30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 9

Day 9: Cut Yourself Some Slack

This is an appropriate post as it is officially five days late. I have a UTI and have not been feeling up to blogging, but today I decided to try to get caught up. :)

Here´s the thing about being a mommy. For some reason, when we do everything right we feel like we can sleep at night, but if we do one thing wrong we feel like the parenting police are going to swoop down and take us to bad mommy prison. Somehow even people who have never been perfectionists in their whole lives (I am not one of those people, however) give birth to a newfound perfectionism when they give birth to their first child.

It doesn´t help us at all to put unrealistic expectations on ourselves. God has entrusted us with children so that we can train them in the way they should go, which is a high calling. However, perfection is a journey, not a destination. We continue to become more like Christ, but we won´t go from human, imperfect mommy to perfect saint in one day. The important thing is to keep improving.

I think we all have people in our lives that we look up to, and I doubt that any of them are perfect. So cut yourself some slack. I don´t mean we should be easy on ourselves. I think we really should demand a high level of excellence from ourselves as women, wives and mothers. But at the end of the day, try to put it all in perspective. If today you made progress, and got a little closer to your goals as a mother, then count the day as a success, despite its failures. If today you felt like you took two giant steps backwards, well, that will happen sometimes. Confess it to God, make it right in your home, and do better tomorrow. Ultimately, focusing on our failures will only lead us to fail more, because we will begin to feel like we are not able to succeed.


Each day when you wake up, decide to do two things: First, decide to make an effort at having a purpose behind your words, thoughts and actions today. And second, cut yourself a little slack!

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 8

Day 8: Teach Your Child to Love God

Is it possible to teach your baby or toddler to love God? What about a small child? A pre-teen? A teenager?


I vote yes. I have seen a lot of people from my generation and younger generations who have become somewhat bitter about religion, despite having grown up in homes where they were taught about God. Why is this? The majority of people I have talked to say that it is because it all seemed hypocritical to them. Why? Because church was just a sunday thing, followed by a week of watching their parents live however they wanted to. So when mom and dad demanded holiness from them, it seemed pretty ridiculous.


I don´t think kids need perfect parents. I do think that kids need us to practice what we preach. The gospel needs to be something that penetrates every situation, every moment, every word, every action, every thought. If you and I have a friendship with the Holy Spirit, and we seek to bring our children into that friendship, God will do the rest.


Our children should learn about spiritual disciplines way before they understand them. Prayer, reading the Bible, memorizing Scripture, giving to the poor, tithing, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, etc. should all be parts of our daily life. Discipline should ultimately be brought back to Biblical principles.


Ultimately, just remember that Christ Himself defines loving God as obedience. Can we teach our children to love God? Yes, because we can teach our children to obey Him. And we should be hard on ourselves, striving for holiness, so that we can lead our children onto the path that we are following, rather than demanding that they follow a path that we were unwilling to follow.

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 7

Day 7: Give Each Child Some One-on-One

I think as a rule women understand the concept of quality time better than men. For a man, if he is in the same room as you, not talking to you or paying attention to you, he probably still counted it as time ¨together¨ with you. But you and I both know that those moments of coexisting are not quality time.

While in our marriages we understand this concept, sometimes in parenting we are guilty of merely coexisting with our children. I spend all day, every day with Bella, but there are days that I don´t really spend time with her at all.

It´s important for our relationships with our children, and (if you have multiple children) for their relationships with each other, that each child have one-on-one time with each parent. If you are a working parent, you may only be able to spend quality time with one child per day, depending on your schedule. Even if you are a stay at home mom, it can be difficult to take time for those moments because there is just so much to do. However, the ideal would be to spend quality time with each child every day.

You don´t have to take each kid individually to a movie. Just look for small opportunities to spend a few moments of quality with your child. It can be before naptime or bedtime. It can be while you´re running errands. It can be a special activity you have planned. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want. (I think a mixture of simple and elaborate is nice, just to shake things up. But that´s just me.)

When we spend time with each child, we send them the message that they are important, and we contribute to a healthy self esteem. We also lay a groundwork for moments that our children will remember long after we are gone.

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 6

Day 6: Get Out! (Outdoors, that is!)

Do you ever have those days wher eyou are pretty sure you´re going to kill someone, anyone, just because you are simply going out of your mind? I´ll be honest. I have those days sometimes.

The diagnosis? Being locked in your house with your kids all day, every day, will lead to a family-wide epidemic of insanity.

You´re not a bad mom. You just need some fresh air and sunshine. And so do your kids!

As long as the weather holds up, I try to get outside with my little one every day. Some days we go to the park. Some days we go for a walk. Some days we go to the store. But we get out of the house.

Not only will getting out the house help your mood, it will help your child´s mood. God did not create us to be indoors all day long. He also didn´t create us to go crazy.

It´s nice to mix things up. Sometimes you can do fun, organized activities with your kids outside. Sometimes you can all go for a walk or bike ride. Sometimes you can just let your kids use their imaginations while you read a book. The important thing is to get outdoors.

I said I try to get out every day, but sometimes it doesn´t pan out. However, when we´re only one hour into the day and I´m ready to pull my hair out, there is no cure like the outdoors. I get shoes on my feet and hers, I get a jacket on both of us, and we are outta here! The best part is that your kids will think it´s the best idea ever! They get out all of the cooped up energy they have, and come home much more well-behaved (and probably sleepy).

When you´re having one of those days, just remember my advice and let nature work its magic on your family!

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 5

Day 5: Pick Your Battles, Set Limits, Say No

Have you ever heard the advice that says we should try to create a ¨yes¨ environment for our kids? Basically, the idea is that we surround young children with safe environments where there are few opportunities to get in to trouble. This way we won´t have to spend all day saying ¨no¨, which is frustrating both for us and for our children.

I think even when you follow this advice, kids are kids, and you´re going to have to set limits and say ¨no¨, no matter how old they are. Kids, like adults, are sinful, and need guidance and discipline in order to learn what is right and wrong.

That´s not to say that I don´t agree with the advice above. I do. Even Scripture says that we should not wear our children out by excessive discipline, etc. Not to mention that when we are saying ¨no¨ all day, we wear ourselves out, and nobody is happy.

We have to learn as parents to pick our battles. Is it really a big deal if the toddler wants to rearrange all of the DVDs? (A favorite activity of my one-year-old) Are you really going to be able to teach a one-year-old not to pick her nose? (Not that mine does that...) And of course, your battles will vary by the ages and number of children that you have.

When we pick our battles, we avoid saying ¨no¨ every five seconds. And when we do that, our children learn that no means no, because we don´t overuse it. Especially when we back up that ¨no¨ with the appropriate action, like distracting a baby, removing a toddler from the situation they got themselves into, disciplining an older child, etc.

As your child grows, you will have opportunities to set limits with them on an intellectual and spiritual level. As they understand more abtract concepts, you will be able to explain your ¨no¨, and I think that is really important. My toddler doesn´t understand many of these concepts, but at least I can explain that we don´t do this or that because it isn´t nice. We worked hard to get her to understand the word ¨nice¨, and now that she does, I can factor that in to my no. Older children can understand when something hurts mommy´s feelings, or when God doesn´t like certain behaviors. The more our children grow, and the more purposeful we are about the limits we set, the more they will be able to understand and grow as people.

We all have different philosophies about discipline, but I think we can all agree that none of us wants to discipline our child for no reason. However, a lot of times we ourselves create situations where we set our children up for failure.

An example: Yesterday we were eating lunch. Bella was doing great when Jairo decided to give her some jello. Bella loves jello, and I had made some for ¨dessert¨. Well, once she had a taste of the jello, do you think she wanted to finish her lunch? No way. (She did finish, though, because this is a battle I consider worth fighting.) When Jairo got frustrated with her, I said, this is not her fault, it´s ours. Because it was true. We set her up to fail.

And that´s where that advice about a ¨yes¨ environment comes in. I can´t hand my children temptation and then be upset when they fail. I need to teach them how to be strong against temptation when it arises, not tempt them myself.

The job of forming our children´s character will require of us that we set limits and say ¨no¨. It will require discipline. It will require choosing our battle and teaching our kids how to know what things are eternally important. It will also require vigilance on our part, to not place our children in situations where they are doomed to fail. None of us enjoys disciplining our children in any way. It´s not something we should enjoy. But it is something we should give high importance to, because it is one very effective way that our children will learn how to be the people they need to be. The important thing, as a purposeful mommy, is to use discipline that is also purposeful.

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 4

Day 4: Be a Role Model

I think one of the hardest jobs in parenting is becoming a role model. Before we were parents, we might not have had to worry too much about days when we woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or were just in a funk for no reason. But, once we have children, every word, every action, every attitude is observed and learned by our little ones. It´s not enough just to hope and pray that our children become better people than us. We ourselves have to become the kind of people we want our children to be. We can´t ¨instruct them in the way they should go¨ unless we are already on that path. Otherwise it becomes hypocrisy.

Do you say ¨please¨ and ¨thank you¨ to your children? To your spouse? Do you eat your vegetables? Are you compassionate and considerate? Every day I personally see certain things in myself that I want to change so that I can be a better person for my children (current and future). I think when we have this mindset, motherhood becomes the best test of character and integrity that we could ever find.

Thankfully, this doesn´t mean we have to be perfect. When our good (yet imperfect) example is combined with seeking after God and praying fervently for our children, God will fill in the blanks. Even our failures are examples to our children in things like asking forgiveness and making restitution.

The easiest place to start is looking for opportunities to model good social behavior (please, thank you, excuse me, etc). There are hundreds of opportunities like these every day. (Right now we are learning ¨be nice¨ and ¨don´t hit!!!¨) But at the same time, we don´t just want polite children. We want children who are godly, emotionally secure, intelligent, etc. That´s where God will really start to take us apart and refine us.

Do your children see you reading the Word and spending time in prayer each day? The easiest way to start is with your kids. Just grab them, sit them down and spend 15 or 20 minutes reading a Bible story, talking about it and praying. My little one is one, so our time with God is simple and short, but it´s there. I don´t want her to remember a time when she didn´t hear God´s Word at home, where she didn´t pray, where she didn´t go to church, etc. Making time for myself to get away with God was a challenge for me. Good moments are times when our children are napping, at school or sleeping for the night. Even in those moments you will have many reasons not to spend time with God. But there also many reasons to be purposeful about that time and get it done. The most important reason, as a mother, is that without God we will never become the people we need to be in order to prepare our children.

A mother´s work is never finished, and the truth is that as a purposeful mother, we have to bring every word, every thought, every action, every attitude under Christ´s power. Honestly, this might be the single most important difference between merely having kids and being purposeful parents. It´s a high calling, with great rewards, both here on earth and in the next life.

I encourage you (and myself) to begin this and every day with prayer. Ask God to help you specifically in the areas where you are most likely to set a bad example normally. (Impatience, selfishness, lack of compassion, bad attitude, lack of gratitude, and the list goes on...) And when you fail, which you will sometimes, look at it as an opportunity to teach your children how to make ammends.

Let´s give our children a good example at home, so that while they still want to be like us, we will want them to be like us, too.

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 3

Day 3: Be Available.

This is an interesting truth, but I know it is, in fact, true, because I have put it into practice with my daughter: When you are least available, your children will need you the most. Have you noticed this? You have a deadline, you need to clean the house before your inlaws come, you are going to burn dinner if you don´t get to the kitchen RIGHT NOW. And in that moment, your child needs you. RIGHT NOW!

So, what is the solution?

Well, first of all, it´s a good idea to not let things get to that point of urgency. But, life happens. So, the next best thing is to never be unavailble. I know that sounds impossible, but I´ll give you an example:

I´m at the computer, blogging. :) Out of the corner of my eye, I see little legs heading in my direction. I stop what I´m doing, I get up, I play with her for literally two seconds, and then I sit back down at the computer. More often than not, that´s all it takes. She´s off to play with her toys, feeling secure and loved, and I can finish my blog.

One more thing, though. I read in a Christian book once, and I fully agree, that children are never interrumptions. They are priority number one, after the husband. And the husband isn´t home all day, so most of the time they are priority number one. Which means that I can´t spend all day blogging. Or whatever it is I do with my time. My kids need one-on-one with me, as well as individual time to themselves, and this varies by age, too. So there has to be a balance.

My rule of thumb is this: If my daughter is especially clingy, that tells me that I am probably being a little too self-absorbed, and she needs some more mommy time. Remember that it´s a blessing that our children want to be with us! It won´t always be this way, so let´s soak it up. After all, blogging, dinner and the in-laws can take a number. It´s play time!

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 2

Day 2: Get a Routine Going

There are lots of different styles of parenting, right from day one. There are baby-led parents, cry-it-out parents, and lots of mixtures of the two. We all feel strongly about our own method, but the truth is, your parenting philosophy isn´t that important for what we are talking about today. Even baby-led parents can settle into a routine. (If you don´t believe me, ask Bella!)

Whether you have been putting your child on a sleeping/eating schedule since day on or if you have been watching for your child´s cues to set the schedule, we have to first realize that schedule and routine are not the same thing.

Sit down while your little one is sleeping and scratch out a routine. Here´s a small part of ours, so you can see what I mean:

Bella wakes up. (Nurse/cuddle/pray, change diaper, wash faces (mine and hers), brush teeth (mine and hers), put on music)

Breakfast (see meal plan)

Wash dishes

My quiet time (if Jairo is up, he watches Bella. If not, it takes longer!)

Stuctured play in Bella´s room (see activities schedule)

Daily chores (Bella tags along, I encourage her individual play)

Bella´s quiet time (read a Bible story, sing a song, pray, ¨memorize¨ a Bible verse for the week)

Snack and drink for Bella, I start lunch

Change diaper (This is varies, of course!), Go for a walk or do rainy day activity

Naptime for Bella, she gets a drink and a song before I put her to sleep.


This schedule is until about 11am. That´s not even half of our day! I just didn´t want to bore you with all the details! The idea is that by making a routine I am deliberate about the things we do each day. Before I had a routine I often missed out on scheduled play for Bella, my own time with God and other things. It´s about living every day deliberately.

Bella has a much better day when we establish and follow a routine. And from all the studies I´ve read, it seems that most kids thrive from having a sense of knowing what to expect. Your routine will be different, and it will reflect your own schedule, your child´s schedule and your values and parenting philosophy. The important thing is that it works for your family. Do you work during the day? Then your routine will start in the morning and then pick up when you pick up your little one/s from daycare. I think in that situation a routine is even more important, because it ensures that you will have quality time with your chilren.

The way we spend our time teaches our children about our priorities. If they don´t get their own time each day (just like our husband needs his time and God definitely deserves His time!) they begin to understand that they are not a priority for us. I challenge you today to take a few minutes and draw up a routine. Start with the parts of your day that are unmovable, then the things that work best for you, and then a few new ideas. Try it tomorrow. Make changes until it works wonderfully and it´s something you can settle into.

And one more note. You are not a slave to the routine. If one day you need to shake things up, that´s ok! Your routine is a guide to having a productive and joyful day. Try to keep as much of your routine in tact, especially when traveling, etc. But in the end, this is just one more tool to help you become a more purposeful mommy, from one growing mommy to another!

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy, Day 1

Day 1: Appreciate -- Don´t Anticipate!

One thing that is really easy to do when you have children is to anticipate. For example, if Bella wakes up after a ten minute nap and no longer wants to sleep, my immediate thought is, ¨Oh, man! This day is going to be so long now!¨

We develop these ideas based on past experience: Bella took a short nap, Bella was cranky all day, I almost went crazy and was counting down the minutes until her bedtime. It happens a few times and it becomes a mental rule. So when the same situation arises, it´s only natural to anticipate the same outcome.

The problem is that people are not science experiments or math problems. People are people, even tiny toddler people. We all react differently to our circumstances based on other things going on in our lives, such as health, mood, state of mind, the quality of our day so far, etc.

But here is the worst part about anticipating: When you anticipate something like a child´s bad mood, clinginess and tantrums, you actually create an atmosphere where those things are more likely to happen. Children are like sponges that soak up everything around them, including your mood.

This is what that would look like: Bella no longer wants to sleep. I feel stressed because I anticipate the kind of day that will follow this event. I greet Bella with a stressed attitude, and she can tell just by looking at me that something is wrong. As a result, she feels insecure and begins to get clingy and has a bad mood.

Interesting, right?

So here´s a better option, although it is also challenging! Whatever your trigger is (a short naptime, separation anxiety, an illness...WHATEVER), you have to try to unlearn your anticipation and try to live in the moment. It´s hard, but the more you do it, the more you form a new habit.

Here´s my new habit (usually!!): Bella is done sleeping after ten minutes. I hear her stirring in the next room or see her head peak out the door. I look at her and give her a BIG smile. I say, ¨Hi, Bella! Are you all done sleeping? Did you have a good nap?¨ and I pick her up. I try to get her to sleep again, but if she doesn´t, I don´t sweat it. I just grab her and play with her until she´s ready to be on her own. That is what being in the moment looks like for me, but your situation will be unique to you and you child/ren.

The most important thing is that we teach our children by our example how to have a brave face for adversity, and more than anything else, that no situation will ever change our love for them. It´s like the old saying, ¨If momma ain´t happy, ain´t nobody happy!¨ You, as the mommy, really do set the mood for your home.

That being said, we all fall short at times. Even though my daughter is only 1, I make sure to apologize to her when I notice bad attitudes creeping in. It´s another good example to her, and it helps me reframe my mindset to be more cheerful and positive.

Whatever your trigger or triggers, try to take a moment and stop anticipating. Instead, appreciate your child for who he or she is, and take an opportunity to share love. They won´t be little forever, let´s do our best to enjoy them! (Bad mood and all!)

30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy

I have seen some blogs out there that do series such as ¨31 Days to a Cleaner House¨ or ¨31 Days to Better Pictures¨, etc. I´m not affiliated with those blogs at all, but I liked the idea, so I am going to make my own series! Hurray!

I decided on the topic ¨30 Days to Being a Purposeful Mommy¨ for September because it´s a topic that I have learned a lot about and continue to learn a lot about. I think all mommies need some encouragement, and hopefully September will be an encouraging month for all you mommies that read this blog!

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Here are the links to each day:

Day 1: Appreciate--Don´t Anticipate!

Day 2: Get a Routine Going

Day 3: Be Available

Day 4: Be a Role Model

Day 5: Pick your Battles, Set Limits, Say ¨No¨

Day 6: Get Out! (Outdoors, that is!)

Day 7: Give each Child some One-on-One

Day 8: Teach your Child to Love God

Day 9: Cut Yourself some Slack

Day 10: Get Excited! (About dandelions, feathers, doggies...)

Day 11: Pray, Pray and Pray some More

Day 12: Connect!

Day 13: Annoy your Kids

Day 14: Stop Comparing

Day 15: Have some Tricks up your Sleeve

Day 16: Take some time for YOU

Day 17: Stay in the Word

Day 18: Paint your Nails

Day 19: Take a Nap

Day 20: Take Time to be Proud of your Kids

Day 21: Teach your Kids Compassion and Kindness

Day 22: Don´t Expect a Thank You

Day 23: Say ¨I Love You¨

Day 24: Go Get some Lovin´!

Day 25: Smile!

Day 26: Form Family Traditions

Day 27: Model Communication

Day 28: Teach your Kids the Value of Hard Work

Day 29: Remember Why you Do what you Do!

Day 30: Be the Person you Want your Kids to Become

Coffee Day, Take Two

So today the planets aligned and everything worked out for me to be able to have a coffee day! Finally! I first dropped my mother-in-law off at the bus terminal, stayed with her until her bus arrived, and then headed off to the mall.

At first I was considering getting a smoothie, but I decided that I needed the heart pounding, capillary dialating, ecuadorian grown coffee in my veins if I was going to get through the week. So I headed off to my preferred frappuccino place, Sweet & Coffee, and said, ¨One mocha frappuccino, please!¨, my mouth watering with anticipation (except I said it in Spanish). The guys behind the counter made that face. That face people make when they are about to shatter your dream to pieces and are not sure how to phrase it so as not to start a shouting match with the caffiene-starved mother of a toddler who has exactly one hour to herself a week. You know that face? Then he found the right words. ¨We only have hot drinks right now.¨ And just like that, my dream was gone.

Then I remembered that there is a Juan Valdez on the second floor of the mall, and I was off! I thought it might be too expensive, but I found a comparable frappuccino-esque drink at about the same price, so I went for it. One sip and I knew I had made the right choice. Although Jual Valdez is Colombian coffee. Not Ecuadorian. But I´m over it.

I read a few chapters of two books I took along, stopped in a few stores to get some information, bought some soy bean oil and headed home. I ended up having to walk a long way home until a bus FINALLY came by, and by then I needed another coffee. Obviously we are still working out the logistics of coffee day.

On a more serious note, though, as I was on the Trole (trolley) from the bus terminal to the mall, something happened that made me sad. A blind woman got on the trole to beg for money, which is pretty common in Ecuador, so I got some money out of my purse, ready to hand to her as she walked by. She was at the front of the bus, and the troles are really long, so I was just kind of waiting for her to get there and thinking about something or another. As she passed I put the money in her hand and she thanked me, and I was about to go back to my thoughts when I saw her getting off the trole. She was getting off with her son, a boy of maybe 5 or 6 years, who could see. He was apparently escorting her as she begged for money.

As a mother, seeing this hurt me deeply for a few reasons. First, I thought that I really wished I had given her more money. It might sound weird, but seeing that she was a mom, and imagining how, in this culture, she could provide for her son and herself with no job, I wished I could have done more. Then I thought that I wished I had gotten off the trole to talk to her. The I wondered how long she had been blind. Had she always been blind? Had she ever seen her son´s face? Had she ever looked at him as she held him in her arms and seen him looking up her, needing her and loving her as only our babies can do? I started getting teary-eyed on the bus. Then I pulled it together. A gringa calls enough attention to herself without blubbering like a baby on the bus for no apparent reason.

The last thing I thought about as I reflected was how humiliating it must be to have to beg strangers for money in front of your children. In Ecuador, and in most countries, people with conditions like hers have no opportunities for work besides begging. They are looked down upon by others, as though their physical condition had something to do with their worth as a person. And people feel good about themselves because they toss a few cents in the hands of the needy, while they never stop and consider that the ¨needy¨ are people. They are someone´s daughter or son, sister or brother, mother or father. And tomorrow any one of us could become ¨one of them¨ because of some small twist of fate.

And I guess I lied, because that wasn´t the very last thing I thought. The very last thing I thought was this: I wish I would have talked to her about Jesus. I wish that would have been my first thought. And I´m a missionary for crying out loud! I hope she´s around next coffee day, or any day. And I hope I´m not too busy thinking about one thing or another to see supernatural opportunities in everday experiences.

I don´t want to end on a low note, though, so I will end with this: I was standing in the trole on the way home, and I was thinking that it´s nice sometimes to be just another face in the crowd, another commuter going about his or her day, another anonymous blah, blah, blah...you get it. Anyway, all of the sudden I had this memory of a friend of mine who lived in Quito for a few months falling flat on her butt in the trole, and I struggled not to burst out laughing (which would be just as bad as bursting our in tears). Probably not funny to you. I guess you had to be there. Goodnight!

Coffee Day

I mentioned in my last post that yesterday was to be my first weekly coffee day. Well, I got some kind of 24 hour bug, and spent most of the day in bed. The great thing was, though, that I spent most of the day in bed!

Normally when I´m sick I still do everything I must do because there is no one I can call to help out. Jairo is usually too busy, and that´s the end of my list of helpful people who live close enough to actually help!

Well, yesterday was a miracle. Jairo took Bella with him to pay some bills, giving me a chance to sleep for a couple of extra hours. I felt like a new woman when he and Bella arrived back at home. The best part of all, though, was that when they returned they brought me a frappuccino! So I got my first coffee day after all.

Hopefully next Monday will be a normal coffee day, but it was really nice of Jairo to give me my very own, personal, at home coffee day, don´t you think?

It totally made it easier to deal with the people from church who randomly stopped by my house...¨Would you mind teaching my son English for a few hours??¨ No, of course not, just let me hack up this lung and we will be good to go...sigh.

But alas, nothing was able to ruin my coffee day! It was a wonderful day! All thanks to my wonderful husband, who was determined to give me what I had been so looking forward to!

Sweet Victory!

I have been sitting here at my computer for two hours trying to send a file. It is an important file, and I´m already really behind schedule in sending it. One time it almost sent, but then Bella woke up and by the time I got back to the computer the connection timed out. I was just about to call it quits and throw my computer against a wall when, miracle of miracles, the file loaded! I could have cried I was so excited. (That might be the hormones, though.)

I´m about to go to bed and join my sleeping angels (big and small) in the land of sueños, but I felt like it was time the world hear my thoughts again. After all, what would you all do without me?? ha.

Bella and I both have some kind of cold, so it has been a long day (made longer by my stupid, stupid email provider-no, I will NOT like you on facebook!), and I´m looking forward to a few short hours of sleep before we do it all over again. I am also excited, however, because tomorrow is my first weekly coffee day! Jairo has agreed to take Bella once a week for 2 hours or so while I go get a frappuccino and read a book. All by myself. Yes, alone. Are you as astonished by this idea as I am? A moment where I am neither wife nor mother. Although I will probably be thinking about Bella and whether or not Jairo got her to take her nap, and if I remembered to turn on the washing machine before I left...But still! I think it will be fun! So much so that I don´t care if I have to take a whole roll of toilet paper with me to the mall for this runny nose.

I´ll let you know how it goes.

I´m working on a whole new schedule for our home which I think will be better than our previous schedule, which could more exactly be defined as a ¨good effort¨, which all over-acheivers know to mean ¨yeah, not so much.¨ I got the meal plan done which was a huge undertaking. I was underwhelmed by meal plans I found online that include only dinner. I planned for three meals and two snacks, every day, so it was a lot of thinking. But now that it´s finished I LOVE IT! It takes so much thinking out of the mealtime process. So, my goal is to get to that point with the rest of the daily ruitine, so it just flows without a lot of thinking. The problem is that after the meal plan, I was so sick of planning things that I have been putting off getting back into it, even though I know it will help.

But you don´t care about that, right? So, on to tales of our lives. The other day Bella Boo had her first bloody fall. It sounds worse than it was, although that fact did not stop my heart from jumping into my throat and staying there for the whole day and night. She was walking and slipped, hitting her lower lip on the edge of the furniture. She has a perfect imprint of her two front teeth on the inside of her bottom lip. Luckily, Jairo was in the bathroom when it happened and by the time he came out to see what the crying was about I had cleaned up most of the blood. (He´s incredibly squeemish). Finally having a use for Bella´s boo-boo bunny, I went to retrieve it from the freezer, only to find it frozen to the freezer. OF COURSE. So I gave her a bag of frozen peas to suck on while Jairo went to the store to buy her a popsicle. In over-all crisis management I would give myself an A-, if only for that brain-dead minute where I stood there holding Bella thinking, ¨What was it that you´re supposed to do with blood?!¨ But it´s healing nicely now, and Bella herself was laughing with us about 10 minutes after it happened. Oh, the magic of icecream! (More proof that she is, in fact, her mother´s daughter). I, however, still have some high blood pressure every time I think about it.

On a happier note, Bella is now trying to talk more. She already knew a few words, but she added ¨all done¨, ¨no¨ (GREAT.), and ¨chau¨ to her vocabulary. (Chau is bye in Spanish. You probably knew that.) She´s also starting to love on her stuffed animals, which she used to just throw away every time I gave them to her. So, progress. It´s amazing how much there is to learn when you´re just a tot! And even so, it seems she learns it all so quickly, without any discouragement that there is still so much more to go.

In all, I think if you live with a toddler and you don´t find a reason every day to laugh, cry, scream (on the inside), marvel, and kiss, kiss, kiss, then you´re missing something. Because all of those opportunities are there, and you don´t have to look to hard to find them. And you should grab onto them, and live life with that same intensity that your toddler does (tempered with some wisdom and maturity). You might just learn something. I know I do, every day. And tomorrow morning I am sure it will be an extra effort to master a Bella classic: waking up with a smile!

Alright, I know I was supposed to be blogging...

Sorry to all of my faithful followers out there...all four of you. I keep meaning to blog, but I just never sit down and do it. But today I was thinking that if I have 15 minutes to play games on facebook (don´t judge me!) then I probably have time to blog.

Actually, in order to write this particular entry, I had to test my skills at acrobatics to climb out of bed after nursing Bella. I had to maneuver myself out from under my daughter and then do a sort of twisty climb to get over Jairo, while avoiding that plastic grocery bag on the floor which could potentially make noise, which would mean GAME OVER.

I originally got back up to clean the stove, but since it is a chore I hate with my whole being, I thought blogging sounded like more fun. Aren´t you glad?

As I listened to my husband snoring and as I watched my beautiful baby girl sleep sprawled out on the bed (leaving about 3 inches for my acrobatics) I tried to remember what sleep was like. You know, real sleep. Like, when you go to bed just because you´re tired and you wake up when you´re all done sleeping and super refreshed? I have a vague recollection of being one of those blessed people who sleep, but it seems like such a long time ago.

Not that I´m complaining. They say Thomas Edison only slept four hours a night. And he got quite a lot done in a day. Also, when he died, the autopsy found that he had died of not one but four terminal illnesses. Hmm. He was also known to be cranky, something we have in common. Now if only I could invent something as genious as a lightbulb, everyone would forgive the crankiness and think I was awesome.

Nighttime hours are great when you´re a mom because there exist things in these hours that do not exist in the daytime. Things like quiet, stillness, peace, focus, and the ability to accomplish things that you really want to accomplish and which have nothing to do with diapers, meals, and just taking care of everyone else. Don´t get me wrong, I love to take care of my family. But you have to find some time for yourself. The best part is that while I do feel slightly more exhausted than if I get more sleep (but once you´re exhausted, what´s a little more?), I don´t feel like I´m missing out on those special family moments. And I don´t feel like anyone is really missing me. Except for the occasional cry from Bella, or, now that she is bigger, the occasional peeping out of her tiny face from behind the bedroom door, with a kind of drunk-looking expression that says, ¨What the heck are you doing??¨ I love those moments! And they are a reminder that a mother´s work truly is never done. You don´t see her poking her head out to look for daddy. So that´s kind of nice.

The best part of motherhood are the rewards that are so completely unexpected. Like moments where your baby turns the music on your cell phone and starts dancing, and you just can´t help but laugh. Or when she puts a raisin in the giant straw and grins as though she has really accomplished something fantastic. Not to mention the spontaneous kisses and hugs, the smiles shot at you from across the room or when you realize that in her constant babbling she is talking to her toys about you (MAMA! MAMA!).

And being a stay at home mom has allowed us to create a special little world just for our family, and especially for mommy and baby. It´s nice to feel like you have all you really need, without so much as stepping out your front door. (Although the occasional frappuccino is nice.) I´m not sure I ever felt that way as a grown up (if I really am a grown up) until I was a mother.

Those are my thoughts for now. Thanks for reading, millions of devoted fans. :) But, alas, if I don´t sleep soon, my family will not be grateful for my Edisonian crankiness. And Bella´s one year pictures are tomorrow morning! (Only 2 months late!) And since there will be some family pictures, I really must get some beauty sleep. Although at this point, I will settle for some not-ugly sleep.