My Life

Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions (and a $50 JCPenney Gift Card Giveaway!)

November 22, 2013 by Sandra 36 Comments

This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Latina Mom Bloggers and JCPenney.
However, all opinions expressed are my own.

Thanksgiving is almost here.

And I can’t help but think about what Thanksgiving was like last year and the year before that and when I was a kid. Memories flood my mind, and they’re good memories filled with recollections of happy times that I shared with my family when I was a kid and that I share with my own kids now.

What was Thanksgiving Like When You Were Growing Up?
I thought that today we could reminisce and talk about some of our favorite holiday family traditions growing up – the good ones and even the embarrassing ones, if you have any. 😉

I’ll go first.

As many of you know, I’m Mexican, and I remember my mom and dad always keeping Thanksgiving very traditional. We ate turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

Christmas, on the other hand, that’s when my parents would make loads of tamales, and we’d visit my cousins’ house for their yearly Christmas party. That was so much fun!

Going back to Thanksgiving growing up, I remember that after eating until we could no longer breathe without pain, we’d stay home (no shopping!) and play games, watch TV, or simply talk to each other.

Those were the days…

What Thanksgiving Traditions Do You Keep Now?
Now that I have my own family, I’ve tried to be more intentional each year about keeping Thanksgiving simple yet meaningful.

Here are 3 of our current Thanksgiving Traditions:

We intentionally talk about what and whom we’re thankful for, and we have the kids write their thoughts down ahead of time.

We make a craft or two.

We choose one or two new recipes to try for Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m looking forward to keeping these traditions and building upon them for many, many years to come.

Real Latino Holidays
To give you an idea of what a Real Latino Holiday is like, watch this video. It definitely reminds me of what Christmas was like growing up! 🙂

And now for the Giveaway!
Because JCPenney understands latinos and wants others to get a peek into what holidays are like for latino families, they’ve generously offered to give ONE of my readers a $50 JCPenney Gift Card!

How to Enter the Giveaway

Simply enter this giveaway using the Rafflecopter below. I’ve included options for extra entries, too!

This giveaway will run from now until – December 7th at 12:00am. The giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above. The winner will be randomly chosen. I will promptly send the winner an email notifying them that they’ve won, and the winner must respond within 48hrs. of the giveaway’s end, otherwise I will have to draw a new winner.

Enter Below
a Rafflecopter giveaway

What’s one of your current or past favorite holiday traditions?

David’s Story: The Diagnosis of Very Severe Aplastic Anemia

November 15, 2013 by Sandra 5 Comments

It’s been almost a month since I’ve written a post about David. You can read part 1 of his story here.

I’ve been wanting to write and continue to share his story, and as I’ve thought over how I want to share his story with you, I’ve been mulling over the idea of creating videos to be able to tell the story more fully. I want to talk more about how life has changed for David, what it’s like today, and show you what it looks like for a family to walk through a bone marrow transplant with a child.

Because, by God’s grace, David will be having a bone marrow transplant next month. I’ll talk more about that later, but I’ve shared dates and details about the transplant on David’s Facebook page, if you’d like to know now.

There’s much more to come.

For now, (because I’m at the library and forgot to bring the tripod) I’ll write and continue the story of how we found out that David didn’t have leukemia but did have a horrible, terrible life-threatening disease.

Ugh. As I wrote those last words, my heart sank. Writing this story is hard for me. I’m reminded that this is real life. David is sick. He’s home today — face and body full of bruises and pin-point red dots called petechiae. Why? Because he has aplastic anemia. His platelets are incredibly low right now, but he’s been in “this place” before, and his doctor would like him to make it to his appointment on Monday morning before getting another transfusion.

Will that happen?

I don’t know. If David hits his head today and there’s even a little swelling, we’ll have to take him to the emergency room where he’ll get a CT scan and be transferred by ambulance to the Children’s hospital in Chicago. He’ll receive a platelet transfusion as he sleeps and be observed by the nurses and doctors there. When he wakes up, familiar hospital staff will remark that “David’s back!”

But he doesn’t want to be back. He wants to be home.

I know this because it’s happened before.

Okay, I can do this. Back to the story…

When David arrived at the Children’s hospital in Chicago, there was no small amount of doctors and nurses in the room.

As they begin to observe David, a doctor kindly looks at me and asks, “Do you know why you’re here?”

“Yes…because David may have leukemia,” I reply.

It’s welcome news to the doctor to know that I’ve been filled in, and she continues her job.

We’re in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit), and that night, David receives his first of many blood transfusions. There are no immediate answers, and we won’t find out if David really has leukemia or if his illness has been caused by some sort of viral suppression as another doctor has suggested. We won’t find out until a bone marrow biopsy can be performed on David, which will be in the very near future.

That night, I get online as David lays in bed. He’s looking and feeling better now that he’s received some much needed blood.

I don’t know exactly what to type into Google, but I try something like “what does it mean when your white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets are low.” I land on a website that describes a disease I’ve never heard of before called aplastic anemia. Then I read about that disease, and I think to myself, “No. No. No. David does NOT have THAT disease. He just doesn’t.”

The Diagnosis of Severe Aplastic Anemia
David goes through a bone marrow biopsy and as we wait for the results (which takes days), I listen in one morning as the doctors perform rounds and discuss David’s plan of care. I hear the words “aplastic anemia” uttered by one of the doctors.

No.

What did she say? Did she just say what I think she said?

It can’t be that.

But it is. And it is very severe. David spends days in the hospital and receives transfusion after transfusion until he’s well enough to go home. On the day we leave, our four other children all have blood drawn to see if one of them is a match for David and can donate their precious bone marrow to save his life.

At this point, as a mother, I feel like I’m dying inside.

To be continued…

One of my goals for writing these posts is to raise further awareness about aplastic anemia and even encourage others to register for the national bone marrow registry, Be the Match. By God’s abundant grace, a match was found in the registry for David, and a man we’ve never met will donate some of his precious bone marrow to David next month. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away in the comments, and I’ll share as much as I can.

Connecting with Family (and a Recipe for Pumpkin Scones with Pumpkin Spice Glaze)

October 22, 2013 by Sandra 9 Comments

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and their client. #LoveYourCup

My heart is busted.

For the past 3 months, I’ve watched one of my children goes through unimaginable pain and suffering I wish I could stop. I’ve been in desperate situations that I never thought I’d be in as a mother.

In tears, I’ve experienced many “I can’t do this!” moments.

But one thing that keeps me focused on moving forward and helps me to process this life is the fact that no matter what happens or whatever scary situation I find myself in, I can always talk to someone about it.

That means everything.

Moments of Connection
When I’m connecting with my family and friends and sharing the latest update on David (my four year old son with aplastic anemia), coffee and comfort foods are never too far away. Coffee, in particular, is a part of my everyday life, but even more so now. I start every morning with a cup of coffee as I talk about plans for the day with my husband and kids, and when I can’t be at home because I’m in the hospital with David…coffee keeps me going and helps me to stay alert and attentive to David’s needs.

Actually, when we’re in the hospital during yet another admission and Ruben and the kids come to visit, they almost always arrive with a hot cup of coffee.

They know…coffee is my love language. 😉

Then as I sip on coffee, we talk.

Pumpkin Scones
Lately, I’ve been drinking my fair share of pumpkin spice flavored coffee. But since my kids can’t really enjoy that with me, I decided to use Coffee-mate Pumpkin Spice liquid creamer to whip up a fun Fall treat — Pumpkin Scones.

These scones are truly delicious! They’re best served hot, shortly after you take them out of the oven.

I hope you enjoy the recipe:

Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup pumpkin spice Coffee-mate liquid creamer
1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, then grease a baking sheet and set aside. (I used coconut oil to grease the baking sheet, but you could also spray it with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
Scatter the butter over the flour mixture and using either two butter knives or your hands, incorporate the butter. Once the butter is incorporated, set mixture aside.
In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, liquid creamer, and egg.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together using a spatula or spoon until the mixture becomes a soft dough. (May need to use your hands for this step as well.)
On a floured surface, roll the dough out so that it becomes a large, 3/4-inch thick circle.
Place the dough onto the greased baking sheet and using a pizza cutter, slice into eight pieces so that it resembles a sliced pizza.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the scones are golden brown.
Once the scones are removed from the oven, allow them to cool for about 10 minutes, then drizzle with Pumpkin Spice Glaze (see recipe below) and enjoy!

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/10/recipe-pumpkin-scones-pumpkin-spice-glaze/

Pumpkin Spice Glaze
What truly brings out the deliciousness in the scones is definitely the glaze. It’s easy to make and can be whipped up while the scones bake.

Here’s the recipe:

Pumpkin Spice Glaze

Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar
2-1/2 tablespoons pumpkin spice Coffee-mate liquid creamer

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix ingredients together until smooth.

https://thesensiblemom.com/2013/10/recipe-pumpkin-scones-pumpkin-spice-glaze/

Family & Friends Make Traveling Down Bumpy Roads Easier
As the roller coaster ride continues with my little guy’s health, I know I can keep going and move forward because of the awesome friends and family I have to lean on. They always provide a listening ear, a hot cup of coffee, and many offers of something good to eat.

Do you have any favorite Fall recipes or traditions? Do you connect with family and friends over coffee?

David’s Story: When I Realized My Son was Terribly Sick (Aplastic Anemia Symptoms)

October 18, 2013 by Sandra 24 Comments

I’m not exactly sure where to begin this post.

But I think it’s best to start with the day I finally realized that something was terribly wrong with my four year old son, David.

It was a Saturday night (August 3rd), and I was looking through old pictures of my family. I needed to find a picture that best represented our family to turn in for an upcoming writing assignment. As I looked further back to older pictures that were stored on my laptop, my eyes fell on this one.

I immediately noticed how different David looked in this picture compared to how he’d been looking over the past few months. I noticed the color in his face, his pink lips, and his smile. He looked…healthy and happy.

That was my David.

He’d somehow disappeared over the months and become the David we knew now….cranky, cold, tired, and often lashing out at siblings.

Ruben and I had been noticing changes in David’s behavior but never thought it was something I needed to make a doctor’s appointment for. We didn’t know what the problem was but whatever it was, we thought David was just different than our other four kids. He needed to ride in the stroller when we’d go out because of how quickly he’d become tired. And we needed to remember to leave the house with a jacket for him for when he’d be cold…when no one else was cold.

After I admired the happy, healthy-looking picture of David.

My eyes fell on this picture.

It still takes my breath away.

And I feel like the stupidest mom in the world when I see it.

Ruben took this picture of our five kids when we were in Chicago at the end of July for the BlogHer’13 conference. He spent time with the kids while I went attended the conference.

Immediately, when I saw this picture, I knew something was terribly wrong with David. I called Ruben over to look at the pictures and told him I’d be making a doctor’s appointment for David on Monday.

But then I woke up on Sunday morning, and I started noticing everything wrong about David. The insanely difficult mornings filled with anger, screaming, and crying, trying to get him ready for the day weren’t normal.

David wasn’t simply “not a morning person.” He was sick. The constant requests for someone to “sit with me or lay with me” weren’t just David wanting to cuddle. He was tired and had no energy. The change is his overall color — it was real and not my imagination.

Ruben had gone to church that morning with our older kids while I stayed home with the little ones, because we had a virus of some sort going through our family. I text messaged him and told him that I’d be taking David straight to the emergency room once he was home.

When we arrived at the ER, I carried David inside because he was too tired to walk. After a brief rundown with the person at the desk, David was taken straight back, and the ER doctor immediately knew that something was wrong.

She was right.

David’s hemoglobin was at 2. (A normal level is anywhere from 11.5-13.5.)

He had a platelet count of 6. (A normal platelet count is anywhere from 150-400.)

And his white blood cells were low.

My mind was trying to understand what these numbers written on a white sheet of paper meant for my son. I found the courage to ask the doctor for the bottom line.

She wasted no time in telling me that she believed David had leukemia. He would be transferred by ambulance to Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

To be continued….

David’s Symptoms of Aplastic Anemia

Cold

Tired

Irritable

Pale/Yellow skin

Rapid heart rate

Bruising

Petechiae (tiny red or purple spots on David’s body)

One of my goals for writing these posts is to raise further awareness about aplastic anemia and even encourage others to register for the national bone marrow registry, Be the Match. Lord willing, someone in this registry will save my son’s life. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away in the comments, and I’ll share as much as I can.

My Life

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