destination wedding

We recently traveled to San Diego for a friend's wedding.  We were so happy to be a part of their special day and super excited to share it with a group of friends we had not seen in a while.

I guess you can call this a destination wedding, since the couple lives in Las Vegas. 

Although we were only in San Diego a short time, we were pleased to see our old "crew" and it was awesome to catch up on our new lives and adventures as parents.  We had so much to talk about! 

A few years ago, we too lived in Las Vegas.  We had a great life, great friends and a great house.  Even though Las Vegas is not (only) the party/gambling city people think it is (there are normal neighborhoods, with normal houses, playgrounds, schools, shopping, etc.) we wanted to be a little closer to our families in NY and start our own family, so we decided to "take a leap of faith" and move to Charlotte, NC.  We weren't the only ones to move from Las Vegas, so this trip contributed in reuniting a great group of friends!

The wedding was fabulous! The bride and groom were glowing.  You could see how happy they were to be taking the big step.  It was complete with their two dogs walking down the isle all dressed up!  Following the ceremony, the reception was a garden wedding which was tastefully decorated with bright flowers and hand held sun umbrellas. The hotel was beautiful and right on the beach.  They picked the perfect spot to have their outdoor reception which had amazing views perfect for photographs.

But don't think this was a one day affair, oh no.  The couple organized night after night events.  On Friday night we had cocktails and appetizers at one of the hotel's restaurants which over looked the ocean.  This was the first time we really got to relax and have conversations with everyone.  The wedding was Saturday afternoon.  The same evening, she arranged for babysitters and a party bus! Just like that, Sal and I were all dressed up and Sebastian and Natalia were in pjs.  They were so tired from all the events, they fell fast asleep and all the sitter needed to do was keep an eye on them while they slept.  Off we went for a night out in San Diego.  We went to another restaurant and had an awesome time chatting it up with friends.  Sunday was time to say "see you later" to all our friends, which we did during a big breakfast. 

After checking out from the hotel, we took a drive to downtown San Diego and met up with another friend who we had not seen in a few months.  Enjoyed some excellent pizza and let the kids run around outside while chatting it up and starring at the ocean.

It was a great weekend and we are now planning our next group vacation!

Off to LA for a week!

fun in the sun

One summer trip down, one to go.

Our trip to Sunset Beach was awesome! It was so nice to spend time with our friends and their kids.  We had a full house; five adults, two teenagers and 4 kids. But that wasn't a problem, we had a big house with plenty of room for everyone. It also had the prefect size pool and an amazing view.  The house was beautiful!

The teenage girls loved to help entertain the little ones and the kids loved their company! It was so nice to have extra helping hands. Bastian and Talia loved them and were thrilled to play with them and the rest of the kids all day long!

One day, we took a ride to Ripley's Aquarium which was about an hour away. The kids enjoyed it so much! Its funny how things change, now our number one priority is making sure the kids are having a good time. 

Our good friend who is an amazing photographer took some family photos of us on the beach. She showed me a few and I love them! I can't wait to see the rest. As soon as I have them I will post some here so you can see what I mean about her being an amazing photographer.

It's amazing all you can accomplish while spending time with friends.  In only a week, we made a lifetime of memories! We took turns cooking dinners and got each others recipes.  We were all thrilled to go home and try to recreate the meals!

Now I'm off to pack again, this time we are going to San Diego for a friend's wedding.  Since we are making the trek all the way west with the kids (again), we are extending our stay and going to Los Angeles for a week. California, here we come!

As usual, here are some pics I'd like to share with you :)

summer company

We've been super busy the past few weeks! Between planning summer trips and having company over, it's been hectic around here, in a good way.

This summer we are taking a drive to Sunset Beach for a week of fun and relaxation with some good friends.  Then heading to San Diego for a friend's wedding, and some more fun with friends we haven't seen in a while.  Finishing up our California trip by taking a drive up to Los Angeles for a week, to visit another good friend.  Just thinking about these trips makes me feel super busy, but I can't wait!
Last month my mom came to visit from New York for a few days.  She was so excited to see Sebastian and Natalia, and I was super excited to see her.  That's right, Sal and I are not the main attraction anymore, it's all about the babies now!  Regardless of who my mom (and everyone else for that matter) is excited to see, we all enjoyed her visit.  It's always nice to have your mom around.  Plus, she taught me a few new tricks on my sewing machine and I even made some dresses for Natalia and pajama pants for both babies all by myself! Yay me!

A few days after that, Sal's brother Louie came to visit from Chicago for a week.  If you read my Chicago post, you know how much the kids love him, specially Sebastian!  As soon as he saw him he immediately started calling out "Ouieeeee" while chasing him around the house.  Poor Louie couldn't even shower without the kids interrupting by knocking on his door and yelling Ouieeeee!!!??? After he left, the kids kept looking for him all over the house.  It was cute but so sad! I had to keep reminding them that Louie went home and we would see him again soon.  Good thing they are easily distracted with a toy or their favorite television show.

We had a great time with both visitors and can't wait to see them again!

some dads deserve the brag

Father's Day goes way beyond that one time a year around this house.  Of course we celebrate on that day, but we keep celebrating for a long time after.  Some dads just deserve that! 

Sal has been my partner in crime for a long time, 12 years to be exact.  We did a lot of the things we wanted to do before we had children. We lived in Las Vegas, went to clubs, went to pool parties, went out for fancy dinners, traveled, etc. Friends told us to take advantage of doing all these things, because our lives would never be the same once we had children.  We knew there was some truth to that because the people saying it already had kids of their own, so we took advantage and did as much as we wanted to, for a long time.

Then we decided it was time to expand the family. We wanted children so bad and we finally got them.  This is our time to focus on our children and do the parenting thing. 

I have to say, Sal is the most amazing dad ever! I applaud him every day. He has a very, very busy job, but every free minute he has he devotes to our children. As soon as they hear the garage door open they fill with excitement, run to the window and start calling for their daddy. Just as fast, they run to the door and greet him with the biggest smiles ever!  It melts us both! I have to say thank you to him, once again, because in the 20 months we have been parents, very few times have I had to give Sebastian and Natalia a bath by myself, Sal is always there helping. When you have twins a helping daddy is always good! Sebastian and Natalia love him so much!

We haven't totally stopped doing the other things we love to do now that we have children. They certainly haven't slowed down our traveling!  We still go out to dinner, the only difference is that now we go to dinner a lot earlier just to accommodate their schedule.  Early dinners are not exactly a problem. Lets just hope they continue to be "good" babies while we are eating out or we will need to get a sitter and go out alone!

It's pretty amazing to see how fast kids grow and how they learn to develop relationships. I am amazed at the love they feel towards Sal and know it will only get bigger!

BIG thanks to my wonderful husband!!

night night blues

Before I was a mom, I kept my opinions to myself when it came to kids.  Mainly because I didn't have any kids and didn't want to give my opinion on something I didn't have a clue about.  I was good at keeping my mouth shut while my head filled with random "why" questions. 

Now I understand what it was all about.  Now I see how hard it is to be a parent.  Teaching your child the "right" way and have them follow without complaints is no easy task! I've learned a lot about raising children so far and I'm sure I still have tons more to learn.

Here's my most recent dilemma. Sebastian and Natalia are 19 months old and I couldn't stand to see them sucking on their pacifiers (or what they call their "night night") and was on a mission to take it away.  I tried everything from hiding it, to telling them I couldn't find it, to giving it to them until they fell asleep and then taking it away, but nothing seemed to work.  They still remembered they had a "night night" and gave me the saddest (and cutest) faces ever to get me to give it to back.  I fell for it every time, and so did Sal.

I was a little ahead of the game a few weeks ago when I only gave them their pacifiers at bedtime (7:00 p.m.) but then we went to Chicago and gave it to them whenever they asked for it, just to save us the embarrassment of a crying baby on a flight, in a restaurant or in a store.  We messed up.  When we came back they wanted it all day long!

A few days ago I tried a new trick. It was nap time, so I put them in their cribs.  I left the room, cut the binkies and gave it to them "broken."  I felt horrible. Confused, they analyzed them and quickly threw them as far as they could. I was so happy! No tears! But that only lasted until I walked out of the room.  Then the tears and whining began.  I went back in their room and reassured them they would be ok without their "night night" and walked out again.  Natalia fell asleep quickly.  Sebastian cried for about an hour! I couldn't help but go in there and try and calm him but he was only happy while in my arms.  I put him back in his crib and told him he would be ok and walked out.  About 30 minutes more of crying and two more visits from mommy, and then he finally fell asleep.  I think I cried about the same amount of time.

Yesterday was a big day, I asked them if they wanted to throw out there binkies and they both agreed and rushed to throw their binkies away in the garbage!

Three days have gone by and I think I may have successfully broken the binky habit! I'm so happy and proud of all of us!!  So, if you are trying to take your child's binky away, don't loose faith! I think I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it actually was.

Now, we are left with only the memories...