So many things to be thankful for.

I am so thankful for the many blessings in our house this year. Alejandro is growing so quickly and is always amazing me with all that he know and shares with us. We have recently made a big accomplishment in our house hold and that is that Alejandro slept through the night and in his own room the last two nights and this is a big step for us. I know some may think he is about to be two he should have been sleeping on his own a long time ago and I understand this too, but I had a hard time letting go and so did he. I thought a lot of why that could be and I think it was because on the day he was born everything happened so quickly and I was not able to see him until the evening of his birth as he was in the NICU and I was not able to hold him until the next day, which made me letting him sleep on his own so much harder. Now I know I am blessed that he is so strong, healthy, and smart. Alejandro sleeping on his own is a blessing for him and for us this Thanksgiving.
I am also very thankful for all the things Alejandro knows good and bad. He speaks so much and has developed a new found love for Elmo. He goes around the house in his pj's singing "La, La, La, La Elmo's worllld" it is so cute and puts a smile on my face. He has also developed a love for Adale by mommy listening to her and knows some of the lyrics in the songs. He also knows his alphabet in Spanish and the sounds that go with the letters. He is a very bossy baby telling mommy and daddy exactly what he wants like "sienta te hay", "Dame lo" and "No" he keeping mommy on her toes and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Like I said so much to be thankful for this year and I am blessed beyond words. My family is my world and I just wanted to share what is new in our house.

As summer comes to an end

As summer comes to an end I am thankful for such a great one. I feel very blessed to have had such a wonderful summer, even if I didn't go anywhere on vacation the time I spent with my family was amazing. I had a really rough year last school year and couldn't wait for summer to arrive and when it did it brought great joy and happiness to me.
This summer I spent so much time with my sweet boy getting to watch him grow and explore so many new things. We worked on reading many books and getting a few favorite ones memorized, finding out what TV shows he liked best, finding out how even at a year and half he has such an imagination that is beyond belief, and learning how to cook his favorite foods that are daddy and abuelita's recipes. The time I had at home with my baby boy just brought joy to my heart. I can't believe that it is coming to an end already, but I have a lot to look forward to this school year. I will strive to work hard and teach my students many new things. I also look forward to watching my sweet boy continue to grow this school year and will continue to teach him new things too. The summer comes to an end for me, but all that I learned and experienced this summer I take with me to make this new school year a positive one.

The little things matter most!

Today was a busy day for me, I had to wake up early go to a workshop, and leave Alejandro with Abuelito and Abuelita for the day. I missed him so much and makes me realize that the time we have had together this summer has been amazing. I know when I wake up on August 10th to go back to work I will be very sad, but also remember that he is in great hands and I am providing for him. As I think about all that I have in my life I feel truly blessed and remember that the little things matter most. Things such as:

1. the wave good bye this morning from my sweet boy to go off and learn something new and seeing him so happy with his abuelitos


2. A great workshop teaching me something new


3. visit with an old friend


4. lunch just with my husband like we use to have when we were first dating


5. getting ready for a new year nice and early and excited about it


6. coming home after a full day away and hearing thos magical words that make my heart melt "MOMMY"


7. laying in bed with my husband and baby playing


8. giving one of Alejandro's favorite books to him and watching him lay down all alone in our room and read


9. eating dinner as a family


10. One of the best moments of the day watching a sweet boy hold a little cup filled with ice to snack on and walking ever so slowly to make sure he doesn't drop one single bit of it. Watching his sweet face fill so acomlished was amazing and a moment I will never forget.

Little things in life are the ones that fill my heart with happiness and in the busy moments it feels great to reflect on a busy day and be thankful for all that I have and am blessed with.

First time away from home.

So this week I went to a reading conference for the first time in Houston and I know that may not sound like much to most, but for me it meant a whole lot as this was my first time to leave my baby boy since he was born. I was torn on the decision to go or not, but with so much happening in my line of career I know that I have to put every foot forward to show how much my career means to me. I was so homesick and missed my sweet boy and husband so much during this time. I was so happy to see the bond that my husband and son have during the time I was away. They are so close and even though mommy was away my husband showered him with love every minute. I also have amazing in-laws that were there to take care of my baby boy while Paul was at work. They love Alejandro so much and he in turn loves them equally or even more and he is truly blessed to be so loved. I also learned a lot as a mom during this time as how hard it may be to be away from my baby he would be in good hands.
I found out that I needed this trip to learn more about Motherhood and my career, as during one of my workshops I had a moment of clarity. I have been out of college for almost five years now and during this time I have married the love of my life, and had my beautiful Alejandro, and I have felt very full of happiness and joy. During this time though I have wondered also if I should go back to school and get a master's in something to help my family continue to grow and during one workshop a presenter hit excellent points in bilingual education and why students make the errors they make due to her background in Speech pathology she knew so much and saw things in a different light. I was like I had an idea that this might be what I wanted to do and then all of a sudden I was sure. I am still not sure when I will start this journey, but I know that I will and not hold back on it as I want to continue to build on my career for my family and our future as a family. Though the time I was away was very hard on me as a mother, it helped me grow stronger and find a path I would like to take to help my family grow.

Mother's Day

So on this Mother's Day I sit here and think how thankful I am for all that I have in my life. My son is such a huge blessing and I still can't believe sometimes that I am his mommy, that I carried this wonderful person inside me for nine months and now he is every where and into everything. Tonight as I put him to sleep and he lay on my chest I thought to myself what did I do to deserve such an amazing blessing and then I realized God gave him to me to continue to grow and develop a young mind in him and through him. My husband and I are truly lucky to have such a sweet baby in our lives and I am truly blessed to be called Mom. Alejandro is my joy and my light and with him and my husband all is possible. I love to see all the things that my baby boy learns and how funny he is. He is stubborn and funny and wants to know how to do everything and mimics everything he sees. I bought a potty for him and thought to myself I am going to start teaching him so early, as I know that boys take more time and within a week he told me he wanted to go potty and actually did. I was so amazed and thought again how did I get such a bright child. He has gone three times in the potty and I am so proud, I just pray that it continues the same way. To the whole potty thing has also come and obsession with the big potty and he has started to want to put everything in the big potty which takes my back to my loony toon days and all I hear in my head even as I am running to the potty to make sure nothing lands in the potty is "Ducky go down the hole." As you can imagine he is very quick and sometimes I get to him before something lands in the toilet and sometimes I don't. The joys of mother hood have made me laugh at all the new experiences that actually come with being someones mommy. My son has also developed and obsession with keys and again he mimics everything he sees so the minute he sees keys he grabs them and goes towards the door and tries to put them in the key holes. The phone is also a new favorite and he grabs it and in his deep raspy voice all I hear is "Hello, He..llo, "just love this and can't get enough of it. Being a mommy brings amazement to someones life to be in charge of molding a person and watching the grow and develop is such an amazing thing. Again I say to myself I am blessed to be called Mom and thank the Lord each and every day for such an amazing blessing in my life.

13 almost 14 months old

My sweet Alejandro has grown so much in the past months. I look back on his first year of life and feel tremendously blessed. I don't know how God has given me such a beautiful blessing of being this sweet boys mommy.

This year this sweet boy has shown me how to be unselfish with things, shown me that you can work full time and still have energy to play games, that mommy can survive on a few hours of sleep even though she loves sleeping in late. Alejandro has also shown me how to share the bed, because as much as I want him to sleep in his own bed mommy got in the habit of you falling asleep in the bed with us and now you only sleep a few hours alone and the rest of the night in between mommy and daddy taking up most of the bed. I love waking up to the sound of "MaM, Mama" in the early morning with a big juicy kiss even if it means I almost fell off the bed in the middle of the night. Here are a few things you my sweet boy have learned how to do in the last couple of weeks and like to do:

1. Most important you finally found your confidence and are not just walking, but running around the house


2. You say Grandpa in a deep raspy voice


3. You love to come home and see your daddy and say "Hi Dad"


4. You have a front facing car seat now and like to play with your cars and say Hi


5. You love tortillas and will ask for it by saying "tilla"


6. You sign more when you want something, and please, thank you, and bath


7. You say "Amama" for your pillow, because you are very bilingual and mommy and daddy are very proud of that


8. You like novelas and know many of them by their songs.

Alejandro you are a beautiful blessing in our lives and have taught us many things, you are exploring and learning many new things adn I am blessed to be your mommy and can't wait to see what this next year of your life has to hold for us.