Happy Thanksgiving and Nesting...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
This year was quite different since my mom isn't here and everyone comes over. This year we went to the in-laws and celebrated with vietnamese dishes. As much as I love viet food, I had to have my turkey for the big day and since we went over early and the food wasn't ready, we stopped by Boston Market to pick up traditional Turkey Meal. It wasn't my Mom's but it hit the spot and Gio got his first taste of turkey with his veggies. We chilled at the in-laws and my FIL helped me complete a blanket that I had been saving for Gio. He taught me how to use the sewing machine and I let him do the big part and I completed the pillows. I wasn't going to make pillows, but I had overestimated how much I really needed, so pillows it was. The pillows are more for my bed since it matches my chocolate brown comforter. LOL. I like when things work out in my favor!
I bought the paper to scope out all the Black Friday Deals and I wrote out what I wanted and needed. Was I planning to wake up at 4? Hell No! But my lil bundle of joy wakes up at 6 and we usually play in bed till 7 until I decide it is time to finally get up, lol! Anywhoo he usually wakes up early and I figured might as well use this to my advantage and peruse the sales if any are left. Well of all days Gio wakes up at 730. So I wake up Daddy and we get ready to leave, of course it takes us forever and we dont leave the house till 830, that is quick for us. Can't just walk out the door anymore and if you are a parent who does, lucky you! We went to HomeDepot, Target, BestBuy, CompUsa, Office Depot and Katy Mills throughtout the whole day. Our big loot includes a 7ft lighted x-mas tree, 1TB External Hard-drive, 2USB's, a bluetooth for mommy, mini vac,700 count sheets, and tons of movies including Punky Brewster Episodes. I was more excited about getting that one DVD for 1.99 and my external hard-drive. I know not anything exciting but just things we needed, well not really movies, but you know....=p Since we ran all our errands Thurs and Fri, we relaxed at home Saturday and Sunday. We cleaned up and organized our growing disorder, was able to make a donation pile that I vow to go donate this week!!! We ran to return some items on Saturday after Gio's 2nd nap and then picked up yummy fish tacos that we enjoyed after Gio went to sleep and had movie time for Daddy and Mommy. We also put up the Christmas tree and some decorations, my mom will have to do the rest!
Sunday we slept in again to 715, and then Gio and I went grocery shopping while Daddy went to go workout with Uncle Toan. We came back from the grocery store and I put everything away, then Gio fell asleep in my arms and when I went to put him down he woke up, ugggh! I tried relentlessly to put him down again but no such luck. Put him in his stroller and asked Grams to watch him while I got ready and started on the Broccoli Cheddar Soup. Gio loves his Tita and played with her until it was lunch time. I was cooking the broccoli soup, making lunch for Gio and I-fish and sweetpotato for moi, fish and veggies for Gio with apples, and Chicken Broccoli soup for Gio's food stash. After lunch Gio played some more and then it was nap time again. This time it was perfect, he fell asleep, I put him in bed and off I went to finish my lunch and his food stash. I cleaned up the kitchen and some toys and then finally sat back to finish a movie and put my feet up! Whew! Daddy finally joined us and brought me a mango smoothie, yummy! Gio took a 1.5 hr nap and then we went out for a Starbucks run and drive. Well after lack of communication we ended up locking ourselves out! Luckily my cousins were available and bailed us out. While we waited for them we walked to Border's and read some magazines and children's books. When we got home Daddy fed Gio while I vacuumed the house and he successfully put Gio down to sleep with no need from Mommy! Thank you Daddy! I probably should have rested but I prepared a turkey meatloaf and stuck it in the oven and put a load in the washer. Hey I had free time and took advantage of it so that I can rest during the week and no cooking manana! Ok well I am going to make a greenbean casserole to accompany the meatloaf. I just took it out of the oven, clothes are in the dryer, baby sleeping and now mommy is off to bed! Great weekend and I am exhausted but very happy! So yea feels like I am nesting! Can you nest after you had the baby? I guess so and before you ask I am not pregnant! Hope you all had a great weekend! Can we please have more 4 day weekends??? My bday is in 2 weeks and then Xmas is right around the corner! Can't wait! Oh yea Gio scoped out the Xmas tree, tried touching it, it was probably rough on his hands and then he was over it. I give him some time, he has a whole month to discover it!
Agenda: Gio's birthday planning!! ASAP!

Nite nite! Love you lil sleeping pumpkin, meet you under the coconut tree!

12 years, 1-10 month old and Mr Louie the Boston Terrier!

Happy Anniversary to us! We celebrated our 12 year Anniv this past weekend with a trip to Austin. Here are the dates: Dating-Nov 20, 1998, Engaged-Nov 18, 2006 and Married-Nov 22, 2008. We kind of celebrate all of them on the 20th from the get go. So my hubby had this weekend all planned out and it was nice, not having to worry or plan or think of anything. I did overpack, hey really were you surprised? But to my defense I did not know of any activities and I wanted to be prepared. Well earlier in the week it was really cool in Houston, and it was always cooler in Austin so I packed very warm clothing for Gio and I. Guess what? We got to Austin Saturday morning and it is humid!!! Agggh! Thankfully I packed lighter clothing for Gio and changed him quickly. Thanks to my SIL Christine, we have come to know Austin pretty well after many visits while she she studied at UT. My favorite place to go to is South Congress. I love the shops, ambience and just the freedom to walk everywhere. There is a boutique hotel called the San Jose, that I have always wanted to stay at. It is so inviting and I always told Luan that one day we should stay there for something special, this has been about 4 years in the making... I looked it up once but it was out of our price range, who knew?

We arrive at SOCO and walk around, there are tons of events going on and the current it thing is the Food Truck Nation Vendors. It was a eating fest weekend, we started with pizza at HomeSlice, then a white chocolate mousse coconut pecan pie at Cutie Pies.
Then a Kalbi Crepe, snocones, and then munchies at Mightycone. This was throughout the day...lol. We were walking around and Hubby kept talking about moving the car, so we went along and he drove into the San Jose Parking lot which is next to Jo's Cafe, which we always go to.
I told him it was only for hotel guests and we couldn't park there, he insisted and then I followed him into the Hotel and couldn't get over the fact that we were actually staying there. Awesome surprise.
The courtyard and ambience of the hotel is gorgeous! We all rested for a while and then hit SoCo again for more walking. Man those little little hills were killer with a carrier or stroller, we sure got a workout. Gio took it all in stride and was enjoying being outdoors. Later that night we went to Mozart's on Lake Austin for drinks and dessert. They had all the x-mas lights up and live music on the patio. We hung around on the patio and talked while our lil one just enjoyed people watching. I wonder where he gets that from?

Sunday we woke up early-thank you Gio! We chilled around the hotel. While Daddy got ready I walked Gio out to Jo's next door and we watched as all the bikers went by, people watching again. Daddy joined us in the lounge area and we had some coffee and croissants as Gio tried to walk by holding on to each chair.

He is growing so fast and ready to explore the world. Christine had mentioned Oasis since our first visit to Austin but we kept putting it off everytime, so we finally went. If you are ever in Austin it is a must! It is Oasis on Lake Travis.

The restaurant has great views from every seat. We enjoyed brunch on the terrace with a gorgeous view of the lake. Gio is unfazed by all this but he sure did enjoy his cereal and fruit. We also celebrated Gio's 10 month's. Can time just slow down just a lil...por favor. My lil one sure doesn't look like a little baby anymore...but he sure does sound like one when its time for a nap...lol!


We finally left Oasis and made a pit stop at another landmark-San Marcos outlets. Daddy, Gio and I all got presents, hey it was celebration time and then we headed home! It wasn't the most relaxing weekend,but it was very memorable and enjoyable anniversary! As most people are, we are in our own little world and loving every minute of it! Enjoying 12 years of love and now family time with Baby G and Mr. Louie.

Ear Be Well!

So we were sick, we got Gio sick...remember that... Well Gio doesn't sleep throught the night and he was just waking up crying and screaming but crazy, not stirring...just full out crying. I thought molars or who knows what. Gio goes to bed just fine after our nite time routine by 8 he is out. 845/9 he is up and keeps it going every 45 to every hour and a half. He can't soothe himself or I find him sitting up and trying to fall asleep. He also pulls himself up or pops up on all 4 ready to crawl. I pick him up and he instantly falls back asleep and then we repeat the process. I had read a while ago that once they learn a new trick or crawl or walk, they want to practice it. They will wake up and practice...it's crazy. I feel so bad for him because he is so tired and just scratching his head as he is sitting in his crib, whining. Poor kid. Anywhoo I just had a feeling something was up, this sleeping behavior of crying was not normal. So I finally took him to Pedi sure enough he had an ear infection. Man do I feel like a loser. My mom had mentioned Gio tugging at his ear, but whenever Gio is sleepy he tugs on his ears and rubs his eyes and head, so I thought nothing of it. But since we got sick, it must have made it worse in the process. She perscribed antibiotics and of course we were on the fence whether to use them, because most ear infections are viral and not bacterial. But she said she saw fluid and possibly pus, so we went ahead and started antibiotics. I also started Ear Be Well by WishGardens which is a Ear oil to aid in healing. I also got my otoscope out to check his ear to compare for future possibilities.

Gio has been so clingy lately poor lil man, what my mom and daddy call mammaitis. So gio took his meds and instantly felt better. An exhausted mom and dad felt so relieved that there was something actually wrong with Gio and not just a crazy phase. I know that sounds crazy but we felt helpless because he was just crying and nothing we did could soothe him, especially when it's teeth..nothing. He slept so well that night and has been since. Yesterday he took a 3 hour nap with my mom in the morning and I kept him going throught the afternoon so that he wouldn't nap because it was too late. Lil man was asleep by 6:30...WOW!!! of course he woke up 30 min later at least 3 times, but then after that he was out. He was so exhausted. Overall he slept 12 hours last night, interrupted but he slept and woke up so happy. We will see what happens tonight.
(All my posts have something to do with sleeping, i know, but if you have a child you will one day understand and if you have a child that sleeps throught the nite, Lucky, otherwise, what we are going through is normal, every child is different and Gio is certainly makind his own rules here.)
Anywhoo...I made Gio a nosew Blanket that I love love love. It's his carseat blanket because it's small (bought too little fabric, lol) and I also have fabric for an awesome blanket waiting to be sewed. =p

I am supposed to be planning his birthday but yea no such luck. This past weekend we were visited by family and friends. My Aunt Elo, Cousin Jenny and her bf Patrick visited us. My friend Danette and my fav lil guy Pablo JR visisted as well. We had fun catching up with everybody and spent a relaxing weekend with family and friends.
I also signed up Gio for Baby Sign Language class, we went to one, skipped the second because he was sick and is going to his 3rd tomorrow. The class is fun and of course Mommy is learning her sign language. Gio loves music and instantly calms down when I start singing his favorite. At one point it was "You are my Sunshine" now its "Baby Bumblebee" He Loves it! I also found the best shoes for Gio for ShooFoo. I saw another kid in the class and asked his parents, lol. I went home and orderede them instantly. Can I just say that he loves his shoes. Every other shoe he takes them off, kicks his feet and cries. He can move and crawl around with these shoes. I am so happy to finally get him something that fits. We got him measured at Stride-Rite and he is a 6 ExtraWide. The shoes are cute, but still a little too hard to move about for a beginner walker. Did I just say walker? Sure did, lil G pulls himself up and then walks himself along the sofa as long as he is holding on. Lil G can easily side step but front step isn't quite there. He just jumps up and down like a lil spring. Hilarious. There are times when he lets go and forgets, uh oh! Anywhoo, thats us!



This weekend we are off to Austin to celebrate our Anniversary. We thought about leaving Gio for the night, but it's just not the right time. For one I have to pump 3x a day just to get enough milk and that's just not going to happen, because I am barely getting any out. I get 5-6 oz and that's it. Now when I am home I have to remind Gio to eat because he is play play play. Now when he is ready for nap or sleep he is ready to eat, but otherwise I have to pick him up and make him eat. I used to worry that Gio would never stop feeding, bc he would latch on every 2-3 hours and feed for hours (ok I am exaggerating but it was quite a while) Now I will go about my day and have to remind myself to feed him his milk, otherwise he is eating his solids. Crazy how fast it all goes and changes. He is an efficient eater and is done in less than 10 minutes. Ok yea back to leaving him, he is not sleeping through the nite and I don't want to put that on anyone other than us. Maybe when Gio is older we will venture out on our own for the weekend. Until then it's family time and honestly we enjoy it. Gio snuggled with us on the weekends is heaven and enjoying every minute of it.

Love you Lil Pumpkin!

to do...

so i have alot on my to do list, but have spent the last hour searching the web and becoming inspired by so many different venues....=p well somewhat productive right?
I am trying to plan some ideas for thanksgiving project, xmas presents, gio's birthday and how not to go overboard (too LATE)!
I have been wanting to sew for a while now and need to start asap, so many ideas.. so little time..=p
BIG PROJECT: GIo's Scrapbooks. I started off by making his first month photo album and yea thats where I stopped. I am almost 9 months behind and need to catch up, especially since I have all these free photobook coupons, what am i really waiting for?
Sleep...ughh same ol same ol. keeping gio to a schedule as much as possible and increase his sleep time by soothing and whatever I have up my sleeves. Daddy and I are running on fumes.

This past weekend we were all supposed to go to San Antonio, bc I won the Houston Alumni Rep for OLLU Alumni Exec Council. Well Tuesday came and I thought I was dying....lack of sleep, exhausted and any bug can take me down. Daddy and I were out for the count and then we contaminated poor Baby G. Well guess what we are feeling alot better but now he has a remaining cough and now the three of us passed it to my mom...woops. Speaking of my mom she has been under alot of stress with my grams care and health. My grams has been in the hospital 3x in the last month and a half. My mom has been shuffling her to so many dr's appts weekly, its getting out of hand..she is running out of steam. Even though we fight often, we love each other deeply and I couldn't have left Gio with anyone other than her to take care of him. He loves his Abuelita and smiles when he sees her each morning. Thanks Mom for all that you do!! FYI Grams is ok, she is out of the hospital and was misdiagnosed she did not have an infection in her heart valve but rather increased calcifications. My mom is also going to El Salvador for a week so I hope she gets some much needed rest, but she is visiting her ailing stepmother.

Anywhoo we decided to stay home and rest this past weekend and thank goodness we did, because Gio was a ruckus. He is certainly not feeling well on top of that he is teething and the damn time change. Saturday we went to BaNoi's. She took care of Gio while Mommy and Daddy went to see Due Date, hilarious. Did we go out for lunch, shopping, run errands...Nope. We went straight home to find Gio sleeping, so we joined him. We then went to dinner with BaNoi and headed home. Sunday Gio woke up at 7. Daddy and Mommy played the sleeping game, but it didn't work. We cleaned up around the house. Daddy and Gio watched football and napped while I went out for some errands and a manipedi. Thanks Daddy. I came home and made yummy enchiladas for everyone and experimented with spaghetti squash, my fave. Trying out some recipes soon! Love it!

Today Gio decided to wake up at 5, nothing would sway him to sleep again, so i let him play as I played "dead" next to him. In his playing his hand got too close to my eyesocket and I almost lost an eye which signaled the end of playtime and on to breakfast for all. Thanks for the timechange he was in bed by 730, lets hope that lasts and hopefully keep him sleeping in. Only time will tell. I'm off to bed folks, momma is tired and very sleep deprived. I am going back to the gym tomorrow because I have been out for a week due to this cold and I am aching to go back. We took a family walk today to help us get one foot forward...Nitey nite!

Happy Halloween

Hallow's Eve-
I took Gio to a farmer's market in search of some fresh veggies, but all they had were leafy veggies and organic meats, which are great for future trips. We walked around Rice Village and then headed home for an early lunch. We then got ready for the Motherhood Center's Halloween Bash and also registered for Baby Sign Language. The studio photographer had a special on portraits and we went ahead and had Gio take some shots. Well lil pumpkin wasn't having it, it was serious face all around. When we left, smile galore lol. We played around for a bit and then headed out to NASA. The annual Ballunar Festival was being held on NASA grounds and I was really excited to go, I love hot air balloons. We finally arrive and guess what no balloons except for one. The winds were too high and they had to take them down, boo! We waited around till 730 when the ballunar glow was to occur. They were going to blow up all the balloons again and light them up. It was worth the wait, pictures don't give it justice, it was gorgeous. We finally headed home and fell asleep quickly.


Halloween-
We woke up and treated ourselves to Dim Sum, love it. It was still early enough that we decided to watch a movie before the crowds come in and we become those parents. It was close to nap time, so it was great timing. Gio falls asleep but once the movie starts he wakes up and is ready for playtime. Well Mr. Crawler is ready for all sorts of fun and sitting in a theatre was not his cup of tea, the movie time is over for us, we will have to wait for when he gets older to sit through a movie. It was nice because we were the only ones in the theatre, but Gio wasn't having it. Daddy was enjoying the movie, but Mommy couldn't because Gio was getting restless. After bursts of frustration from Gio, Mommy made the decision to leave, Daddy wasn't ready but Gio needed out. Guess what once we were out and home, Happy Gio all around. =p. Spent the rest of the evening organizing, took a walk around the neighborhood, visited by Iliana and Lucy and finally put Gio down in his pumpkin pjs, while the door would not stop ringing from trick or treaters, who came late. Daddy and Mommy enjoyed pizza and wine with a movie at home, while our lil pumpkin started his slumber. All in all a good weekend with my boys as always.