beautiful & sick & wiggly days

the days have been gooooorrgeous lately! the sun is out, the temps perfect. so so perfect. but my backyard...ehhhh....not so much. 

we actually still don't have a lawnmower. but no worries because both boys hate the grass and won't walk on it anyway. silly boys. does your kid whine and cry when grass touches his foot? mine does. and mosquitos. don't get me started on mosquitos. blasted things!

i hope by next spring, we get a plan going and start planting some amazing things. i have a great vision for my huge backyard. 

but for now, it's a pitiful soul-less yard. and the boys know it. they won't come out to play unless i push them out the doors. what's wrong with kids today? ...just kiddin'. 

and on one of those rare moments, i decided to bring my big camera out. i found that i was rusty. so rusty. 

give ninja swords to boys and they will play. 

little girl loves watching her brothers. they could care less about her, but her eyes just have so much excitement. she loves it the most when they giggle at each other too. they're silly boys, it's true.

it was one of those lazy afternoons, the kind where i wished i had a lounger with a cup holder so i could put my ice-cold lime infused water in, just relaxing listening to the boys fight. and don't forget the mosquito repellent. very important. 

but for now, it's just a wish. i know these days won't last long at all--the weather, the laughter...

little girl is scraping her toes and getting blisters all over her toes because she cannot be still. she loves her walker (thanks Nana!) and she loves to wiggle about--no crawling. 

the boys requested i push the trampoline next to the deck so that they don't have to walk on the 'itchy' grass. 

i'm telling you, her brothers bring her pure joy. i pray they will continue to do that throughout the years. it makes my mama heart so happy.

and i just have to note on here that elena eats everything. every little piece of trash, stale cheetoh, stickers, legos on the floor, and now my jade plant that sits outside. and please, no one has a bigger heart attack than me when she does that, so just settle those panties down. the jade plant is very mildly toxic to humans sometimes and it has been removed from my deck for future outings with the little girl. now comes the part where i look up all the other plants to see if they're poisonous. ay ay ayyy!

this past monday, andrew came back home from school because of a stomach bug. i have to confess that it was one of those great, lazy days again. the day was pretty much ideal to go outside--but i didn't coerce him to play outside because he needed rest. after a few tv shows, i turned the screen off and told them they had two choices: color or take a nap. and so they chose to color. as much as i want them to color from coloring books like i did when i was a girl, they prefer to make up their own coloring pages. 

and elena wanted to be in on the action too. she came around, saw those colorful waxy sticks and gnawed on a couple of them and wiggled off to a new adventure. 

she is my little inchworm. i'll leave the room and a minute later, she's huffing and puffing her way to where her mama is and greet me with the biggest smile. i love it. 

these pictures below are just a few out of like 30 that i took just trying to capture her in focus. she has mastered wiggling through the house like a champ, hence the blisters on the ball of her feet. 

she's a nut. she's amazing. she's beautiful. and she's mine. but i'll let you hold her. 

i don't think she'll learn to crawl properly. she seems quite content just commando'ing it. eating up left over carrots or small debris--it's gross i know, but you know what? mom of three here. and she'll eventually poop it out so win-win.

on a very shocking side note, i can't believe this is my life. 

have a great week everyone! we have some awesome plans this weekend that i am so excited about--yay! 

trying to catch up?!

good grief. poor blog. it is so neglected. what's wrong with me. 

oh yeah. there's a baby in my uterus which is completely preventing me from having a normal life. 

it's really ridiculous. not to mention my new iphone is making me neglect my poor girl, Nikon. causing me to post a lot more on instagram than here. oooh i hate it. but i love it.

before we left for thanksgiving break, we battled the biggest cold we've ever had at this address. starting with andrew, it continued with jonah, and it finished with me {and still going around to half the world, i suppose} i blogged about it here

if i thought i was pretty much useless being pregnant, i was really completely useless while sick and pregnant. i couldn't accomplish diddly squat. but we survived. and we were happy for a bit. 

it was thanksgiving week and we drove that dreaded five-hour drive to our parents place. the boys get so excited visiting grandparents they can hardly stand it. 

we hit the tail end of an ice storm...i guess i had forgotten what one looked like because i was in awe of the country scenery. 

and oh my goodness! finally was able to see Leo again! this little guy grew hair, inches, and talks to you with his cutest little coos. i loved on him as much as i could...

and andrew has some skilllz y'all....he is an expert cup stacker. showing off and everyone loved it. 

the boys wanted to go outside so bad so i bundled them up as best as i could. off they went to collect icicles.

and the kiddos had basketball games in a nearby town. i was impressed...with their genes and how long their legs are compared to us Sandoval kids. Lord bless 'em they're so tall. not to mention they don't suck at sports like i do. 

and then, it hit us. like a bag of bricks to the face and chest. somehow the drastic change in weather or our weak immune systems or a combination of both brought us down to our knees and crawling into beds.

we were feverish. congested. it was the same crap we had just gotten over a week ago. we were so miserable. again.

we were party poopers for a birthday dinner. we almost missed thanksgiving turkeys. and then we passed it to everyone that we had contact with and that made me feel the crummiest of all. 

slowly but surely, we were resurrected. trailing with our nasty coughs, boogers and all. and we got to enjoy the last of our trip just a tiny bit. 

it's safe to say now we are over it and hopefully it doesn't come back. 

please God, don't let it come back. 

being pregnant and sick is the pits and i can't stand watching my children be ill. 

i gotta say though, having the 'never-get-sick-husband' take care of all of us was really special. i liked that attention--a lot. :) 

sick weekly wrap-up

This past weekend, my sis in law invites me to go swimming. I say nope. Why? Cause someone had a funky eye thing going on. One eye became very red and developed an abrasion...but no itchiness or whines came from the 4 yr old. So we Mexicans do home-remedies first...which means chamomile tea to the rescue!  

Then, the second little boy tells me his ear hurts. Oh great. Also had a mild case of eye redness.

But both of them loathed to lay down and have their eyes covered. Twice they took naps while I had their chamomile rag over their eyes. I even put some chamomile drops in Jo's ears. I researched and researched and I couldn't tell if the boy had pink eye or not....all I knew was that it wasn't going away the 2nd day of chamomile treatment. I am NOT one to join the circus of doctors solely because they over-prescribe you crap you don't need. But alas, there really was no mention of home remedies for pink eye. Please tell me I am misinformed! Both kiddos were behaving normal and I know that's one of the reasons why I didn't panic.

Still, I broke down the third day and paid a lotta money {since we don't have insurance} to see a doctor we've never visited before {we are new to the area}. The boys had a love/hate relationship with the nurses/doctors. And so, we found out we had pink eye {Andrew}, and ear infectionS {Jonah}. As we walk out, they hand me a list of other clinics in the area that are cheaper. Thanks. You see why I hate doctors and their employees?  

It is nice to say they are both back to normal so I am glad to have no more sickness in the house.
Blowing & eating bubbles, beautiful sunsets, sleepy heads, walks around the Greenbelt Trails, and parks!

A new book at the library completely caught my eye and headed straight to walmart to get needed ingredients!

And last but not least...this below.

When I first read it HERE, it was like a "duh!" moment. I felt like I should have known this, like this is what I needed to hear. I've been so out of touch with God lately that it feels like something has been missing. 

Like there's a black spot I can't wipe clean. And what this verse is saying, is so right. I can't do it alone. I cannot live my life without His grace, His love, and His forgiveness most of all. And it is when I am at my lowest (like I have been for the past few weeks), that He shows me His power. How much He is still there just waiting for me to beg for a Jesus comeback into my life. How good it is to have Him fill me up again. Anyone recommend any good devotionals that I can do on my computer? I neeeeeed it. 

Have a great weekend guys!