Presents?

Do you wonder how much the stuff below cost me on Thanksgiving? Let's see how many of you watched The Price Is Right...

So Black Friday is traditionally (in our country) where people go out and spend lots of money on Christmas presents. I love a good deal like anybody, but I've been increasingly turned off of the commercialism of Christmas the last couple of years...convicted to be less of a consumerist. I don't envision that would be how Jesus would want us to celebrate his birth. Gift giving is fun, but that's not really what it's about. I know when I would see people after Christmas, the common question I would be asked is, "What did you get for Christmas?". Isn't that bizarre? We are so indoctrinated with how our country "celebrates" that we are so focused on presents. This is an awesome site (and movement) http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
Check it out! What if we all spent less and gave more?

Now that we are parents, we have the opportunity to create new traditions, new celebrations, and it's kind of exciting. Mateo doesn't know who Santa Claus is, or how many presents he's supposed to get. He's innocent and it's amazing to see the joy he has in something so simple- like stabbing a piece of food with his fork successfully. If only we could retain our childhood authenticity into adulthood.

Oh, and I paid $3.75 for all the goodies in the picture. That's less than the price of one Noxema!
That was just at Walgreens. I was so excited getting home from Rite Aid that I put all the stuff away in my stockpiles before I remembered to take a picture.

I'll leave you with Advent Conspiracy's words....

Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All

Great, great, life motto!

Keeping up with the Jones'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Money Saving #5:
Don't try to keep up with the Jones' and lower your standard of living (if necessary). Biggest way to get and stay out of money problems and debt is to live within your means. In many cases this means lowering your standard of living. Why should you have the best of the best like Mr. Jones down the street? Especially if you can't afford it. Reality is, Mr. Jones likely went into debt to get that "thing" anyways. And if he didn't, good for him and you need to get over it.

Okay, sounds harsh. But seriously, if we "needed" everything our friends have and everything we see on TV, and everything in the magazines..... then that is gonna get us in trouble. The lust for stuff affects everybody. "If only I had ____ then I would be happy." This is what we often say to ourselves, but it is a lie. Things cannot fulfill us. Only God can do that. And I'm pretty sure he could care less if our clothes were from Nordstrom or the Salvation Army. For me, I like organizing projects. For my hubby, he likes video games. For Mateo.... well he doesn't care about stuff yet. He'll play with an empty spool of ribbon and a big cardboard box. Oh, the innocence of a child. Unfortunately, he'll be corrupted by our culture eventually...but we will pray and try hard to teach him wise money management and to be generous.

Basically, be content with what you have. And no, I didn't make that up. It's one of my favorite verses in the bible. All good wisdom comes from the bible...God's word. Something I need to work on still.

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
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A time for laughter

I've been thinking a lot lately about how these last couple months have been filled with a lot of restoration for my little family. I think of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 when it talks about how there is a time for everything.... verse 4 especially stood out to me:

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

We are definitely laughing and dancing, now. Our first year of parenting was not very fun and we both agree that we made it through only b/c of God's grace. While many parents were raving about how fun having a little baby was and how they were savoring that stage.... we were all too excited for it to pass. Different people have different experiences. For some reason, that only God knows, things happened as they happened and even though every trial is supposed to make us joyful, we certainly didn't feel that way. Sleep deprived, energy deprived, family and support deprived, etc. etc. We were drained.
But now we are thankful for this (hopefully longer) season of rest. This is a unique season when Mateo sleeps from 7pm-7am. When we have our evenings together. When I can be home full time taking care of my boys and the house and the errands, etc. When for the first time since I can remember I am not busy busy like a chicken with my head cut off. No more degrees to get. No more homework. Been there, done that! No more sitting behind a desk. No lesson planning, grading, meetings, etc. Granted, I am still working on trying to be a little less busy. I still tend to get myself over committed...but at least this time it's by choice and not b/c of a demanding job at a title 1 school.

For the first time since high school, I did a sewing project. I made curtains for the living room, Mateo's room, the office, and valances for the kitchen. We are finally finishing the unpacking in our house. I'm doing some post-pregnancy and baby-stage nesting if there is such a thing.
I'm able to be involved in ministry for the first time in a while. Teaching the kids at church has been a fun season of time.

I'm also trying to take care of myself. Chronic problems like my back and throat pain are getting addressed. Physical therapy...so nice. Finding out I'm allergic to a lot of things- like milk and sugar cane....not so nice, but still good to know ;)

Now I better not blink b/c this time might be over. But for now, with my wonderfully awesome husband, my (almost) 17 month old son, and our great God teaching us and leading us.... we are going to be thankful and enjoy these days. Life is not easy, but it's been an awesome change.

1 Peter 5:10 (English Standard Version)

¹⁰And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Value Villiage

Saving Money #4.....shopping second hand.
OK, so yesterday there was a 50% off sale at Value Village. Since Aaron had the day off, he took care of Mateo and I snuck out early to do some shopping. Now in my opinion, Value Village is pretty spendy for second hand clothes, but with the 50% sale, there are good deals for sure. Here is what I scored for me and Mateo:


For Mateo: two onesies, four long-sleeved shirts, footie PJs, and a pair of shoes!



For me: three pairs of jeans, a pair of jean shorts, a jean skirt, exercise pants, and three shirts.

How much did I spend?
$42.50

YES! It's true. For the price of a pair of jeans at the mall, I got a ton of stuff for us. Hooray. I needed more jeans and I find second hand shopping a great way for me to stretch our dollar.

I have liked buying second hand clothes ever since college when I started buying my own clothes. Back then I made, what $6.50 an hour or something like that?? When you start to think of how many hours you'd have to work to buy a clothing item, it definitely makes you think differently!

Now I haven't always been this way. When I was a kid I HATED going into the Goodwill. I thought it "smelled funny". My sister was the one who wanted all the fancy brands of clothing that we couldn't afford (remember Guess Jeans?!). So we'd go find them at the second hand stores. But I was a pain. Not any more. Ya, second hand stores might smell a little funny, but you can find great clothes that (at least for people the size of me and Mateo) were most likely given away b/c the person outgrew it...not b/c something was the matter with it. I guess that's one good thing about being puny.

I'll admit it does take some humbling, but for me I've never really had to desire to have certain brands of clothing or to have the nicest stuff. Something that feels comfortable is good. Especially now that I'm not working, I spend most of my day playing on the floor with Mateo and crawling around in his fort with him, haha.

Lastly, I know that shopping second hand for me is only half out of necessity. Even when I got my first teaching job, I still preferred to buy second hand. When Aaron and I were both working full time, I preferred second hand. I just don't' like spending lots of money on clothes. I preferred using money for other things like paying off my car, saving for a house, or say going to HAWAII!!.

One big thing that solidified this for me was my first mission trip to Mexico and seeing the great poverty that they lived in where we were serving. You can't come back from that and not be changed. I'll will have to write a post about that a different time.

Grocery Store and Mateo

Saving Money #3

So a few months ago I become frustrated that we kept going over on what we'd allotted for our grocery budget. We have a little bit of squiggle room in the budget, so it wasn't like an emergency- but it was still something I felt I needed to tweak. So that's when I started doing the couponing, and I started also just brainstorming.

How do YOU save money at the grocery store? I wanna know!

I would love more ideas. Everything I came up with requires more time which may be difficult for the full time worker, but I'm trying to swing it. Here is what I have tried so far....

1. I no longer buy baby carrots. I buy a cheap 2 lb bag of carrots for like 78 cents and peel them and slice them up myself. Easy, right? It's also cheaper and I think they taste better.

2. We started shredding our own cheese (Oh, that's what the cheese grater is for....) and buying block cheese unless there is a good sale on shredded. I am also thinking of not buying string cheese any more since the price per ounce is a lot higher. Though yesterday I got a pack for half off with a coupon ( I love coupons! ) but without a coupon it's more expensive than a block cheese. I just use the cheese slicer and slice a bunch of slices for sandwiches or Mateo's snacks.

3. I love the bulk section at WinCo. I buy a lot of things in there like rice, beans, nuts, spices, etc. I have found it to be cheaper than buying a bag of the item. Especially spices!! I buy the tiny plastic spice containers and some of the spice and voila!

I'm not going to make everything from scratch, but a few extra prep tasks can make a difference.


On a side note.... despite the tantrums, short naps, and picky eating, and just pure ankle biting tendencies, ..... Mateo is a lot of fun. I'm so lucky to get to be with him every day. I say that today, b/c it has been a pretty decent day. Tomorrow I may say, "Get me out of here!!!!!!" He's starting to "pretend" play more and it's been pretty cute to just see how he's interacting differently with kids at play group and at the gym kid watch. He was feeding the stuffed bear "milk" from this little tiny bottle, giving it kisses, and moving his hand and saying "hi".
We built a cardboard fort out of a gigantic box downstairs. Actually, Grandpa made it for him :) It even has a skylight and a window. It's pretty fun.

That said, it is often challenging to occupy a one year old with Mateo's temperament. He's not a naturally independent child. We try to train him to be a little more independent and play by himself a little more, but he just seems to want a lot of snuggles and interaction. That's why I love love love that I have a gym membership this year. The ladies there LOVE him and he really seems to love them back. Especially if they have a ball. Mateo loves balls. SO I get an hour sans baby to exercise, and Mateo gets attention by somebody new and gets to play with new toys. Lifesaver. And did I mention that the gym has cable? :-)

Coupons

Saving Money #2

The last couple of months I have been learning and doing the "extreme couponing" thing. My favorite site thus far to help is.... http://thekrazycouponlady.com/ They are, of course, on facebook too! I also like http://dealseekingmom.com/.

Basically, it's combining different types of coupons on sale items to get them for cheap (and sometimes FREE!) Looking at our budget for the month of September compared to October, I wanted to see how much of a difference in spending there was in the categories of toiletries and groceries. I did a LOT of shopping in October. Turns out.... we spent just $15 less in October than in September. Doesn't' seem like much of a difference, but by spending a little less, I was also able to stock up on all those things in the picture below



So as you can see.... I have a year plus supply of whole wheat spaghetti and pasta, body wash for Aaron, dish soap, and dental floss (in the red box). I'm hoping that as I learn new tricks and get better that we will eventually be spending even less. But I'm happy with it so far.

I will admit I was very skeptical at first b/c there is the reputation of extreme couponing on food to be only on the unhealthy processed stuff. And much of it is. You just have to be strategic to find coupons and sales on the things your family uses and eats. I decided to focus more on toiletries to start with since I found food to be a bit harder.

I was also skeptical b/c I've been a WinCo shopper ever since I started doing my own grocery shopping. You'd never find me doing my grocery shopping at Safeway. It's expensive!! WinCo has the lowest prices. UNLESS....and here's what I'm learning. WinCo has the lowest prices....unless....you can find something on sale at another store and also use a coupon on it.

SO yes, this is more work. You actually have to pay attention to the ads and clip some coupons. I don't know that I would have the time and energy to do as much as I have if I was teaching full time. But regardless of whether you work 2 jobs, 1 job, part time, or are home full time.....I think most everybody is looking to save a little money. And coupons can help.

One of my favorite deals this last month was the Nivea body wash that I got for Aaron. He loves body wash, but it is expensive. There was a $3.00 off of one coupon and they were on sale for $2.50. This means...that the product is FREE!! Now since I only had one paper, you can actually go and get extra coupons from newspapers on eBay. Since you can't legally buy coupons, you are technically paying couponing services. Crazy, huh? So that's how I have about 40 boxes of pasta that I paid 13 cents each. And why I got 20 packs of dental floss for free.

Another nice thing about having your "stockpile" of items you've gotten for free or inexpensive....is that you have some extra to give away when you know of people who need it. And it's not a huge financial burden b/c things in your stockpile were bought at the lowest prices you know of. So being generous is fun :)

Budget Smarts

I am back to e-blogger! The thing I liked about Xanga is no longer available- so here I am.


Saving Money #1

I've decided to write about budgets and saving money for a while. I find the topic very important. It's very near to my heart. I'm not sure quite yet WHY it is, but it is. I see so many people hurting financially. I hurt with them. I see so many moms that want to stay home but can't. My heart breaks with them. Of course there are plenty of moms that DON'T want to and I can see why. Believe me. I can see why someone wouldn't want to do that, hehe. But for some reason, I do. And many other women do, too. Yes, there are moms who are the sole provider or are single, etc. But there is a small part of me that thinks that more moms (that want to) could stay home if they made some changes in how they used their money.

For me it isn't that hard b/c I've always been a saver. When my sister and I were kids, we would get Christmas money from Grandma. I would save mine. She would spend hers. I don't know why, but part of me is naturally frugal and a saver. I'm being honest when I think that's just how God designed me.

When Aaron and I got married, we set up a computerized budget not long after. It was good and really interesting to see where we were spending our money. You can categorize your budget however you want and there are a lot of options. Some of our categories are groceries, gas,savings, eating out, utilities, toiletries, rent (then mortgage), etc. Some new categories we've added recently are a BABYSITTING fund b/c it really is nice to get out of the house just the two of us a couple times a month and since we don't have family in town, we have to pay a sitter. We also added a hospitality fund for hosting things or bringing food to events so it didn't seem like a burden and was more of a privilege. I got that idea at a women's conference recently.

Regardless of what categories one chooses, the important thing is to know how you're spending your money. Look at your income, then allocate money to bills and different areas accordingly. If you do this, you aren't spending money you don't have. It can keep you from falling into the trap of our country and going into DEBT!! I hate that word. Debt really is restrictive. If you want to be a SAHM (Stay at home mom) or just want to stop being mastered by your finances, get out of debt ASAP! Start a budget!

Take into consideration that I am ultra conservative with money at times. Not always, but in some sense, yes. Which is good b/c Aaron works hard to bring home a paycheck every month and I work hard to spend it wisely! And when I was working and we lived in our apartment, we tried to live off of just one income in preparation for having a baby and save as much as possible. God has really blessed us us.
That said, If I had a debt to pay off (college, car, credit card, etc.), I think I'd rather go without certain things (like cable, smart phones, nice clothes, new danskos, a trip to Japan, etc.) and put that money towards the debt. I know, I'm WEIRD!! A very low percentage of people would actually do this. But what if....... people really did this??

What if we lived within our means?!?! Imagine what could happen. Interesting concept. More to come. This is one of my favorite verses in regards to how God would have us use our money:

"Honor the Lord with your wealth. With the first fruits of all your crops; then your bars will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

What does honoring the Lord with your money mean? Could be different for each person. Not something I can tell you. But I think I know what it looks like for us right now and we continue to pray to be wise stewards of our resources and money.

xanga

I decided to switch back to Xanga! I miss it and think that it has better features than e-blogger.

If you wanna keep reading- come see me there: http://gabalonias.xanga.com/weblogpreview

Adios!

Happy Birthday Mateo

It's Mateo's birthday and Grandma and Grandpa are coming up and we're meeting Dad for lunch. If I'm feeling ambitious later then I might take him to the carousel. We'll see!!

Tomorrow Mateo goes in for his 12 month well baby check but a few days ago he was 20 pounds 5 ounces and I'm feeling every pound. I feel eager for him to start walking so that I don't have to carry him as much- but I know that I'm supposed to enjoy every stage. He did start crawling a few weeks ago finally- so that's good.

I guess I didn't crawl 'til I was almost a year old, too, so maybe we are just late crawlers in my family. My niece (full term) didn't walk 'til she was 14 months. It will all come soon enough! I need to baby proof the kitchen. His record number of steps by himself is 8- although it was more like running, lol. The living room, hallway, and his and our bedroom are fine for him (unless he crawls under something and gets stuck) The office is off limits unless we are right by him b/c that is like our junk room and there are lots of things to get into. I vaccum and sweep quite a bit- but I'm starting to be OK with him eating a piece of dirt, crumb, or even a bug here and there (he tried to do that this morning- but fortunately I snatched it quickly.)

I suppose my next blog post will be reflections on the first year of motherhood. But the biggest thing I think I've learned is that we are not in control of everything like we sometimes want to be or think we are. God is sovereign and mighty and he is not just passively letting things happen. He is working in the hearts of his followers. It's not always fun- but he never promised things would be fun. He did promise that He'd never leave us and that I've found to be true.
Things aren't always fair on earth. For example:

You can be a smoking mom who doesn't get prenatal care and have a healthy baby or you can be a healthy mom who takes all the precautions and have a preemie (sounds familiar ;)

You can eat healthier and exercise more than any of your buddies and still struggle with your weight b/c that's just your build (thinking of the hubs- but he's lost almost 50 lbs. since we got married and I'm really proud of him!)

You can floss and brush and not drink soda and still have a mouthful of cavities....or you can never take care of your teeth or go to the dentist and be fine.

You can have a great sleep schedule, awesome routines, and a peaceful environment and still get a cranky baby.....or you can live in complete chaos and have the happiest kid on the block.

What I'm striving to do is to stop asking "WHY?" all the time and just count my blessings. It's often not in our realm of powers. It's not always our fault. Luke 13:1-5 or so was illustrating this to me last week.

Luke 13 Repent or Perish

¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Of course many things that happen to us are consequences of our actions. Say your house goes into foreclosure. Could be that you made poor financial decisions and used your money unwisely. Could also be that you lost your job with no fault of your own.

I will always wonder why Mateo was born so early. I try not to wonder too much or too often, but there will always be a part of me that wants to know. I get asked that question a LOT and I really don't know what to say b/c I really have NO explanation for the event. We are praying for (potential) kiddo two even before I'm pregnant. Praying hard. I'm also studying up on VBACS (vaginal birth after c-section) to possibly avoid another C-section if it's not necessary. Lots to learn.

But now it's time to go love on my little baby who's really not that little anymore and who will be a toddler before I know it. Being a stay at home mom has been harder for me than I ever thought it would be...but I'm really thankful, too.

Today is all about being thankful to God. He's brought Mateo so far. I hate looking at the NICU pictures. It breaks my heart all over again. But I know that Aaron and I will probably look at them later anyways...and praise God.

Happy Birthday, Mateo! There were times when I didn't think I'd live long enough to see this day, lol. :p

anniversary

I gotta make this QUICK. Mateo is waking up from a (SHORT!) nap so I need to go get him up in a minute. Short naps make for loooong afternoons. I understand why some moms don't want to be stay-at-home moms. But at the same time I can't imagine being away from him for 10 hours a day! His day is only 12 hours long- so that wouldn't make for much time together. We may need to get out of the house. Only thing...

Mateito has pink eye :( It's really the first time that he's been sick. I had a cold and he got a runny nose but it wasn't a big deal 'til the eyes gooped up. Poor guy but it doesn't seem to bother him too much and the eye drops are taking effect. So I will probably just take him for a walk. It's warm out! For me, 75 is the perfect temp. Much hotter than that and I start to melt.

Today is Aaron and my 3rd anniversary!! And guess who came home on his lunch break to deliver the LARGEST bouquet of purple wild flowers I have ever seen! Yup! He's such a sweetie. And I found a really long letter awaiting me on the breakfast table this morning.
It's been quite a trying year for us- but we agree that we're still the corniest couple on the block and I honestly do love Aaron more every day if that is even possible. Praise God. With him in the center everything is possible. I love, love, love having a hubby who I can pray with, read the bible with, go to church with, and grow in Christ with. It is great.

Along that note- a friend from church is gonna come over later after we put the little one to sleep and we're gonna go out on a hot date, lol. Well we are just gonna go out to dinner and walk around downtown- but it's not something we get to do by ourselves hardly ever- so we're looking forward to it.

Oh and Mateo turns ONE tomorrow! I am remembering the scariest day of my life!! Hopefully it will remain the scariest. Most people say having their babies was the "happiest day of their life" or something like that- but I'm realizing that my experience is much different than most. Oh well. That's life.

Will talk more about Mateo tomorrow...he is calling for da da right now but will have to settle for ma ma.

Ciao

iPod

So yes, it's been two months since I've blogged. My only excuse is that Aaron got me an iPod touch and now I really don't use the computer as much-just to update our budget, do banking, upload pics, etc. And I'm not about to type a blog post on the little iPod touch. I'm not that advanced yet. Maybe someday.

Anyways- It's June and there is anticipation everywhere for the end of the school year. I have no anticipation or stress about it this year seeing as how I'm not teaching and how once school is out things will be no different for my family. Come next school year there will be some changes, though, and I will probably choose to sub a few 1/2 days a week. Although I kind of want to work 1/2 time, I don't think I'm supposed to.

I was unofficially told about a 1/2 time kinder position in a bilingual dual language school. Yes, working in a dual language school is my dream job. But not now. And not in kinder. It just doesn't seem like the right time. I strongly feel that God wants me to focus on my family right now. He knows what I am like when I'm teaching. It partially consumes me. Although I love the kids, I'm sensing that I should be with my own kids right now. God has blessed us financially (not necessarily with lots of money- but with wisdom in financial decisions, budget smarts, etc.) and we've made it 9 months off of one income. Praise God. And we really do have all we need. There is that difference between want and need that must be differentiated.

Subbing would appear to be a good alternate source of income. It is a good hourly wage, requires no "outside" work, can be flexible, and still would allow me to use my degree and "talents" per say. On the flip side, you won't know from day to day or week to week where you will be working. That could possibly be seen as both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Now the big hurdle....finding someone we trust who could watch Mateo a few 1/2 days a week...and would be flexible with scheduling. Commercial day care is out. Looking in to babysitters or home day care. I'm very picky, though, as it is my baby who I'd be leaving.

But my "baby" will be 14 months by then!! My goodness.

What else is new....
I'm co-leading a Beth Moore Bible study that I LOVE!!! It's on the book of Daniel in the Old Testament and I never could've imagined gleaning so much from God through this one book! I look forward to going every week and it is some good re-charging time away from home and with other believers.

It's my month to teach the kiddos at church- so lots of planning of lessons- trying to sneak some planning in during naps so I don't have to use up hubby time at night. We'll see how that pans out!

Mateo's bday party is approaching! Making some decor for that and planning out a healthy bday cake for him (and a non-healthy one for everybody else, lol.) Can't believe we survived a year! Looking forward to going from surviving to thriving as a parent and mama.

Aaron and my anniversary is this month! Someone also volunteered to come over so that we could go out to dinner!! Yipee! And last week we got to go see a movie. Babysitters (especially free ones) are the best!

Well I am hosting a baby play group in a little bit- gonna go make sure the living room is baby proofed :)

Will try to write more this month.

In love........

Since I spent most of my last blog saying what was difficult about Mateo, this post will focus on how.....
I just love Mateo SO much. He is so precious to us. When he wakes up for the day with a toothy grin and a sweet coo, I melt. When he laughs and plays with us, I melt. When he nestles into your shirt as he gets sleepy and ready for a nap...I melt. When he holds on to our fingers and walks around the house...we are in love. We were watching Mateo feed himself a cheerio the other day and almost started crying....b/c this little baby that could not even eat enough to survive when he was born and had to have a feeding tube that they fed him my milk through...... can now feed himself.

I recently watched Fried Green Tomatoes with some of the ladies from my bible study. I had actually never seen that movie. I know, weird- right? Well if you have seen it... you remember how Ruth's dead-beat husband throws her down the stairs preggo. My blood boiled. Then he came back and wanted to kidnap the baby. My blood boiled even more. Every since Mateo was born, my motherly instinct to protect and defend had kicked in and I hate to see those kind of scenes in movies where the innocent baby is in danger..

I know I can't protect Mateo from everything in life, but that is still every mom's desire. And I can love him.... a lot.

Mommyhood

I was asking Aaron the other day why we had such a difficult baby. He said b/c God knew we could handle it. Aaron's usually right. But I still don't understand. We have been able to handle and endure quite a bit, by God's grace, but I am tired.

• My baby is 9 months old and still doesn't sleep through the night. Which means that I still don't sleep through the night. The pediatrician and lactation nurse says this is still in the realm of "normal".
  
• He's a finicky eater and most meals are trying unless they involve one of the favorite (banana, sweet potato, or avocado).
• He is not independent and requires a lot of attention. Which means he only plays for 10 minutes at a time by himself w/o needing my intervention.
  
• I have to choose not to do a lot of things b/c I know it's not something that I could bring Mateo to practically.
• He fusses, grunts, cries, etc. WAY more than any baby I have ever met.
  

It's a good thing that he is cute and that he smiles and laughs a lot now. And even though he is not a huge napper, he still takes two fairly regular naps a day- for an hour long or so. Which means I have at least 2 hours of Mateo-free time during the day.... my only saving grace.

I say all these things complaining about my child, but I also feel very fortunate for this bundle of cuteness. I am thankful also that we've tweaked our budget enough for me to be able to stay home full time this year. God has grown Mateo so much from the tiny 4 pound 4 ounce baby into a strong 18 pound baby who will soon be running around the house. Even though he is difficult, I don't think I could love anything any more. The heart of a mother overflows with love for her child. This really makes me understand how much God loves His children...even more than I love my child. AMAZING!

"The Father has loved us so much that we are called children of God. And we really are his children." 1 John 3:1

So I accept this challenge. Through sleep deprivation, hair pulling, biting, crying, and fussiness, I accept the challenge of motherhood....really not knowing what I'm in for in the long run. Maybe when Mateo is a teenager and goes through his "hating the parents" stage, I will wish for those baby days when he was so clingy and wanted so much to be with mommy all day long. Maybe.

Sushi

During the weekends I often get spoiled by my wonderful husband who likes to cook. I've been doing all of the cooking during the week this year since I am home- but on the weekends Aaron likes to do some cooking too. And lucky for me that he enjoys making Japanese food. I got to try a couple kinds of homemade sushi- inari (rice wrapped in bean curd) and sushi rolls with veggies in them. THEN..the next day I got homemade curry. Spoiled.

I am finally making time in the evenings to read my bible and write in my prayer journal again. It has been SO good these last couple of weeks. Aaron and I have been reading through Luke in the mornings (at dif. times)- but since my mornings are filled with baby babbling- it's hardly a "quiet time" with God although I still enjoy it. To have a relationship with someone you really have to spend time with them; to have a relationship with God you have to spend time with Him. So it's been nice to carve out a little bit of time once Mateo goes to sleep...the only time during the day when it is really peaceful. Aaron and I usually have our "quiet time" at the same time- but in different rooms. It has helped us to be accountable. I'm really enjoying reading the bible...and it's been a while since that has been true.
I take for granted that we have several bibles in different translations in our house. You can read the bible online (biblegateway.com) and you can even listen to the bible on CD or on an iPod. Growing up the only bible we had was a pretty one that sat on a shelf. I didn't have my own bible 'til high school and didn't really read this bible until college. Now I hope that I can never get enough of it.

We were reading yesterday that almost 50% of adults in Haiti are not literate. That is strikingly amazing and sad. Half of the adult population is not able to read the bible! Or anything for that matter! Other third world countries have high illiteracy rates, too, but Haiti was the highest that we noticed. Oh, how I dream to go abroad and teach people to read. Aaron and I contemplated going abroad when we were first married. Either that or have a baby. Obviously the baby won ;)

Gonna go run now. One month 'til our 5K. Should be fun.

Me time

Tonight I have a little baby-free and hubby-free time. We try to have Mateo asleep by 6:30 on Saturday nights (compared to 7 the rest of the week)lately so that we can get him up a little earlier and a am nap in before church. Last week it worked out...so hopefully we almost have the church schedule down. Still working on the nursery.

Anyways- whenever Aaron is gone and I am in charge of Mateo at night...I become extremely appreciative of my husband and that I'm not a single mom. I don't know how single moms do it. I did dinner, play time, bath time, PJs, nursing, song, bed. But then at 6:33 my sweet baby was asleep peacefully in his crib. Ahhhh....

So what will I do with my time? Blog between running back and forth to the kitchen, yes. Make Butternut Squash/Yellow Potato/Apple stew to freeze for Mateo...yes. Make soup for tomorrow's church lunch potluck...yes. Finish making my mixed bean soup...yes. And if I have any energy left after that, I will also remember how to thread my sewing machine. Mateo is short like his mama and all of his pants are too long for him. I have started hemming my own pants under by hand...accepting that I'm vertically challenged- but his pants would be so much easier to hem on the machine b/c they're not denim.

OH, and a few days ago Mateo started saying da da da da all day long...more indiscriminately, but it was still super cute (even though he has not said ma ma ma ma yet haha ;)

I didn't get to talk with HR this week b/c the lady was out sick. Next Tuesday will be the big day. My contract is due April 9th. I'm not worried about it miraculously. I've been praying about it and am confident and excited about what God will do.
¹ Lord, I give myself to you; ² my God, I trust you.
Psalm 25:1-2a

OK- stew is cooking on the stove, so I better finish this up. I've been wanting to blog about what I'm reading in Luke right now...but another time.

Things I love:
~A good cardio workout that gets my heart pumping
~Being outside
~Hiking
~Eating
~Watching Mateo laugh
~My papasan chair
~Teaching kids

Things I'm scared of:
~Driving through a car wash
~Large dogs
~Bees
~Theme park rides

Ponderings

So I am organizing the Easter activity for my church next Sunday. This week 500 balloons were stuffed with candy and goodies. Our fingers are a little sore. Thankfully, we'll be using air compressors to blow up the balloons in stead of our own breath! Should be fun- but it is a lot of prep work. Now I'm working on the prize baskets and soon Mateo and I need to go shop for some stuff. I'm also teaching the kiddos this Sunday- so I've been praying for creative ideas to make Easter more than just candy and eggs.
I sure wish spring break was wrapped around Easter. It's an even more important holiday to Christians than Christmas- but we get no time off for it! Bummer.

I am reminded recently that there are ALL sorts of moms out there. And as different as they all are- most all are good moms and their babies will all (probably ;) turn out perfectly healthy and happy. But sometimes I just have to laugh. I met a mom this week that actually wakes her baby up at night to nurse him. I heard of a mom who gives her baby turkey jerky when she's teething. Yes...jerky. Some moms use cloth diapers. Some moms use NO diapers. But really- everybody has the right to be the kind of parent they want to be (within reason of course) and follow whatever philosophy they agree in.... I think it's more important that we support each other than judge each other. I felt a bit judged by certain people when we were dealing with the first 6+ months of Mateo. It just wasn't easy to go places and do things. I got the, "Why don't you just do...." Or "Can't you just..." from a lady that had no business criticizing. Now I love tips and advice, learning and self-educating,etc....but there is a difference between helping and just being critical.

Teeth

Mateo is sprouting four new teeth. Exciting, huh? That's what I thought at first. Then I remembered that I'm nursing...and teeth are not a nursing mama's favorite landmark to hit. I haven't had any trouble so far with just the two teeth...so I'm optimistic that I can make it a bit longer. I hope I can make it three more months. We shall see! Mateo turns 9 months next week!! Crazy. Teeth sure make babies looks cute- so there is that! We have this little finger brush that we use on his teeth every day. My next job is to look into pediatric dentists. I found out that our dentist doesn't take kids 'til they're 10 years old!!

Tonight is date night. It was nice to reinstate date night once the colic subsided and once Mateo's bedtime became easier. Now every Thursday there is no homework, computer (Aaron is giving Mateo his bath right now...so this is my break :), no projects, etc. I think tonight we'll just kick back and watch a movie. We are, however, looking into hiring one of the high school girls from church to babysit for us so that we can actually go OUT for date night sometimes. Mateo goes to bed around 7:00...so we'd basically be hiring someone to come hang out at our house while he sleeps. I am giddy with excitement envisioning going to the movies, being downtown, playing tennis, etc. I do miss the spontaneity of going wherever, whenever. I'm also aware of how much easier it is now compared to when baby #2 (God-willing) comes.

I watched THE most annoying movie last week with Aaron. It was called Motherhood with Uma Thurman. It was one of the movies they had in RedBox..and all I knew was that it was about a stay-at-home-mom's crazy day. Thought I might be able to relate and that maybe it'd be funny. Quite on the contrary, it was a frustrating movie where this cooky mom creates havoc in her daily life by living in complete chaos with no structure/routines. For being a stay at HOME mom, she wasn't even home at all..and she just did everything the hard way. Aaron told me that if she was structured and had things together... then there would be no movie storyline. He's always right ;)

Maybe someday I'll write my own movie about Motherhood. I don't think I ever want to chronicle Mateo's first 6 months. I would never wish to relive those moments. Days when I knew for SURE that it would be much easier to be working full time and letting somebody else caring for our colicky baby. But somehow, by God's grace and mercy I stand here today alive. Alive and very sleep deprived, but alive just the same.

One last thing. I decided to join a Mom's group in my side of town. It's for stay at home moms and part-time working moms. Did you know that they even have an acronym for that? SAHMs. There is an abbreviation for everything. Anyways..I am excited to meet other SAHMs with babies or kids and be able to connect a little more. There is a "baby play group" next week.

More to write..but it's my turn in our tag-team bedtime routine.


"Sing to the Lord a new song for he has done marvelous things." Psalm 98:1

Tea

OK- so I am finally switching from Xanga (http://gabalonias.xanga.com/) to e-Blogger. Seems like it is easier for everyone else.

This morning was one of those mornings when you heat up your tea like three times but you never actually get to drink it. I just kept getting distracted.

I think daylight savings time is affecting us more than I thought! Mateo slept in today (which I'm not complaining about ;) but them our day schedule is tweaked. Good thing our schedule can be flexible.

Making baby food for Mateo has kind of made me realize that I need to eat healthier, too. Now I do have a generally balanced diet...but Mateo's diet rocks. Today, he will eat all of these different foods:
Brown rice, peach, banana, quinoa, yellow squash, carrot, sweet potato, and avocado.

Now that he's eating 3 meals a day and I mix and match, he's getting quite a variety. I should take such care in my own diet!! However, I'm often eating what is fast since Mateo requires much attention and I take it as my personal challenge to keep the house up while Aaron is at work.

I am tired. I am having some insomnia. Mateo slept pretty well last night...but when he got up around 4 to eat...he fell back asleep in like 3 minutes. I, however, fell back asleep in like 2 1/2 hours!! Grr.

It's almost time to make some big decisions about next year! I talked to my principal last week and he knows that I will not be going back full time. Now I gotta meet with the leave-of-absence lady to discuss possible part time options. I think that I will end up subbing b/c it is more flexible. One or two days a week would be plenty. We have maintained a pretty good budget and God keeps providing for us with tax return money, reimbursed furlough days from Aaron, extra pay b/c of claiming a child, etc. etc.

Grocery shopping.... check.
Laundry.... almost!

Gotta jet.