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