Life Treasures

Delicious stuffed Chicken!

2011-08-08T18:18:00.001-04:00

I made a delicious recipe today for dinner, from the Food Network It was really easy. I read the reviews after I had made it, many people said they didn't like it and it was difficult. I didn't feel that way at all. I used the amount the recipe called for and it was the perfect amount for 3 large chicken breast. That feed the four of us and I had leftovers for Jose's lunch tomorrow. Also the kids had seconds, which is always a plus. :)

I did change a few things though. I did not have gorgonzola cheese, I used mozzarella instead. I also did not have bacon so I used a couple of slices of smoked ham chopped up. By the way I found this recipe by searching google the ingredients I had on hand.

Summer camp

2011-07-11T14:26:00.001-04:00

Today was Monkey's first day of summer camp. I was a nervous wreck yesterday. I think that's why I couldn't sleep last night. It also didn't help that Jose left on a business trip yesterday until Friday. The summer camp is at Jose job which would be awesome if he were HERE, because then I wouldn't have to drive 24 miles, going there and back, twice a day. The camp opens at 7am until I think 6:30pm. I think it's too long. I plan on picking him up at around 4-4:30. It offers an afternoon snack but they to take lunch or pay $3 per day for lunch there, one field trip a week, and they go to the pool every afternoon. We signed up Monkey for 2 weeks just to see how it goes this year. Every week it's a different theme; we chose Wet-n-Wild, and Things that are gross.

This morning I woke up late. Anthony didn't really want to go to camp, so that was a struggle. We finally left the house. I left my smoothie and forgot to change my shoes. I was wearing my ugly flip flops. As we are getting closer Anthony was almost crying and telling me that he wanted me to stay with him. I told him I would stay with him for a little bit. When we walked in everyone was so nice. There was another little kid, about Monkey's age, he introduced himself and they became instant friends. lol! After that he completely forgot about me, and left with his new friend. :) Gabylicious and I left, when I was almost home I realized that I forgot to give Monkey money for lunch. Ugh! Drove all the way back. :/ Gaby and I saw him through the giant glass windows with a new friend, I suppose. He didn't even notice we were there. :(

I hope he is having a great day, and enjoys this new experience.

Are your little ones in summer camp or do you plan on ever putting them in? Thoughts?

My kids have style.......well, maybe.

2011-07-10T22:03:00.001-04:00

I'm writing this post because my favorite blogger wrote about how Butterlump dressed himself today . I thought it was so freaking cute.

I can honestly say that I dressed my kids for maybe 2 years, because after that they decided that they no longer needed me. I don't mind one bit. Actually I absolutely LOVE it. When I was younger and since I can remember I had to wear whatever my mother told me to wear and I hated it. She never let me pick out any of my clothes. We do not have a good relationship, this is just one of the MANY reasons why. Anyway.... I think that letting the monkeys wear whatever they want they learn to be independent. Plus they have awesome style. (well for kids of course, although Gaby does put a little more thought into what she wears.lol!)

We have left the house many times with Monkey wearing plaid short with a striped shirt and flip flops of course. lol! I really couldn't careless what anyone else thinks. To me the only thing that matters is that the monkeys are happy. We have also left the house with both of them wearing costumes. Once they were both in their pirates costume in the middle of spring time. lol! Another time Gaby was Tinkerbell with wings and all. Most people thought it was so cute, because Gaby has the total cuteness package, but occasionally we'd get that judgmental stare. I would just smile and walk right by them. :)

How do you handle your littles ones "style"? :)

Easy Burrito Dinner

2011-07-06T19:05:00.001-04:00

I had to write about dinner tonight, because it was so delicious and easy. Plus the kids loved it, which is always good. This is what I had:

1lb of ground beef 97%
1 can of black beans ( no salt added)
1 can of corn (I only used half the can)
2 Very firm roma tomatoes
Fresh cilantro
4 cloves of garlic
Lime juice
1.5 cups of brown rice
2 packets of Sazon Goya (Spanish seasoning)
8 burrito tortillas
Salt
Pepper
Cheddar Cheese

This was not a planned meal. I had ground beef that I was planning on making into hamburgers, but then I didn't feel like having burgers. First I made the brown rice. I just followed the instructions on the bag of brown rice. Also note I made 1.5 cups of uncooked rice which turned out to be too much rice. Next time I'll make half the rice. After the rice was done I put it in a big bowl added about 2 teaspoons of lime juice and cilantro. Yum! At the same time in a different pan I cooked the ground beef with half the garlic and 1 packet of the Sazon Goya. After that was done I put it in a bowl, and used that same pan to heat up the beans with the rest of the garlic and the last packet of Sazon Goya. I then put that in a separate bowl. After I made my own salsa with the tomatoes (chopped small), half a can of corn, cilantro, about a teaspoon of lime juice, salt and pepper. I put the salsa in another bowl. Next I made an assembly line and stuffed the tortillas. Last I placed the burritos on my grill pan (best x-mas gift Jose has given me) just so they could warm up a little, also because I love having grill marks, and a toasty tortilla.

Improvements

2011-05-31T08:32:00.001-04:00

Recently Jose and I decided that we are going to stay in our townhouse. They main reason we wanted to move was because we wanted a better school for Monkey Doodle but 2 weeks ago he got into a new Charter School opening in the fall. We are so excited. Since then we have wanted to improve the house. We've done a lot to it since we have moved here. We've taken all the rug out of the entire house. We put tile floor throughout the first floor and we did laminate floors on the stairs and in the bedrooms.
This past weekend I was looking at Ikea online and I saw some things that I would like for the kitchen. Our townhouse doesn't have enough storage space. My pantry was overflowing and nothing bothers me more than clutter. We got ready and headed to Ikea I found an awesome bookshelf , a wine rack, and a shelf. I needed more counter space too. I had all my small kitchen appliances on the counter and it felt cluttered.
There was a small accident when Jose and I finished building the bookshelf. We were flipping it over to stand it up, it slipped and landed on my toes. It was very painful. I ended up going to an Urgent Care Center where they took x-rays and luckily we found out I had no broken bones, but I did have to wear one of those ugly shoes for 3 days.
Anyway, unfortunately I have no pictures of what the kitchen looked before but trust me you aren't missing much. :0)
This little improvement cost under $140. The bookshelf was $70, the wine rack and the shelf above the bookshelf was about $20 and the green baskets, from Target, were $10 a piece. This improvement has made a big difference in the kitchen, I love it. It almost made me want to sleep in there the first night. :0)

Wordless Wednesday-Tired Monkey

2011-05-25T08:23:00.001-04:00

It's not just shampoo.

2011-05-17T08:23:00.001-04:00

As a stay at home mother, I'm in charge of all the bills. Well actually I pretty much have to care of everything. I find the best deals for everything. I use coupons and buy things on sale. I put myself last in everything. I don't buy clothes or shoes or anything that I actually need, until recently. I have decided that I need to take care of ME. So before we went on vacation I took $200 and went clothes shopping for ME. I got 3 shorts, 4 shirts, and 2 pairs of shoes. BTW I only spent $150 of the $200. I know I must be crazy, not to spend all of it. I just couldn't use it all. Especially since I got more than I thought I was going to get. Little steps. lol!
The other day I needed shampoo so on my weekly grocery shopping I decided that I did not want or deserve the cheap one. I bought the shampoo that I used to use before we had kids and I LOVE it. Its the little things.

Happy 4th Birthday!!

2011-05-10T17:01:00.002-04:00

Today my little princess turns 4. I seriously can't believe it. She talks waaay too much. She acts like she is much older than she is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!

Love, your mommy

Home, sweet, home.

2011-05-07T11:30:00.002-04:00

We are back !! We left Friday morning (4/29) to Gainesville, FL. Jose graduated from the University of Florida with a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering. We are so proud. On Saturday we started our week long vacation at Disney World, of course. We decided to celebrate Gaby's birthday and Jose's graduation where all dreams come true. Hopefully I will be able to blog about everything we did and ate while we were away. This trip was the first time we did the Disney Dinning Plan. I hope to include some great tips. We also had an incident with a Disney Employee that I hope will never happen again.

Wordless Wednesday-The Monkeys Closet

2011-03-09T07:48:00.004-05:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

To move, or not to move that is the question.

2011-03-07T19:08:00.002-05:00

As many know from past post we live in a Townhouse we bought almost 7 years ago. This was before we thought we would have a monkey born a year later. lol! It's a 2 bedroom 2 1/2 baths. The monkeys share a room which wasn't so bad before but now that Monkey goes to school Princess keeps him up. not okay! We don't want to sell because we won't even get enough to pay off what we owe. So we were thinking of renting it out and we'll rent a bigger house. BUT we have to fix a lot of little things in the house. We have to paint and I don't wan to fix the house and then give it to someone else to live in. Know what I mean. We have also thought about making our 2 bedroom into a 3 bedroom. When we bought this place you could have the option of either one, but since we weren't planning on staying here long we didn't go for it. I'm not sure how much it will cost, the kids bathroom need to be redone and the tub needs to be moved and plumbing changed, which is not cheap. We only want to stay in South Florida until hubs is done with his obligation (about2-3 yrs)from work because they paid for his Master, which he'll Graduate from next month. Also a big big thing is I LOVE Monkeys school, so does he. Seriously I have no idea what to do. I sometimes hate to be an adult and make responsible decisions. Another plus is if we stay here we can save money which is something we haven't been able to do because we have been paying off debt. I need a backyard for the kids, we need more room to move around. aggh! who wants to buy us a house. PLEASE! LOL! Sometimes I wish I played the lottery. I only want $300k, I would give the rest away. seriously!

Bathrooms

2011-02-11T08:11:00.002-05:00

I hate cleaning bathrooms. When we bought our Townhouse I hated that we had more toilets than bedrooms. Until recently I would complain. We went to NY for Christmas and New Years. We stayed with family the whole time. With 2 of of my aunts actually. One which lives in a 1 bedroom apartment that the living room was turned into a second bedroom. Our entire family was great, let me just get that out. I am not complaining! My aunt gave us her bedroom and the 4 of us slept there. That first night we waited in line to use the bathroom. lol! There was 9 of us in this apartment, yes NINE with only one bathroom. We were there for about 4 days, then we stayed with my other aunt who has the a Townhouse. We definitely had more room to move around but again only ONE bathroom for 9 people. When we got home I was never so happy to not have to share a bathroom with ANYONE. How about you? How do you feel about just having one bathroom or multiple?

Scariest Day of my life

2011-02-10T08:35:00.003-05:00

Lets start from the beginning. Jose and I both bought some Groupon deals for Barnes and Noble, $10 for $20. Awesome deal!!! We decided we were going to get the kids some Dr. Seuss books. We chose to go on Tuesday night. Jose came home early which is very out of the ordinary but if you know Jose he would live in a Barnes and Noble if it were possible. lol! We had dinner and off we went. We get a spot pretty close to the store. BTW our Barnes and Noble is ALWAYS packed. Jose unbuckles Anthony and I get Gaby and she fuckin takes off running. Jose and I yelled and then I see an SUV coming right at her. I run towards her just in time. The SUV must have heard me scream because it stop just centimeters from us. I bring her back to my car, I calmly tell her not to run on the street EVER again. I fuckin lose it after that. I started shaking and crying. Even now I can't fathom if things had been different. I start hyperventilating. NOT GOOD! My anxiety level has gone up a lot. I fear everything, ever since the plane incident. I have to go. I'm taking Gaby to the Nature Park.

Not enough time

2010-12-08T11:20:00.002-05:00

I always want to blog but I just can't seem to have the time. With Anthony in school, I thought things would get easier but no, just more things pop up. We are getting ready to go away for our Winter Break, to NYC. I'm so excited. I miss NY and my family, of course. I also love NY around X-Mas time. It is just so beautiful.

So what have I been up too. I've been watching my ex neighbors kids twice sometimes three times a week. She is actually one of my close friends and I am extremely mad that she sold her Townhouse across the street and is actually moving to GA tomorrow.

There is so much going on this weekend we have a party my SIL is having. Then on Sunday we are going to pick strawberries with some our friends and their kids. The following weekend we have another party and Sunday I'm hosting a breakfast for the family. I usually do something before we go off on vacation, and the family gives the little ones gift and stuff. Then we leave Monday. DRIVING, that is correct we are driving to NYC. Yes, we are crazy! (You should know that by now.) I'm feeling a little anxiety. I'm getting a little scared about the frozen road but I'm sure we'll be fine.
I have to go the lil one's need a nap.

Wordless Wednesday- Seal By Gaby

2010-10-13T08:22:00.006-04:00

Gaby got a hold of my IPhone.

Wordless Wednesday-Florida Keys

2010-08-25T08:08:00.009-04:00

Monkey's first day of school

2010-08-23T09:44:00.002-04:00

Today my first born started Pre-K. Neither of us cried. He walked to his seat and didn't look back. This is the beginning for my little Monkey. I love you forever Anthony.

Being a grown up sucks sometimes

2010-07-27T14:52:00.002-04:00

For a couple week now Jose and I decided that we want to move out of our Townhouse and rent a bigger house. The problem with that is that we have to fix our place before we can even rent it out and look at other places. We know of some friends of friends that have the perfect house for us and the rent is just what we want but they need someone to move in in the middle of next month. That is just impossible for us. Plus Jose doesn't want to move until he finishes school next spring, but I don't think that I can wait. We NEED more space. We are supposed to go to Key West next month, and I am really close to cancel the trip so that we could move but I really want to go on vacation. See being an adult SUCKS!!! decisions, decisions.

Stop the Clock

2010-07-17T11:24:00.002-04:00

The other day I was looking at Gaby and Anthony play and I couldn't believe how big they are getting. Then I realized that Anthony is going to start Pre-School next month and he will be FIVE years old in September. Isn't that insane. Yes, he will be the oldest kid in class because to start Kindergarten in Florida you have to be 5 by September 1st. oh well..I can live with that, plus it will be good for him. I don't think that he is ready for kindergarten anyway. Anthony will be going to a PRE-K at an elementary school and a bus will pick him up; which freaks me out a little.
Gaby will start PRE-K next year, and then I don't know what to do with all my extra time. I think I might go back to work maybe part-time. If I can even find a job. The truth is that it would be nice to have extra money but I don't think that the money is worth the time. ahh! I don't know will see what happens. What would you guys do?

A quarter plus 1

2010-06-23T10:32:00.002-04:00

Today I turn 26. I look at my life and I love it. I have accomplished a lot in a quarter of a century. I look forward to the future. I have definitely have had ups and downs but for the most part it has been great. I know that my future will be even better.
It has been a good day so far. Jose stayed home; we are currently watching the World cup, US vs. Algiers. Jose got me the movie "Twilight Saga: New Moon" and a great book "The Time Travelers Wife". We are going out for dinner with family at one my favorite places The Knife. Goodbye.
Happy Birthday to me!! :0)

It's been a while

2010-06-15T13:39:00.002-04:00

May was a extremely busy month for me. I am so glad it is over. Gabylicious turned 3!! which is crazy; I can't believe it. Anthony went to school for a week. I hosted my SIL's baby shower.

So my princess turned 3. We had a small pizza party at home for close friends and family the next day we drove to Disney World. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was amazing. On the 3rd day there Anthony said that it was boring. My kids have no clue how good they have and how hard hubby and I work to make those trips possible. lol! We spent the day of her birthday at Epcot. We did the Princess Story Book dinning. Gaby meet 5 Princess and she was LOVING it...

and Anthony could careless. lol!

A birthday cupcake was brought over. She was soo happy. The lunch was very expensive but it was totally worth it.
The rest of the trip was spent in Disney Typhoon Lagoon water park and at the resort pool. It was really a great time. The kids where so happy as usual whenever they go to Disney.

My SIL's baby shower was amazing. She loved it. Benihana's managers were great. The food was amazing.

These are the diaper cakes that I made for centerpieces.

The cake was delicious and gorgeous.

The food was great. I chose the lunch boat and everyone got a choose either salmon, chicken, or steak. We also got onion soup and a salad before the boat. Everything came out great.
Well that is all for now, Jose just called me to tell me that he has to go to Chicago tonight. That's awesome! (sarcastic tone)

Birthday's

2010-04-25T20:04:00.000-04:00

So for our family the birthday season has started. Jose birthday is on Tuesday 4/27. His cousin's son birthday is 4/30. My brothers 5/5, yep 5 de Mayo. lol! I can't wait until he is 21 to corrupt him. ;) Our very own Gabylicious 3rd birthday is 5/10. My in laws are 5/4 and 5/13. Jose's cousin's other son is 5/20 and one of my close friends is 5/24. For this month I sometimes think I should get a job to keep up with presents. Also this year I added my sister in law's baby shower on 5/22. I know, I must be crazy!! It the only time I could have the baby shower because in early June we are going to TX. How Fun! I know aren't you jealous!! (sarcastic voice) A story for another time. BTW Jose want to drive there. please someone shoot me now.

I'm back

2010-04-14T11:15:00.001-04:00

For a moment I thought I wasn't. I had a near death experience. Let start from the beginning. I left Friday April 9th to NYC. My flight was supposed to leave at 9 am. Everything was going well until 830 when they announced my flight was going to be delayed until 11. I had not problem I was OK with that. Then at 1030 they say it said it was going to be delayed again until 1pm. I was starting to get upset. I had been at the airport since 7am. Delta gave us a meal voucher for $7 which was crap because a sandwich alone was $8.49, but whatever. At 1230 they came back on and guess what....yeap you probably guess right we got delayed again until 3pm. Now I was fuming. I tried to get another flight but everything was booked, thanks to spring break being over, people were going back home. They gave a voucher for $100 and told us that we should be leaving at 3pm. The problem on the plane was the lights on the floor of three of the rows weren't working. Delta knew about this problem from the night before because the pilots told us. We did finally leave at 3 and made to La Guardia airport at 6pm. The weekend was great. I had time to relax. We had a surprise party for my sister on saturday. I went to Carlos Bakery in Hoboken, NJ also known as Cake Boss from TLC channel. I also when to the city a couple of times. We also went to The Magnolia Bakery . I waited in line for an hour for their cupcakes and it was so worth it. Especially their banana pudding it is to die for. Monday was my last day. I decided to go early to the city to see if i could go inside Good Morning America. Which I did. I got there at 630 am. I even got a picture with Robin Robert and Juju Chang. I went by myself because everyone had to work. After that I walked from 42th street to 82th and Broadway to the Met, only to find out that it is closed on Mondays. I walk to 79th went through Central Park to the American Museum of Natural History. After I walked like 6 miles I went back to Queens to have lunch with Aunt and to get ready to go. Everything was going well. I got to the airport on time we were leaving on time. We even lifted off but after that things were not going well. I could feel the plane struggling to stay up. I had a window seat so I could see how close we were to the buildings. The nose of the plane dipped down at one point and we also went to its side. The pilot came on and said that we were going back to la Guardia. We were in the air for about an hour. I really thought that we weren't going to make it. When we were getting back to the run way it almost looked like we were going to land in the water we were so low. When we made it to the gate the pilot told us that we were having mechanical problems and that we were going to switch planes. We left La Guardia at 9pm. The whole time on the plane I was freaked out. I couldn't relax. Even yesterday at home I was trying to take a nap but whenever i closed my eyes it felt like I was back on the plane. Even talking about it makes me shake. I am just so glad to be home with my hub and monkeys. I'm back in my usual routine with the monkeys. They say they missed me. Good, because I missed them like crazy. I have to go and make lunch before the monkeys rage that fridge.

Excited

2010-04-08T12:40:00.000-04:00

I should be finishing the laundry but instead I'm blogging. Tomorrow I leave to the Big Apple. The kids and Jose are staying here. I haven't been to NY since I was pregnant with Anthony 5 years ago. I am surprising my sister for her birthday. She is turning 21. I am so excited to have some free time. I could really use it. Things are still hectic here. The house remodeling is still not done we have had a really hard time getting the right stuff. Whatever I am the point that I really don't care. It will get done eventually.
I am also planning my sisters in law's baby shower, which is next month. It is so much fun. Everything is almost done. We have the location, food, cake and the invitations have been sent out. The only thing left is the party favors; which we are ordering early next month because they are customized fortune cookies. The theme is based on the location which is Benihana. SIL is very happy with how everything is turning out and so am I.
I have to go. I have a lot to do before I leave tomorrow morning. Everyone please send happy thoughts to Jose, this weekend will be the first time he stays with the monkeys all by himself. :)

One Year

2010-03-10T18:22:00.000-05:00

It is crazy to imagine that a year has past since my grandmother has died. All day today I have been thinking about her. I hate that my kids won't remember her at all. I hate that there wasn't anything we could do for her. She was diagnosed with cancer January 20, 2009 with stage 4 breast cancer. It was to late for her. What's crazy (not really actually) is that just a couple months before she had gone to the Dr and she was fine. 6months before we were all having a great time as a family in Disney for Anthony's birthday. WTF! I hate cancer; you have taken the only grandmother that was amazing to me, and she wasn't even blood related she was my step-dads mom. She was always there for me. She was the one that did my hair, make up, and nails for every occasion. She was there for my Quince, she was there for my wedding. She was the best. I hate that Gaby won't be able to learn from her. She won't know how great she was and how much fun they would have had together. Yaya and Gaby would have had a blast because Gaby loves getting her nails painted and getting her hair done. I hate that our family was torn apart. I HATE CANCER!!
I MISS YOU YAYA SO MUCH!!

Everything will be O.K.

2010-02-26T13:33:00.000-05:00

I think the reason the kids have been acting out is because our house is really chaotic right now. We are having wood floors put in and the carpet taken out. We are also painting and fixing the base boards downstairs. It taking longer then expected because we are waiting for some material to come in for the stairs and the guy working on the house is taking forever. He is really slow put at least he is doing a good job. I can't until everything is done. I am looking forward to the end product. We have finally painted our room after living here for almost five years. We painted a light green. After we painted I realized that almost every room in the house has some sort of green wall. I guess that must be what my subconscious wants. lol!

This is a picture of the new floors in the monkeys room. I love it. I think that they have the coolest room ever.

I haven't uploaded the picture from our room yet but I will post some as soon as we done with it completely. I think this weekend we are going to get the monkeys bunk beds from IKEA. I really LOVE that place. I love the one in this pic.

WTH!!

2010-02-22T17:02:00.000-05:00

I think I might just be losing my f#%# mind. My kids are seriously driving up the F$%@ wall. Today has been a H.O.R.R.I.B.L.E. day. Gaby wont stop crying. She crys for anything, and Monkey isn't helping. He keeps messing with her. I am seriously counting down the days until he starts school. I am looking forward to more time to keep up with the house and just handling one kid. It is so frustrating. I think that I might be going to some sort of depression because I don't feel right. I lose my temper pretty quietly and I have no patience whatsoever. I am going to NY in April just for the weekend to be with my sister on her birthday. It is just me going. I really need this break. That's that I have to get back to the chaos.

Insane

2010-01-28T12:14:00.000-05:00

Insane is how I can describe my life right now. We just have so much going on. Anthony is acting up more than usual. I can't keep my eyes off of them for more than a minute because if i do I turn around to a disaster. The other day while trying to clean the downstairs the kids completely soaked the rug in their room with water and Gaby had taken her diaper off (another story) and peed in the wet rug. I also haven't been feeling that great I think it's exhaustion. I can barely eat, even thought I am hungry. I think it could be some sort of stomach flu.

We are still waiting to get the check to fix the house from the flood that happened over a month ago. Hopefully we can get it soon. I tired of my house looking like crap. We have decided that the money we get back from taxes we are going to use to finally get rid of the carpet. We are pretty much stuck in this townhouse for a very long time. Some neighbors have short sale theirs for more than half of what we paid. Which totally SUCKS!!

So about Gaby and her issues with diapers. Lately she will remove her diaper and put on underwear she then pees on herself. She refuses to go to the bathroom but doesn't want to wear one. Very frustrating. I ask her to put a diaper on and she says no that she wants to pee in her underwear.

I wish I had more time to write it does help when I am stressed out. Hopefully when Anthony starts school I can have a little more time.

Holidays are crazy

2009-12-30T18:36:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a great time over the holidays. We had a good time for the most part. We stayed home mostly, thanks to our house flooding. The townhouse next door, which has been empty for almost 2 years, flooded because the mortgage company had the water turned on. The water was coming out of the tube that's goes to the fridge. Since the people (assholes) that used to own it took the fridge the water was spilling everywhere. We got really lucky that Jose came down at 11pm, for a cup of water, if not the damage would have been a lot worst. We had these awesome fans everywhere, 9 to be exact and 2 dehumidifiers. It was so loud and very annoying and they had to be on for 3 days. They finally got picked up on Christmas Eve at 8 pm.

Anthony thought the fans were a great way to dry his hands.
The cats were completely freaked out by the fans and hid the entire time under our bed.
All in all the kids had a great Christmas.Anthony loved it everyday he would ask if it was Christmas day. He asked for a Robot Truck, Santa Buddies the movie, and a pirate ship with a squid. We also got them digital cameras because they were about to destroy ours. They totally loved it. Today I loaded the pictures from both cameras and noticed that they have a lot of pics of crotches. lol!
I do have to say that Anthony does take pretty good pics. His camera didn't have that many crotch pics as Gaby did. He focused on the faces more.

This is one of his new pirate ship.

The pics come out better when there is good lighting especially outside.

I took this one. They are so cute. That is Gaby's cam that Anthony is holding. The cameras are supposed to be very resistant. I hope that they last a long time.

We have a no plans for New Years there just isn't much we can do with kids. I hope you all have a save and Happy New Year.

Florida Winter

2009-11-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

So today we woke up and it was cool outside. It was in the high 60's which is very unusual for us. I love it, I get to open all my windows and be outside without worrying about having a heat stroke. Anthony got outside when Jose was leaving for work he said "I want to play on the winter." He also asked "Where are the snowflakes?" My poor mid-western baby is not going to see snow anytime soon. I hope that this weather last maybe I can even start running. This would be the best weather to do it.

Happy Veterans Day!

2009-11-11T13:38:00.000-05:00

Last December we went to DC. We visited Arlington Cemetery, it was a sad but also happy moment, because if it wasn't for those men and women buried there we would not have the life we do.
I want to also let my hubby know that I love him and I am proud of everything he has done.

I love you Babe, Happy Veterans Day!

Is it to early?

2009-11-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

I have started to plan the kids birthday. Gaby's 3rd birthday is in 6 months. I have decided to do a Mad Hatter Tea Party. I have found many cute ideas online. I am not sure if I will even have a party, for Anthony's 3rd birthday we went to Disney. Should I do the same for Gaby? For Anthony's 5 birthday I have decided for sure that we are doing a carnival theme party which I have been wanting to do forever. I want to have booths and a clown. The whole bang. I can't believe that he'll be 5. That is still 10 months away. The main one is Gaby's I think it will be really cute. I guess will see as time gets closer if we'll have a party or go to Disney.

Knock, Knock

2009-11-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

Anthony told me his first knock knock joke, and it was so cute.

Anthony: Knock, knock
me: who's there?
A: Boo
m:Boo, who?
A: don't cry mami

It was so cute that I had to call Jose at work to tell him. He thought it was awesome.
My kid is pretty awesome when he is not messing with his sister. I love moments like these.

Halloween

2009-10-28T12:31:00.000-04:00

Halloween is in a couple of days. I am very excited. I have to say that this is my favorite holiday of all time. This year I did more decorating because the kids are older and they understand more of what going on. Earlier this month we went to a dollar store, they had great Halloween decorations. We got some big Halloween spiders and crows that are hanging from the ceiling. We have spider webs on different part of the house we decorated our front window with Mickey Mouse window clings and pumpkin lights. Also out front door is wrapped in tape that says "Enter at your own risk". Anthony is loving it anytime we come home he says "Welcome to our scary house". He can not wait until the 31st comes. He is excited to go to his first Halloween party. This year WE have done more Halloween themed things then in the past. Just two weeks ago we went back to Disney and did "Mickey's not so scary Halloween" and this passed weekend we did "Boo at the Zoo" @ the Palm Beach Zoo.

This year Anthony wanted to be Shark boy from the Disney Movie "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" but the only costumes I found were on eBay and they are way out of our budget for costumes. So instead we went to a store and they picked out what they wanted. Anthony picked a pirate, and I wanted Gaby to be Tinker Bell, but she did not want it. So she threw it out of the shopping cart because she wanted what Anthony had. So this year we have a pirate and a buccaneer. Which worked out great because they match which is what I wanted to do from the beginning. Only problem is that Gaby lost her hat in Disney so we have to look for a store that will sell me a hat that we actually fit her.

I can't believe that I have no pictures of Gaby in her costume, but I do have one of her of this past weekend at the zoo. The kids had to wear last years costume because I couldn't find the pirate costumes. But no worries I did find them yesterday so we are good.

Magic School Bus

2009-10-27T08:32:00.000-04:00

For a while now Jose has been reading Magic School bus books to the kids. Anthony loves them he has a favorite. It's the one with the dinosaurs. He has also been saying that he really wants to go to school. Whenever Jose reads the book he says he want to go and that he wants Miss. Frizzle as his teacher. He thinks that school is just like the books. We think it is so cute, but I hope that when he does start school he is not disappointed.

Started off good....

2009-10-23T17:55:00.000-04:00

This morning Anthony had his 4 year old follow up. Since he was 14 months he has been in a study with Florida Atlantic University. The study is about the speech developement for bilingual children. The Dr. doing the study says he has been doing really well that he vocabulary is balanced in both languages. Which I think is great, but even with that I am still having him tested next month so that he can start school sooner. I think that he could be better in his speech. They are times that he gets frustrated and he does speak really fast most of the time. Anyway the reason I was writing was because we had started off the day good but now it not so great. After the follow up we went to the movies. We saw Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Every cute movie Anthony loved it and watched the whole thing without any issues. After that we WERE yes were going to stop by our local grocery store to get lunch but we got rear ended by a young kid, who wasn't paying attention. Nothing major happened but the kid's car was worst off then ours. My bumper was pushed up and slightly pushed out on the sides. The kids are fine. Anthony was a little freaked out at first. About an hour later he started saying that his head, and hip hurt. Gaby was saying it too but I think it was only because Anthony was getting attention and she wasn't. I called the pediatrician and she told me to take him to the ER. sigh! Not what I wanted to do, but whatever I knew that it wasn't anything major he probably just bang his head a little on the car seat, and his hip was hurting from the belt. So we went to the ER waited for what seemed like forever,(1 hour) so the DR. could say that he had nothing wrong (just as I thought) I wonder how much that visit is going to cost us. eck! Well now I know for sure that there is nothing wrong with him. We finally got home at 5:30 to eat lunch/dinner. And Anthony is having a melt down on the sofa because he doesn't want to go to bed. I hate the days he doesn't get a nap.
Now I am off to call the insurance companies and file a claim. no fun..

Thinking

2009-10-21T10:05:00.000-04:00

I have been think a lot lately about my blog. I been thinking about what I should write about. There are many things I have on my mind but I just don't have the time. I wish I did. There is so much going on and I really want to get my opinion out there somehow. When I first started this blog it was more for my family to know what was going on when we were in Minnesota. Now I am not really sure anymore. I know that my family doesn't read it anymore. I have thought about just deleting it completely, but I really don't want to do that. So what I think I am going to do is write a journal and maybe from there I can transfer it to here. Hopefully that will be better.

What has been going on lately:

My monkey doodle turned 4 yrs old last month. I can not believe it. We did not have a party because again this year he wanted to go to Disney. My mom did have a small BBQ for him when we got back. We stayed at Disney Caribbean Beach Resort. We got the pirate room, and Anthony loved it. We got to Disney on Monday September 21. We were only planning on going to a park on his birthday, because he went in free and Gaby doesn't pay yet. I had heard that Disney had a free ticket for Military and family and friends got in at a cheaper price. So when we were going to buy our tickets I asked and Jose qualified for a free 5 day ticket, yes free 5 day ticket, and mine was $105 for a 5 day ticket and we upgraded Anthony's birthday ticket to a 5 day for ONLY $33. We were very surprised. I wish I had known for sure that we qualified for this we could have gone to a park everyday we were there. We went to two parks while we were there Magic Kingdom, and then Epcot. The rest of the time we spent it at the Resort pools. The kids loved them. We even went to the Saratoga Springs pool once and it was very nice. The best thing about staying at any Disney resort is that you are allowed to use any of the pools and ANY resort, and we don't have to drive anywhere. They have buses that take you were ever you want to go, and the service is amazing. The only problem that we had was my purse got lost on our last day, luckily there was no cash in it, just my ID and debit card. Which I canceled as soon as I realized that it was missing. Anthony had an great time. He is at the perfect age for Disney he can get on most of the rides now. Everyday we were there they would pass out by the time we would get back to our room which was great. They had no issues staying asleep, and in the morning they were ready for the whatever we did. I don't even remember if we ever had any melt downs while there. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

On our first day going to the resort pool.

Anthony enjoying the kiddie pool.

he was doing great. Going on all the slides. Usually he is scared, and doesn't want to try anything. I am so proud of my monkey.

Every time we went under the bridge Anthony would do this and of course Gaby would copy. They are so cute.

Waiting to get on the carousel. It was a hot day but since it was a Wednesday, there was not that many people and the lines weren't long.
This is all I can post right now I have to feed the kids lunch and put them down for a nap.

Back to work

2009-08-28T09:17:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week I got called again from the office I was working at earlier in the summer. The called to tell me that they need me for a month. I said yes but that I need more money since I was putting the kids in daycare. My sister is back in school and found a job so I can't use her anymore. I found someone that will come to my house which is great, but I still don't feel happy about it. I am not looking forward to going back to work but I could really use the money since we have two trips coming up in the next 2 months and we would like to go to NYC for our winter vacation. They are thinking of hiring me for a part time position. They would like me to go work every couple of months. I thought I would be done with this dilemma. I really just want to stay home. It so much more stressful when I am not here. Jose tries to help out but it is not the same. I want to be here, but I can't say no to the money.

Very happy

2009-08-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

Last night wasn't so great. Anthony did not want to go to sleep, so he slept with me in our bed. I woke up to some noise but it turned out that it was Anthony talking in his sleep. It was the funniest things ever. I don't remember what he said but he was mentioning Gaby and me.Anyway that is not the reason why I am so happy it's because Anthony woke up to a completely dry diaper and I think that is awesome. Right before I told him he could sleep with me he went to the bathroom. Actually that was the reason he did not want to sleep. i am so proud of him. Finally I am almost completely done with one kid in diapers. I am just really glad that I don't have to wipe crap off his butt and spend $40-$60 a month for diapers for him.

Monkey's

2009-08-26T07:51:00.000-04:00

So the kids have been doing great. The only issue is that he talks really really fast. So most of the time I have to tell him to slow down, especially when he is upset. Since I have stopped working I noticed that he is more mature. He is more reasonable then before. He no longer takes naps which I am fine with because he just goes to bed earlier and without too much of a fuss. Next month he will turn 4 years old. I can't believe it. We have decided to go back to Disney. I rather spend the money there than do a party here. I just think we could enjoy it more. Having a party is way too stressful. Plus Anthony gets in free because of it is his birthday and Gaby doesn't pay yet. I love Disney it really seems that magic happens there. Plus since we are Florida residents we get awesome discounts. We are hoping that it is not too busy. We are going during the week we leave a Tuesday and come back Friday. Anyway...I have been teaching Anthony how to write his letter and he has been doing really well. We try to do that every morning for about an hour. He has also been asking to go to school. I keep telling him when he gets bigger and everyday he says that he is bigger and that he should go. He is done with diapers in the day time. At night he wears pull ups but they are mostly dry. I am so glad we are done with one kid with diapers, we are really saving money.

Gaby is doing awesome too. She is talking up a storm. She picks words up a lot fast than Anthony did when he was her age. She makes full sentences. She is learning her numbers and letter with Anthony. She eats A LOT. I am so glad that I keep them very active because if not I would be worried. Not really because what she mainly eats is a lot of fruit. We have been thinking about getting the kids bunk beds. I am a little worried that Anthony might use it as a jumping point. Gaby is still sleeping in the crib but she has almost completely destroyed it. Plus we need more room for them having a crib and a toddler bed is a lot for a small room. There is so much that has gone, but I can't really remember plus the kids are up and i have to find something to do with them. I have no idea what to do today. Maybe the park for a picnic.

Busy

2009-08-21T11:38:00.000-04:00

So it has been a while...I stopped working at the office about 3 weeks ago. It was nice having that extra money. We were able to save half of it which is great. It feels good to have some money in the savings. I still feel like I am catching up. The house was neglected big time. Every time I think that I am done with laundry it piles up again.I am starting to think that there must be a never ending hole of laundry in my laundry basket. I try to keep that down stairs as clean as possible with two kids, but seems impossible. I am hoping that within two years we could sell this place and get a House, with an actual back yard. Hey a girl can dream, right?

In other news I have started training for The Disney Princess half marathon which will be in March 2010. I haven't been to the gym in months, but I have started running/ walking with my neighbor and her big dogs. The dogs protect us because you just never know. Not that we live in a bad neighborhood but there was an issues we had earlier this year. Anyway.

This all the time I have right now. Maybe later I can write about everything my monkey's have been up too.

I want one!!!!

2009-07-09T18:51:00.001-04:00

Worst Birthday ever!

2009-06-24T20:38:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday and it was the worst day. First Jose is in Chicago again. The weather was horrible. It rained ALL DAY LONG. The icing on the cake Anthony had a 103.3 fever. Let start from the beginning. Saturday Gaby just did not look like herself. I took her temperature and it turned out that she had a 100.8 fever. We gave her Tylenol. Sunday she was feeling a lot better. Sunday Jose was not feeling well. Jose went to a Dr, in Chicago and it turned out that he the flu. Monday morning Anthony was fine but later that day my sister told me that he was starting to feel warm. When I got home he had dinner and threw up a little but continued to eat after that. I gave him Tylenol and by the time he went to bed he was doing a lot better. The next day he slept in until 11, which almost never happens. When I got home he was laying on the sofa shivering so I decide to take his temperature and it was 102.9. I called the Dr. they told me I had to bring him in. When I got there I had trouble about the insurance. I hate insurance companies, they are my worst enemies. Finally after an hour calling Jose and the insurance company it was straighten out. It turned out that Anthony had a very bad ear infection. Anthony got a prescription for antibiotics. This is Anthony's first ear infection ever. Also Gaby's first fever. The Dr., we saw, was very surprised.She was the after hours dr, we had never meet her before. When I went to fill the prescription I had issues again with the fucking insurance company. It was after hours so they were no longer open. So I said fuck it I'll pay for it my self and then the pharmacist did not want to fill it because the dose was too high for a 3 yr old, and we couldn't get in touch wit the Dr. I almost started to cry at the pharmacy. It was just a very stressful day. We finally got to bed at around 11:30. Thanks to my sister, she helped me. She even slept over. Not everything was bad my mom did bring dinner and my brother made a cake for me. I called the Dr. today and got the prescription for Anthony. He is feeling a lot better today more like his normal self.
*Funny story: When I was parking at the Dr. office Anthony asked
"where are we going?"
me: The dr.
Anthony: Mom. look, look I feel better. I don't need Dr.
He said it it such a cute way I almost wanted to go back home. He really dislikes going to any dr.

I miss being home.

2009-06-15T20:17:00.000-04:00

So, I started the job at my mom's office. It is not a hard job, really. It is so easy. Only that I have to deal with stupid people. I thought that was only at my old job but I guess not. I have realized that I love staying home with my monkey's. I miss them so much. I catch myself wondering a lot of the time, what they are doing, what they are having for lunch? I love that my sister can watch them, at least they are with family. I don't like that I get home between 6-6:30. Usually by this time I have already made dinner and getting the kids ready for a bath. It sucks that it is almost 8:30 and we just had dinner and the kids are still awake. I am glad that I am making some extra money but I rather be home with my monkey doodle. I have also been rethinking my major. I don't like working in an office. Who knows maybe I'll change my mind after I have my degree and am my own boss. I noticed that most of the attorney's work from home, which is really nice. I only have 7 more weeks of this. Hopefully we can get into a better schedule. I do have to say that I love how my monkey's run to me when I pick them up. I love their little happy faces.

Work

2009-06-10T17:33:00.000-04:00

On Monday I was asked by my mom's boss to help them out for 7 days at the office. I said OK. My sister and brother will be watching the monkeys while I help out. Today she called me again to ask me if I could work until July 31, because people are leaving on vacation and they need a replacement. The only problem is that my sister might be starting a new job and she won't be able to watch the kids. I really don't want to put all that responsibility to my brother. Another problem that I have is that I host a CO-OP every 2 weeks, Jose can help me next week but he might be going back to Chicago on the following week, what will I do then. It would be nice to have some extra money. I don't want to put my kids in a daycare, because it just wouldn't make sense to pay daycare. It so ridiculously expensive. I also don't want my kids to get sick either. I've been thinking of mt sister in law also but I think that she is in school full time this semester. Any suggestions? Does anyone know of a cheap babysitter?

Things are not so bad.

2009-06-05T08:05:00.000-04:00

It is day 2 without Jose and things are good. Anthony has been sleeping in our bed. He has been waking up late which is great. Gaby is the one that has been waking up early, which is not usually what happens.
I am excited about today, Monkey Doodle starts gymnastics. I hope things go well. At the end of the summer he can start soccer, and in January he can start T-Ball.

Lately my kids have been hilarious. Gaby is not your usual girlie girl. She thinks it is funny when she farts. Anytime she does it she says "Oh peo!" (peo is fart in Spanish) and then starts laughing. I love her laugh.
Last night Anthony wanted the Nintendo DS, I told him he couldn't have it. He also wanted to wear a shirt that has Wall-E on it, and he didn't want to go to sleep because he wanted to watch TV. So he says "No puedo poner camisa de Wall-E, no puedo jugar DS, no puedo ver Spongebob. I can't do anything. geez!" The way he said it was so funny that I had to call Jose to tell him what he did. I think it is so awesome how well his vocabulary is coming together.

AGGH!

2009-06-03T14:43:00.000-04:00

I can't believe this. I just dropped off Jose at the airport for a business trip to Chicago. I am not looking forward to the next four days. I was ok with it until both of the kids got diarrhea, right before we dropped him off. I have no idea what caused it. What else can go wrong this weekend?

Sleepy

2009-05-15T10:03:00.000-04:00

Last night was a tough night. I had my neighbor and sister in law over to watch the season finale of Grey's Anatomy. They are the two loudest people I know, so of course Anthony thought we were having a party. He did not go to sleep until almost 12 a.m. The worst part was that he slept in our bed because he would freak whenever I told him to go to his room. Poor Jose slept on the couch. Even though we have a king size bed, our little 3 1/2 yr old takes up most of the bed. I am not sure how he does that. This morning I woke up to a gasp and then "Mami, it's morning. Wake Up, Wake up." at 6:30 am. This is what he looked like this morning to me.( this a picture taken by Anthony of himself.)

I need to know. When do kids start sleeping in? I need my sleep.

It's been a while....

2009-05-14T16:32:00.000-04:00

I have been pretty busy. We have had 5 yes 5 birthdays in the month of May. It started off with Jose's 30th Birthday Party, the next day was my brother 16th birthday, two days later my Mother in Law, that next weekend was Gaby's 2nd Birthday and mother's day(on the same day), and lastly Jose's dad's birthday was yesterday. It just has been to many birthday. I am so glad that it is over. Anthony is getting a little confused to see that there has been a lot a birthday's, so much that has been walking around with his birthday pin he got last year at Disney and is saying that today is his birthday. He has also been asking for his Lightning McQueen birthday cake.

Every weekend we have something going on and I have neglected my garden. I have 4 tomatoes growing. I have to remove the plant from the pot because I think that the roots are too hot in there. The thing is the place where I am going to plant them has to be leveled and it is just a lot of work. I just don't have the time. and it is very difficult with two crazy toddlers. I think I might start on it this weekend at least cleaning the area out.

I can't believe that my princess turned two on Sunday. We really don't have babies anymore. That is very sad to me, but not sad enough to have another little one. :) I am looking forward to next summer when Monkey Doodle can start school. Gaby is talking a lot the other day I asked her what her name was and she said, and I am not joking Jose was there too and heard it, "princess". I said Gaby your name is princess and she "si, yo princess". It was hilarious to hear that come out of her. She lets you know what she wants. We had a small princess party for her at home, with Tinkerbelle cupcakes. She did not want princess cupcakes. She was yelling at the supermarket. "BELLE, BELLE, BELLE", so that is what she got.

Well that is it for now. I am going to try and update everyday even if it a small post.

Gardening

2009-03-31T20:11:00.000-04:00

I have never done any gardening in my life. For a while now I've been wanting to make my own herb garden. Every year I say I am going to do it but I just never start it. So today I decided to do it. I went to Super Target they had some pots, and seeds for a dollar. I also got some dirt and gardening gloves for the kids and myself. I thought it would be a great thing to do with the kids. I mean what kid doesn't like to play with dirt and water. I gave them each a pot and a packet of seeds. We put some cornflower and baby breath seeds in both pots. I have no idea how this might turn out. I hope that something might grow by mothers day because that is what I am planning on giving my mother and mother in law as presents from the kids. Monkey doodle was so happy to do this activity. He even put his gardening gloves on. When we were done he won't let Gaby touch the pots. Also every hour after that he would ask if the flowers had grown already. I need to find a lot more hands on activities for him. He really does enjoy them. I have also decided that I will put him in piano lessons. I just have to find a place that will take him. Some of the instructors don't take kids under the age of 5. I know that it might seem that he is to young but he really does LOVE music and instruments. He can name a lot of the instruments. I don't want to push him but I do want to expose him to many activities. At the end of the year he can join the City's T-Ball and soccer teams, so we are going to try those out too.

I was only able to take one picture because my battery died.

Life is getting back to normal little by little. I just take it day by day.

I have no idea what title to write in here.

2009-03-24T20:14:00.001-04:00

I have been stressed out lately. It is a combination of everything that has been going on. My grandmother passed away two weeks ago today. I still can not believe that she is gone. She was diagnostic Jan 20, 2009 with breast cancer. Two weeks later they found the cancer in her lungs. A week in a half after that they found it in her brain. March 10, 2009 she lost her battle. I am just glad that she did not have to suffer for long. She was in a lot of pain the last time I saw her. She still recognized us, she asked to see the kids, which she did. She was very happy to see them. The kids were a little scared, but who wouldn't be, a hospice is not a happy place. She would have turned 60 in June. She was definitely not the one we thought would die first. I am very sad that my kids will not remember her. Sometimes I can't understand how quickly this happened. She was full of life. At the holiday party, we had before we went away to DC, she was fine. She was dancing and making jokes, just being her usual self.

I decided to drop my classes this semester. Which makes feel really crappy. I just wasn't able to concentrate. I think I put to much pressure on myself this semester. Every time I had a essay or a homework assignment my mind would go blank. I would just stare at my laptop.

The kids are doing great. Gaby is starting to count, which is amazing to me, she is not even 2 yet. Her vocabulary has been increasing everyday. I think it is because she has a big brother. Monkey Doodle has been obsessed with puzzles. He loves them, they really do entertain him for HOURS. We just have to watch out for Gaby she loves to eat some of the pieces. I have been looking for a summer program for him. He said that he does want to go to school. Potty training is not going well. I have finally given up. He sometime goes on his own but most of the time he doesn't. There are some school that don't charge extra for him not being potty trained. Maybe school might help him in the potty training area. He also has been going to bed late. Even on days that he does not take a nap. I think it might be the time change. He is still up now, he is not bothering anyone he is just watching a movie. The problem is that he still wakes up at 6:30-7 am. Why can't he sleep in?
That is that. This has been my life the last couple of weeks. I am just hoping that things get better soon.

Hectic

2009-02-24T10:23:00.000-05:00

Crazy, this how I feel about life right now. It just never needs. I have a lot going on in my head and in the family. We have a family member that has stage 4 breast cancer, and things are not going good. I am having trouble dealing with that, I am still in denial I think maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet. I don't know how to explain that to the kids, without freaking them out. School has been a little harder for me this semester. I just feel like I can't concentrate. I am debating if to drop one of my classes.

On a happier note the kids are doing great. Gaby is talking A LOT. She repeats EVERYTHING that we say. She understands more than I give her credit for. She has been a little jealous since I started watching my neighbors baby, twice a week. Whenever he comes over she finds an old pacifier and walks around with it in her mouth. What is funny is that she has never liked the pacifier. When she was little she always spit it out. Anthony is doing good. We have our bad days. He has been acting out more than usual. I am not sure if it is also because of the baby, which I don't think because he really loves the baby. He helps out with the baby, and keeps the baby entertained. Besides for the acting out he has fine. He remembers a lot of things that happened. Except that about 3 weeks ago he said " I neber eber get to got to Disney." He has no concept of time because it had been less then 5 months when we went for his 3rd birthday. What he did not know was that I was planning a weekend getaway to Disney. Valentines weekend we drove up and stayed in an awesome Disney resort. We only stayed for a day. We drove up Saturday and came back the next day. We decided not to go to a park because it was not necessary. The kids played at the pool for almost all day Saturday. Anthony called the room "Disney house." I loved staying there they have activities all day for the kids. The customer service was amazing. We had a great view with a balcony. I don't know if we'll ever do the same resort again. Even if we did save up the money I just can't make myself pay as much as we did again. The best part was that the kids had a blast, they absolutely LOVED it. Disney just knows how to please the little ones. Everything had mickey on it, the soap, the covers, the rugs, I mean everything and the staff like always amazing as ever. I was just glad that we could get away for a weekend and we were able to relax.

Jose and Gaby enjoying the pool, and that is sand in the pool.

The Disney Yatch Club Resort.

I need to be better

2009-02-10T07:52:00.000-05:00

When you are a parent of a toddler you will lose your patience many times. My awesome husband found an article that could help with ways to deal with my kids. I know that I shouldn't act the way I do towards my monkeys and for the most part I behave but then there are just some days where I just can't handle it.
So here is an article that was in Slate.

family

No, You Shut Up!
What to do when your kid provokes you into an inhuman rage.
By Alan E. Kazdin and Carlo Rotella
Updated Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009, at 1:23 PM ET

If you're a parent, you are probably familiar with being provoked into a blood vessel-popping rage that instantly overwhelms any resolution you might have made to stay calm. That's because kids are amazingly good at refining behaviors that they can turn to when they're upset or angry, especially in public, to make their parents even angrier—in fact, insanely angry. Let's just stand back for a moment and appreciate the virtuosity of the 6-year-old who trails along behind you every morning on the way to school wailing that you're me an because you make him wear an uncomfortable backpack or wrinkly socks, or the 9-year-old who demonstrates her budding independence and wit by being rude to you in front of others, or the 12-year-old who during an argument over chores shouts, "You don't care about anybody but yourself! You just want me to do all this stupid stuff around your stupid house because you're so selfish and lazy!" It's as if they had commissioned a study of the most effective ways to set you off and then implemented the findings with great care and foresight.

And yet there you go, rising to the bait. What's your standard move? The hard come-along arm yank? The livid pinch-and-shake combo? The point-by-point counterargument? "What? I'm selfish? I'm lazy? I changed your diapers and picked your nose and sat up with you all night long when you were sick! I work hard all day to support this family, and then I get home and I clean and I cook. ..."
There's really no satisfying response, is there? Decreeing an extravagantly harsh punishment may immediately address your sense of justice, but it's unlikely to make the annoying behavior go away, and once you calm down, you're unlikely to stick with the punishment, anyway. Grabbing, shaking, hitting, or screaming at your kid may stop the behavior and be cathartic for you, but only for a moment (after which you may well begin to feel bad for losing control of yourself and overreacting), and over time such responses will likely lead to further behavioral problems. Ignoring the unwanted behavior and finding ways to encourage its positive opposite will be most effective in getting rid of the unwanted behavior in the long run, but this approach won't satisfy your overwhelming short-term urge to do something right now that addresses and fits the crime.

It's difficult to work out a satisfying response to flagrant disrespect because you're typically in the grip of at least four distinct, only partially overlapping, and often conflicting motives: an emotional urge to do something with the anger surging up inside you, a moralistic impulse to dispense justice in proportion to the offense, a social obligation to show yourself and your child and any others who might be watching that you don't tolerate such behavior, and a practical intent to get rid of the problem so you don't have to put up with such hassles in the future.

When your child stages a scene in front of witnesses, the mixed motives—and the anger, now supercharged by humiliation—grow all the more complex and difficult to handle. Yes, sure, a vast body of psychological research tells you that any attention you give to a bad behavior, even if it's in the form of screaming and hitting and grounding your child for the rest of her life, will only reinforce that behavior, so it's best not to react, but your kid just called you an a--hole in front of the neighbors—unless you're B.F. Skinner or the Buddha, ignoring it is not an option. And, anyway, ignoring it won't make it go away. You need to do something.

So, what do you do?

Let's consider the immediate, long-term, and side effects of some common and not-so-common responses to a disrespectful provocation by your child.

Shock and Awe: Respond swiftly with justified fury and indignation. This is one of the most common and least effective responses.

Immediate effect: A rage-out on your part could instantly stop the disrespect by interdicting it with your own yelling, screaming, etc., but it's very likely to escalate the confrontation by inviting the child to continue a negative back-and-forth with you, which will in turn inspire further escalation by you—stronger comments, grabbing, slapping—and so on.

Long-term effect: Will not achieve a long-term reduction of the behavior, and its side effects could in! crease the occurrence of disrespect in the future.

Side effects: You will feel that you have held the line by not tolerating misbehavior, but this momentary satisfaction comes at a huge delayed price. Since the tone and content of your response model how to respond to others, through observational learning you will be teaching your child to do the same, and the force of your reaction (a tsunami of attention to your child's worst behavior) will train the child to continue and even increase the provocation.

The Evil Eye: Stare down your child with a dire expression and say nothing.

Immediate: The stare-down is likely to escalate and continue the child's behavior, and the struggle goes on.

Long term: Will probably not make things worse for very long, so in the long-term it's better than full-bore rage but not as good as walking away.

Side: If your child is doing the yelling and screaming, then your refusal to react at the same angry uncontrolled level provides a useful model and will actually help to develop calmer behavior on the child's part in the long run, but the harsh expression will still be inflammatory.

The Rational Saint: Exhibiting inhuman restraint, go to the child and in a gentle voice explain why what she is doing is not the appropriate way to treat her parents and/or ask her to explain why she's misbehaving so terribly. Like Shock and Awe, a common but largely ineffective response, and when serene self-control evaporates in the heat of battle, the Rational Saint often gives way to Shock and Awe.

Immediate: Your explaining will not make the crisis worse and will help to end it more quickly by not being provocative, which is better than a rage reaction but not likely to change the behavior. If you invite your child to explain, you will probably prolong the crisis, as she will take the opportunity to further elaborate her point: "Because you're a jerk! Didn't you hear me?"

Long term: Your modeling of calm in response to rage will have a positive influence over time, but the effect would be slow to occur, and few humans could keep it up for long.

Side: Your refusal to react may be calming, but that alone will not teach the child the proper behavior. Also, by moving in close to explain, you leave yourself open to being hit or pushed, and few parents can take that without reacting. Still, if you can restrain yourself, you will feel that you are wonderfully controlled and empathetic—and you are.

The Ringmaster: Divert your child's interest to something else to get him out of crisis mode. Hand him a toy or, if he's older, attempt to engage him in discussing whether anyone shreds more rulingly than the guys in DragonForce.

Immediate: Not likely to work at all, but if you present some wildly novel gimmick it could reduce the duration of the misbehavior. Of course, next time you have to come up with a fresh gimmick. No human can keep this up for long.

Long term: No effect. Distraction does not change the likelihood of future occurrences.

Side: Avoids the task of teaching other ways to handle stress, but you do show restraint by not fanning the flames of rage.

The Void: Ignore the provocation and walk away.

Immediate: Withholding all attention de-escalates the child's behavior and so is likely to end the child's comments sooner than would be the case if you responded in a heated fashion.

Long term: Ignoring—known technically as "extinction"—could slightly decrease the likelihood of disrespect over the long-term, but its effect is still weak. The best benefit of this option is your modeling of a nonimpulsive reaction.

Side: You're modeling poise under fire, but you are likely to view it instead as a weak response that passively accepts abuse, so you'll be unhappy with it.

The Mona Lisa: Say nothing, show no emotional reaction, and deploy a slightly amused, faintly dismissive expression that says, in effect, "Pretty good for a novice, but nowhere near good enough to get to me." You have to practice this one in front of a mirror before you use it in action. This response will be relatively effective, but it requires great self-control to carry it off without being drawn into a confrontation or taking it too far into contempt or sarcasm.

Immediate: The Mona Lisa will de-escalate the child's behavior. The child may finish the current diatribe but will probably not go on beyond that.

Long term: Decreases slightly the likelihood of future battles. The Mona Lisa shows the child—more effectively than simple ignoring would—that provocative misbehavior will not get a satisfying rise out of you.

Side: You're asking a lot of yourself, in terms of restraint, because you will feel that you have not taught the child a lesson and that you permitted yourself to be abused, but you will have modeled restraint, the very behavior you wish to teach here.

The Parking Ticket: On balance, the most effective option. Take away a privilege according to a scheme that you have already discussed with the child and walk away. He already knows, because you went over it in a calm moment, that if he speaks disrespectfully to you, for instance, then he will lose a specific privilege that matters to him: a weekend event, a TV show, or computer time. The penalty should take place as close to immediately as possible—within 24 hours—and be brief in duration (no TV tonight, rather than no TV for a week). It should be significant but not harsh; accept in advance that it won't fully satisfy your ticked-off desire to throw the book at him with a prodigious, long-lasting, delayed penalty ("You can't go out for the football team next fall! Happy now?"). When he commits the offense, you say, "You lose X because of the way you are talking to me," and then go to another room, without turning your departure into a dramatic event. The tone is relaxed, almost bureaucratic, not hot or cold fury. When you cue up a reasonable consequence in advance, you're much more likely to end up with one you can stick to. When you improvise a punishment in a towering rage, on the other hand, you often have to renounce it later—when you're calm enough to realize that, for instance, taking away the cell phone for six months just isn't practicable.

Immediate: This option de-escalates by not fostering continuation. Your behavior does not invite a response, and the preordained character of the consequence discourages argument.

Long term: Likely to decrease slightly the occurrence of future provocations and battles.

Side: Although you may still pine to administer a stiffer punishment that more fully meets the severity of the crime, you will feel you have provided a consequence and not tolerated the misbehavior. Bear in mind that a more severe punishment would almost certainly have side effects that would make it harder for you to help improve your child's! behavior. Also, you will have modeled a calm, controlled reaction rather than an impulsive, uncontrolled one.

None of these results offers a perfectly satisfactory response (because, in fact, there is none), but the Parking Ticket speaks most practically to the full range of a parent's mixed motives when provoked by a child's misbehavior.

And, of course, if you really want to change your child's behavior and not just endure it, you have to combine crisis-handling techniques with teaching better behavior to replace the problem behavior. Wait until a time when both you and your child are calm and then work with her on how to act when she is angry and in the mood to provoke you. You can decrease the likelihood, over both the short- and long term, that an undesirable behavior—such as flagrant disrespect—will occur. Try some of these.

1. Problem solving: When you're both in a good mood (out of the blue is fine), propose a problem to your child—"Let's say you're really mad at me"—and together identify a few possible ways he might respond. Three would be great. Discuss with your child in each case what the results of his response would be—that is, how you would respond to his response. A great deal of research supports the efficacy of talking with your child about problem situations and possible positive solutions. When you've discussed the possibilities in advance, the child is much more likely to use one of the solutions you've identified as positive.

2. Point out positive models: When you see (in public, on TV, wherever) good examples of children disagreeing with their parents, children expressing anger without losing it, or parents expressing disapproval, point it out. Label specifically what is happening and why it's good. "You see ! how mad that kid is at his dad, he's really frustrated and angry, but look what he's doing: He said X and Y, but he didn't yell or scream."

3. In a calm moment, have the child role-play being calm when she's angry—at you or anybody else: It helps to simulate the hot-button situations when everybody's cool. Wait until a quiet moment and then say, "Let's pretend you're mad at me, and let's practice how you can tell me you're mad in a calm, respectful way, so we can make it better." Since your child isn't really mad, she will not find it hard to play her role properly by saying she's angry at you in an appropriate way that doesn't set off a confrontation. When she does it right, offer lots of praise and maybe even a small treat or extra privilege (it can be nominal; for a smaller child, extending bedtime by 10 minutes, for instance) to reinforce this positive opposite of disrespectful provocation. This kind of practice will give your child a repertoire! of appropriate responses to which she can turn when she gets mad, in the same way that having a preordained routine and consequence ready to go (see the Parking Ticket) allows you to stay a little calmer and respond more reasonably when your child's behavior provokes you.

I've been thinking...

2009-01-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

I really want my kids to speak Spanish well. I have realized that my Spanish SUCKS. Most of the think I am struggling to figure out the words that I am supposed to say. So here is what I think I want to move to Costa Rica for at least 3 months. My grandmother has a house there which is close to the rest of my family. I am pretty sure that Jose will be able to work from there. I really think that it could work. We could sign the kids up to a really good private school there which cost a lot less then what it is here. We would close our house for those months and save that money because things over there are A LOT cheaper than here even what they think is expensive is not for people who have dollars. Plus we would be making the same amount of money we would live like the rich. But that is not the point the point is that we need to improve our Spanish. I would also want to do this before Monkey Doodle starts school. Which will be August of 2010. Since he losses a year because of his birth date. I don't mind taking a semester off for this, I could take a class online, some easy class that doesn't require me to go to the campus. So I don't know. Please let me know what you guys think. I could use some advice.

Anxious, Nervous, Excited and more,

2008-12-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am all of the above. Anxious about our trip to DC. Which we leave in 6 days. Nervous about the drive. I am not sure how we are going to manage 16 hrs with the kids, but I am prepared. I have bought things to keep the kids entertained, like coloring books, games that can be done in the car, and my mom is giving us dual portable DVD players as our Christmas present.I told our family that the kids do not need anything. Which is true they have WAY TO many toys and cloths, some which they have not worn yet. I am very excited about all the places we are going to visit in DC.

I got my grades from school today and I am very happy. I got a B in ENC 1101, which is great, considering that the class was very hard for me. The professor graded really tough. I got an A in my math which I knew; the lowest grade I got in the class was a 91%. I am very happy with how school is going. Last semester I got A's in both of my classes. Next semester I am taking ENC 1102 with the same professor I had in ENC 1101 and I am also taking another Math course. I am planning in getting A's again. I am hoping that when I finish my Associates that I can get a scholarship for my Bachelors. I can't believe that we do not qualify for financial aid. I have to get loans. Luckily Jose classes are paid by his job.

The kids are doing good. We are still having issues with Anthony and potty training for the most part is is fine. It just sometimes, I am not sure if he forgets or just does not want to go to the bathroom, so he pees or poops on himself. But he only does it when we are at home when we are out at someones house or at a store if ask to go to the bathroom. I guess eventually he will get the hang of it.

I have not been going to the gym consistently but I have noticed the changes. In my clothes especially. Most of them are looser then they used to be. Even in my picture I can tell the difference. I have not weighed myself because I don't want to yet. I know that I haven't lost that much weight but I do feel that my muscles are toner and I like it. I want to tone my mid area more and my arms. Maybe in about another month or so I will weigh myself.

I finished reading the Twilight saga. I was happy with the ending. I would like to see the movie but I know that I will be disappointed. The actors can never meet the images that I have made up in my head. Plus the book is usually always better than the movie.

I probably won't write again until next year.
I want to wish all of you all Happy Holidays and a Happy and safe New Year.

From the V Family

I have been sucked in......

2008-12-05T14:11:00.000-05:00

I am not a reader. The only books I really read are True crime books. I am not into fantasy books but about 3 weeks ago my sister in law gave me Twilight to read. She said that I would really like it. I was very skeptical. The book was around the house but I really was not interested. Jose LOVES to read and he does it every night before we go to bed. So last week Thursday we were in bed, while Jose was reading I said hey why not just give it a try. I had no idea what I was getting into. I read the book in 3 DAYS, yes 3 days. I could not put it down. I borrowed the 2 next ones from the series from my SIL. I read NEW MOON in ONE DAY, I am still surprised. Right now I am reading ECLIPSE which I started yesterday and I am more than half way through. I don't have the last one and neither does my SIL so I might have to buy it. I am actually getting sad that I am going to finish the series very soon and will have nothing as good to read.

There is a lot that I would like to write about but all I really want to do is read.

Thanksgiving was OK. My dad caught on fire with one of my candles and my oven broke as we were cooking the turkey. We ended up finishing the turkey on the grill. I was so glad that all our sides were already cooked and just had to be heated. In the end everything turned out fine. My dad is fine but I can't say the same about his shirt and the turkey was pretty good. So I can't complain. Luckily our family was not hungry because they both had gone to someone else's thanksgiving before coming to our house.

Well that is it, well not really I just really want to get back to my book. I am so happy that the kids take 3 hour naps at the same time.

Co op Share

2008-11-16T09:28:00.000-05:00

I was on the website from our co op. I am really excited for the things we are going to get this thursday. I could use most of it for thanksgiving dinner.
Green Beans (I plan on making Green bean casserole)
Cucumbers
Red Kale
Green Leaf Lettuce
Yukon Gold Potatoes(Gouda cheese mashed potatoes)
Sweet Potatoes (maybe a sweet potato pie)
Garlic (You can never have enough garlic)
Acorn Squash
Green Onions
White Mushrooms (could use for the green bean casserole)
Poultry Bouquet (no clue, but this is the main reason I love my co op I always get new things that I have never tried before.)
Cranberries (cranberry sauce)
Empire Apples (Apple Pie of course)
Persimmons (I have never had these but I have heard of them on a show with Gweneth Paltrow and a chef that were in Spain on the PBS channel.)
Navel Oranges ( these are going to keep Jose out of the kitchen)
And for the extra fruit share that I do we are getting Pineapples, mangos and kiwis. The last pineapples we got were DELICIOUS. They were so perfect we ate the 2 we got in one day.
I wonder if the mashed potatoes will be different since I am using Yukon potatoes instead of Idaho potatoes.Oh well, it will have to work. I have to figure what to do with the Acorn squash. I found this recipe but I am not sure how Jose will react. He might not eat it.
We are having about 15 people at the house for Thanksgiving, and Jose's sister and I are doing all the cooking. Things are coming together just right let hope things stay this way.

Hitting the Gym

2008-11-11T15:08:00.000-05:00

So I finally went to the gym. It has been two weeks since I started going. I feel really great. My attitude is better and my energy level is better too. I had a couple of sessions with a personal trainer that were pretty intense. Today I tried spinning and HOLY CRAP was that hard, I was only able to do 30 minutes. They do have kid care but Anthony doesn't want anything to do with it. He went crazy last Friday when I was dropping him off so Jose is going into work late so that I can go to the gym in the morning, which is really great.

Sometimes I wonder if staying home is the right thing to do. I mean what am I supposed to do when he starts going to school and throws a fit. The kid care has fun things to do they also watch all his favorite movies. We have been having a lot of trouble with Anthony lately. I know that we want our kids to be perfect but I have realized yesterday that kids have to be kids. Eventually things will get better but not easier because as they get older things just get a little more complicated with our children.

Fall is here....

2008-10-28T22:02:00.000-04:00

I have been so happy for the last two days because the weather has been AWESOME. Most of you might know we live in South Florida. We have crappy weather and crappy people too. People here are the biggest asshole but you know what I have to say that it must be the weather. Hot and sticky just does not make people happy. People here are nicer this time of year and that must be the reason why. Anyway yesterday it was in the low 80's and today it was in the low 70's all day and this whole week it supposed to be the same. The kids and I have decided to do everything outside. Like play and eat outside for most of the day; except for naps. We have to take advantage of days like these. We used chalk and decorated our side walk for Halloween and took lots of picture of Anthony and Gaby wearing their long sleeve matching shirts. Even though it was not cold out but I wanted some fall pictures of them. I am a very happy camper so much that tomorrow morning I am going to go running with my neighbors dogs. Like I used to before the weather gets crappy again.

Co op

2008-10-24T09:33:00.000-04:00

So I had mentioned a couple of months ago that I joined a co op. Well since then I have actually been hosting the group in my house every two weeks. The guy that was doing it before decided he did not want to do it anymore so I volunteered. It is not that bad the truck drops off the vegetables and fruit at my house. A helper and I separate it into 30 totes, 2 totes per member. I don't mind doing it. Hey I get my share for free and whatever is left over which is usually greens like lettuce and kale. I like being in this co op. We get a lot of yummy things. For example yesterday we received egg Plant, Onions, cucumbers, zucchinis, juiced carrots, Rainbow chard (which I have no idea what to do with), Green Leaf Lettuce, Garlic, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Yellow Onions, Bananas, Red Delicious Apples, Green Grapes,and Oranges. I also do an extra share of fruit because of the monkeys they eat a lot of fruit, even though for that I do have to pay, I don't mind. It is a lot less than I would have to pay at the supermarket. Anyway yesterday I also got my fruit share and it is A LOT really we got 24 pomegranates, 6lbs of strawberries, and 3lbs of raspberries which now it is probably only about 1lb left, thanks to Gaby. I just hope that the kids can eat them fast enough before they go bad.

Potty Training

2008-10-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

Since we got back from Orlando. I have stopped putting Pull Ups on Anthony during the day. I am surprised that it has actually worked. He has been going to the bathroom all by himself. He even wakes up from his nap with a dry diaper. Well he has had a couple of accidents but as soon as it is happening he runs to the bathroom. I am hoping that he will be done with Pull Ups by the time we go to DC in December. I think it will actually happen. This morning when he came to our room he had already taken off his night diaper and had put on his underwear. So we definitely have progress. Gaby actually is following the lead I have not sat her on the potty but she points and wants to sit and do the same thing. So maybe be by this time next year both of them will be completely out of diapers. Which would be great, we would definitely save some money there.

Gaby is 17 months old now. She is a VERY feisty little girl. She makes these faces that makes her look evil. She is passive aggressive. She'll hit you or throw a toy at you and then kiss you. Her daddy is crazy about her. She is definitely a daddy little girl. She hates time outs and gives you the evil look as she is walking to the corner, and it makes me laugh every single time. I have to make sure she doesn't she me laughing because then she won't go to time out.

Anthony and her get along most of the time. Which I love, they make up games, well actually Monkey Doodle makes them up and Gaby just follows him around. She eats like there is no tomorrow. Really! She eats ALL DAY LONG! I am so glad that she is active little girl because if she wasn't she would just be a big butter ball. She says many words and will only say them on her terms. Here is a video of my monkeys playing on the scooter together.

Baking

2008-10-06T15:51:00.000-04:00

I have not baked in a long time because I thought that my oven was broken. So yesterday I decided to try to turn it on and it did. So I asked Monkey if he would like to have some cupcakes and of course he did. So we went to the store Monkey picked out some Halloween sprinkles and vanilla frosting. Anthony and I baked Chocolate Chocolate chip cupcakes. He helped me, I would measure the ingredients and he poured them in the mixer. He had a blast.As you can see.

I am so excited about Halloween we have Gaby's costume but not Monkey's yet. The other day we went to the store and they had costumes and he picked Handy Manny from the Disney channel. I will ask him again if says he want that one I am going to make it because I don't want to over pay for a costume he will only wear once and plus how hard can it be to make a handy man costume. I am so excited that I even got Moha a outfit.

Monkey Doodle turns 3

2008-09-23T09:04:00.000-04:00

I am so happy today my first born turns 3 years old. He has changed so much, he can have conversations with you, tell you what he does and does not want to do. Potty training we are having trouble with again. He was doing so well but as long as he does not start Kindergarten with diapers I think we will be OK.lol!

Happy 3rd Birthday Monkey Doodle! I love you!

NO QUIERO (Don't want...)

2008-09-05T13:59:00.001-04:00

That all I hear most of my day from Monkey Doodle.

No quiero bano. (bath)
No quiero comer (eat)
No quiero domir. (sleep)
No quiero parque. (park)

I can not believe that my monkey is going to be 3 years old in 18 days. We have decided to not have a party because that weekend after his birthday is my 5k run in Orlando so we decided to celebrate his birthday there. I have mentioned it to monkey but I still don't think he understands,even thought he still remembers parts of our trip when we went to Disney in December. We have planned a Character breakfast in Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is very kid friendly plus what kid does not like animals.

I am really excited about my 5k run. It is going to be in Disney Animal Kingdom it is called Expedition Everest Challenge. We will have an obstacle course where we will be climbing, crawling and other things we have to do like answering questions to continue our run. It is definitely not your usual run, not only that but it is at night.

Sad Day

2008-07-25T10:34:00.000-04:00

I just found out that Randy Pausch, the professor from Carnegie Mellon University, has died. He is the professor that wrote the book "The Last Lecture". I am sad because I think of his kids, two of them are the ages of my kids. I can't imagine not being there for my kids as they are growing up. How do you explain to a one year old and a two year old that their parent is no longer around. I don't even want to think about it because I just get teary eyed. My sympathy goes out to the Pausch Family.

I'm still trying new foods w/o meat.

2008-07-20T13:40:00.000-04:00

I have been trying new recipes and even tofu. Which I don't mind the other night I made pasta with Italian sausage that was made out of tofu and it was really good. Jose even had some and liked it only after he ate it, I told him that it was tofu. He says he felt betrayed but it IS the only way that I can get him to eat new things. The kids are still eating meat and chicken, when they are older they can decide for themselves if they want to still eat it. The organic produce group is going great I LOVE IT. This week we got strawberries and they were scratch that they are delicious, we still have some left. I also like it because I get vegetable that I have never tried before like kale. I found this recipe on the groups website and it was awesome. We got alfalfa sprouts and I have no clue what to do with them so it anyone has any idea please let me know. Today for lunch we had Zucchini Quesadillas I like it a lot I changed it up a bit. I did not have corn, I put mushrooms, that I got from my group which are devine, and I added a little Braggs Liquid Aminos

No Style

2008-07-14T08:21:00.000-04:00

I do appreciate when Jose helps in the morning with the kids but this is why I dress the kids and not him.

She is even upset. He thinks it matches because they have the same colors.

Gone Vegan

2008-07-10T12:40:00.000-04:00

We have decided to go vegan for 30 days. We have been doing it for almost two weeks. It has not been too bad. I made vegan chili, pasta, and a black bean soup with tortillas. I found this two blogs Kitchen Parade and A Veggie Venture. I have gotten a lot of ideas and they all sound very yummy. The only problem I have is Jose, he has said that he misses eating chicken. I will not quit I want to change up what we eat.
I have also started to buy organic veggies and fruits. I found this really cool website with Green Buisness. On there I found a site where they have groups all around Dade and Broward county where you pick up two totes of veggies, fruits and greens that are from local farmers and are organic. They are called Organic Produce Buying Club of South Florida . The best thing is that the group I get my produce is just two roads down, it is actually closer then the supermarket.
I have been pretty busy also, I have a class Monday-Thursday from 10am-11:50am, then a 6pm the kids have swimming classes and then I have to do homework and or study. I don't know how I am getting through but I can not wait til I am done with school. I have stopped walking/running in the morning because I am just too tired to get up and I still doing the 3 mile run in September so I have to start training again.

Grossed Out

2008-05-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

I can not believe what I just saw. I am studying and I hear our cat "Moha" opening the bathroom door and I figure he just trying to drink water out of the toilet, as usual, but then I hear water and I go to look. For a second I thought he was peeing in the toilet but he is actually peeing in the SINK. That is so gross, I could kill him if we had not paid tons of money to keep him alive. The worst thing is that he did not even move when I walked in he was like "Hey, some privacy please?" I am wondering how long he has been doing this, luckily I clean that bathroom often because it the one all our guest use since it downstairs, but I am so grossed out right now. I should have taken a picture.

Tired as Hell

2008-05-21T22:29:00.000-04:00

I do not know how I do it, but I have been in school for a week, and managed to stay alive. Monday we got back from our AWESOME cruise. I recommend Carnival Cruise line, we had so much fun and actually relaxed. Monday night I had my first test on 4 yes 4 chapters, and I got 100%. I was so happy, today I had a presentation and I got a 96%. I am feeling pretty darn good about myself. I have been able to manage everything I usually do and study. I am a little worried about when I have to take more than one class at a time, one class takes a lot of time and since I would like to get a scholarship, I MUST have good grades. I will not accept anything lower than a B.
So back to our cruise, did I mention that it was AWESOME. We left Friday afternoon got on the ship at around 12:30a.m. We enjoyed lunch and a drink on the deck.

After that we walked around to familiarize ourselves with the ship. We got a stateroom with an ocean view and that was very nice, I just realized we did not take a picture of it. Oh well! So that night we had a great dinner and we were sat with two couple from Venezuela, which was great because we had a lot in common we actually became friends. We laughed a lot with them and our Maitre'd (I think that's how you spell it). They really want you have a good time, everyone treats you like your royalty. I was just happy that I did not have to cook, clean, or hear crying babies, except for Jose when he got sick Saturday night. Our cruise went to the Bahamas for a full day on Saturday we were I think the first to get off the ship it was like 8 am but we wanted to enjoy our time on the beach and we did we had it all to ourselves most of the morning.

That night was the Captains dinner thats when everyone dresses really nice, and they honor the Captain, they even had a cocktail hour but we missed it we did not know that they were having one, but that ok I still got to eat lobster for dinner and it was delicious. I have to say this has been one of the best or even maybe the best trip Jose and I have done. Can't wait till I get to go on another cruise maybe even for a longer time.

Lot's to talk about........

2008-05-14T22:21:00.000-04:00

Well since the last time I wrote many different things have happened. I have been extremely busy, with finishing the kids bedroom, planning Gaby's first birthday, going to tons of birthday parties, and a Major one I started school.
So finished the kids room a long time ago it's just I have not had time to write about it, or post pictures of the finished product. Anthony loves his room, he plays there all day but we have to watch out for him because the other day I thought he was taking a nap and it turns out that he was painting the RUG, yeah I almost had an anxiety attack, so I called Jose and told him he had to come home or not I would kill our precious little Angel. Our rug is ruined but we are going to change it out sometime in the future to hardwood floors, so it does not bother me as much anymore. That's that.
Gaby turned 1 this past Saturday. We had princess party, not Disney Princesses, it turned out really well we had almost 60 people. She got tons and tons of cloths and it all very cute, also many toys which all make lots of noise.YEAH!!
So now about me I have started to train for a 3 mile run that I am going to do in September with my sister in law. I am out shape so running 3 miles for me is a lot. Every morning at 6:30 am I borrow my neighbors dog, Spooky, and we speed walk and run 2 miles. It started out just walking but I been running a little more every week. I am really excited about the run we are going to get matching outfits with our last names on the back. I sister in law is very athletic she does triathlons, maybe someday I'll do one with her. What else this week I started school I am taking 2 class but since summer term has 3 different sessions I am taking one now and it finishes in 6 weeks and the other starts June 24. They are both only six weeks, so they are very condensed for the class I am taking now we have a test every week, I have a oral presentation next week Wednesday already. It's going to be tough because this weekend Jose and I are going on a Cruise to the Bahamas. Which means I am going to have to study and work on my presentation while sunning by the pool, but I am ok with that. I am just happy that Jose and I can get away for the weekend by ourselves.
I also got a new laptop today thats all mine so I don't have to share with Jose anymore. That's why this post will not have pictures, all the picture are on the OLD laptop. I have to go, I need to get some studying done tonight.

2008-03-06T10:12:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a long time since I last wrote. A lot has happened last week we had a bad week I had a miscarriage, I wasn't even aware that I was pregnant. Even though we do not want any more kids, I was sad that it happened. Me and birth control just don't get along. I got pregnant with Monkey Doodle on the depo shot, and now I had an IUD and I still got pregnant, only 6 months after putting it on. When I got the IUD they told me that when I started my period that it be long and painful, but when my menstrual was going on it 15th day and very very painful cramps, I knew that something wasn't right. I researched for miscarriages online and I knew that that's what was happening to me. The next day I went to that doctor with Jose and it was confirmed, my doctor was very worried that I might have a Ectopic pregnancy so that same day I had the IUD removed and had a sonogram done. Luckily it was not ectopic, then Friday I had a d and c done. Friday was hard for me I was very emotional but I felt a lot better on Saturday, back to my normal self. It was really hard for me to not do anything on Friday I am just not the person to lay on the couch all day. Well that was that.
To keep my mind off what happened I decided to finally decorate the kids room. It is not completely done but I don't have much left. I painted green and red. Yeah I know strange colors but I am very happy on how it turned out.

I have to say I love IKEA. We finally got one in south Florida, it is my new favorite store. I still have some wall storage I have to get, I went yesterday to IKEA and the did not have it. I bought these giant leaves also that I want to put by the bookshelves, and dresser that they also ran out of. Hopefully by this weekend the room will be completely done. Anthony likes it a lot, every time he walks in he says "wow, mommy pintar" (wow, mom painted). I am very happy with it and can not wait till it is done, and move on to the next thing which is their bathroom. I be posting pictures of it soon.

3 hours

2008-02-05T14:11:00.000-05:00

I have never spent this much time at the playground but I really wanted Monkey Doodle to get tired. I made it through,the kids are asleep, at the same time now thats a miracle. I do not know what to do, I want to take a nap but I feel like if I do one of the kids will wake up.
This morning I woke up made lunch for the three of us and went to the park. We got there a little before 11 am and left at 2 pm. They both fell asleep on the way back home. I think I am going to do this more often.
Last month I found a booklet for different activities for every single day and most are them are free which is great. It is the best thing ever they have crafts and story time in different areas, movies at the park, they even tell you when restaurants have family day, so that you can go with the kids and they have someone entertain the kids while you eat. I try to do at least two activities a week just to get out of the house and it has been working pretty well. Anthony has a lot of energy and I have to find ways to have him let it out and this booklet has helped me so much.

8 months old

2008-01-19T10:09:00.000-05:00

Well Gaby is 8 months old. She is crawling and standing up now, she has two teeth that came out about a week ago. She is eating solids, she loves strawberries, well any fruit or food that you put in front of her. I actually think she eats more than Monkey Doodle did at her age. She follows us every where we go and she gets really excited when Monkey Doodle comes in the room, he makes her laugh, he does silly things like jump and pretends that he falls a hurts himself, and she cracks up. Its funny to see her look up to him, I hope that they can always get along but I know that this will not always be, so I will just enjoy it for now until it ends. The other day we put them both in the play pen and they were doing so well, Monkey Doodle actually wanted to sleep in there with Gaby and this morning we did the same thing and he was playing peek a boo with her. It was so adorable. On Fridays we go to the library for story time and a play time, one Friday during playtime Gaby was playing with a toy and another kid came a took it, Anthony got mad he went to the kid and told him that was Gaby's toy and took the toy back and gave it to Gaby. I thought that was so sweet. I love my babies.

We're Back

2007-12-29T09:23:00.001-05:00

So last year we decided to go away for the holidays, and thats what we did for Christmas this year we went away to Orlando. We left Sunday at 5 in the morning which was good the kids slept the entire way there. We did not have to stop, we made it to Orlando in less then 3 hours.

This is Anthony's face when we were getting to Disney World he was looking at the entrance which is a big arch were they have a Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck.
We went to Epcot that day, it was Ok, not a park to take kids, I should have known since I have been there but Jose wanted to go there rather than Animal Kingdom. Anthony did get to meet ALL the characters Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy and he loved it. It was hilarious to see him in the line to meet them and take pictures, he was like an obsessed fan, crying and screaming for Mickey and holding on to the pole while I was pulling him away to continue in the line. Then when we finally got to Mickey he was in total shock he was just staring at him in disbelief. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen.

Christmas Eve we spent it at Magic Kingdom and it was amazing the weather was perfect the decorations looked beautiful. We saw the Christmas Parade and the Night Christmas show which both were very pretty and Anthony enjoyed it very much. Every time he saw a Disney character his eyes would light up.

We did not go on any rides because the lines were just to long and Anthony would not appreciate them any way, but Anthony did play in two playgrounds, one by Mickey Mouse's House and the other was Pooh's house which in both he had a blast. The park was actually going to be open till 1 am but we were just to tired and left at about 8 pm.

We had Christmas dinner at a Denny's close to the Hotel, and that was a mess it took forever, they were short staffed.
Anyway Christmas Day we spent it a Sea World and that was a lot of fun. I had made reservations to have lunch Backstage of the Believe show which is the one with Shamu the Killer whale. That was pretty cool the tank is right next to you and you could see the whale. I wanted to do something nice for Christmas for all of us to enjoy. After that we got to see the Shamu show from reserve sitting, seats weren't to bad.

They had a giant playground we kids could play and a place were kids could play in the water. Which of course Anthony played in for a every long time, we left that park at about 6pm. On Wednesday we did not do much we spent the day at Downtown Disney and did some shopping, and then hung out at the hotel at night and watched Ratatouille the newest movie to our collection. On Thursday we decided to go to Kennedy Space Center. It was manly for Jose he waned to got there and look around and they had a simulated launch which Jose went on I did not go I stayed behind with the kids that were sleeping. After we did that we came home and that was the end of our holiday vacation. Now back to reality I am NOT looking forward to New Years we are already being torn between the two families. AHHH! I just wish we would move away so that I wouldn't have to deal with this ridiculous issues about who spends what time with who.

Happy Holidays!!

2007-12-14T09:08:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious.

My days are NEVER boring.

2007-12-12T08:48:00.000-05:00

Where do I begin today when I was making breakfast, I noticed that both of the kids where very quiet but I did think much of it. When I got to the living room it was a whole different story. Anthony had gotten to the corn starch. It was pretty much every where, the floor, the sofa, Gaby and even the cat, but I couldn't get a picture of him.

That's Gaby trying to reach the corn starch to eat it.

On Monday Anthony took half of the Christmas balls out of the tree and put them in Gaby's play pen with her in it. She was having a blast with the Christmas balls. When I was taking them out to put them back on the tree she started crying hysterically, all because I would let her eat them. She had glitter everywhere on her face.

This is her crying with glitter all over her face.

It's been a while

2007-11-19T11:32:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Gaby turned 6 months old, Anthony is driving me crazy most of the day and me and my mother don't talk at all, anyway. Gaby is doing great she is moving around, she kind of crawls, its more of scooting around similar to what Anthony used to do. She is smiling a lot and I love when I tickle her, her laugh is the best thing ever. Anthony has a new obsession its Mickey Mouse. Which is good because we are going to Disney World for Christmas.

Anyway Halloween was ok it rained here so I got stuck with a bunch of candy, but we did take the kids Trick or Treating at the Mall and to the neighbors that wanted to see their costumes. Gaby was Princess Leia and Anthony was Darth Vader, they looked great.

Anthony loves music and any time he sees dad listening to the IPOD he wants to listen to it. I have to find a music class of any kind and see if he'll like it.

He has been pretty good, he is talking a lot. Puts words together to make sentences, but I think I am the only one that can understand most of the time. I can't believe all the things he says and does, he is growing up so fast. I am so glad that I can stay home with both of my kids and enjoy every moment with them, even thought it is not great all the time. The good days make it all worth it.

We're Back!

2007-10-24T11:28:00.000-04:00

Yes we are back, Home Sweet Home. The trip did not start how we expected it but hey at least we survived 5 day out of the country with the kids. To start off, on Thursday we woke up late, then when we went to the Airport the Airline (Spirit) made us pay for Anthony, even though I called back in April when we bought our tickets and asked if he had to pay full price or just taxes, the retard on the other line said No, both of the kids just have to pay for taxes. What sucks the most is that we paid more for Anthony's ticket then Jose's and mine combined. Then when we got to Costa Rica it just got worst the Airline LOST the kids luggage, everything we had for them was gone. I mean everything the outfits for the wedding, shoes, pj's, everything, I had to buy them new cloths, because there are no little kids in the family except for my kids. Then when we get there it turned out that we had to stay at my grandmothers house because my cousin apartment had issues with the hot water and that was another thing I did not want to do because my grandmother has major issues, I would write about it but I could spend ALL day on it. Then every time I would ask how to get to the bus, to go outside the city, to the beach or a volcano, my mother especially, wanted to freak us out and tell us that we would get mugged or stabbed which is not true. She just wanted to mess with our plans, I don't know why maybe she was mad or jealous of the cool things that we wanted to do. Anyway besides ALL that we had a pretty good time, Friday we did a coffee tour, Saturday we went to the wedding. After the wedding Jose and his sister and her boyfriend went to the Pacific Ocean. I stayed back because it was a 3 hour bus ride and I did not want to do that with the kids to stay at the beach for a couple of hours and then come back. I stayed back and talk to a friend of mine that actually moved to Costa Rica 3 years ago and we got together and spoke for hours she met the kids and spent the night with us. The next day the 4 and my friend went to the capital walked around and bought some souvenirs,while Jose sister and her boyfriend went to a Volcano. Then on Monday we went to a National Park and did the Canopy thing and a Sky Bucket which was pretty cool and walked around the park. When we got back from that The Airline called my aunt told her that the bag was found and that we could pick it up, but it was to late then since we were leaving Tuesday anyway. We just asked for our bag when we were at the ticket counter. It turned out that the bag was at Fort Lauderdale airport for 2 days and then it was sent to the Dominican Republic and then to Costa Rica. So I am going to call our friend who is an attorney and have her write a letter about the whole ordeal and see if maybe we get get some our money back. I will NEVER fly with Spirit Airlines ever again.

The Family on the Sky Bucket.

The view from the Sky Bucket.

Eating after our Coffee Tour.

That's me, I was very scared.

Jose on the canopy.

The main reason we went to Costa Rica, my cousin's Wedding. It was beautiful.

The wedding was at a Amusement park, on a part of the park call Pueblo Antiguo, meaning Old Town. It supposed to be how Costa Rica used to look like back in the day. It had everything there a little Market which is were the reception was held and they had a City Hall i mean everything you would find in a town they had it there even a train.

The things that come out of my 2 year old's mouth

2007-10-16T19:27:00.000-04:00

We are sitting down on the sofa watching The Dailey Show with Jon Stewart, and Jose says "Gaby just took a really big crap." Anthony says "Holy Crap", then we are quiet again and I mentioned to Jose that Jennifer Lopez is pregnant Anthony answer "REALLY?". I love my monkey doodle, he makes me laugh all the time, sometimes I can not believe the things that come out of his mouth.

Every Busy

2007-10-15T18:19:00.000-04:00

This weekend was non-stop. Saturday I had a Baby Shower at 9:30 am, then at 2pm we had a kid's birthday party in Jupiter which is about 1 hour away, then a 7pm we had Jose's Party for his 10 year High School reunion, which was a Black Tie affair, but luckily the party was close to my moms house, so we got ready there and left the kids there. On Sunday we had the 10 year High School reunion picnic, which was also my moms birthday. I also had to do all the laundry because we are leaving on Thursday to go to Costa Rica which I am really excited about, since this time we are ALL going, including Jose's sister and her boyfriend. The main reason we are going is because my cousin is getting married on Saturday. I have to pick up the house before we leave because I hate to come back from vacation to a messy house. do have all the outfits for the kids and mine but now I have to actually put it in the luggage. All I really want to do is sleep, I am so exhausted.

Lucky 5

2007-10-11T08:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Gaby turned 5 months old and it was also our 5 year anniversary. If you would have told me 5 years ago that this would be my life I would have laughed, especially the part were we have 2 kids. To tell you the truth we weren't planning on having kids for a long time, but I am not complaining, I am very happy with my life. Anyway we did not exchange gifts since next week we are going to Costa Rica I rather use that money and spend it over there, but we did go out to to dinner. "A" took the kids so that Jose and I could enjoy a nice dinner at The Melting Pot it a fondue restaurant. I have to say I give this restaurant two thumbs up. It was delicious, we started with a cheese fondue, I also had Yin and Yang drink, actually 2, which was delicious, we had caesar salads, then for our main course we had Mojo Style cooking, we chose Fondue fusion which had lobster, steak, chicken, pork, ravioli, rigatoni, and fresh veggies. It was delicious and you can not forget dessert. By the time dessert came I was stuffed, really really stuffed, but we continued to eat, we chose Chocolate S'mores OH MY GOD is all I have to say, it was so good, no GREAT, for dippers we got marshmallows covered with graham cracker and some with Oreo cookies, there was also strawberries, brownies, rice crispes, pound cake, and a delicious cheesecake. The restaurant is a little pricey but it was so worth it. So if you guys have one near you should definitely try it out.

P.S. I LOVE YOU BABE THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR!

Healthy Kids

2007-10-05T17:05:00.000-04:00

This was at Chuck E Cheese the other day with his little cousin.

This is Gaby being cute like always.

Today I took both of our children to the Dr. for wells check up Anthony is 32 1/2 lb I think he is 35 inches tall, the Dr said he looks great and to continue to do whatever it is that I am doing. Gaby is 15lbs and measures 25 inches, she is also doing very well for her age. I asked the Dr about giving her cereal, food and etc, because my mother keeps nagging me to give her food now, but the Dr said that only if I feel it is necessary, which I don't think it is, she is the the high percentile for her age and she is not complaining so I will not start food until she is 6 months, or starts eating more often.

AAHHHH!

2007-10-04T19:51:00.000-04:00

I swear I have memorized the movie Cars, I know every line, and every song in the freaking movie, thanks to my 2 year old. It all started yesterday, when he saw a commercial with Lightning McQueen, I do not have the movie here its actually at my mothers house and to top it off Jose took my car which has Monkey doodles car seat in it. I tried to entertain him with some other shows I tried Mickey Mouse, Barney, and Pooh nothing worked he kept bring the remote control to me and "Carro (car in spanish) rvmm rvmm!" He was not buying it, I knew he liked cars but I did not know that it was this much. So I called my lifesaver, my friend and neighbor, to ask if she would go buy one for him, and it turned out that she had one but it was in her husband truck but the good thing is that he works down the street. I thought it was pretty funny that they have that movie since they have no kids. anyway...... I SWEAR I have seen it 5 times TODAY and I have been out of the house most of the day. 'sigh' Every time the movie finishes Anthony ask to replay it. I have that song from Rascal Flatts "Life is a Highway" stuck in my head.

Don't get me wrong like this group but when you hear the same song ALL DAY LONG it is bound to make you crazy. Enjoy!!

Yes it is over.....

2007-09-23T20:21:00.000-04:00

So we survived this weekend I have to say that I am very proud of the party, and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEY DOODLE !! I really have to thank my friend and neighbor "A" for helping me out, and my sister for picking up Anthony and taking him so that I could finish the last minute things for the party.
I wasn't sure about the weather because it rained all week long. We woke up at 6 am to get things started and set up. When we got to the club house the weather was muggy but I was optimistic and after an hour or two it was nice but right before the guest were supposed to be showing up we looked across the lake it was coming right toward us, a bad thunder storm. I thought that the party would be over people might think it was not going to happen, it was a POOL party, you can not have a pool party if it is raining, but after 30 minutes of bad rain and wind it was all over and the weather was perfect, really the day was great, it was the perfect day for the BBQ and to be at the pool.

Anthony enjoyed every minute of it. We had about 55 people almost everyone that RSVP were there.

We even had a party crasher.

We took lots of pictures but we uploaded them to the laptop and it is acting up so I will but them on when we figure it out.
I started to write this post on Sunday, I think I should finish it. So I just have to say that I was very happy with how everything turned out, I can't believe that we have a 2 year old, it feels like just yesterday that he was this little bitty thing and now he can do most thing on his own.

9 days

2007-09-14T09:15:00.000-04:00

That is it 9 more days till my Doodle turns 2 years old. Man, I getting old. ANYWAY.....Well pretty much everything is done for his party the only things missing is drinks and food, which can be done the day of or before. The cake has been ordered, its all Cars theme, which he loves. I am amazed on how many people we invited over 80 people, which more than 40% is just family, the rest are friends that we can not invite or we would not stop hearing it. I have sent out 42 invitations, thats insane. It is like I was inviting people for a wedding. I don't think I had this many people invited to our wedding. Monkey Doodle is doing so well, you can tell that he is about to be in the terrible 2 stage, it has already started, and can you believe that he talks back. He amazes me everyday. I have a dilemma Our guest are asking what to get Anthony, and to tell you the truth I don't know what to tell them. He has plenty of toys , really and I just recently went to Macy's and went crazy because they had a great sell on clothes, so he doesn't need clothes. Is it bad to tell them to give them a gift card or certificate or money since he does have a savings account. What would you do? please comment.

Almost 2

2007-08-30T09:09:00.000-04:00

23days and counting down till Monkey Doodle turns 2. I can't believe it, time is just going so fast. I am so excited about his party we are having it at a clubhouse that has a pool and a playground. I figured we do it there were everyone can enjoy themselves. My mom wanted to do it at chuck e cheese but we have a lot of friends that don't have kids, so this is much better plus it was free, you can't get any better than that. I had his invitations made on Shutterfly, with a picture of him in the front. They'll come in next week hopefully by sept 9th. He is talking a lot and repeats every thing we say. He is starting to put words together to make small sentences in Spanish, in English he knows words but since I speak to him in Spanish he communicates better in it, and so does everyone else, and even my neighbor who does not speak Spanish is learning Spanish with him, I think thats really neat.

Now about Gaby....she is sooooooooooo cute. She is cooing more and giggles if you tickle her. She pushes her body up with her arms, and also turns around so maybe soon she'll start crawling. She is 3 1/2 months old and loves to sleep on our bed. She sleeps through the night but in the mornings when I feed her, I'll sometimes feed her in our bed and she'll sleep for about another 5 hours, waking up at about 11:30 am. She also starting to hold toys in her hand and recognizes our faces and gives us this great big smiles, that I just love.

Multi-tasking

2007-08-22T14:33:00.000-04:00

This is probably the weirdest thing I have ever done since Gaby was born. Anthony had to go potty, and as he was sitting there Gaby woke up hungry, so she was crying at the top of her lungs. So I told Anthony to stay put on the toilet, and I picked up Gaby went back to the bathroom and breast fed her while sitting on the bathroom sink. The sucky part was that I was there for 15 minutes and Anthony did not do anything.

Minty Fresh

2007-08-12T11:21:00.000-04:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I have blogged but it just crazy here at home with the kids. Last Saturday we decided to get out of the house, and we ended up in Key Largo. We did a lot first we went to Jose's friends house to have a Graduation lunch and then we drove to Miami to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, its a very beautiful. Anyway when we got to Key Largo we stopped at a gas station to wait for Jose's sister, that was diving there, to go to dinner. I smelled mint gum and I thought it was Jose chewing gum. I noticed that Anthony was playing with paper with I wondered were it came from and when I turned around I saw that he had gotten to my small purse. He had eaten all but two pieces of trident gum. We couldn't do anything about it so we let nature take its course. The next day Anthony pooped minty fresh smelling poop. I didn't know that that could happen, Jose and I were laughing every time that we had to change his diaper.

I had a lot of blogging ideas but this week I found a new hobby,scrap booking. Jose sister and I have started our own group, every Tuesday and Thursday. I have been doing pretty well but my problem is that I never printed any of the pictures that we have taken of Anthony and Gaby. So I decided to join Shutterfly, which is great because I don't have to leave the house, not that I don't like to leave, its that with two small children I prefer to stay home. So I uploaded all the pictures I liked and I am going to have to print them a little at a time because I have over 200 pictures. It took me almost a whole day to go through all the folders with pictures that we have. I am really excited to finally be doing this. I also need pictures for my frames in which I have pictures of the cats but not of my kids, thats pretty sad, I have professional pictures of Anthony, Gaby and of Jose Graduation that have no frames. Thats another project that I have to work on too.

Just for fun

2007-07-26T10:22:00.001-04:00

This is Jamie our neighbors dog.

Potty

2007-07-23T19:17:00.000-04:00

I am so proud of Monkey he used the potty today for the first time. YEAH!!

My Monkey Doodle

2007-07-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

Monkey Doodle is getting so big so fast. In a little over two months he will be two years old. I can't believe it, time goes to fast. He is a lot of work but I have been able to manage. Last week I took him to the water park and he loved it he did not want to leave. When we finally left, after 5 hours at the pool, he was whipped out when we got home he fell asleep while eating dinner. I have never seen him do that he always eats his dinner. He is repeating everything we say. He says "Oh My God" all the time. He now knows the difference between a cat and a dog, but all other animals are also cat and dogs. If you ask him to make the animal noise he does it, he knows monkey well and even does the hand movement it's really cute. He knows his own name and can point at a person and tell you who they are mama, papa, tia (aunt), tio (uncle), he calls my mom and dad tita and tito, he know tu (you) and yo (I). He speaks mostly Spanish, but he does understand English.
He loves his little sister last week she got shots so she had bandage on her leg and he would point at it and say "Gaby Ouch" and kiss it, that has to be the sweetest thing ever. I am so glad that he is not the jealous type. Going out the three of us has been getting easier every time last Friday Jose wanted us to have lunch with him and his co workers and I was out in about 20 minutes, not bad since the first time it took me about an hour. Anyway on Saturday my mom picked up Anthony to take him to Lion Country Safari before they went to the park my mom took him to breakfast, just so you know before they left I gave Monkey a fruit cup so that it would hold him up till the ate at IHOP, so my mom calls me 10 minutes later and tells me Monkey is crying because they had to wait to be seated and he was signing food to her, obviously he was hungry. People must think that I starve the kid or something every where we go he ask for food even if he just ate. So they finally get seated and Monkey starts pretending to eat the food off the menu, and every time the waitress passed by with food he would sign to her food and start to cry. I thought it was hilarious that he did that and my mom was mortified. He did a similar thing to me last week when we went to the Auto Repair shop the receptionist had baby carrots in a zip lock bag and he took my sisters hand and took her to the carrots, pointed at them and then started to sign. The lady then gave him one and I almost died of embarrassment, and to top it off on our way out she gave him 3 more for the ride. The kid eats all day long, thats why I have to have fruits between each meal. He is so good about eating, he will eat almost anything, except for plantains, for some reason he won't eat those.
So that is my Monkey Doodle I am so proud of everything he has learned, I hope that that I am doing the right thing.

Unemployed

2007-07-12T08:38:00.000-04:00

So today is my first day of being unemployed. Yesterday I resigned, so my official job now is a stay at home mom. I feel really good about this, there is nothing more I would want to do. I am very happy that my supervisor was very understanding and she told me that I can always go back, but I don't think that I will be going back to the banking business, I will finish my Political Science degree and maybe even go to Law School. I start school in the spring and I know that it will be hard especially since Jose will also be going back for his Masters, in the spring too. The good thing is that Jose will do it online and one class at a time. I won't be going full time either but I will be taking at least two classes a semester. Well I have to go because my sister and my cousin, that is visiting from Costa Rica, will be coming over to go to the Water Park. Maybe I can get some new pictures to post.

Two Months Old

2007-07-10T16:35:00.000-04:00

Gaby is 2 months old today and she had her Doctors appointment. I hate when they have to get shots, it just breaks my heart when I see the tears fall. Anyway.... the Dr. said that she is doing great. She is weighing 11lbs 6oz which is almost double her weight when she was born. She is smiling a lot and cooing, occasionally. She is sleeping most of the night, 6-8 hrs. I have to say that I am pretty lucky that both of my kids are good sleepers. Now if only Monkey Doodle would sleep in his toddler bed things would be perfect. The other day he got out of the crib, very scary. Monkey Doodle is doing good with Gaby, he just doesn't know his strength, but he is very sweet with her, gives her kisses all the time and always wants to help. He is talking a lot , repeats everything we say so we have to be careful now. I have been trying to potty train him and now he tells me that he is going to poop but by the time we get to the bathroom he is already done, but I am not in any hurry, I know that he will eventually go to the potty when he is ready.

I have been feeling pretty good, I walk 2-3 times a week about an hour every time, but last week it rained the whole week and this past two days I have had so many things to do and tomorrow I have to go to my job and tell them that I am not going back, I am very nerves. I am very happy, I have lost 17lbs since Gaby was born, and I am planning on losing a lot more I want to go back to what I weigh when I got married.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !!

2007-07-04T11:11:00.000-04:00

FROM THE V FAMILY

Sleeping Routine

2007-07-03T08:40:00.000-04:00

I hoping that Gaby starts sleeping through the night, and it looks like little by little she sleeps a little longer. On Sunday night she went to bed at 9pm and woke up at 6am if only I could have fallen asleep too it would have been great. Last night she slept 6 hours, I am crossing my finger that it stays this way.
Yesterday I was having flu like symptoms I think it could have been block ducts, today I am feeling a lot better, I am just very sleepy. Luckily my sister is here and she can watch Monkey Doodle while I go and take a nap. I have been having trouble falling asleep, and I am not sure why, I just toss and turn for about 2 hours and then I can't stay asleep.

Golden Birthday

2007-06-25T08:22:00.000-04:00

Saturday was my Golden Birthday and we celebrated by going to Orlando without the kids. Yeah it was wrong not taking them but they would not enjoy it, they are too little. We went to Animal Kingdom to try the new Everest ride, and to Sea World because Jose had never been there. It was great, we left the kids with my mother and she was more than happy to take them. On Saturday we went to Sea World, I think the last time I was there was when I was 16, not much has changed they have this new ride Kranken, very scary. I don't know what it is, maybe it is because I am getting older or all the stories you hear about people getting hurt on rides, but there is a point right before we drop that I want to yell and get the hell off the ride. I know it silly but you just never know what could happen. Anyway...After Sea World we had dinner at Downtown Disney to Portobello and it was delicious, I had lobster tails with pasta and Jose had a steak with potatoes. On Sunday we went to Animal Kingdom, we really like this park, it like a big Zoo, they have Everest a roller coaster and the ride is AWESOME, really there is a part where you go backwards in the pitch dark. In Animal Kingdom they have a lot of shows too and we saw Finding Nemo the Musical, and it was good. Thats all we did there because we have seen everything when we went 3yrs ago, plus we are going back in November with the kids, to make it up to them. We got a 3 day pass that we can use until Dec 24 for any Disney Park and Sea World has a Fun Pass which you pay for one day and come back for the rest of the year. I know that Anthony will like Animal Kingdom and Sea World because of all the animals that they have, I just can't wait to take them well mainly Anthony even though he won't remember going there this young. I am so happy that we did this trip I think it was necessary, don't get me wrong we love our kids but sometimes you need alone time. Jose took the camera to work, I am not sure why but as soon as he brings it back it will post pictures.

Sneaky Little Monkey

2007-06-20T09:41:00.000-04:00

Monkey Doodle he is to cute. Yesterday I made Cinnamon Rolls and two were left. Today I was feeding Gaby I noticed that Monkey Doodle was quiet. Well it was because he got to the rolls.

He ate them both.

A.D.D.

2007-06-16T10:39:00.000-04:00

I joke a lot with Jose about him having A.D.D., but today he has proved it. I was in he living room on the laptop, and he was in the kitchen washing the dishes, then he went upstairs to upload his IPOD. I'll just post the picture and you tell me if he has ADD or not. I swear this is exactly as he left it.

There is soap and water still in the bottle.

Not Again

2007-06-11T09:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday started off as a good day. Jose went fishing with my brother and my sisters boyfriend.

Jose planned for us to go to dinner and a movie with his sister and her boyfriend. I left the kids at my moms in the early afternoon we came back home had a 2 hour nap, very needed, got up went to the Sawgrass Mills Mall, it's a giant Outlet Mall with a movie theater. On our way out of the parking spot and car hit us, the bastard thought he could get by fast enough so he sped up and hit the back of my car, He took the bumper completely off. I was so pissed I started banging on the stirring wheel and yelling at the guy which turns out to be a barely 18 year old kid. I swear parking lots don't like me in December on my way to lunch I hit a customer's car, but I sincerely did not see him. But the kid from last night I saw him from the stop sign that was 25 feet away. My car was on Drive when he hit me but guess who's fault it is MINE UNBELIEVABLE he clearly was to blame but because I am the one leaving the parking spot. I was fuming, but I feel better now. I have never had so much bad luck with a car, two days after getting my car, someone in the parking lot dented my side door, then in December the accident, and in February, when I was in Costa Rica, Jose went to the Mall and someone hit the bumper again and left a huge scratch, yes they left, and now this. I think this car has bad karma. I have had the car for less then a year, actually it will be a year at the month.

Anyway....
Last night Gaby did so good she let us sleep, she did not wake up till 5:30 am, Anthony is with my mom on his way here because she is going to a cruise with my sis and both grandma's. He stayed at her house because he was sleeping and we did not want to wake him up. Anthony has so much fun when he's at my moms everyone spoils him. Yesterday he was "helping" my dad who is restoring a car for fun. I thought he looked so cute.