Uncrafty mom

I've never really been into crafts ever, but since I had A I always felt like I needed to be crafty in some way. I guess when you think of a mom you think of someone who knows how to cook, bake, clean, sew, makes everything from scratch and can build and craft anything and everything. I'm a mediocre baker, an ok cook, cleaning is not my forte, I can only sew a little, and I am uncrafty. I want to be better at ALL of these things, I want to be the modern day Martha Stewart, but without the apron. I have made it a goal of mine to bake more goodies, take on some new crafts and cook as many different recipes as possible. I've been looking up many fun crafty blogs lately and there are a lot of new projects I want to start. I started making hair clips and headbands already from felt and it may be a project that can easily be done by a child in Elementary school, it is just a start for me. My mom also taught me the basis of crocheting and I would post pics of my projects, but they are a bit embarrassing. But, look forward to some pics of yummy desserts and hopefully some pretty crafts soon :)

Thankful

As I read all of my friends fb posts I decided to write a blog of things that I am thankful for. There's a million things that I am thankful for, but I will only write down the most important things. Today when I was having lunch with Audrina at home I decided to let her hold my cup with a straw in it. Before she took a big sip she took the straw and gestured for me to take a sip first. Not going to lie, I cried. I cried because this little 16 month year old baby is so thoughtful and loving. I feel that through my unconditional love I have raised a baby that is not at all selfish and so caring. I am thankful for her and the many happy memories she has given me. To become a parent has been the best gift in the world and I am thankful for her well being. I am also thankful for my family. Without them I would not exist. I have a family that loves each other so much and we are all so close, that's probably why we all work together lol. I am thankful for my husband who is the best father to Audrina. It use to take lots of nagging from me to get him to hang up Christmas lights before Thanksgiving, as soon as we have a daughter he is the one that puts them up without a question. I love the way he looks at Audrina in awe, I don't think he knows that I sometimes catch  him staring at her in peer bliss :) I am very thankful for my store The Watchman. This store has taught me the world of retail like no other and I am thankful for all of those who support my local business. So many things to be thankful for and I thank everyone who has been in my life that have shaped me into the person that I am today. :) Happy Thankgiving, gobble gobble

Have you ever....

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with things you needed to do and you just want to burst? Well, that is the way I have been feeling for about a month now. I feel like there are so many things that I need to do for the day and I get anxious about it and if things are not done I get upset and somewhat cranky. For example, my day to day goes by fast and I do things in a schedule manner. I was never the one to have schedules or do things exactly on time, but since having Audrina I feel like things flow so much better for the both of us if things are kind of scheduled out for the day. My day consist of waking up, feeding A breakfast, head off to the gym or stroller strides, make lunch, bath for both of us and then nap time for A. When she naps I try to clean as much as I can and then she wakes up, we play then head off to work for the switcheroo with dad. There are so many things I want to do in between those times like baking or finishing up my photo albums of Audrina or reorganize the closets, but I need more time! Funny saying that when I own a watch shop. So many other projects I want to start and hopefully one day they will be done. Right now I need to learn to breathe and enjoy my time with my daughter instead of putting everything on a time crunch.

Its that time of year again....

Fall is here and I am loving the color changes of the trees and the feel of fresh cold air in the morning. I was sad today because I decided to clean out A's  closet to get rid of all the fun summer clothing to make room for our new fall outfits and it just reminded me of how big she has gotten. Well, not big in the sense she's getting taller or weighs more, she's still petite as can be. Big in a way where she can now tell me things she wants by using sign or by her words. I'm seeing a change in this beautiful babay I created who is now a toddler and is absorbing so many different words every week. Her vocab expands to almost 20 words now and she definitely has her B words down, (ball, bird, bear, boo).
Fall also means to me money. haha ok well what I mean is this is the time to prepare for the Christmas holidays for our store. Lots of ordering to do and I am excited because every year we aim to do the best that we can. This is our third Christmas in Chico and I am thankful for my job and the people I have met here. Hopefully in our near future we can buy a home and make Chico that more permanent :)

An update...

I have been slacking in the blog department, I guess finding time to blog has been the issue. A lot has happened since the last blog. Audrina celebrated her first birthday last month on the 25th. She turned from a baby to a toddler in a blink of an eye. She walks everywhere now! Speaks a few words including dog, ball, mama, dada. She is learning to sign, she has eat down really well! I look at my baby and can't believe that she grew up this fast. I am excited about the adventures I will have with a toddler now.

Last weekend I was in my best friend Briannes wedding. It was so beautiful and very country. It was a great wedding, saw a lot of friends that I haven't seen in years and really enjoyed myself. The bride was so beautiful and I was so happy for my friends. I did a toast and I was a little nervous about doing it. I had 4 beers and it came out the way I wanted it! LOL Buzzed speeches are the best!

Jake and I really want to buy a house and we are going to pay off his truck this month which is a step closer to that dream. Too bad Chicos houses are a lot more than YC and you get a lot less. I look online almost everyday and I get disappointed with the size of the house and lots for the price range we are looking at. I pray that a beautiful home is out there waiting for us. As soon as car is  paid off then we are going to get prequalified! I'm not in a rush to buy a house because this should be my last move and I want the home to be perfect. Audrina deserves a place she can call home.

Other then that work has been good and life is always great. I couldn't be any happier being a mom and enjoying the summer, even though it doesn't feel like Summer. Hopefully a vacation will be planned pretty soon. Keep you all updated with that :)

Getting buff......more like getting into shape

This morning I wake up at 5:25am to go to the gym at 6. I had a personal training class that I should have started like 2 weeks ago. I try to think of all the excuses I can make to not go because for one I'm tired and two I am scared. I'm scared that I will not be able to keep up and also intimidated because I have not met my personal trainer. Everytime I think of one I think of a drill seargent yelling at me. It's 5:45 and I am about to leave and I hear Audrina in the room crying, yay a way out of this. I go into the room and nurse her back to sleep. I look at the time and it is 5:50. Ok I guess I can go. I go to the class and in the personal training room I see all types of people. I see the group that I am suppose to be in and they were all middle aged men. I get kind of scared for some reason. Then I meet my trainer Chris. He was  very sweet and didn't look scary at all. We start the class and we do a lap around the gym. Then we get into the intense stuff. Lots of lifting, bending, squatting, jumping, but nothing too intense where I will pass out. My trainer is super kind and very encouraging. He wants me to take it slow because this is my first time and he didn't want me to over exert myself. The entire time he is helpful and not all mean. I actually enjoyed going to the gym today and I look forward to finishing this month strong. I am dedicated to this 3 days a week sessions, in between I am suppose to rest according to Chris because I need my muscles to rest. But, I think I will swim in between those days. Vegas here I come!

Working Out is No Fun....

I made a resolution to go to the gym and eat healthy blah blah blah and man has it been hard to keep up with that. It's the most basic resolution a person can make, yet nearly more than half of us always seem to break it. I always say I have an excuse which is that I have a baby so that means my time is consumed by her. But, thats not an excuse. I work at 4pm nearly everyday. That gives me from 8am-3pm to go to the gym. Audrina has basically the same schedule everyday, wake up between 8-9, eat her breakfast, crawl around everywhere, nap, lunch, nurse, crawl, nap then Jake and I switch work shifts and she hangs out with her dad in the evening. In between this predictable schedule I can fit an hour of gym time. I went today and signed up daycare at the gym for her 3 times this week. When I went today I could not get into the mood to do anything. I'm listening to Pandora running and all I can think of is what is my baby doing. I look over through the glass window (the gyms daycare has a window where you can watch your kid) and all I see is Audrina crawling all the way from the other side of the room towards me. I wave to her and what does she do? Cry. She cries like a maniac! I felt bad, but I knew to just continue my workout and the daycare ladies will soothe her. Then I look over and one of ladies from the daycare comes up to me and tells me that I probably should workout elsewhere because Audrina keeps looking for me. So, I retire the treadmill. I decide to go on the bike, couldn't get into that. I work out my legs and arms, doing the least reps possible. I feel like I need a workout partner or something that can motivate me better. I end up going to the gym for 45 minutes and I think I burnt less than 100 calories. I use to be able to run cross country and play soccer and basketball and now I can barely go to the gym for an hour. I feel like I need an activity that will get me fit and is fun to do. Anyone have suggestions????

9 Month old Babay

Well babay A is 9 months old today! Wow time flies and in just 3 months we will be celebrating her first birthday. Tear ;) I would say Audrina has definitely gone through a huge growth spurt and has reached so many milestones this month. Just shy away from her turning 8 months she transitioned from the army crawl to crawling on all fours. Man, I didn't know how much trouble she can get into with learning how to crawl so fast. She likes to crawl away from me and she loves to crawl to her doggys ball and touch it. Yuck. This month she finally cut her first tooth, which is no bueno for mommys boobs. She is pulling herself up on anything and everything she can. Couch, stack of towels, coffee table, Jake, EVERYTHING. She has reached a stage where she is very independent and its all about her doing what she wants and not always wanting me to do things for her, like feeding herself. She learned to clap on her own this month too! WOW. I have started making her food to eat too. She loves garlic mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, baked sweet potatoes, and she is starting to feed herself. I can't believe that a baby can grow so fast and learn so many different things within weeks.

I have already started thinking about her first birthday and what I wanna do with that. I don't know if I want to have it here in Chico or in Yuba City. We have met so many friends here and I would love to have it in Chico, but we are stilll renting a house and its not built to have a lot of guests. I want to have it at my dads house where it is HUGE and has plenty of room for many people. So I am still debating about it. Maybe I will rent out a park, we will see. I have a theme in mind already too! I know she's probably never going to remember it, but I'm a first time parent so if I want it extravagant then I will!

As for my own personal life I have been skipping the gym, shame on me. I know, I need to get bikini ready for summer and for my friends wedding and oh and her bachelorette party in Vegas. We got a cabana and we will be having a pool party! I have been eating healthier, somewhat. I guess since I am skinnier than I was pre pregnant, by like 10 lbs, I have no motivation to go. But, I will go because I need to stay in shape for this babay who will in no time be walking or running wy from me. Jake and I have been going on dates lately and they have been fun! We try out different restaurant here in Chico and have drinks. Its so nice to be able to have one on one time with my hubby. Our business is almost celebrating our 2 year anniversary in May and I am so happy we are still here. I am the happiest I have ever been and thank Buddha for that !

Mama needs a night out!

I moved to Chico almost 2 years ago to open our store and it has been quite the journey. I got married, opened the store and then got pregnant and had Audrina. I never knew how difficult motherhood could truly be until I became a new mama. I had all  the insecurities of a new mom, "Am I feeding her enough?, Is her poop suppose to look like that? Will I know what to do when she gets sick?" It has been a tough battle for me because I want to be the best mom ever for Audrina and I try my hardest to provide her everything that I can with not just material items, but also with my unconditional love and affection. For the first 4 months I would stay at home with  my new baby, I would mostly facebook, feed the baby, change her diaper, eat, then go to work. I would see moms at the mall come into my store with their new babies and I would just want to ask them so many questions! I felt like that everytime I saw a mom too.

Thats when I figured out that I really needed mommy friends. None of my extremely close friends have kids so it was hard to relate in that sense. I wanted to talk to women who knew what I was going through. I decided to research online for some playgroups. I came across a few, some had fees which I was not comfortable paying into something that I was not too sure of. I finally came across a craigslist ad about a Chico mom meetup group. I decided to join. It was free for one and plus you get to make a profile of yourself and look at the profile of other moms. I decided to go to one of the meetups schedule at a park. I liked the idea meeting at a big open area. I met a few moms there and instantly I felt comfortable. I decided to continue to go to the meetups and I have been with them for over 4 months now. Its great to have women that understands you and its great that all the women I have met have different talents that I wish I could have. Some of them sew, knit, does photography, teaches cooking. We all just went out last Saturday and man did I need that. It's great to go out every once in awhile without your kids and just be yourself. Kind of weird to go out without the baby, but I need it from time to time. My advice to new mamas is to join a meetup like mine or some kind of playgroup. I also have met great women through a little store that has meetings every Wednesday. Audrina doesn't go to daycare so this is a great way to have her meet friends too. Its nice nice to have people who can relate to you and understand all the hardships that you have come across with your kids.

I miss Cheese....

Been a good long while since I last blogged. I have been super busy with work. My sister had her handsome little boy Dec 27th so Jake and I have been working all of Janurary and February. Now that its March we get every other weekend off, YAY. Audrina is now 8 months and she is just developing into quite a character. She loves to talk. She's a girl though so we always have something to say :) She started crawling last month. Its funny how every baby has their own way of crawling. She loves to crawl to me and lay on my lap. She loves to crawl to the dog and to the dogs ball. She's already starting to show signs of temper tantrums, which kind of scare me because she can transform from a sweet little girl to a crazy LOUD child. Its funny now, but it will get more difficult.

Now lets talk about allergies. Audrina since she was 4 months old would have these allergy attacks on her face. She would get bumps all over her face and she was scratch the crud out of it. It was disheartening for me as a mother to see her so itchy and her beautiful skin turned into these scary red rashes. I started rice cereal at that time so I stopped giving it to her thinking maybe it was the food that caused this reaction. I had told my pediatrician about this issue and she said just watch it and it may just be drool rash. Which I knew it was not. Months went by and her rashes would come and go. Finally, I told my pediatrician again and they finally referred me to an allergist here in Chico to ease my frame of mind. I was excited because I would be able to finally figure out what it may be. I was going crazy from changing detergents to getting my carpets cleaned every month. I go to the allergist and he tells me she has slight eczema and we need to change our sheets to specialized ones for dander. He also tells me to stay away from nuts, dairy and eggs. You never realize how much dairy is in your diet until you go on a special diet. I eat cheese like crazy! The only good thing about this whole ordeal is I lost a lot of weight and I am smaller than I was before I became prego. Ok, well a month goes by and the allergy attacks still continue. I am now just insane because my poor baby has rubbed her neck raw, her eyes get puffy and she is not sleeping well because she is so darn itchy. I go to a different doctor from the same allergy facilitiy and we get a RAST. This test for common allergies in kids. The problem is we have to get blood drawn. Now being a mother you know that the last thing you want to see is blood taken from your childs body. But, we had to do it. Not going to go into detail with the blood getting drawn because it was so sad and I did cry. Test results come back and she is allergic to dairy, nuts, eggs and of course Lucy. (my weiner dog) Are you kidding me? So as a mother that breastfeeds and intends to continue breastfeeding, I will have to stick to this crazy diet. I call it crazy because cheese is so delish. As for Lucy, the doctor says she will most likely grow out of it. She has to be on Clarinex and we have a prescribed cream for her skin. So after a million special creams and hundreds of dollars in doctor bills later, we have finally found the reason for Audrinas outbreaks. My head can rest again. Long blog, sorry, but I am just happy that it is all resolved.

Audrinas new fascination is paper

Milestones

All babies have their own time when they reach their different milestones.  For me being a first time parent I was obsessed with Audrina hitting all her milestones "on time." I would read books and blogs about when babies hit certain milestones such as rolling over, sitting up, grabbing toys, etc and I would freak out each month hoping Audrina will hit these milestones on time. I became kind of obsessive in ways because I didn't want my child to be delayed in any way. I would start comparing my child to others. Oh that baby is already rolling over, why isn't mine. I think a big part of it is we all want our babies to be advanced for  their age. Thats why us parents love to brag if our child does do a milestone earlier than usual. I've had customers who have had kids that started walking at 7 months! Now thats impressive. The more I freaked out about the milestones the more I realized that each baby is unique in their own way. They will hit each milestone at their own time. Audrina is 6 months old and I have seen babies that can crawl and pull themselves up at this age. I am happy that she is now content on her stomach. When she's ready to crawl she will. She's already doing the rocking motion and its hilarious! I want to enjoy each milestone I can because the first year in a babys life flies by too fast and soon enough she will be running away from me. Tear. My advice to new mamas and papas is to embrace each milestone, some babies may be more advanced than others and never feel bad if your child is not hitting the milestone "on time." Babies find their own time to do what they want.

Audrina 3 weeks old. Photos by Lisa Lizzaraga

How did she get this big?

Cloth Diapering Vs Disposables



Audrina Sporting her love for cloth diapers



I chose to write on the topic of cloth diapering Vs. disposable diapers. It took me a good month to decide to convert from disposables to cloths because I had a hard time understanding how cloth diapers work. There are many different ways you can cloth diaper and there are so many brands out there on the market. . Theres Happy Heinys, GroVia, Flip, BumGenius, Fuzzibunz and millions of other ones out there. Theres the All in ones, pocket diapers, ones that you can take out the liner and reuse the shell of the diaper, it can give you a headache thinking of all the types they have created. They even make them with cute designs and very fashionable colors. For me it took 3 different brands to finally choose the type that I liked Now to some and maybe most, cloth diapering may seem gross or inconvenient. I was a skeptic also. When I finally chose the brand that I preferred (Fuzzibunz) and tried them out for a week, I fell in love. Not only were they cute as hell on my bitty baby, but there was no stench to it. The fuzzibunz is a pocket diaper and it has an outer shell and then a pocket where the cloth pad goes which holds the urine. I use a liner with the cloth diapers in case she goes number 2 so I can flush the liner down the toilet and not worry about a hot mess. Now washing them is totally easy, its basically like doing a load of clothes. You use special detergent for it, but I usually prewash, regular wash cycle on hot, then rinse one more time. Now the price of the diapers are pricey upfront. Each diaper is from 15-25 a diaper depending on which brand you prefer. The ones I liked were 17.95 and I bought a good amount to last me two full days without washing. Greatest investment I made so far for my child. They are also good up til she's potty trained, which hopefully I can accomplish that before age 2! Cloth diapering is not for everybody. If it fits with your lifestyle then go for it!

Top Reasons Why I Like Cloth Diapers

1. Environmentally friendly

2. Soft for my babys bum and not as many rashes

3. Easy to use, and pays off in the end of not buying disposables

4. Cute as hell

New Year New Me

I thought a great way to kick start the new year is to do a blog. Reasons for this; I can basically keep a record of my childs development, to release any thoughts and feelings that I feel, to let others read and relate to the everyday things that I go through and last, to be able to write again. I finished my BS 2 years ago and I have not written anything out (besides FB posts and repair tags to customers) in so long and I looooove to write. New Year New Me! I have 5 New Year Resolutions for 2011. I would say 80% of the time these will not stick, but I am determined to stick with them, well hopefully at least one resolution.

1. How many of you will stop eating McDonalds and start eating carrot sticks thsi year? Ummm Meee! Well, hopefully. I need to be on a healthier diet. This means Mrs. Fields I will have to retire your oh so delicious cookies :(

2. Get into shape. I remember a long time ago when I could run 5 miles, now I run a mile and I am sweating like a pig. I didn't get a two year gym membership at the best local gym in town for nothing. I'm not trying to get a six pack, although that would be nice! Gym at least 2-3 times a week.

3. For my business I would love to find new ways to promote it. The Watchman needs more exposure!!

4. I need to be more organized. Plain and simple everything needs to be organized in my life. From my car to my kitchen. I will not be a hoarder!!

5. Last, but not least I want to cook more. Hubby has been cooking for me for way too long. Lucky am I ? yes. He deserves some good home cooking too. I'm not a bad cook, but also not a good one. Anyone have any recipes for me?

Can I stick to the resolutions, I hope so......