Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Settling in to our new house—not as simple as we thought!

My husband and dad take a much needed break after painting for hours... LOL!

We’ve now been living in our new home in the San Fernando Valley for over a month.
But the garage is still filled with boxes, the formal living room is unfurnished and messy, the laundry room is occupied with random items that either didn’t fit in the garage or don’t have a place to go yet.  The kitchen has an area dedicated to paint gallons, rollers, tarps and buckets; the bathrooms look disheveled and well, welcome to our new home!




We bought the house in September.
It needed some TLC, like wall repairs and new paint. But we figured, heck, we’ll work as we go.
But as things started unraveling, we discovered other not-so-attractive aspects of the house that needed attention, like a crooked hallway wall and some water damage on the hardwood floors.


We started fixing things one at a time and as we’re moving along, new ideas occur to us.
For example, instead of repairing the awful hallway wall, now we’ve decided to demolish it altogether and make the adjacent room our master bedroom (to be closer to the kiddos).


We made my dad wear a mask and suit. He wasn't too thrilled...but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

Instead of replacing the wall that was removed, we will now get rid of the wall altogether and extend the adjacent bedroom. A beam will be used to support the structure since this is a load-bearing wall.

We’re taking baby steps…but the deadline is February, which is about a month before baby Tobias arrives (We officially decided to name our second son Tobias and call him “Tobi”).


The house had this divider between the entryway and formal living room but I felt it made the entryway too narrow so I asked my dad if he could remove it....

...And he did! Now the entryway is more ample and offers an "open floor plan" feel!

I haven’t been too active on social media because weekends are mostly for working on the house. I must say however, that none of these home repairs would have been possible without the help of our families.




My in-laws have graciously taken care of Benny for entire days at a time so we can focus on repair work.
My godmother Ani Hunt has come over with Uncle Mike to help clean, disinfect, paint and assemble things.


My sister Irene has been here countless days to help organize, clean, unpack and plan.




And my parents… well, what can I say?
My parents have been doing most of the hard work, especially on weekends when Paul is gone. 
My dad is a retired construction worker and pretty much knows how to build a house from scratch… Thank God for my mami and papi!

I hope to have updates and more crafty DIY projects soon!




En español


Ya llevamos más de un mes viviendo en nuestra casa nueva, ubicada en el Valle de San Fernando.

Pero la cochera todavía está llena de cajas, la sala formal está sin amueblar y muy desordenada, el cuarto de la lavadora está ocupado con cosas que ya no cupieron en el lugar o que aún no tienen lugar asignado. La cocina cuenta con un área dedicada a cosas para pintar como galones de pintura, rodillos, lonas y cubetas; los baños son un desorden y así, les presento nuestra casa.

Compramos la casa en septiembre. Nos mudamos a principios de octubre.
Al comprarla estábamos conscientes de que necesitaba reparaciones como arreglar paredes y pintura nueva. Pero aun así decidimos mudarnos y trabajar en ella poco a poco.

Pero a medida que las cosas empezaron a repararse, descubrimos otros aspectos no tan atractivos de la casa que necesitan atención, como una pared en el pasillo que aparenta estar chueca y algunos pisos de madera dañados.

Comenzamos a hacer los cambios pero conforme vamos avanzando, nuevas ideas se nos ocurren.

Por ejemplo, en lugar de la reparar la pared horrible en el pasillo, ahora hemos decidido demoler por completo y ampliar la recamara adyacente para hacerla la recamara principal y así estar más cerca de los cuartos de los niños.

Vamos a paso de tortuga... pero el plazo para terminar es de febrero, lo cual sería un mes antes de que nazca el bebé Tobías (decidimos nombrar a nuestro segundo hijo Tobías y le llamaremos "Tobi").

No he estado muy activa en las redes sociales, ya que mi tiempo libre lo he dedicado a trabajar en la casa. Debo decir sin embargo, que ninguna de estas reparaciones en el hogar hubiera sido posible sin la ayuda de nuestras familias.

Mis suegros se han ofrecido varias veces a cuidar a Benny durante días enteros para que nos concentremos en el trabajo de reparación.

Mi madrina Ani Hunt ha venido con mi Tío Mike para ayudar a limpiar, desinfectar, pintar y armar cosas.

Mi hermana Irene ha estado aquí un sinnúmero de días para ayudar a organizar, limpiar, desempaquetar y planear.

Y mis padres ... bueno, ¿qué les puedo decir de mis padres?
Mis padres han estado haciendo la mayor parte del trabajo duro, especialmente los fines de semana, cuando Paul se va a trabajar.
Mi padre es un trabajador de la construcción jubilado y más o menos sabe cómo construir una casa con sus propias manos ... Gracias a Dios por mi mami y papi!

¡Espero tener actualizaciones y más manualidades y actividades próximamente!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Talking to our Toddler about Terrorism


The truth is– toddlers are too young & innocent to comprehend any aspect involving heinous acts of terrorism. At least, that’s what I think.

Personally, I have a really hard time with this subject myself because many recent acts of terrorism have been based on extremist groups’ religious beliefs. And bringing God into this subject just adds an element of perplexity that my brain cannot handle.

This entire weekend, I’ve felt really affected by the attacks in Paris. Yes, I’ve cried a lot. I’ve had long conversations with my husband about the situation and at one point, our son Benny, who will turn three in December, asked: “Mama, what happened in Paris?”



He didn’t see any images or footage from France. He simply became curious because Paul and I were discussing the attacks, which claimed the lives of 129 and injured over 350.

In 2013, when my son Benny was still an infant, I went on a business trip to Oklahoma City. While I was there, I visited the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and I asked myself— “How will I explain terrorism to Benny?”

Then last summer, I had a special assignment for work in Washington D.C. and visited New York a couple of times. Each time I went to the 9/11 memorial, I again wondered how I would address this topic with my son.

So when Benny asked the question about Paris, I got totally choked up and simply couldn’t speak. My husband calmly said to Benny that sometimes people get hurt for the wrong reason. “We just have to love other people and send them a prayer when they’re sad,” he said.

I made an Eiffel Tower pancake for breakfast. This is a simple (and possibly silly) way of keeping the people of Paris in your thoughts, without having to say too much. Benny was very interested in this particular pancake shape.

Benny asks about the Effeil Tower, which I made with pancake batter, a little bit of black food dye and a squeeze bottle. I decorated the structure with strawberry jam.



One of my sisters shared a story about a lady who always encouraged her little boy to take note of the volunteers and helpers dedicating their time to make a tragic situation better.

I told Benny that Paris had a bad night and some people were hurt and I wished I was there to give them and their mom’s and dad’s big hugs.

My husband had an idea to say a simple prayer that Benny and I repeated. It went something like this:
“Dear Lord,
Please help the people in Paris.
They’re going through a very difficult moment.
But through You, they will make it through this.
We pray that our leaders make the right decisions so we can have a peaceful world.”

I’m sure that when Benny gets older, we can explore these topics more in depth…
But just wondering, do you have a toddler?
How have you/would you answer questions about terror attacks from your little ones?


Happy Sunday. #PrayersForParis


En español

La verdad es que los niños son muy inocentes como para comprender cualquier aspecto que involucra actos atroces de terrorismo. Al menos, esa es mi opinión.

Personalmente, batallo mucho con este tema porque muchos actos recientes de terrorismo se han basado en las creencias religiosas de grupos extremistas. Y eso de incluir a Dios en esta cuestión sólo añade un elemento de perplejidad que mi cerebro no puede aceptar.

Todo este fin de semana, me he sentido muy afectada por los atentados en París. Sí, he llorado mucho. He tenido largas conversaciones con mi esposo acerca de la situación y en un momento, nuestro hijo Benny, quien cumplirá tres años en diciembre, nos preguntó: "Mamá, ¿qué pasó en París?"





No vio ninguna imagen o rodaje de la situación en Francia. Él simplemente tuvo curiosidad porque Paul y yo estábamos hablando de los ataques, que cobraron la vida de 129 e hirieron a más de 350.

En el 2013, cuando mi hijo Benny era todavía un bebé,  fui a la ciudad de Oklahoma City para el trabajo. Mientras estuve allí, visité el Monumento del bombardeo y me pregunté "¿Cómo le voy a explicar a Benny un día sobre el terrorismo?"

Luego el verano pasado, tuve una asignación especial para el trabajo en Washington DC y visité Nueva York un par de veces. Cada vez que fui al memorial de los ataques del  9/11, volví a preguntarme cómo iba a abordar este tema con mi hijo.

Así que cuando Benny hizo la pregunta sobre Paris, se me hizo un nudo en la garganta y simplemente no pude hablar. Mi marido le dijo con calma a Benny que a veces la gente lastima a otras personas por razones equivocadas. "Sólo tenemos que amar a los demás y enviarles una oración cuando estén tristes", dijo.

Una de mis hermanas compartió una historia acerca de una señora que siempre animó a su niño a observar los voluntarios y ayudantes que dedican su tiempo a hacer buenos actos tras situaciones trágicas.

Le dije a Benny que París tuvo un momento muy malo y algunas personas resultaron heridas y que me daban ganas estar allí para darles abrazos a los papás y las mamás.

Mi marido tuvo una idea de rezar una oración sencilla que repetimos Benny y yo. Fue algo como ésto:
"Señor nuestro,
Por favor, ayuda a la gente en París.
Están pasando por un momento muy difícil.
Pero a través de Ti Señor superarán esto.
Oramos para que nuestros líderes tomen  las decisiones correctas para que podamos tener un mundo lleno de paz ".

Estoy segura de que cuando Benny crezca un poco más, podremos explorar estos temas con mayor profundidad ...
Mientras tanto, compartan conmigo, ¿tienen un niño pequeño?
¿Cómo responden a preguntas sobre los ataques terroristas?

Friday, November 13, 2015

Date Night Essentials for a busy, pregnant mommy!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BeHealthyForEveryPartofLife #CollectiveBias



Even before moving to our new home, Paul and I had not been on a date in a long time.
I’ve been busy with work, he’s working too and going to school for his Master’s Degree and it’s just been an extremely hectic couple of months.
But recently we went on a much anticipated little dinner outing.
Now, we still have most of our things packed in boxes while we paint and make repairs to our new home so I knew I wouldn’t be able to find my date-night appropriate clutch to match my dress.
I basically had to carry my huge character tote bag, which honestly, I don’t mind since it’s proven to be my go-to bag for ANYTHING I need.


What’s better is that my big bag was able to fit all of my date night essentials, which include:

·         A tube of ChapStick Total Hydration (clinically proven healthier looking lips)
·         A package of tissues (I’m super emotional these days)
·         Several packets of Emergen-C (More Healthy Days, More Healthy Nights…wink wink)
·         My cell phone (in case the babysitter calls)
·         My wallet (sometimes I offer to pay the bill before Paul…LOL)
·         Centrum Vitamints (a Refreshingly Minty Multivitamin)!
·         My makeup pouches (two of them to be exact)
·         Sunglasses of course (because we live in sunny Southern California)
·         And Advil Liqui-Gels because nothing’s faster on tough pain (among OTC pain relievers).

The ChapStick Total Hydration, Emergen-C, Centrum VitaMints and Advil Liqui-Gels are all found within different aisles inside WalMart's pharmacy department.

So how do I access these small essentials in a bag full of stuff that includes random toddler toys?
Well, I try to be a little organized and place things in containers that pretty much stand out.
For my cell phone, for example, I know to look for the burgundy-colored case.



When reaching for my ChapStick, I look for a bright, funky, homemade case with sparkly details and glittery elements!
Recently, I made several ChapStick cases out of brown paper coin holders, you know those small tubes that hold coins which make it easier to count your piggy bank savings?
Turns out, I like to paint and craft when I have free time and one day when I discovered a drawer full of paper coin tubes, I started painting and decorating them for fun and because I needed a stress reliever.


Before I knew it, I had a collection of colorful cases that stand out inside a crowded purse!
The paper container that holds nickels is the best fit for my Chapstick Total Hydration tube.
Here’s how to make a similar case.
Materials:

1.       Paper coin containers
2.       Different colored paints & paint brush
3.       Embellishments like stickers, glitter, confetti, etc.
4.       Paint pens
5.       glue


Start by painting a tube a solid color. I chose pink because I love girly colors! 

To make a skull, draw a shape similar to a light bulb and use a paint pen to color it white.

At the bottom of the "light bulb" shape, draw a line and once that's done, you draw small, elongated ovals across the line (to make teeth). 

You can get creative with your image. I drew a heart on the forehead area of the skull and round eyes with lashes. The nose should be an inverted heart. 

Finally, you can use confetti, glitter and stickers to embellish your ChapStick tube and write cute, flirty messages!

 
Now I’m curious to learn about YOUR date night essentials. What items do you carry for healthy living?

Thanks for reading!