Fond Memories & Father's Day 2011

It's August! Know what that means?! It means summer is half over! Well technically more then half over since fall starts on September 23, but it'll still be hot here then so I just go by the actual weather. I can't WAIT for this heat to be over. Although this year it'll be bitter sweet because in November, my mom is moving to Hawaii. That's gonna SUCK. I've dealt with it before though so I think I can handle it. I'm gonna miss her like crazy though. :/ She's going to come visit a lot though. Like every 2-3 months. So it will be bearable.

I'm excited for football to start & in the spirit of repping my Steelers I bought a Steelers shirt online, and it looks pretty badass on me. =) This Christmas will be our first Christmas as a family together...alone. The last few years we've always just gone over to my mom's. This year, I made it clear to Dave that we have to get a regular sized Christmas tree, (not our 4 foot midget tree. lol.) have ornaments on it, put lights on outside the house (which he's not thrilled about) have stockings up, have Christmas dinner ourselves, all that crap. I remember growing up, around the beginning of December my mom did all that stuff. Switched the hand towels & door mats to Christmas themed ones, put out nic-nacks & Christmas decorations, and I just remember as a kid how happy that made me. I got into the season. I want the same for Bella. Nothing less. And I won't let Dave being a grinch stop us. lol. At my dad's house, Dawn would put on a CD of Christmas music & we'd bake all sorts of crap. Fudge, peanut brittle, & she'd make different shaped sugar cookies & then we'd sit at the table & decorate them with different colored icing, red hots, chocolate chips, etc. Haha. I would be excited at first and all into it....but by the fifth or sixth one I was kind of over it so I'd just get them done as fast as I could. You could tell where I gave up. Some would be very detailed, then you'd see some that just had globs of icing & sprinkles on them. Haha!

It makes me so happy to think of these memories. It makes me think of my dad. Of the good times. I miss him so much sometimes. I bought him a Father's Day card & a birthday card this year. I was at Wal-Mart, & I bought my usual Father's Day cards: One for Russ (rolling my eyes) one for Dave, one for Dave's dad & his brother, & I started to walk on down to the next section of the store I needed to go to. But I had something bugging me. It was a hair. You know when you get a strand of hair on your back, down your shirt or on your arm, & you can't find it, but it keeps bugging you so you stand there like an idiot grabbing your arm searching for the little bastard?? Well yeah, that was me. lol. I finally got it, but took it as a sign from my dad. Haha! He bugged me a lot like those stupid hairs so I took it as him saying in his incredulous voice when he just COULDN'T BELIEVE I had done something, or didn't do something to his liking, "You mean to tell me.....that you got Father's Day cards for all those other people, & you didn't get one for your own FATHER?!" Haha. So I turned around & found one for him.

I felt good after I had done it too. When I was looking for cards for everyone BUT him, I felt....empty. Like I didn't care. Like I never wanted to buy another Father's Day card again. What difference does it make if I get these people cards if I can't get my own dad one? But after I bought it, I felt better, it was Father's Day after all, a day to honor your dad after all he did for you. And even though he isn't with me anymore, I can still honor him, in fact just buying him a card & filling it out even though I know I can't send it, I know he can't read it, is a wonderful way to honor him. It's me saying, "Hey, I know you're gone, but I'm still thinking of you. Today & every day, and I still appreciate everything you did for me. Happy Father's Day, Dad." And that's exactly what I did. I bought my dad a Father's Day card, filled it out, sealed it, & saved it. I did the same thing for his birthday. Bought him a card, filled it out, wrote a little letter to him updating him on how everything's been going, made fun of him a little, sealed it up, and saved it. It was very... therapeutic.

I'm not sure HOW I got on that topic but I must have had a burning desire to share it. So if you're still reading....thanks for listening. =)

Yepp, that's my Dad. Charming, wasn't he?  (And people wonder where I get it from.)

I.LOVE.MY.LIFE!

I am truly blessed to have such an amazing man standing beside me, a warm & supportive family, & the most wonderful, beautiful daughter in the whole world!!!!

Getting flowers from my amazing boyfriend for no reason. High light of my week. =)

Baby Girl loves music.

He is so good to me. Love my baby. <3

My mini me.

Just.Beautiful

Happy Birthday to my Dad, I miss you & love you so very much. Xoxo

Here Comes Summer

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been pretty busy with work & taking care of Bella. I'm L O V I N G having a job again. I need to have something to do that makes me feel busy so this has been great, & the fact that I get to work around MY schedule & still be with Isabella is a blessing. Memorial day weekend was this last weekend & it was a great one. On Saturday we dropped Bella off with my mom & had dinner at Maggiano's & saw The Hangover 2. Hilarious movie. And Maggiano's is my favorite Italian place. They have REAL Italian food there, not that disgusting crud they serve at The Olive Garden. On Sunday I had a manicure & got my first Brazilian wax. Wahoo! Lol. It was pretty awesome. I think that's definitely the way to go & for $65 a month, it's worth it in my book. Dave was off on Monday & he played golf & I went shopping at Babies R Us & Borders. Got a couple outfits & a pair of shoes for Bella & got Dave & I some books. Then we went over to my mom's for a BBQ. Had a lot of fun. :)

Isabella is doing good. She's eating a little better & she's been saying some words! Her two favorites are "mommy" & "daddy". She says "daddy" all day when we're together & when she's with Dave she always says "mommy". Lol. It's too cute. And when I say "Where is Daddy?" She puts her hands out & opens them as if to say "I don't know."

She's also saying "Cat" & "Hi cat" or "hi kitty". She's so adorable. Just when I think she couldn't be any cuter she'll do something new & surprise me. She loves going shopping, also. (But then again she would, she's my daughter. lol) Anytime I say "Let's go bye-byes" she gets all excited & runs to the garage door to go out. Her sleeping pattern has changed for the last week or so, also. She used to go to bed no later then 9 & wake up around 7. Now she goes to bed about 10 & she wakes up at 9 or 10. It's awesome. Today she actually slept in until 10:30 but I won't let her do that again. Lol. So it gives me time in the morning to clean or just relax & have coffee & read the paper.

Dave has been good. He's been working hard & loves to come home to us. We have dinner every night at the kitchen table & just relax together. Our relationship is still doing really well. We're both making a conscious effort to be more perceptive & sensitive to the other person's feelings.

Hmm....what else? OH!! I hate this weather. Lol. I can feel the angry heat of summer on the horizon & I am NOT looking forward to it. Although that does men Bella's birthday is fast approaching so I'm excited for that. I can't believe that in 4 1/2 months my baby is going to be 2! A toddler! She won't be a baby anymore. :( When people say kids grow up quick, they mean it.

Anyway that's all I've got for now. Enjoy some pictures & have a blessed day!

Isabella Louise on memorial Day!

Bella Rouge getting some grub from Grandma

I asked her to smile, this is what I got. lol.

Me & my baby girl. My arm muscles are getting pretty big.

My B E A U T I F U L family <3

I can't think of a title...

She loves wearing momma's heels. I have to hide them from her!

My little Daisy <3

Chillin' with Daddy in the car.

Daddy's girl, for sure.

In Costa Mesa

In her new cute bathing suit in the hotel!

My little redhead.

Bella with Uncle Jerry on Easter Sunday. Love that face!

We had SO much fun in California. We had a wonderful Easter dinner with Dave's brother & his dad, Dave got to golf with his friend, & Bella & Dave & I went swimming! It's good to be home though. Although I'm dreading summer, I'm excited that Bella's birthday is getting closer & closer! I can't believe she's already 18 months. She's getting so big. She's still in the 90th percentile for her height, so that makes me happy that she's probably gonna be tall like me. :)

We went to church this morning. First time I had ever been to a weekend service. It was fun, I liked it. I hated leaving Bella in their little daycare but when we went to pick her up they said she hadn't cried at all. I'm excited to go back next weekend. If it keeps going this well, I think I'm going to get baptized. We'll see how it goes.

Mine & Dave's relationship has just been going so well. I don't think we've ever gotten along this well. He's being more receptive & sensitive to my feelings, & I've been more patient. It's nice to know that we're actually excited to see each other at the end of the day. He told me that he'll be driving home from work & he'll get excited to see me & Bella. It's so fun to watch him with her. He just loves her so much. When he walks in from work, he hurry's to the kitchen counter to drop his keys there & he almost runs to go pick her up & give her a kiss. It makes me very happy to see that. I'm contemplating taking his last name. He doesn't ever want to get married, & as far as I'm concerned, even though I'd like to get married, I'd be okay without it. It's not the legal aspect of it that I want. I could give a shit if society or the government recognize us as man & wife or not. It's just that he & I had a baby, therefore I think we should commit to each other in front of family & friends & God for the rest of our lives. I'm kind of old fashioned in that way. Just like I think when a baby is born, it should have the fathers last name. It's just right. Whether you are married or not. It's a slap in the face to the father & to God, I think, if you give the child your last name. Dave really loves that I gave Bella his last name. He told me it really means a lot to him. I was shocked. I said, "What other option is there? Of course I gave her your name. It's the right thing to do." I'm sure a lot of people (Ridiculous pin headed feminists) would argue with me on it, but I don't care.

So ANYWAY....I don't care if LEGALLY, we aren't married. But I told Dave I would like to have a commitment ceremony & change my last name. He is the father of my child & the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, therefore, I should have his last name. It's a pretty good compromise. Haha. I mean, I would love to be married, but to not be isn't that big of a deal. We still are the same way we would be if we were married. Period. So I'm looking into it. It would be weird to be Christina Ford. Haha.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone. Have a great week!

Christina

California, here we come!!

So not too much has been going on the last week. This Sunday Dave, Bella & I are are going to church. Yeah, I said church. Haha. Truth is, I've been to a church for a wedding, & a funeral, never for a regular service. I don't know why I decided to go, but Dave is all for it & we'll see how it goes. We're going to Canyon Ridge. Dave said it's a nice church & I've heard nothing but good things about it. I was there once.....I drove around the parking lot while my buddy was teaching me to drive a stick. Haha. They have a sort of "day care" where you can drop your kids off during the service. I think it's very convenient but it worries me immensely. Drop my baby off to complete strangers?! What if she hates it?! What if she falls & starts crying & looks for me or her daddy only to be comforted by some stranger?! Apparently....I'm just a mom. Haha. That's what Dave says. He also says she'll love being with the other kids which I know to be true, & that it's only for an hour and fifteen minutes. I just worry. We're going to go there on Saturday to scope the place out & let Bella interact with the adults & kids to see how she'll do, so I'll feel better about leaving her there the following morning.

And then next Saturday, we're going to California. YAY!! I'm so stoked. I love going there. Dave wants to go to spend Easter with his Dad & brother. We bid on a 4 star hotel on priceline & we ended up getting the Hilton Orange County! I LOVE that hotel. We try to stay there every time we go. So we're staying Saturday night, Sunday night, & Monday night & coming home Tuesday. I'm so excited to take Bella to the beach now that she can walk! It'll be too cold for her to swim, of course, but not for me. :) And I absolutely love Dave's brother, Jerry. He's such a kick ass guy & he loves being around Bella. I remember when he came out here the weekend before Bella's birthday in October. She got so attached to him! When he would leave, she'd cry. Haha. He must remind her a lot of her Daddy.

So ANYWAY, that's all for now. OH! And I ordered the Sequential Tail Light Kit for my Mustang so it should come some time this week & then Dave will install it. Super excited for that too! I swear, my life has been pretty close to perfect recently. Dave & I have been getting along so much better, I can't remember the last time we fought. We're both being more patient & understanding with each other. We just genuinely enjoy being around each other. Every day around the time when I know he'll be home I get....excited. I can't wait to see him & have dinner & hang out with him & Bella. And she's thrilled when he comes home too. It's so cute. I love our family. I just love my life, I'm truly blessed. I think my dad has definitely been watching over me & guiding me. I miss him so much...

Mustang Sally...

Hey everyone! Quick update. I had my meeting with my new/old boss on Monday & have now started my new job! I'm very excited for this opportunity. So right now I'm actually working at home going through a LOT of paperwork & files I received. This Sunday, Dave & I are going to get me a nice file cabinet & other office supplies I'll need to turn our upstairs home office BACK into an office. It's kind of been neglected for a while since we both have laptops. I'm excited!!!! I'll have my own little room to do my work in.

I took my car in yesterday to have the windows tinted & the back lights smoked out, only the guy that does the lights didn't show up, so the owner said to come back & he'd do it for free! So I ended up getting my windows tinted, a free glare strip, & my back lights smoked out only for the cost of the windows being tinted! They're super awesome down there. The name of the place is S.W.A.T. Motorsports, & they do rims, lights, doors, tinting, a whole bunch of stuff, so if you ever need anything done, DEFINITELY go there.

This Saturday Dave may take my car in to put some Flowmaster's on the exhausts. He may not be able to do it, if it's difficult, he won't & I'll just have to wait until I can afford to have it done professionally, but I hope he can. My car is a GT so it already has a nice growling sound to it, but I want to amplify that. And then whether we are able to do that or not, in a few weeks, I'm also going to buy a sequential tail light kit. It's a harness, you plug into your tail lights on your mustang, & whenever you brake or turn on your turn signals, instead of all three lights going on at the same time, they do it in a sequence. It's pretty cool. I'm so excited for that too. 

Anyway, I need to get back to work, just wanted to post a quick update & post some pick of my beautiful car.

Glare strip: FREE!

Limo tint

Smoked out lights: FREE!

Gorgeous...

Haha, Dave was practicing golf out in the back yard....until Bella got ahold of the balls, that is. :)

Happy Birthday Dave!!!

So today is Dave's birthday, yay!!! We had an A M A Z I N G time yesterday. We checked in to our beautiful hotel suite, had a very nice dinner downstairs, gambled a little bit, had some ice cream, then went back upstairs & watched Black Swan. He loved it, although he said he did miss Bella, & I missed her like crazy. On Monday I had my first of 4 dental sessions to get my cavities filled. I had four done....it took him 20 minutes....I paid $320. Jesus. After the others are filled I'm getting a whitening done for free though! Yeah, he threw it in. You know, the one where they put gel on your teeth & then put a florescent light on them? Bitchin'...

And on Saturday night was my friend Jordan's 23rd Birthday party. A Pirate vs. Ninja party. I was a pirate, actually technically I was a wench, but whatever. It was fun, got to see some old friends from high school.

OH! And yesterday I made my appointment to have my windows tinted (limo tint) & my back lights smoked out! I'm super excited, I've wanted this for a while & with summer coming up, it's the perfect time. I'll post pictures when I get it done.

And the most surprising thing that has happened is that today, I was offered a job. No shit! By my old boss, the CEO of Auto Tech. He knows I had no intention of going back to work in one of the shops, I just can't. It was WAY to stressful, & my primary role is taking care of Isabella, so he offered for me to basically work directly for HIM. Going to all the stores, picking up & sorting his mail, helping his wife with whatever other company duties. It's part time to start but the good thing is that I can pretty much pick my own hours, & I mostly will work from home so I can still be with Bella. After a while I'll probably start handling the company's payroll, insurance, stuff like that, & be moved up to full time. I'm so excited! It'll be nice to bring home a paycheck again. So I start on Monday, with a meeting with Mike.

I included some pictures from our night out & from the Pirate/Ninja party. Enjoy!

My friend Elssie & I

Jordan & I

Our living room/kitchen in our gorgeous suite!

Kitchen

Our wonderful view of a golf course

Bedroom

My favorite part, the giant tub!!

At dinner <3

Had to throw a picture of Bella in here!

My little bunny with her Grandma!

Date Night, Birthday, Anniversary

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


SOOO I spilt soda all over my car the other day. It got on the seat, the carpet, the shifter, the emergency brake, yadda, yadda, yadda. Yupp, klutz, right here. But I took it to Alex at Auto Tech's car wash this morning & he of course did an amazing job on it. I needed to get the seats shampooed anyway because there are formula stains everywhere. (Bella likes to throw her cup when she doesn't want it anymore) Then I went to a jeweler to FINALLY get my diamond ring re-sized. I've needed it re-sized for a while now, it kind of just slips off my finger. So I dropped that off. Then Bella & I went to her daddy's work because they had Krispy Kreme doughnuts & I LOVE those so he let me know there were some there. She is now slumbering peacefully & I get my quiet time. When she gets up I think we'll do a little shopping, go to Ulta (LOVE that store) & Rhapsody Elle. I need to find a sexy outfit for Dave's birthday. I think a skintight mini dress will do. ;)

Tomorrow is "date night" for Dave & I. We don't often go on dates so I'm super stoked. We're going to go see "The Adjustment Bureau" which I've been wanting to see. I love going to movies with Dave. I feel so comfortable around him, which is one of the benefits of being with someone for so long. Jesus we've been dating for.....over 4 years now. What?! Yeah, since January of 2007. We weren't in a committed, exclusive relationship until April 1, 2008 though. So yes, our anniversary is coming up. I don't know if we'll really do anything, since anniversary's aren't really that big of a deal to me, I think the occasion calls for just a card. Unless it's a big one like 5 or 10 years. So it will be our 3 year anniversary even though we've been together longer.

Dave's birthday is on the 30th...of March...he'll be 44...I know, weird. Haha. I planned a little surprise for him. I wanted to go to California for a 3 day weekend but he didn't want to go. I know, he's a freak. So instead I booked us a room on the 29th at a hotel here in town, actually a suite. Full on, 1000 square foot, living room/separate bedroom, GIANT tub pimp status suite. The best room they had on the top floor. So Bella is going to spend the night at her G.ma's & Dave & I are going to go to a movie, I'm going to take him to a nice, fancy steakhouse restaurant for dinner, maybe gamble a little, then spend the night at the hotel, SLEEP IN, & have breakfast. It'll be perfect. Just what he needs. Personally, I don't really dig expensive high end restaurants. Too stuck up for me, but he really likes nice places so I'll do it for him. Then he'll probably go to work or play golf or something. I know he'd really like a set of new irons, but he knows that I couldn't afford it. I just bought him a new driver for Christmas & that was over $300. Actually more because I also bought him 3 professional lessons so that was another $130. Ridiculous, I know. I don't get the whole golf thing, I think it's pretty lame but he enjoys it so whatever. Ahh I'm so stoked about his birthday! And the great thing is that "Black Swan" comes out on DVD that night so I'm going to buy that & when we go upstairs to our room I'm gonna make him watch it. :)

So it looks like the next couple of weeks will be fun, except for me having to go to the dentist. That's not cool, but I have to get all these damn fillings. Whatever. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Sunday Funday

So Bella & I went to the park this morning, it was too nice outside to stay at home. We stopped at Kohl's for a little shopping, then headed over to the park. Bella loved it! She loves running around & giving everything "hugs". We then had a nice lunch at Mimi's Cafe & came home. Poor baby wore herself out, she fell asleep in the car on the way home around 12:00 & she never takes her nap that early. And when Dave took my car in yesterday to replace the tires & brakes, he surprised me & had it washed. So sweet. I love having my car clean, I can't stand it when it's dirty. It's funny because with my two previous cars, I couldn't care less if they were dirty, but when you have a car that you actually like, I guess you want it clean. Haha. So anyway, here's some pictures of her at the park in one of her A D O R A B L E new spring-time dresses I got at Babies R Us yesterday. Although I did put some pants on her because I thought it was a little too chilly. I love putting her in dresses, she already has about 7 or 8. Lol. I go overboard when it comes to clothes for her, they're just all so cute! There's more pics of her at the park that I uploaded onto my Facebook, so check them all out there if you'd like.

 Look at that hair!

 Isn't it such a cute dress?!

 Bella was running around giving "hugs" to all the butterfly benches.

 She loved running around in the grass.

 Beautiful.

 Yeah her hair soooo was not cooperating with me this morning. Haha

 The sun was in her eyes. xoxo.

Awesome Weekend

I had a good weekend. Well it's not over yet but so far it's been pretty decent. The weather is nice, (although a little too warm for my taste) today I got to sleep in until 9:30, & I just got back from Babies R Us. I love that store. It's impossible to go in there & not spend a lot of money. I go there to get Bella's diapers, I get the biggest box of Pampers I can find, but today I decided to browse around for some spring-time clothes. I got her a few dresses, one of which is ADORABLE & I plan on putting her in it for our adventure at the park tomorrow. :) Their prices are pretty outrageous, though. The one thing I will not buy from them is furniture. It's so expensive & such a waste! I mean you pay like $550 for a flippin' dresser or $1500 for a bedroom set & it's not even real wood! Helllllooooo....are you retarded or do you like wasting money. And the worst part of it all is that on their dressers, the drawers are not deep enough AT ALL. They're tiny. It's just ridiculous. They're cheap pieces of junk & the people that buy them are such boneheads. Oh well, whatever they like to do is their business. We got our crib off of Craigslist for $160, and it's in perfect condition & it's cherry wood. REAL wood. I just don't see spending $500 on a crib that you're only gonna use for a couple of years. I get spending $500 on a dresser, if it's real wood & it has decent size drawers because you can use that for years. My mom got my dressers before I was born & I used them until I was 17 because they were very good quality. Anyway, I think it's stupid how much Babies R Us charges for their furniture, but I find it even more sad that people are so silly to spend that much on crappy furniture.

 My kitty. Ain't she cute?!

I then went to Petsmart & visited the dogs & cats up for adoption. I love cats. I like dogs too but I'm much more of a cat person. I'd like another cat, maybe when one of these stupid dogs dies I can get one. Haha. Now don't get me wrong, I love our dogs & want them with us for a long time, but they are dumb. Riley is a good protector. She always wants to know where Bella is & when her & Dingo are playing, she always puts herself in between Bella & Dingo so she doesn't get hurt. It's so cute. Poor thing has seizures, & pure bred dogs only live on average about 6 or 7 years & I think she's already 4 or 5, it'll be a sad day when she dies. That's Dingo's buddy. I'd like to get a black cat. I love black cats & have always wanted one.

I'm excited for tomorrow. It's always fun when Bells & I go to the park. She has so much fun!!! I'll have to get some pictures of her while we're there in her cute dress.