Four Seasons Buffet

After mass today, Mike, Zoe and I headed out to the Four Seasons in Santa Barbara for their amazing Sunday Brunch.  We met up with his parents and Isabelle as well ... it was a post-birthday celebration =).  The brunch was the BEST brunch I've ever been to ... they had all-you-can eat caviar (YES, caviar!), fresh mussels, shrimp, crap, sushi, lamb, truffle egg things, and an amazing dessert bar!  We don't really like caviar too much but the fact that it was all-you-can eat, we ended up eating it like it was rice =).  We all had such a great time eating and hanging out (the place in itself was absolutely gorgeous)!  Afterwards, we decided to walk off the brunch with a little stroll at the beach...

Happy birthday to Michael, indeed!  Turning 30 has never been so awesome!!

Happy 30th Mike!!!

Today is Mike's big 30th birthday!!!!  FINALLY, he's 30!!! To celebrate, we got Kike's Tacos to cater (yum) and had a little gathering at the Sunbeam Hotel.  It was great to see so many people there to celebrate his big day.  I'm sure this is the most grown up he's ever felt -- 30 years old, married with one kid, etc. etc. =).  It was a great turn out -- even Ninongs Kevin and Francis came!  Zoe and I ended up getting him an Ipad2 and a TRX training system for his work outs.  He's been dropping hints for weeks about what he might like so we ended up just getting him both.  He totally deserves it -- he's been working so hard this year and has been such an amazing husband and father.  He also got a bunch of other great gifts like an Ipod Nano watch, some great books, gift cards, etc.

We had such a wonderful celebration tonight!  Zoe had a good time interacting with everyone as well!  Thank you Lord for the blessing of Michael!! I don't know what I'd do without him in my life!!!  Here's to another healthy and productive year!

Zoe's face here is too funny!

As an added bonus, I wanted to include a picture of Michael when I first met him ... he was only 18 years old (I was 19).  I've had the amazing privilege to watch him grow up into a wonderful man and I look forward to the many many many many years that lie ahead for the both of us!

Recovering .... and combat crawling!

So I'm now in my second week of recovery and I'm already getting anxious!!!  It's so hard not to be able to pick up Zoe!!! Thankfully, I've had some great help ... Jay spent all of last week here to help me with Zoe.  It was really nice of him to take time off of work to be there for me and Z.  It was great having him around the house (it went by sooooo fast!).  For the next two weeks, I have Isabelle here with me.  She's really been awesome and her and Zoe are becoming bff's!

Zoe is also getting closer and closer to crawling.  Today, I decided to put a bottle in front of her to see if she would go get it ... the result was her "combat crawling" which is basically crawling but on her stomach.  It was the funniest thing!!! Here's the video:

I was sooooo proud of her!!! She was so determined to get that bottle ... she combat crawled the entire length of the couch!!! Hahahaha!

Here are a couple of pics Ninong Jay took on his new Ipad:

And here's an awesome picture Aunty Isabelle took of Zoe spitting up =)

Even though I hate not being 100%, it's been nice to have Jay and Isabelle here with me.  I'm so thankful for being blessed with the opportunity to spend time with them while at the same time they get to hang out with Zoe as well =)

Goodbye prado!

Prado is now officially SOLD!  We got a fairly decent price for it -- not nearly what we paid, but it's ok enough that we can cut our losses and rebuild.  The best part about it is it's being purchased in CASH.  Thank goodness for Chinese investors!!! Since we are turning over the keys next week, we thought we'd have one final soiree at our first home.  Jay and Mao helped us put together a small gathering.  Since we never really got a chance to use the movie theater, we thought we'd have a movie night with movie-themed snacks.  Jay and Mao did an awesome job with the candy and food set up.  We had popcorn, bacon wrapped hot dogs, grilled veggies, corn and lots of movie candy!  Dennis, Dan and Harold also stopped by to hang out.  We ended up watching the movie 127 Hours ... let me just say it was uber INTENSE!!  We were all screaming in the theater during the parts where the main character has to do some pretty crazy things to survive.  You gotta love his will to live!!!  

It was a super fun night and we got very nostalgic ... we're going to definitely miss Prado.  It was our first place ... my first 8 months as a newlywed was spent there and Jay's first "bachelor pad" experience was there was well.  Although our investment didn't necessarily pan out, I know that God led us to buy that place.  It has provided a wonderful home for Michael and I and of course for Jay (I don't think he would have gotten together with Mao had he been living at home with mom!).  I know we'll bounce back from this set back and will be able to buy a better property later down the line.  It's definitely a big relief to not have to worry about paying the mortgage or property taxes =).  So thank you unit 419 for all the beautiful memories ... I hope your new owner takes good care of you!  

Going home!

After my surgery, I spent the next three days recovering in my room at Huntington Hospital.  I have to say, it's the best.hospital.ever.  I love all the people who work there, the facility and even the room service food is not that bad.  Mike stayed with me the entire time ... I told him he could go to Sunbeam and be with Zoe but he insisted on toughing it out on the cot next to my bed.  I have the best husband ever!  I wasnt' much company though ... I was drugged up a lot and kept sleeping.  He, on the other hand, watched movies on Netflix on his computer and did some reading.  We got daily visits from Zoe and my family.  Monsignor Kevin even stopped by and brought dinner (I couldn't eat it though since I was still vomiting from the anesthesia).  I did, however, have communion (all the food my body needs to heal).  It was great having so many visitors and flowers and well wishes.  A girl really couldn't ask for more!  It was really strange to not be around Zoe ... I missed her like crazy!  Tita Bot was great a reporting to me all of her activities ... apparently, Zoe had a great time without me! No more separation anxiety!  She was fine with me not being around and not sleeping with me at night.  Again, I am a firm believer that Zoe knew I had to be away from her ... she's a smart girl and was able to adjust to the situation and make the most out of it.  Can you say resilient?!

I was discharged on July 16 and couldn't wait to go to Sunbeam to be with Zoe. Mike took Monday off so we were going to stay there the entire weekend so I can recover a little more before heading back to Oxnard.  Zoe was pretty excited to see me and it took everything I had not to pick her up and hold her.  I had to make sure I took care of my wound so that I could recover properly and get back to my normal life.  

Here's some pics Tita Bot/Wowa took documenting their time together while mommy was in the hospital: 

Reunited!!!

This is how they got her to take her naps ... 

Zzzzz Zzzzzz...

Flowers from Monsignor Kevin

Flowers from Mao

Zoe's poopin' face ... 

Exhausted after coming home from the hospital ... So happy to be napping with my Zoe!