a rainy day

It was a rainy, gloomy day today. Kristina had to cancel our lunch plans because she was car-less. Something happened to Matt's car and he had to use hers. It's all good because it was so dreary today that I didn't feel like getting out of the house. And taking after Chris, Alex likes to sleep alot on days like today.

Oh! Tooth # 9 finally broke through the gums too! Seriously, that explans all the crankiness lately. Motrin has been my friend at night. I'm thinking Alex will get another molar in before his first birthday. I never thought an almost 12 month old could have 9 teeth. Amazing. He got his first, first birthday present in today - all the way from Dallas, Texas - from his Ninong Albert. I let him open it since it was just in a box. I'll put the stuff back in the bag if I decide to let him open his presents at his party. I haven't decided yet.

publix

I love Publix. Because it is a Florida-based grocery store, I shopped there all the way through college and the few years after. I missed Publix when I moved to Knoxville to start grad school. So I'm happy that there is a Publix not more than 5 minutes from our house. Alex and I made our weekly grocery trip to the store to get the basics, plus a few extras. Imagine my surprise when I saved more than I spent. Besides CVS, I think this is the first time it has ever happened when buying groceries. It's a good thing, too, because I have been spending all kinds of money this week and will be in the next few weeks for Alex's birthday.

On another note, I am looking forward to lunch with a friend tomorrow. It should be fun!

braver every day

I like to take Alex to the play area in the mall every couple of weeks or so - let him use some of that stored up energy. It's a good place to go because he can do whatever he wants. When we are at home, I have to tell him "no" a billion times. So he crawls around, climbs up things, etc. In the past, he has been scared of going through the tunnels, but today, he actually crawled through them. I was quite impressed. He even sat in the log one for a few minutes. Sometimes I wonder what he's thinking when he's quiet and by himself.

Anyhow, it was fun today. None of our friends met us there today, but usually we have a couple of people to have lunch with afterwards. I was telling Chris last night how it has been so amazing to watch him develop. For example, we've been watching his Baby Einstein sign language DVD for a few months now. When we first watched it, he really could have cared less and we could only sit in front of it for maybe 5 minutes. Now, he will watch the entire DVD by himself (YAY! leaving me time to do things). He'll laugh at the funny parts and point at all the things he finds interesting.

Well, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday so I had my last carbonated beverage this afternoon until after Easter.

my mornings

This is usually how I spend my mornings... before Chris and Alex are up. With my cup of coffee in hand, I make my way towards my computer to check my Facebook page. Around 6am is a great time of day for me. Chris and Alex are still asleep, and I have time to myself. It's so quiet in the house that I actually have time to think. My monitor is usually filled with post-its, reminding me of things that I need to do or lists of random things. For the next couple of weeks, it will be filled of reminders of things I need to get for Alex's party, a list of people who have RSVP'd, numbers for all the food places and all the exciting appointments he has for his birthWEEK. I have a list of potential babysitter's numbers, as well, since I am still trying to find one.

barkada

In Tagalog, barkada means a group of friends. These are some of my mom's barkada. She has known them for almost 30 years. Almost. She met them when we moved to Florida when I was a couple of years old. Their daughters are my barkada from childhood. Even though we all live in different states now, we are still close. I have always admired my mom and her friends. To this day, they still have girl's nights out and girl's weekends out. This weekend, they went to Orlando together. I have always and still want a group of friends like this. As an adult, I have found it harder and harder to make friends. Situations change, and people who you thought were your friends, aren't. It's a sad thing, and has been hard for me to accept. I hope one day, ecspecially since I think I am going to live in this town the rest of my life, I can have a group of friends like my mom does and that we can have regular girl's nights or weekends out.

part of the club

Thanks to my friends, Alex is now a member of the Bridge Street Buddies Club.

laundry

I hate laundry. In college, if I ran out of clean clothes, I would just buy a few more things instead of washing my dirty clothes. At least until I went home again, and my mom would help me wash my clothes.

Now, it takes me forever to get a load of laundry done. Not only do I have tons of it every week now, but I also have a 11-month old who likes to play with whatever I am trying to do. Today, it was laundry. I would put the dirty clothes in the basket so I could take them to the basement, but Alex thought I was playing a game and would immediately take them out of the basket. This went on for about 30 minutes today until I finally had enough and put him in his crib while I loaded up the washer.

happy birthday!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister! (Pictures from a 2007 trip to the Georgia Aquarium and the Norah Jones concert in ATL)

huh?

I took this picture of Alex last week. After I showed it to Chris, he proceeded to tell me that Alex looks like a girl in it.

On Friday, I took Alex to the play area in the mall and after being there for a few minutes, this other mom told me that I have "an adorable little girl." I corrected her and told her that I have a boy, not a girl. Although I could see why. His hair is getting so long and curly. But I dress him in "boy" colors so people don't get confused. She apologized and said that Alex is too cute to be a boy. What the heck is that supposed to mean? Are boys not suppoosed to be cute? I'm confused. I realize that not all baby boys are as cute as Alex is, but I don't think you should stereotype by saying he is too cute to be a boy.

the newest addition

To my Disney collection, that is. Sleeping Beauty is one of my absolute favorite Disney movies. I remember watching it as a little girl, then I would pretend to prick my finger on the spindle and fall asleep. Alex and I took another trip to Circuit City and I bought it today since it was 40% off, and classic Disney animation is never that cheap. I had to take advantage of it before it goes into the Disney Vault. Haha.

you know what, mama?

Molars suck. That's right. Alex is getting his 1st molars in and they are a pain in the butt. This has been the worst experience we have had with teething so far. Lately, he hasn't been sleeping through the night. Last night, he woke up at 11:15 pm with a slight fever. The night before that, it was 2:20 am. We only have 12 more teeth to go before he has all his baby teeth so I hope that they come in quick.

a month to go

One month from tomorrow my baby will be a year old. This year has gone by incredibly fast. Anyhow, I FINALLY got Alex to drink from a sippy cup. I've been trying for the past 4 monhts, but he just never got the concept that you have to tip the cup in order to get any liquid out of it. Plus, I think he liked chewing on it (probably due to the outrageous number of teeth he already has) more than anything so he wasn't concerned with what was inside.

I bought my favorite juice last week and put it in one of his sippy cups and he loved it. It's expensive so I'm going to have to find an alternate version for him. I really want him to learn how to drink from a cup because as of March 11th, no more bottles for him. They are all going to be put away, never to be seen again. Although Dr. Klemm has assured me that it's okay if he still needs to use a bottle at 12 months.

Speaking of turning one, his party is getting out of control right now. I need to stop thinking of people to invite or else we won't be able to fit everyone in our house. I've been starting to things for his party, like plates, napkins, etc. Laura told me I could have some of the decorations from Manny's birthday, which were hand-me-downs from Lisa. Awesome idea. Why buy everything brand new when you are only going to use them once?

The first week of March is going to be pretty hectic. I have an appointment for Alex to get his first haircut, another one for his 1-year pictures, and then my mom and sister are arriving into town for a little over a week.

birthdays galore

February is a month filled with birthdays. Not only is it Chris' birthday, but Nicole (my sister), Joan (my cousin), my uncle in Canada are also celebrating birthdays this month. And we celebrated Manny's first birthday with him today! He is Alex's Gator buddy.

Yesterday, Chris and I went out on our first date in what seems like forever since Alex was born. We took the opportunity to go out to dinner for his brithday, as well as stimulate the economy a little.

almost time

Alex seriously needs a haircut. His hair is so long it covers his ears and covers the back of his neck. But I'm holding out on a haircut for at least another month. I want to get his haircut around his first birthday so they he can have a new look for his 1-year pictures.

what if...

I'm pro-life... not just because I am Catholic, but for a number of other reasons. This has been on my mind because a couple of Fr. Phil's homilies have been about abortion the past few weeks. I don't think anyone, regardless of their situation, should be allowed to have an abortion. This video is a great video, and was rejected by NBC to be aired during the Superbowl. Really, what if President Obama's mother had chosen to have an abortion? Another great story is that of Tim Tebow. I'll share his story with you...

Pam knows about the pain of considering abortion. More than 21 years ago, she and her husband, Bob, were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in a contaminated food or drink. She entered into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was pregnant. Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted.

The doctors "didn't think of it as a life, they thought of it as a mass of fetal tissue," Pam said. While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband, "If you will give us a son, we'll name him 'Timothy,' and we'll make him a preacher."

Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and, eventually, gave birth to a health baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam's youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father's ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam's son is Tim Tebow. Last year, the University of Florida's star quarterback, became the first sophomore in history to win college football's highest award, the Heisman Trophy. Tim's notoriety and the family's inspiring story have given Pam numerous opportunities to speak on behalf of women's centers across the country. She was the keynote speaker at the Oct. 23, 2008, benefit banquet for two Louisville ministries. A Woman's Choice Resource Center offers such services as free pregnancy tests, post-abortion counseling, adoption information, and material support. Necole's Place is a companion ministry that provides> support services for women in need. Several Louisville-area Kentucky Baptist churches and Long Run Baptist Association help support both ministries. A Woman's Choice board chairman, John> Schmitt, reported at the banquet that in the 20 years since the resource center opened, 4,500 children have been saved from abortion, 400 in this year alone.

Speaking of the thousands of lives saved, Pam Tebow said, "That just blows my mind. Every little baby you save matters."

searching...

Alex and I took a trip to Sam's this morning to by our usual stuff, and I bought him size 4 diapers. I've found that he needs a bigger size because they hold more, especially when he sleeps 11+ hours a night.

In other news, I'm looking for a new babysitter. Jamie, our regular babysitter, normally watches Alex for a few hours on Monday afternoons while I am at Calhoun teaching. So I've spread the word to all my mom friends in my moms club, but no luck so far. If anyone knows of anyone that might be interested, let me know. Chris and I pay well.

let us pray

I took this picture of Alex the other night when we were about to eat dinner - my mom's fried rice recipe. I have been teaching Alex to put his hands together when we go to church to pray. Church is extremely important to me, and it is one of the things that I hope to pass on to Alex. Anyhow, he did this before we ate dinner the other night so I suggested to Chris that we should say a prayer before dinner.

I sent this picture with the above explanation to my family and a few good friends. One of my friends, Lillian, from college responded with this...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! We've been teaching prayers with Cadence since she was a year or so? One day, out of nowhere, she can say the Our Father, Angel of God, and even grace before dinner!! Kids are like sponges!!!He's adorable Abby, love them cheeks! - good job, Mommy!! :D Love, Ate Lill

Her e-mail made me feel good. I didn't think it was such a big deal that he started to do something that I taught him. But it took an e-mail from another mom to make me realize how important my job as a mother really is.