My 27th Birthday Party

Last night I celebrated my 27th birthday with family. Miguel decorated the house beautifully, wrapped gifts, and picked out a cake that was truly me. He did a great job!
I got lots of greats gifts (thanks everyone!), but most of all, I got to spend time with my family that I love so much. They really made my birthday special. The rest of the pictures are on my smugmug.

Brennan Feeding Himself

I gave Brennan a spoon to try to feed himself today. He really tried, and actually got a few bites into his mouth, but in the end he resorted to feeding himself his oatmeal with his hands. We will keep trying, and I know he'll get it soon!

Lack of Content & Playdate

Well, like I stated in my last post, I've been lacking blog appropriate content lately. Sure, things are going on, but just not things that are either appropriate for my blog or things that, really, wouldn't be interesting to you...

I've recently reconnected with an old friend. Emily and I live like 3 blocks away from each other, and we drift. In fact, we can pretty much go over a year without contact. Recently, we've started getting together again...which I really enjoy. My boys love playing with her girls!

Today, we took the kids to McDonald's for lunch. We let them play for a few hours...literally! Then we went over to the sports store and picked out some new workout clothes, weights, and workout videos...we are gonna be HOT MAMMAS!!!

Here are a few pics from lunch. The rest are on my smugmug.

February Snowfall

It seems like every year in February we have some snowfall. Colin LOVES it! He wanted to play outside all day, but it was too darn cold! This was the first year that we bundled up Brennan and put him in the snow. He was NOT a happy camper! The rest of the pictures are on my smugmug.

No Posts...

I have been lacking content lately.

Well, I guess that there is always stuff I *could* blog about. Most of which would either bore you to death or I feel is not appropriate for blogging...so, I just don't have anything to say right now.

Hopefully I'll be full of fun blogging stuff really soon.

15 Month Photos

These are just a few of my favorites from Brennan's last session. The rest are on my smugmug, as well as some of Colin and the boys together.

OMG My Horrible Day...Continued.

Wow is all I can say! Later Saturday afternoon I started feeling sick. I was nauseous. Really nauseous. It just kept getting worse and worse. It finally got to the point that I couldn't even stand to be up anymore, and I went into bed around 6:30. Miguel put the boys to sleep. I ran to the bathroom and vomited. I HATE that feeling. I don't know how anyone could make themselves do that on a regular basis. It is the most disgusting feeling ever. Miguel ran to the store to buy me some ginger ale and some medicine to make me feel better...but I ended up throwing up like 4 more times during the night. I was up ALL night long. I kept Miguel up all night long too. The diarrhea that went along with this was just horrid. On Sunday, I was still nauseated...all day long. I didn't throw up anymore, but I was very dizzy. Every time that I got up I thought that I was going to pass out. Then, Miguel wasn't feel so well. Colin was back to normal, thank God. I ended up calling in to work last night. There was no way that I could work if I couldn't even stand for more than a minute without feeling like I was going to drop.

So here we are Monday morning. I don't feel sick anymore, but I'm still not feeling quite right. The upside...I got on the scale this morning, and I lost a little over 5 pounds! yay! Though, if given the choice, I'd have kept the 5 pounds to not be sick.

My Horrible Day...Sickness

So we got up this morning to go to church, and Colin started throwing up. He threw up like 4 times from 7:30 until 9:00. I felt sooo bad for him. Then, Brennan was in his high chair, and had a blowout of EXPLOSIVE diarrhea. It was EVERYWHERE. At that point I decided that we probably shouldn't got to church. The bad thing was that Miguel had already left for church, and I was warming the food for the lunch that I do every week...so i still had to drive the food to the house that the lunch was at...and this week it was in Burleson (about 1 hr 15 mins from our house). Yikes!

So, I was giving the boys a bath...since one was covered in vomit and the other in poop. I forgot that the food (chili) was warming and ended up burning it. Really really burning it. There was NO saving it. So, I packed up the boys, ran to the store, bought all new ingredients to make a quick new batch and hurried to the checkout line...where Colin puked all over the floor. Yuck. I felt terrible taking him into the store knowing he was sick, but I had to have food for the lunch!

We got back home, where Colin threw up a couple more times, and I made the chili. It definitely was NOT my best, but I did the best that I could with the time that I had. I had to have the chili in Burleson by 12:45. I packed up the boys again, and made the trek to Burleson. Colin threw up 3 more times on the way, and then FINALLY fell asleep. I dropped off the food, and turned around to go back home. I hit my hand on my seatbelt and broke one of my new pretty nails! UGH! Today was just not my day!

We finally got home, and I made Colin his 'sick bed'. Basically, it's a blanket on the floor covered with smaller blankets for him to lay on. When he throws up, I just remove a layer of blankets. He doesn't tell me with enough time to get him to the bathroom, so this works. He is currently watching tv.

A Day of Pampering

This afternoon, my mom and I went to a day spa. Miguel purchased a gift for me LAST Valentine's Day that I never used, and decided that it was finally time! I got a pedicure, pink & white tips put on, and had my eyebrows waxed. Along with my new haircut, I feel great! Thank you Miguel!

New Haircut

I got my hair cut today, and I must say that I absolutely LOVE it! I think this cut defines my face, and it's definitely the best cut I've ever had! It's what I wanted last time, but didn't quite get. My stylist is amazing. I just love her! Oh, and I enjoyed drinking a mimosa while being styled!

Haircuts & Pictures

I took the boys for haircuts today. Surprisingly, Colin didn't cry at all, and Brennan cried the entire time. Usually, it's the other way around. After haircuts, I took the boys to have pictures made. I take the boys every 3 months for pictures until they are 2. Since having Brennan, I always have pictures of the boys together as well. It's a great memory that I'll have of them while they are small. Also, I always have Mother's Day pictures taken with me in them with the boy/boys.

Anyway, the pictures will be back next week, so as soon as I get them, I'll post them!

Brennan's 15 Month Appointment

Today Brennan went to the pediatrician for his 15 month appointment. He is doing well. He got 3 shots...which, of course, he didn't like. He's a small little guy...weighing in at only 21 lbs. 2 oz. (10-25%) and 31 1/4 inches long (50-75%). The crazy thing is that he eats...all the time...and A LOT! I guess he's just gonna be small! He's still not walking. He stands and will take a couple of steps here and there. The doctor said that he HAS to be walking by his 18 month appointment. I'm not freaked out, b/c the same thing happened with Colin. Colin walked 1 week before he turned 18 months. I guess that I just have slow walkers...and that's ok by me! I brought up a concern that Brennan really doesn't say too many words yet...mama, papa, more, *tries* Colin, uh-oh. That's about it. Doctor said that's fine. He just on the slower side of 'normal'. He said that 3 words by 15 months is considered normal.

I'm taking Brennan for his 15 month portraits tomorrow, so I'll post them as soon as I get them back!

Jaida's Birthday Party

Colin just loves Jaida! We got to celebrate her 3rd birthday (a little early) with her today. She had her party at Chuck E. Cheese...one of Colin's favorite places. He had a blast! Brennan is a little yound ot really enjoy the place, but he was there too! Happy birthday Jaida!

Days 1-3 of Reading

Like I stated in an earlier post, I've just started teaching Colin to read using a method in a book that I purchased. The first 2 days were gravy! Today, the lesson was a little longer than the first 2, and Colin got stuck on 1 particular section. We didn't make it through all of today's lesson yet...maybe half way. Right before dinner, we'll try to bang out the 2nd half.

Colin is doing great! He is still excited each day to learn. It's only been 3 days and he can already identify and make the 'a', 's' & 'm' sounds! Yay Colin!

Teaching Colin to Read

I've been wanting Colin to learn to read for a while now. I was a very early reader, and he shows the same potential and eagerness as I did (so states my mother). He's always reading books...either making up stories based on the pictures, or memorizing them from when we read them to him. We read to him ALL THE TIME. He just seems to ready to learn! I've ordered (and received) 'Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons'. It came recommended by a friend who had some friends use the system. The lessons only take about 12-15 minutes per day, with a maximum of 20 minutes if there is a lot of redirecting. I've read through the beginning of the book where they explain why and how the system works. It seems like it really will work! I plan to do 1 lesson per day 5 days a week. We will see how that goes! I plan to start tomorrow!

15 Months Old

My baby Brennan is 15 months old today! I can't believe how the time has flown! He's turning into such a big boy! Not quite walking yet, but almost there! I'm taking him for his 15 month portraits next week, so I'll post his official pictures when I get them back! His 15 month well baby check is next Monday, and I'll post his stats then!

15 Month Comparison

Colin - TOP Brennan - BOTTOM

I think they look very different now. Both super cute, just in their own way!

Double Pink Eye

Poor Colin was complaining yesterday about his Left eye 'getting bigger'. It did look a little puffy, but I just thought that he was rubbing it. I also noticed a little yellowish gunk coming out of it, but didn't think too much of it. He then slept over my mom's house last night, and when he woke up this morning both eyes were puffy and had green gunk coming out. GROSS! I just got back from taking him to his pediatrician's office, and he has conjunctivitis in both eyes. He has some Vigamox drops to put in, and hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

Project 365: Week 1: January 1 - January 7

Week 1 summary. All of the pictures and the explanations can be found on my smugmug.

New Year, New Template

Ok, so it's definitely time for a new look. I've got this one up now, but it still needs some tweaking...like, why is my title off center? All problems for Miguel ;-) to fix when he has time. I'll learn this stuff one day. Yeah, one day. Until then, you are stuck with this. Ha!

My Cutie Pie!

I took a few pictures of Brennan today that I thought were just darling...so, I had to share. I think I have a little heartbreaker in the making...The rest are on my smugmug.

Happy New Year

A fresh start to a new year. What will this year bring? I'm not one for resolutions, but there are still some goals/things I want to do this year...

• Well, if I find some free time, I'd like to change up my blog layout a bit. This one's getting old...and, it's for the summer.
• I'd like to do more reading. I LOVE to read. I always have...I just don't have the time to do it as often I would like.
• I want to teach Colin to read. I want him reading by the time he turns 4. He's a smart boy, and loves books, so I think he will be open to learning!
• I want to be healthier. I want to eat healthier and to exercise more. Shedding a few pounds couldn't hurt either ;-)
• I want to save up some money. You never know with this economy...and I think it's important to have a decent amount in savings. This one is important to Miguel too, and we've been working on it recently.
  

Those are just a few of the many things on my metal 'to-do' list.

BTW - I did great last night! I got tired around 3:00 am and got my second wind around 4:30 am. I think that I could totally switch to full nights!

Project 365

I've decided to participate in Project 365. Every year I say I'm going to do it, and then I don't. This year I AM! Casey, Emily, & Bonnie are also doing it. I don't think that I'm going to post every day on my blog, but I will post everyday on my smugmug with a description of the picture and then I'll post a weekly summary of that weeks photos on my blog.

Brennan & Tonight

Brennan has been sick for 2 days now. We took him to the doctor yesterday b/c I couldn't keep his fever down. He'd gotten up to 105.7. That scares even me just a little. He was negative for the flu (yay!), but we don't know what it is just yet. His pediatrician thinks that it's just a virus, but he didn't want to draw blood just yet. I trust his doctor, and know that he has Brennan's best interest in mind, so I didn't question his course of action. Hopefully he'll get to feeling better soon.

On another note, tonight is New Year's Eve. This is my first time to work New Year's Eve. This will also be the first time in over 1 1/2 years that I'll be working a 12 hour shift...it will also be my first full night shift ever. I'm excited to see what the night will bring, but also to see how I do!

Everyone, be safe in your evening...b/c I don't want to have to take care of you tonight!

More Steps

Brennan is now up to 4 steps at a time before he falls. He thinks it's a game that he's playing with us! It is soooo adorable to watch him!

First Steps

What a joyous day! When things started settling down, some of us were sitting on the floor playing with the kids, and Brennan took his first steps! It was only 2 steps, but that's all he's ever done! Whoo-hoo! Maybe he'll be walking soon!

Merry Christmas

I had such a wonderful Christmas this year! The tradition changed a little bit this year...
It started off with my mom coming over in the morning to open presents with us. Colin and Brennan had huge piles of gifts, and thoroughly enjoyed opening all of them!
I hosted Christmas dinner at our house for the first time. Mom wasn't feeling up to it this year, since she just got out of the hospital a few weeks ago. I had the whole family over, and some friends. We had LOTS of food, lots of game playing and lots of time just enjoying the company of family. Our house is a little small to accommodate our large (and ever growing family), but we made do, and I felt so blessed by it! Since I was bust in the kitchen most of the day, I didn't get very many pictures of the family time :-(.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always celebrated at Frances' (my MIL) house. We eat a traditional dinner then open presents then eat dessert. Brennan didn't stay awake this year, but Colin did...and he enjoyed every minute of opening his presents!
The boys wore their matching Christmas pajamas...a tradition, we we made sure to take the 'mess' picture after everyone opened their presents.
The rest of the photos are on my smugmug.
I'm super excited b/c tomorrow I'm hosting Christmas dinner at our house for the very first time!

A Festivus For the Rest of Us!

Jonny & Whitney hosted their 3rd annual Festivus celebration at their house. This years theme was Luau. It was so much fun! The food was delicious...kabobs, coconut shrimp (vegetarian...and SOOOOO Good!), fried rice, lots of pineapple & coconut things, punch etc. We had a blast, and of course the Festivus episode of Seinfeld was playing!

Christmas Card

Here is this year's Christmas card!

Brennan Stood Up!

Well, my boys are slow walkers. It's a fact. Brennan turned 14 months old yesterday, and isn't walking yet. He's been cruising for a while. He's gotten good at it. This afternoon, I watched him try and try and try and try and try to stand up from sitting on the floor. I didn't think he would do it...but he just kept working at it. I had the camera on my phone ready to snap just in case...and he did it! I'm so proud of him! He stood up, looked around, watched tv and then sat back down. I was able to snap a picture the second time that he did it b/c I wasn't fast enough the first time!

Dentist Visit

Colin and Brennan had dentist appointments today. It was Colin's 2nd appointment and Brennan's 1st.
Colin - He did much better than he did on his first visit. He picked out a black toothbrush with a giraffe on it. The hygienist cleaned his teeth, then brushed and flossed them. There was minimal crying...and it was b/c Colin didn't want to lay back; he wanted to sit up. The took x-rays this time, as he wouldn't calm down enough last time to do it. He has all of his baby teeth and you could see his adult teeth under the gums. It was kind of freaky.

Brennan - He did AWESOME! Colin picked out a blue toothbrush for him. The hygienist cleaned, brushed and flossed Brennan's teeth as well. He barely cried at all! They didn't do any x-rays this time. They did mention that Brennan has a very large frenulum (the tissue that connects the top lip to the gums) and that it connects much lower than usual. So, if he bumps his mouth, it will probably bleed a lot. It's also causing a gap between his 2 front teeth. The dentist said that it usually corrects itself in between baby teeth and adult teeth, but if not, then he could have a frenectomy (basically snipping it and reattaching it a little higher). That's not anything that we have to worry about for a few years though.

Their next appointment is in 6 months!

Christmas Portraits

The boys had their Christmas Portraits taken by my MIL this afternoon. These are just a few of my favorite poses! She did an awesome job! Need a photographer? Visit: Frances Otero Photography

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving! We had such a blessed day! It was filled with food, family, friends, games & most of all...LOVE! Now we are getting ready to go shopping!

Desserts

I figured I would post some pictures of the desserts that I made for Thanksgiving. From top to bottom: Caramel apple pecan cheesecake, Flan, Pumpkin cheesecake, and Cherry Cheesecake. They were all soooooo good!

Thanksgiving Preparations

Well, for the past 2 days I have been baking and cooking like crazy in preparation for Thanksgiving. I'll have to take some pictures and post some of my desserts before they get eaten! My contributions this year include: stuffing (my Nanny's recipe...and it's the BEST stuffing that I've ever had), cornbread, flan, cherry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake & caramel apple pecan cheesecake. I'm also going to be making the gravy tomorrow.

In case I don't get back here to say it, I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving. Think about all of the blessing in your life and remember to thank God for them! Happy Thanksgiving all!

11th tooth!

Brennan is just pooping all of his teeth in now! He cut his 11th tooth today. It's a molar on the bottom right. His mouth full of teeth makes him look so grown up! His smile gets cuter and cuter with the addition of each tooth!

Crawling

For the past few days now, Brennan has been really attempting to crawl on his hands and knees. He's still pretty slow, but I think he's finally getting the hang of it. He's actually doing it more now than the army crawl! He looks too adorable!

A Computer Monitor Tried To Kill Me...

Well, not really...but it did try to break my left foot. While cleaning out Colin's closet this afternoon, an old computer monitor (you know the kind...the really bulky heavy ones) tipped over and fell on top of my left foot. I immediately screamed out in pain and began to cry. It takes quite a bit to make me cry since I have a pretty high threshold for pain, so I knew that this had to be bad. When I was finally able to calm down enough to look at my foot, it had swollen up like a balloon and I couldn't walk on it. My mom came over to watch the boys so I could run to the urgent care place to get an x-ray. According to the doctors reading of the x-ray, it's not broken, just badly bruised. I'm so glad that it's not broken, but it still hurts soooo much!

2 more teeth!

I noticed today when Brennan woke up from his nap that he has 2 more teeth! Both are upper, 1 on each side. His tooth count now totals 10! It's crazy to me that Brennan has so many teeth by this point...Colin got his first one at 13 months, and Brennan has 10!!! I'm sure that this explains all the crankiness this week!!!

Cruising

Brenna has been doing it for a little bit now, but I never got around to posting about it...but he's cruising on furniture. He's really getting around now walking from couch to couch to get to where he wants to go. I can't wait for him to stand on his own!

Shindig

Shindig was a little different this year. New location, same general idea.
Miguel played electric guitar. Boy was it fun listening to him practice country music for 3 weeks. Can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? Frances & Felix came up again this year, and Frances got some really good pictures! We had a good time. After Shindig was over, Miguel and I met the rest of the crew at IHOP...which is tradition after Shindig. We left there after 1:00 am!

Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Patch

Miguel and I took the boys to the Dallas Arboretum for their fall exhibit: Pumpkins! They had a really nice pumpkin patch. We took a ton of pictures, with a few cute shots! View the rest on my smugmug!

Thankful Thursday

I'm going to give this a try.
What are you thankful for? Join Sonya over at Truth 4 the Journey to participate!

This week I'm thankful for:

1. The ability to work at night so I can stay at home with my boys.
2. My church, YG (Younger Generation). What an AWESOME group of people.
3. My mom. She is a wonderful mom and grandmother and my boys love her so much!
4. My boys. Colin & Brennan can bring a smile to my face even on the worst of days.
5. My husband. Even though it's difficult at times, I love him with all of my heart.
   

Is God Opening a Door?

It's a little bit of a story, so either bear with me or stop reading now. ;-)
As you know, I'm a nurse. An ER nurse. It's my passion...ER, that is. I love it. I am a true adrenaline junkie. I work best under pressure and stress. I'm on my 'A' game then.
I'm also PRN, which basically means that I don't receive any benefits from the hospital as far as vacation or sick time or health benefits. I get paid a higher hourly wage for that.
The way that the PRN system is set up, it's basically for the hospital to have coverage when their full time and part time staff can't fill the slots. It's supposed to be a last minute call. Well, b/c of the extreme shortage of nurses, I have been able to be PRN for several years. I've actually been able to be placed on the schedule weekly and count on the hours. I think I've been spoiled by the shortage.
Well, 8 months ago, when I went back to work from maternity leave I found myself being called off (the basically call me before my scheduled shift and cancel me) or canceled days in advance. So, I decided to give working nights a try. Turns out that I actually enjoy working nights better! Yay! I was called off a few times on nights, but not nearly as much as I was on days. Things have been going great...
Things are still going great, but I've noticed over the last month or so they've hired a bunch of new full time staff. Nights were REALLY short staffed (which is why I moved to nights)...and now once all of these people are off training, I've been afraid that they are going to take my scheduled shifts. Miguel has suggested cross training to a different department, but with my short shifts (I only work 6 or 8 hour shifts currently), that probably won't work out too well.
So, all that being said...I'm going to talk about my love for the ER. I LOVE working in the ER. If I ever left, I've always said that I would want to go to L&D and/or nursery...but I don't want to leave the ER. The only thing that I really don't enjoy about the ER is working with kids. I guess that I am intimidated by their small bodies...or maybe it's the parents looming over me as I attempt to do anything to their child. I don't know, but whatever it is, I feel extremely uncomfortable working with kids. I've been a nurse for almost 5 years, and I have been able to have someone do all of the intrusive tasks o the kids for me...how did I make it this long not doing it?
Well, the past month or so I've decided that I need to get over my kid fear and just man up and do what needs to be done myself. No more bartering. No more trading off tasks with people. I'm going to start all of my own pedi. IV's, do all of my own pedi. caths etc. So, I've been doing my own tasks. I shake. I'm nervous. I feel overwhelmed, but I'm doing it. That's right. I'm doing it.
Now, I get to the 'Is God Opening a Door' part...
I was sitting in a training class for work last Thursday. I got a phone call and then a voicemail from my MIL. I texted her back and the basic gist of what she was calling about was that she has a contact at my hospital in the nursery and pediatric department that she was talking to on Thursday morning. The woman is the head of the department, and was telling my MIL about how short staffed they are. All things said and done, my MIL mentioned that I'm a nurse in the ER and the lady told my MIL that she wants me to work for her as well and for me to call her.
I called the lady later Thursday afternoon, and left a message. She called me back on Friday afternoon, and basically, she wants me to cross train to her department. She wants me to work in the Special Care Nursery and in the Pediatric departments during the winter. She is willing to cross train me and better yet...she is willing to let me work 8 hours shifts. We don't have anything set in stone yet, she still has to talk to her director about me, but said she will call me back as soon as she does. I'm so excited.
Now, I truly truly feel that God telling me somehow to kick my pedi. skills up a notch b/c he had/has a plan. I'm so nervous, b/c I am scared of kids...but we all know that God likes to make you shine in ways that you never thought you could. So, I know that if it is God's plan for me to cross train and I end up working there, I will shine. I will do great...and who know, maybe I'll even LIKE it!