*Cue “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” Theme Song*  Now, this is the story all about how my life got to where it is now. And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became a wife and mother of 2 in a town called SA. In Austin, Texas, born and raised. In the living room is where I spent most of my days. Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool til I finished college at St.MU school. Then I met my husband, he was up to no good, started calling and calling me until I said “I do”. We had three little weddings and my mom got scared but she couldn’t send me to live with my Uncle in Bel-Air. …(fast forward)… We have two little kids, one 2 and one 2-months and we yell to each other “Yo homes, your turn to change the diaper!”. I look at my kingdom, I am finally here, to sit on my throne as the….(no clue how to end this song!). *Cue end of song*

*Cue normal voice. Just me talking* Anyway, I just realized that it has been THREE months since I last blogged. Hence the need to re-introduce myself. Since we last spoke, I had a baby. Alejandra Gloria (Gloria is a family name, my mom’s) is now 2 months old and is an absolute doll!!

Things have been a bit hectic but we are enjoying the challenge of raising a king and a queen. Last night, for example, was tough. Alejandra was awake every few hours for her nighttime feedings. And just as I got her back to sleep after her 2 am feeding, Ilan woke up screaming and crying. He was up at 2 am and never went back to sleep. Needless to say, we are a wee bit exhausted and could use a nap. So, although I would love to sit and finish typing this blog, my nap is calling me. Both kids are asleep right now so I am going to take advantage of that and do as they say…”nap when the baby naps”. *Cue nap time*

-Victoria

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while.  I guess I have gotten a little caught up in being a mommy of two and “Living the Dream.”  I can happily say that the kids are doing wonderfully and are a busy blessing. 

My daughter Talia and Godson Ari are wearing our tatoo onesies.  The onesies have been a big hit and look super cute on our little ones.

These pictures were taken a couple of months ago.  I can’t believe these precious babies will be six months within days.  They grow so fast!

-Clarissa

Last week a friend of mine, Patrice, came over to visit with her 16-month old daughter, Mia. I hadn’t seen Patrice or Mia in over 6 months so this was supposed to be a nice opportunity for us to catch up. Instead I spent the whole time completely and totally embarrassed by my sons behavior and have no recollection of what Patrice and I chatted about!

Ilans toy corner of our house has gone untouched for months. All of his toys are old, boring, and no fun for him anymore. He instead plays with everyday household items that are probably on the American Pediatric Associations “Do-Not-Let-Your-Child-Play-With” List, like plungers (kinda gross, I know) brooms, candles (unlit, of course!), pillows, etc.  So when Patrice told me she was on her way over I was excited for 2 reasons. 1, of course, was that I would get to catch up and see Mia. And 2, because the toys that we have spent the equivalent of a mortgage on were about to be played with! I did a quick dust-off and spray down of the toys with my ever-so-handy Clorox Anywhere and waited for the door bell to ring.

The moment Mia walked in the front door Ilan went into “mine-mode”. For the entire next hour I was battling with how to react to his inability to share the toys that he hadn’t played with in months. While Ilan was literally yelling “Mine”, “No Mia!”, “That’s My Truck”, and “Mamma! Mia My Toys!”, he quickly grabbed his Radio Flyer Red Wagon and filled it with anything and everything Mia touched. I wanted to disappear and let someone else deal with his behavior. My mind raced with a range of emotions. I laughed. A big part of me thought it was funny that he was behaving so terribly and SO out of character.  I tried to reason with him. “Ilan, let Mia play with this truck, you have an extra large Pottery Barn wicker basket full of 32 different trucks you can play with.”. I tried to be stern. I ever-so-gently ripped puzzle pieces out of his tightly gripped hand to give back to Mia while I got down to his level and sternly told him that he needed to share. I tried it all different approaches. And nothing worked. Although Patrice kept saying to me “Don’t worry about it, they will work it out” and “It’s ok, Mia can play with something else” I couldn’t help but wonder where I had gone wrong.

When Mia left, Ilan said “Bye Mia” with a huge smile on his face….and his red wagon still sits in the middle of our living room full of all the toys Mia touched that Ilan gathered. He once again, and almost instantaneously, has zero interest in his toy corner and is back to playing with unlit candles and wine bottles. Was this just Ilan being Ilan or have we finally hit the point where Time Out is needed? SUPER NANNY! HELP! I NEED YOU!

-Victoria

This morning Tristan felt a little warm.  Since he had a febrile seizure I have been a little paranoid taking his temperature and waiting for the worse.  Well I took it this morning twice and he was fine.  When we got to school I told to the teacher to keep an eye on him and to call me if he felt warm or looked like he wasn’t feeling well.

Well she called, about an hour and a half after dropping him off.  She said Tristan was really upset and crying and that he didn’t have a temp but that he definitely seemed off.  I rushed over there to check on him and as I approached the door, I could hear him crying.  My heart fell as I opened the door and saw him there crying.  He rushed to hug me and started to calm down, as did I.

It was lunch time so I helped him and Ilan get settled.  Tristan’s demeanor changed and he began acting like his normal self.  After lunch was nap time and that is when it got a little scary.  I knew that I should not take Tristan home so I told him that I would be back but he didn’t like that very much.  At the same time Ilan began crying because it was nap time ( not his favorite activity) and Talia began crying because it was lunch time for her.   Meanwhile the rest of the class was quietly trying to nap.

What a mess!! I wanted to run out of there.  I waited for the teacher to come there way, meanwhile trying to get the boys to calm down and read a book.  Ilan through his tears told me the names of the different animals in the book, Tristan began looking out the window at a girl looking in, and Talia was in my arms quiet.  The teacher came and distracted the boys and I left not daring to look back.

So Tristan was fine, I think it had just hit him finally that I wasn’t there.  He missed me!  Well at least I think he did.  When I went to pick him up, Ilan held onto his hand not wanting him to go.  Victoria soon walked in and they were both happy.  Happy to leave perhaps.

I am so glad the boys have each other as they begin this new chapter in their young lives.  I imagine it must be scary for them, just as it has been difficult for Victoria and I.  All four of us are lucky to be going through this together.

Today, well yesterday being that it is 2 in the morning right now, was Tristan’s first official day of school.  He handled it like a champ and quite frankly I was a little disappointed.  As Ilan cried for Victoria, my son did not have a problem beginning his school day.  He did want little to do with his backpack and knocked on the door of his classroom wanting to go inside.  It was no big deal!

In all the chaos of getting out the door with Roger’s help mind you, i got caught up in the idea of dropping him off on time and not forgetting anything.  Well we managed to get him there on time with his backpack, lunchbox, napmat, box of diapers and wipes, a change of clothes, some supplies, a family album, cameras, and oh yes his baby sister.  Before you knew it he was in the classroom playing and I was driving to practice.  It all happened so quickly! 

I wanted this day to be perfect, and it was for him.  I would have appreciated a little more “don’t go mommy,” but instead I got a report sheet that said “had a great day…. didn’t cry at all.”  I guess I should be happy, God gives you what you can handle.  I don’t know if I could have walked away had he been crying. 

We will see how the rest of the week goes.  I am grateful Tristan is experiencing this with Ilan, and myslelf with Victoria.

Clarissa

I have NEVER EVER wished a fever upon my son…up until this morning. Not a bad fever, just a teensy weensy little bitty bit of a fever. You know, one that was just enough to keep him home from school.

Today was Ilan’s first day of school and although I have been looking forward to this day for months, now that it had arrived and reality had set in, I realized I wasn’t so excited about the day after all. But I knew I had to suck it up, get him dressed, and get him to school. So that’s what Jorge and I did. All was good until we said “good-bye” to Ilan in his new classroom. As soon as he heard the words, he grabbed onto my pant leg with one hand and banged on a drum with his other. From what I could gather in that split second was that he didn’t really want me to go, but at the same time he really didn’t want to let the drum go either. This was my perfect opportunity to just leave, like I told him I was going to do. So that’s what Jorge and I did. We started walking out the door. Then it happened. As I pulled his hands from my pant leg I walked away…and started crying like a big baby. Then Ilan started crying and yelling for me and put his hands out and tried to reach for me, but I was already at the door and I knew that I had to keep going. It broke my heart. And I cried all day.

The first thing I did when I got home was grab my laptop and Google “homeschooling”. I could barely see the keyboard through my tears, but I really truly thought that “maybe, just maybe” I was meant to home school my children. In my whirlwind of emotions I decided that I should once again, suck it up, and just give this “school” thing a chance. So that’s what I did. I bookmarked my homeschooling page, shut the laptop, and went on with my day.

Six long hours later it was time to pick up Ilan. He was very happy to see me and the smile on his face when he saw me made me instantly forget about all the heartache I had been through. In the end, it was all “ok”. Not great. Just ok. I survived, Jorge survived, and Ilan survived. We all survived. Or as Ilan likes to say (thanks to none other than Dora and Boots), “lo seemos”…”We did it!” We made it through Day 1 of many many more to come…

-Victoria

It is 5:41am as I attempt to return to blogging, not that I was ever really started.  My daughter is now 9 weeks and growing fast.  She is asleep, as is my son and husband.  The house is quiet and I thought it would be appropriate that my first blog back should be on Mother’s Day. 

I thought I would take a minute to write about a few moms that I love dearly.  There are three mother’s in my life that I most admire.  They are my teacher’s of motherhood that I learn from daily and will admire always.

First my partner, the professional blogger who has run Baby Besos beautifully while I have been half asleep trying to figure out being a mother of two under two.  Being that are sons are three days apart, Victoria is who I turn to daily to discuss are crazy boys and how challenging, funny, and wonderful they are.  We have shared friendship, pregnancy, a business, and motherhood.  While we may both be crazy mamas she is the calm and patient one.  She runs her home and our business with confidence and creativity.  I am grateful that I have such a wonderful business partner, but more so that I have such a wonderful friend. 

Secondly, I admire my sister who can best be described as a Mexican Martha Stewart.  She is mother to Analyssa, Christian and now Brayden.  She is the strongest person I know, who can pretty much do it all.  She is a wonderful sister, daughter, friend, wife and mother.  Tina has met all of life’s challenges with such grace.  I am blessed to have such a wonderful sister. 

Talia just woke up… that is her name by the way.  She is now sitting in the bouncy chair and hopefully will do so contently while I finish this blog. 

Most importantly, I admire my mother who growing up I never truly appreciated.  Now that I am a mother of two I don’t know how she raised four.  She is an amazing mother and grandmother.  She is the Mexican Martha Stewart’s Mother for gosh sakes.  My sister had to have learn from someone…. I am still trying to figure out where I went wrong.  My mom has helped me keep my sanity as a novice mother.  She not only helps take care of my children, she still takes care of me.  She amazes me, how she can come over and watch my babies, pick up the house, cook a meal, and do some laundry all while I take a shower.  She does in thirty minutes what takes me all week.  I don’t know what I would do without her.  I appreciate her more than she will ever know.           

Happy Mother’s Day!

Update: And the winner is…..Cassandra Mata!! Congratulations Cassandra and thank you to everyone for participating. Stay tuned for next month’s give-away…

Modern. Stylish. Bib. Burp. Cloth. Set. Yay

This month Baby Besos is giving away one of our favorite bib and burp cloth sets! Mealtime has never been so stylish with these fun and funky bib and burp cloth sets. How can you win?! All you need to do is post a comment to this blog post. Post whatever is on your mind and your name will be entered into the drawing.

It’s. That. Easy. Yay!

One entry per person, per day, and this give-away applies to US residents only. Contest ends Monday, April 27, 2009 at 5:00 pm CST. Winner will be selected by a random drawing and will be announced after the contest deadline.  Don’t forget to leave us your email address in your comment so we know how to contact you, should you be the lucky winner.

Ok, so maybe it was a little presumptuous of me to think that Dr. Ferreris and Nurse Lori would actually read my blog. After I posted “One Thing is Certain” I secretly expected by phone to ring have have Dr. F or Lori on the other end of the line. Didn’t happen. So I rang their phone instead and made an appointment to take Ilan in for a visit. It’s a good thing I did because after the evaluation it was determined that Ilan may have a mild form of asthma.  He is on breathing treatments and is already doing much better! It’s such a scary feeling to see/hear your child coughing so hard that they are gasping for air. As much as he hates the treatments (he screams, cries, kicks, and pushes) they are worth the fight.

Being a first-time mother, every little cough, sneeze, bump on the skin, etc. sends me to the doctors office. I used to be embarrased to call for an appointment “again”. But now, I say, “so what if my doctors office thinks I am a little speed dial happy!”. Piece of mind and a freely breathing child are well worth the $30.00 co-pay…

-Victoria

I’ve always had the suspicion and have now confirmed that Ilan does not chew his food before swallowing. This morning Ilan and I drove Jorge to work (long story short, his car is in the shop). While rushing to get out the door so he wouldn’t be late I filled a sippy cup with milk and put cut up strawberries in a snack trap for Ilan. I figured I could make him breakfast once we got home. Well, breakfast didn’t happen when we got home…but projectile vomiting sure did! Strawberries, cut up just the way they entered his body, and milk were ALL over him, me, and our floor. It was disgusting. My mind rushed through a million different thoughts including:  “AGH!!!”, “this stinks!”, “wait, these are whole strawberries!”, “what do I do now?”, “who do I clean first: him or me?”.  And my final thought was “what caused him to projectile vomit all of a sudden?!”.

It could be one of two things. My not-so-expert expert opinion told me it was either A) a virus or, B) cough induced. Why virus? Stinky projectile vomiting. Why cough induced? Because he had a coughing spell right before “it” happened. Now, because he has shown no other viral symptoms and has been able to keep down his liquids and foods since then, I am going with guess “B”. My next task to complete is to figure out why Ilan is having so many coughing spells. For the past week he has coughed and coughed, to the point of gasping for air. It happens mostly at night, and occasionally during the day. Is it allergies or something more? Or even something less? Oh, oh, oh, the trials and tribulations of parenthood.

I want the easy way out. Dr. Ferreris or Nurse Lori: If for some ridiculously rare reason you are reading this, please tell me what to do about the cough! Oh, and how can I teach Ilan to chew his food before swallowing?!

-Victoria