This is what happens...

...when all your cousins are GIRLS. And your little brother doesn't have much interest in playing with you.I don't know who had more fun: Leilani, who got to play hairstylist, or Diego who got to wear clips all over his head.

Either way, it was very serious business.
At least they were efficient. Here are Isabella, Diego, and Leilani, in their assembly line of beauty.

At one point, Diego held up a ponytail holder and asked Leilani if she could put it in his hair. Leilani said, "No, Diego! Those are for girls." Apparently the clips are gender neutral.

Happy Anniverary to me and the hubs!

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. I told Marcelo it has been the best 6 years of my life. He said, "Really?" And I said, "Let me think. Well...if I'm being honest...5 years old to 11 years old was pretty awesome. Those elementary school years....good times!"

A few reasons why I am so very much in love with my husband:
- He doesn't make fun of me when I make lame jokes. (See above.)
- He is my number one fan. We painted our dining room this weekend, and as we were finishing up, he said, "You know what will look good with this wall color? Your pictures in a nice frame." As in, the pictures I take.
- He calls me his favorite "photografist". Makes me happy every time he says it.
- He's hot. 'Nuff said.
- He knows all kinds of crap about random stuff.
- He is so supportive of me.
- His faith is solid as a rock and I love that I can always count on that in difficult times.
- He's so hardworking.
- He's incredibly kind hearted.
- He's such a good dad to our boys.
- He makes me laugh.
- He's my favorite person to hang out with.
- He has amazing forearms. What? He does.

He's just the best. It really has been the best 6 years of my life. :)

The Power of a Sneeze

My tailbone is indeed fractured.

I went to the doctor today to get x-rays of my tailbone because the pain last night was unbearable. No position spared me from the pain. Not standing, not laying on my stomach or side...nothing. I ended up icing it and just dealing with it until I could get to the doctor today. Okay, and maybe I took a percocet that I still had from my last c-section.

Seriously, if I had not seen the x-ray, I wouldn't believe it. But I saw it with my own two eyes. I chipped a piece of my tailbone off. If I haven't reiterated enough how ridiculous it is that this happened SNEEZING, let me say it again: It is absolutely absurd. How is that for incredibly bad luck?

I had to fight back the tears as the doctor explained things to me, because I was just so shocked that this could really happen. He said a little piece was torn off by a ligament or something like that. I could see where it was. Apparently, this type of fracture heals faster than most (a few weeks instead of a few months), so at least there's some good news. If you can call it that.

I was like, "Um, so shouldn't we do a bone scan or something because this just does not seem normal. From a sneeze??" He said that he wasn't really that shocked by it because he has seen a lot of injuries that happened because of a sneeze. Some people have popped a lung sneezing! So he thought it wasn't that unheard of. Well, that or he just assumes my husband pushed me down the stairs and I'm covering it up with a lame "sneezing" story.

Still, I will be getting a bone density scan sometime next week. He ordered it because he agreed that it was a little odd that I've have two fractures within 3 months time caused by sneezing and coughing.

Sooo, I get to sit on a donut for a few weeks! At least I got some pain meds.

Moral of the story: Be careful when you sneeze.

More Health Woes

As if my body hasn't gone through enough these past few months, I have injured myself YET AGAIN. And in the most retarded way imaginable.

Yesterday, I was standing in the kitchen, leaning forward to look into my fridge. As I was in this leaning position, I sneezed. Upon sneezing, I immediately felt a severe pain in my tailbone. I really can't tell you now if I heard an actual crack, or if it was just the sensation of a crack, like when you crack your knuckles. All I know, is that something felt very wrong, and it hurt a lot. After a few minutes, my whole tailbone area (read: bum), started to throb and felt like it was swollen. You know that feeling of something being swollen? It wasn't actually swollen, but it felt like it should be. Anyway, for the rest of the day I couldn't sit down. I had to drive somewhere, and I spent the whole drive trying to keep my bum off the seat with my body twisted awkwardly. Any change of position hurt...going from standing to sitting, sitting to laying down, etc. WHAT. THE. HECK.

Today, it is much worse. It's my own fault. I spent much of the day bending, twisting, squatting, etc, because...well, that's what you do when you're a mom. Just bending down to pick up toys off the floor was painful. Actually just walking around hurts. And sitting is completely impossible. I'm afraid I might be 80 years old.

When I was 14, I fractured my tailbone after falling down hard on some stairs. I went to the hospital, was violated by the doctors (it's not their fault. That's what they have to do to check your tailbone), got x-rays, the whole bit. Then I was basically told, Good luck. It'll take months to heal. Have fun. There's nothing they can do about it. This time, I really don't think I broke it. It doesn't hurt as bad as it did when I was 14. My internet reading suggests that I may have dislocated it. I don't know what other possibility there is. All I know is that it hurts.

Sooooo, now I'm trying to figure out what to do. My mom and Marcelo want me to go to the doc but 1) I don't want to be violated again, and 2) I'm pretty sure they're going to say there's nothing they can do, so it seems pointless.

My main issue with this whole thing is this. REALLY???? I hurt it this bad SNEEZING??? COME ON. If I had fallen or something, I'd be like, whatever, it's unfortunate, but it makes sense. But to hurt it like this from something as ridiculous as sneezing while I was leaning forward is just completely unfair. I can't help but be ticked off by it. I was really hoping to put all these strange health issues behind me. Who cracks a rib coughing and hurts their tailbone sneezing?? Apparently I do. I think I need a bone density scan or something because I feel like this just isn't normal. And I can't help but be really afraid of what the doctors will find. Even though I try to tell myself it has just been a series of unfortunate incidents, I haven't been able to convince myself that there's not something more serious wrong. But what do I know? Nothing.

People are going to start to think I'm making this stuff up. I wish I was.

For Father's Day

From left to right: My grandpa Humberto (my dad's stepdad), my dad, Marcelito, and Marcelo. Off in the distance my mom is holding Diego. His little friend Carlos Alberto is hanging from the tree.

I just want to say how grateful I am for all the dads in my life. I'm so thankful for my cute cute abuelito Humberto and for all the little moments we've shared throughout the years. I'm grateful for my dad and for his unending devotion to his family. Basically, he spoiled me rotten. And now he spoils my kids. (In a good way.) And I'm thankful for my husband, who is such a good daddy to our two little boys. They totally worship him. Diego thinks of him as kind of a superhero. "He can fix ANYTHING." "He's SUPER strong." And Celo throws a fit if I take him to nursery instead of Marcelo. He gets unbelievably excited when his daddy gets home. I'm also grateful for my father-in-law. He's a man full of knowledge, and it's always fun to see his serious side melt away when he's surrounded by his grandkids. I have him to thank for the millions of things he taught and continues to teach Marcelo.

I love these boys.

Mini Vacation

Thanks to the awesomeness of these guys... (my parents)

Marcelo and I got a little vacation from parenthood. On Tuesday they told us to pack enough clothes for the kids for two days and drop the kids off at their house. And who are we to argue? So we dropped them off and headed out to dinner and a movie. It was wonderful. When we got home, we started a little cleaning spree that I continued the whole day on Wednesday. It was pretty blissful to clean each room of the house without interruptions! I played online, listened to loud music, and went to the post office and the store all by myself. We ate dinner out again, and then did massive amounts of laundry. Loads and loads. Then Marcelo started feeling sick. He ended up not going to work today, and since he was feeling pretty bad, we sat on the couch and ate breakfast while watching a movie. And then we folded more laundry. And then the kids came home.

Perhaps I should have taken more advantage and curled up in bed with a book or rented a cute chick-click. But it feels sooooooooo good to cross so many little projects off my to-do list.

I'm so so grateful for parents who have the time/energy/desire to spend so much time with my kids! The boys were not at all happy to come home. When they got here, as soon as my mom walked into the house, Celo said, "Cwose da doh." (Close the door.) He knew she was about to try to leave and he didn't want her to escape. Diego told my mom that he wanted to "spend the night for 100 nights." I love that they have such a good relationship.

Thanks again Mom and Dad!! We love you!

Pretty

I'm still catching up on posting my Colombia pictures. Here are some pretty things we saw.

These were the candles we had on during a blackout at my grandparents' house. This was the moment I fell in love with my 50mm lens.My grandma's chandelier during the blackout.This is what my grandparents' farm is called: The Oasis.Another picture of their house.Their gorgeous front porch.Makes me want to just lay down in that hammock. The little steps leading up to their house from the little stable where they keep the cows.Another view of their front yard.Sunset on the farm.My uncle Daniel's house. It's on the same land as my grandparents' house.This lake was about a 20 minute drive from the house.This was a beautiful road about 30 minutes from the house.The view near that road.

So many beautiful sights!

The Boy Who Hated Shoes

There once was a boy named Celo. He had a big brother named Diego. As Diego got bigger, he gave Celo all his old shoes that no longer fit. Grandmas, aunts, and uncles gave Celo shoes as presents. A family friend also gave Celo hand-me-down shoes. Therefore, Celo had A LOT of shoes.

But Celo HATED shoes. Whenever his mommy tried to put shoes on him to go somewhere, Celo would rip them off within minutes. He especially hated wearing shoes in the car, so as soon as his mommy or daddy would sit down in the driver's seat, he would take his shoes off and throw them on the floor of the car. His mommy started to worry that his shoes were hurting his feet. She put different shoes on him everyday to see if she could find a pair that he liked. But no matter which shoes she chose, Celo immediately took them all off.

Finally, his mommy just decided to give up. When they were leaving to go somewhere, she put his shoes in her purse and didn't put them on Celo's feet until they reached their destination...and only if it was absolutely necessary. This way Celo was happy, and his mommy could relax.

It really was a shame, though, for all those tiny shoes to go to waste.

But at least Celo had cute feet.

The End.

My "Real World"

Today is Tuesday, right? I'm so lost.

I just re-discovered Tuesday Tell All! I thought it had disappeared.

I want to do today's topic because it was submitted by my awesome friend Vanessa. Vanessa is my coupon shopping hero. She also throws awesome parties and has the cutest little boy!

Okay, today's topic is "Your Real World". Real world vs. the blogging world (the daily chaos that your blog never reveals).

I think my blog paints a pretty good picture of my real world. I try to keep it lighter and brighter than my real world because, well, no one likes a whiny pants. I spare my readers (all 3 of them) the gory details of my life. You know, like the period of time where Diego would use his own poop as fingerpaint and get it all over the wall in his room, or how Diego pukes at least once a week because he has the weakest gag reflex ever (thanks for that Tio Dabit), or how unbelievably messy my room is right now as I sit here and choose to ignore it (okay, I leave that out so that my mother-in-law thinks I'm a great housewife...hi Necha!), or how completely miserable I was in March and April when I had my cracked rib and pulled muscles, or how it's now June and my health issues still haven't ended, orrrrrr how my title of "Mommy" has been changed to "Referee" now that my boys are constantly HITTING each other and fighting. See? No fun.

Instead I try to focus on happy things and funny things. I put down the more "raw" emotions in my regular journal. That's also where I write long lists of words my kids are saying or things they've learned to do, or ways they've amazed me with their sheer brilliance. Because, really, how much do you care about that? See? You don't. But the 70 year old version of me that has alzheimers will care.

Animals

It's been awhile since I've posted any Colombia pictures. Since there are so many, I've been trying to do them in categories. Last time I posted flowers. Today I'm posting pictures of the animals we saw in Colombia.


I'm just posting a few, but if you care to see more, you can check them out HERE. There are cows, the boys riding a donkey, chickens, fish, etc.

I barely got any pictures of Diego with animals. He's not an animal lover like Celo. Celo LOVES animals. Here he is sticking his hand in the dog's mouth for the millionth time.

One night, an owl perched right outside my grandparents' house. The picture is blurry, but it was the best I could do without a flash. I didn't want to scare it away!

The Chiva. Diego loved to say "chiva".We went to a little market one day and found these turkeys just hanging out. My grandpa loves his cows. This is one of his favorites.
Every morning birds come and eat bananas right by my grandparents' front porch. Diego loved to watch them.Diego stood still long enough for me to take this picture and then ran away. He wasn't very impressed by the fish.

Ode to my BFF

Really good friends are hard to come by, aren't they? I'm blessed to have a few lifelong friends that I can count on. No matter how much time has passed since we last spoke or saw each other, we always pick up right where we left off.

This post is dedicated to my Frog. You know who you are. We've known each other since we were about 9 years old. We were in the same class at church. She didn't like me though because I was a nerd. I was kind of a chunk, had glasses, and bad hair.

See?

I know what you're thinking: I was a FOX. I so wish I could still fit into those killer shorts. I mean, could you really blame my BFF for not wanting to be friends with me? The jealously must have been pure torture.

Fast forward to junior high. I got contacts, grew my hair out, and was finally allowed to shave my legs. My BFF finally saw it fit to be seen with me. A friendship formed on such superficial terms is bound to be long lasting.

Over the years, we've been through a lot together. We've been through boyfriends, break ups, bad dye jobs, and middle of the night road trips. We suffered through the sound of a key banging on our door at 6am, have shared lots of secrets, and even moved to Utah together for 3 days. We've been there through happy times and sad times.

This past week, I was having one of those sad times. My BFF happened to call me on a day that I was an emotional wreck. Poor girl. She thought she was calling to laugh about some funny news we had recently heard, but instead, she had to listen to me cry.

Yesterday, I received a package from her in the mail. It contained this:

Do you know what that is?? It's a bag of Cheezits and Skittles. Together. Yeah. Don't judge. We invented this trail mix when we were around 15 or 16. (She'd be able to tell you for sure. She has the best memory of anyone I know.) There's a story behind it, but it's strictly confidential. For years this has been our go-to "cheer me up" food. So, when she heard I was having a sad time, she mailed me some! I totally cried when I opened the package. Marcelo just looked at me like I had lost it.

I love you, Frog!

I'm so grateful for good friends!

On a Sad Note

I wasn't planning on writing about this just yet, but blogger has decided that I'm not allowed to post pictures, so the other post I had planned is not going to work.

We've had a sad week. In May, I found out I was pregnant with our 3rd child. Two weeks later, I had a miscarriage. A few hours after my last post (about Marcelo's job), I found out it was not going to be a viable pregnancy.

It's been sad, of course, but it's been a lot easier than the first one. Our very first pregnancy was so planned out and I was already 10 weeks along. It hit both of us really hard. As difficult of an experience as it was, it taught me a lot. The lessons I learned the first time around have helped me tremendously this time. When we found out last week, I cried a lot for two days, but I accepted it. After the initial sadness, I felt peace. I believe there is a plan for our family, and I accept that this is part of the plan. I feel so grateful for a lot of little things that happened that made this whole thing a lot easier to deal with. The main thing was that I felt prepared. The week before it happened, I wrote in my journal that I had a strong feeling that the pregnancy was going to be over soon. Because of those feelings, it didn't come as a shock like the first time. It was nice this time around to just feel sadness, acceptance, and peace. The first time there was sadness, anger, sadness, anger, a lot of asking "why", bitterness, sadness, THEN acceptance and peace.

I'm also well aware this time that there are a lot of things that are much much worse. I've seen friends and family members go through really difficult things relating to pregnancy and children. I've cried just hearing about the trials they've faced. If that sounds like I'm trying to minimize my sadness or say that a miscarriage isn't hard, that's not what I mean at all. I don't really know how to put into words what I mean. I'll just say that I'm very grateful for what I have, and that I'll never take it for granted.

I was very hesitant to write this post. When we had our first miscarriage, I wrote all about it, but only one person even knew I had a blog back then! Now my blog is a lot more public.

Anyway, to my friends and family, thank you so much for your support. We are doing well.