The Search for my dress....

I went to David's bridal and there wasn't a huge selection of yellow dresses. My friend told me to take a look at Nordstrom's Dress Shop (www.nordstrom.com) and low and behold the dress that I imagined was there. It is by Mary L Couture... and it is the right color and also has my size. I'm going to Nordstrom tomorrow to see if they have it in stock or if they can order it for me. Also, looking thru there website, I found another dress that I like too. It is very simple, but I really like the shoulders and the back. It's made by JS Boutique. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think... Dress 1 or Dress 2 ???

Bride's maid dress

My cousin is getting married in August and she's asked us bride's maids to find our own dresses. The color scheme that she wants is yellow. I've been looking everywhere for a nice yellow gown, but I haven't found one that I like. The ones that I've seen are all too puffy plus I'm pretty petite so I can't find my size either. I have an idea of the perfect dress in my head, but finding it is the problem. Maybe I'll look on the David's Bridal website... Wish me luck (but I have until Aug... so i'm not that worried yet.)

30th anniversary

My parents are so sweet to each other. I hope when my hubby and I get to our 30th anniversary that we'll be like them. For their 30th anniversary, they decided to take a cruise to the Bahamas. I was surprised how affordable the cruise trip was for them and they were lucky becuase this is a brand new ship that they are traveling on. Also, the best part is that the cruise line docked here in Norfolk so they didn't have to travel to Florida to get on. How exciting for them ! Plus, I wish them another 30 more years together.

I can swim !

For the past month, I have been taking swim lessons. I can finally swim, but I don't know if I could swim in the deep end though. I'd like to take another session though so that I can work on my breathing techniques. When I run out of air, I doggy paddle and it takes me awhile to get back to my stroke. I'm so glad that I did it. I completed one thing that I had on my Life List.

Happy Mother's Day !

Swim Lessons

My hubby's family loves the water... and they wanted to make sure that MJ loved the water too. So we decided to enroll him in a Baby & Me swim class. It's more of an introduction to water where the babies and mommies play with toys/games in the water and teach the babies how to kick and float.

Anyways, last Tuesday was the first Baby & Me swim lessons at the Rec Center. MJ cried the whole time we were in the water. The water was really cold so I see why he was crying. It was so cute though to see all the other babies in their bathing suits. Also, it's great because I get to talk with other moms and MJ gets to play with other babies his age. BUT the best part is that it is great exercise for me since swim class is twice a week for a whole month. Last Thursday was another class and this time MJ loved it. I knew he would be a water baby !

Since we decided to get MJ swimming lessons, I thought that I should learn how to swim too. (Just in case something happened in the water I can get to him.) So I enrolled myself in the adult swim classes--same days as MJ's swim lessons. By the second swim class, I learned how to swim. I still don't know how to come up for air and keep swimming at the same time... but I'll learn. I'm pretty proud of myself at how much I accomplished in just 2 classes. Class is for an hour and we swim back and forth 50 yards. So it is a great exercise for my arms, back, legs, everything. By the end of the month, I'll be fit. I just need to do situps on the side so that I can tighten my stomach muscles since having MJ... then I'll be fit.

I'm employed again !

This last week has been crazy for me. Two Sundays ago, I put in my resume for an Optometrist Assistant job that my mother-in-law saw in the classifieds. That night I got called back for an interview for monday. So I had my interview and everything was going good. I was actually not scared about the interview. I guess because this was the same position that I held before.

Anyways, getting back to my train of thought. I had my interview on Monday and got called back for a second interview for Thursday to meet with the Optometrist who owns the place. Friday, I got the job and I start Wednesday, April 30th.

It's only a part-time position for right now because I don't want to leave my son for long with a baby sitter. Plus, I'm scared to leave him too. What if he doesn't eat since he's so picky... What if he misses me and I can't be there.... Ahhahhh !!
I feel sorda ready for this becuase it would be great to have adult interaction again. I feel like my vocabulary is reverting back to my son's age and hearing his favorite cartoon songs all day is starting to drive me looney. BUT on the other hand, I'm just gonna miss my little guy while I'm at work. I guess this is what working mothers have to think about. I gonna give it a try and see what happens...

Blogging as a career...

In today's local newspaper (the Virginian Pilot), an article was written about Heather Armstrong whose blog is Dooce.com. It says that she's a stay-at-home mom who blogs for a living and writes about her family, dog, and whatever comes to mind. The thing that blew me away was that her blog is ranked No. 59 among the Web's top 100 blogs according to a blog search engine AND that her site is making as much as $40,000 a month. Her husband even quit his job and now does the advertising for her website. *W-O-W* That is amazing! I know a couple of people who do the pay per post and they make around $200 a month, but not $40,000. I never knew that blogging could be a great career (if you know what to do.)

First Birthday/ Party

My son just celebrated his first birthday. WoW ! I still can't believe that he is already a year old. It went by so fast ! His birthday was on a thursday, so we made a family day. My husband and I took him to church, took our family portraits, brought him to Busch Gardens, and then had a small dinner party for him.

We had so much fun at Busch Gardens. MJ is at this stage where he likes to point at everything. His head kept turning everywhere since there is so much to see. We took MJ to Land of the Dragons and he rode an egg carousel with my hubby and a flying dragon with mommy. My hubby and I have seasons passes so this won't be the last time. There is still so much to show him.

Also, only 3 days separate Mj and his cousin's birthdays...so we decided to make a dual celebration. My brother and I decided to invite everyone to Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia Beach. It has a big playground for little kids and there is so much other things to do like fly kites, ride bikes, fish, skateboard... and so forth.
Plus, renting a shelter is free... so that save us money. Anyways, the whole week I kept praying that the weather would be nice and that no rain. ((All my life, if it is something important to me: It ALWAYS RAINS ! Ring dance, prom, brithdays ))

The whole week leading up to the weekend it was beautiful weather in the 70s. The day of their birthday, the forecast was in the 80s and chances of severe thunderstorms. From the beginning when we tried setting up, the winds were like 40 mph. Everything kept flying away and people were having a hard time eating. Then, in the middle of the party a severe thunderstorm happened so we had to cut the party short. AAAaaRRRggghhhh !!! My dad made a joke that "we prayed that the weather would be nice temperature and that it wouldn't rain, but we forgot to think about wind." It was so crazy... it seemed like a blur to me ! Everyone said that they had a good time while the party happened though and they definitley ate a lot.
**Lessoned learned to me, MJ's parties will be indoors. **

Family Pictures

For some time now, I've wanted to take family pictures. My mom wished that our family took pictures when we were all younger. Now, we're all older and my brother and I have spouses and children. Hmmmm... I need to remember this idea: Mom and Dad will be celebrating their 30th anniversary this year and it would be great idea to set up a family portrait of our growing family.

Anyways, back to my main thought... I wanted to take family pictures while MJ was little and I was still young. We had a matching theme with our clothes. We went to JC Penney Portrait studio and I thought that the pictures turned out really good and the cost wasn't that bad either. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.

*JC Penney sends you copies of your pictures that are allowed to be downloaded and shared if you sign up for their smilesbywire. *

Funny video

Funny video from Yahoo. All the babies are so cute. I want to see baby MJ's reaction to lemons now.

Ugghh !!!

I applied to seven optometry schools and seven rejected me. My mother-in-law said that she jinxed me because she didn't want us taking baby MJ to a different state since there are no optometry schools here in VA. I feel like I have to put on a brave face for everybody, and everyone keeps telling me that its not the right time and that baby MJ is still too young. Which makes it worse because I feel like its the right time... I'm not getting any younger. Plus, I feel like I want some new adventure in life.

Ever since I was 15 yrs old, optometry school and being an optometrist has always been my goal. I thought that working at an optometrist office would help my chances because optometry school is so competive, but I guess it doesn't matter. I feel like I let myself down. Now, I'm trying to find something else to do....

tagged by Erika

tagged by Erika
Name 11 people you can think of right off the top of your head. Don’t read the questions underneath until you write the names of all the 11 people. This is a lot funnier if you actually randomly list the names first. No cheating.

1. Mason

2. MJ

3. Tiffany

4. Nick

5. Kyleigh

6. Kasey

7. Erika

8. Nadel

9. Lisa

10. Kim

11. Orli

Now, its time to answer the following questions:

1. How did you meet # 4? school
2. What would you do without #6? i'd do okay...
3. What would you do if #2 and # 6 were going out? I think she's told old for my son.
4. Who’s #10’s best friend? rachelle

5. Have you ever eaten around #1? Always.

6. Do you miss #2? always

7. Who is #11 dating? don't know

8. What do you think of #3? super smart and very productive in life
9. What do you think of #9? nice and sweet
10. Who does #2 like? me!!!
11. Would you marry #8? Yuck.. that's my brother. That's illegal !

12. Ever slept in the same room as any of the numbers? Yes,definitely 1 and 2.
Passing it on to ayette.

WaHooo !!!

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. I had planned a trip to DC to see the cherry blossoms, but the weather sucked. The weather in VA is so crazy. In a week, the weather can be in the 80s. Then, the next day its in the 40s. All week, the weather was great, then the weekend ended up being cold and rainy. Why ?


Anyways, we had a good time for hubby's b-day. The best part was baby MJ started walking. I was happy that I was able to catch it on video. I knew it was going to be anyday now, but I couldn't believe that he waited for hubby's b-day to decide to walk. We went in a circle and he walked to everyone. This is great b/c I was hoping that he would be walking by his b-day. I'm so proud of my baby !!

Baby Mj's 1st Birrthday

Right now, I'm trying to plan both my hubby's b-day and baby MJ's 1st birthday. It's so hard because MJ and Chloe's birthday are so close together. ((MJ 4/10:: Chloe 4/13)) So... we're thinking about doing a joint birthday party. The problem is where to do it. I have like 2 weeks left and I'm going crazy thinking about the guest list, theme, food, location. Aaaahhhh ! I should have planned this months ago.

For hubby's b-day, I'm thinking about going to Washington DC and seeing the Cherry Blossoms. He's never seen them. Also, going on a tour and visiting random places. Hubby is a real big history buff.

Easter Egg Hunt

My family had such a blast on Easter. We ate so much food that my mom prepared. Also, my sister-in-law and I made an easter egg hunt for my niece Chloe and baby MJ. It was so cute watching them as they ran in their pretty Easter clothes-- Chloe in a pretty dress and MJ in a suit. We placed 24 eggs around the front lawn. MJ only got 6 and Chloe got the rest. After that we gave their Easter baskets, and Chloe was just interested in her eggs rather than the toys that she got. I think that this will be a new family tradition.

Tagged by Erika

1. Today I feel very— happy to spend the weekend with my hubby and baby.
2. I enjoy - everything.
3. I am unhappy when — hubby gets on my nerves.
4. I feel good when — im with the people i love most spending quality time.
5. I wish my boss — can't answer b/c I'm the boss. heheh....
6. My officemates think — n/a
7. My work area is — anywhere baby MJ is.
8. I enjoy reading about — love, life, and food.
9. I like myself best when — i know the people around me are happy to be with me.
10. If I had a choice I would — have traveled more before I got pregnant.
11. I wish — can't tell ya b/c its secret.
12. Tomorrow I would like to get our taxes done so that we can get our refund check soon !!! =)

Easter Bunny

Today, we brought MJ to Yankee Candle Factory to visit with the Easter Bunny. At first, he was so scared and just clung to my husband. Finally, he sat in the Easter Bunny's lap, but you can tell in his picture that he is scared. It was so cute !

Learning to Walk...

My little baby is learning to walk right now. He just turned 11 months, but I thought that he would be walking by now. Before I thought that he would never crawl, but go straight to walking. Then, he decided one day that he wanted to. Last week, we purchased him a Little Tikes Walker so that he can walk around the house because right now all he does is hold onto the furniture. It has helped him tremendously. I think the only thing that is stopping him is that he walks on his tippy toes. Does anyone have some advice on how to get him off his tippy toes?

Ski Trip

Sorry, it took so long to write about the ski trip. It was very beautiful and we had a great cabin. It felt like we had our own house. It was so big. Full kitchen, sauna, jacuzzi tub, high ceilings, 2 floors, and a fire place. I didn't get to experience everything that I wanted to because we didn't have someone to watch baby MJ-- like going snow tubing down the 900-ft hill. I did, however,get to try skiing and my hubby tried snowboarding. It is so hard ! I didn't know how to stop. I kept screaming down the hill "I can't stop ! Help!" and my hubby would catch me at the bottom of the hill. My body was so sore the next day ! My husband loved snowboarding so much he wants to go again soon. If we go back, I'll definitely try snow tubing. Here are some pictures from our trip....

Quiz 2

You Are a Great Liar

You can pretty much pull anything over on anyone. You are an expert liar, even if you don't lie very often.

Are You a Good Liar?

Quiz

You're Confident...Sometimes

You can seem confident when the occasion calls for it But inside you may be experiencing a bit of self doubt A little more inner confidence could take you far... And convince others that you're as confident as you try to seem

Are You a Confident Woman?

Valentine's Gift

My husband surprised me for Valentine's Day by telling me that he rented a cabin at Massanutten Resort: A Four Season Resort located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. This will be our first family vacation and I can't wait. Four days of skiing, snowboarding, and snowtubing. I've never done either three, but I'm excited to try.

I looked at the Massanutten Resort website and I was surprised that it is not just a resort for skiiing. During summer, you can golf and go to the waterpark. I'll let you all know how it turned out. If you want more information, go visit their website http://www.massresort.com/.

I'm addicted to boots ...

My husband thinks that all boots are the same. He laughs when I ask which boots go better with my outfit. He thinks it ridiculous how many boots that I own. Today, I found these really cute ankle boots at the mall. I've been wanting a pair for awhile. AND GUESS WHAT ??? I paid less than $10 for them at Macy's. I LOVE A GREAT DEAL !!!!

Happy Valentine's Day !!!

Snow Day !!!

It has finally snowed here in VA ! It was about an inch, but it stayed on the ground. I was surprised and excited to see it-- and couldn't wait to show it to me 10-month-old son ! He was intrigued by it, but cried about how cold it was when it touched his hand. I tried to sit him in his car so that I could take his picture, but he kept trying to climb out. For his first taste of snow, we built a little snowman just for him. Not very good =)

All this for $250....

I love this time of year because there is so much on sale for children's clothes. Since they go through their clothes so quickly, I don't think that you should spend so much money on an outfit.

Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Old Navy, Macy's, Target & JC Penney have such great deals.

When I found out that I was pregnant, I couldn't wait to start buying clothes. Before my son was even born, he already had a year supply of toys, onesies, outfits-- and 8 pairs of shoes !!! This year, I did even better. For a little over $250, I got another years supply of clothes and toys. The most I spent for an item was $3.50 -- and that was for a whole set (shirt & pants). Can you believe for that suit, I paid $1.97 !!! ***Not pictured are the toys that I bought. For my son's 1st birthday coming up, I purchased from Target's toy sale a Spiderman car, a Dora/Diego Aquadoodle set, and a Fisher Price train set, and a Fisher Price ball popper for

$20. ***

I'm glad this year that my cousin got to come with me and experience all these great deals. I can't wait till next years sales again !!!

Award

Thanks Erika for my first award.

Sick Baby

Oh ! My poor baby is sick right now. He has a very bad cold which he caught from me. He has lost his appetite, which scares me. Although he isn't feeling so good, you won't be able to know because he still a happy baby. I hope this cold goes away fast.

Oh the Smell of Laundry

(( MJ smelling how fresh the laundry is. ))

MJ and I are visiting my mom and dad in Norfolk this week. My mom did our laundry while we were taking a nap. How does my mom make our clothes smell so good? I use the same detergent and softener at our house as my mom, but our clothes just don't smell the same. I mean are clothes smell good, but not the same as when clothes are washed at my mom's house. It just has this wonderful aroma that lasts and lasts. I'll be home and I'll smell something of my son's clothes that my mom washed and be amazed that it could be over two weeks and still have that new laundry smell to it. I've asked her what she does differently and I've even watched her to double check that she's not doing anything extra. I guess I'll learn one day.... if she tells me.

To work or not to work ?

Wow! My first blog thanks to my cousin. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this because I thought that I wouldn't have anything to talk about, but I can think of a few things.

Currently, I am a stay-at-home mom caring for my nine month old son. I love everything about being a stay-at-home mom, but sometimes I feel like I want to have a job also. That's my problem. I want to be able to have some extra spending money because I am a shopaholic at heart, but can't spend that much because my husband and I are trying to save up for a house. There have been a lot of job opportunities that have come my way, but I just don't feel motivated to apply. I feel that if I get a job, I'm going to miss out on everything new my baby does or I'll be at work distracted thinking about my baby. How do working mothers do it ? So my cousin came up with this solution. She has heard that you can get paid for blogging. I was skeptical at first, but she's actually earning money now. I think this is the best solution so far since I'm not ready to leave my baby with a babysitter. I can't wait to start earning money !