Pumpkin Princess

Wow, Halloween was almost a week ago and I'm just now posting about it. Oppsies ;)
Sunday was our big "Move Out Day," so it was long and tiring. I debated throughout the day if I would be able to take Raya trick-o-treating and I am so, so, so glad I took those couple hours out to take her. It was so much fun watching her!!! My mom and I took her to the very first house (our neighbor) and told her to knock, which she loves to do and did in a heartbeat. When our neighbor came to the door and handed her candy she was a little shocked and probably confused, but it was only a matter of seconds before she decided it was the best thing ever. I took her to about 15 houses, and she said "Thanks Bye" to every one of them. I didn't even think to try and teach her "trick-o-treat" during the weeks prior to prepare her for the big night, but "Thanks Bye" was so sweet and so cute. The funniest thing was she wanted to hold her candy and tried to keep as many pieces in her hand as she could. At one point she probably had 3 pieces, which is a lot for a little tiny hand, and she did this claw thing and opened her fingers up between her knuckles and would stick her hand in the bowl and then clamp down- Just like one of those claw games at the mall. When she pulled her hand out, she'd have all the same pieces plus a new piece between her knuckles. It was hilarious. And entertaining for the people handing out the candy as well. So much fun!

Halloween Morning in her Halloween Jammies

The Pumpkin Princess

The 1st house

"Thanks Bye"

Off to house #2!

Such confidence ;)

And that was how long the hat lasted

So even though it was a LONG day, this was the absolute highlight to my whole weekend. I'm so glad I took the time to take her and be a part of her 1st trick-o-treating experience. 

I took a bunch of pictures, duh...My whole Halloween Album is here

I also wanted to include a link to this Fabulous article about a little boy wanting to be a girl cartoon character for Halloween. A friend of mine posted it on Facebook and I want to share it with everyone I could. It's pretty fun, but more importantly its an example of amazing parenting. My little brother used tights and a tutu as part of his Halloween costume at least 2 times...so it reminded me of him dressing up and my mom and dad had no issues with it. It was never an issue in our house, it was always about what we wanted to be. As long as it wasn't offensive to another group of people we could do it or be it! Just an example of letting your child make their own choices and loving them unconditionally :) 

The Article/Blog: My Son is Gay

30 weeks!

Welllll, only 10 weeks (or less) to go...that's 70 days! And probably the fastest 70 days of the year. This time of year FLIES by, before I know it I'll be taking down Christmas decorations with a new baby strapped to me, but on the Outside of my body! Yesterday when I was searching for gold tights the store had Christmas music playing. And then today Starbucks served me my coffee in a Holiday cup!!! It's just getting better and better. I LOVE this time of year. I'm bummed that we had to move out of our place this week because I was seriously busting out the Christmas decorations as of yesterday. Grrrr to our A-hole property management company that's forced me to wait until Dec. 1 to get going.
Anyways, back to being 30 weeks pregnant. Not really the funnest time. I'm border line over it. I think the only reason I'm not totally over it is because as long as he's still on the inside I can get things done on the outside. This last week I had a mini melt down, once again due to the A-holes we rented from. I'm stressed out because now the soonest we will be in a place is Dec 1 and that only gives me about 5 weeks to get the house unpacked and his room done, which is basically impossible as I see it. I was so excited to get to decorate his room and get furniture and "Nest." I didn't get to do that with Raya because we moved out of our place a month after she was born, so there was no point setting up her room and then packing it all up a couple weeks later. I know he'll be in our room for the first couple weeks at least (which will most likely be the first couple months, but we'll talk about that later ;) But I was still so excited to decorate and set up, and now I'll be lucky if the house is unpacked. Blahhhhh. So that's always fun to be dealing with when the "countdown" part of the pregnancy started. Our last night in our old place I couldn't sleep because I was freaking out that I was going to go into labor while we were trying to move out and it was going to be such a mess! Well not literally, I mean in my dreams I always made it to the hospital. But a mess because all of our stuff was in boxes, half was in storage and the other half still needed to be moved out. Oh and speaking of early labor...twice this week he was pushing on my belly so hard that I had to stop everything I was doing and just breath because I was sure he was going to push right through my stomach. Especially since it was Halloween week I had super vivid pictures of an alien-like recreation. But seriously, this kid is sooooo strong! He kicks me and pushes on my belly like no other. Needless to say, I'll be excited for him to be on the outside :) But if he could just wait until at least everything is unpacked that would be Awesome! So if you feel like sending us some wishful thinking, or praying, or good vibes or special dances they'd all be VERY MUCH APPRECIATED :)

This is me at 29 weeks,
with my cheese face climber.

And then at 30 weeks

Today when we were walking to my doctor appt Raya would run a few feet ahead of me then run back to me and touch my belly, then run off a little and run back and touch my belly. It was so, so, so cute! This age is so fun because one day she'll do something that blows me away. I really didn't think she got the whole pregnancy thing, but clearly there's a lot going on in that head of hers. At my appt my doctor always lets her hold the heart beat mic and find the heartbeat and then clean the gel off my belly. Its fun to have her involved and even more fun that she has fun being involved. LOVE THIS KID!

As for the baby in my belly: all looks good. He's measuring a week big, which really doesn't mean anything. I feel much bigger than I did at this point last time, and I haven't gained as much weight as last time so all signs point to a big baby. I guess I'll know soon enough!

Pullin an "Erin Brockovich"

Yep, we've been in our new apartment for all of 7 weeks and we're moving out. Unbelievable. We moved into this place knowing the company, Orange Country Property Management, had some bad reviews, but because there was only a few bad ones, and because I loved the location and patio and high ceilings, we moved in hoping for the best. That didn't happen. Last Tuesday(like a week and a half ago), when we got that big day of rain, part of our living room flooded and all of Raya's closet, her bathroom and half of her room flooded. WHAT A MESS. So between the horrific management service, the lame repairs they made in the past, and their lack of customer service and ability to have a heart, I was able to find a way out of our lease. The counselors for the Fair Housing Council of Orange County are very helpful. With their advice and my nightly researching (between Keeping up with the Kardashians and Dancing with the Stars) I've become super knowledgeable when it comes to Tenant's Rights. Soooo, if you ever find yourself in an ugly situation with your landlord, holla at cha girl ;) lol, but seriously. So now I'm driving around during Raya's naptimes and searching craigslist every other hour to find a place we can move into this week. And really, I'm not that annoyed. Yah, we have to pack and move and un-pack again, but I don't have to live in a unit managed by this company and that is relieving. The part of all this that makes me the most mad is that these guys can FLAT OUT LIE to me and feel they don't owe us a thing. I'm mad because all these fumes are in our apartment. I mean they gutted walls, pulled up floors, have to paint, oh and did I mention we woke up to a huge termite and ant infestation in the bathroom that flooded? Yah all this and they claim its totally fine for a 1year old child and 7month pregnant occupant to live in the unit while work is being done. Uhhhhh. So, we'll see what happens in the next few days. I've been spending some days at my mom's and the other days out and about or at the park. One of my favorite things about this whole ordeal is that I used good 'ol facebook to find the previous tenant who just so happen to move 2 doors down from our old place! Crazy, huh. Gentry's good friend lives right next door to him. So you better believe I asked him if they had any of these issues. He told me everything. They had the exact same problems and the property company didn't fix anything. When I asked the management company if they'd had these problems before they told me flat out No. Can you believe it???!!!! I pretty much wanna call them every four letter word I can think of. Actually, I have called them every four letter word I can think of, lets be honest :) As of today, I still haven't found a place. I'm starting to get a little stressed, lol, so wish us luck! I will be sure to keep ya'll updated. Oh and more importantly, if you live in the So Cal area warn everyone and anyone to stay away from Orange County Property Management. Better yet give them my email and I will gladly talk them outta it!

Watching cartoons comfortably ;)

Snack time

Searching Craigslist for a place to live