Its BAFs World

We've MOVED!

2010-07-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

You can find us here.

Or you can type www.amakuamarket.com/blog into your browser.

See you on the other side!

e

Happy 100th Birthday Modern Day Brassiere

2010-05-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

In honor of this special day I have a bra story for you.

My daily routine is, I get up, dress for the gym, take Bradyn to daycare, go work out, shower in the dressing room at the office and then go upstairs to work. This system works well for us. It takes some of the stress out of getting Bradyn ready and out the door. I don’t have to worry about dirty hand prints on my shirt, foot prints on my skirt or pants, snot on my shoulder, messing my hair up when I hit my head on the car door frame getting Bradyn into his car seat (every freaking time ya’ll). All in all it makes for a good morning. But there is a trade off. I have to be organized. I have to pack a bag and include the clothes I am going to wear for the day, the correct undergarments, the correct shoes, all of my shower stuff, all of my hair products, hair tools and make up. I have to pack a LOT of crap.

And this morning….. You guessed it. This morning I forgot my bra. I had a great workout. Ran 5 miles and did a ton of weights. I took a shower and was feeling healthy and exhilarated, thinking “wow, this is a really great day” and then…. I couldn’t find my bra. I thought back and remembered putting it in both the washer and the dryer last night and knew immediately that it didn’t make it into my bag. I am a planner so once I had identified the problem I began strategizing the solution. I decided that I would wear my sports bra until lunch time and then go home and change. You may be saying “GA-ROSS” but this is a solution that I can live with.

But now. Now it is 11:30 and my boss just called a last minute mandatory lunch meeting. That means I am going to be chillin in my sports bra ALL day. The one I ran 5 miles in. Yes! My wet, sweaty, nasty, stinky, 5 mile running sports bra. ALL DAY! GA-ROSS!!!

There is an a$$hole in this story (hint: it’s not me)……

Co-workers beware and a big happy birthday to one of the best inventions ever!

I.... am brilliant

2010-05-13T07:48:00.000-07:00

7am - unpluged the keyboard so Bradyn could "type" without jacking things up.

9am - sat in front of the same computer for 10 minutes trying to work, perplexed as to why the mouse would move but no text was appearing on the screen when I typed.

This is making me smile

2010-05-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

“Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you." - Charlie Brown to Snoopy

A friend posted this on facebook this morning and then I posted it on my facebook. I have been reading it over and over for the past few days because it makes me smile. So how about you read it and let it make you smile too!

Favorites

2010-05-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

Me - "Bradyn, what's you favorite color?"
B - "Cheerios!"

A big day in a sad kinda way

2010-05-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Bradyn is growing up. Today at soccer, my aunt made fun of me because Bradyn was the only kid enjoying his water break with a lavender Playtex sippy cup. I looked around and realized she was correct. All of his friends were drinking out of manly, grown up sports type cups. I don't want him to be THAT kid. So when we got home I boxed up all of his sippy cups and put them in the closet. I guess its time.....

Quote of the day -
"Mommy - my tummy hurts.... MOMMY!!!! My food HATES me...."

The epic virus

2010-04-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

So the weekend that started out so awesome ended very, very less than awesome! I had a class at 8am on Saturday back in San Antonio (along with an hour and a half drive) so I got up early to make it back.

I went to class and then called mom during break to check on Bradyn. Mom said he was really, really sick. He had been throwing up since about seven am and wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. When I got home it was apparent that she was not exaggerating. We spent the day taking turns. She would hold him until he threw up on her, I would clean things up, I would take him so that she could go get cleaned up, by the time she was clean he would have thrown up on me so the cycle started again. If he weren’t so sad and miserable it would have been comical. We were trying to give him small amounts of water as often as possible but he just kept throwing up.

That evening, I started getting worried about his seizure meds because he still wasn’t keeping anything down and that would be two doses that he hadn’t absorbed. I called his doctor and he called in a prescription to try and slow down the vomiting. I left B and mom at home and I ran to the pharmacy. When I got there it was madness, cars everywhere, people everywhere. I stood in line for about 20 minutes attempting to think positive thoughts and not get carried away with worry. When I finally got to the front of the line the tech told me that it would be a 3 hour wait for the medicine. I tried to respond calmly but calm sounded more like a frantic strangled scream as I immediately started crying and told her that I needed the medicine in order to stop my son from throwing up and hopefully help him avoid a seizure. She calmly and dismissively told me to go sit down and she would see what she could do. 45 minutes later I had the meds and was on my way. (Thank you Walgreens pharmacy tech for taking pity on me and helping me get home as fast as possible!)

I got home just as Kyle and Greg were getting home from Austin. YAY more grown up hands! We gave B the meds and crossed our fingers. He didn’t completely stop throwing up but he did slow down. He was able to take his seizure meds, some Tylenol, drink some water and get a little bit of sleep. He continued like that all night and all of Sunday. Mom left on Sunday, she didn’t really want to, she felt like she should stay but in the end decided to go home so that she could make it to work on Monday. We were up most of the night on Sunday night and on Monday morning I called his doctor and scheduled an appointment for that afternoon. Kyle stayed home with B and I went into the office to get a bit of work done. When I got home at noon he looked a lot better, Kyle and I even had a conversation about “should we take him to the doctor or should we let him rest at home and continue to recover?”. In the end we decided to keep the appointment. He has rallied like that in the past, he starts acting normal and we think “oh wow, he’s all better” then we cancel an appointment and all of the sudden all hell breaks loose.

And that’s exactly what happened this time. He fell asleep watching TV, I went to wake him up to get him ready to go to the doctor and he started seizing and seizing. It lasted 5 minutes. Actually based on when we stopped and started timing it lasted 6 minutes but I am subtracting a minute because I think the last minute he was coming out but I was too freaked out to stop the clock. He has NEVER has a seizure that lasted that long before. It was absolutely terrifying! We bundled him up and drove to the doctor. They took us right back to an exam room, took one look at him and told us we were going to the hospital. His doctor called ahead and direct admitted us so we didn’t have to go to the emergency room and the hospital is right across the street so he was in a room about 40 minutes later.

The next few days are a blur of tests and IVs and sleep and no sleep and trying to figure out how to manage work and responsibilities and be there for Bradyn. I spent the majority of his stay curled up in his bed with him. He was a little trooper, he put up with the blood draws and the tubes and the wires like a champ. My mom drove back down Monday night (she is an awesome mom) so we had he help. Once all the tests came in we found out that B had Rotavirus and all of the doctors told us that the seizure was a result of the virus and his body being tired and dehydrated so we are not supposed to worry about his neurological condition (yeah right).

He was released from the hospital on Thursday and we spent the weekend resting. He is doing great now. Went back to daycare on Monday and back to soccer on Wednesday, I am ready to have a nice quite normal life for a little while.

Happy Birthday to me!

2010-04-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

My birthday was on Wednesday. I turned 35. HOW did I get to be 35? I don’t feel 35. What does 35 even feel like? I remember when I was 15 and my mom turned 35, I thought that was so old! (sorry mom) I also remember thinking that size 7 was HUGE and a size that I would NEVER be…. In retrospect, I was an idiot….

I celebrate my birthday for the entire month of April. We call it my “birthday month”.

On Wednesday my dad, his wife, their son (my little brother) Matthew, my uncle, my Grandma and my brother Greg came over for dinner. The guys cooked dinner outside on the grill, the boys played in Bradyn’s playroom. This is why we moved to San Antonio, so that we can be around family and just hang out. It was the perfect birthday!

On Thursday our friends Joe and Jess came over to continue the celebration. The plan was to cook a big dinner but I got lazy and hungry so we ordered Chinese takeout. After a conversation that went something like this:

me - “I’m hungry and tired, let’s order food”

Kyle - “we could throw some steaks on the grill”

me – “I forgot to defrost any, I’m hungry and tired, lets order food”

Joe – “we could make steak pinwheels on the grill”

me – “I’m hungry and tired, let’s just order food”

Jess – “I think Elizabeth just wants to order food”

Kyle – “we could run to the store and get some steaks and cook them outside”

Joe – “Yeah!”

Jess – “I think Elizabeth just wants to order food”

Kyle – “can we run to the store?”

me – “if you don’t get me food now, I’m going to eat your arm”

Kyle – “here are the menu’s we have, who wants to order out?”

Yum Yum Yum, I heart Chinese takeout. We ended up spending the evening around the dining room table finishing a puzzle that Kyle and I had been working on FOREVER. This made me realize two things;

1 – I AM 35! If five years ago someone had suggested we celebrate my birthday by staying in a working on a puzzle I would have taken back their friendship card!
2 – I LOVE Joe and Jess! They stayed in, ordered food and worked on a puzzle with me ya’ll. These are good people!

On Friday my mom drove down from Dallas to stay with Bradyn so that Greg, Kyle and I could drive up to Austin and spend the evening drinking celebrating and watching Chelsea Handler do a live stand-up comedy show at the Bass Performance Hall. I LOVE Chelsea Handler and had been looking forward to this night out for months! The show didn’t start until 10:30 PM, we all had to work and we wanted to have dinner with mom and B so we got a late start. The series of events that followed was hectic but it just happened to be one of those nights where everything falls into place. We checked into our hotel about 9:15 and I asked the lady at the front desk to call us a cab. We ran to our room. Dropped off our stuff, freshened up and ran back down to the front to grab our cab. At 10 we still had no cab so I went back to the front desk. Pay close attention here, the dip shit at the desk said “Oh my gosh! I got busy and never called for your cab!” It’s now 10:10 and the show starts in 20 minutes and I’m FREAKING out! We go get our car and I drive to the venue. This is not a good start to the evening as I have just become the designated driver for my own birthday event! We parked and ran to the entrance to find a mob of people.

Apparently the early show ended late and they were having a hard time letting all of those folks exit while all of the people arriving for the late show were attempting to enter. We went to the ticket office to pick up our tickets. We had four tickets, our fourth had cancelled and we had been unable to find a replacement. I turned away from the ticket desk and looked for someone that might want to purchase our extra ticket. I found a nice stranger she bought our single ticket at face value and we headed to our seats. (Can you say BEER money?) The show was AWESOME. I laughed and laughed and then laughed some more.

After the show Chelsea was signing books back stage. You had to buy a book and then you got a wristband that would get you back to the signing. Greg bought me a book for my b-day but as we turned to get my wristband THEY RAN THE EFF OUT!!!! Are you kidding me? I tried to plead my case to the chick watching the door but she wasn't having it, "NO wristband NO entry!" After a bit of thought we made our way around to the exit. I waited for someone to come out and then made some small talk about her book and asked to see the signature, then I asked if I could PLEASE have her wristband now that she was done with it. She was nice and not a douche so she slipped her band off and gave it to me. WOOHOO! Wait, one small problem, she had these tiny little hands and I couldn't get the wristband over my abnormally regular sized hand. I think the guys were about to write it off as a no way but I shimmied and struggled and finally ripped the little paper band open and then carefully re affixed it around my wrist. Success! I was able to confidently march past the "NO" lady and get into a LONG line to meet Chelsea Handler. What... A night! I love that Chelsea Handler.... She seems to know a lot about me.

That is ONE smart lady!

While I was busy meeting my idol the guys kept themselves busy and out of trouble.

We found a little hole in the wall Irish Pub off 6th street that was phenomenal. The clientele was KRAZY and the bartender was even KRAZYER! I LOVE people watching Krazy especially on the rare occasions that I’m not part of the Krazy. At one point the bartender grabbed a girls pint of beer threw it in the trash and said “get OUT of here, you’ve been pissing me off since 3 o’clock” at which point the obviously American coed replied with a thick, slurred, fake Irish accent “Aye! Now you owe me a new pint o beer” It was absolute awesomeness!

The next morning I left early to get back in time for school while the guys stayed in Austin to play. At some point during the day they were on a quest for a bathroom and this is a close as they could get.

“Everything you ever wanted is beyond this fence.”

All I can say is it was one fantastic road trip!

Bradyn HATES Pre-school

2010-04-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Did I tell you Bradyn hated pre-school? I didn't? I know I told facebook (you can friend me here). Well, he HATED pre-school. The first day he was all jazzed about going and didn't cry when I left him and I thought "This is fabulous, I'm such a great mom, I did my research and selected the best possible pre-school (the one that really cost's more than we can afford) and my well adjusted son feels so loved and safe that he is independent and happy to go to school. I rock!" When I picked him up he was a little whimpery but not too bad. In the name of spring time his class planted a garden and a little girl had stepped on his plant. The plant that we had painstakingly picked out at the nursery the day before. The plant that he LOVED. So I figured the pathetic crying was all about the plant. The next day he whined a bit when I dropped him off but I thought no big, all kids whine a bit about going to school. But when I picked him up he stumbled to me like a victim of a tragedy and when he got to me he sobbed and sobbed in my arms. Sobbed so hard that he couldn't tell me what was wrong. I took him home and realized that he felt a little clammy, took his temp and he had a fever. "Well of course he is crying he is sick" is what I thought, I never thought "oh lord he is sick and he hated pre-school to the core of his little 3 year old being". He ended up being for reals and actually sick. We stayed home Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and all weekend.

On Monday he started with the begging "Mommy, please no go to work. Stay home mommy, no go pre-school." This continued all week, as we drove he would give me options of other places we could go instead "grandpa's, memi's, the zoo, sea world, Dallas". On Tuesday when I went to pick him up the teacher told me they had been trying to call me because he had cried ALL DAY LONG, turns out they couldn't get through because they had my area code wrong. (are you effing kidding me?) On Wednesday I called no less than 6 times to check on him and every time they said he was crying. At nap time they let him come to the phone so that I could tell him everything was okay and he couldn't even talk to me, I could just hear his jagged breathing and his sobs. I told him how much I loved him and that I would be there to pick him up soon and he said "can you find me mommy". (That's when I thought EEEEEEEKKKK I am a HORRIBLE mommy! My son is so tramatized that he thinks that I have lost him and that he is stuck at pre-school forever! Good mommy's children never think that!) That night he woke up in the middle of the night crying saying that he just wanted to go home. On Thursday his teacher told me he drew a picture and spent the day carrying it around crying and telling people that it was his mommy.... But the final straw, the final straw came on Friday when I picked him up and asked him if he had a good day, his answer was "I'm fine now mommy. I just cried ALL day". That was it for me. I know that it takes time and I know that a lot of kids cry for a week or two when they first start at daycare or school but I was done. I couldn't focus on work, I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't do anything knowing that he was miserable. A good friend told me that her son attended a great at home daycare with a pre-school curriculum very close to my house. I called the lady, we met her on Saturday and on Monday Bradyn went to her house instead of pre-school. We are 3 days in and he is a different kid. He wakes up happy, tells me how much he loves her and doesn't cry when I drop him off or pick him up! I am so glad that we were able to find another option that works for him so quickly. (so happy that I'm not going to dwell on the fact that now we have to pay for the new daycare AND the old pre-school that we couldn't really even afford to begin with for 30 more days. Yep, you read that right 30 DAYS thats how much notice I was required to give. CRAZYNESS!)

I am worried about what we are going to do when he is 5 and I have to send him to school. What if he still doesn't adapt well? Have you dealt with this? What did you do?

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Participated in a food drive this morning that generated 42 TONS of food for the local food bank! So JAZZED!!!!! Happy Happy Easter everyone!

Kids and Sharing

2010-03-31T10:50:00.001-07:00

Been up all night with a super sick B-man. :( Looks like his new friends at pre-school shared more than the toys....

Update - 4/2/2009
Its been 3 days and Bradyn is still miserable. You know the drill, up all night coughing and crying. Days filled with not eating, more coughing and crying as well as serial meltdowns at the drop of a hat. We just had a major meltdown over.... well to be honest I don't really know what it was over. Anyway, after things settled a bit, I sat in the floor to comfort him and he said "I love you soooo much mommy, I'm just having a rough day". But the sweetness is short lived, minutes later he was demanding that I turn off Max and Ruby and turn on Hot Wheels "Right Now!".

Soccer Strategery

2010-03-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

The best way to keep the ball from opponents AND possible ball thieves...

My Heart Broke A Little Today

2010-03-23T10:03:00.001-07:00

I guess I have finally gotten used to "our normal" and have started forgetting that "rescue" meds and anti-seizure meds and constant observation for activities that could be dangerous if a seizure were to happen and constant observation for signs that a seizure might happen are not normal to everyone. Like I said, for us, it just is normal.

Bradyn is a normal kid that does all the things any other normal kid does, we just medicate him and watch him and live our life. Don't all parents watch their kids constantly and pay attention to every little action, every facial expression, every body movement and wonder if everything is okay? No? Yes (to an extent)? I don't even know any more.

Kyle has been home with Bradyn for most of his life so I haven't had to talk about the meds or the watching or give anyone instructions. We just kinda know that we are both on the same page. We write down what Bradyn eats, what time he gets his meds and if anything weird is going on so that we can have an accurate picture for his appointments with his doctor. But other than that we just live.

But this week Kyle went back to work. I'm happy for him. He was ready. He was hungry for adult interaction and ready to get out of the house. Bradyn is ready as well. He wants friends; he gets bored being here with Kyle and I all of the time. So next week he starts pre-school. I took this week off so that I could spend some time with him and so that I could take care of all the prep stuff that needs to happen in order to get a child into pre-school. There was the mountain of paperwork, the vaccinations, the shopping list and the intake meeting this morning with the school director and the teachers.

The meeting went well. I love the school and the teachers and Bradyn is so excited about going to play with “the people". But it was a painful reminder that our normal is not really all that normal. The director was concerned about B's "rescue" med. This is a med that he doesn't take often but needs to always have on hand for an emergency. If he has a seizure that lasts over 6 minutes then he gets a suppository and it helps his body stop. The major concern was around the fact that it was a suppository. They don't have anyone on staff that is "qualified to administer rectal medication."

She wanted to know if I could ask the doctor to write a prescription for oral medication - "No, if his little body is seizing, his jaw is clenched and his throat muscles are closed, a suppository is the fastest way to help him".

She wanted to know if they could call me and I could administer it - "No, if he is in the middle of a seizure that has already lasted for 6 minutes I don't feel that the humane thing to do is call me and then wait for me to run to my car, drive across the street, race into the building and give him medication that he could have had 15 minutes ago".

She wanted to know if they could call 911 - "No, the last time we called 911 it took 20 minutes for help to arrive".

I know there are other families like ours out there. I know that there are other children in school that deal with these types of medication issues. How do they manage through this stuff?

In the end, we worked it out. In the end, she agreed that if I got a note from Bradyn's doctor (done) then she or the assistant director would administer the med in the event of an emergency.

I’m sure that I would be having this conversation no matter which school he was going to and I completely understand the fact that she has to protect the school and blah blah blah. She was very nice about her concerns and we worked it out fairly quickly, I'm just sad. Sad that I had to have the talk. Sad that Bradyn doesn't just start school like all the other kids. Sad that I get upset and can't express my thoughts and feelings exactly the way they sound in my head.

In all honesty, I'm feeling guilty. As the mommy I’m supposed to solve the problems. If this one, this one that was really so minor, felt so over-whelming, made me want to go home and cry.... How am I going to handle the big problems, the truly overwhelming ones that come along?

The day I contemplated cheating at mini-golf....

2010-03-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

Check out Bradyn's mad mini-golf skillz

My lil Rocker

2009-12-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Bradyn LOVES music! He got a full drum set for his birthday. Its a super hardcore Skagg set that a friend bought for their teenager but were never used on a regular basis. B discovered them one day and played with such vigor that K and I decided he HAD to have them. His uncle stu got him this guitar for his second birthday and as you can tell he plays it like a pro.

Click here to: Check out his stance and the focus on finger placement!

Baby Shamu

2009-09-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

We had a long fun day at Sea World .

My favorite quote of the day "MY baby Shamu! I want to TICKLE him!"

Yogurt

2009-09-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Me - "B you wanna do our yoga"

B - "yeah"

Me - (in my head) "my baby is so centered"

B - "NO, NO, NO yoga! YOGURT!"

Me - "sigh...."

Making Room for Better Stuff

2009-08-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

“Elizabeth Chavez is making room for better stuff”. That was my Facebook status update this morning and I meant it!

These days I am so busy with work and school and all of the little tactical initiatives that have become central to my life. There is so much going on that I feel like I am missing my real, actual life. Its September NEXT week! How did that happen?!? Wasn’t it just January and I was begging it to hurry up and become July so that I could go to Hawaii? And then wasn’t it JUST July and I was thinking “Okay October hurry up so I can go to San Francisco”? And now August is over…. Did I even enjoy August or did I spend it waiting for something else? What did I miss while life was whizzing by me?

Well, lets see…. Bradyn’s feet got skinny! You know how babies have that little, soft, beautiful layer of fat on the tops of their feet? The one that makes it impossible to squeeze their feet into shoes. Well….. my baby no longer has that layer. Sometime between August the 1st and today his beautiful, fat baby feet became these beautiful, slender little boy feet that slide into a pair of boots with no effort. What’s next? When October rolls around, will he be running without the toddler waddle? Will I even remember the toddler waddle when it’s gone?

Once again, it’s time to edit my priorities…..

Those of you who know me well, know that this is a cycle. Every few months I realize that I am focused on work and school and busy with life and decide that I need to find ways to slow down and really enjoy the today. Recently, I read an article on http://www.zenhabits.net/ about living with less. The premise is that getting rid of the clutter allows you to focus your time and energy on the things that are truly important. The quote in the article that really spoke to me is “connect with others and your passions more”. My passion is my family, my goal is to connect with them everyday. Making this a reality is the hard part.

For me, the act of simplifying is not and never will be a one time event. It is a constant exercise in editing. Things change, focus shifts, before I know it I am knee deep in a new adventure. On a regular basis I have to reflect on what is going on and find places to trim and places to add so that I can enjoy each moment to its fullest potential.

This life I live is so wonderful, I don’t want to miss ANYTHING!

Dear three years old....

2009-08-22T21:10:00.001-07:00

I really like you and was wondering... Will you hang out for a while? I'm not asking you to do anything weird or unnatural like stay forever....

I'm just saying, "would it be that hard for time to stop for a while?". Can't you stay still and let me enjoy this moment?

I love the little things about you...

The way he says "welcome mommy" in the place of "thank you"...

The "i'm fine now" after the dust has settled and he realizes that everything is in fact okay...

The "you got me?" when he is feeling insecure...

The "you love me?" when he grabs my checks and looks into my eyes...

I know that I will love four and five and ten just as much and for new and exciting reasons but.... I'm just not ready... So..... Can you? Will you? Will you stay? Just until I'm ready...

Father's Day 09

2009-07-06T21:17:00.003-07:00

Bradyn, Kyle and I spent Father's Day weekend camping on the beach. It was sooooo awesome!

Swimming

2009-07-06T21:13:00.001-07:00

Last week I was driving home from work, talking to Kyle on the phone. He said that he and B were out front "swimming". I imagined they were utilizing one of the 4 baby pools we own but........

Bradyn's almost 3!!!!!

2009-07-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

B's b-day present!

2009-07-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

Bradyn's feeling better

2009-05-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

B is a big helper, here he is washing the dog and watering the yard with daddy.

My sick baby...

2009-05-15T15:27:00.001-07:00

B is super sick right now - he came down with "hand, foot, mouth" yesterday - he is MISERABLE. He basically has chicken poc like blisters in his mouth and throat and on his hands and feet. Send him some numbing cream and me some advil please!!!

Lets Unwind

2009-05-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

This pic is from the lawn at the Alamo. Its from a Saturday a few weeks back, I had 2 finals that morning and had been frantically studying all week and not giving my family enough attention. Kyles mom was in town and after my test we decided to go downtown. We spent the day being tourists, rode the river taxi, took the tour where they tell you the story about the River, ate lunch on a patio and then walked to the Alamo. It was a wonderful day!

Playing the piano with Granddad

2009-04-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Bradyn LOVED our trip to Oklahoma! We had a blast hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa and Memi!

Earth Day

2009-04-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

We decided to start a family tradition this year by celebrating Earth Day with a family "date night". We took B to his first feature film (not counting Alien vs. Predator when he was 5 months old).

This awesome movie follows a handful of animals as they migrate. I was a bit concerned that the movie would show more of the natural violence of the animal kingdom than B is ready for at 2 but we decided to take the gamble. The film makers did a fantastic job of using slow motion cinematography to build up the tension and then cutting away just before the blood. The film is breathtaking, the gorgeous landscapes and underwater sequences on the big screen were so moving. It really makes me sad to think that so much of our beautiful planet is being destroyed everyday and someday Bradyn may have to show his children this movie in order for them to comprehend how awesome things once were.

Bradyn LOVED the movie and delivered a mini state of the union address every few seconds. Luckily, we were surrounded by families with small children so no one was (or seemed to be) annoyed. Here is a sample of Bradyn's minute by minute updates:

"No BITE! Shew!" - spoken with authority and a wagging index finger as the polar bear was attempting to eat a Walrus. (did I mention he is bossy)

"I wet" - after he spilt an entire drink on himself and daddy.

"GO! Paddle!" - In a optimistic and encouraging tone to the whales as they were migrating to their feeding grounds.

"Mine!" - to the lady next to us as she attempted to place her arm on the shared arm rest.

"I got it!" - with pride as he retrieved a french fry from the sticky soiled ground.

"I want one!" - when he saw the fuzzy baby ducks learning to fly.

just chillin

2009-04-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

The ONLY way to relax is with an eyebag that smells of lavender.......

Dinner with Mommy and Daddy

2009-03-29T19:06:00.001-07:00

B's a Natural with the chopsticks!

More Veggie Tales

2009-03-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

Our garden appears to be fruitfull!!!!

San Antonio Childrens Museum

2009-03-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Bradyn brushed up on his dental hygeine skills with the help of a pair of really large teeth, drove his first forklift and milked his first cow. It was quite the adventurous day.

Veggie Tales

2009-03-26T21:10:00.001-07:00

We started our garden last weekend. It was tons of hard work and Bradyn helped with every piece. First we had to get all of the rocks out of the area. He picked up a million little rocks and threw them over the fence. Each time he said "I throw". He helped Buelito Mario and Daddy build a fence to keep the rabbits out. When it was time to plant the seeds he followed me around plucking up what I had just planted and giving them back to me.
Every time I would leave a seed in the ground he would say "uh oh mommy, here, I got it". I am curious to see what survived!
It is going to be so fun for him watch the crops that he helped plant grow.

The Beach

2009-03-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

We spent our first day of the season at the beach last Sunday. Its a 2 hour drive from our door to beachside. B did great, we blame it on the fact that he has been road tripping since day 12 but whatever the reason, the result is our kid loves a journey. He woke up about 7, we loaded the car and were on our way. The weather was beautiful! We drove down the sand road casually discussing "should we set up here or drive further down, how about over there between those 2 families?" suddenly a litle voice from the back seat frantically called out "stop! here! OOUUUT!!!!!"

Once we got stopped and settled it was a party a minute. He was amazed at the feel of the sand on his toes. He LOVED digging and filling up his dump truck. He and Daddy built a little Bradyn sized pool that filled in with sea water when the waves reached us.

The water was so cold but that didn't stop B. He was relentless, chasing the waves as they withdrew and running back to shore as they chased him. We put his life vest on and he let his body go limp so the waves could lift him and carry him back and forth. He is a natural.

When it was time to leave he was devestated. He cried and cried and said "no leave! Beeeeeeaaach!"

He slept the entire way home and woke up Monday morning saying "Beach Mommy Beach".

The Litle Gym

2009-03-11T17:30:00.001-07:00

Every Saturday B attends a "Mommy and me" class at the Little Gym. Since I have school every other weekend it became a "Mommy and Me" class two weekends a month and a "Daddy and Me" class the other two weekends. Kyle had so much fun he decided to join us on my weekends so it became a "Daddy and Mommy and Me" class and then last weekend Daddy was.... lets just say he was unavailable so it was a "Mommy and Aunt Alice and Cousin Victoria and Me" class. The bottom line is; in a slow but stratigic manner we are taking over the joint.

The class is really fun and B really likes it. We dance and we sing and he gets to play on all of the balance beams and parallel bars. Currently his favorite thing to do is the log roll. We try to entice him to forward roll but everytime he just smiles and wiggles his body around so that he can do yet another log roll down the cheese mat. Its so freaking cute.
We have gained a little insite into his personality in these classes. He is BOSSY. When it is time to put the toys away, he is the one telling the other kids what to do and taking their toys if they don't move fast enough. I really wonder where he got that from......

I have never been more proud!

2007-02-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Bradyn inherited my fake smile! You know the one where I don't really mean it or even really like you much but its just easier to fake smile than to say "get away from me"!

Well he got it!!!! He gave it to some lady at the Doctor's office this morning!!!!

I got all tingly and almost cried..... He really is MINE!! And you were worried!

Best e-mail ever!

2007-02-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

This is what stay at home dads do....

Mommie Guilt So Soon?

2007-01-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

The kids a genius!

Bradyn's 1st Business Trip

2006-11-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

Four months old and he is already an American Airlines miles junkie! It must run in the family.... (rumor has it he is saving up for a trip to the Bahamas)

Bradyn's Bio

2006-07-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Lovely

2006-06-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

We had our second to last child birthing class last night. All of the mommas are between 30 and 36 weeks along. When we met for the 1st time just 6 short weeks ago we were cute, trendy, slightly round pregnant chicks. We spent our free time discussing which books we were reading and where we had gone for dinner the previous week.

As of last night we have all crossed over. We are now a swollen, wrinkled clothes wearing, really round, uncomfortable sisterhood. The cute maternity clothes, once worn with pride no longer fit properly, getting out of a chair requires full support with a pull and a groan from our husband/partner, our feet and hands are puffy and swollen.

One of us has been put on bed rest so she spent the 3 hour class uncomfortably reclined on the couch, one of us has been afflicted with uncontrollable emotion so she cries every time she talks, every time anyone else talks, at every birthing video and for every other reason imaginable. On of us has INCREDIBLE indigestion so she burps and burps and burps some more and she tries not to fart, at least not in public. (I'll let you try to decide which of these lovely pictures is me)

We are WANTED Ya'll!

2006-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

In a sad and desperate attempt to fund the impending arrival of the Fergerson Kid. Kyle Fergerson and Elizabeth "Ferg_e" Chavez teamed up with local southern rough necks Matt the Brat and Jumpy Jamie. The unlikely foursome made their way through Northern Georgia leaving a trail of mayhem in their wake. In Cleveland they terrorized local wait staff at the Glendas eatery, ironically all witness accounts stated that the men folk were rather docile it was the short fat female who caused the most upheaval. Apparently agitated by the restraunts choice of orange juice it was she who initiated the resulting chaos. The crew made a stop at Babyland General Hospital where Cabbage Patch Kids are birthed, at the time of delivery they strong armed their way to the front of the show and made off with a toddler doll named Duncan. In the small brewing community of Helen they teamed up with Local Crime Boss "Mike the DOG" and made a run on the local Fudgery, a tearful counter girl spoke of that horrific day, she estimated they got away with a days worth of caramel apples and a months worth of peanut butter fudge. The gang has been reported to be holed up some where in the Boggs Creek area. They are armed and dangerous! Please use caution!

I've Been Grounded

2006-03-16T20:39:00.000-08:00

We went roller blading (probably for the last time this pregnancy) on Saturday. We have been going just about every weekend since we moved here, I slap on the blades and K brings his skateboard. It appears my center of gravity shifted a great deal since I had roller blades on a week ago. At the very beginning of the trail we frequent there is quite a hill. This same hill has had it out for me since we moved here, the first time I tried to ride it I crashed, ate dirt, scuffed up my hands and embarrassed myself but have since got it under control and haven't had a problem in a while.... But this past Saturday. We got all geared up, I started going, Kyle started going - he was behind me so Im not sure exactly what took place but some how mike the dog broke free, all I heard was Kyle yelling "BABE watch out shes coming for you!" she darted thru my legs and passed me, I tried to grab her dangling leash only to find that the quick lurch forward was not the smartest thing to do, my belly is growing along with my boobs so now the front side of my body has more momentum than the rest all of the sudden I found that I was propelling forward at what seemed like 100 miles per hour and I was OUT OF CONTROL. Now, I dont have the best coordination under regular circumstances. I attempted to use the foot brake but the motion of putting my heel back to stop just would not work. I careened into the ditch and landed safely in a pile of leaves. Kyle skated over, checked me out and announced "we will be walking for the next 6 months"

It's A Boy!!!!

2006-03-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

I had my 16 week sono this morning and it is DEFINITELY a boy!!!!! Now we just have to decide on a boy name......

The doctor measured EVERYTHING! He showed us the heart and the separate chambers and used some type of dopler radar technique to show where the blood was flowing in and where the blood was flowing out. We saw the brain cavity and the 3 separate areas of the brain starting to develop. Dr said that all of the measurements look exactly like they should for a 16 week baby boy. He is actually on the big side measurement wise [just great]. He looks really squished in there! He moved and jumped around the whole time, he made it very difficult for the doctor to get the pictures and measurements that he was looking for. Dr used the 3D sono technology to look at the facial features and verify that there are no bad things going on. (I am definitely carrying an alien around with me!) There are no eyes yet, just holes for where they are going to be.

But other than that IT'S A BOY YA'LL!!!!!

It takes a village - open letter to friends

2006-02-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I recently went on vacation and had a lot of time to think, observe other families and discuss our priorities. We have come to the following conclusions:

1) Our spanish speaking friends will be required to share their native language with baby X. It is completely unfair to raise a child that is unable to communicate while in Mexico. (Case in point I almost got thrown out of the local farmacia while on a quest for lube.... Would you be offended if I asked you for "manteca de sex"? We were not asked to leave but from the looks on their faces we decided to go......)

2) Dancers - whenever Baby X spends time with you, you must dance with it. Once again it is completely unfair to raise a child with no rhythm. (Case in point - this is a sad story, there was a little boy about 12 years old at Carlos and Charlies with his parents. Whenever the music came on he would grin from ear to ear, jump out of his seat and start clapping. Alas - he could not get the clap to beat ratio correct... This is difficult for me to talk about since you all know that I myself am rhythmically challenged. All I can ask is that those of you with rhythm save our child from certain dorkdom!

3) Clothing is another important issue. In the event that for some reason Kyle and I lose our minds and become fashion challenged (I dont see this happening but weird things seem to happen when you become parents...) I expect all fasionable friends to step in USE EXCESSIVE FORCE IF NECESSARY! (Case in point - same poor uncoordinated child in point #2, his mom had him dressed in shorts that were 2 sizes to small. The pockets on the back were half the size of each butt cheek and rode up at belly button level)

What I'm saying here is.... This baby is gonna need all of us!

"Well that was fast"

2006-01-13T19:06:00.000-08:00

The doctors appointment went well . That is other than the nurse who commented "Well that was fast!". (yearly exam appointment was the week before we got married in Nov)The doctor preformed an Ultrasound I didn't see a baby but there is a peanut in there (there must be something genetic on Kyle's side .... I hope things normal out.... I would hate to have to abandon the both of them).... KIDDING!!!!!

The baby is due in August .

I have been feeling good. I had a caffeine withdrawal headache for a few days but I drank half a coke on Monday and it went away.

My doctor, oh how I love that man! The doctor, you know, the one that I love, said that studies have shown that you can drink up to 12 cups of coffee per day with out any negative side effects so if I want to have 1 cup of coffee or 1 can of coke per day that is perfectly fine. He also said that 1 glass of wine per day will not do any harm. Unfortunately I couldn't get him to agree to:

1) Crown instead of wine
2) shots
or
3) saving up all of my 1 glass per days and going on a bender once a month....

As much as I tried he can be soooo inflexible on some things! [Do I really HAVE to put in the sarcasm brackets here guys? REALLY?]
He also said that I can take Sudafed and Tylenol Sinus and if one of them isn't doing the trick I can take one of each.... Have I said that I LOVE him?????