1 Year Ago

Inspired by a friend's blog (thanks Cindy), I looked back through my past blog posts. I actually had never done this and it was actually so much fun to do. There were so many things I forgot about. It's nice to be able to look back at a snapshot of my life; what I was thinking, what was going on, and what I thought was important enough to blog about.

1 year ago this month Deo and I just started announcing to everyone we were pregnant. I was in my first trimester at just about 12 weeks. At that point in my life, I had no idea was I was getting myself into. It's only been 6 months, but what a ride it's been. It sounds cliche, but I never knew I could love someone so much. Seeing part of both me and Deo in Trey; it's just simply amazing. My life has changed tremendously in the past year, and not just with the arrival Trey. I've had people enter, I've had people leave; some relationships have blossomed, while others have been strained. I've loved and lost. I've cried and laughed. I've taken a million pictures. I've experienced a million emotions. With all that's said and done, Deo and I started our very own family to love and grow with together. I am one lucky lady.

Here's just a few reasons why I'm so lucky:

(hat is from the seller citefuzz on etsy.com...love, love, love it!)

Bore of a Training

Have you ever been to a training session and left feeling like you knew more before the actual training occurred? Have you ever sat in a training session, looked to your left and looked to your right, and wondered how in the world these people actually got hired at the same place you did? If not, maybe you are one of those people that get blogged about the next day. Or maybe I'm just a know-it-all snob. (Probably the latter is most accurate).

Yesterday, I had to attend a 3.5 hour training on an alumni/donor software that the University uses. I see this reoccurring theme in my life in which I attend a workshop, or training session, or class, and leave more frustrated than ever; it happened with the breastfeeding class and the hospital tour. Now that my work schedule is so extremely tight, I get frustrated at every wasted minute of my day. I had to wake up at 6:00am to get to work in time in order to walk cross campus to this training. Hence why I was so frustrated that we didn't even start getting into the real meat of the training until 45 minutes into the workshop. We had to go around the room and introduce ourselves and talk about how we will be using the program. I mean, really? I could care less how anyone else is using the program, I know how I needed to use it so let's get on with it. Then the "trainer" proceeded to give her background on how she believed her career in fund raising started when she was 6 years old when she trick-or-treated for UNICEF. I use the word trainer in quotations marks because supposedly she has been leading the training session for 2 years but couldn't get the projector to set up correctly (meaning she didn't know how to make the picture larger) or how to log in to the system. Her excuse was that she normally does the training sessions on Thursdays so the fact that it was a Tuesday was throwing her off.

As I sat there, passively taking in all the information, I started jotting down some things the trainer was saying. You know, real important stuff that I didn't want to forget. Here is my list of real things that are very important to know when using the program.

1. If you don't know what your campaign is, you will need to figure that out.
2. Scroll down until you find the "View Samples" link. DO NOT click on it.
3. Don't let indoor cats outside.
4. In order to open a constituent, please click on "Open a Constituent."

It definitely took 3.5 hours to get this information across!

And the Mommy Guilt Begins

Sunday started off innocently enough. The family was able to sleep in a bit after a party-filled Saturday. Trey got invited to his first friend's birthday party (Happy One Tanner!) and his cousin's 3rd birthday party (Happy Bday Ella!). Phew! Only 5 months and already a jammed social calendar. Ok, back the story. We woke up and I ran to the grocery to make my annual firecracker chili to kick-off Football Sundays. The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful (and yes, that includes the Ram's game). Adam came over with the kiddos to watch some football and Ella decided she wanted to stay for a bit to play. After a few moments of not seeing Ella, I grabbed Trey and went into our bedroom to find Ella playing in there. Nothing too major, just smelling all of our perfumes and colognes. I set Trey down in the middle of the bed and walked over to help Ella put all the pretty bottles away. Next thing I hear is a loud THUMP. I spin my body, knowing exactly what I was going to see, and see Trey on his back on the floor. And then the crying begins. Full blown tears, beet red face, snot running down his lips...the hole package. I knew something pretty serious was wrong (and not just me being a bad mommy).

Deo and I finally calm Trey down enough to walk Ella home. The entire walk, the guilt is starting to set in. He's not really moving his arm but he's not really crying anymore either. We finally decided (after hours of trying to decide) to wait until the morning to see how Trey was feeling and to take him to the pediatrician. After a wakeful night, and awaking to a crying baby, we headed out the peds. The doctor felt around, poked and prodded, and then said the words a mother never wants hear, "I think his collar bone is broken." The second the words came from his mouth, tears flooded from my eyes. Not only was my baby hurt, it was all my fault. I coudln't help but thinking what kind of long term damage I may have caused. Next stop, Radiology Ltd. to get some baby X-rays. Verdict, Trey's collar bone is broken. Unfortunately, and fortunately, there is not too much that can be done. Waiting and watching, and in 4 weeks some more X-rays to make sure it is healing correctly.

My poor little baby is not even 6 months old and already has his first broken bone. He's doing a lot better with the help of Tylenol and Ibuprofen, but you can definitely tell he is still hurting. With Trey being 19 lbs, many people comment how he's going to be a linebacker when he grows up. But I didn't think I'd have to get used to him getting hurt like a linebacker just yet!!

To Grandmother's House We Go

So we've had a hectic past few days in the Diaz household. Deo's Uncle David passed away on Tuesday night from kidney failure. His uncle had been battling liver cancer and liver disease for some time now. Deo was in Colorado when it happened but was able to fly home early to be with his family. Right now we are heading down to Bowie, AZ to see his Nana and some more family. Although it is hard for Deo and his family, we know that he is in a better place now but we will all miss him terribly!

On a side note; I brought my computer with me down to Bowie as it's pretty busy at work right now and I need to get stuff done. Although it's only about an hour drive from Tucson, Deo let me use his wireless card so I can access the internet and work while on the road. As we're driving through the barren landscape, it's hard to imagine how crazy technology has come that I actually blog while weaving through the desert.

Sitter and Single-Mom

This was a big week for the Diaz household. It was Trey's first week being at the sitter's and it was also Deo's first week of his heavy travel season for work. Deo left last Sunday for Chicago and didn't come home until Friday night. That meant it was time for Trey to go Miss Kelley's house during the day while I was at work. I'm not going to lie, Monday was probably the hardest day for me since Trey has been born. I didn't cry when I returned to work, but I did cry when I left him at Kelley's for the first time. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Here is Trey ready to go to Kelley's for the first time!

Trey with Kelley and one of her other kids.

I only called one time on Monday to check-in on him and everything was going fine. He was a little fussy but she said he loved playing with the other kids and rolling after them. Tuesday went a lot better than Monday. When I dropped Trey off Tuesday morning, Trey was so excited to see Kelley and all the kids which made me feel better. All the little kids LOVE LOVE LOVE Trey. When we get there all the little kids run up to him and start talking to him and bringing his toys to him. There's even a little girl named Alexandria who Trey's got a little crush on, and I think she's got a little crush on him too! The second we get there, Alexandria gets Trey blanket out on the floor, pulls his basket of toys out and asks if I can put him on the floor so she can play with him.

Trey's the only infant there, which is nice and she only has 5 other children (1 of which is her own). Kelley is wonderful and I like that runs her in-home program more like a classroom. She is a certified teacher and taught Spanish prior to staying at home. So she really works with the kids on their English and Spanish language and they have set activities to do everyday which will be nice when Trey gets older. For Trey, Kelley said she does little baby work outs with him which is cute. I am so lucky to have found Kelley and can already see Trey learning so much from being around the older kids!

Deo is finally home again, so I don't have to single-mom it anymore (well, for another week). I do feel like Trey and I got into a pretty good routine, but I am sooo excited to have Deo home and spend time with my whole family again!