First Real Entry

Hello friends and family!



This is the my first real entry on my new blog. All of the previous entries were copied from my old one that I started as a student at the University of Miami when I was 19. I didn't want to lose any of the entries I wrote about my life with Marcelo, so I copied everything, starting from the first entry I wrote as a married woman.


So why do I blog? Because I love that it's a convenient way to keep a record of our family. I can write about milestones, post pictures, and not worry that something will happen to it over time, like I do with my paper journal. And on top of that, it's an easy way to keep my friends and family updated.


Why the name? Marcelo's family calls him Marce (Marceh, not Marcy) and my family calls me Nati. So I combined the two. Not very creative, I know.


I must warn you, most of what I write is for myself. This comes from the fact that I've been writing in it for years without anyone (well, just one person) reading it. But now my family has become more spread out, and I've decided it's time to share it.

Warning #2: I babble incoherently a lot. I love to write, and more often than not, I don't know when to stop.

You've been warned.

A Day in the Life

Ever wonder what goes on in the daily life of a mother of a baby and a toddler? I do. I wonder all the time how other moms fill their days. Mostly because I need ideas!! I love to hear how other moms entertain their kids, keep up on their house, and just how they make their days productive.

I feel like Mom of the Year today. Well, not right this second, because right this second I am letting my 8 month old scream in his crib. He will not go to sleep. It's naptime. Doesn't he know what he's supposed to do during naptime? Sleep. So Mommy can have a break. Just a tiny break. Please, please ,please, go to sleeeeeeeep.

Back to why I win Mom of the Year today. Diego and I had so much fun today. I planned a day jam-packed full of new and fun things for us to do together. I had fallen off the creative mom wagon for awhile and wasn't feeling good about how we were filling our days. Too much tv, too much trying to do other stuff and letting Diego run wild doing whatever he wanted (which usually meant just following me around the house whining, asking me to stop doing whatever I was doing so I could play with him..."Stop it Mommy!"). I was feeling bad about not teaching him much. My excuse was that I was busy with lots of other things, and I was sick to boot. But now I'm back. I'm trying to really organize my days again.

Wait.....Yes! Marcelito stopped crying. Woo hoo!

So this was our morning:

6:45am - Marcelito woke up. Yeah. He NEVER wakes up that early.
6:45am - 7:45am - Brought Marcelito into our bed and gave him a bottle and tried really hard to keep him quiet so he wouldn't wake Diego.
7:45am - Diego woke up.
7:45am - 8am - After changing his diaper (okay okay, Marcelo changed it), put Diego in his high chair to eat breakfast.
8am - 8:30am - Let Diego watch cartoons, Marcelito played in his excersaucer, Mommy played on the computer and ate breakfast.
8:30am - 9am - Played in the living room with the boys. THEN, Diego said he needed to go potty, so I sat him down on the potty and he just sat there. I reminded him that if he went pee pee, he would get skittles. Still nothing. I said, "I'll give you Jelly Beans!" And he pushed out a tiny bit of pee. It wasn't much but it was SOMETHING! So he got jellybeans.
9am - 9:45am - Marcelito went down for a nap. Diego and I sat at the dining room table and played with dry noodles (to learn how to sort and count) and then glued them to paper. Diego loooved sticking his hands in the glue. I came up with the brilliant idea of writing numbers and letters with glue, and then making Diego tell me what they were before I would let him smear the glue around. I point at numbers all the time and ask him, "What number is that?" Even though he knows how to count, he doesn't always tell me the right number. That is because he never had a good enough reason to. Today, he did. Knowing that he would get to stick his chubby little fingers in the gooey messy glue made him tell me all the numbers and letters I wrote. I was shocked to learn that he knows the letters A-L (With the exception of H, I, and J.) Then we ripped up Parenting magazines to make a collage. Diego's collage consisted of "Mr. Bear", a car, Thomas the train, flowers, and stars.
9:45am - 10:00am Marcelito woke up. I gave Diego some sugary juice (for peeing purposes), then turned on some crazy music and we all danced around.
10am - 10:30am - I gave the floor a quick sweep, but then realized it was really dirty, so I moved all the chairs onto the carpet in a line (like a train) and had Diego play on it while I mopped the dining room and kitchen floor. He then helped to dry it by standing on a towel and moving it around.
10:30am - 10:45am - I asked Diego if he wanted to go pee pee on the potty. He said no. I said, "Do you want Jelly Beans?" He said, "Yes, pee pee potty!" So I took him in and he sat down, then got up, then sat down, then got up. I said, "Are you going to go pee or not?" He said yes, but then got up again. So I said, "Okay, come on, let's put on a diaper." He said, "Noooo! Mommy read a book." So I sat in front of him and started reading him a Winnie the Pooh book. I changed all the words to, "Pooh and Tiger and Piglet want Diego to go potty." He thought that was pretty cool, and after about 2 minutes, I heard the glorious sound of pee entering the potty. I acted like I had just won a million dollars and gave him a handful of jelly beans and skittles. I told him we were going to the store to buy more candy. Then I had him call Tata and Daddy to tell them the good news.
10:45am - 11am - I got the boys and myself ready to go to the store to buy candy.
11am - 12pm - Out and about buying candy, picking up prescriptions, etc etc. Diego chose sour worms and more jelly beans as his potty time treat.
12pm - 12:45pm - Played on the back porch with watercolors. Diego loved it. Marcelito tried to eat everything in sight.
12:45pm - 1pm - The boys played inside while I got lunch ready.
1pm - 1:30pm - Lunch
1:30pm - 1:45pm - Got boys ready for naps
1:45pm - NAPTIME!!!!!

It was quite a successful morning. Now I get to take a little time to myself. If I really want to win Mom/Wife of the Year today, I should stop playing on the computer and should tidy up the living room, kitchen, fold some laundry, and figure out what I'm making for dinner. Oh wait, nevermind. Dinner is going to be easy tonight. Leftover pasta, and then I'll just sprinkle some seasonings and lemon juice on a few tilapia's, steam some veggies, and call it good. I have enrichment tonight. It's Game Night. Should be fun.

I just re-read this entry and it sounds quite braggy. But you know what? I have soooooooooo many days where I feel like I did squat, and like a shlub, and like I could be doing so much more as a mother and a housewife! So why not pat myself on the back when I feel like I've done a good job?

Pat, pat, pat.

A Haircut, A Belly, and A Daredevil

I got bangs yesterday. I haven't had bangs since I was 7 years old. I don't like bangs. Well, some people look good with bangs. I just didn't think I was one of them. But I had no choice. The hair that I lost in the first months of breastfeeding is now growing back. This unsightly re-growth was showing all along my hairline and driving me INSANE. So I gave in and got bangs.

At first, I freaked. The lady who cut them styled them to look SO incredibly 80s, I wanted to die. But I went home, took a flat iron to them, and immediately felt better. Until Marcelo came home. He's not a fan. He tried to hide it, but I could see through the fake smile. Once he realized that I was aware that I didn't look great, and that I understood that I looked like a flashback to the 80s, he could not stop cracking 80s jokes. For the rest of the day, he took every opportunity to say things like, "Let me teach you something about the 21st century", and "Wanna listen to some Debbie Gibson on your boombox?" Don't worry, it wasn't mean. It was quite hilarious.

Today is day 2, and they're starting to grow on me. A lot. I feel like even if the rest of my hair is in a ratty ponytail, as long as my bangs are styled, I look put together. It's actually a little boost to my self-esteem. Looking like a shlub everyday in your old t-shirt, jeans, no make-up, and messy ponytail can wear on you after awhile. And today I feel like I actually look kind of cute, despite the little-to-no effort. (But let's be serious on the no make-up issue: I'm wearing blush. It's a must.)

In other news, my cousin is 39 weeks preggo. I saw her and her cute belly today. I can't wait for her little baby girl to arrive! I'm so excited! I'm trying not to be so annoying and talk to her too much about what she's about to go through, but I want so badly to just talk talk talk about the miracle she's about to experience. I get teary eyed just thinking about those first few days after Diego was born. I was so full of adrenaline and just pure joy. It's a feeling that can't be described and that is known only to those who have experienced it. It's just amazing. A baby brings sooooo much love into your life. A love that you've never felt before. Knowing that this tiny child depends on you and has been sent to your care because God knows you can do it is a wonderful feeling. It's terrifying, but also wonderful. My life after kids is so much more "full". I don't know what other word to use there. I don't know why I'm feeling so sappy about it right now. Probably because I'm just so dang excited for my cousin to experience what it is to be a mom. I know she's going to be amazing. She's already sooo good with my boys. She and her husband are going to be such good parents. Yay! In less than a week, little Lina will be here!

I want to write about one more thing. My boys are cracking me up lately. I love seeing Diego and Celo play together. Celo is getting so big! He's 8 months old. He's crawling, pulling himself up on everything, and starting to cruise. He tries to play with everything Diego plays with. He always wants to be wherever Diego is. It's kind of scary sometimes because he doesn't really understand that he can't walk yet. So he'll stand up by the coffee table, and then when he sees Diego walk away, he tries to follow him, and falls. He's going to be a little daredevil. Just like Daddy.

I'm Good

Going pee pee in the potty was a one time thing. Diego hasn't wanted to go again. Every time I ask him if he needs to go, he says, "No, I good." That's his answer for everything these days.

Diego do you want more breakfast?
No, I good.

Diego, do you need a diaper change?
No, I good.

Yesterday, I thought, where did that come from? Who has he heard say that a lot? A second later, I said to Marcelo, "Babe, are you still hungry?" To which he replied, "No, Babes, I'm good." And Diego the Parrot started saying, "No, Babes, I good."

And then today, I had him make a birthday card for my cousin, which he thought was great fun. I said, "Are you done? Do you want to color it more?" And of course, he answered, "No, I good."

And yes, I already had a discussion with Marcelo about not teaching Diego incorrect English anymore.

Hmmmmm, do I want to write more? No, I good.

Diego went pee pee on the potty!

About two hours ago, Marcelo was playing with the boys in our hallway, while I was chatting on the phone with my mom. Diego said to him, "Uh oh, Daddy. Pee pee." And started tugging at his diaper. Marcelo asked him if he wanted to go pee pee on the potty and he said yes. He ran into the bathroom, took his diaper off, sat down on the potty and started going pee pee!!! Marcelo started cheering and called for me, so I came running in and started cheering and clapping. I put the phone to his ear so my mom could also go nuts. Then I hung up and ran out to the kitchen, grabbed a bag of Skittles, and went back to the bathroom to give Diego a handful.

I really really hope that when he wakes up from his nap, he wants to do this again. I've tried getting him to sit on the potty any time he's been interested in it, but all he's ever done is sit on it and play. I'm a tad bit sad that I wasn't in there with him when he finally decided to do it, but that tiny bit of sadness is overpowered by the fact that I'm soooooooo thrilled that he actually did it!!!! Yay!!!!!! We really think it has to do with the fact that he just saw his cousin Reagan go pee pee on the potty yesterday.

Half of me is like, YIPEE. But the other half is like, Aw man! Does this mean I have to hardcore potty train now? I am sooooo not looking forward to cleaning up a bazillion accidents. Oh well. Bring it on!

Easter!

Easter was over a week ago, but then I went to Texas, so I haven't been able to post pictures.

I was sooo excited to dress the boys because while my grandma was here, she made them matching vests. Sometimes it's hard to get excited about dressing boys, because there are so many cute things for girls! But there are some really adorable things for boys, too. They're just harder to find.

Anyway, so my wonderful grandma agreed to make vests for my boys. It was really fun to go out together and look for the material and the buttons. I really love the buttons. Too bad I'm not great at sewing. Honestly, I know how to sew, but I would just rather not. I don't enjoy it. If I must, for like, Halloween or something, I'll do it. But other than that, the sewing machine never gets taken out.

Thankfully, my grandma is great at sewing. Everything she does with her hands is seriously quality work. She's amazing.

Here are some pictures of her little works of art (the vests) and mine (the boys). :)

Cracking up at Daddy

It was time to go to church, but Diego wanted to dance:

The week before Easter, I had Diego color some eggs. He had a lot of fun with it. Thank you, Dollar Store. Here are some pictures. To be fair, I'll also post some of Marcelito:

Hoo-ah!

Here are a few pics of the Texas trip.

Family Reunion - All of us at the picnic for the soldiers' families. David wearing Sergio's gear. "Grenade!" Me wearing Sergio's gear (for about 5 seconds before someone had to help me because I was going to crumble) Sergio next to his bunk. It's Lieutenant Tesho Forez!!
I got to talk to Sergio on the phone today. It's sooooo sad to say goodbye to him for so long. I didn't think it would hit me as hard as it has. I'm used to living far away from him. But still...I'm worried about my little lieutenant in "the desert". Hmmmmm, what should I pack in his first care package?