"Trryyy it, you'll 'ike it!"

Olivia's Fishy recipe:

1 plastic fireman's hat
20 plastic fishies
2 milks
salt
pepper
baby beeeeeetttshhh (i dunno)
2 fish eyes
aseeee (chocolate wrapper)

stir and then karate chop with hands and enjoy!

More about old times...

So regarding my last post. I'd like for you to venture with me to a world unlike any other- the world of my own mem'ries. In my last post, I mentioned to all 6 of you that Blizzard found a bunch of our old Live Journals. Firstly, I was wrong, Blizzard didn't find ANYTHING, Marco found them. Next, I want to draw your attention to two in particular. The first one is here where I foretell of events to come!

and this one, which I'll cut and paste because it's short enough and because I have a feeling you won't visit the link and it's just too funny NOT to read. This is from KEITH'S live journal:

thump thump thump
so my new thing is to beat my chest. today i did it after i finished a meal and again after a ascended my stairs. it gives me a feeling of potency and strength (with a slight nod to male dominance). i liked how i felt today during and after the beat(ings). this may become a fixure of my personality. if i do adopt this, i must be sure to use it discreetly, only when my heart tells me too. i will not kiss my bride then turn to beat my chest, BUT i could finish a good plate of food at the reception and give a little pound, just to state the fact that the food was there, and i dominated over it. secondly i will not do it for show, this is not a group event, this is about my sense of worth and dominance over my life territory. i also think that this will benefit my children, as they will have a dad who beats his chest on occasion, they will have an engrained belief of my superiority as a father over other fathers, just based off the fact that i have the gall to beat my chest after a particularly pleasing television program. everyone is saying to get in touch with your feminine side, but i feel a need to get in touch with my male side. *you can be sure my chest will be getting a good pounding after i post this*

I'm not sure I've told you all this, but after we got the sonogram that told us that Indiana was going to be a boy, Keith gave his chest a good thump, thump, thump.

This post is kind of a cheat because it's a post about older posts. I'll do better next time...

2009, are ya outta your min(d)??

Man, I want to blog more after Justin found a bunch of our old LIVE JOURNALs! i can't believe it. I laughed a whole lot while reading my old entries and that's because I would just write every day even if I had no point in writing. I will admit, some of them are really boring, so I'll try to use discretion on this more "grown up" blog.

We had a smashing Christmas and New Year. Helped by the fact that I had Indy to celebrate with. He is just the best. I can't believe Keith and I have a family now. I take joy in doing little thing for Indiana. Even doing laundry, as all 4 of you know I hate doing.

Julia's New Year's Eve party was a little awkward for us older folks. Only awkward because neither Keith nor I, nor any of our friends (i think) were never really into going out and dancing. The most dancing I do is at weddings or at home, or rollerskating. We did though, discover a new form of dancing:



Techtonik Dance? We witnessed it firsthand at Julia's party and it made me want to go directly home and try it out:



We are so old that it completely confused us. It makes me tired and dizzy. I'll post more about New Year and the Holiday soon. I just wanted to get these little tidbits in with the hopes that in 5 years, Blizzy will find this blog and I can look back and laugh at how clever I once was.

4 lbs 1 oz.

I've never celebrated two numbers so much in my life. My son has finally reached the 4 lb mark, making it a little more of a possibility that he'll be home for Christmas.

As most of my avid readers know, we had our baby early. Six weeks early, he was born on Thanksgiving day at 7:07 am. I re-read my last post about nights alone and if I'll miss being by myself. Now that Indiana's been born, the hours just crawl by. I'm constantly alone, waiting until I can make it up to the hospital to see him again. And every time I see him, time just flies. He recognizes my voice, he smiles at me and seems to breathe me in when I hold him. I love him so much.

I was right about one thing, I really don't remember what life was like without little Indiana. I feel like he's always been here, that I was pregnant and admitted into the hospital forever ago. I never want to be without him.

Title to be added later...

As I sit here, in my compression hose and carpal tunnel hand brace, and as Keith is off at the movies watching RocknRolla without me, I can't help but feel as though I'm getting a glimpse into my future.

Don't get me wrong and don't worry, this is not going to be a post about how I am giving up the freedoms of being a young, married adult because of the upcoming birth of my first child...on the contrary. You see, I sometimes like spending nights alone. I must admit, if you were to rewind to exactly a year ago, and if I were in the exact same situation, I'd probably be very unhappy if not pretty depressed. Not only because I would be wearing compression hose and a hand brace for no reason, but because at that time I felt that I always had to be doing something. I always had to be with someone. I'm not sure that the imminent birth of Indiana is making me love alone time because I know somewhere in the back of my mind that I may not experience it for a while, or if I've just changed because of the pregnancy. Whether it's because I can't stand to be out late at night anymore, or that I can't sit through a movie in the theatre without running to the bathroom at least twice, I find that lately I've just preferred staying home and sometimes preferred even being alone.

"What do you do while you're alone?" you ask? Well, let me just tell you. About 30% of my alone time is spent reading online or in a book about different ailments I feel I'm suffering. Tonight, I tried to look up "quickened heartbeat" on a website called whattoexpect.com which is all about pregnancy. Half way through the search, I quit because I thought whatever I found would just make me more anxious thus quickening my heartbeat even further. 55% of my alone time is spent searching through old journals or gallon-sized zip lock bags full of pictures from the past. About a month ago, I hit the jackpot and found several ooollllddd pictures of all of us in college...at the pool, at Bennigan's (yeah, they're that old)...on the 1st day back from time spent apart. Lots of great memories. And still another chunk of my time is spent in front of the mirror, picking my face...gross, but true. I've found that my nose has even gained weight.

I wonder if in a year or so from tonight, I'll miss being alone...or if I won't even remember what life was without little Indiana.

I'm not a blogger, I'm a mother

I keep visiting my own blog thinking that when i come here, i'll actually post something. So i decided this time that i'm actually going to do it.

As most of my avid readers know, I'm soon having a baby. He's due January 13th and we're naming him Indiana Matthew Ramos Krepcho. I already know that this is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to me. Right up there with marrying Keith. I just can't believe what pregnancy does to you. There have been so many weird changes and things that I've had to get used to being pregnant.

Keith has been amazing through it all. In the first few months, he treated me like a queen, he still does. Going out at night to buy me Schlotzky's or Twix bars. He's been reading and reading about what is happening with our baby from week to week, and a book called, On Becoming Baby Wise
(not a link). I am so glad to be having children with Keith. He seems to be so committed already to the idea and responsibility of fatherhood.

We've moved back to Va beach and are living with my parents which has been just amazing. Of course, we'd really love to be in our own place, but it just hasn't worked out that way. We've also been looking for a job for Keith, one with benefits and good pay. These things sort of keep me up at night because I get worried about how we'll survive once this baby is born. But I know, and it's been proven that God provides.

All I can think about is this baby and how much I love him already. I wonder what he'll look like, what his temperament will be, what he'll be interested in when he gets older. Who he'll marry. I can't wait!

Baby Brother II

Julia recently posted a blog titled Poor Baby Brother which you should read, it sparked an interesting notion in me that I feel is very relevant to today's young couple and to today's younger parents.

The post is originally about our younger brother Sam who has been criticized lately by our parents on his fashion sense and extreme concern about his image. Later in the blog, Julia brings up an interesting question, that I cannot help but address. She says,

"... i began to question how i would raise my kids. There are so many parents out there that allow their kids to discover life on their own. to do the whole piercing thing...to do the whole colored hair thing...to find their own faith and to embrace it. But as an adult...knowing that life would probably be less complicated if i just allow him/her do what they want...how do you make your kids understand the importance of order and instill the values that have gotten you through life just all right. in my opinion...style is less important than the condition of their hearts. what is truth to me and how much of that am i supposed to make my kid believe. am i supposed to make them? As a christian...how do i allow my kids to find it and make it real to themselves than just something their family believed in or something that i'm forcing down my kids' throats.

is it the amount of time you spend with your kids or is it how much you allow them to hang out with their friends? i don't think i would dress and act the way i do if my mom hadn't nagged as much as she did. i have a feeling in a few years, sam will thank her for stopping him from looking like a tool."

I thought about this question, and I've seen several examples of each type of parenting. There's the parent who force feeds every single truth about life down their child's throat. In the end, this child is usually the one who goes berserk and ends up going off the deep end. On the other hand, there's the parent who claims that their child is their best friend, "we do everything together, I let her have a drink if she's in MY house..." or "I let her boyfriend stay the night in her room because I trust her..." Which I feel is a totally unhealthy relationship and sort of insane. And then there's the parents who are sort of in between- trying to think about what would be easiest for themselves- how could I raise this kid in a way that will still allow me to keep my own lifestyle? Of course there are loads of parents in between.

Sam is a great kid. I regret that I don't know him as well as a I should, being away from home for the past 8 to 10 years and all...but from what I get to see every summer and Christmas, he is really great. He's funny, smart, talented, good looking, great with people, great with little kids, he understands humor, he Loves the Lord, I could go on and on. He and Julia grew up in a different "Ramos Era" than Arianne and I did. When Arianne and I were their ages, we were still playing kickball with lines of dirt in our necks (more like Sam's age, not julia's). We wore what was bought for us by our mother from the Navy Exchange- or hand-me-downs from ladies in the church or our Auntie Loida. We wore what fit and what we could find.

Our family is a family that is somewhat concerned with image. We like to dress nice because I think we feel nice. That is to say that I'm not sure I agree with Julia's idea that style is not really what matters, what matters more is what is on the inside. Yes, to an extent, but I think more that we dress the way we do because it is what is on the inside. If i feel great, i'll wear a dress and heels to work, if I'm in a foul mood, I'll wear a baggy t-shirt and mom jeans to the movies (not our mom but you know...'mom' jeans as a general statement). I don't have a problem with our family being that way, but I think we dress and look the way we do because there is a certain sense of pride that we have. I realize this may sound arrogant or what have you, but it's true. So not only is Sam growing up in a different "Ramos Era" but he's going through a stage that ALL people go through, the stage of awkwardness when you're constantly worried about how you look, or who your friends are, or what girl or guy likes you at the moment. He's just going through it in a heightened sense. He's our only boy, he's the youngest, and he's got Julia as an older sister! Julia- the Ramos family stylist.

Now, when it comes to the question of how I will raise my own children. I feel that the lifestyle of a parent should be included (as it has come to be in mostly christian circles) as a choice in the discussion of careers. I have high respect for women who proudly say "I'm a full time mother." That's the way parenting was intended to be, I believe in mothers staying at home with their young children. I believe in spanking a child when they do something wrong, I believe in family night, I believe in prayer and family devotions. I believe in house rules, I believe in do's and don't's. But i also believe, that if a child does not understand obedience and authority, all of these things will never happen. The child will not know the value of these things because they are not taught about them.

It may seem that my parents are telling Sam what or what not to wear...but they do it because they know in 5 months, Sam's gonna look back and say, "really?? a think band and a comb??" They also know what a respectable person looks like, or what THEY expect their son to look like. They have authority in this matter. They have raised him, disciplined him, fed him, cared for him, provided for him...as they did with all of us.

I think that children understand this sort of authority and obedience in the example that we give them in taking care of them. Parents have an obligation to take care of their children...the obligation is to the child, but it is ultimately to the Lord. John Piper gave a very convicting sermon about how "Marriage is for making babies...children of God." Yes, marriage is about being fruitful and multiplying, but its also about making more worshipers of Christ! When I think of that, I want to start having babies right away and raising them in the way of the Lord so that all of this stuff will be instilled in them. It may not make the road they travel smooth and paved with golden bricks or whatever, but I assume it would help. Loving your child in the way God intended will produce a healthy, thriving, biblical relationship. I know it's difficult to say, and I have no way of knowing the hardships of parenthood, because sadly, I am not yet a mother, but I truly believe this.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.- prov. 22:6

He may not see it now, but Sam has got it made.