Summer Stay-cation!

Ace's 10 day vacation ended today...We had so many different plans of what to do with all this time off, and as they say, even the best laid plans go awry! However, we had ourselves a little stay-cation here in town with lots of much needed R&R.

After getting my car repaired (not as bad as we thought, but enough to make me sad as I wrote the check), and deciding to renew our lease for another year, we found out that Ace got the Federal job he'd been applying for! So we're staying in Denver for another year-at least.

The good news energized us, and with my car running like brand new again, we headed off to CO Springs to visit with some of Ace's family. We had dinner, talked, and laughed at all of lil Ace's antics (he was in a surprisingly awesome mood despite a very short afternoon nap!)

The next day, I decided to take some "me" time to tan and lounge by the pool to finish my book (Friday Night Knitting Club- a tear jerker! but so good!) while Acey took his A.M. nap w/daddy. My 2 guys met me at the pool after nap to go for a swim. We had a great time...and I must say, my lil one is a daredevil! Already jumping off the side of the pool into daddy's arms! After that, we headed off to Evergreen Lake (only 20 minutes away!) so Ace could get some fishing in. However, Colorado this time of year is prone to afternoon thunderstorms, so once we got there, it was already gloomy and starting to rain. We ate our Subway sandwiches in the car while Acey slept and waited out the storm. It cleared up quick and Ace was able to get his fishing time in! All the while, I was chasing Acey around as he jumped and splashed in EVERY single mud puddle he could find! BOYS! Acey's routine would be to stand at the edge of a very large puddle, then count, "1, 2...3!!!" and jump in with both feet! He would even take rocks and dig around in the mud or splash his hands in the puddle to make bubbles to pop! Then he'd run over to me to give me a muddy leg-hug! Thank goodness for baby wipes...they're magic! After a stand-up diaper and clothes change, we were tired and ready to head back home. What a beautiful summer day.

The rest of our summer stay-cation was spent at the park as well as beginning our clean-up and organization of our office that will soon be Acey's Thomas the Train themed bedroom. Yesterday we celebrated Ace's new job with dinner @ BJ's and a choc chip pazookie to go. Tonight, Ace's back to work, and I miss him already! What an awesome 10 days with my guys! Pictures soon!

Perfect Timing!

Talk about a sign!

Yesterday, Ace and I started our hunt for the perfect (or most suitable) place. We looked at 2 condos and were on our way to check out a townhome when- my car (the car that has not failed me in over 4 years) completely goes to sh**! I mean literally...it was overheating, coolant leaked everywhere, and every single warning light that it has came on -as if we needed them from the horrible sounds the car was already making! Literally, it happened in an instant. I even had an appointment for routine service on it this Saturday! Hmmm...a sign perhaps?

After quickly and safely making it home to pick up our other car, then right over to the car shop, Ace was preparing me for the worst...It could be the engine...at least $2,000...was what he was telling me. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, right?

Great...with the impending move, that was money that we had budgeted to help us with security deposits and first month's rent and all the other costs that come along with moving. Now what?? Ace and I took Acey to the park later that evening to let him play while we had a big discussion. We're so lucky to have a little nest egg towards buying a home in the future...why deplete it with the unnecessary costs of moving when we're comfortable (a little cramped, but nothing we can't deal with), I'm 6 months pregnant, and we're not even sure where we really want to move??

We took everything that happened yesterday as a sign. God has a plan for us, and obviously this was telling us it's not a good time for us to move. We need to stay put until the time is really right for us to leave and hey, maybe in another year's time, we'll be in more of a position to buy a home. All in all, we made the best decision to renew our lease- and we felt great about doing it. No hesitations, actually just relief. And on top of that, a free Chipotle dinner from our apartment managers for renewing. Life is sweet.

Acey's gone to his first birthday party!

Today, Ace and I took Acey to his friend's first birthday party at the park. This was a friend he made when I made one of my first "official" mom-friends. There were lots of other babies there around his age so he had fun playing with all of them and making daddy chase him around on the grass. I'm glad Ace went with me because, as I get bigger, I get slower, and Acey only gets faster! I'm amazed at how there are such wide differences between children even in the same age group! Acey was the biggest one there! He looked about the same size as a 2 year old that was there. I had all the moms and other party guests asking me how old he was! He was HUGE compared to a 15 month old there (Acey's about 17 months now). Not to mention, he was the only 1 year old that could walk! So, he did a lot of running around on his own! After the cake and ice cream and playing with his friend's new toys, he was ready for a nap so we high-tailed it out of there before the tantrums started. All in all, it was a great experience, and Acey made a perfect party guest!

Here's a couple of pics of my Acey at his own 1st birthday party...

Before...

After...

Because I like to call myself a personal chef...

I thought I'd share one of my all time favorite dinner recipes that has turned out to be also one of the most versatile dishes I've ever found- yes, I found this recipe somewhere, just don't remember where! Sometimes, 'll try something at a restaurant and want to copy it at home, so I search for similar recipes on the internet and tweak the recipe to fit what I can do/find and what is affordable.



They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but I wouldn't call myself the natural cook. Actually, I've had to do a lot of trial and error with Ace as my judge. I like that he's honest with me and will let me know what he likes and doesn't like. After all, one of my greatest joys is seeing my 2 guys eat happily! Hey, it's the simple things, right?!!



So being that we love, love, love Mexican food...I found this one recipe for chicken can make so many dishes and is even budget friendly, simple, and you'll have leftovers too (which freeze fabulously!) Try it out...



Mexican Shredded Chicken 3 ways!



What you'll need:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (use just 2 if you don't want a whole bunch, but remember, you can freeze the leftovers!)


• 1 can of petite diced tomatoes


• 1 can of yellow corn


• 1 small can of Ortega green chiles


• 1 can of chicken broth


• Spices: 1/2 tsp. each of: cumin, dry cilantro (use fresh cilantro if you like), garlic powder, onion powder


• 2 tbsp. of butter (use just 1 if only 2 chicken breasts)


• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Boil the chicken in a large pot, with some onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper (you can use fresh onion and garlic instead of course!)


2. Shred the chicken once its cooked through (shred as fine or as thick as you like)


3. Put shredded chicken in large saute pan with butter, and all the spices listed from above and heat over medium heat


4. Once butter is melted and spices mixed in, add your canned ingredients (you can use more or less tomato and corn, eyeball it! and less or more green chile depending on how spicy or mild you want it) Use just enough chicken broth to make the chicken juicy, you may not need an entire can- but you don't want the mixture to be dry!


5. Make sure everything is heated and mixed thoroughly then you can have this dish one of three ways! See below:

*Leftover chicken mixture can be frozen in ziplock freezer bag (quart sized).

For chicken tacos: throw chicken in your favorite kind of tortilla (ours are homemade flour! ask me for the recipe) add some sour cream, shredded lettuce and shredded cheese, and Voila!

For chicken tortilla soup: This is what I do with my leftover shredded chicken mixture!! Add your shredded chicken to a large soup pot with one of those boxes (not sure the amount) of chicken broth- 2 to 3 cans will work too, again- eyeball it. Add in some fresh spices (garlic/onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper) stir and bring to a boil. Serve w/ crushed tortilla chips, and shredded cheese, and if you like a wedge of lime!

For enchilada casserole: Fry your corn tortillas until soft, dip tortillas in your favorite canned enchilada sauce (green or red) and start layering the tortillas with the chicken mixture on top with shredded cheese, in your baking dish tortillas/chicken/cheese/tortillas/chicken...and so on and finish top layer with sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 deg until cheese is nice and melty!

Hope you get to try this out and your families love it as much as mine!

Random...

I've been having some crazy prego dreams lately. They say pregnant women have crazy dreams sometimes, so I'm taking that as the reason. Normally, I don't even remember my dreams in the A.M., but maybe with the pregnancy, and all this anxiety I'm feeling lately, my mind has been in a swirl at bedtime.

I've had 2 consecutive dreams about snakes. Weird, I know. Especially since snakes scare me to death! I don't even like looking at pictures of them. Both times, there were snakes loose in my house somehow, and no one was worried about it except for me! The second time, there was one under my bed while I was trying to go to sleep, and I just felt paralyzed with fear it would crawl up and get me!

Of course, these 2 dreams led me to wonder what the heck it meant to be dreaming about snakes. So I did some "research" on the internet. I found several different meanings-a couple I think I could apply to my life at the moment and others that were way out in left field. Freud obviously had his own interpretation, which I'm sure anyone could guess if you know Freud (I'm not going to even go there!) But the 2 interpretations that stood out to me the most were Rebirth and transformation (hello! becoming a mom again, having 2 children instead of 1), and anxiety over change. Snakes can also mean wisdom. I think these dreams I'm having somehow signal to me that although big changes are about to occur, I should find comfort in the fact that I'm (We're) a little more experienced this time around.

Now that I've said it, hopefully no more snakes appear in my dreams tonight!

Oh- since this post was titled "Random", I'm throwing in a pic of the bunk beds I lived in w/ Mariko for 3 (yes, 3) years-in case you didn't believe it!

22 weeks...only 18 more to go!

I had a doctor's appointment last week. It was just the routine prenatal check-up and confirmation that, according to the ultrasound, we're having a boy. Not only that, but our boy is developing as he should and all looks great! After that, the nurse practitioner measured my belly (which is growing and growing as well!) and put the doppler to it so we could hear the little guy's heartbeat. Ah, sweet music to my ears! Next up is my glucose screening. With all the sweets I eat, it's amazing I didn't have it the first time and hopefully don't this time either. But I feel great, and the baby's doing well!

I can't believe I'm already past the halfway point! The baby is moving a lot and his kicks are getting stronger! I've finally taken a cell phone pic of my belly to post. I'm just now starting to get to the time where its uncomfortable to sit and lie down. A new obstacle to overcome- carrying/lifting a 30 lb. toddler! Lately, I'm craving mashed potatoes, philly cheesesteaks (with cheez whiz of course-the only way!) and of course the usual sweets-this week its brownies. I've done a lot better this pregnancy with cravings...they haven't been as strong this time around (either that or I just loved the idea of eating for 2 the first time!) Not to mention, I cook a lot more now than I did, so we eat a lot better (not too many trips to Wing Stop!)

Acey is starting to understand a little bit about my big belly. We will ask him, where is baby brother? and he will lift my shirt and point to my flattened belly button-haha, not anywhere else on my belly-just my belly button! How cute!

Now on to names...it's safe to say that we're having a tough time on this one! Ace says its all up to me this time since he has his namesake, it's my turn to name the 2nd one. So much pressure!

Time has already gone by so fast! November seems so far, yet so close!

Home Sweet...Apartment??!!

The search for a new place for us has been a difficult one! Our lease is up August 15, but we have to give our 30 day notice July 15! I've been scouring the rental websites- yes, rental websites- for the past couple of weeks and Ace has been checking the newspaper. Although we are longing for a home of our own-especially with our growing family- our situation is looking more and more like we may have to call another apartment "home" for another year.

So what's the hold up? Ace is anxiously awaiting 2 possible job offers- one that could take us all the way back home to California and the other that would keep us here in Denver for at least another year.

So we're just waiting, but in the mean time, our lease isn't going to wait for us- and if we wanted to go month to month, the crooks that we call our property management want to up our rent from $825 (1bdrm + den) to $990! OUTRAGEOUS! Therefore, we need to look for something, because I don't know anyone in their right and sane minds who would pay almost a thousand for a 1 bedroom apartment! (Okay, Mariko and I did while living in San Diego, but that was San Diego!)

The planner that I am, this makes me a bit uneasy. I have moved every year since I left my parents home for college, so I know it takes a lot of time to look and find the right place then add to that, packing and actually moving. I feel we are leaving a lot of things to do last minute. However, I have trust in my husband and trust in God that everything will work out! Although one of the job prospects is in California, for now, we must assume that we'll be staying in Colorado, so...

All of you out there, pray that we find a decent 2 bdrm/2 bath (at least!) for under $900 here in Denver! Back to my search...

Operation Freedom of Sleep

We Want Our Bed Back!

Currently, Ace and I are encountering a small amount of resistance from one very persistant little guy! It's a little war at home I like to call "Operation Freedom of Sleep." What's our goal here? To regain our bed from the grasp of its little dictator.

Okay, all creativeness aside, Ace and I just want little Acey to start sleeping in his own bed now that we have a new little one on the way. Why else does he need to sleep in his own crib? Aside from the obvious...First of all, he's 16 months old and hasn't spent a minute inside that thing since we first brought him home from the hospital. Second, I'm getting bigger now (in my 22nd week of pregnancy) and need to have as many pillows propping me up in a comfy position as humanly possible. Third, when you have a big Ace, a pregnant lady, and a little Ace in the middle of your queen sized bed, it doesn't leave much room to move especially when the little Ace likes to sleep in postions that would make a contortionist jealous! We're talking, feet in your back, stomach, and if your extremely un-lucky, a baby big toe in your face!

How did we get to this point??!!

Majority of new parents that find out they're having a baby have the joy of setting up a cute little nursery with all the matching items and crib for the baby in its own separate room. We however, did not have this luxury simply due to the fact that we were renting a condo at the time that did not have much space(in which we would be moving from soon thereafter), and Ace and I felt strange leaving a newborn in a room all by itself after bringing him home from the hospital and awaiting his arrival for the past 9 months, we wanted him close to us. At first, that meant just having his bassinet next to our bed. But, since I was breastfeeding, as many moms know, you get up in the middle of the night several times and often are too tired to sit up and feed the hungry little one for the next half hour. So I did what a lot of moms do: I laid little Acey down next to me to feed him and he would drift off to sleep soon after. How wrong could that be? Once I stopped breastfeeding, I thought that would be it, and Acey would go back to sleeping in his little crib next to our bed.

However, with Ace's job change which meant him moving to graveyard shifts, I was alone at night, and having Acey in his crib just seemed to far for me! So he just started sleeping in bed with me while daddy was at work. This arrangement worked well for us until Ace's days off. Some nights, Acey would sleep all night in his crib while Ace and I slept peacefully in our bed. Other times, he would wake up in the middle of the night and want to join mommy and daddy in their nice warm bed . This began happening more and more frequently, giving Ace and I backaches upon backaches and sleepless nights. Thus, we were left with the difficult decision of having to start the dreaded "sleep training."

Currently we are in day 5 of Operation Freedom of Sleep. The first couple of days were rough and filled with lots of tears (from both Acey and me!). It was hard to have to put Acey in his crib and hear him cry for us to get him out. It would take about 30 minutes for him to settle down and fall asleep, but there was a lot of middle of the night waking too.

Babies are amazing creatures. They are empty vessels just ready to take in whatever you give them. Even the least flexible child (what I consider Acey to be) who sometimes cannot even stray from his routine for an hour at a restaurant, can adjust to new things. Every new step such as trying solid foods or giving up the bottle, we as parents thought it was going to be extremely hard. In actuality though, those were our fears-not our baby's. Those things proved to be relatively simple (he gave up the bottle in just about a day!). And now, in day 5 of our operation, we've made giant steps toward regaining our own bed back. Acey now goes into his crib at bedtime without any fuss whatsoever and falls asleep on his own! I even had the joy of sleeping in our bed by myself (Ace was at work) last night-oh so comfortable!

Operation Freedom of sleep accomplished...Next, the Battle of the Binky!