Little Hearts Hold Big Hopes

Recently I have discovered and become a part of a wonderful organization called Mended Little Hearts. It's a group that helps to support babies who are born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), and their families. Most people who know me personally know that I myself was born with Tricuspid Atresia, which means I was born without a tricuspid valve in my heart. As a baby, I had surgeries and was in and out of the hospital. I had my last surgery (a fontan operation) when I was five and since then have been relatively healthy. I have always wanted to somehow give back and try to bring hope to parents whose babies have CHD, so when I heard that this group was starting a chapter in the Bay Area, I jumped at the chance to get involved.

I'm proud to say that I am now the Treasurer of our chapter, Mended Little Hearts of Silicon Valley. I am also going to the national convention in Dallas next month to get leadership training and learn more about CHD and the organization. Check out the website if you want to learn more! :) xxoo

http://siliconvalley.mendedlittlehearts.net/
www.mendedlittlehearts.org

At our very first group meeting. It was so great to meet and talk to everyone!

Suit Up!

On Saturday we attended a first birthday party/baptism reception for our good friends' little girl, Tatum. Since this event was a pretty big deal (the party included a cartoon artist, magician, dinner and dancing), we decided Joaquin needed a sharp new outfit to wear. We found this adorable Perry Ellis suit at Costco! Joaquin was a big hit at the party, and we had to just about pull him off the dance floor when it was time to leave. I'm telling you, this kid is going to be the life of the party for years to come!





Helllooooo Ladies!

Dancing Machine

The birthday girl enjoying her cake.



                                                 

And just for fun, here is the cartoon versions of Jose, Joaquin and myself. I think he did a pretty accurate depiction, I especially love the way he captured Joaqiun's eyes and cute little crooked smile :)

       

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! xxoo



Disclaimer

Before we go any further, I need to warn who ever may be reading this blog that, yes, I am a mommy. A full-time mommy to be exact (then again, aren't all mommies full-time?). So this blog is going to have A LOT of entries about Joaquin, being a mom, my domestic life, and hopefully a few about nights out with my husband. So if you are looking for a fashion, DIY, cooking, or just plain party-night-out-on-the-town-24/7 blog, I'm sorry to say this is not it. It is, for all intents and purposes, a "Mommy Blog."

I promise to try and spice it up every now and then. I may be a mommy, but I do like to cut a rug. :)

xxoo

Little Copycat

One of the most amazing things about being a parent is getting to witness your child grow and learn new things. It's even more amazing when they start to do things purely out of observation (as opposed to you endlessly trying to teach them).

Tonight I had just such an experience as I was getting Joaquin ready for a bath. The past few times I've given him a bath, he has stood next to me and put his hand under the running water, just as I do when I'm trying to get just the right temperature. Tonight, however, after testing the water he took it upon himself to open the cabinet where we keep his bath supplies, get out his bubble bath, and bring it over to the tub to add some bubbles. Of course once I realized what he was doing, I helped him open the bottle and squeeze it into the tub, which produced a very hearty giggle from my little genius. I swear, it's moments like these that make me so friggin happy to be a mommy.... And then of course after the bath he's in his room dragging all of his clean (and folded) laundry out of the basket, but I guess that's what I get for not putting it away earlier. :P

And with that, I am off to enjoy the rest of my night watching Shark Tank and folding towels. TGIF! xxoo

Rainy [Lazy] Day

It's raining today, and that means I get to be lazy and hang out at home with my little man. One of the perks to being a stay-at-home-mommy is that I can decide things like that, and don't have to drag Joaquin all over town when it's crappy outside. Wait... Did I just say "stay-at-home-mommy"?? Yep, you read that right! The company that I was working for (Ecast) closed it's doors in March and since then I have enjoyed my new role as full time Mom. Although I must admit, I am getting a chance to sneak out of the house one day a week (5hrs) to work in the "real world".

Being a SAHM is harder than it looks, but at the same time I'm not going nearly as crazy as I thought I would be. We've managed to keep pretty busy and it's nice to be able to schedule things around my baby rather than the other way around. Not to say I don't want to someday go back to work full time, but for now I'm happy just watching this little guy grow from day to day.

In other news, Joaquin is growing waaay to fast! He's already 16 months, running around, starting to talk, have his own ideas and opinions, not to mention out growing all of his 18 month clothes! When I go out with him people always ask how old he is, and before I can answer they guess that he's 2 or 3. YIKES! I love that he is a tall, healthy boy but can't he just stay my tiny little baby a while longer?? Before I know it he will be running outside on rainy days, jumping in puddles and drinking hot chocolate. But who am I kidding, I'm so looking forward to those days :)

Hello, Mr. Bunny

This year Joaquin met the Easter Bunny for the first time, and I think it's safe to say he has made a best friend for life... You never know how kids are going to react to meeting a giant rabbit, so I was half expecting J to run screaming in the opposite direction (not really, but I thought for sure he would at least be hesitant). But no, not my fearless little social butterfly! He instantly made friends, and was more than happy to have a photo session.

We went to Blackhawk Plaza to get the pictures done... I love going there for things like Santa and the Easter Bunny, it's never crowded and we always get some great shots. :) Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful Easter! xxoo

Third Time's a Charm....?

Well I think by now we have established that as a blogger, I suck. It has literally been almost a year since my last post. And believe me, my baby does a hell of a lot more than laugh now. But what the hell, I'm feeling feisty so what say we give this blog business one more spin. Stay tuned if you dare.

I will now be taking bets on how long it will take for me to give up this blog completely. My money's on 2 weeks... Let the games begin.

Music To My Ears

I cannot even BEGIN to tell you the joy I feel when I get to hear Joaquin's little laugh.
♥ ♥ ♥

Completely, Truly, Officially In Love

How could I not be???

♥ ♥ ♥



Put Your Records On

I have about a BA-JILLION projects on my to-do list. However, having a baby, job, a house to run and a husband going through a fire academy doesn't really allow for much time to tackle anything. At this point I figure if I get something done, great; if not, well then I guess that's just too damn bad ;)

One thing I did get to this past weekend was finally find a proper place for our record player and records. These have been collecting dust in our bedroom for over a year now, not getting much use and not at all properly displayed. We have a dresser in our kitchen/dining area that acts as storage and it has been housing various kitchen items that really did not need to be out for all to see. So here’s what I did:

BEFORE

Found new homes for all this shit **please note "shit" does not inclde the pictures or the candles that Jose and Joaquin made me for Valentines Day. I love those items and they have lovely new homes on our new end tables**

AFTER

Found some great fabric on clearance at JoAnn's, used it to cover a cardboard file box, and VIOLA! A fabu place to store my records.

Ahhh, much better! Now me and Joaquin can listen to The Beatles and Rolling Stones as we cook dinner for Daddy.

♥ ♥ ♥

American I-DULL

I'm working on a new post right now, and I just have to take a break to vent about something... I'm sitting here watching American Idol, and I just have to say it is really not the same without Simon Cowell (or anyone who will give honest critism). True there are some very talented people this year, but so far tonight the performances are mediocre at best, yet all three judges totally gush every time. They have nothing but good things to say and it's SO ANNOYING! Ugh, OK back to the real post.... ;)

ps. I still love steven tyler

Thumbs Up, Blogger

Since recently returning to the "blog world", I've been getting accustomed to the changes they've made as far as formatting and design. I have to say, I am loving all the different backgrounds they now offer. I especially love the "Patterns" and "Textures" categories. It took me a while to choose, but I decided to go with something mellow for now... But don't be surprised if I change things up every so often :)

And now Luna says it's time for bed...

Goodnight!

The First Of Many

It's no secret that in this house we are A's fans. So naturally, we had to take Joaquin to his very first A's game as soon as possible. We headed out to the Oakland Colleseum this past Sunday to see the Athletics get their first win of the season. It seems as though Joaquin was good luck! :)

 Jose has been waiting for this moment for a looooonggg time

 A little snooze in the shade

 Love Love Love

Baby Girl On The Way!

Nooo, not mine, my brother's! Two months before Joaquin was born my older brother had a precious baby boy (Baby Ryan), and come August my younger brother will have a sweet baby girl. Sydney is due to arrive on Aug 21, and she will be the first granddaughter for my parents and my first niece. I can't want to shower her with all things pink!!


p.s. I hear they like "Sydney Nicole", which I personally think sounds amazing. Here's hoping it sticks!! ♥