Not just another mommy blog. A Modern Mami blog.

Lately, my three year old has taken to repeating a phrase that is like nails on a chalkboard every time I hear it.

“It’s not fair!”

There are variations to this phrase, as well.

“But mooom….it’s not fair!”

“It’s not fair, mommy!”

“But, but, but…it’s not fair!”

Any way it’s said, you’d think I had a teenager in the house, not a toddler.

Apparently, life is rough for three year olds.

I’m not sure where exactly she picked up the phrase, since it’s not something commonly said in our house.

But, curse whoever or whatever introduced it into her vocabulary.

Oh, in case you’re wondering, these are my many ways of being unfair:

• I feed her.
• I give her a bath.
• I clean up the craptacular mess in the pamper she refuses to let go of yet.
• Oh, wait, I even play with her.

The horror!

Like I said, it’s a hard knock life for three year olds.

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Though I’m not really a football fan, much less a college football fan, I recognize that today is one of the biggest college football days.

There are 5 bowl games scheduled for today according to the ESPN NCAA College Football Schedule:

1. Outback Bowl
2. Capital One Bowl
3. Gator Bowl
4. Rose Bowl
5. Orange Bowl

To celebrate, let’s have a little fun and have a contest!

The FedEx BCS National Championship Game between Florida and Oklahoma will be held next Thursday, January 8 at 8 pm EST.

Pick the team you predict will win the championship. If your team wins, you’ll be entered into the random drawing. Details on how to enter the contest can be found below.

The Prize

The winner will receive a $25 gift card to www.collegecardstore.com. The card itself, as you can see, has the UCF Knights design, our local university. But, you can use the card for any schools’ merchandise.

How to enter

1. Pick the team you predict will win the championship and leave a comment telling me your pick.
2. For a possible extra entry, send out the following message on twitter:
   Go [gators/sooners] for the #modernmami giftcard contest! http://www.modernmami.com/contests/giveaway-college-giftcard (Be sure to use your pick between the brackets and include the link.)
   • If you send a tweet, come back and leave a second comment with the link to your tweet, not your profile, so I can verify.

Rules

You have until 7 pm EST on Thursday, January 8 to leave your comments. Those who pick the winning team will be entered into the drawing. The winner will be chosen on Saturday, January 10 using Random.org.

I’ll post the winners on Saturday, so be sure to check back to see if you’ve won! Remember to include an email address so that I can contact you if you win.

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I got an email over the weekend from a ModernMami.com reader. It truly made my day and put a smile on my face.

It’s great to know that there are real people out there who read ModernMami.com and appreciate it. And more so, that there’s folks who can relate to my content.

What better way to end the year than to celebrate those who appreciate what you do?

Here is the email I received from Beckie in San Francisco, CA (re-posted with her permission, of course):

Hi Melanie:

My name is Beckie and I live in the San Francisco, CA area.  I am originally from Ponce, PR and I really miss the holidays there.  I have two daughters and I consider myself a modern mami too (I am a ballet teacher).  Although I have been assimilated into the American culture a lot (my husband is American - English heritage), I try to keep my heritage intact as much as I can.

I just wanted to tell you that it is women like you who inspire me to continue to instill my heritage to my girls in spite of it being so hard to do in my community.  At least you have Cubans and Puerto Ricans around you.  The closes I get to it is my dear Mexican friends.  Although they are near and dear to my heart, there is a bit of a culture gap there.  Anyway, I’ve gone on too long.  I just wanted to let you know that you are truly an inspiration.  I wish you a very Happy Holiday and a very Happy New Year.

Sincerely,
Beckie

Thank you Beckie for being a part of the Modern Mami community and for the very kind words.

May 2009 bring great things for all of you.

Happy New Year!

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We went to Miami this past weekend to visit my husband’s family. Actually we were in the Ft. Lauderdale area and only hit Miami when we went to the Seaquarium. But, you get the idea.

Baby girl had fun visiting with her uncle, grandma, and cousins. She acted up a little bit at times and would be whiny, but that’s expected when outside the normal routine and not at home.

On Saturday, we decided to go to the Miami Seaquarium. Dolphins, whales, seals - magical swimming animals - it’s a little girl’s dream. I thought baby girl might enjoy the shows since she loves to see dolphins and whales on TV. And, seeing them in action and as part of shows has to be more fun than just walking around the zoo, right?

WRONG!!!!

Baby girl did NOT like the shows. She did NOT like seeing the dolphin up close and was only ok with seeing them swim by through the underwater window.

By the time we got to the second show - Flipper’s Show! - she didn’t even want to wait for the show to start.

“I’m all done with the shows. I want to go home!”

So, 2 hours at the seaquarium and $100 later, we headed back to the car and went “home”…to the hotel. Lesson learned.

I can’t really say I blame her for not liking the shows. They’re NOTHING like the Sea World shows.

Here’s a quick video I took of the only show we caught: Golden Dome Sea Lion Show.

Miami Seaquarium Sea Lion Show from Melanie Edwards on Vimeo.

Yea, that IS butt-slapping the seals are doing. Fun, huh?

Now that we’ve learned our lesson, we’ll be searching for FREE tickets to Disney as we don’t want a repeat of this experience should baby girl decide she doesn’t want to see Mickey. You got any hook-ups?

Have you had similar experiences with your kids?

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This year we did things a little different.

Instead of having our traditional Noche Buena meal with the (extended) family, we decided to stay home and celebrate with our own family. That is to say, that it was just the three of us this year.

But, we will be heading to my parents’ for dinner today and the menu will be the traditional Puerto Rican Christmas meal.

I have to say that outside of the guilt/pressure to do things a certain way and please the family, I pretty much enjoyed the quiet and relaxed day we spent together.

We  baked some cookies, made a reindeer, an angel, and Santa cards.

We talked about Santa and pondered how he might enter our house. The answer, according to my three year old, “He’ll ring the doorbell.”

She also sang Happy Birthday to baby Jesus after we explained it was his birthday.

And in a new modern mami tradition, we put out cookies for Santa at night and left him the card we made.

It was a little different. We did not share the day with the abuelos. We did not eat our arroz, pernil, or pasteles.

But, in the end, I think it all worked out.

Enjoy your family folks and have a great Christmas.

Make a Smilebox greeting

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I’m working on giving my blog a face lift.

Please bare with me. Things might look a little funny as I work to customize the site.

But, it will all come together soon.

Thanks!

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l’ve been tagged twice this week!

Chris Marsden (@cruciformity) of ChrisMarsden.com and Melissa (@WebBetty) of The Web-Betty Blog have both tagged me to tell you 7 things about me.

It’s actually the same meme I did back in April.

But, let’s give it another go-round and see if I can come up with 7 new things to tell you about.

1. I’m actually pretty short - only 5′1″.
2. I have an Industrial & Systems Engineering degree.
3. But, I currently work in e-learning and have taken a keen interest in it.
4. I used to dance to commercials when I was little. (In Puerto Rico, commercials have actual songs in the background, not just jingles and such. Well they did back when, at least. Don’t know if they still do.)
5. I still love to dance and miss going out clubbing. Not for the club scene, but just for the dancing.
6. I never had an Easy Bake Oven as a girl, even though I wanted one. I’ve contemplated buying one for myself. I mean, for my daughter. When she gets old enough.
7. I cook good. So I’ve been told by friends and family. And the husband.

Now I get to tag 7 bloggers so I/we can learn more about them.

• Philippa - http://pchanner.blogspot.com - @pchanner
• Chris Channer - http://itsbasic.blogspot.com - @chrischanner
• Jai - http://mamistimeout.com - @JaiMami
• Coqui - http://www.visit-the-coqui.com - @coqui2008
• Lymari - http://besitosdecoco.com - @lymari
• Nancy Nally - http://www.scrapbookupdate.com - @ScrapNancy
• Melody - http://feistfamily.blogspot.com - No Twitter?
  

To quote Chris:

Check out their sites. Follow them on Twitter. And if you want, consider yourself tagged as well, follow the rules below, and leave a comment here with your blog address and twitter address. And don’t forget to follow me on twitter too [@modernmami]!

THE RULES:

• Link to the original tagger(s), and list these rules on my blog.
• Share 7 facts about myself in the post - some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of my post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

Do you feel like you know me a little bit better? How about you share some information about yourself?

Leave a fact about yourself and/or a link to your post in the comments so we can all learn more about each other!

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Oh my baby girl. Today is your birthday. You are 3 years old now! Three!

You’ve come a long way from last year. No more tantrums and much more laughter.

I spent most of yesterday contemplating you and realizing that you are indeed becoming a big girl and a baby no more.

I miss you as a baby. I miss holding your chubby little self. I miss being able to hold you for hours without you wriggling away.

I just miss my baby.

And yet, I realize this is part of the process. You have to grow up, of course.

But, do you have to do it so quickly?

You spent all day yesterday in your Cinderella outfit. Complete with your crown, purse (not a bag as you so kindly corrected me), and slippers.

Oh the slippers. Heels really. Why oh why couldn’t they have made them flats?

You walked around with your Cinderella self and it gave me horrible visions of what’s to come.

That you also slept all by yourself in your big girl bed the whole night before, just solidified the fact that you’re getting big.

It was just too much in one weekend, my baby girl. Mami is having trouble coping with it all.

Yet, as daddy reminded me, you’re not 13, you’re 3. And so I must keep this in mind.

Besides, you quickly reminded me of just how great 3 can be. Just how great you are, really.

You’re the only Cinderella who can rock out to Eye of the Tiger in her crown and princess dress. Cinderella herself was never that cool.

So keep rocking mamacita. You are indeed truly awesome.

I love you - mucho mucho mucho.

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My baby girl is about to turn 3.

Oops! Sorry. She’s not a baby. She’s a girl.

Little miss diva princess will quickly let you know.

We’re having her birthday party this Saturday.

I let her pick the theme.

She chose Cinderella.

Of course.

Cause the generic Princess theme at Party City wasn’t good enough for her.

Oh no. It had to be Cinderella.

And so Lil’ Miss Princess Girl (remember NOT a baby) will be Cinderella and have her Cinderella princess party.

Did I say princess enough times?

Princess Princess Princess.

There.

What would this party have been like if I had a 3 year old boy?

Different, I bet.

Photo Credit: substitute mommy

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