three in a bed??

"My biggest fear is that my son will sleep in the bed with us forever!"


These are the words my cousin said last night about her son. He's 9 months old and has never taken to sleeping in the crib so he sleeps with her and the hubby. She loves it and honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I understand where she's coming from, because I am guilty of the situation myself. 

Yes, my 2-year old son sleeps with us.
Sometimes in the middle...
Sometimes on the side of the wall where the bed lies against...
Sometimes on top of us...
Sometimes with his whole body on top of all the pillows.


Before I had my son and before I was even pregnant I always told myself, "My child will never sleep in the bed!" Never say never, right?? Yeah that bit me in the butt really hard.


My son has been in the bed with us since he was 9 months old. Up until that point, he was sleeping in his crib. No problems, no waking up in the middle of the night...it was a breeze. Then he got sick. It was the most sick he'd ever been. I couldn't bear to let him sleep all by himself. He was miserable and not my usually happy son. He wanted Mommy and I wanted to cuddle him and make him feel better. So I brought him in the bed with us. I told myself, "It's only for a few days...just until he gets better."


Sure enough, he was better after several days. Okay baby boy, back into your crib! Sounds easy, right? No way...little man had plans of his own. He woke up in the middle of the night, crying his little eyes out. We'd put him back to sleep and lay him back into his crib, only to wake up to him crying again after 30 minutes or so. This routine went on for a few days before we decided to just bring him in the bed with us. The cry-it-out method didn't work for us and we weren't about to try it again. With early mornings and work days, the whole process of him waking up in the middle of the night was just exhausting. 


One thing I've learned with motherhood is that it's very unpredictable. I wouldn't have predicted that my son would be sleeping in the same bed as us, even at his age. It's worked out fine for us. We honestly love sleeping with our son in the bed. Although it has gotten in the way of "cuddle time" with each other, I believe it's a wonderful bonding time. How can you not love cuddling with your whole family? With him growing so fast, it has gotten very cramped in the bed so we're going to need to transition him very soon. We've introduced the idea of getting him his own bed and surprisingly, he's taken in the idea. 

"I want a Thomas Bed!"

Getting him out of our bed isn't going to be an easy task, but we're up for the challenge. I know everyone has their own opinion about co-sleeping with a baby, or in my case, a toddler. I know people who've done it with their children and their kids are perfectly fine in their own beds now. I've even had people say "Oh you shouldn't do that...they'll NEVER leave your bed."


Psh! Never say never, right? ;)

wordless wednesday

a little inspiration...

For the past few days, I've been lacking all motivation and inspiration to blog. I would think of something to write about or share and then I quickly throw it out the window. I think, "No, that's not interesting at all." I know I'm probably not the only one who feels this way, but for some reason I can't help but think I am.


I was reading a post by Cute Mammi today and she wrote about a website that she recently discovered called Pinterest, where you can index everything you love. It's really a cool website! There's everything from fashion and apparel to photography and travel. I was browsing the website and came across a section called "motivation/inspiration". Ahh, just what I need! Here are some that I loved...

Before I forget...please vote for me at Circle Of Mom's SF Bay Area Mom Blogs. Voting ends July 29th. Click here to vote...Thank you in advance! :)

city walk

Instead of lounging around the house the other night, we decided to head to the city and take a nice long walk. It was a wonderful idea suggested by my boyfriend. We're both on this mission to get in shape so the long walk was perfect. It ended up being a very relaxing and almost therapeutic walk. 

I've always loved the city because there are so many exciting things to take in. Before I had my son, one of the only things interesting to me was the nightlife. Where was the most popular club? That was pretty much it. Now that I'm a mommy, the hunt for the best club or bar doesn't have much priority in my mind. It's become more about the simple things. The bright lights, the people, the architecture, the sounds of cars driving by, the smell of food cooking from nearby restaurants. 

As we were taking our walk I couldn't help but think, "What is everyone's story?" There were a lot of people running along our path. Are any of them training for a marathon? Did the man who just ran past me have a rough day and blowing off some steam? I saw two women dining outside a restaurant in a deep and intense conversation. Were they friends or sisters? Maybe they just got off work and were venting about their day. Or maybe they're full-time students talking about how stressful school is. A city is full of different people, each with a different life story...I love it.

Speaking of cities, I just recently joined Circle of Mom's SF Bay Area Blogs. My blog is on the list to find the Top 25 SF Bay Area Blogs. I completely forgot about the whole thing so I haven't really put it out there. Voting ends July 29th. Click here to vote for me! Thank you! <3

sincerely, who?

One of my daily reads is Lauren Conrad's blog. I can't go a day without visiting it. She gives a lot of great tips- fashion, home and party decor, beauty, dieting, hair, etc. On today's post, she talks about a website called Dear Blank Please Blank, which basically features a bunch of open letters. Some of them are really funny and very entertaining. If you want a good laugh and have a few spare minutes to waste, check it out! Here are some...

Dear "She's pretty don't you think?",

What am I supposed to say?!

Sincerely, your cautious boyfriend

Dear fat guy on the bike struggling to get up the hill,

Keep up the good work.

Sincerely, admiring your effort.

Dear pregnancy test,

This is one test I wouldn't mind failing.

Sincerely, just got accepted to Stanford

Here are some of mine...


Dear son, 


When are you going to be fully potty-trained?


Sincerely, a frustrated mommy who wants to stop buying pull-ups




Dear cupcake,


Why do you have to be soooo good?


Sincerely, a girl trying to watch what she eats 

wordless wednesday

a sweet moment...

I am a sucker for sweets. Anything that'll satisfy my sweet tooth...chocolate, cupcakes, ice cream, cookies, brownies, cakes...you name it! I have been craving a red velvet cupcake for what seems like forever. Not just ANY red velvet cupcake. A Sprinkles red velvet cupcake.

The first red velvet cupcake I've ever tried was from Sprinkles and seriously, nothing else has compared to it. In my little imaginary book of cupcake reviews, this one tops the list. To help satisfy my craving, my little family and I made a quick trip to the only Sprinkles location in our area on Sunday afternoon. I tried to indulge in one that night, but my son, who is a sweets fanatic just like his mommy, enjoyed some of it. Okay, most of it. I wasn't satisfied.


Luckily after dinner last night he was busy playing and running around. I quickly grabbed one whole red velvet cupcake to myself, along with a glass of sangria...sat down at the kitchen table...and indulged in one of the sweetest moments of consumption that I've had in a while.


I was in heaven and my sweet tooth was very happy.

gotta love fashion

Gwen Stefani is one of my favorite fashion icons. She already has two fashion lines out called L.A.M.B and Harajuku Lovers, which both consist of women's clothing, accessories, and perfume. Her creative sense of style has always been amazing to me. Not to mention, her handsome little boys are always dressed just as fashionably as her and are known as some of the best-dressed celebrity kids in Hollywood.

You can imagine how excited I was to find out that she will be collaborating with Target on a budget-friendly line of clothing and accessories for babies and kids. The fashion line, which will be called Harajuku Mini, will hit Target stores in November of this year and online stores in January of next year. The best part- it will be all be priced at less than $29.99! What mommy doesn't love good affordable fashion? I'm already counting down the days...

childhood memories

Have you ever come across a picture or object and it reminded you of something or someone? And then that thought turned into a flood of memories that took you back 5, 10, 15 years? This happened to me yesterday. 


Believe it or not, this is the picture that started it all.

I was instantly reminded of my little brother, who in fact isn't "little" anymore. It was this Hulkster ice cream that always satisfied his sweet cravings. It was this Hulkster ice cream that was always on his mind when the ice cream truck came rolling through our neighborhood. 


After texting him a picture of this and saying, "This reminds me of you" it was then that I started remembering our {brother, sister, and me} childhood days.


The days when we'd play outside all day...
When we'd wake up in the morning and watch cartoons together...
When we'd go through our parents coin collection to gather enough money for the ice cream man...
When we learned how to rollerblade together...
When we'd tell ghost stories in our basement...
When we'd sit around eating lunch together...
When we'd play Super Mario Bros. until the wee hours of the morning...
When we'd run through the sprinklers during summertime...
When we all slept in the same room together, not really trying to go to sleep, but just laughing hysterically till our parents had to come tell us to be quiet...
When we'd make funny home videos...
When we'd take bubble baths together...
When our lives were so carefree and innocent...
When it wasn't so hard just to spend a minute together.


I miss all of this. My siblings and I are all adults now and we don't live in the house where we built all these childhood memories anymore. It's very bittersweet, as all good things must come to an end, right? Now that we don't live under the same roof, it's harder for us to gather around and have breakfast or watch movies together. Life just happens so fast...I keep thinking "When did all that pass us by?"

me, my son, brother, mom, and sister

my siblings with my son :)

wordless wednesday: powdered sugar

story time

There's nothing I love more than story time with my son. I try to read him a book every day, especially right before nap time or bed time. He's even gone and picked out the book himself for me to read. Here are just a few of the books we enjoy together...

Are any of these your favorites? 

inspiring

I had never read up on the Jaycee Dugard story, but only knew of it through some news snippets here and there.  I watched her Diane Sawyer interview from last night just this morning and was completely blown away by her story. For her to even come out and tell her story and to even write a book was amazing to me. I can't even begin to imagine what she went through. Also, as a mother, I can't imagine what her own mother went through. What's inspiring to me is that she's living her life today to the fullest and isn't letting what happened to her define who she is.


If you missed it, click here


...will definitely be picking this up to read!

spicy basil shrimp

I recently tried my aunt's spicy basil shrimp recipe and I made it for dinner last night. If you love shrimp and spicy foods, then you definitely should try this. She used thai chili, but I couldn't find any at the store so I substituted it with serrano chili.

Ingredients:

2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup olive oil

1 lb freshwater prawns or shrimp

1 tsp. ground pepper

12 cloves minced garlic

5-7 Thai chili chopped (or 5-7 serrano chili peppers, depending on your preference of spice level)

1 package fresh basil

Add garlic, chili, salt and pepper to shrimp and marinate for 10 minutes.

Heat up oil over medium heat.

Add shrimp and stir until cooked - approximately 5 minutes

Turn off heat, add basil leaves and stir.

Really easy and quick to make. Serve hot alone or with rice! Super yummy!

saved by the...cheese?

A few weeks ago, I blogged about my son's meltdown moment. Yesterday, I had my OWN mommy meltdown moment. 


I had just lugged three bags of laundry to the car...with my son running around and not listening to a word I was saying. 


"Please get in the car now." {nope}


I finally got him in the car and reached into his backpack, which I had temporarily used for my own personal belongings, to grab my cell phone. I pull it out and there's juice all over it. Grape juice. Not only did it get all over my phone, but it got all over my wallet and his pull-ups. 


Anger starts building up. 


I take them all out in an attempt to dry my phone AND the bottom of the backpack with the only napkins I could find in the car. After doing that I start to put everything back in the backpack when I notice MORE juice had somehow dripped onto my seat. 


Enter a flood of curse words.


I'm freaking out now. OMG, grape juice on my car seat! I quickly run back inside the house to grab a wet towel and furiously dabbed at the darn stain...hoping it'll go away. 


Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. 


Before heading to the laundromat, I pick up my sister from her apartment. She gets into the car, hands me a snack size Tillamook cheese, and all of a sudden, I'm feeling much better about what had just happened. My unlucky turn of events was saved by these bad boys:

FYI: the seat and phone are in fabulous condition. oh, and so am I.

movie screening

Who doesn't love a free event? I recently signed up for something called Fun Cheap SF, which offers free and cheap {hence the name} events in my area. I've never attended a preview screening so when I found out about a FREE movie premiere screening of Horrible Bosses my boyfriend and I jumped at the chance.

My review:

Hilarious movie

Perfect for a date night or even a night out with friends

Amazing cast and great story line

Definitely a must-see!

Tips on attending a movie premiere screening:

Arrive early {I'm talking at least an hour before} to get good seats

Act fast on getting the passes as they are limited

wow!

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20507710,00.html


Completely speechless and shocked right now. Really??


No justice for that little girl :(

happy 4th of july!

Happy 4th of July! I love three-day holiday weekends. Three days of fun, food, and family time. They say all good things come in three's...


Three dishes devoured at The Boiling Crab:
1. dungeness crab - non-spicy, the whole sha-bang
2. one pound of shrimp - also non-spicy, the whole sha-bang
3. chicken tenders (for baby boy)

Three awesome deals I found while shopping:
1. black halter top from Forever 21 - $4.50
2. beach bag from H&M - $7
3. blue and white striped tube top from H&M - $5.95


Three flights of escalator riding with my son.

Three little cousins bonding together.

Three general admission tickets to Transformers 3.

Three pieces of yummy BBQ spare ribs and three of my cousin's oreo cupcakes!

As my son would say, "Happy July!" (still working on the "fourth of" part)

who screams for ice cream?

One of my favorite seasons of the year is summer.


And one of the best things about summer is ICE CREAM.


I've passed on the love of ice cream to my son who will eat it even if he's full. We love Drumsticks, but I've always felt like they were too big for him to handle. He makes a huge mess of it...


Ice cream all over his face.
Ice cream all over his hands.
Ice cream all over his clothes.
Ice cream all over his hair.
Ice cream all over the floor.
Ice cream all over the chair.


I'm a complete neat freak so it FREAKS me out when he eats ice cream.


We were shopping at Target the other day (as usual) and I wanted to pick up a new box of Drumsticks. Ooh, what do I see?

No way! I've never been so excited to see ice cream. People must have thought I was crazy. Did this JUST come out or am I late to jump on the bandwagon? These are perfect for my son (not to mention for me, too...hello, 140 calories!!!). They're much smaller than the original size and not as messy.

Thank you Nestle for making a Mommy's job a little bit easier :)