Happy First Birthday Baby Max!!!

The day we have been waiting for arrived today. Max turned ONE YEAR OLD! Happy birthday sweet baby boy!

It is a special day of reflection when thinking about the past year. It has been a year of love, growth, and patience. It has been Max's first year of life. We are celebrating his birthday on Sat. with some friends, so I'm sure he will have the best party. Hooray for him!!!

And also hooray for me! It has been my first year as his mommy. A friend of mine texted me congratulations for surviving the first year. She and I both agree that the sleep deprivation stage in the beginning is by far the hardest. Especially when your hormones are all wacko after giving birth. So she's right. Congratulations to me too!

Marc's parents took Max to the amusement park all day long today for his birthday. Ponies, carousels, and coasters filled their day with nonstop stimulation. Grandma Madeline said Max was the best baby and happy as a clam all day long. They made Max's birthday so special at Knotts Berry Farm!

Since Max was with the grandparents, I treated myself to 2 hours of FREE TIME today. "What's that?" you say. "It's a fragment of the past pommelled into present day. Those are things that you just forget about when you become a parent. It's similar to the friends you lose when you become a mom. Free time bites the dust along with your old friends sleep and selfish. Remember them?

Free time is described as time without obligation or responsibility. Or better yet, it is time that you can choose to spend however you want. Free time is typically defined as time available for hobbies and other activities that you enjoy. I never have free time so those types of thoughts barely even cross my mind.

Last night I painted a grafitti inspired canvas in my head instead of sleeping. The abstract compilation was some type of decoration for Max's upcoming birthday party this weekend, and I could not stop obsessing about what I wanted (or needed) to paint. More than anything I just wanted to throw paint on a canvas and spray paint MAX on it in such a way that you might visualize it in a tunnel beneath a freeway. Random, but I thought it would look cool. That's how I wanted to spend my free time today!

I've never painted a canvas in less than a few days and they usually take me closer to a week or three. But today I had a vision and knew that the only way to fulfill my abstract image was to complete it from beginning to end in less than two hours. Who knows when I will have free time again, and the last thing I wanted was the task of completing a canvas to be hanging over my head. So I was bound and determined to make this project happen!

And gosh darnit, I did it. Here's what I made for baby Max in my free time today. Happy first birthday my dear son. I hope we have many more happy and healthy birthdays together in the future. I love you!

Something Sparkly + Mexican Food + The Bachelor Happy Valentines Day to us baby!

Love is in the air. Romance took me by storm on Valentine's Day. No seriously, I shaved my legs and it was sultry. I even wore clean clothes. It was amazing. When you look up the word sexy in the dictionary, you see a picture of me and my almost brushed hair yesterday on valentines day.

First of all, Max slept 10 hours in a row and woke up at the perfect time for us to get ready for music class. We changed clothes, ate breakfast, and headed out the door and arrived at the jam session at 10:30am. Not only do I love singing "The Wheels On The Bus" with a captive audience of babies, but it is also magnificent to be in groups with such friendly, intelligent, supportive moms. The fact that we got home just in time for Max to nap in his crib was icing on the cake.

Gosh, I am really easy to please, huh! A good night's sleep, knocking out my to do list while my baby naps, and then Marc coming home in a great mood.... He completely caught me off guard by sending me off to the yoga studio with a very pretty, sparkly necklace that he picked out all by himself. The first thing that crossed my mind is uuuuuhhhhhhhhh......what did I get HIM? And then I remembered I had stuck sweet nothings in his car and briefcase the night before so that he would be sent off to work with a happy heart. Oh thank goodness I had planned ahead! Whew! I'm so excited about my new necklace!

On my way home from yoga we decided to pick up yummy mexican food from El Cholo and watch some trashy television with Max. Yup, that's right. We spent Valentine's Day with enchiladas, bachelor Brad, beautiful Emily, and psychotic Michelle. We can't help but devour that show....and guacamole. Ridiculous I say! What's even more ridiculous is that I took a minute out of my day to google their spread in Sports Illustrated after watching their photo shoot on their last date. That's when you know you're sucked in....except with a tummy full of salsa there is no sucking in at all.

And then the real magic happened... Max took four steps and I was simply relieved that the couch was the closest thing to him, so when he fell there would be a nice cushion and I didn't need to dive in for the catch. Except instead of crashing into a piece of furniture after those initial steps he casually stopped and looked around like a pedestrian waiting for the walk sign. Really? After a few seconds there, it was as if he saw the appropriate green sign, and he continued to meander in the direction he was going until he got to his destination between the cat and me. Just standing around like it was no big thing....

I've been wondering when I could say that Max is officially walking. He trips and tumbles to the ground simultaneously while taking three or four steps all the time, but I decided that since he increased that number without falling that it's official. This little boy is walking! It was a happy day for lots of reasons, but I think this one tops the charts! It is so exciting to see my boisterous bundle reach every single milestone.

I really couldn't have asked for a better monday. It truly was a happy valentines day with all my boys! Sleep, food, jewelry, yoga, and The Bachelor intertwined with love made for an incredible day. That's as fancy as we get around here lately! Happy Valentines Day!

Sleepy Time Sentiments

There are about eight (thousand) reasons why I will be awake at 4am tonight:

1. My baby. He might cry around that time for one of a thousand reasons. He might be a little too hot or cold and need a blanket placed on or removed from his body. He might be thirsty and need some milk. His pacifier may have fallen out of his mouth and need me to put it back in. He might simply want the comfort of knowing that I will be there for him and revel in a few pats on the back before he is sent back into his slumber.

2. My boobs. Actually the chances are highly likely because I am so used to getting up around that time that even if baby Max does not need me, my body is biologically programmed to wonder how the little rugrat is doing. Funny how mother nature takes over. Thursday night Max slept for 10 hours in a row and my boobs were so full of milk that morning that I was afraid to move. I even broke the number one cardinal rule of motherhood and woke my sleeping baby and latched him on for a drink.

3. My cat. Boogars likes to announce when he is going to use the potty and will howl at the top of his lungs before going out to his litter box. That's the best case scenario because at least he finds what he needs and I don't have to get out of bed to tend to him. Other reasons are because he ran out of food or water in the night or wants attention. He may also meow at 4am if I have not gotten up to assist Max in some way. He is so used to getting pets before and after my other baby gets his pets that if I skip that feeding he is all kinds of confused.

4. Marc. His phone. His alarm. His trips to the bathroom. Yada yada yada....

5. Me. God forbid I have to tend to myself. Sometimes I wake up about to chew my tongue off because I am so thirsty. Breast feeding does that. And then after pounding water in the middle of the night, sometimes I have to get up again to use the bathroom once or twice.

6. Earthquakes. Yeah, we live in southern California and earthquakes are a regular occurrence here. But wait. This is not true. I was already awake for every earthquake we've had since baby Max was born. So an earthquake never technically woke me up.

7. My To Do List. Yes, it is possible that a list could wake me up. Because I have a huge fear of being unprepared or neglectful and worry too much. Dammit, that reminds me I need to write a few thank you notes, submit some insurance claims online, and I can't remember what else I forgot.

8. My Dirty Hair. Last night I woke up because I remembered that I forgot to wash my hair this week. No kidding! I worked for eight hours on Wednesday and between that and yoga teacher training I only allotted four minutes time for a shower. Don't ask me how I remembered to use soap and shave my armpits because my day started at 5am and I didn't get home until 5:30pm. By the time I put Max to bed at 11pm I was delusional. Thank goodness I don't have to do that on a regular basis!

Can you believe someone actually gave us an alarm clock for a baby shower gift? And you wonder why the only present I ever ask for is sleep. Everyone thinks I am joking, but that is all I ever need. Well I could get greedy and think of some other things! Hmmmm.....Time to go to sleep!

Work it Baby!

Like any smart mom in Hollywood, I put my son in showbiz so he could start bringing home some bacon. I told him, "Son, LA is expensive and mama is hungry. Go to work already!" And so he did.

Max's first paying gig was shooting an infomercial for Baby Bullet. He did great at the testimonial when he was a mere six months old. The producers voted him the gerber baby of the group and raved about his happy demeanor.

It was a wonderful day of work for us. We hung out with some other new moms and I even got my hair and makeup done while Max played with one of his new baby friends. At six months postpartum that was a real treat....the hair guy even gave me a scalp massage. That was so special for me--Between that and the portobello mushroom sandwiches at lunch, I was stoked for the baby and me work experience!

The baby bullet infomercial has been airing and I've gotten tons of messages from friends across the country that they've seen Max in all his adorableness at strange hours of the night on their televisions. Since we never watch infomercials and are no longer up all night breast feeding, I will probably never see the show live, but I did go over to the baby bullet website to take a gander. Of course Max was all smiles and bouncing around while I spoke highly of the baby food making product.

A few weeks ago, one of the producers called me and said they would like to work with Max again. They wanted two shots for another baby bullet show, separate from the infomercial. All they needed was to film him eating carrots or sweet potatoes and a taking a pacifier. Easy enough, right?

We were getting the details and found out Max had an 8am call time and the producer said more than anything they just wanted Max to be happy. My response was to explain to him that if you want the baby to be happy, you probably want him to be awake....ahahaha!!!! I realize that we are anything but traditional with our 11pm bedtime.

So I suggested that we push the call time back to 10am since Max has been waking up at 9am. He didn't hesitate for a second and changed the entire shooting schedule just for us. Tom Cruise doesn't even get that kind of star treatment!

We arrived on set last Friday for Max's second debut and the wardrobe gal asked if we could've found a happier baby when Max squealed and waved to announce his presence. We got him dressed, introduced him to the crew, and showed him his mark where he would be sitting in a high chair.

Everything went perfect up until that point when it was time to eat his carrots. His face puckered up in disgust after the first bite and it looked like he needed to vomit. We gave him another bite and it sounded like he was gagging on a fur ball.

So we went to plan B and offered him sweet potatoes and he wanted nothing to do with them either. He ended up blowing spit bubbles of orange goo all over his bib and the high chair. He made it very clear that there was no way he would slightly entertain the idea of ingesting food at that time. Nope, no chance at all!

Maybe he wasn't hungry or the puree was boring because it wasn't flavored with onions, garlic, and other vegetables like the soups we make for him at home. We'll never really know, but they didn't seem surprised at all. The director even mentioned that when you work with babies and pets you never really know what is going to happen.

Fortunately Max was happy to take his pacifier and they were able to at least get that one shot. He was more than happy to suck on the NUK pacifier every time we offered it so I didn't feel too bad that they didn't get any of the shots they needed. And lucky for me because Max was elated to grab the pacifier and put it in his mouth by himself with confidence 5 times in a row.

We ended up working a whopping 45 minutes from the time we arrived to the time we departed. They sent Max away with $300 cash and off we went. Not bad for a day's work. Not bad at all.

Now I know that my baby does not eat on command. Let's hope the news doesn't buzz around town too fast and ruin his chances of working again. This baby books job purely off his positive reputation....He doesn't even have an agent for goodness' sake!

He's his own person and that's the way to work it baby!

Toothbrushes are Toys and Dirt is a Food Group

The rambunctiousness is not limited to the playground, and one can find so much to finagle in a single cabinet with a turntable. Or not. After assessing the situation, I decided that we don't have to go to the park to go exploring. So the remainder of the cleaning supplies got moved under the sink where there is a childproof lock on those cabinets. So the fun never has to end, and I get a kick out of seeing baby Max standing upright inside his cavern.

Yogi mommy plus happy baby equals full time fun. As if it wasn't already official, I'm fully immersed in my teaching training program at Earth's Power Yoga. My energies are scattered and I'm spread too thin, but it's still awesome. I'm taking four yoga classes a week as part of my preparations to teach and that is my favorite part. Mama's lookin' good and getting strong! Woohoo!!!

It has probably been harder on Marc than anyone because he has Max for six hours in a row on Sundays, but he's made it through two weeks so far. He always looks so exhausted when I get home and asks me how I do it all day every single day. That is slightly gratifying, because being a parent is such an important job. But regardless of how tired Marc is, he is always happy to cook dinner. That cracks me up that no matter how chaotic his day was, he enjoys a retreat into the kitchen where he effortlessly whips up bok choy, quinoa, chard, snapper, and anything else in season that sounds tasty. Pretty fantastic if you ask most mommies! So when I feel annoyed that he is up all night playing video games on his phone or computer, I think about how good dinner was....hahaha!!!

Getting to my classes seems to be the easy part now that we have that figured out. Finding time to read the eight assigned books and summarizing them in four page long essays....Now that's a different story. It is so ridiculously difficult to read a single article with a baby in the house, and I have absolutely no idea how I am going read eight books. I might have to pull a casper and disappear into the abyss of a couch at the library without a baby's cry within earshot. Distractions are unavoidable with all the responsibilities I have at home!

We always make time for the fun stuff. And our Thursdays at the park are no exception. Max trampled his girlfriend, Everly a few times this week, but fortunately she is resilient. And in case you haven't heard, it is true. Toothbrushes are toys and dirt is a food group!