Monday Consulting

1st grade

2011-08-30T20:02:00.003-05:00

Isabella is loving 1st grade. "Mom, 1st grade isn't hard; it's just like Kindergarten." Apparently she had some expectations of it being more difficult. She has homework now, which is a change and she is diligently doing. We are only 7 days in.

We changed up our routine and are walking to school and Isa is riding the bus home (glorious since we are the bus stop and I don't have to wake Anna Teresa from her afternoon nap).

Diego was just as excited as Isa was to start 1st grade that he even got in all the pictures. He loves the just built, new school that Isa is going to and hugged Mrs. Khoury on the first day.

6 years old

2011-08-10T17:53:00.003-05:00

She is SIX! She is going into 1st grade. She is a very good big sister. She helps out a lot. Today, for example, she made her bed and then her brother's (they share a room) before coming out for breakfast.

She lost her first tooth when we were staying at a neighbor's house (b/c our a/c had gone out) and her second at my sister's house the day before her 6th birthday. While playing at the pool of course. She wouldn't let anyone pull out her teeth. They had to basically fall out on their own. Amazing she didn't swallow them!

She loves music and ballet. She loves the beach. She is in tune with every conversation you have despite her looking like she's doing her own thing. She has always asked a lot of questions. She's still a climber and loves doing the monkey bars (has been for over a year now).

She loves her family and is wanting her cousins to be near her. Lucky for her, she has her very first cousin coming soon (my sister is pregnant and expecting next month!).

Anna Teresa Oliver - 10months

2011-08-07T22:33:00.006-05:00

We love her. She's sweet. She makes everyone smile. She says hi. She has a ton of teeth considering she's one of our kids. She got her first one at 6month and her 7th one is coming in. She eats like a champ. She's our first normal crawler. She sleeps well. She's not a complainer. She's happy. She smiles a lot. She's been to Mexico, France and Tennessee -- in that order. She traveled like a champ. She's been to the beach twice. The second time she ate a ton of sand! She's loves using her pincer grasp. She likes to eat and isn't very picky. She is adored and loved by her older siblings. She is Isabella's best buddy. She is going to be another climber. She can say ga ga ga and ka ka ka and hi. She won't even attempt mama. She doesn't like going to the church nursery.

George Henry Hargreaves 4.2.1916 - 9.5.2009

2009-09-14T09:25:00.003-05:00

My grandpa passed away recently and my grandma is very ill with brain cancer. I grew up very close to my grandparents and spent nearly every summer there as a child. I was named after my grandmother and like to think that she and I are similar in a lot of ways. I greatly admire my grandparents, the life they led and the marriage they had. Below is the obituary that will be in the Logan newspaper which is a very good glimpse into the life of my grandfather.

George Henry Hargreaves passed away peacefully on September 5, 2009.

Throughout his life and distinguished career as a civil engineer, he was deeply concerned with the dignity of each human being and the future of humanity. He tried to make people aware that we are globally interconnected and that actions in one place have global consequences. In particular, he worked in more than thirty countries to ensure that future generations would have food and potable water. He is internationally famous for developing the “Hargreaves Method” of predicting crop water requirements. In his later years, he promoted the use of renewable energy, focusing on sustainable development and strategies that could benefit all of humanity.

George was born in Chico, California on April 2, 1916. He spent his high school years in Ukiah, near the family farm in Redwood Valley, California. In 1939, he earned his bachelor’s degree in soils from the University of California, Berkeley and a civil engineering degree in 1943 from the University of Wyoming. In 1943, he married Elizabeth A. Gardner, who died in 1947. In 1951, he married Sara Romero Sevilla in San Jose, Costa Rica.

During WWII, he was a naval officer in charge of activities related to mine warfare and sonar research. After the war, he worked in soils, irrigated agriculture, and water resources development for various governmental agencies – civil engineer U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Sacramento, CA, 1946-48; reclamation engineer, Greece 1948-49; engineer for the Agency for International Development in Costa Rica, Peru, Haiti, Philippines, Brazil, and Colombia, 1950-68; chief civil engineer Natural Resources Division Inter American Geodetic Survey, Panama Canal Zone, 1968-70.

After retiring from government service, he joined the staff at Utah State University as an irrigation research engineer, 1970-86; research professor emeritus, 1986. He authored World Water for Agriculture, 1977; served as lead author for Irrigation Fundamentals, 1998 (Fundamentos Del Riego, 2000); and wrote numerous technical papers published in professional journals.

In 1997, he received the American Society of Civil Engineers’ prestigious Royce J. Tipton award. This award is made to a member who has made a definitive contribution to the advancement of irrigation and drainage engineering through notable performance and long years of service. The “Hargreaves Formula” for estimating evapotranspiration is used worldwide. Since the 1950s, he has been listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the West, and Who’s Who Internationally.

When George moved to Logan, he became a member of the Logan Kiwanis Club. He enjoyed playing bridge, and was a man of few words with a great sense of humor. George is survived by his wife Sara, four children (Margaret Stolpmann, Sonia Hart, Mark and George Leo Hargreaves), six grandchildren (Darwin, Thea, Sara Carolina, Sofia Cristina, Frances, and Oliver) and four great-grandchildren (Renée, Isabella, Dimitri, and Diego). He is preceded in death by two sons, Ronald and Henry.

Memorial contributions in honor of George H. Hargreaves may be sent to the College of Engineering Irrigation Program, Utah State University, 4100 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4100 or at www.usu.edu/giving.

Per his desires, there will not be a viewing. Interment will be at a later date.

Mexico Vive

2009-07-17T13:53:00.003-05:00

Mexico Lives - that is their advertisement campaign currently. Mexico has been hit hard - they are in an economic crisis, their tourism is down due to narco traficantes, the pig virus, and crime.

I've got news for you folks! Mexico is the place to be! It is a beautiful country, filled with gorgeous beaches, friendly folks (not just my family), delicious food, economical, and best of all, a hop skip and a jump from Texas. Seriously - a 2 hour flight later and you could be on a paradise beach!

We went for two weeks this summer. My sister, Isa, Diego and I went down June 29th, Bret and my dad joined us July 3rd and July 4th we celebrated US Independence Day by driving to Acapulco from Mexico City.

Coming from a good Mexican family, my dad is one of eight children, thus providing several cousins for us. We went to many outings at various homes of different families and had a great time seeing such a great city. I didn't get to play tourist too much in Mexico City because of all the family visits, but next time I want to take the kids to Xochimilco, the pyramids, Bazar Sabado, the Children's Museum (it's HUGE), and several other fun things of the sort.

While we were there, we enrolled Isabella in a little school where she attended for a week. She went with one of my cousin's sons. She LOVED it. She thought we were moving there and asked for specific things for her birthday party.

TANGENT: She is obsessed with her birthday and talks about it all the time. She tells you that she will be turning 4 on the 2nd of August and that she will be eating cheetos, chicken nuggets and cheese for her birthday. She's going to have strawberry cake and she is going to have a princess pinata. We (her parents) will sing to her and that will make her birthday complete. Her biggest illusion though is not to be 4, it is to be 5 - she thinks that 5 is very big and then she will move out of the house because the house will be too small for her. At 5 she will get to climb the climbing wall at the gym (something she asks about every single time we go).

Back to Mexico...our gracious hosts were my cousin, Karla with her husband and three children, and then in Acapulco, my aunt has an awesome condominium (if you want to rent it, let me know!).

Diego loved the beach, but it was scary how much he liked the waves and getting pummeled by them. I looked like a delinquent mom out there because he would let go of my hand and run straight into the water and giggle the whole time until a wave came and knocked him down.

Isabella also loved the waves, but she was more careful and always was held by an adult (mostly her Tia Fia) and went a bit deeper into the waves and liked the feeling of them with the sure grasp of an adult to keep her safe.

We went to see these crazy divers dive off of a huge cliff. It's very famous and called La Quebrada where 7 divers took either regular dives, back dives, or flip dives off the cliff into an active part of the ocean.

All in all it was a great vacation where Isabella was exposed to the culture I grew up with, and it gave her a wonderful opportunity to hang out with all Spanish speakers and cousins relatively her own age. It was one of the best vacations Isa has ever had. She's still talking about it.

Diego's Update

2009-06-23T22:49:00.003-05:00

A medical update on my sweet, cuddly, thumb-sucking, big deep dark brown-eyed babe, Diego. Diego has been off the weight curve since October of 2008. Our pediatrician took into consideration our history (our family history doesn't indicate giants or obese folk) which made us not worry very much.

But, after seven months of Diego continuously weighing in only at 17lbs. (going further and further away from the weight curve), we were referred to a GI specialist. I felt that I am privileged to live in Houston - a medical city with some of the best doctors at my back door - and therefore I should do my due diligence (so to speak) and check further into Diego's lack of weight gain.

Some history: He went through a severe bout of colds this winter which caused him to basically throw up on and off for about 4-5 months. A very unpleasant experience. He also was only drinking soy milk because he was strongly intolerant of cow's milk. Aside from these things, there was nothing indicating a cause for Diego's lack of weight gain. He's pretty normal and pretty active. He eats more than your average toddler (which is exactly how Isa was and continues to be).

Well, after multiple tests of crazy, uncommon diseases - celiac panel, RTA, cystic fibrosis and several others, the doctors haven't found anything. Diego's tests have all come back either negative or normal. I have therefore put a stop to any more tests. My baby is tired of being poked and prodded multiple times (some by very good nurses/techs and some by terrible nurses/techs which made it all the more miserable).

My pediatrician who has been in practice over ten years says that he has seen a handful of kiddos who did this - and then went back on track to their curve (wherever they were on the curve to begin with...in our case 5%). I am no doctor and have not a science brain, but I am taking stock in this and just chalking up his lack of weight gain for so many months due to his increase in activity and his genes.

Diego's last weight check was 2.5 weeks ago at which time he had finally gained weigh and was up to the most he's ever weighed - a whopping 18lbs. 11oz. Mind you he is 17 mos. old and Isa who was considered very small weighed 18lbs on her 1st bday. We have not been able to turn Diego around in his car seat despite his legs being all scrunched up like a wee frog.

So all this to say that Diego is fine. For those of you who were keeping up, thank you for your prayers. We are very much at peace with his health and are thankful for healthy children.

Mexican Playdate

2009-06-22T20:05:00.002-05:00

Today I helped two different friends who were in a bind. They both happen to have 4 year olds. I, therefore spent my afternoon with three pre-K kids and Diego.

Amaya arrived first right after her school got out (3:15pm). She brought her own two dolls - a very good move considering Isa owns one doll whom she rarely pays attention to.

Some history: Isabella is the mother of four children - Pinkie, Bluey, Fabiola, and "I knew her name once, but now I don't remember." Keep in mind that Pinkie and Bluey are hugely overstuffed bunnies that my sister's boyfriend, Nehman gave Isa and Diego for Eatser. Miss No Name is a rollerskate doll that Isa fondly calls her sister and frequently prays for. I'm sure folks at school thought Isa really must have had another sister since she talks about her frequently.

Amaya and Isa proceeded to play most of the afternoon with the two dolls that Amaya brought - they took them outside to swing, fed them, put them to sleep, read them books, etc. At 5 o'clock, Isa's neighbor friend, Jordi (pronounced Yordee for you gringos) came over. The three of them played outside, played doctor and asked for lots of snacks. I've become cooler in the last year and actually had some jell-o that I made and some jell-o pudding snacks of the chocolate variety that were a big hit. The best was the three Pre-K'ers keeping the chocolate pudding snack away from the lil munchkin, Diego.

Amaya left at 6:15. Jordi and Isa continued the extended play date. Currently, Isa and Jordi are playing house. He's the dad, she's the mom. He is very concerned about the steaks they are buying at the grocery store. I am cracking up as I type this. She's concerned about where they are going to dispose of the egg shells, and that they need to find a trash can. Their children (the two huge bunnies) are hungry and they are about to feed them. They have gone to the grocery store several times (I guess they forgot some things the first time).

Jordi was picked up around 8:15, so the 5 hour play date afternoon is over for Isabella. What a great afternoon!

Feliz Dia del Padre

2009-06-21T17:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day.

What a privilege it is to have a father who is alive and a part of my life and to have an awesome husband who is the father to my two beautiful brown-eyed kids. I feel so blessed that I have both today. We have some dear friends who have not had children and my heart aches for them that they are not parents. God has his ways and his reasons though we may not understand or agree with them.

For the Father's Day weekend, Bret's folks came into town. They had the annual Austin- Bryan/Perry family reunion. For those of you not yet indoctrinated, Bret is a descendant of Stephen F. Austin's sister, Emily. Stephen F. Austin never had children, so Bret is as close as you'll get to Stephen F. Austin these days. These folks are Texas proud, y'all. Bret is 8th generation Texan thus making our children 9th generation Texan (despite their foreign-born mother). We were unable to make it to the reunion as we opted to go to two very fun birthday parties that Saturday.

We were, however, able to celebrate Father's Day with Bret's parents by going out to dinner at our neighborhood Carraba's which we frequently walk to since it is just a few blocks from our home. We enjoyed our dinner with some delicious sangria. We went to church Sunday morning and then out to eat at Pei Wei with Bret's folks before they headed out to what my dad fondly calls their paradise. They live on the lake and it is beautiful there.

And now for a tribute to all the papas:

Abuelito tito Juan, Papi - Juan Ignacio Guadalupe Alonso Aguerrebere (otherwise known as Sara Carolina's dad): He is so stinkin' funny, he tells it like it is, he is mus-cu-lar (have you seen those biceps?), he has so much energy he makes me feel old, he makes the best eggs and brisket and he calls me his clone. Hmm, not sure I want to be a man's clone, but hey, I think it's a compliment, right?

Bret Austin Oliver Learned - otherwise known as Papi in our house. Have you ever met anyone more patient or easy going? Pretty hard to beat. Isa has tested him. He is so loving, so not complaining. He will come home from a long day of work (and I mean long) and still want to be with his kiddos and play with them and read and read and read (have we mentioned that Isa is a book nerd?). He is hard working, he doesn't require much (so nice as a wife to not have a high maintenance husband!). I love him and am so grateful to have a husband and a father to my children in him.

Floyd Louis Oliver - otherwise known as Grandpa. He makes funny faces at Diego. Isa likes giving him hugs. He makes the best pancakes and omelets - that alone is reason to go to the lake.

Thank you for being an active part of our lives!

Weekend by the Bay

2009-06-08T21:06:00.009-05:00

The Olivers Go to San Jose

It's me, Bret, back for my second guest appearance post on Monday Consulting. True to my nature, I'm going to describe our recent Bay Area trip in short and sweet order. Thanks to my mom, the little kids stay in Houston, and the big kids go to San Jose.

Thursday

Sara to Stanford shopping center with Tia Evelyn, champion shopper

Dinner at Blake's, the formerly happening steak restaurant, with Tio Fred and Tia Evelyn

Friday

Downtown San Jose

Jog to Plaza Cesar Chavez and around downtown

Late breakfast at Peggy Sue's

Stroll through the farmer's market in San Pedro Square

Tour St. Joseph's Basilica Cathedral

Fries and brews at O'Flaherty's

Cruise up I-280 to San Francisco

Check in to hotel in Union Square

Dinner at Medjools, Mediterranean tapas in the Mission

Good hangout time with cousins: Mary Edna, James, Sophie and Julian

Saturday

Breakfast at Sears Fine Foods: great french toast and eggs benedict

Head across Golden Gate

Hike and picnic at Mt. Tamalpais: Gravity Car, Old Mine Road, West Point Inn, Nora, Mt. Davis and Hogback home

Drive back to San Fran

Dinner at the Stinking Rose in North Beach, home to everything garlic

Coffee at Cafe Trieste

Meander around North Beach, out Broadway to Embarcadero, down to Market Street, back to Union Square. Grab another beer at Foley's Irish pub, watch the 20-somethings dance it up to dueling pianos.

Sunday

Drive back down to San Jose and fly home, always sad to end a good trip.

Photography Subjects

2009-04-28T21:28:00.004-05:00

Back in April I took Photography 101 at the Leisure Learning. We received our spiffy digital SLR camera a year ago and I feel like I know so little about how to take full advantage of how to use it. Part of it is that I want to get a cool big lens to take better close up pictures. But, part of it is that I think I need to practice more. But, that requires time and diligence, like everything else.

Here are my subjects and some photos with my manual setting. Clearly I need to continue practicing. If you look beyond the high over exposure, you will see my adorable cuties, Isa and Diego.

PS. Isa is wearing a blue bow because she insisted that the dress was blue and that a blue bow was in order. The funniest part was she got so many compliments at church that morning on her PURPLE dress that by the end she conceded that her dress was not in fact blue.

Pascua 2009

2009-04-13T10:48:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter! We had a great family-filled weekend in San Antonio. We started our weekend by going over to a friend's house for an Easter egg hunt. Isabella and Reese had a great time finding eggs, re-hiding them and finding them again. Meanwhile, Diego would sit for good whiles at a time entertained with just one egg. Matson on the other hand couldn't sit still and loved going for the dirt or anything that wasn't good to put in his mouth. Friday evening we drove to SA and arrived to freshly made pound cake that my mom made. Can we say yum?

Saturday morning I was given one of my favorite treats - time alone with a book, a cup of coffee and a comfy chair. Nani took Isa to the park while Diego napped. Bret went golfing with his dad. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend you read Nap Time is the New Happy Hour. It's hysterical.

Saturday afternoon we went to the Easter egg hunt at my parents' church, Holy Spirit. It was a cold, drizzly, gloomy day, but the kids had so much fun. The hunt was well organized into various age groups. Isa was a pro this year. Uncle Christian had a blast as well. After the egg hunt, there was a race involving spoons and eggs that you pushed on the ground. Christian called it mini-golf. The best was saved for last - pinatas. Isa loved hitting the pinata and has become quite proficient at it after so many parties lately. After all the candy gorging, we went to the gym to work out. I don't think the kids really worked out though because when I went to pick them up from the Child Center, they were comatose in front of the TV watching Enchanted. So much for getting exercise in!

That evening my mom made a scrumptious meal of pesto shrimp pasta, spinach salad, and flan. Abuelito-tito Juan, Tia Concha (my dad's sister who came in from Mx City), Tia Fia, her sweet boyfriend, Nehman, and Uncle Christian all came over to enjoy dinner. We had a great time hearing my Dad's ridiculous jokes and playing cards after dinner.

Easter Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of Christ by going to Mass and then going to Abuelito-tito Juan's for a non-traditional Easter meal of brisket, delicious guacamole and other delicious goodies. Uncle Christian provided the entertainment by setting up a pinata that he made from platic cups. Mee-maw, Grandpa, Uncle David and Bret's sister, Susan and her dog Puck all joined us for the afternoon festivities as well. A good time was had by all.

Hit the ground running!

2009-03-21T07:49:00.003-05:00

We came back from our ski/visiting gparents trip to Utah and hit the ground running. It was Spring Break, so we filled our days with fun-filled outings. All of which included animals. Apparently if you live in H-town, you need to pretend you're not city folk on your days off.

Monday we went to the RODEO! We scored some free passes, free parking passes and a free tour to the rodeo! We went to the livestock part and even saw two calfs being born. New life is always amazing - such a miracle. We went with two of my good friends, Hilary and Kim and their offspring. The older kiddos had a great time running around holding hands, checking out chicks, and running AWAY from us. Lucas had already become a pro rodeo goer, so he was excited to show Reese & Isa the tractors. The kids had a blast climbing all over the place on the tractors and pretending to be driving on a farm. Sadly for them, their parents don't know the first thing about running a farm. Diego, Matson and Jonah were good sports and basically stayed in their strollers the entire outing without making much of a peep!

Tuesday I had to work, so the kids didn't get an exciting outing.

Wednesday we went to the zoo. A word of advice: DO NOT, I repeat, do not go to the zoo during Spring Break. It was a complete ZOO. I have never seen so many people in one place. I think I got the last semi-legit parking space. We arrived early and met up with Erin B. and Hilary and one of my high school friends, Milena who had just recently gotten back from a 9 month trip around-the-world. Milena was such a good sport pushing Matson's stroller around and indulging us by letting us talk about our kiddos galore. We gave her lots of advice: sleep as much as possible, enjoy your cocktail, sleep, watch movies, sleep, go out to eat, and sleep some more.

Thursday we went to the Houston Oil Ranch with our Spanish play group. Isabella rode a horse - she was very adamant about riding the horse and not the pony. She refused to milk a cow. She paid attention to the talk about the utters and where milk comes from. But when it came time to actually milking the cow, she completely wimped out - even when bribed with stickers. She also refused to feed the cows. Diego on the other hand loved it and squealed at the cows coming up to our wagon. The best part we saved for last of course - the train ride around the pond and more farm animals. Isabella really enjoyed it and wanted to go on it again. We had to jet as Diego was soo ready for his nap and I had to get ready to go to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert that evening.

Finally it came to Friday and Isa woke up asking me where we were headed that day. Umm, nowhere sweet pea. Mama is TIRED. We stayed in and didn't get out of our pj's until the afternoon. It was a much needed catch up day. I think three big outings in one week is plenty.

Isa takes her family to Utah

2009-03-16T21:34:00.002-05:00

Papi, why is it cold in Utah?

Papi, why is there snow in Utah?

Papi, why is Utah far from Houston?

Papi, why isn't the man in his seat?

Papi, why did the man come back from the restroom?

Papi, why did the man leave the plane?

Those are the sounds of traveling on a plane with Isa to Utah, pretty much like that nonstop for 3 hours. But of course, it's a small price to pay to spend a relaxing week in Utah and teach Isa how to ski for the first time. Not to mention, answering "why?" questions is much easier than Mom's task, which is to calmly hold Diego for three hours. Hand him to Dad, no way, Diego won't have any other seat than resting comfortably in Mom's arms.

So, on to Monday, Isa's first day at the slopes. Sara's Uncle Mark kindly drives Isa and me from Sara's Grandma and Grandpa's house, up Logan Canyon, and up to Beaver Mountain. It snowed that whole day, so it's always good to have a local personally drive you through the canyon leading to the slopes.

Let me tell you why I love Beaver Mountain - best snow on earth (or so the locals advertise their Utah snow, and I have to agree it's fantastic), lift ticket for half price ($38 for the day) and $19 for skis (or free to me, thanks to Mark for letting me borrow from his personal ski closet). Pretty much can't beat the skiing and snow for the price.

Ok, so back to Isabella. Mark drives us up the canyon for Isa's lesson at 12:30, and what happens? Isa takes a nap for the first time in like 6 months! I am ready to go and she's sound asleep and snoring in the back. So, ok, I will go check out the lift tickets, rentals for Isa and the Wee Ski class for 3-5 year olds. Ooops, the wee ski was at 10 in the morning. No matter, I will take a few runs and then Isa can take a private lesson.

And I'm back... and Isa's still not awake so Mark has also taken to her idea for a brief nap. One more run and then back to grab Isa. No more sleeping, it's time to ski. She's got her gloves, mittens, hats, and she is ready to get those skis on. Papi, why can't I put on the skis in the lodge? Isa, it's because... never mind, let's go.

Off she goes with her instructor, Deb. It's snowing and pretty cold, but she's a trooper (both Isa and Deb). Down the hill to the flats, learning to put on the skis, and then over to the tow rope lift. Isa is skiing! Then over to the big lift and down Gentle Ben, Beaver's easy green. That's it for the hour lesson. Seems like not much, but I can attest, when you're teaching a 3-year old, it's a slow trip down the hill.

Now it's Tuesday, my turn to teach Isa to ski. Good thing I've been practicing skiing backward in a wedge in a hunched over position, oh wait, I'm a tax accountant. But I'm loving it, watching Isa ski, her goggles taking up most of her face. It's slow, but fun. Ok, my turn, I say as I ski a few feet away; and now it's your turn, Isa. And we go again, but this time there is no movement from the 3-year old. What's wrong, Isa? Papi, es que no quiero hacer, Whoa! What, I ask? Es que no quiero hacer, Whoa! Ah, now I get it, "I don't want to go, Whoa, Daddy! Translation: I want to ski between your skis, not by myself. So, back I go to the reverse hunched wedge position. Isa is loving it, skiing between Daddy's skis with her head leaning way back. Make a pizza pie, I say, but it's no use at this point. She's figured out the easiest way down the hill. And of course, I'm delighted to help her get the ride of her life. What fun I had teaching Isa to ski!

We'll be back next year, and hopefully, she'll be one of those little torpedoes who makes no turns from top to bottom. And I can return to facing downhill...

El Zoologico

2009-01-31T16:42:00.004-06:00

This morning, our good friends the Buntings gave us a ring and invited us to go to the zoo with them. We had no plans for the entire day and quickly agreed. Bret was excited for a nice family outing. Before agreeing though, I did quick investigative work on what the weather would be like. I am a Texas girl through and through when it comes to the weather and if it seems too cold, I don't like going to the zoo. But, the weather (through my Mac dashboard) was supposed to be in the high 60's or low 70's today and completely sunny. This only meant one thing - it was a perfect zoo day. And it was.

Erin and her family have always been so good about packing picnic lunches or snacks - you know, how your family did growing up and don't go out to eat. They actually use rest stops. I had actually kind of forgotten about rest stops until Erin re-introduced me about 3 years ago. I grew up going to rest stops - my family loved and I mean loved road trips - from Mexico to Utah. That is not a short road trip! All that to say that Erin suggested that we pack a lunch and blankets and have a picnic after the zoo. I did just that - pb & js all around with some fruit on the side. My husband and Isa think that pb&j's are a complete treat and love them. Me, I'll eat them, but don't exactly get all excited about them.

Once we arrived at the zoo and stood in line forever to renew the zoo membership (if you need to do so, make sure you get the Apache 10% discount they're currently having), we were able to join the Buntings to see the meerkats, bears, elephants, lions, monkeys and most exciting of all - a baby giraffe. A baby giraffe that was born YESTERDAY. And it is walking. The animal kingdom is amazing. Here I am still toting sweet Diego in a stroller or in my arms because the child won't even stand on his own and this baby giraffe is walking and he's not even 24 hours old!! Amazing!!!

Ella and Isa had a blast playing and seeing the animals together. After the zoo, Bret left to go in to work while the Buntings, the kiddos and I stayed on to have a picnic beneath a shady tree. We stayed there for hours! And I mean hours. We did not leave until almost 3pm and had been there since before 11am. What a fun day. The girls just played and played running around, chasing squirrels, telling them, "shoo squirrel, shoo!", and pretend feeding Ross who was a very hungry giraffe. What a great day!

Dos Manos

2009-01-30T14:35:00.004-06:00

Ayer cuando hibamos al club, Isabella me pregunto, "Donde viven los cocodrilos?" Le dije que en el agua. Y luego me dijo que tambien viven donde vive Peter Pan y que se comieron la mano del Capitan Garfio. Y le dije si, el Capitan nada mas tiene una mano a lo cual Isa me respondio - pues el Capitan va a tener que comprar otra mano por que se necesitan dos manos. Y continuo a decirme que en las tiendas venden manos asi que el Capitan va a ir a la tienda a comprar otra mano.

Learning Through Osmosis

2009-01-26T14:00:00.003-06:00

Heavy Sleeper

Isabella has been a great sleeper since she was born. She was sleeping "through the night" starting at about 7 weeks old and has never really stopped. It is awesome. She is such a heavy sleeper that recently Bret and I assembled her entire bedroom furniture complete with hammering and loud voices while she was sleeping. She barely even stirred. She is also the funniest sleeper. We bought her a lovely bedroom set which she was initially very excited about and quickly assigned the other bed to her good friend, Macy. You'd think since she was so excited about her new beds, that she would use them. Nope, she prefers to sleep on the floor - usually on her nap mat, but sometimes just straight up on the wood floor. Comfy, huh? Who needs beds when you've got solid wood underneath ya? Isa frequently reads to herself before going to sleep. We often find her with a book in mid page on top of her face. I guess she thinks that she will continue absorbing her story if she doesn't let go of her book. Sweet girl.

Cumple de Diego

2009-01-10T12:46:00.001-06:00

Diego's 1st Birthday

My sweet baby turned 1 on the 9th of January. He is such a sweet little prince as my Argentinian friend Carolina likes to say. He still has those big deep dark brown eyes that I love looking into. He has gotten very proficient at saying papi and mami. Erin B. and Tia Fia claim that he says his own name perfectly. I have yet to witness this of course. He army crawls all over the place and has gotten faster at it. He talks constantly - all babble that is indistinct. Usually with sayings like, "meya, meya, meya."

He is completely obsessed with balls. He will be entertained with one or two balls for very long periods of time. We had to finally adjust his crib to its lowest setting because he is starting to pull up. He still loves the jumperoo and jumping enthusiastically in it. He loves watching his older sister do anything - especially during meal times. He loves being outside and really enjoys swinging. He's the cutest thumb sucker and has a preference for his right thumb. He hates getting dressed - especially if you pull a shirt over his wee little head. He has had 4 hair cuts because he has the thickest fastest growing hair ever. Big sis will be so jealous in a few years. He still loves baths - probably one of his favorite activities. He swims all over the place on his belly while getting at different things in the tub. He is mesmerized by the water I pour out of the cup.

He dropped off the chart for weight and is at a whopping 17lbs. We can't turn him around in his car seat yet. He eats like a champ though, but is definitely particular about his foods. He likes his apple sauce at room temperature. He likes yogurt - but only the kind with berries. The plain kind with bananas that we give to Isa he spits out. He loves chicken soup with rice and veggies and some days will eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Currently he hates eggs, which we will continue trying to give him since they are so good for you. He only drinks out of a cup and can only drink soy milk since he has a severe intolerance (or allergy) to cow's milk. Diego only has his two bottom teeth but we think he will soon have two top ones on the way. He can chew crackers perfectly with those two teeth though with animal and honey grahams being his favorite.

He sleeps solidly through the night, but has been a pretty light sleeper. We of course can't help but sneak into his room (and Isa's) every night before we go to bed and sometimes (ok it used to be a lot of times until recently) he would wake up and I would have to cuddle with him (poor me) before putting him back to sleep. Lately he's stopped waking up as much when we make noise, so we're thinking maybe he is part of the family after all. Isabella is an extraordinarily heavy sleeper and always has been. Bret & I have been known to sleep through a 4 alarm fire that was right across the street from where we were living. So, to have someone who wakes easily in our family has made us wonder if he really was an Oliver.

31 years old

2008-12-28T23:24:00.001-06:00

My sweet husband turned 31 on the 28th of December. As mentioned earlier, December is a busy month in our household with all the birthday and Christmas celebrations! Bret has two friends who have his exact same birthday - Damon and Ross. Damon was even born in the same hospital in Houston, Texas! Happy Birthday to Ross & Damon.

To celebrate the occasion, we went to dinner with Ross and his wife, Erin - my friend since middle school. We went to violin camp together and then went to high school together. The memories! We went to a local restaurant, Mark's which we have only been to once before (on the company's dime - that is the way to go if I do say so myself) and enjoyed a deliciously scrumptious dinner. Check out the matching tie Ross wore - the Buntings are so matchy matchy!

Thankfully Bret's folks were still in town from Christmas and watched our kiddos while we went out. Free babysitting is always a huge hit in our household. Bret scored some cool gifts this year from his folks. He got a rifle (I'm sure it has some fancy name but for those of us that didn't grow up around hunting, I know very little) to go deer hunting with his Pops next year. It looks fancy and dangerous. His uncle gave him a generous gift card to Best Buy which will help buy Bret's Wii. Need to get on that!!

Christmas Mail Out

2008-12-26T19:53:00.002-06:00

Feliz Navidad. I love receiving and sending out Christmas cards. Albeit it's a bit difficult to get a good picture, come up with a poem, have everything printed out and sent out all before Christmas. I'm not sure when the picture phenomenon started with the Christmas cards. It seems to me that growing up we received Christmas cards that had something hand written in them and perhaps a family or kid picture included. More and more we are steering away from anything that is personal or hand-written and only including a photo. I have mixed feelings about this. I enjoy the picture, but it seems so impersonal if you don't write anything in the card. Don't get me wrong, ours is impersonal; I only hand wrote on two Christmas cards this year and those were to out of the country cousins. The rest of our mail out received the following poem that my husband whipped up.

2008 in the Oliver household to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Good tidings we bring to you and your friends

Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We moved from our old West U. house,

and headed west to find a new house

we unloaded all the boxes right after New Year's.

Not long after we arrived there

we quickly had good news to share

Diego joined our family on the ninth day of the year.

Isa gives bro a hug and pins him to the rug

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sara handled the glorious commotion

Bret got a new promotion

We are thankful for our family and blessings this year.

Sara's 30th birthday

was a thrilling and special way

to close out our exciting year with family and friends.

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin

Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Feliz Navidad

2008-12-25T22:26:00.004-06:00

We had a very joyful Christmas with all of our family. Traditionally, in Mexico Christmas Eve is celebrated much more than Christmas Day. Typically we would go to a relative's home and have a lot of food late at night - say around 9/10pm. Once the eating was done, we'd head to Midnight Mass. But, we live in the States and we have young children so here we went to the 5 o'clock service at our church, Christ the King Presbyterian and then headed for some grub at our friends, the Batchelders' home. We enjoyed singing carols and listening to the 7 lessons being read at church. After socializing with fellow church goers, we got home and set out oreos and milk for Santa Claus along with corn and veggies for the deer.

Christmas Day we woke up to hear Isabella all excited that the deer had eaten their food and two of Santa's cookies. Santa had only eaten one. Mee-maw & Grandpa, Uncle David, and Susan came over for breakfast and opening presents. Tia Sofia and Nani (formerly known as Abuelita Sonia) spent the night with us. Isa had really been looking forward to helping Diego open his presents. That is all she would talk about therefore she could barely wait for Diego to wake up from his early morning nap.

Grandpa Floyd cooked us a delicious breakfast of whole wheat pancakes which we all enjoyed very much. Diego has become very good at eating with his fingers and rarely eats the pureed food anymore, so he particularly enjoyed the pancakes and couldn't get enough of them. Isabella was mostly interested in the syrup (pronounced sarahp).

After reading many stories from her new books to Isabella, and Grandpa drawing many a princess for her, we started getting preparations going for Christmas dinner. Abuelito tito Juan made his grand entrance in time to make his delicious cream of carrot soup. We ate cheese & crackers, olives with some tequila shots while waiting for the pork loin to cook. We then sat down for a delicious meal of carrot soup, apple rosemary pork loin, french green beans, garlic cream cheese mashed potatoes, salad, and eventually much later in the evening some coffee and an array of desserts including Jack Daniels pecan pie, almond crusted cheesecake and grasshopper pie.

It was a wonderfully relaxing day filled with family. By the late evening we played cards, whilst watching cheesy movies and having good conversation. The men solved the world as Mee-maw likes to say.

Twas The Night Before Christmas Eve

2008-12-23T21:51:00.000-06:00

Twas the night before Christmas Eve,

And all through the house

Not a creature was stirring

Not even a ... wait a minute, there's a possum in the attic!

The leaves of the tree

were all droopy and dry

Not even the sugar water

Could keep it alive

The freezer and fridge were losing their cool

and the ice was melting into a large pool

With only hours till our family arrives

What will we do, what will we provide?

A decrepit tree and food that is rotten

I'm sure that this Christmas will not be forgotten!

Los "Tas"

2008-12-13T21:52:00.000-06:00

I have officially entered the thirties (known as los tas (from treintas meaning thirties) in Spanish). To commemorate the big day, we threw a birthday bash at our house on my birth date. We had such a blast. Having a December birthday is not always the most fun because people are always busy with the Christmas hustle and bustle to remember December birthdays. As it happens, we have several family members with December birthdays. Bret's uncle David - 12/1. Me and my mom, Sonia - 12/13 and Bret on 12/28. This December though....everyone came out for the festivities and enjoyed a good party in my honor! Here's how the party went down:

The Chef

Marisol Isabel Edwards. A close friend of mine who graciously offered to do all the menu planning, shopping and best of all, cooking for the party. The food was amazing. Thank you, Sol!

The Bartender

Juan Ignacio Guadalupe Alonso Aguerrebere (i.e. Abuelito-tito Juan). My dad has always enjoyed a good drink and has a great bar in his home. If you ever find yourself in the San Antonio area, you should always stop in for a drink. His specialty is rum & coke with lime or tequila with lime. We are Mexican after all.

The Music

We had several compilations put together by professional music listeners. Jonathan Edwards, Ryan John Dolibois, Gladys Ileana Ortiz de Arakelian, and Alison Pauline Brown. I love music, but am terrible about artists and knowing what's hip. Good thing I have friends who are in the know!!

The Scene

Good friends + Good food + Good cocktails = Good times! About 50 pairs of feet walked through our front door. We enjoyed the night eating, talking, drinking, talking, dancing (mostly just me), singing, and having an all around good time.

Reflection

Recently, Tricia Zucker asked me, "How do you feel about turning 30?" To which my answer is as follows:

I think it is really different being in your 30's. For me the last decade has been the most change I have experienced. When I turned 20 I was a junior in college, had just started dating Bret, did not have a career, lived from the mula my parents gave me and had no real responsibilities to speak of. Now that I am 30, I have been married for 7+ years, have bought and sold a house and bought another home, have two children, have graduated from undergraduate and then law school, and have a career. That's a lot of change in just 10 years! I am excited about being 30 and seeing what life has to offer.

For my birthday, my sweet daughter told me that a cake would be arriving at our house because you must always have cake on your birthday. I asked her if she was going to make or help make a cake for me? She quickly responded no, that the mail man would just bring me a cake! This (obviously) didn't happen, but I found it amusing. She is still talking about how my birthday will be on Saturday even though at this point the day has come and gone. So cute.

Thanksgiving Week

2008-12-08T15:10:00.003-06:00

We were supposed to fly to Utah to visit my beloved maternal grandparents and uncle for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately, my mom's boyfriend of three years, Mack Stewart passed away sort of unexpectedly. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and three weeks later passed away. Cancer sucks.

We, therefore, changed our plans and went to San Antonio to spend the week with my mom to support and comfort her. It turned out to be a great family time week. We ran errands, prepared for Mack's funeral, cooked a delicious Thanksgiving meal together, watched movies, jumped rope, had several people over who brought food and just had some good old fashioned family time.

For the actual Thanksgiving Day, we had my in-laws (Bret's parents, sister and uncle) over as well as my aunt who lives in Italy (but spent a year in the States), my dad and sister. Tia Sofia is an excellent cook and makes it all look effortless. I love having her around in the kitchen any time I have to cook for a lot of people. She made the turkey and several of the sides. I think the highlight of the dinner meal though was the cheese and fruit platter that Andrea, my aunt put on. There were over 15 different kinds of cheeses and they were all delicious. Our family loves cheese (who doesn't?).

After it was all said and done, the girls watched girlie movies while the guys watched THE University of Texas football game against Texas A&M. Hook 'em.

Donde esta Elmo?

2008-12-07T11:32:00.006-06:00

Just about every baby/toddler is attached to something - be it his/her pacifier, blankie, lovey, stuffed animal, etc. Isabella has never really been an attached girl. She had a lovey we put in her crib when she was a baby, which she never really took to. She has several blankets, but prefers to sleep on top of her bed with nothing on top of her. She has one baby doll whom she only plays with when a friend is over. She gave up her pacifier pretty easily when she was about 18 months old.

Now that she is 3 years old, Isabella has started taking Elmo around with her and constantly needs to know where Elmo is. Elmo is a girl don't you know. Elmo needs to be sung to. Elmo needs to be bathed. Elmo needs to take a nap and no she doesn't want any books read to her. Elmo needs to be rocked. As usual in our family, she has yet to watch Sesame Street. I'm wondering if we introduce Sesame Street to her, if her opinion of Elmo will change. Oh and lest not forget, Elmo likes to be photographed.

Monkey

2008-12-06T18:23:00.003-06:00

Isabella has been our little climber since she learned to crawl. She would try to climb on everything and has never been afraid of heights. When we were at my mom's house for Thanksgiving, she found my mom's grapefruit trees and climbed them over and over. Since she's really into wearing dresses and prefers them over any other type of outfit, you will almost always find her in a dress. She was climbing one of the trees while we were inside when we heard a scream. She was hanging from the tree by her dress. It was really amusing to us, but not amusing to Isabella. The scare did not prevent her from climbing the trees over and over again.

Splish, Splash

2008-12-05T20:36:00.004-06:00

Diego loves and I mean LOVES to take baths. I think it is his favorite thing to do. He would probably let me bathe him several times a day. I sometimes bathe the kids separately because they like their water temperature so different. Isabella is our ice queen - she likes her baths cold. I mean cold - as in I would never bathe with her. Diego likes his at a much more normal temperature - warm. Usually I bathe Diego during the day (some time in the afternoon after one of his messy feedings before nap time) and Isabella at night before going to bed. But, lately Diego has been getting very upset when it is Isa's bath time. He sees the water running and thinks he is in for his bath time treat. He starts kicking and getting very excited at the mere sight and sound of water. He tries to pull up on the bath tub and see the running water. When Isa gets in her ice cold bath and he has to be a bystander, he starts crying in disapproval. Therefore, more and more now I have started bathing the kids together with warm water. Isabella complains about the water temperature, but usually is appeased by the fact that she and Diego are bathing together, playing, splashing, etc. It's a lot of fun to watch them interact.

Jump, Everybody Jump

2008-11-25T16:13:00.000-06:00

Jump roping is so much fun....even grandma can still jump! Doesn't Abuelita Sonia look adorable jumping? We had a rope tied to a tree and all (Abuelita Sonia, Bret & Isa, Tia Fia, and me) took turns jumping rope in my mom's backyard. Isabella enjoyed jumping rope the most with her Papi. She also helped a ton with the rope.

I'll Take Some of That

2008-11-08T12:59:00.004-06:00

We went to Jack's 1st birthday party earlier today. The kids had a great time playing in the sand. Diego was rolling all over in it and Isabella liked driving the big "cement" truck.

When it came time to eat the cake, I asked Isabella if she wanted some to which she responded, "in one minute." When it looked like I was about to take a bite of what she thought was her cake, she came running over and said she wanted it right then. She sat down next to Diego in the truck and Diego was very much eyeing this dirt looking cake and tried to help himself to some. Yummy dump cake.

My Boys

2008-11-03T22:12:00.004-06:00

We went over to a friends' home recently and realized that Diego and Bret were dressed the exact same. Guess we had red and dark brown on the brain. They both looked really good in their respective outfits. Bret didn't have the cute bicycle socks to match, though.

Knock, knock, Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T20:59:00.004-05:00

We went trick-or-treating earlier this evening. This is the first year that Isabella really got it.

She picked out her costume this year - the Little Mermaid/Ariel and was very excited to wear it multiple times throughout the month of October. We should really introduce her to the movie. She's only seen Ariel on diapers! (Talk about great marketing). She wore her costume to a Halloween festival in the neighborhood last weekend, to a costume play date, to school today, to a pumpkin carving party and of course to trick-or-treat tonight.

She was so excited about Halloween because we were invited to a Halloween party with crafts and dinner at our neighbor, Natalie's house. Isabella loved putting stickers on paper. She of course, found a book to read whilst the other little girls continued with their craft.

We commenced our neighborhood trick-or-treating with friends Macy, Natalie, Morgan, Camille and Jack. Isabella and Macy would run to the doors as quickly as possible. It was fun to see this as last year Isa had zero interest in going up to people's houses. This evening before going to bed she talked about how she would knock, knock on so many houses and then say, "trick-or-treat" and get candy. What an exciting time!

Diego was a good sport about it all. He enjoyed people and costume watching. The kiddos are now in bed while we answer the door to the later, older trick-or-treaters while getting a sugar coma ourselves.

Kissy Kissy

2008-10-29T21:08:00.004-05:00

Play by play of how Diego french kisses his mama. Sweet baby. Whereas Isabella has been wiping off my kisses lately! She asks to be kissed only to literally wipe her face to rid herself of my kiss!

Personal Library

2008-10-27T15:42:00.004-05:00

Isabella is my book worm. She is always reading. She doesn't really know how to read, but you will always find her with a book in hand and looking as though she really is reading . She's been into books for as long as I can remember. She goes through phases with what her favorite books are. When she was a little over 2 years old, we had 4 books that were her favorite: Prayers for Children, My Little Golden Book About God, Where Do Kisses Come From?, and the Animals of Farmer Jones. All of these are Little Golden Books. Then she went through a phase where all we could read to her were Dr. Seuss books - in particular, Huevos Verdes con Jamon (Green Eggs and Ham) and One Fish Two Fish. Last Christmas Tia Fia gave Isabella her first dictionary (in Spanish). That was the biggest hit ever. Isabella's favorite letter to read was P for Papa (Daddy). Can we say Daddy's girl through and through?

Isabella started going to school 3 days a week this year. She loves going to school. The first week she would wake up extra early, come into our room and tell us to hurry up and get ready that it was time to get to school!

She has found her own personal library at her school. There is no formal library to speak of, but there is a book shelf where she checks out a book every day after school. We have a routine where we go outside to the benches and read the book before we can get into the car. She brings the book back the next day and the routine starts all over again. The school administrator, Elizabeth finds it amusing as no other child does this.

Fall Pumpkins

2008-10-20T14:12:00.004-05:00

Fall is in the air. Not really. I have never felt more ready for fall. I went shopping and bought some lightweight sweaters and long sleeved shirts for myself. My mother-in-law and I went shopping for the kids for fall clothes, so they're all set as well. But guess what?! We live in Texas where it is still in the 80's thus calling for short-sleeved shirt weather. I have never been ready for a season. Ever. Last year, the cold front came and I dressed Isabella all wrong in some summer outfit and did not have a jacket or sweater for her. Delinquent mom. This year I'm actually on top of things and the cold weather is still not here! Enough about the weather.

It is October and there are pumpkin patches everywhere for Fall Harvests and Halloween. We went a few weeks ago and took these pictures as part of a play date. How do parents get picture perfect pictures with kids? These are the best pictures that I was able to get. Enjoy!

9 Months

2008-10-20T13:57:00.004-05:00

Diego turned 9 months on the 9th of October. He is still a cutie bug with his big eyes and cheeks. At his check up, he weighed in at 16.10oz putting him in less than the 5th percentile. He is consistent. He is not chubby, but he is, however, tall! He measured 29" which puts him in the 75th percentile for height.

He is really enjoying interacting with Isabella more which is a complete delight to watch. This morning she fed him Gerber stars and he was all smiles the entire time. He is starting to army crawl but still does this quirky crawl when he is on his back. Basically it looks like an inverted crawl. Diego is definitely babbling but there are no decipherable words to speak of. He is most well known for his spinning hands and feet. He does this thing with both his hands and feet when he is happy or excited to see someone and twirls his ankles and wrists. It's super cute. We tried a few different kinds of formula this past week and he is still severely allergic, unfortunately.

Diego is becoming more and more comfortable with other people (that aren't his mamma). He doesn't cling on quite as tightly when I am talking to someone. I think it helps too that he enjoys playing with different toys on the floor and is distracted.

9th Generation Texan

2008-10-06T22:55:00.003-05:00

Diego needed to prove his roots. He is a descendant of Stephen F. Austin (hence Austin being his and his Dad's middle name). Bret's family is Texas (both the state and THE University) proud to say the least. Little did they know that Bret would marry a foreigner! Not only was I not born in Texas, but I wasn't even born in the US of A. From the way these two kiddos are so far, I think Isabella will identify herself more as a little Mexican and I think Diego will identify himself as a lil gringo. We'll see if my predictions are true. Like with all things, time will tell.

Potted plant

2008-10-06T13:35:00.005-05:00

Diego heard me telling people that he wasn't sitting up and decided to prove me wrong one day shortly after the 8 month post. He went from not sitting, to being able to sit up for long periods of time without falling over. He didn't go through that wobbly sitting stage. I love the potted plant stage. You set them down and they stay there - for a long time! It's quite delightful to just plop him down somewhere, set several toys in front of him and have him entertain himself for a while. Not to mention a sitting baby is just so stinkin' cute!

We've got the Power

2008-09-30T20:23:00.005-05:00

Hurricane Ike continued to affect several of our friends right up until this past Sunday when power came back to most of their houses. Since we got power back last Monday, we invited friends over to do laundry or stay the night if needed. The Dolibois took us up on this offer and came over. I have to admit, I was secretly glad they HAD to come over. It was a great opportunity to catch up and spend some quality time together amidst doing loads and loads of laundry.

Kim and I became close friends during our pregnancy as we were due just a few weeks apart. Our babies who are now both 3 years old were born 6 weeks apart in 2005. It has been so fun to see Lucas and Isa's friendship grow. They are always delighted to see each other and constantly talk about the other.

Lucas has tried to introduce Isabella to golf as he is an amazing little golfer and has been since before he was even two years old. When he was around 18 mos. old, the boy hit the golf ball (luckily it was a plastic one) clear across the dining and living room and hit my cheek! I couldn't believe he had such an amazing ability at such a young age. Anyway, despite Lucas's attempts to teach Isa about golfing, she really just likes picking up the golf balls for him. Isa on the other hand, was able to show some girly activities to Lucas and showed him all about wearing pink helmets, riding purple bicycles and best of all, putting on lip gloss. They were in a closet giggling away as they put on their lip gloss. Hilarious.

Isabella's latest "thing" is to ask por que? Por que, Mami? Por que? Everything is why, why why. Bret thinks it's great because it shows how she is learning and she's thinking things through inside that little brain of hers. He of course only sees her for a few hours out of every day, so he doesn't listen to it CONSTANTLY. I try to be patient, but boy oh boy, no one ever said that was one of my virtues. Why?

Hurricane Vacation

2008-09-21T11:09:00.003-05:00

We are still on our mandatory vacation. We are due to get power back at our home tomorrow, Monday! I hope that this is true as we are headed back. We have been away from our home for an entire week. While our stay with my parents has been delightful, I am ready to get back to our home routine.

For the rest of our vacation week, we visited with Abuelita Sonia by meeting her and her co-workers for lunch downtown. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside and took a walk around the plaza with fountains and a great park for the kids to play in.

Tio Christian has been Isabella's idol for the week. Anything he says, Isa says "Amen" to! It's nice when I can't get her to do something (like take a bath or get dressed) and he asks her to do so and she happily obliges. Despite their 7 year age difference, they have a blast playing together.

Of course a play date was in order, so we met fellow evacuees and high school friends, Tiffany and Erin with their respective kiddos at a local park. The kids had a lot of fun playing together and then the biggest treat of all - McD's. I personally don't really care for McD's and honestly can't remember the last time I had been there - maybe 10 years ago? It wasn't so bad, but definitely not in my top 10. What can I say, I'm a CFA girl.

Isabella celebrated her 3rd birthday in August and her grandparents opted to give her a beautiful birthday present: her very first bicycle!! She is so excited and will be even more excited once she is riding it with the elementary school neighbors who she sees riding their bikes every afternoon after school lets out.

Mee-maw came into town and took Isabella shopping for her bicycle and some new clothes for school. Diego of course scored some cutie outfits as well. On Saturday, we went to Bret's parents' lake house and enjoyed some waterskiing, grilling out, pool time and hanging out. It was a great day. Tio Christian really enjoyed being pulled by the boat in the Airhead. To quote Christian, "This is awesome!!" The Airhead is the fancy version of an inner tube.

All in all, this has been a great vacation for Isabella, Diego and Tio Christian. Eating donuts, watching movies, skiing, swimming, bike riding, spending some quality time with the g-parents. I think that sounds like a pretty good deal!

Mandatory Vacation

2008-09-16T21:13:00.004-05:00

Mee-maw, can you read me this entire book? I love Mickey Mouse.

Me encantan las telenovelas (I love soap operas).

We're monkeys, we're monkeys!!

Mama: Check out those huge (hairy) hippos!

Isabella: I like the fishies.
Aren't we cute!

Right up until Friday, Bret had been working some serious hours. Then Ike came. We are fine and have no damage. But, our home is still without power. So, what is a family of four to do when on a mandatory vacation? Get some good family time in of course!

Mee-maw and Grandpa visited us at my Dad's house on Sunday night. Isabella was delighted. She asked Mee-maw to read and read and read to her. Mee-maw happily obliged.

Abuelitotito Juan has really enjoyed our visit thus far and is spoiling his grandkids accordingly. He has been giving Isabella a glass of chocolate milk every morning along with two cookies. Talk about unhealthy! Talk about Isabella loving it! She also has become a novela (Mexican soap opera) addict. She loves to watch them in the evening and you can see in the picture above how she won't take her eyes of the television! (We don't allow TV at home for those of you that don't know).

Isabella's been hanging out with cousin Ethan who is also 3 years old a lot this week. We went over and had a playdate. Ethan tried to show Isabella how to swing a baseball bat. She was much more interested in which color ball was being pitched to her and would rather collect the balls than actually attempt to hit them with the bat. Ethan, on the other hand, is really good at baseball and hits the balls over the fence.

We also went on a family outing to the zoo. Isabella didn't like the zoo as much because it wasn't "her" zoo. By then end she'd forgotten all about that and really enjoyed herself. We met up with Ethan and his mom, Elise along with some of Elise's friends who are fellow evacuees. The kids had a great time. Diego stayed in the stroller for the most part and enjoyed the different little waterfalls along the zoo.

We have been told that we still don't have any power in our neighborhood, that gasoline is getting hard to come by as are fresh fruits and veggies, and milk. So, we've decided to stay on our mandatory, unplanned, family vacation. We have had Bret all to ourselves for almost a week! What a treat.

Aftermath

2008-09-14T19:38:00.006-05:00

Before - next door neighbor's
After - same next door neighbor's

Oak tree in front of our house!!

Succinct version: We're OK.

Longer version:

Friday: We went about our business as though it was a normal night with the kids and stuck to our usual routine. Dinner, bath, bed time. We put the kids down in their usual rooms and beds. No sense in freaking them out and having them get a bad night's rest. We moved some furniture around the house away from windows and different breakable things. Bret and I sat down to watch a movie on TV. Around 11pm Friday night, September 12th, the electricity went out. Our movie date was over. We moved Isabella to a palate we had made next to our bed in the master bedroom. Around 2am Diego woke up - I nursed him and then put him back to sleep in a pack-n-play in our closet. The whole thing was really cool, eerie and scary all at the same time. The winds picked up some massive speed. When you lie down in our bed and look up through our window all you see are trees - as if you were in the forest. Normally, this is a really beautiful, calming sight. But on Friday night the sight of the pine trees just blowing and blowing was not giving me a sense of peace. The wind picked up speed and the trees were swaying and threatening to give way to the wind and fall on us at any moment. That's when we took refuge in our hallway. Bret moved Isa's twin bed into the hallway which is where he and I slept. We moved Isa in her palate to the hallway as well. Diego stayed in the closet. Away from the wind and with complete dark, we slept great until around 8:00am.

Saturday:

The true aftermath. We woke up to the phone ringing to folks calling to check in on us. Thanks for calling and checking in! It is nice to know that people were worried and praying for us. We only answered family phone calls as we didn't want to use the battery on our cell phones too much. The power was still gone, but we had running water. We went walking down the street to check things out. A big oak tree from our next door neighbors fell onto our yard. Lots of limbs, pine needles and of course pine cones fell into our yard. But, no major damage. Unfortunately a sweet, older couple two houses down had an oak tree fall straight into their den! They had tarps and buckets and different neighbors had been by to help them out. Wow. Bret said they were in good spirits.

Since we have a gas stove, we cooked ourselves a delicious breakfast of omelettes with onions, red bell peppers, ham, and cheese. Delish. We used up most of our milk and Isa had a special treat of chocolate milk. She thinks hurricanes are great if it means chocolate milk! Oh, and a complete side note, she calls the hurricane Mike.

During the kids nap time, we worked on the yard cleaning it up, but are definitely not finished! There is still lots of work to be done. That evening we had some friends come over for dinner. They brought over the food and we cooked it on our stove. We had kung pao chicken with rice while the kids had breaded sour cream chicken, asparagus and rice. Pretty yummy hurricane food!

We chose not to take baths since the water had very little pressure at this point and the Mayor said that it had been compromised (whatever that means!). Isabella had a really hard time going to bed. Apparently she is afraid of the dark!! We should have known seeing that we almost always leave her light dimmed for her, but it's usually with the excuse that she is reading books - which she does read about 2-5 books to herself any given night. I usually check in on her and Diego before we head to bed and turn out her light.

We had some friends who live near the Beltway and had electricity. The Walters kindly let Bret come over to store some freezer items and to charge our phones.

Sunday:

We woke up with the daylight and decided to keep on sleeping! The day was drizzly and overcast. The water pressure was even less and our toilets were not flushing. Yep, definitely headed out of town. We packed up and left and are now in air conditioning again! We've talked to some neighbors who say that the power is still out. Apparently it can be out anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Wow.

We are just so thankful that the trees that did fall mostly fell onto the streets. It was a neat adventure and experience (especially in hindsight). Nature is incredible. It makes it so clear how little control we have. We can be wiped out in just a matter of hours just like that. Amazing. Clarity. Thank you God for our awesome shelter and for sparing us the hassle of dealing with a damaged home.

8 months

2008-09-12T20:58:00.004-05:00

Diego turned 8 months old on the 9th of September. Here are 8 facts about Diego.

1. He is a true Mama's boy.

He seriously only has eyes for me. If he is being held by anyone else and I walk into the room, he gets upset - as if to protest, "How dare you leave me?" And let's say Bret is holding him, every time I walk by, he'll reach out his arms to try to get me to hold him! It makes me have all kinds of feelings. Part of me finds it really endearing, and loves it. I mean it's nice to be so loved that only I can fully take care of him and make him happy. But at the same time, it would be nice to just be able to pass him off to anyone. I also feel as a Mexican, that boys should have a very special relationship with their mamas. So...I hope that he always is close to me and that as he grows older he confides in me.

2. He loves fruit. He likes veggies. He doesn't like rice.

I started Diego on solids when he turned 6 months. He did not take well to it for the first month. He pretty much arched his back the second I would get a bib out or get his spoon out. Slowly, he's learned to like food and has definitely decided that he much prefers the sweet. He loves mangos, pears, bananas, cantaloupe, blueberries and apples. He will eat veggies - some more than others. He prefers carrots and sweet potatoes. He will tolerate beets, green beans, broccoli, and kiwi (if mixed in with something else (same with avocados)). He doesn't like brown rice at all. I can get him to eat it only if I mix it with something else and even then he eats the food slower than usual.

3. He loves bath time.

Diego loves to take a bath. He takes one every afternoon - usually after one of his messy feedings. He likes his water temperature very warm and loves to splash and splash. His legs start kicking and getting very excited at the mere sight of the bath water running. Lately he's really enjoyed holding a red cup whilst splashing around. He hates getting dressed after he's been toweled off and starts screaming like no other. But he does enjoy the lotioning up of his sweet skin.

4. He's officially a thumb sucker. Did you know you needed both your hands to suck one little thumb?

It's kind of funny. I thought that thumb suckers were basically born sucking their thumb. Not so. Diego started out with a paci which he took to relatively ok. But as he started sleeping better, we would notice that the pacifier was no longer in his mouth, instead the thumb was in place. It's really cute - I love it! So, we are pacifier free (and have been for about 2-3 months). It's really cute how he sucks his thumb too. He'll be sucking his left thumb usually and get his right hand over his left hand to ensure that the thumb stays in place.

He also uses his thumb conveniently when he doesn't want the food you are offering him. Most kids turn their heads or shake. Diego just puts his thumb in to ensure that nothing else will come in contact with his little mouth. What a sucker!

5. He found out that sleeping is good!

He finally started napping on a somewhat consistent schedule. He naps twice a day for about an hour - two hours each. And he sleeps from 7pm -4:30am, 4:50am-7:30am. Not bad. We'll take it.

6. You're wondering if he's sitting up or crawling or even pulling up?

The answer to all is NO. I think this kid is smart. He knows that I do everything for him, so why rush the independence factor. He'll just allow me to tote him around everywhere. He does roll to get his toys and enjoys that somewhat. He's really into the jumperoo. You know, the one that attaches to the door frames. He loves it. And like every other kid under the sun, he loves the Exersaucer too - particularly the star thing on there. He always goes for that first.

7. Does he have teeth?

Nope! Not a one. He's all gums.

8. He loves his big sister.

Isabella has been in love with Diego since the day she met him. She loves talking to him and about him. She loves playing with him. She loves helping with anything we need. For a long time, she was the only one that could pick out the diaper that we were going to put on him. Recently, Diego is more and more into Isabella and interested in what she is doing. He loves watching her and enjoys it when she's right next to him. He anxiously watches her while she eats her meals. It's super cute.

Preparing for Ike

2008-09-12T15:01:00.005-05:00

Hurricane Season is upon us. Living in Southeast Texas, we are frequently threatened to be affected by hurricanes. Currently we are amidst Hurricane Ike. We already had Edouard (who messed up his spelling?), Gustav, and now Ike. We are praying that Ike doesn't hit us directly and perhaps dissolves or turns to head another way (but please not New Orleans again).

We have decided, along with practically our entire neighborhood, to stay put. There are only two houses on our street that have boarded up - neighbors directly south of us and neighbors directly east of us. We have put everyone to work in preparing for this hurricane. Bret and Isabella toured outside our house and put away the swings on the swing set, and put away our patio furniture, trash bins and any other items of that nature that are usually outside. Really, Isabella is just delighted to have some Papi (Daddy) time and rode her tricycle on the driveway. Inside Diego helped us out by napping. Later during the day, Isabella helped fill up all our water bottles so that we have plenty of water. Once Diego woke up from his nap, he was hungry and ate 4 cubes of food - blueberries, kiwi, and melon. The babe loves his fruit!

I did not do a mad dash to the grocery store as I feel that we have plenty of water and plenty of food already. We were sure to fill up our cars with gas in case we need to leave out of town. We have our flashlights on hand. We have charged our computers and phones. We will likely watch movies on our computers if the power goes out and play games. Thankfully we live in a neighborhood that has good drainage systems, and our house is a one story house made of brick. Our biggest concern is the winds causing the pine trees to fall on our house. Hopefully that won't happen.

Out With the Old, In With the New

2008-09-03T20:53:00.003-05:00

Purging

That is what I've been doing with my closet. These bags may not look like a lot to you, but boy did I seriously clean out my closet! I am not much of a shopper seeing that shopping takes time and requires spending money. Having children, however, made me realize how old my clothes were and how out of style I was. Not to mention, I was wearing clothes that really weren't flattering to me any more. Having children makes you ebb and flow as to your body shape and size. Thus, those short shirts that were in style not that long ago, now seem even shorter and look even more faded. I think it's something about the pants being lower waisted now so the shirts are having to compensate and be longer in order to cover that lovely Britney Spears butt crack look. And so I went on a shopping spree of sorts and bought some new clothes - long shirts included!

Back to purging. I think having lived in an 1100 sq. foot house with three other people really makes you realize that we have too much stuff and that we don't really need a lot of it. I grew accustomed to having really small closets and am trying to keep the same mentality now that we have more closet space. It would be easy for me you see, to use the three practically empty closets in our house to store these old clothes. But, alas! I am keeping those closets clothes and clutter free because honestly, if you haven't worn something in over a year - what is the likelihood that you're going to wear it again (barring being pregnant and all that jazz)? Those bags are long gone and have been given to folks who will actually wear the clothes!

I encourage all of you to go through your closet and eliminate!

24 Adults, 16 Kids

2008-09-01T20:05:00.007-05:00

Isabella - Port Aransas 2006

Isabella - Port Aransas 2007
Isabella - Port Aransas 2007
Diego - Port Aransas 2008
Isabella - Port Aransas 2008

Diego - Port Aransas 2008

We have an annual tradition of going to Port Aransas over the Labor Day weekend holiday with friends from the University of Texas. It is a fun tradition and amazing how much it has grown. We used to go in college and all stay in one, maybe two condos. This year, we were 24 adults and 16 chillens thus upping the condo number to 6!

Despite the threats of Gustav ruining our much anticipated weekend, we had perfect weather with no rain, and lots of sun. We did have a mean case of mosquito attack, but it wasn't anything a little bug spray couldn't take care of. Unless of course your name is Isabella and you're apparently super allergic to some cocktail mix of bug spray, sunscreen, soap, salty water, chlorine water. Isabella was a trooper and didn't let the horrid rash bug her. She had a good time playing with all the other kids in the sand, in the pool and at the playground. Diego enjoyed the feel of the sand on his feet and hands, but wasn't too excited at having sandy thumbs to suck on. He is not yet crawling or sitting up, so his options were a bit limited.

We had the toddler races again this year. Isabella did not throw a tantrum like last time (see video on Tricia's blog from August/September 2007), but she chose to once again not participate. Everyone was well prepared this year with bribery for winning. Candy, M&M's, fruit roll up, trucks, etc. Apparently all the bribery didn't matter too much, the same boys kept winning over and over - they were the oldest and the tallest - Luke & Mason.

We also took the cute picture of the future Longhorns. Unfortunately I do not have those pictures to post and am awaiting those pictures along with the group picture from others as I didn't get either of those on my camera.

Thanks to everyone for coming and for all the fun sandy, chlorine filled memories!

Money Conscious

2008-08-26T21:10:00.006-05:00

Sunday evening I was talking with two of my girlfriends about budgeting. I have never considered myself a spender, but these days with the new house, two kids and maintaining a home in general, I find that I do spend a lot of money. We used to have a budget - a long time ago - but we were never very strict about it because we always found ourselves with extra cash in the bank. Therefore, we didn't have to stick to the budget. We're both money conscious and spend our money carefully for the most part. After re-evaluating, however, I feel that it is necessary to create a budget once again. After all, if there is a smarter way to spend our money, I want to partake in that. So my questions go out to you blog readers.

1. Do you have a budget?

2. Do you keep to it?

3. How do you keep to it? (ie. envelope system, spend the same amount every month on things, etc?)

4. How time consuming is this for you?

On the same subject, there are so many options out there on how to propose/keep a budget - Microsoft Money, Quicken, Excel. What is best? We used to do it the old school way with pen and paper. I found our old budget recently from when we were newlyweds (7 years ago) and boy have times changed! What do you use or recommend and why?

*Please note picture above is from the internet and probably from some state budget as it involves millions of dollars. Clearly not what my spreadsheet would look like!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

2008-08-19T20:21:00.006-05:00

My mom & Malena - her best friend from Mexico City
Me & Ana all grown up!

I went to San Antonio this past weekend to celebrate my brother, Christian's 10th birthday and to attend a dear high school friend's wedding. Christian had a great time picking out his menu for the day. For breakfast he opted for donuts and for dinner he opted for cream of carrot soup, beef ribs and chocolate chip mint ice cream for dessert. Can you tell he's a guy? No woman would serve that menu! We gave Christian Mars Legos which were a big hit. Did you know that there many different kinds of legos? Not just the red/blue/yellow kind. Nowadays there are Mars, Batman, Castle, and all sorts of legos. And let me tell you they are not cheap! They run from $50 on up! I had no idea!

On Saturday afternoon we went to see my childhood friend, Ana. She is one of 8 children - 6 girls and 2 boys. She is now married and has a daughter of her own and was in from Mexico City visiting her family's San Antonio home. We took the kids to the pool and enjoyed catching up. She is the only friend I have known my entire life as our mother's became friends when I was still a baby. I have such fond memories of spending time with their family. It is because of hanging out with them that I initially wanted to have 7 or 8 children myself. I mean talk about instant built in all the time playmates! When I informed Bret of this when we were engaged, he quickly brought me back to reality. Now we take children one at a time!

The wedding on Saturday night was really beautiful. The nuptial mass was held at Our Lady of the Lake University's Convent and the reception was at Sunset Station. The mass was very traditional and had a very harmonious feel to it. There was a German men's choir (San Antonio Liederkranz) who sang in Latin so very beautifully. It was such a reverent feeling to be part of Jill & Jason's nuptial mass. The reception was stunning with beautiful flower arrangements, delicious food - including San Antonio's gorditas, an awesome band complete with the lady dancers, and an open bar. Sadly, I didn't enjoy myself nearly as much as I should have. Why? Because my doting husband was unavailable for the weekend as he had to put in some serious hours at work. I had to be the third wheel to two different couples - one who just got married in January (read - we're so in love and make googley eyes into each other) - and the other who is still in the dating/courtship stage (read - we're practically oblivious to others in the room). Needless to say, the wine, beer and mix drinks were all calling my name. Okay, kidding.

On Sunday the kids and I went over to my mom's house for a pancake breakfast. Isabella was excited to see her Abuelita Sonia and Andrea (my aunt). Tia Fia joined us for breakfast as well. We had a lovely visit. After breakfast we went to Isabella's favorite place, the park. She made an instant friend with a very talkative almost 4 year old while Diego swung and swung and swung. My baby loves the swing. He was delightfully dazed while swinging away - almost to the point of stupor. What a delightful weekend. As stated previously though, I was without my hubby, so I was happy to see him again on Sunday evening.

Adoption Funds

2008-08-09T07:54:00.008-05:00

My dear friend, Shannon found this local photographer. Debra and her family are in the process of adopting a son from Haiti. All of her photo session monies go toward the adoption fund. How can you not support her family in something so beautiful? We booked a session with Debra this week and she was wonderful. She played with Isabella and won her over. We opted for a non-traditional, urban setting. Here are some samplings of the photos taken.

Tres en Agosto

2008-08-05T16:51:00.006-05:00

Friend: ?Cuantos anos tienes? (How old are you?)

Isabella: Tres en Agosto (Three in August)

Isabella turned three years old on August 2nd. This was really confusing because all she would talk about the months preceding August was how she was turning 3 in August. When we would tell her her birthday was August 2nd, she thought we were telling her she was turning 2. She would correct us and tell us, "No, I will be 3 in August."

Isabella had a birthday fiesta here at the house this past Saturday. The fiesta was in full swing with the swing set, water slide, two swimming pools, a slip and slide, beach balls, a pinata and of course chocolate cake. Isa's dear Uncle Christian was the water master who set up the sprinkler on the slide to make it a water slide. He rigged this a few months ago and he and Isabella proceeded to play on that water slide for hours. So, what to do when having a toddler's birthday party at your home? Set up a water slide of course! The water slide was by far the biggest hit of the party.

A close second was the pinata. My Dad brought a princess pinata with him for Isa's party. Some of Isa's friends were a little upset that the object of the pinata was to hit the princess. When she was at last massacred by Uncle Christian, some of her friends (Alexandra, Caleigh) said that the princess was taking a nap. Isn't that sweet? The girls quickly got over that the princess was lying on the floor and made a mad dash for the candy.

This morning we went to Isabella's 3 year check up with the doctor. She weighed in at 28.5lbs and is 3 feet tall. She is in the 25% for both. Thankfully, there were no shots to be had at the three year check up. We have ourselves a healthy, bright girl. The doctor drew a triangle, a square and a circle shape on a paper and asked her to name them. She did so correctly. I had no idea she knew that as (a) I've never taught her that; and (b) if I have it would have been in Spanish, so I was impressed she knew the terms in English and correctly for all of them!

Carlota Aguerrebere (1918-2008)

2008-07-21T13:23:00.005-05:00

My paternal grandmother, Carlota Aguerrebere affectionately known as Tita passed away today. She was 89 years old and would have turned 90 in October of this year. It is a strange thing to know that your grandmother is no longer on this earth. She was the matriarch of the family for many years. She bore 8 children (4 girls and 4 boys) and she was this tiny, petite little thing. She was a concert pianist and was apparently amazing. Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough to appreciate this, she had basically stopped playing. She was widowed when her children were still very young and supported herself & her children by teaching piano lessons in Mexico City, Mexico. She was a devout Catholic which she showed by going to mass daily and having a kneeler in her formal living room which she frequently used to pray for all of us. Her only concern when I was about to marry Bret was whether he prayed to God and whether he believed in Jesus. To which the answer was yes to both, thus satisfying her. I am certain that she is happier in the heavens than she was in her last years on earth.

Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It!

2008-07-16T20:28:00.006-05:00

"Tengo que pintar mis unas bien, Mami." (I have to paint my nails well, Mommy. )

My dear friend Sarah came over this past Sunday in order that we may sneak away to get a manicure. Upon learning of our destination, sweet Isabella insisted that she come along. All she talked about was how she was going to get her nails painted too. So what does a mother do? But oblige of course. You should have seen Isabella at the nail salon while we were waiting. She was very intrigued by an older lady who was getting acrylic nails done and wedged herself right next to the woman's chair to get a perfect view.

She also had to pick out the perfect color. She picked it out well before we entered thesalon. She went over to the nail polish display and picked out her color. OPI's Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It. It was a sort of orange/reddish color. Sarah tried to dissuade her by pointing to another reddish color. Nope, Isa knew exactly which color she wanted. There was a wait in the salon which was in the mall. We went window shopping while we were waiting. When we came back I went to pick out my color and invited Isa to come with me. She would have none of it and went back to the window display where the *new* colors were. As stated previously, she knew exactly the color she wanted. Thankfully the receptionist was very kind and said it was ok for them to open the bottle for Isa to get her manicure.

So, Sarah, Isa and I all got a manicure - but this one was Isabella's first. Hopefully we haven't introduced her to an addiction. But, at the same time - what fun to have a girl that I can get manicures with. Oh, how I adore her.

Overpriced Marketing

2008-07-13T22:03:00.004-05:00

What's in a name?

When PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting was preparing for its separation from the audit and tax firm (circa 2002), PwC hired some marketing folks to come up with the name for the consulting sector. Guess what the brainiacks came up with? Monday Consulting. Bret & I couldn't believe it. Big moneys were paid for some firm to come up with such a ludicrous name? Seriously? They had come up with the logo brand and had plans to spend $110 million. I can think of over 110 million better names than Monday. And can certainly think of 110 million ways to better spend that kind of money. Thankfully no one has ever had to work for Monday Consulting because IBM bought the consulting sector before Monday could even launch.

So what's in a name? I decided that I could have the "well researched" name Monday Consulting for FREE and am therefore using it. I was also thinking that the blog could be a sort of consulting. I consult with you or you can consult with me. Or, you could be looking forward to my posts each Monday when I consult the blog.

Sugar Cookies

2008-07-11T16:33:00.005-05:00

When I was in college, we had an acquaintance named Claire introduce us to this spectacular sugar cookie recipe. It has now become a staple with my college roomies from Casa Rosa to make this for any special occasion - baby showers, birthdays, beach reunions, and most recently, 4th of July parties. Unfortunately, I had to miss out on these delicious cookies on the 4th and have been thinking about them ever since Tricia told me she had made them. Will I make them this weekend? That would be a resounding no. I will, however, be so much more looking forward to them for when we go to Port Aransas this year. I am counting on the fact that Tricia and Alison make these cookies almost every year. I leave you with the recipe should you want to try to make these yummy cookies yourself.

Yummy Sugar Cookies
1 cup oil, 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup powdered sugar,

2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together 1st four ingredients. Mix in remaining ingredients. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Icing:
Mix the following: 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter (softened), 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, food coloring of your choice (have fun with this!)

Google Reader

2008-07-10T13:07:00.003-05:00

Have you checked google reader out? It's similar to an inbox, but for blogs. Basically you go to www.google.com and click on Reader. Once there you can add all the subscriptions you want. It is much better than blog surfing - unless of course you're in the mood to waste some time and enjoy that sort of thing. Not me. I like to get directly to the point and look at the updated blogs. I used to go to everyone's blogs (which I have memorized by the way) and be disappointed to look at a page that had been the same for months (you know who you are!). So, that's my tip for blog reading - Google's Reader.

Diego is 1/2 a year old

2008-07-09T13:47:00.005-05:00

My baby turned 6 months today. The time with him has flown. He's such a sweet, cuddly baby who enjoys being held above all else. Can you blame him for loving his mother's arms best? I took him to the pediatrician this morning for his vaccines and well baby check. He's a healthy boy allright seeing that he has not been to the doctor any other time than for his well baby checks. Diego is a lightweight - which is how his genes run, just like his older sister's.

Height: 26" (30%)
Head Circumference: 16 3/4" (25%)
Weight: a whopping 14lbs. 10 oz. thus putting him in the 8th percentile, which means he has jumped in the charts and passed up some of his same age buddies since his last check-up when he was back in the 5th percentile.

Dr. William Pielop cheered me on for still nursing Diego. He stated, "Only 15% of babies in Texas are still breastfeeding at 6 months." I was surprised to learn this statistic considering how many moms I know breastfeed their babies well beyond the 6 month mark.

I tell you that a big reason that I continue to nurse our sweet lil guy besides the obvious reasons (breast is best, it's easy, etc) is because of the cost of formula. We attempted giving him formula a few times and let me tell you - his body highly rejected it (we tried 3 different kinds). Washing multiple sheets (ours and his), pj's (ours and his) and being awake for hours during the night was not an experience I am ready to repeat any time soon. Dr. Pielop recommended this fancy schmancy (i.e. expensive!) formula for us to try. Umm, no thanks, I'll continue nursing. I am therefore entitled to buy myself a $30 item (clothing, mani/pedi/whatev) for each week that I nurse Diego. Of course I don't to that, did you really think I would?

Three Cups of Tea, The Summer Guest

2008-07-08T16:37:00.002-05:00

I recently finished reading two excellent books: Three Cups of Tea and The Summer Guest

I highly recommend both of them. I particularly like Three Cups of Tea, a non fiction book, because of what Greg Mortenson has accomplished. His life is very insightful while simultaneously highly admirable as to how to promote peace in today's society. He is an educator and peace maker in Pakistan and Afghanistan who builds schools for girls. The title comes from this excerpt in the book, "Haji Ali, his first Balti friend, told Mortenson that he had to respect Balti ways. 'The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. the third time you share tea, you are family and for our family we are prepared to do anything, even die." It's a great book that teaches you about education, perseverance, sacrifice, and culture. Read it!!!

The Summer Guest is more of a beach read about generations, fatherhood, and love. It is fiction and very captivating. You will enjoy this one too. If you're just going to read one, though - I recommend Three Cups of Tea.

I hate mail

2008-07-06T23:10:00.002-05:00

I typically really look forward to checking the mail. In fact, it's a highlight in my day. I know what you're thinking, "what is she 80 or something?" No, but I am somehow eternally optimistic that I will get something good in the mail. Like a letter or package. A real letter, not just an invitation or announcement. A handwritten, thoughtful letter. I love them. In fact, I live for them. But, the reality is I get what all of you get - junk, bills, more junk and the occasional invitation. And, I allow for the mail to pile up. My secret hope is that someone will go through all the mail for me, pay the bills, and most importantly, file everything away. But, that fairy doesn't exist in my house. We have a pretty good filing system, his name is Bret. As if Bret needs anything else to do, but he's my main guy. Why? Because he knows that I despise filing the mail not to mention he's good at it. The drawers are too tight, and I just get in a bad mood trying to stuff one more document that I'm not even sure we really need. He's laid back and doesn't seem to mind. For tonight, our mail pile has vanished and my desk area is organized once again thus giving me temporary bliss. What is your filing/mailing/document system like?

To Journal or Not to Journal

2008-07-01T21:30:00.001-05:00

What is your vocation? I'm sure most of you have more than one vocation. I have decided to enter the blog world because I always wanted to be a journalist (sometimes I think I could still be one). My husband challenged me to start a blog in order to journal. By journalist, I mean wouldn't it be cool to interview ambassadors, moms, priests - really anyone? I feel as though I always have a million questions for people because I just can't always get a grasp for what people do. So you say you're a lawyer - what exactly does that mean? Isn't it interesting how you can know 10 lawyers and they all do different things? Their days all look different from each other. People are really just fascinating. What are your interests? What are all of your callings? I wanted to be a journalist, an anthropologist, a lawyer, a mom, a wife, an eternal scholar. You get the picture, I have lots of interests. I'm not sure where this blog is going to go. But, I'll tell you what - it is only going to be one blog. This is going to be a mix of (i) mommyhood - where you will see pics of my children, and (ii) my thoughts, interests and ramblings. One of my goals is to interview someone and journal about it. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!