Changes, New Oppurtunities, The Unknown

Well, lots of changes going on around here. I keep meaning to update....but it has been quite busy. The biggest update: as many of you may know, and some may not, M-Dad has accepted a job opportunity up North. It is similar to what he was doing at his last job (import/export/shipping company), but with better pay/benefits and hopefully a better boss! The main reason it was time to leave his former company was due to the fact that his boss was an extremely unfair, unreasonable, boss who had no clue how to treat employees. There were other employees who left for the same reason. But, that is all water under the bridge now....M-Dad got some good solid experience, and will move on to bigger and better things. M-Dad left G-Town today in order to start his new position tomorrow. M-Kid and I will be staying here for awhile longer, length of time to be determined....but probably a couple of months or so. We have things to take care of down here, and would like to make sure his job works out, and we find a good place to live up there, etc. Not to mention, I have to figure out what I will be doing. I think I am leaning towards going back into the regular working world, and sending M-Kid off to pre-school. I have enjoyed working for myself, working from home, running daycare, and spending my days with my M-Kid and the tots...but I think this might just be the right transition point for us to make a change. So, the details will need to be worked out. We are also working towards our future goal of buying a home (eventually, maybe not right away) hopefully in P-Town. This is where we want to be, live our life, etc. We have enjoyed our time living in G-Town. It has obviously been nice to live close to my family and be just a short drive away. It has been wonderful. Our location couldn't be more perfect. In walking distance from the mall, many shops, parks, and more. It will be really hard to move away from my family and the comfort we have here. We were really feeling like everything was in place, for the time being anyway. And it is just that. We knew we wouldn't be here forever. It just isn't the longterm place for us to be...the quality of life isn't what we want. The traffic, the poor air quality, the people (depending on the area). M-Kid updates: He will be 2 soon. We are celebrating his birthday down here at a train park (where else??!) He has been testing us a lot! He is talking a lot more, repeating words, using phrases, comprehending a lot, learning his numbers and letters, he knows most colors and shapes as well! It is amazing how much they can know and learn at this age. It has been so rewarding and such a blessing to see his progression and know that I actually taught him something! Anyway, that is all for now, as I need to go off to bed. Here is a pic of us from last night, M-Kid's last official night living in G-Town. We had a BBQ at our place, and then went to an awesome car show that was within walking distance.

Aaaah yes, it has been awhile. Let's see, not too much has changed. M-Dad is still at his job, continuing to gain experience in the import/export field. I am still at home running small-scale daycare, only 2 other children besides M-Kid right now. Doin' a few hours here and there with the consulting- picking up work where I can. Tomorrow I have a field job 2.5 hours drive away. Woo-hoo. A few updates... Well, a major one. Kuma and Brian got married this past weekend. A beautiful wedding! We had so much fun. M-Kid was the ringbearer (along with J-Kid, Brian's nephew), Kuma was a beautiful bride, I just barely managed to hold my tears back when she walked down the aisle. We have known each other for 15 years now. WOW! M-Kid is talking a lot more, using 2-syllable words, and putting words together. He is doing really good with learning his colors and shapes. We are still working on learning 123's and ABC's. Today he said "purple flower" He definitely knows purple, since we have so many purple flowers on our path to the park. We have a game that matches a shape to the correct flashcard, and he knows them all- heart, star, circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval, diamond. His favorites are heart and circle. When he was coloring with his crayons, he drew a circle, and said "circle!!" He will also run in a circle and say "circle!" I was amazed. Something new everyday, he is so smart and learning so fast. Finally, wednesday was Uncle R's 16th birthday!!! I can't believe he is growing up so fast. I remember the day he was born. I was at school (6th grade), my aunt came and picked me up. He had been born right as I was getting out of school that day. We went to the hospital and there he was a little bundle of joy in the nursery. I was 12 years old! I loved helping take care of him. Happy Birthday Uncle R!!

Thanks be to God

Thanks be to God. The power of prayer is amazing. Padrino is still with us and we pray that he continue to gets better. Rewind to almost 2 weeks ago. We get a phone call that Padrino is in the hospital and might not make it through the night. We had plans to drive up north to the bay area for the Easter weekend the following day...but we immediately booked a flight when we heard the news so that we could be there for Padrino and the family. It was a stressful few days, but all we could do was pray. It was in God's hands. M-Kid had the best time of anybody though, hanging out with the R-fam and playing. Picture to the left is of us on the steam trains. The night before we left, M-Kid got his first real injury- he was bit by a little scruffy dog...in the face! It was very scary, but thankfully he healed up just fine. It could have been worse. Neosporin does wonders! In other news, M-Kid is 20 months! Wow, it seems so much closer to 2. He is talking a lot more, I can't even count his words anymore. He can basically repeat any word you ask him to, mostly just the 1 syllable words. He is working on 2 syllable words and phrases...still got some time for those. He answers questions with a "yeah" or "no" and is really starting to understand how things work. It is amazing! I am also currently working on numbers, letters, colors, and shapes with him. He is really into learning new things. I too, am learning a lot through the parenting process... about myself, about child development, and the importance of teaching them about how to live life.

M-Kid's Survey

My name is M-Kid I really like to go to the park, go for walks, play with my trainset, watch Thomas & Friends DVD When I grow up, I am going to train engineer or soccer player My biggest talent is dancing, throwing a ball, doing animal sounds You will most often hear me say Mama, up, help (when he wants his trains connected), bye-bye, wawa (water) My best line so far is Cool Dude If I could meet one person/animal/character it would be Thomas the Train! If I could bring one item to a desert island with me and mom, I'd bring my Thomas & Percy trains The naughtiest thing I've ever done is Running ridealong toy into people at full speed, unrolling t.p roll, throwing or hitting things (after mama/dada said no) On Saturday mornings you can find me watching Thomas & Friends and eating breakfast w/ Mama & Dada If I could eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be anything dairy, goldfish crackers, cherry tomatoes, and pickles

Best Husband and Son Ever

M-Dad is the best. I come home from a job on Saturday, and he had flowers, birthday gift, and homemade card waiting for me on the table, and that is not all. He hung a "happy birthday" sign for me, and made me my favorite drink (version of a lemon drop). THEN, he told me to go check in our room for another gift. I walk in, look at my desk, and something is different about it. Not only is it clean and organized...there is a new flatscreen computer monitor! Wow, my desk is definitely a lot bigger now. Furthermore, on Sunday after church, we cleaned our place up a bit, including steam-cleaning our carpets, which M-Dad did the cleaning part, while I vacuumed and scrubbed the spots. Our carpet gets dirty REAL quick, especially with toddlers running around throughout the week! It is a light color, and once something spills on it, it stays! But it looks a lot better after the cleaning. Anyway, I just wanted to say how happy he made me.

Next...M-Kid, what a little sweety pie. I got my special birthday "gift" from him the night before last. He has known how to give kisses for awhile now. He even does it without asking. But this time, it was just extra special and loving. I was holding him, and he looked straight into my eyes, and gave me a kiss right smack on the lips, followed by two more kisses. And once he was done he gave me the sweetest smile that I've ever seen....a smile that meant "I Love You Mama." Anyways, I got tears in my eyes during these moments. I want to remember them forever. So, on to other subjects. My boys are sick...well, M-Dad's main condition (BP) has definitely gotten better, pretty much a full recovery now, thanks to God and all of the prayers. M-Dad has some sort of a cold though, and M-Kid has conjunctivitis and an ear infection. But they both seem to be doing a bit better. M-Cat is also doing much better (see post below). I am now officially 28. Do I feel different? Not really! I feel like my life is very full and blessed at this point. I do feel like 28 is a substantial age though. Late 20's. Married. Baby. Working. Hopefully a house one day (sooner or later?) Living life. Doing alright. Can't complain! Anyways, all I can pray for is many more years with my family, living life in happiness, good health, new experiences, and success.

Rough Week

It has been a rough couple of weeks for many it seems, but things are starting to look up. Any spare prayers are appreciated. M-Dad has been seeing the accupuncurist twice a week to help his condition, and taking herbs and some medicine that is supposed to help. He is starting to feel some improvement. We had a bit of a scare with M-Cat and had to take him to the emergency pet hospital...he had a urinary obstruction and was in a lot of pain...after an expensive visit to the hospital (who ripped me off) and a more reasonable visit at our regular vet the following day, is at home recovering now. God has given us many blessings...just have to remember that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Much love and prayers to all of our family and friends.

We have an 18 month old!

It has been a couple months since I have posted, didn't realize it has been that long. In the middle of doing a few things at once. Been busy! Well, we made it through the new year. M-Dad had his 30th birthday- we went to Catalina for the weekend and had a relaxing time! M-Dad and M-Kid's first time there (and M-Kid's first boat trip) and my umpteenth time there (used to go every summer as a kid). M-Kid's update: Have I mentioned that he loves trains, I mean LOVES. He has the Thomas the Train train set, and he takes "Thomas" and "Percy" the trains everywhere he goes. They are his friends :) He gets reaallllly excited when he sees any train-related thing, especially Thomas. We let him watch the Thomas and Friends show every Saturday morning, and ONCE in awhile he gets to watch the DVD. It is fun stuff. M-Kid just turned 18 months old on Saturday the 17th, and he continues to learn really quickly. He has been talking a lot more especially in the last month, some of his favorites include: choo-choo, animal sounds (dog, cat, duck, monkey, frog, lion, cow), bye-bye, water, juice, up, hot, hat, down, dog, night-night, out, no, hello, ow, help, mama, dada, bath, bubbles, shoes, walk, and a few others. He also is great at waving, clapping, giving hugs & kisses, giving high 5, dancing, following instructions, jumping on mama and dada, and letting you know what he wants! He is also learning right from wrong, and will look at you and shake his head or wave his finger around before he tries to get away with something- testing us! Anyway that is all for now. Blessings!

As the year comes to an end...

A lot has happened this year, but even more has happened in just these past 2 months alone. I haven't really had time or really felt like really sitting down and typing up something, so here it goes. First off, my Grandad passed on veterans day (very suiting since he was a war veteran). In a previous post I mentioned that he wasn't doing well. He passed in the comfort of his home. I was happy to have been able to spend a little extra time with him the week he passed. It was difficult to see him in so much anguish, but really good to speak to him and hold his hand. Death has always been a hard thing for me to grasp, as I am sure is the case for many people. It is so hard to say good bye, in the physical sense anyway. On one hand, it was a relief to know that he was no longer "living" that way, but on the other hand the people who are still living have to deal with the loss. We will miss Grandad's presence. Childhood memories of him have been popping in my head before and ever since his passing...like all those times he walked my cousins and I up to the nearby liquor store for some candy, the fact that he would always make a point of attending his grandchildren's events (ie. sporting events), and more. They will always be engrained in my memory. I am glad that he was able to meet M-Kid and his other two great grandchildren. I only hope and pray that I am blessed enough to make it to that stage in life. I pray for my family to get through this difficult time and that they are able to remain strong...and eventually be at peace. The holidays went pretty well this year. For Thanksgiving, we went up north to visit the Rodriguez side of the family. We had a really good, relaxing time, and Matthew had lots of fun hanging out with his grandma, cousins, and uncles. For the Christmas holiday, we stayed in So Cal. Matthew got to see a cool light show at Griffith Park, saw Santa at the mall, went to the Children's mass at our church on Christmas eve, and more. We spent time with the Albright and Wilson families on Christmas eve and Christmas, and Matthew had lots of fun hanging out with everyone! He made out well on the gifts. Thanks everyone! Also, Daddy gave him his first "real" haircut (Mommy trimmed his bangs a couple of times before), and it turned out pretty cute! It is pretty even all around with a little tail in the back. He continues to learn and grow so quickly, a little each day. His little personality is just developing so wonderfully! May we continue to be blessed enough to be able to be surrounded by great family and friends, celebrate engagements, weddings (Congratulations to you all!), births (Welcome babies!), birthdays (Happy 50th Birthday dad!), new jobs, etc....and enjoy more good times. That is all for now. Time for bed! Happy New Year everyone. May our beloved family and friends be blessed in the upcoming new year of 2007 (and all other years of course!) Thank you for always being there for us.

M-Kid's Halloween

Picture of us at the pumpkin patch and M-Kid on halloween in his lion costume. He loved being in his costume. He tried it on several times and ran around the house. He even kept the headpiece on (for the most part, but pretty good for a toddler!) We had a good time on Halloween. Went trick-or-treating and walked around the mall. Pretty low key, but perfect!

Life and Death

As our Grandad (M-Kid's great Grandad) is getting ready to pass...I ponder about my own life and life in general. I will consider myself more than blessed if I can have half of these things in my life in no particular order: To be able to watch my child(ren) grow up, with my husband by my side. Live to be an ol granny, surrounded by lots of family, and be able to tell stories of my oh so interesting life. Pass peacefully in my sleep, knowing that I have lived a long, happy life. Don't we all wish this! My family knowing how much I love them and appreciate them being in my life. My family to live a long, happy and healthy life. "Own" a home that my family and I think of as HOME. Enough money to live and be able to do things I want to do, and be financially secure. To live my life, enjoy each moment, create new memories and experiences, and not sit on the sidelines and wait for it to go by. To not always be bogged down with the stresses and anxiety of life...which is sometimes a challenge for me! Well, that is all for tonight. Off to bed. Any prayers of peace and healing that anyone who reads this can spare for Grandad are appreciated.