the teacher started talking about apertures, shutter speed, and ISO, everyone was scribbling furiously in their notepads, and I just sat there hoping he would get more technical than, "So if the opening is really big, that lets a lot of light in." I was like, "Thank you film school." And then when he started talking about "expectation of privacy" and "libel", I was like, "Thank you Mass Communications Law class." It was nice to see that both of those backgrounds had made this little photography obsession of mine just a tiny bit easier to grasp.

The class also made me realize how much I miss learning. I really enjoy being in a classroom setting. I'm a total nerd.

One funny story: We had a bathroom break halfway through the class. I walked into the ladies' room, and saw a lady washing her hands. She looked straight at me. I then walked into a stall and closed the door behind me. The lady finished washing her hands, TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS, and walked out of the bathroom. So there I was, alone in a stall, in complete blackness. I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. I was like, great. To add to the problem, I am not an observant person, so I didn't really remember which way the door was in relation to where I was. So I stumbled through the bathroom with both arms out in front of me, trying not to crash into anything and praying to find the door. Once I found it, I opened it enough to be able to find the lightswitch on the wall, and then went about the rest of my business. When I finally walked out, I looked around for a lady in a black shirt (I guess I was observant enough to at least notice that). Once I spotted her, I was soooo tempted to walk up to her and say, "Um, did you not see me? You left me in total darkness." But I chickened out.

One last thing. Everyone in the class besides me and one old dude had a Nikon. The old guy and I had Canons. So at the end of the class, I said to the teacher (who also had a Nikon), "I noticed that the Canon users are in the minority. Why do you prefer Nikon over Canon?" He said, "There's not a difference, really. Both are very similar in quality. It's just that Canon users don't go to heaven when they die." Okay then.

Family Pictures

We were asked to bring a family picture to church last week, and I realized that our most recent family picture was taken last Christmas! That was 9 months ago! So I asked my dad to take some pictures of us last Sunday and I finally got around to uploading them today.

It's hard to get the boys to cooperate sometimes, so this is the best we could do. We didn't do anything special like try to match or anything. We'll take nicer ones when it's closer to Christmas. All I care about for now is that all four of us are in the picture!

After being asked to bring pictures, I also realized that I don't have any pictures printed. I've got a few of the kids printed, hanging up in the living room. But I don't have a lot, and Marcelo and I aren't in any of them. I need to get better about printing pictures!

Writer's Block

I usually try to write something everyday, but for the past two days I can't think of anything to say.

So here's a picture Marcelo took.

Tuesday Tell All

Natural Disasters

I've spent most of my life in Florida, and have therefore experienced a lot of hurricanes. The only other natural disaster I've ever been in was a tiny earthquake in Colombia. It was barely noticeable, though, so I don't think it really counts.

The worst storm season I've been in was in 2004. First, Charley hit us as a category 1. Then, 2 weeks later, Frances hit us as a category 2, and stayed in the same spot for a couple of days, dumping rain and heavy winds. We evacuated for that one. Marcelo's whole family, my parents, and my cousin and her husband all went and stayed in a hotel across the state. When we came back, there were trees, signs, and power lines down everywhere. A lot of businesses got hit really hard and had to shut down. A church on the coast was majorly damaged when it's own steeple ripped off and slammed through the roof:

Just 3 weeks later, Jeanne hit us as a category 3. But it didn't hit us directly, so we stayed put that time and rode out the storm. For all three storms, our families were blessed to not have major damage to our homes. But a few of our family members were out of power for weeks! I think my sister-in-law didn't have power about 2 weeks. The college I was working at at the time lost power for a week, and it was quite miserable. Our office was so hot and humid, even with 3 fans going, and the place smelled so bad from the water that had seeped into the carpet. As you can imagine, there were a lot of cranky people around. Myself included.

If I had to pick a natural disaster to be in, it would definitely be a hurricane. Maybe that's because I already know what to expect. But these are my thoughts on all the options:

Earthquake - Definitely the scariest. You don't know when it's going to hit, and the fact that the ground could just open up and swallow me is pretty terrifying.
Tornado - Also very scary. Not much warning on that one either. I've always been really scared of these. Just looking at pictures of them freaks me out.
Tsunami - These things are so powerful, they could shatter my limbs. And sometimes they give no warning at all, and come in at a speed so fast, that it would be impossible to outrun it. And I run slow. So, no thanks.
Hurricane - Yeah, it could spring up tornadoes, which is scary, but with a hurricane, you get a lot of notice, so if it's going to be bad, you just get out of town.

So far this hurricane season, we've been alright. We just had a tropical storm a few weeks ago, that poured down a lot of rain and kept us indoors for a few days. I can honestly say I was prepared for it. We had just had an activity at church a few months prior, where I taught about food storage. In preparation to teach that class, I bought a lot of food storage. So when it came time to get last minute preparations for the tropical storm, I only needed to get things like milk for the boys. It felt so good to be prepared. Of course, I still have a long way to go (especially now that 72 hour kits have been upped to, what....144? I'm not even sure.). But I'll get there....one can at a time.

Bedtime

Our bedtime routine is the same every night. The boys get baths, get their PJs on, brush their teeth, and then we all go into Diego's room. Some nights we read a book, but most nights we sing a song or two. Then we say prayer. Sometimes it's a fight to get Diego to say the prayer. We say, "Diego, can you say the prayer, please?" And he says, "No, it's Mommy's turn." We're working on it. During the prayer, Celo rolls around the bed and sucks his thumb or hides his face in a stuffed animal. After the prayer, we give kisses goodnight, and then I take Celo into his room, and Marcelo stays with Diego and sings him one more song before putting him down.

When it comes to bedtime, Diego and Celo are very different. For instance, every night, Marcelo is able to sing the entire "Go to Sleep" song to Diego, while holding him in a big bear hug and rocking him. Then he says goodnight, and lays him in his bed, where Diego will snuggle with one teddy bear, sometimes 2, sometimes 3. He sleeps with a night light. He won't go to bed without his night light. Celo, on the other hand, only lets me sing the first line of the Go to Sleep song, and then he's already diving into his crib. He doesn't want to be rocked. He just wants me to lay him down and leave. He's happy to be in his room, with his little puppy, in complete darkness. No night light needed.

Even though my boys don't really let me cuddle with them very often, I know that I'm going to miss the few sweet cuddles that they give me. I'm going to miss the bedtime routine. I want to be able to remember this time of our lives, so for memory's sake, I want to write down the songs we usually sing. So below are the songs we usually pick from. Diego knows all the words to all of the songs on this list and sings along with us. Marcelo and I have to hold back from attacking him with kisses because it's so dang adorable.

-I am a Child of God (this is my favorite one to hear him sing)

-Popcorn Popping

-Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

-Sing Sing Sing (our version below)

-Go to Sleep (our version below)

-Mi Carita (words and translation below)

Okay, so we made up a couple of these songs. We didn't really know the words to Sing Sing Sing, or Go to Sleep, so we just made them up. Here are our versions:

Sing Sing Sing

Sing, sing, sing, I like to sing.

I like to sing a song, sing, sing, sing.

Dance, dance, dance, I like to dance.

I like to dance around, dance, dance, dance.

Play, play, play, I like to play.

I like to play all day, play, play, play.

Sleep, sleep, sleep, I like to sleep.

I like to sleep all night, sleep, sleep, sleep.

Go to Sleep

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep my sweet baby,

Have a nice dream, have a sweet dream,

Won't you go-o-o to sleep.

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep my sweet boy,

Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep Diego (Deee-aaaayy-gooooo)

OR.......go to sleep Mar-ce-lo. (But like I said, I never make it to that part.)

I love hearing Diego sing this one to because it's so cute to hear him say, "my sweet baby" or "my sweet boy." Marcelo sings this to him every single night, and sometimes before his nap, he says to me, "I need go to sleep song."

And lastly, Mi Carita.

Mi carita, redondita, tiene ojos y nariz.

Y también una boquita para cantar y reir.

Con mis ojos veo todo
Con mi nariz hago "achiz"
Con mi boca como como,
ricos copos de maiz

Translation:

My little round face has eyes and a nose

and also a mouth to sing and laugh.

With my eyes, I see everything

With my nose, I say "achoo",

With my mouth, I eat yummy corn flakes.

Hahahahahahha, I had never really translated that song. It sounds so funny in English. I'm not sure about the corn flakes part, but I looked it up online and I think it's right.

Anyway, that's bedtime at our house.

Shots

My happy sweet boys:

will look like this very soon:

(I can't find one of Diego crying, but it looks pretty much exactly like that.)

They're getting flu shots today. :( It's not going to be fun.

Colombian White Rice

I was at an enrichment activity at church once, and we were talking about food storage. One lady said, "I don't know why we need so much rice. I can't stand rice. It's so bland." I was like, what?? I could live on white rice. And I'm pretty sure most of the hispanic people you ask will say the same.

As stated in my previous post, white rice is a staple of Colombian cooking. And everyone does it a little differently. The important thing is to start with a good sofrito. Sofrito refers to the base of the dish, which gives the whole dish flavor. All countries have their own version. In Colombia, most sofrito's consist of garlic, onions, and tomatoes, sautéed in oil or butter. Some people add peppers. In Italy, their sofrito's are made up of onions, garlic, and carrots or celery. Anyway, the sofrito is the base of many many dishes. I use it when I make rice, soups, or certain meat dishes. It just gives a depth of flavor. (This reminds me, I was looking in one of my mom's Colombian cookbooks once, and it said, "Start by making a really good broth." I thought that was so funny. It didn't give detail like, sautée X amount of onions and garlic, and add X amount of herbs. That's how hispanic cooking is. You're just kind of supposed to know what to do, lol.)

Okay, enough blabbing. The sofrito I use most for rice is garlic and onions. But I've done it with green bell peppers, too, and one lady I know does it with red bell peppers and her rice is always delicious. So you can definitely do it different ways. Without further ado, here is my version of Colombian White Rice.

Ingredients:

2 cups rice
4 cups water
Half a medium onion, chopped finely
2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 green onions
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil (I use canola for this, but you can use whatever)

Okay, let me apologize in advance for these terrible pictures. I had a telephoto lens on my camera so I was having to hold it above my head and blindly take a picture so that it wasn't completely blurry. But I'm including them anyway, because as I mentioned in my last post, I'm a visual learner. That's another reason I love ourbestbites.com. They always post step by step pictures and it makes it so much easier for me to learn!

Okay, I got off track again. Here's what you do.

Chop half a medium onion and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. They should be chopped really finely so that they get hidden in the rice and no one even knows they're there. Then, heat 1/4 cup of oil over medium heat. Sautée the chopped onions and garlic in the oil until they're translucent.
Chop off the very top of the green onions and a little bit of the green part on the bottom. (I usually just take off about an inch to get rid of the dry ends.) Add to the onions and garlic and sautée for a minute.
Pour the 4 cups of water in and bring to a boil.
Once it's boiling, add the salt. I always just eyeball it, but I measured it this time just to have an idea of how much I use, and it ended up being about one teaspoon. The way my grandpa taught me to do it is by adding salt and then tasting the water. It should taste slightly over salted, because by the time the rice is fully cooked, it won't be as salty.

Once you've added the salt, add 2 cups of rice. Give it a little stir so the rice isn't just in one heap in the middle of the pot. But after that, don't stir it again!!! Lower the heat to medium low (I put it at 4 on my stove) and let it sit for about 15 minutes.After 15 minutes, it will look kind of like the picture below. The water will be almost all the way boiled out. Little bubbles will still be coming up in a few places. You want the rice to be almost dry, but not quite dry yet. I wish I had a better picture! Anyway, at this point, cover the rice and let it simmer on low (1) for another 15 minutes.

I didn't take a picture of it when it was done. But when it's done, pull out the green onions with a fork and throw away. Give the rice a stir so that all the little onions that have collected on top get stirred in and hidden in the rest of the rice.

Like I said before, you can switch it up. You can add a few slices of green or red bell peppers to the sofrito and pull them out at the end like you pull out the green onions. You can also add chicken bouillon cubes to the rice when you add salt, to give it a different flavor. Or safron to make it yellow. Or if you stick to white rice, you can steam some peas and stir them in with the rice. That's my dad's favorite way to eat rice. Anyway, the possibilities are endless. If the end of the world comes and I need to live off rice, I'll be just fine!

Colombian Cooking

I love to cook. I love to experiment and try new recipes, I love to feed my family good food, and I love to eat. I'm really grateful for my love of the kitchen because with an allergic child, it's a must. I have to make things for Diego from scratch and use special ingredients like powdered egg subsitute and soy butter. If I didn't like cooking so much, I don't think I'd have a great attitude about having to search high and low for good recipes for Diego.

I'm not a Top Chef by any means. I still have a lot to learn. I just really enjoy cooking and I love yummy food. I especially love quick and easy recipes. I don't love baking, though. I mean, it's okay, and I'll do it every once in awhile, but I don't love it.

Most of all, I love Colombian food. It's comforting to me and reminds me of home. All the women in my family share my love for the kitchen. Both of my grandma's were amazing cooks, and my mom is fabulous, too. My dad's sisters are great, and some of my mom's brothers are really good as well. (I haven't really tried her sisters' cooking, but I imagine they're just as good.) One of my uncles always jokes that all of our get-togethers revolve around food because we all just love to eat and try new things. I always look forward to family functions because our surrounding family is full of little chefs! And the best part is that they are all willing to share and swap recipes. I hate food snobbery, so I love that if they make something tasty, I can just ask, and they'll share their secret.

I have to admit, my family was pretty surprised that I turned out to be an alright cook. I was the only girl at home, and as such, my mom would often call home form work and ask me to start dinner. And I would whine about it. The only thing I could make was white rice, and eggs. I just wasn't interested in cooking. I didn't understand why I should care about the kitchen when my mom was doing such a fabulous job without me! It wasn't until I started dating Marcelo that I thought.....hmmmm, I better start learning how to cook. So I started paying more attention when my mom was making dinner. I'm a very visual learner, so I learned by watching her. She would mostly make Colombian meals, so as a result, when I make Colombian food, I don't use recipes. I just eyeball it and make it by taste.

However, for American food, I need recipes. During our first year of marriage, I was always asking my sister-in-law Michelle (who is also an awesome cook) for recipe ideas. One time, she said to me, "If you can read, you can cook." She said all you have to do is know how to follow directions and be able to read a recipe. During that year when I was still so new to the kitchen, that became my mantra.

To this day, I still need recipes for American food. I have some things memorized, but for the most part, I look for recipes, and then maybe change little things according to my likes or Marcelo's likes. My Go-To place for recipes is Our Best Bites. (See the "I Love Food" blinkie on the right.) These girls are culinary geniuses and I've loved all the recipes I've tried from their website. A lot of them have really become some of our favorite menu items.

I don't mean for any of this post to sound boastful. Like I said, I'm no Top Chef. But since there are soooo many things I'm not great at (like keeping a clean house, for instance), I think it's okay to mention something I do a good job of, and that's making meals for my family.

So, I thought it would be fun to post some recipes of meals I make for my family. I'm not going to do it often, but every once in awhile, I'll post a recipe or two. It's not like I know how to make tons of Colombian meals. I don't. I just know a few basics that I make pretty often. Anyway, I'll start in the next post, with the most basic staple of Colombian cooking: white rice.

Tuesday Tell All

Thanks to the recommendation from my friend, Vanessa, I joined this group called Tuesday Tell All, and today is my first tell-all post. They basically give you a topic to blog about every Tuesday. It's like a little journaling jumpstart.

This week's subject is September 11th.

"Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?" -- Alan Jackson

I was in my dorm room in Miami. I had just walked back from my early morning class, and on my way to my dorm, I saw people wheeling a giant TV into the lobby. I didn't give it much thought, and just went upstairs to my dorm to take a nap. (I hated having to get up to make it to an 8 o'clock class.) I was awoken from my nap by the answering machine on my roommate's phone. She was from New York, and the phone call was from her mom. She said, "I'm sure you've heard about the bombings. Everyone's okay. Just stay in your room and call me later." Since she said, "Just stay in your room," my first thought was, "What? A bombing where? Here?" My instinct told me to turn on the TV. So I did, just as the first tower started to collapse. It didn't register right away. It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, stopping only to go get some dinner.

There were a lot of kids from New York at my school. In my dorm, on one floor alone, 6 people lost their parents. In other dorms, those numbers were higher. And at one of my best friend's dorms in Boston, those numbers were much much higher. It was devastating.

Seven years later, I still haven't been able to watch United 93 or World Trade Center. I'm just not ready to feel that sadness all over again.

Seven years later, I'm grateful for the heightened airport security. Yes, even though it's annoying to take off my shoes and get my kids' expensive sunscreen and my favorite lipgloss confiscated because I forgot to put them in a little baggy and they surpassed the 3 oz limit. And yes, I think the new x-ray machines that can see you naked are an invasion of privacy. But if it's going to keep something like 9/11 from happening again, so be it. (Well....I'm not quite sure about those x-ray machines yet.)

Seven years later, I still don't think we're very safe. I still think there are big holes in our homeland security and we're still vulnerable. But I'm grateful that I live in a country where security isn't AS big an issue as it is in many countries around the world.

Marcelo Evan Eats Grass

We went to the park the other day with my uncle Leo and his wife, who were visiting from Colombia. They sat with my parents in the shade, while I followed my kids around trying to take pictures. What else is new, right?

These are all of Marcelo because Diego is a bit harder to catch. He's too fast for me.

I never know how other people see my pictures. Am I the only one who likes them? I play and play with them in photoshop, and then I ask Marcelo to come help me tame my eye because sometimes I take the editing too far. The problem is that all my pictures are of my kids, so of course I'm going to think they're cute, even if they're horrible. I need to take pictures of other people's kids so I can be less biased. Anyway, right now I'm just doing this for myself because I love it and it's really fun, but I also want to know how other people see my pictures. Because I'll look at one and think, Hmmm, the lighting isn't great, or the focus isn't right, or whatever, but I'm not sure exactly how to fix them. I know I can't learn everything overnight, but I'm so impatient and I want to learn everything NOW.

Anyway, here's a little series called Marcelo Evan Eats Grass.

Here's my future soccer player, walking towards the goal.

Just taking a little rest.

Cool, what's this?

Marcelo, what have you got there? Don't put it in your mouth.

Marcelo Evan. I said don't eat it!

Oh, you mean like this, Mommy?

All About "Baby Celo"

Today I want to write all about Marcelito, a.k.a. Cranky Pants. He's about 13 and a half months old, and although he fills our lives with love, he is also quite the little terror. Basically, the boy has an attitude.

There are many great things about having your kids very close together, but there are also downsides. One of the downsides for me has been that I've felt like I haven't gotten as much bonding time with little Celo, as I did with Diego. Diego is still so young and still needs so much attention, so I haven't been able to have a lot of one on one time with Celo. And now he's getting bigger and bigger and it just makes me sad!

So what is he up to these days? Well, he's walking all over the place. Unless he's on his way to do something naughty, in which case he runs. He's also saying a few words. Not many, but a few. I think so far he just says Mama (only when he's upset), Dada (alllllll the time), baw (ball), bath, ca (car), and eeeeees (please). He also signs please and more. My boys haven't been super fast talkers, so I'm just happy that he's at least saying a few words. He doesn't like to let me teach him things, like Diego used to let me. He is SO STUBBORN. Really. It's unbelievable how stubborn he is. Whenever I try to teach him something, like, "Where's your nose?" He just gives me this look like, "I'm not a monkey, here for your amusement. So back off, okay?" Therefore, he has only let me successfully teach him his head, my nose (he never points at his own), eyes, feet, hands, belly, and lengua (tongue in Spanish). I'm horrible and I haven't taught him much Spanish. He only knows tongue and more. I did much better the first time around with Diego. But whatever, I'm not going to beat myself up, I still have plenty of time. I just have to be disciplined and do it.

All of his cousins call him Baby Celo. Diego isn't too fond of the nickname and continues to call him Marcedo (can't say L's very well). But I think it's cute when all his little cousins follow him around calling him that. The only boy in his life is Diego, but neither one of them seem to mind being surrounded by girls. As long as there is something with wheels at their houses (like a little baby doll stroller), they're happy.

What else? Oh, yes. His crankiness. He is a total tantrum thrower and he's not even 14 months old yet. If he doesn't get what he wants, when he wants it, he throws a screaming fit. If I tell him no, he finds that hilarious. If I talk to him harshly, he yells at me. Sometimes he'll go as far as to throw himself on the ground in the middle of one of his fits. Entertaining? Yes. Do I want it to continue? No. But how do you discipline a 13 month old? I don't have the answer.

He's very independent and happy to play on his own. His favorite toy is his tractor that his Tio Andres bought him for his birthday. Besides that he loves cars, balls (and throws as good as Diego, my non-athletic son), baths, and putting absolutely anything he can find in his mouth. He also loves to be outside, like any boy. He's not really crazy about books. Whenever I try to read to him, he just closes the book shut like, "Um, no thanks." Actually, anytime I try to play with him period, he's like no thanks. Food-wise, there's nothing he doesn't like. The only thing he's picky about is drinks. If he could drink juice all day, he would. He's not a fan of water, and sometimes it's even a struggle to get him to drink his milk.

Despite his temper, he's a joy to us. He makes the funniest faces and is sooo cuddly (when he wants to be). He's always happy to see me, which melts my heart every time. And I loooove to see how sweet Diego is with him. When I catch Diego just randomly going over to Marcelito to give him a kiss on the cheek, or a little hug, it makes my heart want to burst. I know, I know, this all sounds so cheesy, but it's true.

Alright, now I'm all caught up. I just didn't want the time to go by without journaling a little about my baby. And for any of you friends and family out there that care, now you know what he's up to. :)

I'll be back to post pictures.

Randomness

I don't have anything exciting to write about, so I'm just posting a few random pictures today.



This picture was taken about a week before I chopped off my hair. We were out on a double date with some friends to a sushi bar. As my friend Lorenia said, " It's the only kind of bar Mormon's and Bahai's go to." (She's Bahai.) Marcelo looks like his momma in this picture.

Mmmmm. Now I want some sushi.

This is Diego at the "mountain". Fountain. He loves going to the fountain in the middle of the local shopping center.

And here's Celo doing his favorite thing: sucking his thumb. Someone please tell me how to break this habit. At least he's not flippin' the bird in this pic. He's laying against the fountain because he was tired and ready to go home and go to bed.

See? Nothing exciting.

I think I've Created a Monster

So, remember how I said I joke around with Diego going back and forth saying, "You go-geous"? Well, one day while we were playing, he said something that took me by surprise and I said, "Diego, you're a genius." After that, he spent a few days walking around the house saying, "Mommy, you a genius!" I played along and said, "No, YOU'RE a genius."

Well, yesterday he decided he doesn't want to be a genius.

Diego: Mommy, you a genius.
Me: No, Diego, you're a genius.
Diego: NO! You a genius, I go-geous.

Ohhh. Sorry. And now he's been saying that over and over again. What have I done??

I have to say, though, I love the way he talks. Whenever he learns to say something correctly, I get a little sad. For instance, he says, "I not see it," or "I not want that," and I don't want to correct him and teach him to say "don't" because I like hearing his little language! My favorite has to be, "Who gave it to you?" instead of "Who gave it to me?" I love that.

He's also starting to tell me more things that happen when I'm not around. Usually when I ask him how nursery was on Sundays, he doesn't say much. I'm like what did you do? And he just says, "I don't know. Play." And that's that. Well, this Sunday after church, he said, "I cry in nursery today." I was like, "Really? Why? What happened?" He said, "I got owie right here." And pointed to his head. I said, "Who made you feel better?" He said, "Lagana." (That's his nursery leader's last name and the kids call her Sister Lagana. Except for Diego who just calls her Lagana.) These little conversations amaze me because they just remind me how big he's getting. It's so sad!!!

Politics Shmolitics

Let me just start out by saying I hate hate hate election year. I hate the way the country gets soooo divided into red vs. blue. I hate listening to people talk about how retarded the other party is. I feel like to the rest of the world, we must look so ridiculous being at each other's throats the way we are. It's one thing to disagree on the way the country should be run, and a whole different thing to slam, trash talk, and disrespect the people you are disagreeing with. I don't know, maybe I should have been a hippie because I'm all about peace and love. That's why I don't like sports. I always feel sad for the losing team. (I know, I'm mental.)

Moving on. We watched the Republican National Convention last night. Yes, I'm republican. Which means about half of the nation thinks I'm a complete idiot. Well, I'm sorry, but nothing about Obama's views is appealing to me.

I was very impressed with Sarah Palin. I didn't know anything about her until last night. I still don't know much about her record as Mayor or Governor. What I do know is that she came off as very smart, strong, and was very likeable. Honestly, it inspired me. And not just because she looks EXACTLY like Marcelo's aunt. (Seriously, she could be her twin.) As Marcelo and I were listening to her, we were surprised with how well she was doing, and he said that it just didn't seem real. It felt like we were watching a movie with a female VP.

However, when McCain walked out, I was like...is he 100? He looks like he has aged 20 years in the past few months. He looked so....fragile. And I don't know how I feel about the possibility of him not making it a full term and having Palin be the first Madam President. I just don't know enough about her to make that judgement. But his mom is still alive and kickin' so maybe he's still got a lot of life left ahead of him. And I'll tell you right now, I'm still going to be voting for McCain, because to me, it's much better than the alternative. The idea of Obama in office scares me to death.

Park Pictorial

My cousin let me borrow a 35 - 105mm lens, and I've been dying to play with it. I finally got my chance yesterday, when we took the boys to the park.

Here are the poor, unsuspecting boys. They thought they were just going to get a fun day at the park.

Little did they know that their obsessive mommy would be chasing them around the whole time,

trying to take pictures of their feet,

and their hands,

and their little faces,

and anything else I could capture.
By the end, they felt like this:

That's Celo's tantrum face. He does it whenever he doesn't get his way. In this case, he was mad because he wanted to ride the same car Diego was riding. Typical.

As you can see, right now I lean more towards black and white. That's mainly because I think it hides imperfections and makes an otherwise uninteresting picture just a little bit more interesting. Marcelo wants me to do more in color, but I argue that I'm not very good in color yet. Slowly I'll learn.