1440 minutes..A new mom, a new day

The 2nd Month

2012-01-15T13:15:00.000-06:00

Jack has taken to being quite the photographer. His latest includes taking pics of what he is watching on the telly. Jack is definitely my son. He LOVES to bake. And lick the bowl clean afterwards. Another Jack photo. Every kid loves to take a photo of the family dog. Charlie maybe the first baby in history to love baths. He has not cried once since we have started giving him baths. Thank

The 2011 Moments

2012-01-06T20:46:00.000-06:00

* The moment when Brian and I realized on our way to the circus that that was probably the last time that we would ever be out as the trio. It was kind of our way of saying goodbye to Jack as the only child before baby #2 came on board. Knowing this would explain why we splurged on getting Jack a $7 popcorn and a $12 snowcone. * Telling Brian that I was pregnant - on our 10th year anniversary *

The 60 degree day

2012-01-06T15:34:00.000-06:00

We live in Chicago. It is January. And today on January 6th, it was 60 degrees. A freak of nature I'm sure, but I do not care. What I do care is that it is January, I am in the midst of my maternity leave, and I was able to leave the house with my two boys. We went to the park and it just felt so great to walk down the street, no down coat on and go to the park. That is what we did, and Jack felt

The True and Tried Method

2011-12-31T12:43:00.000-06:00

When Jack was younger, Brian used to do this thing to Jack called the "Jacky Butt". It was a name for a napping method that Brian had for Jack. Basically, he would put him on the bed when Jack was super cranky, and blow on his belly to make him feel better and more relaxed. The more Brian did it, Jack would relax which at that point Brian just eased the technique and eventually Jack would fall

The Magic Puppy

2011-12-27T14:41:00.000-06:00

Charlie recieved this little play dog for Christmas that sings lullabies. It's preey funny because you press the button and this announcer says" 20 minutes of lullabies"followed by yes, 20 minutes of sweet slow music. Christmas night, we placed Charlie in the bed, tightly swaddled and played the puppy music. He just lay there and I thought he was about to cry, since the music was a bit slow and

The Christmas of 2011

2011-12-27T14:30:00.001-06:00

My kids are eternally lucky. One kid has a birthday in November and the other has a birthday in January. Do the math and that means that they get double the presents within a month apart. See, lucky. Also, that means that we are screwed because now til forever, we have to figure out what to get them for their birthday that they are not going to get on Christmas. And which day do we deem more

The Favorite Hobby

2011-12-14T08:57:00.003-06:00

In the category of "We must be doing something right", Jack loves to take photos. Loves to hold cameras, loves to look at where he can take a photo.Enough said.

The Christmas Tradition

2011-12-14T08:40:00.002-06:00

We have a pretty sweet train to go around the Christmas tree every year that was The Polar Express. Jack got Thomas last year, and that easily trumped the Polar Express as now the main train around the tree.This was Brian and Jack putting it up this past Thursday, now with a new member of the team Charlie. Although this was right in the midst of Charlie's nap, so he couldn't be bothered with such

The One Month Mark

2011-12-14T08:22:00.002-06:00

One month of being a parent of two. What a tiring ride. But we are getting better at it. And I am happy to report that now, Brian and I are actually able to watch a show here and there before we go to bed. The hardest part of this is that we are getting right into the winter weather. It has been cold this past month and I have been at home a lot more than I would like to. Thank you to my husband

The Recovery

2011-11-27T13:29:00.003-06:00

Once the baby was born, the the hard part comes in. And this part I was waaaayy too familiar with and I didn't want to go through three days of recovering, getting the anesthesia off of my body, forcing my body to move and walk, which is incredibly hard since there is a huge incision that is trying to heal by my belly.If you have seen Kill Bill, there is a great scene where Uma Thurman is trying

The Labor

2011-11-27T13:11:00.003-06:00

Be careful for what you wish for cause you just might get it.I never understood why that phrase was always used so negatively. Careful what you wish for- so if I wanted a whole new Gap wardrobe ( i need one desperately) and I wished for it, and if it came true, then that is not a bad thing. It would be a terrific thing to happen.I wished for my labor for my second child to be very different than

The Circus

2011-11-08T19:55:00.004-06:00

The Time Outs

2011-11-08T13:32:00.004-06:00

Time outs are horrible for me. If I could just snap my fingers and magically, my son would understand on what he did was wrong. that would be the only magic power that I would want to possess. Jack rarely gets time outs, and when he does, it is for something quite severe.Jack, if you are reading this when you are older, please know that it pains your mom to give you a time out. And it hurts even

The Halloween of 2011

2011-11-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

My son has unfortunately inherited my fear of all things scary come Halloween. He didn't like the masks , the goblins, the ghouls and the werewolves that wandered around the neighborhood. We tried to tell him that it was fake and that they were silly, something that he accepted as a reason last year.This year, he finally realized that scary masks are indeed not normal and not fun to look at all.

The Day Off

2011-10-31T20:51:00.004-05:00

Thank you work for giving me a birthday day off and giving me an opportunity to spend it with my family.

The Countdown

2011-10-24T11:21:00.002-05:00

Three weeks to go in this pregnancy. Besides the obvious of wanting to meet the little one, I am just anxious to run around again, and be active with my son.It hurts me so much to say to Jack over and over again, Sorry Mami can't run with you. I am so tired Jack.It didn's help that yesterday Jack asked both my husband and I to run around like crazy nuts, only to hear from both of us, we are so

The Halloween Costume

2011-10-13T11:01:00.002-05:00

Jack is wanting to be Diesel, the character from Thomas and Friends, for Halloween this year.This broke me a bit since earlier this year , I was able to find a Buzz Lightyear costume for $2 and I thought I was set for life. I was realy happy that we wouldn't have to scramble at the last minute for a costume, or figure out to how make one and with what materials. Now , Jack has his opinion and

The Baby Test

2011-10-11T16:51:00.003-05:00

Our friends recently had a baby so we went to go meet the little one this past Saturday.When I first told Jack that they had the baby, he gave me a stone cold look. Half " I don't believe you" and half" what did you just say?"He hasn't really been around little little infants too much, and when he does hang around kids younger than him, he will play with them for a bit but then search for the

The September Fall Festival

2011-10-05T22:09:00.003-05:00

A true midwestern photo - burnt corn on the cob, but loving every minute of it.

The Homecoming

2011-10-05T13:19:00.002-05:00

Last week, Jack's old sitter called Brian and wanted to know if we would like to come over for dinner ? Sure! It was a nice gesture. I was hoping that some of the parents that we used to hang with would be there, just so Jack can have a mini homecoming with his old pals.His sitter also told us that her daughter has been incessantly asking for Jack for awhile since she misses him. I thought that

The Never-ending Question

2011-09-29T16:01:00.003-05:00

This is a question that Jack has been asking constantly for over two weeks now. I am not sure where he learned it or from who, but whenever he does something that deems to be funny, he will ask" Was that funny?"He will ask it when you least expect it. When we are watching a movie, Tom and Jerry or just something that he has done. That being said, if he does something that is sneaky or something

The Good Night Mama Series

2011-09-28T09:48:00.004-05:00

The following is a series of photos that Brian sent to me while I went to see U2 back in July. We had a family day that day, and Jack being as tired as he was, passed out while we took a water taxi ride from Navy Pier to the museum campus. While Brian and Jack walked their way back to the hotel. Brian decided to take pics of Jack sleeping at the landmarks.The text with the pics were Brian's words

The Eating Habits

2011-09-14T21:48:00.002-05:00

Jack doesn't eat vegetables. We have no idea on how to make him eat it. One coworker told me that his mom used to put melted cheese on his broccoli. He learned to eat it then as a kid and eats it now. I got so happy when I heard that that I wanted to buy a big block of cheddar cheese, and melt it on every veggie that we served at the table. Not the most healthy, but whatever makes our son eat a

The Reaction and Being Thankful

2011-09-14T21:21:00.003-05:00

This second pregnancy has been a lot different. The pain, the discomfort, the movement in utero most of all. However the one aspect that I didn't expect was some people's reaction to this pregnancy. Call it a woman's intuition, call it being oversensitive, but the remarks and the reactions that I have received has been a bit shocking, and most of all upsetting.I hate that I spent most of this

The New Establishment

2011-09-06T12:50:00.002-05:00

10 years ago, when I first met Brian's family, the majority of his cousins ranged from ages 14 - 2 years old. These kids were a cute bunch, and it was nice to see so many cousins playing with each other and hanging out. Most of my cousins live in Ecuador, so I never had a big group of cousins to be with at family parties.I have three that live here in the states. My memories of them are fond,