The beginning of the end

I am a wierdo (in case anyone didn't already know that). Sofia is officially weaned, and it is killing me(I am not just talking about the engorged boobs). I was so completely ready to wean her as my body was on overload producing a new baby and milk for Sofia. I thought that the process would be easy for me but hard for her, but I was wrong. I miss the closeness from nursing. Sofia has never been very snuggly, so nursing was the one time I had her to myself to bond and snuggle with her. This may be a little dramatic, but this whole process has made me start thinking about how hard it is to let go as a parent. I am having a sad enough time with weaning... I can't even think about sending them to college or even kindergarten. Anyways.. this is my random thought for the day. I also realized today that I am too busy right now, and I really miss Sofia. Today she was at the babysitters essentially all day with an hour break in between visiting her and then an hour after work I left her with Chris to go to a church activity I had committed to. It is interesting trying to find a balance. It is refreshing to work a tiny bit and feel exicted and ready to spend time with her, but I also feel so sad when a day goes by and I only spent 2 hours with her. This is something I definitely don't want to get into the habit of doing. I really like bothof my jobs a lot, but no job is better than spending time with my family. Whoo hoo summer is just 6 weeks away and then the real parties start!!

Spring love is in the air!

I thought that it was time to post some more Sofia pictures. This little kiddo is changing so much every day.. it is crazy!! She likes to throw lots of tantrums now, especially when she can't go outside to play or when we won't let her play with keys outside to try to unlock all of the mailboxes and everyones' cars. It isn't all negative,though,because she keeps doing funnier and cuter things every day too. She is starting to copy a lot more words, and she is one silly girl. Sorry Becerras, she may not look a lot like me, but she is all me in personality :).
I also need some ideas from the ladies out there. Chris and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary this friday, and I need some cheap and creative ideas of things that I could do! I can't believe that it has already been 5 years. I think I'll keep this guy.

Superwomen

So lately I've been thinking a lot about the whole stay at home vs. working mom controversy, and I wanted to throw this concept out to see what everyone thinks. At first I started writing this blog, and it started to become ridiculously long as I tried to explain every little thought I had so that I wouldn't offend anyone. The idea of this post isn't to offend people whose views are different than mine, because I actually really would like to hear other people's views on this matter.
So what am I, a working mom or stay at home mom? I am not exactly sure. I think that I would consider myself to be a mainly stay at home mom who works very part time. I actually have to admit that I like working a little bit. It feels good to make a tiny bit of extra money every month that doesn't have to go towards bills, and I feel like I get to personally grow and develop from the jobs I am doing (as a person and a mom). I also feel refreshed when I pick Sofia up after leaving her for 4 hours, although I have to admit that in the 10-15 hours a week that I work right now, I am at the point where I feel balanced but I don't want to add a lot more to my schedule.
For me, I guess a main thing that I am working on right now is balance. If I do not feel balanced mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally, I am not a happy camper, and when I am not a happy camper, I am not as nice of a wife, mother, friend, sister.. etc as I would like to be.
I have to admit that everyonce in a while a get stressed when I think about careers, when I see some of my friends who are well established in what they are doing. I also realize that I am at a totally different point in my life where family and babies are my main focus. My kids will only be little once.. and I really only have one chance to spend time with my kids when they are in those critical years. I also am still young, and I have many many working years ahead of me.

So should women have to bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan? I guess my personal answer at this moment in my life is that I would like to bring home enough bacon to treat myself to a haircut everyonce in awhile without feeling guilty or to have fun in Honduras this summer, and as for frying it up in a pan.. only if I am having a good day where I don't feel nautious. I would really like to hear from other people on this matter. For those of you who are staying home or for those who work either part or full time, how do you try to keep balance in your lives? I realize that for many women, there is a great financial need to work, but I also know as a person who piddles too much money, that babies don't necessarily have to cost a ton. Also, my other question is.. can women really have it "all", or does something have to give? Any feedback or comments would be welcome. I am not opening this up so that people can judge each other, because every circumstance is different (and women can be so hard on each other as it is), but just to see what people think.

Embarrasing Moment

Embarrasing moments??? I have had plenty of those in my life, but the funny thing is, that lots of times I don't even get that embarrased, because I am so used to doing dorky things. Last night Chris and I stayed the night in Bend. After we checked into the hotel, I went to the bathroom and hurried to get a very tired Sofia to bed. After she fell asleep, I told Chris that I needed to go down to the lobby to get some tea for my sore throat. I walked down to the lobby and tiredly smiled and said hello to the receptionist and elderly couple that she was helping. I mozied on over to the tea taking my sweet little time picking out a flavor. When I got back into the elevator, I realized that something didn't feel right about the skirt that I was wearing. I fidgeted around and realized that I had tucked the back of my skirt into my underwear!! Many of you may be thinking right now, "Doesn't that only happen on movies or on that one farside card." I thought so too, but I never cease to amaze myself. I hope that this email might help another person who may overlook a simple thing.... so to everyone wearing skirts or dresses, take a second look before entering the world after going to the bathroom the next time.

No longer a baby folks

So Sofia is definitely not a baby anymore... here are the pictures to prove it. Chris took Sofia to the nearby playground to play today.. her favorite thing to do.

Not the average girl from the Video

Hello friends and family,
So I realize that I am a slacker for not writing a new post in a long time. Chris informed me that my blog is getting boring... so I promise that from now on, I will at least be doing a new post every week. So this post will be dedicated to India Arie. My sister Heather and I went to Portland on tuesday night and left the chillins with their papas to go to an India Arie concert. Before going to this concert, I was pretty sure that the Dixie Chicks were my main homegirls.. but they have some serious competition now. I love the dixe chicks, and they have great music and good lyrics.. but India Arie has lyrics that are a little deeper and that really make me want to be true to who I am. For those of you who don't know her... you should get onto itunes and download.. "Video," "There's Hope," and "This too shall pass" to get a taste of her music.. but she has so many good songs.

I swear that India is one of the only singers who actually sounds better in concert than on her cds. She is an inspiring musician, and we loved the concert.. but I was also very amused people watching all of the people that were standing around us. Behind us was the male couple that informed Heather and I that we have good energy.. which is always good to hear I suppose. Then we had this strange strung up on some kind of drug threesome in front of us who we literally thought one of them was blind for the first half of the concert as she kept leaning back.. rolling her eyes back, and bumping into Heather. After that threesome left, they were replaced by a stoned woman who was smoking pot and puffing smoke into our faces. We were inside the crystal ballroom.. so everyone around was not amused with already being smooshed together, hot, and now with smoke being blown into our faces. I kindly informed the lady that I am pregnant and did not enjoy inhaling her smoke, and she was nice and stopped. On the right of Heather was a lady wearing a little belly shirt who was standing by herself doing sign language to the songs. The more I keep writing.. the more I keep thinking of funny people around us.. so I better stop with my stories before this gets too long. Anways.. everyone should listen to India Arie.. she definitely makes you want to do some soul searching. Alright friends and family.. I am signing up but stay tuned... because my next blog will be a very controversial topic.

Wedding

Hello everyone. So we got back late sunday night from Anita's wedding. It was a great wedding and Anita and Mark both seem really happy. It is also so good to have lots of family together that we usually don't get to see very often. I am blessed with great in-laws. It's hard for me to join the trash talking in law stories.... because I get along with them good. Here are some pictures of the big event!!