Mandatory Fun and Romance

 Our weekend started off with my unit's family day...aka...mandatory fun day.

As much as I really didn't want to go, I dragged Nick and Dannika with me to the festivities where everyone acts like they like each other and everyone pretends they're really excited to meet your family...haha.

We ended up having an ok time though.

Nick got to see some of the old recruiters that I used to work with/work for and catch up.

Afterward, we came home to just hang out.

I was expecting just another Saturday night.

Nick told me he ordered Chinese food.

I happily got in my PJ's, washed my face, put my hair up, and I was ready!

That was until...

Sully came over cause he just happened to be "in the neighborhood".

As soon as Sully came over, Nick told me I had 30 minutes to get dressed and ready and that he had made dinner reservations for us at Sarducci's.

He had arranged for Sully to watch Dannika while we went out.

I was in total shock.

but that wasn't it!

He surprised me at dinner by telling me that Sully was staying at our house that evening to watch Dannika and that he made hotel reservations for us at the Mariott Resort and Spa in Dana Point.

He got us a suite that overlooked the ocean.

It was literally 15 minutes away from our house but I felt like I was on vacation in another country!

We ended up hanging out at the hotel lounge to listen to a live band and drink martinis and beer :-)

I felt like we were dating again.

It was so nice to just get away without the baby and have an evening to just focus on us.

It was nice to just reconnect.

I think a lot of times we get so caught up with work and Dannika that we forget about eachother!

This weekend was perfect and exactly what we needed!

Here are some pictures from this morning after we got home.

Dannika was having too much fun with her Uncle Sully to care that we even came home!

Notice her "bed head"

my two goofballs.

My Mijo

This is one of my BFFs...Eddie...aka...my Mijo.

We became roommates after our deployment from Iraq in 2007.

He ended up becoming one of the best roommates a girl could ever ask for.

He was not only an awesome roommate but my best friend.

He listened to all my relationship problems, family problems, work problems...

He was always there for me.

He was there for me through bad dates, bad relationships, and bad guys in general.

He was there when I met Nick.

So Eddie...

I love you to death.

I would do ANYTHING for you.

You're my "mijo"...my friend...my mentor...and my brother.

I love your son.

I love Sarah.

I can't imagine my life if I hadn't met you.

Just so so you know....

you're fabulous.

The Romer's love you...

I can't wait till Dannika is old enough to understand what an amazing person you are.

Here's to our nights that started out with shots of Patron!

Empty Nest Syndrome

Nick left for Bridgeport this weekend :-(

Tango Battery is headed out there next month for cold weather training.
Nick and two of his LT's got to be so lucky to go out there this week to do a site survey before the entire battery goes out there.

I knew that all the time I was getting to spend with him since he got back from Afghanistan was soon gonna come to end as the battery starts training again for their deployment BACK to Afghanistan (January 2012).

I guess that's one part of the Marine Corps that I will never get used to....

"Even when they're home, they're always gone..."

Even though the house seems like it's missing something everytime he's gone...Dannika and I have made the best of it!

and...

We are both extremely proud of Nick and everything that he does for us!

Just some pictures of Dannika and I goofing off this weekend

"Gosh, my mom is such a loser!"

Dannika LOVES seeing her daddy walk through the door from work every night. I seriously think it's her favorite part of the day!

{Cedar Creek Park and Gelato}

Nick and I started a ritual to take Dannika to the park every weekend followed by a trip to the gelato/frozen yogurt shop for a treat.

She absolutely loves going there and has so much fun on the playground with the older kids.

It's funny cause some of the 3-4 year olds kept telling her she couldn't play with them cause she's a "baby", but Dannika kept going up to them and "insisting" that they let her play.

It kinda broke my heart when they all left her and ran away.

I seriously almost wanted to go yell at a buncha 3 year olds for being so mean to my little lady...lol.

Parents need to teach their children playground etiquette!

This little boy was really mean to her. He kept telling her, "No babies allowed"

My handsome guy

This was right after the little kids ran away from her...

Walkin around with daddy

Right Now She's 18 MONTHS...Tomorrow...18 YEARS

Dannika had her 18 month well check today with Dr. Shannon.

She's a healthy 24 pounds, and 32 inches long.

I love Dr. Shannon.

He has over 36 years of experience.

He has patients that he has known since newborns bringing their own kids to him...now THAT is experience!

I also found out today from one of the mothers of one of the young men I put in the Marine Corps, that Dr. Shannon was both of her sons' pediatrician!

With all that said...he makes me feel SO comfortable as a parent.

I love his style of medicine.

He's slightly "holistic", but not like hippie weird holistic.

For instance, he doesn't believe in growth charts or milestones (unless a child is like WAY WAY WAY behind)...he believes children develop at their own pace.

He does not believe in "potty training".

He told me today that kids potty train themselves, and that they will start talking about it before they actually do it (usually by 2 1/2 - 3 years old).

Basically...just put a mini potty in the bathroom and have your child watch YOU go...they'll eventually figure it out.

He's also delays a lot of vaccinations that most pediatricians give to babies (he does give an explanation for this, but that's a whole another blog).

I love that about him though.

He's known since Dannika's 3 month well check that she would be a late walker....so it wasn't a total shock to Nick and I when she wasn't anywhere near walking at her 1st birthday.

AND.

I didn't want to get everyone TOO excited....

But Dannika has been WALKING the last week or so.

I wouldn't classify her as a "walker" yet, but when she feels like it, she'll take a couple steps here and there.

Then she gets overly excited and falls on her butt...it's quite cute actually.

I can't believe she's already months old.

I really feel like tomorrow she'll be 18 years old leaving Nick and I to start her life :-(

Nick has been EXTREMELY busy at work these past few weeks, but he made it a point to make it to her 18 month well check...then going straight back to work. What a great daddy!

We are not morning people...for you Opa!

Weekend...over :-(

Sundays and I have a LOVE/HATE relationship.

I <3 the fact that it's STILL the weekend, and usually it's a family day...

but...

I hate the fact that it's day before the beginning of the next work day.

Nick found an awesome little park just 5 minutes away from our house in Dana Point.

Today just felt like a perfect day to take Dannika to the park to check it out.

The weather was perfect "Fall" weather...even though it's January (hey...we're in Southern California!)

Dannika is finally at the age where she has fun when we take her to the park.

Afterwards, we went to a cute little gelato shop in historic San Juan for ice cream. 

It was a nice Sunday...days like this...I wouldn't trade for the world :-)

Swing me, daddy!

She LOVES the swing...as you can see by her face

The see saw was also a hit today

Such a daddy's girl

Watching Nick Jr. after a day at the park with her blankie (she's had it since birth!)

That's how you know she's tired...when she sucks on her two fingers with her little blankie

Just leave me alone mom...I'm trying to relax

Saturdays

I love weekends.

I look forward to weekends.

I look forward to them more than normal people.

Why...you ask?

Cause of this....

She's figured out how to take my oven mits that are "magneted" to my oven off and put them on her own hand.

She likes to work out....fitness is important in the Romer family

oVerALLs and COOOOkies

I've always wanted to buy Dannika a really cute pair of overalls.

A few months ago I bought a pair of short overalls from Baby Gap.

I wasn't a fan of them.

The jean material was too thick, and Dannika's chunky thighs barely fit through the shorts.

So she wore them like 3 times total before I gave up and let the 30 dollars I spent on them go to waste.

Since the weather has been getting cooler here (for Southern Cali), I realized that my poor baby had hardly ANY Winter clothes.

I went to Target and found the cutest pair of overalls and shirts for half the price of what I pay at Baby Gap for her clothes.

The jean material is soooo soft, and they look comfy enough for me to want a pair to sleep in!

Here's the thing...

I KNOW how much of a waste of money it is to shop designer brands or just brand name clothes for babies...

I just can't help spoiling my little lady sometimes.

Sooo...now for the cookie part of the blog.

Dannika calls her cookies, "deetis" (or at least it sounds like that).

For you moms out there, you know that all of Gerber's treats come in yellow boxes.

Anytime Dannika sees a yellow box she starts saying "deetis"...which I guess to her sounds like "cookies".

And she will continue saying it until she gets what she wants. 

It's kinda funny until you realize you've given her like half the bag of Gerber animal cookies...by accident cause she's so cute when she's asking for something.

She also says "peas" (please) now.

But she has this strange idea that if she says please, we will ALWAYS give her what she wants....

We are in trouble..

I can just see it now when she's 16 and pointing at a brand new shiny red Mustang (like my first car) and saying "peas?"

And Nick...being the softy that he is with her will say, "ok."...

without my consent of course...

and when I get home that day, there will be a shiny new Mustang parked in our driveway...

OH LORD!

Dannika the Big Girl (and an R1)

Just an updated family pic since I realized the only pics I have on here are of Dannika...or Nick.

Dannika will be officially 18 months old on the 12th of this month...that's a whole year and a half!

She is STILL not walking. 

As those of you who know me or keep up with my blog know that this was quite a concern at her last few well checks with Dr. Shannon.

We finally got her hips x-rayed and had some tests done to see if she had any sort of developmental issues with her hips...etc.

Annnnd....

She is perfectly normal.

So, I'm not really freaking out about her not walking anymore...I kind of like it in a way cause I feel like she's still my "baby".

She has hit every one of her milestones to the "T" with the exception of walking. 

She has quite an extensive vocabulary for an 18 month old to include short, two word sentences...

She feeds herself with utensils...

She brushes her own teeth...

Not to mention, her sassy attitude.

So...potty training is next on the list...right?

People always tell me that I'll know when she's ready.

While part of me says she is not ready because she can't walk yet...

When she comes up to me and points to her diaper and says "dipey?" when she needs to be changed.

I feel she is ready.

Nick and I decided to take very small baby steps.

We bought her a potty a while back, but until recently, we hadn't put her on it.

She enjoys sitting on it....just to sit on it...she'll sit on it with her diaper on and just laugh and smile.

It's quite funny to watch actually

But she hasn't quite grasped the concept that you have to pee and poop in it (did I just use the words "pee" and "poop"??...oh gawd...I did).

The other morning, Nick caught her making the "poop" face (faces babies make when they are doing number 2).

So we ripped her diaper off and rushed her to her potty....

She was not happy...

But 15 minutes later...we had a little "pooplet" in the toilet...and yes...I said pooplet...don't judge me!

*on a totally random note: look how cute her lion jammies are! The mouth is actually a flap that opens up and you can see the inside of his mouth...Dannika says "Rawr" when she wears them*

And some more Dannika Jane...

She is quite the DIVA...those are put pink toenails. She sat very still the whole time I was painting them...then afterwards, she decided to help me blow on her toes to make them dry.

Did I mention she was sassy??? This is her throwing a tantrum.

She always eats rice with a spoon...it's funny to watch her carefully pick up the rice with the spoon, but for some reason, when it comes to spaghetti...she'd rather use her hands.

AND LASTLY...

Nick and I own a bike.

Not a pedal bike.

A motorcycle.

Not just a motorcycle.

But a crotch rocket.

Not just ANY crotch rocket.

It is a 2008 Yamaha R1 that we I bought brand new in 2008...

Yes...if Nick ever wanted to run off on me, the bike belongs to ME!

Before we had the baby,

We used to go riding quite a bit on the weekends up and down coast highway.

Yes...those were the days...

Once Miss Dannika Jane made her appearance into our lives, we have ridden ONCE.

Nick rides it to work to save gas sometimes.

Either way...

When Nick left for Afghanistan at the beginning of last year, I stored the bike in our garage and that was it!

I didn't start it up...

I didn't do ANYTHING with it.

I guess he was looking forward to riding it when he got home...

But his wonderful, beautiful, awesome wife didn't maintain it...

and the registration expired on it...

then we went on vacation...

So he hasn't ridden it yet....

We FINALLY got it registered last week and got it cleaned up.

She is ALMOST back in business...

After we get the oil changed in it :-)

Isn't she a beaut?

New Year...New Blog

Welcome 2011! 

We've waited 365 days for you!

I started a new blog because apparently, I've ran out of room to post more pics on our old blog...

I don't feel like PAYING for more storage.

Afterall, my blog is not a business tool for me.

It's for nosy family and friends to keep up with our little family :-)

I've had that old blog since I was pregnant with Dannika, and seeing how she is now a year and half old...I figured it was a good time to start fresh.

So here is our first post of the New Year and our New Blog!!!

2010 was definitely a challenging year for me!

With Nick's deployment to Afghanistan,

Being a new "single" mom,

and struggles at work...

I can't believe the year is finally over.

HOWEVER...2010 definitely had some highlights...

Nick coming home safely from Afghanistan,

Our wonderful vacation to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, 

Thanksgiving with Dannika's Uncle Sully,

and making some fabulous new friends!

I have a lot to catch up on so get your glass of wine, and get ready to do some reading!

So let's start with Dannika's SECOND Christmas.

It's hard to believe that this is her second one! 

Last year she was so helpless, and could barely sit up on her own...

and THIS year...

She was ripping open her own presents and going crazy!

We spent Christmas at our home just as a family of 3 this year.

After an extremely rainy week here in SoCal, it was nice to have a DRY Christmas!

We woke up bright and early against the will of my DH, Nick at 6AM!

I couldn't wait to open presents with Dannika!

We had to drag her out of her crib too!

She was a little crabby, but after she figured out how to rip open the wrapping paper, she was having a blast.

Santa was very good to her this year!

After we opened all of our gifts, we decided to go out for a pancake breakfast at Denny's...the only place open on Christmas Day!

The rest of the day we spent putting Dannika's toys together and just relaxing.

We were invited to Christmas dinner at our second family's home, the Gilberts!

It was so fun, and the food was FABULOUS...as always!

We finally got to meet the "5th Gilbert"...Marty.

He flew down from New York to visit his family!

It was truly an awesome, wonderful Christmas, and I couldn't have spent it with better people!

This is how our morning started...she was cranky that mommy made her wake up so early

Much better!

Her new playhouse!

So Spoiled

The one way to please my husband...new power tools!...and yes, that is a Snuggie he is wearing...I got him that for Christmas!

Christmas morning with the Romer's

Passed out after spending the day putting together Dannika's toys

We spent the next week after Christmas just spending time as a family.

Nick and I purchased an XBox Kinects and spent considerable amount of time playing that!

Nick also got me a DSLR camera for Christmas, so I spent a lot of my vacation reading up on photography blogs trying to figure out how to shoot on "M" mode.

I am so totally impressed at the quality of photos that my camera takes!

New Year's Eve was spent at the Digirolomo's house for a dinner, Kinects, board games, and wine!

We always have a blast with them.

Every year, I always make New Years resolutions, but this year, I decided against it!!

I always forget about what I promise to do every year by the second week of January...

I just don't see the point.

This year, I just plan on focusing on family and transitioning back to the fleet away from recruiting duty (Thank the Lord).

I'll also start thinking about what I want to do after I get out of the Marine Corps in a few years.

Lots of exciting things about to happen!

she refuses to let us feed her now!

She rides this zebra EVERYWHERE!

Nick's battle scars...from playing volleyball on Kinects.