parentinglife

Its weird having the house back again all to ourselves. The past two days have been so hectic,noisy but full of memories. I got to talk and bond with my cousins and see my aunt. My cousin that has 2 kids bought a big box full of old winter outfits from her daughters. Kaitlyn now has a whole closet full of hand me downs all from her older cousins. Honestly, i don’t mind getting hand me downs since most of the clothes were is such condition and the best part is i get to save a whole lot of money. The problem now is where will Kaitlyn wear all her winter outfits specially the pretty nice dresses that she got. My cousin which also happens to be her Godmother gave her another additional 2 brand new dresses one for her belated birthday gift and the other dress as a Christmas gift. The Christmas dress is perfect since its a dark green velvet dress and its so cute and just screams Christmas. I have to wash all her new clothes now and you know  how much i hate folding them and putting them away. Oh well at least i don’t have to worry about if she has clothes to wear, ill only worry about where she will wear them. Ill post pictures one of this days modeling her new dresses if she will cooperate. My cousin Wingwing also had a Christmas gift for me and Ralph, mine is a watch and Ralph got a new wallet. I miss them so much and i hope to see them next year for the summer. I told her that if Ralph’s boat isn’t sold yet we will surely take them out boating. I can’t wait for summer to be here again so i will stop feeling cold.

Its finally over and done with. I’m talking about yesterday’s Thanksgiving Dinner we had at the house. This was my second year to celebrate Thanksgiving here in America with my Family. It was also the first time that all of Ralph’s brothers were at the house for Thanksgiving dinner and not only that. My cousin and her family from Chicago spent Thanksgiving with us. The preparation took ages but we did get to eat before 6 p.m. with my day spent preparing the house for guest, helping with some cooking, taking care of baby, setting and arranging the dinner table as well as the food. It was so amazing full of laughter, food and jokes. The only missing person at out Dinner was Kayla my stepdaughter. My niece kept asking for Kayla and even cried since she thought she would be there and she couldn’t't’t wait to play with her. I had forgotten to tell my cousin that Kayla wont be spending Thanksgiving with. The food was excellent!!!!!!! We didn’t  even take a single picture of anyone eating of the food since we were all so hungry and talking at the same time. This was something i will never forget and will remember with or without pictures. Next Thanksgiving will probably at Angelo’s house or Larry’s. All i know is, I’m sick and tired of washing and looking at pots coz i have been cleaning up and washing all day long…..All in all it was a fabulous and memorable Thanksgiving…

Its finally here, Thanksgiving day. I just came online to write something before it gets crazy later with all the family that is coming. MIL and I did a lot of preparing last night, I washed the floor just last night because i didn’t want to have to do it earlier since it will get dirty. I prepared my fruit salad last night, MIL did the stuffing for the Turkey and she also stuffed the artichokes. We still need to make the mash potato, sweet potato, rice, turkey, heat up the cooked ham and the gravy. My kitchen will be a mess again but its ok i don’t have dignitaries as visitors anyway just my family. I hope the baby will feel much better today considering she threw up a lot last night, all over the pillow,herself and the blanket. I had to change her and she also has the worse diaper rash. Poor baby she was coughing to much that she threw up. She seems back to her old self today and i hope she wont get cranky. I’m tired and sleepy but ill get sleep on Saturday and Sunday. My cousin wants to take me to the BLACK FRIDAY rush but I’m kind of hesitant about it now. First, we don’t have the money since its close today Ralph wont be able to get to a back to deposit his check, second who will look after the baby since hubby will be working tomorrow and third, its very very cold. I don’t know, well see what happens. I just hope we didn’t forget to buy anything.

HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

In life there are always times where we ask ourselves “what if?”. I myself ask those two words. What if i hadn’t met my husband, moved here in America, got married and had a baby. I really don’t know but ill probably still be living with my mom, sister and step dad. Id be working at the same job I hate, the job that killed my confidence and reduced me to thinking I was stupid and incompetent. I’d still be single and looking for that one special person in my life and id still be enjoying the warm weather back home. Dwelling on all the “what ifs” in life is like your always in pause and always moving backward and never moving on. If i had not  married and had my baby i would never have experienced and feel what its like to be a wife, and a mother. I don’t want to live a life full of what ifs and regrets, i want to live a life that is full of optimism  and lesson in  my failure. I always make  conscious effort to think about my decisions and say to myself that if i fail it will be because i made the decision and no one else. I am still learning and i want to learn to live life to the fullest and just be happy with what i have.

Do you have fears? I guess each and everyone has there own fears. One of my greatest fear is WORMS. Yes, I’m afraid and terrified of worms. Its weird since when i was younger i remember playing with worms. When i got older that was when i started to have this fear of worms. When it rained back home and the worms come out i get so afraid for walking in puddles, near puddles or anywhere near muddy areas.  My fear for them would manifest in another way, through cruelty to them. I would arm myself with table salt and when i find a worm i would sprinkled them in salt. Of course this kills the worm but not before they start to wiggle and try to get away from the salt. There was one incident that i was in our backyard and it was starting to get dusky. I dropped something between two flower pots and i reached out for it. I felt something slimy and slippery and i just screamed and run inside the house going straight to the sink to wash my hands. My mom heard me and saw me shaking my hands and i was still screaming and shouting. I felt like i couldn’t get the feeling of the slimy thing from my hand, I was panicking so much. My mom had to shake me and tell me to drink water coz i was so red in the face and my neck hurt. I drank something and i felt so sleepy that i sat on the table and put my head down. I don’t know if i fainted or what but i  will never forget about that day. As it turned out it was just a slug i touched but it was my imagination that made me go in that spastic mode. When i prepare myself to encounter a worm i don’t get scared but when i see or touch one that I’m totally unprepared for i got nuts and ballistic. What about you, whats your fear?

I just realized that i didn’t post anything yesterday… hhhmmmm, that’s  very odd since i recalled that i did post something. Am i loosing my mind? After i had the baby i just kind of lost my ability to remember certain kinds of things. I read in a book that its normal for a pregnant woman to forget about things since they blame it on the baby and the hormones are out of whack. I used to remember things but now, it seems like I’m in twilight zone. One minute I’m very very attentive and the next drifting off without even realizing it. I forget things in a heartbeat and have such a hard time recalling what it was. It always frustrates me when i try to remember something but never could no matter how much i try. The more i try to remember the harder it is. I hope I’m not driving anyone  nuts write now. Could it be I’m just not paying enough attention or i have a lot of things on my mind. I do have a lot of things on my mind but its all scrambled inside my head and its hard to keep it organized. Wouldn’t it be great if we could store and organize all out memories and thoughts? I cant even remember what it was like when my baby was much younger. I felt like i was being cheated and that time flew by so fast. My kids keep me sane and blogging keeps me sane and in touch with myself. MIL and I are just like peas in a pod, we forget about things and we remind each other about things and we drive each other nuts in a good way.

Most of the day was spent food shopping for the coming Thanksgiving.  Woke up late past 8 a.m. since Kaitlyn was hungry and kept waking me up. She kept pinching my nose, poking my eyes, pulling my hair, slobbering all over my face and finally shoving her finger up my nose. When i finally opened my eyes she greeted me with such a big smile and with love in her big eyes. How could i get upset for shoving her finger up my nose? She would start a conversation with me like she was saying good morning mama, I’m hungry can we go downstairs?I would then start getting up from makeshift bed on the floor and head for the door. She would immediately stand up and head to the door and i would make sure she has her paci with her before going downstairs. There are times she leaves it on the floor and i would tell her to go get it and she would. She is such a smart baby.

We went downstairs, gave her whole milk since i ran out of formula last night. Anyway, she is already allowed to drink whole milk. I checked my e-mails, went to the kitchen after to heat up some frozen pancakes. We both had breakfast together and she loves my pancakes. Finally while we were eating Uncle Angelo and Aunt Debbie arrived. Angelo scared Kaitlyn so much that she started crying and cling to me like an octopus. It took a while for her to finally warm up to him and go near him and let him hold her. I had to dress her up really warm since it was so cold outside and we had to go food shopping for Thanksgiving. She was so tired that she feel asleep in the car, she didn’t even wake up when i took her out and laid her down on the cart. She looked so adorable sprawled on the cart with two blankets, one was under her while the other one was covering her. It was so cold inside PathMark that i didn’t even take off my jacket. Kaitlyn was dressed pretty warm but i still had to cover her with the blanket  just to make sure she is warm. She woke up when we were almost done shopping and she was so good staying in the cart. We were not done with the food shopping just yet, we had to make one more stop. But not before we grabbed some food at Wendy’s. While at BJ’s it was such a different story, the store was so warm i loved it. Kaitlyn was just enjoying sitting in the cart and watching the people pass by her and looking around. She even flirted with  a boy about 6 years older than her. The boy seemed so taken with Kaitlyn since he was the one who started talking and staring at her, he even touched her hand before he left. It was so sweet. The van was packed to the hilt but we still got everything inside. What a cold day it has been and i don’t want to go out again anytime soon. At least i get to sleep in again tomorrow.

Its snowing and it is still falling. Its not a heavy fall but steady enough that its starting to coat the cars, ground, bushes and trees. I was expecting to snow when i woke up since the weather called for it. I was a little bit disappointed when it didn’t since I told Kayla it was going to snow. Kayla came into the baby’s room at around 6:04 and laid down with us. She complained of a stomach ache, i hope it wasn’t the cake we made last night. We finally came downstairs to eat breakfast when i looked out the window and saw tiny snow flakes falling. I told Kayla that it was snowing again and of course that got her all wired up and excited. She ate her breakfast, brushed her teeth and i styled her hair for school. The snow has been falling steadily as we were getting ready and coated the ground on the back deck. I told her to put her socks and snow boots on and she could go outside and play for a little while. She moved with lightning speed putting her socks and snow boots on. I dressed her up really warm, gloves, scarf, hat, and of course the coat and showed her out the back deck to play for a little bit before she had to leave to go to school. I woke up Ralph and told him its snowing and if he could watch the baby so i could walk her to the bus stop. Since he knows that i don’t really like the cold he offered to walk her, I wanted him to get some sleep since he will be working overtime from 2-6 a.m. But I still gave a sigh of relief when he said he would walk her. While Kayla was out the deck she was gathering the snow from the railings and making snow ball with it. Baby sister was watching through the glass door and she would throw the snow ball at her. Kaitlyn would squeal inside. I got her some snow and gave it to her, she wanted to eat it so i took it from her. That was a mistake, she got into her little temper tantrums. Ralph wondered what happened and carried her in his arms around the house until she calmed down. Kayla was so happy to see her daddy and to know that Daddy will walk her to the bus stop. She even showed daddy the cake we made last night.

Kaitlyn and I sent her off by the door with Kaitlyn pressing her nose on the glass door to say goodbye to her big sister. At least Kayla is wrapped up warm while they wait for the bus to come. When Ralph came back he told me that Kayla didn’t want to go to school and had to be pushed to get into the bus. I guess she wanted to play in the snow so bad and didn’t want her daddy to go to work. She will go back to her mommy’s later today, I dread the reaction she gives as she usually cries and begs that she doesn’t want to go. It breaks my heart but i always tell her that we have to share her with mommy and not to worry since she will only be visiting mommy for 2 days. MIL will not be happy driving in the snow.

Yesterday were the girls appointment to see the pediatrician. Kayla was going for her 5 year check up and Kaitlyn her 1 year check up. While we were on the road heading to the doctors office i saw someone familiar. We were on a stop light when i happened to look over Ralph shoulder and saw a Santa look-alike. He looked like the typical Santa Clause, he was just lacking the red suit, glasses and his reindeer. I immediately looked at the backseat to tell Kayla.

Me : Kayla look out the window and look who is driving beside us.

Kayla : Oh! Its Santa Clause.

Me : See, Santa is everywhere and do you know why he is driving a car?

Kayla : why?

Me : Because he is looking for little boys and girls. He is going to visit houses to see if they are good of bad but he doesnt want them to recognize him. So that is why we have to be good all the time or else Santa wont come by our house to leave the gifts.

Kayla : But im good!

Me : I know you are.

She couldn’t believe her eyes that Santa was driving a red car. I had to tell Ralph well hun, he must be earning quite a lot this Christmas as a Santa Clause. He really did look like the genuine person.

We got to the Doctors with a few minutes to spare before we got called. I was getting nervous and anxious to get the whole thing over and one with. We got to the examining room and Kaitlyn was measured and weighed. She has grown almost 2 inches since her last check-up but she only gained a couple of pounds. I was glad when i was told that she is on the 50th percentile for the weight as well as for the height that means she is an average baby. While the doctor was examining her she would not let her look in her ear so we had to hold her down and that got Kaitlyn so upset that she tried to scratch the doctor since she was the one in front of her,hehehe.. The doctor said “my. my , my you have a temper little girl. You are very feisty”. When it got over it was time for me to ask questions like from giving her whole milk to her teeth to vitamins. Kaitlyn can now go on whole milk but she has to have some form of vitamins. If she has formula at least twice a day it would be ok. The doctor told me not to worry about the teeth as they will come on its own.

Now comes the shots. I didn’t want to see my baby cry and struggle. We had to restrain her on the table and hold her down since she was already getting antsy. Thank God the doctor was quick and it was over in less than a minute. Kaitlyn cried of course and was in daddy’s arms. I felt so bad for her, she got 3 shots in one leg so that it would be just that leg that will get sore.  She will be getting another shot in 2 months for her 15 month check-up.

All in all both my girls are strong  and developing at a healthy rate.

It’s a busy day today. For one MIL, baby and I just got back from doctor’s. I had an appointment for my OB-GYN for my yearly pap smear. Good thing we didn’t get lost again going there but we did get lost on which floor it was. Its very very cold out, it was around 28 this morning when we headed out for the doctor. I had to bundle the baby up real good. When we got there the baby was good she didn’t throw a fit and was her lovable self but she got tired and sleepy. As i was sitting there i was brought back a year a go when i had to visit my OB every weeks when i was near my due date. It felt strange going there not pregnant. At least I’m almost down to my pre-baby weight 114 lbs. My doctor is a man and he is quite funny he kept joking around in the examining room to make me feel relax. I hate getting pap smear and just having things done. It wasn’t as bad as i thought it was going to be unlike my previous one. He was quick and gentle, I also got to ask him why we haven’t been able to get pregnant again. We have been trying for over 6 months now, he assured me by saying that for typical couple it usually takes 6-8 months and they usually do the fertility test after a year of trying. He recommended trying out the ovulation kit called “clear blue” since its the no# 1 consumer choice. And explained that a woman can only get pregnant one day a month and there is a window open of 12 hrs to get pregnant. With that knowledge in had i called Ralph right away and told him. We will certainly try that out, I really want to have another baby while im still young and the age gap is not that far apart.

Ralph was suppose to go to Kayla’s school to volunteer for a book fair but since there were a lot of volunteers he was asked if he wanted to re-schedule and he did. We still have one more appointment for today and that is the kids check-up. For Kayla it will be her yearly physical, flu shots and for Kaitlyn it will be year one year check up that includes all the shots she is suppose to get. I hope she wont be cranky going to the doctors later and Ill make sure to ask the Pediatrician why she doesn’t have any teeth at all. A very very busy day and its just starting. I better relax while the baby is napping and the house is all quite and peaceful.