Skater Boi

Colton is a total daddy's boy! He looks like him, wants to dress like him, and is his constant sidekick! Joe started taking Colton long boarding with him a couple months ago and now he is obsessed with skateboarding!!! He even has a tech deck (finger board) that he takes to bed with him!!

So today we took Colton to Joe's friend's skateboard store, Freedom Board Shop, and C was in heaven!! Joe has been wanting to get Colton a bike for his 2nd birthday but of course we left the shop with a skateboard instead. But now I'm having a momma freak out moment!!! Obviously 2 is a little young to skateboard and he doesn't stand and ride it but I worry that we are jumping the gun?!? He is only allowed to ride with a helmet and daddy has to be with him but I'm still a little worried. I feel like we (Joe) thinks Colton is older than he is and thinks he can handle big kid things:) I swear Joe wanted to put C in a toddler be before he was even 1:) He just looks and acts so grown up but I have to remind us (Joe) that he is still a baby...ok a toddler...but he's still my baby.

But seriously, how cute is this pic!! He loved this hat and wore it the whole time we were there and the whole way home. And those curls??? Such a little stud!

Any other moms let their 2 year old paddle around on a skateboard or are we crazy?

From Blonde to Blue

{So I'm blogging from the blogger app on my iPhone. This is genius! Maybe I will blog more often? I am obsessed with my phone and take most of my pictures with my phone. So if I can Facebook from my phone I might as well blog too!!}

Colton is deathly afraid of masks so we didn't attend as many Halloween festivities as we would have liked. {How do we know he doesn't like masks? 2 words Nacho.Libre.} But trunk-or-treat at church was a hit because no masks were allowed��. Colton was definitely leery of Mark when he came over dressed as Dracula but luckily he warmed up to him. Colette was a pink kitty cat but let's be honest...she didn't look very cat like. My grandma thought she was a mouse an a fellow trunk-or-treater thought she was a possum LOL!! Oh well, I couldn't pass up a 5.99 costume from Children's Place. Joe and I didn't plan ahead for costumes {lame I know} but the night before I was at Target and saw Cookie Monster t-shirts for 9.99 so i thought that was probably as festive as we would get this year. I then had this genius idea that I would spray paint my hair blue!!! I've never spray painted my hair but how hard could it be?? So i picked up some blue hair paint at Hot Topic {mistake #1}. Right before we left for TOT I started spraying and smelled the most horrible smell. The paint smelled like a combo of cheap perfume and cigarette smoke {gag}.... I should have known then that this would end badly. But there was no turning back now. I finished it up thinking what a fun mom I am:) When Joe saw me he was mortified. I had just had my hair done a few days prior and so it had been the perfect shade of blonde. I dismissed his concerns and told him of course it would wash out with no problem and I would be back to normal easy peasy {mistake #2}. TOT was a blast and we all ate way too much candy including Colton {don't judge}. That night after the kids were in bed I hopped in the shower. It looked like a smurf died! I kept washing and scrubbing my hair and the blue just kept dripping. The water finally ran clear so when i hopped out of the shower I was a little surprised/worried when I saw blue streaks and noticed the overall tone of my hair had a blue tinge. So I grabbed the paint can and read something to the effect of "if you have bleached hair you may not want to use this." Maybe I should have read the bottle before I went all gangbusters in my attempt to look like Cookie Monster {mistake #3}. Well thank goodness for my hair girl who got me back to normal the next day. Joe might have given me an "I told you so" but it was still kind of fun living on the "wild" side for a night��. Colton was definitely the cutest Elmo ever and Aunt Sara was adorable in her ladybug costume. Maybe next year we will be one of those families who goes all out in themed costumes...as long as I can wear a wig or go all naturale:)

I DIT IT

I sewed!!!! And the end result isn't hideous! The project was called a drawstring gift bag. Really it is a small pillow case with a drawstring:) But how fun that I could quickly and fairly easily make cute pillowcases to spruce up a bed. It might have taken me hours and my back might have been killing me by the end and there might be a ton of imperfections but WHO CARES!!! I actually created something!! Silly me bought waaayyy too much material for this little project so I figure I will make a few more to see if I can perfect my skills before I move on to the next project! Something I learned...I cannot cut a straight line...must buy a cutting board!! Next project...cloth napkins...and will probably be the exact material as above. That is ok though I like color in the kitchen!

I'm Sew Excited

I turned the big 3-2 this year...yikes. But recently I have had this major urge to become more domestic!!! I am missing the crafting/creative gene...but I am determined to be MLM (more like Martha). Joe surprised me with this on my birthday...

YIKES....YEAH....all in the same breath!!!! When my step mom was out here last month I asked her to go the fabric store to help me pick out fabric for Colette's bedding and curtains in her room. I had some ideas in mind (see my pinterest board) but knew that I would be completely lost if I went by myself. My inspiration was this cute frame that my bestie in California made for my baby shower...sadly she didn't even get to come because she was on bedrest...but her twin boys Dexter and Davis (aka Colette's new boyfriends) have arrived and I can't wait to meet them!

So Sara, Glenna, Colette and I set our sights on Scrapbooks, Etc. (my new favorite store) to find some nursery cuteness. And wow....there was so much to pick from...and I am so indecisive....so this was no easy task. In the end I this was my selection! HOW CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for it to be done:)

Together these fabrics are nursery MAGIC!!! And something she hopefully loves as a toddler too.   If not I will have to find a way to add a crib bumper to my bedding...that or have another baby girl:) But I know she will love it because it is ADORABLE!!!! The best part....besides falling in love with the fabric is that Glenna offered to come back next month to help me sew it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was even before I had a sewing machine...so now I need to practice before she gets here....which  brings me to this....


I signed up for an online sewing class? (Who am I...Sewing????) Let's be honest...this is sew not me {smile} but if I want to MLM then I need to become one with my sewing machine and with a newborn and a toddler there is no way I'm going to make it out of the house for a sewing class so online seems to be the perfect solution. The class takes you through a set of projects that introduce new and more challenging skills each time. So far I have done the pre-work of buying my supplies and watching the start up videos...now I need some free time sans any awake kids to start sewing (guess I could be doing that now...but it feels nice to be blogging again). 


So I'm putting it out there...much like I did with this post...yeah still don't have those abs...so much for accountability...but hoping I see this project through with more commitment! And as a side note...despite my shred-worthy abs I have started working out again...and with more vigor than I did after baby #1. As of today I am wearing non-maternity pants...don't know about tomorrow...but feeling good about today...and if you got into your pre-pregnant jeans quicker DON'T BURST MY BUBBLE:)

What's the Haps?

Still going to the lake...I didn't get to go this time...didn't think Colette would appreciate speeding around on a boat a few weeks after being born and there was no way I was putting on any kind of bathing suit...GROSS...but truthfully I was a little freaked out letting Colton go without me... but not only did he have Daddy to keep an eye on him...2 uncles (DeeDid-my brother David and Mock-new brother in-law Mark), and 2 cousins (Emma and Gabriel...Colton says their names too but not sure how to spell his interpretation of Gabriel:)!!

 Tailgating at the ASU vs. USC game {Go Devils}. Pop Pop and Gi Gi (my Dad and Glenna) were in town so Colton was in heaven! Colette mostly stayed in the air-conditioned Tahoe but when she woke up she of course wanted momma:)

My attempt at being crafty...still want to add some embellishments and need to actually hang in his room...but this was my first Mod Podge experience so no judging!

Little Miss Colette wants to be held and only by momma...so in order to get anything done...out comes the Moby....in fact I'm "wearing" my little girl this very moment.

She was actually closer to 6 weeks in this pic but I forgot to order the stickers. She did not love this little photo shoot so this is one of the only pics where she isn't crying. I love how she holds her little arms up...she usually has them up by her face...when she isn't being swaddled...which she is most of the time:)

How fun is having a girl??????????? I {LOVE LOVE LOVE} the pink, the headbands, the tutus!!!!

Our Princess

photography by Jacquilyn Avery...{love}

On August 20, 2011 at 8:10 PM our princess Colette Rosa Vega was born! And here is her story.

We knew we wanted to get pregnant again fairly soon after Colton was born and when he was 9 months old, the Saturday before Christmas, we found out we were expecting! Right away I felt different. I didn't experience nausea like I did with my little man and this time I had cravings...mostly fruit and juice...and sometimes pot roast:) So when we went for our ultra sound it was no surprise that there was a little girl cooking in my tummy. I had a great pregnancy...other than my last trimester being June-August....that was no fun...remind me not to do that again!


When I went in for my 39 week appointment on August 18 the nurse told me that my blood pressure was super high and that most likely the doctor would send me to the hospital that day. Well she was right!!! I definitely was ready to have this baby (August in Phoenix can you blame me??) but as I was driving to pick up Joe at work I felt so emotional...nervous, excited, relieved, anxious, and scared all wrapped into one. When we got to the hospital they did my blood work and determined that I would indeed be admitted because of preeclampsia. In some ways it was like dejavu...I mean it had only been 18 months since I went to the same hospital for my little Colton (kind of feels like I have been pregnant for 2 whole years:)). Both times they told me that my BP was scarily high and that I would have to go on magnesium sulfate to avoid seizing during labor...freaked me out with Colton but this time... no sweat! Luckily for me my body handles the mag fairly well but it can cause you to be extremely loopy and to have major hot flashes...sounds lovely, eh?


So the inducing began (NO FUN). I was only dilated to a 1 so first they put me on cervadil which is a 12 hour hormone that is supposed to help you dilate. During that 12 hours you just lay around...well I had to lay around because of my BP. So I caught up on Netflix (Mad Men has to be the dumbest show ever...only watched 3 episodes then I gave up) and told Joe to go to the gym, run errands, and go home to see our baby boy. I knew this little girl wouldn't be making her arrival anytime soon. After the 12 hours they checked to see my dilation progress....it wasn't much...so we did 3 rounds of gels which are also supposed to help your progress with dilation...and they did...slightly....but only to a 4.


So now it is Friday and the next step is to put me on pitocin. I was on it for about 12 hours but wasn't really progressing and was still only a 4. So that night I had another round of cervadil. By Saturday morning I'm starting to feel a little discouraged. I had been stuck in this hospital bed, was feeling gross, and didn't think this baby would ever come!!! But there was a ray of light. In walked Dr. Williamson...the same doctor who delivered Colton. I was so happy to see her!!! I told her that I needed her to be my good luck charm and she assured me that she would be the one to deliver this baby!!! She put me at ease when I broke down about not wanting a c-section. She calmed me down though when she said she wasn't talking c-section so I didn't need to either. Neither the baby or I were in distress so we just needed to be patient. I mentioned to her that I was bummed that my freshly colored and washed hair was now gross after not having a shower in the last few days (I had my hair done the day before I was induced so it seemed like providence that I went to the hospital the next day...I love not having to do my own hair). So the smart doc told me to shower, freshen up, then we would start another round of pitocin and if that didn't do the trick she would break my water. So shower I did...well I wish I could say I did it on my own but I was still hooked up to my iv. So I had to swallow my pride and sit on a chair in the shower as Joe held the shower nozzle for me. Being pregnant and going through labor...for me....feels like a complete loss of dignity. But dignity aside it felt great to have clean hair and re-apply my makeup. I was feeling energized and ready to have some magic happen. 


So around 1pm they started me on pitocin again and at 5pm I heard/felt this sound/sensation and POP my water broke!!!!!!! I pushed the call button and with tears exclaimed the good news. The doc came in and said she was literally on her way to break my water for me!!!! They ordered my epidural right then...and I kind of felt like a wimp because up to this point the contractions had been very manageable...but that is because my water was cushioning the pain...but boy was I glad they ordered it when they did because by the time the anesthesiologist came in I was in a lot of pain! The epidural numbed my right side but not my left so that was bizarre (not fun at all) feeling contractions only on one side...so finally they came and gave me another dose and this time I was numb on both sides!! Well my contractions were coming fast and strong and I could feel this baby starting to make her way out. I don't remember feeling that with Colton but I was in such excruciating pain and pushed for so long with him I think I was a little delirious. But sweet Colette only made me push a couple times and then voila...she made her grand appearance. Sweet little girl was 8 lbs. 0 oz and was 20 inches long. Just a half a pound bigger and longer than her little brother was. We noticed a pattern on her white board in the delivery room...08/20/10, 8 lbs, 20 inches, born at 20:10.


Baby Colette is 8 weeks old today and we are so in love {even by Big Brother Colton...it was touch and go when we first brought her home but now he loves his baby}!! She is uber-squishy (95th percentile for weight at her 1 month check up), loves to be held by momma only, still sleeps a ton, lots of hair, noisy eater, skinny feet, and gets a million kisses a day!!!

Precious Newborn

This little boy of mine has stolen my heart and keeps my arms and hands full most of the day! Here is his birth announcement that I just adore! To any family and friends who I might have missed…please send me your address and I will get one sent to you!

Colton Cruz

Where did he get his name? Well, Daddy came up with it. When we found out it was a boy Joe called me one day and asked me what I thought of the name Colton. I liked it so we added it to our list. While pregnant I never really thought of the baby by a particular name though. Probably because Joe kept coming up with such great names (I don’t think I came up with any). But we just couldn’t decide and would have a different favorite each week.

A few weeks before he was born, Joe asked what I thought of Colton Cruz. I loved it! It has such a great ring to it. And I love alliteration in names. But in my mind I still wanted to wait until he was born to decide for sure. Everyone kept saying “you’ll know when you see him.”

On the video of him minutes after he was born you can hear the nurse asking Joe what baby’s name was. He said he didn’t know but that we had some ideas like Colton. I can’t say that when I looked at him “I just knew what his name was” he was still just baby boy to me LOL. I am pretty indecisive as it is so I asked Joe what he thought it should be and Colton Cruz Vega it is.

Here are some pictures from his first few days of life:)   

My Husband The Super Hero

As you read, labor and delivery was no walk in the park for me. But honestly I couldn’t have done it without Joe. He was so amazing through it all.
First of all he was a great breathing coach. He spoon fed me probably 1000 ice chips. He held my hand. Told me I was beautiful and wonderful. Sprayed my face with an Evian mister. Let me squeeze his hand off during the bad contractions. Propped up my numb leg at an insane angle so I wouldn’t lose my mind all together. Held my leg while I pushed. Let me give him a few punches (only towards the end and I wasn’t trying to punch him it just happened). And he was an absolute rock. He had to watch his wife go through more pain then he could have imagined. He listened to me cry and scream. He saw me feel terrified, confused and sad and through it all he was calm, reassuring and gentle. He watched our baby be born and then we shared the sweetest most precious moment as we got to hold our little boy and know that together we did something amazing.

  
My sister, Sara, was also part of our big day. She came to the hospital Wednesday morning at about 6 am. This was the moment she had been waiting years for. We convinced her that she should probably go to work for a few hours and that more than likely he wouldn’t come until that evening (LOL). So she came back after work and actually stayed until the end. She was amazing as well. I didn’t know if I would want her there for the actual delivery and she was positive she didn’t want to be there. But when it came down to it she never left. It was never a spoken decision by either of us but she must of known that I needed her and she stayed. I feel so lucky to have her. She too was a rock and helped me through it all. She brushed my hair and put her cold hands on my forehead when I asked her. (Evidently the delivery room was an ice box. I sure wasn’t cold). She too fed me ice chips and misted my face. Sara helped me stay calm and helped Joe bear the burden of  it all. Towards the end she was also able to capture some moments on video. She kept it G rated and now we have some amazing memories documented forever! Colton is lucky to have such an amazing Aunt:)


  

The Day My Life Would Change Forever

On Wednesday, February 24th at 2 AM my water broke. It woke me up and I thought to myself “am I peeing myself? can I keagle and make it stop? nope…OMG my water broke.” So as I am in the bathroom I call Joe’s name and the 2nd time he heard me and woke up. I told him my water broke and I have never seen a happier face in my life. Little did we know the adventure that we would experience over the next 30 hours:) Joe was so amazing through the whole thing. He was my rock and I feel blessed to have such an amazing husband.
Before leaving for the hospital I took a shower, blew dry my hair and even put some make up on (duh! I wanted to look good when baby arrived). I eat an  apple and on the way to the hospital a Luna Bar. Little did I know that would be the last thing I ate….for 30 hours:) (Ok I did get to eat ice chips, a couple of popsicles and I had a few Air Head Suckers.)
We arrive at the hospital carrying in our bags and some pillows. Later on a nurse told us we looked like first timers with all of our stuff. Maybe next time we’ll leave our stuff in the car until we are settled into the labor and delivery room so we can sneak it all in:) So while in triage the nurse tells me she is cursed because everyone she has admitted on her shift has had high blood pressure-including me. This is strange because throughout my whole pregnancy my BP was just fine. We are in good spirits though and Joe is helping me breathe through my little contractions.
After getting settled into our labor and delivery room a few nurses come in with worried looks.  They tell me my BP is so high that they worry about me having a seizure during labor.  A seizure? It sounds so ominous and I have these images flash through my head from all the episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and ER I have seen over the years. They proceed to tell me they need to put me on Magnesium Sulfate and that the downside is that it will make me feel really hot and maybe even groggy. They leave the room and I burst into tears because I don’t want to be loopy during labor. But Joe takes my hand, kisses my head and looks me in the eye. He assures me it will be ok….this was the first of many times he had to do this:)
So I’m having contractions but nothing unbearable. But when they check me to see if I am dilated (one of the most painful things I had to experience) they tell me I’m only a 2. I think I was a 2 for about 24 hours. That was annoying to say the least. You see the magnesium is a muscle relaxer and the uterus is a muscle. So while my body is trying to progress the drugs are working against it. They give me some pills to help me dilate but that didn’t seem to help very much. At one point they put me on pitosin but when exactly I don’t remember. It all seems to be a big blur.
The contractions are getting intense and I’m not dilated enough for an epidural. I am in so much pain and started to get vocal about it (let’s just say I could never be a Scientologist). They offer me Staydol which is pain medication they administer through the IV. In our childbirth class they talked about the downside to this drug that it can make your baby sleepy and groggy when they are born. I really don’t want to take it but I am in so much pain. They tell me that by the time the baby was born the Staydol should be out of his system. I cry some more and Joe tells me it will be ok.
Soon (I think) after the Staydol I am finally dilated enough for an epidural. I was nervous about the gigantic needle I had heard about but really it wasn’t that painful. The Staydol+Epidural brought some much needed relief and I fell asleep. A couple hours later I wake up and have this strange sensation. I can’t move my left leg and I am feeling the pain of contractions again. I am a little loopy and I start to panic. Sara was there in the room and she saw a look in my eye and knew something was wrong. I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I start to have what I can only explain as a mini panic attack. They bring the nurses in and they determine that the epidural has gone down to my legs. Last time I checked I didn’t have pain down there. So the anesthesiologist's assistant comes and administers another dose which didn’t seem to work so then he comes and gives me some more….still doesn’t work. By this time I am screaming and crying and so confused that I am in so much pain. This lasted a couple of hours. Finally the anesthesiologist comes back to my room and tells me that the doses that were given to me were so high that I should be feeling nothing. So he makes the determination that my epidural has come lose and he will have to give me another one. The tricky part is my contractions are so close together and I’m screaming bloody murder at this point and so he has to wait to stick me in between contractions. Well it works this time and I got to rest again. For how long I’m not sure but finally they tell me I am a 10 and can start pushing. I started crying  just so relieved that there seemed to be an end in sight. Prior to that I felt like I just wanted to give up and made a comment that if they had to do a c-section do it (this is sad because that was the last thing I wanted). I asked the nurse if she was sure I was a 10 and she told me she had been doing this for years…she was sure. So finally I start to push….and continued pushing for OVER 2 hours. Needless to say by this point my epidural has started to wear off and I feel like I’m having a natural childbirth. I’m sure there was some pain relief but I was sure screaming like there wasn’t. Finally the doctor comes in which is a good sign…the baby is almost ready to come out. But I am beyond exhausted at this point and feel like I have no energy or will to push anymore. I think I asked if they could just pull him out on their own…just reach in there and make him come out. They probably just ignored me:) Thank goodness for our nurse Paula she got in my face a few times and kindly but firmly commanded me to look at her and told me that I had to push. I listened and finally at 8:43 on Thursday morning our little Colton Cruz made his appearance to the world.
Because of the amount of medicine that had been given to me over the last 30 hours they had the NICU doctors down in our room waiting to check him out to make sure he was ok. And he was absolutely perfect! He weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. As they are checking him the doctor is taking care of me and she tells me “don’t worry, the next one will be much easier.” Really. She just said that.  I thought the afterbirth of the delivery would be painful but really it was nothing after what I had just gone through.
Finally after Colton is given the ok they bring my boy to me and I just stare at his perfect face. And kiss him over and over again. And at that moment, all 30 hours of torture simply melted away. I forgot about the screaming and the crying and the pain and just like that I was a mommy. I held this perfect little soul who seemed to know me and be comforted by my voice and the beating of my heart. His little cry sounded like a kitten and I knew at that very moment that my life had changed forever.