Turning up the parenting

Ever since Jeremiah turned a year old, he has suddenly blossomed. Growing taller, chunkier, more talkative, and even more independent than ever before. With that independence has come an even bigger curiosity- causing Jeremiah to get into things he shouldn't more frequently (and ignoring my No's!) Opening and closing drawers, touching the TV, messing with the DVD rack. He thinks it's silly when I tell him "no." If he obeys the first time I say no and I compliment him for listening (positive reinforcement,) he sees this as permission to go back to doing whatever he was doing. Agh. He's only 12 months old...

However, I do not want to be one of those mothers that uses the excuse of "he's only __ months/years old, he's just a little boy!" to waive any inappropriate behavior. As a teacher (and a big cousin!) I have seen first hand what can happen when a parent (or guardian/influential family member) chooses to spare the rod and spoil the child. It's not pretty. The three offenses I listed above are my three main "rules." If Jeremiah disobeys them, I immediately pick him up and move him while telling him "no" if he doesn't listen the first time. I think Jeremiah threw one tantrum (two at most) before turning 12 months old. Ever since his birthday, however, when he doesn't get his own way about something, out comes the tantrum! ESPECIALLY if he sees my cell phone (honestly, what is their fascination in it? Is it because he sees me use it several times a day? Because it has buttons? Occasionally makes noise and lights up?). Mostly I've been leaving him alone to let him work out his frustration and ignoring him during a little episode. I honestly do NOT know how to deal with tantrums and I'm praying to God that I'm doing the right thing. I also want to start implementing time-outs when he's around 15 months old. (Too young? Not soon enough?) I still need to read up and research on this whole new turn of parenting toddlers. I have two books on my Christmas wish-list: "Raising Boys" (can't remember the author but he's a Christian family writer) and "What to Expect- the Toddler Years." Before I gave birth to Jeremiah I had read the "what to expect the first years" cover to cover and could tell you exactly how to care for and raise a newborn, and would refresh on every new month as he was going through it. Well, between all of our celebrations and the upcoming holidays I haven't exactly had time to read lately!

If you are a mother of toddlers, especially little boys, any and all advise on disciplining would be greatly appreciated, especially in the area of time outs! Or even if you aren't a mother and simply have opinions on the matter, I'm wide open to suggestions and tips. My mother thinks time outs are a fabulous idea. She already puts Jeremiah in his high chair for a few minutes if he repeats an offense 3 times under her care. He's starting to learn. I don't even dare mention any sort of discipline with my mother in law, who thinks that 99 percent of her 6 year old nephew's obnoxious behavior is excusable because he's "just a little boy." Discipline of any sort for Jeremiah, her only grandson, would be thrown in my face- and yes I'd be called a bad mother. So frustrating.

In other news, Jeremiah, purely by accident, split my upper lip last week. The three of us were lounging in our bed one morning, and eagerly trying to come give me a kiss, he whacked his skull my lip, next to my tooth. The split lip turned into a canker sore, which spread to three different canker sores. Plus overly chap lips. Every inch of my mouth hurts... a lot. It hurts to talk, it hurts to kiss Jeremiah (and my husband). To eat, to drink... you name it. Chapstick is starting to help the chapped lips. Normally when I have canker sores they go away on their own in a few days, but not this time. I finally got some over-the-counter canker sore ointment from Target tonight, plus some peroxide to rinse my mouth with and an even stronger lip ointment. It's pure bliss for the full hour that it works. If things aren't better by Friday I'm going to break down and go to the doctor.

I finally got Jeremiah's thank-you cards out in the mail today,and tonight I started tackling Christmas cards. I got our portraits back today. I'm about 70 percent done with the Christmas cards. I want to get an address book because I am sick of scouring my email and text messages for everybody's addresses. I don't send out mail very often, but when I do it would be nice to have everything hand-ready. Even though snail mail is becoming a lost art.

So far Jeremiah has been really good about not getting into our Christmas tree! He loves looking at it with me but for the most part pays no attention to it while he plays. I can't believe that Christmas eve is one week from tomorrow!

Going to try and track down my husband now, goodnight everyone!

Oh, Christmas Tree!!

To me, it just doesn't feel like the holiday season until our Christmas tree is up. I LOVE Christmas trees! The way they look, both pre-decorated and decorated. The feel. The SMELL. Mmmm. I love roaming through Christmas tree lots in search of the perfect tree. And then the fun part- decorating! Louis and I, unfortunately, did not really enjoy decorating our first (and only) "very own" Christmas tree back in 2006, the first year we were married. We purchased the tree on his birthday (the 14th- TOMORROW!) but put off decorating it til the night of his big birthday bash at our apartment. Between me having to work at Target that morning, and running a million other errands for the party, we hastily threw the decorations on the tree, crabbed at each other a bit, until I finally relented and let him put our Star Wars C3PO ornament as our tree topper. We are going to buy our tree as soon as Louis finishes up at a service call (and when Jeremiah wakes up from his nap! Currently babbling himself to sleep). Tonight I fully intend to turn on some holiday music, light some candles and enjoy a romantic evening of decking my tree with my husband. And, if that wretched un-festive droid happens to make his way to the top of our tree again this year, then so be it. You live, you learn, you compromise.

Although I'm determined to find a tree topper on clearance after Christmas this year!

Jeremiah didn't really pay any attention to Michelle's Christmas tree during our playdate on Wednesday. Neither does Braden, who is just about the same age as Jeremiah. Their tree is in their living room, where they play most of the day. I'm crossing my fingers that Jeremiah's indifference to Christmas trees tides over to our house as well, because our tree is going in the exact same spot! The presents, on the other hand, will NOT be going under the tree until Santa comes on Christmas Eve. Lets just say that I do NOT want to risk having to wrap things twice!

So yes, tomorrow my wonderful husband turns 27 years old. It's such a reminder that we are getting older when we have to pause and think about how old we ourselves, our spouses and even our siblings are! Tomorrow morning I fully intend on letting Louis sleep in, even though it's technically my turn =). Then we're going to have breakfast at Jacks, his favorite diner by his new shop. Following this I am taking him to JC Pennys so he can use his present (gift card) and choose something nice to wear, then it's back home to relax and get ready for his family, my parents and *hopefully* my brother and Lindsey to come over. About a month ago, I tried out a recipe from a cookbook my grandma Arlene had given me (Easy meals with 6 ingredients or less). Louis absolutely LOVED the chicken enchiladas I made! He said they surpass my spaghetti and meatballs, which is his all-time favorite meal. Guess what we're having for dinner tomorrow night =) Finally a new dish to serve on his birthday! I swear, for a while it felt like every time we had his family over for dinner I would be making either spaghetti and meatballs or baked ziti, which is essentially spaghetti in the oven. Time for something new =)

Tomorrow is my wonderful cousin Rebecca's 15th birthday party. Her birthday is on the 17th. I am rather disappointed that I am not able to attend my *practically* "Little sister's" birthday party (mostly because I want to meet her boyfriend and give him my stamp of approval!!), but I promised her that she could spend a few days at our house during her Christmas break. She still hasn't gotten back to me on the dates, but I'm hoping that it will work out for next weekend. Our cousins Paul and Rayna are having their annual Christmas party, complete with taking their boat around Huntington Harbor (aka their backyard) to see the Christmas lights and I really want to take her. I know that she and her family wouldn't be able to go unless I take her. Woodland Hills is rather far from Huntington Beach, and with her dad's condition he wouldn't be up to the drive or the boat. Besides of how fun it always is, and what amazing food is always served, Rebecca has yet to meet 1 1/2 month old Sydney Ann! I haven't seen the cutie since she was 6 days old. I can't wait to give her another squeeze.

Well, I'm off to finish decorating my house! Yes, the decorations have been sitting on my dining room table for nearly a week. I'm halfway done now. Have a great weekend!

Christmas- Celebration or Chore?

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. My parents (mostly my mom) always made a huge deal out of Christmas. Her house is always decorated to the max, complete with a huge outdoor display. Cookies are baked by the dozen, including other desserts such as fudge and date nut bars. Everything- the decorating, the baking, shopping for and decking the tree, even wrapping presents- is done a a family. Christmas movies and TV specials are watched all month long, and the Christmas music comes on somewhere in mid-November. Before the extended family started getting so huge, everybody would gather at my mom's house or my auntie Linda's house on Christmas Eve. Now that gathering has dwindled down to just my parents, brother (and his wonderful fiance!), grandma, and auntie Linda. Christmas Eve is when my in-law's have their big celebration, so I haven't been around on Christmas Eve since our second year of dating. The big culmination to the holidays is on Christmas Day with a HUGE gift exchange in the morning, lunch at my Grandpa Harry's house, and dinner with all 26 of us at my Grandma Sally's house.

I think my mother has passed on her "Christmas Nut" gene onto me. The first Christmas I was engaged (we didn't get married until nearly 3 years post-proposal so I could graduate from college and complete my teaching credentials), my mom and I shopped for Christmas decorations for my new home. I have two huge bins full of decorations now. This is only my second year being able to put them up because last Christmas, we were living at my parents. I LOVE shopping for presents. The decorating. The baking. The wrapping. The Christmas movies (Louis just came in to see if I was done blogging so we could watch "Home Alone." Last night we (well; he- I fell asleep at the beginning!) watched "Elf." He's such a trooper, since I know this isn't a favorite tradition of his). Today Louis hung the lights on our house for the very first time, and I pulled out the decorations. It was like seeing my old friends.

Anyway, as much as I absolutely LOVE this time of year, I always get SO stressed out with everything going on. No matter how much I get done in advance, just like with party-planning, there is always SO much left to do. I am pleased to say that every single present I have purchased is wrapped right now. I am almost done with my shopping (minus my poor husband. I also have to come up with something for his birthday one week from today!) I have so many things that I want to do every season, and do my absolute best to do, but usually wind up with my brain spinning and head aching come Christmas Eve. I'm the kind of girl that likes her plate FULL and is always up for a challenge. I absolutely LOVE every part of the holiday season but there are SO many times, especially the two gosh-darn AWFUL years that I worked at Target, where everything feels like a chore. I get too busy to stop and smell the roses. I am bound and determined not to let them happen this year. Whether or not all the cookies get baked, the packages perfectly decorated, or the tree completely decked, I want to be able to take a few steps back, cuddle up in front of our Christmas tree (which we are buying on Saturday) with my husband, and reflect on the true meaning of this holiday season. I'm determined to make Louis's birthday a casual affair rather than freaking out, trying to get the house in perfectly decorated order before his whole family comes here (again). I have been trying to decorate my house all week but just didn't have the energy to pull out the boxes until today. All of the decorations are unwrapped and on my dining room table, waiting to be dispersed through the house. Perhaps tomorrow? I'm determined to take things a little bit at a time.

Part of the reason I'm also determined to slow down is so that I'm not so beat on Christmas Day. Like I mentioned earlier, our Christmas Eve is spent at my MIL's house. Louis and I started the tradition last year of going to Christmas Eve service at his old church before heading over there for dinner and presents. We are usually up until nearly 1:00 a.m., but I am going to try to talk my MIL into opening the presents earlier because of Jeremiah. And because of our crazy day on Christmas day. My mom wants us to go to her house in the morning when we are done with our breakfast and presents at home, because it's the last year that my brother will be around on Christmas morning. Starting next year he will be having his own traditions with his new wife and her family, who celebrate on Christmas morning. We will still see him at each set of grandparents house later in the day, but its our VERY last year with all of us (including Jeremiah and Louis!) under the tree, in our pjs, just like growing up. This makes me sad. Happy because I'm going to be gaining such a wonderful sister, but sad that this chapter of our life is coming to an end. No more everyone sitting in the exact same spot. No more Joey spilling his OJ on the carpet like he does every year.

Stressed out about the holiday season? Don't be. Don't be like how I used to be every other year, in near tears on Christmas Eve with your hair standing on end. Take the time to remember the reason for the season! What gets done gets done. What doesn't.... well they didn't have gingerbread men at the first Christmas, anyway! Happy 2 1/2 weeks til Christmas, everybody! Thanks for reading this very LONG post!

Holiday Pics

I was finally able to log into my Sears account this evening, so as promised here are our Christmas pics! This picture is the one that we are going to be including in our Christmas cards. The family portrait with the same background is the one that I ordered the freebie 8x10 for; in all honesty I like the way we look in the blue background better but didn't like the way that background looks. I thought this one was more festive; our photographer is very much in love with the blue one and insisted we took some shots with it. Oh well! Enjoy!

Jeremiah LOVES to Worship Jesus!

Ever since Jeremiah was a month or two old, my mom would hold him in her lap, raise his arms and say "We praise Jesus! We worship the Lord!" Today, out of the blue, my mom had him in her lap and said that phrase- and he lifted his hands completely on his own, with a huge smile on his face! Oh I so wish I had the camera. It just blesses me so much to see how God touches the spirits of even the littlest children. You may argue that Jeremiah has just learned to mimick an action that he has been taught his whole life; my mom and I choose to believe otherwise. He also LOVES it when I pray before we eat dinner together.

We also asked him "Where's Jeremiah?" and he raised his hands as well (something he picked up completely on his own!). My boy is so bright. He's starting to pick up on more and more things, mimicking, (this can be good and bad!!) and being able to follow simple commands or requests (although he doesn't always listen to NO!)

Today we went to Sears and took our family Christmas portraits. I wasn't as happy with the way they came out as I have been with our prior sessions, but we still managed to get a really cute one of Jeremiah by himself, and a group shot that I was fairly okay with. We had a $4.99 package coupon for 36 prints of the same shot in various sizes, so of course we used that. It turns out though, that if you use that coupon (or the regular $9.99 package deals) that each a la carte sheet is $19.99 thereafter versus the regular $7.99. Looks like we're not going to be getting any additional poses! We had an additional coupon for a free 8x10, and while normally they make you get the freebie of the same pose when getting the portrait package, Andrea (manager and our photographer) made an exception today because of how many photo sessions we've had lately. The free 8x10 we chose was our family portrait. I wanted to get that in wallets as well to include in our Christmas card, but I wasn't willing to fork out $20 vs. $8.00 for it. Looks like our relatives will have to make do with a pic of our lil man =) I wanted to post the proofs on here but the Sears website is down right now. So instead, enjoy a few of our favorite shots from Disneyland!
Arriving at the park

First character of the day!The merry go round was FUN!
With his "Year of a Million Dreams" ears... yeah he wasn't crazy about them
Daddy still had to buy Jeremiah his own embroidered ears =) Waiting for Small WorldPaws off my son, Captain Hook! Jeremiah took two decent naps, thank God!

You've Come a LONG Way, Baby!

December 2, 2007

December 2, 2008

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, JEREMIAH LUIS!

I couldn't have asked for a better first birthday for Jeremiah. Every single minute of this special day was as magical and amazing as the place we spent it and as precious as the little boy whose first year of life it was commemorating. At 4:11 p.m., the exact time that Jeremiah entered this world, I started to cry. We were standing in line for the Finding Nemo submarine ride (his favorite ride of the day), and the kind lady standing behind us took a picture for us.

Our very first family portrait
Our family EXACTLY one year later! Complete with our free "Year of a Million Dreams" ears

Anyway, as promised, here is my labor and delivery story, written around a week after I got home from the hospital. More details about Jeremiah's trip to Disneyland and a very picture-heavy post coming probably sometime tomorrow. Thanks for celebrating with us!

Like I mentioned, I believe I started going into labor sometime around 9 on Saturday night (Dec. 1st). I was watching TV with my mother and my contractions weren't getting all that closer together but they were getting stronger and stronger. By the time Louis came home and we were watching "Christmas Vacation" in our room, the pains were getting pretty bad- like I had to use my lamaze breathing for them. Nevertheless, I was able to roll over and go to sleep. Until around 3:30 a.m. I woke Louis up, and we were talking about how the baby might come that day and he helped me try to go back to sleep but it just didn't work. Around 5:00 I decided to take a shower to see if it would help things, and to see if they contractions would go away if I moved around. The shower felt great but the contractions kept coming. So, we began to get ready to leave!

We had to wake up my brother because he was parked behind Louis and we needed his keys. My brother was so out of it that he gave me his watch instead. Then he asked where we were going at that hour and I sarcastically said "Dinner with family and friends! " He was confused so I told him we were going to the hospital. He said "I thought you were going tomorrow! Let me sleep 5 more min. til I have to get up to go to church and I"ll move the car." I told him to get up. He got mad and said I could wait half an hour for him to LEAVE for church! I stormed off upset, figuring we could probably wait. I tried to make our bed, but not even 2 min later a BIG contraction came, I ran into Joe's room, screamed at him "MOVE YOUR CAR NOW!" and he FINALLY got the hint! So it was off to the hospital we went, around 6:30 a.m.

Or, rather, to Vons to pick up some Lunchables for Louis!

We got to Queen of the Valley around 7:00. I was already 3 cm. dilated and 60 percent effaced. I was admitted to my delivery room by 8:00. It takes a while for them to get your paperwork in order (even if you pre-registered), monitor your contracitons for a few min (2-3 min apart!), and get your IV's started. Our nurse Lynette was such a sweetheart! I was rather dissapointed that Dr. Lee was off for the weekend, but Dr. Bohari turned out to be pretty good =) They asked if I wanted my epidural right away and I told them I wanted to wait it out a little longer until I was further into active labor (4-6 cm.) I was progressing at a cm. an hour until around 10:30, which is really quick for a first time birth! I was most comfortable in the rocking chair or on the toilet (don't ask, it just works). When Lynette checked me around 10:30 I was almost 6 cm. I still wanted to tough it out because the contractions weren't nearly as bad as I expected- they DID hurt but it wasn't like I needed to curse or scream or any other stereotypical labor stories. In fact, I had only hit Louis once at that point because he kept going on about his Keebler Elf crackers while I needed to hold him during a contraction. Right after Lynette checked me I got one more BIG contraction and thought "Screw it, why suffer?" So in came Dr. Chu for my epidural.

I was originally horrified of having a needle stuck in my back- but honestly having the IV put in hurt a lot more! It wasn't bad at ALL! He even upped my dosage from 12 to 14 because after 20 min. only my left side was numb. That did the trick! I could barely feel ANYTHING! It was so odd being paralized from the waist down. I could feel a little bit of pressure or movement during my contractions but that was IT. Louis would look at the monitor and tell me that I was having a big big one, where the numbers were at points up to 180, but I couldn't feel them at all! It was pure heaven. We watched TV, Louis took a few naps, I rested. Louis gave me the baby's birthday present, too- a Snoopy stuffed animal from Knotts Berry Farm in rememberance of when we first started going out and Louis used to work there. That made me cry! I was cuddling Snoopy a LOT during the waiting period.

I stayed at 6 cm. til around 3:00. They kept giving me Pitocin to up my contractions because the epidural slows them down, but from aroud 3:00-3:30ish I went from 6 cm. all the way up to 10! I was ready to push at 3:45. I pushed with Lynette for about 15 min I wasn't even sure that I even WAS pushing because I couldn't feel anything, but she assured me that my baby was descending! The Dr. came around 4:00 and my angel was born at 4:11, only needing about 5 pushes. A very fast, painless delivery! My husband watched the whole thing. As for me, my eyes were closed in concentration as I was pushing. I felt the dr. pulling and tugging at my baby a little big, and then felt a HUGE roller-coaster sensation but didn't even realize he was born until he yelled "it's a boy!" I was in such amazement at the gorgeous being that my husband and I created. I started to cry tears of joy for around 5 min. as Louis and I watched Jeremiah get cleaned up. Yes, I let Louis hold the baby first as I collected myself, and I felt that Louis deserved to hold him first since I felt him inside me for nine months. Words can't even begin to describe what I felt the very first time that I held Jeremiah. He was SO small, SO sweet, and SO precious! I still can't believe that this little critter is all mine.

Half an hour later we brought in the relatves. Nobody got to hold him til the next day though because he had to be rushed up to the nursery to begin his shower and shots.

One Year Ago

One year ago today was my last day before officially becoming a mommy. I remember it being a relaxing yet exhausting (and eventually painful!) day all in one. I know I have been slacking off on posting my journals from this time last year, but in all honesty I needed a little break from my blog. So instead of copying what I wrote last year, I'll write about what I remember =)

I remember that on November 30, 2007 (a year ago yesterday) I went in for my final round of fetal monitoring. It was a very rainy day and there were several pregnant mommies either waiting for a room to deliver their baby in, or like me, have fetal monitoring done. I was the lucky one of those mommies, though, because all those other mommies were there for abnormal and premature contractions; I on the other hand was rather overdue and ordered to have fetal monitoring done! The nurses wanted to keep me and have me induced that afternoon. I remember feeling so alone and SO scared after hearing that, even though I was secretly crossing my fingers that it would happen. They had Louis fax over my medical records (they were in his car) and called my dad and asked him to load my bags and my birth ball in his car to bring on over. As much as I was hoping to be admitted to the hospital, I didn't want to get my hopes up and didn't come prepared at ALL. However, after the nurses conferred with my doctor, he ordered me to go home and get some rest; I was in the VERY early stages of labor but still not dilated (1 1/2 cm), effaced (50%) or "dropped" (-2 station) enough for him to feel comfortable doing an induction on me. He told me to come back in three days as planned, on Monday, December THIRD, for our originally scheduled induction.

So home I went, and was able to go see my old orchestra and choir perform their annual Christmas performance that night! My mom and dad knew what was going on with my labor though and watched me like a hawk the whole night, especially since I had a (few) painful contractions during the concert, but nothing worth going to the hospital over. My grandma mentioned to me while we were eating dessert after the concert that she hoped I had the baby soon, though, because she was sick and tired of my bad mood! HA! I guess I wasn't that pleasant to be around towards the end of my pregnancy. Hey, by the time Jeremiah was actually born, I was 10 days over due, huge, achy and just plain SICK of being pregnant!

The next day (today) was a Saturday. I spent a leisurely morning and afternoon at home. The contractions were still irregular but frequent, and not painful, but I could tell they were becoming stronger. I had two WONDERFUL phone conversations with some very old and dear friends of mine, Ashmi (elementary school best friend!) and Emily (high school best friend!) I hadn't spoken with either one of them in quite some time, and it definitely added a special touch to that day. I also went and got myself a pedicure, which was no easy task considering I could barely move. However, I was insistent that my toes be nice and sparkly when delivering my son or daughter. It turned out to be the pedicure from hell; the person that did my nails rushed me out of there without checking to make sure my nails were totally dry, and half of them were ruined by the time I got home. And I SO didn't have the energy (or desire) to drive back and have them redone. Oh well! As it turns out, my poor feet were frozen during my whole labor and delivery and I wore socks the entire time.

Anyway, I do remember blogging around 8:30 p.m. that night, pondering the possibility that Baby Castillo MIGHT come on his or her own the next day, the last chance before Induction Day. Little did I know that I would go into labor roughly 20 minutes afterwards! Louis came home shortly after (he was running a surprise errand for the baby!) and we went upstairs to watch "Christmas Vacation." That's when things started getting REALLY uncomfortable for me. My contractions were coming closer together and they HURT. However, I was bound and determined not to be one of those mommies who got sent home for going to the hospital prematurely. I pulled out my "What to Expect..." book, read about my symptoms, and decided to follow its advice and try my best to go to sleep. Sure enough, by roughly 3:00 in the morning on December 2, I couldn't sleep any more! Tune in for my labor and delivery story tomorrow evening, when we get back from Disneyland! We are taking Jeremiah there for the first time to celebrate his first birthday in style. Even though I was just there two weeks ago, I'm so excited to go again! Especially seeing everything through the eyes of my wonderful son. No Splash Mountain for me this time, but that's okay. Spending the day with my lil man is going to be even better.

Jeremiah's birthday party on Saturday turned out to be a lot of fun. No matter how much I plan and prepare for something in advance though, there are always SO many last minute details to take care of the day of the event. That part drives me crazy. The attendance wasn't nearly what I expected, but we were surrounded by those that love and care for not only Jeremiah but Louis and I as well. It turns out that my cousin and his family from Phoenix WERE planning on coming to Jeremiah's party after all. My crazy uncle had no idea about this, haha. Although on their way here from Palm Springs, their car broke down and they weren't able to make it. I got some pretty cute shots of Jeremiah and the rest of his party, but I'll post them later. I think I left my camera in his bedroom, and I don't want to risk waking my sleeping boy! As for me, I'm going to continue clearing our house up from Thanksgiving, and get it all ready for CHRISTMAS!!