Long time no blog

Sometimes I lose track of the hours in the day, especially during the end of the year, and get distracted by all the small things on in my life. So here's a little glimpse of what's been going on in my life since I've been gone:

Since I last posted my family and I went to Puerto Rico during the week of Thanksgiving. It was a vacation with highs and lows, and all started with an Airbnb guest home that was not what we expected. To keep things short I’ll say the home wasn't as pictured (though we got what we paid for), the power went out more than once (this is actually normal in Puerto Rico though a lot of the businesses around the guest home had generators), a stray kitty always pooped in the flowerbed so the front porch was always smelly, and the most unfortunate: the shower water was always cold. We learned that the previous guests broke one of the showers and it was constantly dripping which caused all the hot water to be used up. However we did make the most of the house when the power was up and running but once it went out a second time towards the end of the week, we all threw in the towel and booked a hotel for the night. It definitely humbled us all. And made us appreciate our houses, consistent power, air conditioning, and hot showers.

bacalaitos, empanadas, rice, beans and mofongo!

Not to say we didn’t enjoy our vacation. We did! Michael and I got to visit Old San Juan, see my grandparents who live there, eat delicious food, and of course take Lydia to the beach for the first time. She didn’t seem that enthusiastic about the beach but absolutely loved the pool at the hotel.

Once we got home from our vacation, Michael started a new job that’s work from home all the time, and it’s been a huge blessing to have him around the house more. He's rested, we get to have lunch together almost every day, and he likes his boss. He was actually Michael’s boss a couple years ago at his old job, then he moved to a different company and reached out to Michael to see if he’d join his team. I was so happy that he was able to smoothly transition into this new job and that we can spend more time together. Periodically he will need to travel to New York, the first time he had to go there Lydia and I went with him. We stayed at my parent’s house and he commuted to the city from there, it was such a treat to spend time with my family!

Another small thing that's been going on is that we've been putting Lydia to sleep earlier and scheduling her naps. No more co-sleeping in this house! As much as we enjoyed the experience, you get to a point where you just want the bed to yourselves, and have your child in their own crib with a healthier sleep schedule. It's actually exciting because I'm getting that extra alone time during the day with her naps and of course dealing with a less cranky child during the day. A big part of why I haven't been blogging has a lot to do with the fact that I lacked the alone time to sit down and write. Alone time was so sporadic, and now it's more consistent, which means I should be back on here more!

During this transition, Michael has been such a big help and blessing. He has been putting her to bed most nights, praying with her and making her feel comfortable in the crib. It has been growing their bond too. She does fuss after he leaves the room and sometimes he’ll go back in, but she eventually falls asleep. Right now her crib is on our bedroom and when she wakes up in the middle of the night, I try to comfort her by holding her hand or if that doesn't work I'll cuddle with her. I am trying to be better with that though and teach her that she needs to put herself back to sleep.

We plan on moving her into her bedroom once Michael his office space into the basement sometime in the spring. I am hoping she loves her bedroom and won’t feel the need to sleep in ours!

Lastly, we hosted Christmas and it had a lot of fun with Michael's side of the family. I made this pear sangria, yellow rice, empanadas, cheese flan, and pumpkin bread. Michael made his famous wings and everyone brought a delicious little something-something! After we exchanged gifts, Michael shared a message the Lord placed on his heart and prayed before we all ate. We played The Game of Things and laughed up a storm! We are planning on hosting our small group on Thursday for an end of the year get together, and my parent's are visiting this upcoming weekend for New Years which we are also hosting. Lots of hosting but it's been coming with lots of help which has been much appreciated! : ) 

And the bad... I started to trim my bangs and got too carried away by cutting them too short... At this time I'm so thankful for bobby pins, headbands, and of course the fact that it'll grow back. But if that's the worst thing going on in my life, I'll be a-okay. 

Until next time my loves,

Lydia Lately 5.23.2016

Lydia is 14 months old.  I’m trying my best to cherish every moment, even the not so fun moments. If you’re a mom, you know exactly which moments I’m referring to! The demands from a little person who wants to be carried all day long even though they’re getting heavier, that creates tornado style messes every day, and constantly putting up a fight each and every diaper change. My patience, which I always thought was solid, gets tested every day and now I totally get what it means to be slow to anger. I try my hardest not to raise my voice because it almost always makes the situation worse. Instead of reacting negatively, I’ve been singing more and sometimes it helps calm us both us down. If God uses marriage to sanctify us, He absolutely uses parenthood too, and I’m learning more and more that I need to be slower to anger, more patient and calm even when I’m exhausted. But those moments quickly get better. I could go on and on about how much Lydia is a blessing and that she truly makes it all worth it!

She’s currently fluent in full-blown gibberish, no real words yet other than “no no” and mama, da-da. She has been trying to mimic our words and when she pets Zoe she goes “naaanaaa” which is in the same tone as us telling her to be “niiiice.” While we do encourage her to talk by telling her what things are and play narrative of what we’re doing, we’re not worried nor in any rush. I try not to compare her milestones with other kids because everyone learns things on their own time. She did learn how to walk at 10 ½ months so maybe she will talk a little later. Only time will tell!

Her favorite things to do are dancing, exploring outside (thank God the weather is finally warming up), playing with Zoe, and eating. She is especially fond of “If You’re happy and You Know It” and knows all the moves too! We recently stayed a week at my parent’s house and she got to spend lots of time with her cousin DJ. There were a few fights over toys/attention and Lydia discovered how to bite! I know I already covered the negative sides of raising a toddler, but Lydia sometimes bites us when she doesn’t get her way, please tell me this is just a phase?! 

Lydia is also at the age where she’s creating her own fun with her toys and stuffed animals. I am always so curious to know what’s going on in her little head and what she is gabbing about. It reminds me of how vivid my imagination was when I was little and how much fun I could have on my own. It makes me excited for her to have little siblings and watch them all interact. My sister and I are five years apart in age so we didn’t have many years of playing because she was too cool for playing pretend. This is kind of a side note but I remember the day Aria declared she was done taking baths together and the dreaded day she told me this was her last day playing pretend with me. I was devastated! I consider her one of my best friends now that we’re older but I think it would be better for Michael and I to have kids closer in age, and hopefully we’ll be able to expand our family soon. 

hardcore snacking!

I mentioned one of Lydia’s favorite things is to eat. Girlfriend is so passionate about food! She is so enthusiastic and literally sings when she eats. Her favorite foods are blueberries, yogurt, beans, tortilla chips and applesauce. She isn’t 100% weaned, she nurses at night and in the morning, I don’t really have a specific day when to stop. I am still giving her homemade chocolate milk and have been adding a little chia seeds, and spinach for a little heft which she loves. I’ll definitely have to do a separate post about toddler-friendly meals and snacks! 

To end this post, I want to say how much I'm looking forward to the weather warming up and starting summer traditions as a family. Possibly trips down the shore when visiting my parents in Jersey, going to the pool in town, watching the parades, going to Pittsburgh, and hosting a BBQ or two! Gotta love the summer:)