Favorite moments...

At 3 in the morning when I'm rocking Brandon to sleep and he's laying his head on my shoulder. I press my cheek against his and smell his sweet baby smell... I close my eyes and remind myself to never forget this moment.

I've been pinterest!

I've heard about pinterest for the longest time! I never knew what the whole fuss was about and every time I would ask someone (usually a girl) about it they would describe it as "you just pin pictures that you like to your board..." um, what? How is that cool? I even had a few of my friends offer to invite me, because I guess you need someone to invite you in order join? Sorrry "Members only club!"

As a new mom I've realized that the way I did things when I was a non-parent was not working... For example running errands. Before I was a Mom I was able to spend hours or even all day getting everything on my list crossed off, but now I would be lucky to maybe get 3 of those things done Another big thing was making dinner. Now that I work 3 nights a week it is very hard to make a nice meal when I get off work. By the time I get off, it's usually way after dinner hour or I'm just beat!

I've realized that becoming a mommy you definitely have to sacrifice a lot of things in your life and it's not that I'm complaining or regretting my decision of becoming a mom, I just wish that sometimes there were just enough hours in the day to do all the things that I want to do!

Enter Pinterest! So I finally decided to give in and sign up and I'm so glad I did. From the few short weeks that I have been a "member" I've realized that maybe I could be just a bit more self-sufficient! Looking at all of the amazing DIY it makes me believe that they're easy enough for me to not only do, but will also make my life more simple and organized! Even though I have lost precious sleep because of my late night "pinning" addiction, I can't wait to show you guys my very first DIY project!

So to all my Pinterest friends... Happy pinning :)

Our little Picasso

We got our 1st Citrus lane package last week just in time for Brandon's 6 month birthday.  I heard about it through my friends blog and I thought it was the cutest thing!  How it works is you get a box every month, and the box usually has some kind of theme to it.  This month was "The little artist" all of the items had some type of relation to encouraging your children to bring out the little artist in them!  The items in the box isn't the same for everyone, they put items in there based on your child's age and gender.

Our favorite was the rattle and an art kit from www.wecantooart.com.  All of the items from the art kit were not only cute, but they were allergen free and edible!  I went to Micheals the next day and bought a little 8x10 canvas and let B go to town!  I think I enjoyed it more than he did...anyway his finished art is now displayed on our fireplace mantle.

Our 1st...

Today marked a few 1st for our little family.  We went to our 1st Mariners game as a family, Brandon experienced his 1st baseball game (and we even won!), we took our very 1st professional family portrait, and it was Josh's 1st fathers day!

Brandon's Godmother, Nikki was kind enough to give us great tickets for todays game and we decided to invite Debbie and Marcus as well.  We got to the ball park around noon because they were doing a giveaway for dads.  It was a bucket hat that Josh's big dome could barely fit into, but he still wore it because Brandon had a matching one.  My husband would seriously go through great lengths to match even if it means losing circulation to his head!

Anyway, we had a great time eating ballpark food here are some pictures.  Not pictured was the sushi (we ate them before realizing we needed to take a photo!)

This was probably the best brat I have ever had!

funnel cake and deep fried twinkie

Torta De Salchicha

Everything was so yummy and I can honestly say that I don't ever remember ballpark food being so delicious!  

This was taken by yours truly! I had my camera propped up on a chair and angled by a rock!

Ninang Debbie and Brandon

Go Mariners!

Brandon and Daddy enjoying the game

Our tired little slugger

Ninong Marcus and Ninang Debbie!

Our view from our seats

Pass the peas please!

Well, I had Brandon try peas for the first time this morning and I am sad to say that he was not a big fan. I'm guessing that it's the fibrous texture that he didn't like. I know he didn't mind the taste because he would still want more, but when he would begin to move it around his mouth he started gag! I tried it a few more times to see if maybe it was just that one time, but he would gag himself so much that he'd spit up!! Ok, ok, I get it, Brandon, you're not a fan... But let's give it another try tomorrow ok?

I told Josh that Brandon wasn't a big fan of the peas and his response was "it's ok Brandon, daddy doesn't like peas either." -____-

Locked and loaded!

Brandon definitely inherited Josh's and I's love for food!! We started giving him rice cereal when he was just about 5 months old. We wanted to start giving him a little practice on using his tongue, so by the time we moved into the real solids he wouldn't be so clueless. Eating solids is a lot to swallow (no pun intended) for the first time. The texture and taste can be very strange for a baby, so choosing his 1st solid food was a bit intimidating. I wanted to make sure that Brandon's 1st experience with solid food was a not only good but nutritious! we bought a baby bullet a few days before and luckily it came with a little recipe booklet and it even recommended introduction foods. One of them was avocados and I've read a few books and websites that recommended it also! So it was kind of a no brainier that avocados was the best bet! I bought 1 at whole foods and it only cost me a little over a dollar and it made a 9 days worth of food for him! Crazy right?!? Now that I known how fun and easy it is to make your own baby food I will NEVER buy store baby food ever! So here are a few pics of what I've made Brandon so far!

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Keeping this in the memory bank!

Brandon just started to sit up on his own today... Even if it was only for a few seconds it was such a great thing to experience! Im not sure why the sitting up stage is huge to me, but it just is! Sitting on his own feels like such a big leap into becoming independent! I always thought that it was kinda silly when parents would say they feel like they could just start crying because their child is growing so fast, but after today I definitely understand where they're coming from!

5 months and loving it!

Brandon has been such a character the past few weeks! I think that his true personality is definitely beginning to show this time around!

I was talking to my boss the other day and don't remember how we got to the subject of horoscopes, but it reminded me about this book of horoscopes that I had at home. It described your personality, love, friendship, and job based on the day you were born... Typical horoscope stuff. Anyway, when I got home that day I decided to read up on Brandon's sign and it was very interesting. It seemed like some descriptions was very spot on and there were some that made me a little worried. In a nutshell it described a children born on his birthday to be very sensitive. They hold their relationships with others very close to their hearts. It also mentioned that they tend to have very sharp senses of humor (oh, great!), and last of all children of this birthdate are known to be very emotional and sensitive. This last part I feel fits him to the T! When things don't feel right to him, he is not afraid to let you know it! His temper can be very short at times, but when he's happy you can't help but be giddy! His Lolo always says "ang sarap mo naman tumawa!" In English it LITERALLY means "your laugh is delicious." but in translation he means that brandon laughs whole heartedly! I love seeing Josh's parents (and Tita Cynne) play with Brandon... Seeing them be so enamored by this tiny person makes me so happy! Brandon is one lucky guy to have such amazing grandparents who love him so much!!

He is such a giggle monster now! Yesterday while I was at work i missed 2 calls from my mom (who was watching him at the time). The very first thing that I could think of was " oh crap, something is wrong!" She never calls me, so I immediately called her back... No answer!! So then I listened to the voicemail she left and it was of Brandon laughing and giggling! I probably listened to it 3 times in a row. She told me later that he was laughing at her crumbling up a piece of paper? What a strange little child I have!

He has discovered his tongue and does these super drooly raspberries! He is constantly running his chubby knuckles against his gums. Josh says it looks like he's eating a piece of corn. We think that he's probably gonna start teething soon. He hasn't been super cranky or anything, so I think we may still be in the very beginning stages.

He also has this new thing where when he's sleepy he does this funny soothing thing kinda like he's humming himself to sleep... It's usually a long "aaaahhhh" or "MMmmmm"... It's pretty funny!

He's finally beginning to take interest in our dog Russy. It was pretty random... one day while he was sitting on my lap Russy jumped up on the couch and sat next to him and out of nowhere he just reached for him! He ran his little fingers across Russy furry back. I kept a close watch cause I didn't want Brandon to pull a chunk of Russy's fur. I'm sure Russy's fur must've felt so neat to him. Brandon was very gentle and Russy didn't seem to mind.

He's growing so quickly and it's still crazy to me that come Monday he will be 1/2 a year old already. BANANAS!!

Smooches for days