My 1 year old!

Julian Jan. 26th, 2010

As of 2:09pm, my Julian is officially 1 year old!! I still can't believe it's been this long, time just flies by!

We are  a couple of young parents and when we were expecting we were told countless times that our lives were "over". But to be honest, we've never felt so alive!! Mr. S and I were talking about this a few days ago, about how even though our life has changed completely we're happier than ever. We might not go to out three times a week like we used to, or sleep until noon, but we're the parents of a wonderful boy and wouldn't change that for the world!!

Our 1 year old!

Julian had his 1 year check up today, (and also got some shots =S ), and fortunately everything is fine. He's a small boy, he weights 20.12 lbs. and is 27 1/2 in. tall but he's healthy so that's what matters. After his doctor's appointment we went out for breakfast and he enjoyed some yummy apples, apple juice, eggs, and toast. We also got him some new sippy cups because he can't let the bottle go!!! And some yummy "toddler" snacks and meals. 

I will miss my baby but I'm very excited to see what this new stage brings us!

We're having his "lucha libre" birthday bash this Saturday! yay! Will tell you all about it after, of course!

Mucho love,

MJ

Mother to a 1 year old...

My little baby turns 1 tomorrow!! ONE YEAR OLD!!!! wow, I can't believe I'm the mother of a toddler now!
And as he grows, I know his meals also have to change. I've been looking online for healthy recipes for toddlers but I'm not really liking them! Sooo, I'm turning to you bloggers... do you know any quick healthy meals for 1 year olds???
Please share and help this new mama out!!
very muchas gracias =)

MJ

Things Mr. S says

Mr. S and I after he saw the inspiration boards for the wedding:

Mr. S: "A burro?, we're having a donkey for our wedding?"
Me: "hmm.. sure, it's a mexican wedding so I don't see why not!"
Mr. S: "you're not the virgen MJ!"

LMAO

Wedding inspiration boards!

We don't have a wedding date yet, but I've been looking online for inspiration!
I want a mexican-day of the dead-Frida Kahlo wedding... yeah, weird, I know! We're definitely non traditional, so theme really suits us! There will be no white fluffy princess dress, no black and white tuxedos, no rose petals, and definitely no pastel colors! I want lots of bright colors, handsome guys in guayaberas, a beautiful dress hand embroidered in Mexico, and a bunch of sugar skulls everywhere! Fortunately, I'm not alone since I've been finding amazingly beautiful inspiration boards online with all my wedding themes, yay!

Some of my favorite are:

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ohhh so pretty!! I decided we're going to DIY as many things as we can. Mainly because we want a low budget wedding, but also because I know that it'll be unique and very special!

Can't wait!!!!!

MJ

Organizing Diaries: Like, really??

So... that whole waking up early plan thingy?? hmm.. didn't work! It turns out my phone was on silent so I didn't hear the alarm, ha! REALLY????
(note to self: always make sure that the alarm actually works!)

Fortunately the kid woke up 15 minutes before his usual waking up time so I didn't wake up that late... and I managed to get to work 5 minutes before =D

I didn't get to do that "to-do" list; I managed to write down some stuff at work when it wasn't busy but I will have to do it right now. That list is getting done TODAY!
I'm exhausted, wish I could go to bed now but I have to pick up some stuff and get staff ready for tomorrow...

Hot dogs for dinner...

MJ

Organizing Diaries: Will I make it??

I used to be an organizing freak. My schedule was done a week in advance, I never missed a deadline, and my college work was usually done a few days before it was due. And my room was always organized and clean, all neatly labeled and color coded... oh, how beautiful it was!

Since Julian came into my life, counting the months I was pregnant, my life turned 360 degrees... During the pregnancy I was alway too exhausted and sleepy that I started procrastinating and being disorganized. Now the kid, my job, my school, my hobbies, my home, everything keeps me too busy to get back on track. My life is hectic and chaotic. I've missed important deadlines, I can't find anything, and I even sent a payment TWICE to a credit card because I totally forgot I had send it already. And I won't even tell you how many times I've been late to work, or how much time I've wasted looking for my keys... it's pretty embarrassing!

I want to be the organized person I was before, I want to enjoy my day stress-free and have extra time to enjoy my family and myself... I want my life back!

My boys are already sleeping, and here I am, browsing the internet for the "perfect" organizing tips that will bring me back up to my feet. But I think it's all another excuse to procrastinate more, thinking that if I don't find what I'm looking for I can't never do it. Truth is, what I need is right here, I need to stop looking for excuses and just get things done! I think I'm too scared of facing all the work because I know it'll be overwhelming at first. But it's about time I stop whining and start acting. I decided to blog my "organizing diaries" as an attempt to have something to look back to and see what's working and what's not. I would usually use my personal diary or planner for this, but God knows I won't read it again or even get motivate it to keep writing.

Take a few moments and remind me I need to get organized, will you? It would help so much! and if you have a few tips feel free to share them! I'm desperate and will try anything right now!

My alarm is set up 45 min before than my usual wake up time, I plan to use that extra time to write everything I have to do down so I can see what has to be done when and all that jazz... Wish me luck, the snooze button is too tempting!

MJ

Spanish Friday: Nuestro Día de Reyes

Ayer celebramos el Día de los Reyes Magos en familia. Lo que más me gusta de los días festivos como este, es el compartir con la familia. Charlamos y nos reímos por horas, acompañados de una buena taza de champurrado y rosca de reyes!

La rosca de reyes estaba deliciosa! Por lo general, las que compran en casa son muy secas y sin mucho sabor, pero esta estaba rellena de crema que complementaba los sabores de los frutos secos encima. Dentro de la rosca se esconden muñequitos de plástico que simbolizan al niño Jesus. Cada miembro de la familia parte un pedazo de rosca y al que le toque el niño tiene que preparar un cena para el Día de la Candelaria (Febrero 2). También se dice que encontrar el niño Jesus en la rosca significa un año lleno de bendiciones y buena suerte. Mi mamá y mi hermanita fueron las afortunadas este año!

Después de partir la rosca, cenamos unos deliciosos tamales! 

Pero por supuesto, la estrella de la noche fue mi Julián que se persiguió a Leo (el perrito de mi mamá) por toda la casa solo para darle un beso!! Este niño cada día me sorprende más!! Por alguna extraña razón Julián esta obsesionado con Leo, en cuanto llegamos a casa de mi madre lo único que quiere hacer es jugar con él. Al parecer a Leo no le gusta tanto la idea como a Julián... hmmm...

Espero que todos hayan tenido un excelente Día de Reyes!
Y si no lo celebran, pues que su día haya sido muy exitoso!

Hasta pronto!

MJ

Día de Reyes, Three Kings Day

I've always celebrated Christmas and Día de Reyes in January. We weren't even done playing with our
Christmas presents when the Reyes came around! We would leave our shoes by the Christmas tree on
January 5th, along with a letter to the Reyes and the day after woke up super early to see what they
brought us! It was like having two Christmases! LOL
In some countries and other areas of México, the shoes are left by the window... don't really know why! (if someone does, please tell me why! it's been hunting me for years!)

Yes, we were very lucky to get double presents each holiday season! Thanks to my hardworking mamá =D
My mom always said that baby Jesus left a bigger present on Christmas, and the Reyes a smaller one. I know this also varies tho! When I was living in Spain found out that Día de Reyes is even more important than Christmas.

Anyway, I'm used to having all the Christmas decorations up until after Día de Reyes... but Mr. S took
them all down yesterday :( Since he has never celebrated it, he thinks it is just a holiday I made up to
get more gifts :P
Julián still got a small present for Reyes though, because I want to keep the tradition ;) And, I will makesure the Christmas tree stays up until after Reyes next year.

We will go to my mom's house tonight to cut the Rosca de Reyes, so expect a post all about it
tomorrow!


¡Feliz Día de los Reyes Magos!
Hope they brought lots of love, health, and peace to all of you!


MJ

*update* I don't know what's up with blogger, but the spacing is all messed up and I can't fix it! Sorry!

He asked...

And I said yes <3

LOVE my blue bling bling!! LOL

Mr. S and I are engaged!!!!!!

=D

I have a problem with the RAE...

RAE stands for the Real Academia Española, the academy that gets to decide any grammatical changes in the Spanish language. Well, these people come out with new orthographic rules and changes like every freakin' year!!  I mean, seriously?? I'm speaking as someone that has a degree in Spanish, it's hard to keep up with all these changes!!

That the "ll" and "rr" are not part of the Spanish alphabet anymore, that you're not supposed to use accent marks when writing in all capital letters... blah, blah, blah....

AND Starting this year there are new changes, or what the RAE calls "recommendations" that affect Spanish language. (Read all about it here, sorry the article is in Spanish!)

Unnecessary changes if you ask me!
I'm submitting a paper to a magazine at the University Complutense of Madrid, and just when I thought I was done I'm going to have to go back and make sure it includes the new grammatical recommendations... ughhh I'm pissed off!!!!!

Is the RAE that bored that they have to come up with the new stuff just to have something to do??  Listen, señores de la Academia, you can't just wake up one day and decide that you want to erase accent marks of some words!! Do you know how long it took me to learn those freakin' accent rules???!!!

Plus, they've been suggesting that the letter "ñ" should be removed from keyboards in order to make them more "universal"... I think they actually wanted to get rid of the "ñ" altogether at one point! That is nuts!!!!

Today while  doing some research on the grammatical changes, I found this video that makes fun of the "ñ" dramma... funny!!




Anyway, just needed to vent ... thanks for listening!

MJ