solvang or bust

After a wonderful and much needed girls trip I'm home. No nasty hangover but I do have a terrible cold. Such a good time with my friends eating, drinking, dancing, and drinking, and a little more drinking. Wine tasting was the best time I've had in a really long time and dancing at a country bar that turned into a hip hop club was quite possibly the funniest night in a long time. Celebrating Ashley getting married was a success! I'll spare this blog my long winded stories and just show my first round of photos.....

on the road looking mad cause i had to drink bad coffee.

but happy cause i ate the most delicious fish tacos.

almost to solvang.

first stop is to a tasting room!

wandering the streets of solvang.

route 246.

the viking bar.

we used to cause a lot of trouble together but now we have to pretend to look wild cause we're old.

what we didn't consume in alcohol calories we made up for in fancy chocolates and french macaroons.

ebelskiver.

wandering the streets of solvang while the rest of the world sleeps in and this fuzzy stuff followed me.

consuming treats and caffeine.

the bride to be.

ashley and mini horses.

we made her a cowboy for the night.

ashley and tamar killing it on the dancefloor.

part of her "dare" for the night was to get a piggyback ride from a stranger. check!

this old dude is cooler than i will ever be.

the sick.

long long day

Longest day of my life is today!!! You know those days where nothing huge goes bad but it's filled these little tiny shitty annoyances all day?? Well that was today. Olive has to know I'm leaving this weekend and needed to get shit done so she was doing her best to make every little thing a million times harder than it needs to be. I'm trying to be really patient and I actually have but man oh man having a toddler has to be similar to having a teenager. Today EVERYTHING I asked her was "no" and a head shake. I keep thinking back to when she a newborn and I thought it was the hardest thing ever and now I think about how crazy it is having a toddler. Not that it's hard cause its not that but it's just more draining. Obviously there are good things too, she understands a lot (when she wants to listen) but she also defies the shit out of me and the tantrums and meltdowns are just too much sometimes. Some days are easy and carefree and other days it's just one thing after another.

Yesterday my good friends came over with her two kids for a playdate which was a lot of fun. She has a 4 year old boy who used to be a little wild so she understands my spirited little one and it was nice to talk to someone. Olive still isn't totally sure how to play with other kids that aren't her own age. Nathan is 4 and Nolan is 9 months so its a weird gap. She has started to get upset when someone touches her toys. Just a new phase in toddlerhood of course and over and over I would explain that we share and bla bla bla. She also tried to hit Nolan who is 9 months old with a toy. She did it a few times and finally after saying it over and over she stopped and would put her head on him to snuggle or pat his head. It's hard to know what to say at this age. I mean you have to say no when they do something wrong and redirect it so they learn and obviously repetition is important but do they really get it?? I've been trying a few of the happiest toddler on the block techniques and while sometimes they work other times Olive straight up looks me in the face laughs and hits me. I'm sure if I told some moms this they would gasp and that I would seem like a terrible mom but I'm pretty sure this is just what toddlers do. At least this is what mine does. I'm learning everyday how to handle it but sometimes I don't know how to. I keep thinking I didn't know anything when she was a newborn and I figured it out and she is healthy and besides her meltdowns the happiest kid in the world so although I'm ready to pull my hair out I just have to trust that I am doing what I can to disciple and that eventually she will get it. Alison said something interesting and it was kinda the most true thing ever. Her son who is 4 now used to be really wild and she tried everything but eventually he just got it. He is sweet and has manners and is super social, just an all around good kid. Ya he's wild but he has personality and spunk. She told me that moms kinda have to say something to their kids in front of other moms for the show but in reality the kids don't really care. The thing is she is right I mean obviously you can't ignore bad behavior but for the most part at 17 months kids just don't get it yet. She assured me Olive would get it eventually but that she was just young. It was just what I needed to hear because as a mom, especially a first time mom I think you question everything you are doing.

Along with bad there is so much good and fun and silly moments. This morning Olive took her first poop in her potty! She doesn't really understand how to tell me she has to go yet but since she is always ripping off her clothes I figured we might as well start trying it out. The morning is easy since it's  usually a guarantee she is going to poop after breakfast so I just took her in the bathroom and we read some books. She didn't sit on the seat the whole time, she wandered around, moved her potty around, and played with the toilet paper. I saw her make her poop face and sat her down and she went. She wasn't as excited as I hoped she would be. It's a start. I ask her throughout the day if she has to go and if she says yes we sit on the toilet. It will connect eventually when she is ready but it's nice to slowly teach her. Her vocabulary is getting really good. She repeats so many words now. I can't even keep track of all of them that she says but there are a lot. One I remember today was broom cause we walk past one everyday when we get in the car and she likes to point it out to me. She is really into Mr. Potato head and her crayons and stickers. I would say her most favorite thing is her box of goodies which includes bracelets, sunglasses, wallet, and other random things. I bring this everywhere as she loves to dig through it and pull everything out. We still read books over and over again and right now Goodnight Moon and We're going on a bear hunt are her favorite. The best thing EVER right now is how obsessed with noises she is. Oh and airplanes. As soon as she hears anything she stops and says shhhhhhhh really loud and points and then gets super excited. If we are not running around we are in the backyard watching the airplanes fly over or the hummingbirds or shushing the neighbors dogs. She has been really into twirling for awhile but now she has discovered that if you keep going you will get so dizzy and fall down and she loves it. Blake and I wanted to puke watching her do it cause as adults that just screams out headache but she will just spin and spin till she can't stand up and then laugh her ass off. There is so much more and since I don't do her monthly updates anymore I always forget to include little stuff like this but I hope to more often cause I know I will forget.

The day was long but ended pretty good. We went to the zoo for a quick afternoon lap and then made dinner meltdown free which was the first time in weeks. I just got back from my second Muay Thai class and kickboxing and my legs are killing me! I have to decide by monday if I want to commit to muay thai since its a little extra a month and you need gear to fight.  These old bones sure don't work like they used to so we'll see if I can walk tomorrow......

playdates should always include bloody marys.

President

It's always so hard to get back into the week after a long weekend. I think tomorrow I will feel back to normal but man oh man am I tired and lazy. On saturday afternoon we decided we would drive down to san diego. It was a sorta last minute decision that turned out to be really fun. Well besides the traffic alllllll the way down there. It turned out to be fine, Olive was in a good mood considering she was in a car for almost 3 hours. We made a stop at a gallery that Blake wanted to check out and wandered around there for a bit. Then we stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant and got some food to go. We weren't that hungry and eating out with Olive isn't that easy these days. We decided that we didn't want to sit in the car yet so we headed to Balboa park and wandered around for a little bit. I forget how much I like that place. I used to go there all the time with my tofu burrito from pokez and just hang out and people watch. Once it got cold so we decided to head home. Luckily Olive was totally worn out and passed out for the ride home.
The next day was supposed to be a fun day with my girls but I felt like I was getting a cold and I didn't want to take any chances with all the kids so I canceled. I felt bad since I was so looking forward to it but sickness it nothing to screw around with. Turns out I didn't have a cold and it was just allergies. With all this warm weather everything in my back and front yard is blooming and its messing me up big time. I hope more than anything Olive doesn't get my allergies. It's enough to put me in bed sometimes cause I get so sick but luckily its not that bad anymore, just feel awfully tired and my throat hurts but whatever as long as it isn't sick I'm good. My parents ended up making a last minute trip down to meet us for dim sum which was lovely. We ate a ridiculous amount of food then hung out at the house for the rest of the day. It was nice to be mellow and not do anything especially since I felt so bla.  Olive had the best time hanging with my parents cause grandparent attention is sorta the best thing ever cause they will play non stop.
On monday I was on a mission to go shopping. I really wanted a new pair of pants so we headed to Fashion Island to wander around there. On the way down we made a little stop to say hi to Blake's parents. Their dog passed away that morning so they super sad. Awful awful awful! If you have a dog you know that they are just like your children. You love them with everything you have. Blake and I always said we didn't  know how we could have more love for a child after having a dog. Obviously we love Olive more than words can even express but the love you have for your dog is pretty magical. I am so sad for them and I honestly can't even imagine. Lucky was old which doesn't make it ok but does make it better. So hug your animal extra tight. I know I sure did.
As usual I went off on something else. So anyways we spent a few hours shopping and I did find jeans and a shirt. Score for me! On the way home we stopped to get some plants and goodies to refinish our table. Yep we're all domestic and shit. That night I had my first Muay Thai class and it was pretty crazy. I've been doing kickboxing for years on and off but this is so different and so technical. I'm going to stick with is as I think it will help me actually learn as opposed to just kicking and punching the shit out a bag. I also did my kickboxing class right after so if I don't get skinny from all this I will not be happy! The technique is sooooo hard and I love pushing myself. My instructor who is very large stepped on my foot by accident and it's pretty messed up and bruised. The other foot ended up bruised too since we do everything with no shoes. Guess I need to callus those bad boys. Until them I'm going to look abused. Just hoping I will be able to go back tomorrow and actually kick without screaming from pain.......

first del taco. don't judge us.