Baby Daddy...

Hey guys,

Today I am going to be writing, mainly as a reminder to myself, about a topic that I don’t normally like to bring up in a face-to-face conversation. It’s about the mysterious father of my Ari. Although it is no secret that the man is not a bit part of our lives, I think id like to share today about why, and how I speak of him when such topic tends to be brought up. If you have never herd me speak of him then…GASP…here we go.

 Without getting into the dirt of what went down back in 2014 with my life I will just bring you up to date with the fact that yes I AM a single mother and although our lives aren’t all butterflies and rainbows like my daughter tends to think, we are doing pretty alright.

 The man is very aware that he has a baby somewhere in the world so its not like I never mentioned it to him. Lets just say that we came to an agreement that the best thing for both of our situations is that we stay away from each other. And he so graciously gave me the opportunity to make a life for my child and I without him interrupting with confusion and mediocre time being wasted.

 Listen LINDA (not really for Linda) I am all for those awesome co-parents that successfully are able to raise a child together without being together, that so amazing. But that is not the case here.

 Regardless of that I do not like to speak about him in a negative way. Why? Because people, I was a conscious human being when the event occurred and if I spoke badly about him then what would that say about my judgment? I mean its no secret that I dot really know how to pick them but that’s not relevant lol.

 One of the biggest 3 am conversation question that I get is, “What will you tell her when she asks you about her dad?” and this is what I need everyone to understand, I WENT THROUGH THE SAME THING. I know we are not all the same and she might have different feelings or thoughts about it but ill be here for her. It should not and will not be a hard conversation cause I will be honest with her when that time comes. One thing I am sure of though is that I will never make him the villian in our  life story. Weather she meets the man or not I don’t want her to have a negative idea of him or of the choices I’ve made for her.

Lastly, I’d just like to point out that I strongly believe that no one should ever be identified by a bad season in their life. Just cause you make one bad decision doesn’t mean that’s all you will be known for. So lets keep the positive energy going and let's have a blessed life.

@theejazmin

Happy fall y'all!

This morning I woke up to the soothing trickling of the rain outside my window that I accidentally left open. thank goodness I didn't sleep with my hair wet or I might not be feeling so good right now.

Anyways its quiet evident now that Autumn is finally here! I don't care what anyone says this season is definitely the best. The chilly boot and sweater wearing weather is what I look forward to all year long. 

Whats your favorite season?

 I'm sure by now you knowhow there is a time and season to everything in our life as well. 

"To everything there is a season and a time to

 every purpose under the heaven."

Ecclesiastics 3:1

So today not only can I feel the physical change in a season but also internally in my soul. I have found myself being more alert lately and being able to make better decisions for my life and Arias. I was realizing the other night how before I used to go with the flow and see where my choices would take 

me but a lot of the time not only were they wasting my time but the time of the people around me as well.

Now, I feel so aware of my surroundings and I am more sensitive to what I think is Gods purpose for me. I really believe that our conscious or gut feelings, if allowed, can be the voice of God guiding us in the right direction.

I don't know if its something that comes with age or if certain experiences and circumstances are what bring up such thinking. Regardless of what it is I'm learning more about myself now than ever.

The fallowing is a little personal so brace yourself. I have not officially dated anyone for about 3 years or so, and even with that "relationship" it was not the healthiest per say. I feel perfectly fine about it and its not to say I haven't talked or attempted to put myself out there, it just hasn't happen. Either its cause the stars haven't aligned or the "one" just hasn't brushed by

 (I don't believe in the one but that's another story) whatever the case has been I'm still single.

Over the last couple of months I've herd so many people telling me that its time for me to start thinking about sharing my life with someone, and other very few people that support my independence. I know that MOST people don't say it in a bad way, I know they just want what is best for me. But what I have realized, that a lot of ladies and gents haven't yet, is that I don't want to settle.

 Although I would like to take credit for this idea, sadly it wasn't. It was 

passed on to me through an.. acquaintance that I cared about dearly. This person was given word by God to tell me not to settle. That I had to wait for what was ideal for me and my daughter. And that I would know when that person was around. And this my friends is why I don't even think about giving certain guys a chance. Its not cause I'm playing hard to get or cause I think I'm too good for anyone. Its cause I take this word seriously. And I wish others did too.

     I'm not saying that people that marry early or very quickly are settlers. That's not the point I'm trying to make. What I'm saying is that I think its important to acknowledge what your non-negotiables are and set boundaries and characteristics to what it is you're looking for and don't settle for anything less.

Our time is precious and our minutes are counted. YES we can learn from our mistakes and YES they are what makes us who we are. But for love, for finding the one you want to spend the rest of your life with, I think that we should take a more responsible approach to it. 

I am a single mom and I have no contact with the biological father,

 I DEFINITELY don't regret my daughter, not one bit! But I do              sometimes wish I had made better choices. I share this in hope to maybe inspire someone that might be trying to rush into a relationship. Praying that you wait rather then settling.

 In my season of singleness and independence I'm learning to embrace it. I am not in any hurry to find that complimenting partner and there is no reason for me to rush into anything right now. But when I am ready I know that he will be exactly what I have been looking for no exceptions. This might sound kind of delusional, especially to people who jumped the gun and are buying into the idea that no one is perfect and that living in a miserable relationship is just part of life.

(to each his own)I will just end this post with a quick verse in regards to my season:

"For now we see in the mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face, now I know in part,but then I will know in fully, just as I have been fully known."

1 Corinthians 13:12

Blessings,

Jazmin

Mama of a Two Year Joy!

Hello ladies (& maybe gents),

 This past weekend my little bundle of joy reached the ripe age of two.

TWO WHOLE YEARS of ups and downs and all the drama and stress in between but here we are. Its been a blessed trip so far for sure. Anyways... Today I am going to be sharing a couple of the things I have learned so far being a single mama. Hopefully my unique insight of this whole parenting gig can help some of you, or at least be entertaining.

 ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE! I cannot stress enough how much this has benefited not only my toddler but myself as well in getting things done. I go in to work @8 am m-f and we have gotten in the habit of waking up bright and early together and kind of spending time getting ready so as to not waste any moments that we have, Before I used to leave her asleep so that I could get ready alone until crunch time at the end where I would just wake her up to change her and put her in the car. Which in fact would make my morning a lot more stressful. I would always forget something! But now that we wake up together I've noticed that she doesn't need me to call her she just gets up and waits for to me to start changing her on the bed. Its so cute when we get to her babysitters she grabs her own sippy cup,  backpack, walks to the door and waves goodbye all on cue. We have established other routines in our lives that at first felt super orchestrated and  now they just help our day to day go more smoothly. I will probably go in detail on our routines in another post.

(Aria's make up face)

 I remember when I first found out I was expecting I swore I would never use that baby talk with my child. Unfortunately I have fallen victim into using it a couple goo-goos and gagas from time to time, but now that she is starting to construct sentences I've been really trying to perfect her vocabulary skills. As adorable as it is when they have there own words to express and explain things, like how she tells me mio mio when she wants to be carried or is sleepy, I want my toddler to be able to communicate to other people what she wants/needs without them giving me a confused look. The way I've been able to do this is Helping her repeat the proper way to say something until she gets it right a couple of times. And when she finally uses the term correctly I praise her for getting it right, she loves that she sometimes even claps for herself. It is possible for a baby to learn how to speak fluently. BTW she speak mostly Spanish but understands English well too.

 This brings me to the next thing I have learned with Aria, giving her a CARESS

frequently. I grew up with parents that weren't so, how can i say it, sweet. I mean please don't misinterpret it, they were very funny and playful when the time was right, but one thing I for sure wish to this day I had more of was the warmth of a mother per say. So I vowed to my daughter that I would not be cold to her. And let me just say that it felt super weird at first but once it became a thing for us it made her and I very happy. I love to cuddle with her and tell her how pretty she is, it brings out that funny smile she likes to make. It is possible to show tremendous love to your child without spoiling them, this is something that I never knew I would be able to project to a child.

(cheesy smile,Aria on the right)

 Alright, well obviously I have learned a lot more things with Aria the last couple of years but these are the most important to me so far. I know I still have a lot of challenges and hoops to go through and I pray that God grants me that privilege to continue being her mama.

Till next post,

-Jazmin

Sweet Tooth

Since I've said goodbye to the long traffic consumed rides and the never ending work weeks, I've been enjoying so much more free/me time.

So what do I do with all that time?

I bake with things fresh from my fathers garden.

It always been a dream of my hippie side, to be self sustained and I'm not there yet but when the majority of a dish was grown in your own garden, it does give you a sense on ownership and fulfillment I've made a handful of goodies but only one I have repeated a couple of times and I'm sure my tight skirts and shirts are showing it.  Today ill be sharing my somewhat perfected, but very delicious, Zucchini Bread recipe. It has quickly become a stable in our family's kitchen and I hope you'll love it too!

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 Cups of Zucchini (keep the juice)

3 medium eggs

4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups of flour (a little extra for buttering and flouring the pan)

1 cup (or more!) of crushed pecans

TOOLS

1 large loaf pan(or two smaller ones)

1 whisk

1 rubber spatula

Step uno; Preheat oven to 355° F

Step dos:  mix thoroughly the sugar and oil, then add the remaining wet ingredients to the mix except the Zucchini.

Step tres: Mix all the dry ingredients together. Sift if possible.

Step quatro: Slowly add the dry to the wet mixes, and then add the zucchini and pecans at the end. make sure to leave some pecans for the top of the bread for decor.

Step cinco: Place in loaf pans of choice and in to the oven it goes for 45-60 minutes. Keep an eye on it and just do the toothpick technique till it come out clean.

Step seis: Let bread cool, then ENJOY!