On the Sixth Day of Christmas

I was blessed to have...

six home appliances,
five countries (with family!) I can visit,
four working tires,
three blogging cousins,
two lovely daughters,
and a husband that loves his family!

(ps: happy new year!! xoxo.)

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

I was blessed to have...

five countries (with family!) I can visit,
four working tires,
three blogging cousins,
two lovely daughters,
and a husband that loves his family!

On The Fourth Day of Christmas

I was blessed to have...

four working tires,
three blogging cousins,
two lovely daughters,
and a husband that loves his family!

On the Third Day of Christmas

I was blessed to have...

(Claire • Beth • Heather)

three blogging cousins,
two lovely daughters,
and a husband that loves his family!

On the Second Day of Christmas

I was blessed to have...

two lovely daughters,
and a husband that loves his family!

On the First Day of Christmas

I was blessed to have...

a husband that loves his family!

Two Days

A few years ago my friend, Maureen, was in town during the Christmas holidays. I'm not sure how the subject came up but she started talking about what Mary must have been thinking and feeling with her due date fast approaching (since Christmas was just a few days away). I had always been so focused on Jesus' birth that I never really stopped to think about his poor Mom waddling around, not being able to sleep well, having to go to the bathroom every hour... all of this and more in a such a primitive world.

I found this pic of myself when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter... it was taken two days before she was born, two days before my world would change. And I think about what Mary must have been thinking today... two days before Jesus was born, two days before He came to change the world.

I still talk up the true meaning of Christmas to my kids - the birth of Jesus Christ - but as a mom, I will always be thinking of Mary and loving that I'm blessed to know a lil of what she was going thru.

Keeping It Real

I looked up today and realized what a complete mess I've been living in. I decided to take a quick pic so that when my hubby gets home (currently out of town interviewing in FL), he can see how much cleaning I've been up to! The point is to focus on the cleaning I've done, not the dirtying! :)

1. Blanket Lucia used for today's nap.
2. Blanket Isabella used last night, after waking up with a bad dream.
3. Blanket I used last night, when I fell asleep on the sofa.
4. Girls eating cereal for dinner... Frosted Flakes, not even the good cereal. Sigh.
5. Empty Diet Coke cup and milk bottles from last night's McDonald's dinner.
6. Half-full goldfish container so that Lucia can help herself.
7. This morning's pjs.
8. More evidence of last night's dinner from McDonald's.
9. Mail and school papers that were cleared of the coffee table so that we would have room to eat.
10. Toys, papers and still more McDonald leftovers.
11. Shoes that haven't made their way to the shoe basket - approx. 3 feet away!
12. Groceries and some items for tomorrow's school Christmas party that were purchased a few days ago.
13. See #10.
14. Canvases that I'm gonna paint for a dear friend - have been sitting there a long, long time.
15. Dirty sippy cup - has been sitting there an even LONGER time.

Little Shadows

A picture of Lucia and Maya playing under my desk - a favorite pastime. I don't get it since we are blessed to have a play room. Sometimes Lucia will sing to me or pull on Maya's ears but a lot of time, they just lay next to each other and wait patiently for me to finish what ever it is that I'm working on.

I love having little shadows... most of the time. :)

Before & After

Merry Chicken Nuggets!

I told my husband, during the Dallas/Thanksgiving break, that my resolution for the New Year would be to decorate for all the major holiday's. I said I would start with Christmas and so far, I am five days behind. At the time, I was thinking a lot about family, traditions and how I totally fail at creating memories for my kids.

Sometimes I feel that if I were to die tomorrow, all my kids would remember me by would be the chicken nuggets at McDonald's. Sigh. I can hear it now....

Lucia: "Remember the time we got chicken nuggets but they were too hot, so Mom had to cool them using the car's air conditioner?"

Isabella: "Yeah, that was funny! Or remember when she kept saying they were warm - not hot, so that she wouldn't have to cool them again? But then Papi grabbed them and held them up the car's A/C vents so they could cool off? Thank God Papi was there that day or we would have starved!"

Lucia: "That was funny! I miss Mom, no one can order chicken nuggets like she did!"

I know I do more for my kids than buy them chicken nuggets... there's always the near daily snowballs in the summer! :) So in the spirit of creating some fun memories, we are off to "Breakfast with Santa" at Isabella's school. It's much colder than I thought it would be when I first made these plans. Grrr. I wish we could just stay snuggled up on the sofa but since we went last year, I figured this might be a good memory to create for my girls - the yearly "Breakfast with Santa" day.

And who knows, we may just stop for chicken nuggets on the way home! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful for...
• My husband and girls
• My health
• My family
• My friends
• My home
• My life

I really need to start taking the camera out of Harold's hands - couldn't find any pics of Harold and the girls. Oh, well. Still thankful for him, too! ;)

X-Ray Love

This is for my hubby. I mean, really, who else can properly appreciate an x-ray picture of me blowing a kiss? Only a husband that's in med school, that's who!

Darn You, Sky Mall Magazine!

I flew back to New Orleans over the weekend for a wedding. Got to hold a 4 week-old baby and listen to a very, very good homily. It was a great trip.

Once I landed, for some reason I started having a pain in my chest when I took a deep breath. As some of you know, I had a pulmonary embolism after I gave birth to Lucia. Every time I have any type of pain in my chest or legs, I start this whole little dialogue in my head. "Go to the hospital. No, it's nothing. Really, call someone. It's nothing. Is the pain constant or only when you breath in? Just forget about it." All while I'm taking these exaggerated breaths to see if they will make me cough or feel light-headed.

Whenever someone finds out that I've had a P.E., they flip out, tell me a story about someone they knew or heard about that died from a PE and finish it off with, "You are so lucky!" And as much as I know that I am, and as thankful as I know I should be, I just can't be. It's hard to be thankful when you're busy worrying. When I try to focus on being thankful, I start feeling lucky, then question if I will get lucky again and go back to worrying. It's really very stupid.

During this particular worry session, I was trying to remember if changes in air pressure, from flying. increases a persons chances for a blood clot. Then I started with the deep breathes and wondering if every flight would now make me worry even more... all while cursing myself for not getting up and stretching my legs - darn you, Sky Mall magazine!!!

Lunch With the Cool Cousins

Tomorrow, we will have been in Dallas for four weeks. Almost every day, I thought to myself that I needed to pack up my girls to go have lunch with their cousins at school. My sister predicted that time would fly by and she was right. Yet further confirmation of why she was in the GT (Gifted & Talented) Program at school and I was not. :)

Today is the last day of school before the kids are off for Thanksgiving break and we head back home. Can you guess what we did today? Yup.... had lunch with the cool cousins.

We only ate with Joshy - his class has the first lunch break. It was a great day to meet for lunch - pizza day! When there is only 10 min left before the bell rings, the teacher announces that it's "chow time" and all the kids really get down to eating, no more talking allowed. So funny... and it works, too!

Then we met up with Sophia. We all just talked while she ate her lunch. Once she was finished, she treated the girls to ice-cream cones so she wouldn't have to eat dessert without them. Is that sweet or what? And my sister wasn't even there telling her to do so! My girls got lucky - I hadn't allowed them to get ice-cream during their lunch with Joshy.

On the way out, we snapped a quick pic with Alex, just as he was walking into the cafeteria. Perfect timing and "Lunch with the Cool Cousins" was declared a huge success!

Geaux Saints!

Our city is going crazy over our football team, the New Orleans Saints! And they should... we're undefeated so far and playing great. Fans are coming out of the woodwork and screaming "Who dat? Geaux Saints!" at anyone that walks by. There is something about the New Orleans Saints doing well that just makes the whole city feel better. I love it!

This billboard, in front of a local church, makes me smile at the catchy play of words and makes me wonder what the whole city would feel like if we all were fans of the true Saints. I'd love that, too!

Feliz Cumpleanos!!!

Feliz cumpleanos, Mami!

Te quiero y te extrano muchisimo!!!!
- laura

Happy Birthday, Carmen!

Another perk to being in Dallas was helping my sister celebrate her 34th birthday... happy birthday, Carmen! The party was a success and we didn't run out of food. :) One of Carmen's biggest worries.

We were all so busy making sure everything was going smoothly that we didn't take any pics! Ughhh!!! One of Carmen's friends took some and when I get them, I'll be sure to post. Carmen looked great - not a day past 33!!! ;)

One of my favorite memories from this trip will be Harold and I staying up late and watching Carmen and Robbie practice this fancy number! It was both fun, hilarious and touching - can't wait to show this at their 50th wedding anniversary.

(PS: I'm still a lil aggravated that the party goers chose to get into place AFTER the music started and not before like I kept insisting! Why does no one ever listen to me? Grrrr!!)

Care Bear

So much for my post a few days ago about trying to have a more "saintly" attitude. Today I had to get the girls dressed and out the house in about 3 minutes flat. As usual, they decided that today was the day all the stuffed animals owned by my niece, Sophia, needed to tag along.

I quickly explained to them that this was going to be a short trip, we did not have time to take care of so many stuffed animals, that they could only take one each and that we wouldn't be gone too long.

As I started checking all the rooms and corners for my shoes, purse and keys, I turned to see Isabella walking down the stairs with an arm full of stuffed animals. Grrrrr!!!

Me: Isabella, you cannot bring all those toys with you.
Isabella: Well, I want to so I am because I'm going to take good care of them.
Me: No, Isabella, you can only choose one.
Isabella: But Moooooooooooooom, I really want to take them all.
Me: I don't care, Isabella! You can only take one.
Isabella: No, I want to take more.
Me: I don't care! Let's go - we need to go!!!!
Isabella: You never care! I wish you cared! I wish you were a Care Bear! Then that way you would care more!
Me: Me, too, Isabella. Me, too.

Yes, I know that "I don't care" is not an appropriate response but I had no energy to think of a better one and honestly, at that precise moment, I didn't care! A good Saint never lies! :)

I Want to be a Saint

I once heard someone say that they hoped to make it to heaven and hear God say to them, "Well done, my faithful servant." I used to just worry about just getting into heaven much less what I would be told. Those words have stayed with me for years. It's a shame I can't remember where I heard them.

Yesterday's homily was about today's "All Saints Day" holiday. The priest said a lot of wonderful things but since we have the honor of going to mass with a 5 and 3 yr-old, a lot of his message was lost on me. The part that I do remember was how we should all want to be Saints. He said that when asked what we wanted to be, our response as Catholics should be, "I want to be a Saint." If our ultimate goal is to make it into heaven, then our only earthly goal should be to be a Saint.

I have thought about that all day and especially today when I remember family members who have passed away. My Memere, Abuelito Florencio, my Aunt Celeste and of course, my parents. I think about the day that we will all be together again. I want to see God. I want to see my family and friends. I want to finally understand what this whole adventure has been about.

So now I have a whole new set of words to focus on... I want to be a Saint.

PS: Being a Saint's football player does not count! :)

* Image from HauntedNewOrleans.com

Halloween 2009

We've been knowing for a while now that we were going to be in Dallas for Halloween. The plan was for all of us - kids and adults - to dress as Star War characters. That didn't happen. Oh, well. At least my nephews and niece kept up their end of the bargain!

And checkout my niece... she totally got into character!

Costume shopping this year was a nightmare between my daughter's indecisiveness and the ridiculous costume prices! Isabella and Lucia ended up using costumes that were laying around my sister's house and her friend lent us one so all we had to buy were the crowns. Not bad for a costume that was bought on Halloween Day!!! I love how Isabella isn't wearing shoes in her pic - very Cinderella of her, don't ya think?

Happy Halloween!

Crazy Hair Day

We're in Dallas spending approx. 5 weeks with my sister's family. Harold's doing an away rotation, at Parkland, while the girls and I hang out and attempt to do some schoolwork. It's only been a week and I think I'll grade the week a C+ as far as having five kids and two dogs, under one roof, trying to get along and share.

This morning was Crazy Hair Day at my nephews and niece's school. I love that I am getting to share in these lil things with kids that I love as much as my own. I know this because I put one of them in time-out last night and felt zero guilt. Just like when I do so to my own kids.

Alex's hair is "long" to me but cool to the rest of his friends. Just the perfect length for a funkly lil mohawk - can't get much crazier than that!

Sophia ended up with two teased pigtails - the pic does it no justice. My sis definitely put her 80's bang teasing skills to good use. I feel for the child who sits behind her in class since their blackboard view will for sure be obstructed.

And Joshy, this lil bundle of energy is anything but neat and proper - his hair doesn't even get this slick for church. Too bad we didn't have a bowtie to add to his shirt.

When I told Alex that I was going to post his pics on here he said, "Cool! Now everyone around the whole world can see me!!!" Isn't that sweet? My nephew thinks I have a global following.

I just laughed and moved this week's grading to an A++!

Buzz, Buzz!

Booty Shaking on the Front Lawn

The other day I decided that I was going to celebrate my children. Not sure if I read an inspiring blog post, read a story about a child dying or saw a sweet commercial, but I was determined to see past all things that bugged me and just enjoy being with my children.

Lucia woke up from her nap and we were off to pick up Isabella. I had my new iPod playing and we were both dancing around to Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" and I just knew that it would be a good, good day. We picked up Isabella and, I kid you not, we made it approximately 2.5 blocks down the street and I was screaming at Isabella to stop whining and complaining.

The whining kills me. Slowly. Every. Day. Sigh.

Yesterday, I decided I was a loser mom for giving up so quickly as I thought back on that afternoon. I turned on the radio and the beginning lyrics to "I Gotta Feeling" song were starting. Yes! God agreed and I was being given another chance. Lucia and I both screamed out in excitement.

We sang. We danced. We laughed. We got home way too quickly.

I quickly turned up the radio, jumped out the car, pulled Lucia out and we danced right then and there... in my driveway. Two cars drove by and one actually slowed down, probably because they thought I was trying to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on myself, but once they saw Lucia's smile and heard the music playing they kept on driving.

Nothing wrong here - just enjoying my daughter with a lil booty shaking in the middle of the front lawn.

Time to Pull Out the Suit

Harold's med school "pregnancy" is progressing along. We're in the setting-up-interviews phase so I put together this map to show you guys where Harold will be interviewing soon.

I'm pretty sure I'm missing 2 or 3 other places but he's not home for me to ask - pretty sure I heard something about Emory, Parkland and Baton Rouge. Oh, well. I saw this idea on my friend Katy's blog and totally had to copy.

Katy made the comment that she realized they could end up anywhere after putting her map together. Me? I realized that I should have followed through with my high school freshman dreams of med school when I had the chance. Now I am going to be stuck at home with two kids while my hubby goes of on silent plane rides and sleeps in clean hotel rooms.

So. Not. Fair.

(If you click on the map you can read it a lil better)

Choose Hope

I remember sitting in my living room with my dad. I think I was 12 or 13. We were watching a Feed the World special about the hungry children in Ethiopia. It was so sad. I remember it was just my dad and me, my sister couldn't watch these type of documentaries without crying and I'm not sure where my brother and mom were. Maybe it was late and my mom was already asleep, I'm not sure.

During a break, I turned to my dad and said that I thought if everyone in the world could give just one dollar, maybe those kids wouldn't be hungry. I remember my dad saying that not everyone had a dollar to give and the one's that had thousands of dollars, just didn't want to.

I don't know how true the latter part of his statement is today. Maybe it's more true than I want to believe. I don't know. I do know that this world is full of generous people who are working to making a difference. Hopemongers.org was created to help us, help others. The concept is simple - give $10 and help end poverty somewhere in the world.

You choose the project and they'll take care of the rest.

A Berry Special Birthday

This past Sunday we had a party for the girls.

Isabella turned 5 last week and Lucia turns 3 next week. I love having joint birthday parties for them. Not only does it justify the running around but I think it's pretty cool that it's teaching them the art of compromise and it's keeping Isabella from growing up too fast since Lucia's two years younger. This year some of the ideas were Chuckee Cheese, a mermaid party, a Dora party and I think a puppy party, too.

A few months ago, my aunt gave us matching Strawberry Shortcake outfits and the theme was quickly chosen and approved by moi! The party got a lil crazy with a house full of family and friend but in the end, it ended up being a "berry" special birthday!

Smart Turtle

We found a turtle in the yard.

Decided to keep it as a pet. Especially after we noticed how much her shell resembled the pattern of our patio.

This turtle was pretty big! And fast! We'd go inside and come back minutes later to find it running across our backyard. I figured she could hear the whining of who got to hold her first and decided to hightail it outta here!


Smart turtle.

My Birthday Wish

I can't believe today I'm turning 33!! Where did the time go? ;) Is it sad that I don't feel a day past the age of 23? Hmmm. That may be a good topic to start on if ever I get into some professional counseling. :)

Many of you have been asking me what I want for my birthday - and by many, I mean three so far (haha). With the lovely economy we are in and the fact that med school has taught me the value of a dollar (again!) - this is my wish...

When you think of me, go do something nice and tell me all about it. Smile at a stranger, help someone (maybe this?) or just keep from losing it on your kids! How fun would that be? To read about the great things you've done today!

This world needs a little kindness... that's my birthday wish.

If You Like It...

Ok, I promise that my blog is not becoming just a bunch of videos but I just had to share. How hilarious is this? The more I watch it, the more I laugh!

Love it!



Off to search if I can find this baby dancing to "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce - he's got the booty shaking down pat!

Who Says Guardian Angels Don't Exist?

6-year-old nearly crushed by car

Feeling Lucky?

A cute couple I have recently become acquainted with is hosting an amazing fundraiser in order to raise funds to bring their daughter home. They are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia and this will be their first child. What a lucky little girl!

Skip that Starbucks coffee and help unite this family of three! This really is a great and worthy cause.

Check out their story here and then here to bid on some amazing give-aways!

Sugar-Bug

There are days when I realize that I'm not one of those "lovey-dovey-sugar-coating" kind of moms. Today was one of those days.

I brought both of the girls to the dentist. It wasn't bad but wasn't good either. Basically a lot of bribing and pleading (Isabella) along with lots of screaming and kicking (Lucia). What a mess! The visit ended with a pretty good report on Lucia but Isabella has her first cavity! The dentist said it was teeny-tiny but still needs to be filled right away. As he walked out, he said the dental hygienist would explain the procedure to us before we left.

After she explained everything to me, she called Isabella over.

Hygienist: Isabella, we are going to have to see you again, ok?
Isabella: Ok.
Hygienist: You have a little sugar-bug on your tooth! So when you come back, the dentist is going to have to chase that cute lil bug all around mouth and get it out, ok? But don't worry, it's just a lil sugar-bug.
Isabella: Ok, but is it like a cavity?

I guess I should have explained to the hygienist how I have shown both the girls my ugly silver filling plenty of times and swore to them that it's a huge cavity from my days of eating gum and not brushing my teeth! We know all about cavities in our house and nothing about cute sugar-bugs!

Proud To Be An American

9/11. There are so many memories and emotions I get when I think of that day eight years ago. It doesn’t seem that long since my sister called to tell me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I was already at work and all we had was a radio to listen to, a radio that didn’t do justice to those tragic events. The second plane. Planes crashing. The Pentagon. Buildings collapsing. People dying.

At the time, some of my best friends were a group of guys from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait. The word “terrorists” was starting to float around and I was getting nervous. After work, I went to their house. I had always loved to argue with them about their feeling towards the US of A. They always swore that their countries loved American people, just didn’t care for our government. As we watched the news and cried together, I knew they were telling the truth. It was a horrible day for all of us.

Harold and I went to mass that evening. I remember that I hadn’t seen our church so full in a very, very long time. I was so sad... sad for the poor people who had died, sad for our country, sad for myself. It was then I realized I was proud to be an American. Growing up, I was conflicted at times as to who I was. Was I Hispanic? Was I American? My dad told me I was both but it didn’t seem possible. I always thought I was just Hispanic, that’s what I checked off on my ACT tests and many other forms, but as I sat in church and listened to my Priest speak I knew it wasn’t true. This country was great, its people were wonderful and we were all finally pulling together... praying together. I was an American and I was honored to be one. The country was devastated but proud and I was proud with them.

A couple of weeks later, two of my Middle Eastern friends got jumped leaving a bar and I met them at the hospital. I was sad once again. What happened to the honor? What happened to the unity? Why did it only apply to “Americans” and no one else? Why does there have to be division?

I think about that today. We’re a country fighting over healthcare, the economy, who’s right, who’s wrong. Where did our honor go? Why can’t it be like that day, when we hugged and cried with perfect strangers in church? Why does it take a tragedy to unite us but a difference of opinion to divide us so quickly again? Why don’t we feel honored to be able to take care of our neighbor instead of cheated? Where is that pride and unity?

All those lives weren’t lost in vain, I believe we’ve learned a lot since 9/11. I believe I’m a better person, still with plenty of room for improvement, but still proud to be an American.

My Beautiful Obsession • II

I told you guys I was obsessed, right?

Way too much of that excited energy flowing through me right now - just had to whip out two more designs! Did you know that "Kamal" means perfect in African? And that the Belgium flower is the poppy? Having way too much fun with this!

Hope you are enjoying the Labor Day weekend. :)


* All proceeds from my Adoption Announcements will either go towards our own adoption process or the adoption agency we will use. This is our first fundraiser. Yay!! :)

My Beautiful Obsession

There are a lot of things that I've become obsessed with lately. It's no secret that Harold and I are hoping to expand our family through adoption. We're in the "research" phase and I can't get enough of this subject. This includes reading all the wonderful adoption blogs that are out there. I get so excited reading as family's receive their referral letters and start booking tickets, decorating rooms, etc. I can't wait for our turn.

In the meantime, I thought I would offer a fellow blog-adopting-friend an adoption announcement design so that she could officially let the world know about her new bundle(s) of joy. Instead of one design, I came up with a few. I just kept thinking of all the families I'd read about and couldn't stop at just one!

Hope you guys like what I've come up with! And if you haven't found an announcement that speaks to your heart, contact me.* I'd love to put together something for you!


* All proceeds from my Adoption Announcements will either go towards our own adoption process or the adoption agency we will use. This is our first fundraiser. Yay!! :)

I Did It! I Did It!

I dit it! I did it! My new website is officially up! Yay!! It actually went live a few days ago but I'm just getting around to posting it here.

I spent a lil more time than I thought I would designing it but I am pretty pleased with the end result. It was fun flipping thru my portfolio picking out what designs I wanted to include. It's amazing how many things I've created in the past 12 yrs.

Now I just need to keep myself from wanting to change it once again. There are so many great things you can do once you start playing around on the computer. Lucky for me, I have a few obsessions to keep me entertained. :)

Check it out at: www.inka-inka.com

A Stretch Mark Free Pregnancy

I was chatting with my sis-in-law, Ruth, today via Facebook and she asked how we were doing. I replied, "We're down to 9 months - can you believe it?" And she said, "It's like a pregnancy!"

Harold will graduate med school in exactly 36 weeks. Any woman who's ever been pregnant knows that a pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, not the 36 weeks we always assumed. So for sake of this post, we'll continue with this lil white lie.

I remember when we were pregnant with Isabella how it felt as if I was pregnant forever one second and not long enough the next. I feel that exact same way about these last few months of med school. Things are happening so fast, yet not fast enough. It's already September and our away rotation to Dallas starts at the end of October. It'll be here before we know it.

When I was pregnant with Lucia, I was so excited but also sad to leave the comfort of our lil family of three. We had our routine down pat and now we had to start all over. Harold's match day is March 15th - the day we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Oops, I mean, if we are staying in New Orleans or leaving. :) It'll be exciting but sad knowing that the majority of Harold's friends will be leaving. I've found a great friend in another med-school-wife, Katy, and our families will probably match in separate cities. It seems just yesterday I was driving up to her porch and introducing myself. Where did the time go? The routine we've become accustomed to will be different. Like with Lucia's birth, not by much but enough to know that our lives have changed once again.

So off we go to finish preparing for graduation, like with a pregnancy you can't buy yourself any more time, it's coming whether you're ready or not. We will soon have a doctor to take care of and who in turn will take care of us. That'll be nice.

It'll also be nice knowing that this will be a stretch mark free pregnancy. :)

Oh, Katrina

Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans, LA. 8/29/05.