I don't like our neighbors!

I'm not talking about our human, neighbors... they are awesome. It is the 4 legged ones that are scaring the crumb out of me. We live in a pretty populated area that borders some BLM land and the mountains. I realize the wildlife came first but I wish they wouldn't wander so close to us. Today Chris was outside early in the morning and he saw a HUGE coyote just walking up our street. A few wks ago we saw one about 10 ft from our back yard. We lost one of our cats after he snuck out while I was putting stuff inside the house... I worry what his fate was. It makes me all the more careful with our pets and especially our critters! Good thing we are moving soon.

The tale of the flowers :)

Needless to say things have been crazy and after all we did in October we have been decompressing this week. I think with that in mind Chris wanted to make sure I knew I was appreciated and loved. So every night this week he has bought me flowers! Each are beautiful and he succeeded because I feel very loved and appreciated. He is the best!!!!

Hopefully I won't kill the potted flowers before we can plant them this Spring... the odds don't look good for them though (I've a black thumb).

The Toddler Kleptomaniac...

I'm starting to notice a problem when Harmon visits his MiMa's (this hasn't happened elsewhere)! Last time we were getting ready to leave and Lisa kept insisting "I think he has too much pee in his diaper b/c he is walking funny". I just assumed he was showing off to her but as we were leaving I noticed some cars in his hands and had to explain that he needed to leave them at MiMa's. Later as I was putting him in the car I felt his side. Lisa and I were shocked... he had not one, not two, not five, but nine tonka trucks/cars stuffed into his jeans (thus the funny walking). He tried it again this Sunday at church w/MiMa. It looks like I will have to pat my mini-criminal down before he leaves the presence of MiMa.

In other amazing Harmon news he showed us he could spell his name. Miriam randomly asked him "what is your name?" and he said: "Harmon, h-a-r-m-o-n". I didn't believe her so later in the evening I asked him Harmon can you spell your name? And he just rattled it off. I couldn't believe a 2 1/2 year old could do it! I'm amazed what he us learning in school. It proves "special needs" does NOT mean dumb!!!

Our "Picture Perfect Life"

Here is a good sum of what we did. There were soooo many... and many of them as you could imagine involved either tears, a tot running away, or all! These are some of the better pictures.

And since we all know life is never picture perfect, for fun here is one of the outakes! This is what we are more normally like ;)

After all there is no such thing as "picture perfect" especially in a home with 3 tots!

Very Very SCARY day!

Don't worry nothing bad happened today. It was just a scary day. After all today was not only "Dia de los Muertos", Election day, but our semi-annual pictured day. Yes each of these events on their own could scare the dickens out of anyone but put together it led to a very scary day.

Dia de los Muertos: Has been kind of a cute tradition since Chris and I got married. Neither of us are Catholic. Neither of us are Mexican (I'm Puerto Rican and Chris is as Anglo/Saxon as they come). But I have lived here on the border most of my life and Chris lived in Mexico City for a little bit so both of us have a love for the culture.

So this year we made an effort to teach the kids about the holiday. We have been visiting all the local bakeries for Pan de Muerto, have attended festivals on Saturday, and tonight we watched the processional from the main church in Mesilla to the grave yard. Harmon was loving it. He calls the day "Dia de los Pretzals"!

We want to teach our children other cultures and traditions. I was immersed (especially in college) with everything from Indian to Pakistani to El Salvadorian etc. I love it, I think if we can teach the children that the world is a big place hopefully they will be more loving and tolerant!

Election Day: Yes I voted, no I didn't like most of the candidates (our congressional race I considered it "Satan" vs "The Devil"), no I'm not enthusiastic for sudden change... but we really are lucky to live in this country and hopefully we will go in the right direction!

The funny thing has been Chris. When we dated he claimed he was not just another "Republican" and was Independent like I was. I doubted that claim. Tonight he keeps shouting "We are winning! We are winning!" every time a Republican won something. An Independent????? I think not!

Picture Day: It took over two hours between the time we arrived at the studio and by the time I paid and left. I HATE doing pictures but I love the memories so I keep doing this. This proved especially hard. After all it was like trying to herd cats w/not one, not two, but three toddlers!!! Cally was the star. He got the best pics and Rachel kept running away... yeah she failed today.

Above is a preview... I'll upload the rest tomorrow to share with everyone. I was sad b/c we always get the one "perfect" shot but we couldn't get it this time. Oh well, we will try again in April :)

Night Terrors and Sleep Walking came back: In finishing our scary day I thought I would update everyone on Harmon. He was doing much better with his sleep but last night was HORRIBLE. He kept waking up over and over and over again (I counted 6 times between 11 and 7). Finally Chris went to get him and couldn't find him. He was huddling in a corner crying and screaming "Lollipop" over and over again. If he looks sad in the pictures this is why. No one got any sleep, but I don't care about me, I just feel so bad my little boy is struggling still.

Halloween Highlights 2010!

Chris sent me to my room tonight after we got home from Tricks or Treat! He said I had enough. I think he is right! I'm so tired I think I will let last night's blog stand as a testimony to Halloween 2010. It was wonderful! I can't wait till next year. The craziest thing was the perfect weather, highs of upper 70's all week.

The neatest thing we did was late last night Chris and I stayed up till midnight watching some old magician clips (I used to help out with his show) online on Comedy Central's site. We just laughed and had our spooky romantic time.

Chris is just grateful this is the only holiday I really go crazy on. Next week promises to be insane for us with family photos, Dia de los Muertos, and Ren Fair but the main insanity is over... enjoy the highlight pics ;) I'll have more pictures up later this week on our other blog.

Final note: Costumes were funny. I learned big bulky costumes are a fail. Cally went crazy in his lobster costume (he was ready to go to Red Lobster and be put out of his misery). Harm picked out his own costume this year and I must admit it was the biggest hit. Kids and adults alike kept shouting "hey Sponge Bob". My costume got lost on Friday night and so I had to improvise with old ones and Chris' broke :p I'm glad Rachel and Harmo will likely fit in theirs again next year! That means with Cally wearing a hand-me-down... no buying :)

A moment (oh wait month) of pure insanity!

Chris may just sell me! I think he never really understood how much I loved Halloween until now. The first year we get married, it was 5 days before Halloween and so I didn't have much time to get mixed up with everything b/c we were on a honeymoon. The next year we were all mixed up with the magicians in Las Vegas so he figured it was just the company I kept. Than our next year we had just barely moved to New Mexico and I was a fish out of water. Than last year we had two micro-preemies who had barely come home so I didn't risk doing anything with them.

This year is quite different! So far we have done the following activities (many in full costume):

1. Pumpkin Patch w/MiMa
2. Boo at the Zoo (it was great trick or treating and everything)
3. Farm and Ranch Ghost Tours
4. Barnes & Noble Halloween Parade and Story Time
5. Halloween at Aprendamos and Tresco Tots (the kids early intervention groups)
6. Trick or Treat at our HB office (everyone was so sweet to our critters)
7. Trick or Treat at the Farmer's Market
8. Desert Hill's Elementary School Halloween Celebration
9. Dia De Los Muertos celebration in Mesilla
10. Dinner w/Gualita

We still have: Trick or Treat tommorro and dinner w/MiMaw and PaPaw

Practically every night this past week we have been watching the classics! Harmon loves Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin the best! But with recommendations from dear friends we picked up Ichabod and Mr. Toad and we also love Mickey's House of Villains. We don't watch a lot of TV so for Harmon this is a big treat. I love just sitting back and sipping the chocolate with the kids I love.

Today knowing I had a little spare time I actually made a really cute Pillowcase dress for Rachel. I think this was when Chris knew I was certifiable. But I figure we are going to church tomorrow she might as well go in style ;)

The one thing that has gone well for Chris is that I keep trying to bake. He has has been loving the Funfetti brownies, cakes, cookies, etc. that keep coming out of the kitchen. 1/2 the time he is taking over and making it and I must admit, he is MUCH better than I am. He is also loving ALL the candy Harmon and the Cupcakes are banking. Of course we are limiting them to lollipops so he of course is making sure it doesn't go to waste ;)

My best ghost story!!!

So in honor of Halloween and my anniversary I thought I would share my best ghost story!

Chris and I celebrated our wedding with a honeymoon in San Francisco. It was wonderful. We stayed at the Westin St. Francis which is one of the oldest hotels in the city being built in 1904. It was great and so was the honeymoon. So on our second night there I was walking alone to the room b/c Chris was needing to schedule things with the concierge. While in the elevator a nice old couple saw me hit the 12th floor and they got all excited "oh you are on the haunted floor!" I just smiled it being 3 days before Halloween I assumed they had ghosts and goblins on the mind.

Our room was at the end of the hallway. The exits were all on the other end (stairs and elevator). That night we heard 3 loud distinctive bangs on the door. Because I have insomnia I was watching tv and so I looked at the door and saw no feet at the gap between the door and floor. There were no doors or other noises on the floor and my tv was very low. Chris immediately jumped out of bed and opened the door to look down the hallway the hallway was fully deserted. It was very unnerving so Chris called security and a few minutes later they called us to report that no one was on our floor or looking suspicious according to the cameras!

So on the day we checked out I went to the hotel channel to do the check out. After I checked out I left it there to listen to the hotel history. Than they explained the story of the "Fatty Arbunkle Scandal (link)" . They say that the ghost of a young girl haunted our room, 1220! Maybe she was knocking?

A Very Sad Pathetic Anniversary!

Last night I wanted to blog about all sorts of things but gave up after my first one. I was just feeling really bad. I told Chris that I have a very bad feeling about how I'm doing and he just blamed it on me being tired... well I was right. Today was a vomit fest but unlike when I have viruses I didn't feel as bad. I suspect it came from a batch of homemade salsa that went bad that I was munching on yesterday.

Our engagement picture

Anyhoo, today was our anniversary. We planned on having a nice lunch and than going to El Paso for a romantic date tonight sans kids. Chris got me a VERY sweet gift (the latest version of Photoshop) and I waited till today to buy his... of course I never left the house. I feel so bad, we had both been looking forward to this day but Chris has been sooo sweet and supportive. Tomorrow, if I am sans vomit, we will have lunch and Mom Hakes has offered to take the kids for a couple of hours in the evening so we can be romantic. I picked out a nice gift for him that is an IOU. I hope tomorrow we can enjoy a do over! But I guess the lesson in all of this is marriage always is for better or worse!

The Customer is always wrong...

When I worked for the hotels in Las Vegas I always practiced the motto "the customer is always right" even when they were not. Now a days with our housing company that motto is even more important. After all in economics class I learned when there is a plethora of sellers but not a lot of buyers it is a buyer's market. Conversely when there is a plethora of customers and not a lot of sellers it is a seller's market.

In Las Cruces it is definitely a seller's market when it comes to health care services. We had to BEG for almost a year to get our current pediatrician who is awesome. The same issue occurs if you are looking for an OB/GYN, general practitioner, etc. Most offices treat you well... my OB's office is not one of them. I only go to them b/c they were the only ones who would take me when I first moved here. When I got pregnant I started going to El Paso for a specialist. Anyhow these people torture me. I set an appointment on Monday and got there early to ensure I could be out by 2:30.

First thing that happens the lady starts telling me you need to fill out the new client paperwork. I explain I am not a new client and none of my information has changed. She insists so I fill it out. She than complains, you filled it out messy... I than assure her nothing has changed. She than explains I have to have a pregnancy test. I explain I am on continuous birth control and since I am a cash client I would rather not. She insists so now I have a pee cup filled and I wait... and wait... and wait... I finally ask what is going on and she acts dumb. I than insist she gets up and find out what is going on. Low and behold I get called a few seconds later. I explain to the nurse that I have been waiting and need to leave to pick up my special needs child. She than explains that my file had not been taken back as it should have until I had complained. I than ask why I need to take a pregnancy test and she said I didn't need it.

So I get out just in time for Harmon. Unfortunately I forgot I had a pee cup in my purse (full mind you). Harmon was looking through the purse while I was talking to the teacher. He shouts "juice"! I'm really starting to regret this speech therapy.