Big Boy Underwear

Potty training has been tough. Our problem has been being consistent. I decided we were going to really buckle down and try harder to be consistent with potty training Ryland after we got back from our trip to Oregon. That was over 3 weeks ago.

Ryland loves wearing "big boy underwear." He actually insists on wearing it most of the time. He won't poop in his "BBU," but peeing he'll pretty much do anywhere anytime. Two weeks ago I started bringing him to daycare in his "BBU." He had 3 accidents the first day, but that's ok, it was expected and I armed daycare with extra "BBUs" and shorts. The next day, no accidents!! He came home with a paper cut-out of a trophy with the words, "I used the potty!" handprinted on it. I was so proud! I told him then that we should use the potty again before having dinner. He looked at me with a "omg mom" look on his face and said, "mommy, I pee-pee in the potty at daycare. I don't pee-pee in the potty at home!" As if it was ridiculous for me to even think he would dare use the potty at home. Great... He had 3 accidents before bedtime and it's been that way every day until... today.

Today is a glorious day!! Today, my son, my Ryland, for the very first time ever, pee-pee in the potty at HOME!! I couldn't contain myself and I started to cry for joy. My little boy is growing up so fast and I know I'm still in store for more accidents, but for today, today is the best day ever. I'm so proud of my boy.

Stupid Penny

So it's Friday night, I just finished brushing Ryland's teeth and am now brushing my own.  Ryland's standing next to me.  He tugs my shirt and I look down to see him sticking out his tongue to show me the shiny penny he just placed on it.  He laughs, still sticking out his tongue.  I tell him, "take that out.  It's disgusting and you might choke."  He proceeds to retrieve the penny with his fingers and instantly his gag reflex is triggered and down goes the penny in one clean gulp.  He looks surprised, then sticks out his tongue again.  " It's all gone Mommy!"  "Oh my god Ryland...  You swallowed the penny?"  "Yeah, Mommy it's all gone!"  Thinking...  thinking...  thinking...  what do I do?  This has never happened to any one I could think of.  Will it "pass?"  Are his intestines big enough for that?  Should I have him throw it up?  No, he might choke...  what should I do?  Call nurse connection.  So, apparently this happens quite often.  The nurse chuckles after going through the gamut of questions to finally determine that Ryland's air-ways, drink-ways and food-ways are all clear.  Perfect!  Then she tells me, he'll probably pass it within the next day or two and that I will need to check his poop for it and if it doesn't appear after 3 days that I should probably get him x-rayed.  Oh great...  I get to check poop for the next 2 or 3 days.

The next day, the family is getting ready to go to my parents house to finish picking up all the stuff we left there from the party the week before.  After my parents, we have a birthday party to go to, then my aunt's for the Pacquiao fight, so I'm trying to get all the kids stuff together for a long day/night out.  Ryan's already outside with Joss waiting for me and Ryland.  I'm running around trying to hurry up and I see Ryland from the corner of my eye start to take off his clothes.  I tell him, "Ryland, stop we're leaving now."  Then I smell it.  Great.  He's about ready to take off his diaper and I sternly tell him, "do NOT take off your diaper!  Mommy will do it because you're going to make a mess."  Of course, he doesn't listen.  I turn around for one quick second and now he's buck naked and the diaper's on the floor.  URGH!  "Why don't you listen to Mommy?  I told you not to take off your diaper!  Don't touch anything and come here!"  I lead him to the downstairs bathroom with the diaper in hand ready to search for that stupid penny.  I tell Ryland again, "don't touch anything.  Mommy needs to clean you up."  I place the diaper on top of the step stool that we keep there for Ryland to reach the sink.  As I'm kneeling in front of the step stool, manipulating the diaper so that I can smear the poop and what appears to be the skins of grapes he ate just that morning trying to find that stupid penny, I suddenly feel tiny fingers wiping down the middle of my back.  I immediately stop.  "RYLAND!  I told you not to touch anything!  Urgh!"  I take a deep breath to control my temper and me from screaming at him.  I turn around and see him holding up his poopie hands.  I grab his shoulders with my two hands and look him square in the eye.  "Ryland, you make Mommy so mad!"  I picked him up under his pits, holding him at arms length and take him to the upstairs bathtub to wash him down.  Once I had him cleaned, diapered and dressed, I sent him outside to wait with Ryan and Joss so that I could wash myself down and change my clothes.  Needless to say, that stupid penny didn't show up until his 3rd poop the next day.  **grrrrr**  Boys!  I swear, they're trouble with a capital "T."

Jacob & Joss

"You are my life now. I will protect you."

What was he dreaming...

We're still having bed issues with Ryland.  He'll start off in his bed, but will usually end up in ours around 2am or if we're lucky around 6am.  Last night was no different.  He comes into our room around 2-ish and I'm feeding Joss (she's off her schedule for some reason).  Ryland climbs into our bed and finds "his" pillow which is actually Ryan's pillow and quickly falls asleep.  Joss finishes up, I burp her and put her back in her crib.  It takes me a while to fall asleep and no sooner was I asleep that I feel Ryland crawling to get out of bed.  I open one eye and see that it's 4am.  Then I hear his feet go pitter-patter as he runs down the hall.  I'm thinking, what in the world is that kid doing?  He runs back into our room and to my side of the bed and says, "mommy, the monsters coming!"  

I tell him, "be quiet and go back to bed."  

His response, "I need my sword!  The monsters coming!"  He turns to face the door and is holding up this imaginary sword.

I tell him, "sweetie, there's no monsters.  Go back to bed."

His response, "ok mommy."  

Then he climbs back into bed, finds "his" pillow and falls back asleep.  Me on the other hand, can't fall back asleep for another hour.  =/  What in the world was he dreaming about?

My Halloween vs Her Halloween

My Halloween is...  

...dressing Ryland up as "Diego," his all-time favorite show right now and Josselyn up as a "chicken" because Ryland was a chicken last year and momma's too broke to buy her a new costume.

...taking our annual October trip to Disneyland and taking kids to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party at California Adventure.

...taking kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.

... and passing out candy from home.

Last night, Ryan and I had one of our (seldom ever) nights on the town and saw "Her Halloween."

Her Halloween is...

...dressing up as "Sluty Snow White."

...dressing up as a "sluty chef."

...dressing up as a "sluty boy scout."

...dressing up as a stripper WITH her own portable POLE!!

...and my favorite, having your boyfriend dress as Diego and you dress as "sluty Dora."  

If you wanna dress like a slut for Halloween, who knew you can make anything sluty??  You're not limited to just dressing up as a stripper.  BUT, if you're gonna be a stripper, ya better bring your own pole because then you're just not trying hard enough.

  

The Happiest Place On Earth

Here are some pictures of the Valasco Families' annual trip to Disneyland.

Getting ready for Toy Story, the ride.

Cousin Anthony was chosen to train at the Jedi Academy

Here he is fighting Darth Vadar

Riding the train

Hanging out in Toon Town

Roger Rabbit ride.  It was fun going in, but a terrible ride for kids.

The Valascos (minus Joss, who was with Grandma for the weekend)

Freakin' Genius

I think every parent would like to think their kid is smart and not just smart, but in our case, smartER than the average 2 year old.  I am "every parent."  

Ryland's new trick is finishing sentences when I read certain books with him.  He's so into the "Dinosaur" books ("How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?" etc.) and books about race cars.  At first, I would point to an object or character on a page and have him say the word and then I would continue reading.  But now...  he just knows how the story goes.  And, rhyme or no rhyme.  It doesn't matter.  If he likes the book, he just knows how it goes.

He totally gets into the stories too.  He gets sad when the character gets sad or scared when there's something scary.  He's even asked me what words like "pout" "sigh" and "spooky" mean.  What 2 year old does that?  So, his other new trick is expressing emotions.  He can do happy, sad, mad, scared and of course, he can pout.  It cracks me up when I have him do it all over and over again.  He starts to get confused and then he cracks up.

As much as he is a handful at 2, I wouldn't change him or this time of his life for anything.  I love this age.  He's just like a sponge.  Soaking up the world around him.

Welcome to my world

How the hell do you bill for your time when more than half way through preparing 4 income tax returns you realize someone has already completed the returns and a) didn't tell you, b) didn't make copies for the file and c) didn't even send out a cover letter to the client when they mailed the returns? YOU CAN'T!!!! ARGHHH!!!!

Joss Milestones

It's been so long since I wrote about Joss and what she's up to now.  She's just over 5 months now and is babbling non-stop.  She's still such a happy baby, but is now realizing that if she screams and squeals at the top of her lungs, I will magically appear.  I actually think she thinks it's a game.  Her umbilical hernia is no longer.  I really need to post an "after" picture of her belly button.  Note to self...  "post 'after' picture of Joss' belly button."

Joss' milestones are still a little delayed since she was born 6 weeks early.  I find myself comparing her to Ryland even though I know I shouldn't.  She's still a little wobbly with her head/neck control.  She's getting lots of tummy time, but it seems like she's just lazy or maybe her head's just too heavy.  She hates the Bumbo chair where Ryland loved it at 3 months!  There I go again...  I really need to stop thinking like that.  So, we're probably not going to start rice cereal until after 6 months.

Last night Joss had a pretty significant milestone.  She can turn over from her back to her tummy.  It's kinda scary because I heard faint cries, but didn't know it was her.  I checked on her anyway and found her in her crib on her tummy struggling to pick up her heavy head.  Poor thing...  I really have to keep my ears open when she's sleeping.

More exciting times ahead...  =)

Ryland Milestone

I just can't believe it!  Ryland is growing up so fast.  He's showing a lot of interest in potty training.  For about a month now, he's been asking to sit on the toilet, but it wasn't until last Thursday morning that he actually did something.  As Ryan was changing his diaper, he noticed that his poop was already starting to crown.  So he rushed him to the toilet and sat him down.  There he sat for about 5 minutes doing nothing.  I figured he wasn't comfortable yet to actually push it out.  I asked if he was finished, he said "yes."  So, I told him to hug my legs so that I could wash his ba-butt.  I must have relaxed his butt muscles or something because next thing you know, he was gripping my legs and pushing.  I stopped washing him (of course) and then *PLOP* Out it came!  I cheered, clapped and praised Ryland's great job.  I finished washing him and helped him off the toilet.  There he stood admiring his fine work.  He looked so proud, pointing and exclaiming, 

"I did it Mah-ee, I did it!  I poopoo toilet!"  

"Yes you did, Buddy!  You did it!"

Since then, Ryland's pooped in the toilet twice without incident and pee-ed in the toilet several times with a couple of accidents where he didn't quite make it into the toilet.  We're so proud of our little guy!  =)

Look what I found...

How cute were Des, Laurilyn and Alana!!  They were just babies here!!

I love you too

What a wonderful day today turned out to be.  It started off just so-so.  Got to work early.  Plugged away.  Exchanged my cel phone at Verizon during lunch.  Picked up a Sixteen Mango Mantra.  Plugged away.  Hit zero traffic.  Picked up kids from daycare.  Met SGC at Miramar Lake.  Fed kids dinner.  Ate dinner.  Gave Joss her bath.  Put her down for the night.  Gave Ryland his bath.  Took a shower.  Read Ryland 2 books.  Cuddled with Ryland.  Gave him a kiss goodnight.  Turned off the light.  Then it happened...  For the very first time ever... 

"I lub you mah-ee."

The perfect ending to my otherwise uneventful day.  =)

Rocking out to Journey

When the lights go down in the city

And the sun shines on the bay
Do I want to be there in my city
Ohoh, ohohoh, ohoh

Dinner with friends at Yokazunas

Just inside the Cricket Wireless Ampitheater

One of the reasons why I love my rocker husband.  

He knows how to have fun!  

Catching up

Party's over...  I'm back at work from maternity leave.  I was actually looking forward to coming back to work.  I think I'm that one person that actually likes my job.  I was gone for 3 months and OMG, so many things happened at work while I was gone.  The office manager was FIRED!  She had some problems of the alcoholic and pill-popping kind and from what I hear her exit was not pretty.  The former receptionist, who became the billing person a few months before I left for maternity leave is now the office manger.  WOW!  Great promo for her!  The office lobby was remodeled.  It looks different, but yet still boring and the same.  Go figure...   They inherited the practice of a local attorney who recently retired  and they hired an associate attorney, paralegal and secretary.  You would think that the new associate, paralegal and secretary are there to help out with the practice we inherited.  You would think that, right?  Wrong!!  It's all falling on mine, my boss and my co-worker's laps.  The newbies are for the litigation side.  Sorry, we don't litigate.  

My desk is covered with files upon files upon files.  It's taking me a while just to sort through everything so that I can prioritize things.  Feels good, but I do feel a little overwhelmed.  I hope I didn't lose too many brain cells while I was gone.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done before my boss gets back from vaca.

I'm surprised, but happy to say that I've been keeping up with the workouts.  YAY!!  I'm still going to cardio every Thur and Sat, still doing the Wii Fit at home and I've added walking 2-3 days a week.  I need to get myself ready for the AFC 5k.  It's coming up quick and I still haven't started running.  I think I'll be up to jogging speed soon.

I have lots of pictures to post from Sea World and the Del Mar Fair.  Hopefully I'll get to those soon.

SYTYCD

I'm hooked on So You Think You Can Dance!  This is the first season I've actually watched from the beginning.  I'm so in love with Chelsie H. and Mark that I had to hop on the Apple at friggin' midnight just to blog about them.  I absolutely loved them from day one when they did a contemporary dance choreographed by Mia Michaels.  It was sooo Tim Burton getting married.  Tim Burton anything reminds me of Johnny Depp so that's already got me interested.

Tonight they did a hip hop dance choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon and it was SOOO good!!!  I love love love it!!  Makes me want to try harder at cardio hip hop.  Look out!!  I'm gonna turn it up tonight!!

My shadow

Wherever I am and anywhere I go, there HE is asking, "wat you doing? wat you doing? wat you doing?"  No matter what my answer is, his response is always, "Ooooh."  As if he totally understands.  If I'm not in view of his surroundings, all I hear is, "Mah-ee where are you?  Mah-ee where are you?"  Momma's boy you think?  Yes, I think.  Ryland is so attached to me and it's a love/hate thing.  I hate that it's hard for me to get things done around the house because he just won't leave me alone, but I just love that he loves being with me all day everyday.  He won't be this little for long and then the day will come when hanging out with mom won't be the coolest thing to do.  So, I'll take the constant, "Mah-ee where are you?"  and the "wat you doing?"  any day and everyday.

Mini-Ryan

DFC

My niece, Loreal, graduated from high school yesterday.  I can't believe Loreal's all grown up now.  She was the same age as my son when I graduated high school.  Dang!!  It's been THAT long??  Oh-me-oh-my!

Seeing Loreal with all her friends, hugging... laughing... smiling... posing for pictures...  I started to reminisce about my graduation and my friends.  We called ourselves the "Dope Female Crew."  I can't believe I just said that out loud!!  Sorry girls...  I had to mention DFC. 

DFC: Me, Liza, Apple, Sherry & Abby

Back then I didn't know what the future held for any of us.  Would we still be friends in 5, 10, 20 years?  It's been 16 years and I'm so happy to say, DFC lives on!!  We're still the best of friends.  We've supported one another through the good and bad, been bridesmaids for each other, godmothers to each other's kids, etc.  I can honestly say that most of my fondest memories in life have been with these girls.  I don't remember any of the speeches from my graduation, but I do remember the feeling of that day.  Up until then, that was THE best day of my life.  Remembering that feeling gets me excited for Loreal and what the future holds for her.  Because my sister and I are very close, Loreal's always been like a daughter to me.  I have so many hopes and dreams for her.  I want to guide her and protect her, but still let her explore and live life to the fullest.  It's exciting and scary all at the same time.  I know that I won't be that person she goes to when she needs advice or support because I think I am like a mom to her.  So, I wish her a DFC of her own to lean on, laugh with and make the best memories of her life with.  Exciting times lies ahead...

Becoming pretty

Everyone says "all babies are cute," EXCEPT my mom.  The other day as she was carrying my  daughter, she says, "oh, she's becoming pretty."  Uhh, thanks mom!  Was she not the cutest thing ever before?  Ok, I admit, Joss was not an immediate cutie patootie unlike Ryland who was born looking soo adorable with a dimple to boot!  Joss was a preemie for goodness sake.  All skinny, wrinkled and hairy.  Kinda like a baby monkey.  I knew she would fill out and lose the hairy back, but I still didn't know if after that she would be undeniably cute.  Yes, I was a little worried when or if she would become cute, so my mom wasn't alone.  My mom starts to tell me about how when I was a baby, I was really ugly.  Yes, she did say that and no, I wasn't mad.  My mom says "un-mother-like" and inappropriate things all the time.  She continues with her story...  In a worried tone she says, "how can I take this baby home to my parents?"  May, my older sister, came out of the womb looking as cute as a button, so having me looking not just "so-so," but "ugly" made her worry.  The day comes and her parents and 8 siblings come out to greet her, my dad, my sister and me.  They gathered our bags and brought us inside.  In all the commotion of exchanging hellos, hugs and kisses, my mom asks, "where's the baby?"  Everyone looks around trying to find me.  Low and behold my aunt put my carrier, with me still strapped in, underneath the kitchen table.  She didn't know I was a real baby!  My mom jokes that I was there for a while because I was all dusty when they finally found me.  ha-ha-ha...  very funny mom... (I say sarcastically)  Anyhoo...  in case you don't believe I was an unattractive baby, here's a pic of me and my sister.

I'd like to think I've become pretty and Joss is becoming too.  =)

Need A New Blog Title

Thanks to my best bud SherE1, I've been introduced to the world of blogs and I'm beginning to really like it.  I'm still getting used to being candid with the going-ons of my life for all of blogging world to see so I don't think my blog title really suits me.  In person, I think I'm a straight-shooter, but here, not so much so.  At least not yet...  I need a little warming up.  So, I thinks I need me a new blog title.  Stay tuned for hopefully a new and improved title.