Where did the time go!?

I have not updated in a while now! Sad thing is there hasn't been much to talk about until this week! I have been busy with life in general but definitely nothing to blog about! My birthday is coming up...this Sunday, November 23rd I will be 30 years old!!! I cannot believe I am going to be 30 already...it feels like my 20th birthday just passed!

As if that wasn't enough to make me realize how quickly time goes by...the past few days have been a horrible example of it! Growing up (all of my teen years) there was this group of us that were ALWAYS together. We all had quite a few friends but this small group was my life then...we were all best friends! The group consisted of me, my lil bro Shaun, my best friend (to this day) Katy, Tim, Scott, and the brother's, Gary and Donny!!! What's sad to me, is that I've been thinking about these people a LOT lately because somewhere along the lines I've lost touch with the last three that I mentioned, and I have missed them being in my life...I hear about them and things going on every now and then, but we all have completely different lives now, even so I have and always will care a lot about all of them!

Monday evening I got a call from Katy, who informed me that Donny (the youngest of all of us at 25) had been in a horrible car accident and was killed on impact! His funeral was yesterday. It was an extremely hard thing for me to go there and face his brother mostly. I felt guilty about not trying harder to see them before this, I always just assumed they would be there and I would meet up with them eventually when our lives were more in sync with one another...truth is...I lost that chance with Donny and that is really sad to me! Once we were all there, together I felt much better, we grew apart but we all still love each other. We talked a little and exchanged numbers and all I can do now is hope that another 10 years doesn't pass before I talk to them again!

I will be doing my best to stay in touch with them now! It took a dear friend losing his life way too young to make me realize how fast time goes by...don't let the same thing happen to you!

The dog get's it....why doesn't everyone else?!

Our Chihuahua, Cuervo, is a big part of this family. We have had him a little over a year, and he truly believes he is one our children!!! :) He loves the kids, and does all sorts of cool tricks, and he is spoiled rotten let me tell ya!

I just happened to notice that when my son, Munchie, calls for Cuervo, it does NOT sound at all like he is saying his name...it's like--Ahhh...oHHH!!!

Munchie found Cuervo's favorite toy a few minutes ago, and began calling for him...he did not smack his hands together or anything else that would give the impression that he was calling a dog...but wouldn't ya know it....here comes Cuervo running for his boy!!! I realized, it doesn't matter to Cuervo that Munchie doesn't "say" his name, he gets it...he understands the words coming from my severely Apraxic childs mouth in a way that most adult humans do not!!!

For these 2 nothing else matters except for the true love of a little boy and his dog! It was a really neat thing to see! :)

Quick update!

I just realized it's been a few weeks since my last entry here, and decided I'd better update! :)

I haven't had much goin on since Munchie started school. I did get a new (well, new to me) car last night....I went from a 1989 gray Chevy Celebrity piece of crap to a 1996 Red Pontiac Grand Am!!! I love this car...just have to get all the legal stuff done now, title, inspection, plates...the whole 9 yards!!

I could beat Hector though...he actually bought this car a couple of months ago, and was working on it, it needed a new motor, and he had it at his friends house at the guys shop so that he had better access to the tools he needed! He left the trunk open on it one night, and it rained!!! Pendejo! Now the car smells like an old flooded out, musty basement...and he had better hope that he gets that smell outta there or I will not be driving it! :(

Finances have been crazy lately...for the first time in 3 years we had fallen behind in August, and just got caught up this week! I was kinda freakin out for a minute! But I think it'll be alright now! :)

I have been looking into moving to Mexico, for good! Anybody have any ideas on how to go about getting legal in Mexico if you don't have a job offer, nor will be attending school there. Me and Hector have been living together for 5 years, but are not married, and I have 3 kids whose father's are Mexican Citizens!!! All I can find is for me to go on a tourist visa and return every so often to renew it...I would really like to be able to stay with no problems, and worry that if the economy fails here the way I think it will...how likely would I be to have a tourists visa renewed!!!? Me and Hector have both searching everywhere for info, on Mexico's Government and immigration websites, and found NADA to help me out! So, now I'm asking anyone who might have experience with this to help!!

Thanks ya'all!! :) I'll talk to everyone soon!

~Jenn

LMBO @ Anthony...

I'm gonna make this quick, I just wanted to tell everyone what my oldest son did at the store the other day!

We had gone to Walmart with my best friend who was in town visiting, we had used her van to go and when we were walking out to leave Anthony decided to run up ahead of us all (he has a bad habit of trying to beat everyone at everything!) he hurried to swing open the door, and hopped in as quick as he could, completely ignoring me yelling to him, and gave us all a look like ha-ha I beat ya! What he missed me yelling to him was "Anthony, NO...NOT THAT ONE...Aunt Katy's is the one on the other side!!!!!!" He had jumped into someone elses van!!! LMBO!!!! I will NEVER let him live this one down!:)

Update...Update:

After the IEP meeting Munchie was evaluated on Social, Emotional Skills to see if he met the criteria to attend the classes 4 days a week. He had that evaluation a week and a half ago, and this past Wednsday I was told that he does qualify!

This is aweome news for us. It means that he will be getting 4 of the 5 hours of therapy he needs right there in his school. They will be coming to get him and bringing him home each day on the bus. He will be in a school type setting, prepearing him for the real thing, getting him used to being around his peers, and helping him to detatch from me and his dad!

Munchie is very upset about the whole thing, he is NOT at all willing to get go and I know it is going to be a huge struggle for at least the first few weeks! It's okay though, I believe that in the long run this is going to help all of us out tremendously! :)

I hope to talk to all of you soon! Where is everyone?! I miss ya'all! :) ~Jenn

IEP Meeting Update...

Today was the day! The dreaded IEP meeting for Munchie! My stomach was in knots all morning before I got there...I was feeling very intimidated having to present myself and speak in front of all of these professionals...it was finally over!

I walked away feeling pretty good though, it went much better than I had anticipated! I truly believed I was going to have to battle my way through all of this, and for the most part I found that they agreed with me on almost every aspect of my concerns! :)

Next Wednsday, when Munchie would normally be receiving therapy, they will be evaluating him for Social-Emotional skills...due to his melt down the other day, they think he may need more opportunity to be involved with some other kids his age. If this evaluation goes as planned and we get the results we are expecting, he will qualify for 4 days a week in the classroom...which at first I was concerned about simply because I thought that if we did that, he would only receive group therapy, which is NOT what you want for a child with CAS! After questioning them on this I was relieved to hear that instead he would actually be removed from the classroom for an hour each day for indivualized 1 on 1 therapy with the SLP!!! That means that, out of the 5 hours a week he needs, he would get 4 of them right here, close to home, and I would only need to take him to the other SLP (45 minutes away from us) once a week!!!!!!! :)

I also mentioned the fact that I felt it was necessary that I be allowed to sit in on the sessions, at least some of them! Patty, the SLP said that she agreed, and that from now on I will be in there with them! I had printed out a lot of info I got from the Apraxia Kids website specifically for SLP's who do not know much about Apraxia, I told her that I was unsure of how much experience she has with this disorder, and how much she knows about it, and that I decided to give this to her so that she could learn more about how to best take care of my son's needs. She thanked me and said that any info I can give her is more than welcome...that made me feel much better! We need an SLP who will advocate for us also...I may be his biggest and strongest advocate...but I am NOT his only one!

I will update this as soon as I find out more from the evaluation on Wednsday and whether or not he will qualify for extended services...Please keep us in mind during your prayers...we sure can use them! :)

Preview of my sister's work...she is AWESOME!!

THINKER B&W
Originally uploaded by Dee*lightful Photos {exhausted - running on empty}

This is just 1 of the latest photo sessions my amazingly talented sister has done with her neighbor's new daughter! If you would like to see more of her work click on the link underneath the photo!

She is truly gifted, and I had to take this opportunity to brag on her! :) Don't forget to come back here and let me know what you think!

Therapy today....

Munchie had his 2nd therapy session of this school year with ECSE today. We just got back and I was wrong...today is not lookin to be much better than yesterday!

Last week..he went into his session ready to jump right in without a second thought and did great! Today, he walked with Patty (SLP) holding her hand and with his other, chewing on his fingers. It was obvious he was holding back some tears...and within the first few minutes of being inside apparently had gotten himself so worked up that he began puking all over the place!! Patty comes outside with Munchie in tow, imforming me she thinks he may be sick (Nope...that's pretty much Munchie)...she says, "Well, he was just fine last week!! What happened?" That's a great question, and one that I ask everyday!

She decided to end the session with that (which I assumed from the time I watched her walk out the door with Munchie crying and gagging!) and gave me instruction on what she was going to work with today, and told me to go ahead and just do this at home and she will review it next week!!!!!!! I don't get it...why is he there??? Am I the SLP??? Why is she going to review the work I do with him....shouldn't that go the other way?????!!!!! She COULD just let me go in and sit in on each session, the same way his SLP last year did...I'm not that type of parent that butts in every second...I sit back, quietly and pay attention so I DO know what to review at home! I only speak when asked, and if she asked the other SLP this, she would know that! I was more than willing to sit it out, not happy about it...but willing! BUT, if this is how things will work...what is the point!? Why am I stressin over all this when it seems to make NO difference at all! What is she there for!

I am ready to hang up the towel...give it all up...and just run away!!! But as always I will keep on truckin...after all, it's just another day in mí vida, and there's always tomorrow!!! :)

Preparing for our IEP meeting...

I have been busy for the past couple of days trying to prepare for a meeting I have this Friday for Munchie! I have asked that ECSE (Early Child Special Education) review his IEP (Individual Education Plan) with the hopes that since he was officially DX'd (Diagnosed) with Apraxia over the summer (and with the instruction of his SLP (Speech & Language Pathologist...I know...sorry...alot of abbreviations!) that they raise the amount of therapy he currently recieves from them from 30 minutes a week to at least 90 minutes a week!

If you have ever had any experience with an IEP meeting you know why I am dreading this so much! I need to have all of his reports in order and ready to go, I also need to find as much educated information I possibly can explaining why it is exactly that this much therapy is necessary for a child like him (this amount will be added to an additional 3 and a half hours, stretched over the course of 4 days of therapy he recieves from his SLP!) And I have to have a few realistic goals set in my mind as to what exactly I expect to get out of this and within what time frame I expect for it to be accomplished!

I have decided that, realisticly, all I am looking for, is that he be capable of producing just 1....ONE...real word, not ma-ma, or ba-baaaa(bye-bye!) that a complete stranger will understand! The truth is that right now my son is over 3 and a half years old, and the only reason that I (his MOMMY!!!) can understand 99% of what I do understand is due to tonation...he copies the rythym basically that we use with most words....for instance, when I say "It's right there!" I always use the same basic tone to say it....when my Munchie says it, it sounds like..."i..uh...uh!" with the same tone! I hope that this makes some sort of sense to someone...this is the most difficult thing I have ever tried to explain to anyone, even in person when you can hear what I am saying....and trying to type it for you to read it and make sense to you...well you get my drift!

That 1 goal is NOT going to do it for them! They will expect me to have so much more in mind...and to tell you the truth...my mind is in overdrive constantly, I cannot think anymore...I cannot concentrate, and I feel completely exhausted...all of these "little" things that I have to keep up with due to his Apraxia DX has taken it's toll on me!!! It's enough trying to keep up with the house, a 3 and 4 year old at home all day...a second grader, and keeping my relationship with Hector at least partially in tact...add dealing with insurance companies, finding an SLP wo is qualified to deal with this, looking for a new pediatricain for all of the kids (due to the old one not giving a crap!!!!!!!) IEP meetings, therapy all those days...worrying how exactly you are going to get there with a broken down car and no gas money...driving 45 miles each way....with a 3 and 4 year old....now being made to wait outside in the HOT car with my 4 year old daughter at therapy at ECSE...okay I think you get it! I'm POOPED! :|

That being said....I think it's about time for this woman to get to bed...as Munchie says it....

NA-NA...everyone....maybe tomorrow will be a better day! :)

Women's Health Talk...NOT for the guys! :)

If having a perfect period was even a realistic possibility, that would have been how I would have described my monthly visit, before! Now...ha...not so much! I have been all over the web researching the possibility of tubal ligation interfering with this, and have found that has been proven that it does NOT!

From the time I had my first period, at age 13...until June 0f 2006...15 years later, I had a perfectly "normal" cycle. You know the one you hear about in Health class! 28 days between each, very light, only lasting a few days at a time, and the occasional cramp...no big deal. I never understood why people made such a fuss about it, I mean sure it wasn't fun, but it didn't affect my life too much! This was true even after giving birth 3 times, and having 2 miscarraiges, which are things that have been known to change a few women's cycles!

Then, in April, 2006...after having lost our second baby, and this time, I seriously thought it might kill me also due to severe hemorrhaging...we decided it was time for me to get my tubes tied! Almost 2 months later, I had the tubal ligation surgery, and was told that I would probably have an unusually heavy period the first time, but that they would be back to normal thereafter! I have not had a normal period in over 2 years now! Some months I have 2 periods. Other times, months will pass before I have one, and then when I finally do it is extremely heavy, and I have severe cramping!

I know 3 other woman who have had thier tubes tied, with different procedures also (my tubes were cut, burned and the ends tied off...I was absolutely POSITIVE I did not want any more children!) and these woman have had the same problems after the surgery! Anyone else out there have the same thing!?

My daughter and her Attitude!!

Lately, my daughter has attempted to play "Boss" of the entire household...including me and her Dad! Me and her fight about this quite often, because the way I see it...I gave birth to the girl and I am not about to let her tell me how it's gonna be!

Her favorite thing the past couple of weeks has been when she is told to do anything...she tells me "NO" with more attitude than I've seen in any adult I've ever encountered! I'm not one to allow my kids to talk to me like this, and needless to say she has gotten smacked in the mouth more than once...you'd think she get the picture, but, we are talkin about my daughter here and from the day she took her first breath, she has known exactly what she wanted, how she wanted it, and when she expected it to be done!

After sending her to her room, and then talking to her about her telling me no...I always ask her the same question, and always get the same response!!!! It goes pretty much like this...

Me: "Are you ever gonna tell me no again!?"
Lilli: "Yeah!"
Me: "Yeah, you are gonna tell me no again!??????????" (Is she crazy!?)
Lilli: (louder this time....gettin that attitude) "I said....YEAH!!!"

It usually ends with me finally giving up somewhere along the lines...mostly because I cannot comprehend how she is just straight out telling me that she indeed will do it again!

Well, tonight I was able to finally get it! I was playing around with her...and we went through a playful moment of our normal fight....this time....when I said "Are you gonna tell me no again?" she just kinda looked at me...and it struck me....

The answer I have been expecting her to give me to this question....is NO!!!!! As in NO I will NOT tell you NO again!!! DUH!!!!! :) So when she is tellin me "Yeah" she is really trying to tell me yeah she agrees NOT to say NO anymore!!! I had to take the time to see it from a 4 year olds perspective to finally comprehend it! Go figure! :)

Do numbers mean anything in life???!!!

It's something I think about all the time, simply because I am not at all a supersticious person. But, considering all of the "coinsidences" with numbers, and dates in my life...it tends to make ya wonder! I decided to post a few of the things I'm talkin about here....:)

1) I have 2 sons...they share the SAME birthday...FOUR years apart...NOT TWINS.

2) I have 3 kids all together...their birthdays by number month and day are...(sons) 1/22...(daughter) 2/11.

3) My daughter was born on February 11th at 11:11 in the morning, weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz, and she has an 11 in her S.S.#. We accidently spelled her name with 2 L's when it should have been 1 (in the middle) so if you notice, it almost looks like an 11 in her name also ;) Lilliana.

4) When I was 13 and a half years old my Dad died...13 and a half years later, my Mom died.

5) My Mom was exactly 27 years, 1 month and 2 days old when she gave birth to me on Thanksgiving day of 1978....EXACTLY 27 years 1 month and 2 days later, she died on Christmas night of 2005!

Now...you tell me...are these things just a tad bit odd or what?! ;)

Blogger Buster's handy Blogger Tools!

After publishing my last post, I went back for another fix of Blogger Buster, and had to tell y'all about this really cool new tool I just got for my blog.....

Okay....look in the right-hand corner of your screen...do you see an arrow???? Hover your pointer over that....what's it say???? "Back to top" right!? YES....I love it, and it scrolls with you, so at any point in any of my blogs that you get tired of reading and want to go back to the top to find something new....just click that arrow! WooHoo!!! I just had to give y'all a heads up on this one!

Quit drooling over mine....and head over to Blogger Buster and get your own! :P

On another note...have you been all over the web looking for optimization services to boost your ratings? Head over here to http://www.customermagnetism.com and see what these experts can do for you!

My new Template!

I found this really neat website that I became automatically addicted to! It has all kinds of cool info. tools, and templates for Blogs...that's where I got this template from that you see here! I love it! It is SO me, and it works really well with all my "stuff!" It was also SUPER easy to download and then upload to my Blogger Dashboard. The woman that designed the template gives really good directions on how to do all of this, especially for those of us who know absolutely NADA about these things! ;)

If you've been all over the internet lookin for tools for your blog...give her a look...you can find it all at Blogger Buster! And don't forget to bookmark me so you can come back and let me know what you think and if you find anything you liked and used on there! :)

Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter star) and Developmental Dyspraxia

I would never wish this disorder on my worst enemy so to say that I am "happy" to hear this news is not exactly right...relieved is a better word! If you know anything about me and my family you know that my youngest son struggles with Severe Apraxia of Speech...and if you read my very first post, it explains as much as I can about it! Apraxia and Dyspraxia are the same thing, the term Dyspraxia was more widely used years ago and is most often refered to as Apraxia now!

This condition is not well known, and the only reason that I am happy to hear this is that it gives me new hope to getting the word out about it! Below is the news story on it that I copied and pasted from "The Daily Telegraph." I highlighted the word language in this story that will take you to Apraxia-Kids website for more info on that specific form of this disorder. The nuerologist that is quoted in this story is talking about therapy for the form of Apraxia/Dyspraxia that Daniel has...there are not only varying degrees of it but also like he says different forms of it, and different treatments for each, for my son the treatment is intensive, 1 on 1 speech therapy a minimum of a few times a week! Please take the time to read this story! :)

YOU would never know it from the way he plays Quidditch, but Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has revealed he suffers from dyspraxia - often associated with clumsiness.
The condition means the 19-year-old still has trouble tying his shoelaces.
Daniel admitted he was a sufferer in an interview to mark his Broadway debut in the play Equus - and he jokingly added: "I sometimes think, Why, oh why, has Velcro not taken off?"

Daniel revealed he became an actor partly because his dyspraxia meant he was not successful at school.

The common neurological problem impairs the organisation of movement and often has no obvious cause.

It can affect any or all areas of development, including intellectual, physical and language, and can impair a person's normal process of learning.

Up to 10 per cent of people show signs of the condition, with about 2 per cent severely affected.
Males are four times more likely to be affected than women.

It is understood Daniel's dyspraxia is at the mild end of the spectrum, but in severe cases it can make it difficult to walk up and down stairs or run, hop, jump or kick a ball.
In adults, it can affect a person's ability to perform in stressful or challenging situations and make tasks such as driving difficult.

Daniel told how he longed to be an actor from the age of five. But he revealed: "My mother said, Oh no you don't." When she finally allowed him to audition to play David Copperfield, in a BBC version of the Dickens classic when he was nine, he says it was because she could see he needed a confidence boost. "I was having a hard time at school in terms of being c**p at everything, with no discernible talent," he says.

David Copperfield was his first hit and since his initial appearance as Harry Potter, in 2000, he has earned a personal fortune estimated at $40million.

Daniel has not disclosed when he was diagnosed with dyspraxia or whether doctors ever found the cause.

In the final movie in the Potter series, Deathly Hallows, the first part of which is due for release in 2010, he reportedly performed a particularly daring stunt scene when his double failed to turn up. He was pulled from a burning building by a wire attached to a 30m crane.

A leading authority on dyspraxia, neurologist Dr David Younger of the New York University Medical School, said: "I'm a big fan of the whole Harry Potter series and I am surprised Daniel Radcliffe suffers from dyspraxia. "He clearly suffers from a mild form, but the fact he shows no sign of it at all is a great tribute to his acting skills and makes him a role model for other people with this condition." Dr Younger said: "In the majority of children and young people with dyspraxia, we cannot find the cause so the basic treatment is occupational therapy - teaching them to make a plan for their actions and rehearse their movements."

Daniel's spokeswoman said: "Yes, Dan Radcliffe does have dyspraxia. This is something he has never hidden. Thankfully his condition is very mild and at worst manifests itself in an inability to ties his shoe laces and bad handwriting."

I'm really PO'd!

Monday being Hector's Birthday also meant that this year his drivers license expired. He got off work a little earlier today and decided to run over to have it renewed before it was too late!

When we got there, there was a short line with a couple of other people doin the same thing he was, and I watched as 2 other people had thier brand new plastic card handed over to them! Finally it was our turn, they asked for all his info. as usual, he payed the $20 fee, and they hand him a piece of paper, explaining that he is on a conditional driver restriction (whatever that means exactly...I can't seem to get a straight answer from the DMV nor can I find anything about it online!) and that he will recieve his actual license in the mail in 6-8 weeks after his legal status is comfirmed through INS!

Maybe it's just me, but I think this is total crap! I want one of these people to explain to me why it is exactly that he has to go through all of the BS he goes through and pays all the fees he has to to keep up this status of his, and why in the hell he has to carry his card on him at all times if they are going to do this crap! If that card is not proof enough then WHY does he need it!?

It just makes no sense to me whatsoever why it was enough for the white American in front of us to show his birth certificate and S.S. card and was handed his license the same day....but Hector showed his S.S. card and his PR card which has his DOB, Alien #, fingerprints and picture, and has to wait this long for his, and is also on a restriction!

Tell me someone....am I making this a big deal for no reason, or do I have a legitimate reason to be pissed!? I need someone elses opinion on this...maybe I am taking it too personally...I dunno!

Must be a kid thang!

Last night I was talking to my daughter who is 4 years old. She was telling me and her Dad what she decided to name her baby, "Goldilocks" and Hector asked her who her babies Daddy is! She told him that SHE is the babies Daddy, and he said "No, you can't be, so who is your boyfriend?" She of course thinks boys are nasty, and says she does NOT have one!

I then started asking her all kinds of questions just to see what she would say! I asked her what she wants to do when she gets big..."Fly an airplane!" And what are your brothers gonna do I ask..."I'm gonna buy them dryers!" LMAO...dryers???!!! So, then I decide to ask her "What kinds of things do your brothers like, Lilli?"... "Uhhhhhmmmm....they like...uhm...like dryers and video games...and uhm...dryers!" Okay...what's up with the dryers!? "What does Mommy like?"..."DRYERS!!!!!!!!!!!" (She said this without question she just KNEW that was the right answer!)

Tp top it all off...Monday is Hector's Birthday...so I asked her..."What are ya gonna get for Daddy for his Birthday?"..."An airplane and a purse!!" LMAO! "A purse? You think Daddy likes purses?"...."Well, I mean when I get big...IIIII AM gonna get a purse and then I can get Daddy an airplane...RIGHT DADDY!?" ROFLMBO!!! She cracks me up sometimes!

Gotta catch up!

I just got done reading Liz's Blog...A.K.A "El Sueño Americano" and after seeing the ? "WHERE IS EVERYONE?" Decided maybe I should update here! So considering I have absolutely nada goin on in mí vida...I'm gonna make a suggestion...a quick one at that!

Have you seen the movie "Over Her Dead Body"? If the answer is no...you need to, and I mean like NOW! Me and Hector watched it the other night, and he was laughing just as hard as I was! He's a man, and this movie is not his usual style...but it is definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen! We rented it, and instead of returning it like I was supposed to I went back early and bought it...yeah it was that good! Let me know if you have seen it...and what you thought of it! Movies aren't somethin I would normally blog about but I love this one! So stop readin my blog and go watch this movie....cause "La Bruja" said so! LoL! :P

~Jenn;0)

Mexican-American T-Shirts for sale!

I am now the proud owner of a T-Shirt shop online! I named it Mexi-Merica! I have already added quite a few things to it...and will be adding more each day! It is strictly for the Latinos and those of us who love and support them! Right now everything is Mexico or Latino oriented but I do plan to widen it to all Hispanic countries! I have men's, women's, juniors, toddlers, babies, hats, even pet shirts...in the next couple of months I will also be adding long sleeve shirts, and hoodies as well! If you have any ideas of something you are looking for specifically...let me know...and I will do my best to design it! You can leave a comment here...OR email me @ meximerica (at) ymail.com! Go here to see what I have available now!

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UPDATE:
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page...you can shop here without even leaving my blog! Pretty nifty huh?!;) OR you can click the picture on the right-hand corner of the page under "Go Shoppin!"

More about names

My last post got me thinking about how my boyfriend and pretty much every Mexicano I have ever known says my name! Instead of saying Jennifer, the way you would normally hear it, it is more like Yineefair (make sure you roll that r at the end!) And it's not only my first name, but also my last name, White...yes WHITE LOL...LMAO...ROFLMAO...YEAH I know;)! So, instead of saying that my last name is White...he says...I bet all you gringas out there already know what I'm about to say;)....Blanca!

And it goes both ways...his name is Hector, and I say it exactly like it sounds in English...I know how to say it the right way NOW...5 years ago I couldn't roll my r's and I didn't know that you don't hear that "H" at the beginning! LoL! In Mexico, I call him Hugo (without the H, and NO it's not like Yugo!), I don't sound so dumb saying that, and that's what they all call him!

We BOTH spelled our daughters name wrong...Lilliana instead of Liliana! (For anyone who doesn't know...2 L's together in Spanish ("ll") sounds like the "Y" in Yes!) OOPS! Oh well...she'll be ok!! And because our youngest is named after his dad and I really didn't want to call someone else Hector, and Junior got old, and well...he's short...I started calling him Munchkin a long time ago, and that eventually got shortened to "Munchie" now EVERYONE calls him that...even the familia in Mexico, but they say it like Moanchee! LoL! Anthony our oldest is Antonio or just Tony!

Point is...nobody here says anyones names the right way! But...at least we know who is who right?!

The Name Game

I'm sure that many of you have heard the story of the KKK and the Adopt-a-Highway program in Missouri! But even being a Missouri resident myself I had not heard of it until I was looking through some things on Snopes a few months back and read the story! I just went to Snopes a few minutes ago to check out an email I got this morning and remembered reading this and decided to share it with all of you! Aren't you lucky!?

So it all started in 1994 when a KKK memeber applied to adopt a stretch of I-55 in Missouri and MODOT denied that application claiming that under the Federal Civil Rights Act they could refuse the use of federal money to "Further or Subsidize Racial Discrimination." GO Missouri DOT is what I say!!! But some idiotic U.S. District court judge ruled that denying the KKK the opportunity to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway program was unconstitutional, and when that ruling was confirmed by the 8th District court of appeals in March 2000, the state had to put up signs announcing the KKK's participation in the program on a portion of I-55! HOWEVER...the Missouri Legislature then voted to name this particular stretch of the Highway "Rosa Parks Highway" in honor of the Civil Rights Hero who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955 which led to her arrest and the boycott of the Montgomery bus system!

Needless to say, the Klan never did clean up thier portion of the Highway! Hmmm...I wonder why!!! After a couple of ultimatums and the KKK not holding up thier end of the bargain, they were officially dropped from the program!!! I think Missouri did an AWESOME thing here!

Thomas Robb, the national director of the KKK in Harrison, Arkansas claimed that the KKK had already planned on abandoning the program because the "person who filed for the original application is no longer taking part in the program"...YEAH RIGHT!!! I don't believe that.....I would bet that, Missouri got the best of them!!! ROFLMAO!!!!!;););););)

Based on another application filed by yet another KKK member in March 1999, they are looking at adopting another stretch of Highway in Missouri. Didn't they learn the first time around not to mess with Missourians?! Guess not! As of the last update on this story, the stretch of Highway 21 that the KKK was applying for was unnamed...I wonder how long it will stay that way! LoL!

If you want to view this story yourself you can here!

She said WHAT?!

Okay so last week my 7 year old, Anthony came to me and said something I would have never dreamed would EVER come out of one of my kids' mouths! He told me he is embarrased about me and his Dad being together because, we are different colors!!! Yes, you read that correctly, and if you know anything about my family, then you know that the reason it really shocked me is that my son is made up of those colors! Why in the world would he say such a horrible thing?! That's what I wondered too!

Sunday evening while me and Anthony were tearing down wall paper, we were talking. He was telling me all of the kid gossip goin on in the neighborhood (I've taught him well;), and he goes on to tell me that he had gone over to my oldest sisters house (who just so happens to live right next door) last week to ask if his cousins could spend the night, and overheard something that I could NOT believe! It's not even so much WHAT was said as it is WHO it was that said it!

For the record...I don't care who anyone is with; meaning that it makes no difference to me whatsoever what color, race, age, gender whatever the other person is, as long as you are happy with that person!! Having said that...I will tell ya what he heard! My sister and her "Novia" were talking about me and Hector, Anthony heard Darcie (La Novia) telling Michele (La Hermana) that we should not be together because we are different races!!! Anthony didn't bother even asking (if you knew my son you would know that he would never in a million years avoid asking for his cousins for almost ANY reason!) and told his cousins that thier Mom had said no, and then he came home!

Me and Michele ended up having a big fight about it yesterday, she tried to deny that it was said, until I finally told her how much I HATE this B*TCH she is with (NEVER assume that another woman could treat you any better than a man!) and that I do not doubt for a second that she would put herself above everyone else, and say something like that! Oh and I guess maybe the fact that Anthony also heard what Michele had said in response to Darcies statement helped a little too...she had said "Well as long as she is happy that's all that matters!"

I can't really be mad at her for saying it around my son being that she didn't know he was there, and wasn't saying anything to HIM specifically...everyone is entitled to thier opinions!!! It just happens to be that, it is MY opinion that if you are a Lesbian, maybe you should think twice about talking to your girlfriend about how wrong it is for thier sister to be in an interracial relationship...make sense!?

How I got my Sense of Humor!

I believe it began when I was 13 years old! Up until one of the most tragic events of my life, I was too shy and too scared I would be laughed at to ever attempt being funny! I have always had some self-esteem issues, but up until then it was MAJOR! Okay, so onto my story!!!!

July 28-29, 1992…The day’s everything changed! I thought it was like any other typical, boring day. I woke up, ate breakfast, fought with my brother and sister a little bit, you know…same ol’ boring stuff! My Dad had always worked very long shifts, and almost everyday! This particular day he actually came home early to have a talk with my brother who seemed to always be in some kind of trouble! When he was done with the talk, he sat in the living room reading his newspaper (typical) and we had dinner! My chore that day was washing the dishes, which I have always hated! At some point during that evening, I had walked through the living room (trying desperately to avoid my dreaded chore) when my Dad peeked around his paper, and said “Jennifer, aren’t you supposed to be doing the dishes?” Man, BUSTED!!! I managed to come up with some sort of excuse that was good enough for “Daddy” to forget he had even asked! After a while Dad went to bed, and the rest of us continued on with our lives!

Around midnight, my older brother was getting off work and our Dad was usually the one to pick him up so my Mom went in to wake him up, and he asked her to go instead and mentioned that he wasn’t feeling too good. I decided to tag along with my Mom and my sister. On the way home I was told that as soon as we got home I’d better get in the kitchen and get those dishes washed once and for all! When we got home, I went to FINALLY get my job done, and my Mom went into the bedroom to change…that is when everything came crashing down on our household! My Mom came running and screaming out of the bedroom “I think Dad’s dead!!!” over and over again! WHAT???????!!!!!!!! Dad had gotten up to go to the bathroom apparently and had a fatal heart attack. Of course everything was crazy for a while, cops, ambulance (it was far past too late!), all of screaming and crying and not understanding anything that was going on!

After a while things started calming down a bit. My Aunt had come to the house after receiving my Mom’s frantic call for help, and we were all sitting in the living room quietly crying, nobody talking, waiting for the coroner to come and take my Dad out of our home for the last time! Now I gotta tell ya, my Mom always had an odd sort of sense of humor…and I think that a lot of people would take what I am about to say as very disrespectful and insensitive of my Mom to do! I for one am thankful, and happy to say that I believe I actually inherited her sense of humor at least a little bit! In a desperate attempt to break the tension and brain numbing silence in the room, my Mom says to me….”Jennifer, aren’t you supposed to do the dishes?!” Everyone sort of looked at her like she was nuts, and then started laughing! I didn’t find it amusing at the time, but since have found an appreciation for it!

A couple of years ago, I am sad to say that my Mom passed away also! At her funeral, I walked up to her casket to say my final farewell to the MOST important woman in my life! While I was there I quietly asked her…”Mom…weren’t you supposed to do the dishes?”

~Jenn;0)

The three munchkineers!!!

The three munchkineers!!!
Originally uploaded by Jenn;0)

Why is the name of my blog "La Mama de Los Tres Munchkineers!?"
This is why....

My three kids, with all their attitude, cuteness, and even the dirt...Gotta Love Em!;0)

A lesson to be learned!

A lesson to be learned from typing the wrong email address!

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.
Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.
The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.
The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife

Subject: I've Arrived

Date: October 16, 2007

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones.

I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!

**********************************************************************************

LMAO!!! I got this in an email from a friend of mine, and I thought it was too funny NOT to pass onto all of you!!! ;0)

¡Dios mio!

Me and my boyfriend have very different beliefs when it comes to religion! He is Catholic and I am Non-Denomination Christian! He thinks us Christians know NOTHING about God or anything else! As far as I am concerned, as long as you believe and confess that Jesus died for you, and give being a good person, and doing God's work your best effort, you're doing okay for yourself! That's not to say that you can go out and murder your neighbor as soon as you get through with being saved (even though you might want to, it's just NOT right...DON'T do it!!! LoL!) and all will be forgiven, not even close! BUT, I do believe that he will make it to Heaven when all is said and done! Even though I do not agree with him praying to La Virgen de Guadalupe, nor do I believe that all of these candles being burned constantly will awnser any prayers any quicker, or keep us any safer than we are without them, actually I believe leaving candles burning while sleeping is rather dangerous, but I do whatever I can to respect his beliefs!

So why is it then that he cannot do the same for me? It seems that many of these guys when they find out I am not Catholic look at me as if I am "El Diablo" in the flesh!!!! I try to read the Bible (when I remember, NOT as often as I should!), and I pray to God in Jesus' name, I do my best to be a decent person, and help others out whenever possible! I guess the funniest thing to me is that, although they seem to be more involved in their religion than I am, that is exactly why I personally feel that I have a closer relationship with God than they think I do...I am NOT a religious person, I have a very strong faith in God, and Jesus, and the Trinity as a whole! And it is my belief that having that faith is much more importanté, than having a statue of Mary in your front yard or burning a candle!!!

Hubba-Bubba Bracelet ;0) LoL!

Hubba-Bubba Bracelet ;0) LoL!
Originally uploaded by Jenn;0)

This is a bracelet I made for my sister!! She made me a banner for my Etsy shop so this is how I payed her back! She loves it!! I am really getting addicted to making this stuff, and have already made some of my own charms too!! I am going to attempt to make a rosary, and hopefully can do it right, and then since we know the owner of one of the Mexican stores in our area pretty well, I am hoping to sell them there! I will be adding a pic as soon as I get it done!

If you haven't already, please go to the link on the side of this page...My Etsy Shop!!! And look at a couple of the things I have for sale on there! I will be adding more soon, but for now, I need to get some more supplies before I can make anything really good!

Ay!!! What's that word!!!?

Have you ever forgot what a word or a name of a song was to the point it could drive you insane?

Last night it was storming, and the thunder woke me up (I can never sleep during a storm!). I tried and tried for about 3 hours laying there, tossin and turnin, to fall back asleep. I was SO tired, had a very long day yesterday, and no matter what I did, I just couldn't get my mind off of this one word!!! TORMENTA!!! LoL!!! It seems funny to me now that, that is the word that kept me awake all night, for some odd reason as soon as the first rumble of thunder jerked me out of my sleep, I was trying to remember how to say "storm" in Spanish...well there you have it "tormenta" and Torment it was trying to get any sleep thanks to IT!!!

I made an eyeglass chain for Lilli!

I know this might seem sort of stupid for a blog, but I am extremely proud of myself right now! My daughter, Lilliana, has to wear glasses at all times with the exception of bed and bath times! She has an astigmatism, in both eyes and a lazy eye in her left eye! Well, she is 4 years old, and she has only been wearing them since April 8th and has already had to have the frame replaced because they fell off her face one day, and got stepped on! Luckily we had an extra warranty on them, and didn't have to pay a dime for the replacement frame, but next time we will. So, I have been looking for a chain, you know the kind "Librarians" always have in the books!!! Hoping that with the chain if they would fall again they will be "caught" on the chain (Ireally wanted to avoid those funky elastic things) I wanted something really cute for her, and finally found a chain I liked...for $15...WHOA now! To top off the cost of them, I get home, put her glasses on it, and it keeps sliding off (her frames are tiny), and the chain hangs down all the way to her butt almost!! NOPE! Gotta get rid of these, so I decided to try and make some myself...and after some practice I am going to try and make them to sell, specifically for kids, I even have a name for it already...considering I stumbled across this for Lilli, I decided to call it..."Lilli's Pad!" Okay, this is my first attempt at this...let me know what ya think! Oh and also...when I do start selling these, I am going to donate a LARGE portion of it to www.apraxia-kids.org to help with things that in the long run will also benefit my son and others like him! Wish me luck!

~Jenn;0)

Sign Language en Español???!!!

Does anybody have any idea at all whether or not ASL (American Sign Language) is also used in Mexico? From what I can find it is called "Lengua de Signos" in Spanish, but Hector doesn't seem to know anything about it! He didn't even know how to say it...I guess that's part of him being in America for more than half his life!!

If there is a difference, I really wanted to try to find a book on it in Spanish to take with us to Mexico, since right now that is the only way my son knows how to communicate, I think his Abuelitas would be more than happy to have it!

If ANYBODY can help me out...PLEASE by all means do! I would really appreciate it, and I know that some of these other womans husbands actually "grew up" in Mexico, and Hector spent his teenage years here! Thank you everyone! Gracias a todos!

~Jenn;0)

Santa's not real?????!!!!

Yesterday we reached a new milestone with our oldest son, Anthony! Anthony is 7 years old, and has always believed everything Mommy told him! Well, at least I thought he did!!!

Yesterday I was working on the computer, when out of nowhere he says, "Mom, I wanna say somethin!". I say, "Okay, what Bud?".
Him: "I know it's not real!"
Me: "You know what's not real?!"
Him: (Pointing to his 4 year old sister! He SPELLS out) "S-A-N-T-A C-L-A-U-S!!!" (No E at the end, that is not a typo!)
Me: "What makes you think that?"
Him: "Well, I've kinda known since that time (December 2006) that we busted into the room and saw all the stuff!" (In the room was all of the Christmas presents, the door had been locked, and our then 2 year old daughter managed somehow to get it open! Go figure!)

So here I am feeling like the biggest idiot of them all, how could I have not known that he didn't believe in Santa for 2 straight Christmas', I mean come on!!! So I decide if he is old enough to ask that seriously about it, and smart enough to know not to say it, but to spell it instead in front of his sister, I am willing to let go of this phase of my boy's life....no matter how hard it is to allow him to grow up...I gotta give in sometime right?

What Childhood Apraxia of Speech means to me!

January 22, 2005 my perfect baby boy was born! The youngest of three, I thought I knew it all...and was extremely confident in my abilities as a mom! That was then...this is now...3 and a half years later!

When my son was 2 months old he was hosplitalized with Pnuemonia, more than one time...it seemed that for the next year or so he was sick all the time, we later discovered that he has Asthma and that had caused quite a bit of trouble in that first year! Needless to say, I didn't pay much attention to other developmental issues with him until the breathing problems were somewhat resolved! But thinking back now, I should have known that something wasn't quite right long ago! You see, my son never really babbled and cooed like "normal" babies do, and I guess I just assumed it was from being attached to a nebulizer or at the worst of times a breathing machine that kept him from making those sounds. I didn't begin to worry until he was almost 2 years old and could only say "ma" not mama...just MA! Not only was that the only word in his vocabulary, it was also the only "sound" he was able to use consistently! Late talker...right? I know that's an easy one...or so some may think!!!

I began to question his speech ability, and inquired with his pediatrician about this, from whom I got "He's fine...don't worry mom...he's just a "late talker" is all...in a few months you'll be wishing he couldn't talk anymore!" HA...not so much!!! People would like to assume, and have (and still do) that he is so far behind in his expressive language (my boy is extremely intelligent, and understands everything that is said to him) because he lives in a bilingual household! Not true!!! I finally obtained an evaluation for him in December of 2007 by the school district where they determined he is severely delayed in expressive speech (well no duh...I could have told you that much!) and another evaluation last month by a certified SLP (Speech and Language Pathologist) who specializes in CAS...better known as Childhood Apraxia of Speech or Developmental Apraxia OR Dyspraxia...no matter what you call it, it's all the same thing!!! We'll get to that in a minute!) She diagnosed him with Severe Apraxia, with severe expressive language delay!

What is Apraxia???
Hmmmm....good question, and I cannot tell you exactly what it is or what causes it (noone to my knowledge can tell you what causes it unless it is aquired ie; caused by trauma to the brain!) What I can tell you is that someone with Apraxia is NOT menatlly impaired in any way. My son and others like him, know exactly what they want to say they are just unable to get it out! That in turn causes frustration levels to sky rocket...think about a time you have had larangitis and you are unable to talk, and have something very important to say...it would be extremely frustrating, am I right? Well, you would at the very least be capable of writing your needs or wants down (you're reading this so I know you can read and write;0)!) But for a child with Apraxia, it's much more difficult to communicate! That frustration is taken out in many forms...hitting, biting, hair pulling...constant tantrums. And believe me, having 2 older children I know that this applies to all kids but for my Apraxic son...it is much more often and severe!

The best thing we have done thus far is to learn and teach our son basic sign language...just enough to get by at least with us, for instance the signs for eat, drink, more, please and thank you...he uses these often, and they have helped in so many ways...not only can he let us know these things now, but using hand gestures like signs improves their ability to litterally "speak" or articulate (articulation or the lack of ability to articulate a sound or sounds is exactly what Apraxia of speech is!) those words! I suggest all new mom's begin using basic signs with their babies, it's a win-win no matter how you look at it! Imagine being able to communicate with your 6 month old and them be able to "tell" you they are hungry or sleepy!!! How can you lose??!!

What you should do if you think your child is lagging in speech!!
First and foremost ask their doctor....if they just blow you off like ours did, make an appointment with an SLP or your local school district, if your child is under the age of three you can have them evaluated by an early intervention program! Ask around! I definitely suggest going to www.apraxia-kids.org this website has been of more help than anything else, and the support system is AWESOME!!!

If your child has been diagnosed with CAS, I wish you the best of luck...it is a very slow going, emotional process! It requires a lot of time, effort, and patience from all involved! If you have any questions about anything here...let me know!

~Jenn