Wednesday, September 14, 2016

We Have Relocated

I have recently decided to start a new page.
You can access it from here

Theessumanstyle.wixsite.com/theessumanstyle

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Why I stay at Home as a Mom


I often find myself thinking how according to the standards of our society I may be seen as a lazy woman, that hasn't worked a day of her life in the past three years, and has no dreams or aspirations. The employment section of my drivers license form always leaves me perplexed. Just like all of the Internet profiles that require you to fill out their employment section, I often tilt  my head to the side trying to decide whether I should pick the option of homemaker or unemployed. (I usually end up opting for the option of homemaker).
I'll admit it, I am very biased. My opinion is that if you have kids and you can afford it, you should make every possible effort to stay at home and raise your children. I could name millions of articles that mention the benefits of having a mom that's at home for their children, but not one that tells you why it's better for a kid to have a mom at work. Although I have met lots of moms that believe that they would rather be gone all the time and be happy, then at home and depressed. (Even though the moms that claim that staying at home is depressing have never really tried it for more than a few months). 
I also think that whether a spouse can afford to stay at home or not, is something that one should carefully consider since we live in a world where the line between wants and needs is growing ever so thin. 
I have been told before that I am lucky to have a husband that can support our lifestyle with just his job. But looking at things from the inside I also know that we have made great sacrifices in order to keep things as they are. In 6 years of marriage we have had cable TV only a few months, and we still juggle our life of a family of four with only one car. It's a safe and reliable one at least. 
My heart goes out to those women that are raising children on their own or that have spouses that refuse To work and make a living for their family. I do know  that there are circumstances where there is truly no other option available. 
On the other side, I often feel sad when another person chooses to put work before family. Sometimes women fear that if they don't have a so called job, a career that defines them and their level of intellectuality based on how the world ranks different jobs, they will be worth nothing. 
So we all go on in life, both and men And women, seeking that awesome career that will make us feel worth higher and better. And the harder and higher the career the better we feel about ourselves.

That's where I want to make the point of this article. I have come to learn in my life that there is something that every woman has in common in this life. That is that we are daughters of God. Being divine beings makes it so that each and every one of us has the potential to become as smart and intelligent and perfect as our Heavenly Father is. Once we understand that, it almost eliminates the need to ever compete for anything here in this life since at the end of the day, we all have the same potential and privilege to become the best of the best. Some of us may have the chance to get really close to that point during this life time, some won't get even close to it. But it doesn't even matter since we will all some day die and God will do the rest for us by making us perfect through His son Jesus Christ. 
On the other hand, understanding this part has also taught me something else. I have learned to not let a dollar amount that I earn per month, determine my self worth and value on this earth. Just because this world doesn't give me a paycheck at the end of the month to feel good about myself, or nobody gets to see and praise all my wonderful accomplishments in life does not mean that what I do while I am at home with my children isn't ambitious or productive. 
I sometimes meet business entrepreneurs that  mention to me that I am very smart and that I should be doing what they are doing. Is as if they were almost surprised that a person that chose to raise children instead could be so intelligent, and as if my intelligence was  somehow being put to waste. I truly believe that this is not the case at all. 

I may have not worked a day of my life in the past three years according to what this world thinks and a lot of people think, but I know that I have HUSTLED day and night, Monday through Sunday, since the day that my first son was born. 
To anyone that may think that it was just an easy decision for me because I just love children so much and I always wanted to be a mom anyways, I want you to know that I always had a list of dreams and educational goals that I wanted to accomplish. I was among the top three students in my high school class. I graduated from High School in the Canary Islands and started college in the United States after taking only four months of English Lessons. I may have never held a very ambitious major because of that, but I managed to graduate from a university with people that lived their whole life speaking and studying in English while also holding a job at the same time. And even though going to college could have been already enough I had a list of other 3 more schools that I wanted to attend afterwards. I always felt it in my heart that if I could just complete all of the education that I wanted I would have felt invincible and I would have been done. But I decided to stop there instead. Because I decided that I had had enough ME time and it was time for me to dedicate my life so that someone else could have a beautiful life like the one that I had already had so far. 
It took me some time to also realize that my life was not going to be over for taking 18 years off to dedicate to someone else. 
I find joy in the fact that I know that I may start a career at any time of my life. But I have also learned that I  can only start a family during a few years of
my life. I know that some day my kids will be gone. And I know that will be the day when I will be able to pick up right where I left off with  all of my dreams and accomplishments. 
Of the biggest regrets that man has when they die, one of the top ones is the desire to have worked less and have spent more time with family and friends. I think this would apply really well to ai father as much as to a mother. 

My life isn't over for being a stay at home mom. My dreams have not all been put on hold because of my children. Growing up I secretly always wanted to be a model. A few months before I got pregnant with our first son I had the chance to meet with a model agency. I was told that they liked me, but I dropped everything once I decided to get pregnant with Davide. It wasn't until a few months ago when I got to shoot a video for my LDS church that after I was done, I burst into tears when I realized that my dream had been granted to me and it came through the most beautiful and meaningful video that actually has a message of hope for people that are out there. Never in my life had I thought that I could actually do
modeling having had children or being able to keep modest clothing, and without having to sell some product. (That was also another reason why I had never pursued that dream. But that's a story for another day). 
I recently got my real estate license that I can use to help
out my husband and it's something I can occasionally do while tagging along my children with me so that they also learn where money comes from. 
I often come up with business ideas and templates of things that I would like to do and that could make us so rich. I always write down the good ones. But I have also learned that those things will come some day. But I cannot let them get in the way of me being there for my children during the cross ways of life. When they come home from school. When they have a rough day. When they can't seem to accomplish a task at home.  I Would rather spend 18 years at home even wondering why I'm just there Half the time, but to know that I will be there even if it is for one split second of my life s children when they truly needed me, than to be gone every day at work and to risk to miss out on that one special moment when I was needed the most. I want to be there when my children say their first word. I want to be the one that teaches them manners and what life is all about.  I want my children to know that family comes first and to show it by choosing to stay at home when I have that option available to me. I can say that family is number one, but I will not have proved it until my actions actually show it. 

Now, are there moms that stay at
Home all day and still manage to be poor moms. Absolutely. But failure in the home is the biggest failure in your life. 

I have learned through my years of a mom to appreciate how strong I am. I feel the most accomplished woman in the world knowing that I don't need a rigorous work schedule to have discipline in my life and be productive. Being at home you are a self-employed person and it is up to you to show yourself how well you can perform your own desired task. I have learned to appreciate so much that I can read books and books without needing a school professor that tells me what to read and sets his own deadline for me. I have learned that I can stay up folding laundry until 1 am without the need of a boss that tells me that I need to work overtime. I have learned that I can go months without a vacation and working day and night to take care of a newborn to the point that I don't get to shower until its 2 o'clock every day. I have gained more confidence in myself as a person doing that than I would have ever gained having an actual job. 
If you ever find yourself wondering if you will ever have the time to do other things once you are a mom, remember that children do sleep too and, well, it's all about good time management skills. 

Juggling your time wisely when you are at home all day, is something that is truly up to you. And if you do things right you can still find the time to accomplish things that are for you and that allow you to grow as an individual.

Life is not always all dandy. Often times getting the best results requires doing things that you don't love. That may apply very well also for those that are out there trying to provide and make a living for their family or trying to achieve their dream job. Even dream careers come with their set of struggles. A lot of times the job of a husband or a woman to provide may require him to do something that he doesn't love just to put food on the table. 


But if a woman does have the option available to stay home remember that you will be working even if you are at home. And you can find new things that make you feel accomplished and that are more flexible to your family
Schedule. 
Being at home  I have learned to work without a reward. I have Learned what it means to work when the job Is hard and when the job is easy. I have learned what it means to work even when you don't get paid for it. I have learned that my self worth will not be defined by a paycheck. 
I have learned to do something for
the passion of it even if it means that I like scrubbing toilets for a living and I am not afraid to admit it, and to admit that I will never get paid very well for It. 
I have learned to trust in myself and my skills. I have learned that I can get fat during a pregnancy and get right  back in shape again  through heavyduty-workout-sessions at the gym. Just like I now know for a fact that I can leave the career world for my children and go right back to it when they will be grown and be as good as I was yesterday. 
 I learned that thanks to the experience of being a mother, watch out world because I will have mad working skills. ;) 
  

Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Gospel can be really easy!

Lately I have been doing really good. I must say that this Winter has been really easy on me. There hasn't been a lot of snow, the kids are slowly adjusting to all the routines and life. David is getting the wheel cranking with work. We no longer have school to deal with. Etc. Etc.
I also have had the chance to do lots of thinking. Since Siena has joined our family it just seems like I have been able to grow and understand a lot more things about life. One of them for example is how simple the Gospel can be.

Yes, there seems to be this idea out there that abstinence and doing good it's so hard. But in reality it makes things in life so much easier. I also realized how sometimes in my life I don't get the things I want, not because I don't deserve them, but because I don't even believe that Heavenly Father would give them to me. I then look at my life and realize that I shouldn't be like that. I shouldn't be like the people of Israel that would not look up to the snake on the stick just because they thought it would be too easy if things were just that way. But I now realize that often times they are just simple like that.

I do know that there still have to be small sacrifices in life. But usually those desires and little efforts, are like one flower and sooner than you know it you end up with a bouquet.

It may seem hard avoiding watching bad shows, or getting up every morning, but in the midst of all this, is when we get those little moments that are so special and beautiful that make up for all the other ones.

I hope that in the after life, I will be able to experience the joy that I feel after I make a little effort here in life. I hope that I will have that feeling in an endless way. And I think by then I will appreciate that nice feeling even more. Because I will remember how hard it was when I was here on earth. I will remember how much effort I had to make in order to have that beautiful sweet piece and joy inside of me. I will remember that when every fiber of my body was often telling me not to do it, and so did my brain, when I still did it, I experienced a piece of Heaven. And it was good enough as to make me want to keep doing the right. And that during those moments I realized that what seemed such a great effort, wasn't even that hard to do.

I haven't experienced endless joy yet. I have constant ups and downs. But I often experience that sweet peace when my kids fall asleep in my arms at the end of the day. When I go to sleep and I can hug my husband when I'm cold. When I put my son down to sleep and he asks me to lay with him for a few minutes and tells me that he loves me. Or when someone asks Davide what he wants and he replies "Mamma". When my daughter stops eating and reaches with her arms to touch my face. Or when she holds on to my shirt like I mean the world to her while she's feeding. Or when I give money to a lady that's selling Tamales on the street and she looks up to the Sky thanking Heavenly Father out loud. Yes, the idea of following the Gospel can at times seem overwhelming. But we just need to start it ourselves. And once we take that step, that is when Heavenly Father runs over with his arms wide open to make us happy.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Tiring day!

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that we are not supposed to do nowadays? For example right now I am sitting on the couch with my legs crossed and I keep switching positions because I have heard so many times that it's bad for your legs. They say that crossing your legs is what causes varicose veins in most women. I don't know whether that's truth or myth. It's like the theory that babies have colics. Or the theory that your baby is going to have lots of hair because you are having heartburn while pregnant. I think people just say a lot of crap.
It's like everything is true, but nothing is at the same time. It's like when we give people advice. Today I heard a woman saying that the best thing to do for your child is to put him on a schedule because that way he will sleep through the night faster. It made me so confused. If what she meant is to make your baby cry until he sleeps, I so don't believe in that. I believe in loving our kids like God would love us. I believe that if God was here he would love us so much that we would be so happy. Even my doctor said that for the first 3 months you should not even think of a schedule. If your baby cries you are to feed him. They are so little that going hungry it's not healthy for them. Plus when they just came out of the womb, they are in so much need of love and nurturing. I think that I would be really selfish if I let my son or daughter just cry themselves to sleep. It's not because I am emotional. It's because we are humans and man is not meant to be alone. We all are in desperate need of love and nurturing. We love the company of another human being. And children just arrived on this earth so they need it more than anybody. After all, aren't we always looking for a better half to share life with? Don't we all like to go out and hang out in public places, or places where we are surrounded by some other type of life? So I think that our children, need the love and nurturing. They need to know that just like God would pick up and live everything to come help us, we are going to forget about the dishes, and forget about our sleep for a little bit so that we can show them love. That is how they are going to remember that they were once loved by Heavenly Father. That's how they are going to grow knowing that there is a Heavenly Father that loves them. Because when you are loved you understand what true love really is.
It's interesting how our minds can't really imagine things that we haven't felt. For example it's impossible for us to think of the concept of infinity and eternity. We can't think of that and imagine us being happy forever. It's like women that have been abused and choose an abusive spouse once they are older. If someone has never experienced true happiness, it will be hard for that person to ever fall in love with a good person that will treat them well. It's like they will be automatically attracted to someone that's going to make them experience the same amount of misery they have always felt. Because they can't even imagine true happiness. So they can't imagine things being better than how they have always been in their life.
So one more thing for the day. I remember that when we were in Nebraska we went to visit the Mormon Trail Center. What an amazing place. Something that struck me was when a sister missionary told us that just like Joseph Smith said, once you know the truth, you cannot not tell everyone. What a powerful statement. And it's true. Once we have found God, our lives will change forever. Things might get harder, but the change will be for the good.
Sorry if all these thoughts were so randomed. I just have a lot in my mind tonight! :)

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Dear World, I am writing you today!

Good Morning America.

I woke up this morning and I couldn’t even sleep. Something kept me up and that’s when I realized that I had to come out, sit on my balcony and start typing.

It is beautiful out here. No one’s out here. It’s funny how nature sits here beautifully wide awake while for so many years I have been wanting to sleep just so that I could find some happiness. But happiness lays out here.

It’s funny how I look at all the beautiful things that we have created. All the cars and clothes. All these things that have been given to us freely by nature. Nature is free. Nature is right in front of our eyes, and we have been so disrespectful to it all these years.

People the economy isn’t down. It’s our priorities that have shifted. We think the economy is down because we don’t think we have enough. So we blame it on the absence of money so that we don’t have to feel like it is somehow our fault. Yes, if you want everything, there will never be enough money out there so that you can have it. Not even the government can produce it.

The economy isn’t down. Our priorities just have shifted. It’s not that people don’t buy. The malls are still packed. The restaurants are packed. Clothing stores are packed. Toys stores are packed. Tattoo shops are packed. Alcohol producers are making bank. Some star tweeted recently how they spent 100.000$ on booze in one night. Can you believe it? Do you know how much money that is? Do you know how many people you could feed in this world with that?

It’s funny how no one wants to have a child anymore. We claim they are too expensive. Because we think that if we have a kid we are going to have to buy him these nice clothes so that he can go to school and show that his parents are rich. We need to buy him these toys so that we can teach him that happiness comes from a piece of plastic, and we need to buy him all this formula and diapers and wipe warmers so that he’ll never cry in his lifetime. Did you know that a boob is free? And the more you give it to your baby the smarter he’ll be when he grows? And did you also know that the more you wipe your kids’ butt with a cold wipe the tougher his skin will grow to be used to the cold weather!

Meanwhile the number of dogs in our households is increasing. And the number of toys and crap that we buy them is too. Did you know that they now sell refrigerated dog food? I mean really? And please people, stop pulling me the card that there are starving kids in Africa. We like to just think that the poor are somewhere else so that we don’t have to feel bad that we are not doing anything about it? Have you read the stats lately about our country? Poverty is skyrocketing. The rich are getting richer so the poor are getting poorer.

Yes, the rich are raising their prices because people are willing to buy anyways, and the poor are getting poorer because their job has been moved to China, and there aren’t enough jobs for anyone.

We are all so stinking rich and blessed. So stop looking at what you don’t have, and start looking at what you have. I was telling my little brother yesterday how I am going to cut back on eating out so that we can save money on food to give it to people. I said that we will now only eat at a fast food twice a month and at a restaurant once a month. I felt rather silly saying that. I just thought, there are kids that are dying from starvation and here I am thinking how I can still go to a restaurant. At first I thought, I will miss my cheesecake factory. But then I thought, why would I pay 8 dollars for a slice of cake, when I can make an entire one for 6 bucks or less. And the money I save I can donate it to someone. And the entire cake that I make I will have so much of it that I can share it with at least 10 people. Plus if I go to a restaurant I need to pay a waiter, because the money that I used to buy the cake, is not being used to pay the employees, it goes straight into the owner’s pocket. And then maybe some of the rent and supplies. But yes I am pretty much paying a waiter to serve me a piece of cake that I am already overpaying for as it is.

People the world isn’t poor. It’s just that our priorities are shifting. We would rather pay for an expensive tattooed figurine on our body, than saving that money and investing it into our children’s education.

People, when was the last time you thought about saving your money rather than spending it? Because the rich are getting greedier, so if you have it, save it.

It’s funny how when God created the world he gave us the grass and the trees and the birds, and the water. Now man is exploiting these things by making us pay for it. We can’t walk on a national park without having to pay a fee for it. We can’t go look at an animal without being charged a fee by something called a zoo.

It seems like we can’t appreciate what we have anymore unless we are paying money for it. We can’t just look outside our window and see the beauty of this world. It’s like unless they are charging us for how long we look at the sky, we are not going to appreciate it. We feel that doing it for free it’s a waste of time. So we let people charge us to ski down a mountain, or to use a piece of grass. Here in Nebraska besides the fields and parks, there doesn’t seem to be a piece of land left to grow on its own unless it’s meant to be used for golfing. Yesterday with our family we ventured in our car trying to find a piece of land to have a pic nic, and we just couldn’t find one without having to pay for it. Finally we pulled into one neighborhood in a little park. It was empty. We had the whole park to ourselves. And there we had the most beautiful time of our lives.

People. I am not perfect. I know I am not. But I just know that we need to stop buying make up and start helping people. We can’t go to expensive vacations, because first of all we can’t really afford it. Second of all a vacation is not going to make us happy if we aren’t happy already. And last of all because we can’t afford to waste all this money that we have been given when there are people that merely need it to survive since we have decided to charge for everything we need in this world.

Remember that it’s not that we don’t have money. We have money. We just would rather spend it on things that don’t matter, than things that do. People would rather spend it to go golfing, buy clothes and get alcohol, than to use it wisely to do good to themselves and to the world. Remember that by doing this we are only damaging ourselves. We are here to prove to God that we will follow him no matter what. Even if that means to die and to lose everything. I can promise you that when you follow God if doesn’t matter what you have to lose. You will find the greatest happiness. We don’t have time to keep buying things and going to the shops. We need to start giving. No one is going to pay us for it. No one is going to acclaim us for it. We just need to claim it ourselves. Tell ourselves that we are going to do it even if no one will praise us for it.

I hope this isn’t getting too long. I just hope that you read it, and that this article will help you make a difference.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Darwin or Brad Pitt?

Darwin or Brad Pitt?

I wanna create the next poll out there. I am going to ask you;” Are you a more of Brad Pitt or a Darwin type?” Meaning, would you rather spend a day searching on the internet about Brad Pitt’s life, or about Darwin’s and his discoveries? Some of you might already be doing one of the two.

See I was thinking about how our school system selects what we are to learn or not. We are not really free to learn about everything out there. We are given a strict curriculum and we are only tested on what the government thinks that we should know. And I think that a lot of us spend all this time going to school pretending that what they are learning is really important, and acting like what they are learning is really interesting to them. Just to graduate one day and never open a book again. But when it comes to magazines, they will open plenty.

I am not saying that learning about Brad Pitt is a bad thing. But I wish that education were just left into each one of our own hands. I wonder then what each individual would spend his life learning about. I think it would be great because it would show what we really like and how determined we are.

I know for a fact that I am more of a Brad Pitt type. I am glad that I had school to teach me about Darwin, but I know that when it comes to finding some inspiration, I like to open up the internet and read on about some star’s life to see what they have been doing to make it up to this point. I don’t believe in just doing what someone else has done, but I like to look at other people to try and learn about life.

Going back to my poll, I think that my question is just as clever as half of the stats and surveys that are being done out there. The amount of knowledge that our society gives us and the things that it focuses on are such garbage, that I can’t believe that those people even claim to be educated.

So it is not our degrees that will really prove how clever we are. It is what we will spend the rest of our lives learning about.

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Last night I watched the movie The Adjustment Bureau. Let me tell you how much I loved the film.

It reminded me how important it is to fight for what we want.

Life is not about whom we are meant to be with or what we are to do or not.

All we have are the choices that we make.

To make choices it takes commitment. When we commit to a person, or when we commit to do something, we can always achieve it, if we really want it. If we really want something we won't let anything get in our way.

When we are faced with opposition in life many of us tend to think that it's because we are not supposed to be where we are at, or do what we would like to do. In reality, opposition comes whenever we will try to do something.

I have heard more than once the quote that says to pray like everything depends on God, and to act like everything depends on us. When I think about that I like to focus mostly on the second half of the sentence. Because I think that as humans we tend to prefer going for the easy way out. Not a lot of people seem willing to fight for what they want anymore. Often times when we face opposition we tend to just sit back and think, oh I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Or we just think that it’s ok, and we really don’t need to do it.

For example people give up on marriage whenever it’s hard and justify their decision by saying that it wasn’t meant to be. They assume that opposition and trials are happening because something is trying to tell them that they are not meant to be together.

I think that those are the moments when we should stop and think, and not give up. Because those are the times when we are allowing the dark angels to come and influence us.

Satan is the one that wanted us to come here and just have a predetermined job, with a predetermined spouse, with a set number of kids, and a set path for our lives. He still tries to make us believe it.

Now I do believe that yes there are different paths that we are constantly choosing. Often times when we choose one thing we give up another. Simply because we are not superhumans and we can’t do it all, all the time.

I really loved how in the movie the couple chose their love for each over a worldly career. I do believe that often times when we choose to do what is right, or we choose something that is good, we are giving up other things that we might love. The guy for example was willing to lose his career for love. If he gave up on love he would have only found a substitute from that void, by receiving constant applauses and praises from the crowds. This really reminded me that we need to be careful about what we choose here in life. It doesn’t mean that we can’t have it all. But if we want to do what is right, we will have to give up certain things at times. Love requires time. So sometimes we might find ourselves choosing between a demanding career or a happy family. Because when we choose certain things we might send our children or the people that we love the message that they are less important. And we will make them feel like that, if we don’t dedicate enough time to them. I am not saying that this will be the case for everyone. I am just using an example.

These are just some of the thoughts that I got out of the movie. I am still thinking about it a lot. I am mostly impressed by the inspiring message that they were able to send through the movie. It made me want to get up this morning and just not be afraid of anything. I remembered how important it is to fight for what is right in life. Things will come, but we need to set the right priorities. Hard work and priorities are what will let us achieve it all!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

THOUGHTS OF TODAY

So I wanted to just adjust few things about my last post. I am not happy because I started couponing, I am happy because I have made some changes in my life.
Couponing is an added bonus, because I know that the more I save, the more I get to be with my husband and my family. Since my husband has to work based on our needs, I know that the less I need the more time I get to spend with my husband.
I understand if some of you don't have a husband that has flexible work hours, but I still believe in the power of saving as much as you can.

Now, changing subject...

Life is good when you live by no one's rules. Life is good when you are spontaneous. Life is good when you just have a family!!!
That's it for right now. My kids are crying I gotta go give them some love and kindness.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I am a stay at home MOM

I finally came to terms with myself that i am going to be a stay at home mom and I am not going to feel guilty about it.
Adjusting from going to school and working, to staying at home all day can be really hard. I feel particularly lucky because i already knew how to cook and clean the house. I have always liked to help around the house growing up. I also grew doing a lot of extracurricular activities that helped finding things to do when i wasn't in school.
Now that school is over for both David and I, I am so excited to finally begin real life. I can't believe it took this long. But I am so glad that we are out of school.
I love staying at home. There are also plenty of ways to earn a few bucks here and there on the internet. There are also plenty of ways to save money over on the internet.
One of the first things that I have done recently is learning how to become a COUPON LADY! I started 2 days ago for the first time, and the experience is amazing.
Saving money gives me the most fulfilling feeling in life. I no longer am looking for ways to increase our income, but now i am looking for ways to save, and decrease our expenses. Simplifying our life has brought me such a sense of fulfillment. Plus it will allow David to stay at home more! Getting reed of all these wants and needs is such a liberating experience. I am even thinking for example that for Christmas this year we might not get do any presents. All I want to do is get up and eat tons of food all day and play games around the house! And if you are thinking oh poop babies of yours, I can testify to you that my kids won't even notice a thing. The only thing they will notice is that their parents somehow are having so much fun, and that makes them so happy that they just wanna start joining us and have a little dance party on our living room floor.
I have come to the realization that toys and clothes are nothing but pieces of plastic and fabric designed to look pretty so that we can spend all this money on them and take them home. I have finally realized how they look pretty on the shelves where they are at, but they don't look so nice anymore once we take them home. So I'd rather keep them at the shops, and stay away from the shops.
My life recently has been freed from so much stress and grief. I am so happy. I feel like such a huge weight has been relieved from my shoulders.
Before life was a burden, now I wake up everyday and i can't wait for my kids to be up so that we can start playing. Now I am looking for all these fun activities that can be done out there in nature and that are free.
I am also seeking to start taking small lessons here and there. There are Gymnastics lessons for moms and kids for example. I also would like to take art lessons.
I just really have the feeling that at our home we are going to start having so much fun!
So down with the mall and stupid schools! Up with freedom and having fun outside!

Did you know bytheway that if you go outside no one's really out anymore? And did you know that it is actually a great thing because that means that if we go hicking, we have the whole mountain to ourselves!!! :)
Anyways, I gotta go and finish cutting out a few more coupons so that I can go save some more bukkas! The reason I am writing this, is because I want you to contact me if you interested in learning. I will be more than happy to give you all the tips you want! Also I want to reming you once more that toys, whether for kids or adults, are really not that much fun!!! FAMILIES though, are wayyyy funnn!!!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Beautiful Things

Finally after a long summer, father and son get to spend lots and lots of time together. They like to watch Baby Einstein together, Daddy takes him to his doctor visits, we go on long walks, and we go get him toys. We like to have dance parties at home, too.

This was my first real cake. I made it during my cake decorating course. It was really fun to take time to learn how to decorate cakes. It's definitely worth taking the talent along with me for the rest of my life.

Hayden






I like having little photoshoots every once in a while, so Hayden, Davide, and I decided to go on a walk and take a bunch of pictures. The hardest thing was keeping Hayden still, but these memories are some of the few positive aspects of having a doggy.

Friends in Texas





This are some of the pictures of the best memories that I have from Texas. Up here there is Kyson with Davide. I can definitely say that Kyson played a big part in teaching Davide how to eat actual food. He would always fill his tray with cheerios, he would share his ritz with him, and he would hand Davide 3 shortbread cookies at a time. On the other pictures above, I snapped them because on that sunday Davide stood for the first time by himself on top of a huggies box. By the time I took the pictures he had sat down. That evening we also went to visit the Plott's and we came back that Davide was past out on daddy's arms. David worked a lot for our family, and as a new little thing I got a haircut and I changed my hair back to blond!!!

Firsties

I took these pictures as Davide progressed and learned how to do new things. Most of these things happened during the summer. Davide actually stood on the crib for the first time a couple of days before in the evening. He then had a first taste of watermelon, which he was able to eat on his own. He also started to eat his cookies by himself. I obviously had to strip him naked because keeping him clean was an impossible task. He started crawling on the floor too. It took him a little bit since he wanted to just drag himself for at first. His legs would always slip backwards so he wouldn't get enough momentum. He did learned to master it on a matter of a few weeks. On the photo with the sticker instead, he had just taken his shots. He cried for a second, but then completely changed his mood the moment he got that sticker from the nurse, which he devoured happily!!!



Graduation






So I graduated last April and I realized that I never put any pictures up so I figured it is now time to do so. I actually finished in December, but I didn't walk until April because I wanted to take one more class before I would get charged the graduate tuition. :)
I am so happy that Davide got to be there. Although he will probably never remember it, I think it is kind of special that I will be able to tell Davide that he has already been on BYU Campus. People travel from afar just to come see it, and get a glimpse of how college is.
As you can see I also posted a picture of Fabrizio. We miss him very much. I need to be better at writing him more often.


Friday, July 16, 2010

First teeth

Our little one is officially growing. These past few days I kept noticing Davide chewing on things and really biting. In fact I was even a little afraid of feeding him. It's funny cause it feels like he's been teething since he was about four months old. It would come in stages. Some days he would slobber a lot and be fussy, and then it would go for a while. Then two months ago I thought that I could feel something pushing, but since he s my first baby I really didn't know if that was the case. Then a couple of days ago I started noticing that Davide's gums felt a little sharper, but whenever he would bite on my finger I wouldn't notice it anymore.
Today though the day has finally arrived. Davide kept being slightly fussy , an he kept slobbering and trying to eat my hand. Finally I was able to look inside his mouth when I noticed not one, but two little teeth barely coming through. The one On my right was a little bit farther out. I could also feel that his top gum was a little sharp, but I couldn't quite see anything yet.
Poor little Davide. He has definitely been really tough throughout all this.
He definitely does not like ti have people open his mouth. Even when I try and feed him he'll push the spoon away with his hand, and he'll wiggle his head real fast saying no. Even when u was trying ti see his tooth I had to make him laugh to see inside his mouth or I have to touch the top part of his lip or his chin. That somehow is a reflex for Davide to open his cute mouth.
Now my baby is officially not my baby anymore. He s now a growing baby!!! He'll always be my tiny one though 

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Standing up for women

What a day today!!! I went to my cake decorating class today for the second time when something really unpleasant happened. I had been looking forward to this class all week. I knew it was going to be a little hard today because I was going to have to bring my baby, but I was excited to go and since it's a small class with all women I figured it would be a lot of fun.
Well things didn't turn out as well. I came into the classroom a little late because I got locked out of my hotel room etc, etc. I noticed how the teacher looked a little annoyed but I was just trying to ignore her since I didn't think she was really nice since day one. I started doing some things, and she kept picking on me complaining for not bringing one thing, or looking weird at me when I had a question. Finally she pulls me out of the classroom and takes me somewhere else on the back to tell me that she did not like that I was bringing my baby to the classroom.
That made me super mad. I got on her case big time. I told her how unfair society is. That women are absolutely not being recognized for what they do. I told her that I looked forward all week just to come, and that at 6 p.m. I was not gonna find a day care, nor can I afford one. Signing up for this class only required money, and my husband right now works from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. I told her that this is my thing where I wanna go and unwind.
The baby hadn't even done anything. I was there and I told her that I was assuming full responsibility for him, and that even if maybe I couldn't do as much with the baby I was there to learn her tips and then go home and practice.
She told me the other moms were there to unwind from their kids too. I asked her if they had mentioned that the baby bothered them but she said she didn't know. So obviously it was all her!!! The funny part is that when I was in the class all the women kept smiling at the baby and kept asking me questions about him. No one seemed unhappy but her.
She told me that she was afraid he would be loud and no one would hear her. But then she recognized that this is a classroom of 4 so that wouldn't be the problem.
I told her I wanted to quit on the spot and that I wanted a refund. I told her that that was embarrassing. I had taken this same class in Utah and when I brought my baby the teacher offered to hold him the entire time. We even had a conversation on how lots of women that teach are really non tolerant about kids in the classroom, but that some women have been wonderful about it and offered some help to these moms rather than making their life harder.
So my teacher finally kinda got the point but said that most likely she won't be able to give me a refund.
I went back to class after taking five minutes to breathe and cry it all out. When I went back though I wasn't in the mood for decorating cakes anymore. I no longer felt welcome either. Plus Davide fell and started crying. I think him falling and crying all happened just because I wasn't feeling well and he perceived everything that happened. So I waited outside until class was over and then grabbed my stuff and left. I whispered to my baby to never let anyone tell him he is an inconvenience.
Now I was thinking of trying and bother a friend to watch him for the next few weeks since I would hate to quit my only true hobby, or I was trying to see if I should protest and try and get a refund just to prove my point to society.
What do you think I should do?
P.S. I signed up at a local gym only because they offer free baby day care while you work out. Not even in Utah I have found such a thing : )

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Texas Lately

Hurricane Alex last week left some traces here our town. It rained for days, making lots of small lakes overflow. It didn't really hit me how bad it was until I went out on Friday afternoon. That's when we decided ti go grab some extra food in case we would be stranded for a couple of days. Since we are staying at a hotel out supplies have been minimum lately. It kept raining all the way until Sunday when we went out and saw the damage. It wasn't anything major but a lot of the roads had to be closed and some homes got some water in. Our local park is now covered in water so we won't be able to go on walks for a while.
Besides that we are safe and though the beautiful sunny days aren't back, at least is not raining anymore.
We had a strange 4th of July because of that. Seeing the damages In the city made me rather sad, and a lot of the fireworks shows had ti be cancelled. I didn't mind it as much, I think I was more sad for those who lost their cars and belongings due to this minor flood.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Davide is 6 months



Davide is growing so fast. He is already 6 months old. Here are a few pics of him. Also, we are in Texas for the summer. Here are a few pics of this fabolous state. I really enjoy the scenery, and I love the pride the people take for their state. Afterall, they have so many goodies. When driving on the freeway, all you can see are oil pumps, that pull out oil from the land; everlasting fields with all sorts of agriculture; and lots and lots of cows. Even Davide has decided to get involved with the local culture. Enhance, the water in the big'ol beer jar. He has also decided to be naked all day because of the heat, and to keep being a little fatty.




Friday, February 12, 2010

Shopping for Davide


Today, David, Davide and I went out together, and we found a couple of deals on some cute outfits for Davide. David told me to pick whichever one I liked best, which turned out to be such a hard choice!!! : ) They were all so cute that I didn't know which one to pick. I narrowed it down to three and I decided to ask Davide. I showed him the first one, and I promise I was not laughing as I was asking him, but he looked at the outfit and giggled. So I showed him the second one too, and he got the same exact reaction. I asked him about the third one as well, and he just laughed again. At that point I couldn't help it but laugh. I guess he liked them all!!! But I did not need three outfits so I had to choose one of them. I chose a little baseball outfit. I had one that I got from my sister-in-law for the first three months, and I liked it so much that I decided to get a similar one, but a bigger size. In a couple of weeks he'll probably be wearing it since soon Davide is gonna be wearing 3 to 6 months clothes.
Bytheway, people think I am crazy when they see me talking to my baby at the store. But the thing is it really calms him down when I do that, plus he keeps me company!!!

Also,
today we went to get Davide's 2 month shots. I hated it, I hated it!!! I cried when I saw him suffering so much. It hurt me so badly when he started crying so loud. I had David hold him because I didn't have the courage. He did calm down pretty quick though, and he really seemed so calm afterwards when we took him in our arms. Right after we got out of the office, Davide was super cuddly, and he kept leaning his face against my cheek and then he fell asleep on my chest as he was still wining a little bit. It really touched my heart. Surprisingly right after we gave him Tylenol he did so much better, and even though he looked a little sick, he was more smily than usual, and very calm.