The idiot mom strikes again!

DISCLAIMER: I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar errors or possibly a weak plot line due to the UNBELIEVABLE lack of sleep I've had in the past 14 days. I can barely remember my new child's name let alone trigger creativity. Mkay? Good. Glad we're on the same page.

Let's start on a high note, shall we? Chance is adorable, he's perfect smoochin' material. His skin is wrinkly and soft and warm and all I want to do is hold him to my chest and face-ALL DAY LONG.



I love this time. And I promise to cherish it as much as I can because it goes by so fast.



He's also pretty laid back (so far). The nursing has been going well, despite the fact that homeboy doesn't latch on the way he should (something about his tongue) so I have to use a shield while I nurse which is kind of a pain....but well worth it. I forgot how exhausting nursing is in the beginning. And I could swear that boys nurse more than girls....but that could just be me being a drama queen. But I'm not kidding when I say, every hour and a half this boy starts rootin' for it. Which has left me WIPED OUT! I average three hours of sleep a night and let's face it, I don't do well on 3 hours of sleep. I keep telling myself "this too shall pass." And I know that it will....but wow, I'm in a cloud!

Also, I recently decided to switch pediatricians. I opted for this group of 3 doctors that got rave reviews from everyone I interviewed and when my OBGYN told me that he sends his kids there-- I was really sold. In the hospital Chance was seen daily by one of the three doctors, whom Eugene and I instantly fell in love with. So, when he had his well child visit four days after leaving the hospital, I was excited to meet one of the other two doctors. Sheesh, I was just excited to get the heck out of the house. It was my first outing with the baby. In fact, I actually showered and put on makeup for the event.

The office was nice and the staff at the front were FABULOUS--which is usually my first critique of a doctor. We were the first appt of the day so I barely had enough time to fill out the paperwork before we were called back. SCORE! The doc and assistant walked in and he immediately introduced himself. He was a younger doctor, tall and handsome, dare I say. He had a great demeanor about him, very knowledgeable and very friendly. He checked out Chance- checked his ears, his eyes, his bones, his weight, ya know all the necessary checks on a first well child visit. And get this-Chance gained 5 oz. in 4 days!! Yay, mi leche es bueno!

He asked me about the delivery. I answered him. He asked me about the nursing. I responded. He asked me about the bowl movements and I replied:

"Well, actually now that you asked Doc, in truth, I'm surprised that I'm not more regular yet. Although, I've had several bowl movements this week--but I still don't feel that I...."

CRICKETS. CRICKETS.

REALIZATION.

"Oh my God, you were referring to CHANCE'S bowl movements? OH. MY. GOD."

I stared at Eugene for support but I knew he was moments away from cracking. I looked to the female assistant as if to establish some sort of womanly bond--but no, she too was about to lose it. I finally, fixed my eyes on the doctor, who had turned all kinds of red at this point......and before I could say anything....I too lost it.

WAAAAA-HAAAAA!!!!!!! I couldn't stop laughing. I just admitted to MY CHILD'S NEW PEDIATRICIAN THE DETAILS OF MY #2'S!!!!

In fact, all four of us broke out in laughter. I think I was so used to all the nurses in the hospital asking me about it, that I didn't even think twice. TOTAL IDIOT!! The doctor quickly resumed his examination of Chance, as if to make it easier for me. But no, three minutes later, all I had to do was think of the letters BM and I started laughing all over again. In fact, it was one of those laughs that you try to keep in but you end up making a snorting nose while your entire body starts shaking. Yeah, that one!

What am I, a twelve year old boy?

Eugene was all kinds of embarassed for me because no matter what I did I couldn't hold the laughter back. The doc would try to ask me a question and I would go to answer and all that would come out is giggles.

Why am I such a sucker for poop humor?

Anyhoo, at least there are two other doctors in the practice. I need a good couple months before seeing this doc again!

And with that I bid farewell, my motherly duties are beckoning.

I had My Chance

It is with thrill, joy, love, adoration and a pinch of excitement that I welcome our newest family member, Chance Narciso.



Born on July 16th at 8:13 AM, weighing 6lbs. 14 oz. and measuring 19 inches in length, we watched as our daughters proudly shouted

WE HAVE A BABY BROTHER! YIPEEEEEE!!!



I couldn't have agreed with them more.



Many of you might be wondering why we chose the name Chance? Well to put it simply, Eugene and I both feel that life is about taking risks. And how much we can grow and learn from challenging ourselves. Our hope for Chance is that he realizes how short life is and choses to make the very best of it. That, and frankly, we thought the name was kinda badass.

In my life, I've taken many chances that led me here.

Like the time I fell in love with a guy that I knew we'd be forever perfect.




Or how I blindly entered motherhood, after unsuccessfully taking care of several hamsters, a few fish, a cat and about 4 random dogs that our family adopted over the years.






Or how my precious and dedicated yet sometimes destructive relationship with my sister would be passed down to a new generation.







Or when I assisted the special needs classroom in my grade school, giving me first hand experience on how to be patient while simultaneously teaching me to be grateful for what I have.







Or when Eugene and I decided that our definition of family meant sharing our lives and experiences with many kids.







Or when we agreed to teach our children how important it is to always take care of, look out for and indelibly love and respect, eachother. Always.







Or when we realized that the greatest gift you can give your child is a sibling. Long after we're gone, they'll still have eachother to lean on, to depend on, and to carry on.








These little angels





are going to be phenomenal role models for this little guy.



Now that's definitely a chance worth taking.

Buh-dum-cha.

Welcome to our family, Chance Post Narciso.

Bella and Mommy Time

For Bella's special day, she wanted to go fishing. Yes, you read that right, FISHING. Where it came from, I have no idea but she was so set on it! In fact, after the sweltering heat at the zoo the day before I tried my best to convince her to chose something, oh I don't know, air conditioned perhaps?!

Nope. The girl wanted to fish. So there I was, 9 months pregnant, in the fishing aisle of Walmart with a pole in one hand and a purchased fishing license in the other. Classy.

As I loaded up the blankets and food into the car I couldn't help but think about all the picnics her and I used to have before Mia was born. It was a weekly event. Every wednesday, just her and I. So much has changed since those "only child" days that I knew this day was going to be special.



We arrived at a local lake and set up our spot and began fishing. Bella is not the most patient person on the planet. So the whole sit and wait and let the fish come to you tactic was too much for her to handle. The moment she saw a fish tug on her line she started reeling it in as fast as she could. The girl refused to play hard to get with the fish which is why every time we saw a tug and reeled it in, there was nothing on our line. I tried to explain the art of fishing and that it takes strategy and timing, but she wasn't too keen on listening.



Luckily, I packed some distractors. Like bubbles and boardgames and a blank canvas to paint. As I cast out our fishing line I watched her as she painted her canvas.



I love that this painting will always serve as a reminder of our cute little date at the lake. As she painted we talked about things. Some important things and some not so important things. The point is we were talking with one another, and it felt great. As I watched her I couldn't believe how much she has grown in only 4 years. She makes me laugh every single day--I couldn't imagine a day without her in it. She is the perfect friend and her and I make a perfect team. We always have.



Upset and discouraged at not having caught a fish Bella and I decided that we would try one last time. I mean, we had been at it for about four hours already and I was starting to get sleepy staring at the waves. I cast out our final line and let it sit. To pass the time Bella tossed a couple of rocks in the water--cuz that won't distract the fish at all :)

And all of a sudden we had a tug. And another tug. We started screaming with excitement. Was it really happening? On our last attempt? Sure enough....there was a fish on our line. I began to reel it in. Bella was smiling from ear to ear.

We were so excited that we started dancing. I grabbed the camera and after snapping this picture



we proudly put the fish back into the lake.

"He has a family somewhere that's waiting for him," said Bella.

And at that I hugged her tightly and didn't want to let go.

Mia and Mommy Time

I'm getting a little sentimental over here as we count down the days before the new birth. I am treasuring the little things more often than I normally do. It was the same way when Mia was born, I cherished every single second of my time with my "only" child. Well, it's happening again. Soon it will no longer be the four of us (and I know that it will be replaced with an even greater feeling) but still you can't help but hold on as tight as you can to what you know. So, to make these last few days even more special I thought it would be memorable if I spent some one-on-one time with the girls. We called it our "special date" and you wouldn't believe how excited they were about it!

And so was I.

I knew that for my date with Mia I was going to take her to the zoo, just her and I. This little girl loves the zoo so much that I knew it would be perfect.



I marveled at how peaceful the drive was with just her and I having conversation. Sadly, this rarely happens. There seems to always be an older sister hangin' around offering up her opinions :)

We talked about the baby in my belly. And I explained how the doctor was going to take the baby out and I'll have an "owwy." She understood. We talked about what songs she wanted to sing to the baby. And we talked about her becoming a big sister. And so on. I didn't spend too much time talking about it but just enough for it to really sink in--and I think it did.

We arrived at the zoo and was slapped in the face with a thick humidity cloud and about 90 degrees of sunshine. Uggh.



But it didn't stop us. This was our day. We spent a lot of time with the monkeys, since they always make her laugh.



She also got the biggest kick out of searching for the animal inside the habitat. Like this snake. She couldn't stop screaming snake and jumping up and down when she spotted it.



I love her innocence.



We shared some ice cream and cooled off for a moment.



After snapping this picture, I told her I loved her for probably the 45th time that day. And she reciprocated the gesture, like she always does.

We took off in search of the giraffes. I couldn't help but smile as I pushed the stroller as she belted out (as loud as she could) "giraffes, where are you?" And then when I let her "discover" them on her own as I pushed the stroller to the front of the fence, she started clapping and pointing, so proud of her discovery. In fact, she wanted to take pictures herself. And I gotta say, she didn't do half bad:



We ended our date with a trip on the carousel, where Mia proudly chose a frog to ride upon. And while the Limbo Rock blared on the speakers her and I giggled as we croaked like a toad every time it went up.



I got a little lump in my throat as I hauled her into the car, sad to see our flawless day come to an end. Soon, she will no longer be our baby! That bittersweet feeling was in my heart all day long. But it felt so right spending this time with her. I'm not really sure when I'll get the opportunity again (at least for awhile) so I am so thankful it worked out!

You just wait Baby Narciso.....you're older sister Mia will always have your back! Either that or she's gonna kick the sh*t out of you, but not to worry, she means well.

I wouldn't put a Partridge Family bus past me!

It's obvious, my daughters like to dance. They dance all day long. Sometimes it's after breakfast, before bedtime or sometimes they'll bust into a celebration dance just because Daddy added basil to his bolognese sauce. Whatever the reason, they love letting off a little steam together and we love watching them.

During one of their nightly performances, as we all laughed along, I leaned over to my mom and asked her if it'd be okay if the girls put on a show at the nursing home she worked at. My mom thought it would be a perfect idea! She's a Director of Nursing for an alzheimer's facility and they LOVE it when Bella and Mia (or any kids for that matter) come to visit.

So the planning begun. It took about three days to decide on the music, Bella had a lot of opinions on the subject. But we narrowed it down to 4 songs: "It's a Hard Knock Life," "All the Single Ladies," "You've Got a Friend in Me" and for the finale "Supercalifragilisticexpialadocious." SP? :)

They even put the girls into the activity calendar and called them the "Narciso Sisters!" How cute, huh?

We arrived with a couple minutes to spare and got psyched up for the big show. For their props we opted for the "minimalistic" approach, two buckets and two rags. Bella thought it would be fancy if they started like they were sleeping. I didn't dare debate it.



The choreography for the first number was pretty straight forward--they decided to "wash" the floors throughout all 3 minutes and 42 seconds of "It's a Hard Knock Life."



And the residents? They loved every second of it!





I particularly loved how Bella decided to sing along!



After the initial nerves wore off they were pretty excited for their second number, "All the Single Ladies." In fact, I think a little Beyonce could get anyone's morning going! Although, this version wasn't sung by Beyonce but rather the Chipettes from Alvin and the Chipmunks 2. But nobody seemed to notice the high pitched wail. Hah!









Next, to lighten the mood a little the girls danced to "You've Got a Friend in Me," where they hugged and spun eachother around, making everyone smile.





For the finale they decided to sit on the buckets. How Fosse!



And as soon as they heard Mary Poppin's voice they ran around the room as fast as they could. You couldn't help but clap along.





The show lasted a mere 10 minutes, but the feelings we took away will last much longer. These first few years of our childrens' lives, the formative years, are so important. We hope that one day they remember the joy that 10 minutes brought to all these people!

Oh and I think I'm a stage mom.