An update

Hello friends :)

Thank you all so much for your kind comments, concerns and suggestions on my post from yesterday. It was weighing SO heavily on my heart, and even more so after Manuel came home and told me about ANOTHER incident between he and Billy (UGH!!). Someone used the term squeaky wheel yesterday and that's exactly it...I didn't want to be the annoyingly overly involved mom who needs to relax, HOWEVER, after Manuel telling me about day #2's incident, I had to e-mail his teacher, and I am SO glad that I did!!!

She was SO receptive to my concern and of course, as I figured, had no idea that any of it was happening and was actually quite surprised because she said Manuel and Billy seem pretty inseparable. At the beginning of the day she thanked me for letting her know, and told me that she would keep an eye out for anything, as well as talk to both boys (because as I had explained in my initial e-mail, I understand that there are two sides to every story). I was pleased beyond words when I got this e-mail from her a few hours ago (*names have been shortened to protect everyones privacy ;))

"Hi Mrs. Gomez,
No worries!  Helping the students learn how to get along is part of my job :) Mrs. D (our school counselor) was in today and she spoke with both of the boys.  She talked about how to problem solve and about being respectful to each other.  They have done a pretty good job doing that today.  The two are pretty inseparable.  Mrs. D was surprised that they were having issues since they are always together.  Maybe being together all the time is not always the best thing. :) They were “swinging arms in pretend hitting” today, so I did separate them in line.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if you see or hear of any other issues.  Thank you again for your support of Manny.
Mrs. B"

*Please note: Manuel will be spoken to about "play hitting"! ;)*

I feel happy, relieved and SO grateful for how receptive she was.

Thank you again for all of your support. I'm not sure I would have written her had it not been for all of you encouraging me to do so. Thank you for making me realize I wasn't being crazy! ;)

Happy Thursday!

I hope to be linking up again tomorrow with Katie's 30 day challenge :)

Pour Your Heart Out: Did I make you this way?

Once again, I'm linking up with Shell to Pour My Heart out. Goodness knows, I need it today!

As I mentioned earlier in the week, last Wednesday Manuel started Kindergarten. It was a huge step for me, in allowing my sweet, golden hearted, curly haired, orney little boy to start the process of growing up. I cried for days leading up to it. I cried the morning of. I cried as the bus pulled out. However, when I heard how much he loved it, my heart leapt with joy. You see, Manuel is a unique little boy in many aspects...he's shy (in new situations, even if it's a situation he's been in many times before, I mean even if it's "new" for the day), he doesn't make friends easily (although he is an absolute sweetheart!) because of how shy he is, he's not really into sports (even at 5, apparently that's frowned upon if you're a little boy). I mean I guess that's not necessarily "unique" but he's not the outspoken, go get 'em, leader of the pack, type of child. So for him to rave about how much he loved school, just made my heart smile. I was scared his transition was going to be awkward, hard, and at times, even heartbreaking (for him). Even two children from his preschool class, Billy and Paula, were in his Kindergarten class so he knew somebody, YAY!!! :) Each day passed, and he continued to love it. As I mentioned in my earlier post this week, his teacher even took the time to tell me how well he was doing and what a smart, fun-loving child he is. I couldn't ask for more! Until yesterday...

Manuel was talking about his day and in the midst of the conversation, as if it was no big deal, he said, "Well Billy (the same Billy from preschool) is my only friend. But he told me that I'm not good at anything  I do. That I don't have any friends and everything I try I'm bad at. And well, he's right. I'm not really good at anything." UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (I'm crying just typing that!) How in the world has he been ranting and raving about school, and how much he loves it, yet he's made no friends and the one buddy he does have is a complete meanie!?!??!?!?!

My initial reaction is to say, "You know what you tell Billy? You say, "Well Billy, at least I wasn't the one crying the first day of school when my Mommy and Daddy left!" But I know, that's stooping to their level, and very immature of me to even THINK that, but it's true, Billy did cry (A LOT!) and did Manuel ever think to make fun of him for that?!?!? NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course I didn't tell Manuel that, I told him to just ignore Billy and try to make other friends. Why do kids have to be SO cruel?????? I know it's the world we live, but honestly, it breaks my heart a teeny bit more each time I think about it.

And you see, the reason my post is title, "Did I make you this way?" is because growing up, I was Manuel...I didn't have many friends, I got made fun of for being overweight (Manuel is NOT overweight at all), for the AWFUL way I wore my bangs (Manuel has awesome hair! :)),  for not being good at sports, and really the list could go on and on. It wasn't until I transferred schools my junior year of high school and attended school with my popular best friend, so I  had "ready made" friends to welcome me, that I stopped being made fun of (and started hanging out with the popular kids and doing drugs, but that's another post in itself)

***AHHHHHHHH! Apparently I'm not supposed to be Pouring my heart out because I just had so much more posted and when I tried to add pics, my computer froze and it was all deleted!!!!! :((

Anyway, let's try and remember what I said...

I'm not asking for Manuel to be Mr. Superstar, Great At Every Sport, Homecoming King, All Around Mr. Awesome Extradorinaire. I'm totally fine with him being himself (whatever God has in store for him to do), however, I am praying that he is able to find his "niche" and doesn't spend the next 12+ years of schooling being made fun or being made to feel less than ANYONE else!!!!!!! He dealt with it at summer camp on occasion, but we were hoping it was just because he was surrounded my a majority of older kids, but now it's happening again, by his peers!!!!! I know Manuel is a very smart child and will excel in academics, I would just hate to see his academics suffer because of his social experiences. He is a cute kid, with a sweet personality, he dresses nice (NOT that the materialistic things matter, but lets be honest, in school, it does!) and all those things that you would THINK would help keep the "teasing target" off his back, but I guess that's not the case.

I don't want to contact the teacher just yet, because I don't want to be "that parent" who's meddling already, when it could have been one isolated incident, BUT I'm not letting this continue. I will not sit back and let my child be bullied, made fun, etc. I know some of you might be thinking, "It's only been a week. Give it time lady!" and you could very well be right, however, when it's your child, it's a different story.

This whole parenting thing is not for the weak of heart. Unfortunately, I wear my heart on my sleeve and when it comes to my babies, I can't help but hurt when they hurt. Cry when they cry. Feel defeated when they feel defeated.

Praying for guidance, answers and most importantly resolution and peace for my sweet sons heart.

Thanks for listening friends! :)

And for good measure...

(Just to be clear, these are Manuel's pajamas. He's wearing them in the car in the bottom picture because we had just left my sisters cookout after a long day and he wanted to be in his "comfies" :))

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 5 & 6

Happy Tuesday Friends (I almost said Monday! :))

I hope you all enjoyed your wonderful, long holiday weekend. The Gomez family did, and now it's back to work, school and Linnie's for us! :)

I am once again linking up with Katie for the 30 Day Challenge. I did not post yesterday, so today is Day 5 & 6....



Day 5: A picture that makes you happy

If you've been around for awhile, you've seen this picture MANY times! :) It was our Christmas card pic from 2010. These two faces are my absolute EVERYTHING! And although it's totally cliche that I posted a pic of them on this prompt (instead of something original and creative like a picture of a Chili's restaurant (YUMMO!!!!! :) I can't help it. I love them! :)

Day 6: Movies
I'm going to be super honest here and say, I am NOT a fan of movies AT ALL (gasp!!! I know, please don't un-follow me! ;) I think it's just because the idea of sitting still for 2+ hours when I know there are a million and one things I could be doing, just drives me crazy. It's funny though, because my husband LOVES movies. He would spend all of his "TV time" watching movies if it wasn't for how much I do not like them! ;) He (along with everyone else) thinks it's so crazy that I've never seen such "classics" (I use that term loosely) as "There's Something About Mary", "Dumb and Dumber", all the Chris Farley movies, etc. I'm just not into it! ;) With that being said, I two have two all time favorite movies that I would watch over and over again. They are...

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I have LOVED this movie for as long as I can remember! Grant it, I was only 8 years old when it came out, but I'm pretty sure I've loved it ever since then. And the songs in the movie, AHHHHH, to die for. Who doesn't love a little Cher and Peter Cetera, "Afterall"???? I know I do! :) And some Rod Stewart, "Forever Young". LOVE it!!! If you've never seen it, you should!



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Life As A House is also another fav. It's a total tear jerker, but SUCH a good movie! Check it out! :)

So yeah, that's really the only movies that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! :)

But, with that being said, our church showed the trailer for the movie, "Courageous" that's coming out soon, and I am SO excited to see it. I MAY actually even go to the theater for that one!

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Have a great day friends! :) 

30 Day Blogger Challenge: Day 4

Good Morning Friends and Happy Sunday!

I am once again linking up with Katie today for Day 4 of her blogging challenge: Family (I didn't participate in Day 3: Your Job). Honestly, after how crazy the end of last month was, and how draining it was on me, I just didn't feel like talking about work! :) I work for a mortgage company. We have branches all up and down the East Coast. I started there on November 1, 2006. I've always worked in the Pricing Department (pricing up loans and locking in interest rates) until a few months back when I was going to be laid off (the mortgage business, in case you haven't heard ;) is quite volatile) and instead of laying me off they kept me on as a Pricing Analyst, but primarily I'm the Funder (once a loan closes and the recission period passes, I am charge of getting all the funds to the title companies). I LOVE the people I work with! But, remember, I wasn't going to talk about work ;) so on to day 4, my family....

 Manny and I at Spencer's 2nd birthday party (9/3/11)

 Mia Grace, being a big girl in Spencer's bouncy house

My sweaty Manuel, also enjoying the bouncy house (Manuel HATES getting his picture taken! :))

My family is EXTREMELY close (meaning my extended family. So I can't post pics of EVERYONE or else it would take ALL day ;) so I'm just going to post about the semi-immediate ones :))

My mom (and Manuel, Christmas 2010). My mom is AMAZING! She worked SO hard to provide for my sister and I as we were growing up. She has definitely made us the women we are today! :)

My dad and I. As you can tell this pciture is old, but this is how I choose to remember my dad. He was a GREAT man, unfortunately he just had a lot of drug and alcohol deamons. To read more about my dad's struggles, you can go here, here and here. I love him and miss him terribly, but I know, without a doubt, he is whole, complete and healed in Heaven!

My sister, Amy. We are 19 months apart and have certainly had our ups and downs, but I love her to death and wouldn't trade her for anything in the world! :)

 Spencer, my nephew (Amy's son, our families miracle :))

 Vivienne, my niece (Spencer's sister)

The following pictures are pieces of a Sesame Street mural my sister had painted in Spencer & Vivienne's room. Each of their older angel brothers in memoralized somewhere in the mural. This is Ian's butterfly

 This is Mateo's butterfly

This is Anthony's butterfly. Altought my triplet nephews are no longer with us, and I will not see them again this side of Heaven, there is not a SINGLE day that goes by that I don't think about them! I held one, while he took his last breath. A moment I will never forget.

This is Nonna! :) My sweet, amazing, wonderful, fantastic, awesome, 86 year old grandmother. She came to the United States (from Sicily) when my mom was about 7. I nou not say enough wonderful words about Nonna. She is the center of our family and loved more than words can convey! :)

My family is amazing and I honestly couldn't ask for a greater group of people to be surrounded with. My aunts, uncles and cousins are all amazing too!!!! :)

Kindergarten recap (FINALLY! ;)

Happy Saturday Friends! I hope you all are enjoying this holiday weekend! :)

Today we had my nephew Spencer's 2nd birthday party. It was a blast (I'll post pics over the next few days). Spencer is our families little miracle. He's my sister, Amy and Mike's (my BIL) rainbow baby who was born about 15 months after my sister lost my triplet nephews, Mateo, Ian and Anthony. He brought back so much joy and happiness to my sister (NEVER replacing my nephews, but giving Amy a reason to smile again!) It was a great day!

Now, FINALLY a recap of Manuel's first week of Kindergarten (although it wasn't a week because of Hurricane Irene and power outages a Monday start was postponed until Wednesday morning).

Day #1: We had decided that Manny (my husband) would NOT be there to see Manuel off on the bus. Manuel has had really bad separation anxiety with Manny these last few weeks (out of nowhere. He's never been a child that's had separation anxiety but he cries EVERY TIME Manny leaves), but we knew that if Manny was there, Manuel would be a wreck! So I took Manuel to "C" (the daycare center where he goes for before and aftercare) and along with all of his other daycare buddies who are going to his elementary school, we waited for the bus. I had been a pile of tears on and off all morning, but had managed to keep it together "okay" while we waited. Then Nonna (my mom) met us up there to see her first grandson off to his first day of school. The bus pulled up, Manuel got on (he did not shed a tear, nor hesitate in the slightest) and off he went. I lost it! I sobbed and sobbed on the way to drop Mia off at Linnie's. It was just such a huge milestone for him! I was SO busy at work that I didn't even have time to worry about how his first day was going, He had a WONDERFUL day! He knew two children in his class (from preschool). He really liked his teacher, and couldn't wait to go back the next day. The only "problem" he had was the fact that in his locker (yes, they have lockers, but not ones that require combinations! :)) was an extra change of clothes that each child is required to have. The way Manuel's bag was sitting at the top of his locker, his underwear showed each time he opened the locker door (yes friends, those are the things that can cause breakdowns when you're 5 1/2! :)) So I sent his teacher a quick e-mail asking her to rearrange his bag (it was too high for Manuel to reach) so that his undies wouldn't show. Problem solved! :)

Day #2: The real test was coming...how would Manuel do with Manny dropping him off at "C" (daycare) in the morning? Manuel did not shed a tear when Manny left! NOT ONE! He was SO excited for the bus to get there and take him to school. Manuel had another great day! He really enjoyed technology class! When we got home I received an e-mail from his teacher, Mrs. B, who told me that she remedied the underwear situation. She also wanted to let me know that Manuel was doing wonderfully and "He is smart and fun-loving and a joy to have in class!" (what sweet words to hear about my sweet boy! I was very happy that she took the time to tell me this, when I hadn't even inquired about how he was doing because I didn't want to be "that parent" only 1 day in to the school year! ;))

Day #3: Another successful drop off with Manny...no tears! Manuel had Library on Friday and came home with his first school library book (we have to make sure Mia keeps her little hands off this one! :)) He loves school and is doing really well!

I won't continue to do a day-to-day update, but I did want to share about his first 3 days for my own journaling purposes :)

And for good measure...

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 2

*I PROMISE that I will put up pics today of Manuel's first day of Kindergarten! :) His first and second day went AMAZINGLY well!!!!! :)

Now, on to the blog challenge...

Day #2: Tell Us About Your Blog

What is the meaning behind your blog name?

The name of my blog is obviously, "And for good measure" but if you notice my website address is http://mcgx2.blogspot.com/ that's because my blog used to be called "E=MCG^2" (a spin off of Einsteins E=MC^2) which I got because my husband and my son's initial are MCG, get it? Good! :) (this blog was started before I had Mia). At the time, when I did post, I typically would end my post with "And for good measure..." and post a pic. Time went on, Mia was born, and I would think to myself that I needed to change my blog name because it didn't incorporate Mia (and I didn't want her feelings to be hurt, as if she cared! ;)) So then I thought, "Hmmmm, I end my blog posts with "And for good measure" quite often and that would be a super cute name for a blog" (at least I thought so :)) so than I changed my blog name. And there you have it! :) I never changed my web address because I am NOT technically savvy and I wasn't sure if I did change my website to http://andforgoodmeasure.blogspot.com/ if my followers would be able to find me! :) So I just left my web address alone! :)

How long have you been blogging for? What made you start blogging?
I started my blog on November 18, 2008, but in the beginning I seldom ever blogged. I'd post something once in a blue moon, but I wouldn't call myself a "blogger" at that point in time. Honestly, I started my blog for one reason...so that when I was commenting on other peoples blogs, they could link back to mine and see that I wasn't some anonymous weirdo! :) I had a child (at the time, it was only Manuel), I was married, and just a normal wife and mom :) Yes, that's how my brain works...I wouldn't want people to think I was some psycho, weirdo stalker (although I do realize that doesn't make much sense because you can pretend to be anyone you want on the computer! :) But really, I am not some weirdo, psycho stalker, PROMISE! ;))
 
What are your favorite things to blog about?
I pretty much just blog about my day to day life as a mommy and wife. I'll occasionally link up to a photo challenge or something along those lines, but for the most part it's just rambling about life! :)

What is one tip that you would give a new blogger?
Oh my, I really don't have any business giving anyone blogging advice :) but I can say, TRY not to worry about numbers, followers, who comments, who doesn't, etc. BLOG FOR YOU! (ohhh, perhaps I should take my own advice! ;))

Have a great day friends! :)

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 1

*I'll be back later today to recap Manuel's 1st day of Kindergarten (which was AWESOME! :)) but for now, I'm linking up to Katie's Journey and her 30 day blog challenge. She did this before and I absolutely loved it! I've decided to join up again. I can't promise I'll do all 30 days, but I'm sure gonna try! :)



Day 1: Introduce Yourself

Hi Everyone! My name is Christina and I love in the beautiful (albeit a tad "boring") state of Maryland. I am 30 years old. I work full time, outside of the home as a Pricing Analyst/Funder at a mortgage company. Although I'd love to be able to stay home with my children (at least part time) that's not possible right now, and I've come to terms with it! :)

Speaking of children, I have two awesome children, Manuel and Mia. Manuel was born 1/31/06. Mia was born 1/18/10 (so they are almost exactly 4 years apart). They make me smile everyday and sometimes make me scream and I can't imagine my life without them.

Manuel, my first born,with a heart of gold! 

Mia, aka "Miss Hollywood" This picture appropriately sums up my little ball of sassiness! ;)

I'm married to an incredibly amazing guy named Manny (also Manuel, but we call him Manny). Manny's life has been a struggle, to put it mildy, from his childhood straight on through to his mid-20's, but he stands here today as a 31 year old, AMAZING man of God, who is the TRUE definition of change and overcoming life's obstacles (to read more about it you can check out these story 1, story 2 and they both have link ups to more of the story, if you care to read :))

A tad more about me...I'm SUPER emotional (about EVERYTHING!-especially when it comes to my children) and although it might come across on my blog as being overly dramatic, that's not the case at all, I just have a really huge heart and take everything to heart (even if I don't know you in real life! :)) I'm Baptist and attend church regularly. For the last 2+ years I've taught Sunday school, but have decided to take this upcoming year off and hope to get involved in a small group. Have questions? Just ask! :) I love blogging and all the super amazing friends I've made through it! :)

Here I am...

Thank you for stopping by! Feel free to stick around awhile, if not, thanks for visiting and take care :)