Happy New Year

Wow, I can’t believe it’s the last day of 2010. This year has been filled with many changes, challenges, new memories, milestones and so much more. While a lot of people seem to think 2011 is going to be the best year ever, I’m not as optimistic—I’m just being honest. Don’t get me wrong, I do have a positive outlook on what the year has in store, but I’m really just hoping that I can continue to make some steps forward during the year even though I know it’s still going to be a challenge. With that being said, I do look forward to some exciting things in 2011 like weddings and babies (other people’s babies by the way). I also can’t believe that my little man will be 3 years old and Lexxa will be 6 and moving on to the first grade! As hard as it is being a parent, I can’t imagine my life without those kids. I am so proud of the little people they are becoming. They make me smile every day and I find the greatest joy in watching them grow and learn new things all the time. They also make me forget about my shortcomings because we love each other unconditionally and no amount of money or success can ever replace that.

So, I know 2011 will be filled with much love, happiness, laughs and amazing moments, but I’m also ready to tackle its challenges. Here’s to taking on a new year no matter what’s in store!

Flashback Whatever Day

I think the idea of "Flashback Friday" is great for bloggers and a couple of people I know have done it...but we all know that I'm not that great at posting consistently, so I'll just do flashbacks whenever I'm in the mood.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my friend who is getting married in Maui next year. She is my dear friend and I wouldn't miss her wedding. This means that I'm going to Maui! So, what does this have to do with a flashback? Well, Brad and I went to Maui on our honeymoon almost 7 years ago. I can't wait to go back!

Parasailing

The Kea Lani Fairmont in Wailea

Dinner Cruise

Absolutely Beautiful!

Girls Weekend

My twin cousins, Tiana and Michelle are just 5 days older than me. This means that they just had 30th birthdays as well. So, we decided that we should celebrate together. We ended up deciding to go on a wine tasting trip to Paso Robles. It was a ton of fun and it felt so good to have a weekend away (thanks, Brad!). This was a fabulous way to celebrate my birthday and I'm so lucky to be so close with my cousins so that we can share such great times. How could you go wrong with a limo, lots of wine and good company! Oh and on Sunday, we headed down to San Luis Obispo and did some shopping...no kids running around, no one saying "Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom," just taking our sweet time doing whatever sounded good next.

Don't get me wrong, I missed the kids and I was happy to come home and celebrate my actual birthday with them and the rest of my family the next day...but this trip is just what I needed to unwind a little. The only down side was that I started catching a little bit of a cold a day or two before the trip, so I was fighting that while we were there...not to worry though, it didn't ruin my fun!

Approaching 30

So, it's officially been a month since I last posted anything here. In my head, I keep reminding myself to update my blog, but maybe my life just isn't that exciting and I don't have that much to post! Ha! Or, I just forgot that the random things that happen in my life can make for interesting blog posts. Anyway, the point is that I started writing this post back in October and I never got around to finishing it. So, here it is...it may seem a little random and incomplete, but I'm going to post it anyway.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how fast the year has gone by. I feel like October came and went and it's already November!

There are a lot of things I like about this time of year--the changing weather, eggnog lattes, spending the holidays with friends and family. But this November, it's my 30th birthday. I have a close friend, Mari, who turned 30 in the end of October, so I guess that's got me thinking about turning 30 a little more than I would normally think about my upcoming birthday. She just got engaged, so she has so many exciting things beginning to happen at the start of her 30s. I'm excited for weddings and babies (from other friends/family members hopefully). I'm happy to say that I'm actually looking forward to my 30s. As much as it's sad to see your kids grow up, I do look forward to them being a little older and a little more self-sufficient. It will be fun to go and do things with them without having to pack up our whole world just to do so.

I'll be honest, the last few years have probably been the roughest and the happiest years of our lives all at once. I guess there are a lot of things you think about when you're younger like where you think you'll be 5 or 10 years from now. I may not have been that successful in certain things, but I think I was successful in some areas of my life. I've been married for 7 years now with two happy and amazing kids.

So, even though I'm still me and 30 won't feel much different than 29, I'm looking at my 30s as a new journey with new successes and obstacles and many new experiences and memories. Here's to turning 30!

Fun With Cookies

So, this is a super easy and fast cookie recipe and it's a lot of fun for the kids. It's a basic cookie batter and then they can add their own toppings--sprinkles, chocolate chips, cinnamon-sugar or anything else you can think of (if you can't read the recipe on the picture and you want it, let me know and I can send you a bigger version or re-type it).

I know it's just simple cookies, but it makes me feel like I'm doing a fun activity with the kids and the cookies are really good too!

Patterns

Lexxa still has a tough time going to sleep without me or Brad in the room. This is not a surprise since she's always been kinda high maintenance that way. Needless to say, my nights are pretty frustrating sometimes. Lexxa and Logan share a room so I've got a 2 year old who doesn't want to go to bed and a 5 year old who wants me to stay in there with her. And, half the time they end up playing and giggling and not going to sleep right away. I feel like I have a pretty good routine for them, so they know it's bedtime, but yet, it's still a battle.

So, last night I had it. I decided that if Lexxa could play and giggle in her room with Logan, then she really, truly didn't need me in there with it. So, I left. In the middle of her playing with Logan, she would cry and say "I want Mommy. I want Daddy." I went back in the room to get them to lay in bed and I was frustrated and telling her that she couldn't be that upset. "You're laughing and then crying...laughing and then crying" I say in my firmest voice trying to explain to her that she's fine and I'm not even that far away in our little two bedroom apartment. So, she says to me "Mommy, that's a pattern--laughing, crying, laughing, crying!" She was so excited about it too. I gave up on the lecture. But, I was really happy to know that she's learning so much in school!

How I Met Your Father

Yesterday was the season premier of the show "How I Met Your Mother." It's a pretty funny sitcom about a guy narrating to his children his journey to meeting their mother. It made me think of when I first met Brad. And, today happens to be the day, 9 years ago, that Brad and I went on our first date. A blind date to be exact.

My friend worked with Brad and told me that she worked with this really nice guy and she thought we should go out. I'm not that shy about these kind of things and I trusted her judgement, so I said ok. So, we talked on the phone a couple of times and then decided to go out. We went to Red Lobster and to a movie--I know it sounds lame and not that spectacular, but at the time it seemed like a great idea. We had a good time and Brad was pretty shy, but that's where it all began. We spent a lot of time together after that and look where we ended up.

It's crazy to look back to 9 years ago and see how much our lives have changed. Honestly, after our first date, I never would have thought that I would have ended up married to the guy. But now I know that life just wouldn't be the same without him :-)

Catching up...the longest post ever

Wow, is it really September already? This means that it's almost time for eggnog lattes...oh wait, sorry, back to the point of this post. All of my friends do such a great job of keeping up their blogs and I just can’t seem to do it. I feel like so many things have happened since June that I haven’t posted updates on. So, this may be a long and boring post, but at least I’ll have it written down somewhere.

The summer started off with Lexxa graduating from her PreK class. She absolutely loved school and made some friends along the way. She was all decked out in her cap and gown and the class sang songs for all of the parents and family members that were there for the celebration. After the graduation, I headed to work and some of the parents got together later in the evening at Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. Lexxa was a little unsure of this since she is scared of Chuck E. Cheese, but we went and she had fun. The only problem was that she didn’t want to go by the bathroom because of the big puppet Chuck E Cheese and in the middle of the place, she peed in her pants. We had to go and get her all cleaned up just because she didn’t want to walk in that direction.

Next, Logan turned 2! Every time my kids have a birthday, it makes me think about how fast time seems to go by. But, since we know that we don’t want any more kids, I feel like every milestone with Logan is a little different. I’m so happy to see him growing up and learning new things, but at the same time, I’m sad because he’s not a baby anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to go back to the baby stage, it’s just a different feeling when you know it’s your last. Anyway, we didn’t do too much to celebrate his birthday because we were getting ready to head to Disneyland. We had a few close friends and family members come out to the park to have cake and play, and he had a blast. Then it was time for our Disneyland trip. I guess this could be a whole blog post in itself, but I’m condensing all of this because I know I’ll never catch up if I don’t. Our trip was awesome. Brad and I hadn’t been to there since we were younger and so everything was new to all of us. The hotel was great, and we had a lot of fun at Disneyland and California Adventure. Halle Berry was even sitting right behind us at the Pixar Parade! That was pretty crazy. Her little daughter is so adorable. Lexxa especially loved the Princess breakfast at Ariel’s grotto. I will never forget the priceless look of pure excitement in her eyes when she knew the princesses were coming out. It was a ridiculously expensive breakfast for what you get, but in the end it was all worth it just to see her excitement. Even Logan loved the princesses…he laid his head on each and every one of them to take a picture. He also loved seeing Mickey Mouse or Mickey Mouse related items everywhere. All in all it was a great trip and it was really nice spend time as a family. We’re excited to go back in a couple of years when Logan is a older and he can do a little more too.

July was filled with birthday parties, barbecues, visits from out of town friends and Brad’s Pebble Beach Golf trip. And, we even transitioned Logan into a toddler bed (which is basically his crib with the front railing taken off). He’s doing a pretty good job, it just takes him a bit longer to go to sleep. Some nights he drives me insane and others he’s totally fine.

Then August arrived. Lexxa started school and she loves it so far. I can’t believe my little girl is in Kindergarten. I feel like having kids makes you judge time a little differently. For example, when I started working at my current company, Lexxa was only 5 months old. It just seems weird to think of it that way even though I know I’ve been there for 4 and a half years. Anyway, Lexxa is doing great in school, but I’m not sure if I’m ready with all that is involved. Two weeks into it and we’re already starting fundraisers and the school is asking for volunteers for their back school BBQ and for the classroom and so on. Things are crazy enough now that Brad is working at night, so now I just have to find a way to balance it all. Either way, I’m so proud of my little girl and I’m amazed at her unique personality (although the whole “I’m a big girl and I have an attitude” thing is not fun sometimes).
Next up: Lexxa’s Birthday! She had to have a Princess and the Frog party and she was so excited to have it at Pump It Up. Another big milestone—5 years old. Her party ended up being lots of fun. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so excited for her birthday. I think it really registered that the day was all about her and she got to be the princess! Needless to say, she had a great day and was showered with way too many gifts. Thanks friends and family for coming and celebrating with us!



Ok, I started writing this post in August and now it’s already September. Hopefully you'll see another post from me before Christmas so that I don't have to torture you with another post this long!

My Cousin and The Frog

Ok, let me start by saying that I desperately need to update my blog...I need to give an update on Lexxa's PreK graduation, Logan's second birthday and our Disneyland trip. But, this is such a funny story that I'm going to tell it first.

A couple of weeks ago, Brad was out with his dad and his brother and my cousins Michelle and Tiana came over. We put Logan to bed and Lexxa wanted to watch "The Princess and the Frog." If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. It's a really cute movie with a good story. Anyway, us girls were all sitting with our popcorn and watching the movie when all of a sudden Michelle made a sound like she was a little freaked out but she didn't want to over react because Lexxa was sitting right next to her. She points towards the middle of the living room. Mind you, it's dark so I look and think it's a moth or something and then Michelle says "it's a frog!" Lexxa then proceeds to jump on to Michelle's shoulders and she says "Auntie Michelle, I wish you could stand up" while she was holding on for dear life. In the mean time I'm trying to figure out what to do to get it out of the house and Tiana is totally calm (I would usually make Brad take care of this, but he wasn't home). So, I'm freaking out, Michelle is freaking out, Lexxa is freaking out and Tiana calmly gets up to try and catch the frog (it's pretty small by the way). I gave her a little bowl and she managed to follow the frog and put the bowl over it. So, then I asked what we were supposed to do since the frog was now between the carpet and the bowl. Michelle's suggestion was to just leave it until Brad got home and I was convinced that was what we should do. But, yet again, Tiana calmly got a piece of paper and put it under the bowl...then she carried it outside and set it free!

So, if you haven't seen the movie...the irony of it is that the princess in the movie is named Tiana and she is the one who initially kisses the Frog and my cousin's name is Tiana and we were watching the movie and she was the only one brave enough to get the frog out of the living room! I wonder what would have happened if she kissed the frog...I guess we'll never know.

The Biggest Loser...

The Biggest Loser was not me...

So, at work a group of the girls decided to have a Biggest Loser competition. Those of us that wanted to participate put in $25 and whoever lost the largest percentage of their own body weight won the pot (second place got a little money and third got their money back just to be fair). The competition was from April 1st to June 3rd (today).

I was not the winner (or loser I guess). It would have been nice to have that extra money right before our Disneyland trip, but oh well. However, I am happy to report that I lost a total of 11.6lbs! I feel like I still have a ways to go, but I just tried to eat a lot better and I didn't exercise a whole lot, so I thought I still did pretty good even though I didn't win. I just thought I would share this since I feel like there's a lot of getting motivated and weight loss talk going around :-)

Soccer Diaries Part II

So, I won't drag this on...I'll try to make it brief since there's not much to tell.

(See Soccer Diaries Part I if you need an update)

Week 4 - Lexxa didn't go to soccer. She was coughing a lot and we thought she might be coming down with something, so she didn't go. It was too bad because I thought we were making some progress.

Week 5 - She still didn't play. Ok, I shouldn't say she didn't play at all because she did actually go on the field (only with her Daddy). She basically just watched the other kids run around her, but at least she was on the field.

Week 6 - She didn't play at all, but she had a blast with her teammates at the BBQ afterwards. She even went up and accepted her medal from her coach...she wasn't shy about it at all! She must have known that it was finally over.

So, soccer season wasn't that successful, but I guess she got an idea of how a team sport works. We'll see what we do next with her. Logan might be playing sports before she's playing another one :-)

Our New Niece - Lacie Kathleen

Brad's baby sister had a baby! Our new niece, Lacie Kathleen was born on May 13th at 3:56am and she was 6lbs 4oz and 19.5 inches.

I was at the hospital until around 3:00am and I just missed her being born at almost 4am. Either way, she is beautiful and we love her!

Baby Books?

Ok, I started writing this a while back and I'm finally posting it...

Logan got his first haircut recently. When my mom and dad came by, they mentioned how I needed to put it in his baby book. Baby book? I got one for Lexxa and I filled out some basic information, but I didn't get very far. I saved random things and notes and just put them inside the book, but I never really moved them over. With Logan, however, I never got a baby book. So, my excuse to my parents was that I have a blog now. I know, it's a stretch, and I don't even update my blog that much, but hey, it's similar to a baby book when you put new stories about your kids every once in a while.

One day, I want to sit down and just type up the story of my kids' lives--how Brad and I met, when we got married, when we got pregnant and all about when they were born until the present time (whenever that ends up being). I figured it's going to be a pretty long story. So, here's my attempt at a blog post to make up for not having baby books.

Lexxa - 4 years, 8 months

Right now, Lexxa loves playing computer games and doing anything artistic and crafty. It's amazing how good she is on the computer already--she knows how to open her online games all by herself. She is trying soccer out pretty unsuccessfully so far (see Soccer Diaries Part I). She absolutely loves her little brother, even though she tortures him sometimes. She's a smart and loving little girl. She's almost too smart for her own good sometimes because she already tries to negotiate with us! She's great at writing her name along with Logan, Mommy and Daddy. She loves writing the alphabet as well. She's also a funny girl and she actually make jokes. She's almost done with her PreK class that she absolutely loves and she's moving on to Kindergarten in the fall. She's growing up so fast! She drives us a little crazy sometimes, but she also makes us smile every day.

Logan - 23 months

Logan is such a mellow and fun-loving little boy. He's learning new words every day and he is completely happy just sitting and playing with blocks, cars or trains. He also loves to eat, just about anything! He loves dropping his sister off at school and he talks to all of the moms and teachers when he's there. And, a few days ago, he had his first haircut! He doesn't have a lot of hair, but he had a lot of little scraggly pieces on the sides and in the back, so it was time to clean it up. Now, he looks like such a grown up little boy. I have to be honest, I'm a little sad about it.

There's something about watching your kids grow up so fast especially when you know you're not going to have any more. In my mind, I just know that the baby stage is just about over and my kids are going to become big kids, teenagers and then adults right before my eyes. Every stage is a new adventure--fun, stressful, happy, sad and every other emotion you can think of.

Soccer Diaries Part I

I always thought one of the exciting things about being a parent is when you get to see your child go to dance class, play soccer or t-ball or some other sort of organized activity. I danced when I was younger, so it's always been a passion for me and when Lexxa told me she wanted to take dance class, I was thrilled! I envisioned watching her in her cute little costumes on stage with the other little ones and only half way doing the dance and looking at the teacher to guide her and the group. So, she went to dance class on and off (between being sick or having other things come up) for a couple of months. I thought she was really enjoying it until one day she told Brad that she didn't want to go to dance class anymore. She said "All I want to do is play soccer, t-ball and golf." My heart was a little broken I have to admit. But, we weren't going to force her to do something that she really wasn't into because maybe someday she'll go back to it and enjoy it.

So, after that, all she could talk about was playing soccer. We made sure to tell her that she can't quit if she signs up...she has to play the whole season before she can say if she likes it and wants to continue or not. She said ok and was really excited to play. So, here's how it's gone down so far:

Week 1 - There is no game on week one, just a chance to meet the team and do a little practice. We go out to the soccer field, we get her orange t-shirt since she's on the orange team. She freaks out and doesn't want to practice or even talk to the other kids. She's just completely attached to us the whole time. It was a little embarrassing because she was fully crying and saying she didn't want to play anymore. But, since she committed to it, we were going to stay the whole time no matter what. After that, we told her that she had to go back and just try again.

Week 2 - So, the set up for week 2 is that the kids practice for about a half hour and then play a game for a half hour. She won't really practice much, but I got her to do some of the drills if I did it with her. My parents and my brother and his girlfriend came out just to watch her play, but they didn't get to watch anything except the other kids running around the field. She was better because she wasn't totally crying this time, but all she did was watch the other kids. Ugh, week 2 was better, but not a success.

Week 3 - Picture day. So, we had to get to the field early on week 3 for individual and team pictures. The day before, Lexxa said she was going to be happy at soccer and that she was going to try. I was happy to hear her at least say that, but I wasn't too hopeful. And, I wasn't sure if she was even going to cooperate for pictures. Well, we got lucky and she took her pictures with no problem...awesome, I thought that it might just be a better day because she was doing so well. I was wrong. When it was time to start practicing and playing, she froze up again and didn't even want to go practice. So we spent another morning watching all of the other kids play soccer while we just sat on the sidelines.

So, my fairytale of cheering Lexxa on now that she's old enough to play in organized sports isn't going so well. Stay tuned to hear how the next few weeks go...it could be a long season!

My Inspirational Picture is Back!

So, probably about 5 or 6 years ago, Alyssa bought me this picture (I think for my birthday?). We had actually seen it at the Taste of Morgan Hill or the Mushroom Mardi Gras and I fell in love with it. She remembered that I liked it and remembered the artist and she got it for me!Anyway, I had it up in my house in Florida and then when I moved back to California, it stayed buried in storage and I never ended up putting it up.

So, while we were moving I came acrossed it and I knew that I wanted to put it up again. It's now in my bathroom area so I can look at it every day when I'm getting ready. It's an inspiration to me and I'll tell you why. Sorry for the dark picture by the way...it's that or a big flash circle in the middle of the picture.



The woman is putting her whole body and soul into what she is singing--she doesn't care who is looking and she is owning what she is doing. It reminds me to always be myself no matter who is watching, to always put my heart and soul into what I'm doing in my life and to just have fun and let loose and let my hair down once in a while.

I absolutely love this picture. Thanks Alyssa, you're the best!

Words of Wisdom from a 4 Year Old

Ok, I know I'm totally lagging on keeping my blog updated...but I have been making notes when Lexxa says funny/random/smart things, so here they are!

Lexxa: "Hey, my pillow pet was just in the hamper."
Me: "We can't wash the pillow pet with your clothes."
Lexxa: "Well, its washable, I saw it on TV."

Lexxa: "Johnny says he has two girlfriends at school."
Me: "Really what else did he say?"
Lexxa: "He said me and Delaney are his girlfriends."

Lexxa: "I'm hungry."
Me: "Really, do you want to have lunch?"
Lexxa: "Yes."
Me: "It's a little early to eat lunch, don't you think?"
Lexxa: "But I'm so hungry from all of that hard work!"

So, we're picking out Lexxa's clothes for school one night and I mentioned that they needed to be ironed and she said "let me demonstrate!" Where in the heck did that big word come from?

Lexxa: "Mommy, I have a brilliant idea--Nana and Papa should come over and watch us."

I'm always so surprised when I hear these big words coming out of her mouth, especially when she says them in the right context.


And, here's a fairly new picture of the kids just for fun :-)


Don't you love how Logan looks like he's being forced to smile? Really he just says "cheeeeeese" now and that's what he looks like!

What's More Addicting Than Girl Scout Cookies?

Reese's eggs. Yep, it's that time of year again.

The Family Story

Lexxa told me a bedtime story last night and I thought I would share some quotes from it. She called it "The Family Story." Melissa, I can totally relate to your Vocabulary post because it makes me laugh when kids talk about things in context.

"Once upon a time there was a girl who was really nice and she has big, big boobs and long legs..." Wow, she's talking about me, I wonder if my daughter thinks I'm a super model (ok, I doubt it, but it was funny). Then she goes on:

"And she's really nice and she helps people and she makes bikes for kids." I did a charity bike building event during the holidays and she remembers that, I thought it was so sweet.

"And Mommy and Daddy and Lexxa and Logan went home and read a book in Morgan Hill!"

I'm so amuzed by her imagination.