January Birthdays

I've decided to do one post per month for family and close friends birthdays this year...at least thats the plan. First up, those who brought warmth & life to the cold month of January.

Our nephew Rafael had his 2nd birthday in January (now I'm second guessing the actual day, but I know it was in January). Esperanza got to spend a great deal of time with her cousin Rafael when she was a little baby while we lived in the big house. Armando's mom was living with us at the time and Eva would drop Raf off every morning before she went to work. They don't see each other as often, but it's precious that they had that time when they did. Raf's birthday party was combined with his twin girl cousins 1st birthday as well as his dad and his dad's twins birthday. The birthday cake was decorated half for boy, half for girl (brilliant idea!).

Esperanza with her punching balloon And then my bff Val's husband Jameson finally joined the 30 club with me! Val pulled off an amazing surprise birthday party for Jameson. Even after passing a ton of familiar cars in the parking lot as he walked up to the yacht club thinking he was going to help Shelly with a flat tire, (a detour from the dinner he thought I was cooking him at my house for his birthday), he still had no clue and was completely shocked. It was great. The night before we decorated the yacht club with poker themed stuff (Jameson loves poker) and had the place set up for poker games and a ton of fun. Here's Val with Jameson and his poker costume she got for him. I think he actually wore it all night.

Ha, ha - you're 30 now! Esperanza's cousin Jeramiah's 3rd birthday on January 22nd. We didn't make it to a party of his, so here is the most recent picture I found of him with his mama Elda

Happy Birthday Raf, Jameson, Jeramiah and all others who had birthdays this month!!

Happy 1 and a Half Birthday

Yup, my little monster is 18 months old today. She's growing up so fast and learning new things at a pace I can't even keep up with. Though she has a language all her own, she'll try to repeat almost any word I ask her to lately. She'll point at something, I'll say what it is then she'll make some interesting combination of noises to try and mimic me. Some of them come out perfect and others are more jibber jabber. It's pretty cute, especially the jibber jabber. I'm sure going to miss that language when she's older. A couple of weeks ago we were visiting some friends of ours who have a little boy a few months older than Esperanza. He was climbing up on the coffee table, onto a chair then onto the counter and pretty much anything he wanted that was up high, he would figure out a way to climb up and get it. As you might have guessed, Esperanza picked up on this and is now climbing things at home. Time for more baby proofing I guess, like bolting dressers to the walls.

This morning we met a friend and her daughter Olivia at Hathaway Park. Olivia is about the same age as Esperanza. Though I don't let it keep me from having social time with friends and other little ones, I'm quickly learning that toddlers don't play well together. Anytime I meet up with friends who have kids Esperanza's age, I mentally prepare myself for a ton of fighting over toys/food, meltdowns and temper tantrums, hitting, scratching, hair pulling and everything in between all while trying to stay calm and use each situation as an opportunity to try to teach Esperanza how to share and be nice. Fortunately, Olivia was such a nice girl and would give Esperanza whatever she had that Esperanza wanted. It made the 'play date' much more fun for everyone.

After lunch, nap, playing, dinner & more play Anycia, Esperanza and I went to the craft store to get some things & stopped by a thrift store (Once Upon A Child) to see what we could find. Low and behold, we found some great treasures...a pair of salt water sandals for Esperanza, some really neat clothes for her as well as a pair of boots Anycia fell in love with. I say this every time I discover a new thrift store, but this time I mean it when I say 'this really is the best dang childrens thrift store I've ever been too'!

Happy 1 1/2 Birthday Esperanza!

Yarn Doll

Sometimes I'm a little ahead of myself when I think of fun crafts to do, realizing it'll be a long time before Esperanza will be ready for 'that' craft. So while Esperanza was napping yesterday, my niece Anycia and I made a neat yarn doll I found online at Wee Folk Art. It turned out great! There are so many other projects at that site that look like a ton of fun to do. All I need are more craft materials and for Anycia to stick around a little longer.

Pretty In Pink

Feeding the kitty Whining - an all too familiar faceHelping mama pull ALL the spices out of the drawer

ShrugWearing her newly dyed pink clothesA hard to get photo of Esperanza sleepingI wish this moment would last longer

Colorful Games

A few weeks ago while it was still winter break for kids, Armando brought Becky and Esmeralda (a couple of our nieces) home for a few days to hang out. While they were here we played a lot of Scrabble, UNO, Candyland, Cranium and other card/board games. They also loved playing with Esperanza's playsilks, which was nice because I haven't been able to convince Esperanza that they are as neat as they really are. It's because I'm not nearly as cool to her as her 10 and 17 year old cousins are. So, the girls all dressed up with colorful silks and had a blast while I took pictures.

Playing Candyland

Esmeralda Becky
Dressing up Esperanza

Ever since then, Esperanza has become a big fan of her playsilks!

A Mountain of Snow Fun

We drove up to Mt. Hood this morning with my visions of finding snow & sliding down the hills on inner tubes at the Snow Bunny Lodge I went to as a kid. Unfortunately, that lodge burnt down years ago. At least I have the memories. Fortunately, there are many other places to do the same thing in the area. We ended up at a cozy old lodge just down the road from Snow Bunny where we rented inner tubes and had a ton of fun in the snow and on the tubes.

Getting bundled upAll readySo warm and poofyThe snow makes all the pictures look amazing! Or maybe Mando's just a better photographer than me.

Esperanza loved going down the hill on the tube! She wasn't laughing or smiling, but when we'd ask her if she wanted to go again, she'd shake her head yes. As expected of a little one her age though, she didn't last very long. We took a break when she got fussy and went for a drive, thinking she'd take a nap in the car. She didn't nap, so we drove back and went down the hill a few more times before she finally gave in and crashed out. It was a short and memorable trip. We will definately be going back

Here's a short video of Mando and Esperanza going down the hill - don't blink, you might miss it

Yes * No * Maybe

Communication is such an important skill to have. If we could all communicate better, I really believe our individual lives as well as our entire world would be much more peaceful. I have my own work cut out for me as far as improving my communication skills, but this post isn't about me. It's about Esperanza and how she is learning to communicate things. She still doesn't talk much yet, other than a handful of random words, and only when she is in the mood to say those words. So, we're still kinda far from good verbal communication. Her prefered method of communication still involves the screaming and kicking temper tantrums. Lately though she's learned head gestures.

A couple of months ago Esperanza began shaking her head no when she wanted to communicate 'no'. It was pretty nice that she would shake her head rather than verbally say the word no (I've been around kids who say no way too much and it's pretty obnoxious). She knew when to use the gesture and when not too. She didn't know how to communicate yes at first so if I would ask her a yes or no question, and she didn't respond, I could rule out a definate no. There were many times that she would be fussing for something and I'd go through a list of questions; 'are you hungry?' - head shake no, 'are you tired?' - head shake no, 'are you cold?' - head shake no, 'are you thirsty?' - no response. I gave her water and everything was better. I can't tell you how many times I've put water in front of her and she's thrown it across the room because that wasn't what she wanted.

Then she began shrugging as a response to questions, leaning her head slightly to one side while that same side shoulder moved up then down. Though it doesn't give a clear meaning, it's pretty darn cute! Now, a few weeks after using the first no head shake, she's shaking her head up and down to say yes to things. I LOVE this! I asked her if she was poopy the other night (sometimes she farts and smells poopy when she really isn't), and I got a yes head shake. Poopy diapers usually aren't anything to get excited about, but that was one poopy diaper I changed with a smile.

My Little Wigglers

I love soil! And I love my worms. When I took a series of classes to learn about composting, vermicomposting and to become a Master Composter several years ago, we were told 'dirt' is the stuff that accumulates under your finger nails over time. Makes sense. We'd actually get called out and corrected if we said the word dirt if we were really referring to soil. . Soil, or earth, is something completely different. It's beautiful. And it's even more beautiful as well as rewarding when you make your own soil. My worms make what can be considered black gold. This stuff is not the same as compost. It's much more valuable and goes a lot further. What is it you might be asking? It is worm poop! Or you can call it vermicompost instead. But worm poop is easier to say.
My worm bin sits outside in the back yard. Inside the bin is a warm bed for the worms made up of dried leaves and shredded paper. Their diet consists of fruit and veggie scraps from my kitchen. Instead of the scraps decomposing in the compost bin, the worms eat it and what they poop out is vermicompost. In the summer, the bulk of my kitchen scraps go in the big compost bin out back. The worms still eat really well too, I just have much more in the summer months. By the end of summer, my compost bin is full and needs to rest and work it's magic so I have compost for my garden in the Spring. Kitchen scraps go to the worms during these colder months.

I harvest the vermicompost once a year, usually early Spring or late Winter when I start my garden seeds indoors. It's a little more difficult than compost to harvest because the worm poo has to be seperated from all the worms...and quickly because worms don't appreciate being exposed to light.

There's no good reason why I haven't introduced Esperanza to the worms yet...I will, and soon. And I can't wait!

Their home

Say hello to my little friend

Toy Rotation

Mom, you will be proud of me. After 17 months of you telling me to do this, I finally am. Before now though, I hadn't felt the need or even had much of a reason to do a 'toy rotation' for Esperanza. Christmas put me over the edge. Unfortunately the 'afluenza bug' got to me this year and Esperanza ended up with much more than she needs. I honestly believe that now there are too many toys around for Esperanza to enjoy any one of them as much as she should, or could. A kid really doesn't need more than a few toys to play with at a time right? I get overwhelmed and can only imagine that she feels the same way.

This picture is most of what we have, but I haven't cleared out the car (I know theres a bag of toys in theres) or figured out what to do with the bigger toys (rocking horse, doll high chair, the big plastic kitchen set Mando's friend gave us, toys that are outside, etc)

I made 3 sets of toys. Each set includes a different set of blocks, a ball, a plastic battery operated phone, a few other battery operated obnoxious pieces of plastic that play music or talk, a talking/singing stuffed animal, a wood puzzle, some other non-plastic musical toys (shaker, whistle, xylophone, bells, etc), and a variety of other random toys we have. I'll also divide up all the stuffed animals and dolls we have into each pile. They are all different toys and the idea is that they will be 'new' each time they are rotated and given to Esperanza, hopefully entertaining her for longer periods of time. Every few days, once a week, or whenever it seems like the right time, I'll put one set of toys away, and pull another out. Or maybe I'll even just switch one or two items at a time, not sure.

I do have a chest in the living room of things that will have 'every day' toy items which include a mirror, a flashlight, several play silks, an old cell phone of mine which has never lost Esperanza's interest and a few other things that are always interesting to play with.

Has any one else tried this with their kids and all their toys? Also, as your kids get older, what do you do with the toys that they've outgrown and aren't worth keeping to pass down? Donate to Goodwill, Teasure House, a friend, Free Craigslist ad...? Anyways, wish me luck!

Christmas 2009 - Part 2

After only an hour nap for Esperanza, we made it out of the house with a car full of food, gifts and everything else we needed for the day. First up, Christmas with Armando's family at his mom's house.

Even in the huge house that we traded for the one we're in right now, his family is crammed. I have memories of holidays hosted in the house we live in right now but it didn't seem that full for some reason. Must be because people get married and what was once one person becomes two. And then they have kids and two people become yet another beautiful family. The family grows and will continue to grow. We have almost 30 nieces and nephews. And now our nieces and nephews are having babies! That makes me feel old. Even though Armando and I have been married for only a few years, I've been part of the family for about 13 years now and have seen the family evolve. It's beautiful. That also makes me feel old. Thanksgiving & Christmas are the only two days out of the year that everyone is in one place at one time.

Armando and all his siblings (not including the ones who live in Mexico)

This is Selena. She's our niece and I haven't seen her for at least 4 years. She got big!

Our nephew Nino holding EsperanzaSanta made a special visit! Here he is trying to give Esperanza a candy cane And here's Esperanza holding on to me for dear life.

At least the older kids enjoyed Santa. Here is Hannah with Santa.

Celeste with Santa

Addy with Santa Me trying to convince Esperanza that Santa is nice (he's really her Uncle Chilly)

Our niece Marti with Santa (and with baby boy in belly)

Esperanza giving her candy cane to daddyThese are the only pictures I got of Esperanza by herself in her Christmas dress and adorable ruby red slippers/shoes

We ate a ton of food, the kids opened gifts and the adults did a white elephant exchange. We got some good group shots taken since everyone was there. I'm kicking myself for not having my camera when we did those pictures. I have no Christmas 2009 family picture of me Armando and Esperanza. I know there's one out there - Cathy, Lily or Chilly - please email me a copy if you got one? As the sun was setting, we packed up and left the house and this part of the family to join my family for Christmas evening at Cyndi's house in Portland.

My sister Cyndi and her husband Tony hosted a wonderful Christmas gathering at their house with a ton of yummy food. Geneva and her kids drove into town and met us at Cyndi's. My mom and George were there. Cyndi's mom, her sister and her sisters boyfriend were also with us. It was a nice and relaxing evening. We did some gift exchanges, the two little ones played and ran around the house in their cute matching jammies, the boys watched football and us girls chatted.

Geneva in her new boots
Antonio with a pellet gun! Dont' worry, it's not loaded. Handed down from my mom and once belonged to my dad who passed away many years ago.This is quite possibly the cutest picture ever! Roman & Esperanza in their matching 'Santa's Helper' jammies.Angelica with her new quilt my mom made herEsperanza riding Roman's electric quad. She got really good on it!

Of all the things Esperanza aquired, this has been her favorite - a simple balloon!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! May the coming year be full of love and good health to you all.