Picture update.

My beautiful babies who are constantly reminding me now that "I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl", and "I'm a big boy"!

I can not believe that they will be three and four this summer!

Sleepy- Spring- Shining- Saturday

Here it is 6:20 am and Lee Lee and Monkey are wide awake ready to have an awesome day. Me? Not so much. I am so tired! I fell asleep last night too early, without doing my homework, so when I woke up this morning just after 4am in a panic, I was looking forward to some quiet time and possibly a shower before they woke up. Ah, things never go as planned and I need to learn to stop thinking that they will!!

So, let's see what is on the agenda for today... It is much too cold to go play outdoors and it is Saturday.... Cleaning day! I am going to "Spring Shine" my house today (or at least attempt to). I've been so wrapped up in avoiding housework this past week that my house looks like a disaster zone. On top of my "Spring Shining" I need to get myself a little more organized... I am planning on venturing into my own business later this month, so I need to get things ready for that. It is really exciting and will write more about that later.

I am off to get a jump start on the house.

Nap time: ETA 5 hours, 30 mintes!

A new begining.

It's been forever since I've been here and blogged. So much has changed in our lives in the past seven months.
My mother passed away in September. It was unexpected and I've had issues dealing with it. Parts of me feel like I should have been able to help her, I should have been doing more to encourage her to take better care of herself. I was having nightmares about finding her the day she died and having anxiety knowing that I am left to deal with her final affairs. I sought out the help of a therapist and was put on some anti-depressants and anxiety medicine. In the conversations with the therapist it became apparent that my "mommy issues" are a lot more complex than I've let myself believe over the years. I thought that I had made peace with the way I was treated as a child, I thought I had let it go and grew from the experience, but in reality I was living as if I was seven years old again pining away for my mothers approval. This mindset allowed for me to get caught up in a relationship that demanded the same of me. When I came to this realization I decided to permanently separate from Man Child. As much of a good guy he is, I could no longer take the feeling that my actions were constantly the reason for his moods. It's kind of hard to explain without sounding like a bitch, but I just knew that I couldn't live that kind of life anymore. Between the constant arguing and me feeling like I was never doing anything right by my husband I was becoming miserable. No matter how much we tried to work things out, I felt like I was always compromising my happiness for his benefit and it was never reciprocated. That is not a reasonable way to live for anyone.
I am preparing to move out of this state and go back to where my family is. I want my babies to grow up with family, surrounded by people who love them. I want the park picnics, the holidays, the bbq's... The togetherness. I think I have been searching for that my whole life and I don't want my babies to miss out on that.
Speaking of babies... They are awesome. They are enrolled in daycare and thriving in that environment. Lee Lee loves school and is excited every morning to get out the door. Monkey is less enthusiastic, but he is doing well there too. He is currently potty training and doing quite well. Now that Man Child is not here the babies have settled nicely into a routine and are the happy, loving, joyful babies that they were the last time Man Child was not living with us. I honestly hate that their father is not around for them, but on the other hand I see how this separation has not in any way impacted them negatively and I know for sure that I made the right decision. Everyone in this house is in a happy place and that I all that I want for them, for me, for us.

Cleared for travel!

Now where should we go!?

Japan?

Paris? London? Brazil?

How about the Amazon?

Who knows where we'll end up or how we'll get there.... Now that I have my passport and the babies have their applications in... Watch out world! We're coming(eventually)!

Looking cute in their passport photos!

Fun filled Saturday!

Our power went out for a while today. I looked out the window and saw the trees swaying back and forth and all of a sudden the power was out for four hours. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I've gone through hurricanes without losing power!

The kids were entertained for the most part by watching the rain. Then we played with Dora and Diego, force feeding them milk and apples. Then we played crash dummies with the matchbox cars and Wow Wow Wubzy, and read a couple of books.

Oh, that reminds me! We made it to the library today! From what I was told today was the grand opening of the library after its renovations were complete. It looks nice to me, almost the whole second floor is the kids area. I do wish that they put some more comfortable chairs up there for the kids... It was a nightmare bringing Monkey there today. I spent the whole time with him on my hip because he would just run down the isles of books, grabbing a handful every other step. He made it difficult for me to spend any real time with Lee Lee but we somehow managed to get four books for them and two books for me. I definitely want to go there on my own really soon, I haven't been the a library in ages!

I didn't think that the power would come back on in time for the kids to have a hot meal so I cracked open a can of spegettios. Monkey practically drank his bowl while Lee Lee took one look at them, turned up her nose and said "No thanks Momma", and walked back to the living room. Luckily for her, the power came back on and I went ahead with the dinner that I had planned. Pork chops, black beans, rice and tortillas. (Lee Lee pronounces tortillas- PORTILLAS, hahaha) Those were the BEST pork chops I have ever made. Wow. Really good. Lee Lee ate two helpings of beans and pork chop. Monkey cleaned his plate as well. Now they are sitting watching Transformers and snacking on popcorn since they did so well at dinner.

Bedtime in this house has been increasingly difficult. The kids think that they can just sleep on the couch and getting them up in their rooms is a fight every night. Last night however, Monkey was cooperative when I said it was bedtime. He climbed up the stairs, went into his room and got into his bed. I gave Lee Lee some kisses and convinced her to stop crying and went to kiss Monkey. He saw me, pulled back his blanket, patted his pillow, patted his mattress and said "for you" to me. Awww. That baby Monkey roped me into laying down with him and I ended up falling asleep.

The kids are doing great and amaze me everyday as they have since the days they were born. I'm off to cuddle them a bit before bedtime. <3

Pool!

We took the babies to our local pool today since I had the day off. They had such a blast. Both of the babies are looking a bit more mexican this evening much to Man Childs delight. I am absolutely exhausted so I am of to bed and I shall update more on todays events tommorrow. : )

Wake up horsey!

I slept until noon today. Let me say it once more just so that it will sink in.

I SLEPT UNTIL NOON TODAY!!!

Yeah, I still can not believe it.

Do any of you have a rough and tough toddler? Monkey is going to be the early death of me with his craziness. He literally can be walking around and all of a sudden out of the blue he throws himself onto the floor (or outside on the ground) and laughs like a lunatic. It almost looks like he is doing a belly flop... That's not it though. He is constantly running into the walls or other stationary objects. Like yesterday afternoon he ran nose first into my computer desk.

This is the result of that:



You can't really see it I guess, but it is a nice red line. Poor Monkey. Oh, and when he runs, and he definitely runs all of the time, he runs with his arms up behind him. It is the funniest looking thing, but he constantly gives me mini heart attacks when he is falling head first onto the pavement.

Here are a couple of pics of the kids. I do not have a camera, so these are poor quality phone pics. My goal is to get a camera soon though!






I was playing with the kids, rolling around on the floor and whatnot, and at one point Lee Lee jumps on my back and yells "WAKE UP HORSEY!" and starts bouncing up and down on me. Monkey runs over and tells her "I can't, I can't" while he pushes her off of me. I thought, oh, how sweet, he is defending me. Nope. As soon as her butt was off of me, SLAM, there's a Monkey on my back.

Lee Lee is addicted to my Android phone. I downloaded a few Apps for her that could keep her busy while we are in the car on long trips, or if we are sitting in a waiting room, or even if I just need her to have some quiet time. Well, the problem is now she always wants to play on the phone! All I hear is "Mommy, I want to match socks", "Mommy, I want to color your phone", "Mommy I want to do puzzles!". Ahhhh! She is driving me nuts! The other day, after hearing her tell me all day that she wanted the phone, I decided that enough was enough. I told her that she wouldn't be using the phone for the whole day. So she pouted and I felt bad, but I did not give in. Later in the day when I came back downstairs from what ever I was doing upstairs, I noticed that my phone was not on my desk. I knew immediately that Lee Lee had it. I was about to call her name when I noticed a breathing lump on my living room floor. Lee Lee had curled up on the floor with my phone and "hidden" herself under her blanket. It was all I could do not to laugh. I pretended of course that I couldn't find her, calling out, "Lee Lee, where are you, I can't find you", and naturally Monkey followed suit. The giggles that came out from that breathing lump on the floor just melted me. When she finally popped out saying, "I here Mommy, you so silly!", I took the phone and we went about our day. Of course she asked for the phone again, and again, and again throughout the day...

Gotta love my babies... <3

Super Sunday!

Today was a great day!

We started the afternoon by taking the babies to a playground. It was so hot I decided to take them to a different park, one with the trail. We walked the trail and the stretch we walked was about a mile one way. The babies walked the first lap almost all the way on their own. We walked back to the parking lot alternating the babies on our shoulders, chasing them in spurts, and playing tag. Cayley would chase me and if I got to far ahead she would yell out, "Wait! Espera!" LOL, I love to hear her speak Spanish. I just want to kiss her face she is so cute! She kept looking for animals like we were on a safari. The most we was were a couple of squirrels and the handful of dogs that were running with their owners.

When we were done walking the trail we found another playground that was packed with other kids of all ages. Monkey and Lee Lee quickly found "friends" and it was like they no longer knew Man Child or I. Monkey ended up with a bat and a ball, Lee Lee was climbing the playground equipment like a pro... I was just sitting there like a lost puppy- a puppy that the babies abandoned because they found something better to play with. *sigh* I knew this was going to happen eventually, but come on! They are one and two years old. Isn't this just a bit too soon!?

We eventually left the park and decided to get ice cream. On our way out of the parking lot, Lee Lee says to me from the backseat "Momma, I am super hungry. Me have prench prys pwease?" (Ahhh... I just love her.) So naturally since Lee Lee said "prench prys", Monkey started in with his "fy fy, fy fy" and it was decided. Golden Arches here we come! We spent about a half hour in the play land and surprisingly neither baby put a fight up about leaving. On the way to the car (my favorite moment of the day!) Lee Lee says "Momma, I had a great day! It was fun!"

We stopped on the way home for ice cream with sprinkles, and then stopped at the Blockbuster box to pick up a free movie. We got home and did bath time, cleaned up our toys from earlier in the day got the living room set up with blankets and pillows for movie time. The babies watched Ice Age 3 and I did my homework.

I really wish I had some pictures from the today. The pictures would have captured the pure happiness of the babies. Soon enough... Soon enough.

Tomorrow is Monday. Back to the daily grind.

A song for Lee Lee

Last night Lee Lee wanted to snuggle before bedtime. I was rocking her and singing our own special lullaby to her over and over again until she finally had enough and told me she was ready for sleep.

"Good night Lee Lee, Good night Lee Lee, Good Night Lee Lee, It's time to go to bed. Mama loves you, Dada loves you, Brother Monkey loves you too!"

Sitting there rocking her brought back this memory of the first time I rocked her. I was still pregnant and I was listening to this song and I was so consumed with emotion, that all I could do was sit there and cry and rock my unborn daughter.

I love you Lee Lee. I did from the moment I knew you were conceived and will until the day that I am no longer on the earth able to rock you.


(BTW, I am not fond of the video they put to the lyrics, but this is the best quality sound that I could find!)

M-O-U-S-E

I have spent the last few days playing cat and mouse with...


A


MOUSE!

I knew that I had a mouse living amongst us shortly after I moved into this place, but when I found a dead mouse at my front door I thought that was then end of that... I mean, I even stopped seeing the mouse crap on my counter... So... Maybe this is the other mouse's Baby Momma, or Grandmother, or arch nemesis, who knows... All I know is I went into the kitchen two nights ago and when I flipped on the switch I saw a mouse tail disappear into the stove burner. I lifted the stove top and WALLA! Holy Mouse crap! I was disgusted that I have been cooking on that stove when right below the surface there is mouse crap that could potentially carry some nasty diseases. Not to mention that it is POOP. *Gag*

So, out came the bleach and the rubber gloves and I went to town on the stove and pretty much the rest of the kitchen. I told Man-Child that we have a mouse in the kitchen. He can't say that he didn't hear me because let me tell ya, I told him just how frikken disgusting what I found was. Plus I swear he thought I was nuts while I was trying to creep up on the mouse... There I was standing in the kitchen with the lights off staring at the stove waiting to see the mouse come out of hiding... (Now that I think back, what the hell was I going to do if it did? I had no weapon and even if I had, I can not imagine that I would be able to use it on the mouse.) I quickly started seeing things, and no matter how many times I switched on the light, it was never the mouse. I eventually decided to take another approach. Greys and Private Practice was on that night, so I decided to give the light switch (and Man Child a rest from my antics) and watch some TV. Then very cleverly, during just about every other commercial(Man-Child went to bed) I ran into the kitchen, fast as lightning but with as much stealth as a ninja, flipped on the light and...

NOTHING.

But again, what was I planning to do if he was sitting there on my stove? Without a weapon or even the desire to hurt him... Could I have preformed some jet eye mind trick that would have coaxed him out of the back door with instructions to never come back and to warn his kind the same? Damn. That would have been awesome.

Ok, so fast forward to tonight... I was sitting here on the computer learning my College Math(which sucks) and I decided to go refill my coffee cup. I walk into the kitchen, flip the light switch and what do I see? There scurries the mouse down through the stove top. But, let me ask you... Do you know what he was doing? He was snacking on the oatmeal raisin cookie crumbs that are on the cookie sheet that was left on the top of the stove... By who?

Do you really need two guesses?

I think we both know Man-Child well enough to know that it was him. (I mean, you might have been just as surprised as I was to find out that he MADE COOKIES, but come to find out, Lee Lee made them while he sat there and supervised.)

And if you thought for even a second that it was my lazy behind that left the cookie sheet there, when have you known me to make or even buy a cookie that doesn't have chocolate in it? Shame on you!

At this point I am thinking of naming the mouse. Any suggestions?

Monkey was diagnosed with another ear infection today, so we are going to get him in to see an ENT specialist. I also noticed that he laughs and yells random things in his sleep. I was watching over him because he had a fever and I get super paranoid when one of the babies have a fever, and all of a sudden he yells out "WHOA!" Hehehe. I wonder what he was dreaming about.

Lee Lee is just as hilarious as always. We had made plans to go to the store this past Thursday and as Man-Child walked out of the front door to put the kids in the car, Lee Lee looked back to see me sit down on the couch. She didn't know that I needed to put socks on and she got all worried. "Mommy, are you coming with me?" she says. I tell her, "Carry me Lee Lee, Mommy is tired." So she proceeds to try to pull me to the door, first by my finger, then my arm, then my head... Finally I think she realized that that wasn't a battle she was going to win because she said "Mommy, I can't do it." Then she runs to the front door and yells to her father, " Dada! Momma is tired. Come carry her. Come on Dada! Carry her. DADA!" Hahaha! I can't imagine what the neighbors were thinking.

Oh, and today she crushed my dream of being a princess. I was loving on her and I said, "Your my princess Lee Lee." And she says to me, "I princess Lee Lee, you are Momma." So I say "I want to be princess mommy," and she looks at me like I had asked her if she wanted some broccoli and said, "NO, your Momma, NOT a princess!" Well jeez Lee Lee. I consider myself "TOLD".

Kids are doing great finally! Everyone is seeming less sick and happier!

So...

Monkey is almost two. Lee Lee will be three soon after. TWO and THREE! Where has time gone?

Monkey is starting to talk alot. He throws stuff on the floor and then yells, "I get it!". Or if I tell him to go get his shoes, he'll squeel, "I find it!". Oh my goodness my Monkey is just the happiest baby ever. He runs up to me all the time and wants a hug and gives me fish kisses. He likes to hug Lee Lee too, but she is not always so willing, haha!

Lee Lee is well on her way to not wearing a pampy anymore! She has gone two whole days without a pampy. I decided to put one on her at night since I only have one set of bedsheets for her at the moment, but soon enough I will see what happens when she goes through the night without one. She loves to read books and dance and sing into her microphone. And by sing, I really mean yell. But it is cute anyway because she is so enthusiastic about it.

Lee Lee wants a bike and a helmet for her birthday so that I what I am going to get her. I am unsure of what to get Monkey. He is so rough with toys...

I wanted to write here in my blog at least twice a week but I am exauhsted! Today was a long but great day.

She has an answer for everything.

Me: "Lee Lee, eat your dinner."

Lee Lee: "It's too big for me Mommy. I can't like it."

Me: "Lee Lee, clean up your toys."

Lee Lee: "I'm too busy right now."

Me: "Lee Lee, go get your shoes so we can go bye-bye."

Lee Lee: "It's to far away right now. Maybe later."

Me: "Lee Lee, take my hand while were in a parking lot so you can stay safe."

Lee Lee: "I'm a big girl and I walk like a big girl. Like you Mommy."

Me: "Lee Lee, be nice to baby Monkey. We love him."

Lee Lee: "No, Monkey spilled his milk(how long ago now?), he's a bold girl."

Will it ever end!?!?!?

How many days now have my kids been sick? I can't even answer that question anymore because I've lost track. Lee Lee is hacking up a lung (and vomiting on me in the process) and poor Monkey has a small lake in his pampy at least twice a day. *sigh* My poor babies need a break from being sick so that I can take them to do something awesomely fun!

In other news...

I'm BAAAAaack! I miss writing and promise I will not stay away for so long again. This is a great outlet for me. So, this is "my" thing. : )

I've decided to make a list of things I still need to get for our new place.
(What new place you ask? The babies and I have moved to North Carolina! And besides the kids being sick we are totally loving it here!)

#1 and most important thing we need to get is a CAMERA. I need a camera to get pics of my babies being the awesome babies that they are.
#2 is two dressers for the babies rooms.
#3 is two toy boxes for the babies rooms.
#4 is wall art for the babies rooms.
#5 is lamps for the babies rooms.
#6 is curtains and rods for the babies rooms, my room, the living room and the kitchen.
#7 is a rug for the back door w/ chair cushions to match my kitchen table.
#8 is some wall art for the living room.
#9 is some better dishes, a decent spatula, and an electric mixer.
#10 is a washer and dryer.
(By time I get all that it will be time to go shopping for the kids fall clothes, ha ha!)

We have all have beds(I have my dressers) and we have the living room set up with the tables, couches and computer desk and we have a kitchen table and chairs... We have pots and pans and all that jazz... Our bathrooms are set up; the kids have frogs and I have purple butterflies...

Did I mention that I LOVE my place? I love it!

Before I had children...

Before I had children...
I slept in on the weekends and hated to be woken up.

Now...
I have an internal alarm clock set for 7 am and if my house is quite past 7:30 I have to make sure my children are still breathing in their beds.

Before I had children...
I lazily sat on the couch watching random TV marathons while dishes piled up in the sink and dust accumulated on the baseboards.

Now...
I am much to busy to do dishes and dust busting because I am always chasing after a Monster or a Monkey!

Before I had children...
I was content with the life I was living.

Now...
I strive to make myself better so that I may provide everything that my children need (and some of what they want!).

Before I had children...
I thought I knew what love was.

Now...
I know I will never love anything/anyone the way I love my Monster and my Monkey.

I could just SHOUT it from the rooftop.

I LOVE MY BABIES!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!


Or as Monster says "No, I love you mas!" <3

My babies are growing up too fast!

I can not believe that my little baby Monkey will be the big O-N-E soon! Not to mention Miss Monster Cayley baby entering into the terrible twos! As I am sitting here typing, those sweet children of mine are napping. Together. It is a miracle! Really, it is. I think this is maybe the third time since Monkey was born that my children have napped together. Whatever. I'll take what I can get!

Miss Monster Cayley is truly a trip and a half. I am amazed by the things she can do and say and understand. Today we were watching Dora and there was a star who was crying because it fell from the sky. Well Miss Monster gasped all dramatically and put her hands to her cheeks and said "Sad!". So I told her "yes, that star is sad", and then she ran over to the TV and gave the star kisses and stroked the screen saying "kay, kay". It was incredibly cute to see. She is going through this stage that all she wants to do is color. She wakes up saying "color?!?!", lol. I already have quite the art collection from her.

Monkey baby hurt his little foot at the beginning of the week. He somehow (according to Man-Child) got caught in the blanket on the couch and fell. I panicked and took him to the emergency room (and let me tell ya, it is not easy nor fun to have a crying Monkey AND a bored Monster baby in the ER by yourself) but the x-rays they took looked fine and I was instructed to give him Motrin. I ended up taking him to his pediatrician the next day to follow up out of concern for his restlessness and irritability even after dosing him with Motrin, but he has since gotten better. Just this morning I saw him starting to use his foot again. Thank God. I was really starting to worry for a minute. Other than that incident, Monkey is just fabulous. He has the greatest personality and a heart melting smile.

These babies are amazing. They keep me smiling and laughing all day long. I can't believe how lucky I am, not only to have these babies, but to have the opportunity to be home with them and watch as they grow.

Change is brewing!

Hello again cyber space. It has been along time, I apologize for my abscence.

I have joined 24 Hour Fitness. I love it. They have a variety of classes (one in the pool!), user friendly weight equipment, and a Kids Club. Today I went to the Biggest Loser Boot Camp class. Holy crap, I am beat! It was alot of fun, but HARD! I have never sweat like that -on purpose- in my entire life. I think they are going to have another next week, so I'll be there! I have done the pool class and a spin class, and finally gotten over my fear of the eliptical machine. I need to master the stairmaster now. Cayley LOVES the kids club, Jordan not so much. I am hoping he'll get the hang of being dropped off there soon, I hate that he cries so much when I leave him there.
Speaking of Jordan and Cayley...

Jordan is now cruising around the furniture. He loves to stand, and climb on his sister. It is hilarious. He will not eat baby food anymore. Only regular food. I love this age because babies are not picky at all. He wants to try everything and hasn't spit anything out yet. He is also starting to show his frisky side. Well, I guess attitude might explain it better, lol.

Cayley is using so many words now! I am convinced that someone is sneaking in this house to teach her new words like _MINE_ ... The other day I asked her to go get something, and she picked it up and said "GOT IT!" I love her sweet little voice. Oh my goodness, you should see her at the park now! She runs all over so excited to explore the equipment. She tests all the slides, no matter how large they are. She still does not like the swings, and I am not sure why. I think she is the only kid I know that doesn't like the swing.

It's been a month?

My litte rocker!


He was content in this box for a good 15 minutes. That was the longest time all day that he was not in my arms.

Say cheese! I LOVE his cheeks!

She somehow got to Man Childs plate that was on the counter and stole one of the tortillas that was on his plate, lol!

A New Tradition

So last night Man Child and I started a new tradition.




We baked a cake together. (the first time in the 6 years we've been together, lol)




http://www.mexgrocer.com/504-pastel-de-tres-leches.html


(yes, there is a piece of cake missing because Man Child had to taste it before we procceded with adding the milks. *eye roll*)

Next year I get to pick :).

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Today is also Man Childs and my six year anniversary! Ah! Parts of me can not believe we have made it six years... Well anyway, here's to many more!
Cayley is doing fabulously. She has recently mastered the skill of climbing up onto the kitchen chairs, which has in turn allowed her to climb on the table... This is a pic of the first time she did it, as I feel I must chronicle these things, lol. I was in the proccess of putting some water away and I turn around and this is what I found:

From climbing on things, to running around the playground like a maniac, Miss Cayley is growing and becoming more adventurous by the moment. She also loves to play with Monkey.

As for Monkey... Can you believe that he is rolling over now? *cry* He is also scooting himself around pretty well. There is no more leaving him on the bed while I am not in there... He smiles and laughs at Miss Cayley and Pita and tries to steal Miss Cayleys bottle in the mornings while we lay in bed and watch Blues Clues. He loves the exersaucer snd is obsessed with the apple toy on it. when it falls off he goes crazy untill we put it back on.

30 Days of Thanksgiving

Days 7-14



This past week has gone by in a blur, but at the same time, at a snails pace...


BUT, I have found myself to be thankful for a few things.


-Self Cleaning Ovens
- http://www.allrecipes.com/
-my miss-priced 10x13 picture frame from Target. Rang up for 9.00 was marked 14.99!
-the cleaning fairy
-scrubbing bubbles
-an occasional cold front that allows me two days (and nights!!)that are A/C free!
-a family walk in the park and remembering to bring the camera