hmmm

I am currently.....

devasted that I now live so far away from daily kitchen. dying to get my new car. obsessed with pottery barn (nothing new). loving my backyard (ill have to post a pic). waiting for my husband to get home with in n out. thinking I need to workout. ..do those last 2 contradict each other?.. enjoying the peace of my baby sleeping. dreading the rest of unpacking. craving a vacation. & a doughnut. 


random, i know. 

                       


& Happy Easter

please read

As if my anxiety couldn't get any worse, I got into a horrible car accident driving home from work last week. This stupid, & really by stupid I mean horrible terrible words that I am too well mannered to say or type but not too well mannered to think ;) .. any ways... this stupid girl ran the red light going so fast and hit me almost head on because she was driving drunk. So drunk that she could not even stand up, but decided it was a good idea to drive anyway. I just don't get that! Ugh it makes me so angry. Now don't get me wrong, I am so beyond thankful that I am okay and I know it could have been so much worse.. But I am angry for the people that are not as fortunate and for the people that have been killed. I am angry that these selfish people who decide to drive drunk do not have harsher consequences. They get off so easy and then guess what, they do it again! For the sake of this girls family, I hope she learned her lesson. Since the men who she was with pleaded for me not to call the police because she had a newborn baby at home. (just so ya'll know, I called the police & the girl was arrested )As a mother myself, I would think she would think about that before she got in the car, but obviously not. Well I hope this girl never does this again. I hope other people read this and think before they drive if they have had anything to drink also. After being in this accident I looked up MADD (mothers against drunk driving) and was reading statistics that blow my mind. 

*About one-third of all drivers arrested or convicted of driving while intoxicated or driving under the influence of alcohol are repeat offenders.
*Adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010 - that is almost 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving each day. 
*Every day in America, another 27 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes.
*50 to 75 percent of convicted drunk drivers continue to drive on a suspended license.
*On average, one in three people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime.
*Drunk driving costs each adult in this country almost $500 per year.
*An average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before first arrest.

                  

TaTa

We're moving! We finally begged & bothered Tony's mom enough, and she agreed to nanny for us! His parents live pretty far, so to be fair we are moving close to them. Actually, we're practically soon to be neighbors. We were a little hesitant to move to the other side of town at first, but now we are super excited for a change. The fact that our new house has a pool & its 110 degrees in the summer here, might have something to do with it. Im dreading the packing and moving part... but on the brighter side, I was able to somehow talk Tony into letting me completely redecorate. (my favorite thing in the world) Pottery Barn has been slowly sucking all of the money from my bank account, I need to find another vice... Oh & Thank goodness I have this little sweet pea helping me pack. She even figured out to throw her knife and bowl into the kitchen box. My kid is a genius. 

red rock

What do you do when two people have terrible motion sickness? You go on a car ride through red rock that has twists & turns & makes ya wanna puke, of course! Well thats just what we did today. You would have thought we would have learned after doing "the road to Hana" in Maui... while I was pregnant! If anyone has done that drive you know what Im talking about. Its gorgeous, but torture to anyone who gets the slightest bit carsick. 

....Anyways, The drive was so pretty, the part I saw at least. I looked up about twice. Scarlett would have thought so too, but she was watching The Grinch, and obviously that was more interesting. 

We picked up Daily Kitchen on the way, our new favorite go to healthy spot to eat. We stopped & had a short, but sweet little picnic. It's way colder in the mountains & since it was so warm today, we weren't dressed for the cold. Scarlett would have stayed forever since her favorite thing is dirt. & whatta know? Theres a lot of dirt in the mountains. Car sickness aside, we had lots of fun, like usual. Were the 3 best friends that anyone could have. <3

           Ive been waiting for this day to come. I often think.. "Im surprised Scarlett hasn't tried to go out the doggy door yet." Well she did it. It all happened so fast I wasn't able to get a picture, but I did get a picture of Beasley's reaction. He must thinks she's a dog too. Her preferred way of eating is to throw the food on the floor and lick it off. She crawls around like a dog. She has started to lick me. & she's got the puppy face down perfectly. 

...She's also really good at being the cutest little girl ever. She likes all of her dolls to be wearing bows. But she doesn't wear one, she's Queen B, so I guess she doesn't have to. 

a crafty kinda day

Scarlett made her Valentines today & they turned out pretty cute! I saw the idea on the cutest blog I follow & loved it! She had fun making them & I did too <3

HAA!

Tony taking pictures while Scarley is fake crying. She's too much!

 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
            HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

breastfeeding

I found this little article online & this is me & Scarlett to a T. Yes, she will be 15 months old this month & she is still nursing.. GASP!! Well at least thats what most people do when they find out, along with commenting on how weird it is. It's funny to me that it is recommended to nurse up until a year, but it seems if you go a day OVER then you're a total freak! Now i'm not saying i'm going to be that mom on the magazine nursing her 4 year old, but who am I to judge? I love that I am doing what is best for my daughter & I am going to stop stressing so much on trying to wean her because people think it's "weird" & just do what is best for us :) judge away...

My daughter, Jenna, was a continuous nurser. She nursed day and night for 2 years. We co-sleep, so night nursings were a bit easier. I also thought she was nursing for comfort, but soon realized that she was taking milk and swallowing, so I figured she was hungry. She really nursed around every 2 hours for almost 24 months. But I just kept reminding myself how lucky I was to have a healthy, attached baby…………
Toddlers do wean… Many wise women here have been telling me that for at least 6 months. I have been stressing about it for awhile now. I never imagined I’d be nursing a 2 year old, heck, I never imagined nursing an 18 month old….. To be quite honest, I was uncomfortable with the idea of breastfeeding a toddler. I’m not sure why, but I guess I have not known a single person who has nursed this long. Anyway, all of a sudden this breastmilk addicted child of mine started sleeping through the night….and last night she woke and never ask to nurse, just wanted a cuddle from me. Then this morning she asked for a cup of “bunny milk” (strawberry stuff in milk) and breakfast. I kept waiting for her to ask to nurse, but she didn’t. Nap time rolls around and instead of telling her it was nursy nap time, I just had her lay with me in bed. She asked to nurse and I said “Nah, let’s just cuddle” and she slid her hand just slightly down the front of my shirt and cuddled against me and minutes later….she was asleep. I think we are well on our way to weaning. I can’t imagine that she’ll end this abruptly, but I am positive that it will happen soon. Gosh, I have been waiting for this. I wanted to let her nurse for as long as I could, and not ruin our wonderful experience by forcing her to stop. It’s working.So here I am in a silent house wondering why I am not celebrating. Heck, I have been waiting for this, right?!?!?!
Jenna is 24 months old and never took a bottle or paci. She spent most of the first year nursing every 2 hours. Then between 1 and 18 months, we were still nursing at least 5-10 times a day. Was it hard and sometimes frustrating? YEP! I have a son who just turned 6 and it was hard for me to figure out ways to spend the time with him that he needed and deserved…BUT I did it. I learned many creative things to do while holding a nursing baby. And when she was sleeping, I made sure he and I always did something he wanted to do. I found a way to keep my house nice and clean, and even put dinner on the table. My husband works 24 hour shifts and is not here alot…..BUT I manage.
The thing that kept me going was knowing deep in my heart that this is worth it. That letting her nurse, and letting her be attached to my hip was going to give her that extra *jump* on life. really, I think, what if she were the 1 in whatever percent that was “going to end up with” cancer? What if the 2 years worth of breast milk changed that??? Or what if I was on the path to ending up with breast cancer? Maybe the 2 years of nursing her changed the odds for me too. That is alot of *what-if’s* BUT I sure don’t want to know if it would have been differant had I not nursed.
Alot of woman worry about having their bodies back….well trust me that once you have a child, your body will never be yours again. Both of my children share my heart, my arms…and my mind. I am their blanket, their jungle gym and their stroller. That is what motherhood is. Breastfeeding or not, it sure changes you. 
...I think I posted that on a Sunday, and it was the last time she nursed. Well….I think I can say it is official now… Jenna has not nursed in 8 days. I think we are weaned. Wow….it just happend..snap…like that. She doesn’t ask to nurse, but she has taken to poking my breasts and telling me that they are funny…LOL. And last night she hugged me and said “I like you mommy” and I laughed and said it back….then she pointed at my breasts and said…”I like naw-neeies too.” Then she just ran off to play. It amazes me that after worrying about weaning for so long that it would happen that fast. I wish I could put into words all of the emotions that I have about our breastfeeding relationship, and it coming to an end… But I can’t. I do have to say that weaning was very bittersweet. It is a bit harder to parent when I can’t just offer a boob to fix things…. I also have to say that I disagree with setting a date to wean by. To me nothing would be harder than taking away the breast so suddenly.
Overnight weaning is not good for a baby. Sometimes we tend to forget that babies are BABIES and can not process info like we can. They can’t understand why we would suddenly take away their most prized thing…. Imagine having someone take away your car…. you still have to go to the store, work, visiting friends, and errand running….. If you woke up one day and had to figure out what to do it would be difficult. BUT weigh that against gradually getting used to not having a car. You could find ALTERNATE forms of transportation… a bus, taxi, friend…… BUT you would have time to prepare. Isn’t it funny how for those first “tough” months after the baby is born we think that the round the clock nursings will never end??? They do…trust me, faster than you think…and I sure have been there, and done that.
Looking back I have to say that nursing Jenna for 2 years is one of the things I am most proud of. I have given her a benefit that many babies are not getting.

the happiest place on earth

Disneyland was the best trip! Isn't it always.. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel & had an amazing room, thanks to a friend of ours who knows the manager there! Scarlett had so much fun being able to run around the most magical place all day!

 On the tram to Disneyland! <3

We started with breakfast in Disneyland at one of the restaurants that does a character breakfast. Scarlett loved them! It was hard to keep her away from them! She practically jumped over the table trying to get to them. They probably didn't like her very much though, because her favorite thing to do was knock on their heads...

Scarlett didn't like any of the rides. She was really scared of the loud noises. She didn't even like Dumbo. It's a Small World was closed, but I think she would have loved it. This was her 3rd time to Disneyland.. she was a little younger the last time we went but she was fine on all the rides, so I thought she would love them this time. Hopefully next time we go she isn't scared! She did love all the parades though :)

Flying on Dumbo!

Carousel ride

Bugs life!

Minnies House

Pirates was way too scary :(

Her favorite thing to do was point at everything! It was so funny because she never does this. Here's some pointing pictures. ha

<3

Scarlett was so excited to see Minnie, but she got scared when she tried to hold her hands & pick her up. After that, her love for the characters ended ha. & she was terrified of all of them.  

Getting Sleepy. i love cuddles

                                                    

We had dinner at our favorite restaurant inside the Pirates ride.. Blue Bayou. The food was sooo good! & Scarlett was so well behaved! They gave her the cutest little light up Tinkerbell in a cup & she loved it! She spent most of dinner trying to figure out what was in the cup :)

Blue Bayou

Tinkerbell is in there :)

The second day we did California adventure. We didn't go on any rides since Scarley was scared but we seriously had tons of fun! Ive also decided to start calling Scarlett, Scarley.. 1. because Tony thinks its ridiculous & 2. because I think its so funny/cute

waiting for the parade!

Tony won Scarlett a Woody doll at the carnival games & she loved him

<3

cool glasses

...ending the day with a big HUG!