2009 Favorites

I'm not gonna lie. This past year has been a bit rough in places. But it's also the year we brought a new member into our family, who I can't imagine not having in our lives. So, in honor of the new year, here's a look back at some of my favorite moments of 2009.

1. January 15-22 2009. Vacation to Disney World!!! Mateo, Dave, and I traveled by airplane (first time for Mateo) to Orlando for a one week vacation to Disney with our best friends, Devan and Scott. We stayed all together in a rented condo. We visited all 4 parks plus Sea World. My favorite part of the trip was watching Mateo show his new Disney bus to all the characters and giving Mickey Mouse a hug. I almost started crying. It was like a commercial. I'm just so thankful we are in a position to give these moments to our children. I grew up poor so it makes me proud to be able to provide wonderful things for my kids.


2. April 8th, 2009. Picking up our baby daughter, Maya. I remember the chills and excitement when we found out she was being discharged from the hospital and we could pick her up. I also remember the anger and frustration to get to that point. But it was all worth it in the end. Maya was more beautiful than I could ever imagine. The moment she looked at me, I was hooked. I would not give her up. We had an unbreakable bond already. And thankfully, her bio-mom agreed to terminate her rights so we could adopt Maya without a fight.


3. December 2009. Buying a new house! Actually, we are still in this process and probably won't be moving until March. It's a huge house. I mean huge. But it's old and need a lot of renovating. So, we have some projects. Which should be interesting in our current life situation. But we're a tough family and I think we can handle it. I'm just excited for more space! We are literally going from 850 sq.ft. to 4,000 sq.ft.

Tomorrow I'm going to post things I'm most looking forward to in 2010.

Have a happy and safe New Years Eve!

Christmas Highlights 2009

Best Gifts 2009:

Geo-trax train set

New Moon Calendar

Pink bus with sounds

Umm...I think you can see for yourself

This Raggety-Anne doll was hand-made for Maya by Dave's mom. So sweet.

Best Holiday Moments 2009:

The calm before the storm. Maya has her evening bottle before bed with Daddy snuggled up next to the lighted tree. A beautiful moment I wish I could pause for longer.

This is not Christmas, it's Thanksgiving, but I could have taken the same picture at Christmas. Every single holiday event my husband falls asleep on a couch.

Luca, our dog, enjoys the wrapping paper just as much as the kids.

Hanging out with my brother Jay. He's just fun.


Watching the kids "help" decorate and wrap. (That's Maya's head peeking out)


Teaching Mateo the value of giving as well as receiving with gratitude.
(P.S. he did a great job!)

Favorite Holiday Shots 2009:

Like father, like son.

Christmas train


Maya's first Christmas! We're so blessed to have her!
Truly a reason to be thankful this year.


Well, that about sums up our holiday. Happy New Year!

P.S. My mom gets major props for some cute outfits she got for Maya. But unfortunately the pictures I have of her in them show too much of her face so I'll have to post them on the hangers when I get a chance.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday and enjoy the time spent with family and friends!

From,
The J-momma Family
Justice, Dave, Mateo, Maya, and Luca (the dog)

Snow Day!

I'm in the northeast so we got our first big storm this weekend. Here are some pictures of my snow-loving boy. If I didn't dislike the cold so much I would move to Alaska because Mateo never wears a coat, doesn't seem to get cold, and loves the snow. Hmm...maybe he's part Eskimo?

The snow gear is all hand-me-down so it's rather large. I think he looks hysterical.

So....the pink glove. Dave would like me to tell you he normally prefers not to wear bright pink girlie gloves but since I "misplaced" his manly black gloves (so he says) he didn't have a choice. Now, I would like to just clear this up right now, I am not in charge of his gloves. I am not his mother. I only have two children. Maybe someone should grow-up and start keeping track of his own gloves. Or maybe just man-up and rock the pink gloves like they're going out of style (which they are right? I've heard purple is the new pink).

***The gloves were found later that day***

Hey! Jesus Wasn't White!

It's so surprising to me (although I suppose it shouldn't be at this point) how many nativity scenes, books, art, everything! features a white Jesus. People know he was born in the middle east right? The Bible does talk a lot about deserts, sun, and sand. People who live in the desert generally don't look like the pearly-white-skin-american-looking Bible characters that are marketed to us from a young age.

Just recently I saw a nativity scene where all of the characters are white except for the three wise men. What the heck? Did I miss something here? Does it say in the Bible that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus sport Eastern European features and pasty white skin despite being from the middle east, and the three wise men are the only ones who actually looked like they're supposed to be where they're from? I think there's come kind of conspiracy going on here.

Oh, by the way, thanks to Janiece and Rachel for the blog title!

Having a Very Merry (and Ethnic) Christmas

My trans-racial adoptive families tune in. It IS possible to find ethnically diverse Christmas decor for your house. It's taken me some time but here are a few great finds.

African-american angel from Hallmark

The picture is bad but it's a hispanic angel I got at a local craft fair

This tree topper I think could be African-american or Hispanic, which suits us fine since my
kids are both

This African-american Santa I found at one of those tupper-ware type parties where you feel obligated to buy something because you know your friend only had the party to earn money to get free goods from the distributor and they went through all the trouble of making hors d'oeuvres and dessert but what you really wish is that they made Margaritas and Mojitos. On a sidenote: hors d'oeuvres is a b**** of a word to spell.

This is a Peruvian nativity in a gord. I got this and the Nigerian ornament below at a local craft fair but the vendor was Ten Thousand Villages, which is a fair trade company.

Do you have any good ethnically diverse holiday theme decorations?

We Need a Little Christmas...NOW!

FINALLY, we've acknowledged Christmas in this house. We got our tree up today. Usually I go all out decorating the house but since we're trying to sell it, I decided not to do any decorations this year other than the tree. Besides, it's less to baby proof.

It seems like every single year is the same exact story on the day we get our tree. Dave is cranky and miserable. He hates all the fuss about Christmas. Plus, he's the one who has to tie the tree to the car, saw it, bring it inside, and set it in the stand. Why? Because I have sensory issues. Yes, it's true. I HATE the feel of the little needles touching my skin. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I refuse to touch it except to hang the ornaments, which I do very delicately. So Dave always starts the day grumpy. Then we argue over where to get the tree, the price of the tree, and the size of the tree. Once we get it into the house, we then argue over whose ornaments go where. Because, of course, I have beloved ornaments from my childhood, and he has beloved ornaments from his childhood. So we argue over which ones go in the front of the tree. Usually I win since mine are in better condition than his.

Lately we've acquired a lot more ornaments since being married and those are taking up most of the good spots. So, here's a picture of our tree this year.

We're minimalists with our tree decor. Every year we do gold beads and white lights, then accentuate with more personal ornaments. As you may well know, I'm no Martha Stewart. So no fancy tree themes, ribbons, tinsel, or fake snow.

Also....

This is our third Christmas with Mateo.
(click to make larger)
Is it just me or does he seem to get happier each year?



Do you love his shirt? It says "is it too late to be good?"

Oh, speaking of being good, every time I ask Mateo if Santa thinks he's been good this year he tells me no, he's been bad. Ha ha! Well, at least he's not a liar. But I think he's been good enough for Santa to bring him a remote control car. Shhh....don't tell Mateo.

High Heels for Preschoolers: Yay or Nay?

This photo was recently published in some celebrity magazine. I am not one to read celebrity gossip but I do like looking at photos of their children because they're cute and I like watching them grow up. This photo specifically drew a lot of criticism. Suri Cruise is close to the same age as Mateo, three and a half. And here she is wearing high heeled shoes, and it's not been the only time. Katie Holmes defended herself by saying they are ballroom dancing shoes for kids and that Suri likes dressing up like her mom. Before the baby was born, we didn't have to think about this kind of thing. But now I find myself wondering....what would I do if Maya asked to wear high heels at three years old?

What do you think? Is this just innocent dress-up or perpetuating an unhealthy trend of kids growing up too quickly? Let me know how you feel about it and if you'd let your daughter wear high heels before age 10.

Poor Maya; Left in the Dust

I realized I NEVER talk about the baby on this blog. It's always about Mateo and then I put monthly updates on our private blog about Maya. Well, today is a public update about the littlest munchkin.

She is crawling! For one. And she looks so cute doing it. Because she's so tiny for her age, she looks like she shouldn't be able to crawl. She just started crawling this past week, so she's still pretty new at it. She looks just like one of those electronic robot puppies that walks, barks, then does a flip (except without the barking and flipping part, although I've been trying to teach her). It's the funniest thing. She also gets very excited when she's crawling cause, you know, she just thinks it's the coolest thing in the world. So she pants and laughs while she's jetting across the floor.

But with crawling comes lots of limits. Usually she makes a beeline right for the dog's food and water bowls. She also likes to find the smallest most miniscule little things on the floor and examine them (and then usually taste them). She's such a happy girl, most of the time. She is friendly and has a great personality. Some of my favorite "Maya things" include:

- the way she holds her mouth in a wide open grin almost all the time.

- when she gets excited sitting on the floor and rocks back and forth like she's propelling herself somewhere.

- her dolphin squeals.

- the way she talks to herself in the crib or car.

- that she loves food as much as I do, maybe even a little more.


Hopefully we'll be able to post pictures soon because she'll be adopted! It's taking a long time but I'm really hoping she's adopted by her first birthday in 3 months.

Here's a picture from Thanksgiving that doesn't show her face so I can post it.

Thankful

What I'm thankful for, 2009:


* A husband who makes sacrifices every day for his family

* A family that supports most of what I do, and if they don't, they tell me so, loudly and passionately.

* A kid that challenges me to be a better person.

* Two kids that show me they love me every day.

* The Twilight Series (are you with me here ladies?)

* Chocolate


What are you thankful for?

You Guys Are No Fun!

Nobody had anything critical to say on my last blog post! What's up with that people? Is anyone even reading this or are you all too cool? Or maybe I'm just not as controversial as I think I am. But really, thanks for all the support. You really are too nice. Today I'm just sharing some fall and Halloween pics.

Oh, and I was on the radio yesterday morning talking about adoption for National Adoption Awareness Month, which if you didn't know, is November. So, if you want to check it out, here's the link. It won't connect directly to the interview but if you click "past guests" on the right, I should come up. But don't make fun of my dorkiness. It took me a little while to get into a flow. I was a bit stutter-y in the beginning. It's a bit long, just so you know if you are going to listen to it. Most of the interview is with a DCF representative and then I jump in here and there.

I just like this shirt


Pumpkin picking

Drinking our "swamp juice"


Mateo was a "bad guy" for Halloween. He's pretty obsessed with bad guys.
I wish he'd associate more with the good guys though.

This was at his preschool costume parade. I did end up sending him as a skeleton and was glad to see I wasn't the only one to use a Halloween costume. There were witches and dinosaurs and monsters and lots of costumes. So we fit right in.

I just love this picture. The look on Luca's face is priceless. And this is truly a picture of the relationship they have. Mateo loves her to death. And she tolerates him. Ha!

Blogging T-shirts!!!

Hey, check out my blogging merchandise on cafepress.com. There are two sayings and for some reason you can't really connect from one to the other. So click on both if you want to see them both.


"My mom is blogging my life"
http://www.cafepress.com/Jmommas


"Blog this mom!"
http://www.cafepress.com/JLRs


I have a few more ideas for blogging shirts, so there will be more to come. I'm also going to add the above two for dads. If you have other funny ideas for T-shirts, let me know so I can profit from them. Hey, if you're not doing anything with the ideas, someone might as well make some money. Just consider it a donation to the "buy us a bigger house" fund since we're literally busting out of our 850 sq.ft. home. Thanks.

Beauty Pageant Take 2

sOkay, I don't want to obsess on the shameful exploiting of these little girls on national television, but I have to quote one more crazy pageant mom here, just because it really is THAT bad.

Said reeking with sarcasm and anger, "Great! She just lost cause she was having fun." Because her daughter did a fun dance move on stage when she wasn't supposed to.

This is the same mom who forced her daughter to go horse-back riding because she thought it would calm her nerves as the girl is screaming on the top of her lungs and can't control the horse. This is also the mom who made her eight year old go on an all fruit diet a week before the pageant.

Look, I wouldn't nominate myself for the ethical parent of the year award or anything. But, geez, even I think this is shameful. How much you wanna bet more than half of these girls will be pregnant by 15?

Why Does One Mom Always Have to Ruin it for the Rest of Us!

Since one or two over-involved moms (or maybe dads) made a big deal about children celebrating Halloween in our public school system, it is banned. The kids can not dress up in costumes on (or this year, the day before) Halloween in any schools, including Mateo's preschool. So, the school tried to get around this by instead having a storybook character parade where the kids can dress up as their favorite storybook character and bring the book in to class. Well, to me, this means having to buy two costumes, since he already picked out a lovely over priced skeleton costume. So Dave and I naturally, being the slacker parents we are, tried to figure out a way around this.

First, I combed the book store for a book about skeletons. No luck. Dave wanted me to order one online just for the socio-political statement it makes but that's just as much work as buying or making a new one. So it cancels itself out. You're following my logic here, right?

So, we brainstormed at dinner tonight. Since Mateo doesn't really have a favorite book, we're a blank slate. Here were some of our best ideas. Okay, maybe "best" is the wrong word. Here are some of our...ideas.

* the Bible - Draw on a beard and dress him in robes and bare feet. (Jesus)

* "Hope" (the Obama book) - dress him in a blue suit with a red tie and a "change" pin. (Obama)

Those were the more expensive ones. Here are the free ones.

* "I'm a Big Brother" - self-explanatory.

* "Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?" - dress him in all brown.

* Any of the millions of car books we have - use his costume from last year of a race car driver.

The only problem with all of these ideas is that there is very little chance that Mateo will actually wear any of these costumes. I don't even know if he'll wear the skeleton one on Halloween even for candy. I pretty much had to force his on him last year. If it feels like a costume and not regular clothes, he won't wear it. I want to at least attempt to send him dressed up because I don't want him to be the only one without a costume. I don't know if he would care or not, or if he would even notice. But in case he does notice, I don't want him to feel left out because of me. So....

What do you think? Any ideas for a costume that is cheap or free and doesn't feel like a costume but looks like one and that also goes along with a children's book?

Worms and Christmas Trees

I know what you're thinking - how do worms and Christmas trees go together? Well, this is how.

Mateo is obsessed with worms. He can find one on a hot sunny day. I don't know how but he hunts them down and finds them. He'd make a good bird I guess. Anyway, he digs them up then tortures them for the whole time he's playing outside. He would bring them into bed with him at night if I'd let him. But the rule is that worms stay outside. So he carries them around, puts them in his cars, covers them with rocks, feeds them to the dog, gives them lobotomies, and so on. Well, he had about a hundred in a bucket one rainy day and it was time to come inside. We asked him where he would like to put his worms for the night. We have a small pine tree right next to our patio that's about the size of a Christmas tree. Mateo decided this would be a good home for the worms. So he throws them, one by one, onto the branches of the tree. Guess what the tree ended up looking like? A Christmas tree decorated with tinsel. Worm tinsel.

'Tis the season!

Mateo and his bucket of worms

Maybe you, too, have Christmas decorations in your own backyard!

Bonus photo cause it's so darn cute. And too bad I can't post pics of the baby yet cause I have one of her with these same sunglasses on! And yes, we wear our sunglasses at night.

Dave's Advice to New Fathers

"Play your X-box/Playstation/Wii as much as possible until the baby is born. Then sell it and use the money to buy the best diaper contraption on the market, lots of air fresheners, and a big handful of those yellow gloves that go up to your elbows."

All Husbands Should Go to Motivational Workshops

Dave went to a Motivational Conference for work this week. That evening, this is what transpired.

Dave: Honey, I just want to say thank you for all you do for me and the kids. I appreciate it and I don't know what I'd do without you.

Me: Ooookaaaay....

Later...

Dave: You are so smart and beautiful.

Me: Do you want something? Or do you have some bad news to tell me?

Dave: No, I'm just recharging you.

Me: Oh. Do you need to be recharged?

Dave: No. Seeing Mateo run to me when I got home was recharging enough.

Me: You're freaking me out. What's going on? Did you get all this from your motivational conference?

Dave: Yeah, I guess I did.

Me: Well, if that's the case, I'm sending you to one every week.

Dear Lord, Please Help My Daughter Take Home a Crown

Things heard on "Toddlers and Tiaras", a TLC show about child beauty pageants:


"Sierra is very shy. Pageants will help her get over her shyness." - as mom forces her crying daughter on to the stage.


"Both my twins do pageants but Maddy wins more. I don't have favorites but Riley's nose is a little crooked and she's not as outgoing. That's why she doesn't win."


"My daughter isn't spoiled. She just gets what she wants."


"We go to pageants to win the money. You can win up to $1000 at a pageant."

Later, when asked how much she spent on pageants, "about $10,000."


"If we saved the money we spent on pageants, I would have enough to send all three of my girls to college."


"I have three boys. They all do pageants because I wanted girls."


"Dear Lord, please help my girls take home a crown today."


"I take pageants seriously because Hailey takes pageants seriously." How old is Hailey? Four.


Pageant question: What do you want to be when you grow up. "I want to marry a rich man!"


"Pageants have given Isabella confidence. Now when someone pays her a compliment she says, 'I know!'"


"My daughter gets highlights because her hair color is very average." Mom of a 6 year old.


"Tanning is no big deal. I actually prefer my daughter tanned because her natural complexion is too fair." Mom of 7 year old.



Add on top of this the skimpy clothing, WAY too much makeup and hair pieces, and the dance routines that include shaking their hips and butts, and winking and blowing kisses to the judges. Is anyone else deeply disturbed by this?

Stealing? Already?!

Mateo pulled an unfamiliar toy car out of his backpack yesterday. Neither Dave nor I could recognize where it came from. So we asked Mateo.

Me: Where did you get that car?

Mateo: Preschool.

Me: Preschool? Did you take it home from preschool in your backpack?

Mateo: Yes.

Me: Well you can't do that. That doesn't belong to you, it has to stay at school. We'll bring it back on Tuesday.

Mateo: Ha, ha, tricked you!

Me: You tricked me? You mean you didn't take it from preschool?

Mateo: Yeah, preschool.

Dave: You mean you tricked the teachers at preschool to take the car?

Mateo: Yeah.


So from what I can gather from the conversation is that Mateo tricked the teachers by hiding the toy car in his backpack so that he could take it home. Great. So we've got a klepto on our hands. Maybe they need to install metal detectors. Or search Mateo everyday before he leaves the building.

What's Up With These Freakin Parenting Magazines???

Every once in a while I read a Parenting magazine. Usually when I'm bored, or when Maya is looking for information on the newest fashion trends. (Side note: What is with everyone stealing my name? I'm totally pissed cause I thought Maya was at least a little bit off the radar for baby names. I mean, it's not on the top 10 list or anything. But I swear, everyone and their mother is naming their babies Maya right now. I'm so pissed. I would change my mind, since nothing's official yet, but I do so love the name.) Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I can move on.

Parenting magazines! I was browsing through one the other day, trying to make it look muy importante and dire so my husband would entertain the kids for a while, and I realized there is some pretty God-awful advice in there. For example....

In an article about how to get your picky eaters to eat healthy foods, they make some suggestions. Now we all either have had a picky eater, have a picky eater, or know a picky eater. Actually, let me rephrase that. Parents, you have a kid that eats right? Well, according to some Parents magazine editor, these are some solutions to your picky eater problem.

1. Cut up squash and zucchini with a basil pesto dip. Would your two year old say, "Oh yes, mother, could I get a carrot and flaxseed smoothie as well? I really need the antioxidants today."? Hell no! Cause they're normal. Well, I shouldn't assume anything of my readers. Some of you I know and I figure to be pretty normal. But in all seriousness, basil pesto dip? I don't even know what that is! I slather all Mateo's vegetables in butter and salt and he still doesn't eat them. But, hey, maybe a basil pesto dip is just the zest he needs.

2. Rent Ratoiutiuilleee (that's how you spell it right?) and serve homemade ratuoiltooellieee with a side of breaded tofu triangles. Okay, if you've ever had ratouioooeey, you know that it has some pretty strong, sophisticated flavors. I don't know any kid that would eat it unless they've been force fed it since birth. Perhaps if I start the baby on it now, by the time she's in preschool she'll be begging for ratootuiollelleeey with her zucchini and pesto dip.

This editor obviously doesn't have children. Or maybe her nanny does all the cooking and she doesn't know that her kids are living off of dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and drive-thru french fries just like every other red-blooded American child.

My Little Gymnast.....Or Not.

So Mateo seems to have a natural ability towards gymnastic-type moves. He can do a cartwheel and a split, which he learned on his own. And of course, he is very energetic. So I thought signing him up for a little gymnastics class would be good for him as an outlet and to harness some of his energy into something productive. So we signed up for a trial week that meets everyday this week for an hour in the morning. It was pretty cheap and I thought it would give me a good idea about his ability.

We lasted a class and a half. And now our gymnastic career is over. At least for another year or so. Who knows? This kid is so set on doing his own thing he just couldn't function in the class. I don't know if it's so much that he can't or that he won't. Yesterday was his first day and he was very enthusiastic about all the activities. The problem was that he had trouble waiting his turn and his attention span got the better of him. This is what the class sounded like.

"Mateo. Mateo, no. Come here. Over here Mateo. Mateo, come sit right here."

The whole time. More so than all the other kids combined. And the instructors said specifically they didn't want the parents to intervene because they want the children to learn to listen to the teachers. So I didn't intervene. But I couldn't help but feel like my kid was ruining their class, and probably driving them crazy. But Mateo was really great at the activities. It's hard to believe he ever had a gross motor delay. Aside from some balance issues, he was really good at everything. After the class I was excited about his potential. I also thought he would only get better as the week went on and he learned the structure of the program.

Well, today we left early. And we don't plan on going back. He didn't get better. He got significantly worse. I decided it's just not worth it if I'm going to have to chase him around the gym telling him to listen to the teacher the whole time. So we're gonna wait another year or so and try again.

But it was fun to watch him when he was doing the activities. The rest of the time was pretty funny. The whole class would be sitting on a mat getting ready for the next activity and there's Mateo about 20 feet away rolling around on the mat, or hopping around like a frog. That didn't bother me so much, it was kind of cute. But when he kept using the other equipment he wasn't supposed to, or taking another child's turn and being disruptive, that's when I had to intervene. And the fact that he wasn't listening to me or the teachers, just wasn't okay. So we left. And he didn't seem to care. He just wanted his juice box I promised him after class.

I'll post some videos I took as soon as I get a chance.

What We May Be Doing Right

I don't actually credit myself with much while parenting Mateo, but one thing I'll say for myself is that we seem to have figured out one strategy that's helped. I'll tell you what it is but you have to promise not to say, "Duh!" to me, okay? Okay.

We learned to lower our expectations to start. I don't expect Mateo to do what I say, when I say it. Especially without a little resistance at first. But I find if I repeat what I want and give him a little time, he usually does it. We have to treat him a little more delicately and with a little more flexibility and sensitivity. And it really does help him, and us, not having the pressure to be "normal", but to just be who we are at the time we're in. And when I stop trying to conform to what society expects of Mateo or our family, we all do much better.

The continuation of our "schedule" is coming up next. And I have some new photos to post.

Daily Schedule My A**!

I've read on a couple different blogs now, a daily schedule for the children, mostly related to homeschooling. But as I was reading, I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of it all. So I've written my own parallel schedule of my day with Mateo. I'm just mentioning Mateo in this schedule, since he's the funny one. Keep in mind, this is a bad day. He does have days that go better than this. But I thought I'd show the full realm of how bad it could be.

6:30 am - Mateo comes in Mommy's bedroom, I put him back in his. 1st attempt at wake up time.

7:00 am - 2nd attempt at wake up time.

7:24 am - 3rd attempt at wake up time. I finally give in and drag my butt out of bed.

7:25 am- Mateo demands in an increasingly loud voice that he would like breakfast ASAP. As in now!

7:27 - Mateo eats oatmeal. I try to get a bra and some deodorant on.

7:30 - Mateo demands more breakfast. Mommy says wait (still working on the bra step) and Mateo screams.

7:31 - Mommy tells Mateo he can have more breakfast when he asks nicely.

7:32 - Mateo throws his spoon across the room.

Let's just skip ahead a little...

7:55 - Breakfast is done. Noggin is on TV. Mateo is playing with cars. Mommy starts count down for Mateo to get dressed.

8:00 - Warning #1

8:05 - Warning #2

8:06 - Warning #3

8:07 - Mommy tells Mateo it's time to get dressed. Mateo runs away.

8:09 - Mommy chases Mateo then proceeds to wrestle him into his clothes using various threats and bribes.

8:30 - Play time!

8:32 - Mateo whines for juice and to eat again.

8:33- Mommy asks Mateo to wait until snack time for juice and to eat, Mateo begins explosive tantrum.

8:34 - Mommy contemplates the pros and cons of giving in to juice and a snack or holding my ground for him to wait until later. Mommy makes decision to negotiate.

8:36 - Mommy asks Mateo if he would like some water or milk now while waiting until snack time. Mateo doesn't negotiate, cue larger tantrum.

9:00 - After numerous attempts at distraction, negotiation, and calming techniques, Mateo has hit/bit/scratched/thrown toy/etc. and ended up in a time-out.

9:15 - After Mateo stops calling names, spitting, and screaming at the top of his lungs in time-out, he apologizes to Mommy and is let free.

9:17 - Mateo asks for juice and to eat. Mommy sighs, looks at the clock, and realizes it's snack time anyway.

9:20 - Snack. Mommy attempts to get dressed, brush teeth, contacts in, etc. Then discovers Mateo has fingerpainting/mashed/squished his snack on himself, the table, and the floor.

9:30 - Snack time over.

9:32 - Mommy collapses on the couch after realizing it's only 9:30 in the morning.

9:40 - We decide (meaning Mateo) to go outside and play. Commence act of putting on shoes.

10:05 - We finally go outside.

10:15 - Mateo's powerwheels truck is not charged (Mommy silently curses Daddy for that one), Mateo flips out. He calls the truck "stupid" multiple times, then flips it over upside down.

10:20 - We go inside because Mateo just can't get over it. Use TV as a distraction until we can move on.

10:45 - Mommy suggests play-dough. This goes well.

11:00 - Until Mateo wants something specific to work with the play-dough that just doesn't and he gets frustrated.

11:10 - Play-dough away with much drama.

11:30 - Lunch! Mateo eats exactly nothing, even though he states he is hungry over and over.

To be continued...

Five Years!

Today my husband and I have been married 5 years. I'm proud to say we are just as in love as the day we said "I do". I'm always amazed at our ability to work as a team. I think the key to our success is our ability to compromise and balance one another. Of course there are times when we are both grumpy and act selfishly. But usually, one of is willing to sacrifice for the others sake. And usually, when one is having a rough day, the other steps up to take the lead. We truly are a great team. And I'm so thankful for him. He is the peanut butter to my jelly. The macaroni to my cheese. The ying to my yang. And I love him!