It's a Rojas Life: April 2013

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The Rojas Fur Babies

I had a conversation with a coworker the other day about how after you have a kid, a dog becomes a dog. Before Autumn, I spoiled Jack and Dani. I remember when Jack was a puppy, I would take him everywhere with me. Now, fast forward, do you know how hard it is to juggle a stroller or wagon and two dogs on a leash? Let me tell you it takes some skills. The other day when I was trying to just go on a simple walk with everyone it took forever to get out the door, and then a door to door salesman tried to talk to me in my driveway, this guy probably thought I was going to turn into some mythical Greek creature with how snappy I was.

Meet the wieners. Jack

Dani

Well everyone that knows me probably knows the wiener dogs or have heard me talk about them. When Autumn naps or goes to bed, this Mom is never left with out a child of some kind. If it is not Autumn on me, it is my wiener dogs.

This was taken when Autumn was still not sleeping through the night. Dani's head is popping out and that is Jack's bottom.

Jack is not the biggest Autumn fan at times but Dani is. This is shocking to me because Dani is not the most social of dogs. For those who don't know Dani is a puppy mill rescue. She was saved from one of those illegal mills in Missouri. They guess she was about 3 1/2 when I adopted her. This poor girl lived a life where she was confined to a small cage just covered in her own waste and pregnant non-stop. So it has taken her a long time to trust humans again.
From the moment I was pregnant, Jack could care less. Dani on the other hand just wanted to be by my side and lay on my belly. Everyone that knows Jack, knows the minute anyone enters this house he barks like crazy. However, when we brought Autumn home from the hospital, he was silent.

Dani loving on my belly.

I talk a lot about how the wiener dogs are not the smartest of animals but sometimes I think just like a small child they do things out of wanting my attention. Just like any family member, they irritate me at times. Post Autumn I would get frustrated with them because they flat out just know better. I just got to remind myself they just want their mom as well.

Jack helping me making icing for a cake.

Jack did the Head for the Cure 5K with us. He was the shortest walker. He has also done the CF walk with me.

Dani sporting Jack's old sweater at Christmas time.

Jack sitting in for our family photo on Christmas :)

Come July, Dani will have lived with us for as long as she was in the puppy mill. It is crazy because I feel like I have owned her forever. Let me tell you training a abused dog is not for everyone. It takes a lot of patience. I am happy that we had Dani for almost 2 years before having Autumn. Because juggling just adopted Dani and newborn Autumn would have been very stressful. I just wanted to take a moment and recognize the other furry members of the Rojas family.

Jack hanging with Autumn on the floor.

Jack and Autumn playing outside.

Autumn and Dani hanging out on the couch. Autumn with her stuffed black and tan wiener dog.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Mommy Free Day

Mommy free day is a beautiful day. Now this day happens only about twice a year, if I am lucky. It is a day where no one is at the house but the dogs and I. I love my baby girl and I miss her terribly when she is gone. This house is just not the same without her. But once in blue moon, we all need time to just exist alone.
Now this lovely day is by no means a walk in the park where I get to just sit around in p.j.s and eat mini eggs while watching Melrose Place on Netflix, even though you know by how descriptive that statement just was that I have done this before. I get to..........clean. Lame I know. But to me and other mommies out there the ability to blare music, in my case Cher, and rock out with your Clorox is a rare opportunity.

Who wouldn't miss this crazy fun girl?

So I did just that I cleaned my car which was in desperate need of a good clean. I hate to admit this I threw away a full 30 gallon bag of trash, from my car. That is pathetic, I will admit. Even before Autumn I was terrible at keeping a car clean so this is not anything new or surprising.

OMG is that the what the floors look like in my car!?!?!

Then it was on to the bathrooms. I don't need to go into detail there. And then the kitchen. Before I knew it my 4 hour morning was gone.
Now, during Mommy free day one must do activities that are difficult are impossible to do with their snuggle bunny. One of these things is....clothes shopping. So after my lunch with Fred for our anniversary, I decided it was time to get a pair of those colored skinny jeans. This was not a good idea. I seriously look like color just threw up on me and it makes my thighs look huge. Needless to say, I left empty handed. I later texted my friend Lindsay and our conversation went like this
Me: I am at a weird stage in life where I feel like I am too old for juniors clothes yet too young for misses
Lindsay: I hear you!
Me: I just had one of those really sad shopping experiences where you leave empty handed
Lindsay: Haha that happens to me more than I leave with items :( or if I do its for the ladies. I feel like that all the time, too old to look like a tramp mom and too young for golden girl.
After that it was time to pick up my baby girl. I was SO happy to see her and we celebrated by getting DQ ice cream. This time she at least attempted to try the cone :). It was a good mommy free day but I am happy to get back to my crazy fun filled nib days. Sitting alone in a empty quiet house is now the strangest thing to me. But man am I happy I got to do some of those deep cleaning nasty things that are hard to do with Autumn in the house.

We would not eat the cone unless the spoon was in there too. Strange little people rules.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

The Deal Breaker

It is a unwritten rule that when Autumn takes a nap in the car it is a game over. I refer to this move as "The Deal Breaker". See this nap gives my child just enough of a energy boost that the real nap gets skipped. Therefore, no Mommy break time for the day. Plus if our nap does get skipped my child is not the most pleasant of individuals to be around through out the day :)

The Deal Breaker

It is sad too cause when she falls asleep in the car I always get this idea in my head like okay if I can take her out of the car and put her down in the crib for a nap it will be fine. Never works! The minute I lay her down it is over.
This behavior of skipping nap time is becoming more frequent. My husband, Fred, had "The Deal Breaker" happen to him twice this weekend. Fred appropriately calls this the "KISS OF DEATH" when it happens to him. Yep, he spells it out all in caps too. Then he sends me a photo of the kid sleeping in the car. So I have proof that he is going to deal with angry no nap Autumn while I am at work.

KISS OF DEATH

Now this was harder to document with the rear facing baby car seat, and honestly, when she fell asleep in that car seat I was able to take the whole thing inside. Allowing her to sleep in it until she woke up. No harm, no foul. But now that I can't remove the car seat "The Deal Breaker" is the new trend when we fall asleep in the car.

Our first time falling asleep in the big girl car seat. However, this was taken on a road trip to Omaha therefore it was okay to sleep

A new must have for riding in the car that Autumn has developed is wearing her sweet shades.

Now that is one stylish baby!

When it comes to Mom's sunglasses though she is a little confused on how you are supposed to wear them.

It is quite funny though.

I, on the other hand, have been having some episodes of paranoia. I have been getting this random ringing in my hearing ear that last about 30 seconds each time. Unfortunately my primary care physician, neurologist, and gynecologist all left within the same year. It sucks because now I have to find all new doctors. They just don't know me and it can be frustrating. I get scared that I am magically going to sprout another tumor in my left ear and be left with no hearing and it just scares the crap out of me. Furthermore, since I don't have a doctor except for a new neurosurgeon that is socially awkward, I have no one to call to put my mind at ease. Instead I get to wait till April 16th, meet someone new and get to unleash all my fears to them. After my surgery, I fear my own body because I have no control over it. I know I am not the only person out there that feels this way and I try my best not to let my mind wonder, but this is a trait of mine that I can't just pull out the "stop sign" on. Watch it just be a sinus infection or something simple. My mother has terrible sinuses and has passed this love on to me. The thing is when you only have one ear you become much more aware of it. The evil beast that we call the internet is the worst thing for someone like me. The sad thing, when they say "very rarely this can be cause by a tumor" I now feel like since I am one of those "rare cases" it can happen again and easier since I have a history of having it be "the rare tumor" causing all my problems.
I have put myself at ease with the fact that a acoustic neuroma is a slow growing tumor. I do get monitored through MRI scans for the rest of my life. I just had one done in December. Calm down Julie! I guess one positive thing about "The Deal Breaker" is it gives me less time to think about all these crazy possibilities.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

10 years of being a Rojas!

Last time I put up a timeline of Freddy and I it was our 4 year anniversary. Today we are celebrating lucky number 10! My birthday is 10/10 so I like to believe that 10 has some magical power of amazingness in my life. This year we will be traveling to Disney World later this month to celebrate our 10 year milestone. Here is a look back on the years that have created the family that we have today. I am going to leave the original text from 6 years ago and add on :)

This week is Fred and I's 4 year anniversary. We have been together since January 14th 2005. When Fred and I got together the digital camera was just coming out. Therefore a lot of these photos I am about to share are pictures taken of pictures.

We started out as good friends in 2004

Fred and I are in the very back. Fred's girlfriend at the time was actually the girl 2nd to the left. Halloween 2004

St, Patrick's Day 2005

Memorial Day weekend 2005

Halloween 2005

I can't rotate this for some reason but I believe it is Thanksgiving 2005

Fred's 24th Birthday 2006

Fred at our 1 year anniversary of dating 2006

How many remember our first dog Shiraz? 2006

Apartment in Leawood 2006

6/6/6 party

2006 We went through some different hair colors :)

Spring break 2008. I don't have too many photos of 2007. Fred and I lived in different states for a year while I attended RT school and he started working in Chicago for Cars.com.

I moved to Chicago in June 2008. This is our first meal after unpacking with my parents at Ed Devivic's (probably spelled wrong)

Dustin and Taylor's wedding in July 2008

Fred's work party on Navy Pier 2008

New Year's 2009

Our Wedding Day! April 4th 2009

Honeymoon!

Brian's Birthday 2009

My 25th Birthday! 2009

Nate and Mee's wedding 2010. I am not pregnant yet, just ate a lot, lol. That is seriously what I looked like at about 26 weeks proof is in the picture below.

Brian's Birthday 2011. I guess we always play this game, lol. I have my baby bump going on around 26 weeks.

September 22, 2011. The day we our family became a family of 3.

Fred and Autumn December 2012.

I love my husband! He has stuck by my side through tough and fun times. After my surgery I could not move my left arm for about 4 weeks. My husband took care of me and helped me with my vestibular physical therapy exercises. He was always the one that was able to calm me down, and even though my face was drooping so bad that when I drank water it poured out the other side, Fred sat there and told me I was beautiful. I am so thankful to have him in my life. Happy 4 Years to us :)