Time to catch up!

I feel like it has been a minute since I have had a chance to sit and share our daily madness.  But now that I have a moment to myself...let me entertain you for a moment with our recentness.

Just recently Omar was offered the head coach position at Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School.  I personally am elated with his accomplishment.  I feel like (without sounding matter-of-fact or snobby) he really does deserve this.  Omar has been working hard since he stopped playing baseball  to climb the ladder, and it is paying off.  Although the actual baseball season does not start until spring of 2012, he will begin coaching them in a summer league.  He is excited about the opportunity and I am so proud of him.  While Omi is loving life because he now has access to a baseball field that he can help Papa with.

 

The boys are maturing so much recently.  I cannot believe Omi will be 3 soon.  Oh my goodness--- make time stop please!!!  As a matter of fact when Aiden is not nibbling on a crayon he is going to town on drawing.  Look at these two darlings having a coloring session. 

 

Aiden’s antics are funnier each day, so different from his brother both physically and with his personality.  He really keeps us on our toes, such a  climber.  Not your every day climb on the couch climber either...I am talking about perching himself on to the dining room table moving the center piece out of the way to make room for his dance routine (pictures coming soon).  He has also developed a new obsession with hats and creating them out of any from a flower to his dinner bowl.  Let’s just say that keeping a tidy house becomes a bigger hurdle each day.  OH!!!  Did I mention he is working on a modeling career as well?  He is a bit shy about his rolls, but seems to be coming out of his shell quite nicely.

   

We currently have a super hero living with us.  He morphs into different characters depending on the day.  Most recently he is Iron Man.  Which is why for his birthday I know he is going to flip when he sees all the cool Iron Man loot that is awaiting him!!! Whenever at birthday parties he has his face painted as some sort of character.  Just recently we have had to have a lock down on markers because he has been caught a time or two attempting to recreate the face paint on himself and Aiden.  And in case you are wondering, he DOES battle villains which he finds in the "bad guy zone" aka under  the dining room table.

 

So often I banter about the boys and how awesome they are.  But I want to take a brief moment to express how much these two little ones mean to me.  Before Omi and Aiden there was Peanut and Coco.  My Peanut was my first little one.  I feel like he was my companion during the first season I was away from the family.  When Omar was on the road Peanut was my room mate.  I really hold them both so dear to my heart.  It must sound so silly for those of you who are not part of the extended baseball family.  But during those 10 day away games a little bit of home and comfort is sometimes hard to do without.  Having my pups with me with... made life a little more tolerable when being home sick kicked in.  Here are my two original babies on their way back from the groomers.  Coco is still as reckless as ever and has her crazy face on at all times and Mr.Peanut has still not figured out he is a dog and has issues coping with being treated like one at times.

Hope to be much more active in blogging once Omi’s birthday is knocked out!

Three Years Young

Dear Omi,

I cannot believe that 3 short years ago you blessed our world with your presence.  Before I got pregnant we prayed so much for a little one.  When we first found out you were on your way we were in the best kind of shock ever.  I cried when I first read the pregnancy test, I cried when I saw your little blinking heart for the first time, I cried when I actually got to hear it at the doctor’s office,  sobbed when I saw you jumping up and down within my uterus walls (sorry for the graphic description), and had the happiest tears I had experienced in my life that Wednesday June 4, 2008 at 5:09 when I finally got to meet you.  Omi in just 3 short years you have left such an impression in our lives that I cannot remember what life before you was like.  You’re my favorite oldest son and make us laugh so hard with your every day one line zingers.  Happy Birthday my big little guy...oxox Mama

Biggest baby in the nursery that day!

Our First Family Picture

Easter Egg Hunt

Some parts of the video are a little off (Omar was behind the camera so please don’t be too judgy).

And here is my little dumpling of a child Aiden. He is my little dare devil, fearless.

The rest is just of the boys when they woke up to the baskets the Easter Bunny had left them.  Omi was so excited (especially after watching HOP) that the Bunny left him a present!

 

 

I have been so M.I.A. as of late with the blogging world.  I am working on a nice little catch up piece with all sorts of fun facts and updates PLUS pictures which  I am always more than willing to share!!! 

Not your every day girl knowledge

So the other day I was (as I often am) watching a high school baseball game. It was (in case any one is truly concerned) a Pace vs.. Doral play off game. Watching the game is not as simple and just sitting and watching as it would be for most. I tend to hear all the banter that goes on behind me. I do not know why I even allow it to get to me. It really goes back as far as when Omar and I started "dating" and I would fly out to Wisconsin. At that time is was not about the actual game. I guess since I knew some of the guys, the inside scoop for the most part I always chuckled when I heard the comments. Let me not even get started when I would hear a groupie comment, the baseball wives I know always got a kick out of these. As the years passed my knowledge of the game unwillingly grew. There are times where I am actually amazed with what I have picked up subconsciously. Some of the picked up tid bits are more of a dialect, and other facts/ the way the game is played. And with that background information I share what odds and ends of what I have picked up:

The difference between a fly ball and a homerun? If you get under the ball, its likely 99/100 times is a fly ball. Most people do not know this, but the way a pitcher throws the ball will likely make you "pop up"

Double cuts...SUPER important. If you are the cut off guy and you are not where you are suppose to be, be prepared to get your ass chewed out. LOL! Cut off guy (for those who may not know this) is the guy who needs to be behind (for lack of a better word) the player who is suppose to catch the ball. It is the "back up" I guess you could say.

A slump buster is NOT someone you want to be. To be nice, it is a not pretty girl/ woman you hook up with (using a nice term) to get you out of your slump.

Being that Omar was a catcher I always had sympathy for them. I never really felt they got credit when credit was due. If the pitcher had a bad game, it was the catchers fault for "calling" a bad game, if it went well...wow the pitcher threw a great game (oh catcher didn’t call good pitches?). So...I have a soft spot for pass balls vs. wild pitches. It is really such a gray area. From my understanding, if it is catchable (is that even a real word?) and it gets under the catcher than it is considered a pass ball. PLEASE pitcher’s wives, let me know if I got this one right.

Ball players do not (from my experience) call it the majors. LOL!!! It is actually a pet peeve of mine, when I hear people call it that. I really have ZERO reason to be annoyed by it, but I am. Its the Big Leagues...not the majors.

Ahhh...and one of my favorite terms which can be applied to non baseball life- to big league someone. To big league someone is the utmost disrespect. Which basically is when you act like you are better than someone, by neglecting to acknowledge their existence. Big leaguing someone can lead to FB friend removal...LMBO!

This next one I am not sure why it is what it is...but it just IS. The off day, never to be confused with the day off (as the rest of the world describes it). baseball players do not get set schedules, Mon-Fri with Sat and Sun off. They receive a random day off every so often. This is called an OFF DAY. Whenever a game is canceled due to weather (rain or snow) also an off day. I still call Omar’s baseball free days off days, can’t break the habit.

Errors vs. hits are determined by the opinion of the score keeper basically. Although for the most part, the rule of thumb is if it is a routine play that is not accomplished it is considered an error. If it is an above average play than its really not. But again, it depends on who considers it average vs. above average.

Unless the ball is directly popped up behind home plate, it is never the catchers ball...unless someone else misses it. What do I mean by this? Ok, pop up to infield: between third baseman, pitcher and catcher, who’s ball is it? Well technically the third baseman. Although some would also argue it is never the pitcher’s ball either, he is the second choice. Catcher never says "ME- ME- ME" or has "YOU-YOU-YOU" said to him. It is kind of like he is there just in case (cut off guy).

There really is more baseball related junk crowing my brain but I can’t seem to organize it to get it typed on the screen. The more games I go to and hear the comments and questions of "why would we walk this guy to load the bases with 2 outs?"- to force the out...etc. I am always amazed with how much above average knowledge of the game I have picked up. High five me!

My Motherland

“Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma,
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma"- Jose Marti

This past week Omar’s parents and sister went to Cuba.  Now before I get all sappy I want to stress that I have only visited the island once, so I am no expert.  Omar has his entire family over there, all his uncles, aunts and cousins.  I have some family over there as well.  Luckily and insanely odd our families are both from the same town.  Now it may not sound like such an odd rarity to some, but Artemisa is not that big of a town.  I mean it is not Havana...but no Puerta La Guirra. For some of you I may as well be talking Chinese (so sorry). 

So0o0o0o0o... back to the topic at hand.  My in-laws got back to Miami tonight.  With them my great aunt sent me a letter in response to some pictures I sent her.  I really get teary eyed every time I think about it.  My grandmother gets to see her sister every five years, more or less depends on when she gets approval to visit the US.  Her youngest brother she has not seen in about 30+ years.  I get all annoyed when I go two weeks without seeing my brother, could not imagine one year much less thirty.  The older my grandparents get the more I get emotional about it, for the obvious reasons. 

When I visited back in 2009, it was such a surreal experience.  I was born an American, but raised a Cuban.  I  think that the only other culture in the US I could compare it to is Italian- American culture.  But it really is so different I think.  As most Cubans born in the states we are told about the wonders of the island our parents left behind.  It is almost like a forbidden destination.  Pretty impossible to explain if you do not really understand the history of that delightfully crazy island. 

Part of my heritage is based upon certain things that I feel only Cubans would get.  One is the patron saint of the island, La Caridad del Cobre.  Ok quick little info she is a Virgin Mary statue that was found in the bay by 3 men caught in a storm after praying for her protection.  There really is more to it, but ummm...click here for a history lesson.  My grandmother was born on the day she is observed on, and also named after her as well.  I was always aware of her but not like I had a shrine to her or anything.  In Miami there is a very beautiful church that was erected in her honor when she too came to the states.  Before you write off my madness...just don’t be too judgy.  About 2 or 3 months before Omar and I met I was having some drama and asked her for guidance and just to help me choose a good path.  I believe she sent Omar to me...both of them.  When Omar and I were not getting pregnant I prayed for her blessing...she sent me little Omi and later blessed us with Aiden.  Why am I rambling on about La Ermita?  Well because this past visit my in laws brought me back a little wooden statue of her with some sand from el cobre (black sparkly).  The corniness is likely overwhelming, but I am so happy to have her in our home.  Not to mention that she is a native, made by hand...truly authentic. 

Although the picture is slightly distorted and makes my head look cartoony, I thought I would still share.

Here she is my little Cachita <3

With all that blabbering out of the way, I am glad to announce that this week we are going to take Aiden to get his passport.  Because we will be visiting the motherland this fall. 

Busy Bee

Lately I have been pretty with baking.  I have had a wedding cake, oodles of cookies, and lots of lovely birthday cakes. 

The wedding cake, although looked awesome once completed and built was quite the head ache.  Luckily my dad helped me deliver it.  I really am not a fan of butter cream frosting being used on such a large cake.  Definitely not as easy to work with as fondant.  The finished product looked really good, but OMG what a delightful mission.

The next sets of cakes and cookies were back to back weekends of two cousin’s birthdays.  The first was a Little Mermaid themed birthday, with matching cookies.

The next was a Snow White themed birthday.  I really enjoyed making this cake for our friends Ana and Adrian’s little one’s first birthday.  For those of you Disney buffs, the cake is suppose to mimic her gown.  I also made cookies, but looking back I did not take any pictures of the cookies.  I did however get pictures of the cutest cupcakes shaped as apples. 

 

 

And for those of you who are curious, I have already started brain storming for Omi’s Lightning Mc Queen birthday themed cake.  And soon the preparations start :0)

Miami Ink

Back in February of 2006 (yes just a little over a month after we got married)  Omar and I got wedding bands tattooed on our ring fingers.  Obviously looking back on it, yes I knew Omar and I were crazy in love with each other but it was a pretty intense thing to do so early in our marriage.  I know you are wondering why?  And it really was because (as you all know) Omar was playing baseball and could not wear his wedding ring while playing.  ::LIGHT BULB:: tattoos cannot be taken off.  So I shared my brilliant idea with Omar and he agreed, and said since it was such an awesome idea I should take my own advice and get one as well.  My tatt is pretty much always covered by my rings, so no one ever really knows it exists...much like my other tatts (SUPER lower left back and front hip).

So fast forward five years later, it was time to get some more ink.  I had tinkered around with idea of getting something new but not sure on what or where I would go ahead with it.  Omar also wanted to get a "real" tattoo.  He was back and forth about what to get, although he knew he wanted it to be related to the boys. Again "tah-tah-dah-dah!"  Yvette to the rescue (lol!).  I thought it would look cool to get a foot print of each boy walking up his back.  We used the foot prints they took at the hospital- oh so cute and tiny.  I also wanted to have them represented on ME too, I picked a some what more subtle Celtic symbol of motherhood, with the dots representing each one of my boys. 

And without further adieu, I present to you our newly acquired ink.  the pictures are right after they were done so they look super red and swollen.  They are fully healed now, but I don’t have any recent pictures after the scabbing, plus we both have to have them retouched just to fill them in.

  

And just because I thought this story was pretty funny, I wanted to share.  A couple of days ago Omar’s dad gave the boys this super huge play set which included all sorts of cool accessories from an octopus to a submarine, and a bunch of figurines to match.  While Omi was taking the pieces out and loving life as he played with all the newly acquired toys, he turns to me and says with a huge smile on his face "Mama!  LOOK!!! A Papa toy!"

OMG... I know you are dyeing of laughter.  I sure did.