and now.... week #55!

Current mood: tired

Thats right... its that time again for another weekly blog. Yet another week has zoomed right by before our eyes and its not showing any signs of slowing down. This week has been fun with some new things.

It started off with graduating Mia to a big girl car seat! We took it for its first spin to the mall last friday and she LOVED it! She loves being able to look out the window now and I like being able to turn around and see what she is doing. She no longer get all sweaty and over heated in it and its nice not having to lug around the little car seat anymore.. YAY!

We kept the box her new car seat came in and I let her play in it. After cutting out a couple of windows it became her little house. She LOVES going in and out of it, putting toys in and out of it and just singing inside. We are now looking to get her alittle playhouse or tent thing to play with so we can get the box out of the livingroom. I am afraid if we take away her box it won't come without some protest from her.

Another thing that started up this week but also stopped a few days later, was screaming at Cobra Man on Yo Gabba Gabba. There is alittle cartoon segment on that show where they tell stories and on this one specific episode, a Cobra Man comes dancing out of the jungle and scares everyone. Right before he would come on to the TV Mia would always let out this little scream! It was the cutest thing ever but she only did it for a couple of days and now she stopped. Awww.... ah well, at least we did capture it on video once.

We went to Red Robin to eat, and Mia being her charming self, even got a napkin rose from the Manager. She loved playing with it but eventually we had to take it away when she tired to eat it. She did good during the meal, munching on her Cheerios and drinking her water from the straw like a big girl.

Speaking of food, I started making her pancakes for a meal. She LOVES them! and its fun making little sliver dollar sized pancakes for her. Since I started making them for her my obsession with eating pancakes has returned, now we both eat pancakes together! I can't get enough of them and neither can Mia! haha

We had some fun outside this week as well. I got her dressed up in her bathing suit and she got to play with the sprinkles. Though at first she really didn't like them, she started to get used to them alittle bit and actually started touching them with her hand. I can't wait to drag her little pool outside so she can play with that too, hopefully it will cool off again enough to go outside.

Also, I think Mia is dropping some hints to her Mama and Daddy that she wants a sibling. Everytime she sees the picture of her cousin as a newborn she gets all excited and starts talking to it like crazy. She moves her hands and wrists all around, smiles and says a word that I swear sounds like "add" haha Of course she doesn't know what add means, its still amusing to pretend she is actually asking us to "add" another one to our clan haha. I should really try to capture it on video its really cute. Especially when she looks at her Daddy and say "Dada add" haha

Well thats about it, I have to cut this a little short, since I have to take care of some errunds before it gets to late. I am sure we will have more adventures and I will be back! till then.. Happy Friday!

I think Mia is hinting to us she wants a sibling!

Current mood: amused

Mia has always loved kids, especially babies. If she sees one in the store she lights up and always tries to communicate with it some how. She has been this way as far back as I can remember. When we had TV, and commericals would come on with kids or babies she would light up, run to the TV and talk to them. Now she has started this new thing and its the cutest thing ever.

I have an old picture frame in our guest room which has 7-8 pictures of my niece Sarah (now almost 7 years old) when she was a newborn just a few days old. Its hanging on the wall next to the bed. Now when Mia goes on the bed to play, right away, she goes straight for that picture frame and starts talking to it. I ask her "See the baby?!" and she looks at me with the biggest smile, and starts talking to it some more. Its not just normal jibber jabbering either. Its a full on conversation that lasts a LONG time. She gets all into it too, twirls her hands around, points and get all excited. She is really talking to the baby in the picture haha. She has been doing this for days now and even tries to touch the picture frame.

Maybe she is telling us in her own way that she wants a sibling! haha I think she would do good with one since she is so social with babies and kids already and always has been. As for Adrian and I.. well thats a different story. We have been talking about it seriously for about 8-9 months now, but decided way back that we would at least wait till Dec. of this year to start trying. It puts some distance between the two, plus we still have to see where we will be by the end of the year. Now that we are about 5 months away, we are slowly starting to line things up in preparing of another baby... who knows though we might still get cold feet when the time comes... Anyways I guess Mia is trying to make sure we know that she wants a little sister or brother to play with haha

Sprinkler time!!

Current mood: blissful

Today FINALLY cooled down enough to go outside during the late afternoon, so Mia and I aka the house hermits decided to get some freshair in the front yard. Adrian was working on our sprinkers (they broke and the lack of water was killing the grass) so I put Mia in her bathing suit and outside we went to play.

At first she didn't mind walking around on the cement and grass checking things out, then I got a bright idea (which usually means BAD idea) I put her in the grass to play and left her their while Adrian turned on the sprinklers. No no no, they only spew out a soft mist (which is why our grass is dying! not enough water) I wanted to see if she would like it since it was still warm out and it may cool her down. BAD IDEA! As soon as they made a noise and rose out the ground, Mia stood up! and once the water sprinkled on her she almost started crying and reaching for me so I had to run over there and pick her up out of the grass. Ah well... another learning lesson for Mama. I didn't want her to associate a bad experience with water or sprinklers so I took some time out to introduce her to them the right way.

I would sit her on my lap and show her the water, I'd play with it with my hands and when became comfortable with it, she would poke it with her finger. Of course I would cheer anytime she made any effort in checking it out. Eventually she got brave enough to stand up next to the sprinkler head and touch it with her hands. She didn't care for the mist flying on her though and would spin around 90 degrees and cling on to me to pick her up. She did good though. We explored more of the yard, like the trees and bushes and other parts of the grass. Eventually she got tired and when I would ask if she wanted to see the sprinkler again or walk her to it, she would shake her head no! haha Eventually we went back inside.

I later fed her dinner and watched Gabba with her till it was time for bed. She was especially clingy to me, which I found a bit odd. Once she was laying in my lap with her back on my chest, with her blankey, while watching Gabba and I was on the phone with my Sister in Law. As soon as I said the word "Bye" Mia sprung up like a flash, spun around and looked at me all worried like I was going to leave her. Her eyes were all big and sad and she was on the verge of crying. I told her I wasn't going anywhere and to lay back down and she did, but whenever I said anything refering to me getting up she would panick and cling to me like if her life depending on it. Eventually despite her protests I got up and got her ready for bed.

I dressed her on my bed and changed her diaper and thats when Daddy came in. So all three of us laid on the bed and talked, yes even Mia and her baby talk. Eventually she did the cutest thing. She was laying in between us with her favorite blankey then she rolled over and started gentally patting Daddy's face with it, then rolled over and started to gentally pat my face with it. We melted! When she tries to calm herself down she pats her face with the blankey I have never see her do it to anyone else. Too cute. Eventually I put her down for bed and here I am!

Yay what a fun day!

Mia in the Box

Current mood: amused

As soon as I saw how big her new car seat box was, I knew I just HAD to let her play in it before we threw it out. I remember as a kid having a big box to play with was more fun than any store bought toy so I wanted to see Mia's reaction to it.

The box has been sitting in the family room for awhile before I finally made time to bring it out to her play area. I laid it on the ground and instantly she came to it and wanted to play with the flaps and get inside it. She had alot of fun poking around, crawling in and out of it and banging the top. I put a couple of her toys in it and she played with them inside. We had the TV on at the time and whenever she heard something different that she didn't recognize she would crawl out of the box.. peak around the corner at the TV to see what was going on, then crawl back into her box. She tried to stand a couple of times but the box wasn't tall enough and she kept bumping her head. We later put some music on for her and she even danced in the box! haha Then I cut a couple of windows out for her to play with and she went nuts with those too. At one point she even dragged her blankey inside and tried to get comfy.

We had lots of fun with the box, not sure when I will throw it out now because she did have alot of fun with it. Anyways, thats my little story about Mia in the Box!

Getting a Napkin Rose at Red Robin and Screaming at Cobra Man

Current mood: amused

Well we didn't get the chance to go ot Oxnard this weekend. By the time Friday night hit I was just to exhasted to pack and get ready for the trip. Mia has been teething and has been extreemly moody on and off, and Adrian was on less than 5 hours of sleep in the past two days... there was too many things stacked against us to make the trip and unfortunately we just couldn't make it.

So instead we rested and relaxed around the house. It was nice to have one weekend to ourselves where we didn't have to drive anywhere or run off to do errunds. Adrian and I spent some quality time together with Mia and we just hung out as a family. Something we had not been able to do in literally weeks! So when the time came when we got hungry we decided to go down the street to Red Robin for lunch.

We packed up Mia and drove there. It was another HOT day.. bleh... so we ran into the restuarant once we got there. They gave us a seat right away and gave Mia a highchair and crayons and a coloring menu to play with. So Mia sat next to Daddy and he showed her the crayons and how to use them. Soon she was scribbling like a big girl! Then Daddy gave her another color to use and thats when she refused to color anymore and just wanted to tear up the paper. We tried to appease her with some Cheerios which worked through most of the meal. Then out of no where the Manager came to our table and asked how things were going. We said good and he commented on how cute Mia was and then told her he would make her something special. Thats when he took a napkin off the table and made a rose out of it for her. She watched him intensely and really got into the whole thing. When he was done he handed it to her and Mia of course didn't take it from him, she is classic for not taking things from strangers... I guess thats good right? so he laid it on the table and left. As he walked away she picked it up and played with it. She loved that little napkin rose and wouldn't put it down for anything. She even ate Cheerios with one hand so she didn't have to put it down. Then, like all things, she started putting it in her mouth and thats when we had to take it away from her. She protested a bit but the Cheerios calmed her back down. We had a nice meal together as a family, I had the Jerk Chicken Buger which was good but sent me to the bathroom half way home (I have an extreeeeemly senstive stomach, especially after my gall bladder surgery), Adrian got a Ceaser salad and soup and Mia got ... ya you guessed it.. Cheerios! After hanging out a bit we went home.

I fed Mia some dinner and I put on some Yo Gabba Gabba for her. Oh before I get into that, I noticed she started doing this funny thing recently.. yesterday to be exact. There is one espisode ("Together") which she watches ALL the time. There is a segment where the cartoon comes on with "Super Martian Robot Girl". She loves when they show that. In this episode some people are trying to play music in the jungle and out of no where a Cobra Man comes out and dances and scares them away. Hes weird looking but not really scary. In the end they find out hes harmless and they all get along with each other. Well anyways, yesterday I noticed that right before the Cobra Man walks out Mia lets out a high pitch scream! Its like a fake scared scream. I think she is copying the characters on TV because they scream when they see him. I showed her the episode again later in the day and sure enough right before the Cobra Man comes out she lets out a high pitch scream. So this morning I wanted to show Adrian and I put on that scene again and sure enough she screamed again, we got a huge laugh out of it. So we put it on again just before her bedtime so we could capture it on video and.. yep she did it again. She just screams alittle bit and just for that specific scene, not before and not after. Its really funny. I guess she is begining to remember episodes and scenes and is trying to mimick the characters on TV. Too Cute!!!


Well thats about it, I am off to go to bed early, I am soooooo tired. I just had to share those little stories.

Mia screaming at Cobra Man

First Ride in her Big Girl Car Seat!

Current mood: adventurous

Daddy had to go to San Diego extra early today so I decided to take Mia to the mall for some special Mama/daughter time. I also wanted to give her new car seat a spin before the weekend, incase we do decide to go to Oxnard.

I got her ready to go after breakfast with hopes of avoiding the mid-day heat. I had a coupon for Gymboree, given by one of her Great Aunties, that if you spend $50 you get $25 dollars off! I couldn't pass that up, plus it was going to expire this Sunday!

Luckily Daddy did fasten the car seat in my car last night before he left so it was all nice and secure for her. I put her in and she seemed to like it. I took a few pictures then off on our adventure we went. I kept looking behind me (she is sitting behind the passenger seat) and she looked like she was having fun looking out the window and kicking her feet. It was a whole new experience for her, since she has always faced the rear of the car her whole little life.. not much to see there other than the back seat. A few times she would make a noise and I would look back and she was give me the biggest smile! What a cutiepie!

Then we made it to the Temecula mall. It was definately heating up and my car thermistate read 89 degrees (it was 11am). I unloaded her stroller, diaper bag, changing pad, waters and eventually Mia. We had parked in their newly build parking structure so our car wouldn't heat up to badly like it would out in the street, however, it was going to be a longer walk to get to the mall. That was ok though, Mama could use the excerise and Mia the fresh air.

Once we got to the mall we walked around a bit. We checked out the Disney store first then went to Gymboree. It was a mad house of bratty kids screaming and running everywhere. I give tons of credit and respect to those who work there and have to tolerate that all day. Their selection was not that big, infact I think the Outlet Mall in Lake Elsinore had a bigger store, but I wasn't about to go there since its outdoors!!! and its supposed to climb to 100 again today. So we shopped and shopped. There is a huge watermelon theme going so I bought another cute top to match her watermelon outfit she got from her Great Auntie Gina for her birthday, some shorts, another pink top and some sandles that had a shell on them. Mia started to get alittle bored so it was time to go. We got to the register and of course there was a line of people, who always seemed to cause the cashier problems, in front of us. The first one had some exchange thing that was causing problems and took FOREVER, and the lady in front of us had some exchange AND an expired/used coupons that she insisted on using.. sigh... Mia and I just wanted to get out there. The lady in front of us had three boys all under the age of 10. They were screaming, rough housing, knocking things down and hitting each other. Of course the Mom didn't do anything about it other than say, "knock it off" 10 mins past and I was still in line about to pull my hair out. By then the boys already crashed into Mia's stroller once, and all their rough house-ness started aggraviting Mia too. She started to whine and cry in her stroller. I showed her a bracelette and as soon as I took it away she blew up! (Bad idea on my part) finally it was my turn and I paid for my things and got the heck out of there.

We then went to the food court so I could change her diaper in the restrooms nearby, I was hoping that would perk her up some. After that I couldn't resist a cool lemonaid from Hot Dog on a Stick (my FAVORITE corndog/lemonaid place) I bought one of each and sat down at a table. Mia got some Cheerios and I ate my corndog and lemonaid. I gave some lemonaid to Mia but she didn't like it. Then it was back to the car we went.

Once we left the AC mall the heat just hit us. It was 98 degrees and despite the heat Mia still insisted on having her warm blankey on her. We got back to the car and thats when things started to go wrong. We parked on a slope so the stroller kept wanting to roll into traffic, I kept envisioning Mia in the stroller, rolling out and getting hit by a car while I was fixing her car seat and putting things in the car. I tried to put the breaks on the stroller to keep it stationary but those darn things didn't want to work right and the stroller still kept wanting to roll back. I still felt that horrible feeling of having Mia roll into traffic so I just took her out and leaned the stoller on the car next to us. (Something I don't like doing since I would get really mad if someone did that to my car!) I went to put Mia into the car and I tripped on my sandles and almost fell. I grabbed my car door with my free hand to stop me from falling, it opened all the way and hit the car next to us! YIKES! The car next to us as a 350Z (not to fancy but still it was no VW bug! haha) I checked to see if the shiney, well maintained car, had any bumps or dings... nothing.. phew that was a close one. So I put Mia in the car and strapped her all in, gave her her blankey and then moved onto unloading the stroller. (Mind you its 100 degrees in the structure by then and I was pouring sweat and HOT!) I put my pretezel (yes I had to buy one of those too on the way out) in the front seat, walked around the car offered Mia another drink of lemonaid in which she refused, walked back around the car, put the lemonaid in the cup holder in the car, walk back around to the stroller, unloaded the diaper bag and Gymboree bag, I got Mia's water sipee out and gave it to her, turned around and started to collapse her stroller then I heard BANG!, Mia threw her sipee completely out of the car and onto the parking structure floor! UGH! so I picked that up threw it in the car, struggled with the stroller until I got it in the trunk, came back around and closed Mia's door then went around and got in the car... PHEW!!! I was drained, that heat is horrible! Finally we were off on our way back home.

About midway home I looked back to check on Mia and she knocked out. YAY! she can sleep in her new carseat (A concern for me since she doesn't sleep just anywhere) She slept the whole ride home. Once we got home I unloaded the car and got Mia's lunch together and that was that. After playing for a couple of hours I finally put her down for a afternoon nap so here I am.

Wow what a day, I am pooped! but there is still so much to do, I still need to pack and prepare for tomorrow.... to be honest I rather just go take a nap... I think I will... oh wait nevermind Mia just woke up.. off to do more Mama duties!

Week 54!

Current mood: accomplished

Happy Friday!!!! Its that time again for another weekly blog update and boy do I have ALOT to report! So lets get started before the little one wakes up and demands her breakfast.

Last Friday was another one of those "running around like a headless chicken" type days. It was the day before her big San Diego birthday bash and we still had tons to take care of. We spent the night at her Grandparent Santos' house for the first time and though they are very accomodating they don't have AC! It was unseasonably warm that day so Mia had a rough time going/staying asleep but after a quick room change, things got much better. She had been teething really bad (and continues to do so) so that didn't help. The day of her party she was NOT a happy camper and refused to take a nap. She screamed her little lungs out and we all were grateful when she finally did fall asleep. Only problem now was we had to hold up the whole party to wait for her to wake up! So her party was alittle late in getting started but overall was a giant success! She had tons of her family and friends turn out and got tons of presents. She did very well at the party, no melt downs or incidences. She even ate her first cupcake and boy did she tear into it after she got past the frosting! She had cupcake all over herself! Classic baby moment. She even fell asleep in her Big Cousin Robert's arms towards the end.. another rare thing. I was so happy that he let me hold her while she was sleeping because it has literally been months! since I have been able to do that. All in all, her birthday was great!

She added another couple of words to her vocabulary this week. One of them is "Up" and she knows what it means. She will go to you while on the couch and say "up, up" so you pick her up to sit with you! The other word is "Dog" not sure if she know exact what it means but she will repeat it and say it on her own. Her Grandma Santos can even verify this since she was saying it all over her house that one day.

She finally climbed on the couch all by herself yesterday! She has climbed on the couch before but only after climbing on a chair first. She has tried doing it on her own for awhile by lifting up her leg and trying to climb on but our couches are just too high and she couldn't However, yesterday she had a real incentive! Adrian came over and was eating a bowl of icecream.. BAD IDEA! I guess he forgot that when you eat in front of her she wants some too. I told him it was close to bedtime and not to give her to much but that didn't stop him from sneaking her a couple of little spoonfuls. She seemed to like it but would walk away then come back for more. I reminded Adrian again to stop giving her so much before bedtime (I was really tired and was looking forward to her going to sleep early) he said "Don't worry shes not going crazy over this" and just after he said that she walked up to him and struggled a bit but actually climbed on the couch and sat right in front of him, facing him, so she could get more! How could you not reward her for that! so she got her icecream anyways.

She is also trying to be helpful now too... alittle too helpful sometimes! haha Once I went to change her diaper and I handed her a wipee to play with and distract her while I did what I needed to do. Once I opened her diaper she instantly put the wipee on her little girly part and tried to clean herself! I guess Mama wasn't doing it right? haha Of course I had to take the wipee away from her but it was kind of amusing. Also, after every meal I wipe down her tray and she wants to take the wipee away from me so she can clean it. She takes it and wipes back and forth on her tray all happy. I guess she likes being Mama's little helper! =)

Ok onto a bad thing... she got her 1 year old shots this week! NOoooooo!!! It was bad enough she was teething but the shots just made it worse! She did good though, didn't cry long in the doctors office but she really made up for it that night. Luckily our cat Mew Mew managed to work her cat magic and calmed her down enough to sleep by meowing at her! Haha I know it was weird but really cute. She got 5 shots total poor baby. Then when coming home from the doctors office we got stuck in horrific traffic in 106 degree heat!!! That was aweful and poor Mia literally roasted in the back in her car seat. I later took her out and attempted to craddle and cool her off for the rest of the ride home.

Due to that horrible experience in the car we decided to graduate Mia to a big girl car seat. So after much researching we bought her a brand new car seat! Hopefully Daddy installed it in my car before he went to work today so I can take her out in a test run today.

Well thats about it to report. It will be another busy busy weekend for us. We are attempting to go back to Oxnard tomorrow to help celebrate her little cousin Gianna's 1st birthday. Hopefully we can make it, but things aren't looking so good due to her Daddy's schedule. Not only did he have a crazy work week but he also had to leave the house at 5am today just to get to San Diego early to pick up another Base parking pass (his expired) and military ID (again his expires soon) and the base's office that does all that only takes walks ins in the early morning... bleh. So we wont see him again till tomorrow morning when he comes home after work, he will get a couple of hours or rest then its on the road again to Oxnard. So we will see how we work it out. As for now its time to get Mia's breakfast going and to refill her Cheerio cup. She is OBESSED with Cheerios and eats them like if they were candy! I can't have a meal without them now or she gets FURIOUS! haha so I am off to set all that up. =)

Mia Graduates Again!!!

Current mood:Proud

Today marks a big day for little Mia. Today was the day she said goodbye to her rear facing "baby newborn-ish" car seat! Thats right she is now a proud owner of a nice Evenflo forward facing big girl car seat!

We have been planning on the upgrade for awhile now, especially since her tiny feet always hung out of her old car seat. However, what really got the ball rolling was what happened to her the day she got her shots and how she over heated BAD in the seat while we sat in traffic. She is ALWAYS overheating in her car seat, especially since it craddles her so tight and she can't even get the air from the vents so it was time for a change. We also wanted to do it before this weekend since we are planning on going back to Oxnard for her Cousin Gianna's 1st birthday. So I made it point to research the heck out of carseats last night.

Just when my head started spinning from all the different carseats with all the different bells and whistles I FINALLY found the one I wanted for her. It was the Evenflo Triumph Advance DXL. It has good material that supposedly helps her from not overheating so much, it has a recline position and it sits high so she can see out the window. It was also under $200 which really helps since our budget really can't even afford this expense at the moment.

So today we decided to get it. First the three of us went to Target (yes it was 105 today) but we didn't find the car seat there... we had to hit Babies R Us anyways for diapers and other supplies so we decided to go there for the car seat as well. Plus I had a 15% coupon on a single item I wanted to use. Once we got the Babies R Us, I ran around like I always do and loaded up the cart with TONS of supplies, baby wipes, diapers, creams, oatmeal etc then we went to look at the car seats and sure enough they had it!!! I took it off the self so Mia could go on a test run. She seemed to like it and it fit perfectly. So we decided to get it. We shopped a bit more and we came across something we just couldn't put back.. it was a little San Diego Charger Cheerleader uniform!!!! Granted I was born and raised a SF 49ner fan, and her Daddy doesn't really follow any team, we decided to get it anyways since she is still a San Diegan at heart. I thought it was really cute since her Mama was a cheerleader in both Jr. High and High School... so the tradition continues! haha I am going to take her picture with it on after I dig up my old blue and gold pom poms from my old varsity years! haha Ok back to the story.. I went off track there a bit...

So we shopped some more and I came across a cup where you can put snackies in it and they can feed themselves without spilling them all over. I remembered her Cousin April having one and I always wanted to give Mia one once she could feed herself snackies. Since she recently became addicted to Cheerios I thought it would be perfect for her to snack with, so we picked it up. Finally it was time to go and off to the register we went. Mia was getting tired of being in the basket so we had to hurry. We bought our stuff and it came out to $250!!!! thats including coupons!! YIKES! Ah well we did save $38 though.

Then it was off to the car. By then it was cooling down and was only 100 (ya thats cooling down around here haha) but what saved us was the sun was setting and there was a breeze. Once we got to the car we realized our dilemma... how would we fit both the huge car seat box and the dipaer and wipee box in the car?!?!?! It took some time but eventually Adrian, aka the tetris master (I call him), managed to work his magic and got everything to fit... barely... and it only took about 10 mins of standing in the heat to do it! haha Anyways once we were all loaded up it was homeward bound we went. Why didn't we just use the new carseat you ask? Well we would have to ditch the box somewhere and there is still a slight chance we might want to return it, plus the idea of reading the instruction manual in the heat and fiddling with it just didn't seem appealing at the time haha

Once we got home I fixed Mia some dinner and afterwards gave her a cup of Cheerios using her new Penguine Snackie Cup. After showing her how to use it she took to it fast. Soon she was munching on cheerios on the couch just hanging out, then when she would finish it she would walk over to me and hand the cup to me to refill it. So did and she was as happy as can be walking around eating her snacks all over the place. Then came time to take it away and BOY she got MAD!!!!!! She rather carry the empty bowl with her everywhere. I eventually had to wait for her to put it down and turn away before I snatched it up and hid it. She really doesn't like her things taken from her, she gets MAD and I don't mean crying mad I mean full on screaming tantrum mad. This has been happening more, especially with her new bracelette her Cousin Brianna gave her for her birthday. She LOVES wearing it and jingles her hand all the time, but sometimes it falls off and she just blows up! She gets so mad and brings it to me to put it back on and if I don't do it fast enough she gets ANGRY! I take it off before bed and bathtime and she gets so mad at me. She just loves her little bracelette, she even looks for it when its not on her. Sigh.. little Mia! haha

Well overall the day has been good. She has not shown any more signs of being sick from her shots or in any kind of discomfort. As for now its time for me to rest, I have a bad headache.. darn that sun! haha We will see what kind of adventures we will have tomorrow...

The morning after "the shots".....

Current mood: sad

Well things went well last night, Mia didn't wake up at all. Poor baby was really tired from the horrible day yesterday. I wasn't sure what to except for this morning.

I woke up alittle later than I usually do, it was alittle after 9 and Mia still wasn't up. I went downstairs to wake up some more and to start on her breakfast. Then I heard her wake up and start crying. Before I could get her breakfast done I went upstairs to comfort her since I knew she probably woke up uncomfortable from her shots yesterday.

She perked up once I got into the room. She sat down on her butt on the opposite side of her crib while holding her Pooh blankey. (A spot where I can't reach her) I turned off her music and night light and chatted with her. I then tried to convince her to get up so I can pick her up and get her out of the crib, but she refused. She didn't cry or fuss, she just didn't want to get up from her spot. I tried talking to her, tempting her with toys and even walked out of the room but she didn't budge. Hmm... odd. She just sat there. Finally I took her little hands and tried to help her stand and thats when she tried, then immediately sat down and cried in pain. Poor baby! Her legs where hurting her to much to stand! (She got 3 shots in them). My heart broke.. but I still couldn't reach her. Finally I made her try to stand and quickly swooped her up. She was ok once she was in my arms. So we went downstairs to start our day.

I first changed her diaper which she didn't like, I checked her bandaids and all 5 were accounted for, then we went to the kitchen to get her breakfast. She ate very well and perked up alot afterwards. I put on some shows to watch on TV (of course Gabba was a big part of the lineup) and she walked around alittle bit. Then she became very clingy again she didn't want to be put down or even play. So we just cuddled on the couch watching Gabba until she got tired. Whenever I went to put her down she would spin around and rest her head on my knees with her blankey or try to climb back up. Once I knew it was nap time I gave her alittle more tylonal and I put her in her in her play pen downstairs (its cooler down here than her room) she cried alittle but then went right to sleep.

Not sure how the rest of the day will go, she did let me pull off 4/5 bandaids and even helped with a couple. Hopefull she will feel better soon.

1 year doctor visit and the dreaded shots....

Current mood: sad

The day finally came. The day we have been dreading for a long while, since January to be exact. Today was Mia's 1 year check up at the doctor and you know what that means.... yep shots... UGH!

Its been really HOT in this area lately, infact its been record high! All this week is supposed to be 100+ and today was no exception. It hit 106 in this area and 108 where her doctor's office is. Her appointment was scheduled for 1:45 so it was smack dab in the middle of the day heat...bleh. So before we left I dressed her in the lightest dress she had (which she got from her Grandparent's Pizano for her birthday) and off we went. Luckily Adrian thought ahead and took along a half frozen bottle of water for the ride.

Her doctor's office is in Moreno Valley which is about a 25-30min drive north east from us. She was in good spirits which always makes things harder since we know what is in store for her and she is completely oblivious. Once we got there and got out of the car the heat just hit us like a wall! Just walking through the parking lot you felt yourself melting... literally! I had her little pink sunglasses on (also a birthday present, from her Tia Gloria and family). We checked in and the wait began...

She did good in the waiting room, just hanging out on Daddy's lap. It didn't take long before she was called back. They made her strip down to her diaper and weighed her. Daddy and I both made a bet on what her weight would be... I guessed 19 lbs. he guessed 20-21 lbs. Of course, as always, Daddy's guess was right.. she is 20.6 lbs. They then measured her head and height, she is 2 feet 6 inches tall (30 inches altogether). She did really well with the nurse and didn't fuss at all during this time. Then the nurse left and we were stuck in that little room.

Daddy watched her while she played on the paper but oddly she was very clingy. She didn't want him to move away from arms reach from her. Once he even joked and said "byebye" and she sat up and quickly started climbing all over him to make him pick her up. Eventually she got braver and started tearing up the paper, and even attempted to rip the Dr. Seuse poster off the wall. After a LONG wait, Mama took over and attempted to entertain her. She became restless since she was getting bored and we weren't letting her walk around (I can only imagine the type of germs on the floor)

Eventually her doctor came in. (She has had the same doctor since she was a newborn and we really like him). He greeted us and asked us a few questions about Mia's development. We also told him about her drinking situation and he said not to worry about it that it seems she is getting enough liquids, especially with all the foods we feed her and she will let us know when she is thirsty and not to force liquids on her. He then started his exam which she also did very well with. The only time she fussed was when he went to check her throat with the stick and that made her cough and cry. I don't blame her I don't like that either. Everything checked out A-OK! YAY! Just as he was leaving I thought I would ask him one last question. It was about her belly button. Why you ask? Well I don't think many have seen it, but its not quite an inny and not quite an outie. It is sort of half and half and we were wondering what he thought it would be since he has seen many a belly button in his career. He checked it out and said it is still up in the air. Especially since he didn't feel a hole that was supposed to be there (in which as babies get older it goes into) so she might just have an outie after all. He then ordered some routine blood work for her to check her Iron levels and said we would have to go to the lab for that afterwards. Oh-no!!!!!! Not only was she getting shots but blood work too!!!!! Poor Mia! Luckily we later found out we didn't have to do that THAT day but we could do it in a week or so... phew!

He later left and the wait begain for the nurse. I am not sure what the hold up was but we ended up waiting FOREVER! well it seemed like forever especially since we knew what was about to happen. We both just wanted to get it over with.. the wait was horrible especially since she was in such good spirits. ... then the nurse came in... our hearts sank.....

The nurse was really a nice lady and treated us very good. She felt bad too especially since Mia looked so cute on the table. She let us know there was going to be a series of 5! shots!!! Two in one leg, one in the other, and one on each arm! OMG! She was getting the MMR shot along with the chicken pock one (and of course the other boosters she got before). As she got ready, I was on the verge of crying. I had to kiss my baby one last time and turn away as Daddy held her down. Luckily Daddy thought ahead and we brought with us one of her favorite things to play with... DVDs! So he showed them to her as the nurse stabbed her poor baby legs. She did good with the first one, just alittle cry... the second came she cried alittle more... by the third she was doing the silent cry. We calmed her down as best as we could, then Daddy had to sit her up and hold her as the nurse stabbed her in the arm, thats when she lost it completely! Tears steamed down her red little face as she screamed in pain and our hearts broke into millions of pieces. I tried my best to distract her with the DVDs and even the lollipop she got from her birthday party. We turned her around and in went the needle into her other arm. She whaled in pain but thank goodness it was all over. Daddy held her and I talked to her... and eventually she began to calm down. The nurse was even heart broken and left to get her a sticker for being such a good girl. When she returned not only did she have a sticker but a two baby books for her to have. She commented on how well she did and finally Mia took to the candy. We had already changed her diaper and put her clothes back on after the doctor left so we were able to just walk out. She wouldn't let that lollipop out of her mouth and kept it there all the way back to the car. As we walked back to the car this Dad was behind us and asked if she just got her shots (she was covered in bandaids) we told him yes and he sympathized with us and said he cried when his little one got theirs. It definately is a hard thing to do, the hardest thing I ever had to do.


We got her in the car and it was HOT! especially inside (I sat in the back with her), of course we had to get every slow driver in front of us so our AC wouldn't work as good. Mia did well in the back as long as no one messed with her lollipop. We made it to the freeway with no problems, then I noticed the stick on her lollipop was getting soggy and flimsy. I didn't want her to choke on it so of course I had to do the mean Mama thing and take it away. She blew up! She cried so hard her little tounge was vibrating (Something I haven't seen since she was a tiny newborn). I quickly replaced her lollipop with some yogurt melts (her favorite) and she calmed down. After she got her fill I showed her the new books she got from the nurse and she perked up some. Even started jibber jabbering and talking again. Things looked on the up and up until......

Adrian asked me, "hey does that look like smoke from a fire up ahead?" I looked up, we were about 10 mins from home (Perris to be exact) sure enough there was a big cloud of black smoke "yea looks like it" and just then we hit a wall of dead stopped traffic! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! With no turn offs for a couple of miles, the heat rising and currently 106, the AC no longer putting out cool air I panicked! We prayed it wouldn't be something really bad and we would get going soon, but we had no such luck. Soon the air became hot and stale as the AC began just blowing around humid air since we weren't moving. Mia began to over heat and so was I. Little drops of sweat was all over her face and her hair looked like she just got out of the bath. I tried to give her some juice from the juice box I had but she didn't wait it. Then Daddy came to the resuce and offered up his ice water he had brought long with him. I found a staw in her diaper bag and gave it to her, she drank that. About 30 mins of waiting we finally made it to a random exit. We HAD to get off the freeway, the car was heating up and we had no air. The streets were jammed with cars since as it turns out they shut down the 215 south altogether. (A van ended up crashing, rolling over, caught on fire then exploded!! which explains the puff of black smoke we saw earlier). We were lost in Perris trying to find the highway 74 so we could take it to the 15 and go back home an alternate route. No such luck, we just ended up in tons of traffic on the streets from everyone trying to go the same way. Mia was really heating up and began crying. I tried to give her more ice water but then she started choking on it! She stopped breathing and I panicked! Within seconds she managed to get it down but screamed in terror afterwards. I didn't care about any laws or safety by then, I ripped her out of her car seat and held her comforting her. I took off her dress in attempts to cool her down, she was literally soaking in sweat by then. I calmed her down and just rocked her in my arms as we sat in street traffic. We couldn't even pull off anywheres it was so bad. Then we were forced to miss our freeway entrance and we ended up just driving. With blind faith we took some back roads with hopes something would look familiar real soon. If you know how our area is like, its kinda scary getting lost in the back areas, there is nothing but open land, dirt and moutains with little signs of people. The good thing was we were moving and the AC was finally blowing cooler air. The thermostate still read 106! I wasn't about to put Mia back in her car seat to over heat and just kept craddling her. Eventually she fell asleep in my arms and FINALLY we came across familiar streets. Then we ran into the biggest dust devil I have ever seen in my life! It was a tiny tornado of dust and dirty and it literally covered the whole freeway! I whipped out my camera and took a couple of pictures of it as we past by. Luckily we didn't have to go through it. As we took the back road towards our house we saw another big dust devil and I took more pictures. Then FINALLY we made it home! YAY! Phew what an trip, what was supposed to take 25-30 mins turned into a two hour disaster! Mia woke up once we got in the garage and Daddy took her inside as I unloaded the car. We changed her diaper and put on a marathon of Yo Gabba Gabba for her as a treat. I gave her more water and she slowly began to perk up.

Things looked good, she was once again in good spirits with no signs of pain, discomfort or sickness. She played, talked and danced. Adrian and I took turns on watching her and eventually it hit dinner time. I whipped up her dinner and she ate it and we watched more TV. Then she slowly started becoming whinier and whinier. She mood shifted from chipper to uncomfortable and upset. I think she started not feeling good. She kept crying for Mama so I got her and cuddled her with her blankey on the floor of the livingroom. I then put a onesie on her and gave her some tylonal. We cuddled alittle longer before I decided to put her to bed for some rest.

I wasn't sure how bedtime would go, especially since she wasn't feeling well from teething to begin with let alone these shots. I changed her diaper one last time before bed and she blew up as I laid her on the changing table. Daddy came in and started playing with her stuffed worm. She smiled alittle bit but then grabbed ahold of the worm and wouldn't let it go. She kept making it give her kisses! When I finished and picked her up she took the HUGE worm along with her. I told her she could sleep with it since it was a special day for her and upstairs we went. I turned on her night light, turned on her music and tiny fan and rocked her a bit. Then I laid her down and she just exploded! I didn't pick her back up but talked to her quietly next to her crib. Eventually she calmed down, but whenever I made any effort in leaving her room she would scream hysterically again. I knew she didn't feel good and didn't want to be left alone. So I went downstairs, grabbed the rocking chair and lugged it back upstairs and put it in her room. I grabbed this laptop with me and decided to sit with her and hope she would feel comfortable enough to go to sleep with me in the room.

At first she did good, just knowing I was there. I started this blog and talked to her whenever she started getting whiney. Then she kept crying on and off before Adrian finally came in. He suggested that I leave becaues maybe I was keeping her awake and doing more harm than good. I thought about it and reluctantly agreed. I packed up the laptop gave Mia a goodnight kiss and Daddy watched her while I left the room. Of course she went nuts after I left but Daddy calmed her down. I set up the laptop outside of her room in the tech center. Eventually Daddy left her room with her screaming and crying. My heart broke and tears welted in my eyes, I knew my little angel wasn't feeling well and didn't understand what was going on with her. Eventually she began to calm down and was quiet... then she exploded again into hyterics! Then the strangest thing happened...

Our cat, Princess Mew Mew (who really doesn't care for Mia at all!), walked into her room despite both Adrian and I trying to quietly shoo her away. Mia was still screaming as Adrian and I sat outside her room in the tech center. Then we heard the cat. Mew Mew started Meowing this strange loud meow to Mia. Mia screamed more and the cat meowed more. Soon Mia started calming down, and Mew Mew was calming her down in her own cat way. Almost like talking to her. Eventually Mia stopped! Adrian and I were both shocked! We couldn't believe what just happened. I got up and crawled on the floor quietly to Mia's room to spy and sure enough Mew Mew was sitting right in front of her crib as if guarding it. It was the cutest thing. I sat bad down and about 5 mins later Mia started screaming and crying again, and sure enough Mew Mew went back into her room and started meowing to her and it calmed Mia back down. I HAD to get this captured on video so I ran downstairs for my camera. As I came back up, Mew Mew had left Mia's room and was guarding it, as I walked by Mew Mew actually attacked my feet! and made me move away from the room so I did. Another few mins. past and Mia blew up again and there was Mew Mew to the resuce. I quickly grabbed my camera and went to her room, Mew Mew saw me and got all puffed out and shooed me away so I didn't get a chance to capture it. Ah well... After that Mia FINALLY fell asleep and here we are now! Mew Mew is sitting in front of her door right now.

Wow what a day. I am hoping Mia won't get really sick from her shots and feels better soon. Poor little munchkin... well I better go get some rest there is no telling how tonight will go.

Mia’s big San Diego 1st Birthday Bash!

Current mood: blissful

Phew… we did it! We pulled off another successful birthday party for Mia! This time it was in San Diego with her San Diego family and friends. Before I get into all the festivities I just want to say…. NEVER AGAIN! will we be hosting two parties on back to back weekends again 300miles apart! Haha Talk about tiring and WORK! In fact we got home last night near midnight and didn’t get into bed till about 2! (Which is why I didn’t get a chance to post this blog last night). I was just too tired. But all in all, it was totally worth it. Both parties were great and everything worked out perfect. Ok onto the party!!!

As many of you know, Mia is teething so bad right now. She currently has 5 little chompers and although previously thought she only had two more coming in, this morning I checked and there is a 3rd! one on its way as well. No wonder she was so unruly yesterday. As Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa Santos were all running around setting things up, getting the food, and preparing for the party, I was on Mia duty. We had slept at their house that night, so Mia didn’t go to bed at her usual 7pm bedtime, in fact she didn’t get into bed till well after 10:30! She also didn’t have a very restful night since it was so warm out and we had to make a quick room change in the middle of the night. So yesterday she was not happy! By mid-day about 2 hours before her party she decided to, no not blow up… but completely explode! She needed a nap BAD but with the new environment, noise, and warmth she was not able to sleep, and boy did she let us know she was ANGRY! She cried the hardiest I have heard her in a LONG time and screamed. I tried cuddling her, holding her, playing with her but she wanted to do nothing but blow up. It finally got so bad that I had to call her Daddy (who was out picking up her food and ice for the party). I desperately needed some advice on what to do with Mia. I was so scared she would be that way for her party and ruin everything. I didn’t know if I should chance it and just take her to the party without a nap and hope she would perk up, or let herself scream herself so much she would knock out in her play pen and force a nap on her. Daddy said to let her sleep because there was no telling what would happen at the party. So I laid her down kicking and screaming again and after a good 35-40 mins she FINALLY fell asleep… phew. She was out cold and finally I could catch my breath. The problem now was, we were already an hour behind schedule. I was supposed to go to the park and help set up with her Grandpa Santos and Mia while Grandma picked up the salad, got the balloons, and Daddy got the ice, food, and extra party supplies. Well that didn’t happen. Due to Mia’s much needed nap I decided to just let her sleep as long as she could and just do what we could when we could after she woke up.

About 1:30pm Mia finally woke up. (Her party was at 2pm) Thank goodness she was in a much better mood and was chipper again. I quickly made her a quick lunch and we all ran off to the park. Things seemed like they might work out, even with being so far behind schedule.. but then the guests started showing up! ACK! I was battling the wind trying to tape the table cloths on the tables but finally just accepted defeat and only put 1 table cloth on. (Her Daddy and Grandpa later was able to tackle the tables and get the clothes on them) Then her best friend Abby showed up with her Mama and Daddy (Mel and Dan). She looked so ADORABLE in her little polk-a-dot dress and hair clip! Both are Adrian’s co-workers but I met them myself while playing my favorite online video game (World of Warcraft). Mel and I became extra close once we both got pregnant around the same time. We helped each other so much through our pregnancies and early new Mama-hood. We still help out with venting, advice, and just story sharing all the time. It was nice to FINALLY meet them in person and FINALLY get to meet little Abby.

It was such a treat to see the girls together. Mia and Abby both seemed so interested in checking each other out and playing. I couldn’t get over how cute and cuddly Abby was and what a well behaved little girl. What a cutiepie! Anyways, soon after good friends Brad and Nischel showed up. Brad is also a co-worker and close friend of Adrian’s (they have known each other for a little over 9 years! He even went to our wedding) and I became friends with Brad about 4 years ago, again while we played WOW together online. It was great seeing them, in fact the last time we saw them was when I was 9 months pregnant with Mia! We got to catch up a bit and they finally got to meet Mia outside of the tummy. Then Jimmy and Jasmine showed up. Jimmy is also a co-worker of Adrian’s but he and I became better friends over… yes… WOW haha. I have known him for about 3 years and he helped me sooooooo much with the wedding. In fact he downloaded and burned the music for our wedding ceremony. (Speaking of wedding… I forgot to give him and Brad our gifts we got them from Maui YIKES its almost been 2 years… ah well haha) I was happy they also got to FINALLY meet little Mia. We had not seen them since I was also 9 month pregnant… so it was long over due to get together again. Overall, it was nice getting the “EDS” clan together again and catch up. I took the chance to play hostess and really chat and visit with them while poor Adrian was still running around getting stuff set up.

Then family started coming in, her Great Grandma, Eva some of her Grandma Santos’ cousins and kids. Then it died down a bit and we worried that no one else would show up… however, we forgot about “ Mexican time” and sure enough people started really showing up. Even Uncle Rudy (Adrian’s best-man) was able to make it! I had not seen him since our wedding and it was awesome to see him and the kids, Faith and Jordan again. Jordan was our ring bearer and now hes so big! I didn’t even recognize him at first. Then the Tia’s and Tio’s started coming in. Soon everyone from the Cardoso family was there. The turn out was huge!!!!! Mia got to see all her little cousins again, including Baby D who is getting so big now! Hes like a little man running around all stylish in his clothes and jewelry. What a sweetiepie! Her cousins Brianna and Natalia (who took a bad fall and scraped her whole arm up BAD) came and celebrated with Mia. Mia’s Tia Rebeca showed up with the homemade cupcake-cake for her, it was shaped like a 1. She made it especially for her. Her cousin Emily also came and didn’t waste any time before running off to the playground to play and make new friends with kids we didn’t even know haha. What a social butterfly she is. Cousin Robert and Cherilyn came with their little bun in the oven and we found out they are engaged! YAY! Cousins Oscar and Cynthia also made an appearance and they are both also a joy to chat with. Her Tio Ernie also was able to make it after get got off to work and of course all the Tia’s and Tio’s and other cousins too (the Cardoso’s , Lopez’s, Perez’s and Rivera’s (including little Adan who really liked riding on Mia’s little car and racing Baby D! haha) I just felt bad I was doing so much running around between people, taking care of Mia and getting the party rolling that I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted with everyone there. I just hope they all still had a good time, which I think they did.

The food was awesome! It was the first time we had La Bellas Pizza place cater for us. We had TONS of food. 3 trays of Manicotti (my personal favorite) Pizza, buffalo wings, fried chicken strips and lots more. Everyone loved the food and by the end of the party it was practically all gone!

The weather started off HOT!! HOT! HOT! But thank goodness we rented the large covered area (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Santos) and the breeze picked up so it wasn’t so bad at the party. Thank goodness! I was so scared of people frying and burning there like they did for her Oxnard party (I am still suffering from sunburns from then haha)

After everyone was stuffed on food it was Pinata time!!!!! Cousin Daniel manned the rope (he is quickly becoming a pro with that since he always seems to be stuck with that duty for every party… then again he is one of the tallest in the family haha) We took a few pictures with Mia in front of the Pinata and soon the beating began. First up was of course the birthday girl! She gave it a few good whacks with the help of Daddy but soon lost interest and also started crying! Baby Abby even got her whacks in and it was totally cute to watch her. Baby D got in there and took out any rage he might have had built up… either that or he pictured his Daddy as the piñata! Haha Either way he really went at it, and I was scared to take the stick from him. Luckily his Mama Summer was able to wrestle the stick away from him. I wasn’t about to get whacked by it! Haha Adan also went nuts over hitting the piñata, I am not sure if it’s a boy thing but MAN the boys were rough! Natalia also hit it and while nursing her tore up arm she still managed to get her licks in. Cousin Brianna, always a cutiepie, went up there and hit it but after a few good hits gave up the stick. A few more little kiddies had their turn before we decided to stop and assess the damage. That darn piñata didn’t even show signs of weakness and we ran out of kids to hit it!!! What are Pinata’s made out of these days, they always refuse to break! So we had to call in the big guns for help. First up was Anaka’s boy, he bashed the thing up good and really weakened it, however, it took big cousin Geni to step up and finally deliver the killing blow…. POW! All the candy broke free and a mob of little grabby hands rushed into the hail of candy. It was fun to watch. Mia even came away with her prizes, two lollipops. Her little friend Abby made off with some loot as well and wasted no time in tearing into a lollipop herself. Speaking of Abby again, I got the cutest pictures of her and Mia together. Abby is so lovable and cuddly that she insisted on giving little Mia a bunch of hugs. It was the cutest thing I ever seen. Though little Miss Mia aka Anti-cuddler didn’t know what to do, I still thought it was cute that Abby was giving her little bear hugs. I will have to post those pictures for sure!

After everyone settled down with their candy it was time to move on. That is when Adrian came to me and said “I think I lost my wedding ring!” “WHAT?!?!!” Oh no!!!!! I quickly went into panic mode and started searching along with a few others. All I could think was how special and important that little piece of jewelry is and how its gone forever. I was seriously bummed but managed to pull it together for Mia’s party. Thank goodness it was later found at her Grandparents house…. YAY!

It was then cake time! Everyone gathered around little Mia as she sat on Dada’s lap. We all sang happy birthday to her and this time had a lit candle to try to blow out. After that she got her very own strawberry cupcake to dig into. I didn’t think she would like it much since she didn’t care for her other birthday cake but once she got through the icing (she didn’t like the sweet taste) she dove into the cake. Daddy didn’t even help her and she managed to almost eat the entire cupcake before I had to be the mean Mama and take it away. She had cake all over and it was really cute… classic baby cake picture moment. I cleaned her up as best as I could then it was present time.

She made out like a bandit! The presents piled up like a huge mountain of gifts and tissue paper! Her Cousin Carina helped write down what everyone got so we can keep everything straight for her “thank you cards”. She got TONS of cute summer clothes and toys and books. However, I know hands down what her favorite present of all was. It was from her “Uncle” Brad and “Aunt” Nischel which was not 1 but 2 fuzzy blankets. If you know Mia you know what those little blankets mean to her. She always has to have this special type of blanket with her, ALWAYS. She carries they everywhere like Liuns from the Peanuts, and cuddles with them and can’t sleep without one. (Refer to her Disneyland trip blog to an example of how disasterous a road trip can be without her blankey) All the presents though were very special and I can’t wait to do a fashion show with her here at home and take pictures of her stylin’ in all her cute little outfits and hats! Oh and new pair of sunglasses too!

Things finally began to wind down after present time was over, some people left while others hung and out visited. The birthday girl also started showing signs of slowing down (I think the sugar from the cake was wearing off at a rapid speed haha), and she made herself comfy on Uncle Robert’s arms. Soon she knocked out right in his arms which shocked her Daddy and I. Once again, Mia did the unthinkable and actually cuddled with someone until she fell asleep. She is not a cuddler so this was huge! I took the opportunity to capture some pictures of this rare moment with the camera. She was so knocked out that when I finally gave Robert a much needed arm break, and took over Mia she didn’t even move. I was actually able to hold her sleeping! That was the biggest treat out of ALL the parties. I haven’t been able to hold her while sleeping in literally 4-5 months! I took advantage of this bonding time and it really made me happy.

Soon the party finally came to an end, and after cleaning up for a bit Adrian, Mia and I went off to Grandma and Grandpa house once again to get our stuff and to load up the car with all of Mia’s loot. We hung out there for a bit and fed Mia some dinner and off to home we went. Phew what a day! Once we got home and got in the house the heat just hit us (we don’t have the AC on while we are gone so the house was heating up for two days) We walked in alittle after 11 and I ran upstairs to get Mia ready for bed and to check the thermostat. It read 93 degrees!!!! ACK! I quickly turned on the AC too cool it down for Mia so she could go to bed. Once I got her all situated and in bed I finally got to visit alittle with Adrian and we reflected on her birthday…. Wow we did it! We pulled off both parties and everything worked out great. I went to bed soon after and woke up bright an early with Mia to start another new day.

Overall her birthday was a blast. I want to thank ALL the family and friends who came and helped celebrate her very special moment in her young little life. I especially want to thank her Grandpa and Grandma Pizano for ALL their effort and help, without them we couldn’t have had such an successful party in Oxnard, and a extra special thank you for her Grandpa Pizano who helped set up all the chairs, tables, and canope, not to mention renting them all, buying and picking up the food and just everything he did for us, her Nina and Nino for always lending that special hand, last min. running around, advice giving, and support for us, and not to mention her first birthday cake which was so cute and yummy!, her Grandma and Grandpa Santos who also ran around with us making sure we had all the things we needed which included name brand candy that everyone LOVED, the food, reserving and renting the park site, cleaning it all up to make sure it was perfect for her party and much much more, and her Tia Rebeca and cousins for helping with loaning all the food warmers, advice, and for making her very special cake. Thank you for everyone for everything…. Her 1st birthday is a truly special and landmark day and I am so pleased and so happy everything went as smoothe as it did.

Happy Birthday my little Butterfly Princess Mia, we ALL love you….

Preparing for Mia's Party

Current mood: stressed

Mia had the WORST teething day of all days yesterday. She was teething bad, was sweating like crazy, didn’t take her naps and at the end of the day she even started getting her first diaper rash! Poor baby.

We came down to San Diego a day early to spend the night at Adrian’s Mom and Step Dad’s house. We left late afternoon and talk about running around. We had to hit the Pinata place first, in Lake Elsinore. We got her the cutest little pink star piñata. It is shaped like a star and has a big #1 in the middle with a crown that says “Birthday Princess”. We were already behind schedule a bit so we rushed to load the piñata into the car…. It didn’t fit!! Noooooo! Even with Adrian’s advance Tetris skills he couldn’t get that thing to fit. So he had to unload the car reload it and then managed to squeeze it in. Phew… then it was off to the Dollar Tree to pick up some extra plats and balloons. That’s when I realized we had forgot her chonies for her dress at home! Noooooooo! We had gone to far to turn back so we hoped they had some cheap ones at the Dollar Tree. Unfortunately, all they had were enormous granny panties! Even “I” couldn’t fit into them if I wanted! Haha Ah well.. so we shopped some more and picked up her birthday balloons. Then FINALLY it was off to San Diego. Poor Mia was roasting in the car seat as the sun was hitting her and she was all sweaty, so she was happy when we made a pit stop before Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We stopped off to grab a bite to eat at La Bellas! The best Italian restaurant I have ever eaten hands down. Infact we are catering that food for her party! Yummy! Once we got there, we set up and Mia ate her avocado and some cheerios and of course some Mac and Cheese, while Mama and Dada grubbed on some good food. After that we finally made it to Grandma and Grandpa Santos’ house. We were greeted by Grandma who was so happy to see her. Unfortunately due to her teething she has been so unruly and is always whinnying and crying hysterically. This didn’t change at Grandma’s house and soon she was screaming and crying and only wanted me to hold her. She didn’t even want to be put down. Eventually after awhile she warmed up and walked around the house as Daddy got her Piñata filled with candy. I decided to give her a quick bath so she would be all clean for her big party… bad idea! She screamed through the whole bath and just tried to climb out. When I went to wash her bootie buns she let out a high pitch squeal I have never heard her do.. EVER. That’s when I noticed her butt was turning red and had a slight rash to it. Oh No!!!! I turned her around and sure enough she had tiny blotches everywhere. I quickly took her out of the bath and calmed her down. Laid her on the bed and lathered her up with A&D and Desitin. That seemed to help a lot and she perked up alittle bit. I let her play downstairs for a bit before I laid her down for bed. Sure enough she blew up hysterically again but eventually after talking to her for awhile and calming her down she laid down and went to bed. Adrian and I visited awhile with his parents then went to bed ourselves. We have never ever EVER shared a room with a sleeping Mia, and last night, that wasn’t going to change. Despite how quiet we tried to be, she woke up anyways and was not happy. I changed her diaper again and lathered her up with her creams. I then moved her pack and play downstairs into the spare room where it was cooler. Set up her music and fan and Daddy put her to bed. Luckily she went right down without a fuss.

In the morning she got up and was all smiles and cheer. She did good for the first few hours until she became tired then it all came crashing down. She got moody fussy and hysterically crying again. I am still trying to get her to take a nap right now before her party and she is just crying uncontrollably. There is nothing I can do. I have tired carrying her, cuddling her, playing with her.. nothing works she is just out of control. I am praying she will be better once we get to the party…. ACK STRESS!

Week 53...

Current mood: energetic

As you can probably see, I have decided to keep writting weekly updates. I wasn't sure if I would contiune since I previously only wanted to do it for her first year... but habbits are hard to break. Not sure how long I will keep at this but I will try.

This week has definately been a whirlwind of stuff going on. It started, of course, with her first birthday! She turned 1 this week which is a HUGE milestone in itself. We spend the weekend in Oxnard so we could celebrate it with her Oxnard family at the beach. It was a great party and everyone had a good time. She got to see her little friend Koa again which is always a treat. (We are deteremined to have them get married one day hahaha) She got to see and experience the beach for the first time, ride her first swing, and eat her first birthday cake (though she could care less about the cake) Overall it was a great celebration... and tomorrow we have another. Yep, shes having another birthday party but this time with her San Diego Family in San Diego. Time for more last min. running around... phew this is tiring!

She helped Daddy celebrate his birthday this week. She painted her own little drawing for him and he loved it. She also got to meet her Great Grandpa Ordonez for the first time too. However, she became very shy and didn't even want to touch him or show off her walking skills to him. She just stood there and stared... typical! lol She did touch his hand before we left so thats good.

She also went to Disneyland for the first time! Though she didn't see her favorite character (Donald Duck) she still had a good time. Since I have taught her how to drink from a straw it makes things easier especially when we are out and about. We can finally share drinks with her and she even chugged down some frozen lemonaid. She slept through most of the trip but when she was awake she had a good time. She saw her first fireworks show and even clapped for it. She also rode her very first real ride! No baby newborn type ride that you find in front of the grocery store... no this one was a real one! It was the Winnie The Pooh ride. She went through it like a champ, granted the honeybee hive that we were sitting in didn't go to fast. But it seemed like she had a good time looking at all the glow in the dark and blacklight stuff. I just wish I had more video of her expression haha.

We also started her on real milk this week and though she isn't a big drinker of anything, she is taking to the milk good. However, she will only drink it from a straw and a cup and refuses to drink it out of her sippy. I guess she just likes water from her sippy. With the introduction to real milk we have tossed out the formula and started her on more table foods that have alot of milk in them, like mashed potatoes. I have also started giving her oatmeal with milk instead of water. So far so good... no bad reactions.

She is teething yet again.... joy. Poor baby has been uncharacteristically moody, cranky and whiny. There are two teeth that are about to come in and I can't wait till they do so she can go back to her happy self. I am just hoping they wont bother her for her birthday party tomorrow.

Well thats about it for now, I am sure I will write again this weekend. As for now I gotta start getting ready we are going to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa Santos' house tonight for the first time since she was born. Hopefully that will go smoothly and her teeth won't bother her at night. Last night she had a good night hopefully that can contiune. Wish us luck on a smooth and fun party tomorrow!

Ugh.. Joys of Teething, milk, & another reason why I HATE Elmo!

Mood: Cranky

Sigh... its that time again... once again Mia is teething. I have noticed her becoming increasenly whiney but I just figured it was her turning 1! haha... but really, I thought it was just because her schedule is getting all messed up due to all the traveling and parties lately. I guess that is apart of it, but then I really started to take notice of her behaviors. She is putting her fingers in her mouth alot more and chewing on them. She is also biting everything and drooling again. She doesn't let you put your fingers in her mouth to check so you have to pin her down and force her. I don't really like to do that unless its really necessary (ie. she ate something she shouldn't) but I decided to see what was going on in that little mouth of hers anyways. Sure enough I found the TWO culprits. One of her canine teeth (on the left side) and the tooth next to her front teeth on the right side are close to coming in. The canine looks like it will break through any day and the other looks like it will be some time. That same tooth on the left side took a few weeks before it peeked through. So with all that being said, now I know why shes so fussy. She is starting to fight diaper changes again, and waking up at night crying her little heart out. I had to take her out of bed last night just to cuddle her and calm her down, give her some medicine, and a drink of water. That did the trick, but still even her naps are causing problems. I can't wait for her tiny teeth to come through so she can go back to her perky self. Hopefully, she will be in good spirits for her big San Diego birthday party.

I finally started her on whole milk this week. On Tuesday I started mixing her oatmeal with milk instead of water and I made a big pot of mashed potatoes with milk for her as well. She seemed to take to it fine, no tummy aches, no sickness. So today I finally decided to give it to her straight. She drank it with no problems, but only drinks it if you give it to her in a cup with a straw, she refuses to drink milk from her sippy. The bottle is a thing of the past so I don't give her milk in that either. (A side note, she has quit formula too, its been almost week since shes had some) The only problem we are currently facing, and have been for awhile, is she is not a heavy drinker. She drinks her water from her sippy but never really finishes a serving in one sitting. Instead she will take drinks here and there just to quench her thirst, but she wont chug it. She doesn't drink anything in large quanities, water, juice, formula (when she did drink it). So it was no surprise that she doesn't drink alot of milk at once either. I have to constantly give her drinks throughout the day just to try to get her liquid requirement up. Its very frusterating because I know she needs to drink a whole lot more than she does, but getting her to do so is hard. Doesn't matter what type of sippy or what it is, she still doesn't drink much (same started happening with the bottle a month or so ago). Ah well, I will just have to keep working with her on that. I have even started her on dry Cheerios to help make her thirsty but that doesn't work. At least she does take the milk a little with the straw and she is still a fan of water from her sippy. Maybe I will start giving her milk before her meals instead of after since I think she is getting too full to drink after she eats the smorgasbord I give her. I will keep you guys posted on all that.

Ok for anyone who knows me, knows how much I HATE Elmo. That little red monstrosity has annoyed me beyond belief for YEARS! Ever since he blew up with popularity on the Rosie show. Actually even before then, when he was a nobody on Sesame Street back when I used to watch it. Anyways, I always cringe at the sight and voice of him. I swore my kids would never know Elmo let alone ever own one! Well I had to eat my words this past weekend when she received her very first Elmo doll for her birthday. Her Great Uncle Anthony, Aunt Ileanna, and cousins gave it to her. Its an Elmo Live.. and actually it is kinda cool. Hes like a mini-robot. He sings, dances, tells jokes, tells stories and gives kisses. Because it was kinda cool having a robot around I tolerated it, plus she LOVES him. She always lights up when hes on and gives the biggest dimpley smile ever. She dances when he does and just recently..... started giving him kisses!!! NOooooooooo! She used to give us kisses but now she refuses to give us kisses and ONLY gives him kisses! He doesn't even need to ask for one and she does! ARGH! I am so jealous of that little red thing! I hate him even more now! If she didn't like him so much, he would be down the garbage disposal! haha Ah well.... what can you do, she likes little red monsters....

12 months old...

Current mood: tired

With all the running around we have been doing for her Oxnard Birthday party, Disneyland, San Diego birthday party and the fact she turns 1, I completely forgot to write her monthly review. I just remembered it this morning, and though I orginally wanted to take a nap while she did, I guess I will take the time to write it now so I can rest later.

She made another trip down to Sunny San Diego for her older cousins dual graduation parties. It was nice to see the Cardoso family again and as always they were thrilled to see her again. She did good but refused to show off her new walking skills, ah well. We will be down there again this weekend for her second birthday party and I am sure she can wow the crowd then.

She also got her very first puzzles from Grandpa and Grandma Santos. She loves them! Though she only was able to put one of the pieces back into the correct place once, she still loves to sit with you and play with them. She has two, one with zoo animals (lion, hippo, elephant etc) and one with fishies (lobster, fish, turtle etc) I often sit with her and teach her the name of each animal and ask her to pick it up. When she isn't distracted she does very well, I am so proud of my smart little baby.

We introduced some new foods to her this month. One of them being Avocado. That is her favorite and now she has to fight with Daddy over them. At one point they were on sale at the store and we stocked up and bought 30+! of them! That only lasted alittle over a week with the two of them. So now she gets 1 avocado a day and its usually during dinner time. I learned how to freeze them so when they aren't on sale and out of season she can still get some. I read they are a power fruit and very good for babies especially since they have tons of Fat in them (the good kind). I don't mind feeding them to her because they are so easy to prepare.. just crack it open and serve it to her out of the husk. No mess, no dishes (other than the spoon), perfect! I have also been working with her on how to feed herself with the spoon. Now she always has to hold her own spoon while I feed her. She will now tab her spoon in the food and only rarely does she actually put the food in her mouth afterwards. Usually she just likes to poke around the food with the spoon, oh well we are getting there.

I started doing little home made projects with her as well. I made some home made playdough and finger paints for her to play with. I got a few little sculptures and paintings that I cherish. I even framed one of her first paintings and its on display over our fireplace. Later I graduated her to real finger paints but that was a complete disaster and mess... I think I will hold off on that for awhile haha

Shes jibber jabbering SO much now. She really responds to you if you ask her questions and loves to just talk and talk. Its almost like her own language, she is so serious when she describes stuff and when she gets hurt in between cries she actually complains! My parents even heard her do this once when she fell and hit her head. Another thing she is doing alot is making funny faces. When she first started doing that it scared me because I didn't know what was wrong. She usually does it when I fed her and now it just cracks me up. Now if you make a face to her she will copy you and do it back. She strains her face as hard as she can and clinches her fists and makes her eyes all big, its the funniest thing I ever seen. Even my parents who saw her this past weekend busted up laughing so hard. Just seeing her do it its hard not to laugh.

We celebrated Daddy's first Father's day and we went to her first San Diego County Fair. It was TONS of fun and she did great. The only thing she didn't like was the barn animals. She got scared of them and refused to have her Daddy put her down. She touched a sheep and goat but that was the extent of it, she instead just clung to Daddy like if her life depended on it. Later Daddy helped her play her first Carnival game and won her some stuff animals. Her favorite to this day is her giant blue flower that she always walks around with, and a fuzzy bear that she cuddles in the car on trips.

We took a few more trips this month as well. Once to Frys Electronics in San Marcos, and another time to the Temecula Duck pond. Though she didn't want to go near the ducks, she did have fun in the grass. I also took her across the street to the park and she went nuts walking all over the place and picking up leaves.

She added a couple of new words to her vocabulary, byebye and agua (water in spanish) though she has recently stopped saying them (I am not sure why) she will still repeat them once in a great while. Her Grandma Pizano, insisted she said "Thank you" this past weekend, but I have yet to confirm that with myself. I will keep you posted on that one.

Well summer is starting to really set in, and in this area its very common to stay in the 100s during the day. With that, our little daytime outtings have dwindled a bit but we still manage to go out when we can. I also bought her a little plastic pool to play in, for those hot days but have yet found the time to put her in it with water. Right now its sitting in the living room and is full of tiny balls (similar to the ones you find at Chuck E Cheese). She loves throw them in and out of the pool and climbing in and out of it too.

Her walking improves every day, and she is learning to bend her knees more so her walking isn't so stiff. Like I mentioned before she has even tried running (Which is so cute to watch since she lifts her feed all high and takes steps as fast as she can). We are still amazed how fast she picked up on it. She literally just took off walking one day and by the end of the day she was a pro! She never went through that walking and falling stage where she takes 1-4 steps then falls, or walks towards something and leans over to catch her balance on it. She just picked up her blankey and took off. Now she carries things all over the place, her toys, blankey, balls, balloons, anything and everything. I am so proud of her.

She also popped out tooth #5 this month. It is the tooth on the left hand side, next to her top front teeth. It has been growing in for awhile but finally broke through this month. The other tooth on the other side is about to come in as well, I give it about a week or two before she can add that 6th one to her mouth.

One of the bad things that happened this month is she finally fell out of her crib. It was horrible hearing that much dreaded and anticipated THUMP, but she was ok. I found her sitting next to her crib on the floor, holding her blankey and crying. Since then I ALWAYS keep her side rail raised to the top, and she has since tried to climb out of it again. Now I can't really reach her when I put her to bed but thats ok, saftey first!

She also learned how to use a straw and is getting better and better at it. We don't feed her juice (she doesn't really like it) but I taught her how to drink out of a juicebox anyways, and evem bought her, her very own straw sippy cup. Now she actually prefers to use that one that her old sippys. Now that she can use a straw it has helped so much. Even at Disneyland yesterday we were able to share our iced lemonade with her, and she liked it too!!!

She celebrated her first 4th of July as well and even got to see her very first fireworks. She didn't care for them much and rather walk around, but at Disneyland yesterday she really liked their show.

Mia also gave up her bottle. Even if I offer it to her she refuses to drink it and gives you a look like "what is this!? I am not a baby newborn anymore! don't give me a bottle!" she will hand it back to you sometimes, most of the time she will just throw it at you. So she weaned herself, and is officially just on sippys. Just recently she has stopped drinking her formula too. Not sure if this is a good thing since we haven't introduced milk into her diet yet, but she REFUSES to drink formula now and just wants her water. I tried giving it to her in a straw, her old sippy cup, bottle, and even her favorite straw sippy but she takes a little taste then throws it or turns her head. I hope she takes to milk ok because it worries me that she won't get enough liquids or vitamins she needs. She does drink tons of water though and with the diet I have her on she does get alot of fresh foods... I will have to talk to her doctor more about that this coming Monday during her 1 year check up.

Well on to the HUGE news of the year! She officially turned 1 this month! YAY! She had a huge birthday bash in Oxnard this past weekend and got tons of presents. She even got to meet some family members for the first time, including her Great Grandpa Ordonez (almost 90!) Its was lots of work but tons of fun and totally worth it. I will try to have the pictures posted soon. She also went to the beach for the first time (the place place as her bday party) and she loved it. She didn't mind getting her feet wet and loved the sand. A couple of days later we went to Disneyland for the first time with her. She did great there too though she fell asleep in her stroller and slept most of the time, we still had fun. Like I mentioned earlier she loved their firework show and even clapped with the crowd.

Overall this month has been fun. It was filled with tons of Firsts and adventures. I am excited to see what this new month and year will bring. My tiny butterfly princess is growing so fast and she is officially a toddler now. Wow.... time flies so fast.

Summary:

Feedings: She quit the bottle right before she turned 12 months so instead she gets table food all day long. For Breakfast its: wheat or barley Oatmeal (A full bowl), half a banana, and a serving of yogart mixed with fresh strawberries. Lunch: Bowl of home-made beans, pasta and cheese, blueberries or strawberries OR an egg with steamed green beans. Dinner: mac and cheese OR boiled chicken and veggies OR a large avocado, fresh mango, the other half of the banana and more fruit. During the day she drinks water. She no longer gets a bedtime bottle (this has stopped her from peeing out of her diaper at night time too)

New Things: she plays with puzzles, loves avocados, jibber jabbering more, tries to use a spoon to eat, first sculptures and fingerpainting, she makes faces, 1st fathers day and celebrated Daddy's birthday, went to Frys for the first time, and loves to walk on the grass barefooted. Said byebye and agua, popped out her 5th tooth, went to Disneyland for the first time, and celebrated her first birthday. Turned 1 years old!!!!!!, celebrated her first 4th of July and saw her first fireworks. Retired her bottle and stopped drinking formula and learned to use a straw.

Weight: 20

Height:

Goals met from last month?: She has tried to run a few times but she hasn't quit gotten there yet. She does walk fast when she tries to get away from you if you chase her. She does eat a large variety of tablefood and very rarely eats baby food from a jar anymore. As for learning more commands? well she does listen when she wants to, and is slowly understanding "No" but she still does what she wants to anyways, even if it means shaking her head no while shes doing it. Jumping? No she is still far from that. She does do squats and jumps if assisted but she does not jump by herself yet.

Goals for next month: Get her to accept Milk and drink it regularly. Maybe learn to run, learn to say a new word.

Mia's first Disneyland Trip!

Current mood: exhausted

We just got back from the Happiest Place on Earth... Disneyland! I wonder who coined that phrase because from the amount of crying kids, you'd think otherwise. Anyways, today was Mia's first trip to Disneyland. How could we afford it on our tight budget you ask?, well today is a very special day.. it is Adrian's birthday and because of that he got in free! Mia is under 3 so shes free and all we had to do is pay for my ticket. Not bad huh?

We had budgeted for this trip for a couple of months now and thought it would be a nice birthday gift to Mia and Adrian. So I packed up her things once again (most of it was still packed from our Oxnard Trip yesterday). We didn't want to get there early since it was so HOT today. We decided to head out once the peek of the heat was already dying down, so we left the house about 3. It was still REALLY hot. Mia did good in the car, the drive to Disneyland from our house is alittle less than an hour away. So we were there in no time. We parked in the structure and started unloading the TONS of stuff we had. I drenched Mia in sunblock from head to toe, and since she was wearing her cute little watermelon halter top she got for her birthday, I really made sure to pour on the sunblock. After stuffing the stroller to the brim with all of Mia's things we were off for our Disneyland adventure.

We rode her very first tram ride to the park. She seemed to like it, she looked all around in awe. Once we got to the enterance, Daddy took off to buy the tickets while Mia and I stayed in the shade. I had her wearing her princess crown (one of many) and her watermelon sun glasses, she looked too cute!!! After we got our tickets we went inside. It was still really HOT but at least by then it was 5pm so the heat wouldn't get any worse than it was right then. After a quick stop at the restrooms it was off to ToonTown.

Adrian and I both had not been to Disneyland in 11 years! (Since our Grad-Nites in high school) so everything seemed new to us. We hit ToonTown since it was the furthest on the map and I thought there would be lots of things to have her take pictures next to. After we made the huge trek there we noticed that you couldn't really go anywheres with the giant stoller we had. Everyone seemed to ditch their strollers everywhere and explored on their own, however, it just didn't feel right to leave our stroller unattended with all our stuff in there so we just explored the places on the outside. We got a few cute pictures here and there, then we realized Mia needed to eat. Poor baby had not had anything to eat since noon and it was already close to 6! So we picked a shady spot and I popped out her lunch pale. I had icepacks in it too keep her food chilled. She had an avocado, some fresh mango, blueberries, a juice box (her treat) and some water.

After Mia got her grub on it was off to the princess part of Disneyland. It wasn't to impressive but there was a spot where you could have your picture taken with the princesses but once we got a look at the line that wrapped around the whole place we decided to pass this time. Maybe next time. Adrian carried Mia on his shoulders for a bit and she got a huge kick out of that, jibber jabbering and saying Hat all over the place. It was still HOT! Daddy decided to buy one of those huge suvenior sized frozen lemonade cups with the big straw. It was really refreshing and Mia even liked it. She was sucking that down like a pro! Then we walked across the way and bought her something I have been DYING to get her. She got a pair of her very own mini-mouse ears! It had a big polka-dot bow on top and her name was embrodered on the back with big pink letters. She, of course, didn't like it and kept trying to take it off her head. We walked around a bit more and then decided to check out the Critter Country (clear across the park) next.

The sun was still strong and in her eyes alot while she was in her stroller so we put on her San Diego Padres hat to help keep the sun out of her eyes. I then put her ears on top of the hat and only then did she leave them on. After walking a bit Adrian noticed her head started to slowly go further and further down and before we knew it she was knocked out in her stroller. I peeked in on her and she was out like a light. It just so happened she fell asleep just as we finally hit Critter Country..... sigh! So we found a spot to sit and waited a bit to see if she would wake up..... nothing... she kept snoozing away and going into a deeper and deeper sleep. Soon she was drooling and didn't even have her fingers in her mouth anymore, and her chin was on her chest. I felt bad for her so I took all the stuff we had out of the bottom part of her stoller (her diaper bag that felt like 50 lbs! and her lunch pale. I then reclined the seat back into the laying down position so she could be more comfy. She didn't move a muscle and was still out. This is very rare for Mia, who is the queen of light sleepers. Then Adrian and I decided to take advantage of her nap and got some food ourselves. There were lines everywhere!!!!! so it took us awhile to get some food. Once we finally got a place to sit and eat Mia then decided to wake up. NOoooooooo! She became very restless so I fed her some snackies, but eventually had to pull her out of the stoller. She was dying to walk around and became fussy when we wouldn't let her. (We didn't want her to get trampled on) we knew then our time was limited and we better hurry up and do what we wanted to do and go home.

We didn't want to leave without her going on at least 1 ride. We thought about Small World but decided to pass on that due to the line. Its lucky that we did because we later found out the ride broke mid-way and people got stuck in it for 20 mins hearing the same song on repeat!!! That would drive anyone insane. So instead we decided to take her on the Winnie The Pooh Ride. The food I ate earlier did NOT agree with me at all and I was constantly running to the bathroom, so I was really leary about getting on the ride. The only thing that convinced me is that the lady said it was a short ride, plus I didn't want to miss out on Mia's very first real ride!

So despite our best judgement, we ditched the stroller with everyone elses and smashed into the moving honeybee hive. Mia sat between us and was shocked by the moving bee hive. It was cute to see her reaction. Then the ride started and instantly my stomach began to feel uneasy yet again.. NOOOOoooooo!!!! I started to feel a panic attack come on, my heart was racing I felt queasy and dizzy and I just wanted to jump out of the bee hive and run! I held it together only by focusing all my engery on Mia. She was so in awe and wonder at all the loud noises and lights. The whole ride rode all wavey like if you were in a boat (another thing I hate since I get motion sickness) all the animals and characters were bright and colorful. I think they used a blacklight for EVERYTHING! Anyways, Mia never got scared but she seemed to like the ride, somewhat. Before we knew it, the ride was over (thank goodness, I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold out!) and we got out of the hive and left, but not before taking a couple of pictures in front so we could always remember her very first ride. Of course soon after, I had to run again to the nearest bathroom... sigh....

By then I was really begining to feel really sick, and all the fun was dwindling. Mia was getting reallly tried (it was already almost 9 by then, and her bedtime is usually at 7), she became fussy and wanted out of her stroller. Daddy then bought her a light up necklace and that appeased her for a bit then she wanted nothing to do with it and kept trying to throw that out of her stroller too.

After getting lost a bit we finally decided to start heading out. The fireworks show was about to start and we also wanted to do some shopping. We made it back to Main Street and checked out some stores. Daddy got some Candy and Mia got a Princess Sweatshirt.

It was close to the firework time so we decided to scope out a seat on the curb so we could watch it. By then Mia was really getting antsy and wanted no part of her stroller. Daddy then had to take her out and give her a ride on his shoulders. I lost count of the number of laps he had to do with her up and down Main St. with her on his shoulders, waiting for the show to start. I was sitting on the curb watching them then I heard the lady (who was sitting next to me) jump up and scream! I looked over and saw she was running away from the BIGGEST cock roaches ever!!!!! They were coming out of the drain right next to me! OMG!!! You better believe I packed up and moved away from that spot with lightening speed. Once Adrian and Mia rejoined me I told him what happened and soon more people around me started getting up and leaving (I think they heard me). I refused to sit back down on the curb after that.

Eventually the show FINALLY started. The lights dimmed and the fireworks show started. Mia was really intrigued by the whole thing. She actually liked it and watched the show. They had tinkerbell flying around and dumbo and tons of really cool fireworks and music. Adrian was holding her and she was holding her blankey and at one point I even got choked up alittle watching her enjoy the fireworks show. Just watching her enjoy it and the wonderment of it all just really touched me. She only jumped a couple of times when the real big fireworks went off, but she watched the whole show and even clapped at some parts. At the very end, they shot TONS of Mickey Mouse confetti on the crowd and everyone went nuts! It got on everything and Mia even got a piece. Of course she tried to eat it and we had to fish it out of her mouth.

Then it was time to go home. We made the long trek back to the car. After standing in line forever for the tram (we had to use the special seating because of the stroller) we finally made it to the parking structure. By then Mia was about to pass out again, so Adrian gave me the keys so I could take Mia to the car and get her ready for the trip back home while he waited in the long line for the elevator (the escalator didn't allow strollers and had no line, so I took Mia on that). After getting alittle lost, Mia and I finally found the car. I was so happy that we did since I am notorious for getting lost. Things seemed to be going well until I layed her down in the back seat to change her clothes and diaper. Thats when she surprised me with a HUGE diaper full of poopies!!! YUCK!!!! So THAT was the smell I was smelling for awhile and what Adrian asked about. I just thought the smell was from the stinky people around us! haha Luckily I had Mia on the plastic changing pad so the poopies didn't get on my seat as I changed her. I was just about to put a onesie on her when she decided to go Pee Pees. NOOOO!!!!! She peed not only all over herself and the changing pad but also her favorite blankey! NOOOOOOO!!!!!! By then Adrian had made it to the car and was loading it up. I was all frusterated, but luckily the pee didn't get on my car seats. I had a beach towel in the back seat from her birthday party and cleaned it all up. But what about the blankey? It was a lost cause and we just threw it in the trunk. I dreaded the ride home because she refuses to go to sleep without her blankey. Sure enough didn't take longer that leaving the structure before she started complaining about not having her blankey. I tried to appease her by feeding her some more blueberries. It worked for alittle while but by the time they were gone she was complaining again. The complaining soon became a full out cry. Granted she was extreemly tired too, she has never been kept up that late ever! (10pm) Luckily for us the ride home isn't to far. I gave her my sweatshirt to cuddle with and she just kept throwing it back at me. I gave her another blankey I had in the car but she also threw that at me because it wasn't HER special blankey. Eventually she cried herself to sleep and Adrian and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

We were home in less than an hour and poor baby was still knocked out in the car. We unloaded the car and the baby and while I made her a quick bedtime bottle (something I didn't want to do since she has been off the bottle completely since before her birthday) Adrian changed her diaper. I wanted to give her a bottle since I figured a warm bottle would help her sleep better and she didn't eat very good all day and was dehyrdrated (though she drank alot of water, she hardly peed at the park.. well except for when she did it in my car! haha). She was fussing and crying and Adrian attempted to feed her the bottle while I got her bed ready. She refused to drink her bottle (something shes been doing alot which is also why I don't give her a bottle anymore) and eventually I just put her in bed. After a short spurt of crying she went right to sleep, and here I am.

Phew what a day! what a weekend! what a month!!! haha I am glad the Disneyland trip went as well as it did, and that Adrian had a wonderful birthday. It was a fun day, but I think I am all Disneyland'd out for the next 5 years! haha