Little Things About My Little J

Lately there have been a few little things that J has been doing now that he is getting so much better at organizing thoughts and starting to talk a little more and I don't want to forget.

He has designated a spot on the couch as only his, or as he says "my sit." Even if he's not sitting there, if he sees you sit there, he comes and demands you move. Or if it's Victor, he comes tattle taling to me that Victor is in his sit. Oh man, this boy.

He has a set of cars someone gave him for his birthday. One of those cars has flowers on it, and every time, he says that it's "mommy's car." So interesting to me, since I really haven't taught him about anything being masculine or feminine.

We are teaching him spanish (trying to) and so there are some words that are easier for him to say in spanish, like agua and si. He sure loves to say "no," but when he wants milk, he brings us the milk from the fridge, and says "SI! SI!" It's hilarious. And also he is freakishly strong and carries a full gallon of milk around the house like it's no big deal.

He also knows that mommy's name is "Annie" and will unpredictably call me it once in a while, like in Costco when I walked away to get something. I got it on instagram stories video, but the app didn't post it and it gone! So angry. But it was so funny.

Speaking of Costco, I was checking out yesterday, and Dom started crying because he wanted the checker's scanning gun and couldn't get it, so J kept hugging him and patting his back and trying to give him his pacifier. J is the sweetest brother and I love seeing them bond!

He has a book about feelings, and it's definitely catching on, because lately if he gets hurt, or feelings hurt from getting in trouble, he cries through the tears "Sad!" So cute, and so sad haha.

Also we have had some behavioral breakthroughs with him, and it all stems from not letting him have ANY tablet time. It was turning him into a monster! Even at church, when he usually loved going to nursery he wanted to watch the ipad. So he is cut off completely, and we call the ipad "the thing that must not be named" because when he hears the word he starts asking. It's crazy how that has made such a difference. Even his nursery leaders noticed a change and said "it's so nice having the old J back!" He still has tantrums, but we have been able to resolve them much faster. So yeah, when you see people post those articles about how tablets turn kids into crazy addicts, I believe it whole heartedly!

Man, we love this kid!

California Bucket List

I started compiling this list as soon as we got orders to California, and there have been a few things I've added since we got here. We have less than a year left in Monterey (noooo!) so I've decided to get a solid list compiled of things we've done and things we are still planning to get er done!

The things we've done:

Big Sur!

Carmel by the Sea

San Francisco (still lots of places to explore there)

Redwood Forest

Santa Cruz

Hearst Castle

Los Angeles

Yosemite!

Sequoia National Park

Morro Bay

Madonna Inn

National Steinbeck Center and Steinbeck House in Salinas

Point Lobos

Enjoy CA wildflowers

The things we still need/want to do:

Sea Glass Beach at Fort Bragg

Half Moon Bay

Carmel Mission

Redwoods National Park

Burney Falls

Lake Tahoe

Harry Potter World in Universal Studios

Solvang

Anything else I should add to the list??

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

On my California bucket list: a visit to Sequoia National Park. It's no Yosemite, but it was way less crowded and a lot more relaxed because of that. We had a nice time. Personally I liked Kings Canyon more, a national park right next to Sequoia, and it was even less crowded! It was a lot of driving between the two though. 

A fallen Sequoia. Seeing them flat on the ground is crazy! You see how long they are. Sequoias tend to fall more than redwoods because they weigh much more and have a harder time supporting their weight as they get older. 

The biggest tree in the world! The boys weren't really impressed ha.

Kings Canyon:

We did the meadow hike and it was so beautiful. 

Plenty of hikers warned us of a bear on the trail. On our way back from the meadow, he was right on the trail! He didn't seem phased at all by the hikers passing him. Too busy eating. Glad it wasn't a big bear! 

Another fallen sequoia that you could walk through. I find that the baby is a good scale to see how huge they are!!

It was a nice weekend with the family. Check that off the Cali bucket list!

I'm proud of this picture

I'm proud of this picture, because it's been the first time in months that I have been able to fit into my favorite pair of jeans. They're still a little tight to button up and I still have some work to do in my personal fitness/weight loss goals, but I am proud I am making visible progress.

A few months ago I ordered a dress a size up than the dresses of the same brand that I already owned. And when it arrived I couldn't even get it past my thighs and butt. Add that to always hating the way I was starting to look in pictures, and I knew I couldn't make excuses anymore. My exercise habits were spotty, my eating habits were even worse. 

When I would talk to friends/husband about my weight gain, people were nice and saying things like "yeah but you just had a baby so you can't be hard on yourself." And I would have been ok with that if I knew it was true. But it wasn't. Because I fit in these jeans shortly after the baby was born. It was my own crappy habits that led to me gaining a good amount of weight for this short 5'2" body. It wasn't the baby's fault and I needed to own it!

Since August I have been better at creating an exercise routine, but when I finally became serious about my eating in September, I finally started seeing results. I have been doing the 21 day fix program which I LOVE because a) the workout is only 30 minutes which really has helped me to not make excuses to not workout because of time commitment b) the eating plan has helped me readjust my portions and the way I prioritize what I eat and c) I do really like the chocolate shakeology because it helps me curb my sugar cravings. I think I could still lose weight without it, but it does help.

So yeah, there you go! Maybe if you are in a rut like I was this will help. If anything I'm just sharing to hold myself accountable. At the pace I'm going at, my goals will hopefully be accomplished by the holidays. Stay tuned! (something that has helped me stay on track is staying away from Utah because it contains my vices aka Cafe Rio and Dirty Dr. Pepper with Swig sugar cookies. I will need strength when I visit again!)

Oh, and that dress I bought I can completely zip up easily yay! Still want to flatten my tummy before I wear it in public ;)

Dominic is 10 months old

^^he's not cross eyed...we went to an ophthalmologist last month to check but sometimes he tricks us ha!^^

^^happens a lot when he says sorry to Dom for always being too rough^^

Really, can't we hit the brakes? Dom has hit the sweet spot of delicious baby. Although he does have a temper which we aren't used to this early!!

The past couple months Dom has really started becoming OBSESSED with food. He eats anything and everything and gets extremely jealous if you are eating and not sharing. I don't really ever feed him baby food anymore because he wants only the grown up food. And yet he's so skinny! 

He says mama and he is the king of cuddling. The cuddliest baby ever. We love it so much! J wasn't a cuddler.

Dominic, we love you so much! Next update is one year old and I don't want to--fastest year ever. 

Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno CA

We had some time this weekend in Fresno, California, and like I usually do, I checked Pinterest to find places of interest unique to the city. This place was the most common posting so I decided to check it out and it was awesome!!

I was initially drawn to the Mediterranean look of the photos with the description that it was all underground! But it wasn't just an underground garden. The owner/builder Baldassare Forestiere decided to just build his whole living space below ground since Fresno is so hot. He started planting citrus trees and other plants down there as well and they thrived. This guy was an immigrant from Italy (thus the design inspiration) who was a completely self taught architect, builder, botanist, etc. Amazing! 

His "bathroom" looks like some kind of secluded Mediterranean spa! I would love to have a soak in those surroundings. 

Here's a selfie of me and my cooperative child who took the tour with me. For lack of a nicer way of saying it, our two year old got kicked out. They gave Victor a refund and tried to be nice about it, but he didn't want to stay quiet and restrained, was disrupting the whole tour (you can't do anything self guided), so they gave him the boot. Yikes. Poor Victor had to deal with him above ground while I took the tour. When my tour guide said to me "he wants his mama, I heard him crying your name," I replied, "well, mama wants to see the gardens." Sorry, J. But more sorry to Victor.

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Fresno, you should check this place out! So fascinating, so pretty, and nice and cool if you're trying to escape the Fresno heat ;)