New Years

Is it over? The whirlwind of family and friends, food and presents, laughter and tears is almost over. It has been a rough couple of months but hopefully we will remember that we have had a very blessed year. My pregnancy, though uncomfortble and scary at times, was successful. I have a beautiful baby boy tho against all odds is healthy. My marriage is better than it was this time last year. Lucas is a great big brother and a normal, inquisitive 3 year old.
With the New Year quickly approaching, I wonder what the it will bring. Will things continue to get better or will this be the year that puts us to the ultimate test. So many external elements when allowed to come into our homes and hearts can tear our families apart. I am going to be careful what I pray for. "Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"--GOD (Morgan Freeman-Evan Almighty) So I am going to pray that GOD be with all of us, may he do with us and our lives what he thinks is best. Help us to turn to him with every happy momment and pain of sadness.
I think that this year will be full of trials and tribulations and I ask that we all come through it together.

A Weekend of Tears

I know it has been a while since I last posted. Things have been kind of crazy. We had my grandfather's memorial on Saturday and it was good to see so many friends. If a memorial service can be considered good. It was wonderful to see family and friends whom I haven't seen in years. People were getting up and sharing memories and it was nice to hear about how people felt about Daddo. Then my Aunt Collette stood up with some of the best news.
See my grandfather was part of a sportsmans club in Brownsville, TX. A man from Mexico came and spoke about the poaching of the Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle. There was one beach in Mexico where the sea turtles would nest. People were killing them for their shells and meat, they were stealing eggs to cook up and to sell to tourists and at the time the Kemps Ridley was on the brink of extinction. My grandfather, along with his brothers went to Mexico and petitioned to have the beach protected by the Mexican governement, when that didn't work they decieded to hire some men to patrol the beach for poachers. When that still wasn't doing enough they went the next year and decided to bring as many eggs as they could to a beach in South Padre Island. They worked with Fish and Game to get the area protected. After a few years of successful hatching, the Kemps Ridley is close to coming off the Endangered Species List. How AWESOME that my family had such an important part to this. That is a legacy that I am proud of for my children.

Sunday was the viewing for our dear friend, Nelson Montalvo. It was hard. It was obvious that they had to do some reconstruction for the open casket. Jason immediately had a memorial blog post up after finding out of his passing (http://www.nelsonmontalvo.com/). That post had 52 comments on it and everyone had read it. In fact a reporter with the Express News was so impressed he wanted to write a feature obituary on Nelson. It was great and just what Nelson deserved. Jason was so strong but there were several momments where he broke down. I would ask him how he was doing, and he would just look at me and say "I miss my friend" It broke my heart. I just want to keep him from hurting. Jason has found a new friend in Nelson's brother, Armando. He and Jase have had breakfast together and just helped each other cope. They are both so similar that I think it is a good match. I hope I have found some new friends in Karen, Armando's wife, and Jean, Nelson's girlfriend. We have had time to talk and share and I hope that we continue our friendships. Nelson to the end was a man of networking. He brought people together in life, and continued it in death. He is going to be missed. After the funeral on Monday we all went back to Jean and Nelson's house for food and fellowship. It was hard but it was great to see everyone. Jean asked me to bring Bishop since Nelson and she had come to the hospital when I had him. She loved seeing him. She laughed and said that having babies around makes everything better. I was glad for that. We ended up staying till 1:30 AM. But it was time well spent. I think that we have found closure but we haven't yet found peace with his unexpected and tragic passing.
There is going to be a legal battle over reponsibility for the accident. Last night Nelson's car was towed to our friends land out by Comfort. Jason went out to be with Jean and some friends. It was amazing to see a 4 door civic crushed and compacted to a one seater car. Looing through the passenger side door you see immediately the steering wheel. It was traumatic but necessary for the healing, I hope.

I better go my little man is waking up and I feel the need to smile. Thank you for the support and love.

Yesterday was tough....

First, Bishop has been trying to latch on a lot lately. I'll wake up in the middle of the night and his pacifier is gone and he is latching on through my tshirt or tank. We tried to breastfeed in the beginning but he wasn't digging it and I was stressed, so I decided to stop which was what I thought a good decision on 3 three hours sleep. Jason did some research and he is thinking I should try and relactate and go back to breastfeeding. I don't know if I am up for that. I think that trying to get him to sleep in his own bed and get on a schedule is way more important. But we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I tried to let Bish sleep in his crib. He would sleep for about 45 min then wake up and realize he was supposed to be upset and crying. So he'd scream until I came in. I went in first at 1 min, then 3, and 5 and so on until he fell asleep again. Last night was really tough. I was determined to not pick him up and let him cry but everytime I left the room he would scream before I could sit down. It was nuts. I feel bad for letting him cry. I know he is only 4 months old and is going from being with me in bed to his own. I feel like a bad mommy for spoiling him so much.

Last night was made even harder when my husband found out one of our best friends past away yesterday. He was an amazing guy and had helped my husband through some tough times. He just turned 32 and had everything going for him. Nelson came to the hospital when I had Bishop. He was such a sweet guy. It was a tragic car accident. My husband is beside himself with grief and I struggle to find words to console him.

Better go Bish is waking up and is crying. Round two for the cry it out method.

Awwe....cute pics of Daddy and Bam :)

Bishop and Daddy were playing and giving Mommy some much needed "Mommy Time". It allowed me to catch up on some reading, take an extra long hot bath, wax my "hispanic roots" off my upper lip. It was wonderful. I came out and I hear Bam laughing so hard. I had to grab the camera and capture this precious momment.

I love it.

I am a bowl of Coco Puffs....

If we are what we eat...then I am a bowl of Coco Puffs, or even at times I can be found to be a sandwich or 2, or better yet I love being chicken nuggets w/ sweet and sour sauce and fries. :) Seriously my eating habits suck. I am home all day with the baby and I eat...alot. I have given my husband till Jan. After that we are going to change our eating habits. While I was pregnant I watched a show called "You Are What You Eat" on BBC America with Dr. Jillian McKeith and although there has been some controversy over whether she is a doctor or not, her program seems to work. I bought her book and it makes a lot of sense. So I am going to start it in Jan. My husband and I are going to do this macrobiotic based diet. I did make her Chickpea burgers recipe and it was absolutely delicious. Lucas even liked it. I also made her hummus recipe and it was very yummy too. So for now I am a large portion of lasagna but soon I hope to be a salad, with a side of hummus.

Jason sent this to me

http://typealyzer.com/index.php?lang=en

The above link is called a typealyzer. It analyzes your blog posts and tells you who you are based on how and what you type. I am not sure if I know how it works but it sort of describes me. This is what it said:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

I would have to say I don't completely agree. I do like comfortable and beautiful things, but I don't think I avoid conflicts. I mean not always. Anyway, it is a bit interesting.