Once a month

My parents give me such a special gift every month. They give me a night out. Dom gets to spend the night with them and Rob and I venture out into adult world and have some fun. It is such a wonderful luxury that we have. I’m so thankful to have that time to recharge my batteries and cut loose a bit. And Dom LOVES staying over there. First thing he did on Saturday morning was grab his suitcase and start filling it with his books and toys. “Yia Yia! Bapou! Boss!”

I had so much fun on our night out. We met up with Lanie and Jeff, Tina and Jorge and Boss and Megs at Westside for some dinner and beers. Taryn showed up too (thanks Boss!) and joined in on the fun now that she’s 21. After about 6 pitchers of beer and lots of yummy grub we headed back to Lanie’s condo (we had designated drivers, of course) and continued the fun there.

It’s so important to get a break every once in a while. Time to hang out with friends, and especially Rob. I’m so thankful that my parents allow me to do that.

Yes

Yes, Dom has matching sunglasses like mine. Yes, he’s the cutest little kid your eyes have ever seen. Yes, he continues to get funnier, smarter, good looking as the gets older. Yes, I’m all kinds of proud of my boy.

New Foods

Dom loves to eat fruits and veggies, but when it comes to his main course, he’s become somewhat picky. Ok, maybe not picky, but he wants the same thing every time, Either mac n cheese or turkey dogs. I can totally understand why. I’m the same way. To this day, I still order the same thing at whatever restaurant I go to. Red Robin? Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich. Rubys? Cheeseburger with low fat American and grilled onions. Mimi’s Café? Asian Chicken Salad. You get the idea.

I decided it was time to try and introduce Dom to some new foods that he could mack on at dinner time. I’ve tried in the past with spaghetti o’s and it didn’t go so well. Next up was meatloaf. He put it in his mouth and spit it out. Hmm. Ok. This was going to be harder than I thought.

While I was working out with Lanie on Wednesday night, I get a text from Rob. It was a photo of Dom eating a plate of his Dad’s spaghetti. Wow! Finally, something other than turkey dogs and mac n cheese. I was doubly surprised because I had fed him dinner before I left. Seems like we may have another one to add to the list!

I think I will give cheese quesadillas a try next. Or maybe I should have Rob give it to him since that worked last time:)

Rules

Seems simple enough, right?

Say Cheese

Every photo I have taken of Dom has been a natural shot to some extent. Sometimes I do something funny to make him laugh but most of the time, I just catch him at the right time. This photo was taken on the way to daycare this morning and for the first time ever, I told Dom to say “cheese!” And when I did, he made this face. Can’t you just hear him saying “cheeeth!”

I love that little face!

Family Fitness Fun

Weekends are the time we get to spend time together as a family, so it’s something I always look forward to. This past week was a busy one.

On Saturday, Rob signed us up with memberships at LA Fitness. I’m not really a big fan of the gym, but the thought of going together sounded like fun so I figured I’d give it a shot. Somehow Rob convinced me to take a spin class and it was brutal. We lasted 25 mins of the 1 hour class, but I was proud of us for giving it a shot. Honestly, I could have stayed longer if the damn seat wasn’t so uncomfortable. My lady parts were not happy with me, seriously so uncomfortable!

During our class, Dom hung out in the kids daycare at the gym. He was very upset about going, and cried when I left, but I knew once he calmed down he’d have a great time. Sure enough, when we went to go get him, he was playing with blocks and dinosaurs.

Sunday afternoon we decided to go for a bike ride. Dom saddled up on Robs bike and I jumped onto my trusty beach cruiser and off we went. We cruised down the lake and Rob found this awesome park hidden behind the trees. They had 4 jungle gyms and a huge pirate ship. Dom had so much fun climbing around and going down the slide. That kid had no fear. He’s get to the top of the slide, throw his legs out and whoosh back down. He loved it! We rode our bikes back to the house just as the sun was going down. Total it was about 3 miles but felt like nothing because we had so much fun!

Valetines Day Surprise

I didn’t really expect anything for Valentine’s Day. Rob isn’t a “flowers” kind of guy, and as much as I love him, surprises and romance are not his strong suit. So you can imagine my surprise when I was sitting at my desk this morning and he walked in holding roses and a Jamba juice! I had told him last week that Jamba was having a limited addition item called a “sweetheart smoothie” and that it sounded so good. Well, not only did he hear me, but he remembered that I was dying to try it. Big bonus points for Rob!

Needless to say, he made my day. It’s amazing what a small gesture can do to brighten someone’s mood. It was really special to me that he took the time to come surprise me at work. And the best part? We agreed to do Valentine’s Day on Friday night, so this was totally unexpected. What a good man I have!

As if that wasn’t awesome enough, my day ended with picking Dom up from daycare and getting my first ever handmade gift from him. Its a little foam postcard that he put some heart stickers on and it says “love, Dom.” Ugh, I wanted to cry right there. This is what it’s all about. I can’t wait to be “that Mom” that saves every macaroni necklace and hand turkey that he makes.

Valentine’s Day 2011 was a big success, thanks to the two loves of my life, Rob and Dom xo

Chatterbox

Sometimes I look at Dom, and want to cry. Not in a bad way. No, no, more in an “oh my gosh, how did I get so lucky?” kind of way. He’s just such an awesome kid. Look how cool he is. I mean really. It’s really not fair to all the other kids. How could they possibly compete with Dom’s coolness? He has such a rad personality, and I love that about him.

He’s talking more and more lately. He’ll tell me he wants to go “owside” (outside.) He likes to play on his little jungle gym, going down the slide and climbing all over the place. He tells me that his cup is “coow” (cold) if I just took it out of the fridge. When I ask him what he wants for “brefas” (breakfast) he sometimes wants “sreal” (cereal.) He lifts up his shirt and points to his “beybut” (bellybutton) whenever he sees a pretty girl who’s attention he wants. He happlily exclaims “daunce” (dance) when he hears music and then busts his moves..which are pretty sweet. He’s got kind of an O.G. Snoop Dog thing going on. He pick up Sophie’s leash and want to take her out for a “waal” (walk.) When we go, and Sophie goes potty, Dom reinforces her by saying “goo grrl!” (good girl!) He’ll say plis (please) and “tad da” (thank you) when prompted. And he gets so super excited when he sees something he likes. To see him understanding and repeating words is so amazing and rewarding.

But I have to be honest. My favorite word in the whole world that he says is “Mama.” He’ll say it nice and loud and then we play a little game. “Mama!” and then I say “Baby!” “Mama!” and I say back “Baby!” and then he giggles. There is just no way to explain how it feels to hear my baby say my name. Ever since he was born, I would tell him “say hi Mama” and now it’s here, it’s amazing. It fills my heart up every single time and makes me feel like superwoman.

My precious son, you make me the happiest Mama in the whole world.

A bicycle built for two

I love this photo of my boys! We went to Wal Mart today and Rob got this really cool bike seat for Dom that attaches to the front of the bike instead of the back. It makes me feel a lot better knowing he’s where we can see him, not trailing off in the back somewhere.

Dom wasn’t totally sure about getting on in the beginning. He fought us getting him strapped in, but once Rob pushed down on the pedals, he loved it. They went up and down the street and Dom’s face was just priceless. I can’t wait to go on a family bike ride!

I never met a french fry I didn't like

Having a weight problem sucks. Having a weight problem your whole life sucks even more. I feel like I have been on some kind of diet on and off for the past 20 years. And I have to say, I’m just tired. I’m tired of counting everything I put in my mouth. I’m tired of wondering how many points something is. I’m over not being able to just eat what I want. I know, wha wha wha, right? It’s totally my fault that I have a weight problem. Years of eating the wrong foods and a soft spot for anything unhealthy have put me in a constant state of being on a diet. It’s exhausting.

I know what you’re thinking. Why not just lose the weight once and for all and be done with it. Ha, funny you should mention that. I lost most of my weight in 2008 and felt truly happy with my body for the first time ever. And then I got pregnant. I only gained 26 lbs during my pregnancy and after having Dom, I lost some of it pretty quickly. But the way the weight that was left distributed on me was completely different then before when I was just overweight because I ate the wrong things. Now I have a tummy that just won’t go away, even after losing 20lbs. (Ok, 16lbs. It was 20 but then I got off track, like I always do.) I only weigh 5lbs more than when I was at my happiest but my body looks nothing like it did. Pretty depressing but Dom, you were TOTALLY worth it!

It’s totally my bad. If I could just stick to some kind of physical activity, the rest would come naturally. Hmm...maybe not naturally, but a lot easier. What got me there last time was going to jazzercise with Lanie 3 times a week. I can’t do that now because the time is right smack in the middle of Dom’s dinner/bath/bedtime. I miss it. A lot. It’s the only thing that has ever worked for me.

Ok, enough of the sob story. I just need to re- focus. I need to set some goals for myself. I need to shake things up and get excited about it. I’d really, really, really like to lose another 20lbs. It sounds so simple, right? 20lbs. What’s that? That’s nothing. But it is so hard for me. Damn, why do I have to love bad food so much?

Fight for love

When you find yourself in love, I mean really in love, you would do anything for that person and to be with that person. You would go to the ends of the earth to make it work and the thought of not sharing your life with them is unimaginable.

When you first fall in love, you look forward to spending all your time with that person, no matter how mundane the task. Going to the grocery store, running errands, watching paint dry. They have the ability to make you feel like the most important person in their life. They can pick you up when you’re down. They can make it all better just by opening up their arms and pulling you close. You feel over the moon when they give you a compliment. You feel proud to hold their hand. You want to shout from the roof tops “this is my love!”

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Together, you feel like there is nothing you can’t get through, as long as you have each other. When you’re apart from them, you ache. When you’re together, you can’t get close enough. There is absolutely nothing you can’t share with each other. You never have to hold back your feelings for fear of seeming over the top, because they feel the exact same way. You share everything with this person. And they listen. Intently. You feel safer than ever before. You can’t stop smiling. Every song reminds you of them. You listen closely to the lyrics and feel your heart swell. You heart races when you’re about to see them. You pour over every email from them, again and again. Reading each word makes you fall more and more in love with them. When you’re together, you can’t take your eyes off each other.

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They always know the right thing to say. Total strangers come up to you and comment on how intense and electric your connection is. You want to make that person the happiest they have ever been. You know that you’ll always have each other’s back, no matter what. You talk about big plans for the future together. It just feels so right. You finally understand why everyone is always going on about this “love” thing. It’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever felt in your life. It’s a feeling you have never experienced before you and you hope it will always be like that.

Over time, things can change. Along with all these euphoric moments, the rush of new love gives way to real life. You find yourself in routines and ruts. there are also times that you feel hurt, sad, mad, misunderstood, unloved, under appreciated, and overwhelmed. The romantic emails stop. The gushing of feelings are now barely a trickle. It’s not that the love is no longer there. It is, you both know it. But there is lots of other things going on that take up your time and energy. Work, raising children, dealing with ex’s, pets, bills, budgets, expenses. It’s not all fun, all the time anymore. And even though you’re still happy and in love, you sometimes wish you could have a taste of what it was like in the beginning. To feel invincible in your love, even just for a second.

That being said, when you do have a moment to connect again, it feels pretty great. When you hold hands, lie in each other’s arms, find a note left by your loved one..it pretty much makes your whole day.

There are definite differences to the beginning stage of dating and then really being in a long term relationship. There are ups and downs and sometimes it’s just a straight road for a while. If you find yourself in a situation like this, feel lucky. It means that your love still holds up under real life pressures. Yes, there isn’t as much romance as the start, but through all the madness of day to day living, you’re doing it together.

If you can still look across the room at your partner and feel butterflies…you’ve still got it. If they can still make you laugh out loud, even (especially) if no one else thinks it’s funny…you’ve still got it. If after a long day, you favorite place to be in curled up in bed together, watching TV and chit chatting….you’ve still got it.

I feel lucky enough to say, we’ve still got it. I love my man so much that I would fight to keep loving him. Does he make me mad sometimes? Yes. Does he hurt my feelings sometimes? Yes. Do I get frustrated and upset at times? Yes. But at the end of the day, I value our love and cherish our commitment to each other. The fact that we gave up so much just to be together, the fight for a love that we believed in, all that we had to endure, it was worth it. And even though we’ve been through the ringer, made it through the fire and have found a happy life with our baby boy, I truly believe the best is yet to come.

I love my job

Being a Mom is a hard job. It’s right what they say, you never get a day off. You’re on the clock 24 hours a day, no sick days, no overtime. You could get called in at 2am, 4am, you just never know. Regardless, you will drop everything and be there. Oh, and did I mention there is no money to be made? No paycheck, no health benefits, no 401K. But you know what? This is my favorite job I’ve ever had. Even more than House of Blues, and that was a fun gig!

Every day I get to see my boy grow up, learn something new, amaze me. He makes me laugh, like really laugh, and that’s pretty cool for an 18 month old. He has a cheeky personality on him..not sure where he got that from (cough cough) but I love it. He’s so smart and curious about everything. I often look at him and can’t believe I’m lucky enough to be his Mom.