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After a long, and somewhat depressing day at work, the best part of my day was getting home.

Family portrait by Bella

Yesterday Bella made this drawing of our family, and included Dieguito - the one with the spiky hair. There are some other extra random babies in it, but Bella said those were just the babies Sofia and her play with.

Cumple!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and in honor of that special date I dug out a picture from a few decades ago. I hadn't seen it in a while, but remembered it that morning and decided to share it with the world. My Facebook friends really liked it, and were very surprised about the resemblance with my sister and me - although I personally think that Gabi is the one that looks dead on like her.

After work and picking the kids up we stopped by my parent's house for a little while, to bring cake and flowers to my mom. It was late so it was a quick visit, but I didn't want the day to go by without giving her a birthday hug.

Crazy weather

Lately the weather in Cincinnati has been crazy, which probably doesn't help me recuperate from the nagging cold that has been consuming me in the last week or so. In the 14 years I have been living in Cincinnati, I don't remember it being so terribly cold before.

Out of it

I haven't been able to write much lately for couple reasons: I have been working a lot, and I have been sick. The crazy work schedule will continue for a while since I am in the middle of making a very important decision, but the sick part I hope will go away soon. It makes me tired and prevents me from working out, which is how I usually get my energy back.

Win-win-win

Tonight it finally hit me that Sofia can now read books for Bella. This is a winning situation all around because Bella gets to listen to a book, Sofia gets to practice her reading, they get to spend time quiet time together, and I get to catch a break!

Pink sky

This evening we had a beautiful, particularly pink sky in Cincinnati.

7 year old humor

Sofia: "Do you know what a kitten’s favorite color is?"

Me: "No, what is it?"

Sofia: "Purrrrrrrple" 

Monday morning

Tonight Bella got dressed by herself ... by putting on every color under the sun. We were running late - as usual - so I didn't even think about asking her to change again. After that, she still got the never to tell Sofia "I am the prettiest today" and "you look weird all dressed in white". Luckily Sofia defended herself - kind of - by telling her that we are all different and that is Ok. I told them they were both pretty, smart, and good sisters, and offered to take a picture of them.

Bella's snowman

Just because Bella asked me to take a picture of her with the snowman she made at school...

Cheerleading Clinic

Today Sofia went to a 4 hour cheerleading clinic because it was a fundraiser and some of her friends were going as well. At the end of the clinic the girls performed the routine they learned, which unfortunately was tainted by false starts due to issues with the music. But the girls didn't seem to care, and Sofia said it was a fun day. I even heard her practicing again after we got home, a sign that she really enjoyed it.

Kidz Bop 23

Yesterday Sofia asked me if we could buy Kidz Bop 23 because it has several songs she likes, including "gum-gum style". She even started to sing some of the songs, which she knew were on it because she saw the commercial on TV. It was cute.

Bella and the cherry seed

Yesterday Bella was eating cherries when she told me all of a sudden "Mommy, I ate a seed".

She seemed concerned, so I tried to reassure her by telling her "Don't worry sweetie. It will come out when you poop".

Turns out though, that was NOT at all reassuring for her. She seemed really scared, and started crying and telling me that she didn't want to poop. It took me a while to calm her down ...

About 20 minutes later she needed to go to the bathroom, and started crying again - she was still scared of the seed. I went with her to the bathroom, and stayed with her until she pooped. She then asked me if the seed was out, and I of course saw my chance. "Yes honey, it is out and you no longer have to worry about it", I said. And that was it. THE END.

New look

After 11plus years with the same kitchen chairs, we finally decided to upgrade. We kept the same table, but I spent a lot of elbow grease re-staining it in a darker color so it matched the new chairs we selected. We got leather chairs because they were nice and we thought it would be easy to clean them with the girls.

I really like how it all turned out. I feel it looks more "adult" - definitely an upgrade.

Sofia Recital Video

Sofia's Piano teacher just sent me the video for the piano solos during the December recital. Sofia's performance is the last one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe3ueOOWWZs&list=UUe62cHqL-Hs-6NQ6K7-BJ-g&index=3

First day back

Earlier today I was sitting at my desk physically there, but mentally not quite. I was distracted, struggling to focus, and thinking about the fact that being back at work shouldn't be all that bad. So I started listing in my head the things I like about work (big and small) other than the obvious part about getting paid. Good news is, I was definitely able to quickly come up with some:

• Having a reason to get up every day and dress nicely - something I likely wouldn't do if I stayed home
• Listening to the radio on my way to work - the only time I really do
• The intellectual challenge
• Being more than somebody's mom or wife
• Seeing my work friends and having another social outlet
• The pride of having a good job

20 bucks

This morning, as I was driving back from the grocery store, there was a man on the other side of the road just standing there in the cold, holding a sign. He was wearing old clothes, so it was obvious to me that he was either jobless or homeless, and was asking for help. As the traffic light turned green I started to drive away, wondering what his sign said, or how many people would even give him a second look, and how Lionel and the girls were at home waiting for me to go to my sister's house to cut Rosca and celebrate.

As I was driving away I felt very anxious about the thought of doing nothing - knowing that I could very well help. So couple traffic lights later I turned around and gave him a $20 dollar bill. "Thank you ma'am, God Bless", he said before I drove away once again.

I know many people may think that I am an idiot for giving him money. That maybe he is a bad person, that maybe he was going to buy drugs or alcohol, or that he doesn't deserve to get anything just for standing there. But the thing is ... nobody decides to just stand there unless they have a need. And sure, he could have bought himself some beer, but he could have also used that $20 to buy his only meal of the day. And I hope that is exactly what he did. If he didn't, well, that is on him.

Dia de reyes 2013

For many families the Holidays end right as the New Year rolls around. But for us, the Holidays are not over until the Reyes Magos (the three wise man) come, and the Rosca de Reyes is cut. And today, we did just that. The girls got their gifts from under the tree as they woke up, and even the rest of us got gifts from Tia y Tio when we went to their house. It had been a very long time since all of us adults got Dia de Reyes gifts, so it was an unexpected but fun treat.

Bella and Mami Time

Tonight, while Sofia and Lionel were watching their favorite cooking show, Bella and I had Bella-Mami time.  First she wanted to see pictures from when she was a baby ... as if she wasn't still my tiny girl. We danced in the play room to one of her songs, turned the lights off, and turned the disco ball on. She made me dance in circles, and kept reminding me that "She was in the front, and I was in the back". Given that we were dancing in a circle, that made me laugh. We then read "The very hungry caterpillar", even though I told her it was for younger kids, because she said she really liked that book. We then closed our evening by watching "Dora the Explorer" while sitting on the couch cuddling with each other. Those moments made me so happy...

There are multiple things I am going to miss about vacation, and spending endless time with my girls not worrying about hurrying them to bed, or getting ready for the next day, is one of them.

Last day off

Today was my last day off. I blinked, and just like that my vacation was over.

Pure Madness

Today I took the girls ice skating again. I was really looking forward to it, and I wish I could say that I had fun, but they really drove me crazy. Instead of enjoying our time together, they kept nagging me every 5 minutes about something else.

I want hot chocolate...
No, I don't want hot chocolate...
I want water...
I am HUNGRY. I am SO HUNGRY (nevermind that we ate like an hour ago)
I am REALLY thirsty (nevermind that I just drank like 5 minutes ago)
I want to take a break (nevermind that we just came back from another break)
No, I really don't need a break. I am going to skate
I need water again, I didn't drink enough last time
I want to take my gloves off, my hands are hot
I don't want my hat. It is not that cold out (even though it is probably below freezing right now)

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

4 Teeth

This morning I took Sofia to the dentist because she needed to have four teeth pulled. Her baby teeth hadn't fallen out, were not even lose, and we needed to make room for the adult ones. Eve though the dentist is great, these visits are never fun -and today was no exception. I was told she did great during the procedure itself - during which I had to wait outside - but started crying and having somewhat of a meltdown after the fact because the anesthesia made her head heavy, her feet wobbly, and her lips very dry. Eventually the medicine mostly wore off, she was able to walk with assistance, and we made it back home. At home she got some rest, took a nap, and was feeling much better by the afternoon. She asked to go to Panera for lunch, and by then her smile was back!

I am pretty sure the tooth fairy is going to be good to my sweet girl tonight...

Ice Skating

This morning we went downtown to the ice skating rink - one of the things I wanted to do during vacation - only to find out that it was closed until 2:00 pm. I was very disappointed because the girls really wanted to go and when I checked the website it said they opened at 10:00 am. So we went back home, and went about our day. But I wasn't about to give up that easily. After we ran all our errands I took the girls and Emma back there and I was glad I did!  Everybody did great, even me. Even though my intention was to just walk around helping Bella, I was told nobody was allowed to walk on the ice. So I had to get skates for myself as well. "Oh boy, this is NOT going to be good", I thought, but I didn't fall even once.

Sofia and Emma did well right away, but Bella wasn't confident and started falling all over the place. However, it didn't get her long to get confident and by the end I didn't even have to help her get up. She insisted on doing it all by herself. She also asked me to take pictures of her to ensure daddy saw how well she did.

Happy New Year to me!

This morning I woke up to this strategically placed, thoughtful, sweet note.