cry, cry Baby!

Last night my in-laws offered to keep Ryan for the evening and take him along to run some errands and have dinner. I was excited for the little break in my day between working 8 hours and doing the nightly routine at home! I opted to skip the gym last night so I could go home to (catch up on As The World Turns and lay on the couch) make dinner, put away some laundry, clean the kitchen and relax. When Nanny and Papi brought Ryan home at 9:00ish last night, Nanny walked Ryan up to the door and I could immediately hear crying. NOT crying because he couldn't wait to get in the door to see Jake and I - crying because he DID NOT want to come home! I tried calming him down explaining that Nanny and Papi needed to get home and go to bed too and that he would see Nanny first thing in the morning but he was having no part of that explanation! I told Ryan he was hurting Mommy's feelings and that I was so glad he was finally home but again he was having no part of my reasoning! We finally told Ryan to wave bye-bye and took him in the house where he proceeded to cry and throw a fit.

While out and about with Nanny and Papi, Ryan got some cool little plastic dinosaur toys. One of said toys makes noise like a dinosaur when you press the button on its belly. I was able to get a smile and a few laughs out of Ryan when he tried scaring me with the dinosaur sounds! We shared a few laughs and colored a little with his new colored pencils before I changed his clothes and put him down for the night.

I only got to spend about 20 minutes with Ryan last night but it was probably the longest 20 minutes of my day! I love this kid more than life itself - but he can throw quite a fit when he's not getting what he wants and obviously the last thing he wanted yesterday was to come home and spend some time with his Mommy who missed him dearly for the 4 hours he was gone!

Yum-O!

Thanks to Rachael Ray, we had a delicious dinner tonight!


We had Honey-Mustard Pork Chops with The Works Baked Potatoes.
This is the sour cream, bacon and shredded cheddar cheese waiting for the baked potatoes to be done...then I scooped out the potatoes and added it to this mixture before adding it all back to the potatoes...so good!


And here's the finished product (that Pepsi is Jake's!). Thanks Rachael Ray for making recipes so easy even I can follow them!


Hope everyone had a great weekend.

No Soda and a Gym Membership

I just realized that it has been 2 whole months since I last drank a soda! Woo-hoo! I've had a few sips (maybe 3 total) since I gave them up but it has not been as hard as I thought it would be to quit drinking them.

Also...

I rejoined the gym! Myself and my co-workers are now all signed up with new gym memberships and are going to help one another stay motivated to going to the gym at least 3 days a week. We are all very busy gals and have families to go home and take care of in the evenings so devoting an hour or so for 3 nights a week is going to be a good start for us.

It's like a mid-year resolution!

Etsy Shop!

Go check out my Etsy Shop today! It's full of hairbows and tutus, ready to be shipped to you (or your daughter, sister, niece, granddaughter and friends) today! I'm still working on the hairbow holder and headband portion of the Etsy Shop but should have them up soon, so check back often for new additions to the website! Debbie and I are working on making more tutus, headbands and hairbows to stock a booth at the Top of the Line Holiday Marketplace in Visalia in November. That will be a 3 day-long craft show just before the holidays so we'll need to be ready to go with lots of crafts!

Visit us at: http://www.hairbowsandtutus.etsy.com/

Thank you in advance for your support! :)

KISS Country 93.7 and Children's Hospital Central California

Good Morning All! I have signed up to be a "Change Bandit" for KISS Country 93.7 to raise money for Children's Hospital Central California once again this year. I have been a part of the Change Bandit program since 2002 I believe (maybe 2001).

What is a Change Bandit, you ask? Good question! Change Bandits are volunteers who “rob” co-workers, classmates, families and friends of their change during the month leading up to the “Bandit Bash.” A "Bandit Bash" is the night all the Change Bandits gather to turn in their collected donations at a reception and concert! This year's Bandit Bash will feature recording artists Chris Young (winner of Nashville Star) and Richie McDonald (former lead singer of Lonestar)!

My personal goal this year is to raise $300.00! In years past, I have been able to collect more than $200.00 from co-workers, friends and family. If you would like to make a donation to support Children's Hospital Central California, please contact me for more details. You can mail checks to me, payable to Children's Hospital Foundation, or we can meet up if you would like to donate some change or cash. The Bandit Bash will be held on Thursday, August 27. Therefore, I will attempt to have all my donations wrapped up by Tuesday, August 25.

Thank you in advance for your support of the Change Bandit program and Children's Hospital Central California!

Always, Sometimes, Never

I've seen this on a few blogs that I follow, Jenna and Heather and decided I wanted to play along to let all of you know a little more about me!

I ALWAYS ---

...thank God for the many blessings in my life!

...leave the house way too early in the morning because I have a fear that I'll get into the habit of being late to work if I do it even 1 time.

...check my e-mail, blog, myspace and checking account online at least 5 times a day!

...tell Ryan that I love him as much as possible.

...stress out about way too much!

...sleep with the fan on even in the Winter!

...drive way too fast and use cruise control on the freeway.

...do the same morning routine, shower, blow dry and straighten my hair, put on my makeup, let Harley out, get dressed, get Ryan up and head out the door!

I sometimes ---

...text message while I'm driving (I know, I know, I shouldn't).

...lose control of my temper and yell at the dog too much!

...think I want to plant flowers but it never ever happens.

...wish I could live in a big city and work in a skyscraper building with lots of windows and wear dressy suits to work everyday! Ha!

...get caught up on laundry!

...actually clean the kitchen before I go to bed at night - I really want to get better at that.

...get crazy and want to clean all the closets and bedrooms at once!

I never ---

...lose sight of the things that really matter in this world, God, my family and our health.

...say 'I love you' enough.

...call my friends and family just to say hello and ask how their day was.

...am happy with my hair! In fact, I think I'm going to cut bangs - I need a change!

...get tired of driving.

...save as much money as I should, you know, in case of an emergency!

...get tired of listening to Ryan talk and watch him learn new things. He's so much fun right now, repeating everything we say and acting like such a big boy!


So, did you learn something new about me? What is 1 thing you Always, Sometimes and Never do?

to be a child again...

Have you ever ate something that brought back childhood memories!?!? Last year I ate some really fresh Red Vines and had to e-mail my Mom about it because it brought back memories of weekly trips to the bowling alley while my parents bowled on a bowling league. I remember my parents letting us go to the video store in the bowling alley to buy licorice because we could get 5 pieces for a quarter!

Today on my lunch hour, while perusing the candy aisle at Target for something small and sweet to place in the baby shower table favors for Michelle's baby shower this weekend, I came across chocolate covered raisins....oh, how I love chocolate covered raisins! (Don't worry Michelle, this is not the favor for the shower!) I did buy a bag to snack on at work though. In fact, I've finished eating my lunch and now I'm snacking on some as I type! Chocolate covered raisins will always bring back memories of visiting Papa and Grandma in Visalia while growing up. I can remember sitting with Grandma working on word search puzzles and eating chocolate covered raisins! Those were the good ol' days - HAHA!!

*Photo courtesy of google images.

What candy or food brings back memories of growing up for you?

Happy Wednesday all.

A Long Update!

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything substantial! Here are a ton of pictures from the past several weeks in the Avila household (and the Avila's on vacation!).

First, here's Ryan being silly at cousin Jeremy and Shandra's wedding last month.



He was enjoying the camera with Aunt Michelle and Uncle David.

Here's me and cousin Jazmine.


Papa and Ryan.


Me and my little man.

Our 4th of July was pretty laid back and lots of fun! I was up early for the 4th of July Celebration at the City Park. Debbie and I set up a booth to sell our Hairbows and Tutus. Here's a small glimpse of our booth.

I forgot to take pics of Ryan watching fireworks on the 4th. He spent the whole day with Grammy and Papa because I was busy at the park. He went swimming and got to play with Aunt Shannah and Uncle Kevin before we picked him up and headed back to the in-laws for our BBQ/fireworks for the evening.

Here's a few pics of the diaper party we gave Michelle and David last month:


My first attempt at decorating sugar cookies (it left a lot to be desired!):

Here's David and Michelle opening their diapers!


And Ryan and Preston playing in the pool and then with the lawn mower and blower toys!



Two weekends ago we loaded up the trailer, Harley and Ryan and headed to the coast for some camping! We met up with our friends Thursday night and enjoyed some ocean front property for 3 days! The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm the entire weekend. Ryan really seemed to enjoy playing in the sand and staying in the trailer.

We are very blessed to have such great friends that we can enjoy weekend getaways with - even though I don't have a picture of all of us together! We look forward to our next camping trip (in a campground that does not have sand beneath our feet and loud quads and dune buggies racing by at all hours of the night)!

This past weekend Jake and I escaped for a weekend in LA. We drove around a lot - the hills in Calabasas, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood and everywhere in between. We had no plans, just wanted to have some fun. We saw the Michael Jackson star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the gate to the Playboy Mansion, some beautiful homes, DASH and Smooch (the Kardashain's stores), went to The Comedy Store in Hollywood for a late night stand-up comedy show and stayed at the Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel! Fun, fun and more fun! (Photobucket is not playing nice anymore, I'll add more pics of LA later.)

Now it's back to real-life here. Work, cooking, cleaning, laundry, crafting and everything else we do around here!

...eight...nine...AND ten!

This weekend Ryan totally surprised Jake and I.

The scene: We were in the trailer at the coast (a post on that with pictures is coming soon) and Jake and Ryan were laying on the coach playing and talking.

Jake was counting to Ryan and Ryan was repeating every number. One...two...three...four...five... and then, completely surprisingly and out-of-nowhere, Ryan continued on all by himself: six...seben (ha!)...eight...nine...AND ten!

Jake and I shared a huge smile and could not believe our ears! Then we immediately coached him to do it again and again. In fact, he's done it on the phone for Aunt Michelle & Uncle David and Grammy too! He finally did it for Nana this morning when I dropped him off.

So my almost two-year-old can count to 10 all by himself and I partially thank Barney for that! :)

Are we making progress people?

I am happy to report that today was the first day in a really, really long time that Ryan did not cry when I dropped him off at Nanny's this morning! Seriously, he has cried and clung to my leg every. single. day. for I don't know how long now. It's depressing leaving him off thinking maybe he really does miss me during the day! I know how much fun I can be to hang out with - I mean, who else watches Barney on replay over and over again, lets him sit on the counter while I make sugar cookies and lick the beater when I'm done and laughs and plays and kisses him more than me!?!? I LOVE THIS KID! :)

Here's to hoping there are no tears shed tomorrow morning (by me or him!).

Happy Monday!

The Proposal

Last night Jake and I had a "date night" complete with dinner AND a movie, imagine that! It was a nice night, dinner at our favorite Mexican food restaurant and a quick stop at the mini mart to purchase drinks and a snack before heading to the movies. The Proposal was the movie of my choice but Jake went along with it; I mean, it was his Father's Day gift after all, so wasn't it my job to choose the movie for him?! I think Jake will agree that if you want to see a light-hearted, funny movie, you should definitely go see The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds) because if for no other reason than the theater is not as packed as the new Transformers movie just out - talk about LONG lines and packed theaters!


In other, not-so-exciting news, Ryan has a double ear infection (or, as the Dr. put it, ear infection in the right ear and start of one in his left ear). We're hopeful the antibiotics will kick in high gear before Saturday when we're hosting a small Diaper Party/BBQ for David & Michelle at our house. I'm making a trip to Wal-Mart today to load up on all the antibacterial cleaning supplies I'll need to get the house in tip-top shape before the BBQ.


I want to give a quick "shout out" to my new blogging friend, The Cookie Mama because you'll just die when you see how amazingly talented she is!

Stay tuned for a link to the Etsy Shop where Debbie and I will begin selling our handmade hairbows, headbands, tutus and much more online!! I am very excited about the Etsy Shop but first I have to get enough goodies made for the 4th of July Celebration where we're hosting a booth to sell our stuff (and finish a tutu for my friend, Annie's daughter, which I promise I haven't forgotten about Annie!). THEN the Etsy Shop will be stocked and ready for mass distribution! Ha!


This brings us to the end of the blog post for today. Sorry for a pictureless post, I'll make up for it next time!

Watch

It has been years since I've worn a watch everyday - in fact, it was probably about 8 years ago, when I was attending San Joaquin Valley College and was enrolled in the Health Professionals Course (or whatever it was called)! I did love the white uniforms, the medical terminology and the wearing of a watch everyday!

Last week I was forwarded a link for ToyWatch, an extremely expensive brand of amazing watches that have been seen on the wrists of many celebrities recently and fell in love with these watches. In an effort to find one at not quite the same expense, I did a search on e-bay. And lucky me, found several of these watches that I just had to have (not that I need more than one, or that I will get more than one, but it was difficult to decide just which one I was going to bid on).

The picture above is a picture of 1 of the watches I really, really like!

And the second picture is of the 1 that I bought!

What do you think of my purchase...hopefully it's as cute on as it looks in this e-bay picture!

*Disclaimer* Pictures are from ToyWatchusa.com and ebay.com. I am not a spokesperson for ToyWatch and they have not asked me to include this in my post - I just happen to be really crazy about cute, flashy, sparkly jewelry and watches!

Such a big boy!

A little recap of the past few weeks around the Avila house!


Here it is - documentation of Ryan's first haircut! Can you tell how happy he is?! Ha!

Now that we've cut off the unruly mess in the back of Ryan's hair, we might try letting it grow out and see if it ends up curly. I love the short cut, it's easier to wash in the bath and I think it will keep Ryan cooler in the summer heat. When someone asks him if he got his hair cut, he replies, "haircut?" and rubs his head! Smart boy indeed!

Ryan had his 15 month immunizations (yes, we're a little behind on that) and he weighed in at 31.4lbs and was 34 inches tall!

We've done some fun things the past few weeks; We took Ryan to the sand drag races out at the race track - he loves trucks and quads but I think his favorite thing to watch were the dune buggies. He sat pretty well for a few good hours watching the races until it was late and past his bedtime...then Mommy had to take him home and get him to bed.

The next day Jake and I escaped town for the day with some friends and drove up to the Good Guys Car Show in Pleasanton. It was a lot of fun, the weather was beautiful and we saw some really nice cars and trucks out on display. Ryan stayed with Grammy and Papa Saturday while we were out of town. Grammy says he was a good little boy and only asked for us a handful of times! Grammy took Ryan out to Papa's work to see the cows, which they said he really enjoyed, and then out to some friends' house to feed the kittens and he liked that as well!

That Sunday the 3 of us were up early and met Grammy and Papa at their house for a boating trip! We took Ryan to Kaweah Lake for the day, for a little fishing and a lot of sun! At first he wasn't so sure about the rocking from the wakes caused by the other boats but by the end of our day he was pretty comfortable, he even sat in Papa's lap and drove the boat!


Next time we go, we hope to actually get in the water and use the tubes instead of deflating them because they were taking up so much room in the front of the boat. Haha!


That about sums up what we've been up to the past few weekends. Our little man is growing like a weed and is such a happy little guy! This weekend I am taking Ryan to cousin Jeremy's wedding. Jake has to work all weekend so he won't be able to come along, but I'm sure fun times will be had by all.

My ABC's

Because I read about 52 or so blogs everyday, I find some amusing things on other people's pages, and today found this and wanted to play along. (I promise a more updated post of what's been going on around our house is coming - with pictures too!)

A - Age: 27

B - Bed size: King - and I would have it no other way!

C - Chore you hate: Cleaning bathrooms.

D - Dog's name: Harley

E - Essential start your day item: Diet Coke!

F - Favorite color: Red

G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: Silver is my favorite.

H - Height: 5'5" - 5'6"

I - Instruments you play: Played piano and flute for years, but haven't touched either in a long time.

J - Job title: Legal Secretary; Mommy to 1 amazing little man; Wifey to 1 great hubby!

K - Kid(s): Ryan (20 months)

L - Living arrangements: Hubby and Ryan (and Harley)

M - Mom's name: Jennifer

N - Nicknames: P-Dawg

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: C-Section with Ryan.

P - Pet Peeve: Empty toilet paper rolls on the holder, empty Pepsi cubes in the pantry! :)

Q - Quote from a movie: "Do you like apples? I got her number. How do you like them apples?" -Good Will Hunting

R - Right handed or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: 1 Sister, 1 Brother

T - Time you wake up: Monday-Friday, 6:00 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday, usually 8:00 a.m.

U- Underwear: Whatever's comfortable!

V - Vegetable you dislike: Onions and Peppers.

W - Ways you run late: Take too long to get my hair straightened, Ryan crying when I drop him off in the mornings, Long lines at Sonic!

X - X-rays you've had: eh, my teeth?

Y - Yummy food you make: I think my chili beans are pretty awesome! And thanks to Michele's Bunco food, chicken in the crockpot is a new favorite of ours!

Z - Zoo favorite: Monkeys

If you want to play along, post YOUR ABC's! These are fun!

It's a GIRL!

Wow - where has the time gone!? It's been a while since I last posted, things have been really busy lately I guess!

First things first:
Congrats Michelle and David on the news that you're having a GIRL! We are very excited to be welcoming a baby girl into the family this Fall. :)


This past weekend was really fun, Grammy, G.G. and I took Ryan to the Homecoming Parade on Saturday and Ryan did so well sitting and watching the parade. Thank you Grammy for Ryan's new folding chair, now he looks like a big kid sitting in his chair with us! He even got to pet a horse, a very nice gentleman came up to us before the parade started and told us that Ryan could pet the horse if he wanted to - didn't think to take a picture of it though.


Sunday we went to the coast for a visit with Auntie Chell and Uncle David! Ryan was in a great mood and was the best little guy all day, with the exception of a few fussy fits in the car - but that's expected of a little one, right? He played soccer in their back yard, played with Uncle David's race car and continually made us laugh! I'll follow-up this post with some pictures soon.


Other than the usual stuff, nothing much is new these days. We're working and Jake is playing softball again. Tonight will be Ryan's first time watching Jake play co-ed softball in Lemoore this year. I'm hopeful he will sit in his folding chair and watch the entire game -- HAHA! Just kidding, I hope he runs and plays and tires himself out so he will sleep in tomorrow! :)

And lastly, let's give a little "woo-hoo" to Kris Allen who was named the winner of American Idol last night! I normally don't vote, however, I did vote about 12 times after the final performances on Tuesday night! I'd like to think my 12 votes really counted and without them, who knows what would have happened! Haha!

*UPDATED* We will not be going to Jake's softball game tonight because it doesn't start until right at Ryan's bedtime! And I am not a fan of screwing with bedtimes - so maybe next week will be Ryan's first time watching Daddy play softball in Lemoore this year!

I Will Survive; Hair bows and Tutus

Maybe the title of this post should read, "I DID Survive!" because I did survive my first Jillian Michaels workout with the 30 Day Shred. I confess, it took me longer to start than I wanted, in fact my first workout was last night and not Tuesday morning as previously mentioned. However, I did it and I actually look forward to tonight's workout too.

And can I just say "woo-hoo" that Kris, Adam and Danny are the top 3 finalists in American Idol!? Are you people watching? I don't watch religiously because Tuesday night (in my opinion) is the best night of TV and I can only flip between The Biggest Loser, Dancing With the Stars and American Idol so many times without missing the really good parts of TBL!

This weekend my friends Brandi, Debbie and I are going to host a booth (is that the correct terminology, "host"?) at the Art Fair/Craft Fair at the Civic Auditorium. We've been extremely busy this week trying to finish making the last of our hair bows and my tutus. This is my first craft fair to actually sell something that I've made and I'm a little nervous. I pray we at least make a little $, enough to cover the cost of the booth rental would be nice! And since we have to man the booth at all times of the fair, my Mother's Day will consist of waking up early, dragging Ryan to the park with me and hoping he is entertained enough to last through the afternoon! Wish us both luck! And if you're not doing anything this weekend, stop by the booth and say hi. :)

Today was the day; 30 Day Shred

Because sometimes I feel like I have the best friends in the world, I convinced my friend Kristina (Kris, do you have a blog yet?) to join me in buying and committing ourselves to the 30 Day Shred. I've read other blogs that are doing this workout and have confessed their frustrations with it but also have decided they love the pain they are experiencing as a result of their Shredding. SO - today was supposed to be the first day of our workout, on our own and in our own homes. My DVD arrived yesterday and I thought I would share the e-mail I sent to Kristina this morning, so here it is:

At 9:00 last night I went to the mailbox to retrieve my 30 Day Shred – and this is the point I’d like to tell you that it wasn’t there, The End. However, it was, and I opened it right up, put it on top of the TV, set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. and drifted away in dreamland. At 5:30 a.m. I jumped out of bed (or, rolled) and wouldn’t you know I seriously could not get the DVD player to work. I swear, I’m not making this stuff up! I asked Jake before bed how to use it because we have the DVD player, Play Station 2, VHS, Direct TV box and a converter box to make all these things work, hooked up to the TV in our bedroom. He told me it was easy and I followed his exact instructions but couldn’t get anything other than a blue TV screen. So I promise to get it all figured out tonight (as in, he can show me step by step how to make it work) and I will do my workout tomorrow morning. I’m sorry if you started today and I didn’t. I promise I’m not going to be a flake this time around – I just couldn’t get it all working this morning…I know, I suck. :(

And so with that, tomorrow I should have an update on how my first date with the 30 Day Shred (otherwise known as the Jillian Michael's (trainer from The Biggest Loser) workout DVD). Wish me luck. Actually, scratch that, I'm motivated enough to actually hold myself to it this time! So just wish me a not-so-out-of-shape-body that will not be sore the entire weekend!

Care for a Hug anyone?

I taught Ryan how to give hugs this week! I know it probably doesn't sound like much to anyone else but it really is the sweetest thing. :)

I'll post a picture and a more detailed post soon but for now I just wanted to share that my baby now gives hugs!

That's it for today!

Seriously?

Seriously, one more thing to add to my list of anxieties? The Swine Flu? I'd like to believe that because neither myself nor my family have been hanging out in the pig pen in the recent past, we have nothing to fear! However, because there are large number of cases being found throughout the U.S. and possibly as close as the neighboring County, how can I not be a little afraid. I am trying to keep Ryan's hands clean and out of his mouth (does his hands being in his mouth give him a higher chance of catching something?) which requires us washing his hands in the sink with warm water and soap, not the usual wet papertowel or baby wipe.

So as Ryan says, don't be "dity" (translation: dirty) and stay away from the pigs (or whatever is causing this flu!).

Things to Remember

Tonight after work Jake and I were sitting in the living room talking and laughing with Ryan. He is always doing something funny and the best part is that he KNOWS when it should be funny because he throws his head back in laughter too! While sitting watching him play tonight I began to think about how fast time has already gone by and that it's so hard to believe that in just a few short months (ok, 5, but they do go by quick) he will be 2 years old! I really never want to forget all the fun things Ryan is doing right now so I thought I would make a list:

• When you tell Ryan "bye" he always blows kisses.
• He loves to have keys in his hand when he plays in his car.
• When the George Lopez theme song comes on, he will stop whatever he is doing, smile big and stare at the TV (because in case you've been hiding under a rock and haven't seen the show opening, they look to be jumping on a trampoline and he loves to watch them pop up on the screen)!
• He is stubborn!
• He wants to feed himself, even if it involves a fork or spoon, a little mess never hurt anyone.
• He is such a good sleeper. I'm talkin' goes to bed by 8:00 p.m. and sleeps ALL NIGHT LONG, waking between 7:30 on the weekdays and 9:00 on the weekends.
• He loves Harley (the dog).
• He knows our neighbor's names are Mike (he calls him Mikey) and Starr!
• Anytime he hears a motorcycle, loud truck or airplane, he comes running to me asking, "What's that?" and then "oooh"!
• He is a Mommy's boy (although this is a bad thing when Mommy needs a break)!
• He knows all his body parts and can point to them when asked. He blinks his eyes when you ask where his eyes are.
• He loves to hear "secrets" if you whisper in his ear. Now he will whisper back even though they aren't words, it is the sweetest sound and then he giggles!
  

He's such an awesome kid and I'm so very blessed to be his Mommy!