Cars, Trains, and Balls... Mom to a boy

Its been ages!

2011-09-23T17:51:00.000-10:00

It seems that way since the last time I blogged. No I did not forget just have been very busy moving AGAIN. So as you last recalled we where in Hawaii moved to Colorado the hubby is deploying to I came to Georgia. Things have been pretty hectic for us. We miss Hawaii dearly and hope we can return one day. Colorado just was not our cup of tea. Georgia has been good its always good to be close to family and all the kids Mason can play with. It seems as time passes we always have new challenges than I thought we had conquer these couple of months bedtime. We have always had a set bedtime and a routine but all this moving around really messed up. Ounce we got into a routine in Colorado we moved here to Georgia and we are starting all over. Its harder this time around since I am a working girl now! Mason gets up 730 some days and other days he sleeps in with his Abuela, takes a nap around 1-2 and his bed time is still 8. Whether he takes a nap or not I have found out makes no difference in how long he stays up past his bed time so he might as well take a nap and give Abuela a break. He had been doing so well going to sleep on his own and now we are back to getting up putting him back in his bed, I pray this phase will too pass as have the other ones. Praying for lots of guidance!!

Raising RockStarts "Tt"

2011-06-27T13:32:00.000-10:00

Our board this week.

Coloring his verse.

Getting ready to write Tt

Matching lower case letters

Matching upper case letters

Reading his mini book and finding our sight word. This mini book also had the sight word "see" from last week so I had both popsicle stick prop for it.

Matching

So Mason gets really frustrated with scissors since he has not yet grasp that movement yet but he enjoys cutting his stuff so here we are working with our cutter so he feels really proud with out the frustration

Magnets

Tracing T in our verse

More pre writing work

We used the cutter to cut the verse the he taped it together

Sorting sizes

Counting turtles then matching it to the number

Matching the colored turtles to the colored word

Tracing T

Finding Tt and then putting a pom pom on it

Shape playdough mat

Tracing Tt

Sorting capital and lower case Tt

Craft time

Good Job Mason!!

Just some fun

Thank you to 1plus1plus1equals1 and to Confesions of a homeschooler for the ideas and print outs

Raising RockStarts "Ll"

2011-06-20T09:47:00.000-10:00

The information and printable from this week came from these websites, kidzone, confessionsofahomeschooler, homeschoolshare, lapbooklessons.com.

This was our board for the week. I got this idea from 1plus1plus1equals1. This has the verse of the week, life application, song, props and mini book.

Some of our books for the week and I have been using the boxes to put his work in it so he just moves on to the next box, our temporary version of the workbox system.

Working in writing his numbers

Letter "L" writing

Tracing "L" on things that begin with "L"

Ladybug craft we finished it in two days since the first day he said he did not want to do it.

Sorting capital and lowercase "L"

Finding the letter and putting a pom pom on it. I added magnets to the pom poms so they can stick to the cookie sheet

Verse craft

Matching Shapes

Working on the color yellow

We did a lapbook but I decided to split the activities that go in the book through out the week and at the end we put it all together.

Putting together a mini book

"L" is for

Coloring bugs

I cut the bugs out he colored and we counted them and put them in the right jar

Putting his lapbook together

The finish product :)

Whats for Dinner

2011-06-13T16:54:00.000-10:00

For tonight's dinner I made stuffed lasagna rolls. So this dinner came about that I did not have enough manicotti shells and I did not have meat to make lasagna so I used the stuffing that I would have used for the manicotti spread it on the lasagna noodles and rolled it up. I put sauce and cheese over it and put in the oven.

Raising RockStarts "Mm"

2011-06-13T13:49:00.001-10:00

Verse: My little children let us not love in word or in tongue but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Number: 14

Sight word: See

Letter/Sound: Mm

I am very happy with the results of using the Raising Rock Stars Preschool lessons. Mason loves working on the items in his box. I was so surprised that he learned his verse so well here is a little video of him saying his verse;

The life application question for this lesson was "How can we show love?" Heres Mason answering this question and reviewing other things on our board

Here are pictures of things we did through out the week

Working on the color Red

Pre-writing skills

Cheerio Book

The best part he gets to eat it after so its snack time too!

Loved Taping his Verse

Matching Shapes

Letter match up

Writing

"I can Share..."

Gluing

He was excited to get his certificate

I got the printable that we used from Confessions of a Homeschooler and 1+1+1=1

Tot School

2011-06-06T17:25:00.002-10:00

So here is Mason doing some pre writing work. I am very surprised he sat the whole time and traced his letter and did the other work with out complaining. Even before bed time he wanted to go over his verse. Thanks to Carisa from 1+1+1=1 and Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler for the great ideas and printable.

Whats for Dinner

2011-06-06T14:01:00.007-10:00

So when my husband deployed the first time some girlfriends and I decided to host weekly dinners at each others house. Not only was it nice to get together ounce a week since all our husbands where deployed but it gave us the opportunity to learn new recipes. All of us had only been married for about 2 years or so so our cooking was still a work in progress. Heck after 6 years my cooking is still a work in progress but it has gotten a lot better. My poor husband had to endure eggs, grilled cheese, spaghetti, and salads the whole first year of our marriage. The spaghetti really did not count because its the one thing he does not like but it was the first thing I learned to cook because I LOVE it! n/e back to the story.....It was at one of these dinners that I learned this recipe. We would show up early to help the hostess, which was Leza this day, to help out with dinner and learn how to make. Over the years I have changed it a bit and that came about that I never wrote the recipe down so I would make it from memory. Every time I would ask Leza I would call her the day off to ask her and still would not write the recipe down! ne hope you guys enjoy and if you make it let me know or send me a link to see your wonderful creation!

I make this for my husband and I and our 3 year old son and we still have leftovers

Tortilla Chicken Casserole

INGREDIENTS

3 boneless skinless chicken breast cooked and shredded (I boil it and then shred)

1 tomato chopped (Leza uses Rotel but even the mild one comes out a bit spicy for son you could also use can of diced tomatoes undrained)

1/2 onion (another thing my friend does not use because she does not like onions)

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

5 flour tortillas cut up

1 1/2 cups of mixed veggies (my friend uses canned corn or peas)

1/2 cup shredded mexican style blend cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Sauté onions till almost clear then add your tomatoes.

2. Add shredded chicken

3. Season to taste **

4. add veggies

5. add soups and stir it till everything is well blended.

6. cover and let it all come to a simmer.

7. spray your casserole dish with spam and lay down tortillas

8. add a layer of the chicken mixture then another layer of tortillas

9. continue doing this till you have used up all your mixture.

10. you should end your last layer with the tortillas and then sprinkle the cheese over.

11. put in a 350 oven till cheese is melted and the tortillas get a little crispy

I served it with a side of rice.

** so this is what I added to chicken. If you know me I add this stuff to everything I make. I dont have exact measurements because when I cook I dont measure this stuff but what I used was;

Season all, season salt, oregano, bay leaves, and ground pepper and I sauté the onion and tomato with olive oil

Visit my friends blog Our Love Story for her other variation of this recipe.

What am I Reading

2011-05-31T16:08:00.003-10:00

My wonderful friend Lisa sent me "Letting go of Anger" By Annie Chapman. Im not even to the half way point yet but I had to share it. This week God has really been tugging at my heart about the kind of wife and mother He wants me to be. On of the first questions in this book and that has been on my mind every day is How do you want people to remember you. I surely do not want people to say that I was to quick to anger, to raise my voice, or that I would always let my tongue have full control. James 3:6 says "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell." This is my biggest struggle controlling my tongue its what gets me in trouble. This week I have thought about what comes out of my mouth and if it is things that is good or evil. I know I have came a long way with my anger, I believe Mason has a lot to do with that since I want to be a good example to him. Still I know that God has still work to do in my heart and its up to be to me keep my eyes on Him. I also realized that my prayers where directed to other people but I need to look at myself and ask Him to forgive ME and change ME because I am a sinner too! Luke 14:11 says " For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." I love how God works, this same verse I heard this sunday at church and its the same verse I read in this book. Hopefully as I continue to read this book I will learn better way to "letting go."

My other struggle is diving into the Bible but a way that I have found it easier is to download the YouVersion Bible app to my phone. The way its set up its very easy to see what have you read and choose a plan that helps you. I have chosen to do a read the bible in a year plan have had to do a couple of "catch me ups" but im not giving up I even got thru building of the tabernacle!

I hope these resources can also be helpful to you just as it has been to me. I will let you know how I am feeling at the end of this book Im excited and looking forward to the changes God has planned in my life!

Mason singing

2011-05-27T18:40:00.003-10:00

So I wanted to share these videos from our youtube Channel of Little man singing. He is adorable he sometimes walks around the house singing "oh how I love Jesus" it makes my heart melts.

Potty Training

2011-05-27T17:28:00.003-10:00

So I am excited to report we have taken the task of potty training. I will say I thought it would take forever for this child to want to use the potty. It is still a work in progress but I thought Iwould share some things we have done and learned so far.

First of I want to share the two books that I read

1. "The No-Cry Potty Training Solution" By Elizabeth Pantley

2. "Potty Training Boys the Easy Way" By Caroline Fertleman

This where very easy reads and I read both of them in two days. I had read the "No Cry Sleep Solution" when mason was a baby and I really enjoyed in and i have to say the same about the potty book. Ounce Mason was ready there where no tears about it. I had to change my views about it and read him and not force him into going. The second book was helpful in well im a girl and I found out I knew very little about boys going to the potty. For one the no need for toilet paper when they go pee pee I have to say I was like really?...lol I learn many other things to help Mason but I rather not share..lol.

We had tried going to the potty before but it was so stressful! Now I realize Mason was not ready and I was pushing and I really had not looked into what would work for him. Ounce we started it helped that out friends where staying with us and their little girl was potty trained so we talked a lot about how she went to the potty in the toilet and not her underwear. We had a little potty but it seemed like he had no interest in it so we went to Walmart and he choose this "Cars" potty seat that goes over the regular toilet. I was amazed at how much difference this potty seat made in him being interested in using the bathroom. During the day I put underwear on him and kept taking to the bathroom and rewarding with jelly beans for going pee pee. He got the hang of that pretty quickly and the candy helped out a lot. Well ounce he got the hang of it he was peeing in the potty all the time and I realized he was earning way to many jelly beans!! So we talked about how he was doing so good going pee pee that we would only use jelly beans if he went poo poo. Slowly we started cutting back on the jelly beans and in exchange he got extra praises and high fives and mama dancing in the bathroom.He enjoys the dancing part. He does pretty good now he has some accidents here and there but thats okay as soon as he feels a little wet he calls me and we run to the bathroom and he finishes there.

Now #2 has been a totally different experience! He had had two accidents in the past before we started potty training. One he was naked getting ready to go in the shower and the second time he was in the shower. These two incidents made him very scared. It took awhile for him to overcome his fear. Ounce again we talked about it and told him how we all go #2 (I told him what it was but it just feels weird writing it so thats why im using #2..lol). Ounce again it was helpful my friends where staying here and their little girl would tell him too. This did take longer and we are still are working on it everyday. For the past week he was been understanding the "feeling" that goes with it. Even if it is gas he tells me he has to go potty. The last two days he has told me he farted and to excuse him and he laughs...he is a boy right!

We use pullups at night and I still leave him in underwear during naps times. In the last month he has only had one accident during nap time and there are nights that he wakes up in the middle of the night saying he has to go potty. I think grasping the night time potty training will take a little longer since he loves drinking water at night and loves sleeping with a sippy cup with water next to him.

I have to say it was so much easier waiting for Mason to be ready and making it exciting for him to do it. Our close friends have been helpful in praising him when they are over and it makes him so happy!

This was back in Hawaii when we first started attempting to potty train with no luck but I should have realized then that he was not going to like using a little potty.

Happy little man using the toilet..oh and happy mom no more diapers!

Mason is "3"!!!

2011-05-19T17:43:00.007-10:00

My beautiful baby boy is 3...yes baby because thats what he will be to me forever..lol. The Zavala and the Strayer family helped us celebrate our little boys birthday party. We decided to go with an Angry Birds theme party since Mason loves that app. Here are the pics

Grace dyeing the modeling chocolate

Leza Frosting the cake

These are the bricks

Putting it all together before Mason comes back from soccer. The balloon idea I got from The Party Animal

The end product

Side View

The Dream team :)

Our Family

We also went to see the Sky Sox and it worked out great since we had free tickets. The redlollypop was the red angry bird from his cake.

Rock n Worship Roadshow

2011-05-19T17:10:00.005-10:00

Leza and I went to the Rock n Worship roadshow and for $10 tickets we would not miss seeing Mercy Me!! If you know us when it comes to first come first serve seating we will get there as early as we can to get awesome seats. This was no exception! We got there around 10am and I had to go buy a blanket and gloves because it was so cold. Well getting there early paid off because we got seats 7 rows from the stage!! All the bands where amazing and we loved all of them except TFK they where great but soooo not our type of music. I have to say I loved seeing the young kids rocking out to these guys. Here are some pictures from that night. If you are on my FB you can see all the pics from that event.

Lil' Kickers

2011-05-19T16:47:00.009-10:00

So Mason is playing soccer this year. This is the first sport activity that he has been involved in. We are supper excited for him and he loves it! We signed him up for a toddler program of LittleKickers . This is a parent involved class that daddy does with Mason. Its so funny to watch him do the different activities and it just amazes me how coordinated this kid is. Sometimes he just does not want to do the toddler activities and asks to go play with the older kids on the other side of the field. He thinks he is 8 and does not understand why he cant go play with them. We will see where he is at at the end of this class and maybe he can move up to the class with out Raul on the field with him.

Easter 2011

2011-05-16T15:20:00.005-10:00

This year for Easter we went to our friends the Strayers. We had a potluck lunch with some very yummy food. We dont have a home church yet so we visited a local church for service and headed out to our friends house right after. We hid eggs for the two kiddos and they had a lot of fun. Even the big kids got into picking up eggs...ex my husband! The kids got there easter bags and with a new movie they sat with their snacks so the grown ups played board games. So big thanks to our wonderful friends they are truly like family to us. Even though we have not met people here we are blessed to these families in our lives.

My little kid and my big kid getting ready to go get some eggs

The papas helping out

Love this pic his face and priceless

Little Miss Camy, she would shake the eggs first to see if it was one with money it :)

Yup thats and egg

I know she will ask why in the world I put this pic on here but I think its a cute picture of her

Next year im going to have to get him a basket too

My handsome boy

Mason dumped all his eggs on the floor to open them, meanwhile, Camy was just taking out one by one out of her basket

"Closing" their eyes so that Raul"easter bunny" can get them their bags full of goodies

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with their families!!

Meeting the Duggar Family

2011-03-21T13:48:00.006-10:00

So Saturday I got the opportunity to go meet the Duggar family at Focus on the Family. I went with Leza and at any event that requires making line we are always there extra early to get good seats and this was no exception. Being there early paid off, we had time to go buy their book and got seats in the seventh row. When they first came in the sang, played the violin, the girls played. and the little ones sang. The kids went to the back and Jim-Bob and Michelle sat down and told us their life story. Even though I have been watching their show for awhile I had never heard their story before. I have to say it was amazing!! A true love story guided by God. The way they have decided to live their life is amazing and such a great example of the power of prayer and putting God first. Its encouraging to see a mom like Michelle she really inspires me to be a better mom, I mean if she can do it with 19 kids im sure I can do it with one right! So the most exciting part was the meet and greet. They where all so kind to wait so long for everyone to go thru the line. We waited three hours and there still was lots of people behind us. While making line they ask everyone to yell "on this episode of 19 kids and counting" and they interviewed us. They asked us what we liked about the Duggars and who was our favorite, needless to say we got a bit nervous and speechless. I started reading their book as soon as I got home and its a book i would recommend. They have such good advice and always having God in it!

Grandma Duggar signing my book

The family the little kids where playing in the slide in the kids are of Focus on the Family

I asked Jessa if i could take a picture of her and she said "with pleasure" These are such good kids. I have one and I pray that I am teaching him good but with the Duggars you can see the fruit they have produces with their older children. Im excited to see how much these kids will be able to accomplish especially having so much love for our Lord and Savior!!

**if i got her name wrong excuse me but there are just so many J's and they all look so much alike

The film crew was there too! I think this episode will air in April or May

Jim-Bob and Michelle telling us their life story and some Q&A

All the Duggars minus Jocy

Their Bus

After waiting three-four hours to get their autographs

New Home

2011-03-16T15:46:00.003-10:00

I never thought it was going to take us so long to find a place to live but thank God we have found a place. We have been here for about 2-3 weeks now and all the boxes have been unpacked. All the rooms are somewhat organized but let me tell you our storage is looking crazy. We need to have a day where we go thru all our stuff and get rid of some junk. Im sure Goodwill will be happy we have already given then two boxes full of stuff just in the short time we have lived here. We are so thankful the Strayers let us stay in their home but im so happy to have our own place now. I love Colorado but I have to admit I have shed some tears for Hawaii. I just LOVE the people there and how much they cared for one another and even strangers. I remember when I first move there how all the kids use to come to me and call me aunti I thought it was the weirdest thing ever. Oh how I miss that and I got so use to it, today while at Chik-fil-a story time I was telling Mason how auntie had a puppet. Ne enough about Hawaii right and being "homesick."

So this weekend we went to this place called Garden of the Gods. We went hiking and had lunch then hiked some more. I have to say it was beautiful and so relaxing. We went on a trail and met a lady walking her horse so we got to pet him. We came to a picnic are and had lunch while Mason decided he was going to play with sticks and rocks and talk to hikers. On our hike back to our car we decided to take a different trail and we could definitely feel the altitude we where breathing hard and the good thing for me was that by that time it was Rauls turn to carry Mason in the pack :). I cant seem to find the cord to my computer and im being very lazy about doing it in Rauls laptop where all I need to do is put the memory card in so I promise ill post pictures soon

*** ok pics added enjoy

Playing in the snow Videos

2011-02-20T18:40:00.002-10:00

Colorado

2011-02-20T18:09:00.004-10:00

So I have not blogged for awhile now we have been busy with our move. We have been in Colorado for about three weeks no. I have to say the first week the temperature change was brutal! We had a layover in Texas and our flight got canceled 2x because of the weather when we finally got to Colorado we where welcomed with a -4 temperature!! I have never been soooo cold. Thats what we get for living with sunshine for the past 5 years. Our luggage got delayed and we received in three days later so we had to go by some sweaters gloves ect. to get us thru because at the time we did not know when we would get our stuff. That same week it snowed about 8 inches. It was cold but I have to say it was the prettiest thing seeing such fluffy snow. Its very different from the "ice snow" that Georgia gets. Now, what was crazy is seeing everyone driving in that weather! Right now we are praying we find a place to live soon and are thankful to have friends that have opened their home to us while we look. Ne enjoy the pics we have taken :)

Playing in the snow and since we dont have any sleds and we came from Hawaii we used the next best thing a boogie board. Mason LOVED playing outside and sliding he did not want to come back inside. His nose was all red and snot was coming out but he did not care he cried when it was time to go

Raul had fun acting silly he made all of us laugh boogie boarding in the snow

Shoveling snow it was ankle deep we have never experienced anything like it

Very different temperature from Hawaii

Pro Bowl 2011

2011-02-20T17:52:00.003-10:00

Our last day in Hawaii we went to the Pro Bowl. We had lots of fun and Mason loved it. Even now he still talks about this game.

Hubby getting autographs

Our Family

Daddy and son

Did i say we are moving

2011-01-21T23:13:00.002-10:00

So its almost time for the move I cant bealive it!!! The movers are coming this week and then bye bye Hawaii, sunshine, and all the good food we found on the island. I cant believe we have been here five years never in a million years did I ever thought I would have the opportunity to live here. I am so thankful I did though, I learned so much about myself and have met some incredible people. It was an amazing journey and even though many ppl did hate "the rock" I can honestly say I loved it. The hubby says we will be back he would love to retire here. The way of life is so slow and when ever I go back to the mainland I always feel rushed. So some of the places I will miss will be first, North Shore Christian Fellowship they have helped me learn so much about God and love all the ppl that go. The bakery in Haleiwa totally love their turkey sandwich with fresh baked bread. Maui Mikes has some awesome sauces and their rotisserie chicken. OMG for Menchies my $8 frozen yogurt and soooo worth it :), and the Thai restaurants that I found have been so good I hope I can find one just as good in Colorado. Koolina my fav beach during winter and Waimea Bay during the summer I never did like the waves. I guess reality is hitting me that im leaving this beautiful island

So in a few weeks we will be in Colorado total opposite weather change yikes! Im a little scared because I dont like the cold very much BUT im looking forward ditching the slipp'as and wearing boots. Im looking forward to all the new adventures we will have and the wonderful new friends that we will make.

FiveFingers KSO

2011-01-21T22:57:00.002-10:00

So about a month ago my husband kept raving about these shoes and eventually went out and got them. He was trying to get me to go buy some but I was just not into them. I mean they look weird and I have very sensitive feet where I can not walk barefoot at all. The biggest thing that kept me from getting them was how they said you have to break them in and they might hurt in the beginning because you have to get use to the feeling of being barefoot. Also the hubby took me to the store and I just got frustrated because I could not get my pinky in there and told him I was not going to spend so much time to try to put shoes on. Well I went running with a gf and she wore her fivefinger shoes and I just wore my regular running shoes. I told her how my shins always hurt when I run. She told me she had the same problems until she started running with these shoes. Soooooo yup I got sold and bought me some. I just got them to day and only walked in them but so far I like how they feel on my feet. Ounce I run and workout in them ill let yall know what I think then

Mason in the kitchen

2011-01-01T22:36:00.004-10:00

So ounce in awhile I try to get Mason in the kitchen to help me out. He loves to help cook and every time I am in there he always wants to help me out. I hope his interest in cooking continues as he gets older and he is able to do more. I always think about how lucky his future wife will be if he knows how to cook...lol

Here he is getting ready to wash some sweet potatoes

taking a break to pose for a picture

Helping me bake a friendship bread we got from our friend Gina. He loves to scoop the ingredients and pour them into the bowl. I love how effortless this is in teaching him some math since we talk about cups, 1/2 cups, teaspoons and tablespoons

Christmas 2010

2011-01-01T22:21:00.003-10:00

Checking out his stocking

Using those muscles

opening gifts

Mason ornaments for this year

Putting his ornament from last year on the tree

Gifts under the tree ready for Mason to open

Our family ornament for this year

Our table and fireplace

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-01T22:09:00.004-10:00

Christmas Eve we went to our last University of Hawaii football game. This was Masons first game and his first tailgating experience. We all had a lot fun hanging out together.

Christmas get together

2010-12-10T21:41:00.003-10:00

So today I had some friends over that I met at play group for a little Christmas gift exchange. The kids picked each others name a couple of days ago and they got to give each other gifts today. The grown ups did a white elephant gift exchange and we had a potluck dinner. Mason did very well giving his gift I was a little afraid he would not understand that it was for his friend Camy especially since it was a "Toy Story" toy (background: at PJs birthday he wanted to take the gifts home and had a temper tantrum about it) So I wanted for him to see what we where going to wrap for Camy and let him help me too. Well it really worked, when it came time to give the gift he went to get it and gave it to her to fuss about it! The white elephant gift exchange was funny when my friend Erin swapped hers for the unopened gift that was left I was tickled because it was what I had gotten. So I decided to get a plunger and some drops...lol. Over all very good day and the kids all seemed to get a long so that was a plus.

November 2010

2010-12-07T14:22:00.003-10:00

Wow November was a pretty busy month for us and its not going to slow down for the

next couple of months! Im very happy to report that the hubby is home from a year long deployment (Thank You Lord!). Its been a adjustment getting use to the changes that come with the homecoming but its been fun and rewarding to see Mason and him interact with each other. I was very happy that we where all together for Thanksgiving and grateful that I was able to host Thanksgiving to three single soldiers. I was a little nervous this year because I was using my MIL turkey recipe but it all turned out very well and im so happy we did not have so many leftovers as the years before. Ill post our november pics as soon as I upload them...its just so easy to take them its a different story on how long it takes me to put them on my computer!..lol

October Fun

2010-11-06T21:12:00.004-10:00

We are starting to work on the letters of his name and here he is working on coloring the letter M. I have to say crayons have never really been of limits because he has always been very good but this week we had to put them away because he went on a coloring frenzy and colored all the walls in his room, hat rack, and train track. I hoping he got he learn not to do it again since he was not a happy camper when we had to wipe down the walls. Im glad he likes to help clean up though so it was not to bad.

He is helping make dinner we where having empanadas and he is making the tortilla to stuff it. He has really enjoyed helping out in the kitchen. Every time I am cooking he goes and gets his apron and want to put it on so I have to put him to do something on he side while I cook

He built a fort/garage for his trains and cars he does this all the time when he is playing with them. Sometimes he even gets a couple of pillows and another stool to make it bigger

We went to our church for a fall festival. Mason had so much fun and did not want to leave,

Little train engineer

Excited he put the ball in the catchers glove

And got a treat for it

playing some more games

Trying to move the pumpkin

This is the expression on his face after trying cotton candy for the first time

One thing ends and another begins

2010-10-06T21:19:00.004-10:00

So I totally forgot to update yall when Mason wean himself. I believe it was about a month ago! He is growing up so fast. It was an amazing journey and im so thankful to all the mamas that helped us thru this the last two year. Now this journey has ended for Mason but this week he has been saying when he needs to go to the potty. The last three nights he goes to bed and then gets up asking for me and saying " i go pee pee" so we go to the potty and for sure he sits there and goes pee pee. He has done it during the day about three times but he gets to busy to even notice he has to go other that when he first gets up in the morning. Also he has told me 2x when he needs to go #2!! Im definitely taking it slow and following his cues. If he really wants to start using the potty I don't want to miss this window of opportunity but then again I don't want to force it on him either. He loves the potty book he has in the bathroom I think a couple of times he says he wants to go so he can get a story out of it :). I super excited that maybe in a couple of weeks/months I can say no more diapers :)

R&R 2010

2010-09-28T19:29:00.004-10:00

Here are some pics of when hubby came home for R&R. We had a blast the two weeks he was home and Mason loved spending time with his daddy. The last two months have gone supper fats with hubbys R&R and then little man and I coming back to Hawaii. I finally feel settled into our new place and getting into the grove of a schedule.

What are we doing

2010-08-02T15:00:00.003-10:00

So we have not been doing much lately basically counting the days for RR to get here and our trip back home. Im looking forward to being in our home so we can do more stuff with Mason and set up trays and shelfs for him to do some independent play. I cant wait till he sees the beach again, I do not think he remembers it and I wonder how he will react. The most wonderful thing that im looking forward to is the end of this deployment. Im sure ounce im back to the island ill be busy setting up our home that im praying those couple of months fly back and we get to see Raul.

Girls Weekend

2010-07-11T18:12:00.004-10:00

So this weekend I got to go out with a couple of girlfriends from church with NO KIDS!!! We had an amazing time hanging out in the lake,tubbing, skiing and riding around in the boat. I tried skiing for the first time it it was so darn hard. Im still sore from it! for dinner we got all dolled up and went to eat at a Japanese steak house. I can not remember the last time I had a nice dinner with out hurrying up to try to get out of the place before Mason starts acting crazy. I did not have share my food either YAY! So here are some pics of me enjoy

This was the only time I got up and it was a quick up

and then...

I flew off...lol

4th of July 2009

2010-07-11T18:10:00.003-10:00

So for 4th of July we went to the lake with my brother and sister and their families. We had a great time but I have to say I miss Hawaii beaches and the clear water where you can see your feet thru the water. We got back in time to watch the fireworks in our town. Mason is still a bit scared of the noise but we where not as close as we where the year before so it was not to bad. When the fireworks started he chose to go sit with his Abuela in the car holding his blanket. Ounce in Abuelas arms he was happy to see the show and every time the fireworks would go up he would say "woooow" "awesome" lol he is such a cutie

Lets go Fishing

2010-06-22T16:59:00.004-10:00

I got this idea from this blog Counting Coconuts. This was the first time I have taken the time to sew something. Im hoping to try some more projects that this mama has on her blog they are all so cute!

Beads on one side I used a button for the eye and on the mouth I added a washer

The number on the other side

I made ten of them and on a dowel I put ribbon and a magnet

Fathers Day 2010

2010-06-20T16:43:00.007-10:00

Definitely a bitter sweet fathers day today for many reason. We really missed Raul and I hate that he is missing so much right now and I wish we could have been together to celebrate him today. We are very grateful to him and that he has sacrifice so much for our family and I know that at the end it will all pay off for us.

My dad mi chinito..lol

I was also very blessed that I was able to spend time with my dad this fathers day. If you know my dad he is a hard man to please so this year we decided to pitch in and make him a gift basket. He loves to munch on stuff so we bought him tons of snack, lots of bathroom essentials, socks and just stuff that he would not buy on his own.

We all got together and did a potluck style lunch. the one thing im proud of and hope to try it on my own was that I helped my MIL with the main course. It came out soooo good im excited to make it when the hubs gets back!

Comiendo /eating

It was nice to have everyone together since it hardly ever happens. After lunch we took the pool out for the kids and they played out there for hours. I had found a play tent a thrift shop so I took that out there too the little ones really liked it. As for the grown ups we played "Taboo" for a couple hours and then came to watch a movie.

The kiddos(missing one) and dad

Watching the World Cup after a awesome lunch

It was a wonderful Fathers Day and im sad that I dont know where our next Fathers day will be and if Mason will even get to be with both his abuelos next year. I guess I should definitely be enjoying the time I have with my folks now since I only have a couple more months left till I move back to Hawaii.

Loving the water

2010-06-08T18:20:00.000-10:00

Mason loves the water and absolutely loves jumping in.

Carlos and Tiffany

2010-06-08T16:55:00.006-10:00

So here are some pictures I took and my brothers wedding. There is so much more I need to learn and I am happy they let me practice on them. Let me know what yall think

Mason is 2!!

2010-06-08T16:42:00.004-10:00

Mason is two I can not believe it. Where has time gone! We did not plan anything big this year since I did go all out last year and daddy is not here to celebrate with us.

Singing happy birthday and his auntie holding him

Grandma got him his first Thomas track set he loved it

Daddy ordered him a Thomas plush toy to sleep with and im so happy it got here just in time for his birthday. I love the expression in his face when he opened this present so bitter sweet

Imagine It!

2010-05-16T06:57:00.005-10:00

So for Mason birthday I decided to take him to the children's museum of Atlanta. I am not to familiar with the area so parking was a pain. Since I had been to the aquarium before I decided to park there and just walk, parking was still $10 but they did take debit. I am really bad about carrying cash on me so next time I need to make sure to stop by a ATM before because right across the street I could have parked for $5. Masons favorite part was when we first came in there a ball pit/contraption. He loved gathering the balls and putting them in the different holes they go in. He also loved the train table of course.

Strawberry Farm

2010-05-16T06:28:00.007-10:00

LCCL Strawberry Farm

So a couple of weeks ago we went to pick our own strawberries with our church play group. I had no idea we had a farm right here in town! Mason had so much fun and I think he ate more than he picked. Next we will definitely take old clothes because its a dirty job n maybe go when its not so hot. N/e enjoy our pics and I put the link for the farm if you live in town or are close to it and would like to go. Omg and I have to say they have the best strawberry ice cream ever!

Strawberries!!!

Playing pick a boo "wheres Mason!"

Picking strawberries

working on some transferring skills

He would not stop eating and he learn the word "strawberry" this day too and kept saying it all day

With the bucket that he filled

March Of Dimes Walk

2010-05-06T17:47:00.008-10:00

April 25th some of my family and friends joined me to walked for March of Dimes. This was the first year I was able to participate and I was so excited about it. I created a team "Mason Kai" in honor of our son who was born at 31 weeks. Our team was able to raise $200 which im sooooo proud of! I know other people raise a whole lot more than that but I am just stoked about what we raised because I never thought I would even get close to $100. Okay team next year its $300!!

Me in the pic and my sister took it

I took this pic and now my sis is in it

I made tshirts that had "Team Mason Kai" on it along with a picture of Mason. I made Mason and my nephew a shirt that said "Im a Preemie" with each of their pics on it.

Mason

The one thing that did not go well was the weather. The whole week the sun had been out and it had been beautiful but on Saturday it decided to rain so the walk was done indoors. It was still a lot of fun but im sure it would have been more fun outdoors. My family made me laugh when we started walking. I was "walking" and they where speed walking thru the whole thing. They definitely got their exercise in. We all did finished our 4 miles and they all beat me to the finish line!

MIL and mom stretching before the walk

My mom, sister and nephew

The Rome News interviewed me and you can read more about it here and they have a video too

Real Plates

2010-04-18T17:11:00.003-10:00

So about 3 weeks ago I introduced Mason to eating using a real bowl. I went to the Salvation Army and found a little bowl for .30 cents. I put it in Masons drawer where I keep his other plastic bowls. I showed him to get it out, get a yogurt and spoon and take it to the table. I have to pick him to but him in his chair, ounce we move back home I plan on getting him his own table and chair to help him out more. After that day every time he went to get a yogurt he would always go for this bowl. It was always at the bottom of the plastic bowls and he would move all the plastic ones to the side till he found the real one. It was so cute and it impressed me to see that he cared. Well last week I went to a yard sale with my mom and I found six bowls for .50 cents. So far he has been really good about using them and we have not lost any yet.

The Discipline Book

2010-04-13T11:50:00.004-10:00

We have been having a pretty good week I am scared I am going to jinx it. I told yall a few post back about the book I was reading and I think it has really helped me look at how I react towards Mason and choosing my battles. I wonder though if we are having good days because of how I am starting to view things or Mason is just having good days and we are about to hit a bump anytime now. Either way I am grateful we have had some wonderful times.

Being a new mom one thing that I have struggled with a lot is choosing the way I want to discipline Mason and handle those negative behaviors. The one thing I keep bumping into is to spank or not to spank. I feel like people look at you weird for choosing to do either one. So what is a new mom to do? Which way do you go? This is a struggle even between my husband and I because we where raised different.

***Side note this is just my personal opinion from my personal upbringing everyone does things different. This is what works for us.

What I like about this book is that it gives alternatives to spanking. This is important to me because I dont want spanking to be a norm in my house. The reason I say its important is because I know that can have consequences as the child grows up. Why do I say I know you ask?I grew up in a home where spanking was the main source of discipline. I did not like it and yes I followed the rules but not because of respect but of fear of what would happen if I did not. Even to this day as a adult when I commit a mistake it terrifies me to tell my parents. I know they wont spank me but I always think "OMG what will they say" I dont want my son to feel that way. My parents always spanked out of anger and I remember my mom saying "When I hit you ounce I just dont feel it and end up hitting you 5x" I understand you should not hit out of anger but it scared me that if a allow myself to use spanking as my main source that it will eventually lead to hitting out of anger and then to hitting with out feeling how many times I hit my child. Just the thought scares me. My upbringing is the main reason I choose not to use this method.

I dont know if Mason is a easy kid or what but the alternatives have worked for us. One of the things that I do with Mason is times out. I think I started using this when he was about one and now at 23 months if I tell him he needs to go sit down he understands. I have not done a "you have to sit there for this amount of time" I walk him to where he needs to sit (a carpet) he complains but I stay calm and tell him "you need to sit here because ..." I guess from just doing AP(attached parenting) I know my child but if he leaves his carpet still crying I walk him back to his carpet and say "You need to sit here and calm down ok" if he stands up with out crying and comes to me and says "mami mami" and hugs me I tell him "we dont hit or throw" whatever was the reason he had to sit down. This is usually how time outs work for us and I guess because I introduced it early I can do this when we go to the store but usually I sit with him.

Im not going to lie sometimes he pushes my buttons and those are the days that I say im having a rough time. Mason has gotten one spanking and I still feel bad about to this day I know it was out of anger. Right after it happened I felt like "oh no im opening the door that its going to lead to abuse" Im sorry I just think of all the what ifs because of how I was raised. I explained this to my husband who is pro spanking and said "lily only cause you spank him does not mean your going to beat him" I told him that I rather just not go there. He laughs because of how my brain works I think it confuses him at times

I picked up "The Strong-Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson. I got to about page 47 and decided it was not the book for me. From what I got from it it should be the first resort instead of the last. I just kept thinking the whole time how this book gives me the excuse to spank and why I should. That is just not my parenting style so it did not sit well with me. Maybe I should have read it with a open mind and finished reading it because it could have had other helpful tips. So feel kinda guilty for not reading to the end. Im just stubborn and like my AP ways and why I like Dr Sears books.

I definitely recommend this book to EVERYONE whatever your discipline ways are I think it has tips for everyone

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T15:54:00.009-10:00

Im not going to lie I miss being in Hawaii for Easter SONrise service at the beach cant beat that. It has a special place in my heart because thats where a good friend of mine, Leza and I took our leap of faith. It was an amazing experience. God has done so much for me in my life especially with my attitude. Even with my husband deployed I feel at peace with the situation that im in. I told my husband a couple of days before Easter about how excited I was and he did not really understand. I told him that to me its amazing how God gave us His only son to die for our sins and give us the opportunity to be with him one day. Can you imagine giving up your son because I dont know if I would be able to. Not only did he die for us but conquered death!!!! AMAZING

This was the first year Mason got to do an easter egg hunt and he got a bsket full og goodies. Our good friends Ronnie and Kandie invited us Saturday to their house. We dont get to see them much because we dont live in the same town but it was good to hang out with them. The best part of our visit was seeing little Ben, he has grown up so fast already!. Mason played so well with everyone and he got the concept of picking the eggs and putting them in his basket.

Sunday after church we had a cook out at my house (well mom and dads house but thats where im staying). Some of my family was over and I hid 250 eggs for the kids to find. They had a lot of fun some of them even found "special" eggs.

I also had cascarones (eggs with confetti inside of them) that we smashed on top of everyones head. Even the grown ups got into it. The first one to get hit was my mom.

Monday morning I had to empty all the eggs and hide the candy because I found Mason quietly opening them and eating jelly beans in his room.

DEPLOYMENT

2010-04-04T14:13:00.002-10:00

Well we are almost at the halfway point. In about 20 days or so will mark the half way point for this dreadful deployment. This has been the biggest learning experience of my life. My patience is being stretched real thin with all the drama that certain people produce. But in the other hand I have gained a lot of experience and knowledge. For the last couple of months I have been away from my unit shutting down a warehouse at a another FOB. It has been my sole responsibility to shut it down with the help of a very knowledgeable Chief. She has helped a lot. But now that my mission is done I must return to the dreadful place that is knows as Tallil. I also just completed a college course which I did pretty good in and plan on taking more classes. Matter of fact I start another one on April 5Th. But once again the best time of the year is upon us, Baseball season!!lol. Let's go Red Sox and Yankees are bums. I had to get that in there for Jeff. I just hope that the next six months fly by so I can be with Lily and Mason.

DIY Sandpaper Letters

2010-04-01T18:15:00.009-10:00

I printed the letters from here and I got the idea from here

I copied the letters to a word document and adjusted the color so the background would be clear and I could see the letters

I traced them with a sharpie just to make it easy for me to see where I was cutting

I traced the letters to the back of the sandpaper(fine grain $3-$4 at home depo) wrong side so when you cut the letters are facing the right way. I used about 3 1/2 sheets of sandpaper.

I cut each letter out and letters that had inner cuts I used a ezacto knife.

I went to Home Depo and bought some wood. I read other blogs and they used balsa wood. I dont have a clue about wood so I found something that was the thickness I was looking for and I ask a employee to show me what my choices where. The wood I bought was plywood for $5.47. I had my dad cut them into 5x6 rectangles. From the pice of wood he was bale to get 28 rectangles. Then my brother suggested to prime them so he did that for me.

I bought some craft paint at the store for about $2 each I used red and blue(vowels). My brother suggested I buy sample paint from the paint store but when I checked the prices the little cans cost $5 each

Then I got some rubber cement for about $2 and I glued the letters to the wood. I found the basket at Salvation army for .49 cents.

Paint $4

wood $6

glue$2

sandpaper $3-4

basket .49

shipping free

total spent around $16.49

March Of Dimes

2010-03-31T18:10:00.003-10:00

Why am I walking?

My son Mason was born prematurely and stayed in the hospital for a month. Im so grateful for the wonderful NICU nurses and staff that took such wonderful care of him. Im grateful for the research that has been done that helped Mason be here with us today. I consider ourselves lucky but I know others cant say the same thing. Please help me raise money so every child has a healthy start from the beginning
For more info click here

Book Review

2010-03-30T16:13:00.002-10:00

"The Discipline Book" by William and Martha Sears

I just LOVE the Sears books they have been so helpful to me and this one is wonderful. I borrowed it from my local LLLI but I think ill be buying it. Im about half way thru the book and just reading the first couple of pages I felt a burden lifted from my shoulders. I had been going thru some hard times with Mason and just was unsure about how to go about it. I felt like my child was a completely different kid and I could not understand what was happening to my little baby. The biggest thing I have gotten from what I have read so far is what is normal child behavior for Masons age. I somewhat knew what to expect but at the same time when Mason would do something I took it as he is being disrespectful and not listening. This was really frustrating me and it seems like I was having bad days everyday. I felt like my AP approach was going out the window. Now I feel like I can breath and know it will be okay. Its good to hear it from other people that they have gone thru it too but it was even better to read about it especially when Dr. Sears says the terrible two don't have to be terrible thats what I want. I have to remind myself to check MY attitude and know that I need to be there to help Mason transition into toddler hood. I need to pick my battles with him and instead of making them battles turn them into learning experiences for him.

So far my favorite chapter has been chapter 4 "Saying No Positively." I guess its my favorite because its what we are going thru right now. I feel like I have a lot of no days and in return I get A LOT of nos from Mason. After reading this chapter I don't take Mason "nos" personal which has helped both of us have less frustrated days. Also, I seem to stop my self from using no and get more creative in ways to approach those situations.

The stuff I have read just seems so simple and common sense that its crazy I have to read from a book to understand it. So I am pretty close to getting to the chapter about spanking ....tan tan taannnnn!! I think that will need a post of its own. I hope I get some good pointers since the hubby and I don't seem to agree on that subject and it has a lot to do with our backgrounds.

If you have any other suggested reading let me know ill eventually get around to them. Its a lot harder to find time to read now a days but I have a list of Montessori books I would like to read when I get the chance.

Photography 101

2010-03-27T16:20:00.002-10:00

Today was such an exciting day for me. A while back Raul and I bought a camera and the whole time we have been shooting pics in automatic. I got bored of shooting like that and if we have a nice camera we should be able to use it to its full potential. Well the hubby found this class for me to take. I am a more of a hands on/visual learner and I had been reading my manuel and I just could not even figure out a starting point. Well this class was so worth it for me. The instructor explain the basic things about photography ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. The way he explain made so much more sense than me trying to figure it just by reading the manual. I seriously feel giddy knowing this simple information. What I have to do now is apply this information and practice a lot so it can be permanently burned into my brain

February Pics

2010-03-17T17:12:00.004-10:00

So here are some pics from the last month of Mason enjoy.

At Natalies bday Party

Gymnastics Class

Snow!! He did not like it the first time it snowed but this is the second time and he loved it he would not keep is gloves on because he wanted to touch the snow

Building time

Where to begin

2010-03-17T16:31:00.003-10:00

Its been a crazy couple of months for us. Im glad to be done with our swimming class and gymnastics class. Mason really seemed to enjoy them. I did learn not to sign us up for two activities in the same month/week. I found it kinda hard to manage my time when we had activities three times a week, plus trying to go to the gym and do other things too. The biggest thing that happen to me was wrecking my sisters car. I was ok and thank God Mason was not in the car with me. The whole point of me being here was to save money for our family and then I go and have this big boo boo.

So lately have been trying to get information on home schooling and Montessori method to see what kind of things I can start doing with Mason. The hubby is not sold on the home schooling idea but its something I would like to try, at least up to kindergarden age. From all the information I have gathered it seems overwhelming but I figure if I start doing one activity a day it will be a good start. The hard thing now for me is trying to gather materials when I am only going to be here till about September but I feel like if I wait I am missing important learning stages with Mason. I really like some of the Montessori inspired activities I have found for Masons age group on the internet and the plus is that some of it is done with simple home found items. I was excited I found a tray for .49 cents at the thrift store and a basket for .29 cents. I also found a how to from another blogger on how to make sandpaper letters im looking forward to make them but I need to do some price matching to see if it would be worth it to make them or just buy them.

I wish I could blog more like I use to but it seems like I just dont have the time. Mason is really good at keeping me busy and it feels like I have to constantly keep him busy to keep him out of trouble.

If you home school I would love ideas on how you got started and any other info. Mason is only 22 months but I love to research my stuff before we get into some serious school work. I would like to get as much info as possible.

Firts Snow

2010-01-08T18:25:00.003-10:00

Okay so we have had some snow the last two days not much but for Georgia just a little bit is a big deal. So Mason has never seen snow or even experienced this kind of weather since he was born in Hawaii. Bless his heart today he proved to me he is totally a Hawaiian baby or at least prefers the beach and warm sunny days. I took him outside to check out the snow falling and he wanted nothing to do with it, he stayed under the car port the whole time. I picked him up and we walked so we could get some snow on us and he was just confused! I set him down and he walked himself back into the house and since the dog had gone to play he was calling her too to come back inside. After that he just stared out the window. Ok so attempt two the snow was sticking to the grown so you could really see the white all over everything so I carried him to get some snow and when I picked some up he just started fussing about it! So n/e i thought it was kind off cute to share with yall. I wonder what he is going to do if we have to live in a place that gets a foot of snow!

Update

2010-01-08T18:11:00.003-10:00

So we have been in Georgia 2 1/2 months and im so happy we finally acclimated to everything! The Holidays where very different not having Raul around we missed him very much. On Christmas morning he was able to see Mason open his presents thru the web cam. It was hard on me because i was trying to help Mason out, making sure the web cam was in a good spot, Trying to video tape with out a tripod and take pics all at the same time! Im glad its 2010 because i can say Raul comes home this year it makes it seem a lot shorter than saying "he comes home next year" Mason is doing great learning new things everyday. He is a little sponge that just absorbs everything. He has started saying more words and he just surprises me when he says them. Just yesterday I told him in spanish to go get is blanket so we could leave. I did not think he understood me but when i came back inside there he was standing with his blanket ready to go out the door. It seems like being around grandma and grandpa he is picking up a lot of Spanish. He definitely understand more than he says because all I can get him to say in Spanish is "agua" for water but i can talk to him in Spanish to do this and that and he gets it!

As for me im doing good I have started going to the gym and working out. If everything works out next week my little doggie Happy should be flying in next Friday! Im so excited to see my little girl i have definitely missed her.

Ok thats my update for the last couple of months! from here till who knows when ill blog im not as good as I use to be since now I have a toddler to chase after and the hubby is deployed.

Georgia on my mind

2009-11-09T17:06:00.003-10:00

So have been in Ga for almost a month! We had a very rocky start getting adjusted to the weather and time compared to Hawaii. Mason had a hard time getting use to the time here he was not sleeping and he would not have anything to do with sleeping in a crib so I put the mattress on the floor and he has slept till about 6am for about a week now. Today we finally got him a real bed and he seemed to be very happy about it. He amazes me everyday on how much he understand and absorbs. I love that kid to death even though lately he seems to be testing me a lot. As for me well I cried like a baby when I arrived because it was sooo cold. Raul thought that was funny. I had the first episode of sinus problems/allergies something i did not have problems with in Hawaii but thank God it passed. We miss Raul very much and pray this deployment goes by very fast and we look forward to seeing him again.

Here are some pics of some stuff that we did;

Jackson bday Its on the 31st of October so we dressed up Im the farmer mason a piggy and my nephew was a swat officer

Jackson bday at Chucky Cheese

Mason hagging out with uncle Jonathan they get a long soooo well

My wow moments with Mason

2009-09-28T23:01:00.004-10:00

So Mason has gotten really good at walking he is starting to run and climbs onto everything. If you are laying on the floor he will climb on you so you can do Horsy. The thing that has just amazed me this month are his communicating skills and how much he understands.

My wow moments

1. When we go check the mail he knows where the key is and carries that and our netflix movies He puts it in the mail and gives me the key so I can open our mailbox when we get back in the house he gives me the key to put back where it belongs

2. On one of those mail box trips we are walking points up at a tree and said "tee"

3. When you tell him go fine your ball or where is your ball in English or Spanish he knows exactly what we are talking about same thing goes for water

4. He tries to say "agua" (water in spanish) where we understand what he is saying

5. We have a hanging basket of fruit where he can see so when he wants some he will walk up to it and point up at it talks his language until we get him his fruit. Oh and where ever he is he will just sit there and eat it

6. Found out he loves grapes and knows they are in the fridge so he tries to open it by himself

7. He loves food. When we tell him its time to eat he will go to his chair and try to climb up on it even though he is still not tall enough

8. He loves shoes. How do we know? We where at Footlocker trying to buy him some shoes so we kept trying them on and when he would see he had a new shoe on he would basically model it. Raul would say let me see your shoe and he would lift that foot up or bend down and point to it. So now when we are at home he goes and gets shoes and tries to put them on himself or us. When you say "look at yoooouuuu" he looks down at his shoes

9. Loves to dance. When ever music come son TV he stops what he is doing looks at the TV and goes up at down and in circles

10. He is man. Sits with dad to watch ESPN and when he hears the ta ta taaannn music from it he has to watch it. Sees dad playing video games he has to sit with him too with his own remote control. When he sees football on TV he grabs the XBOX remote. When he wants to watch Sesame Street he will bring you the remote control for the TV

11. We have to put his remote control car in time out because he will drive us crazy with it. He will follow you to the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen anywhere we are to bring us his car and remote that he knows they go together so we can drive it for him. If he only find one or the other he will talk his language and point to us because he cant find the other one to make it all work

12. If you give him something thats trash and tell him its trash he will go throw it away for you

13. If i leave a cabinet door open he will close it and then keep doing whatever he was doing

14. Likes to help with laundry. When I was his diapers I will give him the inserts that go in the dryer and he will put them in and then close the door

15. Loves to read. When its story time I tell him to go choose a booj and goes straight to them and brings me one. Lately he has been choosing "Horten Hears a Who" or "Horten hatches an Egg." I tell Raul out of all his books that he takes out how does he always choose those he must know what he is doing right. Oh yeah and if its not story time he will follow you wherever you are with one of the Horton books but never seems to sit long enough for you to read the whole story

Our 1st cooking lesson Mason helped me make some bread

The Deployment Craziness begins

2009-09-17T22:30:00.002-10:00

So Raul finally got his deployment orders for Iraq today. This time around we decided it would be best for me and mason to go home for the year he will be gone. Most of my friends here in Hawaii have left or will be leaving soon. Im hoping it will be easier if Im around family to help me out with Mason. My biggest concern while being home is people asking about Raul being gone or feeling sorry for us. I dont know any other military family in my home town so I will miss that. Being around other army wives you understand what your going thru so you never have to go into detail about anything. We know that we dont get to hear from our soldiers everyday and dont know when they will be home. There just so much things that its just understood between us. I hope family and friends back home will not ask to many questions about this.

My 24th Bday

2009-09-15T13:02:00.010-10:00

I had a great time for my birthday. On Saturday Raul took me to work and picked me up at 4. I came home to a surprise I had a couple of friends waiting for me. The scared me when I first walked in according to them my face was priceless. Raul did such a good job grilling and getting everything read he even decorated!!! Later that night our babysitter came so we could go to Dave and Busters( which was my original plan for my bday). I had so much fun everyone was a trip and we had some interesting conversation on our way up there. My favorite game of the night was Deal or No Deal. Raul ended up winning 1000 tickets it was hilarious. Check out this video of that moment video.php .

Me, Leza, and McKenna

Leza and I

Showing off my winnings to Leza

The day of my actual birthday was quite I went to church and had some cake because it was also Pastor Mikes Birthday. Later that day we went to pipeline and stayed till sunset. Mason wanted to get in the water sooooo bad but its almost winter here so the waves are crazy.

Beautiful Hawaii sunset

My boys hanging out at the beach

Weeeeeee

Mason walking to get in the water Love how you can see his footprints

Picture Taking with our Nikon D60

2009-09-07T22:51:00.003-10:00

So awhile back ...way back we got a new camera a Nikon D60. We really love this camera and love the pictures we have been able to capture especially of Mason. I still dont know half of what this camera does, actually not even a quarter of what it does but I really need to learn. A couple of weeks ago we went to Kaneohe and i took some pics of my boys I did some editing with the program my Apple laptop came with.

Bread Making

2009-09-07T22:40:00.006-10:00

So I have been wanting to make hand made bread for awhile now but recipes I found always seemed so complicated or you needed a machine which I dont have. The 1st time i tried making bread did not go very well now the 2nd time I made it i got the recipe from Here,

And the results

It came out perfect!!! We ate half the loaf that night....lol

1st Haircut

2009-07-26T21:37:00.001-10:00

4th of July 2009

2009-07-22T11:10:00.001-10:00

Update

2009-07-22T09:33:00.000-10:00

Wow i have not written anything in awhile. So after our trip back to Hawaii back from Georgia we had a very hard transition with Mason. The time change really messed with his sleeping. For awhile i thought i had a newborn in the house he was waking like crazy. I have to give kudos to a wonderful book that helped me out get him to sleep its "No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. It was a very gentle way to get Mason to sleep more with out all the crying. It was stressful at times but it worked and im glad we are over that bump.

Mason has been growing up so fast he has 4 teeth and it seems like in the next couple of days we might have some more. He did so good when the 1st couple came in but now i can see how its bothering him for the rest to come out. We are so excited because he took his 1t steps its soooo cute. He will walk from daddy to mamma but when its just him and one of us he will ask to hold hands if not he will just grab your leg and walk with you. I always tell him "I hope your this good about holding hands when you get bigger."

I so glad summer is here I love going to the beach since the waves are prefect for Mason and I. Its sad to think that this might be our last summer in Hawaii. Last because we are getting ready for daddy to deploy and this time around we have decided that its better if i go and stay with family. Right now im just ready to know when all this is going to happen since we dont have any dates yet.

Happy 1st Birthday Mason!

2009-06-08T21:27:00.000-10:00

We started of my a fun breakfast made into a happy face. Our theme was Madagascar and the colors I used where sky blue lime green and sun yellow. We played Disney music and the Madagascar song "I like to move it" which Mason loves. Daddy grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and grandmas made pasta salad, asian salad and potato salad. We also had chips and dip of course and for the little ones we had grilled cheese and box juices. We played musical chairs with the mamas and papas and then with the kids. We had pin the nose on the lion, played green light red light with the kids. Our party hats where foam visors that each child could decorate and we had side walk chalk while the rest of the guest arrived. We had an elmo pinata because we could not find Madagascar. Our friend Kandie made Mason a healthy cake since he has never really had sweets and for the other guest we had the Madagascar cake made out of cupcakes. The best part of all for me was that the three os us daddy mommy and baby dressed in kakis and polos, I think we looked really cute!

Enjoy the pics and tell me what yall think

Our trip home

2009-05-26T14:26:00.000-10:00

So we just got back from Georgia and we had a great time. Mason grew so much while we where there im just amazed everyday at all the things he can do. So updates on Mason, he crawls a lot faster now and pulls himself up and cruses around. When i pull him up to walk he takes a few steps and just plops down and crawls the rest of the way it funny. He got his first two bottom teethes while in Georgia and now we can see the top ones trying to break thru. He learned to crawl up the stairs at Ronnie and Kandies house. He is into everything now opening drawers and cabinets. He drinks out of a straw and tries to be very independent when it comes to eating on his own even though most of the time he misses his mouth. Thanks to uncle Ronnies huge cheese gold fish stash we found out Mason loves them too. When we first got to Ga it was a lot colder than i thought it would be and quickly realized i was very unprepared but thanks to my sister in law Abby Mason got some winter stuff to wear. We celebrated Masons first birthday at Grandma Madrids house. Our theme was Madagascar it was a bit overwhelming for Mason because he really did not know most of the people there. It was a lot of fun and thank you to all those who came. I still cant belive he is one now! After his birthday we took him to see the Rome Braves but he is more like me he is a people watcher and not to much into the game. While in GA Mason got to try some Chik fil a and some Zaxbys and of course a taste of sweet tea. We took Mason to the Georgia Aquarium and the Coca Cola Factory. He really enjoyed some of the fish at the aquarium especially the colorful ones he did get scared of the bigger ones. We are starting to see more of his personality and he tries to throw some temper tantrums now then. All i can say is that y son is a goof he makes me laugh. Ill post pics soon but you can check some out on my facebook

Easter

2009-04-13T14:09:00.000-10:00

The highlight of this RESURRECTION DAY was that I decided to get baptized!!!

I was baptized as a Catholic when I was 14. I definitely did not do it for the right reasons and I did it with out really knowing God. When I got married I thought it was very important for our future children to grow up in the the same church. The problem was I was a Catholic and my husband a Mormon. I just thought it would be easier for me to go to his church than him come to mine. At the time it felt like the right thing to do. I had the fear of the Lord but I did not know much about him or have that personal relationship with him. So I join the Mormon church...that only lasted 6 months. After that we did not go to church for awhile. During this time Raul join the Army and we got orders to Hawaii. I came lost when I moved here. All I knew was that I needed to find a church that taught the Bible and not all these other books. Three years ago Easter Day I attended North Shore Christian Fellowship. That is the day that I really started to know the Lord. I have learned so much and have become so close to my Lord and Savior but being baptized in the other churches felt like chains around my feet. It has been a burden on me where at times I felt unworthy for betraying the ONE and ONLY GOD. Baptism has been on my heart for awhile but my mind kept telling me "your going to do this again?" Finally this was my year, no more mind games and the chains around broken. Now I know who my God is and im proud to be on his team. My eyes where blinded but now I can see the truth. I have been cleansed from the past that was my burden and I feel great. Now i just pray that the Lord can use me to guide others to the truth.

Mason 10 months

2009-04-08T15:19:00.001-10:00

So a little update on Mr Mason. he is doing very well. We have had a very active little man now that he is crawling. Its funny because he is so fast. One minute he is next to me and then when I look again he is gone. He started pulling himself up and taking steps along the couch. He loves to go to our entertainment center and push buttons on daddies game systems. Now that he is moving I have to put him in our pack and play while I do dinner or else he would be all over the kitchen. We are still BF and dont have any plans on stopping any time soon...which is something hubby is a little worried about since you dont see to much of that now a days. We cloth diaper 100% of the time and Raul is doing great with them. He has even washed them a couple of times so im very proud of him. As for solids go I have introduced eggplant and he ate it with no problem. I have some asparagus ready to go but not have tried them yet maybe we will try that tonight. At night mason has done very well the last 2-3 weeks sleeping from around 830 to 6. Since im usually not ready to be up at 6am I bring him over to my bed and we sleep/cuddle till around 8. Im wondering how long this will last because before this he was up every 3 hours. Im definitely enjoying the extra ZZZ for right now.

Raul and I are doing great. Raul is getting ready to go to PTA and I leave for the mainland on Monday with Mason. Raul will join us for three weeks in May and then we will all be back at the end of May. I guess i have not shared with everyone but we gave our chijuajua Roxy away. It was very hard for me to get rid of my baby but it was the best for the family at this time. For those of you who knew Roxy dont worry she went to great home! Her new mama is Rica and she is in my book club...thats how we met. Now we only have Pepper and Happy who still sleeps allll day so I can really say we only have one dog.

Our Paintball Dayz

2009-04-02T12:22:00.000-10:00

So when Raul and I first got married we started playing

paintball Here is a video of one of the tournaments we

went to. See if you can spot us

Masons 9 month check up

2009-02-25T09:59:00.000-10:00

So last week we had a well baby check up. Mason got measured and weighed no shots this time around. His pediatrician and I talked about some of my concerns and some questions I had. So Mason weighed in at 18 lbs and is in the 35% for a 9 month old. His doctor did not check to see what he was for a 7 month since last time he was already at 98% for his gestational age. He said Mason will probably stay in the 35% since this is where he was for his 6 month appointment. He asked me if Mason was sleeping thru the night, which he is not, and gave me his opinion on what I should do. Well for those that know me I dont do the CIO method and thats what his doctor suggested. I just listed to him and would occasionally nod. This was basically our doctors appointment. Im very excited to see what Mason will be doing in the next couple of weeks. Now that he is crawling he is all over the place. Since his birthday is in three months I have already started thinking about it. We will be traveling to Rome to celebrate with family and friends there. Im very excited for my little man to turn one.

Valentines Day

2009-02-18T22:53:00.000-10:00

Raul and I had a great Vday. We celebrated it on the 13th and we went to dinner @ Buzz's Steak house with other couples from our church. It was lots of fun we played some games and Raul and I won the kissing one. I had to put lip stick on and kiss Rauls face. I laughed so hard and I guess you can say I finally got to put make up on Raul. After that we went ice-skating. We have been anting to try it out for a long time and im happy we finally got to do it. Raul was funny ice skating the first time his skate touched the ice he was like "no im not doing this" and started to get out but I told him he had to. We had so much fun doing that. For me it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and Raul did a great job! Our friend Kristin came to the house to baby sit Mason and it was really nice that Raul and I where able to have a "date" just the two of us. On Saturday I had to work and when Raul came to pick me up he had bought me roses, a card from him and Mason and an ipod. Raul was very sweet and this was the best Valentines we have ever had... actually its probably the only one we have been together so it was extra special.

Its been 9 months!

2009-02-08T20:04:00.001-10:00

Can you believe its been nine months since Mason came into this world! Time is just going by to quickly. So Mason has been sitting by himself since mid November and it worked out great because he was able to sit and open his Christmas presents. We started solids at about 7 months and have not had ay problems with what we have tried. I decided to make my own baby food and it has been pretty easy. So far Mason has had avocados, mangos, papaya, apples, bananas, pears, peaches, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, carrots, peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Recently he started eating some cheerio as a snack and some mum mums. We dont have any teeth yet so all of his food is still pureed. From Rauls family history im not expecting any teeth till around 1. We are still BF and still loving it. Sometimes i think BF is so much easier than giving him food. I hope to continue BF for at least another year or so. If yall have read our blog yall know that Mason hates tummy time. Well good news in the last 2 weeks or so that has changed. He can now go from a sitting position to his belly with out lading face first! lol He wiggles him self around from one spot to the next and seems to be really enjoying this new sense of freedom. He can also get up on his knees and rock himself but gets back on his belly to move around. It has been such a joy to watch him grow. We dont have ay words yet but he does cry maaaa maaaa so im taking that he said mama 1st...lol

We go to the doctor on the 19th so ill let yall know how much he weighed

How did we know he needed glasses

2009-01-29T18:25:00.000-10:00

So many people have been asking me how did we know Mason needed glasses so young. As most of you know Mason was born premature at 31 weeks. When he was in the NICU he got his eyes checked because his retina was not developed all the way. Ounce he came home we had to get them checked again and it was growing fine. His eye doctor wanted to see him again at 6 most corrected age because around that time is when it was completely grown but on some preemie it keeps growing abnormally and could cause problems.

This is what the disorder is,

"ROP is Retinopathy of Prematurity, which can potentially blind a premature baby. Because a premature baby's retina did not have time to finish developing in utero, it needs to be checked to ensure it is growing properly. During this time, blood vessels which feed the retina can begin to develop abnormally, which is called Retinopathy of Prematurity. (Charles Retina Institute)."

So at 8 months birth age Mason had his eyes checked ounce again and we found out that his growth is fine. While checking his doctor found out that he is farsighted. He can see things that are far away but up close they are blurry to him. This has nothing to do with him being premature and its not ROP. So that was a very good thing. Now the reason he is farsighted is because he was blesses with mom and dads genes. This is something that runs in the family and someone in either Rauls or my family has this condition as well.

We went ahead and got him glasses because he is straining to see up close, and eventually with out glasses his eye muscles will get use to this straining and pull his eye to the middle making him cross eyed. We want to prevent that and all the surgeries that can come with that so obviously glasses where a must. What we are hoping for now is that with him wearing his glasses it will help him see properly and let the muscle grow properly. Also by him hearing glasses so young the receptors going from his eyes to his brain will get the message "this is how you need to see" and there might be a possibility that as he gets older he might not need them.

I hope this answers yalls questions

HE CAN SEE!!!!

2009-01-23T22:53:00.000-10:00

First off I would like to say that this is not Lily blogging its me Raul. It's one of my rare occasions that i find something that excites me enough to blog. Well today we went to pick up Mason glasses after I got off work and I was excited to see what he would look like with his glasses and how he would react to actually seeing full detail in objects. And let me tell you he looked like the coolest dork ever, LOL. And instantly he started to act funny. He was looking all over moving his head and focusing on different objects. I knew then that he could see us and everything around him he started to laugh for no reason, I was very happy for him.

When we got home I read him his bedtime story and was he amazed to actually see what was on the pages it was a cool experience. We are very happy that Mason can clearly now it just made my week after a very long one. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Our Book Club

2009-01-15T18:27:00.000-10:00

I wanted to share with yall a book club a couple of my friends and I started. Even if you are in the mainland we would love to share this with you. The current book that we are reading is "A Journal for Jordan" by Dana Canedy. We have a blog (http://thereadingwahinesbookclub.blogspot.com) that you can post comments or any suggestions of books to read.

I am very excited about our current book because the writer wrote about us on her blog. You can read her blog at http://www.ajournalforjordan.com/blog/. When I saw her post this morning I was in shock that she took the time to comment about us. I hope everyone can take the time to look at her blog and read this amazing true story.

For any more information about our book club The Reading Wahines please visit our blog at http://thereadingwahinesbookclub.blogspot.com. I hope yall can join us in reading such a wonderful story.

Happy Readings!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-28T13:50:00.000-10:00

We had a good Christmas this year. Raul and I where very excited because it was Mason first Christmas. Christmas Eve we went to our churches Bethlehem village. They had different areas of what you might of found around when Jesus was born. Mason and I got to make a candle and we ate lots of goodies. When we got home we put Mason in his Christmas pj's and took some pics then it was of to bed. I woke up around 3 so I could stuff the stockings for my boys. It worked out pretty good because that was around the time Mason woke up. We woke up around 8am and I made the dogs some Christmas tree biscuits. Pepper seemed to be the only one that liked them. Raul woke Mason up at 8:30am. Raul was more excited about the gifts and could not help himself but wake him up. We opened our gifts and then I started getting our food ready. After we ate we went to the movies and saw "Marley and Me." It was a very cute movie I think everyone in the theater was tearing up.

Military Ball

2008-12-06T15:27:00.000-10:00

On Thursday Raul and I atteneded the military ball at the Hilton Village hotel downtown. We had a good time and it was lots of fun. I enjoyed the the table that we sat at because all of his coworkers sat there. Our friend Lisa watched Mason while we where there. So here are a few pictures

Our 1st Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T13:02:00.001-10:00

Mason is 6 month

2008-11-15T17:17:00.000-10:00

We had Mason 6 month appointment yesterday. The doctor said he is growing very well and catching up quickly to a full term baby. He is in the 80 percentile of a 4 month old which is his corrected age and in the 35 perecntile of a 6 month old which is his birth age. He weighed in at 16lbs and 26 inches long.

Mason can now roll from tummy to back and he gets half way from back to tummy. He still does not enjoy belly time but can now do a full push up. He is always trying to grab stuff that is in his view. He has a lot more control of his arms and hands. He looks at everything and everyone. While we nurse he gets easily distracted now, the world is very interesting for him. When it comes to sleeping he still takes two naps during the day and usually is ready for bed at 630-7 but does not actually fall asleep till 8. We are still co sleeping half the night since when he wakes up in the middle of the night its easier just to put him in bed and nurse him back to sleep. Talking about nursing we are still exclusively nursing and still going strong. He did try some rice cereal last week and he seemed to like it but at this point anything that goes in his mouth he likes. His doctor said we could probably start solids in the next month or two so im looking forward to making my own baby food. We think he has also started teething which has not been very fun I feel sorry for my little guy cause there is very little I can do. We are cloth diapering full time during the day for 3 months now. We still have not found a night time diaper I like so we use sposies. Right now we use Fuzzi Bunz which are Rauls favorite since they are like sposies. In the past two weeks he has also found his high pitch voice and I mean very high! He has gotten very vocal and loud too. He makes us laugh all the time.

First Beach Trip

2008-11-12T20:49:00.001-10:00

For Veterans day we decided to take Mason swimming at the beach for the 1st time. We went to KoOlina since they dont have the killer waves like North Shore. The week prior we had taken him to the pool and he really seemed to enjoy that but we had to get out cause he started sticking his hand in the water then putting it in his mouth. N/e who I got him all dressed with his UV protected swim stuff which Raul thinks its to much but I for sure dont want to have a burnt baby. Raul took him to the water and he got a bit scared at first because it was cold. When we were all in he really liked it. He was so relaxed in the water that he fell asleep. We took him out and he finished his little nap under a palm tree. After he woke up he played a bit with dad and then we headed home since we did not want to expose him to too much sun.

First Halloween

2008-11-01T20:22:00.000-10:00

This year was Mason first Halloween and we dressed him up as a little turtle. How appropriate for living in Hawaii! Our church was having a Fall Festival so we decided to take Mason. Even though he is still to young to play with all those big kids he loves staring at them. I feel bad sometimes because he gets this look in his eyes that he wants to go a play with them but does not know how to move towards them, before he knows it he will be running around with them. They had some little rides and games for the kiddos and food mmmm. We also got the opportunity to se a beautiful horse. After we ate we decided to take Mason to go see the sunset. This was his first time at the beach. I loved his expression when he got to feel the sand and water. We also got some awesome pictures. I was telling Raul how this time next year Mason will almost be 2 years old. I cant believe how quickly time is going by. It makes me appreciate every minute I spent with my little guy even more. Everyday I am amazed at how wonderful God is by blessing us with our little boy. I know HE has amazing plans for that 3lb baby. Every pound and every milestone Mason is proof of Gods grace and power!

I hate belly time mama

2008-10-24T14:25:00.001-10:00

So Mason is not a big fan of belly time and usually this is how it goes;

Do I have to do this?

oh whats over there?

I dont think I like this

Get me up now!

Our first BDay party

2008-10-24T14:04:00.001-10:00

So last weekend Rauls friend Pasion ( spelling??) invited us to his little girls 1st birthday. This was the first time Mason has gotten invited to a birthday party so me, being the mom that I am, was very excited. So here are a few pictures

Mason and Leila the birthday princess

Playing with a Balloon

Daddy and our Prince

Mason chewing on a party favor

He made me laugh and say aawwwww

2008-10-24T13:54:00.000-10:00

So yesterday I put Mason on his jump up while I took a shower. So I was almost finished with my shower and Mason was being really quite so I thought cool I can shave today, now this is hard to do when im alone because Mason gets fussy thats where my 5 sec showers cone in. I got very excited about this so I open the curtain to make sure he is okay and this is what I found;

Yes my friends my lil boy had fallen asleep so another 5 second shower for mama till daddy gets home!

Mason the Turtle!!!!

2008-10-13T21:59:00.000-10:00

Mad Turtle on his back!!lol
Turtle trying to walk.
Coolest turtle! Screw the Ninja Turtles daddy!!
Its been a long time since I've posted anything, well since the start of baseball season. Well I figured that i would post something before Lily got her happy little fingers on the computer. The reason I'm bloging tonight is because we put on Mason's first Halloween costume today. And what better costume for him to wear in Hawaii than a little fat Turtle. Hehehehehehehe. I was so tickled to see Mason in his costume. I honestly believe that Mason is the coolest son in the world. His character says it all. He is just the coolest little dude in the world. I couldn't be any happier to be his father.

September 1, 2008 first laugh

2008-10-12T16:30:00.000-10:00

The whole month of August i had tried to make Mason laugh but all he would give where smiles. This video was take the day after Raul came back from NTC. He had been gone for a month comes back and can make our son laugh?????...lol. I guess its daddys touch. I was teary eyed when i heard him it was awesome to hear him.

Our trip home

2008-09-29T08:29:00.001-10:00

Mason at 4 months 4 days

So we just got back from GA and we had a lot of fun. We hung out with friends and family and ate out A LOT. We tried to hit all of our favorite restaurants. Our family was sooo happy to meet Mason and he got spoiled bad. They had a welcome home party for him and it seemed like everyone we know and dont..lol was there. I also gave Raul a surprise UGA party but i dont think it was much of a surprise since he was snooping around all week.

This was a good picture of the them

We took Mason to his first Braves game and that was a lot of fun for Raul since he is so into sports. Mason did really good at the game he did not fuss at all he was just looking around the whole time we where there.

In the last three weeks Mason has grown up so much. He tries to sit up now, he babbles like crazy, he is getting more control of his arms and puts whatever he is holding in his mouth. The week that we left he started going bald :(. He has lost most of his baby hair and is looking like a little old man i think its funny.

Grandpa hair

Raul is very excited about going toy shopping since Mason plays a lot more now. Secretly i know he just want the toys for himself. Mason smiles now and when Raul got back from NTC he made him laugh. I got it all on film and we both about cried when it happen.

My UGA Boy

2008-08-29T11:07:00.000-10:00

I love you Mason

2008-08-14T18:10:00.000-10:00

Mason has grown so much I cant believe next month we have his 4 month checkup. Things have definitely gotten easier but i do wish i had Raul around to help me. I love spending time with Mason he just makes me laugh sometimes. I love the way he coos and when he gives that cute little smile of his. He stays up more now and always looking around. We went to the grocery store and he was up the whole time i was in there. I feel like i can never put him down. Last night we used cloth dipes and they held up really well. Im so excited to see him achieve his milestones but i also feel like he is growing up so fast it makes me sad.

My weekend

2008-08-10T20:50:00.000-10:00

So I had pretty good weekend. On friday there was a ladies night at the Tropics for all the military wives. They had a fashion show, and people from Mary kay and Arbone. The also has students from Paul Mitchell doing hair makeup and doing manicures. There were appetizers and wine as well. They provided free child care so i took advantage of that. It was very hard to leave Mason i teared up and was worried all night. I kept checking my phone to see if they had called...talk about attachment to my son...lol. N/e it was a lot of fun to hang out with other ladies.

On Saturday I took to friends to the light house. They are somewhat new to the island and i love sharing what I have gotten to see around here. Mason got to go with us and he slept all the ay to the top and all the way to the bottom. There was a good weather too it was not to sunny and there as a breeze so we did not get to hot. Im glad the sun was not to strong since i did have Mason with me. We all had a great time.

Baby Borrowers

2008-08-07T19:48:00.000-10:00

So this show ended yesterday I believe for those of you who did not wacth it heres what it was about:

This was an experiment where five teenage couples where given the opportunity to care for babys for three days then move on to caring a toddler, pre teen, teen and the elderly. Most of these couple wanted to have kids and this show was to let them see that parent hood is not all fun and games. This tackled an epidemic we are having on teen pregnancies. The couples where given their own house and one of them had to go to work while the other one stayed home. They basically had to live the reality of being a parent. You got to see is fast forward the different things parents have to tackle at the different age levels. At the end of the show all the couples did not want to have children anytime soon and all had ended their relationships.

So it was somewhat hard to watch this show and seeing these kids wanting to have kids of their own and the reality that this happens everyday. Teen pregnancy rates had bee going down but in the last year they have increased 42 out of 1000. I hope young people where able to see this show and get something out it like wise I hope the show was able to send the message across to our teenagers. In the reunion show they had the girls who apparently made a "pack" to get pregnant and raise their children together. At their school there are 18 girls pregnant. They also had a young lady who had her baby at 13. YES! 13 I was still playing with dolls at 13. I think its our responsibility to educate teens on this issue. For them to be smart about the decisions they make, decisions that can change their lives forever. Obviously the best way to decrease teen pregnancy is ABSTINENCE ...reality how many kids follow this. Thanks to the media and Hollywood they make sex "cool" but do not really focus on the consequences. I think many parents leave it up to the school system to educate their kids on this subject but its not working we all need to be involved in their education. We need to stop being blind and know that these kids will have sex and instead of preaching DONT DO IT we should also be telling them what their options are if they do choose to be sexually active. I feel so strongly about this subject because I saw so many of my friends get pregnant and drop out of school.

n/e if you saw the show i would love to know what you thought about it

Parenting sites

2008-08-04T14:25:00.001-10:00

So I would like to share some sites that where shared with me by my

friend and mommy, Cat.I have learned a lot from them and have really

helped me on those days that I struggle or even question my

parenting style.

www.attachmentparenting.org

The first one I really like I try to do as much as I can to practice AP.

Most of the things I already did even before knowing what AP was.

As a mom we sometimes automatically do certain thingsto care for our

young. I think people even my husband looks at me funny when I say I

dont like to hear Mason cry. Even if it means nursing him constantly I

rather have a happy baby than hear him cry. As I was reading some AP

stuff and Dr Sears stuff I became aware that im not the only one. Its our

God given instincts as moms to pick a baby up when he is crying or tell

whether he is hungry or sleepy. Raul sometimes gives me hard time about

it because he feel like I should let him cry for a little bit. My answer is

always No. Dont get me wrong he does cry and there are times where I

get frustrated and have to leave him for I bit while I go and cool off. I

know many think that if you run to your babys cry ALL the time

he will be spoiled and what not well I dont agree with that. When

Mason cries I know he is not crying just for the heck of it or on

purpose. I know he is crying because he NEEDS something. Im sure

as he gets older he will be able to tell that if he cries he gets attention

but I feel like thats when I cant stop running to every cry. Right now he

does not know any better. He does not have the language skills a toddler

would have to he cries. For those who are parents I HIGHLY recommend

this site. I have my days when I tell myself just let him cry he will settle

down, but my heart just cant take that. I have something inside me saying

"go comfort him"

www.askdrsears.com

This one is very useful. It has lots of info in one place. I think anything you have questions about you can find here. This has some great info on safe ways to co sleep. YES we co sleep. When Mason first came home we tried getting him to sleep in his play pen but none of us where getting any sleep. He would sleep on it for a little but but was waking up very frequently which was making breast-feeding hard because I was so tired. So after about three weeks I think we moved Mason to our bed. We have been sleeping much better now and on his good nights he will wake up 2x to eat. I learned how to BF on my side and now he nurses while I fall back

asleep. We are much happier now and its something that works for US. One thing I read that reassured me on my decision to co sleep was that we carry our babys for 9 months (7 for me) how can we expect them all of a sudden to sleep by themselves when for the past 9 months they have been falling asleep to our heart beat and our rhythm of breathing.

www.lli.org

La Leche League has been a life saver when it comes to BF. I did not have that much of a hard time with it as other women have told me they had. I dont know if its because we got lucky or because I was so determined to BF. I really educated myself on the subject especially since Mason was preemie. I think what helped us out the most is that he never got a bottle. He was tubed fed until he was able to eat at 34 weeks. When he was able to eat he got introduced to the breast first. BF in public is still kinda hard but I manage. Im really not the kind of person that can just flop out my boob for the world to see (if you are like that more power to you). I know people have asked me If i give him a bottle when we are out and wonder how a BF. I have a nursing cover and its nice because even though it cover Mason its design where we can still see each other and have that bond. I also have learned to BF using my sling and wrap...BF hands free...lol. I plan to breast feed till Mason is ready to stop. I dont see us doing it till he is 5 or something like that i just think thats crazy (again if you do that more power to ya girlfriend). Some people have told me I need to give him water i guess thats what people back in the day use to. I have also been told to supplement because its not enough. I think this is where educating ourselves about BF comes into play. BF gives Mason everything he needs. BF children eat more that formula kids because breast milk digest quicker that formula but its not because your child is not getting enough. I have also been told "when he gets this old give him cereal or food." Again we dont plan to introduce solids till Mason is ready or when he get 6 months or older. When it comes to solids I want to see what Mason wants not what everyone else thinks he needs to be doing. Again he gets everything he need from breast milk, solids before 1 is basically practice not a nutritional supplement to breast milk

www.wholesomebabyfood.com

So speaking about baby food, I plan to make my own baby food and avoid

premade stuff like "Gerber". This link has recipes on how to make it and

useful info about starting your baby on solids. Even though I enjoy

nursing I am looking forward to when we can start solids. Not because

I dont want to nurse but because I get to be creative in what I will be

"mashing" up. So obviously I dont have much to say about this topic since

we have awhile till we do this.

www.mothering.com

This is another site I got from Cat. I dont really look at this one much because i cant mostly

find all the info im looking for on the Dr. Sears page but I wanted to go ahead and share it

with yall

http://www.mamatoto.org/Default.aspx?tabid=63

http://www.mayawrap.com/

http://www.hotslings.com/

www.angelpack.com

www.babybjorn.com

www.zolowear.com

I know these are a lot of links to one topic but we LOVE baby wearing!!! So I have a hotsling, a

bjorn and i made my own wrap. If you got to the first link mamatoto there are intructions on

how to make your own wrap.

So this was a lot of info but i hope yall find it useful

Mason is 12 weeks

2008-08-03T14:00:00.000-10:00

So Mason turned 12 weeks on Friday ( technically he is 4 weeks since he was 2 months early). I cant believe it my little guy is growing up. So he is awake more now and has started tracking. He loves to stare at the light and when I change him he looks out at the window. He enjoys taking baths but does start crying ounce I take him out and start changing him. The gray color in his eyes is going away now and he is getting is dark brown eyes. You can now tell he will have some bushy eye brows like daddy. He started giving some smiles its very cute! I have this doggy teddy bear tied to his crib and he can stare at that for a long time maybe he likes the colors. The other day it seemed like he was trying to reach for it. He does not fit into any of his preemie clothes and the NB is starting to get small too. He can now wear some 0-3 month outfits. Most of the time he wear onesies since its so hot here. His face has filled out since he was born and he has some chubby cheeks. We are still co sleeping during the night and that seems to work out best for us. We all get a lot more sleep now. I have been cloth diapering during the day when we r home and thats going good too. I still dont feel confident enough to use them at night or when we go out. Hopefully I can get to that point soon . We are still nursing and im loving it im happy I can provide the best for Mason. The days he wants to nurse a lot it does not bother me anymore and it did help that i can nurse on my side which is where co sleeping has been a life saver. I think thats about it so far

WE R ALL ALONE

2008-07-29T09:17:00.000-10:00

So for about the next 30-45 days it will just be Mason and I. Raul got on the plane about 830am today on his ay to NTC in California. Its weird how life works out, when something goes wrong and only he seems to know how to fix it the good ol Army takes him away. I know it was hard for him to leave because we have a baby now. We will see how I handle being by myself with Mason since I cant say "here raul watch the baby" it will really be a 24/7 job this month. I wonder what changes Mason will go thru in this next month and how different he will be when Raul gets back. Its weird to think that when he comes back Mason will almost be four months.

The good news is that as soon as he gets back we will be going home for a couple of weeks, so im definitely looking forward to his return

Our first cloth diaper

2008-07-27T17:33:00.000-10:00

So we put on Mason first cloth diaper today. We use a unbleached Chinese prefold with a snappi and a thisrtie cover. The cover was a little big for him since when we order it they sent us a small instead of the xs. Hopefully this coming up week we ill get the xs and the other dipes i ordered from diaper swapper. N/e back to his first CD. So i put it on and im expecting him to pee not even 2 min after he has it on he poops. The dipe held up really well with NB poop. im really excited to try out the different types of dipes that i ordered

Bodies Exhibition

2008-07-21T09:07:00.000-10:00

Yesterday we finally went to see the Bodies Exhibition down at Ala Moana with some friends. I have been wanting to see this for years and I am so glad it came to Hawaii. I really enjoyed it and was amazed to see the human body like that. For those of you who do not kow what it is, it real human body dissected to show bones muscles organs and all the other parts that make up the human body. When I was taking biology for nursing i had to learn all the bones and muscles of the body and now that i got to see everything so close and soooo real was amazing.

The part that I cant forget is where they showed all the veins and they do this process where basically everything is striped of and all is left is the veins in the shape of the body. You could see all the veins of the hand and it was left in that shape up to the fingers it neat. They also had a embryos for different stages of development. Raul and I both said that its weird how something sooo small in the beginning can give you so much problems. Most of the bodies where men they only had one female in the whole thing. On the female exhibit it was weird because they showed the reproductive system and it looked nothing like you see in a text book. First it was 3D and you really had to look at it to see what was what. Overall I really enjoyed it I wish it would have been a bigger exhibition

Cloth dipes

2008-07-17T09:59:00.000-10:00

Im sooo excited we ordered our cloth diapers yesterday. I bought some on diaperswaper and the rest on baby cotton bottoms. Our main dipes that we r starting of with are the Chinese prefolds unbleached with thirties covers. From DS i got some pockets and all in ones to test them out. I also got i think two other covers to see what we like best. I cant wait to get them and see how they look on Mason. Hopefully this will work out for us because it will save lots of money and its better for both mason and the environment.