Latino Style

My husband and I are of Hispanic decent.
Latinos.
Spanish Speaking.
Non- gringos.

He is Cuban-American and I am Guatemalan-American.

My mother was raised in the US most of her life. My father lived in Guatelmala until he married my mother.

My hubs parents both came over during Castro's take over in the 60's. They have lived most of their lives here in the US.

We love our heritage.

We love the music, the food, everything.

There is nothing better than a huge family party. And let me tell you, we have huge families and we like to party. When Friends come to our family gatherings they are shocked. We have enough food to feed a small country. And everyone in the room is related in some way, shape or form.

We want our kids to have the same experiences we had. To have that sense of family esteem and bond.

My husband and I want our children to share in the love of our culture. So we do the following to be sure that our kid is surrounded with as much Latino influence as possible (Which, let me tell you, isn't easy because though we love our culture, we are inundated with Americana).

1. We forgo the veggie tales CD and put on Buena Vista Social Club, Mambo Kings, Celia Cruz or Gloria Estefan.

3. We Salsa and meringue in our kitchen.

2. I try to cook spanish meals...Lomito (roasted pork tenderloin), ropa vieja (Shredded beef), bistec empanizado (spanish chicken fried steak), arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and lots of platanos or plantains.

3. Everyonce in a while we venture over to our local fiesta or other spanish market and buy ingredients from our "home" land. Stuff you can't find at your local grocery store like Horchata (spanish rice milk), Malta (a cuban malt beverage) and mexican pastries.

4. We give our child cafe con leche, that is coffee with milk. He LOVES it. He has this every other morning. People think we are crazy. We aren't crazy, we are Hispanic. We drank cafe con leche in our bottles and we are just fine.

5. When available, he eats cake for breakfast....Now I don't know if this is a Hispanic thing or my husbands thing. His family, being Cuban, loves sweets and sugar (Cuba-sugarcane, you get the picture) and he did this growing up and so my son gets the joy of this as well.I don't protest, because we barely ever have cake in the house. And in my husbands head cake has eggs and wheat, a great breakfast.

6. My son still drinks from his bottle. He is two. My husband doesn't care how long he has it, don't even ask how old he was when he "gave it up." I'm a little bit more squeamish about it...but truth be told, we aren't in a rush to take it away. I know some of you take away the bottle as soon as the baby turns one...yeah, Hispanics don't do that. Call it denial, but the longer he has a bottle, the longer he is a baby.

So those are some of things that we think will continue the love of our heritage. At least, we hope so.

For more flashbacks click on Sincerely, from me to you.

Joshua Box - Part II

I am writing about our Joshua Box in honor of this memorial day. A box with items that remind us of where God has brought us, protected us and overwhelmed us wiht mercy, love and grace.

Items - Tags from a mattress and a business card.

One Sunday at Church my husband, being the outgoing and never embarrassed person that he is, was asked to be a part of the illustration in the sermon. Of course he was all for it.

The illustration had to do with how no matter what you do to a hundred dollars, whether you stomp on it or crumble it up, the value will still be a hundred dollars. I can't remember the point exactly, but I do remember my husband on stage jumping up and down on this hundred dollars.

And at the end of the illustration our pastor gave him the money!

That was all fun and great and we were very excited about the extra money! Who wouldn't be.

At the time I was about 8 months pregnant with crazy kid. I had all of my showers where we were so blessed to recieve so much of what we needed and registered for.

The week before we had just purchased the crib and a few of the other necessities that we had not recieved.

When my husband got off the stage I whispered in his ear and said, "Woohoo, this will cover the mattress!"

On our way out of church that day, lots of people came up to us and congratulated him on the money. And as we walked out of the doors, a couple who we had never met before told my husband he did a great job and then asked us what we planned to do with the money. We immediately responded by saying we were going to go to babies r' us and buy that mattress.

The lovely wife said, "Oh don't do that. We have a mattress you can have. We bought one for our granddaughter when she comes to visit, but she actually sleeps with us so why don't you have it."

We were blown away. We had never met these people. They were insistent. The mattress was perfect. A lot better than the one we were planning to buy. And crazy kid has slept on it like a champ ever since.

And as for the business card...

During that time where I was 8 months pregnant, my husband was looking to move into a manager position. There was one opening up about 30 minutes away from us in a new location and we thought that would be great. We weren't sure when that position would open but it was the only one available at the time. We told our small group what we wanted and we prayed that God would open the doors and put him in the right place. However, our small group leader added a simple request that night. He prayed that God would place him where he needed to be and if at all possible, he would place him in the location that was 8 minutes away from our home. That God would give the manager at that location a better job and move him so hubs could be there.

We thought, "That would be nice." But, the reality was that this manager lived a few blocks away, he loved the area and it would be a miracle if he left.

God works miracles.

About a month later, the manager calls my husband and says, "Hey I just took a position in town with another company making more money. My wife and I just purchased a loft that we have been wanting. I wanted to let you know so you can post for my location."

A few weeks after crazy kid was born, he became the manager of the location that was literally 8 minutes away from our home.

We were amazed. Wow God. How much you love and care for us that you bless others in order to bless us. And they have no idea!

To God be the Glory!

Joshua Box

Every Memorial Sunday our church celebrates what we call "Joshua Box" Sunday. The majority of our congregation has in their home a Joshua box, which is basically any kind of box, be it decorative or a fancy shoe box and inside this box holds memorable items of the things the Lord has done in our lives and in our family's lives.

This is taken from the book of Joshua, before right before they cross the Jordan River and are about to enter into the promise land through the fallen walls of Jericho.

“Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” Joshua 4

Our Joshua box sits in our living room and inside it has a few memorable items that show God's grace, love, mercy and protection.

Inside we have a few pictures of our house being built, my ID from when I taught High School and my husband's liscensing certificates.

We keep these items together because they all sort of occurred around the same time.

We were to be married in August of '03.

We knew that we did not want to move into an apartment and my husband, the frugal and wise financial person that he is had been saving money for a home for some years. We were driving around all over town looking for a home to purchase or build. For some crazy reason we ended up a little farther than we had anticipated, but nonetheless, a neighborhood had just gone up and the prices were low, the homes were perfect for first time buyers and we prayed, sought counsel and went on to purchase the house. By the way, we bought when the interest rates just happened to be at their lowest ever.

It was a leap of faith because I did not have a job yet, I was in the process of finding a teaching position. I had a few interviews but nothing had come out of them.

The house was going to be finished the week before we married.
It was late July and I still did not have a job. I had applied to every school district in the area. Nothing.

Then out of the blue, on the 29th of July, about 2 weeks before school starts, I get a call for a teaching position at a school I had never heard of. I interview and the next day they offer me the job. I learned that out of almost 1000 applicants, they offered a 22 year old, fresh out of college this position.

The funny part of it is that I don't even remember applying. Like I said, I applied to every district, some an hour's drive away, literally. And this school was about 25 minutes from our new home.

The house was built. We were getting married on Saturday, we signed on Thursday, moved in Thursday night. We spent our first night as husband and wife in our new home.

A few months later, my husband was given the oppurtunity to get his liscences and moved positions and locations to a location about 15 minutes away from our new home. He had currently been in the area we thought we would live in.

2 years later we got our of our comfort zone and began scoping out churches in the area. We found the greatest church in the world, fell in love with the people and have formed the most wonderful relationships. Our church is 5 minutes away from our house.

We never thought we would wind up so far from where we were first looking for homes, but God positioned us here. He knew so much more than we did. He blessed us so much more than we ever would have imagined.

In the next few days as we begin our memorial day weekend, I will be sharing with you more contents from our box and what God has done for my family. And, I would encourage you to begin one in your family so that one day your children may look into the box and ask what is this for and you can share with them the goodness of God.

Those Days

I was 15. He was 17.

A freshman and Junior in High School.

We were young, vibrant and full of...DRAMA!

That is, at least I was.

We had been dating "officially" for about 8 months when this photo was taken. We "talked" for six months prior. We were friends first, even if we were in L-O-V-E.

We wanted to take it slow.

Little did we know that taking it slow was an understatement and it would be another 8 years before we married.

Time is funny like that...it goes slow when you want it to speed up and fast when you wish it would slow down.

Our days revolved around each other, like most young couples do.

I would wake up every morning at 5 ( I don't do that for just anyone...in fact, I don't do that now for him!). He had to be at swimming practice at like 5:30 or 6 and so every night I would sneak downstairs, grab the cordless and call him in the morning ( my parents thought it was ridiculous for me to have my own phone, not to mention my own line, even though I cried and cried for one. Never got one.) They were quick conversations, but they were sweet and thinking about them now make me smile.

We would then head to school. And by 7:00 we were on the phone again. My dad would be yelling at me to get off until he finally got on the line and would tell us to say goodnight. I then would proceed to hang up, but call again before I went to sleep.

We spent our weekends at church functions, from retreats to conventions, camps, mission trips and weekend outings.

In this picture we are in Corpus Christi at a youth convention.

It was so much fun. I don't really remember too much, but I was with him and that was all I wanted then.

You look back and you think that really wasn't that long ago. But at the same time...it really was. So much happened between then and now. So much growth, so many tears, so many smiles and laughs.

I wish I could remember it all. I wish I knew what I was thinking at this moment.

I imagined this life I am living at 15. I wanted a home and kids and this young man in my life...forever.

I had no idea how hard the journey would be. I had no idea how wonderful life would be. I was innocent. Naive. And it was beautiful.

God is so good. He knew.

He knew life wasn't easy. He knew we would struggle. He knew there would be days when I just wanted to scream and cry. He remembers every tear and every smile.

Perhaps he was preparing me in those years long ago. Perhaps he allowed me to be a romantic and naive and innocent, because He knew I may never really be the same again.

I laugh at what I use to cry about in those days. The heartaches of 15.

I love those days. Those days were so beautiful. Full of life and love. I don't miss them, but I do cherish them. I was so blessed by them.

For more strolls down memory lane, click here.

Speechless

Arms, legs, fingers and toes.
A good heartbeat, a brain, lungs and most other major organs.
Eyes are forming, working on eyelids.

All this in the size of a grain of rice.

Incredible.

Click here for more wordless wednesdays.

I need a break

I am in need of a break.

Time off.
Vacation.
Something.

Desperate need.

Great desire.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!

These last few weeks I have been just...blah. I mentioned how I was climbing a mountain here, and then in all it's craziness I had one good and beautiful day here.

Well, that day came and went. I still have little energy and not to be a cry baby, because I know others have it worse, but the nausea is unrelenting. I know I mentioned it before here, but seriously...

I am just not functioning the same. My house is a mess. I am so behind on laundry, YOU HAVE NO IDEA! It's bad. Real bad. I'm sure in the next few days (like tomorrow) my husband is going to wake me up with, "babe, do I have any clean underwear?" And my response..."Do you see the mounds of laundry everywhere...probably not since you haven't attempted to clean it either!"

So...all in all I have decided that I need some serious chillaxing. I need time away because my patience with the boys is thin.

Non-existent.

I need just a few days to rejuvenate and reprioritize and just not be needed! No chores, lots of sleep, no crying from anyone, especially me!

This is my new project.

GO ON VACATION.

I will google. I will search. I will find something close, but cheap, but exactly what I need.

So...the search begins.

For more stuff to be tackled, go here at 5 minutes for mom.

What have I Become!

Oh no! It happened. I was afraid that this would happen. And today I crossed over. Everything I believed in and stood for is gone. Done with. Changed.

How could I let this occur.

I was so careful. SO conscious of my thoughts, actions, behavior.

I swore this would never happen.

I would never become this.

My husband is frugal. He is a saver. My financial guru. I am blessed to have a husband who has a brain for money, because as far as I'm concerned, we make money to spend money.

My husband's family struggled financially when he grew up and because of that he is diligent in his finances and of course, frugal.

He has been this way all through life. He learned to make money at an early age. He was smart. An Entrepreneur.

In high school he would go to the local shipley's and purchase a dozen day old donuts for $1.00. He would then take the box to school and sell each donut for 25 cents.

Genius.

Every morning his lovely, devoted mother would make him a delicious breakfast sandwich: A croissant, bacon, eggs. Her growing boy needed nourishment.

He asked her to make two sandwiched. She obliged.

He ate one on the way to school.
He sold the other for $4.00.

His mother is now waiting to receive the proceeds.

Like I said...An entrepreneur.

He is a garage seller's worst nightmare. He will talk you down with his charm. He will get the best deal.

Your trash is his treasure.

He has made me change. I obliged willingly. I only buy garage sale toys for crazy kid. I look for finds I can "fix up." I, out of necessity, have become frugal. I question every purchase and write down all I spend.

That is...I'm getting better at it.

But, I've come a long way.

Tonight I crossed the line.

We were driving home from small group. My husband pulled into our neighborhood and headed toward our mail boxes.

Two houses from the mail boxes there is a house. Tomorrow being Monday, these homeowners had placed their trash in their front yard.

As we are approaching the house, I glance at their trash. I see that in their trash lies a coffee table.

I look intently at their thrown away coffee table and my first thought is...
"I wonder why they are throwing it away? Can I salvage and use that?"

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My husband turns to me and says, "looks like a good coffee table."

How could I let myself come this far!

What has he turned me into?

P.S. No we did not take the table out of their trash! My husband offered though!

Home again!

Unfortunately I was not able to post much last week. My parent's computer was having issues and so...anyhow, we are home again. My husband got in a few hours ago and life can go back to normal! YEA! We made it through the week with no major issues.

Ok...so I will be returning to my regular blog posting and blog reading. I am so far behind on everyones life! But as for now, I am going to go and cuddle with my man!

Home

My husband is out of town for the week.

I hate when he goes out of town. Fortunately, it's not very often.

I feel pathetic saying this, but when he's gone I feel like life just isn't complete. I feel a little lost and overwhelmed.

My husband and I are homebodies. We like being home. We like spending time together. We enjoy watching TV and running errands together. I wish he could stay home all the time. I don't tire of him.

Plus, he's a good man. He helps me clean, he loves to cook and not to mention, he's pretty hot. And to add to the greatness, our son thinks he is the most fun.

So...I don't do well by myself.

I'm staying with my parents while he's gone. It's great that they are close enough, but at the same time, it's not home. It's funny, isn't it. I called this house home for 8 years. Now, my son and I are sleeping in my old room, where some things haven't changed.

The room is decorated completely different, my parent's didn't keep it as a shrine or anything. It's painted and has different drapes and carpet. But if you go into the medicine cabinet, there is still a bottle of neutregena face wash and clinique make up remover from 2001.

The floor in the bathroom still squeaks in that exact same spot as it did years before.

The street light outside comes in through the window and keeps me awake.

My prom dress still hangs in the closet.

Yesterday my kid was with his pop and my husband calls me. It was almost like Deja vu. I went into my room, closed the door and laid on the bed. I felt like I was back in high school. How many times did I go through that routine? How many hours did I spend on the phone in my room talking to him?

I can't wait till my husband gets home. I can't wait to go home.

But it's nice being here as well. It's better than being by myself. Not to mention that I will be spending the rest of the day out by the pool!

What will they think of Next!

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OMG! What can I say? Use it while traveling! Ha ha!

What's next? The manssiere! Too funny!

For more "Make me Laugh Mondays" click on the donkey!

Being Mom

I was one of those little girls who always had a baby doll.

I love playing house and school.

I would carry my dolls around and brush their hair, give them a bottle, change the diapers, etc. I loved my dolls.

Even at a young age I wanted to be a mama.

The romantic in me thougth it would be wonderful, glorious, precious...

When we got married I was good for about three years and then the feeling hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted to be a mama.

I couldn't shake the feeling. The only rememdy was holding babies.

Everywhere we went my husband would find a baby and ask if I could hold it, hoping it would put me off for a while.

We got pregnant pretty fast. We weren't necessarily trying. We were more like practicing without a net!

Now I know that if he were to spit my way I would get pregnant. We didn't know that then, so it happened pretty quickly.

I love being a mom. I love staying home. I know it's not for everyone, but staying home is definitely for me. Sure it has it's moments, hours, weeks, etc. There are days when I don't want to be mom. I don't want to be needed. Where all I want to do is go shopping without a stroller or the need to be back by nap time.

Days when I feel a little off, when glimpses of my past life come in, when I feel like maybe I'm not very good at this...on those days my son will do something so cute or sweet or lovely.

He cups his hands and comes up to me and says, "Mama look," and I look in his chubby hands and he opens them wide and says, "Big hug."

And I can't get enough kisses. He sometimes gets annoyed with my asking for another, but sometimes, he comes and kisses me without asking. I love that.

Lately I wonder, can I do this again? Will I be as good to a mom of two?

Thank you God for mothers, for my mom and mother in law, for sisters and friends who have taught me and who I can go to at any time for advice and encouragement. What would I be without such women in my life.

Thank you Jesus for patience when I mess up and for blessing me with a child who thinks I'm wonderful. To take someone who is so crazy sometimes, and allow her to raise your children - Your grace is overwhelming.

Happy Mothers Day.

Yea Me!

Ok, today is a proud day.
Today for the first time in like three weeks I was not only a good mama, but a good housewife.

YEA Me!

Let me tell you what the last few weeks have looked like...

Crazy kid has a new freedom called a "big boy bed." He is waking up around 2:30 every night wanting to play. (At first we made the mistake of rocking him back to sleep and even laying in bed with him. NOT a good idea.) So, now he wakes up and we immediately put him in bed. It's getting better and I am praying that the "newness" of it all will fade and he will sleep through the night like he use to. To add to the crazy midnight awakenings, he now likes to begin his day at about 6:15 to 6:30. Thank God for DVR because Curious George can come on at any hour!

So, here I am, preggo and nauseated, crazy kid is awake and ready to go, I barely am able to make my hubs breakfast (Before I got pregnant God had convicted me about not taking care of my husbands nutritional needs and so I had been getting up to make him Breakfast every morning, now that there is no excuse for my early rising, I am continuing to do so, another Yea me!) I then make crazy kids breakfast and proceed to lie on the couch for a few more episodes of curious George, some Clifford episodes and sesame street. (Yes I know this is over the two hour limit on TV children should be watching, but I am just going to stop typing because I'm thinking not nice things that include asterisks and exclamation points.)

The sad thing is that during all the TV watching I am in and out of sleep, sometimes even a deep sleep. Bad Mommy.

Eventually I get up and maybe we go out, maybe we play and read, but all I really have been doing is lying on the couch.

As far as cleaning the house goes...if no one is coming over then who cares!

BUT...

Today there was a change. A movement. A surge of energy.

This morning I woke up at 6:30. I made breakfast and then I laid on the couch for a little bit. But then, I got dressed and began to clean. I swished and swiped with Windex and pledge and fabulouso. I cleaned my kitchen, washed dishes. Clorox ed the sink. Dusted the living room. Vacuumed. Then, I took my kid to the park and played with him in a never ending game of hind and seek. He slid and swung. I conversed with another mommy. We then walked back home and around the block a few times and I talked to him about what he heard and what he could smell.

And when we finally got home, I continued to clean and do laundry!

YEA me!

So now if I can clean my bedroom, get dinner on the table and make a craft with my kid for his grandmothers I will be mommy of the day!

And then tomorrow I'll go back to lying on the couch and TV!

A novice

I am a novice at many things.

Cooking - people laugh at me because I follow recipes exactly as they are printed. If it says 1 cup I put in the cup of flour, sugar, water, etc and I scrap the top off for exact measurements. The only part I don't follow is the time element and that's because I am so usually exhausted by the whole process all I want to do is put the food in the oven and then I walk away and later smell something burning...a novice.

Cleaning - I really just don't like to clean and I don't consider myself a professional so...novice.

I am definitely a novice as a seamstress.

I enjoy sewing.

I pretend to sew.

I'm not great. In fact, I really don't know what I'm doing. But, if I see something I like, I will take out my sewing machine and attempt to do it myself.

I'm pretty good at curtains. A pro a pillows and yeah, that's about it.

My goal is to do easy clothes, like skirts and maybe kid clothes, all for the hope of saving some money.

So...all that said...I had previously decided that this time around when it comes to babyhood, I was going to make the bedding. I had wanted to with my son, but I had barely touched my sewing machine at the time, though I did make his curtains.

So I was googling around and I found my dream nursery (for a girl- because let's face it, if it's a boy my options are limited).




OMG is that not the most BEAUTIFUL room EVER! LOVE it, LOVE it!

And after I saw it and fell in Crazy love...I saw 3 numbers under it.

$600.00

Hold on...I think my husband is hyperventilating downstairs.

He's ok...he says for some strange reason his chest all of a sudden tightened up on him. Hmm...I wonder why?

So...goal - Sew this beautiful bedding. I need to practice. I can do it. How hard can it be. Right?

Paying $600 for baby bedding? Yeah, definitely is not gonna work for hubby.

Sewing baby bedding? Most definitely works for me!

For more works for me Wednesdays click here. Love the pics, go to wordless Wednesdays here.

I'm Climbing a Mountain

I'm climbing a mountain.

It's pretty steep and I find myself out of breath...I may need to get out my oxygen tank. By the end of this trek the clothes that I began in will no longer fit. The change in temperature is making me nauseated and dizzy. There are a lot of rocks and bumps and it's all very tiring.

My body aches. My head hurts.

If I eat too much, I gag.
If I eat too little, acid reflux begins.

If only I could rest for a time. If only I could find a small patch of grass and really rest.

I have to keep climbing. I have to keep working hard.

I just want to lie down for one minute.

When my husband comes home and asks what I did all day, I tell him, I climbed the mountain again.

He laughs.

The audacity. He's never climbed a mountain before, but apparently my climbing a mountain is funny.

Hilarious.

He wouldn't even know what to do if he had to climb this mountain and bring along his strong willed toddler as well.

If he had to climb the mountain he would milk it for everything it's worth.

So here I am , climbing my mountain.

Hold on...breathe in...ok, the nausea passed.

Tomorrow I shall continue.

Someone once told me that during your first trimester your body is working as if you were climbing a mountain - hence the tiredness and body aches.

What's my body up to?

My body just made some arms, lungs, heart and legs. It's working on the brain. The heart just started beating. In the next few weeks my body will have aided in making ears, eyelids, fingers and toes.

And my hubs thinks this is funny. I should be getting a massage everyday!
For more tips on how to tackle stuff go to 5 minutes for mom!

Now I know that "They" don't know much!

You've had the conversation. You know the one where you are relating some mommy issue anywhere from potty training to getting your kid to sleep to trying to get your child to stop licking the floor (OK maybe that's just my little freak, but...). So there you are relaying the trials of motherhood to another and someone says, "Well, 'They' say to do blah, blah, blah."

Who are "they"? Random doctors, psychiatrists, teachers, and others who just happen to write books and Internet sites.

Now don't get me wrong, I am a knowledge and research guru. If I am in a situation, I will go to the library, get some books and Google all day long. But at the end of the day, I soon learned that, "They" don't know much!

"They" are really big on telling you what will harm your kid for life, what will scar them and send them to therapist by the age of 10. They are great at telling you what to do and how to do it and when to do it and you can't do it too early, though not too late either.

And it finally occurred to me when I was trying to figure the different strategies and methods "they" suggested, I threw in the towel, because at the end of the day, "they" aren't here.

"They" say I shouldn't rock my baby...well, "they" must have never held a baby before.

"They" say I should never sleep with my baby...well "they" obviously don't know the joy of sleeping with a child on your chest and if the baby will sleep on my chest and that means I will sleep as well, I am all for that.

"They" say I should let my baby cry it out, but you know what, when that baby starts crying out "mama" that is a whole other playing field!

"They" say not to speak to your baby in "baby" talk. I say, hows kin wi twalk in any oder way, dey are so shweet an whateber makes dem smile is best, yes it is.

"They" say to keep the baby on a feeding schedule no matter what. Hmmm...Screaming baby or happy fed baby, which is best?

The list goes on and on...so basically, whatever keeps you sane, gets you some sleep and keeps your baby happy, go for it. Granted, "They" know about some things, but "they" aren't with you at 4 o'clock in the morning!

Trust your instincts and know you are a great mom, whether you microwave their bottles or not! (Just be sure to shake it real well!)

Click here an dsee what other moms know NOW begining May 8th -16th!

It's Not Easy being Green

The nausea has begun.

It comes in waves.

It's not morning sickness...it's all day long sickness.

I haven't puked at all only because I refuse to do so. I don't like throwing up and rarely have in my life. I just lie down and wait for the feeling to pass. Unfortunately, the waves are close together.

And I'm tired.

The only consoling I have is that I wasn't sick with #1 at all so I'm hoping my being sick means it's a girl. Those of you out there saying "my pregnancies were totally different and I had all boys," no offense, but I don't want to hear it.

So...in the words of Kermit the Frog, "It's not easy being Green."

Lord, please give me energy. Please help me to feel better and have control over this nausea. Lord I know so many say being sick is a part of being pregnant, but your word says that "by His stripes I am healed," so God, heal me. Take it away; not for my sake father, but for the sake of my son. I want these last nine months of he and I to be fun and full of energy and lessons. I don't want to be tired adn dragging or nauseated and sick. I know he won't remember either way, but I will. You have blessed me so much with the opportunity to be at home these past two years and I want to treasure every moment.