Tattoo'd baby!

This picture is too cute not to blog about!
Buddy watches "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" every morning so it was only fair that he got Mickey  tattoo'd on him:) That darn this took about 2 weeks to wash off (and yes, he gets bathed everyday!)

He is going to kill me one day for showing the world his booty, but what a cute butt!!!

BigBoy Haircut

When I was pregnant I had heartburn like no other and everyone told me it was because my child had alot of hair (I still don't know if this it true), but it definatley applied to me. Roman came out with a FULL head of hair. Beautiful blonde hair (I'm so jealous!)
We gave him a mini haircut Christmas of last year I vowed that I wouldn't do it again because I wanted him to have the 'surfer look'. Well the surfer look doesn't agree with food constantly in it. It meant that I had to give him 2 baths a day to keep his hair clean, too much work for a boy! We decided to get his hair cut really short a few weeks ago, something I didn't think we'd ever do. And after the fit he threw, we won't be doing it again any time soon!!

But he was SO cute when it was all over with!:)

He's Mobile!

I always knew chasing after Roman wouldn't be easy, but I had no idea! Kinda like when pregnant women say "oh yeah, I'm ready"..no, no you're not.
He went from crawling to running overnight, I couldn't even prepare myself! With his new found balance he's also figured out how to open doors. There is no such thing as privacy with a one year old little boy running around, but I wouldn't have it any other way:)

 

< 3

Here's a forgotten picture of Roman and I in San Diego, one day he'll be bigger than me, then I can look back on this!

No matter what happens, we will always have each other:)

Weather Conditions

I get phone calls all the time from loved ones back in Virginia asking if we are okay due to the latest weather conditions. It may not be snow, but it's intense in it's own right.

Living in Arizona I sort of feel like an Amazon women. I am faced with scorpions, rattlesnakes, lizards, monsoons, haboobs, flash floods, rude people(sorry, I've gotten off subject) on a daily basis. Okay, maybe not daily. Okay, I've never seen a scorpion BUT it could happen any day now and when it does, I'm ready!
The weather here is unlike anything I've ever seen especially when it comes to the major dust storms called 'Haboobs'. Right before one hits the skies and mountains will be noticeably clearer, as if God takes an eraser and smooths out all the imperfections in the land. Before long the mountains start disappearing from sight, then the cactus's around the house. The fierce winds turn chairs over and last time it roped Roman's tree swing around the tree.
Once the dust storm is over rain follows, that's where the flash floods come in. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen.

These are pictures from our last Haboob, August 18th, 2011. The first picture is right before, when the mountains start disappearing. Then after, Roman and I playing in the rain, you can still see the wind blowing the bushes in the background.

There are mountains back there.









Roman and I playing in the rain..yes, he is starting to walk! The sun comes back out as soon as the dust is gone.









The mountains are back and so are the rainbows:) The beauties of weather.

Dr.Oz, my Savior.

My new favorite thing to do after dinner every night is watch Dr.Oz, and take notes!

Health wasn't always my biggest priority, taking care of my body wasn't on my mind, ever! After having Roman and juggling school, work, being a mother, building a family, relocating every few years, etc. I don't have time NOT to think about my health. Most of my family that has passed away has been due to health problems and if I can help it, I will be different.
I'm NOT a fan of doctors, or as I'd like to call them, prescription pushers. I'll never forget the look on the doctors and nurses faces when I told them I wouldn't take prescription pain pills after having Roman. It was as if I'd asked them to taste my breast milk, total disgust. Believe it, Doctor, believe it! Say no to drugs, of any form!

Dr.Oz is different, he is mainly an organic doctor yet he still talks about which plastic surgery to go with if that's the road you'd rather take. He teaches wellness, stress control, eating right and which vitamins/foods will help boost your metabolism, energy and weight loss. He crams so much information in a one hour show, I can barley keep up. His show comes on Monday-Friday at 8pm. Take some time out and watch it, you won't be sorry you did!!
Check out his website.. http://www.doctoroz.com/

Crafty McCrafterson

$5 made me this..

Target had four picture frames for $5, but why keep it at that. A little gorilla glue later..a small picture collage:)

comment, comment, comment!

Unfotuanltey, I've seen adults act like teenagers and parents act like children when it comes to social media. Social networks don't exactly bring out the best in people. I originally took the commenting option off of the blog for the sole purpose of not having to deal with any 'adultactinglikechildren' situations BUT I have faith that I've gotten rid of the bad seeds in my life and it only takes away from the people that want to get involved. THEREFORE, I've added the ability to comment on our posts. Don't let me down people:)

Belmont Park, San Diego

By far the best part of this years vacation was the day we spent at Belmont Park. It's like a fair everyday at the beach. We spent all day riding rides, shopping and eating 'fair food'. The sweetest part was riding the boat ride with Roman. Here are some pictures and a video! I will always remember this:)

Check ups!

Doctors visits have always been a struggle for me, not only do I loath needles but watching my baby get shots is the most awful thing in the world. I still have to walk out when he gets them, which makes me feel like the worlds worst mother. Normally, Roman is a tank, I swear that child is made of steel because nothing hurts him, so when he can't catch his breath because he's crying so hard it breaks my heart. I'm going to be that mom that buy him whatever he desires after doctors visits.
I have tried to get pictures of every doctors appointment thus far but with moving and breaking my phone I've lost most. I did, however, find some from his 6 month visit and then of his one year visit. Check out the difference!:)

We always knew he was big for his age, I still can't believe that maniac was inside of me for 9 months. It's a wonder he didn't do any more damage than he did.
At his 6 month appointment he was on the 95th percentile for his height and 75th for his weight and at his one year check up he was 80th for his  height and 70th for his weight. His doctor has guaranteed us he will be 6ft+ ..that's easy to see from looking at Ethan and I, NOT!

A Family Affair

We FINALLY got a family pictures taken! Yes this is really ghetto but I want to look back on this blog and see our family photo. So here it is, a picture of a picture!

Roman was not having it on the day of the picture. It will probably be another year before we get it done again. I wanted to get a picture done of us 3 looking at the camera, original I know. Roman had other plans, he didn't want to be touched. Therefor, we got this pose! Maybe next year we will get one of all 3 of us smiling at the camera.

SAN DIEGO!! and a break from the norm:)

I cannot even begin to describe how much fun we had in California. Never in a million years did I think  my vacation spot would be San Diego and never ever did I think I would be there with my one year old wild child! The small town beach community was a nice refreshing change from the hot desert. It was chillier than I would have thought but I didn't mind it at all.

It was about a 6 hour drive from Mesa to San Diego. A quite eventful drive to say the least. Aunt Cassie rode with us to help with Roman, and what better way than to put a movie on. We hooked up Shrek 2 to the car speakers and I listened from the front. When that was over and Roman was shrieking we found ourselves singing 'Wheels on the Bus' for about an hour until he finally fell asleep. There were alot of people on that bus!
Oh, and we also drove along the Mexico border for about 20 miles..kinda freaked me out!
 
Our beach house was one block from the beach and one block from the bay so we got the best of both worlds. We spent most days at the bay, the lack of waves and undertow soothed my already overprotective nature. Of course, Roman wasn't scared of the water in the least. He crawled right down to the water and kept going. He's definitely a beach boy! He fit in with his long blonde hair:)

We rode bikes, walked to the coffee shop, kayaked, paddle boarded, shopped and just relaxed (well as much as you can with a little boy). I brought 2 books, it's funny that I thought I was going to be able to read! For some reason that is beyond me, Roman loved eating sand. He would open is mouth up and face plant his head in the sand and come up chewing. Needless to say, it came out the other end.
My mom took us all out to an amazing dinner one night. I think it was Roman and my first time eating Filet Mignon..SO good! It was also the first time Roman ordered ice-cream from the ice-cream truck!

It was a great week, it's just what we needed before starting this next crazy busy year! I'm already looking forward to next year:)

BIG boy carseat!

For Roman's first birthday he got a big boy car-seat! This was a huge deal not only to me but to him, he became a new boy that day! He went from facing the back of the car with the sun always beaming in his eyes to facing forward watching the cars go by with the cool air conditioning running through his hair. He sings, dances and waves at people driving by. It's SO cute!!! Our new favorite thing to do it put Lion King on Pandora and sing our little hearts out:)

HAPPY BIRHTDAY BABY BOY!

July 25, 2011- Roman turned 1!!

When we moved to Arizona Roman was 4 months old and in the back of my head I was always thinking about his first birthday. It wasn't happy thoughts, I was so sad that we were moving away from everyone, I thought his birthday was going to be a dud. I know he would only be turning one and wouldn't remember anything but still! I didn't want him to look back on pictures of his first birthday like "thanks mom, I'm sure all 3 people had a great time celebrating my life". I think about these things!
I couldn't have been more wrong! The house was full of people who came to celebrate with us! My best friend Jennie and cousin Dave flew in from Virginia to be here and friends and family that we have here came too. The ones that couldn't be here we were able to skype with or talk on the phone too. The boy still has packages coming in!

The morning of his party Jennie and I immediately started the preparations, and I was determined to make it perfect! We made all the food and cakes at home, so many mom's now a days just resort to buying everything because it's easier, but where's the fun in that?  I was SO proud of my cake, it's all I could talk about!

The party was awesome! We had a hot dog bar complete with every fixing your heart could desire, homemade 'Noni Macioni', homemade Grampy potato salad, and fresh fruit that was cut in little balls (yes, fruit balls!). For drinks we had sweet tea, Ethan's famous punch and lime water and for desert we had homemade funfetti cupcakes! Of course, Roman destroyed his cake in a matter of seconds!

We are beyond blessed to have so many people that love us from here to Virginia! I cannot even began to thank everyone for all the love they have shown us this year. It was the best/hardest/busiest/most changing and challenging year I've ever had and I know I wouldn't be the mother I am without the support my family and friends have shown me.  We made it through our first year and I look forward to many many more with all the people I love!<3

Staying cool with the water table!

Water is a must have in the summer and everyone in Arizona has a pool, except us. When we moved in we looked into it but the closer we got to summer the more I'd hear about drowning. This year was one of the highest for children water accidents and fatalities. As a mother that already worries about everything I didn't want the added stress of a pool in the backyard. If you know my child you know he would be the first one to open the door and jet outside. Need less to say, I opted out of the pool and looked for different ways to keep cool outside.
So, for Romans birthday he asked for (and got) a new water table! We were so excited we opened it a week early and it's not only Roman that likes it, Ethan and I love playing with it too. We all get drenched every time, without fail!