Trendy Trinkets Give-Away!

I am so excited to announce that I am hosting my very first give-away!  YAY!

Trendy Trinkets is an up and coming jewelry boutique that offers a wide variety of beautiful pieces for all tastes.  After viewing their inventory, you're sure to find something to your liking... or in my case, a lot of somethings!

Trendy Trinkets is owned and operated by my beautiful and talented cousin, Melissa.  She puts her heart and soul into every piece of art she creates and you're guaranteed a stunning and unique piece of jewelry art!  She runs her business out of Miami, Fl and displays her items at various art fairs throughout the city.  But wait, you don't live in Miami?  Never fear... her online store is great too!

If you do live in the Miami area and would like to see her pieces first hand, her next showings are:

March 5 & 6 at Carnival on the Mile Art Show (Miracle Mile)

and

March 12 at the St. Patricks Day Festival and Art Show (2800 Ponce de Leon Blvd.)  

So, now for the moment you've all been waiting for.  The GIVE-AWAY! (Say it in Oprah's voice... it's soo much more fun that way!)
Trendy Trinkets has offered to give away a $15 gift certificate to be used towards the piece of your choosing either at the online store or in person (Miami only).  Here's how to enter:

1. Visit www.trendytrinkets.net and browse through the inventory.
2. Leave me a comment telling me which is your fave piece.
3. If you are a public follower of my blog, you may enter twice... just leave me another comment saying you follow publicly.  If you don't follow publicly, but want to, click on the "follow" button (on the left side of your screen... scroll down a bit) and post an additional comment saying you are a new follower!

I will select a winner using Random.org on Friday, March 4 at 2pm!

Ready... Set... GO!

Breast-Food?

This morning, Mauricio emailed me with this article today.  If you don't have time to read it, it's about a cafe in London that is selling breast-milk ice-cream for $22 a bowl.  That's a little steep for a bowl of ice-cream, don't ya think?  And here I am complaining about the $7 we spend at Cold Stone every once in a while!

Well this got me thinking.  I have a freezer FULL of breast-milk!  See, no food... just milk!

When I was originally pumping this milk, while Jonas was in the NICU for 28 days, I had considered donating it.  (See  this post).  But the more I looked into it, the more I read about guidelines and regulations... such as, storing, freezing and shipping methods.  Unfortunately I had already bottled so many of them, that it wasn't going to be feasible.  So I figured I'd just use it up little by little, and then in his cereal.  Problem is... we can't go through it fast enough!

Maybe I should look into using this milk in other ways, instead of just dumping it once it expires.  I started researching ways to use my milk.  Some sites say to dump it in coffee as creamer... but we don't drink coffee.  Then I found this site that has recipes... REAL RECIPES... using breast-milk.  I guess basically you can use breast-milk in anything... only it's thinner and sweeter than cow's milk.  But seriously, who would know?!

When I asked Mau if he would have some breast-milk ice-cream, his answer was simple... "no".  I asked, "Not even mine".  Again, the answer was "no".  And I thought this man loved me?!  haha.  But, if I slipped some breast-milk in muffins or a cake, would he even know the difference?  If I make a delicious smoothie using iced breast-milk, could he tell?  Probably not.  (And now he's always going to second guess... bwahahahaha).

That site also has a recipe for breast-milk soap.  This is great because you can used expired milk for it too!  It's probably so nourishing for dry skin and sensitive baby bottoms.  I think I'll definitely try that... even if Mau "refuses" to use it.

Ok, I can feel the faces you're making just reading this.  No, I'm not a hippie and no, I don't want to live in a commune, and no, I'm probably not going to start a compost any time soon.  But, why waste it?!  Let me just step up on my soap box for a minute here...

You will drink COW'S milk... and feed your children COW'S milk, but not breast-milk?  Does this make any sense?  Cow's milk is for... COWS!  Goat's milk is for... GOATS!  Mammals lactate to feed their children... not to feed other species' children!  We are mammals, and hence we should use OUR milk... HUMAN milk, to feed our families.  Wouldn't it be something if once we became mothers and started lactating, we began feeding our entire families with our milk?  We could make all dairy products, cook with it and drink it.  And now with the whole "organic" and "green" movement, this makes more sense than ever!  What's more organic than "home-grown milk"?!  By the way, have you ever seen a cow's utters... gu-ross!  Do you personally know the cow that is providing your family with milk?  It probably isn't Bessy, your families cow that you raised since calf-hood.  You have NO IDEA what cow it is... you have NO IDEA what that cow is being fed... you have NO IDEA the living conditions or cleanliness of the cow.  And yet, this is preferable to milk from a woman living with you... because it's not as "icky"... yeah, that makes a lot of sense!

Now, that said, I'm not about to continue lactating indefinitely to feed my family.  I hate pumping and I'd probably have to force feed it to some people!  But, I'm not going to let my entire freezer stash go down the drain, so YES, I am going to be looking into these recipes and preparing some breast-milk friendly food.  If you come over, best ask before you eat!  You never know what might be hidden in our food.

Readers, I'd love to hear what you have to say about this!  Please leave a comment!

What a Difference Hair Will Make

Today I was look through some photos of Marco throughout his short life.  More impressive than his growth through this time, is his HAIR growth!  I mean, I never realized what a difference hair will make on a person.  His face looks pretty much the same, but with the added hair on top, it changes his whole apperance.  Let me show you:

 Here's Marco at 7 months.  Face looks pretty much the same.  Those cheekers... those big brown eyes.  He melts my heart!  But look on top... nothing but peach fuzz.

 Here's my boy at 12 months.  This is his official "big boy car seat" picture.  At the time, I remember crying because he was "SOOO BIG".  His hair is a little longer on top, but so so thin that you see more head than anything else.

He needed a mini-hair cut at this point, because the back was long... like a mullet.  One day, we were sitting for breakfast and Mauricio snuck up behind him and chopped it off!  I was furious!  Not because I like the mullet, mind you, but because I wanted his first hair cut to be special and real... like at a place.  But, I must admit, it looked pretty good and since that was all that was needed, it didn't make too much of a difference.

 Here's my cutie pie at 15 months old.  (Don't judge me for letting him drive... it was in our complex AND he was THRILLED about it so nanny nanny boo boo)


Now, I thought THIS was a lot of hair.  And granted... that is a good amount of growth for 3 months time.  But he's still got a receding hair line (thanks Dad, for those genes).

This was Marco today.  He's 20 months old.  Now THAT's a lot of hair!

We have yet to get his official 1st hair cut, and quite honestly, I don't really want to.  I hate the look of a fresh hair cut... too dorky.  Plus, I really like his shaggy look.  Pretty sure my kids are going to be the ones with long, surfer-ish hair cuts... and why not?!  He's got the hair for it!

The Best Rip-Off Ever

Today we went to the mall.  I am not a shopper... in fact, I loathe shopping.  So girly of me, right?  But I go to the mall because they have a pretty rad and small play area which is perfect for Marco to burn some energy.  After a full week and a half of being sick and cooped up in the house, we desperately needed to go out.

Marco usually has a blast with all the other kids, running around, jumping off the equipment, and going down the slide face first.  Today however, there was a distraction that kept him from all of his former playground shenanigans.  There was a train.  That's right, a moving, choo-choo-ing, rideable train.  Well, as any mother of a boy knows, this is the end all.  Instead of playing, Marco was standing on top of the seat next to me shouting "CHOO CHOO" every time the train would go by... so like about a thousand times (give or take).









What kind of mother would I be if I didn't let him ride?  Tell me!  So, we went to have a ride.  When I get to the "train station", turns out it costs $4 to ride... per person!  But when I looked at Marco, he was already bouncing up and down in the stroller in anticipation.  I just had to let him do it.  My little boys happiness is worth $4, right?  Of course!  So, I hauled myself over to the ATM and took out some cash to buy his train ticket.



When he got in the train car, he couldn't wait to take off.  He was moving from seat to seat, trying to decide which would be best for his trip.  He was so excited that he was on the inside, while Jonas and I were on the outside.  He's big... and he knows it!



As the train took off, he began squealing with happiness... his smile was from ear to ear.  He was so excited, he didn't know what to do with himself.  When he wasn't waving at me and laughing, he had his head out the window screaming "CHOO-CHOO"!  It was THE MOST adorable thing I have ever seen.


The train ride was a total and complete rip-off.  It only went down the short arm of the mall, made a u-turn and went back.  The ride was MAYBE 3 minutes long.  And, remember it's $4!  The only thing that makes it kinda worth it is that you get a free chick-fil-a ice-cream with the ticket... but I wouldn't give Marco ice-cream anyway, so we didn't benefit from that.  (note... I do not deprive my children of ice-cream, I just think it should be a weekend treat).  Now, since this is a new but perminant fixture at the mall, I'm going to have to remember to pack $4 whenever we go.  Just to see that face of joy and hear that laughter of excitement is WELL worth the measly $4.  This was the best rip-off ever!

My Own Medicine

Like me, my mom was a stay-at-home-mom.  She stayed home with me until I started school.  In order for her to be able to do this, my parents had to make huge sacrifices.  She wasn't able to buy new clothes, go out or take vacations.  She had very few friends and lived away from her family.  Sound familiar?  For my first year of life, we lived in Okinawa, Japan (yes, I was born there... no, I'm not Japanese) and the next three years, we lived just outside Seattle, Washington.  

She didn't have (or take advantage of) the things I have such as MOPS, play dates, play groups, bouncing babies, etc.  Basically, we stayed home all day, and since I had no siblings, she was my playmate.  She would play with me all day long... we'd sing songs, read stories and play pretend.  When we played house, she even let me be the Mommy!  She was my best play bud! 

 

But sadly, this wasn't good enough for me.  I would drop her like a sack of potatoes the moment my father walked in the door.  I'd hear the door begin to open and I'd shriek in giddy delight.  I'd sprint over to him with arms open, hug him and say "My Papito lindo is home" (translation: my beautiful little Daddy is home).  My mom would always jealously say, "What am I?  Chop liver?".  Yes, she was.  I would snottingly reply, "Go away Mommy, I'm with my Papito lindo".  It didn't matter how much fun my mom and I had during the day, once my dad came home it was all about him.  (We have an audio recording of me at 2 to confirm all of this). 

Now, I'm a SAHM and in a VERY similar predicament.  And I must say, I have tasted my own medicine... and it is BITTER!  

I plan every single day out so that Marco has fun.  We go to the library... for him.  We go to play dates... for him.  We go to the park... for him.  We go to the mall... for him.  I plan fun activities... for him.  I read and re-read and re-read the same books... for him.  I sing the ABC's one HUNDRED times... for him.  It's ALL about him.  And yet, the minute that door handle starts to turn, that little boy begins to shriek and jump around on his tip toes in anticipation for his dad's arms.  Marco has got Daddy love-itis and he's got it BAD.  

Honestly, I DO feel like chop-liver.  For example, today Mauricio put Marco in time out.  Marco cried and whined and when it was all said and done, he looked at ME like as if I were the one that had put him there, turned to Mauricio (his savior) and cried into his neck.  It wasn't even ME!!!  

No matter how many activities I do with Marco, I can not compete with the coolness that is Dad.  I mean, I always knew Mau was cool (I did marry him, ya know?) but this is a little over-the-top!  Sure, Mau is the one that dangles him by one foot and swings him around the living room.  If I could, I would do it too... but I'm not strong enough!  Maybe he's just too used to me... he needs the opportunity to miss me, like he misses Mau everyday while he's at work.  

Oh well, at least I still have Jonas... for now.

Sorry Mom!