The Daily Life of Sweetpea[s]

I had my first real public "i want to pull my hair out" Mommy moment yesterday at Target. Baby was hungry and I thought I had a few more minutes before he might really notice that he was hungry. He started to cry...I gave him a teething biscuit straight from the un-paid-for box...he started screaming and kept chewing at the same time...in a matter of minutes there was biscuit mess all over his face, hands, clothes...i picked him up b/c he wouldn't stop screaming...biscuit mess all over me...i wanted to leave right then, but i hadn't paid for the biscuit!!...check -out lane with screaming biscuit-covered baby...teller was slow and unhelpful...finally arrived at the car and baby got to eat...

phew. i can laugh now, but wasn't laughing then...

All three sweetpeas were in boston together...so fun. Lizard was waiting for Mei, Sweetpea was talking about adoption and I was 11 weeks pregnant. Miss y'all!!!

I joined Etsy in January so I could start buying fun gifts and beautiful fabric (for who knows what...I like to have fabric just in case!) It's a fun place to be inspired by beautiful handmade loveliness. (Sweetpea still has prints for sale!)

I also joined hoping it would motivate me to make art and sell some photographs. Almost four months later my Etsy shop is finally ready. :) So fun! I'm hoping to put more prints up soon.

Sam: "Hey Ethan, do you know how babies are made?? I do."

Ethan replies while shoveling applesauce into his mouth : "No."

Sam: "Well, first Daddy has plankton in his body..."

It went downhill from there. I only stepped in when Sam referred to caterpillars and I told him there were no caterpillars in my body. *I think raising butterflies has confused the matter.*

Eres mi Mamá?(Are you my Mother?)

--Eres mi mamá?--preguntó el pajarito a una vaca.
--No puedo ser tu mamá--dijo la vaca--Soy una vaca.

Oso polar, oso polar, qué es ese ruido?(Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear?)

León, león, qué es ese ruido?
Es un hipopótamo que resopla en mi oído.

Huevos verdes con jamón (Green eggs and ham)

No, no me gustan en ninguna ocasión, los huevos verdes con jamón!


In these three books the translation is excellent and Huevos verdes con jamón even rhymes the whole way through! Some of the childrens books that are translated from english have a lot of grammatical errors in the translation. (I ran them past my linguist father and read reviews on Amazon.) We've been very happy with most of the Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle books.

My baby sings himself to sleep every day. He's been doing this for several months now. It seems to work really well. I think I might try it myself...

I just want to say thanks for supporting me through my name change. :)
Here's the story again about Mexican Beauty:

when i was in college i bought a mango one day. the sticker on the mango said "mexican beauty." to be funny i put the sticker on my driver's license and the name just stuck with my friends. stephen calls me MB regularly and for our anniversary this year he bought me a mango. :)


And speaking of being Mexican, this Mexican-American Texas girl who grew up listening to her parents speak spanish but never using it (me) is trying to teach her son Spanish. Our Texas trip was Spanish boot camp for me and I've only been speaking to Sól in Spanish ever since. It's been easier than I expected, but it's also been a lot of work. My brain hurts at the end of the day. The idea is that I speak only Spanish and Stephen speaks only English and Sól will learn both at home.

Will keep y'all updated on this. I'm brushing up on my grammar and learning new vocab all the time. One of Sol's new favorite books is La Oruga Muy Hambrienta (The Very Hungry Catepillar.)

Every spring every Homeschooling parent begins to question what they are doing. Have we made the right choice? Are we where we should be? Where should we be? Should one be in school and the other not? How do I stay patient? Is this fun? Can I start drinking? How much is too much coffee? Do I even like these little people?

The questions go on and on and this is where I am right now. We started the year with a bang and had a great time, but since adopting Mei Mei, if we can do phonics and math and read a book, I consider that a banner day. *When it boils down, thats all that is important in the first grade.*

But now summer is coming up and we are headed to homeschool conferences, looking at curriculum for the fall and planning, planning, planning. * I think we might be joining a homeschool choir called Corum Deo.*

I am beginning to see how far we actually have come this year. Sam is reading!! And he is beginning to write his own sentences!! That is huge for him and for me. I can teach something!!!
Ethan did pre-K this year and he know his numbers almost to 20 and knows most of his letters.

I am learning as well. I am learning through making alot of mistakes on how to present a lesson in an orderly way, how to enjoy my kids in the moment, how to capitalize on a statement or idea and how to let them explore it. I am learning that Barna homeschooling doesn't have to look like another family's homeschooling, that it is unique to us and that makes it special and wonderful. I don't have to be perfect and that I am not completely responsible for how they will grow up and that God is sovereign and can cover my mistakes.

What I love about Homeschooling is that it is not only about teaching and training your children, but it is about teaching and training my heart as well.

So, I was just thinking that "Wedding Girl" doesn't really apply to me anymore. At some point I was a crazy wedding photography girl and I started a photoblog with that name and then kept it when I joined this sweetpea blog. But at this point I don't know if I'm even going to shoot a single wedding this year or in the future. (I'm hoping to focus more on portrait photography)

I'd love to change to a name that fits who I am now...but would that be too weird? Y'all all know me as WG. Any thoughts?

Just Read:

The Island of the Blue Dolphins
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh
A Wrinkle in Time
The Children of Men
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Reading:

Jane Eyre
The Secret Garden

Some of these are for pleasure; most I'm reading with my tutoring students.

Things seem to be happening quickly these days...Sól is more mobile, wants to be upright more and we've started adding rice cereal to his diet. (he's nearly 5 months now.) I'm using "Earth's Best" organic whole grain cereal and I'm hoping to use their veggies in a few weeks when we're ready to start.

Some of my friends here have made their own baby food using the "Super Baby Food" book. I'm reading it now and am hoping to do the same. Have any of you tried this? I'm wondering if y'all have any tips on making food or tips on feeding solids in general. So far it seems like a lot of fun and a BIG mess. :)

I'd love any advice on baby sign language, too!!