Crystal's bucket list

  Everyone has a bucket list of things they want to do in life. I have some of my own. The last few years Crystal has been talking about going to SeaWorld for her birthday to swim with the Beluga Whales. That was high on her bucket list! The last couple of years, Glen Ivy has had an offer where you get in free for your birthday so we have gone there. This year they didn't offer that, and Crystal wanted to finally get to SeaWorld. So, being the awesome best friend I am I agreed to go. I LOVE SeaWorld so it's not like she had to twist my arm! I debated on doing the interaction with Crystal, one because it's expensive and two, because I wanted to take pictures of her doing it. But when it was time to book it I made the decision to just do it! And I am so glad I did. We arrived at SeaWorld with about an hour to spare before our "interaction". We spent some time down watching the Beluga whales swim around under water in their tank. I can't even tell you the feeling that came over me when we were standing at the glass. The Beluga Whale seemed so BIG behind the glass. All I could picture was it taking me deep down into that deep tank and drowning me. haha. I don't even know why I got freaked out but they looked really big and it scared me! BUT, I was not going to let that stop me. (Plus, I already paid for it)

 

We got to the check point of where we needed to meet like 30 minutes before we had to be there. We were excited! And by We, I mean Crystal was. I was still kinda freaking out inside.

We got to go behind the scenes and see this lady. She was pretty big. We got to feed her a fish and then she kissed our hand. That was pretty cool! 

 

Behind some glass and lots of gates, we did get to watch this Polar bear for a bit. He was a big guy. It was crazy to hear the trainers tell us how they are not allowed to interact with the Polar Bear. I just assumed they did. But they also have to be behind gates to interact with them. Apparently Polar Bears are really smart. The trainers are always trying to come up with new ways of keeping them entertained. They are always finding new "toy's" for them to play with and the second they put them in there with the bears, they tear them apart. It was interesting to hear more about Polar Bears. They are beautiful animals!  

 

 Then it came time to get down to business! There were 5 people in our group. They had our own little locker rooms for us to get ready in. Labeled with our names and all. I was excited to see that Crystal's was on a Beluga Whale!

 

We each had our own wetsuit and boots to put on. FYI - wearing a wetsuit is NOT all that fun or comfortable by any means! Warm, yes.

We were suited up and ready to go! 

 

We got to the tank and in we went! Crystal and I followed our trainer into the cold FREEZING water. We stood and listened to directions as about 50 onlookers watched our every move. The tank was open to anyone who wanted to stop and watch. Crystal was so excited to get her hands on one. I was not.  They did tell us that the whales are way more scared of us and if we moved to fast they would be scared and swim away. That made me feel better. As soon as the whale swam up to us I forgot about how cold the water was or that I felt like a fish in a fish bowl being watched and video taped by tons of park guests. They didn't have their camera people there for about the first ten minutes of our interaction with the male. He is the BIG all white one in the pictures below. First the male (Nanuck) came over and let us touch him and get used to him. They felt amazing! I have touched dolphins before and they felt completely different! These guys felt like a memory foam pillow. They felt amazing! 

 

This is Ruby 

 

This is the moment Crystal had been waiting for! A kiss from Nanuck, a Beluga Whale! Check! 

 

She was so comfortable just hanging out with them.

 

I, on the other hand... not so much, but it was fun and they are such cool animals who are always smiling! Really, look how cute they are. 

 We got to do some tricks with them.

Overall, they were beautiful animals and the interaction was pretty amazing! I was so glad to be in the water with Crystal and be part of something she's always wanted to do! That's what best friends are for! We were in the water for about 25 minutes or so. We got to visit with both of the whales. I like the male better, I just felt more comfortable around him. Although he was a LOT bigger than the female. The trainers were awesome and taught us so much about them. I felt like I worked at SeaWorld for a minute there. (That has always been my dream as a child)

After our interaction was over we walked through the pools in the back where they kept the baby, Pearl, and the other two Beluga Whales they had there. (Didn't have my camera). Pearl is 3 years old and is gray! They don't turn white until they are about 7 years old. They look a lot like dolphins that small and gray at that age. We did get to see her swim around with her parents in the big tank before we went in. She was very cute!

 

We spent the rest of the day walking around SeaWorld doing all of the things Crystal wanted to do. Neither of us had ever been on the sky buckets so we figured we would give it a try. It was a little scary when you first go up and fly through the sky, but it was a great place to see the bay and was a beautiful ride. I don't think either of us let go of the bar the entire time.

 

Beautiful view!

 

Last but not least Crystal had to feed and pet the bat rays! They were slimy and felt like boogers!

I am so happy that Crystal let me spend the day with her and I got a chance to interact with the Beluga's. It certainly made her day! She will be back to do it again I'm sure. I will video tape next time and let Alana get in with them!

Yay for me

Down 8.3 pounds in one month! I'd like it to be more, but I am happy with 8 to start! This stuff is NOT easy! I am tracking my food and trying to eat better. I did have In N Out there other day, but it didn't break me! AND IT WAS YUMMY! I am trying to get out and run more but my motivation for getting up so early in the morning goes right out the window when Jack is up once or twice a night. Poor little guy is cutting two teeth and is in pain. I need to stay focused and determined! I know the more I can get out and run the better I will do! Yesterday at work one of my Co-workers asked if I had lost weight. That is a really good motivator to me, because once people start to notice, you know it's working! I can't really feel it in my clothes right now, but hopefully it's coming soon! Keep on keepin on and I'll get there! No falling off the bandwagon Jamie!

Happy Birthday Bestest!

Happy Birthday to this girl!!

I may have only known this girl for about 8 years but it really does feel like I've known her my whole life! Since the day I held her hair back, it's been best friends at first site! She is always there for me when I need her. She is the first one I call to cry to, or to scream at, or to tell my good news too! Believe it or not, Crystal has kept most of you reading this alive! If it wasn't for her, listening to me and calming me down, letting me vent, some of you may not be alive. Ha! Since my mom left this planet Crystal has filled such a big void in my life. She is the one I email and text a billion times a day, then talk to every day on the way home. Then even on those same days when you think there is nothing for us to talk about, she comes over with a bottle of wine and we sat and talk for hours. We never have a dull moment. She is the best Mother's helper, the best vodka drinker, the best listener and has such a kind heart! Happy Birthday to my best bud Crystal! I love you so much and want to thank you for being such a great friend to me! I don't deserve you and I appreciate that you stay around even when it seems like I have lost it sometimes! Happy Birthday dork!

Summer time!

Happy July! My babes Lovin on each other.

 

 Alana started her Summer school fun days! They are located on her new Elementary school campus which is going to be great for her to get used to so her first day in Kinder won't be so weird! They go on a field trip every Wednesday! This was her first week picture, they went to Knott's Berry Farm, with her sack lunch on a yellow bus! She loved it!

 

 The Association we live in has a really big 4th of July party! Full of bounce houses, games prizes, food and music! It was so much fun! Alana got her face painted.

 

 And played every single game they had!

 

 I was really surprised when she wanted to jump in the sack race! She did great, didn't fall down and was about 10th place out of 20 or so kids!

Mr. Jack slept through the whole thing like a champ!

 

 They even had a dunk tank which was pretty cool! Alana almost hit the mark twice, but then the lady who was running it let her jump up there and hit it with her hand to dunk them anyway. She loved it.

 

 After a few hours of swimming, we headed over to Grandma's house to set off some firecrackers.

 

Miss funny face 

Sassy girl ready for the pool!

1/2 Birthday

My little buddy is 1/2 year old today! Happy half birthday! We celebrated by taking him in for his 6 month shots! Poor guy. He had his check up today and he weighed in at 19 pounds! My chunky boy! I love it! Besides getting shots, the last 4 days Jack has had some wheezing in his chest and has been coughing so when the Dr. listened today he ended up giving him a breathing treatment for his of albuterol. He took it really well and didn't cry at all! He is a tough little man! While I laid him down on the office table today I noticed that he had a tooth breaking through! And you can see the one right beside it about to come through as well. Exciting stuff! He has been really good considering he has been teething and we didn't even know it!

Jack is a little eating guy! He started baby food a few weeks ago. He didn't really like the rice cereal by itself so Victor bought some apples and bananas and he was hooked! He has had all stage one foods now and loves them all! The doc told us this morning to give him another month on stage one and then move him up to stage 2. Can't wait for this guy to be sitting up in a high chair eating spaghetti!

Living in Irvine has been awesome! We live RIGHT next to the pool and have used it at least 3 times a week since we moved in! Jack hangs out in his little recliner, he just needs a cold beer and he would be set! haha. Jack man loves the water and kicks his little heart out every time he is in it!

Big Ol' tummy after eating!

 

 He is almost sitting up, but not without a little help!

Happy 1/2 birthday big guy!

Hard to believe in just 6 more months he will be one year old!

Monday Monday

So It’s been a fun week! I’ve been logging everything I eat, I’ve been drinking more water, and trying to get out and exercise! I ran twice last week, swam one morning and at work in the afternoons have been trying to get out and just walk a little bit! Seems to be working! My first weigh in on Friday, I lost my first 6 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so very excited that on the first week I lost something, because there is no better motivator then seeing the numbers on the scale go down! WOOOO HOOO!!! Can’t wait until I can feel it in my clothes!

I laid in bed this morning and my alarm went off and I debated in my head for at least 20 minutes… get up and run… sleep, skip running today… get up, sleep… Goodness, it’s so much harder this week to get up then it was last week. That might have to do with it being Monday and all. The little Angel on my shoulder won this morning. I got my butt up and ran! YAY for me! I will leave out the story where I got lost when I was out this morning, thank God I have my phone on me! But I do have to say that I continue to be proud of myself for getting my butt up out of bed and going out onto the streets and running! I know it will pay off so I gotta do it!

I will weigh in again every Friday. Hopefully I can continue to lose just a little bit each week. Nine months is coming up very soon!

Goal #1 – To fit back into my pre-prego jeans.

Goal #2 – Weigh less than 200 pounds.

Both of these goals seem reachable but not easy! I will say that even my pre-prego jeans are not a great goal, they are pretty big, BUT it’s a start! I do have a specific pair of jeans that are waiting for me to wear again… they are in the bottom of my closet… When I fit into my Apple Bottom jeans again I will be pretty happy! That’s still a long ways away, but I WILL get there!

FAT

You know how you see yourself in a picture and you think, dang, is that how I really look!?!?!? I see myself so much thiner than I really am. Last week, we took a family trip to the Safari Park in San Diego. It was really hot out and I was in shorts and a tank top. Victor took this picture of me sitting while having a cocktail and this cute little place we found. I almost had a heart attack when I saw this picture and others from the day. HOLY. Is that what I really look like!?!? Apparently it is.

I have been meaning to start running again, because honestly, that's when I've felt my best! I need to feel my best! Lately I have been so down about being fat, not feeling comfortable in my own body. That's not where I like to be. And I know, some of you (or maybe not) are thinking, you JUST had a baby. Give it some time. Dude, that baby I JUST had is going to be 6 months soon! That was an excuse I could tell myself for a little while but not anymore! I did tell myself that it took 9 months to put on that weight, I at least have to give myself 9 months to take it off right? That's only fair! Well it's about 6 months now and if I don't start, I won't make it to my goal of 9 months. It's not only for my health but for my piece of mind, sanity and overall confidence! My confidence has always been pretty low but it feels like it's at an all time low these days.

I woke up this week and decided I was going to do something about it... AGAIN. I have done this before and kicked some butt when I put my mind towards it. So here I am blogging about it to hold myself accountable! We moved to Irvine a few weeks ago and there are a ton of trails to run! I am in a great place right now because I don't have to take the kids in the morning which means I can get up early and go run, be back, shower and off to work by my normal time. Done! I ran on Tuesday and then again today! I always say this, but I forget how awesome it feels to run. To get out of my head. To feel my feet hitting the pavement, pushing my body forward! Time to myself with my music blazing in my ears. The songs I love, the songs that push me to go faster. The mornings are amazing to watch just in itself, but knowing that I am out running and feeling great, it's something I can't describe!

Not only am I running but I started to keep track of everything I put in my mouth, EVERYTHING! I started to use this really cool app called My Fitness Pal. It allows me to log everything and even has all the calories and everything already programed into it so it's super easy to use! It even has a portion that you can keep track of your exercise and drinking water! It tells you how many calories you should have and subtracts every time you log in something. It's seriously great!

Another thing that motivates me is seeing everyone in my family, super large and over weight. Not just a little overweight and not just a few people. We are talking almost every single person that I am related to. With the exception of a few cousins... everyone in my family is very FAT! I can count 6 people in my family who has had a surgery to help them lose weight. It really hasn't helped any of them! I don't want to be that 400 pound family member that has to have surgery because I can't do it myself. That is a really lame excuse if you ask me and from the looks of it, it really doesn't work well.

So here I am, 4 days into eating healthy and running... I am feeling really good about it. I am keeping track of my weight and weighing in once a week. Tomorrow is my first weigh in and I know I had to have lost something! Here's to a healthier life style for me! This will be the LAST picture I am ever that heavy in!

Father's Day

Father's Day this year Victor had to work in the evening so we took him and his dad out to breakfast! I got Jack dressed up in his cute hat and "Daddy's Allstar" shirt for Victor.

 

 

Now the proud daddy of these two adorable children!

 

 Oscar has been Victor's dad and mentor since he was about 5 years old. This man has treated Victor like his son since that day. I am forever grateful for him. He has really helped mold Victor into the dad he is today. I am thankful to him. He is a wonderful Grandpa to my babes and is always there to support us. He is quite but mighty!

 

Later in the day I went out to Corona and brought my daddy some dinner and hung out there with him for awhile. He played and sang to Jack! The one thing he LOVES to do is to sing his crazy songs to our babies! Love my daddy, I am a lucky girl!

Celebrate Good times

Alana has been going to preschool for 2 years at Love 2 Learn. We found it online a few years ago and I really liked the people who we meet with. Victor and I meet with a few different preschools, but when we came to this one, we really liked it. The location was perfect, it was a good price and it felt right! Before Alana went into Preschool I really wasn't a big believer in them. I never went to Preschool, from what I can remember, neither of my sisters did. It just wasn't something I thought Alana even needed. She is such a smart child and was learning so much from me and Victor. Putting her into Preschool excelled her more than I would have ever thought. Being an only child for almost 5 years, she learned about Teamwork and sharing! I watched her learn her letters and how to write and read. It's been an amazing 2 years for her in Preschool. I feel like she's grown up so much. The first year she went through a few teachers, but as soon as she got Mrs. Michelle as her teacher last year she really started to do so much better. She tells me that she loves Mrs. Michelle and it's a really cute relationship. They give each other a hug goodbye in the afternoon and she loves to help Mrs. Michelle. Her teacher tells me every week what a great helper she is! She learned how to cut with scissors really well and she would always help the other kids. Mrs. Michelle would go on and on about what a good helper she is and how she is really great at teaching the other kids! This totally explains why she sits in her room and plays "school" with her animals and teaches them everything! We will miss Mrs. Michelle, she was a great influence on Alana and such a happy teacher!                 I mean, you would have to be kinda crazy to teach a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds all day and still be happy right?

 

Love 2 Learn had a cute little ceremony for the kids last week. I couldn't get enough of her in her "cap and gown"... kinda ridiculous right? But I soaked up every moment!

 

Alana and Mrs. Michelle

Mommy and her Preschool grad!

 

 Since Victor couldn't make it, I got her flowers from him, she loved the fact that she got flowers. Not many of the parents brought their kids flowers. I thought it was cute!

 

 Grandma and Grandpa there to support her! I can't wait to get this same picture of the three of them at her College Graduation! *tear* 

 

This was her official picture at school. Kinda Cheesy, but you know I had to buy one!

 

Here is a little video of her and her class signing "Celebrate Good times". It was cute.

Now and then...

 

 

Reasons I am so happy I have kept a blog since Alana was born!

Alana's first time on a swing at about 5 months and Jack's first time on a swing at the same age! It's amazing to see the pictures of them at the same age! Everyone thinks Jack is so big, but Alana was just as big and chunky. You would never be able to tell that now at 5 years old, tiny, petite Alana. Poor Jack man doesn't have half of the hair Alana had. Hopefully he grows into that!

Love my babies!

Flashback Friday

At this end of this month it will be 6 years since this awesome day! I will say it was by far one of the best days of my life. I swear in 4 more years when we hit our 10 year, I want another wedding! I would do our wedding day over again in a heart beat! This year Victor and I will be together for 10 years. That's sooooo long! So much longer than I ever thought possible to be honest. But I love this guy and the family we have made together so much!