Amazing Life of Motherhood

The other day I was on FB sending a message to a friend. She had just had her first baby at the same hospital where all my little ones where born. I was instantly transported back to when my first child, John David, was born. Even though eight years have passed I can still remember the furniture layout in the room, the crucifix on the wall, our first sleepless night with a little one, how the pacifier is a better alternative to mommy in the middle of the night, and the first time my hubby held our swaddled bundle of joy. Back to my friend, I found my self writing to her "welcome to the amazing life of motherhood." I have kept thinking about that comment as I am surrounded by my little ones. I am truly blessed to have four little ones, and to be surrounded by their love on a daily basis. I am thankful for a wonderful hubby who gives me the opportunity to stay at home and see my little ones grow up and enjoy this amazing life. My life is pretty laid back and most of the time we have no set agenda. We do have time for reading and writing, but other than that we try to have fun. This "fun" is were I get to see my little ones develop their thinking skills, and show their individuality. Most of the time this results in some funny and crazy stories. Here are some from this week.

Emma might be the youngest, but completely understands that in a large family she has to speak up to be heard. This morning the kids and I had a play date to attend, and JP was leaving with his dad to go catch a showing of "Captain America." Emma decided to go outside to wave good-bye. Outside she says "mama, I like Captain America too." She so wanted to be the big girl and go watch a movie with daddy and grandpa. I am sure that in her head she was thinking that it was a superhero cartoon like the ones her brothers watch at home. I had to say that it was not a movie for little ones, and that parts might be scary. She said "I like Captain America I do, really." At that point all I could do was hug my sweet girl, and tell her when she got older she could watch Captain America.

Carlos has learned the power of chocolate addiction at a young age. Today at our play date the kids got some pop ice, and the mommies were having chocolate cake for dessert. Carlos ate 2 bars of pop ice but kept wanting some of my cake. He was successful in getting a couple of bites, but eventually I was out of cake. He quickly saw that there was still chocolate on another plate. I gave him a piece, and decided that it was time to clear the plates, so he could go back to playing with the other children. While I was rinsing the dishes, he actually attempted to get a piece out of the trash can. I gave him my mommy look, and he sadly walked away. Fast forward to this evening...he was the happiest little guy when he got his own slice of chocolate cake to eat. It is clear that he has inherited daddy's love for chocolate...ha!

John David is quite the helper, sometimes it is at my request, but most of the time it is self iniciated. For example, today at our play date he actually organized a bookshelf and a train table at our friend's house, on his own. He is always asking if I need any help, and if I say "no thank you" he finds ways to help on his own. Yesterday I was cleaning the dresser in my room. I was clearing all the clutter off the top. He saw that I had one item left. He picked it up and started walking away with it. I stopped him and asked him where he was going. He said he was talking the butter down to the fridge. He was holding my Palmer's Cocoa Butter. I had to explain that even though it said butter it was really lotion. He then replied "I was wondering why you had butter in your room."

I know motherhood has its ups and downs, but I must admit that most of my memories are happy ones. All those happy moments remind me of how amazing it is to be a mother, and how we must enjoy every day to the fullest!

Note: I know that this entry doesn't have a Sammy story, but it was hard to think of another good one since I just blogged about him. If I can think of one I will go back and edit.

Is the Tooth Fairy Real?

Sammy lost his first tooth today after mass. He spent this last week wiggling it and his work finally paid off. He was sooo excited to loose a tooth. After church Abuelito gave him $20 and he was excited...he said that he would have double money since the tooth fairy would come at night. I think he is already making plans on how to spend his money. He keeps talking to his brother about how much things cost, but has not asked me yet.
As he was getting ready to go to bed tonight, he asked if the tooth fairy was real. Of course I replied yes, and told him who else would bring him money. He then quickly replied "well if the tooth fairy is smaller that a dollar how can it carry it...it is way to heavy for them to carry." First of all I blame this comment on Tinker Bell and her friends. Obviously my son has watched the movies were it shows that they can not carry heavy stuff on their own. I told him then maybe he would get a quarter, and he said that was "still too heavy, and that even a penny is too heavy for a little fairy. Then I asked him, why the fairy is small, and he said "duh, how else is it going to get under my pillow." You know I had to keep myself from busting out laughing, and keep my serious face on.
The older brother, said he had an idea that maybe the parents give the money. I said why would parents do that. He said to make kids happy. Sammy then said, "what would mom do with the tooth?" John David said that "parents keep them in a special, secret place." Of course I told them to stop being silly, and told him that if he didn't believe in the tooth fairy then next time he wouldn't get any money. He then replied that he was just kidding. Mental note, must make sure my secret hiding spot has not been found, or better yet just in case must find new spot.
John David keep being himself and kept pushing the same issue but with Santa Claus. Really he is only 8....I thought I still had another couple of years. If he knows then Sammy will too. My boys are to young to stop believing...sniff, sniff. Hopefully we will be able to have another round of Santa in our house this year. I just love watching them set out the milk and cookies, and then watching them find their presents in the morning. Not ready for this tradition to end. Once again another sign that kids grow up way too quick, must remember to savor every minute with my little ones.

WD-40 to the rescue!

Let me start by saying that my boys just recently discovered the joys of gum! We have started sessions on how to blow bubbles, and pop gum in your mouth. I have to admit that they mainly try to pop my bubbles, but it is summer and it helps pass the time. Sammy will even pick gum for his dessert over ice cream. Gum is like any other dessert in our house, and they have to ask for permission. I give that permission more freely than my hubby. He doesn't think they need to be chewing gum. I tell him they are kids and to let them be.
Since I have four kids it is fair to say that I have seen and heard a lot of things. The amount of entertainment provided by my kiddos is endless and priceless. Let me state that not all people living under this roof with me, would think this is entertainment. After dinner tonight Carlos said something new, "mom my gum got really small." That should have been a big clue, but i just thought that maybe he had swallowed some of the gum. I continued washing dishes and told him to go wash up and get ready for bed. A minute later Sammy is showing me that his sheet has gum on it. I tell him leave it here and I will take care of it. I quickly run to the internet to google how to remove gum. Find a couple of mentions of ice and WD-40, and decided to give WD-40 a try. As I am cleaning I hear Sammy telling my hubby upstairs that Carlos got gum on his sheet. Anyone who knows my hubby can visualize with me the disapproving look he was probably giving Carlos as Sammy told on him.
The gum has been completely removed by WD-40 and now the sheet is in the wash. My kids have gone to bed, and my sweet hubby has not mentioned anything about my evening's entertainment. I am just waiting till he does, because I am sure he is going to say that is one of the reasons he doesn't want them chewing gum.
On another note...the internet is a huge reference for all the great stains my kids stumble upon. Don't know what I would do with out it.

Carlos turns 4!

On January 11th Carlos officially turned four. This year he requested a Nemo cake, which of course is not the Disney character of the moment. I was not able to purchase a new Nemo shirt for him, but I did find a Nemo costume on clearance at the Disney Store in San Marcos. He was ecstatic to wear a costume.
I was ambitious with his cake and decided to make a Nemo shaped cake. I used two circles and got to work cutting out the shape. I was quite pleased with the shape of the cake. I made some buttercream frosting and didn't get the orange bright, but overall I was quite pleased with how our Nemo homemade cake turned out. Thanks to Jules for all the help!
We were able to find a small clown fish pinata, that Julie and I tried to convert into a pullstring pinata. The pullstring part was a fail, but the kids enjoyed the candy, and Carlos has a Nemo pinata fully intacted for a souvenir. Thanks to Sammy we also found some Nemo fruit snacks.
Carlos is very lucky when it comes to presents for his birthday. A lot of toys are on clearance and he can generally fill in the rest of his christmas list. When you asked what he wanted for his birthday he would mention all the Toy Story characters, especially Buzz. He got a talking Woody for Christmas, but no Buzz. By looking at his presents you would think he had a Buzz party. His favorite presents were Buzz rocket, Pooh, rc car, kid laptop, two Buzz figures, and pocket bacs.

Birthday food for the day:
Breakfast...papas and eggs with catsup.
lunch...chicken nuggets and mac & cheese
dinner...sopa and spaghetti

Memorable quotes of the day:
Carlos woke up and I was downstairs. He came to the rail and said "Good Morning mommy! Today is my birthday, right?" I answered "yes, it is birthday boy." He got the biggest smile on his face said "yeah" and came down as quick as he could.
Sammy was upset when Carlos picked Nemo when I said they could watch a movie, and said "the birthday boy doesn't get to pick everything." John David replied "yes he does!"
Emma talked about a princess party all day...had to keep reminding her that it was Carlos' birthday and it was a Nemo party. This is her attempt to play with Carlos: Emma "I Cinderella. Nene, you prince. Dance with me"
Carlos "humph"
Emma "ok I dance by myself"
then she proceeds to tell me "Nene don't wanna dance with Cinderella."

Patience while having fun!

Patience is definitely a virtue. This past weekend we had to work on this together as a family. My brother and Simran had a Sikh wedding ceremony. We all had to work together as a family unit to get everyone dressed and ready by 9am at a hotel in Houston. Then we all patiently waited at the Guduwara for the event to begin. Then there is the actual ceremony. That was just like getting the kids to be quiet, respectful and pay attention to mass every sunday. Leave it to John David to make it clear that it was not sunday. Big thanks to Simran for having flower petals on the floor. That was enough entertainment for Carlos, Emma, Gavin and Ivanna. JP was sitting with the big boys, so do not know how they made it through. Despite all the comments about the long ceremony it was actually speedier than anticipated and must admit that thanks to the flower petals I was able to enjoy most of it, and take plenty of pictures and videos.
For dinner we left the hotel for a quick walk around downtown Houston and to pick up some food for the little ones. Emma and Carlos enjoyed a serving of ribs, while the brothers had brisket and bread. The kids were having fun, and enjoying the weekend of traveling and staying at two different hotels.
By reception time...the day had gotten long, and as parents our patience had decreased. We then turned to help from Nintendo DS, and Color Wonder. The kids enjoyed this while we waited for the reception to begin. The long day ended early for Emma. She fell asleep in my arms as we were waiting to enter the reception. She was passed around to daddy, and abuelitos for the rest of the evening. Very thankful that this wedding was attended by my whole family....hehe! Carlos was definitely not in best spirits either. After dinner he wanted me stay at the table with him so he could color. When I would go out to the dance floor, he would follow and give disapproving looks. Sammy was content dancing in his chair while he played Nintendo. The only little dancer was John David. Occassionally he would put his game down and join daddy or uncle Marcos for a quick dance.
Sometimes at a formal event it is easy to forget that kids are just that...kids. At the same time I feel a need to educate my kids on how to behave at these kinds of functions. The hard part is finding the balance for four kiddos of differing ages. I think overall the day went as smooth as it could have been considering it was an 18 hour day. Lucky for us we can continue to practice and teach patience this coming weekend at part 2.

2011...wohoo!

I have decided that it is time to get back to writing. JP always says that I can make the time for anything I want, and he is right. I am going to make the time to keep all of you updated on what's going on in our family.
2011 is off to a great start. We had family and friends over on New Year's Eve. Sammy was the first kiddo to fall asleep around 8 pm, but in his defense he was sick. Carlos and Emma asked to go to bed around 9pm, and crashed quickly even with other kids still awake and playing in the house. John David stayed up until the last guests left. He was soooo excited to be up until 3:30 am. He was awake for almost 24 hours, since he was up at 5am on New Years Eve morn. I guess it caught up to him because the boy that rarely sleeps in actually slept through lunch on the first.
After all the kiddos got baths/showers we headed over to my parents house to celebrate Julie's 20th birthday...crazy how time flies.
Today started as a pajama day, which according to Sammy and John David we have had a lot of them lately. I was the only one to get dressed since I was fortunate to get to go shopping with my mom and my sisters. Overall it was a good trip...lots of good finds at VS, and Sak's.
Have more typing and updating to do, but my hubby goes back to work tomorrow. Gotta go spend some more time with him as his 2 week vacation comes to an end.

I will miss you

This past saturday the big boys packed up and went to spend the night at grandma and grandpa's house. Carlos has only spent the night once and has not really declared an interest in sleeping over, so he just stays with us and Emma. He always goes out to tell them bye as they are leaving. This time he also told each one of them "I will miss you." He said it in a very sincere voice, and he was sad to see his brothers leave. I can only wonder if he will tell them the same thing when they leave to go to school every morning.

Daddy Dirty

So JP was laying around in bed the other day, and both Emma and Carlos were awake and hanging out in bed with us watching their cartoons. Emma pointed at JP's shoulder and said "daddy dirty." I corrected her and told her daddy was peeling. She then repeated again "daddy dirty." The funniest thing was the tone she stated it in and how she would jsut point, but not touch. It was like she was grossed out by looking at it. I guess a two year old does not understand sunburn and peeling.

Emma turns 2

Emma turned two years old a week and a half ago. She is definitely a cutie who likes to play and definitely knows what she wants. She thinks that duck, duck, goose is the funniest game ever...she can't even sit still from all her giggling. She also loves to play with her baby dolls. I even caught her bouncing at her knees and patting the doll's bottom like she was trying to rock her to sleep...it was sooo cute. She loves to cook in her kitchen, and has gotten into making tea. She will bring cup after cup...good thing it is pretend. She is quite verbal and to me understandable for a two year old. She has also mastered the tantrums, but she is still in the process of learning that all the screaming, and crying doesn't get you what you want. Well at least not in this house when you are the fourth child.
So we are working on learning that other colors exist beside pink and purple, numbers, ABC's, and of course potty training. She always tells you right after she goes...we just need to get it before she goes. She is still learning to run and jump, but she is a very cute fast walker.
I'm sure this year will be filled with many more milestones, and super fun times!

Oh my, Carlos is three

It is hard to believe that my baby is now 3 years old. He got an early start and was a bit fussy, but he was all better by the time we hit the stores to get his birthday stuff. He was very excited to help look for Wiggles stuff for his cake. We didn't find any...so mommy had to do with some internet research. I think the cake turned out pretty good, considering that I put it all together around three in the afternoon. He even took a nap with his Elmo hat on.
When people started arriving he was very excited to see everyone. Gavin helped him open his presents and there was no drama. He was quite excited when he got some jammies, Elmo video and a fishbowl. He also enjoyed sharing his mcqueen checker board with Sammy and Ethan. We had a hot dog party with chili for frito pies, and of course cake and ice cream. He kept asking about his cake, and enjoyed that quite a bit.
There was a rough end to his day. By the time he went to bed it was almost 9pm. SO he was definitely tired, and he was sad because I took off his necklace he had been wearing all day. I told him he could have again in the morning, but he was not very happy about it.
I want to wish my cutie a fabulous year! He will continue to grow leaps and bounds this year and i look forward to enjoying those moments.

Elmo gets dissed.

Yesterday I went to work, and when I came home my hubby told me that Carlos requested a Wiggles cake. I was shocked and asked how this happened...apparently his brothers asked him if he was going to have an Elmo cake and he replied no Wiggles. I had pulled out the Elmo cake pan, and was ready to make an Elmo cake. I originally thought no big deal...but apparently it is a bigger deal...I can not find Wiggles even online. I was trying to figure out my options before I headed out....but there are no options. I called a couple of places with no luck today, so now I am like a deer in the headlights trying to figure out what to do. wish me luck in my search tomorrow.

How many gifts do I get

On the drive home from school John David told me he had a question..."how many gifts do we get from the Wise Men?" I aksed him to clarify himself...he then asked "do I get 3 gifts since there are 3 kings?" I told him that it is one gift per person. He was not too thrilled with that answer, but I'm pretty sure he will be one of the few in his school that celebrate this holiday. Or at least that is the way it was when I grew up.
Later in the afternoon I started thinking, I wasn't sure if he figured that out on his own or if he had helped. I called my sister and verified that she does 3 small gifts...so who knows Ethan could have clued him in. I guess in time we will find out where that question cam from.

I love trash by Oscar the Grouch

I think this is Carlos' favorite song...I'm sure you are asking why. Mondays are our trash days...so he essentially runs to the window all day to check to see if the trash has been picked up. Once it has been picked up he is eager to bring in the trash can. Then when we are out in the car, he is always on the look out for trach cans...he will scream "trash" everytime we pass one and let me tell you he doens't miss one.

Thank you

That is Emma's newest phrase...it sound way cuter when she says it. I love giving her things, so she can say it. She will tell family thank you pretty regularly, but isn't as eager with others. I definitely prefer the "thank you" over her "no" when she is having a fit. I just gave her some pirate booty so she could say it, and I could record it...so enjoy the clip.

Good Bye 2009...Hello 2010

JP and I spent morning and afternoon of the eve cleaning. We did a fabuous tag team effort and completely cleaned our house. There is still some organization needed, and some cleaning out of toys left, but I will tackle that when JP goes back to work.
We had both of our families over and provided a "taco bar" for dinner. The boys were excited to play with their cousins, and Emma was happy to prance around in her pretty dress and show off all her new baby dolls and accessories.
At six years old John David is fully able to understand the concept of a new year for the first time. He and Sammy were allowed to stay up. Emma and Carlos were in bed by 10 and both fell fast asleep despite the noise of other kiddos playing. We invited three other young families to join us...so there were four more kiddos over. All the kiddos were up and playing with John David and Sammy. However we put on a movie shortly after midnight so we could enjoy some more adult time with our friends, and they both fell asleep while watching it.
This is a time that I am thankful for all the blessings in my life. A fabulous hubby who loves me unconditionally and supports me in all I do. Four wonderful kids that make me laugh one second, and then test my patience the next. Last but not least...Good health for all!
One of my resolutions for this year is to update this more regularly, so check back for updates!

Sorry, baby girl.

Julie is back from Brown. We headed to Sea Dragon for a nice family dinner. The food was delicious and the kids were all well behaved. Towards the end, Emma fell and bumped her forehead on a chair. We got some ice for her...since it looked bruised almost instantly after the fall. However Emma was not willing to leave an ice pack in between her eyes. once we got home, we put a video on to distract her, and we tried to apply more ice to minimize the swelling. Carlos was wanting some ice, but would giggle and say cold, when I put it on his nose. I guess we will have to wait to see if it is bruised in the morning.

Here comes Santa Claus

We got together today with some college friends for our annual christmas celebration. It is great to see how all our families have grown, and how quick the kiddos are growing. At this gathering Santa makes his appearance and gives the kids a present. I wanted to make sure that everyone was going to be okay with Santa so I told the boys about our upcoming Santa meeting on friday. All the boys were excited, even Carlos.
All the kids were excited when Santa arrived. Carlos had the biggest grin, and all of them sat down to listen to Santa read the night before christmas. When Santa started handing out presents, Carlos kept saying he wanted a present from Santa. As soon as Santa called his name he walked up and got his present. Emma went with daddy to get her present, and the older boys went by themselves. After the presents it was picture time....and Carlos was ready, actually he didn't want to leave Santa. He kept going up and waving, and wanting to sit in his lap...it was very cute. Emma however wanted nothing to do with Santa, so we ended up with a picture of the boys smiling while Emma is crying in Santa's lap.
On the car ride home, the boys asked if Santa was real...I asked what they thought. Sammy said he was a fake and John David said he was the real deal. I asked Sammy why he thought he was fake, and he said Catherine and Kristin told him. Needless to say when he went up to Santa he made sure to ask for Ben 10 toys.
I love this tradition and look forward to many more years with Santa!

Snow...more like flurries.

This past friday it was a cold day and we had about five minute of flurries. Nothing stuck on the ground, and I have no pictures to prove it. I had put the little ones down for their nap, but I could still hear them talking. Sammy was watching X-men and I was putting up laundry. When I saw the flurries, I told Sammy to come. He was quite concerned about missing the X-men. I told him I would pause it and then record it for him. I got the little ones, and came down to bundle them up. By the time we made it out....the flurries were pretty much gone. I still took some pictures so we could document that we missed the snow.

book worm

It has been totally amazing to see John David's reading skills improve by leaps and bounds. He is very excited and eager to read to anyone who is willing to listen to him. His vocabulary is increasing as well. We have recently discovered one down side to the reading....we can't spell things out we don't him to know. He just puts the letter togethers and tells us the word. Then he just laughs and gets so excited that he knows what we are talking about.
Last week there was a book fair at his school. Everyday he kept asking when we could go buy some books.
On wednesday he woke up at 5:30 am, got dressed and came in our room to ask if he could go to the book fair with daddy. So we sent him back to bed, and when I went in to wake him, he woke up and came down to eat breakfast, and was ready to go quickly. JP took him to the book fair, and all the books he wanted were hardback so JP tried to limit his books. Apparently John David gave daddy the sad boy look, and two minutes later John David was excited to get his books. John David needs to remember that look he gave his dad, as it might come in handy again in the future.

She's a peach!

That would be how JP describes Emma at the moment. She has been walking for about a month. She still reverts to the 3 point crawl every now and then...but if you ask her to walk, she will do it most of the time. She is also developing her emotional side. She is definitely not a happy camper when you tell her "no" or take something away. She will through herself on the floor, and have her little drama as long as someone is watching. The moment you leave she stops. During the drama if you try to talk to her she will just say "no" and get away from you and continue the show. Sometimes it seems very comical to me, so I have to keep myself from laughing.