Wesley is a hero

I shared the following story today at our LDS Church Testimony meeting today...

As I was away for a few days this last week, my dad was taking care of my two little boys. They had decided to go to a nearby park to play and get some fresh air. My dad was watching the boys from a distance as they were playing by some shrubs and a chain linked fence.

Out of the blue, Wesley started screaming with urgency, "Abuelo Abuelo!" My dad ran over to see what was going on. The boys had somehow slipped through a gap of the chain linked fence. While they could stand there, they were also immediately next to a 10 foot drop...somehow little Austin has fallen over the edge! Wesley by some miracle grabbed him as he was falling and was literally holding him by one arm. Austin was being fully supported by my sweet three year old. He was holding on as tightly as he could, crouched to the ground and little Austin was just swinging by a limb.

Of course my dad was shocked to see what was happening, but because the area was so small and narrow, he could not reach the boys and where they had placed themselves against this wall. So, he ran around the fence, hopped it and reached them to safety.

The most emotional part for me was not only that my boys lives were at risk, but that Wesley was so alert and quick thinking to reach down and help Austin. Surely a three year old cannot sustain a two year old and so we knew that outside help had come in.

As they were walking home, my dad was very emotional about this mini crisis. Wesley then started to explain more about what had happened to him. He said (this is of course in Spanish but I will translate it, so it may sound funny)...that Jesus had come into his throat and helped him call out for Abuelo. (Me entro el cuello Jesus). He then said that Jesus is his friend, He is his brother, He is strong and that He helped Austin when he fell down. (Jesus es mi amigo, mi hermano y es muy fuerte. Me ayudo).

How else could my toddler completely hold onto the life of my baby Austin without some divine help? Not only that, but Wesley knew who was helping him the entire time and he told Abuelo that he could feel him there with him. I am so so so grateful for an intuitive child who knows that he is loved and watched over by Jesus. More than that, I am so grateful that God allowed me to be a parent to both of my children for a longer period of time. I could have easily lost both of their lives had they fallen and broken their necks.

This story of course came at an opportune time since yesterday was my meltdown. My perspective has been lightened and their lives are ever so fragile to me. All day long Jared and I were praising Wesley for his valient job and how grateful we are for an innocent and caring son who was watching out for his hermanito.

He is our Superman.

Mama has a meltdown

After taking a lovely 5 day gettaway to Palm Springs for DirectBuy, and leaving my kids with abuelo and abuela, you think that I would have extra motivation to a super mom and have so much patience that the slightest thing would not bother me...not the case!

I have only broken down in tears today twice now. Jared always thinks it is [that time of the month], when really cannot a girl just need to cry once in a while? Not sure what got to me today, was it the screaming of Austin as Wesley took away his birthday toys and held them up above his head so he could not reach them? Perhaps it was the three pee spot on our nasty apartment carpet that got under my skin. When I had left for Cali 5 days ago, Austin was telling me when he had to go pee and we were working on the poop thing....he might as well be in a diaper all over again. How frustrating is that one! Maybe my dirty and cluttered apartment is finally caving in on me. I find now motivation to really get down and clean it, and the fact that our vaccum busted b-c of the cheapness and quality of carpet does not help.

I find myself looking forward to nap time and more importantly, bedtime these days! When will the days come when I can wash my clothing whenever I want and not have to sneak away to a laundry facility to do so? When will I own more than 1 towel per person in my family and can spoil myself by using an extra towel to dry my hair (every other towel has been packed away for 7 months now), when will I go out and buy a new set of pots and pans and not continue to use the same 2 pots for everything I cook around here (that is a lot of re washing if you can imagine). When will I actually be able to put my clothing away and not stack it up in piles on the foor?

I think what makes this transition emotional for me, is that I am still trying to find myself and find a good quality of life....since when did a cozy and clean home mean so much to me? Or how about those friends that I continue to pray for? When will I see Jared for more than 1 hour day or be able to speak to him before 10pm? When will Austin be potty trained and not drive me crazy anymore with his accidents! When will Wesley stop acting like a lion around the house and provoke his brother!

It is thoughts like these that remind me that I am not ready for baby #3

Demolition Days

The time is slowly coming when we can celebrate!

We officially bought and closed on our 1983 Ranch style home...pics will come soon...as soon as I can figure out how to download pics with Jared's cell phone.... We are demolishing anything you can think of...entire kitchen, three bathrooms, floorplans, knocking down walls, taking out rose bushes and pine trees (that are overgrown, dead or nasty), replacing all the light fixtures (some might call them antique, I just call them ugly!), putting in new french doors, and the list goes on and on...but, thanks to DirectBuy...things are reasonably cheaper. We are living in our 3 bedroom apt until it is completed (what a sigh of relief to anyone who has ever built or remodeled anything b/c the job site is not reasonable to any standard of living).


My dad (Abuelo Lowe) and his wife Olga (Abuela) now live with us too. They moved here for the winter months to pretty much be with the nietitos (grandbabies). Since I represent all the grandkids that they have, we are more than happy to welcome them. It is nice for me b/c I actually have someone to talk to throughout the day and can hand them off once in a while for a sanity walk or a quick shower!

In the meantime, I am posting some pics of the best B-day surprise ever last month. My best friends flew me out from El Paso back to AZ as a SURPRISE GIFT! I spent two lovely days basking in the sun and also in the warmth of their homes....ah...so cheesy and so sincere! I love you girls so much and miss you like you wouldn't believe (actually they do know how much I miss them b/c I call them and talk their ears off just needy for a listening ear!). Happy 28th b-day Adrienne! (Kudos to Jared as well for setting up the babysitting back here in EP and for making me believe that he was too busy with the DirectBuy opening to do anything big!)

I am also including some pics for our move #12 where we BORROWED Leslie's furniture for a night to "stage" our house as being occupied...needless to say, the loan DID NOT turn out and so we did that move for NOTHING! An exhausting lesson in life to learn.

I have been tagged....

5 things I was doing 10 years ago (Sept 1997):
1. Starting my first year of college at Southern Utah University
2. Ballroom dancing on the SUU tour team (I was so excited!)
3. Dating lots of RM's (which at the time was so "mature" for any new freshman)
4. Wearing huge skater jeans
5. Eating yogurt and Grape nuts for breakfast every morning (oh the days before kids!)


5 things on my to do list today:
1. Work out at the ghetto YMCA
2. Organize my kitchen so I can make room for my dad and Tia Olga (his wife) who just moved in with us for the winter time...they eat organic and vegetarian foods only!
3. Visit Jared at DirectBuy (thus this blog b/c it's my only internet access!)
4. Go to Golden Corral with grandpa and tia Olga (the rolls are the best part)
5. Pick out a couch here at DirectBuy in the catalogs


5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Philipine brand Mangos (thanks to April Ashton)
2. Pringles (loaded baked potato flava)
3. Grapes
4. Almonds
5. Smoothies (love the magic bullet....the blender that is..)


5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. The Greatest Love of All (Whitni Houston...the good ol' days)
2. Lady in Red (my favorite high school dance song for sure!)
3. Soy un hijo de Dios
4. Live like you were dyin' (don't we all?)
5. Hero (Enrique sexy Iglesias)


5 things i would do if i were a millionaire:
1. Remodel our house with cash
2. Sign up for monthly massages, pedicures, waxes and anything else I can think of
3. Buy my parents (Jared's too) a new car or two...or a house...their pick
4. Send lots of money to Oprah's Angel network
5. Invest some of it!


5 bad habits
1. Picking at ingrown hairs (drives Jared crazy...but I am furry!)
2. Slurp my soup/yogurt/smoothies
3. Daily NEED to curl my eyelashes
4. Does eating after 10 pm count?
5. Secretly reading trashy magazines


5 things I would never wear again:
1. tappered pants
2. banana clips
3. ratted bangs
4. leg warmers
5. Keds


5 things I enjoy doing:
1. blogging (obviously)
2. talking to good friends (a huge realization of how much I miss them here in TX)
3. exercising and sweating it all out
4. playing the piano
5. writing in my journal

5 favorite toys:
1. computer
2. Ipod
3. Tivo (wish I had it!!!)
4. cell phone
5. Austin's blankie...b/c that means nap time


6 people I tag:
1. Suzette
2. Jana
3. Amberly
4. Diana
5. Michelle
6. Abby

MOPS

I decided that my own efforts of making friends was going absolutely nowhere. I had attended the local storytime at the library (thus the homeless man blog), several church meetings, the ghetto YMCA aerobic classes, and even an LDS institute class at UTEP> where has it gotten me? Still friendless! Imagine that~

So, I took my efforts elsewhere, to the Coronado Baptist church to be exact "with signs everywhere that say, 'Go Jesus!' or 'Let His light shine, etc." MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is a national organization for mamas like myself that need to meet other mamas out there...in a Christian setting (just a bonus), who have activities, workshops and NURSERY provided! Austin was well taken care of at the first meeting, complete with a sticker on his back to announce to every child taker that he was potty training and would need extra help.

I was nervous to go alone, joining a room full of 20-25 women, but I just had to have confidence in myself and just take things easy as everyone was bustling around and socializing. Needless to say, we had a great visit...complete with a yummy breakfast, ice breaker games, an into to the program and upcoming events. ALL WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR! Count me in! I may check out another group Mothers and more.

So, for any of you that may ever be in my same situation (heaven forbid you move 12 times in 5 years, from state to state and leave your best friends behind in AZ with your husband working 6 days a week and no family around!!), for sure check out these organizations....I am excited! Hoepfully I can find a friend now...

Homeless Man

I need some advice...It was another day for our storytime at the local library. I was just getting the boys out so we could run in and make it on time. I put Austin down and was letting him go pee on the pavement (thus the potty training continues, and that was something I vowed I would never let my children do, pee on the street...but, that was way before I had kids and know about the emergency peeing!). As he was finishing, I was very surprised to see this blue eyed husky dog sniffing at our feet...he came out of nowhere. Even more surprising was his owner, right behind me, who was coming to retrieve his pet. I didn't hear them at all!

I quickly turned around to see this nice, dirty and polite young man with not one, but two beautiful husky dogs staring at us. I tried not to look too shocked by this surprise, but said hello to them and let my boys be licked by their warm tongues. The boys loved the "puppieees!" and were very excited to say hello.

We trotted off to storytime, but even the books and craft on Curious George couldn't take my mind away from this homeless man I had just met. Afterwards, we went back over to where we had first met. He now was under a mesquite tree, with a cardboard box and his two dogs tied up by a tattered rope. If it hadn't been for my boys' screaming to see the puppies, I might have just driven off. Instead, we headed over and made some small talk while I evaluated the situation a little bit better.

I wanted to use caution with this man, there was no one else around and I felt a little vulnerable with my two small children and all alone. His name is Ryan, he is originally from Ohio and likes El Paso. That is about the only info I could get from him b/c I didn't know what else to say. I couldn't say, "are you homeless? Do you want a shower? Do you need food? Are you sad and lonely?"

We talked mostly about the dogs and about my boys, but my heart was just full off sadness for this young man and where his life has thus turned out...he had a beautiful smile, bright blue eyes and was younger than 30. His clothing was so dirty and black, he wore a white cowboy hat and I could see his ratted hair in a small ponytail behind his ears.

I couldn't get him off of my mind, and my heart was so sad for him when I went back home. I loaded up some random food items from our boxes (of course our pantry items are still boxed up and in different closets throughout the apartment), and some juices that wouldn't spoil. I didn't know if he'd feel comfortable by my small offering, but I wanted to do something!

The next day, Friday, we drove by several times where Ryan had been before and he was still there, parked underneath the Mesquite tree and all alone with his dogs. We went by in the afternoon and I was a little unsure of how I would approach it all. I took the opportunity to share with Wesley what we were doing and why it is so good to share with those who don't have anything.

We got out of the car, and before I could tactfully tell Ryan what we were doing, Wesley blurted out, "We got food for you!" That'll about do it! I tried not to blush as I approached him and told him that we thought he could use some food, and of course it was followed by a very polite, "Thanks ma'am." I once again tried to make small talk, but found nothing to say! He was very nice, once again asking our names and associating them with different things so he could remember us. I could tell that he was just absorbing the adult conversation, of which he obviously doesn't receive very often. I told him we'd like to help out in anyway possible, and that we would look forward to seeing him again. That was about it.

I have not been able to get Ryan out of my head. Poor guy is there day and night and probably feels so lonely, sad and scared with life. My question to all of you, is what can I do or what should I do to help him out? Jared thinks that if he wanted to, he could easily stay in a halfway house, or make a change. But, my thinking is that maybe he doesn't know what to do? I want to offer him a ride somewhere, my own personal shower, a chance to go and eat some food or even a job! But, I definitely don't know how to approach it, or if any of this is out of my league.

What would you do???

Move #1,237

In our 5 years of marriage (officially last week, August 30th thank you very much!), we have moved now a total of 12 times...across three states...am I going insane yet? Well, this last weekend was another doosey...

What am I talking about you wonder? Well, in order to get our AZ custom home appraised at top value, we had to have an appraiser come in and look at it as if someone were LIVING inside the house. What does that mean to me and Jared? Yep, we RE-PACKED up our junk in El Paso, and moved it BACK to AZ for ONE DAY!!!! One word: EXHAUSTING

It might have been a little bit better if we hadn't left at 8:30pm (Jared worked until 6pm and then it took us a few hours to load up our stuff AGAIN)...arriving in AZ at a lovely 4am. The next day (Sunday) was spent setting up house AGAIN and actually BORROWING furniture from my good friend Leslie Boley (thank goodness she has wonderful taste in furniture and made our house look beautiful....we not only invited ourselves over for her amazing roast dinner, but we then left with her kitchen table, lamps, decorative pots, baby pictures...that was a little extreme but heaven knows where my own children's pictures are...packed away back in February and haven't seen light since!), her rugs, and even her placemat and shovel! She is such a good sport, letting us have her stuff for a night.

The appraisal went smoothly, snapped a few pictures of the house and then he left. We were so prepared, we even put food in the fridge and towels on the racks...it looked better than it ever had when we lived there last month!

The rest of the day was spent RE-LOADING up the stuff for Leslie, and then another full trailer load back to El Paso...arriving this morning at 4am....not healthy for anyone!

Although this move was only for 2 days, it still was as much work as any other of our 11 moves...so, I definitely consider this to be another move chalked on my list. Are we crazy, insane, wacky or out of our minds to be doing this to ourselves? Perhaps, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel (November ish...when we move into our house here in El Paso), and so I am trying to be flexible and in good spirits....

Now if only I could take a nap, and find our towels and toilet paper that was packed up!

A few things that made this move extra challenging:

No food to arrive to (or make meals with!) in the custom home...
Wesley's constant confusion with where we are moving...why we have some toys in one place, where are his friends, why are we sleeping here, etc
Having to load up the trailers in 111 degree heat
Driving super late (I had the 11:30-1:30am shift)
No washer/drier to clean up our traveling messes (sheets, towels, potty training undies, etc)
Having to do it back to back...in one day, out the next!!!

Potty Training Madness

Am I crazy to be potty training Austin already? He is not quite 2-years-old, but he is fully capable of going pee in the potty whenever I take him over. The major problem, is that he doesn't tell me beforehand, and so we have had our numerous accidents on the floor and in his undies....I don't know if potty training has ever been a good experience for anyone! I am watching him like a hawk all day long so I can avoid any more accidents, which really gives me a workout!

I figured I have nothing else to do for now (again, no friends, no activities, no hubby, no house to decorate, etc...you get the idea), so I might as well give this potty training thing a shot! I really have nowhere to go these days, and so I can dedicate myself to it. It has to be done, either now or in a few months, why not???

This is day #4 and I have yet to really feel like we are getting anywhere! I am giving it a full week before I go crazy and just go out and buy more diapers. His little butt is so small though, he doesn't even fill out his new big boy undies...although I love looking at his cheeks run freely from side to side!

I put up a "Hello Kitty" sticker on the back of the lid with step stool, and he is to reach for "el gato" to help make his aim a little bit better...

I better go and make sure he is not hiding in some corner to do his thing! Any sugesstions? Between blogging and potty training, I think this will be an "indoor day" for all of us...aka we will be going insane by noon!