Blog Archive

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Birthday!

Happy Birthday
Grandma!!


We love you Grandma and hope you have a Great Day!!
(I need some updated pictures!!)

 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

YES!
Kourtney is official rolling.
I woke up one morning and checked on K and noticed she was on her tummy.
Wait.... She rolled over?
Oh well just a fluke.
A couple days later I told Berto we have to start laying her on the floor so she'll learn to roll over.
(The girl prefers her jumper to everything else)
Matty was a swing baby, she hates the swing (she IS my child)
haha
Anyway, I lay her on the floor and she does her typical thing where is rolls to the side but can't quite get all the way over.
All of the sudden she's over on her tummy but her arm is stuck.
Ok.... so I roll her back to her back just to see if she'll do it again.
YES she rolled over again and this time got her arm out! AND I got it on camera on my phone.
(Wish I could upload the videos on here. The website I used before takes like 4 hours to upload a 30 second movie.)
She did it for the rest of the day!
So we have a pro roller now. Its a little scary though because now she rolls in her sleep. Berto stays up worrying she's gonna suffocate. Its a baby thing, thats what they do.
She'll be 4 months next week and we get to go see the doctor to see how big she is! I'm excited!

Disasters

This has been a week of disasters....
AND its only Wednesday.....
First last Friday:
I'm doing my normal thing, being a housewife and all, LAUNDRY. I always start with the baby clothes because I always seem to need burp cloths and bibs. It was a HUGE load of baby clothes so I put the washer cycle on super (like I always do). After I closed the lid, I went about my business, decided to call my mom and see what she was up to. 20 or so minutes later, I look down and the floor in front of my chair is wet. I had a partially blocked view because of the chair so my first thought was, "oh crap one of the cats peed on the floor." No big deal, I get up to get a cloth and the carpet cleaner when I realized it was definitely not pee. The washer was flooding. AND I MEAN FLOODING.
By this point it was completely underneath the washer and flowing out of the closet and into the living area.
I start freaking out. All while still on the phone with my mom.
She tells me to call the front office so I hang up with her and tell the lady that answers the phone that my washer is flooding and the water is already into the living room.
She tells me she'll get someone out to the apartment as soon as she can.
Ok......
15 minutes later and a whole heck of a lot of water later NO maintenance guy.
I already called Berto and told him what was going on. He calls me to see if they've shown up yet. NO.
So he calls the front office.
He makes a point of saying that its an emergency and we need someone to come fix the problem NOW, not 45 minutes from now.
About 10 minutes after he told me what he said the guy shows up. So from my phone call, 25 minutes later and TONS of water later.
At this point I have put down every towel I own to try and soak up some of the water, a king size bed sheet and nothing is helping. It has continued into the living room and part of the way to the kitchen. All in all, roughly, I think the water covered a good 20 foot by 5 foot rectangle of the apartment. IT WAS HUGE,

The maintenance guy rips up the carpet and the padding. Tells me they already called the carpet cleaning company and they are gonna come out and suck the water up and leave a fan blowing overnight. Ok cool what about the freaking washer that caused this disaster?
He starts checking the washer.
He tells me that even though it was a big load of baby clothes, the clothes aren't heavy enough to set off the pressure switch that starts the drain and spin cycle. Therefore, the water sits and the washer doesn't ever stop causing it to overflow and flood. Don't put baby clothes on the super cycle.
Really?
I've washed a lot of baby clothes in the last 3 years and I had the same brand washer before we moved to these crappy apartments and I have always set the load on super and suddenly its a problem?
I don't get it.
whatever. he tells me its no big deal, it happens.
He also told me that the reason they "came so quickly" is because the neighbor downstairs started to complain that it was leaking into their apartment. WHAT!? You didn't come quickly AT ALL! You took your sweet time!
Moron.
The carpet company shows up, suck up the water, and leave the turbo fan in the living room underneath the carpet and tell me not to turn it off. Just leave it there til we come tomorrow. He then tells me it'll be late afternoon because they have to make sure the carpet is dry before they can lay new padding and tack the carpet back down. Ok
4pm rolls around, no carpet people. Late afternoon is like 330 or 430 to me. So Berto calls the front office. They say they'll be there between 4 and 6. Ugh, That's not inconvenient at all.
5:40 rolls around and he barely has shown up, doesn't speak any english. Great. Where is Berto when I need him?
Luckily he came home shortly after.
He installed new padding, tacked the carpet back down and cleaned it. He even took the outdoor slide we got Matty a couple Christmases ago off our hands since the complex  won't allow us to keep it on the front patio and we have no where else for it.
At least the carpet was cleaned and fresh for Baby K since she is rolling like crazy now.

Sorry these are a little blurry.
Top: All the darker portions of the carpet are water drenched.
Bottom Left: The big bump is the turbo fan. We had to put the flowers in the middle of the floor to stop the carpet from making a "whipping" noise.
Bottom Right: The new Padding being put in.

So after that lovely disaster Monday came around.
We all know how everyone hates Mondays. I don't really care. I'm cool with Monday except this past one.
I'm again on the phone with  my mommy and all of the sudden it feels like someone dropped a 2 ton rock on the floor of the apartment and made the whole floor shake. At first I thought, Geez! Freaking cows." But it dawned on me that, that was a really loud noise and I don't think any human could have made that. OMG Earthquake.
I freaked out. Ask my mom. I busted out into tears.
Terrified me to my core.
Poor Kourtney was asleep and it jolted her awake and she was cranky the rest of the day.
Matty was totally unaware anything happened.
Berto felt it at work. It went all the way from Dana Point up to us and probably farther. Dana Point is 25 miles from us.
News said it was a 3.9. My mom says thats nothing but to me it might as well have been a 10.
I think that was the final straw for me.
I love California but it just is NOT everything its cracked up to be living here. Visiting is totally fun.
The excitement of Disneyland is sort of gone since its right down the street and we never go.
The beach is right down the street and in the 7 months we've lived here we just barely went the other day.
The apartments here are crap and are too freaking expensive and EVERYTHING is extra. You pay extra for washer and dryer, refrigerator, patio, downstairs opposed to up. Its ridiculous.
Gas is WAY more expensive and everything is farther.
Food is more expensive, There is no such thing as the dollar menu here. SUCKS.
AND the school systems are crazy. Terrible. I can NOT see putting Matthew or Kourtney into a California school. IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.
The only good thing here is my grandma. I don't want to leave her here :(
BUT, with the amount of money we save going back to AZ and getting an apartment there we can visit California more often and see Grandma. Or she can come see us :)

I miss my mommy. I miss Walmart.
I hate the heat and I hate to admit it but I miss AZ.
(I can just hear my mom saying, "I told you so")
I know.
But we were meant to come here for whatever reason. Even if it was just a lesson we had to learn the hard way.
I'm ready to go back its just a matter of time.
I'm glad my mom is coming in a week. I can't wait to see her. Spend time with my mom, grandma, and brother. We're doing our 4 generation picture.
4 Generations all girls, all the baby girls. It's gonna be so cool.
Til next time!

Friday, April 20, 2012

We got out!!

YES!
We actually got out of the house and did some outdoor activities!
On Wednesday we went to Huntington Beach. Unfortunately, by the time we decided to go it was way too cold! We were there for maybe 10 minutes before poor Matty was saying, "cold" and his lips were shaking. We, being the wonderful parents that we are, didn't bring a jacket for him. It was like 78 degrees all day!
(We're still getting used to California weather.)

So we did a re-do on Thursday. It was again like 78 degrees so we took Matty to the park and then we decided to go to the beach again.
Can you believe we've lived here for  almost 7 months and it was the first time since we moved here that I actually stepped foot on the beach? Crazy.
Matty LOVES the beach. He is always looking for Nemo. Haha
He got some pretty cool sea shells as a souvenir.
Here are some pics.




Earrings!!

We took baby Kourtney and got her ears pierced!!
She was so good. She cried for a little while but she got over it fast.
I LOVE how it looks!
Such a pretty little girl!


Friday, April 13, 2012

Trust

As weird as this may sound I really put a lot of trust in my 2 year old.
In the mornings I'm usually exhausted from not getting any sleep the night before, but Matty is a 2 year old and of course he wakes up early.
Usually. he gets up and goes straight to the living room, turns the light on and then gets into the cupboard with the movies.
As soon as I see the light on I get up and take whatever movie he's gotten out and put it back. I give him a bag of cereal and his cup and sit him on the couch and turn Disney Jr on and then I go back to bed.
I usually just lay in bed but every once in awhile I do get a little extra sleep and its so nice. Matty is well behaved and sits on the couch and eats his cereal and when he's done he throws the empty bag away and goes and plays with his toys. He's very quiet and I am very thankful for that.
This is a daily occurrence because its the only way I can function. He's even nice enough not to bother me unless he hurts himself or if he's still hungry. It's pretty awesome.

When it comes to me needing to shower.... this task is NOT easy with 2 kids.
When it was just Matty I would sit him on the floor of the bathroom and give him my phone and let him either watch a movie or play a game. Now that we have Kourtney too I can't really do that.
I've found that if I feed both of them and then hop in the shower everyone stays happy and I can actually shower in peace. It has to be quick obviously but at least its not because someone is screaming their head off. And this also means I usually don't get to shower til noon but a shower is a shower.....
Maybe it makes me a bad mom because I don't have my eyes on them every second of the day but I HAVE to shower. I can NOT go a day without showering. It absolutely grosses me out. So usually I put K in her jumper and put a movie or a show on that Matty likes and then I make a run for it. IF Kourtney starts crying Matty will give her the binky and its perfect because it gives me enough time in the shower.
What an awesome 2 year old! How many people can honestly say that they trust their 2 year old and don't worry about letting their eyes close or leaving the room for more than a minute?
There's not much Matty can get into that I would worry about.
He doesn't bother anything in the kitchen (he never has), he has no interest in the cat box (thank goodness), and there is nothing he can get to in my bedroom.

Of course he is still a normal 2 year old that throws ridiculous tantrums and doesn't always listen but when it comes down to it he is a good little boy and I am blessed.
Most days I don't know what I would do without all the helpful things he does for me. :)
He is such a good little boy and big brother.
We love him.

On a different note....
It's Friday the 13th.
So naturally everything that can go wrong
is going wrong.
THIS 
It's the car seat base to Matty's seat. We don't use it and I don't know why we keep it.
 fell out of Matty's closet and hit me
in the head and scrapped my hand.
Matty hasn't been listening very good.
K has been fussy
Berto works til 8pm....
The only good thing so far today?

 

 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings AND Lots of rain!!!
AND

 Such an awesome series.

 The end.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!
Love,
The Serrano Family
Berto, Julie, Matthew, & Kourtney
 
Our Easter was very enjoyable. Berto had to work so we waited until this afternoon to celebrate.
Before dinner we let Matty open his Easter basket. He was pretty excited about it. 
 
We didn't get him very much candy just because there is no point if they don't know about it yet. He was happy with his "yee haw" horse and his car.
 
We had roast beef and garlic mashed potatoes for dinner. After dinner  we decorated eggs.
Believe it or not, this is the very first Easter I have ever decorated eggs. I don't remember doing it growing up. 










And that's pretty much it. 
Now we are all just relaxing.
 
Matty is finishing off his evening watching Cars on tv,
 
 Berto is playing on his computer but I'm secretly hoping he'll play Mario Party 9 with me when I'm done blogging, I'm obviously blogging, and Baby K is laying on the floor. We're hoping she'll roll over in the next couple of weeks. :)
 I had to put this pic cuz her face is hilarious.
 
 
I hope all my friends and family had a nice Easter. We love you guys and miss you. 
Til next time!
 
 
 
Oh and just for kicks this is what happened when I took the eggs away from Matty......
 MAJOR tantrum.
haha
 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Week from you know where....

This week has completely sucked in the Serrano household.
The only good thing that has happened is Kourtney being 3 months AND Matty no longer needs a binky. We threw them all away and he hasn't even asked for it. That was so easy! If I knew it was going to be that easy I would have thrown them out forever ago. (kicking myself) Now on to potty training.... :(
  1. So, this week..... Berto got sick, and we all know how incredibly whiny and helpless men are when they are sick.  He has helped but he has complained for 2 days... Even he admits he's a wimp.
  2. Matty has been so clumsy the last few days. He has tripped twice and scraped his knee. The same knee both times. He wouldn't stop torturing the cat and got bit.
  3. And then there's me...
    I somehow strained my left wrist and had to buy a wrist wrap to stabilize it because it hurts to bend it in all directions. I accidentally shut my foot in the car door (don't ask.) And now I have a headache and my throat hurts.  Ya me.
Baby K is the only one who seems to be "normal." (Crossing my fingers she stays that way)
I am hoping that no one else gets sick and that we nipped whatever Berto has in the butt before it got too bad.
Because all I need after this week is 2 sick kids and me being a gimp.....
Hoping for a better week to come....

I'm gonna go crawl in a hole now.





Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Goodbye Binky!

I have already told most of my family and friends that I plan to have Matthew completely rid of the binky by the end of April.
I KNOW he's too old to still have one but he's been through a lot in the past 6 months and I did NOT want to traumatize him.
So, last night was our first night putting him to sleep without a binky.
I told him, "Matty you go night night. You don't need a binky. You're too big and big boys don't need a binky."
He cried for about 30 minutes. "night night mommy. night night mommy." (He calls his binky, night night)
After about an hour of going in and out of his room telling him to go to sleep he did!
He fell asleep all by himself. NO binky!
I'm so proud that I didn't give into the pathetic crying. It was sad.
But this is an awesome start.
I just put him down for a nap because he had been whining ALL morning. He cried but only because he didn't want to go to sleep. He didn't even ask me for his night night.
I'm hoping its really this easy and that It doesn't back fire on me....
We'll see. But here's to hoping we are officially done with the binky.
Well at least that Matthew is done with the binky......

Three

That's right! My sweet Baby Kourtney is 3 months old today!! Time is flying!
She is such a happy baby. Always smiling and cooing. She recognizes me, Berto, & Matthew and always smiles at us.
She doesn't go back to the doctor for a well check until May but when I weighed her at home she is 11.4 lbs.
Who know how long she is?.....
I find it a little strange that here in California the pediatricians see the baby at newborn, and then 6 weeks and then not again until 4 months....
In AZ its newborn, 1 month, 2 months, and then 4 months. I feel like I'm missing her growth not having that 2 month well check. I don't know.
Anywho,
She is SO close to rolling from her back to her tummy. She gets stuck on her side and can't quite make it the rest of the way over. I'm sure she'll be a pro in a matter of 2 weeks.
She likes to be on her tummy. I almost have to start locking her into her "bassinet" because she can almost roll over in that too only she won't roll over, she'll just fall and face plant the floor.
She LOVES to jump in her jumper. She LOVES music. (Just like Matthew did)
She eats rice cereal in her bottles. (mostly to help with spit up)
We LOVE her chunky cheeks and her rolls. SOcute!
We pretty much can't get enough of this sweet baby girl.