Superbowl

It seems like every year there are two teams in the Superbowl that I could care less about. There isn't much motivation to get really excited for the game. Such a bummer, because we have so much football party stuff that we could really throw a great bash.

Even still I had planned on having a small Superbowl party but (call me crazy) after Aubri's party the weekend before, I never really remembered to invite people over! Our friends were all getting together after church but Jose and I both pictured Aubri without her nap, running around with me having to chase her. We decided to come home where she could nap then run around without us fearing she will break something and had my parents join us.

Our Chargers were a huge disappointment this year, but we are not fair weather fans!

Valentines Day!

I'm a huge fan of holidays, and V-day is no exception. As a kid I loved the classroom parties, valentines day cards, and will never forget the flowers from my dad and the year of the amazing breakfast my parents prepared for Jesse and I(complete with LOTS of decorations, gifts, heart waffles topped with ice cream and strawberries).

In high school and college the day lost its appeal being single. It came and went and most I don't remember-except my sweet friend David buying all us girls single roses, and the other year Jesse had a concert in a coffee shop.

But then I met Jose. And Valentines was suddenly one of the best.days.ever. Hot tub and massages at Sycamore- yes please! Surprise night stay at the Cliffs, and couples massages at some fancy Vineyard place in Paso- heck yes!


Then it was my turn to plan Valentines Day. I'd always wanted to do a progressive dinner and thought it would be a good time to try it out. I picked places that meant something to us for apps, dinner, and dessert. But turns out Jose and I had never tried going out to eat on V-day. Lets say the night ended in three strikes when every place had a TWO HOUR wait. We ended up with dinner at Olive Garden in the bar section.



Last year we were still in awe of our little two week old bundle and a night in was perfect for us. I tried ( I think) making a dinner, but I remember holding Aubri throughout it.

This year we couldn't decide who was going to take the planning lead, so we both kind of did. I planned The Ten Days of Valentines, where every day I hid a small gift or planned something for Jose. Can I just add how amazing it is to hide gift #1 in my husband's Bible and be absolutely certain he would find it the following morning?? I'm so blessed!


Jose planned an early V-Day dinner Friday night so we could be Aubriella and crowd free. I was so excited to find a gift waiting in my car (framed Jose original love poem and the cute shirt I'm wearing as I type). We enjoyed an amazing meal at Steamers in Pismo. I'm so glad they haven't started posting the calories on the menu yet like every other stupid restaurant because I didn't want to be reminded the seafood fondue has about 3000 calories while wearing my size three skinny jeans--- oh yes, that is not a typo friends. I just shared my pant size 1) because I have not been this size since Jr. High/Freshman year 2)I never thought I could be this size again 3) because I still can't believe they fit, and thought maybe typing it out might be like pinching myself.


Any way back to V-day dinner. It was amazing, dessert following was amazing (though probably could have been better if the calories weren't on the menu making me choose the least caloric of the choices),my husband is amazing.


Saturday- Sunday Night the 24 hr flu hit me hard, but I woke up V-day morning feeling great. It was miserable, but I did lose another 1 1/2 pounds so I could look at the bright side.


Monday morning, Aubriella and I picked up breakfast burritos, candy and a balloon to surprise Jose at work. It was raining and my trying to juggle all that, a baby, and my suitcase sized purse with the camera inside wasn't to successful. We managed to lose the balloon as we were walking in...and a shoe (Aubri's not mine). We had fun causing a commotion at work and eating breakfast in the break room with Jose.

At lunch, I had our wedding video and slide show playing-- cheesy but so fun since we hadn't seen it in 3 years.

Aubri at the window saying bye to daddy!

She loves her little singing puppy from Daddy!

For dinner Aubri and I cleaned up, lit candles everywhere, and made homemade pizza. I even had my old college dorm floor soundtrack "Midnight over Manhattan" playing in the background as an extra touch. Jose walked in the door as the appetizers were coming out of the oven. Perfect!

She joined us at the table instead of her high chair

Her first taste of bubbly cider

We may not have had a few hundred dollars to drop on a nice hotel stay and couples massages, but this may have been my favorite Valentines day- or 10 days :-)

It's in the details

Just thought I'd share some of the details of Aubriella's Cupcake party. Everything turned out great (except the weather ;-). I was so lucky that Silvia helped me look for all the special details...like the perfect square plates, pinata, silverware, goodie bags and SO MUCH more! She probably stopped at every party store in Santa Maria and San Diego! Thank you Silvia for all your help!

I had fun making a few crafts for the party. Tissue paper pom poms, high chair tutu (my mom helped me cut the 100's of tulle strips!), and Aubri's hair clip (that she wore for 10 minutes before we decided to put her hair in pig tails!), and even planted a few flowers in pots for centerpieces.

I lucked out that a few stores were featuring Valentine's Day cupcake themes. I was able to mix and match from everywhere!

This perfect flag I found at Kohls. And matching dollar store balloons! The easiest little walkway to let guests know to come through the back.

For a couple of weeks I was hanging the pom poms everywhere! Eventually they surrounded the posts and rails of our bed!

They were scattered on fishing line above the party, but ended up bunching in a few places because of the wind. I thought it still looked cool!

The banners are actually what started to whole party theme. My friend Sarah made Aubri her name banner for her room. I was going to attempt a Happy Birthday one to match and have a pink and brown cupcake theme. Then we happened to go to another friend's house and she had the pastel one already made, AND it had cupcakes on it.

What is a cupcake party without cupcakes! I baked 120 cupcakes, and Silvia frosted them all! About 7 years ago while I was in college, I compulsively bought this little cake stand and matching pastel plates with a cupcake theme. I've never used them, until now! They were PERFECT!

Some of the cupcakes had little sparkly crowns in them. They were made by Aubriella's godmother Joy, and were left over from one of my baby shower invitations! I taped them to toothpicks.

Of course the only time I had to stop and take some pictures of details was before the party started...sadly before everything was set up! I was so excited to be able to use my swap meet vintage pastel bowls for the salsa, and my favorite set of melamine nesting bowls for chips! They looked so cute (you just got to take my word on it!).

I asked my brother Jasen to take a picture from our upstairs window

Saw a tutu similar to this on Etsy... for $75! made it for $18!

I bought supplies to make Aubri a cupcake shirt, but ended up finding the perfect one at Babies R Us! I made her bow for free at Beverly Craft Stores 35th birthday party celebration! And her tutu and hat I found on clearance after Halloween mixed in with some costumes!

And finally, thanks to Silvia, the perfect pinata!

Family Day!

Have I mentioned that the recent weather has been amazing? (Except for Aubriella's party....grrrrr). ;-) We had to take advantage of it being this nice so we finally walked the Bob Jones trail. Jose and I may be the last ones on the Central Coast that hadn't walked it! Even Aubriella is familiar with it thanks to Nana and Papa!

We of course took off wearing flip flops, and started getting nervous that everyone else was in hiking gear or looked really prepared. I guess they just really wanted to get some excercise because flip flops served us well!



It was so pretty and Aubri loved the stop at the swings and seeing all the dogs! We will definitely be doing this more often!
My girl loves the swings!





Aubri brought along her balloon from an earlier shopping trip.





Exploring the open road

Wish I knew how to take better pictures! The sun made this one dark, but the moment I caught is priceless!

Whenever Aubri is on Jose's shoulders she spends the whole time bending over to see him!

Since we took the walk at a very lesuirely pace (and somehow passed our bridge exit!) we got to Avila later than we planned. Aubri had fun walking around, and of course going on the swings.

We could have walked back, but instead added to our adventure and took the trolley ride!

A short story

Once upon the time there was this really lucky mommy who had a beautiful baby girl and a handsome husband. The lucky mommy was convinced to get a pedicure by the handsome husband. Not one to argue with that, the lucky mommy indulged herself. Turns out the beautiful baby girl was lucky too. The Handsome husband/daddy took her to the park while the lucky mommy was enjoying her treat.

The silly Handsome Husband had so much fun with the beautiful baby girl. He told the lucky mommy "We must take her to the park much more!" to which the lucky mommy replied, "I don't think so. Not when we have two huge boxes containing lumber and parts for a gorgeous swingset for our own backyard sitting in the garage waiting to be assembled!" Turns out the only one not lucky is the handsome husband...because he has some work cut out for him!
The End

Long Legged Lady

January has been very unseasonably warm around here (that is until the day of Aubri's party....grrrrr). A few weeks back it was pushing 80 degrees and when Aubri put up a fight during a clothes change I decide to not fight back. Jose and I were cracking up that she was walking around in her diaper and shoes (lately if she finds a pair of her sparkly shoes she HAS to have them on!).

Things got even funnier when she took a break for a snack! We could not get over how long she looks! She's really been thinning out lately, and obviously getting taller!