Cienna's Skating Party

Last Saturday we celebrated Cienna's 8th birthday with an ice skating party. It was....interesting. First off, only Cienna, AJ, and one other little girl had ever tried ice skating before. Most of the guests were eager to lace up their skates and get on the ice, that is until they actually got on the ice. Several were immobilized with fear, gripping the side of the rink with sheer terror in their eyes. Others awkwardly attempted to let go of the side and looked like Bambi trying to stand for the first time.
Besides being a bit scary for some, it was also COLD. I know what you are thinking....it's an ice rink dummy! I guess as I was planning all the food and logistics it did not cross my mind that it would be that cold! But we managed somehow to still have fun and when we left Cienna shouted "this was my best birthday party ever!" Mission accomplished!

The Invitations

The Cake

Make A Wish!

The Loot!

The Guests / Best Friends A Girl Could Ask For!

We are so happy that your birthday party was everything that you wished it would be! And many more....

Turning 8

8 years ago today we were blessed with a sweet baby girl that we named Cienna Elise. At 8lbs 10oz, I have to admit the thought crossed my mind that you would have your father's physique and that as a result you may have to live with us forever. Now here we are 8 years later and all that crosses my mind is how I never want you to leave. Where has the time gone? How is it that you are now 8 years old? Why can't I turn back time? Until you are a parent you will never know what a catch 22 this is for me. How it pains me to see you grow up in what seems like the blink of an eye...yet all I want in life is to watch you grow up and be happy and find your way. We can't have it both ways. It is the painful part of parenthood. The joy and the sorrow in celebrating each and every birthday with a child that you love more than yourself.

But enough about me and my emotions! For you, today was a fantastic day! You turned 8! You were showered with love and (maybe) too many gifts and the amount of text messages and e-mails that came through for you (on my phone) was astonishing. If you ever feel unloved or just plain ordinary ask me how many adults with busy lives and kids of their own remembered your birthday and you will understand how truly special you are!

At 8 Years Old You Love:

Gymnastics
Horseback Riding
Skiing
The TV Shows "Austin & Ally" , "American Idol" , and "Project Runway"
Drawing
American Girl Doll Everything
Reading Chapter Books
School
Dancing
Playing "Monopoly" and "Life"
Going To The Mall
Spending The Night At Your Grandparents Houses
You Still Love Your "B" And Told Me The Other Day That You Will Go To College With It
Clothes
Your Best Friends Are Payton, Mikayla and Amelie
Your Favorite Color Is White
You Want To Be A Ballet Teacher In New York City When You Grow Up
You Are Smart, Caring, Kind And Want To Do It All! You Are Everything That I Hoped You Would Be And More! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

YOLO 2015

You Only Live Once. The older I get the more that this phrase rings true as I navigate through a new year. Although it's cliche, I like to make resolutions as it inspires me to take the time to actually think about how I would like to improve who I am. I made three resolutions in 2014, 2 of which I was able to sustain throughout the year. I believe that quitting Facebook both helped and hindered me. I spent less time involving myself in the lives of acquaintances, many of whom only post an update when some sort of drama or negative experience has happened to them. That will just bring you down. I also spent less time following the lives of people whom I knew in high school but do not know now and that in turn gave me more time to spend with the people who surround me and improve those relationships. The second was to read 1 book per month. I rediscovered my love of reading and felt like I re-entered the land of the living since becoming a full time mom. Books have brought me lots of joy in 2014.

In 2015, I would like to continue my personal growth. This year I want to focus on my health and wellness. I want to cook more and eat out less. I want to get back in the gym on a regular schedule. I want to stretch everyday and drink more water. My ultimate resolution is to run a 5K in October at the Duke City Marathon. And now facing a long MCL recovery, achieving this goal will be that much sweeter.

My second resolution is to call my mom every Sunday morning. As a little girl, I always remember the phone ringing in our house on Sunday and listening to my mom talk to her mom for about 30 minutes. Since I moved out on my own 14 years ago we have never had a set day / time that we catch up, and many times we have gone far too long without talking. It is easy to get caught up in the craziness that is life, but I am aware that everyday we live we are one day closer to it being our last. And I want to invest at least 30 minutes a week to my mom and getting to know her even better.

My last resolution is to read at least 13 books this year. I currently have 5 books on my nightstand ready for action!

Though they may seem small, these resolutions mean big things for me. You only live once. Say yes to things more than you say no. The opportunity may not present itself again. Don't worry, be happy. For happy girls are the prettiest and bookworms have more fun!

Christmas Break Fail

Christmas Break 2014 was supposed to be one for the ages. The plan was to spend 2 weeks at the cabin, skiing at Wolf Creek every day, sporting our new gear and showing off our moves to all the Texans. I guess we shouldn't have had a plan. Or expectations. Maybe we should have just stayed in Albuquerque.

My mom arrived on the 1st Sunday of break and we headed up to the cabin. Epic. Christmas was just a few days away, and with all the pre-planning we did, the presents were already delivered to CO weeks before. We began to bring them in from the garage and noticed that something was amiss. Turns out, when we brought the presents up in suitcases strapped to a cargo carrier in the back of my new car, the exhaust burned a hole right through the suitcase and melted / scorched some of the gifts!

Because we bought WAY more than anybody should, we still pulled Christmas day off without a hitch. I mean, some of Cienna's clothes had scorch marks on them but that's the style now right? Like holes in denim or acid washed in the 80's?

Christmas Day my mom skied for the 1st time in 22 years! She fell once getting off the chair lift and then again in the parking lot when she didn't even have the skis on and both times she laid there for a while before allowing me (her personal sherpa) to pull her up. I was impressed! The snow was great! Christmas Break 2014 was back on track!

December 26th. The day that will live in infamy. Tony and I jumped at the chance to use my mom as a babysitter and hit the slopes kid-free. I should have seen the signs. I should have used my intuition when they handed me my ski pass for the day and it said this:

Hmmm. That's odd. Grinch? Well that's because the Grinch stole my ENTIRE SKI SEASON that day with one puny fall that had one big POP. And that was all she wrote.

After the afternoon at the ER and an evening of feeling sorry for myself, I woke the next day optimistic that I would be able to walk on my leg. Not happening. And to add further fuel to the fire, the kids developed huge sores on their faces with sore throats...after another trip to the ER on the 27th it was determined that they had strep.

Sick, crippled, and needing medication every 4 hours, my mom left at just the right time...with Tony in charge. He did his best to attend to all of our various needs and complaints. Such as the time that I sent him out to our rented mini van before bedtime to retrieve my crutches. I guess he was so exhausted from playing nurse for all of us he forgot to press the button to close the door and the next morning he came face to face with this:

Yes, people. This is what happens when you leave your car door open all night in a snow storm. Poor guy had to go brush all the snow out (of course after he administered all of our medications and made us all breakfast.) Everyone knows that taking medication on an empty stomach is bad for you.

Other highlights of our break included AJ accidentally getting a glue trap for mice stuck to his bare butt cheek and Cienna getting completely wiped out by an out of control snowboarder. It was so stressful even Diesel threw up one morning. Christmas Break 2014 was definitely one for the ages!

Tis The Season

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Last year, I included a Mazotti family update with our Christmas cards thinking that sharing the most intimate parts of our lives with our family and friends would somehow make them (you) open their hearts and their homes for the holiday. Surprisingly (not really) it seems that it had the reverse effect and we were suspiciously not included in many holiday events. This year I decided to send the standard "everybody BETTER smile and look at the camera for at least 1 picture unless you want to see mom lose her shit!" picture and the response was great! Coincidence? I think not!

Mazotti Family Christmas Picture 2014

The phone calls and text messages were non stop after the card hit mailboxes around December 2nd. There is a reason that I send them early people! Obviously we would not be able to attend every event / party / grand opening / fundraiser / rave / red carpet that we were invited to. But the ones that we did attend...well, the pictures pretty much say it all.

Our Christmas season is starting off with a BANG!

Between weekends of acting a fool we put on our "normal parents" act and had he pleasure of seeing AJ and his classmates sing "Frosty the Snowman" at Barnes and Noble and Cienna perform in her Christmas event. What a difference a day (and lots of cocktails) makes!

Happy Holidays!

Halloween and Harvest in ABQ

With the weather still very much in the 70's, it is sometimes hard to wrap my head around the time of year it is. The trees are starting to change color and are dropping their leaves which is very much a sign of fall. But the heat is saying "wear sandals and shorts still!" I know that once the weather does change it will be fast and I will miss this confusing southwest weather. But in the mean time....we are enjoying all of the activities that come with this time of year!

Living in New Mexico in the fall is amazing. We have special events that we have grown to love and would greatly miss if we ever moved away. Here are a few of our favorites....

The International Balloon Fiesta

Balloon Glow

Morning Mass Ascension

Roasted Green Chile

The Harvest Festival

Zombie AJ


Pumpkin Patch Outings

AJ with his Masterpiece

Corn Pit

Halloween

Ninja AJ (5) Army Girl Cienna (7)

Slutty Librarian Alexis (29) Slutty Rainbow Bright Jenny (29)

And while we love New Mexico, Colorado in the fall ain't bad either!

Diesel Turns 1 !!!!

Our baby boy Diesel turned 1 today and oh what a year it has been! After arriving last November in the midst of a snow storm and home remodeling, there were many times that I vocalized that either you or AJ were going to have to go. You guys became best friends / frenemies very quickly which has been both blissful and exhausting at the same time. Here are some highlights from our 1st year with you.

When you arrived at the airport you refused to come out of your crate. I don't blame you. I have never met a family as loud as us either.

After several successful baths tied to the lamp post, we had a major FAIL. You won. No more tying you to the post and washing you with the hose.

You were a lap dog for like a week. I enjoyed that week immensely. Every day you would jump up on my big blue office chair and snuggle on my lap. When you got too big to be on my lap you would lay behind me. When you got too big to share the chair with me you began laying under the desk at my feet. It is our special bond. As a 140 lb dog, it melts my heart to see you gently ram your head into the desk until I move the chair back so you can lay down. What a mama's boy.

You are a big goober at the dog park. People take one look at you and think that you are going to rip apart their dogs. If they stay, (many people do not stick around to find out) they see a gentle handsome dog who is happy playing the submissive role to even the smallest of dogs. One day I heard you whimpering because a large dog had gotten on top of you and was making a bunch of noise. Instead of using your power and strength to get him off of you, you yelped so that I would come to your rescue and then literally played dead until I could. It was the funniest thing in the world.

I leave you alone for about 1 hour a day. In that hour you manage to single-handedly rip apart the entire back yard, rearrange the furniture and chew through any electrical cords that you can get your hands on. In fact, Christmas night we awoke to see that you had chewed through all the cords attached to Cienna's karaoke machine that Santa gave her. You have chewed the eyeballs out of stuffed animals, you LOVE Barbies and you have ruined more pairs of my shoes than I can count. Separation anxiety much?

You Had Better Come Back Soon Or Else There Will Be Nothing Left!

You have jumped from a moving vehicle (out the window none the less!), had animal control called on you for greeting the walkers on our street, stuck your head in a white paint can, ate a dozen cupcakes off the kitchen counter, and smashed the iPad with just one paw. All the damage and chaos has been well worth adding you to our crazy family. We love you Diesel! Happy 1st Birthday! Hoping we have many, many more with you!