Day 4-The Best Day of My Life

Man, I don't even know what day to pick, because I have had so many days that I would love to relive, BUT I definitely think my most perfect "almost perfect" day was the day that me and the husband got married.

We had a very DIY wedding and the husband had to help my parents/his parents and lots of friends and family set up the reception hall the morning of our wedding while I got ready with my bridesmaids and my grandma.  We arrived at the church and the husband was LATE!!  YES, LATE!  I could tell that my dad was getting nervous that he wouldn't show up, but I know the husband he would never, he just doesn't know how to be on time to ANYTHING!  So, he finally showed up 10 minutes before our wedding was supposed to start AND he was supposed to be there 40 minutes before!  HAHA

He got there, and we got the show on the road, it was a beautiful day in November :)

I got to walk down the aisle with my dad who's AMAZING and we were laughing the whole way down so that we wouldn't cry.  Ya we're the emotional type.  P.S. my dad NEVER EVER even puts on jeans, so him in a suit was so cute :)

We had an AMAZING church wedding and everyone after the ceremony just kept telling me how in love we looked throughout the whole ceremony because really the husband was CRACKING me up!  Took a lot of pressure off of everyone looking at us.

At one point the husband was supposed to say "to put forth EFFORT" and he said "to put the F word" literally thats what he said "THE F WORD" not the actually F word but just F word hahahah the whole place was CRACKING up and at that moment I wished more then everything that we would have hired videographers!

He tried to put my ring on the wrong finger!  HAHA

If you know anything about catholic weddings you know that you take communion doing the wedding, WELL I was so confused when we got communion because during regular church you put it in your hand and you hold the glass .  Well when we took it during the wedding you aren't allowed to get it in your hand.  I opened my mouth but was confused when the priest tried to give me the cup and I was supposed to hold it, anyway the husband was laughing at me, BUT then he tried to get communion in his hand and the priest had to correct him.  It was hilarious that we both were confused and we both laughed at each other.

I was so happy to marry my very best friend!

We took some pictures at a little downtown area near our reception hall, and everyone had a great time having our pictures taken.

We had a small wedding party because I didn't want to deal with the drama of a big one, and even with just 3 of each and 2 flower girls, it was a headache at times, but I'm so glad we had everyone.

We had solidified our relationship in front of everyone, and couldn't be more happy.

We had amazing italian food....

In a tiny hall...

We laughed...

We cried...

we danced...

and we were more in love then ever...

literally was one of the best days of my life.

of course having carter was an amazing day.  but it was a much more emotional day, some that were crazy emotions that you only feel when you have a baby.  I like to think that every day I see Carter grow and learn, is a great day in my life as well :)

Day 3-My Happy Place

I had to think long and hard about this one, because I think of a lot of different places as a great places to be.

BUT I am going to share my #1 and my #2.

#1-my grandma's house.  Seriously I mentioned before in my story on day one about how much my extended family means to me.  BUT really my grandma's house just makes me happy :)

we love my grandma's house so much we all have the address tattooed this is 1/3rd of us

When I'm sick, happy, sad, frustrated, anything we always make our way to my grandmas house.  The night before my wedding I even spent the night at my grandma's house and got ready there because it just feels so comfortable and cozy.  PLUS she always makes good food!  ALWAYS!

#2-Disneyland I can't even explain it but I just love it.  We had a season pass for a couple of years and loved it, we definitely used it up.  We would go and have a drink and some dinner go on a couple of rides and go home.  It was always so much fun, and Carter has even been TWICE.  I can't wait to get our seasons passes back, but the husband and I decided that we would wait to get them until Carter is a little bigger so he can actually go on some rides and have so much fun.

OKAY I know this is a whole day late, and so lame for no pics, BUT I am catching up :D

Cara Box Reveal-August :)

This is the second time I have participated in the Cara Box Swap and so far I LOVE it!!  It's so much fun getting to know other bloggers, and this month it was other moms :)  I always love getting to know fellow moms and also finding new blogs to follow :)

If you want to know more about the Cara Box click HERE!  It's so much fun!


Every month you are paired with two people, one who you send to and one who sends to you.  This month I was paired with Ashley from Wannabe Green to send to, and you can check out her post of what I sent her here!

AND Katie, from A Worker At Home.  You can see what she got this month here.

Katie sent me a GREAT box!  And it was so much fun getting to know her!

How fun right!!  My FAVORITE things, of course the Almond Joys, I LOVE that candy and the husband hates it so I don't have to rush to eat it so he won't!  :D  ALSO the coffee cup holder?!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!  Can't wait for it to cool down so I can grab a PSL and put it to some good use!  I LOVE it!  She sent such great stuff, and the whole box smelled like salted caramel which smelled to me like fall and made me so excited for the cooler weather, even though it's currently 100 degrees outside -.-

OH and how cute that every single item and their own note!  So sweet!

THANK YOU KATIE!!!  I LOVE EVERYTHING!!

Can't wait for the Fall Cara Box and if you want to sign up, make sure you do so now, it got changed to every 3 months and it's currently time to sign up :)

Day 2-My Guilty Pleasure

Okayyyyy so I like LOTS of other moms loooove dressing Carter CUTE & finding good deals on clothes & all that jazz but I chalk that up to being a good mom & not my guilty pleasure.

My real guilty pleasure is REALITY TV!!  Seriously!  I can't get enough of it!  I loooove it!  I don't even know what it is about it either, because I know most of the ladies are CRAZY!  And MOST of them I don't like!  Like they get on my nerves so much BUT I can't help watch them and their CRAZY shenanigans!!

The husband seriously makes so much fun of me!  AND hates that I watch them because of how ridiculous it is!  BUT I don't care!

Andy Cowan is amazing for finding all these CRAZY housewives to put on TV.  AND the Kardashians!  I  absolutely know they're ridiculous and most of their episodes are fake!  BUT they're so ridiculous I can't stop watching!  😂😂

Okayyyyy okayyyyy know you know.  My guilty pleasure these damn housewives or really ANY reality show in general!  I love it!  :)

Day 1-My Story

Where to begin?  Is it weird that I am 28 and I feel like I could write an entire book on stuff that has been in my life?  Eeek and by the way did I really just say I was 28?  -.-  someone's getting old.

28 years ago, I was born in Germany.  My mom & dad were high school sweethearts, my dad joined the army & they were off to Germany for four years so I was born there.  To tell you I get "not being a citizen jokes" is an understatement I get them so much it's annoying.  But it is who I am, and it's always funny when I'm applying or calling somewhere and they ask my birthplace.  Ummm are you a U.S. citizen?  Umm yes my dad was in the army!  Ohhhh okay.  Story of my life.

We moved back when I was only a couple of months old, and was an only child until my sister was born, 4 years TO THE EXACT day of my fourth birthday.  My childhood was a normal one, except my grandma was our babysitter so I got to spend every weekday with my cousins and the whole entire summer, so to say we loved going to my grandmas house is putting it lightly.  We (as in my sister, and cousins) still think of my grandmas house as a house of fun, and lightness.  Like nothing could go bad there and if you are feeling bad, go spend a day at her house and you'll instantly feel better.  That and my grandma is sure to make you some amazing food while you're visiting.  The four of us grew up very close, and still are to this day.  I hope that Carter has that with his cousins and my cousins and I try our hardest to get our kids together as often as possible so that they could feel the love and closeness we feel for our cousins.

I never really was involved with anything when I was younger, girl scouts for a couple of years, softball for a season or two, and thats about it.  So being with my cousins was our activity and it makes me look so fondly on my childhood it's amazing.


I went to high school and had no idea what I wanted to do when I was older, I couldn't believe that at 16 I was supposed to know what career I would want for the rest of my life, so I thought about it but not too much.  Sometime in my sophomore or junior year I read the book "A Child Called It" if you haven't read it, and have kids, don't because you'll probably be crying for years.  I have it still in my bookshelf and I often think I should really read it again, and then realize how terrible it is and can't.  If you haven't read it and are still interested it is an amazing book, it's actually a series, of a boy named Dave, and all the torturing that his mother did to him when he was a child.  At 15/16 even I understood how horrible and mean those things were and I wasn't even looking at it as a mother to a child.  I could never imagine doing anything to harm Carter, actually it's the opposite and this mother was doing things to intentionally harm her son.  Anyway, after I read it, and all about how he had told everyone about what his mother was doing and no one would help him, I decided that I wanted to be a Social Worker, so for two years of high school I had decided that I was going to college to be a social worker, and then my senior year of high school I had to write a paper on being a social worker, since that's what I wanted to do.  AND that is exactly when I decided that it wasn't for me.  I read on and on about social workers working non stop, for little pay, and most times the abused child going back to the very parents that are abusing them, and I decided NO way!  I could do it, I knew that I wanted to have children of my own and wanted to do something to still make a difference in a child's life but not be so emotionally drained all the time.

That is when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher.  I got accepted to Fresno State University, and since I always wanted to go away to school, I jumped on the chance and was on my way to fresno, had I ever been there?  NOPE!  Did I know ONE person up there?  NOPE!  But oh well, I was ready to embark on a new adventure.  Actually the first time my mom and I went up there for orientation was the first time that I had even been to fresno.  AND IT WAS HOT!  I started school in the fall, and it was rough.  I immediately wanted to come home, because it wasn't as easy to make friends once I got there.  My roommate had a TON of friends from home there with her so she wasn't really interested in hanging out with me :(  I got through it though and slowly began to love it.  slowly.  very slowly actually until more then 1/2 way way through the school year I had every intention on moving back home, I was so lonely.  BUT I started meeting more people and doing more things, and having more fun, so I was loving it.  By the end of the school year I had meet lots of people and was moving into an apt the following year with two of my best friends.

I joined a sorority that next year, and when I think about college I can't help but think of all the crazy things that went on.  It was so much fun.  And I tell all of my younger cousins that's what they want to do.  Go away to school and have so much fun!!!

I graduated from college and didnt have anything to do, so my cousin asked me to live with her and help her take care of her kids, so for about 6 months I lived in Houston, Texas, and that is when I realized that I hated Texas, the weather is just terrible, coming from CA.  YUCK!

I ended up going back to school to get my teaching credential and that is exactly when the great state of california started laying off teachers, so that was amazing.  I was going to get my teaching credential and I realized that there was NO way I was going to find a job, so I immediately started looking for schools to start a masters program, and I did.  I started at Azusa Pacific University, before I was even done with my teaching credential.  In 2011 I graduate with my Master's in Educational Technology.  It was fun to see all my family at my graduation and so excited.

Let me back up a second and say, In 2008, while I was going to school to get my teaching credential, I started to talk to a very old friend of mine every single day, he was a truck driver and was currently driving cross country so me and him were chatting every day.  He soon came home and once he did we started hanging out.  This would be the first time since we were sixteen that BOTH of us were single at the same time, and he didn't waste any time kissing me!  You can read MOST of our love story, here and here and I just realized I NEED to finish our story :) but we started dating and in 2009 one year after we had started dating, he asked me to be his wife.  Ha who am I kidding, he asked me to marry him after we had been dating 2 months and I told him he was CRAZY!  and I needed a RING!  SO he waited a year and bought me an amazing ring!  :)

We planned a big wedding (I originally wanted to go to vegas, but decided that since this was going to be my only chance to ever wear a wedding dress and have the whole chibang I better do it right!)  Wedding planning was CRAZY!  And STRESSFUL!  But our day was amazing and beautiful and so worth it.  Our honeymoon got cancelled ONE week before our wedding too!  The boat we were supposed to be on had caught on fire the week before and oh well there went our honeymoon.  We ended up going to san diego for the week and we still had the best time.  I am truly so happy that I married my very best friend.

I was substitute teaching, and looking for jobs when I found one!  It was kinda far but totally worth it!  I started working at the next day found out I was pregnant!  Talk about crazy timing right?  Considering we had been trying to get pregnant for over a year!

8 months later, the love of our life Carter Jax was born!  That was 10 months ago, and I can't even believe how far our life has come.  I truly do thank god for blessing me with an AMAZING husband and baby and a GREAT life that I get to wake up in every single day.  Some days I can't believe what an amazing life has blessed me with.

P.S. that was probably wayyyy longer then it needed to be.  But if you stuck around to the end thank you!!!

NOW go check out Everyday Bays blog and link up for the 30 day challenge!

Blogging EVERYDAY in September

I know that a couple of months ago lots of bloggers were participating in the 30 day challenge, and I was so sad that I had been out of the blogging world and missed it SOOOOO I will be participating in this one!  Wish me luck!  Blogging EVERYDAY in September!  :)

Here are the rules:
THERE ARE NO RULES! Have fun with it. If you miss a day no big deal. If you don't want to write about the topic for the day.. don't. Come up with your own topic for that day! If you want to do more for the month than just these topics go for it! I want this to be something fun and sort of an escape from the everyday blogging grind.

Topics of discussion:

Day 1: Tell us your story. This can be as long or as short as you want it to be. I want to know all about you though! So spill the good stuff! :)
Day 2: What is your guilty pleasure?
Day 3: Show us your happy place.
Day 4: Tell us about your most perfect day you've ever had.
Day 5: What is something that most people don't know about you?
Day 6: Introduce us to your spouse/significant other. (I'm totally guilty of talking only about my baby. I want to know about all the fabulous things your hubby does too!)
Day 7: What is the craziest thing you've ever done?
Day 8: What are your most favorite blogs? I love finding new blogs!
Day 9: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
Day 10: A day in the life of you.. (in pictures) Can be with or without captions.
Day 11: What are some of your greatest memories?
Day 12: As a child what did you want to be when you grew up? Are you anything close to your previous ambitions?
Day 13: If you had to move somewhere, where would it be?
Day 14: What is your go-to meal when cooking for your family? Share your recipe. (This is my way of trying to find new things to cook for my hubby. He's probably tired of pizza casserole. haha!)
Day 15: What is your favorite quote and why?
Day 16: What are 10 things that make you happy? Can be a list or pictures.
Day 17: What are your 4 most liked photos on Instagram from the past month?
Day 18: What are your goals as a parent? If you don't have children, what are you goals for the year?
Day 19: What is your favorite holiday?
Day 20: Today do a random act of kindess and share with us what you did.
Day 21: Where are you top 5 places to shop for you or your kids?
Day 22: If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
Day 23: Upcycle project! Upcycle something and show us pictures and the steps to how you did it.
Day 24: Who would you like to meet? Can be someone famous, someone passed, someone you are friends with but have never met.
Day 25: What do you wish you were better at?
Day 26: What is your favorite DIY project you've ever done? Tell us how you did it. Show us some pictures!
Day 27: If you made up your own holiday what would it be?
Day 28: If you were ever to become famous, what would you want to become famous for?
Day 29: Share your favorite Instagram accounts that you follow.
Day 30: Did you learn anything about yourself this month?

Hopefully these topics aren't too boring. Again if enough people show interest we can do a link up so we can see everyones answers to the daily topics. I can't wait to get started!!!!

OMG!! Baby Carter is 10 months old!!

Weight:  JUST weighed him right now AND he's 19.5 lbs!  OMG I can't believe how much he's gained in the last couple of weeks :)

Height:  Last we checked he was 28.5 inches I'm thinking he's probably 29 now.

Clothing Size:  He still wears LOTS of 4-6, 3-6 and 6-9 clothes.  

Diaper Size:  Still in 3's :)

Feeding:  He's an eating machine now!  He still nurses every morning then eats breakfast, nurses to take his morning nap, then eats lunch some snacks nurses to take his late nap and then wakes up eats dinner, then nurses to sleep.  He's eating all kinds of regular food now, it makes life so much easier.  A few of his favorites are FRUIT, puffs, and beans :)  yep he's definitely a MEXICAN baby :D

Sleep:  He's doing better at sleeping through the night I would say 4 out of 7 nights he sleeps from 10 or 11 to 5 or 6 am, which is awesome!  I'll take what I can get :)

Milestones:  He got his two top teeth this month!  and is learning how to talk more and more, still the only word he really KNOWS how to say is "mommmmmmm" and i love it!   He is a crawling beast now and can crawl everywhere and actually gets annoying when we don't let him down to crawl!  He is still just standing up on things no standing on his own yet, and he's still a little bald baby :) but getting more and more hair every day!  Oh and he's also learned to crawl ON TOP of things!  like our bed, the couch, his toys, etc.

Adventures:  This month we went on our VERY first family vacation!  we had a blast, it was definitely an experience going on vacation with a small baby, and the weather wasn't perfect but of course we had a good time.  We went to a couple of restaurants to celebrate my birthday and this little dude is so good at restaurants its ridiculous!  I LOVE IT!  As long as we give him food to eat with us, he loves to sit in the high chair with us at the table. 

Mommy & Daddy could NOT get through this month without:  Our little pumpkin, I swear he gets more and more fun every single day!  He's a crack up and is always getting into everything.  We wouldn't have it any other way.  Also we couldn't get through this month without lots of snacks, baby food, baby spoons AND lots and lots of toys :)

P.S. someone got their top teeth this month too.  They make him look so grown up :(

Meltdowns don't always come from the baby

I'm positive any SAHM has the day where they just feel like NOTHING can go right...where you have a MILLION + 1 things to get done & can't seem to get 1 done?

This was especially true when carter was a itty bitty baby.  I would wonder how those moms keep their houses spotless, make a six course dinner, cookies for snack, and manage to have lunch with friends!?  Huh?  Where do you find the time??

Guess what I managed to do today?  A bunch of errands & a couple of loads of laundry!  Oh and I just realized that YES I filled the dishwasher but I DID NOT start it -.- and to think I was about to pat myself on the back!

I have noticed that the older carter has gotten the less things I get to do that I like, I don't craft, because I can't because carter will grab anything I'm working with since we don't have a "craft table or room" I don't get to sew because of the same.  I always wonder what it's like when people say "pop in a movie and enjoy some free time." Carter is probably the only kid in the planet that does NOT like TV!  I can get him to sit to watch a show Long enough for me to get into the shows & when I'm out he's usually getting into something not watching TV anymore.

The last couple of days Carter will NOT take a nap or go to sleep at night without CRYING for approx 1 hour!  -.- and he's in bed with me!  If I put him in the crib it's screaming bloody murder until I can't take it anymore and I go get him.  I have no idea what's up with him, but I can tell you I am one tired mama.  Mix that on top of me realizing that I haven't had the time or energy to do any of the "me stuff" I used to enjoy so much.  It's been a pretty bad couple of days.  I love to blog seriously.  I love when I can go back and look at exactly where I was at that exact moment & exactly what was going through my head!  PLUS I love connecting with my bloggy friends.

But where do I find the time?  I got my laptop out yesterday to work on Carter's 10 month post & he was standing on his tippy toes trying his hardest to touch ANY button he could!  It was hilarious BUT I had to put it away.

I'm sure you're gonna say "do fun things while its nap time" suuuuuure if carter would nap longer then 30 minutes after it took me 45 to get him to sleep :l  

I'm sure it probably sounds like I'm moaning and complaining about being a stay at home mom and that is NO where near my point AT ALL!  I am beyond grateful to be with Carter all day every day but 10 months later I'm still trying to find a balance, and I often find myself asking, will I ever?

I really hope so, I'm hoping the older Carter gets the more he will entertain himself & I'm hoping one day he'll be on a steady schedule of napping I mean a solid 2 hour nap every single day would be the most amazing thing ever!  :)

Wow!  Did that even make any sense at all?  Probably not, but ill leave you with this :)

I mean how can he possibly be getting this big?  And you know what?  Even though I have no time for me stuff, taking care of this dude makes it all worth it.

Sometimes...

Sometimes...

Well most days...

I really miss blogging.

I love that I can go back to a blog post & see exactly what I was feeling at that exact moment.

It's been so tough to get back into blogging after Mr Carter has arrived.  I feel like my days revolve around him, and when he's asleep I have a todo list of one thousand and one things to get done & I usually get one done before he's up again.

So many things have happened in such a short amount of time that i want so badly to blog about...

the annual family trip came & went and yes I almost killed a couple of people.

My birthday came and went & it was amazing the husband really made it special.  Which reminds me I never even blogged about my amazing Mother's Day the husband has really stepped up his game.

I know that EVERY TIME I blog now it's always me saying "I want to blog more" and I do!  I want to get into a routine of blogging & making it a point to do it because really I do love it.

But I still don't know where the blogging moms get the time.?  They must have more hours in their day or be better at time management or something because I can't find time (damn candy crush is probably taking the little time I do have) -.-

BUT can anyone else believe that summer is almost over?  & mr carter will be a whole year old in LESS then 3 months?!  To say I'm behind on planning his party is an understatement!

BUT to my defense I DID just plan an entire vacation for 30+ people AND have been tutoring & running carter to a couple different baby classes.

At 9.5 months old mr carter has officially gotten his first sickness -.- and to think I thought he was going to be a wonder child & never get sick oh boy was I wrong.

He had a fever for 3 days so I took him into the drs where they did blood work & X-rays :(  it was terrible & usually for all the bad stuff like shots the husband is there to take over so I don't break down crying but not yesterday, yesterday I had to do it all on my own :(( it was heartbreaking literally called the husband twice while we were at the dr for four hours crying (I'm a sissy, I know) but literally I can not see my baby hurting it makes my heart ache & the worst kind of ache too.  It's terrible & it really makes my heart ache more for those parents that's child are dealing with sicknesses on a daily basis it's such a terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach I could not imagine feeling it every day.

It reminded me of when we were admitted to the hospital with carter & there were babies that didn't get to go home for Christmas, so heartbreaking.

Okay, enough with the sadness.  Thankfully the doctors have hopefully figured out what's wrong with my baby and YAY today is the first day in two days that he hasn't had a crying fit so to me that's an amazing day :)

P.S. happy Wednesday friends and I'm going to add to my permanent "To Do" list - Blog!