Author Archives: Theresa
Kanan…or ask he likes to call himself–“Kanans”
Kanan will be two here in couple of weeks. I’ve got the invitations set for a birthday party on March 7th and can’t wait to see him blow out his two candles. And normally I brag about all the cool things Kanan can do on these posts but I just can’t wait two more weeks to share.
Food News !
Broccoli, kidney beans, roasted red pepper, carrots, sauteed onions, asparagus: not the typical foods one might imagine a toddler would eat. And for months now, I’ve been having to sneak pureed veggies into Kanan’s diet because he indeed refused these vegetables. He even refused steamed cauliflower smothered in cheese sauce! It had cheese on it for goodness sakes! But, I am now delighted to say, those days are over. Well, at least for now. Over the course of the last month, Kanan has slowly been eating more and more vegetables and the last week, he has finally crossed over to veggie-lover side. He ate the broccoli on his plate two nights ago and asked for more. He ate some of my salad last night at my parents anniversary dinner at Claim Jumper, and tonight my son did the best of all—-he ate five asparagus spears from tip to stalk! He kept stealing them off my plate too. I actually only got to eat one! I seriously have the biggest smile on my face. And I hope he stays this way. I grew up eating and loving vegetables and want to have Kanan grow up the same way. In another food subject, he has finally developed the teeth and the manual dexterity to eat burritos and sandwiches without needing them cut up. He can just pick up a rolled bean and cheese burrito now and eat it up. And he LOVES turkey and cheese sandwiches with mayonaise and mustard. He’s growing up to be such a little man.
Words!
Well, I can’t even list all the things that Kanan can say now because he just says more and more each day. But some of the words come in phrases now—
- “whats that mean?”
- “where Papa?”
- “Where Dada?”
- “I want Nana!”
- “where moon?”
- “I want down”
- “Jumping”
- “Walking”
- “All done”
- “Bunny eat rass!”
- “Kanans”
- “Penis”
- “Oh Man!”
- “I want go livingwoom”
- “Ding Ding Dong!”
- “Bagel”
- “Please”
- “Mama Fall”
- “Is stuck!”
He also stirngs some novel sentences together and talks all the time about everything. This morning he talked for about five minutes about noses. He talked about my nose, his nose, the kitty cat’s nose, his babys’ nose. He pointed at them, touched them. It was adorable.
Spiritual Intelligence!
Tonight I was cuddling with Kanan and whispered in his ear, “I love you son and Jesus loves you too.” He looked at me with bright eyes and a big smile, so I went further. I asked, “do you know who Jesus is?” And he nodded his head yes and said, “Uhuh” confidently. I laughed and asked, “okay, then where does Jesus live?” He looked to his left and pointed toward the pile of books in his book basket. He said, “In da book.” I couldn’t believe it. Could he be talking about his bible? So I said, “Bring Mommy the Jesus book.” And he walked over and grabbed his bible out of the book basket. Amazing. I didn’t really know if he understood the stories I was reading him, but I guess he is grasping it. Now I’ll have to explain that Jesus lives in his heart and in heaven and not in the books, but its a great start! 🙂
Animal Lover!
Today Kanan and I went to the park. There was a little white rabbit running around the jungle gym and Kanan loved it. He chased the rabbit, pulled out grass and tried to feed the rabbit (it did actually eat some!), and tried petting the rabbit too. No worries everyone, it was someone’s pet rabbit they brought to the park, so it wasn’t rabies infected or wild. Kanan couldn’t stop talking about it after it went home. He asked where it went, talked about how it ate grass, and he talked about its nose. He loves the cats in the neighborhood too and as far as our dog goes, well Kanan always asks about “Wiley.” According to Mike, Kanan calls Smokey and Bandit, “boys” and cuddles with them all the time as well.
Now for the Challenges:
1. Teeth brushing. The kid loathes having his teeth brushed. It is a huge ordeal. I’ve tried different flavors. I’ve tried characters on the toothbrush and tooth paste. I’ve tried letting him brush first. I’ve tried letting him brush my teeth. Its ridiculous. Any advice? Help me please. My dentist says Kanan is due for his first checkup on his second birthday. That’s in two weeks! If he won’t let me touch his teeth with a toothbrush without having a wrestling match on the bathroom floor (which we do have every morning and evening) then how will he let a big strange man prick his teeth with a pick? The dentist told me he could give him nitrous oxide if needed….gah!
2. Temper Tantrums. Need I say more?
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Kanan’s Recent Time Out
At 930 this morning, I put Kanan in a time out for an inconsolable temper tantrum over not being able to watch a video on the tv. I gave him his blanket and binky to help calm him down and then I came back a couple of minutes later to find this.
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Stomach Flu Has Sucked My Thirst to Write
I’ve been meaning to write for over a week now and had planned to spend tonight going over my newest reflections on everything from my son to love to education and politics. But here I am tonight, stomach still not quite right from my Saturday night and Sunday spent hugging my toilet, and I have absolutely nothing to say. Perhaps if I cover some general or random stuff that comes to my brain I can get something jump started. Here I go and I apologize if this sounds crazy but I’m trying really hard here to pull out something genius.
- My friend Lael wrote a truly inspiring reflection on her life and how she has become the woman she is today. She prompted me to write mine and I thought about it for about 20 minutes. I realized I had too much to say and obviously given my brain feels like sludge, thought I would dig through the virtual files I had in my computer of prior life reflectios and send her one of those. Unfortunately, none of my reflections analyzed who I am today, only who I was up to about 4 years ago. I guess once I started this blog, I really haven’t written anything reflective about why I have become the woman I am now. Note to self—add this to list of things to write about. Next to the story about the time I brought a dead bird to school and the time I slept alone in an airport in San Francisco.
- Just read that Chris Brown may have hurt his girlfriend Rhianna. Odd that I never heard the guy’s name before earlier today when one of my students was talking about how cute he is. This is the same student who can’t read and who comes to class with hickeys on her neck from a gang member boy who got his last girlfriend pregnant. This of course, makes me like Christ Brown all the more regardless of whether or not the rumors about Rhianna are true. (insert sarcastic smile here for readers who don’t know me well enough to know I am joking).
- Saw the press release interview with our President Barack Obama. I actually think he made some pretty good points and arguments for his stimulus bill among other topics.
- It hailed tonight. That was cool.
- Even cooler was when I held Kanan as we walked from daycare to my car and the wind was really picking up—my hair all over the place, and Kanan said “Is winny!”
- Winnie the Pooh—-who would name their stuffed bear after a turd? Is there something I’m not getting?
- Last nights Grammy’s were supposed to be all about hip-hop. Apparently it was more about country music.
- Taylor Swifts song “Fifteen”….where was that song when I was fifteen? So perfect for that age.
- Going to get my hair cut and highlighted this Thursday. Now I can stop wearing my hair in a ponytail and actually do something cute with it.
- Actually contemplated getting breast implants a few weeks ago. Then looked up the cost on-line and decided I didn’t want them bad enough to spend $6000 dollars on them. Instead, I’ll get some microdermabrasian on my acne scars around my mouth and cheeks and go to Victoria’s Secret for a great bra.
Alright, that is all I have. Sorry. Nothing Genius. I wonder if I depleted my brain of oxygen while I was vomiting. That would explain a lot.
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Oh no! Not again!
I just signed a tiebreaker form in the event that layoffs reach my hire date. There are 4-6 people below me in my department. If the 20/1 student/teacher ratio is Removed,it is very likely those below me will go. Who knows, maybe even me. Oh please God, may your will be done as I know you will provide, but know that I want to stay! If you choose otherwise, then please strengthen
my trust in you to know you will open the doors for me to be where you want me to be. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.
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Enjoying MLK Jr Day
Today was such a wonderful day! Aside from Kanan waking me up at 530 this morning, it really was grand. And thankfully I own a delicious blend of espresso I bought at Sprouts and my favorite creamer in the world–Italian Sweet Creme, so I was able to make it through the 530 A.M wake up. Kanan and I started our morning off cuddling in bed for about a half hour and then cuddled on the couch and watched Martha Speaks and Clifford on PBS while I woke up with my morning cup of java. We then had breakfast, went for a walk, and played at the park. Kanan climbed up the rope ladder about three times in a row all by himself. He is so cute when he says “up, up, up” every time he moves his feet up each rung.
The real fun came in mid-morning when we went to Lake San Marcos and fed bread crumbs to the ducks. Kanan spent more energy eating his white bread than throwing it into the lake, but he certainly enjoyed watching the ducks while he munched and did throw a few crumbs here and there.
Afterward we went to my sister’s house and Kanan ran around with his cousin Harley for about an hour before passing out for his afternoon nap. My sister, Grandma, Dad, and Linda chit-chatted a bit. Then I napped too to catch up after waking up so early. After Kanan woke up, my dad, grandma, and Linda left for downtown Carlsbad to snoop around. Kanan was great. He snacked on cookies from Starbucks, played with his toys in his stroller as we walked the streets, pointed and smiled at cool decorations at a local import shop, and ate well at Coyote Bar and Grill where we ate dinner. The salsa there was delicious and Kanan liked the salsa so much, he ate all the salsa I poured on his plate and then when he finished, grabbed the salsa dish, pulled the straw out of his water and started slurping it up! No joke and I promise you no one at the table initiated 
that! My salsa loving son came up with that brilliant idea all by himself! He then saw a little boy in the next booth and decided to talk with him in his little baby talk. I’m not sure all what he said, but I did hear “truck” and “shoe” and Kanan did kick out his foot and point to his shoe as he told the little boy all about it.
He is sleeping well now, clean from his bath and teeth brushing, and warm from his blankets and his first pillow. I blessed him before he went to sleep. What a joy it was to spend the day with my family today and of course, watch my son grow and learn and laugh.
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If 2012 Gloom and Doom Prophecies are True, It Could Take Days for the Withdrawls to Subside
…because I have joined the Iphone/BlackBerry “crackberry” technology-dependent cult. And any one of you “old schoolers” who roll your eyes at me and say “oh no, not her too,” let me give you my reasoning. I carry a large purse. Why? Well apart from it being fashionable, it worked for me because I need space to carry my day planner, my camera, my phone, and my ipod along with all the other stuff women keep in their bag full of tricks sans a pacifier, a Thomas the Train, wipes, and an extra diaper (okay, that’s only Saturday through Tuesday, but you get my mommy humor). So needless to say, I have been eyeing the Iphone specifically because I knew it would easily work well with my itunes and my ihome player in my bedroom. I definitely wanted to wait, however, because it is a bit pricey compared to other phones, especially since my phone company demands a monthly Internet package when hooking up an iphone. But when I lost my phone last week, I knew I would have to hasten our inevitable union/love-affair. And so it was Thursday that my Iphone and I met. We have been getting to know each other over the last few days and I must say, he is everything I thought he’d be and more. I have now condensed my day-planner, camera, phone, and ipod into one device. I bought a holder for it that even has a slot for my ID/credit card so I can actually just leave my purse in the trunk when I want to travel light (although hanging my keys from my jeans belt loop isn’t very classy, but hey…sometimes I just don’t care). The added bonus is that I was able to sync my iphone with my Yahoo contact list and so when I inputted everyone’s telephone numbers into my iphone, my Yahoo contacts showed up with the same info. So God-forbid I lose my phone again, I will no longer have to bombard you with funny stories and excuses about why I need your phone number again.
So according to the History Channel, “some” researchers believe that on Winter Solstice 2012, the alignment of the planet and the solar system could freeze our telecommunications. By that time, I will have been used to and reliant on my amazing technological device for almost four years….oh yeah, I’ll be so upset. 😉
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I’m Officially a Victim of Spammer/Telemarketing Scumbags: but not the first time I’ve had some information stolen from me
Thank God I haven’t been swindled out of money like my cousin or have had my identity stolen like when I was 21 although I just might get a credit report and double check. It all started after the first of the new year. The only thing I can think of which could have set everything off is that I changed my wireless account. This perhaps took my name off of the National Do Not Call Registry because within a day or two of doing this, I became bombarded with telemarketing calls from various companies, some calling me as often as four times in one day. When I did answer the phone to one of them, they said they heard I was interested in their services. I said I wasn’t and asked them how they heard this. They said I filled out a form on the Internet. I said I didn’t. I asked them if this form had any other information about me besides my phone number and they said yes, an email address. I asked them for the email address. It was an email address with my first name but with a domain name I had no idea existed. I was very upset. The lady said she’d take my name off their list. So how did a spammer get a hold of my phone number and my first name so they could begin filling out forms in my name to get telemarketers to call me? The telemarketers have to be buying these phone numbers from people who are payed to get a hold of phone numbers and first names and then fill out forms using them and then creating fraudulent email addresses with their first names. I just pray to God they don’t have my last name or any other information. I just might change my website address to this WordPress account for that very reason.
After this disturbing conversation with this telemarketer, I immediately reregistered my number on the NDNCR and then checked out this domain with which I supposedly registered an email account. I called the company and they said they couldn’t disclose any information about the person who set up the account or when they did unless I filled out a subpoena at the police department which could release this information. She did, however, freeze the email account for me. So now I need to go down this week and fill out this form and get to the bottom of this.
My other spammer issue is a separate one entirely, not as disturbing, but annoying nonetheless. I also am having to finally close my junkmail email account (the email account I use when joining or visiting any websites that are not important to my livelihood) after 12 years. Some spammers have gotten a hold of my email address and are using it to spam people. I have hundreds of emails everyday that are “delivery failure notices” to people I have never emailed. When I read the email I supposedly sent, its a spam email. Grrrrrr. So I just spent an hour now going to all my websites like facebook and babycentral and ebay and have had to change my email address to another junkmail account I recently created. Now I am going to erase my old treesa184 email address and start anew.
This is getting way too close in similarity to the time in my life when I was 21 and had my purse stolen by a prostitute in a dirty dive bar in Escondido. The woman memorized all the information on my drivers licence, used my canceled credit cards as other forms of identification and then after she was arrested for returning stolen merchandise at a mall nearby two months after she stole my purse, presented my drivers licence to the police officers. So she was arrested under my name until three days into her detention an intelligent police officer looked at this 300 pound woman (150 pounds of which was in her rear-end alone) and looked at the buck twenty younger woman on the ID and thought it didn’t add up. He looked up my name and found my police report I made about my purse being stolen. I had to go down and identify the woman. She was charged with stealing merchandise and impersonating me, but unfortunately didn’t get charged with stealing my purse because I couldn’t verify with 100 percent certainty that she was the same woman who stole my purse. I told them I could if I could see her rear-end in a line up instead of just looking at her mugshot. They declined. I told them 75% based on her face. Guess that wasn’t enough.
It might be time for me to set up some extra sensitive measures on my credit report like I did when this woman stole my purse. It was a 7-year screening on any credit inquiries about me. Can’t be too careful.
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Happy New Year 2009!
Happy New Year everyone! I know the news in the world makes 2009 seem pretty glum, but I’ve got a good feeling about this one! I really do. I pray that everyone of you are blessed this year despite any subconcious fears about our jobs or houses or debt. I know that may be easier said than done, but there is something to thinking positive and so I’m sticking with it, and you should too. :) And I am further stoked to have looked back at my New Years Resolutions from last year and find that I succeeded in reaching half of them! That is a first! So, Since I’m on the upswing here, here is the list for 2009. So now that you know them, you all better call me on it when I am not following through. I need reinforcement! :)
Bad Habits To Stop:
1. Worrying so much (this has gotten much better since I’ve received so much peace knowing God is in charge, but I still have not kicked it entirely because I’m still wrestling with him for control sometimes :P)
2. Sleeping on my stomach ( I got out of the habit when I was pregnant, but this month started at it again).
Things I Would Like to Accomplish This Year:
1. Improve my painting skills (I’ve moved beyond pastel, and am venturing into acrylic and oil paints!)
2. Take a yoga class atleast once a week
3. Take Kanan on at least one vacation
4. Resolve my love life or at least become content with my lack thereof
5. Continue to work in the drama ministry through my church
6. Pay off my car loan
7. Find an effective but loving way of disciplining Kanan and of course to continue to teach him good things!
Spiritual Goals for the Year:
1. Read the entire bible this year (I have a “one year bible” and am starting today! I read the entire new testament last year and a few books from the old testament, but this time I want to do it all! 🙂 )
2. Allow the Holy Spirit to use me to help someone come to Christ.
3. Grow closer to God
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Quick–How Many Christmas Parties Does it Take to Tire Theresa?
Since my family is not only large but also seemed to to do Christmas separately this year, it took me a while to be able to make this post. At first I was very upset about it, but it worked out and it just made Christmas feel more like Hanukkah instead, which does have its perks. We didn’t have just one Christmas….we had like five! So it took about a week to get through all of my Christmas-get-togethers and boy am I tired!
Our Christmas adventures started last weekend when Kanan and I went to my Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bernie’s house out in Newport Beach. Some of my dad’s family was there and while we didn’t exchange gifts, we used that time to just talk and eat and enjoy the time together. I hadn’t seen my cousins Jennifer and Christopher in over a year so it was a real blessing to see them. Kanan loved playing with his third cousin Noah and eating chocolate and refusing to take a nap. He didn’t get to bed that night until late, but he was super happy.
Then on Tuesday, Kanan and I packed up my car and headed up to 
Upland where we spent the afternoon and evening at my old friend Lisa’s house. We exchanged gifts for the kids and the Kanan had a wonderful time playing with his buddy Nolan. They shared trucks, played chase, watched cartoons, went shopping at the local mall, ate dinner together, and took a bath together before going to bed. What a joy it was to be with my friend Lisa with whom I’ve been friends for 15 years and see our children growing together.
Kanan and I stayed through the next morning, Christmas Eve, and then left at 1130 to head out and make a quick visit to my other old friend’s house—Bekah. Bekah and I have known each other since 6th grade and now her children Alex and Cole are friends with my son. Kanan and Alex played and exchanged gifts as well, and we ate a quick lunch with them before all the boys needed to take a nap.
Kanan and I headed back to Upland and went to my Grandparents house to take a nap and prepare for Christmas with the Colombian side of the family. I attempted to make it to a Christmas Eve church service at my mother’s old church Water of Life, but they didn’t have child care available 
for the 3 o’clock service. The ushers told me not to worry–that they were going to have a puppet show and that kids were welcome. Well, apparently none of us were ready for Kanan’s plans although I had an in-cling of suspicion. He was okay through the worship part but then started wanting to run down the aisles and climb up on chairs and throw his toys over the backsides of chairs or shout out hello to nearby Christians. I gave him a cereal bar which appeased him for about 3 seconds, but thankfully the puppet show started. I thought for sure, this would entertain him. They wanted all the children to come up on the stage and listen to this monkeyish puppet teach the children about the true meaning of Christmas. All the kids from 3 months old to 5 years old stared quietly, in awe of the little hairy animal telling his tale. That is every child BUT mine. Kanan was more interested in the kids around him and in jumping down the steps of the stage. He then attempted again to run down the front aisle, but thankfully a nearby saint grabbed him for me. At this point I gave up, went back to my seat, grabbed my purse and told my mom we were leaving. She smiled understandably. So I took Kanan in his dressy Christmas outfit out i
nto the playground where he played a bit before discovering a muddy rain puddle. That was the end of his handsome Christmas getup. I was so done. I carried him out to the car, drove through a local Starbucks for a Espresso Truffle for me and a Vanilla Steamer for him and we went back to Grandma and Grandpas
The afternoon was filled with family coming in, delicious food including bacon wrapped prunes ( I know, crazy, but amazing!) cookies, and other sweets. I don’t give Kanan sugar at all and so made the naive mistake of thinking one special occasion wouldn’t hurt. Yeah right, my child turned into a crazy kid! He was running around non-stop, rebelling, rolling around on the ground. He passed out in the car on the hour and a half drive back home, slept through the night and woke up on Christmas morning a total grump! Don’t give your children sugar! It is poison! 🙂
Christmas was otherwise good. We had a small get-together at my dad’s house where I currently live. My mom and her boyfriend came over (yes, my parents are friends) and my step mom Linda’s best friend came over with her boyfriend. We enjoyed opening gifts, eating an amazing brunch that Linda cooked up, and then after Kanan’s nap, we headed out to my sisters to do a Christmas dinner with her and her family. Barbie’s boyfriend Paul made an incredible prime rib roast and Kanan finally cheered up although it took the whole day before he was somewhat normal and recovered from the previous day’s sugar. We played Catchphrase, exchanged gifts, laughed, and talked. Kanan thought my mom’s toes were candy and tried to nibble them and later pointed at his rear-end and said “butt” so that was in deed a highlight to our Christmas evening. Unfortunately her kids were not there because this Christmas was their year to spend with Dad.
So Christmas continued on through yesterday, when Barbie came over with her daughter Harley so Harley could open her Christmas gifts. We had another delicious dinner with Honey Glazed Ham and Au Gratin Potatoes. My Grandmother Lois came as well because she spent Christmas with my cousin Breanna in Palm Desert. Harley and Kanan played with each other because Mike stopped by for a bit so Kanan could see his favorite cousin. Kanan left on Friday to be with his dad and have their own little Christmas on Saturday morning with Mike’s family who drove down from Santa Barbara.
Gah! So here I am now. My biggest regret is not getting any large pictures of everyone together. For more pictures of other family and friends moments in my grand Christmas party race, check out the Flickr thumbnails on the side bar. But I digress…..My final point comes now: Tired? Yes. Blessed? Indeed. Waiting on the New Year? You bet! I’ve got plenty of excitement and hope for 2009 and will be posting a New Year blog here soon. I hope everyone’s Christmas was Merry indeed.
TheEntrepreneurialWife 