I love you, Mommy

Here is my youngest and my little heart warrior, Jacob. We just happened to catch him with the " I love you" sign!

Some of you know that Jacob was born with a Congenital Heart Defect ( CHD) and had open heart surgery at 14 hours old. His heart defect with Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR) and we had not idea of his condition until he was born BLUE and with rapid breathing issues. He was in the hospital for over a month in recovery. He came home on a feeding tube (NG) for several months then graduated to normal bottle feedings. He also a few other issues but I will save that for another time.

He is doing well and loving life. We are so proud of him. And of course, when he gives us that smile, we just melt.

I love you too, Stephen Jacob!

Mommy

International Love

Family and Friends of RJ and Adrianna. Some of whom traveled from 17 different countries to celebrate and witness this joyous event.

Goonies!!!!

The night before the wedding we were invited to a famous restaurant in Bogota. It was wonderful! Dancing nonstop all around our tables. The food was crazy good that you just could NOT stop eating. All of us were going into the wee hours of the night salsa dancing. My legs and feet were sore, but when you're in a latin country NO ONE will let you sit. So dance I did!

And I had the pleasure to sit next to an amazing, strong, powerful, respected Latina

drumroll please......~ Lupe Ontiveros ~

Now you cannot fault me for placing this picture up. If you know me, I am an extreme GOONIES fan. Watched it growing up, loved it and raising all my kids on it! My kids have watched all the 80's movies ( pertaining to their appropriate age groups)

She was in Goonies, Selena, Desperate Housewives etc She was also a guest at the wedding and spend the week with us. She was amazed that there were over 17 different countries represented in the guest list and most of us were Deaf. This was a huge deal for Colombia. The deaf and/or disabled are treated not so well in a third world country. Their education is lacking and their futures are limited. She got the word out in the city and the newspapers came calling. I think it was nothing sort of a miracle what she accomplished. I wish I had the link to the newspaper article. If I find it I will come back and link it here. It is in Spanish but was powerful. We had an interpreter translate it for us while we were there.

The most important reason why I posted this was she taught me something. We should advocate at every possible moment. Everywhere we go in this world is a chance to make a difference. Awareness and Advocacy is import. Each moment counts. She is correct. That struck a cord in me. It made me realize that I need to something. Even something small will have a impact on someone's life. It makes me ponder how to use this when it comes to CHD awareness. Fun and Advocacy can go together.

Every moment counts. Everywhere we go.

I am blessed to have met her and hope to meet again.

Mia

Taste of India

I got a special treat while I was in Columbia.

I was invited to an Indian dinner hosted by the bride's cousin and his girlfriend. I have to tell you, it was AMAZING! The host is Nicolas Van Hemelryck. He is an Colombia photographer who was selected by the Columbia Embassy and The Indian Embassy to showcase photos of the Amazon. The Exhibition's purpose was to help promote awareness of conservation and respect for Mother Nature. He was selected among thousands of photographers.

He had just returned from a 3 month stay in India where his photos were on Exhibition. He traveled the country and took some beautiful pictures.We got to see a few of the thousands he took. I feel it is only fair to invite you to view his website. I am blessed to have met him. His photos speak to the heart and really invite you to his world.

http://www.nicolasvanh.com/

Back to the point...... They did a great job and the food was just nothing sort of delicious!

India is now on my list of places I want to travel to. Someday, somehow!

Mia

Dreaming of Sisga

Columbia, South America

I took a trip there with some friends last year for their wedding. I was invited to fly down earlier and see a little more of the country before everyone else arrived. The brides mother and aunt invited me to come along to their lake house in Sisga.

I think I saw a small piece of heaven.

Note: "Heaven is a place on Earth" by Belinda is now playing in my head.

They own a cottage on a lake in town. The cottage was actually without electricity that weekend due to a flood in the area that took out the power lines. This was actually when Colombia was in a state of emergency and there was massive floods in various parts of the country. It was great being there with candles and making due with fruits and whatnots.

It was serene and peaceful in the way of getting back in touch with nature. We sat around, read novels and told ghost stories. It was exciting and freaky. I ended up telling the bride that her groom would be sleeping alone that night. She had to share a room with me because it was just tooooo scary after the ghost stories. Can you imagine, me at 36 and still being scared silly! Good heavens!

I want to blog about my trip but just tried to learn how to upload several picture and how to type between the pictures. You can tell I have NOT mastered it yet. But I got three pictures in! Thats a good start. I guess its good to write about one part of the trip at time? Should I go with a theme week? I haven't a clue the best way to do this. For now, this is one part of the trip. Come back. I will have some more pictures of the wedding and some cool events that happened!

Mia

Insanity

I have had a headache for the past two days.

Head hurts pretty bad. Also the things INSIDE my head hurt pretty bad. My thoughts ran rampant through the Valley of Insanity, Over the Mountain of Chaos and Down the River of Tears.

Yes, That pretty much sums it up.

Look, life for me is crazy. I got four kids to raise. Their education and social well-being as been left to me. I gotta deal with making sure they have food in their belly, laughter on their mind and love in their heart.

I also gotta try to remember to take care of me. I have to appear sane and well-adjusted on any given day. I save the raving, crazy, crying episodes for night when the kids are in bed. When I am in the comfort of my bed and under the covers. Blankets make for good soundproofing.

Dealing with budgets, mortgages, life insurance, health insurance, food shopping, gas, family obligations, among countless other insane things a normal American family worries about. Its overwhelming and Taxes - don't even get me started on that. Its endless.

I really am amazed at how much us, as parents, have to process over a lifetime, much less on a daily basis. Today was a long workday. Also factoring in all the housework I had to do and I am still not done. I did spend a good deal of the day with the kids and we made a great pasta dinner. That was fun. Kids all did their chores and off to bed at a reasonable time. House is presentable and then I think..... wait...I gotta do it all again tomorrow. Oh, man........

Only thing that really gets me through this.. is all the hugs and kisses my kids give me everyday. Even on Crazy-Momma- Has- Lost-Her-Mind days.... they still love me.

I wouldn't have it any other way.... except maybe a glass of wine for the headache.

Mia

Old Me. New Me.

What did I do today that was different for ME?

I went to the Gym today and did my daily workout. Had a pounding headache and my legs were aching...but I did NOT leave. I wanted to, badly, yet I stayed. I did not do the complete workout. I adjusted and did some other workouts Stayed the full two hours. I even had my lunch there. There was something about fighting that urge to leave that felt like a workout itself. Then when I realized that I didn't leave.... I felt like I just accomplished something major.

Go with me on this.

Old me.... would have given up, used the pain and headache as an excuse to leave. Thus going back to the old system of not really following through with major things and ended up right where I started. It happens a lot. Not intentional but things pop up, I get distracted and my mind gets scattered to the point where I give up.

Baby steps. But each step is a step in the right direction. And however small it may be to someone else, it is huge to me. I am patting myself on the back. I deserve it. It has been three weeks of working out. I feel better. I do have more energy. I am enjoying going to the gym. I am enjoying getting out of the house.

So brings me to this blog that I am writing. I didn't know what to write when I sat down. I started with my evening routine. The kids are in bed and I caught up on reading some of my favorite blogs. I wanted to just go to sleep but I knew.... like the gym.... if I don't write something, anything... then I may end up failing on this blog. So I started with the above sentence and then this is what came out of my mind.

Its something... and thats what matters.

Mia

Planning A Family Trip

Here is a picture of the kids when we took them to Davis, West Virginia last summer. Only picture I had on the computer of them in water and warm!

Family Vacations are a must-to-do. Its important to spend time together outside of your home and daily life. Take a break, recharge and take kids on adventures. I want to give my kids more then just traveling to places and coming home. I am focusing more on education and experiences when we go out of town. Its nice to show them the history and stories of the places we go to. They actually enjoy it and set up quizzing each other. Its cute... until I fail a question then they 'buzz" me out of the game.

The reason I'm posting this is today I have been trying to finalize plans for our next family vacation. Its somewhat chaotic planning a vacation for a family of 6. Saving $$ for the trip, looking for deals and packages. In this economy, every penny counts. So the whole day was checking, double-checking... and just the stress took its toll on me. Thus why I need a vacation!

I'm excited. I need a nice break with the kids. Need some sun and seafood. We've had such crazy, wacky and unpredictable cold weather that a nice dose of sea breezes and warm sun rays are just what this mama needs.

Success! I posted two days in a row! Whew. The evening routine is feeling good!

Mia

A Lady and her Rooster

Today I needed some inspiration to get this blog going. As luck would have it, I saw one of my best friends online and ended up chatting with her. I read up on her blog and got all caught up with some of the adventures she has posted on her ever popular blog : Mountain Mama. She has a quick wit, a handy and hilarious approach to looking at life. She writes about her family and life in the country. She shares her tips and ideas on shopping with coupons to feed a family of 7 people, a dog, some cats and I have no idea how many chickens. Which brings me to this picture here of her with one of her roosters. I love this picture. She is my hero right now in blog world. She's found her ' blog groove'.

So with that in mind and a new computer. (I've joined the Apple World and got a Mac) I am now able to do pictures, blogging, website and whatever else my mind can conjure up.

So I'm on a roll.... New Lifestyle. New Me. Well... not new... but definitely Improved and Calmer Me. Here is what I'm doing or working on.....

----Apple Classes to learn the new computer. Blogs, pictures and Websites.

----Cooking Classes at William- Sonoma * free!!!! Yay!!!

----Gym Girl- Been hitting the gym 5 x a week and working with personal trainer. Gotta take care of me in order to better take care of my 4 kids!

I will post more on this blog. I notice nighttime is a good time. I'm well rested and ready for bed. House is quiet. Kids are snug in their beds sleeping. ( On a good day!)I can post about the events of the day. And I want my best friend to be able to keep up with the adventures that happen here just as I am able to keep up with hers.

Hats off to a Great Lady and her Rooster. Thanks for the inspiration today! Missing you tons!

Mia