U.N.O.

I remember it like it was yesterday, the day you were born was, just to fit your personality, calm, laid back and beautiful. It is hard to believe it has been 365 days! My mind can't understand how can days seem to last forever sometimes and yet life has gone by like a sigh.

And today I write so I do not forget. I write for you, my love, my prince my Joshie-coo.

You are a joy to be around, so sweet, so kind and, like a Coyle, Strong and Independent. You are walking everywhere these days! except when you want to get somewhere at turbo speed and you crawl, you crawl like speedy Gonzalez, maybe it is the mexican in you. You try and try and try (with so much determination it is inspiring) to get in the bathroom to play with the toilet.

You love your sister and she loves you, you are her baby and she takes care of you, she tries to feed you whatever treats she gets, even the not so appropriate ones such as hot mexican candy.

Since the day you were born you have been hungry, and boy you eat! you love REAL food, none of the baby food pureed stuff I so desperately try to feed you, you love beans ans spaghetti sauce and pasta andd pizza and soup and rice and pretty much everything I put in front of you, you are such a boy!

You love dancing and music and you chubby little legs rhythmically move to the music and for that I am grateful, you have dancing rhythm!

You S.M.I.LE. A.L.L. T.H.E. T.I.M.E. and it is in caps because you do! you are a happy baby! you are MY happy baby. You flirt, with all the pain in my heart, you flirt with girls and I know I will have issues (ahem, I already do) with the whole girlfriend thing. But we have a good 20?-25 years? before that right?

Your smile melts my heart every time. And I love you, I love you, I love you and in case it is not clear, I LOVE YOU, with a deep, pure and never ending love that brings joy to my heart, everyday until I die.

ONE, such a small number, such a huge mark in heart.

O.N.E.

Lo recuerdo como si fuera ayer. Siento el aire y saboreo el momento con tan solo cerrar mis ojos, cada sensacion y cada latir de mi corazon, de emocion, de ansiedad, de felicidad y de incertidumbre me invadian y se apodera de mi ser una sonrisa y un agradecimiento a mi Creador al saberme poseedora de esta bendicion. Mi hijo. mi Joshua nacio hace 365 dias.

Hoy veo hacia atras y ha sido un suspiro, el tiempo ha pasado mas rapido de lo que puedo digerir, escapa mi entendimiento como los dias parecen ser tan largos a veces y sin embargo la vida pasa tan rapidamente. Y hoy escribo para no olvidar los pequenos detalles que hacen tan grande mi existir. Hoy escribo para ti mi amor, mi principe, mi Joshie-coo.

El dia de tu nacimiento fue tan.."tan como tu" tan relajado, tan tranquilo y tan hermoso. Mi agua se rompio a las 2:00 a.m. y despues de que tu daddy medio dormido y hablando mas de cansancio me pedio que me "asegurara que fuera de verdad" (como si eso se pudiera confundir), dejamos a Kiki con G-Mom y Papap y fuimos al hospital Bellevue, llegamos a las 5:00 a.m. y a las 10:31 ya te tenia en mis brazos, recuerdo tu carita y tus manitas tan chiquitas y tan fuertes que hacen juego perfecto con tu personalidad. Me enamore profundamente de ti como nunca antes, tal vez porque eres mi "little man", tal vez porque eso es lo que las madres sienten al ver sus bebes, pero estoy segura que es porque has sido una Bendicion inmensa para mi.

Naciste listo para comer! y hoy lo sigues haciendo te encantan los frijoles, como buen mexicano, que a pesar de que te digan que eres aleman e iralndes, tu sabes que eres mi prietito. Nunca te gusto la comida de bebe. Quieres comer lo que nosotros tengamos en el plato y tu hermana ha intentado alimentarte toda clase de comida que no es tan apropiada, desde chocolate hasta pulparindo picoso (que a ella le encanta).

Caminas para todos lados y solo gateas cuando quieres llegar rapidamente a algun lugar, como cuando abro la puerta del bano y quieres escapara a jugar con el excusado!

Tienes una sonrisa tan dulce y contagiosa que derrite mi corazon y eres una ternurita con la mayoria de las personas, eres amable y por lo general muy bien portado, eres un bebe muy feliz y compartes y contagias tu felicidad con todos los que te rodeamos.

Eres muy determinado cuando te fijas tu meta, nadie puede persuadirte de lo contrario y para ser tan pequenito me inspira tu caracter.

Te encanta abrazarme y morderme y pellizcarme! te acurrucas junto a mi en la noche y duermes a mi lado a diario, antes de dormir. Mis ojos se llenan de lagrimas de gozo al saber que eres mi bendicion de Dios. Te amo. Te amo. Te amo.

Manana tendras una fiesta de "Lightning McQueen" y no puedo dormir de la emocion! Mi bebe cumplio U.N.O. Es un numero tan chiquitito y tan enorme en mi corazon.

T is for Turkey.

And T is for Thank you.

This year has been a very blessed one for our little family, for starters we added a new member, my baby Josh. My parents in separated trips were able to join our daily lives for a couple months, our house was totally unharmed during the devastation of Hurricane Irene and for that we are very thankful.

I live in a country where i have a freedom of speech, opportunity to thrive and lifestyle unparalleled anywhere else. I am able to raise my family, not without sacrifices, on a one income budget, I get to wake up every morning knowing I will spend as much time as I want with my babies, I get to BE HOME with them, and for that I am very blessed.

I thank God for my friends, from now and before, because I carry a little of all of them in my heart. I thank Him also for my Husband, who drives me absolutely NUTS, in every posible way, with kindness, anger, passion and mostly love.

I am very thankful also for stretchy pants that allowed me to ate -ahem-keep eating- so much!

Feliz dia del pavo!

Worn out shoes.

I can still see the red and yellow of the sun coming through those Sierra Madre Mountains dancing on the horizon, I can still smell de crisp and yet warm and almost spicy air in the early morning, I feel my -back then brand new shoes- soles holding to the ground almost enough to keep me there, with so much strenght, with so much weight, so much mote than the 20 pounds of baby weight i carry. I can hear the turbines accelerating making my pain increase expotentialy with their speed, more than anything I can feel tears on my cheeks and I ignore when they got there, all I know is that my heart is holding on.I am saying good bye. I hate it. I know hate is a very strong word, but I do, I hate it. It never gets easier. They get bigger, sadder and more tearful everytime. Giving hugs to my family and holding them so tight as to make them a part of me, to take some of them with me, to imprint them in my skin so I don's feel them so far away. That is all I can do. That is all I must do. I pray to God to keep everyone in my home safe until I can hold them again.

I do not know why I thought of this today, since it happened in September 2010. Maybe it is the fact that the Holidays are coming and I get more emotional about my family. Today was a very good day, with Kiki's laughter and Josh' smiles and giggles, maybe that is why i miss them because i would like to share these days with them. Maybe because there is not a day I don't miss them. or maybe, just maybe the reason is much simpler. Maybe because my shoes are getting old and I thought about the time when I bought them, to go to Mexico. I am so much simpler than I seem. Today was a very good day, and I thank God for it, and I pray I get to share some days like today with my family in Mexico someday.

My baby is cuter than your baby

I don't know if it is accurate information, but for me is the absolute truth!

Evidence A.

Evidence A.1

Is it just me or they really are adorable?

Halloween

Si hay algo que me encanta de tener una familia "mixta" es incrementar las tradiciones que se celebran en esta casita. Tenemos Santa Claus y Reyes Magos, Conejo de Pascua y la Cuaresma, Dia de Accion de gracias, Viernes Negro (que es uno de mis favoritos y se acerca !!!), tenemos dia de muertos y Halloween. Si bien tiene raices paganas, nosotros lo enfocamos a lo que en realidad se ha convertido, y al que con toda la sabiduria de su edad mi hija ha renombrado a "Feliz dia del Candy". Asi que el pasado 31 de octubre nos dirigimos por las calles a pedir "Tick'o'teat" como decia mi Kiki, sobra decir que mis babies eran los mas lindos de todo el vecindario, -al menos en mi muy humilde opinion-. Pero para mostrar algo en lo que baso mi opinion, aqui esta una muestrita

Ignorancia/ Ignorance

Como reaccionas ante comentarios racistas e ignorantes? Los ignoras? Tratas de convencer a la otra persona de su falta de conocimiento acerca del asunto? Mi reaccion es algo con lo que lucho bastante. No pasa muy a menudo, pero cunado sucede mi SANGRE ORGULLOSAMENTE MEXICANA hierve dentro de mi. Tratar de mantener mi reaccion en la proporcio y enojo adecuado es un reto. No se si reaccionar del todo tenga algun impacto, tal vez evadir el asunto es la mejor estrategia. Tu que opinas?
How do you react to ignorant and racist comments??? Do you ignore them? Do you try to convince the other person of their lack of knowledge about the issue? I know i struggle with my reaction to out of place comments. It doesn't happen very often but when it does, it makes my VERY PROUDLY MEXICAN blood boil inside me. Trying to keep my reaction in the correct proportion and limited anger is definitely a challenge. I do not know if reacting at all will make a difference, maybe avoiding conflict and acting like the bigger person is the right answer. What do you think???