Almost in the ER....again.

Yesterday was not good. I had been on my inhaler the previous day and I remember taking it before bed and at around 2:30 in the morning. While managing the house and cleaning the girls room in the morning, I kept feeling tightness in my chest and finally decided I should make that appointment to my allergy/asthma doctor that I hadn't seen in over two years. Well wouldn't you know, as soon as I made that appointment for the following day, I went into a full blown asthma attack. Like, a scary one. I was fumbling around the house trying to find my inhaler while standing still every few minutes, with my hands on my knees, trying desperately to suck in air. I...could...not...breathe!!! I couldn't muster the energy to keep looking for my inhaler and was starting to panic. I had a house full of kids, I wasn't in any condition to drive, and I honestly didn't know what to do. I do not like emergency rooms, because they empty your wallet and I knew I just needed something to open  up my airways. If I couldn just find that dang inhaler! I finally called Miguel in desperation, and I started to cry, which really made it worse. I couldn't even talk.

He ended up calling a neighbor to come over and check on me, as well as his parents. They kept telling to sit down and rest and that I needed to go to the ER. I took some Benadryll hoping that would help, but to no luck and eventually I conceeded to going to the Instacare first to see if  they could help. Luckily, because my throat wasn't shutting down, they could treat me and gave me a breathing treatment, which felt like they gave me my life back, and put me on some steroids for a week. I'm about to go to the previously mentioned appointment to see if we can get this under control.

I haven't been scared about my breathing in a long time, and I hope it doesn't happen again any time soon. So grateful for the good people who came to my rescue yesterday.

Christmas and Disneyland

All right, I'm going to give you the condensed version of our Christmas holidays. On Christmas Eve, we gathered with Miguel's family and had a good time. We had a traditional Mexican Christmas meal, complete with tamales and some wonderful posole (a Mexican soup that is a family favorite). We played some minute to win it games and had white elephant gift exchanges.

 Christmas Morning:

Santa was extra good to the girls this year and surprised them with stockings full of goodies and TICKETS TO DISNEYLAND!!!

After attending church we jumped in the car and headed for California. I actually think the girls were more excited about seeing there cousins than actually going to Disneyland. We made it there that night and the girls had a lot of fun hanging out together.

Oh, and did I mention that at the last minute we decided to leave Max with Miguel's parents. He would have been miserable and totally off  his schedule if we had taken him and we was treated like a little prince at there house. It hurt our hearts to leave him, but once on the road, we were so glad they volunteered to  help. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!

 Day 1 at Disneyland

We got there around lunchtime and we soon found out that everybody else on earth thought it was a great idea to go to Disneyland the day after Christmas. And the ticket lady told us that it is the busiest week of the whole year. Just great. Let me tell you right now, we will no longer be visiting at Christmas again.  We hit California Adventure our first day and had a good old time. All lines were between 45-90 minutes long, but we knew we had five days to get it all done, so were were relaxed. We all loved Mickey's Fun Wheel, but the real story was when we lost Sophia in the wilderness adventure fort. Yep, for 10-15 minutes we searched and searched and our hearts were racing. It was dark and she ran ahead of us and "poof" she disappeared. When I finally located an employee they said they already had her and told me where to go pick her up. Thank you Disney!!!! Then we had to do a mad dash over to Goofy's Kitchen for our dinner reservation. I highly recommend this place for a character meal. The food was delicious! I could have eatten their brocollini forever. The characters spent a lot of time with you and Alladin was by far our favorite. He even engaged my kids in a game of chase around the restaurant. Awesome. Will definately do this one again.

 Day 2

We got up and got to the park early because the park was filling to capacity each day and if  you were already in, you were safe to come and go as you pleased. We learned that Julianne was big enough to ride everything! That was the best part. We went and rode Space Mtn. and  Thunder Mtn. with our fastpasses and the kids thought it was just great. In fact that is what they kept requesting to do, for the next three days. I was so proud of them, because I wouldn't do it till I was in my late teens. But then again, I was a big scaredy cat most of my young life. Then when the crowds were at their worst we headed over to the new pirates lair on Tom Sawyer's Island. And yet again, we lost Gabriela, and she bawled and told us it was no fun that she couldn't run and explore like she wanted too. Sorry sis, not in these crowds. Needless to say, I was a little on edge and thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown.

We went  home in the afternoon took a long three hour nap and headed out after dark. We even exposed our kids to a 1am meal at Denney's after the park closed. We rode so many rides that night, because noone was out that late. Best time to hit Fantasyland and actually, when you've been exposed to Space Mtn., Dumbo just doesn't do it for you anymore. I like these kids of mine.

 Day 3
We were now definately slowing down. We rode the train back to toontown and explored Toon Town and then we hit the tea cups, Sophia's favorite. This is the one ride we cannot pull Miguel on.

 We then went over to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for the girls makeovers. I've been really excited about this and knew that this was probably my only opportunity to do this. The next time we go, the girls will be too big and not interested. They brought their princess dresses (and nightgown in Gabriela's case) and they got all prettified. They felt like a million bucks when they walked out of there. Gabriela leaned over and whispered "Mom, don't worry, you won't ever loose us now. Everybody is staring at us!" Which she loved every minute of it.

 We then headed over to California Adventure for our lunch with the princesses. Now I just have to say, that I don't like this place. This was our second time going there and the food is not that great. It's kind of wierd. And the princesses are not that nice and pretty much wave the kids to take a picture and then they are off. Not personal at all. Oh, but the best place to meet characters is by Snow White's wishing well. We ran in to Peter Pan much to our surprise and he sat and chatted with the girls for quite a while and was really in character. So fun.

And that night is when I discovered my camera was missing. I walked all of California Adventure looking for it and asking the employees at all the rides we rode if they had it. Luckily it turned up the next day and they shipped it to me for free. Nothing like Disney, ya know. So all the rest of my photos are sitting in Miguel's phone. But for now, here is what I got, and am so glad they were recovered.

When all is right in the world.

I know I've been lamenting the fact that I've been so busy lately. But this Christmas Break stuff, with no schedule is pure bliss right now. I'm sleeping in a little, getting my house cleaned at my leasure, my kids are playing and taking hour long baths. It's amazing! And the one thing I miss most is not having time for art projects anymore, so we decided to bust out the paints again yesterday. We made snowmen after the book Snowmen at Night. I was actually enjoying the moment and was present with the girls, which is hard to come by these days. Miguel said he's glad I do that and I enjoy it so much, because it's not his thing. One day I'll get him to join us, but for now, I'm glad he entertained Max for us.

 And here is the final product!

Don't they look amazing?! I'm so happy with how they turned out.

My kids really are great artists!

It goes:

Julianne, Sophia

Mommy, Gabriela

 Onto other randomness, here's Sophia baking a bazillion cupcakes for the neighbors. I'm a little remorseful that they didn't go as far as I would have hoped, so if you are a neighbor,  and you're reading this, and you didn't get any....we are so sorry! I'll come up with a better plan next year so that I can get something to everyone I know. But we still love you! and they weren't anything special.

 Here is Julianne after her preschool Christmas party. She's just the cutest little elf and she adores that elf hat.  That's also the nice little gift she gave her Mommy and Papi! Have I said how much I love Patchwork Preschool. I've got a link on the side if you're interested.

 And lastely, Max has mastered the art of hand balancing. He's gearing up for the big talent show. (Wishing that picture wasn't so dark)

Early Morning Reading

Since we've been struggling getting all of our homework done in the afternoon and since a particular someone doesn't like to be rushed when woken up in the morning, we've decided she should wake up at 6:30 am to do her reading and it seems like she attracted a following. This is what I found yesterday morning.

Thoughts as of late.

Right now in my life, I am finding that I am very limited in what I can do and fit into my life. I have such high hopes and dreams and I like to set crazy, just out of my reach, dreams or goals and go after them. But right now, I am so swamped in just the survival things of life, like cooking, laundry, homework, piano practice, diapers, baths, dishes, that I find there is little time for anything anymore. I feel like I'm dropping balls all over the place. I just can't seem to fit in Gabriela's piano practice, because I need to sit with her to keep her on task, but finding that time amidst all of the other craziness around here is hard to find. I get so embarassed when I take her to her lessons and I have to tell the teacher we only practiced three times that week or she doesn't know the pieces very well. I would love to give Gabriela more ownership of it, but she is 6 years old. When I ask her if she wants to quit, she says no, but she whines about practicing. I don't know what to do.

My health has been a major struggle these last couple of months, where I dive into colds, which develop into bouts of asthma and I'm on an inhaler every couple of hours and am exhausted. I can't muster the energy to get all the housework done and all of the other responsibilities I have. I have to accept that it's ok if the dishes sit in the sink for the day, or that I don't have anything prepared for dinner. I'm just wearing down and at times feel like the real me has been shelved for a time. In the shower I dream about doing art again, or doing art projects with my kids, or sitting down and playing games with my kids, but I feel like I'm caught up in the tornado of life and I'm just blown from one moment to the next. I'm more like a fire fighter putting out fires or I'm playing defense on the football field. But I would much rather be on the offense. I want to feel like I'm in control and I determine the outcome, but when you experience health issues, that's always not the case. I want my A game back. I want to see progress each day. And I feel guilty that my husband  and kids see me struggle.

I know this too shall pass. It's only a season. And I'll endure it, and hopefully endure it well.

I guess I'll go finish those dishes, and get those 5 loads of laundry going, and go get my kids out of the tub, dressed, fed, and off to preschool. And I guess I'd better hurry up.

Fun Photos of Max after bath

It's that time of year!

(Sorry for being M.I.A. here on the blog. Just can't find the time to do it anymore. My life is crazy, busy and some things have to go. But that being said, I do still like to do it. )

This year I was in charge of the ward Christmas party and I went with the theme of Christmas Around the World. I worked with some amazing women who helped me pull all of it together. It turned out to be a great night and I was happy with it.

Santa came to visit and I think these pics turned out so darn cute. My mother shipped us these adorable dresses just in time for them to wear. They could be my favorites so far. And that baby boy...I just want to eat him up!

 Doesn't he look dapper?

 (o.k. so maybe dad rolled his pants up too much and his shoes don't match, but blame that on Miguel)

Our party was complete with a hayride, writing Christmas cards to missionaries, and making gingerbread houses. I think all the kids had a good time.

 I had my niece and nephews last night and they were a big help with the girls while I was running around and serving the food.