Motherhood at Twenty-Something

A trip I won't forget

2012-01-18T10:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Tyson, Leo, Dahlia and I went on a "camping" trip with our friends (the Martinez family) and a group of their friends as well. We met them through the preschool, as Leo is BFFs with their one of their sons, Ziggy. Oh, and "camping" is in quotes because it was more like luxury lodging, since we went to Duck Creek Village, UT and it's entirely too cold to do any camping there that doesn't involve a big beautiful luxury cabin! Anyways, I digress... So we left Saturday morning and stayed through the long weekend until Monday. The cabin we rented out was awesome: 6 bedrooms, plenty of room for all of the kids to run around and for all of the adults to have some space too.

What says great trip better than a packed fridge?
Leo, Ziggy, Amadeus, and their snowman

Like father, like son. Getting ready to go sledding

Leo & Ziggy making snow angels

I absolutely ADORE the family that invited us to go- they are just genuinely good people and I'm really looking forward to the memories our families will continue to make together. Our weekend was filled with lots of screams from the kids playing (and of course occasionally fighting), new friends, good meals, plenty of beer & wine!, s'mores, hot chocolate, football watching, games of apples to apples, sledding, snow-man building, the creation of many inside jokes [damn, Toby!], and lots of laughter. The whole trip was amazing, especially the last night by the fire pit out back and the follow up adult-time that went on until 3am. Great times with great people.

Mirna and Maximus
Before.
After.

::BUT this is where the story turns::
We left the cabin Monday afternoon, and decided to follow the Martinez' home since it had started to snow. I drove first and on our way down the mountain by Brian Head the snow started to get pretty difficult to drive in. At that point I should have stopped and put the chains on the tires, but we didn't since we were anxious to get out of there before it got worse. I will NOT make this mistake again. Because as we continued down the mountain the snow was fresh and pretty slippery so the Jeep started sliding and I started to lose control. In attempt to correct it I definitely overcorrected (big mistake that thankfully had no impact) and we brushed up against the guardrail/wall on the right hand side of the road. *HUGE GASP* I adjusted my approach at this point but continued driving, this time much slower (and now I see that this was another mistake I had made- because the wheels were probably not moving fast enough to get all the snow off). Not even five minutes later the same thing happens again and we start sliding right. This time there was no guardrail just an embankment leading to a 30+ foot drop off into a ravine. So I step on the brakes and we keep sliding and once we're about 2 feet from the embankment and I am convinced that we're going over the edge I pull the Emergency brake with as much force as I possibly could while Tyson braced himself in the passenger seat next to me... and we came to a sudden halt. Thank you, Jeep manufacturing & every brake service we've ever had done, the flippin' E-brake worked perfectly. *HUGEST GASP of my life* In fact at this time, I sort of felt like I was going to black out and I think Tyson realized that since he put the car in park as we're sitting on the edge of the road and he told me to get out so he could drive. At this point I kid you not, the voice on the radio that was still playing said "Hey, glad that you're here with us now!" which made me start bawling and breathing really fast, so I grabbed the bag of cucumbers that I had cut up before we had started driving (which had probably about 20 cucumber stalks) and started eating them without thinking one after the other until the bag was empty. Sounds ridiculous, yes - but at the time I just needed to think about/do something else. Our friends actually saw what happened and they backed up to make sure everything was okay, so Tyson assured them we were alright & that we just wanted to continue on down the mountain. Rest of the story is we [clearly] made it home safe- but that was without a doubt the ABSOLUTE. SCARIEST. MOMENT. OF. MY. LIFE. I have never been in such a panicked state with my children involved. It was absolutely horrible. Tyson and I both had nightmares about it on Monday night, and I don't know that I'll ever forget it.

A shot Tyson took of the snow starting to get bad, before 'the incident'
And as for now, I'm thinking that we'll just stay in Vegas forEVER! so that I never have to drive in the snow again. ***Sigh***

"Glad I'm here with ya now!"

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Sugar Mama

2012-01-11T06:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Leo and I were painting while Dahlia was taking a nap and we were having a pretty sweet conversation. This is about how it went:

Leo: I really have a lot of things in my head, mom.
Me: Oh yeah? Things like what?
Leo: Things I don't know and I wanna ask ya about 'em.
Me: Ok, what do you want to ask?
[he stops painting and thinks for about a minute]
Leo: What do you wanna be when you grow up, mom?
Me: I'm going to school so that I can be a lawyer
Leo: Yeah, and daddy's gonna be a husband when he grows up because his job is just to love you"
Me: [laughing] But what about daddy's job driving ambulances now and helping people who are hurt?
Leo: yeah he does that now, but when you are a lawyer he's gonna just be a husband. It'll be good, mommy.

Hahaha! And that is where he stopped asking questions, but as he is my inquisitive little boy I am certain that he'll have many more for me today. So I don't know where he heard this (probably from Tyson) but it's actually pretty accurate because we do plan on having Tyson home with the kids once I'm an attorney. I just find it so funny that my son is basically saying that not only am I going to be a lawyer when I "grow up" but I'm also going to be a sugar mama. What a funny kid.

I wonder what else is going on in that wonderful big head of his...

Have a great day, everyone

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Kansas City

2012-01-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday Leo, Dahlia and I took off on a plane with my sister Gabi and brother Charlie to Kansas City, Missouri to visit our family. Leo actually went back over the summer just a couple weeks after Dahlia was gone (for a WHOLE week!) with my mom & siblings, but I haven't been there in over two years. So this trip I got to spend some much needed time with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. At first I was actually a little nervous traveling with two little ones and no Tyson (he stayed home and worked) but I'm pretty lucky to have such amazing siblings who continuously helped me keep the kids occupied while we traveled. It helps that "tio" (what Leo calls Charlie) is the favorite and I'm pretty sure Leo listens to him better than me...

We stayed with my grandparents while we were there and enjoyed ourselves relaxing at their house in the country, getting Leo & Dahlia together with cousins, had a few game/dinner nights at cousins houses, Leo had a pajama party/sleep over at my aunt's house, and my grandma even threw me a surprise graduation party. Overall it was an amazing trip & I can't wait to go back again soon - hopefully before too long.

**if you click on the collages it will enlarge the pictures**

Dahlia's first plane ride... Leavin' Las Vegas

I remembered to take a few pictures while we were there

Leo taking a ride on great-grandpa Ray's big tractor (if you look closely he's tucked away in the cab in the red jacket

Dahlia in THE high chair. Each of my grandparents 6 children, 20 grandchildren (including me!), and 15 great grand-children have sat in this high chair at least once.

Dahlia and her great-grandma Pat

Dahlia and her great-grandpa Ray

Leo and his cousin Chase

I'm so happy we got to go. My grandparents home is quite possibly the warmest [figuratively speaking, of course] place on earth and it is so filled with love and togetherness. While I was there I rediscovered the importance of valuing my family above all else & although that might seem like an obvious concept, I think it's one that can be all too easy to forget. I'm a lucky girl, and I'm not going to forget that.

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Whoa whoa, father time... slow it down a bit.

2012-01-03T16:32:00.001-08:00

Today my baby Dahl is six months old. Wow. I can't believe that half of a year has gone by since this amazing baby has come into our lives.

This girl of mine is going to be so fun to watch grow up(although I'm sure she'll give us quite the challenge as well!); she has got so much personality. At six months she already has a spunky little attitude about her and is so full of joy & curiosity. Last month she started crawling (well, scooting at first) and has continued on with her babbling to the point that I'm sometimes convinced she has full on conversations with herself. I've actually just started working on teaching her the little bit of sign language I know, with the help of her big brother who learned at about 8 months. It's so cute & funny to see Leo repeatedly try to teach her the sign for "brother" -- especially when I know Dahlia is still a little too young to retain any of this. I'm sure in a few months that will be her first sign though :)

As for everything else, our sweet D still has the most unbelievably heart-melting blue baby blues, and she loves music and giggles hysterically when anyone dances while holding her. My dad is especially good at getting her to laugh. And even though I have a horrible singing voice, for some reason my baby Dahl loves it when I sing to her. Some nights it's the only way I can get her to sleep. But of course, as luck would have it, this little one is just as much of a daddy's girl today as she has been from the very start. It's pretty sweet how much the two of them bond.

Here are the monthly shots I've taken of Dahlia so far with her teddy bear from her auntie Roxana thrown in for scale (thanks for the idea Vicki!)

Happy half birthday, my sweet Dahlia! Love you, mijita.

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Some Girls Like Superheroes

2011-12-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

My mom showed me this last week & I must say, she is a little girl after my own heart.

For some reason I have a sneaking feeling my own children will have similar questions about the world as I continue to attempt to dispel stupid gender norms/expectations for my little ones ;)

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Look familiar?

2011-12-29T10:11:00.001-08:00

This is what I woke up to this morning:

Now is it just me, or was she channeling this image in her sleep:

ha ha ha! have a great day, everybody.

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Leo-isms, Part Dos

2011-12-28T11:41:00.000-08:00

More wonderful quotes from my wonderful son...

-------
Gabi (my sister) talking to her dog Linus: "come on, baby!" Leo: "why do you call him baby?" Gabi: "because he's my dog- so he's kind of like my baby". Leo: "oh- so then Linus is my nephew."
-------
Leo: "mom, what's that book about?" [pointing to one of my school books] Me: "It's mommy's book for school- it's about Catholicism and Politics" Leo: "What's Politics?" (apparently he must know what Catholicism is...) Me: "It is the authoritative allocation of values, Leo" Leo: "Oh. That's what I thought it is."
-------
[Dahlia passes gas] Leo: "[laughs] hey mommy, i think her heart farted!"
-------
[coughs really hard because he's got strep throat] "Oh GEEZ! I must have a hot cheeto stuck in my neck!"
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[Hands stuck in his jacket] "Look mommy! A ghost cutted off my hands"
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Leo: "mom, why is that guy walking?" Me: "I don't know, Leo, what do you think?" Leo: "he's probably walking to the store so he can buy himself a donut. And bread"
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[After I hand him a pencil he asked me to sharpen] Leo: "mommy, you're a really great sharper"
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Me: "Go put a coat on, it's cold outside" Leo: "I don't need a coat, my skin will keep my bones warm"
-------
[playing in his room by himself & I walk in to check on him and ask if he needs anything] Leo: "no I don't need anything. But hey mom-?" Me: "Yeah?" Leo: "How do spiders throw up?"
-------
"Jingle bells - Jingle Bells - Jingle Allthewaaaaaay! Oh what fun it is to ride in a wonder soap and play!"

Until next time...
~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Ketchup blog

2011-12-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if this is the longest break I've taken from blogging but it's probably one of the more eventful breaks I've had. Since I've last been able to blog I have taken my LSAT [insert sigh of relief here], dealt with sick kids while finishing up the last semester of my undergrad, took the kids to some Rebel basketball games, got sick myself, G-R-A-D-U-A-T-E-D college!! (finally), finished my applications to multiple (10, I think?) law schools, and have successfully survived another stressful-yet-wonderful holiday season with children. Ok, so when writing it out now it doesn't sound like much more than me complaining about circumstances that I have chosen for myself, but trust me... it was a busy last couple of months! Oh!... and also Tyson actually asked me to marry him on Thanksgiving as well :) I don't necessarily think of this as being a huge event of my life because we are already as committed to one another as a married couple and refer to one another as husband/wife. This is just legalizing that commitment so we can receive the same tax breaks & insurance benefits of married people~ and of course to have a party to celebrate such! Woo hoo.

So now that I have much more free time on my hands (yeah, right) I'll hopefully find more time to keep you all updated on the exciting adventures that makeup the Correales-Fishback family day-to-day. I know... I know...You're welcome.

Thanksgiving with my husband/fiance ;)
My poor baby girl sick on her first thanksgiving :(

Pajama day -- on our way to the kids' last day of school for 2011

Getting ready to go to her first Rebel basketball game!

I did it!
After graduation with my favorite little guy

Waiting for Santa!

Dahlia's first Christmas!

~☮ & ♥ to you all~

Dear friends,

2011-10-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

I've said it once, I'll say it again: I am such a lucky girl. Not only was I extremely fortunate to be born to two loving, accepting, and very supportive (not to mention liberal!) parents-- but I have also been lucky in finding myself surrounded by similarly like-minded individuals.

So for the 8 people who occasionally read this (and anyone else who happens to stumble upon my blog as well!), thanks for being so loving, accepting and very supportive of my family and of me. I wish I could articulate this better, but I feel truly fortunate to know so many wonderful people.

College + Kids = Juggling Act

2011-10-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Last night Tyson took Leo to go drop off his brother so that I could have some study time after Leo's soccer game. Well of course because things rarely go as planned, Dahlia decided she didn't want to be put down to go to sleep, so I ended up putting on my baby carrier so I didn't have to put her down & sat down for a couple hours like this:
(yes, I'm the dork that puts my pen behind my ear-- I lose it otherwise!~)

Well then Tyson came home & I decided that I just needed to call it a night because I had been reading the same paragraph over & over again for 10 mins without retaining anything.

Then when he left for work this morning I got up before the kids did & started to study, but of course once I finally got into a chapter to the point of complete submersion- both my kids woke up. And now I am waiting until naptime to continue on, and am actually currently typing up this blog like this:

But the light at the end of the tunnel is finally visible: Graduation is just 53 days away... & Oh I can't wait!!

Leo-isms, Part 1

2011-10-03T16:27:00.001-07:00

Don't have a whole lot of time to write today- but thought I better start keeping track of some of the stuff my hilarious little man says so I don't forget. And so we begin...

-------
[Dahlia's crying so I pick her up to feed her & Leo walks over to see what's going on] "Dahlia, don't cry- you're gonna get some milk! You're gonna get some (and he says this part slowly to emphasize each word) MOTHER - LUVIN - MIIIIIILK!"
-------
"Hey Daddy, I'm just gonna go jumping on the couch with Poconuts (his stuffed animal monkey), you just go do something fun yourself- okay?"
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"Milk is white, Orange juice is orange, and water is.... [stops to think really hard] silver. So silver is wet."
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"Mommy, I don't want to be Caleb's friend (a kid in his class) because he thinks everything is funny. Mommy, everything is NOT funny."
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Me: "I love you, my cute lil' man!" Leo: "I love you too, my cute lil' muffin!"
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[Leo gets on the bathroom scale and watches the needle move up to 38 lbs] "Moooommmmyyy! Why does it say a four and a zero?" Me: "Because you almost weigh 40 pounds" Leo: "Ohhh man!! [points to the 200] I guess I'll never be 200!"
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[crumples up a drawing he'd been working on] me: "Leo, you're such a good artist - don't get mad!" Leo: "Mommy, my picture is not the artist. It is the BADEST!"
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"Mommy, can Dahlia be my sister even when I grow up?"
-------

Other funny things: he calls mouthwash "cough washer", a sleeping bag he got for his birthday a "sleeping pocket", pizza crust is called "the crunch", he insists that the name Marco should be spelt M-O-K-O (??)...

This is just within the last week or so. I'll have to do this again soon because my little chatter-box always has something great to say :)

Pitchas!

2011-09-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the [very late] newborn photos of my little baby Dahl. We also took some more family shots recently with another photographer, and should be getting them back soon- so hopefully I'll have those up soon too!

Ah, life :)

2011-09-09T13:11:00.001-07:00

[Insert obligatory lack of correspondence apology here] ;)

Oh goodness this semester is just barely up and running (we started last week) and I am already toeing the 'overwhelmed/stressed out' line. I knew this would eventually be the case once we got back in the swing of things, but I thought I'd have a few weeks before the craziness set in! Is it too much to ask - for just another couple hours in the day?! Or maybe less need to sleep?? Haha, okay maybe not the latter... I really love my sleep.

So Leo started his last year at the UNLV preschool on the 29th (wow- I can't BELIEVE he'll be in Kindergarten next fall!!) and is in a new classroom that he loves. His new teacher is named Ms. Yamila (pronounced Sha-mila) or as Leo calls her: Miss Shalala. Lol- I love my kid. Dahlia started her first day of daycare the same day, her teacher is named Miss Roxy, and she seems great. Good thing, because the first 4 days she went- I cried when walking out each time. Ughhhh...

School is going well for me also. I'm just working on studying for my LSAT in my very limited free time. Tyson is doing great also- just working and tagging along with us on school days, while he waits to go back in the Spring. We actually just celebrated our 7th anniversary the day before going back to school. We had all these plans to go out by ourselves & have a romantic dinner alone, etc etc... but then Jordan (Tyson's nephew) came into town and we decided to head up to Big Bear for the weekend instead- and I couldn't think of a better place to spend with the love of my life and the absolutely amazing family we've created (plus Jordan!) on our anniversary. Even though things are definitely hectic and crazy already, I don't know of a time where I've ever felt happier. What a wonderful life I live. :)

My baby Dahl on the way to big bear for a nice relaxing weekend out of the heat!

Tyson and Leo stopping for a pee break on the Way to Big Bear... LOL

Leo and his cousin Jordan

Last morning at the cabin with my little luvs ;)

Four years, a black summer, and three shots.

2011-08-10T19:56:00.001-07:00

Of course I am late writing this blog... what else is new??! Well, for starters - my baby boy turned four last Sunday, on the 31st. I still can't believe how fast time flies. Even though I just had Dahlia it really does feel like "just yesterday" that Tyson and I welcomed our beautiful boy into the world. This year we had a pretty quiet birthday celebration, but Leo still had so much fun. We invited over our neighbors and their kids for a pool party complete with a piñata and ice cream cake. Perfect celebration for my perfect little boy :)

So the real funny stuff begins today. Both kids had a doctor's check ups, Leo for his four year appt. and Dahlia for her one month appt. First off, I messed up the time because I thought the appointments were supposed to start at 10:20 but they didn't begin till 1:20, and of course I don't realize this until we are driving there and have reached Henderson at 10am. Seeing as how we didn't want to waste the gas driving back home for just a couple hours we decided to kill time at the mall since it was entirely too HOT today for the baby to be outside for a couple of hours.(107*!) Anyways, we get to the mall and walk around Dick's Sporting Goods first. So Leo picks up a couple small 3lb rubberized exercising dumbbells and starts lifting them up the way he's seen his dad do so often. Well, after a few reps he gets tired, lets the little weights fall down to his side and he grunts "UGGGHHHH!! Now that's what I call a BLACK SUMMER!!" LOL! Now before you ask-- No, I have absolutely NO IDEA what this was about!! Tyson and I are both still quite baffled as to how this phrase came about.

Fast forward to the Dr's office. Come to find out when we get there that Leo has to get three vaccines. Yuck. Well, Tyson and I decided that it would be best to just be honest with him about them, and let him know that after we were done he would get to go get some ice cream for being such a big tough guy. He was doing pretty well with it all until the nurse came in and started talking about it, so then Tyson asked if he could also get a shot to make Leo feel better and the nurse said yes- she could give him a syringe filled with saline.

--(Sorry to be mushy here, but I must interrupt my about-to-get-funny story and admit how much more in love I fell with this man at that point... he is SUCH an amazing dad ♥ continuing on...) --

So the nurse comes back with 4 shots- 3 for Leo and 1 for Tyson. Tyson goes first, then Leo gets his and starts crying :( Then the nurse gives him a sucker and a sticker and we all start walking out. On the way out Leo stops by the next room where a little boy was waiting with his dad to see the doctor. Sucker in his mouth, tears staining his cheeks, he looks into the room, lifts up his shorts so you can see the bandaids on his thighs and says "hey. I just got 3 shots". [[the little boy's eyes grow really big at this point]] and the dad says "oh yeah?? how was that?" Leo then thinks about it, shrugs his shoulders and throws his hands up: "well... it SUCKED!" and that was that.

Pictures of my two favorite boys comparing battle wounds:

My Baby Dahl

2011-07-29T22:07:00.001-07:00

...And I thought I was bad updating my blog when I had one kid!!

Well, as I'm sure all of you are aware of by now-- our beautiful little girl is here!! She arrived Sunday, July 3rd at 12:59 am after 14 long hours of labor and weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 19 1/2 in. long.

And for those of you who were expecting an Ariana to be added to the Correales-Fishback familia, well instead we have a Dahlia. :)

Basically, the name change happened just hours before we were admitted into the hospital. See, everyone had been calling baby girl by her middle name-- Dahlia (as was started by her very stubborn father who originally had requested that as the first name) and the closer I got to being able to picture holding my daughter in my arms the less she seemed like an Ariana and much more like a Dahlia.

So, Friday night/Saturday morning I was supposed to go in at midnight for induction and not 5 minutes before we were ready to walk out the door the hospital calls and says they don't have any room- so we should come in at 7 the next morning. UGH. Tyson and I then attempted to stifle our wide awake-ness and get some sleep. Fast forward to 6:35am, we're driving to the hospital, who calls? One of the L&D nurses "hello, are you coming in for induction right now?" "yes" "oh, ok-- well just go ahead and drive in and we'll get you hooked up, we're just a little short right now". Get to the hospital 10 mins later, walk up to the nurses' station and a very rude/bitchy nurse tells me they don't have space for us yet so she suggests we go get some breakfast and then come back in a couple hours at 9am. UGHHH!

At this point Tyson, my mom & I go to breakfast & begin talking about the baby's name- during which I decide that baby girl will be named Dahlia, and instead of simply switching around the order of the name- I also wanted her to be named after my mom Julia Ann). And as such, Dahlia Juliana was decided upon. Great story huh??

Ok, breakfast over, back to the hospital we go. Arriving precisely 10 mins before we were asked to come back I send Tyson over to the nurses' station because I didn't want to get shut down by the bitchy nurse again. Much to our surprise- she asks us to go to the waiting area because there still is no space. AMAZING huh?? UGHHHHHHH...

Finally around 10:30 we are admitted. Thankfully, bitch nurse went home and I had a couple very nice and helpful nurses. Then, after 13 wonderful hours of labor I was finally able to push- which took about another hour- and lo & behold... I have a beautiful baby girl in my arms.

And now here we are almost 4 weeks later still getting adjusted to life with an infant. I know it sounds pretty cliche, but I can't stop thinking about how my life is so amazing and I can hardly even picture my life before the little one came along (maybe that is partially due to lack of sleep though ;]) Much more to write about soon-- gotta run now though because I hear the little one stirring so I'm guessing she's about ready to eat.

And she's BACK!

2011-05-19T15:10:00.001-07:00

School's out- school's out- hooray!!
Well, at least the Spring semester was done last week... so as of Monday summer school started but it's only one online class during each session- so I'm not complaining because I don't have to drive into Vegas every day! So as for the last month of blog-vacay I've basically just been trying to survive school & the perpetual exhaustion that plagues the oh-so lovely last trimester of pregnancy. Joy. Amazingly everything worked out fairly well though, because I got four A's and one B+!! (Stupid African Politics class...)

As for the rest of our life, I'm not sure how we've managed it but everything else is some-kinda wonderful lately. Tyson has just about finished up his internship with MedicWest Ambulance (tomorrow is his last day) so hopefully as of next week he'll be able to start bidding for shifts on a regular basis and start working full time.

Leo finished up preschool last Friday and is now home for the summer with me, which means I've got my hands full since he had begun to make such big strides at school in the last couple weeks. For starters he can write his name all by himself! Among many other things that he loves to do on his own. I'm so proud of my independent little 3 year old!

Ariana is now just a few weeks from gracing us with her presence and we can't wait till she's here! I'm at 33 weeks now so she could be here anytime within 3-7 weeks. I had a Dr's appt today and everything is perfect- so at this point no news is good news on the baby front. And as I close this I'll post some of the maternity shots that my friend Sara took of us yesterday... love them! (more to come soon).

Until next time... ;)

Boobies

2011-03-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right- today we're going to talk a little about boobies. Why- might you ask-? Because yesterday morning, when I woke up and noticed my three year old had been awake laying in his bed and said "Good morning!" the first response he had was to ask, "Mommy, what are boobies for?"

Well- good morning to you too!! Being that it was about 6:30-7:00 on a Sunday morning, I was groggy, & Tyson had already left for work... I was a little taken aback at this question and didn't really know where to begin. Well then- what to do? The only thing I know how to do with him: I talked to him honestly. This is roughly the direction our conversation took:

Me: Alright- ummm... boobies are for feeding babies, because when mommies have babies they need to give them milk
Leo: So, when you have my new baby sister (he's thinking really hard at this point) you will feed her with your boobies?
Me: Yes- ummm... yes. that's right.
Leo: Mommy- does daddy have boobies?
Me: No, daddies don't, because daddies don't feed babies.
Leo: Mommy, babies don't feed milk- they drink it.
Me: (attempting to stifle my laughter) Yes, that's right. So -- Leo, why are you asking this? Did somebody at school talk about this?
Leo: No, mommy. I was just asking. (shifts focus) Mommy, how does my baby sister come out of your belly?

And that was when I lost interest in what provoked his questions and quickly suggested we go get donuts at the store (which, of course thrilled him) - because I'm not so sure that my little one's mind could handle a discussion about boobies & other such stuff in one day. More importantly though, I'm not ready for that talk. So- I still have no idea where the 'boobies talk' came from- but I'm just going to ignore that for now and hope that I can avoid another 'where do babies come from' moment for the next few months.

Botched up

2011-03-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Each week I get an online update about my baby's progress from this website that I subscribed to, called babycenter.com. Well today after looking at my weekly email (hooray for reaching 26 weeks!~) I was perusing the site and came across this article:

SF Mother gives 8 year old botox

To sum it up- there is a woman in San Francisco who says that she regularly gives her 8 year old daughter botox injections and also a monthly "virgin wax" in attempt to prevent the future growth of pubic hair. Her reasoning for doing this to her daughter-? Because, according to her, it "will help her become a star".

I can't even begin to fathom what the hell this woman was thinking by putting these pressures on such a young child. Now, I know that Hollywood has sort of created a hyperbolic image of everyone growing up and needing therapy as a direct result of a crazy/overbearing/psychotic mother, but let's be honest here: this child is doomed! Could any amount of therapy wash over years of perfectionist/unrealistic expectations if one started learning these lessons at EIGHT?! If this little pre-pre-pubescent girl is already freaking out over her "wrinkles" (which I- at almost 25- don't even consider...) and says she wants a boob and nose job- where is this going to end? Maybe I was sheltered, but I don't even think I knew what virgins were at age 8- let alone "virgin waxes".

Ok- I'm just going to have to let this simmer for a while-- maybe I'll do the lawyer-y thing and try to look at it from another perspective (as both sides are always supposed to have some case, right?). In all reality though, I doubt my motherly and/or feminist perspectives will take a back seat in order for this to happen...

The smorgasbord of blogs

2011-03-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

Oh where to begin... Well as I'm sure most of you have realized that normally I'm not the quickest updater when it comes to this blog, and now this pregnancy has given me even more excuse to neglect it. What can I say though, other than in my world lately: sleep > everything else.
That, and I'm not really one to write a new blog every time I -or the fam- do something that isn't even remotely interesting simply for the sake of keeping up... only sometimes do I do this :)

Since my last post, our lil fishy has finally acquired her name: Ariana Dahlia- or Ari for short. Can't wait till she's here in a few months!

We spent most of the last month staying busy with school & kid stuff but found a nice long weekend to head up to the Big Bear Cabin over spring break- which was wonderful. I'll try and post some pictures up later of that. I've also spent most of my time off from blogging getting huge while I continue to bake my bun in the oven. The best part about it is that while Tyson is so sweet and tells me I'm beautiful, Leo doesn't hold anything back: "Mommy, is your belly gonna pop like a balloon??" Ah, the sheer honesty of a preschooler.

In other news, graduation is going to have to be postponed -AGAIN- because the stupid PSC department at UNLV doesn't offer the last class that I need to graduate in the summer. Now I'll be graduating at the end of this year in December. Provided of course, that Gov. Sandoval doesn't really screw me over & do away with my department before then (unlikely since I'm not a WMST major...) The good news out of this new development is that I'm taking the summer off to spend with my little man before his sister arrives so hopefully we'll have a smoother transition, and if nothing else, one more semester just gives me further opportunity to bump up my GPA for law school!

As for Leo updates- he's still the cutest/smartest/most mischievous three year old there ever was, with a little sassy attitude and too much wit for his mother's good... so nothing too new on that front :)

And lastly, Tyson decided to go back to school full-time, and get his bachelor's degree in Biology. I'm so unbelievably proud of him for this, and have to say I'm a little relieved too because for a while there I kind of felt like I was hogging the 'let-me-pursue-my-dreams-spotlight'. Obviously both of us in school full-time is going to be pretty difficult with two kids (especially when it comes to our student loans) but what the hell...

I'm up for it.

bad words

2011-03-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

Monday morning I got up, got Leo dressed & ready for school & we were off as usual. As we're sitting at a stoplight in Boulder, me listening to the radio and him looking zoned out as he typically does in the car he suddenly looks up at me through my rearview mirror and says "mommy- you're a crackhead" and starts laughing hysterically.

WTF?!

So I'm of course taken aback by what I just heard, and think to myself-- ok, now what? Do I ignore him & just act as though I didn't hear him? How harmful is this word anyways? Is CPS going to come to my house if he says this at school?? Do I get mad and tell him that's a bad thing to say? Wait- who taught him that word??

I calmly turn around (as the light was still red) and ask "Leo, who said that word?" to which he replies "Joey & Danny" (our neighbor kids who are MUCH older than him) so I say, "that's a bad word, Leo- don't say that again, alright?" Which of course he responds with "ok... [whispers] "crackhead" and smiles as he avoids my evil look through the rearview mirror.

Aren't they supposed to be a little older than this before they get so bratty and defiant???

Mija

2011-01-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

10 pm last night: went to sleep
12ish am: stumbled to the bathroom - had to pee
3ish am: ditto
4 am: woke up, thought i had to pee, went to the bathroom & didn't need to go again.
5 am: Tyson put his arm around my belly wanting to cuddle (awww!) and woke me up. Slightly annoyed that I hadn't slept so well (but still happy my cute little hubby loves me that much) I thought that I had about 30 mins left before getting out of bed & tried going back to sleep.

Then... my little fish started moving like crazy!~ So I nudged Tyson to see if he was awake and when he asked what was wrong I grabbed his hand and put it on my belly right where I could feel her kicking the hardest. And we just lay there together - waiting for her to keep kicking us, and fell asleep after 10-15 mins of her moving all over.

This little teeny tiny moment, in the grand scheme of my life is something I'll never forget. I wish I could better articulate the amount of joy, emotion, and complete amazement that I felt this morning. Oh, little one, how I love you so much already...

Goodbye 2010!

2011-01-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while since I've made the time to get on here and update everyone (all 3 of you- right?!~) so I guess I'll start with Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

As for a recap of the past few weeks: We spent Christmas up at Big Bear in my parents brand new cabin, which was SO much fun! We actually got to enjoy a beautiful snowy holiday and Leo loved this. In fact we got so much snow while we were there that we were snowed in for an extra two days because we couldn't get back down the mountain to make it home. But no complaints here - nothing but relaxation and good times. Can't wait to go back!

(The cabin, or as my parents call it: "Nuestro nido en el cielo" - our nest in the sky)

(Leo & Frosty)
(No, we didn't push him down, he was pouting about taking a picture-- also, no I'm not really that big yet, I was just wearing a mens jacket!)

(In a better mood!)

As for New Years, we made it back in time to go over to my wonderful friend Leila's super classy 2011 NYE party and had a blast ringing in the New Year with tons of delicious food & the always enjoyable Apples to Apples. I know it's not like me to be super mushy but I really feel lucky to have such a great friend. Leila, if you are reading this I LOVE you and am so happy to have met you this past year ;)

...And now for the exciting news that I'm sure everyone is already aware of...
One significant discovery has been made since I've been on here last. And that is

::this calls for a drumroll:: we are having a

G-I-R-L!

Now, I don't think I shared it on here but we were actually planning on waiting and just being surprised about the sex of the baby when he/she was born, but coincidentally our radiologist had other plans. No bad intentions there, just a little miscommunication between us and the doctor. Basically, we went in for our first ultrasound and thought that we didn't really need to say anything until the next one because it was supposedly too early (13 weeks at the time) to tell anyways - but then the doctor started talking to us about our DAUGHTER! To which we of course responded with dumbfounded looks at him and confused glances at one another as if to say "did you really just hear that?" and then the guy proceeded to show us her lady parts & confirm that he was, in fact, "80% sure" that Leo will have a little sister this summer!

And now that we've taken care of that I can stop posting pictures of what the baby should look like right now and show you all how she does look :)

(sorry the picture quality isn't so great- this is the best I've got with my scanner not working at the moment)

Still no names yet, but we've been thinking about it a lot lately, so I'm sure there will be some soon. And please feel free to leave suggestions! Well, as for everything else, school starts next Tuesday (Leo is actually really excited about this) and we'll be back in the swing of things pretty quick so I'll have to set aside a little more time to do this so that the next blogs aren't so completely overwhelming. Alrighty, after that long & drawn out bloggity blog... I'm going to go finish up some laundry & turn on Its Always Sunny. If you've stayed with me through this whole thing... thanks :)

♥

10 things that make everything else just a little less stressful

2010-12-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

10. Being told 'mommy I wuv you' completely unwarranted

9. Laying in bed with my little family on a weekend morning

8. Amazing friends that make the best company on a lazy day

7. Baking, but more importantly eating after baking

6. Climbing back into bed when it's too cold outside the covers

5. Finding time to read - for fun

4. Warm towels right out of the dryer

3. Walking outside and happening to catch an amazing desert sunset

2. Hot showers when it's FREEZING outside

1. Toddler cuddles right before bedtime, right when I wake up... or anytime really

It's great how easy it is to make me happy. Happy 10 weeks to the little one inside my belly. I can't wait until you're here to share the 'simple' things with me in just a few short months.

The end is near

2010-12-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Oh man-oh man, I can't wait for the next week to be O-V-E-R! While I must admit that this semester has been one of my best in terms of really being able to keep everything together & succeed to my fullest potential, I am so ready to be finished with these finals and move along to 2011.

I would imagine that my increased levels of anxiety came about with a little help from Tyson being laid off, pregnancy hormones, and getting cold/flu sick this week - but regardless of where it stemmed from, I'll be so relieved once the pressure of this semester is put behind me. As soon as I finish my legal theory exam on Friday (save the best for last, right?) I plan on picking up my little man early from school, and bringing him home to watch movies and bake unhealthy yummy deliciousness all afternoon. Can't wait!

In other news- another week has passed, and I am now at nine - count em!- NINE! weeks pregnant. Nothing too new to discuss on that front... still don't look pregnant but feel so overwhelmingly irritatingly pregnant. The morning/all day sickness is at a peak of discomfort (yes, I know I have great timing with finals and all!) and so Tyson and Leo are keeping distance from me whenever possible. Our little baby fish is still so small, only about the size of a grape, but he or she no longer has a tail! We've got an ultrasound scheduled for a couple days after christmas (I think the 27th) and can't wait to see the little one.

So for now, I'll retreat back to my studies & talk to you once ~~hell~~ finals are over.

And so it begins

2010-11-26T20:22:00.001-08:00

Prenatal/DHA vitamin fish burps. tired. morning/all day sickness. being cold... always. tired. feeling like crap, looking like crap, feeling like i look like crap. not able to sleep on my belly. everything smells gross. tired. crying just because. looking fat, not pregnant. ginger ale and saltines. tired again.

And yet... I still love the pregnant thing. Eight weeks today, only 32 more to go... Right now my little one is about the size of a kidney bean and still has a tail. oh life - how you amaze me.

Baby fish

2010-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

Now that our intermediate families all know... Tyson, Leo and I will have a new addition to our family next summer!

As of right now they gave us an early July due date, but we have an ultrasound in a week or two that should be a little more precise. Either way, just thought I'd share our exciting news & promise to keep the details updated.

And on another happy note... only 3 more weeks left of the semester - double hooray!

Annoyed

2010-10-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Dear classmates,

When did being smart (or at least not being dumb) become so uncool??? I'm getting really sick of going to classes and being one of two or three people who actually speaks up in class because no one else cares to do so, or can't because they are too busy sleeping/texting/facebooking/picking their noses....

Even more so, I'm especially tired of being made fun of (yes I can hear the whispering in the back row) and listening to others get made fun of for doing the reading and coming prepared to class. Now, I know that there are some people who are just shy and prefer not to talk but come on, I'm pretty sure that 47 out of 50 of you aren't just shy. Especially considering 99% of the entire political science department wants to go to law school. Yeah, good luck being quiet (aka unprepared) in law school. Either way, I don't so much care about what you do with your time, fellow students -- just so long as you stop interrupting mine. If you want to keep your mouth shut during class, have at it, but stop making fun of people for wanting to be smart, or at the very least trying to keep up. The pride you take in passing tests simply because you didn't fail them, and the whole "C's get degrees" mantra is just sad, particularly so when you make fun of others who are actually doing better than you.

Signed,
Your future boss

Moving. Maybe?

2010-10-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

So, since I've last wrote on here I decided to apply for an internship [paid internship!] with the Nevada Legislature for next semester. It's pretty exciting (at least for me - nerdy/politically obsessed me!) and would be an awesome opportunity, but if I get it Tyson, Leo and I will be relocating to Carson City from February to June. At first I was a little hesitant to apply because I was worried about moving my family for 5 months, but Tyson has been so supportive that I figured- what the heck, why not?~ So I am!

Although this relocation (IF we even get to) is definitely nothing permanent, especially since there isn't a law school in Carson, I'm so excited to have a new opportunity for my little family to look forward to. I'm working on finishing up my application process now and have until next week to turn everything in. I think part of the reason I'm excited is because it will give us a little taste of what getting out of Vegas for law school will be like. Anyways, I should find out by the beginning of November so please keep your fingers crossed for me!

I just love this guy

2010-10-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

There is no one else I'd rather laugh with, dance with, cry with, live life with...

kiss, and hug, play, fight, joke...

and never be afraid to be myself with... than the father of my son, love of my life, dorkiest/loveliest/bestest man of my dreams.

*muah*

This has to stop

2010-10-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

With all of the recent stories in the news about suicides over cyber-bullying, homophobia related suicides, and all other horrific occurrences of COMPLETELY avoidable self-inflicted deaths- I have strong feelings about this subject. I don't know if any of you have seen this particular story, but basically a little girl was being bullied on the bus and she told her parents about it, then the dad got on the bus and yelled at the kids bullying her. He got arrested for misconduct (or someother misdemeanor) but has been released.

Now, I actually have mixed feelings about the dad's actions... I think he definitely stepped way over the line with his actions and should have dealt with the problem differently, but my main concern is what is with all of this bullying in school? I completely understand that bullying has existed forever, and unfortunately remember my own bullying experiences. So maybe there hasn't been so much of a major increase in accounts of bullying, but with the recent spike in children/teen suicides as a direct result of bullying - this definitely is a major problem here. Whether or not our level of hate and/or intolerance has changed is something to be studied over time, but for right now we should be asking ourselves how do we change these tragic statistics?!

Parents, at some point we've got to stop pushing away the importance of these acts with "kids will be kids"... and other nonsensical justifications. What if it was your kid who was being teased? What if it was your kid who was doing the teasing? Where do we draw the line?

Ca-wots

2010-09-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post up these pictures for a while now(considering this all happened in the beginning of summer) but somehow I got busy doing other things (imagine that!) and I completely forgot about sharing them on here. So... here's the story...

Basically, this all starts with the following book:

which was actually a book that my mom read when she was really little.

Well -- my son loves reading this book with my mom & dad, so when my mom realized how much he might enjoy planting some seeds of his own she had to do it. As it turns out we decided to plant carrot & sunflower seeds, but as my son decided, all seeds are "ca-wot (carrot) seeds"

This is how our 'carrot/sunflower seed' story went:

poking holes for our seeds with chubby fingers
making the holes bigger with "da big gween stick"
creating more holes than grandma wanted... just incase...
messing with sprinklers
"wook, mommy! ca-wot seeds!"
"wow! they are so widdle, grandma!"
placing the "widdle" seeds in their "widdle" holes
"ta da!" carrots.
leo's garden

and quite possibly the best picture I took all day:
satisfaction of a job well done

Dance PARTY!

2010-09-19T19:11:00.001-07:00

Leo, Tyson & I just had a random dance party to Creedence Clearwater before sitting down to dinner.

i ♥ my family.

A day in the life...

2010-09-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

In the course of a normal trip to the park this is just about how it looks from start to finish....

excited to go to the park!

playing around on the swings (not hurt yet)

falling off the swing- intentionally (still unsure about being 'hurt')

hurt

[I walked away... he follows and then sits down on the sidewalk] not hurt

I walk away again because he runs off to play... oh look what a nice tree over there!

As soon as I look away from Leo to take the above pic he slips on the stairs and falls down with this...

[crying -exaggeratedly- we decide together that there's no better option than going home...]

pouting because he doesn't want to go home

asleep before we even get home

And despite it all, I'm sure we'll go back tomorrow :)

I'm so easily entertained

2010-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Man I've gotten bad keeping up with this! How frustrating too, since I feel that I've missed out on keeping up with all my little anecdotes... seems like every other phrase out of my little man's mouth is just hilarious.

Exhibit 1: this morning we dropped tyson off at work since his car is in the shop- but had to go home before going to the park because I forgot my book I wanted to read. As I'm jumping out of the car- leo still buckled in his car seat he yells to me out the window "wait momma!" [i stop & turn to look at him] "mommy- puhwease be nice to your fwiend gabi (my sister)- okay? dont scream at her"
---by the way, no clue where this came from!---

fast forward a minute: I get back in the car & he says "its okay momma- she went buh-bye." me: "who went bye bye?" leo: "darwene" (darlene, our neighbor & good friend) me: "oh did you say hi to her?" leo: "no- i say 'peas buh-wo' (peace bro) and did this [holds up heavy metal fingers]" ;)

Exhibit 2: leo was sharing toys with a little girl younger than him at the park maybe 2 years old- and I tell him we have to leave so he walks back over to her and he says "ok, i gotta go see my house now. you be safe." [lol!]

then on the way home from the park we had this convo... leo: "mommy, is daddy at work?" me: "yup" leo "mommy- im so ti-uhd (tired) of daddy goin ta work" me: [holding in my laughter] "yeah? what do you want daddy to do?" leo: [thinks really hard] "go to chucky cheesey with me. then go to school and take a nap."

what a funny guy.

Three.

2010-08-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Who knew turning three meant waking up one day and being able to flush with your pinky toes while swinging from the towel rack?

Wow. I can't believe I have a three year old.

(ps- if you would like to laugh at my ridiculous attempt at censoring my child in this picture have at it, I'm just trying to be a good [embarassing] mother!]

Awkward

2010-08-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I LOVE books. I'm always on the look out for wonderful books & if they're cheap then... hey, even better!! Well today Tyson, Leo, Jordan (nephew) and I decided to go to Barnes and Noble after an evening full of Chuck E. Cheese excitement and wouldn't you know it! They were having a great 75% off clearance sale. Wunderbar~!

So- off go Tyson, Leo & Jordan to browse/occupy Leo in the kiddie section while I comb through hundreds of books. First I found a book for Leo that was only $2.99, then I found a cook book that was only $2! and then -super score!- I found this book....

for $1.50. (stop judging me!) Ok, here's the part where it all goes downhill. So here I am heading up to the cashier attempting to buy these three books in a somewhat discretionary manner so as to avoid any weird situations and as I put the books on the counter and the BN clerk starts ringing em up she asks me what the position is on the back of my 'special' book (totally her words by the way). Then, before I could answer I hear an excruciatingly familiar voice... Apparently my 16 year old nephew was standing there blushing right next to me the whole time- and then the cashier starts putting 2 and 2 together... and suddenly- I'm looking like quite a pervert.

WTF. So, basically, I ended up mumbling something about me and his uncle being married so she didn't throw a book about statutory rape into my bag, but was unfortunately too late to avoid the awkward stares from all the shoppers behind me. Somehow I managed to shove the books into my huge mommy purse before things could get any worse. Needless to say, I will now be patronizing a new bookstore.

Best. morning. ever.

2010-07-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to Tyson and Leo bringing me coffee in bed- followed by a 'what do you want for breakfast, mommy?'.

Ummm... did I step into a dream? Is it mothers day, or my birthday already? No, no, and no again.

This wonderful greeting was even followed by Tyson switching out the laundry and starting more (again... am I dreaming?!) and turning on the iPod for a little Jack Johnson to go with the breakfast my boys were making me.

In continuing on with my most amazing start to the day- we concluded the morning (before Tyson had to go to work at least) with an impromptu barefoot slow dance in the kitchen and I felt like I was in the middle of a sappy chick flick movie because everything felt so perfect. Too perfect!

I was almost wanting to question Tyson and Leo as to what they broke, or did unbeknownst to me that made them act so unlike their usual obnoxious (though still endearing) selves. But I guess sometimes when your hubby is feeling especially sweet or romantic ya just have to soak it up and not take it for granted because who knows when this will happen again?!

My child doesn't look like me.

2010-07-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

Because he looks exactly like his father!!

Regardless... aren't they cute? (they traded pillows =])

Sisters, Daddies, & Pattys

2010-07-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Well it's late and I just got done studying for the night and I've got to babysit a friend's daughter tomorrow who is the same age as Leo so I don't have much time... (I need my sleep!) but I just wanted to share a little moment from this past week.

Leo and I were getting ready to run some errands (do all of my stories start this way?!) and while we were getting in the car his little friend from across the street ran up and talked to him for a minute. Not so sure how this particular conversation started but Leo pointed to the kid and looked at me and said "mommy, dats my brudder" (brother). His friend--who is only 6-- giggled and looked at me sort of quizzically, then ran off to play with the other neighborhood kids. So then we start the following 'relationship/relative' discussion:

Me: Leo, you don't have a brother right now. Mommy and daddy only have one baby right now and that's Leo. If we have another baby [knock on wood!] that baby will be your brother. Or sister.
Leo: [thinking about it for a minute] Mommy- are you my sister?
Me: No, sweetie, I'm your mommy.
Leo: [extremely confused at this point] Daddy's my sister?
Me: No- daddy is your daddy.

[looooong pause as he contemplates this "new" information]
Leo: No mommy. Daddy is my Tyson- mommy is my Patty.

and that was that because I didn't know where to go from there! I think we'll wait another year or so before we attempt this one. But for now- I'm perfectly happy with my son thinking I'm just his patty!

How about stickers?

2010-07-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Tyson is such a wonderful daddy. I never doubted this possibility for a moment before Leandros was born, but somehow he has still shocked me in his ability to be such a loving father to our son.

Tonight we put Leo to bed early since he didn't have a nap & I needed some extra studying time, and just a couple hours later he woke up screaming about a nightmare he'd had. Well I was here chipping away at my LSAT prep & Tyson was doing somethin or another on his computer (COD I think... but that's neither here nor there...) when the screams started and before I could jump up Ty had already grabbed Leo out of his bed and was trying to hug him and rock him back to sleep at the same time. So I just sat back and listened while he did his daddy stuff-- and after a minute (Leo still whimpering) Tyson leans over and whispers sweetly "you know, crying doesn't help anything, Leo. But talking about things does. Do you want to talk about something happy? How about stickers?"

And with that I let my son's adorable father comfort him while I held back my visible desire to laugh hysterically --about stickers-- and just smiled.

♥

47 things you never needed to know

2010-07-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was a mess- today I'm much less messy... Tired... but less messy :/ So, basically I ended up working on a final for one of my summer classes until 2:00 and now I can't fall asleep otherwise I won't be able to wake up and get to the DMV on time before the lines get long so here I am =) I'll take a nap with Leo...

and while I wait here's a ridiculous little questionairre I stole from a friend and thought I'd busy myself with for the next how-ever-many-minutes-it-takes-me.

1. What is your first name? Patty
2. Where do you live? In the desert-- not to be confused with a nice dessert
3. What are your hobbies? reading, spending time with my boys, writing, traveling, cooking, drinking wine.
4. Are you a member of any clubs? other than the occassional self-pity party? no.

Marriage
5. Are you married? for all intensive purposes- yes. legally, not yet.
6. If so, what is your husband's name? big daddy. (tyson)
7. How long have you been / were you married? we've been together for 6 years
8. If you are divorced or widowed, how long has it been? long enough.
9. If you are not married, are you seeing anyone? you could say that.

Children
10. How many children do you have? one- although sometimes tyson counts as a second
11. What are their names and ages? Leandros- almost 3!
12. Do you hope to have more? definitely (see... I am crazy)
13. What parenting "style" do you follow? the socratic method. lol. um- no particular style, tyson and i are pretty laid back and (clearly) very untraditional.
14. Do/Will your children attend public, private or homeschool? probably public.
15. Are any of your children adopted, or have you ever considered adoption? yes- i adopted tyson.
16. Do you have any step-children, and do they live with you? no-sir. (or ma'am- I guess i shouldn't have any gender bias about the person administering this survey).
17. Do you have any children who do not live with you? nope
18. Are any of your children grown? home-grown to be precise.
19. Do you have any grandchildren? yes- that child i had when i was six just had a baby.

Work
20. Are you a stay-at-home-mom, a work-at-home-mom, a part-time working mom, or a full-time working mom? a fulltime mommy mom.
21. If you work, what is your job? i'm a student/mommy
22. If you stay home, do you do volunteer or charity work of any kind? i volunteer to clean up after way too many people-- that's sort of like charity.
23. Do you love what you do? yes (sounds like it right?)

Religion
24. Are you religious? no.
25. What religion are you? i'm an atheist. (no that doesn't equate to devil worshipper)
26. How involved are you in your religion (attending services, etc.)? I keep an open mind about other people's religiosity but would prefer doing away with it alltogether.
27. How much do your religious beliefs impact your daily life? my lack of religious beliefs impacts my life much more than my religious beliefs did when I used to be religious
28. Are you and your husband the same religion? technically no, because neither of us are religious. But we are both atheists
29. Did either your or your husband change or convert after marriage? no- 1) because we're not married and 2) because we are not stupid enough to change our beliefs for someone else, and 3) because we are self-sufficient enough to come up with our own thoughts on life/ideologies. interestingly enough they are remarkably similar, though.
30. Do you and your husband ever argue about religion? never. except maybe which one is the most ridiculous. that's an ongoing debate.
31. Are you raising your children in your religion? no. i'm raising my child withOUT religion.
32. Are your religious convictions very different from the family you grew up in? hardly. I think my dad and I see eye to eye on the majority of it but my mom's pretty religious, and all of my siblings have similar views to me in that we all pretyt much reject religion entirely.
33. Are your religious convictions very different from the family your husband grew up in? oh yes- very much so. but i love them all just the same :)

Politics
34. Are you political? Definitely- I study politics in school.
35. Do you vote? yes sir/ma'am.
36. How do you define yourself politically? extremely liberal.
37. How does your husband define himself politically? a little less extremely liberal than me ;)
38. Who is more involved in politics, you or your husband? me
39. Do you ever fight with your husband about politics? no- we agree on the majority of issues especially the big ones.
40. Are your politics different from those of your parents? nope
41. Are your politics different from those of your in-laws? yes on a lot of things- but hey, I'm liberal and they're from Idaho... what do you expect?
42. Do you teach your children about politics? My son makes fun of Sarah Palin... so maybe just a little bit.

Fun
43. What do you like to do for fun with your kids? Vacation, swim, watch movies, read, fingerpaint!, go on adventures, take pictures, go to the library, etc. etc. etc.
44. What do you like to do for fun with just your husband? well in order to keep it G rated... 'cuddle'. hahaha!
45. What do you like to do for fun with your friends? WINE NIGHT!
46. What do you like to do for fun alone? read books that aren't assigned, and catch up on my sleep. (I know---I'm lame like that)
47. Which of those do you prefer? Time with Tyson and Leo :)

the end.

School + toddler = frustration

2010-06-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

Some days I feel like going back to school was the best thing I've done in my life apart from having my little man. Days like today--however--make me think that I simply tell myself that to overcome the constant guilt of knowing that I have to repeatedly prioritize something else in front of my time with my son. The frustrating thing is this is only going to get harder with law school.

Dammit society, why must you always shove it down my throat that I cannot have a stable home and professional life all the while being a doting and attentive mother?? And why do I feel so guilty for even WANTING to have both a career and a family????

UGH. Sometimes I just want to throw my hands in the air and give up.

play time

2010-06-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Leo has finally figured out how much fun it is to have friends who are also your neighbors too (especially in the summertime). His other friends from the park, swim class, etc. are fun of course but they only have about an hour or two together where they're in the same place and then they have to leave again. But your neighbors are a different story! They LIVE near you! You can just go knock on their doors and hang out!

Well, yesterday Leo had his first big kid 'hang out' (I can't call it a play date when the other kids are 5, 7, and 11). Basically, we got home from having lunch with grandma and I said he could walk next door and invite his new BFF (7 year old Dale) over to watch a movie. So he came over (laughing the whole way because Leo was trying to hold his hand since he was so excited!), they watched '3 Ninjas' and played with legos for about an hour-- and then our neighbors from across the street came over looking for them, so we invited them in to. Well, a couple hours of legos ended up turning into wanting to go out back and swim in the pool, and then we just ended up having the parents come over for a while too. Leo LOVED it!! It was so cute seeing him play with everyone and share all his toys all nice... I'm such a proud little momma today! And the best part about it all is he was so tired last night he went to bed in like 10 mins. I can't wait to have all his friends over again-- I could use some more good nights' sleep! =]

(Leo during all his big kid fun)

Mommy the smotherer

2010-06-23T15:57:00.001-07:00

Today my son found his little mini-maglite and walked into our bathroom, asked me to turn off the light, and before he shut and locked the door on me raised up one hand and said "mommy- i need some space. tanks".

Busy bees.

2010-06-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

So since it's been a few weeks I thought I'd write a lil blurb as to what we've been doing lately... but then I realized how little effort I'm wanting to put into it considering I still have to finish up my summer school stuff while Tyson & Leo are at the gym... so instead here's a photo montage of June so far :)

since we last talked we have:

Taken Leo to his first 'big' movie (Shrek 4):

Gotten a haircut:

Tried to stop picking our noses (unsuccessfully):

Become addicted to fake tattoos:

Been crafting:

Started Swim Lessons:

And woken up early, only to waste time taking silly pictures :)

(and as you can tell from the above pictures- we have also been denying the same black & yellow batman shirt of a good laundering because leo refuses to go very many days in a row without wearing it)... happy june!

Who taught my kid to talk?

2010-06-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today I had a few errands to run in town so I strapped Leo in & off we drove into Vegas to go to UNLV, the park, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Target & Trader Joes. Now, typically my little mister is pretty well behaved in the car-- probably has something to do with the fact that we commute so often that he just sorta zones out-- but today coming home from our 'trip' was ridiculous. I had just gotten done at Trader Joes & put the groceries in the Jeep, changed Leo in the back, and buckled him in and a few mins later I'm merging onto the freeway and this is what happens...

Leo: mommy, wook at me! [he's managed to slip his arms outside of the carseat straps]
Me: Leo, put your arms back in that carseat!
Leo: no i dont wanna. [contiues to try and get the rest of his body out of seat]
Me: LEANDROS ROBERT!! Don't you make me pull this car over!! PUT YOUR ARMS BACK IN RIGHT NOW.
Leo: [hearing me yell two of his three names- straightens up and puts his arms back] mommy, i wanna go home.
Me: [calmer now that my child isn't trying to escape a moving vehicle] alright leo, we're on our way. But if you get out of that carseat one more time I'm gonna spank you!
Leo: No! [then he smiles] Mommy, i want some chips.
Me: No baby you can't have any while I'm driving. Besides, the groceries are in the back, I can't reach them.
Leo: Mommy I NEEEEEED chips!
Me: No.
Leo: Mommy, I want some music. [I turn the radio on] No mommy- I don't want music. [radio off]
Mommy, I want to go to da spwash pawk. (splash park)
Mommy, I need to go to da pool.
Mommy, I need some chips.
Mommy, I want to go to a birday potty (birthday party).
Mommy, I want some music.
Mommy, I need some chips.

Me: [still ignoring the whining because I know it's naptime and he's likely to fall asleep soon- so I answer my phone when I get a call from a friend] ...blah blah blah... talking on the phone

Leo: MOMMY! I'm SOOOOOO SAD! [attempting to fake cry] I NEEEEEEED SOME CHIIIIIIPS!

by the end of my phone convo- (about 3 mins) he was fast asleep. I know it's bad to ignore him, but what else am I supposed to do? I think I need one of those limo partitions to separate my sanity from his screaming.

bedhead

2010-05-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

my little mister has inherited my unavoidable tendency to wake up with super rad bedhead. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself...

pretty wicked huh? i guess he's started moving around more in his sleep- because he used to just fall asleep in one position and wake up that way eight hrs later. I'm thinking it's about time for a haircut- and yet I just love his long hair! It keeps him different from all the other blonde boys in his class :) And I just can't imagine him without it!

On the other hand though- summertime is here and considering our desert heat can be ridiculously unbearable he might do better in the next few months if we do cut it... i don't know- what do you all think?

SUMMERTIME!

2010-05-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like I have been very true to my pledge of a change in lifestyle (rather than making a new years resolution) considering the fact that I haven't been on here to write a blog post in over two months. WOO HOO! for the paying attention to school and family over playing around online! Although I love to do that too... especially when I'm procrastinating...

So anyways, finals are done for the spring (have been for a couple weeks now) and I got the best grades I've gotten since I had Leo! Go me! Summer has been amazing so far, wonderfully relaxing and constantly enjoyable. We're planning our annual summer trip to the California beaches and are looking forward to the weather and some time with my MIL, Patti and nephew, Jordan. On top of that my little Leandros will be THREE this summer (where has the time gone??!), and then I've got one summer online class, an LSAT prep class, Leo's swim lessons, and maybe a camping trip thrown in there somewhere. Throw in some Lake Mead boat time and daily splash park trips and I'm loving this! Ahhh, summer-- I've missed you :)

Kiddie Talk

2010-03-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

I can't get over how much Leo's vocab has changed in the past few weeks. It seems like just yesterday I was squealing with excitement anytime I heard him spit out a jumbled 'mama' and now we're having full conversations with one another :) He's even comfortable enough with his words to debate with me on whether or not the picture in one of his favorite books is a jellyfish or a squid. HaHa! He's so stubborn sometimes. In addition to that he now sings all of the songs that they sing at his school without being asked at random times throughout the day- which I LOVE!

The other day we were reading books after everyone had left for work and school and at the end of his favorite book, Stripes, he looked at me and said 'mommy dats a weally gwate stowey' (really great story). Then he held the book in his hands and just looked at the cover as though he was really impressed with the entire story. So cute!!

My absolute favorite moment recently though, was just a couple weeks ago when he was playing with his toys on his own and he just started singing 'i'm bwingin home a bay-bee bum-bull beeeee! won't my mommy be so pwoud of me!' and proceeded on with the rest of the song. I had no idea he even knew that song! The way he tried to enunciate all of the words was just so stinkin' cute too! When he got to the end of the chorus he paused and then screamed 'OUCH! He STUUUUUNG me!' and then dramatically threw himself onto the floor and started giggling hysterically. Man I love that kid.

Caught in the act... Singing on the way home from the store.

I guess I need to work on taking a few less pictures and trying to remember to put the video cam mode on more often :)

Graduation is FINALLY in sight

2010-02-26T12:01:00.000-08:00

Well I've been putting off seeing an advisor for a couple semesters now because I wanted to bring up my GPA before getting told I had 7 years left to graduate or before getting laughed at when discussing applying for law schools... but today I sucked it up.

I went and spoke with an advisor (finally!) and found out that I can graduate in Spring of 2011- only one more year!!!! Unfortunately in order to do so I have to take on a full-load every semester until then but I'll get an entire summer to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! but enjoy my family before starting Law School and forgetting about them alltogether. (jk ty & leo!) Apparently my GPA is much higher than I thought too ::sighs of relief:: and so I'm considering upping the ante on some of the schools I wanted to apply to, provided that I do well on my LSAT.

Really.
REALLY.
Well.

Currently I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Georgetown but we'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next year...

::happy dance commences::

♪♪♪I'm gonna graaaaaaaaaaaaaduate... I'm gonna graaaaaaaaaaaaaduate!!!!♪♪♪
:) :) :) :)

BABY!

2010-02-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

I was cleaning up some files on my computer yesterday and trying to organize my photos when I came across a huge folder of Leo baby pictures. So I thought I'd share some of my faves because they make me smile and I figured I'd pass on the love~!

Leo and ~~my dad~~ his best friend

This was his first kiss! Can't believe I (sort of) caught it on film!

Love that little CHUBBY baby!

Wow- I can't believe my little boy is going to be three this year. Where did the time go???!

Happy New Year Life

2010-01-30T06:31:00.001-08:00

It's 6:00 in the morning and I have been up for the past two hours trying to fall back asleep after Tyson woke up at midnight to get sick, and also comforting a terrified toddler from what I can only imagine must have been an extremely vivid nightmare because he woke up screaming at 4am. So, after staring at my ceiling and not having even the slightest urge to fall back to dreamland...here I am. On the plus side, this is the first break in the past few weeks I've had to be on here :)

It's funny the way so many people say things at the turn of a New Year about making resolutions and improving their lives in some way or another but then end up going back to their typical ways by the end of month one. Well, I guess for the majority of my life I've pretty much fit into that category too--until this year when I realized that just saying I want to lose my "baby weight" (yes I know he'll be 3 this year and I can't use that much longer!) wasn't going to make my extra pounds disappear. Just the same way I knew saying I wanted to be more focused on school, Ty and Leo above all else wouldn't make me do so. I had to do those things on my own without the added support or façade of some ridiculous resolution. So, tomorrow's the end of the month and I feel like I've made a decent start at changing certain things about my life, not just for a year, that I'm happy about. I've gone to the gym because I wanted to-- not because I felt guilty--and lost 8 lbs in the last month; stopped using movies/television as babysitters and tried to keep schoolwork & personal extras for early mornings, naps, or late at night; taken my hyperactive toddler to the park more; I PAID off my jeep! and cut the rest of our budget down significantly; and spent more time allowing my son to make his own choices (such as eating only blueberries for lunch) rather than dictating any and every time I have a chance.

Now, having said this I've also realized some of my faults exist to a greater magnitude then I've ever allowed myself to see before... One of those being that I am stubborn; specifically when it comes to admitting my own fault. I rarely want to 'pick my battles' because I feel that I should just pick them all and never lose (see- I will make a great lawyer someday!). Well- in life you lose some and you win some, so I guess at 23 it's about time I come to terms with this!

My point is that we're always changing, learning and growing so why is it that everyone is quick to find a resolution just because new calendars are being sold- and if anything why should we ever stop changing? What does the 'end' of a year really have to do with recreating ourselves? If you really want to get technical everyday could be the end of a year, depending on when you started counting... but that's neither here nor there. What I'm really saying is- I am who I am, and that is who I want to be today, tomorrow, and on Jan 1st of next year.

♥

Lots to say but no words to do so.

2010-01-14T09:22:00.001-08:00

Wow- it's been a long time since I've had time to myself to sit down and do this, and while I would normally just get on here and write an obnoxiously long post... I can't really do that today. First of all because I've only got 15 mins left in the library before I have to walk to my class and second I've had a lot going on in the past few weeks and I don't even know where to begin or how to put it all into words.

I guess I just need to collect my thoughts better before I sit down to do this again...

:/

Holiday Joy

2009-12-21T15:16:00.001-08:00

These last few days have been the best start to a christmas week I have had in a long time.

Saturday morning we woke up early & met one of my friends from high school at The District to take family photos. She's currently studying photography and takes A-M-A-Z-I-N-G photos! Seriously, if anyone living in So.NV is looking for a great photographer let me know :)

The District was such a cool place to take pictures because they had it decorated so pretty for Christmas, and then the carousel is always a cool photo op too of course.

Sara was great with Leo & her friend Stacy came along & really kept him entertained (aka- bribed w/M&Ms) but--hey--it worked!

So after family photos we went home to veg out & watch some movies (The Hangover & The Taking of Pelham 123- both awesome) and spent a relaxing afternoon with my siblings. Then Tyson & I took Leo to his first college basketball game. Go Rebels! Leo fell asleep on the way there & so he was a little freaked out when we first walked down the stairs to our seats, but after a few minutes he loved it! He kept putting his hands up when our team shot freethrows & would yell "go rebels" with us. So cute!! They won & afterwards we went out to blueberry hill with Ali & Daniel & then home. Then yesterday Tyson, Leo and I went Christmas shopping with Gabi & Charlos for a few hours, and came home and decorated the christmas tree. My mom calls it the Charlie Brown tree (remember the dinky one from the cartoon?) because it's pretty sparse, but it's so cool because it's a live tree that can be planted after christmas is over. "I'm dreaming of a greeeeen Christmas!" ;)

The night ended perfectly, first we took Leo to look at Christmas lights and then I sat around with my parents and siblings reminiscing about places we used to live and taking a walk down memory lane. Might seem a little cliche, but trust me, it was no Norman Rockwell painting (which is what made it so perfect). All in all, it was a great start to Christmas week and I'm so excited to spend time with the rest of our family in the next coming days too.

It's Critt-muss time!

2009-12-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

Today Leo and I were "building houses" (aka playing with blocks) and I started talking to him about Christmas. I asked him what he wanted for christmas and he just looked at me like I was crazy. So then I started telling him about Santa Clause and how if he was a good boy Santa would bring him presents on Christmas.

At this point he seriously thought about this new information, and then he looked at me & asked- "Santa Cah-wause is for critt-muss?" (Santa Clause is for Christmas?) So I said yes- and then he says "oh. okay. tanks." (thanks) And just kept playing.

Merry Critt-muss everyone- from my family to yours! :)

Tweet.

2009-12-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today I read about a really tragic death of a little 2 year old boy who fell into a swimming pool and drowned. Of course my condolences go out to his family, as no one should ever have to experience losing a child. It is just horrifying to think about, and I am so sorry for their loss. It makes me even more sad to hear, however, that just about a half hour prior to this tragic accident and also a half hour post 911 call, the mother of the two year old was on twitter. Here's the article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/17/shellie-ross-moms-tweets_n_395833.html

With this post I am in no way insinuating that the mother did not care about her son, or that his death was a direct result of her carelessness but I just don't understand it. There is a line that needs to be drawn between participating in social networking media and real life responsibilities. There is a time and a place for each, and one should always take precedence over the other. It's acceptable to tweet, facebook, or blog but if you are a parent- there is one primary responsibility you have- to protect and keep your child/ren safe.

Stupid sexist public bathrooms.

2009-12-16T17:15:00.001-08:00

Alright I have a bone to pick with businesses. Why do changing tables only get placed in women's bathrooms? Are men any less capable of changing diapers than women? Guess what- no they are not. In fact I would like to state that I think Tyson is probably better at me than changing diapers because he doesn't complain as much (no one tell him I admitted this).

However--stupid bathrooms-- when you place changing tables in only the women's restrooms you create the separation of gender roles where I have to change the pee & poo for an entire day of christmas errands and Tyson gets off scott free. Screw you public bathrooms. Men help with child rearing too- get with the stinkin' program!

that is all.

"I sahwwy mommy"

2009-12-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

It's ten o'clock & can I just say- I love sesame street. It gives me just enough time to grab a cup of coffee, spend a few minutes browsing facebook, write on my lil blog, and start my housework for the day. How nice. Well my bloggyness for the day will be rather short because I've got lots of housework to do and I just wanted to share a little moment from my early morning.

It was 8 a.m. and I'd just logged on to my laptop to check and see if all my grades had been posted from last semester when Leo walked into the kitchen where I was sitting.

Leo: [chin in his chest & eyes cast downwards] "Mommy, daddyza gonna spankyou."

I looked up and asked him "What?"

Again, he repeated himself.

I asked him who was getting spanked and what did he do? So he looked up with his eyes, face still looking ashamed and said "Wee-o stand onda tay-bull" (Leo stood on the table).

Me: you stood on the table? [he nods seriously] Ok, well if you knew it was bad and you came to tell me that you should get spanked for standing on the glass table- then why did you do it?

Then he looked up smiled & said "I sahwwy mommy! Oooo-kay?!" (sorry)
And then he ran off -- probably to go do it again.

Anyone have a good pen name in mind?

2009-12-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

I think I want to write a book. Ok, let me rephrase because I know I want to write a book, I'm just unsure about how to go about it all & whether or not I want to put that sort of effort/time into such an immense project. I finally shared my desire to write a book with another person today for the first time--my sis Ali--and she was pretty enthusiastic about it. She thought it would be a good idea, which is a compliment since she's read a lot of my stuff before.

There are a few angles I've imagined taking (I've been considering this for quite some time now) but I'd probably write some sort of adult fiction to keep it easy & entertaining. I've always loved writing, and have kept journals and little short stories since I was young so I've got lots of ideas. This blog has been really enjoyable for me to write (even if only one person reads it!) and I think a book could be fun. It could also be frustrating [very...very frustrating] but I guess its one of those things I've just got to try if nothing else.

So maybe I'll take one of my books off my winter reading list and replace it with starting my own. We'll see... I'm not sure if I could take writing an entire book that only one person wants to read...

my son the fatty.

2009-12-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

Leo must be going through a growth spurt lately because he's been eating like a teenager. This morning for breakfast he had a bowl of yogurt, two cans of mandarin oranges, a scrambled egg and some toast. Just now (2 1/2 hours later) he came into the kitchen where I'm prepping to bake more cookies and he said "some cheese please" and then after eating a few slices of cheese & turkey, proceeded to open the pantry door and get himself out some graham crackers.

Last night we had taco bell (I didn't feel like cooking--so sue me! ) and he ate two crunchy tacos and half a Mexican pizza. And finished it off w/a few handfuls of frozen peas for dessert.

I guess it's just strange watching him transition so easily from milk, to baby food, then toddler stuff, and now 'big boy' food. :) But I should be happy right- some kids have a really hard time with the whole 'eating' thing.

MmmmmmMMMmmm Pudding- April 2009

Now only if I could finish law school quickly so we can afford to keep food in the house...especially before Leo's appetite matches Tyson's.

Oranges & Yogurt- December 2009

You know you're a nerd when..

2009-12-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

You get excited over reading a new book review & can't wait to read that book. HAHAHA!

I absolutely love to read. Everything. From the Harry Potter books and the Twilight series (yeah I know- it's a little sad to admit as an avid reader!) to biographies, memoirs, and all that's in between. If I could- I would stay in my room all day long and read books one after another in all my free time. Not as a job, or to write reviews or anything, but just to enjoy reading.

I've got so many books I want to read this winter break but considering it's only 4 weeks long and I've got my mommy responsibilities I'll probably have to shorten the amount pretty significantly... so here's my shortened list:

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

I'll stick w/4 for now unless I finish early & want to get another 1 or 2 in before spring semester starts in January. I'm always up for new suggestions though so feel free to send some book titles my way!

Alright, Leo's asleep so now I'm off to start my list.

school's out!

2009-12-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

YAY!

I FINALLY finished the fall semester! Actually, I finished on Tuesday, but got so sick late tuesday night and woke up yesterday morning and couldn't even get out of bed. Funny, it was sort of the likley ending to my finals considering the day I had on Tuesday...

Woke up- an hour late of course- and after dropping Leo off realized I had about 7 hours before my last final (my hardest one too- so this wasn't much time really) and got to the library to cram some more. Tried to pull up the wireless connection for UNLV & I can't. So I call the help desk and they said that it crashed & they'll call when I can get on again.... An hour passes by and I finally get to get online, start my studying & realize my computer isn't being charged. So I've got just enough time to transfer my work to my email & it shuts off. I go find an open computer after looking for nearly a half hr and unfortunately have to settle for one on a 'loud floor' (meaning no cellphone restrictions). After 5 mins of being there some ridiculously loud & especially flamboyant guy comes & sits @ the comp next to me & proceeds to talk on his phone for 2 straight hours!! He gets off (finally) and as I finally get some quiet time... his phone rings again---an hour later he gets up and leaves. At that point I just gave up, printed my notes & went with Ali to get something to eat since it's less than an hr till my final. Go to the building to take my final & the elevator is broken. Normally no big deal since I usually walk up the 3 flights but since I had so much studying to do I took my rolling bag so I could bring my 6 books, laptop, and notes. UGHGHHHH. So I drag my 50 lb bag up 3 flights of stairs- go take my final [ridiculously hard final] and lug the bag down the stairs. After I get home thinking my luck couldn't get much worse...I go to sleep early & wake up sick........ :/

I felt so bad too- because I had all these plans for Leo and I to spend the day celebrating being done w/the semester: story time at the library, christmas cookie baking, holiday shopping, maybe a trip to the childrens museum and playing at the park... Yeah- none of that happened. In fact thankfully mom was home or I would have had to call on the tv to babysit while I spent the day getting sick. :p YUCK! Feeling much better today though, so I took Leo to his last day of school, spent the day relaxing by myself (what a treat!) and plan on cleaning/baking all day tomorrow.

Let the holidays begin~!

Study break anyone?

2009-12-07T22:18:00.000-08:00

Ok this has absolutely nothing to do with anything I should be doing right now- but my brother and Tyson showed me this last night and so I thought I'd share :)

Haha! The other one is 'Jafool calls to book a table' but for some reason they wouldn't allow me to post it on here... hmmmm...

Anways back to the books. Hope ya enjoyed!

What's in a name?

2009-12-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

I know I know... I'm supposed to be studying (until Tuesday)... But if I didn't take a break from World Politics and Survey of Political Theory my head was going to explode. Between Plato, Socrates, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and all the others.... I'm spinning just thinking about them all.

Hence the reason I will no longer be discussing them.

Instead let's talk about baby names.

No I'm not pregnant, and no we're not planning on having another one anytime soon. I've got to finish law school first and then we'll pick up with the kid thing. ;) Anyways, I was at the park with Leo last week and I heard a woman call her daughter by her full name because she got in trouble for something. "Ripley Heavenly Smith" looked to be about four and her sister- who was maybe about two was "Perry" (she wasn't in trouble so I'm unsure of her middle name!)

At first I thought she was cursing or something (??) because I didn't associate what she was saying with a name... but sure enough her little Ripley Heavenly came running. I just felt bad for the little girls. At least Leandros has been nicknamed Leo... what does Ripley Heavenly get as a nickname? Rip?? Ripper?? Poor kid. How about her sister? Pear??

Now, I'm all about names that have some uniqueness about them (which could prove to be difficult if your last name is Smith) and after all I do realize my son's name (Leandros) isn't at the top of the baby names lists...but we didn't want one that was and I think there's a fine line between unique and weird. Who knows though...

I just know that I won't be naming my next child (in the very distant future!) anything that can be shortened into a fruit or a bodily function. (Rip-? get it!? anyone...??!)

you did what?

2009-12-04T19:36:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I still have oh-so-much friggin' school work to do tonight (actually from now until Tuesday afternoon I should be studying for finals) but just finished my last paper and wanted to share this little anecdote real quick... Yesterday I picked Leo up from preschool and as soon as we got in the car and started driving I started asking Leo about his day:

Me: Leo did you have fun at school today?
Leo: Yeah- I pway wiff fwends. (play with friends)
Me: Oh yeah what did you play?
Leo: wiff fwends. [duh mom!]
Me: What else did you do today besides play?
Leo: uhmmmmm.... I pooped.
Me: you did what??
Leo: pooped.

Of course I start laughing hysterically because I was expecting to hear something about "paintin wiff fingas " (finger painting)or "pway on da swides" (play on the slide) etc. But then I start thinking- oh great what if he pooped just now and that's what he's telling me?

So as soon as I get to a red light I take off my seatbelt and unbuckle the little booger and thankfully--- find nothing in his diaper. Nice! Quickly buckle him back- light changes and I'm laughing again.

Kids are so funny.

Alone. But not really.

2009-12-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I found out that one of my few friends living in So. NV (AD- or as Leo calls her: Sadie) moved. :( Now, we'd been expecting this coming up within the next few months because her fiance, Jon (the one Leo hung up on a few days ago), who is also Tyson's best friend-- got a job in Colorado. Anyways, long story short they ended up moving earlier than expected and she called me yesterday to say that she drove out there pre-thanksgiving. So after having a good chat on the phone with her we hung up and said we'd talk soon. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm so happy that they got a chance to move on to bigger & better opportunities (for both of them!) and I know that they needed to get out of Vegas... but I was just so sad to hear that she left! AD was probably the last of my closest friends that lived near us, so it was sort of hard to hear.

I guess this is just all part of getting older, though- right? Your friends move, you move, some people get new jobs, have new responsibilities, and you lose touch with others... What can be done right? Well, I was driving to school this morning (not gonna lie, still a little depressed) and my phone rings. Who was it? AD!! I was so excited to talk to her especially when she tells me she called because she just passed a bridal boutique and wanted to go in but didn't have me there to go with her. Awww! Love that girl!~

(The Sounds concert @ House of Blues with AD & her sis Nicole)

So, I guess what I should have realized yesterday when we first talked is that: your true friends stay in your lives no matter what your geographical location or the time difference or life changes we all go through, and I've got plenty of proof with the friends I'm lucky to still have.

(Jon & AD on Ty's birthday)

Who wants to go try on ugly wedding dresses with me?

2009-12-01T22:37:00.000-08:00

So--I've officially been bit-- by the wedding bug.

(If there is one that is...)

For some reason in the past few weeks I've been thinking that I'd really like to have a wedding. Well it's not as though Tyson is opposed to the idea and really the only reason we haven't gotten married yet (or at least so I've been lead to believe!) is because we both get A LOT more financial aid this way for school. I, however, recently found out that next year is my last semester to receive my grant-in-aid (aka 90% of my free college tuition) because apparently, after the age of 24 you are no longer 'dependent' on your parents and so therefore my professor father can no longer allow me to depend upon his hook-up. (HAHA- too bad for my parents that's not completely true!) So anyways, if the financial aid is the main reason we're not married.. then why not get married after the next semester's over?

Sooooo.... after a few times of being asked 'what do you want for Christmas' by Ty and not getting any response when I raised my left hand ring finger- I decided to just approach the topic head on. Surprisingly enough- it was not shut down with a "where do we have that kind of money" or "it's just a piece of paper" or "what will that change about our relationship?" such as I've heard in the past. In fact, he kind of showed a little more enthusiasm (ok- a lot more--I just don't want to jinx myself) than in the past. Still no definitive answers outta him (or more importantly: no specific question outta him) but oh well.

So here I am taking baby steps with my boy-iance-band (stay with me here) trying to make him just get me a little bling and pop 'the' question (fingers crossed- by Christmas maybe?)...all the while wanting to go try on wedding dresses so I can start planning (ok who am I kidding, I've been planning forever!).

Anyone down for some wedding planning? COME ON- off to taste cake we go!

conversing with a toddler

2009-11-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

I got out of class tonight—thankfully ½ an hr early!—and so I called to check on my two favorite boys a few minutes ago and also to let Tyson know that I needed to stay on campus a bit to finish a paper due tomorrow. Ty answered and said it was a good thing I didn’t call 10 minutes before because Leo picked up the phone when our friend Jon called and said “oh HI mommy!” and after a minute decided to flip it shut and hang up on poor Jon. HAHA! Well anyways, I laughed at this (that little guy just cracks me up!) and asked if I could talk to him- forgetting what I needed to tell Ty. This is roughly how our conversation went…

Me: HI Leo how are you booga?! (one of my many nicknames for him)
Leo: Hi mommy- uhhhmmm… dadden (what he calls Tyson) push puh-way puhwease. (push play please)
Me: What are you watchin Leo?
Leo: uhhhmmm Leo watch Einsteins? (referring to his Little Einstein video- and yes he answered me with a question… haha!)
Me: oh? You’re watching Einsteins? Have you been a good boy?
Leo: yeah- uhhhmmm good boy. Dadden—push puh-way puhwease?
[Little Einsteins music plays in the back]
Leo: Dadden- watch a ninja turtles…. Puhwease.
Me: Leo don’t you want to watch Einsteins? Daddy just put it on for you-?

[long pause]

Leo: Bye bye mommy

[click].

Lessons learned here: 1- my son is fully capable of having a conversation on the phone but only on his own terms. 2-He’s fully aware of the consequences of shutting dadden’s flip phone 3- don't get on the phone with a toddler prior to having finished grown-up convo and 4- and possibly the most important lesson of all... Ninja Turtles trumps Little Einsteins- no questions asked.

LOVE you!

2009-11-29T20:31:00.000-08:00

This has been one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. I'm so happy to have such amazing family & friends in my life and it's times like these that make that so apparent. I got to enjoy a long weekend with Tyson and our little Leo, and on top of that three of my friends came into town too. Thanksgiving Day was spent cooking with my mom and sisters and afterwards enjoyed with new friends plus my 7 favorite people on the planet! ♥ I am so privileged to be apart of such a loving family. Even though I might get frustrated at times: Leo, Tyson, Mom, Dad, Ali, Charlie, and Gabi- I love you guys. And Roxana, Sarah, and Lisa- you guys all made my weekend even better by coming to town! Sorry our time spent together was so short.

But life is short and I love to have all the moments I can with my loved ones. So to anyone who might be taking the time to read this right now- thanks for being part of my life. Although I might not acknowledge it enough- I'm thankful for you all and love each and every one of you.

~Patty

"Leo do it"

2009-11-25T23:05:00.000-08:00

I know there's some things that parents get excited over that other people think is just ridiculous- but we had one of those moments happen tonight and so I needed to share. Leo dressed himself- all by himself- tonight when he got ready for bed. He also made a big deal of telling us "Leo do it" as he got dressed. Now, granted dressing himself included socks and shoes (for bed - lol?!) but still he did the whole diaper (though this part needed re-doing by mommy), pj shirt and pj pants all by himself after taking off the first diaper, walking to the bathroom and going potty before getting dressed!!

The best part is that once he had his jammies on, and finished putting on his socks and shoes on all the way to the zippers on his shoes--he stood up, wiggled a bit and did a little 'victory dance'. HILARIOUS!

Now- if only we could get him to put himself to bed.... maybe by next Thanksgiving...

(after taking this picture- he then proceeded to find the batman mask and Tyson's skydiving helmet- and then decided he wanted to relax in front of a movie with his entire getup on.)

Apparently I'm the bad parent

2009-11-23T15:40:00.001-08:00

I just had the most ridiculous thing happen to me, and since Leo is still asleep I figured I would take a few mins to vent about it.

Leo and I were out doing a few errands in Henderson early this afternoon and he was being such a little trooper going around with me not fussing and just reading his books and hanging out in his stroller. After I finished I decided I would take him to the mall food court for a little snack (since we were close) and because they have this little mini play area for kids that he loves. Usually there are a lot of kids there and he's all about that- but today there weren't any when we got there around 1. Well, after playing by himself for a few minutes, a guy who looked to be in about his late 50's or even early 60's came up with a little boy. The kid started taking off his shoes so he could go play and the older man started talking to me about how his 3 year old was the youngest of his 6 children and how even though the others were doctors, lawyers, and veterinarians this one was the smartest. Ok wow- nice to meet you man who would like to discuss his family tree with me. Oh, well... I guess being over chatty is nicer than being standoff-ish right?

Well, as he talked his little "genius" started playing with Leo and they were taking turns going down the slide on the play place. The little boy stopped at the top and sat there for a few minutes and when Leo said "ready set go!" he still sat there. At that point Leo nudged him down the slide. The kid looked up a little startled but he was just fine and kept running around- but the father said to Leo, "HEY, you better be nice kid. STOP IT!" I looked at him- surprised he was yelling at my son, and said I would handle the situation- thank you. So I walked over and talked with my son and told him to play nice. The boys carry on, and start playing a game of tag and after a few rounds Leo tagged the little kid and he fell down.

Ok. I will be the first to punish my kid when he's doing something wrong- but the little kids were playing like kids and so there was nothing wrong here. They were pushing each other around and having fun- laughing the whole time. Again- the kid was fine this time but yet again the father says "HEY! BE NICE!" and then he says to me "That's your kid- you have a responsibility to make sure he behaves." Well even though I did say something to Leo about playing nice and said that if he was mean we would go home- I wasn't about to break up the playing between the two boys because they were still laughing with one another and having fun.

Basically, this ended up happening again (the kid went down again) during the game of tag and at this point the kids father lost it. He stood up, walked over to me and pointed his finger in my face and yelled, "YOU ARE BEING AN IRRESPONSIBLE PARENT. THAT IS 3 TIMES HE HAS HURT MY SON! GREAT PARENTING!"

So I stepped back, asked him to stop yelling at me and told him that he needed to watch his temper. At this point he got even more ridiculous and yelled at Leo to "GET AWAY" from his kid and said to me "I'm going to tell my kid to hit yours back the next time that happens. How would you feel about that??!!" At that point- I almost lost it. I don't think I've ever been so close to hitting another human being in my entire life. Thankfully I did not... As I got Leo up though so we could leave without mommy getting into a fight I told the old jerk "You know, they were just playing like kids. You call me a bad parent- but you're the one threatening a two year old. Great role model. I'm sure your little GENIUS is so proud."

some more mushy stuff :)

2009-11-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

This class I’m taking right now on Sociology of Marriage and Family had a discussion last week about unconditional love. Basically we had to watch a video on the NPR website about unconditional love and respond with our reactions to the video and feelings on the topic. The video we had to watch was extremely touching (in other words- it made me cry) of two different accounts of parents having unconditional love for children who on ‘normal’ terms would seem impossible to love.

The first was a child adopted out of a Romanian orphanage at the age of 8. The adoptive parents came to find their son diagnosed with ‘attachment disorder’ where he basically was incapable of forming any sort of loving attachment or bond with anyone. Long story short, he lashed out so much over the first 5 years he lived with them that they tried everything under the son to help him out. It even got so bad that he once threatened the mother with a knife one day by holding it to her neck and saying he was going to slit her throat. The parents persisted with treatment, and eventually after utilizing the services of specialists for his disorder and unbelievable therapy tactics he slowly started to realize that these two people- individuals who weren’t even biologically related to him- would never give up on him and therefore loved him unconditionally. The story ended with him speaking as his class valedictorian some odd number of years later and saying how much he loved his mom and dad for never leaving his side and loving him. *Tears!*

The second child was born with severe autism and after growing into a very large and strong young man (though with the mind capacity of a little boy) he became a physical threat to his parents and his twin brother. There were countless examples where he became frustrated and would harm his three family members and they would all make excuses for him and forgive him even though they were living in a very stressed lifestyle, constantly trying to help him ‘get better.’ Well, his disorder never went away (as it sadly goes for most autistic children) but the parents got him the help he needed and he overcame many of his behavioral issues. This example ended with the son (Ben, I think his name was)—who did not talk much until he was 11—telling his dad “The letter D” and the dad says “and d is for” and Ben says “daddy!” and smiles. Then the dad says “and daddy loves you very much.” *Tears again!*

So at the end of the video I’m just looking at my little man sleeping sideways across his bed (he never sleeps still!) and I just have the urge to go pick him up and hold him until he wakes up. The concept of unconditional love was never a foreign one to me, because as I’ve mentioned before- I think the one thing I’ve never lacked in life is just that. My parents were very economically stressed in my early childhood (when my dad was in law school) and while I might not have had all the materialistic items I wanted when I was younger- there has never been one moment of needing love in my life.

Even still though, I think the concept of an unconditional relationship becomes so surreal when you become a parent and brings a whole new meaning to the phrase. From the very second that little being came crying into my arms for the first time my entire world changed. I know this all sounds so cliché, but I have a hard time describing it any other way. Just his presence makes me feel that I’m doing something important and brings an entirely new substance to my life. He's my son, will always be under any circumstances- and I love him... unconditionally

Thankful.

2009-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

I've spent most of this weekend cleaning up around the house, rearranging my room, and working on the yard. My dad invited about 20 of his law students to Thanksgiving dinner this week (although I think only 10 will be coming) because they weren't able to travel back home since finals are the following week. This is so typical of my parents and just one more reason that I love my family. I can't remember the last time we had a Thanksgiving holiday with only our immediate family members, and to me- that just exemplifies Thanksgiving! Enjoying good food and great company is the only way I like to spend the holidays! I am very privileged to have so much in my life to be thankful for, but most of all I am so thankful that my family has instilled the value of recognizing all the wonderful things in life and how to be appreciative of each & every one of them- I strive to give these values to my own son and hope that I am living up to the high standards that my parents have set. The holiday season is a time for love and a time for thanks- so let's pass some around (along with a glass of wine and maybe some chocolate!) and enjoy the season together!!

♥

In case you need a little laugh..

2009-11-20T21:33:00.001-08:00

It's been a pretty uneventful day (don't get me wrong- I love uneventful days!) and so since I didn't have much to write about tonight, I figured I would share some of my favorite youtube videos of little kids doing funny/cute things. Enjoy!~

this little kid is so cute! I wanna teach Leo to give this look

bluuuuuuud!

so cute!

little english kids are SO cute! this one is an all time fave in our house- we still call my brother 'chaww-lay' because of it.

I feel like Leo and I will be having conversations like this soon

And these next two are just hilarious.

Happy weekend!!!

Sometimes ya just gotta rant.

2009-11-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

After the torture of taking my son to the doctor's office yesterday and finding out he had two ear infections, I figured that there wouldn't be much more issue about the whole sick thing... minus a screamy toddler at medicine time. Unfortunately I was mistaken.

Since our insurance is through UNLV I went to the Pharmacy at the Student health and wellness center after I got out of class -- the way I've done in the past to pick up my own prescriptions -- expecting to pay the $15 co-pay and be on my merry way to pick up Leo at school. When I got there, though the pharmacist told me that she couldn't look up dependent's information because the system only had students info. Hmm... weird. So she told me to try CVS next to the Hard Rock because it was basically right across the street. Fifteen traffic minutes and a ten minute sick-CVS-customer-line later I'm being told by the CVS pharmacy technician that they don't accept my insurance but I should try the school's health and wellness center pharmacy. Well I told her I just came from there and they wouldn't fill it either- so where was I supposed to go?? So she offered to fill the prescription, but told me I'd have to pay for it out of pocket. "How much?"-- I ask. "Ummm...let me see...$87.00"

Ok so at this point I'm feeling like this is a joke. $87.00 for a 30mL bottle (smaller than a bottle of Nyquil for those who don't know!) of Omnicef that I have in the past paid $15 for through Tyson's insurance???! So the pharm tech stood there and looked at me with this ridiculous annoyed look on her face and said "soooo... do you want me to fill it- or what?" in her nasally voice. Okay, first of all why was this girl- who was possibly younger than I am- giving me attitude when I am the one being asked to pay $87.00 for medicine? At that point I told her to wait a minute while I called my insurance company, and after talking to two extremely rude individuals in the "customer service" department (I don't doubt they worked in that department- however I do use quotes to imply that they do in fact- SUCK at customer service) and finding out for the first time that my insurance does not cover dependent's prescriptions.

What the heck?? Again- is this a joke? Well, the second 'CS' rep practically hung up on me after advising me of the ridiculously long process to submit a request for a refund- that might result in me getting back 20% of the cost- at most. SERIOUSLY?? You're going to send me a check in 6 months (after you deny my claim and I send it back 8 times...) that might equal roughly $15????? ugh. What can I do at that point but ask the bitchy pharmacy tech to fill the prescription and just pay the $$ with out any more complaints. It boggles my mind how people can honestly say that there is no problem with the healthcare system in this country. Thankfully Tyson and I are privileged enough to be able to afford an $87 prescription- although we're broke enough to feel it as well- but what about the people who don't have insurance at all- or even the ones who do but can't afford it?? Are their kids just supposed to suffer through it??? NO!!!!

Well even after saying such I do realize that we have it pretty well- but I thought maybe I might get a free pass on a few things tonight after my crappy day (don't get me started on the rest!) Again- sadly mistaken: even though Leo took his medicine pretty easily- when it came to everything else (eating dinner, sitting on his 'potty chair', putting his jammies on, diaper before bed) I got a "NOOOOOO mommy!" the whole time and a fight through it all.

At this point all I've got to say is: TGTF. (thank goodness tomorrow's friday)

"Dat-za make you feel better"

2009-11-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Leo's been feeling a little sick this week, nothing too serious though just a low grade fever. Well, considering it's wintertime (if you can call it that in Southern Nevada) and he's in preschool we weren't too concerned but he had to go to the doctor to get a vaccine and so I thought I'd mention the fever to the doctor. Good thing I did first, because his doctor told me that they didn't want to give him a shot if he had a fever. So they check his temp and it's normal- woohoo!- but then they say they want to check for H1N1.

UGH...

Now, Tyson and I have not been wanting to get any of us vaccinated for the H1N1- so we have not. Mainly we haven't because it's such a new vaccine so we're a little skeptical, and also we don't even get the seasonal flu shots. Well, anyways, so the nurse comes in with a big Q-tip lookin thing and says she's just going to have to 'give his nose a little tickle' with it. In layman's terms that really means 'I'm going to shove a large Q-tip up his nose while you hold him down and he screams until he gets so worked up he stops breathing for a second".... my poor little baby :( I felt so GUILTY~! As soon as the nurse (who looked both extremely apologetic and mortified) left the room he gripped me with both his arms and his legs and cried into my chest "mommy thatza BIG booger!" Awwwww! He thought the nurse was shoving Q-tips up his nose to get his 'boogers' out. I tried to stifle my laugh so I didn't make him feel worse and just let him hug me and cry until the doctor came in.

"Good news. No H1N1! Now let's just check his ears to make sure there's no ear infection." Again, another oh-so-fun game of hold down the screaming toddler ensued and as luck would have it- not just one- but two ear infections were found. The doctor walked out to get the prescription for his ears and said he could still get his vaccine since the infection was in his ears. Oh what wonderful luck. (yes- that's sarcasm...) So another nurse comes in- repeat the hold the toddler down deal - and Leo gets a shot in his little flexed leg--screaming all the while. Finally they let us go after multiple rounds of torture and we walked to the car, Leo's cheeks stained with tears, a sticky lollipop hanging out his mouth, and a headache forming behind my eyes. Right before I opened the car door Leo looked up at me, pointed to the spongebob bandaid on his leg and said "mommy dat-za make you feel better?"

At that point I couldn't help but laugh and scoop him up to hug him because my sweet little man who'd just been pricked and prodded for the past hour and half was justifying his pain and discomfort because it would "make you feel better". Wow. I don't think this whole parenting thing could ever get old...because my little baby boy never ceases to amaze me.

♥

Such an imagination.

2009-11-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

Some kids carry blankets, others suck their thumbs or use pacifiers, and there are those kids that don't need anything at all. Well my son's sense of 'security' is now his batman mask (see previous posts for pictures!).

Early this morning I woke up at 4am to Leo crying: 'whereza batman mask mommy??" And so I picked it up off the floor where it had fallen and as soon as I put it in his hands again he went back to sleep.

Mommy to the rescue!

Well, on to preschool... where the mask stayed put. In addition to the batman mask though, Leo also decided to go back to his old 'sock-puppet' securities (and the 'puppets' are only two mismatched socks turned inside out on his hands). So let me just paint the picture here since I don't have an actual picture of the scene:

His outfit today consisted of a white teeshirt with a tractor on it, jeans, black sneakers, an orange and blue striped sweatshirt, a blue sweatband with holes cut in it around his eyes (the batman mask) and one red inside out sock on the right hand and one grey inside out sock on the left hand. To top it off, he always wants to carry his Cars lunchbox by himself (which is always too heavy for him) and so he walked into school looking as described, tugging his lunchbox behind him. What a sight! His teacher laughed and started telling me about a little boy in one of her past classes that used to carry around a turkey baster. So after laughing with her on a few other stories I went to kiss my little batman/sockman and when I said "bye bye baby- mommy loves you!" he ran off and said "I'MA BATMAN!"

okay batman- mommy loves you!

Stinkin' tea baggers

2009-11-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

Today I got an email containing a video about "illegal immigration" and after watching it I got really frustrated with the amount of people who make claims and judgements on policies and laws that are solely based off of incorrect information. Now, I'm sure anyone reading this could easily peg me (that is, if you know me) as a pretty liberal minded individual, but the issue at hand is not politics themselves, but rather ignorance. There are many aspects of politics that I know nothing about and so I try not to claim expertise on those issues and if I feel strongly about something have a good solid foundation for my reasoning. I know that this video is over a couple months old (and note: this is not the one I saw today) but I figured that it was a great example of how many people make ignorant comments and perpetuate incorrect information by discussing issues that they really know nothing about.

(oh and on a less serious note: I love the way the chunky little blonde kid says "we didn't vote for this..." -Yeah- of course you didn't vote, because you're not old enough!)

oh so happy!

2009-11-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

Last night Tyson and I had a great date night, which we owe some gratitude towards Gabi for babysitting. Basically it came about sort of quickly because Tyson realized that his deadline for a paper on a Jazz performance was coming up in a couple weeks for one of his music classes so we figured we'd go check out some jazz. After searching for 'Las Vegas Jazz' online I found a live group playing at The Grape, a cute little wine bar situated inside Town Square. So considering we were heading out to a bar we couldn't take Leo and Gabi was great to take on the 'brave task' of watching our little monster. Off to the wine bar we went... a little guilty that our drums lovin son wouldn't get to experience some great music.

Well first off, for any of my Vegas friends, if wine is your deal- I strongly recommend this place. Reasonable prices (well... reasonable for Vegas!) great wine list and complimentary tastings every so often. The dessert menu looked great too- but we decided we were going to have Sushi and Sake after the jazz so we didn't order any. Anyways, I digress. So I had a glass of wine Tyson had a beer and we enjoyed some great music for an hour or so. Then we walked around for a little bit just people watching, window shopping a little and listening to the Christmas Carols (didn't we just carve pumpkins?!) on the speakers. Those moments walking around were so great to have to ourselves because it really made me appreciate how much I value our relationship. The only improvement that could have been made was if Leo was with us, but in all honesty- it is definitely nice to have some 'grown-up' time every now and then.

After some random walking around we went into Kabuki the sushi bar (another great recommendation- although more so during happy hour) and ordered some sushi and sake. Another fun time, and then after calling to check in on the little man, we decided it was time to head home. So even though we didn't do much more than have a drink (or two..!) eat and walk around, it was so great in all the right ways.

Sometimes it's little moments spent together that make you really truly happy. And for that whole 'date-night' (aka 3-4 hours) we got to ourselves- I realized (again) I'm really truly happy with my life.

Mi hijo se habla espanol.

2009-11-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

It's funny the way little kids can pick up a language so easy and yet it's so difficult for adults. Right now Leo is watching one of his old Baby Einstein videos (and has been standing in front of the TV since it started!) where they say words in Spanish and show pictures of what the words mean and he's just sitting there repeating them and trying to tell me what they are. For example, he just said "mommy dedos!" and pointed to his fingers! Granted the words they are saying are definitely pretty basic--but still--he's two! Spanish class is such a chore to deal with I wish I learned to speak it when I was little... maybe I'll see if I can find him some more videos so he can tutor me.

My son... Batman.

2009-11-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you who do not know- Leo has become infatuated with the movie Batman- The Dark Knight. Yeah, I know, I know... not exactly the best movie for kids but oh well...it's not rated R (although I do admit PG-13 isn't ideal for a 2 year old) and so I'll let it slide for now.

Well lately he has been taking things like Gabi's headbands, bathrobe ties, and other random objects and putting them over his eyes. He gets frustrated after a few minutes and says "help puhwease" but when anyone tries to help he just gets more frustrated because we weren't doing it right. We just figured that it was another one of weird little quirks so we didn't try to change it and really thought nothing of it. Well this morning he found an athletic sweatband of Charlies, put it over his eyes, ran into the kitchen and told my mom "wook graaamaa Ima batman!" And after she heard him telling her "BATMAN!" a few more times she said to me "Oh! That's why he's been putting things over his eyes." We laughed about it and she mentioned that we should make him a little batman mask. I just thought it would be easier to cut him out some eye holes of the sweatband so this is what we got:

And because he hasn't thought leaving it off very long was a good idea, this is how he went down for his nap:

Man I love that kid!

Yes- I was hoping we could talk about your life today- what's your name again?

2009-11-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

As with most all college classes I've experienced throughout the years there is always at least one annoying individual who loves to hear themselves talk. My clase de Español is no exception and said annoyance was in full character today. This girl has something to comment on every topic that the teacher discusses. Considering we're trying to learn to speak another language in this class (or at least telling ourselves so)- we cover a lot of topics. Today's first vocab lesson was regarding marriage and the second was on traveling. (Great correlation right??) This is how approximately 95% of the class went:

professor: "Ok now we're going to go over the terms of chapter 10..."
Stupid girl [interrupting]: OH OH! I like this chapter it's about getting married! You know my boyfriend keeps saying that he doesn't want to get married and I keep telling him that we should but....
professor: [trying to get a word in so we can get back on topic] ok that's nice well how about we start with...
Stupid girl [interrupting- again]: How is that nice?? He doesn't want to marry me! [laughs annoyingly]
professor: Ummm... ok... [moves on].

and without going into too much detail so as to hopefully avoid anyone wanting to repeatedly hit themselves over the head with an Encyclopedia (as I had wanted to do)- this pattern continued for the entire hour and a half I had the pleasure of witnessing. In the last 15 minutes of class the professor went around the room asking each person to answer a question in the book activity we were doing:

professor: Numero uno- Patricia?
me: [answer random question about having children after getting married in spanish at whatever age the book suggested] (HA! as if that's how anyone does it!)
Stupid girl: Oh my gosh!! Having kids at any age past the early twenties is like ANCIENT! I can't believe it. But I don't even like babies so- whatever...
professor:[moving on without acknowledgement] Numero dos- Michelle?
Michelle: [answers question about her age in spanish] 18.
Stupid Girl: OH MY GOSH!!! I can't believe you're only 18!!! You're like a baby!! [someone asks her how old she is because she continues to talk about how much older and experienced she is] Well I am 21.

15 minutes draaaaag on this way and everyone gives out a sigh of relief when we are finally dismissed. As I walk out of the building on to the next dreadful class (though could survey of political theory really be worse than that one?...questionable...) I hear "SG" on the phone as she walks in front of me: "Honey I want to talk about getting married.... [pause] WELL CAN'T WE EVEN TALK ABOUT IT??!"

Oh F*ck. Now we'll have to hear about their fight next week....

WANTED: young mother to befriend (specifically on school holidays for trips to park)

2009-11-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

This morning I got a call from Tyson at work asking if I would bring him something to eat. Being that he works only 5 mins away and I have the entire day off of school, I didn't think this was an unreasonable request so I told him I'd be there soon. After getting myself dressed I packed up the little man and told him that if he was a good boy I would take him to Hemenway Park (or as he calls the park that is home to the bighorn sheep: "Park Sheeps") after we saw daddy. After we visited with Ty for a few mins we were off to the park. Today's weather has been so fantastic- just the perfect epitome of what I feel fall should be like: high 60's a little overcast and just a slight breeze of cool air. Considering these days are few in Las Vegas I was all too happy to get out of the house and soak it all in before we move onto our 1-2 months of chill and back into the heat again...

Anyways, we got to the park and Leo asked me to hold his two cars while he ran off. Being that it's a holiday and all the schools are closed there were lots of little kids running around. Leo was so excited because normally during the week we're lucky to find one or two kids at the park when we go, so he usually ends up trying to get me to chase him around, push him on the swings & anything else he can think of at the time. Today he was little Mr. Independent though, so I just decided to hang out next to the edge of the playground and keep an eye on him with the others.

After a few minutes of continuous up the stairs and down the slide routine, I took my eyes off him for a minute and looked around me. In addition to the excess of children at the park there were also a lot of mothers as well. It appeared as though I was clearly the youngest mom (as always) and also that I was the only one who didn't have another mother to talk to. The 8 or so mothers that were there were all spread out into little groups of 2 or 3 and they would talk and laugh and share stories about their children while their kids all played around them. At that point I really wished that I had a book or had remembered my phone to keep me looking occupied because I felt as though I was standing there with a sign on that said "YES, I'M FAR YOUNGER THAN YOU AND NONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE CHILDREN SO HERE I AM ALONE WITH NO ONE TO TALK TO- PLEASE WHISPER AMONG YOURSELVES AS TO WHETHER OR NOT I AM UNMARRIED, IRRESPONSIBLE, OR BOTH." Why weren't any of them talking to me or including me into their mommy circles? I'm a good mom, just as I'm sure they all saw themselves too. I took my hubby food when he called and asked nicely and I had just spent the hours before cleaning the house. Our two cars are self purchased and even though we live with my parents, I'm educated and... and...

wait.

why do I feel the need to validate myself??! Lacking any form of an 'out' from the discomfort I was suddenly feeling I decided to catch up with Leo and tag along closely while he played with his new friends.

On the way home from the park I was reflecting back on the experience and realizing how unusual it is for me to feel so uncomfortable amongst other people. That was not me. I'm never shy, and rarely do I feel self conscious about anything- let alone my age! How had I gone from such a great mood about this beautiful fall day to then feeling so insecure and perturbed? Well- who knows really-? Maybe I'll call a friend next time and beg them bring a niece or nephew next time I hit the park on a school holiday. I guess I didn't realize the literal meaning behind the title of my blog until this morning, so for now I'll just chalk the experience up to being another aspect of motherhood at twenty-something.

BOP IT!

2009-11-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

I was getting ready for school this morning, cooking breakfast for the three of us, packing a lunch for leo and one for myself, and I heard Leo playing with the Bop-It toy in the family room while he watched mickey mouse. First of all, for those who don't know this toy is an unbelievably annoying contraption that is sort of a game and it makes noises so you have to hit each respective portion when the name is called out ("FLICK IT!" & you're supposed to hit the little green flickeroo..). Well considering my little son does not have the hand eye coordination to pull off such a game he just hits the middle button to start the game and when he fails to continue on with it there is an annoying buzzer-esque sound and a voice that says "Hey you win- NOOOT!" Well even though I can't STAND this dumb toy/game (whatever it is) it was no big deal really considering he was in the other room and my own activities were pretty mindless at this point.

Fast forward thirty minutes...

I asked Tyson to put Leo in his carseat so I could grab all of our backpacks, lunch boxes, jackets- er...luggage... and when I close my door and put on my seatbelt I hear "BOP IT!" Turn around and Leo starts laughing because the whole routine of the game starts again. At this point of course Tyson is standing outside the car waiving and smirking and its unclear now as to whether this toy was intentionally placed in the car for my own annoyance (or as leo calls it "daas a funny doke!") or just to keep Leo amused- but both consequently happened. After a while he became a little bored though, so he tried to hand it to me "heeeere mommy. you try." I told him that mommy was driving so I couldn't. At this point boredom changes to irrationality (NO! not from a two year old!) and he starts screaming "mommy YOU try it!" So I pull up to a red light take the thing out of his hands and play the damn game until the car ahead of me starts to move. He then errupts into giggles and tries to force it back at me. Again I try to reason with my toddler- no leo, mommy's driving- again screaming.

Dammit.

When I pulled up to another red light I played it again- and this pattern continued until we reached the preschool. As I opened the trunk to shove the stupid game into the car (thinking maybe I'd shove it into a safenest drop box later) he said "toy to school please". So I just decided to give him the damn toy and let him drive one of his teachers nuts with it at school.

And the moral of the story- do unto others as has been done unto you (or just outlaw Bop-Its in cars/homes...heck let's just outlaw them alltogether so mothers can keep what little sanity we have left) ;)

Blogger? Yes please.

2009-11-09T10:53:00.000-08:00

As it so happens, this is my first attempt at blogging so bare with me here.

Thankfully I've got a few more minutes before Sesame Street is over, which equates to some uninterrupted 'mommy-time' as my son is a SS fanatic. Basically I figured that I'd give the blogging a try since I've always loved to write about my own experiences and stuff (wow- makes me sound a little narcissistic outloud huh?!) in journals and such, and well that just makes me feel a little teenager-ish. So, given the fact that the 150 character max on my facebook status has just become too minimal for me and I've decided to embrace the internet culture of sharing my own and my families experiences with society... here I am.

Well, Sesame Street has ended and I have an owie on an elbow to go kiss better- promise there will be some better posts soon! Just give me a chance!