The Yellow River- Beware: Nasty Pictures Inside

My little Jagger turned 3 months old last week and he is just the happiest little guy. He smiles constantly and sleeps 8 hours a night. We are so lucky to be blessed with such a good baby.

Little Jag just started to go in his Bumbo this week and every time he sits in it, he poops which is good because he goes days and days between poo's.

Just a few minutes ago, I put him in his seat so that I could put the groceries away. As soon as I closed the fridge door I heard Trent say, "Oh no! Poo poo yucky." I whipped my head around and instantly saw what he was talking about. There was a yellow, poo river flowing down the side of the Bumbo and Jagger could not look more pleased with himself. Naturally, I had to take a picture before I cleaned everything up.

Here are his 3 month shots

Oh, the life of a mom! It's a lot of cleaning up pee and poo which I am not a fan of, but there's even more hugging and kissing which I love!

On another note, Trent is on fire with the potty training! He wears his big boy underwear all day except at night and he even went number two on the potty twice this week although he hated it and screamed bloody murder the entire time! I am so proud of him!

Mark's Big Head

It is a big day for my husband...he is picking up his big 'ol animal mount...that's right...today he is bringing home a large antelope head and I am not excited about it one bit.

Last year, Mark drew an antelope tag so he and my dad went hunting in Northern Nevada. While there, Mark shot and killed a record antelope. Although I do not agree with hunting (even though I grew up in a house full of hunters), I was happy that he made it into a hunting magazine because he was just so proud of himself. Being that it was a record antelope, Mark decided to get the head mounted and it has taken over a year to get it back. I don't have the heart to tell him that it wouldn't break my heart if the head was somehow lost in the process :)

Over the last year, Mark has told me that he is mounting that head in the house. My response has typically been something to the effect of, "That's not happening." My mother never let my dad mount his dead animal heads in the house. She always told him that that is what the garage is for. I tried to tell Mark that he can put his big' ol head in the garage as well but he is not backing down!

After mulling things over, I've decided not to fight him on it. After all, he spoils me rotten and he works his you know what off so he deserves to show off his head with pride I suppose. I will not however, let him mount it where he wants to which is right above the television. The last thing I want staring at me creepily with its glass eyes when I'm watching T.V. is a horned stuffed animal head. The man will have to find somewhere else to put his treasure!

Mark just walked in from work, proudly carrying his big head. He immediately placed it on the wall next to the television and I promptly vetoed that idea. We agreed on the dining room. It's not exactly what I want to stare at when I am eating a nice meal but considering that we use that room like once a year, it will do.

Mark mounted it on the wall and it looks like this:

Trent keeps saying that the head is cute!

Even the baby liked the head!

The fun didn't stop there. Oh no, Mark had to nail the plaque in the wall with the animal's measurements on it as well!

Needless to say, it has been an exiting two days for my husband! Yesterday, the 2014 Rzr's were revealed and considering that I did in fact total ours, he was very excited to see what the new ones looked like. Although he immediately fell in love with the new model, there isn't a four seater so it looks like we are getting a 2013 this week. And now, he has his head! I'm not sure he can handle this much excitement in one week!

Trent Peed out an Apple!

Trent peed out an apple today...at least, that's what he thinks he did.

Let me preface this story with a story of my own from childhood. Once, my family was camping and my little brother had to poop. My dad took him into the woods, pulled down his pants and told him to push. Well, apparently my brother went number two on a spoon that someone carelessly left on the ground. When my brother was done with his business, my dad told him to look down and check out what he pushed out. I am sure that Gabe was astonished to discover that he pooped out a spoon! My dad teased him about that for years and I think that he probably believed it until he got older and understood that that just wasn't possible.

Back to today. Trent came running up to me screaming that he had to poo. He had a mouthful of apple at the time so some of it sprayed me as he screamed excitedly. I grabbed his hand and we ran to the bathroom. 

I plopped him down on the seat (he'll only pee standing up if he's outside and Mark tells him to go on a tree). As Trent pushed, he started to scream, "Yay, I pee pee on the potty!" and as he did so, a large piece of the apple he was eating fell from his mouth and landed on the tip of his pecker. He was so excited to be going potty that he didn't even realize he was spitting out his apple. After he was all done, I told him to look down at his junk which he promptly did. He saw the apple skin sitting on his pecker and his big brown eyes were as large as saucers when he looked at me in astonishment. I couldn't help but laugh as I told him that he peed out his apple! He continued to stare at me as he whispered, "I pee pee an apple?" I couldn't help but tell him that he did and now he is running out of the house shouting to the rooftop that he peed out an apple! 

That silly little boy! I can't help but laugh at his cuteness and at the fact that I am pulling the same jokes on my kid that my dad did on my brothers and I! 

Trent's First Movie Experience

When we were in the Bay Area meeting our new nephew last weekend, Mark and I decided to spend some alone time with Trent since we haven't done anything with him by himself since the baby was born. So, we took him to the movie theatre to see Despicable Me 2. I thought that he would love to spend some time with his mom and dad watching the sequel to his second favorite movie. The first being Hop with James Mardsen, but fair warning, that movie did teach Trent two annoying habits: kicking and hitting. I'll quickly explain...

The little sister in Hop gets mad that her brother stole her spotlight so she kicks him in the shin, and every time Trent sees her kick Mr. Mardsen's character, Fred, he runs over to me and kicks me in the shin! Also, if I am holding him, he sometimes takes his little palms and taps my cheeks like the bunny does to Fred when he is pretending to be a mechanical stuffed animal. It is quite annoying. It is amazing what his little brain picks up from various movies! He learned to screech from Finding Nemo (when the little girl is in the dentist office), hit and kick from Hop, and biting from Hotel Transylvania. Needless to say, these "kid" movies are bad influences!

Anyhow, sorry for the transgression...back to Trent's first movie experience. We got to the theatre about ten minutes before the movie was supposed to start and then there was like fifteen minutes of previews, so the little man had already been sitting for nearly a half hour before the movie even began! The entire time, he sat in his chair like a big boy and inhaled popcorn like it was his last meal. 

Once he saw Gru on the big screen he became so excited that he began to scream and clap excitedly. Luckily the theatre was full of kids, many of whom were doing the exact same thing. Trent continued to sit in his chair like a good boy until an octopus came on the screen. Let me just tell you, he loves all animals, especially those eight (I think) legged creatures. There is only one problem...he can't really say the word 'octopus' properly. He whispers 'oct' and then shouts 'pus' at the top of his lungs. It is quite embarrassing. His pronunciation of the word 'clock' is also mortifying because he drops the 'l.' He feels the need to point out every clock he sees, so whenever we are running errands and he sees a clock, he shouts, "Mama, mama. I see a __ (you get the idea)!. Yikes! 

Anyhow, if I had known that the movie was going to have an underwater adventure in it, I would have thought twice about taking the Trent Monster for fear that he would shout out each marine animal that he saw which is exactly what he did in the theatre. He screamed 'fish' and 'shark' and when that darn octopus came onto the screen, he jumped up from his chair and screamed 'pus' at the top of his lungs not once, not twice, but three times! Good thing the theatre was dark because I am quite sure that my cheeks were a nice shade of crimson. Mark and I simply looked at each other and laughed because Trent was so excited! Fortunately, many of the other parents' laughed at well.

About an hour and twenty minutes after we first sat down in the chair, Trent decided that he no longer wanted to sit and he was ready to go so that is exactly what we did. We did not want to ruin the movie for anyone else so we left before he got grumpy. 

Although we didn't get to see how the movie ended, I was quite proud of Trent. All in all, he was a very good boy despite the little embarrassing shouting incident! We can't wait to take him to see Monsters University next! If we get there right when the movie starts, I think we can make it through the whole thing!

My Son...the Vampire

Over the last few days, my son has decided that he is a vampire. I am not quite sure where he got it from but has officially entered the biting stage. In fact, he bite Mark in the balls.

Yes, you heard that right. Trent leaned in, open mouthed and chomped down on Mark's nuts as Mark stood unsuspectingly in the kitchen, filling me in on his work day.

Before I knew what was happening, Trent's little body flew back and he landed with a thud on his behind. Not surprisingly, Trent erupted into his ear shattering screams as I frantically asked Mark what the hell happened. I ran to Trent, scooped him into my arms and began comforting him as Mark screamed, "He bit me in the nuts." Dumbfounded, I said, "He WHAT?" Mark screamed, "He tried to bite my junk off," as he stood in the kitchen, hunched over, with both hands grabbing his package.

What did I do? I burst out laughing of course! What else was I supposed to do? I held the screaming Trent in my arms, swaying back and forth and laughed my bloody head off despite the death looks Mark was flashing my way. Actually, I was even slightly annoyed at Mark for having pushed Trent so hard that he fell on the ground and I even told him so. Mark promptly told me that it was just his reflexes freeing his manhood from imminent harm. Again, I laughed.

Well, as they say, karma is a bitch because the little bugger ran up to me yesterday, arms open wide as he said, "Mama, hug. Mama kiss." I scooped him in my arms ready for the love that he so obviously wanted to show me. He leaned back, grabbed my face and placed a big ol smacker right on my lips. I said, "Oh, Trent, Mommy loves when you give me kisses and hugs." He smiled back brightly and again said, "Mama, I hug." He wrapped his skinny little arms around my neck tightly and snuggled into my neck. I was on cloud nine. I smiled and hugged him tightly when suddenly, I felt his little chompers on the skin of my shoulder and he bit me. The little bugger bit me! I put him on the ground and sternly told him that he cannot bit people. He looked at me, laughed mischievously and then charged me like a bull with his mouth wide open. He tried to bite me again! I pushed him away only be charged a second time.

Many of my friends children have gone through the biting stage and I was hoping to avoid it but apparently, that is not going to happen. My only guess as to where Trent learned how to bit is from me! When I play with him, I often take him in my arms, lie him horizontally and nibble on his ribcage while saying, "I am going to chomp on you like a chicken bone!" It makes him laugh hysterically but that type of play time is no more! I need to nip this biting before it gets any more serious!

I know that some of you may be thinking that my child is horrible. He is not, I assure you. Most of the time he is a lovable little man but the times that he kisses or hugs me are not nearly as entertaining to relay.

Insanity Day 3: Depends May be Purchased

I could barely walk the day after I started my Insanity routine. My thighs were sore and my calves were so tight that I feared they would spasm into the dreaded "Charlie Horse" at any moment. I was so sore but it was the good kind of sore that you can only get from working out. 

Day 2 of the work out was very difficult but I managed to get through it without taking too many breaks. There was however, a small problem and I cannot believe that I am actually admitting this, but I am having a leakage issue. I know, I know...I tend to over-share but that is just who I am!

If you follow my blog, you know that while pregnant, I have complained of dribbling a bit whenever I sneezed or coughed. Unfortunately, you mother's out there know that this embarrassing little side-effect does not stop once you pop that baby out. Oh no...you continue to sporadically pee yourself when you cough or sneeze. Most of the time however, I can feel it coming on so I can consciously close my legs tightly and not have an accident. Let me back peddle a bit by saying that I do not full on pee my pants but, occasionally, there is an issue of leakage. Oh, the joys of carrying eight pound babies. 

Anyhow, as I mentioned before, there is an obscene amount of jumping in the Insanity workouts. The first day, there was a lot of little hopping around but on the second day of Insanity, there was a ton of large jumps. I am sure you can see where I am going with this....all of that damn jumping may be great for getting my legs and butt in shape but it does nothing for my bladder muscles, let me tell ya. I had to take a break because I thought that I was going to pee my pants and I just had to laugh out loud. I remember my mother complaining of this issue when I was little and now, here I am, in the exact same position! Dang do I feel old!

Hopefully, I do not have to purchase Depends in the near future but if there is as much hopping, skipping or jumping in the upcoming routines that I have yet to try than there has been in these last two days, this purchase may be a distinct possibility! Yikes! 

The Creepiness of Sesame Street

My little Trent Monster LOVES Sesame Street. He is addicted. He would watch it all day if I let him! He typically watches an episode when he eats his breakfast and I hate to admit it, but I usually put another episode on for him when I cook dinner so as to keep the little man occupied.

Needless to say, I have watched a lot of stinking episodes over the last year or so. Unfortunately, I have most of the episodes memorized. Since Jagger has been born, I have been relegated to sitting on the couch nursing and watching Sesame Street and as such, I have decided that two of the character get on my nerves like no other. 

The first is the man who plays Alan. There is an episode that some of you mom's might remember that is about making a strong basket for Little Red Riding Hood's grandma. If you know which episode I am talking about, you probably know the line from the episode that makes me want to stuff cotton balls in my ears and that is when Alan screams, "I've got a basket of goodies for you, Grandma." I get the heeby jeebies just thinking about it. Funny thing is that a few weeks ago, I went to put on an episode from the DVR for Trent and when I selected the basket episode Mark screamed, "Nooooooo. I can't stand when Alan screams that he has a basket for the Grandma." I find comfort in knowing that I am not the only person who cannot stand this episode. In fact, I would be thrilled if I never saw this episode again. Unfortunately, it is one of Trent's favorites so I have a feeling that I might be stuffing ear plugs in my ears shortly. 

The second character that drives me up the wall is Chris. I imagine that he is a perfectly nice gentleman in real life but every time he dances in what can only be described as a really bad rendition of the "Carlton," I fear that my eyeballs will bleed. In fact, watching his creepy little dance really gives me the herby jeebies. Mark, too, has commented on how creepy Chris's dancing is and without any prompting on my part for him to do so. The combination of Chris balling his fists up really tight and twirling said fists into tight circles while shimmying his shoulders and hips furiously all while his mouth gapes open is creepy beyond words. 

I love Trent so much that I am willing to have my eyes and ears bleed from watching and listening to his favorite show but the second he starts dancing like Chris, the kid is cut off! There will be no more Sesame Street in his future the minute that happens, let me tell you! 

Day 1 of Insanity: My Near-Death Experience

The countdown is on: there is only about 3 1/2 months left until my little brothers wedding and I have begun to panic. Operation lose weight and get toned has officially begun. After all, I have to look good in my bridesmaid dress!

After I had Trent, I lost the baby weight by doing P90x before my older brother's wedding last summer. This time, I have decided to try Insanity and today was  my first day. Holy you know what....that crap is hard!

Let me start out by saying that the "warm-up" kicked my ass all by itself. Let me also say that I am glad no one was around to see the mess that I was during that work out. First off, my boobs are insanely, ridiculously ginormous right now since I am nursing, so every time I jumped in the air, and there is an ungodly amount of jumping, I could feel my boobs lift off of my body and slap back down. There was even a slapping noise to accompany my boobs flopping off my chest despite the fact that I was wearing a sports bra. I could see my reflection in the television and let me just say that it was not a very pretty sight.

Halfway through the work out, I was feeling quite light headed and I was panting like a fat kid running after an ice cream truck. Needless to say, I was elated when Jagger woke up to eat because that meant I could take a break. I firmly believe that his waking up to nurse saved my life...or at least, he saved my fat behind from blacking out from exhaustion.

After I nursed the baby and put him down, I resumed the work out which was insanely hard. I now know why the workout is called Insanity! I cannot believe that Trent did not wake up from his nap since my jumping around the family room sounded like an elephant running through the house. I may not have completed every rep that the crazy instructor did, but I did complete the workout. I have a feeling that my legs will feel like jello later but I know that it will be worth it.

Now all I want is an Oreo cookie from the box that I bought today for Trent's "poop on the potty" reward but I will refrain. Instead, I am going to grab an apple and get Trentster up from his nap.

Hopefully, I am able to walk tomorrow and complete Day 2 of the workout. I think that I will double up on bra's tomorrow and hopefully that will help the flopping and slapping around! I'll let you know how tomorrow goes!

My Nephew Has Arrived!

My nephew, Mateo Raul, has made his debut into the world!

As some of you may know, my older brother, Raul, married my oldest friend in the world, Tami, last June and on Sunday, July 14th, they welcomed their son Mateo. Teo, as he will be called, weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces and unlike my chunky monkey, Jagger, Teo is just the tiniest little thing you have ever seen! I went to the Bay Area last week to meet my nephew for the first time and I just fell in love with that little peanut. I predicted that he was going to be a little brown baby, much like my brother, but to my surprise, he is very fair skinned and has very light brown hair. He is adorable!

After a very lonnnnnnnng labor, mother and baby are doing great. Here are some pics from my visit. The boys and I stayed at my parents for a few days while the hubby stayed home to work. He made it down late Friday night and unfortunately, he was unable to meet Mateo himself because Trent Monster decided to run a very high fever and we didn't want to risk getting the baby sick since he is a few weeks early.

Mom and Baby

Sleepy Little Bug

Uncle Gabe stopped by for a quick hello

Jag swimming for the first time with my dad

Trent laughing at my dad falling in the pool

Jagger hanging with my brother's soon-to-be wife who bought him that onesie.

Aunt Tanya holding the chunkster. She got quite the arm work out carrying him around :) 

Fourth of July Fun!

We are just now decompressing from our Fourth of July camping trip! It was our longest trip up at Truckee yet and we had a great time, even if Trent came home with scrapes, bruises and about 15 mosquito bites while Mark and I came home with sore necks and backs.

We arrived at our camping spot on Wednesday evening and we were the only people in the back of the camp so it was totally serene and quiet. We woke up early on the fourth and went down to the lake. Again, we were the only people on the lake and it was beautiful! The scenery was gorgeous and so peaceful. Mark and Trent caught their limit in fish and Trent had a great time helping Mark reel the fish in. And Jagger...well he barely makes a peep! He is now sleeping 7 hours a night and he is the happiest baby around!

We barbecued with Mark's aunt and uncle that evening and had lots of laughs but we we always do...they are hilarious to be around. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the top of the mountain to watch the fireworks over Donner Lake because we were just too tired and let's face it, Jagger is too little to trek up the mountain.

Mark's mom and brother came up to camp on Friday so Mark and I were able to take our Rzr out for a ride while the kids napped and grandma watched them. Mark's uncle showed us a new, and probably the best trail we've been on yet. We had a great time exploring the area and listening to music.

We originally planned to come home on Saturday but because Mark's mom came up and stayed with us, we stayed through the weekend. It turns out, we should have went home on Saturday anyway because we had a little accident that day....

Mark is normally the one who mobs the Rzr around because he is so good at it! Me...not so much. My hands barely reach the steering wheel and only my toes touch the pedals. Anyhow, Mark wanted me to drive him around for once. He even encouraged me by saying that I would never learn to drive well in our toy if I didn't practice. I told him several times that I didn't want to because I couldn't drive it well but he pumped me up and I caved. Turns out, I should have listened to my instincts! And no, I am not blaming him for my crashing because I could have refused to drive but I didn't. Anyhow, I took a corner too fast coming down the mountain that overlooks Donner Lake and I ran into quite the boulder. The front passenger side hit very hard but thank goodness we were in our harnesses because it could have been ugly. My little accident resulted in a severely bent frame and sore bodies all around.

Can I tell you how great my husband is? He didn't even get mad at me for wrecking his favorite toy! He simply hugged me and said he couldn't stand to see my dirt streaked face! I started crying immediately after we crashed because let's face it, it scared the you know what out of me! I was relieved to not have overcorrected and catapulted us down the other side of the mountain. Apparently, my tears made streaks down my face which was covered in dust from riding the trails. Mark simply told me that the worst that could happen is that the insurance totals it and we get a new one and that he was glad we were okay! Simply put, he is the best.

The Rzr is at the shop now and it doesn't look good. Apparently, they think it looks totaled but we'll have to wait and see.

Lesson learned from our little trip...we are not eighteen anymore, our bodies don't bounce back like they used to and we have two kids now so we need to act more responsibly and not drive so fast!

Regardless, we had a great and relaxing holiday. Trent loved playing in the dirt and fishing. Mark also loved playing in the dirt and fishing as well! Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Trent, admiring the view

First cast and fish of the day

Trent hanging out on Uncle Tim and Aunt Sheryl's toy

Trent, waiting to eat

Happiest baby on the block (and his first mohawk)

Uncle Tim and Jagger

Chunky monkey

Just hanging out.