Stopping to Smell the Roses...

Since Eddie and I got together, We have been on a constant go go go…roller coaster ride, starting from our short 2 months of dating and quick 4 months of engagement which included a very heavy stint of pre-marital counseling. Eddie and I never really had a chance to sit back and enjoy life together as one, especially since we started our relationship off as instant parents of three kids.
During the time of my pregnancy and after Tristan and Kylie went back with there mom, we did have a good year to just to be us! But yet we were still constantly going … due to the excitement of the pregnancy and the adjustment to a life with no young ones, it kept us on our toes and kept us very busy getting to know each other from a different perspective. Once we had Kamilo … well that was an entire different Roller Coaster ride that I hope will continue for a very long time!


I think everyone knows how chaotic my life was before I met Eddie, I was constantly working, constantly volunteering and if I was not volunteering I was probably having a get together at my apartment or house-sitting someone’s animals or teenagers. So you can imagine I never really had time to just stop and smell the roses. Eddie has been constantly working on getting me to SLOW DOWN! Since we got pregnant with Kamilo not only has my work schedule changed completely so has my stress level! I do not work as many crazy hours and I have cut out a lot of my extracurricular activities. Now the wonderful part of this is I am learning to enjoy San Diego! Eddie, Kamilo, and I started walking at least every other night in Balboa Park, enjoying the scenery…which includes the Cactus Garden, Rose Garden,
and just walking across the bridge and taking in the beautiful Downtown Skyline! We have been to the Zoo many times with only a goal to walk around or focus on seeing a single particular animal.

We have walked around Old Town to enjoy the scenery. Since I have had Kamilo, I have learned to enjoy the little things in life and not stress about the minor things. To not overextend myself on pleasing people, or trying to be the best at everything. I have learned to accept things for what they are and not go crazy trying to keep up with everyone/everything. I just love my life, love my WONDERFUL husband, Love my AMAZING and miraculous baby boy! I am amazed and thankful everyday by what God has done for me and changed me into the Wife & Mother I am today!

San Diego Wild Animal Park and Mommy & Kamilo Art!!

Due to Kamilo’s rapid learning ability, Eddie and I decided to purchase year passes for the Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Eddie the wonderful Stay at home Dad takes Kamilo for a walk at the Zoo at least once a week while I am at work. Kamilo loves growling at the Crocodiles and watching the animals at play. While Eddie enjoys the plants and landscaping!

I just love the Butterflies! So every year in April they have a butterfly show, the year Eddie and I got engaged it was Butterfly and Orchids. Well this year since we had passes again I decided to take a day off work and make it into a Family day at the Wild Animal Park. I thought I was going to beat the long lines and large crowds by going the week after Easter. This did not work out for me, but we did manage only an hour long way for the 30 minute trek through the butterflies .

Well as we were walking to the butterflies I notices a cute little art stand tucked away, it had the cutest pictures of Hands that were turned into painting that looked like animals such as Giraffes’, Zebras, Monkey’s etc. Me of course always wanting something “Special” decided to ask if they could do a Frog? Once they said it was possible I jumped at the idea to make a hand print of our hands as Frogs. Well Daddy did not agree on spending the money on something we can do ourselves! So the only help I could get from him during this adventure was taking pictures. He did a great job of taking the pictures, I struggled with keeping Kamilo on my lap as they painted our hands green.



Now to explain why I chose Frog’s: I have always loved frogs, but once I found out I was pregnant a frog theme for Kamilo’s bedroom seemed perfect. At my baby shower I was completely buried in frog clothes for Kamilo! My best friend Leslie even bought me a sterling silver frog necklace less than a week before I gave birth to Kamilo. I have also always pictured an infant looking a little bit like a frog, especially when they are lying on their tummies and there legs are frog style with head up a little.



I do hope that one day Eddie, Kamilo, and I can look at this darling picture and have happy memories of my little frog baby!

Besides the sentimental art that I was able to take home that day, Kamilo was able to get up close to a Boa Constrictor, Watch and grunt at the Gorilla’s and see a lot of beautiful plants and butterflies.

I almost forgot about the funny story of the day. This is not a good story for people with weak stomachs. Kamilo had made a little present for us in the afternoon; I was waiting quietly at the Co-ed bathroom so we can team up on changing this messy diaper. Well Eddie decided the wait was too long and took off to the men’s bathroom by himself, he did stop and tell me I was trying to get out of changing the diaper. Well about 15 minutes later, Eddie still had not come out and I was getting worried. Men were also coming out of the bathroom with a look of disgust on there faces. So I decided to call Eddie and check on him, well Kamilo had an explosive diaper! Poor Eddie stranded in the Men’s bathroom by himself trying to undress and clean up Kamilo all on his own. He ended up bringing me Kamilo with only a onsey on and he had to go back into the bathroom and clean up the mess that was made! The funny part about this is Eddie is always telling me to be patient, he is the calm one and I am the impatient one. Lesson Learned "Patience is a Virtue"

Easter, Cousin, Running and Beach Play!

Kamilo’s first Easter was not as I pictured it, but we did make the best of it. We went to the Good Friday Service at my home Church. Then the plans that we had made for Easter Sunday fell through that Saturday Night at 9pm. So we woke up in the morning went to church as we had already planned. The service was beautiful; I have never been to a Catholic Easter Service before so it was a new experience. It is such a weird feeling to know that next year during this time I will be going to that Ceremony in a completely different perspective. I am planning on attending RCIA classes this year and converting to a Catholic Christian. Eddie my husband is Catholic and we have decided together to raise Kamilo Catholic, so I have decided to attend the classes and see where God leads me. So after the service we went to my Brother in Laws house and met my little sister there with Kamilo’s Easter basket. Kamilo got to spend some time with his Aunt Landra, and Cousin Nolan. I got some great pictures of the boys going through there baskets, including some of Kamilo feeding Nolan the Easter grass. It is always nice to get them together! That night Eddie and I went home and had a quiet Bean and Cheese burrito dinner celebrating and reflecting on how much God has done for us in the past years of our marriage.

Alan has been spending his entire breaks down in Mexico with his Mom, but before he left we were able to celebrate Easter with him. Instead of an Easter Basket, I decided to use a Backpack instead. He has been asking his Dad for a new backpack for awhile. So instead of giving him a bunch of useless candy and trinkets, I stuffed the backpack with items he needs. I followed my Mom’s tradition and put in a Bathing Suit! Then I added some small stuff like a belt, underwear, some toys he enjoys, and of course with Alan a little money. I was trying to fill every Zipper Pocket of the Backpack with something! I think we had a good Easter Celebration with Alan. He is in a year round school so he gets a month off and should be returning home on the 4th of May. Kamilo does miss his brother very much when he is not home.

Kamilo has progressed so much on his walking; he can balance and kick a ball over and over again. I have a video of him doing that just one week after he was fully walking on his own. The other night I was in the bedroom preparing for bed and I set Kamilo’s two bottles on my nightstand. Kamilo comes up behind me, grabs a bottle and runs around the bed giggling. It was so adorable! I did not realize that he can run! So the very next day when Eddie brought him to my work for lunch, we set him down to show the office his walking ability and again he took off running around the office!

Kamilo loves dogs! When we go for walks and he sees a dog, he will make a barking noise in a very deep voice. He does the same thing with his doggie book; he pets the dog in the book and makes the same barking noise. I am trying to get it on video, but he gets too interested in what I am doing instead of making the noise. One Sunday at church there was a dog in a car barking at us, Eddie pointed it out to Kamilo and this time Kamilo surprised us both as we were walking away by saying “Doggie”. He really amazes us everyday by everything that he picks up! He will mimic everything that we do!

This past Sunday after Church, Eddie, Lalo and I did not want to go home! So we were going to try and go to Earth Day at Balboa Park but the traffic was crazy so we decided to go to the beach instead. It was a Hot beautiful day and Kamilo loves the water! He has never been to the beach before so I was super excited. We went home and picked up Kamilo’s bathing suit and headed down there. It was super crowded so we had to park about a ½ mile away. Kamilo’s first reaction was shock when the cold water hit his feet! He was amazed to see the waves hit him, no matter how cold the water was he just kept dragging us down to the water. Kamilo looks white, but he definitely has his Dad’s skin! In the car we put sunscreen all over Kamilo except where his shirt was. When we got down to the beach we lost the sunscreen, so I took the t-shirt off and still let him go down in the water but I kept a very close eye on him for any pinkness. An hour later I put his T-shirt back on and then a half later in the sun, I started to Panic and put a long sleeve shirt on him.

After an afternoon in the hot sun, my legs look like lobster claws and Kamilo did not have any pink on him! He tanned beautifully! It is funny because even Eddie’s brother Lalo got Pink on his back but not Kamilo. Lalo was the one who spent most of the time with Kamilo down by the water and in the water. Even though Kamilo has a great tanning ability Eddie and I have both agreed we still need to keep sunscreen on him to protect him from the harmful sun damage.

Kamilo at 10 Months ...Walking, Laughing, and Curls!

I can officially say that Kamilo is now walking! It has been a long 4 month process but he now has the skill to walk across the living room. He does fall quite often, but as long as he stays calm and does not get to excited he can make it across a room! It is very sad because I will be in the Kitchen and look around for Kamilo, he will be walking across the dining room, I get excited and start cheering, he gets excited because I am cheering for him and then he falls on his bottom!

Two days before Kamilo turned 6 months, he started to crawl. Two days later Kamilo has been standing up on the side of the couch without help. He also started pulling himself up in his crib and cruising along the crib railing. Kamilo got more experienced at the cruising from furniture item to furniture item in the living room and greatly mastered the skill of crawling by 7 months. We all thought he would be a walker by 8 months but nope he was happy just crawling and cruising. We have video of Kamilo taking about 3 steps just before he turned 9 months … but I think the max number of steps Kamilo took was tens steps and he looked like a little drunk man walking with Mommy or Daddy right above him just to catch him when he topples. The week before Kamilo turned 10 months he was growing more and more confident, the spaces between the couches got farther and farther apart and we would catch him standing in middle of the living room standing up chewing on a toy. The Friday (2 days) before Kamilo turned 10 months, we noticed the he was walking without looking for the next object to grab onto. On Kamilo’s 10 month birthday he was walking all over the house taking strides to go to the next room on his own without the furniture! This is such an amazing time in our little boys life, to watch his confidence grow and see the smile on his face of how proud he is that he is walking. He gets so excited all giggles and laughs when he makes it to his determined destination.

Not only is Kamilo’s personality taking its form, his features are becoming more defined. People are commenting that Kamilo looks more European then Mexican (Eddie) or whatever I am (Portuguese, Irish, ect ect.)! He has beautiful long eyelashes, and curly reddish brown hair. I feel as if the curls just appeared overnight one night! One day Kamilo barely had any hair, and then the next day he was sporting a backside of curls!

Kamilo at 9 months

I think I want to start every blog out with the words WOW!! It is such a mystery on raising a child. It is hard work, and there is such a large variet of feelings and emotions involved! you have your moments where you are so tired you want to cry and you have your moments that you want to cry becuase of how much pain your baby must be in! Then you have the moments where you get butterflies in your stomach becuase you never thought you could love someone so much! And yes again those feelings make you want to cry! It is almost like reliving the day Eddie and I got married over and over again! At that moment in my life I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love Eddie, then came Kamilo! 9 months ago this baby boy was bumping around in my belly and today he is ... EVERYTHING! With Eddie, Kamilo and Alan in my life the world seems to have gone into a warp zone! Some times it goes by so fast and other times it stands still and I feel as if I am frozen in time holding my baby boy in my arms or kissing my wonderful husband.

This past week has been so hard on Eddie and I, Kamilo came down with his very first Stomach Virus on Sunday night! It was a horrible time, he just cried and cried and could not stop using the restroom, his fever even spiked up to 102.3 at what time! Then he would not eat for almost 2 days .. I think he lost 2 pounds .. and after two trips to the doctor and one midnight phone call, he is a little better. But .. he now got a cold from a boy in the doctors office! His throat is sore and he is sooo still not feeling good after a week. We also believe a couple top teeth are coming in because everytime he bites down on anything he cringes. He just cries and tears are in his eyes and all I can do is hold him and hum in his ear his favorite song. Then he calms and sleeps and sleeps restlessly. My poor baby boy! I think the most difficult part of motherhood is watching your child be in pain and not knowing what to do or what is hurting him!

More Stuff ...

Ok, so it has been over a month since I blogged last, I need to try and do this more often. Well a lot has happened in the last month. Kamilo has not been growing as fast, luckily he is at a stand still at 12-18 month clothes. I think he is still weighing in at 26 pounds. He now says Hola Mamma, Hola Pappa, Hey, Habla, Blah blah blah and Ba Ba. Then the phrases I here are I want Mamma and I love you. I am sure these are just a mothers love thinking that is what he is trying to say. :) He tries really hard to talk! When you tell him no, he looks at you at says HEY! Then grunts and does it again until you redirect him. He is AMAZING and we love this active boy very much.

Kamilo will now cruise around on the furniture, he does go from furniture item to furniture item with no help. The problem is he reaches and sort of jumps for it, which involves many falls. He is a stong boy, when he falls he does not cry unless he really hurts himself. This is always sad when he cries, he likes to call for Mamma when he hurts himself. He can walk while holding a single hand from Mom and Dad, the second we let go of his hand ...he falls. Kamilo thinks it is fun to hold onto the couch or the railing of his crib, let go smile and Fall Backwards!OHHH BOY! I am going to be so scared once he starts walking! He is very adventurous! I also have to say he falls with grace "Normally" he will land softly onto his bottom, he definately knows how to fall without too much damage. He loves to explore, he is not afraid to run off on his own. It is very scary because one time Eddie was telling me that he could not find Kamilo. When he found him, he had crawled into his bedroom closed the door, went into his closet and was playing the guitar. Eddie only knew where to look becuase of hearing the guitars sounds. This all happened in under a minute! Kamilo loves music! He prefers orchestra music! He likes to play his piano, and even enjoys strumming the guitar. It is so adorable when I come home from work! He will ALWAYS greet me with a big smile and arms up. I pick him up and he grabs me by the ears and with a lound GRUNT he kisses me with a big open mouth right on my lips! I just love my baby boy! Kamilo now has two bottom teeth! He loves to eat cherrios, oranges, beans, gerber puffs, Broccoli, and all types of baby food. He eats three times a day with baby food with snacks inbetween. He still wakes up almost every four hours on the button for a feeding of 6 ounces. Eddie and I tried weening him down to 4 ounces but then he woke up every two hours. After a couple nights of that we decided to go back to 6 ounces. He does still sleep in bed with us, we start off by putting him in his bed he will last until 1am sometimes. Then he wakes up and sleep right between Eddie and I. We normally wake up again at 5am for a feeding, I ussually make the bottle and Eddie feeds Kamilo the bottle then he falls back asleep in Eddie's arms almost instantly after the bottle is done. Then he will wake up again around 7am when I wake up to get ready for work. He normally wakes up because he is literally sleeping on me Cheek to cheek. This morning when I woke I think he was sleeping completely on on top of my face. His mouth was almost on my mouth, his cheek on my forehead. It was humorous while I Eddie was trying to help me get him off of me. Eddie had a hard time becuase Kamilo had decided at that point to wrap his arms around my neck because he did not want daddy to take him away. This was all while he continued to sleep! Alan had been doing magnificently! When he came to live with us he was barely reading at second grade level. Just last week when he was tested he was at a 6th grade level. He is doing it all on his own! At first he struggled and needed my help but after less than a month in school on a regular basis his homework is already finished before I get home from work! I am very proud of him! It make me sad that he still goes hom to Tijuana every Friday to visit with his mom and his other brother, I don't know why I am so jealous of his need/want to visit his mom every weekend. But then again if it was Kamilo having to go back and forth it would be a different story. I just wish that Alan thought of me as more of a mother image. Valentines day is special for Eddie and I, not because of the Holiday but because it marks our anniversary of when Eddie and I had our first kiss and decided to start dating. This year marked the 3rd year that we have been together. When I got home from work Eddie had beautiful roses sitting atop our dining room table and a brand new pair of shoes for me, that he had picked out on his own. What a nice surprise! Not bad considering he is a stay at home dad, and is still adjusting to the wonders of taking care of a baby and household all by himself! Well one of the things that Eddie likes to do with Kamilo during thier time together is go to Balboa Park and watch the glass blowers in the Spanish Villiage. As a surpise for Eddie I purchased him a two hour glass blowing class! The class actually took place on Valentines day! In the two hours Eddie was able to make a paper weight and a drinking glass. Eddie was so excited and happy about this Valentines day surprise!

Day at the Park! and Misc. Milestones!

I have decided to try and post something at least once a week! Mainly because Kamilo of course is doing some very cute things tonight ..Like right now he is sitting with Eddie and repeating tones....Eddie says he he he ..Kamilo repeats it in the same tone (sort of) and the same Rhythm.....So darn adorable ...

Ok ...update on Kamilo time!! He is 21 Pounds ..no teeth fully out yet! (His two bottom ones are peeking through!..Wears a size 4 shoe ..and is 27 inches tall..

So on Saturday we went to the park...On Sunday Kamilo decided to clap for us! And then Monday when I left for work....Kamilo waved goodbye to me...Fully knowing that he was saying bye bye (In the past he was clearly mimicking!) Ahhhh the things that can bring tears to a mothers eyes!

Kamilo is growing so fast ..it is hard to keep up. This weekend Eddie and I took Kamilo to Fiesta Island, there is a park down there that we use to take Alan, Kylie, and Tristan to all the time! Well this weekend was the first time with Kamilo. We had a lot of fun! It is really nice now that Kamilo can enjoy going to the park! My favorite part was the sand! He was so intrigued by the sand!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wow ...it has been very crazy since Kamilo started crawling at 5 months..just two days after he took off crawling, he started standing up in his crib, then he figured out how to stand up and cruise along the furniture in our living room! Recently at barely 7 months he has picked up some words ! He now has a vocabulary of Mamma, Hola and Hey! We are not exactly sure if Hey means Hi .. but it sounds more like Heeyy! Such a cutie he is growing up so fast!! He understands the Spanish phrases of Donde esta tu Mamma? and Donde esta tu Papa? He does know the difference of which one of us is Mamma and which is Papa? This has just happened this past couple of weeks! He understands Spanish more than English! He knows how to communicate what he wants with grunts, groans, smiles, and body language. I need to teach this beautiful baby some sign language. He is TOTALLY destructive ...

Everywhere he goes, he wants to take everything apart! He enjoys getting into anything and everything! He loves crawling to his toy box which is hidden and pulling out all of his toys one by one! He gets to the diaper bag and takes everything out of it ... He loves to chew on Mamma's purse handles every chance he gets! If we leave a magazine or piece of paper within his reach, he enjoys tearing it to shreds! We have tried keeping him to the confines of the Living Room .. but he Loves to explore and follow us around everywhere ... he is Mr. Independent and does not mind wondering off to the bathroom or the two bedrooms! We now have to keep all doors closed because HE IS FAST! He Loves to wrestle with Papa and his Uncles, and loves to climb around a pile of pillows. He loves to kiss his Mamma! Fight with Papa over the remote control. He has recently decided that he does not like eating baby food! Screams the entire time, we do not know what we are going to do because we can't feed him table food yet because he has no teeth! Well a lot has been happening since he started crawling ... It has been hard to keep up! So to break it down a little... He Crawls, Sits up on own from Lying down or crawling position, rolls over both ways, cruises along furniture, can stand up on own from any item on floor, can walk on knees in upright position, can stoop from standing position to pick up toys, Can hold his own bottle, can pick small pieces of cereal and eat it, understands the word no! Yes all of this in such a little bit of time. My wonderful little boy, what am I am going to do with him growing up so fast!! I can just go on forever and ever! Well hopefully I will get more time to update my blog more often, but it is very difficult since he has decided he stays up till 10pm. YIKES ...he also does not sleep through the night he wakes up at least once for a feeding between 2am and 5am, then goes right back to sleep, he even decides when he wants to sleep with us or when he wants us to put him back in his crib! I know not good sleeping habits! I would rather him sleep with us, but he likes to sleep in his crib on the warm nights! He is such a good boy! He only cries when he is hungry or sleepy or lately when Eddie and I can't understand what he is trying to tell us, but that is more of a frustrated whine instead of a cry! Ok .. that is it for now on Kamilo!

Eddie and I are doing good... still struggling on one income but we are both Thankful that I have a job and we have the ability to let Eddie stay home with Kamilo. I think it is the best thing for our little boy to have a parent home with him every day! It is worth every struggle! I am so happy and Thankful for my WONDERFUL husband! I come home from work and almost everyday the kitchen is clean, bed is made, laundry is done, and Living room vacuumed and picked up! All I have to do help make dinner! He is absolutely amazing, I have been so blessed with a wonderful husband, wonderful Step Son, and beautiful baby boy!



Our Christmas and New Years was simple but blessed!

Unfortunately Alan was not with us this year, he has spent his winter vacation down in Tijuana with his Mom, we can't wait to celebrate Christmas with him when he gets home on the 18th of January! Alan is doing very well in School! He is caught up to 5th grade level and won a Good Citizen Award! The teacher talks very highly of how quickly Alan is catching up! I am so proud of him!