San Diego... take TWO!

Current mood: exhausted

Mission Accomplished! We finally made it to Mia's cousin Natalia's 6th birthday. If you ready my previous blog you would know what I was talking about.

Yesterday we were all pretty tired so most of us (other than Dada) hit the sack early. So today we all got up bright and early again and hit the road, headed to San Diego.

This time we arrived alittle later than we did yesterday but we still made pretty good time. After almost walking to the wrong party we found our party at another section of the park. Everyone was happy to see Mia again (who of course was acting very shy) and teased Adrian and myself about our "practice" trip to San Diego yesterday! hahaha

It was a VERY big turn out and all the family showed up. Mia got to play with her cousins and again and after chowing down on some of her Tia Gloria's famous potato salad we let her play at the playground. Since Adrian had not had the chance to eat, I took Mia by myself to the playground (right next door). Of course she led me straight for the swings! Luckily they had the little baby swings there so I wouldn't have to "spot" her too much. Once she was in the swing she NEVER wanted out.

The sun started to wear on me a bit, and Mia's baby brother was pushing really hard against my ribs. I was so uncomfortable but every attempt to take Mia off the swing failed miserably. She would just start screaming and crying. I think Dada noticed my dilemma because he soon came up to check on us and relieved me of swing pushing duty.

I quickly went to the car to get Mia's hat (it was so HOT and sunny out) and when I came back she was no longer on the swing. Adrian had taken her off so she could drink some water and boy did she blow up. Everyone was shocked on how loud she could get... yes she wasn't happy.

After letting her rest in the shade a bit we took her to the jungle gym. She had so much fun following her cousins Brianna and Natalia up the steps. She even slide down the spiral slide! After that it was Pinata time. We were sure how she would react to getting her stick taken away after her turn, but we still let her have her chance to wack the Pinata. Unfortunately, the first pinata burst before she could even have a turn, but she didn't mind she LOVED diving in for Candy with Daddy and picked up all that she could... trash included!

Once she had her little bag filled she walked to the sidewalk and dumped it back out just so she could pick it up again! She was so into doing that she didn't even want to hit the second pinata they had. Eventually she took a break from picking up her candy again and hit the pinata. She had so much fun but of course SCREAMED when we took her away. Luckily Dada thought fast and threw some of her candy out of her bag onto the ground and Mia quickly started picking it back up. Once the second pinata was broken Mia went in for more candy but this time lost site of Dada!!! I was filming her from the sidewalk and when she noticed Dada was gone, she started walking in circles then ran off away from the crowd and towards me!!! Eventually Dada appeared from the big mob of people carrying TONS of candy for Mia to pick up! She was so happy.

After the pinata we let her run around a bit more. She played in the sand (where the playground was) and just ran around like crazy. By then Adrian and I were burnt out and needed some rest.. BAD! So we decided it was time to go. We said our goodbyes to the family (which we will see again next week for another party!) and walked to the car.

Since Mia's grandparents live just down the street we decided to stop by there for a short visit. Of course Grandma Rebeca and Grandpa Fernando LOVED seeing her again. They played with her while Adrian and I rested inside. She got to feed their neighbor dog a doggy treat, kicked the other neighbor cat, and ran around like crazy.

Later we all got to visit a bit in the house. Grandpa showed her all sorts of noise making toys and his rock collection. She had a blast. Then her cousins and Tia showed up for a bit and she got to play with them. It started to get late and we were REALLY tired by then so we had to say goodbye and headed home.

Phew I am so tired... which is why my blog is alittle less detailed than I normally write them. I am off to bed... what a weekend....night night!

Ugh! It happened AGAIN! Second weekend in a row!

Current mood: confused

Ok when we messed up the date on Koa's birthday last week, and ended up going to Orange County back to back days, I decided that when I got home I was going to get all my future appointments, birthday dates, and parties all written down on the calendar and post it on the fridge. (And I did) Wouldn't you know... it happened AGAIN!!!! The second weekend in a row we messed up the party date and went to it a day early! This time it was in San Diego (ya a farther drive than Orange County).

This morning, we all got ready early and prided ourselves on what a good job we did for leaving the house at a decent time. For once we would arrive to the party on time. We battled the drive down there we got to the park where Mia's cousin Natalia was to have her 6th birthday party and .... no party!! Hmm...... Luckily Adrian's Mom's house was literally a few blocks away so we decided to stop by there.

His Mom and Fernando had some guests over and they were hanging out in the garage. We pulled up and they greeted us. We asked them what happened with the party and she said "Its tomorrow!" Oh no!!! Not again!!! Adrian and I just stood there in disbelief how could we have messed up the dates AGAIN!!! Sigh... oh well. So we made the best of our little trip. We visited with Mia's Grandma and Grandpa a bit then headed down to La Bella's our favorite Italian restaurant in Chula Vista.

To our surprise it wasn't very packed, especially for a holiday weekend. So we got a table right away. All of us were starving!!! Mia was having fun playing with the menu until a older lady who was sitting next to us started to chat with us. Mia quickly became shy and refused to look up from the ground. She kept her head down the whole time until our food arrived. We all grubbed out on the good food and when we were stuffed we left.

We decided to go to Adrian's Tia Gloria's house since they have a big play set in their back yard. We called them up and they welcomed us right over. Once we arrived we were surprised to find Adrian's sister there along with his two nieces. So that was an extra bonus. While we visited a bit, Mia got to visit and play with her cousins Natalia and Brianna in the backyard. Of course that is after Mia warmed up to everyone first. She acted shy again... especially around her Tio Pepe. A couple of hours later another Tia showed up (Tia Martha) and she brought Mia's other cousin Emily. So Mia got another playmate to play with in the backyard. She was having a blast, playing with all the toys, chasing the girls, and screaming.

It soon started to get late and we were all were a bit tired. So we said our goodbyes (well until tomorrow that is) and headed back home.

Phew I am tired.... I cannot believe we did it again... sigh... I think I need to triple check our invitations next time for sure!!!! Well see you tomorrow since I know I will have more stories to share since we will be back in San Diego..... AGAIN! haha

Week 98!

Current mood: exhausted

Happy Friday Everyone! Well what is left of it. Its been another one of those crazy crazy days that when I finally sit down to relax I realize, Whoops I forgot Mia's weekly blog update. So here I am, forgive my typos because I am really tired.

The week started off with lots of fun. We went to Orange County (twice... the first trip was "practice!" haha) for her little friend Koa's 2nd birthday. We had not seen Koa since his 1st birthday so it was a nice treat for all of us. They had his party at Irvine Park Railroad so there was so much to do!! Mia got to ride her very first train with her Dada, ride a pony AND jump in the jump for joy all by herself!!! She is my little jumping bean who LOVES to jump. We had lots of fun!

We had a great week with Grandpa Pizano. He came to visit for a few days and really got to catch up with Mia again. They spent TONS of time together, going to the store, walking around the park and even running around at the duck pond! It was great having him over and I can't wait to see him again.

Mia is starting to sing more too. Her favorite song to sing is "No no no no, no no no no no liiiieeee" by the Black Eyed Peas! I love hearing her try to sing and she is getting better and better at it everyday!

We also had some AWESOME news this week. Mia is going to have a little brother!!!!! We had our ultra-sound appointment this week and we found out the great news. We shared the news with my Dad by having Mia walk into the room holding a "Its a Boy" balloon! It was really great!

She is doing something new this week that is heartbreaking for me. When I put her down for a nap or bed she is starting to cry now and when I leave she cries out "Mama! MAaaaama!!"It is so hard to walk away from that but I know if I go back in her room I will just reinforce her to keep doing that. Ugh! It KILLS me though, I can't wait until we are past this stage!

Well thats about it for the week. Tomorrow will be another fun filled day. We are heading down to San Diego for Mia's cousin Natalia's 6th birthday! What fun... so I need to get some rest especially since my eyes are burning BAD right now!! Night Night!

A fun few days with Grandpa

Current mood: grateful

This has been a great few days for us. Not only did we get the joy of having my Dad down for a few days but we found out Mia is going to have a baby brother!!! It can't get better than that!!

Since we were not allowed to take Mia with us to the baby's ultra-sound we asked my Dad if he could come down and watch Mia for us. Of course he jumped at the chance to see his little granddaughter again and came down the day before the Ultra-sound.

It was great having him down again, especially now since I am no longer sick and am more functional. Mia was shy around him again but soon warmed up. The reunion of them was so much fun to watch. She even showed him that she knew how to sing which was too cute and called him Grandpa!!! My Dad also brought with him a TON of the freshest most tasty strawberries EVER! and Mia wasted no time and dug right in! She LOVES her strawberries!

The next day was our ultra-sound so we left Mia with her Grandpa while we went to our appointment. They had fun together watching her shows, playing, singing and snacking on strawberries. When we got back we announced that we were having a boy by having Mia walk into the room with a "It's a Boy!" balloon!!! That was alot of fun. Unfortunately, my stomach was not very happy so we didn't get to go out and celebrate. However, my Dad did break away for a short while and went to the store. When he came back he had a huge bottle of sparkling cider, a congrats strawberry cake, icecream and snacks!!! He also bought two roses, each in a different swan vase. One represented Mia and the other her baby brother! How sweet huh? So we all celebrated together and though it was Mia's bedtime she did get a little cake! YUM! Mia also got a surprise from Grandpa, a new toy necklace, bracelet and rings... she LOVED them!

I had another doctor's appointment regarding my heart arrhythmia's the following day so my Dad was able to babysit Mia for us. Before the appointment my Dad and I made some homemade tortillas together and that was so much fun. Mia loved eating them! Later in the afternoon, Adrian and I went to my appointment and left Mia with her Grandpa. After the appointment we all went out to eat to celebrate the baby news. I have been craving Pat and Oscar's salad FOREVER so that is where we went to eat. Mia was on her best behavior and as a reward for being such a good big sister we took her and my Dad to the duck pond next door. My Dad has never been to the duck pond so that was a treat. He got to chase Mia up and down the slopes, and watch her chase ducks and birds, climb stairs and run around like crazy! We all had a GREAT time there but it soon started to get dark and it was time to go back home. Once we got home Adrian went to work and I took a quick trip to the fabric store to pick up some yarn so I could start making my son's baby blanket. I left Mia and Grandpa at home to rest. When I got back home, Mia was sitting on her Grandpa's lap in front of the computer and my Dad was showing her all kinds of kids songs he found for her on YouTube. It was the cutest thing. They had lots of bonding time for sure!

This morning my Dad and I got up early and soon Mia did as well. After breakfast, he took her on his routine morning walk around the track across the street. He later told me they spent the whole time chatting and Mia had a great time looking at all the birds and later yelling at them! haha When they got back they left again but this time to Cardenas (a Mexican grocery store that we always go to in Perris). My Dad said while they were there Mia got ANOTHER free pear! When my Dad went to pay for a pear, she found and was eating, the cashier took one look at her and fell in love and said it was free since she was sooo cute!!! Thats the second time this has happened with fruit! She even got a free balloon once!!! haha Anyway, when they got back Mia had a couple of surprises. She walked in with a HUGE bracelet and ring set and some stickers!!! I sat down with her and opened her bracelet set and she had me put them on her. Soon she had like 9 rings on, 9 bracelets and had 4 star clips in her hair. She was all excited and looked so ADORABLE! Such alittle girly girl, she LOVES her jewelery. My Dad also bought us some food and snacks so we all munched out. We all had a great time together but soon it was time for my Dad to go back home. We all said our very SAD goodbyes but we knew that it wouldn't be long before we got to see him again. Infact he is coming down again next week to help me with Mia. We are putting her in yet another pageant!! haha Yes you read that right, but that blog is for another time! haha

Overall the visit was wonderful. It was so VERY awesome to be able to share the GREAT news (in person), that my Dad was finally going to get a Grandson. What made things even more special was that Mia was a part of it and helped share that news, actually she was the messenger! haha Anyway, I can't wait to see how the next visit goes!!

Mama! Mama!!

Current mood: sad

Mia was a semi-late talker but she is making up for lost time now! She is saying more and more words everyday, putting two words together and now singing lyrics! Her first song is by the Black Eyed Peas "Don't lie", she sings "No no no no, no no no no ... no liiiiiieeee" haha Its really cute. Especially when she sings it out of the blue while playing with her toys.

Another thing that makes me melt is hearing her call me "Mama". This has been going on for awhile, infact her first word at 6 months old was "Mama". However, only within the past couple of months has she really been calling to me. I love it... but tonight I got a taste of the heart breaking side.

She usually goes to bed pretty good. She knows I will only stay with her for a short while, then I get up from her bed, give her some toys and her blanket, kiss her head goodnight and walk out. She is really good about this and its been FOREVER since she has cried. However, her Grandpa Pizano has been visiting us for the past couple of days and for some reason she gets alittle more fussy around bedtime. She will cry when we leave her in her bed and its really weird.

Well Grandpa left today and Dada went to work so I put Mia to bed like I always do. Things were going great until I was about to leave. Then she started to cry, tried to get me to lay back down and refused to take any toys or her blanket. I kissed her goodnight anyway and by the time I reached the door she was standing in her bed crying. I felt so bad, but I knew I had to leave anyway. I didn't want to reinforce that if she cried enough I would come back.

So I left feeling really bad. As I reached the stairs she was crying louder. I only made it about mid way down the stairs before I heard her cry out "Mama!!" "Mammmma!!" To hear that name in which I cherish so much, said in a cracking crying voice it just broke my heart into millions of pieces. I stood there, dead in my tracks trying to convince myself to keep walking away. "MAMA!!! MAAAAMA!!" I kept hearing! My little girl wanted me, she has NEVER done this before. I just couldn't take it anymore and ran back up the stairs to her room. I went inside to find her crying for me.

I laid down with her and calmed her back down. She instantly tried to go to sleep. She felt so comfy and happy just to have me there. She knew it wasn't play time, she just wanted to be with her Mama. I melted. I stayed with her as long as I could but unfortunately my son had other plans. I started to get bad indigestion so I HAD to get up and leave.

Of course Mia didn't like this but I had no choice. I kissed her goodnight and practically ran down the stairs so I couldn't hear her call me again and lure me back.

Such a sad sad moment but very touching. I love my little Mia and I know she loves her Mama too!

*VIDEO* Mia singing to the Black Eyed Peas

Mia LOVES music. She usually dances but recently she has started to try to sing along to songs. This is her favorite and the first song she learned how to sing chorus too. She sings very softly but if you listen closely you can hear her. She often goes around the housing singing this too

Mia helps celebrate Koa's 2nd Birthday!

Current mood: tired

Time sure does fly by fast, and on days like today you really realize that more and more. Today was Mia's friend, Kekoa's 2nd birthday party. Mia and Koa are only 6 weeks apart, and his mom, Mona has been my best friend since freshman year in high school! So we go way back.

The party was held in Irvine at a place called "Irvine Park Railroad". We have never been there before, and it really wasn't that far from where we live. Only about a 45 min drive. We knew the route well because Adrian, Mia and myself made alittle boo boo yesterday. We thought the party was yesterday so we showed up at the park and they told us it was actually the next day! DOH! It was ok, we ate at a cute little rustic restaurant and headed back home.

So today we got there in a flash since we already had a practice run! haha Once we got to the park we were so surprised on how BIG the place was. It had a snack bar, pony rides, train ride and jump for joys!

After searching a bit we finally found Koa's party. We were quickly greeted by Mona's youngest sister Janette. I knew her ever since she was a tiny little girl, it still amazes me how big she is (shes in her 20s!)

Due to my preggy sickness and eating some bad breakfast we ended up showing up to the party a bit late so we missed the food but got there in time for cake! Mia of course acted shy and didn't want to say hi to anyone. She would bury her face in Adrian's leg and refuse to come out. She didn't even want to say hi to the birthday boy!!! Eventually she did warm up a bit.

I visited a bit while Adrian took her into the jump for joy. She was scared at first and didn't want to be let go, however, that didn't last too long. By the time I walked over there she was bouncing around, screaming at the top of her lungs along with the other kids. She was having a blast. I have never seen her get so excited before!

We wanted her to ride the train around the park as well, so we tired to get her out of the jump for joy but couldn't. She refused! We even tried bribing her with juice boxes and that didn't work. Eventually Adrian had to get inside and force her out. Of course she didn't like this and cried and cried.

We then walked to the train and Dada got on the train with Mia. She wanted me to join them but I was not feeling well enough to take the train. All I kept envisioning was having to jump off the train to find a restroom! haha So I stood by and took some pictures as they rode away.

Once they got back Mia blew up again. She cried and cried, she didn't want the train ride to stop. We took her back to the party where she shared a banana with Koa, but she was still pretty upset. Thats when we decided to take her on her very first pony ride!

She wasn't scared at all of the horses and walked right up to them. After standing in a line a bit it was her turn. A lady worker put her on the pony and strapped her in. Koa and Mona watched her from the side and I was armed with my camera and taking pictures. Dada held the reins and led Mia and the horse around this tiny track. She got to go around at least 3-4 times. She never smiled but she did look VERY cute on the horse. Eventually it was time to go and of course.... she cried... again! This time harder than ever before!! So we took her back to the party so she could jump around in the jolly jump again.

Once she was in the jolly jump she calmed down. She had lots of fun jumping around with Koa. The two little munchkins are growing up too fast!!! Eventually it got late and the party was over. Dad had to literally drag Mia out of the jump for joy so the people could take it down. Of course she cried, and cried even more when she saw her little blow up house deflated on the ground. Awwwww.....

Soon it was time to go and we said our goodbyes. Mia did great on the ride home and despite all the activities she got to do today she didn't sleep in the car! She was still full of energy and only now did she finally go to bed.

Overall the day was great! It was so nice seeing everyone again and it was a huge treat to see Mia do some firsts today. I can't wait to do it again!

The missing shoes!

Current mood: amused

Mia is growing so fast that she is constantly out growing her clothes and shoes. We only have 1 pair that still fit her. Luckily summer is on its way so shes been in sandals lately.

Well, last week, while I was packing for our trip to Oxnard, Mia found her shoes and took off with them. That kid made them vanish into thin air because no matter where I looked I couldn't find them again!!! We ended up just leaving without them and taking her sandals.

Well today was a bit chilly and we were going to Orange County for her friend Koa's 2nd birthday at the park. I REALLY didn't want her in sandals and I cringed at the thought of letting her wear socks with her sandals since I knew the socks would get so dirty and messed up. So I searched high and low for those missing shoes!!!

I am not kidding when I say that I tore the downstairs APART looking for them! I was getting frustrated because I knew they HAD to be there but couldn't find them. I had Adrian AND Mia both help me look. I refused to give up. Soon I dumped out all her toy boxes on the floor, they weren't there either. I tore apart the couches and took off the cushions.. not there. I checked EVERYWHERE!, upstairs, downstairs, her room, the bathrooms, the spare room, the living room, the family room, the car, the trunk, the kitchen... EVERYWHERE and they didn't turn up. I was about to tear my hair out and it was getting late.

So finally I just threw in the towel and gave up. She would have to wear her sandals with socks... ugh! Just then, for some unknown reason I felt the urge to check the semi-empty-not-working computer tower next to the desk. Adrian has been swapping parts out of that tower for awhile so it has some missing space on the back. I leaned over and peeked inside muttering, "Mia if your shoes are in this case your getting a pow pow!" sure enough at the very bottom, next to the mother board lay her two white shoes! "Mia!!!" I just had to laugh, of course I didn't give her a spanking but I wouldn't let her near the shoes again!!!

status update

Yep its official, Mia is a Carlos Santana fan! We showed her some of his live performances on youtube and she went nuts and danced like crazy! She LOVES the sound of guitars and is always trying to play my acoustic. I think we may have a future musician on our hands =)

Week 97!!

Current mood: happy

Happy Friday! Another week of baby raising and baby growing!! haha I am constantly running around like a tornado and I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like once my new little one pops out! YIKES! I better enjoy this pace as it lasts!

This week was fun. We made another trip to Oxnard to visit family AND go to the Strawberry Festival! YAY! I haven't been there in about 6 years so it was a treat, especially since it would be Mia's first time! Though it didn't quite go as planned we still managed to have fun. Mia got to eat her very first Strawberry shortcake and she loved it! I guess it did help that she has LOVED strawberries even before she could crawl! haha

It was great seeing family again and of course it was a treat for them. She even got to spend some time with her Cousins too! Overall the trip was fun. I have a massively big blog that talks all about it so feel free to read that if you want! lol

The rest of the week has been good. Mia is learning more and more words everyday and I am so proud of her. She is also becoming my little jumping bean! She has learned to get off the ground now and bounces EVERYWHERE!

Another thing she is starting to do, well OVERDO!, is asking for permission. She has always done this but now its excessive! She is constantly looking to me and asking "ka-ka?!" which means "ok? ... ok?" If I say yes she does whatever she wanted to do, if I say no she of course gets MAD! but won't do what she wants to do. She usually only does this if she is unsure about doing something. For example she never leaves her bed once shes in it and in the morning when its time to get up she will ask me "ka? ka?" and put her leg over the edge. If I say yes, she will happily jump off the bed and go play. If I say no she will get MAD complain but stay on the bed. This is actually pretty helpful since sometimes she is doing something she shouldn't be, like trying to stand on her chair or grab something off the table. I wonder how long this will last?!

Well thats about it for the week. I am sure I will have a nice big blog to write tomorrow when we get to see her little friend Koa for his big 2nd birthday. (His Mom Mona has been my best friend since we were freshman in highschool!) I am sure it will be fun!!

status update

Mia finally gets off the ground! She can jump completely off the ground now and is hoping all over the place. She has even incorporated it into her dancing moves haha My little jumpin' bean!

Status Update

We bought a cheap plastic kids chair for Mia at the grocery store yesterday. She went nuts in the cart with it. Now she is literally attached to it! She loves dragging it everywhere with her and sits in it all over the house. She even decorated it herself with her favorite stickers haha Just goes to show us we don't need to buy her expensive toys, all she needs is her little $2 chair and shes happy =)

2010 California Strawberry Festival

Current mood: exhausted

Wow! What a weekend. I am just now able to finally write a blog about it. Its 9pm and already I am ready for bed. So without any more delay... lets get started! haha

Going to the California Strawberry Festival (in Oxnard) has always been a childhood tradition of mine. Since I moved out of Oxnard (when I was 18) I have only been there once .. maaaaybe twice since. The last time it was 2003 and my second oldest niece Sarah (who is currently 7) was younger than what Mia is now! WOW!

So what made me decide to go this year was one thing... haha no not strawberries though they do have some pretty tasty strawberries. It was MIA! I wanted her to experience the Strawberry festival, plus I knew she LOVES her strawberries.

So I really got into the spirit about going. I even bought Mia a little strawberry costume so she could walk around as a strawberry! haha I counted down the weeks and finally the big weekend came!!!

Adrian was able to work from home, Friday night so we got a early jump on the road on Saturday. We had alot planned. We were going to drive up to my parents house Sat. rest a bit, then head over to my brother's house so we could give him and my sis-in-law their joint birthday present we had. We were planning on hitting up the festival on Sunday and leaving back home shortly after. Well things don't always go as planned and this weekend was the biggest proof of that... EVER!

Once we got on the road Mia decided she was NOT going to take a nap. Uh-oh! Although she was pretty good most of the way she did get bored so we had to stuff her up on snacks and turn on her DVD player. We were making pretty good time until we hit the 134 (a mid way point in the trip) thats when we hit the WORST traffic EVER!!!!! Not to mention it was HOT outside. Luckily, Mia and I were dressed in shorts and tank tops so we didn't fry to much in the car. The traffic was horrid!!! Stop and go... stop and go. I was beginning to feel alittle queasy and Mia was not happy.

Then the worst thing happened! We almost got into a accident. The car ahead of use decided... for no reason at all... to slam on his breaks and come to a complete stop!!! We had been in traffic so long and the heat our own breaks were not breaking as well and we literally came within inches of hitting him. My car's ABS kicked on and the seat belts locked up. As we all leaned forward the seat belt hurt my baby tummy BAD!! It literally felt like someone had kicked or hit me right where the baby is. I started to get panicky since I started to feel alot of pain down there. I was afraid something bad might happen. All I wanted to go is get off the car!!!! but we were in horrible traffic with no place to turn off.

Eventually the traffic lightened up but thats about the time I started to feel sharp pains and cramps in my stomach. That worried me, but we were less than 20 miles from my parents house so we trecked on. Sure enough we hit another massive traffic jam all down the Conejo grade! I was getting upset by this time. The 101 was a mess all through Camarillo. Eventually we agreed to stop at the next available stop just to end the madness for awhile and rest.

So we pulled off on Rose Ave. (Oxnard) and turned into a Best Buy parking lot. It took us over 4 hours to get to Oxnard!! It usually takes us 2! Even from San Diego it only takes us 3, so ya it was awful. Once we all got off the car we noticed how FREEZING Oxnard was!!! Good grief!!! Adrian and I had not packed any jackets or sweatshirts for ourselves so we froze. Luckily I packed Mia a jacket. When I got off the car a massive pain hit my stomach. It was all to familiar to me... yup ligament pain! The exact same horrible pain I would get with Mia if I sat down to long. So I limped into the store and we rested a bit and caught our breath. Mia got to stretch her legs a bit and run around. Once we were feeling better (and my stomach was feeling much better by then) we got back into the car.

We knew that if we took Rose all the way down to my parents house we would hit another bad traffic spot since the Strawberry festival is just down the road a bit from my parents house. So we took another long road. I was still upset and not feeling so well in the car so Adrian decided to treat me to Win's!!! for a banana shake, something I have been craving for months now!! We found the place and he got off to go buy it. My head was pounding from a horrible headache but the shake did help a bit.

Finally we made it home to my parents house. Exhausted from our trip we rested a bit while Mia went nuts running around the house. She acted shy with my Dad for the first time in a LOOONG time but she eventually warmed up like always. I rested and tried to kick my headache but was being unsuccessful. It started to get later and later and we still needed to go to my Brother's house to give him his gift. So we left Mia (who didn't nap ALL day) with my parents while Adrian and I headed to my bro's house. His present was we were going to upgrade their outdated computer but instead of doing it there since it was so late .... we were just going to stop by, pick up his computer, upgrade it at my parents house over night then drop it back off after the festival.

We got to my bro's house and rested again. It was great to visit for a bit and my nieces went nuts when they saw us again. (Always a treat). I couldn't completely relax though, along with my pounding head I was worried about Mia. I just had a feeling if we left her to long she would eventually get into a bad mood from not napping and I didn't want to have my parents have to deal with that. So we got their computer and headed back to my parents house. It was already past 9pm by then!

Once we got back to the house we put Mia (who was running around playing like crazy) to bed in my old room. Adrian stayed with her until she fell asleep then came back out to work on my bro's computer. I visited a bit with my parents then went to bed on the couch. Adrian worked on my bro's computer until 3am then went to share the bed with Mia in my old room.

We all got up about 9am the next day. I was having bad ligament pain though out the night so I didn't sleep to well. Around 3am at night I also got this horrible pain in the pit of my stomach that would sometimes wrap around the entire baby tummy. It was awful and refused to go away!! We wanted to hit the festival early but everything seemed to be going wrong. The big thing was my stomach ache, we tried to wait it out a bit but it never got better. The time kept ticking an ticking away. Eventually we tried to get Mia to take a nap but she refused, when she did finally fall asleep we had to wake her up 20 mins later because we had to go. It was getting so late that the festival was going to close soon!! When Mia woke up she was NOT happy and was pretty moody. Eventually she cheered up. I got her dressed in shorts and a tank. I didn't pack any warm clothes for her because I thought it would be HOT like it is where we live. Unfortunately it was COLD! My brother stopped by with 3 of his girls and along with my parents we left to the festival.

It was PACKED and no way we could even get any parking near the festival so we ended up having to park in the neighborhoods and WALK! Poor Adrian couldn't get a parking spot and dropped me off so so I could be with my family while he found a spot. We walked and walked FOREVER to get to the festival. My stomach ache was killing me but I refused to give up! This trip turned into a quest and I was determined to have Mia experience the Strawberry Festival!

Like I mentioned before, I had not been to the festival in about 6 years and so much had changed! The big thing was the people! It was so heavily crowded you could barely move!!!! My Dad pushed Mia around and Adrian (who later caught up with us) helped me along. Eventually we found the "Make your own Strawberry Shortcake" tent (its a tradition for my family to get one of these) I have been waiting weeks and weeks for this moment but unfortunately was in to much pain to eat!!! NOOOOO!!! So I watched while everyone got to enjoy their shortcake. Adrian shared with me but after a few bites my stomach hurt more so I couldn't eat. However, what did make me happy was seeing Mia go nuts over it!! She munched on so many little strawberries and loved the whipped cream! Soon she was a big sticky cute mess!!

After that we managed to find some place to sit. My brother, my Dad and Adrian all took turns buying some food and bringing it back for all of us. We all hung out for a bit there. Mia danced in her stroller to the live band and played with her cousin Sarah who kept making her laugh by playing with Mia's hat. Mia's cousin April was chowing down on a corn on the cob that was almost bigger than her!! and her cousin Tracy ate 4 of those corns! (a record)!! I tried so hard to enjoy myself but my stomach pain was preventing that. Soon it really started to get COLD! and since I was dressed in a tank top with no jacket I started to freeze. I put Mia's jacket on her and tried to keep her as warm as I could but I noticed goose bumps on her too so I knew she was cold as well. Thats when I decided to just throw in the towel. As much as I didn't want to since everyone was having a good time I just had to think about my kids. My Mia was freezing and my baby was hurting in my stomach. I was sad we never got to explore the entire festival or let Mia run around in her strawberry costume but thats the way it sometimes goes.

So we all packed up and headed back to the cars. I did manage to take home a little cup full of strawberries because after all we had been through I REFUSED to go back home without strawberries! haha

Once we got back to my parents house I let Mia run around a bit in her costume then put some warm jammies on her. We visited a bit then headed off to my brother's house to drop off his computer. We said our sad goodbyes to my parents then drove across town.

Once we got to my brother's house my stomach was still hurting really bad. We rested and visited a bit then surprised them with all the upgrades we had done to their computer! They were so shocked and so very happy. Meanwhile, Mia was having a blast with her cousins. Her cousin Sarah was pushing her around on a little lion shaped car and her cousin Tracy was jumping around making her laugh so hard!!! Eventually Mia went with her cousin April and they both watched Yo Gabba Gabba together in the living room. It was so cute to see the cousins all hanging out. It started to get late and Mia was turning into a walking zombie so we decided to hit the road and head back home. We said our sad goodbyes there and off we went.

We made it home a couple of hours later and Mia slept the entire time. Once we got home I immediately felt a horrible pain again. Yep my ligament pain kicked in BAD! I limped into the house while Adrian took Mia off the car. She was UPSET that she was woken up so we just put her back to bed. By then it was almost 1am. I went to bed soon after and knocked out for the night.

Phew what a weekend. I am still feeling it!! I am so very tired. Though my stomach ache went away today the ligament pain is still here. My hips hurt alot and sometimes I get really stiff. But overall we made it and conquered the strawberry festival!!!