Las Vegas Mama

Life has been way to busy to blog, but I wanted you all to know that I am still here! And I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Christ the Savior is born....what a beautiful time of peace and joy. PJ is now 8 months old, and he also wishes you all a Merry Christmas!

Since being on Weight Watchers I have lost 18 pounds. I still have a long way to go but I am getting there. One of the things that has helped me lose weight is to permanently remove all tempting foods from the house. Including Halloween Candy. Well ok, I removed the candy into my belly. But the point is that it's gone. Don't judge, I tracked it and stayed within my points! And usually I just don't crave sugar anymore. This is weird for me. But I'm really liking where its taking me. Yet some things will never change, and since I am a recovering chocoholic , there is a part of me that will always desire it on some level. Today as I was cleaning out my pantry, I found THIS: Its a piece of Halloween chocolate that survived the candy massacre. I gasped loudly, and the surge of joy I felt in that moment...well...only a true chocoholic can know what that felt like. Let's just say I was waaay too excited. Further proof that I am not ready to re-introduce sweets int...

I have reached an interesting stage in parenthood. My kids are now a lot more articulate and clever than they used to be. I find it startling that they not only have a mind of their own which they use to come up with creative ways to sass me, but that they are paying very close attention to what I am doing and saying. Violet, who is turning 6 towards the end of this month, is particularly smarty-pants sometimes. I have no idea where she gets it. (I know tone is hard to convey in writing, so FYI, that last statement was ironic in tone). She is extremely persistent. She does not take no for an answer, especially when she is after chocolate or videos. I can say no, but she will always hound and pester me and try to break me down. She is the human equivalent of Chinese water torture. Drip...drip...drip...drip...drip...drip....I'm thinking she has a future in Special Ops, interrogating potential terrorists. She would break them down for sure. One of the ways in which I deflect he...

In my first post about PJ's adventures in his Bumbo, I talked about how Rose often steals him away. And now, I have finally caught the "Spider", a.k.a. Rose, dragging the "Fly", a.k.a. PJ to her lair. She devised a better and more efficient way of transporting her prey this time. Do you hear that diabolical cackle??

I'm not sure what's going on at Fine Linen and Purple , but they don't have the link up today! I am going link up on last week's. (Update: The linky is up! I am current, woo!) This is what I wore today, the normal shot: And the too much coffee shot:  The skirt is Dress Barn, and I am excited to announce that since I had my baby 5 months ago, I have not been able to zip it up all the way - until today!!! Since I got rid of anything too shabby or worn when I got pregs with PJ, and all my other clothes is maternity, my regular size clothes is limited. I need to build up the ol' wardrobe again. All I had was this T-shirt material top that is white with a light blue print on the front. Also, haven't fit into it until today! Big day for me. It was not matching exactly, but the best I could do until I can go shopping again. So I wore a little cardigan over it and hoped for the best. Shoes are Nine West from about 150 ye...

So PJ is teething like a champ. And, like a teething baby champ, he is keeping me awake a whole lot more than I would like. Which is to not wake up at all. That is what I would like. After a charming night during which he and I have lovely conversations and entertaining intellectual debates* we both get some refreshing shut eye from about 5-7am. Then, once the morning rolls around, which keeps happening for some unfathomable reason, I usually put him into the Bumbo seat so I can make breakfast. He really likes to sit in his Bumbo seat, but the drawback is that the girls always scooch him around the house in it, so I might turn my back for a minute to pour myself some coffee and its like he was suddenly raptured.  I turn back around and there is no trace of him. So then I have to hunt him down. Often, its my almost-3-year-old daughter Rose who has taken him. If she is eating breakfast or lunch she will scoot him right next to her chair. But most often, I find them in so...

Oh my goodness, I am just dying right now. I found this website for traditional children's clothing and its AHHHMAAZZZINNNG!!!! Its called The Wooden Soldier and it has all sort of gorgeous stuff like girls smocked dresses, and gorgeous winter coats with actual, old-fashioned muffs!!! Look! I mean, its like out of a Disney movie or something! This one reminds me of Beauty and the Beast:  And they have all sorts of outfits, including Easter and Christmas outfits, for all the kids to match! Check out their Matching section. MY HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE. TOO. MUCH. CUTENESS!!! Some of these remind me of the Von Trapp Family! And I absolutely want every last thing on this website for my kids! I just.. I can't even... look - matching sailor outfits!! I wish it weren't so pricey, but they are like movie set quality in my opinion. I bet people buy these to take family photos. Hmmm, WE are planning a family photo session soon...hmmmmm..... Go to th...

Even though I haven't done one of these posts in a long time, and I cannot remember if I ever posted this outfit, I've decided to go for it! I have recently lost about 12 lbs since the baby was born, and I am happy to fit back in some of my pre-preg dresses. This is pre-hair/makeup so I have this weird "old lady chipmunk" face happening, so just ignore that part. Up until this point I've been feeling frumpy with what I wear to Mass - plain skirts and plain solid tops, jazzed up with chunky necklaces, and flats that make my feet look like burritos. Not loving that look. So I'm excited to wear a dress and high heels to Mass again! Voila! Dress: From good ol' JC Pennies, Robbie B brand Bolero: Worthington (Pennies, too I think!) Shoes: Dress Barn from about 10 years ago Necklace: Hard to see, but its a small heart made of a South American stone called "Rosa de las Incas". It belonged to my Argentine grandmother  And since I a...

 "God and Coffee" are the two words that sum up my first week of the school year. I was pretty nervous about handling things, what with the four children and all. But I did at least two things right each day this week. #1 - I prayed. A lot. #2 - I drank. A lot. Coffee , silly! I am the sort of person that messes up a lot, but all the same I am able to realize how much I depend on God to help me muddle through. So that was my strategy this week. We started each day off with a "Pleeeeaaaase, God, HELP ME!!!!!", as well as taking time to express our gratitude for the blessings we have already been bestowed with. We read about the saint of the day, and then we did the Mass readings. While we prayed I was guzzling copious amounts of black gold, natch. And by the time we were done, I actually felt a little bit normal. I could almost see us getting through the day and being ok! So then, feeling ready to face the day, I put on some music and we all danced toget...

It's that time of year again when we get ready for the kids to go back to school! While other parents are heaving a sigh of relief, homeschool parents are heaving their kids' school books out of its packaging. While other parents are making sure their kids have new backpacks, homeschool parents are making sure their kids have new art supplies. While other parents are organizing the details of the carpool or bus schedule, homeschool parents are organizing the details of a subject schedule that juggles a range of children's grades and ages (example: kids from 3 months to 7 years old!) My husband asked me if I thought we were depriving our kids of the "school experience" by keeping them home. My response is that our kids will be having their own school experiences that just happen to be different than the ones we grew up with. Whereas we may think our experiences were good and they should be experienced by our kids in the same way, the truth is that ultima...

Let me preface this by saying that I have ZERO interest in football and/or video games. That said, I watched possibly the funniest football video game trailer I have ever s....zzzzzz... whoa sorry I just fell asleep for a second there. The combination of the words "football" and "video game" knocked me out for a sec....zzzz-zzz-z-zz.... ahem! Sorry again. The point is that you absolutely must watch this trailer, it is EPIC!!!! ***immodesty alert*** If you are a gentleman trying to keep custody of the eyes, there are some dancers who are not modestly dressed. Just FYI, you've been warned! ***

I just came across an old picture of a cultural Catalonian dance group I used to be in! I'm second from the right, to my left is my mom. And fourth from left is my sister. The year was 1995 and the group was the Grup Dansaire Catalunya. We danced the traditional dances of Catalonia, Spain and dressed in traditional clothing. I look upon this photo with great fondness for the people in the group. I miss them. Some have gone back to Catalonia. Some are still in L.A. hanging out with the other Catalonians in town. But they all have a special place in my heart. This was our fearless leader, Joan Comellas Manubens. He was a hard taskmaster, but he whipped us into shape! We were a bunch of ragamuffins but he turned us into respectable dancers. He is back in Catalonia now. After he left it just wasn't the same anymore. Catalonia is where one branch of my family tree is from, and although part of that branch of the family split up and went to Argentina and then eventua...

I really think that children are cute to help them survive and to make their parents want to keep them around. After the bad day that I posted about last month, which was just one day in a long string of bad days, I realized that what I needed was a fresh start. I went to confession. It was a huge relief, and helped me to turn a new leaf in my parenting. The priest gave me a wonderful reading - Colossians 3: 1-17. Look it up if you are a mom struggling to keep patience with your kids, it will totally help you get a grip. After going to confession I felt I could see my kids more clearly for the wonderful people that they are. They sure are adorable. Maybe having my soul cleansed removed all the gunk preventing me from seeing the beauty of God's creation. How could I ever be angry at such cute children, even if they don't let me sleep? These kids were saying the most adorable things and looking all sweet and tender. They were shooting Cutie Pie Missiles at my heart and I wa...

There is a neat little clothing swap event coming up in August at the Henderson library! This is a great way to save on back to school clothing. Here are the details: Swap, Don’t Shop! Drop off a bag (or bags)! of children’s clothing at the Henderson District Pubic Libraries Paseo Verde Branch Reference Desk between Tuesday 8/5 and Friday 8/8 . Receive a ticket for every bag you drop off. Return on Saturday 8/9 between 10am-noon and pick out a bag of “new to you” back-to-school clothes!    Paseo Verde Library 280 South Green Valley Parkway Henderson, NV 89012 Guidelines:   Children’s clothing from newborn through youth size 20 (no teen or adult sizes)   All seasons welcome   Only gently worn and clean clothing, free of rips and stains. No undergarments or socks, toys or baby equipment.   You get to take a bag for every bag you bring in prior to the event (there is no limit)   All swaps are final!  ...

Have you ever noticed that kids can be a complete jerk to you and then expect you to be nice to them? Of course, they do not realize they are being a jerk, and as their mother you are expected to be nice to them no matter what. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation talking, or maybe I am just an awful human being. But when they are mean to me, I do not want to be nice to them. I want them to suffer as they have made me suffer. The other day my husband had to go on a trip out of town for work. Since the girls are all daddy's girls and they fall apart emotionally if he is gone for longer than the usual 8 hours (and they don't even like him leaving for that long), we planned some fun activities to take their mind off daddy not being home. We planned swimming, and ice cream, and painting toenails, and even going to our favorite local confectionery store, Sweet Ruby Jane's to pick up a box of chocolates for the King of the House. The morning had gone fine, and then it was na...

Any mother knows that she needs a magic bullet in her mommy toolbox for when the kids are driving her crazy and she is dying of sleepiness. Sometimes, just sometimes, that magic bullet is in the form of TV. Since we are one of "those" people who do not own a TV, we turn to DVDs for our television entertainment. Recently, we received a magic bullet in the mail from a very kind Disney PR rep for us to review. Since I am 3 months into the trenches of rearing a newborn, I jumped at the opportunity for a new magic bullet to add to my magic bullet squirt gun. In this analogy my magic bullets get shot from a squirt gun because real guns are scary. Plus, I have kids in the house, what kind of irresponsible parent would I be if I had real guns around the children?? You can picture my magic bullets popping out of the squirt gun in the shape of soap bubbles. Because that is what they look like. All mothers'  magic bullets look different. They are like patronuses . The DVD, a.k....

Today I was invited to attend a free children's gardening event that is happening this Saturday, July 19th from 10am to 2pm at Plant World Nursery at 5311 W. Charleston Blvd. Its an event for kids ages 3-12, and apparently there is also going to be free ice cream. I should tell you that there is an animal sanctuary with exotic birds, tortoises, birds and turtles, which my kids will be totally fascinated with. So I am pretty sure we are going. In fact, I think the laws of the universe absolutely demand that we attend. You see, the PR person for Plant World Nursery is a person by the name of Daffodil Flores. I am not sure if you are aware, but the name Flores means "flowers" in Spanish. She is the PR person for a plant nursery. I think that is so ironic that I cannot even wrap my brain around it. And hello! My children's names are Ivy, Violet and Rose. How could we not go??? I secretly hope to get a picture of Daffodil with Ivy, Violet and Rose. It would just tickl...

We went to Cedar City, Utah this weekend to attend You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Neil Simon Festival . It was a lot of fun, and the production was excellent. Lots of talented actors. We laughed a lot, and the girls loved it. One of the other things we did was to go to the Frontier Heritage Museum, which was about life on the frontier, natch. A couple of things there made me laugh. But first, a picture of the girls in a Wells Fargo coach. Fun! And now the funny stuff - from a display that taught about loading a wagon with supplies for the trip out West, was this little quiz.  Depending on how you answered you got to see what consequences the decision you made would have. See that, children? Lose your leg to a snake bite. And the other answers weren't much cheerier. Did you bring a tent on the trail? If you didn't and your wife had a baby, the baby would die from the cold. If you didn't bring a chest of linens to trade with the Indians for w...

A friend of mine recently sent me an article about how to breastfeed appropriately. It was so dang funny that I had to read it aloud to my husband. And in fact, I am still quoting lines from it. My favorite so far is, "Has your cheap baby paid you? No? Then wrap it up!" It's long, but soooo worth the read!! Enjoy! How to Breastfeed Appropriately

It's getting all zombie apocalypse-ish around these parts. This is Las Vegas, and therefore it is probably one of the most likely places to suffer the first round of brain-eating in a zombie invasion. After all, lots of gamblers and pleasure seekers walk around the casino floors half dead to begin with. So they are natural candidates for zombie-hood. But let's be more specific here. I am the mother of 4 children, and the youngest is just 8 weeks old. Can you see where this is going? I'm saying that motherhood is like having your brains eaten and being turned into a monster from the grave. Personally, I think my own transformation has already begun. I walk around in a daze most of the time. I give those Las Vegas gamblers and pleasure seekers a run for their money when it comes to zombie-like behavior. Except my staggering around aimlessly is not by choice. The fact that they willingly choose to do other things at night besides sleep tells me their brains have clearly al...

The other day as I was putting on makeup, or what I like to call my "face", I found a white eyebrow hair. WHITE. It was the weirdest thing I had experienced in a while, and that is surely saying something considering I just gave birth not too long ago. Pregnancy, labor and birth is pretty darn weird. I realize that having kids ages you from the inside out. Lack of sleep, extreme exercise of the patience muscle, and being on your feet all day tending to the house and kids will make you feel a hundred years old, even though when you see a picture of yourself you are surprised at how young you actually look.  But I was not expecting a white hair. I was especially not expecting a white eyebrow hair. I don't know about you, but my eyebrows are the window to my soul. No, not my eyes. My eyes are just sort of there. But my eyebrows express the full spectrum of emotion and feeling. They snap down in anger. Jump up in surprise. Lift up to smile. Sometimes they go rogue and onl...

Potty training has officially commenced for Rose, who is now two and a half. Like all proper two and a half year olds, she has chosen to use potty training as a way to assert her dominance. In fact, she has asserted her dominance over the household by strategically wetting herself at all the appropriate times and in all the appropriate places. For example, on the bathroom floor just inches away from the potty, right as the baby starts crying to be nursed. And by the dining room table just as I sit down to have lunch. Or, my personal favorite, on the kitchen floor right when I am cooking dinner and have several pans going on the stove that require constant stirring and attention. This one is particularly heinous because of my history of setting myself on fire. That's a really good story, which you missed during the last year of my not blogging. Some time I'll tell you all about it. Rose's stubbornness and refusal to go in the potty has been frustrating, and I'll admi...

It has been just over a year since I last blogged. I am pretty sure not a soul reads this blog anymore, because the number one killer of blogs is the lack of consistent posts. But I happened to look back on some of my old posts and realized this is almost like a diary, and so maybe I should start it up again. In the last year a lot has happened. Actually, one really big thing happened. My first boy has been successfully birthed, for example. See here. How cute is he?? His blanket also matches this blog, so that's neat. He is a Phillip, Jr. and we call him PJ for short. Its odd that when the pediatrician's office calls, they say, "Is this Phillip's mom?" What! Phillip is my husband! You're weirding me out right now, pediatrician. Oh, wait... that is my son's name, too. Now that I have a fourth baby the first thing strangers ask me is "So are you done now?" What they are really asking is, "What is the future state of your uterus, ma...