Booked Up and Stressed Out in June

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Dr. Seuss – theme of our birthday party

I hate the feeling of wanting something to be over. I want to be one of those people who always lives in the moment. I have to admit though that this is becoming increasingly hard this June. We are so busy. Tuesday was Steve’s birthday (30!), this Wednesday is my birthday (30!) and then on the 22nd my dear angel is 1. We are having a huge family birthday party to celebrate. This will be the only time we will make SJ share his birthday with his parents. This is also the first big party besides our wedding or holidays that I have thrown myself. I am of course using Pinterest as inspiration and signing myself up for way to many craft projects. I just want it to be amazing. This will also be the first time most of our friends and family will be seeing our home, so obviously I want the house to look nice. We hit our one year anniversary in our home next week, sorry for the delay folks! We also have birthday parties and grad parties almost every weekend this month as well. June is popular that is for sure!

The theme of the party is Dr. Seuss so I have been having fun finding lots of treasures on Etsy and in stores. I will share my success or not so successful stories in the coming weeks as everything unfolds.

In other news, we took SJ to his first Giants game. He was surprisingly really good even though it was a night game. He is such a gem that one. I hit the jackpot.

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Up for this weekend we have a grad party tonight, 2 birthday parties tomorrow, and a million and one things to do on Sunday. 🙂 Have a great weekend everyone!

Quote curtesy of Dr.Seuss. Photo source: unknown

SJ- 11 months

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Wow. 11 months. You talk a lot and it is awesome. Your favorite new words are, duck, oh good, and yesss. You still say dada like a champ and have started to say mama a little better. You have started saying something that more resembles dog then do-do. You are smart.

You eat! You finally eat just about anything (*knock on wood*). You love blueberries. Love them! You also really like peas which kind of cracks me up.

Gosh, still no walking but ridiculously close. You now can stand on your own for about 30 seconds to 1 minute so I know walking is right around the corner.

You love to sneak outside. It’s hilarious. If the house gets quiet, we say “Where is SJ??” You almost always have slipped through the back door and are banging on the outside table. By the way you love to bang on things.

You have discovered the kitchen. You like to throw up the cabinets and yank out the drawers and find treasures inside. Why I still haven’t baby proofed is beyond me. I guess I find it fun watching you explore, even though it is really exhausting. I always make sure you don’t hurt yourself though, don’t worry.

You move non-stop. You keep us busy but we love it. You also do this monkey crawl thing where you straighten your legs and crawl. It is hilarious.

You continue to amaze me and I just love you to pieces. Next we will have a huge celebration for the big 1!!

xoxo,

Mom

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This Past Week

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My mom and I 29 years ago and SJ and I on Mother’s Day

There were a few big milestones this past week. Starting with my very first Mother’s Day on Sunday. My mother was actually in town visiting from San Diego, and I haven’t spent a Mother’s Day with her in years. We didn’t do much, I cooked pancakes for breakfast and we went to a little part of town called, Niles Canyon, which has lots of antiques shops to quickly walk around. We didn’t have much time because we had to get back to cook an early dinner for Steve’s mom and family which truth be told totally stressed me out. I wanted Mother’s Day to be relaxing and wonderful but I guess it isn’t until you are old. Oh well, I guess the important part is spending time with SJ, the reason I am a mother, and that I did.

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2 years ago, May 15

On Wednesday, Steve and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary. It always feels odd celebrating a wedding anniversary since we have been together for almost 8 years and that feels like the anniversary we should be celebrating. However 2 years of marriage is pretty cool too. The post I put on Facebook about our anniversary got more likes than the birth of my son. Maybe people didn’t think we would last 2 years, ha! My sister-in-law Katie watched SJ for an hour while we went out for a child free dinner. It was nice to eat a meal without hiding the forks and knives off the table or cutting food into tiny pieces.

I am fortunate to have such a wonderful family and husband. These things are always worth a celebration!

On another note, I am quite excited it is Friday, this has been a full, busy, and very tiring week.

In My Kitchen – Red Beans and Rice

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I love Cajun food. I feel like I belong in New Orleans even though I have never traveled there. A few years ago I was dying to try to recreate some of these delicious dishes but they always sounded overwhelming or had ingredients I could barely pronounce much less find in a store. Then one glorious day I came across a simple recipe for red beans and rice. I have since made changes to it but seriously it is so easy and so delicious. Here is my adaption of red beans and rice.

Red Beans and Rice

  • diced chicken breast
  • andouille sausage – diced (I use Trader Joe’s chicken andouille sausage. Bonus points for making it healthier!- pic below)
  • 1/2 a cup of diced celery
  • 1/2 cup of diced onion (I usually use red just because that is what I have on hand)
  • 1/2 cup of green bell pepper
  • 1 1/2 cans of kidney beans
  • 1/4 cup of chicken stock
  • white or brown rice steamed on the side

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*Note I usually take a cereal bowl and just dice up equal parts celery, onion, and green bell pepper and slowly pour enough of the mixture into the meat so there is an even proportion of meat to veggies

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  1. Sautee the chicken over medium heat with a little oil
  2. Once the chicken is no longer pink, add in the sausage

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  1. Let the sausage soften then add in the veggies (as I mentioned above I slowly mix in the mixture until there is an even proportion)

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  1. Once the veggies are soft, add in the beans

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  1. Stir for about 5 minutes and then add in the chicken stock
  2. Stir until the liquid is absorbed
  3. Pour over rice and enjoy!!

Diaper Wars

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Lord help me. We have entered into what I like to call the “diaper wars”. Every time I try to change that child’s diaper it is a full on battle. Screaming, kicking, full-out hysteria. You would think I was trying to set his foot on fire or something.

I try to give him a toy to play with (works sometimes), sing, dance, make funny noises but it is just mayhem. Most of the time he just takes off crawling naked out of his room trying to escape the evil that is his mom with a clean diaper. Sometimes I will even try to change him while he stands up.

I have to give him a hug and apologize profusely for torturing him once we are done. I don’t even want to talk about what happens when we have to change a poop diaper. Prayers, lots of prayers.

Does anyone else have “diaper wars”? How do you deal with them?

SJ- 10 months

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Oh kid, you make me so happy. You laugh all the time. Everything amuses you, thus amusing me. You have also turned into a bit of a love. You gave me your first wet kiss and then proceeded to give yourself 3 in the mirror. You hear my voice and you quickly crawl to come find me and then climb up my leg until I pick you up.

You are getting better about food except for you are a snack junkie just like your mama. Goldfish for lunch? Absolutely! Cheerios for dinner? Yes sir! Sometimes we can get you to eat chicken and vegetables so we are moving in the right direction.

You love being outside, especially playing with the neighborhood kids. They run circles around you but you don’t care. I set up a ball pit for you outside that you love to play with. You kick those balls around, but best yet, you THROW the balls. Yes, you already have an arm on you. You even wind up, an athlete in the making. We will thank Max for teaching you that.

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The neighbors graciously gave you a ton of toys but your favorite is the car that I can push. You even taught yourself to honk the horn, you are a smart one. I tell you to hold on tight and you white knuckle that bad boy. You just get it.

Your getting big so my arm gets tired carrying you around. We started putting you in the shopping carts which you love. Even though you drive me crazy because you throw stuff out of the cart repeatedly, but hey we are having fun, right?

You are such a muffin and truly make every day better than the last.

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A suburban weekend

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Being a working mom, I treasure my weekends. A weekend is time to spend with my family but it is also a time to get stuff done. Sometimes it can be difficult to balance chores with fun but this weekend we nailed it. This was one of the best weekends I have had in a while for no particular reason.

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So what did we do? We went to home depot (3 times), which was surprisingly fun. SJ loves Home Depot so that makes it enjoyable. The husband obviously loves Home Depot since it is a man’s toy store.

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We went to lunch at one of our new favorite restaurants, The Vine, where we chilled outside, drank some beer and ate some yummy food. SJ sat on his first rocking horse and ate a crab cake (seriously). We got back and drank some keg beer with the neighbors and then we had a BBQ at our house.

There was also yard work, grocery shopping, house cleaning, and visits from family. But for some reason it seemed relaxing and fun. SJ is so active and fun to hang out with now around the house. He scored some new toys from Grandma and had a blast.

A typical suburban weekend. Looking forward to the next one!

Momfession – My kid ate baby Vicks

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Last Monday I found SJ eating baby Vicks vapor rub. The kid climbed up his changing table, opened one of the baskets (he didn’t knock it down, just opened it), reached in, pulled out the Vicks, took the Vicks out of its box, and THEN unscrewed it. He was covered, his hands, feet, face. I immediately threw him in the sink in all his clothes as he giggled like nothing was wrong. After a dramatic phone call to my husband, I called poison patrol who reassured me that he would be fine. Apparently everything in it is safe and he may just get a stomach ache (he didn’t). He is fine, he survived just as kids usually do.

Truth be told, this did ensue a minor breakdown in myself. I felt like a failure. I felt like maybe if I hadn’t been so busy trying to get everyone ready and out the door for work/daycare, I would have been watching him closer. Even though this is silly, as I am sure even stay at home moms have hiccups like this. We are not perfect and no one can be watching their roaming baby/toddler 100% of the time.

Someday we will laugh about this I am sure. Being a mom is not always easy but it definitely keeps you on your toes.

Image Source: someecards.com

Our Easter Weekend

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This Easter weekend we headed down to San Diego for Steve’s brother’s confirmation to the catholic church. We also got to spend some time with my family who lives down there. Well spending time with family aside, the trip was a complete nightmare.

To start, we drove 7 hours with a baby and 4 dogs. Enough said. Towards the end of this magnificent drive, my dog Mochi starts doing this bizarre “dance” in the back. We laughed at him as he jumped into the front and landed on my lap. He continued to do the dance, then it hit me. This dog had to poop. I took a McDonald’s’ cup up to his ass and he pooped in there, still funny. Then he jumped down and I realized I was covered in shit. Shit on my clothes, on my shoes, on SJ’s blanket, etc… NOT SO FUNNY. (I should also mention that this is the second time this has happened to me. Our late dog Henry shit all over me in the car once many years ago. Surely this can’t happen twice in a lifetime but this is my life we are talking about).

My sister and best friend Morgan

My sister and best friend Morgan

My amazing mom

My amazing mom

My sister in law Katie (I got lucky with her)

My sister in law Katie (I got lucky with her)

While in San Diego we had a really nice time with my family and Steve’s family. I love spending time with my mom and sister. I never get to see them so this time is always special. My mom and I also went over to my grandma’s house and had a really great visit. I treasure my time with my grandma, she is AMAZING. However, we did not sleep at all. I mean not at all. Dog continued to get sick all over the hotel room and baby was not happy with the change in his sleeping arrangements.

My beautiful grandma

My beautiful grandma

Saturday night working off of maybe 6 hours of sleep in 2 days we made it to Steve’s brother’s fiance’s parent’s house. (Wow that sounds confusing.) Her family was really awesome and hospitable. This was also my one opportunity to dress SJ up for Easter and get some pictures since we would be in the car all day on Sunday.

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On Sunday, we got up early and just wanted to head home. Why? Because we were all sick. Apparently when you don’t sleep for 3 days you get sick. Good to know. We said good-bye and were on our way!

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I was bummed we didn’t get to do Easter baskets and egg hunts since we were in a hotel room and then a car, but Easter is really about spending time with family and remembering Jesus Crist. This we did so I guess baby’s first Easter was a success!

Sometimes the best part about going away, is the realization of how much you love and appreciate your own home. There is nothing than the feeling of your own bed. Well, maybe chocolate. Chocolate makes me feel pretty good too.

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SJ – 9 months

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Weight: 20 pounds on the money

Height: 29.5 inches (tall!)

Milestones: Where do I start? CRAWLING!! You started crawling and you are amazing at it. Off you go kid. You also quickly picked up standing on your own. You pull yourself up on everything. Tables, chairs, me, walls, you name it. Hair!! You finally have more hair which is pretty awesome in itself. Your mouth filled up with teeth (4 on top, 3 on the bottom total now). AND you said your name, YOU SAID YOUR NAME. Sssssjja! It was the cutest and it melts my heart, which you know now so you won’t say it often.

Favorites: Still music. Now you like to bang things together to make your own music. You also love empty water bottles with a little bit of water in the bottom to shake (pictured above). There are a few other household items you now call favorites; kitchen utensils, an airborne container, keys just to name a few. You also love the baby ergo and when we pretend run around the house. You are so much fun.

The most important of all is your acid reflux is better. Oh kid you don’t know how happy this makes me. No more medicine, no more unhappy baby. I feel like you grew leaps and bounds once it cleared up. You put on weight, you got tall, you grew out of lots of clothes, and you smile and laugh all the time. And that is what it is all about.

Baby boy, you couldn’t make me happier. Every day with you gets better and better. We are having so much fun together and I can’t believe this is just the beginning.

I love you to the moon and back.

xoxo,

Mom