hunger strike #1

Well hello blogosphere. Long time no see.

After a brief hiatus with no laptop I'm back (and not much thanks go to the Geek Squad and their less than stellar customer service). All I can say is thank goodness for the iPhone during this computerless time. Not to sound like a total phone snob... but seriously, how did I live without this lil gem? I'm never going back. i feel like I can actually capture Corban moments as they're happening thanks to the stellar camera. Not only that, but I can post those suckers asap to facebook. Literally, 1 minute. OH JOY. I could go on and on about this life with the iPhone... but how lame.

On to more important things. Corban is on a hunger strike. We're talking like 3 weeks of questionable eating habits. WHAT IN THE WORLD KID? At first I thought it was just because he had a cold... and although that didn't help the situation we are currently sans cold and still not eating much. Here's what I know: Corban will always eat pizza. Oh geez. I try to sneak in lil red bell peppers and spinach and stuff. Somehow his ultra sensitive pallet and fabulous tongue control manages to find them, sift them through chewed food and spit them out. At least I try. Everytime I see a mom with atleast 6 kids (Which is plenty in Ave) I'm always asking... what do you do? Will he starve himself? Am I a horrible mom? Thankfully these all knowing moms tell me the same thing. Don't worry about it. he'll eat when he's hungry, just keep trying. Okay moms... I'll keep trying. But I refuse to feed him cheese pizza every meal. Say a prayer as your eating your meal tonight that CX starts eating like a regular human being who is try to grow.

Corban has become quite the crazy. He's all over the place. Climbing couches, throwing himself on the floor like he's practicing to be in the WWF and then laughing, throwing everything he touches and dive-bombing off of everything taller than he is. Often I find myself saying "Corban, be careful" and then feeling like surely he's fine now. SERIOUSLY JESS???!!!! You think "be careful" will suffice. Corban will suddenly stop throwing himself off the couch because I said so. Oh pulease. back to reality. Grab the kids scrawny ankle and keep him safe. I'm amazed daily that he's almost one with no major incidents or injuries. Thanks goodness he has an AWESOME guardian angel. Thank you Jesus.

So today Jamon and I celebrate 2 GLORIOUS years of marriage. I can hardly believe it's only been two. It feels like my life. I LOVE it. Last night I was reminiscing about our wedding and how fun we had and how blessed we were by everyone there. A huge thank you to our family and friends for blessing us with their presence both at our wedding and throughout our married life. Thank you, we love you.

Well... gotta run. Jamon is home and I'm dying to spend some quality time with him while Corban naps.

Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure: 

love, love, love,
Jess

Confessions

I'm going to be doing some soul-baring here. Embarrassing... but oh well.

Last week I went shopping. Oh glorious days of shopping. I was given some gift cards to Nordstroms... fondly referred to as Nordies, for my birthday. I knew exactly what I was going to get. Boots. I've been dying for a pair of cognac boots for the past 2 years. I've researched, looked high and low and the time had finally come to buy them.  I left my happy boys at home and headed to the Waterside shops. As I pulled up to the outdoor shopping center I could feel my heart beat a little faster. I drove past Anthropologie, J. Crew, Coach and then finally arrived at Nordies. I parked the car and entered into my old world. If you ask anyone from Austin where I shopped, what I loved, where my default go-to was in the days before Jamon, they'd answer Nordies. And this my friends was the first time I had been inside of a REAL Nordstrom's (not The Rack) in well over a year... maybe two. The chandeliers were beautiful, the piano playing was fabulous and then there where shoes. I meandered around until Mark came to help. I told him which boots I wanted and he happily went to retrieve them. While I was waiting I came across THE most perfect pair of nude shoes. Thank you Michael Kors for knowing how to design. When Mark came back he and I had a long, passionate discussion about the need for said nude shoes. I used phrases like "Ohhh, the perfect replacement for my nude via spigas from a couple years past... so dreamworthy..." blah blah blah. It was like speaking a language from my past, like I had known Chinese, or in this case how to speak about something other than Target t-shirts and how oddly each small doesn't fit the same. Anyway, I browsed the store a bit more, found a pair of jeans that I swear where made for me, someone took my measurements and cut. Glorious. And not to be had. When I called Jamon to ask if I could buy them he gave me a $20 price limit. Well... that could buy the tag... maybe. Off they went and I will be searching ebay incessantly until they show up and I snatch them away from someone else.

After my Nordies experience (seeing and trying on clothes that in reality I could never buy) I was really starting to feel reality set in. This fancy schmancy world was in my past. I don't really get these luxuries any more... but I went to Anthropologie and J Crew anyway... just to look. maybe a good sale was going on. And there was.  And as I cradled the most perfect $20 shirt I remembered that Corban was out of diapers. A box costs $20. Diapers or shirt? Diapers. Yep, reality check. I am a Mom... diapers come first. So I left the glorious world of fine clothing and sparkly over-priced goodies and traipsed back home. Not without stopping to get a Starbucks as therapy for my wordly little embarrassingly material self. On the way home I called Trish, she was a sweet heart and listened as I cried, yes cried. (This is where soul baring becomes embarrasing) I cried because I don't even have a remnant of my past "material life." I have changed and my life is different. Praise be to God who has blessed me with an incredible husband and a son who rocks my world. I wouldn't trade them for an endless shopping spree at all the glorious stores in the world. But last week was the first time I realized that for me it was one or the other. Diapers and food for Corban or a cute shirt for me. A pair of shoes for work or food for a week for Jamon. I'll take the diapers and food thank you very much.

So when I got home from this day of shopping and life lessons I was talking it over with Jamon. He doesn't pretend to understand who Michael Kors is or why I prefer to shop where there are chandeliers versus fluorescent lighting... he just nods and laughs. And then in true Jamon fashion says "Well I think you're the hottest mom around in your target t-shirts." and that was that. Target t-shirts it is. I enjoyed my debt ridden past and am thankful for the clothes I still wear from then... but I'm much more thankful and enjoying my life now. Really... how could I roll on the ground and deal with corban sneezing food on me if I was wearing a $100 shirt? T-shirts seem much more acceptable.

Montessori Day 1

Whew... day 1 of Montessori school complete. There were tears, lots of them... but they were mine. Jamon was so mortified. He knew it was coming and suggested he bring Corban to his first day of school today instead of both of us. I of course wouldn't have that. I got up early this morning to make sure all of his "supplies" were ready to go. box of diapers, check, ziplock bags, check, food, check and on and on it went. I wrote his name on his stuff... a temporary solution until I get the cute labels I ordered from www.mable.ca. When he got up I hugged him extra tight and picked out his first day of school outfit. Preppy yet tough was a good first day look. A striped polo that said Rock Hard on the back (It has a skull and crossbones... maybe too much for a 9 month old?) When it was time to go in Jamon carried Corban and I carried all of the goods. Corban of course started crawling right around and loving all of the news toys. I don't even think he knew we left when we walked out the door. It took everything in me not to make a big deal "Bye baby boy, bye bye, mommy loves you and will see you in a bit... don't cry, I'm coming back, byebye." Nope, none of that. I glanced across the room, in my head said bye baby, love you and headed out. I didn't want to make a scene. Corban was happy as could be and I didn't need to be the mom to mess it up. But as soon as the door shut behind me the waterworks began. Jamon drove me around for a bit so I could dry it up before work. Uggghhhh, my little baby is all grown up. I must brag for a moment... When I went to pick him up this afternoon his teachers said he did the best of any baby. He didn't cry and was all smiles the whole time. YESSSS!!!! I'm a proud momma. And then, as if I wasn't happy enough hearing that, when I said "Corban, Mommy's here.", Corban squealed, tossed his toy and crawled with speed like I've never seen over to me. My heart melted. I picked him up and he wrapped his little chubby arms around my neck. Perfection.

Now, i must say, I'm SO thankful for this Montessori School. It's called Casa De Bambini. Here's the link: http://www.casadebambiniofavemaria.com/ It just opened last year and I've heard nothing but rave reviews from my other mommy friends. In our state in life Jamon and I don't have the option of one of us staying home... and that being the case, we couldn't think of a better place for Corban to be. They're teaching him the sign of the cross and everything. Montessori school is Catholic at it's origin and this school in particular follows it to a "T" making sure all aspect of Montessori are taught. Blessing? YES!

Tomorrow we go again... I think this time with no tears from me. :)

Below is CX's first day of school pic. See how excited he is?

Sweet baby reminders

Children have an uncanny ability to remind you about what's important in life.

The past week or so I have been beyond stressed with a project at work. This is good and bad. Good because I have an innate need to make sure everything is perfection. Bad because nothing will be perfection. Good, because even though it won't go perfectly... it'll come close. :) Anyway, yesterday I was at my peak of frustration/ exhaustion/ stress. I brought all of those emotions home from work with me. I was late coming home from work so Corban was late getting the rest of his lunch and his nap was thrown off kilter. To top it off his mom was a wreck. Stressed, stressed stressed. Corban decided yesterday after I came home that no nap was in order, in fact no moment away from me would do. He needed to be touching me at all times.  This skyrocketed my stress level as all I could think about was how much I needed him to take a nap so I could finish my work. Finally, I surrendered. A moment of clarity brought about the realization that I didn't need to worry so much about work. The important "things" in life were right in front of me. Corban was stubbornly reminding me that HE was the important part of my life, not work. HE needed my attention, not work, and HE will be here everyday needing my attention... again, not work. Got it kiddo. I surrendered and we rocked. We read stories, we went to the chapel to say "Hi" to Jesus and we rocked some more.  Thank you sweet baby boy for reminding me about what's important.

Today when I went in to work everything was fine. Everything got done and all is well. When I came home from work on time, Corban was happy, he ate and now he's sleeping. Whew. Lesson learned.

"Jesus" *smile*

I seriously love my life.

It's Sunday morning, 9am. I just laid Corban down for a quick nap before Mass. Jamon is recruiting in Boston and I'm sitting here on the couch with some of my favorite tunes on in the background. The only thing that would be better is if Jamon was here. :)

This is bound to be a bit random but I just need to share... Lately I've been pondering my walk with God... like does striving to be a good wife and mom count enough to get me into heaven? Should I be thinking about getting to heaven every day? Does a "Good morning Jesus, we love you" with Corban count as my morning prayer? In all my thinking and praying I've decided that it takes more. I'm pretty complacent. Like I said before, I seriously love my life. However, I know God calls us to more, to be active. My first priority should be HIM, then my husband and baby boy. I'm feeling pretty convicted on the order of my priorities. What can I do? daily Mass doesn't work cause I'm working. (Jamon and Corban go daily though. I love those guys!) there is a perpetual adoration chapel across the street, literally a stones throw from my office... I should be in there more. At least to say "Hi" to our Lord. Spiritual reading... don't a lot of the saints talk about spiritual reading? Is there spiritual reading for wives and moms? I want something good, something that will really challenge me to live my life with a stronger purpose of getting to heaven. Sometimes I get a little concerned about praying for specific things... lately I had been praying for charity and patience... never again. ;) Jesus is just giving me opportunity after opportunity to practice it. Enough please. Anyway... say a prayer and throw any advice out there for me. I love Jesus, but I've got to get more on top of my walk with Him. My husband and son certainly deserve a Godly wife and mom. I've got to get on it.

Anyway... ready for a cute lil Corban moment? So every morning when Corban gets up we chat for little bit, and then when I pick him up we walk to the crucifix above his bed, touch the feet of Jesus and say "Good morning Jesus, we love you. Thank you for a good night." We've been doing this for a while. Now when I pick Corban up out of bed he looks directly at the cross and reaches for it. We also have a crucifix in our living room and if I ask him, "Where's Jesus?" he'll scan the room, find Jesus and smile. It warms my heart so much. I tear up just about every day.

Here are a couple of pics we've taken recently.

The first one is of the three of us at the "Firecracker 5K" we ran on the 4th of July. Corban's (And mine) first 5K. the kiddo slept through over half of the race. I told him it was okay... he was just good and loose. :) We finished in like 28 minutes... the guys could have left me in the dust, but thankfully Jamon hung back with me so we could run (jog) as a fam. It was a great time. The second pic is of Corban eating a lime. This was a huge letdown. We gave him a lime, camcorder ready for the "Hilarious" expression he was bound to make. Nope, nothing. he LOVED the lime. I think it's his new favorite fruit.