Knights at the Capitol

Once upon of a time, there were two incredible and valiant knights that decided to visit the ruins of the Capitol ...

... and they conquered the world.

First ER visit

After almost a week with fever and a couple of days of a bad cough, we decided to take our little boy to the ER, on July 4th. Yep, our plans for the day changed but we didn't care one bit. Our boy was first. 

We signed in and they actually took us right away. He was checked by the doctor and said that Anthony sounded like he had a sign on Pneumonia, something that developed in the last couple of days. I felt horrible! It's a serious issue and I honestly didn't imagine it could've been that bad. But, I was glad we had decided to head over to the hospital right after we woke up and after a sleepless night with barking-like sounds. At the ER he received  a breathing treatment, X-rays, and a shot in his booty - he didn't like the last one, it hurt really bad :(

Say cheese cheesy

Breathing treatment

Waiting on the medicine and shopping for some treats to enjoy once we got home.

David excited about the superman movie we got and our "car picnic" :)

 At home resting and watching a movie

Now, on antibiotics to hopefully recover soon. 

We spent the day a home resting in our comfortable nest as a family and everyone taking care of Anthony; he even received a little visit from his great-grand-parents. 

While at the hospital we told him that we would ALWAYS take care of him, no matter how old he was; and that at one point, when he had his own children and he was sick, we would still take care of him, we would bring him mami's yummy chicken soup, and we would then take his little ones so he and his wife could take a rest and be able to be sick. He smiled.

Oh my Little D...

Here we are again with some skin issues. My little boy has developed some crazy case of Hives (urticaria) all over his body. Head to toe, side to side :( I took him to the doctor yesterday because I've never seen anything like that on him. I did however, got something similar right after I had Anthony. It was all over my belly, back, legs and arms. Horrible and uncomfortable, so I know exactly how my boy feels like. Kinda anyway, because his it's all over his body now, even the face.

I was told something trigger it. It could have been the last virus he had, or the really bad bug bite reaction he has a couple of days ago, it could have been anything!

Yesterday, while at the doctor, I almost cried because he didn't look good and I knew he was very uncomfortable. At one point before leaving we had to stay a few more minutes to check his oxygen, because he acted like he couldn't breath after they gave him some steroids. Taking about being scary!

Anyway, my little monkey has been puny this morning and has run low fever and has the chills. Other than that he is eating good and right now he's comfortable.

This morning a gave him an oatmeal bath. I grind some oatmeal oats and pour it in his water. He was not happy to be in the water but we made it through. He cried the whole time.

Hopefully, he gets better soon so we can go to the pool and swim again!

Random

My mother-in-law has the BEST flip flops in the world and now I do too. They are made out of the yoga mat material, they are super comfortable and one of my favorite things is that it doesn't leave that black footprint on them. They just adjust to your feet shape without leaving a mark. They are awesome! And if I receive $5 dollars for every time I brag about them, I would be a millionaire, but I don't.

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I don't think I've ever shared with you about these beautiful flowers that grow in our yard every year. They were already there when we moved in and I loved them. They are so pretty.

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David's buddy, Snoopy had a shower while David was sick. When I was gonna get him in the washer machine, David freaked out a little, but once I explained to him what was going on, he put him in the washer himself. He also helped me water the plants.

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These two are best friends for sure, and even though they fight and argue, they love each other very much. 

It's funny how sometimes they don't wanna go to bed for a nap. This is our conversation -mostly every day and with Anthony- about going for a nap. 


 (Please know that my part is in Spanish and his answer is in English)


Me: " Ok guys, it's time for nap "
A: " Oh noooooo!... I'm not tiiiireeeed... I'm not going to sleep momma!."
Me: " Yes, you are. It will help you feel better, more rested and grow stronger. Don't you wanna be like a super hero? Super heros take naps!"
A: " No they don't! They are too busy fighting bad guys!"
Me: Really trying to think of something to come up with because my 4 year old is beating me in our nap discussion.... " Why don't you just lie down for a little while, you don't even have to close your eyes, just rest. And go get Gaucher ( his teddy bear) and snuggle with him, he likes naps."
A: "mmmm... ok. BUT, I'm NOT CLOSING MY EYES! "
Me: " Ok, that's fine "




5 minutes later... 
(no, he is not sucking his thumb)

 While on the other bed, Mr. Nap lover looks like this. With Snoopy, of course.

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One thing I love about summer is that I can sun-dry our clothes, even though there are certain things that you shouldn't, such as Joe's work shirts and towels, because they get crunchy and hard. I think you could easily stand them still haha! But my favorite thing is that they dry super fast, I get a lot more done faster and we save on our power bill. 

The end

HFMD

Hand Foot Mouth Disease/virus sucks! David has it, Anthony had it but not as bad as David. Our nephew Tanner had it, some kids in the city had it. CNN did a report about it because of a increase in cases and spread out and apparently some day cares in town have closed down due to that. So yes this virus sucks. It sucks because it makes the little ones very VERY uncomfortable and itchy.

Is there a treatment? Well apparently you can only treat the symptoms but that's it.

What have I done? Give Tylenol for the fever and Benadryl for discomfort. Rub cortisone and cover the affected areas with gaze so they don't get scratched raw. Caladryl has been very helpful also, along with the Pedyalite ice pops.

What does it look like? It begins with little red dots on the hands, feet and mouth, fever and eventually the little dots turn into blisters. They can spread out to the extremities and booty, outside the mouth and ears also. They spread because the they scratch and pass it onto whatever area hey touched next.

If your your little one gets similar symptoms, consult your doctor right away. What I'm writing is from personal experience and it does not substitute professional medical information.

David is getting better. I've been trying to keep him entertained as much as we can since we haven't been able to go anywhere. He still itches but not as bad :)

Prayers please

My dad had a bad fall yesterday and he is at the hospital. I'm asking for your prayers so he can recover quickly and well. 

My heart hurst as being unable to be present for him in this time of despair. My siblings and I love him dearly and wish we could be there to love on him and take care of him. Given the distance, finances and circumstances that is not possible, but hopefully at least one of us will be there representing all of us. 

"A simple grateful thought turned heavenwards is the most perfect prayer."

-Doris Lessing

Mommy Challenges

One of my biggest challenges as a mother has been the "I don't wanna eat ANYTHING" stage. Really, what's the deal with toddlers that refuse to eat. Well, not in its entirety. But going from a bottomless-infant to a "belly-full-toddlers" makes wanna pull my hair - some days anyway. It's gotten better. 

So here it is the deal. A and D have gone through that stage, and I know that my kids are not the only ones. I've asked moms, friends and family about it and it seems like most kids go through that stage; some earlier some later. Anthony didn't seem to stay in that for a long time but our little David seems to like it, because more are the days that he doesn't wanna eat that those he actually wants to. Now, I'm not saying he doesn't eat anything at all. He does. But he doesn't really do a full meal like he used to. He now grazes as a goat and eats all day long, and I try to make it count with healthy stuff. But knowing that his weight is really on track help me not to worry so much anymore. 

Since they were born I made their baby food, purees, soups, everything. I would supplement with baby food jars when some of my days as a full time student would drain me to the point I would barely make dinner. It was exhausting. 

What I'm trying to say is that I at least know that my little ones have been well fed, and to this day I still serve David a whole meal when we are sitting eating together. 9 out of 10 times he chooses not to eat it and yes, I just say to myself : "Maybe tomorrow will be the day". However, I've found that he will eat very good if I make him a soup and in each spoonful there is a goldfish. It works like magic! He eats every single bit. And when I see that empty plate it feels like an angelical moment with the clouds opening, sun shinning through and the angel-like singing. 

My mom says that I am now paying for what I did to her when I was little. She told me I wouldn't eat anything and I would make her cry. Oops! Sorry mom.

So there it is. I think that's been one of my biggest challenges so far as a mom. I was raised with healthy homemade foods and meals, and I wanna do the same for my kiddos. So far I have, but it would be even better if they actually ate it don't you think?

Are you a parent?

What has been one of your biggest challenges?

Preserving memories

I feel like every time I write about me visiting my family in Atlanta, I begin with the same sentence, "The boys and I went to see my family in Atlanta for a couple of days" But how else should I write it? That is exactly what I did you know? The boys and I went to see my family in Atlanta for a couple of days. Ha! 

Anyway, as always it is really one of my favorite things to do, and I like it even more now that the boys like going and actually remember the visit. The last couple of years I was feeling bad because every time we went to see the family, the boys could not really connect my mom much (their grandma for goodness sake!), and they would be kinda cold to her. There is no coldness in  our family. There is lots of love and affection. But now, they love going to see her and they never want to leave. It just took time. 

We make the effort to see each other once a month and so far we are doing a good job. I also think that our commitment has a lot to do with the boys remembering and preserving the moments they spend with her. 

We are also trying to make the effort to take pictures together. Nothing like pictures and videos to have as memories of special or maybe just mundane moments. Nothing like recreating those moments in your head and trace back time. That's what it's all about, creating and preserving moments with your loved ones. The happier the better. 

It was red, very red...

So my mom came to visit and while she was here I told her I wanted to dye my hair -she's a hair dresser- and I told her I wanted to use a dark redish color -I used these kind of colors when I used to dye it-, anyway, we headed to the hair supplies store and got all the stuff she needed. 

We headed home and once she was done dying it, I looked in the mirror and what I saw I didn't like much. I saw a red headed older kinda girl. The color was pretty, very pretty, but it was red, very red, and it wasn't me. I looked older than I am and I wanna look like and according to Joe I looked pale and sick. Ha! Yeah, he didn't like it. He said : "I like dark headed girls, I like you more with your natural color, dark " So next morning we dyed it again, dark this time. My hair is not happy. I'm up for some hair masks  to rejuvenate it. But I'm back to my old self.

This is what I looked like while she worked on my hair. And my nose looks big, wow! :)

David didn't like it much...

The sky was pretty though...

I wish I had taken a picture of my red hair. Oh well, that will never happen again. I love my own hair. The more natural the better and I'm comfortable with that and Joe prefers that way also :)

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David had been complaining about one of his ears for a couple of days, so yesterday I took him to the doctor to see what was going on. 

Ear infection after all :(

But he was still happy...:)

He felt good so we left the doctor's office just in time for story time. His fave! 

I told you it was his favorite ! 

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I finished reading the Hunger Games. Wow, great book. It kept me turning page after page without wanting to stop reading. I hope the movie is as good...