Dearest Castillo Children,
Hello, my sweeties! What a fun week we had! I always have fun with you, even when you scream at me because I forgot to start dinner earlier. (Okay, fun isn't the word, but at least you DO get feed... eventually.)
On Tuesday Annalise had her 1 year check up with her doctor, Dr. Sifontes. Annalise is very tall for her age. The first time they measured her, she was off the charts. They re-measured and she came out to be in the 90% for height. (I secretly think she was a little conservative on her measurements so I really think she is somewhere in between that). She is in the 50% for weight, so she's average weight and tall. Her height to weight ratio is low but I keep thinking of Todd's tall and thin sisters so I'm not super worried about it. She'll be like Nora, tall and thin. There are definitely worse things in this world.
That reminds me of something my sister Kristine said to me when I was worried about Nora. Nora was really under weight and they were worried about her. And just when I thought everything was fine with Nora they were worried about her having little breast already as a 1 year old. I was freaking out - "why do they keep finding new problems for her!" When I shared that with Kristine she said the best thing to calm me down. "Well, then she'll be tall and skinny with big boobs. There are worse things to deal with." Thanks Kristine, I needed that perspective. So I apply it to a lot of things. IS this situation REALLY all that bad? Usually, the answer is no.
While at the doctors I asked her if they could tell the final height of a child and she said at the age of two they can calculate it out. So I asked her how tall Nora would end up being and the calculations were 5'7 to 5'9, so about my height at 5'8. I can't imagine my little Nora as tall as me! I'm happy if that's the height she gets though. Tall enough to be considered tall but not intimidating. But I also think tall is beautiful - if Annalise wants to reach for 6'0 like her auntie that she is sorta named after, Alicia, then by all means. However, her other auntie Dianna, whom she was also named after, is only 5'4. We'll see.
Annalise is sure starting to show her stubborn side. We are trying to teach her sign language like we did with Nora, however she knows the sign but refuses to do it. I know she knows the sign because sometimes she'll do it. But if we ask her to do the sign she'll stare at us like, "whatcha gonna do about it". Many a night she has been left in her high chair simply because she won't do the "all done" sign. However, she'll say the words. She also likes to say "clean up" like from the Clean Up Song. Weird. She wants to talk and is really stubborn about when she'll use signs. It's funny because Nora was SO willing to use signs and caught on really fast. She figured out if she did the "please" sign Mommy would give her a bite of cookie or whatever she wanted. Annalise just cries at me. Must be more consistent...
On Thursday I had to go return some clothes to the store, which meant a trip to the mall with my two babies. Fear? Horror? A little of both was felt but I really wanted to go and finish up my errand for the week. I brought my double jogging stroller along and I have to confess again that I LOVE my double jogging stroller. It's not like other strollers, it isn't a side by side one but one with a back seat and a front seat. Why do I love this? I can fit into doorways and elevators. At one point I had to take the girls to the bathroom. We barely made it into the bathroom and then into a stall with my stroller. I would have had to leave it outside of the bathroom if I was in a big double one. Made going through the mall so easy. Too bad I live too far from a mall and I don't plan return anytime soon, but it's nice to know that it works so well.
We stopped by See's Candy (drool...) and the ladies were so nice in there! They gave me a candy and one for each of my girls. I let them have the white chocolate so they wouldn't make a huge mess. That's one way to have happy kids at the mall: candy.
I went to my new favorite store Christopher and Banks in the mall. I got some really cute things online from them for $10 each but some of the pieces didn't fit. Boo. They were too big. YAY! I much rather have things be too big than too small. Makes my ego a little happier. ANYWAY, while I was in there I noticed the sales ladies where older ladies. Very nice and fashionable, but older none the less. As I looked for something else I noticed all the clients were also in their 60s or so. Hmm...was I too young for this store? The best was when a 60 year old lady came in with her 80 year old mother in a wheel chair. Yeah, that place was happening. However, I found this GORGEOUS grey sweater with big ruffles on it that I exchanged my items to purchase. I don't mind buying from an old lady store as long as I look cute when I leave.
What else happened this week? Your dad and I sat down and worked on a budget. We argued about where some of the surplus funds should be spent - still didn't come to a conclusion. (Yes, we argue about stuff sometimes, but we try to listen to each other's side without getting grumpy. Arguments happen in any relationship. We actually talked about this at church today.)
Yesterday I was stuck at Walmart for about 3 and a half hours waiting to get new tires for the car. Bah. I went to Ross though and bought a cute dress for $5.99 on clearance and I wore it to church today. It's blue with little flowers around the neckline. Almost made up for the horribly long wait...almost. :)
Today after church Nora kept saying "Mildred" over and over again. I was like: "Is that someone in Nursery?" and "Who's Mildred's mommy?" Only to have it pointed out to me that she was actually saying Gnomeo and Juliet - a movie she likes to watch in the afternoon after her nap time. WHAT!? I totally didn't get that. She is normally so good at saying things but this time I was at such a total loss. So it's like this (the capitolized letters are the sounds she makes) gnoMEO anD juliET. Craziness.
My piano lessons are going well. YAY! My teach says I'm moving along faster than a 7 year old, which actually really made me happy. I was worried that being older would mean I wouldn't pick it up as quickly. But then again, I do actually enjoy practicing and making it something that's just for me. I'm so glad I'm doing this. Also, my health stuff has seemed to have slowed for now. Starting to feel better again. And tomorrow I get to use my B-12 patch and that always makes me have more energy. YAY, vitamins!
Daddy is starting a new weight loss program with his work tomorrow. Let's all wish him luck!
With Love,
Your Mother
Letters to my children as they grow.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Happy Birthday my beautiful Annalise!!
Dear Castillo Children,
Hello, my beauties! I hope you will always remember that I find both of your breath-takingly beautiful. I love waking you up and giving your cute little cheeks kisses. You're wonderful and so kind. You make me laugh with your antics and make me smile with your gentle hugs and kisses.
This week the most exciting thing we did was go to Mesa on Saturday to celebrate Annalise turning one! We went to Grammy and PopPop's house and had a big bbq! Your aunts, uncles and both sets of grandparents were there. Even Great-Grandma Geniel came, she's the one that you got your middle name from, Annalise. It was so fun to eat hamburgers and steak (your dad really likes steak) and your Grammy made you a panda cake since you're our Anna-Panda. One fun thing we did was do a Chinese tradition. Your Aunt Dianna gave you this little Chinese outfit from Chinatown in New York and we dressed you up in it. On their first birthday there is a tradition where you place 4 objects in front of the baby and allow them to pick one. There is a book - to symbolize that you'll seek after knowledge, money - that you'll seek after finances, a toy - that you'll seek after entertainment and a pen - that you'll seek after self expression. You went straight to the pen. I can't wait to see if you'll be an artist like so many of us in the family. It's in the blood. You also went for my big, fabulous sun glasses so you might also seek to be fabulous. :)
Earlier in the week we had the Missionaries over for some cookies. Elder Boyd and Elder Grigg stopped by and we've seen them a lot. They were so nice that they even brought a pineapple because they liked the way your dad cooks pineapples. He likes to roast them with a little bit of cinnamon. That's how they do it Brasil, where he served his mission. Nora was in LOVE with the pineapple. She wanted to smell it, then wanted me to smell and finally she wanted Miss Mable (her special little doll) smell it. Oh, Nora, Nora, Nora. Your relationship with the elders is SO funny. On Sunday we had them over for dinner and while Elder Grigg was washing his hands in our powder room you went in there, announced that you were going to go pee pee and started to pull down your pants. Elder Grigg RAN out with his hands still wet. We all had a good laugh about it. Until after dinner when you went to the potty and came running back out without any pants on. Oh, how we traumatized the poor elders. Good thing they love us and our (correction: your dad's) cooking.
This week was hard for me personally though. I found out that I had a cyst on my ovary that burst and caused me a lot of pain and bleeding. I hate having to do medical exams and taking medicine. I hate having something wrong with my body again after the year I just got done with. All I wanted was a year without having to go the doctor's office- with exception of check up visits. It's only January and I already broke that goal. Oh, well. Chinese New Year Resolution? Year of the Dragon?
I was also given a new calling at church that I have to admit that I am NOT excited about. They asked me to be the Ward Chorister. Bah!? I had no desire to do this calling, especially since I was in charge of music before and doing a choir is hard. At least this time around I can just focus on a choir without doing all the other music stuff. Todd is in charge of that. :) So, to make it more fun for me, I decided to focus more are vocal technique and actually teach music to the choir. I think I'll break down my choir time like we did when I was in school. Half technical, half rehearsal. I'm hoping it'll work and be fun for me and them. I'm trying to make the best out of something that isn't my most desired position. Here's to hoping.
Love you, my babies. We have magical moments together, and some painfully annoying moments. I hope we both remember the magic more.
With Love,
Your Mother
Hello, my beauties! I hope you will always remember that I find both of your breath-takingly beautiful. I love waking you up and giving your cute little cheeks kisses. You're wonderful and so kind. You make me laugh with your antics and make me smile with your gentle hugs and kisses.
This week the most exciting thing we did was go to Mesa on Saturday to celebrate Annalise turning one! We went to Grammy and PopPop's house and had a big bbq! Your aunts, uncles and both sets of grandparents were there. Even Great-Grandma Geniel came, she's the one that you got your middle name from, Annalise. It was so fun to eat hamburgers and steak (your dad really likes steak) and your Grammy made you a panda cake since you're our Anna-Panda. One fun thing we did was do a Chinese tradition. Your Aunt Dianna gave you this little Chinese outfit from Chinatown in New York and we dressed you up in it. On their first birthday there is a tradition where you place 4 objects in front of the baby and allow them to pick one. There is a book - to symbolize that you'll seek after knowledge, money - that you'll seek after finances, a toy - that you'll seek after entertainment and a pen - that you'll seek after self expression. You went straight to the pen. I can't wait to see if you'll be an artist like so many of us in the family. It's in the blood. You also went for my big, fabulous sun glasses so you might also seek to be fabulous. :)
Earlier in the week we had the Missionaries over for some cookies. Elder Boyd and Elder Grigg stopped by and we've seen them a lot. They were so nice that they even brought a pineapple because they liked the way your dad cooks pineapples. He likes to roast them with a little bit of cinnamon. That's how they do it Brasil, where he served his mission. Nora was in LOVE with the pineapple. She wanted to smell it, then wanted me to smell and finally she wanted Miss Mable (her special little doll) smell it. Oh, Nora, Nora, Nora. Your relationship with the elders is SO funny. On Sunday we had them over for dinner and while Elder Grigg was washing his hands in our powder room you went in there, announced that you were going to go pee pee and started to pull down your pants. Elder Grigg RAN out with his hands still wet. We all had a good laugh about it. Until after dinner when you went to the potty and came running back out without any pants on. Oh, how we traumatized the poor elders. Good thing they love us and our (correction: your dad's) cooking.
This week was hard for me personally though. I found out that I had a cyst on my ovary that burst and caused me a lot of pain and bleeding. I hate having to do medical exams and taking medicine. I hate having something wrong with my body again after the year I just got done with. All I wanted was a year without having to go the doctor's office- with exception of check up visits. It's only January and I already broke that goal. Oh, well. Chinese New Year Resolution? Year of the Dragon?
I was also given a new calling at church that I have to admit that I am NOT excited about. They asked me to be the Ward Chorister. Bah!? I had no desire to do this calling, especially since I was in charge of music before and doing a choir is hard. At least this time around I can just focus on a choir without doing all the other music stuff. Todd is in charge of that. :) So, to make it more fun for me, I decided to focus more are vocal technique and actually teach music to the choir. I think I'll break down my choir time like we did when I was in school. Half technical, half rehearsal. I'm hoping it'll work and be fun for me and them. I'm trying to make the best out of something that isn't my most desired position. Here's to hoping.
Love you, my babies. We have magical moments together, and some painfully annoying moments. I hope we both remember the magic more.
With Love,
Your Mother
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Foot steps, oh little ones
Dearest Castillo Children,
Here we are at the beginning of another week and we need to recap all the crazy activities from the week previous. Well, Nora has been having some difficulties with her potty training. She's totally trained, goes on her own and doesn't really have accidents. However, as of late, everytime she is in Nursery at church she has ANOTHER accident. She peed today in her panties and then pooped in the diaper we put on her because she peed in her big girl pants. It's only in Nursery and it has happened the last three weeks. Is this normal? Everywhere else we don't have a problem. I wonder if it is because she's confined to a space and can't leave to go on her own to the bathroom. That is what she does at home. I can't tell what the problem is and we really have no way to fix it. She still did it while I was subbing in there last Sunday. Bah.
Other than that, and a few moments of brattiness, Nora is a joy to have around. She laughs and plays with me. I feel bad sometimes that all she has is me to play with. I'm fun but I can't always be her little playmate. Her little playgroup that we did weekly has disbanded and now I'm going to have to find others for her to play with. I have mixed feels about the end of the playgroup. On one hand it's nice not to have the obligation of it but on the other hand it was nice to have somewhere to go. I think I'm more on the first hand though. We haven't done it at all this month and I don't really miss it.
Nora also got to go on a daddy date. They usually just run errands with each other (Todd likes to take her to Harbor Freight). She loves going in his truck and I got to have some special one on one time with my sweetie Annalise. We have decided to call her Anna-Panda since we watched Kung Fu Panda 2. There is one part in the movie where the mommy panda has to leave her baby panda and the baby panda looks so much like Annalise at this age! Big eyes and big cheeks. Too cute! Everytime we call Annalise that Nora says that's Nora-Panda, eventhough we call her Nora-Bear (like Polar Bear), I guess they can both be pandas. :)
Annalise is finally getting the hang of walking! She took her first steps the day after Christmas but since then she'd take a few steps then resort to "walking" on her knees. She's finally getting how to move and she'll cross a room to get to either daddy or me. It's so cute to watch her walk. It's also bitter sweet since I know that soon she'll be moving into her toddler years. She is also starting to get her top front tooth, but it is taking it's time to come in. She already has her two bottom teeth.
This week we played in the park (the swings are the girls' favorite), walked the dog, went to the library (where there is a statue of a little boy about Nora's height. I want to take pictures by it so she can see herself grow) and generally played around.
I got to do a childhood wish and I started piano lessons. Soooo excited! I found this awesome lady in my ward that teaches me once a week for $25 dollars a month. That's a screaming deal to me. I have loved practicing and I can't wait to get good enough to start to actually learn how to play songs. My dream is to someday be good enough to play in the primary. I also got to go on a shopping spree to Ross and bought 3 shirts, 3 pairs of heels and then went to Kohl's to buy a belt and necklace. Plus the money I spent online on this amazing deal. It feels nice to be able to buy clothes again.
Also I have some fun new medical issues that came up this week. And by fun, I mean annoying and terrible. I won't know anything until after Monday when I speak with my doc. Here's to hoping all is well, huh?
With Love,
Your Mother
Here we are at the beginning of another week and we need to recap all the crazy activities from the week previous. Well, Nora has been having some difficulties with her potty training. She's totally trained, goes on her own and doesn't really have accidents. However, as of late, everytime she is in Nursery at church she has ANOTHER accident. She peed today in her panties and then pooped in the diaper we put on her because she peed in her big girl pants. It's only in Nursery and it has happened the last three weeks. Is this normal? Everywhere else we don't have a problem. I wonder if it is because she's confined to a space and can't leave to go on her own to the bathroom. That is what she does at home. I can't tell what the problem is and we really have no way to fix it. She still did it while I was subbing in there last Sunday. Bah.
Other than that, and a few moments of brattiness, Nora is a joy to have around. She laughs and plays with me. I feel bad sometimes that all she has is me to play with. I'm fun but I can't always be her little playmate. Her little playgroup that we did weekly has disbanded and now I'm going to have to find others for her to play with. I have mixed feels about the end of the playgroup. On one hand it's nice not to have the obligation of it but on the other hand it was nice to have somewhere to go. I think I'm more on the first hand though. We haven't done it at all this month and I don't really miss it.
Nora also got to go on a daddy date. They usually just run errands with each other (Todd likes to take her to Harbor Freight). She loves going in his truck and I got to have some special one on one time with my sweetie Annalise. We have decided to call her Anna-Panda since we watched Kung Fu Panda 2. There is one part in the movie where the mommy panda has to leave her baby panda and the baby panda looks so much like Annalise at this age! Big eyes and big cheeks. Too cute! Everytime we call Annalise that Nora says that's Nora-Panda, eventhough we call her Nora-Bear (like Polar Bear), I guess they can both be pandas. :)
Annalise is finally getting the hang of walking! She took her first steps the day after Christmas but since then she'd take a few steps then resort to "walking" on her knees. She's finally getting how to move and she'll cross a room to get to either daddy or me. It's so cute to watch her walk. It's also bitter sweet since I know that soon she'll be moving into her toddler years. She is also starting to get her top front tooth, but it is taking it's time to come in. She already has her two bottom teeth.
This week we played in the park (the swings are the girls' favorite), walked the dog, went to the library (where there is a statue of a little boy about Nora's height. I want to take pictures by it so she can see herself grow) and generally played around.
I got to do a childhood wish and I started piano lessons. Soooo excited! I found this awesome lady in my ward that teaches me once a week for $25 dollars a month. That's a screaming deal to me. I have loved practicing and I can't wait to get good enough to start to actually learn how to play songs. My dream is to someday be good enough to play in the primary. I also got to go on a shopping spree to Ross and bought 3 shirts, 3 pairs of heels and then went to Kohl's to buy a belt and necklace. Plus the money I spent online on this amazing deal. It feels nice to be able to buy clothes again.
Also I have some fun new medical issues that came up this week. And by fun, I mean annoying and terrible. I won't know anything until after Monday when I speak with my doc. Here's to hoping all is well, huh?
With Love,
Your Mother
Sunday, January 8, 2012
I want to Blog...no, really
Dearest Castillo Children,
Wow. I am horrible at blogging. I want to be better at it, I promise. I really want to have this blog that is full of pictures and enjoyable moments captured that so easily can be disregarded through the hubbub of daily life. My biggest question is: do I write about the last couple of months or only focus on this last week? Since this last week both of you were sick and unbelievable whinny. (I'm looking at you Nora.) I will instead talk about the Christmas season.
What a special Christmas season this was for me. Especially getting to see my two girls just amazed by the lights and music of the season. It was a time of service also for me, which always brings in the Christmas Spirit. Always remember that the spirit of Christmas is the love of Christ. And that pure love is charity- giving service to all around us. My favorite thing I got to be a part of was a huge garage sale for my friend who lost her 16 month old son very unexpectately. It was so heart-wrenching but there has been so much peace that I can't help but feel like his little life accomplished more than most people who live to be 80. With a sudden lose of a child there are financial costs that are difficult on top of an emotional one. I couldn't help her with the pain and loss, only our Savior is really capable of helping with that, but I could help with the funeral costs and medical bills. We asked people to donate items to sell at a garage sale and it was HUGE. We had 3 garages full of stuff, plus my front room. We had to turn people away because we had SO much stuff. We filled three driveways and yards with the amount of stuff we had. I had to ask my neighbors if we could use their driveways, too. It was hard work and I asked people in the ward to help run it and it ran so smoothly. I feel so humbled by how well it ran. I was worried there won't be enough people to set up - there was a small army there to help. I was worried about not having people there to run the sell - when people had to leave others showed up to help. When it came time to clean up there were people there to clean and trailers there to take things away. It was beautiful. It's what I imagine Zion to be like. Everytime during the week when I would look at how messy and crazy everything in my house was I would start to have anxiety. I felt like a crazy hoarder! But then a feeling of peace would just wash over me and I knew it would be fine. We were able to raise about $4,000 that day and an extra $1,000. That is HUGE. I'm so happy we were able to do that for the Hunt Family. They have always been an example of service to me and I'm grateful I was able to serve them, even just a little bit.
Christmas was fun this year. We decided to have Christmas morning in our own home before heading up to Phx to spend time with family. Since it was Sunday we went to church first before opening up presents. 7:30am church is pretty brutal. At least we all look cute in our Christmas morning pictures. :) We spent time with my family and Todd's. We went to the Zoo with my family and had the Castillo lunch with his side. The girls got lots of princess toys and Annalise didn't seem to understand what was going on. Nora really like Santa and enjoyed his image on toys and in person - but she still didn't seem to understand what the whole point of him way just yet. Oh, next year that'll change I'm sure.
As I said, I'm hoping to be better about blogging. I want to be able tp print this blog out as a record of my family. I think that is such a beautiful way to journal about the everyday happening. Because, before I know it my girls will be grown and gone and I'll have are my words and pictures of there short, precious years. How I love my girls!
With Love,
Your Mother
Wow. I am horrible at blogging. I want to be better at it, I promise. I really want to have this blog that is full of pictures and enjoyable moments captured that so easily can be disregarded through the hubbub of daily life. My biggest question is: do I write about the last couple of months or only focus on this last week? Since this last week both of you were sick and unbelievable whinny. (I'm looking at you Nora.) I will instead talk about the Christmas season.
What a special Christmas season this was for me. Especially getting to see my two girls just amazed by the lights and music of the season. It was a time of service also for me, which always brings in the Christmas Spirit. Always remember that the spirit of Christmas is the love of Christ. And that pure love is charity- giving service to all around us. My favorite thing I got to be a part of was a huge garage sale for my friend who lost her 16 month old son very unexpectately. It was so heart-wrenching but there has been so much peace that I can't help but feel like his little life accomplished more than most people who live to be 80. With a sudden lose of a child there are financial costs that are difficult on top of an emotional one. I couldn't help her with the pain and loss, only our Savior is really capable of helping with that, but I could help with the funeral costs and medical bills. We asked people to donate items to sell at a garage sale and it was HUGE. We had 3 garages full of stuff, plus my front room. We had to turn people away because we had SO much stuff. We filled three driveways and yards with the amount of stuff we had. I had to ask my neighbors if we could use their driveways, too. It was hard work and I asked people in the ward to help run it and it ran so smoothly. I feel so humbled by how well it ran. I was worried there won't be enough people to set up - there was a small army there to help. I was worried about not having people there to run the sell - when people had to leave others showed up to help. When it came time to clean up there were people there to clean and trailers there to take things away. It was beautiful. It's what I imagine Zion to be like. Everytime during the week when I would look at how messy and crazy everything in my house was I would start to have anxiety. I felt like a crazy hoarder! But then a feeling of peace would just wash over me and I knew it would be fine. We were able to raise about $4,000 that day and an extra $1,000. That is HUGE. I'm so happy we were able to do that for the Hunt Family. They have always been an example of service to me and I'm grateful I was able to serve them, even just a little bit.
Christmas was fun this year. We decided to have Christmas morning in our own home before heading up to Phx to spend time with family. Since it was Sunday we went to church first before opening up presents. 7:30am church is pretty brutal. At least we all look cute in our Christmas morning pictures. :) We spent time with my family and Todd's. We went to the Zoo with my family and had the Castillo lunch with his side. The girls got lots of princess toys and Annalise didn't seem to understand what was going on. Nora really like Santa and enjoyed his image on toys and in person - but she still didn't seem to understand what the whole point of him way just yet. Oh, next year that'll change I'm sure.
As I said, I'm hoping to be better about blogging. I want to be able tp print this blog out as a record of my family. I think that is such a beautiful way to journal about the everyday happening. Because, before I know it my girls will be grown and gone and I'll have are my words and pictures of there short, precious years. How I love my girls!
With Love,
Your Mother
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)