SLEEP

is something that I can not get more than 2-3 hours of a night.  It is slowly killing me and there is not much I can do about it.  I am up all night with aches and pains in my ribs, stomach, legs and back.  I have heartburn from drinking water and brushing my teeth.  I eat my maximum of Tums each day and Tylenol PM or Unisom do not help. I know that it will not be much better once our newborn arrives, but at least I will have the purpose of feeding and caring for her.  Right now, there is no purpose to my restlessness.  Wish I could just sleep like this:

Sand and Water

He did this for hours today.  Filling up his pail with sand and dumping it in the water and back again.  He also started immediately upon arriving, as if it was his sole mission and he knew it.   Then, he would switch it up and dump the water from the ocean onto the sand.  He stared at the other kids around him, but was not influenced to copy them or abandon his mission.    I watched him instead of resting or napping.  Couldn't take my eyes off of him.  He had me mesmerized.

Salt Water Baby

We spent a few hours at the beach this afternoon.  I love to see Salvatore love the water!

Swim classes will begin in July and he can practice again.

Two years ago, same beach.

Same moves.

I kept getting all choked up inside just watching him.  I can't believe how fast time has passed and how much he has changed.  I am grateful for another summer to create more great memories.

Money in the Bank

Meeting Miracle Zachary

My two great friends, Tracy and Joey, had a beautiful baby boy on March 1oth and named him Zachary Ryan.  He is a miracle baby and one that was desperately wanted and needed by their family. 

 Salvatore and I went to visit him on Friday night and we were overwhelmed with joy upon meeting him.
He is tiny and precious and looks mostly like his daddy, but has Tracy's eyes.  He only opened them once for me, but they are definitely his momma's.
Parenting could not have happened to two nicer people!
    So glad that he is here, safely and soundly, after all they have been through!

"Mama, I Go Work Now"

Every night this week, Salvatore has announced to me that he is going to go to work.  I laugh and ask him where he works and he always says "I work at Chili's" first.  Then I say O.K. and he runs to the door and hides behind the blind.  He hides for at least 2 or 3 minutes, and Benny always chases him and sniffs him out.  Then, he pushes back the blind and reemerges and says, "Mama, I back from Chili's!"  He will do this 3 or 4 times before changing jobs.  Next, he goes to work at "la escuela (the school)" and he repeats his little ritual.  His final comment to me is always, "I come back, Mama, I back!"  I plan to add to his little mix this weekend by suggesting that he take certain, necessary things with him to "work."  Thank goodness he always comes back!!

Swears

While in the drive-thru at In-N-Out, they handed me a placemat that I passed back to Salvatore.  He squealed because it has vegetables on it, but then he accidentally dropped it.  His response?  "Oh, shit, mama!"  "Oh, shit!"  I was SHOCKED because MY mouth is as clean as a sailor's mouth.  David only swears in Spanish.  So I started racking my brain, while trying to hold in my laughter.  I asked him who says that and he ratted Lolo out.  Sorry Lolo!!!  Funny thing is, when Salvatore said it, he literally sounded the way my dad does when he says it!

Fun with Photo Booth

After an exhausting day at work, my little man cheered me right up!  How can I possibly feel tired or stressed after this?!

He loves to see his own face as much as we do!

Muchos besitos (little kisses)!

Looks like he is playing in the clouds!

He wanted to swim with the fish!  All fish are still called "Nemo" at this point.

Waking Up with a Two Year Old...

is SO NICE!  He wakes up jolly and loving and smothers me with kisses.  He says, "Buenos Dias" to Valentina.  He likes to rub his feet against my feet.  I got up and made a bowl of Rice Krispies for us to share and we ate them in bed while we watched New Moon (thanks Sara).  Now it is time to start our day!

A Present from Auntie Beth

My sister, Beth, sent Salvatore his first Play-Doh kit and he loves it!!!  

Thank you Auntie Beth for your gift!

Valentina Loves the Nighttime

She moves differently from day to night.  In the day, she moves slowly, as if she is simply dragging one arm or leg to another position.  At night, it is different.  She kicks, shakes, quivers, rolls, and uses as much strength as she can to move around.  It happens especially when Salvatore is close and I figure she can hear his voice.  So now, my days and nights are starting to get screwy.  I feel more tired during the day and I get surges of energy at night and it is VERY DIFFICULT for me to sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night.  But I am happy.  As I type, Benedict is repeatedly licking my knee and David and Salvatore are cuddled on the couch together watching a Spanish nature show.  

If You Drop a Pre-Natal Vitamin...

your big, black, silly dog will pounce on it just like he does EVERYTHING else you drop and he will consume it!  I dropped two this evening and Benedict gobbled them quickly.  I am sure that he will be fine, nothing happened to him when he consumed the linoleum floor in our old bathroom.  However, the look on his face after he ate the vitamins was hilarious...he actually looked at me as if to say, "Am I gonna be O.K., because that didn't taste how I thought it would taste!"  Silly dog!

David is 30

My wonderful husband is finally 30!  Yes, he is 5 years younger than I.  When we started dating, he was 20 and I was 25.  My friends would tease me and say, "You are dating a guy that can't even get into a bar!"  I did not care, I hardly went to bars.  He quickly turned into one of the coolest guys I had ever known and I could not wait to begin a life together.  Here is a picture from one of our first dates in Palos Verdes.

We had a wonderful weekend of shopping, going out to lunch, napping together and celebrating with friends and family!  David loved his Pumas cake!

David's 29th birthday last year.  It is our tradition to have the birthday person hold Salvatore while they blow out the candles.

David's 28th birthday when Salvatore was 3 months old.  

David has been a wonderful husband, partner and friend to me for the last 10 years!  He is a wonderful father to Salvatore and there are many things that make me proud of him and love him more each day!  Happy birthday honey!

Spaghetti Face

He loves Momma's spaghetti!  It's great because I use so many different veggies in the sauce and he devours them all.  This night, he ate three plates of it before he declared, "All done!"

Valentina Saves the Recipe!

Last night, I was making Mac n Cheese for Salvatore and I only had the 1/2 stick of butter left.  As I went to peel back the wrapper on the butter to put it in the pan, I dropped it.  Butter is so slick!  I immediately stared up at the ceiling, thinking of how this would taste with no butter.  As I looked down, I saw that Miss Valentina had "caught" it-there was the butter hangin' out on my shirt. Yeah!  Thanks Valentina!  Can't wait to see all of the other ways you save us!!

Big Whale

Salvatore and I went to Albertson's last night and ordered some fish from the meat counter.  The old man helping us was nice and commented on how nice I looked pregnant.  I smiled and thanked him and whispered under my breath that I really feel like a big whale.  Salvatore HEARD me, and repeats loudly, "You are a big whale, mama...a really big whale?"  He also spread his hands widely and everyone around us was laughing!

What??? He's 40???

Today is Benedict's birthday and he is 5 years old in human years.  According to the doggy calendars, he is 40 today!  I always thought that you multiply the human years x 7 to get a dog's age, but my vet and the internet tell me that it really depends on their weight and breed.  He is half Black Labrador-half Great Dane, which explains how he is about 92 lbs. and not fat.  He was 5 pounds on the night David surprised me with bringing him home.  We named him Benedict after our new Pope and our lives have been full of love and surprises ever since!  He does not act like a 40 year old dog, he still scampers around like a 14 year old, or the same way he did as a puppy. 

 Here is Benedict in a large breed nutshell:

He destroyed (by consumption) around $1,700 worth of stuff in our house in the first two years.

We kept him.

He was surprising easy to potty train.

Thought that would be our biggest hurdle.

He intuitively smells my belly with Valentina and did the same with Salvatore.

He was my first "positive" pregnancy test.  I knew to test when he started doing this to me.

He is very gentle around all kids and other dogs.

We are grateful and never fearful.

He gets as many compliments as Salvatore for how beautiful and sweet he is while out walking the neighborhood.

We smile and give thanks.

He insists on sleeping on every surface of the house, and still tries nightly to sleep with us, though he is no longer allowed.

We constantly kick him off.

He still barks like a MANIAC and jumps on people when they walk through the door.

We need the Dog Whisperer.

He loves us still as before, even though Lolo is the only one who walks him anymore.

We are humbled, dear Benny.  We love you still, too!

Have You Named Your Shapes Today?

I know that all early two year olds can do this, but I just LOVE the sound of his voice!  And the way his little fingers point to things and he focuses on them so well.  And the way he asks me questions back.  And the way he repeats things and has NO sense of modesty or embarrassment to speak both English and Spanish, like I have.  He makes us so proud!

Tarea (Homework)

Each night, Salvatore and I sit at the kitchen table and he practices his tarea (homework) from different books.  He loves to sit and color and draw, and he does not care if he uses a pencil, pen, or crayons.  After we found marker all over our leather couches, we swiftly hid those until a later time.  Please don't think that we are depriving him, they only bleed through the pages anyways and he has not even noticed that they are gone. I love the way he holds the pencils and crayons.  He looks so serious and studious!