It Works! It WORKS!

Hello fellow mommies, wives, and dirty shirt wearing people! I have to announce that the homemade Oxi-Clean that I made WORKS! I am going to save a million dollars in cleaning supplies and clothing!!!
I am doing a test blog to show you that it really works but that won't be done until tomorrow...it's gotta sit in the peroxide-baking soda-water mixture for 24 hours. I am thinking that depends on how bad the stain is and how long it's been on the clothing. I had a shirt of Isabella's that was wrecked. It was super cute with birdies on it. I loved it, and kept having her wear it at home because it cost me $5 bucks! (I know...I'm cheap)
I tried the homemade Oxi-clean version the day prior and left it in it with 2 other shirts for a couple of hours but it just brightened up white of the shirt. It didn't seem to even touch the stain. Well - I tried again yesterday, I made the concoction and let it sit in it (by itself) for a whole 24 hours. This morning - before the girls were up I started laundry and looked at the shirt and the stain was completely gone!!!!

 The stains of chocolate milk were all around the front collar and on the right sleeve cap...I loved this picture and wanted to cry!

Super clean!!! 

It turned out GREAT and the color on the sleeves or the appli-kay wasn't damaged in any way!
I am so excited. I made a double batch for the test blog and put 5 shirts in it...here's hoping I can do some testifying for ya'll! Check back tomorrow to see my hard work!

Shh..it's nap time, and there is no buzzer going off!

Once you have children, you learn that Christmas is no longer the most wonderful time of the year...nap time is! Ah, nap time. When those little lovelies that tear up your house, eat away at your patience one "Please don't do that" at a time, and for the most part make the days fly by so fast you wonder how it is that it's December. It's especially nice if you have more then one child and they BOTH go down at the same time. (That didn't happen today - but the buzzing has stopped for about 2 hours...I'll get to that buzzing in a minute)

So, yes - nap time....the time to get lost in a Diet Coke and blackberry cobbler; or Hersey kisses, or cookies, or brownies....you get my drift. So here - I am enjoying the sound of Isabella ripping my family room apart while Lilliana sleeps. (Well - she's supposed to be sleeping but I hear her ass talking to monk in there....Go.To.Bed!)

Today is Day 1 of potty training. After four hours....I can completely understand why people let their kids piss and shit in diapers until they are 4 or 5. This shit is HARD! I knew it would be a test of my will and patience. I also knew that I would have to stay on top of her and know what she is doing every single minute of the day.

But, hell - I am annoying myself with saying, "Tell Mommy if you need to go to the potty. Tell Mommy if you need to go pee pee. Do you have to go poo poo?" I can only imagine how bad Lilli wants to smack my ass! She's probably thinking - Why is this bitch all up in my grill? Making me wear this thin piece of cloth that in no way is going to ever hold the Niagara Falls pees I take. Let alone - she's making me sit on a towel or plastic every time I sit down!

I would want to smack a bitch up too..

Let me start off by telling you that every time I have spoken today...it has been in this high pitched Glenda the Good Witch voice. I want her to be excited about this transition and maybe making my voice annoying as hell, she will pee in the potty. Who knows...I'm winging it here.

Isabella of course woke up before Lilli so I had about 30 minutes to get in the frame of mind of - there's no going back. This will help her. This will help me. This will help my checking account. The diaper rashes will be gone....blah blah blah~ I heard her moving around so I went in and said, "GOOD MORNING! Are you ready to be a big girl today?!" I made a big deal about getting the underwear out that we put away together yesterday. I took her in the bathroom sat her on her potty and.....n.o.t.h.i.n.g. I thought - that's okay... we will just sit here for a little bit - it's not going to magically happen just because I am using this annoying ass voice. So I said, "Let's put your underwear on!" She started kicking and whining. I pulled them up, she tried to take them off. I had a moment of panic and thought...well shit - maybe she is too young. Then I thought - no STICK to this. She and you can do this!

Encouraging some poop action with reading material..Yes, that is Rascal and I sitting there waiting.

So I did what any normal, sane parent would do. I distracted her with stickers and offers of candy. Yep - parent of the year - I know it...no need for the prize....I already have them anyway (2 of the best girls ever!). I got her into the chair...which I had already laid a towel down on and gave her breakfast. Which consisted of chocolate milk, a banana, and a cinnamon pop tart. She wouldn't eat or drink anything. It's like she knew.... the fact that I was sitting next to her staring at her waiting for her to twitch or blink weird and I was prepared to hall her ass off to the bathroom, probably didn't help.

Hubbs got up at that point, and I thought...okay - I need some kind of schedule. So I set the oven timer (god awful buzzing sound) for 15 minutes. I sat back down and we started coloring. Little did I know she had already peed and was sitting happily in wet underwear coloring. She leaned back and I said, "Oh, you went pee pee. Let's go clean you up!" We cleaned up and started our day. Now - I am home all day long. The girls play often in their rooms or in the living room. I am often around the house cleaning, cooking, or doing laundry. Today, I had her in the family room with me - playing with her constantly and watching her. She probably thinks I am the biggest stalker ever!

We continued the morning - that damn buzzer going off every 15 minutes - which after the third time of sitting on the potty with nothing going on, I switched it to every 30 minutes. I was trying to get her to drink water, milk, I even offered up pop (she won't drink juice) She wanted nothing to drink. My child who has the hottest pipes and is usually as parched as a camel in the desert didn't want to drink anything. I was worried then that she wasn't drinking because she knew that would make her have to pee and maybe she was scared of the potty. Maybe she felt uncomfortable in the underwear....I told Hubbs about this. He looked at me like - What the hell are you talking about?.

So I started being less stalker-ish and started paying attention to Isabella - yes sorry Bells...you are getting the shaft for a little bit. Then about 11/2 hours after she peed on the kitchen chair I saw her dance up into the kitchen (we have a sunken in family room) then come back and stand next to me and play on the iPad. I didn't think anything of it...until I heard her dancing around in what sounding like the sound track of Dancing in the Rain. Oh, did I forget to mention she loves to splash around in puddles....yes- even pee puddles it seems! So, off to the bathroom again to clean her up and put on our third pair of underwear of the day. (The first two are already in the dryer...I am a little crazy about that)

She would have sat there all day to play with the iPad!

I set the timer for another 30 minutes, while I have Hubbs telling me in my ear - "She hasn't pooped yet. She needs to poop." Well - of.COURSE! What do you want me to do? I think he wants to make sure she poops BEFORE I go to school so that he won't have to deal with it. Smart man. So - the annoying ass buzzer goes off 2 more times and I think - okay, she drank some water...this girls going to go pee in the potty. I see her go into the bathroom, so I go with her (mind you - I have peed myself ever.single.time. she has "tried"). I remember my friend Jamie telling me her son goes potty naked. My lightbulb comes on and I strip her, and she thinks this is the best damn idea I have had all day. She's dancing around on the toilet rubbing her belly and laughing. And....n.o.t.h.i.n.g. So she stands up and I move to close the bathroom door and she runs and gets behind the shower curtain and hides and.....pees. OMG.....we were so close! I think - at least she went into the bathroom on her own accord....maybe I have her already trained like Pavlov's dog and when she hear that buzz she just went into the bathroom automatically -wishful thinking, I know. But she was in the bathroom at least - less of a clean up and no running around to make sure Isabella or the dog didn't walk through it.

So, here we are...they are both down now...I am going to get up switch the laundry around - try out that DIY oxi clean crap again - and have some blackberry cobbler....cause after this morning I deserve it. I will for sure keep up with this. If I am nothing, I am as stubborn as a mule. She will learn how to go potty in the potty. LMAO......she's smart enough - she will get it...I mean - if I could teach our Rascal Roni to go potty outside...I got this one in the bag right? Just the messes are messier......well - I will keep you all posted on how we are doing...and I will settle this mess with the DIY oxi clean...if it really works - I will do it again and take picture this time! Happy training people!

Bring on the POTTY!

Tomorrow is THE day....we are starting to potty train this princess.

I am hopeful that things will go well and she will be potty trained in no time! BAHAHAHAHA 

Well - I did say I was hopeful right? I think that this will be the biggest challenge parenting thus far. Getting up in the middle of the night was peanuts compared to the battle of wills this child has. 

Don't get me wrong - she is ready. She tells us when she poops. She throws her diapers away. She even tells us if it's just pee. Like for real chick? If you can tell me if you went #1 or #2 your ass is going to be doing your business in the toilet! 

I am not really worried about her catching on. She is extremely bright (if I say so myself...she gets that from my side). It's not HER I am worried about....it's DADDY that may be the problem. This man, who has been Daddy for over 2 years now is not very well trained himself. Wait - he doesn't go in his pants or require diapers or anything...but he HATES changing diapers. I can only imagine the first time she pees and it's running down her leg and he has to clean her up. Or worse yet, the first time he is alone with her and she poops in her underwear....that is going to be fucking EPIC! I can just see him gagging now. He has the weakest stomach ever. Which I don't know how that is really possible since he eats all that nasty ass mexican food with cow tounge and stomach lining and shit. 

So wish us luck! If you have any advice, words of encouragement, or funny stories please share...I think I will for SURE need a drink or large brownie sundae by the end of this week!

Oh - did you know how EXPENSIVE little kid underwear is? For real? Their asses aren't even that big! It should be like 50 cents a pair! Not 7 pairs for 11 bucks...I know you can get them cheaper but that was for Dora man...everyone wants to pee and poop on Dora!

Back in the COUPON game!

Hey Peeps....Last September I started couponing. I was in deep for a couple of months. Buying 10 papers a week, which seemed like excess but I only bought that many for a couple of weeks (when the shampoo/conditioner deals were excellent) and the rest I bought 2 or 3 a week.

I played the coupon game heavily for about 2 months. I got about 1,500 bucks worth of products for 250 bucks. I was on a roll. Then I had Isabella and it just became too much. However, all that couponing put us at a really good place for a year. I have given laundry detergent to many people. My stock on that is slowly dwindling down, and I will need to replace it soon, but I could be good for another two months and not have to buy any. I have toothpaste galore! My brother stocks up each time he comes to visit from California and I have given tubes out to friends and family as well as mouth wash. We don't use the stuff....but when it's free...why not give it to someone else. YES! I know I have to pay tax on it, but if someone else can use it...why not? And shampoo/conditioner...lets not go there...I have enough Pantene, Dove, and Tresemme to last me another year.

So - I have taken a full year off. Isabella just turned a year old last week and I decided to get back in the game. You see, the goal is to get the coupons, hold on to them for a couple of weeks and then use them with deals that the different stores have going on. Only - I haven't been storing any coupons up. Well, luckily for me - you can print coupons off the internet that have usually been on there for a couple of weeks.

I started off looking at my favorite websites:
hip2save.com
forthemommas.com

CVS was having a great deal on Special K this week - it was B1G1Free and there were 2.00 off of 2 box coupons on the net so I got right on that! I also noticed that on the CVS Minute Clinic FB page they were sending out coupons for a free lotion. (They do this about once or twice a year.) So I went on and got one. I noticed that you could go back multiple times and put in another email address. So I sent myself 3 free lotion coupons and was excited to land me some new stuff.

I went off to CVS and here is a picture of my booty, that I ended up paying .93 cents for!!!!

Now - I was expecting to pay $3.98, however, they didn't have the lotions in stock. The manager said that I could get hand sanitizer instead of the lotion. Here's where I made some money off of the sanitizer. The coupons for the lotion were for a max of $2.71. I could have gotten any size item from that line of products but it would only comp me $2.71. Well, turns out the hand sanitizer - WYB 3 are $4.98! So, they were covering $8.13 of product but what I was buying was only $4.98. So I made, $3.15 - which went towards the Special K - making my total .93!!! I was so excited :) I called Hubbs and my mom!

I did go to Rite Aid also for some deals. They had Dove Men's Body Wash and Right Guard Deodorant on special. Also Hershey Kisses :)
For $5.13 I got:
4 - Dove Men's Body Wash
2 - Right Guard Deodorants
2 - Bags of Hershey kisses :)
I did have to spend 12.13 but I got 7.00 back in UpRewards which I will have to spend next week.

Yes - this is an investment folks. I understand that some people wouldn't think of this as saving. My mom is into deals that are low OOP costs, but I know that in the long run - I am getting these things for cheap and am LOVING it! So, it's back on people - bring it!

Fixing Rascal...

So, I have a full figured Pembroke Welsh Corgi. He will be 3 on January 4th {I can't believe we have had this rodent without a tail for that long...seems like longer} and has always loved everything to do with food and has been nursing a year long heartache from losing his best friend Webster. (R.I.P Webbie)

My big boy...Rascal Roni

On the ride home, when he pooped in my car.

He still sleeps like this sometimes....

What a sweet face :)

Growing up some..still pint size!

Halloween 2010

With his best buddy Webster...Kings for Halloween!

So with his depression, adding Lilli, then Bella his world has been a crazy road of twists and turns. He has adapted pretty well. He has never had any problems with Lilli. He often tries to herd her when she runs through the house, which either stops her or encourages her to run faster. He herds all of us, it is in his blood and it's something he has always done. He was okay with Bella when she first came home too. Everything was great until Bella started crawling.

Bella is the animal lover. She is drawn to any animal that is around her and she is very interested in animals in general. When she started crawling she would often go under the table and get into the dog food. Now, Lilli did this but she was redirected very easily, Bells not so much. She started eating the dog food one day and I think that was Rascal's last straw. From that point on he would growl, show is teeth, and pace around like he was guarding the crown jewels.

A couple weeks of this and I moved his food into our bedroom and it got better. He wouldn't do it so much anymore and I thought - how easy of a fix! Well, at the same time of moving his food, we put him on diet dog food and slowly stopped feeding him table scraps. He's about 20 pounds over weight and I really want him to live a long time. At the point when I thought I had cured everything with food placement he started up again. Only this time was anytime the kids (both of them, not just Bella anymore) where walking/crawling around him. If he was laying in the middle of the kitchen and they walked through he would growl..most the time not even lifting his head. He was giving them warning to get away from him, but for what reason?!

I thought about all the changes that have happened for him. I also noticed that he wasn't eating as much as he used to. I switched his food to Chef Michaels because he has always LOVED that food. He started eating again and was happy and left the girls alone. I was so happy for 2 days thinking, I again fixed things. However, then the runs and vomiting started. He was sick for a full week. I was pulling my hair out running after him wiping his butt along with Lilli's, Bella's, and my own butt! He would vomit mostly at night, which I thought was weird. I know that changing your dogs diet can weird their system out but he had NEVER had this. On top of it...he got an ear infection!

So, I switched his food once again to a lamb and rice formula because I know that is gentle on dogs stomachs. He stopped the vomiting and only had the runs every now and then. He was still crabby sometime and his ear infection was going away. My mom's dog has had issues with her bum for quite awhile....she has her on a grain-free food. It has firmed up her poo and her bum is better. So I once again (this will be the last time - for a while if it doesn't work out) changed his food. This is 4 times in about 3 - 4 months. I know that's a lot for his system to take but I want him to eat a really good quality food. AND to not be hungry!

So now he is on Simple food...it is grain free, dairy free, soy free, all kinds of free stuff. It's basically just turkey, potato, and some vitamins. I hope that he can start eating this and become a healthy happy pup. I am going to start taking him on daily walks. It's good for him and the girls to get out and exercise together. This morning was our first morning...it took 15 minutes to prepare for the walk and a walk down the block took 18 minutes - but it was worth it. I gave him some extra snuggles when both girls were down resting. He is shedding MAJORILY right now....and will be groomed either this week or next. Does anyone else have any advice out there about this? I know that some dogs aren't made to be super kid friendly and I don't let them hang on him or hurt him, but I need him to be okay with them being around him.....what to do...what to do?!

It's already 8:35 a.m. - that's what I get for sleeping until 7!

As some of you may know (since you follow me on Facebook also, yes I am that popular!) Isabella has not been sleeping through the night for most of her life. However, it has been especially bad lately. She seems to be getting in what seems like every single tooth that she will ever get in her entire life. Like, I think she is even 2 year molars. Which I don't think is humanly possible. But this child has been miserable. She has successfully made all of the rest of us miserable while dealing with this.

So last night we were out late and I didn't get the girls home and in bed until about 10:30, okay - it was more like 11 but I feel like a bad parent saying that. They were sleeping at Nunna and Papa's so I guess my "strict" parenting didn't go to complete waste by waking them up to get them home. {When in actuality Isabella (teething baby vampire) was up and playing because she gets to do whatever she wants at Nunna and Papa's} I got them home and in bed, I slide in bed and instantly fell asleep since I haven't gotten more then 5 hours of solid sleep in the past week.

So, at 6:50 a.m. I woke up with my heart racing and sweat all over my body feeling like something was wrong. No one had cried, screamed, or started talking to themselves yet and it was almost 7 a.m.!!! I slept from 11:15ish until 6:50. HOW EXCELLENT! And now my stupid internal clock had to set itself off and kill off the rest of the 30 minutes I could have slept until a child woke up. Stupid clock.

You don't realize how much you can get done when you wake up at 5:30 because you are in such a zombieatic state that you are lucky if you don't flush a kid down the toilet or put one in the dishwasher. As I sit here letting the time waste away, while I should be getting ready for the 30 people that are coming over for my brats' birthday parties, I can't help but think how much my life has changed in the last two years. I mean what the hell did I do with my time? There was NO reason and I mean NONE for any of our apartments, cars, or this house (before kids) to have been messy or dirty. I don't even remember what it is like to sleep past 7. On some rare occasions when the Hubbs is feeling bad for me he lets me sleep until 8 or 9 (feels like all the holidays rolled into one!), but how in the hell did I ever sleep past noon and then feel the right to still feel sleepy?!

I remember at one time thinking, I could NEVER function on less then 8 hours of sleep. HARDY fucking HAR HAR - what was I thinking? If I could talk to that carefree sleep loving bitch now - I would say CHERISH every moment you sleep!! One day sleep will be come a chore - that has to occur when you could be cleaning the floors, doing laundry {that will NEVER end}, cooking something, or organizing something. Sleep isn't even enjoyable anymore. When I lay down I am running through all the things that happened that day, what needs to happen the next day, and to remember that the dog groomer is coming this week. Crap - I forgot about that just until now. I have a calendar that I write everything down on....I just need to remember to look at that thing!

So - now I have successfully wasted another 22 minutes by writing this post...which I think is success in the making since, I still haven't showered, gotten the girls dressed, done their hair, cleaned up, or started the marinara sauce that I decided to make from scratch to save money to dip the homemade garlic bread in....why do I think I can be Martha freaking Stewart sometimes? I need to remember that I do not have a full production crew along with a gazillion dollars to get things done!!!!! Any way - another minute wasted and Isabella is asking for more milk, while biting my knee with those damn new teeth...bastard teeth!

Another year has flown by!

What? How is it possible that I am a mother of a 2 year old and a 1 year old?! As of November 20th and 21st, I will have 2 toddlers. My life is over as I know it! I don't even know how that is possible since I just graduated high school a couple of years ago! HA!
It still amazes me how much a child changes in one year. They go from being limp lugs that eat, cry, sleep, and poop to getting into EVERYTHING and still eating, crying, sleeping, and pooping. Although, the pooping gets worse...yuck!

Lilliana Mariposa~
She has the biggest attitude ever. She asserts her independence at every turn. She wants things her way and she wants them now, or else someone is going to pay. When she gets mad she throws things and thinks putting a blanket over her sisters head is funny. She speaks in small sentences now. She can tell me her basic wants and needs. She loves hugs and body slamming her sister. She is an attention getter and lives for pop music. She is the biggest Icee eater and loves cookies. Saying that she is overly obsessed with Dora and Diego is putting it mildly and if it weren't for those shows I would not have my sanity.
I remember the minute they let me hold her. Then I remember sleeping for what seemed like 12 hours, while Silva came to visit and took care of our child while us excellent parents slept. LMAO...I will never forget that! Or the fact that she looked exactly like my father-in-law. She is such an Angel....literally. I was so happy to get her out of me after 22 hours of labor that I didn't care if they pulled her out of my ass....that girl just needed to come out!
Lilli when she was born.

Lilli on her 1st birthday with her Fairy Godmother.











My bratty 2 year old.

We have videoed almost her whole entire life. I have become one of those people that shows strangers pictures of my child even if they don't care. She has changed so much in 2 short year. She is the highlight of my day and the reason why I want to pull my hair out. She is a Daddy's girl and loves her Blankie and Paci. She loves being outside and gives the biggest open mouthed kisses. She loves to dance and knows how to move her hips (yikes!). She has completely stolen my heart, patience, and every ounce of energy I have. I worry and wonder about what she will be like when she grows older. How many times she will fall in love and how I hope that she will be strong and follow her dreams. I want her to be opinionated, driven, and full of spunk. I want her to know her worth and that we will always love her no matter what she does. Happy 2nd birthday baby girl. You are a gift from God and make every day of my life just that much sweeter!

Isabella Elizabeth ~

Now on to the 1 year old. It's funny that my sister posted a picture of Miguel, Lilli, and I on Lilli's 1st birthday and captioned it as: Yep, that's a happy family! Adding another daughter in 15 days (or less as Jennifer would like). 

What a fluke that the very next day I would go to the OBGYN and they would say - "Um, we are sending you to deliver today, you have preclampsia." I remember crying first for the baby's sake, then thinking - Oh, Lord - they are going to hate me for having their birthdays so close. Then I thought, my mom is going to kill me because she wanted a pay day in between their birthdays. That was one of the worse and best days of my life. It's amazing how so many emotions you can go through in the matter of 12 hours. My blood pressure was out of control 200/180 (so stroke level). They took me in to deliver via c-section, only to have to postpone it 8 hours because my dumb ass ate breakfast...how was I supposed to know that she was going to come that day?! She was supposed to cook for another 2 weeks! 

I thought for sure that I would have another 8 pounder..maybe more - however, I gave birth to a very tiny, 6 lb 2 ounce baby girl that was in the NICU for 7 days. I got to hold her in recovery and then I didn't get to see her for 24 hours (due to the blood pressure issues). Seeing her all hooked up was one of the hardest things I have had to endure. She was so small and was poked and prodded and she was perfect. She looked like her sister with the dark hair (all over her body, holy monkey), the Angel hands, and she was just so small. 

I should have known that she would be the neediest, clingiest, life sucking child anyone could have that first time I saw her in that incubator. She is my right hip...literally. I don't even know how she has already managed to learn how to walk 2 steps due to always being held and loved on. She had colic for 4 1/2 months and at the worse of worse moments, when I hadn't slept in 3 days and all she did was cry, I thought - I would do anything for this child. 

The day she was born:

 Doing what she loves best.....eating

My big girl on Halloween!

She has always and will always loved to be held, hugged, and kissed. She giggles with her whole body, she can and will eat absolutely EVERYTHING. She is super tiny (for our standards) and is not fearful of any animal. She tortures our dog and me every chance she can get. I honestly believe that if she could crawl into my belly and hang out for the 2 weeks that she got shafted on she would.
What amazes most about her, is in all my worry about how small she was and the rough start she had, she has grown and surpassed all of my expectations. She has started walking (granted only 2 steps then she gets scared) and babbles with the best of them. 
She is for sure going to be my soft-hearted Mommy's girl for the rest of her life. She will be the first to cry, tattle tell, and brown nose. She plays "shy" around strangers and it melts my heart. I have held her for more hours then she has been alive, first inside my belly and then for almost every single minute she has been alive. She is beautiful and a little shit. She gets into everything and isn't afraid of anything. She has gone from having a full head of hair and hairy body, to bald with cradle cap, to a mullet. She looks much more like me then I thought was possible with Hubbs strong mexican swimmers. But she is the joy of my day. 
She makes me smile about 1000 times a day. I get to sing her to sleep at least once a day. She fits so perfectly to my side, I often wonder how I walk around on my own. She is my life's one miracle. From being so tiny and small, needing help to breath to being a terror on 2 feet. I hope that she doesn't turn into the biggest brat in the world and becomes her own person. I wish she would sleep longer then 8 hours and if not, then that she would learn to play in her crib until 7 am. 
I know that she will do good for this Earth. She will be my free loving, hippy child. That runs around without shoes on, rescuing every stray animal in our neighborhood. I hope that her curiosity takes her tons of places and that she doesn't have a problem with telling people, "No." I know that she has the biggest heart and will give herself 110% to every challenge that appears. 
She is my fighter and inspiration. Happy 1st birthday sweetness.
"And though she be but little, she is fierce." -Shakespeare