Check Out Her Kicks

Busy errand day Friday for us. Before we started our errands we wanted to have some fun with Missy O and what better way to have fun than going to Kidco. At this point we should invest in a monthly pass for how much we go. Her favorite is the "Market Place." They did a great job setting up different areas for the children's imagination. I've talked about it before but to brush up they have a play yard; which is a bunch of cars and jungle gym, tool workshop, post office, market place, school, library, home, and restaraunt. It's a pretty neat place and I love how it is play time but influences them to think. Olivia's favorite is the market place. I should say more obsessed than anything. Every time we come here she goes directly to this area first. Recently they added a "fridge" and Olivia right away went crazy for it! She likes to pick out her groceries and put them in the cart. On her own (at 15 months) goes over to the cash register to check out. So smart she is already! She can do this for hours if we let her.

After Kidco we had some shopping to do. Our favorite! Only a couple months ago we got her some big kid shoes and sandals, since she started to walk at 10 months old. Now she has gotten so good at walking, she even runs! Great exercise for mommy and daddy. Lately I have noticed that her shoes were getting kind of hard to put on. I had a feeling she was already out growing them. I felt bad because the tennis shoes that my mother in law (Kellie) got for her, she only wore maybe 5 times or so. I mentioned my concern to Blake and suggested we take her in to get her feet measured. Mommy was right! She moved up a WHOLE size already. We found these cute Sketchers that light up and of course, Livy fell in love with right away! Thankfully they were on clearance! Normally they run 50 dollars (for toddlers!) and we got them for 20 bucks! Complete steal. When we got home I remembered that my mom got me (for Livy) cute high top tennis shoes when I was pregnant.. Guess what?! She fits those now too!!! Olivia is set for the fall! I'm obsessed with how girly and obnoxious these are!

We had a couple more errands to do (and of course Olivia showed everyone her new shoes). Dinner time came around and the hubby took us out for a date. Even though Livy was a little bit fussy today, due to teething, we took the risk. Dinner was amazing and little miss was on her best behavior! It's so cute seeing her in a restaurant settings. She looks at the menu and always says "Ohhhhh..." Today she picked out mac n cheese and corn for dinner... Yum! I'm so proud of the little lady she is becoming, even through the tantrums. Every day she shows us something new that she has learned. Makes me sad for how fast she is growing up!

Peaceful Thursday

This has been a very relaxing Thursday, especially with the holiday weekend coming up, we wanted to take it easy. I had class in the morning and right after we went high chair shopping! We got a free high chair when I was pregnant and it worked out great. Unfortunately, because it was a hammy down, it is starting to fall apart. We have been putting it off for about a month now but it is finally time to upgrade. We headed to Target and other baby stores, and we couldn't find anything that we liked. Either it was over priced or flat out ugly! Being the tech guy my hubby is, he said to check out Amazon. Little behold I found one within the first 5 minutes! It is supposed to arrive Saturday! I love Amazon... So easy and simple.

I decided it was time to update the monthly planner for September. Thinking August was a busy month for us, September is just as bad, if not worse! Between Blake's new job, school, birthdays, family coming into town, trips, and so on we are in for one crazy month! Blake started to see that I was getting a little stressed out balancing everything and suggested we go for a walk. We tend to go on a lot of family walks. To get some fresh air, quality time and no distractions helps us to relieve any stress. Plus Olivia & Stitch LOVE it. For her birthday back in May we got her this cute princess car. It first started as a rocking car then eventually turns into a push car. It's pretty neat. Livy is finally at the age where she understand to push her self and big enough for balance (somewhat). So for this walk we took her princess car for the first time and... SHE HAD A BLAST! The photo itself shows how much excitement she had. Because it was nearly 100 degrees out, we did a very short family walk. Just like our normal routine we all got some water and turned on a family movie. Olivia seemed to be in her independent time and I took advantage of doing a quick reading for school. All of a sudden Blake whispered to me to look. Olivia found a napkin and was dunking it in her cup. Then she would walk over to Stitch and was "bathing" him. She has never done this before and it was down right hilarious! I even caught it on video. Livy did this for about 45 minutes until she got tired. These two crack me up and the look on poor Stitch's face was priceless!

  

Big News For The Wood Family

If this is your first time reading my blog I suggest checking the "A little history goes a long way" tab at the top, to fully understand why this news is so important to us. I don't even know where to begin except I'll say... 

WHOOHOO! 

After 3 years of "hell" and not having a permanent home, we can finally say it is coming to an end. Most students don't get a job until after they have completed their undergrad studies. Some do get internships but normally they aren't paying and they are minimum wage. My husband who has been working his butt off for the last 3 years finally caught a break! He started his first day of his last semester as an undergrad and he already landed his first "big boy" JOB!!!

No more stressing about prorating pay checks or dealing with the VA anymore! As much as the GI Bill was a blessing, it sure was a pain. We are still in shock! This isn't some petty job, this is an accounting job for a great company here in Burbank. Because he landed this job we actually get to start looking for houses a lot sooner than we thought! I'm so proud of this guy! I lived and personally seen what hard work he has done. If anyone deserves it this guy does! He isn't on salary until he is done with school in December but still... HE HAS A JOB! The amount of stress that is relieved  from the both of us is indescribable! We are truly blessed and extremely thankful for this opportunity. He starts in September on the 8th! The second he got the email that he was for sure in, he instantly put his two weeks notice at his other jobs. I haven't seen him this happy in a long time!

And a plus I get to see him in business clothes. He looks so handsome all dressed up! The holidays this year are going to be more enjoyable, we get to finally buy a house, pay off some student loans and begin this new journey. We haven't bought a house yet because we have not known where we will be living permanently. No need to make a big purchase like that, when we have moved 10 times in the last 6 years! To finally start looking for our permanent home is a dream come true! To build memories and to grow our family more. We can't wait! God works in amazing ways!

First Week Of School

Yay! Pumpkin spice latte is BACK!

The day has finally arrived. I am officially a student again! It feels so great! I dropped Olivia off with my mother in law (Kellie) in the morning and I made my way to school. Walking to class I started to realize how old I am. These kids look like they just came out of the mothers womb. Everyone was waiting outside of class and I noticed the lights were on. I asked this guy if we were allowed in and he replied "I dunno".... Did you even try dude? Geez. Of course, being older and not caring, I walked right in and the professor greeted me. Immediately everyone else followed... Really people? I thought I was nervous and these kids were down right terrified!

The professor was and is amazing! It's a history class (Western Civilization) and luckily he is hilarious! I love history but if you get a dry professor it can make it really boring. I was going to take two classes this semester but with how much work this teacher requires outside of class, I had to drop my other one. On top of the quizzes, test, reading, homework and writing assignments, I have to still make time for my beautiful daughter! So I already have 100 pages to read by Tuesday for our first quiz. Getting used to doing this work on top of taking care of the house and Olivia will be a challenge, but than again it is only one class for this semester. Trying to ease my way back into being a college student.

My beautiful, exciting textbook...

Blake started his first day of his last undergrad semester! So proud of him! He is only taking 3 classes this fall, since that is all he needs to graduate. Ethics, Tax and Forensic Accounting... Sounds like fun? After this week he said his classes are going to be pretty easy except for tax. I just keep reminding him he has done a lot worse and it is his LAST semester. He is so ready to be done and I don't blame him. He ended up with no homework or reading this week, unlike me (lucky duck). Which is nice because he is helping me study for my up coming quiz. It's pretty cute that we are both in school!

Overall great first day and week for the both of us! Couldn't complain. When I went to go pick up Olivia from my in laws, Kellie talked to me all about my first day. It's so nice that she cares so much! She offered to watch Olivia for this semester since it is only two days a weeks for 4 hours total a week. No need in wasting $500 a month on daycare for that short of a time. So as of now this is a permanent thing instead of daycare, which I'm happy about. I hurried back home to get the hubby up (he worked until 5am) because he had a huge phone interview! But that deserves its own blog so I won't talk too much about that now. The rest of the day was a typical Wood household adventure; grocery shopped, read and cleaned the house. BUT it was the BEST day ever with great news! A new beginning for this family and I'm so excited what the future holds! Guess you will have to wait and see why and what! Stay tuned!!!

Birthday Bash Continued

So of course our crazy life has caught up with me and I haven't had the time to blog. To continue the celebration weekend for the hubs I'll start with Saturday.  Saturday was a very easy relaxing day. Our local aquatic center had a free youth program to promote good health for the little ones. Our friend works for the city so he was able to give us a tour (it's actually quite large). I'll name a few activities since there were probably 50 or so "sports" going on. In the pool they had Kayaks and paddle surfing. On the lower level field they had golf, hoola hoops, soccer, raffles, fencing. On the top level inside the gym was hockey, face painting, My Gym, and hospital promotions. The outside part had volleyball, frisbee, etc.! Gives you an idea of the big event in town; Like I said there was A LOT going on. So we did that for a couple hours. Later we met up with his family for Blake's and his brother's bday dinner. Olivia ran outside the restaurant and had a blast with her uncles! Very simple quiet evening. Which was much needed for the next day...

DISNEYLAND!!!!

Blake and I have always been kids at heart and LOVE Disneyland (in front of Cinderella's castle is where he proposed). He got us season passes last Christmas and we have probably gone at least 10 times already!  The last 5 times we have brought Olivia and believe it or not, there is a lot for her to do for her age. She most likely won't remember it but we love it! This time around we wanted to go on the "big kid" rides so Oli stayed with my in laws and had a sleep over.

It was seriously the most perfect day!  Weather was perfect, we went on every single ride (even in CA adventure), Blake even got me a new Mini Mouse blouse and we even ate at the ESPN zone for dinner. They have this ride at Disneyland  called Buzz Lightyear and it is a ritual that we go on it every time! While the ride is moving you "shoot" these lazers at targets to get points. Each target has different points. Ever since we were dating I would kick his ass at this game. I felt bad, so I ended up telling him my secret that you want to aim for the blue or purple targets (which are higher points). He claimed that he does and that I am cheater! This time around he finally listened to my advice and he WON! He says I let him but trust me I didn't. At the end of the ride you can find your picture (that they snap when you have no idea) and email it to yourself. THEY SWITCHED THE SCORES! Omg, I was dying laughing. He finally won and they didn't even give him credit for it. Again, he claimed I somehow cheated.

 My favorite part was finishing our day watching the fireworks. We normally can't make it past 7 pm and head home (I sound so old) but we made it to 11pm! So proud of us! I made Blake go on splash mountain,  which landed him in the front row! He was not thrilled... he got so soaked! It was hilarious! But because of that, for the rest of the day, our feet were rubbed raw. The second we got to the car we immediately took our shoes and socks off. We probably sat for a good 20 minutes in the parking lot in relief from the pain of our feet. People were just staring at us but honestly we did not care at that point. It was completely worth it! The last three days have gone by so fast. This weekend was a success!

Day One Of Birthday Bash

The weekend is finally here and we are celebrating the hubs (Blake) birthday! Normally we only celebrate the day but this isn't only a special occasion for his birthday but a whole lot more! Monday will be his first day of his LAST semester as an undergrad! I couldn't be any more happier than I already am. His hard work is undeniable! This guy (since the Marines) works 50 hours or more on top of being a full time student (4 classes at a time). Seriously, I can only say this enough, how much I appreciate him! This guy deserves the world! So...  His birthday so happens to fall on his last weekend before the big final semester. Did I mention he has three interviews going right now?! YA! We are not talking about these petty part time jobs but a big boy job in accounting. This guy is crazy! Our superman.


Lets begin with day one... A BLAST! He worked the night before so we didn't get started until about 11am. Blake, Olivia and I piled up in the car and began our family adventure to Pasadena. Blake and I love downtown Pasadena; the atmosphere, food, activities. There is so much to do down there. Blake's favorite beer company is Stone Brewery. When he was stationed at Camp Pendleton in 2008 we discovered this amazing beer. We have been supporters ever since! I personally stick with the pale ale's but he loves all their really dark beers. Especially, the Reuinnation. On the bottle it says it is meant to ruin your palate for all other beers, and it does. The second I take a sip of it I find it hard to go back to my own beer. We discovered they have a Stone store in Pasadena. Anyways, as a birthday gift I got him the growler and two nice beer glasses. The growler is this insane jug filled with your favorite stone beer. (See photo).

After that quick stop, we headed to Huntington Library Botanical Gardens. Thanks to an old friend Allee (who works there) got us free passes. We have never been and we assumed it was a small place. We were wrong! This place is amazing and huge! Definitely wasn't prepared for it. They had a children's garden where Olivia ran around and had a blast. She even got wet! Which was great on this hot summer day. Blake really wanted to see the "stinky" flower. Apparently it was supposed to bloom this weekend but we weren't so fortunate to witness that. The Japanese and rose garden were absolutely breath taking! I wish we lived closer because I would so relax there all the time. We had no clue this place existed and I highly recommend going if you live near by.

Little Miss O started to get cranky and we hadn't realized how fast time flew by. We headed back over to downtown and got (our favorite) Slater's 50/50! We are obsessed with this restaurant! We probably go at least once a month. If you are a big hamburger person you must try this place out! Their burgers are top notch! Of course we had to get the bacon brownie. That is right... BACON brownie! Sounds odd but is by far the best dessert out there. Olivia loves their mac n cheese. The kids portion is honestly way too big but somehow she manages to eat half of it. All the way home she was tooting up a storm!

Finally we got home around 7pm. We all got our pjs on, turned on a family movie and cuddled. It was the best day! My favorite part about today was watching Olivia explore and her face just lights up. Every time she saw a plant or flower she would say "oohhh." Watching life through your children's eyes is an in-explainable experience. I can't get enough of her! Blake and I are truly blessed. Through all the struggles the past 3 years we always have each other. To know I have him and he has me we can get through anything. Can't wait to see what Saturday brings on this fun family filled weekend celebration!

Pink Eye, Two Shots And Tantrums

Enjoying this summer heat! In a couple weeks I start school again and my husband is starting his last semester at CSUN for his accounting major. I'm SO proud of him! He served 4 years in the Marine Corps and wanted to go back to school to make a better life for us. Working 50-60 hours a week (day and night), plus taking 4-5 classes in college... I seriously don't know how he does it. So 3 years later we are finally coming to an end of this crazy life. He is starting to look for accounting jobs/internships and I finally know what I want to do with my life. Only took 26 years to figure it out... Things are finally coming together! This weekend as been hectic; birthday party, swim/bbq day with my family, playdates, shopping, and a few other things. It felt so good to take Sunday though with family to swim and BBQ. Relax, wind down. Olivia of course had a blast!

Speaking of which... The day I went to the Price is Right showing, my mother in law brought Oli to this kidco place (which is a super fun cute children's play place.) We have gone a lot this summer. It's perfect to cool down and have some fun. This place is decorated head to toe. A play yard, post office, tool room, grocery store, restaurant, school, library, and a house all made for little ones. It's so neat and creative, I love it and so does Oli! BUT the next day when I was getting her ready for a birthday party I noticed her eye was a tad bit pink, no pus or anything. So I figured she must have bumped it or something. 

After the birthday party (which was so much fun!) her eye started to turn really pink. I was worried but my husband said it was probably from the sun screen. So onto the next day, still no pus or anything. We had a BBQ swim day with my family, still red but again I figured must be irritated from the sun screen. She was never rubbing it or signs of infection, besides being red. I didn't want to be "one of those" moms who bring their child for a scratch to the doctor. Finally, lets get to my worst day so far with Olivia... I'm talking about wanting to lock myself in my room with a bottle of wine and cry status! 

I rushed to urgent care yesterday morning because her eye was still RED! Of course, I got the bitchy lady (I have no idea how she still has a job there) she said no one could see Olivia until 2pm. I explained how the nurse on the phone earlier said to come in because it IS urgent care hours. She, in the rudest tone, said sorry this is what I have. Fine. I left I had a school counseling appointment at 11am so I went to my moms to hang out for a couple hours. Olivia seemed fine, happy but I was annoyed.

We headed over to my counseling appointment and the quick computer to check in was down. So I had to wait in the crazy long line everyone else was in. Not even 5 minutes Oli started to act up. She refused to be held and was running all over the place. (I have never experienced anything like this with her). Completely misbehaving and ignoring me. I understand she is 15  months but if you met my child you would understand how odd this was. Normally she stays with me, happy, and talking away. After 20 minutes of chasing her around the office, I was finally able to check in.

I started to get nervous for this appointment with her. This lady calls my name and she complemented how beautiful Oli is and seemed really nice. The appointment started and Olivia was NOT having it. Wouldn't be held, screamed, was playing with things she shouldn't... Omg it was flipping terrible. To make it worse the counselor kept stopping every time Oli made a sound. She finally said to me for next time or for anything school related we advise not to bring your child. Lady I apologized in the beginning that my babysitter bailed on me last minute. Then she went on to telling me if I was ready for school and taking care of a child. I was down right mortified and embarrassed. After a long 45 minutes we left, and everyone in the office just stared at me. 

The second I got to the car I called my husband and cried. I know she is a baby but I had no idea what these "tantrums" were all about. Worst time possible. I had about 2 hours until her doctors appointment so I ended up going home. She fell asleep instantly and I put her right in her crib. Still emotional my husband asked me what that smell was. After the counseling appointment she pooped and I changed her. No big deal. But I had no idea I was walking around with poop on me on my WHITE shirt! This day can't get any worse....

 Olivia and I head to her appointment and of course all over the place still. The doctor confirms it is pink eye and that she needs two shots! WTH? Seriously... She is already teething and a monster, and now you want to add shots to it. The doctor normally said she would wait until the 18 month check up but because she is starting day care so soon she highly suggested doing the ones that she could now. Yay... As we were waiting for her drops I noticed she was really wet. Went to change her and she peed on me. What the heck is going on with today?! All the way home she screamed. My husband had school that night so it was just me and her. The second I got home I cracked open some wine.

So my night ended up with me giving her some infant Tylenol, snuggling on mommy and daddy's bed and watching Tarzan (one of her favorites). I guess I experienced what "true" parenting is. It has been so easy and nice and I definitely got a taste of the tantrums. Oh man. Maybe I am re-thinking this whole wanting 4 kids thing... Okay rant is over...

Long Beach Aquarium Birthday Celebration

We had a fun filled weekend! For my Mother-in-law's 50th birthday, she wanted the whole family to go to the Long Beach Aquarium, CA to celebrate. We have been a bunch of times, but none with Olivia. I was super excited to bring her! Especially since we used to have a fish tank when she was an infant, she was so intrigued and amazed by the fish. Now she is older and fully understanding the different types of animals. (Even though she calls every animal Stitch now because of our dog).

It was actually overcast and humid but all of us who live in Southern Cali know how badly we needed some rain. Thankfully we were in tanks and shorts because that humidity nearly killed me! (okay, not literally...) Anyways, the second we walked in Olivia was going nuts. Pointing and saying "ohhhhh" to everything! It was way too cute! We fed the birds, where they landed on you and Olivia, the animal lover, HATED it. OMG, she never has held me so tight and was yelling at the birds to go away. Besides seeing all the fish, jellyfish, sharks, etc. She touched the starfish for the first time and we saw a cute little sea lion show. Oli LOVED the sea lions! Just like her mommy. I'm pretty sure though her favorite were the colorful fish. Trying to pull her away from the tanks, was a nightmare.

The funny part of the day was lunch. Just a reminder we are with the whole family on my husband side. His parents, brothers, and even his godmother was there. His mom decided for her bday lunch she wanted Hooters! I was shocked and I'm pretty sure everyone else was too. Way to celebrate her 50th! If you knew his family, you would understand how much of a surprise this was. It was great though! Especially having everyone stare at you for bringing a toddler in that restaurant, and the waitress ask if you saved room for dessert when our meals haven't even came yet. Good times... Later that evening we went to Blake's godmothers house in Manhattan Beach for dinner. Her house is amazing! I wish I took photos of all her cute decor. Typical beach house but done right! I'll be calling her for some interior decorating types when we buy our house. It was a great weekend!

Livy Finally Has Teeth!

Every parent gets excited when their little one gets their first set of teeth. Well this wait has been way too long for us. Finally at 14 months, my daughter has officially had her bottom two front teeth pop through! First off it was a relief because at 18 months is when they worry. Second, I screamed in joy, so loud I'm sure the neighbors heard! My husband ran over to see and he shared the same amount of excitement. This girl has only been able to eat jars of food (which are disgusting) or extremely mushed up food like mac and cheese. I'm sure she is thrilled to start eating normal food like us.

She has been teething for I would say about two weeks. Diarrhea, runny nose and flat out crankiness. You know, every parents dream... Last night she woke up at 2am, which is not like her, rummaging around and fussing. I sat with her for a good hour until she fell back asleep. She wasn't warm, so I assumed it was an upset stomach. When we woke up a little flash of white in her mouth caught my eye. Her little pearls finally poked through! I took a photo (not a good one) since little miss is such a wiggle worm but you can somewhat see them. When they are fully, all the way in I'll try and take another photo. Happy parents we are!