Our Weekend

How come Monday mornings always come so quick? Last week was my short week at work (we get every other Friday off and work longer days) so it was nice to have a long weekend. Friday we were getting a new dishwasher and they picked the most inconvenient time of day to schedule their delivery (11-2...they didn't show up until 2:15). Dominick and I hung around the house for most of the day. We did go to the park and do some things around the house, but for the most part it was an R&R day.

On Saturday we had plans to go to Disneyland. One of the benefits about living in SoCal is that it's pretty close. When we went for his birthday we bought the 3 day park hopper tickets and only used two days. Dominick was awake the entire ride there except the last 20 minutes so he basically missed his entire nap. We got there around 10:30 and left at about 6. It was a FULL day for him, but he had the best time. We are already looking forward to our next visit which will hopefully be around Christmas time. I'm pretty sure we are so spoiled by being able to go and now that we've gone that we couldn't imagine actually spending an entire family vacation to go there...spoiled, right? If you've ever been to Chicago you probably know the goodness of Portillo's. There is one about 15 minutes from Disney and anytime we're in the Anaheim area we try to go so after we left we went there to grab a quick dinner. We were home by 10:30 and called it a night.

He loved the parade

I brought him a cliff bar and you would have thought he had died and gone to Heaven. He thinks they're cookies!

He crashed and burned. He slept through dinner, I changed him, put his pajamas on and he slept the entire way home and through the night.

Sunday is always dedicated for a little bit of relaxing, grocery shopping, picking up the house and going to the park. It's pretty much a given for our Sunday's. It's nice to spend it as a family and rest up for the week ahead. So that is exactly what we did.

Kenny Chesney Album Release

More recently I've mentioned how much I love living in California. A complete 180 from not so many a moons ago. It's true, there's always something to do, places to go and see and really the weather of CA is pretty magnificent as well.

A friend of mine shared a post from iheartradio last Thursday on my wall saying if I wanted free tickets to see Kenny Chesney to send an e-mail. Okay, I mean, let's be honest that's pretty easy and it was from their official page so I took the plunge. I didn't hear anything back by Friday morning (which was my day off), the day of the "concert" so I just figured I didn't get picked. Well, Ryan was home for lunch and we were talking and I got the e-mail saying I had free tickets to respond with my name and show up at the iheartradio theater in Burbank. My friend and I went and to say we had so much fun is an understatement. It was a VERY short, all acoustic concert, but it was a lot of fun and a great FREE night out on the town.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Hollywood

When my parents come we love to go to Koreatown and get Korean BBQ. It's all you can eat, grill in front of you, amazeballs. It's also one of our favorite places to visit in the LA area because it's just that good. We have also planned to hike the Hollywood sign nearly every single time my parents come to visit and this time we set out to do it after Korean bbq. We drove to the trail and what do you know it was CLOSED!!!!!!!!!! Instead we drove around, found a lookout, a cute little park with a playground and took pictures with the sign. It was a great day out, but I hope we have a chance to hike the trail before we leave again with my parents.

 Dominick saw some people sitting on the ledge enjoying the beautiful city lights and thought he'd follow their lead. I die over him and his baby man cuteness.

First Beach Trip

Even though we live in Southern California, we also live in the middle of the desert and don't often make it to the beach. We hadn't been all summer and we've never actually gone to play in the sand and really enjoyed a beach day since Dominick was born. A weekend or two before my parents came we decided we should really go. We went to Point Duma in Malibu. It wasn't as warm as we were hoping, but it wasn't all bad either. After a few hours at the beach we went to Pasadena and had dinner and froyo. It was the perfect little day with my favorite guys.

Dominick's Birthday Part 2

Dominick fell asleep in the car after lunch so when we got home I laid him down for a nap. He ended up sleeping until his friends came over at 5:00. We weren't going to have a party this year for him and just keep it really low key. Low key is what we did. We had our little framily come over and had dinner and hung out. It was a good night and I know Dominick loved it too. I always said I would never do a character themed birthday, but along with keeping it simple we got a bunch of Thomas the Train party supplies and that's what we did.

Dominick's Birthday Part 1

Last year I took Dominick's birthday off to spend the day with him. Last year we didn't really do anything too special because Ryan had to work. Fortunately for us this year we were both able to take the day off so we planned something special. A few months back my friend had her son's 5 birthday at Travel Town in Los Angeles and since Dominick is OBSESSED and had such a fun time we thought we would just go back for a little while before his nap. It worked out perfectly.

That morning he woke up and we had breakfast and were on the road by 8 or 9. We ended up getting to Travel Town around 10:30 shortly after they opened and it was pretty empty since it was a Wednesday morning. We looked at all the trains and went on their little train ride. Dominick LOVED it. Since my parents were in town they also got to join us and we really had such a fun time.

We ended up leaving around 11:30-12:00 and then found a Chik-Fil A because what 2 year old doesn't love CFA? We went to the one on Sunset Blvd before making the trip home.

I'll post about his "party" and presents another day.

A Letter to My Two Year Old

Dominick,

How is it possible that you are already two?! Last year when you turned one it was bittersweet, but I was excited. There were still many firsts to come and it didn't mean complete toddlerhood. This year as you were turning two I was not ready. Two says goodbye to the baby stage and hello to the big boy stage and I am not sure I'm exactly ready for that. Ready or not, you are now TWO.

I am pretty certain that this past year topped the year before. We made so many memories and went on lots of adventures. It's been so fun to watch you grow from a tiny little babe to such a big boy. You are all, all boy all the time. You love trains, trucks and airplanes. You are rough and tough. You are the most adventurous little boy and pretty fearless. You have a heart of gold and care for others (most of the time)...these are two qualities that I hope you NEVER lose site of. You are confident. Confident in yourself, in us and in your surroundings. You are so HAPPY. You have this million dollar smile and a laugh that is contagious. You make all things happy.

Just like last year, buddy, I pray for you each and every day. I couldn't be more grateful that you are mine and I am yours. I can only hope that this next year brings many more adventures together and that we can write history with you. I pray for your heart, your future, your health and that you make good choices in your life. I pray for your friends, your future wife and family. I pray that you live life gracefully and that when the going gets tough you continue to push through. I hope that you are a leader and that you aren't a follower. I pray that temptation doesn't get the best of you. I pray that you see the good in people, things and life in general as there is just too much negativity in this world.

I love you more than you will ever know. I will love you more tomorrow than I do today. You make our days happier, our hair grayer and our family whole. These days go by SO fast, too fast. I wish I could bottle up your sweetness and keep you this little forever. While the tantrums are tough, the good definitely is better. I hope you never question our love for you because there is nothing like being your momma and daddy. We would move mountains for you. Everyday is a good day with you.

Love you to the moon and back,
Momma

Dominick turned two on September 3, 2014