4 appointments, 6 shots, and a mean Witch!

I feel like I've spent the last two days at the doctor's office. All three girls had well-child checks yesterday and today. On Thursday, I took Julianne and Gabriela for their checks and I knew that they both needed shots. I was a little aprehensive, because I knew Gabriela had a little trepidation about going. Everytime I mentioned going, she said she didn't want to. When the day arrived, she told me to "tell the doctor I don't need a shot or a bandaid, o.k." I would just day, "we'll have to see what the doctor says," "maybe you just need one, can you be brave?" I didn't want to lie to her, but I also wanted her to be calm. Well she turned out to be a really big girl. It's amazing to see her mature and be so brave. She did an amazing job on her eye sight test. She has great eyes and knew the shapes. She didn't even cry when she got her shot. I was really impressed. Julianne on the other hand was a big wimp. She started crying as soon as I got her undressed. I guess she didn't want anyone looking at her nakedness. Gabriela weighs 30 lbs. and is in the 29% for weight and 92% for height. Julianne weighs 12 lbs. and is in the 69% for weight and 83% for height. She screamed histerically all afternoon and wouldn't eat. I had to find my happy place in order to deal.
Last night Gabriela woke up around 4:30 screaming and was up and down until 6:00 when we finally gave up and stayed up. She started complaining about her ear and just kept crying. I figured it was an ear infection so I took her back to the doctor today along with Sophia. Lo and behold, she did have an infection. Sophia is healthy as a horse. She weighs 20 lbs. and is in the 13% for weight and 74% in height. She's my feather weight. She too got a shot, but recovered pretty quick. So we are doing better today.

Now about the witch thing. I'm reading a book that I will probably blog about later when I'm finished. Anyways, it mentions some things to do at the dinner table to make it more fun and encourage them to eat. I thought I would put some of the suggestions to practice. It talks about using imagination to create insintives to eat. I told Gabriela that there was a mean witch outside and if you didn't eat your dinner she would come and get you. Gabriela looked at me with horror and started wimpering. She was like, "Help me, help me, hurry, I don't want the mean witch to get me and put me in the jail." I felt horrible and told I was pretending. Eventually she started going along with it and I soon became the witch. I was Malificent from Sleeping Beauty. By the end of the whole thing she had cleaned her plate completely. I guess it worked, depite our rough start. We'll see how creative I can be tomorrow.

I've been tagged by my old roommate!

I guess I've been tagged by my old college roommate Heather Scheffield. So here it goes. Watch out, you could be next.


Love Post
What is your husbands name? Miguel
How long have you been together? Seriously dated for 3 months...married for 5 years.
Who eats more? Miguel, hands down. His dad says I eat like a bird.
Who said I love you first? Miguel
Who is taller? Miguel
Who has more speeding tickets? Miguel, I've never even been pulled over before. Knock on wood.
Who is smarter? I graduated in art, he graduated in civil engineering. Take a guess!
Who is more sensitive? Definately me. I'm a blue and he's a red.
Who does the laundry? Me, I don't like others to do my laundry. It's the one chore I don't mind doing.
Who does the dishes? Miguel
Who sleeps on the right? Miguel
Who pays the bills? Miguel, he's the finance man.
Who mows the lawn? Miguel, he actually mows 3 lawns.
Who cooks dinner? Unfortunately for all of us, I do
Who drives when you are together? Miguel
Who is more stubborn? Probably him. I cave in to easily
Who kissed whom first? He says I kissed him.
Who asked who out first? Miguel asked me, I think. I don't really remember.
Who proposed? Miguel
Who has more siblings? He does. He has 3 siblings and I have 2
Now I tag... Amy Palmer, Amber Jensen, Lindy Skinrood, & Libby Halbrook

7 Facts
Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird, whatever you are brave enough to share. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I have an obsession with pictures. I feel this need to take pictures of everything and it creates anxiety in me. What makes matters worst right now is that my camera is not acting right.

I really miss school. I would like to go to hair school and deep down I would like to be a nurse. I just don't know how I would do with sticking people.

I love to eat out. For steak: Outback's Victorian Fillet For Italian: Macarroni Grill For Mexican: Cafe Rio. For Chinese: P.F. Changs. I love, love, love, Jamba Juice too. I would eat out everyday if I was rich. I don't like my own cooking. I have to cook very plain to get the kids to eat it.

Some people might not know that I worked at Home Depot in high school and college. Yep, I was a cashier, a paint specialist (imagine little me trying to carry 5 gallon buckets), and a decor specialist. That's why Miguel fell in love with me. I was a ballroom dancer who worked at a home improvement store.

I don't like hard candy, but I looovvveee chocolate.

I don't have a dishwasher. I've been washing dishes since I've been with Miguel. His family has always washed dishes even when they had a dishwasher. It was used as a drying rack. When we lived in our condo we carried that tradition over. In our home now we really don't have one and Miguel is in no hurry to put one in. I think with 3 kids it's getting out of hand. They pile up way to quick.

I was captain of my high school volleyball team. I played all four years, but don't ask me to play now.

I've had kidney stones at least 3 times. It's the worst pain of my life. It's worst than child birth.

Now I tag: Amy P., Amber J., Lindy S., Libby H., Erin M., Emily A., Marti M.

What's going on this week.

The Ruizes have had a pretty uneventful week this week. It was really nice the first two days and then we were hit with yucky weather. The girls have been at each others throats all week, because they are cooped up together in the house. All day I hear Gabriela yelling, "No Sophia," and then Sophia screams...loud. They've both had diaper issues all week, so that's been real fun. On Monday the girls helped make dinner. Pizza. I should say, Gabriela helped make it, and Sophia helped eat it. As fast as Gabriela could get it on, Sophia was working to get it off and into her mouth. You can imagine that this situation allowed for a lot of those, "No Sophia"...scream instances.
Placing Pepperoni
Eating Pepperoni
On Tuesday I was walking by the side of the house and I thought I found a dead baby bird. I was so sad, but I wasn't going to pick it up and dispose of it. That would be Miguel's job. So later in the day I went to show Miguel and when I went over there there were two of them. What? I started looking around to see where it came from and Miguel told me it was probably the roof. Birds had built nest under the tiles and I guess they fell out. When I looked down again I could see that the second bird was still alive. Miguel wanted to just throw them away, but I said, "No way, we have to do something." Miguel told me that I couldn't save it and it was probably hurt from the fall. I didn't care. I couldn't do it. Maybe because it was so little and I'm a new mommy. I would hope someone would try to help my baby if something were to happen to her. Silly I know, but I really did think that. I then realized that the first one I found was still breathing too. I went to find a bucket and a blanket to put them in. At least they wouldn't have to die lying on the ground. I got my kitchen gloves on to handle them. They were pretty ugly as you can see. They had a few pieces of fuzz on them, their eyes were completely covered over and their heads hadn't grown into their beaks. But they were so tiny that you felt sorry for them. I tried giving them water through a syringe. Later that evening I lost one of them. Then I started feeling really bad. I reminded Miguel that Adam had dominion over all things and that he should help me try to save this little bird. I got online to see if I could get some advice or direction. I learned that I should have left them alone or tried to put them back. Great, but what do I do now that I have him. It said they need to eat every 15 minutes or so and what to prepare for it. It needed to be warm and on and on and on. This little thing is more work than my Julianne. I decided to try to keep it alive through the night, then I would have Miguel put it back in it's nest, wherever that is, in the morning. I made food out of boiled egg yolk and milk and fed it and put it under a light in the kitchen. Unfortunately it didn't make it. I didn't feel as bad, because at least I tried. The moral of the story is...don't pick up a baby bird. You can't teach it how to fly.
A little milk before bedtime
We get pretty bored in the house, so today we played dress up. We crimped Gabriela's hair for fun and she looks gorgeous. I would die for hair like hers. She struck this pose herself.

Sugar, Spice, & Everything Nice

I just love these girls. They are the highlight of my life. They make me laugh, cry, and every other emotion there is to feel as a mother. Sophia is my comedian. She loves to smile at me now and I think she just gets cuter and cuter (although by the photos I post, you would think I never do her hair) Gabriela is the princess of the family. Julianne is my sweet little Spitty Gonzalez. We gave her that nickname in Mexico, because she spits up so much. She's beginning to smile at us and it will melt your heart. I just can't imagine life without my girls. I would be quite the selfish person I think. For everyone with children, I'm sure you can relate. So here's to all the mothers out their and their funny little munchkins.

The Hot Spot in the House...the Ladies Room!

It seems that the bathroom gets the most action these days. I decided to try the sticker chart thing with Gabriela to see if that would be enough to motivate her to go potty. We've probably been trying for almost a year now. She's smart enough, has the know how, but I just can't keep her motivated to keep doing it. That is...until now. She actually took to the chart and we've been going strong. She actually started going on her own on the second day and pooped in the potty for the first time in her life...by herself. I just wanted to jump up and down and shout for joy! She was pretty proud of herself too. She sports around in her princess underwear and actually came out of her room dressed like this. Miguel asked her if she was going to work at a bar? She obviously didn't get it, but I thought it was pretty funny. Watch out Coyote Ugly, here she comes! Since there is so much action in the bathroom, Sophia takes advantage of it. For months now, whenever she hears the bathroom door open she bolts over there as fast as her legs will carry her. She has found a new favorite spot as shown. She sits in the sink and steals our toothbrushes. She also really loves my contact case for some reason and totes it around the house.
This next photo is Sophia once she realized Gabriela got a treat for going Potty. She can turn it on and off instantaneously. Once she got a piece of candy she stopped immediately. I'm sure all of your kids do the same.
The next day, I found the girls like this again. Gabriela sees Sophia and decides to join her. Who's the big sister again? She seems to want to do everything Sophia does.

Visiting the Yucatan

We went on a spontaneous trip to the Yucatan Penninsula this past week. Miguel had to go for business and was planning on leaving me here with the girls for 3 days. His parents and his brother's family had already planned a family vacation because one of Miguel's cousin was getting married in Merida, the capital of the Yucatan. I decided I didn't want to be left behind so we made it work for all of us to go. We even rushed a passport for the baby. I decided to go on Saturday night and we flew out on Thursday. After a four hour flight to Cancun we got a rental car and drove another 3 to 4 hours to get to Merida. While staying there we took a day trip to Uxmal. It's a place with Mayan ruins (the best site I've seen so far). Pictured above is the temple of the rain God. Pretty amazing!
I think it was close to 100 degrees that day wih 90 % humidity. Gabriela ran around so much I thought she was going to pass out. She's standing in the middle of the court of what used to be a university in ancient days.
We were able to see a lot of Miguel's family on his mother's side. This is Miguel's grandmother. We call her abuelita. I decided to snap a few photos of her with her newest great grandchild. By the way, Julianne was an amazing trooper on this trip.
After spending a couple of days in Merida we headed back to Playa del Carmen for a little R&R. Yeah right. Let me tell you, if you are thinking of vacationing with 3 small children...don't. We were in this beautiful place and yet were not really able to do much besides look and even that was tough. We visited XCaret, a themepark type place which would have been really fun to do. It had lots of swimming type activities and things but since we had the babies it was impossible. We did however enjoy the show at the end. As you entered the theater they had people dressed in Mayan fashion (shown above.) Gabriela was scared of the indians. They were beating drums and I could easily see how the Lamanites would have been a scary people. We were also quite the spectacle as we traveled around. Everybody stares at you. At the resort, in the airport, on the plane...I felt like a circus sideshow, especially when they all want to cry at the same time. Needless to say I was glad when we got home.

Didn't mean to post this twice, but I can't figure out how to get it off. I post better pictures of our trip when my inlaws get back. My camera was having problems so I gave up half way through the trip and I let my sister in law take all of our family pictures on her camera.