Inspiring moms

So, today, I got to hear from two inspiring moms, people I actually knew this time. ;). Reading Rudi's blog where she writes about her feelings and experiences with her beautiful new baby boy was really special, and I am especially grateful that she shared the quote from Jeffery R. Holland about the sacrifice mothers make but how blessed they are. Sonia's blog, showing the pictures of her children and telling how the whole family shared Valentines Day together. And my mother in law, who quoted the Feb 2012 VIsiting Teaching message. I like that she told me that I am doing everything that I can and more. One of my worries was that I wasnt doing enough. I know I can do better with some things, but, I guess I am doing not too bad. I'm not trying to brag, I just feel like Nephi sometimes. I desire to rejoice, but then my heart is bogged down by my sins and weaknesses. BUT I know in whom I have trusted. Everything is going to be okay, just enjoy and keep praying and telling Heavenly Father that you want to obey His commandments. He knows what you want, but He wants you to ask for it too. I am grateful for the mother figure that my mother in law is to me. We havent always gotten along; sometimes I would get so frustrated by little things she would "teach" me. I am a very stubborn student. But she insisted on being the mother figure that I still need in my life, with love and kindness, and a good sense of humor. I am so grateful for that.
I was also inspired by my own mother this week. A week ago was her birthday and Becky made a photoshop in honor of her and the caption said, "Inspiring musician, teacher, wife, mother, and friend. Happy birthday, Mommy. I miss you so much." Me too.


Sometimes it's hard to go through memories with my mom because I do miss her. But reading the forums and the blogs, I looked back on what my parents shared with me about my mom's own experiences. It definitely was not easy for her, but she was such a loving mother who taught us life-lasting principles and gave us inspiring memories. One story is, when I was little, I used to be terrified of sirens. As a teenager and as an adult I'm still not particularly fond of them. I guess I dont like the idea of someone being in trouble. But she told me that when I would scream and run around when I was little, she was worried. Then a friend told her to pray with me every time it happened. She did. When she told me this, I was surprised. I said, I always say a prayer in my heart for the people that are in trouble every time I hear a siren, and now I know why! Cute story, right? My mom was the best example of prayer. She prayed for us, and prayed with us when we werent feeling well or had a hard situation. I am grateful for that. Do you have an experience about your mother or mothers in your life? Maybe you want to wait 2 months until Mother's Day, but I just felt like here and now I should write about it so I can look back on this inspiration. Thanks, inspiring mothers!

TBD

Hi, this week has been very interesting. First, the mom went to Vegas for a 5 day weekend which, though it sounds crazy, she has never done before and she got to have girl time and a break so I'm sure it was much needed. So the dad and I were with the kids. He invited his older girls to come help out and that is a very good thing! It was fun, and I got to know his "super-dad" side, he was really working hard and not doing too bad. Now, he just went on a trip and I get to spend this week bonding with the mom. I get the impression that they compete when the other isn't around to see who can handle the kids and the house better. I give the dad an A for effort. He took us to Toys R Us, a restaurant with giant aquariums and moving animal sculptures, and the carousel at the mall, and I think I was as excited as the kids, if not more. And he was working hard on the laundry and the dishes. However, I'm pretty sure that mom will win. Lol. I'm excited about getting to know her better, now that she won't be babysitting the dad. Hahaha.

I finally got my immigration stuff in! I am so happy about that. Now it's time to wait until the next process begins.

And, i also have some pretty exciting things coming up! General Authorities are coming to Houston and they are doing a special broadcast for the women of Houston. And, temple trip on Wednesday!

Okay, I wrote this post almost a week ago and havent published it. Here's what's been going on since...:)
It has been great with the mom. We went to an inflatable gym place that the kids could run around in. The baby now walks all the time and doesnt crawl anymore, so it was perfect for him! We've also gone out to eat and played in the McDonalds playland, and the mom and I have bonded and she complains about things that the dad does and I listen and side with her. :). She even asked me about the church! I was happy to share things with her and she liked my suggestion of a family night. We sorta had one on Saturday, A family day really, we went out to breakfast, shopping and dinner and also hung out at home together. On the way home from dinner was when she asked about the church, so I considered that our spiritual discussion and then after bath we did a prayer together. It was nice. She really does have great values and I am grateful that i am able to share things with her. I took a book of mormon from the missionaries yesterday, i have it for when the time is right, which I have a feeling will be soon! Yay!

I know this sounds crazy, but I have been into names and baby names, well, my whole life but this past week especially because I found a really cool site with forums about everything baby and baby name that you can imagine, plus definitions and all that. I found it so much fun but crazy-addictive! I learned a lot though by reading peoples' experiences and comments and ideas, and by giving my own, I learned about myself. It was interesting. I even found some names that I didnt realize before that I would like but love now! I even was able to vent out my baby fever abit, and some of my fears about childbirth, because I do have them. It was helpful, honestly. Though like I said, far too addicting! I need to have my life back! Lol. I am grateful for the good experience though and for what I learned. I know that when the time comes I would love to hear all of your experiences. This nannying thing makes me think about it a lot, even more than I used to which is saying something!

I am grateful for my job, but I didnt realilze how anxious I would be about what comes next. I know I say this every time but it really is on my mind all the time. When Ricky and I were engaged, it was the same thing. Everything is TBD. But every time I think about it, I feel like Queretaro is where we belong, and that when I'm done, I should just go back and, if I get my old job back, pick up where I left off, if not, find new jobs. The Lord will make things happen, just like He has been all this time. Well, I've gotta go. Have a great week everyone!

valentines day

So, today started off horribly. I was expecting to go to the doctors early so I didnt take any pain killers and therefore just felt miserable all day. I asked if I could have the morning off to rest and they had promised me the morning off yesterday and today because I worked on sunday and didnt give me either one. They\'re both sick too which is lame. I really wanted to support them so they could have their bonding time, but I was feeling so miserable...my appointment was at 2. Once I got to the doctor, they told me I had to pay a $100 deductible and I said, I\'m not paying that, but, I did, I felt so horrible I had no choice. At least the doctor was quick and the antibiotics only costed $10. Once I got home, I took some ibuprofen and ate for the first time all day and then took my antibiotics and, a second nap for the day before the mom came back from her errand. About an hour before the parents had to leave, I finally started feeling better, but a LOT better! I was so happy. Plus it really lifted my spirits that the mom got me a valentines day present! That means a lot to me, and she said it meant a lot to her that I could help them out so they could stay at their hotel tonight. We\'ve all been miserable the past few days, and the fact that she still thought to get me a present meant a lot to me. I wish i had gotten her something, but hopefully just that fact that I have been there for them has been enough. She\'s funny, she got me a card, candy apples, and a bubble gun. Do you know how valuable a bubble gun is to a babysitter? Lol. I\'m not sure who was more excited, the 2 year old daughter, or me. Baby was like, bubbles, that\'s cool. Didnt get really excited though. The little girl and I had an awesome night (as usual when the parents arent there ;) but baby was the one who was cranky with me today, maybe because he was with his mom this afternoon and didnt want to go back to boring old me, and I have been boring the past 2 days because I\'ve been too miserable to do much. And I keep thinking that he\'s going to get strep too. He could be cranky because he\'s catching it. Or maybe both. Poor baby. Who knows. But the parents say he\'s fine. I hope it just skips over him! We\'ll see how he does. At least we are all on antibiotics now!

You know, all trials happen for a reason. I know that I am strong enough to work when I\'m sick. I know that I have great bosses. And, it made me realize that I really need to take better care of myself. It\'s official. Any tips for immune boosting habits would be much appreciated!!

I finally got Ricky\'s form! If I can get everything together tonight I will send the i130 tomorrow. If not, I will send it on thursday. He got me a flower and showed it to me over facetime. He\'s cute. We talked when the kids were still awake and baby waved at him and the girl said, hi Ricky hi Ricky! It was adorable. I did something really special for him. I took his favorite special dark kisses and cut and colored a heart for each one, and wrote something that I like about him on each heart. It took a lot of time!! But, he seemed impressed by my creativity. :). I also ordered a personalized cookie from my awesome friends. I haven\'t seen it yet and neither has ricky but he probably won\'t get it until Sunday. And we had our spiritual thought and prayer together, and after that I listened to some conference talks while finishing my present, and that was awesome. A good end to a day that started so miserably. I have so much to be grateful for. Happy Valentine\'s Day to everyone!



the kisses

my flower

She was very patient and let me do her hair! She also lets people do her nails too, such a girly girl! :)




surprise for Miss Stephanie!

inspiration

Yesterday and today I slacked off on my practicing. I was doing so well too. But I wont give up. This article inspired me to keep going. Even if I dont find the open doors that I want, I can bless my life and the lives of others through my music. And then the Heavens the doors will open the way the Lord wants them to. http://www.lds.org/church/news/grammy-nominated-artist-shares-testimony-through-music?lang=eng. So, inspirational moment. Ricky and I decided that every day we would study a verse together. Something small but it means so much to me. Today was the first day since that conversation and I felt the Spirit as Ricky quickly but effectively shared a scripture with me and I said our family prayer. I feel so blessed.

Yesterday I played hymns on my viola and it gave me the spiritual boost I needed. That\\\'s why I felt so inspired by this girl\\\'s accomplishment and testimony. Thanks, Elder Oaks\\\' daughter!

pictures!

So I dont feel like writing much today. Though i am happy to say that the parents are planning a romantic Valentines day! Hopefully that will help them. :). But, i will post some pictures! The kids are so cute. Today was a good day, just felt like posting pictures. :). baby and I hanging out. Ignore his boogers >.< after he fell asleep the angel child and I played with photobooth. the mom took this picture when we went to the store. They were going loving " driving" the shopping cart!! another one of me and baby, so you can see how big he is. <3

Form-phobia and parent drama

So today, Ricky called me and I had to walk him through filling out his form. Ugh. Lol. I understand because he has helped me with my immigration forms in Spanish but he was complaining like why do they care that is so stupid! I told him to get over it and fill out the darned thing. But of course, I had the same reaction when I was filling out mine. I guess he shares my hate for government forms. Im not the only one in the world. But when I told my boss that, she said that she has to fill forms out for her husband all the time, and he doesnt have a language barrier excuse! So I guess I couldnt complain after that.

Today was a fun day because baby was in a much better mood and has been medicine free for the past 2 days. Lol. Jk, that's not why it was a fun day. It was fun because the mom took us grocery shopping and out to lunch. She even picked up her daughter early from pre-school so we could all spend the afternoon together. I bought some bubbles for the baby to play with, but it turns out that the girl liked them more than he did. I'll try again tomorrow.

Tonight was my night to babysit so the parents could go out. I wish they would go out *together* but it looks like he's being stubborn. She signed them up for a bible study class and she goes and he just decides not to. :-/. I mentioned doing a home bible study so that they could bond at home without the hassle of going to a class. I even volunteered to lead it. She said they had done it before but not anymore. Sigh. I feel like part of the family and want to help. They just argue a lot these days. He seems to have cabin fever and she's probably getting used to living with him as well since he's been gone so much until now. Or maybe they're always like that, some couples look like they're arguing but really arent. But then they complain about eachother to me. Why do they do that? I try to stay out of it and just listen. I know first hand that couples argue and semi argue and everything in between, and drama that doesnt involve me can be intriguing, but sometimes it's just annoying. It makes me miss Ricky and our over- nothing arguments and our getting along! Thank goodness I got a mature man. Lol.

Anyway, I mentioned that because tonight it was my turn to take care of the little daughter. She is 2 and loves her parents. When we're around them, her primary occupations seem to be shushing me, telling me "stop it, stephanie!" for no reason, blowing rasberries at me, taking her brothers toys, eating anything either of us are eating, and temper tantrums. Once their gone though, she magically transforms into Angel Child. It's hilarious. We just hang out and play with brother, eat snacks and watch tv, and she cuddles with me until she falls asleep. This is her third week like that. My dad said that at that age, I would never take a babysitter, not even him! So far I am lucky.

Ricky is out with our mutual friends edgar, nayeli and owen getting dinner, so I'm going to practice. Ricky has been so sweet and supportive of me and so loving and we have been talking more lately, which is good. We talked about living in Texas. I guess it all depends on jobs here. I guess it's something we need to pray and fast about this year.

Well, I've gotta go, I have to practice extra to make up for yesterday since I went to the temple. See ya!

Houston Temple trip!..and more!

So today I got to go to the temple. I asked for special permission to get off of work early to make the 8pm session. I had to give the baby his dinner by 5:30 to get ready, eat dinner, and then meet a sister at her house which was 40 minutes away by 6:30. I thought the house was only 30 minutes away and still had trouble finding it so lets just say we made it barely in time!! But I am so grateful that we did! The Houston temple is beautiful! Inside and out. And I think that this sister and I are becoming friends. She's not the sister that I talked about, I ended up going with a different sister. Her name is Maureen. She offered to take me every month. She has kindof a strong character but at the same time, I can tell that she is a caring person and has strong moral character too. She was trying to convince me that Houston is the best place to live. But she was doing a good job, she told me about a fast teaching certification that I can get and that the cost of living is very low and the strong need for bilingual people here. Well, we'll just have to see.

The cool thing is that when we got there, we found out that the 8:00 Wednesday session is set apart as a Spanish session. We did not know that! I was so excited because I wanted to do it in Spanish. It makes me feel closer to Ricky. Maureen speaks a little Spanish so she didnt ask for the headphones and did eveything in Spanish. I couldnt believe it. It definitely felt like a little tender mercy. The whole thing, the free ride, the day off to do it, the Spanish session, the healthy snacks that Maureen made so I wouldnt be tempted to buy dinner, etc, so many things.

And.... Rudi! Thanks for your comment! You are a great friend and your comment brightened up my day! I sleep with the baby monitor. I think it's bad that I was worried about leaving the mom with her own kids. I guess I feel bad because I was leaving work early and I was scared that she would regret letting me go early. But, it's good for her. I don't want to take advantage of her kindness too much, But at the same time I need to remember that she is still the mom and its totally fine if I have something important to do every now and then. Haha. I'm sure having Emily as a babysitter every now and then is a great support. And it's good practice for Emily! Be happy that you don't have a nanny though, enjoy your time with your kids, I hope to be able to as much as possible when I'm a mom. I know that the ages you have are the hardest to do right now! I feel really bad for all of the sleep you are losing, but I hope that this passes quickly so you can rest! Keep it up! You will be great.

Great news! Sam is getting baptized! For those who are reading and know him, it's still "unofficial" but the date is february 18th. I didnt even know they were even close to that. But a pair of great missionaries and a lot of answered prayers later, here they are. i am so proud of Debbie and Sam. I love them both and I cant wait until they can have the joy that Ricky and I have from being sealed in the temple together. They are now that much closer to having an eternal family!

Josh is doing great on his mission. He loves Mexico and has been a successful missionary so far, and enjoying it. He writes great letters and e-mails to us and I am so happy about that! And Im happy that he is safe. He always emails me in Spanish. (:

Well, Ricky is doing night shift now so I am going to call him and then Im going to sleep. What an awesome day!!

Internet FHE

I was upset with Ricky last night because we were supposed to have our FHE and he went to the movies with his friends and didnt get back until 11:45. I should be happy that he went to see the movie, but our FHE was immportant! Well, he said he would do better anyways which
I really appreciate and he stayed awake long enough to do our FHE right then and there. I shared the presidency message with him and then sang a hymn and he did the prayer and we talked about our day. There you go, FHE. After that I felt a lot better, and after we both slept because we were both tired, I felt better and he seemed less stressed, even though he has a busy day coming up. He's happy for me that tomorrow I'm going to the temple. It feels like it's been so long since i've gone, but from now on I will be able to go a lot more because it's only an hour away.

The baby is doing much better today. He heard ricky talking from the ipad and started talking too. It was really cute. Ricky's so good with kids, i remember he did that with Ethan too and made faces and Ethan loved it. I'm glad at least one of us is energetic. I love kids but I am almost always too serious with them, like a job, you know? But I am still getting lots of good experience here!

Im still doing my practicing. I increased it by 15 minutes, starting very smallI just need to get into the habit of doing it every day. But my scales are coming back and that makes me feel better.

I wish someone would read my blog.. My bosses are really nice and we treat eachother like friends and I listen to them, but when it comes time to listen to me they do it half heartedly either because what I have to say really isnt interesting or just because they are almost constantly being bombarded by texts and phone calls from more important people. Which is okay you know it's their lifestyle i have to understand that.

Uy, Im falling asleep. Im going to take a quick nap before the baby wakes up from his. Have a great day I'll talk to you again soon!

Old Testament pick me ups

I love the old testament. Some stories can be kindof depressing though. But maybe they do that to make me realize that i dont have it so bad.
Example, last night I was reading the story of jacob and rachel in genesis. Jacob had to work 7 hard years in the desert for rachel, and he was so in love with her that it only felt like a day. I've only been away from richie working one month and it does NOT feel like a day. Hahaha.

But as if that wasnt enough, Jacob was tricked at the wedding and ended up with Rachels ugly sister, Lea. After one week, he could marry rachel but still had to stay and work another 7 years. I feel sorry for Lea though. It's not her fault she was the ugly one. She had 7 kids with Jacob and was still like, Surely he will love me now. I guess her children and knowing that she was the mother of a great nation comforted her. I the meantime, Rachel had all the love but no children. Joseph and Benjamin were born after Lea had had 4 already. It wasn't exactly her fault that Jacob loved her more either. I'm sure Jacob was a great man because he had all of those blessings from the Lord, I just wonder how he handled all of the drama. To each his own life I guess.

I guess I'm just thinking that I'm glad that I have a husband who loves me and that I dont have to compete in childbirth to try to earn his affection, and I dont have to wait seven years either. There's an old testament pick-me-up to be grateful for. Lol

By the way, the baby is doing much better today. Had a very rough night but woke up happier and hopefully things will go uphill from here. :)

Baby is sick...and teething...and not eating...

Ahh so baby got sick and I skipped my first day of practicing because he woke up right when I was about to practice. :(
I have to see what Debbie will make me do to get immunity for yesterday. Otherwise I have to practice triple tomorrow. Double would be too easy.

But at least he seemed better today! I wish he would eat though. I feel like a first time parent. All parents will tell me not to worry and I know he's going to be fine. He's a big baby it's not like he's going to starve. But, it's a big responsibility taking care of a ginormous baby... especially since he's not my own! I'm grateful that I can have this experience to help me prepare to be a mom.

Church was good today. I bore my testimony with the new ward and both lessons were really good. They kept me quieter than usual so that means that they were good. ;) I'm going to go to the temple on Wednesday! I'm excited. One of the sisters, the one who gave the rs lesson and who was the first person to welcome me to the ward, is going to come with me! That is so sweet of her. She's an amazing sister, I am grateful that I know her. I hope that all goes well at the temple. I am grateful that I can go to the temple so easily and with company.

I had some setbacks with the immigration stuff. I missed a form that Ricky has to fill out and sign. This happened to me last time too!! Ugh.. I remember now WHY I moved to Mexico. This is so annoying. I have everything else ready to go and would be able to send it in tomorrow if it wasn't for this one signature. :( Well, I guess I should be grateful that everything else is ready, AND I know that it's going to be okay and I won't get discouraged this time! We can do it!!!! (:




Well, talk to you soon!

Okay, so, update, go!

After a year and a half of mexico, newlywed, professional musician, daycare and pre-school teacher life, I made a 180 turn and now we are doing something totally different! Ricky and I are doing long distance again! It's easier than before, I guess we are less insecure than we were when we we engaged. But I still miss him so much! But we are still very grateful, we're doing it for a good reason, actually a great one.

I got a job in the houston area as a live in nanny. Why leave my mexico lindo to take it? Lets just say double the salary of my 4 jobs combined plus they cover my taxes, room and board and food. That means I will be able to pay my loans off way faster, hopefully by the end of the year or partway into next year. Instead of the ten year plan that I'm currently on. We could never start a family when even in mexico I made twice as much what Ricky makes and if I had to quit one or more of my jobs, we'd be in trouble. And I don't want to wait 10 years either, so, yeah, that's why. It's crazy, but worth it.

Also, I am doing the i130 petition for Ricky, so he can get a greencard! I wish we could just live in Queretaro forever, but he deserves his abroad experience. He's never been to the US before and there are a lot of opportunities here that you can't find in Mexico. We'll just see where the Lord takes us after this year. I at least want the option to live here.

My host family, is. Awesome. They are young and have 2 kids. So far, I mostly take care of the baby because his 2 year old sister goes to pre-school. He's 10 months old and weighs the same as a 2 year old. His daddy is an NBA player and is 6'9". I feel like Willow. Baby is definitely too big for me. But I am already starting to fall in love with him. In a year that will probably be bad. But for now, all of his affection helps me with my neediness from being away from Ricky. The parents are so nice to me and they have made me feel like part of the family. So I guess I made a good choice in choosing this job. There were a lot of places that wanted me as their nanny!

Houston is beautiful, we live on the outskirts about an hour from the city, but it's true when they say that everything's big in Texas! i dont know if I could live here because I feel so small. Maybe I just need to get to know it better. I'm going to the temple next week. Everything will be in english. I had everything memorized in spanish. .. Hahahaha

At least I know I left Ricky in a good place. He has all of our friends and family who hang out with him. They are taking good care of him just like they told me they would. He has a new job at the casa de la marquesa - day shift!!! I'm so happy about that. He can actually get some real rest. And he loves it there. And, he's executive secretary at church and he loves serving and he really gets along with the bishop. And he's also doing school part time and managing the apartment complex we recently moved to. In short, he's suuuuuper busy! I think I would only be in his way right now. But it's good for him too. I'm so proud of him. I guess I'm bragging but it's my blog I can brag. ;) I am grateful that he's okay and that the Lord is watching over him and he is learning.

We both bought ipads to facetime eachother and they are awesome! I have never had an i-anything! Haha but seriously, this is my first apple purchase and I don't regret it one bit. It was a great investment, for those of you who are thinking about it. I don't even like touch screens but I love this. Okay, commercial over.

So with all the rehearsals and everything I never did follow through with my practice plan. I'm horrible with that, always. Well now I have a little free time in the evenings and now Im not in any orchestras so I have to practice, or else I will be in big trouble after a whole year. This is what I did and so far it's working. It's plan debbie...
Debbie has to study for lsat retake in one year. I have to practice to keep up my skills to look for orchestra jobs after I'm done with the nanny stuff in one year. Every day, we tell eachother what we are going to do related to that goal. We have to do something every day. We have to follow through for 2 weeks, and then we get ourselves a small prize. Then, we have to keep going, maybe for a month, 2 months, etc. until we have gotten ourselves a lot of practice and a lot of prizes. The idea is to have someone to be accountable to. Well, we just started but it really helps for my, oh I'll just skip a day nothing will happen moods that I get in just after forming a practice plan. Wish us luck.

Well, I'll sign off for now. I hope everyone is having a good new year!