Whoa where did I go???????????

Hello, is anyone even there?  HAHA 
I am so sorry I have been out of touch for months now!! I cannot believe how much I have neglected my blog space!! 
It's not even like I'm that busy where I cannot post something quick here weekly, I seriously have been a blogger failure.


Well here's a quick re-cap of what I have been up to lately:

-ran my first 5k in January
-on a whim decided to run my first half marathon in May
-signed up for 2 more half marathons this year (one in July and one in December)
-have 2 10k runs coming up in August and September

It is safe to say I have caught running fever!!  My little brother and I convinced husby to join us and run a half marathon in March! So he is slowly training for that...  even though yesterday he hit a runners wall at 2 miles...
He thinks I'm crazy for signing up for so many runs, but oh well!!

I have new running shoes and intend to get the miles out of them!

Lil M is running along with me after dinner! We go on the levy and get some exdercise! Dont' want him to be a couch potato like his father!! eeeek 

Ok I promise I will update more!!


I will update and chat about my first half marathon...

STAY TUNED



xoxox

After dinner walk

With daylight savings time going on, it is brighter after dinner, bright enough and warm enough to go for a walk with Lil M.

Last night, Lil M and I put on our sweaters and our shoes and went for a 45 minute walk around the neighborhood after dinner.  We ran, we sang, we talked, we saw some ducks, and we met a few new friends who were close to Lil M's age.  It was so refreshing to get out after dinner and just enjoy the outside.  Lil M is so much fun, we sang songs together, we found "yellow lions" and bugs and crunchy leaves.  We also ran on the levy and saw the ducks take their baths.  

I am so very lucky to have such an amazing son!! He really brightens my day, he completes my life!! I am so grateful to have him in my life! To think that the depression I had for over 2 years before we got pregnant would all be worth it.  To think that every single needle that struck my skin, would be worth it.  How when I look back, I never thought that this day would ever come, the day that I would have such a little guy who loved me and looked up to me as much as I love him.

I always look at Lil M and am in awe, of how lucky I am to be his mama! How lucky I am to have such a wonderful child, someone to talk to and teach new things to, someone to explore the world with.

I can't wait for the spring and summer, that means more time for us to play outside after dinner, more time to enjoy the outdoors and explore the area and meet more neighbors.

XOXO

Lent

This year for lent, Lil M and I decided to give up negative and bad people.  We want to have a great 40 days of positive and happy instead of being brought down with drama and negativity. 

This will be a great way to start the year fresh, and also a great way to teach Lil M how to enjoy life and not surround yourself with people who will bring you down.  There are so many disappointments in life, why let people that bring you down constantly and continuously also be there adding to such an unhealthy lifestyle.  You can't chose disappointments in your life, but you can chose the people you surround yourself with!!

Thankfully, we have so much positive support with family (my mom, my brother, my sister, my brother in law, all my aunts, my cousins, their children and all my friends and their kids)!! Lil M is always surrounded with positive, happy people already, people who love him and who will guide him for the better! This will be an easy lent  :)  

I am looking forward to see how these 40 days go :) And also looking forward to seeing how our moods will be different and how we will not let the drama or negativity ruin our day.

XOXO

New Vacuum

My old vacuum which was only 3 years old just died.  It stopped working completely, and was leaving wads of clumpy dust all over the place.. just not cool :(

I sent the hubs to Costco to pick up a new vacuum cleaner, and with a little shove in the right direction, he brought home a dyson!!

Lil M was so excited to see the box! He kept yelling "vacuum" It was the cutest thing!!  He took out his keys (what we use to open boxes right now) and helped me open the box.  We put the vacuum together and he got so excited!!  I plugged the vacuum in and off he went!! He was the happiest kid vacuuming his bedroom :) 

The vacuum, even though expensive, is pretty neat.  It is light weight and easy to maneuver. Lil M was able to vacuum his entire bedroom with ease.

I cannot wait to try the vacuum out myself, but for now, Lil M is the happiest lil guy :)

Puddle Jumping

We had an awesome weekend considering the super bowl was a bust

Lil M's whole entire family was here in one house!! We all got together and lit candles for E-ya's birthday, Lil M got to play trains with Uncle No Soda, jump in puddles with Uncle Boy and got to see his Ti-Gon

We had such a great weekend, playing, getting wet, running around, sugar highs, and snuggles

It was so hard to say goodbye to E-ya and Uncle No Soda ;( Lil M is still quite upset about it today!!
He kept asking for them... sigh.. we have to get them to move back closer :(  


Soon we will all get together again, and Lil M will be happy again :) So hard to explain to a little one that he can't see his favorite people everyday :(

xoxoxo

Lego Jello!!!

I have been on pinterest a few times last week and saw that the theme for one of the party planners I follow was a lego themed birthday party!!

I was so excited to see the creative ideas that she had!!  One, which I thought could be for an everyday, was the lego jello!!




The person bought lego ice cube trays and made jello!! So of course, I had to go online and purchase the lego mini figure and the lego block ice cube tray!

I modified her directions and used:

1 package jello
2 cups boiling water
1 package of knox

I waited a few minutes before pouring the jello into the ice cube trays so that the silicon wouldn't melt

I put it in the fridge, and about 2 hours later I had jello mini figures and jello bricks!
I packed 2 mini figures into Lil M's lunch! I cannot wait to hear how he liked it!

I am totally excited for this! and cannot wait to make more :)
I have also seen people use the lego bricks to cut out jello.. I might have to try that next :)


Thanks http://www.graspingforobjectivity.com/2013/02/eat-your-legos.html for your idea ;)

Lego Land

So sorry, I have no idea where my time has gone and why I haven't been able to post as regularly as I have been wanting to

I wanted to do a recap on our LegoLand trip! Since it was so much fun and all of Lil m's family was there!!


He started off with an amazing flight!! we were so lucky that he had his own seat :) He sat in between Po-Po and I!! We had fun looking out the window, watching movies on the iPad and drinking soda :) tee hee
We also ate gummy bears to help the ears from getting plugged and gold fish crackers :)

First thing when we landed, was to find E-ya and Uncle Rod!! 
We got our rental car and drove to Old town and had a delicious meal! MM chips, salsa and burritos!! Can't go wrong there!!

Next thing next, we made the drive to LegoLand and saw all the cool lego people welcoming us :)
Was so cool!! Lil M LOOOOOOVED it!!






My sister surprised us with cake, a fabulous candle, fancy plates with matching cups and lots of beer for Big M!!  We all had such a great time!! IT was a great way to celebrate a 2nd birthday!! Having everyone that Lil M loves there :) all giving him 110% of their attention! Running around, eating great food, and just enjoying one another :) There was no drama, no negativity and nothing to ruin the fun :)

We were so sad to leave :( Lil M loves E-ya and Uncle Rod! I wish they could have come back with us! too bad they don't live close to us  :( But we will see them again soon!!

Until next time!!!!  

xoxoxo

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

how is my baby already 2?? I have no idea!! where did the time go?

Hope you all had a great holiday with your family!! we are having a lot of fun with Lil M's new birthday present!!

this now takes up our entire living room LOL

but lil M loves it! so that is all that matters!!

also a nice trip to lego land to celebrate lil m's 2nd birthday!! everyone was there!! we had a fabulous time!! lots of cake and lots of fun treats!! all fun, no drama :) 

we all had a great time enjoying each other's company and riding the train a bazillion times!!

all the lego cities were amazing! and now we are all obsessed with legos!!

we are all recovering and are back to our normal routines.. boooo....

xoxo

Chaos

We are currently getting our floors done! Finally getting rid of the nasty carpet.. full of stains from husby spilling beer, spilling food and also from lil m's vomit stains and from him throwing food around

Day 1 is done, and the awesome people came, ripped out my carpet and installed our new flooring into the living room and kitchen!! man.. do you know what is hiding behind your fridge and stove? There was so much crap!! It was DISGUSTING!!

Next is just my hallways :) I am so excited!! I am living in chaos right now, with furniture all over the place, shoved in my bedroom!! eeeks

Then soon I can put up Lil M's birthday gift.. a cool cars table that hubs let me buy!!
IT is so cool!!

Hope you are all having a great end of the year :)

xoxo

Just in time for xmas......

How is it almost Christmas?

With a blink of an eye the page of my calendar went from November to December!! Where did the time go? How is it almost Christmas already? I swear, it was just January! And I was just debating on what to get Lil M's teachers for Valentine's day!!

As the time approaches near Christmas, I have so much to do!! I need to pull out our stockings and hang them up on the mantle, I need to put up our Christmas lights outside and also take out some decorations!! I cannot believe how fast the time has flown

I think I might just be in denial! you see, I have a baby who will soon be 2 years old!! I cannot believe how fast time has flown! I look back at all the wonderful pictures and videos I have of my lil baby and cannot believe how much he has grown!! He has developed and learned so much in the last 23 months! From sleeping all day long to running around .. I am just in awe!!

Everyday he amazes me!! No matter what he is doing, either using almost full sentences to the way he plays with his toys!! I just can't believe it!

I am so afraid to blink again.. for soon he will be in kindergarten!! eeeek!! and then college!!

Maybe this whole idea of my baby growing up has me in denial that it is almost Christmas, or maybe the idea of him turning 2 has just made me in denial that it is in December!!









xoxox

So much fun

I was sitting here this morning in between reading emails and browsing online, when I stumbled upon this website: http://themetapicture.com/these-parents-are-amazing/

I couldn't help but laugh,.. and then I started thinking, it is almost Christmas time, and it's time to start the "elf on the shelf" tradition in our household.

Last year, Lil M was way too young to care about finding the little elf every morning.  This year, he might be too young too, .. but that doesn't mean I can't start collecting ideas for next year so that the Elf on the Shelf in our house will be amazing at hiding and playing games in the house!

I love how the parents used a bunch of dinosaurs to and how each day it was a different theme!! I think I might have to start collecting some elf friends or find some reindeer figures on sale this year as to help the Elf on the Shelf get into trouble.

Letter of Recommendation

I was asked my Lil M's teacher to help write her a letter of recommendation.  I was excited to know that M's teacher felt close enough to me, to ask me to help write her something this personable, something that could help her in advancing in her career, but I am so nervous.  I am not good at writing these things... I mean what do you put in these letter of recommendations?  She mentioned it was for a portfolio, but didn't mention if it was for a new job or if she was to put with her resume while in the search of a new job.  I have never written a character reference before, so I decided to google it...

Guess what I found? I found links on how to write a character witness for court! HAHA
There are pictures of convicts (many looking like my husband's family.. LOL.. ok that's another post) and then there are a few people in there that just look drugged out and wearing orange! 

So I googled on, and found a few templates for letter of recommendations and used those for reference

here is what I came up with,.. please leave me some comments with edits before I turn this into the teacher, I am always nervous when it comes to giving things to Lil M's teachers

Thanks

XOXO

To Whom It May Concern

I have had the pleasure of knowing Miss H for over a year.  During the year of our acquaintance, I have known Miss H in many capacities.  She has been my son’s preschool teacher, but most importantly been a role model.  Her responsibilities in that capacity have grown with the activity level, and you can clearly see what an important role she plays in my son’s life as you watch him reach and excel in his many milestones. 

She has helped with improving my son’s skills and in a very short time frame, he has increased his fine motor skills, his vocabulary, and his eagerness to listen and follow directions.  She is very creative in her way of educating the children, they are always having so much fun and do not realize that she is teaching them. 

Miss H is an intelligent, capable, dedicated and personable young woman.  She is always quick on her feet, with sensible reactions in all the circumstances a preschool teacher meets.  I feel confident in saying that she is capable of handling any situation with thoughtfulness and maturity.    

Thank you,

Lil M's Mommy

Do I dare to dream.....

Do I dare to continue to dream about having a second child? Am I being selfish????


Read more 

http://www.modvive.com/2013/11/15/baby-2-selfish-ready/

First Pair of Hunter Boots!!

Imagine my surprise, while shopping for fruits and vegetables at Costco I stumbled upon Hunter Rain boots for women!!  I couldn't believe my eyes!! I was super excited that they were half the price and in my size!!  I couldn't pass this opportunity up, so I put them in my shopping cart and went on my merry way!!



I bought the boots in the navy blue, which to me, looks kind of a pretty grey. 

I am looking forward to the winter weather when the rain falls and Lil M and I can go puddle jumping!! These boots will keep my feet warm and dry! Not to mention, keep my pants from getting soaked!

I am so excited for this new find!! I still can't believe that Costco can sell them for half the price!!  What a deal :)

When I was checking out to pay, the cashier said the most hilarious thing ever, he said "$70 for rubber boots? you're getting ripped off" 

I couldn't help but laugh!! Guess he doesn't have any daughters at home :)

I put them on Lil M as to see how "tall" these boots were.. and his little leg couldn't reach all the way to the bottom!! Was hilarious!   He was not into my boots at all.. unless it was to put his cars inside haha

These new beauties are sitting in the box waiting for the first rain fall!

now question for those fashionistas out there... can i wear these boots even when it's not raining outside? or will i look like a total goober?? haha

XOXO

Hallelujah!!!

I am soooo happy!! Some kind soul dropped off my package last night :)
UPS must have delivered my package to the wrong address, and I am so lucky that the person at the house was nice enough to come by and drop it off :) 

Inside my package were some new snow gloves for Lil M and some sunglasses.  Also a new beanie and SF niners t-shirts, one for Lil M and one for me!! I am so excited!! My package isn't lost!  No one stole it, there was no mean ole grinch out there!!

I am so happy that my neighbors are all pretty friendly, and that I have made friends with  many of them!! It always makes me feel safer to know that the people who live around me have my back.  It is also nice to come home to a neighborhood with smiling faces and friendly conversation.

Let's just hope the rest of my packages get delivered to my address instead of being lost again!  The stress of wondering where my package was and what to do in order to make sure I didn't get screwed over was just too much!!

Maybe I need to start shopping in store instead of online shopping this Christmas season, just so tempting with all the emails from stores about sales and additional percentages off.......

XOXO

Wonderful time of year....

It's that wonderful time of year when people are ordering things online and having stuff delivered to their homes.  And also the time of year when mean people come by and troll and steal packages

I have been living at our place for over 7 years, have had packages sent home all the time... and then it happened... 

yesterday someone stole my package that I had shipped home, and the sad thing is, that it will take 10 business days to complete an "investigation :( what the heck people? 
10 full business days? by the time they realize someone stole my package, the items that I wanted will no longer be available :( I mean come on!!!

I don't understand how someone can come by and steal my stuff.. just SO MEAN!!


Last year there was this article
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8896680

about thieves stealing packages at the front door...


guess it's time for the news to play another story this year :(

I am so hopeful the UPS guy delivered it to one of my neighbors and today when I get home it will magically appear at my doorstep..

I guess I will be waiting 10 business days for them to tell me someone stole my package... sigh


XOXO

Goats

Sometimes it's fun to chase the goats instead of feeding them, going down the big kid slide and riding a lady bug backwards ......

Sunday Funday was a great day with Lil M's cousin Lil D :)  They rode their first kiddy rides on their own :) We went down the big slide really fast, we saw animals and we even got to run a muck.

I love days that I can take Lil M to do stuff that he enjoys!! It is so much fun to see his eyes light up with excitement and to see him express himself with more and more words!!

I am so proud of him, and so excited for all the new adventures to come

I couldn't believe how brave Lil M was, he was chasing the goats and was pointing to them saying "goat"
I don't know what kind of a sound goats make, do you? 


Until our next fun adventure!!

XOXOOX

Balancing

How do you balance your life as a full time working mom ??

Check out my FIRST published article

http://www.modvive.com/2013/11/09/life-mom-wife-call-living/

And please like my blog's facebook page :)

https://www.facebook.com/thelifeoflilmsmommy

Lego Mini Build

Once a month, lego hosts a really fun event where kids can come in and learn to build something and get to bring it home for free!!!

Lil M and his Uncle have been attending the last 3 events, and so far we have build a witch, an airplane and a tractor.  These events are so much fun and we have been meeting some really nice people while waiting in the LONG line!

The funny thing is, the event starts at 5pm sharp, and we usually get to the mall around 420/430, the line is pretty long already!! My brother and I believe that people must get there at 330, right after school.  There are kids there sitting on the floor with their iPads, their laptops and their school books.  Everyone is either doing homework or watching a movie.  It is so crazy!!  The parents are all fully equipped with coolers with snacks and drinks for their children.  Then there are the packs of kids that know each other and all sit together while waiting for the lego man to come out to hand out the cards, this means that the event will start soon, and if you receive a card you know you will be able to go in and build the lego of the day :)

The last lego build we ended up standing in line for 2 hours!! It was crazy long and for some reason, it took longer for people to build the tractor.  Lil M was a champ, we ran off to Sees candy to get some chocolate to fuel up and energize.  We people watched and played with the kids surrounding us.

When we got to the front of the line, and as we were waiting to be called in, Lil M started yelling "inside" "inside"  He knew, that he wanted to go inside the lego store, he knew what today was all about

Once we got to our station, he started smiling and laughing and grabbing for lego pieces!! I love how excited he gets!! The pure joy of his face makes me feel so excited, the reason I will endure 2 hour lines... the reason I will be "one of those" crazy parents that will go into work early in order to leave early :)

This event is so much fun, and makes Lil M excited about legos, plus it's his bonding time with his uncle

I hope that they continue this for years :) and eventually when he's older, he can just go with his uncle and I can stay home LOL

Can't wait for next month...