NIKO'S MINECRAFT PARTY

i started to plan ahead for niko's 6th birthday celebration collecting ninja turtles party supplies and before i knew it, his love for tmnt's had vanished. so here i go now, starting from scratch searching on pinterest for minecraft party and i realized it all had to be made by hand. there aren't even minecraft balloons for sale! niko started carpooling later during his school year and i had no idea where he had learned about minecraft. he was using his buddy's ipad on the way to school and became addicted just like so many kids lately.
although nikos party went great and everyone had a good time, i feel like i slacked off towards the end. i was a total party mom right before his party and failed on picking up the food labels, making way more food like i had planned and finishing the games i had prepared. we were able to download the minecraft font and made our own invitations and food labels, sadly the birthday banner wasn't printed on time. our local food market got down with the cake, i couldn't believe how amazing it came out. and it came from a little mexican food market. papa printed some characters and glued them to cardboard to make cupcake toppers. i left the cupcakes in the oven the day of the party, luckily my cousin saved the day and brought over leftover cupcakes from her sons party the day before. niko's friends from kindergarten came and celebrated with us and he had so much fun, he was the happiest six year old i have ever seen. what i love most now, is getting to read the handmade birthday cards that came from his friends. their writing and spelling is priceless, i love it when they make a mistake, cross it out and start over right next to it. one little girl even drew niko and her holding hands, i'll have to keep it forever. we played the silliest music during the party, only minecraft parody songs like this one and this one. we even made copies to hand out as a thank you for coming to niko's party along with a handmade goody bag. i couldn't find the best way to make minecraft themed goody bags so i cut squares and pasted them on a green paper bag to make a creeper face. all the hard work parents put into birthday parties truly pays off, and maybe you can't see it the day of but looking back at the memories your child will have reassures me that the little details i go crazy about are okay. what made nikos birthday even more special was the people who drove such a long way to give him a hug and celebrate his big day. its not that easy driving four hours to a birthday party for me so i really appreciate it when other people go out of their way for us.

THE PORT

we live extremely close to the port of l.a., im talking a few blocks. no wonder its been so cold lately, i forget where we live now. this week i took the kiddos there to walk around and get out of the house since its been so cold we haven't been able to do much. then i realized why i stay home. we froze out booties off the entire time. we found a few adorable spots and snapped some photos, then rushed home to make dinner and put on our pj's.

PUPPY LOVE

if you follow me on instagram, then you'd know niko is in love. yes, my little four year old has found love at his preschool. its so adorable the way he talks about her! he says she's his "sweetheart" and that he loves her. he also says she's a princess and is always thinking of giving her presents. so far we've bought her a little princess pencil, sharpener, eraser, notebook pack. then he came up with making her a gift. i wouldn't say Niko is the most artistic kid so it really surprised me when he made her a gift out of playdough. he glued some plastic gems and stuck some feathers on it. and before he went to school we glued it on a purple piece of paper with his name on it. we walked into his class monday morning and niko's teacher asked him about it. she was playing with cecelia (his girlfriend) and other classmates at the time. and i could tell cecelia thought it was a nice project he had made. niko then told his teacher that it was for cecelia and when his teacher announced it cecelia was surprised and thanked him. watching him talk about her and even hang out with her is the sweetest thing in the world. they play outside in the playground together, and sit next to each other during circle time. it is the purest most innocent love i have ever seen. and he is so proud that he is in love. he tells everyone, "i have a girlfriend because i love her!".... i don't remember ever having a boyfriend in school but from what my mil tells me Raoul has been a lover boy since he was four years old too! i am proud of niko for being so expressive of his feelings though, even though they might not be validated by most adults. when you are in love, you're in love... no matter what age you are.

OUR 'LUCKY' DAY

not having the mister for two weeks now has been pretty difficult to say the least. (we have one more week for him to come back from his mexico tour.) earlier this week i went two whole days without showering. i know its disgusting but its the truth, so if i didn't have the time or energy to shower, i haven't had the time and energy to blog. but i do miss blogging. in fact, i think about it every day. well, our lucky day came when we found the perfect pup to join our little family. we found this little guy at the san pedro animal shelter after searching for about two months. in between that time we had gone through some disappointments and heart aches. the reality of finding a pet from a non breeder is really sad. going to the shelters every couple weeks and searching online for a pet wasn't easy. there are way too many beautiful and loving animals that need a home and so supporting a breeder was just out of the question. what i like about the animal shelters is.. you're rescuing a doggy because after a couple weeks if nobody adopts they euthanize the animals, you have so many breeds and ages to choose from, they spay and neuter, microchip and vaccinate your pets before you take them home. we got Lucky on a day the dogs were on sale so we saved about forty dollars, they gave us doggy food and natural snacks, toys and a cot for him to sleep on (of course he usually sleeps snuggled up with the kids). after living with him about a month now i would say that we are the lucky ones here. lucky is very loving and patient with the kids, he's potty trained, he doesn't bark like crazy and just the perfect first pet for Niko and Luna. the kids just can't get enough of him and he's pretty much our new baby..

taking Lucky home from the animal shelter. 

i would say this is the only good picture of him since he's TERRIFIED of being photographed. 

Lucky and Luna, "the neighborhood watch" 

as i have said before Niko changes best friends very frequently, so Lucky is his best friend too.

and Lucky just loves all the attention  he can get! this video was taken tonight :)


p.s. I hope you all had a wonderful thankgiving! our day was just perfect and the food was amazing!
XOXO, Liz 

YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND

i went through some of nikos baby pictures and wanted to share my little boy during his first year of life. niko was the best baby, always happy and smiley. he loved food and making funny faces, i got lucky with him (specially my first baby). as i type i think, i wanted a blog to share my experiences as a mom and hopefully connect with other people, be inspired and learn. i try to be honest but not negative, and as i try to survive and keep my sanity through toddler-hood, i gotta say some days are pretty tough. specially with a team of two bug-a-boos. the time has arrived when they are officially a team. niko and luna love to throw things across the room, scream at the same time, cry at the same time, bla bla bla. after all the nonsense, i get the greatest joy when they genuinely hold each other with so much love and give each other kisses. oh my heart just melts. and then somebody poops and ruins the moment. haha. i guess my biggest complaint is not having a good balance between motherhood and everything else. i would love to spend more time with the mister, my friends, and time with myself to get creative and geek out like i used to. but even as i think about it i know i am already thinking pretty irrational as being with my kiddos is my responsibility and my priority. but  you know lately niko tells me im his best friend, and that im the best, and that im beautiful. either he's learning  how to be a kiss ass or i got a sweet little dude sleeping next to me. no he really is a sweetie, and its even more clear when he's sleeping. when he's asleep, oh he's such an angel.

LIFE WITHOUT A PACIFIER

yesterday we took the kids to their first dentist appointment and it was pretty much a nightmare. i mean, it could of been worse but niko was scared and crying and it made me want to just get up and leave. for a couple seconds i wanted to cry too, i hate to see my son scared. we tried talking to him and giving him hugs but the dentist was actually a scary guy so i don't blame him. luna didn't really open her mouth so all they did was put some fluoride tooth paste on her teeth but forcefully. i talked to the dentist assistant and she could tell that luna used the pacifier because of her buck teeth but she doesn't really use the pacifier. not as much as niko. well she told me to just wean them from the pacifier because it could really ruin their teeth. not like its news to me, and i have been wanting to get rid of the pacifiers but didn't have the courage. since raoul went to l.a. last night for his weekly and his new radio show (which started yesterday!) i decided to just completely take it away. there's no going back. the pacifiers are a thing of the past and we need to move forward. i am mentally prepared to deal with the crying and yesterday there wasn't any tears, just a whole lot of begging. this morning he got a little aggressive while asking for his "TEE" thats the name niko gave his pacifer. all i do is repeat that its gone, there's no more pacifier, its not good for you, its in the trash, the doctor said you can't have it anymore, you don't need it, etc. so far its been one night, but i am so proud of niko and i. pacifiers have been in our life since he was born but life needs to go on without them. have a great weekend my loves, xo. 

TRYING TO KEEP UP...

its been almost a week since i have been able to post anything and when i dont blog, i miss it. but life gets hectic when you have kiddos at home. this week we got rid of lunas crib and got her a toddler bed like niko. she is only eighteen months but she just wasn't digging her crib anymore and was furious every time we put her down in her crib. she liked nikos bed or mama and papa's bed so now she has her own. we also set up the book shelves and organized a lot more in the kiddo room. its been a work in progress for say, two years. yesterday i got a new camera and need to learn how to use that thing. maybe i should take a photography class? i ended up getting this one. another huge milestone next to luna's new bed... niko and i went to see a preschool for him and i think we found a good one! we'll see if they'll have availability in septermber. some scary stuff happening over here. also today is the last chance to enter the shutterfly giveaway. if you want to win a photo book of your own just comment here and let me know you want it! have a happy thursday! xo 

mommy and baby playground fun while niko's at his grandma's house. 

outside kmart where i bought my camera.

the kiddos at the swap meet. we didn't buy any of this. 

FLASHBACK FRIDAY!

we took niko to the hello kitty 35th anniversary exhibition in l.a. two years ago while i was pregnant and omg, it was cuteness galore. they had many artists paint their own versions of hello kitty and put them up for action and of course i wanted the bunny kitty one but there was rooms filled with cute hello kitty paintings, i was going nuts. our friend was dj-ing and they had hello kitty decorated food. i wish i could go back in time and actually buy a painting, luna is a huge hello kitty fan and she's only 18 months. luna watches the 1980's hello kitty cartoons and i don't even think she blinks. look at niko's little smile! he used to make the cutest faces for pictures and would even stay still and now he looks away or looks down. i have to beg or bribe niko for photos nowadays... and i had forgot that at one point he owned overalls. he's been asking for overalls lately and i just can't find them anywhere. why would a three year old want overalls anyways? super mario. some kids idolize super man, or spider man but little niko bee loves his mario more than any other character. niko also tells me he wants a mustache. he's such a funny kid. i can't wait to get him back today since he's been at his grandmas since wednesday. happy weekend guys! don't forget to enter the shutterfly giveaway, just click HERE. xo Liz