Womb simulation?

This is how and where Marisa spents most of her day. She's a pretty content baby and is easily consoled but her request is to be wrapped up and confined to my body like this. She'll sleep this way for hours and would even skip her meals if I let her. Thankfully, I've done this before and know it doesn't last forever, so I have a lot of patience for walking around like this as if I were still pregnant. Thank you for the wrap Rachel. We both love it!!

Spaghetti anyone?

Do all kids love spaghetti? Elena sure does. It must be because it's messy. :)

First smiles

I can't believe how soon I saw Marisa's first smile. I vividly remember Elena's first smile, and it was at that point that I felt that intense motherly love that I didn't know before. Marisa's was just the same. It just amazes me how quickly mother and baby connect. The connection was instant. It's as if I'd known her my whole life. Often after a smile, Marisa coos. I coo back and she coos again. I love these moments!

Sweet sister

Elena has been so sweet to her sister Marisa. It's amazing to me how she loved her from day one. Elena loves to give Marisa kisses, pats and rubs her head and says, "I" (how she says I love you)and lately she's been wanting to share her toys with her which can sometimes pose a problem as you can see in the picture below. It's still sweet nonetheless. Just this morning she brought two bears. A big one for her and a small one for Marisa. She held her's and said, "Nana" (Elena) and placed the smaller bear on Marisa and said,"bibi" (baby [Marisa]). I just can't wait for them to play together and be great friends.

Christmas

We spent a quiet Christmas at home this year. Omar made a nice Christmas dinner to make sure I didn't become nostalgic on him. It included rosemary chicken with stuffing, seasoned potatoes and even dessert--cheescake!! I'm becoming quite spoiled having him around that I'm not sure what I'll do without him when he returns to work next week. The day after Christmas Omar's sister Diana and his parents came to meet Marisa and visit for the day. Christmas morning
Omar's parents
proud cousin, Alberto
These are my parents when they were here the week Marisa was born.

First bath and Who's who?

All clean!
Marisa had her first (sponge) bath. She only liked it when we poured water on her, but we couldn't really do that because of her umbilical cord. As I looked at this picture I very vividly remembered Elena's first bath and got that picture out to compare. Aren't the similarities striking?

Good Morning Marisa!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Love, Elena

First days with a newborn and a toddler

I take pride in my photos mainly because I try really hard to capture moments as they are. Because of this it is difficult for me to post or print those pictures that didn't come out well. If at some point I decide to really pursue photography I know that having bad photos would be part of it and that every good photographer has some bad photos; the goal is to have a few really good ones.

Anyway here's a family photo that I didn't want to post. Can you see why? Well, as I thought of it I realized that it really did capture the moment. There's stuff everywhere...evidence that things are chaotic when a newborn arrives. Marisa, I wish had her feet covered and that I was holding her better...but how do I manage that when sweet but squirmy Elena refuses to sit still for the picture? Surprisingly, she looks best in this photo even without shoes and even though she was the one who didn't want to take the photo. Finally, Omar doesn't look so happy because as Elena was trying to get off the couch she slammed the back of her head on his nose...we know how that feels. So as you can see the moment was captured and I just had to have a memory of our first days with 2 little ones.

It's a girl!!

Meet the new addition to our family. Marisa Lizette Gutierrez was born at St. Joseph's Hospital in Bryan, Texas on Sunday, December 9, 2007 at 12:25pm. She weighs 8 lbs 3 oz and is 20.5 in long. Mother and baby are doing very well and are welcoming visitors.

Ohhh....the wait...

So I prayed and prayed to God that I would make it full term this pregnancy and here I am at 39 weeks anxiously waiting each passing day to meet our little one. I feel incredibly well but these constant contractions daily have me wondering everyday if this is the day. I know I'm not even at my due week and really though, I am truly thankful that I've come so far and that this baby will be plump and healthy ready to live outside my womb. Meanwhile I'm trying to keep busy and not be so impatient. We put up the tree which Elena loved, and this year we (Omar) managed to get Christmas lights outside. Not much else is happening in our household and so we wait...

Oh, and if you haven't voted on your guess for the Baby's sex please do!! The poll is on the left of the screen. I'm curious to see everyone else's intuition.

Elena putting up Jake's ornament
Kisses with Daddy
Hugs with Mama
Lights on the porch

Friends and Family

Omar and I have grown somewhat accustomed to spending holidays without extended family. First when we lived in Sonoma with only enough vacation time and money to fly once or twice a year and then here in College Station with our babies having a preference to make their arrival during the holidays (no, Baby Gutierrez 2 has not arrived yet). So this year with not being allowed to travel again so close to my delivery date, we had accepted spending the Thanksgiving holiday alone without family. However, much to our surprise, other friends were also staying in town and one of those friends graciously offered to host Thanksgiving in her home and invite all of us that were staying in town. It was wonderful spending the holiday with friends and sharing our favorite family meals. Unfortunately, I only have one picture of the day...the kids having their Thanksgiving meal. We were quite busy watching and feeding toddlers. Thank you Melissa and Kris! We had a good time.

My sister and her family came over later Thanksgiving night. It was a short visit but it was nice to have some family over. We took them to Central Park for Christmas in the Park a favorite holiday activity that we enjoy going to and enjoy taking visitors to.
Cristina, Carolina, Charlie, and Elena
Try taking a picture of 4 kids smiling...At the same time.

Carmen, Charlie,(Dad)Charlie, Carolina, Cristina

Elena's birthday

When I was younger birthdays were about parties, friends, and presents. As we celebrated Elena's birthday yesterday, I came to realize how significant her birthday is to me. I also realized how every one of my birthdays is probably more significant to my mother than it is to me just as Elena's birthday is now to me. On this day I was reminded of Elena's pregnancy leading up to her Birth-Day. You see those words mean so much more to me now. Maybe everyone has always understood it but for me it was the realization that on that day 2 years ago, by God's will, I brought a new life into the world. Looking back at all the complications and fears of that day God blessed us with a healthy baby girl and my life since then has never been the same. At just two years old Elena is her own little person with her own personality. On every birthday that Elena celebrates, I will always remember that a new life came into the world and what a miracle that is!!! To be handed the responsibility to raise a child and mold them into adults and to be given the privilege to love a child and to be loved by a child must be the greatest thing in life. Having Elena for two whole years now has been so full filling, and as I think about the many parents including my own who are not able to watch their children live their enitre lives because of other plans God may have for them, I am thankful for these two years with Elena and only hope that I will continue to be given the privilege to celebrate many more birthdays with her.

And now for the fun stuff...it was a great day! Elena had many friends join her on her special day. She was so happy to see them all in one day. She played with balloons, ate her cupcake and really enjoyed it when they sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Here are a few pics of the day. It was hard to get pictures since I was running around getting things organized. Thanks Julia for taking some photos too! And thank you to everyone who made this day so special for Elena.


Elena's birthday cupcakes and the closest I will ever get to my mom's cake decorating talent.
Before the party
Picnic birthday lunch with friends
Playing a game
Smiling as everybody sings "Happy Birthday."

Yum!

Field trip

My good mom friends and I took the kids to the poultry farm for a little field trip. It reminded me of my field trips with my kindergartners. I forget how much of a learning experience any event or outing can be for a child. They really had so much fun! Thanks for the tour Omar!!
Dean, Ellie, Allison, and Elena looking at baby chicks
Omar holding a hen for the kids to touch. Allison and Ellie were the brave ones to touch it.
Allison loved holding the chicks.
Dean very confidently asked Omar all the questions he had.
Ellie with her Mom, Melissa. Ellie wanted to know everything about chicks.

Pregnancy Update

I am now at week 35 and I feel great. It's almost hard for me to believe I can feel this good because by this point with Elena I felt terrible and being that it was my first pregnancy, I believed it was normal to feel bad in the end. I am finally truly feeling positive about the outcome of this labor, and I am so thankful to God for good health this time. Below are the most current pictures except for the last two, those are of my pregnancy with Elena. Now don't laugh at the leotard; it was a suggestion from the popular book What to Expect When Your Expecting but apparently only I followed the suggestion because I don't know of anyone who has posed in a leotard. Anyway, I decided to do the leotard again to show the comparison between the two pregnancies. I think they speak for themselves. Don't you think?
35 weeks
35 weeks
35 weeks35 weeks

35 weeks with Elena just 10 days before my induction

Baby carrying

I am almost certainly expecting to get a lot of use from my sling than I did with Elena because I must have free hands to chase an active toddler.

A friend suggested I have a sling for Elena too so I decided to make one for her. It was so much simpler making a "mini" sling than a real one, and Elena looks so cute holding her baby in it!
Elena with her baby doll in her new sling
Elena in a sling at 9 months

At the carnival

We decided to try out the carnival with Elena. She loved the lights and asked to get on the rides. Once on them she was a bit apprehensive, but thankfully she liked it enough and didn't cry. And Daddy got to ride in the off the ground ones with her except for one. They wouldn't let me on :( not even on the carousel.
On the big rig
"All by myself on the flying elephant" She even raised her arms up mimicking the older kids
On the plane with daddy. Notice the same facial expression :)

On the carousel

Pumpkin Patch

I forgot to post our pumpkin patch pictures...so much going on.