Has it really been that long!

Wow. I have been terrible about posting regularly. I will post an update later (LOL - a perenial procrastinator!). I owe Gabby a long-overdue post celebrating everything that makes her my sweet Gabriella. She is growing, learning more every day, changing before my very eyes. Yes, I am definatly overdue in celebrating her. Promise to post soon.

Giving Thanks.

My Dearest Gabriella,

It has been way too long since I updated your blog. Granted, I have been busy raising you while working. But I am ashamed of how long it has been. You have changed so much and I feel that by not keeping this up to date with all of your many, many changes I have some how let you down or missed out. In reality, however, we have built some wonderful memories that I shall always cherish.

Today you turn 22 months old. I cannot believe this. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I held you as a tiny little bundle in my arms. Now when I hold you, it is clear that you are no longer a baby. You are a toddler, through and through. The baby is gone. I will always miss those days and yearn to return to them - you are the first child of my own that I have had the privilege of holding in my arms. You are the baby that has taught me how to be a mother.

Yet, no matter how nostalgic I am about that first year of your life, I am loving this second year just as much! This is such a fun age to witness as a parent. The emergence of an independent spirit, an individual, is evident. Your giggles are infectious too! So many firsts are still happening, and then when I think about it, I stand amazed at how much you have already done at your young age!

You are already an international traveler! You are showing signs of understanding words in two different languages and your vocabulary is amazing. You have mastered walking, running and hopping. You have even survived your first road trip! Each day you sing, you dance, you smile, you talk, you give kisses. I love the way you blow kisses too. There is a movie-star quality to those, almost regal in a way. You are my true joy.

You are curious. You are playful. You have an attitude all your own and a determination that won't budge unless you give it permission to do so. I watch you amazed at how far you have come, how interesting this magnificent, big world is to you. It is like I am a child again when I try to see things through your big, brown eyes.

You took your first road trip last August from Salt Lake to Denver. You were a true trooper. We took a long weekend trip to Golden, Colorado to watch Uncle Carl marry Twila. It was a very emotional time for your Mommy. She was so happy for her uncle and cousins, but definatly felt a huge rush of emotions and memories of her Aunt Mary. How I wish she could have had the chance to meet you and hold you in her arms. She would have loved you. Your mother really misses her Aunt Mary. I hope that you never lose an auntie because it really does hurt when it happens. This was my first time back to Golden since her funeral and it was rough on me. I am afraid that I, along with your Mama Jo and Aunt Rosie, managed to shed more tears than were appropriate. Your poor father! He was surrounded by bumbling, crying women the entire wedding!

Now for the fun trip: Last September 29th, you took your first ride on a plane, 2 of them actually. More importantly, you finally met your Abeulita, tio Poncho, tia Carmen, Giovana, Lalo and Mariana - and a whole slew of other people close to them in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was a truly beautiful trip. I love Guadalajara, and I think you did too. You certainly made yourself at home at your Abeulita's casa! The city is huge, but the people so warm. We found our home away from home. Sometime in the next few weeks, I will devote an entire post to this trip (better late than never!). But for today, my focus is on you.

Your vocabulary is outstanding. Shall we try to add up all of the words you can say? Mama, Papa, more, Rosie, Nick, Jodi, button, arm, nose, ears, diaper, cold, hot, water, agua, head, shoulders, knees, toes, fishy, weeeeeeeeeeee, choo-choo, car, walk, down, up, move it!, Bella, Allie, bubbles, chicken, shirt, shoes, boots, socks, sink, bath, MINE, pony, ducky, apple, Grandma, Grandpa, Poncho, Carmen, doggie, barney, drella (Cinderella) and many, many more. Sometime, I need to just sit and write all these words down so that I can count them all!

You dressed up as an adorable little Mexican girl for Halloween. You were just beautiful and still love that skirt! We picked up your outfit in Tonala after a very long day of shopping. It was a great investment, I think we paid $6 and that shirt will probably fit you for years. I walked with you and your classmates on a Halloween Costume Parade around the block. It was so fun! Then your class had a Halloween party that afternoon. We also had a Halloween party at Mama Jo’s that was fun too, until I dropped the camera and broke it! I think your favorite part of Halloween was the chocolate. Good Girl.

You experienced your 2nd Thanksgiving up at Aunt Susie's house. You ate, you played, you danced...yes, the kitchen became a dance hall and you loved it! The next morning you woke and asked "Where's Susie?" LOL I wish I had some pictures of you dancing that evening!

This was also your second Christmas and it was a real doozy. You just didn't feel well and were a bit too overwhelmed. You scored some great gifts: a Cinderella doll, a Cinderella dancing toy, Strawberry Shortcake dish-set, a new dolly, play dishes, a play kitchen sink, pretend food, a toy grocery cart with groceries, clothes, books, Mr. Potato Head, an aquadoodle, a cute pink hat with feathers….and more I am sure. It is too bad that you were so sick on Christmas and that next week though. But, you sure loved spending the next week with Mommy rather than in daycare. I sure hate it when you are sick sweetie. Wish I could have had that nasty cold for you!

And now here we are on January 10th, 2006. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Your typical day now involves lots of playing (Mommy, pay. Mommy, saht.). You will soon be moving up to the butterfly class in school, where you will have a new teacher and join Autumn and Vivi. I sure will miss your old teachers, Maria and Chelsea, but I know you will be in good hands and will still get to see them too!

You are thriving. You are growing. You are happy. You are loved.

I could go and on with all the amazing things you are able to do. But I want instead to tell you how I feel about you.

I am so lucky to be your mother. You are an amazing girl, full of boundless energy and innocence. How did I ever get so lucky as to have you as my daughter? What did I ever do so right as to deserve something as wonderful as having you in my life. I love you precious. And, you love me too, this I know. We have a bond that is so very special.

I am so amazed to be your mother. You are growing so fast. As I look at pictures from your past, I stand amazed and teary at how much you have grown. You are such a little girl now. And so bright, so smart, so spunky. It has been an amazing journey to watch you grow these past 22 months, a journey that I know will only become more amazing as each day passes.

I am so honored to be your mother. What greater honor is there in life than to be a mother to such a wonderful daughter? Being your mother truly is an honor in every sense of the word.

I am so blessed to be your mother. You have blessed me in ways that I cannot adequately communicate. The best I can do is to say that you are in fact, the greatest blessing to me.

I am so humbled to be your mother. I look at you and know that there must be a God and that this is what life really is all about. Everything is different now. Life is different in ways that are hard to describe. My purpose for being here is you. And you are gift greater than anything I ever expected.

I love you with my entire heart and cannot imagine life without you. So thank you my sweet, darling, beautiful Gabby-girl. Thank you for being my daughter.

With great love and devotion, and many kisses too –

Your Mommy.

Catching up...

Wow! Has it really been over a month since my last post? Where has this summer gone!

I will tell you that nearly every single day has involved some sort of activity revolving around water. At least as far as Miss Gabs is concerned. She is either playing with the hose, a watering can, her kiddie pool or a pot filled with water and a measuring cup to play with. Her favorite activity is still tormenting poor Bella. She loves to splash Bella nowadays. And obviously we are going to need a larger pool next year - one that can fit Gabs, Bella and Allie. They all love getting wet.

In other news, Gabby attended her first wedding of the summer - she has already attended 2 wedding showers. It seems my family will be experiencing 3 weddings and funeral. At least the funeral is over with and wasn't unexpected. The first wedding was that of my cousin Megan. She looked beautiful and it was at Jeremy Ranch near Park City. The mountains were just gorgeous. It had its moments, as all weddings do, but Grandma boogied so all was well.

And of course our own dancing queen hit the floor too! Amazing what a 16 month old girl can get adults to do. Need proof? Look no further.

That's right. That is my mother and aunt dancing away with Gabs. She kept them busy. The other highlight of the evening was my mother shouting to my husband "Oh....this is a latin song" in an effort to try to get him to dance. Only thing is, the song was You Spin My Right Round by Dead or Alive. Gotta love my mother.

But, before all the dancing, there was lots of playing with the three amigos. Here they all are getting ready to break on outta there on a golf cart. Before you report us for putting our children in the cart of danger you should know that the keys had been removed from the cart. We weren't born yesterday afterall. My father being the golfer, we know all about the dangers of golf carts - afterall my brother once rolled one and my sister drove one right into my father's mercedes after having too many glasses of champagne at a tournament. She was maybe 14. Dad was not pleased. Either time.

Two weeks from now will be wedding number 2. This one is another cousin who will be getting married in my Aunt's backyard. My sister, sister-in-law and myself have been asked to help with the flowers. Originally we were doing all of them, but now it sounds like we are just doing table arrangements which is fine by me.

The third wedding is later in August in Golden, Colorado. This will be Gabby's first road trip and I admit I am anxious. I am not sure if my husband will be joining us or not. Regardless, I plan on leaving in the afternoon in the hopes that after a stop for some dinner, Gabby will sleep in the car as I cross Wyoming. What a dreadful drive that is. There are 2 highlights....a tunnel near Rock Springs and a band of windmills west of Laramie. That is it. Nothing else really to talk about. My best drive across Southern Wyoming came just after my aunt's funeral - I was sick as a dog and slept in the back of my other Aunts Toyota Sequoia from Laramie to Evanston. I tell ya, drugged into a lullful sleep is the way to go. Gabby won't be drugged, but hopefully will be in a lullful sleep at least part of the time!

It will be strange to attend this last wedding. My uncle is getting remarried. I am very happy for him. I know that he has had a very rough road through my Aunt Mary's cancer treatment and after her death. It will be good for the boys to have a mother figure in their life too. My deepest fear is that we will lose touch - so I just have to make sure that does not happen!

Gabby is now 16 months old. This post is a bit late as she turned 16 months on July 10th, but she has 3 molars, a wider vocabulary, shimmies on cue, is running now, loves to give kisses and is cuter than ever.

Now for the big news:

WE ARE FINALLY GOING TO MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We broke down and bought our tickets. So Gabby, as well as myself, will FINALLY be meeting the rest of our family! I absolutely cannot wait for this. My mother and sister are going with us and I think it will be lots of fun. There is so much to do and see, but most of all I am very anxiously awaiting the opportunity to hug each and every member of the family in Guadalajara. And I am even more excited for my husband to finally be able to present his American family to his Mexican family. What a wonderful moment that will be!

I promise to post some pictures soon!

Memories of the Lunch Ladies

In my on-going efforts to save a buck, I have agreed to let Gabby eat free breakfasts and lunches at school, all courtesy of the Salt Lake City School District. Turns out they are funded to provide free meals during the summer to daycares and preschools when K-12 schools are not in session. WooHoo.

Admittedly, it is a relief to not have to scramble together a healthy lunch for Miss Gabs as we run out the door - far be it from me to be organized enough to prepare for departure the evening before! And, I have been getting to work much earlier since I am not sitting with her at school waiting for her to gobble up a breakfast bar. She usually nurses a bit early in the morning and is therefore not ravenous for breakfast - and getting her to eat in the morning at home is close to impossible thanks to the thrill she gets from hurling her food at the dogs.

So Gabby and I had become part of the Breakfast Club at her school. I would hold her in my lap and let her nibble on a breakfast bar, cheerios, yogurt or whatever else we brought. It was still our together time and helped ease my guilt of leaving her there each day. After all, I was taking the time to eat breakfast with her!

Then came word of free food and the breakfast club as we know it has changed forever, or at least until the first day of school next fall when the free food is no more.

It just so happens that we arrived at the exact same time as the free breakfast last Monday. Miss Gabs clung to me for dear life upon seeing the lunch lady. I don't know about you, but all the lunch ladies I have encountered in my life were mean and scary looking with hairy moles on their faces and hairdos held in place with enough aquanet that their hair nets were permanently attached to their heads. They also had voices as deep as Barry White - downright frightening I tell you.

My happy little Gabs was not letting go, so I decided to continue breakfast club tradition and sit with her while she ate. Luckily, the lunch lady simply drops the meals off to the school and then leaves, sparing Gabby from the scrutiny of those glaringly mean eyes watching her every bite and making sure dessert is not eaten before veggies. So I pull up a chair and prepare to once again be late to work.

Now it is not uncommon for me to find yogurt in my hair or greasy fingerprints on my skirt after breakfast club. But, they all come from Gabby and are a small price to pay for our breakfast club time together. However, our breakfast club was much more crowded on this day. Turns out pretty much every kid in the joint was also signed up for free food. And they all sit around the tables together. Just like school lunch. I was surrounded by 15 hungry, messy, possessed children - all under the age of 3. The mess they made was unbelievable. Even as an innocent bystander I was still hit by splashes of spilled milk, sticky pieces of sugar-coated cereal and the occasional flying hashbrown bit bathed in ketchup of course. So glad I wore my white blouse that day.

Sometime between the flying slop and the echo of the constantly bickering children beside me repeatedly screeching "my milk" "no MY MILK" it hit me: Gabs must forever more arrive to school before the lunch lady if there is any hope of me getting out of there before the slop hits fan so to speak.

On a related note, I now not only face the guilt of disbanning breakfast club until next fall, but also feel immense guilt at letting her eat this slop in the first place. Her daily report Monday was not all that alarming: hashbrowns, cereal and milk for breakfast; ravioli, carrots, applesauce, cookie and milk for lunch. But yesterday's report was enough to make my conscience dive directly into the guilty pool: donut and milk for breakfast; hotdog, apples and pudding for lunch. WTF???

No wonder our youth are so unhealthy. They might as well be ingesting vats of lard laced with assorted animal parts rather than school lunch. What nutritional value do donuts and hotdogs have anyway?

Interestingly enough, both daily reports also indicated that Gabs ate above average each day. Imagine that.

Perhaps Peanuts Aren't so Evil Afterall?

So after a visit to the allergist, it was discovered that Gabby IS NOT allergic to peanuts afterall!

They even tested her twice - along with testing for eggs - and everything came back negative. So the VERY good news is that she isn't allergic to peanuts or eggs. The bad news is we will probably never know what caused her allergic reaction a few weeks back.

oh the joy of uncertainty.