Lucky Girl

Kay has the most beautiful eyes. How this child ended up with such sparkly blue eyes from 2 very dark brown eyed parents still boggles my mind. As you know, if you follow my blog is that Kay wears glasses...which I hate because it covers her pretty eyes, of course we tell her she is just as beautiful with them. Funny thing is that she hates that she has blue eyes because "she is the only one in the family with blue eyes". It drives her crazy! I tell her all the time that's because she is the lucky one, and that I'd love to have sparkly blue eyes like hers...I mean, who wouldn't??!

Moms Night Out

Last week after I got back from Cali, I went out with my play group mommy friends (Kay's play group) for a Moms Night Out! It was an extra special MNO, because one of our dear friends Linds was moving : ( So even though I had JUST got back and was exhausted (literally my flight landed, I came home, and about an hour later left the kids with the hubs and ran out the door) I just couldn't miss it. Linds was the one who introduced me to this play group, and we actually met on the knot while planning our weddings. We were the only ones with kids out of wedlock already, and our girls were almost the same age, so it made perfect sense to have play date! She told me about this (invite only! see I told you!) play group that she belonged to and thought I should join. I was so glad she did because we have met some great friends!

Benihana- a MNO favorite!

This is D, she is actually the creator and admin of this playgroup! Her and Linds are BFF'S, and they were all joking that I am the "Rreplacement Linds" so here I am...sliding in......

Sake Bombs!

Our chef, Ray. Which I quickly named "All The Way Ray". I was surprised when he said no one had ever called him that before...who's he been hanging out with?!

I'm not a big drinker, but I did have a yummy mango martini...

We'll miss you Linds!!

California Vacation: Part 2

The morning of our last day in Hollywood, and since the weather is nice and cool in the mornings, we decided to work on our fitness and hike Runyon Canyon up in the Hollywood Hills...

I am SO glad we did this, Kay enjoyed and it was just so nice out. But next time, I would defiantly push Miss M in the stroller...see Ma thought that it would be too hard to push strollers up the mountain, and that carrying them in the Bjorn would be easier...but this is coming from a first time mom with a 12 pound peanut still! I regretted wearing her, especially as I saw all the other super skinny, tan, blonde, perfect Hollywood moms pushing their bugaboos up that nice mostly paved trail! Jealous! I hike all the time here in the fall/winter and pushing the stroller, as long as its paved or close to it, is much easier on my back and actually a much better workout. I had never been there before, so I had no idea what to expect, but we made it and had so much fun!!

We spent the rest of the day shopping on Melrose, hanging out at The Grove, then having a nice dinner at the Farmer's Market before me and the girls packed up and headed down to Huntington Beach. We stayed at an amazing huge family friendly resort right across the street from the beach, with a private over pass to get to the beach.

 While traveling with my husband, we usually stay in a suite with a separate bedroom or get 2 adjoining rooms so the kids can have their own. This works out great because they go to bed hours before we do, and M is a light sleeper so it just works best for us. But since I was traveling solo, and didn't really want to spend an extra 300++ per night on an extra room, I just got one room. Once bedtime came around I was trying to figure out how this was going to work with a very tired 6.5 month old and a giddy, wide awake 6 year old all in one room. So I improvised by putting Miss M's roll a way crib in the bathroom : ) Good idea?

It seemed a little silly at first, but totally made sense! This way, Kay would not wake her up, nor the TV. It fit perfectly in there and I just plugged in her sounds machine and off she went...I called my husband and said "M's sleeping in the bathroom" "She WHAT?!" "Yeah...she's in the bathroom, it's called being resourceful!"

The next morning, we packed up and planned for a full day of fun in the sun. First we hit up the kiddie pool that actually had a wadding pool, spa, a huge shallow pool for the little ones, and 3 water slides! It was kiddie heaven and one of the reasons why I loved this resort.

After spending the morning at the pool, it was lunch time. I found a taco shop on the beach called Wahoo's and had a yummy fish taco! I mean, you have to have fish tacos anytime you go to the beach right?! It was delish!

Then we headed to the beach! OMG, I couldn't wait to see M's first reaction and Kay couldn't wait to get into the ocean water.

Once we sat down, I was worried what Miss M would do and how I would manage a mobile baby on the beach but to my surprise, she just sat there! She found a shovel and she was content.

She loved the texture of the sand, she kept digging her little feet into the sand. She was fascinated by it! Love this picture of her little piggies...

After our day at the beach/pool we had a lovely dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort. Then made smores at one of the fire pits. Perfect way to cap off our vacation!

The next day, we packed up, drove back to LAX, and headed home! It was a perfect summer vacation and I am so grateful that we are able to do things like this!

Finding Balance

Finding balance is something we all strive for. We as people, not just women or mothers, have struggled with finding balance in our lives from time to time. I think it becomes a little harder once you become a mom because of two little words...Mommy Guilt. That kicks "finding balance" right in the ass sometimes! However, I think it's very important for moms to maintain who they are after they have a baby. Yes, I am a mother and that is by far my most important role in life right now, but I am still a wife, daughter, friend, and me, Lisa! I think it is important to maintain those other avenues of your life after becoming a mother. I hear so many moms say "My life is on hold right now because I am a mother", or "My life is dedicated to my children, so I cant do things like that" or moms that cant leave their child's side, or something of that nature and I am just completely in awe of how that can be. Yes, my life if dedicated to my children too, but does that me I can maintain me?

Yes, you can still be a you, have a life, and be a good mother. It's called finding balance.

It's not easy, but not entirely impossible! And as long as you have your priorities right (obviously my kids and marriage come first) it can be done. To me, making time for date nights away from the kids and to making sometime for your self away from the kids is a must. I go to the gym everyday, and my kids go to the child care at the gym. That's my time everyday. Should I feel bad for taking that hour that I could be spending with them, and spending it on me? Should I feel bad about leaving my kids in the germ infested child care? Is that selfish of me? I don't think so. They certainly aren't going to die, and I am showing them that independence and health and fitness is important to me and that with kids or not, you shouldn't neglect yourself. We get a baby sitter (my mom) and go on date nights about once per month, that's our time to maintain our marriage. And sometimes I have lunch with my girl friends, or get a pedicure, or simply run errands by myself. What ever it may be, I think moms need "Me" time. If not, you will eventually go crazy...trust me, I have a 6 year old!

I struggle with this whole finding balance thing too sometimes, but I try to look at it another way. Yes, its my job to be a mother right now, but it is also my job to teach my children independence, that I still value other relationships in my life, that taking care of yourself is important, that mommy needs time too, and that my marriage and making time for my husband is still a priority for me because those things are still important to me too. And ironically I am also teaching them that finding balance is important!

I am a mother, but I am still me. My children have made me better. Made my life fuller, and are single handed the most important thing in my life. But momma can still get a mani/pedi once in a while : )

California Vacation: Part 1

We started our vacation spending a few days in Hollywood. I flew by myself with the girls, and that was kind of a challenge. Lugging around a 58 pound bag (had to fit all our stuff into one suit case), a filled diaper bag, a purse, a car seat, stroller, and booster seat all by 5'1 self was a little hard, but I managed to do it. I just gave myself plenty of time and checked everything but the diaper bag, and purse. Going there I pushed the stroller to the gate and then gate checked it, but I couldn't fold down the stroller and hold a baby at the same time, so luckily a nice lady offered to hold M while I did that. So I decided on the way home, I would check the stroller too and just wear her in the Bjorn, which turned out to be much better, worse on the back, but much easier than folding down the stroller twice by myself (through security and at the gate).

We arrived at LAX to paparazzi! Audrina Patridge from The Hills was going through TSA just as we were leaving and they were swarming her. It took me a while to gather our stuff, and get to the car rental but we walked out to BEAUTIFUL 76 degree, sunny, breezy, weather. I was in heaven, coming from 116!!

We stayed the first few days at my BFF's house, who just had her baby girl 3 months ago. Miss M looked like a GIANT baby next to her!

Kay had so much fun with little D Rose, she couldn't wait to meet her! and Miss M had no problem sharing her big sister.

The next morning, inspired by Jim's Pancakes, she made Kay eggs and bacon pancakes...They were a huge hit!

We call each other "Ma" (long story from way back in the day), so she made me a Ma pancake : )

We decided we'd spend the day doing "Hollywood" things, so we headed down to Hollywood Blvd. I've been a billion times, as my parents lived in LA for about 6 years and I used to visit all the time, but I really wanted Kay to experience it now that she's a little older. First we stopped and had sushi at Katsuya which was amazing! The decor in this place is incredible! Not very family friendly though, so that's why we hit it up for lunch....70 dollars and a full belly later, we headed down toward Hollywood and Vine. On the way, we passed by a few of our favorite stars...

Judy Garland, Kay's favorite 

Mommies favorite, Marilyn Monroe...

We decided to go the Guinness Book of World Records Museum, I thought Kay would really enjoy that....

We saw all sorts of weird, interesting things...

After that we walked across the street to the Hollywood Wax Museum and saw some more of our favorite people...

Kay and Shrek outside of Madam Tussuad's

and Marilyn yet again, I couldn't believe how real she looked! They did an amazing job!

The only thing I hate about Hollywood Blvd. is how touristy it is. Well that and the homeless and crazy people. There was a lady pushing an umbrella stroller with a baby doll in it. Yeah, a little off her rocker. Then we saw the same lady singing "Single Ladies" and dancing outside a shop on our walk back to the car. She was quit entertaining I must say, waving her hand like the Beyonce video...Kay even thought it was funny....wish I got a pic of that!  

Stay tuned for Part II!

Off For Vacation!

We're off to the Land of Fruit and Nuts aka California for the week! I may or may not be blogging, but will defiantly be having fun : ) We're going spend a couple days in Hollywood/LA, then a couple days in Huntington Beach...cant wait to put my toes in the sand!

I'm also excited to see my BFF, meet her baby, shop, eat sushi for breakfast/lunch/and dinner, see M's first reaction at the beach, and create new memories with my girls!

Au Revoir!!

xoxo

Time To Baby Proof!

Just a few days ago when I wrote Miss M's 6 month update, I mentioned that she was crawling, but not fast yet remember? Well yesterday morning, that all changed. Annnnnnnd she's off....

Time to baby proof!

Baby Teeth

You may be thinking by the title that I am talking about Miss M, but this is about Kay and her baby teeth. See once you hit 5-6 years old, loosing teeth is one of the coolest things that can happen to you! (Except for scoring Justin Bieber concert tickets, then that would definatly be the coolest thing that could happen to you). There are charts on the wall at school that you get to put stickers on when you lose a new tooth, specials songs they sing, we read books about it, and then there is the tooth fairy of course and all the bragging that goes along with how much you got and what you did with your money. It's a big deal! Except when your the only one that hasn't lost a tooth, or have something even close to a wiggly tooth! She turned 6 in April and her mouth is locked up like Fort Knox!

We know they're there.....when we took her for her first (real) dentist appointment when she was 3...

they took xrays...

and there they were, clear as day right above her baby teeth! Nice and big and beautiful, see?

At one of her more recent appointments I asked the dentist if it's true that late teethers lose their teeth later, and she said yes. That is in fact true. Kay was a very late teether, I mean this kid had no teeth at her first birthday party...NONE! About a month later the first one popped through- so she was 12-13 months before she got her first tooth! Considering that, she may be going into high school with her baby teeth! Poor thing. She was talking about it the other day saying that she really really hopes she looses one before school starts again, because she most defiantly doesn't want to start first grade with all her baby teeth. (she was the only one in her kindergarten class that hadn't lost any over the course of the year).

We check for wiggly teeth every day at dinner time, hoping and praying that this just may be the day that one is loose...one day...until then we eat lots of corn on the cob and apples, hoping that will help move things along :)

And just because she was so darn cute, here is a picture of her leaving her first dentist appointment that day! My sweet Baby Kay!