Give your kids a hug and tell them you love them….

I wish I could say that my growing up was with the picture perfect family. By no means did I have a bad life. But I lacked a lot of the small things that maybe some people who did get them to for granted. My mom was always the one who made the rules. Was extremely hard on me, etc, etc , etc. My dad on the other hand was the one that was nurturing, helpful and loving. Now a little background on my mom is that she was raised in an orphanage. My grandparents died in an auto accident very early in her life. This left my mom and her sister with no family to live with. So I hear many stories about how they shaved their heads so they would not get lice. They ate once a day. And the food was horrible. They never felt any love from the staff. And that it was the worst living situation for a child. My dad on the other hand grew up the second oldest of 4. And had both of his parents. He came to Canada from Hungary with my grandparents early in his life. My grandparents worked hard to put three square meals on the table for all the kids. My grandmother was very loving. My grandfather was the enforcer. So both had very different lives. Which is maybe what contributed to my experiences and the roles I said they played in my growing up? I grew up in Sothern California. In the Valley. And yes I said my fair share of "totally’s" and "gag me with a spoon". I have a sister who is 16 years older than me. So by the time I was 2 she was out of the house. So it was kind of like I did not have a sister. To this day we are not very close (sad to say and again something I wish was reflective of the “Perfect Family”). Now my mom was not the lovey dovey type. I can’t really think of any time where she wanted to cuddle with me as a child. Where she reached out to hug me. Or gave me a hug and kiss before she made me walk to school. I also don’t remember her saying I love you very much either. Now don’t get me wrong, she gave me a hug and said I love you once in awhile. But not like you should to a child. So now as an adult I occasionally long for a warm embrace or just flat out attention. From my husband or kids (my littlest one “Tai” is always up for cuddle time from Mommy). I also occasionally get really weird about making sure I am telling everyone I Love them. And hearing it back from them is very important. My dad was also not lovey dovey. But I think we expect it more from a mom then a dad. Although the relationship I see my husband and 9 year old daughter is still unlike mine was. My mom is getting older (low 70’s) and she has been through some major health scares in the past couple years. Including a triple bypass. I thought after that close call with the white light two years ago that she would maybe realize that she should never take a moment for granted with her children. But it has not changed a thing. She has remained the same person who shy’s from hugs. Does not say I Love You. But say’s “I love you too”. If you say it first. I think the thing I need to remember is that even though I may not have had a lot of hugs and I love you’s when I was young, does not mean I can’t stop the cycle. I vow to hug and kiss and tell my children and husband I love them. Because even though my kids might say in the future I wish I had the “Perfect Family”, it won’t be because I did not hug and kiss and tell them I loved them more.

Long Time Coming....

So it has been a hot minute since I posted on this blog. My intentions when I started this was to have the ability to talk, vent and connect with friends, family and strangers (those deciding to read that maybe don't know me that well)or even to myself if no one is reading.
What happened is that this blog got pushed under the rug with all the other things I had going on in my life and then completely forgot about it.
With the new year and me turning another year older, I figured I better get my $h*t together and find ways to blog more often. I mean the last time I blogged was almost 9 mths ago...what the hell!
So much has happened since I last posted.
My mom had a heart attack in May 2011 which was life altering in so many ways. My life for about three weeks consisted of living in a hospital. While juggling my life, kids, house and business. The hospital was almost two hours away in traffic (1 hour without) and my sister and I just should have paid for a hotel instead of driving back and forth. It might have been cheaper then the gas. Fast forward to now and she is doing much better. She is back to her old self, which for anyone that knows her is a piece of work. Love you Mom! She still has some health issue but over all is doing much better.
July 2011 was my little mans 1st birthday. Which really went by way to fast. It's funny how you will say "OMG this week is going by so slow". But then you look back and say "OMG where did that year go". It went by so fast. He is such an amazing child. I could not be any more lucky then I am to have a child with his disposition. He is so relaxed, carefree, funny and so cute. I mean I have heard him cry maybe 5 times in his whole 18mth life. Everyday people in my life remind me of how lucky I am to have a baby like him.
September 2011 my Daughter started the 2nd grade and my son started his senior year. Another one of those OMG where did the time go. They both are also amazing kids. My daughter is feisty like me and really know how to get under my skin sometime. My son Jesse is a senior and he has really started to realize that after this year all the fun and games are over and it is time to head to the real world. Work, College, both...whatever path he picks I want to just support him.
October, November and December all went by in a blur. (except that my son Jesse turned 18 years old)!!
Now January 2012..... A week ago I turned the big 35!!! I am not one to sulk about the number. I really am just happy that I lived another year.
Now in between all of this I have been holding down the fort at home, running all of my businesses and being a wife.
Well I have caught everyone up to speed on my crazy life. My New Years resolution is to write in this blog at least three times a week.

Viva Huntingtington Beach

On our way back from a fun but long business and pleasure trip to Las Vegas.

We have attended this trade show for baby and children’s product since we opened our business a couple years ago. It is a lot of fun to see all the great new product that people have created and then also great to see the old favorite brands that have come up with new stuff also.

You would be so surprised at the things people invent. I saw a so many things that were great and then things that just made me wonder why I would ever have any use for that.

My husband is driving as I write this and he said the best product he saw at the show was this amazing baby/toddler nail file (stay posted for pictures) it is a electric nail file for your baby so you no longer have to mess around with nail clippers which I personally hate.

The worst product we agreed is this bottle bid that you put on your bottle to replace the bib you would put on your child. It was ugly and so cheaply made. I give them props for developing a product but this was just not the right fit for our store.

Some other favorites of ours were a stroller lock, smencils, piggy paint, a pillow/blanket my daughter loved and the list goes on. Hopefully we can work together with the brands to maybe offer some great giveaways in the future.

Ok enough about that. I will blog about the fact that we took our kids and how fun that was. Including my lil mans first blow out.

Flip Off Friday

Flip off Friday again!

1. The first flip off this week is to myself. Why you ask because this week I did the unthinkable....I locked my new baby in the car!!!!!!!!! So before you throw stone and call child protective services on me , let me explain.
I was getting out of the car and I reached back and opened the back door to go around and get my son out. I hit the lock button on my door and walked to take my son out. Well my daughter who was in the passenger front seat jumped out and came running around the car into the street with a car coming. When I saw this my first reaction was to grab her so when I went for her I hit the door, which closed with my keys on the seat. OMG!!!!!! So I started hysterically crying and lucky my neighbors all helped including a passerby-er that has kids that go to the same school as my daughter stopped and helped. We got him out and he was fine (a little sweaty). Slept the whole time. In total i think he was in there for less then 10 minutes. But is was the longest time ever for me. I beat myself up about it all night till friends started telling me that this has happened to them many times. Now i feel like less of a bad mom.

2. The amount of hours in a day. I drop my daughter off at about 8am on the dot and I am home by 8:10 the latest. By the time I have a light breakfast, shower and read emails it is 12pm and my daughter is out at 1:50. Why can't the school day be longer.

3. The parents at my daughters school who think it is ok to block you in your parking spot. I make it a point to leave to pick up my daughter by 1:30 so that I am there right when she gets out. Which means that I can always get a parking spot. if you show up after 1:40 forget getting a spot that is not around the corner. So parents who decide to arrive at 1:49 when the kids get out pull up and double park. Then they decide they can chit chat with each other while I am stock in the spot. Next time I will think about hitting your car.

That is my Friday Flip off. What are yours?

Welcome to my world!

Date Night!

This Friday my husband was in a amazing mood! He normally is always in a good mood but today was unlike any other.

First he called me at his lunch break and said he was buying us this high tech camera that I have been wanting for a long time. I call it the paparazzi camera as it is not a digital camera but one that is used by the paparazzi when they get your favorite celebrity shot. I told him not to as it was very expensive but he did it anyway.

Then a couple hours later he called to say that he wanted to take me on a date night tonight and to see if my mom could watch my daughter and the baby. Of course my mother jumped on the opportunity to watch the kids.

My husband came home and we got ready to head off on our date night to the Melting Pot.

We have never been there before and we were very excited as we had heard great things. We just honestly could never get up the urge to spend over $100 on dinner for the two of us.

We got there and had the most amazing dinner...




We had great conversation and great food. And I have to say was well worth the $100 for great food and a great night with my husband.

With that being said we could have gone out after but just could not wait to get back to our little ones.

Thanks Honey for a Great Night!

First Public Urination!

Yesterday we decided to take my daughter to our local indoor bounce house for their weekly "Glow Night". This is a indoor bounce house were they turn off all the lights give the kids a ton of glow sticks and turn on blacklights and loud music. My daughter LOVED IT!!!!! $8.00 spent wisely!

My husband and I decided to sit out in the waiting room because we had the baby with us. We sat out in the waiting room and talked. Then the baby got hungry so we feed him. I decided I would change him since it had been a little bit since I had changed his diaper. Changed his diaper and handed him to my husband. All the sudden the baby made a loud grunt and then we smelled it. I HAD JUST CHANGED HIM MINUTE AGO!!!!

So my husband said I will do it. So we get out another diaper and wipes and my husband goes in for the kill. He cleans all the poop up and then all the sudden my little peanuts starts peeing everywhere. And when I say everywhere I mean everywhere.
On me, my husband, himself and even the wall next to him. He is looking up at his dad like "OH yeah that feels nice". Until it gets on his face and then he makes the weird look like "What the hell was that".

My husband and I are cracking up at the big puddle he has created on the floor (which dripped down the wall into a massive puddle)See picture.....

We immediately start to look around at who has seen my son in all his glory and realize no ones know what happened. We start to clean up the evidence but not before my husband whipped out his camera to take a picture of his sons first public urination. I say first because I have a feeling somehow that this will not be his last.

Welcome To My World!

My two adorable children!

My daughter Emma has been alot of help for me with the baby. She will throw away a diaper, give him his pacifier, get his bottle, hold him, kiss and cuddle him and even help put him to sleep...

But there is no guarantee that she won't fall asleep herself after a long day of helping her mom.

God I love my kids.
Welcome to my world!

My No Stess Weekend and Daughters First SleepOver!

Have you ever had one of those weekends were you and your family have nothing to do. No birthday parties, crazy home improvements, etc. That you can just sit back and watch all the TiVo you want for hours on end!

That was this weekend for me and my family.

I have really been trying to take it easy lately as I am getting closer to my scheduled c-section/due date (three weeks from today). This is so much easier for me to say then to actually do as I am just one of those people that needs to have 110 things going at one time.

Saturday night my mom and dad did come over for dinner and family movie night. I found this amazing BBQ Beef Sandwich recipe that is made with root beer. Everyone loved it. During dinner we started talking politics which got a little carried away, but once everybody voiced their opinion we all moved on to movie night and dessert. We watched Extraordinary Measures ( a true story about a father who tries to find a cure for a rare disease his children have). It was a good movie.

Sunday my family woke up and I made breakfast. One of our family friends called and asked if my son and daughter could come over and go swimming. So I said yes because my husband was going to be tied up watching the one game he has been waiting for during the World Cup (Mexico vs Argentina). And I wanted him to be able to watch it uninterrupted. So off they went.

A couple hours later my daughter called and asked if she could sleepover at her friends house. My immediate reaction was "NO WAY" not my six year old little girl. I told her to let me think about it and I would call her back. MY husband and I discussed it and we both said we have to give in and let her have fun not put her in a bubble. So we called her back and told her yes. The screaming on the phone was obnoxious! She was so thrilled.

So my husband and I settled in for the night. We had dinner alone which was weird as that has not happened in a long time. I made chicken and potatoes in my favorite kitchen appliance the slow cooker. It was amazing. And then we watched Remember Me with Robert Pattinson. Which started out slow but the ending was a shocker. All in all good.

Then finished off the night with our favorite show "True Blood". Got to love us some adult vampires.



After watching the show I got this urge to go pick up my little girl as I wanted to tuck her in and give her a kiss goodnight! But I held strong and did not call or drive over there. I decided the best way to help me forget is to go to bed. Also my daughter was going to get dropped off at 7am.

This morning when she got home I gave her the biggest hug and I think she grew a little bigger since I saw her yesterday.

Welcome to My world!

Second Day Of Summer!

So today was a much better summer day for my daughter.

Her little cousin was here all day and have been outside playing for HOURS! I of course still have to check in and make sure they are doing good.

Lucky that my front yard has a big play yard (slide, tubes, etc) that is fenced in so they can't go near the street. This has kept them busy all day.

It is amazing to listen to the things they will make up to play. Their imagination is great. I remember when I was that little!

This morning they made paper shoes and cards and tried selling them on our street. That did not work. They lowered their prices. Still no takers.

So I thought ok we have a ton of candy from the baby shower (we had a candy bar) that we in our house do not need to eat. So I just finished letting them set up a candy shop outside to sell.

My daughter the business woman like her mommy!

They want to make enough money to go have ice cream after dinner. I will keep everyone posted as to how much they make. Fingers crossed!!!