Breastmilk or Donuts?

There were no tantrums at bible study this weekend.

She took her shoes off, sat with her toys in the middle of our circle and quietly played with the other toddlers.

Then, she needed to breastfeed.  As she often likes to do.

I tried to switch her attention to something else, like toy's, water, crackers in my bag.

She needed to breastfeed.

I looked around, a little worried wondering if anyone would feel uncomfortable if I breastfed there.

Audrey is almost two years old after all, and I wondered if anyone would think that two is too old to be on mama's boob.

I looked around again. One of the other toddler's was keeping busy eating a donut.

I realized how silly of me.   No one was bothered by a toddler eating a DONUT, why would they be bothered by a toddler breastfeeding?

It's funny how society has made breastfeeding seem uncomfortable for the people around.  Sad, how I a big supporter of breastfeeding was still having some of those feelings.


Those feelings went away after seeing a donut.

I quickly put her to my breast, and if anyone was looking, was bothered or uncomfortable, I really don't care.

I choose to feed my daughter breastmilk.

Latte's, Earth Day, and less shopping

I sipped, while Audrey colored (pinta, pinta).  A yummy latte made by Millie, at Penny For Your Thoughts. 

It's our local coffee shop, just up the street, filled with antique, vintage and special second hand finds.  And coffee. 

                                                                                                         

Baby girl played with the chest full of toys while I checked email, and read my favorite blogs on my laptop.  

Free wireless + kid friendly <3

Local.  It's the way to go.  It's so much more personalized, and better for the Earth. 

Which brings me to Earth Day, and how bothered I was by all the "sales" and "specials" and "discounts" in celebrations of the big day. 

Big companies find a way to market anything to get us to buy their products.  

So, instead of visiting the farmer's market, or working on the garden outside, or turning off all the lights at home and sitting outside for some natural light, on Earth day, we my friends are shopping for 

"organic sheets on sale!!!". 

We are being played, even on Earth Day.  

Earth Day is bigger than this.  It's a reminder of the steps we need to take.  

Less shopping.  Less packaging.  Less, I want more kind of attitude.

More working together, and less individual steps. 

I am in no way calling myself perfect, in fact, I'm calling myself out.  I am known to overspend, and  don't carry credit cards with me for this reason. 

This doesn't mean I'm not entitled to treat myself to a latte, I just have to be a conscious consumer, like buying local, taking my own cup to the coffee shop, or buying Audrey a second hand vintage dress rather than a new dress.  

You might have already seen this film, it's a perfect reminder!

Before the rain

and clouds fill the sky, Audrey and I go for a walk.  We visit the park, chase birds and forget about all the cleaning waiting for us at home.

She climbs and runs, I chase behind her.  I think about how fast she is becoming a little girl.

We walk to the farmer's market, a craving for something fresh after yesterday's post.

Strawberries on her cheeks, from every vendor offering her a sample.

We hold hands and walk up our street, tired of riding in the stroller.  Wave at cars passing by, point at squirrels, dogs, cats and call all of them coco. 

We are home, and unpack our local strawberries, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, avocados, tomatillos, onions, and raisins.

We tell the Dahlia's, how pretty you are, as we place them in water. 

We head straight for bed, it's nap time.  The breast is out, we feel warm.  And just then, sprinkles from the rain begin to fall.

Jeremiah and the honey bees

During spring break Jeremiah and I visited a local honey bee farm, Bill's Bee's.  We had the most amazing time.  It was so beautiful to see the bees in their habitat.  Jeremiah learned so much, and I think has thoughts of becoming a beekeeper now ( :

Pura Miel (the National Honey Board) invited us to learn about the benefits of honey and the difference between 100% honey and some of the fake honey that is out there.

It's amazing what we are being sold.
Products that are labeled "honey blend", "honey syrup", or "honey flavored" that are filled with corn syrups. The sad thing is, it's not just honey but all of the things we eat and are feeding our little ones.  Learning to read labels is SO important.

Pure honey only has one ingredient, honey.
The best place to find pure honey is at the local farmer's market (my favorite).  It's a natural sweetener.
And goes so yummy with my favorite tea, Dandelion atm.

honey bee pollen

Jeremiah in his beekeeper outfit.  Isn't he handsome?

This mom and son outing was just what we needed.  Jeremiah having mama to himself. 

I really recommend every now and then having an outing with just one of your kids. They love the attention, and you get to listen to just them during that time.  

Bill and his bees were such wonderful hosts and I know we will be visiting them quite often (at the farmer's market), they are at the  Pasadena farmer's market weekly.

*I was not asked or given any compensation to post about our trip or Honey.  I loved the invitation to the honey bee farm and the promoting of local farmer's, so I wanted to share ( :

On being home with the kids...

Spring break is over for Miah and he is back in school today.

Back to the normal schedule, of homework, bedtimes, and pick ups and drop offs.

We had a fun week (I even called sick to work one day and might of not been that sick), hung out with friends, got things done around the house, and had some much needed mama and kids time.

Makes me wish I could stay home, and not work. And homeschool the kids. 

Then reality hits.  And I know I can't.  And I wonder if I would be any good at being a stay home mom. 

I am so good at being a nurse, and like helping people, and like the intensity of it, and the responsibilities, and challenges and the people I get to hang out with (my other family, it feels like, sometimes). 

But, I love my family.  Miss them.  And wonder if this is the right thing to do. 

Do you ever have thoughts like this?  On how you would be... at your other job?

Speaking of jobs, here is the one we are working on atm:

Jeremiah picked the Santa Barbara Mission as his 4th grade California Mission project (we need to build a miniature version).  Any tips, suggestions?

As for Miss Audrey Marie:

Audrey is pointing to all most of her body parts when you ask her to show you, whether it be in english or spanish. 

 It's really cute, and I need to video tape her asap ( :

thinking about arroz con leche

via Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times

I was reading the LA Times this morning and came upon this recipe, instantly I thought of arroz con leche.  Isn't arroz con leche yummy?!?!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend, with a whole lot of sweetness. 

an invite for you to an exclusive party

I am really excited! The magazine Que Rica Vida will be launching it's new site next month!

To celebrate their new launch, they will throwing a mad party!  They have invited me to Miami to be a guest, and although I'm still nervous and a little anxious about leaving my family in LA,  I am still looking forward to joining other fellow Latina bloggers to celebrate the big event.

The party will be on May 20th, and guess what?  You are invited too!  Ofcoarse you will need to pay for your trip there.  But if you will be in the area that day, you can be one of the exclusive 500 guests to attend.

Karla Martinez, Adamari Lopez (love her!) and Dra. Aliza will be some of the Latina stars to attend.


To RSVP email Bibi@hispaniapublicrelations.com.  Let them know you heard about the party on my blog.

more info below!

Can't wait to meet you!!!

* I was given this info so you can join me and other bloggers at this exclusive event. I shared on my own account and was not given monetary compensation to do so.  
I will be one of their guests flown out to party!  And hope you can join us too!

on not so good mothering

Lately, It seems as if I've been having a lot of ups and down's on mothering.

Sometimes I have no patience.
I quickly can't take it anymore.

I'm tired a lot.  I try and blame my bad mood,  and the not so pleasant things I say on not sleeping well.

And then I realize, that that is no excuse for being this way with the kids.   Specially Jeremiah, who seems to be blamed for everything these days.  After all, Audrey is just a baby.

It's hard to admit this, because I don't want to believe it myself, that I can get so angry and be so rude sometimes.

I'm taking daily steps to becoming a better mother.  Jeremiah is changing a lot these days, he is not that almost perfect kid anymore.  And he needs me to change too, to adapt to his changes in becoming him.

He answers with what?, forgets to say please and thank you (even after being reminded), he shrugs his shoulders all the time, leaves dirty cups in his room, has lied to us, and ignores our requests.
Everything I probably did to my mom.

Somehow I thought the terrible two's were the worst age.

He is not even a teenager yet

and instead of being in control, I have been loosing it.

I have been doing a lot more reading on positive parenting.  Positive parenting to a tween.  Is that even a word?

I recently read Loving Your Child Is Not Enough: Positive Discipline That Works by Nancy Samalin .  I really can't say enough good things, other than, read it.  It is a short read but says a lot.  It doesn't give you exact instructions.  Wouldn't parenting be easy if it came with those?

But, it does give you lot's of tips on listening to your child.  Examples of real parent situations.  And examples on how to turn negative situations into positive ones.  The author has several good books which you can find more about on her site.

I have so much more to learn, and time is ticking.  I will update you on future good reads, which I'm doing a lot of.

Thanks for listening, to me vent.


* I was not given any compensation for telling you about this book, I read it, liked, and thought you might like it too. 

good news coming soon

Over the weekend Kip and I had a date night here at home.  My little sister Gaby babysat for us <3

We had dinner on the couch (chinese take out) while we watched Godfather part II (had never seen it before).  We enjoyed some much needed relaxation and ended our night really special...

we opened our fortune cookies.  Both our cookies read the same fortune:

Good news is coming soon

We thought that was a pretty cool way to end date night, specially because both of us have never opened fortune cookies where both fortunes are the same ( :

I was given some really yummy hair tips and recipes at the hair boot camp event. 

Here is an easy one I'm sure you will like. 

FAST & EASY

DRY HAIR TREATMENT

1 cup milk

1 egg

Beat egg in milk. When foam is consistent, rub into scalp. 

Leave on hair for 5 minutes.  Rinse hair thoroughly with warm water. 

Enjoy!

* I was not asked or given any compensation to share this with you.  I was invited to a blogger event where this info was shared with me, I thought you might find it interesting also. 

toma leche y amigas

I had a really good week.

I got a lot done at home (including learning to play a mean game of Battleship)
and even had some time for me,

to get together with some great bloggers, and see these friends in person.

We hung out at Point De Vue salon on the westside for a fun got milk? event.

We were schooled on how to get that  hair salon look at home during the hair boot camp led by the most fabulous Muriel M.  Her salon is so welcoming, with big windows that let's in beautiful LA sun, an outdoor patio, and the most beautiful painting of a mama and baby right in the middle of the shop.

We were treated like stars, with complimentary lip and eyebrow waxing, skin consultations, scalp massages, yummy latte's

and cupcakes!

I was a bit embarrassed yet excited about learning how to hold my blow-dryer the right way.  I had it totally wrong.

Muriel's advice:

Do not wash your hair more than every two day's.

Invest on a 600 watt hairdryer and use the tip on it.

Use the highest heat setting.

Use a round brush.

Roll sections of your hair with the brush, and use high heat while tightly unrolling.

It was such a fun event.

I got some great beauty secrets from the got milk? girls (who are SO fabulous) that I will share in the next couple posts.

I hope you are having a beautiful weekend. You deserve it!

Caryn, Janis, Sandrini, Liz, Catalina, me, Yoli

*I was not asked or given any compensation to share this with you.  I was invited to the event and given a little bag with goodies.  Sharing with you was 100% up to me. 

Dreams

Immigration is such a difficult topic.

I came to America as a child, an immigrant.  I have lived here all my life, call America home, and was lucky to finally become a resident as a teenager.  I love America.

Times are much harder now.  Those kids, like me, who don't know any other way of life other than the American way of life are unable to attend college and have rights, and even worse, some are being forced back to the countries they were born.  Forced to leave their dreams, friends and lives behind.  Forced back to countries where dreams are almost impossible.



Please don't leave a comment if it's a negative one.

Audrey

At Trader Joe's, as we were checking out, the cashier said hello to Audrey and asked her name.

I was starting to say "this is Aud..", but was quickly cut off by a tiny girl seated in the cart.

"Audrey", she answered.

I realized I no longer have to answer for her.  Audrey is speaking up for herself.

Her favorite words right now are nominestop, in that order.

And my bilingual baby can also answer when asked, "como te llamas?"

She slept in between the two of us last night.  I was about to move her to the crib, and Kip says, "just leave her, she's comfortable".

I slept really good last night.

Torrejas, Fresco de Ensalada, y Familia

I hurried home from work Easter morning.
The kids found their Easter baskets and didn't waste any time starting on their treats.

I took a nap, exhausted.   And the candy was put high on unreachable places.

We had family come over in the afternoon.  Had an egg hunt for Jeremiah and Audrey.  And ate some very yummy food.

You can't have Easter without Torrejas, IMHO. 

Salmon, Fresco de Ensalada, Zucchini casserole, veggies and cake for dessert (my cousin Xenia, who works at Porto's made it specially for us).

We had a great time.  And I went to work that evening with a very full belly and with lot's of joy in my heart. 

Felices Pascuas!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I work, all weekend, but will make sure to wake up from naps during the day for egg hunts, food and time with family. 

Happy Easter!

photos by Audrey's daddy

we're not in Kansas anymore

We are back home, and happy.  Audrey and I missed Jeremiah and Kip a whole lot.  They welcomed us with a clean house and yummy take out from our favorite restaurant.

We had such a great time with family in KC, and wish we lived closer and could see each other often.  I know we would meet for lunch, have barbecues in the backyard, have girl talks, and I would get makeovers, like all the time.

As for flying with a toddler, by myself,  It was easier than I thought. The Ergo is definitely my best advice, and from what I saw at the airport, it seems to be the carrier of choice for flying ( :

I spotted other babywearers right away, giving each other a babywearer nod or smile.

I recommend packing snacks (purchasing snacks on the plane or airport is really expensive), crayons and coloring books.   We also watched a movie on my laptop during the flight.

I read two great books during my trip, and can't wait to tell you more.

For now... here are more pictures from our trip: