Chad's 28!

Well, our man is the ol' 2-8 today! He's the absolute best, I would definitely consider him one of the most exceptional human beings who has ever walked upon the earth, probably second only to Jesus. Yeah, I think that's a good description of Chad Richard Cisneros. Very accurate, if you ask me.

What to say about our guy! Well duh, he's the best husband and father, blah blah blah, but other cool facts about him include his love for his job, dog, yard, lawn mower, Oreo cookies, flashy socks, BBQ and pork enchiladas. He further enjoys playing hockey, driving cars made in 1999, helping his wife with home projects and using a compressor-fueled nail gun with gusto. Walking through Home Depot and Lowes gives him considerable joy, and hey, can't forget about the extensive Game of Thrones blog-perusing and speculation via very long text messages with other Game of Thrones super fans. I mean, need I go on? He's basically the most wonderful human.

Here are 28 wonderful memories I have with our guy:

1. That one time while dating where we drove down to SD talking about our future family even though we were, like, 20.

2.  Also while dating, our very classy "SWAT down" RV trips to the coast with a bunch of friends. Those beer bongs weren't going to drink themselves!

3. One of my favorite conversations you've ever had with my parents was when you were describing how your brother almost passed out while you guys were in New Zealand canoeing through the underground caves. My parents were like, this guy is hilarious!

4. When we drove to USC when I was 6 months pregnant with Carter and ate Tommy's. Life changing.

5. When I was talking to the ol' brother-in-law about you when we first started dating and I actually said the words to him, "NO, YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO LIKE THIS ONE!" Bahahaha!

6. Meeting you on that bench at CSUF when we were blind formal dates and you had that crazy Greek Week mohawk and I looked like absolute poop. The reason I was bright red when I met you was because I was like, great, I'm meeting this guy and I haven't showered in a day or so. Wonderful.

7. When, at that formal where we were to be blind dates, you made a strong, opinionated comment on which shoes I should wear. You picked the silver pumps versus the black ones. I was like, wow!

8. When you were POSITIVE Dakota was a boy.

9. That one time where you came home to our apartment in Ladera and told me that escrow would be closing on our new house a week early and that you were going to swing through Home Depot so, "get ready!" Then I started silently freaking out and you were like, what's wrong with you? Hahaha!

10. When you raked our new house's grass in the rain! The best!

11. When I was trying to tell you I was pregnant and you kept completely missing the pregnancy test I had taped to the fridge!

12. When you gave me that questioning glance when I was trying to watch The Kardashians but the kids were awake and the content was less than appropriate a few weeks ago. Bahahaha!

13. When you hauled our first Christmas tree in Irvine up the ol' stairs to our second story apartment!

14. When I realized that you actually knew what you were doing in Europe and if I had been there by myself, I would surely have been dead by that point.

15. When we were living in Yorba during those first 11 months of marriage and you indulged in a bottle of wine for the first time since we'd been married. Bahahaha!

16. When we were at Disneyland recently and got to get into the park an hour early with the rest of the resort-stayers and we looked at each other while sprinting in separate directions to get our places in line with either kid! We were like, holy crap!!!!! This is nuts!

17. When you said, "Babe, he has your eyes," right after Carter was born - THAT'S AN ALL TIME FAVORITE MEMORY AND SHOULDN'T BE NUMBER 17 ON THIS LIST OF WONDERFUL MEMORIES. THE BEST!

18. When you got those headphones for your video games and asked if you looked dorky.

19. When you told Carter that we were going to buy him a truck the other day. Bahahahahaha omg, we were both like, why did those words just happen?

20. When you were laying sod in the front yard and that sprinkler exploded! Hahahaha!

21. When we agreed that Black Cherry is the absolute worst flavor in sparkling water. Our grunts of disgust!

22. That one time where you forgot that you had told me an ex-girlfriend's mom's pork chop recipe, and then suggested that I make pork chops like she had. CALLED YOU OUT!!!! Good thing I like you.

23. When you installed the light fixtures throughout the house the other day! We were so excited!

24. When you were wearing sunglasses indoors when we were building our original kitchen table here in Corona.

25. When you and Carter looked at each other after I announced that bebe 3 is a girl! You said, "It's just you and me, Carter!"

26. When you and I got really intense on Snow's adoption day because there were 5 or 6 people in the line in front of me and we were like, these bitches better move out da way!

27. When I wanted to go get the crib for Carter while pregnant and you were like, "Why? Let's just wait." What? Hahaha!

28. When I married you, you wonderful, smiling man you!

So obviously, he is the best. Woooooo!!!! Happy birthday, my man!

Okay, fully ready for Mitzi to go to heaven

Two days ago I wrote about how sad I was that we've definitively reached the very, very (VERY) end of our 1999 Mitsubishi Montero's life. Mitzi was a good, wonderful car to us, so I felt overly down about the end of her auto life, especially given that she had been HIT while innocently hanging out in front of our house at 4:30 am - what a way to end a long, fruitful life of driving the highways of the world.

So that was Monday. On Monday nights, Chad has hockey all the way in Irvine - a good 20-30 miles from us here in C Town. I had plans for a girl's dinner that night, so the kids and I headed out to OC in Vivi the Volvo, leaving Chad to get himself down to Irvine in Mitzi. A sort of last ride for her, if you will. Chad and I seemed perfectly okay with this - "Have fun at hockey tonight, babe! Be sure to be good to our girl Mitzi on the way down, she's been through a lot today! This will surely be her last hockey run." We were all smiles and hugs and kisses as we part ways that evening, me in a safe vehicle, Chad in Mitzi.

Then, at the end of girl's night, one of my friends whose husband plays on Chad's hockey team, let her know that the game had been canceled so he wouldn't be leaving the house (relieving her of babysitting stress). I thought, "Score! Chad will be home! How awesome!" I dropped the ladies off then headed to my parents' house to grab the kiddos, and then heave-ho'd on the toll road to return to Chaddy-o the Daddy-o.

When we rolled up onto our street, I noticed that Mitzi wasn't there. Dang, he probably didn't know that the game had been canceled. What a bummer, I thought. Poor guy, driving all the way there for nothing.

So I put the kids down, expecting him to stroll through the door at any moment. THEN, once settled in bed and ready to fall into a pregnancy coma of exhaustion, it dawned on me that CHAD HAD DRIVEN AN UNSAFE, FAULTY VEHICLE THAT HAD JUST GOTTEN INTO A COLLISION ALL THE WAY DOWN TO IRVINE AND HIS PHONE WAS BROKEN! His broken phone was why he wouldn't have known the game was canceled - he wouldn't have gotten the email! I couldn't reach him!!!!!!! He could have been dead at the hands of Mitzi for all I knew!!! At this point it was about 11:00 pm - these hockey games go very late so that's somewhat normal. But my concern was that the game had been canceled! Surely he knew that by then?!

I decided that if he didn't walk in by 12:15 I was going to start freaking out. Had Mitzi stopped on the 91? Was he in a ditch, dying somewhere? What if Mitzi just went out on the side of the road, but Chad didn't have a cell phone?!!!! How could he reach any emergency help???!!!! WHAT WERE WE THINKING ALLOWING MITZI A FINAL DRIVE DOWN TO IRVINE?!!!!!

Around 11:45, I decided that ANY lingering sadness of Mitzi's long life coming to an end needed to leave the ether. She was now an unsafe vehicle driving my man around Southern California. Either Chad was to give up hockey until he had a safe car to transport himself, take my car, or we were going to need to get a car within the next few days. NO ONE was going to be allowed to drive that old woman anymore, gosh dangit! In fact at this point, I was somewhat angry at the ol' Mitz! How dare she become so decrepit!

When Chad got home at 12:10 (once he got to the rink he decided he may as well stay and work out a little bit given the long drive to get there), I told him in quite the tone that he was no longer allowed to drive Mitzi to Irvine AND/OR work!!!!!!!!! He was to take Vivi, for heavens sakes! He kind of laughed and said that he would be able to take Mitzi to work because after all, he did need to bring her into the mechanic to get an estimate. I said okay, BUT THAT WAS IT.

Bahahahaha. Then he took Mitz into the mechanic and guess what? GUESS! Her very minor damage (a few dents on the hatch and back left side bumper) had TOTALED THE CAR! She is totaled! Can you believe that?!!!!! Those small dents would cost more to repair than all of Mitzi! Bahahahahaha! We COULDN'T stop laughing about how insane that fact was. I texted my mom and sister and they both said, "Thank you, 4:30 am lady who totaled your vehicle!" Bahahahahaha! How nuts!!!!!!

So anyhoo. Hahahahaha. I'm now okay with the auto heaven that surely awaits Mitz. It's her time. Good bye, sweet debt-free vehicle. You have been good to us.

An ode to the oldest car on planet earth

We have this car - she is a great grandmother of a vehicle if there ever was one. She was purchased just weeks after we started our humongous financial makeover in 2013 for very little money (and life changing Cisneros fact at the time: zero auto financing - tear! She was so significant is so many ways!). A little bit of love was put into this new Mitsubishi of ours, affectionately referred to as "Mitzi," in the form of tires and detailing, and she's been part of the clan ever since. She used to drive the kids and I to Stroller Strides everyday for a few years there, has made the trip from Mission Viejo to Corona and back several times and has lovingly sat in front of our house for many years now (3 years wouldn't qualify as "many years" for other cars, but for Mitzi? Oh yeah, "many years" is very appropriate), a sweet ol' guard dog, if you will.

Well. Mitzi was created and sold on an actual car lot in 1999. SHE WAS BRAND NEW IN 1999. Chad and I were legitimately 11 years old bahahahaha. I'm not even sure how many humans who know us know that that car wasn't even created in this millennium. But here's the thing! With her excessively cheap price tag, years of "life experience" and possible sheisty beginnings with us (hey there, Craigslist), she's been THE BEST CAR IN THE UNIVERSE!

Oh my goodness, that car!!!!! I've loved her since day 1! She has so much giddyup! You press on the gas, you GO. You lightly tap on the breaks, she stops. Someone taps your rear bumper, there's not a mark on her! SHE'S A DELIGHT! A WONDER! She's even good on gas! The ONLY thing that has ever been a concern with Mitz was her age... ahh, ageism. It's a real thing.

So anyway, when we moved very close to Chad's work and he turned in his leased car, we decided that he should be the one to drive Mitzi the 7 miles down the hill to the ol' occupation while the kids and I enjoyed our new(er) Volveezee on the highways that take us to Orange County. Chad too fell in love with Mitz! Then last October, her a/c died which was an obvious bummer, but at least winter was coming up! Not that big of a deal! We then never got the a/c fixed because it probably would have been more expensive than the whole car was worth bahahahaha!

THEN. Last Monday, just 7 days ago, Chad took Vivi the Volvo to work as her innards house more acceptable human conditions in 112 degree heat (and he would be driving people in it. Mitzi is always a big fat NO on those days). I told him not to worry about us, the only plans we had last Monday was to drive to dance and hockey way later on in the afternoon.

WELL! Come 3:30 when it was time to pile in the car to get to dance, Mitzi HAD to be around 130 degrees! NOT KIDDING. Her air obviously wasn't working and it was death outside. The kids and I were bright red as soon as we sat down on her seats. I debated not going to dance due to these wretched conditions, but then was like, "well, we do have hockey right afterwards, so may as well get this maiden hot voyage over with." So we precariously started driving down the street and I proclaimed that we HAD to have the windows open, however disgusting the air was outside. I then chose to take the freeway to dance, something we never do, but we HAD to have the extra air flow moving through! As we were turning from the 15 to the 91, I noticed that Kota had become quiet. I thought, "Oh freaking sheet, we are all going to pass out! Has Kota passed out!!!!" Luckily she hadn't, but that made me scared for our actual health statuses. We got to dance, all of us FIRE ENGINE RED. Everything about us was red and sweat was pouring off our bods. My friends there thought something was wrong with the pregnancy for gosh sakes! Hahahahahha! It was NOT okay.

I made the decision to swing by Chad's work directly after dance that day and then switched out the cars right there in the parking lot! It was a necessity! We simply COULD NOT drive to hockey in Mitzi. It was not an option. Then, when I got to hockey, I was so zapped from the 15 minute hell-drive to dance that I had no energy to cheer for my boy. He scored a goal and I was like, "yay." As I sat there unenthusiastically, I began to think about how that drive was legitimately scary (bahahahahaha). I started to seriously question the responsibleness of Chad driving Mitz to work and home in summer weather! That night, I told Chad that if he were to call me the next day from a car dealership because he was buying a new car, he would see no argument from little ol' me. So that happened.

Then! Later on during the week, some weird thing happened where the keys were accidentally locked inside of the car IN THE IGNITION! Once this was realized, Chad was in a whole other city with work people and would be ubering home, but when he asked if the kids and I would want to swing by where the car was parked (in work's parking lot) to retrieve the keys, the kids were already asleep. Soo...... we pretty much just decided that if a human being wanted to steal Mitzi that night, hopefully they would need her more than we would (OH MY GOSH). Next morning came around, and good ol' Mitz was still there, just hanging out, keys in her ignition.

Then! Chad tried to start'er up that morning after they were reunited, and she wouldn't turn on. We thought it was a dead battery, but AAA said she just needed a little jolt and was actually fine. Wow, we thought. What a warrior, we said.

THEN! This morning, Monday - a whole 7 days after hell-drive to dance, we got a nice ding-dong on our front door AT 4:30 AM!!!!!! Snow woke up and started barking, which scared the heck out of us because who rings a door bell at 4:30 am? A robber checking to see if there were people and/or a dog in there? After Chad returned to bed, my phone rang - our neighbor was calling to tell us that someone had HIT MITZI WHILE SHE SLEPT ON THE STREET IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE!!!!! Oh my gosh, Mitzi! Holy crap, Mitz!

Apparently a girl had fallen asleep at the wheel, hitting Mitzi, which pushed our baby all the way in front of our neighbor's house. It completely totaled her car (not ours because Mitz is a champ) and there's a humongous oil stain where she came to a stop (behind Mitz). The poor girl hadn't been drinking, she was outrageously shaken (obviously). Her dad came down to talk with Chad and our two other neighbors, but it seemed like the vibe of the whole thing was very sympathetic toward the girl. All of this took place from 4:30-7:30 am. Mitzi is very banged up. One of her rear lights is sitting on our bathroom counter, a sad piece of our girl!

Once I got out of bed, I came out and semi-demanded that Chad take my car to work, but he told me that it was alright, she's just got a few dents and at least no one was hurt. I seriously think he was thinking of her poor feelings! Kind of like, "hey babe, this may be the last time I take our Mitz out, I'm going to be real nice to her" type things. Almost like an animal who is given a short timeline to live! (This is actually making me think of Snow dying which is very depressing.)

So Mitz is sitting at work with Chad right now. I'm so sad! She is so great! Truly like a dog who may be a pain in your butt (not that she's a pain in our butts, it's just her age!) but at the end of the day you would just DIE if something happened to your pup. I just talked to Chad a little bit ago and I told him that this was it, we were going to need to start looking for a new car - legitimately we don't want to be ignoring signs from God (we were both laughing when I said that but were like "for real though"). Like I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE HER AT SOME DEALERSHIP AND DRIVE AWAY WITH A YOUNGER, PRETTIER VEHICLE! THIS IS A REAL THING!

Anyway. Of course a report shall come when we secure a new member of the Cisneros clan. It's a necessity, but man oh man, I will miss Mitz and everything she is! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

^^^That's her! But painted black... because some previous owner had her painted... if you open a door, she's white on the inside of it. Waaaaaaaaah!

The post which turned into the BABY LIST recording

What on earth has been going on up in here? Growing a baby, hockey, dance, gymnastics, extensive snapchat stories (nicole-cisneros hey-o! I'm pretty sure at this point no humans read this blog unless they're my buddies), dog beach visits... I mean, it's been a lot - and we're just 3 weeks into summer! Glorious! I have nothing of substance to write about, which again, end up being my favorite type of posts in the future. So what have we been doinnnnnnnng....

Well, right now I'm typing upon a new, farmhouse-esque desk/side table/hopefully make-up vanity which rests on Chad's side of the bed. Constructing this 20x43x31" wooden cuteness was on our "19 Weeks Until Baby" to-do list, and thus has been made.

We created the list when I was (obviously) 21 weeks preggo and let me tell YOU, it has TAKEN OVER MY LIFE! I can't live a single day now without doing at least a LITTLE bit which will contribute to checking SOMETHING off The List. It's become an imperative part of my life. The original list held 17 things (so doable!), but now she boasts 21 to-do's. We keep adding things! And the original 18 things were very broad (read: lighting in house). Okay, there were 5 rooms which needed lighting! So now, each bullet point houses several sub-bullet points. For example, under "curtains," there is now family room curtains, living room curtains, kids' room curtains and nursery curtains. We've checked off "family room curtains" and "kids' room curtains," but are a far cry from checking off the master "curtains" bullet point! I MEAN!!!!!!

And the reason I even made this farmhouse-esque desk in the first place, which originally was one of our last priorities on The list, was because we HAD to finish out the kids' room which NEEDED the dresser that used to be Chad's nightstand. So in my brain, to finish the kids' room, we had to move Chad's side table dresser, which meant I had to make the table in order to finish off the wonderfulness that is the kids' room but also not leave Chad's side of the bed high and dry. So there are at least two bullet points that we've been able to check off because they were intertwined, if not become psychotic over!!!!!! It's like a massive, person-who-enjoys-checklists wonderland of amazingness, even if it IS a bit of a demanding list (now) - aka slave-driver-esque. A sick part of me loves it!

So right now, I'm working on the new nursery. I feel as if I MUST do the nursery next because we have all of the materials needed sitting in the garage. In order to finish out the nursery, I'll be able to install the curtains in there, which will lead to a big fat CHECK MARK under the "curtains" sub-bullet point, "nursery room curtains!" BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HOLY SHEET! I'M JUST NOW REALIZING THAT I'M A MONSTER!

But on the real, there's a secret thing that I haven't added to the list but is very much alive in my nesting brain. If I add it onto the list, Chad will see it and be like, "Nicole, come on. Get a grip. We are not doing THAT. Talk about unnecessary." But I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY MIND!!! Want to hear it?! Okay! So over several weeks while Chad is at work (HAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOSH, LISTEN TO ME!) I'm going to be making small trips to Home Depot to purchase very cheap 1x1"x12' boards which I will cut up using our new miter saw. Then (!!!!) I will create a GIGANTIC herringbone headboard for our master bedroom. I love our "headboard" which used to be our former kitchen table, but it drives my eye crazy that it's narrower than our Cal King. Apparently, our headboard MUST be the same width as our mattress or I simply won't be able to handle it. So yes. There's my secret project. I'm trying to force myself not to start on this psychotic endeavor until all of the other List items have been completed but.... clearly the nesting mind is an irrational one.

So because this blog is a magic space where once things are typed out and published they become a reality, I have to record our "19 Weeks Until Baby" list! Here goes!!!!

1. Curtains in house
   - family room CHECKED
   - living room
   - kids' room CHECKED
   - nursery

2. Rocker / glider

3. Crib

4. Heart monitor for baby

5. Pump

6. Baby shower / register

7. Older kids' room do-over CHECKED

8. Nursery

9. Vanity/desk/side table for Chad CHECKED

10. Lighting in house
   - family CHECKED, living, kids', nursery (all sub-bullet points! Bahahaha omg.)

11. Pantry organization (sliding shelves?)

12. School shopping for kids (clothes and supplies)

13. Bathroom fan maintenance

14. Kid swing for patio

15. Postpartum shopping for myself

16. Ergo baby carriet

17 WISHLIST ITEM: new carpets (probably not going to happen)

18. Ship lap fireplace CHECKED

19. More clothing hangers for all

20. Car maintenance (this was originally just for the Volvo, but this may be Mitzi's last summer with us. Tear! She's been so good to us, the ol' girl.)

21. Bass Lake trip organization

So you see! A bunch. 18-21 have been added on since the original creation. The baby-centered products are all things I don't think people will (or should have to) get for little ol' us. All wonderful. Now I'm going to go finish priming baby boo boo's nursery. Ta-ta!