Cool, Calm and Collected

The day I became a mother, was probably one of the scariest but at the same time one of the most beautiful days of my life.  I confess that I was very nervous.  When my daughter was handed to me immediately after being born, my hands were shaking, my heart was pounding, I became anxious and when she started crying I didn't know what to do.  It wasn't until my cousin came to visit and said I needed to relax.  She said my baby was able to feel and connect with the way I was feeling and so I needed to be calm.  As the minutes turned to hours, I began to feel more comfortable.  So much so, that I held her on my chest all night.  

When my son was born, you would think I would have been much more comfortable than the first time, but no.  I was just as nervous, but this time tried to relax and calm myself much sooner.  Because of that I was also able to hold my son on my chest his entire first night.

As time passes there are still times I get quite nervous.  There are tantrums in public, outburst, disagreements, bad attitudes and all of the above.  I always go back to my cousins advice and make the best effort to remain relaxed and calm in an effort to transmit the same to my kids. 

My Daughter

My Son

My Role Models

I daily cherish the journey this whole parenting gig takes me on.  I daily strive to be the best mommy I can be.  It is not easy and there have been quite a few times I have sat and cried.  I then think of those before me.  My sister, who has two boys but felt like she had five, lol, my mother who had eight of us and my grandmother who had six.  How in the world did they manage?  Well, that really does not matter.  The point is that they did and I as a sister and child love them very much.  I have had pretty amazing ladies to live up to and whose footsteps I very much make an effort to follow.  The purest of actions, dedication, and respect are what theses ladies taught me.  If I can be half of what they have been, I know I will be a great mommy.

Mommy

I have been beyond blessed and honored to have two beautiful children.  My daughter, soon to be five and my son, now 10 months old.  This happened completely on God's perfect timing.  My pregnancy's however, were not easy.  After the loss I had experienced with my first pregnancy, I was beyond extremely careful with my daily activities.  Add to that my extreme morning sickness, which was actually all day sickness, and I was literally going from my bed to the couch everyday for seven months straight.  

After I had my daughter, I had another miscarriage.  And, it hurt just the same.  But, again my husband and I held strong to God's promise.  We now had our daughter to also find comfort and joy in. 

My son's pregnancy was just as bad as the first.  I was not one of those go happy pregnant ladies that was enjoying every minute of their pregnancy.  I was miserable and sick.  

My labors and deliveries were a whole other story.  My water broke at home and my kids were born within 3 hours of arriving to the hospital.  Two pushes and done. I guess that makes up for the rough pregnancies, right? Not really, having my kids in my arms, born as healthy can be, made up for it all.

Seven Months Pregnant With My Daughter
5/2010

Six Months Pregnant With My Son
4/2014

A Favorite Day

One of my very favorite days was when I told my husband we were expecting.  I always knew that I wanted to be creative when I gave him the news.  After all, we had been married for nine years and this was not just any news.  It was the best news of our lives! 

It was a Tuesday and I invited my sister and two of my brothers out to dinner.  We met them there and as we were finishing up, I handed a gift to my husband.  With a puzzled look he opened it and saw his picture in a "worlds greatest daddy to be" frame.  He cried.  I cried.  We all cried.

On the way home we called our parents, who were out of the country.  

How little did we know that this little angel in me, was just that, an angel.  This was our first pregnancy our first announcement, and our first great loss.  We had a miscarriage two weeks later. We relied heavily on God's promises for us.  It was a difficult time and we knew that we would only get through it with God's help.  It hurt physically, emotionally, mentally and it was very draining.  At times it was even confusing.  It confused me that something that is considered very common, had very little explanation.  

Getting through this was made much easier being surrounded by my husband, family and friends.  Their prayers, encouragement and support brought back a great joy.

So, yes, this will always be one of my very favorite days even though the outcome was not.

We're Good

We seriously live in a baby gear store.  How many attractions does the child really need?! It makes me laugh out loud to see our entire living room space, literally, filled with all these devices and attachments.  Which by the way were all my daughters and are close to five years old.  The up side to all this is that they have been used to the max.  They may take up all of our space but they certainly got the job done. I am sure this also explains why when someone asked if we needed a walker or a swing, a stroller or a rocker, our response was always, "thanks, we're good!"

DIY Daddy

I can be creative here and there.  My husband says I have great ideas, however, executing them, well that's where he comes in.  He is DIY king! My favorite project, and trust me there have been many, is my son's crib bedding.  Because it is a shared room with my daughter I didn't want a theme or gender specific color scheme.  We decided on a neutral color.  My husband is very handy on the sewing machine and made the crib skirt and initial pillows.  The fabric he used is painters fabric from Home Depot.  The stencil for the pillows was printed from my computer and he used white fabric paint from WalMart, which worked perfect.  He's good, ain't he?  ;)

Current Situation

Most everyone knows that I cry for everything.  I am a certified crybaby, if there is such a thing.  Today I chose ballet pictures from proofs and lost it.  This current situation, i.can't.handle.  I mean, it is so cliche, but seriously, where does the time go?  It was just yesterday...

My Happy Place

I love closets.  My walk in closet is my happy place.  Is that crazy?  Probably, but neat, clean and organized closets put a smile on my face.  Actually, clean, neat and organized anything, nowadays puts a smile on my face.
When I was pregnant with my daughter, the first thing that was done in her nursery was the closet.  Matching hangers and perfectly folded onesies calmed me.  Now that we have a baby boy I had to create a closet space that they would be able to share.


My daughters newborn closet

Current shared closet space

Making My Own

I grew up in a full house.  There was always someone visiting.  Whether the neighbors, my brother's friends, or church group, someone always sat at the dinner table and ate my mom's cooking.  It is why my mother always cooked for an army, and she cooked every single day.  There was no such thing as leftovers.  Fast forward to now and here I am cooking everyday (I don't cook like my mamma so we may have a few leftovers) and making my own baby food.  I made the decision to make my own baby food when my husband and I did a little research on our family medical history.  We came to find out that there is a high diabetes rate and that is a bit scary.
There is no complicated recipes or techniques I use, it is only three simple steps.  Steam. Blend. Repeat. I started with vegetables and then gradually introduced fruits.  There was no combination of ingredients, because I wanted to make sure there were no allergies or reactions.  I found some neat little 4oz containers at Target and voila.  Once they were cooled I placed them in the freezer and used as needed.  I am really glad that I made the decision to make my own baby food and be able to guide my children in having good eating habits.

    Green Beans,   Carrots,   Green Apple

And Then There Were Four

So, I am not even going to try and attempt an explanation for where we have been these past two years.  I will only begin by saying that my little family has grown by one more adorable child.  I am now the  mother of an amazing soon to be five year old and a stud muffin ten month old.  My intention and direction with this blog is to have a place where my children may look at when they are older and see the times spent, the memories we made and the joy they brought to our lives each and every single day. Here goes to the third try of keeping up this blog.   ;)

                                                              The Moreno Family

3x5 Folded Card

Cosmopolitan Chic Thank You Card

Say "Thank You," with Shutterfly's personalized photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Notebook

  So, like many out there, one of my favorite movies is, The Notebook.  The best part for me is how the love story is kept in an innocent journal.  That, along with being ever so influenced by my Amazing sister in law, Dawn Casas, who also blogs, (check her out on  http://flylittlebirds.blogspot.com/ ,it is super sensational!),  I began to keep a journal for my daughter. In this journal, I write a letter on her birthday detailing all that has become of the past year (sticky notes and my notes app have become my bff's), so far there are only two letters :)  This second birthday, however, I couldn't stop writing.  There was so much she accomplished, and overcame.  As a consequence, I discovered that this is helping me truly acknowledge, enjoy, and give thanks daily for the admirable and awe-inspiring individual she is growing up to be.  I have not yet decided when I will give this book to my daughter.  It may be on her 18th birthday, when she goes away to college, when she gets married, I don't know.  What I  do know is that those days will be here sooner rather than later.

A Mommy Worries...

 This year we took an out of the country vacation to Oaxaca, Mexico.  Being that my daughter was only twenty-two months old, and never been out of the country,  I, by nature, began to worry.  How will she deal with the flight? Will the elevation affect her?  What will she do on a plane for five hours? Will she tolerate the food?  What if she gets sick there?  Will she miss her bed?  Should I bring diapers or buy them there?  But what if she gets a rash? And on, and on, and on.  So, naturally, I overpacked, brought our whole house and then some, and paid a hefty $300.00 extra baggage.  Not exactly a smart traveler.  But in my defense it was our first time, and I was not going to take any chances.  We were flying 3,000 miles away after all.
 Following great advice from my close friend (thanks G!), my overpacking and tons of prayer, we made it.  My friend recommended that we have coloring books and other activities for the plane ride, and also that we have a drink ready for takeoff and landing (this would reduce the chance of ears plugging).  Worked like a charm.  It also helped that we booked the red eye and my daughter slept the whole way there (and the plane ride back home too!).  She had an amazing time bonding with her extended family, which she was meeting for the first time!

Boarding line smiles :)

Boarding the Plane at 1:00 a.m.

 Our seats were the last row on the plane which was perfect, and close to the restroom :)

 Last day fun day at the ranch, with all the cousins :)

Sugar & Spice & Everything ... Dinosaur

As much as I know that my toddler will go through stages, this one really threw me for a loop.  She has developed a focused attraction toward dinosaurs.  Here I thought, my sweet little girl, whom I have inundated with pink, frill, dolls and everything princess, has begun to take a stand on her own excitement.  So, being the ever respectful parents that we are making our best effort to be (and boy is it tough) we have let it be...
This past summer we vacationed in Palm Springs for a few days and on the way home we made a stop at the Dinosaur Museum in Cabazon.

 Needless to say, this was the highlight of our trip.

 Contrary to what the picture shows, we really weren't trying to give her away.  ;)

 The museum was great, the temperature not so much but like that really matters to a two year old!
Check them out when in the area cabazondinosaurs.com/

And of course we needed a bedtime story.

Two Early for Thanks?

For a while now, I've had my daughter write her own thank you cards (with my translation included as well).  Being grateful is important to learn at a young age.

 And it is super precious as well...

Tutus & Ties 2nd Birthday

This whole blog idea seemed like a good one, but it sure takes discipline to keep it up.  My first and last post was eight months ago! Not exactly what I had in mind.  Here I am now, and hard to believe, posting about my little girl's second birthday.  This birthday party planning was not as intense as the first.  With a much smaller budget and less planning time here is how my ideas came together...
I personally like the idea of themes for a birthday party.  After much deliberating my good friend Geneva gave me the idea of a tutu party since my baby was turning 2.  Genius!  The color scheme was bright pink and bright green with white polka dots.

The birthday banner... I love making these :)

The cake table and goddie bags.

The tissue paper flowers were fun to make and quite easy. 

This is an idea I found on pintrest.

For the center pieces (another idea from Geneva)
I found these flower pots at our local 99¢ store.
I added the ribbons and the silk flower pens.
The pens were made by a friends mom.
These also served as favors for guests to take home.

The birthday cake had an individual piece
and cupcakes all around.
A big thank you to Lupe for this awesome
and delicious cake from Sams club.

Games included dance freeze, musical chairs,
water ballon toss and pin the tie on my uncle.
Making the poster board and ties to stick on was fun.

After the water ballon toss the boys got a tie t-shirt
and the girls got their tutus.  My husband made the
t-shirts with fabric paint and I made the tutus.

The birthday top had my daughter's name and the number 2.

A pink tutu and pink sparkle tiny toms finish the look. :)

It is astonishing how fast time has gone by.  Planning for my baby girl since day one has been so wonderful even therapeutic as crazy as that sounds.  There is something magical about being into details :) Especially when it's for a loved one.  Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed :)

Come and gONE....

I knew from the beginning that when I had the opportunity to plan my child's first birthday, I was going to plan!  The idea of ladybugs came to mind thanks to my amazing sister who calls me ladybug.  She says that although a lady I sure can bug! I had ten months of planning this ladybug first birthday and I had a blast every minute of it.  And, sure enough as I knew it would happen, it was Come and gONE before I knew it...
Here is my little ladybug's 1st birthday... enjoy :)

I bought these invites at Target and added the ribbon and mini ladybug stamp (from etsy.com)

Center pieces were formula cans that I saved.  I spray painted them, added ribbon (ladybug ribbon was purchased at Costco) and fresh flowers.  I placed green water foam in the cans to help the flowers stay fresh longer.  These also served as favors for guests to take home...

 The final set up before guests arrived.....

Setting up was a lot of fun and work! A big thank you to my nephew Brandon who did all of the balloon  work...

This was one of the food tables.  I found these food tents at our local swap meet and added the felt ladybugs around them...

The banner was one of my favorite projects.  I incorporated the polka dots and the red, black and white color scheme.  If you look closely, the stamp I used for the invites, was also used on the banner. 

I made this board with some of my daughter's first.  Guests really enjoyed looking through all the pictures...

This was my daughter's seating area.  Her portrait was a hit...

This is a close up of her high chair.  I had left over tule and felt ladybugs and at the last minute thought about decorating her chair...

The goodie bags were sown together by my husband.  We had black for boys and red for girls.  Theses were also a hit because the bags are reusable!

For our outfits, my daughter had an embroidered onesie (made by a co-worker) with her name, a number 1 and ladybugs, her tutu and we all wore red Toms.  I had a ladybug shirt made for myself and another for my husband that had a ladybug picture and said, "Real Men Love Ladybugs" these were made by my husbands co-worker.

Daddy's girl....

The two tiered cake was surrounded with flowers and ladybugs.  It was delicious.  I purchased this at Sing Long Bakery in Santa Ana, Ca.

One of the entertainment activities was pony rides... nothing to do with ladybugs, but the kids had so much fun...

I hope you enjoyed. It was such an amazing journey to plan and couldn't believe how quickly it had come and gONE.