La Familia Salazar

Christmas Day 2011

2012-02-01T01:22:00.005-07:00

It was kind of a different kind of Christmas, it happened to fall on a Sunday, a 9am church Sunday. So we decided to open our stockings and Leo's Santa present and then save everything else until afterwards. But this also meant I had to get up EARLY to have myself pretty much ready to go so I could get everyone else going. Everything went really well (except there was no time for a big Christmas breakfast), I really can't remember if we were late, but I think we were pretty close to being on-time, if not, actually on-time. It is a Christmas miracle (9am church is hard for me, so glad we are at 11am now).

The traditional Christmas morning picture. On our bed ready to open stockings (Leo saw Plex sticking out of his stocking and grabbed him out prematurely).

Opening Leo's stocking. Youngest to oldest, of course.

Graham cracker cookies were a favorite.

Even Chloe got a stocking.

Opening my stocking. I got fun accessories for my new Iphone.

Carlos opening his. Wolverine.

This was awaiting Leo's arrival.

I love having stairs. It is so iconic Christmas morning, coming down to see what Santa brought.

Oh! He was excited! I LOVE this picture!

All ready for church. I love my family!

My handsome boy!

After church we gathered at Carrie Beth and Jay's house to open presents and hang out.

My big present from Carlos. Wicked tickets! My husband rocks!!!

After presents, there was a lot of nap taking and Christmas movie watching.

One of my favorite dinners of the year, "Christmas chicken". Yum.

It was a great Christmas! Christmas really do get better when you have kids, it becomes way less about you and all about them. I love it and I know it is only going to get better.

Christmas Eve Jammies

2012-02-01T00:22:00.003-07:00

After we got home from Disneyland we all went to Carrie Beth and Jay's house and we read our Christmas book and Dad read us a special story and then we opened our Christmas jammies. Usually it's just for kids, but I decided to buy Carlos and I jammies too.

The Salazar's Christmas jammies.

Then we headed back to our place and got everything ready for Christmas Day! At our house Santa drinks Coke :)

I know he doesn't get it yet, but family traditions are so important, I want to start now.

Disneyland on Christmas Eve

2012-01-31T23:59:00.005-07:00

My most favorite of our family traditions! It lives on! I don't even remember the last time we were able to go, the whole big group of us (except for Phil, hopefully next year) to Disneyland ON Christmas eve. We did this every year since before I was born on Christmas Eve and I looked forward to it (almost more than Christmas Day itself) until we moved to Utah. And then, Christmas Eve never really felt right. But here we are! It was PERFECT! I can't even explain.

Possibly my favorite part of the day was taking Eliza on Splash Mountain for the first time. She was FINALLY tall enough. She was so excited!

She sat in the front row and LOVED everything about it! She's our little dare devil, she's been on everything that she is tall enough for (40 inches: Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Soarin') and loved it.

Ahhh!

An added bonus of having everyone here, we actually got to ride some big rides together.

The whole group! Oh how I love these people!

How Christmas-y and cute do we look? :)

For years I have been wanting to buy the turkey leg, but I decided I was actually going to do it. It wasn't as wonderful as I wanted it to be and had been told that it was. It actually tasted more like ham. I was bummed.

A very exciting day in my life. I haven't been able to ride Space Mountain since before I got pregnant with Leo. And it lived up to all of my expectations. So fun!

Leo absolutely loves any character!

Our day is done, on the tram ride back to our cars.

Thoroughbred Lights

2012-01-31T23:25:00.003-07:00

I learned a couple of things from this little adventure:

1) DO NOT go the week before Christmas (we went December 23rd). It is insane!
2) DO go early in the evening, like go before it's even dark, so you can get a close park spot.

I really wanted to go see the lights on Thoroughbred this year, I really thought Leo would have loved it and I think he really would have had we known the above rules. We left the house probably around 7:30ish, maybe later. We parked FAR away, at the time it didn't seem that bad, but when we were walking back uphill, carrying Leo because Eliza was too tired to walk it was exhausting (my legs and back were seriously sore the next day). Once we got there, the streets were packed! Plus the stupid cars were driving through (why do people drive through, we did it once, but realized you can't really enjoy that way, especially the driver because you are constantly afraid you are going to run someone over). By the time we actually started walking through Leo and Eliza were tired and grouchy making the adults tired and grouchy. The lights were beautiful, but make sure you follow my Thoroughbred viewing rules, it will make for a much better experience for all.

Disneyland Christmas Parade

2012-01-31T23:10:00.003-07:00

We go to Disneyland all the time, but we don't usually take the time to watch the parade. The last time we were there Leo saw the end of the parade from Laura's shoulders about 5 rows back and was in love, clapping and yelling. So we decided we were going to make a special trip with the soul purpose to watch the Christmas parade. Laura got there early and saved us spots right where I told her to, but, come to find out, not the best spot. We were right on the corner and so we never really got to see the front of anything. Leo thought it was kind of cool, but lost interest pretty fast. It was still fun, but our next attempt will be better :) That is the beauty of our Disney passes, my favorite perk of living in Southern California.

Family!

2012-01-30T02:33:00.003-07:00

Most of Carlos' extended family lives in Mexico, so it is such a treat when I get to meet new members of his humongous extended family. They are SO much fun, I seriously wish they all lived closer. His cousin Dani flew into LAX to go visit her husband's family up north so we drove to LA to visit with them for awhile. I can't wait until we can all get together again.

Carlos and Laura's Birthdays

2012-01-30T02:04:00.008-07:00

December around our house is crazy!! Not only do we have Christmas and all that goes with that, but we have FIVE birthdays! We usually keep everyone's separate, the best that we can, but sometimes December birthday celebrations are a little lacking. So this year I decided to shake things up a little bit. I decided to put a little theme to the celebration. It was pretty fun, totally cheesy, but fun.

Carlos (December 18th): Mexican Theme.

This greeted him when we woke up. His birthday was on a Sunday so we had Coffee Cake, opened presents and then went to church.

Carlos actually made us dinner on his birthday, because he makes the best carne asada and chicken. Yum!

But then, I surprised him with this. We all came out singing "happy birthday" with these little Mexi-staches on (even Leo). Complete with a sombrero for Carlos. He was pretty surprised. It was funny!

Happy 34th Carlos!

Then, for Laura's, I was having a hard time coming up with a theme. Then Eliza said to Laura that she should have a "vampire" birthday. And I totally ran with that. But I decided to make it a "Hollywood Vampire" theme.

Glasses and teeth for everyone:

Shirley Temples to drink (get it? Blood)

Vince's Spaghetti for dinner (blood and guts)

The Vampire divas

Being silly

My little vampire family

Leo eating and LOVING spaghetti

The whole group

Red velvet cake for dessert, of course.

Happy 29th Laura!

Best Weekend EVER!

2011-12-14T01:31:00.013-07:00

This was seriously the best weekend ever! I wish I could have this weekend every weekend. But then I guess then it wouldn't be this special.

It started out with Thanksgiving Day. We had a different Thanksgiving because it was just Carlos, Leo, Laura and Eliza. Carrie Beth and Jay went to Utah to be with Mom and Dad and Phil. Soooo, Laura and I had to figure out what we were going to do for dinner. I was not about to make a whole dinner. I don't have the kitchen space or patience to do this all by myself. So we went to Boston Market and got all of the basics. I am SO glad I did. I made appetizers and pumpkin bread. And Laura brought a pie for dessert. It was perfect.

The Spread

Our group at the dinner table.

After dinner we decided to take Leo to his first movie, The Muppets. I really thought he would think it was awesome. Singing and dancing and the puppets. But, it didn't work out that way. I spent more time in the hallway than I did in the movie theater. We learned our lesson. There is a reason why kids under 2 are free.

On Friday we went to the beach. We had lunch at Ruby's on the pier in Balboa. My favorite!

Leo loves being on the beach. He had so much fun playing in the sand.

These two cousins love each other and play so cute together.

I love this picture. This is how we spent most of our time on the beach. Chasing Leo. It's such a fun age!

Then we went over to Balboa Island.

Hippo Cookies, of course! (mmmm I'm craving them now!)

On Saturday we did a little bit of shopping and took the kids to see Santa Claus.

Last year, Leo's Santa picture was so cute! Yes, he was only 2 1/2 months old, but he isn't a "scared-y" kid. He loves all of the characters at Disneyland, so I figured he would like Santa this year. Oh no. I was very very wrong. He was shaking and screaming and reaching. Poor Santa. But, I guess everyone has to have a picture like this.

We took them to Bass Pro Shop. It was a long wait, but it was super cute and FREE.

Since it didn't go very well on Santa's lap. I decided Leo needed to write him a letter.

On Sunday was our 4th wedding anniversary! Carlos made one of my dreams come true. He got us a room at the Balboa Inn!!! Yep, I could see and hear the ocean from our room. It was HEAVEN!!! (it was our first night away from Leo, we sure missed him, but it was pretty nice). We ate at BJs, which was right across the street.

And then we took a walk along the boardwalk. It was so peaceful!

In the morning we went and got breakfast at a little bakery and took it to the beach and ate. SO nice!

So sad to check out! It was perfect!

Before heading home we took a drive. We brought the Mustang, so driving up PCH with the top down was extra fun!

See...I told you this was the best weekend EVER!

Halloween!

2011-11-15T23:49:00.006-07:00

Leo was the cutest little Lion for Halloween! Amanda and Bronte took him trick or treating. He loved it. He especially liked the houses that had a lot of decoration. The boy has no fear. At one house the owner dressed up as Frankenstein and he didn't even flinch. It was a really fun night!

My sweet little Chloe dog looked so cute in her costume!

Pumpkin Carvin'

2011-11-08T01:31:00.004-07:00

The day before Halloween we got together at Carrie Beth and Jay's and carved some pumpkins. Every year that I do it, I remind myself that it is not an easy task. On one of mine I carved Mickey Mouse for Leo. On the other one...nothing. I was burnt out of the first one. Next year I'm just doing a simple jack-o-lantern.

All of our pumpkins!

Mickey!

Mickey's Halloween Party

2011-11-01T00:24:00.010-06:00

On the 25th, one of my dreams came true. I have been counting down the days for YEARS until I could take my children to Mickey's Halloween Party. Yes, Leo is still a little young to enjoy it, but I didn't care. It was a blast, seriously, for kids, it is best way to get candy. We got a TON!

Leo the Lion (It's kinda been our theme this year)

My goal was for Carlos and I to dress up like we are on a safari (since Leo was being a lion). But I wasn't on the ball enough to get it ready. So we will have to settle for the Indian Jones hat inside Disney.

I love this time of year at Disney.

My hair is eating Leo. Poor baby.

Not quite tall enough to go on Splash Mountain.

Cutest Cat in the World!
Our view from one of the Trick-or-Treat lines.

I love this picture of Leo. He is loving having Eliza nearby!

Our little family trick-or-treating at Disneyland.

The highlight of the day was this dance party that we found near Big Thunder Mountain. We all loved it!!! There were characters there dancing with the kids (and adults), Eliza thought that was awesome, she had no problem walking up to each character to make sure she got a personal dance all her own, I wish Leo had been awake. He would have loved it, he is quite the little dancer.

This is the greatest! She had a blast!

Leo slept through the whole thing :(

As we were leaving we got to see the fireworks. Awesome, as usual.

Such a fun time! I hope we get to go every year!

First Time at the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-25T01:17:00.006-06:00

Laura and I took Eliza and Leo to the pumpkin patch today. It was so fun! I love this time of year. There are so many fun things to do. It makes it even better to do all these things with my Leo.

Eliza loved going down the slides.

Some seriously cute photo ops

Hanging out with Auntie Laura

I can't wait to carve our pumpkins!

This picture melts my heart. I know they will be best friends forever!

Leo's Birthday Extravaganza!

2011-10-23T23:58:00.022-06:00

WARNING! LONGEST POST EVER. My baby boy turned ONE on October 12th!! He is just the best thing in the world! I'm not even kidding. He is just so happy, that is the best way to describe Leo. He is always laughing in his funny little laugh, saying hi and flirting with random strangers, and he has the cutest, brightest smile. He is a joy. I am one lucky mama, for sure our next one will be a nightmare because Leo is a dream baby. Every month this year I have set up a photo shoot for him. It has not been easy. But it was very important to me that I followed through. I have dragged my family around with me on shopping trips to find just the right outfit and to the shoot to help me get him to smile. It has all been worth it though. I love looking through all the pictures and watching my baby change. Here is a little recap of the year:

Newborn

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

On Leo's actual birthday party, Carlos and I took him to Disneyland. He got his very first set of Mickey ears. I was so excited for this day! We had SO much fun, but it was HOT!! Almost miserable. Like 90 degrees and 50% humidity, gross. So we did a lot of indoor stuff.

Seriously, he is the cutest one year old EVER!

My favorite part of Disneyland that day was going to see Mickey. This was our first trip to Disney since Leo started walking. He love exploring Mickey's house. It was adorable!

Leo LOVES Mickey!!! It was like he was meeting his hero. It makes me so proud, like I'm doing something right :)

There is this cute little park in Toontown, next to Goofy's house that I've never noticed. It was nice and shady, so we hung out there for awhile. My handsome boys.

Then it was time to get ready for his party. This was the Family Party. I set up a cute little table in the Picnic Area outside of Disneyland. It was perfect! Nice and private, but there was still Disney music playing and it still felt like we were in Disneyland.

The table.

Me and my 1 year old! (He just woke up from his nap, still has his sleepy face on.)

We got pizza from the pizza place at Downtown Disney. My review: Pretty good, but NOT $35 good. We kinda wish we would have had CB and Jay pick up Little Ceasers on the way there.

Our little family. Love.

Singing Happy Birthday.

Digging into his cupcake.

This is as messy as he got. Pretty conservative, I think. But I was glad cuz I forgot a bib.

The group. Megan, Madison, Leo, Me, Amanda, Carlos, Carrie Beth, Jay, and Brandon.

Opening his presents at Downtown Disney.

Love this shirt from Papa and Grammy. It's too big right now, but I had to have it! Hello! BYU Football and Mickey Mouse!

Grammy and Papa also gave him this cute book. He is gonna LOVE it!

With Auntie Laura and Auntie CB at the Build-A-Bear at Downtown Disney.

He loves his cute Disney Bear!

On October 21st we had a big birthday party for Leo at Carrie Beth and Jay's house. It has lovingly been referred to as "Leo's Extravaganza". I planned this for a LONG time! It really was my labor of love. It kinda got out of control, but I LOVE how it came out. It is so fun to see your dream come to life, especially when you know how hard you worked to make it happen. It was extra fun because my parents were able to come from Utah, Carlos' mom was able to come from Michigan and my brother Phil was able to work his trucking schedule around the party to be here in California for it. It meant SO much to Carlos and I to have everyone that we love so much there. Plus we had friends that came from near and far. It was so great to see everyone. Thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone that came to be part of such a special day. It is a day that we will remember forever!

This is the front of his invitation.

The back of the invitation:

I think, maybe, I have been to one too many weddings, but the details were VERY important to me. I'm really happy with the way it all looked together:

The Sign-In Table

Carrie Beth and Jay's backyard was perfect!

The Centerpieces

Oh the flags. I had my family on flag tracing and cutting duty many nights.

The dessert table. Carrie Beth made the cake and cupcakes. Laura dipped the the pretzels in chocolate. And I got the adorable lion cookies from Custom Cookies by Katie. Not only were they adorable, but they were delicious too!

My dad trekked all over Rancho Cucamonga that day with me getting all the food and picking up the centerpieces. We got everything done. I couldn't have done it all without all the help!

I am IN LOVE with these straws from Sweet Lulu's.

My little birthday boy. All ready for his party. Carlos' mom was a HUGE help with Leo those couple of days so I could run around like crazy.

SO glad I got this amazing balloon artist! He was a hit with the kids. And we kept him very busy while he was there!

The lion he made for Leo.

Angie and Steve figuring out what they were going to have the balloon artist make for Marina.

Cute Chase Peterson is just a couple weeks older than Leo.

I LOVE that my parents could be there! I can't wait for them to move back here next year!!!

Leo was amazed with the balloons.

Lovin' on sweet Leo.

Uncle Jay is one of Leo's biggest fans. Jay was our BBQ man. It was delicious.

Me and my boy.

Our little family hanging out at the party. This was such a special day. I loved every second of it!

We miss Tita already!

All of the balloons hanging out on the couch so they didn't pop.

These are the pinata bags my dad helped me make. Carlos made this cute logo for the birthday party. It's nice to have such a talented hubby!

Everyone loved the pinata!

Even Leo! He saw the kids hitting it and he was so happy and excited about we let him have a few swings at it, after all, it is his party. He loved it!

Fun times with Grammy.

Digging in to the candy.

Happy Birthday to Leo!!!

Again, he was really conservative. I liked it, we didn't have to hose him off like we did Eliza :)

He couldn't believe all the presents. We have such wonderful friends and family!

I can't believe that my baby boy is ONE! But I am enjoying every second of it!

Leo Taking His First Real Steps

2011-09-24T01:18:00.002-06:00

He's been taking steps here and there for the last week or so, but in this video was the most he had ever taken. It was so exciting. I was stoked we go it on camera.

The ZZ Top Experience

2011-09-24T00:34:00.003-06:00

Today Leo and I were running errands and we stopped at Boston Market for lunch, they have easy stuff for Leo to eat since he has completely rejected anything to do with baby food. He was eating SO great! Which isn't common for the last couple of weeks. This guy walks in that has a long beard like ZZ Top.

Leo was watching him like a hawk! Still eating like a champ, but watching this guy like crazy. Then the guy, we'll just call him ZZ, happened to come sit at a table right across from us. Leo hadn't seen him sit down, but I leaned over and told ZZ that my son was mesmerized by his beard. He laughed and said that a lot of kids thought he kinda looked like Santa. Then he asked me how old Leo was and said his granddaughter just turned 1. As he was telling me that Leo turned around and saw him and started shaking and screaming and crying and reaching for me hysterically! His face turned all red and it was so full of absolute fear. It was so very dramatic. If you know Leo this is COMPLETELY uncharacteristic. He has no problem with strangers, he is always smiling and entertaining and flirting with anyone that is around. He is a seriously happy baby. But this guy FREAKED him out! I got him out of the high chair and sat him on the other side of me, but this wasn't calming him down much. Leo would peer around me and see ZZ and whimper and cry "mama mama" and grip onto me. I quickly finished my lunch (Leo stopped eating the second ZZ sat down) and we left and went to Target and Leo was back to his normal smiley, flirty self. At first I thought, man, the Santa Claus experience is not going to be as good as last year for sure, bummer. But then I was telling my mom about it and she said, maybe he could see something that I couldn't. He seemed like a nice enough guy to me, but maybe Leo, in his innocence, could sense he wasn't a good guy. Or he could have just been scared of his beard. Either way, it was SO strange and out of Leo's character that I thought it would be interesting to write down.

I LOVE my baby boy. Just on a side note, he started shaking his head "yes" in the last couple of days and just today he started taking 5 or 6 legit steps at a time. Wow! My baby is turning into a toddler, sad and exciting all at the same time.

Because It's Been Forever!

2011-08-12T01:12:00.003-06:00

We have, and continue to have, a VERY busy summer! So that is my excuse why I have been a horrible blogger. Eventually I will get to blog about the fun parts of this summer. But since he's going to be 10 months tomorrow, I figured I better post these. We took these at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon while we were in Utah last month. I have a seriously cute baby, just sayin' :)

Oh how I love that little boy face! It kills me. At his 9 month appointment he weighed 19 lbs (25 percentile) and was 29 inches long (75th percentile). Still my little bean pole. This month he has started standing on his own for a few seconds at a time, pointing, giving kisses on demand (in Spanish and English), and doing this funny little laugh, it's like he knows he's being funny, it's adorable! He LOVES to dance (he definitely has his daddy's rhythm), he loves the Hot Dog song on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He turns around whenever he hears the beginnings on Yo Gabba Gabba and Mickey's voice on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but nothing really keeps his attention for long. He LOVES ice cream! Somehow he knows when we have it, doesn't matter what kind of container. He grunts and grunts until it turns into a squeal, scream and then a cry if we don't give him some. And he and Chloe are starting to play together, it's so cute, he throws her toys and tries to take them out of her mouth. Chloe will come up and lick his face and he thinks it's so funny. On the not so great side, we are still having trouble sleeping through the night :( I hope that gets remedied very soon!

Leo's 8 Month Pictures

2011-07-02T10:48:00.004-06:00

It is getting harder and harder to come up with ideas for Leo's monthly photo sessions. But for his 8 Month pictures I decided to go with the country boy look. So we drove up to Oak Glen and found a fun area to shoot. We had to go fast because there were tons of bugs and mosquitoes, but I am super happy with what we got in such a short period of time.

Leo in June

2011-07-02T08:31:00.004-06:00

So it seems like this month Leo has grown SO much. All of a sudden he's not a newborn or an infant anymore. His personality has grown and he is even more adorable. He really is the cutest thing EVER!

He is a handful. One of the things I love about what I do is that I can be home with Leo most of the time. That is priceless to me. But there are times that I have to work and he is into EVERYTHING and that makes it super hard. So I buy him lots of toys that I think will keep him entertained, but that usually doesn't work. So we bought him this "play yard" or, as we call it, his jail. Is that mean? Well, he hates it, so it usually only gives me 20 minutes max before he is crying to get out. It's a problem.

So, this month I hired my neice, Megan, as his "nanny" for a few hours a day. So I can get some uninterrupted work done. She has been a life saver!

You would think he would get tired of crying and just fall asleep, but, no, this kid could cry forever. Finally at toward the end of June he learned how to get down on his own and things are going much better.

Helping mama with laundry :)

It's so cute to look up and he is peering at you from the other side of the bed. He is so sweet and always wants to be in on the action.
A view from the other side.
He is kind of a destruct-o. His favorite toy is whatever is not his toy. Like pulling all of the books off of my bookshelf.

We LOVE this little boy SO much! He is the best thing ever! Every day is new and interesting, he is learning new things all the time. I am a lucky mama!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-20T01:28:00.002-06:00

So today was my sweet husband's first Father's Day! I am SO lucky! I knew I married a great guy, and I had seen him with his little cousins and my nieces and nephew, so I really thought he was good daddy material, but, let me tell you, he so far exceeds any hope or expectation I had in my brain. Carlos is the best daddy! Leo is a very lucky boy! Whenever I see them together it warms my heart. I feel so completely blessed, way more than I deserve. I am in LOVE with my little family.

As part of Carlos' Father's Day present I made this slideshow for him.

Also, it was Father's Day for my daddy. I really wish that he could be here to celebrate the day. I missed them SO much today. But I am so blessed to have my daddy as my dad. No one loves you more than my dad. He would do anything for us. I really hope to try and repay him for everything he has done and sacrificed so unselfishly throughout my life. I really am SO lucky to have such amazing men in my life.

This is a picture from my dad's 70th birthday party last week (more of that to come later):

Leo at 7 Months

2011-05-31T13:02:00.004-06:00

So we finally got his 7 months pictures done. He was nearly 7 1/2 months, but better late than never. And it's a good thing we did them when we did because he and I got nasty colds the next day.

On Sunday, Leo had a really nasty cough so I took him to Urgent Care. Turns out it is just the phlegm from his cold that he can't get out, so I had nothing to worry about, he was perfectly healthy other than the sniffles. But they weighed him and he weighed 18 lbs. 3.7 oz. That is with his clothes on, so it may be a little less. Pretty good though.

He is crawling ALL OVER THE PLACE! And he pulls himself up on EVERYTHING! That is a huge problem because he hasn't figured out how to get down once he has pulled himself up. So, remember the whole "Crying It Out" thing that was going SO well. All in the garbage. Back to a horribly random sleeping schedule. I'm sure we will figure it out, but for now it's not fun.

He is teething like crazy! He got his bottom teeth in a couple months ago, but now he is getting FOUR on the top. The top front right one has made it through first and I can see the one next to the right front one (not the other front one) coming in. But you can tell that the left front one is on it's way along with the other one next to the left one. (Do you like my very scientific descriptions?) Pretty soon he is going to have a full mouth of teeth.

But he really is a joy. I could not ask for a better baby. Even this weekend through teething, a cough and a cold he hardly complained at all and was happy and smiling. I feel so blessed!

Here are some pics from his 7 month shoot:

FYI: Carlos took the pictures of Leo and me. He is SO awesome! His website is: www.CarlosSalazarPhotography.com.

My Mother's Day Present

2011-05-27T01:52:00.007-06:00

All I wanted for Mother's Day was a day at Disneyland. So a couple weeks ago we went. We got there in the morning and we literally stayed till they closed (they closed at 8pm that day, so it wasn't very hard).

I got to take my baby on Dumbo for the first time. It was super fun, more for me than for him, but still...someday he'll love it as much as I do.

He did really well on the Haunted Mansion. Hopefully it will stay that way. I will be so bummed if I have one of those kids that are scared of everything.
We ate at the Blue Bayou!!! One of my favorite things to do at Disneyland. Afterwards we went on Pirates and Leo fell asleep. So did Carlos :) It's the perfect ride for that.

We went over to California Adventure too. There is SO much construction going on. You would hardly recognize it. But I know it will be awesome when they get finished with it. I can't wait to take Leo to Cars Land.

We took Leo to Disney Junior Live. While I'm getting ready in the morning I put Leo in his Exersaucer and turn on Disney Junior. He hasn't, until recently, cared about it at all. Now he is starting to dance along to the music. He seemed to like all the music of it Live. The lights and the confetti kept him entertained.
We took him on some rides in Bugs Land. It's cute in there. Once he's a little older he will love it!

A typical Disney picture.
My two handsome boys :)

We went on Tea Cups, don't worry, we didn't spin at all.

Right at the end of the night, Leo was pooped.

Disneyland is one of my MOST favorite places in the world. It makes me SO happy to be able to bring my baby. Some of my favorite family memories I have are here and I can't wait to make those same memories with my family. GREAT DAY! Thank you, my Carlos, for making it possible.

Nixon Library

2011-05-17T01:26:00.002-06:00

This last Saturday I had a wedding at the Nixon Library and I haven't been there since I was like 10. The bride is a total bridezilla so I decided to go familiarize myself with the grounds just so I had one less thing to worry about on Saturday. Leo and I drove to Yorba Linda Wednesday morning (it was a morning wedding too, so I wanted to check out the light). After we looked around the grounds we walked through some of the exhibits. My dad would have been proud, Leo was really good and very attentive through the exhibits :)

My First Mother's Day

2011-05-17T01:12:00.003-06:00

Mother's Day was pretty special. I feel so blessed to be the mom to this boy. I think he has to be the cutest, best, most awesome little boy in the whole world. He makes everything better, everything more worthwhile, everything brighter and happier. He constantly has a smile on his face, so easily entertained. And the best thing is he LOVES me, really loves me, yep, he's a momma's boy and I love it. I can't wait to watch him grow and learn and become a great man someday. Being a mom is SO exciting. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I Love Them

2011-05-17T01:07:00.001-06:00

I think my family is pretty darn cute :) I really love them with all my heart.

Randomness

2011-05-05T00:34:00.004-06:00

These are just a bunch of pictures that I love. Pure randoms.

This is back from our trip to Utah. I don't know how this awesome one got left out. Cousins in the bath. Aren't they cute?! Someday I'm gonna show this one to Eliza's boyfriend and Leo's girlfriend. Eliza thought it was so fun to have Leo there. Leo wasn't quite so sure, he isn't used to being just in the big bath tub, we usually have him in the little one.

Leo has gotten quite mobile. He is pulling everything off the shelves. Day before yesterday all of a sudden I heard this ripping sound and I looked down and in a split second Leo had gotten Carlos' scriptures off the shelf and ripped a page out. Sad. I'm going to have to be more vigilant now.

He is eating solids 3 times a day now. And he's really getting into it, as you can tell by the food all over his cute little face. He hates peas and applesauce (he'll eat the applesauce only if it's mixed into his oatmeal). His VERY favorite is sweet potatoes and bananas. And he loves his morning oatmeal and will eat any fruit mixed into it. He likes (not loves) carrots and peaches and will kinda put up with pears, ham and turkey. Oh and I gave him a couple bits of my vanilla frozen yogurt the other day. LOVED IT!

Today we went to the park after lunch to swing. He thinks that is great fun! But we only stayed for a little while. It was 95 degrees!

On Sunday I woke up with a NASTY cold, really horrible, and it has put me out for a couple of days (I'm finally starting to feel normal again). But there has been a lot of nose blowing going on. Every time I blow my nose Leo thinks it is so funny, I don't understand why, but we got a video of him kind of laughing at it, usually he totally cracks up:

Leo has been scooching (sp?) around a lot. He is SO close to crawling, he has take a couple of "crawls", but hasn't really gotten it down yet. Very soon. We took this video of him on Monday:

We took this video of him today. He is learning SO fast. It is so fun to watch him!

First Beach Trip

2011-05-02T02:16:00.004-06:00

It's finally getting really warm here! Yay! So on an ever so perfect Southern California day we decided to head down to Corona Del Mar and check out the beach. Leo has been to the beach before, but never on the beach. I was pretty nervous he wouldn't like it. But he thought the sand and water were great! His momma was proud. I see many more beach days in our future. I can't wait!

First Easter

2011-04-28T01:53:00.005-06:00

My first rookie mistake on Leo's first Easter was trying to do WAY to much before 9am church. I got up at 6am and got ready right away and then Leo woke up so we went down to see what the Easter bunny brought. We had a great time. Easter is way more fun with a kid. And then I made a Coffee Cake, which is super simple, Aunt Jamima is the best! But it is way more than we usually do on a Sunday morning. And then I had to finish getting myself ready, get Leo ready, feed him (he eats oatmeal and fruit in the morning now, so that takes longer) then I had to gather all of my stuff for my Sunday School lesson. Sooooo, needless to say, we were late for church. Next year we do Easter baskets AFTER church.

After church Leo and I took a nice long nap, soooo needed after a long wedding the day before. And then went to CBs for dinner, yummy. We got some cute pictures of the kids in their Easter bests. I knew holidays would be more fun when I had kids, but I didn't realize how much. Everything revolves around them and I don't even mind at all. I just love to see my baby smile.

All the Easter loot. Carlos and I decided that the Easter bunny was only going to get us candy. Great idea until we had to eat all the candy. I swear the last two weeks I have gained back everything I've lost. Time to get back to work.

In his cute little Easter jammies. It says "My First Easter" on the sleeve. Cheesy, but I loved it.

In his Easter basket he got this cute little ball that talks and sings and moves around on it own. He can't use it to its full potential yet, but as soon as he starts crawling (which could be any day) he will love it even more.

Chloe was not sure about this at all. She was pouncing at it and barking. It was pretty funny. She has since gotten used to it, but it still makes her nervous.

He probably would have been just as happy if the EB had given him just grass, but oh well.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have with Leo that day. The strap on my cute new dress broke after I got home from church. SO bummed. Fixable, but not in time to do cute Easter family pictures.

Ahhhh. My loves!

In his Easter outfit, my handsome little man.

My nieces and nephew: Brandon, Megan, Madison, and Amanda. Such cute kids! I love that they live so close!

Utah Trip: April

2011-04-22T01:53:00.013-06:00

We had a (kinda) surprise trip to Utah this last week. We were going to go to Florida with Carlos' family, but we ended up having to postpone it until the end of June at the last minute. So...since we had already scheduled the time off and we would be able to go to Utah in May (as planned) since we are going to Michigan in June now, we hopped in the car to see my family.

We had such a great time. It is the beginnings of Spring there and the weather was gorgeous, especially on Saturday. We decided to go to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. They had had an super cold start to the spring so the tulips were late blooming, but we got to see a few. I brought my big camera with me, along with my macro lens to get some pictures of the pretty flowers and I am SO glad I did. I got some fun flower pics, but I got some priceless pictures of our day that I never would have been able to with my point and shoot camera.

My precious boy ready to see the tulips.

My favorite tulip picture.

Silly Carlos.

So maybe the tulips weren't that exciting for him.

My pretty little sister.

Such cute girls. I love them!

I was so happy that we got to be in Utah on a Saturday. That way we got to spend the whole day with my mom and dad and Laura and Eliza.

Can you tell which one is me and which one is Laura? hahaha

Carlos as a little blond Dutch boy. Not very convincing.

Mom and Eliza did a cute craft at the festival.

The boys. Not super interested in all of the cute booths, but they were troopers.

Yay! Leo is awake!

The last time that I was at Thanksgiving Point was to do my bridals before we got married. Back 3 1/2 years later with my baby boy in tote.

I guess I have never sat Leo in the grass before, he wasn't really sure how he felt about it, but we got some cute pictures of him.

Carlos loves his little boy. They are so cute together. I am a very lucky girl to have these two in my life!

Oh I really love him with all my heart!

The waterfall is as pretty as ever. Leo really liked looking at it.

Thanksgiving Point gardens. So gorgeous!

After we explored the large gardens we came down to the small gardens and walked around.

We took some more family pictures down there. Do you know how many sessions I did at these gardens when I lived in Utah? Tons! It was fun to be back.

Cute Laura and Eliza again.

The Salazar Fam.

I love that I got to see these sweet people. I can't wait until we all live close. It will be PERFECT!

Eliza being a silly girl. She cracks me up, seriously.

These are from Sunday night. Eliza wanted to read Leo a book. He loved it. So precious.

Chloe joined in too. (Note: She got a haircut a few days later and is beautiful again and, yes, that is a diaper on her, she is going through that time of the month, if you know what I mean.)

On Tuesday, I got an appointment at this studio in Draper to get Leo's pictures done. So we spent all day Monday looking for outfits for him to wear. Sometimes it is nice to have someone else do the pictures, plus it is a totally different look than I do. It was so much fun and I was super happy with the results.

These BYU ones are my FAVORITE! They are perfect!

We had such a blast and I was way bummed to go home. Especially since it is the start of the busy season and so it is going to be hard to get away again for awhile. Hopefully in August.

Meeting the Easter Bunny!

2011-04-14T17:28:00.004-06:00

I was a little nervous. Meeting Santa had gone so well, but he was only 2 1/2 months then. We went to Brea Mall, I made sure he was fed and changed and rested and when Carlos got there we went and stood in line. We bought the bigger package of pictures because I wanted the CD (of course), so I really wanted them to come out cute (as cute as Easter bunny pictures at the mall can be). When Carlos sat him on the bunny's lap Leo thought it was THE funniest thing ever! He was laughing hysterically. And we got the perfect picture in a matter of seconds. I was so happy! Hopefully it will always be like this :)

Oh! Leo had his 6 month check-up today. He weighs 16 lbs. 10 oz (between the 25th and 50th percentile) and is 27 in. long (between the 75th and 90th percentile) and is a healthy, healthy boy. We LOVE him SO much!

6 Month Birthday Party

2011-04-13T01:16:00.004-06:00

My baby is 6 months old!!! To celebrate we went and got party hats and a couple of cupcakes and went to Chipolte for lunch just Carlos, Leo and I. Don't worry, we aren't going to do this every 6 months, but I decided the first one was extra special. Leo sat in a high chair for the first time and looked like such a big boy. It wasn't a big deal at all, but it was one of those perfect moments. I love my little family with all of my heart. I feel SO blessed.

He wanted that cupcake SO badly!

With Mommy

He is such a loving boy. He gives big hugs and kisses now.

And with Daddy

Our little family!

He finally got a little taste of the frosting. I think he liked it better than his green beans :)

Is It A Commandment?

2011-03-30T16:39:00.002-06:00

So during October 2008 General Conference President Monson said something that made me so happy and I have been meaning to look for it and I finally found it today. He quoted a Vietnam War airman, he said, "These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year." Yes, people, that was from over the pulpit in General Conference. Does that mean it's a commandment? Hahaha, I wish! But as a photographer, that makes me really happy. Family pictures ARE important! I feel like I am doing a good thing.

This whole talk was really amazing. It's all about how important the people in our lives are and how we need to cherish them. Check it out, here's the link: http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/finding-joy-in-the-journey?lang=eng.

Leo is 5 Months!

2011-03-29T01:47:00.004-06:00

Well, actually he's almost 5 1/2 months old, but the weather was finally nice and I had a free minute and so we got a chance to do it. We just went to the park in front of our house and I set up a blanket. One thing I LOVE about living in Rancho Cucamonga is that we are surrounded by parks. Here is my little baby boy at 5 months :

Doesn't he look like Carlos here?

You can see his cute little bottom teeth that finally made an appearance that day. So far the teething thing hasn't been so bad (knock on wood).

He sits up like a champ now.

He is trying so hard to crawl. I think we will have a very mobile baby in the near future. He is already rolling from his tummy to his back (starting January 21st) and rolling from his back to his tummy (March 22nd) and he has figured out how to inch backwards (sometime the middle of March) and so combining all of these things he gets himself around pretty efficiently. But I know crawling is coming very soon.

He just has to be the cutest thing EVER! I love this sweet baby!

Now that he is sitting up and the weather is improving I am going to plan some fun photo shoots. I can't wait!

My Bracket

2011-03-14T14:00:00.002-06:00

So I am not even going to pretend that I know what I'm doing, but I filled out a bracket anyway :) Yes, I have BYU going to the Final 4 (I just think it would be so cool).

January Trip to Utah

2011-02-15T23:29:00.005-07:00

Leo and I were able to fly back to Utah for a few days in January. I miss my Utah family so much.

Leo was an angel on the way there and back. Our last stretch from Vegas to Ontario, he fussed a little before we took off, but was asleep before we were in the air. I was SOOO relieved!
We spent a couple days in Logan:

What cute cousins they are!! Eliza is so sweet with him.
Laura gave Leo a bath. He didn't love it, but it may have been the pink towel :)
We went to the Nauvoo Cafe for lunch. Their coca-cola pork sandwich is to die for!

I LOVE Salt Lake. It makes my heart happy.

I got to see my Ricks College roommates, Alli and Tracey. Tracey is having her baby this month. Can't wait to meet him!
Grammy and Papa were more than happy to have Leo there for a couple days.
Even Phoebe was happy :)

I wish we could have spent more time there. I didn't get to do all I wanted and see all the people I wanted, there is just never enough time. But I loved being able to be there when my family needed me.

New Years Eve at Disneyland

2011-02-15T23:15:00.002-07:00

On New Years Eve Carlos and I decided to go down to Disneyland and renew our passes and maybe go into California Adventure and grab lunch because we knew it was going to be crazy. But we ended up going into Disneyland and we had a BLAST. Yep, it was pretty busy. But it was so much fun because we had no expectations. We only went on Casey Jr.'s and went to the Mexican Restaurant by Thunder Mountain for dinner (they have free refills on soda, so Carlos likes to go there). I LOVED it. It was they best way to spend the last day of 2010.

My 31st Birthday at Temple Square

2011-02-15T22:59:00.005-07:00

Having my birthday right around Christmas has it's downfalls, but also, since we were with family for Christmas, I had a lot of family with me on my birthday. We decided to go to see the lights on Temple Square. I was SOOOO excited!!! Yeah, it was cold, but we bundled the baby up and headed out. He was warm and toasty and slept the whole time.

Doesn't he look all warm and toasty? We put this on him when we got to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and he didn't even wake up. Crazy!
Beautiful! This is where my forever family began.

I love that we have so many pictures in this very spot. It will always be very special for Carlos and I.

Afterwards, we went to Spaghetti Factory at Trolley Square to celebrate mine and Madison's birthdays (her's was the next day, but they were going to be driving home).

Such a fun day!!!

Mollie Jane Photography was Published!

2011-02-07T19:34:00.002-07:00

The biggest honor ever (professionally) is to be published in wedding publications. There are SO many amazing photographers and to have one of my photos published is AMAZING!!!! Today I found out that I was published in one of the biggest, Utterly Engaged!!!! I think the best thing is just seeing my name there. You can check it out HERE. I'm on page 206 and 207. I couldn't be more excited!

Christmas Day 2010

2011-02-05T00:26:00.006-07:00

Christmas day was massive. We had to do it in 2 sections. A kid section and a grown-up one. It was chaotic to say the least, but I loved it. Everyone being together was perfect!

It was Leo's first Christmas! Next year he'll know a little more what is going on. But Santa got him a little gym, we got him some clothes and this music thing to put in his crib and he was spoiled by his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.Whatever! Brandon got Laker tickets!

Avery lovin' on her cousin.
Sibling Love!
I do love her!
Carlos' cousin's live in Orem, so we were able to have them over for dinner. It was so fun to get to know them better. LOVED having them there!
Our first Christmas all together.
This was the next day. But its my fav.
Oh, and my hubby spoiled me and got me an Ipad. Fun!

The Rest of Christmas Eve

2011-02-04T23:58:00.004-07:00

Since we finally have enough grandkids to do a nativity I really wanted to do one, so I was kind of put in charge of doing it. A lady at my dad's school had some costumes, so Laura helped me make them work. Brandon was Joseph, Amanda was Mary, Megan was a shepherd, Madison was a wiseman, Eliza and Avery were angels, and, of course, Leo was the cutest baby Jesus ever :) Oh and the Phoebe and Chloe were sheep.My dad read from the scriptures just perfectly and we had a perfectly un-perfect nativity. I LOVED it!!! This is one of my favorite memories from this season.

The whole group. Poor little Kaya wasn't feeling well.

My precious boy slept through the whole thing.
Then the kids got into their Christmas jammies.

All of them ready for Santa to come.

Us.

Leo's Blessing Day

2011-02-04T01:06:00.005-07:00

What a special day this was! When we decided to go to Utah for Christmas my mom came up with the idea to bless Leo while we were there. Everyone that we would have wanted there, to stand in the circle was there. What a great idea! So he was blessed on December 26th, 2009 in Orem, Utah.

All the boys.
What a cute daddy Carlos is. He loves his boy so much! He gave him a great blessing. I was a proud momma.

So that day was a little bit hectic so I didn't get to do pictures of him in his blessing outfit. When we got home I kept on putting it off. About a week and a half later I got around to it, but he had already almost grown out of it!!! Man, this kid is growing like crazy! But you get the idea. He's cute :) I loved his little blessing outfit. I thought it was different and not all frilly.

This was a few days later, but I LOVE this picture so I had to throw it in. My precious, happy boy. He's grown SO much since then.

I'll try to finish getting Christmas caught up this week.

Already a Video Game Junkie

2011-02-03T22:34:00.004-07:00

I walked down the stairs to find this little scene. Carlos' old mission companion, John, came to visit and they were playing PlayStation, it looked like Leo was loving it. Don't worry, I'm already coming up with all the rules to limit his playing time - both Carlos and Leo :)

How Is He Growing SOOOO Fast?

2011-02-02T01:21:00.005-07:00

Oh my goodness, he is so big. 3 1/2 months has flown by. I just love him so much!

He LOVES to stand. I think he looks so cute!

He is almost too big for his swing.

All Ready for Church!

2011-01-23T15:15:00.002-07:00

I remembered that I got this little outfit for Leo at BYU before he was born. But I thought it was so huge so I put it in his closet and almost forgot about it. Now it is almost too small! But I think it looks adorable on him and he was SO smiley after I put it on him, it was almost like he knew how cute he looked.

(Please pay no mind to the shadow behind him. It bugs me so badly! But I didn't want to move him. Bad photographer, bad.)

This is SO a picture I will have up at his mission farewell in 19 years :)

3 Months.

2011-01-18T23:34:00.002-07:00

I'm going to do another shoot in the next couple of days for his third month, but I got this cute one that I had to post. Cutest little 3 month old EVER!

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

2011-01-18T22:25:00.003-07:00

I just put Leo down (for what I hope is just a cat nap because it is only 8:30pm and I haven't even changed him into his jammies, he usually doesn't go down till at least 10pm) and I noticed how big he has gotten. Yes, my friends, he is still sleeping in my room. And I don't even care. If I could I would probably let him sleep there until he's 18 :) I love having him close, so I can just peak in on him easily. I can hear him breathing, moving, his cute little sleeping noises. I love it. But, I know he is getting too big for his little cradle. Sad day. Slowly we will start making the transition to his own room. Very slowly.

This is Leo at 10 days old in his cradle.

This is him at a little over 3 months old. Oh my goodness.

My mom made all of the bedding for his bed. I love it! That is another reason I don't want to take him out of it. It is too cute.

Cookie Decorating on Christmas Eve

2011-01-08T00:34:00.002-07:00

My parents have made it a tradition with their grandkids to decorate cookies. I think it is so cute, they all look forward to it so much. I can't wait till Leo can join in on the fun. Here are some pictures of this years' decorating.

Christmas Eve Visitors

2011-01-07T23:34:00.003-07:00

On Christmas Eve we had some fun visitors. My bestie Michelle and her cute family. Love love this family and miss them SO much. Her son, Nick, is a few months older than Leo, but we've already decided that they are gonna be best friends (never mind the 800 mile distance). I was so glad I was able to see them. I figured it out, Michelle and I have known each other for 10 years! Love it!

Leo and Nick (future best buds)

Charlie (2 years old), Leo, and Nick

The moms and babies

What cute families we have!

Leo's First Santa Picture

2011-01-07T22:50:00.004-07:00

On the 23rd, when we got home from Logan, I thought it would be fun to take Leo to sit on Santa's lap at University Mall. My parents took Eliza there last year and they had a really good Santa plus I could take my own picture. Well, we get there and see that we can't take our own picture. For a photographer, that stinks. So I went up and asked if I bought their biggest package (that included a CD), could I take a picture with my camera. (As a side note: I am all about copyright laws, I understand that they wouldn't want me to take a picture because that is how they are making their money, I am totally fine with that. But if I purchase their biggest package with the CD they are losing NOTHING by letting me take a picture. HORRIBLE!) They still wouldn't let me take a picture. If it wasn't 2 days before Christmas and the Santa wasn't awesome, I would have left. Next year we are going to Bass Pro Shop for sure.

But on the awesome side. We did, luckily, get a good picture. I was really stoked. Isn't he the cutest thing EVER?!

Hopefully, next year will go as well.

Laura's Birthday

2011-01-07T22:42:00.002-07:00

We were able to go to Utah for Christmas. Yay! Carlos and I went back and forth on weather we were going to go, but I'm SOOOOO glad that we did! The day after we got there was Laura's birthday. So we went up to Logan to celebrate, the adults (and Leo) went to this cute restaurant called the Beehive Grill. It was so fun to be all together. I love my family!

2 Months!

2010-12-17T19:31:00.003-07:00

Today we did Leo's 2 month photo shoot. It didn't go as smoothly as the 1 month shoot did, but we got some for the Christmas card and that was my main focus. Here are some of my favs. You'll have to wait for my very favorites until after I send them out :) I LOVE them!

This first picture is pretty much how the day went. It was super cloudy and dreary today so I was losing all of my good window light so I kinda woke him up. He was a little grouchy.
We did get a few smiles though. He really does have the cutest smile ever.

Leo's First Trip to Disneyland

2010-12-16T01:23:00.004-07:00

Amanda, Madison and I took Leo to Disneyland for the first time yesterday. It was pretty fun, he slept a lot and I got to go on a couple of the rides that I hadn't been on in 11 months. If you didn't know, Disneyland has a Baby Center on Main Street where you can change diapers, they have some high chairs, so you can warm up food and feed your baby and they also have a nursing room, so I spent A LOT of time in there. Luckily it is nice.

When we first got there we saw Mickey! So Leo got his first picture with Mickey. He was as stoked as I would have hoped :) He was super hungry after the drive there, so he was crying in the picture. Fun memory though.

His first ride: It's A Small World

Finally awake! In front of the beautiful Disneyland Christmas tree.

Oh, I love that cute face!!!

My Big Boy!

2010-12-16T01:05:00.003-07:00

On December 12th, Leo turned 2 months! I swear in just the last week he has grown SO much. He gets cuter by the day! On Friday I'm planning on doing his 2 month photo shoot so I will hopefully have some pretty cute pictures (with a Christmas theme).

Look how big he looks next to Chloe now, crazy. They are best friends!
At his doctor's appointment on Monday.

Leo's TWO month stats:
12 lbs. 2 oz. (50th percentile)
23.75 inches (75th percentile)
Head is 40cm (50th percentile)

So my baby is tall :)

Memory Lane

2010-12-16T00:50:00.003-07:00

I was super lucky when I was growing up. I had awesome friends! I hope Leo is as lucky as I am. It is extra fun now to get together after all these years, now that we are all married with families of our own.

Erin just had a baby, Tamatea, about 2 weeks before Leo. Yeah, he is only two weeks older! He dwarfs my boy, he is so cute! It's so weird to see our kids together. Erin and I met when we were in 4th grade and were inseparable until we graduated from high school and we went to different colleges. But then we were roommates again when I transferred to BYU. We'll show them this picture when they are on the BYU football team together in 18 years :)

I LOVE this picture of Leo, I think he looks adorable.
All the girls. Laurie has 2 kids and one on the way. Coral has one little boy and a baby girl on the way in a couple of months. Erin has 3 kids. Desiree has 1 little boy. And then I have my Leo.

Oh Christmas Tree...

2010-12-16T00:37:00.004-07:00

I was pretty excited to be able to choose and cut down our own Christmas tree. We used to come to this same farm to cut down our tree when I was little. It hasn't been as romantic an experience as I would have liked. I love that it's real, but it doesn't really smell like I would have liked and it isn't straight and I am just done trying to get it straight. But it's our tree for the year and I like it :)

The first week in December we went and picked it out. It was actually pretty chilly. It felt Christmas-y.

He slept through the whole thing.

Then, last week, we went and cut it down.

It took me awhile to get it all decorated. See, it's a little off. Next year, we may get a nice pre-lit tree and a small "real" tree. That may be easier. We'll see how I feel then.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-15T23:56:00.005-07:00

We had a pretty chill Thanksgiving. We went to Carrie Beth and Jay's house, CB made a really great dinner. We had the missionaries over and played Monopoly on the Wii (it's a new generation). Good times. Leo had such a fun first Thanksgiving.

Leo at ONE month!

2010-11-22T00:36:00.004-07:00

I really think I have the cutest baby!!! Carlos and I did this photo shoot of Leo the other day so we can remember him at one month. I can't believe how much he is growing. He is getting so chunky (he has a muffin top). This month he is starting to smile a little and coo. He's holding his head up pretty well now. He is sleeping a little better, but we could definitely improve in the area.

He is the light of my life. I LOVE him!!! I'm so happy I'm his mommy.

Maternity Pictures

2010-11-22T00:27:00.005-07:00

So I was finally able to look through my maternity pictures. I am lucky enough to know the amazing Gina Lee. She is awesome!!! Carlos and I had such a blast with her! Plus I was so excited with the outcome. Is it weird that I miss being pregnant? Don't worry, it's not going to happen again any time soon, but I am excited for that time to come when Leo is a little older. Here are some of my favorites.

Grateful.

2010-11-15T00:44:00.004-07:00

So we had a little scare with our little Leo at the end of last week. When we went in for his 2 week check up we had been feeling something funny on the back of his head and so we asked the doctor about it. She didn't seem concerned, but sent us to have a head ultrasound anyway. The next day she called and told Carlos that they didn't see anything and not to worry, but she asked if he still felt it on the back of his head, I couldn't feel it anymore, but Carlos said every once and awhile he could (it was this little section on the back of his head that felt like crinkled paper). So she sent us the next day to have an x-ray just to make sure.

She called the next morning (Thursday) and said they couldn't see anything with the "crinkled paper" section, but she did have a concern. She said it looked like his skull was growing together prematurely. It is called Craniosynostosis. It makes their skulls misshapen and therefore making their brains not grow properly and can cause blindness and all of these horrible things. She said that she was going to send us to a specialist to look at him, but most likely he would need surgery to correct it. I held it together on the phone, but I lost it when I was trying to explain it to Carlos. How could something be wrong with my baby?! And something SO horrible! I looked online and saw all of these horror stories and pictures of these babies that were completely deformed.

My parents got there that afternoon for Brandon's baptism and so I got to tell them in person, actually Carlos did, because I could get through it without bawling. Carlos and my mom and dad had such a peaceful feeling that everything was going to be okay. Not that I doubted, but I was really worried. I prayed and prayed and finally was able to feel okay about it. I learned a lot more about it and realized I was only reading the worst case scenarios and found TONS of stories of babies and their families and felt that if we did have to go through this, that at the end of it Leo would be fine.

Carlos and my dad gave him a blessing and that same peaceful feeling stayed with everyone. On Monday we got an appointment for Wednesday to go see the specialist. Luckily the appointment was just in Ontario and not in LA like I had been told. For some reason I felt so much more comfortable with that. LA is scary to me.

Carlos had a wedding in Las Vegas that day, but Vicky, Carlos' mom, had come into town and so she came with me to the appointment. I had nervous tummy waiting for the doctor to come in. Finally, not one, but THREE doctors came in!! That stressed me out even more. The asked me questions and then the plastic surgeon started feeling Leo's head. Finally he said, "yeah, he's fine." I asked him again to make sure I heard him right. Nothing was wrong with my baby's head, other than some lumps (so he may not have a good shaved head), like his dad. They didn't think anything was really wrong from the x-rays, but they wanted him to come in to be sure. I have never felt more relief in ALL of my life. I almost didn't believe him. It was like I had my life back. Even though it had only been a few days, Craniosynostosis had taken over my entire existence.

I am so grateful! Oh let me tell you the prayers of gratitude that have been said and will continue to be said every time I think about it. I am grateful for the peace that I,and my family, were able to feel. I really just can't put it into words. I really learned the LOVE of a mother, even though my baby is only a few weeks old the idea of my child being in pain or struggling was almost too much to bare.

Here are Leo's newborn pictures that I took his first week. For some reason it was harder when it was my own child (I thought it would be easier), I guess I felt like they should be great and I wasn't super happy. But a few came out pretty cute, I mean, how could the not? He is precious!!!

Leo's First Month in Review

2010-11-15T00:12:00.007-07:00

I can't believe that my baby boy is a month old!!! This month has just flown by, but at the same time it feels like Leo has been a part of our family forever. I really didn't know it was possible to love another human so much, especially in such a short time. So here is a wrap up of his first month. I'm hoping to do a real photo shoot with him in the next day or two to really capture what he looked like at one month.

While my parents were here right after Leo was born, BYU just happened to be playing and so Leo got to watch his first BYU football game with his Papa. So fun! Obviously he didn't really know what was going on, but very soon he will :)

This is one of my favorites. We got Chloe's hair clipped and they put these blue and white ribbons in her hair and Leo just happened to have on his BYU onesie that day. My kids, I love them!
Leo's First Bath! I'll have to say, giving my baby a bath makes me SO nervous! I feel like I am going to drop him every time. But I am getting a little better, but I still have to have help.

My cute little family in the morning. Oh my goodness, I just love them so much!
Well, I was hoping I would get a baby that loved to sleep as much as I do, but that is not the case. We have struggled to get onto an acceptable sleeping schedule. He is doing better now, but he still wakes up 2-3 times a night. This isn't the most flattering picture of me, but it really represents the pure exhaustion of this last month.

We were lucky enough to have my mom stay with us for 2 weeks after Leo was born. I LOVED it, I am super sad that she had to go home. The only thing that would have made it better was to have my dad here too. My mom was such a help and I really don't know how I could have gotten through those first 2 weeks without her.

Uncle Phil also came to visit Leo. He sure does love his nieces and nephews.

A couple Mondays ago, we had our first official Family Home Evening and we went to Golden Spoon for frozen yogurt. Leo slept through the whole thing, but the rest of us loved our treat (even Chloe).

One day it was like 100 degrees outside and we were going to a doctor's appointment with Leo and I decided it was warm enough to get some use out of his short overalls that my mom gave him. I was DYING how cute he looked so I made him pose for me really quick. He's growing so quick that I never know when he is going to grow out of something.

My mom and dad came back at the beginning of November for Brandon's baptism. Unfortunately Carlos and I couldn't go because I had my first wedding back. Let me tell you, leaving Leo was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do. I cried like a baby, f'real. Not because I was worried, I knew he was in good hands with people that loved, but because I was going to miss him. He's my baby. So, yeah, that was a rough day to say the least. I think one of the kids got ahold of my camera at Brandon's party after the baptism, so I thought I would post some of them to remember that day.

I guess he just slept and ate the whole day and was just the best little boy ever.

Good Morning, Leo.

2010-11-01T12:02:00.003-06:00

So this may only be interesting to you if you are his parents, grandparents or aunties, but Leo is SOOOO cute when he is waking up. I took these videos of him day before yesterday and I thought that I would post them for those that were interested.

I LOVE my little boy!!!

The first one if of him waking up from his "morning" nap.

This one, I call, Changing Table Cuteness, he loves to hang out on his changing table in the morning and look out the window. He is just such a happy, cute little boy.

Leo's First Halloween

2010-11-01T11:20:00.004-06:00

We had a very chill Halloween this year. Leo was a little young to really participate in it. So we went to the Reis' house for homemade pizza and some Halloween movies and I handed out a couple pieces of candy.

A couple months ago, after searching everywhere, I decided I wasn't really going to find a costume that I liked for him that would be in his size without making it myself (which I don't do), so I found this cute shirt and matching socks at Old Navy and decided to go with that. Don't mind his pants :) Did you know it is impossible to find black newborn sweats when you want to. I went EVERYWHERE looking for them. He floats in these, believe it or not, they are 0-3 months. Good news is, he'll be able to wear them for awhile.

I am a little ashamed that I only have 2 pictures from the whole day and they are on my little camera. Mommy and Daddy Photographers dropped the ball. But he still looks cute and I will go all out next year, I'm already thinking about what I want him to be.

Welcome Baby Leo!

2010-10-28T21:00:00.011-06:00

Ever since I got pregnant I wondered what my birth story would be. Well, on October 12th I found out. I wasn't due until October 20th, I was really hoping that I would make it through the 16th at least, but Leo had other plans. I woke up at about 4:30 in the morning with, what felt like, menstrual cramps. My brain doesn't really function at that hour so I didn't think too much about it, I woke up a couple other times, but it didn't really hit me until about 7am. I went to the bathroom and it all sank in, but I was sure when I saw that I lost my mucus plug. At that point I decided I wasn't overreacting and so I woke Carlos up. I had a couple contractions within about 5 or so minutes and so I call my mom and Laura and got everyone going. Carlos and I got ready for the day, having some pretty good contractions all along. My mom and dad went home from work (they are in Utah, by the way) and started getting ready to head to California. And Laura found a flight that would leave Salt Lake at 11am and get to Ontario at 2:50pm (we thought that would be plenty of time).

After we got ready I call the hospital and they told me to call back in an hour (my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and 30 seconds long and strong). So we packed up, took Chloe to CB and Jay's and went to Panera to grab something to eat.

We took these pictures right before we left our house. It was really weird to think that the next time we were there, we would have our little baby with us. Our lives were about to completely change!

While we were at Panera, my contractions became insane!! So I called the hospital and they finally told me I could come in. We live in Rancho Cucamonga and we were delivering in Anaheim, so it is about 35 minutes away. Yeah, that was a painful ride. When we got to the hospital I was crying through my contractions. They examined me and I was at a 5!! I was so happy cuz I could get my epidural. They got us settled in our room and about a half hour later the epidural man was there, ahhhh relief. About 15 minutes later a couple nurses and my midwife came, almost running, in. They put the oxygen mask on me and were having me roll over from one side to the next. His heart rate dropped a lot, but they got it back up and everything was fine after that. In the process she broke my water and told me that I was at a 9. A 9! I had only been at the hospital for a little over an hour! It blew my mind that it was going so fast. Laura wasn't going to make it! After that I got to nap for an hour or so. Let me tell you, I LOVED my epidural. It was so great.

After an hour, the nurse and my midwife came in and told me I was going to start pushing. It was all so surreal. The only thing I didn't like about the epidural is that I couldn't feel how I was pushing. I kept asking, "am I doing it right?". After pushing for a little while Laura finally got there. Yay! I pushed for TWO hours. Ouch. One of the most amazing things was the midwife had me reach down and touch the top of his head as he was coming out. So awesome!

This is our first look at our son. Such an amazing moment!!! A moment I will never forget. He didn't cry when he came out, so they took him right away and rubbed him until he did, it took awhile and it was pretty scary, even though they said everything was fine. But he finally did, and now he has that down like a pro.

At Kaiser they do this thing called GIFT time where they have everyone leave the room except for the daddy and they do skin to skin time with the mommy. They said that babies latch on to feed while they are there. Although I hoped that he would, I had NEVER heard of anyone that it was that easy, so I was doubtful. But HE DID! He latched on and we have never had a problem. I was so happy.

I love this picture that Carlos took. I was already so in love with my boy.
That night Carrie Beth and Janet Wagner came to see the baby. Mom, Dad and Eliza were so sad, but they didn't make it that night. They spent the night in St. George and came up the next morning. It was so fun to see them with their 8th grandchild.

Our little family! I can't believe it, we are THREE!

Our little man, 1 day old. Such a cutie!

With his Grammy and Papa.

Getting Leo ready to go home in his cute little outfit.

Ready to go home. I was more than excited about leaving the hospital. Everyone was really nice, but there were so many people in and out of our room that I was going to go insane.

All ready to go home in his car seat.
When we got home Leo got to meet his cousins. That was fun! When Eliza got there she ran up to us and was so excited and said, "Ohhhh, you have anuder baby?!" Sad day, but I'm glad to say I no longer look like I'm having "anuder" baby.

Lots more pictures to come!

Cambria

2010-10-11T23:57:00.005-06:00

So I had this crazy wedding weekend last weekend. On Friday I had an 8 hour wedding in Long Beach and then the next day I had another 8 hour wedding in Paso Robles (which is about a 4 hour drive, near San Luis Obispo). I was seriously stressed how I was going to do it, I have been so lucky with my pregnancy, EVERYTHING has been so easy (knock on wood). I have really been blessed. These last couple of months, my testimony of prayer has been reaffirmed, Heavenly Father knew what I needed and gave me strength, really amazing. Also, my family has been such a blessing. Carlos has been superman, not only doing everything that he has to do, shooting his own weddings, but helping me as well. At my weddings, for the last couple of months, I shoot up until the reception and then he takes over when I need a break, I am one lucky girl. Plus, this last weekend Carrie Beth and Megan came with us up to Paso Robles. We had to leave at 5:30am to get us up there in enough time (Carlos and I didn't get home and in bed until around 1am the night before), so Carrie Beth drove the whole way so we could sleep in the car. It would have been really rough without that extra sleep.

We got through it though!!!! And I really felt like I could conquer the world after completing that weekend. So the next day we treated ourselves to a day in Cambria (a McAllister family tradition). We really missed everyone else, but we enjoyed every minute because, dang it, we deserved it. It was so fun!

Our first stop, of course, was Main Street Grill. Yummers!
Then we went to a couple of our favorite shops downtown and then headed over to Moonstone Beach. It was a little stinky on the beach for some reason, but it was still beautiful!
This is me at 37 1/2 weeks pregnant. On Wednesday, I'll be 39 weeks, so I will take another picture :)
I love these two! We decided to bring Chloe, she loved the beach, but wasn't such a huge fan of the water. She is such a good dog!
CB and Megs on the beach.
Me, picking up Moonstones. Leo's room is a beach theme, so I bought him this cute container and filled it with Moonstones to put on his shelf.
The Salazars :)
Chloe with little Moonstones all over her cute little mush.
On the way home we stopped at Pea Soup Andersen's to get a treat. I love this picture!!

I had a wedding this last weekend (on the 10th) and then I have one more (on the 16th). The one on the 16th I have coverage for and the bride knows that there is a chance, if I go into labor, that I would send this other girl (who has been so awesome and, once again, I am so lucky to have found her!). But I have made it so far, I would LOVE to make it through Saturday. Plus, a lot of people said that there was no way that I could do it and, if you know me at all, especially in my career, when someone tells me that I can't or I won't, it only makes me want to do it more (and I usually do). We'll see, I know I don't have much choice, if I go into labor, I won't be there and, instead, I will have this beautiful little boy that I love with all of my heart. But if I do make it, I still get this beautiful boy and the knowledge that I DID IT, even though it was hard, I DID IT! (For all of you that say "Oh Mollie, you should just take it easy", believe me, I do. During the week I am off of my feet as much as possible, I am constantly drinking water and resting. Don't worry. First and foremost, I am this baby's mama and if there was any sign that I needed to not go, I wouldn't.)

So, after the 16th (I'm due on the 20th) it is Operation: Go Into Labor. We will be trying everything (except that Castor Oil stuff), but if I was a betting woman, I would put money on him not coming until the 22nd or 23rd. There hasn't been much going on, no discomfort or any sign that labor is close at all, I think he is pretty content in there. Only time will tell.