Bike Rides

Growing up I spent HOURS riding my bike. I wore my tires down until they were balled. I loved to rid. As long as I could be outside I would ride my bike up and down our dirt road. I still LOVE riding bike! It's one of the things that can make me smile and relax me, so quickly. 

G outgrew his bike, so we bought him a new one recently. I also found a used bike since we didn't bring my old one from CA. G and I have loved going for a bike ride around the lake. The hard part is we can't go in the morning when it's the coolest. I have been searching Facebook Marketplace to find a bike trailer. I found one this past week. I loaded up both kids and off we went. Holy cow! Hauling 50 pounds of kids is a great workout for your legs! We made it around the lake one time before I had to go in. It was also 98 degrees outside. Cashy was singing away though on our ride! G will be able to ride his bike in front of us for our early morning rides in the future. 

My parents bought G this little Radio Flier trike for Christmas when he was a year old. When he opened it he gave the box a big hug and LOVED that trike! Now Cashy is big enough to ride in it and boy does he love it. If everyone goes outside he starts yelling that he wants to go outside. He knows if we take him out back we will put him on the trike. 

I have also been going on walks around the lake with the boys. G rides his bike and I push Cash on the trike. Houston heat is no joke! We make it around the lake once and will usually stop at the play ground for a little bit. Then it's home to drink a gallon of water! 

When we first moved into our neighborhood I struggled with how quiet it was. It was eerie to me. In CA we lived on a pretty busy street. Now that it has been a few months I LOVE how quiet our neighborhood is! I love that we can walk around without worrying about traffic. The lake is great to walk around. There is plenty of shade through the entire neighborhood from all the trees. The only thing I wish we had was a neighborhood pool. I feel there are always some trade offs though. You can't have everything, so we will find splash pads to visit in the summers. 

It's very nice to go out for a bike ride or walk and not stress about G staying right beside me. I lived in the country with absolutely no traffic until I was 16. I was able to run and play all day. I like that the boys will be able to go fishing at the lake, ride their bikes, and have space to run and play. 

Motherhood!

A little over a year ago my friend Chelsea asked if I would take some pictures with G for a mother's day promotion she was doing. Free pictures...of course I will do it! I was 5 months pregnant at the time with Cash. She wanted me to wear white or light colors. What you don't see in these pictures are the numerous dresses I ordered and outfits I tried. I ended up just using stuff I had. I used a belly band to wear my regular white pants. I never imagined how much I would cherish and how special these pictures would end up being to me. 

These pictures are some of my very favorite pictures of G and me! When I see them I just smile even a year later. They were laid back, we had fun in the flowers. At one point G wasn't sure he wanted to take anymore pictures, so we just started goofing around. 

These pictures are motherhood to me! When I look at them this is how I feel about being a mom. I struggled for so long to just become a mom, then it happened and the amount of love you can have for one person is crazy. I didn't worry if I could love a second child. I knew that love would come. It's amazing the type of love you have for your first and then a whole different type of love comes for your second. Your heart grows again with each child. You develop different types of love for each of them. 

I spent 6 years struggling to have a baby. It was a loooong 6 years! It was exciting, but scary when I would get pregnant. Excited that maybe this was the time, but terrified I would see blood. Even when I was pregnant with G I felt this one was going to make it, but I still worried in the back of my mind a lot. It took us awhile to decide on a second child. I didn't expect to deal with loss again. I had 2 miscarriages after G. I was told G was a miracle and I would most likely never have another child. That was heartbreaking to me. I spent almost a month mourning the loss and the fact I wouldn't have another baby. I felt like cancer once again was robbing me. Then I got pregnant....I didn't tell Art for a few days. I cried when I saw that positive test because I had just went through a miscarriage and I was told I would just keep having them. I wasn't sure I could handle it emotionally or physically. 

Weeks went by and nothing was happening. I finally went to the doctor and there was this amazing little flutter on the screen. My miracle little Cashy! It shouldn't surprise me that my boys are so strong willed because they have been fighters from the start. 

Motherhood is this dance in life where you are trying to balance so many things. All moms are working moms. The majority of moms keep their families running. Our world would not be running without the women juggling!

Miracle!

Last week I announced on social media that we are expecting a baby in July! We are so very excited! 

This baby is a true miracle and our rainbow baby. I haven't shared on my blog about wanting another child or our struggle. We had been told by numerous doctors G was a miracle and we probably never would be able to have another one. I went through a period of where I was grieving. It was a very difficult time for me. I feel I haven't been able to make very many choices when it comes to my health. They have all been made for me over the past 5 years. 

I am so very thankful for little G. He is seriously the brightest miracle in my life! 

I found out I was pregnant right before Thanksgiving. I honestly didn't have much hope this pregnancy would continue.  A lot was going on right then. I had my sister coming to visit. I was going with my mom to Mayo Clinic for some health issues. I just tried to continue with life and I would go to the doctor after to see what was going on with the pregnancy. I didn't tell anyone I was pregnant. I just didn't want people worrying or giving me their opinion on things. This one wasn't planned at all and was a surprise. Yes, Yes, I know where babies come from and how they can happen. lol  I am not going into the details of the 6+ months before, but there wasn't much hope. 

We waited awhile to tell family and even longer to tell our friends. 

G felt he had to tell everyone! He was with us at a doctor appointments when the doctor was talking about the baby and we could hear the heartbeat. G says momma open your mouf let me see that baby? He thinks the baby is the hangy thing in the back of your throat. lol

He then went to school and told everyone he was having a baby sister. He told the people at Sonic when we got our soda water he is having a baby sister. I had my friends little girl with me the day I picked up G from school, so his teachers thought that is who he was talking about. 

He has been so excited. He keeps asking hasn't the baby been in your belly long enough?

At night he will pat my belly. He said I need to pat the baby, so it won't cry and go to sleep. 

What will little Post be? Boy or Girl? We will find out later today!

Pizza Boy!

I told G after we eat dinner we are going to head to Costco. He said no eat, Costco peecee (pizza). He refused to eat dinner and wanted to wait for a slice of pizza from Costco. He hadn't ever had Costco pizza up until this point. Usually he wants a hot dog. When we go done with our shopping he told me peecee when we got to the register. 

I ordered him a slice of pepperoni pizza. I had to tear it into pieces, so he could eat it. He ate half the piece on our drive home. He then handed it to me and said ok momma hot dog. The kid wanted to eat a hot dog next. I just had to laugh at him. He didn't get a hot dog. 

Here are some pictures of him enjoying his peecee on the way home! 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Pizza Boy appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.

Mommy & Me Zoo Fun

I am so glad that we bought our Oakland Zoo membership. We have used it numerous times just in the month we have had it. G and I went one morning as soon as the zoo opened. It was such a nice fun relaxing morning just the 2 of us at the zoo. We took our time seeing whatever animals we wanted. We probably only saw half the animals. It was just a perfect day at the zoo.  I packed lots of snacks and drinks. 

We rode the train and carousel. 

G just started riding on animals on a carousel. In the past he would only ride on the bench seat. He picked out the elephant and just love it. 

We picked up our zoo keys on our way out. I kept forgetting to claim the keys until we left this last time. G thinks these are his keys. The next time we go we will have to use them in the boxes. 

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Mommy & Me Zoo Fun appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.

Monday Thrive June 5

Happy Monday! 

1) This is our last week before preschool starts and vacations begin. G is enrolled in preschool for 2 days a week this fall. They suggested to enroll him in a session of summer school, so he would get use to things. Summer school is every day for 3 hours a day. I was hesitant to enroll him at first. Every day is a lot to me, but it is only for 4 weeks. Then we will be going to my parents for a month. When we come home we will have about a month before preschool starts up 2 days a week. 

I have plans to paint the trim in our house and go to hot yoga while he is in school every day. I am going to feel lost, so I felt I needed to find some activities to keep me busy. We will have our afternoons free to go to the zoo or other activities. I think we are both going to like the little change for a month.

2) Cinemark is offering $1 movies or $5 for 10 movies in select theaters near you. Click on the link to see if any movies are playing near you. G loves The Secret Life of Pets. They are playing that a couple times at different theaters new us this summer. I am planning to take him to a couple of these movies. I figure if he sits for 30 minutes for $2 it's no big deal. It will be something fun for us to do together and with friends. I am not sure how he will like a dark theater. 

3) Later this week I have a gift guide for Father's Day posts. My sister and I usually go in on a gift for our dad together. If you ask my mom what to get my dad she will say get him black jeans. If you ask my dad he will say DO NOT BUY ME BLACK JEANS I HAVE 100 PAIRS. It's a running joke between Lacey and I now. Hey it's dad's birthday do you want to buy the jeans or should I? He does have a ton of them! I need to figure out what to get him and have it sent, so it doesn't arrive 2 weeks after Father's Day. He is an easy person to buy for since he likes almost anything other than black jeans. lol

4) I recently read an article about a mother who started parenting like a Danish for a week. I really loved the article. I try to parent partially like this. I don't hover around G. I have always felt it was important that he should play independently. I also will let him run around the house without me following him around. I keep doors shut to rooms I feel he could get hurt or I put things up. I have noticed lately that he is playing better alone and his imagination is really growing. He was playing with his pets the other day with different voices pretending they were putting out fires. He is REALLY into fire trucks, fire poles, putting out fires etc. He still loves garbage trucks, but firemen/trucks are right up there with them now. What do you think of this article? 

5) Tomer Kosher recently sent me a variety pack of their beef jerky. I love jerky! The problem now that I am Paleo is trying to find jerky with ingredients that I don't cringe over or make me sick. They sent me the original, pepper, Cajun, hot and jalapeno. When I see hot jerky that is what I go for first. I love spicy things! My palette for spicy things is high I guess because this didn't seem hot to me at all. I have tried the original and Cajun. Art and I both really liked the Cajun. It has a kick to it! 

I really appreciate Tomer Kosher sending me the jerky. We have only ate 3 of them. I am trying to enjoy them as we eat them. lol I will purchase these in the future. These are something I would much rather my family eat then others on the market loaded with questionable ingredients. G loves jerky! Tomer Kosher mini beef sticks would be awesome because G would love them. =) 


Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Hiking!

The other day I went scouting for a place to take our holiday pictures. I have some ideas from Pinterest of how I would like pictures this year. I thought of a place not far from my house that I thought would work. George and I went for a little hike to see if the areas might be ok. Normally I take a stroller with us. On this day I decided no stroller! He needed to run off some energy and I would just have to walk a little slower. When I exercise I like to go fast and get it over with ASAP. 

We had a fun time hiking for about 30 minutes. George loved to see the ducks (birds) and he could see the buses from up on the hill. He is very into buses and garbage trucks. Every night before bed we have to sing the wheels on the bus. I try to sing other songs and he says no bus momma. He will tell me which verse to sing next. If he wants the babies on the bus he starts crying and rubbing his eyes. We have our own versions of what the people on the bus do. I can just imagine one day when he is trying to get someone else to sing the song. They are not going to have a clue what Papa and Da Da do on the bus. lol On our bus Papa goes Yehaw! Da Da is strong and shows his muscles. 

Anyhow back to our hiking. He had a great time running along. He liked to run down the hills laughing away. Other times he would hold my hand. It was a nice morning! It also wore him out, so he took a nice nap! He even slept through the dog barking his head off at the Fed Ex man! 

He saw some cows on the hill. He was pointing to them saying mooo mooo. 

Sushi Date

I have taken some time off work to be at home with George. On our first day home together I decided we needed to do something together for the first time. We went out for sushi for lunch. George hasn't had sushi before, so I thought it was a perfect thing for us to do. Don't worry I didn't feed him raw fish! 

It's always a little scary to take a toddler out for a meal. You aren't sure how they will behave while they wait for food or even once the food arrives for that matter. It was the perfect little lunch date! We played with some toys I keep in my purse while we waited for our food. George insisted that the chopsticks were straws. When I opened them he took them to put in the glasses. 

He tried to drink out of the chopsticks and was very confused why nothing was coming out. lol

He loved the Miso Soup. I wasn't sure what he would think of the broth, but he kept asking for more. 

I ordered chicken teriyaki, steam rice, and a couple pieces of a cooked salmon roll. He tore up that food! It was the perfect amount for the 2 of us. He would eat food right off the chopsticks. Thankfully we had 2 pairs, so I could use the other pair. lol

We will have to go again. He really liked the food. I like to introduce lots of foods to him, so he will be open to eating almost anything. So far the only thing he doesn't like is mushrooms. He will eat them cooked, but wants nothing to do with them raw. He throws them saying no no no. 

I am looking forward to our time together. We have lots of adventures planned. 

Peanut Allergy

Back in August George broke out in hives after eating some peanut butter. I emailed his pedi pictures and questions. She said they would do additional testing at this 1 year appointment in about 2 weeks, but to avoid peanut butter until then.

We did some blood work and found out he had a peanut allergy. We then met with the allergist for additional testing. Poor buddy is very allergic to peanuts. We have to carry epi pens with us at all time. They do not take chances these days with peanut allergies. The allergist told us if we even think he ate it use the epi pen.

We can't eat peanuts around him, touch him after we have ate him and we need to brush our teeth if we eat them. So far it has been ok. I have replaced peanut butter with almond butter.

Recently we flew. I just asked the man beside us if he could not eat the peanuts. My concern was that George would try to grab the peanut wrapper or grab one. Thankfully the guy was super nice about it. He had an allergy to bee stings and carried an epi pen.

About 2 weeks after we had him tested he broke out in the rash on the right. It was scary! We rushed him to the ER. We weren't sure if he had another severe allergy or what was going on. It looked like a huge puff hive all around his mouth. On the way to the ER I was on the phone with them asking if we should use the epi pen. They said if we knew for sure he didn't eat any peanuts not to use it and just come right in. Just our luck the freeway was PACKED on a Saturday. It took us about 20 minutes. By the time we got there the rash was pretty much gone.

We did more testing on soy, strawberries and tomatoes. He is not allergic to anything. I hate having to do allergy testing on him. He cries so hard after the poke him. He is not a fan of the doctor anymore. The minute they come in the room with the stethoscope he starts screaming.

The picture on the left was after he had peanut butter. The hives are smaller. It was so weird he was allergic to the peanut butter. He had been eating Horizon peanut butter crackers for about a month before he broke out. He also had drank some of my smoothies with peanut butter in them. It took about a month for the allergy to show itself.

We will have him testing in a couple years to see if he outgrows it. In the mean time I am the crazy person reading all the packages in the store before I buy anything. It is crazy to me how many things are made with peanuts or in a peanut facility. We don't even take a chance with peanut facility items.

Sensory Paper Bag Book

There are a times I need to entertain George while I try to get things done around the house. He gets bored with the same toys day after day. We put some toys away and bring them out which is like WOW where did that come from?

I decided to make 3 boxes of different type of toys, crafty items he can play with 3 days a week. I have a lot of scrapbook items that are just sitting around my spare room. I decided to make him a book out of a paper bag.

I looked on Pinterest for some ideas of things to put in the boxes. I will blog about the boxes at a different time. I used them the other day and it was fabulous! He was soooo excited to go through the box and play with everything.

I used 3 paper bags. Folded them in half, punched holes in the end and tied it with string.

I had the stickers above in my collection. He likes to rub the mustache.

I am not sure how long these letters will stay on the page. He is trying to pick them off already. I hot glued them to the page. If he picks them off I can glue them back down.

In the pages that are open on the ends I cut cardstock to stick inside. I hot glued some twine to the page to make a G. Used stickers on the other pages.

I took a straw that was left over from his party, cut it and glued it to the page. He really liked the straw. The owl he lost interest in quickly.

The car sheet was his favorite. He played with that the most. Then he took it, folded it in half and shoved it back in the open section of the book. That is when I realized it will be lucky if the book lasts a month. lol

These books are so easy to make! You can just use items you have around the house or grab some items at the dollar store. Michaels' has cardstock on sale a lot of times for about $2-3 a pack of 50. Use a coupon and save 40-50%.

Curious George 1st Birthday Party

I started planning George birthday probably when he was a couple months old. I was pinning things on Pinterest for months. I decided on Curious George right away! It was a perfect theme for our little Curious George!

I made the majority of the decorations, signs and banners. I had a lot of fun planning it until 2 days before then I started stressing. I now understand why people rent jumpy houses and order pizza. lol

Guest Book Table

I had a Curious George Birthday book for everyone to sign as the guest book. We have this large crate I covered with a table cloth on the sides and yellow wrapping paper over the top. I bought the clips and G from the $ section of Target & Michael's.

Birthday Cake Throne

I made the I Am One sign that wrapped around G's high chair. I bought the balloon on Amazon.

Dessert Table

I made the OOH AAH OOH AAH banner. My friend Krystal made the banana hanging in the middle. She also made the monkey face with the mustache.

The table I covered the sides with a table cloth, covered the top with yellow & white polka dot wrapping paper. We served cupcakes and banana splits. I made G's smash cake.

Chalk Board

Our chalk board in the kitchen I drew Go Banana's. I am no artist let me tell you! I probably redid it a couple times before the party.

Drink Area

I collected straws from the dollar section of Target and Michael's for a few months. Picture up some red solo cups from the dollar store. The yellow bucket is from the clearance section of Michael's. My nanny helped me cup all the tissue pom poms. They were pretty easy to make once we cut them all out. I was soooo grateful she helped me with things.

Front Yard

We had some leftover wood from the deck project. My father in law cut out the 1 and painted it a solid color. I painted the polka dots all over it.

Back Yard Photo Prop

I found a picture on Pinterest the above photo prop. I printed it out and asked my father in law to draw it out for me. I told him I would paint it if he could just draw it. Well my father in law not only drew it out, but he painted it. I was soooo happy! He did such an amazing job!

I painted the confetti and party hat.

George LOVES the monkey still. It is still in our backyard. He loves to go put his head through it and laughs away.

I didn't get a picture of the food table! I set up a taco bar. Ground beef, shredded chicken, pinto beans, all the fixing for tacos, tortilla chips and salsa. Oh it was delicious! I take after my great grandma and mom. I cooked for an entire army. We had 5 pounds of ground beef left over and probably 2 pounds of beans. lol Good things those things freeze well.

The party turned out perfect! It was a lot of work, but so worth it. It was such a fun afternoon spending time with our family and friends celebrating our little boy 1st year. He was worn out after the party and took a long nap.

Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream

I can't wait to take George to Disney on Ice Dare to Dream! Earlier this year I took him to Disney on Ice and he LOVED it! He was only about 5 months old then. I think now that he is a year old he is going to really love watching all the characters.



Nothing can stop a princess from a celebration of royal proportions when Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream Presented by Stonyfield YoKids Organic Yogurt skates into to your hometown. Join your hosts Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse for a princess-packed adventure. Laugh along with Disney’s hair-raising escapade, Tangled, as Rapunzel, Flynn and Maximus embark on an uproarious journey that takes adventure to new lengths! Travel to the enchanted forest with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as she escapes from the Evil Queen in her search for her one true love. Dreams become reality as Cinderella meets her Prince Charming, with a glass slipper fit for an unforgettable fantasy come true. Boogie to the beat of the bayou with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, in a magical, musical journey that begins with a fateful kiss. The whole family will delight in the beauty, sparkle and spirit of the ultimate Disney Princess event of a lifetime!    

You can save 25% off tickets by using the code MOM. Buy your tickets HERE.