I Want to Go Home

The days can be long being a working mom. This is nothing new for most women today. I have to be honest, I am tired. Before I was married I never knew how I could be tied down as a stay at home mom. I knew I would have to work. I just felt driven to contribute. After having children and trying to balance home and work life, I want to be home. Of course I enjoy adult interaction, and I do feel satisfaction from helping earn income for our family. Even with all of these things I realize with each passing day my children are not getting younger. There are many years ahead that I can work and do many other things, but I never regain those first years with my young children. I know staying home is not easy, and presents its own challenges. Getting up early and working 9 hours only to come home and hurry to prepare dinner and clean while trying to spend some time with the kids is getting exhausting.

I'm am praying so hard something will change because I don't want to wake up one day and find my children have already grown up.

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

http://u.s.%20bill%20seeks%20to%20rescue%20faltering%20newspapers/


Dear Senator Cardin,
I am a poor buggy maker from the rural countryside of Pennsylvania. This business has been in my family for over 100 years. Since the advent of the horseless carriage in the early twentieth century our company has seen a considerable decrease in profit margin. I have maintained a sizeable marketing demographic within the confines of Lancaster county. I still feel that our business could be bolstered with some help from the United States government. I know many will say the buggy has become somehwhat of a technological dinosaur, but I feel by not preserving this business we are doing a disservice to the American people and our rich heritage in this fine craft.

I would love to demonstrate the remarkable experience of riding in a handcrafted, open air buggy. I invite you and any of your collegues in congress to make a trip to Pennsylvania in the near future. I will even offer to have one of my young apprentices pick you up in a covered wagon for a true old west experience.

I look forward to your response in the near future. I am confindent that the representatives of our country will see fit to utilize the taxpayers dollars for such a meaningful and historical business.

Sincerely,
Concerned Businessman

P.S. Due to the fact that buggy making is quite labor intensive perhaps President Obama could make a trip to Pennsylvania and conduct a town hall meeting to discuss the jobs that would be created by subsidizing this business.

Springing to Life

What a lovely day it has turned out to be. Yesterday's gloomy weather coupled with a Monday had me feeling a little blah, but today truly captures the essence of spring. I wish I could take credit for the picture, but even though I did not take it captured the vibrancy I was feeling. After a long week of feeling sick and then just trying to get back to a sense of normalcy, I feel so energized. This can only mean one thing. Look out house you are about to be cleaned!!

Today my husband sent me flowers at work. It made me feel so special, and I couldn't stop grinning like a school girl. They are some lovely multi-colored tuplips. If I had a camera at work, they would have been the picture on my blog. They are even more special since it was a "just because" gift and not a holiday or anniversary. I am so honored to have such a sweet and thoughtful husband even after 6 years of marriage.

In other Medrano news Micah started crawling this past weekend. He started off crawling a few inches, but he finally got the hang of it and he is starting to head all over the place. Even though he can crawl his favorite is sitting up. No matter what he is doing he loves to be sitting up. He looks so proud of himself. He just beams at everyone. We caught him trying to pull himself up last night. I think he still has way to go, but we decided we better drop the crib soon or he may be tumbling out!

I really need to post some recent pictures. I just lack the patience to upload and then sift through all of the pictures and then pick just a few from so many. I will make an attempt to by the end of this week. The kids are just too precious not too.

Now I better wrap up here at work. It's almost home time.

I Don't Know What is Going on, but I Kind of Like It

Shifting, changing, and growing, we are constantly in a state of moving forward. I have been through so many emotions as well as spiritual awakening in these past few weeks I don't know even where to begin. The air is thick with change and with urgency. I continue to realize how little control I hold and how dependent I am on our heavenly Father for every little thing.

I work for a company that manufactures pavers. When pavers are produces and then laid they go through a natural curing process which causes a whitish film to rise to the top of the pavers for the first few months. It is simply a natural process that takes time. You may clean the efflorecense off, but more will rise until the paver has fully cured over time. This is the best analogy I can use to where I am at right now. Things come to the surface and God deals with me and then more keeps coming. God is shaping, molding, and testing motives. I am no alarmist, but the times are short. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I am open to the purification and strengthening that the Holy Spirit is doing on this earth.

I don't know exactly what God will do, but I think I kind of like it.

Mucus You are My Enemy

I attempted to go back to work yesterday. This turned out to be a bad idea. My voice was bad and I could not hear very well out of my right ear. I lasted three hours with everyone begging me to go to the doctor in case I had contracted bronchitis from Kaylie. I finally decided to go home, but I really wanted to hold off on going to the doctor. I went home and slept for a couple of hours. I woke up and it just kept feeling like it was getting worse. My ear was starting to hurt. I finally decided to bite the bullet and go to a Care Now since it was too late to get into my family doctor. I actually got in right away thanks to their web checkin. Chris took off to meet me at the doctor. I was diagnosed with a right ear infection, and an upper respiratory infection,no surprise their. The doctor prescribed me some flonase to make the stuffiness ease up in my sinuses, and some antibiotics for the infection. I also got a steroid shot for some immediete relief. That really helped and I actually woke up feeling refreshed. Here I am back at work. I'm not totally back on my game. I still have drainage, and I am still waiting for my ear to pop and relieve the pressure, but that will just take time and the antibiotics starting to kick in. One thing I am pretty excited about is regaining my sense of smell and taste. I have realized that life is so much more fun and beautiful when you can taste your food and smell the air. I've had a stuffy nose, but this is the most severe I can remember. All food tasted like sawdust in my mouth. I can't help it, I love the taste of good food. Having these things taken away from me made me realize what wonderful gifts from God they truly are. I'm hoping once the weekend gets here I will be feeling more like my old self. Kaylie is almost back to normal. She still wears out easily, but she wants to do more. Micah is still fighting a cold, but he is such a good natured boy he hasn't been too fussy about it. I just feel sorry for the poor guy when he gets to coughing late at night. Chris has been lucky so far, hopefully it will stay that way. He has been such a great husband taking care of me and dealing with all the medicine, doctor runs, etc. I love him so much.

So here's to nice weather and getting over this sick season!

Here Comes the Sun

I do enjoy the rain, but I really needed some sunshine in my life. After taking Kaylie to the doctor Friday I started getting that tingly feeling in my throat. By Saturday morning I was feeling full blown horrible. Sunday I ran a fever most of the day. I felt like I was in a fog. I stayed in from work today, and I still don't feel 100 percent. I am starting to wonder if the junk in my nose and throat really has an end. My mom was nice and took the kids today so i could actually sleep. I haven't been sick like this in awhile. I get colds here and there, but this just sucks the life out of me. I could wake up from 10 hours of sleep and then go right back to bed. I hate feeling that way because I detest sleeping the day away. I am trying to keep myself from overdoing it today. With the kids gone and the sun shining I am tempted to clean house, but then I would just collapse again if I even made it that far. Chris was a wonderful husband and took care of me all weekend as well as making sure Kaylie didn't overdo it since she was starting to feel better. I debated on and off all day yesterday whether to stay home from work. We get no sick time at work and if we are sick we have to use vacation time. Because I used everything I had when Micah was born I have nothing until this September. I know we can make it with less income, but it throws the budget a little. Yesterday an old family friend came to visit my dad. We were going to try and make it by to say hi, but I was obviously feeling too yucky to go anywhere. We haven't seen this man in years, but he always told my parents he felt bad because he had not given us a wedding present. This was no big deal to us as six years have come and gone and it is not something I ever think about. Well my mom called me after he left and informed me he had left a substantial monetary gift. This was more than what it would take to make up the difference of me staying home one day. Wow, what a blessing! I have said it before, but I will say it again. God is so faithful even in the small things. Now I am going to get back to resting so I can be ready when my kiddos come home. Have a great week everyone

Two Blogs in One Day

Woohoo! I really am on a roll. Ok, ok I admit, I am only writing this blog so that my brain will not stop functioning due to excess boredom. When you work in an industry that relies heavily on good weather to function things get a little slow when rain overtakes the metroplex for more than one day.


So hmmm what can I babble on about. I did take Kaylie to the doctor today. She has been sick since Monday and has been feverish on and off for three days. She won't eat anything so I started to get worried. After two stays in the hospital in the past I am never willing to take any chances. There was nothing alarming, but the doctor did say she seemed to be in the beginning stages of bronchitis. They went ahead and put her on an antibiotic to prevent a bacterial infection due to her history. I am a careful mom, but I also believe in letting the body try to heal itself before overloading on unecessary meds. After a week of rest and liquids I couldn't watch her suffer anymore. Kaylie is very trusting of her doctor which is a good thing. She never acts scared to go in and is very happy when she leaves with a lollypop and sticker.


I just want to give credit to the Cook's Childrens Physician network. They are awesome and always prompt. We were called into the exam room within 5 minutes of setting down. I didn't even have time to finish filling out my paperwork. The doctor was in within 5 minutes of the nurse settling Kaylie in. We were out of the office in twenty minutes. Even though they are fast they definitely don't rush you. All of our questions or concerns are always addressed, and they work so well with the kids. Sometimes I think Pediatritions get busy and forgert they are still dealing with kids. All of the doctors in this office have a way of making the exam go smoothly while allowing kids to just be kids. Our children's primary doctor is Dr. Sharon Jackson. She has been with us since Kaylie was 2 months old. She is incredible. She was the one who realized Micah had a hernia and we had it promptly taken care of in about 2 weeks. I have been impressed with just about every physician in this network. Kudos Cook's! You have lifelong patients in our family, at least until they are adults =)