I had a nice, quiet, lazy weekend. One where I pretty much unplugged the entire two days. I had a lot of hang out time at home with my family and we rested – no going anywhere or errands to run. It was actually really nice. I think my body and mind needed it after the traveling I did this month and it seemed to be enjoyed by the husband and baby girl as well. Her and I even took a nap together.

The only thing I’m regretting about this weekend is that I didn’t go visit my parents. The last time my baby girl and I saw them was the weekend before. It’s harder to visit them during the week since the week entails a busy work/school schedule for all of us. So, it’s much easier to visit on Saturdays or Sundays. Since we didn’t visit this past weekend, it’s now a little over a week since we’ve seen them.

And, the guilt sets in.

Why is it that even though we had a very nice weekend, I still manage to have that one little thing that is pulling at me? I’m content with how we spent our time, but feel guilty that I didn’t carve out time to go and visit them. Since many of us play so many roles – wives, mothers, daughters – I am wondering if this is a “woman” thing. I know that men also play multiple roles, but for some reason, I don’t see many men stressing if they go over a week without talking to or seeing their extended family. In fact, I know a few who can go over 3 weeks without talking to their parents.

In our Latino culture, family is ultra, mega, important. In my immediate family, we don’t make it a habit of not talking to each other for extended periods of time. Actually, I think I’m already pushing the limits by not having a daily phone conversation with my mother; I usually talk to her every other day. And like I mentioned, we often see each other on at least a weekly basis, if not more – she does live only 15 minutes away from me.

So, does anyone else who lives close to their parents struggle with this? How do you keep the guilty feelings away if you happen to concentrate on yourself or family and don’t include your role as a daughter/son for a few days?

Ever have one of those days when you just want to push the “delete all” button – in your inbox and life in general? I’m having one of those…weeks. I not only want to clear my inbox and start all over, but I wish I could do the same with my house and other aspects of my daily life.

I know many of you strive to manage it all and have some type of work-life balance, much like me. So, in an effort to help each other out, I’m going to lay it all out and share my current struggles. Perhaps in doing so, I can get rid of the mental clutter and move on to actually setting a plan of action to get things done. Or, at the very least, it will provide an outlet for venting.

Current challenges I’m struggling with:

• 160 unread emails: plus a bunch more marked unread and starred for action
• Messy house: every room in our house needs help
• An ever-growing to-do list: I have several projects I’m working on outside of managing this blog and my pregnancy blog. Each project has a to-do list that seems to add 2 items for every 1 I cross off.
• Cooking: Last night was the first time in a while – maybe a month – that we had an actual real meal. I’ve been traveling quite a bit, and dinner menu planning fell off the radar.
• Physical issues: Of course, due to the pregnancy, my energy and stamina are not what they should be. I’ve been able to keep up quite well, considering, as was pointed out by several friends who’ve seen me at recent events, but it’s still not what it could be.

So, what do I plan to do about it? I’m not exactly sure yet. I hope to stabilize one or two projects, so they can be more manageable. I may just hit delete on quite a few emails in order to get my inbox to a workable status. (Maybe. I’ll admit, it’s a little scary to think about doing that.) And, perhaps I can take advantage of upcoming weekends that are relatively free of commitments to dedicate time to the house and put a dinner menu back in effect.

Do you have current challenges you’re facing? Want to share with the rest of us in an effort to help each other with ideas for getting back on track?

This post is part of a paid campaign.

As I’ve mentioned before, in Florida, it seems like it’s always summer. Spring runs into summer which runs into fall. We have very slight variations in the weather. Our winters are questionable as well. Even my baby girl has noticed: “Is it still summer?” “Yes.” “Man, summer is a looong time!”

That means, that the traditional summer activities reserved for June-August by the rest of the nation, are activities that we can do in Florida the majority of the year. However, for some reason or another, my family reserves beach trips for summer. It’s not that we can’t go other months in the year, since the weather certainly allows it. It’s just something that has become part of our routine – once September comes around, we don’t make any beach trips until the following May or June.

Because of that, our beach trips are what make summer the most memorable for me. That, and maybe the fact that I am from a tropical island and spent much of my early childhood on the sand under palm trees. I love la playa. From the cool wind and water, down to the hot sand and even the sea smell. It’s great to see that love was inherited by my daughter.

I can’t share the palm trees and coconuts with her, since the beaches near us don’t have anything but pure sand for miles and miles. I can, however, share many memories with her: collecting sea shells, swinging under a palm tree in the hamaca, and playing in the water, for example. Since she visited Puerto Rico with us last year, she’s able to remember the beaches in Puerto Rico and relate.

Now, we’re making our own memories by visiting the beach every summer. Since she was only about 6 months old, we’ve made beach trips during the summer. She loves it and can’t get enough of playing on the beach. We may not have many standard summer activities that differentiate the summer from any other season in Florida. Yet, somehow, our family has managed to find something to make summer our own.

This summer, we’ve also had the opportunity to try out some frozen pops courtesy of Popsicle. After tasting the Popsicle® Jolly Rancher™ ice pops, we then tried the new Slow Melt Ice Pops – specifically of the Dora variety, since baby girl is a fan. She loved the different shapes they come in and, of course, tried the pink one first, because what other color is there? These Popsicle Slow Melt pops are meant to last longer (Get it? Slow Melt), which in turn means less mess on your kids’ clothes. This is especially handy when you have a kid like mine who takes for.e.ver to eat her food. No lie, she can sit there for nearly an hour eating the same plate I put in front of her. Of course, with popsicles, she never takes as long, but still eats slower than I would. I did notice that the Dora Slow Melt pop took longer to start melting than I’m used to. So, I guess it works!

Don’t forget that Popsicle is also holding a contest this summer. You can enter the Anything’s Possible With Popsicle Sweepstakes where kids have the chance to win one of three great prizes: dinosaur dig, dolphin dive, or Space Camp®! See more information and official rules on the Popsicle site.

What special summer time memories do you enjoy sharing with your kid(s)?

Disclosure: I am a Popsicle Brand Ambassador through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club member program. This post was written in conjunction with the program, but all opinions and thoughts are original.

On Sunday, I co-hosted the Orlando Hebrew National Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic. The night before, the husband and I were explaining to baby girl that we would be going to the picnic and that we were going to be helping people. We told her that we’d be collecting items that would be given to people who needed them. This led to a resurfacing of a previous conversation concerning people who don’t have as much as we do. It also led to many questions/comments from her:

• “Why do some people not have houses?”
• “But, if they sleep on the streets…that’s dangerous!”
• “When did we not have a house?”

After answering all her questions and feeling good that she was actually understanding this concept, she proceeded to break my heart…in a good way.

“Maybe one day…daddy can go work more and get even more money and we can build them a house!”

Oh baby girl, how I wish we could. That sure would be great.

After the initial laughter between my husband and I about her sending him to do more work, I sat there in the car on our way home and had to really fight back the tears. I was so proud of my girl and that she not only understood, but that she also wanted to help.

During the picnic itself, it was bittersweet to see local homeless families at the event. While it was nice to see the kids enjoying themselves and having fun with other kids attending, including my daughter, it was really sad to know that at the end of the day, they wouldn’t have a home to go to.

One day, though, perhaps as a community, we’ll be able to fulfill my baby girl’s hopes of being able to “build them a house” and help everyone.

For another story about my girl and how sweet she’s acting these days, head over to read about her Big Sister Love.

Disclosure: I was compensated for my time and work in co-hosting the Hebrew National Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic.

This post is part of a paid campaign.

“Why do you and daddy have to work?”

“So that we can have this house, food, clothes, and take care of you.”

“What would happen if you didn’t work?”

“Well, we wouldn’t be able to pay for this house or buy food. Did you know there are some people who have no house? They sleep in their cars or sometimes on the street.”

“No way.”

“Yes, it’s very sad, right? So we should be thankful that mami and papa work and that we have all we have.”

This is a conversation my baby girl and I had months ago. It was one of those early-morning, still-in-bed conversations before a typical work day. Though, I tried to explain to her that we should be grateful since there are some who have much less, I don’t think the message truly sunk in. It’s tough for a 4 year old to understand this concept of being without; especially when we’re fortunate to be able to provide for her. Since then, I’ve been thinking of a way to help her understand.

I may be able to do just that this coming Sunday while attending and co-hosting the Orlando Hebrew National Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic. Hebrew National and TheMotherhood.com have teamed up with bloggers across the country to host family-friendly picnics that benefit local charities. In Orlando, it will be held this Sunday, June 27 and will benefit the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida. If you’re not in Orlando, you can check out the official picnic page on The Motherhood for information about picnics in other cities.

Hebrew National and The Motherhood’s Orlando “Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic”

Details:

Hosted by:

• Jennifer, The Dirty Shirt
• Leigh, Theme Park Mom
• Britt, Miss Britt
• and me!

When: Sunday, June 27
Time: 11:30 am – 3:30 pm
Where: Lake Eola Park – 195 N. Rosalind Ave., Downtown Orlando

Bring your kids, family, and friends to enjoy free Hebrew National hot dogs, a community service project to benefit Central Florida homeless, music, giant puzzles, a mechanical bull and other activities for kids and families! We will be collecting donated items, as well as putting together goody bags for many dads currently living in the shelter, who were unable to receive a Father’s Day celebration.

The Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida is in need of many items, such as:

• Canned fruit and vegetables
• Baby items: Diapers (sizes 4, 5 and 6), potty training pants (i.e., Pull-Ups®), baby wipes, and sippy cups, GOOD START® baby formula (per government nutritional guidelines)
• Personal hygiene supplies: Bar soap, hand soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, feminine hygiene products, shampoo, and conditioner
• New underwear, socks, bras, and shoes (men, women and children)
• Medical supplies
• Cleaning supplies
• Kitchen items: paper towels, napkins, paper plates, cups, dish soap, hand/dish towels
• General office supplies
• Hurricane supplies
• Gift cards for Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, Walmart, Publix, Office Max, Office Depot, and Staples

For items specific to the goody bags for the dads, the following would be appreciated: shaving creams, razors, chocolate, cards, etc.

All are welcome and RSVP is not required, but you can RSVP on facebook if you’d like.

If you’re in the Orlando and near-by areas, please come out to Lake Eola and have fun with your friends and family while also helping out the local homeless community. I’d love to meet you!

Disclosure: As a co-host of the Hebrew National Better-Than-A-Picnic Picnic and working with TheMotherhood.com, I was compensated for my time.

Our 4 year old daughter has been wanting to go camping the last few weeks. For some reason or another she’s got camping in her head and has brought it up quite a few times recently. She probably got it from TV or perhaps from her preschool – what with them learning about summer activities and such.

The problem? We’re not exactly what you’d call a camping kind of family. I’ve only ever done it once in my life – not by choice – and the hosts had a nice RV in which I slept. I’m just not a get-intimate-with-earth kind of girl.

That said, I could see us parking a little trailer or mini-RV on some campgrounds and spending one (do I dare stay two?) night “camping.” But, of course, we have no plans to buy a trailer/RV anytime soon. So, when our baby girl says she wants to go camping, the answer she gets is obviously no.

Being the clever little girl she is, the other night she answered back by saying, “let’s pretend we’re camping.” Thankfully, I have a creative husband who immediately thought up a way we could do this in our own house. After he arrived home from work and we had all eaten dinner, the man proceeded to set up “camp” in our living room.

He set up a toy tent she already had, brought out some marshmallows, chopsticks, and a flashlight. (Bare with me, this will all make sense soon.) He then stacked some of her books on the floor and stood an empty paper-towel roll in the middle to hold the flashlight. We sat down on the floor, used the chopsticks as our wooden sticks and “roasted” our marshmallows over our fake flashlight-campfire. Of course, we went around and made up stories as we ate our marshmallows.

Our baby girl was not just happy we had gone “camping,” she was ecstatic. I think it was even better than the real thing - no bugs, no allergies, no mess. And, I had found a new appreciation for my dear husband. Don’t get me wrong – I always appreciate him. But, seeing how fast he could whip up a camp-site, please our daughter (and me), and watch him be an all-around great father while roasting his marshmallows…well, it touched that soft spot I have in my heart for him.

Now, if he could just whip up an in-home spa for me, I’d be one happy mami!

A few weeks ago I had a birthday. It was a big one. As in, the big 3-0. I joked around the weeks leading up to my birthday and said things like, “I don’t know how I feel about turning 30” and “Can I just say I’m 29 and 13 months instead?”

The thing is that I was being honest when I said I didn’t know how I felt about it. I truly wasn’t having a complete freak-out about it, but I also wasn’t thrilled. I just knew I was now leaving my 20′s and entering the 30′s. And, that was what bothered me a bit. The fact that I could no longer say I was in my 20′s. I was leaving behind an entire decade!

Everyone I talked to said the same things: “The 30′s are the best” and “You’ll see that the 30′s are better than the 20′s.” While that may be true, my 20′s weren’t so bad either. I graduated college, got married, and had my baby girl – all in my 20′s. Plus, there’s the whole “I still feel young” thing. Don’t laugh, but for some reason 30 is the official number in my head for leaving young and crossing over into old. I realize this doesn’t make sense.

However, it’s the idea that was in my head. I felt like leaving my 20′s meant I was also saying good-bye to my youth. My fun, lighthearted, young 20′s were now going to be in the past. Saying “I’m in my 30′s” seemed so much different than saying “I’m in my 20′s.”

Even so, I understand that 30 is really just a number. I know it doesn’t mean I’m old. I know it will be what I make of it. But, part of me couldn’t help but feel the way I did.

Obviously, the day that I actually turned 30 wasn’t so bad. It’s not like I felt a sudden change, of course. In the weeks since my birthday, I haven’t actually had the need to say “I’m 30″ yet. Maybe when I do it will become a reality for me. Because so far? I still feel 29.

Wonder how long that will last?

A long time ago there was a commercial for a pregnancy test on TV that showed a woman standing up and thinking, “I can’t concentrate. Could I be pregnant?” For years, my husband and I laughed at the commercial because we could not make the connection as to what one had to do with the other. Why would she think she was pregnant just because she couldn’t concentrate? The idea seemed absolutely ludicrous to us.

Now that I’m pregnant with our second child, I find that I am the woman from that commercial. And, I’m eating my words – or laughter, in this case. I totally get it now. I’m unable to concentrate and am having a somewhat hard time adjusting and maintaining my work-life balance.

More specifically, I’m finding it a bit difficult to deal with the pregnancy symptoms  – the various aches, and especially the lack of energy – plus entertain and play with my baby girl. I’m getting tired of saying, “Mommy’s not feeling good” and I know she must be tired of hearing it. I can only do so many couch-based activities with her before she requires more stimulation. I’ve tried reading together, watching movies, and playing board games, to name a few things. I get up and moving with her when I can, but it’s not long before, “Mommy has to sit down and take a break.”

I know she’s an understanding girl and for the most part moves on to do another activity. Often times my husband will take over and do something with her until I can keep playing. But, the mommy guilt is coming on full-force these days and I can feel she’s getting frustrated. I’m getting frustrated. It’s even causing tension between us and I find these days we are often snapping at each other; the hormones aren’t helping with my patience either.

Of course, other aspects of our home life are affected, such as keeping up with the household. Luckily, I have a great husband who is doing his part to keep up with things around the house. But, that is not as serious an issue in my mind as the connection with my daughter. That is something he cannot help with.

So, today I want to hear from all of you who already have two, three, and especially those of you who have four or more kids. I want to know how you managed your pregnancies while also working, managing a household, and caring for and entertaining your kids. Hopefully I’m not the only one out there who’s had this issue when pregnant the second time around and you’ll be able to provide some input.

How did you deal with the pregnancy symptoms and maintain a sense of work-life balance?

As you may know, the husband and I have been trying to conceive our second child. I’m happy to share with you that we are expecting a fourth member of our family and will be welcoming him or her in December! Earlier this week, I announced our good news on our pregnancy blog. You can read more information there about how I’m currently feeling, how far along I am, and the big sister’s reactions to the news.

We’re very excited and I’m looking forward to the next few months and preparing for our new baby. I won’t be posting much about the pregnancy itself on here, so if you want to follow along the next few months, make sure to subscribe to the feed for 40weeks Plus and stay updated.

Survey

As I mentioned before, I was working on a survey to gather more information about you, the readers. Please help me out and take this quick and short survey so I can learn more about who you are, what you like about this blog, and how you think it can be improved. I promise it’ll only take you about 2 minutes to complete it. Thanks so much!

Oh my dear dear friends. What a week it’s been.

If you follow me on twitter, you no doubt read/heard about my trip to Miami last week/weekend. I had a blast and hung out with many fellow Latina bloggers. And, while I’ve been to Miami many times, on quick weekend trips, for some reason, this trip wore.me.out! I’m still recovering and am exhausted, even though we returned to our home Sunday night. Needless to say, I’ve got much catching up to do.

I hope you’ve been enjoying the guest posts as much as I have. I love hearing the perspective of others and it’s always great to read about other mamis and how they handle life.

As recently announced, I’m still working on the back-end of ModernMami and will soon have a brief survey for you to complete. I need to learn more about you and hear what content you prefer and want to read more of. So, look for that soon.

In the meantime, let me know if you too want to contribute to ModernMami with a guest post or vlog. Just fill out this quick form.

Hope your week is off to a good start so far!