Man Alive, She's Five!!!

This pretty little lady is five years old as of yesterday. We just can't believe it. We decided that she would get to have a date with Mommy on her birthday instead of a birthday party. And what a date it was!

She requested to go tot he movies. After agonizing over whether or not I should take her, we went and saw Alice in Wonderland. It was not her favorite, but more on that in another post. She was so funny about those glasses and her popcorn. She was so confident and self assured sitting there in the theatre.

We then hit up Magelbys for lunch.

And then over to Color Me Mine for some good ole' fashioned pottery painting. She loved this and so did I. She chose to paint a princess piggy bank as well as something for Gigi (her grandmother).

Her last request was to go to the "fishy restaurant." That is Red Lobster. She has a fasination with this place, and to the kids delitement, the hostess got out some of the lobsters for the kids to see and touch.

Gabriela came home from the pottery place and started playing church with her sisters. She got them all dressed up and insisted that they wear them to dinner. Miguel was a little embarassed by it, and said we would look like one of those weird pioneer families or polygamist families. I had to remind him that I doubted that people would think Mexicans are polygamists and that we were in our regualar clothes. We would be fine.

I attempted to make the birthday cake this year. I realized my artistic abilities to not cross over to the culinary crafts. Oh well, she liked it and that was all that mattered. It's the Little Mermaid, if you couldn't tell.

Julianne always seems to enjoy the cake and ice cream.

She got a new bike for her birthday present. Unfortunately she was mauled by her two younger sisters who insisted that they get a turn on the bike.

Want to Go With Me?

So, I'm really excited about something I found out today. A while back I sent an email to the Power of Mom's director (see widget on my sidebar) about their mothers' retreats. I really would love to go to one and wallahh, I get an email from her today announcing their next one. I totally believe women and mothers need a conference for (and a break from) motherhood. It's our job afterall and I love to sit and chat with moms about what works and doesn't work and just get great ideas from them. I get a little jealous and have the same conversation with Miguel everytime he heads off for training for work. Where's my training?

Anyways, I'm looking for some ladies to go with me! I love these ladies who power up the Power of Moms site and think this will be such a fun and rejuvinating thing to attend. So if you want to go, start saving, and we'll register together. Check it out here.

Santa Monica Pier

"Am I A Bad Mother?"

As a Mom I often find myself asking the same question over and over again in my mind.

"Am I A Bad Mother?"

Am I a bad mother because I never let my kids sleep in the same bed together?

Am I a bad mother because I usually say "No way" when the cashier asks me if my kids can have a Smarty?

Am I a bad mother because I give my kids carmel dipping sauce so they will eat frest apples?

Am I a bad mother because I rarely can get my kids to eat their "5 a day"?

Am I a bad mother because I let my kids strip to their underwear at a public beach?

Am I a bad mother because I never take them to the doctor over a cold?

Am I a bad mother because I hardly ever wash my kids face after they eat?

Am I a bad mother because.... you get the idea

And quite frankly, I don't think I'm a bad Mom. Maybe a little uptight, but probably pretty normal. If you have figured out a way to get your kids to eat well balanced nutritional meals including vegetables, please tell me your secret! I think most of my stress comes from feeding my kids. Saying no to sweets and trying to bribe them into eating healthy foods. Until then, I'm relying on those good ole' multivitamins to get us through.

We Won the Lottery!

Well at least the Freedom Academy Kindergarten lottery! We are pretty excited around here. Only a certain number of students are let in to the school each year, and it's done by a lottery. We were one of the the lucky few to get in. This school is a charter school that is only two blocks from our house and within our ward boundaries. Super convienient. Plus, Miguel and I are both pro uniforms. My sweet little angels will all be sporting these beauties for the next eight or so years of their life. This school goes all the way through junior high, so we can skip the scary public junior high. And the best part, once you get one child in all the others are automatically let in. So, so, excited about this. I can't believe my little Gabriela is off to school in the fall, but I'm really excited for her and all the adventures she'll have and the fun things she will learn.

Dear PMS

It's Lindsay here. I'm a little troubled by you. You never gave me this much grief during my adolescense. You have to understand, you see, that I have a lot more responsibilities now. I have people that are forced to be cooped up with me during that dreadful week that you like to come around. I'm miserable. I'm a tyrant, and I, quite frankly, want to be left alone. But, that's not an option now is it? Please lighten up, I need my hormones to stay even kill, so I don't have a heart attack or stroke everytime my kids start crying or fighting. Really. I feel like I'm going to blow a gasket everytime someone cries. It's not fair to them or to me. I'm less compassionate and less giving. Actually, come to think of it, I'm quite selfish. I really and truly want to be left alone. Noone ask me to do anything. Give me a few days and I'll be up and chipper and going full throttle, but not for that deadful week each month. All I want to do is sit watch a movie, and eat Circus Cookies. I'm like the poster child for PMS. It really didn't used to be this bad. Maybe I didn't have things in my life that would trigger such dramatic emotional reactions. Then I could at least just keep to myself, or lay in bed, or sleep. So if you could lighten up a little and show me some sympathy, that would be awesome. If not, at least point to some drugs to help me stay balanced.

Your Humble Victim,
Lindsay

Has it gotten worse for you since you've had kids? Any suggestions?

Baby Blues

I'm sure I've expressed this to a lot of you that I know. But, lately I have been so sad when I look at Julianne. My Baby Has Grown Up. She'll be two in a couple of weeks. I'm having a hard time seeing her in the right perspective. I just concider her the "baby." She no longer uses the high chair, which has been retired to the garage. That's a first in several years. And, last night we moved her bed upstairs into the big girls' room. I guess I'm just in denial. I've really enjoyed her as a baby and hate to see that go away. I love looking at her baby cheeks. I still tote her around as if she was nine months old.

I now understand why the youngest child is always the spoiled one. They will always be the spoiled one. We are definately not done having kids, but I just can't fathom the idea of that last child being the last little face I'll watch grow up. How do people do it?

But then I'm reminded how much I adore my other two kiddos and how much more I love them as bigger kids. Maybe my problem is that this is the first time I haven't had another baby. This is the biggest break I've had between kids and don't really know what to do with myself.

On a side note, I've been MIA this week in the blogging world for a couple of reasons:
1. My washing machine has torn up and I've got a laundry pile the size of Mt. Everest waiting for me. Sophia is officially out of pants and underwear!

2. I haven't had a camera that works or that has a charged battery all week long.

3. I've been trying to get to the bottom of my sink all week with the mounds of dishes that there are to wash.

4. Just simply trying to get into the routine of my life since coming back from vacation.

If I had blogged it wouldn't have been very positive, so maybe it's better that I just kept to myself. Now I'm off to go bug some friends to see if I can borrow their washing machine :)