Good stuff!

So, it's been over six months since I reported on the development of my kids.  So much has happened since then.  I'm sure I will miss stuff but here we go:

In July, we potty trained Lila.  It went pretty smoothly.  She definitely had her share of accidents, but with the 3 day potty training approach, it was done pretty quickly (not in 3 days  mind you, but quickly).  She is rising up to the role of terrible two, but in the cutest way possible.  She wears the title of "Jill Jr" with pride.  "No" is one of her favorite words right now, along with "I do it myself".  She presses us on a regular basis, almost asking us to discipline her.  And she responds very well to discipline in most cases.  If she's melting down for no particular reason or at least not one that warrants the level of melt down she has, I tell her to go to her room until she's finished.  A few minutes later, you'll hear her yelling from her room "Mom, I'm done crying."  Then she comes out and begins to play.  Time outs tend to work for her better than spankings, although she get's her fair share of those as well for "felonies".  But Lila commits far more "misdemeanors".  Although she did bite a chunk out of dad's shoulder about a month ago.  It was funny to see Yaya, who doesn't believe in spanking his grandkids, handle that one!

We talk regularly about joy.  I want her default to be joy, and it tends to be frustration.  She hears me say "This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it" on a pretty regular basis, along with me singing "I'm happy today".  She still loves to sing... especially in the car.  She typically sings from the time we drive off til the time we pull up to wherever we are going.  Her newest love is chewing gum.  Mom introduced her to that, and now she's obsessed.  She does very well with it, and it's a great leveraging tool!  She has also become a great little gymnast.  She climbs all over everything and flips off of whatever she can.  She'll do the splits between two dining room chairs and do a handstand against any wall around her.  We really want to put her in gymnastics in January.  We'll see if any place will take a 2 1/2 year old.  The kids are getting a trampoline for Christmas and she is going to be in heaven.  She has so many cute facial expressions and sayings.  The nose squench is my favorite look right now, and "Oh my goodness" said with a squeal is my favorite saying.  Lila does great in school.  She still cries a lot when I leave her, but does fine once I'm gone.  She still loves baby dolls, and her favorite thing to do is to play "Mommy and Daddy" with Gray Cambron.  Hector's not sure how he feels about that!  Her favorite shows right now are Barney and Daniel Tiger.  Hector and I love Daniel Tiger.  It teaches Ben and Lila both some great social lessons, like how to share, and how to handle their anger.  The kids will sing the songs from the show when they are dealing with those situations.  It's great.

Benjamin is growing up so fast.  He is doing great in Mrs. Hudgens Pre-K class.  Ellie decided to hold Noah back this year, so now he and Ben are in the same class.  They are really enjoying being together. The teacher says he's right on track, and sometimes gets frustrated when the other kids aren't getting it.  I don't know where he gets his impatience from!  I'm beginning to panic a little bit because we are having to make decisions about kindergarten.  I can't believe that!  The school we're zoned to is not acceptable, so we plan to transfer to either Hill or Duff.  We're also considering keeping him at Park Row, although we really can't afford it.  We ultimately want him in public school, I'm just not sure if I'm ready yet!

We have totally changed our approach to the tv he's allowed to watch.  No more super hero stuff.  His favorite show is Wild Kratts, and he loves Sophia the first, strangely enough.  He's into spy stuff right now, and we've let him watch Spy Kids, but that's about it.  I think it's really made a difference in his nightmares.  He still have some but not near as many as he used to.  He's sleeping in his own bed 90% of the time.  Speaking of his bed, last month, we bought ben a used bunk bed for $30.  How can you pass that up?  He loves it!  And so does Lila.  We bought Lila a full size bed to have in her room because she kept asking us to lay down by her, and that wasn't happening in her toddler bed.  She loved it at first!  Until she started hanging out in Bubba's room.  Now, Ben has a new roommate.  Lila wants to sleep on the top bunk every night, which works well, because Ben likes to sleep on the bottom so that I'll lay next to him.  Ben still prays most nights that Sugar will come back.  We've told him we'll get another dog when he's big enough to help.  The other night I was talking about how cool it is that Jesus is our brother.  And Ben immediately said, "my other brother died... sugar" .  That broke my heart!  He is such a deep thinker.  I often times say, "that's a great question.  Let's ask daddy".  Because the last time I answered a question about heaven, Ben stressed out about it for months.  Heaven's cool and all, but he wants to stay in his home!  Because of that, I was really worried about how he would handle Granny's funeral, but he did great.  We really prayed about how to handle it with him, and God marked our steps out for us.  He saw her body and everything, and said she looked like a statue.  He was a little upset when Meredith was upset during the funeral, but that's it.  And I'm very thankful that we were able to address the topic with him at a young age.  I've heard that the older they are, the harder they take it.

I know that doesn't even scrape the tip of the ice berg, but it's better than nothing.  I will do my best to be more frequent in my posts.  I'm sure I'll have plenty to report after Christmas.  There are so many sweet things they say and do on a daily basis, that a blog every six months can't come close to capturing it all!  As always, God is so good, and I am so thankful!

Sad/Glad Day in the Santiago House

So lately, it seems to take a death to spur me to write a blog entry.  It’s been 6 months since my last entry, and that’s when Sugar died. I’ve been meaning to update the blog for all of those 6 months.  There is so much to tell… about Lila and Ben, about great things that have been going on in the Santiago house, but I haven’t gotten around to doing it.  Then…

This weekend was crazy.  We were iced in like I’ve never experienced before.  Our street was basically an ice skating rink.  Fortunately, my husband is brave and helped us venture out a couple of times or I would have gone insane.  We had an extra child this weekend.  Kaylee stayed with us, which Ben and Lila loved.  And Haley and Will stayed with us for a couple of nights because their heat was out.  So, needless to say, we had a full house.  Sunday morning, Hector was nice enough to stay home with Will and the kids while Haley, Ellie and I went to Ted and Deanna’s for a time of worship (church had been canceled due to ice).  It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy a few kid free moments.  Not long after Ted started the conversation, his phone rang.  He stepped out.  A few seconds later, he pulled Craig out.  I assumed it was someone in the congregation needing something.  Then a few seconds later, he pulled me out.  And that’s when Ted told me that Granny died. It was Dad on the phone.  Craig didn’t have his phone with him, so that’s why he called Ted. 

It was a very surreal moment.  I knew we had already lost Granny a long time ago, and I knew that we needed to celebrate her promotion to heaven!  So, at first, I wasn’t very emotional at all.  It was a good thing.  I was thankful the suffering was over for her and for her boys.  But the more I thought about it, the more it sunk in that she was really gone.  And the more that sunk in, the more I began to realize just what a significant presence she was in my life.  It’s like over the past few days a flood of flashbacks have occurred.  I’ll picture myself sitting at the dining room table with her playing wahoo.  Or sitting at the bar while she made me the breakfast of my choosing.  Or watching All in the Family and eating ice cream with chocolate syrup before we went to bed.  Or her defending us to Granddaddy when he was yelling at us for something.  Or her turning on the heating blanket before we went to bed, so that we would slip into a warm bed.  Or the late night talks we would have about my role as middle child and the particular challenges I faced with all Angela and the family had gone through in her teen years.  Strangely enough, during that whole time, Granny was probably the one that I talked most.  She sincerely wanted to hear from me and I remember being anxious for bedtime so we could have one of our talks. 

In the midst of all of those flashbacks, I also realize how much I underappreciated the extended family dynamic she created for me.  Tiffany put a post up on facebook a couple of days ago of all the cousins together around Granny.  And it really hit me that she created the connections we had as cousins.  She fostered those relationships.  She made sure the brothers came together.  She passed on a legacy of family fun.  I have such sweet memories with my cousins at Granny’s house.  And I have her to thank for those memories.

In her last several years, I probably saw her more than most of the cousins just because of proximity.  Her retirement home was right down the street from me.  I didn’t see her as much as I should have, but I’m thankful that my kids got to spend a little time with her and that I have pictures to pass onto them when they can no longer remember their time with Granny. 

The different faces she made, the funny saying she had like "Great honk, Good night nurse, and Good hobble hooble, and the priceless songs that she taught us will stay emblazed in my memory. ... or at least I pray that they do. 

Granny taught me you’re never too old to play games, that family is precious and should be actively pursued, and that songs are one of the sweetest gifts you can give your kids.  She always told us and showed us how much she loved us and just how special we were, and we totally believed her!  I am so incredibly blessed to call her my Granny, and I plan to carry on the legacy of Bum Bum Bumble Bee and Here we go Singing in the Kitchen,, along with Donut Shop, Little Blue Man, and 3 Little Mice (voice and all)!  My kids will know what it means to love somebody more than the whole wide world and China!  And I'll make sure they know I'll love them more than they love me, just like she always did to me! 

Countless precious memories.  It hurts to remember, but I don’t ever want to forget!

Post soon to come about good stuff, I promise!

Sad day in the Santiago House

The day we knew would come, but that we thought would come in a couple of years, came yesterday.  We woke up yesterday morning, and Sugar didn't.  The world's most awesome dog died.  On Monday, he seemed just fine.  He was barking relentlessly at the lawn guy in the afternoon.  He was with me in Lila's room when I put her to sleep.  Then he came into our room for a while.  Then he ended up in Ben's room for the night, and that's where Hector found him yesterday morning.  Ben actually walked right passed him when he woke up, but thankfully, he just thought he was sleeping.  Hector walked into the living room and asked me if I had noticed the poop on the floor.  I hadn't.  But Hector saw that it was black and knew something was wrong, so he went to look for Sugar.  He found him on the floor in Ben's room.  We are choosing to believe that he didn't suffer.  He made his rounds to say goodbye to all of us, and then ended up in his brother's room. 

Hector and I are taking it far harder than we thought we would.  We haven't known post college life without Sugar.  He's been our family member for the last 12 years.  He was somewhat our firstborn! Dealing with the death and telling Ben was really hard, but Ben actually took it really well.  We stressed out about how to tell him, but Hector took the lead and did a great job.  We were honest with him.  We told him Sugar died and went to doggy heaven.  Then we quickly proceeded to play with water balloons to distract him.  He had a few questions and didn't really understand why Sugar wasn't coming home, but he didn't really seem affected much by it.  He wasn't emotional at all.  And for that, we are extremely thankful.  He continues to ask about him, but in a healthy way, i think.

Hector and I, on the other hand, are blubbering idiots.  You don't realize how much a dog is part of your day to day life until he's gone.  He's not there to greet us at the door.  He's not there to grab our food when we drop it.  He's not there to protect our home.  He's not scratching at the back door to get out.  He's not running from Lila.  He's not cuddling with Ben.  He has a specific spot that he lays in pretty much every room of the house.  So, no matter what room I walk into, I miss him.  With two kids, Sugar definitely took a back seat the last several years, but he was an awesome dog, and he loved Ben and Lila.  We are so incredibly thankful for the time we had with him.  We're thankful for the experience he gave our kids.  We're even thankful even for the way he died.  We love that dog more than we even realized, and it will hurt for a long time, but it was totally worth it. 

Thank you Sugar Daddy for all you were to the Santiago family.  You were my gift to myself when I got my first raise.  You were there when Hector and I dated, when we broke up, when we dated again.  You probably even played a role in keeping us together.  You were there when we got married, when we bought the house, and when we had our two kids, and you've created memories that will last our lifetime.  You were God's gift to us, and I choose to believe we will see you again.  As far getting another dog, my mind can't even go there right now.  Sugar was the only dog in my life that I truly called mine, and now he's gone.  Any future dog will be more for the kids.

Sugar Daddy Santiago:  Born June 16, 2001.  Died June 25, 2013. 

She's officially 2!

So our little girl is officially 2 years old!  I can't believe it!  May and the first part of June still seemed to be filled with sickness.  This year, that seems to be a theme.  Lila and Ben both have had strep twice over a 6 week period.  Four cases of strep in 6 weeks is not fun, especially when Lila comes down with her second case on the morning of our 9 year anniversary, and Ben comes down with his second case on the morning of Lila's birthday party.  But it all worked out just fine!  Mom and Dad watched the kids on our anniversary long enough for us to grab a quick bite at BoomerJacks, and Savannah came to the rescue during Lila's party to take care of Ben. 

Lila had a Minne Mouse themed party!  We had the party the saturday before her birthday.  When she woke up and saw the decorations, her jaw dropped.  I think she liked the decorations as much as the gifts!  She had a ball at the party.  We had all of her friends from church (Elliott, Caleb, Mason, Brooklyn, Lucas, Noah, Eisley, Micah) and then Hector's family came so Janessa was there as well!  She was so excited to have her baby cousin there!  We missed having Bowie and Gabe!  She behaved perfectly, which is great because hector and I were running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  Fajitas sounded easy in theory, but since Hector had been at the doctor with Ben that morning, it put us a little behind on prep.  Fortunately Mom stayed to help in the kitchen for a while!  Lila opened every gift with a smile and said thank you each time.  She was the perfect hostess.  She got Minnie dress up stuff, Hello Kitty clothes, a sit n' spin, books, and a bunch of other stuff.  Her birthday was on Tuesday.  We went with Mom and Dad and Sav to chuck e. cheese.  The kids had a blast.  And Lila loved all of her toys we got her too!  We ended up spending more on the two parties than on her gifts, but that's ok.  She was in heaven.  And since Ben didn't get to come to her first party, we wanted to celebrate with him.

For my birthday, Hector did this gift game for me that's kind of hard to explain, but basically, he gave me a bunch of cool gift options, including an IPAD, a family vacation, and a ranger game ticket package.  Then he said I could choose ONE of those or open the last envelope.  If I opened that, I had to take it.  Ben convinced me to open it!  When I did, it was an envelope filled with almost $1000 cash that Hector had saved up throughout the year of his own money!  He knew the best gift for me would be one that was already paid for!  So, with that money, I will be taking Ben to Sea World on an airplane!  Ben has been begging to go on an airplane for over a year.  I can't wait.  We're going July 16-18.  I think it will be a really special time for us. That was actually the gift option Hector originally intended us to use it for, but then decided to turn it into a game!

Both of my kids are awesome.  They have incredibly strong personalities and strong wills.  I have no clue where they got it! :)  Ben is going to be a lawyer when he grows up.  He never just takes no for an answer.  He has to convince you exactly why the answer should be yes.  Lila is on track to be an actress.  If she doesn't get her way, she just melts down in the middle of the floor like her world will end in an instant if you don't change your mind.  They play very well together, but they are also starting to fight like brother and sister, which I think is cute ... for now.  I'm sure it will get old fast.  Lila's still a great eater.  She now loves broccoli and tomatoes.  She's especially a fan of stir fry.  But she also loves candy and will eat it whenever she can get her hands on it!  Benjamin is still very picky but now his new favorite food is pizza with sauce and pepperoni.  We're trying to move away from corn dogs because of how bad they are for him.  Both of them have become water drinkers which I'm very thankful for. 

MAJOR PRAISE:  Ben's stomach appears to be doing better!!! We decided one day just to stop the Miralax and after a couple of weeks, Ben's complaints have reduced to almost none.  So, I think up front, the Miralax really helped his stomach, but at some point started adding to the cramping.  I just have to choose to believe it wasn't too long ago, or I begin to feel really guilty as a mama for not stopping it sooner!  But I'm so thankful that he's doing better!  I hated seeing him hurt like that, and now he can pee standing up like a regular little boy!

Summer has officially begun and I'm thrilled.  Hector has already been doing so much to help around the house.  The garage is cleaned out!  The backyard is visitor ready!  And I have a new ceiling fan outside which we will desperately need in July and August - thanks Mom and Dad!   Ben's loving the pool and swimming like a fish, off the diving board, all the way to the shallow end, breaths and all!  Lila's still not so sure.  I'm starting at home lessons with her.  We'll see how they go.  This summer is going to be great, but it may be a little challenging.  We are potty training Lila in a few weeks.  I think she'll do really well, but we shall see.  I was gone last week for a few days and Hector experienced the whining tendencies of our children.  Together, we've decided that this summer we are going to de-whine our kids.  That means more consistent consequences quicker.  It means a new line on the sticker chart.  So far, they don't like it.  Wish us luck!

Actually, I don't know if I've mentioned the sticker chart.  We started it a few months ago, and it's really helped.  We have lines on it for being kind and obeying, eating dinner (ben), picking up, getting ready for bed, and now no whining.  We also have a Super Sticker for Ben for staying in his Ben all night.  After the first straight week of sleeping in his bed, he earned the Larry Boy Silly Suits Toy.  Just yesterday, he earned the Larry-copter for two weeks in his bed.  Now we're shooting for the Rise of the Guardian figurine set.  He has to stay in his bed for 21 days.  I hate that it's such a battle for him, but this new program, plus some serious patience and trips back to his bed,  seem to be working.  We hope to get to the place where it's not a chore.  I hate that he's scared in the night.  I'd give anything to go back in time and not let him watch those stupid cartoons.

Anyway, as always, I'm incredibly thankful for how blessed i am.  God is good!

Where do I begin?

I can't believe it's been almost 4 months since my last post.  I fully intended posting something right after Christmas, but little did I know how crazy Christmas would be.  I'm going to attempt to recap the last few months.  It's been quite eventful.

Christmas was on a Monday.  The Friday before, Lila started acting sick.  Nothing major, or so I thought, but with Christmas coming up, I wanted to get her on some medicine if she had an ear infection or something.  So, I took her to the doctor on call Saturday morning, where I discovered she was in the first few days of RSV, that it was a 12 day illness, and that it would get much worse before it got better.  The doctor also informed us that she shouldn't be around any other children not even in the same house as any other children until those 12 days were over.  That was a problem since Bowie was set to come on Christmas Eve.  Needless to say Meredith was devastated. I had mom call her because it broke my heart to tell her.  So after she got over being upset about it, they had to call and change their flight and come in the next week.  We sent Ben with mom and dad to mama joy's for Christmas Eve, and Hector and I stayed home with Lila.  We felt pretty pitiful but it ended up being a sweet family time.  Christmas day we actually went over to mom and dads since Bowie wasn't there.  Fortunately, Lila felt decent on Christmas day.  And on the day after Christmas it snowed!  The kids had a ball for the little time we were out there.  It wasn't much, but it was enough to have fun.

The next two days after that were probably her two worst days.  She literally lay listless in my arms.  She was a really sick girl.  Fortunately, she got every it in time for Bowie to get here, and we had a great Christmas!  We got a Christmas family picture taken with everyone in the family for the first time.  Mom's wanted that for a long time and despite the insanity, they actually turned out very well. So that was Christmas.

 Then January was busy but fairly uneventful and then February I can't even remember.  It's a blur. Come March, Lila started getting sick again, and it was just one day out of nowhere she started running some low-grade fever.  It started going up a little bit and it was getting close to bedtime so I was gonna wait until bedtime to give her her medicine.  She was laying in my arms and you could tell she really felt bad.  She was hungry and so she was eating what I was.  I had eggs and rice that Hector made for us.  Hector was going to go work out but decided to stay at home since Lila was sick.  As she was laying in my arms probably 30 seconds after she took a bite of food, I just felt her locked up in my arms and she started seizing.  I didn't even realize what was happening at the time.  I asked Hector if she was seizing and he said yes and grabbed her.  Fortunately because Hector has had experience with kids seizing in school, he knew what to do.  He grabbed her and he turned her on her side and just held her while he let the seizure finish and told me to call 911.  So I called 911.  Poor Benjamin was there watching TV and kind of oblivious to what was going on.  He looked over and she was foaming at the mouth.  Ben just thought she was throwing up and fortunately went back to watching TV, but I called 911 and they asked how long it lasted.  I said it felt like five minutes but probably lasted about two minutes.  The ambulance got here in probably three minutes because they are right down the road.  The ladies that helped us were great and really helped to stay calm.  They had to get Lila's car seat out of the car and used it in the ambulance.  I rode with her to the hospital. She was out cold by the time the seizure was over I guess it takes so much out of babies that she was passed out. Even though she was asleep, her heart rate was really high to the point that they were concerned about it so they gave her oxygen.  They told us they would run her through all sorts of tests and so just wanted to let her sleep in the ambulance. Little did we know when we got to Cooks that not only did they not start doing tests on her, they didn't even admit us into a room.  They sent us to the waiting area where we then proceeded to wait for probably 2 to 3 more hours before we were ever seen. we love Cooks but that was probably the worst experience we've ever had.  Before we saw the doctor, they were trying to draw her blood to do some test to make sure that it wasn't anything bacterial and they could not get an IV in.  Finally after the second attempt of her just screaming bloody murder and them pinning her down, we said we wanted to talk to the doctor.  We asked him if it was a really necessary to do and he said no that he got enough from the second time to do the basics and so we just took her home.  So now we wish we'd been able to use the ambulance for reassurance but not had to go through that whole process of cooks.  Needless to say, that was a bit dramatic for the family.  I have never seen a seizure before.  Well I guess I didn't South Africa when I was really young but as a mama that was pretty crazy.  We were so thankful at how quickly she bounced back.  She bounced back far faster than we we did!

So that was the last illness episode that we had with with Lila that was serious.  We just finished Easter which was a really blessing. We had a community Easter egg hunt that I helped plan.  I guess we served over 250 people it appears and for a first time that was pretty cool.  As a family, we had a great Easter with hunting Easter eggs and dying Easter eggs and all the fun things.  Lila did not want to take a picture with the Easter bunny so we didn't get one without her crying.

We were very thankful and I continue to be very thankful for how blessed I am with my wonderful family.  With all the major negative events that happen I don't know if I've mentioned before that Hector won teacher of the year for Bailey and he just found that he did he did not get district teacher the year but he was one of five teachers recognized in addition to the three elementary, junior high and high school teachers of the year.  He got special recognition for his contribution to the district with the special letter from the State House of Representatives.  That was real special for him to have his hard work honored. I continue to be in awe of the impact that he's having on the kids.

Lila continues to grow right before our eyes.  I can't believe how much she's talking now and I'm so thrilled. It just thrills my soul to hear her singing all the time.  She loves to sing. She sings Jesus loves me pretty much every day.  One of the sweetest songs that she's begun to sing on her own is "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus there's just something about that name".  There's something about my little two-year-old singing those words that is just priceless.  She's definitely almost two.  She's throwing her tantrums and meltdowns and yet somehow she makes them look cute and we're learning how to work through them.

Benjamin is doing wonderful.  I actually just had a teachers meeting with his teacher, Janie, and she was just amazed at how creative he was.  She says in all her years, and Ben's teacher from last year said this too, she had never seen someone his agen with his creative imagination.  She said she loved just seeing his mind work.  She also said something that was really sweet. She asked if I had questions or concerns and I said you know mainly at this stage I just want to know that I have a good kid that's treating others kindly and being who he needs to be.  She just went on about what a blessing Ben was and how when another kid's afraid, he tells them that all they need to do is put their trust in God.  She said whatever we're teaching him at home he truly has taken to heart, and it was just an incredible blessing to me, far more than knowing that he can count to 20 or whatever he is supposed to be doing at this time. Also had my meeting with Lila's teacher, Rose. and she said that Lila is such a nurturer, such a motherly personality that she in her free time almost always wants to be playing with the babies and actually is pretty possessive of the babies.  That's our only challenge is that she doesn't want to share the babies.  So again like I mentioned in my last post, she is a girly girl and  I'm so thankful that it appears that she by nature will have that nurturing instinct.  She and Benjamin are doing much better playing together, and it's so neat to see them interact. The summer is going to be fun! I'm ready for Hector to get home.  He is so active with the kids and intentional in connecting with them, and they love it!  Lila loves her daddy and I think the summers can be a real special time for all of us.

 So that's it for now.  I am sure there's plenty more detail but those are the basics of what's happened between now and the last time I wrote something.  This was my first attempt at dictating a blog.  So if there are major typos, it's the dictation software's fault!