New Year, New Everything!

     Well, here we are again, 9 months later. I don't even know why I have a blog honestly. Well, that's not true, I know why...but for some reason a majority of the time I have no idea what to even talk about. Eh, whatever!

     So, it's finally January. Koko and I have been talking about all the big changes we have been planning for 2013 for quite awhile now. No, no...not these silly resolutions that are just a ticking time bomb of failure. Real changes. Like...our whole life is getting ready to start fresh.

     Many of you know that we have started our photography business, The Sweet Spot Photography. Things have been amazing! We are awaiting our big launch date (which is coming soon!!) -first piece to the puzzle. There is a lot of work that goes into this and I love every minute of it! I absolutely adore that I can produce images for people that they love! I have always loved taking pictures...now I can make this a reality. I couldn't do it without Koko! We have so much fun meeting new people & it's something we can do together. I love it!

     Now, we have also jumped on the weight loss train that comes around every new year...however, we have been planning this for awhile! We are 2 weeks in, Koko has lost 6 pounds already! I have lost a little over 2...which I am totally fine with. Now, let me lay some things out...I have already been told that i am "too skinny & don't need to lose weight". I am not trying to lose a bunch of weight to be pencil thin with my ribs hanging out. Just because I am "thin" definitely does not mean I am healthy. I am was extremely unhealthy. I will admit that I would eat at Wendy's a minimum of three times a week! Not to mention when we would go out to eat at Chili's, Outback, or Farley's for dinner. It was getting crazy. Plus, to top it off, I was drinking roughly 6-8 cans of coke a day. I am literally what you could refer to as "skinny-fat". I was super cranky if I didn't get my soda. I was addicted to it. Now...we have started with the herbalife shakes. If you know me...I am quite possibly the pickiest eater ever. I won't try new things and I have about a handful of things I actually eat. Herbalife was not something I was looking forward to honestly. I was looking forward to the results, not the "diet and exercise". Like I said earlier, we are 2 weeks in. I have a shake 2 times a day and one meal...although, I'm not super strict about it...sometimes I have 2 meals and a shake...whatever.  After the first three days, I wasn't craving soda anymore...I was craving the shakes. Now, I feel so much better. I drink water (with mio) and eat alot of fruits. I have energy and all in all, I just feel...better. I was not expecting this! Koko and I also work out together every night. It is literally changing our life. Soooo weird. I can't wait to see where we are at next month!

     Ok, off the weight loss topic now. So, Koko and I had a crazy talk last night. We have been together since February 2007...almost 6 years. I started telling him how I am starting to feel more confident. It's been a long time since I have had confidence in myself. I was thinking about how I used to be in high school...I considered myself fun, loud, and outgoing-I could care less what people thought. Now...I would have to say that I am pretty quiet, shy, and extremely self-conscious. Then, Koko told me a few things that I was completely oblivious to. I'll spare you the boring details...but basically it seems like a lot of who I am changed when I was in a certain relationship. I was so blind to it, I didn't even realize that I was miserable or that I had changed. Koko made me realize quite a few things about myself and now, I feel like I can get back to me...the real me. Don't get me wrong, I love my life and my family...but now its time to really fix me. I am no longer going to be the shy one who compares myself to everyone when I walk into a room. I am not going to let people who don't deserve my time- have it. I am tired of trying to make everyone happy. This year, I am doing things for me and my family. I am so over fake friendships wasting my time. Things are changing...finally! 2013...I'm so ready for you!

Mia's first birthday!

I just wanted to give a quick recap of Mia's first birthday since I am awful at keeping up with the blog! I cant believe it has already been a few weeks since we celebrated her first birthday! We were really worried that the weather wasnt going to hold up since the weekend before was filled with wind advisories. Luckily, the day of her birthday party there was no wind and sunny skies! We got lucky! We kind of went all out for her party! I literally worked for 3 days on her table...rice krispies treats, jello cups with cool whip, cupcakes, cake, and cookie pops. Nikki made some adorable cake pops and these pretzel rolo things...amazing.

We also got a jumping balloon and set up the little pool with a slide. The kids all had a blast! Mia was super spoiled (big surprise I know). She also LOVED her cake!!! She got it everywhere! We also let the other kids dig in with her! It was so cute! She had a blast!

I'm very proud of the pillow I made her too! I love owls for her room so I attempted to make an owl pillow to match the decorations Emily and I made for her party...here's the picture of when she opened it! She started giving it kisses right away!:)

I cant believe how fast this year flew by! Mia is getting so big and smarter by the day! I'm so happy with our little family!

Memories!

There have been so many memories that I feel like I am forgetting! Things I thought I would for sure remember as time goes on...like silly things Mason would say...or when/how he started crawling and walking. Of course, after thinking about it I can recall some things...mostly mortifying moments lol...but my goal is to really start recording little day to day things that make me smile! Hopefully I can just come back in and edit this post to keep them all in a safe place that cant be lost:)

So for starters-memories that seem to stick out.
Mia-
*At 9 months-she has taken 3 steps...so it wont be long before she is walking!!!
                     -She is such a little drama queen!
                     -Her favorite food is pizza right now
                     -I can finally put her hair in pigtails!
                     - She says Mama, Dada, Bye-Bye (and waves), tries to say kitty
                     -started sleeping in her crib- up to 4 hours a night:)
                     -she drinks out of her own sippy cup now
                     -had her 9mo appt today-she is very advanced for her age...according to her doctor they
                      are slightly concerned about her height and weight. She weighed in at 17lbs 15.4oz.
                     Personally I think she is fine since she still looks like my little chunk. It has only been
                     since she started crawling, walking with her walker, cruising...etc-that her weight has
                     dipped, so give me a break:) she is healthy!!

 -So, she started really walking on the (feb)12th, and hasn't slowed down since! now she is everywhere...and getting into everything!! As of today (the 18th feb) she figured out how to put her hands on her head to play peek a boo...sometimes she'll actually make it over her eyes, its so cute! she also tries to say "ooooh i looove you" cuz we always say that to her and mas! she said Gus this morning-the dog. She has really gotten lovey lately! huggies all the time!!

Mason-
*He started crawling by being bribed with yogurt melts.
*He used to say AH-pepper meaning big helper when he was little because he loved being my big helper.
*2.5years- One time on our way to Santa Fe we stopped in Socorro to let Mas use the restroom at McDonald's. He is pretty shy around strangers... but this time he wasn't... while we were waiting an older lady said hi and how are you doing to Mas and without skipping a beat he tells her, (for the sake of pronunciation we'll spell it 'kneeknee'-and use your imagination, I'm sure you know what he is referring to) "My 'kneeknee'  hurts...but then I'm going to go pee and my 'kneeknee' will feel all better." I didn't even know what to say...I'm sure i turned bright red and just told her sorry. She was sweet tho, luckily she just chuckled a little and said that you have to respect that kind of honesty...I could not get out of there quick enough lol.
*2.5 years-One day I took the kids in to see Koko during his lunch break. Koko is a manager at the branch he works at and when one of his tellers, a lady in her 60s came in to say hello to the kids...as soon as she started talking to Mia and started to hold her hands, Mason stood up on his chair and loudly said, "NO GRANDMA, BABY DOESN'T LIKE YOU!!!" Koko and I were SO embarrassed! She laughed it off fortunately!
*Just turned 2-OMG, so we were in the process of getting Mason potty trained. Things were going pretty well. We had just showered and I was sitting on the bed in my towel and told Mas to try to go potty in the toilet. I started looking at something on my phone and didn't notice that Mas hadn't gone to the bathroom. Then he peed on my foot! I probably scared him a little when I yelled, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" He finished peeing in the toilet, then I made him come to the bathtub with me and wash my foot!
*2.5 years-When we were in Hobby Lobby he looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I don't like this walmart" :)
*2.5 years-I had both kids with me when we went to the social security administration to get Mia's card. A normal looking guy walked in, but he had some bright greenish blue hair. All I kept thinking was PLEASE don't let this guy sit in front of us...so of course-he sits in front of us. I tried keeping Mas busy with angry birds...hoping he wouldn't notice. It was really quiet and then Mas started to notice. He said, "That guy has green hair"-and I was just like, "uh huh shhhhh"-this time...louder of course... he said, "he's silly huh Mom, he has green hair!!!"-again, I said, "ya-shhhhhh". A lady next to me was trying not to laugh. Of course he would say it again. I don't know who had it worse...me...or the guy with green hair?!
*3 years-When we were in Vegas, Koko took Mason to the bathroom. They went into a stall and Mas went first and then Koko went. There was a few other guys in the bathroom...and Mason looked up at Koko, and said, "You have a big 'kneener' huh dad" then Koko immediately shushed him while he was trying not to laugh. I guess Mas was smiling-of course- since Koko was trying not to laugh. they went to wash their hands and there was another guy there who had obviously heard the conversation and just looked over at Koko and sarcastically said, "Good for you..."


I'm sure soon enough I'll have more to add!

Our Vegas Trip!

A few weeks ago we went to Vegas for Mana (my grandma) and Mark's wedding. What an adventure that was! We headed to the airport Thursday night with both kiddos and my parents. Luckily we bought a double stroller a week before we went. What a life saver that was!!!

 Mason was so excited to go on the plane, Our plane ride was pretty short-only about an hour and fifteen minutes. Next we had to go get our rental car and take a nice long journey to go pick it up. That involved taking the stroller down and putting it back together...getting it on and off the shuttle, carrying the carseats, our carry-ons, and all of our luggage. Finally we got to our rental car and I ended up having to sit on Koko's lap to the hotel due to lack of space.

When we got to the hotel we ended up being upgraded to better rooms. Mas was amazed that we were staying in a castle. The Excalibur Hotel was awesome. Koko and I went to the room and got the kids in pajamas and we got ready for our night out together!

 

We actually didnt end up doing much. We explored outside a bit-keep in mind it's January, it was cooold outside! We went over to New York, New York and a few other hotels to check them out. It was after midnight before we had gone out so most of the things we were interested in were closed already. It was fun having a little date night together though. We ended up picking up the kids from my mom and headed back to the room around 230.

in the hotel room about to get ready for bed

We had a busy day planned for Friday. We met outside the hotel around 10 and took some pictures while we waited for my dad to get the Tahoe.

We went to In n Out for breakfast/lunch and went down to the Mirage (i think) to see the dophins. They were so cute! Mia and Mas both seemed to enjoy them. We got so many pictures...

 We also got to see white lions and tigers. The lion hated Koko. I'm pretty sure it would have attacked him had the cage not been there. The staff ended up telling him "whatever you're doing, please stop"...all he was doing was making a kissing noise lol. That lion had a crazy deep roar. Of course...I got pictures of that too...including the lion wanting to attack Koko.

That's Koko's shirt to the left...and the lion growling at him! OMG

He does not look happy

Mia checking out the white tigers.



The days are kind of a blur now that I think about it, so they may not be in order lol. But I am pretty sure we went shopping after that.

 I'm pretty sure it was Saturday when we went to the Grand Prix something or other...I opted out...go karts really arent my thing.  So I sat out with the kids and big surprise...I took pictures of everyone. We all put in a dollar and the best time would win. Of course, I was going for Koko! Good thing-he ended up having the fastest time! :)

At that same place I took Mas to ride some rides, he was pretty bummed out that he couldnt ride the go karts. I'm pretty sure this made up for it.





We seriously did so many things that i cant even keep them straight. I know one night we went to the Stratosphere and my dad, uncle Bryan, and I did the thrill ride at the very top. That was amazing...then there was one night that seemed like it would never end! I cant even remember what night that was! All i know is that my feet were killing me! We also did the Fremont street experience and went zip lining. It was so fun! Like I said, we did so many things in such a short amount of time it seems that it all just blends together.

Sunday was the day of the wedding. The wedding and reception went really well! Mia and Mas were really well behaved! Mason had so much fun dancing at the reception! He was attached to Stephie pretty much the entire trip! He wouldnt even let Shawn dance with Steph. It was so cute!

So, that was our big trip!For our next trip we are hoping to go to Disneyland this December for Mason's 4th birthday!! Fingers Crossed!!!

Remember When?

It seems that I start every post out the same way...where has the time gone? It seems as though I cant keep up with this blog to save my life! Looking back I dont feel as though I was so busy...hmmm maybe I was-or it could just be the fact that I'm lazy when it comes to sitting down and putting my thoughts to paper. Actually come to think of it, I dont do many things that are just for me. I was reading through the posts that I have written and I cant help but smile. There are so many day to day instances i seem to forget and that i already miss. I take alot of pictures thinking that i will remember the feelings and emotion that i captured in the moment, but im learning now that the memories fade. I have to start keeping up with this if only for Koko and I to look back at it years from now with Remember When?? I keep scrapbooks for us but I usually do one big scrapbooking day and alot of the silly memories slip through and dont make it in the book. Hopefully I can really start to carve out some me time. That's kind of funny though. Anytime I am by myself I feel empty. I dont know what to do or think...and i cant help but think about my kids and what they are doing. This is going to be the start of my "me" time, which of course will consist of writing about our kids and what they are doing. Life is funny. Being a mom is funny too. I used to give my mom such a hard time about everything-especially crying about silly things. Yet, today i found myself happily tearing up when i said, "Yay!" to Mia and she clapped her hands for the first time. I have reached a new level of lame and i have a feeling that this is just the beginning of many to come.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get myself caught up seeing as how my last post was at the end of August. I think I'll just start in December. December was a very hectic month for us. We started off by having Mason's birthday party on Wednesday the 14th. He wanted a "Piper Pizza" birthday. So we decided to do it in the middle of the week to avoid the crowds. It was perfect. Mas wanted a pirate ship cake-now that was a task. I had several disasters with that cake, including it breaking apart. All in all it made it to peter piper and Mas loved it. I suppose thats all that matters. Koko and I decided on a little family outing for his birthday...and again, he wanted to go to peter piper so thats where we went for dinner.

half of his birthday breakfast...the other half was chocolate chip cookies

3 years old!

at peter piper pizza for his bday

almost everyone that came to his party

Mason's pirate ship cake

Breakfast that morning was def special for him. I made him little pancakes with candles in them and gave him cookies on the side. Breakfast of champions...lol. Koko's dad and his wife Ruby came down Christmas Eve and spent Christmas with us. It was our first time hosting Christmas at our house...and we had a full house. We had everyone come over early to watch Mas open his presents. My parents of course were here along with Mana (my grandma), her fiance Mark, Koko's dad & Ruby, and Grandma 7. We went for a non-traditional meal and had guamanian chicken and rice. It was a really nice Christmas.

We had just set up the tree

Mia's face is priceless.

setting up the tree

She was not happy

this is Gus...and Gus' ugly sweater

The day before New Year's Eve we had to drive up to Albuquerque for Koko's best friends wedding and we ended up driving back down to Cruces the next day to spend New Years here. Our New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful. We went up to my parents for a little while and played bowling on the Wii. Around 830 or so we headed home. We ended up watching a movie, sharing a bottle of Asti, and going to bed just after midnight. Next week we are going to be going to Las Vegas for Mana's wedding. I'm pretty excited! We are taking the kiddos too-I think that'll be an interesting plane ride.

In case it ends up being a few months before i update this I'm going to do a quick update on the kids. Mas is a big 3 year old now. He is so smart. He is also learning how to push every one of my buttons. He has started to realize that he doesn't *have* to listen to me. In fact, he takes pretty much every opportunity to do the opposite. Time outs are a joke...I've pretty much given up on those. It seems like every time I tell him something he counters with a big NO. So fun. lol. He's a good kid but I'm starting to look for activites for him outside of the house and outside of me. I think sometimes that he has too much of me. I'm thinking gymnastics...karate...something. He's too young for actual sports and I dont want to send him to daycare even part time. I guess we'll see what we come up with. Mia is growing so fast. She has 3 teeth now and is an expert crawler. She has also been cruising along everything for awhile now. She can say Mama, Dada, and Bye Bye. She knows how to wave, clap her hands, go "night-night" by laying down her head, play peek a boo, and i'm sure some more that i cant think of right now. Mas and Mia have started playing together...and along with that getting really upset with eachother. It's so funny when Mia gets mad at him. She has quite the attitude recently. She started eating solid foods recently...one of her favorites is bread! She loves bread. Anyway-I think this is a good start. I'm hoping to get to this at least once a week! Until next time...more pictures:)