Dear Luca

Dear Luca,
I can't believe you are one! Where has the time gone? It seems like overnight you transformed from a tiny little baby into this funny, active little toddler with a BIG personality. You are so busy these days. Climbing on everything, trying to put on every pair of shoes you find (yours, mine, and daddy's) in hopes that someone will take you outside (despite the fact that it's over 100 degrees outside), playing with Tevez (he sure makes you laugh), chasing balls, and examining everything. You know what you want and you are determined to get it. You are a stubborn little boy. Passionate already I know. We have had a lot of fun this summer playing at the splash pad, swimming, and visiting family in Indiana. You did a great job on your first plane ride, considering you were confined to our laps. You are not a fan of being confined. You love to explore and you are always on the move. I know soon enough you will be walking...or you might just go straight to running. You are so close, and I am just waiting to see you take those first steps and let go of our hands. I know you are ready for more independence. In just a few days you will start your new school. I know you will make a lot of new friends and enjoy all the activities. You are such a social little guy, always waving at everyone. I am going to miss spending all day with you, but I know we will have plenty of fun after school each day. We love you more than anything little man, and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!!!! You are amazing! Never forget that.

Love,
Mommy

We have a one year old?

Wait, when did that happen?! How did my tiny little baby turn into a busy one year old boy? Ahhhhhh! I just keep thinking about what we were doing this time last year. We were up all night with a newborn. No clue what we were doing. Exhausted. Trying to adjust to this tiny little thing that came in and shook up our lives. Well, a year later I think it's safe to say that we have started to settle into our new roles as mommy and daddy, but we still have a LOT to learn. Every new stage comes with new challenges, questions, and surprises. Just when it felt like we were finally mastering the baby stage, BAM! We have a toddler. An active, curious ball of energy. He is into everything. It's exhausting. He loves balls, climbing on things, tools, putting things together, tormenting Tevez, being outside, and did I mention balls? Soccer, football, baseball, basketball. It doesn't matter. He is his father's son.
We celebrated his first birthday here in Arizona with a pool party. He had plenty of friends around to help him celebrate, and he of course was happy to be in the pool. As for the cake, he wasn't too interested in eating it as I anticipated, but he did an awesome job of covering himself head to toe in blue icing. A shower was required afterwards. But you just can't celebrate enough when you are turning one, so we threw a family party in Indiana as well. It was really special for him to be able to celebrate his birthday with all of his grandparents and great grandparents as well as his cousin Ruthi. They had a blast together. It was great to be back in the midwest even if it was a whirlwind of a visit. Now we are back in Phoenix, and I have one more week of summer before I officially start my new job at my new school. It's a bit overwhelming thinking about starting over in a new district, new school, and new grade. Well, the first month of school is overwhelming regardless. On top of that, we have a LOT going on. I hope I get more time to blog in the upcoming weeks because I feel like I have been so bad at blogging. I have a million things I want to share!!!! For now, please accept my crummy short post and enjoy a couple of birthday pictures!

Ahhhhh...

Well, summer vacation has officially begun and I thought I would pop in and let you all know what is happening in the Sotomayor household. After the craziness of finishing out my LAST school year at Desert Oasis (hallelujah), we took our first family trip to California to visit family and of course take Luca to the beach. Despite chilly weather, we had a great time just hanging out and exploring southern California. Luca of course LOVED the beach. He went toddling right towards the water holding onto daddy's hands, mouth wide open with awe and excitement. He also loved the sand. That is the longest I have ever seen him sit still in one place, bucket and shovel in hand. Thankfully none of it made it into his mouth. We also got to spend a lot of time with Santi's family, and Luca enjoyed checking out Uncle Xavi's new digs in Venice Beach. Isn't that like the perfect place for a twenty something single guy? Yeah, I know. I think Santi was drooling on the inside. Of course Luca was also spoiled rotten by his great aunts, and we were so happy we got to see Tia Maria Enith who was visiting from Ecuador. He is definitely the prince of the Sotomayor side being the only baby boy among a bunch of baby girls. And he definitely has grandpa's personality. Hopefully we will get to see grandpa in a month or two when he makes his way to the states again. After a relaxing weekend away, I got to start my summer with my little man. We have been enjoying hanging out around the house, and have made plans for play dates, library story time, and the pool next week. The past couple of days he has been a little under the weather thanks to the top teeth working their way through. Hopefully they will pop out soon and he will be back to his happy self. Even when he is uncomfortable, he doesn't sit still. He has been busy cruising around all the furniture and I am certain he will be walking very soon. Eeeeek!

Besides taking care of my teething baby, my furry baby is also nursing an injury he managed just an hour after being dropped off at the pet resort. Oh Tevez. Poor thing. I am also working on some serious home organization over the summer, on top of getting ready for my first year in first grade at my new school...AND planning the final details of two 1st birthday parties! Man, so much for lounging. I have a bunch of pictures to post from Luca's first beach adventure, but my memory card is waaaaaaaaay over in the bookcase and I am so not getting up right now. Luca's nap time is one of the few moments of the day I get to sit and chill. Oh, and our laptop is still all slow and screwy, so it will be getting (hopefully) repaired next week, which may mean I don't get to update or post more pictures for a little while. AHHHH!

My First Mother's Day

As luck would have it, I am in a blogging sort of mood and our laptop is on the fritz. Go figure. I am attempting to blog from the ipad with limited success, so I may just have to try again later. Anywho...on Sunday I got to celebrate my first official Mother's Day (with a baby on the outside). Last year I was 7 months pregnant with Luca. Santi made me a delicious breakfast and got me some roses, and I remember wondering what it might be like to celebrate with my little one. This year I enjoyed my day with my amazing little family attending church (where we sat in the parent room and Luca plowed through an entire snack container of puffs and Cheerios), going out to breakfast, and taking our first family trip to the pool. Luca LOVED the pool, just as we had anticipated. The kid is a huge fan of water. Period. It doesn't matter if it's in a bath, a pool, or the dog's dish. He wanted nothing to do with the baby floating tube. He only wanted to be held so he could splash around. I am pretty sure he would have jumped right in if we had let him. I love watching him experience things for the first time. It's one of the best parts of being a mom. I love being a mom. Even on the days I am just completely tapped out. It's not an easy job by any means, but I wouldn't want to change a thing about our life with Luca.

May Musings

Wow, I was going about my morning mommy duties of getting Luca ready for daycare this morning when it occurred to me that today was the first day of May. I would say that it snuck up on me, but I have been counting down the minutes until the end of the school year since...oh...November 1st when I went back to work after maternity leave. May is a magical month. It's probably one of the most busy and hectic months of the school year, but summer is so close you can almost taste it. There is just something about knowing that you are in the final month of the school year that puts a spring in your step. The end is in sight, and a much needed vacation awaits. I am going to be honest here, this school year was probably my most challenging in my 6 years of teaching. I think it has even come close to topping the year I taught 5th grade, which is saying a lot. It's taken some time to get into the groove of being a working mommy. Starting the school year with my kiddos in November was NOT easy, especially since we had gone from a full day kindergarten program to a half day. NIGHTMARE. It was also hard being away from Luca all day, and really just the logistics of functioning as a teacher on very little sleep thanks to my most favorite little guy keeping me up all night many, many nights. That's no easy feat for any teacher, and with the class I had this year it was down right exhausting. I felt like I was going about my days in a fog most of the time. The house was always a wreck, sometimes we would eat a decent dinner, and forget about relaxing. Add several pumping sessions throughout the day (including two at work) and I am surprised I have survived the last 6 months at all. It hasn't been an easy road, and I will be the first to admit that the stress got the best of me many, many times. Too many. I allowed it to take over way too often, and I saw myself becoming a person I didn't want to be. Grouchy, bitter, short-tempered. Once again I felt God calling me to take a leap of faith. I just knew that it was time to move on from the school I have called home for the past 5 years. I knew that it was not a good situation for me, and it was not allowing me to be the mommy and wife I want to be. Despite my common sense telling me it was too much of a risk to resign without another job lined up, I turned in my letter of resignation in March. I had to trust God once again. I had to free myself up so that He could reveal Himself to me once again. Let me tell you, GOD IS GOOD! Now when you are waiting for God to show up in a big way, it's not always easy. In fact, it's scary. At least for me. I struggle with faith sometimes. I guess this is why he is always testing me and urging me to let go and let Him. I know He is growing my faith every day. Well, He did show up in a big way, and I am so thankful for His mercies. I was offered (and of course accepted!) a first grade teaching position in Litchfield Park. I fell in love with the principal, school, and teachers right away. It just felt right, and I breathed such a sigh of relief when I got the offer. I knew it was the perfect fit for me, and I knew that God had my best interest in mind when he nudged me to take that change and put myself out there. I feel a new energy and excitement for life, and I can't wait to see what this change does for me and for our family.