life lately

looking at all these pictures makes me realize that the last month has been a blur. look i actually brushed my hair a couple times! to say we've been busy would be an understatement. after we purchased our new house, we had a month to do any renovations that we wanted to do before we moved in. so charles immediately went to work and even took a week off from work so he could devote all of his time to the new house. and even with hours of slave labor from friends and family, we STILL didn't finish everything. with a march 23rd deadline, we had to move in with rooms half-painted, floors halfway finished, and no baseboards anywhere. so of course, all of these things have been making moving even more difficult than it is normally. i didn't realize that was possible. so we've been unpacking at a snail's pace, living among the boxes. so many boxes in fact, jc learned a new word, "box". the only thing i can say is that jc really doesn't seem to mind it. he spent our first night, sleeping in his pack-n-play because he crib wasn't put together. i managed to make a space just barely big enough in his room for his pack-n-play. and he went to bed just like it was any other night. he gets excited when he goes to sleep and then wakes up and something different is put up or he finds now new-to-him toys because they've been in a box for two weeks. i love him so much.

and on top of allllll of that, we are getting married in a month! we are seriously getting down to the wire. my bridal shower is this weekend and i cannot even express how happy i am that my wonderful sister and mother planned the whole thing and all i have to do is show up. charles has to work and everyone i would ask to babysit will be at the shower so jc will be my date to my bridal shower. i think he'll be the life of the party.

i so badly don't want to disappear for the next month but it seriously took me eight hours to finish this blog post. i started at 5, then got distracted with a phone call with my sister about the shower, then had to make dinner, then had to clean up dinner, then had to clean up paint brushes and trays from earlier, then had to get jc ready for bed, then take a shower and THEN i could work on this post. time is so precious lately, i can't spend hours online everyday. i am going to try my hardest to keep the blog updated with new wedding events and big house news. but i probably won't have so much "filler" i guess. which hey, your google reader is probably pretty full anyway, huh?

hope everyone has a great easter weekend!

little bits of happiness, w.2

wow. i didn't mean to not do anything blog related for a week but it sort of worked out that way. after meeting with our caterer (who also happens to be charles's dad's fiancee) for our wedding over the weekend, i realized i still have SO MUCH to do! it really put my butt into gear. honestly, it is getting a little overwhelming. if it was just moving/renovating our new house or just planning our wedding, it would be a lot of work. but it is both. at the same time. ARGH! so i've been trying to prioritize and sending out our wedding invitations got the top spot. of course, "just sending them out" entails designing them, printing them and mailing them out. so it was a two day project. but they are done and in the mail!




it also helped me to take some time, sit down and write down every little thing that needs to be done for the wedding. a lot of it is just talking to charles and finalizing our decisions. sometimes it's so hard to do that when he gets home so late from work, we have dinner, spend time with jc, put jc down for bed and then we usually turn into zombies after that. so i had to make sure we talked about a few things every night. not too much because i don't want to overwhelm him but my list is two pages long. and growing.




but it definitely made me happy to write everything down and cross off a few important items off the list. currently, i'm on the hunt for jc's groomsmen outfit so he will match the rest of the groomsmen and narrowing down our search for a beachfront condo in san diego for our honeymoon. i guess i could have bigger problems, right?

i'm linking up with stephanie for little bits of happiness.

jc at twenty months

check out previous monthly posts here

so cue the mommy guilt but i totally skipped out on jc's nineteen month post. i don't know what happened but before i knew it, it was the end of january and his twenty month birthday was like five days away. so i told myself that i would make it a priority to do his twenty month post right away, on time even, but then that didn't happen either. so here we are, nine days after his twenty month birthday. so jc, if you ever read this, mommy loved you just as much during your nineteenth month of life as ever.

sorry for the lame iphone picture but this has been what is holding up this post. jc is still sick and now i'm sick so an iphone picture is what we are going to have to work with!

speaking of being sick, it has been a pretty rough couple of weeks around these parts. jc had a low fever for a few days with no other symptoms but he was MISERABLE. he finally got over it for a couple days and then BAM he got a cold. so we've been nursing this cold for the past few days and it finally seems like we are on the other side of the hill. but now i'm sick so we're a bunch of mouth breathers over here. you think that having your kid at home and not in daycare will help keep them healthy but i swear someone sneezes across the aisle at target and jc is sick.

minus the sickness, jc has been turning into the most rambunctious little toddler. i really can't believe that he will be two in less than four months. it is boggling my mind. he loves to get into everything and is constantly doing something. he's been doing so much better with the other little boy that i watch twice a week. they are doing a very good job of sharing (germs especially) and respecting each other's space which is so much more than you can ask for with a 20 month old and a 14 month old. there is still the occasional fight over a toy but for the most part, they play very well together.

one big leap we've experienced is jc's use of the word "no". while this can be a very frustrating time with him saying "no" to EVERYTHING but it actually helps when i offer him choices, especially at meal times. lately it's been horrible because apparently sick jc simultaneously wants nothing and everything. but under normal circumstances, this word can be very useful. i'm still waiting for this "burst of language" that's supposed to happen around this time. i know it will help a lot with jc's frustrations if he can actually tell me what he wants. it will help with my frustrations too.

right now jc likes garbage trucks, dogs (cats are still his favorite though), pretending to crash his matchbox cars together and trying to put on mommy and daddy's shoes. his favorite books right now are the very hungry caterpillar and a yo gabba gabba book called "it's nice to be nice". his favorite foods are yogurt, cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit snacks and crackers. sleep schedule is still the same, one nap in the middle of the day that lasts about 2-3 hours. we still only have eight teeth. no canines or molars. i was actually really hoping that these illnesses were signs of teething but no such luck. i've been risking my poor fingers everyday checking to see if there's any new chompers in there with no avail.

i saw this idea over at suzanne's blog so i'm going to copy it because that's how i roll. sometimes i feel stuck trying to write about new things jc is doing every month because i forget about all the little things. i'm going to compare jc to the twenty month milestones even though he was almost two months premature. so here are some twenty month milestones according to babycenter and how jc is stacking up:

mastered skills (most kids can do)

Feeds doll - jc LOVES to feed his teddy bear and other lucky stuffed animals

Takes off own clothes - he can take his zipped up jacket off and his socks off. and his pants have magically been off a couple times after his nap.

Dumps an object in imitation, such as throwing garbage away - he likes to put garbage in the garbage can, if that's what this means. i even gave him an empty fruit snack box to play with the other day and he took it straight to the recycling can. al gore would be so proud.

emerging skills (half of kids can do)

Learns words at a rate of ten or more a day - when it comes to understanding them, this is probably true but saying them out loud? definitely not.

Can walk up stairs (but probably not down) - he walked (not crawled) up one step at our friend's house the other day all by himself. stairS, i'm not so sure.

advanced skills (a few kids can do)

May start exploring genitals - bahahahahaha i guess you could say jc is baby genius in this area heh

Draws a straight line - not on purpose

Names several body parts - he can say "nose" but cannot say any other words that identify body parts. but if you ask him he can point to his hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, arm, elbow, hand, fingers, belly, booty, weiner (we are real scientific over here), thighs, legs, knee, foot and toes.

iphone photo dump

i apologize for the photo dump that is about to follow. i really need to start doing this every week becaaaaause, it's a lotta pictures.

i will tell you what, i feel like i gained ten pounds just organizing this pictures because my couch is pictured in about 90% of these photos. i have been LAZY! it didn't help that jc was sick for about a week and i was literally trapped under him on the couch for most of the time on those days. but even right now i'm feeling antsy like i need to get out from under this laptop and go do something. so here's our photos from the last couple weeks via my iphone.























i'll be linking up with a good life and life rearranged.

the writer's block, i haz it

so i figured instead of sitting around in my writer's block stupor, i would actually WRITE about it and see if that helps me get out of my funk.

my biggest issue is that it's not that i don't have anything to write about, i actually have a lot that i want to write about. i'm just not sure where to start or which topics to include. when i first started this blog almost a year ago, i really thought i wouldn't have many readers beside the family and friends who just want to see cute pictures of jc. but over time, i have actually accumulated a fair amount of active readers (hey guys!) that i don't know in real life. so now i feel all this pressure to actually write some worthwhile stuff! but it's good pressure! i want to write worthwhile posts!

so i've got some ideas rolling around in my head. this blog has primarily been an outlet for me to share pictures of jc and talk about milestones that he has come across. i'd like to continue doing this but also include some of the smaller details that happen everyday. some of the funny/interesting stories and encounters we deal with on a daily basis. sometimes i forget about them or just tweet about them and never mention them again but i'd like to share more of them with you.

i'd also like to start sharing more about me on this blog. i am, after all, the one who writes all this. now, don't get me wrong, there will still be plenty o' pictures and stories about the little dude but especially with our upcoming wedding and home purchase i'd like to share more about those things. i know a lot of you guys are in the same boat and it can help to hear what other people's experiences are like in similar situations. so i'm going to try and share more about that.

i've been thinking about sharing more crafty posts as well. i don't know how well it will be received but i've been toiling around with the idea of posting some how-to knit videos and tutorials. i know you can find them all over the interweb but i've got ideas about how to make them better. would anyone actually be interested in that? charles is way more excited than he should be to help me make videos so i might just do it so we can do them together!

i have also decided to start my own side hustle. i've been a mark cosmetics representative but have not really pursued anything with the company. in an effort to help out with some of the bills over here, i'm going to give it a real go ahead. don't worry, i am not going to be posting on here and bothering you guys with "hey buy this!" or "check this out!" but do check out the sidebar over there------> for a button soon directing you to my mark eboutique. i also may start a separate blog with videos and tutorials just about mark cosmetics. i dunno. we'll see. until then, you can check out my mark eboutique here and let me know if you have any questions about anything. you can order anything you need through the eboutique and it will be shipped directly to you. we don't have to live near each other for me to be your mark rep!

so, after that long post about nothing really, if you made it this far PLEASE let me know what you think! i hope you guys all have a great weekend!

our week (or so) in iphone photos

this has been one of those weeks where it felt like i did a bunch of stuff but i don't really think a whole lot got done. everyone in the house is sick so we are all tired and grumpy. i'm always reading all these blog posts about sick kiddos who get all cuddly and want to watch movies all day. ummmm, how come jc is not this way? he just gets SUPER whiny, likes to throw himself on the floor for no apparent reason and is just generally unhappy. i would give my pinky toe to have him just cuddle with me. oh well, he is at the end of his cold (i hope) so hopefully he'll be back to his normal self soon. until then, jc's bedtime routine will involve j&j vapor bath, baby vaporub, extra stories and his humidifier.

there were some highlights this week though. i have been trying my hardest to keep up with my get organized resolution. i feel the time ticking to moving time so i'm trying to just get rid of all the junk we've accumulated after living here for the past three years. jc and his bestie really tested my patience with their mess making but you have to pick your battles. jc wasn't trying to bite damian or pull his hair. they were playing together nicely. i really couldn't ask for more than that. i had to take lucy back to the vet for a two week follow up appointment. i know i mentioned on twitter, but i don't think i did on the blog; our cat had stones in her bladder. it was looking like we were in store for a very expensive surgery but luckily, with some special food, all of her stones are gone!! so exciting! jc has started taking me on these adventure walks. i just let him lead the way and we go where ever he wants to go. it's really a lot of fun to just walk along side him and check out our neighborhood from his perspective. we FINALLY got jc's hair cut! after two failed attempts i was convinced i was going to have a little hippy baby forever. but he watched his dad get his hair cut and then proceeded to shock everyone by sitting like a perfect angel while he got his hair cut. my jaw was on the floor. today we went to a birthday party at a taekwondo studio. it was so cute, all the kids got to wear white belts and got karate kid-style headbands to take home. the older kids got to learn some sweet moves and the little kids just got to run amok in a room with a padded floor. it ended with jc passing out in the ten minute car ride home.


















next week i hope to work on my "learn to sew" and "read more books" resolutions. hope everyone's having a great weekend! linking up with a good life and life rearranged.

on disciplining a fifteen month old {and we have a winner!}

Is it possible? That is what I have been trying to figure out for the last few weeks. I have a couple different places I look when I have questions about baby or toddler behavior. Other blogs, the bump, and Toddler 411. Unfortunately, I feel that a lot of what I read is common sense principles that we've always followed and there are a lot of recommendations for encouraging good behavior but not a lot of "solutions" for discouraging bad behavior.

What I see a lot of is "make sure your kid gets enough sleep", "don't run errands during nap times", "make sure your kid is not hungry", etc. Um, duh. I mean we all have made the mistake of pushing our limits and having a toddler on the verge of tantrum mania at Costco. But 95% of the time, nap times are sacred in our house. Ever since JC was a teeny tiny baby, I have always fought for his naps. I really do attribute his "happy-go-lucky" attitude to the fact that he's well rested. And not just "oh he'll fall asleep in the car" naps; like in his room, in his crib, quiet house naps. JC also has a pretty strict schedule when it comes to his meal times. He, himself, is pretty flexible with it though. But I always carry a couple snacks, just in case we are out and it's not quite lunch time. If anything, sometimes a couple Goldfish will help distract him if he's bored or getting fussy. But, these recommendations are meant to help deter temper tantrums and meltdowns. These are not really our issues.



There are a few less than desirable behaviors that JC likes to exhibit that I would like to nix. Our biggest issue as of late has been hitting. It's not really bad but he will hit the cat or dog and pull on their skin or tails. He will even try to hit me or Charles sometimes. I feel stupid but I realized that we were actually encouraging this behavior because Charles will let JC "play hit" him and he will overreact to the hits by making big motions and JC thinks it is SO funny. I realized this after I noticed that he would have a big smile on his face when he's hitting the cat and he will laugh. He thinks it's a game.

So one thing I read in my Toddler 411 book is that they feel that timeouts would be totally appropriate for a toddler his age; in fact, a nine month old will understand and respond to timeouts.

Are you joking? A nine month old? I LOVE my Baby 411 book but Toddler 411 has been a little disappointing. This is one thing that I really do not see working. I think timeouts are good resource but I'm not sure JC is old enough to "get it". On top of that, I don't know where I would put him for his timeout. I don't want him to associate any negative thoughts with his crib or pack-n-play because he sleeps there! If you mess up my kid's sleep, I will fight you. I think if I just put him in his room to punish him, he would just be like "cool, I'll just play with my toys". And none of our other rooms are baby proofed enough that I would let him chill in there unsupervised, even for a minute (which is the time rec given by Toddler 411 for his age). And what if we are out somewhere and we need to put him in a timeout? Where would I put him that I wouldn't be scared of what he'd get into while I had a closed door between us. He's just too little.

So, the only thing that I have found that "works" is just to remove him from the situation. He wants to be around the cat and dog. He really does love them. He just doesn't understand that they don't want to be smacked around by him. So when he starts pulling or hitting, I'll give him one or two more chances to "be nice". I'll show him how to "pet nice" and if he continues to hit or pull I'll pick him up and move him somewhere else. Sometimes he'll whine a little bit, sometimes he'll just move onto something else. But I have noticed an improvement. It does suck because I have to get all up in his grill every time he has an interaction with one of the animals but I hope it will save him a claw to the face or a berating by another parent when he smacks a kid at the library.



What do you think? How do you discipline your young toddler? What has worked for you?

Also, we have a winner for the MyMemories Digital Scrapbook Software Giveaway, Stacy T! I will be contacting you via e-mail so you can get your scrapbook on! Thanks to everyone who participated, keep an eye out in the next couple days for a new giveaway!

not enough hours in the day

{via}

Ok, I'm going to Twilight nerd out for a minute. If you can't handle it, go on to the next paragraph. So, you know how Edward doesn't need to sleep? Don't even need to mention that he will live forever but can you imagine how much time that would give you? You could do whatever you wanted to do. That was the coolest thing I had ever heard when I heard it.

Alright, Twilight nerding out over. You can all come back now. But for reals, I think about that a lot. Especially lately. "Technically" I'm "working" less than I was when had a "real" job. But I feel like I have 10x more work to do all. the. time. I felt like I had to give myself permission just to write this post. I think the main difference is that I actually care about what I'm doing everyday. I feel like it actually matters. Maybe not for anyone else, but for me. I'm raising a human being over here people. Big stuff. From the minute I wake up until the minute I go to bed, I am constantly doing something. Even just reading blogs or responding to comments has become a task that needs to be completed. I don't feel like I can just relax and check my e-mail/facebook/twitter because it just reminds of me of all the stuff I need and want to do.

I really didn't realize how much work running a household could take. Since I am home all day, I have taken on all of the household responsibilities except the outside chores. And I take pride in my work. I am kind of becoming OCD with the cleaning. I have to tell myself that it is ok to leave the house with toys in the living room while we run to the grocery store. "No one will be here while you are gone. It's ok if the house doesn't look perfect." I trip out over dirty dishes in the sink. Loads of laundry call out to me constantly. Every dust bunny in the corner stresses me out. Trying to figure out what I'm going to feed everyone else takes precedence over what I'm going to feed myself. By the time I finish feeding everyone, I don't even want to eat. I just want to sit down.

On top of that, Charles and I have both taken on a lot in the last few weeks. Charles started a new position that has him working ten hour days. Yes, it's only four days a week but by the time he gets home from work, he's exhausted. On his days off, he's exhausted. He's also trying to work on his photography and videography business but he barely has time to do anything with it. I am watching our friend's eight month old son two days a week so pretty much nothing gets done on Tuesday and Thursday from 7-4. I finally opened my etsy store. (Oh yeah, I did that. I haven't even had a chance to formally announce it but here's the link to it if you're interested. I plan to "officially" announce it, when I have time...) I feel like I never have time to work on new products or go hunting for new merchandise. I am going to school. It's only one class but it takes up a good chunk of the day on Friday. Oh, and I'm really trying to make time for exercise. I've managed to go twice this week at night after JC has gone to bed. Plus, don't really need to list this buuuuuut I am the primary caretaker of a 15 (oh dang, he's fifteen months old today! Another post I need to do.) month old toddler.

And on top of all that, I have my little blog here. I always find myself toiling with different ideas for posts but I never get around to writing them. I get on the computer, try to catch up on some of my favorite blogs, check twitter and before you know it, it's 1 AM. I don't mean to neglect you blog. It's because of you that I am doing everything else in my life right now! Because of blogging, I have found new passions and interests that I want to devote my time to. Because, while I am sorta complaining (ok, I'm complaining) about all the things I have to do, I'm really complaining about the lack of time available. Because I love all of the things that I do everyday. Ok, maybe not the laundry but I enjoy taking care of my family. I've always wanted to own my own business. I think I might have a real interest in web and graphic design. It's nice to get out and exercise. I really do feel better afterward.

So, in conclusion, blog, I love you. I promise I will try to post more than just Wordless Wednesday and Week in iPhone pictures. But it still would be pretty freaking sweet to not need sleep. Although, I do love me some sleep. Speaking of which, I'm getting in the shower and hittin the hay. I gots school tomorrow.

Thank you for listening to me complain.

buff mama monday w.1, let's do this

Source: None via Melissa on Pinterest

For a split second, maybe you thought that was a picture of me. That would be awesome.

I'll tell you what's not awesome. I'm no where NEAR that level of feeling comfortable walking around in a bikini. I don't even want to see myself in a bikini; I wouldn't want to put anyone else through that misery.

If you remember my post about the goals that I set for the rest of the year, "making healthy choices" is one of them. Notice that I didn't say "lose weight" or "drop dress sizes". It was my way of making my goal seem more doable. But it also makes me less motivated to "lose weight" or "drop dress sizes".

When I saw that Vanessa over at The Crafty Nest (one of my blogger inspirations) is starting up a weekly "buff mama" link up, I had to join. I need more motivation than what I've got now. I know I don't like how I look. I know I have a wedding coming up in (eek!) nine months. I know that I feel tired and sluggish all the time. But those reasons have not been enough for me to get off my butt.

Source: None via Melissa on Pinterest

I know that I will probably never be as skinny as Katy Perry or look as amazing as Kim Kardashian looks in a bikini, but I definitely want to try. I can't expect for that to happen without putting in any effort.

As of yet, I'm not set on my exercise/diet plans. I've tried just hitting the treadmill at home during nap time, but I lost steam after a couple of weeks. I started doing C25K and it was ok, just kinda boring. I'm thinking about joining a gym. I have a friend who goes pretty relig so I would have a workout buddy. Stroller Strides has a LivingSocial deal right now too. I really just don't like exercising so I get bored easily. And I always feel like I have 102958210 more things that I need to be doing instead.

Let me know if you've tried anything that has worked for you. Preferably something that can be disguised as "fun". Link up with Vanessa too so we can all track each other's progress! Maybe in a few months, we'll look like Beyonce. Maybe.

Source: cityrag.com via Melissa on Pinterest

it's one of THOSE times

I have so much to write about but the one thing that sticks out foremost in my mind is how irritable my little baby man has been over the last few days.

{JC looking not so stoked to be visiting the Mendocino Botanical Gardens}

I think it's a combination of a few things that have manifested themselves in such a way that JC, who normally is a very mellow, happy-go-lucky baby, has undertaken this tantrum-throwing, pissed off at the world mentality.

One: We have been completely booby free for about three days now. Monday morning was the last time I nursed. He has seemed generally not-quite-right since we started the weaning process a couple weeks ago. I really thought that he was ready. I could barely hold his attention long enough to finish eating most of the time. He just wanted to play. But now that it's gone, he definitely notices. To be honest, I'm a little sad too. I thought I was completely, 100% ready. And I am ready but I could totally see why mommy's continue nursing past one year. It didn't help that as we got towards the end of nursing, he was being extra cuddly and sweet. Like he knew that his nursing days were numbered.

Two: Teething. We officially have THREE teeth! Maybe even four. Last time I checked the fourth one was barely hanging in there. His right top front tooth and his two front bottom teeth are officially making an appearance.

Three: We took a road trip to Fort Bragg this past weekend with a four hour drive there on Sunday and four hour drive back on Monday. JC generally does not like being on car rides this long. Even if we stop, he is just ready to be done with it. Which I can respect, because that's how I feel. I still need to write about our trip and the wedding venues that we checked out but one milestone of the trip was that we had our first meltdown in a restaurant. He's usually really good in restaurants, eats whatever, or just plays and has a good time. At breakfast on Monday we had to take shifts. I had to walk around on the street while Charles tried to scarf down his breakfast and then we switched. He was fine once we got outside and looked around but he wanted nothing to do with sitting in a highchair or being in the restaurant.

Four: He didn't sleep very well on the trip either so the last couple of days we've been laying low at the house, letting him catch up on his sleep (three hour naps y'all).

Five: I think a lot of it too is that we are both new at this whole only eating solid foods thing. Before we stopped nursing, I'm pretty sure JC was never hungry. He ate every 2 hours, whether it was nursing or solid food. Now, I'm not sure if he's hungry or just cranky or bored or teething or God knows what else. I try feeding him and he straight refuses everything I offer, throwing it on the floor, screaming and crying. I have to pick him up and calm him down before we even try another option. I did read in Baby 411, my baby bible, that it is very common for babies to become very picky eaters as they approach their first birthdays. It said basically that they will adopt a toddler diet where they will eat well once every three days or eat one good meal within a 24 hour period. It had some good advice like offering three options to eat and if he doesn't want it then don't make something else. He will eat when he's hungry. I know this probably sounds like common sense to most people but I need instructions like this. This was reassuring after we both had a meltdown during lunch today. I made sure that I made his beloved veggie pasta while he was napping so it was ready to go as soon as we woke up. He wanted nothing to do with it and was mad about it. Ok, let's try some spaghetti, you love spaghetti. Throws it on the floor, slamming his hands on the high chair tray, tears rolling down his cheeks. At this point, I was in tears too. This was exactly how breakfast went and I was frustrated. I grabbed some bread and he ate two pieces of plain bread. While he ate that, I managed to make a quesadilla and he wolfed that thing down. But it was a rough thirty minutes of crying, appeased, crying, happy, crying, ok I'll eat this and now I'm full and content.

Luckily, throughout all this, JC still finds ways to be the most adorable being on this planet. He just recently has started playing peek-a-boo with him being the initiator. After his bath today, he was pulling the towel up over his head and I'll say "JC where'd you go?" and he'll wait the perfect amount of time and pull the towel down super fast with a big grin on his face. And I'll yell "Peek-a-boo!" and he'll laugh and flail. So cute. After both of his naps today, he just wanted to snuggle for about fifteen minutes before we did anything else. When he rests his little head on my shoulder I will stop whatever I'm doing and relish in that moment.

Well, tomorrow is a new day so hopefully I will wake up to a happy baby. Wish me luck!

{Please pray that this drooly mess is what I see tomorrow!}