Land of Loni | Population 3

Green Stuff

2010-11-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

This post is a bit spontaneous, has a crappy quality picture (read: cell phone) and yet I had to snap the picture and write it right anyway.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and for sure I have a lot to be thankful for but that is a post for another day. ~~I'll try for tomorrow but no promises.~~ Tomorrow it's just going to be the 3 of us at our house for dinner but I'm still making the traditional turkey dinner. Parker will probably only eat some mashed potatoes if I'm lucky but I still think the dinner is important. When I was making the list of things I wanted to prepare I knew well enough not to make everything that may normally be on the Thanksgiving dinner table. How much can the 3 of us really eat. ~~Wait don't answer that.~~ There will be no sweet potatoes (we don't particularly care for them), there won't be a green bean casserole, there won't be monkey bread (the savory variety) and there won't be greens or macaroni and cheese. Many years all of those are on our table.

One thing that will be on our table though is green stuff. It's my favorite. What? You don't know what that is?? Well you may have had it before but have called it something different. In our family, it has always been green stuff. No other name will suffice, ever. I've made it, I'm sure my mom has made it, my cousin makes it, but it was my Grama, she was the one who always made it for the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter green stuff was on our table. This year will not be different. I have not made it in quite a while but tonight as I started to make it and I poured the ingredients into the bowl the smell hit me. I think the smell is really just pistachio pudding but since I never just make that plain, the smell to me was green stuff. The smell flooded my mind with memories of my childhood and holiday meals. My Grama came to mind immediately and it made me thankful for my childhood and everything I had. A simple 4 ingredient "recipe" (read: dump and mix) made me remember what a lucky child I was and still am. Although my Grama is now gone I know she would be so happy that we still make green stuff to this day.

Yup, that's the whole thing! Pistachio pudding, cool whip, crushed pineapple and walnuts. Oh and if you make it you will be able to see that it really is a light green even though the photo makes it look white.

Tradition

2010-11-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

I was worried I might not get this shot this year. These pictures were all taken in the same spot but my mom remodeled her house this year (and added a master suite that's all mine, right??) so it looks a little different. I didn't know if she would still have the flag, she did, or if she would have the planter there, we moved it to the right spot and if she would have a pumpkin, my dad bought one (last years were home grown).

So even though it's not exactly the same it's still my tradition. Thanks mom for digging everything out so I could make it happen and thanks Dad for buying the pumpkin to go with it!

Nose to Nose

2010-11-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

Cutest picture ever??

I think YES!

No. 22?? Check!!

2010-11-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

And it's official. Number 22 can officially be crossed off of my "bucket list."

Way to go Giants. Way.To.Go!!

What a great game, a great World Series and a great post season overall. I even went with my mom to a post season game against the Phillies. Gotta love baseball, America's past time!

My Own Handy Manny

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is a cell phone video so I know the quality is not great. But the audio? Stellar. How can you not smile when hearing that giggle about a silly tape measure. Oh to have the mind of a child where truly the little things make you laugh. Thanks for always making me smile Parker!!

Panic Mode

2010-10-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as me freaking out. In less than 8 hours I will leave Parker for an entire week for the first time. While I have left him over night before it has been less times than the number of fingers on one hand that neither myself nor Aaron were with him. And only once was it 2 consecutive nights. I've known all along that today would come and I would freak out. I took today off work to spend with him and I am so glad I did. He napped for a while on my lap this afternoon before I put him in his crib. It was one of the best parts of the day. He is the sweetest little boy and I love him more than I ever thought possible.

I am not worried about his care as I know it will be fine. I worry about if he'll be like me though. A homesick girl who called her mom every night in the middle of the night multiple times when she was 12 years old and on a trip to her Grandpa's house in Seattle, crying because I was not home. Obviously at 2 years old he's not going to call me, but I don't want him to have those homesick feelings that I had and still sometimes get.

After two years it is time for Aaron and me to vacation alone, to sleep past 6 a.m. and to enjoy one another. I know it's important for us to take time for ourselves, I know we will have a blast but no one said this part would be easy. I know tomorrow I will be fine, I'll be on a beautiful ship sailing the ocean. But today. Today I am in panic mode.

A Birthday Letter to the Birthday Boy

2010-10-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Parker!!

I cannot believe you are 2 years old today. Where has the time gone? I think one day when you read these posts you are going to think I was crazy for always asking that same question practically every time I wrote about you. Then when you have children of your own I will remind you that I was not in fact crazy! It really does fly (especially when you're having fun).

You are so fun right now. Your personality is cute, strong and silly. You know what you want, you know how to get out of trouble and we think it's so funny. Some of the things that come out of your mouth just crack me up. I never want to forget these things, and that is why I write them down here. Not only so you can one day look at them and laugh but so that I may also look back at them and laugh.
Some of the fun things you say are OH. MY. GOOO, you never finish, so I am assuming you are saying gosh, because that is what you hear us say, and what we say after you say "gooo". You often throw things, like your food, sippy cup or silverware and then say "uh-oh" or "oh no!" We tell you time and time again that it was not in fact an "uh-oh" but I think you know it's cute so you just keep saying it!

You have recently starting kissing us and I am delighted, even though about 90% of the time you deny me one. You also say muah when you kiss now which you must have heard from us. I am always amazed at how much stuff you watch and learn. The other day I saw you in the bathroom with my bottle of mousse. You tilted the bottle into your hand (nothing came out), rubbed your hands together and then rubbed it all over your hair. The same exact process I do every.single.morning. You are watching and I love it.

You can count to ten, sing your ABC's and sing a few other songs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star being a favorite. You love to color and will even keep the pencil or pen or crayon on the paper most of the time. ~~You must know your dad is a neat freak.~~

You still hate fruit and vegetables that are not pureed. We offer them to you and you mostly pick them out at home and at daycare. I don't know any other 2 year old who still eats baby food but I want to ensure you get all the fruit and vegetables you need and since you love the pureed stuff I will continue to give it to you. It makes me happy that if I at least am doing that and you eat them well that it is a texture thing vs. a taste thing. Hopefully soon you will enjoy the real deal! If we let you eat macaroni and cheese everyday you probably would, we don't. You are picky about your meats but love a lunch of turkey, cheese and crackers. My kind of guy!

Overall you are healthy, happy and can throw a mean temper tantrum when you find it necessary. I hear the two's will give me more of all that and therefore I will also be healthy, happy and throw a mean temper tantrum when necessary. Kidding...sort of!

I love you Parker, you are more than I could have ever asked for and I wish for you many many many more birthdays of happiness and love!

What A Difference... Again

2010-10-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Last year around this same time I wrote this post about how different Parker was from one year to the next. In the next couple of weeks I'm hoping my mom will find that flag so I can do another comparison, but her house was recently remodeled so I'm not sure she still has it. (*Hint Hint Mom, make it happen!!*).

A couple weekends ago we went to Apple Hill just as we did last year. Unfortunately we had some time constraints and were not able to see as much and *gasp* we did not pick one.single.apple but we had a good time. What a difference it was since Parker was not even walking last year to this year where he was literally crawling over pumpkins.

Due to a super busy October I don't know that we'll get out to Apple Hill again this year but at least we kept our tradition and will continue going each fall.

So what do you think? A year really does make a difference!

I could not even get him to look at the camera, much less pose! He is on.the.go! I won't even begin to think that in 6 days he will be 2. Nope, not going to think about that at all!

If I Could Freeze Time

2010-09-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

(Wow, it's been so long, I almost forgot what this page looked like. I wish I had an excuse about getting my kids back into the school swing, or that I just got back from vacation or any other somewhat valid excuse for the long blogging pause, but really I just needed a break.)
But now, on with our regularly scheduled program.

Parker will be two next month. Where has the time gone? While many children give kisses from as young as 6 months (yes, the wet slobbery kind), Parker barely blew us kisses starting sometime after he turned a year old. Kisses just weren't his thing. They really still aren't, I could ask 100 times in a day (and I do) and I may only get one kiss. I give him a zillion and he will laugh and laugh but I think he knows that I want his sweet puckered lips to touch mine and just won't give. I can't tell you how many times I end up kissing his nose or his actual teeth. But I'm looking for the real deal. Is there really anything sweeter than a genuine kiss from your almost two year old? I didn't think so.

There is one time during the day where if I could just freeze time, I would. Almost every single night Aaron puts Parker to bed, it's their thing. I tell him I love him, remind him that "Momma, Daddy and Jesus love him" and off they go up the stairs. Usually right after I say this Parker smiles sweetly and says "nigh, night" (Yes he leaves off the first "T"). Aaron tells Parker to give me a kiss and this is when he will lean over (if Aaron is holding him) or run to me, purse his lips and kiss me. It is one of my favorite moments of the day, albeit small, it's genuine and sweet. What more could a mother ask for?

If only I could freeze time for these small minutes of sweet baby kisses.

Weekend Lessons (Re)Learned

2010-08-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend I (re)learned 3 small things that really make me realize how fortunate I am.

Lesson 1 - I am lucky to have Aaron as a great husband and a wonderful dad to Parker. Maybe I didn't even relearn this but I sure as heck was reminded. Friday night I finally found a pair of pants to wear to Bloggy Boot Camp this coming weekend. I was invited to go shopping with some sweet friends Saturday but decided since I found the pants I didn't need to go. The shopping trip was going to be a little farther away than just a run to the mall, I was leaving Parker with Aaron next weekend and didn't want to leave him for another whole day (not that he isn't willing, I just like to be with the both of them) and I had the pants I needed. I declined the offer even though shopping sounded like a lot of fun.

After declining and telling Aaron he asked me why I wasn't going to go and I listed the above reasons to him and what I didn't expect was what he said next. You should just go, I'll keep Parker for the day, if you decline now they may not ask you the next time. Who could say no to that offer? A day of shopping without Parker or Aaron? Now I love them both dearly, but I cannot tell you in the past 22 months when I have gone shopping without Aaron or without a stroller. I got to carry my purse, no stroller to throw that bad boy in! I had a great time and am so thankful for Aaron to encourage me to create long lasting friendships while shopping!

Lesson 2 - If you have the opportunity to meet or even talk on the phone to blog friends DO IT! I have been nothing short of amazed at the women I have met from the *shudder* internet. I am not saying jump in blindly and invite them to your house for a first time meeting, but there are good people out there and if you don't (safely) put yourself out there you will lose. I have a hard time initiating meetings/conversations and I am thankful other ladies have put themselves out there first for me. This is a lesson I really am going to work on more. If I don't make the first step I could lose as well. Thank you Nichole, Eileen and Jessica for reminding me how great y'all are this weekend!

Lesson 3 - A little lighter (on the mind, not the belly). Mongolian barbecue is delicious. This was the tastiest lesson I relearned this weekend. I am ready to drive the 90 minutes back to the mall foodcourt for some more!

What did you learn or (re)learn this weekend?

Camera Happy

2010-08-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I shared a short post that showed a little about our trip to Happy Hollow.

Today I have put together a couple more photo collages and am so excited because it's been forever since I have been able to share actual "taken from a real camera" photographs. It is in my plan to actually get my camera fixed this week since I have yet to convince Aaron that I need a new one. (Poor me, right? He did just order me a new phone last night!)

So without further ado.

I love this slide because it's the perfect size for Parker, not too small but not overly high where I get nervous about him standing up and walking down. Yes, he has tried this! Yes, I about had a heart attack!

And this collage sort of wraps up our entire day. Parker LOVES pushing his stroller around from behind which was no different at Happy Hollow. He rode a few rides, saw several animals, including looking at goats but he was not interested in feeding them, dug in the sand for "fossils" and before we were even back to our car he conked out. That in itself tells me he had a great time, and I did too!

And on a side note, I'm loving my two column format. Any guesses why?? Yup, larger photographs! Having a camera on Sunday made me a little camera happy to say the least!

Sneak Peek

2010-08-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly the cutest little boy riding on a fire truck (or engine) whichever replica it is. All of the pictures except for the last one were before the ride even took off. The last one is actually when the ride jolted to a start, hence Parker's startled happy face!

On Sunday we visited Happy Hollow, a park and zoo for small children. I borrowed a camera and have lots of pictures to share. This is just a sneak peak of our first ride of the day. More to come soon!

A Breakthrough.

2010-07-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Parker is stubborn when it comes to eating. He has been pretty much since day ~~one~~ three.

This is nothing new to our family nor does it really bother me. Frustrate me sometimes? Yes. It doesn't bother me (too much) that he mostly enjoys pasta, cereal, and crackers, however it does bother me that while he eats these things that have some sort of texture he won't eat other foods with texture, like say fruits and vegetables. We still feed him baby food fruits because there is no other way that we've found to get him to eat it, yes this is including bananas. Vegetables we have a slightly higher success rate if we put them in with his pasta he happens to grab them and shovel them in his mouth along with the noodles.

And unless you count veggie straws as a vegetable (I don't although it's a better option than Ritz) he doesn't eat much of this food group. I know it's not the flavor of the fruits and vegetables because he always ate the baby food just fine, he even liked a lot of it, so it has to be the texture right? Right! (That was my attempt at self assurance, ha!) Another thing Parker will eat is blueberry muffins, banana bread or anything of the like but with his love for all things carbs I try to minimize those also.

Finally yesterday I had a small breakthrough. (Small because the recipe does contain breadcrumbs, but it's a pretty minimal amount). I made these zucchini bites yesterday, recipe below. They were super easy to make, I doubled the recipe and did about two thirds zucchini and one third yellow summer squash. I'm pretty sure that the fact that Parker ate one last night and five, yes you read that right, five this morning before we left the house, made them a hit. (In case you are wondering we leave before 6 a.m. everyday.) Normally when Parker wakes up he immediately wants to eat something and that something is usually crackers (I know this because he points and screams at the cupboard we keep them in). I feel like this morning we made a breakthrough. Although I may not have yummy cheesy delicious zucchini bites for him to eat every morning, it is an option that was quick and easy to make!

Here is the recipe that I got from The Naptime Chef, the photo is also from that site as my camera has yet to be fixed. Mom fail for sure!

Summer Zucchini Bites

2 c. grated zucchini
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. sharp cheddar, grated
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. fresh parsley, finely chopped
*salt and pepper

Makes approximately 24 mini-muffin sized bites (This was accurate which I liked, so many recipes these days say "makes 5 dozen" and you come out with 3)

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Butter a mini-muffin tin, set aside.

2. In a large glass bowl add two eggs and beat lightly with a whisk. Then, add the zucchini, onion, cheddar, bread crumbs and parsley and combine them with a wooden spoon.

3. Using your hands or an ice-cream scoop, fill each muffin cup just to the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the top is browned and set.

*Salt and pepper were not in the original recipe however after the first batch I decided that it might add to the flavor, they were good without it but great with it. (Shocker, huh?) :)

Shaken

2010-07-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've made no secret of the fact that I live in California. Earthquake central. Well except Japan, I think Japan has more earthquakes. (That is not based upon any fact, just that my mind is telling me that.)

I've been through ~~tons~~ ~~many~~ ok my fair share of earthquakes, and while they can be devastating in some areas, here in California we are mostly prepared. Thank goodness.

The first earthquake I can remember living through was October 17, 1989 (19 years and 1 day before Parker was born, in case you were keeping track, ha!). It was also the largest I've ever felt, and is probably one of the most infamous in California.

It occurred at 5:04 p.m. and came in on the Richter scale at 6.9.  I was standing outside my Grama's home. After school my sister and I would go to my grandparents house every day and my mom was there to pick us up. My Grama walked us out and we were about to get into my mom's 1987 Toyota pick up truck when the ground started shaking. After the initial shake I don't remember much but I know my mom went to check on everything at our house (2 minutes away) and we stayed at my grandparents. I remember just watching the news coverage, the damage, oh the damage.

Not only did it interrupt the 1989 World Series between two San Francisco Bay Area teams, and was the first major earthquake to be broadcast live in America (thankyouwikipedia). It did major damage to a double decker bridge, the entire top layer collapsed onto the bottom layer. A total of 63 people were killed due to the earthquake and several thousand were injured. We were lucky to not be included in these numbers.  While I am not afraid of earthquakes, California girl, remember, it is amazing to me what 10-15 seconds of shaking can do!

I don't think I'll ever forget that earthquake and the details about it. So much so, that when I was induced on October 17th I was glad that there was likely no chance I would deliver Parker that night. I did not want to have a Loma Prieta earthquake anniversary baby.  Could I tell you the dates of any of the other earthquakes I've lived through? Nope! But this one, this one I can without the help of wikipedia.

This post was inspired by Mama Kat's writers workshop.

Blog Friends Are Real

2010-07-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

I recently met with a blog friend, Nichole who is lovely by the way, in real life (IRL) and she said something that stuck with me (of course I'm paraphrasing, but you'll get the idea). In high school your friends were the people you went to school with. It was by circumstance of where you were located that they became your friend. Blogs and the Internet allow us a window into someone else's world. We are friends with them because we choose to be. This is not to say you don't like the people you went to high school with, just that on the Internet you can find true friends.

Top 10 Reasons Why Blog Friends Are Real, in no particular order.

10. When you want some entertainment on twitter, they will tell you knock knock jokes that may not even make their 3 year old laugh, and that in itself is entertainment!

9. They send you text messages when you need encouragement to get on that eliptical.

8. They text message you while they are in labor because you've insisted that you need to know how it's going, even if you've never met them in real life.

7. They are one of the strongest people you've ever "met" and offer you powerful advice that you still carry with you today.

6.They are so so patient and design your blog for you, even when you have no idea what you want! (I paid her, of course!)

5. They invite you to have dinner with them even though prior to dinner the only true conversation you have had is via twitter.

4. Then when you get to dinner and meet their lovely family, everyone can barely shut up for more than 30 seconds to look at the menu.

3. They don't think you're crazy when you tell them that you are coming to visit them because you're grandfather died. (Yes, I met up with a blog friend on a trip for my grandfather's funeral.)

2. When they are really your sister, but since they are the one who encouraged you to start a blog you are grateful.

1. They make you smile. Because, really isn't that what friends are supposed to do? You are a part of their real life too, you email them daily, send them a text, talk to them on the phone, share a laugh with them. And you do these things because they.are.real.

What have your blog friends done that show you they are real?

31DBBB Day #1

2010-07-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Elevator Pitch

Today's task at hand was to develop an elevator pitch for your blog. An elevator pitch, according to Wikipedia, is an overview of an idea for a product, service or project. The name reflects that fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride.

Today we are posting our short elevator pitch, which can even be placed on the back of a business card.

My short elevator pitch:
Land of Loni: A blog about motherhood, wife-hood and womanhood. Chronicling my journey of learning how to (somewhat successfully) play all three roles.

This is a new angle for me. Before my blog was called "From Two to Three" and topics mostly revolved around my journey into first time parenthood. As I became more comfortable in my shoes it was apparent to me that I should expand the vision of my blog, bringing us to Land of Loni.

Thanks for stopping by!

31 Days to Build A Better Blog (31DBBB)

2010-07-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

That is the challenge at hand! Or at least the one at hand that I'm currently taking!! ProBlogger has a book that can teach you how to improve your blog step by step and I've decided to check it out with a ton of other women bloggers who belong to The Sits Community.

Each day will have a task at hand to complete and in the end hopefully my blog will be not only better, but spectacular, yes SPECTACULAR, that's what I'm going for!

If you are not a blogger yourself (Hi Mom!) you might think this is silly, but I look at it as if I were interested in cooking (well I am) and took a cooking class. This is much more affordable and can be done while being in the comfort of my couch, so for now I'm going with it!

Today is Day 1, so shortly I will post my task for the day!

You've Found It

2010-07-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

No, no, you did not type in the wrong URL, this is the new "From Two to Three," only way better (shameless plug? maybe)! This is my new home, Land of Loni. My awesome blog designer Jessica over at The Frilly Coconut has really fixed this place up nice, she gave it a complete makeover. She did all the work. I am not even kidding a little bit. I gave her free reign and said go and this is what she did for me! I love it. The only thing I picked was the star, but she did the hard work of piecing it all together and making it look great!

And don't let me forget Jenn who helped me with the title and Population: 3 idea. Lately I have been blogging less and I missed it. She encouraged me to broaden my blog to be more about my life as a whole rather than just mommyhood (although that is one of my favorite parts). The blog will still have a lot about Parker, but now I now feel like I can blog about anything in my world. Pretty perfect, huh?

So I have a new URL, http://www.landofloni.com/, a new button, go ahead and grab it, and a new menu bar with all my contact info and some information about, you guessed it, me. If you're new here, go ahead, click around, stay awhile, it'll be fun! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

What Was Meant to Be

2010-07-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Remember last month, when I lovingly posted about my anniversary, at 5 years and 5 days? Well today is another 5 year anniversary mark.

Until last month when I actually blogged about my anniversary and when it hit me like a ton of bricks, I didn't realize how special my wedding date was in more ways than one. Aaron and I were planning a September wedding, Labor Day weekend to be exact. Once we found the place where we knew we wanted to be married we checked the dates they had available. The Saturday before Labor Day was not available. We even checked for the Sunday since our guests would most likely be off for the long weekend the following day. Unfortunately the only date available was June 11th. After much debate and figuring out my school schedule and also my bridesmaids school schedule I decided June 11th it was.

I don't think I've ever blogged about my Grama (which is honestly a shame in itself) but today I'm going there. The reason she is relevant to this is that 5 years ago today she passed away. My Grama attended my wedding in a wheel chair much to her dismay. In December of 2002 she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. By the time my wedding day came around she was not doing great. She could still walk but we figured it would be less tiring and easier for her to be in the chair. I felt so lucky just to have her there as each day was a gift in her short life.

After the wedding Aaron and I left the next day for an 8 day trip to Hawaii. When I got back from the trip my mom let me know that the day after my wedding my Grama could no longer walk down her hallway by herself. I knew in that moment that she held out for me, pushed on for me so she could see me walk down the aisle. I only visited her one time after I got back from Hawaii, partially because she was not very lucid and was sleeping a lot and partially because it was hard to see her like that.

I don't know why it didn't hit me sooner than 5 years later that if my wedding had been Labor Day weekend she may not have been around for it. But when it did all I could do was smile. I knew then that June was what was meant to be.

Camping Bound

2010-07-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend we are camping bound. I am wondering if I am crazy to take a 20 month old camping. He has shown us that he knows how to escape a pack and play (only once, but that's all it takes, right??)

I am hoping to miraculously find my camera, fix it and be able to take pictures, but if not, I have my Flip, and that will have to do, right? I hope so!

While I have a love for social media and the internet I am sort of looking forward to a weekend with no technology. My sister's family is camping with us and they are already there and yesterday I saw a post on FaceBook from him that said "Camping with Wifi. Sweet!!!" At first I was wondering How.The.Heck?? But then I thought about it and I didn't like it. I'm not sure how he connected or anything but I don't even want to be tempted. Obviously I can just put the Iphone away and not look but sometimes it is so convenient. Want to know the score of the Giants game? The Iphone. Want to know the weather? The Iphone. Want to know what's going on in the blogging word? The Iphone. Ok, I probably won't be checking out the blogging world while camping but seriously, that little gadget can do a lot. It's so hard to "get away."

I am actually hoping the wifi was a glitch on my brother-in-laws phone and that I am not as "lucky."
Sometimes a getaway is nice and I hope to have that "get away" this weekend!

As my friend Jenn B says, catch ya on the flip side (aka Monday)!

Sayonara Dr. Brown

2010-06-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

So in case you are new here, let me tell you a little something about me. I was the perfect mother, until I had my own child at least. I scoffed at women ~~and quite possibly a family member~~ who allowed their child to have a bottle at... get this... 13 months. Well actually the specific time I'm remembering I think the child may have even been 12 months 3 weeks, but you get the point. I was not going to have a child older than 12 months on a bottle. Nope, not me!

Enter 12 month old Parker. He wouldn't even take a sippy cup for water, much less milk! Nope, not him! He was having none of it. Well, I thought my controlling self could just take the bottle away. This was at about 13 months I think, and it got to the point where I didn't give him a bottle for a day and a half. I offered him a sippy cup and when he didn't take it I said fine and decided he'd just be thirsty. Now since I am a worrier at heart and could not really let him go thirsty or possibly dehydrate I took it to an extreme, and I gave him water in a medicine dropper. Cause that's not him getting his way or anything, right? On day 2 I realized what I was doing was ridiculous and that I just needed to let him have the bottle for now and for sure the next month he'd take a sippy cup. That was half true. You see, here I posted where Parker became baby Einstein. He was finally drinking from a sippy cup, but not for that morning bottle, and not at daycare.

When we switched daycares in March I decided I would not take a bottle to Denise's house and if Parker wanted to drink he would do it with a sippy cup. This transition was flawless and we have not had any troubles with him taking a sippy cup during the day. However, he still had that morning bottle filled with 8 oz. of whole, warmed up (he's may be slightly spoiled) milk. That is, he had it until now.

On the spur of the moment decision I decided on Sunday that Parker woke up in a great mood so I would try to just give him some milk in a sippy cup. I have tried this a few times in the past with quite the screaming fit as a result. While he did not drink more than a couple sips, far less than his standard 8 oz., he did not throw it on the floor demanding a bottle. This was progress, and 4 days later he has not touched a B-O-T-T-L-E. And yes, when mentioning the B word in the house we have been spelling it so that Parker does not hear the word and possibly want it. So far, success!! Sayonara Dr. Brown, we shared some good times and you helped with the spitting up, but our journey has now placed us on different paths.

5 years...5 days

2010-06-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Aaron was born on May 5th, 5/5, yup, a Cindo de Mayo baby. So it is no surprise that 5 is his "lucky" number. If I find a shirt with a 5 on it (a la Hollister, American Eagle, etc) I pick it up for him. Target had little red swim trunks for Parker with a 5 on it, I grabbed them. It's just his thing. Stick with me here, I do have a point. So last Friday, June 11th, was our 5th anniversary. I am just blogging about it now because we have now been married 5 years and 5 days. Pretty sweet of me, huh?

Ok, ok. If I was really going to be sweet about something like that ~~rather than being lazy about blogging especially since I don't have pictures because I have a broken camera~~ I would have blogged when we had been married for 5 years, 5 months, 5 days and if I were really feeling adventurous 5 hours and even 5 minutes. Now that would have been sweet. < Insert gagging here! >

In all seriousness though, 5 years and 5 days ago was one of the best days of my life. We had an evening wedding, married at 5:30 outdoors with an indoor reception to follow. It was a long day, but an amazing one. I had my friends and family by my side and it was perfect. We said our vows, there was a scripture reading, there was a harpist playing music, we lit our unity candle, we kissed, and now we live happily ever after, right? Right. Ok, mostly right!

I am definitely a lucky girl and don't have much to complain about. I married a funny, sarcastic, strong willed, loving guy. My mom once joked that if I sneezed and wanted a tissue in Sacramento (2 hours from my hometown, where my BFF lived at the time) Aaron would drive me there to get it. And while that was in the beginning of our relationship where it's all puppy love, there isn't much now that I want that I don't get. I do cook dinner (most nights), I sometimes do dishes (about 50% of the time), I never vacuum, I never dust, I rarely clean bathrooms (maybe, and this might be a stretch, 10% of the time, make that 5 actually), I used to do more laundry but since we got the new front loaders I rarely do that too, I never make our bed, I do change some diapers but I'd say Aaron does that more than me, and I don't ever clean the shower drain that has MY hair in it (worst chore ever). So you see, I am pretty lucky.

Please don't think I do nothing around the house, I just am not the cleaner. I grocery shop, I pay the bills, I organize the small stuff, bills/mail/cupboards etc., but if I had to chose one role or the other, I know I came out on top!

So all that blah blah blahing was me saying that I love you Aaron, more and more everyday. I am thankful that you put up with me and wouldn't know what to do without you (and not just because I need clean underwear either)! Happy 5 years and 5 days anniversary!!

Oh, and since I have zero pictures on this computer from our wedding day I'll make that a whole different post later, but for now, here are the flowers that were on my desk when I walked into work last Friday. Not only were they gorgeous but Aaron told me that he picked the colors to match my bridal bouquet (bright colors, purples, yellows, oranges, pinks). If you know Aaron he is not exactly the romantic type. For him to think of this scored him about 1 bazillion points.

The "blue" ribbon and "blue" flowers are actually purple in real life. But with having a broken camera and all, this picture was obviously taken with a cell phone!

Life's A Beach

2010-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today life was a beach. A calm, relaxing, fun, perfect weather, beach. We planned on going to the zoo today and at 6 a.m. this morning ~~thank you Parker for the consistent 5 a.m. wake up call, it was a holiday, you know~~ I just decided I'd rather go to the beach. We are staying at my parents house this week while we are out of town, so we didn't have much for the beach, but it worked out great anyways.

We happened to have our beach chairs with us since we went to see Tim McGraw on Saturday. We brought all our laundry from last week at Disneyland so Aaron actually had a bathing suit and for Easter Aaron's parents got us a beach umbrella that we had not yet taken home (they live in the same city as my parents) so we were able to take that too. It was meant to be.

I didn't think that Parker would like the water at all, and I just knew he wouldn't like the sand since he doesn't like to get his hands dirty. ~~But we love the beach and I'll be darned if Parker doesn't learn to love it too~~. Boy was I happily wrong. Well, 1/2 wrong, Parker did not like the sand on his hands but quickly would get over it as we clapped his hands together saying "yay" to get the sand off. And the water? Well apparently the ocean is nothing like the bath (which Parker has hated for a few months).

He splished and he splashed as the water came up around his ankles. He would run towards the water and we had to make sure he didn't go too far, or that we weren't right there to pick him up as a (very small) wave rolled in.

We got out of the water for a little bit and Parker loved to sit on the beach chairs like he was a king. He even said "cheese" on command.

When he was trying to avoid the sand he'd sit on my lap then get down, roam around our area trying to figure out how to walk in it and then he'd come back. See the sand between his ~~toes~~ fingers?

And although Parker and Aaron went out in the water again, this is the only other picture I have. Do you like the editing? Oh wait, that's not editing, that's my camera lens not opening all the way because a grain of sand is stuck in it. You see, that will happen if your toddler starts to climb his sandy, wet body onto a strangers beach chair. If you stand up with your camera in hand because you were taking pictures, go run to grab him off their chair, trip on a rock covered with sand, fall and stick your camera in the sand while watching him climb happily onto said stranger's chair, your camera will probably suffer as much damage as your slightly twisted ankle. Don't say I didn't warn you.

But hey, life's a beach right? I thought so too!

If You're Reading This...

2010-05-31T21:47:00.000-07:00

I had a great Flip video (and by great I mean crappy quality, great content) of the Tim McGraw concert the other night. It was a video of a video essentially since we had lawn seats and I was taping the jumbo-tron. Anyways, to make a long story short youtube hated me and it wouldn't upload and I want it posted today, so I'm going to take the same song that someone else posted on youtube and you'll get the point.

If You're Reading This... by Tim McGraw

Thank you to all who serve so that we can be free, truly, thank you.

Why

2010-05-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

Why can I not have big gorgeous eyes, like my gorgeous friend Joelle? Or a skinny butt like her, or some long legs like her... ok ok, that's not really what this post is all about. The real question is, why can Tim Mcgraw be balding, old and still hot?!? ~~It must be the cowboy hat, right?~~

This was us Saturday night at a Tim Mcgraw concert. Love and Theft and Lady Antebellum also played, it was a great show and a fun night. Besides the fact that Tim Mcgraw skipped Don't Take the Girl, and that beers were $12 ~~and we had no cash, thanks for spotting us, Joelle and Sean~~ everything was perfect. (And I have not had a revolution, I still don't like beer, it was for Aaron).

Thanks for setting up a fun night for us Joelle and let's do it again soon, k?

I'm Going... Err.. I Went to Disneyland

2010-05-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

I really had great intentions of putting together a photo collage and editing the pictures from our trip, but we've been home 5 days and I have yet to do it. I fear that it may end up like the first haircut post that never was, so I'm just going to upload pictures SOOC (straight out of camera) and at least they'll be on here for our memory!

We had a great trip, I couldn't believe how many rides Parker was able to go on, and the fact that he loved them! Some of the rides Parker went on include, both Toy Story rides, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Ferris Wheel in California Adventure, the Teacups, the Haunted Mansion, Dumbo, the Monorail (if you consider that a ride), the Zephyr, Finding Nemo, the Jungle Cruise, Autopia, It's A Small World, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio, Flik's Flyers, the Ladybugs, Monster's Inc., and I'm sure there were more. That's a pretty good list for a 19 month old!

We also watched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, shopped, ate and played a lot in Mickey's Toon Town. In Toon Town there was a little playground, I think it was Goofy's Playhouse and Parker loved it. There was a slide in there and he must have gone down it 50 times. It was a lot of fun to watch him play and great to be able to sit and relax while he ran out some of his energy!

The Entrance

Saying "Cheese" in Toon Town

Riding Dumbo

Right before riding Mr. Toad's Wild Road

Giving silly eyes at Goofy's Playhouse

The slide

Our Family

I'm Late... I'm Late... For A Very Important Post!

2010-05-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

I'm late... I'm late... for a very important ~~date~~ blog post. Don't you guys love that movie, I mean the original, not the creepy-ish new non-cartoon version. Well to be honest, Alice in Wonderland, the cartoon version or the newest (which I have not seen) are not exactly my cup of tea (pun slightly intended). I haven't seen the cartoon version in years but I always remember thinking it was a little creepy and kind of scary for little kids (as parts of many Disney movies are). Anyways, I'm done rambling. For the most part I love Disney movies and even if Alice and Wonderland is not exactly one of my favorites, it has brought about one of the best rides at Disneyland, the Teacups. I'm pretty sure they're actually called The Mad Hatter Tea Party or something, but everyone knows them as the Teacups, right?

Here is Parker's first go around at the Teacups. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he loved it!

Please ignore my obnoxious squealing/laughter. Watching Parker laugh/squeal made me follow suit, sorry!

Treasure!

2010-05-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day I went on a treasure hunt looking for ~~gold~~ ladybugs. At least 2 stores, 4 phone calls and a nap later I found them! And then... I set them free, in my garden at least. That's has to better than the mesh bag they were in, right?

Sunday night I put some out on my plants and they crawled all over the ~~yard~~ patio. I let them be but when I went out there on Monday it was like a ladybug massacre had occurred. I didn't see any live ones on any of my plants and only saw dead ones in the dirt. I am not sure if they flew away (the bag had 1500 ladybugs in it and I know I didn't see that many dead ones) or if they really all died.

I put the rest of the bag out last night and took some pictures, you know, in case those ones all died too at least I'd have a pictures of the little treasures. I was really hoping they'd stay and eat the bugs living on my tomato plants but maybe they had other plans.

I guess when I get home tonight I'll see if the second batch made it through. I did step outside this morning and see some of the little ladies hanging out but it definitely did not look like the other half of the 1500. Oh well, it gave me something to search for on Mother's Day and how better to spend $7.61 than on 1500 ladybugs? Ok you're right, a Starbucks iced white mocha for two days would be a pretty awesome way to spend that money too.

Mimi's, Ladybugs, No Veggies, Oh My!

2010-05-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Happy late Mother's Day to all you moms out there. It really is a pretty great job, too bad the pay sucks other than kisses, hugs and snotty noses. That pay is spectacular!

Last year for Mother's Day we went to the beach, the weather was beautiful, Parker had his first real taste of sweets, we ate ~~and ate and ate~~ good food and just relaxed. It was quite nice. It was exactly what I would have wished to do this year, say if the weather wasn't in the 50's and rain was possibly in the forecast. It is May, right? Ok, just checking!

So as of Saturday we had no plans for Sunday. On Saturday I read Mama Kat's Queen for A Day post and decided that it was a good idea that when Aaron asked I just tell him what I wanted. He asked if I wanted to go to breakfast and I said sure! After that I listed off how the rest of my day should go.

We would go to breakfast, then head to livermore to go to the Farmer's Market they have on Sundays. We'd then stop by Lowe's or Home depot and pick up some ladybugs for my garden ~~stop laughing, Jessica~~, head home, put Parker down for a nap, nap myself, wake up and cook a nice fresh dinner from all the stuff I bought at the farmer's market. He then laughed and ask if this is what I wanted now what was life going to be like when we were 40. I guess this wasn't how he'd want to spend his day.

Now, let me tell you how that went...

We did wake up and go to Mimi's. When we got there we asked for a muffin for Parker so that he would not get impatient being locked down in a childseat. We ordered from their limited Mother's Day menu which we didn't know about and then our server came back a few minutes later and told us that apparently the seasonal muffin (banana chocolate chip) just had about 10 more minutes in the oven. Ok, no problem, I mean, I would think on Mother's day an hour after you opened you'd have your seasonal muffin but 10 minutes is no biggie. Only to be told 10 minutes later that it'd actually be an hour longer, ok fine, forget the seasonal muffin, give me blueberry. Well the muffins came out the same time as the food, so holding Parker over did not happen. That's ok, the food was fine, we left heading to the farmer's market.

I won't mention that the market wasn't open yet (oh wait I just did) so we ran to target to pick up some random things, toilet paper included. Back to the farmer's market. Umm... is it technically a farmer's market if there are literally no vegetables? Ok not literally but there were two stands of some vegetables, a stand of pastries and a knife sharpening man. I didn't even see any tomatoes for sale. What.A.Bust. We bought nothing and decided to venture to get my ladybugs.

Who knew that Lowe's no longer carries ladybugs, Home Depot doesn't either and the two Orchard Supply's that are near us are out until later this week. Really? Out of stock on ladybugs. I knew I was after the hot buy of the week! We went home, Parker took a nap and so did I. It felt good.

I did end up finding a place that had ladybugs so we did go pick them up after naptime. Then since I had no fresh veggies I decided I didn't want to cook. I wanted Baja Fresh. Of course I decided this about 5 minutes after we left the same parking lot it was in. Aaron said he'd go back, after he asked me what I couldn't get at Rubio's that I wanted at Baja Fresh since we were "right by" Rubios. Apparently he doesn't know the term pronto guac, or pico de gallo, the two parts about Baja Fresh I wanted. But that's ok, I went with the flow. It was my own fault that I didn't say something sooner, right? ~~It wasn't my day or anything, ha!~~!

I know there may seem to be a lot of rants here but really it was a nice day. It didn't go as smoothly as I planned but how often is motherhood about things going smoothly, yeah, not too often!!! We did go to breakfast, we did go to the farmer's market, we did get ladybugs, I did nap (which was probably one of my favorite parts) and we ate dinner. All in all a good day. And although I didn't mention it in my original list I did sort of expect a foot massage before bed. I didn't really ask for one but figured if he knew what was good for him, Aaron would give me one. I lucked out, he did and it was great. How can I complain when everything got done and I ended the day with a foot massage. That's right, I can't!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Wordless Wednesday - Cute Enough For 2 Posts!

2010-04-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Slides and Sippy's

2010-04-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Remember my child, you know, the one who refused a sippy until he very recently had an aha! Baby Einstein moment? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we don't have that problem anymore.

Tonight I took him over to the park by our house and I thought he could play around for a while and get some energy out. He loves to run outside but isn't a huge fan of the playground equipment yet. I figure if I just keep taking him he'll eventually learn to love it.

I think next time though, I will leave the sippy cup at home. Parker loved being outside and running around with his sippy cup. A couple of times he played around the slide, but other than that he ran around throwing, sipping, and spinning his cup. Don't believe me? I took a lot of pictures (back to my mamarazzi style) and I think less than 5 of them are of him without that cup. Here's the proof!

And finally, "I'm watching you, Mom!"

Happy Half Birthday Parker Sneak Peek!

2010-04-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here is how we spent Parker's half birthday! We got home a little late so I've compiled some pictures for you to enjoy and I will update tomorrow on our days events.

Can you guess where we went? (Without following my tweets or facebook?)

How's that for pictures? As of late who knew if I could even work a camera! :)

Happy half birthday Parker!!

Pictures

2010-04-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

The post almost titled "You Spin My Head Right Round Right Round..." until I looked up the lyrics of that catchy song and realized they were not appropriate for my blogvironment.

So here we go, some pictures, FINALLY!

These are not really of anything special, just Aaron and Parker playing the other night before bedtime, but I thought it was cute how curious Parker was so I decided the whole "event" was blog worthy.

Parker got this top for Easter. I am not sure who from but it's quite a high tech top. When you spin it, it lights up and also plays the tune of "It's A Small World." While that tune can get annoying right now I am humming right along because it makes me excited for our trip to Disneyland next month! I am hoping since Parker likes the top "singing" it so much he will also enjoy the ride, we shall see!

Date Night Bust...

2010-04-11T19:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was opening night for the San Francisco Giant's. My company has amazing season tickets and we get a few sets a year to go to the games. I love going to baseball games and was looking forward to last night since I had picked that game many months before. I almost always try to pick a fireworks game because there is just something magical about seeing fireworks.

Last night was a fireworks game. The worst thing about a fireworks night is you have to stay until the end, winning or losing.

The game is dragging on, it's pretty cold, and the Giant's are losing I think at this point 5-1, but we're hanging on for those fireworks. *Enter phone call around the 8th inning*

It's my mom who is going to watch Parker until Sunday morning, woohoo, we get to sleep in. And by sleep in, I mean we get to sleep until 7 a.m. because yes, that is sleeping in. Back to the phone call. "Umm, hi. It's no big deal and Parker can totally stay here for the night but I just wanted to let you know he has thrown up four times since he woke up from his nap." *Enter excuse to leave losing game and having a legitimate excuse to miss the magical fireworks*

Back to the losing game, I tell Aaron, we can stay for the fireworks if he wants but I'm fine with going to pick up Parker too. I really do think I would have been fine staying for the fireworks but I know I really wanted to go get him. I had just mentioned to a friend earlier that day that he has never been sick like a stomach bug. He has had his illnesses but the flu and those symptoms have not been one of them. I guess I shoulda knocked on some wood.

Without any previous experience or knowing how Parker was going to react I was not going to leave my mom with a vommiting baby for the night. That didn't exactly seem fair of me.

It was a date night bust but we still had a good time while we were there. Once we got Parker home he went back down to sleep and has been fine ever since. (I definitely think it was just something he ate that upset his stomach since he has not been sick since and has had no other flu like symptoms.)

I guess I already knew this, but being a mom (and dad) changes everything.

Oh and as we were walking to our car the Padre's had scored 2 more runs but we also saw a "test" firework go off, so we still did see fireworks, I can't really complain then, can I?

P.S. I totally brought my camera to the park, asked if I should take it in, Aaron and I both decided, nah, we didn't need it, hence I once again am blogging sans pictures. Lame!

Easter Scrooge

2010-04-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday and I have not even posted about Easter (or Parker's first hair cut almost a month ago, or our day at Happy Hollow Zoo, or that my best friend is PREGNANT.... the list goes on.)

But today I will post about Easter. Thank goodness this was not Parker's first Easter or I would have some serious explaining to do, not that I don't still but you know what I'm saying.

So we had Easter with my side of the family Saturday night where I prepared an amazing supper.  I was slightly lazy and did not grocery shop for Saturday nights dinner until Saturday morning. When I got home from the grocery store I boiled 18 eggs, 6 for the macaroni salad and 12 for "Parker" to dye. I knew Parker wouldn't really dye the eggs but I would surely dye them for him, just as I did last year. Well, needless to say my lack of preparation left me in the kitchen all day and no eggs were dyed.

I wasn't too concerned since we didn't really have time the next day to have our own Easter egg hunt anyways and figured Parker would do one at Aaron's moms house. Or not.

Sunday morning we got up and got ready, went to church and then headed to Aaron's parents house for brunch. By the time we got there Parker was ready for a nap. We tried laying him down but with the other kids in the house it was just too loud. We would put him down and then get him back up with no nap less than 30 minutes later.  We did this 3 times and he was just getting more frustrated and fussy each time. I then decided that the only time the house was going to be quiet enough would be when the other kids were out hunting for eggs. So yes, I "made" Parker skip the Easter egg hunt so he could nap. Easter Scrooge?? Probably, but there is always next year, right?

Oh and I guess the lack of pictures makes me an Easter Scrooge again. I can't believe between Saturday and Sunday I did not once at least use a cell phone to snap a picture. What was I thinking?

For The Lack of Posts

2010-04-05T15:42:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day, amazing! Except this really isn't a post but more like a plug with a purpose. Last Friday my sister and I took the kids to Happy Hollow Zoo. I don't have time to blog about it now and I only had Aaron's phone for pictures, so if you'd like to see better pictures than cell phone quality ones AND how Parker has a love/hate relationship with rides go to this post NOW!

Easter Supper

2010-04-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

The word supper always reminds me of my Grama. I don't even know if she used that word but it's just one of those things. Saturday night (yes, Saturday) we had Easter Supper at my house. Want to know what I made? Well have a look.

Ok, ok. You totally caught me. None of those are my photos. Want to know why? Oh, that's because I didn't take a single picture Saturday or Sunday. So those images above are technically stolen from google images. But those are most of the dishes we had. More details when I catch my breath at work, my lunch break is only one hour so this will have to do for now!

What did you have for Easter Supper?

A New Beginning.

2010-03-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, talk about blog neglect! Can you call BPS on me or something? This poor ~~child~~ blog of mine has been ABANDONED. I have so many updates but I'm going to start with a big one today! More to come later for sure!

Unfortunately while I am ~~having free time~~ at work I usually have the luxury of blogging, but a coworker of mine has been on an extended leave and my boss has been having multiple business trips so we are shorthanded to say the least. This leaves little time for blogging. Today though, today I am the only one in sales here and I decided I would bust through my stuff so I could blog. Because today was a big day.

It has been a long time coming that Parker needed to go to a new daycare. We loved where he went from when he was 9 months until now but he had outgrown their care. We were looking for a place that offered a more "preschoolish" atmosphere, like learning numbers, letters, colors etc.

To say that I may have been picky about my selection is an understatement. I needed someone who if they were further from my work opened early due to our commute, I needed them to have that preschool atmosphere but also let the kids be kids, I needed them to have a reasonable rate. I needed them to be willing to let Parker go Monday thru Thursday as my sister watches Parker on Fridays and I was not willing to give that up. I needed them to understand that although it's been 17 months I am still a first time worrisome mom and accomodate that! These were just my needs, not even what Parker needed. The list goes on. Seriously.On.And.On. I looked everyday for what seemed like months (ok it was a few months) and we vistited 3 places. One I definitely didn't feel was the right fit. Two other ones felt good.

Today I knew I made the right choice. It is closer to my work than choice #2. It is the same rate but I get a discount for Parker not coming on Fridays that was offered without being asked and here was the kicker. I dropped Parker off this morning and Denise told me to call her anytime today as she knew I was nervous. Let me show you guys what was just in my inbox.

Hi Loni, I wanted to give you an update status on Parker to rest your mind at ease. He cried for probably about 10 seconds after the door shut. I prepared his breakfast and he ate the entire thing. Blueberry pancakes with a dash of syrup, and a sausage patty. He did not like the fresh blueberries though. I fed him for the first half of his meal and then he fed himself the second part. He must love sausage because he kept saying "mmmmmmmm". He is sleepy right now but doesn't want to sleep, I think its the excitement of the new daycare and children. But he is not crying, just watching everyone. He was laughing and running around making the other children laugh. Well gotta run, just wanted to give you a heads up. Denise

Talk about putting my mind at ease! I emailed Densise back that I think I already love her. I hope I didn't scare her away, but the update meant a lot to me. Seriously.A.Lot.

I can't wait to pick up Parker tonight but my mind is at rest. I can get through my busy day without worry, knowing that he is gonig to have fun, eat well and be happy. Like the end of a fairytale huh? Something like that! :)
And just because I am crazy, I of course took a picture of Parker and Denise this morning. Here it is:

Dirty Laundry

2010-03-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

Now I am not one to air my dirty laundry around town. Just isn't my thing. My business is just that, my business.

So you are going to be surprised when you see this next picture. Because it really is my ~~dirty~~ clean laundry.

Yes, those are my clean underwear around Parker's neck and arm. He was totally "wearing" them. That is also Aaron's shirt in his hand. Maybe he was going to throw that on too! Parker loves "helping" me Aaron with the laundry. See what a big help he is?

Here's another one, just for more giggles.

Pictures to show his girlfriend in 18 35 years? I think yes!

There you have it, my ~~dirty~~ clean laundry all aired out for you to see.

A Breakfast Date

2010-02-26T09:17:00.000-08:00

This morning I went on an unexpected date. Yesterday Aaron told me that he needed to be at work by 6 a.m. Fanfreakintastic! Yes, I just typed that! You see, we don't live close to our places of work and we commute together, so I would have to be at his work by 6 a.m. too! His work is precisely 45.2 miles away from our home (I had to check that for something else the other day). We normally leave the house around 6 a.m. to get there by 7. Well that means I already wake at 5 a.m. and now we have to be there an hour earlier, oh how I love me a 4 a.m. wake up call!

Back to my story...

So I figured that once I got to my sister's (who keeps Parker on Fridays) I would just let Parker sleep for the extra hour, and maybe I'd sneak a few minutes of rest in too, who knows! Well I stopped for gas and when I looked in the backseat there was Parker, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. So I decided I would grab a bite to eat with him. Panera Bread is very close to my sister's house so we stopped there to eat.

At the beginning of our date we had some unexpected visitors. After I ordered a egg soufle for Parker and a breakfast bagel for me I was tapped on the shoulder. There were my inlaws, who apparently also planned a breakfast date! They drank some coffee ate with us for a few minutes but had to get to work a bit earlier than myself.

Here is a picture of my date. Isn't he the cutest date on earth?

Sorry for the poor quality, it is obviously a cell phone picture. And what? You don't go to Panera Bread in your pajamas? Ok, ok. Neither do I! But when Parker is waking up an hour early, he does!

Apparently my date brought his appetite (although he forgot his wallet). This was all that was left of his soufle. It's somewhat hard to tell how big it was in this picture but if you look at the black plastic knife in the corner of the picture you may be able to get a better idea. It was not small!

If it didn't require a fanfreakintastic 4 a.m. wake up call, I'd go on a breakfast date EVERY friday!

RAW(e)

2010-02-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

This is the perfect blog carnival for me! It's called Raw(E). Raw means natural, unchanged, naked, untouched and bare. The E stands for exposed. You are to post a picture you have taken of whatever that weeks subject is. And the best part, NO editing! That's right, you post it straight out of the camera! Since we know I'm not great at editing, this is perfect for me!

This weeks photography subject is doorknobs. Go check out Sami's Blog, Sailor and Company, to see more RAW(e) photos. Her photos are BEAUTIFUL!

No Comment Love

2010-02-24T10:06:00.002-08:00

It ends right here!

I am done being a non-commenter. It is an awful habit and I refuse to keep it that way! I read several blogs but I can count on umm.. about 2 fingers the number I comment on. What.Is.Up.With.That? I love to receive comments so why wouldn't I leave them? I think they make me nervous. Like the blogger is going to be "who the heck is that?"

I read Mama Kat's blog everyday. Yes she blogs everyday because she has interesting stuff to say everyday. One day I'll get there, ha! And I even tweet back and forth with her multiple times during the week. But I don't think I have EVER commented on her blog. I may have one time when she was giving away a blog design by Jessica, but that's just because I love blog designs. How can I communicate with someone (i.e. via twitter) but I can't comment on their blog. Instead I just tweet her about it, that's crazy!

So it ends today. I am no longer a blog lurker, I will become a blog commenter! (And not just on this one blog mentioned, but on all the ones I read and never say, Hi!)

Baby Einstein

2010-02-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

Parker has had an "Aha!" sort of weekend and past week. It is like a lightbulb went off in his head to let him know what a "normal" 16 month old would be doing at this time. It has been so nice when people say "Oh don't leave that on the ground, Parker will put it in his mouth," to be able to respond "Oh, don't worry, he doesn't put anything in his mouth, toys, food, nothing." This was a completely honest answer, until the past week. ~~Baby Einstein~~ Parker has figured it out!

It started with a pop chip. He has been known to like to lick them if you put it in his mouth. Well we gave him one to hold and wah-la! he stuck it in his mouth. The next thing you know toys, other crackers and toothbrushes are going in his mouth like it's going out of style. We're going to have watch him now!

But this was not his only feat! Oh, no, when he figures something out he figures it ALL out. You know, my child, little lovebug that he is has refused to take a sippy cup since we first tried around 7-8 months of age. I figured at age 1 he'd get it when we "took that bottle away." Ha! Was I wrong or what! So I have stuck to my guns and only given him milk in a bottle and basically he has not drank water or juice.  (Please don't be alarmed I checked with his pediatrician to make sure this was ok and that he would not get dehydrated.) Lately we have been trying to get him to drink some water from a normal cup with us holding the cup and it's been going ok, but can be slightly messy. In my own Aha! moment I decided to give that sippy cup one last try and bam, took it like a champ. He's walking around, holding the cup, sipping out of it, thinking he's cool stuff, and I just may agree!

The final Aha! has not exactly happened in just the last week but it has been gradual for a couple months and has gotten even better in the past week.  When we get home from work I usually start making dinner and Aaron will feed Parker. Since he has not been the type to eat solids and has mostly been on baby food we would feed him that before we ate because he was hungry. Most kids you could probably give them a snack to hold them over but since Parker didn't eat anything on his own this tactic would not work. Well Parker is becoming awesome at eating what we're eating.  He eats pretty much everything but only things that he likes will hold his interest long enough. Example: Chicken and rice, eh he didn't think it was that great so he took a few bites and then got bored with it. Giada's Pastina that I made yesterday, sat there until his bowl was completely empty. He loved it!  ~~Hey Parker, a sweet smile or laugh to show you like a certain food more than another wouldn't hurt rather than the same blank face and open mouth, just sayin'!~~

So with the revolultion of snack eating, aka giving Parker a cracker when he's on the verge of being ready to eat but the food isn't done yet, we have been able to have dinner ala table for 3 style. We have had the pastina I just mentioned, salsa chicken (kinda spicy but he ate it!) and potstickers in the last week or say, all together at the dinner table.  I could get used to this! Now if only I could get Aaron to sit with us the entire meal rather than just until he's finished. Hey, we're all a work in progress, right?

Flip This

2010-02-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

It has been way way too long since I've done a real blog post. I mean don't get me wrong, the eye candy from my last post was amazing (it was, right?) but I haven't done a real post in quite some time. I think I have figured out as to why this is. You see I am ~~great~~ good (most of the time) at taking pictures. I am ~~good~~ ok at uploading them to the computer but I am ok awful at then doing anything with them.

I have photoshop where I could edit them. I have a wacom tab to do even better editing, I have a blog to post them on, facebook to update (yes, I still have Parker on Santa's lap as my profile picture), and my own desktop background to make new. But I'm awful at it, just awful! It must be laziness, I guess. I mean I am not great at editing but just posting doesn't take a lot of work, right? So I am going to try and be better at this.

My inspiration to do better at this? Enter the Flip. I have been wanting one for a while now. I mean, anyone who is anyone has one, right? You don't? Well hurry, go get one! It is awesome! Aaron got it for me for my birthday a couple weeks ago, Super Bowl Sunday to be precise! (I didn't even blog about my birthday, lame!) It's basically a video camera that is small enough to fit in your pocket but can shoot HD quality video, yes! (Not that I even subscribe to HD and only one TV in our house is HD compatible, but someday, right?) Back to the Flip, so you can take videos, but the other best thing? From those videos you can grab stills. You don't know how many times I have taken the sweetest "picture" on my camera but was actually on the video function so therefore yes, I had a sweet video, but could not get it as a still picture. This is PERFECT! Let me just show you.

So the video is not of anything really. It was just the day after I got the Flip so I was recording everything. You dont' need sound for it, although you can hear a bird chirping in the background. I'm pretty sure I was doing a silly dance to make Parker smile, luckily there is no video evidence of that!

But here's the awesome part. These next photos are ALL from the 2nd second of the video clip. I'm only going to post 3 but I know there were at least SIXTEEN stills to choose from just for that second. Amazing, with this feature you can definitely capture the perfect "shot." Parker goes from smiling to cracking up in literally LESS than a second!

Loves For My Loves

2010-02-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

So last night we had some bananas that were on their last limb. I needed to either freeze them for later use or make banana bread. So instead of making dinner ~~cereal and pb&j don't count, right?~~ I made banana bread. And after that was done I got another crazy idea.

The other day I bought some heart shaped cookie cutters thinking I was going to make my own sugar cookie dough, cut these out, learn to make royal icing and decorate them all, ha! So since I have since washed that idea down the drain I decided that I did have stuff to make some Rice Krispy Treats ~~insert trademark logo here~~ . So here you go my loves, some visual eye candy for you to look at today.

You'll be happy to know that I did not even enjoy one of these myself since you can't really ENJOY them right now either. I mean they're fun to look at, but I bet they taste amazing! I sent them off with Aaron for his coworkers to enjoy. Suzie Jo Housewife, right here folks, that's totally me!

Oh and the title of this post? It was totally stolen from a snickerdoodle post. It was too cute to pass up!

LOVE/HATE

2010-02-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

I love love love the internet, blog land, web based forums, social networking etc., sometimes I think I love them too much. (I think Aaron may agree, as he still calls you all my "internet family").

I love when I open up my inbox and have new messages/comments from people all across the country. I love the connections you can make through the internet. Not the scary creepy weird guy ones, (I haven't had any of those, thank goodness) but the genuine, make you smile, love new friendship connections.

But I hate hate hate hate when I think I have a nice new comment and am excited to open up the message and find this:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Great Investment":

Hi!

You may probably be very interested to know how one can manage to receive high yields on investments.
There is no need to invest much at first.
You may begin to get income with a sum that usually goes
on daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one project for several years,
and I'll be glad to let you know my secrets at my blog.
Please visit my pages and send me private message to get the info.

P.S. I earn 1000-2000 per day now.

Well shoot, 1-2 thousand dollars per day. Sign me up sugar! Or, NOT! I hate spam. I had received a few here and there in the past but over the last couple weeks it's been increasing and this is the 3rd one this week. For a blog that barely gets 3 comments a week that's ridiculous! So action must be taken.

Many other bloggy land friends have done the same thing so I am going to try it. The dreaded comment moderation. I am not going to ban annonymous comments because a few of my friends are crazy and are not blogging, (*ahem* Chance, Sarah C.) and they leave me nice supporting comments that I don't want to miss out on! I hate word verifications so I am going to go with the comment moderation where comments must be approved.

Have no fear, it will be quick. Remember, I love love love the internet and my email at work is open all day long, I can check it from Aaron's iphone etc., so your comment love with be up in a jiffy! Thanks for understanding!

No Breaks

2010-02-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

That's right, no breaks for Parker here. Yesterday he finally started drinking back at his normal capacity, yay! When he wanted 11 oz. (YES 11) of milk when he woke up yesterday morning I knew he was back to optimum health. Woohoo, that's awesome!

Enter yesterday midday.

I kept wiping Parker's left eye because he had "sleep" in it. After it kept coming back within a few minutes I thought it might be some type of infection but decided not to worry (mother of the year, yes!) because there was no way he could have something else wrong with him right? I mean RSV, bronchiolitis, and an ear infection with a never ending fever in one weekend was quite enough.

Unfortunately when he woke up from his afternoon nap and his left eye was puffy and almost swollen shut and his right eye goopy I could ignore it no longer. It was definitely an infection so I made an appointment for him this morning.

Enter this morning.

Aaron took him to the doctor and he still has his stupid ear infection (the one that the IV antibiotics would surely take care of, right!?!) And he has an eye infection as suspected. So now he is on a new stronger antibiotic twice a day and eye drops four times a day. That should be fun to give him.

Sorry for the rant. I just would prefer Parker to not be going through this. I definitely know there are worse circumstances and I don't mean to be a downer but I feel like I try to do everything right and everytime Parker is sick and they ask if he goes to daycare it's a slap in the face. Yes, I have to work to pay the bills, and yes I understand that daycare has germs and children who go to daycare are sick more often but I know plenty of children who go to daycare and are not as sick as often as Parker. So while we are having no breaks here I am grateful for the job I have so I can pay the bills, grateful that this is just an ear infection and eye infection that can easily be treated but I have to admit, I am feeling sorry for ~~myself~~ Parker.

No Regrets

2010-01-28T13:38:00.000-08:00

Last time around I had regrets. This time around, I was not going to let that happen! Although they are of ~~crappy cell phone shots~~ not very good quality, I have pictures of Parker's latest medical adventure.

In no particular time order, but rather how they fit best in photoshop, clockwise from the top left: Parker being slightly lethargic sleeping on Aaron in between receiving fluid, Parker sleeping at Santa Clara, Aaron's whiteboard messages to Parker, Parker about to be transferred on the ambulance gurney, Parker wire free and playing, Parker's first few moments of being wire free running around his hospital room.

Other than the fact that I regret us having to go to the hospital at all, this time I have no regrets!

Flashbacks and (Parenthesis)

2010-01-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this post is as long as it is, took me as long as it did to write it (3 days) and made me as emotional as it did!

Do any of your life experiences give you flashbacks? I get these all the time, when I see something that reminds me of a situation its like a movie where the screen gets a little fuzzy and you can tell the character is remembering the past or dreaming. Well this weekend was no different. Flashbacks galore for me! Lovely.

Let me go back. Last Tuesday I posted about the picture of health Parker was and how he was his father's child. Well the next day Parker got my cold that I had a couple days before and he had a slight fever, but with immunizations I know fevers can happen so I didn't think much of it. Friday when the fever was still around I contacted Parker's pediatrician who said it could be the immunizations or a virus and to come in Monday if he still had it Sunday. Saturday it was a little higher and seemed to be bothering Parker a little bit more, he ate less and played less. Sunday it still continued to climb, Parker was sleepy all day, didn't play and ate very little. He just wanted to be held so he could sleep. This was not my child, whenever he's sick we can only tell because he has a fever, he had never responded this way. I got worried and tried to make an appointment for Sunday because I knew the appointment for 1:45 on Monday was not going to cut it. They had zero appointments and at that point foregoing the idea that I might still be seen as that crazy first time mother, I decided we would go to the Emergency Room. A fever for 5 days that continued to rise and eating less seemed to lead me there. I figured, and even posted on my facebook, that it would hopefully "just" be an ear infection and we'd be given antiobiotics and sent on our way. That truly is what I thought would happen.

Arriving at the Emergency Room is when the flashback started. Once they finally took him back there was a crib they said we could put him in, you know, those hospital cribs with the bars on the sides that go up and down. I immediately pictured Parker, 3 days old laying in one that was the same. Fortunately for me Parker was not interested on laying anywhere but on Aaron or myself so he did not go in it, but it triggered the memory. If you didn't know, Parker was readmitted to the hospital 3 days after he was born because he had stopped eating and had also stopped breathing that day at his 3 day well check. Long story short (and it is long, if you have hours you can read about it here) he was born a little early and just needed to learn to eat, but from misdiagnosis to misdiagnosis it was a disaster. It did not help that at the time I could not walk, stand or barely take a shower by myself due to spinal headaches. I remember feeling helpless, useless and like a lousy parent. I would not let this trip to the ER end up this way. I would not be useless and I am not a lousy parent!

Well an ear infection was confirmed but they also were concerned about dehydration and said they'd like him to receive some fluids and antibiotics intraveniously. Ok, that didn't seem too bad, more than one person said that almost immediately after receiving the fluids he would probably perk right up. WRONG. After receiving one thing of fluid and possibly the antibiotic, I can't remember the exact order, he went for a chest x-ray. We just did this last month so this wasn't too traumatic but did bring another flashback. Can my little guy catch a break please?!? When asked who would take Parker to his xray I immediately said me, not a lousy parent, see?

After some more fluid, a nose swab to check for RSV and a confirmed "virus," the doctor said he'd like Parker (who was still quite sleepy and pretty pissed off) to be observed overnight and possibly receive more fluids. Hayward (in my opinion, the hospital from hell) was mentioned and I immediately said no, how about Santa Clara (the hospital from Heaven). (Parker's first hospital stay included both of these facilities and let's just if there are any more Jones babies in our future they will not be born at the Hayward facility if I can help it.) We've done the transferring hospitals before, so here I was, faced with another flashback, an ambulance ride. I had never been in one in my life (Aaron went with Parker the first time, see, I really did feel like a lousy parent,) and here Parker is at 15 months old about to go on the 2nd ride of his life. I was not not going again.

While I held it together pretty well for the entire time, when they put him on that gurney I had the worst flashback. The doctor was in the room with us when the ambulance arrived 15 months ago and at this point we had been told that Parker had some condition (I can't even remember what it was because Santa Clara demolished the idea of this "condition" within moments of arriving) that dealt with his breathing/neurological system and was very serious. I kissed and hugged Parker and got into the elevator, my mom would take me to meet Parker, Aaron and the ambulance. The doctor asked if there was anything he could do for me, and I remember saying through tear stained cheeks and blood shot eyes, "tell me my baby will live." At that point I honestly didn't know that would be the outcome and I was the probably the scaredest I had been in my life. Seeing that gurney made that whole flashback jump into my head. And although I was not as nervous this ambulance ride that is when the tears did come. I was watching them put him in the ambulance and there they were. They were brief but I could not contain them.

Once we got to Santa Clara and got into the room I saw a man walk in our room that I recognized immediately and knew his name before he introduced himself. It was Robert, the first nurse we had there 15 months ago in our PICU room. He was our favorite nurse during that time and seeing him was a wave of comfort, if you could understand the peace that came from seeing him you would know that it was from God. I knew everything would be fine then. The odds of him working that night with wonky nurse schedules, the fact that he wasn't even our nurse that night but actually the head nurse and just happened to walk by as we came in and decided to stop in are minimal and aren't just coincidences. This was probably my first positive flashback of the whole experience.

When we got to Santa Clara they mentioned bronchiolitis thankyouverymuchFremontforfailingtomention thistome! I was surprised because we had not heard that he had this and when I mentioned his ear infection they said it was not noted. AgainthankyouverymuchFremontforfailingtomentionthistotheDOCTORS! They rechecked his ears confirming what I said, listened to what had gone on, and decided not to start another IV (the first one went bad) but just to monitor his intake and output and then decide whether or not it was necessary. Parker was of course hooked up to a pulse oximeter to measure his O2 sats, which were fine, his heart was being monitored and although a little high the doctor said that was to fight off the fever. By the time they took his last temperature of the night (we got there after 8) at around 11:30 his fever was gone and stayed gone for over 12 hours without medicine. I'm sure the intravenious antibiotic had something to do with his but I like to think it was that we felt comfort and peace from being at Santa Clara.

Parker slept ok for how lit the room was. We slept ok for sleeping on an uncomfortable chair and on the ground while our child was in the hospital. The next morning with Parker's fever gone (it did come back right before we left but it was quite mild and tylenol fixed that), his output decent and his appetite slightly increased we were told we could go home that afternoon with no medicines and just to watch his breathing as his RSV test did come back positive but other than that he was good to go.

Leaving, carrying Parker was my last flashback. I remember when we left 15 months ago we had Parker's carrier and Aaron asked if I wanted to put him in it to carry him out and I said no, I would like to carry him out, this time was no different. Although a carrier wasn't an option he could have walked (and would have liked to after being cooped up in a bed and being held for almost two days) but I would not have had it any other way, we walked out for the 2nd time as a family, holding Parker, glad to be going home!

I would not mind if I could avoid these type of flashbacks for at least another 15 months, hopefully 15 years!

An Awesome Giveaway

2010-01-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

Now I know I've spewed enough over Jessica that ya'll know who she is. She's awesome right? I mean really, student, worker, and blog designer extraordinaire? She does it all. Well her design shop has been on hold for awhile and that's because she's opened a brand new shop that's better than ever. The Frilly Coconut (cute name, huh?!). Anyways, she's hosting a giveaway ~~that I don't want any of you to enter so I can win~~ that I think you guys will love. 3 lucky people get blog designs done by her, seriously that's a great prize!

Click here to go check it out!

What are you still doing here, go check her out!

His Father's Child

2010-01-20T10:46:00.000-08:00

The post that could alternately be titled Notes From the Underbelly - 15 month edition!

Parker is definitely his father's child. I mean, duh! Obviously I knew that! However we went to his 15 month well baby check yesterday and it was confirmed once more.

For awhile now Parker has been in about the 40th - 60th percentile range for his height/weight/head circumference. (In the beginning it was usually around the 25th so 40-60th seemed pretty good.) Yesterday though, he was 23 lbs. 6.6 oz. (way to be precise, I know!) and 32.25" long. That put him in the 34th percentile for weight and 83rd percentile for height!

I am pretty sure if I even let someone measure me I would be the exact opposite of that, however, Aaron, Parker's long and lean dad would be right there with him. Yup, he is his father's child!

Guess Who?

2010-01-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

Is 15 months old today? Yup, Parker, you are 15 months old today. And since it has been a few months since I have wrote about your month day I thought today would be a good day! You are (obviously) growing every day. You are understanding more, babbling more and even saying a few more words. I don't have your "stats" yet as you go to the doctor tomorrow but I can see where we're at in this episode of notes from the underbelly.

But let's take a look at what you're doing!
You loooove getting into drawers that you are not supposed to! Mom and Dad are really hoping to avoid cabinet locks by teaching you where you can and can't go, but we'll see how long that works for.
You can throw a mean temper tantrum, even throwing yourself back or on the ground, when you don't get your way.
You have an attitude all your own, most the time positive with a little bit of spice!
You say "mama," "dada," "uh-oh," "yeah" and the cutest "meeeeee?" I have ever heard!
When we sing the ABC's to you if we stop at "P" you will sometimes mumble "QRS" and although we know you don't understand what you are singing we love to hear it because it's cute!
You are getting better at taking solids. You will now eat oatmeal, scrambled eggs, sometimes a cheerio from mommy's cereal and other you'll walk up and "beg" for other bites of things we're eating.
You still HATE a sippy cup with a passion and we're not currently pushing the issue. We would love for you to be off the bottle but are not pushing you when you're not ready. (We are also still heating your milk as you don't really like it cold, you sure are spoiled!)
We have been giving you sips out of a normal cup and maybe you'll skip the sippy cup altogether!
You still don't put anything in your mouth, food toys or other things. We feed you what you eat and although sometimes I worry that you should be doing this I know there will be a time when I am sad that you don't let me feed you anymore and therefore I'm relishing these moments.
You have 7 teeth with another one about to break through anyday. I am pretty sure you are working on your molars too and I don't think you think it's very fun!
You love to play with balls and any toy that comes with balls gets left behind so you can just play with the ball by throwing them on the tile floor, such amusement for you!
You are officially walking and have been for about 1/2 a month. At 14 1/2 months you decided that walking fulltime could be pretty cool and now you love it!
Overall you are a happy baby that knows what he wants and we couldn't love you anymore than we do!
Happy 15 months Parker!

Parker "Sledding"

2010-01-13T11:42:00.000-08:00

This is a video of Parker's first time "sledding" at the "snow" last weekend. Aren't you glad we visited ~~real~~ fake snow and participated in ~~real~~ push sledding, minus the sled that is! (Many many many thanks to my friend Jean who rotated this video for me so I could post it without everyone having to turn the heads sideways to view it!)

Here is a picture of the REAL sledding, but still unnatural snow hill.

Update Mamarazzi Style

2010-01-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

So awhile back I posted about not having taken pictures for almost an entire month, what was I thinking?!? I haven't figured that out yet, but now that I have been taking pictures I haven't been posting them, what am I thinking? Well I am thinking it's time to rectify that situation, so this post is all about the pictures, you know, mamarazzi style! (I am even trying to make layouts so I can post MORE pictures in a smaller space. Crazy, I know!)

Christmas Eve after church hanging out checking out the tree and looking cute!

Is this not how you open your Christmas presents, climbing atop them? Why not?

We took Parker to the "snow"last weekend. It's a farm about 20 minutes from our house that makes snow for kids to play in and they actually have a hill that older kids can sled down, how fun!

Let me know how you liked the pictures with these layouts, do they work?

I Can ALWAYS Count On You Jessica!

2010-01-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

It worked, it worked! I successfully posted a YouTube video on my blog. I would have just gone back to the post to edit it to add this exciting news but I'm too afraid that if I go change anything the video will disappear!

I thought before when I was trying to input the embedded code that I went to edit html but I may not have, but I know for sure I always tried to preview the post and it never worked, so this time I did not try to preview the last post and I am not going back in to edit it, either!

Thanks again Jessica, you're one in a million, seriously!

This Is A Test. This is ONLY A Test.

2010-01-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

~~Of your emergency broadcast system~~ Of my ability to successfully post a video on my blog. Jessica has come to the rescue and tried to explain to me how the heck to successfully post a YouTube video on my blog. She told me what I think I already tried but with one extra step (that I thought I had done, but maybe I didn't) so here I am testing this out.

This video is of Parker on his 7 month birthday, I think! I could go look at the date, but I think my memory is fairly decent and since he's pushing up and not yet crawling, I'm thinking its pretty accurate. While I of course think the video is cute (however, not very exciting) it is really just me trying to successfully post a video!

1:32 left to upload this video... waiting... waiting... 0:28, 0:27, 0:26, hurry up YouTube!

Here goes nothing, I am going to leave this post up regardless if it works or not, if it doesn't, will you try for me Jessica???

Parker's Resolution

2010-01-02T13:41:00.000-08:00

I may have mentioned here and here and I'm sure in several other blog posts that Parker does not eat "big people" food. He has had a texture aversion since the first time we tried giving him puffs at 7 months old. Since then we have been on stage 2 and some stage 3 baby foods with an occasional smooth macaroni and cheese but that was it! I think Parker has resolved to fix that this year! I am not sure but this morning he ate some hash brown casserole that I made for brunch yesterday and for lunch, since he did so well with the hashbrowns, I tried giving him some of the leftover egg frittata I made. Once again he ate that too!

I guess since he's a walking boy he'd like to be an eating "big" boy food boy too! Fine with me, I wouldn't mind us all sitting down at the dinner table and eating the same food together, now that would be awesome!

Hopefully Parker won't be amongst the majority who fail at their New Year's Resolutions. We'll see!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year bloggy family! (Aaron so lovingly refers to my bloggy friends, facebook and WTE as my internet family so you guys are definitely my bloggy family!)

I wish you all an amazing 2010 and can't wait to see how the blog world turns. (Ha! I crack myself up!) Seriously though, I hope you all start your year off with an amazing bang and would love to hear how you all spent your New Year's Eve/Day.

Later today I am having my side of the family over for brunch. For New Year's Eve we just hung out as a family and relaxed. I thought this might bother me but I am happy to be sitting here blogging and watching t.v. with Aaron. There is nothing better than family!

Happy 2010!

Resolution Success

2009-12-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

One year ago today I made a resolution here saying I would blog more this year and here I am, 130 something posts later saying I feel successful! That is a little more than 1 post every 3 days, not too bad for someone who blogged a total of 6 times last year. Yes it was my first year but 6 posts was not much, especially with the big events of last year.

Cheers to 2009 and Welcome 2010, I can't wait to see what you have in store for me. My 2009 resolution of blogging more is one I would like to continue with this coming year! It is something I love and feel I can be completely successful at, what an awesome resolution!

Transition

2009-12-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

I think we are in the transition stage. Most of tonight (and apparently most of today according to his day care) Parker has been walking to everything. I mean, he sits down for 5 seconds once he has reached the toy he was going for, but when he's ready to move on (in seriously 5 seconds) he stands up and wobbles on over!

"Here it is", "get ready" and "your life is never going to be the same," are just a few of the comments I have heard as we've begun this walking journey. I'm just curious, Parker could get everywhere in our house before, and rather quickly crawling I might add, and whenever I ask anyone how it changes they always say "it just does." What does that mean? I mean I know he's growing up, understanding more, getting bigger, but what does the walking actually change? (Other than the fact that I am now a super proud mommy to a walker rather than a speed crawler, of course!) He could already stand, take a couple steps and cruise, so if he wanted to get into that top utensil drawer, he could! What should I be watching for?

Now I would LOOOVE to show you all a video of this walking but I still don't know how to post them in blogger. Before I went to the new formatting of posts there was just a button on the bottom to add them and now there is not. I tried putting one on youtube and then putting it here with the embedding code and didn't work. Do I have other options, am I missing something? Help a ~~sister~~ bloggy friend out!

I Want to Cry

2009-12-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

While this is not a sad post, it completely is to me. I suck lately. What the heck is my problem? Believe me, I had time to blog in the past two weeks (TWO WEEKS!). I even thought about things I needed to blog about, and yet still.... NOTHING. It makes me mad at myself and sad. I wish I could use the excuse that in that time, I was sick, Aaron was sick and Parker was sick, but they would be just that, excuses. True ones, but still, I could have found the time to blog and I didn't. Does anyone else care, I'm sure not really, because let's face it, it's not the end of the world to John Doe's mother's cousin's uncle that reads my blog if I go two weeks without updating. But I have missed out on my own two weeks of life. I guess due to laziness? Maybe so! I'm going to try and be better, I might even add a picture or two to this post. I know, crazy, huh?!

So let's see what's really been going on. I had inventory at work, which really sucks because we work for 3 days for 12 hour shifts. Not that that is necessarily bad in itself (it's long, don't get me wrong) but it's 12 hours of logging and data entry and that my friends, is boring. No catching up on blogs, facebook or twitter. Just zombie eyes counting parts and entering numbers into the computer. So those 3 days I give myself an excuse for not blogging. 3 out of 15 ain't bad, right?

Parker is getting cuter every single day. No really, he is, I'm not being biased! We visited Santa in the beginning of the month and he didn't even cry, what an angel! See:

Right now Parker actually probably has pneumonia. He has had an awful cough for about 3 weeks and when we took him in on Sunday they did a chest x-ray and they saw some slightly abnormal spots that were probably pneumonia. There was not a radiologist there to confirm so the doctor decided to treat with antibiotics for the time being as a precaution. Last night was the first relatively free cough free night so I'm hoping it's helping. By coughing I don't mean *cough cough.* It's more like *cough, gag, choke, gasp for air, cough, choke, gag* so I'm hoping we're done with that because staring at the motion sensor monitor all night was not good for my sleeping needs. Just sayin'!

In other Parker news he's so close to walking it's ridiculous. He has taken about 5 or 6 steps at a time and then falls, so we're not exactly there yet, but we're definitely close! Here is a video, this was when he first started and he's better now but the mamarazzi in me has not yet caught it on video.
Ok I am blog/video retarded. I tried to upload the video from youtube and it's not working. Can someone please give me step by step instructions as I tried to just paste the "embed" code or whatever into the "edit html" section and it didn't work. *insert sad face here* HELP! (In case you're dying to see it, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3et3gi3AJA)

Other than that we are all geared up for Christmas. We will have Christmas breakfast at our house with part of Aaron's family and then Christmas dinner at my mom's house with my whole side of the family. No wrapping has been done but we are done shopping, so I am happy about that! And here I am saying it, it will be sooner rather than later before I post again!

It's Beginning.

2009-12-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

To look a lot like Christmas. Or something!

This morning while ~~driving~~ riding to work (as the passenger, love you Aaron!) the rain just looked funny. Like it was splotchy and... WHITE! That's right, this morning, in sunny California at a seasoned 36 degrees we were driving through...

Yes, that is SNOW! It does NOT snow where I live. I mean, obviously it does, but it's not anything we regularly see, or had yet to see until this morning. Let me just tell you I was so excited to have my camera (even if I forgot the memory card so I could only take ONE picture) to take that ~~clear vibrant snowy~~ fuzzy, messy but SNOWY picture!

It was dark out still and I rolled down the window to try and show the snow was sticking to the sides of the road and obvously you can't really tell (unless you were there) but those flurries are the real deal. This was a great way to start the week and made the traffic worth sitting in!

Mother of the Year, Again?

2009-12-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

So I think this will be a new tradition for me, to see how many times I can get this award in just one year's time. I just realized ~~when I was complaining to Jessica that I had not seen pictures from her recently~~ that I have not taken a picture of Parker in about a month. Seriously? I let a month slip by without a picture? Well he did get professional ones done thanks to my mom (who took him when we were in Vegas) so I do have proof of his existence for the month but I can't believe I did that. Tonight I'm going to shove that camera in his face until he cries. Ok ok, I'm not going to do that obviously, but I feel like I missed out. I mean it wasn't like I haven't taken the camera with me, it's in the car, I even had it inside on Thanksgiving, why didn't I take any pictures? I have no reason, but just know that in the next few days you may be blown away with all the pictures I post, I hope!

Not That Mom

2009-11-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:
Parker's wonderfully, loving, caring, sarcastic Aunty (aka my sister) reminded me of two things. Last week she gave Parker a cheeseburger. Supposedly he ate it (obviously not the whole thing) but there was no ketchup on his shirt (I don't think she believes in bibs if I don't send Parker with one on) so I have no proof! :-)
She also weaned Parker from formula. Actually weaned isn't the appropriate term, cut him off cold-turkey is more like it. The first week we switched him to milk he liked formula mixed into it. I talk to my sister everyday and figured I had mentioned this, so when I packed him milk and formula I figured she'd mix 'em together. Apparently I never mentioned it and she didn't mix them. Once I saw the full formula container at the end of the day I decided if Parker would take straight milk for his Aunty, he'd take it without formula for me too! So there you go, Parker's Aunty ROCKS!

So since I started actually posting to this blog last January (as my New Year's resolution) I have posted every month on the 18th with pictures of Parker and how he was doing and what he was into as of that "month day". Well after Parker turned a year old I decided that I did not need to celebrate each month day with a blog and pictures. I mean I know you cared about Parker being 10 months old and 11 months old. But 13 months? Come on. I'm not that mom. If I were that mom I might schedule a blog to post 1 week, 1 day, 1 hour and 1 minute before Parker was born, just because I thought it was cool. Then, then I'd be that mom. But since I'm not that mom I thought I'd just update how Parker has been lately (at least so I remember, even if you're not really that interested, but you are, right?)

So Parker has made the full transition to whole milk vs. formula, whichissobudgetfriendly, just saying! But he has not yet transitioned to a sippy cup. This is not without trying, because I know I have mentioned before that I was NOT going to have a 1 year old still on a bottle. Well since we have been trying since he was at least 9 months with several different brands I have decided that I need to let be what is to be. When he is ready I'm sure he'll let us know. This weekend however we had a little progress. He took 4 oz. of a water/juice combination from a sippy cup. Did he hold it by himself the whole time, umm, NO! But he drank it. Baby steps I tell ya!

He is still on baby food a good 95% of the time. My sister watches Parker on Fridays and she has been trying to feed him more solid food. ~~Apparently vomit in her face doesn't scare her.~~ And since then we have successfully given him macaroni and cheese, spaghetti-o's and just this weekend I mixed peas into some mashed potatoes and he ate it like a champ. I'm not thinking we'll be at steak next week, but if we can slowly start integrating more table foods I would be so happy! Since he was fine with macaroni and cheese and spaghetti-o's I knew he liked smooth textures but I want him to eat more than that! Last night I tried some instant grits that I put brown sugar and cinnamon into. While I don't know that he loved it, he did eat it. Unlike his mother, he rarely, ok NEVER, shows any emotion over food. I couldn't even tell you a favorite food of his. Whenever you put something in his mouth he gives a funny unsure face and then continues to eat it but doesn't go crazy over anything.

So there you have it, we're still bottlin' it up, still jarrin' it up but we're still lovin' it up too. I am still as happy as ever and during this week I am reminded to be thankful for everything Parker is to us. While I still will not be that mom that posts every single month on Parker's month day past the first year, I will be that mom who has a heart overflowing with love.

~~Please don't mind the fact that this post is pictureless, I definitely have not been the mamarazzi lately~~ I will post pictures soon!

No More Flights

2009-11-20T09:56:00.000-08:00

I am not a flyer. I will fly. I don't like to fly. I do like Hawaii. I do like Florida. And I do like Vegas. I do not like turbulance. I do not like strange noises at 35,000 ft. in the air. I do like Virgin America business class. I do not like Virgin America row 26 coach. I do like to travel.

Ok all of the above statements are true but this is coming from my recent travels. I flew 4 flights in 9 days, two with Parker, 1 with Aaron and 1 by myself. Too many if you ask me. And while I enjoyed each trip, getting there and coming back is NOT my thing! While I know air travel is safe and has a very small chance of anything happening I still freak out EVERY flight I take. I cannot help it. I am constantly looking at the faces of the flight attendants for reassurance. I am looking for them to be nervous during turbulance. If they look calm I can usually calm myself down and realize it's relatively normal. Have I mentioned I hate flying? Just making sure!

So right now I have no flights booked and am not planning on flying until I set sail on this beauty. I am looking forward enough to that trip that the flight will be WELL worth it.

Oh and off topic. Have you checked out my weight loss blog lately? You can get to it also by clicking on the button in my sidebar. My design is complete and it is amazing, Jessica did an awesome job. I am also starting a new journey over there called Couch to 5K, if you haven't heard about it, check it out!

Post It Notes - Battle of the Sisters

2009-11-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

TUESDAY TUESDAY TUESDAY!! One of my favorite bloggy days, yay! It's time for Supah's Post It Note Tuesday, Battle of the Sister's edition. I already know I lost (and I had an advantage, I read hers first) but seriously, check my sister's out, they might make you pee a little!

Stay tuned for next week's edition of Superstickies brought to you by Supah!

Vegas Bound

2009-11-14T04:44:00.000-08:00

That's right, in a few short hours I will board a plane heading to Vegas. I think this is the first trip in a long time where I will not be bringing my laptop (Can we say you're out of your mind at $14.99/day Vegas strip hotel?!) So no blogging from me this weekend.

Please pray that I don't go crazy from missing Parker. He'll be in excellent care with my parents so I'm not worried about that, just mostly the fact that I will miss him. Yeah, I'm THAT mom. Sorry!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Happy early first birthday to my littlest nephew, Tyson, love you buddy, can't believe you are one. Sorry Aunty and Dodo won't be at your party but Parker will come to celebrate with you!

Parker, have fun with Grandma, Mommy and Daddy LOOOOOVE you!

Vegas or Bust!

Post It Note Tuesday (Monday Style)

2009-11-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the moment ~~we've~~ I've been waiting for all week. It's Supah's Post It Note Tuesday!
So for real, it's Monday but Supah posted hers early so I figure I can too, right? Right!

Last week when I found out that Stellan was going to have an ablation tomorrow (Tuesday) I thought I'd do a Post It Note Tuesday dedicated to him. Well things went awry and he ended up having the ablation today so now I already know the results (talk about a homerun!) so instead of doing one just for him, I have decided to do some shout out post its for some of my fave blogs. Hope that works for you!

There are a lot more blogs that I love, so maybe I can do this again, but in the mean time, go check out everyone else's post it's!

I Really Am Just Curious

2009-11-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Fair Warning: I think this might be my first mini-rant on my blog.

Edited to add my final statement at the bottom.

I don't claim to be ANY type of expert, and DEFINITELY not a blog expert. I have only been here in this "blog world" for a little over a year (which I love by the way) but lately something is sort of bugging me. This has happened most definitely on MORE than one occasion so I don't think it's something that only the blogs I am reading are facing, and I really am just curious.

I don't chose to read every blog out there, and heck, I'll even go as far to say that I don't LIKE every blog that I've read. Some you connect with, some you don't, it's pretty simple. Actually, it's like life itself, you don't like everybody, some you do some you don't. I'm just wondering though, if you don't like someone that you don't know very well do you go running to their face to tell them what you think are their flaws? I'm guessing not. If it's not someone you have to deal with on a personal level you probably just forget about them, at least I do. (This is not to say I've never said a mean thing, please don't think that I am trying to portray myself as perfect.)

But why? Why if you don't like a specific blog do you keep reading? (Please tell me, I really am curious.) And not only do you keep reading, you comment anonymously and say hurtful things? I get disagreeing, I really do. You might not agree with what the author is saying or doing. That's ok to disagree, even to let them know you disagree, but do you have to say it in a degrading way and also anonymously?

I understand being angry over being deceived by a blog. No one wants to be taken for a fool, but if you just disagree with a parenting style, how one chooses to live their life or the choices they make for their children, does it really affect you? I read quite a few blogs and don't comment on most of them, call me a lurker, that's ok. But never have I ever thought, "Well I don't agree with that, so let me bash them for it."

While I care about many children I have read about and even prayed for in the blog world, I don't mind if you do or don't travel with them, let them watch t.v. before they are 2 (guilty as charged), feed them peanut butter before the "proper" age, forward face them at 11 months or anything else parent related. It does not affect me. I do have my own opinions for all the listed items above but I am not going to tell you I am right (because I'm sure on some I'm not) and I'm definitely not going to tell you that you are wrong. I may ask your opinion because I really am just curious, but that's it.

My favorite (please note sarcasm), is not only when people bash another blogger, but a mommy blogger with a special needs child. (This is where this post came from.) I have NO idea what it means to be a mother of a special needs child (high maintenance? :-) I might have one of those children). I barely survived my 4 days with Parker in between the picu and pediatrics. So for someon who has NO idea what their life is like to judge another mom, I don't get it. I really am just curious. Aren't all of us mommy bloggers just that, moms? If anyone should get it, it should be us, right?

I know people make money by blogging (awesome!) And maybe this makes others jealous? I'm sure every mommy blogger out there would LOVE to make money having people read about their children, but most of us are content with creating a "scrapbook" of our lives with them. Having their life story on "paper" is good enough for us.

I really am just curious. If you know why people do this (other than out of jealousy) please do tell me because you know I really am just curious.

The only reason I can really come up with is to just plain be mean. If that really is the case, then STOP, seriously, STOP. I am sure unless you were raised by wolves that at some point in your life you were told by SOMEONE not to say anything if you didn't have anything nice to say!

End ~~mini~~ not so mini rant! ;-)

Sticky Note Tuesday

2009-11-03T11:43:00.000-08:00

Supersticky post-it notes, post 'em if you've got them! Visit Supah if you want the 411.

I actually tried a theme-ish style this week. It is in honor of my weight loss blog, My Road to Healthy.

So here it is, weight loss edition:

Hopefully this will get me motivated again, visit Supah if you want to read more Supersticky notes!

Monster's Inc - The Love Story

2009-11-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

8 years ago today I fell in love, with ~~Pixar~~ Aaron. (I already loved Pixar)

If you're not into mushy, please click that little box with the "x" in the corner, you'll thank yourself later.
Ahem
Anyways. We were watching this movie:

See, it's says in theaters Nov. 2. I almost ALWAYS try to see Pixar movies the day they come out. I love them, seriously, I do. Not as much as Aaron, but you get the point. Anyways, back to my story. So in 2001 I was in my freshmen year of college down in Southern California and almost every weekend I would drive back to the bay area to see ~~my family~~ Aaron (sorry Mom!) So Fridays I would get in late, hence us not seeing Monsters Inc. the day it came out, but the day after, November 3rd, 2001.

I don't honestly believe watching Monsters Inc. made me fall in love with Aaron, but that is the place that I realized I loved him. Don't let the fact that we had not even discussed exactly what our relationship was at the time, or the fact that I introduced him as my friend to anyone who asked. I'm not even sure we had even kissed at this point. (Don't blame me, he was SSLLLOOOW!) But I just knew it.

So at some point during the movie I remember looking over and just feeling it. Weird, huh? I can remember exactly how he looked, what he was wearing, and the fact that he was wearing his glasses (which I still wish he would wear more than his contacts). The moment was special and I am glad I have that memory of actually feeling myself fall in love. I don't know that he felt the same way just yet, we were definitely not just friends (come on, you aren't both willing to drive 6 hours every weekend both ways because you are friends), but I must have grown on him because that year for Christmas he got me a promise ring. Seriously, Nov. 3rd we had not kissed, and the day after Thanksgiving he let me know he wanted to buy me that. That's when I asked the question, "Umm, Aaron, what are we?" He said "We're together" like I was stupid, but hey, if you never declare one way or another I don't want to be the moron who assumes.

I don't think I've remembered this date in a couple years, well at least not on the exact day and this morning it popped into my head. 8 years, wow, who knew then that it would be what it is now, I couldn't be happier about it. I love you Aaron!

What A Difference

2009-10-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

A Year Makes.

Here is last year on Halloween, Parker was 13 days old.

And here was Parker last night, on the eve of his 2nd Halloween.

Wow! What a difference a year makes!

Post 'em If You've Got 'em

2009-10-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

And I've got them! Superstickies that is! It's Tuesday and it's time to play! I love Supersticky Tuesdays! Won't you join me? Check out Supah for all the 411.

There ya have it! Fun huh! I think so too! Thanks Supah, xoxoxo!

Homecoming - The Condensed Version

2009-10-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is the season for Homecoming's right? For us it is that season too!
Exactly 52 weeks ago today was Parker's homecoming. This picture was taken on that day.

Yes, it took a little over a week to get him to his REAL home. Between the 18th and the 26th we spent time between my parents house and the hospital so this was a good feeling. We were truly home. Parker was born on Saturday evening and we went "home" Sunday evening. It was a late release from the hospital and I had my spinal headaches where I could not even stand up so we decided that we would stay at my parents house that night. The next day was Monday and I wanted to go back to the hospital to get a blood patch to rid myself of these awful headaches but the hospital insisted that I try to "ride it out". (By awful, I mean I could not sit up to nurse, couldn't walk to the shower, much less ride in the car for 45 minutes upright to get home.)

We had to bring Parker back on Tuesday for his 3 day check so we decided early on Monday we would just stay at my parents one more night. (If you knew me before I was not the one to need to stay with my mom after having a baby, I didn't need anyone to come to our house after the baby was born, I was going to be independent, until the stupid headaches came.)

Monday night ~~all hell broke loose~~ Parker stopped eating. At his 3 day appointment on Tuesday there was the issue of him not eating which concerned the doctors and the fact that while at the appointment he stopped breathing and turned bluish. And you wonder why I call myself a worrisome mother. Parker was not even 72 hours old!

They admitted him to the hospital and that is where he stayed until Saturday. To keep this story as short as possible there were several "diagnoses" and even a misdiagnosis that had us transferred to a bigger, better hospital. Eventually Parker started to eat at this bigger and better hospital and as long as he continued to do so we could go home. Friday evening I had a blood patch done by the head anasthesiologist and could sit up to hold Parker. Saturday we got to go "home," and decided once again to stay at my parents house for one more night. Although my headaches were gone I was still shaken by the week we had. I wanted one more night closer to a hospital and closer to my family.

But Sunday, Sunday was our homecoming and it was amazing. We went and showed Parker off to our neighbors (who took the picture above). We fed Parker, held him and just hung out as our new family. That is a memory that I will never forget. I have that picture in a frame in Parker's room because I loved that feeling so much. It was like our life was starting anew and it felt good!

Do we look tired in the picture? Of course, even Parker is yawning. Do we look nervous? Perhaps! But I know one thing, we WERE happy!

Wordless Wednesday - Can't Talk, Mouth Stuck Smiling!

2009-10-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

I want to win!

2009-10-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

Giveaways are one of the coolest parts about the bloggy world. Sometimes I don't enter and sometimes I do, but this one I am entering and going all out. It seems so cool! Jessica along with Uprinting is giving away 100 4 x 6 postcards. Color at that, double sided printing too! Now what would I do with these post cards? I'm not too sure yet, but maybe I'd sent out Valentine's day cards (kinda like holiday cards, but different.) I've never done that, but it sounds like a FABULOUS idea. Parker holding a heart with a pink background? Ok, ok maybe not a pink background, but you get the point. I could send a little love to pretty much EVERYONE I know with these. Anyways, you get the picture, I want to win. So DON'T go enter, you'll decrease my chances. Just kidding, enter if you must (because it's a super cool prize,) and TWO people are going to win, so it can be ME and YOU!

Superstickies-My New BFF*

2009-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

Yay, it's Tuesday again. Stuperstickie time! I'm a little late, but I'm here! And one day I'll coordinate all this to have a real theme.. really I will...someday!

Wanna participate? Go visit Supah for all the juicy details!

You know you wanna play. So Go! Supah Mommy is waiting!

*Not to replace my IRL BFF Chandel, but these supertstickies really do rock!

Today Was the Day...

2009-10-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

To celebrate!

Today was Parker's First Birthday.

Did I cry? Just briefly last night before bed and tonight before bed. That's pretty good for me!

Did we have a great time? Most definitely. Lots of family and friends came out to celebrate the big day.

Was it the average 79 degrees for this time of year? Not even close, slightly windy and cool.

Was it still perfect? ABSOLUTELY!

Overall it was an awesome day and I couldn't be happier on how it turned out. I did stress a little about being on time, being ready and having everything perfect, but in the end, even if we did lose two mylar balloons, it was PERFECT!

Now for the mushy. As if the above was not mushy enough!

Parker,
The last year has been A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. You are our perfect baby boy. (And don't think that just because you are 1 or 21 for that matter that you won't always be our baby.) You are the reason for my highest highs and sometimes make me worry giving me some lowest lows, and I wouldn't change a thing! Having you has changed me, made me stronger and made me love our family even more.

I am so happy you are our son. You are cute, funny and make me smile. We rarely go out without someone commenting on how cute you are or that you have such a sweet smile. You are starting to think about walking, you'll push your walker, but don't have enough confidence quite yet to let go and gain your balance. You have tried whole milk now and are determining if you like it, you're not sure just yet. You are eating more and more and growing so big. You are 21 lbs. 15 oz. and 30.25" tall, a far cry from the 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 19.5" that we started at.

You were good at your party today. You loved to crawl around at the park and have everyone pay attention to you. You thought presents were just ok, the ones that were flat and you could bang on were your favorite. You didn't love the cake, not that we thought you would since you don't really put anything in your mouth. Although this means you don't feed yourself, it also means we don't have to worry when you see something small and potentially hazardous on the ground. You got tired towards the end of the party but you were a real trooper. Here are some pictures to prove it!

Family

Parker's wagon from Mom and Dad

Monkey cupcakes for the kids!

Parker's pillow made by Theresa

Parker with his God Mommy

I'm one today!

All smiles for the birthday boy!

Weren't those adorable?! Parker, you are an amazing one year old boy. You give me reason to live, love and blog. I am so proud of you. I love you forever and always, happy birthday!

Love,

Mom

One Year Ago Today.

2009-10-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

I was in the hospital being induced. That is so crazy to think about. Tomorrow will be crazier to think about but I remember being so nervous, scared, excited and anxious all at the same time. Friday night last year was relatively calm, my parents dropped by with Jamba Juice that I barely touched, Aaron stayed with me while I went back and forth saying STAY.LEAVE.STAY.LEAVE. In my mind I knew it would be best for him to leave so he could get a good nights rest. In my heart I just could not let him go. I am glad I didn't have him leave since the next mornings events were crazy but maybe next time my mind will win, we'll see.

I still can't believe it's been a year. The time flew and I couldn't be happier. Tomorrow is Parker's birthday and we're having a party that I know I will blog about, but for now, I'm reminiscing on my time in the hospital before two became three.

Gone Are The Days...

2009-10-15T16:30:00.000-07:00

Gone are the days... I can leave Parker curled up in the corner of the couch for a nap (ok these days have been gone for quite a while)
Gone are the days... I can take Parker out in a sleeper without it being inappropriate. Little boys should get dressed everyday.
Gone are the days... I can talk on the phone without it being snatched out of my hand.
Gone are the days... I can lay Parker under the ceiling fan for entertainment. He wants "REAL" toys now. (And by real I mean flinging the door stopper to make an annoying noise.)
Gone are the days... That I don't need a baby gate for the stairs. Really gone are the days where I can leave this gate open because experimenting minds were not interested in the stairs.
Gone are the days... Where I had a baby who would gladly snuggle and nap on the couch with me at anytime. I'm only take a morning nap and afternoon nap, that's it Mom!
Gone are the days... I can say look at my wee little baby, isn't he the most precious thing you've ever seen. (Ok, ok, I may still do this, but people might laugh at the "wee little baby" part.)

Here are the days where I am a mom to a ~~toddler~~ practically one-year old. I couldn't be more happy, sad, excited and proud at the same time.

I love you Parker, my less than one year old for 3 more days (and an hour and two minutes, but hey, who's counting!)

Post It Note Tuesday #2

2009-10-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well here we are at Tuesday again and I was so excited to get to do Post IT Note Tuesday again, brought to you by Supah Mommy herself. Check her out, she's HILARIOUS!

So here are my randoms for the week (or just mostly this morning, it's hard to tell!)

Now you know that was fun. Go to Supah's blog and join the fun. Seriously. GO!

The ONE'S have it.

2009-10-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

In *ONE* week, *ONE* day, *ONE* hour, and *ONE* minute my "baby" will officially be a *ONE* year old. That is *ONE* crazy idea for me to think about.

(This is all accurate if you are reading this the minute it posts at 4:31 pm on Saturday, October 10, 2009.)

Apple Hill

2009-10-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (I know, it's Thursday and I'm just posting this) we went to Apple Hill as a family for the first time. Aaron and I visited 2 years ago (but too late in the season) and we loved it. I knew once we had a family I would love to take them there. Last October (which is really the perfect month to go in my opinon) was a little too eventful and I don't think at just over a little week old it would have been a smart idea to bring Parker. So, we had to wait until this year.

Apple Hill is about 2 hours from our house, so we left early in the morning, picked up stuff for a picnic lunch on the way and got there a little after 10. It is basically a ton of (and I'm talking over 40) farms that grow apples amongst other fruits and vegetables. Some allow you to pick fruit or veggies yourself, some sell them fresh like a farmers market, some have petting zoos, some have activities for children and some sell delicious, and I mean delicious, treats!

I thought for sure we'd stop at a couple places and then head home. I wasn't sure if Parker would enjoy it or if we would enjoy it with him, but we had a great time. I forgot our carrier for him which meant pulling out the stroller at almost all stops so at first I thought we would never make it for the whole day, but we did. We went to several farms, saw animals, picked our own Pumpkin (Parker's first, we didn't get him one last year), picked an apple just to at least say we did it, since it was Apple Hill, ate delicious desserts and even saw an emu.

I can't wait to take Parker again next year. This is hopefully something we can make a tradition every year, it was so fun. Parker will be walking next year which I think will be fun, he'll be able to get his face painted if he wants, pick his own pumpkin by himself , feed the animals and maybe even eat some apple pie.

Whatever he choses to do at Apple Hill next year is fine by me as long as he has a good time and we get some great pictures again. What? You didn't see any pictures. Yes you did, look at the post below this one, that is the stem to Parker's pumpkin that I took holding it up towards the sky. You can even see the stand on the left that we paid for it at if you know what to look for. I loved the curliness of the stem and thought it was a cool picture.

Now here are some more pictures from our day. (Sorry if some are too small, I think you can click on them and they will open larger, if you're so inclined!)

Parker playing the pumpkin drums

Parker playing in the hay

Looking, finding and picking our pumpkin!

Searching and finding apples, yay!

And the emu!

Wordless Wednesday - Go ahead, take a guess!

2009-10-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Randoms!

2009-10-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

I found a new bloggy thing called Post It Note Tuesday. It's brought to you by SupahMommy and was SUPAH fun! ;-)

So here are my thoughts!

So if you like this, go over and check out SupahMommy and play along. To get the stickies, go here

A Mama Knows!

2009-10-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

When you have a child who shows no signs of being sick except having a persistent fever, you have to go by your best intuition. Parker is that child. He can have a 102 point something fever but still eats normal, plays like an 11 month old should and sleeps just fine. I learned with his first ear infection that a fever is the best indication of an ear infection for him. And now, when that fever goes UP while on tylenol I know it's time to call the docs!

That is where I spent my morning, at the doctors office. Parker had an ear infection #3 about 3 weeks ago and finished his antibiotics last week. Now the past couple of days the fever was back so we went in. Although it is not a double ear infection like last time, it is back in the right ear. So onto another antibiotic we go. Hopefully the saying 3rd times a charm is right, because this is antibiotic number 3 and is much stronger than the others.

Although I am glad that Parker shows minimal signs of being sick, I'd rather his fever be caused my something minimal like teething. However, I am always glad when I follow my intuition and am right. It's true what they say, a mother knows best. (Although his dad is pretty good at it too!) I hope we avoid any more ear infections because if we get one more we are off to see an ENT specialist and I don't want my baby to have to go through that!

My BFF - She Rocks!

2009-09-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop is continuing this week and the prompt I chose is:

How did you meet your best friend?

I was 10 years old. We had recently started going to church at Mt. Olive and I was in the Christmas program. So it was sometime in December of 1993. I was 10 (almost 11, as I'm sure being almost 11 was much cooler than just being 10 at that point) and we had a "rehearsal" of the program the day before.

That is the day I met Chandel, she was 10 too, and had long reddish/blondish hair. That's one of the only things I remember about her that day, the other is that she pronounced Herod wrong when reading about King Herod. I'm only describing her hair because the next day, you know, the day of the program, I didn't even recognize her. She must have said hi to me or something but I don't exactly recall, all I remember was that she had NO hair left. Ok well she had some, but it was chopped into a "boy" cut. (See, we are so close I can laugh that I didn't recognize her and she had a boy cut. Only true friends can joke with someone about that.)

So that is how we met, rehearsing for the church Christmas program. We did not instantly become BFF's especially since we lived in different cities, but come Jr. High, when we started confirmation together, we connected! I am pretty sure I lived at her house the summer before high school.

We have had our ups and downs, cried on each others shoulder and laughed until we cried tears of joy. I love her. In high school we worked together at Toyota and Honda. We even planned on going to the same college in Southern California. When she changed her mind I was crushed. I didn't know what I was going to do (obviously I survived). Towards the end of high school we didn't talk as much as we both had other friends from our high school but I remember driving to her house in my pajamas the day we were both graduating high school so I could see her. Obviously if I was graduating that same day we couldn't go to each others but it was important for us to see each other.

We both went off to college, her in Sacramento, me in Irvine and I remember when she would call my dorm room. I loved those calls. Aaron and I were doing the long distance thing and she had done it with her boyfriend (now husband) James, so she was a huge support for me.

16 years later (wow, that makes me feel old), we are still as close as ever. We were both in each others wedding and gave the toast. We both threw each other our bridal showers, she threw me a baby shower and I can't wait to throw her one! We still don't live close, about 2 1/2 hours away, but we love to visit! On our last visit to their house in February we asked James and Chandel to be Parker's Godparents. (We were supposed to visit last weekend, but Chandel had to come to the bay area for a funeral, so we need to reschedule for sure!)

I cannot wait for Chandel to have a baby of her own. She has struggled with 2 miscarriages this year and my heart breaks for her. She is going to be an amazing mom and I can't wait to be an "aunty" to her children.

Some of the fondest memories I have with her were our trips to Disneyland. She has the same love for Mickey's home that I do. My dad would take us every Christmas and we would go on a few rides, hang out in the ice cream shop and then a few hours before the Christmas Parade started we would get our front row spot! Yes, I said a few hours, we wanted to make sure we got FRONT ROW!

Now, guess where we plan on going this December, yup, Chandel, her husband James and Aaron and I are taking Parker to Disneyland. I have no doubt in my mind that you will find Chandel and myself (probably Parker too) sitting on the curb of Main St. a few hours before the parade starts. I was so sad when I decided not to go last year since Parker was so young, this year is going to be A-MAZING!

I am really hoping that we can make it a tradition for our families just like it was for us in middle and high school. I am even praying that next year we have an even smaller bundle of joy to take with us, either in belly or out, doesn't matter to me!

Love you HT!

Here we are at my baby shower!

Here are Chandel and James with Parker in February (Parker has James beanie on)

And here is James showing off his fireman's hat. Parker loved it.

I could not ask for a better best friend forever!

Show Us Your Life - Dessert

2009-09-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have participated in Kelly's Show Us Your Life series, but today they are talking DESSERTS, and I love me some dessert. This is probably the reason I recently had to start a weight loss blog. But today I am going to tell you about my all time favorite dessert. I even posted briefly about it in my 100th post.

It is an Ice-Cream Brownie Torte that was published in February 1989 of Good Housekeeping and my mom has pretty much been making it every year for my birthday since. It's a little time consuming to make with a lot of freezing in between but so worth the reward of eating it. (Unless you know, you're trying to be healthy, then it's more like a delicious punishment!)

Ingredients:

1 21.5 or 23.6 oz. package of brownie mix
8 oz. coursely chopped walnuts
1 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder (I use Hershey's)
6 tbsp. butter
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 pints ice cream (the recipe calls for chocolate, we always used vanilla and used the regular size container, instead of buying individual pints, cheaper that way!)
2 tbsp. powdered sugar.

You also need a springform pan for this recipe.

Early in the day or the day before:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease and line the botton of a 10" x 3" springform pan with waxed paper.
Prepare brownie mix as label directs following instructions for cakelike brownies but pour batter into the springform pan.
Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of brownie comes out clean.
Do not turn oven off after removing brownies
Cool brownie for 10 minutes in pan and then remove from pan to cool completely
Place walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes (until golden brown) shaking occasionally

After brownie is cooled and walnuts are toasted:

Prepare the fudge sauce - first cook brown sugar, cocoa powder, butter and 3/4 c. whipped cream over medium heat until mixture is smooth and boils. Stir constantly so it does not burn.
Remove from heat after sauce comes to a boil
Stir in vanilla
Let sit until fudge sauce cools to room temperature

Assembly:

Remove wax paper from bottom of brownie
Cut brownie horizontally in half to create two layers (The trickiest part of the recipe: Don't worry if it breaks, just patch it back together, after its done, no one will ever know!)
Put one of the halves of brownie back into the springform pan
Spread with softened ice cream (1/3 of how much you have)
Place in the freezer to harden (approx. 45 minutes)
Next sprinkle wanuts over hardened ice cream
Place another 1/3 of your ice cream over the walnuts
Return to freezer again to harden slightly (approx. 45 minutes)
Reserve 1/3 c. fudge sauce
Spoon remaining sauce over 2nd layer of ice cream.
Return to freezer for about 30 more minutes
Place 2nd half of the brownie over the fudge sauce
Use last of your softened ice cream over the brownie
Swirl in the last 1/3 cup of fudge sauce over the ice cream
Return to freezer for final freeze (at least 3 hours)

Topping: Make once cake has set for 3 hours

Use final 1 1/4 c. whipping cream by mixing it at medium speed with confectioners sugar
Mix until stiff peaks form
Remove torte from spring form pan (you can leave it on the bottom portioin)
Frost cake with whipping cream (for a fancier look you could pipe with the frosting around the edges)
If not serving right away return torte to the freezer.

Serving:

To serve let torte stand at room temperature 10-15 minutes before cutting so that it is easier to cut
Enjoy!

I know there are a TON of steps with long periods of time in between. I think it's best to do this on a laundry day so in between layers freezing you can fold a load of laundry. After the laundry is done, you can reward yourself with some torte, perfect!

And since I eat this on my birthday I wish Jessica, could have some on her birthday (today) too. Too bad she lives far far away or I'd make it for her. Maybe instead you could just pop over to her blog and wish her a happy 21st!

Not Every (11 month) Day Can Be Sunshine and Summertime

2009-09-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

While it is still technically summer for a few more days and the sun was definitely shining, our house did not feel like either of those statements were true tonight. Every month I try and make a point of taking pictures on Parker's month day. I have other pictures throughout the entire month of course, but that day I do my best to snap some good shots. So far I have been relatively successful, until this evening. I will still post the pictures I took because while they are not peaches and roses with cute cherub smiley faces they are real and I love Parker happy, sad, mad, grumpy, smiley, silly, crazy and everything in between. Tonight I loved him grumpy style. Whenever I would take out the camera he would whine and cry. Possibly this could have occurred because I was taking out his pacifier to try and get a shot without it.

So Parker is 11 months today and I know I say it every month, but really, 11 months? That seems so crazy to me! In just one month I will have a 1 year old, or maybe it's a 12 month old, nope, definitely a 1 year old.

In the past month Parker has become more vocal. No, he does not say anything other than da-da and yeah but he sure knows how to scream, you know, just for fun. What could be better right? He also knows how to forcefully shake his head no when he does not want anymore food, when he doesn't want his medicine or when he refuses the sippy cup. Yes, he hates it. He has taken maybe 3 "bottles" out of it. He likes to hold and shake it, but he is not fond of actually drinking out of it. Not sure how the bottle to sippy transition is going to go as I had wanted to do it at 1 year, but we'll see. I am learning to be flexible, and although I scoughed at all the mothers who had children that used bottles past 1 year I am slowly becoming aware that I may become one of those moms. I know the realization factor after actually becoming a parent is normal, but it still surprises me everytime.

Rather than a somewhat rotten trick of shaking his head, Parker has also learned how to wave "bye bye" and "hi." Of course they are the same wave, he looks at his hands, and balls both of them up into fists and then opens and closes them. I thought maybe he just always followed our lead, but now I can just tell him to "say bye-bye" and he does it. So cute! This is the first voice command comprehension I have seen with him. (Of course the poor kid probably doesn't know that "bye-bye" means someone is leaving since sometimes we tell him to say it, just because it's cute.) We'll have to work on that!

This was one of the first shots and although his forehead is cut off I love his eyes. I always wanted a blue eyed baby, but man, his brown eyes are gorgeous!

Is it bad if I say I cannot remember the last time I took a picture with Parker? I think it might have been 2 months ago at the zoo. Eek, I better get better at this. Even if I look like ~~hell~~ it's Friday night and I've had a long week.

If you look at this eyes hear you can see that he was about to cry, seriously, he hated the camera tonight.

And here is where he is saying "Mom and Dad, I'm DONE!"

And finally I had a cute video of Parker showing off his waving techniques, however I am using bloggers "new editing" feature and I can't see where to upload a video. (By the way, I also don't like that this new version does not have spell check, so if you see any misspellings, sorry!) I guess I will make a separate post for the waving video since right now I'm not seeing how to do it.

Fall Favorites

2009-09-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Today it's time for Mama Kat's writer's workshop again! Today I have chosen to do her prompt entitled "Fall Favorites," where I will tell you everything I love about fall, which is actually a lot! It's one of my favorite seasons.

A new thing I just discovered that apparently is seasonal and JUST came out, is Dreyer's (Edy's on the east coast) Apple Pie ice cream. Before I started my ~~diet~~ road to a healthier lifestyle I tried this ice cream and OH EM GEE, it's that good! Vanilla-esque ice cream with pieces of apple and pie crust mixed in, you've got to try it, you know, if you didn't just start a weight loss blog and aren't trying to be healthy.

Unfortunately I live in quite a mild area of California so we don't see the seasons change much, but I love the fall colors. Oranges, browns, reds and yellows, they're beautiful.

Halloween! Not for the ghosts and ghouls and devils, but to see the kids running around in fun costumes and having a good time. Last Halloween Parker was 13 days old, so the festivities were mild, I'm hoping this year he has a blast. And no, candy for him will not be involved, not even because I'm the mean mom, but seriously, he won't eat it, still has the texture aversion thing going! (Look how teeny he was!)

Thanksgiving. Oh man, what a great holiday. Nothing better than just having a holiday that means you can EAT! No pressure of buying presents, dyeing eggs, or setting off fireworks, nope! All you have to do is eat! (Should be great for that weight loss huh?) And if you're looking for an amazing stuffing (and aren't a vegetarian) let me recommend this one, it's phenomenal!

And I am sure there are many many more things, like you know, Parker being born in the fall, that was a pretty amazing experience. And the fact that you can call it Autumn of Fall. I love that word, Autumn. It has a nice ring to it. Overall it is a pretty time of the year, not too hot or too cold. So hurry up September 21st, I'm waiting!

Not Me! Monday

2009-09-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

I think we're back this week with Not Me! Monday. Mckmama leads this blog carnival where we say what we haven't been doing and how we're living to blog about it!

This week I did not let Parker play with anything while staying at my moms house. I know computer cords are off limits at our house so I would not let him play with them anywhere else, they're dangerous!

I did not pretend that since Parker played in a kiddie pool that that was good enough for a bath one night. I never let him go to bed dirty and I always give him a nice warm bath, a kiddie pool would not suffice!

I did not ask Aaron to get an extra bowl of vanilla frozen yogurt yesterday so that Parker could have some. Why would Parker need frozen yogurt? I would not give that sugary goodness to him!

And finally I did not plan to take Parker to daycare today so that Aaron and I could have a day off and go on a date. I love to take Parker everywhere so we wouldn't drop him off at daycare "just because we pay for it." Parker would also not get sick this weekend and have a constant fever of 102.7 so that he cannot go to daycare today. He isn't that smart yet, is he? ;)

Check out my other Not Me's over on my weight loss blog here.

A New Blog?

2009-09-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, I have created a new blog. It is pretty boring right now, but that will soon change. Remember here where I said I wanted to be able to keep track of my weight loss goals, exercise and possibly have a food journal? Well Angie suggested that I create a blog for this, and I can have a button or something linking the two blogs together, brilliant, I tell you!

So my new blog can be found here and is called Feel The Skinny (pending title, we'll see if it sticks!), since that is what I'm trying to do!

Right now there is no button linking to it, so I'll have to put it in my posts or something, but I have set a goal and after I lose 15 lbs., I am going to have this blog designed by Jessica.

I hope to include my own struggles, exercise information, eating diaries and healthy recipes that I have tried and liked, so check back often!

Here We Go!

2009-09-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

So I did it, it was not easy but I stepped on the scale this morning. Well it was bad, really bad, but not as bad as I thought it could be. I guess that's me trying to be positive. Right now it's 9:32 am and I just finished my breakfast which consisted of a yogurt and a granola bar. I'm still hungry, but not really hungry, bored hungry. So here I am, keeping myself entertained by blogging, and unfortunately for you, that might mean that I have more meaningless posts than I would like to admit coming in the future, but hey, whatever it takes!

I did end up having my sister take pictures this morning. I am not planning on posting them anytime but maybe one day. I want to start a food journal on here but I am not quite sure how to do it where I don't have to post a new post everyday. I don't want it to be at the top of my blog each day but I would like a button that possibly leads anyone (mostly myself) to my food journal. Anyone know how to do that? Am I even making sense?

I have a couple of other posts I would like to write today so I'll keep this one short. Thanks again for everyone's support!

Changing - A Lifetime Struggle

2009-09-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Let's get real here. (WARNING WARNING: This is not going to be short!) I have been wanting to do this for a while but seriously, I am scared. Now I have always been honest on my blog, I'm not saying that when I say "let's get real", but today it's getting serious!

Today I am writing for Mama Kat's writer's workshop and the prompt I am following is "The First Day..."

So tomorrow is going to be THE FIRST DAY of my new eating habits. (The reason for tomorrow is because I had chosen that date not too long ago when I thought I would be leaving on a cruise in exactly one year, next September 11th, however now it probably won't be until late September 2010. Not the point, but now you understand why I chose a Friday.)

Anyways, back to the point. When I decided that I wanted to have a baby I had a goal weight before I would consider starting to try and I had a goal date, Valentine's day. (Oh and by being real I will figuratively use numbers rather than actual weights. I'm being open, but not THAT open!) Valentine's day morning I had many plans for the day and I stepped on the scale. I was 1 lb. over what I wanted to be but I cut myself some slack. My birthday had been the week before, etc., so I was close enough! I gained 27 lbs during my pregnancy and I am pretty sure 11 of those were before my first appointment and another 6-8 (I can't remember) were after my trip to New York when I was only 12 weeks along. So from 12+ weeks I only gained about 10 lbs., which my midwife was happy with.

After I had Parker I lost a lot of the weight with water, blood (tmi), baby etc., and at only 2 weeks postpartum I had lost all my "baby" weight and was 9 lbs from my original Valentine's Day morning weight. Sweet I thought. Well here we are almost 1 year postpartum (38 days until 1 year if you're counting, I'm not!) and it's ALL back and then some. Yuck.

So tomorrow I will step on the scale for the first time in LITERALLY months, and I am scared. I know it's bad. When a girls jeans don't fit, she knows it's bad! I have never been "skinny" but I have been "skinnier" than this and I want that again!

So tomorrow it is, as they say, the first day of the rest of my life, and I hope it's a healthier one! Not just for me, but for Aaron and Parker and any possible future family. I don't want to be the mom that sits around not taking her kids to the park because she's too lazy. I will start with healthier eating and hopefully some exercise. And although I have a few specific number goals in mind, for here I am just going to say my goal is to eat healthier while losing consistently, rather than yo-yoing which I have become accustomed to. Even if its inches over pounds that is something!

I am thinking of possibly taking some before pictures for a blog (and keeping them but not posting them) and then that way I will have something to compare them to, Then maybe when the "after" ones are looking good, I can post the pictures with the original post date. We'll see. For now support would be great!

Cosmetic Procedure (aka Boob, I mean Blog Lift?)

2009-09-10T08:09:00.001-07:00

Woohoo!! Jessica has done it again. I scheduled a ~~boob~~ blog lift with her to change my title fonts. I loved the font they were in but I could not use parenthesis in my titles and then the spacing got weird, and remember, I hate spacing issues.

So this is my new font now, do you like it? It's called Oh! {photo} Shoot. Cute huh? I love it!

I will be back later to do Mama Kat's writers workshop, but for now I was too excited to not post!

Some Friendly Advice

2009-09-03T18:21:00.001-07:00

For Mama Kat's writer's workshop today I would like to write a nice friendly note of advice to my dear friends at Blogger. The prompt was: Share your friendly advice for someone you think needs it. So here goes.

Dear Blogger,
Today I wrote my 100th post and was so excited. Unfortunately my excitement got the best of me and I posted it a little too soon. Shucks, I thought. I better go edit it before someone notices I only have 9 "Top 10's" Instead of 10. So that is exactly what I did, and when I posted the new updated edition it was a train wreck. Ok, maybe not to everyone but for someone who likes to make sure her pictures are evenly spaced and that all the paragraphs look uniform, it is a train wreck. My friendly advice to you, Blogger, is that you should fix your spacing issues. I am asking you to do this with a nice please (read: fix it now). It drives people like me crazy! I now ~~abhor~~ am not as pleased with my exciting 100th post. The last top 10 was the most important one and yet it does not look uniform with the rest of my blog and sticks out like a sore thumb. While I heart you for giving me a free service to blog I would really appreciate it if you took my advice to finish fixing those spacing issues, they are really driving me (and some others) crazy!!

Love always,
Loni

10x10 - It's a Doozy!(Alternatively titled, World's Longest Post)

2009-09-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

EDITED TO ADD THE 10TH TOP FAVE. I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST AND THEN FORGOT IT, YIKES!

Well here we are, and by we I mean you reading and me sitting behind the computer wondering who is reading. Post 100. If you have made it this far into this crazy scene I call blogging then I congratulate you. Who knew ~~tons of people~~ some people were quite possibly interested in what I have to say.

I really want to do Mama Kat's writers workshop this week so I have to post this first, because although Mama Kat rocks, it is my 100th post, it has to be special!

So here is my plan for the post. No one wants to read 100 random facts about me, or do you? No, I didn't think so, so instead I thought I would do 10 top 10's of mine and maybe you'll learn a little something about me, or just realize I'm crazier than ever. (Jessica likes to call it "off my rocker.") So, as we say in ~~Hollywood~~ Mountain House, on with the show! (In no particular order...)

My Top 10 Favorite Desserts (Life is short, ~~eat~~ post dessert first)
10. S'mores (while camping)
9. Chili's key lime pie sweet shot
8. Custard filled fruit tart (my favorite is from Gayle's in Capitola)
7. White Cake with buttercream icing and lemon and raspberry filling
6. Crepes with nutella and fresh banana (I make these myself)
5. Strawberry shortcake (my favorite type is from Cheesecake Factory)
4. Banana split (with extra hot fudge)
3. Key Lime Cheesecake (I have a pretty good recipe of my own but from anywhere)
2. Chocolate Mud Pie from Chops Grille on Royal Caribbean
1. Ice Cream Brownie Torte (my birthday dessert practically every year, it's soooo good!)

My top 10 Favorite Restaurants
10. Chili's (You know, your neighborhood grill)
9. El Torito's (They have a good, reasonably priced brunch)
8. Black Angus
7. Benihana (Dinner and a show!)
6. La Piñata
5. Gayle's (They have the fruit tarts I like for dessert and some really good BBQ ribs)
4. Season's 52
3. Chops Grille on Royal Caribbean cruise ships
2. AJ Spurs (Awesome steakhouse in central California)
1. Simply Fondue (Where we go to Celebrate!)

Top 10 Favorite T.V. Shows (Please don't laugh too hard)
10. CSI Miami
9. Barefoot Contessa
8. Chopped
7. Private Practice
6. Closer
5. Next Food Network Star
4. Privileged
3. Grey's Anatomy
2. Brothers and Sisters
1. Desperate Housewives (Did I just admit this is practically my favorite t.v. show?)

Top 10 Favorite Food Dishes (Back to food, geez!!)
10. Meyer lemon chicken (the one dish Aaron makes, yum!)
9. Tri-tip sandwiches
8. Lasagna
7. French toast
6. Potato salad
5. Enchiladas
4. Eggs Benedict
3. Taco Salad
2. Chinese (especially egg rolls)
1. BBQ - pretty much all but I love ribs

Top 10 Favorite Movies (Most of these are not deep, I like to be entertained)
10. Monster-In-Law
9. Devil Wears Prada
8. Pearl Harbor (sobbed, ugh)
7. Dirty Dancing
6. Up
5. Finding Nemo
4. Erin Brokavich
3. Cars (Can we see a Pixar trend?)
2. Monster's Inc. (this one is special)
1. Patch Adams

Are you still reading? Am I boring you yet?

Top 10 Favorite Books
10. The Sneetches (Parker loves me twisting my tongue reading it)
9. Belly Laughs
8. The Other Woman
7. To Kill A Mockingbird
6. Humphrey the Whale (me and my Grama used to read this)
5. Asking for Trouble
4. Curious George (the complete series. I am one story away from finishing reading this to Parker)
3. My Sister's Keeper
2. Good In Bed
1. P.S. I love you

Top 10 Favorite Websites
10. Babiesrus.com
9. Woot.com
8. Babysteals.com
7. Craigslist.com
6. Amazon.com
5. Royalcaribbean.com
4. Safeway.com (can we say grocery delivery??)
3. Twitter.com (this is something I am new at, but like!)
2. Google.com
1. Facebook.com (I'm addicted)

Top 10 Favorite Blogs (I love all your blogs and have way more than 10 but I'm trying to be consistent, please don't be offended!!)
10. The Richard Family Blog
9. Kelly's Korner
8. Caring for Carleigh
7. Surviving Motherhood
6. Mama Kat's Losin' It
5. This That and Your Blog
4. Mckmama (formerly My Charming Kids)
3. This That and My Blog
2. Family of Five
1. From Two to Three (I hear this blog rocks *wink*)

And Finally... my last category, are you still with me, have you passed out yet?

Top 10 Favorite Vacations
10. Camping this past summer with Parker
9. Orlando, Florida, hurricane style (3 days of sitting in a hotel and I still had a good time)
8. Carnival cruise to Mexico (It was fun but I also wrote a 10 page paper while aboard)
7. Orlando Florida with Parker (Fun, but will be better when he is older)
6. Orlando Florida without a car (My first ever vacation with Aaron, so much fun!)
5. New York (Even pregnant with Parker in my first trimester I had a blast.)
4. Las Vegas, NV for my Uncles wedding (Aaron wasn't even 21 yet but we can't wait to go back!)
3. San Diego, CA
2. Maui for our honeymoon. (I think this could have been #1 if we could have planned more of the aspects. We did not pay for the trip so I cannot complain, we had a GREAT time!)
1. Freedom of the Seas. (Can I say cruises are amazing? I cannot wait for NEXT September when I cruise Oasis of the Seas.)

Oops, I guess that was not my last topic since I forgot this one: Top 10 Favorite things about being ~~a worrisome mom~~Parker's mom

10. Having someone who is completely dependent on me gives me something extra to live for.

9. That toothy grin

8. The snuggles I get when he's not feeling well (not that I like it when he's not feeling well)

7. When he says "Mama" even though he is just rambling and not actually saying it towards me.

6. When he says "Dada" and laughs because I have just said "Mama," he likes to play games with me.

5. When he crawls to me with lightning speed when I call him.

4. That toothy grin (What, I already said that? Well it's worth mentioning again, it's super cute!)

3. When he reaches up for me to pick him up, I love that.

2. When he picks me over Aaron *evil grin*

1. When he lays his head on my shoulder I can feel his love for me and I melt. Ahh bedtime. (And yes I know he is doing this hoping I will not lay him in his crib, and that is fine with me.) (I also can't wait for the day he knows how to actually say I love you, then that will be my number 1!)

Phew... so there they are. I guess it was 100 random facts about me, but broken down I hope into easier portions. I am sure most of you did not read everything but I hope it was a little entertaining for my 100th post. I am so happy I have this hobby and I love my blog. Thanks for reading. And cheers to many more posts!

***If anyone knows how to change the edited part back to single space like the rest of the post I would love you forever. When I went to edit it, it automatically spaced them like that even when I just wanted it on the next line. I am slightly OCD about my blog being properly spaced etc., so if anyone knows how and could tell me I would think you rock! Jessica?!?!?" Oh and I tried putting it all together and just putting "<>" where I wanted the line breaks but it still double spaced it, ahhh! HELP!***

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

And because I could NOT not mention this. This is post #99, eek. ONE more post and I'll be at 100, so exciting!

Ketchup (or Jelly??)

2009-08-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while in the mornings on the way to work Aaron will drive through Burger King (healthy huh?) and we'll each order off the dollar menu a 3 piece french toast. Well when we do this the lady at the window always asks if we need "ketchup or jelly." Seriously, do any of you put ketchup or jelly on your french toast? If so I may offend you, but really, just give me the I'm.sure.it's.fake maple syrup.

Now you're probably thinking to yourself, really just give me the I'm.sure.it's.not.fake blog post and stop talking about breakfast, it's making me hungry. But really this post isn't at all about ketchup, it's about catch(ing) up!

And catching up is exactly what I need to do. It's been a week since I have blogged and it's time to see what I've been up to. After all, that's what you're here for right? ;-)

So usually on Mondays we do Not Me! Monday's hosted by MckMama but this week she's not doing it so I may (or I may not) sporadically throw in a few things that I would not have done this past week.

Do I have a good reason for not blogging for a week? Sort of. I'll give you a hint. This picture is what I've been working on during the past week. Just know that it's something I am proud of and I will show you its entirety soon. Any guesses? (Angie, you can't play, I already showed you!)

And I don't know if it looks very complex, but let me tell you, it took me a long time to make! So that's my excuse for not blogging, is it a good one? I think so!

So that's what I did do with my free time last week.

Now what I did not do with my free time this weekend was hang out with our neighbors. You may remember this post where I talked about loving my community and the neighbors we live by. Well this weekend was no different. On Saturday evening we went over to Travis and Rachel's house for dinner and Parker played with the boys, Logan and Landon. I definitely did NOT keep Parker's new bedtime by putting him in bed, grabbing the monitor and going back across the street to continue the fun. No one leaves there baby alone while they sleep.

Ok ok, I did do this and please do not call CPS. Our monitor has a long range and is also the motion sensor type where I can tell if he is still breathing. (Oh, and I definitely did not look at the monitor every 4 seconds to make sure everything was fine.) And although I say back to our neighbors "across the street", we live in a town home community where across the street is less than 25 feet from our door to theirs and not a city street.

To be honest, this did not work out so wonderfully that when we went to a barbecue on Sunday at Tony's I did not do the same thing for nap time, nope, NOT ME!

Mother of the year award on its way? Maybe not, but hey, sometimes a couple hours with friends sans child might keep me from going insane. :-)

On Saturday I did not let Parker ~~eat~~ lick a popsicle for as long as he was willing. He is great with solids and cold foods so I wouldn't be excited by him continuing to lick this that I just kept up with it. It probably was definitely not like red dye 287 or whatever one that is bad, because I know all about dyes that are safe/unsafe to eat.

This past weekend I did not take pictures of Parker after another nap just because his hair was so crazy. The poor kid did not inherit my crazy hair and therefore I'm not going to post them on my blog, because who does that to their own child?

And because he is not the cutest thing ever I did not take this picture this weekend so I could get an enlarged print of it for free from a giveaway that Jessica had recently.

So let me know, what have I missed this past week? Have any of YOU had ketchup and jelly french toast? GROSS!

Not Me! Monday

2009-08-24T10:58:00.001-07:00

This week MckMama is actually doing a spin off of Not Me! Monday. She is doing Not My Child Monday, but we all know Parker is perfect so I won't be able to participate! What? He's not? Says who? Ok ok, he's pretty close though. So today I will do mostly a Not Me! Monday post maybe with one or two Not My Child's thrown in there!

So let's see exactly what did not happen in my household this past week or so. Incase you forgot, I will remind you, I am the perfect wife, mother and overall human being!

I did not ask Aaron if he wanted to go for a walk and then 5 minutes later change into my pajamas. When he asked me about it I did not say I forgot, instead of just saying I was too lazy and wanted to sleep. I am not sleep deprived every now and then and therefore I exercise daily.

I did not let Parker cry for about 40 minutes early early Sunday morning. I always console him (Ok, really it didn't used to be so hard to) and make sure he goes right back to sleep. I wouldn't listen to him cry for that long while possibly shedding a tear myself, nope, not me!

And since Parker is perfect he has not been waking up between 2 and 4 a.m. wanting to be consoled for longer than 1 minute. He did not co-sleep with us while camping last week and did not possibly get used to this in just 3 short days. He's perfect remember, sleeps 12+ hours a night without a peep and would never do this! Nope, not him!

What have you, or your perfect child not been doing?