Orange County Moms Blog

One Year Ago

It's been one year since our move to el OC.  One whole year.  This time last year, the excitement of moving to a new town/city/county was still in the air.  Little did I know what a l-o-n-g summer with 3 kids at home would be like. I went through a little depression.  I thought I would love being a whole lot closer to my famlilia, and I did (but it took some getting used to!). See, when my hubby and I got married, 12+ years ago, he took me to live in the city that I worked at so I wouldn't have to commute any where(I know, sweet huh?)

Well, we never moved out of that city.  Not even out of the little apartment.  If you have ever lived in the San Gabriel Valley, you know that its not like any other So Cal city to live in.  I totally miss my neighbors!  I do!  Yes, they were Asians, but I learned to live with them and commute with them and shop with them so much, that one of the hardest thing to get used to here in el OC, is not having a Chinese Market close to me! Still, I make my monthly trips out there to buy groceries that I can't find here.

I left my heart in Cali!

This past week I made a trip outside of California in a long time.  My very first trip, alone.  On a plane.  Yes, I left my kids and hubby to go to Miami for 2 days to have the time of my life.  I've been anticipating this trip since February and I have to tell you that nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience.  My eldest is 11.  I have never left him to go on a trip anywhere, much less my younger kids.   But here I was... leaving them and my husband for the very first time.

Since I would be gone 2 whole days, my to-do list was 5000 miles long (no exaggeration at all!) I wanted to leave everything ready for whoever was taking care of the kids.  For my hubby, I ironed his uniforms for the next three days.  I left complete outfits (also ironed) for the kids.  I left dinner ready for when my husband would come home on Wednesday.  He took the day off on Thursday, so I prepared Breakfast and lunch for him and the kids.  All he had to do was cook dinner (that I had left ready to cook).  My Boy Scout was leaving for camp on Friday, so I helped him pack for that.  I think I got more exhausted preparing for my departure from them, than I did for the whole trip!

I am Mom

Mom, mommy, mother, mama.  No matter how you say it, it all means the same thing.  You are a Mom.  So, because I am the mom in this household, I decided to post my fair share of highs and lows.

This past year: I've learned that...

not having anything "baby" in the house, hurts!

being scared to death, is scary!

I have failed to teach my kids Spanish.

sarcasm in a 10yo is one deadly combination.

shedding a tear on your kids first day of school, never gets old.

having a little girl, is not always Sugar and Spice!

no matter how old he gets, no girl will ever be good enough for my boy.

Gracias Dora

Si, gracias Dora y Diego for doing my job.  I know, sounds sad doesn't it?!?  As a Latina mom, who is fluent in Spanish, I have failed miserably.  My husband, who is fluent in Tagalog, has failed miserably.  How could I have let this happen?  My kids speak no Spanish or Tagalog.  The little Spanish that they do know, they owe it all to Dora and her primo, Diego. Imagine that?

The other night, Sarai looked up at the sky and saw the moon, and told me, "Look mommy, the luna!" WHOA! I thought that was SOOOO cool.  I asked her where did she learn that word (hoping she would say me), she said "Dora". Ugh, I had that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. My eldest first learned his numbers in Spanish, only because I was working at the time and my mom was babysitting him. My little ones know some words here and there.  Besides the obvious words like Tacos and Burritos, they know uvas (grapes), fruta (fruits), chonies (underwear), Sopita (soup).  Jonah knows more since he's in school, but doesn't speak it on a regular basis.  Oh, but he can count to 5 in español (:

I rest at the thought of knowing, "If they ever do go to Mexico, at least they won't starve and they won't go without underwear"! lol

Heard from the backseat of the car!

Yes, you read that right.  You know when you're drive with your niños in the back and all of a sudden you hear something that caught your attention.  It might be funny, it might be sad, touching or even enraging.  I've heard it all!

I love how little minds work.  My toddlers can strike up a conversation anytime, anywhere, but none beat the conversations like the ones in the backseat of the car.  Don't get me wrong, there are times in which they are scratching each others eyes out.  It can be a rough ride for me, when all they do is fight. 

Some of the things I've overheard are as follow:

4yo to 3yo- Let's play Hide-n-Seek!

3yo to 4yo- ok!

Other times I've heard:

3yo to me- Mommy, please stop the mocos from coming out!

4yo to me- Mama, do zebras fly?

When they start to fight:

4yo- Oh yeah, well you're not going to Disneyland with me and Auntie

3yo- No, you're a poo poo face, and you can't go to Dissy-lan!

Then the typical civil war begins about who get's to go where, with who.  It's not always fun and game. Sometimes is so heartwarming. I've been brought to tears by what the kids have said to me. I love how simple minded kids can be (at times).  So sincere, so honest and yet so deep.  I forget at times that they do have a mind of their own, and they do think about other things other than food, toys and TV.

Come again?!?

I have 3 and 4 year old toddlers at home.  Want to know what I love best about this age?  The phonics!  Yes, I think it's so adorable how they pronounce their words.  Right now, my daughter has taken over my iphone.  She's been playing an app that features the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty".  Every time she wants to play with it, she asks if she can play "Honkey Donkey" I LOVE IT! Cinderella is "chalowa" and she calls her cousin "Jofef" instead of Joseph.

My youngest son has the tendency to pronounce his "r" as a "w".  Words like Grandma sound like "Gwanma" and his sisters name is "Sawai".  There's times when he does it, and time when he doesn't.  Still, I think it's too cute to correct!  I'm sure all this will be corrected in school, so all I want to do is savor the "baby" talk.  My favorite though is when he talks about the Philadelphia Eagles.  He calls them the Filiadopa Egos"  lol

When my 11 year old was that age, my husband and I would delight ourselves when he would sit and talk to us in his Toddlerese.  Until now, we still say "funder" instead of Thunder, "baf" instead of bath and my favorite from him was "Townk" from wheels on the bus (all through the town). 

Wanted: Experienced Mamí

The other day I was writing some memories down in Sarai's baby book, and I remembered about the time when I went for Sarai's first doctors appointment.  I remember the Doctor speaking to me about the general care of a newborn.  Jonah was with us (18 months at the time), walking back and forth inside the tiny exam room creating a ruckus. I'm sure it was obvious to her, that I was having a hard time holding my newborn, tending to my toddler, and listening to her teachings, all at once. 

As she was explaining how to give my newborn a bath, she paused and turned to Jonah, then to me and said,"Well, anyways... you're an experienced mother, I don't have to explain a whole lot of things"

Oh really???