BOOK UPDATE!!

As you have been able to see on MY BOOK PAGE, the writing of this book has been a process. A process that's had it's ups and downs. A process that has let me down a couple times...but a process that has surprised me and reenergized me at points as well.

What I am most proud of is that I BELIEVED in my book! I believed in my vision! I let that belief guide my decisions, and NOT SETTLE for a version any less than what I would be proud to have my name on!

I didn't do it alone. Nico and our family and friends (far and near) inspired the actual idea. The encouragement of my family and (mom) friends helped me believe that the idea was worth pursuing. Peter helped me purchase the package that made the process OFFICIAL and was unknowingly and unintentionally my BIGGEST Motivator.  But I must admit that I wouldn't have been able to do it without my friend PRISCILLA SHAKUR. She helped mold my diamond in the rough into the actual GEM that is this final product.

The Publishing company itself hasn't been the easiest to work with but my author service representative, GLEN BRYCE, has been extremely cooperative and helpful, saving face for the publishing experience.

So what's the update?
THE FINAL GALLEY of the book was sent to me for approval yesterday...and I APPROVED!

Price has been set- $21.99 for Soft Cover and $31.99 for Hardcover. 

I know the price is a little more than I would pay for a book for Nico...but I have bought him a couple SPECIAL BOOKS for his collection....Like: Let's Do Nothing, Ty Cooney, Let's Race and I've really appreciated meeting the authors and getting their signature in the books, and hearing about their process. I hope that family, and friends, and family of friends and friends of family will like this book and want to share it with the ones they love.

What I want most is to share OUR STORY...and that one day Nico can be PROUD of having a mom that turns her dreams into reality, that takes life's lemons and makes lemonade...and that LOVES her life more each day because he is in it!

***Stay tuned...Website will be up soon for you to explore your purchase options***

I've started a NEW BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have started a NEW BLOG:

Making Mommy-hood Easier

Don't worry! This one will still be going strong with updates on our lives and NICO!!! But lately my brain has been churning ideas, in hopes that I could put to use all I've learned about motherhood into something special....and soooo I decided to stop thinking and just start writing....

My "field of dreams" mentality is what is telling me that if I write, the job will come...lol. But for real. While I wait to land that PERFECT JOB FOR ME (and by perfect I mean one that will pay me...hahaha), I want to invest some of my time writing about the things I've learned and keep learning about everyday as a MOTHER. I have incorporated that into this blog: Expecting the Unexpected, but I mainly share daily or weekly updates about our regular life that NOT EVERYONE (as I sigh loudly) cares too much to read about besides close friends and family.

My new Blog: Making Mommy-Hood Easier is going to be my place to EVALUATE and SHARE my thoughts on the things that I think make Mommy-hood actually easier! It will also be a way of organizing links of things that I stumble upon!

I hope that my mom friends and other people who are on this journey, sign up to follow by new blog and see where this adventure takes us all! Your suggestions, feed back and ideas are always welcomed!

A Stronger Me---A stronger you!

Yesterday and today I took a CPR course. There was a pregnant mom there. She was due in 3 weeks, she had so many questions about the infant CPR and she was very nervous. It seems like it was SOOO long ago that I was there where she was a couple weeks away from delivery, with so many questions about HOW my new life would be...if I would know what to do, if I would be a good mom, if I would ever get back in shape, if I would sleep through my baby's crying, if I would be able to handle it. And there I was tonight...seemingly an all knowing being, since I have a 17 month old with so much 'wisdom' to share and so 'calm'. It reminded me of some things i've been thinking about lately.

Motherhood is such a GIFT! A gift that some women take for granted, some get surprised by it, some wait for YEARS to receive, and some never get the chance to unwrap it. It's a gift that changes you forever. That being said, after your baby is born, MOMs sometimes loose their place in the world. The new little bundle of joy becomes the center of the everyones focus...to the point where moms start blending in to the background. Moms, who gave LIFE to a new person in the world, go through body transformations, mental transformations, and all the emotional changes that come with their NEW ROLE as a FULL TIME MOM. Everyone has different suggestions on how moms can regain that sense of SELF back. BootCamp4Moms strives to build moms back up alongside their child in a supportive environment. The "circle of TRUST" built by the bootcampers and trainers helps all involved--it's as beneficial to me, as a future instructor, as it will be for the mommy bootcampers-- to regain the parts of OURSELVES, our identity, our body, our confidence that somehow got lost among diapers, laundry, dishes, play dates, and all-nighters.

A couple weeks ago I started training to be a Mommy BootCamp instructor. One of the things I LOVE about the woman who started this is that she wants to empower moms. In the time since my training began, I feel that I've noticed a change in my mood, in my confidence, my body, and self-consciousness--about "not-working" and feeling down when others suggest that I should DO MORE to support my family financially. When baby makes three, it's not always easy to make those decisions of whether or not to go back to work and whether or not it makes sense to do so considering the costs of childcare.

Throughout my bootcamp sessions I want to remind my mommy bootcampers that you are not WORTH more or LESS because of the amount of money that you make. Just because a person doesn't get a paycheck for what they do, doesn't mean that their work is not valuable nor that they don't do anything. I feel that my "work" is good, right for me, and SOMETHING very important...even now that I haven't received a single paycheck to be an instructor. I think a person's worth should be measured by QUALITY OF their LIFE, their POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS to their surrounding world, and HOW HAPPY THEY ARE. And though daily TO-DO lists often feel like an endless roman decree, MOMMY TIME TO WORKOUT should be somewhere close to the TOP--even if it's hard somedays.

Bread winner or not I want to continue to work hard at teaching others to be WINNERS in their lives whether it's being that encouraging friend or that minute counter that's helping them sculpt their bodies, and pushing them to dig deep to find that 'INNER ME'.

Nico and I are excited to start my boot camp in September here in Marina del Rey. I feel that I will be a great instructor and that the moms I meet will feel STRONGER, TOUGHER, and HAPPIER when they leave our sessions. I want to help them emerge from the shadows that they have slowly started to blend in to.

For those mommas feeling pressure to DO MORE, I will remind them that spending time with your child, watching them grow, and teaching them about the world is not NOTHING....it's actually SOMETHING very special...a gift that some moms are very fortunate to have. For those mommas that wish there were more hours in a day to work full time and hang out with their babies, I will remind them that you are great mommas and that your babyheads think of you all day--and no matter what the work day brought...one giggle, hug, or kiss from your little one will wipe all your work worries away. If you feel good about yourself, you will feel more confident your decisions: whether its working outside the home, in the home, or both!

But regardless, it's all hard work---hard work that you need to be in shape for, and that I want to help you with.

2nd Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's day is hours away but we started celebrating yesterday when I got to go on a one clued-scavenger hunt for my 1st gift....A beautiful necklace with a mommy daddy and baby, making a heart shape with their arms! I loved it!!!!

Last year Nico and Peter gave an awesome photo on canvas, we are a yummy breakfast with Everette, Meagan, and Kevin at our complex's patio area (Austin). It was so much fun!

No matter what we do tomorrow, it will be amazing... because just having Nico run full speed at me with his arms wide open, giggling the whole time until he gives me a HUGE bear hug...is the BEST GIFT IN THE WORLD!!

I wanted to write a little about how it feels to be a mother...but when I read this email that Peter's mom sent me with a Poem, I realized that I couldn't have said it better myself!
Awesome Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.


Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Feliz Dia de la Madres Mommy! Te quiero muchisimo!!

Happy Mother's day Baby Mommas!

5 de Mayo

I year ago today Nico and I made it Sarah's 2nd section of Metamorphoses to Motherhood. Nico was 15 weeks old when we met these other mommas. Now 15 months old, and MILES away from where they are, we still hold them and all the memories we've made together, very colse to our heart! Thanks girls for being making me feel SO NORMAL!! Stephanie, one the the baby mommas wrote a really nice anniversary note on her blog.

On another note, We celebrated 5 de MAYO in TURE AMERICAN FASHION:

with Margaritas, Mexican food, and (baby) friends...lol.

YES! We celebrated 5 de MAYO!!!!

Some of us took it the PARTY more seriously than others...

We had some baby Momma friends and our new neighbors over. The kiddos had a great time playing and "sharing". Nico loved showing off his toys and his FLOATY.

Ice Skating and Good Bye Austin-Party

YESTERDAY WAS FANTABULOUS!!

In early afternoon we went ICE SKATING at the Whole Foods in Downtown! Peter and I took turns for a while and then Peter put Nico on the Ice for a little--which almost gave me a heart attack! Nico loved it...He walked on that ICE like a PRO!

Then we went to Monica and Tom's house for out Going Away Party. A couple weeks ago we decided to have a party and were going to have it at our place but Monica offered her place--which turned out being a GREAT DECISION, especially since it was FREEZING YESTERDAY!

The Food was AMAZING!!! Look at this spread that Monica has laid out before we even walked in through the door!?!?!?!

The Babies/toddlers all had a great time, and so did the mommies, daddies, non-mommies, and non-daddies!

From 1012 Ice skating, Good-bye party, domain

(From Left to Right: Meagan& Everette, Stephanie & Samuel, Me & Nico, Monica & Dylan, Heather & Isaac, Allison & Anderson)

From 1012 Ice skating, Good-bye party, domain

Nico learned how to get on the little motorcycle--here are the steps:

1- Decide to get on

From 1012 Ice skating, Good-bye party, domain

2 Prepare to get on

From 1012 Ice skating, Good-bye party, domain

3 Get knee on seat

From 1012 Ice skating, Good-bye party, domain

4 Get leg out from under knee

From 1012 Ice skating, Good-bye party, domain

There was a point when everyone had arrived and was all circled around the living room area where the babies were playing...and I thought to myself...I'm really going to miss all these people.

I looked around and felt LOVED! I don't regret anything about Austin. I hung out with baby and momma friends every week, I ran with my runner friends and momma friends at Townlake and all around, I went to libraries, I met up for lunch and walk and talk dates....I'm never going to forget all the Austin Friends that we have made--that have made Austin the unforgettable/special place it has been to us.

Thank you all for coming to hang out with us! We are going to MISS YOU ALL!!