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And just like that, our crazy month of May is over, ending with my birthday - my first one as a mommy. Being a mom makes birthdays even more special somehow. I had a pretty mellow day compared to some other years (I mean, I was having a private beach dinner in the Bahamas for the big 3-0!), but this year was even more fun because I was with my son.

My mother-in-law made me her yummy enchiladas with green sauce and homemade brownie dessert on my birthday eve, and on my birthday Kyle and I spent the afternoon at the park with my friends Anna & Emily and the evening having dinner and a double dark chocolate shake at Ruby's with Brian. Pretty much the perfect day.

And next week, my mom is taking me to get a massage! I'm one happy mommy.

happy birthday to me!
family pic at Ruby's, flowers from my mother-in-law,
blowing out my candles, and rockin' the party hats!

3 months, con't

When Kyle smiles, his whole face lights up from an adorable toothless grin. I can make him smile all day long just by looking him in the eye and smiling at him, or even just by talking to him. But when there's a camera around (even my iPhone), getting a smile out of this boy is a very different story: he gets a concerned look on his face and just stares at the camera, wondering why it's in his face.

Ugh! I want nothing more than to capture the sweet smile I see every day, but so far I've been pretty unsuccessful. This is the best Brian & I could do for his 3 month picture with Penny:

a little smile peeking out!

what's going on, mom?

Hopefully I can capture his huge toothless grin that I love so much sooner than later!

traditions

Brian & I have always loved celebrating events and milestones through traditions. One of our first traditions as a couple is to celebrate our "date-a-versary" at Knott's Berry Farm every year. This all started because our date-a-versary is close to Halloween (October 28), the time of year when Knott's closes at 5 p.m. to set up for Knott's Scary Farm. Neither of us loves Scary Farm (aka 3 million high school kids and 2-hour long lines), but we both love the rides and the atmosphere at Knott's. We discovered that if you go to Knott's during the day close to Halloween, NO ONE IS THERE! It's amazing. There are no lines. You can stay on the rides as many times as you want without getting off. You can circle the park and go on everything in 2 hours. You can have funnel cake and boysenberry punch for lunch, then ride Montezooma's Revenge until you're sick. It's so fun. So every year we go to Knott's for the day, then out to dinner. Some of my favorite memories are of Brian and I at the theme park, just the 2 of us enjoying the day.

Last year on October 28 I was 5 months pregnant with Kyle, so our Knott's trip consisted of no rides -  just fried chicken and biscuits at Mrs. Knotts Chicken Dinner (heaven for a pregnant girl). And this year Kyle will be 8 months old, so October 28, 2013 (celebrating 12 years!) will be his first trip to the park. We can't wait to make him part of our tradition.

Every year, the first thing we do when we get to Knott's is take a picture of the 2 of us holding up how many years we are celebrating:

Corny? A little. But so fun.

Now that we're married, we still love to continue this date-a-versary tradition and added a new one for our wedding anniversary: have dinner at the restaurant where we held our wedding reception. We have so many fun memories at the Main Street Wine Cellar, where we hosted all of our friends and family for appetizers, wine and dancing. The Wine Cellar is the perfect spot for date night - great wine and beer selection, fun menu and everywhere we look we have a memory of the day we were married. It's the perfect way to reminisce and re-live one of the best nights of our lives.

Instead of holding up how many years we're celebrating, we decided last year to try and reenact one of our wedding photos every time we visit:

1st wedding anniversary - before we thought of the reenactment idea :) 

2nd wedding anniversary

3rd wedding anniversary

This year was especially fun because it was our first date night since Kyle was born. Grandma came over to watch the baby and those 2 hours away, just the 2 of us, were just what we needed to focus on each other and enjoy our special day.

the short rib sliders (top) were served at our reception. So good.

Now that we have Kyle, I'm so excited to start more traditions for the 3 of us. Summertime camping trips, Sunday night family dinners, making birthday cakes, scavenger hunts with his cousins, breakfast with Santa... so many fun traditions in our future. I can't wait!

Wedding photos by the talented Joseph Martinez Photography

13 weeks * 3 months

So I'm realizing that the week-by-week posts don't really correlate with the monthly updates. Today, Kyle is 13 weeks old, but he turned "3 months" on Thursday. I guess I'll eventually transition to doing just a monthly update, but for now I'm still having fun posting these every week. So, here is what Kyle is up to at 3 months/13 weeks.

First of all, we took 3 month pictures. How cute is this little man?! And where is his neck?

(We still need to take his photo with Penny in his 3 month onesie - coming soon, I promise!)

We went to breastfeeding workshop to find out how much milk Kyle is taking in a each feeding, and to get an update on his weight. At 12 weeks he weighed in at 14 lbs, 7 oz and gained an average of 1/2 an oz each day since our last weigh-in at 6 weeks. Right on target!

He's not a huge fan of tummy time, but I make him do it a few times a day. He'll be a happy boy (see above) for about 3 minutes, then it's all over. But he is very strong and I swear he is already trying to crawl. No movement yet, but he has the motions going on. Slow down, buddy! 

One of his favorite things to do is take long walks with mommy in the Baby Bjorn. He loves being outside and looking around, while licking the Bjorn. Mmmmm. Our walks sometimes last an hour! We're pretty lucky to have a park as our backyard, so we'll walk all through it and watch the kids play in the playground, or the little boys practice for their baseball game, or the high school kids make out on the benches.

If Brian gets home from work early enough, he'll join us:

Typically, Kyle is a pretty good sleeper at night. He'll sleep 12 hours, waking twice (or sometimes once!) to eat. But of course I'm laughing as I'm typing this because last night he had me up 17 times. Ok, maybe it was 3 times, but it felt like 17. He went down at 9:30 pm, then was up at 1 am, 4 am, 6:30 am and then up for good at 9. I'm hoping we just had a bad night and will be back on track tonight. Life is much more fun when mommy is not up at all hours!

We got him a mobile for his crib, which has been nice. It doesn't put him to sleep (yet), but he likes to watch it for a while so mommy can get dressed! Yay!

I guess maybe it would help him sleep if I laid him in the crib the correct way. Oops.

Kyle's starting to grab onto more things, which is fun. He'll entertain himself in his carseat by holding onto his burp cloth, and he'll hold onto my clothes for dear life.

"reading"

holding his links

3 years married

On May 21, 2010, we said "I do"...

http://www.joseph-martinez.com/

So tonight, we will celebrate! Grandma Suzie is coming over to watch Kyle & we're going to enjoy our first date night post-baby... can't wait!

12 weeks

Kyle, you are 12 weeks old!

This week, we took you on a few family outings:

1: To your first restaurant - Super Mex. You were pretty good while mom & dad could enjoyed our #31s, and you looked so cute all bundled up.

2: To Stroll & Savor on 2nd Street in Long Beach, where you loved people watching while mom & dad pigged out on taquitos, hot links, rib tips, gelato, pizza, mini pizookies, pulled pork sliders, breakfast burritos and chocolate covered pretzels (in no particular order).

3: To your first bar to celebrate your dad's 40th birthday with lots of friends and fam. You were such a trooper and lasted almost 6 hours, wow! Mom had to go to the car a couple times to feed and change you, which was a new experience, but you didn't seem to mind. You were a hit with all the customers and bartenders in your Joe Jost's onesie!

Kyle & Jake sharing a "cold one"

A Joe Jost's fam

You've really grown this past week. You're wearing size 3 months or 3-6 months and graduated to size 2 diapers. You're grabbing onto things, like your burp clothes and blankets, and you're always trying to sit up - even when you're strapped in your car seat. 

You sat in your Bumbo seat a couple times this week but we're not sure how you felt about it...

Oh, and did I mention that you're drooling like a maniac? (See photo above for evidence.)

You absolutely love laying on a blanket in the park and checking out the trees and leaves, so mom takes you outside almost every day. It's our favorite time together!

the great outdoors

Kyle loves being outside! Yesterday we took a blanket to the park behind our house and just enjoyed the beautiful day. It makes me so happy to simply sit outside with my baby and soak in this time together. This sweet boy was content doing this for over an hour! And Penny was stoked to be outside, too :)

first mother's day

Mother's Day photo shoot with my handsome boy.

For the past few years, Brian & I have hosted Mother's Day lunch at our house. Since my niece was born in 2008, I've always set the table with 3 special placemats with flowers and gifts: one for my mom, one for Brian's mom and one for my sister. Last year as I was setting the table, I was hoping and praying that in 2013 there would be 4 special placemats - and that one of them would be mine.

So this year, as I was setting up those 4 placemats and getting the house ready with the cutest little boy on my hip, I was smiling from ear to ear. This year, I am a mother! It was an incredible feeling and one that I'll never forget.

My first Mother's Day was perfect. My family (especially my husband) made me feel so loved and special. I think this may be my new favorite holiday :)

Saturday the fam came over for lunch and fun in the park, and Sunday we had a mellow day with just the 3 of us. I had breakfast in bed, snuck away for my first pedicure since Kyle was born, and had some time to take a bath and relax before we headed to a family friend's house for a visit. We ended the day with pizza and Mad Men - heaven!

gift from me & my sis for our mom - her 3 happy grandbabies! ;)

Mams & her grandsons.

we also celebrated Mams & B's birthdays (May 9 & 10).

Aunties & our nephs (Jacob is not loving pictures these days).

my sis brought sunflowers for the mommies! (and my cute niece).

our happy boy.

Kyle meeting B's best friend, Josh.

my loves.

11 weeks

Kyle, you are 11 weeks old!

Last night, your daddy & I were talking about you after you fell asleep. He said that every day you do something that is the cutest thing he's ever seen in his life, and I agree. Every single day you melt our hearts with your sweet smile! You're talking and laughing like crazy and have become much more easy going. You love the bath now (and lotion!) and have started to enjoy the toys hanging from your car seat. When I put you in the car you smile at them for at least 10 minutes! You also started to notice that you can touch the toys dangling from your bouncy seat. You haven't grabbed them yet, but you're starting to realize that when you move your arms that way you can touch them.

This week I was still recovering from my back injury, so we had lots of time at home. But by Thursday I was feeling well enough to lift you into the car and drive to daddy's work to visit him for his birthday! You met lots of daddy's co-workers and had lunch with mommy, daddy and cousin Nicholas. Then, we went to Grandma Suzie's for a special birthday dinner. You sat in your carseat at the dinner table with us, then Grandma Suzie held you for a long time and you were loving every second. On Friday, you were my little helper as we ran around town for some errands to prepare for Mother's Day lunch at our house.

so serious!

Brian's b-day dinner

Daddy's rock star!

I'm so looking forward to my first Mother's Day weekend! We're having your grandmas and auntie over today for lunch, and I'm not sure yet what's in store for tomorrow, but I can't wait to spend it with my two loves. 

it's Brian's birthday!

Happy birthday to the best husband and daddy in the world! Kyle and I took him out to lunch today, and we're headed to Grandma Suzie's tonight for dinner and pie. We also can't wait to celebrate with our friends and fam next weekend!

Brian's first birthday as a daddy!

all you need is love...

...and a dog.

my Penny

Our sweet girl is a trooper. She's graciously stepped aside as the center of our household the day we brought Kyle home, with minimal complaints. She gave up her favorite spot on my lap. She has accepted that she now goes for 2-3 walks a day instead of 4-5. She gets pet less, and scolded more (for barking when the baby is asleep).

She knows her life is different now; she can sense it. She knows that Kyle is here to stay and that he's someone we love. Before he was born, Penny would follow me around the house all day long. This morning, I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for a few minutes. When I came back to the bedroom, Penny was still in bed and had moved closer to Kyle's bed, where he was fast asleep. She keeps an eye on her brother, always hanging out wherever he is.

We're lucky Penny is such a good girl. Lots of dogs act out when a baby comes home, but Penny is still our little sweetheart and is great with the baby. I hope she knows she's still our sweet girl. I wish there was a way to tell a dog that they are still loved just as much, even though their life is different and it might seem like they aren't as important anymore. It's kind of like when you accidentally step on their paw - you can say "sorry," but they don't understand. They just know that you hurt them and wonder if they did something wrong.

I think Penny is getting used to the new addition to our family and her new life, I just hope she likes it and is bracing herself for lots of adventures ahead with a growing boy!

back in action

After 5 long days, my back is finally well enough to walk (slowly) and pick Kyle up out of his stroller! This is such a relief, because it is no fun being stuck on the couch all day long with a 10 week old and sad puppy who desperately needs a walk. I'm sure Kyle has loved all the extra snuggles and naps on mommy, but 5 days of immobility is 4.5 too many. I'm still taking it very easy to make sure I don't twist too fast and have a relapse, but I'm thankful that I'm at least well enough to get us outside today for a few walks.

a beautiful post-rain walk in the park!

I definitely wouldn't have recovered so quickly without Brian's help. He took great care of us all weekend to make sure my back got as much rest as it needed, and even brought Kyle to me in the middle of the night to nurse so I wouldn't have to bend over to pick him up or get out of bed. Next time you see him, make sure to tell him what an amazing husband and daddy he is!

the one perk of having a bad back: snuggles all day!

cinco de mayo

Cinco de Mayo present:
Kyle napping in his swing, Krista relaxing on the couch and Brian doing dishes.

Cinco de Drinko past:

Ole!

10 weeks

Kyle, you are 10 weeks old! Double digits.

This week you LOL'd for the first time! You were sitting on my lap last night and we were listening to kids songs on Pandora. I was singing the wrong words to The Circle of Life and you actually laughed. Of course you don't know I was singing the wrong words, so I'm sure you LOL'd at the funny noises and crazy animated faces I was making at you. You giggled at me a few times, so Brian ran to get the video camera and as soon as he turned it on, you put on your stone cold mean face and stared at us like we're crazy - which made us LOL.

You've had a pretty mellow week, and it looks like we'll have a very mellow weekend since mommy's back is still out and I can't really walk. Yesterday your excitement was watching mommy eat an entire pint of sea salt caramel gelato - oops. Hopefully with lots of rest and help from daddy my back will get better soon, but at least we can enjoy lots of snuggles and hopefully some more laughs in the meantime!

no self control.

down for the count

My back went out yesterday. And then I passed out. Not a good day for Kyle & me.

Luckily we were in a St. Jude lab when it happened, with lots of nice people and nurses around to take my blood pressure, give me juice and help with Kyle until my mom could come and help me out (she randomly had the day off, what luck!). I'm ok, but it was very scary not being able to care for Kyle for a few minutes, and tending to a newborn with a messed up back is a challenge. Brian had to go to work today, so I am equipped with diaper supplies on the table next to me and Kyle's sleeper and swing directly in front of me on the couch so I don't have to twist or walk much.

I'm sure Kyle had absolutely no idea what was going on, but I like to think he had some sense that his mama needed him. He sat in his stroller next to me and just watched me and held my hand until my blood pressure came back to normal. He also gave the nurses lots of smiles and melted their hearts, too. Kyle decided that to pass the time, he'd start eating his hands. Pretty good timing to find a new way to keep himself occupied!

He's been a really good boy today, just keeping me company on the couch and not insisting too much that we get up and walk around.

my sweet boy keeping his eye on mama

yummy, I found my hands!

PS - no need to worry about my back. It's a recurring injury that I've had since high school (disc degeneration and muscle spasms). Unfortunately my back "goes out" about once or twice a year and I'm down for the count for a few days. Also, I sometimes pass out when I'm in pain or feel something weird on my body. It's a miracle I made it through child birth :)

laying low

Kyle and I are enjoying a mellow week at home. Here are a couple of pictures of him "laying low."

happy boy at 9 weeks

hanging out with his sister