new developments

It's hard to contain the excitement of seeing my little baby turn into a boy. Wow!! I just have to write that it's truly amazing. Tonight was the real "biggy" for me. I swear that I heard him say his first word. How it all happened is actually kind of funny-strange (to me at least). Oliver and I were having some low key play time in our air-conditioned bedroom, after I had just given him a cool bath. We were happily playing with his new animal puppets from Tio Paco, when I got out the green Baby Einstein doll, a present from my mom, that plays a "babied-down version" of a mozart piece. As soon as I touched the music botton on the could-be-a-dinasour or-possibly-a-dragon or-even-an-alien or all of the above-doll, Oliver got one of those freaked out blank stare looks and broke out in high pitched cries. That's the third time he's cried with the Baby Einstein toy, so tomorrow, as far as I'm concerned, it's history. The first two times I thought his cries were just hungry or sleepy cries but this time, I'm certain that the weird green doll that that plays babied-down Mozart is NOT to Oliver's liking.

It was amidst Oliver's shrieks, that I headed out our front door to distract Oliver with one of his favorite pasttimes--looking at and if they'll let him, petting the neighbor's cats. The neighbor wasn't home, but the cats were out on the driveway relaxing. But not for long...

Oliver was easily distracted by the cats. When the particular cat we were bothering, went under the car I got down on the ground with Oliver on my lap in view of the cat and asked him, "Cat?" "Where's the cat?" And I am sure that he said...CAT. What a moment for me.


Yep, so that was it. The first word.


It wasn't long, however, that I truly relished that first word. When Jaime got home (actually in the middle of this blog), we talked again about Oliver's first word--I had already called him to tell him the news. He had concerned look on his face when he asked me if I had read any studies about the benefits of speaking two languages to your child, as we do. I speak English to Oliver, and Jaime speaks Spanish to him. Basically, how do we know that speaking two languages to Oliver is beneficial? Or confusing, for that matter? Or as Jaime put it, "What will happen tomorrow if I go outside with Oliver and start saying 'gato' when Oliver sees the cat?"

And you know, I really don't know the answer.

prayer request

My cousin, Rachael, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare bone marrow disorder on the 9th of this month. Instead of heading off for her second year at K-State, she may end up missing a semester or year of school. Soon she will receive a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor. For the time being they are searching for a 10 for 10 match but have only come up with a 9 for 10 match so far.

Her condition is very serious; since her body is not producing enough blood cells, anything she catches could be life-threatening. For the time being she is at home with her parents in KC, but cannot receive visitors and must have all her surroundings completely sterlized. She's fortunate, however, to have an online support group of friends, church members, and family. Just yesterday she wrote a request in her online journal asking others to pray that the most recent donor's blood tests come out to be a 10 for 10 match. Believing that there is power in prayer, I'm asking for prayers that my cousin will find a donor with a 10 for 10 match, and soon.

I have a gift for breaking things

Is there some sort of career path out there for people with a gift for breaking things?

In the week since I've been back I've broken three glasses. It's already hard enough keeping the floors clean and "crawl safe" for Oliver without factoring in my penchant for breaking glass. But honestly, I don't consider my glass breaking a true talent, rather, I consider it the product of multi-tasking. Since becoming a mother, it's a rare occasion that I'm engaged in just one task. Just this morning I was trying to scan some immigration documents for my mom, read blogs, put the laundry in the washer, and sterlize my bottles and breast pump all at the same time. But it wasn't until lunch that I broke a glass, hence this post. That was due to some sort of multi-tasking episode which included leaving my morning mug in front of the not-properly-closed microwave door which swung open to break the glass. Yep, another one bites the dust.

According to all the parenting books, I should feel like supermom with all the multi-tasking I do, however, the truth of the matter is that I feel more like a scatterbrain. And to make things worse, I'm currently reading a book on meditation that has a whole chapter on "one-pointed attention" in which the author strongly recommends doing just ONE thing at a time. Obviously he was never a mother/housewife. Well, now that Oliver woke up, I'm multi-tasking once again.... I suppose I better bring this to a close.

home at last

There's definite truth to the saying.... "there's no place like home." After a month and a half at my parent's house in Kansas, I am very happy to be home. It was a nice break from my everyday routine, but at the end of my trip I was really longing for Jaime and my own life. My mom was a great babysitter and my parents spoiled us with eating out and many gifts, but after awhile all that extra stuff is just that, extra stuff, and deep down I longed for Jaime and for our little family to be reunited once again. I didn't even realize that I longed for Mexico too. In spite of all the problems, poverty, corruption, crime, and litter, Mexico is a magical place for me. I never feel the same magical beauty when I get off the plane in Kansas....

Thinking about it, it seems as if it's the romance of Mexico that I love. But what is romance? Maybe the romance lies in the many cultural contrasts or in the climate or in the breeze off the ocean....that certainly could be. Or possibly in an older way of life that hasn't been quite as alterterd by technology and "progress" as the world I know in the states.

Whatever the difference, and whatever that magical something is, I certainly felt it when Oliver and I debarked onto the tarmac, just like in an old-fashioned movie, and felt the hot evening desert air. With Oliver, my two huge suitcases, carry-on, diaper bag, and stroller getting off the plane, through customs and out the sliding doors was no easy maneuvering, but everyone was helpful along the way--the pilot patiently waited for me to get the stroller put together and loaded telling me "Not to worry. I won't leave you out here alone," the customs agent let me through without totally filling out my form (another reason I love Mexico), a polite Mexican gentleman lifted my bags onto the x-ray platform and complimented me on my good Spanish, and since we were the last two people for the evening the final customs official didn't even make me push the the button that turns green or red signaling a bag that must be opened and checked.

Finally we were through the double sliding doors, with the happy face and open arms of Jaime and our friend Paco awaiting us. In a minute, we were out on the curb happily chatting away and playing with Oliver, waiting for Paco to drive up in his little bocho. Once he pulled up in his Mexican-made classic VW bug, I could see that it would be a major challenge to get all my luggage and all of us to fit. But instead of going about our business in a sour mood and with a horrendous amount of cursing (what always used to happen on family trips when I was a kid), we figured it all out with everyone's input and with everyone in a good mood. The guys had given up getting either suitcase to fit in the trunk and Paco had already offered to go look for some cord to tie the stroller onto the roof, until I had the clever idea of pushing my largest suitcase just a bit further up against the top of the trunk--I'm an expert at packing bags to their maximum capacity--so that the front trunk (old VWS have the engine in back) could finally hook closed. Phew!

Then off we were in to the warm Mexican evening full of stars with the rev of the bocho engine, the windows down and a cool, gentle ocean breeze on our cheeks.

To me, that's magical. That's Mexico.

future retro home

Now that it looks as if Jaime may actually be allowed in the USofA, sometime at the beginning of next year most likely, I feel that I can finally think a bit about our future here. So today my mom and I went to check out the 1960's apartment building they own in South Wichita near my alma mater, East High School. Despite my mother telling me not to expect much, I was pleasantly surprised with the place. We were shown two different 2-bedroom apartments, and I have photos of the first one, my favorite, to share with you all.

The most important room to me in most places where I live is the kitchen. I love cooking and need ample space for chopping and storing things. This kitchen does the trick. I opened and found out that the cabinets had already been baby-proofed, plus it has these totally nifty avocado green appliances! Too cool.

I didn't take another kitchen photo, but there's also an avocado green dishwasher and refrigerator to match! What style! I can't wait to move in my retro chrome kitchen table with matching bright red plastic chairs that I inherited from my Grandma Neufeldt.

Below is a photo of the living room. Oliver is pictured to give you an idea of the size of the place. He was having a lovely crawl on the wall to wall shag carpet, that had just been cleaned so we were told. That's me holding a chai tea off to the side. The nice big window is a sliding door to the balcony that overlooks a lovely church next door.

And last but not least, here's a photo of one of the two bedrooms, with lots of closet space (I didn't catch the other closet in the photo... Linda, the woman showing us the place was in a bit of a hurry).
So that's our possible future home. Next year I hope to have the Bethel shin-dig at my very own place with husbands/partners and kids included!! There's even a pool outside, although smaller than the one at my folks' place.

time to meditate

At the beginning of the week, Jaime called to tell me that his uncle is coming to Cabo on the 17th. I had already talked with him about coming home early after coming down from the high of a weekend reunion with close college friends, so when he told me the news of his uncle's visit, it was an easy decision to return early. And luckily, there was no extra charge to change my ticket since I have a reward ticket. So next week Wednesday I will finally be returning to my dear far away hubbie. Yipee!

Since then life has been a bit more hectic. Because I'm coming back sooner than expected Jaime and Paco, his partner in photography, have decided that now is the time to order all the photography equipment under the sun for me to pack into my already over-packed suitcase. Well, I am exaggerating a bit, but it's quite a lot of stuff. Besides checking out online for all their merchandise, I've been making lots of immigration calls and doing some fun immigration paperwork too. But amidst all the hubbub, I found a great book on meditation that my sister Liz left behind. I've only barely started reading it, and haven't even begun meditating yet but am very inspired. Maybe this time I really will meditate. I have always wanted to make meditation a part of my life and this book so far is doing a wonderful job of inspiring me to get down to it.

He recommends to start by meditating on this prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. It's a beautiful prayer and one that has universal appeal despite one's spiritual leanings. It moved me. Well, I will leave you all with that.

peace and love,
mamacita

in bed before ten

Phew! Oliver went to bed at 9pm tonight. I can hardly believe it. I feel as if I should knock on wood or something not to jinx this wonderful new development. What a sigh of relief, especially after he stayed up till 11pm last night, and on most other nights won't go to bed till 10pm at the earliest. Finally some free evening time for me. Yipee!! I'm setting my alarm for 8am to hopefully get him up early so he'll turn in for bed early tomorrow too!

As for now, I think I'm going to do some evening reading...

APPROVED

All morning I've been on a high after FINALLY receiving a call from the woman working on Jaime's visa at the US consulate in Tijuana. I called her all last week leaving messages, but it wasn't untill today that I received a call from her. I got on the phone and she looked up Jaime's application to tell me that it was APPROVED.

Ah, APPROVED. Just the sound of that positive word is music to my ears. It's the first positive word that has been uttered by the US government in relation to Jaime after many years and too many rejected tourist visas. What a happy morning.

Of course this is only the first step in a long process of paperwork. You see, he has been approved to begin the process to live in the USA. Now we'll have to start the medical checks, interviews, etc. Before he is actually granted the right to step foot on US soil. Despite the journey ahead, I am still ecstatic. joyous. hopeful. happy. It is now finally possible for my two worlds to intertwine.



Speaking on the subject of hope, I'd also like to put a plug in for my friend Steph's post on hope.