Nesting

My pregnancy philosophy this time around has been not to stress over every little detail of every little thing. That was my main reason for not wanting to know the sex of the baby this go round...if I didn't know than I couldn't plan! We were not going to switch over our guest room until after the baby was born and then I would take my time putting it all together and just making it work. My philosophy has changed slightly since finding out that we are having a boy. I immediately gave away all of my girl bedding, clothes, etc to make room for new "stuff." We have had extremely generous friends give us clothes, blankets, and all of our baby bedding, so I have not had to spend money on much. Lucky for us (and our budget) my "peeps" have really good taste!
So about a month ago I mentioned to Tony that we only had around 45 days until the due date and it sent him into a total panic. He immediately devised a plan to disassemble the guest room, paint, lay new carpet and rearrange Cienna's room (complete with new twin trundle bed) so that Anthony Jr. will have a space of his very own when he comes home from the hospital. My mom and Tony's parents purchased Cienna's new bed and mattress for us. My sorority sister Bre designed and created custom letters for the wall. My friend Elizabeth donated all of her baby bedding. And with one trip to Ikea it was complete! (Errr...well except for the new baseboards that are going in but we will just have to overlook that for now!)
Thank you to everyone who made this transition possible by giving us clothes, gift cards, support and ideas. A big THANK YOU to my mom who watched Cienna while we frantically threw everything together last weekend. I can't thank everyone enough. You truly are the best!

AJ's New Pad

Letters Done By Bre At Artzy Alphabets

The Time Out Chair Just Waiting For AJ's Little Behind (Hey..I Know I Am Going To Need It So I Might As Well Have It Ready!)

Cienna's REALLY Big Girl Bed

Wall Art

Traveling Trash Family's Top 10 List

I was inspired to compile this Top 10 list yesterday after an evening hauling job. It never ceases to amaze me what people consider "junk" and pay us to haul away. Funny thing for Tony and I....a lot of the time (and I mean a lot) we come across things that we actually need and or can use in our house. And last night was no exception. We arrived at the hauling job of a lovely woman who was moving to Virgina for the military and because she had missed her "move date" the military was not going to pay for her move. Because of this, she needed to widdle down her stuff so that she could drive it across country. She had a CA King size bed frame that was in immaculate condition that she needed hauled away (among other things.) When I saw it, I could not believe my eyes! It matched our bedroom furniture perfectly! We have the same furniture set that Tony's parents bought for him when he came down to go to school at NM. For the last 8 years we have never gotten around to completing the set by buying a head and foot board. Anyway, to make a long story short, it seems like this happens to us all of the time. Two weeks ago I received a gift card from my friend Jenny for baby "Guido" from Target. I made a list of things that I needed and one of the items was a Graco base for the infant seat for Tony's truck. It would be such a convenience to have a base in each car so when we were on the go we could just click the car seat in and not have to worry about moving the base every time. I suspected it was going to cost about $50. On my way to Target Tony called me and said that he had just finished up a hauling job and wanted me to come and look at what he had before he went to the dump. What was the first thing that I laid eyes on? A Graco car seat and base! I could not believe it. That is just the way things work out for us!
There is a saying that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." This is my Top 10 list of treasures that we have come across in the hauling business.

#10

The King Size Head & Foot board


Our Existing Furniture Set

#9

An Old Window...Love The Way It Looks!

#8

Oak Gun Cabinet...Tony Helped An Old Lady Move And She Paid Him With The Gun Cabinet!

#7

Grandfather Clock. Tony Did A Hauling Job For These People And What They Didn't Have Hauled Away They Had An Estate Sale For. They Told Tony He Could Have First Pick. We Got The Clock For $500 And Later Found Out It Was Worth $6500!

#6

Tulip Floor Lamp. Same Estate Sale. Paid $40 For The Lamp And $112 To Replace Some Of The Shades. The Store That Replaced The Shades Sells The Same Lamp For $850!

#5

Mirrored Wall Window. Too Cute For Words.

#4

Cedar Toy Box. When We Hauled This Away It Had 3 Legs On It. After Sewing Off The Legs And Adding The Wood Letters To Spell "TOYS" It Is A Gem!

#3

Hurricane Lamp. We Used To Have A Pair Of Them Until Bekens Moving Company Came Along.

#2

Elvira Pin Ball Machine. Tony Cleaned Out A Recording Studio In Dallas And We Got The Pin Ball Machine!

#1

My Absolute Favorite. 2 Glass Piggy Jars Filled With Pennies From The 1950's And Earlier. They Are The Cutest Things That I Have Ever Seen. (Well Besides For Cienna.)

So that is it! My 10 Top hauling job treasures. There are more (I could have done an honorable mention list) but I am off for a bike ride and a movie with the family. Hope that everyone has a great week!

Small Town 4th of July

Friday night we headed up to the cabin to celebrate the 4th of July, South Fork style. It was our first time celebrating the holiday in a small town and it reinforced why we bought a vacation home in South Fork. We are so excited that our children will have the memories that this town will bring summer after summer, year after year. Here is a snapshot of our weekend.....

Waiting For The Parade To Start In Creede


The Beautiful Backdrop


South Fork Celebrity....BeauMeyer.com


Eating Her Loot And Wearing Her Beads

After the parade we went to the South Fork volunteer fire department for their annual catfish fry, which helps raise money for the department. At 2pm, South Fork put on their own parade...this time with rain!


Cienna Riding The Rubber Duck Float With Skylar


One Of The "Local" Jeeps

At 3pm, there was a rubber duck race where a duck could be purchased for $5 and the proceeds are going to be used for new playground equipment in the town.


Catching The Ducks At The Finish Line

After the rubber duck race we headed back to the cabin for naps and then joined Beau, Heather and Skylar for a fabulous dinner of chili dogs and watermelon before heading out to watch the fireworks. Cienna cheered the fireworks on with phrases like "come on, more colors!" and "oh...beautiful colors!" It was her first fireworks show, since she slept through them at Disney World back in April. She was totally in awe.
The next morning we got the raft on the river. 3 hours later we ended up at our destination, and Cienna was dead asleep, sitting up. I wish I had the camera...it was classic!

A couple of other blog-worthy notes / pictures from last weekend:

Tony's UNM teammate, Jarrod, and his adorable wife Danyett and daughter Victoria visited from Houston. Since our daughters are only 3 weeks apart, we always try to get them together so that they can play and we can "compare notes." The girls had a blast....



Having Fun In The Hello Kitty Tent


Tony & Jarrod


One Adorable Family

OK, last picture is of Cienna's "dress up" outfit. I have dedicated a basket to various clothes / accessories that Cienna can put on throughout the day. She likes to put them all on at once instead of just going for a "look." I have tried countless times to explain to her what a look is. I guess at 2 years old putting on everything you own is a "look." Anyway, thought that this picture was too cute not to post!


My Fairy Princess

I also wanted to say RIP to Scratchy Ma, one of my mom's cats. She was put to sleep on Sunday after a very traumatic 4th of July where she was injured while out and about during all of the fireworks. "Brrrring, brrrring" Scratchy Ma. I am gonna miss you! 1998-2009

Zeus Moose, our 1st born, is turning 7 years old today. Happy B-Day Zeusers! We love you!


Zeus The Night We Got Him in 2002 (10 Weeks)


Zeus As An Adult!

5 Years...Or Something Like That

Tomorrow is Tony and my 5 year wedding anniversary, and I could not think of a better reason to take a trip down memory lane. Although we have been married for 5 years, we have been a couple for the last 13, and in that time we have been through many adventures together. Our time together has consisted of mostly "ups", and I have found that even our "downs" aren't ever that bad. Have I wanted to put a pillow over his face sometimes and press hard? Yes. But those feelings come very few and far between. I feel so lucky to have married such a great man, a great father, friend and provider. He makes me feel safe and loved. And no matter how bad things have ever been, neither one of us has even for a moment talked of breaking up or leaving. In the words of Tony (the night before our wedding) "there is only one way out of this marraige. Death. It can be due to natural causes or not, but that is the only way out." I know what you are thinking...what a romantic! Well I gladly took my vows even with that speech because I knew that what he really meant was "this is it. You and me forever." And I still believe those words today. Anyway, enough of the mushy stuff. Now the trip down memory lane......

Tony and I met in the 6th grade at Foothill Middle School.

This is what I looked like. Obviously my "awkward" stage. One of many.


This is what Tony looked like.

Our story began when we were in the 6th grade. We became "boyfriend and girlfriend" and then he dumped me and broke my heart. I spent the first part of my 7th grade year winning him back with the sole intention of breaking up with him. Everything worked out according to plan. For the next several years we did not speak. Eventually I began taking his phone calls somewhere around our sophmore year in high school. We began hanging out. I played hard to get. He had a another girlfriend. I had another boyfriend. And then everything changed the summer before our senior year. Don't ask me how or when or why. That was just it. Done deal. We were inseparable from August 1996 forward.


At a party in the hills


Senior Picnic


Senior Ball


Graduation

After high school we went to Los Medanos Junior College together, where he played football and I played softball. After 3 years, Tony was offered a football scholarship in New Mexico. It was the only time that I truly felt our relationship was ever in jeopardy. Since I had already been accepted to Sonoma State, we decided to try a long distance relationship. What we found was that no matter how far away we were or how difficult the temptations of college life might have been we truly wanted our relationship to work. After one year I transfered to UNM and never looked back.


After A UNM Game


Tony's Graduation

In 2003, once we had both graduated, our life became a whirlwind of events. Every year brought something new and exciting and great to our lives. Well, I guess you could say it actually started in 2002.....


- Zeus joined our family at just 10 weeks
- We bought our first home

In 2003....


- We got engaged
- I started my career as a retail buyer

In 2004....




-We got married
-We got into a horrific roll over car accident
-We started 24-7 Hauling

In 2005....


-We got Tonka Maria
-Bought our second house
-Bought an apartment building
-Sold our two houses
-Moved to Texas

In 2006....


-We got pregnant with Cienna
-Figured out that we hated Texas

In 2007....


-We had Cienna Elise
-We moved from Texas
-Tony got accepted into the ABQ Fire Academy
-I moved to CA to become a buyer for Cost Plus World Market
-I quit my job with CPWM
-We sold our apartment building
-We bought a new house in ABQ

-Tony became a firefighter

In 2008....

-We bought a cabin in CO


-And found out we were having a new baby

In 2009....

-We started a "few" new businesses
-And the best has yet to come!!

Happy 5th Anniversary Babe! Here's to many, many more!!!

Good News, Bad News

Last night we went to see the Isotopes play with their newest member, Manny Ramirez. Ramirez is currently on a 50-game suspension from the Dodgers so he was sent down to the minor league to finish out his "sentence." The good news was we had a great time. A friend of ours has a suite right behind home plate so we had great (free) seats, and it was the largest crowd in Isotopes history. The bad news was that Ramirez struck out and grounded out in his only 2 at bats.

A Promising Stance


The Big Whiff!


Daddy & Daughter Waiting For A Fly Ball


Riding The Carousel In The Outfield With Mommy

Our second good news / bad news story has to do with potty training. Cienna has been peeing in the potty for about 2 months now (although not very consistently) but has absolutely refused to poop in the potty. About 3 weeks ago I wrapped a present and put it on the back of the toilet, explaining to her that she could have it once she pooped like a big girl in her big girl potty. She showed no interest. The good news is that out of the blue this morning it was like she had never seen the present before. Her eyes got big and she pooped right there in her frog shaped potty. I was elated! Overjoyed! Ecstatic! She opened her new Polly Pocket and got a red vine and 3 jelly beans for her accomplishment. We called daddy and both grandmothers to share the joyous news. The bad news? An hour later she crapped her pants. Why God? Why would you want to poop your pants when you just pooped in the potty and made mommy, daddy, Mimi and Granny so happy? Why would you poop your pants when you know that you can get a red vine and 3 damn jelly beans just for going? For the love of God, someone explain this to me, because the frog and I just don't get it!

Please Cienna...Come Back To Me!