Category Archives: The Voices Speak

The simplest gifts are the best

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William has redeemed himself.  This year I had the best Mother’s Day ever.  William and the boys presented me with a gift I will cherish forever.  Behold, my prized Mother’s Day gifts from:

Aidan
Aidan’s Picture
(Yes, Aidan drew the heart (which William say looks more like a lung), his signature rainbows (he loves drawing rainbows), the yellow sun on the far right corner(you can’t see it but the sun has an eye and a tooth), the butterfly, and wrote the wording by himself)

Mark
Mark’s Picture

Caitlin was excused this Mother’s Day for obvious reasons. 

Thank you William for the best Mother’s Day so far.

Boo

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Can you recognize this animated character come to life?

caitlinboo.JPG

Here is a hint:  She is one of the lead characters in Disney/Pixar’s animated movie Monsters Inc.

Give up?

It’s Boo.

boo1.jpg

Slight delay

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While talking to my mother today she states, “I haven’t seen pictures from the birthday party yet.”  My answer, “I haven’t made the web page for it yet.”

I know, I know… I’m really late with this one given that Aidan’s birthday was over a week and half ago and I have yet to put pictures of the event up.  With Aidan, me, and my computer feeling sick this past week I haven’t had a chance to make a web page for the party.  Aidan and I are doing much better now and Dr. William is almost done fixing my computer so I’m hoping to get the pictures up by the end of this week.

Something to look forward to.  😀

Caitlin stands

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Caitlin is eight months old today.  In addition to perfecting her “pincer grip” she has also mastered her ability to stand up… and letting her doll know who’s the boss.  Here is the proof:  

Caitlin Stands
Click on image to start video

PS:  In case you have a dial-up connection this may work better but the video quality is poor:  Caitlin Stands (dial-up).

5, 4, 3

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Five years ago today I reluctantly agreed to go out on a date with you. Even though it was a typical date, dinner at Fridays and a horribly, boring movie – The Phone Booth, it turned out to be the best date I had ever had. I remember how I couldn’t stop smiling the next day as I relived the outing with Ivette. She giggled at me and said, “You are going to marry this guy.” My response, “Pish!”

Four years ago today you proposed. I know I often say that the proposal was anticlimactic; after all we were on our way to reserve the ceremony location. Thinking about it now I’m glad you asked me. Your actions assured me that you loved me and that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.

Three years ago today we made it legal. The day was magical; made all the more special by all our family and friends who came from far and wide to celebrate our union.

So here we stand, five, four, three years later. Who knew my reluctant agreement to go out with you would lead to a lifetime of happiness. Even though it has been five years, I still look back at our first date with fondness and smile every time I think about how much fun I had enjoying the simplicity of the moment. Life has thrown us curve balls but we have handled them and our life is much richer because of it. You are the source of my strength. You give me courage to face the unknown. You keep me optimistic when things don’t go my way. You make me laugh with your goofy ways. You light up my life even in the darkest of days. YOU are the love of my life.

Happy anniversary to my beloved.

ourlove.jpg
A “small” souvioner of our love.

Random thoughts…

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I’m a strong believer in “everything happens for a reason.” I also believe that everyone we meet, even the ones that just pass us by, are put in a our paths for some purpose. So if something does not go your way or you don’t get what you want, don’t lose heart. Just realize that there is something bigger and better out there waiting for you.

Pregnancy myths – true or false

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Heidi Murkoff, the author of (what I call the pregnancy bible) What to Expect When You’re Expecting was on Sonoran Living yesterday discussing the latest edition of her book. On the show they discussed a few midwives tales which have been researched and shown to be valid. Here are a few of the old tales that I found interesting and my thoughts on them.

True or False: The more heartburn you have the more hair your baby will have.
Answer:  True.  The same hormones responsible for heartburn is responsible for the growth of fetal hair.
My thoughts:  This could explain how Caitlin came out so furry.  In addition to being born with a head full of hair, she also has the hairiest thighs I have ever seen on a little baby.  I don’t remember having heart burn while pregnant with Mark but he too came out with a bountiful of hair on his head.  He was not as hairy as Caitlin though.

True or False:  The more you are eating the more likely you are having a boy.
Answer:  True.  Research has found that if you are eating like a teenage boy then you are having a boy.  The good news, for the extra consumption, women carrying boys don’t gain any more weight than women carrying girls.
My thoughts:  I had a ravenous appetite while carrying my boys.  I ate, and ate, and ate!  I’m not sure about the “not gaining any more weight than women carrying girls,” but then I wasn’t eating healthy or working out.  I gained around 40 lbs with Aidan (I would have gained more if I had carried him to term) and 50+ lbs while carrying Mark.  With Caitlin, I often had cravings for salads and I worked out like crazy which helped me stay within the recommended weight gain restriction. 

True or False:  Pregnancy is the time to slack off on the couch.
Answer:  False.  Doctors recommend pregnant women get half an hour of exercise per day.
My thoughts:  I didn’t work out at all while I was carrying Aidan.  I worked out a little bit while I was carrying Mark but it was sporadic.  With Caitlin, I did weights and boxing until I was about five moths pregnant.  I then switched to doing the elliptical for at least 20 mins almost everyday for the remaining four months.  I’m sure there are other factors at play in addition to working out like a mad woman, but my pregnancy and labor and delivery with Caitlin has been the best pregnancy experience I have had so far.

True or False:  As you gain weight you lose brain cells.
Answer:  True.  Your brain is shrinking while you’re body is gaining all that weight, but it does grow back after delivery.
My thoughts:  TRUE, TRUE, TRUE!  Except for the brain cells growing back after delivery.  I think it takes a long, long time for those brain cells to come back.  Considering I have had three kids in the last four years, I think I just kept losing those brain cells without ever giving my brain a chance to grow some cells back.  I currently consider myself borderline retarded. 

To all the mothers (pregnant and not), and the future mothers-to-be, hope you find this information useful.  Also, I’m interested in knowing what your thoughts are on this topic.

Plumb – In My Arms

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I’m going to apologize in advance… this post is just a rambling of random thoughts.

I was having one of my weekly mini meltdowns today with regards to putting Caitilin in daycare.  Doesn’t help that I was reading about how babies will suffer from separation anxiety from the age of 8 months up to 18 months.  It also doesn’t help that she is already showing signs of it.  She gets upsets if I were to leave her in a room to play by herself.  She just breaks down and starts sobbing so bad you think she hurt herself.  My heart breaks every time I think of our impending fate and I don’t know how I am going to handle it.

Caitlin did the sweetest thing today. I was on the floor applying lotion on Mark,  She came over, pulled herself up, and laid her little head on my shoulder.  There she stood for a while, supporting herself on my chest, happy to be next to her mom.  My heart melted.  She is my little princess and all I want to do is protect her and keep her safe for as long as I can.

On my way home from the grocery store today, I heard the song “In My Arms” by Plumb.  It immediately made me think of my kids.  I also thought about how mothers try so hard to protect their babies, no matter how hard it may be.  I love the song… the lyrics are so powerful.  You can check out her MySpace page to listen to it; let me know what you think.  Did I mention that I love this song?  It’s become my new favorite song.  Anyway, here are the lyrics to it.

***************************************************************

In My Arms
~Plump

Your baby blues
So full of wonder
Your Curly Que’s
Your contagious smile
And as I watch
You start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight
Knowing

Clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Story books
Are full of fairy-tales
Of kings and queens
And the bluest skies
My heart is torn just in knowing
You’ll someday see
The truth for lies

Clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble
Dreams may not come true
Cause you are never all alone
Cause I will always
Always love you

Hey I
Hey I
Will love

Clouds will rage in
Storms will race in
But you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down
Waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms
In my arms

All hail the Avatar

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So I tried giving Aidan a haircut the other day… ummm… didn’t turn out so well.  The left side of his head looked lopsided.  Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy with what I had done.  I was upset at the thought of Aidan going to school looking like a fool just because his mom was trying to attempt something way out of her scope.  Then, like a ray of sunlight, in came William to save the day… and the mess that I made.

Behold, Aidan’s new look…

Aidan - The Avatar

… which bears a striking resemblance to Aang from the Nickelodeon show, The Avatar.  What do you think?

Aang - The Avatar

All Aidan needs to do now is shave his head and draw a blue arrow on it. 

Btw, William is overly excited about shaving Aidan’s head and has actually gone as far as suggesting that Aidan go as Aang for Halloween this year.

Forgettable

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I had this whole post ready to rant about how lackluster my 30th birthday celebration was.  It was, in one word, forgettable. 

Normally, I’m happy to be able to go out to dinner to celebrate my birthday, but I was hoping for something more this year.  After all, I was closing the door to one decade (a pretty eventful one at that too) and ushering in another.  And, after trying hard to make sure William (who doesn’t care for birthday celebrations) had a 30th birthday he’d have fond memories of, I was hoping he would return the favor.  Sadly, he fell short of my expectations… very, very short.

To William’s defense, he did try to make this birthday special.  He asked me if I wanted to have some friends over for a celebration but considering I only have two friends living in Arizona, both of whom have other commitments, I wasn’t excited about it.  He tried to think of something fun to get me… something I would like and would find useful.  The best he could come up with was an update for the navigation system in the car… fun!

The day wasn’t all bad though.  We did go out to dinner… woo hoo!  I’m grateful that my in-laws were able to join us even though it was a last minute invite.  And the best present I got that night – all three kids were surprisingly well behaved.  Thanks kids.

Like I said at the beginning, I was going to complain about my boring 30th birthday but I’ve moved on to bigger and better things… planning for Aidan’s fourth birthday.  🙂

I leave you with a few pictures of the “momentous” occasion.  The first picture is completely staged, but I had to do something to help me remember this event.  As for the last picture, in addition to an updated navigation system William also got me some lilies and a birthday balloon.

30th Birthday Cake

30th Birthday Gift