5 Things Monday

It's been a long day and I still have a lot of work to do, so I'm going to leave you with a short post today: 5 things on my mind right now.

1. I went back to my flamenco class today!!! And it feels awesome to have some time for myself and just dance the stress away!

2. I'm starting a new studying routine today. I have to take the LSAT (Law school admission's test) this October and since I'm a really bad test taker I need to study extra hard. I need to make it fun somehow because today I almost fell asleep at the library!!!

3. While I was studying today, my boyfriend texted me saying little J tried to crawl for the first time! CRAWL!! I keep thinking that any day now he'll start walking and talking and next thing you know he'll be going to college... yeah, it's too fast! Someone make it go slower please?

4. Has anyone been watching the world cup? The teams I was rooting for are gone now =[ Except for Brazil and Spain! Spain plays tomorrow so I'm getting ready to spend at least 3 hours glued to the TV...  I get soccer fever every four  years :P

5. I'm sooo sleep deprived right now, it would be nice if I could just sleep a whole day....

yeah, I promise to be back with something more interesting soon!
Hope you have a great week!
MJ

Happy 5 Months Julián!!

5 months of extreme happiness as I watch my little one grow more each day... 

I'M SO LUCKY!

Happy Saturday

MJ

My First Attempt To Stamp Carving

I'm going back to my Flamenco dancing class next week!! Finally! It's been fo-re-ver (since I got pregnant), and I feel like my body is craving some good rumba already!

I'm so excited that I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion on my agenda... and what's better than a Flamenco dancer silhouette stamp? So inspired by Geninne's Hand Carved Stamp Tutorial I decided to make my own!

I had so much fun making my stamp! It was easier than I thought too. And for being my first one I don't think it turned out that bad. I need to buy better ink pads though. 

I LOVE it! I bought some carving blocks for this one but I will probably make a trip to the dollar store this weekend and buy some erasers to make some more!

Hope you all have an excellent weekend!

MJ

5 Things Monday

Remember I told you how important it was for me to raise Julián in a bilingual/bicultural home? Well, I’ve been in search of kid’s books that would help and that are cute and enjoyable enough for both of us!

These are my 5 faves right now:

 

Illustrated by one of my favorite artists, Yuyi Morales, this book tells the story of the great civil rights leader Cesar Chavez told in the most inspiring and beautiful way. It's important to me that Julián becomes aware of social issues out there, and I also want him to know that you can overcome any hardship if you fight hard for your dreams and believes. I got the Spanish version, even though I don't like translations if I can read the original version (I blame my Latin American Literature BA for that), but I really liked this one. 

These two books are both written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book is designed to teach kids the alphabet in both English and Spanish and Just A Minute: A Trickster Rale and Counting Book teaches them the numbers in both languages as well. I really love the way Yuyi incorporates the Día de los Muertos tradition because it´s my fave holiday ever!! Super cute and fun books!!

Another book illustrated by Yuyi Morales (I LOVER her stuff!), and beautiful written by Marisa Montes. The book is written in Spanglish (mixing Spanish words with English),  great to introduce a kid to Spanish while having a great time.

This book by Jonah Winter has been on my must have list since I learned I was pregnant. It portrays Frida Kahlo's amazing life so well for a child! I can't wait for little J to be a bit older and learn about this amazing artist. Maybe he'll love her as much as I do. I got the Spanish version to keep a balance with both languages, but both books are very well written. 

There are so many other books that I can't wait to read buy my kid! What are you favorite children's books? 

MJ

Frida Brooch Giveaway!

You only have to look at my blog's name to know I LOVE Frida Kahlo!!! How I discovered her and fell in love with this wonderful artist is a long story I will tell you soon!

I always like looking at the little things people create inspired by Frida, like this brooch created by the talented and awesome Cara Carmina:

What's the best thing about it? That she's giving it away!!! Click here to enter in her giveaway. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

Have a good weekend!

MJ

5 Things Monday

Our day:

Hope you had a great day!

MJ

So I'm not Super Mom...

[image via]

Well, hello there!

 Yes, I’m still alive believe it or no! And I know I’ve been a terrible blogger, my apologies.

As you can guess from the title of this post I just haven’t been able to handle everything. Specially the month of May… it was hectic! We had something to do EVERY SINGLE DAY (except for the last Friday of the month when we canceled our plans and stayed home in our PJs all day!)

And even though we had a crazy month, it did make me think a bit about my new life as a mommy and how wrong I was when I thought I was going to be able to handle it all.

Before Julián was born I could swear I was going to be able to handle everything while taking care of him. I pictured myself being as productive as always, and maybe even more since I was going to be off from school. I bought myself books I’ve always wanted to read because I was so sure I was going to have all the time in the world to sit with a cup of tea and a good book for hours like I used to do. Silly me.

It’s surprising if I eat breakfast before noon these days or if I manage to clean the house before going to sleep, nevertheless get some studying time. I don’t really mind that Julián demands all of my time; it’s the least I can give him. I just feel a little bit guilty that I can’t balance all of my duties like all the super moms. I mean, I get all the support in the world from my boyfriend who even gets up to feed him every morning so I can get some sleep and takes over any time, he even cooks and cleans when I ask him to. And Julián is a really quiet baby! He cries when he’s hungry or he’s sleepy but the rest of the time he’s all smiles and sleep is great so far. And I still don’t get everything done? Hmm… I don’t get it…

I have come to the conclusion that super moms have a secret. My mom was going to college and worked three jobs while raising my sister and I, and my grandma had nineteen (yes 19!!!) kids! Someone please explain me how mothers can pull this off? There just has to be a manual I didn’t read somewhere because I don’t know how many mothers do it. It surely doesn’t help that I’m still trying to organize my time like I did before the little one was born: hour-by-hour. It is impossible to plan a strict schedule when you have a baby, and I seriously don’t know any other way I can do it. I started with daily to-do lists, that became weekly because I wouldn’t get half of them done, and now I don’t even have time to write the damn list!

This motherhood thing it’s certainly overwhelming! And I will appreciate if any of you reading this blog (IF someone actually reads it!) have any advice! Anything!

And if you were wondering, it took me about two weeks to finally finish writing this post… BUT

I did manage to get some time off last week and I went to see Sex and the City 2 with some friends, and besides from giving me a break it also made me feel a bit better cause I realized I’m not the only one! (I’m talking about Charlotte’s mommy moment; I couldn’t find the clip for you so if you haven’t seen it, go watch it!) And I also saw many mommy bloggers talking about the same thing so it definitely makes me feel better!

I have to get a handle of this mommy thing... SOON!

Mucho love and hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

MJ